National
Chandigarh Railway Station awarded 5-Star ‘Eat Right Station’ certification
⇒ Indian Railways’ Chandigarh Railway Station has been awarded a 5- star ‘Eat Right Station’ certification by FSSAI for providing high-quality, nutritious food to passengers.
Chandigarh Railway Station becomes the fifth station in India to get this recognition.
Other railway stations with this certification include:
Anand Vihar Terminal Railway Station (Delhi); Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Mumbai); Mumbai Central Railway Station (Mumbai); and Vadodara Railway Station
About ‘Eat Right Station’ certification:
» The ‘Eat Right Station’ certification is awarded by FSSAI to railway stations that set benchmarks in providing safe and wholesome food to passengers.
» The 5-star rating indicates exemplary efforts by stations to ensure safe and hygienic food is available to passengers.
» The certification is part of the ‘Eat Right India’ movement- a large-scale effort by FSSAI to transform the country’s food system to ensure safe, healthy and sustainable food for all Indians.
» Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is a statutory body established under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India.
'Delta rankings’ released by NITI Aayog for August 2021
⇒ Recently, Delta ranking has been released by NITI Aayog on the basis of the survey for July-August 2021.
At least seven districts of Uttar Pradesh have made it to the list of top 10 best performing aspirational districts in the ‘delta rankings’ released by NITI Aayog for August 2021.
These districts include Siddharthnagar, Bahraich, Bahraich, Sonbhadra, Shravasti, Fatehpur, Chitrakoot and Chandauli.
District Overall Performance Based on Monthly Delta Ranking:
Top Five Districts:
Rank 1- Gajapati, Odisha
Rank 2- Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh
Rank 3- Siddharthnagar, Uttar Pradesh
Rank 4- Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
Rank 5- Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh
Bottom Five Districts:
Rank 112- Ramgarh, Jharkhand
Rank 111- Latehar, Jharkhand
Rank 110- Chamba, Himachal Pradesh
Rank 109- Wayanad, Kerala
Rank 108- Namsai, Arunachal Pradesh
» “Delta ranking” is a ranking done by NITI Aayog of all the 112 aspirational districts in the country and the ranking rates incremental progress made by these districts in various development areas.
» Aspirational districts’ programme was launched in 2018 by the Centre for transforming these districts.
» The Aspirational Districts programme aims to quickly and effectively transform 112 most under-developed districts across the country.
MD and CEO of Indian Bank
⇒ Shanti Lal Jain assumed charge as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Chennai-headquartered Indian Bank for a tenure of 3 years, on 1st September 2021.
Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes
⇒ Senior bureaucrat J B Mohapatra has been appointed as the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). Mohapatra is a 1985-batch Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) officer.
Mohapatra had been officiating as the chairman of the Board since June this year.
International
16th Annual Behler Turtle Conservation Award
⇒ Indian biologist Shailendra Singh has been awarded the Behler Turtle Conservation Award 2021. He has been awarded for bringing three critically endangered turtle conservation species back from the brink of extinction.
The award has been bestowed by several global bodies involved in turtle conservation such as Turtle Survival Alliance, IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, Turtle Conservancy, and the Turtle Conservation Fund.
About Behler Turtle Conservation Award:
The Behler Turtle Conservation Award was established in 2006 to recognize outstanding achievements, contributions and leadership excellence in international turtle conservation and biology.
The award is also recognized as the “Nobel Prize” of Turtle Conservation.
6th meeting of BRICS Energy Ministers
⇒ The Union Minister of State for Power and Heavy Industries, Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar, chaired the “Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Energy” under the Chairship of India on 02 September 2021.
Participants:
Energy Ministers of BRICS Countries and delegates attended the 6th meeting of BRICS Energy Ministers.
BRICS Reports Launched:
During the Meeting, BRICS Energy Report 2021, BRICS Energy Technology Report 2021 and BRICS Energy Research Directory 2021 were launched by Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar, in the presence of the Energy Ministers of BRICS Countries.
Highlights of Union Minister Shri Gurjar Address:
- Emphasised upon the need of promoting energy efficiency and renewables to combat adverse effect of climate change.
- India also reiterated focus on one sun, one world and one grid as the initiative proposed by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
- India is committed to improving the quality of life of its citizens by ensuring adequacy of electricity availability. He said, “The ‘Power for All’ by 2022 program is a major step in this direction.
- India added 28 million consumers in just about 18 months, which was the fastest expansion access anywhere in the world.
Concluding event:
This Energy Ministers’ Summit of BRICS countries was the concluding event as part of the energy dialogue between member countries, since April 2021.
Various events like hydrogen webinar, building energy efficiency and battery storage were conducted and saw participation of large number of experts from these countries.
A joint communique was adopted by the BRICS countries during the 6th BRICS meeting of Energy Ministers.
Key areas of the joint communique:
- BRICS Cooperation in Energy Access and Affordability
- BRICS Cooperation in Energy Security and Clean Technology
- BRICS Cooperation in Energy Efficiency
- BRICS Cooperation for Energy Transitions
- BRICS Cooperation in Renewable Energy
- BRICS Energy Cooperation Framework
Official Link to read Joint Communique
Important Note:
» The 25th World Energy Congress to be held in Saint-Petersburg, Russia in October 2022.
» The People’s Republic of China will take over as the chair of BRICS next year and host the 14th summit of the bloc in 2022.
Ramon Magsaysay Award 2021
⇒ Recently the Ramon Magsaysay Award 2021 has been announced. This is the 63rd edition of the award.
This year five awardees have been selected by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation.
