1. World Bank approves $285 million to fight Ebola
i.) The World Bank has approved a grant of $285 million to finance the three west African
countries hardest hit by the Ebola crisis.The grant is part of the nearly $1 billion of financing previously announced by the World Bank for Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, reports Xinhua.ii.) The additional financing will enable the three countries to deploy additional national and international health workers, scale up community-based care and community engagement for early detection of suspected Ebola cases, the World Bank in a statement on Tuesday. iii.) A previous World Bank analysis showed that if Ebola continues to surge in these three countries and spreads to neighbouring countries, the two-year regional financial impact would reach $32.6 billion by the end of 2015.
2. LS should pass women's quota bill, says Najma
i.) Union Minister for Minority Affairs Najma Heptuallh on Wednesday said the Lok Sabha should pass the Women's Reservation Bill that seeks 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and States Legislative Assemblies.
ii.) "Earlier I was not in favour of reservation, but then I saw that women have no voice. There has to be a level playing field for women. Rajya Sabha has passed it and now it is the turn of Lok Sabha to pass it too," she said speaking at a function where she released a report on the the status of girl child in India-- the ’World of India’s Girls (WINGS) 2014’'.
iii.) Referring to the steps being taken by her Ministry for empowerment of women and girls, she said, 33 per cent of all scholarships provided by the Minority Affairs Ministry have now been compulsorily reserved for women.
3. India extends $75 million credit line to Fiji
i.) India on Wednesday announced a $75 million line of credit to Fiji for a co-generation
power plant and a $5 million fund to develop its villages even as the two countries agreed to expand their defence and security cooperation.ii.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced a visa-on-arrival for Fijians and assistance projects that included a Parliament library and doubling the scholarships and training slots in India for people from Fiji.
iii.) The lines of credit were part of three agreements signed between the two countries in the presence of the two leaders.
iv.) The Pacific Island nation rolled out a red carpet for Mr. Modi, who was received by his counterpart Frank Bainimarama, at the Suva International airport.
4. ISRO chosen for Indira Gandhi prize for peace, disarmament
i.) Indian space agency ISRO will be conferred the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2014 in recognition of its contribution in strengthening international cooperation in peaceful use of outer space.
ii.) The award jury, chaired by Vice President Hamid Ansari, made the announcement on Wednesday.
iii.) “The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development is awarded to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in recognition of its path-breaking achievement, culminating in the Mars orbiter mission, its significant contribution in strengthening international cooperation in peaceful use of outer space,” a statement said.
5. Army will become network-centric by 2020
i.) The Army will be network-enabled by 2017 and fully network-centric by 2020 in spite of the delays in the modernisation process, Lt. Gen. Philip Campose, Vice-Chief of Army Staff said on Monday.
ii.) Expressing concern that more and more State agencies of other countries were getting involved in espionage and hacking, Lt. Gen. Campose said the Army would fast-track critical communication infrastructure projects in collaboration with industry.
iii.) He was delivering the inaugural address at Defcom India-2014, jointly organised by the Corps of Signals and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).To improve network centricity, technologies such as the Army Static Communication Network and the Army Wide Area Network are already in place.
6. Srikanth continues good form, Sindhu wins in Hong Kong
i.) Newly-crowned China Open champion Kidambi Srikanth continued his giant-killing spree,
while teen sensation P.V. Sindhu too started her campaign on a winning note at the USD 350,000 Hong Kong Super Series in Kowloon here on Wednesday.ii.) Srikanth, who had stunned five-time world champion Lin Dan in the China Open final last week to become the first male shuttler to win a Super Series Premier event, shocked seventh seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei 18—21 22—20 21—16 in his men’s singles campaign opener.
iii.) Seventh seed Sindhu, who had skipped the China Open, notched up a thrilling 21—15 16—21 21—19 win over Thailand’s Busanan Ongbumrungpan in a women’s singles match that lasted 52 minutes.
7. State hopes to declare 1,000 villages ‘open defecation free’ by R-Day
i.) The Karnataka Government has set the target of declaring 1,000 villages across the country and Udupi district in coastal Karnataka as “open defecation free” by January 26, said Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj H.K. Patil.
ii.) Though Karnataka had earlier declared over 100 villages as “open defecation free”, a third-party investigation by the department had proved that nearly 80 per cent of them were false claims, forcing it to peg the number at 20, said the minister, speaking at a media workshop on the occasion of World Toilet Day on Wednesday. He said that the government hopes to bring 10,000 villages under the list by August 15, 2015.
Mr. Patil said that plans are afoot to build 20 lakh public toilet complexes that will include not only lavatories but also bathing areas. About 1,000 such toilet complexes will be built in the first phase, the minister added. Under the ‘Swachch Bharat Mission’, Karnataka plans to build 10 lakh toilets in houses by 2014-15, of which over 36,000 have been completed according official statistics.
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