India ranked 87th in the world’s strongest passport list 2022
Passport Index 2022 published by Arton Capital ranked the world’s strongest and weakest passports. A passport is a travel document issued by a country’s government to its citizens that verifies the identity and nationality of the holder for the purpose of international travel. India was ranked at 87th position in the world’s strongest passport list.
About the Passport Index 2022:
The Passport Index is based on the 139 members of the United Nations and six territories were considered for the list. The data is based on official information provided by governments, updated in real-time with intelligence obtained through crowdsourcing and enhanced with proprietary research from highly credible sources.
The process included a three-tier method which rates on the basis of a mobility score (MS) – includes visa-free (VF), visa on arrival (VOA), eTA and eVisa (if issued within 3 days), VF portion of their score vs VOA and United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index 2018 (UNDP HDI) which is used as a tie breaker.
What are the key findings of the Passport Index 2022?
The UAE has the strongest passport in the world. Holders of this passport can travel visa-free or “visa on arrival” to 180 countries. With a UAE passport travelers can enter to 180 countries hassle-free, seven more than European countries such as Germany and Sweden, and nine more than Japan, the index showed.
India was ranked at 87th position in the world’s strongest passport list.
Countries with the weakest passports are Afghanistan (38) Syria (39), Iraq (40), Pakistan (44).
Nine out of top 10 most powerful passports are issued by the European countries.
Germany, Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg, Spain, and France are among the top 10 performers.
Govt of India Invest Rs 5000 Crore in the SWAMIH Fund to Complete Housing Projects
The government has put in an additional Rs 5,000 crore into the SWAMIH Invest Fund-I to help the stressed realty investment platform achieve its final close at Rs 15,530 crore. The fund set up under the Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing is India’s largest social impact fund, which said the government recently infused Rs 5,000 crore.
Objective Of This Fund:
It intends to provide priority debt financing for the completion of stressed, brownfield and residential projects registered with regulatory bodies that fall in the affordable, mid-income housing category.
About The Investor:
The country’s largest lender SBI is one of the anchor investors of the Ministry of Finance-sponsored fund along with Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), Other investors include HDFC Ltd and major nationalised banks. The Investment Manager of the Fund is SBICAP Ventures Ltd which is owned by State Bank of India.
How Much Has Been Done:
The fund has given final approvals to 127 projects which will in turn complete over 79,000 homes, it said, adding that 286 projects across over 30 cities, which entail construction of over 1 lakh homes are being evaluated at present.
The final close comes three years after the fund had marked its first close on receiving Rs 10,037.5 crore in commitments, including Rs 5,000 crore from the government, in December 2019.
Nirmala Sitharaman, Falguni Nayar in ‘World’s 100 Most Powerful Women’ list
The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women:
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Biocon Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and Nykaa founder Falguni Nayar are among six Indians who have made it to the Forbes’ annual list of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women”. Ranked at number 36, Nirmala Sitharaman has made it to the list for the fourth time in a row. In 2021, the 63-year-old minister was ranked at number 37 in the list, while she was in the 41st spot in 2020 and 34th in 2019.
The other Indians to feature on the list:
HCLTech Chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra (rank: 53),
Securities And Exchange Board Of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch (rank: 54),
Steel Authority Of India Chairperson Soma Mondal (rank: 67),
The list includes 39 CEOs; 10 heads of state; and 11 billionaires worth a combined $115 billion.
World’s 100 Most Powerful Women: Globally
For her leadership during the Ukraine war, as well as her handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen sits atop the 19th annual Forbes list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.
While European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is placed at 2nd position, US Vice President Kamala Harris ranked 3rd in the list.
At rank 100, Iran’s Jina “Mahsa” Amini has posthumously made it to the influential list. Her death in September sparked an unprecedented women-led revolution for their rights in the Islamic nation.
World Bank’s Flagship Gender Toolkit Launched
A Gender Toolkit based on “Enabling gender-responsive urban mobility and public spaces” was launched in a session conducted by the World Bank and the Chennai Urban Metropolitan Transport Authority.
Key Points Of the World bank’s Gender Toolkit:
The World Bank developed a two toolkit that outlines a four-pillar implementation structure for urban entities to construct a gender-responsive urban transportation and public spaces programme.
Assessing the ground situation: The first pillar involves evaluating the current reality on the ground, which includes comprehending gender variations in mobility patterns, safety issues, and infrastructure and policy inadequacies.
Strengthening planning and policies: The second pillar calls for improving planning and policies, which calls for incorporating gender as a lens into plans and encouraging gender inclusion among institutions and policymakers.
Building awareness and capacity: The third pillar focuses on increasing knowledge and capability.
Infrastructure: The fourth pillar prioritizes infrastructure improvement with a gendered lens.
Additionally, the World Bank has provided guidance on each of the pillars.
Its Significance:
The toolkit from the World Bank attempts to highlight the gender-related problems with urban planning and mobility.
Men, women, and gender minorities all have diverse perspectives on cities.
The World Bank toolkit offers resources to help these groups better understand and address gender-disaggregated mobility patterns, reinforce policies, and create an infrastructure that will suit their requirements.
This toolkit will be helpful in discussions on urban planning and mobility as Indian urban local bodies and transport agencies start to comprehend the demands of different commuters.
Govt Extends Rooftop Solar Scheme Till March 2026
Central Government announced that it has extended the Rooftop Solar Programme till 31 March, 2026. The subsidy under the programme will be available until the target under the Programme is achieved now. The government has advised all residential consumers to not pay any additional charges to any vendor on account of fee for application on the National Portal or any additional charges for net-metering/testing which are not prescribed by the respective distribution company.
More About This Development:
On the National Portal, any consumer willing to install rooftop solar from any part of the country can apply and track complete process starting from registration to release of subsidy directly into his bank account.
How Much Was The Target:
The subsidy under National Portal has been fixed at Rs 14,588 per kW (for capacity upto 3 kW) for the entire country and residential consumers have to install rooftop solar plant from any one of the vendors registered by the respective distribution company of their locality.
Key Highlights Of This Move:
The Ministry is implementing Rooftop Solar Programme Phase-II wherein CFA/subsidy is being provided to residential consumers for installation of rooftop solar.
To ease out the implementation of the Programme, a National Portal was developed which was launched by Prime Minister Modi on 30 July 2022.
The list of registered vendors has been made available on the National Portal.
There is no fee for application on the National Portal and also the charges for net-metering have been prescribed by the respective distribution companies.
Further, no charges to be paid to any vendor or distribution company for receiving subsidy and subsidy will be credited directly into the bank account of the beneficiary by the Power Ministry.
GoI appointed Meenesh C Shah as the Managing Director of NDDB
National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has appointed Meenesh C Shah as its Managing Director with effect from November 15. Union Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Parshottam Rupala informed that the Gujarat-based NDDB does not have regular chairman since December 2020. Varsha Joshi, the then Joint Secretary in the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India, held the additional charge of the post of Chairman, NDDB, from December 1, 2020 to May 31, 2021.
Meenesh C Shah has been functioning as the Executive Director, NDDB, and holding the additional charge of the Chairman NDDB from June 1, 2021 to November 14, 2022. On the basis of the decision taken by the NDDB Board, Shah has been appointed as Managing Director (MD) with effect from November 15, 2022.
National Dairy Development Board (NDDB):
National Dairy Development Board was set up in 1966 as a society under the Societies Act 1860. The first chairman of NDDB was Verghese Kurien. Kurien is also called as the father of White Revolution in India.
NDDB was merged with Indian Dairy Corporation by the NDDB Act 1987 with effect from 12 October 1987. NDDB has been given Institution of national importance status. It comes under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.
It launched operation flood in India which has made India, largest producer of milk in the world. The massive increase in the production of milk and dairy products in India is called as White revolution.