India 6th wealthiest country with total wealth of $8,230 billion: Report

  • A report by New World Wealth pegs India as 6th wealthiest country in the world, with a total wealth of $8,230 billion.
  • The report has found that the US is the wealthiest country with total wealth of $64,584 billion, followed by China ($24,803 billion) and Japan ($19,522 billion).
  • Total wealth refers to the private wealth held by all the individuals living in each country/city. It excludes government funds from its figures.
  • On the list, the UK is 4th ($9,919 billion), Germany 5th ($9,660 billion), France 7th ($6,649 billion), Canada 8th ($6,393 billion), Australia 9th ($6,142 billion) and Italy 10th ($4,276 billion).

IIT Kanpur sets up India’s first advisory centre for energy regulation

  • Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has set up India’s first Centre for Energy Regulation (CER).
  • It has done this with the help of Government of United Kingdom.
  • The centre aims at providing independent advisory on policy and regulatory matters in the power and energy sector.

India takes US to WTO over steel, aluminium duties

  • India has dragged the US to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) dispute settlement mechanism over the imposition of import duties on steel and aluminium.
  • India has stated that the decision will impact exports of these products to the US and it is not in compliance with global trade norms.On March 9, US President Donald Trump imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminium items, a move that has sparked fears of a global trade war.

Russia unveils world’s first floating nuclear power plant

  • Russia has unveiled the world’s first floating nuclear power plant at port city of Murmansk, and it is called Akademik Lomonosov.
  • The 144-metre long ship has two modified KLT-40 naval propulsion nuclear reactors (each of 35 MW capacity) together providing up to 70 MW of electricity and 300 MW of heat.
  • It is named after Russian Academician Mikhail Lomonosov.

“AYUSH” is now officially a scientific word in India; no more an acronym

  • The Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT) has adopted the acronym “AYUSH” as a word, both in English and Hindi, for scientific and technical purposes.
  • AYUSH stands for Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy.
  • So far, the term has been used by in government communications. The new recognition is to give the word more popularity.
  • The word “AYUSH” will have the meaning “traditional and non-conventional systems of healthcare and healing, which include Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy, etc.”

Parcel Cargo Express Train (PCET) begins operation, connecting Northeast to the West Coast

  • The Northeast Frontier Railway of Indian Railway has started operating the Parcel Cargo Express Train (PCET), connecting northeastern part of the country to West Coast on a fortnightly basis (twice a month).
  • The Parcel Cargo Express Train allows farmers to market their products (tea, betal nuts, pineapple, jute, horticulture products, cane furniture) in the retail markets in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Nagpur and Pune.
  • The Parcel Cargo Express Train will run from New Guwahati in Assam to Kalyan in Maharashtra, with stoppages at New Jalpaiguri, Kalumna Goods Shed.

India saw 211 tuberculosis cases per 1,00,000 population in 2016: WHO

  • According to the World Health Organization, there were an estimated 211 cases of tuberculosis per 1,00,000 people in 2016.
  • This was better than the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Myanmar, which recorded 221 and 361 cases, respectively.
  • However, Nepal and Bhutan recorded fewer number of tuberculosis (TB) cases per 1,00,000 population than India.
  • India has pledged to eradicate tuberculosis by 2025, five years ahead of the global target set by WHO.
  • Globally, the incidence of TB has registered a 19% decline over a 16-year period. It has gone from 173 new and relapse cases per 1,00, 000 population in 2000 to 140 per 1,00,000 population in 2016.

India’s freshwater stocks in danger: Study using NASA satellites

  • According to a study using an array of NASA satellite observations of the earth, India is among the hot-spots where overuse of water resources has caused a sharp decline in the availability of freshwater.
  • Scientists led by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in the U.S. used data on human activities to map locations where the availability of freshwater is rapidly changing.
  • The study mapped locations where the availability of freshwater is rapidly changing.The study found that wetter parts of the earth’s surface are getting wetter and dry areas are getting drier.
  • Areas in northern and eastern India, West Asia, California and Australia are among the hotspots where overuse of water resources has caused a serious decline in the availability of freshwater.