Macedonia
Category: Miscellaneous
- Greek lawmakers ratified an agreement to end a nearly three decade-long dispute over neighbouring Macedonia’s name.
- The country will be renamed North Macedonia.
- It is on the path to NATO membership.
- Under the deal, Macedonia changes its name to North Macedonia and Greece will drop its objections to the country joining NATO and eventually the European Union.
UDAN
Category: Social sector
- Under the UDAN scheme, the government aims to connect unserved and under-served airports.
- On the routes selected under the scheme, a fixed number of seats are sold at fares, for which a cap is decided by the government.
- Airlines bid for routes with VGF they require to meet the costs and this funding is contributed by the civil aviation ministry and respective state governments. Upon technical qualification, the airline with the lowest VGF bid is selected to operate on the route with a three-year exclusivity.
SBM Bank
Category: Indian Economy
SBM( State Bank Mauritius )Bank (India)Ltd becomes first foreign bank to set up wholly owned subsidiary in India.
Poverty
Category: Indian Economy
- In 2011, 268 million were surviving on less than $1.90 a day.
- $1.90 a day is the World Bank measure for extreme poverty.
- Poverty estimates are derived from household consumption data. According to the World Data Lab, which monitors global poverty using advanced statistical models, less than 50 million Indians may be living on less than $1.90 a day now.
Health
Category: Social sector
- Health and wellness centres — which will cater to people’s primary healthcare needs — is a leg of the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
- These centres will provide comprehensive healthcare, including for non-communicable diseases and maternal and child health services.
- These centres will also provide free essential drugs and diagnostic services.
- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna is the secondary and tertiary care arm of Ayushman Bharat.
- The National Health Policy aims to double the government spend on health from the existing 1.15% of GDP to 2.5% by 2.
