1. Mumbai's famous "vada pav" ranked 13th in the list of best sandwiches in the world
Mumbai's famous street food "vada pav" has been ranked number 13 on a list of the top 50 best rated sandwiches in the world.
An overview of the news
The list is published by TasteAtlas, a Croatian-based food travel guide website.
Turkey's tombik sandwich tops the list. Second is Peru's Butifara Sandwich and Argentina's De Lomo Sandwich is third.
About 'Vada Pav'
Vada pav street food is said to have originated from a street vendor named Ashok Vaidya, who operated near Dadar railway station in the 1960s and 1970s.
Ashoka thought of a way to satisfy the hunger of the starving workers, and concluded that the ideal dish should be portable, inexpensive, and easy to prepare.
Ashok made Vada Pav and its popularity skyrocketed.
Traditionally vada pav is made of spiced mashed potatoes, deep fried in chickpea batter and pav, which is also known as white bread roll.
2. Global Quality Infrastructure Index (GQII) 2021
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India's overall QI system ranking stood at 10th position in the recently released Global Quality Infrastructure Index (GQII) 2021.
An overview of the news:
India's national accreditation system under the Quality Council of India (QCI) has been ranked 5th.
While it has been ranked 9th in the standardisation system and 21st in the world in the metrology system (under NPL-CSIR).
The GQII lists 184 countries in the world based on the Quality of Infrastructure (QI).
Ranking of other countries:
Germany has topped the list.
It was followed by China, USA, UK, Japan and France at the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth places respectively.
Quality Council of India (QCI):
The Quality Council of India (QCI) was established in 1996 as a national body for accreditation.
QCI is a non-profit organisation registered under the Societies Registration Act XXI of the year 1860.
Headquarters - New Delhi
Chairman - Jakshay Shah
General Secretary - Dr. Ravi P. Singh
3. PM Modi emerges as world’s most popular leader, with approval rating of 78%
Tags: Reports International News
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been rated as the world's most popular leader with an approval rating of 78 per cent, according to a survey by US-based consulting firm 'Morning Consult'.
An overview of the news
According to the rating, PM Modi's rating is ahead of other leaders including US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The poll surveyed 22 global leaders for the ratings.
Of the 22 leaders surveyed by the research firm, Prime Minister Narendra Modi topped with 78 per cent.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is in second place with a 68 percent approval rating, and Swiss President Alain Berset is third with a 62 percent approval rating.
US President Joe Biden and Canada's Justin Trudeau received an approval rating of 40 percent and ranked seventh and ninth, respectively.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ranked 13th on the list with a 30 percent approval rating.
PM Modi's approval rating had reached an all-time high of 84 percent on May 2, 2020.
Morning Consult
US based Morning Consult's "Global Leader Approval" survey is based on data collected from January 26-31 this year.
Surveys are weighted in each country by age, gender, region, and in some countries by official government sources and education.
4. UP has the highest number of colleges in the country: AISHE 2020-21 report
The Union Ministry of Education has released the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2020-2021.
According to the report Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of colleges in the country, followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Highlight of the report
The top 10 states in terms of number of colleges in India - Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana and Kerala, each having at least 29 or more colleges per lakh population.
There are 8,114 colleges in Uttar Pradesh and 32 colleges per one lakh population.
Similarly, Maharashtra is at number two with 4,532 colleges and 34 colleges per lakh population.
Karnataka ranks third with 4,233 colleges and 62 colleges per lakh population, while Rajasthan ranks fourth with 3,694 colleges and 40 colleges per lakh population.
Tamil Nadu ranks fifth with 2,667 colleges and a college density of 40.
Madhya Pradesh ranks sixth with 2,610 colleges and 29 colleges per lakh population, while Andhra Pradesh ranks seventh with 2,601 colleges and 49 colleges per lakh population.
At the eighth position is Gujarat with 2,267 colleges and 31 colleges per one lakh population.
Most of the colleges offer undergraduate level programs only.
Only 2.9 percent colleges offer PhD level programs and 55.2 percent offer postgraduate level programmes.
The report shows a nationwide increase of 7.5% in student enrollment in 2020-21 as compared to 2019-20.
Gender Parity Index (GPI)
The Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) for the age group 18-23 years has increased from 25.6% in 2019-20 to 27.3% in 2020-21.
Gender Parity Index (GPI), the ratio of female GER to male GER, has increased from 1 in 2017-18 to 1.05 in 2020-21.
The female enrollment in North East states in 2020-21 is 6.14 lakh, which is higher than the male enrollment of 5.92 lakh, for every 100 male students, there are 104 female students in the North East region.
About AISHE Survey
The Ministry of Education has been conducting this survey since 2011, it includes higher educational institutions located in India.
The survey collects information on various parameters such as student enrolment, teacher data, infrastructural, financial etc.
In AISHE 2020-21, for the first time data collection has been done using a completely online data collection platform developed by the Department of Higher Education through National Informatics Center (NIC).
5. Gautam Adani slips from fourth to seventh position in Forbes list
Tags: Reports
In the recently released Forbes Real Time Billionaire list, India's richest businessman Gautam Adani has slipped from the fourth position to the seventh position. His wealth has reached $ 96.6 billion with a decline of $ 22.6 billion.
An overview of the news
After the report of Hindenburg Research came out, there has been a huge decline in the wealth of Gautam Adani. In which there has been talk of disturbances in the books of the Adani group.
Bernard Arnault (France) continues to lead the list with a net worth of $215 billion.
At the same time, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is at number two with $ 170.1 billion in assets.
Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos is third on the list with a net worth of $122.4 billion.
India's second richest industrialist Mukesh Ambani is at number 10 in this list with a net worth of $83.6 billion.
Other lists recently released by Forbes
Annual list of highest-paid female athletes in the world
The list is topped by tennis player Naomi Osaka (Japan) with a net worth of $51.1 million.
PV Sindhu (12th rank) is the only Indian in the top 25 of the annual list of female athletes.
Annual list of the 100 most powerful women in the world
The list is topped by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
In which six women of India have been included. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (36th), Roshni Nadar Malhotra (53rd), Madhavi Puri Buch (54th), Soma Mandal (67th), Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (72nd), Falguni Sanjay Nair (89th).
Highest-Paid Athletes 2022
Football star Lionel Messi topped the list with total earnings of $130 million (Rs 1007 crore).
List of richest actors in the world
In this list, Jerry Seinfeld (American) is at number one with assets of Rs 8200 crores.
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has become the fourth richest actor in this list with a net worth of Rs 6,300 crore.
6. Aska police station of Odisha's Ganjam district became the country's number one police station
Tags: Reports National News
Aska police station in Ganjam district of Odisha was awarded as number one police station by Home Minister Amit Shah during the DGSP/IGSP conference 2022 held at National Agricultural Science Complex, New Delhi.
An overview of the news
Aska police station got this title in the annual ranking of police stations for the year 2022.
On this occasion, Aska police station in-charge Inspector Prashant Kumar Sahu was awarded the prestigious award along with a citation by the Home Minister.
Gangapur police station in Odisha's Ganjam district has been awarded the second best police station award.
Banbasa police station in Champawat district of Uttarakhand has been selected as the third best station.
Sadar Bazar police station was adjudged the best police station in the year 2021 while Gangapur police station was awarded the second best police station award.
The ranking of police stations across the country is an annual exercise by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The rank is decided on the basis of 165 different parameters such as crime rate, investigation and disposal of cases, infrastructure and public service delivery.
7. 17th Annual Education Report (ASER), 2022
Tags: Reports
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Recently the 17th Annual Education Report (ASER), 2022 was released by NGO Pratham, which highlights the impact on education during the pandemic.
An overview of the news
This survey has been conducted on such a large scale after the year 2018 by the Pratham Foundation.
ASER has been conducted every year since 2005 in all rural districts of India. It is the largest citizen-led survey in India.
Key Findings of the Report
Enrollment Figures
As per ASER 2022, the number of children enrolled in government schools is expected to increase from 65.6% in 2018 to 72.9% in 2022.
The overall enrollment figure for the age group of 6 to 14 years is expected to increase from 97.2% in 2018 to 98.4% in 2022.
Girls enrolled in school (age group 11-14) who do not go to school have also decreased. The number of such girls is expected to decrease from 4% in 2018 to 2% in 2022.
Literacy level
The percentage of children in Grade 3 in public or private schools who were able to read at the Grade 2 level fell from 27.3% in 2018 to 20.5% in 2022.
The percentage of children enrolled in grade 5 in public or private schools who can read at least a grade 2 level text fell from 50.5% in 2018 to 42.8% in 2022.
According to the report, the percentage of students in classes 1-8 taking tuition classes is 30.5% in the year 2022, while this figure was 26.4% in the year 2018.
Basic Education and Arithmetic Skills
In India, there is a decline in basic learning and arithmetic skills of young children in grade 3 and grade 5.
Nationally, the proportion of children who can do splits is projected to increase from 44.1% in 2018 to 44.7% in 2022.
Other findings of the report
According to the report, the average teacher attendance has increased from 85.4% in 2018 to 87.1% in 2022.
The number of schools with girls' toilet facilities has increased from 66.4% in 2018 to 68.4% in 2022.
There has been an increase in the number of schools having drinking water availability.
8. Reliance Jio among the top 25 strongest brands in the world
Reliance Jio, India's leading private sector telecom service provider, has been included in the world's top 25 strong brands.
An overview of the news
According to the latest 'Global 500-2023' report released by Brand Finance, Jio has emerged as the strongest brand in India and is ranked 9th among the 25 strongest brands in the world.
Jio has been given a score of 90.2 in the Strong Brand Index.
Brands like EY, Coca Cola, Accenture, Porsche and Google precede Jio in the list. Whereas giants like Apple, Amazon, Alibaba and Pepsi have been left behind by Reliance Jio.
The index is prepared on the basis of certain parameters such as marketing spend, awareness, consideration, trust and market share.
Reliance Jio India's largest network
With over 400 million subscribers, Reliance Jio is the largest mobile operator in India and the third largest in the world.
Jio formally launched its 4G services on 5 September 2016.
Chairman - Akash Ambani
Headquarters - Mumbai
9. India surpasses China to become most populous country in the world
Tags: Reports International News
According to projections by the World Population Review (WPR), India has surpassed China as the world’s most populous nation.
An overview of the news
As per WPR, India’s population was 141.7 crore as of the end of 2022.
According to official announcements, India's population is a little over 5 million, compared to 141.2 million declared by China on 17 January.
As per WPR estimates, India's population has increased to 142.3 crore as of January 18.
India, with 50 percent of its population below the age of 30, is poised to be the fastest growing major economy in the world.
According to WPR, although India's population growth has slowed down, it will still increase till at least 2050.
India, the third largest economy in Asia, is currently self-sufficient in food production.
India ranks second in terms of production of rice, wheat and sugar.
Apart from being a major importer of edible oils, India is also the largest consumer of sugar.
India is the third largest market for the purchase of crude oil, the second largest consumer of steel and gold.
In addition, India is the third largest domestic aviation market in the world.
10. India to become $26 trillion economy by 2047: EY report
Tags: Reports Economy/Finance
An EY report states that the Indian economy is likely to reach $26 trillion by the year 2047, which will also be the 100th year of India's independence.
An overview of the news
The report also pointed out that the country's per capita income would cross $15,000, making it among the top developed economies.
The report also pointed out that despite maintaining a steady but modest growth rate of 6% per annum, India would still be able to become a $26 trillion economy by 2047–48, with per capita income six times higher than current levels.
According to the report certain factors have contributed to bring India to a position of high and sustainable growth.
These include accelerated pace of economic reforms in critical areas such as social inclusion, financial inclusion, fiscal, physical and digital infrastructure.
This has ultimately resulted in increased global competitiveness of Indian businesses and entrepreneurs.
An area with major potential is services exports which are set to grow by 14% over the past two decades to reach $254.5 billion in 2021-22.
Other enabling areas include 'digitalisation'.
Government’s efforts
Government's focus on increasing the country's digital infrastructure
Efforts towards e-governance
A strong digital payment ecosystem
Introduction of digital services in almost all domains
Large telecom subscriber base of 1.2 billion
837 million internet users, etc.
Focus Areas
macroeconomic stability,
more energy independence,
ease of doing business,
power sector reform
What is EY report?
Launched in 2011, EY Reporting is EY Global Assurance’s insights hub.
It provides thought leadership on the issues global companies face in communicating corporate performance.
