Higher Education Financing Agency
- The Government has signed an agreement with Canara bank to set up non-banking financial company (NBFC) called the Higher Education Finance Agency (HEFA).
- It will be a joint venture between the HRD ministry and the bank.
- It is formed to give a major push for creation of high quality infrastructure in premier educational institutions.
- NBFC will rise funds from the market and also mobilize CSR funds from PSUs/Corporates and lend to government-run higher educational institutions for promoting research and innovation.
- The HEFA would finance the civil and lab infrastructure projects through a 10-year loan.
- HEFA will leverage the equity to rise up to Rs. 20,000 crore for the funding of world-class infrastructure at the IITs, IIMs, the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and such other institutions.
Fast Track Courts
- On the recommendation of 14th Finance Commission, a scheme for setting up of Fast Track Courts (FTC) was rolled out by the central government.
- They were established to expeditiously dispose of long pending cases in the Sessions Courts and long pending cases of undertrial prisoners.
- It is the primary responsibility of the State Governments to establish these courts in consultation with the concerned High Courts.
- Department of Justice (Ministry of Law and Justice) is monitoring the Scheme and Ministry of Finance release funds directly to state governments to establish Fast track courts.
- Maharashtra state is going to setup 24 fast track courts and the first 3 courts will be set up in Mumbai and Thane to deal with heinous crimes like rape and murder.
- U.P is first on the list of beneficiary states to get funds from Central government for setting up of FTC, followed by Maharashtra.
Global Liveability Ranking
- Australia’s Melbourne city has been named the world’s most liveable city for the sixth consecutive year, according to the Global Liveability Ranking.
- Global Liveability Ranking is a list of 140 cities published by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
- The ranking considers 30 factors related to things like public safety, healthcare, education, infrastructure and environment.
- Melbourne is followed by Austrian capital Vienna and Canada’s Vancouver.
- The least liveable city is Damascus at 140th place.
- No Indian cities were ranked in the top ten or bottom ten in the list.
TDRS-M
- Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M (TDRS-M) is a next generation communication satellite recently launched by NASA.
- It is the third and final in a series of next generation communications satellites.
- TDRS-M will become part of NASA's Space Network providing navigation and high-data-rate communications to the International Space Station, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, rockets and a host of other spacecraft.
- TDRS-M will expand the capabilities and extend the lifespan of the Space Network by receiving and transmitting mission data well into the next decade.
Monroe Doctrine
- It is a policy named after American President James Monroe, adopted by U.S in 1823.
- By this policy, U.S decided to oppose colonial intervention into the Americas by European empires.
- The Doctrine was aimed at preserving the political independence that Latin American nations won from their European colonisers.
- It stated that any future European intervention in the Americas would be considered an act of aggression that would cause the U.S. to intervention in it.
