GHI is designed to measure and track hunger globally and by country and region.
It is calculated each year by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
The GHI ranks countries on a 100-point scale. Zero is the best score and 100 is the worst.
The components are -
Undernourishment - The proportion of undernourished people as a percentage of the population.
Child wasting - The proportion of children under the age of five who suffer from wasting i.e low weight for their height, reflecting acute under-nutrition.
Child stunting - The proportion of children under the age of five who suffer from stunting i.e low height for their age, reflecting chronic under-nutrition &
Child mortality - The mortality rate of children under the age of five.
India ranks 100 among 119 countries with a score of 31.4 and hunger situation in the “Serious” category.
Over three-year duration, the country has seen a slide of 45 positions from 55 in 2014.
According to the report, India is better only than Pakistan and Afghanistan among the Asian countries.
RE-Invest 2017
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is organising the 2nd edition of RE-Invest with France as the partner Country.
It is the flagship event to highlight achievements and attract investments in the clean energy sector.
It has been envisioned as a global event to deliberate upon strategies for development and deployment of renewable.
A highlight of this edition will be the founding ceremony of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
The formal founding of the ISA follows ratification of membership by the minimum 15 member states.
The Pacific island Kiribati became the 41st member to join the ISA.
UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
US have recently announced its withdrawal from UNESCO, accusing the organisation as Anti-Israel bias.
UNESCO is the first UN agency to have admitted Palestine as a full member in 2011.
The withdrawal goes into effect at the end of 2018.
UNESCO is responsible for promoting peace, social justice, human rights and international security through International cooperation on educational, science and cultural programs.
It has 195 member states and is based in Paris, France.
It is a global development agency with missions that include promoting sex education, literacy, clean water and equality for women.
It is known for its World Heritage Mission which encourages world countries to protect Natural and Cultural Heritage sites.
It publishes Global Education Monitoring report and Gender Parity Index.
It also leads the initiative of Man and Biosphere Programme for protecting Biosphere reserves across the world.
Srisailam Reservoir
The Srisailam dam is constructed across the Krishna River in Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have been at loggerheads about release of water from the reservoir to irrigation schemes.
Consequently, the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB), an autonomous board was constituted.
It regulated the drawing of water from common irrigation projects Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar.
The recent rain brings copious inflow to the reservoir and it is being opened up for the first time in this water year.
Nagarjuna Sagar Dam was also built across the Krishna River where the river forms the boundary between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
International Day for Disaster Reduction
The day held every year on 13th October since 1989 to promote a global culture of risk-awareness and disaster reduction.
The 2017 campaign seeks to raise global awareness about effective actions, policies and practices taken to reduce exposure to disaster risk at the community level.
The "Sendai Seven" campaign which centred on the seven targets of the Sendai Framework was launched last year.
The first of the seven targets is reducing disaster mortality.
United Nation Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) acts as the designated agency for the coordination of disaster reduction strategies.
TOPEX/Poseidon
It is the joint satellite mission launched by NASA and French space agency in the year 1992 to map ocean surface topography.
It is the first satellite to precisely measure the rising sea levels.
It mapped global tides for the first time and monitored effects of currents on global climate change.
MedWatch
The Indian Air Force has launched an innovative mobile health App named 'MedWatch'.
It comprises a host of features that will provide authentic health information to all IAF personnel.
It acts as a reminder for timely immunisation for the children of all Air Warriors, enabling ‘Mission Indradhanush' programme.
