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.
