GUJARAT

Number of PhD scholars in Gujarat rose 160% in 6 years

Gujarat witnessed a one-and-a-half times increase in the number of candidates enrolling for doctoral programmes in 2017-18 compared to 2011-12.
This high rate of growth, about 17% annually, demolishes the notion that research studies are not given much importance at Gujarat varsities and that there are few takers for these programmes.

In 2011-12, 2,270 candidates enrolled for PhD studies. In 2018-19, this number had reached 5,917, according to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) annual report, which was recently published by the HRD ministry.

The student-teacher ratio, which was 27:1 a few years ago is now 24:1. Over the last eight years, the number of universities offering PhD programmes in the state also doubled, from about 22 in 2011-12 to about 44 now.

The increase in numbers indicates that universities and institutes in Gujarat are encouraging more original research.

INTERNATIONAL

Bangladesh becomes 2nd fastest growing economy in South Asia

Bangladesh has become the second-fastest growing economy in South Asia after Bhutan.

World Bank in its report ‘South Asia Economic Focus, Making (De) Centralization Work’ says that GDP growth rate of the country is projected to moderate to 7.2 per cent this fiscal year and 7.3 per cent in 2020 in Bangladesh.

In Bhutan, GDP growth is expected to jump to 7.4 per cent this fiscal year.

Growth in South Asia is projected to fall to 5.9 per cent in 2019.

· World Bank forecasts Indias GDP forecast to 6 percent

ð World Bank said that India’s growth rate is projected to fall to 6% in 2019-20 following the deceleration in the initial quarters of this fiscal. World Bank said that India is expected to gradually recover to 6.9% in FY21 and 7.2% in FY22 in its latest edition of the South Asia Economic Focus. In April 2019, World Bank projected India’s growth rate as 7.5%.

ð The World Bank report said that in the first quarter of 2019-20, the Indian economy experienced a significant and broad-based growth deceleration with a sharp decline on the demand side and the weakening of growth in both industry and services on the supply side.

NATIONAL

· Indian Railways to become net zero carbon emitter

Indian Railways (IR)has announced that it will become anet-zero carbon emitter by 2030. The move will be a part of India’s strategy to combat climate change. The announcement was made by railways and commerce minister Piyush Goyal at the India Energy Forum by CERAWEEK in New Delhi. India stands third as the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China. Also, India is among countries most vulnerable to climate change.
India is moving to curb pollution and cut its dependence on foreign oil. The country has become one of the top renewable energy producers globally with ambitious capacity expansion plans. India is running the world’s largest renewable energy program. The installed renewable energy capacity of the country is about 80 gigawatts (GW). As a part of its climate commitments, it also plans to achieve 175GW by 2022 and 500GW by 2030.

Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo jointly win Booker Prize

Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo have jointly won the 2019 Booker Prize.

British Indian novelist Salman Rushdie’s tragicomic ‘Quichotte’ was among the six books shortlisted for the prize.

The Booker rules say the prize must not be divided, but the judges insisted they could not separate Atwood’s – ‘The Testament’ and ‘Girl, Woman, Other’ by Evaristo, who is the first black woman to win the prestigious award since its creation in 1969.

The rules were changed after the last tie in 1992, and organisers told this year’s judges that they were not allowed to pick two winners.

ICC changes super over the rule for all its major events
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has changed the super overrule for all its major events.

The decision came after the uproar over the outcome of the men’s World Cup final this year when England was declared winners against New Zealand on boundary count.

As per new rule, in case of a super over the tie, there will be a repeated super over until one team has more runs than the other.

In July this year, England won their first-ever World Cup title. In the final, the winner was not decided after the 50-over and super over action, both of which were tied.

Sourav Ganguly set to be new BCCI President

Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly has been unanimously nominated as the new President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, BCCI.

Board member Rajiv Shukla tweeted the names of new administrative heads for BCCI.

· TCS named Indias most outstanding company

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)has been selected as the overall most outstanding company in India’s IT services sector inAsiamoney’s 2019 outstanding companies poll. Asiamoney’s various investor surveys recognized TCS as the most awarded company of the decade in India including awards like the best-managed companies award, the corporate governance poll.

The companies that have excelled in areas such as financial performance, management team excellence, investor relation activities, and CSR initiatives will be considered.

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