Current Affairs Assam – August 2018
( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the month of August 2018 )
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August 14
Pune ranked first in the Ease of Living Index 2018
Pune has been ranked first in the Ease of Living Index launched by Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, with Navi Mumbai coming in second.
Mumbai has been ranked three, followed by Triputi, Chandigarh, Thane, Raipur, Indore, Vijaywada, and Bhopal.
The Ease of Living Index has been based on four parameters, viz. governance, social institutions, economic and physical infrastructure. The survey was conducted on 111 cities in the country.
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India, is the apex body for formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws relating to the housing and urban development in India.
The Ministry became independent from Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation in 2004, but was re-merged with it in 2017.
The ministry also published the National City Rating, which ranked the cleanest cities in India, under which Indore was rated as the cleanest.
The ministry announced Smart Cities in India on 27 August 2015.
CPI Index at 4.17% and Wholesale inflation at 5.09% in July
Consumer price index (CPI) inflation in July as it rose 4.17% compared with 2.36% in the same month last year. The CPI inflation eased 73 basis point (bps) in July mainly on softer fruit and vegetables. Structural “forces” like crude, petroleum and others continued to keep the upward pressure on headline CPI inflation.
Food inflation was 1.3% last month compared with 2.9% in June, while the fuel and light inflation remained elevated at 7.96% compared with 7.14% in the previous month. Housing inflation also saw a marginal uptick at 8.3% compared with 8.45% in June.
Sharp decline in retail inflation to 4.17%, closer to RBI’s 4% inflation target will give a lot of comfort to monetary authorities. The CPI inflation in Q2 FY2019 looks set to lag the MPC’s estimate of 4.6%, reducing the likelihood of a rate hike in the October 2018 policy review.
Wholesale inflation eased to 5.07 per cent in July on account of cheaper food articles, especially fruits and vegetables. The wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation was recorded at 5.77 per cent in June. In July 2017, it was at 1.88 per cent.
- The wholesale inflation in food articles category was 2.16 per cent in July as against 1.80 per cent in the previous month.
- Vegetable prices fell by 14.07 per cent during the reported month as compared to a growth of 8.12 per cent in June.
- Likewise, there was an 8.81 per cent fall in wholesale prices of fruits in July as against a rise of 3.87 per cent in the preceding month.
- In pulses category, inflation stood at 17.03 per cent as against 20.23 per cent.
FACTFILE – Consumer Price Index (CPI)
- If measures changes in the price level of market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households.
- The CPI is a statistical estimate constructed using the prices of a sample of representative items whose prices are collected periodically.
- It is one of several price indices calculated by most national statistical agencies.
FACTFILE – Wholesale Price Index
- The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is the price of a representative basket of wholesale goods.
- The WPI is published by the Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
- The Wholesale Price Index focuses on the price of goods traded between corporations, rather than goods bought by consumers, which is measured by the Consumer Price Index.
- The purpose of the WPI is to monitor price movements that reflect supply and demand in industry, manufacturing and construction.
Challenges faced by the Bamboo sector of Northeast
Over 67 per cent of India’s bamboo grows in the Northeast but the region is not able to realize the huge potential of it. Much of this is because of the Centre’s ‘failure’ of two much-touted bamboo missions.
The reluctance of the New Delhi-based North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR) which is actually headquartered in Shillong but it has not shifted office to Shillong since it was formed five years ago.
The Northeast’s bamboo sector has been plagued by anomalies and mismanagement for years. Two major projects – National Mission on Bamboo Technology (NMBT) and National Bamboo Mission (NBM) – were implemented in the past decade but with little impact on the ground, as those were plagued by corruption and mismanagement.
Experts believe that the harnessing the Northeast’s bamboo potential is critical to the fructification of any bamboo mission in the country.
Local entrepreneurs are enduring a tough time even as Indian markets are being flooded with products from China and Vietnam and we are in no position to compete. Only a few industries got technology development assistance from the National Mission on Bamboo Applications (NMBA).
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