India got 135 rank in Human Development Index

India got 135 rank in Human Development Index, released by United Nations Development Programme on 24th July. The Human Development Index is a composite index that measures income, education (average years of education completed by adults, and expected years of education for children entering school) and health (life expectancy). Since 1990, the UNDP has calculated an HDI for every country in the world and ranked them. 

India’s human development index has improved very slightly but remains among the median countries in terms of human development, just seven places above Bangladesh 

Important points

• India HDI value is 0.586, out of a maximum possible 1
• India is 135 India’s human development index improved slower in the 2000s than it did in the 1980s despite much faster economic growth, the report shows.
• The improvement in the 2000s was better than in the 1990s.
• When inequality is factored in, India loses nearly 30% of its HDI value.
• India’s human development indicators are also substantially different for men and women
• The HDI for men alone is much higher at 0.627, while the HDI for Indian women alone is just 0.519.
• The report further said that none of the BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—were in the high human development category and India remained at the bottom with lowest HDI value among them.
• Among the BRICS countries, Russia secured the highest rank at 57, followed by Brazil at 79 and China at 91. South Africa and India secured 118th and 135th position, respectively.
• The HDI reflects long-term progress in three basic dimensions of human lives—a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living. In 2013, the study covered 187 countries, the same as in 2012 and 2011.
• The report said that based on the data available on 15 November 2013, there were few countries with changed in ranks between 2012 and 2013.
• In India, 10.9% of parliamentary seats are held by women, and 26.6% of adult women have reached at least some secondary education compared with 50.4% of their male counterparts.
• India’s 55.3% of population were multi-dimensionally poor, while an additional 18.2% were near multi-dimensional poverty, the report said.
• Introducing a new index, Gender Development Index (GDI), which is ratio of female to male HDI, in 2013 female HDI value for India stood at 0.519 in contrast with 0.627 for males. The GDI was calculated for 148 countries.

About Human Development Index

• The Human Development Index (HDI) was created by the Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq and the Indian economist Amartya Sen in 1990 and was published by the United Nations Development Programme.
• the 2010 Human Development Report a further Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI) was introduced.
• ile the simple HDI remains useful, it stated that "the IHDI is the actual level of human development (accounting for inequality)" and "the HDI can be viewed as an index of "potential" human development (or the maximum IHDI that could be achieved if there were no inequality)"
• e origins of the HDI are found in the annual Development Reports of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

About UNDP

• ited Nations Development Programme is the United Nations global development net work.
• s headquarters are at in New York City. It formed in 1985. At present its head is Helen Clark

HRD ordered to include Third Gender

The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has advised all States and Union Territories (UTs), barring Jammu and Kashmir, to take appropriate action for the inclusion of “third gender’’ children among socially and educationally backward classes for admission in educational institutions under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) to universalize elementary education. This is in keeping with the Supreme Court order of April 15, 2014, to treat and grant legal recognition to the “third gender”.

5th Sahyadri Cine Awards 2014 presented in Mumbai

5th Sahyadri Cine Awards 2014 were presented in Mumbai on 25 July 2014. The award ceremony was sponsored by Godrej Expert.

CEO, Prasar Bharati, Jawahar Sircar was the Chief Guest at the 5th edition of the Cine Awards ceremony, organized by DD Sahyadri TV channel of Doordarshan Kendra, Mumbai.

Sunil Sukhtankar’s Marathi Film ‘Astu’, Nagraj Manjule’s- ‘Fandry’ and Mahesh Limaye’s ‘Yellow’ won top honours at the Sahyadri Cine Awards.

Important Awards and Honours
• Sumitra and Sunil Sukhtankar’s ‘Astu’,   that has won critical acclaim, was adjudged the Best Film. The film starring veteran actor Mohan Agashe with Iravati Harshe, Milind Soman and an Elephant in a leading role, is a depiction of the Indian value system. 
• On the other hand, Nagraj Manjule’s directorial debut ‘Fandry’ focuses on romance amidst caste  based discrimination. Manjule won the Best Director Award. Earlier, he had also won the Indira  Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director at the 61st National Film Awards instituted by the Government of India.
• 2014 Marathi Film ‘Yellow’,  directed by Mahesh Limaye and produced by Riteish Deshmukh got the special Jury Award. The film explores a mother-daughter relationship and developmental disability of a child suffering from Down’s Syndrome. 
• Ashok Lokhande won the Best Actor Male award for “Yashwantrao Chavan- Ek Bakhar’, while Smita Tambe won the Best Actor Female  award for “72 Mile -Ek Pravas.”
• Oscar Awardee Resul Pookutty won the Best Sound Award for the film ‘Rainy Day’.

List of Awardees

Sr. No	Category	Name of Awardees	Name of film
1	Best Film	N/A	‘Astu’
2	Best Director	Nagraj Manjule	‘Fandry’
3	Jury Special Award film	N/A	‘Yellow’
4	Best Actor Male	Ashok Lokhande	‘Yashwantrao Chavan : Ek Bakhar’
5	Best Actor Female	Smita Tambe	‘72 Mile : Ek Pravas’
6	Special contribution to Marathi Cinema	Mahesh Kothare
7	Special Mention – Social Biopic	Samruddhi Pore	Dr. Prakash Baba Amte
8	Best Child Artiste	Mihiresh Joshi/Yash Kulkarni	‘Avatarachi Goshtha’
9	Best Supporting  Actor- Male	Rushikesh Joshi	‘Yellow’
10	Best supporting actor-Female	Tejashri Pradhan	‘Lagna Pahave Karun’
11	Best Sound	Resul Pookutty	‘Rainy Day’
12	Best Screen Play	Nitish Bharadwaj/ Pravin Tarde	Pitrarun
13	Best Story	Nitin Dixit	‘Avatarachi Goshta’
14	Best Dialogue	Sanjeev Kolte	‘Rangkarmi’
15	Best Lyrics	Sanjay Krushnaji Patil	‘72 Mile : Ek Pravas’
16	Best Music	Atul Lohar	Pikuli
17	Best Playback Male	Aadarsha Shinde	‘Duniyadari’
18	Best Playback Female	Vaishali Made	‘Vaghi’
19	Best Backround Music	Shashank Powar	Gulam Begam Badshaha
20	Best Art Director	Satish Bidkar/ Prashant Bidkar	‘Sat Na Gat’
21	Best Cameraman	Ishwar Bidri	‘Thoda Tujha Thoda Majha’
22	Best Editing	Dipak Birkud/ Vilas Ranade	‘Ranbhumi’
23	Best Choreographer	Lila Gandhi	‘Yashwantrao Chavan: Ek Bakhar’

P5+1 and Iran nuclear talks

Foreign ministers of United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China met in Vienna to reach to a concrete solution for Iran’s nuclear program.

The United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China want Iran to reduce its nuclear fuel-making capacity to deny it any means of quickly producing atom bombs. In exchange, international sanctions that have crippled the large OPEC member's oil-dependent economy would gradually be lifted. 

Iran says it is enriching uranium for peaceful energy purposes only and wants the sanctions removed swiftly. But a history of hiding sensitive nuclear work from U.N. inspectors raised international suspicions and the risk of a new Middle East war if diplomacy fails to yield a long-term settlement. 

IRAN and P5+1The P5+1 is a group of six world powers which in 2006 joined the diplomatic efforts with Iran with regard to its nuclear program. The term refers to the P5 or five permanent members of the UN Security Council, namely United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, and France, plus Germany. P5+1 is often referred to as the E3+3 (or E3/EU+3) by European countries. 

Joint Plan of Action
On November 24, 2014, Iran Foreign Minister Zarif and Catherine Ashton, head of the P5+1 negotiating team, signed the proposal, known as the Joint Plan of Action. 

Elements of the First Phase
Iranian actions:

• Convert half of its stockpile of uranium enriched to 20 percent to oxide form and downblend the remainder to an enrichment level of no more than five percent;
• suspend production of uranium enriched to above five percent;
• no further advances in nuclear activities at the Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant, the enrichment plant at Fordow and the Arak heavy water reactor;
• convert uranium enriched up to five percent produced during the six months to oxide form when the construction of the conversion facility is completed;
• no new enrichment facilities;
• research and development practices, including on enrichment, will continue under IAEA safeguards;
• no reprocessing of spent plutonium fuel or construction of any facility capable of reprocessing; and
• enhanced monitoring including, providing information to the IAEA on plans for nuclear sites and the Arak reactor, negotiating a safeguards approach for the Arak reactor, allow daily IAEA access to Natanz and Fordow, and allow managed access to centrifuge workshops and uranium mines and mills.

P5+1 Actions:

• No new nuclear-related sanctions from the UN Security Council, the EU, and the U.S.;
• pause efforts to further reduce Iran’s oil sales and partial repatriation of frozen Iranian assets from oil sales;
• suspension of U.S. and EU sanctions on petrochemical exports and gold and precious metals;
• suspension of U.S. sanctions on Iran’s auto industry;
• supply and installation of spare parts for Iranian civil airplanes, including repairs and safety inspections;
• establish a financial channel for humanitarian goods using Iran’s oil revenues that are frozen abroad, which can also be used for tuition payments for Iranian student abroad and payment of Iran’s UN dues; and
• increase of the EU thresholds for non-sanctioned trade with Iran.