What is the position of Indian Passport in the Passport Index of 2019?

Delhi High Court has allowed that Section 354A of Indian Penal Code (IPC) can be used by transgenders to register complaints of sexual harassment. According to the police, there was a lack of an appropriate penal section under which they could register such a complaint.

India evacuated its entire contingent of 15 CRPF personnel from Tripoli after the situation suddenly worsened in Libya. The CRPF contingent was deployed as a peacekeeping force in Tripoli. The military conflict in Libya escalated after forces of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar launched an air strike yesterday in an area in Tripoli and the government vowed a major counteroffensive. The United Nations called for a two-hour truce to allow evacuations of civilians and the wounded. Rivalries between Haftar and the government threaten to plunge the country into a civil war. Indian Ambassador in Tunisia has the concurrent charge of Libya.

The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has launched Shehri Samridhi Utsav to extend the outreach of DAY-NULM (Deendayal Antyodaya Mission - National Urban Livelihoods Mission) to the most vulnerable. The event will also showcase its initiatives and facilitate access of Self-Help Group (SHG) members to the other government schemes.

Fitch Rating affirms India's sovereign rating at the lowest investment grade of BBB-with a stable outlook. The growth rate of India forecasted by Fitch is 6.8% in financial year 2019-20 and 7.1% in FY 2020-21.According to Fitch, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regulations has been eased and there is reduction in red tape but still there are some difficulties in doing business in India due to which India's rating is not upgraded. Since 2006, this is the 13th year in a row that India is getting "BBB" ranking from Fitch. On August 1, 2006, Fitch had upgraded the India's rating from "BB+" to "BBB".

The total deposits in Jan Dhan Account are set to cross Rs 1 lakh crore soon. The scheme was launched on 28th August 2014 by the Modi-government with an aim to provide universal access to banking facilities to all households. On 3rd April, the total balance in the Jan Dhan accounts was at Rs 97,665.66 and the total number of Jan Dhan accounts crossed 35.39 crores. Also, more than 27.89 crores account holders have been issued the Rupay debit cards.Recently, the government increased the accident insurance cover to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 1 lakh for new accounts opened after 28th August 2018 and the overdraft limit was also doubled to Rs 10,000.

India will host the Under-17 Women's Football World Cup in 2020. This was announced by the President of International Football Federation (FIFA) Gianni Infantino after the council meeting in Miami, USA. This will be the second FIFA tournament India will be hosting, after the U-17 Men's World Cup in 2017.

India ranked at the 54th Position with a score of 47.93 out of 100 among the world's most innovative countries according to the Bloomberg 2019 Innovative Index. South Korea retained its top spot with a score of 87.38, Germany ranked second with a score of 87.30 whereas Finland has been ranked at the third spot with a score of 85.70. The Annual Bloomberg Innovation Index ranks countries by analyzing their performances using seven metrics including Research and Development spending, Manufacturing Categories and Concentration of high-tech public computers.

A recent study published in PLOS Biology, an international journal dedicated to biological science, found that human impacts on species occur across 84% of the earth's surface and India ranks 16th in such impacts, with 35 species impacted on an average. Malaysia ranks first among the countries with the highest number of impacted species (125). A team of scientists led by James Allan (University of Queensland) found this when they mapped the distribution of eight human activities - including hunting and conversion of natural habitats for agriculture - in areas occupied by 5,457 threatened birds, mammals and amphibians worldwide. Using sources, including the recently-updated Human Footprint data, they found that a staggering 1,237 species are impacted by threats in more than 90% of their habitat; 395 species are affected by threats across their entire range.

The Lok Sabha passed a Bill to amend the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018. The amendment will allow individuals to offer voluntarily biometric ID as a means of identity verification for obtaining services such as opening a bank account and getting a mobile phone connection. The Bill also gives a minor the option to opt out of the 12-digit identity scheme on attaining the age of 18. It provides for stiff penalties for violation of norms set for the use of Aadhaar and bans service providers from storing core biometric information and Aadhaar number of individuals who voluntarily offer it as a means of authentication.

India submitted its Sixth National Report (NR6) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The report was submitted online to the CBD Secretariat by the Environment Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, during the inaugural session of the 13th National Meeting of the State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) in New Delhi. With this, India is among the first five countries in the world, the first in Asia and the first among the biodiversity-rich mega diverse countries to have submitted the report. The submission of national reports is a mandatory obligation on parties to international treaties, including the CBD. The NR6 provides an update of progress in achievement of 12 National Biodiversity Targets (NBT) developed under the convention process in line with the 20 global Aichi biodiversity targets. As per report, the population of the lion has risen from 177 in 1968 to over 520 in 2015 and elephants from 12 thousand in the 1970s to 30 thousand in 2015.