Notes:
The second edition of the “Healthy States, Progressive India” report has been released by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar. Kerala has topped among large states on overall health performance in NITI Aayog’s Health Index followed by Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Though, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have emerged as the worst performing states. However, in terms of incremental performance Haryana, Rajasthan and Jharkhand are the top three states who performed well in comparison to the last health index. The report ranks states and Union territories innovatively on their year-on-year incremental change in health outcomes, as well as, their overall performance with respect to each other. The report focuses on measuring and highlighting the overall performance and incremental improvement over a two-year period, 2016-17 and 2017-18 in the States and UTs. It takes a comprehensive look at health in terms of Health Outcomes, Governance and Processes and impact of policy interventions. The report has been prepared in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and with technical assistance from the World Bank.

Notes:
Krishnaswamy Natarajan has beenappointed as the new Director General (DG) of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG). He will take over the charge after incumbent Rajendra Singh retires on 30th June 2019. An alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Natarajan is now serving as Additional Director General and Coast Guard Commander (West) at Mumbai. He was instrumental in giving a fillip to the overall growth of the Coast Guard, post 26/11, in terms of assets and infrastructure development including a dedicated academy.

Notes:
In Boxing, Indian team has been adjudged the best team of the tournament in the Black Forest Cup in Villingen, Schwenningen, Germany. In the tournament, the Indian junior women pugilists clinched 7 medals, including five gold. Haryana’s Neha (54kg) and Karnataka’s Anju Devi (50kg) claimed the honours of best boxer and promising player of the tournament. Ten countries including India, Ukraine, Germany, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Hungary, Lithuania, Mongolia, Greece, and Poland took part in this tournament. India’s powerful performances helped the contingent win the best team trophy.

Notes:
The South-East Asian countries will jointly bid to host the 2034 Football World Cup. For this, the meeting of ASEAN countries was held in Bangkok. Prime Minister of Thailand Prayuth Chan-ocha invited the people of ASEAN to support the football associations in their countries to host the tournament. The FIFA World Cup has held only once in the continent when Japan and South Korea were joint hosts in 2002. Qatar will bring it back to Asia in 2022. The ASEAN countries are Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei. ASEAN region is home to more than 640 million people many of whom follow football avidly.

Notes:
On June 23, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has formally opened its new headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, exactly 125 years after the Olympic Games were revived. The new headquarters costs 145 million Swiss francs ($145 million). The Olympic House has been built on the site of the former headquarters, and 95% of the old materials were reused and recycled. The signature feature is a central staircase linking together the five Olympic rings. Designed by architecture firm 3XN of Denmark, the energy-efficient building has won international awards for sustainability. Renewable energy is provided using solar panels on the roof and pumps taking water from Lake Geneva. It also brings around 500 IOC employees under one roof.