 Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has topped the list of "smart cities" in the Middle East and Africa, according to the Abu Dhabi's Department of Culture and Tourism. Covering 50 international cities, a report by McKinsey Global Institute titled "Smart Cities: Digital Solutions for a More Livable Future" views how cities all over the world use technology to improve the quality of life. With a rating of 18.4, Abu Dhabi ranked the first in the region ahead of Dubai, which was placed the second with a rating of 17.3. |
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According to McKinsey, three factors make a city smart.
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| Source- The Aljazeera |
 With the persistent decline in poverty, India is no longer a nation having the largest number of poor people in the world, according to a study published by the US-based think tank, Brookings. The study, titled 'The start of a new poverty narrative' and published in the Brookings' blog, is authored by Homi Kharas, Kristofer Hamel and Martin Hofer. According to the study, Nigeria has already overtaken India as the country with the largest number of extreme poor in early 2018, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo could soon take over the number 2 spot. |
| Source- Business-Standards |
 NITI Aayog launched the first Delta ranking, incremental progress, for the Aspirational Districts in the country. The ranking is based on self-reported data of districts between March 31 to May 31, 2018, across five developmental areas of Health and Nutrition, Education, Agriculture and Water Resources, Financial Inclusion and Skill Development and Basic Infrastructure. The rankings were launched by NITI Aayog, CEO Amitabh Kant in New Delhi. The purpose of this ranking is to spur a sense of competition among the dynamic teams in the districts. According to ranking, Dahod district of Gujarat improved 19.8 points to rank first. West Sikkim district in Sikkim stood second with 18.9 points, a huge improvement from being in the 30th position in Baseline ranking. |
| Source- AIR World Service |
 The US State Department categorised North Korea as one of the “worst human trafficking nations” for the 16th straight year, citing the use of forced labour. According to the annual ‘2018 Trafficking in Persons Report’, North Korea has been included in the Tier 3 category, which is the lowest ranking, along with China, Russia and Iran. |
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Reasons for categorisation of North Korea as the worst human trafficking country:
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| The '2018 Trafficking in Persons Report' placed India in Tier 2 category for making significant effort to comply with the US standards. However, India does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. |
| Source- The Financial Express |
 According to the Cost of Living Survey published by global personnel consultants Mercer, Mumbai continues to be the most expensive city in India to live in for expatriates, ahead of global peers Washington and Melbourne. However, India’s Silicon Valley, Bengaluru is getting more reasonable on cost of living. Hong Kong is ranked as the world's costliest city to live in for expatriates, followed by Tokyo, Zurich, Singapore, and Seoul. This year’s ranking includes 209 cities across five continents and measures the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment. |
| Source- The Financial Express |
 The Ministry of Women and Child Development has come up with its report titled ‘Women in Prisons’ which aims to build an understanding of the various entitlements of women in prisons, the various issues faced by them and possible methods for resolution of the same. The report contains a comprehensive list of 134 recommendations for improving the lives of women under incarceration, addressing a wide range of issues pertaining to pregnancy and childbirth in prison, mental health, legal aid, reintegration in society and their caregiving responsibilities among others. |
| Source- DD News |
 India is the world's most dangerous country for women due to the high risk of sexual violence and being forced into slave labour, according to a poll of global experts. War-torn Afghanistan and Syria ranked second and third in the Thomson Reuters Foundation survey of about 550 experts on women's issues, followed by Somalia and Saudi Arabia. The only Western nation in the top 10 was the United States, which ranked joint third when respondents were asked where women were most at risk of sexual violence, harassment and being coerced into sex. Government data shows reported cases of crime against women rose by 83% between 2007 and 2016. |
| Source- The Quint |
 The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) launches the findings of SIPRI Yearbook 2018, which assesses the current state of armaments, disarmament and international security. |
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Key findings include the following:
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| At the start of 2018 nine states—the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) - possessed approximately 14,465 nuclear weapons. This marked a decrease from the approximately 14 935 nuclear weapons that SIPRI estimated these states possessed at the beginning of 2017. The decrease in the overall number of nuclear weapons in the world is due mainly to Russia and the USA—which together still account for nearly 92% of all nuclear weapons—further reducing their strategic nuclear forces pursuant to the implementation of the 2010 Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. |
| Source- sipri.org |
 The U.S. has surpassed India to become the top destination for greenfield foreign direct investment in 2017, according to the FDI Report 2018, compiled by FDI Intelligence, a division of The Financial Times Ltd. The number of greenfield FDI projects in India during the year fell sharply by 21% to 637. India had maintained the top slot in greenfield FDI investment in 2015 and 2016. However, in 2017, the U.S. reclaimed the spot from India, recording $87.4 billion of announced FDI. In the Asia and Pacific region, China was on top in terms of FDI in the total number of new projects and capital investment, followed by India. |
| Source- The Quint |
 Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare released the 11th Common Review Mission (CRM) report of the National Health Mission. As per the Report, India has registered a record 22% reduction in MMR since 2013,which is the highest percentage decline so far when compared to all the previous reductions in MMR as per the earlier rounds of SRS. Maternal Mortality Ratio in India has declined from 167 in 2011-2013 to 130 in 2014-2016. |
| Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB) |
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