19th Nov to 20th Nov 2014

ndia won the 2014 West Indies tour of India cricket series, 2-1

20-OCT-2014

India on 17 October 2014 won the 5 match 2014 West Indies tour of India cricket series against West Indies, 2-1. The third and the fifth match of the series were cancelled.
The third match that was supposed to be played in ACA-VDCA Stadium, Visakhapatnam on 14 October 2014 was cancelled, due to Cyclonic Storm Hudhud. While, the fifth and final match of the series was not played because, the Caribbean team decided to pull out the remainder of India tour in the wake of an acrimonious pay dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board
Match report of West Indies in India
• Match 1: Played on 8 October 2014 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi. West Indies won the match by 124 runs. Man of the Match was Marlon Samuels
• Match 2: Played on 11 October 2014 at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi. India won the match by 48 runs. Man of the Match was Mohammed Shami
• Match 3: Was cancelled due to Cyclone Hudhud
• Match 4: Played on 17 October 2014 at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala. India won the match by 59 runs. Man of the Match was Virat Kohli
• Match 5: was supoped to be played on 20 October 2014 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, but the match was cancelled after the Caribbean side decided to pull out its India tour

Captains of the two teams
• India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni
• West Indies: Dwayne Bravo

Vanita Gupta appointed as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in DoJ of US

20-OCT-2014

Vanita Gupta, an Indian-American attorney was appointed as temporary head of Department of Justice’s civil rights division (DoJ). The appointment was announced by the Department of Justice (DoJ) on 15 October 2014.
She took the charge of the office, as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Acting Assistant Attorney General at the DoJ from 20 October 2014. She replaced Molly Moran, who was appointed as Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General of DoJ.
She was nominated by the US President Barack Obama for the post in Department of Justice’s civil rights division. Before the appointment she was serving as the Deputy Legal Director at the American Civil Liberties Union.
About Vanita Gupta
• Vanita Gupta (39) was born in the Philadelphia. She is a graduate of Yale and New York University Law School.
• In 2003, she started her career at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF), where she won a challenge to reverse the convictions of a group of black men who were wrongfully convicted of selling drugs in Texas.
• While serving at the American Civil Liberties Union, Gupta fought to improve the conditions of children and their families of immigration detention in 2007.

Joko Widodo sworn in as Indonesia President

20-OCT-2014

Joko Widodo on 20 October 2014 was sworn in as seventh president of Indonesia. Widodo emerged as the winner with 53 percent of the votes and defeated his rival Prabowo Subianto, a former general from the era of authoritarian ruler Suharto.

Joko Widodo who belongs to Indonesian Democratic Party will serve a five-year term as the Indonesia President along with Jusuf Kalla, a businessman and onetime vice president under Mr. Yudhoyono.
Both Widodo and Jusuf Kalla were sworn in at the national legislature before local leaders and visiting foreign dignitaries.
Widodo replaced Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who stepped down after serving a maximum of 10 years.

Joko Widodo
•   Born in 1961, Mr Joko grew up in the Central Java city of Solo as a son of wood-seller.
•   After graduating with a forestry degree in 1985, Joko set up a business supplying wood flooring, before settling into manufacturing furniture.
•   He began his political career with the PDI-P party when he was elected as the mayor of Solo in 2005.
•   In 2010, he was re-elected as the mayor of Solo for second term with more than 90 percent of the vote.
•   In 2012, he was elected as the governor of Jakarta which made him a contender for presidency.

Union Government launched Jammu Kashmir Arogya Gram Yojna in J&K

20-OCT-2014

Union Government on 18 October 2014 launched Jammu Kashmir Arogya Gram Yojna in Jammu and Kashmir. The scheme aims to encourage farmers in J&K to cultivate scientifically tested and commercially beneficial aromatic and medicinal plants in the state.

The scheme is a part of the grand plan of the Government to convert the hilly areas of the country as exclusive zones of high-value organic farm products. The Union Government will initially spend over 25 crore rupees on this scheme.
About the Scheme

Under the scheme, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), will help the farmers with expert guidance and provide them saplings of as many as nine varieties of medicinal and aromatic plants. CSIR is the Research and Development body of the government.
The plant varieties, selected for J&K, include five different varieties of lemon grass (Cymbopogon), Rose (Rosa), Mint (Mentha), Ashwagandha (Withaniasomnifera) and Phalsa fruit plant.

Initially, 1000 villages of Kathua, Jammu and Udhampur in the state will be covered under the scheme. Similar schemes will be launched in other states, keeping in mind soil condition, suitable plant varieties and size and type of land holdings.

Benefit of the Scheme
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Dr Jitendra Singh said that this scheme is a new concept whereby the agricultural land with the potential for growth of aromatic plants will be identified and CSIR scientists as well as aroma experts from different parts of the country will educate and train the local farmers to bring up this cultivation.

The institutes involved
Different CSIR institutions like Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM), Institute of Himalayan Bio-resource Technology (IHBT), Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) and North Eastern Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST) will be associated with the implementation of the scheme, first in Jammu and Kashmir and then in other states.

Why they choose Jammu

The ministry officials confirmed that one of the important reasons to start this new scheme from Jammu region was that the IIIM (Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine), Jammu has been actively pursuing research and production of aromatic medicinal and perfumery products for several decades and some of the products produced from this laboratory are of international export quality.

Nine varieties of scientifically tested and commercially beneficial plant saplings will be provided by IIIM Jammu and under the guidance CSIR experts, the project will start from the border district of Kathua

Union Cabinet approved inter-governmental MoU to upgrade Chabahar port of Iran

20-OCT-2014

The Union Cabinet on 18 October 2014 approved an inter-governmental Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Iran to upgrade the Chabahar port Phase-I.

Under the Chabahar port Phase-I project India will set up a Joint Venture (JV) Company with an investment of 85.21 million US dollar and operate the port for 10 years, through a leasing agreement.

The Company will equip two fully-constructed berths in Chabahar port within 12 months, one as a container terminal and second as a multi-purpose cargo terminal.

India will transfer ownership of the equipment to be provided through the investment to Chabahar port and maritime organisation without any payment at the end of the tenth year of operation and can also form a joint venture company that could include one or more Iranian companies

About Chabahar port
Chabahar port is located in the Sistan-Baluchistan Province on south-eastern coast of Iran, which lies outside the Persian Gulf and it is easily accessed from western coast of India. India can access to Zaranj in Afghanistan which is at a distance of 883 km by using Chahbahar port

Tropical Storm Trudy struck Mexico

20-OCT-2014

Trudy: A Tropical Storm that struck Mexico
Trudy is a Tropical Storm that struck Mexico on 19 October 2014. It was in news after it made its landfall on the Pacific coast about 125 kilometers to east of Acapulco. With landfall, it killed six people and also prompted evacuations.
Trudy carried life-threatening flash floods and mudslides across the hilly and mountainous areas. Its heavy rainfall caused a landslide on a farm in the indigenous town of Tlacoachistlahuaca in the southern state of Guerrero. It also led mudslide in Ometepec and Cochoapa.

Some 2000 people were evacuated from three towns in the mountain region hardest hit by Trudy. Another 300 people were evacuated in three other Guerrero towns, where a river threatened to overflow and cause dangerous flooding. Landslides and flooding has also cut off access to 16 other towns and damaged a main road to Acapulco.
The storm was formed around 140 kilometers to the southwest of Mexico on 17 October 2014.

South African Tourism launched Gandhi-Inspired Tourist Attraction project

20-OCT-2014

South African Tourism launched Gandhi–Inspired Tourist Attraction project that identifies 13 places that were seminal in Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s time in South Africa. Under Department of Tourism of South Africa, South African Tourism launched the project in Johannesburg on 18 October 2014.

Besides, Gandhi webpage http://gandhi.southafrica.net/ was also launched which gives comprehensive details of Gandhi-related sites across South Africa.

The Gandhi-Inspired Tourist Attractions project makes Mahatma’s South Africa accessible to people who want to understand how South Africa shaped his conscience, his service to humanity and his great contribution to world history.

The 13 Gandhian sites spread across South Africa that includes
• The Old Court House Museum in Durban which contains a historic archive of Gandhi images.
• Pietermaritzburg Station where a statue now stands to mark the spot where Gandhi was thrown off a train because he was seated in a compartment reserved for white people only.
• Local Vishnu Temple in Ladysmith has a Gandhi statue to commemorate his time as a volunteer stretcher–bearer during the Anglo–Boer War from 1899 to 1900.
• Outside the Hamidia Mosque in Newtown, Johannesburg, a memorial depicts a symbolic cauldron to record Gandhi leading the burning in 1908 of pass books that all citizens who were not white were forced to carry at all times.
• The home of South Africa’s new Constitutional Court, built on the site of the Old Fort Prison in Johannesburg where Gandhi and later Nelson Mandela were imprisoned and other places.

Union Cabinet approved Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project Phase-1

20-OCT-2014

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 18 October 2014 approved the Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project Phase-1. The project will cover a length of 35.96 km at a total project cost of 10773 crore rupees.
Highlights of the Project
•   The Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project Phase-1will cover two corridors- North-South Corridor covering 15.42 km from APMC to Motera Stadium and East-West Corridor covering 20.54 km from Thaltej Gam to Vastral Gam.
•   Government of India will contribution 1990 crore rupees for the project in the form of equity and subordinate debt.
•   Project will be implemented by Metro-Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA) Company Ltd which will be converted into a 50:50 jointly owned company of the Government of India and Government of Gujarat.
•   Project will be covered under the legal framework of the Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, the Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2002, and the Railways Act, 1989.

The proposed two alignments are expected to provide much needed connectivity to the commuters and will cross through some of the densest and traffic congested areas of Ahmedabad.
It will considerably reduce traffic congestion and will bring in fast, comfortable, safe, pollution-free and affordable mass transportation system for the people of Ahmedabad. The Ahmedabad Metropolitan Area which has a population of 6.3 million will be benefitted from this project.
Background
Ahmedabad is the seventh largest metropolis in India and accounts for 12 percent of the population of Gujarat. The region has witnessed a growth rate of 2.25 percent over the last decade.
As per the population forecasts, about 70 percent of the population will be residing in the Ahmedabad Metropolitan Corporation (AMC) area in the future. Bus augmentation will not be able to cater to the increased public transit load and passengers will shift to private modes which is already evident from the high vehicle ownership trend in the region.
This will not only worsen congestion on the streets but will also increase pollution. Hence, a Metro Rail System in Ahmedabad was essential to negate such situations.

Union Government decided to re-launch Direct Benefit Transfer scheme

20-OCT-2014

Union Government on 19 October 2014 decided to re-launch the modified Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme in an effective manner. The implementation of DBT will be made on a mission mode between 10 November 2014 and 1 January 2015 in 54 districts.

At Present, the beneficiaries having bank accounts under Aadhaar and the beneficiaries who have bank accounts under the Jan Dhan Yojana will now get subsidy on LPG directly in their accounts.

The beneficiaries who are outside from the scheme i.e. who have neither an Aadhar identity nor a bank account through Jan Dhan Yojna will get old cylinder system for some time.

The 54 shortlisted districts fall under Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Punjab and Telangana.

About Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is National Mission for Financial Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely, Banking or Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable manner.

Under the scheme, account holders will be provided zero-balance bank account with RuPay debit card, in addition to accidental insurance cover of 1 lakh rupees. Besides, after six months of opening of the bank account holders can avail 5000 rupees loan from the bank.

Union Government started training for Ebola Caregivers

20-OCT-2014

The Union Government on 19 October 2014 started a three-day training programme for Ebola caregivers in Delhi. The training is the part of emergency preparedness of Union Government.
Epidemiologists, microbiologists and nurses from the health facilities linked to all international Airports in the country to participate in the training.
The aforesaid people are the first point of contact for any passenger coming from the affected countries.
During the training, medical experts are being taught how to use the protective gear to avoid contact with bodily fluids of Ebola patients.

Ebola spreads by direct contact with the blood, secretions and other bodily fluids of an infected living or dead person. The only way to check its spread in the country is by screening all travellers from affected countries thoroughly before letting them off.

Egypt signed contracts with six international firms to dredge new Suez Canal

20-OCT-2014

Egypt on 18 October 2014 signed contracts with six international firms to carry out dredging of the new Suez Canal. Construction of the new Suez Canal is the flagship project under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's program to revive an economy battered by years of political turmoil.
The companies are National Marine Dredging Company NMDC.AD of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Royal Boskalis Westminster (BOSN.AS) and Van Oord of the Netherlands; Jan de Nul Group and Deme Group of Belgium and US-based Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company (GLDD.O).
The total project would require up to 36 dredgers to remove about 250 million cubic meters worth of material. However, the financial details of the contracts were not provided.

New Suez Canal
The new Suez Canal is to be built alongside the existing 145-year-old Suez Canal which is the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia. The new canal is scheduled to be completed by August 2015, a target set by Sisi.
The new 72-km waterway project includes 35 km of dry digging and 37 km of expansion and deepening of the current canal with a total cost of more than 8 billion US dollars.
The national project also includes the digging of six new tunnels underneath the New Suez Canal that will be constructed simultaneously

BJP emerged as the largest party in the 2014 Assembly Elections of Maharashtra

20-OCT-2014

Election Commission of India on 19 October 2014 announced the results of the 2014 Assembly elections of Maharashtra. The elections were held on 15 October 2014 for total 288 seats.
Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) by winning 122 seats emerged as the largest party but none of the parties succeeded in securing a clear majority. 63.13 percent of the electorate voted in Maharashtra.

Results as declared

Party	Seats won in 2014	Seats won in 2009
Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP)	122 seats (27.8 percent)	BJP and Shiv Sena fought the election in alliance and secured 91 seats of which 46 seats (14.0 percent) were of BJP and Shiv Sena secured 44 seats (16.3 percent)
Shiv Sena	63 seats (19.3 percent)
Indian National Congress	42 seats (18 percent)	INC and NCP fought the election in alliance and secured 144 seats of which 82 seats (21.0 percent) were won by Congress and NCP secured 62 seats (16.4 percent)
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)	41 seats (17.2 percent)
Others and Independents	20 seats (17.7 percent)	54 seats (32.3 percent)

The elections were held for 288 seats.

Flipkart signed real estate lease deal with Embassy Office Parks

20-OCT-2014

E-commerce firm Flipkart on 18 October 2014 signed real estate lease deal with Embassy Office Parks, the joint venture between Embassy Group and Blackstone.
The deal is largest-ever single commercial real estate leasing deal in India in terms of area. However, financial details were not disclosed by the companies.
Highlights of the deal
•   The deal was signed up for over 3 million sq ft of office space in phases at the Embassy    TechVillage in Bangalore.
•   The office premises of 1.5 million sq ft with fit-outs is expected to be delivered by 2015.
•   There is an option to increase this area to 3.25 million sq ft over the next 3 years to 5 years.

Embassy TechVillage in Bangalore
Embassy TechVillage is a 106-acre development on the outer ring road (ORR) of Bangalore’s IT corridor. Embassy TechVillage has been planned as an integrated project with commercial components as well as retail and residential spaces.
Embassy TechVillage is connected to the IT hubs of Whitefield and Electronic City as well as the CBD.
Embassy TechVillage has attracted some of the top companies like Sony, Nokia, Brocade, Cisco, Geometric, Blue Ocean, Talisma, Amba, Ness, Autonomy, Creative, Iron Mountain and Outsource Partners International.

Myntra to open London Office to Partner European Brands

20-OCT-2014

Bangalore-based online fashion retailer Myntra on 19 October 2014 announced to open London Office to Partner European Brands.
The company also plans to expand to New York in 2015.
With the office in London, company will lead the partnerships with brands in UK and Europe, liaison with European design studios, spot global fashion trends and generate fashion content.
The company has appointed Mark Sebb as an advisor in the run-up to the launch of its London office.
Mark Sebb retired as chief executive of UK-based online high-fashion group Neta-Porter in 2014.

Sebba is largely credited with helping scale up the magazine-style fashion e-tailer. The company is owned by Swiss luxury group Richemont. He extended his help from a small start-up in the early 2000s to the 850 million dollar company.
Jabong is already setting up a design and branding office in London primarily focused on its private brands like Lara Karen and Sangria.
Comment
According to retail consultancy Technopak, fashion accounts for 25 per cent of the online retail industry's sales and will grow to 30 per cent in 2019.
India's online retail industry is estimated to reach 6 billion US dollar (about 36800 crore rupees) in size in 2015, according to research firm Gartner.
With fashion and lifestyle quickly becoming the largest category in India's fast-growing online retail industry, Myntra and its Delhi-based rival Jabong are increasingly focusing on global brand partnerships and designerled in-house brands to attract and retain customers.

Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan Yuko Obuchi resigned

20-OCT-2014

Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan Yuko Obuchi on 20 October 2014 resigned from her position following the allegations that her support groups misused political funds.
Yuko Obuchi was one of five women appointed by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a cabinet reshuffle in September 2014.
Being the head of the powerful Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Obuchi was tasked to work on Abe’s unpopular plan to restart nuclear reactors that were shut down after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. However, the controversy could hamper this plan to reboot reactors.

Background
Media reports of Obuchi’s funding irregularities came on 16 October 2014. On 18 October 2014, it was reported that two Obuchi political groups spent 43 million yen on annual theatre events between 2009 and 2011 and kept no record of spending on the 2012 event.
An examination of records had uncovered questionable outlays for the theatre events. However, it would be a violation of the law if her political groups made additional payments.

BJP won the Assembly Elections of Haryana; secured majority for the first time

20-OCT-2014

Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) won the state assembly elections of Haryana. The results of the elections were announced by the Election Commission of India on 19 October 2014.
BJP by securing 47 seats emerged as the largest party, with clear majority. The elections were held for total 90 seats on 15 October 2014. In this elections, Haryana recorded its highest ever turnout of 76.54 percent.

Results as declared

Party	Seats won in 2014	Seats won in 2009
Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP)	47 seats (33.2 percent)	4 seats (9.04 percent)
Indian National Lok Dal (INLD )	19 seats (24.1 percent)	31 seats (25.79 percent)
Indian National Congress	15 seats (20.6 percent)	40 seats (35.08 percent)
Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC(BL) )	2 seats (3.6 percent)	6 seats (7.40 percent)
Others and Independents	7 seats (18.5 percent)	9 seats (22.7 percent)

Five year old Indian boy Harshit Saumitra become the youngest to reach the EBC

20-OCT-2014

Five year old Indian boy Harshit Saumitra on 19 October 2014 became the youngest person to reach the Everest Base Camp (EBC).
With this, the child overtakes the record set by Aaryan Balaji, a seven-year old Indian boy who had reached the two peaks in May 2012.
Harshit took 10 days to cover the distance of 62km trek. Harshit is a class 1 student from New Delhi. He also climbed the Kalapathar (5550 m) peak, located near the EBC.
Harshit has also climbed Rohtang Pass (3930 m) before attempting EBC.

He is planning to climb Mount Kilimanjaro (5895 m) in Africa and also plans to attempt Mount Everest (8848 m) in coming years.
His father, Rajeev Saumitra, is a mountaineer. He had reached the peak of Mount Everest (8848 m) in 2013.
The family plans to register the feat in record books like the Guinness World Records and the Limca Book of World Records.

India won Sultan of Johor Cup Under-21 Hockey title

20-OCT-2014

India on 19 October 2014 successfully defended its Sultan of Johor Cup (SOJC) Under-21 Hockey title at Taman Daya Hockey Stadium, Johor Bohru, Malaysia. In the finals, Indian team defeated Great Britain, 2-1.
Harmanpreet Singh converted two penalty corners for India, while for Great Britain; Samuel French was the lone goal scorer.

With this win, India became the first team to win the title twice since the inception of the tournament in 2011. India won its first title in 2013.
Other results
• Australia defeated New Zealand, 6-2 to take the third place
• Malaysia defeated Pakistan, 3-1 to secure the fifth position
In 2011, the inaugural title was won by Malaysia, while Germany won the 2012 title.

UNSC urged world to step up help for Iraq to halt militants' offensive

20-OCT-2014

United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on 18 October 2014 urged the world to step up their support for the Iraqi government and its security forces in intensifying their battle against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters. The council has called for a common effort among governments and institutions to stamp out the violence and intolerance ISIS espouses.

In a unanimous statement, the 15-member council condemned the vicious string of suicide, vehicle borne and other attacks in Baghdad and surrounding provinces carried out by the organisation over the past few days. These attacks have killed scores of Iraqis, including an elected Member of Parliament from Basrah Province and the Police Chief of Anbar Province.
The council has urged the international community to further strengthen and expand support for the government of Iraq including Iraqi security forces, in accordance with international law. It emphasised a need to combat by all means the threat posed by ISIS and associated armed groups, which it has labeled a terrorist group.