Current Affairs October 2014 (11th to 20th)

India 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.

Biggest electronics trade exhibition of Japan CEATEC concluded

18-OCT-2014

The biggest electronics trade exhibition of Japan CEATEC concluded on 11 October 2014 at Makuhari Messe International convention complex in Chiba prefecture of Japan. CEATEC stands for Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies. The five-day exhibition had started on 7 October 2014.  
The main highlight of the exhibition was the introduction of sign and display technology solutions by Japanese companies like Fujifilm which provides total solutions for wide-format print system. 
The technology will come handy for the outdoor advertising industry in India and ASEAN region where the trend of outdoor advertising on billboards and POP is fast catching up.

The technology mainly uses graphics based on Ultra-Violet (UV) inks. UV inks are used because they remain protected in outdoor climate and do not evaporate, so the system can be installed in one room. 
On the other hand, the harmful VOC - solvent based ink systems are used to the conventional wide-format printing machine, which required the separate forced exhaust facility.
About CEATEC
CEATEC provides a platform for companies and organizations from all over the world to showcase their cutting-edge products, services and technologies. The event also serves as key industry networking and information-gathering opportunity, with numerous seminars and other activities offered during the fair.

ICC awarded global broadcast rights from 2015 to 2023 to Star India and Star Middle East

18-OCT-2014

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on 10 October 2014 awarded the global broadcast agreement rights for ICC Events from 2015 to 2023 to Star India and Star Middle East.

The agreement is said to be the biggest ever global broadcast partnership of Cricket. The agreement included the eight-year period. During the period, 18 ICC tournaments, including two ICC Cricket World Cups (2019 and 2023), two ICC Champions Trophy tournaments (2017 and 2021) and two ICC World Twenty20 tournaments (2016 and 2020) will be held.

The decision was made by the ICC Business Corporation (IBC) Board during a meeting at the ICC headquarters in Dubai. IBC is the commercial arm of ICC.

The decision followed a robust tender, bidding and evaluation process which was started in July 2014.

The process of Selection

During the process, the ICC received 17 competitive bids from various broadcasters across different territories for its audio-visual rights.

The current cycle has seen ESPN Star Sports hold the audio-visual rights until the contract expires at the end of 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

About Star India

Star India is one of India’s largest media and entertainment companies and is a fully owned subsidiary of 21st Century Fox, INC.

The Star group has defined India’s broadcast media over two decades and today broadcasts more than forty channels in seven languages, reaching more than 650 million viewers every week across India and around 100 other countries.

About Star Middle East

Star Middle East is a wholly owned subsidiary of 21st Century Fox, INC. in the Middle East. It distributes 13 satellite cable television channels in the Middle East and Africa.

Astronomers discovered a new planet that resembles Uranus of our solar system. It was discovered in a binary star system 25000 light-years away near the constellation Sagittarius.
The Astronomers led by Radek Poleski of Ohio State University revealed this in a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal on 13 October 2014.

This is the first time that a twin for ice-giant planets, Uranus and Neptune has been spotted. These two planets are mainly composed of hydrogen and helium and significant amounts of methane ice that helps them to appear blue.

Astronomers were not able to tell anything about composition of this planet due to their distance from Earth. But astronomers are considering it to be a Uranus analog because, the planet’s distance from its star suggests that it’s an ice giant and its orbit resembles to Uranus.

As per the report, the planet is four times as massive as Uranus, but it orbits the first star at almost exactly the same distance as Uranus orbits our Sun.

This discovered planet leads a turbulent existence as it orbits a 0.7 M star at ≈18 AU in a binary star system with the other star close enough to disturb the planet’s orbit.

The first star is about two thirds as massive as our Sun, and the second star is about one sixth as massive. The projected separation of the planet is only about three times smaller than that of the companion star, suggesting significant dynamical interactions.

How the planet was discovered?

The solar system was spotted due to a phenomenon called gravitational microlensing that happens when the gravity of a star focuses the light from a more distant star and magnifies it like a lens. The two separate microlensing events occurred in 2008 and 2010.

The 2008 event revealed the main star and suggested the presence of the planet, while the second event of 2010 confirmed the presence of the planet and also revealed the second star.

Both these observations were done at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile as part of the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) with the help of the 1.3-metre Warsaw Telescope.

According to Andrew Gould, professor of astronomy at Ohio State University, this discovery would solve a mystery a about the origins of the ice giants in our solar system.

Union Home Ministry drafted a new counter-Naxal doctrine

18-OCT-2014

Union Home Ministry on 17 October 2014 drafted a new counter-Naxal doctrine. In the drafted law, the ministry clearly demarcated the role of the state police and central paramilitary forces (CPMFs) in anti-Maoist operations.
The ministry proposed to put state police forces in the lead, while tasking CPMFs with using their pan-Indian mandate for seamless operations across state borders and holding the counter-insurgency grid together. 
The new policy will be circulated to all the states for their comments soon. It will seek to fight the Maoists through a four-pronged approach, comprising elements like security-related measures, development-based approach, rights and entitlement-based measures and public perception management. 
The approach of the new law will be to focus on security interventions in worst LWE-affected areas. In moderately-affected areas, it will witness security and development initiatives going hand in hand; while in less affected areas, development interventions will take precedence. 

Highlights of the drafted Law

•    The policy proposed oversight committee at the national and state level. The national panel will comprise home minister, finance minister, tribal affairs minister, environment minister, rural development minister, panchayati raj minister and road & transport minister, besides chief ministers of all Naxal-hit states, and will meet bi-annually.

•    There will be an inter-ministerial group, a coordination committee to oversee operational strategies comprising Central and state level officers, as well as a state-level committee for coordinated response by various state agencies. 
•    Also, the new law insisted on a periodic review of the counter-Naxal strategies.
•    The new counter-LWE doctrine pitches for making CRPF a world-class counter-insurgency force, with a sustained upgrade in its training, infrastructure, arms and financial powers. 
•    It seeks to encourage police/CPMFs to recruit local tribal youth by holding more rallies and working around the DoPT rules to identify ways to push up their representation in the forces. 
•    There is emphasis also on honouring tribal icons by renaming projects and key local buildings after them.

Peace talks with Naxalites
As regards possible peace talks with Naxalites, the draft policy makes it clear that any offer of talks will be taken up only after the Maoists renounce violence as a means of capturing state power and express faith in the democratic process.

Union MoEFCC launched the National Air Quality Index

18-OCT-2014

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on 17 October 2014 launched the National Air Quality Index (AQI) in New Delhi. The National Air Quality Index is an initiative under Swachh Bharat Mission envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to introduce the culture of cleanliness.
AQI will act as a One Number- One Colour-One Description to judge the Air Quality for Common Man. The earlier measuring index was limited to three indicators, while this index has been made quite comprehensive by the addition of five additional parameters.  
The proposed AQI will consider eight parameters (PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, O3, NH3, and Pb) for which short-term National Ambient Air Quality Standards are prescribed.

Background
Air pollution has been a matter of environmental and health concerns particularly in urban areas. Central Pollution Control Board along with State Pollution Control Boards has been operating National Air Monitoring Program (NAMP) covering 240 cities of the country. 
In addition, continuous monitoring systems that provide data on near real-time basis were also installed in a few cities.
Traditionally, air quality status was reported through voluminous data. Thus, it was important that information on air quality is put up in public domain in simple linguistic terms that is easily understood by a common person through AQI. 

Air Quality Index (AQI)
•    Air Quality Index (AQI) is one such tool for effective dissemination of air quality information to people that entails the system to account for pollutants which have short-term impacts.
•    This index was developed by an expert group comprising medical professionals, air quality experts, academia, NGOs, and state
•    There are six AQI categories namely Good, Satisfactory, Moderately polluted, Poor, Very Poor, and Severe with colour coding ranging from green to dark red.
•    This index transforms various air pollution levels into a single number for a simple description of air quality to citizens.
•    The AQI will prompt the local authorities to take quick action to improve air quality and is aimed at attracting people's participation in the process

Union Home Ministry announced to rename 12 cities and towns of Karnataka

18-OCT-2014

Union Home Ministry on 17 October 2014 announced to rename 12 cities and towns of Karnataka.  The proposal was made on 27 October 2006 to change the names of the 12 towns and cities in consonance with their pronunciation in Kannada language by the Karnataka Government.

The State Revenue Department had sent the proposal to the Union Government seeking its nod for changing the names of 12 cities on 13 October 2008.
According to the proposal, the 12 cities whose names were sought to be changed are

• Bangalore as Bengaluru;
• Mangalore as Mangaluru;
• Bellary as Ballari;
• Bijapur as Vijayapura or Vijapura;
• Belgaum as Belagavi;
• Chikmagalur as Chikkamagaluru;
• Gulbarga as Kalaburagi;
• Mysore as Mysuru;
• Hospet as Hosapete;
• Shimoga as Shivamogga;
• Hubli as Hubballi, and
• Tumkur as Tumakuru

The decision of home Ministry came after Survey of India, Ministry of Railways, Department of Posts, Ministry of Science and Technology and Intelligence Bureau have given their No Objection and clearance for the change in the nomenclature of the identified cities.

Treason Act of 1351 to be used to tackle ISIS

18-OCT-2014

Treason Act of 1351: Act passed during the reign of English King Edward III
Britain’s Treason Act of 1351 passed during the reign of English King Edward III was in news in October 2014. It was in news as there are chances that Britain would use the medieval law to charge its citizens if they go to fight with Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) insurgents in Iraq and Syria. 
In his statement to the media the Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said that any British citizen who had sworn personal allegiance to the so-called Islamic State could have committed an offense under the Treason Act of 1351.

The Treason Act 1351 is an Act of the Parliament of England which codified and curtailed the common law offence of treason. It is one of the earliest English statutes still in force, although it has been very significantly amended. 
The Act was passed at Westminster in the Hilary term of 1351, in the 25th year of the reign of Edward III and was entitled A Declaration which Offences shall be adjudged Treason. The Act was last used to prosecute William Joyce (was hanged) in 1945 for collaborating with Germany in World War II. 
This Act is still in force in the United Kingdom (as of August 2013) and carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Until 1998, the Act carried death sentence to.
Background
Earlier, David Cameroon, the British Prime Minister had warned that fighters of ISIS pose a grave threat to Britain. Britain’s police and intelligence reports have suggested that they have seen a rise in potentially deadly plots. 
Security officials of the country have predicted that some 500 Britons, mainly with Muslim immigrant backgrounds, are fighting in Iraq and Syria for ISIS and their return could carry out an attack on Britain.

Nigeria and Boko Haram sealed deal on freeing girls

18-OCT-2014

Nigeria on 17 October 2014 sealed a deal with the militant group Boko Haram to free the girls. 
The Chief of Defence Staff of Nigeria Alex Badeh announced the truce. However, Boko Haram has not made any public statement.
The deal was signed at the close of a three-day security meeting between Nigeria and Cameroon. The arrangements for the release of girls would be finalised at another meeting next week in Chad's capital, Ndjamena.
Background 
In May 2014, Boko Haram sparked global outrage by abducting more than 200 schoolgirls. The girls were seized in the north-eastern town of Chibok in Borno state, and their continued captivity has led to criticism of the Nigerian government's efforts to secure their release.

The group has been fighting an insurgency since 2009, with some 2000 civilians reportedly killed in 2014.

In July 2014, Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad and Niger agreed to form a 2800 strong regional force to tackle Boko Haram militants.

About Boko Haram Group 
The group promotes a version of Islam which makes it haram, or forbidden, for Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with Western society.
It frequently attacks schools and colleges, which it sees as a symbol of Western culture.
Human Rights Watch has reported that 2053 civilian were killed in the first half of 2014, while Amnesty International estimated that 4000 people were killed in violence including Nigerian military operations - in the first seven months of 2014.

RBI & CBK signed MoU on Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information

18-OCT-2014

The Reserve Bank of India on 16 October 2014 signed a pact with the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) for Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information. 
Apart from this, the RBI signed 22 such MoUs and one Letter for Supervisory Co-operation. The signing ceremony was held at Hyderabad.
The MoU was signed by RBI Governor Dr. Raghuram Rajan and Central Bank of Kenya Governor Prof. Njuguna Ndung'u.

The RBI has been signing the MoUs and Letter for Supervisory Co-operation with supervisors of other countries to promote greater co-operation and share supervisory information among the authorities.

Hurricane Gonzalo struck Bermuda

18-OCT-2014

Hurricane Gonzalo of Category 2 struck Bermuda with winds of about 185 kilometers per hour on 18 October 2014. The hurricane lashed the tiny Atlantic island chain with torrential rain and howling wind. 
Eighty percent of the island chain lost power because of the hurricane. The island also witnessed flooding in some areas and many banana trees had been knocked over.
Earlier, the US National Hurricane Center warned of high winds and life threatening storm surge after the hurricane passed the British Atlantic territory.

Bermuda is an island chain in the Atlantic Ocean that frequently sees strong tropical storms. Hurricane Gonzalo is one of the biggest hurricanes faced by the tiny British island of Bermuda, in many years. Gonzalo struck Bermuda, a low-lying archipelago occupying just 21 square miles (54 sq km) and home to 65000 people, just five days after the island witnessed a tropical storm. 
The last major hurricane to strike Bermuda was Fabian in 2003, a Category 3 storm that killed four people.

India successfully test-fired nuclear capable Nirbhay cruise missile

18-OCT-2014

India on 17 October 2014 successfully  test fired its first long range subsonic cruise missile Nirbhay with a strike range of over 1000 km from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Orissa.
This 6 meter tall low altitude flying missile was fired from a mobile launcher. Carrying a dummy payload of n350 kg, the missile also demonstrated the critical ability to zero-in on its target by diving towards a pre-designated impact point in the Bay of Bengal.
This was the second flight trial of the missile as the first test was aborted mid way in March 2013 when the missile deviated from its path.

Nirbhay cruise missile
•    The missile was developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at its aeronautics R&D laboratory ADE (Aeronautical Development Establishment) based in Bengaluru. 
•    The avionics of the missile was provided by the Research Centre Imarat, Hyderabad. The DRDL has also contributed to the development of the missile.
•    Nirbhay cruise missile can carry conventional and nuclear war heads. 
•    Nirbhay has good loitering capability, good control and guidance, high degree of accuracy in terms of impact and very good stealth features.
•    Nirbhay is very manoeuvrable and can fly at tree-top level, making it difficult to be detected on radar.
•    It can strike the targets more than 700 km away carrying nuclear warheads giving India the capability to strike deep into enemy territory

Time released its annual list of The 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014

18-OCT-2014

Time on 13 October 2014 released its annual list of The 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014. Time compiled its list of 25 teens counting accolades shared by siblings and partners. The list released after analyzing their social media following, business successes and cultural importance.
The youngest were Sasha Obama and fellow 13-year-old Mo'ne Davis, a pitching sensation who led her Philadelphia boys' baseball team to the Little League World Series and landed a spot on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Sasha Obama is a daughter of US President Barak Obama.
Others in the list were Grammy-winning New Zealand singer Lorde aged 17 and Nobel Prize Winner Malala Yousafzai aged 17. Malala Yousafzai is the Pakistani education activist winner. They were all on the unranked list dominated by 20 females.
The dominant categories were athletes, actors and singers.
Tavi Gevinson is the 18-year-old fashion writer and founder of popular online magazine Rookie. She was noted as emblematic of the contemporary teen in the Internet age. Transgender activist Jazz Jennings, 14, and Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, 18, also made the list.
Actors in the list 
Actors taking center stage were Kiernan Shipka, 14, of Mad Men, Rico Rodriguez, 16, of Modern Family and The Equalizer's Chloe Grace Moretz, 17.
Pop singers Becky G, 17, and Austin Mahone, 18, earned plaudits as did New Zealand pro golfer Lydia Ko, 17, and Afghan National Cycling Team member Salma Kakar, 17.

Jaden Smith, 16, son of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, was recognized for acting and his Twitter following, while reality TV stars the Jenner sisters Kendall, 18, and Kylie, 17, were noted for their burgeoning Hollywood and merchandising careers.
Entrepreneurs in the list 
Teens noted for business success include 15-year-old Erik Finman, founder of the online tutoring site Botangle.com; YouTube fashion star Bethany Mota, 18, and actress-turned-stockpicker Rachel Fox, 18.
Irish trio Ciara Judge, 16, Emer Hickey, 17, and Sophie Healy-Thow, 17, were noted for their discovery of bacteria that deposits nitrogen from the atmosphere into soil.
Los Angeles teen chef Flynn McGarry, 15, joined stars of Twitter's Vine short-form video service, Nash Grier, and singer Shawn Mendes, both 16.
Also in the spotlight were 19-year-olds Megan Grassell, founded of the Yellowberry clothing company that makes bras for teens, and South African-Australian YouTube star and actor-musician Troye Sivan

Raghuram Rajan won Euromoney Award for Best Central Bank Governor of the Year 2014

18-OCT-2014

Dr. Raghuram Rajan, Governor of Reserve Bank of India on 10 October 2014 was conferred with Euromoney’s Central Bank Governor of the Year Award 2014 in Washington. 
Euromoney in its comment said that Rajan’s tough monetary medicine combated the storm ravaging the deficit-ridden economy in the recent emerging market crisis. At present, he is battling vested interests to arouse a sleepy financial system for over one million people.

Bank of Mexico Governor Agustin Carstens was the winner of the award in 2013.
About Dr. Raghuram Rajan
• He is the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India
• Rajan has served as chief economic adviser to India's Ministry of Finance 
• He has been the Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund from October 2003 to December 2006
• The internationally-renowned economist, earned acclaim for his warnings in 2005 of an upcoming global crisis of sorts, which has been true to his word
• In January 2003, the American Finance Association awarded Rajan with the inaugural Fischer Black Prize for the best finance researcher under the age of 40
• Some other awards received by Rajan includes 
a) The global Indian of the year award from NASSCOM in 2011
b) The Infosys prize for the Economic Sciences in 2012
c) The Center for Financial Studies-Deutsche Bank Prize for financial economics in 2013 for his "ground-breaking research work which influenced financial and macro-economic policies around the world

PSN Rao appointed as Chairman of the DUAC

18-OCT-2014

The Union Urban Development Ministry on 17 October 2014 appointed PSN Rao as the new Chairman of the Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC). Rao succeeds eminent architect Raj Rewal, who was appointed as Chairman of the commission in July 2011 for three years. 
At the time of appointment as DUAC chairman, Rao was heading the Department of Housing, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. He studied urban management in Canada.

Apart from this, the ministry also named four new members of the commission, namely Sonali Bhagwati (an architect), Sonali Rastogi (an architect), Samir Mathur (a landscale architect) and Durga Shankar Mishra (Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Urban Development). The tenure of this new panel will be of three-year.
About Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC)
Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) was constituted under the provisions of the Delhi Urban Art Commission Act 1973. DUAC was set up in May 1974 and is mandated with preserving, developing and maintaining the aesthetic quality of urban and environmental design in Delhi.

Tamil poet Iqbal named for Singapore's highest cultural award, Cultural Medallion

17-OCT-2014

Indian-origin Singaporean poet and writer KTM Iqbal on 15 October 2014 was named for the 2014 Cultural Medallion, the highest cultural award of Singapore. He will be awarded by the Tony Tan, the President of Singapore.
Along with the award, Iqbal will get 80000 Singapore dollar grants, which can be used to fund artistic endeavours over their lifetime.
This award will be the highest recognition for the 74-year-old Tamil poet. His achievements include more than 200 children's songs written for Radio Singapore in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as seven collections of poetry.
Iqbal is a poet, whose compositions are studied in schools and some of them have appeared in the subway stations as part of efforts to bring the arts close to the community.

Apart from KTM Iqbal, the award will be also given to sculptor Chong Fah Cheong, 68, and 51-year old Alvin Tan, the artistic director of a theatre company, by President Tony Tan Keng Yam. Each of these recipients will be eligible for 80000 Singapore dollar grant. 
The award, instituted 35 years ago, has been presented to 115 artists to date, including Iqbal, Chong and Tan.
About KTM Iqbal
• Iqbal learned the basics of Venpa, a form of classical Tamil poetry from a poetry-writing workshop
• He is a retired bank executive and continues to pen down poems and hopes to produce an edited collection of his best Tamil poems and an English translation of it
• He has also received recognition in the education system of Singapore 
• He migrated to Singapore in 1951, at the age of 11 with his father from Kadayanallur in South India 
• He was introduced to the simple but evocative compositions of Tamil poet Mathithasan by a Tamil newspaper Malaya Nanban, which is now defunct 
• The poet's vivid depiction of people and values in society inspired the young Iqbal to start penning poems

Cairo International conference held to raise fund for reconstruction of Gaza strip

17-OCT-2014

Cairo International conference on 12 October 2014 was held to raise the fund for reconstruction of Gaza Strip. At the conference, International donors pledged 5.4 billion US dollar for reconstruction of Gaza Strip of Palestine over three years.

The half of the 5.4 billion US dollar pledged amount will be dedicated to reconstruction and the assistance will be distributed in response to the daily needs of Palestinians.

• The US pledged 212 million US dollar 
• United Arab Emirates and Turkey both committed 200 million US dollar
• Qatar alone promised 1billion US dollar
• European Union promised 568 million dollar
• India promised 4 million US dollar

During the conference, Palestinian government led by Mahmoud Abbas unveiled reconstruction plan with major share of assistance to build housing. Israel was absent in conference and Palestine referred to maintain the August 2014 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Palestine to maintain peace in the region.

In the conference, President of Egypt Sisi urged government and people of Israel to put an end to the conflict that started in June 2014. The conference was attended by delegates representing about 50 nations and 20 regional and international organizations.

The US aid to the Palestinians especially will go to security, economic development, food and medicine, and shelter, water and sanitation projects.

ACC approved appointment of Rajiv Mehrishi as the Union Finance Secretary

17-OCT-2014

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on 16 October 2014 approved appointment of Rajiv Mehrishi as the Union Finance Secretary in Department of Economic Affairs of the Union Ministry of Finance. 
Mehrishi, an IAS of the 1978-batch of Rajasthan Cadre, replaced his batch-mate Arvind Mayaram, who was appointed as the Union Tourism Secretary.
Mehrishi will retire from the post in August 2014, which means that he will have just about 10 months at Ministry of Finance. At the time of appointment, Mehrishi was serving as Chief Secretary of Rajasthan.

Mayaram, a 1978-batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre was made the Union Tourism Secretary in place of Parvez Dewan who will retire in October 2014. 
Apart from Rajiv Mehrishi and Arvind Mayaram appointments, the ACC on 16 October 2014 made other 18 transfers and appointments of which one-third was at the secretary level. Some of the important appointments included 
• Anil Swarup, a 1981 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre – appointed as the new Coal Secretary. He will take over as Coal Secretary when incumbent SK Srivastava retires on 31 October 2014.
• Alok Rawat, a 1977 batch IAS officer of Sikkim cadre – appointed new secretary in the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances and Department of Pensions and Pensioners Welfare. At the time of this appointment, he was Secretary in Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation
• Prabhu Dayal Meena, a 1980 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre – appointed as Secretary in the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare. He was serving as Special Secretary in Department of Land Resources and will replace Sangita Gairola, who retires in October 2014
• Anuj Kumar Bishnoi, a 1981 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre – appointed as Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation. Bishnoi was Additional Secretary in the Department of Defence.
• Ashok Kumar Angurana, a 1980 batch IAS officer of Jammu and Kashmir cadre – appointed as Secretary in Ministry of Panchayati Raj. He was working as Managing Director, TRIFED, Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
• Vinod Agrawal, a 1980 batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre – appointed as Secretary in National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC). He was working as Advisor, Inter State Council Secretariat under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Government to import potatoes for 1st time to check rising prices

17-OCT-2014

The Union Government on 16 October 2014 decided to import potatoes to check rising prices. This is the first time that the potatoes will be imported. 
As per the decision, potato will be imported from Pakistan and European countries. Imports will be done to ensure sufficient supply till January 2015. 
Also, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation will float tender in this regard and the tenders will be invited by end of October 2014 so that shipments reach India by the end of November 2014.

Apart from this, the government also asked Small Farmers' Agri-Business Consortium to explore possibilities of imports.
India in crop-year 2013-14 produced more than 44 million tonnes of potatoes which is 2.3 per cent less than crop-year of 2012-13. As a result, potatoes prices in last few weeks have shown a rising trend and in the National Capital Delhi, it is being retailed at 35 to 40 rupees per kilogram.

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty observed on 17 October

17-OCT-2014

17 October: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty was observed across the world on 17 October 2014. The theme for the day was Leave no one behind: think, decide and act together against extreme poverty.

The 2014 theme recognises and underscores the demanding challenge of identifying and securing the participation of those experiencing extreme poverty and social exclusion in the Post-2015 Development Agenda, which will replace the Millennium Development Goals.
The day was observed to promote people’s awareness on the need to eradicate poverty and destitution worldwide.

Actions performed to observe the day includes
The official commemoration on 17 October at UN Headquarters in New York was organised in partnership with the International Movement ATD Fourth World, the NGO Sub-committee for the Eradication of Poverty and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, supported by the Missions of France and Burkina Faso to the UN. 

The commemoration was done to recognize people living in poverty as critical partners for fighting the development challenges we face.

Earlier, on 16 October 2014, a panel discussion was organised at the United Nations Headquarters titled, Beijing+20 - Leaving No One Behind: Women, Poverty, and Participation. The discussion was organised to explore the disproportionate effects of poverty on women and women's contributions to ending poverty.

About International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is being observed annually since 1993, the year when the United Nations General Assembly, by resolution 47/196, designated this day to promote awareness on the need to eradicate poverty and destitution in all countries. 
Apart from this, fighting poverty remains at the core of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the development of the post-2015 development agenda.

Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain and Venezuela elected as non-permanent members of UNSC

17-OCT-2014

Venezuela, Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand and Spain on 16 October 2014 were elected as non-permanent members of United Nations Security Council (UNSC). 
They were elected after member states voted in support of these five nations after three rounds of voting. All these five new members received over two-thirds of the votes cast in a secret ballot. 
The new members of the Security Council will begin their two-year appointment on 1 January 2015 and will serve on the Council until 31 December 2016. 
These nations will join five other non-permanent members, namely Chad, Chile, Jordan, Lithuania and Nigeria. 
On the other hand, Argentina, Luxembourg, South Korea, Australia and Rwanda will step down from their seats on 31 December 2014 to make way for the newly-elected members.

Angola Malaysia, Venezuela and New Zealand were elected in the first round of voting whereas Spain was elected after two rounds of restricted balloting to.
Spain and New Zealand were elected from the Western European and Other States Group. 
Venezuela was elected unopposed from the Latin America and Caribbean seat whereas Malaysia and Angola were also elected unopposed from the Asian and African seat.
The five overall seats available for election in 2014 were distributed regionally and they were:
• One seat for the African Group (currently held by Rwanda)
• One seat for the Group of Asia- Pacific Group (currently held by the Republic of Korea)
• One seat for the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, (currently held by Argentina)
• Two seats for the Western European and Others Group (currently held by Australia and Luxembourg)
• Lithuania will maintain for another year, the seat for the Eastern European Group

The five permanent Council members, which each wield the power of veto, are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States

President Pranab Mukherjee visited Norway

17-OCT-2014

President Pranab Mukherjee visited Norway from 13 to 14 October 2014. He became the first Indian head of state to visit Norway and first president to cross the Arctic Circle. He was invited for a ceremonial reception at the Royal Palace in Oslo and held talks with King Harald V.

During his visit, he held meeting with top Norwegian political leaders and signed 13 agreements to reaffirm India's long-standing friendly ties with Norway.

• MoU to promote cultural co-operation and exchanges between the two nations
• MoU in the field of Earth System Sciences to allow exchange of scientific resources, personnel and technical knowledge
• Three MoU signed by IIT Kanpur with NTNU, University of Oslo and NILU.
• Two MoU signed by IISER, Thiruvananthapuram with SINTEF Materials and Chemistry and Institute of Energy Technology
• Three MoU signed by University of Hyderabad with University of Oslo, NTNU and University of Bergen 
• Statement of Intent (SoI) in Defence sector 
• MoU to support promotion and extension of cooperation in Scientific Research and Technology Development
• MoU to establish a health research relationship for encouraging research in a range of health-related areas
• MoU between Indira Gandhi National Tribal University and University of Agder

Pranab Mukherjee explained that India’s interests in the Arctic region are scientific, environmental, commercial as well as strategic. He also mentioned that India does not want to be left out in the cold in the ongoing race among the countries to explore and exploit the vast reservoirs of oil and gas present in the Arctic region.

In case of new deep sea shipping routes (Arctic Ocean), he expressed that India can join hands with a member state like Russia for both navigation and exploration of hydrocarbons, even though its present policy is largely geared towards scientific research.

He invited Norway to join the Make in India initiative, so that investors and entrepreneurs can explore possibilities of investment in infrastructure sector of India. He extended an invitation to the King of Norway, Harald V to visit India.

Indian-born scientist Sanjaya Rajaram received World Food Prize 2014

17-OCT-2014

An eminent Indian scientist Dr Sanjaya Rajaram on 16 October 2014 received the World Food Prize 2014 for his scientific research that led to a prodigious increase in world wheat production by more than 200 million tons building upon the successes of the Green Revolution.
Rajaram is credited with developing the Veery lines of wheat in the 1980s which were used to breed locally adapted high-yielding varieties in various wheat-growing countries. 
PBW-343, a workhorse wheat variety grown in about 10 million hectares of India was based on the Veery material that was bred at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) under Rajaram. 
The Veery lines resulted from a cross between a Russian winter wheat Kavkaz and a Mexican spring wheat Buho. These new lines showed improved resistance to stripe and leaf rust pathogens which helped create a second generation of high-yielding wheat.

Sanjaya Rajaram
•    Dr. Rajaram originally belongs to a small farming community in Uttar Pradesh, India where he dedicated his life in making direct improvements for farmers and people who depend on agriculture.
•    He has spent much of this early career at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) where he served as Director of the Wheat Breeding Program and worked with the eminent crop scientist Dr Norman E. Borlaug.
•    With the help of his research teams, Dr Rajaram has developed some 480 wheat varieties that have been released in 51 countries across six continents and an estimated 58 million hectares. These varieties provide average annual wheat consumption to more than one billion people.
•    Dr Rajaram has helped secure a 1.3 percent rise in global wheat production per annum during the last four decades.
•    Currently, Dr Rajaram is a senior scientific advisor at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).
•    At ICARDA, Dr Rajaram came up with the experience to help develop strategies that would fundamentally tackle the challenges facing wheat in dry areas including the semi-arid and arid regions of India.
About the World Food Prize
The World Food Prize is the foremost international award recognizing individuals whose achievements have advanced human development by increasing the quality, quantity, or availability of food.
The World Food Prize was created in 1987 by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr Norman Borlaug. It was sponsored by businessman and philanthropist John Ruan who stepped forward to endow the Prize in 1990. Today John Ruan's son, John Ruan III has succeeded his father as chairman of the World Food Prize
A Selection Committee of experts chaired by Indian Professor MS Swaminathan oversees the nomination and selection process. 
The first World Food Prize was awarded to Indian scientist Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan  in 1987. 
The World Food Prize 2013 was awarded to three distinguished scientists Marc Van Montagu of Belgium, Mary-Dell Chilton and Robert T. Fraley of the United States.

DoPT amended the selection procedure for the post of chief of CVC

17-OCT-2014

Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) under the Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions on 16 October 2014 amended the selection procedure for the post of Chief of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). 
As per the new amendment, now the CEO or MD of Private bank can also apply for the post. 
The notification released by the department reads that a person who has held office or are holding office in a corporation established by or under any Central Act or a Government company owned or controlled by the Central Government and persons who have expertise and experience in finance including insurance and banking, law, vigilance and investigations are also eligible for the appointments.
With this, DoPT began the selection process for Chief of Central Vigilance Commission and issued guidelines.
Highlights of the guidelines
A CVC or VC will be appointed from persons who have been or are in an all India Services (IAS, IPS and IFoS) or in any civil service of the Union or in a civil post having knowledge and experience in the matters relating to vigilance, policy making and administration including police administration among others.

These persons must have held or is holding the position of Chairman, Managing Director or Chief Executive Officer of a Schedule A Central Public Sector Enterprise and have served as a whole time Director on the Board for a period of at least three years are eligible to apply.
All the applicants should be of outstanding merit and impeccable integrity and should have knowledge and at least 25 years of experience in the relevant field.
Background 
As per rules, the appointment of the CVC and VC is done by the President on the basis of recommendation of a three-member selection committee headed by Prime Minister and comprising Home Minister and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha as members.
The CVC is headed by a Central Vigilance Commissioner and has two Vigilance Commissioners.
At present the post of CVC and one VC is lying vacant because of demitting of office by Central Vigilance Commissioner Pradeep Kumar and Vigilance Commissioner J M Garg in September 2014.

Union government launched Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram

17-OCT-2014

Union government on 16 October 2014 launched Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram. The scheme is aimed at creating conducive environment for industrial development and doing business with ease.

Besides, it will also herald towards good governance, welfare and skill development of labour sector.

It was launched during a daylong Conference of Labour & Employment Ministers, Health Ministers and Vocational Training Ministers of State Governments on 16 October 2014 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

Under the scheme, the following new initiatives are provided: 
• Labours will be provided Unique Labour Identification number, Local Interconnect Network, to facilitate their online registration.
• Unified Labour Portal (Shram Suvidha) and a Transparent & Accountable Labour Inspection Scheme to facilitate ease of compliance http://efilelaboutreturn.gov.in to facilitate ease of compliance especially for four Central Government Organizations i.e. ESIC, EPFO, DGMS and CLC.
• Demand Responsive Vocational Training 
• Apprentice Protsahan Yojana
• Portability through Universal Account Number for Employees’ Provident Fund Account Holders
• Implementation of Revamped Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) for the workers in the unorganized sector

World Food Day observed globally on 16 October

17-OCT-2014

World Food Day was observed across the world on 16 October 2014 with the theme Family Farming: Feeding the world, caring for the earth.
The UN General Assembly has designated 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming. This is a strong signal that the international community recognizes the important contribution of family farmers to world food security.
The aim of World Food Day 2014 is to focus world attention on the significant role of family farming in eradicating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment, and achieving sustainable development, in particular in rural areas.

Why family farmers need support to reduce food losses?
Family farming is inextricably linked to national and global food security. Both in developing and developed countries, family farming is the predominant form of agriculture in the food production sector. 
Mostly, family farmers lack access to good seeds, adequate storage for crops, transportation and well-functioning markets, as well as financing. By supporting family farmers in these areas, it is possible to reduce food losses and increase farmers' incomes.
Around 500 million out of the 570 million farms worldwide are family farms. These farms account for the production of fruit, vegetables, grain, livestock and fisheries, as well as non-wood forest products. The farms are managed and operated by a family and rely predominantly on family labour.
In Brazil, family farmers provide an average of 40 percent of the production of major crops, while working on less than 25 percent of the farmland. While in the US, family farmers produce 84 percent of all produce working on 78 percent of all farmland. 
World Food Day (WFD)
World Food Day is celebrated every year on 16 October globally in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in 1945. The day is celebrated widely by many other organisations concerned with food security including the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
World Food Day was established by FAO's Member Countries at the  20th General Conference of FAO in November 1945. The Hungarian Delegation suggested the idea of celebrating the WFD worldwide during the General Conference. 
Since then, it is being observed every year in more than 150 countries, raising awareness of the issues behind poverty and hunger. World Food Day was first held on 16 October 1981.

Arvind Subramanian appointed as Chief Economic Advisor

17-OCT-2014

Union Government on 16 October 2014 appointed US-based economist Arvind Subramanian as Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) in the Union Finance Ministry. He has been appointed as the CEA for a period of three years on contract basis. 
Subramanian is the third economist of international rapport to be appointed to the key post of CEA in the recent years. Other two internationally renowned economists who recently have served as CEA are Kaushik Basu (World Bank Chief Economist) and Raghuram Rajan (current RBI Governor and former IMF chief economist).

About Arvind Subramanian
• Subramanian is a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and at Center for Global Development. Both institutes are based in Washington
• He is an expert of the economics of India, China and the changing balance of global economic power
• He is an alumnus of St Stephens College, Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad
• Subramanian’s academic work has focused on trade and its effect on developing countries
The post of CEA was lying vacant since Raghuram Rajan left the Union Finance Ministry to join the Reserve Bank as its 23rd Governor in 2013. He succeeded D. Subbarao who demitted the office as RBI Governor on 4 September 2013.

Union Ministry of S&T launched a Joint Indo-Canadian Science Programme

16-OCT-2014

Union Ministry of S&T launched a Joint Indo-Canadian Science Programme Focusing on Clean Water Technologies on 15 October 2014. India and Canada signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding the joint cooperation in areas of science and technologies between the two countries.

The MoU was signed during the visit of International Trade Minister of Canada, Ed Fast and Minister for National Revenue of Canada, Kerry Findlay to India.

About Joint Indo-Canadian Science Programme
• Under the new programme, a joint collaboration is formed between the Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology of India and the National Science and Engineering Council of Canada to focus on clean water technologies.
• The joint venture will be enabled in building up of Safe and Sustainable Infrastructure and Integrated Water Management which will address the vital aspects related to related to effective water management and clean water supply.
• The programme is in line of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Clean River Mission and Clean Ganga Mission and this joint collaboration will help in developing a value based relationship between the countries.
• The programme also enables to promote industrial research & development (R&D) projects with application potential through participation of scientific institutions and industrial units.

India pledged 4 million dollar aid for Gaza reconstruction

16-OCT-2014

India on 12 October 2014 pledged 4 million US dollar aid for reconstruction of Gaza Strip that was destroyed during the Palestine and Israel conflict which started in June 2014. The decision was announced by Sandeep Kumar, Joint Secretary of West Asia and North Africa, Ministry of External Affairs of India.

The decision was a part of National Early Recovery and Reconstruction Plan for Gaza presented by the Palestinian Authority at Cairo International conference. The Conference was co-organised by Egypt and Norway. 
Besides, India also committed to assist Palestine under the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Fund in Palestine.
As part of the Plan, global donors pledged an aid of 5.4 billion US dollar to rebuild Gaza Strip. Aid announced by other countries for reconstruction of Gaza strip during the conference is as follows
• United States - 212 million US dollar
• European Union - 450 million euros
• Turkey - 200 million US dollar
• Qatar - 1 billion US dollar 
Palestinian government will carry out the reconstruction plan with full responsibility and transparency in coordination with the UN, the donors, international financial institutions, civil society and the private sector.
Background 
The recent conflict between Israel and Gaza-based militant groups including Hamas killed many Palestinians & Israelis. The fight that started in June 2014 also destroyed the Gaza strip. The conflict was stopped after Egypt negotiated a ceasefire deal between the two parties.

Exports increased 2.73 percent in September 2014: Union Ministry of Commerce

16-OCT-2014

Exports from India increased 2.73 percent in September 2014 to 28.90 billion US dollar from 28.13 billion US dollar in September2013. This was revealed by Foreign Trade (Merchandise) data released by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry on 14 October 2014.
On the other hand, the value of imports increased to 43.15 billion US dollars in September 2014 from 34.25 billion US dollars in September 2013 representing a growth of 25.96 percent. Imports have increased mainly on account of growth of imports of Gold and Metalliferous Ores & Other Minerals.
As a result, trade deficit (Export value – Import value) in September 2014 stood at 14.24 billion US dollar which was 132.71 percent higher than the value of 6.12 billion US dollar in September 2013.

Cumulative value of Exports and Imports

The cumulative value of exports for the period April -September 2014 -15 stood at 163.7 billion US dollars as against 153.75 billion US dollars registering a growth of 6.47 percent.
The cumulative value of imports for the period April -September 2014 -15 stood at 234.09 billion US dollars as against 230.47 billion US dollars registering a growth of 1.57 percent.
As a result, trade deficit for April-September, 2014-15 stood at 70.39 billion US dollar which was lower than the deficit of 76.72 billion US dollars during April-September 2013-14. 
Non-oil imports

Non-oil imports were estimated at 28.65 billion US dollar in September 2014, which was 36.2 percent higher than non-oil imports 21.04 billion US dollar in September 2013.
Non-oil imports during April-September 2014-15 were valued at 151.62 billion US dollar which was 0.8 percent higher than the level of such imports valued at 150.46 billion US dollar in April-September 2013-14.

Switzerland to provide information on black money in time-bound manner

16-OCT-2014

Switzerland on 15 October 2014 agreed to examine Indian requests for banking information on a priority basis and provide requested details in a time-bound manner. 
This was revealed in a Swiss-Indian Joint Statement released after high-level meeting between the Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das and his Swiss counterpart State Secretary for International Financial Matters, Jacques de Watteville in Berne.

Apart from this, the Swiss authorities will also assist India in obtaining confirmation on genuineness of bank documents on request by the Indian side. It will also swiftly provide information on requests related to non-banking information.
Beside, the two parties discussed various bilateral and multilateral tax and financial issues. They also agreed to continue the dialogue between the two countries. 
Background
According to Swiss National Bank’s latest data, total money held by Indians in Swiss banks stood at 14000 crore rupees as on December 2013. This data is nearly 42 percent high from a year ago. 
Comment: This announcement of Swiss authorities is a major response to India’s fight against black money allegedly stashed abroad.

Telugu writer Turaga Janaki Rani died

16-OCT-2014

Well-known Telugu writer and former radio artiste Turaga Janaki Rani died on 15 October 2014 in Hyderabad after a prolonged illness. She was 80
Turaga Janaki Rani was survived by her two daughters Usha Ramani and Vasantha Shobha.

Turaga Janaki Rani
•    Janaki Rani was popularly known as Radio Akkayya.
•    She had worked as an assistant station director of AIR (All India Radio).
•    She used to conduct Balanandam, one of the popular programmes.
•    Janaki Rani won the National Best Broadcaster Award for two years in 1991 and 1992.
•    She was also honoured with the title Balasaahitya Ratna by the Bala Sahitya Parishat in Hyderabad in June 2011.

American actress Elizabeth Pena passed away

16-OCT-2014

American actress Elizabeth Pena died on 14 October 2014 in Los Angeles following a brief illness. She was 55.

Elizabeth Pena
•    Born in New Jersey, Elizabeth Pena graduated from the High School of Performing Arts in New York City.
•    Pena began her career in 1978 with Leon Ichaso's film El Super.
•    She has appeared in films such as La Bamba, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Jacob's Ladder, Lone Star and Rush Hour. 
•    Pena was also noted for having starred in a sitcom I Married Dora in 1987 as Dora Calderon, the title character.
•    Pena provided the voice of the character Mirage in Pixar's animated film The Incredibles in 2004.
•    Recently, she played Sofía Vergara's mother role on ABC's Emmy-winning series Modern Family.

ISRO successfully launched third navigation satellite IRNSS 1C

16-OCT-2014

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on 16 October 2014 successfully launched third navigation satellite Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) 1C. 
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C26 injected IRNSS 1C into the designated orbit from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. This was the 27th consecutive successful flight of PSLV.
Initially, the satellite was injected into a sub-geosynchronous transfer orbit with a 282.56 km perigee (nearest point to Earth) and 20670 km apogee (farthest point from Earth). Later, it was lifted to a geo-stationary orbit.
IRNSS 1C is the third member of the seven satellite constellation of the IRNSS. The first two satellites in the series were IRNSS 1A and IRNSS 1B.
The fourth navigational satellite of the IRNSS segment will be launched in December 2014 and the project will be fully operational in 2015.

About IRNSS 1C
•    The satellite IRNSS 1C is similar in composition to its predecessors 1A and 1B. It carries navigation and ranging payloads. 
•    It will play a vital role in the IRNSS operations right from guiding drivers on city roads to aerial navigation, disaster management, mapping and surveillance activities.
•    IRNSS 1C is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in the country as well as the region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary which is its primary service area.
•    The IRNSS 1C will be utilized for two services- Standard Positioning Service (SPS) extended to all users and Restricted Service (RS) which will be encrypted.
•    The IRNSS 1C carried two types of payloads, one for transmitting navigation service signals to the users and another consisting of a C-band transponder to facilitate Cube Retro Reflectors for laser ranging.

ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan announced to launch GSLV Mark-III in 45 days

16-OCT-2014

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K Radhakrishnan on 16 October 2014 announced that the Indian space agency will launch GSLV Mark-III within next 45 days. This launch of ISRO is one of the most awaited launches of 2014. 
GSLV Mark-III will facilitate launch of four-tonne class of communication satellites to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. This launch of communication satellites will benefit all sections of the society, including remote and far-flung areas of the country. 
The announcement was made by Radhakrishnan from the Mission Control Room in Sriharikota after the successful launch of IRNSS 1C.

Apart from this, another communication satellite GSAT 16 with 48 transponders will be launched on board Ariane 5 from the French Guyana in December 2014. ISRO would launch the next in the IRNSS series IRNSS 1D in December 2014. 
GSLV-III or Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III
The GSLV-III or Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III is a launch vehicle being developed by the Indian Space Research Organization. GSLV Mk III is conceived and designed to make ISRO fully self reliant in launching heavier communication satellites of INSAT-4 class, weighing 4500 to 5000 kilograms. It would also enhance the capability of the country to be a competitive player in the multimillion dollar commercial launch market. The vehicle envisages multi-mission launch capability for GTO, LEO, Polar and intermediate circular orbits.

Sadiq, a 10-year-old terminally ill boy, became Hyderabad’s police commissioner for a day

16-OCT-2014

Sadiq, a 10-year old terminally ill boy became Hyderabad Police Commissioner for a day. His long cherished dream to serve as Police Commissioner was fulfilled by Hyderabad Police Commissioner Mahender Reddy on 15 October 2014. 
His last wish was fulfilled by the help of an NGO, Make a Wish Foundation that decided to fulfill Sadiq’s dream on humanitarian ground. 
Ten-year-old Sadiq who hails from Peddapalli, Karimnagar is suffering from life-threatening cancer and is undergoing treatment at state-run MNJ Institute of Oncology.

The terminally ill boy entered the office in a Khaki uniform and a cap and occupied the chair of Hyderabad police commissioner for a day, while Hyderabad Police Commissioner Mahender Reddy and other senior officers swiftly saluted him. 
Before assuming the office, Sadiq was given a ceremonial welcome by the police when he arrived at the Commissioner’s Office. 
Dream of Sadiq
Ten-year-old Sadiq who hails from Peddapalli, Karimnagar dreamt of sitting on the Police Commissioner’s chair and by sitting on the desk he wanted to sign important files, give instructions to the orderliness. He also wanted to catch thieves and uphold the rule of law. 
Sadiq is son of Mohd. Raheemuddin and his three uncles are serving in army while two works in police department in Karimnagar, Telangana (29th state of India).

India-Norway signed 13 agreements to promote bilateral relations

16-OCT-2014

India and Norway on 14 October 2014 signed 13 agreements to promote bilateral relations. These include agreement between Defence sector of two countries and an agreement on exemption of visa requirement for holders of diplomatic and official passports. 
The agreements were signed in Oslo in the presence of President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg. 
President Mukherjee was on a three day, from 12 to 14 October 2014, visit to the Scandinavian nation, Norway on the invitation of King Harald V. Mukherjee is the first Indian head to pay an official visit to Norway.

Following are the list of Agreements signed
• Agreement on exemption of visa requirement for holders of diplomatic and official passports to promote bilateral relations
• MoU to promote cultural co-operation and exchanges between the two nations
• MoU in the field of Earth System Sciences to allow exchange of scientific resources, personnel and technical knowledge to support the improvement and development of progress in Earth Sciences and services.
• Three MoU signed by IIT Kanpur with NTNU, University of Oslo and NILU to promote mobility of students and faculty/staff, joint research activities and publications, exchange of academic materials and special short-term academic programs.
• Two MoU signed by IISER, Thiruvananthapuram with SINTEF Materials and Chemistry and Institute of Energy Technology to enhance relations between the two institutions and to develop academic and cultural interchange in the areas of education, research and other activities and to cooperate and work towards internationalization of higher education. 
• Three MoU signed by University of Hyderabad with University of Oslo, NTNU and University of Bergen to enhance relations between the two Universities and develop academic and cultural interchange
• Statement of Intent (SoI) in Defence sector with an aim to explore opportunities for cooperation in research and development programs in the field of defence research
• MoU to support promotion and extension of cooperation in "Scientific Research and Technology Development” in the fields of mutual interest of both sides 
• MoU to establish a health research relationship for encouraging research in a range of health-related areas of mutual interest, including human vaccines, infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance 
• MoU between Indira Gandhi National Tribal University and University of Agder to enhance the two universities to develop academic especially computer education co -operation to develop a boundary less education system

Karnataka Lokayukta ordered probe into misuse of 32 crore rupees funds for afforestation

16-OCT-2014

Karnataka Lokayukta on 15 October 2014 ordered enquiry into alleged misuse of 32 crore rupees funds meant for afforestation in Gulbarga district of the state. 
The order directed ADGP Lokayukta to investigate the allegations made by advocate Dr. Raju Kulgeri in Gulbarga. The ADGP will have to take action under the relevant provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act and other relevant law and to investigate the scam.
The complainant in his plea alleged that 32 crore rupees that was allocated for afforestation between 2001 and 2011 was siphoned off by officials in the forest department. He also alleged that forest coverage of the district has come down from 33 percent to 3.1 percent.

Background
Advocate Dr Raju Kulgeri filed the complaint to Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao when he visited the district in July 2013. 
In response to complaint, the Lokayukta committee comprising of two private persons namely the deputy conservator of forests and the deputy superintendent of police, Gulbarga, inspected the afforested area and submitted its report. 
In the report, they said that the Forest department officials have failed to produce documents, cheques and receipts with regard to the work carried out by them and they did not show any spot for inspection. 
Apart from this, another joint inspection report submitted by Deputy SP, Lokayukta of Gulbarga on 31 July 2014 said that there has been misappropriation of funds provided for afforestation and maintenance

India and UK signed MoU on Cultural Cooperation

16-OCT-2014

India and United Kingdom (UK) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Culture Cooperation over next five years on 15 October 2014. The MoU was signed by the Minister of State for Culture Shripad Naik and Sajid Javed, Secretary, Department of Culture, Media and Sport of United Kingdom.

The MoU was signed on Cultural Cooperation which will form the bulwark of the India-UK cultural relations for the period 2014 to 2019.

The agreement envisages collaboration in the field of museums, libraries, archaeology, performing arts, capacity building programs, skill development, joint publications, archives, cinematography and literature.

India and UK countries identified future areas of collaboration which include collaboration between Indian National Museum and British Museum, development of a conservation policy and applied conservation techniques & training, digitization and improved records management practices and conservation of built heritage.

IndiGo signed a MoU to buy 250 A320neo planes from Airbus Group

16-OCT-2014

India's low-cost carrier IndiGo on 15 October 2014 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to buy 250 A320neo Family aircraft worth 25.5 billion US dollars from Airbus Group. This agreement is Airbus single largest order by number of aircraft.
While Airbus did not provide the value of the IndiGo order, but its website shows the list price per A-320 neo aircraft as 102.8 million US dollars. 
The deal will reaffirm IndiGo’s commitment to the long-term development of affordable air transportation in India and overseas.
IndiGo has previously placed orders for 280 Airbus aircraft (100 A320ceo and 180 A320neo) worth about 11 billion US dollars in 2011.

Airbus A320neo Family Aircraft
The Airbus A320neo family is a family of aircraft under development by Airbus replacing the predecessor A320 family. 
The A320neo (new engine option) incorporates many innovations including latest generation engines and large Sharklet wing-tip devices which together deliver 15 percent in fuel savings.
These improvements result in a per seat fuel burn saving of 20 percent compared to current engine option (CEO) jetliners as well as reduced engine noise and lower emissions. 
The A320 Family is the world’s best-selling single aisle product line with almost 11000 orders to date and over 6200 aircraft delivered to 400 customers and operators worldwide. 
IndiGo
IndiGo is an Indian airline company headquartered at Gurgaon, India. IndiGo was set up in early 2006 by Rahul Bhatia of InterGlobe Enterprises and Rakesh S Gangwal, a United States-based NRI.
It is a low cost carrier and the largest airline in India with a market share of 32.6 percent as of May 2014. The airline offers 534 daily flights connecting to 36 destinations with its primary hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport. It presently has a fleet of 83 Airbus A320 aircraft

ISRO re-positioned Mars Orbiter, Mangalyaan to save it from Comet Siding Spring

16-OCT-2014

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 16 October 2014 repositioned its Mars Orbiter, Mangalyaan as a precautionary step against the expected Comet Siding Spring that would fly by Mars, the red planet on 19 October 2014.

ISRO has positioned its Mars Orbiter to a position farthest from the tail of the Comet so that it does not affect the satellite.

Along with the Indian space Agency, the space agencies’ of other countries around the world those have sent their missions to Mars has also repositioned their satellites like MAVEN, Curiosity, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on the planet, so that the Comet Siding Spring would not collide or affect them by its movement.  
Background
US space agency NASA has said that the Comet Siding Spring, C/2013 A1 has travelled many billions of miles and would come within about 87000 miles of Mars on 19 October 2014. The comet comes from the Oort cloud, material left over from the formation of the solar system.

C/2013 A1

C/2013 A1 is a Siding Spring is an Oort cloud comet and was discovered on 3 January 2013 by Robert H. McNaught at Siding Spring Observatory using the 0.5-meter (20 in) Uppsala Southern Schmidt Telescope. At the time of discovery it was 7.2 AU from the Sun and located in the constellation Lepus. Comet C/2013 A1 probably took millions of years to come from the Oort cloud.

Union Finance Ministry approved 25 FDI proposals with total investment of 1546 crore rupees

15-OCT-2014

Union Finance Ministry on 14 October 2014 approved 25 FDI proposals with total investment of 1546 crore rupees.
The proposals were cleared by the Union Finance Ministry following rthe ecommendations for the same by Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), a multi-department panel headed by Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram.

The proposals include six of single brand retail trade with multi-brand retail trading (MBRT) applications of Flemingo International (BVI) and Miami Perfume Junction, Inc, USA.

The single-brand retail trading proposals which have been cleared include that of Lush Ltd, UK; Austria Puma Dassier Gesellchaft m.b.H, Austria and Bestseller United (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Singapore.

These MBRT proposals relate to investment in setting up shop in duty free area and selling products on board on international flights.

It further include three pharma sector applications, one of Laurus Labs, has also been cleared.

The applicant had sought approval to increase foreign investment up to 100 per cent in its paid up capital and direct foreign investment in its subsidiaries. The proposal entails an investment of 1800 crore rupees.

About FIPB

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) is a national agency of Government of India, with the remit to consider and recommend foreign direct investment (FDI) which does not come under the automatic route. It provides a single window clearance for proposals on FDI in India.

Union Finance Ministry approved 25 FDI proposals with total investment of 1546 crore rupees

15-OCT-2014

Union Finance Ministry on 14 October 2014 approved 25 FDI proposals with total investment of 1546 crore rupees.
The proposals were cleared by the Union Finance Ministry following rthe ecommendations for the same by Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), a multi-department panel headed by Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram.

The proposals include six of single brand retail trade with multi-brand retail trading (MBRT) applications of Flemingo International (BVI) and Miami Perfume Junction, Inc, USA.

The single-brand retail trading proposals which have been cleared include that of Lush Ltd, UK; Austria Puma Dassier Gesellchaft m.b.H, Austria and Bestseller United (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Singapore.

These MBRT proposals relate to investment in setting up shop in duty free area and selling products on board on international flights.

It further include three pharma sector applications, one of Laurus Labs, has also been cleared.

The applicant had sought approval to increase foreign investment up to 100 per cent in its paid up capital and direct foreign investment in its subsidiaries. The proposal entails an investment of 1800 crore rupees.

About FIPB

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) is a national agency of Government of India, with the remit to consider and recommend foreign direct investment (FDI) which does not come under the automatic route. It provides a single window clearance for proposals on FDI in India.

Harbin Ice Festival celebrated in Hong Kong

15-OCT-2014

The Harbin Ice Festival will be held from 1 November 2014 to 10 November 2014 in Hong Kong. In the Harbin Ice Festival India will showcase her culture, art, food and fashion.
The aim of the festival is to bring awareness about Indian culture to the people of Hong Kong and China.
There will be special focus on creating trade relations between the people of the two countries. This is to further the endeavour to celebrate 2014 as a Year of Friendship and Exchange between India and China.

Some of the biggest names in art, heritage and culture will showcase Indian performing arts and craft, food, fashion and more through dance, music and theatre performances, exhibitions and workshops. This event will bring Indian cultural awareness to the local Chinese community for the first time in such a large scale.
The original Harbin Ice Festival is a popular winter festival that takes place in the town of Harbin and is known for its ice sculptures.
Efforts have been made to recreate the ice exhibition in Hong Kong and light it up using coloured LED lights.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North authored by Richard Flanagan won Man Booker Prize

15-OCT-2014

The Narrow Road to the Deep North: Richard Flanagan
The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a novel of Australian author Richard Flanagan. The book was in news after it won the 2014 Man Booker Prize.

The novel narrates story of a love and war during the construction of the Thailand Burma Death Railway in World War II. The story revolves around a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp and centres upon the experiences of surgeon Dorrigo Evans (an Australian doctor) who was haunted by his wartime love affair with his uncle’s young wife two years earlier. Post war, he finds his growing celebrity as a war hero at odds with his sense of his own failings and guilt.
It is a book that depicts the disturbing stories of prisoners and captors on the Burma railway. It has tried to bridge East and West past and present, with a story of guilt and heroism.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North is the sixth novel for Flanagan. His previous novels were Death of a River Guide, The Sound of One Hand Clapping, Gould's Book of Fish, The Unknown Terrorist and Wanting.

IOC to invest 4 billion US dollar in British Columbia, Canada to source LNG

15-OCT-2014

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on 14 October 2014 announced that it will invest 4 billion US dollar in the British Columbia province, Canada, to source liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the region. 
The investment is biggest ever from IOC in Canada to secure natural gas for India.
IOC had signed a deal to buy 10 per cent stake in shale-gas assets and a linked liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in British Columbia in May 2014.

The deal marked the entry of IOC into North America.
As part of the transaction, IOC has also agreed to offtake 1.2 million tonnes (mt) of LNG per annum, which represents a 10 per cent of the LNG facility’s production, for a minimum period of 20 years.
About IOC
Indian Oil Corporation Limited is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters in New Delhi, India. 
The company is mainly controlled by Government of India which owns approx. 79% shares in the company. It is one of the seven Maharatna status companies of India. 
It is the world's 88th largest corporation, according to the Fortune Global 500 list, and the largest public corporation in India when ranked by revenue.

OilMin sets up Talukar panel on delays in gas discovery project of ONGC

15-OCT-2014

Union Petroleum Ministry on 3 October 2014 set up a Panel headed by B.N.Talukar to inquire into the reasons for delay in developing gas discoveries in ONGC's Krishna Godavari basin KG-D5 block.
The three-member committee will be headed by B N Talukar, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, and will have the financial advisor and a director from the ministry.
The committee will submit its report by end of October 2014.
ONGC's KG-D5 is next to Reliance Industries (RIL) eastern offshore KG-D6 block in Bay of Bengal. Both blocks were awarded in the first round of auction under New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) in 2000.
While RIL began oil production from its KG-D6 block in September 2008 and gas output in April 2009, ONGC has made 11 oil and gas discoveries in KG-D5 block and planned to begin production from the block in 2018 and the oil output in 2019. 
After noticing the delay in the ONGC production planning, the ministry wants to investigate the reasons for the delay.

ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Dinesh K Sarraf welcomed constitution of the committee and said the company will extend all cooperation in the investigation.
ONGC claimed that KG-D5 block will produce up to 90000 barrels per day. The production is estimated to be the largest from any field on the east coast. ONGC will produce 17 million standard cubic meters per day of gas from the block.
KG-D5 is divided into a Northern Discovery Area (NDA) and Southern Discovery Area (SDA).

Kotak Mahindra Bank launched Facebook-based funds transfer platform KayPay

15-OCT-2014

Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) on 14 October 2014 launched Facebook-based funds transfer platform KayPay.
KayPay is a bank agnostic payment product for Facebook users to send money to each other. 
KayPay is built on top of the mobile based Immediate Payment System (IMPS) that was launched by the National Payment Corporation of India. Users have to register their bank accounts once to start using the service.
At present, a sender can initiate fund transfer to any person through mobile phone, courtesy the IMPS infrastructure.
The IMPS platform has 28 banks under it and account holders of any of these banks can use the newly launched service.
The process
The sender will have to register on a dedicated website for the initiative called ‘KayPay’ wherein he will have to give bank account details and the bank’s MMID, apart from personal credentials.

Once registered, the sender can initiate transactions and if the beneficiary is not registered on KayPay, he will be directed to a page to register for completed a transaction. 
If the beneficiary is registered on KayPay, the transaction will be executed faster.
Facilities to the user 
•    Users won't have to depend on net banking or have to know the details of the payee. 
•    Users can transfer funds by choosing recipients from their Facebook friends list.
•    There will be no charges for either sending or receiving the money.
On the security front 
The bank claimed that it is fully secured, even in the event of the Facebook account getting compromised as it uses two-factor authentication to complete a transaction. Additionally, there is also an expiry time for a transaction.

KMB has set a limit of 2500 rupees per transaction and a total of 25000 rupees a month for sending, while a beneficiary may also not get more than 25000 rupees a month.

Himalayan glaciers are expanding instead of shrinking

15-OCT-2014

Scientists’ in their study of the Karakoram region of the Himalayas revealed that the glaciers of the region were stable and is expanding at the time when the glaciers across the world are melting. The team said that in the region snowfall is increasing instead of decreasing. ‘
In their study, the scientists discovered an explanation for this stability and said that precipitation is increasing across the Himalayas; most of this moisture drops in the summer – except in Karakoram, the region where the snow dominates the scene. The study was reported in Discovery news on 13 October 2014.

Karakoram is a home to K2 the second-highest peak on earth and is a chain of snowy peaks along the border of India, Pakistan and China.
Study Process
Study researcher Sarah Kapnick, a postdoctoral researcher in atmospheric and ocean sciences at Princeton University explained the process that was studied to find the reason behind this stability. 
During the study, Kapnick and her colleagues’ collected data on recent precipitation and temperatures from Pakistan Meteorological Department and other sources, including satellite data. To track changes in three regions of the Himalayas between 1861 and 2100: the Karakoram, the central Himalayas, and the southeast Himalayas which included part of the Tibetan Plateau, they combined the collected information with climate models. While studying they found that a new model that simulates climate down to an area of 965 square miles (2500 square kilometers) and matched the observed temperature and precipitation cycles seen in the Karakoram. 
They claimed that the model that is used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to simulate what will happen if the world continues to emit greenhouse gases at current rates was unable to capture these seasonal cycles. 
The reason for unnoticing the seasonal cycles was that the IPCC and other climate models are lower-resolution and they captured climate change over areas no finer than about 17027 square miles (44100 square km).
The study was published in April 2012 issue of the journal Nature Geoscience and was reported in Discovery news on 13 October 2014.

Book on Rajesh Khanna Dark Star: The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna released

15-OCT-2014

Dark Star: The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna: Gautam Chintamani

The book on Rajesh Khanna Dark Star: The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna was released on 15 October 2014. The book was written by Gautam Chintamani.
About the book 
Dark Star: The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna is an aching reminder of the man behind the facade. Chronicling the films and the times of Rajesh Khanna, Dark Star looks at the phenomenon of an actor who redefined the 'film star'.

Much like a celestial object doomed to darkness, after a glorious run, Rajesh Khanna might have spent a better half of his career in the shadow of his own stardom, but even after forty years of his last monstrous hit, he continues to be the yardstick by which every single Bollywood star is measured.
About Rajesh Khanna 
Rajesh Khanna was a Bollywood actor, film producer and politician. He was born in Amritsar, India. He is referred to as the first superstar and the original superstar of Indian cinema. He starred in 15 consecutive solo hit films in the period 1969 to 1971.
His Achievements and Awards

• In 1974, BBC made a film on him, titled Bombay Superstar. Khanna is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of Hindi cinema.
• Khanna won four Best Actor Awards in the Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards, and received 25 nominations.
• He won three Filmfare Best Actor Awards, one Filmfare Special Guest Actor Award in 1973, and received a Filmfare Special Award in 1991, after 25 years in the Hindi film industry.
• He received the Filmfare Life Time Achievement Award at the 50th anniversary Filmfare award ceremony in 2005.
• He has been posthumously awarded India's third highest civilian honour Padma Bhushan.
• In 2013, he was officially bestowed with the title The First Superstar of Indian cinema at Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Awards. A postage stamp, bearing his face, was released by India Post to honour him

Union Finance Minister to set inflation targets for RBI

15-OCT-2014

Union Finance Minister on 12 October 2014 gave the green signal for the much awaited reforms in the monetary policy framework.
As per the new reforms, Union Government will specify the inflation targets for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to achieve. The RBI will set inflation as its top priority in its policy statements.
The decision is in contrary to the recommendation of an Urjit Patel Committee. Urjit patel committee was formed by RBI in 2013 to examine monetary policy.
The committee had recommended that the monetary policy decision-making should be vested with a monetary policy committee, chaired by the RBI Governor.
Present Status
Until now, the RBI has the sole power to regulate the monetary policy. RBI governor regulate the monetary policy with the help of deputy Governors of RBI.

Other recommendations of Urjit Patel Committee
Other recommendations were that the central Bank adopts the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) as the measure of the nominal anchor for monetary policy. And that the RBI set the target CPI inflation level at 4 per cent (+/- 2 per cent) to be achieved through its monetary policy tools.
Inflation target
Inflation targeting is an economic policy in which a central bank estimates and makes public a projected, or target inflation rate and then attempts to steer actual inflation towards the target through the use of interest rate changes and other monetary tools.
Because interest rates and the inflation rate tend to be directly related, the likely moves of the central bank to raise or lower interest rates become more transparent under the policy of inflation targeting. 
World Approach
The world was rethinking if inflation targeting should be the gold standard for monetary policy makers. The European Central Bank, for instance, follows ‘eclectic’ monetary policy approach where growth and other macroeconomic goals are also objectives.

In several countries, a similar structure is already in place, where a monetary policy panel fixes rates. The move to change the structure comes amid debate over RBI's powers in the future and the primacy it enjoys among financial sector regulators.

Final Test: Exit Sachin Tendulkar authored by Dilip D’Souza released

15-OCT-2014

Final Test: Exit Sachin Tendulkar: Dilip D’Souza
A book titled Final Test: Exit Sachin Tendulkar authored by writer-journalist Dilip D’Souza was released on 15 October 2014. The book has been published by Random House India and books forward has been written by Harsha Bhogle.  
Final Test: Exit Sachin Tendulkar is a close scrutiny of Tendulkar’s last Test played at the Wankhede in November 2013 in which he scored 74 in the only innings that he played in the match. India won the match against West Indies by an innings and 126 runs against West Indies.

The book has tried to revisit Sachin Tendulkar’s final Test appearance and captured all the excitement and emotion during the two and a half days of the match. The book elaborates the deafening noise in the Wankhede and how it turns into a silence so that one can hear Tendulkar’s footsteps as he begins the walk back to pavilion. 
The book includes minute details of the match both on and off-field and the writer has also tried to tease out larger issues that plague the game in India as well as overseas.

About Dilip D’Souza

• Dilip D'Souza is a Mumbai-based writer and journalist
• He writes about social and political causes and his columns have appeared in several publications
• His column about how two young engineers from Kerala built a dam in rural Maharashtra and supplied electricity is believed to have inspired a key segment of the 2004 movie Swades directed by Ashutosh Gowariker
• D’Souza has previously authored titles like 
a) The Curious Case Of Binayak Sen 
b) Roadrunner: An Indian Quest In America
c) Branded by Law: Looking at India's Denotified Tribes
d) The Narmada Dammed: An Inquiry Into the Politics of Development

Vice President of India released the book titled Untold Story of Indian Public Sector

15-OCT-2014

Untold Story of the Indian Public Sector: Dr UD Choubey

The Vice President of India M Hamid Ansari on 14 October 2014 released a book entitled Untold Story of the Indian Public Sector authored by Dr UD Choubey, the Director General of SCOPE (Standing Conference of Public Enterprises).

About the book Untold Story of the Indian Public Sector: UD Choubey
Today, millions of young men and women aspire to join the esteemed ranks in Indian Public Sector to contribute to the creation of a new nation. Unfortunately, over the years the Public Sector has witnessed tremendous defamation.
The book throws light on various aspects of working in Public Sectors. The book provides a clear presentation of the overall environment and workings of the Public Sector that the author Dr UD Choubey had experienced.

Paralympic Games to be held in India in February 2015

15-OCT-2014

Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment on 13 October 2014 announced that a multi-sport Paralympic Games will be held in India in February 2015.

The games are scheduled to be held from 20 February to 26 February 2015. Athletes from India and abroad will participate in these games.
About Paralympic Games
All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games.
The summer paralympic games were held in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

The Paralympic Games are organized in parallel with the Olympic Games, while the IOC-recognized Special Olympics World Games include athletes with intellectual disabilities, and the Deaflympics include deaf athletes.

IMImobile Ltd acquired UK-based mobile messaging platform TxtLocal Ltd

15-OCT-2014

London-based firm IMImobile Ltd on 14 October 2014 acquired mobile communications company TxtLocal Ltd (TextLocal) for 11 million euro in a cash and equity deal.
The initial consideration for the deal is worth 10 million euro in cash and 1 million euro by way of IMImobile shares. There is a deferred consideration of up to 2.15 million euro.
Highlights of the acquisition
•    Post acquisition, mobile messaging platform of TextLocal will be integrated with IMImobile’s core infrastructure.
•    TextLocal’s platform will provide significant cross-sell and lead generation opportunities. 
•    TxtLocal Ltd will also leverage its global footprint to introduce TextLocal’s offering into new international markets.
•    TextLocal and its customer base will benefit from IMImobile’s capabilities of delivering multi-channel customer engagement and mobile payments solutions that work in synergy with TextLocal’s features such as mobile vouchers and ticketing.
•    The acquisition will allow IMImobile to target the small and medium businesses (SMBs) segment and expand its cloud-based mobile messaging offering.

IMImobile Ltd 
Originally, the company was established by Vishwanath Alluri and Shyam Bhat as IMISoftware in 1999 to develop software for power transmission and telecom towers. 
In 2000 the two founders saw an opportunity to offer a richer set of mobile data services in a mobile landscape dominated by voice and SMS. Subsequently in 2007, the original business of IMISoftware was sold and the company was renamed IMImobile.
The company enable clients to engage and transact with their customers efficiently through smarter mobile engagement using mobile as a channel to create new revenue streams.
It supports clients in over 60 countries and has 650 employees worldwide. 
TxtLocal Ltd
TxtLocal Ltd was established in September 2005 as a mobile communications company in United Kingdom.  Alastair Shortland is the founder and CEO of the company.
The company was listed as a Media Momentum top 20 fastest growing digital agency across Europe for the last three years as well as it won a Chamber Business Award for marketing Innovation.

Global Handwashing Day observed across the world on 15 October

15-OCT-2014

15 October: Global Hand Washing Day

Global Handwashing Day (GHD) was observed across the world on 15 October 2014. Theme for 2014 GHD is Clean Hands Save Lives. 
GHD is a campaign to motivate and mobilize millions around the world to wash their hands with soap as handwashing with soap is a key approach to disease prevention. Handwashing with soap is the most effective & inexpensive way to prevent diarrheal & acute respiratory infections, which take the lives of millions of children in developing countries. Together, they are responsible for the majority of all child deaths.

About Global Handwashing Day (GHD)
Global Handwashing Day (GHD) was created at the annual World Water Week 2008 held in Stockholm from 17 to 23 August 2008. The purpose for creation of the day was to initiate the Public Private Partnership for Handwashing (PPPHW). 
The first Global Handwashing Day took place on 15 October 2008, the date that was appointed by the UN General Assembly in accordance with year 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation. The theme for Global Handwashing Day’s inaugural year was Focus on School Children.

Union Ministry of H&FW banned the import of animal tested cosmetics in India

15-OCT-2014

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (H&FW) on 14 October 2014 banned the import of animals tested cosmetics in India. Earlier, it banned cosmetic animal testing within the country.
The ban came in the form of Rule 135-B that states no cosmetic that has been tested on animals after the commencement of Drugs and Cosmetics (Fifth Amendment) Rules, 2014 shall be imported into the country.  The ban will come into effect on 13 November 2014.
This amended Drugs and Cosmetics Rules imposing dual ban (test and import) has now put India in the league of European Union and Israel that had earlier imposed such ban long ago. 
This significant development made India the first cruelty-free cosmetics zone in South Asia.

Background
Humane Society International (HSI) India’s Be Cruelty-Free campaign is celebrating a historic victory for animals as India banned the import of animal tested cosmetics. 
It is Humane Society International India’s Be Cruelty-Free campaign that was instrumental in achieving this final import ban. In June 2014, HSI met with Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to present a petition of more than 70000 signatures supporting an import ban and apprised him of the cruel practice of testing for cosmetics on animals.
Be Cruelty Free campaign of HSI
Be Cruelty-Free is the campaign to end animal testing for cosmetics in India. 
In many parts of the world, animals in laboratories are still suffering and dying to test cosmetics such as lipstick and shampoo. The chemicals are forced down into their throats, dripped into their eyes and onto their shaved skin. It is the ugly secret of the beauty industry that Humane Society International’s Be Cruelty-Free campaign is determined to end.
India’s dual test and import ban is the latest victory in a string of achievements for the Be Cruelty-Free campaign globally. Earlier in 2014, Be Cruelty-Free campaigners in Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Taiwan and the United States all celebrated the introduction of bills proposing national cosmetic animal test bans.
Humane Society International (HSI)
Humane Society International is one of the only international animal protection organizations in the world working to protect all animals including animals in laboratories, farm animals, companion animals, and wildlife. 
HSI supports programs in many countries around the world and maintains offices in Australia, Brussels (Europe office), Canada, Costa Rica (Latin America office), India, the United Kingdom and the United States (The HSUS).

Gautham Roy appointed as the new Managing Director of CPCL

15-OCT-2014

Gautham Roy on 14 October 2014 was appointed as the new Managing Director (MD) of Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL). 
His appointment was made by Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. He served as an Executive Director in Indian Oil Corporation Ltd before assuming the new post.
He was appointed in place of A S Basu who retired on 31 May 2014. Since June 2014, the charge of Managing Director of CPCL was with S Venkataramana, Director-Operations of CPCL.

Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL)
•    CPCL was formerly known as Madras Refineries Ltd. It is a subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation.
•    It has two refineries with a combined refining capacity of 11.5 million tonnes per annum. 
•    It was formed as a joint venture in 1965 between the Government of India, AMOCO and National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) having a share holding in the ratio 74:13:13 respectively. 
•    In 1985, AMOCO disinvested in favor of the Government of India leading to revision in shareholding percentage to 84.62 per cent for the government and 15.38 per cent of NIOC. 
•    The company went public in 1994. 
•    IOC acquired government stake in CPCL in 2000-01 and presently IOC holds 51.89 percent shares while NICO controls 15.40 percent of shares

Australian author Richard Flanagan won 2014 Man Booker Prize

15-OCT-2014

Australian author Richard Flanagan on 14 October 2014 won the 50000 pounds Man Booker Prize for his wartime novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North. His name was announced as the winner at London’s Guildhall and was presented the prize by The Duchess of Cornwall.
Flanagan is the third Australian to win the prize after Thomas Keneally and Peter Carey. Thomas Keneally's Schindler's Ark won in 1982 while Peter Carey won for Oscar and Lucinda (1988) and The True History of the Kelly Gang (2001).
This was the first year that the Man Booker prize was open to all authors writing in English, regardless of nationality. With this change in the rules of the prize, some writers had expressed fears that this change would lead to dominance of the US authors.

About The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Flanagan's novel is set during the construction of the Thailand Burma Death Railway in World War Two. It also tells the harrowing stories of prisoners and captors on the Burma railway and revolves around two great themes, namely love and war. The prose of the novel has bridged East and West past and present, with a story of guilt and heroism. 
The book narrates story of a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp and centres upon the experiences of surgeon Dorrigo Evans who was haunted by his love affair with his uncle’s young wife two years earlier. The Narrow Road to the Deep North is dedicated to prisoner san byaku san ju go - who was a reference to his father's Japanese prison number, 335.
About Richard Flanagan
• Richard Flanagan’s father was a survivor of Japan’s campaign to build the railway who died on the day when Flanagan emailed his final draft to his publisher
• He has worked as one of the screenwriters on Baz Luhrmann’s film Australia
• The Narrow Road to the Deep North is the sixth novel for Flanagan. His previous novels were Death of a River Guide, The Sound of One Hand Clapping, Gould's Book of Fish, The Unknown Terrorist and Wanting
• He directed a feature film version of The Sound of One Hand Clapping (1998)
• He was born in Tasmania in July 1961

Shortlisted Authors for the year
Shortlisted authors of the Man Booker Prize included two American writers, three British and one Australian and they were Ali Smith, Neel Mukherjee, Howard Jacobson, Karen Joy Fowler, Richard Flanagan and Joshua Ferris.

Author	Title of Novel	Nationality
Joshua Ferris	To Rise Again at a Decent Hour	American
Karen Joy Fowler	We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves	American
Howard Jacobson	J	British
Neel Mukherjee	The Lives of Others	British
Ali Smith	How to be Both	British

Neel Mukherjee was shortlisted for his novel The Lives of Others, a book that narrates the sweeping account of life in 1960s Calcutta.

About Man Booker Prize 
The Man Booker Prize for Fiction was formerly known as the Booker-McConnell Prize and commonly known simply as the Booker Prize is a literary prize that is awarded annually for the best original novel, written in the English language. 
The 2013 Booker Prize was given to Eleanor Catton for her novel The Luminaries and the first Booker Prize was given in 1969 to PH Newby for his novel, Something to Answer For.

59th Annual National Railway Awards

14-OCT-2014

Indian Railways on 10 October 2014 celebrated its 59th Annual Railway National Awards function 2014. Union Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda awarded 132 rail personnel for their exemplary contribution to the country. 
The award function was held at Bangalore and D.V. Sadananda Gowda was the chief guest. 
Union Rail Minister awarded Harish Kanwar with National Rail Award. Harish Kanwar is a Deputy Director in railway board.

Harish Kanwar has mainly contributed in promoting the inauguration of Pirpanjal tunnel.
About Pirpanjal tunnel
The Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel or Banihal railway tunnel is an 11.215 km railway tunnel located in Pir Panjal Range of middle Himalayas in Jammu and Kashmir, India, North of Banihal town.

CPI inflation declined to 6.46 percent in September 2014

14-OCT-2014

Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation or retail inflation of September 2014 stood at 6.46 percent as compared to the 7.3 percent in August 2014. The CPI inflation data was released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on 13 October 2014.

The retail inflation of September 2014 is the second straight fall, due to lower food and fuel costs. This fall is the lowest since the new series of Consumer Price Index was released in January 2012.

The retail inflation of fuel and light cost came down to 3.45 percent from 4.15 percent of August 2014.

The retail inflation for over all food inflation dropped to 7.67 percent in September 2014 from 9.35 percent in August 2014.

The retail inflation of fruits slowed to 22.4 percent in September 2014 from 24.27 percent in August 2014. There is a price rise in protein rich items like eggs, fish and meat was slower in September against August 2014.

The retail inflation is 6.34 percent in urban areas and 6.68 percent in rural areas in September in 2014.

The RBI is expected to reduce the CPI inflation 8 percent by January 2015 and 6 percent by January 2016.

Sea levels rose rapidly in past 150 years: study of Australian scientists

14-OCT-2014

Scientists from the Australian National University (ANU) based in Canberra found that the sea levels have risen more in past century as compared to any century in past 6000 years. The team came on the conclusion while looking at the fluctuation of ocean levels over the past 35000 years, based on ice volume changes around the world. 
The team, in their study found that the sea levels saw 20 cm rise since the start of the 20th century, which was caused largely by global warming and the melting of polar ice. They claimed that sea levels have remained steady for thousands of years but saw rapid rises over past 150 years, since global industrialisation.

Professor Kurt Lambeck from ANU said that comparing the historical data with recent data from tidal gauges shows an increasing rate of sea level rise in recent times.
Basis of the research
The team of scientists came to their conclusion after studying about 1000 ancient sediment samples off Britain, North America, Greenland and the Seychelles. These sediments were collected in past two decades and in their study they picked submerged sediments that may include tree roots that suggested a previously lower sea level or mollusks, whose fossil records were measured to determine the previous sea level.  
The study was published on 12 September 2014 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Global Hunger Index Report 2014 released: India Ranked at 55th Position

14-OCT-2014

2014 Global Hunger Index- The challenge of hidden hunger
The 2014 Global Hunger Index (GHI) was released on 13 October 2014 by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.
It revealed that two billion people were suffering from hidden hunger even though the levels of hunger in many developing countries decreased. The 2014 GHI was calculated for 120 developing countries and countries in transition, 55 of which have a serious or worse hunger situation.

Highlights of Global Hunger Index Report 2014
The 2014 GHI presented a multidimensional measure of national, regional, and global hunger. It showed that the world has made progress in reducing hunger since 1990, but still has far to go as the levels of hunger remain alarming or extremely alarming in 16 countries. Globally, 805 million people still suffer from hunger.
Regionally, the highest hunger levels are observed in Africa South of the Sahara and South Asia which have also experienced the greatest absolute improvements since 2005. South Asia saw the sharp absolute decline in GHI scores since 1990. Progress in addressing child underweight was the main factor behind the improved GHI score for the region since 1990.
From 1990 to 2014, 26 countries reduced their scores by 50 percent. In terms of absolute progress, Angola, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Chad, Ghana, Malawi, Niger, Rwanda, Thailand, and Vietnam witnessed the biggest improvement in scores since 1990.
The severity of hunger was found to be low in 44 countries. These countries include Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mexico and Turkey.
Moreover, countries like Burundi and Eritrea were classified as extremely alarming as per the 2014 GHI. However, reliable data for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia was sorely lacking.

Global Hunger Index 2014 Scores by Ranks
Country	Rank	Score
Mauritius	1	5.0
Thailand	1	5.0
Albania	3	5.3
Columbia	3	5.3
China	5	5.4
Malaysia	5	5.4
Peru	7	5.7
Syrian Arab Republic	8	5.9
Honduras	9	6.0
Suriname	9	6.0
Gabon	11	6.1
El Salvador	12	6.2
Guyana	13	6.5
Dominican Republic	14	7.0
Vietnam	15	7.5
Ghana	16	7.8
Ecuador	17	7.9
Paraguay	18	8.8
Mongolia	19	9.6
Nicaragua	19	9.6
Bolivia	21	9.9
Indonesia	22	10.3
Moldova	23	10.8
Benin	24	11.2
Mauritania	25	11.9
Cameroon	26	12.6
Iraq	27	12.7
Mali	28	13.0
Lesotho	29	13.1
Philippines	29	13.1
Botswana	31	13.4
Gambia, The	32	13.6
Malawi	32	13.6
Guinea-Bissau	34	13.7
Togo	35	13.9
Guinea	36	14.3
Senegal	37	14.4
Nigeria	38	14.7
Sri Lanka	39	15.1
Guatemala	40	15.6
Rwanda	40	15.6
Cote d’ lvoire	42	15.7
Combodia	43	16.1
Nepal	44	16.4
North Korea	44	16.4
Tajikistan	44	16.4
Kenya	47	16.5
Swaziland	47	16.5
Zimbabwe	47	16.5
Liberia	50	16.8
Namibia	51	16.9
Uganda	52	17.0
Tanzania	53	17.3
Angola	54	17.4
India	55	17.8
Congo, Republic	56	18.1
Bangladesh	57	19.1
Pakistan	57	19.1
Djibouti	59	19.5
Burkina Faso	60	19.9
Lao PDR	61	20.1
Mozambique	62	20.5
Niger	63	21.1
Central Republic African	64	21.5
Madagascar	65	21.9
Sierra Leone	66	22.5
Haiti	67	23.0
Zambia	68	23.2
Yemen, Republic	69	23.4
Ethiopia	70	24.4
Chad	71	24.9
Sudan/South Sudan	72	26.0
Comoros	73	29.5
Timor-Leste	74	29.8
Eritrea	75	33.8
Burundi	76	35.6

Hidden Hunger
• One form of hunger that is often ignored or overshadowed by hunger related to energy deficits is hidden hunger which is also called micronutrient deficiency. It affected some 2 billion people around the world. 
• Hidden hunger can coexist with adequate or even excessive consumption of dietary energy from macronutrients such as fats and carbohydrates and also with obesity in one person or community.
• Poor diet, disease, impaired absorption and increased micronutrient needs during certain life stages, such as pregnancy, lactation, and infancy are among the causes of hidden hunger.
• Possible solutions to hidden hunger include food-based approaches: dietary diversification, fortification of commercial foods and biofortification, in which food crops are bred with increased micronutrient content. 
• Food-based measures require long-term, sustained and coordinated efforts to make a lasting difference. On the other hand, vitamin and mineral supplements can help vulnerable populations combat hidden hunger in short span of time.
• Moreover to eliminate hidden hunger, Governments and multilateral institutions need to invest in and develop human and financial resources, increase coordination and ensure transparent monitoring and evaluation to build capacity on nutrition.
• Governments must also create a regulatory environment that values good nutrition. This could involve creating incentives for private sector companies to develop more nutritious seeds or foods.
India's Performance as per 2014 Global Hunger Index 
India improved its position in the Global Hunger Index in 2014 as it climbed to 55th position among  76 emerging economies from 63rd position in 2013. Though, it is still trailing behind countries like Thailand, China, Ghana, Iraq, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
A sharp reduction in the percentage of underweight children has helped India improve its hunger record. India’s improved ranking is due to its progress in dealing with underweight children.
However, India remains home to the largest number of chronically malnourished and stunted children under five. In the first GHI in 2006, India ranked 96 among 119 countries. 
About Global Hunger Index
The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger globally and by country and region. It is calculated each year by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). 
The GHI highlights successes and failures in hunger reduction and provides insights into the drivers of hunger. To reflect the multidimensional nature of hunger, the GHI combines three equally weighted indicators in one index number:
1. Undernourishment: The proportion of undernourished as a percentage of the population (reflecting the share of the population with insufficient calorie intake)
2. Child underweight: The proportion of children younger than the age of five who are underweight (low weight for age reflecting wasting, stunted growth, or both), which is one indicator of child undernutrition
3. Child mortality: The mortality rate of children younger than the age of five (partially reflecting the fatal synergy of inadequate dietary intake and unhealthy environments).
The GHI ranks countries on a 100-point scale. Zero is the best score (no hunger) and 100 is the worst, although neither of these extremes is reached in practice. A lower GHI score implies better nutritional standard and a higher rank for a country.

Poet-diplomat Abhay K honoured with Asia-Pacific Excellence Award

14-OCT-2014

All India National Unity Council on 11 October 2014 honoured poet-diplomat Abhay K with Asia-Pacific Excellence Award.
He was awarded for his outstanding individual achievements in the field of literature by penning Earth Anthem and SAARC song and for celebrating local, regional and global themes in his poems and writings.
Others who were honoured on this occasion were eminent lawyer Mithilesh Kumar Singh, Professor Basant Kumar Gautam of Tribhuwan University, former law-maker and Bhojpuri poet Gopal Thakur and the owner of the Dwarika Hotel Mrs. Ambika Shrestha, former Ambassador of Nepal to Japan Dr. Bishnu Hari Nepal and entrepreneur Mrs. Bhawani Rana.
The award ceremony was held at Kathmandu in Nepal in association with the Nepal-India Forum for peace and development.

About All India National Unity Council 
All India National Unity Council is an organization based under the patronship of Dr. Bhishma Narayan Singh, great Gandhian and former Governor and union minister of India.

All India national Unity Conference is working for people's movement for national unity and national integration and organizing conferences, seminars and symposia to stress the need of unity and integrity of the country.
About Earth Anthem
Earth Anthem was launched in June 2013 on the occasion of the World Environment Day. It was penned by poet-diplomat Abhay K. 
Earth Anthem is a celebratory song or a musical composition that eulogizes planet Earth and its inhabitants, including the flora and fauna.

Khaled Bahah appointed as Prime Minister of Yemen

14-OCT-2014

Khaled Bahah on 13 October 2014 was appointed as Prime Minister of Yemen. He was appointed by the President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. At the time of appointment Bahah was serving as permanent representative of the Republic of Yemen to the United Nations.

The appointment comes under a power-sharing deal signed between Houthis and President Mansour Hadi in September 2014. The deal aims to bring the Houthis and the wing of a separatist group into a more inclusive government.

In October 2014, President Mansour Hadi proposed Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak as Prime Minister but he was rejected by Houthi, Shiite Muslim group. Houthi group proposed three names and Khaled Bahah was one among them.

About Khaled Bahah
• Khaled Bahah was born in 1965.
• He holds the master’s degree in administration, business and finance from University of Pune, India.
• He served previously as oil minister in Yemen before being appointed Yemen's envoy to the United Nations.

British House of Commons passed symbolic motion to recognise Palestinian state

14-OCT-2014

British lawmakers on 13 October 2014 voted in favour to recognise Palestine as an official state. The vote saw 274 MPs in support of the motion, while 12 voted against. This move of the lawmakers would not alter the government policy but carries symbolic value as Palestinians pursue international recognition. 
The non-binding motion that was passed in Britain’s lower house (House of Commons) by 274 votes reads - this House believes that the Government should recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution.

Although the motion was passed with an overwhelming majority but does not signify an official change in Britain’s position regarding the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. 
The government may not officially recognize Palestine as a state, but says that it can change that position if it feels doing so would be constructive step to the peace process.
The vote was closely watched by Palestinians and Israelis seeking to gauge the readiness of European countries to act on Palestinian hopes for unilateral recognition by United Nations member states.
Palestinians want an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza, with its capital in East Jerusalem. 
Background
The debate on Palestinian statehood was first hosted by the House of Commons since 2012, after an online petition calling for the motion gathered over 100000 signatures.

Earlier in October 2014, the Swedish Parliament became the first EU country to vote in favour of recognising a Palestinian state. 
The UN General Assembly in 2012 approved the de facto recognition of Palestine as a state but the United States, the European Union and most EU countries, including Britain, have yet not approved unilateral independence of Palestine.

Mary Kom voted as India's Most Valuable Player in Asian Games 2014

14-OCT-2014

Olympic bronze medalist MC Mary Kom on 13 October 2014 was chosen as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of India’s Incheon Asian Games campaign at a felicitation of the medal winners by contingent sponsors, Samsung India.

Kom, the first Indian woman boxer to win a gold medal in Asian Games was named as the MVP in a poll conducted by Samsung. The poll contest had all 11 individual/team gold winners, including the men's hockey team. 
After topping the list, the gold medalist in the 2014 Incheon Games in flyweight (-51kg) class, Mary Kom received 10 lakh rupees. 
India won 11 gold, 10 silver and 36 bronze in the Incheon Asian Games.

Tata Value homes launched www.tatavaluehomes.com to sell homes online

14-OCT-2014

Tata Value homes on 13 October 2014 launched www.tatavaluehomes.com to sell homes online.  
With the e commerce platform, Tata is eyeing up to 1000 crore rupees revenue by financial year 2015-16. Tata Value Homes is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Housing. 
Under its One Price One Nation offer, the customers will be able to buy a particular unit at a flat price across Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune and Chennai.
About e- commerce platform
Under the online home buying model, the consumers can book their apartments on www.tatavaluehomes.com by paying 30000 rupees.
Tata Value Homes will come up with an offer from 15 October 2014 under which customers will be able to buy a unit at a flat price across Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune and Chennai.

The company has developed properties in cities like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune and Chennai ranged between 29.9 lakh rupees and 59.9 lakh rupees depending on the size of the apartments that range between 1 BHK and 3 BHK.
Tata Value Homes has so far sold over one million square feet of residential space, translated into over 700 units generating over 300 crore rupees worth revenue.
Earlier, the company had tied-up with Snapdeal and Google for selling its properties.

Ajay Jayaram won Dutch Open Grand Prix badminton tournament

14-OCT-2014

Indian shuttler, Ajay Jayaram won the 50000 dollar Dutch Open Grand Prix badminton tournament on 12 October 2014. In the title clash played at the Topsportcentrum Almere in Netherlands, Jayaram defeated Indonesia’s Ihsan Maulana Mustofa 10-11, 11-6, 11-7, 1-11, 11-9.

This was maiden GP title for Jayaram and with this win, he also became the first Indian to win badminton Grand Prix tournament under the new 11x5 scoring system. 
Earlier, Jayaram has won three overseas titles namely New Zealand Open (2009), Thailand Open (2010) and Czech Open (2013).

British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton won inaugural Russian Grand Prix

14-OCT-2014

British Formula One (F1) driver Lewis Hamilton on 12 October 2014 won the inaugural Russian Grand Prix of Formula One.

After the win he dedicated his victory to French F1 driver Jules Bianchi, who is in a critical condition ever since his crash at Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka in October 2014.

This was his ninth victory of the season, his fourth in a row and the 31st of his career. He thus equalled Nigel Mansell’s record for most victories by a British F1 driver.

Nico Rosberg of Germany finished the race at second place. The Williams driver Valtteri Bottas finished third.
With Hamilton and Rosberg coming first and second, Mercedes team thereby won the constructors’ title for 2014, with three races left to go.

It was Mercedes first constructors title as a team.Although Mercedes won the drivers’ title in 1954 and 1955; the constructors’ title did not exist until 1958.

Drivers Standings

Hamilton leads the drivers standings by 17 points, with 291 points, and Rosberg is in second, with 274 points. Daniel Ricciardo of the Red Bull team is third, with 199 points.

Russian Grand Prix
Although there was a Russian Grand Prix Russian Grand Prix in 1913 and in 1914, which was won by a Benz but it was the first in Formula One history, since 1950.

Lok Sabha MP Kapil Krishna Thakur died

14-OCT-2014

Lok Sabha MP Kapil Krishna Thakur died on 13 October 2014 in Kolkata following a lung failure. He was 73.
He was the elder son of Binapani Debi Thakurani (Baroma), the leader of Matua community.

Kapil Krishna Thakur
•    Thakur did his graduation from the University of Calcutta.
•    He was also a member of the Standing Committee on Labour.
•    He won the Indian general election 2014 being an All India Trinamool Congress candidate and became a member of parliament (MP) to the 16th Lok Sabha from Bangaon Lok Sabha constituency in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
•    He had received the prestigious Sri Sri Thakur Harichand-Guruchand prize for his sustained work to uplift the Matuas.

Lyricist Sameer honoured with Kishore Kumar Award for 2012-13

14-OCT-2014

Noted lyricist Sameer on 13 October 2014 was honoured with the National Kishore Kumar Award for 2012-13. He was awarded during a function at the legendary singer's birth place Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh.
The award was handed over to Sameer by Madhya Pradesh Food and Civil Supplies Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah. 
The Jury that selected Sameer for the award included noted writer Saleem Khan, actor director Satish Kaushik, noted playback singer Anuradha Paudwal, lyricist Ibrahim Ashk and film critique Jaiprakash Choukse.

About Sameer
• Sameer officially known as Shitala Pandey is a son of noted lyricist Anjaan (Lalji Pandey)
• He was born in Banaras in Uttar Pradesh on 24 February 1958
• Sameer started his career as a lyricist in 1983 with the film Bekhabar (1983).
• The first film song he recorded was Maar Ke Kataaree Mar Jaibe for the Bhojpuri film Bairi Saawan (1984) sung by Suresh Wadkar and Preeti Sagar.
• He has composed songs for number of hit films like Dil, Aashiqui, Deewana, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Devdas, Dabangg-2 and Rowdy Rathore
• He won his first Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist in 1991 for film Aashiqui. In 1993,1994 and 1999 he once again won the Filmfare Award for film Deewana, Hum Hai Raahi Pyar Ke and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai respectively.
• A biography, Sameer – A Way with Words by Derek Bose was released by Amitabh Bachchan in 2007.
• He also has won IIFA Screen Award and Uttar Pradesh Government's Yash Bharti award.
About National Kishore Kumar Award
National Kishore Kumar Awardy is given by the Madhya Pradesh government and carries a cash prize of 2 lakh rupees, citation, shawl and shreefal. It is given in the fields of direction, screenplay and lyrics turn by turn every year.

Kishore Kumar was an Indian film playback singer, actor, lyricist, composer, producer, director, screenplay writer and scriptwriter. He was considered as one of the most successful playback singers of the Hindi film industry. 
He won 8 Filmfare Awards for Best Male Playback Singer and holds the record for winning the most Filmfare Awards in that category.
He was born on 4 August 1929 in Khandwa, Central Provinces and Berar (now in Madhya Pradesh), British India. He died on 13 October 1987, in Mumbai and as per his wish, his last rites was performed in Khandwa.

RCA removed former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi as its President

14-OCT-2014

Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) on 11 October 2014 removed former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi as its President. 
He was removed after a no—confidence motion against him was passed in Jaipur in which 23 of the 33 districts voted against Lalit Modi. Three of Modi's supporters have also been removed.
RCA, in Modi’s place, elected Vice President Amin Pathan as the acting President.

Earlier, Modi was banned for life by the BCCI after its disciplinary committee found him guilty for misappropriation of funds during the second and third editions of the Indian Premier League (IPL). But he was elected as the President of TCA in May 2014 with an overwhelming majority. 
The election of Modi as president of RCA led to imposition of ban on RCA by Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) leading to an impasse on the future of state’s cricketers on their participation in the BCCI affiliated tournaments.
RCA action is being seen as an apparent bid to end its standoff with the BCCI.

JagranJosh.com MBA Champion Competition Launched

14-OCT-2014

New Delhi: JagranJosh.com today has launched India’s biggest MBA Scholarship Competition, “MBA Champion” in association with MODY University of Science & Technology and powered by Alliance University, Bangalore.

The competition is aimed at empowering MBA aspirants to judge their competitive preparedness for the upcoming MBA admission season.
The competition will be conducted in two rounds. First round will be an Online Qualifier test while second round or Mains Test which will be an Offline test. The winning students will be awarded Cash Scholarship worth Rs 1, 00,000 & other exciting prizes.

Students can register for the test from today onwards till 30 November 2014 and can simultaneously take the online Qualifier test on JagranJosh.com
For complete details & registration, log on to www.mbachampion.in 
Students can also register by just giving a miss call to the number 02233598582. Alternatively, registration can also be done through SMS by sending MBACHAMPNAME to 57272. For Example, if your name is Ashish Kumar Sharma, type “MBACHAMP Ashish Kumar Sharma” & send it to 57272. Operator charges applicable.

French Formula One driver Jules Bianchi met with an accident during Japanese GP

13-OCT-2014

Jules Bianchi, French formula one driver, on 5 October 2014 met with an accident during Japanese Grand Prix held at Suzuka track in Japan.

The accident happened when his Russian-owned team Marussiain car ploughed in the back of a recovery. It smashed into the recovery van after wheels of the car slipped on a wet track which had made the track very slippery. The crash resulted in a severe brain surgery and is in critical condition but stable.

The accident has shaken Formula One like no other event since the death of the Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna in a 190-mile-an-hour crash at Imola, Italy, in 1994.

JP Morgan cut India 2014-15 growth forecast to 5.1 percent from 5.3 percent

13-OCT-2014

JP Morgan on 10 October 2014 cut its India GDP growth projection for 2014-15 to 5.1 percent from 5.3 percent. 
The reason for the trimmed growth was based on weak factory output.
JP Morgan cited that the industrial output of India in August 2014 rose to 0.4 percent compared to the estimation it was very low.
They estimated the industrial output of India for August 2014 to be around 2.4 percent.

Further, the report maintained that the slower growth and a fall in oil and commodity prices increase the chance for the RBI to attain its challenging 6 percent consumer price inflation target by January 2016.
The Reserve Bank of India projects GDP to grow at around 5.5 percent in the current fiscal year ending March 2015.
About JP Morgan 
John Pierpont Morgan known as J. P. Morgan was an American financier, banker, philanthropist and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. 
In 1892, Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric. 
After financing the creation of the Federal Steel Company, he merged it in 1901 with the Carnegie Steel Company and several other steel and iron businesses to form the United States Steel Corporation.

French economist Jean Tirole won the 2014 Nobel Prize for Economics

13-OCT-2014

French economist Jean Tirole on 13 October 2014 won the 2014 Nobel Prize for Economics. Jean Tirole was awarded for his analysis of market power and regulation.
The award will be presented to him on 10 December 2014 which marks the death anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel.
The Nobel Prize in Economics is officially known as Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. It was established in 1968 and was not part of the original group of five awards established by the will of the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel in 1895.

Jean Tirole
•    Jean Tirole is a French professor of economics. He works on industrial organization, game theory, banking and finance, and economics and psychology.
•    Tirole is chairman of the board of the Jean-Jacques Laffont Foundation at the Toulouse School of Economics.
•    As a scientific director of Industrial Economics Institute (IDEI) in Toulouse, Tirole developed his ideas about the impact of regulation on industrial organizations using game theory.
•    He is a founding member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST).
•    He holds engineering degrees from Ecole Polytechnique in Paris and from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées as well as a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
•    From the mid-1980s onwards, Jean Tirole has breathed new life into research on market failures. He has clarified how to understand and regulate industries with a few powerful firms.
•    Jean Tirole has published about two hundred professional articles in economics and finance as well as 10 books including The Theory of Industrial Organization, Game Theory.

India to host first leg of Asia Cup Archery Tournament in Delhi in January 2015

13-OCT-2014

India will host first leg of Asia Cup Archery Tournament in Delhi in January 2015. The announcement was made on 12 October 2014 by Archery Association India (AAI).
The Asia Cup will be held on the format of the annual World Cups. Asia Cup will replace the Asian GP.
The first leg will be conducted in Delhi in January 2015 while the second and third legs was allotted to Bangkok and Tehran. 
Second leg will be held in March 2015 and the third leg will be held in June 2015.  

About Asia Cup Archery Tournament
Asian Archery Championships is the Archery Asian Championship organized by the Asian Archery Federation.

It has been held biannually, and since 2001 has included both the recurve and compound disciplines. 
The tournament began in 1980 and it was first hosted in India. Countries such as South Korea, China, Japan and India compete, with many of the world's leading archers representing them.

India signed the Minamata Convention on Mercury

13-OCT-2014

India on 30 September 2014 signed the Minamata Convention on Mercury. The convention is named after the Japanese city Minamata that has become synonymous with deadly mercury contamination since 1950. 
The Minamata Convention gives five years time to India to control and reduce emissions from new power plants and 10 years time for the already existing power plants.

Minamata Convention 
The Minamata Convention on Mercury is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury. It was agreed at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee in Geneva, Switzerland on 19 January 2013.
The Minamata Convention is part of a cluster of agreements that include:
•    Basel Convention on the control of transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and their disposal.
•    Rotterdam Convention for managing international trade in hazardous chemicals and pesticides.
•    Stockholm Convention on the restriction and elimination of the production and use of persistent organic pollutants. 
The major highlights of the Minamata Convention on Mercury include a ban on new mercury mines, the phase-out of existing ones, control measures on air emissions, and the international regulation of the informal sector for artisanal and small-scale gold mining.
Mercury pollution in India
In India, Mercury pollution has not been a part of the environmental discourse. However, mercury pollution concerns have hit various places. 
At Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu, controversy regarding Mercury pollution has existed for years following the closure of a thermometer manufacturing factory of Hindustan Unilever Ltd. The factory was shut down by a closure order of the state pollution control board in March 2001. 
The second high-profile case is that of the Singrauli region that falls in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh and also spills over into Madhya Pradesh. This is a huge private and public sector industrial and power-generating cluster. It is estimated that around 17 percent of India’s power plant mercury emissions are from this cluster alone. 
In December 2009, the Ministry of Environment and Forests declared Singrauli as being among the 43 most critically polluted industrial clusters in the country.
Apart from Kodaikanal and Singrauli, Ganjam in Odisha is another area where mercury pollution has reached serious levels. 
Considering all these factors, it is imperative that India should now establish and enforce mercury emission standards for coal-fired power plants. 
Mercury pollution
Mercury is used in the chemical and petrochemical industries and also in household products like compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and thermometers. It is heavily used in artisanal and small-scale gold mining to separate gold from the ore. 
Mercury emissions to the atmosphere also take place from coal-fired power plants. Mercury is present in industrial effluents that are let into water bodies and the sea and enters the human food chain through the consumption of fish. This is what caused the disaster at Minamata in the 1950s. 
Mercury pollution arises from a variety of sources. Contaminated sites including old mines, landfills and waste disposal locations are also important sources of mercury pollution.

Amazon and Future Groups signed deal to jointly sell goods online

13-OCT-2014

US Online store Amazon and retailer Future Group on 12 October 2014 signed a deal to jointly sell goods over the internet.
According to deal, Future group's portfolio of over 40 brands will be retailed exclusively through Amazon.in platform. The partnership will initially focus on Future Group's fashion brands and will subsequently cover all other categories.

The alliance will leverage strong product knowledge, extensive brand portfolio and sourcing base of Future Group, and the e-commerce platform, customer base and reach of Amazon.in. Both the firms will also explore synergies in areas such as distribution network, customer acquisition and cross-promotions.

Besides, Amazon and Future will also jointly develop discounting strategy and price tags on their products won't be very different from rates at stores so that both channels don't end up cannibalizing each other

NASA successfully installed its first Earth-observing instrument ISS-RapidScat on the ISS

13-OCT-2014

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)  on 21 September 2014 successfully installed and activated its first Earth-observing instrument ISS-RapidScat (ISS Rapid Scatterometer) on the International Space Station (ISS).  It was launched aboard during the SpaceX CRS-4 mission.
The ISS-RapidScat will monitor ocean winds for climate research as well as weather predictions and hurricane monitoring.
It has a different orbit than other Earth remote sensing platforms. It is closer to Earth and it sees Earth at different times of the day with a different schedule. 
The first image from ISS-RapidScat was released by NASA on 6 October 2014 which depicts preliminary measurements of global ocean near-surface wind speeds and directions.

NASA has already launched the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, a joint mission with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in February 2014 and the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) carbon observatory in July 2014.
Two additional NASA Earth science instruments are scheduled to be launched in 2016.
ISS-RapidScat (ISS Rapid Scatterometer)
•    ISS-RapidScat is NASA’s first research payload aimed at conducting near global Earth science from the stations exterior and will be augmented with others in coming years. 
•    It is a space-based scatterometer that replaces the inoperable SeaWinds payload aboard the QuickSCAT satellite. 
•    Scatterometers are radar instruments that measure wind speed and direction over the ocean, and are useful for weather forecasting, hurricane monitoring, and observations of large-scale climate phenomena such as El Nino. 
•    The ISS RapidScat instrument enhances measurements from other international scatterometers by cross-checking their data and demonstrates a unique way to replace an instrument aboard an aging satellite.

Fortune released the list of powerful people titled 40 under 40

13-OCT-2014

Fortune released the list of powerful people titled 40 under 40 on 9 October 2014. The list included most powerful, influential, important people in business under 40.
The list was topped by ridesharing service company Uber's 38-year-old co-founder Travis Kalanick and community-driven hospitality company Airbnb's 33-year-old CEO Brian Chesky.

Followed by, Founder and CEO of Facebook, 30-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, at the number two spot and Italy's youngest Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (39) at the third position.

The list also included 38-year-old co-founder and CEO of texting company WhatsApp, Jan Koum on rank 5, Yahoo's 38-year old CEO Marissa Mayer (ranked 6), New York Stock Exchange President 38-year-old Tom Farley (ranked 7) and Twitter co-founder and CEO 37-year-old Jack Dorsey (ranked 11).
Women share
Out of 40 powerful persons list, Fifteen powerful and influential women have made it to the Fortune’s list. The women’s top slot was named by Marissa Mayer, who is ranked 6. She is the President and CEO of Yahoo.

Others were Elizabeth Holmes, Emily White, Liv Garfield, Megan Ellison, Julie Smolyansky, and others.
Indians in the list 
The Indians on the list are Economics professor at Harvard Raj Chetty, who is ranked 16, Micromax co-founder and CEO Rahul Sharma (ranked 21), Snapdeal Co-Founder and CEO Kunal Bahl (ranked 25) and Twitter's General counsel and the only woman on the company's executive team Vijaya Gadde (28).

Turkey to allow US led coalition to use its Incirlik Air Base to fight against ISIS

13-OCT-2014

Turkey on 12 October 2014 allowed US led coalition to use its Incirlik Air Base to fight against Islamic State (ISIS). 
It further allowed to use its territory as part of a training program for Syrian opposition fighters.
US stand

Defence Secretary said that the use of Incirlik for Syria Missions was one of the key U.S. requests. U.S. officials confirmed that it will take several months to vet up to 5000 opposition fighters, and up to an additional eight months for the training to be completed.

Turkey has joined Saudi Arabia in agreeing to the training program. Their facilities inside of Turkey can be used by the coalition forces to engage in activities inside of Iraq and Syria.
Turkey stand 
Turkey had been reluctant to sign on to the coalition against the Islamic State, which it believed has diverted attention from the effort to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Its government has long been critical of delays in the U.S. training program.
Turkey shares a border with Syria and Iraq, but has so far ruled out any ground operation of its own.
About Incirlik Air Base
Incirlik is a U.S.-built facility about 35 miles inland from the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea, near Turkey’s border with Syria. Incirlik is a joint facility where both the Turkish and U.S. air forces operate.

Powerful typhoon Vongfong struck Japan

13-OCT-2014

Powerful typhoon Vongfong struck Japan on 13 October 2014. The typhoon made its landfall in Makurazaki on Kyushu Island with winds of up to 180 kilometers per hour.

Typhoon Vongfong that is the strongest storm to hit Japan in 2014 had injured more than 30 people and led to cancellation of more than 300 flights, while hundreds of thousands had to evacuate their homes. It brought heavy rain and fierce winds to the southern island of Okinawa with it.

Vongfong means wasp in Cantonese is categorised as a super-typhoon after it picked up strength through several South Pacific islands, including Guam.

Earlier in the first week of October 2014, Japan was hit be Typhoon Phanfone that killed at least nine people as per Japan’s Kyodo news agency. The killed people included three US military servicemen in Okinawa who were washed out to sea.

Indian Embassy in Kuwait simplified visa procedure

13-OCT-2014

Indian Embassy in Kuwait on 12 October 2014 simplified the visa procedure for Kuwaiti nationals as well as for emigrants living in Kuwait.
The aim behind the decision is to enhance travel to India for business, tourism, medical treatment and study purposes.
The Embassy will continue to accept visa applications directly in cases of emergency and for all diplomats or Special Passport holders.
The Embassy has already been issuing five-year and one-year business visa (multiple entry), one-year medical visa (multiple entry) and six-month tourist visas (multiple entry) for Kuwaiti nationals and expatriates resident in Kuwait so that they can visit India for business, tourism, medical treatment as per their convenience.
It issued 10000 visas in 2014 against 7600 visas issued during the same period in 2013 registering a jump of 30 percent.

Kuwait-India relations
India and Kuwait enjoy traditionally friendly relations which are rooted in shared history and have stood the test of time. Geographic proximity, historical trade links, cultural affinities and presence of a large number of Indian expatriates continue to sustain and nurture this long standing relationship. 
India has been a natural trading partner and a destination for higher learning. Until 1961, the Indian Rupee was the legal tender in Kuwait. 
Major items exported from India to Kuwait cover a broad range including food items, cereals, textiles, garments, electrical and engineering equipment, cars, trucks, buses, tires, chemicals, jewellery, handicrafts, metal products, articles of iron or steel, etc. 
Meanwhile, Kuwait has been a reliable and third largest supplier of crude oil to India after Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Cyclone Hudhud struck coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha

13-OCT-2014

Cyclonic Storm Hudhud struck the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha on 12 October 2014. The cyclone carried heavy rains and winds of almost 155 to 190 kilometer per hour with it and killed at least eight people and left behind a trail of devastation. 
Hudhud that made its landfall in Visakhapatnam known to locals as Vizag disrupted electricity and telecommunications services as well as road and rail traffic along the coast. It also damaged thousands of homes and uprooted several trees.

India Meteorological Department has predicted that the cyclone will bring heavy rainfall at few places including Visakhapatnam, Vijayanagaram and Srikakulam districts of north Andhra Pradesh and Ganjam, Gajapati, Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri, Kalahandi, Phulbani districts of south Odisha during the next 24 hours.
Response of the action team to the Cyclone
In response to the devastation caused by the cyclone, the navy will lead a joint armed forces relief operation code named Lehar. The Air Force sent its machines from Delhi, Jorhat bases and the Indian Coast Guard inducted its 17 vessels and 11 planes for rescue and relief operations in Andhra and Odisha. The Army also alerted its areas offices in Andhra, Telangana, Karnataka and Kerala and kept its columns ready to take up rescue and relief operations.
The rescue team evacuated more than 7 lakh people (5 lakh in Andhra Pradesh and 2 lakh in Odisha) from the coastal areas of both states and kept them in more than 3000 shelter centers. 
The cyclone Hudhud was similar to cyclone Phailin that crossed the Odisha coast in 2013 leaving behind a trail of destruction.
About Hudhud

Cyclone Hudhud was named after the national bird of Israel and was taken from the list of names suggested by Oman. The name was derived from the Hoopoe bird, a colorful insectivorous bird found across Afro-Eurasia. Hudhud is an Arabic word for hoopoe and as a bird it finds special references in the Koranand is described as the leader of birds in the Persian text The Conference of the Birds.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) that issues cyclone advisors to eight countries (India, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand) has a list of names that has been contributed by each of these countries. The name of the cyclone that occurs in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal is picked from the list of the names that has been submitted. The cyclones are named in such way that each country is given a chance to name a cyclone and once each of them gets their turn a next list of names is followed. 
The current cyclone is named Hudud (Oman) and the others that will occur in future will be named as Nilofar (Pakistan), Priya (Sri Lanka) and Komen (Thailand).

Srilankan President Yal Devi Express flagged off from Palai after 25 years

13-OCT-2014

Srilankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 13 October 2014 flagged off Yal Devi Express from Palai after 25 years. The train will be extended to Jaffna.
The India Railway Construction International (IRCON) has now completed the restoration of the railway lines from Palai to Jaffna. IRCON is an Indian railway subsidiary.
The Jaffna railway station features many modern facilities including novel communication electronic signal system.
Currently, Yal Devi is running between Colombo and Palai. Four trains will be deployed from Jaffna to Colombo and Colombo Fort to Jaffna. The Yal Devi will cost 360 rupees for the 3rd class and 600 rupees for the 2nd class.
Background
The rebuilding of the track began in March 2011 and was carried out in stages. The work took a full three years, with workers on the 146-km (91-mile) single track.
The services of the trains to the northern peninsula of Jaffna ground was halted 25 years ago after dozens of passengers were killed in attacks by guerrillas seeking an independent homeland for Sri Lanka’s minority Tamils.

The railway was ripped up to make bunkers after a truce between the Tamil Tiger rebels and government forces collapsed and fighting erupted in June 1990.
Reopening the railway was a priority to allow reconstruction materials to be brought into the area devastated by years of war and restore a key lifeline to Jaffna which is also the political capital of the Northern Province.

Roger Federer won Shanghai Masters trophy of Tennis

13-OCT-2014

In Tennis, the 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer won his maiden ATP Shanghai Masters trophy. In the title clash played on 12 October 2014, Switzerland’s Federer defeated Frenchman Gilles Simon, 7-6, 7-6.
In 2010, Federer lost in the finals of the Shanghai Masters to Briton Andy Murray.

Apart from this, America’s top seeded Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike won the Doubles title by defeating French team of Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, 6-3, 7-6. With this they became the first pair to win all nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments. This was the 101st career title for the 35-year old siblings in their 152nd final.

Bombay High Court ruled in favour of Vodafone in 3200 crore rupees tax case

11-OCT-2014

Bombay High Court on 10 October 2014 ruled in favour of Vodafone in 3200 crore rupees tax dispute case. The ruling was given by the division bench of the Bombay High Court, headed by Chief Justice Mohit Shah.

In its ruling the court held that there was no question of imposing tax to the tune of 3200 crore rupees on Vodafone India Services Pvt. Ltd. (VISPL) as the case does not relate to transfer pricing.

The court further ruled that there is no taxable income arising out of the issue of shares. Share premium received on the issue of shares is not taxable. Hence, VISPL was not liable to pay the additional tax amount of over 3200 crore rupees.

About the Case

The order stems from a case in which the Income Tax department imposed tax on VISPL to the tune of 3200 crore rupees. It imposed the tax on the ground that, VISPL issued the shares to its foreign holding company for fiscal year 2009-10 at a premium which was under-priced.

Since, the under-pricing of shares by the VISPL was covered by transfer pricing and hence it was liable to pay tax on the shortfall of premium. As a result IT department issued a show-cause notice to Vodafone India on 17 January 2014.

VISPL challenged the Income Tax Department, and argued that the share premium received on the issue of shares was never taxable as there was no income from the transaction.

Comment

The ruling will bring a big relief to other dozens of companies who have been fighting similar transfer pricing related tax cases with IT department and will help improve business and foreign investor’s sentiments in the country.

Apart from Vodafone India, Shell India Markets Pvt. Ltd and Leighton India Contractors Pvt. Ltd have also moved the court against similar show-cause notices and so-called transfer pricing orders by the IT Department.

About Transfer Pricing

Transfer pricing refers to the practice of arm’s length pricing for transactions between group companies based in different countries to ensure that a fair price—one that would have been charged to an unrelated party—is levied.

Karnataka government prohibited strike at Bosch plant in Bangalore

11-OCT-2014

Karnataka government on 10 October 2014 prohibited the ongoing strike at the auto component maker Bosch’s plant in Bangalore. The workers are on strike since 16 September 2014 in support of their demands pertaining to wages, benefits and regularisation of temporary workers.

The release from German automaker Bosch Ltd said prior to the order, the Labour Department had convened conciliatory meetings between the management and workers. However, the proceedings did not result in a mutually agreeable resolution.

It further said that it will continue to adopt a fair, but firm approach, and asked the workers to call off the strike, report to work and restore normalcy.

On the other hand, President of the employee union of Bosch Limited - MEA (MICO Employee’s Association) S. Prasanna Kumar declared that the strike will continue.

He also said that the Association also filed a writ petition in the Karnataka High Court challenging the conciliation being declared a failure by the government. The hearing is scheduled to take place on 13 October 2014.

About Bosch Ltd

Founded in 1951, Bosch Limited is India’s largest automotive component manufacturer and also one of the largest Indo – German companies in India.

Bosch Limited is also the flagship of the Bosch Group companies in India. The Bosch Group holds 71.18% stake in Bosch Limited.

The company is headquartered in Bangalore with manufacturing facilities at Bangalore, Naganathapura (near Bangalore), Nashik, Jaipur and Goa

GGSS School of Hisar won the U-17 Girls title of 55th Subroto Cup Football tournament

11-OCT-2014

Government Girls Senior Secondary (GGSS) School of Hisar, Haryana on 10 October 2014 won the Under-17 title of the 55th Subroto Cup football tournament.

In the final held at Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi, it defeated Assam's Kiyang Kasiya Memorial Tribal School 3-0.

With this win, GGSS School claimed the purse of 3.5 lakh rupees while the Kiyang Kasiya Memorial Tribal School claimed 2 lakh rupees.

Haryana girls won the tournament on their very first debut and remained the only team not to have conceded a goal in the competition.

The coach of the GGSS School was Ashwini Kumar and the Best player of the tournament went to Renu of GGSS School who topped the goal chart with 12 goals.

In the year 2013, the U-17 title 54th Subroto Cup was won by RMSM Vidyalaya, Nambol Phoijing, Bishnupur,Nambol, Manipur.

Earlier on 30 September 2014, Greenwood High School of Dimapur, Nagaland won the U-14 (Sub-Junior) Boys title of the 55th Subroto Cup football tournament. They defeated Government Model High School, Sector 36, Chandigarh 5-4.

About Subroto Cup Football Tournament

Subroto Cup Football Tournament is an All India Inter School Football Tournament, organized by Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society. 
This tournament was the brainchild of (late) Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee. He conceived the idea of launching a football tournament, at junior level, in 1958, the year when he was the Chief of the Air Staff.

Third International Day of the Girl Child observed across the world

11-OCT-2014

Third International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC) was observed across the world on 11 October 2014. The theme was Empowering Adolescent Girls: Ending the Cycle of Violence.

The theme of IDGC was selected in recognition of the importance of investing in and empowering girls during adolescence and preventing and eliminating the various forms of violence they experience.

On this day, Governments, the UN system, civil society, and public and private institutions were called on to join forces and reaffirm their commitment to end the scourge of violence against adolescent girls and to promote their empowerment by

• Investing in adolescent girls to equip them with skills, confidence, and life options: through family, schools, technical and vocational education and training, and health, social and economic support systems
• Making infrastructure, services, and technology accessible to girls and effective in meeting their needs for safety, connectivity and mobility
• Facilitating adolescent girls engagement in civic, economic and political life
• Continuing to advocate for making violence against girls and women visible and unacceptable both in private and public domains
• Strengthening data, measurement and the evidence base in relation to the empowerment of and violence against adolescent girls
In India, as a part of IDGC, PM Narendra Modi invited ideas on Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, exhorted the people of India to pledge to create an atmosphere for equality for the girl child and to end gender-based discrimination in India.

About International Day of the Girl Child

The United Nations adopted a resolution in 2011 and designated 11 October as International Day of the Girl Child for promoting the rights of girls and addressing the unique challenges they face.

• IDGC is intended to draw attention to the uncontested fact that everywhere in the world girls face some sort of discrimination.
• The first IDGC was observed in 2012 with the theme Ending Child Marriage and the second IDGC was observed in 2013 with the theme Innovating for Girl’s Education.

Union Ministry of S&T launched The Maithreyi International Visiting Professorship

11-OCT-2014

Union Ministry of Science & Technology on 11 October 2014 launched The Maithreyi International Visiting Professorship in New Delhi. The programme will be jointly supported by Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the Union government.

Under the scheme, India will invite 12 leading international science scholars from across the world to visit India as Visiting Professors. Every year the visiting professors will deliver three talks, one each in a school, a college and a research institution.

The video version of the talks will be recorded in Hindi & English and possibly in several other Indian languages. A live web-interaction session with the Visiting Professor on Rajya Sabha Television is also envisaged. All  these talks will be made available worldwide on the Internet.

The programme will be beneficial in the sense that through it 36 talks and 12 TV/Radio interactions every year with world’s best professors will bring the greatest in the scientific world face-to-face to all of India.

The globally accessible recordings of the talks will also take science back to the whole world. Sharing knowledge worldwide will inculcate Maithreyi’s desire for knowledge amongst the young and make knowledge the agent of change.

Background
The name Maithreyi has been derived from the epical story of saige Yajnavalkya who had two wives-Maithreyi and Katyaayanee. When Yajnavalkya wished to leave for the forest and thus divide his property amongst his wives, Maithreyi asked him whether she could become immortal through this wealth. Yajnavalkya replied that through wealth one merely became one amongst the many wealthy but it was knowledge which made one immortal. Maithreyi, then declined her share of his property and asked Yajnavalkya to teach her the way of attaining knowledge and, through that, immortality.

International edition of Encyclopedia of Hinduism by India Heritage Research Foundation released

11-OCT-2014

International edition of Encyclopedia of Hinduism by India Heritage Research Foundation was released in New Delhi on 10 October 2014. The encyclopedia was released by Vice-President of India Hamid Ansari. It consists of 11-volumes and approximately 7000 entries.

The aim of Encyclopedia is to show the richness of ancient India and timelessness of Hindu culture and heritage to the entire world, in a way that is authentic, academic, comprehensive and illuminating.

The entries of the Encyclopedia are conveniently prepared under the following areas, viz., art, Hinduism in global context, Women’s issues, scholarships in Hindu studies, Spiritual disciplines, social institutions & movements, sciences, religion & spirituality, polity, philosophy, language & literature, history, historiography & geography.

Subject Areas of the Encyclopedia of Hinduism are presented lucidly and authentically covers the vast panorama of Hinduism, giving a faithful record of the world’s oldest living spiritual tradition.

The project is founded, guided, inspired and led by spiritual leaders, Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswat and it is a colossal product of more than 1000 esteemed scholars from around the world.

The Encyclopedia was published by Mandala Earth Publications, an esteemed publisher of California, USA. The Encyclopedia was compiled and edited at the University of South Carolina for many years.

The first Encyclopedia was Encyclopedia Britannica and some of the others Encyclopedia are French and German, Jewish Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Encyclopedia of Social Sciences which is replaced by International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Researchers developed a technology that makes visible the movements of HIV virus

11-OCT-2014

A team of researchers developed a technology that makes visible the dance or movements of HIV proteins on the virus' surface. The development may contribute to study how HIV virus infects human immune cells and devise an approach to prevent HIV infection.

The technology was developed by a team of researchers led by Dr. Scott Blanchard of Weill Cornell Medical College of New York, US. The study related to this was published in the Journal Nature in the first week of October 2014.

Development of the Technology

To prevent the HIV infection, one need to prevent the entry of the HIV virus into the immune cells and this could only be possible when one can track the movement of HIV virus on real time basis.

To do this Blanchard and his team adapted an imaging technique that uses fluorescence to measure distance on molecular scale, single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (smFRET) imaging, to study viral particles.

Then his group developed fluorescent molecules (fluorophores), which they dubbed beacons, and inserted them into the virus's outer covering, known as the envelope.

With two of these special beacons in place, they demonstrated that smFRET imaging technology can be used to visualize how the molecules move over time, when the virus proteins change conformation.

Equipped with smFRET imaging technology, the team studied the movement of proteins on the surface of the HIV virus called envelope proteins. Envelope proteins are key to the virus's ability to infect human immune cells carrying CD4 receptor proteins which help HIV bind to a cell.

The envelope protein consists of three gp120 and gp41 proteins positioned close together, and referred to as trimers that open up like a flower in the presence of CD4, exposing the gp41 subunit that is essential for subsequent aspects of the mechanism that causes infection.

Prime Minister launched Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana to realise Gram Swaraj

11-OCT-2014

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) on the birth anniversary of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan on 11 October 2014. SAGY will be implemented under the overall supervision of Union Ministry of Rural Development.

The programme is an ambitious village development project under which each Member of Parliament will take the responsibility for developing physical and institutional infrastructure in three villages by 2019.

The primary goal is to develop three Adarsh Grams or model villages by March 2019, of which one would be achieved by 2016. Thereafter, five such Adarsh Grams (one per year) will be selected and developed by 2024.

Objective of the SAGY

The main objectives of SAGY are:

• To trigger processes which lead to holistic development of the identified Gram Panchayats
• To substantially improve the standard of living and quality of life of all sections of the population through: a) Improved basic amenities; b) Higher productivity; c) Enhanced human development; d) Better livelihood opportunities; e) Reduced disparities; f) Access to rights and entitlements; g) Wider social mobilization; and h) Enriched social capital
• To generate models of local level development and effective local governance which can motivate and inspire neighbouring Gram Panchayats to learn and adapt
• To nurture the identified Adarsh Grams as schools of local development to train other Gram Panchayats

Main highlights of the SAGY

• It aims to keep the soul of rural India alive while providing its people with quality access to basic amenities and opportunities to enable them to shape their own destiny.
• It places equal stress on nurturing values of national pride, patriotism, community spirit, self-confidence and on developing infrastructure.
• It is unique and transformative as it has a holistic approach towards development.
• It envisages integrated development of the selected village across multiple areas such as agriculture, health, education, sanitation, environment, livelihoods etc.
• SAGY aims at instilling certain values, such as people's participation, Antyodaya, gender equality, dignity of women, social justice, spirit of community service and etc in the villages and their people so that they get transformed into models for others.
• The gram panchayat would be the basic unit for development. It will have a population of 3000-5000 in plain areas and 1000-3000 in hilly, tribal and difficult areas.
• In districts where this unit size is not available, the gram panchayats approximating the desirable population size may be chosen.
• The MP would be free to identify a suitable gram panchayat for being developed as Adarsh Gram, other than his/her own village or that of his/her spouse.
• The scheme will be implemented through a Village Development Plan that would be prepared for every identified gram panchayat with special focus on enabling every poor household to come out of poverty.
• The constituency fund, MPLADS, would be available to fill critical financing gaps.
• SAGY gives focus to community participation.
• The participation of women in the decision-making process will be encouraged. The scheme envisages holding Mahila Sabhas and Bal Sabhas to discuss women and children specific issues and concerns.
• Ensuring universal access to education facilities, adult literacy, e-literacy are also important goals of SAGY.
• Adoption and adaptation of technology and introduction of innovations are critical to this programme. This will include use of space application and remote sensing for planning, mobile based technology for monitoring, agriculture technology for increasing productivity etc.
• At the national level, a separate, real time web based monitoring system will be put in place for the scheme covering all aspects and components.

Monitoring of SAGY

• The Union Ministry of Rural Development will put in place a specially designed capacity building programme for government functionaries at different levels including gram panchayats.
• At the state level, there will be an Empowered Committee headed by the Chief Secretary consisting of the relevant departments and including experts, as required with at least two civil society representatives.
• The District Collector will be the nodal officer for implementing the SAGY. He will conduct a monthly review meeting with representatives of the participating Line Departments. The Members of Parliament concerned will chair the review meetings.

Conclusion

The announcement for launching the SAGY was made by PM Narendra Modi from the rampart of Red Fort while delivering the Independence Day speech on 15 August 2014. SAGY intends to translate the Mahatma Gandhi's concept of Gram Swaraj wherein Adarsh Grams will be the nucleus of health, cleanliness, greenery and cordiality within the community.

India and UK government launched UK-India Financial Partnership

11-OCT-2014

India and the UK government launched UK-India Financial Partnership to strengthen Links Between the Financial Services Industries on 10 October 2014 in New Delhi.

The decision to launch the Partnership was taken by the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne at the seventh UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue in New Delhi in July 2014.

The Partnership will strengthen links between the Financial Services industries of both countries and deepen cooperation between London and Mumbai.

Financial Services industry of the two countries will be represented by Uday Kotak, Executive Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank and Sir Gerry Grimstone, Chairman of Standard Life and The City.

Both the industry leaders will summon working groups of professionals to examine key areas of common interest and will report the progress.

They will make recommendations to the Minister of Finance of India and the Chancellor of the Exchequer of UK at the eighth UK–India Economic and Financial Dialogue, which will be held in 2015.

The Partnership will initially focus on the following work-streams
• Collaboration to develop the corporate bond market
• Mutual sharing of expertise on banking regulation and capitalisation
• Enhancing financial training and qualification
• Financial inclusion 
• Developing programme around the opportunities to improve cross border provision of financial and insurance services

Union MoUD constituted 17-member Committee on decongesting roads of New Delhi

11-OCT-2014

Union Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) on 10 October 2014 constituted a 17-member Committee to suggest ways to decongest roads of New Delhi.

The 17-member committee will be chaired by the Secretary of Union MoUD. The committee will seek corrective interventions on priority.

The committee will also take into account all the technical, financial and administrative aspects of the project.

The committee has been directed to submit its report along with a proposed action plan by the first week of November 2014.

The committee was formed after media reports highlighted traffic congestion on the roads of the national capital.

The problem of congestion of roads in New Delhi

In a survey undertaken in 2012 by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and the Railway Infrastructure Technical & Economic Services (RITES), it was predicted that by 2020, the top speed in Delhi would be 5 km per hour, that is, to cover a distance of 15 km, it will take three hours!!

Even though Delhi has the most extensive road network at 21 per cent of its geographical area but it is saturated and choked with vehicles.

The problem surfaces from the fact that Delhi has six million vehicles with 1200 more added daily. But road space isn't increasing at the same pace. The problem is further compounded by the fact that about 12 lakh vehicles pass through the capital daily, clogging its nine highways.

Moreover, half of the woes on city roads are because of congestion spillover from the NCR, where several road and flyover projects are still incomplete.

The consequence of this can be gauged from the fact that six years of Delhiites' careers are spent in snarls and 7 million man hours and 100 crore rupees in productivity are lost to gridlocks, making the capital the worst congested city in India.

Month-long Akashdeep ritual started in Varanasi to honour fallen soldiers

11-OCT-2014

The month-long ritual Akashdeep (skylight) started in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh on 10 October 2014 to honour the soldiers who laid down their lives for the motherland since Independence in 1947.

The month-long ritual is observed by lighting up the lanterns dedicated to fallen soldiers on the banks of River Ganges in Varanasi. The ritual is observed in the Hindu month of Karthik every year by peoples from all walks of life.

The ritual dates back to the ancient rimes, when it was observed to honour the sacrifices of the dead soldiers in the epic Mahabharata war. But it was rekindled in Varanasi after Kargil war in 1999 with Pakistan.

ATSB released Flight Path Analysis Update on lost Malaysian plane MH370

11-OCT-2014

Australian Transportation Safety Board (ATSB) on 8 October 2014 released Flight Path Analysis Update on lost Malaysian Boeing plane MH370.

The update is the first official account of the last minutes of the aircraft and is based on flight simulations that recreated its final moments.

It revealed that Malaysian plane MH370 went into a shallow left turn at 35000 feet above the Indian Ocean before rapidly spiralling down into the sea after its fuel ran out.

According to ATSB, the right-hand engine of the Boeing 777 aircraft was likely to have cut out first after its fuel ran out and the left engine stopped seconds later.

The latest report was based on the assumption that the flight flew on autopilot hours before it ran out of fuel and went down into the ocean.

Flight MH370 went missing since the early hours of 8 March 2014, when it left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board.

About Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB)

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is Australia's national transport safety investigator. It was given the responsibility for leading the search for MH370 by the Malaysian government after analysis of radar data and subsequent satellite communication (SATCOM) system signalling messages placed the aircraft in the Australian search and rescue zone in the southern part of the Indian Ocean.

Other Coordinating Agencies involved in the search of MH370 are:
•    Air Accidents Investigation Branch (UK)
•    Boeing (US)
•    Defence Science and Technology Organisation (Australia)
•    Department of Civil Aviation (Malaysia)
•    Inmarsat (UK)
•    National Transportation Safety Board (US)
•    Thales (UK)

Gujarat government set up SPV to promote Vadodara as Cultural capital

11-OCT-2014

Gujarat government on 10 October 2014 set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to promote Vadodara as the cultural capital of Gujarat and encourage tourism in Vododara.

The SPV set up will be known as Vadodara International Art and Culture Festival Authority and it will be headed by State Tourism and Finance Minister Saurabh Patel.

Thus, Gujarat became the first state in India to set up the authority for promoting tourism.

Gujarat government also decided to hold a bi-annual Vadodara International Art and Culture Festival (VADFEST) in January 2015 to promote tourism.

Vadodara International Art and Culture Festival (VADFEST)

The festival will comprise of celebration of art, dance, drama, culture, food, films, and also there will be a special children's theatre festival.

Popular artistes in various fields from across the country will participate in the festival, especially actress Hema Malini, veteran playback singer Asha Bhosale, and musicians Pt Hariprasad Chaursia and AR Rehman.

The festival will give a boost to tourism, hotel industry, real estate and also open doors for investment in industries, education and IT for the Vadodara.

Comment

Vadodara has the potential of becoming cultural capital of India as it has World Heritage Sites like Champaner, Pavagadh hills among others and  also has site Lakshmi Vilas Palace belonging to the royal Gaekwad dynasty of the Marathas.

Besides, world’s tallest Statue of Unity is going to be built in the memory of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel near Sardar Sarovar dam, about 100 kms from Vadodara.

Union Health Minister launched National Mental Health Policy of India

11-OCT-2014

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on 10 October 2014 launched the National Mental Health Policy of India. It was the first ever Mental Health Policy of India which was launched on the occasion of first ever National Mental Health Day organised by the Union government.

The National Mental Health Policy has been prepared on the basis of the recommendations made by the Policy Group on Mental Health constituted by the Union Government in April 2011.

The Policy is in consonance with the intent of Resolution WHA 65.4 adopted at the 65th World Health Assembly held in Geneva in 2012 to which India also was a party. The Resolution WHA 65.4 highlights the global burden of mental disorders and the need for a comprehensive, co-ordinated response from the health and social sectors at the community level.

Vision of the Policy

The vision of the National Mental Health Policy is to promote mental health, prevent mental illness, enable recovery from mental illness, promote destigmatization and desegregation, and ensure socio-economic inclusion of persons affected by mental illness by providing accessible, affordable and quality health and social care to all persons through their life-span within a right based frame work.

Goals of the Policy

• To reduce distress, disability, exclusion morbidity and premature mortality associated with mental health problems across life span of the person.
• To enhance understanding of the mental health in the country
• To strengthen the leadership in the mental health sector at the national, state and district levels.

Objectives of the Policy

• To provide universal access to mental health care
• To increase access to and utilisation of comprehensive mental health services by persons with mental health problems.
• To increase access to mental health care especially to vulnerable groups including homeless persons, persons in remote areas, educationally, socially and deprived sections.
• To reduce prevalence and impact of risk factors associated with mental health problems
• To reduce risk and incidence of suicide and attempted suicide
• To ensure respect for rights and protection from harm of persons with mental health problems
• To reduce stigma associated with mental health problems
• To enhance availability and equitable distribution of skilled human resources for mental health
• To progressively enhance financial allocation and improve utilisation for mental health promotion and care
• To identify and address the social, biological and psychological determinants of mental health problems and to provide appropriate interventions

Past attempt in framing a National Mental Health Policy

Earlier in 1987, effort was made to frame a national mental health policy. It resulted into the enactment of Mental Health Act, 1987. But the Act never came into force any of the States and Union territories due to a number of defects.

The Mental Health Act, 1987sought to replace earlier laws governing the mentally ill, the Indian Lunatic Asylum Act, 1858, and Indian Lunacy Act, 1912. These Acts largely ignored the human rights aspect and were concerned only with custodial issues.

Comment

According to World Health Organisation, about 20 percent of India's population would suffer from some form of mental illness by 2020. However, the country has only about 3500 psychiatrists. Therefore, the government is confronted with the problem of lowering this gap significantly over the next decade.

Further, there exists a bi-directional relationship between mental ill health and poverty which is evident in many reports, including the World Disability Report, 2010. This alerts us to what could become a health crisis with damaging consequences for society.

The commemoration was done to recognize people living in poverty as critical partners for fighting the development challenges we face.

Earlier, on 16 October 2014, a panel discussion was organised at the United Nations Headquarters titled, Beijing+20 - Leaving No One Behind: Women, Poverty, and Participation. The discussion was organised to explore the disproportionate effects of poverty on women and women's contributions to ending poverty.