january 2016 english

Ramandeep Singh

WWW.BANKEXAMSTODAY.COM

GK DIGEST – JANUARY 2016

GK Digest – January 2016

BankExamsToday.com Page 1

Sr. NO. Particulars Page No.1 International Events 2 – 72 National 7 – 263 Trade/Business 26 – 384 Appointments 39 – 475 Sports 47 – 546 Awards 55 – 617 Death 61 – 658 Books 65 – 66



International

Cabinet of Somalia agreed on Election Modeloutlined by Mogadishu Declaration 2015Cabinet of Somalia on 28 January 2016 agreed onElection Model outlined by the MogadishuDeclaration. The declaration, which was adoptedin December 2015, calls for the electoral processin Somalia to establish a new, bicameral FederalParliament in 2016, based on inclusivity andrepresentation.

The new electoral model envisioned a 275-member lower house which maintains apower-sharing formula among clans and a54-member upper house based on equalrepresentation of existing, emerging andprospective federal states plus additionalseats for Puntland and Somaliland.

It also requires that a minimum of 30percent of seats be reserved for women.

Iran, Airbus signed deal to buy 118 AirbusplanesIran and Airbus on 28 January 2016 signed twoagreements covering new aircraft orders and acomprehensive civil aviation co-operationpackage. The agreement includes purchase of118 new Airbus aircrafts.

The agreement for 118 new aircraftincludes 21 A320ceo family, 24 A320neofamily, 27 A330ceo family, 18 A330neo (-900), 16 A350-1000 and 12 A380.

The agreements were signed at the ElyseePalace, Paris, during Iranian PresidentHassan Rouhani’s official visit to Francewith French President Francois Hollande.

Iran Air and Airbus signed an agreementfor the acquisition of the full range of newAirbus airliners (73 wide-bodied and 45single aisles). This includes pilot andmaintenance training and support

services to help the entry into service andefficient operations of these new aircraft.

International Day of Commemoration inmemory of the victims of the HolocaustobservedInternational Day of Commemoration in memoryof the victims of the Holocaust was observed on27 January 2016 across the world. The day wasproclaimed so by the United Nations GeneralAssembly.

The theme for the Holocaustremembrance and education activities inthe year 2016 including the HolocaustMemorial Ceremony is The Holocaust andHuman Dignity.

Denmark is the world’s least corrupt country

Denmark has emerged as the least corruptcountry in the world for a fourth consecutiveyear, according to the non-governmentalorganisation Transparency International.

It scored 91 points out of a possible 100while North Korea and Somalia remainedat the bottom with unchanged scores of8.

Finland and Sweden ranked second andthird respectively on the 2015 CorruptionPerceptions Index, while North Korea andSomalia were named the most corruptout of 196 nations.

India took the 76th spot on the list.



6th National Voters’ Day observed with themeInclusive and Qualitative Participation6th National Voters’ Day (NVD) was observedacross the country on 25 January 2016 by theElection Commission of India. The theme for the6th National Voters’ Day is ‘Inclusive andQualitative Participation’.

The Commission’s objective through NVDis to increase enrolment of voters,especially of the newly eligible ones. TheNational function of the NVD was held inNew Delhi and presided over by Presidentof India, Pranab Mukherjee.

On the occasion, the Chief ElectionCommissioner Dr. Nasim Zaidi alsoreleased a book titled, ‘Belief in the Ballot’and presented it’s the first copy to thePresident.

To celebrate and recognise thecontribution of Governmentdepartment/Agencies to the efforts of ECIfor enhancing electoral participation, theelection commission has introducedawards. Six newly eligible electors weregiven their EPICs by President of India.

25 January is the foundation day of theCommission, which came into being on thisday in 1950.

India to build satellite tracking station inVietnam

India will set up a satellite tracking and imagingcentre in southern Vietnam that will give Hanoiaccess to pictures from Indian earth observationsatellites that cover the region, including Chinaand the South China Sea, Indian officials said.

The move, which could irritate Beijing,deepens ties between India and Vietnam,who both have long-running territorialdisputes with China.

Hanoi especially has been looking foradvanced intelligence, surveillance and

reconnaissance technologies as tensionsrise with China over the disputed SouthChina Sea, they said.

First Ministerial Meeting of Arab-IndiaCooperation Forum held at ManamaThe first Ministerial Meeting of Arab-IndiaCooperation Forum was held Manama, capitalcity of Bahrain.

The meeting was inaugurated byBahrain’s Foreign Minister Khalid binAhmed Al Khalifa and was attended byrepresentatives of 22 Arab Leaguenations. Indian side was represented byUnion External Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj and also Foreign Secretary SJaishankar.

Germany the ‘best country in the world

Germany is the best country in the world,according to new analysis unveiled at the WorldEconomic Forum in Davos..

The United States is the most powerfulcountry in the world, with India theleading up-and-coming economy.

Italy is the country with the richesttradition and Brazil is the top nation tovisit. Canada tops the list of countrieswith the best quality of life.

Tunisia imposes curfew as unrest grows overlack of jobs



Tunisia has imposed a nationwide overnightcurfew after protests and violence against risingunemployment spread across the country.

The curfewwas announced afterskirmishes between police and protestersin the early hours of Friday in theimpoverished suburbs of Tunis. Thecapital is braced for mass protests thisweekend.

The violence followed a week of unrestacross the country, which police said hadinjured 59 officers and 40 protesters. Theprotests carry echoes of Tunisia’s Arabspring revolution in December 2010,which saw the downfall of the formerpresident Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

WHO declared West Africa Free from Ebolaoutbreak

WHO has declared the end of the most recentoutbreak of Ebola virus disease in Liberia and saysall known chains of transmission have beenstopped in West Africa.

Liberia was first declared free of Ebolatransmission in May 2015, but Ebolaoutbreaks twice till November. Thisannouncement has come 42 days (two 21-day incubation cycles of the virus) after thelast confirmed patient in Liberia testednegative for the disease 2 times.

After 25 years, Saudi Embassy officially reopensin Baghdad

Saudi Arabia has reopened its embassy in Baghdadafter a closure that lasted 25 years and thekingdom’s ambassador submitted his credentialsat the Foreign Ministry.

The Shiite-led government in Baghdadrelies on Iranian help to battle theextremist Islamic State group, but is alsotrying to repair ties to oil-rich Saudi Arabia.

The kingdom closed the embassy in 1990,after Saddam Hussein ordered an invasionof Saudi ally Kuwait.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari onThursday accepted the credentials ofAmbassador Thamir al-Sabhan.

Tsai Ing-wen elected Taiwan's first femalepresident

Tsai Ing-wen has been elected Taiwan's firstfemale president.Ms Tsai, 59, leads theDemocratic Progressive Party (DPP) that wantsindependence from China.

In her victory speech, she vowed topreserve the status quo in relations withChina, adding Beijing must respectTaiwan's democracy and both sides mustensure there are no provocations.

China sees the island as a breakawayprovince - which it has threatened to takeback by force if necessary.

Mr Chu congratulated Tsai Ing-wen andannounced he was quitting as KMT head.Taiwan's Premier Mao Chi-kuo alsoresigned.

PM Modi Second most popular world leader onFB

According to a study by PR firm Burson-Marsteller,PM Narendra Modi has over 31 million fans on hispersonal Narendra Modi page.

As far as fan following on Facebook isconcerned, US President Barack Obama isthe most popular leader in the world. TheUS President has over 46 million likes onhis Facebook page.



Sri Lankan parliament begins process to adoptnew Constitution

Sri Lankan parliament began a process toformulate a new constitution with Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe presenting a resolution toset up Constitutional Assembly of all members forthe purpose.

“We will have the whole parliamentformulating the constitution unlike theprevious instances when the constitutionswere drafted outside parliament,” he said.The new constitution will replace thecurrent executive president headedconstitution adopted in 1978.

President Maithripala Sirisena in hisaddress said the time has come toformulae a new constitution in keepingwith the demands of the 21st century. Hewarned that extremist elements both inthe south and the north may try to scuttlethe process.

Nepal elected as Unicef’s executive boardmember

Nepal has been elected to the Unicef executiveboard, representing the group of Asia-Pacificcountries for the term 2016-2018.

Nepal's ambassador and permanentrepresentative to the UN Durga PrasadBhattarai, has also been unanimouslyelected as vice-president to the bureau ofthe executive board on Saturday,according to Nepal's Permanent Mission tothe UN in New York.

With its election to the United NationsChildren's Fund, Nepal has got anotherchance to contribute to the work of theUN, this time in providing strategic

guidance to its agency specialising in thechildren's causes, Kathmandu Postreported today.

Nepal will help ensure, among other thingsthat Unicef activities are responsive to theneeds and priorities of the recipientcountries, particularly from theperspective of a country emerging fromconflict and reeling under thehumanitarian crisis as a result of naturaldisasters and the vulnerabilities of beingleast developed and land-locked country,it reported.

Nepal recently completed its terms as amember of the UN economic and socialcouncil (ECOSOC) for 2013-2015 and asvice-president from Asia-Pacific region atthe executive board ofUNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS for the year 2015.

Nepal had contributed to the Unicef byremaining in the executive board indifferent times including 1982 to 1985,1992 to 1995 and 2002 to 2004.

11th World Hindi Day observed on 10 January

The 11th World Hindi Day was celebrated on 10January 2016. To mark the occasion, Ministry ofExternal Affairs (MEA) through its missions/postsabroad and the Department of Official Language(Rajbhasha) conducted special events to spreadthe greatness of the language.

The day was first observed on 10 January2006. And, it is in addition to the NationalHindi Divas that is being celebratedannually on 14 September.

National Hindi Divas is celebrated to markthe day, 14 September 1949, on which theConstituent Assembly adopted Hindiwritten in Devanagari script as the OfficialLanguage of the Union.



Indra Nooyi becomes ‘most generous graduate’of Yale School of Management

The prestigious Yale School of Management willname its deanship in honour of PepsiCo’s India-born CEO Indra Nooyi as she gifted an undisclosedamount to her alma mater, becoming the school’sbiggest alumni donor and the first woman toendow a deanship at a top b-school.

Yale did not disclose the amount gifted byNooyi but said her “landmark gift” toendow the deanship of the school andinaugurate an innovation fund has madeher the “most generous graduate” of YaleSchool of Management in terms of lifetimegiving to the school. She is also the firstwoman to endow the deanship at a topbusiness school, the school said in astatement yesterday.

The PepsiCo chairman, who graduatedfrom the school in 1980, credited herexperience at the school for “forever”altering “the course of my life” and saidher gift “pales in comparison with the giftthat Yale gave me the fundamentalunderstanding that leadership requires anexpansive worldview and a deepappreciation of the many points ofintersection between business andsociety.”

Israelis vote for Putin as their person of 2015

An Israeli poll has named Russian PresidentVladimir Putin as their person of the year for 2015.Putin was the clear winner with almost 30 percentof the vote, ahead of German Chancellor AngelaMerkel in second place.

The survey was carried out by theJerusalem Post and its sister Hebrew-

language publication Ma’ariv SofHashavua. It polled a total of 527 Jewishadults on Tuesday, while there was anerror margin of 4.3 percent.

The results certainly showed thatPresident Putin has made an impact on thepeople of Israel during 2015. He received29 percent of the vote as the respondentswere asked to choose their person of theyear.

Sixteen percent opted for ChancellorMerkel, who had been previously chosenas TIME magazine’s Person of the Year for2015. Benjamin Netanyahu received 15percent of the vote, while Islamic State’sleader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi had 3 percentof voters thinking he was their person ofthe year.

World Braille Day observed on 4 January

World Braille Day was observed across the worldon 4 January 2016 to commemorate the birthanniversary of Louis Braille.

To mark this occasion, NGOs, as well asother organizations came together to raiseawareness about the apathy towardsvisually impaired people and to help thembe equal with the rest of the people.

Louis Braille, who was born in France on 4January 1809, is credited for inventing theBraille script. The script helps the visuallyimpaired people to read as well as write.

India-Nepal Bus Service resumed after 27 years

India-Nepal Bus Service on 4 January 2016resumed after a gap of 27 years. The service wassuspended 27 years ago in the wake of the Indo-Nepal Trade and Transit Treaty.

The service runs between Kanchanpur inNepal, which is close to Banbasa border in



Champavat district of Uttarakhand, andAnand Vihar ISBT in Delhi.

Forbes released 2016 30 Under 30 List; 45Indian-origin people featured

Forbes on 4 January 2016 released the 2016 30Under 30 List featuring 600 men and women whoachieved remarkable professional success beforeattaining 30 years of age. They were chosen froman initial screening list of more than 15000representing a gamut of 20 segments that includeart & style, finance, sports, education, etc.

The list includes John Boyega (Hollywood& Entertainment category), Shawn

Mendes (Music), Emerson Spartz (Media)among others.

Further, 45 Indians and Indian-originpeople figured in the annual compilationfor their entrepreneurial spirit andbreakout talents.

World's largest blue star sapphire discovered inSri Lanka

The world's largest blue star sapphire that weighs1404.49 carats was discovered in a mine in SriLanka. The sapphire was found in August 2015near Ratnapura city in the South of Sri Lanka.

The stone is worth at an estimated cost of100 million US dollars but could be valuedup to 165 million US dollars.

National

Uttar Pradesh joins UDAY schemeUttar Pradesh became the fourth state to join theCentre’s scheme to revive state electricitydistribution utilities on Saturday. The stategovernment signed a memorandum ofunderstanding with the Centre and the UttarPradesh Power Corporation Ltd, the holdingcompany of the various electricity distributionutilities in the state.

The four states – Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh,Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh – which havesigned MoUs for joining UDAY, account forabout 35 per cent of the outstanding loansof state electricity distribution utilities inthe country.

Puducherry Lt Governor AK Singh launchedMITRA app for women safetyLt Governor of Puducherry AK Singh on 28 January2016 launched the MITRA mobile application toensure safety and security of women in the UnionTerritory. The app was launched in the presenceof the Chief Minister N Rangasamy in Puducherry.

The Android based application can sendemergency SOS messages when in dangeror emergency.

At present, it is available only in smartphones.

Commemorative Coin of 150 rupees &Circulation Coin of 10 rupees on Lala Lajpat Raireleased



Ministry of Culture on 28 January 2016 released acommemorative coin of 150 rupees and acirculation coin of 10 rupees on Lala Lajpat Rai.

The Commemorative Coin of 150 rupeesis made of Quaternary alloy with diameterof 44 mm and weight of 35 grams.

The Circulation coin of 10 rupees is madeof bi-metallic material with diameter of 27mm and weight of 7.71 grams. The coinwas released by Dr Mahesh Sharma,Minister of state (Independent charge)Minister of Tourism & Culture at NewDelhi on the occasion of 150th birthanniversary of Lala Lajpat Rai.

Kerala to host global skill summitKerala will host a three-day ‘NypunyamInternational Skill Summit and Skill Fiesta 2016’next month with a view to bridging the gapbetween the job market requirement and theskill level of available workforce.

The event will unfold on February 5,according to Tom Jose, Additional ChiefSecretary, Department of Labour andSkills, Kerala. The focus will be onimproving the skill levels and bringingthem up to world standards in tune withthe Prime Minister’s initiative for skilling500 million young people by 2020.

The skill summit will gather an array oftop industry leaders, key governmentofficials, policy makers and analystsfunctioning in the sector.

Union Government launched National Job Portalfor Persons with DisabilitiesThe Union Ministry of Social Justice andEmpowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot on 27January 2016 launched the National level Jobportal www.disabilityjobs.gov.in for Persons withDisabilities (PwDs).

The Ministry aims to carry out skill trainingprogramme for 5 lakh Persons withDisabilities in next 3 years.

CERT-In inks cyber security agreements with 3nationsIndian Computer Emergency Response Team(CERT-In) has signed cybersecurity agreementwith its counterparts in Malaysia, Singapore andJapan.

In this regard, the Union Cabinet chairedby the Prime Minister Narendra Modi hasapprised the Memorandum ofUnderstandings (MoUs) signed betweenCERT-In and 3 nations.

Rajasthan Govt inks MoU to join UDAY SchemeRajasthan Government along with its powerdistribution companies (DISCOMS) has signed aMoU to join UDAY (Ujwal Discom AssuranceYojana) Scheme.

State DISCOMS part of this MoU are JaipurVidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (JVNL),Jodhpur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited(JVVNL) and Ajmer Vidyut Vitran NigamLimited (AVNL).

India successfully test fired Akash missile atChandipurIndia on 28 January 2016 test fired itsindigenously-built surface-to-air Akash missilefrom complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range(ITR).at Chandipuri in Odisha. It was as part of auser trial mission.

Three rounds of test were carried out byIndian Air Force (IAF) personnel aiming atpara-barrel targets.



IPS officer Aparna Kumar became India's firstcivil servant to scale Mount Vinson MassifAparna Kumar, IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre,became India's first civil servant to scale MountVinson Massif, the highest peak in the Antarctica.

She hoisted the Tricolour and the flag ofthe Uttar Pradesh Police Service on MountVinson Massif.

She set out on the Antarctic expedition on5 January 2016, accompanied by a 10-member team of mountaineers fromvarious countries.

Govt. releases list of 20 smart cities

The Union government today announced thenames of the first 20 urban areas that will bedeveloped as smart cities.

“Implementation of smart cities plan willshowcase integrated planning. Theinvestment of Rs 50,802 crores has beenproposed in selected smart cities andtowns during the five-year period,” saidminister of urban development VenkaiahNaidu, while announcing the list.

There are five capital cities among the 20smart cities chosen which are as follows –

Bhubaneswar Pune Jaipur Surat Kochi Ahmedabad Jabalpur Vishakapatnam Sholapur Davangere Indore New Delhi (New Delhi municipal

council area) Coimbatore

Kakinada Belagavi Udaipur Guwahati Chennai Ludhiana Bhopal

UP launches helpline number for journalists

Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav launched adedicated helpline for journalists with number1800-1800-303.

Managed by the state’s Information andPublic Relation Department, the helplinewill help and assist the media persons.

He also launched a computerised file-tracking system to track the developmentof a file and ensure its time-bounddisposal.

Cabinet approves raising of 17 Indian ReserveBattalions by J&K and LWE StatesThe Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of PrimeMinister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the raisingof 17 India Reserve Battalions (IR Bns) by Jammu &Kashmir and Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affectedStates.

It includes five IR Bns in the state of J&K, fourIR Bns in Chhattisgarh, three IR Bns inJharkhand, three IR Bns in Odisha and two IRBns in Maharashtra.

President rule imposed in Arunachal Pradesh



President rule has been imposed in ArunachalPradesh after President Pranab Mukherjee onTuesday gave his assent to Union Cabinet’srecommendation.

Justifying the Centre’s move, minister ofstate for home Kiran Rijiju had earlier saidthe Cabinet was forced to take thedecision because of a Constitutionalbreakdown as six months had lapsedbetween two sessions of the stateassembly.

On Monday, President Pranab Mukherjeehad called home minister Rajnath Singhand put some queries to him on the needfor the imposition of President’s rule.

Andhra tops in implementing MGNREGA for2014-15

Andhra Pradesh has topped in the country inimplementing the Mahatma Gandhi NationalRural Employment Guarantee Act for the 2014-2015 in category of transparency andaccountability.

Ayyanna Patrudu, Andhra PradeshMinister for Panchayat Raj andMGNREGA, said that the award will begiven in New Delhi on 2nd of February.

AP Govt. launched Giriputrika KalyanaPathakam Scheme for tribal people

The Andhra Pradesh Government launchedGiriputrika Kalyana Pathakam Scheme to supportthe tribal women in their quest for livelihood.

The scheme was launched by AndhraPradesh Minister for Social WelfareRavela Kishore Babu.

To avail the benefits of this scheme, eachbeneficiary would have to fulfil somemandatory conditions like submission ofmarriage certificate, income certificate,etc.

BEPS guidelines of OECD to be implemented inIndia from 1 April 2016The term BEPS is an acronym of Base Erosion andProfit Shifting and it was in news in the third weekof January 2016 as India decided to implementthese guidelines.

These norms were announced byOrganization for Economic Cooperationand Development (OECD) in October 2015to close tax loopholes that it estimatedcost countries upwards of 100 billion USdollars a year.

With the implementation of theseguidelines, it will become mandatory forIndian multinationals to make country-by-country reporting to follow guidelinesfrom the financial year that begins on 1April 2016.

PM declassifies 100 files relating to NetajiPrime Minister Narendra Modi today made publicdigital copies of 100 secret files relating to SubhasChandra Bose on his 119th birth anniversary,which could throw some light on the controversyover his death.

The files were declassified and put ondigital display at the National Archives ofIndia (NAI) here by the Prime Minister,who pressed a button in the presence ofBose family members and Union MinistersMahesh Sharma and Babul Supriyo.

Later, Modi and his ministerial colleagueswent around glancing at the declassifiedfiles, spending over half an hour at theNational Archives. He also spoke to the



members of the Bose family. The NAI alsoplans to release digital copies of 25declassified files on Bose in the publicdomain every month.

The first lot of 33 files were declassified bythe Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) andhanded over to the NAI on December 4,last year. Subsequently, the Ministries ofHome Affairs and External Affairs tooinitiated the process of declassification offiles relating to Bose in their respectivecollection which were then transferredover to the NAI, it added.

India, Japan conduct joint exercise ‘Sahyog-Kaijin’ off Chennai coast

The 15th edition of bilateral exercise by the IndianCoast Guard and its Japanese counterpart titled‘Sahayog-Kaijin 2016’ has begun off the coast ofChennai, Tamil Nadu in the Bay of Bengal.

Sahayog-Kaijin bilateral exercise is a part ofthe cooperative arrangements betweentwo Coast Guards for the last 15 years andheld once in two years and the venuewould shift in both countries on alternateoccasions.

Nag anti-tank missile Successfully Test fired

The indigenously-built anti-tank missile Nag wassuccessfully test fired at Mahajan Field FiringRange in Rajasthan.

It is developed by the DRDO under theIntegrated Guided Missile DevelopmentProgramme (IGMDP). It is fire-and-forgetanti-tank missile. HeliNa is a helicopter-launched version of Nag missile.

It has operational range of upto 4km (Landversion) and upto 10 km (Air-launched).

India’s Grid-linked solar generation capacitycrosses 5,000 MW mark

Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy hasannounced that India’s grid-connected solarpower generation capacity has crossed the 5,000Mega Watt (MW) mark.

The Central Govt. has increased the targetof solar power generation capacity by fivetimes from 20,000 MW to 100 GW by2022.

Metro Train will be started in Kochi

Kochi will be the eighth city of India where Metrotrain becomes operational. Trial run will begin on23rd January in the presence of Oommen Chandy,the chief Minister of Kerala.

15th January: Indian Army Day celebrated

Indian Army Day is being observed every year on15 January in India.

This year it will be the 68th Indian ArmyDay.

First 'Mahila Squad' Commissioned For High-Altitute Posts Of India-China Border

A freshly-trained contingent of 500 womenpersonnel will become the first 'mahila' squad tobe deployed in high-altitude posts along the India-China border. The squad was commissioned intothe Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) today inPanchkula.



The women, in the rank of constable, wereinducted in the border-guarding forceafter 44-weeks of training in battle craftand mountain survival and will now be sentto frontier areas for final acclimatisationbefore being deployed at ITBP posts alongthe 3,488-km Sino-India Line of ActualControl (LAC).

These 'mahila' contingents are expected tobe posted by March this year at about 20forward locations of the ITBP situated atheights of between 8,000-14,000 feet,including at the 'Mana pass' border post,the last village on the Indian side inUttarakhand.

ITBP Director General Krishna Chaudhary,after reviewing the 'passing out parade' ofthe new personnel, asked them to exhibitthe best skills that they have learnt duringtraining to discharge their duties in someof the most difficult locations in theHimalayan ranges.

This is the first time that India is deployingwomen troops right at the front, one whichis considered to be the most arduous andtricky given the harsh climatic conditionsand extreme mountainous terrain alongthe India-China border.

ITBP, raised in the aftermath of the 1962Chinese aggression, has also beguncreating logistical and residential facilitiesfor its women personnel at these posts andit is expected to be completed by earlyMarch. The force plans to have womenpersonnel make up at least 40 per cent ofits strength at these forward posts.

Bihar commercial Tax dept. and DGFT signedMoU to share Foreign Money statistics

The Commercial tax department of Bihar hassigned a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)

with Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT)for sharing of foreign exchange realization data.

Smt. Sujata Chaturvedi, Commissionercum Principal Secretary, Commercial TaxesDepartment represented Government ofBihar while Shri D. K. Singh, AdditionalDGFT represented DGFT. The ceremonywas presided over by DGFT Shri AnupWadhawan.

The foreign exchange realization data is animportant economic indicator as itquantifies transaction level exportearnings. This is also known as eBRC(Electronic Bank Realization Certificate)data. BRC can be used by stategovernment departments for ensuringrefund of VAT to eligible exporters.

So far, Commercial Tax Departments of 13states have signed MoU with DGFT forreceiving e-BRC data for VAT refundpurposes. These are: (i) Maharashtra, (ii)Delhi, (iii) Andhra Pradesh,(iv) Odisha, (v)Chhattisgarh, (vi) Haryana, (vii) TamilNadu, (viii) Karnataka, (ix) Gujarat, (x)Uttar Pradesh, (xi) Madhya Pradesh, (xii)Kerala, (xiii) Goa.

In addition, Ministry of Finance,Enforcement Directorate and Agricultural& Processed Food Products ExportDevelopment Authority (APEDA) have alsosigned MoU with DGFT for receiving e-BRCdata.

Madhya Pradesh inks pact with IFC to set upworld's largest solar plant

The Madhya Pradesh government has inked a pactwith IFC, member of the World Bank Group, to setup the world's largest solar energy plant with acapacity of 750 MW.



The Rewa Ultra-Mega Solar Power Projectwill be set up in Gurh tehsil of Rewa districtover an area of 1,500 hectares at anestimated cost of Rs 4,500 crore.

The Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) was signed between MadhyaPradesh Renewable Energy DevelopmentCorporation and IFC.

World’s largest Tricolour to be hoisted in Ranchi

Ranchi is all going to beat a record set by a flag inFaridabad, Haryana in March 2015 by getting theworld’s largest Tricolour flying atop the country’stallest flagpole at the Pahari temple in Ranchi.

The 99 by 66 feet measuring flag will behoisted from a height of 293 feet.

Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurates ‘Hall of NuclearPower’ in Delhi

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge)Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER),MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances,Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. JitendraSingh inaugurated the “Hall of Nuclear Power”here today.

This is Northern India’s first permanentexhibition on nuclear power, built in thenational capital which is going to beopened to the public at National ScienceCentre (NSC).

The gallery has been set up at a cost of Rs.2.5 crore at NSC, Delhi, a unit of NCSM, theapex organisation engaged inpopularisation of science through itsscience centres spread all over thecountry.

The gallery has been set up in technical andfinancial collaboration with NPCIL.

India has 2.36 lakh millionaires: report

India is home to the fourth largest population ofmillionaires in the Asia-Pacific region, with 2.36lakh such high net worth individuals, while Japantopped the list with 12.60 lakh people, a reportsays.

According to the Asia Pacific 2016 WealthReport, by New World Wealth, India wasranked among the top five Asia-Pacificcountries in terms of the number of highnet worth individuals (HNWIs).

HNWIs (millionaires) were defined asindividuals with net assets of $1 million ormore.

At the end of 2015, there were 12,60,000millionaires in Japan, while China rankedsecond with 654,000 HNWIs and Australiawas at the third place had 290,000.

Others in the top 10 in terms of number ofHNWIs in the Asia-Pacific include,Singapore at the fifth place with 224,000millionaires, Hong Kong (sixth, 215,000),South Korea (seventh, 125,000), Taiwan(eighth, 98,200), New Zealand (9th,89,000) and Indonesia (10th, 48,500).

India slips to 89th rank in global talentcompetitiveness: Report

India has slipped 11 places to rank 89th on a globalindex of talent competitiveness, a list which hasbeen topped by Switzerland.

India’s ranking is worst among the fiveBRICS countries, with China leading thepack with a global rank of 48.

Ministry of Shipping initiates Project Green Port

Weighing in the environmental perspective forsustained growth, the Ministry of Shipping hasstarted ‘Project Green Ports’ which will help inmaking the Major Ports across India cleaner andgreener.



‘Project Green Ports’ will have twoverticals - one is ‘Green Ports Initiatives’related to environmental issues andsecond is ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan’.

The Green Port Initiatives include twelveinitiatives which will be implementedunder strict time bound fashion in order toachieve the targets.

Jayalalithaa launches Amma Call Centre

In an initiative aimed at quick delivery ofgovernment services, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister JJayalalithaa today launched a round-the-clock callcentre for ensuring fast response to grievances.The ‘Amma Call Centre’, which will work allthrough the year, was launched by the ChiefMinister here through video-conferencing.

Jayalalithaa is fondly addressed as ‘Amma’(mother) by her supporters and hergovernment is already running manyinitiatives named after her, including thehugely popular ’Amma Canteens’ whichprovide subsidised food, and ‘AmmaMineral Water’, among others.

International Kolkata Book Fair on Jan 25

The 40th edition of the International Kolkata BookFair – the world’s largest non-trade fair,startingfrom Jan 25 – is all set to bring to life a slice ofhistory.

Bolivia will be theme country whileVietnam will be the guest country in thefair.

Incidentally, the fair is also expected to gohi-tech this year. An application (mobileapp) that can be downloaded on smart-phones to locate the book stalls. Around600 (book) stalls and 200 ‘little magazines’will be there in the 40th edition of the fair.This apart, special shuttle buses will ply to

and from the fair grounds to the nearestpoint in central Kolkata.

Bihar Cabinet approved 35 % reservation forwomen in govt. jobs

The Bihar Cabinet formally approved 35 percentreservation for women in all government jobs inthe state. The decision was taken in the cabinetmeeting presided by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The 35 percent reservation for women willbe applicable to in all government jobsincluding reserved and unreservedcategory.

The Bihar Government is already providing35 percent reservation for women inrecruitment as police constables and sub-inspectors and 50 percent reservation asprimary school teachers and in thePanchayati Raj system.

Cabinet approves new power tariff policy

The Cabinet today approved a new power tariffpolicy that aims at promoting clean energy, betterregulation of discoms, and faster roll-out ofinvestments.

The Union Cabinet today approved a newpower tariff policy which will promoteclean energy, support the Swachh Bharatprogramme, better regulation for discoms,and encourage faster roll-out ofinvestments in the sector.

Under the policy, the power plants willhave to use processed municipal wastewater available in their vicinity (in 100 kmradius). The proposed policy will bring inseveral unique aspects which have not



been touched in the past. It will allowdistribution companies to buy any amountof power produced from the waste.

Light combat aircraft, Tejas to fly at Bahrain AirShow

Country’s own fighter aircraft light combat aircraft(LCA), Tejas, will take part in the three-day BahrainInternational Airshow starting from Thursday(January 21 to 23).

“Two limited series production (LSP)aircraft will take part in the BahrainInternational Air Show to enthral thevisitors from various countries during theflying display through a series of aerobaticmanoeuvres such as 8-g pull, vertical loop,slow fly past, barrel roll”, said T SuvarnaRaju, CMD, HAL.

Tejas is a single engine, light weight, highlyagile, multi-role supersonic fighter. TheTejas light combat aircraft is a 4.5generation aircraft with supersoniccapability at all altitudes. It has the fly bywire, state of the art open architecturecomputer for avionics and better weaponand combat capability. With the advancedavionics, the pilot load is also reduced.

PSLV-C31 successfully launched IRNSS-1Esatellite

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on20 January 2016 successfully launched the IndianRegional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) 1-Esatellite. The satellite will provide navigation,tracking and mapping services to the Indian subcontinent.

The satellite is the fifth of the IRNSSconstellation. It was launched from theSatish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR),Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on-board

the PSLV-C31. The Polar Satellite LaunchVehicle (PSLV)-C31 was the 32ndconsecutively successful mission of thePSLV. The 'XL' configuration of PSLV wasused for this mission.

Govt Announces National Award For The Most'Film-Friendly' State In India

In a move to encourage states to promote andembrace films from various genres, theinformation and broadcasting ministry hasdecided to introduce a new category at theNational Awards and it will be for the 'Most Film-Friendly State/UT'.

Sunil Arora, secretary of information andbroadcasting said that the award will beconferred for the first time at the 63rdNational Film Awards to be in Delhi on 3May 2016. The statement was issued bythe Press Information Bureau on theirofficial website.

Film Facilitation Office was to be set up atthe National Film DevelopmentCorporation of India (NFDC) under thesupervision of the Ministry of I&B.

Wattan Ko Jano initiative: A programme thataims to expose youth from J&K to rest of India

Wattan Ko Jano, an initiative being carried out bythe Union Ministry of Home Affairs in coordinationwith the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Government,was in news on 6 January 2016. The initiative camein news after more than 240 youth in the age-group of 15 to 24 from J&K met with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

Watan Ko Jano initiative was conceived bythe J&K State Rehabilitation Council in2011. It essentially is a Youth Exchange



Programme under which the children ofmilitancy-hit victims, orphanages, andweaker sections of society are identified byJammu and Kashmir State RehabilitationCouncil as beneficiaries under theprogramme in the state.

The initiative aims at exposing youth fromthe state to the vibrant development andvitality of culture of people residing inother states of the country.Earlier on 29December 2015, a group of 250 suchyoungsters participated in the Watan KoJano tour and met Home Minister RajnathSingh.

Paramilitary forces to have 33% reservation forwomen in constable level position

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has approved33% reservation for women in Central ArmedPolice Forces (CAPFs) at constable-level positions.

There will be 33% reservation for womenat constable-level posts in Central ReservePolice Force and Central Industrial SecurityForce, and 14-15% reservation at theconstable level in border guarding forcesi.e. Border Security Force, SashastraSeema Bal and Indo Tibetan Border Police,starting immediately, according to anofficial statement released by the Ministryof Home Affairs.

Gadkari launches India's first River InformationSystem

Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari onWednesday inaugurated the River InformationSystem (RIS) - the first of its kind in India - tofacilitate safe and accurate navigation on NationalWaterway-1 (the Ganga River).

Phase-II of the system from Farakka toPatna and Phase-III from Patna to Varanasi

will be undertaken on priority, thestatement said.

"River Information Systems arecombination of modern trackingequipment related hardware and softwaredesigned to optimise traffic and transportprocesses in inland navigation.

Union Government allowed traditional bull-taming sports Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu

The Union Government on 8 January 2016 allowedthe conduct of the traditional bull-taming sports,Jallikattu, in Tamil Nadu.

The ban on the sports was lifted few daysbefore the traditional harvest festival willbegin in Tamil Nadu. Jallikattu iscelebrated around pongal in southernstate of Tamil Nadu.

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forestand Climate Change issued a gazettenotification with regard to holdingtraditional sports that use bulls asperforming animals including Jallikattuacross India.

The notification said that bulls can beexhibited and trained as performinganimal at different events of differentstates as per the customs or tradition ofany community.The notification alsospecifies that bullock cart race shall beorganised on a proper track, which shallnot exceed two kilometers. On the otherhand, in case of Jallikattu, the moment thebull leaves the enclosure it shall be tamedwithin a radial distance of 15 metre.

Overseas Indian Affairs Ministry, MEA merged

In order to avoid duplication of work and toimprove efficiency, the government merged theMinistry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) withthe Ministry of External Affairs. Announcing the



merger, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swarajtweeted on Thursday, “As Minister of ExternalAffairs and Overseas Indian Affairs, I realised thata substantial work of MOIA is done through ourmissions abroad. Therefore, I proposed to Hon’blePrime Minister that MOIA should be merged withthe Ministry of External Affairs.”

Sources, however, indicated that thedecision to merge MOIA with MEA wastaken as senior diplomats wanted officialsdealing with foreign workers-relatedissues and emergencies to have betterdiplomatic back-up and coordination.

Indo-French military exercise Shakti-2016started

India and France on 8 January 2016 started theireight-day counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency joint exercise Shakti-2016 in Rajasthan.This is the third edition in the series of bilateralexercises under this banner and is being held inMahajan Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan'sBikaner.

The exercise will be focused on counterterrorism operations in backdrop of semi-urban terrain under United NationsMandate. It is an important step for thearmies to train together and gain fromeach other's rich operational experience.

The Indian contingent to participate in theexercise will be the 2nd Battalion ofGarhwal Rifles, part of the Sapta ShaktiCommand. Both countries have troopsdeployed in counter-insurgency andcounter-terrorist operations and thereforesharing each other's military experienceswill pay meaningful dividends.

Ganga Gram Yojana launched

As a major initiative towards fast trackimplementation of Namami Gange Programmethe first company of Ganga Task force Battalionwas deployed at Garhmu kteshwar yesterday.Speaking on the occasion Union Minister of WaterResources, River Development and GangaRejuvenation Sushri Uma Bharti said that threesuch companies will be deployed soon at Kanpur,Varanasi and Allahabad.

In the first phase of the progamme 200villages have been selected. In thesevillages open drains falling into river Gangawill be diverted and alternativearrangements for sewage treatment willbe made. The villages will have toilets inevery house hold.

It is proposed to incur and expenditure ofRs. One crore on every village.

French soldiers to march down Rajpath onRepublic Day 2016 along with Indian troops

The French soldiers will march down the Rajpathon Republic Day along with Indian troops in thepresence of President Francois Hollande. Hollandeis the Chief Guest for 26 January 2016celebrations. This is the first time that a foreignarmy will participate in the 26th January Parade,since 1950.

A French contingent, comprising 56personnel of 35th Infantry Regiment of 7th

Armoured Brigade, is already in thecountry to take part in a joint exercise,Shakti 2016, which began in Rajasthan on8 January 2016. Some soldiers will also flydown from France to form a propermarching contingent.

Earlier similar event occurred in Francewhen Indian troops drawn from the three



services (Indian Army, Indian Navy andIndian Air Force) marched down theChamps Elysees in Paris along with FrenchArmy on the Bastille Day. The event washeld on 14 July 2009 and saw participationof the Maratha light infantry, which is oneof the oldest regiments of Indian Army.

Bastille Day (French National Day) iscelebrated on 14 July each year. TheFrench National Day commemorates theStorming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, animportant event in Paris that was thesymbolic start of French revolution.

Modi to be chief guest at sustainable agriculturemeet in Gangtok

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the chiefguest at the National Conference on SustainableAgriculture and Farmers’ Welfare being held inGangtok on January 17-18, the AgricultureMinistry said in a statement.

The conference is being held in Sikkim,which has taken the lead on organicfarming, Agriculture Minister RadhaMohan Singh, said, adding that theconference will be attended by Stategovernment representatives, scientists,academics, bankers, experts andpractitioners.

Jitendra Singh, Minister for Developmentof North East (Independent charge), saidthe green field airport at Pakyong nearGangtok is expected to be complete andbecome functional by 2017.

He said there are also plans to connectSikkim with the country’s rail network,which would be the third North-EasternState after Meghalaya and ArunachalPradesh to be brought on the rail map ofIndia.

Singh also referred to the plan forconstructing alternative road highway toGangtok in Sikkim via West Bengal and tworopeways that will serve the purpose ofboth tourism as well as transport.

Smriti Irani inaugurates 43rd New Delhi WorldBook Fair

Human Resource Minister Smriti Irani inauguratedthe 43rd edition of the New Delhi World Book Fairwhich commenced here with China as the guest ofhonour country and a theme presentation of thecultural heritage of India.

The nine-day fair, touted as the largest inAsia, is hosting about 30 countries in whicha series of programmes including paneldiscussions, dramas, classical and folkdances, workshops, discussions, authors’meets, conferences, seminars and culturalprogrammes will be held.

Talking about the Chinese participation,Irani said, “I believe that 50 publishinghouses and 9 eminent authors bring withthem to this World Book Fair around 5,000titles so that through this exchange ourpeople across both nations can beenriched.”

China was invited to be the guest countryafter the visit of Chinese President XiJinping here last year where he signed amemorandum of understanding withPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

This year the fair has introduced a special‘Navlekhan’ programme which seeks topromote and publish young authors underthe age of 40 writing in Indian languages.Referring to the same Irani said, while thisyear they are being published in 6 regionallanguages by next year she assured thatbooks in 22 languages recognised by theConstitution of India will be published.



Oil Ministry launches e-initiative to improve LPGcustomer service

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas haslaunched an online initiative to seek suggestionsfrom LPG consumers across the country, whichwill help in providing efficient and friendlyservice.

Two online discussion forums - Citizen-Friendly Services and Increasing LPGCoverage in the Country - have beenlaunched and are available on myGov.inand mylpg.in, an official press statementsaid.

The initiative is part of steps being taken toobserve 2016 as the 'Year of LPGConsumers'.

"LPG consumers/ citizens are requested toparticipate and share their thoughts on therespective forums online. Valuablesuggestions/ comments are welcome andwill be considered for improving thecustomer oriented services related to LPGcoverage and delivery," it said.

After Delhi, now odd-even formula for Rohtak,Haryana

Odd even formula will be next applied in Rohtak,Haryana to check rising level of pollution in thecity.

In Haryana, unlike Delhi, the formula willbe applied only on auto rickshaws on trialbasis. The Haryana government discussedabout implementation of the scheme withauto organizations and has reportedlyreceived a nod for it.

Governor’s rule imposed in Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday came undergovernor's rule as process of new governmentformation following the death of chief ministerMufti Mohammad Sayeed will take some time.

The President cleared therecommendation of the Union homeministry for imposing governor's rule onthe basis of a recommendation from J-Kgovernor N N Vohra.

Governor's rule had to be imposed in viewof the reluctance of Mufti's daughterMehbooba to take oath during themourning period though her party hasalready conveyed to the governor that 28MLAs of the PDP legislature party backedher for the chief minister's post.

Sayeed died on Thursday after a briefillness and since then there is aconstitutional vacuum. PDP's coalition allyBJP has also indicated that it would take adecision on new government formationonce the four-day morning period is overon Sunday.

14th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas held in New Delhi

The 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) was heldin New Delhi. The event was inaugurated by theExternal Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj andattended by Priti Patel, MoS for Employment,United Kingdom.

Apart from the main event in New Delhi,the day was celebrated by the MEA, acrossthe world, through its missions/postsabroad.

On this occasion, Sushma Swarajannounced that the government isconsidering Aadhaar cards to non-residentIndians (NRIs) and allowing womenworkers to Gulf countries only through thegovernment agencies to ensure they werenot duped by recruiting agents or firms.



International Kite festival started in Ahmedabad

Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel on 10January 2016 inaugurated the 28th edition ofInternational Kite Festival at Sabarmati River frontin Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The Kite festival ofGujarat marks Uttarayan, the day when winterbegins to turn into summer, according to theIndian calendar.

The five-day annual event sawparticipation of about 98 foreign kite flyersfrom 28 different nations and 55participants from 8 different states and 28kite flyers from Gujarat.

While inaugurating the festival, ChiefMinister Patel claimed that the festival hasboosted the kite-making industry alongwith attracting foreign tourists in Gujarat.She also said that in last one decade thebusiness of kite making has grown from100 crore rupees to 750 crore rupees.

The international kite festival issimultaneously organized in other cities ofthe state including Surat, Vadodara,Rajkot, Porbandar, Mandvi, Botad,Surendra nagar, and Modhera.

President of India inaugurates 88th AnnualConference of Nikhil Bharat Banga SahityaSammelan

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjeeinaugurated the three day long 88th annualconference of Nikhil Bharat Banga SahityaSammelanon January 10, 2016 at Ranchi,Jharkhand.

Speaking on the occasion, the Presidentsaid the great traditions of Bengaliliterature, language and culture originatedfrom the period of 'Charyapada' a Bengalicompilation that was discovered by the

noted scholar, Haraprasad Shastri in Nepalin 1907.

Telangana became first State to make gendereducation compulsory at graduate level

Telangana became the first State in India tointroduce compulsory gender education at thegraduate level. In this regard, the state in secondweek of January 2016 introduced a bilingualtextbook titled, Towards a World of Equals. Thebook was introduced on a pilot basis inengineering colleges affiliated to the JawaharlalNehru Technological University (JNTU-Hyderabad).

The book discusses gender in its compositeform without limiting itself to crimeagainst women. The book attempts tocover information on unacknowledgedwomen writers of Telangana to problemsof sex selection and women’s work inpolitics and economics.

The book is coupled with a collection ofvisual teaching tools which includedocumentary films. The book is beingtaught over 14 weeks in a semester at therate of two classes per week.

Union Railway Ministry inauguratedImplementation of E-enabled TrackManagement System

Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhuon 11 January 2016 inaugurated implementationof E-enabled Track Management System (TMS)and Mobile Application of TMS on Indian Railwayat Rail Bhawan in New Delhi.



Along with these two initiatives, theminister also inaugurated pilotimplementation of Track InventoryManagement System on Northern Railwayto track materials inventory, constructionand track machines organization in entire225 units of Northern Railway.

It is an important milestone in promotinge-working in civil engineering departmentof Indian Railways. It is implemented on allthe 68 divisions of Indian Railways. Withthe implementation of this system, variousactivities of Track Inspection, Monitoringand Maintenance came on IT platform. It isthe first of its kind Organization Wide AssetManagement IT Application.

Kullu’s Folk Dance Finds Place in Guinness Bookof World Records

The colourful Kullu folk dance (Nati), which sawparticipation of 20,000 dancers during KulluDussehra festival on October 26 last year, hasentered the Guinness book of world records.

In the Nati, 9892 women attired intraditional Kullu dress performed atDhalpur Ground during Kullu Dussehrafestival on October 26 last year.

Kerala Declared First State to Attain TotalPrimary Education

Vice President Hamid Ansari today declared Keralaas the first state in the country to attain 'TotalPrimary Education', and described theachievement as 'historic.' "I believe that the datetoday is as historic for Kerala as April 18, 1991, theday Kerala was declared to be a fully literatestate," he said.

Noting that the achievement was anotherfeather to the state's educational cap, hesaid the state was marking the successful

culmination of its 'Athulyam' programmeaimed at ensuring Total Primary Educationin Kerala -- equivalent to Standard IV offormal education.

National Institute of Visual Science inaugurated

The K.R. Narayanan National Institute of VisualScience and Arts was inaugurated by Vice-President M. Hamid Ansari at Thekkumthala, 27km off Kottayam, on 11 January.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief MinisterOommen Chandy said that theGovernment is taking necessary steps tomake the institute a deemed university. Healso said that the institute is planning tocreate a film hub linking the nearby touristspots Munnar, Vagamon, Kuttikanam andKumarakom. The institute will holdcultural exchange programmes withforeign universities.

20th National Youth Festival inaugurated inNaya Raipur

The 20th National Youth Festival was on 12January 2016 inaugurated by Union RoadTransport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari atRajyostav Sthal in Naya Raipur, Chhattisgarh tomark the National Youth Day.

The five day long annual festival iscelebrated by the Union Government inpartnership with a state government onthe occasion of the birth anniversary ofSwami Vivekananda. For the 20th NationalYouth Festival, Chhattisgarh was chosen asthe partner state with the theme IndiaYouth for Skill, Development andHarmony.



Union Govt unveils National BiotechnologyDevelopment Strategy 2015-2020

Union Government has unveiled NationalBiotechnology Development Strategy (NBDS)2015-2020 to establish India as a world-class bio-manufacturing hub.

It was unveiled by the Union Science andTechnology Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan inNew Delhi.

Union Cabinet approves Raptor MoU forconservation of migratory birds of prey

The Union Cabinet has given its approval to signMemoranda of Understanding (MOU) on theConservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africaand Eurasia.

With signing it, India will become the 54thsignatory to the MoU.The Raptors MoUextends its coverage to 76 species of birdsof prey out and an action plan has beenformulated that envisages theconservation action for Raptor species.

It is an agreement under Article IVparagraph 4 of the Conservation ofMigratory Species (CMS) and is not legallybinding on signatory parties.

The MoU seeks willingness of the signatorystates for working for conservation of theraptor species and their habitats.

Union government and the World Bank signed a$50-million credit agreement

The Union government and the World Bank signeda $50-million credit agreement for a project aimedat helping young people from minoritycommunities complete their education andimprove their employment opportunities namedNaiManzil Scheme.

The NaiManzil Scheme is designed as anintegrated education and trainingprogramme that provides youth fromminority communities skills needed fordifferent tasks in a rapidly changing world.

The agreement was signed by Mr. Kumarand Michael Haney, the World Bank’sOperations Adviser in India.

Ambitious odd-even scheme of Delhigovernment started off in New Delhi

The ambitious odd-even scheme of Delhigovernment, a first such intervention in thecountry to combat spiralling air pollution, got offto a decent start on new year with volume of carson the city roads coming down significantly amiddeployment of thousands of policemen and andmoderately augmented public transport.

As the clock struck eight, the vehicularrestriction policy came into effect withthousands of volunteers carrying rosesalso taking to the streets to assist trafficpolice in enforcing the pilot plan that willstay in force till January 15.

Under the scheme, cars bearing odd-numbered registration plates shall ply oncity roads while those with even numberplates, if taken out, will attract a penalty ofRs 2,000 under relevant sections of theMotor Vehicles Act. It will be vice-versa onSaturday. Also, 25 categories of people arebeing given exemptions including the VIPs.

LRSAM test-fired from INS Kolkata

Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LRSAM), themissile co-developed by India and Israel, wassuccessfully test-fired on the Western Sea Board.The missile was fired from INS Kolkata and itsuccessfully intercepted an aerial target atextended ranges.



The test-fire was jointly carried out by theIndian Navy, Defence Research andDevelopment Organisation (DRDO) andIsrael Aerospace Industries.

This was the first test for LRSAM or BARAK8 missile in India. Earlier, on 11 November2015, it was successfully test-fired from arange in Israel.

The missile was developed by the DRDL,Hyderabad in collaboration with IsraelAerospace Industries. It has beenmanufactured by M/s Bharat DynamicsLimited, India.

Pakistan's Singer Adnan Sami gets IndianCitizenship

The Union Home Ministry cleared the proposal togrant Adnan Sami the citizenship of India. MrSami, who has been staying in India since 2011,will now have to fill a citizenship form at the HomeMinistry’s office in Delhi.

Lahore-born Sami first arrived in India onMarch 13, 2001 on a visitor’s visa with avalidity of one year. It was issued by theIndian High Commission in Islamabad.

Eight states to implement DBT in kerosene fromApril 1

Eight states have agreed to implement directbenefit of transfer in kerosene in 26 districts, theMinistry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said onFriday. The scheme will be implemented fromApril 1, 2016 and till then state governments willbe consulted in the run up to the scheme.

The scheme will be implemented in threedistricts of Chhattisgarh, two in Haryana,three in Himachal Pradesh, six inJharkhand, four in Madhya Pradesh, two inMaharashtra, three in Punjab and three inRajasthan.

Kerosene subsidy outgo for the financialyear 2014-15 was ₹ 24,799 crore. Thegovernment expects DBT in kerosene toensure that genuine beneficiaries get thesubsidy benefit while preventing illegaldiversion.

Telangana become first state to accept e-motorinsurance policies

Electronic motor insurance policies are legallyaccepted by the police and transport authorities inTelangana from today, making it the first state inthe country to do so. The e-Vahan Bima, anelectronic motor insurance policy issued in digitalform with Quick Response (QR) code, has beenformally launched here by the Minister for IT, K TRamarao.

"The launch of e-Vahan Bima and digitalacceptance will help the poor accidentvictims in the state and also ensure bettercompliance,’’ Ramarao said after formallylaunch of the initiative here onSaturday.Going forward, registrationcertificates of vehicles and driving licencesshould be verified electronically, he added.The initiative was a joint effort by theInsurance Regulatory and DevelopmentAuthority (IRDA) of India, Department ofInformation Technology, police andtransport departments of the state.

NABARD, NRSC signed MoU for monitoringWatershed Projects

The National Bank for Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (NABARD) on 1 January 2016 signedthe Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) withNational Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) for web-based monitoring of Indo-German WatershedDevelopment projects.



The web-based monitoring of Indo-German Watershed Development projectswill happen in three states- Gujarat,Rajasthan and Telangana.

India successfully test-fired indigenouslydeveloped MBRL Pinaka II at Pokhran

Amament Research and DevelopmentEstablishment (ARDE) in the last week ofDecember 2015 successfully test-fired Pinaka IImulti barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) System. Thethree-day long user assisted trials were conductedat Pokhran in Rajasthan.

Pinaka is an unguided rocket system andcapable of neutralising large areas withrapid salvos. Range of Pinaka II is 20 kmmore than the Pinaka I version, which hasa 40 km range and has already beeninducted into the forces.

The system acts as a force-multiplier whilesupplementing the artillery guns of thearmed forces. It is capable to incorporateseveral types of warheads, which make theweapon deadly for the enemy as it caneven destroy solid structures andbunkers.The system proved its mettleduring Kargil war while neutralising themountain peaks off the enemy. They aredeveloped at a very low cost vis-a-vis othersuch rocket systems in the world bestowedwith shoot and scoot capabilities. ThePinaka MBRL System has beenindigenously developed by the ARDE,Pune.

LIC offers longer cover under ‘Jeevan Labh’

LIC is offering a ‘New Year gift’ to the public in theform of a limited-premium, non-linked and with-profit endowment assurance plan ‘Jeevan Labh’from Monday. The highlight of the plan is that

premium is payable for a limited period while riskis covered for the whole policy term.

The plan is available from ages 8 to 59years with a choice of policy term of 16, 21and 25 years and premium-paying terms of10,15 and 16 years respectively.

The maximum age at maturity is 75 years,said Shaji M Shankar, Senior DivisionalManager, LIC, ThiruvananthapuramDivision.

ArunimaSinha scaled Mount Aconcagua inArgentina

Arunima Sinha, the amputee mountaineer whoset a record by climbing the Mount Everest on 25December 2015, conquered Mount Aconcagua inArgentina. Arunima started her mission on themorning of 12 December 2015 and hoisted theIndian tricolour on 25 December 2015.

With this, Arunima has successfullycompleted the 5th summit of the Mission7 Summits and also became the firstfemale amputee to climb 5 Mountains ofthe World. The four other peaksconquered by her include Everest in Asia,Kilimanjaro in Africa, Elbrus in Europe, andKosizko, Australia, as the world's fourhighest peaks.

Arunima who lost her left leg in a trainaccident in 2011 surprised the world byclimbing Mt. Everest on 21 May 2013. Shewas awarded the Padmashree for herachievement.

Toilets made mandatory to contest Panchayatpolls in Bihar

State election commissioner (SEC) Ashok KumarChauhan on 4 January 2016 announced thattoilets will be mandatory requirement foreligibility to contest panchayat elections. This



declaration means that no one can contest theBihar panchayat elections scheduled in 2016without having a toilet at their home.

SEC said that candidates have to give anundertaking regarding status of toilet by 1January 2016 in their home. He also said toensure free and fair polling the electionswill be held in 10 phases. The notificationof the elections and dates will be issued on15 February 2016.

PM Narendra Modi inaugurates Indian ScienceCongress in Mysuru

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate theannual Indian Science Congress (ISC) at Universityof Mysore campus in Karnataka on Sunday. Themeof this edition (103rd) of the ISC is "Science &Technology for Indigenous Development in India".The Congress will continue till January 7.

Over 100 eminent scientists from differentuniversities and research institutions willdeliver plenary talks on subjects like NanoScience, Space Science, Technology &Applications, Diabetes, Evolution: TheFrontiers, Atomic Energy, Safe water andsanitation, Diseases and drugdevelopment, Public-Private partnershipfor the Swachh Bharat Mission initiativeduring the five-day meet.

As part of Indian Science Congress, theChildren Science Congress will beinaugurated by Nobel Laureate John BGurdon (Nobel Prize in Physiology orMedicine in 2012) on January 4 at theamphitheatre, Manasagangothri inside theUniversity campus.

Jharkhand Government inaugurated land bankweb portal jharbhoom.nic.in

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das on 4January 2016 inaugurated the state's land bankweb portal, jharbhoom.nic.in, that will helpinvestors know land-related information.

With this, one would be able to getinformation about the land which isavailable at the district and the circle arealevel with a click of a mouse. This land bankwill help investors get information throughdistrict-wise nodal officers.

For this purpose, district wise nodalofficers have been appointed whosemobile numbers and email ids will also beavailable on the website.

Cabinet okays India-Singapore MoU on civilaviation

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its ex-postfacto approval for a memorandum ofunderstanding (MoU) that was signed withSingapore in the field of civil aviation.

The objective of this MoU is to establishmutual cooperation in the field of civilaviation, which will cover, to begin with,the airports of Jaipur and Ahmedabad. Thiscooperation will be extended to otherairports with mutual consent.

This MoU was signed in November 2015between the Airports Authority of India(on behalf of the Government of India)and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (onbehalf of the Government of Singapore)during Prime Minister Narendra Modi'svisit to Singapore.



Trade/Business

Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank sets up cell tomonitor govt schemesThe Dharwad-headquartered Karnataka VikasGrameen Bank (KVGB) has set up a separate cellfor monitoring progress under all the government-sponsored schemes, according to Ashok Reddy,Chairman of the bank.

According to a press release from the bankhere on Saturday, Reddy received the‘runner-up’ award of the ‘ASSOCHAMSocial Banking Excellence Award 2015’under the ‘regional rural banks’ category inMumbai on Friday. The Minister of Statefor Finance, Jayant Sinha, gave away theaward to Reddy.

Goa launches project tracking portalGoa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar todaylaunched Goa e-Suvidha Portal, an online projecttracking mechanism to fast track projects.

It aims at resolving a variety of issues insetting up infrastructure and other largeprojects , both in the public and privatesectors, with targeted investmentbetween ₹50 crore and ₹1,000 crore.

Cognizant acquires KBACE TechnologiesUnited States (US) based software servicesexporter Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS)has acquired cloud-based computing firm KBACETechnologies.

This acquisition will help Cognizant tostrength and expands its digital capabilitiesfrom its critical business applications tocloud-based IT infrastructures.

As part of the acquisition, KBACETechnologies’ 400 consultants andimplementation experts will become partof Cognizant.

3 Indians Make It To The List Of 50 RichestPeople In The World

A study done by Wealthx in partnership withBusiness Insider reveals the top 50 richest peoplein the world.

While Microsoft founder and renownedphilanthropist Bill Gates retains his spotas the richest person in the world with anet worth of US$87.4 billion, there aresome new names on the list.

Reliance group chairman Mukesh Ambaniis the richest Indian and 27th richest manin the world with a net worth of $24.8billion. Wipro founder Azim Premji andDilip Shanghvi, founder of Sun pharma,were ranked at the 43rd and 44th placewith assets worth $16.5 billion and $16.4billion respectively. This also makes themthe top 3 richest Indians.

India, Armenia sign protocol amending DTAC

India and Armenia signed Protocol amending theIndia-Armenia Double Taxation AvoidanceConvention in New Delhi.

The Protocol amends the Article onexchange of information for tax purposesto bring it in line with the updatedprovisions in the Organisation forEconomic Co-operation andDevelopment, OECD Model.

It will enable the two countries toexchange information related to financialand banking transactions and facilitatethem in addressing tax evasion.



It is also expected to further strengthenIndia’s efforts to curb generation of blackmoney.

HCL Tech acquires P2P, HCLTSS for Rs 101 croreHCL Technologies, one of the leading softwareexporters, announced has acquired 100 percentstake in Point to Point and Point to PointProducts (jointly referred to as P2P) and HCLTraining and Staffing Services (HCLTSS) for aconsideration of approx Rs 101 crore.

The company has acquired P2P for approxRs 77.98 crore (GBP 8 million) and HCLTSSfor Rs 23.

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan joins WEF taskforce

Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajanhas joined a World Economic Forum task force toexamine the future of the global financial system.

The task force also includes Bank ofEngland Governor Mark Carney, alongwith bankers and policymakers fromacross the world.

The task force will continue to explorethese themes and others throughout2016, with the ultimate objective ofpublishing a more comprehensive suite ofrecommendations and actions during theAnnual Meeting 2017 in Davos,” the WEFsaid.

Ratan Tata invests in start-up Teabox

Ratan Tata has invested in specialty tea firmTeabox, thereby continuing his long series ofinvestments in various start-ups globally in therecent past.

Teabox Founder and CEO Kaushal Dugarsaid: “We have grown up admiring andrespecting his (Tata’s) vision and businessacumen on scaling the Tata group to aglobal level. His direct guidance andexperience in the tea industry will surelyhelp us grow Teabox to be the first globalpremium tea brand from India.”

Founded in 2012, Teabox delivers teasfrom Darjeeling, Assam, Nilgiri and Nepalto the entire world. Within three years ofits existence, Teabox claims to havedelivered over 30 million cups worth oftea to customers in 93 countries.

India-France inked 16 pacts including chopperventureIndia and France on 24 January 2016 inked 16agreements at the India-France Business Summitin Chandigarh. The Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoUs) covered a wide range ofsectors like urban development, urban transport,water and waste treatment and solar energy.

The agreements were signed in thepresence of Prime Minister Narendra Modiand French President Francois Hollande,who began his three-day visit to India.

Hollande is the Chief Guest at the 67thIndia’s Republic Day (26 January 2016)celebrations. He is the fifth French leaderto be a chief guest at India’s Republic Daycelebrations, maximum number from anycountry so far.

Airbus Group & Mahindra to manufacturehelicopters

As part of ‘Make in India’ initiative, an agreementwas signed between Airbus Group and Mahindrato manufacture helicopters.



The deal was signed in presence ofFrancois Hollande and Narendra Modi.

France to assist India to develop 3 smart cities

Three MoUs were signed under the ‘Smart city’theme for city-specific urban developmentbetween French Development Agency with thestate governments for the cities of Chandigarh,Nagpur and Puducherry.

India, France sign Rafale fighter plane accord

India signed an inter-governmental agreementtoday to buy 36 French-built Rafale fighter planesat Hyderabad House in Delhi.

The deal, worth an estimated $9 billion,was to have been the centrepiece of avisit to India by French President FrancoisHollande, invited as guest of honour forTuesday’s Republic Day parade.

India had scaled back the original plan tobuy 126 Rafale jets to meet its air force’surgent needs, but Modi and Hollande hadto step into the deal after commercialnegotiations between plane-makerDassault Aviation and Indian officialscollapsed.

Now, you can pay online for LPG refillsNow, LPG users can pay online for their cylinderrefills on the website www.mylpg.in soon afterbooking their refill for delivery. This is the latestpart of the online refill booking facilities that thethree public sector oil marketing companies haveintroduced in the past two years.

The facility was launched here on Sundayby Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Ministerfor Petroleum and Natural Gas. Pradhansaid his ministry is also consideringcreating an EMI payment model for newgas connections bought by non-bplcustomers.

The ministry is already running a pilotprogramme that gives a 50 per centgovernment rebate to below poverty linefamilies when they buy their first gasconnection.

TranServ launches India's first social mobilewallet UdioIndia’s digital payment startup company TranServhas launched country’s first Social Mobile Walletnamed Udio.It enables users to do squaring of dues, sharingdinner bills or a cab ride and also to pay electricityand gas bills and make DTH & mobile recharges.MSDE, DoT signed MoU to develop NationalAction Plan for Skill Development in TelecomSectorThe Union Ministry of Skill Development andEntrepreneurship (MSDE) and Department ofTelecommunication (DoT) on 22 January 2016signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)to develop and implement National Action Planfor Skill Development in Telecom Sector.

The MoU was signed by Secretaries of theUnion Ministry of Communications andInformation and Union Ministry of SkillDevelopment and Entrepreneurship.

MSDE and DoT together have agreed tomake concerted joint efforts towards skilldevelopment by facilitating mobilization offinancial support under the NationalEcosystem for Development of TelecomSkills. They will suggest PSUs under DOT toutilize at least 20 percent of their CSRfunds for skilling purposes.



The two ministries will also to makecoordinated efforts to utilize old telephoneexchanges which are no longer in use forskill development initiatives and upgradethe same on need basis. National Institutefor Policy Research Innovation andTraining (NTIPRT) will be developed fortraining and skill up gradation in TelecomSector by leveraging the infrastructure andfacilities.

Govt. mobilises 900 kg of gold undermonetisation scheme

The government on Saturday said it had netted ahefty 900 kg of idle household and temple goldunder the monetisation scheme and is hopefulthat the number would rise further in future.

Under the monetisation scheme,launched on November 5, banks wereauthorised to collect gold for up to 15years to auction them off or lend tojewellers from time to time.

Depositors will earn up to 2.50 per centinterest per annum, a rate lower thansavings bank deposits.

Jan Dhan accounts deposits cross Rs. 30,000 crDeposits in accounts opened under thegovernment’s flagship financial inclusionprogramme Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana(PMJDY) have crossed the Rs. 30,000 crore mark.

As many as 20.38 crore bank accountswere opened under the PMJDY as on theJanuary 20, as per the latest data available.These bank accounts had deposits of Rs.30,638.29 crore (about $4.5 billion).

The accounts that can be opened underPMJDY are Basic Savings Bank DepositAccounts (BSBDA) which can be of zerobalance, as per RBI guidelines. As per the

trends available, the percentage ofaccounts with ‘Zero Balance’ have actuallyshown a significant decline.

Accounts with no balance in them were ashigh as 76.81 per cent of the total openedunder the scheme as on September 30,2015. They have come down to just about32 per cent at the end of December.

The Finance Ministry data further showedthat 8.74 crore of the accounts wereseeded with Aadhaar and 17.14 croreaccount holders were issued RuPay cards.

Union Government signed a loan agreementwith World Bank for Neeranchal NationalWatershed Project

Union Government on 14 January 2016 signed aloan agreement with World Bank in New Delhi forthe Neeranchal National Watershed Project.

All 28 states which implement thewatershed projects will benefit from thisproject. However, the nine states, AndhraPradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujrat, Jharkhand,Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha,Rajasthan and Telangana will benefit morefrom the project as they areimplementation of large number ofwatershed schemes in their states.

The project was approved by the UnionCabinet in October 2015 with a totalbudget of 2142 crore rupees in which Indiawould bear 1071 crore rupees and the rest50 percent cost will be borne by the WorldBank. It will be implemented by theMinistry of Rural Development over a six-year period (2016-21).

Around 12 percent of the area ofwasteland will be targeted through thisproject to make about 336 lakh hectares ofland arable. The Minister said that the



effective implementation of the schemewill go a long way in strengthening theeconomic conditions of the farmingcommunity.

Madhya Pradesh Government signed four MoUswith Singapore

Madhya Pradesh (MP) Government on 14 January2016 signed four MOUs with Singapore tocollaborate in urban planning, skill development,clean energy and food processing.

The MoUs were signed in Singapore in thepresence of MP Chief Minister ShivrajChouhan, who was on four day visit from12 January 2016

The MoU on setting up 1000 megawattwind energy plant in western part of thestate was signed between the Departmentof New & Renewable Energy andSingapore corporation unit, SembcorpGreen Infra Ltd. It was the biggest of theinvestment proposals.

The MoU covering urban planning wassigned between the Directorate of Town &Country Planning and SingaporeCooperation Enterprise. The MoU oncapacity building and skill training wassigned between the Department ofTechnical Education and Skill Developmentand ITE Education Services of Singapore

The MoU covering food processing wassigned between India’s LT Food Ltd andSingapore-based DSM NutritionalProducts.

Earlier, Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan wasawarded with Lee Kuan Yew ExchangeFellowship for his contribution indevelopment and international harmony.It was by awarded Fellowship ChairmanMr. Eddie Teo in Singapore on 13 January2016.

He is the fourth Indian to receive thisfellowship. Previously, former vice-chairman of Planning Commission MontekSingh Ahluwalia, former union minister forinvestments Arun Shourie and chiefminister of undivided Andhra PradeshChandra Babu Naidu had received thisfellowship.

SBI launched India’s first start-up focused bankbranch SBI InCube

India’s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI), on14 January 2016 launched and inaugurated India’sfirst start-up focused bank branch called SBIInCube in Bangalore, Karnataka. The specializedbranch aims to understand and address bankingneeds of a Start-up Business.

The bank also launched the wealthmanagement service SBI Exclusive, whichis targeted at the fast-growing affluentsegment in the country.

The SBI InCube branch will work towardsfulfilling the specific financial needs of thestart-ups. The service will provide advisoryservices to the budding entrepreneursunder one roof. It will assist start-ups incash management, regulations, taxation,mentoring, foreign exchange andremittances and other financial services.

The branch, in its current form, will notfund start-ups i.e. it will not provide loans.However, it will give them loans when theyturn more mature.

Chinese President Xi formally launched AsianInfrastructure Investment Bank

China-backed Asian Infrastructure InvestmentBank (AIIB), in which India and 56 countries havejoined as founding members, was formally openedhere today by Chinese President Xi Jinping.



The bank was formally established inBeijing on December 25, 2015. ChineseFinance Minister, Lou Jiwei, was elected asthe first Chairman of the AIIB council.China’s former Finance Minister, Jin Liqun,was elected the first AIIB president.

World Bank to be main investor in RailDevelopment Fund

The World Bank would be the anchor investor inthe new Railway Development Fund, which wouldbe used to fund the modernisation of IndianRailways, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu hassaid.

He also said the World Bank leadership hasrealised that based on the performance inthe past one year, Indian Railways is in the“right direction”. However, Prabhu did notdivulge the size of the fund, but indicatedthat it would be the largest ever providedby the World Bank to the Indian Railways.Prabhu is here to attend a World Bankmeeting on transportation. During his stayin the US capital, he also met officials ofthe International Finance Corporation, theUS Transportation Secretary AnthonyRenard Foxx, and some of the think-tanks.

During his meeting with Secretary Foxx,the two leaders decided to create anumbrella agreement with the Departmentof Transportation about the transportationsector in general. “Today we also agreed tomake a Railways-specific umbrellaagreement with the TransportDepartment, which would help to work onmany things,” Prabhu said.

Flipkart ties-up with Mahindra for KUV100online bookings

Online marketplace Flipkart has tied up with automajor Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd to exclusivelylaunch the latter's newest SUV- KUV100.Consumers can book the SUV on Flipkart fromJanuary 18th, 2016.

Anil Goteti, Vice President - Business,Flipkart said, "Online today is a must havestrategy for all players to respond to thegrowing demand of their customers whoare spread across different cities andtowns in the country. First time in theautomobile category, this exclusive tie-upwill allow Mahindra access Flipkart’sextensive reach and network to connectwith their customers and provide them theease to book Mahindra KUV100 online.”

Flipkart launched Automobiles as acategory last month with a vision tochange the way vehicles are bought inIndia. The association with Mahindra isanother step in that direction. The twoentities have come together to deliversuperior customer experience withassured in-a-month delivery. Flipkartcurrently also offers a wide range ofautomotive accessories as part of itsendeavour to become a destination for allautomotive needs.

World Bank released report titled WorldDevelopment Report 2016: Digital Dividends

The World Bank on 14 January 2016 released areport titled World Development Report 2016:Digital Dividends in Washington DC, the USA. Thereport explored the impact of the internet, mobilephones, and related technologies on economicdevelopment across the world including India.



Further, it concluded that potential gainsfrom digital technologies are high, butoften remain unrealized and proposedpolicies to expand connectivity, acceleratecomplementary reforms in sectors beyondinformation and communicationtechnology (ICT), and address globalcoordination problems.

The world’s offline population is mainly inIndia and China, but more than 120 millionpeople are still offline in North Americaand the digital divide within countries canbe as high as that between countries.

NITI Aayog collaborated with IDFC for EnterpriseSurvey of Manufacturing Firms

The National Institution for Transforming India(NITI) Aayog on 17 January 2016 announced thatit collaborated with the IDFC Bank Ltd to conductan enterprise survey of manufacturing firms.

The primary objective of this Survey is toassess the business regulatoryenvironment in each State and UnionTerritories (UTs) and identify policy andregulatory hurdles faced by businesses inthe States/UTs.

Iran sanctions lifted, India can import oil freely

With international nuclear sanctions on Iran beinglifted on Sunday, India will resume its unrestrictedimport of oil from the Persian Gulf nation.

Iran is expected to increase its export of1.1 million barrels of oil per day by 500,000soon, followed by a further 500,000 bpdthereafter.

SBT launches online platform for KSEB billpayments

State Bank of Travancore (SBT) has teamed upwith the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) toprovide customers of the state utility onlinefacility for remittance of electricity charges.Jeevandas Narayan, Managing Director, SBT, andM Shivasankar, Chairman, KSEB, jointlyannounced the launch of the facility at a functionhere.

The online system facilitates immediatecredit of remittance through the SBTinternet banking platform free of anyadditional charges, a spokesman for SBTsaid.

This will enable consumers to pay theirmonthly bills without going to the KSEBoffices. They will get confirmation of theremittance from the bank as well as KSEB.

Exim Bank inks MoU with AP Govt forpromoting exports

Exim Bank of India and the Government of AndhraPradesh have entered into a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) for promotion of exportsfrom the state.

The MoU was signed by YaduvendraMathur, Chairman and Managing Directorof the bank, and Shamsher Singh Rawat,Secretary and Commissioner for IndustrialPromotion, Government of AndhraPradesh.

Exim Bank seeks to support exportershaving operations in Andhra Pradesh inachieving higher exports by facilitation ofmarket linkages through its marketadvisory services, which will assist inidentifying suitable partners.



Somnath Temple to invest in Gold MonetisationScheme

The Somnath Temple is all set to become Gujarat’sfirst temple to deposit its idle gold in the GoldMonetisation Scheme as its trustees includingPrime Minister Narendra Modi have given theirnod to invest the yellow metal reserves in thescheme.

The trust has around 35 kg of gold and willdeposit the gold which is not in day-to-dayuse of the temple. The decision was takenduring the recently held meeting oftrustees at Modi’s residence in Delhi onJanuary 12, said the trust secretary P KLahiri, who is also one of the trustees ofthe Somnath Temple, situated in the Gir-Somnath district.

“During the meeting, all the trustees haveagreed to the proposal of depositing thegold, which is not in day-to-day use of thetemple, in the Gold MonetisationScheme,” said Lahiri. According to him, thetrust is having around 35 kg of gold, whichis either in the form of pure gold orornaments.

Other trustees of the Somnath Templetrust include former Gujarat Chief MinisterKeshubhai Patel, who is also the chairmanof the trust, veteran BJP leader L K Advani,Harshvardhan Neotia and JD Parmar. Allthese six trustees were present during themeet.

French President declared economic emergency

French President Francois Hollande has declaredwhat he called “a state of economic emergency”and says it’s time to redefine France’s economicand social model.

The first measures he proposed arerelatively modest, and he said they would

not “put into question” the 35-hourworkweek. He did not seek to assume anynew emergency powers.

The measures included a loosening ofsome worker-friendly measures toencourage companies to hire, and newtraining for half a million workers.

IMF cuts global growth forecast as China slows

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut itsglobal growth forecasts for the third time in lessthan a year, as new figures from Beijing showedthat the Chinese economy grew at its slowest ratein a quarter of a century in 2015.

The Fund forecast that the world economywould grow at 3.4 per cent in 2016 and 3.6per cent in 2017, both years down 0.2percentage points from the previousestimates made last October.

The IMF projected 7.3 per cent GDPgrowth for India in 2015-16 and 7.5 percent in 2016-17, levels unchanged from itsoutlook released in October. In 2014-15, itestimates, GDP grew 7.3 per cent.

The IMF maintained its previous Chinagrowth forecasts of 6.3 per cent in 2016and 6.0 per cent in 2017, which representsharp slowdowns from 2015.

Draft report of R V Easwar Committee tosimplify Income-tax Act, 1961 released

Union Ministry of Finance on 18 January 2016released the draft report of Justice R V Easwar(Retd) Committee to simplify the provisions ofIncome-tax Act, 1961.

The draft recommendations of the 10-member committee contain 27suggestions for amendments under the



Income-tax Act, 1961 and 8recommendations for reform throughadministrative instructions.

Amendment to Section 255(3) to enhancethe monetary limit for Single MemberBench (SMC) cases before the Tribunal torupees one crore from the present rupees15 lakhs. Amendment to Section 254(2) toreduce the time-limit for rectification oforders of the Tribunal from the presentfour years to 120 days. Deletion of section143(1D) – Avoiding undesirable delay inissue of refunds

Eko launches Indo-Nepal remittance servicewith Prabhu Money

Eko, a mobile-based Financial technologycompany, today announced the launch of Indo-Nepal remittance services in partnership withNepal's Prabhu Money Group.

Citizens of both the countries can use theservice in the form of cash-to-cash, cash-to-bank account, cash-to-co- operativebank account and through top-upremittance cards.

The service will benefit 50 Lakh Nepalimigrants living across India," the companysaid.

UNWTO released World Tourism Barometer

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) on 18January 2016 released the World TourismBarometer, which reviewed trends in tourism atthe regional and global level for 2015 andenumerated prospects for 2016.

As per the publication, internationaltourist arrivals grew by 4.4 percent in 2015to reach a total of 1184 million in 2015. Innumbers, around 50 million more travelerswere recorded in 2015 compared to that2014.

World Bank to for reconstructing Indira GandhiZoological Park

In a global first, the World Bank in third week ofJanuary 2016 decided to extend an assistance of20 million US dollar to help reconstruct the IndiraGandhi Zoological Park (IGZP).

It got devastated during cyclone Hudhud inOctober 2014, in Visakhapatnam.

The funding is a part of the 370 million USdollar Andhra Pradesh Disaster RecoveryProject for which the bank is extendingassistance of 250 million US dollars from2015-2020.

SBI offers loans for women entrepreneurs underMUDRA scheme

The ‘MUDRA' loan for women entrepreneurs orBoutique Finance for Women Entrepreneurs – aspecial loan scheme under Prime Minister MUDRAYojana – has been launched for catering to thefinancial needs of women entrepreneurs.

Under the scheme, State Bank of India toohas come forward to participate andprovide loans to help womenentrepreneurs in West Bengal who areengaged in various handicraft activities.One such camp was organised by the bank,earlier this month., according to a releaseissued by the bank.

Union Government sanctioned 33000 crorerupees for infrastructure projects in Tamilnadu



Union Government on 19 January 2016sanctioned 33000 crore rupees for thedevelopment of infrastructure projects inTamilnadu.

Union Road Transport, Highways andShipping Minister Nitin Gadkari announcedthe sanctioned amount and at hisdiscretion, he announced additional 17000crore rupees. With this, the total amountsanctioned was raised to 50000 crorerupees.

ICICI Bank opens its first branch in South Africa

ICICI Bank inaugurated its first full service branchat Sandton in Johannesburg becoming the firstIndian private sector bank to open a branch in theAfrican continent.

The branch was inaugurated by Presidentof ICICI Bank, Vijay Chandok.

ICICI Bank’s Johannesburg branch is anauthorised financial services provider inSouth Africa licensed by the South AfricanReserve Bank, the bank said in astatement.

India among top 5 most promising marketsglobally

According to the annual Global CEO survey ofconsultancy giant PwC, India has emerged as oneof the five most promising markets for businessesglobally as it offers one of the best opportunitiesfor both domestic as well as global companies.

The top five markets considered as mostimportant for overall growth prospects bythe respondents are USA, China, Germany,the UK and India.

MRF becomes global partner for ICC

MRF Ltd has become a global partner forInternational Cricket Council (ICC) by signing afour-deal with the council that includes this year’sICC World Twenty 20 in India, next year’s ICCChampions Trophy and ICC Cricket World Cup in2019.

As a global partner, MRF will have multiplebranding opportunities at all match venuesduring the ICC World Twenty 20 and futureICC events.

Other global partners for ICC includeEmirates, Oppo and Nissan, he toldnewspersons on the announcement of thepartnership.

Quikr acquired online real estate portalCommonfloor.com

Quikr on 7 January 2016 announced acquisition ofthe property search website Commonfloor.comfor an undisclosed amount in a majority stock-swap transaction. Quikr bought the website in adistress sale orchestrated by Tiger GlobalManagement Llc.

After the deal, Quikr will be valued atabout 1.5 billion US dollars based on theshare-swap ratio. The merger is expectedto be completed over the next two to threemonths.

Miguel Tabuena won Hilton Asian Tour Golfer ofthe Month

The Philippines' Miguel Tabuena on 7 January2016 was voted as the Hilton Asian Tour Golfer ofMonth for December 2015.



Tabuena won the award ahead ofThailand's Phachara Khongwatmai andIndia's Himmat Rai. The trio werenominated by a selection panel beforegoing into a voting process.

Born on 13 October 1994, Miguel Tabuenais a Filipino professional golfer. As anamateur golfer, he won the events inMalaysia and Singapore and won the silvermedal at the 2010 Asian Games in themen's individual event.

He turned professional in 2011. He hasplayed on the Asian Tour since 2011 andpicked up his first win at the 2015Philippine Open.

He became the first Filipino to win hisNational Open since 2008.

ICC announces Money Gram as Event Partner;signs 8-year deal

The ICC and Money Gram International, a leadingglobal provider of money transfer services, todayannounced an eight-year deal which confirmsMoney Gram as an event partner for ICC eventsfrom 2016-2023.

A media release by ICC stated, “The ICCand Money Gram recently completed asuccessful five-year partnership, whichbegan with the ICC World Twenty 20 WestIndies 2010, concluding with the ICCCricket World Cup 2015.

“In the current eight-year cycle, thealliance promises to reach greater heights,as the ICC will stage an impressive 17tournaments, including six majors — twoICC World Twenty 20 tournaments, twoeditions of the ICC Champions Trophy andtwo ICC Cricket World Cups.”

ADB to fund $840-m corridor between Vizag,Chennai

The Asian Development Bank will extend a $625million loan to the proposed $840 millionVisakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor,according to Teresa Kho, Country Director – India,ADB. She said the industrial corridor, meant toboost manufacturing activity and help economicgrowth of the hinterland, will have four nodes:Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Gannavaram-Kankipadu, and Yerpedu-Srikalahasti.

The VCIC would be part of the proposedEast Coast Economic Corridor, fromKolkata in West Bengal to Tuticorin inTamil Nadu, Kho said, addressing a plenarysession, ‘Sunrise Andhra Pradesh: turningaspirations into reality’, at the CIIPartnership Summit now underway here.

He said that it’s a part of PM’s Act eastscheme.It will create 1.1 Crore jobs in next30 years.

RINL inked MoU with Andhra PradeshGovernment for investment of 38500 crorerupees

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), thecorporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, on11 January 2016 signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) with Andhra Pradeshgovernment.

The MoU envisages investment of around38500 crore rupees to take up variousprojects at Visakhapatnam. The deal wassigned during the 22nd CII PartnershipSummit & 1st Sunrise AP Investment Meet,which is being held in Visakhapatnam.



Illumina, Bill Gates & Jeff Bezos launchedstartup GRAIL to develop blood-based cancertests

Illumina, the world’s largest DNA sequencingcompany, on 10 January 2015 announced thelaunch of the startup named GRAIL to developblood-based cancer tests. The company waslaunched in association with Microsoft co-founderBill Gates, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezo’s venture fundBezos Expeditions and Arch Venture Partners.

The company will develop blood tests thatcost 1000 US dollars or less for detectingmany types of cancer before symptomsarise. The test, which is also called as liquidbiopsy, will use high-speed DNAsequencing machines to scour a person’sblood for fragments of DNA released bycancer cells.

All the partners in the startup raisedaround 100 million US dollars amongthemselves, in which Illumina will have themajority stake holder. The newlydeveloped tests are expected to reach themarket by 2019. GRAIL will operate fromSan Diego in California, the USA.

Union Cabinet gives nod for India-Australia CivilNuclear Cooperation deal

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi approved the India-Australia CivilNuclear Cooperation deal that came into force onNovember 13, 2015.

The deal along with the administrativearrangement for implementing the accordwill bolster India’s energy security bysupporting the expansion of nuclear powerin the country.

India and Australia had started talks on theCivil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement in2012 after Australia had lifted the long-standing ban on selling uranium to energy-starved India.

India-Australia Nuclear Cooperation dealfollows similar agreements signed by Indiawith the US and France after westernsanctions were lifted in 2008.

RBI asked the banks to open banks in villageswith a population of more than 5000.

India’s central bank has asked the lenders to openmore brick and mortar branches in villages with nobanking facilities and with a population of morethan 5,000. The banking regulator has asked banksto submit a roadmap on how many branches theywill be opening by 31 March 2017. Banks have tosubmit the roadmap by end of January 2016.

RBI observed that coverage of bankingservices in unbanked villages is skewedtowards the BC model and the ratio ofbranches to BC is very low. Therefore, ithas been decided to focus on villages withpopulation above 5,000 without a bankbranch of a scheduled commercial bank.

This will also enable banks to providequality financial services and timelysupport to BC outlets that would help insustaining and strengthening theservices provided through BCs and alsoensure close supervision of BC operations.

Iran’s leading banks will soon open branches inIndia

Iran’s leading banks will open branches in India toenergise commercial ties between New Delhi andTehran. The decision was amongst a slew of



commercial measures taken by the India-Iran JointCommission that met for the first time.

After the meeting led by External AffairsMinister Sushma Swaraj and IranianFinance Minister Ali Tayebnia, Indiadecided to allow the Pasargad Bank andParsian Bank of Iran to set up branches inNew Delhi and Mumbai.

A major beneficiary of normal is ation ofbanking channels between two sides willbe India which has just begun settlingmore than $6.5 billion energy-related pending payment, with Iran.

CCI cleared Reliance Capital-Goldman Sachs deal

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on 5January 2016 gave its approval to Reliance CapitalAsset Management's proposed acquisition ofGoldman Sachs' mutual fund business in India for243 crore rupees. CCI approved the acquisition asthe deal may not have an adverse impact oncompetition in the country.

RCAM had announced the acquisition inOctober 2015. Under the deal, thecompany will acquire all 12 onshoremutual fund schemes of Goldman SachsAsset Management India with total assetunder management of 7132 crore rupees.

The deal will also make Reliance MF theexclusive fund manager for thegovernment's ambitious Central PublicSector Enterprises (CPSE) Exchange

Appointments

JS Deepak replaces Garg as Telecom SecretaryAmid the high-decibel debate around Netneutrality, call drops and the upcoming megaspectrum auction, Telecom Secretary Rakesh Gargon Friday was moved to the low-profile MinorityAffairs Ministry, as part of a bureaucraticreshuffle.

JS Deepak, a UP cadre officer from the1982 batch, who is currently Secretary,Department of IT (DeitY), will replace Garg.This will be Deepak’s second innings in theDepartment of Communications (DoT).

Leslie Berland appointed as Chief MarketingOfficer of Twitter IncLeslie Berland was on 26 January 2016 appointedas the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of TwitterInc, an online social networking site. BeforeBerland’s appointment, the marketing operationswas overseen by the Twitter’s CFO Anthony Noto.

Prior to this appointment, she was workingat American Express (AmEx) as anexecutive vice-president of globaladvertising, marketing and digitalpartnerships.

Gurdeep Singh appointed as CMD of NTPCGurdeep Singh on 28 January 2016 wasappointed as the Chairman and ManagingDirector (CMD) of NTPC Ltd. Singh will be the firstperson to be appointed to the top job at aMaharatna company through a search committeeroute.

Gurdeep Singh is currently serving as themanaging director of Gujarat StateElectricity Company Limited (GESC). Hestarted his career in NTPC in 1987.



He was earlier associated with CalcuttaElectric Supply Corporation, Powergenand IDFC Projects in different capacities.

During his tenure at GESC, Singhspearheaded several key reforms inGujarat, the major being innovative solarpower programmes such as the solarpower plant over the Sardar Sarovarcanal.

SC Appoints Justice Sanjay Mishra as UPLokayukta

The Supreme Court on Thursday appointedJustice Sanjay Mishra, a former judge of theAllahabad High Court, as the Lokayukta of UttarPradesh.

The apex court bench comprising JusticeRanjan Gogoi and Justice Prafulla C. Pantappointed Mishra as the Lokayukta andrecalled the December 16, 2015, orderappointing Justice Virendra Singh for thepost.

Recalling the sequence of events leadingto the appointment of Virendra Singh asthe Lokayukta on December 16, 2015, thecourt regretted that constitutionalauthorities -- the chief minister, Leader ofOpposition (LoP), and the chief justice ofthe Allahabad High Court -- despiteprolonged meetings could not decide on asimple issue of the appointment of theLokayukta.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa won PresidentialElection of PortugalMarcelo Rebelo de Sousa on 24 January 2016 wonthe Presidential election of Portugal. Sousa, a

centre-right Social Democrats candidate and aformer journalist, won the election by securing 52percent of votes.

The outcome is likely to help maintainpolitical balance after the inconclusiveparliamentary ballot in October 2015. Hisclosest rival, Socialist Antonio Sampaio daNovoa, conceded defeat after picking uparound 23 percent of the vote. Left Bloccandidate Marisa Matias had 10 percent.

Sousa, popularly known as ‘ProfessorMarcelo’ and aged 67 is the one-timeleader of the center-right Socialdemocrats. He will succeed PresidentAnibal Cavaco Silva.

Earlier in October 2015 presidentialelection, a centre-right coalition won themost votes but lost its overall majority inNovember 2015. It was replaced by analliance of left-wing parties that rejectedits austerity programme in parliament.

Alice Vaidyan, new CMD of GIC ReAlice Vaidyan has been appointed Chairman andManaging Director of General InsuranceCorporation of India (GIC Re), the NationalReinsurer. She will hold office till July 31, 2019.

GIC Re is the 14th largest reinsurer globallyand is presently the only reinsurancecompany in India.

Amit Shah re-elected BJP presidentBJP chief Amit Shah became the party Presidentagain today. Top party leaders led by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, a bevy of Unionministers and chief ministers of BJP-ruled statesproposed his name for the party president’s postduring the nomination process.

Among others who have proposed Mr.Shah’s name are Union minister RajnathSingh, Anant Kumar and J.P. Nadda, M.Venkaiah Naidu, besides BJP chief



ministers Vasundhara Raje, Raghubar Das,Shivraj Singh Chauhan and others.

Paranjoy Thakurta appointed EPW Editor

The Sameeksha Trust, which runs the Economicand Political Weekly has appointed seniorjournalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta editor of thejournal from April 1. This follows the resignationof Rammanohar Reddy from the post early thismonth.

The EPW, headquartered in Mumbai, iswidely recognised as a unique journal-cum- magazine that combines popularcommentary with academic researcharticles in the social sciences.

Mindtree appoints Ravanan as CEO, Natarajanas executive chairman

Mindtree has appointed Rostow Ravanan as theCEO and managing director, and KrishnakumarNatarajan as the executive chairman of thecompany. Subroto Bagchi has stepped down asexecutive chairman but will continue on the Boardas a non-executive director. All the changes will beeffective April 1.

Ravanan, 44, is a member of Institute ofChartered Accountants of India, Instituteof Company Secretaries of India andalumni of Harvard Business School. In April2014, he stepped out of his role as chieffinancial officer and took over as head forEurope, service lines and key accounts.

PayU appoints Laurent Le Moal as new globalCEO

PayU, one of the world's largest payment servicesplatforms, announced the appointment of LaurentLe Moal as its new global CEO.

PayU has operations in 16 countries and ispart of the leading global media andinternet group, Naspers. LeMoal would bereporting directly to Naspers' Group CEO,Bob Van Dijk.

Le Moal joins the team with an 11 yearexperience with rival company PayPal andwould be building the company's positionin growing markets around the world anddeveloping payment solutions which meetmarket needs for both consumers andmerchants.

Halo Source appoints Tamal Chaudhuri as Indiahead

Halo Source Inc., a clean water technologysolutions company trading on London’sAlternative Investment Market, has appointedTamal Chaudhuri as General Manager, heading upthe company’s India operations.

India is a key geographic region for thecompany, where it has a long-standingrelationship with Eureka Forbes and mostrecently signed a supply agreement withPanasonic India Pvt Ltd. He will beresponsible for driving all aspects of thecompany’s business in the region.

GuenterButschek appointed as CEO and MD ofTata Motors

Guenter Butschek was on 18 January 2016appointed as Chief Executive Officer andManaging Director of India's biggest auto makerTata Motors' Group.

He joins Tata Motors after his stint as theChief Operating Officer at Airbus and



Member of the Group ExecutiveCommittee. Prior to Airbus, He worked atDaimler AG in international automotivemanagement for more than 25 years.

He was appointed after post of ManagingDirector of Tata Motors was vacant for twoyears since the death of Karl Slym on 26January 2014.

Housing.com appoints co-founder Snehil Buxyas its chief product officer

Housing.com, an online real estate platform hasappointed co-founder Snehil Buxy as its new chiefproduct officer.

Since the company's inception, he hasplayed key roles, including leading thefront-end team and spearheading productdevelopment, while also overseeing anddriving different aspects of the business.

Mamta Binani elected President of ICSI

Mamta Binani has been elected President of theInstitute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) for2016. She took charge on January 19.

Binani was also the first CS to be conferredthe 'Bharat Nirman Awards' in 2010.

J P Alex takes over as Airports Authority of Indiaexecutive director

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) today said J PAlex has taken over as executive director ofoperations.

He has more than three decades ofexperience in diverse areas of aviation,including air traffic management andairport design & planning.

He holds an MBA in Airport & AviationManagement and has done International

Executive Diploma from GeorgeWashington University in ProjectManagement, among others.

AchyutaSamanta elected as General Presidentof 105th Indian Science Congress

Dr. Achyuta Samanta was on 6 January 2016elected as the General President of the 105thIndian Science Congress Association (ISCA) that isscheduled for 2017-18. Samanta is also currentlyserving as member of Executive Council of IndianScience Congress Association (ISCA).

Samanta has set up institutions like KalingaInstitute of Industrial Technology (KIIT)University and Kalinga Institute of SocialSciences (KISS), Bhubaneshwar.

He has been the member of ExecutiveCouncil of ISCA since 2011. He has alsobeen the member of many prestigiouseducational and other national level apexbodies, including UGC (2008-2014), AICTE,National Coir Board, CAPART and NCTE.

Sam Pitroda appointed as Odisha Government’sTechnical Advisor

Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda, popularly knownas Sam Pitroda, on 6 January 2016 was appointedTechnology Advisor to the Odisha Government.Pitroda was appointed as the technology adviserfor development of telecom, electronics, IT, ITESsectors of the state.

Pitroda will have a key role in Vision 2036for Odisha @100, as the state governmentis making a vision document for 2036 tocelebrate the 100 years of state’sformation. Born on 4 May 1942 inTitilagarh, Odisha, Sam Pitroda is a telecom



engineer, inventor, entrepreneur andpolicymaker. In 1964, he travelled toChicago to study electrical engineering.

Pavan Kapoor To Be India's Ambassador ToIsrael

Senior diplomat Pavan Kapoor has been appointedIndia's ambassador to strategically importantIsrael, where he will succeed Jaideep Sarkar. Mr.Kapoor, a 1990 batch Indian Foreign ServiceOfficer, is currently India's High Commissioner inMozambique capital Maputo. "He is expected totake up his assignment shortly," the ExternalAffairs Ministry said in a statement.

The appointment assumes significance asIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuis likely to visit India this year. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi may also pay areturn visit to Tel Aviv. India's relationswith Israel are on an upswing. PresidentPranab Mukherjee had visited Tel Aviv inOctober last year, becoming the firstIndian Head of State to visit the Jewishnation.

Chauhan took charge as FTII Chairman

Seething discontent, frenzied protests andlathicharges marred TV actor and BJP hackGajendra Chauhan’s first day as Chairman of theprestigious Film and Television Institute of India(FTII) even as 40 student protestors were allegedlymanhandled and detained by police.

The protestors were being held at theShivajinagar police station as the firstmeeting of the new FTII society got

underway almost six months after itsreconstitution.

Sailesh appointed new Registrar General,Census Commissioner

Senior IAS officer Sailesh was today appointed asRegistrar General and Census Commissioner.

Sailesh, a 1985 batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, is presently AdditionalSecretary in Home Ministry. TheAppointments Committee of Cabinet hasapproved the appointment of Sailesh asRegistrar General and CensusCommissioner for a period till July 28,2017, an order issued by Department ofPersonnel and Training said.

He has been appointed in place of CChandramouli, who has completed histenure.

Devender Kumar Sikri appointed as Chairman ofCompetition Commission of India

Devender Kumar Sikri was on 7 January 2016appointed as Chairman of fair-trade regulatorCompetition Commission of India (CCI). Hesucceeds Ashok Chawla, whose tenure as theChairman of CCI ended on 7 January 2016 itself.

Sikri will have a tenure of about two andhalf years, i.e. till he attains the age of 65years.

Sikri is a former Indian AdministrativeService (IAS) officer of Gujarat cadre. Hehas held various positions in Centre as wellas in his cadre state Gujarat. Hesuperannuated as Secretary, Departmentof Justice on 31 July 2013.

Bhanumurthy is new COO of Wipro



The Bengaluru-head quartered company haselevated company veteran Bhanumurthy B M asits chief operating officer (COO) and presidentapart from handing over a new role to G KPrasanna, who is presently heading GlobalInfrastructure Services as president and chiefexecutive.

Under the new structure, Prasanna wouldhead a newly created business unit,marketing, innovations and technology(MIT) as the president. MIT will compriseof the offices of the chief technologyofficer, chief information officer,marketing, strategic engagements(Advisor Relations and sales enablementfunctions) among others.

Urjit Patel re-appointed as RBI Deputy Governorfor Three Years

Union Government on 8 January 2016 re-appointed Dr. Urjit R Patel, as Deputy Governor ofReserve Bank of India (RBI), for a second three-year term.

Patel who joined RBI on 11 January 11,2013 had headed a committee that pavedthe way for the proposed monetary policycommittee. Patel, a doctorate from YaleUniversity, also had a stint at IMF.

The re-appointment of Patel assumessignificance as in recent past, none of thedeputy governors got a second term.

Ashish Saraf appointed as Airbus Group’s vicepresident

Airbus Group on 11 January 2016 announced theappointment of Ashish Saraf as Vice-President -Industry Development, Strategic Partnerships andOffsets.

Saraf will look over the Group's existingMake in India initiatives and conceive newones for all the businesses of Airbus GroupIndia with the aim to increase theirindustrial footprint in the country. Themove comes close on the heels of AirbusGroup uniting its Divisions in India under asingle company.

Ashish Saraf holds an extensive experiencein offsets, industrial relations, green fieldstart-up development and strategicpartnerships. Prior to joining Airbus Group,he was the India head of the Tata Sikorskyjoint venture since 2010. He led Sikorsky'sindustrialisation and strategic partnershipsin India.

Binny Bansal appointed as CEO of Flipkart

India's biggest e-commerce company, Flipkart, on11 January 2016 announced the promotion ofcurrent Chief Operating Officer Binny Bansal tothe post of Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

On the other hand, Sachin Bansal, who hasbeen the CEO since inception, will nowtake on the newly-created role ofExecutive Chairman.

PMO sets up panel to fast-track bullet trains

The Prime Minister’s Office has constituted acommittee under Arvind Panagariya, vice-chairman of the NITI Aayog, to hasten theMumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor,meant for bullet trains between the two cities.

The panel will interact with the Japanesecounterpart for taking the next step inimplementation. The Railway Boardchairman, secretary in the department ofexpenditure, foreign secretary andsecretary (industrial policy) will be part ofthe panel.



Dr Gyanendra D Bandgaiyan appointed DG ofNational Centre for Good GovernanceThe Appointments Committee of the Cabinet(ACC) on 30 December 2015 approved theappointment of Dr Gyanendra D Bandgaiyan asthe Director General of the National Centre forGood Governance.

He will be in the office for a period of threeyears which is extendable by another twoyears or up to 60 years of age, whichever isearlier.

The 54-year-old Bandgaiyan is a former IASofficer of the Union Territories cadre. Hehails from Madhya Pradesh.

Bjorn Isberg named as Tournament Director of2016 Hockey India League

Sweden's Bjorn Isberg on 30 December 2015 wasappointed as the Tournament Director of CoalIndia Hockey India League (HIL), the premierleague for hockey in India.

On the other hand, MuthukumarBalakrisnan from Malaysia was given therole of the Assistant Tournament Directorin the 4th edition of the Coal India HockeyIndia League.

Andy Mair from Scotland was named asthe umpire's manager for the league.

D.K.Hota to be the new CMD of defence PSUBEML Ltd

The Public Enterprises Selection Board hasrecommended D.K.Hota to be the new CMD ofdefence PSU BEML Ltd. He is currently Director(HR) of the Bengaluru-based BEML. He has beenon deputation at BEML from oil marketing majorHPCL for the past two years.

Government constitute Kamlesh ChandraCommittee to study wage structure of GraminDak Sevaks

The Union Government has constituted acommittee to examine the wage structure, serviceconditions of the Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) in theDepartment of Posts (DoP). It is one membercommittee comprising of Kamlesh Chandra,Retired Member of Postal Services Board.

The Committee will be assisted by SeniorAdministrative Grade Officer T.Q.Mohammad who will act as Secretary tothe GDS Committee. The Committee willgo into the service conditions of GDS andsuggest changes as considered necessary.Examine the present system of BranchPost Offices, engagement conditions andexisting structure of wage and enrolmentspaid to the GDS and recommend necessarychanges.

CMPDI Chairman assumes charge

Shekhar Saran has taken over as Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Ranchi-based Central MinePlanning & Design Institute Ltd (CMPDI) from thismonth. Prior to this, he served as the Director(Technical) of CMPDI.

A mining engineer and MBA, he started hiscareer in the coal industry from Sohagpurarea of South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL)in 1981.

Film-maker ShyamBenegal to head panel onCensor Board revamp



To put an end to recent controversies surroundingthe Censor Board, the Centre has set up aCommittee headed by noted film-maker ShyamBenegal to work out a revamp plan and submit itsreport within two months.

The other members of the Committee areHindi film director Rakesh OmprakashMehra, adman Piyush Pandey, film criticBhawana Somaaya, Nina Lath Gupta ofNational Film Development Corporationand Joint Secretary (Films).

Among other things, the committee wouldbe expected to take note of the “bestpractices in various parts of the world,especially where the film industry is givensufficient and adequate space for creativeand aesthetic expression.”

The committee will also look into thestaffing pattern of Central Board of FilmCertification, known as the Censor Board,and recommend a framework to provideefficient/transparent user-friendlyservices.

AtulSobti took charge as CMD of Bharat HeavyElectricals Limited

Atul Sobti on 1 January 2016 took charge asChairman and Managing Director (CMD) of state-owned power equipment maker Bharat HeavyElectricals Limited (BHEL) for a period of fiveyears.His appointment as CMD of BHEL wasapproved by the Union Government in September2015.

Prior to this appointment, Sobti was theDirector on the board of BHEL, where heheaded two crucial portfolios of Power andFinance. He also held Additional Charge ofthe post of Director (Engineering, Researchand Development).

Wipro management changes, T K Kurienelevated as Vice Chairman, COO becomes CEO

India’s third largest IT services exporter – Wiprohas announced major management changes withthe elevation of the chief executive officer (CEO) TK Kurien as the executive vice-chairman and chiefoperating officer Abidali Neemuchwala as the newCEO and member of the board.

Kurien who took over the role of CEO inFebruary, 2011 will hold the executive vicechairman position.

He will hold this position until March 31,2017.

LinkedIn names Akshay Kothari as India CountryManager

Professional networking platform LinkedIn todayappointed Akshay Kothari as Country Manager forIndia, with immediate effect. India has one of thelargest userbase for LinkedIn, which has morethan 400 million members globally.

Kothari replaces Nishant Rao, who quit thecompany in October last year to join cloud-based customer support software firmFreshdesk as its Chief Operating Officer.Kothari will report to Olivier Legrand,LinkedIn's Managing Director for the AsiaPacific (APAC) region, and join thecompany's APAC senior managementteam, LinkedIn said in a statement.

India has the second largest base ofLinkedIn members globally, after the US.Over the past six years, the member basein India saw a ten-fold increase (whichtranslates to a compound annual growthrate of 46 per cent) to more than 33million.



Mary Barra elected as Chairman of GeneralMotors Board of Directors

Mary Barra was on 4 January 2016 elected asChairman of General Motors (GM) Board ofDirectors with immediate effect. Barra succeedsTheodore Solso, who will continue serving asthe Lead Independent Director of the Board.

Earlier, Barra was serving as ChiefExecutive Officer (CEO) of GM sinceJanuary 2014.In August 2013, Barra wasnamed as Executive Vice President, GlobalProduct Development, Purchasing&Supply Chain.

Filippo Grandi takes helm as UN HighCommissioner for Refugees

Filippo Grandi, a UN official who has worked inrefugee and political affairs in the Middle East,Africa, and Asia, began his five-year term as UNHigh Commissioner for Refugees on January 1,

He will Succeed António Guterreswhosemore than 10 years in office ended lastweek.

High Commissioner Grandi, who arrived atUNHCR's headquarters office in Geneva

earlier on Monday (January 4), takes upthe position at a time of unprecedenteddisplacement challenges. Record numbersof people globally are forced to flee warand persecution, including more than onemillion refugees and migrants who crossedthe Mediterranean to Europe during thepast year.

Sachin appointed as brand ambassador for NovoNordisk's diabetes campaign

Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisktoday announced Indian cricket star SachinTendulkar as brand ambassador for the diseaseawareness campaign 'Changing Diabetes' initiatedby it in India.

Addressing a press conference here onMonday, Sachin Tendulkar advised peopleto hit the gym or go for a long walk to keepaway from diabetes.

In India 69.2 million people have diabetesand by 2035, it is estimated that 123.5million people will have diabetes. Thealarming fact is that almost half of theexisting diabetes patients are unawarethat they have diabetes, according to thecompany.

Sports

Angelique Kerber stuns Serena Williams to winAustralian OpenAngelique Kerber became the first German to wina Grand Slam title since her childhood idol SteffiGraf in 1999 when she upset world number oneSerena Williams 6-4 3-6 6-4 to clinch theAustralian Open on Saturday.

The 34-year-old American had beenseeking her seventh Melbourne Park title

and 22nd overall, which would havemoved her into a tie with Graf for the mostGrand Slam singles titles in the Open era.

Sania Mirza, Martina Hingis won 2016Australian Open women's doubles tennis title



Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingison 29 January 2016 won the 2016 AustralianOpen title of tennis in the women’s doublescategory.

To win the title, the top seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated seventh seeded Czechduo Andrea Hlavackova and LucieHradecka 7-6, 6-3 at the Rod Laver Arenain Melbourne, Australia. With the winover the Czech duo, they extended theirunbeaten run to 36.

For Sania-Hingis pair, it was their maidenAustralian Open title and the thirdsuccessive Grand Slam doubles title aftertheir victories in the 2015 Wimbledon andUS Open.

Ishika Shah won 12th Sub-Junior NationalSnooker championship title

14-year old Ishika Shah won the 12th Sub-JuniorNational Snooker championship title in Indore,Madhya Pradesh.

To win the title, she defeated Anushi Sethby 50-2, 50-33 in the final match.

To reach the finals, she defeated thedefending champion Doyel Dey in thesemi-final. Incidentally, Ishika lost the titleto Doyel in the summit clash held inKolkata in 2015.

Pakistan Cricketer Imran Farhat retired fromInternational Cricket

Pakistan Opener Imran Farhat retired frominternational cricket. He made theannouncement after getting No-ObjectionCertificate from Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

With this, he would be eligible to play aT20 tournament for retired cricketerscalled Masters Champions League (MCL).

It is the PCB’s policy that players who signfor the MCL have to completely retirefrom International Cricket. However, theycan play the domestic cricket.

Izumo Takuto and Zhu Chengzhu won ITTFWorld Junior Circuit FinalsJapan's Izumo Takuto and Hong Kong's ZhuChengzhu on 24 January 2016 became championsin the boys' and girls' categories, respectively, inthe 11Even Sports 2015 ITTF World Junior CircuitFinals at the Abhay Prashal Stadium, Indore,Madhya Pradesh.

The three-day event came to its conclusionwhen Takuto hardly dropped a sweatbeating Carlos Vedriel from Spain 4-0 in aone-sided final while Zhu overcame stiffresistance to beat Park Seri of Korea 4-2.Each winner took home 3800 US dollarswhile the runners-up received 2100 USdollars each.

The International Table Tennis Federationis the governing body for all internationaltable tennis associations. The role of theITTF includes overseeing rules andregulations and seeking technologicalimprovement for the sport of table tennis.

PV Sindhu wins Malaysia Masters Grand PrixGold Badminton title

India’s Ace Shuttler, PV Sindhu has won theMalaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold Badmintontitle.



She defeated Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour21-15, 21-9 in the final at Penang thisafternoon.

Sindhu had an easy final where shedominated right from the start to seal thematch in straight games. This is Sindhu’sFifth career Grand prix gold and first titleof the year 2016.

Australia clinched bilateral odi cricket seriesagainst series

Australia has thrashed India by 4-1 in 5 matchone day international series played in Australia.

Indian batsman Rohit Sharma wasdeclared man of the series for scoring 441runs including two centuries.

Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis won SydneyInternational title

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won their secondtrophy of the season with the WTA ApiaInternational title after clinching their 30th win arow, in Sydney on Friday.

They defeated Caroline Garcia and KristinaMladenovic

ICC Rankings: India become No. 1 Test side inthe world

South Africa's 0-2 defeat in their home seriesagainst England has pushed them off the top ofthe ICC Test Rankings. Now India, with 110 ratingpoints, are at No. 1, with Australia one rating pointshy in second place.

It has been over a year since South Africalast won a Test match and that was againstthe eighth-ranked West Indies. Even if theybeat England in the fourth Test inCenturion, they won't be able to improveon their current third position. SinceJanuary 2015, South Africa have lost fiveout of nine games, besides accumulatingfour draws.

WWE returns to India after 14 years

Former World Kabbadi League Champion,Lovepreet Sangha and two-time Kushti NationalHeavyweight Champion, Satender Ved Pal willmake their in-ring World Wrestling Entertainment(WWE) debuts when the premier sportsentertainment professional wrestling returns toIndia after 13 years on January 15.

Hosts of WWE superstars will showcasetheir acting-wrestling skills in front anexpected packed crowd with the two newIndian inductees featuring prominently.WWE's own world champion RomanReigns, Big Show, Kane and Charlotte aresome of the big names to enthrall Delhicrowd.

Lovepreet, 6 feet, 225 pounds, was one ofthe top raiders in the World KabaddiLeague in 2014 and was a member of theUnited Singhs team that won the leaguechampionship.

Virat Kohli fastest to reach 7000 runs, 24centuries in ODI cricket

Virat Kohli added another feather to his hat as hebecame the fastest man to score 7000 one-dayinternational (ODI) runs and the fastest to reach24 centuries in the format.

Kohli reached the milestone during thecourse of India's third ODI against Australia



at the Melbourne Cricket Ground onSunday.

Coming into this match, he needed only 19to overtake South Africa's AB de Villiers.While the South African captain needednearly a decade to get to 7000 ODI runs,Kohli did it in less than eight years.

The 27-year-old achieved the landmark inhis 169th match and in his 161st innings,breaking the previous record set by DeVilliers, who achieved it in his 166thinnings and in his 172nd match.

Delhi Acers defeated Mumbai Rockets to clinchPremier Badminton League title

Delhi Acers on 17 January 2016 emergedvictorious over Mumbai Rockets by 4-3 in thesummit clash to clinch the Premier BadmintonLeague (PBL) title. The match was held at the SiriFort Sports Complex in New Delhi.

Tommy Sugiar to, men's doubles pair ofKoo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong, andRajiv Ouseph won their respectivematches as Delhi grabbed the trophy and awinner's cheque of 3 crores rupees.

Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar is thebrand ambassador of the league.

BCCI imposes life ban on Ajit Chandila

Haryana off-spinner Ajit Chandila was slappedwith a life ban for his involvement in the 2013 IPLspot-fixing scandal, while Mumbai batsman HikenShah was handed a five-year suspension formaking a corrupt approach to a fellow player asthe BCCI disciplinary committee sealed their fateafter a meeting here on Monday.

However, the committee, headed by BCCIPresident Shashan Manohar andcomprising Jyotiraditya Scindia andNiranjan Shah,deferred a decision on

Chandila's co-accused Pakistani umpireAsad Rauf till February 12, giving him afinal deadline of February 9 to file his reply.

The 32-year-old Chandila, an off-spinnerwho was found guilty of spot-fixing duringhis stint with Rajasthan Royals, washanded a tougher punishment for violatingthe codes pertaining to accepting bribes,fixing, underperforming, trying to induce afellow player and betting.

Ronnie O'Sullivan defeated Barry Hawkins towin sixth Snooker Masters title

Ronnie O'Sullivan on 17 January 2016 won hissixth Snooker Masters title after defeating BarryHawkins 10-1 in the final at the Alexandra Palacein London.

O'Sullivan had previously won the event in1995, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2014,equalling the record set by StephenHendry.

Chris Gayle equals Yuvraj Singh’s T20 record;scores fifty in 12 balls

Chris Gayle signed off from this year's Big Bash byequalling the all-time record for the world'squickest Twenty-20 half-century.Gayle smashedhis way past 50 from just 12 balls in Melbourne.

He achieved the feat against the AdelaideRenegades.

West Indies opener Gayle hit seven sixesand two fours on the way to 56 at the topof the order, and joined Yuvraj Singh asscorer of the sprint format's fastest half-century - the India all-rounder's innings atthe 2007 World Twenty20 having includedsix sixes in one over off England's StuartBroad.



ICC launches Cricket for Good & Team Swachhcampaign in partnership with UNICEF and BCCI

The International Cricket Council (ICC) hasreaffirmed its commitment to the Spirit ofCricket and bringing about positive social changethrough the sport, by launching Cricket for Good,it’s CSR Programme, in association with UNICEF.

Team Swachh is the first of a series ofcollaborations between the ICC andUNICEF under the aegis of Cricket forGoodwith the aim of leveraging the vastreach and power of cricket. This visionarycollaboration aims to build a socialmovement for sanitation and toilet use,thereby leading to an open defecation-freeIndia.

The five-year global partnership wasannounced in October 2015 in New Yorkand will be used as the ICC’s platform toadvocate for children in India and othercountries where cricket is a popular sport.

Indian driver Jehan Daruvala won Lady WigramTrophy motor race

Sahara Force India Academy racer Jehan Daruvalaon 16 January 2016 won one of New Zealand'smost prestigious events, the Lady Wigram Trophy.

It was Daruvala’s maiden victory inFormula cars since making the switch fromkarting in 2015.

In August 2015, Daruvala won Rookie ofthe Year at the Formula Renault 2.0 NECseries championships in the Netherlands.

Indian shuttlerSirilVerma ranked world No 1junior

India's Siril Verma is badminton's new junior worldNo. 1.The 16-year-old climbed a whopping 11rungs to occupy the number one spot in the juniormen's singles category of the Badminton WorldFederation (BWF) rankings on Thursday.

A finalist at the current World JuniorChampionships, and regarded as the nextbig thing in Indian badminton, Verma isahead of second-placed Toma JuniorPopov of France, while Chirag Sen, anotherIndian, occupies the No 3 ranking.

Meanwhile, star Indian women's shuttlerand London Olympics bronzemedaliistSainaMehwal continues tooccupy the No 2 ranking, behind CarolinaMarin of Spain, while Li Xuerei of China isthird.

Saina's compatriot and two-time worldchampionship bronze medallist PV Sindhuremained static at No 12.

In the men's singles category,KidambiSrikanth is the only Indian shuttlerin the top 10, at No 9.

Glasgow Commonwealth Games goldmedallistParupalliKashyap, who is backafter an injury lay-off, is ranked No 15,ahead of H S Prannoy (20) and Ajay Jayram(21).

The 2011 World Championships bronzemedallist pair of JwalaGutta andAshwiniPonappa is at No 14 in thewomen's doubles rankings, while themen's doubles pair of Manu Attri andSumeeth Reddy occupy the 17th spot.

National TT: PSPB men retain title, womenregain crown

The formidable Petroleum Sports PromotionBoard (PSPB) men trounced Haryana 3-1 to extendtheir reign over the Barna Ballack Cup for yetanother year.



Their women regained the JayalakshmiCup after beating West Bengal 3-0 in theteam finals of the 77th Senior NationalTable Tennis Championship at theHyderabad.

Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis clinch BrisbaneInternational title

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis carried thedominance of 2015 into the new season, winningtheir sixth consecutive title by lifting the WTABrisbane trophy, here on Saturday. The top seedsquelled the challenge of German wildcardsAngelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic 7-5, 6-1 inmere 69 minutes.

Sania and Martina, the world number oneteam, have now stitched a 26-matchwinning streak together, which hasbrought them six titles in a row at the USOpen, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing, WTAFinals and now here.

Raonic beats Federer to win Brisbane title

Milos Raonic got one back on Roger Federer tostart the new season. After losing coach IvanLjubicic to the Federer camp leading into 2016,Raonic achieved something nobody else born inthe 1990s has managed to do against the 17-timemajor winner beat him twice.

The 25-year-old Canadian broke Federer’sserve once in each set of a 6-4, 6-4 win onSunday night in the Brisbane Internationaldecider, reversing the outcome of theirmeeting in last year’s final at the AustralianOpen warmup tournament.

Wawrinka thumps Coric to win 4th ChennaiOpen title

Star Swiss player Stansilas Wawrinka won hisfourth title at the Chennai Open today, aftercomprehensively thumping Croatian Borna Coric6-3, 7-5 in straight sets.

It was the fourth title in five finals for 30-year-old Wawrinka, who had finishedrunner-up in 2010 and won his first title in2011 at the hard court venue. He also wonin 2014 and 2015.

Ashwin is ICC's No. 1 Test bowler, first Indiansince Bedi’s feat in 1973

Star India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin hasended 2015 as the No. 1 Test bowler in the ICCrankings on the back of his strong showing againstSouth Africa in the recent home series.Ashwin,who took 62 wickets in nine Tests this yearincluding 31 scalps in the four matches againstSouth Africa, became the first India bowler sinceBishen Bedi in 1973 to achieve the milestone offinishing the year on top.

Bedi, an ICC Hall of Famer, is the only Indiabowler to ever top the Test bowlingtable.Australian captain Steven Smith is ontop in Batting Chart.

Magnus Carlsen won the Qatar Masters Openchess tournament

World champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway wonthe Qatar Masters Open chess tournament, billedas the strongest Open in history. The top seed hadfinished with seven points, the same as Yu Yangyiof China, seeded 11th. He drew his 10th and finalround encounter with former Worldchampion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, whileYu defeated Wesley So of the United States.



Surya Shekhar Ganguly was the best-placed Indian, at 10th.

Laxmi Ratan Shukla announced his retirement

Former India player and Bengal captain LaxmiRatan Shukla announced his retirement fromcricket. Shukla, who failed to make it to the BengalRanji squad for most of the current season aftermaking a comeback from injury, was included inthe team that played its last league match againstAssam earlier this month. But the player choose tocall it quits as he was not getting enough“motivation” to continue.

The feisty all-rounder played 137 FirstClass matches and accumulated 6217 runsand 143 wickets.

India beat Afghanistan 2-1 to lift SAFF Cup titlefor 7th time

India exacted sweet revenge of their last editiondefeat as they beat defending championsAfghanistan 2-1 in the summit clash in adominating display to lift the South Asian FootballFederation Cup for the seventh time on Sunday.

India, who had lost to Afghanistan 0-2 inthe final of 2013 edition in Kathmandu,were clearly the better side in the finalmatch between the two best teams of theregional tournament though they had tocome back from one goal deficit and had tosettle the match in the extra time.

India, who were playing in the 10th finalout of 11 SAFF Cup editions on Sunday, re-established their dominance in theregional tournament and are also likely tomake a jump in the FIFA rankings whichwill come out on Thursday.

Lodha panel proposes drastic reforms for BCCI,IPL CEO given clean chit

The Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committeetoday recommended sweeping reforms for thecontroversy-ridden BCCI, suggesting a bar onministers from occupying positions, putting a capon the age and tenure of the office-bearers andlegalising betting.

In a series of drastic reforms, the three-member panel, headed by Justice (Retd) RM Lodha, also suggested one unit shouldrepresent one state, while taking away thevoting rights of institutional and city-basedunits. The committee also suggested therestructuring of the BCCI’s administrativeset-up, proposing the position of a CEOaccountable to a nine-member apexcouncil.

“Regarding the IPL, the recommendationis that the chief governing body will beknown as the Governing Council, whichwill comprise nine members. The Secretaryand the Treasurer of the BCCI will be ex-officio members of this IPL governingcouncil,” Justice Lodha said.

“The Governing Council of IPL will beentitled to take all decisions concerningIPL, which includes decisions relating tofinancial matters. However, the GoverningCouncil will be answerable to the generalbody of the BCCI. So limited autonomy isproposed for the IPL GC,” he added.

ONGC won 26th LalBahadurShastri Hockeytournament

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on 3January 2015 won the 26th Lal Bahadur ShastriHockey tournament.To win the title, the ONGCdefeated Indian Railways 3-0 on penalties in thefinal match held at the Shivaji Stadium in NewDelhi.

At the end of the stipulated time both theteams stood at 2 points each. In the



shootout, Sumit Kumar, Gurjant Singh andVikramjit Singh scored for ONGC while theRailways players could not score a singlegoal.

PranavDhanawade creates record, scores 1009runs in single innings

Mumbai school cricketer Pranav Dhanawadebecame the first player to score 1000 runs in asingle innings.Batting for Smt KC Gandhi School,Kalyan, the opening batsman resumed the dayfrom his overnight score of 652 runs and crossedthe 1000-run mark after Lunch.

His school declared the innings at 1465/3with Parnav unbeaten at 1009 which hescored off 323 balls and at a strike-rate of312.38. He played for a total of 395minutes.He broke Arthur Collins’s 117years old record.

Australia pulled out of U-19 World Cup inBangladesh due to safety concerns

Australia on 5 January 2016 withdrew from theUnder-19 World Cup Tournament in Bangladesh.It pulled-out citing security reasons. The decisionwas announced by Cricket Australia CEO JamesSutherland who said the decision was taken aftermonitoring the security situation in Bangladesh.

The tournament is scheduled to happenfrom 22 January to 14 February 2016. ICCannounced that Australia will be replacedby Ireland team – the runners-up in thequalifying tournament in Kuala Lumpur inOctober 2015.

Earlier in October 2015, Cricket Australiahad cancelled senior men's Test tour ofBangladesh for similar reasons. It seemsthat the decision was made after a seriesof militant violent attacks in the countrysince September 2015, including the

shooting of three foreigners, two of whomdied.

Wayne Rooney named 2015 England Player ofthe Year

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney hasbeen voted 2015 England Player of the Year for thefourth time after breaking his country's scoringrecord, the Football Association announced onTuesday, January 5.

Rooney, England's captain, received 37percent of the votes in a poll of EnglandSupporters Club members. He previouslywon the award in 2008, 2009 and 2014."To win this award is always a huge honourand to win it for a fourth time is somethingI'm very proud of," Rooney said on hispersonal website.

Stoke City goalkeeper Jack Butland, whohas produced some impressiveperformances this season, was elected theUnder-21s Player of the Year. Rooney andButland, 22, will be presented with theirawards prior to England's friendly againstGermany in Berlin on March 26.

Apurvi Chandela sets a world record to win goldat Swedish Grand Prix

Indian shooter Apurvi Chandela broke the worldrecord on way to winning gold in the women's 10metre air rifle event at the Swedish Cup GrandPrix. Chandela shot 211.2 in the event held onTuesday to surpass the feat of Chinese Olympicgold medallist Yi Siling, who held the record with211.

The result marked a positive start forChandela, who has already won anOlympic quota place for the Rio Olympics.The silver and bronze went to Swedish



shooters Astrid Steffensen (207.6) andStine Nielsen (185.0).

An elated Chandela said: "This gold atSweden has further strengthened myresolve to bag a medal at the Rio Olympicsthis year. The support, encouragementand wishes received from my well-wishers

from Rajasthan has stood me in good steadin various international tournaments."

Chandela had won the gold at the NationalChampionships in the Capital last month.She had won an Olympic quota place forIndia after winning a bronze at the ISSFWorld Cup in Changwon, South Korea, inApril.

Awards

Social justice award for Nitish Kumar

Nitish Kumar has been chosen for the KVeeramani Award for Social Justice 2015 for hiscontribution towards social justice as ChiefMinister. The award is given away by PeriyarInternational, a Chicago-based voluntaryorganisation.

The date and venue of the award functionare yet to be decided. During his visit toDelhi in the first week of February, Nitishwould meet some members of the awardcommittee and take a call on the venue,from among Patna, Delhi and Chennai.

Prince Mahidol Award 2015 conferred inBangkokPrince Mahidol Award 2015 was conferred uponProfessor Morton Mower and Sir Michael Marmot

for outstanding achievements in medicine andpublic health worldwide.

The award was presented on 29 January2016 at the Grand Palace in Bangkok by thePrincess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn on behalfof the King of Thailand BhumibolAdulyadej, who couldn’t attend theceremony due to ill health.

Mahidol Award was established in 1992 tocommemorate the 100th birthdayanniversary of Prince Mahidol of Songkla.

Nisid Hajari won 2016 William E. Colby Awardfor Best Military BookNisid Hajari on 28 January 2016 won the 2016William E. Colby Award for his book, Midnight’sFuries: The Deadly Legacy of India’s Partition.

Hajari will be presented with the awardand honorarium at Norwich University,the USA in April 2016.



The Midnight’s Furies: The Deadly Legacyof India’s Partition covers the 1947partition of India and the violence thatsurrounded that event. Hajari overseesAsia coverage for Bloomberg View, theeditorial page of Bloomberg News.

Naresh Bedi has been honoured with VShantaram Life Time Achievement Award

Wildlife film maker & Padma Shri awardeeNaresh Bedi has been honoured with VShantaram Life Time Achievement Award duringthe inauguration of 14th edition of MumbaiInternational Festival for Documentary, Short andAnimation Films – MIFF 2016.

The award was presented by MaharashtaCM Devendra Fadnavis and MoS forInformation & Broadcasting RajyavardhanRathore

The award is instituted in memory oflegendary film makerV Shantaram, whowas head of the Films Division in the past.It is comprised of a trophy, shawl and acash prize of Rs 5 lakhs.

Henri Tiphagne selected for AmnestyInternational Human Rights Award 2016

Indian lawyer and human rights defender HenriTiphagne selected for the 8th Human RightsAward by Amnesty International Germany. Theaward is a recognition of Tiphagne’s exceptionalcommitment to human rights.

He will be conferred with the award at anofficial ceremony on 25 April 2016 at theMaxim Gorki Theatre in Berlin, Germany.

He is the founder of the organizationPeople’s Watch, one of the most notablehuman rights organizations in India.

People’s Watch has been researching anddocumenting human rights violations, aswell as providing legal representation tothose affected, for over 20 years. Theorganization also actively supports humanrights education.

David Warner wins Allan Border Medal 2016

Australian batsman David Warner defeatedcaptain Steve Smith for the prestigious AllanBorder Medal for 2016.

Warner polled 240 votes from players,umpires and media representatives tobeat 2015 winner and skipper Steve Smithon 219. Pace bowler Mitchell Starc wasthird on 183 votes.

Warner also won the Test Player of theYear Award with 30 votes ahead of Smithon 24.

Chennupati Jagadish awarded Australia’shighest civilian honour

Australia has awarded its highest civilian honour,the Companion of the Order or Australia (AC) toIndia-origin scientist and professor ChennupatiJagadish.

Professor Jagadish is currently the head ofthe Semiconductor Optoelectronics andNanotechnology Group at the Australian



National University. He was given theaward in recognition for his service tophysics and engineering.

Professor Jagadish’s projects include anew class of lasers that can help intelecommunications and “new lightweightsolar cells with increased efficiency”.

Rekha conferred with Yash ChopraMemorial award

Veteran actress Rekha was honoured with theYash Chopra Memorial Award on Monday eveningin Mumbai for her contribution to the filmindustry.

The award was presented by MaharashtraGovernor C. Vidyasagar.

Rekha, 61, who worked with Chopra in1981 romance “Silsila”, will be given thehonour on February 2 next year by theGovernor of Maharashtra in a glitteringceremony in Mumbai.

Previous recipients include Melody QueenLata Mangeshkar and megastar AmitabhBachchan.

Padma Vibhushan for Rajinikanth, Sri Sri RaviShankarActor Rajinikanth, media baron Ramoji Rao,former J&K Governor Jagmohan and spiritual guruSri Sri Ravi Shankar awarded Padma Vibhushan.

Former CAG Vinod Rai, Bollywood actorAnupam Kher and singer Udit Narayanawarded Padma Bhushan.

Former US Ambassador to India Robert DBlackwill, sportspersons Saina Nehwal andSania Mirza and Indu Jain of BennettColeman & Co get Padma Bhushan.

Senior lawyer Ujjwal Nikam, actors AjayDevgn and Priyanka Chopra get PadmaShri.

Reliance Industries founder late DhirubhaiAmbani awarded Padma Vibhushan.

Marat Safin inducted into International TennisHall of Fame

The Russian Tennis Federation on 14 January2016 announced that former World No.1 tennisplayer Marat Safin joined the International TennisHall of Fame.

The official ceremony to induct Safin hasbeen scheduled for 16 July 2016.

The Russian tennis player was announcedas a candidate for the induction into theHall of Fame in October 2015 togetherwith Belgium's Justine Henin, a formerwomen's singles No.1 and seven-timemajor champion, and Helena Sukova fromthe Czech Republic, who won 14 majortitles in doubles and mixed doubles.

MP bags Krishi Karman award for fourth year inrow

Madhya Pradesh has bagged the Krishi Karmanaward instituted by the Centre for the fourthconsecutive year in recognition of the growth inoverall agricultural production in the state.

Madhya Pradesh has chalked out roadmapfor even more enthusiastic participation byfarmers in agriculture.

The award was initiated in 2010-11.

Ranveer Singh, DeepikaPadukonewin big atFilmfare Awards



At the Filmfare Awards held in Mumbai, Deepikawon the Best actor in female category for her film‘Piku’, while Ranveer iwon t for ‘Bajirao Mastani’.

Amitabh bachchan and Priyanka Choprawere among other winners.

Here is the list of winners at the 61stFilmfare Awards__

Award WinnerBest Actor Ranveer SinghBest Actress Deepika PadukoneBest Film Bajirao MastaniBest Director Sanjay Leela BhansaliBest Actor Debut Sooraj PancholiBest Actress Debut Bhumi PednekarCritics’ Choice Best Film PikuCritics’ Choice Best Actor Amitabh BachchanCritics’ Choice BestActress Kangna Ranaut

Lifetime AchievementAward Moushumi Chatterjee

Indian author Anuradha Roy wins DSC Prize for'Sleeping on Jupiter'

Anuradha Roy has been announced the winner ofthe prestigious DSC Prize for South AsianLiterature 2016 for her novel 'Sleeping on Jupiter'at the Fairway Galle Literary Festival in Sri Lanka.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe,who was the chief guest on the occasion,awarded 50,000 dollars as DSC Prize alongwith a unique trophy to the winner,reports the Lanka Page.

Wickremesinghe also commented on theimportance of South Asian literature andthe crucial role it plays to improve the livesof the people in this region.

Rajannamed as The Banker's central banker ofthe year

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor RaghuramRajan was named The Banker magazine's Globaland Asia-Pacific Central Bank Governor of the Year2015, for stabilising the Indian rupee, initiating keyreforms to attract much needed foreign capital inthe country and reining in a runaway priceappreciation.

The RBI governor has been named centralbank governor of the year several times byother international magazines. In October2014, Euromoney and in January 2015,Central Banking awarded him the bestcentral banker award for his contributionin stabilising the Indian economy.After hetook over in September 2013, the firstpriority for the RBI governor was tostabilise the local currency, which hit arecord low of 68.87 a dollar on August 28.

The Banker is a prestigious monthlymagazine of the Financial Times Group.

Tata Steel bags PM’s trophy

Tata Steel has been declared as the winner ofPrime Minister’s Trophy for being the ‘BestPerforming Integrated Steel Plant’ in the countryfor the performance year 2013 – 2014.

This Award has been conferred on theCompany for the eighth time.

The Company went through three roundsof rigorous assessment, adjudged by apanel of distinguished judges. Theenthusiasm and involvement of itsemployees including the Union Leadershipteam was highly appreciated by the panelof judges for the Prime Minister’s Trophy,reaffirming the core strength of Tata Steel



– its skilled and motivated workforce thathas a will to excel.

Leonardo DiCaprio wins Golden Globe for filmdrama actor

Leonardo DiCaprio won the Golden Globe awardfor best dramatic actor in The Revenant. DiCapriowas saluted with a standing ovation at the BeverlyHilton hotel. He beat out Bryan Cranston ofTrumbo, Michael Fassbender of Steve Jobs, EddieRedmayne of The Danish Girl, and Will Smith ofConcussion.

The 41-year-old actor born in Hollywoodearned his third career Golden Globe. Hisearlier wins came two years ago for TheWolf of Wall Street and in 2005 for TheAviator.

Awards At a glance:

Winner CategoryLeonardo DiCaprio Best actor in The Revenant.

Brie Larson Best actressThe Revenant Best motion pictureKate Winslet Best supporting actress

Sylvester Stallone Best supporting actor

Author Balkrishna Garg awarded H K DevsarevBaalsahitya award

Veteran poet Balkrishna Garg was today honouredwith the second Hari krishna Devsare BaalsahityaAward 2015 for his collection of poems forchildren, titled Baal Geet.

Sahitya Akademi President VishwanathPrasad Tiwari and National Book TrustChairman Baldeo Bhai Sharma conferredthe award comprising a cash prize of Rs75,000, a shawl and a citation on Garg at afunction here.

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi wins Ballond'Or award for world's best player for fifth time

The Barcelona and Argentina forward finishedahead of Ronaldo and Brazil forward Neymar as hescooped the award for the fifth time overall,having previously won it four years in a row from2009 to 2012. Messi helped Barcelona to a Spanishleague, domestic cup and Champions Leaguetreble plus the Club World Cup and also ledArgentina to the Copa America final, where theylost to Germany.

He defeated three time winner Ronaldoand NEymar in the race to clinch theaward.

Employees Provident Fund Organization wonthe National Award on e-Governance 2015-16

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization wonthe National Award on e-Governance 2015-16 forlaunching the Universal Account Number (UAN).

UAN is an e-initiative of EPFO, launched inJuly 2014. In this initiative, all activeemployees are provided a universalnumber which can be linked to variousprovident fund account numbers providedto them while working in differentorganizations.

The EPFO bagged the national award in the‘innovative use of technology in e-governance’ category and the retirementbody will get a cash prize of 200000rupees.

Amitabh Bachchan made honorary life memberof Mohammedan Sporting

Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan on 12 January2016 was bestowed honorary life membership ofKolkata’s soccer outfit Mohammedan Sporting.



Sporting president Sultan Ahmed handedover the club’s life membership toBachchan.

Bachchan was also invited to be the chiefguest of the club’s 125th anniversary galaevent to be held later in 2016.

Mohammedan Sporting along with MohunBagan A.C. and East Bengal F.C. are taggedas the Big Three.

Subhashini Vasanthhonoured with NeerjaBhanot Award

Bengaluru-based activist Subhashini Vasanth on13 January 2016 was honoured with NeerjaBhanot Award. She was presented the award forher endeavour to help people in distress and forempowering widows of martyrs and their familiesacross the country.Bollywood actor SonamKapoor presented the award to Vasanth at aceremony held in Chandigarh.

She started the VasantharatnaFoundationin memory of her husband. Thefoundation provides educationscholarships, conducted empowermentprogrammes and outbound learningprogrammes for women and children.

BCCI’s top award for Kohli

India’s Test captain Virat Kohli has won theCricketer-of-the-Year 2015 award. The award isnamed after former India captain and all-rounderPolly Umrigar. Kohli will receive the award at theBCCI annual awards function here on January 5.

The Karnataka State Cricket Association(KSCA) which won the Ranji Trophy,ZalIrani Cup and Vijay Hazare Trophy in the2014-15 season has been declared thebest team.

Other award winners

1. Syed Kirmani, C.K. Naydu LifetimeAchievement Award

2. JalajSaxena, Madhya Pradesh (LalaAmarnath award, best all-rounder in theRanji Trophy)

3. Deepak Hooda, Baroda (Lala Amarnathaward, best all-rounder domestic limitedover competitions)

4. Robin Uthappa, Karnataka (MadhavraoScindia award, highest scorer in RanjiTrophy)

5. R. Vinay Kumar, Karnataka and ShardulThakur, Mumbai (Madhavrao Scindiaaward, highest wicket-takers in RanjiTrophy)

6. Almas Shaukat, Uttar Pradesh (M.A.Chidambaram Trophy, best u-23 cricketer),

7. Anmolpreet Singh, Punjab (M.A.Chidambaram Trophy, best u-19 cricketer)

8. Shubman Gill, Punjab (M.A. ChidambaramTrophy, best u-16 cricketer)

9. Mithali Raj, Railways (M.A. ChidambaramTrophy, best woman cricketer)

10. DevikaVaidya, Maharashtra (M.A.Chidambaram Trophy, best Jr. womancricketer)

11. O. Nandan (best umpire in domesticcricket).

Harpal Singh Kumar received Knighthood fromQueen Elizabeth II

An Indian-origin cancer research expert HarpalSingh Kumar received a Knighthood from QueenElizabeth II for his influential work on preventionand treatment of cancer. His name appeared inthe annual New Year’s Honours list that includesseveral other Indian-origin individuals.

Among the Officer of the Most ExcellentOrder of the British Empire (OBE) list wereKala Patel, managing director of Kiddycare



Ltd Nurseries, for servicesto childcare business and Daljit Lally,deputy chief executive of NorthumberlandCountry Council, for services to integratedcare.

DAVA project bags 2015 eASIA award for tradefacilitation

The Drug Authentication and VerificationApplication (DAVA) project of The Department ofCommerce has won the 2015 eASIA Award underTrade Facilitation category. The award wasannounced by Asia Pacific Council for TradeFacilitation (APCTF) and Tehran based (Iran)Electronic Business.

The eASIA award is administered by AFACTwhich aims to development andpromotion of trade facilitation, electronicbusiness policies and activities in the AsiaPacific region.

DAVA project was launched by UnionGovernment in June 2015. It seeks tocreate an integrated platform forimplementation of the Track and Tracesystem for exporters and domesticmarkets of Drugs and Pharmaceuticals.The project aims to cover all the drugsmanufactured in India and contribute

considerably in enhancing the brand imageof our pharmaceutical exporters.

It will also provide simpler platform for theregulatory agencies and consumer forestablishing drug authentication. Underthis project, the DAVA application hasbeen incorporated with value-addedfeatures like availability of stocks for a drugin an area/retailers/ wholesalers at a pointof time.

Using it drugs can easily be identified andrecalled due to traceability of stocks whichin turn helps in prevention of blackmarketing which especially arises duringepidemics.

Kate Atkinson wins Costa novel prize for A Godin Ruins

The pressure might have been too much for somewriters but not Kate Atkinson: just two years afterwinning the Costa novel award for Life After Life,a major bestseller hailed as “astonishing” byjudges at the time, the novelist has landed theprize again for her follow-up, A God in Ruins.

Described as a “utterly magnificent and ina class of its own. A genius book” by thejudges, A God in Ruins tells the story of thesecond world war bomber pilot.

Death

Former Army Chief Gen K V Krishna Rao passesawayFormer Army Chief General K V Krishna Rao, whoplayed a key role in the 1971 BangladeshLiberation War, died here today at the militaryhospital following a cardiac arrest. He was 92.

Rao also served as the Governor of Jammu andKashmir at a time when militancy was at its peakin the state.

Rao was the 14th Chief of the Army Staff ofIndian Army and had an illustrious careerspanning over four decades in the force.He was commissioned into the Army onAugust 9, 1942. As a young officer, he had



served in Burma, North West Frontier andBaluchistan during the Second World War.

Arindam Sen Gupta passed away

Arindam Sen Gupta, managing editor of TheTimes of India, passed away early on Thursdayafter a brief but brave battle against cancer.SenGupta had a long and distinguished associationwith the TOI group, which he rejoined in 1991after a previous stint from 1988 to 1990. Hejoined The Economic Times as coordinating editor

Malayalam actor Kalpana passes away inHyderabadNational award-winning actress Kalpana, whoappeared in 300 films including recent superhit“Charlie”, died this morning in Hyderabad due toa heart attack. She was 51. Kalpana Ranjani was inHyderabad to shoot a Telugu film and wasscheduled to leave for Kerala later today.

She was declared brought dead at ahospital around 7 am, sources told PTI.Kalpana had received the National awardfor best supporting actress for herperformance in “Thanichala Njan” (2012).

Sister of actors Urvashi and Kalaranjini,Kalpana forayed into Malayalam films as achild actor in “Vidarunne Mottukul” in1977. Among her other Malayalam hits are“Ennum Eppuzhum”, “Karnavar”,“Dolfins”, “Bangalore Days” and “Spirit“.“Kakki Sattai”, “Idhaya Thiruda”, “SathiLeelavathi” and “Chinna Veedu” areamong her Tamil films.

Malayalam actors K P A C Lalitha, KaviyoorPonnamma and Innocent, MP, expressedshock at the demise of the actress, who

was best known for her comic roles inSouth Indian films.

Former Deputy Speaker of Gujarat AssemblyNirmala Gajwani diedFormer Deputy Speaker of Gujarat Assembly andSocial Activist Nirmala Gajwani passed away on 21January 2016 in Rajkot, Gujarat. She was 87.

Gajwani was the first lady Deputy Speakerof Gujarat legislative Assembly.

British Actor Alan Rickman passed away

Actor Alan Rickman, known for films includingHarry Potter, Die Hard and Robin Hood: Prince ofThieves, died of cancer on 14 January 2016 inLondon, England.

He had been conferred with Golden GlobeAward, an Emmy Award and a ScreenActors Guild Award.

Lagaan actor Rajesh Vivek Upadhyay died

Bollywood actor Rajesh Vivek Upadhyay died on14 January 2016 due to a heart attack inHyderabad. He was 66. Rajesh was mainly knownfor his roles in films like Lagaan and Swades.

He is also noted for his roles in the historicTV series Bharat Ek Khoj. His best actingwas seen in the TV Serial Aghori which ishis horror best.

Former Sikkim Governor Ventrapragada RamaRao passed away

Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader andformer Sikkim Governor Ventrapragada Rama Raopassed away on 17 January 2016 in Hyderabadafter prolonged illness. He was 80.



Born on 12 December 1935, Rao was alawyer by profession and practised at theAndhra Pradesh High Court.

In October 2002, he was appointed byPresident of India as the Governor ofSikkim. He served as Governor of Sikkimfrom 2002 to 2007.

World’s oldest man dies at 112 in Japan

The world’s oldest man, Yasutaro Koide, diedtoday at the age of 112 in central Japan, a localofficial said. Koide, born just months before theWright brothers made their first successful flight,died in hospital in the central Japanese city ofNagoya, where he had lived for many years, saidthe city official.

The super-centenarian, recognised as theworld’s oldest male at 112 last year, diedof heart failure and pneumonia, the officialadded.

Koide, a former tailor who was born onMarch 13, 1903 in Fukui prefecture,northwest of Tokyo, received a certificatefrom Guinness World Records confirmingthe achievement after another Japaneseman who was just a month older died inJuly.

The Eagles' guitarist Glenn Frey passed away

Glenn Frey, a founding member and guitarist ofthe Eagles, one of the most popular andcommercially successful artists of the 1970s,passed away on 18 January 2016 in New York, theUSA. He was 67.

At the end of the 20th century, two of theiralbums, Their Greatest Hits and HotelCalifornia, were ranked among the 20best-selling albums in the United States.

Hotel California is ranked 37th in RollingStone 's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of

All Time. The band was ranked number 75on the magazine's 2004 list of the 100Greatest Artists of All Time.

Renowned film-maker Lakshman Rao Mohitealias Geethapriya died

Renowned Kannada lyricist and film-makerGeethapriya died of cardiac arrest on 17 January2016 in Bengaluru. He was 84 and survived bywife, son and two daughters.

Lakshman Rao Mohite was born on 15 June1931 and became famous his pen-nameGeethapriya. He penned lyrics for over 250songs in Kannada and directed 40 filmsincluding one Hindi film.

Filmmaker Anil Ganguly passed away

Noted filmmaker Anil Ganguly passed away todayat his residence here after a brief illness.He was82.

Ganguly is a noted director andscreenwriter, who worked in Hindi cinemafrom 1970s to the 90s.

He is best known for Jaya Bhaduri starrer,"Kora Kagaz" and "Tapasya" both of whichwon National Award.

Veteran journalist Aroon Tikekar passed away

Senior journalist and scholar Aroon Tikekar passedaway on 19 January 2016 in Mumbai. He was 72.Tikekar, who has written over 20 books, passedaway due to breathing-related complications.

Aroon Tikekar worked as a college teacherfor some years. Then, he became the



Language and Literature Expert andAcquisitions Specialist at the US Library ofCongress Office in New Delhi.

Hindi writer RavindraKalia passes away

Noted Hindi writer and journalist Ravindra Kaliapassed away at a private hospital. He was 78.

Kalia had been suffering from livercirrhosis, according to family sources.

Known for his works like 'Nau Saal ChottiPatni' and 'Ghalib Chutti Sharab', theformer Bharatiya Jnanpith director wasalso the editor of several literarymagazines, including Naya Gyanodaya.

Formula 1: First female driver Maria Teresa deFilippis dies age 89

Maria Teresa de Filippis, the first woman to race ina Formula 1 grand prix, has died aged 89.

The Italian started three grands prix for theMaserati team in 1958 with a best finish of10th at Spa in Belgium.She also failed toqualify for the 1958 Monaco Grand Prixalong with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.

British singer David Bowie dies at 69

British singer-songwriter David Bowie has died atthe age of 69 after battling cancer for 18 months.

“David Bowie died peacefully todaysurrounded by his family after acourageous 18 month battle with cancer.While many of you will share in this loss,we ask that you respect the family’sprivacy during their time of grief,” read astatement posted on the singer’s officialsocial media accounts.

One of the most influence musical artistesof his generation, Bowie is known for hiscamelion-like qualities as a performer thatoften blurred the lines between genders inan illustrious career that spanned fourdecades.

1971 Bangladesh Liberation War HeroLieutenant General J.F.R. Jacob Died

Lieutenant General J.F.R. Jacob (retired), hero of1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and formerGovernor of Goa and Punjab, died on 13 January2016 after prolonged illness. He was 92.

Jacob, who negotiated the surrender ofPakistani troops in Dhaka, was best knownfor his role in India's victory in the 1971war.

During the war, He served as the Chief ofStaff of the Indian Army's EasternCommand by being the Major General.

Veteran CPI leader AB Bardhan passed away

Veteran Communist Party of India (CPI) leaderArdhendu Bhushan Bardhan passed away on 2January 2016 after a long illness. He was 92.

He was the former general secretary of theCPI, which is one of the oldest politicalparties in India.

He won an election just once, to theMaharashtra Assembly, in 1957 as anIndependent.

Grammy-winning singer Natalie Cole passedaway

Grammy-winning singer Natalie Cole passed awayon 31 December 2015 due to congestive heart



failure following complications from a kidneytransplant in Los Angeles. She was 65.

Cole, daughter of late jazz legend Nat KingCole, was known for carving out her ownsuccess with R&B hits like Our Love andThis Will Be. Cole broke out into the singingworld in 1975 with the hit This Will Be,which won the Grammy Award for bestR&B female performance and also earnedher the Grammy Award for Best NewArtist.

Former Chief Justice of India Sarosh HomiKapadia died

Ex-Chief Justice of India Sarosh Homi Kapadiapassed away on 4 January 2016 in Mumbai. Hewas 68. Kapadia is survived by wife and a son anda daughter.

Born on 29 September 1947, Kapadiagraduated from Government Law College,Mumbai. He was enrolled as an advocateat the Bombay High Court in 1974. In 1991,he was elevated to the Bench as anAdditional Judge of the Bombay High

Court, and in 1993, he was appointed as aPermanent Judge.

In 2003, he was transferred to theUttarakhand High Court, where he serveda short stint as Chief Justice. On 18December 2003, he was appointed as ajudge of the Supreme Court. On 12 May2010, he was sworn in as the 38th ChiefJustice of India by the President PratibhaPatil.

J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeeddies

Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, MuftiMohammad Sayeed passed away of multipleorgan failure in New Delhi on Thursday morningafter nearly a week long hospital is ation. He was78.

MrSayeed, a two time chief minister of thestate had started his second tenure onMarch 1st, 2015 in alliance with the BJP,after having led the state governmentbetween 2003-05 previously.

Books

BJP leader ShatrughanSinha’s book launch

A function to launch actor-MP Shatrughan Sinha’sbiography Anything but Khamosh ended upshowcasing the lines along which the Bihar defeathas divided leaders in the BJP.The party’s mostprominent critics within — L K Advani, YashwantSinha, Kirti Azad —attended the event. Two Unionministers, Harsh Vardhan and V K Singh, were

present, as were CPM general secretary SitaramYechury, Amar Singh and Congress leaderRandeep Surjewala.

In the book, Shatrughan Sinha tells thebiographer, Bharathi S Pradhan, of“notable exceptions” to the rule of notgranting a third term in the Upper House:“Many party leaders like Arun Jaitley, and



my friends Ravi Shankar Prasad andVenkaiah Naidu were given a third term inthe RajyaSabha.”

‘Azad Bachpan Ki Aur’ Chronicles KailashSatyarthi’s Journey

The 2014 Nobel Peace laureate’s first book inHindi Azad Bachpan Ki Aur was launched onJanuary 7.

The book is a selection of articles pennedby Satyarthi on landmark movements,judgments, events and prominent policyintervention in his three-decade-longstruggle for child rights.

Since the 1980s, the activist has beenfighting various issues related to childrenand their rights. The book talks aboutissues of child labour, rescue operations,trafficking, child slavery, sexual abuseagainst children and illiteracy.

Book titled MARU BHARAT SARU BHARATauthored by Jain Acharya Maharaj released

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 10 January 2016released a book titled “MARU BHARAT SARUBHARAT “. This is the 300th book ofRatnasundersuriswar ji Maharaj. The book releasefunction was organized by Sahitya Satkar Samiti ofRatnatrayee Trust in Mumbai.

The book, My India, Nobel India, will beavailable in four languages - English, Hindi,Gujarati and Marathi.

The author through his book hashighlighted various social evils,deficiencies prevailing at individual level,and also expressed his anger about thoseevils.

Book titled Jawaharlal Nehru and The IndianPolity in Perspective released by Hamid Ansari

The book titled Jawaharlal Nehru and The IndianPolity in Perspective was released by Hamid Ansarion 12 January 2016 by the Vice President of IndiaHamid Ansari at Thiruvananthapuram inKerala.The book was edited by Prof Alexander andwith contributions from eminent persons likeJustice K T Thomas, Dr.Rajan Kurukkal, Dr BVivekanandan, M G Radhakrishnan and others.

The focus of the book is on the role ofJawaharlal Nehru, India’s first PrimeMinister, on shaping the polity of modernIndia.It was published by T M VargheseFoundation.

Book named ‘Turbulent years’ releasedThe second part of President Pranab Mukherjee’sbiography ‘Turbulent years’ was releasedyesterday.

He has shared his political experiences inthis book.

january 2016 english

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