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RBI/ BANKING/BUSINESS NEWS THIS MONTH

30 September: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lowered the repo rate by 50 basis points

from 7.25 per cent to 6.75 per cent, while keeping CRR and SLR unchanged at 4 percent

and 21.5 percent, respectively in its Fourth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement,

2015. The reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 5.75 per cent, and the

Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 7.75 per cent. However, it

has lowered its FY 2015-16 GDP growth target to 7.4 percent from 7.6 percent.

30 September: The Government of India signed a loan agreement with Asian

Development Bank (ADB) for US $123.51 million for tranche 3 of the Infrastructure

Development Investment Program for Tourism to continue upgrading tourism

infrastructure and services in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. The loan will

be used for development and conservation of places of tourist attractions. The third

tranche loan is part of the $250 million multi-tranche financing facility that ADB

approved in 2010.

30 September: Silicon Valley based chip-maker Qualcomm announced that it will invest

150 million US dollars for Indian start-ups. The investment will come through a venture

fund. The announcement was made after the company’s executive chairman Paul E.

Jacobs met the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Digital Economy event in

San Jose.

29 September: The commodities regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) formally

merged with the securities market regulator SEBI in Mumbai. According to Finance Minister Arun

Jaitley, the ultimate objective of merging Forward Markets Commission (FMC) with SEBI is to

face the challenges posed by borderless market. Forward Markets Commission (FMC) was

established in 1953. The announcement for the merger was made by the Finance Minister in his

Budget speech earlier this year.

28 September: The Finance Ministry announced Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) exemption to

foreign companies with no permanent establishment (PE) in India with effect from assessment

year 2001-02. This means companies not having a permanent establishment or place of business

in India would not come under MAT with effect from April 2001. Apart from this, the MAT will also

not apply on a foreign company belonging to a country having a Double Tax Avoidance

Agreement (DTAA).

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28 September: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that government has set

disbursement target for micro and marginal businesses under MUDRA scheme during the current

fiscal at Rs. 1.22 lakh crore. MUDRA has been established as a subsidiary of SIDBI with an initial

corpus of Rs. 5,000 crore to provide capital to all banks seeking refinancing of small business

loans under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY). PMMY loans fall into three categories –

Shishu (up to Rs. 50,000), Kishore (Rs. 50,000-Rs. 5 lakh) and Tarun (Rs. 5-10 lakh).

26 September: Snapdeal, India's largest online marketplace in partnership with educational

loans specialists Credila - an HDFC group Company, has launched the country's first customized

education loans offering on an e-commerce platform. The partnership will usher faster loan

process. Customers will have the opportunity to avail exciting benefits, like up to 100% finance of

their education with no upper cap on loan and easy EMI repayments at attractive rates of interest.

24 September: In its biggest ever fine, Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) imposed a

penalty of 7,269 crore rupees on PACL Ltd. and its four directors for illegal and fraudulent

mobilisation of funds from the public. The penalty follows another order by Sebi last year wherein

the company was asked to refund 49,100 crore rupees it had collected through illicit schemes

over a period of 15-years.

24 September: The Trust Fund for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, under the

Department of Empowerment of People with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and

Empowerment, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the The New India

Assurance Company Limited on providing a comprehensive and affordable Health Insurance

Scheme - “Swavlamban Health Insurance Scheme” - for the Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).

The scheme has been designed to deliver comprehensive cover to the beneficiary as well as his

family (PwD, Spouse & up to two children), has a single premium across age band and can be

availed by PwDs aged between 18 years and 65 years with family annual income of less than Rs.

3,00,000 per annum. The scheme also ensures coverage of any pre-existing condition and a

health Insurance cover up to Rs. 2, 00,000 per annum as family floater.

23 September: Banks having a capital adequacy ratio of at least 10 per cent, besides being

profitable in the last fiscal, do not require prior approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for

equity investments in financial institutions, stock exchanges, depositories and the like in case the

investment is less than 10 per cent of the investee company’s equity. Additionally, the RBI said,

the bank’s stake in the investee, along with those of its subsidiaries or joint ventures, should not

exceed 20 per cent.

23 September: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has lowered growth projections for India

for the current fiscal to 7.4 per cent, from the 7.8 per cent earlier due to weak monsoon, poor

external demand and inability of the government to push economic reforms in Parliament. It has

retained the consumer inflation forecast for India at 4 per cent (+/- 0.2 per cent).

22 September: Lower commodity prices are unlikely to narrow India's current account deficit,

Standard Chartered has said, while revising its Current Account Deficit (CAD) forecast for the

fiscal to 1.5% from 1.1% of GDP earlier. It has also revised down its fiscal year 2015-2016

balance-of-payments (BoP) surplus forecast to $31.7 billion from $48.5 billion. Standard

Chartered expects capital inflows of $64 billion in this financial year, down from its previous

estimate of $75 billion.

19 September: As many as 15 MoUs with investment potential of USD 590 million have been

signed between Chinese Province Gunagdong and its sister state Gujarat across various sectors

for mutual cooperation in the China-India Economic and Trade Cooperation Conference 2015

held in Ahmedabad. These agreements signed for mutual cooperation and business, can be



classified under three main areas including manufacturing and information technology. Some key

agreements signed between business leaders include a MoU to develop the Ahmedabad

Industrial Park and an agreement to promote eCommerce in both the contries.

18 September: 10 entities, including Ujjivan Financial Services and Equitas Holdings, got RBI's

approval to set up Small Finance Banks to provide basic banking services to small farmers and

micro industries. Other entities to get the Reserve Bank's nod are Au Financiers (Jaipur), Capital

Local Area Bank (Jalandhar), Disha Microfin (Ahmedabad), ESAF Microfinance (Chennai),

Janalakshmi Financial (Bengaluru), RGVN (North East) Microfinance (Guwahati), Suryoday Micro

Finance (Mumbai) and Utkarsh Micro Finance (Varanasi). The Small Finance Banks can provide

basic banking services like accepting limited deposits and small lending to the unbanked sections

such as small farmers, micro business enterprises, micro and small industries and unorganised

sector entities.

18 September: Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley launched an innovative HITS

digital broadcasting platform that will provide over 500 TV channels to cable operators, with the

promoter Hinduja group pegging the total project outlay at more than Rs. 5,000 crore. The Hinduja-

HITS (Headend-in-the-Sky) Network, under the brand name NXT Digital, will serve Multi System

Operators (MSOs) as well as Local Cable Operators (LCOs) and aims to tap the transition from

analog to digital mode of cable TV services under the government's digitisation drive.

18 September: The Central Board of Trustees of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has

decided to enhance the deposit linked Insurance benefit to 6 lakh rupees from the present 3 lakh

60 thousand. According to Union Labour and Employment Minister Bandaru Dattatreya it will

benefit four lakh employees across the country.

16 September: Indian Bankers Chanda Kochhar and Arundhati Bhattacharya have been ranked

as top two in a list of most powerful women in Asia Pacific prepared by the global magazine

Fortune. Kochhar, 53, who heads the country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank has been

ranked at the top, up from the second position last year. She is followed by Arundhati

Bhattacharya, the chairman of the country's largest lender State Bank of India, whose ranking

has also moved up from the fourth spot she was at last year.

16 September: Reserve Bank of India inked an agreement with Nepal Rastra Bank on

exchange of supervisory information. The Reserve Bank of India signed the Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) on 'Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information'

with the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). RBI has entered into Memorandam of Understanding, Letter

for Supervisory Co-operation and Statement of Co-operation with supervisors of a few countries

to promote greater co-operation and share supervisory information.

16 September: India is likely to become the fastest-growing emerging market this year and its

potential growth could rise to 8 per cent over the next five years driven by Technology, gains in

Education and Ease of doing business due to less red tape, according to Goldman Sachs, a global

brokerage firm. Terming these three factors as TEE's, it said that these could be the key drivers of

growth and can contribute 3.6 percentage point to GDP growth annually. It forecasted that India's

potential growth could rise to 8 per cent over the period 2016-2020 from 7 per cent in 2012-2015,

under the new GDP series.

15 September: With a Rs. 1, 60,950 crore ($24 billion) fortune, Reliance Industries Ltd chairman

Mukesh Ambani continues to be the richest Indian for the fourth consecutive year, according to

the Hurun report. For the first time, Wipro czar Azim Premji slips out of top five billionaires' spot

owing to his philanthropic donations, while Bengaluru-based biotech leader Kiran Mazumdar-



Shaw is the only self-made woman in the top rich list, though her net worth declined six percent to

Rs.6,143 crore.

15 September: Axis Bank launched ‘LIME’ service. It is country's first mobile phone application

which is offering wallet, shopping, and payments and banking facilities. According to Axis Bank

CMD Shikha Sharma Lime has a mobile wallet in which amount can be transferred using debit or

credit card along with net banking. It has facility of shared wallets also. The software application

also enables the users to compare and buy products and services. LIME will enable individuals to

open a full-fledged savings account digitally, by completing the “know your customer” (KYC)

process, using their mobile.

12 September: The Union Cabinet allowed 100% FDI under the automatic route for white label

ATM operation. White labeled ATMs are set up by private non-bank companies that own and

operate their own brand of ATMs. Till date, foreign investment in White Label ATM Operations

(WLAO), was allowed through the government approval route. This required some processing

time and projects were delayed. The move to allow 100% FDI under the automatic route for white

label ATM operations is expected to promote financial inclusion in the country.

11 September: Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) and the New Development Bank (NDB)

signed a memorandum to strengthen cooperation. The document was signed by BNDES

President Luciano Coutinho and one of the vice presidents of the NDB, Paulo Nogueira Batista,

at the Brazilian bank's headquarters in Rio de Janeiro.The main aim of the memorandum is the

exchange of information and sharing of experiences related to supporting infrastructure projects

and initiatives aimed at promoting sustainable development

10 September: The seventh session of India-Belarus Intergovernmental Commission on Trade,

Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation was held in the Belarus capital

Minsk. It was co-chaired by Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce and Industry

Nirmala Sitharaman and her counterpart Vitali Mikhailovich Vovk. In the session bilateral trade

target was set as 1 billion US dollars to be achieved by 2018 from the present level of 400 million

US dollars.

10 September: Union Cabinet approved a new Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme and also a Gold

Monetisation Scheme to incentivise people to park their gold assets in a paper format and earn

interest, while seeking to productively use vast amounts of this idle metal in the economy. Under

the gold bond scheme up to 500 grams worth of bonds per annum can be bought by an individual

with lock-in of five-seven years and appropriate interest so that they are protected from volatility.

The Gold Monetisation Scheme, also approved, calls for people to deposit their gold with

authorised agencies for a short-, medium- or long-term periods, for which they will be given

certificates of holding. This will also bear interest. This has been done to replenish the Reserve

Bank's gold reserves.

10 September: According to Moody's Investors Service India's current account deficit is likely to

remain low supported by declining oil prices but a slow recovery in industrial output and investment

would drag economic growth to 7 per cent in the current fiscal. Moody's also lowered growth

forecasts for many Asia Pacific (APAC) sovereigns. It has reduced its projections for India to 7 per

cent in 2015 and 7.5 per cent in 2016, from 7.5 per cent and 7.6 per cent based on high frequency

indicators suggesting that the recovery in industrial output and investment is slow, and bank credit

growth still subdued.

9 September: ICICI Lombard GIC announced the appointment of Sanjeev Mantri as executive

director for its retail business division. Mantri has more than 20 years of experience in the



banking, finance services and insurance sector and has held key leadership positions in his

earlier assignments with BNP Paribas and ICICI Bank.

9 September: Doha Bank has tied up with the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group to generate

business opportunities in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations and India. Saudi Arabia,

Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman are part of the Gulf Cooperation

Council. Doha Bank and Reliance ADA Group have entered into an alliance to create new

opportunities for cooperation and innovation in terms of business development across the GCC

and India.

8 September: British financial services major Barclays has maintained its India growth forecast

of 7.8 percent for 2015-16. According to Barclays the strong rise in central government spending

should help GDP growth to accelerate in second quarter of fiscal year 2015-16. The Indian

economy grew 7 percent in the first quarter of this fiscal and 7.5 percent expansion was seen in

the quarter before. But the growth was 6.7 percent registered in the first quarter of the last fiscal.

8 September: A committee set up by the government to rationalise distribution incentives for

financial products and curb their mis-selling, has in its report recommended flexible exits for

financial products and that profits from exit charges not accrue to product providers. Sumit Bose,

former Finance Secretary is the head of the committee. The report of the Sumit Bose Committee

has recommended that the choice of withdrawal of all financial products, except those pertaining

to pensions, should remain with the investor.

8 September: RBI released its Annual Report for 2014-15. It has revealed that the central bank’s

Contingency funds, used in case of unforeseen shocks, have fallen to 8.4% of total assets. Apart

from this, for the last two years, the RBI has made no transfers to its Contingency Fund or its Asset

Development Fund. While the total in these contingency funds of the RBI stood at Rs. 2,424 billion

in 2012-13, it was Rs. 2,434 billion in 2014-15. This meant that balance in these funds has barely

changed since 2013. The stipulated target for funding of RBI’s contingency funds is 12% of assets.

7 September: Sri Lanka Central Bank has received 1.1 billion dollars from the Reserve Bank of

India under the currency swap agreement between the two reserve banks. Consequent to the

signing of a special currency swap agreement for USD 1.1 billion by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka

(CBSL) with the Reserve Bank of India on 17 July 2015, the CBSL has received USD 1.1 billion.

This is in addition to the USD 400 million received in April 2015.

4 September: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group announced

that their 2018 Annual Meetings will take place in Bali Nusa Dua, Indonesia, in October 2018,

following a vote by the Boards of Governors of the two institutions. According to Christine

Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, this will be a

great opportunity to showcase Indonesia’s impressive economic and social achievements, as well

as the culture, beauty, and vitality of the country.

3 September: Foreign brokerages firms have cut their Indian GDP rate forecasts by up to 0.3

percentage points. Standard Chartered has revised down Indian GDP rate forecast for the FY

2015-16 to 7.3 per cent from 7.7 per cent. It attributed the cut to weaker growth data for Q1,

external headwinds and slower agriculture growth. Its Japanese peer Nomura has also cut its

forecast by 0.2 percentage points to 7.8 per cent for the fiscal.

3 September: The Reserve Bank of India declared SBI and ICICI Bank as Domestic Systemically

Important Banks (D-SIBs), which literally means that these banks are so integral to the national

economy that their failure would have to be prevented at any cost. While State Bank of India (SBI)

is the largest public sector bank and the largest banking entity in the country, ICICI Bank is the

largest private sector bank in the country. SBI and ICICI have been so designated on the basis of



a systemic importance score, arrived at after an analysis of the banks’ size as a percentage of

annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Banks with assets that exceed 2% of GDP will be

considered to be part of this class of lenders. 3 September: RBI released the preliminary estimates, according to which, the household

financial savings in the country have successfully broken a five year trend over which the share of

financial savings was seen dipping. Financial savings stands for savings or investments done in

deposits, stocks, insurance, mutual funds, pension funds and other such instruments. Household

financial saving for 2014-15 placed at 7.5 % of India’s income as against 7.3% in 2013-14.

3 September: Global ratings agency Fitch, downgraded Punjab National Bank's Viability Rating

(VR) by one notch to ‘bb’ on account of the growing risk to the bank’s capital position from

mounting stock of stressed assets. It has been done to reflect the growing risk to the bank’s

capital position from its mounting stock of stressed assets, which has risen at a faster rate than its

capital replenishment. Fitch affirmed the Long Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at “BBB-” for

banks including State Bank of India (SBI), PNB, Canara Bank, IDBI Bank, ICICI Bank, Bank of

Baroda and its subsidiary in New Zealand.

NATION THIS MONTH

30 September: Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu launched a Railway Portal

for dissemination of detailed information on Indian Railways. 'Indian Railway Knowledge

Portal' which is accessible at www.kportal.indianrailways.gov.in is an initiative of the

National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR) which allows the user to access most of the

available knowledge about Indian Railways at one location due to linkage of websites,

documents and much more. National Informatics Centre (NIC) has clustered all the

libraries to a single interface via e-Granthalaya.

30 September: Gujarat Tourism Policy for 2015-20 was unveiled by state tourism

Minister Saurabh Patel. In this policy, the state govt. accorded industry status to tourism

for the first time. The policy document pegs the investment potential in the tourism

sector in the state at $4 billion or around Rs. 26,000 crore by 2025.

28 September: Government has decided to appoint NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind

Panagariya as the Sherpa for G-20 talks, replacing Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. The

next G20 Leaders' Summit is scheduled on November 15-16 at Antalya in Turkey.

26 September: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani has been

named India's richest for ninth year in a row with a net worth of $18.9 billion, while

ecommerce giant Flipkart's co-founders Sachin and Binni Bansal made their debut at

86th position on the 'India top 100 rich list' released by Forbes magazine. Ambani was

followed by Sun Pharma's Dilip Shanghvi as the second richest, while Wipro's Azim

Premji retained his third place. The combined wealth of India's 100 richest persons

remained largely unchanged at $345 billion, compared with $346 billion in 2014.

26 September: Rajasthan government passed first-of-its-kind of legislative bill that

provides 14% reservation (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutes in the State and



of Appointments and Posts in Services under the State) for economically backward

classes (EBCs). According to Rajasthan Economically Backward Classes Bill 2015, criterion

for reservation in the EBC category will be purely economic and not caste-based,

enabling the poor among upper castes to be eligible for quotas in government jobs and

educational institutions.

26 September: Yudhvir Singh Malik, who presided over the ban of Nestlé India’s Maggi

noodles as chief executive officer of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India

(FSSAI), has been transferred to NITI Aayog as additional secretary. Malik is a Haryana

cadre IAS officer of the 1983 batch.

26 September: The Rajasthan Assembly passed the Rajasthan Special Backward Classes

Bill, 2015 that provides 5% reservation (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutes in

the State and of Appointments and Posts in Services under the State) quota for Gujjars

and some other communities under special backward classes (SBC).

24 September: India and the US have signed a significant MoU on energy security,

climate change and clean energy which reflects the commitment of the two countries to

make the Paris summit later this year a success. India's Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj

and US Secretary of State John Kerry co-chaired the first India-US Strategic and

Commercial Dialogue at Washington. In a joint declaration issued in Washington India

and the US have agreed to increase their level of cooperation to fight the menace of

terrorism.

24 September: The Ministry of Women and Child Development has signed a

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Vedanta to develop and modernise 4000

Anganwadis in the country. Vedanta will build the ‘next generation’ Anganwadi centres,

for which they will commits Rs. 400cr. These anganwadi centres will be built in the

states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,

Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh among others. These

model Anganwadis will be built in clusters of 25-30 in a particular district with

multifunctional capabilities.

23 September: The Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of Indian Sign Language

Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) as a Society under the Societies Registration Act,

1860. The ISLRTC will be under the aegis of the Department of Empowerment of Persons

with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. It shall be located initially at

the Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya Institute for the Physically Handicapped, New Delhi.

22 September: The Telangana government has decided to enhance the relief amount

being paid to families of farmers who committed suicide due to farm distress to 6 lakh

rupees from the present one lakh fifty thousand rupees.

21 September: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which issues

Aadhaar cards to Indian citizens, has been shifted to the administrative control of the



Ministry of Communication and Information Technology from Niti Aayog, keeping in

mind the government's ambitious 'Digital India' programme as the Aadhaar numbers are

being linked with several services. The Cabinet Secretariat has amended Government of

India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 and put it under Department of Electronics

and Information Technology (DeITy), Ministry of Communication and Information

Technology

21 September: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ambitious Integrated Power

Development Scheme (IPDS) on the occasion of his visit to Varanasi, his Lok Sabha

constituency. Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) is one of the flagship

schemes of the Ministry of Power and will be at the core attempt to ensure 24×7 power

for all by 2022. Rs. 45,000 crore will be spend on the scheme.

21 September: The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi launched a significant financial

inclusion initiative in Varanasi. A total of 101 e-rickshaws, 501 pedal rickshaws, and

push-carts are being given as part of this initiative. The beneficiaries will also get bank

accounts and RuPay cards under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. The initiative has

been synergized through various financial institutions including SIDBI, IDBI Bank, UCO

Bank and the American India Foundation.

19 September: The Central Government announced the launch of the Pradhan Mantri

Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY). This is a new programme meant to provide for

the welfare of areas and people affected by mining related operations, using the funds

generated by District Mineral Foundations (DMFs). The objective of PMKKKY scheme will

be (a) to implement various developmental and welfare projects/programs in mining

affected areas; (b) to minimize/mitigate the adverse impacts, during and after mining,

on the environment, health and socio-economics of people in mining districts; and (c) to

ensure long-term sustainable livelihoods for the affected people in mining areas.

18 September: Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya launched three mobile based

services -- a Mobile Application, SMS-based UAN (Universal Account Number) Activation

and Missed Call service -- for the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members. The

members would be able to activate their UAN accounts from the comfort of their

mobile phones and can also access their accounts for viewing their monthly credits

through the passbook as well as view their details available with EPFO. This app can be

downloaded from the website. These services will help nearly 3.54 crore contributing

members, 49.22 lakh pensioners and 6.1 lakh employers.

18 September: In Madhya Pradesh, the state government has launched M-Shiksha-

Mitra mobile app to provide various services and teaching-related work to teachers in

simple and easy way. Madhya Pradesh is the first state to develop such an app for

teachers. A number of facilities have been given in the Shiksha-Mitra mobile app, which



has been developed by the NIC. Teachers can use this app to browse salary slips, funds

sent to school under various heads, scholarships, different circulars and GPF statement.

17 September: In an ambitious bid to transform rural areas to economically, socially and

physically sustainable spaces, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra

Modi approved the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) with an outlay of

Rs. 5142.08 crores. The Mission aims at development of rural growth clusters which

have latent potential for growth, in all States and UTs, which would trigger overall

development in the region.

17 September: Tamil Nadu state government announced making it mandatory for all

high rise buildings in the state to have solar power generation facility. This

announcement was made in the Tamil Nadu Assembly by Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.

Under it all new multi-storey buildings (more than four floors) will have to establish

solar power generation facility. The rule would be applicable to all group developments

(with more than eight dwelling units) also. In effect, it will cover almost 90% of

residential and commercial developments in cities like Chennai and Coimbatore. This is

being seen as the first-of-its-kind initiative in urban solar power plants.

16 September: Gujarat emerged as number 1 state in ease of doing business with

71.14% according to World Bank report. Andhra Pradesh followed Gujarat with 70.12%.

Jharkhand is on the third place. Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are at 4th and 5th

spots, respectively. Arunachal Pradesh is ranked the last with 1.23%. This is World

Bank’s first ever ranking of States on the ease of doing business in India.

16 September: RailTel of the Indian Railways partnered with Google to provide free Wi-

Fi services under Project Nilgiri. Under this initiative, free Wi-Fi services will be provided

to passengers in 400 railway stations across the country. Users will be able to access

high speed internet for the first 30 minutes by using One Time Password (OTP)

generated for this purpose. After 30 minutes, the speed will drop and become slow. The

project employs Google’s Fiber technology under which the company provides internet

services up to a speed of 1 Gbps. Google Fiber was launched in 2010 and the service is

available only in the USA.

16 September: The Centre has decided to provide additional 50 days of work to farmers

in drought-hit areas under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

(MGNREGA) scheme. The decision was taken to provide relief to farmers in view of the

deficit monsoon in various parts of the country. At present, 100 days of work is provided

to rural job card holders under MGNREGA.

14 September: Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to submit State

Annual Action Plan under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation

(AMRUT) targeting universal coverage in respect of water supply connections and

sewerage connections to all urban households in the state. The State Government has



proposed projects under these two categories worth Rs.1,087 cr for approval by the

Union Urban Development Ministry during the current financial year. Under the State

Annual Action Plan, AMRUT projects are proposed to be taken up in 13 of the 28 AMRUT

cities in Rajasthan.

12 September: Rajasthan government signed 9 MoUs worth Rs. 30,530 crore with nine

petroleum companies. These companies are - Cairn India Limited, GSPL Gasnet India Ltd,

Focus Energy Limited, GAIL (India) Pvt Ltd, Rajasthan State Gas Limited, IOCL, ONGC, OIL

and Deep Industries Ltd. The investment plan of the MOUs will be implemented during

the period of three years ranging from 2015 to 2018. These MOUs will facilitate city gas

distribution, pipeline network and terminals for exploration as well as production

activities.

12 September: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a Hindi networking site,

'Mooshak' envisaged on the lines of popular English social media platform Twitter in the

10th World Hindi Conference. This new networking site is targeted at Hindi language

buffs. According to the Hindi networking site's CEO Anurag Gaud the word limit on

Twitter is 140, while in 'Mooshak' it is 500 words. 'Mooshak' can be accessed on smart-

phones by downloading it from Google Play Store or visiting its website of the same

name. The Madhya Pradesh capital is hosting the 10th World Hindi Conference from

September 10 to 12. The three-day meet is being organised by the Ministry of External

Affairs in partnership with the Government of Madhya Pradesh.

11 September: In an important initiative, the Union Govt. set an ambitious literacy

target to achieve 100% literacy in villages adopted under the Sansad Adarsh Gram

Yojana (SAGY) by March 2016. This announcement was made by Union Human Resource

Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Irani during a function. In this function President

Pranab Mukherjee felicitated Tamil Nadu as the ‘best performing state’ for its literacy

related efforts.

11 September: Andhra Pradesh Govt. created history by taking the first step to link two

mighty rivers of the state, Godavari and Krishna. Andhra Pradesh government took first

step to link Godavari and Krishna rivers as water from Godavari river was diverted from

Tadepudi reservoir to facilitate supply to the Krishna river. This water would later be

supplied to the Delta region. About 600 cusecs of water from Godavari has been

diverted to Krishna. The linking of Godavari and Krishna is being seen as a major help for

the delta region and drought-proofing water-short Rayalaseema region of the state.

10 September: Haryana became the second in the country after Rajasthan to fix the

minimum educational qualification for elections to the Panchayati Raj institutions. The

Haryana State Assembly passed a bill – the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill,

2015, for fixing the minimum educational qualification for elections to the Panchayati

Raj institutions. The Bill fixed, matriculation as essential qualification for general



candidates contesting the Panchayat elections while the qualification for the women

(general) and Scheduled Caste candidate will be middle standard (VIII). However, in case

of a woman candidate belonging to SC category contesting election for the post of

Panch, the minimum qualification shall be V pass.

7 September: The government announced the implementation of the One Rank One

Pension or OROP for ex army servicemen. The base year of One Rank One Pension will

be 2013. Benefit of OROP will be given with effect from July 1, 2014. Arrears to be paid

from July 2014 and on 4-half-yearly basis. Pension will be revised after every 5 years.

5 September: Bengaluru has for the first time overtaken Mumbai in unsold housing

units and thus become the city with the second-highest residential real estate inventory

overhang after the National Capital Region. This was disclosed by JLL India, a private

entity with interests in real estate. With more than 84,000 unsold housing units by the

end of the second quarter (April-June) of 2015 Bengaluru has surpassed Mumbai for the

first time.

4 September: Union Government announced landmark and first-of-its-kind reform

associated with oil and natural sector. It announced that it will now auction previously

allotted small oil and gas fields to private firms. In a huge reform for country’s oil and

gas sector, Union Oil and Natural Gas Ministry announced that it will, for the first time,

auction 69 small and marginal oil and gas fields surrendered by state-run explorers like

ONGC. The government hopes to raise Rs. 70,000 crore from the sale. The government

expects private companies to boost output from the areas that hold resources of more

than $10 billion.

4 September: In order to enable seamless travel by different metros and other transport

systems across the country, the Ministry of Urban Development has come out with a

smart National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) model which will be inter-operable

across different transport systems in the country. This card will also enable retail

shopping and purchases. Minister of Urban Development M.Venkaiah Naidu has

approved the ‘EMV Open Loop Card with stored value’ in this regard. National Payments

Corporation of India (NPCI) is being given the task of establishing a robust payment

system for this proposed card initiative.

2 September: Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was given the additional

charge of the Law Ministry of the city. Sisodia, who is the third person to hold charge of

the portfolio in less than seven months, will replace Kapil Mishra. Kapil Mishra, an MLA

from Karawal Nagar, was handing the Law Ministry portfolio ever since Jitendra Singh

Tomar was arrested in a fake degree case in June 2015. Mishra will continue as Minister

for Water and Tourism and Delhi Jal Board’s chairman.

2 September: Union Government identified 305 cities and towns spread across nine

states of the country for implementation of its ambitious ‘Housing for All’ scheme under



which assistance of over Rs. 2 lakh crore would be provided over the next 6 years for

enabling two crore urban poor own their own houses. The selected cities and towns are

in Chhattisgarh (36 cities/towns), Gujarat (30), Jammu and Kashmir (19), Jharkhand (15),

Kerala (15), Madhya Pradesh (74), Odisha (42), Rajasthan (40) and Telangana (34).

Under ‘Housing for All’ scheme, two crore houses are targeted to be built for the poor in

urban areas by year 2022, coinciding with 75 years of Independence. ‘Housing for All’

scheme was launched as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

on 25 June 2015.

1 September: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the digital version of Tulsidas's

'Ramcharitmanas'. This digital compilation of epic Ramcharitmanas has been done by All

India Radio (AIR). India's family values are admired by the world and Ramcharitmanas

speaks about family values.

1 September: In line with Digital India Vision envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra

Modi, Minister of state(I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan

launched Sahaj - the on line release of new LPG connections, through the portal

mylpg.in to enable customers to register for new LPG connections online, as well as

make on line payments for the same. At present, the scheme will be available in 13

cities of the country.

GLOBE- TROT THIS MONTH

30 September: NASSCOM, TiE and IIM Ahmedabad’s CIIE India hosted the first 'India-U.S.

StartUp Konnect 2015' programme in the Silicon Valley, to highlight the strengths of the Indian

startup ecosystem. With an aim to boost startups in various organizations in India and the US

seven MoUs were signed. During the programme Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the

Bharat Fund. It is aimed at providing seed funding to Indian entrepreneurs.

30 September: Google has announced its plans to make Internet accessible to one crore

passengers at 100 busiest railway stations in India by the end of 2016 and will later expand it to

400 other stations, making it one of the largest public Wi-Fi projects in the world. This

announcement was made by Google CEO Sundar Pichai during the visit of Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi to Google's US headquarters in Mountain View, California.

29 September: The Group of Four (G4) Summit took place in New York after almost a decade

which involves Japan, Germany, India and Brazil as its members, formed with the main objective

of supporting each other’s bid for permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council

(UNSC). G4 Summit was attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President

Dilma Rousseff, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The

leaders emphasized that the G4 countries are legitimate candidates for permanent membership

in Security Council.

28 September: China successfully launched a new model of carrier rocket Long March-11 for

sending four micro satellites into space from the country's northwestern province. The rocket



will mainly be used for launching micro-satellites. The successful launch of the rocket marked a

major breakthrough for the nation in key technology for solid propellant rockets. The trip was

the 211th mission for the Long March rocket family.

28 September: The 193 member states of the United Nations adopted new Sustainable

Development Goals (SDG) to replace the expiring Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at UN

Sustainable Development Summit in New York. 17 broad goals and 169 specific targets are there

in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The new goals primarily expect to reduce world

poverty, improve health and education and quell climate change. SDGs are expected to be

achieved by year 2030. They replaced the eight Millennium Development Goals adopted at a UN

summit in 2000.

28 September: The 9th Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (RPBD) will be held at Los Angeles,

California, USA from 14 November to 15 November 2015. The Theme of 9th RPBD will be – The

Indian Diaspora: Defining a New Paradigm in India-US Relationship.

26 September: India has slipped in global rankings on broadband penetration but has made

slight progress in the percentage of individuals using internet in the country. The UN Broadband

Commission released ‘The State of Broadband’ report, in which India ranked 131 out of 189

countries on fixed-broadband subscriptions in 2014, a drop from the 125th rank a year before.

On active mobile-broadband subscriptions, India ranked 155, a significant drop from the 113th

rank in 2013. India ranked 136th in individuals using the Internet in 2014, an improvement over

the 142nd rank in 2013

23 September: The World Bank’s investment arm International Finance Corporation (IFC) has

invested $145 million (around Rs 950 crore) in six of the 10 companies that have been granted

small finance bank licences with a collective client base of nine million. IFCs investments in

Equitas, Ujjivan, Suryoday, Utkarsh, AU Financiers and Janalakshmi were made through debt and

equity mainly during 2010-2012. IFC’s shareholding is in the range of 10-15 per cent because the

institution generally does not take more than 20 per cent stake in the companies it invests in.

23 September: Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras stormed back into office on 21 September with an

unexpectedly decisive election victory claiming a clear mandate to steer Greece's battered

economy to recovery. The vote ensured Europe's most outspoken leftist leader would remain

Greece's dominant political figure, despite having been abandoned by party radicals last month

after he caved in to demands for austerity to win a bailout from the euro zone.

23 September: According to a report titled "International Migration Outlook 2015" which was

released on 22 September, one in ten new immigrants to developed countries in 2013 was from

China. Immigration flows from India were comparatively low; despite being the next largest

country, India made up only 4.4 per cent of new migrants and was in fourth position after

Poland and Romania. This report was released by Organisation for Economic Cooperation and

Development’s (OECD). Germany is now second only to the United States in the number of

migrants it receives.

21 September: Hamid Ansari, who arrived in Laos for a two-day visit, the first by an Indian Vice

President to this country, held talks with his counterpart Bounnhang Vorachith. Two MoUs,



including one on "quick impact projects" and another on air services agreement, were signed

between the two sides after the talks.

21 September: Chinese and Malaysian armed forces launched their first joint military exercise,

aiming to deepen all-round strategic partnership between the two countries. The drill is coded

"Peace and Friendship 2015" and it is being conducted in the Malacca Strait and surrounding

waters.

21 September: Metro Man E. Sreedharan has been invited to the United Nations' High Level

Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport (HLAG-ST). Sreedharan, the Principal Advisor to Delhi

Metro Rail Corporation, has been invited by the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

to serve on his HLAG-ST. The service is for a period of three years and Sreedharan has accepted

the offer.

19 September: India and the US have created a "joint challenge coin" to symbolise their unique

partnership in creating a next-generation aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy. One side of the

coin reads "Forward Together We Go" and "Chale Chale Saath Saath" in Hindi; which is the

vision statement of US President Barack Obama Prime Minister Narendra Modi, issued in their

first meeting at the White House last September. The other side of this coin, which is golden in

colour, has the flags of India and the United States and an aircraft carrier floating on blue water.

The "joint challenge coin" was created by the joint working group at their first meeting in US last

month "to symbolise partnership".

18 September: The OECD cut its world economic growth forecasts for 2015 and 2016, warning

of a dramatic slowdown in Brazil and a global outlook clouded by uncertainty over China. The

OECD trimmed its world growth forecast for this year to 3.0 per cent, lopping 0.1 percentage

points off its previous estimate made in June. For the world economy in 2016, the OECD

lowered the outlook to growth of 3.6 per cent, a reduction of 0.2 percentage points from three

months ago.

17 September: India and Sri Lanka signed four pacts during the talks held between visiting Sri

Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The MoUs are

exchange of letters on establishment of emergency ambulance services in Sri Lanka and supply

of medical equipment to 200 bed ward complex at district hospital, Vavuniya in Sri Lanka,

cooperation of exchange of SAARC region satellite technology and rejuvenation of small

industries program with the patronage of Indian government. The two countries agreed to

intensify cooperation in combating terrorism and work together for security and stability in the

neighbourhood.

17 September: India and Cambodia have signed two agreements relating to Tourism and

Mekong Ganga Cooperation Project. The agreements were signed after Vice-President Md.

Hamid Ansari held delegation-level parleys with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the the

Peace Palace in Phnom Penh. Vice-President Mohd. Hamid Ansari is on a four day visit to the

South East Asian countries of Cambodia and Laos.

17 September: The Pentagon, the headquarters for U.S. defence establishment, set up a first-

ever country specific special cell with the objective of speeding up its defence ties with India.

India Rapid Reaction Cell (IRRC) – the first-ever country special cell at Pentagon was established



to speed up United States’ defence ties with India and accelerate the process of co-development

and co-production of hi-tech military equipment in the country. It is headed by Keith Webster,

Under Defence Department.

16 September: Malcolm Turnbull, a former Liberal Party leader and Communications Minister,

became Australia’s fourth Prime Minister in after Tony Abbott lost a leadership ballot by

members of his party. The members of the ruling Liberal Party voted 54 to 44 to replace Abbott

with Turnball.

15 September: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong registered a landslide victory in the

general election held in the country. His party returned to the power with a massive mandate

for the 12th time since Singapore attained independence. People’s Action Party (PAP) has ruled

Singapore since it attained Independence some 50 years ago. The People’s Action Party (PAP)

won an absolute majority of 83 seats in the 89-member Parliament. The PAP’s main rival – the

Workers’ Party, ended up with just six seats, less than the seven it held in the outgoing

parliament.

15 September: Egypt's Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab and his entire cabinet resigned after 15

months in office following corruption allegations. While accepting Mahlab's resignation,

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi asked outgoing petroleum minister Sherif Ismail to form a new

government within a week. Sisi told the cabinet to remain in a caretaker role until a new cabinet

was formed.

14 September: The UN General Assembly gave its overwhelming approval to a Palestinian

resolution which permits the flag of Palestine to fly at the UN Headquarters in New York, despite

this country not being a member of the UN. There were 119 votes in favour out of 193 UN

members while the United States and Israel were among eight countries that voted against the

Palestinian-drafted resolution. Palestine described this as a major step toward full UN

membership. Most of the 28-nation European Union were among the 45 nations that abstained

from voting.

14 September: India and Australia began their first bilateral naval exercise that will focus on

anti-submarine warfare as the two countries look at deepening defence cooperation especially

in the Indian Ocean. AUSINDEX-15 is being conducted off the east coast of India from September

11-19.

12 September: The Indian government has approved the purchase of 10 missile-armed drones

from Israel — a crucial acquisition that will enhance India's cross-border military strike

capability. Government approved this $400-million proposal for buying armed Heron TP drones

from Israel. These drones will be operated by the Indian Air Force.

12 September: India and Indonesia signed a pact for repatriation of wanted prisoners and

cooperation in all criminal matters including gathering evidence. In this regard, Union Ministry

of Home Affairs issued an official gazette notification for service or execution of summons or

warrant in relation to criminal matters in both countries. Under the agreement, India will

execute summons to an accused person or to any person requiring to attend and produce

documents or a search-warrant issued by an Indonesian court. While, Indonesia will reciprocate

with similar action, if there is any request from any Indian court.



11 September: Japan has agreed to modernize 400 railway stations across the country while

participating in Indian Railways’ USD 140 billion investment over the next five years. A Japanese

delegation will soon visit India to study the opportunities for industries in the railway station

development plan of railways as the public transporter has identified 400 stations to be

upgraded in private investment.

9 September: India gave the first tranche of $500,000 for Syrians in distress and displaced

from their homes. The Indian ambassador to Jordan Anil Trigunayat gave the money to the

Jordanian government which is coordinating relief for the Syrian refugees. India had promised

$2 million for humanitarian assistance to Syrians in March. This was the first portion of that

commitment.

9 September: Seven Indians feature in Forbes Asia's ninth Heroes of Philanthropy list,

highlighting most noteworthy contributions to philanthropy from 13 countries across Asia

Pacific. Of them, four are co-founders of Infosys, one of India's largest information technology

(IT) services company. These are Senapathy Gopalakrishnan, Nandan Nilekani and S.D. Shibulal

and N.R. Narayana. Kerala-born Dubai entrepreneur Sunny Varkey, tops the list of

philanthropists in the region. The other two Indian philanthropists are brothers Suresh

Ramakrishnan and Mahesh Ramakrishnan.

9 September: India has been ranked very low, mostly in the bottom half, globally on most of the

parameters for inclusive growth and development. India's overall place in the Global

Competitiveness Index 2014–2015 rankings is 71 out of 144 countries. In areas like corruption

and rent India comes at 8th. For business and political ethics, India ranks 12th, while it ranks

11th on the financial intermediation of real economy investment pillar. India has mostly been

ranked in the bottom half of the 38 countries that make up our lower middle income bracket.

Particularly disappointing is its position in terms of Fiscal Transfers, where it ranks 37th out of

38. It also ranks very low at 32nd for Tax Code and 36th for social protection.

9 September: G20 formed a new group named 'W20' with the objective to empower women

and to boost the role of women in global economic growth. W20 was formed as a grouping of

female leaders to work towards empowering women and ensuring their participation in

economic growth. It would work as an outreach group and seek to promote gender

inclusiveness in economic growth process by empowering women. Gulden Turktan of Turkey

was appointed as the first President of W20. All G20 countries are now expected nominate their

members for the grouping.

8 September: To safeguard minority shareholders' interests and promote capital market as a

key platform to raise funds, G20 and OECD announced new Corporate Governance Principles for

listed companies and regulators in all member countries including India. The new global

principles were released on the sidelines of the G20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central

Bankers (Ankara, Turkey) being attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and RBI chief

Raghuram Rajan. The new code calls for enhanced cross-border cooperation among regulators,

including through bilateral and multilateral arrangements.

8 September: In a significant development in the ongoing European migrant crisis, Germany

and Austria opened their borders to thousands of refugees. Both Germany and Austria threw



open their borders to thousands of refugees as after days of confrontation and chaos, Hungary’s

government deployed over 100 buses overnight to take thousands of refugees to the Austrian

frontier. From Austria these migrants entered Germany, with over 1,000 arriving by special

trains in Munich. The migrant crisis of 2015 has become Europe’s most acute refugee crisis since

the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s.

5 September: The leaders of Japan, China and South Korea signed an agreement to hold a three-

nation summit. Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Park Geun-hye met in

Beijing where they agreed to hold a summit with Japan in late October or early November in

South Korea. The first ever talks between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South

Korean President Park Geun-hye on the sidelines of the trilateral summit will also be held.

4 September: India and Australia decided to deepen their bilateral defence partnership by

taking a slew of fresh initiatives including setting up of a joint working group on defence

research and material cooperation. It was also decided that India will take part in the first ever

air exercise with Australia. This is in addition to the first-ever bilateral naval exercise that is

scheduled to be held later in the month of September. The decisions came following the

delegation-level talks between visiting Australian Defence Minister Kevin Andrews and his Indian

counterpart Manohar Parrikar.

4 September: China, a country with the world's largest Army (People's Liberation Army) will cut

its number of troops by 300,000. This was announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping, as he

kicked off a massive military parade marking 70 years since the end of World War Two in Asia.

While making the announcement Xi said that China will always go down the path of peaceful

development. Also, it wants the whole world to progress on the path of development.

APPOINTMENTS/RESIGNATIONS THIS MONTH

30 September: Consequent upon the demise of Dr. Syed Ahmed, Governor of Manipur,

and the President of India has appointed V. Shanmuganathan, Governor of Meghalaya,

to discharge the functions of the Governor of Manipur, in addition to his own duties,

until regular arrangements are made.

29 September: Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been appointed as

brand ambassador of Jharkhand Tourism. Chief Minister Raghubar Das announced this

during 'Unexplored Jharkhand 2015' programme organised on the occasion of World

Tourism Day on 27th September.

28 September: The Ministry of External Affairs appointed new Indian envoys to

Pakistan, China, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United Nations (UN) in a major

reshuffle. Navtej Sarna will be the new High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He

succeeded Ranjan Mathai. Gautam Bambawale (India's Ambassador to Bhutan) will take

over as High Commissioner to Pakistan. He succeeded T.C.A. Raghavan. Syed Akbaruddin

will be the next Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, New York. He

will replace Asoke Mukerji. Vijay Gokhale (India's Ambassador to Germany) will be the



Ambassador to China. He succeeded Ashok Kantha. Anil Wadhwa (Secretary (East)) will

be the new Ambassador to Rome. Pankaj Saran will replace P.S. Raghavan as the

Ambassador of Moscow. Harsh V. Shringla (Indian Ambassador to Bangkok) will serve as

High Commissioner to Bangladesh. Sujan Chinoy (Indian Ambassador to Mexico) will

now be the Ambassador to Japan and replace Deepa Wadhwa.

28 September: Matthias Muller was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of

Volkswagen Group. He succeeded Martin Winterkorn who resigned following the

revelation that the German carmaker manipulated US diesel car emissions tests.

28 September: Senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui has been elected as President of

Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) after an election held as per directions of the Supreme

Court. Siddiqui defeated Vinod Kumar, a former president of BCA, by a margin of 30

votes. 28 September: Sourav Ganguly has been appointed as the President of Cricket

Association of Bengal (CAB) succeeding Jagmohan Dalmiya as announced by West

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Jagmohan Dalmiya passed away recently.

Sourav Ganguly is the former Indian cricket captain.

26 September: The All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF) has appointed

Sreedhar GV as Chairman. Sreedhar, who was the former Director and Vice Chairman of

GJF.

26 September: Women and Child Development Ministry has appointed Stuti Narain

Kacker as Head of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). Kacker, a

1978 batch IAS officer, retired as Secretary from Disability Affairs, in the Ministry of

Social Justice and Empowerment. The Chairperson's position fell vacant after the tenure

of Kushal Singh ended in October 2014.

24 September: Zayn Khan was unanimously elected as the President of the Federation

of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI). His appointment was necessitated by the death

of R. Bharath Raj, who passed away while serving as President on August 15.

24 September: Raman Agarwal has been appointed the new Chairman of Finance

Industry Development Council (FIDC). FIDC is a Representative-cum-Self Regulatory

Organisation of Non-Banking Finance Companies and associated with asset-financing.

23 September: Information technology major Infosys has won an Rs 1,400-crore

contract from GST Network (GST-N) to build the IT system so that the goods and

services tax (GST) regime is rolled out on schedule. Navin Kumar has been appointed as

Chairman of GST-N. The company is supposed to lay the IT-backbone to implement the

GST regime. Once the backbone is ready, Infosys will operate it for five years.

23 September: John T. Chambers, Executive Chairman of Cisco, has been elected as the

new chairman of the US India Business Council (USIBC), the apex advocacy group for

India and American companies in the US. The transition will come at the end of a four-



year term of Ajay Banga, president and CEO of MasterCard. Banga has been its longest-

serving chairman.

22 September: Raman Agarwal has been appointed the new Chairman of Finance

Industry Development Council (FIDC). FIDC is a Representative-cum-Self Regulatory

Organisation of Non-Banking Finance Companies and associated with asset-financing.

21 September: P.V. Chandran was elected President of the Indian Newspaper Society

(INS) for 2015-16. The annual general meeting of the INS chose him to succeed Kiran B.

Vadodaria. Chandran is the Managing Director and a whole-time director of the

Mathrubhumi group of publications.

18 September: A 43-year-old Indian-origin British MP Seema Malhotra has been

appointed as the shadow chief secretary for Treasury by the newly elected Labour

leader Jeremy Corbyn. Seema Malhotra became MP for the London seat of Feltham and

Heston in 2011 in a by-election following the death of Alan Keen (Conservative). In

August 2014, she was given the newly-created role of shadow minister for preventing

violence against women and girls by the then Labour leader Ed Miliband. She will be

shadow Chancellor John McDonnell's Assistant in the shadow Treasury team.

15 September: Hormusji N. Cama, Director of Bombay Samachar and Riyad Mathew,

Director of Malayala Manorama, were unanimously elected Chairman and Vice

Chairman respectively of the Press Trust of India (PTI). Cama, whose daily is the oldest

continuously-published newspaper in India from 1855, succeeds Mahendra Mohan

Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of the Jagran Prakashan. Mathew succeeds him

as the Vice Chairman.

14 September: Qatar's emir has appointed an ambassador to Iraq, the first since the

embassy was closed 25 years ago, in the latest sign of a thaw in relations between Gulf

Arab countries and Iraq. The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani had issued

a decree appointing Zayed al-Khayareen as Qatar's ambassador to Iraq.

11 September: An outstanding scientist, J. Manjula has been appointed the first woman

Director General of the Defence Research and Development Organization's Electronics

and Communication Systems (ECS) cluster. Manjula was the first woman director of the

DRDO's Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE) from 2014. Manjula will

succeed K.D. Nayak.

11 September: Chennai native Mahesh Ramanujam has been named the new CEO of

the prestigious US Green Building Council (USGBC), a non-profit organisation that

promotes sustainability in how buildings are designed, built, and operated. Ramanujam

would replace Rick Fedrizzi, the co-founder of USGBC and current CEO after he steps

down at the end of 2016.

9 September: Agriculture expert Ramesh Chand has been appointed as new member of

the Niti Aayog. Chand is the third member to join the government's think tank which has



replaced the erstwhile planning commission. The Aayog, which is headed by eminent

economist Arvind Panagariya (Vice Chairman), has two other members—economist

Bibek Debroy and former DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat.

9 September: The Jammu and Kashmir government appointed Brij Raj Sharma as the

new chief secretary, ending the administrative inertia that hit the state after

Muhammad Iqbal Khandey chose to seek voluntary retirement (VRS) three months prior

to his superannuation. Sharma, a 1984 batch IAS officer, would remain the chief

secretary till 2020.

5 September: Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre was sworn in as new president of

Guatemala following the resignation of Otto Perez Molina. Otto Perez Molina resigned

from the Presidential post as he involved in a corruption case. Aguirre will complete

Perez's remaining term of office till January 14, 2016 and hand over power to the

winning candidate after elections.

5 September: Dinesh Kumar Likhi took charge as the Chairman-cum-Managing Director

(CMD) of Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (MIDHANI). Prior to this appointment, he was

Director (Production & Marketing) of MIDHANI itself. Likhi succeeded M. Narayana Rao.

5 September: Girish Shankar took charge of Secretary, Department of Official Language

under the Ministry of Home Affairs. A 1982 batch IAS officer of Bihar Cadre, Shankar was

working as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism. He replaces Sanjay Kumar

Srivastava who has joined as Secretary, Coordination and Public Grievances in the

Cabinet Secretariat.

5 September: Vinod Dasari has been appointed as President of the Society of Indian

Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), an automobile industry body. Dasari is the Managing

Director of Ashok Leyland. Arvind Saxena, President of General Motors India, has been

elected as the Vice-President of the organisation. SIAM is the apex Industry body

representing leading vehicle and vehicular engine manufacturers in India.

4 September: NTPC's Director (Technical) A.K. Jha has taken the additional charge of the

post of the Chairman & Managing Director, NTPC. A.K. Jha succeeded Arup Roy

Choudhury. After refusing extension to Arup Roy Choudhury as CMD of NTPC, the

government has decided to give the additional charge to Jha for three months from

September 1 as an interim arrangement. A search committee headed by Power

Secretary P.K. Pujari is currently looking for a full-time CMD for NTPC.

3 September: Nuclear safety expert Shiv Abhilash Bhardwaj has been appointed as the

new chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERD). Bhardwaj took over from

Satinder Singh Bajaj who was steering the organisation since January 2010. A post

graduate in mechanical engineering, Bhardwaj was earlier with Department of Atomic

Energy (DAE) and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). He is a recipient of



Indian Nuclear Society award for outstanding achievement in nuclear technology

including nuclear safety.

3 September: Noted scientist S.A.V. Satya Murty has been appointed as Director of

Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam. Murty, a Gold Medalist

from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada, currently serves Electronics

and Instrumentation and Radiological Safety Group as its Director, an official release

said. Murty succeeds P.R. Vasudeva Rao.

2 September: Ahead of beginning of work on the Budget for 2016-17, government

designated Ratan P. Watal as new Finance Secretary even as a new team of officials took

charge at the finance ministry. Shaktikanta Das, 58, took charge as the Secretary for

Department of Economic Affairs after Rajiv Mehrishi on his last day in office was

appointed Home Secretary for a two-year tenure. Das, who was Revenue Secretary, has

been succeeded by Hasmukh Adhia. Adhia, who held the post of Secretary in the

Department of Financial Services, passed on the baton to Anjuly Chib Duggal

2 September: Senior IAS officer Raghav Chandra has taken over as the Chairman of the

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Chandra succeeds Road Transport and

Highways Secretary Vijay Chhibber who was given the additional charge of the key post

in June this year for three months after relinquishment of charge by former Chairman

R.P. Singh on completion of his tenure. Raghav Chandra is an IAS Officer of the 1982

batch Madhya Pradesh who has held important positions in the central government and

the Government of Madhya Pradesh.

2 September: The government appointed outgoing Home Secretary L.C. Goyal as the

Chairman and Managing Director of India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO). The

Prime Minister approved the appointment of L.C. Goyal (1979 batch Karnataka cadre IAS

officer) as Chairman and Managing Director, India Trade Promotion Organisation.

Earlier, Goyal had sought an early retirement, 17 months ahead of schedule, for

personal reasons which was approved by the government.

1 September: Senior bureaucrat Rajiv Mehrishi has been appointed country's new

Home Secretary. Mehrishi, a 1978 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre succeeded L.C.

Goyal who requested for voluntary retirement (VRS) which has been approved by Prime

Minister. Rajiv Mehrishi was Finance Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs,

Finance Ministry. He was due to retire on 31 August but has been given a two-year

extension by the government after it decided to post him on the post of Home

Secretary.

14 September: The First Minister of Northern Ireland resigned. Peter Robinson stepped

aside and pulled ministers out of the government – plunging the province back into



political crisis. The mass walk out was sparked by the murder of ex-IRA man Kevin

McGuigan in Belfast last month.

11 September: Australia's veteran wicketkeeper/batsman Brad Haddin announced his

retirement from international cricket at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Brad Haddin is the

fourth player to take retirement from Australian team which lost the Ashes series

against England. Before Haddin captain Michael Clarke, opener Chris Rogers and all-

rounder Shane Watson has already announced their retirement after losing the Ashes.

10 September: Hungary's Defense Minister Csaba Hende resigned after a national

Security Council meeting held to discuss the huge influx of refugees and migrants

arriving in the country. Prime Minister Viktor Orban accepted Hende's resignation and

appointed Istvan Simicsko, also a member of his Fidesz party as new Defence Minister of

the country.

5 September: Vijay Laxmi Joshi, in-charge of the Prime Minister's ambitious Clean India

Mission, has sought voluntary retirement from service. She has quit the Swachh Bharat

campaign as head even before one year of its completion. A 1980-batch IAS officer of

Gujarat cadre, was associated with Swachh Bharat campaign as Secretary of Ministry of

Drinking water and Sanitation. 57-year-old Joshi still has three years of service left.

AWARDS/HONOURS/WORLD TITLES/NEW DISCOVERIES THIS MONTH

30 September: Mathematician Jacob Tsimerman of the University of Toronto, Canada

was chosen for the prestigious 2015 SASTRA Ramanujan Prize. Tsimerman is currently

working as an Assistant Professor in the University of Toronto. He primarily conducts

research in Number Theory.

30 September: Bengali movie Kadambari has bagged two major awards at the

Washington DC South Asian Film Festival, including the best film honour and the best

actress trophy for Konkona Sen Sharma, while India's Oscars entry Court took home the

best director gong for Chaitanya Tamhane. ‘Kadambari’ is directed by Suman Ghosh.

29 September: Indian film talent Swara Bhaskar has won the Best Actress award at a

film festival in the capital city of Fujian province (China) for playing a mother to a

teenager in Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s directorial “Nil Battey Sannata” (The New Classmate).

She won the honour at the China's second Silk Road International Film Festival.

26 September: The government has decided to confer the Defence Research and

Development Organisation’s (DRDO’s) Lifetime Achievement Award for 2015 on V.S.

Arunachalam, formerly a scientific advisor to the defence minister, for his outstanding

contribution over several decades in the field of scientific research and technology.



26 September: Director Chaitanya Tamhane's debut Marathi movie Court was chosen as

India's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 88th Academy

Awards or 2016 Oscars. This year, the 17-member jury to choose the entry from India

was headed by veteran actor-filmmaker Amol Palekar.

26 September: A 13-year-old 9th class student from Odisha, Lalita Prasida Sripada Srisai

has won the Community Impact Award at the prestigious Google Science Fair in the 13-

15 years age category for developing a water purifier that works using waste corn cobs

and is very cost-effective.

24 September: Eminent Hindi writer Dr. Kamal Kishore Goenka was conferred with 24th

Vyaas Samman for the year 2014. He was awarded for his work 'Premchand ki

Kahaniyon ka Kaal Kramanusaar Adhyayan'. He was awarded a citation along with a cash

amount of 2.5 lakh rupees by eminent Hindi writer Prof. Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari.

24 September: PepsiCo CEO and chairman Indra Nooyi and HT Media Ltd chairperson

Shobhana Bhartia have been presented with the 2015 Global Leadership Award of the

US India Business Council (USIBC). They were honoured for their contributions and

commitment to driving a more inclusive global economy and for their roles as women

leaders.

22 September: Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus and actor Jeffrey Tambor won the Emmy

Awards in the Outstanding Lead female and male actor category in a Comedy Series at

the 67th annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. “Game of Thrones”

(HBO) won Best Drama Series and ‘‘Veep’’ won Best Comedy Series award.

19 September: Afghan refugee teacher Aqeela Asifi was awarded with the 2015 Nansen

Refugee Award by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Asifi

dedicated her life to bring education to refugee girls in Pakistan. Aqeela Asifi was

awarded for her brave and tireless dedication to education for Afghan refugee girls in

the Kot Chandana refugee village in Mianwali, Pakistan.

19 September: Swetha Prabhakaran, an Indian American 15 years old teen, was

awarded with the prestigious Champions of Change Award of US at the White House.

She is among 11 young women selected by the White House as Champions of Change.

Prabhakaran, a junior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in

Virginia, founded a non-profit organisation 'Everybody Code Now' to empower the next

generation of youth to become engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs.

19 September: Swami Vivekananda Airport (or Mana Airport) in Raipur has been

conferred the "Best Airport for National Tourism Award 2013-14" by the President of

India Pranab Mukherjee. This is the second consecutive year the award has been given

to Raipur airport. Raipur Airport proved to be the best airport of the country in Rest of

India category. Best Airport is select on the basis of tourism, infrastructure, design,

hygiene, management.



18 September: Indian-origin British author Sunjeev Sahota was among the 6 writers

short-listed for the prestigious Man Booker Prize 2015. Sunjeev Sahota was short-listed

for his book ‘The Year of the Runaways’, which centers around the lives of three Indian

men, one a Dalit and a woman, all migrants from India. This is the second year that the

prize has been open to writers of any nationality, writing in English and published in the

United Kingdom. Till 2014, the Booker Prize was open to authors only from the U.K. and

Commonwealth, Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe. 17 September: The Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) conferred the ‘Excellence in Golf in

2015′ award on 17-year-old Aditi Ashok in recognition of her recent achievements which

included winning the Singha Thailand Amateur Championship last week, the 2015 British

Ladies Amateur Strokeplay Championship and the prestigious 2015 St. Rule Trophy at St.

Andrews. KGA president Venkat Subramaniam presented the local golfer an award at

the prize distribution ceremony of the seventh Toyota Karnataka Golf Festival held in

Karnataka.

17 September: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been announced as one of

the winners of the United Nations Champions of the Earth award in recognition of her

country's initiatives to address climate change. United Nations Champions of the Earth

award is the highest award in the world of environment conservation.

17 September: Two Indian educational Institutes find place in '2015-16 QS World

University Rankings's World Top-200’. It was the 12th edition in the series of annual

global university ranking list. The Indian Institute of Science-Bangalore (IISc-B) and the

Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-D) were ranked 147 and 179 respectively.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) topped the list of universities in the world

for record fourth time. Harvard University is at second place, followed by the University

of Cambridge and Stanford University in joint third place.

16 September: President Pranab Mukherjee awarded the Rajbhasha Kirti Award to the

Ministry of Railways. The Ministry of Railways received this award for the best work in

Hindi during the year 2014-15. On the occasion of Hindi Diwas celebrated on 14th

September Ministry of Railways won the award for the best implementation of the

Official Language Policy. On behalf of the Ministry of Railways Railway Board's Chairman

A.K. Mittal received the award from the President.

16 September: Bollywood actor Anupam Kher has been awarded for his commendable

contribution to cinema and art globally in Naveda with the US state's most populous city

Las Vegas declaring 10 September as 'Anupam Kher Day'. The 60-year-old veteran actor

was presented with the 'Certificate of Excellence' in Las Vegas by Nevada Senator Ruben

Kihuen for providing quality entertainment.

16 September: Ashok Sridharan, a mayoral candidate of Chancellor Angela Merkel-led

Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has comprehensively won the election in Bonn,



becoming the first person of Indian-origin to occupy the mayor’s office in a major

German city. 49-year-old Sridharan secured the absolute majority by polling 50.06 per

cent of the votes election in the former German capital. His victory marks the end of

more than 21 years’ rule of the city by the Social Democratic Party (SPD). 15 September: Recognising his contribution in the field of modern scientific, medical writing,

the Ministry of External Affairs – Government of India conferred the Vishva Hindi Samman to Dr.

K.K. Aggarwal. The award was given to Dr. Aggarwal at the 10th World Hindi Conference in

Bhopal for his book Alloveda.

15 September: Frank D. Gilroy, whose play “The Subject Was Roses,” won him a Pulitzer

Prize, died in Monroe, New York. He was 89. Gilroy, who served in the Army from 1943

to 1946 in the European Theatre, also won a Tony Award for “The Subject Was Roses.”

14 September: Renowned Hindi writer Uday Prakash has returned his Sahitya Akademi

Award as protest against the recent killing of Kannada litterateur M.M. Kalburgi, and in

disapproval of the national literary body's deafening silence over the assaults on writers.

The 63-year-old writer had received the award in 2010 for his creation 'Mohandas'.

12 September: PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi is the sole Indian-origin executive in Fortune's

list of 50 most powerful women in business, which has been topped by General Motors

CEO Mary Barra. India-born Nooyi is ranked 2nd on the list, moving up a notch from her

third position last year. 59-year-old top executive Nooyi marks her ninth year atop the

$66.6 billion snack-and-drink behemoth in a stronger position than she's been in for a

long time. The list also includes IBM CEO Ginni Rometty on the third rank and Facebook

COO Sheryl Sandberg on the 8th place.

12 September: The Global MBA program of S.P. Jain School of Global Management (S.P.

Jain) has got a global Top Ten ranking by Forbes in its Best International MBAs: One-Year

Program rankings (2015-16). S.P. Jain is also the only school of Indian-origin to be

ranked in the world's top 10. For four years in a row now, S.P. Jain has featured in

Forbes' biennial rankings of the world's top business schools. In 2013-2014, it was

ranked 11th in the world. Insead earns the No. 1 spot in Forbes ranking of The Best

International One-Year Business Schools. It has campuses in Europe, Asia, and the

Middle East.

12 September: Renowned Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan was conferred with

Kerala Goverment's prestigious music award, 'Swathi Sangeetha Puraskaram' for his

outstanding contribution to Indian music. The award, instituted in memory of legendary

music composer Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, carries a cash prize of Rs. one lakh, citation

and a medal, and was presented to the maestro by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

11 September: An Indian-origin entrepreneur has been named among the most

promising businesswomen of 2015 by Fortune magazine in its annual recognition of 10

women innovators, groundbreakers and game changers. Payal Kadakia is the CEO and



co-founder of ClassPass, a two-year-old start-up that gives customers access to

thousands of boutique fitness classes in their area. The other honorees this year are Brit

Morin, founder and CEO, Brit + Co, Jody Miller, co-founder and CEO of Business Talent

Group and Christina Lomasney, president and CEO of Modumetal.

10 September: President Pranab Mukherjee presented the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2014

to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan in

Delhi. The annual Gandhi Peace Prize -- instituted by the government of India in 1995 on

the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi -- is given to individuals and institutions

for their contributions towards social, economic and political transformation through

non-violence and other Gandhian methods.

10 September: Bollywood actor Anupam Kher has been presented with the “Honoured

Guest” award by the U.S. state of Texas for his contribution to cinema and art. The 60-

year-old actor was honoured by Deputy Mayor of Houston Ed Gonzalez on behalf of

Texas Governor Greg Abbot. This honour comes just days after he was conferred with a

“Senate Proclamation” by The Texas State Senate.

9 September: Acclaimed short story writer T. Padmanabhan has been selected for

Mathrubhumi Literary Award 2015. The award carries a purse of Rs. two lakh, sculpture

and a citation. Padmanabhan's stories have been translated to various Indian languages

and also to English, French, German and Russian.

7 September: Preetika Kumar, an Indian American associate professor at Wichita State

University, has been selected to receive the 2015 C. Holmes MacDonald Outstanding

Teacher Award for demonstrating special dedication and creativity in her teaching.

Kumar, who teaches electrical engineering, will receive the national honour on Nov. 19

in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

7 September: Haryana bagged the Skoch Order-of-Merit national award for

implementation of six e-Governance and IT initiatives in the state. The award will be

presented to the state government during the 41st Skoch Summit - Transformative

Governance, scheduled to be held on 22-23 September 2015 in New Delhi.

7 September: Indian-American Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri has been selected

for the prestigious 2014 National Humanities Medal which would be presented to her by

US President Barack Obama next week. Jhumpa, 48, has been selected for the award for

enlarging the human story. In her works of fiction, Lahiri has illuminated the Indian-

American experience in beautifully wrought narratives of estrangement and belonging.

7 September: Chhattisgarh's Maoist affected Bastar district and the gram panchayat of

Girod, Raipur have been selected for National Literacy Award 2015, instituted in the

memory of Satyen Maitra, an eminent educationist, in 1996. The purpose of the

National Literacy Mission is to literate people in the age group of 15 years and above. In

Bastar, this program was started in 2011, under which public education centres were



opened in 327 gram panchayats. Till now, around one lakh people have been educated

under this programme.

4 September: The West-Central Railway (Headquarter: Jabalpur) Zone has become the

first Railway Zone in Indian Railways to eliminate all unmanned level crossings from its

system. Out of total 118 unmanned level crossings falling on West-Central Railways as

on 1st April, 2014, 80 were eliminated in the financial year 2014-15 and the target of 66

and the remaining 38 have been achieved in current financial year. This could only be

achieved by constructing 33 Limited Height Sub Ways (LHs) and manning of 30 level

crossings. It is a big safety initiative.

4 September: Whistleblower bureaucrat Sanjiv Chaturvedi was conferred the

prestigious Magsaysay Award for 2015 along with founder of NGO Goonj Anshu Gupta.

These awards were given in the award ceremony organized in Manila, the capital of

Philippines.

3 September: India has won the top UNESCO prize 'Award of Excellence-2015' for the

remarkable conservation efforts of the majestic Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple in Kerala.

The Award of Excellence for the conservation of Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur,

won this year's top prize in the Asia Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Heritage

Conservation. The award recognises the remarkable conservation effort undertaken at

the sacred site which employed age-old rituals and conservation techniques drawn from

vastu shastra focusing on architecture and construction. Sdaring Xieng Thong Temple in

Luang Prabang won the ‘Award of Merit’.

3 September: An Indian-origin driver in Australia Tejinder Pal Singh has been named for

‘Australian of the Day’ award by Commonwealth Bank of Australia for feeding the

homeless in Darwin for the past three years. The award recognises the extraordinary

Australians who have made a big difference to the country. He dedicated the last

Sunday of every month to feed the poor and homeless in northern Darwin.

2 September: The American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin (AFMI) has

honoured India-born entrepreneur and philanthropist, Frank Islam with the "Pride of

India" award. India's Consul General in New York Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay conferred the

award upon Islam who had donated $222,000 in May this year to the Aligarh Muslim

University in India.

1 September: On the occasion of National Sports Day President of India presented

Arjuna Award to 17 players and Dronacharya Award to five coaches. The Arjun

awardees are P.R. Sreejesh (hockey), Dipa Karmakar (gymnastics), Jitu Rai (shooting),

Sandeep Kumar (archery), Mandeep Jangra (boxing), Babita Kumari and Bajrang

(wrestling), Rohit Sharma (cricket), K. Srikanth (badminton), Swarn Singh (rowing), S.

Satish Kumar (weightlifting), Sanothoi Devi (wushu), Sharath Gayakwad (para-

swimming), M.R. Poovamma (athletics), Manjeet Chillar, Abhilasha Mhatre (kabaddi),



Anup Kumar Yama (rollerskating). The Dronacharya awardees are Naval Singh (para-

athletics), Anoop Singh (wrestling), Harbans Singh (athletics-lifetime), Swatantar Raj

Singh (boxing-lifetime), Nihar Ameen (swimming-lifetime).

1 September: President of India awarded Dhyan Chand Award, Maulana Abul Kalam

Azad Trophy, Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar and Tenzing Norgay National Adventure

Awards 2014. Romeo James (hockey), Shiv Prakash Misra (tennis) and T.P.P. Nair

(volleyball) received Dhyan Chand Award. Punjabi University, Patiala got Maulana Abul

Kalam Azad Trophy. Directorate-General of Military Training, Coal India Limited,

Haryana Police, Sports Coaching Foundation, Hyderabad recieved Rashtriya Khel

Protsahan Puraskar. Arunima Sinha (land), Jot Singh (land), Paramvir Singh (water),

Satyendra Verma (air), Satish Chander Sharma (lifetime) were awarded Tenzing Norgay

National Adventure Awards 2014. 1 September: Country's ace Tennis player Sania Mirza was conferred the Rajiv Gandhi

Khel Ratna award, the highest award given to players at a glittering ceremony held at

the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Along with her other sportspersons and coaches were also

honoured with National Sports Awards on the occasion of National Sports Day on 29

August. With this Sania Mirza became the second tennis player after Leander Paes to

win the award.

SPORTS NEWS THIS MONTH

30 September: India bagged seven medals, including five silver and two bronze at the

16th Asian Rowing Championships that concluded in Beijing, China. China bagged the

maximum medals including 15 gold.

29 September: Beijing Olympics champion Abhinav Bindra clinched gold in the men's

10m Air Rifle event of the Asian AirGun Championships. He shot 208.3 to bag the top

prize ahead of Kazakhstan's world number eight Yurkov Yuriy (206.6) and Korea's Yu

Jaechul (185.3).

29 September: Lewis Hamilton of Britain and Mercedes racing driver won the 2015

Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix title held at Suzuka Circuit, Japan. Mercedes team driver

Nico Rosberg of Germany stood second and Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) finished third.

29 September: Pankaj Advani won the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Adelaide

(Australia) to take his world title count to 14. Advani defeated Singapore’s Peter

Gilchrist in the final by 1168 points at Adelaide.



29 September: The world number one team of India's Sania Mirza and Switzerland's

Martina Hingis defeated China's pair of Xu Shilin and You Xiaodi 6-3, 6-1 in the final to

win the Guangzhou Open Tennis title.

29 September: David Haggerty, former President and Chief Executive of the US Tennis

Association, was elected president of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). He

defeated All India Tennis Association (AITA) President Anil Khanna in the voting.

Haggerty, 58, was elected to a four-year term.

28 September: Australia's oldest cricketer Harold Stapleton, who represented Australian

club New South Wales, died aged 100. An all-rounder, who played only one first-class

match for NSW in 1941 before his career was cut short by the second World War.

26 September: Robert Lewandowski (Poland) created a Footballing history for the

German football league (Bundesliga) as he scored record five goals in nine minutes to

give his team Bayern Munich a 5-1 win over Wolfsburg.

24 September: Belgium created history by entering the finals of the prestigious Davis

Cup for the first time in last 111 years. Belgium reached its first Davis Cup final since

1904. Steve Darcis defeated Federico Delbonis in the decisive fifth match against

Argentina to win 3-2.

24 September: The Indian Wushu team secured 12 medals comprising of one gold, four

silver and seven bronze medals at the Fifth International Pars Wushu Cup held in

Tehran. India’s L. Budhachandra Singh won the gold medal after defeating Masod

Ansari of Iran in the final of the 56 kg category on the last day of the tournament. 200

athletes from 18 countries participated in this international event.

22 September: Mariko Kipchumba of Kenya won the annual Beijing International

Marathon 2015. In women’s competition, Ethiopian runner Betelhem Cherenet won.

22 September: Czech Republic defeated India 3-1 in the Davis Cup World Group playoff

tie, which was played at Delhi’s R.K. Khanna Stadium. The defeat means that India will

remain in the Asia-Oceania Group 1 for next year’s competition while the top seeds and

three-time Champions Czech Republic regained their place in the elite-16 nation World

Group.

22 September: World no. one Chinese Cheng Long defeated Indian shuttler Ajay

Jayaram 21-14, 21-13 in the final to win the singles title of 2015 Korea Open Badminton

tournament at Seoul. For Cheng, it is the sixth trophy of the season.

19 September: Indian sprinter Dutee Chand has won the gold medal in 100-metre at the

55th National Open Athletic Championship. Although she did not make an impressive

start, she gained pace towards the end to outrun Srabani Nanda. Dutee Chand clocked

11.68 seconds to beat Nanda's who completed the race in 11.70 seconds.



19 September: India Cements won the Moin-ud Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament 2015-16

by defeating Hyderabad XI. This was the third title for the winning team. The final match

was held at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad.

18 September: Railways shot putter Manpreet Kaur shattered an 18-year-old national

record en route to a sixth title at the 55th National Open Athletics Championship at

Kolkata. Patiala-based shot putter broke the record of Harbans Kaur of 17.43 metres

that came in 1997 by throwing 17.96 metres in her second attempt to claim the gold

medal, a hat-trick of titles at the National Open. With this, Manpreet Kaur (25) also

qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympics that is scheduled to be held from 5 August to 21

August 2016.

17 September: Hangzhou, capital city of Zhejiang Province in east China, was chosen by

the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to host the 2022 Asian Games. The OCA made the

decision at its 34th Congress in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Hangzhou was the only

candidate city for the 2022 Asian Games. Its successful bid means the regional games

will be staged in China for the third time following Beijing in 1990 and southern

Guangzhou in 2010. Beijing was just selected to hold the 2022 Winter Olympics after

hosting the Summer Games in 2008. South Korea's Incheon held the last Asian Games in

2014, while Indonesia's Jakarta will play host in 2018.

15 September: Italy's Flavia Pennetta won the 2015 US Open Women’s Singles title. She

defeated fellow Italian Roberta Vinci 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 in the summit clash held in New York.

It was her maiden Grand Slam title and after the victory she announced that she will

retire from the professional tennis after the 2015 season. On the other hand Novak

Djokovic won the US Open Men’s Singles title. In the summit clash held at the Arthur

Ashe Stadium in New York, the Serbian defeated Roger Federer 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-4. For

Djokovic, it was a second US Open singles title and a 10th Grand Slam singles title.

15 September: Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won the 2015 US Open Women’s

Doubles title. The top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated the fourth-seeded duo of Casey

Dellacqua (Australia) and Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) 6-3 6-3 in the summit clash

held in New York. On the other hand Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues

Herbert won the US Open men`s doubles crown with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Britain`s

Jamie Murray and Australian John Peers.

15 September: Indian wrestler Narsingh Pancham Yadav bagged a bronze medal in the

Men's 74kg Freestyle category, at the World Wrestling Championship in Las Vegas, US.

With his third-place finish, Narsingh became the lone Indian to win a medal at the

prestigious tournament as well as book a berth for the 2016 Rio Games. In his bronze

medal play-off, he got his act together to outplay Zelimkhan Khadjiev of France 12-8 to

make it to the podium. This is the first time that an Indian wrestler has earned an

Olympic berth with a medal at the World Championship.



15 September: World welterweight boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (US) ended

his illustrious boxing career with a win over Andre Berto to claim the 49th and final win

of his career. He thus ended 49-0 to match the record of heavyweight boxing legend

Rocky Marciano. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. had announced that the bout with Andre Berto

will be his final fight.

14 September: India's Leander Paes with his Swiss partner Martina Hingis won the US

Open mixed doubles title in New York. They became the first team since 1969 to win

three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles in the same season at the US Open. The fourth

seeds defeated non-seeded American duo Sam Querrey and Bethanien Mattek-Sands 6-

4, 3-6 (10-7) in the finals of mixed doubles.

14 September: World football governing body FIFA has appointed Uganda's Moses

Magogo on the committee for security and integrity. Ahmed Hussein, spokesman of

Uganda's football governing body received a communication from the Federation of

International Football Associations (FIFA) about the appointment. Magogo is also a

member of Confederation of African Football Inter-clubs competitions committee.

14 September: India Test captain Virat Kohli recently acquired stake in UAE Royals, a

franchisee team of Indian Premier Tennis League (IPTL) to become a co-owner of it.

Virat Kohli became a co-owner of UAE Royals, which is one of the five franchisee teams

of the Mahesh Bhupathi promoted IPTL. UAE Royals will be led by Swiss great Roger

Federer.

10 September: Indian weightlifter Deepak Lather won a gold medal in the 62 kg

category of the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) being held in Apia, Samoa.

This was India’s second gold in weightlifting after Jamjang Deru (17-year-old) who won a

gold medal in the 56 kg category on the opening day of the event.

10 September: India's Ruthvika Shivani Gadde and Lakshya Sen clinched the women's

and men's singles titles respectively at the Sushant Chipalkatti Memorial India Junior

International Badminton Championships in Pune. Top seed Ruthvika thrashed Thailand's

Supamart Mingchua, seeded second, 21-9 21-6 in just 26 minutes, while sixth seed

Lakshya beat compatriot Chirag Sen 21-18 21-15 in a 27-minute clash.

9 September:Indian boxer Vikas Krishan (75kg) won the silver medal in the Asian Boxing

Championships 2015. In the summit clash at Bangkok, Thailand, Vikas was defeated 0-

2by reigning Youth Olympic champion Bektemir Melikuziev of Uzbekistan. With Vikas's

silver, India finished their campaign with one silver and three bronze medals. L.

Devendro Singh (49kg), Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Satish Kumar (+91kg) won the bronze

medals.

9 September:India opened its account with a gold medal through weightlifter Jamjang

Deru who won the boys 56kg category event at the 5th Commonwealth Youth Games

organised in Apia, Samoa. The 17-year-old Deru lifted a total of 237kg with 102kg in



snatch and 135kg in clean and jerk to bag the gold. India is being represented by 25

athletes in eight disciplines out of the nine being competed in the CYG.

8 September: Australian all-rounder cricket player Shane Watson announced his

retirement from Test cricket. He will continue his international career in the One-Day

Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals. 34-year-old Watson's 10-year Test career

came to an end at the Ashes opener at Cardiff, which England won by 169 runs.

8 September: Britain's Mercedes racing driver Lewis Hamilton won the 2015 Formula 1

Italian Grand Prix. The final race was held at Monza near Milan in Italy. While Hamilton

topped the table, Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) and Felipe Masse (Williams) were at the

second and third positions respectively. Sergio Perez (Mexico) and Nico Hulkenberg

(Germany) of Force India stood at the 5th and 6th positions respectively.

8 September: Pune girl Snehal Mane won her second ITF girls' singles tennis title in two

weeks in Mauritius. The 16-year-old Maharashtra player claimed the title by winning the

Mauritius Open ITF Junior championships, a Grade 5 event. Snehal, the fifth seed,

bagged the crown by defeating sixth-seeded local girl Amelie Boy 6-3, 6-0 in just over an

hour in the final.

8 September: Young Indian shooter Apurvi Chandela clinched the silver medal in

women’s 10m air rifle event of the ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Finals in Munich. The

22-year-old Jaipur girl finished second on the podium after she tallied 206.9, just 0.6

behind Ahmadi Elaheh of Iran, who won the gold medal with a tally of 207.5. Andrea

Arsovic of Serbia bagged the bronze after prevailing in a shoot-off with Croatia’s

Valentina Gustin.

7 September: Olympic medallist Gagan Narang of India has achieved the number one

spot in men's 50m rifle prone shooting category in Asia. Narang has 971 points to his

credit while China's Shengbo Zhao is placed second with 896 points. Pistol King Jitu Rai

was placed number two in men's 50m pistol with 1929 points, behind Jongoh Jin of

Korea. Beijing Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra was ranked fifth in 10m air rifle

followed by Narang in seventh position. Gurpreet Singh was positioned fifth in 25m

rapid fire pistol.

7 September: Following their 1-2 series loss to Indian cricket team in the recently

concluded three-match Test series, Marvan Atapattu stepped down as the coach of the

Sri Lanka’s national cricket team. His resignation was confirmed by Sri Lankan cricket

board..

5 September: South Africa’s Durban city has been confirmed as the host of the

Commonwealth Games 2022. It has became the first-ever city from Africa to get the

hosting rights of the Commonwealth Games. This announcement was made at the

Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) general assembly in Auckland (New Zealand).

The Games will be held from 18 to 30 July 2022. It will be the 22nd staging of the event,



which is held every four years. Athletes from more than 50 countries, most of which are

former British colonies, compete in these Games. The Commonwealth Games was last

held in 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland with Australia’s Gold Coast hosting the 2018 event.

5 September: West Indies cricket team's all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has been presented

with the Hummingbird Medal, Trinidad and Tobago's third highest award. The medal

was presented to Bravo for his service to sport. Bravo has played 40 Tests and 164 One-

Day Internationals (ODI) for the West Indies as well as 11 first-class matches and over

300 Twenty20 games till now.

4 September: British sports administrator and former star women swimmer Louise

Martin was elected as the President of Commonwealth Games Federation. She has

become the first female President to be elected as the President of Commonwealth

Games Federation. Martin beat the incumbent Prince Tunku Imran of Malaysia in the

Federation's elections. Martin was the Vice President at the Commonwealth Games in

Glasgow in 2014.

4 September: The Sports Ministry decided to recognize Yoga as a sports discipline and

placed it in the Priority category. The Ministry also decided to upgrade Fencing from

'Others' to 'General' category, based on the past performance in major international

events. It has also been decided to place 'University Sports' in the 'Priority' category.

3 September: Mumbai won the Buchi Babu Memorial Cricket Trophy in the All India

competition. In the final match played in Chennai, Mumbai defeated Tamil Nadu Cricket

Association Districts (TNCA) XI by six wickets. TNCA batting first was able to score 163 all

out in 74 over, in response to which, Mumbai scored 166 for four in 45.2 over.

Mumbai's Surya Kumar Yadav, was adjudged as the Man of the Series.

3 September: India won a historic Test series against Sri Lanka as it defeated the hosts

by 117 runs in the third and final test match played in Colombo. With this win India

ended a 22-year long wait for a Test series win over Sri Lanka on their home soil. India’s

last series success in Sri Lanka came under Mohammad Azharuddin’s captaincy in 1993

when they won 1-0. India won this Test series under the captaincy of new Test captain

Virat Kohli. Needing 386 runs to win the final Test as well as the series, Sri Lanka were

bowled out for 268.

2 September: Kenya created history by topping the medals tally at the 15th World

Athletics Championships that concluded at Beijing. With 7 gold medals, 6 silver and 3

bronze (total 16) Kenya was at top spot ahead of Jamaica (7 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze)

and the United States (6 gold, 6 silver and 6 bronze) had to be satisfied with the third

position. It was the best ever finish for Kenya in World Championships as the country

once again performed exceedingly well in its traditional domains of middle- and long-

distance running.



2 September: England batsman Ian Bell announced his retirement from one-day

internationals to concentrate on prolonging his test career. The 33-year-old Bell gave

signals to retire after winning Ashes series. Bell is the highest scorer batsman in ODIs

from England. He has scored an England record 5,416 runs with the help of four

centuries in 161 one-dayers

1 September: Ethiopia's Mare Dibaba triumphed in the women's marathon following a

sprint finish at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing. Dibaba edged out Kenyan

Helah Kiprop in the home straight inside the Bird's Nest to win by just one second in a

time of two hours, 27 minutes and 35 seconds. Although fighting hard, Kiprop had to be

satisfied with silver. Eunice Kirwa of Bahrain claimed bronze.

1 September: Britain's Mo Farah became the first man athlete to win back-to-back

world distance doubles when he stormed to a 5,000 metres victory in World Athletics

Championships. The Briton won gold medal as he produced a devastating final 80

metres to romp home in 13 minutes 50.38 seconds. Kenyan Caleb Ndiku held on for

silver. Ethiopian Hagos Gebrhiwet took bronze. Farah who previously won gold medal of

10,000 meters completed a historic 'triple-double'

1 September: Indian wrestler Anil won gold medal in the 50 kg freestyle category in the

Cadet Wrestling World Championships at Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and

Herzegovina. He defeated Efan Aeini of Iran 10-6. It was the first gold and second medal

for India in this championship as previously Ankush won silver in the 38 kg women

freestyle. To reach the finals of the competition, earlier, Anil defeated Tumentsogt Bold

of Mongolia in the semi-final bout while in quarter-final he defeated Ertugrul Kahveci of

Turkey.

EULOGIES THIS MONTH

30 September: Renowned Hindi poet and eminent journalist Viren Dangwal

passed away. He was 68. His famous poem collection 'Dushchakra Me Shrista'

had earned him prestigious Sahitya Academy award in 2004.

30 September: Consequent upon the demise of Dr. Syed Ahmed, Governor of

Manipur, and the President of India has appointed V. Shanmuganathan,

Governor of Meghalaya, to discharge the functions of the Governor of Manipur,

in addition to his own duties, until regular arrangements are made.

28 September: Sourav Ganguly has been appointed as the President of Cricket

Association of Bengal (CAB) succeeding Jagmohan Dalmiya as announced by

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Jagmohan Dalmiya passed away

recently. Sourav Ganguly is the former Indian cricket captain.



29 September: The Governor of Manipur Dr. Syed Ahmad passed away. He was

75 years old. He was the 16th Governor of Manipur. He was sworn in as state’s

Governor on 16 May 2015. Prior to this he was the Governor of Jharkhand for

more than 3 years. He was a senior leader of the Congress from Maharashtra.

22 September: Jagmohan Dalmiya, former President of Board of Control for

Cricket in India (BCCI), passed away in Kolkata. He was 75. He became BCCI

president in 2001 and continued till 2004.

21 September: The pioneer of cricket commentary in Marathi who made the

game more popular in Maharashtrian households, Bal Pandit passed away. He

was 86. Maharashtra government bestowed him with the Shiv Chhatrapati

Sports Award in 1978.

16 September: Renowned mohiniyattam dancer and Padma Sri awardee

Kalamandalam Satyabhama passed away. She was 77. A former principal of

Kalamandalam, she was accorded Padma Shri in 2014. She was also the first

recipient of Kerala government's Nritha Natya Puraskaram.

12 September: Renowned water policy expert Ramaswamy R. Iyer passed away

in New Delhi. He was 86. Iyer was known for forming an expert committee on

water policy and environmental issues. His last held position was that of an

honorary research professor at the Centre for Policy Research. Prior to that, Iyer

served as Secretary of Water Resources in the central government as an officer

of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service.

5 September: Legendary Ghanaian former footballer and coach Charles Kumi

Gyamfi has died after prolonged illness aged 85. Gyamfi was the first African

player to play in Germany, when he joined Fortuna Dusseldorf in 1960

2 September: Renowned neurologist and author Oliver Wolf Sacks passed away

in New York, the USA. He was 82. Compared to his career as a practitioner of

neurology and an academician he was better known as the author of best-selling

books on the grey matter like Migraine, Awakenings, The Mind’s eye, etc.

1 September: Renowned Kannada writer M. M. Kalburgi passed away. The

Sahitya Akademi winner was shot dead by two unidentified assailants in

Dharwad. M. M. Kalburgi was a noted Kannada epigraphist and also a former

vice-chancellor of Kannada University. Apart from Sahitya Akademi Award he

was also awarded Karnataka State Sahitya Akademi, Nrupatunga Award and the

Pampa Award.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS THIS MONTH

29 September: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched India’s first

dedicated satellite for astronomy research, named ASTROSAT by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle



(PSLV-C30) from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The satellite is of about 1513 kg. ASTROSAT will

help in understanding the universe. It is India’s first dedicated multi wavelength space

observatory. PSLV-C30 is carrying Indian ASTROSAT, along with six other co-passengers, one

satellite each from Indonesia and Canada, and four nanosatellites from the US. With the

successful launch of Astrosat, India gained an entry into the select club of nations having its own

space observatory after the US, Japan, Russia and Europe.

28 September: Singer-actress Jennifer Lopez has been named the first-ever global advocate for

girls and women at the United Nations Foundation. The 46-year-old star will travel the globe in

an attempt to highlight the plight of females struggling in war zones, refugee camps and even on

the mean streets of her native New York.

24 September: Cow was declared as the National Animal of Nepal as per the new secular

constitution of Nepal unveiled by Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav at a special ceremony

held in Parliament at Kathmandu.

23 September: Three Indians have made it to a new list of 100 notable tattoo artists from

around the globe. The World Atlas of Tattoo, published by Yale University Press, features

Nagaland’s Mo Naga, Kolkata’s Abhinandan “Obi” Basu and Delhi’s Manjeet Singh amongst the

who’s who of tattoo art all over the world.

23 September: States have broadly agreed to ensure compliance with the proposed

Environmental Guidelines for construction projects in urban areas at the Workshop on ‘Climate

Change Mitigation in Urban Sector’ organized by the Ministry of Urban Development in New

Delhi on September 21, 2015. The Workshop was organized for green construction in view of

the fact that building sector consumes 40% of electricity generated in the country, 30% of raw

materials and 20% each of water and land resources besides generating 30% of solid waste and

20% of effluents.

22 September: According to recruitment platform MyHiringClub.com’s Worldwide IT Salary

2015 survey, India was ranked 7th on the list of lowest paymasters for information technology

(IT) managers. In India a mid-level IT manager draws an average salary of USD 41,213. Bulgaria

topped the list with a meagre USD 25,680, followed by Vietnam (2nd), Thailand (3rd) and

Indonesia (4th). At the other end of the spectrum, when it comes to countries that pay out the

best IT salaries, Switzerland again topped the list with an average annual remuneration of USD

1, 71,465. It is followed by Belgium (2nd), Denmark (3rd), the US (4th) and the UK (5th).

22 September: China launched the rocket, Long March-6, successfully from Taiyuan Satellite

Launch Centre in North China's Shanxi Province which carried 20 micro-satellites into the space

for space tests. The new 29.3 metres high rocket, is China's first carrier rocket that uses fuel

which is free of toxicity and pollution.

21 September: New Delhi and Mumbai are among the cheapest places in the world to live,

according to a report by Swiss Bank UBS. However, Mumbai is a little expensive in comparison

to Delhi. In the report 71 locations were compared around the world. According to the report

Zurich is the most expensive city in the world, which is followed by Geneva, New York, Oslo and

London.



21 September: PTC India Financial Services Ltd (PFS), a leading infrastructure finance company

promoted by PTC India Ltd., has sanctioned loans aggregating to about Rs. 10 billion for

providing financial assistance to renewable energy projects and energy efficiency projects in

India. This loan amount is for to 9 projects

19 September: India's ranking has slipped further to 81 in the list of Global Innovation Index

2015, compared to 76 in 2014, on account of factors like consistently poor performance in ease

of doing business, slow pace of policy decision-making and changing political environment. The

study ranked 141 economies across the world. However India has outperformed its peers in the

Central and Southern Asian Region (CSA) and positioned itself as innovation achiever in the

lower-middle income category. Switzerland, the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and the US are

the world's five most innovative nations in the list of Global Innovation Index 2015.

19 September: India has been ranked 34th among 60 leading economies in terms of 'business

growth environment' but the country has been ranked among the bottom ten when it comes to

'business operating environment'. In the Grant Thornton Global Dynamism Index (GDI), India

was ranked at the 34th place, registering a gain of 14 places since the last version of the index,

largely driven by a strong and productive workforce. However, India was ranked 53rd out of 60

in the GDI when it comes to its business operating environment.

19 September: Delhi Government approved Victim Compensation Scheme. It enhanced the

upper limit of compensation to rape victims to 5 lakh rupees from existing 3 lakh rupees and to

the victims of acid attack to 7 lakh rupees from 3 lakh rupees. The decision was taken during a

cabinet meet headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

19 September: The largest Indian drugmaker, Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. entered into a

deal to acquire US-based InSite Vision Inc. for $48 million (about Rs.300 crore). As per the terms

of the agreement and merger plan, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Sun Pharma will

make a tender offer for all of the issued and outstanding common stock of InSite Vision at 0.35

US dollars per share in cash.

18 September: Exhibition ‘Shauryanjali’ was launched at the India Gate lawns in New Delhi to

celebrate the Golden Jubilee (50th Anniversary) of Indo-Pak War of 1965. ‘Shauryanjali’ has

recreated the battle scene in various sectors beginning from Rann of Kutch to the ceasefire and

Tashkent Summit. It has been presented as an ode to splendid show of valour and sacrifice of

Indian Armed Forces personnel for protecting the borders of the country. The exhibition was

inaugurated by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Union Finance Minister Arun

Jaitley.

18 September: Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) successfully test-fired an indigenously developed

second generation, 2.8 km range, anti-tank guided missile called Amogha-1. The test firing was

carried out at Babina Army Range in Madhya Pradesh. This is the first ever design and

developmental effort in respect of missiles by BDL, Hyderabad. Two missiles were fired and both

hit targets placed at 2.6 km as well as 2.8 km respectively.

17 September: China launched its most sophisticated observation satellite, Gaofen-9, as part of

the country's high-definition Earth observation project. Gaofen-9 was launched from the

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern province of Gansu aboard a Long March-2D



carrier rocket. It was the 209th flight of the Long March rocket series. The optical remote

sensing satellite is capable of providing photographs with a resolution of less than a meter. It

will be used in land survey, urban planning, road network design, agriculture, and disaster relief.

16 September: The sixth edition of Indo-Maldives joint Military Training Exercise concluded at

Pangode Military Station in Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala). It was titled EKUVERIN 2015 and

comprised of 45 soldiers from the Bihar Regiment of Indian Army and same number of marines

from the Maldivian National Defence Force. It was the first joint exercise involving an

international contingent to be conducted at Thiruvananthapuram, which is being developed as a

Training Node by the Indian Army. The bilateral exercise is held annually, with the aim of

enhancing military cooperation and interoperability between defence forces of the two

countries.

14 September: China has build the world's longest solar park in Pakistan. Pakistan will get about

100 MW electricity with the help of this solar park. China has installed around 400,000 solar

panels to build the world's longest Solar Park. The park is being installed on 200 hectares.

11 September: Switzerland is the best place in the world to live for those aged 60 and over

while India ranks a dismal 71st among 96 countries when it comes to social and economic

wellbeing of older people, according to a new report. The Global AgeWatch Index 2015 from

HelpAge International, working in partnership with the University of Southampton, found that

Switzerland is the best place to live for those aged 60 and over, followed by Norway and

Sweden. Germany was the fourth best place for older people to live, Canada stood at fifth.

According to the report in India 116.6 million people over 60 are living.

11 September: Defence minister Manohar Parikkar commissioned INS Vajrakosh, the latest

establishment of the Indian Navy in Karwar, Karnataka. Karwar is poised to emerge as the Indian

Navy’s premier base on the Western seaboard in the not too distant future. Some of the vital

naval assets are planned to be based there. INS Vajrakosh will have all the required

infrastructure and is manned by specialists to meet these requirements.

10 September: Queen Elizabeth II becomes Britain's longest-reigning monarch later when she

passes the record set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria. The Queen will have

reigned for 63 years and seven months - calculated at 23,226 days. The Queen is 89 years old.

8 September: India finally has an estimate of leopards. The first ever count of India's leopards,

conducted alongside last year's tiger census, has put the spotted cat population at 7,910 in and

around tiger habitats across the country, except the northeast. The leopards were counted using

the same methods adopted for the tiger census. India's total leopard population is in the range

of 12,000 to 14,000. The exercise covered 3, 50,000 sq km of forested habitat of central and

western part of the country.

5 September: India has emerged as the 8th largest tourism market for Australia with over 2 lakh

Indians visiting the country last year. India was one of the fastest growing markets with

expenditure reaching a record of 1 billion Australian dollars for the first time, an increase of 39

per cent. The total number of Indian visiting Australia this year stood at 2, 07,000.

2 September: Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) launched a new mobile app service

named flyDEL that aims to augment the passenger experience and provide them facilities. The



app, which is available for both Android as well as iOS based devices, covering a majority smart

phone users in the country, provides real-time flight information and access to all passengers’

facilities available at the airport among others.

RECURRING TERMS

(1) ASTROSAT

ASTROSAT is the name of India’s first dedicated astronomy satellite that was launched

successfully in the space by ISRO on 28 September 2015.

ASTROSAT is a first-of-its-kind Indian space observatory to study celestial objects. Unlike most

other telescopes, the five instruments (payloads) of ASTROSAT can observe a wider variety of

wavelengths, from visible light to the ultraviolet and X-ray bands.

Even in the X-ray band, it can study both low and high energy X-ray regions of the

electromagnetic spectrum. Most other satellites are capable of observing only a narrow range

of wavelength band.

It is worth mentioning that till date, Indian astronomers had to rely on international resources

for X-ray and ultraviolet data. But this is expected to change now with ASTROSAT in the space.

The scientific objectives of ASTROSAT mission:

Understand high energy processes in binary star systems containing neutron stars and

black holes,

Estimate magnetic fields of neutron stars,

Study star birth regions and high energy processes in star systems lying beyond our

galaxy,

Detect new briefly bright X-ray sources in the sky and

Perform a limited deep field survey of the Universe in the ultraviolet region.

(2) Gold Monetization Schemes:

Union Cabinet on 9 September 2015 announced the Gold Monetisation Scheme under which

gold in any form can be deposited with banks for a period of one to 15 years. To bring out the

huge amount of gold that is being kept idly by Indians is the primary objective of this scheme.

The Gold Monetisation Scheme has been announced primarily to bring an estimated 20,000

tonnes of idle gold lying with Indian consumers into the economy and also reduce India’s

dependence on gold imports. Under it, Indians citizens would be able to deposit gold in any

form in the banks for a period of one to 15 years.



This gold will earn interest and redemption will be at the prevailing market value at the end of

the tenure of deposit. By taking advantage of Gold Monetisation Scheme, people can thus

deposit idle gold with authorised agencies and take advantage of the price escalation of gold as

well as earn interest on the deposit.

The gold deposited with banks under the monetisation scheme will be allowed to be sold to

jewelers in order to boost domestic supply.

However, the government intends not to allow the Gold Monetisation Scheme to become a

vehicle for converting black money into white.

The draft proposal of Gold Monetisation Scheme was put up on 19 May 2015 while it was

announced in the Union Budget 2015-16 with the aim of replacing both the existing Gold

Deposit and Gold Metal Loan Schemes.

(3) D-SIBs (Domestic Systemically Important Banks)

The Reserve Bank of India on 31 August 2015 declared SBI and ICICI two banks of the country

as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs), which literally means that these banks are

so integral to the national economy that their failure would have to be prevented at any cost.

While State Bank of India (SBI) is the largest public sector bank and the largest banking entity in

the country, ICICI Bank is the largest private sector bank in the country. The two banks were

designated as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) by the RBI, meaning their

collapse could have a cascading impact on the entire financial system and the economy.

SBI and ICICI have been so designated on the basis of a systemic importance score, arrived at

after an analysis of the banks’ size as a percentage of annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Banks with assets that exceed 2% of GDP will be considered to be part of this class of lenders.

As of 30 June 2015, SBI’s loan book was worth Rs.12.8 trillion and ICICI’s loan book was close to

Rs.4 trillion.

The RBI had issued the framework for dealing with Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-

SIBs) on 22 July 2014.

The D-SIB framework requires the RBI to disclose the names of banks designated as D-SIBs

every year in August starting from August 2015.

The framework requires that D-SIBs may be placed in four buckets depending upon their

Systemic Importance Scores (SISs). Based on the bucket in which a D-SIB is placed, an additional

common equity requirement has to be applied to it, as mentioned in the D-SIB framework.



While SBI has been kept in Bucket -3 category, ICICI Bank has been placed in Bucket-1 category.

In November 2011, the Basel committee of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS)

announced a framework for identifying global systemically important banks and the additional

buffers that such banks need to hold.

(4) Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY)

PMKKKY is the name of the new scheme launched by the Union Govt. for the welfare of people

affected by mining related operations on 17 September 2015

PMKKKY is a new programme primarily meant to provide for the welfare of areas and people

affected by mining related operations. It will be implemented by using the funds generated by

District Mineral Foundations (DMFs). The Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation)

Amendment Act, 2015, mandated the setting up of District Mineral Foundations (DMFs) in all

districts in the country affected by mining related operations.

The objective of PMKKKY scheme will be:

(a) To implement various developmental and welfare projects/programs in mining affected

areas that complement the existing ongoing schemes/projects of State and Central

Government

(b) To minimize/mitigate the adverse impacts, during and after mining, on the environment,

health and socio-economics of people in mining districts and

(c) To ensure long-term sustainable livelihoods for the affected people in mining areas.

(5) One Rank One Pension (OROP)

The Union Govt. on 5 September 2015 announced the acceptance of the long-standing demand

of ‘one rank, one pension’ (OROP) pertaining to the pensions of ex-servicemen. OROP would be

implemented with effect from 1 July 2014, and would cost the government Rs 18,000-22,000

crore this year. However, numerous proposals of the govt. were rejected by ex-servicemen,

who have staged an almost three-month-long public agitation for their demand of OROP. About

the exclusion from OROP of those who took premature retirement (PMR) major proposal of the

govt. was severely criticized by the ex-servicemen.

In simple terms, OROP implies uniform pension be paid to the armed forces personnel retiring

in the same rank with the same length of service, regardless of their date of retirement.

However, in its proposals, the Union Govt. rejected the provisions of OROP for personnel taking

voluntary retirement (VRS) premature retirement (PMR). This proposal was severely criticized

by the ex-servicemen fraternity and they said they will continue to hold their protests against



the govt. However, later on 6 September 2015 Prime Minister cleared the air from OROP

controversy by announcing that servicemen who have taken early retirement will be eligible to

receive the benefits of OROP. After this announcement, the ex-servicemen who were holding

hunger protest for last 88 days called-off the hunger strike but said they will continue with the

stir till all their demands were met by the Govt.

Key points of Union Govt.’s OROP grant:

OROP granted with effect from 1 July 2014

Arrears to be paid in four half-yearly instalments

Widows of casualties to be paid in single instalments

OROP will raise annual pension bill by Rs. 8,000-10,000 crore

This amount will rise in tandem with military salaries

Arrears will involve one-time payment of Rs. 10,000-12,000 crore

Pensions to be equalised and adjusted once every 5 years

Pensions to be average of maximum & minimum in 2013

(6) Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme

Union Cabinet approved Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme to reduce dependence on physical gold

The Union Cabinet gave its approval for the Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme. The purpose of the

scheme is to reduce the demand for physical gold and to shift part of the estimated 300 tons of

physical bars and coins purchased every year for investment into Demat (Dematerialised) gold

bonds.

Features of Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme

Bonds will be issued on payment of money and would be linked to the price of gold.

The sell would be restricted to resident Indian entities and each entity cannot buy more

than 500 grams per person per year.

The bonds will be issued in denominations of 2, 5 and 10 grams of gold or other

denominations.

The cap on bonds that may be bought by an entity would be at a suitable level, not

more than 500 grams per person per year.

The bonds will be issued with a nominal rate of interest (which will be linked to

international rate for gold borrowing) as decided by the government.

The rate of interest on the bonds will be payable in terms of grams of gold. The interest

will be calculated on 10000 at a certain per cent say 2 or 3 percent.

On maturity, the investor receives the equivalent of the face value of gold in rupee

terms.

Bonds will be issued on behalf of the Government of India by the Reserve Bank of India

(RBI).

The bond will be marketed through post offices and by various brokers/agents who may

need to be paid a commission (like for Kisan Vikas Patra).



The price of gold may be taken from National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange

(NCDEX) / London Bullion Market Association/RBI and the rupee equivalent amount may

be converted at the RBI reference rate on issue and redemption.

Banks/ Non-bank financial companies (NBFCs)/Post Offices may collect money / redeem

bonds on behalf of government (for a fee, the amount would be as decided).

Capital gains tax treatment will be the same as for physical gold. This will ensure that an

investor is indifferent in terms of investing in these bonds and in physical gold- as far as

the tax treatment is concerned.

The tenor of the bond could be for a minimum of 5 to 7 years so that it would protect

investors from medium term volatility in the gold prices.

These Bonds will be easily sold and traded on commodity exchanges

Bonds can be used as collateral for loans. The Loan to Value ratio can be set equal to

ordinary gold loan mandated by RBI from time to time.

During 2015-16 financial year gold bonds equivalent of 50 tonnes of gold would be

issued. Since the amount, around 13500 crore rupees, is not very high, it can be

accommodated within the market borrowing programme for 2015-16.

Since these bonds are part of the sovereign borrowing, they will be within the fiscal

deficit target for 2015-16 and onwards.

The amount received from the bonds will be used in lieu of government borrowing and

the notional interest saved on this amount would be credited in an account Gold

Reserve Fund.

• Gold Reserve Fund will be utilised to take care of the risk of increase in gold price that will be

borne by the government.

ABBREVIATIONS THIS MONTH

ABBREVIATIONS

PMKKKY: Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana

DMFs- District Mineral Foundations

MSOs- Multi System Operators

LCOs- Local Cable Operators

IIFT- Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

OROP- One Rank One Pension



CRIS- Centre for Railway Information Systems

PMJDY- Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana

RPBD- Regional Pravasi Bhartiya Divas

GDP- Gross Domestic Product

UNSC- United Nations Security Council

IGAD- Intergovernmental Authority on Development

W20- Women20

Ccotvm- Cash/Smart Card Operated Ticket Vending Machine

MDG- Millennium Development Goals

IPDS- Integrated Power Development Scheme

FMC- Forward Markets Commission

NEFT- National Electronic Fund Transfer

SEBI- Securities and Exchange Board of India

KYC- Know Your Customer

SIDBI- Small Industries Development Bank of India

NBFC- Non Banking Finance Companies

BCSBI- Banking Codes and Standards Board of India

NABARD- National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development

IMPORTANT DAYS THIS MONTH

05 Sep Indian National Teachers' Day

08 Sep International Literacy Day



10 Sep ¬ World Suicide Prevention Day

14 Sep Hindi Diwas.

16 Sept - World Ozone Day

22 September- ¬ World Rhino Day, It is first announced by WWFSouth Africa in 2010.

23 Sep Birth Anniversary of Rashtrakavi Ramdhari Singh Dinkar.

15 Sep Engineer's Day in India, International Day of Democracy

21 Sep UN International Day of Peace, World Alzheimer's day

Sept 25- Social Justice Day

Sept 28- World Rabies Day

Sept 27- World Tourism Day

Sept 29- World Heart Day

SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE MONTH

(1) Global Investors Meet 2015 held in Tamil Nadu

The Global Investors Meet (GIM 2015) was on 10 September 2015 held in Tamil Nadu to woo

investors to invest in the state. The GIM 2015 was officially inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief

Minister J Jayalalithaa at the Chennai Trade Centre.

Nine countries registered themselves as partner nations for this mega investment event.

Highlights of the GIM 2015

• Tamil Nadu attracted investments worth more than 2 Lakh 42 thousand Crore rupees at

Global Investors Meet, double of the targeted investment that was 1 lakh crore rupees.

• A total of 98 Memorandum of Understanding were signed and promised that the investments

are safe and mutually beneficial.

• Almost 90 percent of the investments were in the traditionally strong areas of manufacturing

and energy sectors.



• Tyre majors MRF Ltd, Apollo Tyres and various other companies in the manufacturing sector

have proposed to invest close to 55201 crore rupees that would generate over 35000 jobs in

Tamil Nadu.

• FICCI jointly with Tamil Nadu Government organised Investment Roadshows at Bangalore,

Hyderabad, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Pune, Mumbai and Kolkata for Tamil Nadu Global Investors

Meet 2015.

• HCL will invest over 1 billion US dollars over the next five years in southern Tamil Nadu.

• Mahindra & Mahindra will invest 2000 crore rupees in the state.

• Yamaha will set up a third plant in Tamil Nadu while TVS Motor Company will expand its

footprint in Hosur and TICEL Bio Park II will also be set up.

• Several agreements were signed for setting up of 5345 MW solar power projects involving an

outlay of 35356 crore rupees.

(2) G20 launched W20 to enhance role of women in business

The G20 grouping on 6 September 2015 launched the W20 (Women20) in Ankara, Turkey. The

focus of the W20 is to enhance the role of women in business.

Though the grouping was created in April 2015 it was formally launched on the sidelines of the

G-20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors.

G20 is a group of major economies formed to bring together systemically important

industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy.

The mandate of W20 is to advance and realize recent G20 commitments on

• Achieving women’s full economic and social participation (Los Cabos Leaders’ Declaration,

2012).

• Enhancing women’s financial inclusion and education (St Petersburg Leaders’ Declaration,

2013).

• Reducing the participation gap between women and men in G20 countries by 25 per cent by

2025, taking into account national circumstances (Brisbane Leaders’ Declaration, 2014).

It is in addition to the existing official engagement groups of the G20-B20 (Business20), C20

(Civil society20), L20 (Labour20), T20 (Think20) and Y20 (Youth20).

Gulden Turktan was appointed as the first president of the group.



She is one of the founders and President of the Women Entrepreneurs' Association in Turkey

(KAGIDER), and is currently a member of its Executive Board.

(3) Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis won 2015 US Open Women's Doubles title :

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis on 13 September 2015 won the US Open Women’s

Doubles title.

The top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated the fourth-seeded duo of Casey Dellacqua

(Kazakhstan) and Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) 6-3 6-3 in the summit clash held in

New York.

Incidentally, Martina Hingis also won the Mixed-Doubles title on 12 September 2015

with Leander Paes.

For Sania-Hingis duo, the title was the second Grand Slam in a row as they won their

maiden title in July 2015 at the Wimbledon in England.

Now, Sania has five Grand Slam titles overall including three mixed doubles trophies.

In the Mixed doubles category, she won Australian Open (2009) and French Open (2012)

with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi and the 2014 US Open with Bruno Soares.

Apart from the two titles with Sania in 2015, Hingis won the Wimbledon doubles with

Helena Sukova in 1996 and Jana Novotna in 1998.

Earlier, the Indo-Swiss pair had won doubles title of BNP Paribas Open on 21 March

2015 and WTA Family Circle Cup doubles title on 12 April 2015.

(4) Railway Ministry launched three IT Initiatives developed by CRIS:

The Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu on 1 September 2015 launched three IT

initiatives developed by Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), IT arm of Ministry of

Railways.

These initiatives are:

• Paperless unreserved ticketing through mobile phone between New Delhi-Palwal section (nr)

• Currency coin cum card operated automatic ticket vending machines at New Delhi railway

station

• Mobile application for freight operations (PARICHAALAN)

Paperless unreserved ticketing mobile application:

CRIS has developed a paperless Unreserved Ticketing feature in Mobile Application

utsonmobile both for Android and Windows platforms.



This will eliminate the need for printing of Unreserved Tickets on ATVMs at the stations.

User can download App from Google Play Store or Window Store.

The application has now been implemented on complete suburban area of Chennai &

Mumbai Western Railway suburban section which covers 125 stations over 295 kms

distance. Presently, about 1600 tickets are being booked daily by the passengers

through this application.

The application is now being implemented on the New Delhi-Palwal section of Northern

Railway covering 11 stations over 57 kms distance.

Payment for the ticket is done through the Railway Wallet feature in the App. After

booking the ticket, the passenger will get the ticket confirmation screen which contains

limited information of the ticket.

The ticket has distinct colour scheme everyday and it is embedded with Quick Response

(QR) code. For the purpose of ticket checking, the application has various features such

as colour scheme, show ticket features, secret code of the day, booking time of the

ticket.

(5) The Group of Four (G4) Summit:

The Group of Four (G4) Summit took place on 26 September 2015 after almost a decade. G4

was formed with the objective of supporting each other’s bids for permanent seats in the

United Nations Security Council (UNSC)

Japan, Germany, India and Brazil are the third, fourth, seventh and eighth biggest

economies, respectively. In terms of population, India is the second biggest, Brazil 5th,

Japan 10th and Germany 16th biggest in the world. Unlike the G7, where the common

denominator is the economy and long-term political motives, the G4’s primary aim is

the permanent member seats on the UNSC.

Their economic and political influence has grown significantly in the last decades,

reaching a scope comparable to the permanent members (P5). However, the G4’s bids

are often opposed by Uniting for Consensus movement, and particularly their economic

competitors or political rivals.

The G4 Summit 2015 took place on 26 September 2015 at New York’s Waldorf Astoria

Hotel and was attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President

Dilma Rousseff, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo

Abe. The leaders emphasized that the G4 countries are legitimate candidates for

permanent membership in an expanded and reformed Security Council and supported

one another’s candidature.

(6) Bandhan Bank:

A New Entrant in the Banking Sector



The banking sector seems to get a new entrant and a boost in the economy in India. After 11

years, India has got a new private bank – Bandhan Bank. The bank is a full-fledged commercial

bank that came into being recently. Bandhan is also the first microfinance company in India that

has been transformed into a bank. It got a banking licence from the Reserve Bank of India in

2014. The bank is set up to cater to the needs of the unorganised sector such as daily wage

earners and women running small business. It will offer saving, insurance and remittance

services. The bank focuses on Eastern India as banking penetration is still poor in the region.

About Bandhan Bank

Bandhan came into being on 23 August 2015 and is headquartered in Kolkata. Finance Minister

Arun Jaitley inaugurated the bank in at the Science City Auditorium in Kolkata. The inauguration

ceremony was attended by policy makers, regulators and luminaries from financial sector.

Besides its founder, Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Singapore Sovereign Wealth Fund GIC, World

Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), North Eastern Financial Inclusion Trust, Financial

Inclusion Trust, Bandhan Employees Welfare Trust and Small Industries Development Bank of

India (SIDBI) are the main investors of the bank.

History

Previously, Bandhan Bank was Bandhan – one of the largest microfinance companies of India

and world’s largest non-deposit-accepting microfinance institution (MFI). The microfinance

company was founded by Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, who is also its Chairman and Managing

Director. The microfinance company lent money to small-scale business, low income women

entrepreneurs and Self Help Groups (SHGs). Bandhan was established in 2001 and has total

assets of approximately Rs.6,770 crore at the time of gaining a bank licence. With more than

13,000 employees, Bandhan was operating from more than 2,000 branches across the country.

Bandhan Bank Begins Operations

The bank opened 501 branches where operations have commenced.

It started operations with 1.43 crore accounts and Rs. 10,500 crore loan book across the

country.

It opened 2022 service centres and 50 ATMs across 24 states.

It has hired 19,500 employees as of now.

It has opened branches in few states – 220 in West Bengal, 67 in Bihar, 60 in Assam, 21

in Maharashtra, 20 in Tripura and Uttar Pradesh and 15 in Jharkhand.

It is said that 71% of its branches will be in rural areas, which will include 35% branches

in unbanked rural regions.



It garnered the deposit of Rs. 80 crore and 60,000 new accounts on the first day of its

operations.

It will have 18 such branches, out of all the branches, which will be open seven days a

week.

It plans to increase the number of branches to 632 and add 250 ATMs in 27 states by the

end of the current fiscal year.

(7) Preferential Treatment by India to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Trade in Services in

the WTO:

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, gave its approval for

notification of Preferential Treatment by India to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Trade in

Services in the WTO.

India will notify preferential treatment to the LDCs in Trade in Services in respect of:

1. Article XVI of the GATS (Market Access);

2. Technical Assistance and capacity building; and

3. Waiver of visa fees for LDC applicants applying for Indian Business and Employment

visas.

The preferences will be bound with validity for 15 years from the date of notification by India.

A generous offer in Trade in Services by India should win the country goodwill of LDCs. India has

already made a very generous offer to LDCs in the area of Trade in Goods in the form of a Duty

Free Tariff Preference (DFTF) scheme. An equally generous offer in Trade in Services will help

India preserve and consolidate its leadership position on LDC issues. Further, given the

development dimension of the Doha Round of the WTO, it is important that India makes liberal

offers to LDCs in Trade in Services also. Moreover, several of the LDCs are located in South Asia

while majority are in Africa with whom India maintains special relations.

India's preferential treatment to the LDCs in Trade in Services would involve a cost of Rs. 6.5

crore annually on account of waiver of visa fees and Rs. 2.5 to 3 crore, per annum, for providing

training in management and technical consultancy courses to LDC applicants. As regards offers

under Article XVI of the GATS (Market Access) is concerned, there are no direct financial

implications.



Background:

(1) As per the WTO mandate, decisions of the WTO Ministerial Conferences and requests made

by the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), developed country and developing country

members of the WTO, in a position to do so, were to voluntarily consider providing LDCs

preferential treatment in Trade in Services.


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