Current Affairs English June 2015

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June 2015 Current Affairs

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Current Affairs June 2015

2 www.jagranjosh.com

PREFACE 21

PICK OF THE MONTH 22

Urban Rejuvenation in India 22

India and Bangladesh relations@ zenith 28

WJP Rule of Law Index 2015 32

Bibek Debroy committee on railway restructuring submitted report 34

WADA published Anti-Doping Rule Violations Report for 2013 37

First International Day of Yoga observed globally 39

Renowned architect Charles Correa passed away 40

Greece became rst developed nation to default on IMF debt 41

INTERNATIONAL 44

Three-drug lethal injection protocol use did not violate Constitution: US Supreme

Court 44India, Thailand signed ve MOUs during the 7th Meeting of India-Thailand Joint

Commission 45

US Supreme Court ruled against EPA limiting mercury emissions from power plants

46

50 countries signed Articles of Agreement for China-initiated Asian Infrastructure

Investment Bank 47

Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved Parliament 49

US Supreme Court legalized Same-Sex Marriage Nationwide 49

India, US signed MoUs to enhance cooperation in areas of Health Sector 50

US Supreme Court gave nod to subsidies under US Health Care Law in States

without health exchanges 52

Union Cabinet approved signing of MoC between India and Japan on Industrial

Property 52

Austria to le complaint against UK’s Hinkley Point C nuclear project in European





Court of Justice 53

India to be the Partner Country for Russian Industrial Trade Fair Innoprom 2016 55

Nepal-India Treaty of Transit amended to facilitate import of vehicles into Nepal 56

EU launched Operation EU NAVFOR Med against migrant-trafckers 56

Pitcairn Island passed law to allow same-sex marriage 57

India placed at 61st position in terms of foreigners’ money in Swiss banks 58

Commemorations of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo concluded 59

France announced ban on earphones for Drivers and Cyclists 60

US Department of State released Country Reports on Terrorism 2014 61

India, Tanzania signed six MoUs to deepen bilateral relations 62

Blue Opposition Bloc led by Lars Loekke Rasmussen won Denmark’s Parliamentary

Elections 63

Hong Kong lawmakers rejected Beijing-backed election reform package 65

China and Australia signed Free Trade Agreement 65

Japan’s Parliament passed a Bill to lower voting age from 20 to 18 66

Commission on GSJG released the Confronting the Crisis of Global Governance

report 67

India and Poland set trade target of 5 billion US dollars by 2018 69

RTA of UAE included four Indian languages into its driving tests 70

Israeli government approved bill to force feed prisoners 70

Spain passed law awarding citizenship to descendants of expelled Jews 71Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement signed in

Thimpu 72

Moldova’s Prime Minister Chiril Gaburuci resigned 73

African leaders signed Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) agreement 74

India, Japan and Australia held rst ever trilateral dialogue 75

Nepal political parties reached agreement on proposed Constitution framework 76

Justice and Development Party won Turkey’s parliamentary polls 78

Ameenah Gurib-Fakim sworn-in as rst Woman President of Mauritius 79





India-Netherlands signed agreements to deepen bilateral cooperation 79

WTO’s Dispute Settlement Board ruled against India’s ban on poultry imports from

the US 80

India-US signed 2015 Framework for the India-US Defence Relationship 81

India and Belarus signed six Agreements 82

India joined MCAA on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information 83

US President Barack Obama signed USA FREEDOM Act 2015 into law 84

South Korea and China signed bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) 85

India, Sweden signed 6 agreements to restart the strategic dialogue 87

NATIONAL 89

Union Railway Ministry inaugurated Integrated Security System in Mumbai 89

Union Government approved a proposal for setting up second airport at Jewar in

NCR 90

Union Government asked Bihar, TN, Rajasthan to introduce milk in mid day mealscheme 91

Union Cabinet approved to set up a National Memorial at birth place of Lok Nayak

JP Narayan in Bihar 91

Union Cabinet approved setting up of six Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) 92

Union Government launched India’s rst Modernised Anganwadi Centre at Hasan-

pur village in Sonepat 93Union Ministry of Home Affairs designated Agatti and Minicoy Islands as Immigra-

tion Check Posts 94

CCEA approved inclusion of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh in National

Dairy Plan- I 95

Union Cabinet approved transfer of NIL’s land to DRDO for establishing a defence

research centre 96

Union Cabinet approved Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015 97





Election Commission of India (ECI) suspended recognition of National People’s

Party (NPP) 98

Union Government launched website to connect employers, job seekers 99

Railway Ministry decided to run Suvidha Trains 100

Union Government scrapped import duties on AIDS drugs 100

Union Government launched Migrant Resource Centre in Chennai 101

Union Cabinet approved proposal to promulgate the Negotiable Instruments

(Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 102

Indian Army carried out cross-border operation against militants in Myanmar 104

Union Ministry of Water Resources launched Jal Kranti Abhiyan 105

Union Government launched Khoya Paya web portal 107

Union Government launched IAP HealthPhone programme 108

ECONOMY 110

Registrar General of India released Census data on disabled population 110

Literacy rate 71 percent in rural areas, 86 percent in urban areas: NSSO survey 111

Union Government hiked national oor-level minimum wage to 160 rupees per day

113

RBI extended deadline for exchanging pre-2005 currency notes by 6 months 114

RBI allowed AD Category-I Banks to borrow from International Financial Institutions

114RBI released Financial Stability Report June 2015 116

UNCTAD released World Investment Report 2015 118

Union Cabinet approved renaming of SECI as Renewable Energy Corporation of

India 120

Union Ministry of Finance issued Draft Proposals for Facilitating Electronic Transac-

tions 121

FBIL overnight Mumbai Inter-Bank Offer Rate (MIBOR) to become effective from





July 22 123

SEBI relaxed the IPO norms for technological start-ups to raise funds from capital

market 124

EPFO made UAN mandatory for all employers under Employee Provident Fund Act,

1952 125

Overnight Liquid Transaction facility on NSE’s Web-based Mutual Fund platform

began functioning 126

Union Ministry of Finance released Draft Outline of Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme

127

Union Ministry of Finance formed two committees for facilitating implementation of

GST 129

CCEA approved Minimum Support Prices for Kharif Crops of 2015-16 season 130

CCEA approved setting up of 2000 MW of Grid connected Solar PV Power Projects

under JNNSM 131

Union Government launched Cluster Development Programme for Pharma Sector

132

Union Government decided to increase number of work days under MGNREGA in

drought hit areas 134

Union Cabinet revised target of solar power under JNNSM to 100000 MW by 2022

135

India’s trade decit in May 2015 narrowed to 10.4 billion US dollars 136RBI issued nal guidelines for 6-year and 13-year Interest Rate Futures 137

RBI issued Draft Framework on Issuance of Rupee linked Bonds Overseas 138

RBI announced Strategic Debt Restructuring Scheme 139

IREDA awarded Miniratna (Category-1) status 141

Second Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement 2015-16 announced 142

Union Government simplied defence rules to woo foreign companies 143

RBI permitted cross holding in infrastructure bonds 144





Hike in Service Tax to 14 percent became operational 145

ENVIRONMENT | ECOLOGY 147

Elephant Census Report 2015 of Odisha released 147

First species of Yeti Crab in Antarctica named Kiwa tyleri discovered 148

Taygan Lions Park, Skazka Zoo, Thiruvananthapuram Zoo inked animal exchange

agreement 149

Bhuvan Ganga Mobile Application launched to aid National Mission for Clean

Ganga 150

Typhoon Kujira struck south China’s Hainan Province 151

India, China can protect 1.4 million premature deaths by improving quality of Air:

Study 151

Critically endangered Sangai deer found in Manipur’s Loktak Lake to be translocat-

ed 152

Illegal trapping of migratory songbird Yellow-Breasted Bunting leading to its extinc-

tion: Study 153

Mangrove vegetation of Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary witnessing denudation 154

NMCG, NYKS signed MoU for involvement of youth in restoring the health of Gan-

ga River 155

Tier-I Oil Spill Response Centre for Mumbai Port Trust inaugurated 157

Northern Railway rolled out India’s rst rail coach lit by solar panels 15861-day shing ban along the Western Coast became effective except in Kerala 159

CORPORATE 160

Bombay HC allowed Nestle India to export Maggi noodles 160

GFH Financial Group signed pact with Adani Group for developing Mumbai Eco-

nomic Zone 160

Bajaj Allianz launched weather-based crop insurance scheme for three districts of





Maharashtra 161

Ujjwal Batria appointed as CEO of Lafarge India 162

Carlyle Group committed up to 500 million US dollars to Magna Energy Ltd. 163

Maharashtra government decided to amend MPDA Act, 1981 164

SoftBank Corp, Bharti Enterprises Limited and Foxconn formed a JV named SBG

Cleantech Ltd. 164

GADL, Oman Airport Management Company signed MoU on Aviation Consultancy

Services 165

First-ever indigenously developed VRF ACs launched by Blue Star 166

Ricoh India Ltd. launched Picasso for improved access to medical images 166

Wealth-X released World’s Wealthiest Self-Made Billionaires List 167

SoftBank teamed up with Alibaba, Foxconn to market Pepper robot 169

TCS launched Center of Excellence (CoE) for Next-Gen Technology Solutions in

Hyderabad 169

SunEdison Inc acquired Singapore-based Continuum Wind Energy Ltd 170

Bengaluru based Ganit labs developed 5000 rupees test for tongue cancer patients

171

Karbonn to set up its rst mobile phone manufacturing facility in Hyderabad 171

Snapdeal.com acquired Letsgomo Labs 172

Aequs Pvt Ltd acquired Paris-based T&K Machine Inc 173

Dick Costolo resigned as CEO of Twitter Inc 173Vinita Bali appointed as Chair of Board of Directors of GAIN 174

Ravi Garikipati appointed as Entrepreneur in Residence of Flipkart 175

Amazon opened its biggest Fullment Centre in Hyderabad 175

HDFC Bank launched PayZapp 176

PVR Ltd agreed to acquire DLF’s DT Cinemas for 500 crore rupees 177

ICICI Bank appointed MK Sharma as Non-Executive Chairman 178

Anshu Jain, Juergen Fitschen resigned as Co-CEO of Deutsche Bank 178

R Seshasayee appointed as Non-Executive Chairman of Infosys Limited 179





Fortune released 61st edition of list of top 500 companies 180

Volvo India appointed Tom von Bonsdorff as Managing Director 180

Stempeucel, a stem cell drug, received Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) in Europe

181

Punit Renjen appointed as CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited 181

Harley-Davidson tied-up with Myntra for online merchandise sale 182

Emami Limited acquired hair care brand Kesh King 182

Pawan Munjal appointed as the CMD of Hero MotoCorp Ltd 183

Intel announced to buy Altera for 16.7 billion US dollars 183

Amit Jain appointed as President of Uber Inc’s India Operations 184

SCIENCE | TECHNOLOGY 185

30 June 2015 clocked one second longer 185

First-ever possible treatments for MERS Virus identied 188

Hilleman Laboratories developed affordable Haemophilus inuenzae type b (Hib)vaccine 189

ITU dened 5G network speed as 20 Gbps 190

World’s rst exible and skin-like display developed 191

Scientists discovered a way to guide electric discharges using lasers 192

Kerala’s Trinity College of Engineering launched student satellite TASSAT project

193WHO’s IARC classied lindane, DDT, and 2,4-D as carcinogenic to humans 194

China launched world’s rst electric passenger aircraft BX1E 196

Immunogen eOD-GT8 60mer can stimulate immune system to block HIV/AIDS in-

fection in mice: Study 196

Brightest Galaxy in Early Universe named after Cristiano Ronaldo as CR7 198

Previously unknown extreme star formation Eye of Medusa observed 100 million

light years away 198

CSIR set up India’s rst Micro Air Vehicle Aerodynamics Research Tunnel in Ben-





galuru 199

Union Government launched Augmented Reality Application named Sakaar 201

Comet lander Philae woke up after seven months of hibernation 202

Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) launched India Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP)

203

NASA scientist developed tool to predict destructive solar storms 204

Indian-origin scientist Manu Prakash developed World’s rst water-based computer

205

Scientists at CIMAP succeeded in whole genome sequencing of Holy basil or Tulsi206

SPORTS 208

Nelson Piquet Jr won the inaugural FIA Formula E Championship 208

Satnam Singh Bhamara became rst Indian basketball player to join NBA 209

Wei, Li won men’s & women’s singles of Canada Open Badminton tournament 2015210

Gutta-Ponappa won women’s doubles of Canada Open Badminton tournament

2015 210

International Cricket Council approved amendments to playing conditions in ODIs

and T20Is 211

Veselin Topalov won the Norway Chess Tournament 2015 211Leander Paes became 47th player to join 100 partners club on ATP Circuit 212

Sachin Tendulkar named as greatest Test player of 21st century 213

Zaheer Abbas, former Captain of Pakistan’s Cricket team, named as President of

ICC 214

Bangladesh won 3-match ODI series against India 2-1 215

Inderjeet Singh, Jinson Johnson won gold at Asian Athletics Grand Prix 216

Stef Graf appointed as Kerala’s Ayurveda brand ambassador 217

Indian Railway Team won World Railway Championship 2015 in Tennis and Volley-





ball 217

Russia won European Team Athletics Championships 2015 218

Jordan Spieth of US won US Open of Golf 219

China won 2015 Nongfu Spring World Cup of Snooker 219

Andy Murray won the men’s singles of Aegon Tennis Championships at the Queen’s

Club 220

Debendranath Sarangi elected as President of Squash Rackets Federation of India

221

Serbia won 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup by defeating Brazil 2-1 221

Roger Federer won Gerry Weber Open tennis title for eighth time 222

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg of Germany won Austrian Grand Prix of Formula

One 223

Indian paddlers won team titles at South Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis

Championships 223

Sharad Pawar re-elected as President of Mumbai Cricket Association 224

AIBA constituted Ad-hoc committee chaired by Kishan Narsi for boxing in India 224

Documentary on cricket titled Death of Gentleman screened at Shefeld 225

Sunil Chhetri became rst Indian footballer to score 50 international goals 226

Harbhajan Singh became 9th highest wicket-taker in Test Cricket 226

Rafael Nadal won Stuttgart Open 227

Sir Wesley Wineld Hall inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of fame 228Forbes released 2015 World’s 100 Highest-Paid Athletes list 228

England’s cricketer Matt Prior retired from all forms of cricket 230

FC Barcelona won 2015 UEFA Champions League title 231

Indian Basketball Players Association launched in New Delhi 231

Shah Rukh Khan acquired CPL T20 team Trinidad & Tobago 232

Lewis Hamilton of Britain won 2015 Canada Grand Prix of Formula 1 232

Momota and Ratchanok won Indonesia Open Badminton titles 233

Manchester United FC became world’s most valuable brand 234





Rahul Dravid named coach of India ‘A’, U-19 cricket teams 234

Stanislas Wawrinka won Men’s single title of French Open 235

AIFF signed an agreement with French Football Federation 236

AB De Villiers conferred with South Africa Cricketer of the Year Award 237

S Ravi inducted into Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires for 2015-16 238

Inderjeet won gold in shot put at 21st Asian Athletics Championships 238

Ravi Shastri re-appointed as Director of Indian Cricket team 239

Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman inducted in BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee 239

STATE 241

Delhi Budget 2015-16: Highlights 241

Jagmohan Yadav appointed as DGP of Uttar Pradesh 244

National Level Sikh museum to be constructed in Lakhnaur Sahib Village of Punjab

244

Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa launched rst phase of Chennai Metro Rail Service245

APMDC signed MoU with NSL Mining Resources India Pvt Ltd for iron ore mining

projects 246

BHEL commissioned rst 250-MW unit of NTPC’s Bongaigaon Thermal Power Pro-

ject 246

Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee appointed as acting Chief Justice of KarnatakaHigh Court 247

Rajasthan topped the list of States commissioning grid connected Solar Power pro-

jects 247

Lucknow zoo renamed after last Nawab Wajid Ali Shah 248

Maharashtra declared Blue Mormon as State buttery 249

Jharkhand Government banned sale of thermocol plates 250

WB State Assembly passed West Bengal Tea Plantation Employees Welfare Fund

Bill, 2015 250





Madras HC made wearing of helmets for two-wheelers compulsory from 1 July

2015 251

Kapil Mishra appointed as Chairman of Delhi Jal Board 252

Telangana Government unveiled Telangana Industrial Policy 2015 252

Tamil Nadu and Adani Power Ltd signed PPA to set up 200 MW solar power plant in

Ramanathapuram 253

Kapil Mishra named as Delhi Law Minister 254

Bihar launched campaign Badh Chala Bihar to produce Bihar@2025 vision docu-

ment 255

AMC launched USE and GET PAID scheme 255

Bombay High Court banned horse driven carriages in Mumbai 256

Haryana’s Jind, Karnal & UP’s Muzaffarnagar included in NCR 257

Union Environment Ministry approved Coastal Road Project of Mumbai 257

AP Postal Circle decided to sell River Godavari water as GOD-JAL during Pushkar-

am festival 258HP High Court asked state government to establish separate homes for differently-

abled people 259

Union Government signed 400 million US dollars loan agreement with World Bank

for TNSUDP 260

Delhi Metro got its rst driver-less train 260

Jharkhand Cabinet approved Jharkhand Special Courts Ordinance, 2015 261Phase 1A of Jaipur Metro Rail Services inaugurated 262

Maharashtra Cabinet approved a Composite Renewable Energy Policy 263

NEWS CAPSULE 264

PERSON IN NEWS 264

Keith Vaz re-elected as chairman of UK Parliament committee 264

Beno Zephine became rst 100% blind ofcer in IFS 264

UN elected Denmark’s Mogens Lykketoft to head General Assembly 265





Dr Bimal K Roy removed as Director of Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) 266

Harriette Thompson became oldest woman to complete a marathon 266

Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa sworn-in as Governor of Arunachal Pradesh 267

Person Visit 268

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Bangladesh 268

President Pranab Mukherjee concluded two-nation visit to Sweden and Belarus 269

Person Resigned 272

Justice Gian Parkash Mittal resigned from the Ofce of the Judge of Delhi High

Court 272

Said Djinnit, UN envoy to Burundi crisis, stepped down as mediator 272

Sepp Blatter resigned as FIFA president amid corruption scandal 273

Person Appointed 275

Anshula Kant appointed as CFO and Deputy Managing Director of SBI 275

Aakar Patel appointed as Executive Director of Amnesty International India 275

Antani, Joshi appointed to the board of Future Majority Project of US Republican

Party 276

Archana Ramasundaram appointed as Director of National Crime Records Bureau

276G Gurucharan given additional charge as Director General of Bureau of Indian

Standards 277

Narendra Kumar Yadav took charge as Chairman and Managing Director of MTNL

278

Prof S Bandyopadhayay appointed as Director of Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) 278

Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar appointed as Director of CSIR-IICT 279

RC Tayal appointed as Director General of National Security Guard 279

Vijai Sharma appointed as Chief Information Commissioner of India 280





KV Chowdary appointed as Chief Vigilance Commissioner 281

Syed Asif Ibrahim appointed as PM’s Special Envoy on Countering Terrorism and

Extremism 282

P Kunhikrishnan appointed as Director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC)

SHAR 282

K Sivan appointed as Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO 283

S Somanath appointed as Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, ISRO 284

Person Died 285

Patrick Macnee, star of The Avengers, died 285

Veteran Journalist Praful Bidwai passed away 285

Titanic composer James Horner died 286

Sister Nirmala Joshi, former head of Missionaries of Charity, died 287

Former Indian women’s hockey captain Shashi Bala died 287

Former Turkey President Suleyman Demirel died 288Las Vegas casino tycoon Kirk Kerkorian died 288

Sheila Kaul, former Governor of Himachal Pradesh, died 289

Chandigarh’s Rock Garden creator Nek Chand died 290

Veteran actor Sir Christopher Lee died at the age of 93 290

Former Indian Cricketer Hemant Kanitkar died 291

Telugu writer Dasaradhi Rangacharya died at 87 291Hollywood actor Hiroshi Koizumi died 292

Wrestler Prem Nath passed away 292

Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry Irwin Rose passed away 293

Awards | Honours 294

Nadia district won the UN Public Service Award 2015 for eliminating open defeca-

tion 294

President conferred Punyabhushan Award on Prataprao Pawar 295





Famous Writer Vishwanath Tripathi chosen for 28th Moorti Devi Award 296

Sahitya Akademi announced Bhasha Samman 296

Sahitya Akademi announced Bal Sahitya Puraskar for the year 2015 298

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar conferred with Columbia’s highest civilian award 299

UK-based philanthropist Benni Joseph Mavelil selected for VK Krishna Menon

Award 2015 299

Three Indians won inaugural Queen’s Young Leaders Award in UK 300

Sanjay Subrahmanyam selected for Sangitha Kalanidhi award for the year 2015 301

Hindi writers Babusha Kohli, Upasana won 10th Navlekhan Award of BharatiyaJnanpith 301

Sangeet Natak Akademi announced awardees for 2014 Akademi Awards and fel-

lowships 302

Parkash Singh Badal conferred with 2015 Sant Namdev National Award 304

ISRO presented with 2015 Space Pioneer Award for Mars Orbiter Mission 304

International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards 2015 305

UK Author Ali Smith won 2015 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction 306

Suresh Kalmadi conferred with Asian Athletics Association President’s Award 307

McCullum, Hesson with Ofcers of the New Zealand Order of Merit 308

Uttarakhand’s Health Minister SS Negi conferred with World No Tobacco Day

Award 2015 309

Inventions | Discoveries 310

3800-year-old statuettes of priestess and politicians discovered in Peru 310

17th Century Scottish pirate captain William Kidd treasure found in Madagascar310

Places in News 312

Azhagankulam: Ancient trade centre located in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil

Nadu 312

The Great Wall: A series of fortications built along the historical northern borders





of China 313

Revdanda coast of Alibaug: 42-foot-long blue whale died 313

Nathu La pass in Sikkim: reopened for Kailash-Manasarovar pilgrims after 53 years

314

Bellandur Lake: Industrial efuents caused re on its water 315

Tengnoupal, Manipur: 20 army personnel killed in militant ambush 315

Exhibition | Fair 317

30th India Carpet Expo to be held in Varanasi in October 2015 317

Books | Authors 318

Dealing with China: An Insider Unmasks the New Economic Superpower by Henry

M Paulson 318

Transcendence: My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji written by Abdul

Kalam 318 Red Tape to Red Carpet... and then some written by Gina Rinehart released 319

Benazir Bhutto: A Multidimensional Portrait written by Dr Anna Suvorova 319

Beyond Doubt: A Dossier on Gandhi’s Assassination written by Teesta Setalvad 320

Book titled Bikhare Khyalat written by Abdul Haq presented to Vice-President 321

Book titled Recasting India written by Hindol Sengupta released 321

Book titled Modi - Incredible emergence of a star in Chinese language written byTarun Vijay 322

Sourav Ganguly: Cricket, Captaincy and Controversy written by Saptarshi Sarkar

323

Flood of re written by Amitav Ghosh 323

Defence | Security 324

Indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant undocked in Kochi 324





Report | Survey 325

IEP released Global Peace Index 2015 325

Indian Railways, Indian Army among world’s biggest employers: World Economic

Forum Study 329

Maharashtra topped the list of States and UTs in IPR ling in 2013-14: IBEF report

329

IAMAI released Social Media in India 2014 report 330

CBRE Research released Global Prime Ofce Occupancy Costs survey 331

UNHCR released Global Trends: World at War report on forced displacement 333

BCG released Global Wealth 2015 report 335

Summit | Conference 338

International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction concluded 338

41st G7 summit held in Germany 338

Committees | Commissions 340

FSSAI set up an Expert Group on Salt, Sugar and Fat in Indian Food Products 340

Union Ministry of Finance constituted a Task Force headed by D Swarup on Finan-

cial Redress Agency 340

Art | Culture 342

Assam’s Ambubachi Mela concluded 342

Two-day long annual Hemis festival of Ladakh 342

New series of Atithi Devo Bhava TV commercials launched 344

350th foundation day of Shri Anandpur Sahib celebrated 345

800-year-old Buddha statue with 1000 hands unveiled by China after 7 years of

restoration 345





Abbreviations | Terms 347

K2K Economic Corridor: Kolkata (India) and Kunming (China) Economic Corridor

347

FARC-EP or FARC: A guerilla movement based in Columbia 348

Bharat Mala Project: Linking border and coastal areas with road network 349

Exercise Ajeya Warrior -2015: Joint exercise between the armies of India and UK

350

OROP Scheme: One Rank, One Pension scheme for ex-servicemen 350

Magna Carta: 800th anniversary celebrated in Britain 351

Buddhas of Bamiyan: Two 6th-century monumental statues of standing Buddha 352

ASHOBAA: A cyclonic storm over east central Arabian Sea 353

Jan Aushadhi Campaign 353

Section 12(1)(d) of Consumer Protection Act 354

MCOCA: Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act 354

MERS virus: Two patients died in South Korea 355

Accident | Incident 356

Military transport plane of Indonesia, Hercules C-130, crashed in Medan city 356

Malvani hooch tragedy: more than 90 people died 356

Chinese cruise ship Eastern Star capsized in the Yangtze River 357

Tornado struck northern city of Ciudad Acuna in Mexico 357

Science | Space 359

SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket broke apart in ames minutes after lifting off from Cape

Canaveral 359

Day | Week | Year 360

29 June: National Statistics Day 360

26 June: International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafcking 360





14 June: World Blood Donors Day 361

12 June: World Day Against Child Labour 361

8 June: World Ocean Day 362

5 June: World Environment Day 363

31 May: World No Tobacco Day 364

Miscellaneous 366

Union Government launched weather alert service NOWCAST 366

ASIC launched mobile app ASCIonline for consumer complaint 367

Indian Railways rechristened Haridwar Mail as Yoga Express 368

Union Government launched mobile app to locate nearest blood bank 368

WORLD DAIRY (JUNE 2015) 369

INDIA DAIRY (JUNE 2015) 378

ONE LINERS (JUNE 2015) 391

DESCRIPTIVE QUESTION (JUNE 2015) 399





The Current Affairs June 2015 eBook covers the current events that happened in the month of June.

Current Affairs is a crucial component of any competitive exams including IAS|PCS, SSC, Banking, MBA.

The lack of preparation for current affairs by the aspirants and candidates often is a main cause of their

failure. Even though the candidates know it but they are often confused about how to prepare the current

affairs section of the different competitive exams. It is to clear such doubts and confusion, Jagranjosh.com

has come up with eBook concept. Although current affairs section per se is very wide to be covered, yet we

have tried to cover all the possible current affairs for the month of June 2015.

The Current Affairs June 2015 eBook is divided into different section keeping in mind the need of various

exams. The sections covered namely are International, National, Economy, Ecology and Environment,

Science & Technology, Corporate, Sports, States, and News Capsule. Every news item in each section is

arranged date wise with the most recent news being covered first and so on. Although there might be some

deviations but that is solely to give priority to the most important current affairs in each section.

Presentation of the given current affairs has been planned meticulously. It has been planned in such a

way that it remains in the minds of readers for a longer duration. Wherever necessary each news item is

presented along with a background and analysis so as to help candidates contemplate all the important

current events at the time of exam in an effective way.

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PREFACE





PICK OF THE MONTH

Urban Rejuvenation in India

By 2030, India will have 5 times the wealth it does now. 40% of the Indian population

(590 million people) will be living in cities and 70% of the employment will be going to

cities. We require a concentrated, deliberate effort to develop our cities in a way that

will be positive for humanity as well as the environment. We need urban rejuvenation

for a better quality of life.

In line with its election manifesto, which rightly recognises urbanisation and

infrastructure as key areas for development, the BJP led NDA government underPrime Minister Narendra Modi launched three new missions, namely Atal Mission for

Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart Cities Mission and Housing

for All (Urban) by 2022, on 25 June 2015.

These three schemes will entail an expected expenditure of 4 trillion rupees over the

next few years ans aims to meet the needs of around 40% of India’s population.

During the occasion, the Prime Minister also released logos and taglines for AMRUT

and Smart Cities Mission; and guidelines for AMRUT, Smart Cities Mission and

Housing for All (Urban).

Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)

The AMRUT Mission entails rejuvenation and transformation of 500 cities with an

outlay of 50000 crore rupees over the next ve years (2015-16 to 2019-20).

The twin objectives of the mission is meeting the challenges of growing urbanizationin the country in a sustainable manner as well as ensuring the benets of urban





development to the poor through increased access to urban spaces and enhanced

employment opportunities.

Purpose: To develop civic infrastructure in 500 cities and towns having population of

one lakh and above. The mission also includes some cities situated on stems of main

rivers, a few capital cities, important cities located in hilly areas, islands and tourist

areas.

Implementation: Implementation is linked to promotion of urban reforms such as

e-governance, constitution of professional municipal cadre, credit rating of urban

local bodies, energy and water audit and citizen-centric urban planning among others. Approach: The mission adopts a project based approach to ensure basic infrastructure

services relating to water supply, sewerage, transport and development of green

spaces among others.

States given more freedom: Under this Mission, States get the exibility of designing

schemes based on the needs of identied cities and in their execution and monitoring.

Further in a signicant departure from Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal

Mission (JNNURM), now the states will only submit State Annual Action Plans (SAAPs)

to the Union for broad concurrence based on which funds will be released. Under

JNNURM, Union Government used to appraise even individual projects.

Funding: 50000 crore rupees will be spent under the mission over next ve years.

Central assistance will be to the extent of 50 percent of project cost for cities and

towns with a population of up to 10 lakh and one-third of the project cost for those

with a population of above 10 lakh.Central assistance will be released in three installments in the ratio of 20:40:40 based

on achievement of milestones indicated in SAAPs.

10 percent of budget allocation will be given to States/Union Territories (UTs) as an

incentive based on achievement of reforms during the previous year.

Uncompleted projects under JNNURM: Central assistance will be extended under

AMRUT to the projects sanctioned under JNNURM but not completed. JNNURMprojects relating to urban development sanctioned during 2005 -2012 and achieved





physical progress of 50 percent availing 50 percent of central assistance released and

those sanctioned during 2012-2014 will be supported till March 2017. Accordingly,

102 and 296 projects respectively will get Central support for balance funding to

complete these projects.

Smart Cities Mission

Smart Cities Mission entails an outlay of 48000 crore rupees over the next ve years

(2015-16 to 2019-20) with an aim to make urban areas more livable and inclusive

besides driving the economic growth.

Purpose: To build 100 smart cities across the country by promoting smart solutions

for efcient use of available assets, resources and infrastructure with the objective of

enhancing the quality of urban life and providing a clean and sustainable environment.

Focus:The focus of the mission will be on core infrastructure services like Adequate and

clean Water supply, Sanitation and Solid Waste Management, Efcient Urban Mobility

and Public Transportation, Affordable housing for the poor, power supply, robust IT

connectivity, Governance, especially e-governance and citizen participation, safetyand security of citizens, health and education and sustainable urban environment.

Selection Criteria: Smart City aspirants will be selected through a City Challenge

Competition intended to test the ability of the cities to achieve the mission objectives.

Each state will shortlist a certain number of smart city aspirants as per the norms to

be indicated by the Union Government and they will prepare smart city proposals for

further evaluation for extending Central support.

Funding: While, each selected city would get central assistance of 100 crore rupees

per year for ve years a cumulative amount of 48000 crore rupees allocated for the

mission

Implementation: Smart City Action Plans will be implemented by Special Purpose

Vehicles (SPV) to be created for each city and state governments will ensure steady

stream of resources for SPVs.

Approach: The mission adopts area based approach consisting of retrotting,redevelopment, pan-city initiatives and development of new cities. Under Retrotting,





deciencies in an identied area will be addressed through necessary interventions

as in the case of Local Area Plan for downtown Ahmedabad. Redevelopment enables

reconstruction of already built-up area that is not amenable for any interventions, to

make it smart, as in the case of Bhendi Bazar of Mumbai and West Kidwai Nagar

in New Delhi. Pan-city initiatives could be interventions like Intelligent Transport

Solutions which benet residents by reducing commuting time.

How AMRUT differs from Smart Cities Mission?

Though the two missions are interrelated in the sense that AMRUT seeks to lay a

foundation to enable smaller cities and towns to eventually grow into smart cities,

they differ in the following ways:

While Smart Cities Mission focuses on a select larger urban areas, the AMRUT mission

is intended to improve infrastructure in small cities having population of one lakh and

above and towns of special importance only.

While Smart Cities Mission adopts area based approach focusing on improving

amenities in a specic area of a larger city, the AMRUT mission adopts functionalbased approach focusing on improving the delivery of services in the designated

towns and smaller cities.

It is aimed at developing infrastructure in 500 cities and towns that are having a

population of one lakh and above with an outlay of 50000 crore rupees between

2015-16 and 2019-20.

Housing for All by 2022

Housing for All by 2022 mission aims at providing housing facilities to all eligible

people in urban areas by 2022 and it will be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored

Scheme and the States and Union Territories (UTs) are given greater autonomy in

execution of the mission.

In order to avoid duplicity, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviationissued an order on 19 May 2015 cancelling the existing Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY),





Rajiv Rinn Yojana (RRY) and Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP) schemes and

subsuming them under the new mission.

Broad Components of Housing for All

It has four components viz., slum rehabilitation, credit linked interest subsidy, affordable

housing and beneciary-led individual house construction or enhancement. States

and Union Territories (UTs) can choose best options amongst four components of the

mission to meet the demand of housing in their states.

Under the Slum rehabilitation component Union Government will provide grant of

one lakh rupees per house. A State Government would have exibility in deployingthis slum rehabilitation grant to any slum rehabilitation project taken for development

using land as a resource for providing houses to slum dwellers.

Under the Credit Linked Interest Subsidy component interest subsidy of 6.5 percent

on housing loans availed up to a tenure of 15 years will be provided to Economically

Weaker Sections/ Lower Income Group (EWS/LIG) categories, wherein the subsidy

pay-out on Net Present Value (NPV) basis would be about 2.3 lakh rupees per house

for both the categories.

Central assistance at the rate of 1.5 lakh rupees per house for EWS category will be

provided under Affordable housing component in partnership with public and private

sectors and Beneciary-led individual house construction or enhancement.

State Government or their para statals like Housing Boards can take up project of

affordable housing to avail the Central Government grant.

General Highlights of the Mission

• It will be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme except the credit linked

subsidy component, which will be implemented as a Central Sector Scheme.

• Houses constructed under the mission would be allotted in the name of the female

head of the households or in the joint name of the male head of the household and

his wife.• It will cover the entire urban area consisting of 4041 statutory towns with initial





focus on 500 Class I cities and it will be implemented in three phases Phase-I

(April 2015 – March 2017) to cover 100 Cities to be selected from States/UTs as

per their willingness, Phase – II (April 2017 – March 2019) to cover additional 200Cities and Phase-III (April 2019 – March 2022) to cover all other remaining Cities.

• There will be exibility in covering number of cities in various phases and inclusion

of additional cities may be considered by the Union Ministry of Housing & Urban

Poverty Alleviation in case there is demand from States and cities and have

capacity to include them in earlier phases.

• Credit linked subsidy component of the scheme would be implemented acrossthe country in all statutory towns from the very beginning.

• A Technology Sub-mission would be set up to facilitate adoption of modern,

innovative and green technologies and building material for faster and quality

construction of houses.

• Best practices in terms of affordable housing policies of the States/UTs designs

and technologies adopted by States and Cities are compiled with an objective to

spread best practices across States and cities and foster cross learning.

• A virtual platform will be developed to obtain suggestions and inputs on house

design, materials, technologies and other elements of urban housing.

Comment

Urban rejuvenation or renewal calls for re-organizing the urban clusters where the

infrastructure has far outlived its extent and is almost bursting at seams. The conceptof urban rejuvenation has been used in many of the leading cities of world like Hong

Kong, Singapore etc.

Urban rejuvenation or re-development or renewal, requires formation of authorities

to carry out the ‘large-scale redevelopment of urban areas, rather than piecemeal

rebuilding of individual buildings or the provision of specic facilities’. In other

words the buildings which were older than certain age were pulled down and new

infrastructure was created which catered to the needs of the changed time.

Politically sensitive and requiring extreme transparency along with faith of the





community in the system implementing it, it was repackaged in our context in

India 10 years back with the launch of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal

Mission (JNNURM) in December 2005 by the then United Progressive Alliance (UPA)government.

However, JNNURM has not lived up to the outcome of ‘urban renewal’ in any locality

in India. The only visible outcome of JNNURM has been its low-oor AC or Non-AC

buses plying in the city.

The High Powered Expert Committee for Investment in Urban Infrastructure found

in a 2011 report that the JNNURM had not delivered either the required investmentor service improvements. In 2012, the Comptroller Auditor General declared it a

‘failure’, detailing under-used, unspent funding (particularly for the poorest wards),

unmet reforms (even on paper) and projects rarely completed (8.9 per cent overall).

It is to stem the loopholes in JNNURM, the BJP-led NDA government announced in

2014 to replace JNNURM with a new mission with a focus on GIS-based planning and

waste management. As a result, these three schemes were envisaged and launched.

Conceptually these schemes sound effective but these three different urban renewal

schemes need to be closely integrated in order to work well. Any city aspiring for

the fundamental aspects of urban infrastructure and living has to leverage all these

schemes in some way or the other. Besides, budgetary outlays are not adequate and

state governments need to contribute generously.

India and Bangladesh relations@ zenith

A new chapter was opened in the relationship between India and Bangladesh during

the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bangladesh from 6 June to 7 June 2015.

During the visit 22 bilateral documents were inked signed, exchanged, adopted and

handed over in Dhaka.

These agreements covered the entire gamut of political, economic and culturalrelations. Among these agreements, ve issues that are part of the 60-point





Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) stand out and promise an era of greater

cooperative relationship, best reected in the title of the joint declaration - Notun

Projonmo-Nayi Disha (New Beginning-New Direction).

These agreements are related to connectivity and include grid interconnection and

generation of power, improving the balance of trade, better coordination among the

border guarding forces and people- to- people contact. While the rst two issues

are to be advanced within a sub-regional framework, other issues are exclusively

bilateral in nature.

The most notable among these was the ratication and exchange of 1974 LandBoundary Agreement between the two nations.

Land Boundary Agreement of 1974

The signing of historical 1974 Land Boundary Agreement (LBA), which would settle

the 4096-kilometre-long border (India’s longest border with neighbour country)

dispute between the two countries, was the landmark agreement India has signed

with any neighbouring country.

According to the agreement, Bangladesh took over 111 enclaves (17160 acres of

land) from India’s possession and India received 51 enclaves (7110 acres of land)

from Bangladesh. Enclaves are tiny landlocked territories that each country has

within the borders of the other nation. The enclaves in Assam, West Bengal, Tripura

and Meghalaya come under the bill’s ambit.

Effect of Land Boundary Agreement

• It will allow over 50000 stateless people living in these enclaves to gain a national

identity after four decades of stateless limbo, as now they will be allowed to live

in India or Bangladesh with the option of being granted citizenship in the newly

designated territories

• The enclaves would cease to exist

• It will help India to fence its borders with Bangladesh

• It will change the physical map of India and Bangladesh





• It may also help in solving the dispute of water sharing from Teesta and Feni

Rivers which ow through both nations, which was not resolved during this visit

of Modi to Bangladesh.

The Constitution (100th Amendment) Act, 2015

The Constitution (100th Amendment) Act, 2015 which received the President Pranab

Mukherjee gave assent in May 2015, relates to the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA)

between India and Bangladesh.

The Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) Bill, 2013 also known as the 119th Constitution(Amendment) Bill, 2013 was passed by both houses of Parliament in May 2015.

The rst pillar of this bill was put by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 6

September 2011, the year when the two countries inked a historic protocol on land

boundary agreement following the talks between Prime Minister Mahmohan Singh

and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka.

List of documents signed

• Exchange of Instruments of Ratication of 1974 Land Boundary Agreement and

its 2011 Protocol

• Exchange of letters on Modalities for implementation of 1974 Land Boundary

Agreement and its 2011 Protocol

• Renewal of Bilateral Trade Agreement

• Agreement on Coastal Shipping between Bangladesh and India

• Renewal of Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade

• Bilateral Cooperation Agreement on Cooperation in the eld of Standardization

was inked between Bangladesh Standards & Testing Institution (BSTI) and Bureau

of Indian Standards (BIS).

• Agreement on Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati Bus Service and its Protocol

• Agreement on Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala Bus Service and its Protocol





• Memorandum of Understanding between Coast Guards

• Memorandum of Understanding on Prevention of Human Trafcking

• Memorandum of Understanding on Prevention of Smuggling and Circulation Fake

Currency Notes

• Memorandum of Understanding between Bangladesh and India and for Extending

a New Line of Credit (LoC) of 2 billion US dollars by Government of India to

Government of Bangladesh

• Memorandum of Understanding on Blue Economy and Maritime Cooperation in

the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean

• Memorandum of Understanding on Use of Chittagong and Mongla Ports

• Memorandum of Understanding for a Project under IECC (India Endowment for

Climate Change) of SAARC

• Memorandum of Understanding on Indian Economic Zone

• Cultural Exchange Programme for the years 2015-17

• Statement of Intent on Bangladesh-India Education Cooperation (adoption)

• Agreement between Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL)

and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for leasing of international bandwidth

for internet at Akhaura

• Memorandum of Understanding between University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

and Council of Scientic and Industrial Research, India for Joint Research onOceanography of the Bay of Bengal

• Memorandum of Understanding between University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh and

University of Jamia Milia Islamia, India

• Handing over of Consent Letter by Insurance Development and Regulatory

Authority (IDRA), Bangladesh to Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), India to start

operations in Bangladesh

Besides, during this visit of Prime Minister Modi to Bangladesh, its government





conferred Award of Liberation Wa Honour on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari

Vajpayee. Vajpayee was awarded for his outstanding support for the country’s

independence from Pakistan in 1971 when he was a Lok Sabha member.

Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala bus service agged off

Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala direct bus service was agged off from Dhaka on 6 June

2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart, Sheikh

Hasina. PM Narendra Modi visited Bangladesh from 6 June to 7 June 2015.

With the launch of the Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala direct bus service, the time taken toreach Agartala from Kolkata will be reduced to 17 hours. Earlier, the distance was

covered in three days.

Besides, India and Bangladesh also announced Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati service.

Prior to this, the two Indian states were directly connected with Bangladesh through

two different bus services, that is, Dhaka-Kolkata Direct Bus Service that started in

1999 and Dhaka-Agartala Direct Bus Service that started in 2001.

WJP Rule of Law Index 2015

The US-based World Justice Project (WJP) on 2 June 2015 released the Rule of Law

Index 2015. The 2015 index, fth in the series, provides data on how the rule of law

is experienced in 102 countries around the globe.

The index has been topped by Denmark followed by Norway, Sweden and Finland at

second, third and fourth place respectively. All the four countries have score above

0.85.

On the other hand, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Venezuela are placed at bottom of

the index with 100, 101 and 102 rank respectively. All these countries have score of

less than 0.37.

India with a score of 0.51 has been placed at 59th position and is ranked at third

place out of six countries in the South Asian region.





Main highlights of Rule of Law Index

• Denmark tops the index overall and also in the categories Constraints on

Government Power and Absence of Corruption.

• In Open Government category, the index is topped by Sweden

• Finland tops the index in the categories Fundamental Rights and Criminal Justice

• In the category Order and Security, the index is topped by Japan

• When it comes to category Regulatory Enforcement and Civil Justice, it has beentopped by Singapore and the Netherlands

Position of India in the Index

• India with a score of 0.51 has been placed at 59th position

• It is placed at 10th place out of 25 lower middle income countries.

• India’s performance for criminal justice places it at 44th rank globally, top performer

in South Asia and at Number 4 among lower middle income countries.

• In Civil Justice category, India is placed at 88th rank globally, third in South Asia

and 19th among lower middle income countries.

• India is placed at 37th place in the category Open Government and at third place

among lower middle income countries

• In the category Order and Security, India is placed at 90th position worldwide,

fourth in South Asia and 20 among lower middle income countries.

• It is ranked at third place out of six countries in the South Asian region which is

topped by Nepal (48) followed by Sri Lanka (58), Bangladesh (92), Pakistan (98)

and Afghanistan (101).

• India is placed at third place among the BRICS countries, which has been topped

by South Africa (36) followed by Brazil (46), China (71) and Russia (75).





About Rule of Law Index 2015

The Index is based on survey of over a 1000 respondents from three big cities, along

with local legal experts, in each country. The data, collected in 2013, measures how

the rule of law is experienced in practical, everyday situations using 47 indicators

across eight categories.

These eight categories are: constraints on government powers, absence of corruption,

open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement,

civil justice, and criminal justice.

The index ranks countries on a scale of 0 to 1 (with 1 indicating strongest adherenceto the Rule of Law).

Bibek Debroy committee on railway restructuring submitted

report

The High Level Committee (HLC) on railway restructuring headed by Dr Bibek Debroy

on 12 June 2015 submitted its nal report to the Union Ministry of Railways.

The HLC known as the Committee for Mobilization of Resources for Major Railway

Projects and Restructuring of Railway Ministry and Railway Board was formed in

September 2014.

For implementing its recommendations the committee has given the follow-

ing timetable

• Immediate–Liberalization, or the allowing of private entry; changes in the

composition of the Railway Board.

• 0-2 years–Decentralization to zones/divisions; cleaning up nances between

Union government and IR.

• 2 years–Reform of RPF, schools and medical services; transition to commercial

accounting, reform of production and construction units.

• 3 years–Changes in the Railways Act and the Railway Board Act, setting up a





Regulator; unied entry into the Railway services; resolution of social costs.

• 5 years–Bifurcation between Railway Infrastructure Corporation and rest of IR as

train operators; end of the Railway Budget.

• 7 years–Transition of the IR that operates trains to a government-owned SPV.

Major recommendations of the HLC

• Highlighting the need to split the roles of policy-making, regulation, and operations,

it recommended that the Ministry should only be responsible for policy for the

Railway sector and Parliamentary accountability while autonomy should be givento the Indian Railways (IR).

• Unbundling of Indian Railways (IR) into two independent organizations: one,

responsible for the track and infrastructure and another that will operate trains.

• To enable proper decision –making, the IR needs to adopt a commercial accrual-

based double entry accounting system. This will help determine the precise extent

of subsidization.

• The Railway Board should become like a corporate board for IR. The Chairman

of the Railway Board should thus be like a CEO. He/She is not rst among equals

and should therefore have the powers of nal decision-making and veto (in the

case of a divided view).

• A Railway Infrastructure Company should be created as a government SPV (with

a possibility of disinvesting in the future) that owns the railway infrastructure,

delinked from IR.

• A provision needs to be made for open access for any new operator who wishes

to enter the market for operating trains with non-discriminatory access to the

railway infrastructure and a level playing eld.

• Amendment in the Indian Railways Act will be required to allow the levy of tariffs by

private operators without administered tariff-determination and fares being left to

the market, with a qualication about passenger fares with guaranteed standardof services to a particular passenger class, such as ordinary sitting class and





sleeper class.

• Set up a Railway Regulatory Authority of India (RRAI) statutorily, with an independent

budget, so that it is truly independent of the Ministry of Railways. It will have the

powers and objectives of economic regulation, including, tariff regulation; safety

regulation, service standard regulation, etc.

• RRAI should possess quasi judicial powers, with appointment and removal of

members distanced from the Union Ministry of Railways.

• There should be an Appellate Tribunal which will hear appeals against the orders

of RRAI and further appeals against the orders of the Appellate Tribunal can be

directed to the Supreme Court.

• Separation of rail track from rolling stock and unbundling the former and separation

and unbundling of non-core as well as peripheral activities.

• Delink of Railway Protection Force (RPF) from the IR system and bring in private

security for protection of Railway property.

• All the existing production units should be placed under a government SPV known

as the Indian Railway Manufacturing Company (IRMC) under the administrative

control of the Ministry of Railways. No privatization need be contemplated, at

least initially.

• An ex-cadre post of a Chief Technology Ofcer (CTO) needs to be created; reporting

directly to the Chairman of the Board and all IT initiatives should be integrated

and brought under the umbrella of this directorate exclusive of any departmentalhandling in Board.

• There are too many Zones and Divisions and thus a rationalization exercise is

required.

• The head of the Zone (GM) must be fully empowered to take all necessary decisions

without reference to Railway Board within the framework of policies.

• There is a need to shift focus to business/customer units like freight business,passenger business, suburban business, parcel business etc. which is essential

for IR to be competitive, for its long term-economic viability, customer satisfaction





and for being an adaptive/exible organization.

• IR should consolidate and merge the existing eight organized Group ‘A’ services

into two services i.e. the Indian Railway Technical Service (IRTechS) and the Indian

Railway Logistics Service (IRLogS), comprising the three non-technical services

(IRAS, IRPS and IRTS).

• Subsidies should be targeted towards those who need them. Link Aadhaar numbers

for passenger when tickets are purchased. Subsidies on passenger fares to be

reimbursed directly into bank accounts, for those who are targeted BPL. Such

subsidies must be borne by the Union government.• IR must encourage on-board catering through large food chains and local

restaurants on the payment of a modest license fee. This can be enabled simply

through web booking and thus offer customers a wide choice of local cuisine,

delivered at his/her choice of station by the restaurant.

• For raising resources for investments, an Investment Advisory Committee may be

set up, consisting of experts, investment bankers and representatives of SEBI,

RBI, IDFC and other institutions.

WADA published Anti-Doping Rule Violations Report for 2013

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on 15 June 2015 published the Anti-Doping

Rule Violations (ADRV) Report for 2013.

It is the rst of its kind comprehensive report released by WADA on ADRVs and it

illustrates the incidence of doping in global sport during 2013.

Russia has maximum number of dope offenders with 212 testing positive while the

gures for Turkey and India were 155 and 91 respectively that stood at second and

third positions.

Highlights of ADRV Report

• Globally, 1953 sanctions were levied for testing positive for banned substances





(ADRVs) committed during 2013.

• The sanctions were handed out to athletes and athlete support personnel from

115 countries in 89 sports after testing 207513 samples.

• Out of 1953 athletes, 1687 were actually caught for using banned substances

while 266 violated other rules (non-analytical ADRVs).

• Non-Analytical ADRVs refer to violations related to Articles 2.2 to 2.8 of the World

Anti-Doping Code, that do not involve the detection of a prohibited substance

by a WADA-accredited laboratory but instances like failure to submit to a test,

possession, use or trafcking of a prohibited substance.

• Non-Analytical ADRVs include athletes and athlete support personnel.

• If non-analytical Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) are taken into account Russia

(225), Turkey (188) and France (108) stood at the top three positions.

• Among sports disciplines, weightlifting (248), athletics (235), cycling (153), wrestling

(92) and football (74) were top ve with large number of dope cases.

Report with respect to India

• India’s National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) reported third largest ADRVs during

2013 with 91 instances just behind Russia and Turkey.

• Out of the 91 Indians, 20 were women athletes.

• When non-analytical ADRVs are considered, India had total 95 ADRVs and stood

fourth in the WADA list behind Russia, Turkey and France .

• Among sports disciplines, track and eld athletes lead the Indian dope cheats

with 30 (28 sanctioned after testing positive with two of them committing non-

analytical ADRVs) out of a global total of 280.

• Weightlifting came second with 19 from the discipline caught for doping with nine

wrestlers committing Anti-Doping Rule violation.

• Other sports involved in the doping are power lifters (8), bodybuilding (8), judo (7),boxing (4), aquatics (2), cycling (2), kabaddi (2), cricket (1), football (1), taekwondo





(1) and volleyball (1).

The report, when combined with the 2013 Annual Testing Figures (ATF) Report

released in 2014 will be of value to the anti-doping community’s efforts to protect

clean athletes in every country around the world.

The 2013 ATF Report disclosed the results of all the tests performed by WADA-

accredited laboratories on urine and blood samples collected during 2013.

First International Day of Yoga observed globally

The rst International Day of Yoga was on 21 June 2015 observed globally. The day

was celebrated across 192 nations including Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. Earlier on 3

June 2015, National Yoga Day was also celebrated in India.

The celebrations of rst International Yoga Day at Rajpath in New Delhi saw setting of

two Guinness World Records (GWRs). These included participation of most individuals

and individuals from the largest number of nationalities performing asanas at a single

venue. Around 36 thousand participants performed asanas and 84 nationalities joined

the ofcial observation.

The idea to celebrate 21 June, which is the Summer Solstice, as the International Day

of Yoga was mooted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 27 September 2014 during

his address to the UN General Assembly.

Following which, the United Nations General Assembly on 11 December 2014 adoptedthe resolution to commemorate 21 June as the International Day of Yoga every year.

This resolution was adopted under the Global Health and Foreign Policy by the

General Assembly in order to provide a holistic approach to the people worldwide for

their health and well-being. More than 177 countries including USA, Canada, China

and Egypt supported this move including 175 nations co-sponsoring the resolution.

International Day of Yoga was adopted to fulll the following objectives:

• To let people know the amazing and natural benets of yoga.





• To connect people to the nature by practicing yoga.

• To reduce the rate of health challenging diseases all over the world.

• To enhance growth, development and spread peace all through the world.

• To help people in their bad situations themselves by getting relief from stress

through yoga.

• To let people know their rights of good health and healthy life style to completely

enjoy the highest standard of physical and mental health.

• To link between protection of health and sustainable health development.

Yoga is an Indian physical, mental, and spiritual practice or discipline. It nds mention

in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the author of the grammatical Mahabhasya.

Renowned architect Charles Correa passed away

India’s renowned contemporary architect Charles Correa on 16 June 2015 passed

away following a brief illness in Mumbai. He was 84. He led the creation of architecture

for post-Independence India.

He designed the famous monuments and buildings of the nation ranging from

Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Museum in Ahmedabad; Madhya Pradesh Legislative

Assembly in Bhopal; National Crafts Museum, New Delhi; Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal

and British Council, Delhi.He also designed McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, Boston and

Champalimaud Centre for The Unknown in Lisbon, Portugal. He was the founder of

Mumbai’s Urban Design Research Institute that works to protect the environment

and improve lives of urban communities.

He was the Chief Architect behind the development of Navi Mumbai along with

Shirish Patel and Pravina Mehta. He also had served as Chairman of the National

Commission on Urbanization in 1985.

Correa was bestowed with various awards in his lifetime for his works including the





Padma Shri award (1972), Padma Vibhushan (2006), Royal Gold Medal for Architecture

(1984) by the Royal Institute of British Architects, 7th Aga Khan Award for Architecture

(1998) by Praemium Imperiale of Japan.

Correa was born on 1 September 1930 in Secunderabad, Telangana.

Greece became rst developed nation to default on IMF debt

Greece on 30 June 2015 became the rst developed nation to default on International

Monetary Fund (IMF) debt. It became a defaulter after it missed the deadline for

payment of 1.7 billion dollar (1.5 billion euro) to IMF.

The Eurozone Finance Ministers refused to extend its bailout to Greece after it rejected

the proposal given by the troika viz., International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European

Commission (EC) and European Central Bank (ECB). The proposal said that Greece

needs to raise its primary surplus within two years in order to avail the 15.5 billion

Euros of funding, which in turn required pension and tax reforms for which the Syrizagovernment is reluctant to.

However, the ministers said that they will discuss a last-minute request from Greece

for a new two-year bailout on 1 July 2015. The last country to do so was Zimbabwe

in 2001.

Besides, IMF also announced that it had received a request from the Greek authorities

for an extension of their obligation and that it would go to the Executive Board in due

course.

Greece PM called for referendum on extension for bailout programme

Greek Prime Minister Alexia Tsipras on 27 June 2015 called a referendum on extension

to the bailout programme offered by the troika viz., International Monetary Fund (IMF),

the European Commission (EC) and European Central Bank (ECB).The Greece Parliament is set to vote on 5 July 2015 on the referendum call.





Tsipras called for referendum against the backdrop of austerity demands put forward

by the lenders as a pre-condition to extend the bailout programme for six months. It

is set to expire on 30 June 2015, the same day IMF’s debt is due.

As per the troika, Greece needs to raise its primary surplus within two years in order to

avail the 15.5 billion euros of funding, which in turnrequires pension and tax reforms

for which the Syriza government is reluctant to.

The left-wing government came into power in January 2015 on apromise to end

austerity measures.

Without the bailout funds, Greece is set to default on the loans and will be closer to

imposing capital controls that will create chaos in the economy and nancial markets.

If people vote for the extension of the bailout programme (Yes vote), a new government

may have to be formed to nalise talks with the lenders and implement reforms

agreed upon.

If people vote against the extension of the bailout programmes (No vote), it will pave

the way for the exit of Greece from the Eurozone and possibly European Union.

Greece, which has been facing nancial crisis since 2009, has a total debt of 320

billion euros. This is 180 percent of Greece GDP and 2 percent of the sovereign debt

in the European Union.

Comment:

Greece, which is now in arrears, is at a risk of leaving Euro and shifting back to its oldcurrency Drachma. Euro replaced Drachma as a currency of Greece in 2001 (at the

rate of 340.750 drachma to the euro). This may have a major implication for Greece

economy and its exports.

The use of Drachma by Greece, which will be of lower value than Euro, will lead to

increase in the cost of imports raising the specter of ination in the already battling

economy.





Greece crisis and its Impact on India

Default by Greece on loans repayment to the IMF, would be rst case by an advanced

economy which will have impact on both the world economy and Indian economy.

Though India’s economy is not Greece-centric, Greece’s default on its payments and

expected weakening of the euro will have indirect effect on the country’s economy.

Europe is India’s largest trading partner with 129 billion US dollars of merchandise

trade registered in 2014-15. Of this the European Union accounted for 97 billion US

dollars with the UK, Germany, France and Italy being the leading partners.

India will earn less on its exports especially engineering goods for which is the Europe

is the largest destination.

Further, Europe is the second biggest outsourcing market for the Indian IT rms after

the US and any crisis in Europe will also have implications for the Indian exports

economy.

The biggest fear on account of Greece crisis would be on capital inows as it may

trigger capital outows from the India with interest rates set to rise in order to facethe volatile situation in the capital market.





INTERNATIONAL

Three-drug lethal injection protocol use did not violate

Constitution: US Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court on 29 June 2015 upheld the use of three controversial drug

lethal injections protocol used in executions of inmates across the country. It said that

it does not violate the Constitution in terms of being cruel and unusual punishment.

While writing the opinion of the 5-4 majority Justice Samuel Alito along with Chief

Justice John Roberts, Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and ClarenceThomas rejected arguments presented by lawyers of inmates in Oklahoma.

Lawyers of the inmates argued that the rst injection, a sedative called midazolam,

would not prevent their clients from feeling searing pain from the second and third

injections that caused paralysis and heart failure. Hence, it was contrary to the Eighth

Amendment of the US Constitution that forbids cruel and unusual punishments.

Further, a divided Supreme Court ruled that the inmates who challenged the use of

the sedative failed to establish that Oklahoma’s use of a massive dose of midazolam

entails a substantial risk of severe pain.

The Justices also noted that the plaintiffs did not identify an alternative method of

execution that signicantly reduces that risk.

Background

Midazolam raised concerns after it was used in executions of three jail inmates, mostnotably the execution of Clayton Lockett, in Oklahoma in April 2014 that took longer

time than usual.





Following which and in lieu of shortage of midazolam in the US, the state legislature

of Oklahoma on 9 April 2015 passed a bill that allows use of nitrogen gas (nitrogen-

induced hypoxia) as a method of execution.

Comment

The ruling clears the path for executions to continue in a number of states of the US

although a number of US states are facing shortage of midazolam sedative due to

European manufacturers opposing capital punishment refusing to sell the drugs to

them.

India, Thailand signed ve MOUs during the 7th Meeting of India-

Thailand Joint Commission

India and Thailand on 29 June 2015 signed ve Agreements/ Memorandum of

Understandings (MOUs) during the 7th Meeting of India-Thailand Joint Commission

in Bangkok.

The documents were signed by the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand Gen Tanasak

Patimapragorn.

Swaraj was on a three-day (27-29 June 2015) visit to Thailand and during the travel

she co-chaired the 7th meet of the India-Thailand Joint Commission for Bilateral

Cooperation.

The signed Agreements/MOUs includes

Agreed Minutes of the Seventh Meeting of the Thailand-India Joint Commission for

Bilateral Cooperation: Record of decisions on the review of bilateral relationship at

Ministerial level.

Exchange of Instruments of Ratication of the Treaty on Extradition: The Treaty

provides the legal framework for seeking extradition of fugitive offenders, including

those involved in terrorism, transnational crimes, economic offences etc. This will





help both the countries in expedited extradition of fugitives. This Treaty would further

strengthen the relationship between two law enforcement agencies by providing a

rm legal basis for their bilateral cooperation

Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of Nalanda University: By

signing this Agreement, Thailand joined other East Asian Summit (EAS) countries in

the establishment of Nalanda University

Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion

with respect to taxes on Income: The agreement provides the framework to avoid

double taxation and prevention of scal evasion with respect to taxes on income soas to promote economic cooperation between two countries.

MoU on the Establishment of the “Academic Chair” in Ayurveda: the MoU was inked

between Ministry of AYUSH, India and Rangsit University, Thailand. Under the MoU,

the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences will set up a Chair at Rangsit

University, Thailand to undertake an academic and research activities in Ayurveda.

US Supreme Court ruled against EPA limiting mercury emissions

from power plants

The United States (US) Supreme Court on 29 June 2015 ruled against the rules of

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limiting mercury and other toxic emissions

from power plants, undermining the Barack Obama administration’s drive to cut

pollution from electricity generators.

The court ruled 5-4 in an opinion written by Justice Antonin Scalia. The case looked

at the EPA’s regulation of mercury and other emissions from power plants under

the Clean Air Act, 1970. The Clean Air Act directs the EPA to regulate emissions

of hazardous air pollutants from certain stationary sources such as reneries and

factories.

The question before the court hinged on the interpretation of a line in the Clean Air Act stating that the EPA shall regulate emissions from electric utilities if the agency





nds that such regulation is “appropriate and necessary”.

The court assessed whether the EPA’s interpretation of the word ‘appropriate’ had to

include the ‘costs of compliance.’ It said that EPA interpreted the law unreasonably

when it failed to consider the costs of compliance with the new regulations. Over

more than a decade, EPA took costs into account at multiple stages and through

multiple means as it set emissions limits for power plants.

The ruling puts the administration under pressure to redo the rules before President

Barack Obama’s second term ends.

Background

The EPA adopted the mercury rules limiting the release of mercury, heavy metals and

acid gases from power plants in December 2011 and they went into effect in 2015.

While many newer power plants have technology to curb those hazardous releases,

the rules target plants that still do not capture those emissions.

The rules affected about 600 US power plants, the majority of which were fueled by

coal. Industry groups and 23 states challenged the rule, arguing that the EPA failedto take into account the cost of compliance, which they put at 9.6 billion US dollars.

50 countries signed Articles of Agreement for China-initiated

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Delegates of 50 countries on 29 June 2015 signed the 60-article agreement that will

lay the legal framework for the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

(AIIB).

Australia was rst to sign the agreement at the Great Hall of the People in the Chinese

capital Beijing.

Out of the 57 founder-member countries, the remaining seven - Denmark, Kuwait,

Malaysia, Philippines, Holland and South Africa and Thailand could not sign theagreement as it was not ratied by their respective domestic authorities.





The agreement outlined the nancial share of each member, policymaking, business

and operational systems and governance structure of the AIIB.

Key features of AIIB

• It will have authorized capital of 100 billion US dollars and the initial subscribed

capital is expected to be around 50 billion US Dollar. The paid-in ratio will be 20

per cent.

• Asian countries will contribute up to 75 percent of the total capital and be allocated

a share of the quota based on their economic size.

• China will contribute 29.78 billion US dollars of the bank’s 100 billion US dollars

capital base, becoming its largest shareholder with a 30.34 percent stake.

• India will be the second-biggest shareholder at 8.4 percent, followed by Russia,

which will have a 6.5 percent stake.

• China, India and Russia will have a voting share of 26.06 percent, 7.5 percent and

5.92 percent, respectively.

• It will start operations by the end of 2015 under two preconditions: At least 10

prospective members sign the agreement, and the initial subscribed capital is no

less than 50 percent of the authorized capital.

Member countries of AIIB

China, India, Russia, Britain, France, Australia, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland,

Austria, Singapore, South Korea, Qatar, Oman, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Denmark,Kuwait, Malaysia, Philippines, Holland, South Africa, Thailand, Azerbaijan, Brunei,

Cambodia, Egypt, Finland, Georgia, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Jordan,

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Maldives, Malta, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, The

Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sri Lanka,

Sweden, Tajikistan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Uzbekistan and Vietnam

The number of member countries in the bank is expected to increase to about 70,

exceeding the 67-member ADB.





About Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

Representatives from 21 Asian countries signed the Memorandum of Understanding

on Establishing Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on 24 October 2014 in

Beijing.

It is designed to nance infrastructure building in Asia and is headquartered in Beijing.

It is expected to bridge the infrastructure decit by playing a complimentary role

along with other nancial institutions like Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the

International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved Parliament

Sri Lankan President, Maithripala Sirisena dissolved the Parliament on 26 June 2015.

Sirisena signed a gazette notication dissolving parliament in an effort to consolidate

power and push through political reforms.

Sirisena dissolved the parliament within 160 days after assuming his ofce in January

2015. This dissolution ends the term of the coalition government that was appointed

for a period of 100-days after the presidential election. The date of dissolution was

extended to implement Constitutional reforms.

To elect a new Parliament, elections will be held on 17 August 2015.

US Supreme Court legalized Same-Sex Marriage Nationwide

The United States (US) Supreme Court on 26 June 2015 legalized same-sex marriage

across the nation in a closely divided ruling by a 5 to 4 vote. The 28-page ruling was

made by Justice Anthony Kennedy and was agreed by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg,

Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

With this ruling, now the states cannot deny marriage rights enjoyed for thousands of

years by opposite-sex couples to gay men and lesbians. The decision is expected to





trigger same-sex marriages in fourteen states that banned the practice.

The court ratied the Bill of Rights and added the Fourteenth Amendment that states

no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of

law.

The Fourteenth Amendment requires a State to license a marriage between two

people of the same sex and to recognize a marriage between two people of the same

sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-State.

The decision came exactly two years after Kennedy’s majority opinion in United

States v. Windsor struck down a federal law denying benets to married same-sexcouples. In this decision, Justice Kennedy embraced a vision of a living Constitution

that evolves with societal changes.

According to the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, which

tracks the demographics of gay and lesbian Americans, there are an estimated

390000 married same-sex couples in the United States.

India, US signed MoUs to enhance cooperation in areas of Health

Sector

India and the United States (US) on 25 June 2015 signed a series of agreements on

health sector to enhance cooperation in areas such as cancer research, infrastructure

development, training, capacity building and better assessment and application ofnew diagnostic technologies.

List of Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) signed by India and US:

MoU on cancer research, control, prevention and management: Both the countries

signed a MoU on collaboration in the areas for conducting research and training on

development of low-cost technologies, diagnostics of existing medications against

common cancers and development of existing therapies related to oncology.This MoU was signed among the NCRI (AIIMS), ICMR (DHS), the Department of





Biotechnology, (MoST), NCI (NIH) and the US’ Department of Health and Human

Services (DHHS).

MoU on collaboration in Environmental, occupational Health and Injury Prevention

and Control: They also signed an agreement to further the cooperation in education

and training, infrastructure development, and capacity-building for their reciprocal

and mutual benet.

The cooperation under the MoU will cover:

• Prevention of illness related to toxic chemicals and hazardous substances

• Development and use of improved tools, technologies and methods for enhancing

environmental and occupational public health, and injury prevention efforts,

including surveillance

• Focus on public health effects of indoor air pollution including a focus on exposures

associated with burning of solid fuels for cooking, prevention of illness and injury

related to hazards at the workplace.

Letter of Intent (LoI) on Anti-microbial Resistance Research: A Letter of Intent (LoI)

on anti-microbial resistance research was signed between the ICMR, Department of

Biotechnology (MoST) and US’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,

National Institutes of Health and DHHS.

This includes setting up of mechanism of antimicrobial resistance, application of

systems biology, comparative testing and assisting the validation of new diagnostics

and explore possible patterns of AMR in neonatal intensive care units as observed inIndia and the US.

The MoUs and LoI were signed by B P Sharma, Secretary Health; K Vijay Raghavan,

Secretary Department of Biotechnology under Union Ministry of Science and

Technology and Richard Verma, US Ambassador to India.





US Supreme Court gave nod to subsidies under US Health Care

Law in States without health exchanges

The US Supreme Court on 25 June 2015 ruled that federal subsidies under the Patient

Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), 2010 could be made available to individual

States, even if those States did not set up their own insurance exchanges.

The judgment was delivered by a 9-judge bench in the King v. Burwell case with 6-3

division. The bench was headed by the Chief Justice John Robert.

The verdict will benet 6.4 million people in the 34 states as they are eligible to

receive health-insurance subsidies even though those States did not create insurance

marketplaces to purchase their policies.

Health insurance marketplaces or health exchanges are organizations set up to

facilitate the purchase of health insurance in each state in accordance with the ACA,

2010 or Obamacare.

Union Cabinet approved signing of MoC between India and

Japan on Industrial Property

The Union Cabinet on 24 June 2015 gave its approval for signing of a Memorandum

of Cooperation (MoC) between the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion

(DIPP) and the Japan Patent Ofce (JPO), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry

of Japan.

The MoC is aimed at establishing a framework for bilateral cooperation in the eld

of industrial property (IP) with emphasis on capacity building, human resource

development and awareness generation.

Under the MoC, both the countries will implement a biennial action plancomprising

cooperation projects and activities. Some of them are

• Information sharing on IP Protection Systems and Practices





• Cooperation in the area of examination, including utilization of the examiner-

exchange program

• Cooperation in the scheme of the Patent Cooperation Treaty

• Assistance in developing IP infrastructure

• Capacity building in the use of IT infrastructure

• Information provision and awareness building for the general public

Austria to le complaint against UK’s Hinkley Point C nuclearproject in European Court of Justice

Austria on 23 June 2015 decided to le a legal complaint against the European

Commission (EU)’s approval to the Hinkley Point C nuclear power project in the

European Court of Justice (ECJ).

The petition is expected to be led on 29 June 2015.

In October 2014, the EC gave the approval for UK Government’s around 17 billion

British pounds subsidy for construction and operation of the project over a period of

35 years.

Austria, a non-nuclear power state, opposing the EC’s decision on thefollowing grounds

• The EC’s approval is based on procedural aws as it has not considered all the

things which it should have considered before giving its nod, hence, it UK’s aid is

illegal.

• Nuclear power is not a sustainable form of technology – neither in environmental

nor in economic terms.

• Any form of direct or indirect subsidies to nuclear power should not be encouraged

and there should be complete internalization of all external costs based on the

polluter pays principle.





• Austria doesn’t consider nuclear power to be eligible for the European Fund for

Strategic Investments [EFSI].

The decision of Austria is expected to be supported by Luxemburg, another nuclear-

free state in the European Union (EU).

Features of Hinkley Point C nuclear project

• Under the project two nuclear power plants will be established at Somerset in

south-west England.

• The two reactors will produce in total 3.3 GW of electricity - the largest outputproduced by a single plant in the UK representing 7 percent of total UK electricity

generation.

• It will be built by French energy rm EDF, and two Chinese companies- CGN and

CNNC with an estimated 24.5 billion US dollars.

• It will use the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) technology which is not yet

operational anywhere in the world. There are only three projects currently under

construction in France, Finland and China which will rely on this technology.

• Under the contract for difference agreement between the UK Government and the

nuclear operators the Government will pay the difference between the strike price

(government xed price to sell nuclear power) and the market price.

• The operator will also benet from a State guarantee covering any debt which the

operator will seek to obtain on nancial markets to fund the construction of the

plant.

• For implementing the contract for difference agreement, the credit guarantee and

planned level of public support, the government is expected to doll out 17 billion

British pounds as a form of subsidy to the project operators.

• It will be the rst one in Western Europe ever since the Fukushima nuclear plant

disaster in Japan in 2011 and the rst nuclear plant of UK in over two decades.

• Start of operations is scheduled for 2023 with an expected operational lifetime of

60 years.





India to be the Partner Country for Russian Industrial Trade Fair

Innoprom 2016

India on 22 June 2015 decided to be a partner country in the major Industrial Fair

named INNOPROM 2016 to be held at Yekaterinburg, Russia in July 2016. India

accepted the invitation extended by the Russian Government in December 2014.

This acceptance of invitation was conveyed to Minister of Industry and Trade of

Russian Federation Denis Manturov by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge),

Commerce & Industry Nirmala Sitharaman during a bilateral meeting held at St.

Petersburg on 19 June 2015. Nirmala Sitharaman was on a three day visit to Russia

to participate in annual St. Petersburg International and Economic Forum (SPIEF)

held from 18-20 June 2015 at St Petersburg, Russia. She led a strong delegation of

30-member from Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

During the visit, the minister held bilateral discussions with Viktor Khristenko,Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Union; Denis Manturov, Minister of Industry and

Trade and Mandrey Slepnev, Member (Trade), Eurasian Economic Union.

Major points discussed during the meet includes

• Issue of renewal of Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement

(BIPPA) between India and Russia

• It was agreed to take all necessary steps to ensure that the target of bilateral

investment of 15 billion US dollars each way by the year 2025 signed during the

last Annual Summit is achieved.

• Both sides agreed that the present level of investment and trade between the two

countries which is presently in the range of 11 billion US dollars and 13 billion US

dollar is very low.

She also participated in the panel discussion on The Eurasian Economic Union: Anew Compass in Global Economic Relations.





Nepal-India Treaty of Transit amended to facilitate import of

vehicles into Nepal

Nepal-India Treaty of Transit of 1999 was amended on 22 June 2015 to allow the

movement of vehicles imported from a third country into Nepal through four border

points.

The four border points are Raxaul-Birgunj, Jogbani-Biratnagar, Sunauli-Bhairahawa

and Nepalgunj Road-Nepalgunj border points.

The amendment was done after Nepal requested India to allow movement of vehicles

on their own citing the requirements of additional handling facilities, special carriers

and equipment needed, which added to the cost and time of clearance of vehicles

from Kolkata port into Nepal.

To this effect, a Letter of Exchange was nalised between India and Nepal though

the two governments had discussed the matter during the third meet of Nepal-India

Joint Commission held on 25 July and 26 July 2014.

Earlier, there was no provision under Nepal-India Treaty of Transit that allowed import

of third country motor vehicles transiting India to be moved on their own power.

Before this agreement such vehicles were allowed only by railway wagons and trucks

or trailers after proper sealing by Indian Customs.

EU launched Operation EU NAVFOR Med against migrant-trafckers

To stop human trafckers from bringing migrants across the Mediterranean to Europe,

the European Union (EU) on 22 June 2015 launched a three-phase naval operation

named EU NAVFOR Med (European Union Naval Force Mediterranean Sea).

The rst phase of the naval operation was ofcially launched by EU foreign ministersmeeting in Luxembourg.





• Phase – 1 involves Information gathering on whereabouts of trafckers, patrolling

of high seas and monitoring of smuggle networks. It will see participation of about

10 countries which include among others Italy, France, Germany, the UK, Spain,Lithuania and probably also Finland.

The two follow-up phases of the operation which requires United Nations Security

Council (UNSC) and Libya’s approval would see

• Phase – 2: Active intervention to board and disable smuggler vessels and arrest

the trafckers

• Phase – 3: Extend the actions into Libyan territorial waters and possibly inside thecountry itself

The operation will not target the migrants but it will target those who are making

money on their lives and too often on their deaths. It also wants to dismantle the

business model of the trafckers by destroying their boats.

The operation was launched in backdrop of death of 800 migrants in April 2015 when

their rickety boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea. In 2015, about one lakh migrantshave entered Europe most of them landing in Italy, Greece and Malta.

So far in 2015 alone, 2000 migrants have died.

Pitcairn Island passed law to allow same-sex marriage

Pitcairn Island, the world’s smallest country by population, legalised same-sex

marriage. The law change was unanimously approved by the local council.

Although the news was made public on 22 June 2015 but it had come into effect

on 15 May 2015. The new law wasn’t published online by the Island, as its website

encountered some technical issues.

Pitcairn Island, a tiny speck in the Pacic with a small population of 48 people, passed

the law on suggestion of British authorities. The law was passed after England, Walesand Scotland legalised the same-sex marriage in 2014.





Pitcairn Islands

The Pitcairn Islands, ofcially named the Pitcairn Group of Islands, are a group offour volcanic islands in the southern Pacic Ocean that form the last British Overseas

Territory in the Pacic. It was settled by mutineers of the British navy vessel Bounty

and their Tahitian companions in 1790.

The four islands – Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno – are spread over several

hundred miles of ocean and have a total land area of about 47 square kilometres (18

sq mi). Only Pitcairn, the second largest island measuring about 3.6 kilometres (2.2

mi) from east to west, is inhabited.

The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes the Pitcairn Islands on the

United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.

India placed at 61st position in terms of foreigners’ money in

Swiss banks

India was placed at 61st position in terms of foreigners’ money in Swiss banks. This

was revealed by latest data released by Swiss National Bank (SNB), the central bank

of Switzerland, in the fourth week of June 2015.

As per the data, India now accounts for a meagre 0.123 per cent of the total global

wealth worth 1.6 trillion US dollars in Switzerland’s banking system.

Indians’ money in Swiss banks declined by over 10 percent to about 1.8 billion Swiss

francs (1.98 billion US dollars or 12615 crore rupees) in 2014.

This is the second lowest level of Indian money in Swiss banks, after an increase of

over 40 percent in 2013. Further, the decline comes amid an enhanced clampdown

against the famed secrecy wall of Switzerland’s banking system.

The big banks accounted for 1.48 billion Swiss francs of Indians’ money which wasup from 1.36 billion Swiss francs in 2013.





Other highlights

• The countries to top the list are the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States

(US) who holds the largest shares of the foreign clients’ money with Swiss banks.

• The UK and the US are followed by West Indies, Guernsey, Germany, Bahamas,

Luxembourg, France, Jersey and Hong Kong

• The UK alone accounts for 22 percent of total global funds in Swiss banks.

• Top four nation together account for over half of all foreigners’ wealth in Swiss

banks, which rose to 1.47 trillion Swiss francs (about 102 lakh crore rupees or 1.6

trillion US dollars) in 2014.

• Just two big banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, account for nearly two-third of the

total money kept by foreigners in Swiss banks while in case of Indians it is even

higher at about 82 percent.

• Pakistan in the list is placed at 73rd position with their share almost doubling to

472 million Swiss francs. This accounts for 36 percent of the total amount of 1.3

billion Swiss francs held in all Swiss banks by their clients.

Commemorations of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of

Waterloo concluded

200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo concluded on 20 June 2015. The anniversary

that began on 18 June 2015 concluded with a re-enactment of the moment when the

news of the allied victory reached London.

A horse-drawn chaise post retracted the route taken in 1815 from Old Royal Naval

College, in Greenwich, to St James’s Square, where news from Belgium was delivered

to the Prince Regent.

The anniversary was celebrated to remember the June 1815 battle in which Napoleon’s

French army was defeated by Duke of Wellington’s allied forces of British, Dutch,

Belgian and German soldiers. The news of victory in the battleeld was carried on





by Major Harry Percy at Broadstairs in Kent from where it was carried on the Prince

Regent in London.

Battle of Waterloo

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day

Belgium, the then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. The battle was

fought between the French army under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte and

armies of the Seventh Coalition, comprising an Anglo-allied army under the command

of the Duke of Wellington and Prussian army under the command of Gebhard von

Blucher.

Napoleon’s French army was defeated in the war and this defeat helped in bringing

an end to the Napoleonic era of European history.

After the war, Napoleon was sent into exile to Saint Helena, a remote island in the

Atlantic off the coast of Africa. He lived quietly in Helena for six years and later died

on 5 May 1821, likely due to stomach cancer.

France announced ban on earphones for Drivers and Cyclists

France on 18 June 2015 announced a ban on wearing earphones while driving a

vehicle and riding a cycle. The ban will come into effect from 1 July 2015.

The ban was announced with an aim to reduce deaths due to accidents.

Those found using earphones while driving a vehicle or riding a cycle will be ned

135 Euro (214 US dollar) and lose three license points. However, use of phone while

having the caller on loud speaker will be allowed.

The announced ban was initially proposed in January 2015 to cut down death toll on

the roads in France and to improve driver’s attention while driving. The ofcials said

that one in 10 deaths was linked to mobile phone use while driving.





US Department of State released Country Reports on Terrorism

2014

The Department of State of USA on 19 June 2015 released a report titled Country

Reports on Terrorism 2014. The report delineated violence caused by terrorist

activities across the world during 2014.

According to the report, in 2014, nearly 33000 people were killed in almost 13500

terrorist attacks around the world. That’s up from just over18000 deaths in nearly

10000 attacks in 2013.

Main highlights of the report

• Rise in attacks in 2014 were due to increased terror activity in Iraq, Afghanistan

and Nigeria.

• Attacks were largely at the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)group.

• Boko Haram, militant group based in Nigeria, raised the number of terror acts

by more than a third, nearly doubled the number of deaths and nearly tripled the

number of kidnappings.

• There were 20 attacks that killed more than 100 people each in 2014, compared

to just two in 2013.

• Among the 20 mass casualty attacks in 2014 were the December attack by the

Pakistani Taliban on a school in Peshawar that killed at least 150 people, and the

June attack by ISIL ghters on a prison in Mosul, Iraq, in which 670 Shia prisoners

died.

• Terror attacks took place in 95 countries in 2014, but were concentrated in the

Middle East, South Asia, and West Africa.

• Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and Nigeria accounted for more than 60 percent

of the attacks and, if Syria is included, they accounted for 80 percent of the





fatalities.

• There has been rise in the number of so-called lone wolf attacks in the West and

the use of more extreme methods of violence by ghters to repress and frighten

communities under their control.

Report with respect to India

• India continued to be a major target for a range of terrorist groups; in 2014, around

400 people were killed as a result of terrorist attacks in India.

• Ineffective implementation of anti-money laundering (AML) and counterterroristnancing (CFT) laws, especially with regard to criminal convictions.

• India is restricting its enforcement of anti-hawala prosecutions to non-nancial

businesses only.

• United States investigators have had limited success in coordinating the seizure

of illegal proceeds with their Indian counterparts.

India, Tanzania signed six MoUs to deepen bilateral relations

India and Tanzania on 19 June 2015 signed six MoUs in the eld of tourism, education

and hydrography to deepen bilateral cooperation.

The agreement was inked in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President

of Tanzania Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete. President of Tanzania is on a ve-day tour toIndia from 17 June to 21 June 2015.

List of inked MOU/Project signed/Exchanged with Tanzania

• MOU on establishing a collaborative program in ofcial statistics:It was inked

between the East Africa Statistical Training Center (EASTC) in Tanzania and the

National Statistical System Training Academy (NSSTA) in India and will include

capacity building for Staff of EASTC and other African Countries in OfcialStatistics.





• MOU on cooperation in Agricultural Statistics, Computer Applications and Bio-

informatics: It was inked between EASTC and Indian Council of Agricultural

Research (ICAR), Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute (IASRI) forcapacity building of Staff

• MOU on Cooperation in the eld of Tourism: To enhance bilateral cooperation in

Tourism and hospitality sectors.

• Loan agreement to operationalise the LoC: The agreement was signed between

Exim Bank and Government of Tanzania on LOC for 268.35 million US dollar for

extension of Lake Victoria pipeline project.• Agreement for appointing the former as PMC: The agreement was signed between

WAPCOS (PSU under M/o Water) and Government of Tanzania for preparation of

DPR for Lake Victoria pipeline project

• MOU for Cooperation in the eld of Hydrography & Protocol on exchange of

Hydrographic Data: To promote development and cooperation in the eld of

Hydrography through conducting surveys, exchange of data, capacity building

and infrastructure strengthening.

Besides, the President of Tanzania Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete held delegation level talks

with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and agreed to set up a joint working group to

combat terrorism. Kikwete also sought Indian investment for his country and assured

Indian investors of investment friendly environment in his country.

Blue Opposition Bloc led by Lars Loekke Rasmussen won

Denmark’s Parliamentary Elections

Blue Opposition Bloc led by Lars Loekke Rasmussen of right-wing Venstre party on

19 June 2015 won the parliamentary elections of Denmark. Blue opposition bloc,

also called Centre-Right coalition, won 90 seats in the 179-member parliament.

Red Bloc or Centre-Left ruling coalition led by incumbent Prime Minister Helle

Thorning-Schmidt of Social Democratic Party won 85 seats. Thorning-Schmidt, the





rst woman Prime Minister of Denmark, conceding defeat quit as the head of Social

Democrat Party.

The nal results are as follows

Red bloc

• The Social Democrats – 47

• Radikale, the Danish Social Liberal party – 8

• Socialist People’s party – 7

• Red-Green Alliance – 14

• The Alternative –9

Blue bloc

• Venstre – 34

• Danish People’s party – 37

• The Liberal Alliance – 13

• The Conservative People’s party – 6

Former Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen is set to become Denmark’s next

Prime Minister. He took over as the country’s youngest-ever prime minister in 2009

but was ousted by the leftist coalition in 2011 after voters rejected his government’s

austerity policies.

Comment

Although incumbent prime minister’s Social Democratic party is still the single largest

party but right-wing, anti-immigrant Danish People’s Party of Blue bloc emerged as

the biggest force in 2015 elections. It won over 21 percent of the vote to become the

second largest party in parliament.

The decision to call early elections by incumbent PM Thorning-Schmidt in a hopeto capitalize on an economic recovery boomeranged. On the other hand, Danish

People’s Party win means a tougher immigration laws.





Hong Kong lawmakers rejected Beijing-backed election reform

package

Hong Kong lawmakers on 18 June 2015 rejected Beijing-backed election reform

package. The proposal was voted down by 28 votes to eight in the Legislative Council

(known as legco) of 70 members.

The proposal labeled as a package of fake democracy required support from two-

thirds of the assembly to pass. The package would have granted all Hong Kong

citizens the right to vote for their Chief Executive for the rst time in 2017 and elect

him directly. But they would only be able to vote for candidates that had been vetted

by a pro-Beijing committee.

Rejection of the package means that the next chief executive of city in 2017 will be

chosen by 1200 members of the pro-Beijing committee who will select their leader.

Present System

The Executive Council of Hong Kong is headed by the Chief Executive (CE) who

is elected by the Election Committee and then appointed by the Central People’s

Government. The Election Committee is a Hong Kong electoral college whose

members are elected by People.

China and Australia signed Free Trade Agreement

China and Australia on 17 June 2015 signed the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement

(ChAFTA) at Canberra in Australia.

The agreement was signed by China’s Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng and

Australia’s Trade Minister Andrew Robb.

The chAFTA will ensure 85 percent of all exports of Australia to China tariff-free that

will rise to 93 percent by 2019.





Features of China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA)

• It gives Australian dairy farmers, wine-makers and other sectors tariff-free access

to the huge market of China within a few years.

• It will put eventual removal of tariffs on dairy products, live animal exports,

resources and energy products.

• Tariffs on all resources and energy products will be removed by 2017.

• Beef and sheep farmers will benet from the abolition of tariffs ranging from 12-25

percent.

• Lock in zero tariffs on major exports like iron ore, gold, crude petroleum oil and

Liqueed Natural Gas (LNG).

• All tariffs on horticulture and live animal exports will be eliminated, while tariff on

wine will be cut up to 14-30 percent.

• Wool producers will be able to export another 30000 tonnes of clean wool on top

of existing quotas.

• Cotton, wheat, sugar, rice and oilseeds industries were kept out of the agreement.

Comment

The chAFTA will open up markets worth billions of dollars and create jobs for both

the countries. With this agreement Australian farmers will enjoy the same benets

possessed by New Zealand, Chile and ASEAN competitors who have similar freetrade agreements with China.

Japan’s Parliament passed a Bill to lower voting age from 20 to

18

Parliament of Japan (Diet) on 17 June 2015 passed a bill to lower the voting age from20 to 18. The bill that seeks revision of the public ofce election law was passed





by the House of Councilors (upper house) after being approved in the House of

Representatives (lower house).

The legislation will come into effect during the 2016 Upper House Election and will

add about 2.4 million new potential voters to Japan’s current voting population of

104 million.

The passage of the bill follows a law passed in 2014 that sought to lower the voting

age to 18 years in 2018 for national referendums on the Constitution.

Last time, Japan lowered the age of voting from 25 to 20 and gave voting rights to

women in 1945 after the World War II.

Commission on GSJG released the Confronting the Crisis of

Global Governance report

The Commission on Global Security, Justice & Governance (GSJG) on 16 June 2015

released the Confronting the Crisis of Global Governance report at the Peace Palace

in The Hague. The report put forwards a series of proposals aimed at reforming the

United Nations (UN).

The commission was co-chaired by former US Secretary of State and Ambassador

to the United Nations Madeleine K. Albright and former Nigerian Foreign Minister and

UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim A. Gambari.

The report says that the United Nations and other global institutions aren’t equippedto tackle today’s global challenges ranging from massive violence in fragile states to

runaway climate change and global economic shocks. Much more is needed from

the UN and other global institutions.

The UN requires more capable tools of global governance, with different kinds of

public, private, and mixed institutions designed for twenty-rst-century challenges. To

address these challenges, the report provides reforms to transcend national borders.





Recommendations of the Commission

Create next-generation conict mediation and peace operations capacity: The

commission calls for building responsive capacity to provide experienced mediators,

including a greater proportion of women for crisis and conict prevention and peace-

building; building capacity to deploy civilian, police, and military personnel to meet

urgent peacekeeping requirements.

Strengthen the responsibility to prevent, protect, and rebuild: It suggests investing

in capabilities and responsibility to protect action plans for an approach to atrocities

prevention that involves all UN agencies and programs. Innovate climate governance: There should be facilitation of new kinds of engagement

between the UN and other international regimes, sub-national authorities, and civil

society and business groups; establishing an international carbon monitoring entity,

a global climate action clearinghouse; and dene a global goal for climate adaption.

Develop a green technology licensing facility within the green climate fund: The

commission suggests harnessing of private-sector innovation for climate mitigation

and adaptation, especially in support of vulnerable populations in developing

countries.

Create a G20+ for economic stability and sustainable development:Enhance

G20-UN-Bretton Woods institutional coordination to prevent the spread of cross-

border nancial shocks, promote inclusive economic reform, and foster the equitable

growth.

Promote safe Internet access for everyone, everywhere: Bolster global capacity to

fend off cyber attacks involves developing a global network of cybercrime centers

through INTERPOL and national Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs).

Build an inclusive UN Global Partnership: Give a greater voice to under-represented

policy issues such as women’s rights, migration, and training a modern workforce

through new social compacts and a new hub whereby the entire UN system can tap

into the expertise of civil and business community.

Expand UN Security Council engagement: Create more opportunities for countries,





regional organizations, local authorities to contribute to peacemaking and peace-

building, while increasing the council’s representative legitimacy.

Establish UN peace-building council: Transform the peace-building commission into

a council with new coordination authorities, new nancial and knowledge resources

and a new focus on prevention, including through peace-building audits.

Make full use of the International Court of Justice: Expand acceptance of the

International Court of Justice’s jurisdiction and more active use of its authoritative

advisory opinions in innovative ways.

Create a UN Parliamentary Network: The Commission recommends establishing aparliamentary advisory body for the UN General Assembly to raise greater awareness

by strengthening voices in global institutions.

India and Poland set trade target of 5 billion US dollars by 2018

India and Poland set trade target of 5 billion US dollars by 2018. The decision was

taken on 15 June 2015 at the fourth session of the bilateral Joint Commission on

Economic Cooperation, held in Warsaw, capital city of Poland.

The commission also identied a series of actions to raise trade from the2014 level

of 2.3 billion US dollars to 5 billion US dollars by the year 2018.

The meeting of the commission was co-chaired by Amitabh Kant, Secretary,

Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and Jerzy Pietreiwicz, Secretaryof State, Ministry of Economy of Poland.

On the sidelines of the commission meeting, the three co-chairs of the newly created

Joint Working Groups on Coal, Information Technology and Food Processing held

their rst meetings and presented the outcomes to the commission.

In the coal and steel sector, both sides have drawn a roadmap to strengthen

cooperation in areas such as thick seam underground coal mining, exploitation ofhighly gassy seams, developing clean coal technologies and transfer of technologies

in deep coal mining from Poland to India.





In the IT sector, both the countries have identied areas to strengthen cooperation

in entrepreneurship development and support; research and development and

innovation in cloud computing; big data analysis; cyber-security, data protection,smart cities projects and accreditation of each other’s courses.

In the food processing sector, experts discussed market access, food processing

technologies and research and development between scientic institutions. Poland

showed interest in exporting the latest food processing machinery and technology

to India.

RTA of UAE included four Indian languages into its driving tests

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) of United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the second

week of June 2015 decided to include four Indian languages to offer knowledge tests

and lectures to aspirants who appear for driving test in the country.

The four Indian languages included along with three other languages are Hindi,Malayalam, Tamil and Bengali. The other three are Chinese, Russian and Persian.

At present, RTA of UAE conducts tests in three languages - English, Urdu and Arabic.

While appearing for driving tests, an aspiring driver will be allowed to opt for any one

of these languages for both theory tests as well as eight mandatory lectures from

September 2015.

The mandatory lectures and knowledge test are required to obtain a driving licencein UAE. To move to the practical driving classes, an aspirant also needs to pass a

computer-based knowledge test.

Israeli government approved bill to force feed prisoners

The Israeli government on 14 June 2015 approved a bill that will allow the force-

feeding of prisoners that are on hunger strike, if their lives are in danger. The Bill is





called as Law to Prevent Harm Caused by Hunger Strikes.

The bill is scheduled to be presented before Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, for rst

and second readings before it becomes law.

However, Israel’s Medical Association opposed the bill and urged local doctors not

to participate in force-feedings if the law comes into force. The association considers

force-feeding as a form of torture.

Under current Israeli law, it is impossible to treat a patient against his or her own will,

but an ethics committee can get involved.

The bill was initially approved in June 2014 when the mass hunger strike of Palestinian

prisoners was at its height during which 80 were hospitalised as well. But, it was put

on hold as the Knesset was dissolved before it could start deliberating.

The majority of prisoners who go on hunger strike in Israeli jails are Palestinians in

administrative detention, under which they are held for renewable six-month periods

without charge. According to Israel’s Prison Service, there are about 5000 Palestinian

prisoners currently and out of them four refused to eat.

Spain passed law awarding citizenship to descendants of

expelled Jews

Spain’s Lower House of Parliament (Congreso) on 11 June 2015 approved a law

that eases the path to citizenship for descendants of Jews who were forced to eethe country ve centuries ago. Several Jews ee away from the country during the

Spanish Inquisition.

Tens of thousands of Jews were expelled in 1492 during the Spanish Inquisition, who

were forced to convert them to Catholicism or were burnt at the stake.

The new law will allow holding dual citizenship rights for Jews with Spanish ancestry

those whose can trace their roots to the expelled Jewish community, also known asSephardic Jews. This means that such Jews with Spanish ancestry can apply for a





Spanish passport from October 2015.

The new law that will grant a right to hold dual citizenship to Sephardic Jews is

presently granted to people from its former colonies and neighbouring Portugal and

Andorra.

Spanish Inquisition

The Inquisition was a Roman Catholic tribunal for discovery and punishment of

heresy, which was marked by the severity of questioning and punishment and lack of

rights afforded to the accused.

Spanish Inquisition started in 1481 after Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand wrote

a petition to the Pope asking permission to start the process in the country as they

felt that Jews are inuencing the Spanish peoples. During the inquisition Conversos

(Secret Jews) and New Christians were targeted because of their close relations to

the Jewish community, many of whom were Jews in all but their name.

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor VehicleAgreement signed in Thimpu

India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal on 15 June 2015 signed the BBIN (Bangladesh,

Bhutan, India and Nepal) Motor Vehicle Agreement in the Bhutanese capital Thimphu.

The transport ministers of four countries including the Union Minister of Road

Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari signed the agreement.

Key Features of BBIN Motor Vehicle Pact

• The regional motor vehicle pact is aimed at regulation of passenger, personal and

cargo vehicular trafc amongst four SAARC member countries.

• It would promote safe, economical, efcient and environmentally sound road

transport in the region.• It would help each country in creating an institutional mechanism for regional





integration.

• Each party will bear its own costs arising from implementation of this agreement.

• It is similar to the SAARC Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) draft with minor changes.

Comment

The Union Cabinet had approved a proposal to sign the South Asian Association

for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) MVA during the SAARC Summit in Kathmandu

in November 2014. However, it could not be signed due to reservations of Pakistan.

The SAARC declaration at the Kathmandu Summit in November 2014 also encouragedMember States to initiate regional and sub-regional measures to enhance connectivity.

Accordingly, it was considered appropriate that a sub-regional Motor Vehicle

Agreement among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) may be pursued.

Moldova’s Prime Minister Chiril Gaburuci resigned

Moldova’s Prime Minister Chiril Gaburuci on 12 June 2015 resigned from his post after

he was questioned about the authenticity of his high school and university degrees.

Gaburuci became the Prime Minister of Moldova in February 2015. He headed a pro-

European government that relies on the Communist Party of Moldova. Earlier, he had

been Chief Executive Ofcer of Azerbaijan’s mobile telecom company Moldcell until

January 2015.

Gaburuci has earlier also expressed his will to resign, saying that he lacked the tools

to reform nancial and judicial institutes such as the central bank and prosecutor’s

ofce.

Moldova’s political scenario

Moldova is a small country of 3.5 million people, lying between Ukraine and Romania.

It has been ruled since 2009 by pro-Western parties which have negotiated a politicaland free trade deal with the European Union to take the country into mainstream





Europe. However, the economic mismanagement and trade pressure from Russia

and the failure of successive governments to tackle corruption remains high among

large sections of the population.

Moldova came more into focus since Russia seized neighbouring Ukraine’s Crimea

peninsula in 2014. Russian troops are stationed in a strip of Moldova since the

breakup of the Soviet Union, protecting a self-proclaimed independent state-let

called Transdniestria.

African leaders signed Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA)agreement

African leaders on 10 June 2015 signed the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) pact

paving the way for creating Africa’s largest free-trade zone.

The pact was signed by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, President Robert

Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia andMohamed Bilal, Vice-President of Tanzania at the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite

Summit 2015 held at the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.

Key Features of Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA)

• It is intended to create a common market among 26 nations spanning half the

continent from Cairo (Egypt) in the North to Cape Town (South Africa) in the South.

• It will be created by integrating three existing trade blocs viz., the Common Market

for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC)

and the Southern African Development Community (SADCT).

• It will operationalise a framework for preferential tariffs easing the movement of

goods across member countries.

• The pact needs ratication in national parliaments by 2017 for implementation.





Importance of TFTA

• The Tripartite FTA popularly known as the Grand Free Trade Area represents around

58 percent of the continent’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with 1.2 trillion US

dollars.

• It is expected to benet 625 million people living in 26 member countries of the

pact.

• The launching of the TFTA is the rst phase of implementing a developmental

regional integration strategy that places high priority on infrastructure development,

industrialization and free movement of business persons.

• It offers signicant opportunities for business and investment and will act as a

magnet for attracting foreign direct investment into the region.

• The business community, in particular, will benet from an improved and harmonized

trade regime which reduces the cost of doing business as a result of elimination of

overlapping trade regimes due to multiple memberships.

• It is expected to stimulate 1trillion US dollars worth of economic activity across

the region.

• It will be the largest economic bloc on the continent and the launching pad for the

establishment of the Continental Free Trade Are (CFTA) in 2017 covering the entire

Africa.

India, Japan and Australia held rst ever trilateral dialogue

India, Japan and Australia on 9 June 2015 held their rst ever high-level trilateral

dialogue in New Delhi.

The talks were attended by Indian foreign secretary S Jaishankar, Japanese vice

foreign minister Akitaka Saiki and Australian secretary of the Department of Foreign

Affairs and Trade Peter Varghese.

The representatives of three countries discussed prospects of cooperation in the





elds of economy and security with special emphasis on maritime security.

The three countries agreed to hold their next round of talks in Tokyo, Japan.

Comment

The rst ever trilateral dialogue among the three major countries in the Asia-Pacic

region assumes signicance against the backdrop of growing assertiveness of China

in the South China sea of Pacic Ocean.

India accords greater importance to Japan and Australia that is evident from the fact

that Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a visit to both the countries within six monthsof coming to the ofce in order to operationalise his Act East Policy.

Indian naval ofcials recently were in Perth for talks on their rst ever bilateral maritime

exercises with Australia scheduled for September 2015 off the east coast of India.

Separately, India is also considering including Japan for 2015 Malabar Exercises in

October 2015, which has usually been an U.S.-India bilateral engagement. Japan

participated in the Malabar exercises in 2014 as well. This is in addition to the Japan

India Maritime Exercise (JIMEX) held annually between the two countries.

In 2007, India’s involvement in the informal Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with

Japan, Australia and the United States – with all four participating the 2007 Malabar

Exercises along with Singapore provoked a strong backlash from China due to fears

of encirclement.

Nepal political parties reached agreement on proposedConstitution framework

Major political parties of Nepal on 9 June 2015 reached an agreement on the

proposed framework of national Constitution providing for federal structure, form of

governance, electoral and judicial systems.

The agreement was signed in the capital Kathmandu by the leaders of the ruling

Nepali Congress (NC), the main opposition Unied Communist Party of Nepal (UCPN)





– Maoist and two other major political parties in the Constituent Assembly.

Key Features of the Agreement

• Nepal will be divided into eight federal states whose names and boundaries will

be decided by separate bodies.

• A new federal commission will be tasked with drawing up internal borders and

submit a proposal for approval in the Parliament.

• Nepal will continue with its current system of national governance which includes

executive Prime Minister and ceremonial President.• The parties agreed to conduct elections to local bodies which were held for the

last time in 1997.

The nal draft of the constitution, which must be approved by a two-thirds parliamentary

majority, is expected to be ready by July 2015.

Comment

The political parties were compelled to show unity and expedite the process of writing

a new constitution after the April 25 earthquake as the lack of legitimate political and

administrative structures at the National and Local level has been hampering the

relief operations. April 25 earthquake killed an estimated 8500 people and affected

some 10 million people (about half of the population).

The end of deadlock since 2008 on a new Constitutional framework, however, leaves

the crucial issue of the provincial borders unresolved. This could give rise to problemin future as for long time UCPN (Maoist) had been pushing for new provinces to be

created along lines that could favour historically marginalised communities, and other

parties like NC argues that the move would be divisive and a threat to national unity.

Nepal started the work on a new national Constitution in 2008 following a decade-

long Maoist insurgency that left an estimated 16000 people dead and brought down

the monarchy.





Justice and Development Party won Turkey’s parliamentary polls

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkey led by President Recep Tayyip

Erdogan on 7 June 2015 won Turkey’s parliamentary polls.

According to preliminary results, AKP lost its single-party government and for the

rst time in 13 years, the party lost the majority in the 550-member Parliament.

On the other hand, the pro-Kurdish left-wing Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP) which

crossed the 10 percent threshold entered the Parliament for the rst time.

Percentage of votes (based on 99.9 percent of votes counted) won by differ-ent parties

• AKP: 41 percent (258 seats, which is 18 less than it requires for a majority)

• Republican People’s Party (CHP): 25 percent (132 seats)

• Nationalist Movement Party (MHP): 16.5 percent (81 seats)

• People’s Democratic Party (HDP): 13 percent (79 seats)

Effect of the parliamentary polls result

The results speak of change in Turkey’s culture towards more inclusive society as

highlighted by the win of pro-Kurdish HDP.

Further, the government in Turkey would now become more pluralist with AKP now

not in majority there will be race for coalition.But if no working coalition can be formed within 45 days, the Constitution empowers

Erdogan to call an early parliamentary election. That election would have to be held

90 days later.

Comment

Erdogan who became the rst directly elected President in 2014 after remaining as

Prime Minister for three terms since 2003 was seeking a two-thirds majority to turnTurkey into a presidential republic. However, this win for AKP may not allow him to





turn Turkey into a presidential republic.

On the other hand, the entry of pro-Kurdish HDP into the Parliament marks a

signicant departure from the one-party ruled government. It speaks for change in

Turkey’s culture towards more inclusive society. For instance, the number of women

in the 550-seat parliament will increase to 98 up from 79. All thanks to HDP which is

the rst party to introduce a quota of 50% female politicians.

Ameenah Gurib-Fakim sworn-in as rst Woman President of

Mauritius

Prominent scientist Ameenah Gurib-Fakim was on 5 June 2015 sworn in as President

of Mauritius. With this, Gurib-Fakim became the rst female president of Mauritius,

which gained independence from Britain in 1968 and replaced Britain’s Queen

Elizabeth II as its head of state in 1992.

Ameenah, an internationally-renowned scientist and biologist, succeeded KailashPurryag who stepped down from his post on 29 May 2015.

At the time of her appointment as President, Gurib-Fakim was director of Centre for

Phytotherapy Research (CEPHYR) in Mauritius, which carries out research on plants

for use in cosmetics, nutrition and therapy.

An alumnus of the universities of Exeter and Surrey in Britain, she also serves as the

chairman of organic chemistry at Mauritius University. She has also worked with theWorld Bank and other international institutions as well.

India-Netherlands signed agreements to deepen bilateral

cooperation

India and the Netherlands on 5 June 2015 signed several agreements to deepenbilateral cooperation.





The agreements were signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and

Prime Minister of Netherland Mark Rutte in New Delhi after the two leaders held

discussions on various issues related to the region and the world.

Mark Rutte is on a two day visit to India on 5-6 June 2015.

List of Agreements signed between India and Netherlands

• Agreement on setting up Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism , which will

hold its rst meeting on 19 June 2015.

• Agreement on manufacturing of dredgers at the Cochin Shipyard.• Agreement on manufacturing of Measles, and Rubella Vaccine in India, with

transfer of technology from Netherlands.

• Agreement on developing coastal roads and metro lines in India.

• Agreement on setting up a Joint Working Group on Skill Development.

• Agreement on developing joint pilot projects for an electric vehicle ecosystem in

India.

• Agreement on setting up centres of excellence in areas like horticulture and animal

husbandry in India.

Comment

The Netherlands is a key partner in India’s economic development as it hosts the

second largest Indian community in Europe and several Dutch companies have a

long presence in India.

WTO’s Dispute Settlement Board ruled against India’s ban on

poultry imports from the US

The Dispute Settlement Board of World Trade Organisation (WTO) on 4 June 2015ruled against the India’s ban on import of meats from the United States (US). The ban





on imports of meat covered poultry meat, eggs and live pigs.

The appellate body upheld the October 2014 ruling of three-member dispute

settlement panel of WTO, which ruled that India’s avian inuenza-related measures

were inconsistent with the international norms.

It further ruled that India’s measures were arbitrary and unjustiably discriminated

between members where identical or similar conditions prevailed. In essence, these

measures constituted trade-restrictive measures.

Further, India’s measures violated Article 3.1, 6.1 and 6.2 of the Sanitary and Phyto-

sanitary Agreement of WTO as they were not based on international standards.

Now, India will have 12 to 18 months time to implement the ruling after which US will

be able to export its product to India.

India-US signed 2015 Framework for the India-US Defence

Relationship

India and the United States (US) on 3 June 2015 signed the 2015 Framework for the

India-US Defence Relationship. The framework was signed by the Manohar Parrikar,

India’s Defence Minister and Ashton Carter, US Secretary of Defence.

The framework was signed during the three-day ofcial visit of the Dr. Carter to India

from 2 June to 4 June 2015.

Main highlights of the 2015 India-US Defence Framework

• It builds upon the previous framework and successes to guide the bilateral defence

and strategic partnership for the next ten years.

• It provides avenues for high level strategic discussions, continued exchanges

between armed forces of both countries, and strengthening of defence capabilities.

• It also recognises the transformative nature of the Defence Technology and TradeInitiative (DTTI).





Apart from this, both India and the United States also nalized two project agreements

for joint development of Mobile Electric Hybrid Power Sources and the Next Generation

Protective Ensembles.

Further, both the leaders also agreed to expedite discussions to take forward

cooperation on jet engines, aircraft carrier design and construction, and other areas.

The two also agreed to pursue co-development and co-production projects that

will offer tangible opportunities for American defence industries to build defence

partnership with the Indian industries including in manufacturing under ‘Make in

India’.

India and Belarus signed six Agreements

India and Belarus on 3 June 2015 inked six agreements to boost ties and relationship

based on friendship and mutual benet. The agreements were inked in presence of

President Pranab Mukherjee, who is on a two-day state visit to Belarus, viz., from 3June – 4 June 2015.

The two-day visit to Belarus is part of Mukherjee’s ve-day visit to Belarus and

Sweden that started on 31 May 2015.

List of agreements and MoUs

• Agreement on roadmap for India-Belarus Cooperation

• Agreement on Protocol amending the agreement between the India and Belarus

for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with

respect to Taxes on Income and on Property (Capital) of the 27 September 1997

• MoU on Cooperation in the eld of Standardization and Information Support

signed between Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and the State Committee for

Standardization, Belarus

• MoU for cooperation on Broadcasting between Prasar Bharati (PB) and the

National State Television and Radio Company, Belarus (Belteleradiocompany)





• MoU on Bilateral Cooperation between the Securities and Exchange Board of

India (SEBI) and the Ministry of Finance, Belarus

• MoU for Manufacturing and Marketing of Light Industry Goods (concern

“Bellegprom”) between the Ministry of Textiles of India and the Belarusian State

concern.

India joined MCAA on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account

Information

India on 3 June 2015 joined the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA)

on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (AEOI).

The declaration to comply with the provisions of the MCAA was signed in Paris by

Mohan Kumar, the Indian ambassador to France.

The participation in the agreement will help India in curbing nancial crimes especially

instances of tax evasion.

Under the agreement, all the signatory countries, including India, are bound to collect

and automatically exchange tax information as prescribed by the Organisation for

Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Common Reporting Standard

(CRS).

To be able to comply with the agreement, amendments have been made to section

285BA of the Income Tax Act, 1961 as incorporated in the Finance Act, 2014.

Key Features of Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA)

• It is based on Article 6 of the OECD’s Multilateral Convention on Mutual

Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (Multilateral Convention) which states

that two or more parties can mutually agree to exchange information automatically.

• It implements the OECD’s Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Information

(AEOI).

• It requires the Competent Authorities of participating jurisdictions to collect and





automatically exchange tax information as prescribed by the OECD’s Common

Reporting Standard (CRS). Under the agreement, bulk taxpayer information will

periodically be sent by the source country of income to the country of residence

of the taxpayer.

• It is very wide in scope and obliges the treaty partners to exchange a wide range

of nancial information, including that about the ultimate controlling persons and

benecial owners of entities. Previously, information was exchanged between

countries on the basis of specic requests only.

• Even though it is signed on a multilateral basis, the actual exchange of informationwill occur in a bilateral manner.

• It has been developed by the OECD in cooperation with G20 and the European

Union (EU).

• So far, 60 countries, including India, joined the agreement and it is set to become

operational in 2017, by which about 94 countries are expected to sign it.

US President Barack Obama signed USA FREEDOM Act 2015

into law

US President Barack Obama on 2 June 2015 signed the USA FREEDOM Act 2015 in

law. The USA FREEDOM stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Fullling

Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2015.

With this, the National Security Agency (NSA) lost its authority to collect the phone

records of millions of Americans.

The Act was approved by the Senate on 1 June 2015 by 67-32 votes and was passed

by the House of Representatives on 13 May 2015. The Act will remain in effect until

15 December 2019.

Main Highlights of the Act

• It reauthorizes USA PATRIOT Act 2001 that expired on 1 June 2015.





• It require the government obtain a targeted warrant to collect phone metadata

from telecommunications companies

• It amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Act of 1978 to establish a

new process so as to make the process of submitting of warrant by the Federal

Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to a FISA court more transparent. FISA Court reviews

the warrant requests submitted by the FBI for an order requiring the production of

business records or other tangible things for an investigation.

• It amends the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 to

require the Inspector General of the Department of Justice to audit the effectivenessand use of FISA authority to obtain production of tangible things from 2012 to

2014, so that the constitutional rights of U.S. persons is adequately protected.

Comment

It is the rst piece of legislation to reform post 9/11 surveillance measure known by

the name USA PATRIOT Act which was adopted in October 2001, six weeks after the

9/11 terrorist attack. The USA PATRIOT stands for Uniting and Strengthening Americaby Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism.

The Act is the culmination of efforts to reform the NSA that blossomed out of NSA

leaker Edward Snowden’s 2013 revelations. Snowden is the former NSA contractor

who released secret information about U.S. spying in June of 2013

South Korea and China signed bilateral Free Trade Agreement

(FTA)

South Korea and China on 1 June 2015 signed the Korea-China Free Trade Agreement

(FTA) in Seoul, South Korea. The agreement was signed by the South Korea’s Minister

of Trade, Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jick and Chinese Commerce Minister Gao

Hucheng.

The negotiations for the agreement that began in May 2012 formally concluded in

November 2014.





Features of Korea-China FTA

• It aims to gradually remove tariffs on more than 90 percent of traded goods

between both the countries within 20 years.

• China will remove tariffs on 71 percent of South Korean exports in 10 years and

91 percent in 20 years.

• South Korea will remove tariffs on 79 percent of Chinese imports in 10 years and

92 percent in 20 years.

• Many of South Korea’s major farming and sheries goods like rice, beef, pork,pepper and squid are excluded from the agreement. This decision taken was

taken in the backdrop of protests against the inclusion of these products by the

agricultural community of South Korea.

• China excluded or delayed the opening of its relatively less-developed

manufacturing segments such as the auto sector and display panel production.

• It would recognize products made in Kaesong Industrial Region (KIR) of North Koreaas South Korean products for the purpose of trade between the two countries.

However, nal modalities for operationalisation of this provision are still underway.

Signicance of the Korea-China FTA

• The FTA is expected to augment trade between China and South Korea, Asia’s

largest and fourth-largest economies respectively.

• It will allow small and medium-sized South Korean rms, especially in consumergoods in fashion, cosmetics, home appliances and high-end food products,

greater access to China’s vast consumer market and help create more than 50000

jobs in South Korea.

• It would provide momentum not only to efforts to expand trade and investment

between the two nations but also to help enhance bilateral cooperation in a wide

range of areas, including industries, culture and energy.

• The FTA is expected to create a large-scale regional economic community worth





12 trillion US dollars by removing trade barriers, going beyond a simple increase

in trade.

• The pact will also greatly contribute to the economic integration of East Asia,

the Asia-Pacic region and the development of the world economy. For this,

negotiations for a trilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) among China, South Korea

and Japan were launched in November 2012.

Comment

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992, the trade volume of both

countries increased over the past 23 years from 5 billion US dollars to 235.3 billion US

dollars in 2014. The volume of mutual investment also multiplied, from 0.11 billion US

dollars to 61.64 US billion dollars. China is already Korea’s largest trade partner and

its largest destination for investment which stood at 1.6 billion US dollars between

January-March 2015. South Korea is China`s third largest trade partner and is the

fth largest investment destination.

India, Sweden signed 6 agreements to restart the strategic

dialogue

India and Sweden on 1 June 2015 signed six agreements to boost ties and restart

the bilateral strategic dialogue. The agreements were inked in presence of President

Pranab Mukherjee, who is on a state visit to Sweden.

Mukherjee is the rst ever Indian head of state to visit Sweden and will be in the

country from 31 May to 2 June 2015.

At present, he is on a ve-day long visit to Sweden and Belarus between 31 May and

4 June 2015.

List of agreements/MoUs signed

• MoU on Cooperation in the eld of Sustainable Urban Development: It aims to





develop close and long term cooperation in the eld of sustainable development

and protection of the environment through dialogue and interaction on global

sustainable urban development issues, exchange of knowledge, institutional

cooperation and commercial relations.

• MoU on cooperation in the eld of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises: It aims

at promoting partnership projects, institution to institution and enterprise to

enterprise cooperation related to MSMEs.

• Agreement on Visa Exemption for diplomatic passports: It will facilitate entry of

citizens of India and Sweden who are holders of diplomatic passports into theirrespective countries with the aim to strengthen the friendly relations

• Letter of Intent on Collaboration in Polar and Ocean Research: It was signed to

encourage collaboration in the areas of Polar (Antarctic and Arctic) and Ocean

Research by enhancing scientic capabilities, conducting joint research and

survey activities, exchange of informational material on education, training and

research matters, etc.

• Memorandum of Intent (MoI) on cooperation in ageing research and health: It was

signed between the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Swedish

Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare (FORTE).

• MoI between the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), India

and the Swedish Medical Products Agency (MPA): It is complimentary to the

ongoing cooperation between India and Sweden covering the area of health and

is for increasing bilateral cooperation in the elds of pharmacovigilance, electronicsubmissions in related matter and clinical trials among others.

Apart from this, Sweden also expressed their support for India’s claim to permanent

membership of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and membership of the

Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). MTCR established in 1987 is an informal

and voluntary association of 34 countries favouring non-proliferation of unmanned

delivery systems capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction and seek to

coordinate national export licensing efforts aimed at preventing their proliferation.





NATIONAL

Union Railway Ministry inaugurated Integrated Security System

in Mumbai

Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on 29 June 2015 inaugurated the Integrated

Security System (ISS) at four railway stations in Mumbai comprising Chhatrapati

Shivaji Terminus (CST), Dadar, Kurla and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT).

The ISS was installed with a total cost of 21.72 crore rupees. The ISS is aimed at

improving security on Railway premises, ensuring safety of the people and avertingterror attacks.

The system will monitor passenger activities through a network of CCTV cameras at

six railway stations comprising CST, Dadar, Kurla, LTT, Kalyan and Thane. It has a

total of 118 CCTV cameras that will beam the live images of railway stations under

its coverage on six monitors.

The ministry also inaugurated a modied foot over bridge (FOB) to facilitate passenger

movement at Diva and another FOB at Vithalwadi apart from laying the foundation

stone of a multi-level two-wheeler parking at Thane.

Once completed, the project will take up the parking area to 3000 sq meter from

700 sq meter. While the work of the rst phase of the project was completed in June

2015, the second phase is expected to be completed by December 2016.





Union Government approved a proposal for setting up second

airport at Jewar in NCR

The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation on 25 June 2015 approved a proposal for setting

up a second international airport at Jewar in the National Capital Region. The proposal

would soon be sent to the Union Cabinet for approval

Once the project gets the required approvals, the civil aviation ministry will offer the

contract for building and running the proposed Jewar airport in Greater Noida to the

GMR Group where the government acquired 2378 acres of land for the project.

Under RoFR norms, GMR Group has the Right of First Refusal (RoFR) for any airport

that is built within a 150-km radius of the existing airport in Delhi. According to the

rules, GMR’s bid will be accepted only if it is equal to or less than 10 percent of the

bid offered by the lowest bidder. It will be asked to match the lowest bid arrived at

after the bidding process for the proposed Jewar airport.

According to norms in the Policy on Airport Infrastructure of India, the Union

Government will need to amend certain regulations to enable development of the

new project as the establishment of greeneld airports in places where an existing

one is unable to meet the projected requirements of trafc or in case a new focal

point of trafc emerges with sufcient viability.

The current policy states, No greeneld airport will normally be allowed within an

aerial distance of 150 km of an existing airport. Where it is allowed as a second

airport in the same city or close vicinity, the parameters for distribution of trafc

between the two airports will be clearly spelt out.

The airport in Jewar was proposed by the erstwhile Mayawati-led Government in

Uttar Pradesh and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had formed a

Group of Ministers (GoM) to decide on the issue.





Union Government asked Bihar, TN, Rajasthan to introduce milk

in mid day meal scheme

Union Government on 25 June 2015 requested the Chief Ministers of Bihar, Tamil

Nadu and Rajasthan to encourage supply of free milk in the Mid Day Meal to school

children.

Milk Products will be provided with an aim to increase the nutritional level in the Mid

Day Meal for school children.

The decision was made in a review meeting in which it was found that the State Milk

Federations of these states have surplus stock of skimmed milk powder.

In relation to supply of free milk products to students, Union Agriculture Minister

Radha Mohan Singh has written a letter to these states.

At present, two states Karnataka (under project Ksheerabhagya started in 2012-13)

and Madhya Pradesh provides free milk products to school children under the Mid

Day Meal scheme.

Comment

The serving of milk under mid day meal scheme would help the milk producers and

cooperatives because milk contributes close to a third of the gross income of rural

households. On the one hand, it will lead to increase in the purchase of milk and on

other hand, it will nancially empower the rural folks residing in these states.

Union Cabinet approved to set up a National Memorial at birth

place of Lok Nayak JP Narayan in Bihar

The Union Cabinet on 24 June 2015 approved the setting up of a National Memorial

at the birth place of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan. Lok Nayak was born at Lala KaTola, Sitab, Diara in Chhapra (Saran) district of Bihar on 11 October 1902.





The memorial will contribute in furthering the vision of Lok Nayak who was an

exemplary leader of Indian independence movement, a freedom ghter and a social

reformer.

The memorial will house a virtual museum, an institute and the Lok Nayak Khadi

Gaurav Samvardhan Kendra.

The institute will undertake study and research on (a) democracy, (b) enhancing the

role of Panchayats in nation building, (c) Gandhian thoughts, and (d) centre for Khadi

and constructive work keeping in view the thoughts of Lok Nayak.

On other hand, Lok Nayak Khadi Gaurav Samvardhan Kendra will be used in makingnational ags by women cluster(s).

The proposal for National Memorial was made by the Union Ministry of Culture.

About Jayaprakash Narayan

Jayaprakash Narayan popularly called as JP or Lok Nayak is remembered especially

for leading the opposition against Emergency imposed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi

on 25 June 1975 for which he was arrested and kept as a detenu at Chandigarh.

He called for a Sampoorna Kranti (Total Revolution) for upholding and defending civil

liberties during emergency and ushered a new democratic movement for India and

contributed to strengthen the roots of democracy.

He was posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, in 1999.

His biography, Jayaprakash, was written Ramavriksha Benipuri.

Union Cabinet approved setting up of six Indian Institutes of

Management (IIM)

The Union Cabinet on 24 June 2015 approved setting up of six new Indian Institutes

of Management (IIMs) in the country. The cabinet meet was chaired by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi.





These new IIMs will be located at Amritsar (Punjab), Bodh Gaya (Bihar), Nagpur

(Maharashtra), Sambalpur (Odisha), Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh) and Vishakhapatnam

(Andhra Pradesh).

These IIMs are intended to commence their rst academic session from 2015-16.

Each Institute will start with an intake of 140 students in the Post Graduate Programme

(PGP) courses.

These IIMs are being set up as part commitment made by the Union Government in

its Budget presentation of July 2014. In the July 2014 Budget, it was proposed to set

up ve IIMs in Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Punjab.With the bifurcation of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh state into two States of Andhra

Pradesh and Telangana the need for setting up of an IIM in Andhra Pradesh in

pursuance of the Andhra Pradesh Re-organization Act, 2014 was necessitated.

Union Government launched India’s rst Modernised Anganwadi

Centre at Hasanpur village in Sonepat

Union Government on 24 June 2015 launched the rst modernised Anganwadi centre

of India at Hasanpur village of Sonepat in Haryana. The centre was inaugurated by

Maneka Gandhi, the Union Minister for Women and Child Development (WCD).

The centre has been set up as part of Nand-Ghar Yojana of Union Government which

aims at transforming the anganwadi centres.The anganwadi centre at Hasanpur has been built in partnership with private mining

rm Vedanta at a cost of 12 lakh rupees, while the land was provided by the Gram

Panchayat.

Further, the centre with singular design has been constructed by state-run National

Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC) as per the guidance of the

Ministry of Women and Child Development.

The centre involving an area of 780 square feet can accommodate around 50 children





in daytime every day and are equipped with latest facilities.

The centre is based on the concept of Building as a Learning Aidpiloted by UNICEF

and will be in addition to the existing anganwadi model for efcient delivery of

Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).

Under ICDS, supplementary nutrition is provided to children in the age group of 0-6

years and to pregnant/lactating mothers with main objective to ght the problem of

malnutrition.

Why the need for modernised centres?

Anganwadi centres were started by the Ministry of WCD in 1975 as part of the ICDS

programme to combat child hunger and malnutrition. As of now, a network of 13.4 lakh

anganwadis has been established in every village, town, city and other habitations.

As per the ICDS scheme guidelines, a modernised anganwadi centre must have a

separate sitting room for children/women, separate kitchen, store for food items and

dedicated space for children to play.

However, in a recent audit by the government it was found that most of the centres

lacked essential infrastructure for maintenance of hygiene and sanitation. Further,

many of them were also found working under trees, in open spaces, dilapidated

buildings and temporary structures.

Thus, the need for such modernized anganwadi centres, which will be opened across

the country at 4000 other places.

Union Ministry of Home Affairs designated Agatti and Minicoy

Islands as Immigration Check Posts

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on 22 June 2015 designated Agatti and

Minicoy islands of Lakshadweep as authorised Immigration Check Posts for entry

into or exit from India.

Both the islands will be used as transit points for all classes of passengers with valid





travel documents from 30 June 2015.

While Agatti is spread over 3.84 square kms, Minicoy has an area over 4.80 sq kms.

Minicoy lies near one of the busiest shipping routes and is about 130 km from the

northern-most island of Maldives.

The two new immigration check points will help easy access to tourists, mainly

travelling by luxury cruises, to India.

At present, there are 82 Immigration Check Posts all over the country catering to

international trafc.

Out of these, 37 are functioning under the Bureau of Immigration, while the remaining

is being managed by the state governments concerned.

CCEA approved inclusion of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and

Chhattisgarh in National Dairy Plan- I

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 17 June 2015 approved

inclusion of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh in the list of States to be

covered under the National Dairy Plan- I (NDP-I).

It also extended the implementation period for two years up to 2018-19 to achieve

key outputs of National Dairy Plan- I.

Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are newly formed States which are inhabited by tribalpopulation having substantial milch animal population and have the potential for

coverage under NDP-I.

Although Uttarakhand was not included for all the approved components under the

NDP-I, but the Project Implementation Plan document included sub projects of Animal

Breeding and Strengthening of Semen Stations for implementation in Uttarakhand.

Considering the potential for implementation of Ration Balancing Programme, Fodder

Development and Village Based Milk Procurement System, Uttarakhand has also

been included under NDP-I.





About National Dairy Plan- I

NDP-I was approved for implementation in 14 milk potential States by National DairyDevelopment Board (NDDB) with a total outlay of 2242 crore rupees for a period of

six years from 2011-12 to 2016-17.

NDP I is now being implemented in 15 States (after Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated

into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana). These 15 states are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,

Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab,

Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

These states account for more than 90 percent of the country’s milk production, for

over 87 percent of the breedable cattle and buffalo population and 98 percent of

the country’s fodder resources. However, coverage of NDP I is across the country in

terms of benets accruing from the project.

Union Cabinet approved transfer of NIL’s land to DRDO for

establishing a defence research centre

Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 17 June 2015 approved

the transfer of a portion of land of erstwhile National Instruments Limited (NIL) to

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

The land will be transferred by Jadavpur University in West Bengal to DRDO on long-

term lease for establishing a defence research centre namely the Jagadish Chandra

Bose Centre for Advanced Technology (JCBCAT).

This will be benecial for India as Research and Development efforts will result in

reduction in import dependence in the strategic sector. The National Instruments

Limited (NIL) was a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the administrative

control of the Department of Heavy Industry. As it became sick, its assets, liabilities

and manpower were transferred to Jadavpur University with effect from 1 January2009 under the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) sanctioned

revival scheme (SRS).





Union Cabinet approved Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015

The Union Cabinet on 17 June 2015 gave its approval to introduce Bureau of Indian

Standards Bill, 2015 in the Parliament. It will repeal the Bureau of Indian Standards

(BIS) Act, 1986.

The bill is intended to improve the quality of goods, services and systems in the

country.

Objectives of Indian Standards Bill, 2015

• To establish the Bureau of Indian standards (BIS) as the National Standards Body

of India. The BIS will perform its functions through a Governing Council, which will

consist of its President and other members

• To include goods, services and systems, besides articles and processes under the

standardization regime

• To enable the Government to bring under the mandatory certication regime such

article, process or service which it considers necessary from the point of view of

health, safety, environment, prevention of deceptive practices, security etc. This

will help consumers receive ISI certied products and will also help in prevention

of import of sub-standard products

• To allow multiple types of simplied conformity assessment schemesincluding Self

Declaration of Conformity (SDOC) against any standard which will give multiple

simplied options to manufacturers to adhere to standards and get a certicate of

conformity, thus improving the ease of doing business

• To enable the Union Government to appoint any authority, in addition to the BIS, to

verify the conformity of products and services to a standard and issue certicate

of conformity

• To enable the Government to implement mandatory hallmarking of precious metal

articles





• To strengthen penal provisions for better and effective compliance and enable

compounding of offences for violations

• To provide recall, including product liability of products bearing the Standard Mark,

but not conforming to relevant Indian Standards

Comment

The proposed Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015 will empower the Union

Government and the BIS to promote a culture of quality of products and services

through mandatory or voluntary compliance with Indian standards through the

process of product certication and Certicate of Conformity with a broad objective

of consumer’s welfare.

Election Commission of India (ECI) suspended recognition of

National People’s Party (NPP)

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on 16 June 2015 suspended the recognition

of National People’s Party (NPP) as a state party in Meghalaya. The NPP is headed

by former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma.

The decision was taken in lieu of its failure in ling the election expenditure statement

related to 2014 Lok Sabha general elections within the prescribed limit of 90 days.

The ECI took this decision under the powers vested in it as per the 16A of the Election

Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968. It states that the commission can

suspend or withdraw recognition of a recognised political party, either national or

state, for its failure to observe Model Code of Conduct or follow lawful directions and

instructions of the commission.

It is the rst case that recognition of a party has been suspended by the commission

under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 for its failure to

follow the lawful directions of the commission.Earlier, the ECI issued two reminders and most recently it issued a show cause notice





in March 2015 to NPP in pursuance of the Supreme Court of India’s judgment in the

case of Common Cause Vs Union of India and others. The judgment directed all

political parties, to le their election expenditure statement within 75 days of assemblyelections and 90 days of Lok Sabha elections.

Since elections to 2014 Lok Sabha were completed on 28 May 2014, the political

parties were required to submit their election expenditure statements for these polls

by 26 August 2014.

NPP is a member of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and has one member

(PA Sangma for Tura in Meghalaya) in the Lok Sabha, 4 members in the RajasthanLegislative Assembly and 2 members in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly. It was

founded in January 2013.

Union Government launched website to connect employers, job

seekers

Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Kalraj Mishra on 15 June

2015 launched a digital Employment Exchange for Industries (EEX) portal eex.

dcmsme.gov.in which will connect employers and job seekers. The portal will help in

linking Make in India initiative with Skilled India one.

The employers and job seekers can now register at www.eex.dcmsme.gov.in. Nearly,

two lakh job seekers have already registered themselves with the EEX.

Why the need for such a portal?

There are large units in the country which are dependent on MSMEs, but the absence

of skilled manpower results in non-competitiveness of MSMEs and Indian industry

as a whole.

Until and unless, the skilled hands do not nd the appropriate jobs and the appropriate

employer, it will lead to frustration and skepticism to the entire skilling program of thiscountry.





Therefore, it is utmost important that these skilled hands get a platform where they

can nd livelihoods for themselves. This online portal will enable industrial units in

nding suitable manpower and will help job seekers in nding suitable jobs.

Railway Ministry decided to run Suvidha Trains

Ministry of Railways on 12 June 2015 decided to run Suvidha trains with dynamic

fares from July 2015. The decision to run Suvidha trains was taken to address the

rush during peak travel seasons.

These trains will have dynamic fare system and there will not be any downward

movement of the fare. Also, these trains may be run during peak seasons like winter

rush, summer rush, Dussehra rush, Holi rush and on other occasions.

These trains will have no First AC or Fist Class or Executive class or general class or

2nd sitting coach. Three types of trains to be run under the Suvidha Trains services

are as follows:

• Fully air-conditioned services with or without stoppages: Base Price: (Rajdhani

base fare + Tatkal charges).

• Mixed services having no enroute commercial stoppages on mixed Duronto

pattern: Base price: (Mixed Duronto base fare + Tatkal charges).

• For mixed services having some stoppages enroute and running as Mail/

Express: Base price: (Mail/Express base fare + Tatkal charges).

Union Government scrapped import duties on AIDS drugs

Union Government on 11 June 2015 scrapped customs import duties on drugs and

test kits used to treat AIDS. The exemption will remain in effect until March 2016.

The exemption would apply to certain rst-line and second-line antiretroviral drugs

(ARV) used to treat adults and children, as well as to certain diagnostic kits and





equipment that are used by National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) to ght the

HIV/AIDS under the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP).

The decision is an effort to cut the prices so as to cope up with the ongoing shortage

of drugs and test kits to ght HIV/AIDS at home.

Further, it would help in importing raw materials that are used in making ARVs under

the NACP at cheaper rates.

At present, Mylan Inc, a rm of US and Aurobindo Pharma of India supply ARV under

the NACP.

More than a third of India’s 2.1 million HIV/AIDS patients depend on getting their daily

ARV for free from state-run distribution centers, which have been facing shortages.

Moreover, the drugs under exemption make up roughly 95 percent of the ARVs used

by India’s AIDS patients under the NACP.

About National AIDS Control Programme (NACP)

In 1986 Union Government set up National Aids Committee under the aegis of Union

Ministry of Health and Family Affairs after the detection of rst case of AIDS in India.

Then in 1992, the rst phase of the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) was

launched that covered the period 1992-1999 and NACO was constituted to implement

the programme.

At present, the fourth phase of NACP is being implemented that aims to reduce new

infections by 50% (2007 Baseline of NACP III). NACP-IV will cover the period 2012

-2017.

Union Government launched Migrant Resource Centre in Chennai

The Union Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) along with the Tamil Nadu

Government on 11 June 2015 launched the Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) in

Chennai. The MRC in Chennai is the fourth such MRC in India set-up by MOIA.

The MRC will provide information, guidance, advise and counselling on all aspects





of overseas employment including legal and regulatory requirements; documentation

and procedures; policies; and problems faced while working aboard to intending

migrants and overseas Indian workers.

Functions of the MRC

• The MRC will disseminate information on safe and legal migration.

• It will disseminate information about status of Recruiting Agents and other service

providers.

• It will register and respond to complaints and grievances within the redressalforum of MOIA.

• It will also offer counselling support (walk in or telephone and email support).

The rst Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) was established by MOIA in 2008 in Kochi,

Kerala, followed by fully functional MRCs in Hyderabad (Telengana & Andhra Pradesh),

Gurgaon (Haryana) and Chennai (Tamil Nadu).

Union Cabinet approved proposal to promulgate the Negotiable

Instruments (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 10 June 2015 gave

its approval for the proposal to promulgate the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment)

Ordinance, 2015.The intended ordinance will amend the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (The NI Act)

that is focused on clarifying the jurisdiction related issues for ling cases for offence

committed under section 138 of the NI Act.

Earlier on 13 May 2015, the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2015 was

passed in Lok Sabha with a voice vote, but was not introduced in the Rajya Sabha.

Key Features of Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2015

• Cases of bouncing of cheques can be led only in a court in whose jurisdiction the





bank branch of the payee (person who receives the cheque) lies.

• If a complaint against a person issuing a cheque has been led in the court with

the appropriate jurisdiction, then all subsequent complaints against that person

will be led in the same court, irrespective of the relevant jurisdiction area.

• If more than one case is led against the same person before different courts, the

cases will be transferred to the court with the appropriate jurisdiction.

• It seeks to amend the denition of cheque in the electronic form. While the parent

act denes it as a cheque containing the exact mirror image of a paper cheque

and generated in a secure system using a digital signature, the amendment bill re-

denes it as a cheque drawn in electronic medium using any computer resource

and which is signed in a secure system with a digital signature, or electronic

system.

Necessity for Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2015

The Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 denes promissory notes, bills of exchange,

cheques and creates penalties for issues such as bouncing of cheques. Though, the

act species circumstances under which complaints for cheque bouncing can be

led (Section 138) but does not specify the territorial jurisdiction of the courts where

such a complaint is to be led.

In a bid to overcome the legal lacunae, the Supreme Court of India (SC) in August 2014

issued an order stating that cases against those having defaulted on their cheque

payments could only be led in courts under which jurisdiction of the bank accountof the accused fell. However, since this order is not Payee-friendly (who happens to

be the victim) the government has brought the present amendment bill to by-pass

the court’s order.

The new law is also intended to help consolidate the cases and aid the judicial system,

which is currently dealing with 21 lakh cheque-bounce cases with 259 courts hearing

them, exclusively.





Indian Army carried out cross-border operation against militants

in Myanmar

Special Forces of the Indian Army in coordination with the Air Force on 9 June 2015

carried out surgical operations (cross-border operation) inside Myanmar to target

militant groups.

In this one of the rst-of-its-kind cross-border operation about 50 militants of groups

namely NSCN (K) and KYKL were killed. They were hiding along the Nagaland-

Myanmar and Manipur-Myanmar border.

The move for such a surgical operation was taken after militant groups killed 18

jawans of 6 Dogra Regiment of Indian Army in an ambush in Chandel district of

Manipur on 4 June 2015.

The operation was guided by specic and precise intelligence input. The strike was

carried out inside Myanmar with the coordination of local authorities.

The preparedness and nesse of the operation could be gauged from the fact that

Indian Army did not suffer any sort of casualty.

How this move is different from past operations?

This cross-border operation is not new for Indian Army as in past it has carried out

such operations. In April-May 1995, Operation Golden Bird was launched as an India-

Myanmar joint operation along the Mizoram border which killed almost 40 militants.

In December 2003, Operation All Clear was launched in partnership with Royal

Bhutan Army (RBA) which neutralized (either killed or caught) 650 militants belonging

to ULFA, NDFB and KLO.

In 2001 and January 2006, Indian and Myanmar reportedly conducted some small-

scale joint military operations inside Myanmar to ush out militants from the NSCN

(Khaplang) group.

However, in all the previous operations Indian Army involvement was limited to

logistics and medical cover only and it was a joint operation.





In this operation, the manpower or artillery support was all of Indian Army and in

no way was a joint operation. In fact, India, as per reports, seemed to have let the

Myanmar government known about this operation after it had concluded.

Further, with this operation, India has tried to shred its image of Soft State and let the

world known that India under the new regime is ready to go to any extent to protect

its sovereign interests and security.

Also, this operation was a ne example of coordination between different ministries

and departments of Indian government, viz., Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of

Home Affairs and Ministry of Defence, National Security Adviser (NSA) and intelligenceagencies.

Union Ministry of Water Resources launched Jal Kranti Abhiyan

Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejunivetion

Uma Bharti on 5 June 2015 launched nationwide Jal Kranti Abhiyan (campaign) fromJaipur, Rajasthan.

The aim is to consolidate water conservation and management in the country

through a holistic and integrated approach involving all stakeholders, making it a

mass movement.

Objective of the campaign

• To strengthen grass root involvement of all stake holders including Panchyati raj

institutions and local bodies in the water security and development schemes like

participatory Irrigation Management (PIM).

• To encourage the adoption of traditional knowledge in water resource conservation

and its management

• To utilize sector-level expertise from different levels in government, NGOs, citizen,

etc

• Enhancing livelihood security through water security in rural areas Strategies for





implementation of campaign.

On the broad level, the campaign envisages following strategies

• Use of modern techniques coupled with traditional wisdom for devising area/

region specic innovative measures for increasing water security

• Revival of traditional knowledge and sources for water conservation and utilization

• Encouraging conjuctive use of surface and groundwater

• Rainwater harvesting for recharge to be made mandatory for residential, commercial

and industrial buildings/premises

• Promotion social regulation for meeting the demand as well as for optimizing the

use efciency of water for various purposed especially industry, agriculture and

domestic

Activities under the campaign

• The scheme also provides for a Sujalam Card with the logo Water Saved, Water

Produced. These cards will provide annual status and information about the quality

of drinking water available for a Jal Gram, a village with acute water scarcity.

• Further, the campaign also provides for Jal Mitra, a cadre of local water

professionals, which will be created by imparting them suitable training to create

mass awareness about water scarcity.

• The campaign also envisages a Model Command Area (MCA) of about 1000 hectare

in a State that shall be identied and selected from an ongoing irrigation project inthe State. The selection of MCA will be done by Ministry of Water Resources, River

Development and Ganga Rejunivetion in consultation with State Governments.

• It also envisages Dedicated Programme for construction of Arsenic Free Wells

in selected areas and capacity building of the ofcers of the State Water Supply

Agencies and other stakeholders particularly W.U.A’s and farmers.

• Tailor made awareness campaigns designed to address problems and suggestsolutions to meet the requirements of each segment of the society under the





continuing scheme of Information, Education and Communication.

On the pilot basis, the project will run in one water stressed village in each 672

districts of the country. Success of the campaign will be reviewed after one or one

and a half year. The project will be implemented till the objective of solving water

problems in every house and farm is achieved.

Union Government launched Khoya Paya web portal

The Union Government on 2 June 2015 launched the Khoya Paya web portal

Khoyapaya.gov.in, the rst-of-its-kind citizen based website to exchange information

on missing and found children.

It was jointly launched by Maneka Gandhi, Union Minister of Women & Child

Development and Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Communication &

Information Technology.

The web portal has been jointly developed by the Union Ministry of Women and Child

Development and the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY).

Khoya Paya web portal will establish citizen to citizen contact and will allow India to

take part in search for missing children.

The citizens can aid in missing children’s search by reporting the whereabouts of

the children through text, photographs, videos and other means of transmitting and

uploading information on the site. Through this portal, parents or families are alsoadvised to inform about their missing child to the nearest police station.

Khoya Paya portal is different from another portal named Track Child run by Union

Ministry of Home Affairs which has limitation as only police communicates with the

police and citizens are nowhere involved.

Comment

The missing children are a cause of deep concern not only for the Government but

also for the child protection institutions, society and above all for the parents. These





children are vulnerable to the mental and physical assault which leads to mental

trauma for these children.

Further, most of the missing children are trafcked for labour, for sexual exploitation,

abducted, or kidnapped, or due to crimes against children which is prohibited by the

Article 23 (1) of the Constitution.

As per the information provided by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB),

number of missing children is about 70000 every year. Total recovered children since

January 2012 up to April 2015 is 73597 as per the data available on Track Child portal

of Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

Union Government launched IAP HealthPhone programme

The Union Minister of Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi on 2 June

2015 launched the IAP HealthPhone programme in New Delhi. The IAP HealthPhone

programme is the world’s largest digital mass education programme for addressingthe malnutrition in women and children.

This programme was developed by the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) in

partnership with the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, UNICEF and

is supported by Vodafone India.

Highlights of the IAP HealthPhone programme

• IAP HealthPhone programme aims to tackle the challenge of malnutrition inmothers and children across India.

• It is a public-partnership initiative that leverages the increasing penetration of

mobile phones in the country to educate over 6 million girls and women between

13 and 35 years of age and their families on better health and nutrition practices

by 2018.

• The programme will achieve its objectives by widely promoting and distributingfour re-edited videos from the Poshan videos in 18 Indian languages. The Poshan





videos address issues of the care of pregnant women and children, breastfeeding

and the importance of balanced diet.

• Vodafone will enable its customers to view/download the videos free of data

charges and on viewing the 4 videos, the user will receive a talk time incentive of

10 rupees.

• Vodafone will send out approximately 300 million text messages to its subscribers

every year to promote the viewing of the four videos.

• IAP HealthPhone partners will also equip AWW, ASHAs and ANMs with a

HealthPhone microSD card, containing a library of videos, to enable them to sharehealth and nutrition knowledge with women, families and the communities they

serve.

• They will partner with social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter and Google

to use their exponentially growing channels to reach more-rural and urban-

caregivers.

• This three-year campaign (2015-18) is expected to benet the health of 60 millionchildren in India born by 2025 and will be transformative for India’s ght against

malnutrition.





ECONOMY

Registrar General of India released Census data on disabled

population

The Ofce of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India on 30 June 2015

released the data on disabled population by type of disability, type of households

and sex – 2011.

The data gives the number of households having disabled persons by type of

households including normal, institutional and houseless households.The disabled persons living in different type of households are further cross-classied

into eight different disabilities i.e. seeing, hearing, speech, movement, mental

retardation, mental illness, any other and multiple disability for India/States/UTs.

Main Highlights

• There are 207.8 lakh households having disabled persons in the country constituting8.3 percent of the total households.

• Out of the total households having disabled persons, about 99 percent households

are normal households, 0.4 percent are institutional and 0.2 percent are houseless

households.

• Total households having disabled persons show an increase of 20.5 lakhs, from

187.3 lakhs in 2001 to 207.8 lakhs in 2011 (6.2 lakhs in rural and 14.3 lakhs in

urban).

• Normal households increased by 2024495 institutional households by 8370 and





houseless households by 13560 during the decade 2001-11.

• Disabled persons in normal households increased by 4819382 institutional

households by 65895 and houseless households by 22948 during the said decade.

• The State/Union Territory with maximum disabled population is Uttar Pradesh and

is followed by Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

• The State/Union Territory with minimum disabled population is Lakshadweep and

is preceded by Daman and Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.

Literacy rate 71 percent in rural areas, 86 percent in urban ar-

eas: NSSO survey

National Sample Survey Ofce (NSSO) on 30 June 2015 released the 71st Round

of its survey on Social Consumption: Education. The survey was conducted for the

period of January to June 2014 and portrays the salient features relating to prime

indicators on education as on 31 March 2014.

The survey covered entire country with samples taken from 36479 households in

rural areas and 29447 in urban areas from 4577 villages and 3720 urban blocks. It

was conducted on the basis of having any student aged between 5 and 29 years

receiving technical/professional or general education.

Major ndings of the Survey

• Adult literacy (age 15 years and above) rate in India was around 70.5 percent in

2014

• Among the age group 7 years and above, the male literacy rate was registered at

83.2 percent vis-a-vis the female literacy rate of 67.1 percent.

• Literacy rate (age 5 and above) in the rural areas was pegged at 71.4 percent in

2014, compared to 86.1 percent in the urban areas.

• The rural population in India for the age-group 5-29 years was estimated to be a





little over 36 crores (47 percent) and the same for urban was approximately 14.5

crores (44 percent).

• For the country as a whole, 84 percent male and 83 percent female children in

the age-group 6-10, the ofcial age-group for Classes I-V, were reported to be

attending primary classes. This symbolized no major rural-urban or male-female

disparity in the country.

• Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Kerala, Goa, Delhi, Chandigarh and Lakshadweep

had more than 90 percent of literates in 7+ age groups.

• Rural female literacy rates (for 7+ age) in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar,Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were still low in

comparison to all-India average.

• In terms of physical access to primary schooling within less than 1 km, more

than 12 percent of rural households in India did not have any secondary schools

within 5 kilometers whereas in urban areas such cases are insignicant (less than

1 percent).

• No major differences were observed between male and female persons in urban

areas up to the level of higher secondary but such differences are noticeable in

rural areas. The rural-urban and male-female disparities accentuate at higher

education levels of graduation and above.

• In the rural areas nearly 4.5 percent of males and 2.2 percent of females completed

education level of graduation and above, while in urban areas 17 percent of males

and 13 percent of females completed this level of education.

• The adult literate females of the country was about 61 percent compared to 80

percent males and about 25 percent of adult females among the female literates

had completed at least higher secondary (excluding diploma). For males it was

about 27 percent.

• There was no noticeable rural-urban disparity observed among the persons

currently attending educational institutions, but gender disparity can be observedin rural areas with 58.7 percent of males and 53 percent of females in the 5-29





age- group reported to be attending education.

National Sample Survey Ofce (NSSO) functions under the Ministry of Statistics and

Programme Implementation.

Union Government hiked national oor-level minimum wage to

160 rupees per day

The Union Government in June 2015 increased the national oor-level minimumwage (NFLMW) to 160 rupees per day from 137 rupees per day. The new rate will be

effective from 1 July 2015.

If states revise their minimum wages as per the new NFLMW, the decision is expected

to benet millions of workers in the scheduled employments in the respective state

jurisdictions.

About national oor-level minimum wage (NFLMW)• It was implemented for the rst time in 1996 on the basis of the recommendations

of the National Commission on Rural Labour (NCRL) under the Minimum Wages

Act, 1948.

• Its purpose is to have a uniform wage structure and to reduce the disparity in

minimum wages across the country.

• It is a non-statutory measure and after every revision, the State Governments arepersuaded to x minimum wages such that in none of the scheduled employments,

the minimum wage is less than NFLMW.

• List of scheduled employment differs from state to state and covers a wide

spectrum of employment-creating sectors ranging from industry, construction,

agriculture and services sectors.

• It was xed at 35 rupees per day in 1996 and has since been revised almost

regularly every two years taking into account the increase in the CPI (IW).





• It was last raised in July 2013 from 115 rupees a day xed in 2011.

RBI extended deadline for exchanging pre-2005 currency notes

by 6 months

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 25 June 2015 extended the date to exchange

pre-2005 bank notes till 31 December 2015. RBI in an ofcial statement said that the

notes can be exchanged for their full value. It has also claried that all such notes

continue to remain legal tender.

Soliciting cooperation from members of public in withdrawing these banknotes, it also

urged them to deposit the old design notes in their bank accounts or exchange them

at a bank branch convenient to them. Earlier on 23 December 2014, it extended the

deadline for exchanging pre-2005 of various denominations by another six months

till 30 June 2015 from previous 31 December 2015.

How to identify the pre-2005 currency notes?

As per RBI, the currency notes which were issued before 2005 do not have the year

of printing on the reverse side, whereas, notes issued post 2005 have the year of

printing at the bottom of the reverse side.

Why this exchange is essential?

According to RBI, the post-2005 notes have added security features and will help incurbing the menace of fake currency.

RBI allowed AD Category-I Banks to borrow from International

Financial Institutions

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to allow Authorised Dealer Category I(AD Category-I) Banks to borrow foreign currency from International/Multinational





Financial Institutions (IFIs/MFIs).

In this regard, a notication was issued by the RBI on 25 June 2015.

Earlier, AD Cat-I Banks were allowed to borrow from IFIs/MFIs for a short period in

2013 with prior permission from the RBI on a case-by-case basis.

In contrast, as per the recent notication, the banks can borrow without any such

prior approvals from the RBI.

However, these shall include only those IFIs in which the Government of India is a

shareholding member or which have been established by more than one government

or have shareholding by more than one government and other international

organizations.

Further, such borrowings should be for the purpose of general banking business and

not for capital augmentation.

The decision was taken by the RBI in order to provide greater exibility in seeking

access to overseas funds by the banks.

About AD Category-I Banks

Authorised Dealer Category -I Banks (AD Category–I Banks) is one of the three types

of Authorised Money Changers (AMCs) approved by the RBI under Section 10 of the

Foreign Exchange Management (FEMA) Act, 1999.

An AMC is a Full Fledged Money Changer (FFMC) permitted to deal in foreign

exchange for specied purposes.

Other two AMCs are: Authorised Dealers Category - II (ADs Category–II) and Full

Fledged Money Changers (FFMCs).

At present 102 entities are recognised as AD Category–I Banksincluding State Bank

of India, Canara Bank and Axis Bank Ltd.





RBI released Financial Stability Report June 2015

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 25 June 2015 released the Financial Stability

Report (FSR) June 2015. It is the eleventh issue of its half yearly publication.

The FSR reected the collective assessment of the Sub-Committee of the Financial

Stability and Development Council (FSDC) on risks to nancial stability, as also the

resilience of the nancial system. Besides, the report discussed issues relating to

development and regulation of the nancial sector.

Highlights of Financial Stability Report (FSR) June 2015

Macro-Financial Risks

Global Economy and Markets: Global economic recovery still seems to be far from

being self-sustaining even as spillovers from large-scale monetary accommodation

in advanced economies (AEs) are increasing the challenges for emerging market anddeveloping economies (EMDEs).

Developments on the Greek debt crisis front and uncertainty over the timing of rate

increases by the US Federal Reserve remain immediate possible triggers for global

nancial market volatility.

Domestic Economy and Markets: There has been a signicant improvement in themacroeconomic environment and economic performance is expected to be better

in near future. However, price pressures arising from possible sub-normal monsoon

remains a signicant risk to food and headline ination.

While foreign portfolio ows to India have been strong during past year, unexpected

changes in AE monetary policy stances may lead to slowdown/reversal of such ows

with implications for segments of nancial markets.





Financial Institutions: Soundness and Resilience

Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs): The performance of SCBs in terms of

growth in business has moderated further during the period September 2014-March

2015. The public sector banks (PSBs) continued to record the lowest capital to risk-

weighted assets ratio (CRAR) among the bank-groups.

The maximum decline in CRAR was registered by PSB with 1.8 percentage points

between March 2011 and March 2015 followed by foreign banks (FBs) at 1.5

percentage points and private sector banks (PVBs) at 1.1 percentage points.

PSBs recorded the highest level of stressed assets at 13.5 per cent of total advancesas of March 2015, compared to 4.6 per cent in the case of PVBs.

Net non-performing advances (NNPAs) ratio of PSBs increased from 3.1 per cent to

3.2 per cent and in the case of PVBs, it increase from 0.8 per cent to 0.9 per cent

While risks to the banking sector, as reected by the Banking Stability Map, have

moderated marginally since September 2014, concerns remain over the continued

weakness in asset quality and protability.Urban Co-operative Banks and Non-Bank Financial Companies: The asset quality

of scheduled urban co-operative banks (UCBs) improved, whereas, asset quality of

non-bank nancial companies (NBFCs) continued to deteriorate.

Financial Sector Regulation

The nancial sector regulatory reforms in India are being driven by the domestic

priorities, within the spirit of the global regulatory standards, even as the challenges

in uniform implementation of the reforms are coming to the fore, in many jurisdictions.

Considering that risk taking is inherent and essential in nancial markets, the current

Indian regulatory stance envisions a balanced, predictable, cycle-proof, institution-

neutral, ownership-neutral and technology neutral regulatory regime for the entire

nancial system.

Banking sector: The policy initiatives for improving the governance and managementprocesses at PSBs, along with a reorientation of business strategy will help improve

the performance of PSBs in the long run, even as they presently look to clean their





balance sheets in the wake of regulatory impetus.

Securities market: The concerns emanating from rapid rise in algorithm trading in

recent years highlights the need for caution for India’s securities markets. Signicant

regulatory steps have been taken with regard to illegal money-raising activities,

insider trading and strengthening the risk management systems at depositories.

Insurance sector: The agricultural insurance needs urgent focus in the wake of

frequent episodes of weather related calamities and their impact, particularly on

small and marginal farmers.

Commodity derivative markets: There is a need for harmonising the regulation

of the physical commodities market and strengthening the linkages between the

derivatives markets and physical (cash) markets, mainly in agricultural commodities.

Pension sector: The expected shifts in demography in coming decades call for attention

on old age income security in particular for the unorganised sector – for which a new

scheme (Atal Pension Yojana) has been announced by the Union Government.

Conclusion: Overall, India’s relatively stronger macroeconomic fundamentals interms of growth, ination, current account and scal decits provide a reasonable

degree of resilience to Indian nancial system in the event of spillover effects from

global factors. However, with the continued uncertainty over global growth and in

the absence of international monetary policy coordination, there can be no room for

complacency.

UNCTAD released World Investment Report 2015

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on 24 June 2015

released the World Investment Report 2015 (WIR15) titledReforming International

Investment Governance.

The WIR15 delineated the investment trends at the global, regional and country level

during 2014 and offered a comparative perspective across the space and time.





Highlights of World Investment Report 2015

• In 2014, Global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inows fell by 16 per cent to 1.23

trillion US dollars mostly because of the fragility of the global economy, policy

uncertainty for investors and elevated geopolitical risks. However, they are

projected to grow by 11 per cent to 1.4 trillion US dollars in 2015.

• Inward FDI ows to developing economies reached their highest level at 681 billion

US dollars with a 2 per cent rise. China became the world’s largest recipient of FDI

and among the top 10 FDI recipients in the world, 5 are developing economies.

• Despite a revival in cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As), 399 billion USdollars during 2014, overall FDI ows to developed countries declined by 28 per

cent to 499 billion US dollars. They were signicantly affected by a single large

scale divestment from the USA.

• Investments by developing-country multinational enterprises (MNEs)also reached

a record level. They now invest abroad more than any other MNEs.

• Nine of the 20 largest investor countries were from developing or transitioneconomies. MNEs of developing countries continued to acquire developed country

foreign afliates in the developing world.

• The groups of countries negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment

Partnership (TTIP) and Trans-Pacic Partnership (TPP) saw their combined share

of global FDI inows decline. However, ASEAN (up 5 per cent to 133 billion US

dollars) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) (up 4 per

cent to 363 billion US dollars) bucked the trend.

• In 2012, services accounted for 63 per cent of global FDI stock, more than twice

the share of manufacturing. The primary sector represented less than 10 per cent

of the total.

• In 2014, announced Greeneld investment declined by 2 per cent to 696 billion

US dollars. Developing countries continued to attract two thirds of announced

Greeneld investment.

• International production, production by MNEs, rose in 2014 generating value





added of approximately 7.9 trillion US dollars.

• Developing Asia (up 9 per cent) saw FDI inows grow to historically high levels.

They reached nearly half a trillion dollars in 2014, further consolidating the region’s

position as the largest recipient in the world.

• In South Asia (up 16 per cent to 41 billion US dollars), FDI has increased in

manufacturing, including in the automotive industry.

Investment scenario in India during 2014

FDI ows: While inward FDI was pegged at 34.4 billion US dollars, outward FDI was9.8 billion US dollars. There was an increase of 6.3 billion US dollars and 10.3 billion

US dollars in inward inows when compared to that of 2013 and 2014 respectively.

As a percentage of gross xed capital formation, inward ows and outward ows

stood at 5.9 percent and 1.7 percent respectively.

Though India attracted around 80 percent of total inward FDI inows of South Asia

(41.1 billion US dollars), it was way behind 128.5 billion US dollars attracted by China.

FDI stock: While total inward FDI stock was 252.3 billion US dollars (12.3 percent of

GDP), outward FDI stock was 129.5 billion US dollars (6.3 percent of GDP) during

2014. Cross border M&As: While, net sales were pegged at 5.8 billion US dollars, net

purchases were 1 billion US dollars during 2014.

Greeneld investment: While India attracted 24.9 billion US dollars, out of 26.3

billion US dollars in South Asia, as a source it invested 13.2 billion dollars abroad in

Greeneld projects during 2014. However, India was way behind China that attracted77.4 billion US dollars during the same period.

Union Cabinet approved renaming of SECI as Renewable Energy

Corporation of India

The Union Cabinet on 24 June 2015 approved renaming of Solar Energy Corporation

of India (SECI) as Renewable Energy Corporation of India (RECI).





Besides, the Cabinet also gave its nod to the SECI to apply to the Registrar of

Companies (ROC) for converting it into a Section 3 company from a Section 8

company under the Companies Act, 2013.

These decisions will benet SECI in following ways

• SECI will become a self-sustaining and self-generating organization.

• SECI will be able to engage itself in owning solar power plants generating and selling

power and in other segments of solar sector activities, including manufacturing of

solar products and materials.

• SECI will become RECI after change of its name and then will take up development

of all segments of renewable energy namely, geo-thermal, off-shore wind, tidal

etc. apart from solar energy.

Difference between Section 3 and Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013

Section 3 is mainly for those companies having commercial activities for the sake of

prots.

In contrast, a company under Section 8 can only engage in charitable activities like

promotion of commerce, art, science, sports, education, research, social welfare,

religion, charity, etc. and should not have commercial aspect.

About SECI

SECI was established as a registered company under the Section 25 of the Companies

Act, 1956 (now under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013) in September 2011 forthe promotion and commercialization of solar energy technologies.

Union Ministry of Finance issued Draft Proposals for Facilitat-

ing Electronic Transactions

Union Ministry of Finance on 22 June 2015 issued draft proposals for facilitating

electronic transactions in the country. E-transactions mean authorization of transfer





of money through electronic means and ow of funds directly from one account to

another.

The goal of the proposed policy is to provide the necessary incentives to use

E-transactions to replace the use of cash - either in government transactions, or in

regular commerce over a period of time through policy intervention.

Key highlights of the Draft Proposal

• It aims to build a transactions history to enable improved credit access and

nancial inclusion

• It seeks to encourage Government, Corporates, Institutions and merchant

establishments to facilitate non cash payments

• Utility service providers could be advised to give a discount to users for small ticket

payments through E-payments, on the lines of BSNL, which provides an incentive

of 1 percent of the billed amount if the payment is done through electronic mode

• It envisages adoption national E-payment gateway PayGov India for collection of

revenue, fee, penalties etc.

• Tax benets could be provided to merchants for accepting electronic payments,

e.g. an appropriate tax rebate can be extended to a merchant if at least say 50%

value of the transactions is through electronic means.

• It proposes to levy a nominal cash handling charge on transactions greater than a

specied level.

• It also proposes to mandate that settling of high value transactions of, say, more

than 1 lakh rupees could only be done through electronic means.

• To facilitate high value transactions by a credit cardholder, the ceiling of 2 lakhs

rupees could be increased to say 5 lakhs rupees or more.

• It proposes to improve broad band connectivity to enable mobile based payments

on a wider scale

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech for the Union Budget 2015

- 16 had called for incentivizing credit or debit card transactions and disincentivizing





cash transaction so as to curb the ow of black money.

FBIL overnight Mumbai Inter-Bank Offer Rate (MIBOR) to become

effective from July 22

The Board of Financial Benchmarks India Private Limited (FBIL) on 22 June 2015

decided to adopt FBIL overnight Mumbai Inter-Bank Offer Rate (MIBOR) from 22 July

2015.

FBIL overnight MIBOR is a new method to set the overnight interest rate benchmark

that will be based on traded levels instead of contributions from market participants.

Key characteristics of FBIL overnight MIBOR

• The new overnight MIBOR will be administered by the FBIL Board which will

replace National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Thomson Reuters in administering

the overnight rate benchmark.

• The new benchmark rate will replace the current MIBOR benchmark interest rate

administered by FIMMDA-NSE (Fixed Income Money Market and Derivatives

Association of India – National Stock Exchange).

• It will be based on trade-weighted call money transactions conducted on Clearing

Corporation of India’s (CCIL) trading platform between 9 am – 10 am.

• Clearing Corporation of India (CCIL) will be the calculating agent for the newbenchmark rate.

• It will be in contrast to the current MIBOR, which is compiled by polling market

participants and is used to benchmark overnight pricing of call money rate in India.

• It reects Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) response to the rigging controversy that

affected the London interbank offered rate (LIBOR) in 2014.

Background

In the wake of developments involving misconduct relating to nancial benchmarks in





international nancial markets, the RBI set up theCommittee on Financial Benchmarks

headed by P Vijaya Bhaskar in June 2013. The Committee reviewed the process

of computation and dissemination of major nancial benchmarks in India and gaverecommendations on the governance framework.

As part of the measures to initiate reforms in the area of benchmark setting, FBIL was

jointly formed by FIMMDA, Foreign Exchange Dealers’ Association of India (FEDAI)

and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).

FBIL was incorporated in December 2014 and has commenced operations in

February 2015. The Board of Directors of FBIL is headed by Usha Thorat, formerDeputy Governor RBI, with CES Azariah, DG Patwardhan, Dr. NR Prabhala, DVSSV

Prasad and Sangeet Shukla as the other directors.

SEBI relaxed the IPO norms for technological start-ups to raise

funds from capital market

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 23 June 2015 relaxed the

norms for technological start-ups to raise funds from the capital market while easing

the norms for issuance of Initial Public Offering (IPO) by companies.

It reduced the post-listing lock-in period for tech start-up promoters to six months,

instead of three years for other IPOs.

Moreover, the exchanges will have a separate platform for the start-ups that is

Institutional Trading Platform (ITP) and it will facilitate capital raising as well for

start-ups. This platform is accessible to companies which are intensive in their use

of technology, information technology, intellectual property, data analytics, bio-

technology and nano-technology.

This will offer products, services or business platforms with the substantial value

addition and with at least 25 percent of the pre-issue capital being held by QIBs

(Qualied Institutional Buyers), or any other company in which at least 50 percent ofthe pre-issue capital is held by QIBs.





However, no person in such a company shall hold 25 percent or more of the post-

issue share capital.

SEBI also reduced the requirement of market capitalisation of public shareholding

of the issuer for Fast Track Issues (FTI) from 3000 crore rupees to 1000 crore rupees

in case of Follow on Public Offering (FPO) and to 250 crore rupees in case of Rights

issue.

It also rationalised the framework for reclassication of promoters as public. This

framework will bring in consistency and also enable investors to take informed

decisions based on any such move by the company/promoters.While streamlining the process of IPOs, SEBI allowed Registrar and Share Transfer

Agents (RTAs) and Depository Participants (DPs) to accept application forms and

make bids on the stock exchange platform.

EPFO made UAN mandatory for all employers under Employee

Provident Fund Act, 1952

Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on 22 June 2015 notied an order to

make Universal Account Number (UAN) mandatory for all employers covered under

the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.

The UAN facility that remains portable throughout the lifetime of an employee was

launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 1 October 2014. The deadline forcompleting the formalities of UAN is August 2015.

Till date, EPFO has issued more than four crore UANs to employers across the nation

and more than 56 lakh workers have activated their portable PF account numbers.

Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952

The Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 came into

effect on 4 March 1952. The Act was enacted as per Directive Principles of StatePolicy mentioned in the Constitution of India. It provides that the State shall within





the limits of its economic capacity make effective provision for securing the right

to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old-age,

sickness & disablement and undeserved want.

Presently, the following three schemes are in operation under the Act:

• Employees’ Provident Fund Scheme, 1952

• Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme, 1976

• Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995 (replacing the Employees’ Family Pension

Scheme, 1971)

Overnight Liquid Transaction facility on NSE’s Web-based Mutual

Fund platform began functioning

National Stock Exchange (NSE) on 22 June 2015 operationalised the Overnight Liquid

Transaction facility on its web-based Mutual Fund Service System (MFSS) platform.The platform was launched on 19 June 2015.

The facility allows the participants to place purchase and redemption orders

simultaneously in liquid schemes. This facility will only be available on MFSS Web

based platform and in Physical mode only.

Further, all liquid schemes allowed by respective asset management companies will

be available for placing orders.MFSS is an online order collection system provided by the NSE to its eligible members

for placing subscription or redemption orders.

Earlier in May 2015, a similar product was introduced by Bombay Stock Exchange

(BSE) which has so far seen daily transactions of worth 400-500 crore rupees.





Union Ministry of Finance released Draft Outline of Sovereign

Gold Bond Scheme

The Union Government on 19 June 2015 released the Draft Outline of Sovereign

Gold Bond Scheme. The government invited comments till 2 July 2015 on it.

The scheme is aimed at reducing 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 gold bonds.

Features of Sovereign Gold Bond 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 bonds will be issued with a nominal rate of interest (which will be linked to

international rate for gold borrowing).

• 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 rupeeterms.

• 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 ofces 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 nancial companies (NBFCs)/Post Ofces 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 nancial 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, these would need to be

within the scal decit target for 2015-16 and onwards.

Comment

The announcement of Draft Outline of Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme is in tune with

the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s 2015-16 budget speech.

Jaitley, on 28 Februay 2015, announced three major initiatives viz., Gold Monetisation

Scheme, Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme and Indian Gold Coin to curb demand for

physical gold there by reducing dependence on gold imports.

Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS), for which the draft outline was released on 19

June 2015, is intended to replace both the gold deposit and gold metal loan scheme

and to allow depositors to earn interest on their gold metal accounts jewelers to

obtain loans.

Indian Gold Coin, which will carry the Ashok Chakra on its face, would help reduce





the demand for gold coins and also help recycle the gold available in the country.

Union Ministry of Finance formed two committees for facilitating

implementation of GST

Union Ministry of Finance on 17 June 2015 formed two committees for facilitating

implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 1 April 2016.

These committees are intended to speed up the process of establishing necessaryadministrative infrastructure to implement the GST.

Terms of Reference of Committee on GST rate:

• It will recommend possible tax rates under GST that would be consistent with the

present level of revenue collection of the Union and States.

• It will be headed by the Chief Economic Advisor (CEA), Ministry of Finance. The

present CEA is Arvind Subramanian.

• While making recommendations, it would take into account expected levels of

growth of economy, different levels of compliance and broadening of tax base

under GST.

• It would also analyse the Sector-wise and State-wise impact of GST on the

economy.

• It is expected to give its report within two months.

Terms of Reference of Steering Committee on GST

• It will monitor the progress of IT preparedness of Goods and Services Tax Network

(GSTN)/ the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC)/Tax authorities.

• It will monitor the nalisation of reports of all the Sub-Committees constituted on

different aspects relating to the mechanics of GST and drafting of Central GST,

Interstate GST and State GST laws/rules.





• It will monitor the progress on consultations with various stakeholders like trade

and industry and training of ofcers.

• It will be Co-Chaired by Additional Secretary, Department of Revenue and Member

Secretary, Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers.

• It has members from Department of Revenue, Central Board of Excise &

Customs, Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) and representatives of State

Governments.

About Goods and Services Tax (GST)

GST will subsume present indirect taxes like excise, services tax, sales tax, octroi,

etc. and is touted as the biggest tax reform since the Constitution of India came into

force.

The Constitution (122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill, 2014 was approved by the Lok

Sabha and is pending with the Rajya Sabha.

CCEA approved Minimum Support Prices for Kharif Crops of

2015-16 season

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi, on 17 June 2015 gave its approval for the Minimum Support Prices

(MSPs) for Kharif Crops of 2015-16 season.

All the approved MSPs were based on recommendations of the Commission for

Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) for the Price Policy for Kharif Crops for the

Marketing Season 2015-16 except for pulses.

The CCEA decided to give a bonus of 200 rupees per quintal for pulses over and

above the recommendations of the CACP in view of a huge decit of pulses in the

country.

The approved MSPs of pulses per quintal, inclusive of bonus, are: Tur (Arhar) – 4625

rupees against 4350 rupees during the 2014-15 season; Moong- 4850 rupees against





4600 rupees; and Urad 4625 rupees against 4350 rupees during the previous season.

The increase in prices expected to give a strong price signal to farmers to increase

acreage and invest for increase in productivity of pulses.

The prices of pulses have increased by over 50 per cent during the 2014-15 season

due to inclement weather that subsequently resulted in import of 5000 quintals of

imports by the government.

The MSPs for the common variety of paddy was increased to 1410 rupees per quintal

against 1360 rupees during 2014-15 season and for Grade A variety the MSP was

xed at 1450 (increase of 50 rupees).

Hybrid and Maldandi varieties of jowar were raised by 40 rupees per quintal to 1530

and 1550 respectively.

CCEA approved setting up of 2000 MW of Grid connected Solar

PV Power Projects under JNNSM

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 17 June 2015 approved setting

up of over 2000 MW of Grid-Connected Solar PV Power Projects under Batch-III of

Phase-II of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). The project will

be developed on Build, Own and Operate basis by Solar Power Developers (SPDs)

with Viability Gap Funding (VGF). The total investments expected under this scheme

is about 12000 crore rupees and the VGF is estimated at 2100 crore rupees. Therequisite funds for provision of the VGF support will be made available to MNRE from

the National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF).

The VGF scheme will be implemented by solar power developers through transparent

competitive bidding to provide solar power at a pre-dened tariff of 5.43 rupees

per kWh for the rst year, with escalation of 5 paisa per kWh each year till the tariff

reaches the level of 6.43 rupees per kWh.

The VGF is to be disbursed in six trenches; 50 percent after commissioning and

balance 50 percent at the rate of 10 percent at the end of each year subsequently for





the next 5 years

The overall effort is to continuously reduce Government nancial support for grid

connected solar power as the prices of solar power comes down.

This project will result in:

• Creation of additional 2000 MW capacity of Grid-connected solar PV power

generation projects

• Generation of about 3320 million units per year, which will cater power to almost

one million Households• Employment generation of about 12000 people in rural and urban areas

• Reduction of about 3.41 Million tonnes of CO2 emissions into the environment

every year

Implementation of Scheme

• The Scheme will be implemented by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) as

per the guidelines of Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

• SECI will prepare necessary bidding documents for inviting the proposals for

setting up of projects on a competitive bidding through e-bidding and will enter

into Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the selected developers and the Power

Sale Agreement (PSA) with the buying entities.

The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) was launched in January 2010

by the Union Government with a target to setup 20000 MW of grid connected solarpower by 2022, which was revised to 100000 MW on 17 June 2015.

Union Government launched Cluster Development Programme

for Pharma Sector

The Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers Ananth Kumar on 17 June 2015 launched

the Cluster Development Programme for Pharma Sector (CDP-PS) in New Delhi.





The scheme is intended to enhance quality, productivity and innovative capabilities

of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the pharmacy sector.

Objectives of the programme

• Increase the competitiveness, easy access to standard testing facilities and value

addition in the domestic pharma industry especially to SMEs through creation of

common world class facilities.

• Strengthening the existing infrastructure facilities in order to make Indian

pharmaceutical industry a global leader in pharmaceutical exports

• Reducing the cost of production by 20 percent in the clusters leading to better

availability and affordability medicines in domestic market and thereby ensuring

health security of the country

• To help industry meet the requirements of standards of environment at a reduced

cost through innovative methods of common waste management system

Features of CDP-PS

• It is intended for setting up of new cluster as well as up gradation of existing

clusters. At present such clusters already exist in Baddi of Himachal Pradesh,

Hardwar of Uttarkhand, Gurgaon in Haryana, Pattancheru of Telangana, Nashik of

Maharashtra among others.

• It is a Central Sector Scheme and will be implemented with an investment of 125

crore rupees.

• It will be operational till March 2017 (end of the 12th ve year plan period) and 6

clusters will be developed by March 2016 of which 3 will be green elds.

• It will be implemented on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) format, including state

governments, through a Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) formed for this purpose

at the cluster level.

• The government will provide one time grant-in-aid to SPVs for creation of identied

infrastructure and common facilities.

• Common Facilities under the scheme will consist of creation of tangible assets like





Common Testing Facilities (CFCs), training centre, efuent treatment Plant, etc.

• While the maximum limit for the grant-in-aid would be 20 crore rupees per cluster

or 70 percent of the cost of project whichever is less, 90 percent of the cost will

provided as grant for difcult and backward regions like North East. The balance

amount would be mobilised through equities in SPVs.

• State Governments are envisaged to play a pro-active role in the implementation

of the scheme by providing requisite land, roads, power and other infrastructure

facilities.

Comment

The scheme is in tune with the Make in India campaign of the Union Government

that is intended to augment production and productivity of the Indian pharmaceutical

industry.

At present, the Indian pharmaceutical industry is the world’s third-largest in terms of

volume. It is growing at 14 to 15 percent per annum and is likely to touch the gure

of 4 lakh crore rupees by 2020.

Union Government decided to increase number of work days

under MGNREGA in drought hit areas

The Union Government on 17 June 2015 decided to increase the number of workdays

under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) from

100 days to 150 days in drought-affected areas of the country.

MGNREGA launched in 2009 annually provides 100 days work to rural household of

India.

The cost of providing 50 more days of work to the rural households will be borne

by the Union Government and it will be applicable to those households only that

complete its 100 days work.

The decision to increase the wage days in drought-affected areas was taken as





Government is expecting an increase in demand for wage-based employment due

to drought affecting regular agricultural activities in some places.

Earlier in February 2014, previous government led by Prime Minister Manmohan

Singh, the number of workdays under MNREGA was increased from 100 days to 150

days for tribal areas who have received land rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.

Union Cabinet revised target of solar power under JNNSM to

100000 MW by 2022

The Union Cabinet on 17 June 2015 gave its approval for stepping up of solar power

capacity target under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) by ve

times to 100000 MW (100 GW).The target to be achieved by 2022.

The earlier target was producing solar power of 20000 MW by 2022.

With this target, India will become one of the largest green energy producers in the

world, surpassing several developed countries.

The target will principally comprise of 40 GW rooftop and 60 GW through large and

medium scale grid connected solar power projects.

The total investment in setting up 100 GW will be around 6 lakh crore rupees.

In the rst phase, the Union Government will be providing 15050 crore rupees as

capital subsidy to promote solar capacity addition in the country. This capital subsidywill be provided for rooftop solar projects in various cities and towns, for Viability Gap

Funding (VGF) based projects to be developed through the Solar Energy Corporation

of India (SECI) and for decentralized generation through small solar projects.

Apart from this, solar power projects with investment of about 90000 crore rupees

would be developed using Bundling mechanism with thermal power.

Signicance of the revised target to 100000 MW

• It will contribute to the long term energy security of India, and reduce dependence





on fossil fuels that put a strain on foreign reserves and the ecology as well.

• The solar manufacturing sector will get a boost as the revised target will help in

creation of technology hubs for manufacturing.

• The increased manufacturing capacity and installation are expected to pave way

for direct and indirect employment opportunities in both the skilled and unskilled

sector.

• It is expected to abate over 170 million tonnes of CO2 over its life cycle.

India’s trade decit in May 2015 narrowed to 10.4 billion US

dollars

The data of India’s foreign trade (merchandise) for the month May 2015 was released

on 16 June 2015 by the Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry. According to it,

India’s trade decit in May 2015 declined to 10.4 billion US dollars from 11.2 billion

US dollars recorded in May 2014.

The trade decit for April-May 2015 was estimated at 21.39 billion US dollars which

was higher than the decit of 21.32 billion US dollars during April-May 2014.

The decline in trade decit came along with decline in exports and imports in May

2015 to 20.19 percent and 16.52 percent respectively.

Value of Exports

Exports during May 2015 were valued at 22.34 billion US dollars which was 20.19

percent lower than the level of 27.99 billion US dollars during May 2014.

In Rupee terms, export during May 2015 stood at 142572.92 crore rupees which was

14.14 percent lower than the level of 166045.09 crore rupees in May 2014.

Cumulative value of exports for the period April-May 2015 was 44.40 billion US dollars

as against 53.63 billion US dollars in Apr-May 2014, thus registering a negative growthof 17.21 percent in Dollar terms.





In Rupee terms, the value of cumulative exports for the period April – May 2015

stood at 280973.36 crore rupees as against 320763.69 crore rupees in April – May

2014, thus registering a 12.40 percent decline.

The decline in exports continuously for sixth month was on account of slowdown in

China adding fuel to already slowing global economy. This was further accelerated

by fall in global crude oil prices that caused the exports of petroleum products to fall

by 59.10 percent to 2.42 billion US dollars.

Value of Imports

Imports during May 2015 were valued at 32.75 billion US dollars which was 16.52

percent lower than the level of 39.23 billion US dollars during May 2014.

In Rupee terms, imports during May 2015 stood at 208965.06 crore rupees which

was 10.19 percent lower than the level of 232672.72 crore rupees in May 2014.

Cumulative value of imports for the period April-May 2015 was 65.80 billion US dollars

as against 74.95 billion US dollars in Apr-May 2014, thus registering a negative growth

of 12.21 percent in Dollar terms.

In Rupee terms, the value of cumulative imports for the period April – May 2015

stood at 416345.69 crore rupees as against 448266.65 crore rupees in April – May

2014, thus registering a 7.12 percent decline.

The decline in imports was caused by decline in oil imports that fell by 40.97 percent

to 8.93 billion US dollars in May 2015 from 14.4 billion US dollars in May 2014.

However, the gold imports increased by 10.47 percent in May 2015 to 2.4 billion USdollars due to easing of import restrictions on it by the Union Government.

RBI issued nal guidelines for 6-year and 13-year Interest Rate

Futures

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 12 June 2015 issued the nal guidelines for the6-year and 13-year cash settled Interest Rate Futures (IRF) on government securities





with residual maturity of 4-8 years and 11-15 years respectively under the Interest

Rate Futures (Reserve Bank) (Amendment) Directions, 2015.

For this purpose, RBI amended the Interest Rate Futures (Reserve Bank) Directions,

2013 dated 5 December 2013.

For the 6-year cash settled IRF contracts, the underlying shall be a coupon bearing

government security of face value of 100 rupees and the residual maturity of 6-year

IRF is between 4 and 8 years on the expiry of futures contract.

For the 13-year cash settled IRF contracts, the underlying can be a coupon bearing

government security of face value of 100 rupees and residual maturity will be between

11 and 15 years on the expiry of futures contract.

Moreover, the RBI also expanded the residual maturity for the existing 10-year cash

settled IRF from 9-11 years to 8-11 years to provide market participants a greater

choice and exibility to hedge their interest rate risk across different tenors.

RBI issued Draft Framework on Issuance of Rupee linked BondsOverseas

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 9 June 2015 issued Draft Framework on Issuance

of Rupee linked Bonds Overseas.

It is intended to permit Indian corporate and International Financial Institutions (IFIs)

to issue rupee-linked bonds overseas.

Key Features

• Indian corporates eligible to raise external commercial borrowings (ECBs) are

permitted to issue Rupee linked bonds overseas.

• The corporates which, at present, are permitted to access ECB under the approval

route will require prior permission of the RBI to issue such bonds and those coming

under the automatic route can do so without prior permission.





• The bonds may be oated in any jurisdiction that is Financial Action Task Force

(FATF) compliant.

• The subscription, coupon payments and redemption may be settled in foreign

currency. The proceeds of the bonds can be parked as per the extant provisions

on parking of ECB proceeds.

• Banks incorporated in India will not have access to these bonds in any manner

whatsoever.

• International Financial Institutions, of which India is a shareholding member

intending to deploy the entire proceeds of the issuance in India, would not be

requiring any prior permission for the issuance of rupee bonds overseas irrespective

of amount of issuance.

• In other cases, where an International Financial Institution (of which India is a

member) wishes to retain the freedom to deploy the issue proceeds in any

member country would require prior permission from the Reserve Bank / Union

Government.

• For dollar-Indian rupee conversion, the Reserve Bank’s reference rate on date of

issue would be applicable.

RBI announced Strategic Debt Restructuring Scheme

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 8 June 2015 announced Strategic Debt

Restructuring (SDR) Scheme which allows banks and non-banking lending institutions

to convert their loans into equity stake.

The scheme will benet all Scheduled Commercial Banks, excluding Regional

Rural Banks (RRBs), all-India term-lending and Renancing Institutions including

Export-Import (EXIM) Bank and National Housing Bank (NHB) and National Bank for

Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).

Key Features of Strategic Debt Restructuring (SDR) Scheme

• Lenders will have the right to convert their outstanding loans into a majority equity





stake if the borrower fails to meet conditions stipulated under the restructuring

package.

• Lenders must stipulate in the debt restructuring deal itself that if the borrower fails

to meet certain milestones in terms of performance, they would have the option to

convert part or whole of the debt into equity.

• A decision on invoking the SDR should be taken within 30 days after a review of

the account of borrowers. It should be approved by 75 percent of the creditors by

value and 60 percent of creditors by number.

• The lenders must approve the SDR conversion package within 90 days after taking

such a decision.

• Post conversion, all lenders should together own 51 percent or moreof the

company’s equity.

• A joint lenders forum (JLF) should closely monitor a company’s performance and

appoint a suitable professional management.

• Lenders should divest equity holdings of the company to new promoters as soon

as possible.

• New promoter should not be a person/entity/subsidiary/associate, etc (domestic

as well as overseas), from the existing promoter/promoter group.

• The new promoter has to acquire the entire 51 percent. However, if foreign

investment is limited to less than 51 percent, the new promoter should own at least

26 percent of the paid-up equity capital or up to the applicable foreign investmentlimit.

• On divestment of banks’ holding in favour of a new promoter, the asset classication

of the account may be upgraded to standard.

• The formula for conversion of debt into equity will be different from existing norms

laid down by the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for banks.

• The price of debt to equity conversion will be capped either at the market value ofthe borrowing company (if it is listed) or the book value as per the latest balance





sheet (for unlisted rms). Share conversion cannot happen at below par that is

less than the face value of 10 rupees.

• Conversion of debt into equity will also be exempted from regulatory ceilings on

capital market exposures, investment in para-banking activities and intra-group

exposure.

Comment

RBI announced the scheme against the backdrop of huge surge in bad loans or Non

Performing Assets (NPAs) in the banking system. As per an estimate, the Gross NPAs

may rise to 5.9 percent of total advances during 2015-16 against 4.4 percent during

2014-15.

NPAs are those assets, where Interest and/or installment of principal remain overdue

for a period of more than 90 days in respect of a term loan.

IREDA awarded Miniratna (Category-1) status

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) was on 2 June 2015

awarded the Miniratna (Cateogry -1) status by the Department of Public Enterprises

under the Union Ministry of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises.

The proposal for conferring Miniratna status for IREDA was recommended by the

Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

Grant of status allows IREDA to make capital expenditure on new projects,

modernization, purchase of equipment, etc. without Government approval up to 500

crores rupees, or equal to their net worth, whichever is lower.

For IREDA, now the ceiling on equity investment to establish joint ventures and

subsidiaries in India will be 15% of its net worth in one project limited to 500 crore

rupees. The overall ceiling on such investment in all projects put together shall be

30% of the net worth IREDA.





The Scheme of Maharatna/Navratna/Miniratna

The scheme of awarding Navratna, Miniratna (Category-1 and 2) status to publicsector undertakings (PSUs) was started by the Union Government vide a notication

dated 22 July 1997 so as to grant greater autonomy to PSUs to become global giants.

Later on 4 February 2010, the scheme of Maharatna for PSUs was started.

At present, there are 55 Public Limited Companies in Mini Ratna (Cateogry -1) and

17 are in Mini Ratna (Cateogry-2). Besides, there are 7 Maharatna Companies and

17 Navratnas companies.

Eligibility for Miniratna Category-I PSEs

They should have made prot in the last three years continuously, the pre-tax prot

should have been 30 crores rupees or more in at least one of the three years and

should have a positive net worth.

About IREDA

IREDA was established as Public Limited Government Company in 1987 to promote,

develop and extend nancial assistance for renewable energy and energy efciency

/conservation projects with the Motto Energy for Ever.

It was created as Non-Banking Financial Institution (NBFI) in Schedule C of the

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and was upgraded as Schedule B in 2010.

The Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of IREDA is KS Popli.

Second Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement 2015-16

announced

Second bi-monthly monetary policy statement 2015-16 was announced on 2 June

2015 by Raghuram Rajan, the Governor of Reserve Bank of India.The monetary policy cut the repo rate, the rate at which RBI lends to commercial





bank, by 0.25 percent from 7.5 percent to 7.25 percent with immediate effect.

As a result, the reverse repo rate, the rate at which RBI borrows from commercial

banks, stands adjusted to 6.25 percent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate

and the Bank Rate to 8.25 per cent.

However, the cash reserve ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks was kept unchanged at 4

percent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL).

Further, RBI will continue to provide liquidity under overnight repos at 0.25 percent of

bank-wise NDTL at the LAF repo rate and liquidity under 14-day term repos as well

as longer term repos of up to 0.75 percent of NDTL of the banking system throughauctions; and continue with overnight/term variable rate repos and reverse repos to

smooth liquidity.

Comment

The cut in repo rate by RBI suggests that all is not well with the Indian economy and

on a serious note it highlights that growth numbers brought out by Central Statistics

Ofce (CSO) is not trustworthy. This is because if Indian economy is predicted togrow at 7.3 percent in 2014-15 (provisional estimate) and is expected to surpass the

China’s growth, then what is the need for a rate cut?

The very fact RBI chose to cut rates, while simultaneously raising the retail ination

forecast from 5.8 percent to 6 percent by January 2016 (highlighting the risk factors

from a decient monsoon), proves that from the RBI’s point of view, the growth is

faltering and is certainly a bigger risk than ination at this stage.

Union Government simplied defence rules to woo foreign

companies

The Union Government on 1 June 2015 simplied the defence rules to boost defence

manufacturing in the country and encourage foreign players to explore business inIndia.





In order to provide a level-playing eld to private players, the government withdrew

excise and Customs duty exemptions enjoyed by the Ordinance Factory Board and

defence Public Sector Undertakings.

It will encourage more private sector rms to collaborate with foreign partners such as

Boeing, Airbus and Lockheed Martin and enter the defence equipment manufacturing

business.

Defence manufacturing is one of the key sectors among the 25 sectors identied

under the Union Government’s Make-in-India campaign. The Indian aerospace and

defence market is among the most attractive as the country is the highest importerof defence items in the world.

The Government has recently opened up this sector for private investment by

increasing FDI cap in defence to 49 percent and rationalizing conditions. Almost 60

percent items required for industrial licence have now been de-reserved.

RBI permitted cross holding in infrastructure bonds

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 1 June 2015 allowed cross holding in long-term

infrastructure bonds. With this, now banks would be able to cross hold these bonds

among themselves for nancing infrastructure and affordable housing loans, which

earlier was not permitted.

The move was taken amidst the concerns that such prohibition on cross-holdingwas inhibiting the liquidity and tradability of these bonds, as banks are the major

participants in the debt market.

However, to preserve the primary objective of allowing regulatory exemptions on

CRR and SLR requirements as well as priority sector lending and to prevent double

counting of regulatory exemptions allowed, such investments will be subject to

following conditions:

• Banks’ investment in such bonds will not be treated as assets with the banking

system in India for the purpose of calculation of Net Demand and Time Liability





(NDTL).

• Such investments will not be held under Held to Maturity (HTM) category.

• An investing bank’s investment in a specic issue of such bonds will be capped

at 2 percent of the investing bank’s Tier 1 Capital or at 5 percent of the issue size,

whichever is lower.

• An investing bank’s aggregate holding in such bonds will be capped at 10 percent

of its total Non-SLR investments.

• Not more than 20 percent of the primary issue size of such bond issuance can be

allotted to banks.

• Banks cannot hold their own bonds.

• RBI’s relevant extant prudential norms will be applicable on such issuances and

investments.

All other terms and conditions as mentioned in circulars dated 15 July 2014 and 27

November 2014 will remain unchanged.Background

RBI in its circular dated 15 July 2014 allowed banks to issue long term bonds for their

nancing of infrastructure and affordable housing loans. However, banks were not

permitted to cross-hold such bonds among themselves.

Moreover, in order to provide liquidity to retail investors in such bonds, RBI in its

circular dated 27 November 2014 also allowed banks to extend loans to individualsagainst such long-term bonds issued by them.

Hike in Service Tax to 14 percent became operational

The decision of the Parliament to increase the rate of service tax from12.36 to 14

percent became operational on 1 June 2015.

Now, the new rate subsumes the education cess (2 percent on the service tax amount)





which was earlier levied separately.

The decision to increase the rate was taken to facilitate smooth transition to the

Goods Service Tax (GST) regime which is proposed to be implemented from 1 April

2016. Once implemented, GST will subsume service tax, excise and other indirect

taxes.

Earlier, the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed for the hike in his 2015-16

budget speech on 28 February 2015 which was subsequently approved by the Lok

Sabha in the form of the Finance bill, 2015 on 30 April 2015 and the President of India

on 14 May 2015.

About Service Tax

Service tax is an indirect tax levied by the government on service providers on all

service transactions such as education, insurance, transportation, communication,

hospitality, etc. However, few services mentioned in the negative list like services

relating to agriculture or agricultural produce, education up to higher secondary

school, etc. were exempted from the service tax net.It came into existence under the Finance Act, 1994 as facilitated by thearticle 268A

of the Indian Constitution which states that the Service tax is levied by the Union and

collected and appropriated by the Union and the States.





ENVIRONMENT | ECOLOGY

Elephant Census Report 2015 of Odisha released

The Elephant Census Report 2015 of Odisha was released on 29 June 2015 by Forest

and Environment Minister Bikram Keshari Arukh. According to it, in 2015 the elephant

population in Odisha increased to 1954 from 1930 recorded in 2012 Census.

The highest number of elephants 487 was recorded in Similipal Tiger Reserve followed

by Satkosia Tiger Reserve with 234 elephants.

Major ndings of the census

• In three Elephant Reserves (ERs), that is, Mayurbhanj, Mahanadi and Sambalpur,

a total of 1450 elephants (74.21%) were recorded. These areas have eight

sanctuaries.

• In 5 other sanctuaries: 102 elephants (5.22%).

• Outside ERs and outside sanctuaries: 402 elephants (20.57%).

• The proportion of Female:Male:Young elephants in 2015 is 1096:341:490, or

3.2:1:1.4, approx

In 2015, there are 27 elephants the sex of which couldn’t be identied compared to

46 in 2012 census.

• Compared to 2012, the male population recorded is more by 7, female population

is more by 9, and the unknown sex recorded is less by 19 elephants and young

more by 27. The total population records an increase by 24 elephants in the present

census.





• STR Core Division recorded the highest number of elephants at 337 followed by

Dhenkanal Division, with 164 elephants

Mayurbhanj elephant reserve comprises of Similipal Tiger Reserve, Rairangpur,

Baripada, Balasore Wildlife and Keonjhar Wildlife Divisions.

Mahanadi elephant reserve comprises of Satkosia Wildlife, Mahanadi Wildlife, Angul,

Dhenkanal, Athgarh, Athmallik, Boudh, Nayagarh and Cuttack Divisions.

Sambalpur elephant reserve comprises of Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Bamra Willdife,

Bonai and Rairakhol Divisions.

First species of Yeti Crab in Antarctica named Kiwa tyleri

discovered

A team of British scientists led by Dr Sven Thatje on 24 June 2015 published the

discovery of the rst species of Yeti Crab in Antarctica in the journal PLOS ONE.

The species has been named Kiwa tyleri after British deep-sea and polar biologist

Professor Paul Tyler from the University of Southampton.

The crab that belongs to an enigmatic group of squat lobsters, known as Kiwaidae,

was found from hydrothermal vent systems of the East Scotia Ridge in the Southern

Ocean, Antarctica.

Earlier when this hairy crab was rst discovered in the Antarctic waters, it was

nicknamed as The Hoff, in reference to actor David Hasselhoff.

These crabs ourish in the hot waters surrounding the geothermally heated

hydrothermal vents and are dominant species at these sites occurring at extremely

high densities, exceeding 700 specimens per square metre.

Yeti crabs are famous for its body, which is densely covered by bristles, known as

setae, and bacteria that gives it a fur like appearance.





Taygan Lions Park, Skazka Zoo, Thiruvananthapuram Zoo inked

animal exchange agreement

The Taygan Lions Park and Skazka zoo in Yalta, Crimea signed an animal exchange

agreement with Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram zoo. This agreement signed in the

fourth week of June 2015 will allow them to exchange different animals with each

other.

Features of the agreement

• In exchange for three elephants from India, the Thiruvananthapuram zoo will

receive two white lions, 15 coatis, two Siberian tigers, two llamas, and ve squirrel

monkeys.

• The elephants will be accompanied by mahouts (handlers/keepers), as it is a

requirement stipulated in the transport legislation of India.

Taygan Lions Park

Created in 2012 in Belogorsky region of Crimea on the shores of the Taygansky

reservoir, Taygan is the largest nursery in Europe for various breeds of lions and other

species. It is also the only one of its kind animal park in the continent.

The zoo contains more than 50 African lions and is free to roam in an area of over 30

hectares in the Crimean foothills.

Skazka zoo

Created in 1995 at Yalta, Ukraine, Skazka (fairy tale) zoo is a home of more than 700

creatures, representing over 120 species of birds, reptiles, mammals, amphibians

and sh. It was established by local businessman Oleg Zubkov.

Thiruvananthapuram zoo

Thiruvananthapuram zoo located in the city of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of

Kerala, was established in 1857. Spread over 55 acres (22 ha) of woodland, lakes,and lawns, the zoo is one of the oldest in India and Asia. It is a home to around 75





different species of animals not only from India but also from the world.

The zoo was created by Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma, who ruled Travancore between

1830 and 1847 as a menagerie where royal tigers, panthers, cheetahs, deer, boar,

and other wild animals were kept.

Later in 1857, the menagerie was converted into a zoo by his brother Uthram Thirunal

and British Resident William Cullen, as an annex to the Napier Museum.

Bhuvan Ganga Mobile Application launched to aid National

Mission for Clean Ganga

To aid National Mission for Clean Ganga, the Union Water Resources Minister Uma

Bharti on 23 June 2015 launched Bhuvan Ganga mobile application and a web portal.

The app will allow people to upload pictures of pollution sources of river Ganga for

further action by the concerned authorities.

The application and web portal was launched after a Memorandum of Understanding

(MoU) was signed between the National Mission for Clean Ganga and the National

Remote Sensing Centre (ISRO).

Purpose of the user-friendly Bhuvan Mobile App and Portal

• The android based app will help in monitoring Union Government’s agship Clean

Ganga Mission.• It will be used as a tool to support decision making and planning for the Clean

Ganga Mission.

• It will enable public to collect and report information on various pollution sources

that affects the water quality of river Ganga.

Bhuvan Ganga Portal is an exclusive web portal deployed in ISRO Bhuvan’s geoportal

with all geospatial layers related to river Ganga.





Typhoon Kujira struck south China’s Hainan Province

Kujira: Typhoon that made landfall in south China’s Hainan Province

Typhoon Kujira struck China on 22 June 2015. The typhoon made its landfall in south

China’s Hainan province with heavy rain in the drought hit island. It also carried

packing winds of up to 90 kilometers per hour.

Typhoon Kujira is the eighth typhoon of 2015.

The National Meteorological Center yesterday issued a yellow alert, the third highestranking of its four-level warning system for Typhoon Kujira.

The typhoon led to evacuation of more than 40000 people and cancellation of 63

ights at the Meilan International Airport in the provincial capital. Haikou and Sanya

Phoenix International Airport has canceled 99 ights.

The typhoon weakened into a tropical storm one hour after its landfall in Hainan.

India, China can protect 1.4 million premature deaths by

improving quality of Air: Study

A study titled Addressing Global Mortality from Ambient PM2.5published on 16 June

2015 says that 1.4 million premature deaths per year in polluted countries such as

India and China can be prevented by improving air quality.

The study was led by Joshua S Apte of the Cockrell School of Engineering at The

University of Texas Austin and was published in the journal Environmental Science &

Technology.

The study assesses how regional and global improvements in ambient air quality

could reduce attributable mortality from Particulate Matter (PM2.5).

Main ndings of the study

• An aggressive global program of PM2.5 mitigation in line with WHO interim





guidelines could avoid 750000 (23%) of the 3.2 million deaths per year currently

attributable to ambient PM2.5

• Modest improvements in PM2.5 in relatively clean regions, viz., North America

and Europe would result in surprisingly large avoided mortality

• Major improvements in air quality would be required to substantially reduce

mortality from PM2.5 in more polluted regions, such as China and India

• In India and China, to keep PM2.5-attributable mortality rates, that is, deaths per

100000 people per year constant, average PM2.5 levels would need to decline by

20–30% over the next 15 years merely to offset increases in PM2.5-attributablemortality from aging populations.

• An effective program to deliver clean air to the world’s most polluted regions could

avoid several hundred thousand premature deaths each year.

PM2.5 particles can enter deep into the lungs leading to increase in the risk of

heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular disease, respiratory illnesses such as

emphysema; and cancer.

Critically endangered Sangai deer found in Manipur’s Loktak

Lake to be translocated

Manipur Forest Department in the third week of June 2015 decided to translocate

a section of rare and critically endangered species of Brow Antlered deer known as

Sangai. It will be shifted with an aim to save it from extinction.

The deer found only in Keibul Lamjao National Park (KLNP), a oating biomass in

Manipur’s Loktak Lake, will be shifted to Pumlen Pat, which is close to Loktak. KLNP

is the only oating national park in the world.

Pumlen Pat was chosen for translocation as it is also a phumdi (oating biomass) and

comprises of small hillocks which will act as shelter place for Sangai.

Sangai which is the state animal of Manipur was once found across the Manipur





Valley. At present it is only found in Keibul Lamjao National Park (KLNP) situated

inside the lake.

The conservation efforts have helped in reviving the population of the deer from less

than 100 in 2008 to 204 in 2013.

Illegal trapping of migratory songbird Yellow-Breasted Bunting

leading to its extinction: Study

A study titled Global population collapse in a superabundant migratory bird and

illegal trapping in China said that the population of the migratory songbird Yellow-

Breasted Bunting (Emberiza aureola) has plunged by 90 percent since 1980. The bird

is disappearing from Eastern Europe, Japan and parts of Russia.

The study was published in Conservation Biology journal.

As per the study, the population of these species of birds declined by 84.3 percent

to 94.7 percent during 1980-2013 period and the species’ range contracted by 5000

km.

The reason for this decline in population, according to researchers, is the illegal

trapping of these birds by Chinese for eating. As a result, these birds are on the verge

of becoming extinct.

Million of the Yellow-Breasted Bunting also known as Rice Bird in China are being

hunted for food and sold on the black market. This is despite the fact that China in1997 banned the hunting of these species following decline in its population.

Yellow-breasted bunting

The yellow-breasted bunting (Emberiza aureola) is a Eurasian passerine bird in the

bunting family (Emberizidae). It breeds across the northern Palaearctic from Finland,

Belarus and Ukraine in the west, through Kazakhstan, China and Mongolia, to far

eastern Russia, Korea and northern Japan.

It was formerly one of the most abundant breeding passerines across vast swathes





of Siberia, but although there have been no systematic surveys, a severe decline has

been noted in most breeding areas and it has completely disappeared from parts of

its former breeding range since the early 1990s.

Until 2004, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) considered

the yellow-breasted bunting to be a species of least concern. In 2004, its status was

changed to near threatened, and four years later it was uplisted again — to vulnerable

— after new research has shown it to be rarer than had been believed.

Surveys in 2012 and 2013 suggest that the species has nearly or completely

disappeared from Tyumen province in Western Siberia.

Mangrove vegetation of Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary

witnessing denudation

The Mangrove Forest Division (MFD) of Bhitarkanika in rst week of June 2015

revealed that Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary of Odisha is witnessing an alarming

denudation in large tracts of mangrove vegetation.

The Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary is one of India’s biggest estuarine crocodile

habitats and a major coastal eco-system.

According to MFD, the denudation or saline blank formations have been noticed in

Bhitarkanika forest block, which is measured at 1700 acre. It said that the denuded

patches, spotted in Mathadia, could be over 30 acres in this block area.

The denudation has been noted among the Avicennia and Excoecariaspecies,

popularly known as Bani and Guan.

The denudation (blank formations) of the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary is a cause

of worry for following reasons

• As mangroves are just not a lifeline for the eco-system which is a home to a rich

ora and fauna but it also acts as an environment cushion for the coastlines.

• The excessive salinity creates a blank formation over a period of time as the





existing vegetation dies.

• Most mangrove species have a salinity resistance that ranges from 5 ppt to 35

ppt. Only Avicennia marina species can tolerate up to 70 ppt salinity.

Earlier, the Forest Survey of India-2013 report highlighted a drop in mangrove cover in

the State by nine square km over 2011-from 222 sq km to 213 sq km. In Kendrapara

district alone, where most of Bhitarkanika is located, the drop was by 4 sq km while

in Bhadrak district, it was 2 sq km.

Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary

In April 1975, ex-zamindari forests of Kanika Raj were constituted and declared as

Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary by State Government of Odisha.

Later in 1998, it was declared as a National Park because of its ecological, faunal,

oral, geomorphological and zoological association and importance and for the

purpose of protection. In August 2002, it was designated as the second Ramsar site

(i.e. Wetland of International importance).

Salient features of Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary

• This ecosystem harbours the largest number of saltwater crocodile population in

the Indian sub-continent.

• Bhitarkanika’s famous Gahirmatha coast nds a prominent place in the turtle map

of the world because of the distinction of having one of world’s largest nesting and

breeding congregation of Olive Ridley Sea turtles.

NMCG, NYKS signed MoU for involvement of youth in restoring

the health of Ganga River

The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan

(NYKS) on 8 June 2015 signed a 5-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to

establish a long-term partnership for the involvement of youth in the abatement of

pollution and conservation of the river Ganga.





The MoU aims to involve youth in creating awareness and outreaching public by

carrying out afforestation drive for medicinal plants species, promoting sanitation

and construction of toilets and educating people for tackling throwing of wastes into

the river.

With the help of strong network of youths of NYKS, National Mission for Clean Ganga

seeks to implement activities at local level that will encourage public participation

and additionally, assist in restoring the health of Ganga River.

The MoU also aims to promote Bio Agriculture and clean village under Clean Ganga

Mission. Under the MoU, the youth will plant different kinds of saplings of medicinalplants, trees and fodder crops from Gangotri up till Ganga Sagar.

About National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)

• NMCG is an autonomous society under Union Ministry of Water Resources, River

Development & Ganga Rejuvenation that works for the implementation of the

projects under National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA).

• NMCG is the planning nancing, monitoring and coordinating body at the Centreand being supported by suitable State level Programme management groups

(SPMGs).

• NMCG is empowered to take all necessary actions that may be necessary or

incidental for the achievement of the objectives.

About Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS)

• Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) is an autonomous organization under Union

Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, formed to oversee working of the Nehru Yuva

Kendras that provide rural youth avenues to take part in the process of nation

building.

• NYKS channelizes the power of youth who are in the age group of 13-35 years on

the principles of voluntarism, self-help and community participation.





Tier-I Oil Spill Response Centre for Mumbai Port Trust inaugurated

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari on 5 June

2015 inaugurated India’s rst-of-its-kind Tier-I Oil Spill Response Centre (OSRC) for

Mumbai Port Trust (MBT), Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and ONGC’s facilities

at Nhava and Uran.

The objective behind setting up the centre is to develop appropriate and effective

systems for the detection and reporting of oil spillage in order to ensure adequate

protection to the marine environment and public health.

Highlights of the OSRC

• The OSRC is equipped with State-of-the-Art equipment in operational readiness

for combating Tier-I oil spill up to 700 tones, ensuring adequate protection to the

public health and welfare and to the marine environment.

• The facility is funded by Participating Oil Companies (POCs) and Mumbai Port

Trust will be responsible for monitoring the centre.

• It will be monitored on 24/7 basis and is also equipped with skilled and trained

personnel and wireless communication facilities for immediately responding to

any oil spill.

• This centre will also ensure prompt response technique to combat and prevent

oil pollution and dispose recovered waste material in an environmental friendly

manner.

• It also includes various plans like Contingency Plan, Health Safety and Environment

Plan.

• The Oil Spill Reponse facility will be handled by Sadhav Shipping.

• The maximum response time soon after the alert is received would be 30-40

minutes.

• The equipment has been supplied by Denmark based rm that is world leaders in

this eld.





• It will cover around 400 sq kilometers of water front in and around Mumbai’s

harbour.

Background

Though the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOS-DCP) was prepared

by the Indian Coast guard and approved by the Government of India on 4 November

1993 but the urgency for such a response centre was felt after MV Chitra disaster in

2011.

In the disaster, it was found that there was no such OSR facility due to which 800

metric tonnes of oil spill took place extensively damaging the beach, marine life and

ecology.

Tier-1 Oil Spill

Tier-1 oil spill one of the three categorized levels of oil spills. These spills are the most

mild, causing localized damage usually near the company’s own facilities. In most

cases, this type of spill occurs as a result of the company’s own activities.

The Tier-1 Oil Spill Response Centres have pollution response equipment to respond

up to 700 tons oil spills.

Northern Railway rolled out India’s rst rail coach lit by solar

panels

The Delhi division of the Northern Railway on 3 June 2015 rolled out a non-AC coach

lit by solar panels mounted on its roof.

The eco-friendly solar panels will save fossil fuel as it needs reduced external charging

of battery, thus reducing carbon foot print. The panels also require less maintenance

in comparison to existing equipments.

This is the rst time in the history of Indian Railways, that a solar photovoltaic systemhas been used for power requirements of light and fan in a broad gauge coach.





The coach, on an experimental basis, was attached to a high speed Self Propelled-

Accident Relief Unit (SPART) that travelled from Delhi Cantonment to New Delhi

railway station.

61-day shing ban along the Western Coast became effective

except in Kerala

Fishing ban along the Western Coast became effective from 1 June 2015. The ban

will be in place for 61 days till 31 July 2015 in all the western coast states except in

Kerala.

Kerala decided to stick to the 47-day ban, as in previous years, and allowed its

shermen to continue operating till June 15.

Against the order of the Union Government, Kerala had sought some relaxation as it

would affect the livelihood of its sherfolk along the 450-km coastal belt of the state.

Hence, as a special case, the Union Government has allowed only traditional

shermen of Kerala to sail into the sea and that too up to a distance of 12 nautical

miles ( country’s territorial waters).

Earlier, the Union Government had issued a notication imposing uniform shing ban

for 61 days in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which extends up to 200 nautical

miles from the coast, from 1 June to 31 July 2015 along the Country’s Western Coastal

Zone. The ban is intended to safeguard sh in their breeding season and increase thesh catch.

Similarly, along the East Coast including Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the Union

Government imposed a 45-day ban on shing by all shing vessels in the EEZ

between 15 April and 31 May 2015.





CORPORATE

Bombay HC allowed Nestle India to export Maggi noodles

High Court (HC) of Bombay on 30 June 2015 granted permission to Nestle India to

export its 2-minute Maggie noodles. It said that the ban on sale of the noodles within

the country will continue.

The direction was given while hearing petition led by Nestle India against food safety

regulator FSSAI’s country-wide ban of Maggi noodles. In its plea, Nestle demanded

revoking of the ban of the sale of Maggie in the country.Earlier on 25 June 2015, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had

justied its 5 June 2015 ban on Nestle India’s 2-minute Maggi noodles in questioning

the company’s safety claims.

It said that 30 out of 72 samples tested positive for dangerously high levels of lead

and even MSG (full form), despite the packets’ ‘no added MSG’ claim. Further, it said

that the present situation has arisen because the petitioner had failed to adhere to its

own declared policy and principles.

The HC posted the next hearing of Nestle’s challenge to 14 July 2015.

GFH Financial Group signed pact with Adani Group for developing

Mumbai Economic Zone

Bahrain-based GFH Financial Group on 28 June 2015 signed an agreement with





Indian conglomerate Adani Group for developing aMumbai Economic Development

Zone (MEDZ).

Under the agreement, the GFH’s unit Energy City Navi Mumbai (ECNM) and Adani

Group will work together in creating the master plan for the lands of Phases II and

III of the project, which will offer world class business infrastructure for local and

international services including IT companies.

The nancial group’s two units ECNM and Mumbai IT and Telecom City (MITTC) are

two core components of the Mumbai Economic Development Zone (MEDZ). While,

Adani Group will develop core infrastructure on these lands and will also commencethe pre-sales and construction works on the site.

Investors will receive a 15 percent revenue share from sales made by Adani Group

on the development on these lands and less local taxes, if any. This agreement is a

part of GFH’s exit strategy for the project where annual sales payments will be made

by Adani Group.

GFH is one of the most recognised nancial groups in the gulf region that includes

asset management, wealth management, commercial banking and real estate

development. It is listed in Bahrain Bourse, Kuwait Stock Exchange and Dubai

Financial Market.

Bajaj Allianz launched weather-based crop insurance scheme

for three districts of Maharashtra

Private insurer Bajaj Allianz on 28 June 2015 launched a weather-based crop insurance

scheme for orange crops in Nagpur, Hingoli and Washim districts of Maharashtra.

This index-based insurance policy will cover losses incurred by orange fruit-growing

farmers due to deviation in weather conditions.

The losses will be assessed on the basis of pre-dened and government-approved

term sheets and actual weather data received from an approved automatic weatherstation installed in each block of these districts.





Farmers who have taken loan through the kissan credit card (KCC) will automatically

get insured under this scheme by their banks, while those who don’t have KCC but

savings accounts need to visit the bank branches and authorize the banks to enroll

them in the scheme.

The company also launched a campaign to create awareness about the scheme in

these three districts. As part of the awareness campaign, a van will travel for 10 days

in the orange-growing belt of Katol, Narkheda and Kalmeshwar and educate farmers.

It will also use radio, hoardings, street plays mediums.

The company identied the need to offer the product in these areas looking at thevolumes of the produce and how unfavourable weather conditions had an impact on

produce. It will mitigate the losses incurred and ensure that farmers do not lose out

on their income because of uncertainties of nature.

Ujjwal Batria appointed as CEO of Lafarge India

Ujjwal Batria was on 25 June 2015 appointed as the Chief Executive Ofcer (CEO) of

French cement maker Lafarge’s India operations.

Batria succeeded Martin Kriegner, who will now be Area Manager-Central Europe of

Lafarge Holcim, an entity to be formed by the proposed merger of the world’s top

two cement rms.

Prior to his appointment as the CEO of Lafarge India, Batria was the ManagingDirector of Lafarge India Private Limited and was managing the cement business of

the company.

Ujjwal Batria has been working with Lafarge for the past 16 years. He joined Lafarge

in 1999 and since then he has held different positions across functions. He brings

with him rich and diverse experience in the construction material industry.

About Lafarge India

• As a top-ranking player in its Cement, Aggregates and Concrete businesses,





Lafarge contributes to the construction of cities around the world.

• Lafarge started operations in India in 1999. Today, it has an established presence

across major cities and towns in India.

• The company offers comprehensive solutions for housing, road and railroads,

infrastructure, and public/private buildings through its Cement, Aggregates and

Ready Mix Concrete businesses.

Carlyle Group committed up to 500 million US dollars to Magna

Energy Ltd.

The Carlyle Group, an American global alternative asset manager, on 22 June 2015

announced that it is committing an equity line up to 500 million US dollars in Magna

Energy Ltd.

Magna is a new upstream oil and gas company co-founded by two former CairnEnergy ofcials.

Funding for the investment will come from Carlyle International Energy Partners

(CIEP), a fund that focuses on oil and gas exploration & production, midstream, and

rening and marketing in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia.

The equity line will be invested in oil and gas opportunities across South Asia with

special focus on Indian sub continent and Myanmar.

The investment will also help Magna to achieve its objective of creating a full-cycle

oil & gas company through acquisitions and local licensing rounds.

Magna’s primary focus will be development and production with a secondary focus

on exploration.

Magna’s expertise combined with additional capital and signicant industry knowledge

from Carlyle will help further develop the local oil and gas industry across the Indian

Subcontinent, leading to greater energy security, job creation and economic growth.





Maharashtra government decided to amend MPDA Act, 1981

Maharashtra’s state cabinet on 23 June 2015 approved the proposal to amend the

Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities (MPDA) Act, 1981. The amendment

will be done to include criminal activities related to sand maa and black marketing

under its bracket.

This inclusion will help the state to act against those who are involved in black

marketing of essential commodities as well as sand maa.

At present, the Act is applicable only for slumlords, bootleggers, drug offenders,

dangerous persons and video pirates.

The state government said that repeat offenders involved in illegal trafcking of sand

would also be booked under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999

(MCOCA).

Other approvals of the Cabinet include

• Approval to setting up of Government Agriculture College at Muktainagar in

Jalgaon district

• Nod to provide 1000 crore rupees for the 2505 crore rupees Wardha-Yavatmal-

Nanded new Railway line

SoftBank Corp, Bharti Enterprises Limited and Foxconn formed

a JV named SBG Cleantech Ltd.

Japan headquartered telecommunications and Internet major SoftBank Corp, Bharti

Enterprises Limited and Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group on 22 June 2015

formed a Joint Venture (JV) named SBG Cleantech Limited. This JV is aimed at

promoting the adoption of clean and safe energy in India.

SBG Cleantech will be a harbinger of solar and wind energy. The venture will invest in





developing renewable energy plants across India. SBG Cleantech will be committed

to contribute to Union Government’s mission of 24x7 power for all and achieving

100GW solar and 60GW wind target by 2022.

The company intends to participate in the 2015-16 round of solar power plant tenders

under the National Solar Mission (NSM) program and state-specic solar programs.

SBG Cleantech will not only work towards eliminating energy decit but will also

provide clean environment.

SBG Cleantech will have Manoj Kohli, a Bharti Enterprises Limited veteran, as its

executive chairman and Raman Nanda will be the Chief Executive Ofcer of thecompany. The company will be headquartered in Delhi.

GADL, Oman Airport Management Company signed MoU on

Aviation Consultancy Services

GMR Airport Developers Limited (GADL) on 17 June 2015 signed a Memorandumof Understanding (MoU) with Oman Airport Management Company (OAMC) for

providing aviation training and consultancy services.

The MoU is aimed at knowledge sharing and skills development for the OAMC staff

by the GADL.

GADL is a subsidiary of Bengaluru based GMR Infrastructure Limited.

Under the agreement GADL will provide

• Consultancy services and support to OAMC for smooth take-over of the new

terminal at the Salalah Airport. The terminal is set to be operational in December

2015.

• On-site support for six months at Salalah Airport, which will help OAMC team

to learn and adapt some of the best practices of Delhi and Hyderabad airports

developed by the GADL.





• Training to OAMC team at GMR Aviation Academy in Hyderabad.

GMR Group is the world’s 4th largest private airport developer with the completion

of four international projects and more in the pipeline in the Middle East and South

East Asia.

First-ever indigenously developed VRF ACs launched by Blue

Star

Blue Star, India’s largest central air-conditioning company, on 19 June 2015 launched

VRF (variable refrigerant ow) IV Plus air conditioning (AC) system. This is the rst-

ever locally-developed-and-produced VRF ACs in India. This VRF IV Plus AC system

that is powered by inverter-driven compressor was designed after two years of

indigenous R&D work. Its development work was spearheaded by a Japanese expert

on VRF technology.

This new system of Blue Star will replace its existing VRF products, which were

sourced from global manufacturers A VRF AC system are used to cool large multi-

zone spaces like hotels and restaurants, hospitals, educational institutions, residential

and ofcial spaces with varying different cooling and heating needs through smart

controls.

About Blue Star

Blue Star is India’s largest central air-conditioning company with an annual turnoverof 2800 crore rupees. It works with a network of 32 ofces, 7 modern manufacturing

facilities, over 2000 dealers and around 2500 employees.

Ricoh India Ltd. launched Picasso for improved access to medical

images

Ricoh India Ltd. on 18 June 2015 launched Picasso solution in Hyderabad. It is





combination of healthcare and information technology and based on the Ricoh cloud.

Features of Picasso

• It provides anytime anywhere access to medical images to doctors, diagnostic

centres and patients on mobile phones, laptops and tablets.

• It is a web-based, cloud-enabled solution to help improve access to medical

images and user efciency.

• It is based upon PACS (picture archival and communication system) solution.

• It is a subscription-based model targeted primarily at diagnostic centres and

hospitals in the country.

• It use will reduce the turnaround time, minimise cost of clinical imaging (make

printed imaging redundant), optimise image compression and provide remote

access to doctors.

• It can be integrated with any existing hospital information system or radiology

information system to ensure consolidated patient data.Ricoh India Ltd is a part of the 18.5 billion US dollars Tokyo-headquartered Ricoh

Group.

Wealth-X released World’s Wealthiest Self-Made Billionaires

List

Wealth-X on 17 June 2015 released the World’s Wealthiest Self-Made Billionaires

List. It included world’s top 25 richest self-made billionaires.

The list was topped by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates with a personal fortune totaling

nearly 86 billion US dollars.

American entrepreneurs dominate the list claiming 14 of the 25 spots. The list features

numerous notable American billionaires who are responsible for building some of the

most successful companies in the world including Berkshire Hathaway, Oracle and





Google.

The combined wealth of the 14 Americans on the Wealth-X list is 514.2 billion US

dollars, which is greater than the GDP of Norway.

The technology sector has proved yet again to be an incubator of great fortunes

with many on the list such as Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook

and Jack Ma, chairman of Alibaba, China’s e-commerce giant, amassing signicant

wealth by founding and building technology-based companies.

List of world’s top 10 self-made billionaires

Rank Name Nationality Estimated Net Worth (billion US dollars)

1 William Gates III United States 85.7

2 Warren Buffett United States 70.1

3 Amancio Ortega Spain 65.0

4 Lawrence Ellison United States 51.5

5 Ingvar Kamprad Sweden 48.1

6 Jeffrey Bezos United States 39.8

7 Carlos Slim Mexico 35.4

8 Mark United States 35.3

ZUckerberg

9 Wang Jianlin China 35.2

10 Michael United States 33.7 Bloomberg





SoftBank teamed up with Alibaba, Foxconn to market Pepper

robot

Japan’s SoftBank Corp on 28 June 2015 announced that it has set up a joint venture

with Chinese online shopping giant Alibaba and electronics supplier Foxconn

Technology to sell its human-like robot Pepper around the world.

The company in its statement said that the robot will go on sale to general consumers

from 20 June 2015 for 198000 yen (1610.54 dollars) each plus monthly fee and

insurance. These waist-high peeper robots will serve as baby-shitters, medical

workers or even party companions.

At present, these robots which can learn and express human emotions are used in

stores including SoftBank’s mobile phone shops.

SoftBank will have a 60 percent stake in the joint venture, while Alibaba and Foxconn

each will spend 14.5 billion Yen ($117.94 million) for 20 per cent stakes.

TCS launched Center of Excellence (CoE) for Next-Gen Technology

Solutions in Hyderabad

India’s largest IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on 16 June

2015 launched a Next-Gen Technology Solutions Center of Excellence (CoE) at its

campus in Hyderabad.

Key Features of Next-Gen Technology Solutions CoE

• It is dedicated to research and development of futuristic technologies and

creation of next-generation products and solutions for its global customers in the

Semiconductors, Devices and Networks space.

• Its primary focus is on emerging communication technologies such as SoftwareDened Networks (SDN), Network Function Virtualization (NFV), 5G and Wireless





LAN (WLAN).

• It will create innovative technology solutions for the connected world in areas such

as Man-Machine interface, Context-aware systems and resource constrained

devices.

• It will participate in various industry forums and standards bodies in dening the

future standards.

• It will collaborate with various partners such as leading Academic Institutes

and open source communities to shape up the evolution and adoption of next-

generation technologies.

SunEdison Inc acquired Singapore-based Continuum Wind

Energy Ltd

SunEdison Inc, world’s largest renewable energy development company, on 16 June2015 acquired Singapore-headquartered Continuum Wind Energy Limited for an

undisclosed sum.

With the acquisition of Continuum, SunEdison added signicant assets and a skilled

wind development team to drive further growth in the renewable energy development

platform.

SunEdison intends to place the power plants acquired from Continuum on the

operational call rights list for TerraForm Global. Operation and maintenance of the

wind power plants will be performed by SunEdison Services.

About Continuum Wind Energy Limited

Started in 2009, Continuum Wind, majority owned by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure

Partners, owns and operates 242 MW of wind power facilities in India’s Maharashtra

and Gujarat states. The company has over 1000 MW of wind projects underdevelopment across six Indian states.





About SunEdison Inc

SunEdison is the world’s largest renewable energy development company and is

transforming the way energy is generated, distributed, and owned around the globe.

Its corporate headquarters are in the United States (US) with additional ofces and

technology manufacturing around the world.

Bengaluru based Ganit labs developed 5000 rupees test for

tongue cancer patients

Genomics Applications and Information Technology (Ganit) Labs in the third week

of June announced that it developed a medical test that could predict the survival

chances of tongue cancer patients for as little as 5000 rupees.

The test is based on a detailed analysis of changing gene patterns in cancer patients

and helps doctors in managing the disease better, understand the chances of

recurrence and also help in the diagnosis of even other forms of oral cancer.

The low cost gene mapping based test assumes signicance against the backdrop

of growing instances of tongue cancer cases across India.Around 1.2 lakh new

oral cancer cases are reported in India every year and most of them are caused by

chewing tobacco or smoking.

Ganit Labs was set up as a Genome Sequencing and Analysis, Translational Genomics

and Computational Biology Centre in 2011.

It was set up as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between Institute of Bioinformatics

and Applied Biotechnology of Government of Karnataka and Strand Life Sciences.

Karbonn to set up its rst mobile phone manufacturing facility

in Hyderabad

Indian mobile handset maker Karbonn on 15 June 2015 announced that it is planning





to set up its rst mobile handset manufacturing facility in Hyderabad.

The facility will be established with an estimated cost of 450 crore rupeesas part of a

joint venture (JV) with a Chinese company.

It will have production capacity of two million phones per month that includes feature

(basic) as well as smart phones, which will be the focus of the facility.

The facility which is expected to be operational by December 2016 is in addition to

the already existing two assembly units located in Bengaluru and Noida.

At present, the New Delhi based company is India’s fourth largest smart phone player

with an annual turnover of 4300 crore rupees during the nancial year 2014-15.

It has 85000 retail outlets and serves its customers through 900 service centres.

Snapdeal.com acquired Letsgomo Labs

Online marketplace Snapdeal.com on 15 June 2015 acquired Letsgomo Labs, amobility solutions company for an undisclosed sum. With this acquisition, Snapdeal

will strengthen its position in mobile commerce as online consumers in India are

increasingly choosing to shop over their phones.

After the acquisition, the 76-member team of Letsgomo will join Snapdeal and

strengthen the organisation’s mobile technology capabilities.

Earlier in May 2015, Snapdeal acquired Martmobi that enables seamless mobile

connectivity with customers’ existing back-end systems, in addition to a real-time

analytics engine to improve conversions and user engagement.

Letsgomo Labs

• Letsgomo Labs was founded by Manav Kamboj and Vikas Banga. The company

works with leading e-commerce companies to help them strengthen their mobile

capabilities.

• It provides mobile technology solutions, design and strategy, besides consulting

businesses in conceptualization of applications and mobile sites to implementation





and hosting of the mobile platform.

Aequs Pvt Ltd acquired Paris-based T&K Machine Inc

Aequs Pvt Ltd, a Karnataka-based aerospace component manufacturer, on 14 June

2015 acquired Paris-based aerospace component maker T&K Machine Inc for an

undisclosed amount.

T&K acquisition will help Aequs to expand its footprint in North American market.

Aequs will now offer its global aerospace machining platform of over one million

hours to Boeing and its tier-1 suppliers across the world.

About T&K Machine Inc

• T & K Machine was founded in 1968 by Tom and Frances Westbrooks. Beginning in

the 1970’s, the company began production of major programs with Bell Helicopter,

Boeing, and Vought.

• T&K is a US export control approved facility with 65 employees. It has been

supplying machined parts and assemblies to the aerospace industry since 1968

and has a wide range of manufacturing capabilities.

About Aequs Pvt Ltd

• Aequs was founded in 1997 as an engineering services rm called QuEST Global

Manufacturing based out of the US.• It started manufacturing aerospace and defence components in 2006. It has a

presence in the aero structures (wings, air frames, etc.), aero systems (hydraulic

valve actuators, etc.) and landing-gear segments of aerospace manufacturing,

and supplies to all major aerospace and aviation companies.

Dick Costolo resigned as CEO of Twitter Inc





Dick Costolo on 11 June 2015 resigned as the Chief Executive Ofcer (CEO) of Twitter

Inc after serving the company for ve years. Costolo will demit the ofce of CEO on

1 July 2015.

Twitter co-founder and Square Inc’s CEO Jack Dorsey will take over as the Interim

CEO of the company on 1 July 2015 and will stay until a replacement is found.

Costolo joined the company in 2009 as its Chief Operating Ofcer. In 2013, he helped

the company to go public and recently he struggled to attract new users to the

service.

Under Costolo, Twitter evolved from a scrappy startup to a public company with

a market value of some 25 billion US dollars. At the same time, the 140-character

messaging service of Twitter gained cultural prominence, becoming a powerful

microphone for celebrities, activists and citizen journalists.

Vinita Bali appointed as Chair of Board of Directors of GAIN

Vinita Bali was on 4 June 2015 appointed as the Chair of Board of Directors of the

Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). Vinita succeeded Jay Naidoo, who led

GAIN in the global ght against malnutrition since its creation in 2002.

Vinita has been on the board of GAIN since 2010 and has led large companies in a

variety of marketing and general management roles in the India, UK, Nigeria, South

Africa, Chile and the US.She also serves on the Advisory Board of The Division of Nutritional Science at

University of Cornell and is the Vice Chair of CARE India. She is among the 27 global

leaders appointed by the UN Secretary General to stand on the Lead Group of the

Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement. She also serves as a Non-Executive Director

on the Boards of several companies in India including CRISIL Ltd, Titan Industries Ltd,

and Kasturi & Sons Ltd; as well as, on the Advisory Board of The World Gold Council

and as a Member of the Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Management –Bangalore. She is also recognized in forums nationally and internationally and has





won several awards for her various contributions to business.

Ravi Garikipati appointed as Entrepreneur in Residence of

Flipkart

Ravi Garikipati was on 11 June 2015 appointed as Entrepreneur in Residence of

online portal Flipkart.com.

In this position, he will work closely with Flipkart founders Sachin Bansal and BinnyBansal and head of Flipkart’s e-commerce platform Mukesh Bansal on new business

projects.

His rst assignment will be to grow the online advertising division.

This is the rst time such a role is being created in the organisation. Usually, position

of Entrepreneur in Residence is created when an organisation brings an accomplished

executive to work on a new project or start a new rm and is willing to back him

nancially.

Before the present appointment, Ravi was president for innovation labs at Silicon

Valley-based [24]7 Inc. where he was responsible for overall strategy and development

of all products.

He worked also as the Senior Vice President at Vendio, a large third party e-commerce

service provider which was later acquired by Alibaba Group Holding Limited.

Flipkart is India’s largest online retailer in the 1 lakh crore rupees e-commerce market

and also considered as the most valuable internet company.

Amazon opened its biggest Fullment Centre in Hyderabad

Amazon, the global e-commerce and cloud services rm, on 10 June 2015 opened aFullment Centre near Hyderabad in Telangana.





It is the biggest such facility for Amazon in the country having previously established

10 Fullment Centres across seven states.

The present centre is spread across 2.80 lakh sq ft facility and is aimed at helping

small and medium businesses (SMBs) in utilizing the logistics and delivery capabilities

offered by Amazon.

At the centre, by using automated solutions, the rm segregates and packages the

goods before delivering them to customers.

In 2014, Amazon founder and Chief Executive Ofcer (CEO) Jeff Bezos during his

visit to India announced that the company would invest 2 billion US dollars in India in

order to leverage the huge potential in e-commerce and SMBs.

The rm is also planning to set up its biggest global campus outside of the US in

Hyderabad.

It is also considering a proposal to set up a datacenter in India to back its cloud

service business Amazon Web Services (AWS).

HDFC Bank launched PayZapp

HDFC Bank on 10 June 2015 launched PayZapp, a complete digital payment and

purchase solution. The mobile app will allow customers to manage credit or debit

card details, recharge and pay bills, use virtual card, send money through a wallet

and shop.

Highlights of PayZapp

• The app will be available for all customers of HDFC bank who will be allowed to

use both type of cards namely VISA and MasterCards

• The application can be downloaded on any Android phone from the Google Play

Store from 15 June 2015 onwards.

• To use the app, the customer will have to register himself/herself using the mobile

phone number, which is registered with the bank and ll certain details related to





him like name, date of birth and others. Then he/she will have to create his/her

personal identication number (PIN).

• The mobile phone number will be the login ID for the application

• The application is different from applications launched by other banks which are

just prepaid wallets, but in case of PayZapp, a customer will be able to link his/her

debit or the credit card to the app

• The application will allow a customer to apply for loans or purchase an insurance

plan Managing Director of HDFC Bank: Aditya Puri

PVR Ltd agreed to acquire DLF’s DT Cinemas for 500 crore

rupees

PVR Ltd, India’s largest multiplex chain, on 9 June 2015 agreed to acquire DLF’s DT

Cinemas for 500 crore rupees. The board of directors of the company at its meeting

approved the acquisition of the cinema exhibition business of DLF Utilities ltd.

This deal is part of DLF’s strategy to exit non-core businesses and cut huge debt

of over 20000 crore rupees. On the other hand, it will help PVR Cinemas expand its

presence in North India.

DT Cinemas is the wholly-owned subsidiary of realty giant DLF. It has 29 screens with

a seating capacity of more than 6000, while PVR Cinemas has 467 screens in 105

properties in 43 cities.

Earlier in November 2009 DLF had signed an agreement with PVR to sell DT Cinemas,

but deal fell through in February 2010. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. was

the legal adviser to PVR and EY India and Luthra & Luthra were nancial and legal

advisers respectively to DLF.

The acquisition of DT Cinemas by PVR is a continuation of acquisitions being seen in

the entertainment industry. In December 2014, Carnival Group acquired Big Cinemasfrom Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group for an estimated 700 crore rupees, the biggest





ever in this sector.

In July 2014, Inox Leisure acquired Gurgaon-based rival Satyam Cineplexes in a

182-crore rupees deal to strengthen its presence in North India.

ICICI Bank appointed MK Sharma as Non-Executive Chairman

ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, on 9 June 2015 appointed Mahendra

Kumar Sharma as the non-executive chairman for a period of ve years. Sharma, a

former vice chairman of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) succeeded KV Kamath.

Kamath who was nominated as the rst president of the New Development Bank,

established by BRICS nations, would soon step down from the bank’s board.

Sharma’s appointment is subject to the prior approval of Reserve Bank of India (RBI),

other regulatory approvals and would be effective from 1 July 2015 or the date of

receipt of RBI approval, whichever is later.

Sharma is an independent director of several leading companies and has been

a member of government committees relating to corporate law and corporate

governance. Currently, he is an independent director of two subsidiaries of the bank,

namely ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company and ICICI Prudential Asset

Management Company.

Earlier, Sharma was an independent director on the board of ICICI Bank for eight

years between 2003 and 2011.

Anshu Jain, Juergen Fitschen resigned as Co-CEO of Deutsche

Bank

Anshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen on 7 June 2015 resigned as Co-Chief Executive

Ofcer (CEO) of Germany’s biggest bank Deutsche Bank following criticism from

investors.





John Cryan was named as Chief Executive Ofcer (CEO) of Deutsche Bank. He will

take the responsibilities of the bank from 30 June 2015. He will be sole CEO.

He is the former Chief Financial Ofcer (CFO) at UBS Group AG. He is also a member

of Deutsche Bank’s supervisory board.

He and Fitschen have replaced Josef Ackermann in 2012. The bank was ned 2.5

billion US dollar in April 2015 by regulators in the US and the UK for manipulating

interest-rate benchmarks LIBOR.

Anshuman Jain is an Indian business executive. He took over as Co-CEO of Deutsche

Bank to succeed Management Board Chairman Josef Ackermann. He belongs toJaipur, Rajasthan, India.

R Seshasayee appointed as Non-Executive Chairman of Infosys

Limited

R Seshasayee was on 5 June 2015 appointed as the Non-Executive Chairman of

Infosys Limited. He succeeded KV Kamath, who resigned to head the proposed

BRICS New Development Bank in China.

Seshasayee will assume his new role with immediate effect. He will lead the Infosys

board for three years until 2018, when he will turn 70 and retire, as per company rules.

The post of Chairman in Infosys was lying vacant since June 2014, when its co-

founder NR Narayana Murthy resigned from the post.

Seshasayee joined Infosys board in January 2011. He has been an independent

director on the board since then and is the Chairperson of its audit committee.

Presently, Seshasayee also serves as Non-Executive Vice-Chairman of Ashok Leyland

and Chairman of IndusInd Bank.

A chartered accountant by profession, Seshasayee started his career with Hindustan

Lever Ltd in 1971. Later, he joined Chennai-based auto maker Ashok Leyland in1976, where he became executive director in 1983 and managing director in 1998.





Fortune released 61st edition of list of top 500 companies

Fortune on 4 June 2015 released the 61st edition of list of top 500 companies. These

Fortune 500 companies account for 12.5 trillion US dollar in revenues, 945 billion US

dollar in prots, 17 trillion US dollar in market value and employ 26.8 million people

worldwide.

The list was topped by retail behemoth Walmart with revenue of 485.6 billion US

dollar. It was followed by Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Berkshire Hathaway and Apple at

the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th position respectively. The top ve of 2015 list remains

unchanged as compared to the 2014 list.

Further, Apple was the most protable company with prot of 39.5 billion US dollars

followed by Exxon Mobil (32.5 billion US dollars).

Facebook saw the biggest jump in rankings from 341 to 242 while new entrants to

the list included emerging tech heavyweights Salesforce.com, Netix and Expedia.

Microsoft, Google, IBM, Intel and Oracle are all placed in the top 20 in terms of prot;

however, they are placed outside the top 20 in terms of revenue. The revenue of the

Fortune 500 companies in 2015 increased by 2.6 percent from 2014 but the total

prots were down 12.6 per cent to 945 billion US dollar.

Volvo India appointed Tom von Bonsdorff as Managing Director

Volvo Auto India on 1 June 2015 appointed Tom von Bonsdorff as Managing Director.

He will take over with immediate effect. He succeeded Tomas Ernberg. Tomas Ernberg

is moving back to Sweden in a new role.

Bonsdorff has been working with Volvo Cars for 17 years in various operational and

managerial positions.

Earlier, Bonsdorff has worked in the US, Sweden, Finland, while in his current position





as a Market Area Director of Asia. He is already based in Delhi.

The Volvo Group is a Swedish multinational manufacturing company headquartered

in Gothenburg. Its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of trucks,

buses and construction equipment.

Stempeucel, a stem cell drug, received Orphan Drug Designation

(ODD) in Europe

Stempeutics Research Pvt Ltd on 1 June 2015 announced that its stem cell drug,

Stempeucel, received Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) from the European Medicines

Agency (EMA).

By virture of being an ODD, it will have 10 years of market exclusivity from product

launch in the European Union (EU), fee reductions and access to the central

authorisation procedure. An orphan drug is a pharmaceutical agent that has been

developed specically to treat a rare medical condition, the condition itself being

referred to as an orphan disease. Stempeucel, will offer new hope to patients suffering

from Thromboangiitis Obliterans (also known as Buerger’s Disease) a major unmet

medical need in Europe.

The Bengaluru-based Stempeutics Research Pvt Ltd was founded by Manipal

Education and Medical Group (MEMG) in 2006 and has been jointly owned along

with the Cipla Limited since the MEMG entered into a joint venture in 2009.Cipla Limited is an Indian multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company,

headquartered in Mumbai.

Punit Renjen appointed as CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

Limited

Indian-American Punit Renjen was on 1 June 2015 appointed as Chief Executive





Ofcer (CEO) of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (Deloitte Global) with immediate

effect. Renjen succeeded Barry Salzberg, who retired from Deloitte Global on 31 May

2015.

Renjen has a total of 28-year career with Deloitte. Prior to this appointment, Renjen

was working as Chairman of the Board of Deloitte United States. However, Renjen will

remain with the Deloitte U.S. rm until he transitions to the role of Deloitte Global CEO.

Moreover, Punit is a member of the Boards of Directors at United Way Worldwide and

at the US-India Business Council as well. He was named as an honoree to the 2012,

2013 and 2014 National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Directorship 100.

Harley-Davidson tied-up with Myntra for online merchandise

sale

Cult bike maker Harley-Davidson on 2 June 2015 tied up with fashion portal Myntra

to sell its casual merchandise through an exclusive online store.

Known for rebellious designs and bold urban styling, Harley-Davidson will now offer its

casual merchandise on an exclusive online store on Myntra. The online store will offer

Harley-Davidson jackets, denims, shirts, t-shirts, caps, wallets and other accessories.

With this partnership, Harley-Davidson merchandise will now be easily accessible to

over 12000 pin codes in India. Harley-Davidson merchandise and accessories are

also offered through the brand’s dealership network across 17 locations in India.

Harley-Davidson India is a subsidiary under Harley-Davidson Inc. that commencedits operations in August 2009. Since early 2011, it has been assembling motorcycles

in India at its assembly unit at Bawal in Haryana.

Emami Limited acquired hair care brand Kesh King

FMCG player Emami Limited on 2 June 2015 acquired ayurvedic hair and scalp care

brand Kesh King for 1651 crore rupees. With this acquisition, Emami forays into the





fast-growing haircare segment. Emami’s current oil portfolio includes Navratna Cool

Oil and Emami 7 Oil in One Damage Control Hair Oil.

Under this acquisition, Kesh King’s business will be transferred to Emami and now

Emami will include brand portfolio of ayurvedic medicinal oil, herbal shampoo,

conditioner and ayurvedic capsules, along with its respective formulations and all

related assets.

Introduced in 2009 by Sanjeev Juneja, Kesh King brand offers products such as oil,

herbal shampoo and conditioner and ayurvedic capsules. The brand has presence in

5.4 lakh outlets across India and has a turnover of around 300 crore rupees in 2014-15.

Pawan Munjal appointed as the CMD of Hero MotoCorp Ltd

Pawan Munjal was on 1 June 2015 appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director

(CMD) & CEO of Hero MotoCorp Ltd (HMCL). He succeeded his father Brijmohan LallMunjal, who resigned on 1 June 2015.

However, Brijmohan Lall will continue to be the guide and mentor of the company

in the form of Chairman Emeritus. Brijmohan Lall had been the Chairman of Hero

MotoCorp since its inception in 1984.

Hero MotoCorp Ltd is the world’s largest manufacturer of two-wheelers in India.

In 2001, the company achieved the coveted position of being the World No.1 two-wheeler company in terms of unit volume sales in a calendar year.

Intel announced to buy Altera for 16.7 billion US dollars

Intel Corporation on 1 June 2015 announced that it will acquire Altera Corporation

for 16.7 billion US dollars.

Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, will pay 54 dollar a share in cash to Altera to





complete the acquisition process.

Altera is an American based company and it manufactures Programmable Logic

Devices (PLDs).

The Altera purchase will add to Intel’s non-GAAP earnings per share and free cash

ow in the rst year after it closes the deal, which is expected within six to nine

months.

Altera chips are used in a variety of markets, ranging from communications to

consumer electronics. While they’re sold in relatively small volumes, programmable

logic usually requires the latest in production technology because it’s some of thelargest chips in the industry.

The acquisition will couple Intel’s leading-edge products and manufacturing process

with Altera’s leading eld-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology.

The combination is expected to enable new classes of products that meet customer

needs in the data center and Internet of Things (IoT) market segments.

Amit Jain appointed as President of Uber Inc’s India Operations

Amit Jain was on 31 May 2015 appointed as the President of US-based taxi hailing

app Uber’s India operations. In this role, Amit will be running all business strategy,

operations, and growth in a market of global strategic importance for Uber.

Prior to this appointment, Jain was president of Rent.com, a property portal in the

US. Jain is a B. Tech from IIT, Delhi.

About Uber

Uber cab service was launched in India in 2013 and today it has largest market in

India outside the United States. It is providing millions of consumers with a safe,

reliable and convenient mode of transport.

In India, Uber is helping create tens of thousands of new jobs, empowering drivers

with higher earnings potential and exible working hours.





SCIENCE | TECHNOLOGY

30 June 2015 clocked one second longer

30 June2015 clocked one second longer as an extra second or a leap second was

added to clocks worldwide after 23:59:59.

With the addition of 61st second to the 59th minute of the 23rd hour, clocks across

the world registered 23:59:60 before turning on to 00:00:00 on 1 July 2015.

In India, the extra minute was added by scientists at the Time and Frequency

Standards Laboratory (TFSL) to atomic clocks after 05:29:59 as the Indian Standard

Time (IST) is ahead of the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) by 5 and half hours.

TFSL is the nation’s ofcial time keeper and located at the National Physical Laboratory

(NPL) in New Delhi.

The decision to add a leap second was taken by the International Earth Rotation and

Reference Systems Service (IERS), the global ofcial time keeper, in December 2015

in order to synchronise the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) with the Universal

Time (UT).

Difference between UTC and UT

Though the two systems are meant to measure time to the accurate level possible

there is a primary difference between them with respect to their respective reference

points.

While the UTC relies on atomic clocks for its sustenance as overseen by the

International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UT is based on time taken by the

Earth to complete rotations around itself with respect to the Sun as observed by





Though the concept of leap second has been appreciated for its utility in showing

the time right, it has attracted severe criticism in recent times from business quarters.

They contend that frequent ad-hoc changes to international time systems will result

in harm to time-sensitive systems like computer programmes and trading platforms

that are at the core of the modern economy. The disturbance to the businesses was

evident from crashing of IT and airline services when a leap second was introduced

in 2012.

Though disturbances to businesses were not reported during the leap second 2015;

In view of the lingering opposition to the continuation of the sytem, the ITU will beholding the World Radiocommunication Conference in Switzerland in November

2015 to decide its fate.

India is ofcially is in favour of redening the leap second system along with the USA,

Japan and France.

How India handles its clocks?

Indian Standard Time (IST) is the time observed throughout India with a time offsetof UTC+05:30.

It is calculated on the basis of 82.5° E longitude, in Shankargarh Fort, Mirzapur

(25.15°N 82.58°E) in Allahabad district in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

In recent times, there have been proposals from different quarters to divide the country

into different time zones as the country’s east–west distance is nearly 2933 kms.

The distance covers over 28 degrees of longitude or 112 minutes resulting in the sun

rising and setting almost two hours earlier on India’s eastern border than in the Rann

of Kutch in the far west.

A four member committee under the Ministry of Science and Technology to examine

the need for multiple time zones and daylight saving submitted its report in 2004 to

the Parliament.

The committee did not recommend changes to the unied time system in the countryas the prime meridian was chosen with reference to a central station and that the





expanse of the Indian State was not large.

First-ever possible treatments for MERS Virus identied

The team of researchers from University of Maryland School of Medicine scientists

(UMSOM) identied two promising treatments to prevent and treat deadly epidemic

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). The ndings were

published in journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on 29

June 2015.

The University of Maryland School of Medicine scientists and New York-based

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc have discovered and validated two therapeutics that

show early promise in preventing and treating the disease, which can cause severe

respiratory symptoms.

Findings of the Study

• The two antibodies, REGN3051 and REGN3048, showed an ability to neutralize

the virus. Both antibodies exhibit tight binding to the recombinant Spike (S) protein,

suggesting that they have a high afnity for binding to MERS-CoV S protein.

• REGN3051 and REGN3048 potently block entry of MERS-CoV into susceptible

cell lines and neutralize infectivity.

• Moreover, these antibodies neutralize a broader range of MERS-CoV isolates with

improved potency compared with several antibodies isolated solely based on in

vitro biochemical properties.

How it happened?

• This research used several proprietary technologies to search for and validate

effective antibodies targeting the virus.

• This work relied on Regeneron’s VelociGene technology to create partially

humanized mice that can be infected with MERS.





• Mice were intraperitoneally injected with either REGN3051, REGN3048, or hIgG1

isotype control antibody 24 hours before intranasal infection of MERS-CoV.

• REGN3051 and REGN3048 were able to signicantly decrease MERS-CoV specic

RNA levels in the lungs by over 2 logs compared with the isotype control antibody.

REGN3051 was more effective at reducing MERS-CoV RNA levels compared with

REGN3048 at the same dose.

• The development a novel strain of mice will help scientists understand the disease

and look for treatments. Mice are typically not susceptible to MERS.

About Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)

MERS was rst discovered in 2012 in Saudi Arabia. It appears that the disease spread

to humans from camels, who may themselves been infected by bats. Research has

shown that it is similar to Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS); both are caused

by Coronaviruses, both cause respiratory problems, and both are often fatal.

The South Korean outbreak of MERS began in May 2015 when a traveler returned

from Saudi Arabia, and infected many people before ofcials realized he had thedisease. So far, around 180 people have been infected in South Korea, and nearly 30

have died. This South Korean epidemic has killed more than 400 people since it was

discovered.

Hilleman Laboratories developed affordable Haemophilus inu-

enzae type b (Hib) vaccine

Hilleman Laboratories (HL), a global vaccine research and development organisation

on 24 June 2015 announced the success of a preclinical trial conducted for

Haemophilus inuenzae type b (Hib) vaccine.

The research was published in the journal Vaccine.

The new vaccine formulation is expected to ll the immunization gap in the country asit is more cost effective and immunogenic compared to existing available vaccines.





• In terms of actual user speeds, customers should receive speeds in the region of

100 to 1000 Mbps under the 5G network compared to that of 10Mbps of 4G.

• The technology is expected to open up access to higher resolution 4K video

content and holographic technology via mobile networks.

• It will cater for future internet-of-things (IoT) technologies as 5G will have to be

able to provide more than 100 Mbps average data transmission to over 1 million

IoT devices within a 1 square kilometre radius.

• It will be called IMT-2020. IMT-2000 was the name for 3G networks and IMT-

Advanced for 4G.

• International spectrum for the 5G network should begin distribution in 2019, with

commercialized implementations expected sometime in 2020.

World’s rst exible and skin-like display developed

A team of scientists led by Indian-American Debashis Chanda from University of

Central Florida (UCF) developed a nature-inspired technique for creating the world’s

rst full-colour, exible thin-lm reective display. The ndings were published in

Nature Communications journal on 11 June 2015.

This technology can help you switch your dress colour to a different colour in the blink

of an eye, if someone at a wedding reception is wearing the same dress as yours.

Characteristic features of the display

• The use of Polarization-independent liquid crystals (LC)-plasmonic system makes

LC-plasmonic systems more attractive candidates for display, lter and other

actively tunable optical technologies.

• It does not need its own light source. Rather, it reects the ambient light around it.

Your camouage, your clothing, your fashion items- all of that could change with

this innovation.





• This display is only about few microns thick, compared to a 100-micron-thick

human hair. Such an ultra-thin display can be applied to exible materials like

plastics and synthetic fabrics.

How it was developed?

By using a specially designed nanostructured plasmonic surface in conjunction with

high birefringence liquid crystals, the team demonstrated a tunable polarization-

independent reective surface where the colour of the surface is changed as a

function of applied voltage.

A large range of colour tunability was achieved by utilizing an engineered surface

which allows full liquid crystal reorientation while maximizing the overlap between

plasmonic elds and liquid crystal.

In combination with imprinted structures of varying periods, a full range of colours

spanning the entire visible spectrum was achieved, paving the way towards dynamic

pixels for reective displays.

Importance of the development

The research has major implications for existing electronics like televisions, computers

and mobile devices that have displays considered thin by today’s standards but

monstrously bulky in comparison.

Scientists discovered a way to guide electric discharges using

lasers

Scientists discovered a way to guide current or electric discharges by using lasers

(light amplication by stimulated emission of radiation).

The discovery was published on 19 June 2015 in an article by a team of researchers,

led by Professor Morandotti, titled Laser-assisted guiding of electric discharges

around objects in Science Advances of the international journal Science.

Researchers demonstrated that the ability of lasers in ionizing air can be used in





directing and even steering electric discharges around obstacles. Thus, electric

discharges were made to follow a designated smooth path along a straight or

parabolic trajectory or even S-shaped trajectory.

To prove this, the researches placed an object between the two electrodes (located

few centimeters apart) and observed that the discharge leapt over the obstacle,

without damaging it, and returned to its laser guide on the other side.

Though electric arcs or lasers have long been used in technologies such as combustion

engines, pollution control applications, lighting, machining and micromachining the

present nding has many potential applications that includes the ability to control thepath of lightning.

Researchers conducted the experiments at the Advanced Laser Light Source facility

of the INRS Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications research centre in Varennes,

Canada.

It was funded by European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research and

Technological Development (FP7) and the United States Air Force Ofce of Scientic

Research among others.

Kerala’s Trinity College of Engineering launched student satel-

lite TASSAT project

Trinity College of Engineering in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in the fourth week ofJune 2015 launched the Trinity Adrak Student Satellite (TASSAT) building project. The

student satellite project is scheduled for completion by 2018.

The satellite was named so because the funding for the ambitious initiative came

from an Oman-based company called Al Adrak.

As part of the TASSAT project CubeSats and NanoSats at a regular pace will be built.

The former is a small satellite with a mass of less than 1.33 kilograms and a volume

of 1 liter. It is crafted using off-the-shelf materials. The latter is a satellite featuring a

mass ratio anywhere between 1 to 10 kilograms.





WHO’s IARC classied lindane, DDT, and 2,4-D as carcinogenic

to humans

International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) on 23 June 2015 classied

lindane, DDT and 2,4-D as carcinogenic to humans. IARC is the specialized cancer

agency of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The decision was taken in this regard after the conclusion of mandatory eight daymeeting by a working group of 26 experts from 13 countries in Lyon (France). The

group was set up by the IARC, as part of Monographs Programme, to evaluate the

carcinogenicity of the three agents.

Gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane (Lindane): IARC classied the pesticide as

carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) based on sufcient evidence in humans for the

carcinogenicity for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).

It has been used extensively for insect control, including in agriculture and for treatment

of human lice and scabies. High exposures have occurred among agricultural workers

and pesticide applicators; however, the use of it is now banned or restricted in most

countries.

Large epidemiological studies of agricultural exposures in the USA and Canada

showed a 60 percent increased risk of NHL in those exposed to lindane.

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT): IARC classied the pesticide as probablycarcinogenic to humans (Group 2A) based on sufcient evidence in experimental

animals and limited evidence of its carcinogenicity in humans. Epidemiological

studies found positive associations between exposure to DDT and NHL, testicular

cancer, and liver cancer.

There was also strong experimental evidence that DDT can suppress the immune

system and disrupt sex hormones.

Although most uses of DDT were banned (under the Stockholm Convention) from the





1970s, DDT and its breakdown products are highly persistent and can be found in

the environment and in animal and human tissues throughout the world. Exposure to

DDT still occurs, mainly through diet.

2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D): IARC classied the herbicide as possibly

carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), based on inadequate evidence in humans and

limited evidence in experimental animals. There is strong evidence that 2,4-D induces

oxidative stress, a mechanism that can operate in humans, and moderate evidence

that 2,4-D causes immunosuppression, based on in vivo and in vitro studies.

Since its introduction in 1945, 2,4-D has been widely used to control weeds inagriculture, forestry, and urban and residential settings. Occupational exposures to

2,4-D can occur during manufacturing and application, and the general population

can be exposed through food, water, dust, or residential application, and during

spraying.

About IARC Monographs Programme

• It identies and evaluates environmental causes of cancer in humans.

• It evaluates chemicals (e.g. formaldehyde), complex mixtures (e.g. air pollution),

occupational exposures (e.g. work in coke production), physical agents (e.g.

solar radiation), biological agents (e.g. hepatitis B virus), and personal habits (e.g.

tobacco smoking).

• After evaluation, IARC classies carcinogens in ve categories ranging from

carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) to probably not carcinogenic to humans (Group

4).

• Since 1971, more than 900 agents have been evaluated, of which more than

400 have been identied as carcinogenic, probably carcinogenic, or possibly

carcinogenic to humans.

• IARC only classify the agents and does not recommend regulations, legislation,

or public health interventions, which remain the responsibility of individual

governments and other international organizations.





China launched world’s rst electric passenger aircraft BX1E

China on 19 June 2015 launched the world’s rst electric passenger aircraft named

BX1E that could be used in pilot training, tourism, meteorology and rescue operations.

The aircraft was designed together by Shenyang Aerospace University and Liaoning

General Aviation Academy located in the northeastern Liaoning Province of China.

The rst two BX1E aircrafts were handed over to Liaoning Ruixiang General Aviation

Co. Ltd. Each aircraft is priced at about 163000 US dollars. They will be used for

training the pilots.

The plane participated in the 10th China International Aviation and Aerospace

Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province in November 2015.

Highlights of the BX1E

• BX1E Electric Passenger aircraft has a 14.5-meter wingspan and a maximum

payload of 230 kg.• It can y at an altitude of 3000 meters.

• If fully charged, the aircraft can have ight time of 45 minutes to 1 hour with a

maximum speed of 160 km per hour. It can charge within two hours.

Immunogen eOD-GT8 60mer can stimulate immune system to

block HIV/AIDS infection in mice: Study

Scientists have shown that immunogen (virus protein) eOD-GT8 60mercan successfully

stimulate immune system to block HIV/AIDS infection in mice. The new results were

published on 18 June 2015 in concurrent studies in Cell and Science.

The research was led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI),

International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and The Rockefeller University.

The immunogen eOD-GT8 60mer, essentially a protein nanoparticle, has the potential





Brightest Galaxy in Early Universe named after Cristiano Ronaldo

as CR7

Scientists in third week of June 2015 named a newly discovered galaxy after

Portuguese football player Cristiano Ronaldo. The galaxy was labeled as CR7

(COSMOS Redshift 7).

30-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo is also known as CR7 after his initials and jersey

number.

CR7 is three times brighter than the brightest distant galaxy known till now, called

Himiko. This brightest galaxy was discovered in the early universe that contains the

rst generation of stars.

First generation of stars, known as Population III stars, which were born out of

the primoridial material from the Big Bang has been theorised by astronomers but

physical proof of their existence had been inconclusive.

According to theories, these Population III stars would have been enormous, several

hundred or even a thousand times more massive than the Sun, blazing hot, and

transient, exploding as supernovae after only about two million years.

The Galaxy in the ancient Universe (period known as reionization), which existed 800

million years after the Big Bang was discovered by a team led by David Sobral from

the University of Lisbon in Portugal, and Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands. Forthis discovery, they used ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT).

Previously unknown extreme star formation Eye of Medusa

observed 100 million light years away

A team of astronomers on 16 June 2015 observed a previously unknown extreme

star formation Eye of Medusa in Medusa merger, a luminous collision of two galaxies





at more than 100 million light years away from Earth.

The observations were conducted by Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

using the NOEMA (Northern Extended Millimeter Array), the most powerful millimeter

radio telescope of the Northern Hemisphere. NOEMA unveiled the astronomical

image showing a unique and spectacular view the Medusa merger.

The observations reveal a giant region (about 500 light years across) of recently

formed massive stars at the center of the Eye of Medusa, the central gas-rich region

of the Medusa merger. The IRAM team, led by Sabine Koenig, tried a new way by

tuning the NOEMA antennas to detect hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and formylium (HCO+)molecules.

The discovery demonstrates that star development can be probed in stages of

formation, which are currently undetectable by tracing carbon monoxide. The extreme

star formation observed in the Eye demonstrates the existence of more complex

chemical formulations than previously thought.

Previous observatories have mapped the Medusa merger but none had detected the

existence of this region of high-density gas in the Eye until now. This new discovery

has not only proven its existence, but also has implications for our understanding of

the origins of the Universe.

The Medusa (NGC 4194) is a well-studied nearby galaxy with the disturbed appearance

of a merger and evidence for ongoing star formation. It is an ideal object to study the

merger-induced star formation contribution from the small galaxy of a minor merger.

CSIR set up India’s rst Micro Air Vehicle Aerodynamics Research

Tunnel in Bengaluru

Council of Scientic and Industrial Research (CSIR) in June 2015 set up a Micro

Air Vehicle Aerodynamics Research Tunnel (MART) at the CSIR-National Aerospace

Laboratories (NAL) campus, Bengaluru.

The tunnel, rst of its kind in India, will be used to test the xed-wing, apping-wing





and rotary-wing MAVs in the 500 mm wingspan category.

The tunnel was set up under the National Programme on Micro Air Vehicles (NP-MICAV).

The project is jointly coordinated by CSIR, the Defence Research & Development

Organization (DRDO) and the Department of Science & Technology.

The state-of-the-art tunnel would address all the aerodynamic, propulsion and aero-

elastic issues related to MAVs. It has also a provision for either closed test section for

the study of aerofoil sections/3D wing-body models or open jet test section for the

apping and rotary wing studies.

The National Programme-Micro Air Vehicles (NP-MICAV)

Micro air vehicles (MICAV) are small and lightweight ying platforms with a maximum

wingspan of 300 mm, all-up weight of 350 grams and payload capacity of 40-60

grams. Micro air vehicles (MICAV) can be deployed for numerous applications,

spanning both civilian and military roles.

Research and development activity in mini and micro air vehicles was rst suggested

in 1998 at a seminar of The Aeronautical Society of India in Hyderabad.

In August 2010, the NP-MICAV was launched with an aim to develop Micro Air Vehicle

and their related technologies. The duration of this ambitious joint project is ve years

and entails a cost of 1.15 crores rupees.

Progress So Far

So far, xed wing MAVs of Black Kite, Golden Hawk and Pushpak with a 300-450 mm

span, 300 g weight, 2 km range and endurance of 30 minutes have been developed.

These MAVs have been demonstrated for ITBP, CRPF, Punjab Police, NDRF, IDS,

Artillery Training School and others.

Also, a high altitude mini UAV named Slybird with1.6 m wing span, 1.3 m length

and 2 kg weight with an operational range of 10 km and endurance of 1 hr has been

developed successfully and ight tested at Leh-Ladak (12000 ft above sea level).





Union Government launched Augmented Reality Application

named Sakaar

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern

Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singh on 15 June 2015 launched an Augmented Reality

(AR) application named Sakaar to highlight the achievements of the Department of

Space.

The application has been developed by Development and Educational Communication

Unit (DECU) of ISRO for Android devices.

Sakaar consists of 3D models of MOM, RISAT, rockets (PSLV, GSLV Mk-III); videos

of INSAT 3D-predicting cyclones, GSLV D5/Cryo, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) orbit

insertion, launch video of MOM, 360 degree animated view of MOM; Anaglyph of

Mars surface.

The Multimedia content of the Sakaar app is generated with the support of multimedia

& editing facilities of DECU-ISRO.

About Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality is a live direct view of a physical, real-world environment whose

elements are augmented by computer-generated 3D models, animations, videos,

etc.

Augmentation is in real time and the information is overlaid on the live view of thedevice’s camera. Essentially, AR requires three elements:

• Android device with back camera

• AR application

• AR Markers.





Comet lander Philae woke up after seven months of hibernation

Rosetta’s lander Philae woke up after seven months in hibernation on the surface of

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It is the rst spacecraft in the space history to

land on a comet.

The signals from the spacecraft were received at the European Space Operations

Centre in Darmstadt, Germany on 13 June 2015.

This is the rst time it came into contact after it was forced to shut down on 15

November 2014 as the spacecraft’s battery got exhausted and its location on the

comet could not allow it to use sun radiation to produce power supply from the solar

panels mounted on it.

About Philae

• Its aim is to understand the elemental, isotopic, molecular and mineralogical

composition of the cometary material.

• It was developed and launched as part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA)

Rosetta mission.

• It was landed on the surface of Comet 67P/ Churyumov–Gerasimenko on 12

November 2014.

• The landing site has been named as Agilkia and is located on the head of the

bizarre double-lobed object.

• The lander name has been kept after Philae Island in the Nile, where an obelisk (a

tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument) that was found and used, along with

the Rosetta stone, to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics.

• The 1 billion pound (1.58 billion US dollars) Rosetta was launched on 2 March

2004 from Kourou spaceport in French Guiana.

• It travelled 6.4 billion kilometers through the Solar System before reaching theComet 67P.





• It reached the icy and dusty surface of the comet that orbits sun at speed up to

135000 km/hr on 6 August 2014.

Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) launched India Nuclear

Insurance Pool (INIP)

The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) on 12 June 2015 launched the India Nuclear

Insurance Pool (INIP).

The INIP has become the 27th such insurance pool in the world as countries such as

France, Russia, South Africa and the U.S. have put in place such similar risk transfer

mechanisms.

Features of India Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP)

• It will cover the risks of liability of nuclear operators and suppliers under Section

6(2) and Section 17 of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages (CLND) Act, 2010

respectively.

• It provides three types of policies viz., tier 1 policy for operators, tier 2 policy for

turn key suppliers and tier 3 policy for suppliers other than turn key suppliers.

• The pricing of premiums will depend on factors such as risk probability, possible

severity of damage and exposure to people and property around nuclear

installations.

• It will be administered by the General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re), the

sole reinsurance company in the Indian insurance market.

• Out of the total fund amount of 1500 crore rupees the GIC Re and other four

Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) including New India, Oriental Insurance,

National Insurance and United India Insurance invested 750 crore rupees. The

British Nuclear Insurance Pool has also invested 500 crore rupees in the pool.

• The amount is in accordance with the act that prescribes that the operator’s

maximum liability shall be 1500 crore rupees.





• It will provide insurance cover for both hot zones (radiation and nuclear reactors)

and cold zones (outside the reactor areas). At present, nuclear plants in India only

have insurance cover for zones that are outside the area of radiation and reactors.

Comment

The creation of the Pool has become necessary due to the reluctance of the foreign

nuclear equipment suppliers to participate in the nuclear trade with India as the CNLD

Act, 2010 has provided for Right to Recourse for nuclear plant operators which allows

them to sue suppliers in case of nuclear accidents.

NASA scientist developed tool to predict destructive solar storms

NASA scientists on 10 June 2015 developed tool to predict destructive solar storms.

The model will help predict solar geomagnetic storms 24 hours in advance.

The storm can cause telecommunication disruptions and power outages. Solargeomagnetic storms may be caused by a giant cloud of solar particles, called a

coronal mass ejection (CME), aligned in the opposite direction of the Earth’s magnetic

eld.

How model works

The model is now undergoing testing, but if it’s robust, then scientists might nally have

a tool to predict a CME’s magnetic conguration from afar. This means forecasterscould give utility grid and satellite operators a full 24-hour advance warning to protect

their systems – crucial time to protect their assets.

If a CME is aligned in the same direction as Earth’s – that is, pointing from south to

north – the CME will slide by without much effect.

Currently, scientists don’t have much advance notice of how a CME’s magnetic elds

are arranged. They can only measure the elds as the CME passes over satellitesclose to Earth. Savani made use of NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory to observe

the magnetic elds of the initial eruption on the Sun.





In the past, using such data to predict which direction the CME’s magnetic elds

point has not been very successful. There are no tools to measure the magnetic

elds once a CME has moved away from the Sun, but scientists do have ways ofwatching how the clouds expand, twist and grow as they race into space.

Ultimately, the model can describe how the CME will be congured as it approaches

Earth, and even which parts of the CME will have magnetic elds pointed in which

direction.

Indian-origin scientist Manu Prakash developed World’s rstwater-based computer

Indian-origin scientist Manu Prakash along with his team on 10 June 2015 developed

World’s rst water-based computer. The results were published in the journal Nature

Physics. Manu Prakash is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford

University.They have built a synchronous computer that operates using the unique physics of

moving water droplets.

The work combines Prakash’s expertise in manipulating droplet uid dynamics with

a fundamental element of computer science - an operating clock.

How the computer was made?

The rst step towards making a computer based on water droplet was to develop an

operating computer clock which is responsible for nearly every modern convenience.

A clock makes sure that these operations start and stop at the same times, thus

ensuring that the information synchronizes.

Further, the clock needed to be easy to manipulate, and also able to inuence multiple

droplets at a time. The system also needed to be scalable so that in the future, a large

number of droplets could communicate amongst each other without skipping a beat.This was realized through developing a rotating magnetic eld.





Katsikis and Prakash built arrays of tiny iron bars on glass slides that look something

like a Pac-Man maze. They laid a blank glass slide on top and sandwiched a layer of

oil in between. Then they carefully injected into the mix individual water droplets thathad been infused with tiny magnetic nanoparticles.

Next, they turned on the magnetic eld. Every time the eld ips, the polarity of the

bars reverses, drawing the magnetized droplets in a new, predetermined direction,

like slot cars on a track. Every rotation of the eld counts as one clock cycle, like a

second hand making a full circle on a clock face, and every drop marches exactly

one step forward with each cycle.

A camera records the interactions between individual droplets, allowing observation

of computation as it occurs in real time. The presence or absence of a droplet

represents the 1s and 0s of binary code, and the clock ensures that all the droplets

move in perfect synchrony, and thus the system can run virtually forever without any

errors.

Its application

Because of its universal nature, the droplet computer can theoretically perform any

operation that a conventional electronic computer can crunch, although at signicantly

slower rates.

The ability to precisely control droplets using uidic computation could have a number

of applications in high-end biology and chemistry and scalable digital manufacturing.

Scientists at CIMAP succeeded in whole genome sequencing of

Holy basil or Tulsi

Scientists at Central Institute of Medicinal & Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), Lucknow

succeeded in whole genome sequencing of Holy basil or Tulsi(Ocimum sanctum).

CIMAP is a frontier plant research laboratory of Council of Scientic and Industrial

Research (CSIR).





Scientists published the whole genome sequence of Tulsi on 28 May 2015 in BMC

Genomics.

This is the rst report of complete genome sequence of Tulsi, which is both used

as an essential medicinal plant and revered as Vishnupriya and worshipped for over

3000 years in India.

The availability of whole genome sequence is the rst step to understand and unravel

the secrets of this mother of all herbs and to provide scientic validity to the traditional

claims of its utility in diverse medicinal usage.

Tulsi is rich in phenylpropanoids, terpenoids and their derivatives, and many of these

are implicated for different therapeutic activities. The availability of the genome

sequence now opens the possibility to identify genes involved in producing therapeutic

molecules and to produce them in vitro.

The nuclear genome of Holy basil is the smallest (386 Mb) in the family Lamiaceae

while the chloroplast genome (142,245 bp) is the smallest in the order Lamiales.

According to the chloroplast genome similarity, O. sanctum shows maximum

evolutionary closeness to Salvia miltiorrhiza, a plant of Chinese system of traditional

medicine

This will also facilitate identication of not yet identied genes involved in the synthesis

of important secondary metabolites in this plant. Specic pathway related genes

identied or mined in this genome could be used for the production of secondary

metabolites following synthetic biology approaches. The development of molecular

tools and genomic resources will accelerate molecular breeding and ultimately theutility of Holy basil in medical community.





SPORTS

Nelson Piquet Jr won the inaugural FIA Formula E Championship

Brazilian racer Nelson Piquet Jr on 28 June 2015 won the FIA Formula E Championship

title of the 2014-15 season. He won the title after nishing seventh in the nal race

held at Battersea Park in London, the UK.

Piquet drove for Chinese team Nextev.

It is the rst such championship held by FIA, the global governing body for auto

racing events. The rst race was held in the Chinese capital Beijing in September

2014 and the championship included 11 races held in 10 different host cities.

About Formula E Championship

• It is the highest class of competition for one-make, single-seater, electrically

powered racing cars and was conceived in 2012.

• It was created in order to attract a new audience to the sport and help develop

electric technology for the automotive industry.• Racing circuits are held in cities, and are approximately 2 to 3.4 km long.

• Cars accelerate from 0–100 km/h in 3 seconds, with a maximum speed of 225

km/h.

• Noise decibel levels are approximately 80 dB compared to that of ordinary car that

makes70 dB and old Formula1 car on track with 130 dB noise.

• The generators used to re-charge the batteries are powered by Glycerine, a by-

product of bio-diesel production.





Satnam Singh Bhamara became rst Indian basketball player

to join NBA

Satnam Singh Bhamara on 25 June 2015 became the rst Indian national to join

National Basketball Association (NBA) of USA. He is 19 years old.

The Punjab-born player was the 52nd overall pick at the 2015 draft by the Dallas

Mavericks. He will represent the team during the upcoming 2015-16 season.

Earlier, in July 2014, Sim Bhullar became the rst basketball player of Indian origin to

join the NBA. He hails from Canada and his parents are from Punjab. He played for a

brief period for the Sacramento Kingsduring the 2014-15 season.

Also, in 2013, the Sacramento Kings became the NBA’s rst team to have an Indian-

origin majority owner -- Vivek Ranadive.

About Satnam Singh Bhamara

• He was born at Ballo Ke near Ludhiana in Punjab. He is 7 ft 2 in tall and weighs

110 kg.

• He represented the Indian national basketball team at the 2011 FIBA Asia

Championship and the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship.

• In 2010, he moved to Florida in USA as part of a scholarship program between

IMG and Reliance for training. Since then, he has been training at the IMG Reliance Academy.

• With the inclusion in the Dallas Mavericks, he became the rst player since the 2005

NBA draft to enter the draft without playing in college, overseas professionally, or

in the NBA Development League.





Wei, Li won men’s & women’s singles of Canada Open Badminton

tournament 2015

Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and Michelle Li of Canada on 28 June 2015 won the men’s

and women’s singles title of the Canada Open Badminton tournament respectively.

In the nals played at Calgary, Wei defeated Ng Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong 17-21

13-21 and Li defeated Kaori Imabeppu of Japan 21-17 25-23.

This was second back to back title for the former World Number One following aneight-month doping ban. On 22 June 2015, he won the US Open.

The mixed doubles event was won by Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen (China). They defeated

Kaixiang Huang and Sijie Wang (China) 17-21 21-12 21-18.

The women’s doubles title was won by Indian pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwni

Ponappa. They defeated Dutch pair of Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek in straight

games of 21-19, 21-16.

Canada Open Badminton tournament was held between 23 June 2015 and 28 June

2015.

Gutta-Ponappa won women’s doubles of Canada Open Badmin-

ton tournament 2015

Indian pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwni Ponappa on 28 June 2015 won the women’s

doubles of Canada Open Badminton tournament 2015. In the nal played at Calgary,

the third seeded Indian pair defeated top Dutch pair of Eefje Muskens and Selena

Piek in straight games of 21-19, 21-16.

This was rst title of the 2015 season for Gutta and Ponappa.

Other Results

Men’s Singles: Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) defeated Ng Ka Long Angus (Hong Kong)





Women’s singles: Michelle Li (Canada) defeated Kaori Imabeppu (Japan)

Mixed Doubles: Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen (China) defeated Kaixiang Huang and Sijie

Wang (China)

Canada Open Badminton tournament was held between 23 June 2015 and 28 June

2015.

International Cricket Council approved amendments to playing

conditions in ODIs and T20Is

The International Cricket Council (ICC) Chief Executives Committee on 23 June 2015

approved amendments to the ICC playing conditions.

The approvals were given during the ICC Annual Conference held in Barbados.

The key changes were

• In One Day Internationals (ODIs), there will be no compulsory catchers from therst to the 10th over.

• In ODIs, no batting powerplays will be allowed between the 15th and 40th over.

• In ODIs, ve elders will be allowed outside the 30-yard circle between the 41st

and 50th over, rather than the current four.

• In ODIs and T20Is, all no-balls, not just foot faults, will lead to a free hit.

These playing conditions will come into effect for series starting on or after 5 July

2015.

Veselin Topalov won the Norway Chess Tournament 2015

Veselin Topalov on 25 June 2015 won the Norway Chess tournament 2015 by leavingbehind Viswanathan Anand into a quick draw. Topalov secured 6½ points while Anand





ended the tournament in second place with 6 points.

Results of the Norway Chess tournament 2015

• Hikaru Nakamura showed excellent technique and won by 6 points and stood at

third place by leaving behind Levon Aronian with 3 points.

• Magnus Carlsen played very poorly again losing to Jon Ludwig Hammer who got

3 points.

• On the other hand, Grischuk ended on 3½ points (-2) and Vachier-Lagrave got 4

points (-1).• Caruana got 4 points on -1 and Giri acquired 5½ points and stood at fourth position.

Norway Chess Tournament 2015

Topalov, Veselin - Anand, Viswanathan ½-½

Caruana, Fabiano - Giri, Anish ½-½

Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime - Grischuk, Alexander ½-½ Aronian, Levon - Nakamura, Hikaru 0-1

Hammer, Jon Ludvig - Carlsen, Magnus 1-0

Leander Paes became 47th player to join 100 partners club on

ATP Circuit

India’s tennis player Leander Paes on 24 June 2015 became the 47th player to play

with 100 different partners on ATP Circuit.

The 42-year-old achieved this land mark feat when he joined Marcel Granollers of Spain

in a match against Treat Huey and Scott Lipsky at the Aegon Open in Nottingham,

the UK.

Of these 100 partners, While 71 played with him on the tour level, 29 at the Challenger

level.





Among all the partners, Paes had been most successful with his Indian partner

Mahesh Bhuapthi with whom he won three of his eight men’s doubles Grand Slam

titles.

He won two each with Radek Stepanek and Lukas Dlouhy and one with Martin Damm.

Incidentally, all of them are from Czech Republic.

In a career spanning 25 years, he also won seven mixed doubles Grand Slam titles

— three with Cara Black (Zimbabwe), two with Martina Navratilova (Czech Republic

& USA) and one each with Lisa Raymond (USA) and Martina Hingis (Switzerland).

He also became eighth player to register 700 match wins with victory in the RolandGarros rst round in May 2015 and the rst member of the club to have amassed

more than 50 titles and 700 match victories.

Paes, a former World No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles rankings, is the sixth active

member of the 100 Partners Club, with Frank Moser (144), Andre Sa (119), Olivier

Marach (109), Carlos Berlocq (104) and James Cerretani (104).

Sachin Tendulkar named as greatest Test player of 21st century

Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was voted as the Best Test Player of the

21st century in an online poll titled Top-100 Test players’ list since 2000. The result

of poll conducted by Cricket Australia’s website, cricket.com.au was released in the

fourth week of June 2015.Sachin received highest number of votes (23 percent votes) to emerge on the top of

list of 100 best Test players since 2000. The survey was participated by more than

16000 fans.

Top ten in the Ranking chart

1st Position: Sachin Tendulkar of India with 23 percent votes

2nd position: Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka with 14 percent votes

3rd position: Adam Gilchrist of Australia





4th position: Ricky Ponting of Australia with 11 percent votes

5th position: Jacques Kallis of South Africa with 11 percent votes

6th position: AB de Villiers of South Africa with 10 percent votes

7th position: Shane Warne of Australia with 9 percent votes

8th position: Glenn McGrath of Australia with 5 percent votes

9th position: Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka with 3 percent votes

10th position: Dale Steyn of South Africa with 1 percent votes

Zaheer Abbas, former Captain of Pakistan’s Cricket team,

named as President of ICC

Zaheer Abbas was named as the President of International Cricket Council (ICC) on

24 June 2015 during the ICC Annual Conference in Barbados. He assumed the roleof ICC President with immediate effect for one-year term.

He succeeded Mustafa Kamal of Bangladesh as the 13th ICC President. Kamal

resigned from the post of ICC President on 1 April 2015.

The former Captain of Pakistan Cricket team is the only Asian batsman to score a

series of rst-class centuries with 108 rst-class hundreds who nished his 22-year

career with 34843 runs.

From 1969 to 1985 he played for Pakistan in 78 Tests and 62 ODIs scoring 5062 and

2572 runs respectively.

Zaheer was also an ICC match referee in the 1993 series between Sri Lanka and the

West Indies in Sri Lanka.

Besides, the ICC Council also approved the admission of the Serbia Cricket Federation

(SCF) as the 58th Afliate Member of the ICC while Brunei was removed as an Afliate

Member. The Council also suspended the Afliate Memberships of Morocco and

Turkey.





The ICC has 105 members and the ICC Council includes 37 associate members, ve

afliate member representatives and 10 full members. The ICC Chairman and ICC

Chief Executive are also part of the Full Council but don’t have voting rights.

The Chairman of the ICC is N Srinivasan.

Bangladesh won 3-match ODI series against India 2-1

Bangladesh on 24 June 2015 won the three-match One Day International (ODI) Series

against India 2-1 played in Dhaka. This was Bangladesh’s rst series win against

India.

India batting rst in the third match of series scored 317 runs at a loss of six wickets

and in reply to the target Bangladesh was bowled out at a score of 240 in 47 over.

This series win helped Bangladesh to enter into the Champions Trophy.

Series Report

1st Match: Played at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka on 18 June 2015,

Bangladesh won by 79 runs, and Mustazur Rahman of Bangladesh was declared

as the Man of the Match.

2nd Match: Played at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka on 21 June 2015,

Bangladesh won by 6 wkts (D/L method), and Mustazur Rahman of Bangladesh

was declared as the Man of the Match.

3rd Match: Played at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka on 24 June 2015, India

won by 77 runs, and Suresh Raina of India was declared as the Man of the Match.

Mustazur Rahman of Bangladesh claimed the Man of the Series Award for his

outstanding bowling performance. He picked up 13 wickets in the three matches.

Earlier, the two nations played a test match from 10 June to 14 June at Khan Shaheb

Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah. The match ended in a draw and Shikhar Dhawan ofIndia was declared as the man of the match.





Inderjeet Singh, Jinson Johnson won gold at Asian Athletics

Grand Prix

Inderjit Singh and Jinson Johnson of India on 23 June 2015 bagged gold at the rst

leg of the Asian Athletics Grand Prix in Bangkok, Thailand.

Inderjit won the gold in Shot Put by throwing 19.83 meters while Johnson won the

gold in 800 meter event with a time of 1:48.52.

This was Inderjeet’s second gold in an international event in June 2015, having won

the shot put event at the Asian Championships in Wuhan, China on 3 June 2015.

In the rst leg, India won a total of eight medals which included 2 Gold, 1 Silver and

5 Bronze medals. The list is as follows: Athlete Medal Event

Inderjit Singh Gold Shot Put (men)

Jinson Johnson Gold 800 meter (men)

Ankit Sharma Silver Long Jump (men)

M Gomathi Bronze 800 meter (women)

Rajiv Arokya Bronze 400 meter (men)

MR Poovamma Bronze 400 meter (women)

Sarbani Nanda Bronze 100 meter (women)

Gayathry Govindraj Bronze 110 meter hurdles (women)

The gold medallist of an individual event will get 1500 US dollars while the silver and

bronze winners will pocket 800 US dollars and 500 US dollars, respectively.





Stef Graf appointed as Kerala’s Ayurveda brand ambassador

To promote Kerala’s tourism departments Visit Kerala Scheme, Kerala government

on 23 June 2015 appointed tennis legend Stef Graf as Ayurveda brand ambassador.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that the decision to appoint Graf as

Brand Ambassador was taken by the state Cabinet.

An agreement in this regard was reached between the state’s tourism department

and former World number one tennis player of Germany, who had bagged 22 Grand

slam single titles, which is second only to 24 singles titles won by Margaret Court of

Australia.

Her 22 singles titles also marks the record for most Major wins by a tennis player

(male or female) since the introduction of the Open Era in 1968.

In 1988, she became the rst and only tennis player (male or female) to achieve the

Calendar Year Golden Slam by winning all four Grand Slam singles titles and the

Olympic gold medal in the same calendar year.

She retired from professional tennis in 1999, and married to former World No. 1 men’s

tennis player Andre Agassi in October 2001.

Indian Railway Team won World Railway Championship 2015 in

Tennis and Volleyball

The Indian Railway Team on 23 June 2015 won the World Railway Championship

2015 in Tennis and Volleyball.

In the Tennis (World Railways) Championship 2015, Indian Railway Team defeated

France by a margin of 3-1 in the nals and won USIC Tennis Championship 2015. It

was held at Nuremberg, Germany from 31 May 2015 to 6 June 2015.

In the Volleyball (World Railways) Championship 2015, Indian Railway Team defeated

Russian team in the nals and won USIC Volleyball Championship 2015. It was held





at Gomel, Belarus from 10 June 2015 to 17 June 2015.

In 2011, the Indian Railway Tennis Team won Silver Medal during last USIC Tennis

Championship and it won Bronze Medal during the USIC Volleyball Championship.

About USIC

USIC (Union Sportive Internationale des Cheminots) is an international railways

sporting association with members from various countries. The purpose of USIC is

to encourage the practice of amateur sports among railway employees in all over the

world.

It encourages a spirit of comradeship in accordance with the Olympic ideal and

develops a spirit of loyalty, tolerance and democracy among them.

Russia won European Team Athletics Championships 2015

Russia on 21 June 2015 won the European Team Athletics Championships by winning10 of the 40 events on the program. The championships were held in Cheboksary,

Russia.

This is the fourth time that Russia won the title since the inception of games in 2009.

In totality, Russia won the 368.5 points, 22 points ahead of Germany which secured

second place. France had their best nish at the championships, coming third by

winning 319.5 points.

However, Sweden, Finland and Norway nished at the bottom of the table and

these countries will now drop to the second tier of the championships for 2016. The

Czech Republic, Greece and the Netherlands will replace them after they all earned

promotion at the second-tier competition in Heraklion, Greece.

The top four teams of 2015 league competition including Czech Republic, Greece,

Netherlands and Belgium will be promoted to the super league.

Some of the winners of the European Team Athletics Championships 2015:





• Renaud Lavillenie of France: Olympic pole vault champion won with a leap of 5.85

meters

• Christophe Lemaitre of France: Won 100 meters in 10.26 seconds

• Darya Klishina of Russia: Two-time European indoor long jump champion jumped

6.95 meters to win

• Kuchina of Russia: Won High jump event by clearing 1.99 meters

• Sergey Shubenkov of Russia: World bronze medallist won 110m hurdles

• Anna Shchagina of Russia: Won the 1500m event

Jordan Spieth of US won US Open of Golf

Jordan Spieth won the US Open at Chambers Bay on 21 June 2015. The win was his

second straight major title of 2015 after he won the Masters Tournament at Augusta

National, US in April 2015.

He closed with a 69 for a ve-under total of 275, one shot ahead of fellow American

Dustin Johnson (70) and South African Louis Oosthuizen (67).

With this win, Spieth became the rst man since Tiger Woods in 2002 to win the

Masters and the US Open in the same year.

He is also the youngest champion of the US Open since the legendary Bobby Jones

in 1923 and the youngest player to win two career majors since Gene Sarazen in

1922. Overall, he is the fourth-youngest player to win two majors and the sixth to win

the Masters and US Open in the same year.

China won 2015 Nongfu Spring World Cup of Snooker

China won the 2015 Nongfu Spring Snooker’s World Cup on 21 June 2015 by defeating

Scotland 4-1 in the nal match held at Wuxi near Shanghai in China.





The winners of the snooker championship collected 120000 pound sterling prize

money.

In the nal, China’s B team pairing of 17-year-old Zhou Yuelong and 15-year-old Yan

Bingtao defeated Scotland’s pairing of John Higgins and Stephen Maguire.

The previous competition that was held in Thailand in 2011 was also won by China

by defeating Ireland.

India stood at the third position in the competition, the best nish so far for India.

Indian team comprising of Pankaj Advani and Aditya Mehta was defeated by Scotland

4-3 in the semi nal match.

The Snooker World Cup, a non ranking event, is conducted by the World Professional

Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA).

Andy Murray won the men’s singles of Aegon Tennis

Championships at the Queen’s Club

Britain’s Andy Murray on 21 June 2015 won the men’s singles of the Aegon

Championships at the Queen’s Club in West Kensington, England. In the nal clash,

Murray defeated South African Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-4.

This was his fourth Queen’s title and the previous were won in alternate years, that

is, 2009, 2011 and 2013.

With this win, Murray joined an illustrious list of champions including John McEnroe,

Lleyton Hewitt, Boris Becker and Andy Roddick, the winners of four Queen’s Club

Championships.

Most Queen’s titles

• John McEnroe: 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1984

• Boris Becker: 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1996

• Lleyton Hewitt: 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2006





• Andy Roddick: 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007

• Andy Murray: 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015

Besides, the French duo Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut won the Aegon

Championships men’s doubles title at The Queen’s Club. They defeated Marcin

Matkowski of Poland & Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic 6-2, 6-2.

Debendranath Sarangi elected as President of Squash Rackets

Federation of India

Debendranath Sarangi was on 21 June 2015 elected as the President of Squash

Rackets Federation of India (SRFI).

The election took place at the Federations Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) that

was called specically to elect a set of new ofce bearers for the period 2015 to 2019.

The elections were held in the presence of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) observerJ M Fernando and Government Observer Shyam Sundar, Regional Director, Sports

Authority of India (SAI) Bangalore.

The Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) oversees the promotion and

development of squash in India. It has more than 20 State Associations and afliated

units.

It is headquartered in Chennai.

Serbia won 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup by defeating Brazil 2-1

Serbia won the FIFA U-20 World Cup by defeating Brazil on 21 June 2015 at the nal

match held at the North Harbour Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.

Nemanja Maksimovic scored a 118th minute goal to give Serbia a 2-1 victory overBrazil in extra time.





It is Serbia’s rst title since it became an independent nation in 2006.

While Pereira scored the goal for Brazil at the 73rd minute, Mandic (70th minute) and

Maksimovic scored the goals for Serbia.

France won the 2013 FIFA U-20 World cup held in Turkey.

Roger Federer won Gerry Weber Open tennis title for eighth time

Swiss tennis ace Roger Federer won the 2015 Gerry Weber Open tennis title on 21June 2015 at the Gerry Weber Stadium in Halle, Germany.

In the summit clash, he defeated Andreas Seppi of Italy 7-6 (1), 6-4 to claim the title

for record eighth time. With this, Seppi became the rst Italian to play the nal at

Halle since the tournament began in 1993.

In the Men’s doubles category, Indo-Romanian pair Rohan Bopanna and Florin

Mergea was the runners up.For Federer, it is the 10th Halle nal and his most victories at a single event in his

career. He won the Wimbledon and Dubai Open tennis titles 7 times each.

It’s Federer’s fourth title of the 2015 season having won the titles at Brisbane, Dubai

and Istanbul.

For the 17-time Grand Slam winner, the present win is 15th title from 20 nals on

grass and 86th career title from 130 nals overall.Federer is the third player in the Open era to win at least eight titles at a single

tournament. While Rafael Nadal has nine Roland Garros titles (French Open) and

eight from Monte Carlo and Barcelona, Guillermo Vilas of Argentina has eight titles

from Buenos Aires.





Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg of Germany won Austrian Grand

Prix of Formula One

Mercedes racing driver Nico Rosberg of Germany on 21 June 2015 won the Austrian

Grand Prix Formula 1 World Championship title. He won the nal race held at the

Spielberg circuit in Styria, Monaco.

While his teammate Lewis Hamilton of Britain stood at the second position, Felipe

Massa of Brazil representing the Williams team was at the third position.

Sebastian Vettel (Germany) of the Ferrari team stood at the fourth position.

It is the eleventh overall championship title for Rosberg and the second title in Austria

having won the 2014 title too.

It is also the third title in the 2015 season. He won the Championships in Monaco and

Spanish in early 2015.

Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) and Sergio Perez (Mexico) of Force India stood at the 8thand 9th positions respectively in the nal race.

Indian paddlers won team titles at South Asian Junior and Cadet

Table Tennis Championships

India’s junior boys and cadet girls on 18 June 2015 won the team championship titles

at the South Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships at the Talkatora

Stadium in New Delhi.

To retain the title in junior boys section, the Indian paddlers won all the four matches

without dropping a set. Similarly, cadet girls won all their matches without a hiccup.

Silver and Bronze medals in the two categories





In Junior Boys category

• Sri Lanka’s Junior Boys won Silver

• Pakistan, who nished third and Maldives behind them, got the bronze

In Cadet Girl’s category won silver

• Sri Lanka’s Cadet Girl’s won Silver

• Nepal, who nished third and Pakistan behind them, got the bronze

Sharad Pawar re-elected as President of Mumbai Cricket

Association

Veteran leader of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Sharad Pawar was on 17 June

2015 re-elected as the President of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA).

In the biennial polls held for the post, Pawar defeated Vijay Patil by 34 votes to retain

the president’s post. Former Indian cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar along with Ashish

Shelar was elected as Vice-President of the MCA. He defeated Pratap Sarnaik who

got 124 votes compared to 195 seats secured by Vengsarkar.

Nitin Dalal was elected as Treasurer who defeated Mayank Khandwala for the post.

The polls saw the Pawar-Mahaddalkar panel winning 15 of the 17 managing committee

posts whereas Patil’s Cricket First panel, which was formed in 2013, suffered as

severe blow by winning just two seats.

AIBA constituted Ad-hoc committee chaired by Kishan Narsi for

boxing in India

The International Boxing Association (AIBA) on 16 June 2015 constituted a ve-

member ad-hoc committee to manage the process of nding a group to organise





and run boxing in India. Kishan Narsi, an international referee who ofciated in four

Olympics was appointed as the Chairman of the committee. He has been the Vice-

Chairman of Executive Committee of AIBA.

Other members of the committee include Jay Kowli, Manisha Malhotra and Injeti

Srinivas. The fth member of the committee will be appointed by AIBA on the

recommendation of the ad hoc committee and would be a national coach.

Besides, AIBA also appointed senior IOC member and former IOA Secretary General,

Randhir Singh as an advisor of the ad-hoc committee. He will assist the committee in

the important task that would benet the game of boxing in India. AIBA in its notication didn’t specied any time-frame for the ad-hoc committee but

asked that preparation for the Rio Olympics 2016 has to start.

AIBA President: Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu

Documentary on cricket titled Death of Gentleman screened at

Shefeld

Documentary lm titled, Death of a Gentleman directed by Sam Collins and Jarrod

Kimber was premiered at the Shefeld International Documentary Festival on 8 June

2015. The lm will also be screened in London in the fourth week of June 2015.

The documentary made in four years came into news as it raised questions on

existence of Tests Cricket in 21st century.

It shows the decline of ve day game which is the purest form of the second most

popular sport on earth, representative of tradition, history and identity. It narrates a

story about greed, power, the endless pursuit of more and the precious things that

are lost along the way.

Further, it raises the question whether the game is losing its identity due to a tough

competition from commerce-driven Twenty20 cricket.

Death of a Gentleman shows interviews of ICC chairman N. Srinivasan, ECB chief





Giles Clarke, and former cricketers Kevin Pietersen, Rahul Dravid, Ravi Shastri, Tony

Greig and Lord Woolf among others.

Sunil Chhetri became rst Indian footballer to score 50 interna-

tional goals

Sunil Chhetri on 16 June 2015 became the rst Indian footballer to score 50

international goals. He achieved the fete during India’s second match of the second

round of qualiers for 2018 football World Cup qualifying group match against Guam

at the Guam National Football Stadium.

In the match, Guam defeated India 2-1. Earlier, India lost their rst match of the group

1-2 against Oman.

List of International goals scored by Indian footballer

• Sunil Chhetri: 50 goals in 87 matches

• Bhaichung Bhutia: 42 goals in 107 matches

• IM Vijayan: 40 goals from 79 games

Harbhajan Singh became 9th highest wicket-taker in Test Cricket

Indian off-spin cricketer Harbhajan Singh on 14 July 2015 became the ninth all-time

highest Test wicket-takers by claiming 416 wickets in 102 matches.

In this process, he surpassed Pakistani legend Wasim Akram who stood at the ninth

position with 414 wickets in 104 matches. He achieved the landmark quicker than

Akram.

He achieved the feat after dismissing Imrul Kayes for 72 to reach 415 Test victims,

one more than Akram.

Now, Harbhajan nicknamed as Turbanator is just 20 wickets short of equalling Kapil





Dev’s 434 Test wickets record, the second highest wicket-taker in history of Indian

Test Cricket after Anil Kumble’s 619 wickets.

List of top 10 wicket-takers in Test matches

1. Muttiah Muralitharan: 800 wickets in 133 matches

2. Shane Warne: 708 wickets in 145 matches

3. Anil Kumble: 619 wickets 132 in matches

4. Glenn McGrath: 563 wickets in 124 matches

5. Courtney Walsh: 519 wickets in 132 matches

6. Kapil Dev: 434 wickets in 131 matches

7. Sir Richard Hadlee: 431 wickets in 86 matches

8. Shaun Pollock: 421 wickets in 108 matches

9. Harbhajan Singh: 416 wickets in 102 matches

10. Wasim Akram: 414 wickets in 104 matches

Rafael Nadal won Stuttgart Open

Spaniard Rafael Nadal on 14 June 2015 won the singles nal of the ATP’s Stuttgart

Open. In the nal match in Germany, Nadal defeated Serbian Viktor Troicki 7-6, 6-3.

It was Rafael Nadal’s third Stuttgart Men’s single title; the previous two were won in

2005 and 2007 respectively. With this victory he also became rst tennis player to

win titles at the event on both clay and grass surface.

Stuttgart made the switch to grass starting with this edition as part of the new

Wimbledon pre-season.

Apart from this, India’s tennis player Rohan Bopanna along with his Romanian partner

Florin Mergea won the Stuttgart Men’s Double Open title 2015. The Indo-Romanian





pair defeated Austrian-Brazilian pair of Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares 5-7, 6-2,

10-7. This was fourth title for Bopanna.

Sir Wesley Wineld Hall inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of

fame

Veteran West Indies fast bowler Sir Wesley Wineld Hall was on 12 June 2015

inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. With this, he becomes 80th cricketer to

be inducted in the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and 18th from West Indies itself.

Sir Wesley Hall had played a total of 48 Tests in his one decade career spanning from

1958 to 1969. In his Test career, he took 192 wickets which included ve wickets in

an innings for 9 times and 10 wickets in a match on one occasion.

In 170 rst-class matches, Hall claimed 546 wickets at an average of 26.14. In 1964-

65, his 16 wickets were instrumental in guiding the West Indies to its rst series win

over Australia. In 1968-69, Hall took retirement at the end of the tour of Australia andNew Zealand.

After retiring from cricket, he entered into politics and served in Barbados Senate and

also as Minister of Tourism in 1987. He had also served as President of West Indies

Cricket Board from 2001 to 2003.

In year 2012, Hall was knighted with the Knight Bachelor for his services to sports

community.

Forbes released 2015 World’s 100 Highest-Paid Athletes list

Forbes on 10 June 2015 released the list of 2015 World’s 100 Highest-Paid Athletes.

The list has been topped by Floyd Mayweather and the only Indian to gure in the list

is Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The earnings were calculated based on athletes’ salaries, bonuses, prize money,





appearance fees, as well as licensing and endorsement income between 1 June

2014 and 1 June 2015.

The list only includes athletes active during the given period.

Highlights of the list

• Floyd Mayweather tops the list for the second year in a row and third time in four

years with 300 million US dollars. His win over Manny Pacquiao, in the historic

match held on 3 May 2015 helped him to top the list. Mayweather earned 240

million US dollars through the match.

• Manny Pacquiao of Philippines stood at the second position in the list with earnings

up to 160 million US dollars.

• Pacquiao is followed by Real Madrid’s soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo at the 3rd

position with 79.6 million US dollars and Barcelona’s soccer player Leonal Messi

stood at the fourth position with 73.8 million US dollars.

• Switzerland’s Roger Federer became the highest earned tennis player with earnings

up to 67 million US dollars.

• Brazilian soccer player Neymar (23 years) was the youngest player in the list with

31 million US dollars.

• Golf player Phil Mickelson (44 years) of USA was the oldest player in the list with

50.8 million US dollars.

• Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams were the only women athletes in the list

who stood at 26th and 47th position respectively in the list.

• The top 100 athletes earned a total of 3.2 billion US dollars over the last 12 months,

which is a 17 percent increase from the previous year.

• The list consists of players from ten different sports. While, baseball players

occupied 27 percent of the list, cricket and track and eld both placed one athlete

on the list.

• There are no hockey players on the list for a fourth straight year.





• The cutoff for the top 100 keeps rising and is now 18.8 million US dollars, up from

17.3 US million US dollars in 2014 and 16.4 million US dollars in 2013.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the sole Indian and only cricketer in the list with earnings

of 31 million US dollars. It includes 4 million US dollars from salary/winnings and 27

million US dollars from endorsements. Dhoni shared the 23rd position with Neymar

in the list dropping a notch from his ranking of 22 in 2014.

England’s cricketer Matt Prior retired from all forms of cricket

Matt Prior, the English cricketer, on 11 June 2015 retired from all forms of cricket.

The 33-year-old, wicketkeeper-batsman helped England to win three Ashes series

between 2009 and 2013.

He was the rst English wicketkeeper to score a century on debut match against

West Indies in 2007. He scored an unbeaten 126 at Lord’s. He played his One Day

International (ODI) debut match against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo on 5 December 2004.Matt Prior played his last test match against India at Lord’s from 17 to 21 July 2014

and his last ODI match was against Sri Lanka at Colombo (RPS), on 26 March 2011.

Details of his cricket career

• Test: Batted in 123 innings of 79 matches and scored 4099 runs of which 131 not

out was his highest score.

• ODI: Batted in 62 of 68 matches and scored 1282 runs of which 87 was his highest

score.

• T20Is: Batted in 8 of 10 matches and scored 127 runs of which 32 was his highest

score.

He left cricket with a Test batting average of 40.18, the highest for any England

wicketkeeper to claim more than 100 dismissals. He was the fourth best wicket-

keeper of all-time behind only Kumar Sangakkara, Andy Flower and Adam Gilchrist.

In 2013, the South African born cricketer was named as England’s best player of the





year. In December 2014, he co-founded the new professional One Pro Cycling team.

FC Barcelona won 2015 UEFA Champions League title

FC Barcelona won the 2015 Champions League title on 6 June 2015 by defeating

Juventus FC 3-1 in the nal match held at the Berlin’s Olympic Stadium in Germany.

While, Ivan Rakitic, Luis Suarez and Neymar scored goals for Barcelona, Alvaro

Morato scored the lone goal for Juventus.

In the summit clash, Barcelona, a Spanish club, was led by Andres Iniesta and

Juventus, an Italian club was led by Gianluigi Buffon.

This was the fth time Barcelona has been crowned with the title and their fourth in

the last decade after their victories in 2006, 2009 and 2011.

With the present win, Barcelona became the rst Spanish club to win the European

treble in a single season for two times having won the Europa League and SpanishLeague titles in the 2014-15 season. Earlier, the team won all the three titles in the

2008-09 season.

Following their 2009 treble, Barcelona joined Celtic, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Manchester

United, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich on the exclusive list of teams to have won the

treble.

Indian Basketball Players Association launched in New Delhi

Indian Basketball Players Association (IBPA) started functioning with the ofcial

launch of it on 8 June 2015 at Indian Medical Association, New Delhi.

The launching ceremony also saw the nomination of President and other members of

the IBPA. Following is the organizational strucuture of IBPA:

President: Sajjan Singh Cheema (Arjuna Awardee)





General Secretary: Jayasankar Menon (Former Asian All Star Basketball player)

Treasurer: Ashok Sharma (National player and FIBA Commissioner)

Chairman: Abbas Moontaisar

Vice-Chairmen: Manmohan Singh and Suman Sharma

The IBPA is proposed to be incorporated as a society under the Societies Registration

Act, 1860.

Shah Rukh Khan acquired CPL T20 team Trinidad & Tobago

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) co-owner Shah Rukh Khan on 9 June 2015 acquired

Carribean Premier League (CPL) T20 team Trinidad & Tobago (T&T).

Shah Rukh Khan is the rst owner of an Indian Premier League team to own an

overseas cricket franchise. Khan’s company Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt Ltd along

with KKR co-owners Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta invested in the T&Tfranchise.

Hollywood stars Mark Wahlberg and Gerard Butler already own CPL franchises.

Wahlberg owns reigning champions Barbados Tridents, led by Kieron Pollard, while

Butler owns Jamaica Tallawahs, captained by Chris Gayle.

The next edition of the tournament is scheduled to run from 20 June 2015 to 26 July

2015. KKR, IPL champions in 2012 and 2014, have been ranked the most valuableIPL team with a brand value of 86 million US dollar (over 500 crore rupees).

Lewis Hamilton of Britain won 2015 Canada Grand Prix of

Formula 1

Mercedes racing driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain on 7 June 2015 won the 2015Formula 1 Canada Grand Prix title by winning the nal race held in Montreal, Canada.





In the nal race, while, his team mate Nico Rosberg of Germany stood at the second

position, Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany was at the third position.

Sergio Perez (Mexico) and Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) of Force India stood at the

11th and 12nd positions respectively.

For Hamilton, it was the fourth victory at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Montreal’s

Isle Notre-Dame, where he earned his rst Grand Prix win in 2007.

Earlier in 2015, he won the Australian, Chineese and Bahrain Gran Prix titles.

Hamilton has won more races compared to any other British driver in the history of

Formula One and is currently 5th on the all-time list, with 37 wins.

Momota and Ratchanok won Indonesia Open Badminton titles

Japanese rising star shuttler Kento Momota and Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon

won the men’s and women’s singles respectively of the Indonesia Open Badmintontournament. Indonesia Open Badminton tournament was held at the Gelora Bung

Karno Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia. The total prize money at stake was 800000 US

dollars.

Kento Momota defeated Denmark’s defending champion and third seed Jan O.

Jorgensen 16-21, 21-19, 21-7. Kento Momota is World No.9. This was the 20-year-

old’s second victory in a Super series event. In the women’s singles nal, former world

champion and world No.6 Ratchanok defeated Japan’s world No.35 Yui Hashimoto21-12, 21-10. Meanwhile South Korea’s Ko Sung Hyun and Shin Baek Choel beat

China’s Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan 21-16, 16-21, 21-19 in 53 minutes to win the

men’s double title.

In the women’s singles nal, China’s Tang Jinhua and Tian Qing defeated Indonesia’s

Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Grysia Polii 21-11, 21-10. The mixed doubles title

went to Xu Chen and Ma Jin, who beat Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei 21-17, 21-16.

India’s campaign ended following Parupalli Kashyap’s loss to Momota in the semi-

nal.





Manchester United FC became world’s most valuable brand

The Manchester United became the World’s most valuable brand in the World football

with 1.2 billion US dollars. Also, it became the rst club to pass the 1 billion US dollar

mark.

It was revealed on 8 June 2015 in the study titled Football 50 2015 released by the

Brand Finance, a leading brand valuation and strategy consultancy.

The United has beaten Bayern Munich and Real Madrid to reclaim their position as

the biggest brand in world football.

The Club’s record-breaking deals drive up the brand value which includes UK

broadcast deal for Premier League rights commencing from the 2016-17 season

worth 7.8 billion US dollars.

Manchester United Football Club is a professional football club based at Old Trafford

in Greater Manchester, England. It was founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club

in 1878 and the name was changed to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old

Trafford in 1910.

Rahul Dravid named coach of India ‘A’, U-19 cricket teams

Former Captain of Indian cricket team Rahul Dravid on 6 June 2015 was named as

coach of India ‘A’ and Under-19 cricket teams. Rahul Dravid’s name for coaching

India’s junior team was conrmed by BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur in his press

conference in Kolkata.

The decision to appoint Dravid as coach was taken at the rst meeting of BCCI’s

Advisory Committee in Kolkata. The advisory committee includes Sachin Tendulkar,

Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman as its member.

The 42-year-old Dravid, a veteran of 164 Tests (13288 runs) and 344 ODIs (10889





runs), is presently working with the IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals as mentor.

Hailed as The Wall, Dravid is the fourth-highest run scorer in Test cricket, after Sachin

Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis, and is only the second Indian cricketer,

after Tendulkar to score 10000 runs both in Tests and in ODIs.

As a coach, Dravids rst assignment would be to prepare the U-19 team for 2016

Under-19 World Cup to be held in Bangladesh.

Stanislas Wawrinka won Men’s single title of French Open

Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland on 7 June 2015 won his rst French Open title of

Tennis. In the nal clash played at Roland Garros in Paris, Wawrinka defeated Novak

Djokovic of Serbia 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

The victory makes him only the second Swiss to win at Roland Garros after Roger

Federer, the man he beat in the quarter-nals. This was second grand slam title forWawrinka after Australian Open 2014. He also brought an end to Djokovic’s 28-match

winning streak.

Besides, Serena Williams of US on 6 June 2015 defeated Lucie Safarova of

Czechoslovakia 6-3 6-7 (2) 6-2 to win the women’s title of French Open. This was her

third French Open title and 20th Grand Slam title.

Men’s Doubles

Ivan Dodig (Croatia) and Marcelo Melo (Brazil) defeated Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan

of the US 6-7, 7-6, 7-5

Women’s Doubles

Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US) and Lucie Safarova (Czech Rep) defeated Casey

Dellacqua (Australia) and Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2

Mixed Doubles

Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US) and Mike Bryan (US) defeated Lucie Hradecka (Czech





Rep) and Marcin Matkowski (Poland) 7-6, 6-1

The 2015 French Open was the 114th edition of the French Open and the second

Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 24 May

to 7 June 2015.

AIFF signed an agreement with French Football Federation

All India Football Federation (AIFF) on 2 June 2015 signed an agreement with FrenchFootball Federation (FFF) in Zurich. The agreement was signed by Praful Patel,

President, AIFF in the presence of Kushal Das, General Secretary of AIFF.

Highlights of the agreement

• The parties agreed to cooperate with each other in order to develop strong ties

between their respective associations for the mutual benet of each association

and for the promotion, growth and continued success of football in each country.• It was also agreed to exchange training of technical personnel and organisational

procedures;

• Availability of sports centres or installations for competition, training and camps

as and where possible in accordance with availability and suitability was also

been agreed upon.

• Besides, support for the preparation of the Indian U-17 World Cup Team whichwill be participating in the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 to be hosted by India in

terms of exposure trips for matches with French teams and participation in youth

tournaments in France have also been considered.

This is the third agreement AIFF had signed with other country, after Federation

entered into a partnership with the German Football Association (DFB) in May 2015

and a MoU with the Japan Football Association in February 2015.





AB De Villiers conferred with South Africa Cricketer of the Year

Award

AB De Villiers was on 3 June 2015 conferred with the South Africa (SA) Cricketer of

the Year Award for 2015.

The award was presented to him at the 2015 Cricket South Africa Awards presentation

ceremony held at Midrand in South Africa.

Having received the annual award for 2014 also, he joined Makhaya Ntini who received

the award in successive years- 2005 and 2006.

Till now, only eight players have received the most prestigious award of Cricket South

Africa (CSA) including Jacques Kallis (2004 and 2011) and Hashim Amla (2010 and

2013) who received the award twice.

AB De Villiers won following awards for 2015

• SA Cricketer of the Year Award

• Castle Lager ODI Cricketer of the Year

• SA Players’ Player of the Year

• SA Fans’ Player of the Year

• KFC ‘So Good’ Award

Thus, he equated the performance of Hashim Amla who won ve awards in 2010.The other major awards went to Hashim Amla as Test Cricketer of the Year, Morne

van Wyk as Ticketpro T20 Cricketer of the Year and Dale Steyn won the RAM Delivery

of the Year Award.

AB De Villiers is considered as one of the best all-round cricketer and placed at the

No. 2 spot in Test match cricket and at No. 1 in ODI cricket rankings.

He now holds the world records for the fastest 50, 100 and 150 in ODI cricket.





S Ravi inducted into Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires for

2015-16

Eminent Indian umpire Sundaram Ravi, along with Chris Gaffaney of New Zealand,

was on 4 June 2015 inducted into the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires for 2015-

16.

Both of them were promoted from the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires

and replaced New Zealand veteran Billy Bowden and Steve Davis of Australia.

The decision was taken in this regard by the International Cricket Council (ICC)

Umpires Selection Panel consisting of Chairman Geoff Allardice and others members

including S Venkataraghavan, the former India captain and an international umpire,

following an annual review and selection process.

The Elite Panel of Umpires for 2015-2016 will be: Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena,

Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough,

Nigel Llong, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker and Bruce Oxenford.

With the present appointment, Sundaram Ravi has become the rst Indian after S

Venkataraghavan who was inducted into the elite panel in 2004.

Ravi has umpired in six Tests, 24 ODIs and 12 T20Is, since making his international

debut in Visakhapatnam in December 2011 in an ODI between India and the West

Indies.

He also umpired in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 earlier this year in Australia andNew Zealand.

Inderjeet won gold in shot put at 21st Asian Athletics

Championships

Inderjeet Singh won gold medal in men’s shot put event in the 21st Asian Athletics

Championships on 3 June 2015. The 21st Asian Athletics Championships is being





held from 3 June to 7 June 2015 at Wuhan, China.

The 27-year-old Up and coming track and eld star Inderjeet heaved the iron ball to

a new championship record of 20.41meter, which he achieved in his fourth attempt.

With this, he became the eighth Indian shot putter to win a gold medal in the history

of Asian championships.

Chang Ming-Huang of Chinese Taipei won the silver with a throw of 19.56meter, while

Tian Zizhong of the home country bagged the bronze with a throw of 1925meter.

Ravi Shastri re-appointed as Director of Indian Cricket team

Ravi Shastri, the former cricket captain of Indian team, was on 2 June 2015 re-

appointed as the Director of Indian cricket team for the Bangladesh tour. His

appointment was made by BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India).

Team India’s tour to Bangladesh will start from 10 June 2015. During the tour, India

will play one Test and three One-Day Internationals matches.

His appointment is a stop-gap arrangement for the short tour as the BCCI is yet to

decide on a full-time coach. The post had been lying vacant since 2013 when Duncan

Fletcher vacated the ofce.

Shastri was appointed as Director of Indian team for the rst time during India’s tour

to Australia and in the subsequent 2015 World Cup. Till now, Shastri represented

India in 80 Tests and 150 ODIs and was part of the side, which lifted the 1983 WorldCup.

Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman inducted in BCCI’s Cricket Advisory

Committee

Former cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman on 1 June

2015 were inducted into the BCCI’s newly-constituted cricket advisory committee.





The President of the BCCI, Jagmohan Dalmiya nominated the trio as esteemed

members of the Cricket Advisory Committee of the BCCI, with immediate effect. Their

inclusion in the panel was announced by BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur through a

tweet.

This Cricket Advisory Committee will advise the BCCI on various progressive steps

needed to enable Indian Cricket to be better prepared for the challenges of the

future. It will also guide the Indian team to enhance their performance ob overseas

engagements, as well as direction to improve their talent.

Gurpreet Singh became 5th Indian to get quota place in shooting for 2016 RioOlympics

Gurpreet Singh on 31 May 2015 won a quota place in shooting for the 2016 Rio

Olympics by nishing fourth in the Men’s 10 meter Air pistol nal at the ISSF Shooting

World Cup in Munich.

Singh succeeded in getting quota place in shooting for Rio Olympics after scoring

154 points in the nals.

With this, he became the fth Indian shooter to win a quota place for the Rio Olympics

after Gagan Narang, Jitu Rai, Apurvi Chandela and Abhinav Bindra. He is also the

second Indian to secure an Olympic berth at the ongoing World Cup after Bindra.

Each country can win a maximum of 30 quota places from a total of 15 shooting

disciplines including shotgun events, two each from each discipline.





STATEDelhi Budget 2015-16: Highlights

Delhi Budget 2015-16 was presented by the Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodiaon 25 June 2015 in the Vidhan Sabha. The budget has been termed as rstSwaraj

Budget and is the rst participatory budget of India.

Main Highlights

• The 41129 crore rupees budget comprises of 19000 crore rupees Plan Budget

and 22129 crore rupees as Non-Plan Buget

• A Swaraj Fund of 253 crore rupees is proposed to be created with an aim to

prioritize implementation of the programmes selected by the citizens for the

development of their area.

• Proposes to set up a new agency Delhi Urban Development Agency (DUDA) in

each revenue district to execute the works recommended by the citizens under

the Swaraj Fund and Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Fund

• Proposes to provide a total nancial support of 5908 crore rupees to local bodiesin 2015-16 which is 14.4 percent of the total budget

• Proposes 1690 crore rupees as subsidy for measures like reduction of electricity

bill and supplying free water up to 20000 litres per month

• Creation of buffer stock of onion and potato to be released during the scarcity

period

• Proposes to launch free Wi-Fi services in all colleges and rural areas during 2015-16





• Doubling the outlay on education by a whopping 106 percent, the budget proposes

to spend 4570 crore rupees on education

• 50 schools to be developed as Model Schools with modern facilities and

infrastructure and 236 new schools have been planned

• Proposes to launch a Higher Education and Skill Development Guarantee Scheme

wherein students can get loan up to 10 lakh rupees without any collateral or margin

money

• Proposes 310 crore rupees for promotion of Vocational education and for setting

up a Skill University for skill development diploma/degree courses

• Proposes to open three new ITIs in Rahola, Chhatarpur and Bakkarwala, ve new

polytechnics one each in North, North East, Central, New Delhi and West Districts

of Delhi

• Proposes to upgrade Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology into a University and

increasing its strength from 3000 to 12000 over ve years

• Proposes to set up three new hospitals with total bed capacity of 1800 at Nangloi,

Siraspur and Madipur

• Proposes to set up 500 Mohalla Clinics in all parts of Delhi in 2015-16

• Proposes to set up an Advance Trauma Care Centre in LN Hospital for sports

injury rehabilitation with 100 trauma beds including ICU and OT facilities

• Proposes to provide 1500 rupees subsidy on purchase of e-rickshaw so as to

provide last mile connectivity

• Proposes to bring 10000 buses of different specications to meet the differentiate

need of the commuters from the private sector under the PPP Cluster Scheme

• Proposes to introduce Passenger Information System to provide the real-time

information

• Proposes to launch a mobile app for Self Meter Reading and Bill Generation toprovide water and sewer services to citizens in efcient and friendly manner





• Proposes to create a Energy Conservation Fund in 2015-16 to nance energy

efcient projects and street lighting, etc

• A new scheme Jan Jal Prabandhan Yojana will be launched to involve the community

in management of water and sewerage services in a decentralized manner

• A new Water Treatment Plant is proposed to be set up at Iradatnagar and existing

water treatment plants at Chandrawal and Wazirabad will be rehabilitated to

increase the water production to meet the demand

Assam entrepreneurs signed pact on waste management

Two local entrepreneurs, namely Satyaki Saikia and Pulak Roy, in fourth week of

June 2015 signed agreements with several civic bodies in Assam to do away with the

plastic hazards under a solid-waste management project.

Basic objective of the project is to save society from hazards and pollution created

by the huge amount of increasing municipality solid waste.

Features of the project

• These would minimise the waste produced in the urban areas and convert them

to useful products like bio-manure and bricks.

• Plastic part of waste will be converted and used to manufacture Reinforced

Thermoplastic Composite Board (RTCB), which is a perfect replacement for wood

and largely used for making shutters, furniture and doors

• The biodegradable part will be converted into bio-manure, which has a greatdemand in agricultural sector

To manage wastes, they have acquired technology from Calcutta-based SKC Group

of Companies. At present, the technology is being used in states like Odisha, Bengal

and Bihar.

Each of these project will cost around 20 – 30 crore rupees which would be sponsored

by the Union Government.





Jagmohan Yadav appointed as DGP of Uttar Pradesh

1983 batch Indian Police Service ofcer Jagmohan Yadav was on 30 June 2015

appointed as the Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttar Pradesh. He is the 8th

police chief of Uttar Pradesh in the last three-and-a-half years of the Samajwadi

Party (SP) rule.

He succeeded AK Jain who retired as DGP on 30 June 2015. Jain, in reality, retired

on 31 March 2015 but was given three months extension by the state government.

The 1983 batch IPS ofcer will have tenure of six months before his retirement. Yadav

was earlier posted as Director General, Criminal Investigation Department (CBCID).

He was made Additional Director General (ADG), Law and order in 2012.

National Level Sikh museum to be constructed in Lakhnaur Sa-

hib Village of Punjab

A national level museum of Sikh heritage will be setup in Lakhnaur Sahib village close

to Ambala City, Punjab. This announcement was made by Ratan Lal Kataria, MP

from Ambala on 29 June 2015.

Lakhnaur Sahib is a historical village as the mother of tenth Sikh guru Guru Gobind

Singh, Mata Gujari belonged to the place. Guru Gobind Singh had also spent a fewyears of his childhood in the village.

Around 17 acres of land belonging to Maharaja Ranjit Singh had been lying vacant in

the village, which would now be utilized for the museum. Some articles belonging to

Guru Gobind Singh and his mother Mata Gujari will also be kept in the museum and

it would be developed on the lines of Anandpur Sahib Museum.

Kataria also announced a contribution of 11 lakh rupees for the gurudwara from

Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) funds.





Gurudwara Lakhnaur Sahib

Gurudwara Lakhnaur Sahib is located on the Ambala Barola Road in village Lakhnaur,

about twelve km from Ambala City. It is associated with the Tenth Guru, Guru Gobind

Singh Ji. Lakhnaur was the ancestral home of Mata Gujari, the mother of Guru Gobind

Singh and wife of Guru Tegh Bahadur.

The Gurudwara building is called Mata Gujari da Khuh (Mother Gujari’s Well). Mata

Gujari’s well, sarovar and Baoli are remnants of the visit of Guru Gobind Singh Ji

to this village. Among the other articles associated with the Guru and his family on

display here include the Guru’s bed, Mata Gujari’s bed, weapons and utensils usedin the langar.

Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa launched rst phase of Chennai

Metro Rail Service

The rst phase of Chennai Metro Rail service was on 29 June 2015 launched by TamilNadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. The rst phase of Metro service covers the 10-km

elevated stretch. It connects Alandur in south Chennai to Koyabedu in the north.

The whole project is implemented by Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL). The project

was approved by then Congress-led UPA government in 2009.

With launching of this Metro service, Chennai became seventh city in India to have

metro service including Delhi, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Kolkata and Jaipur.Highlights of the rst phase of Chennai Metro Rail Service

• The 10-km overhead stretch, from Alandur in south Chennai to Koyabedu in the

north, will be covered in 18 minutes.

• The metro will bear four coaches with a capacity of 1276 passengers.

• It will cover seven stations in the stretch- Koyambedu, Arumbakkam, Vadapalani,

Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus, Ashok Nagar, Ekkattuthangal.

• The two corridors of Phase-1 of Chennai Metro Rail cost 16500 rupees to the





state and will cover a 45-km stretch in the city.

• Designed as half underground and the rest elevated, corridor 1 is between

Washermanpet and the airport. While, corridor 2 is from Chennai Central to St

Thomas Mount and is likely to be ready by the 2015 end.

APMDC signed MoU with NSL Mining Resources India Pvt Ltd

for iron ore mining projects

The Andhra Pradesh Mining Development Corporation (APMDC) 24 June 2015

signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an Australian rm NSL Mining

Resources India Pvt Ltd for beneciation of low-grade iron ore in Kurnool and Kadapa

districts.

The beneciation of low-grade iron ore process includes separation of the required

mineral from extracted ore and removal of the unusable part.

The MoU was signed during AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s meeting

with an Australian delegation led by Steven Ciobo, Parliamentary Secretary to the

Australian Trade and Investment Minister.

NSL Mining Resources India Pvt Ltd is a subsidiary of Australian NSL Consolidated

Ltd while APMDC works under the Andhra Pradesh Government.

BHEL commissioned rst 250-MW unit of NTPC’s Bongaigaon

Thermal Power Project

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) on 24 June 2015 commissioned the rst

unit of 250-MW of Bongaigaon thermal power project of National Thermal Power

Corporation (NTPC) in Assam.

The project is located at Kumguri village of Salakati near Bongaigaon in Kokrajhar

district. It is spread over an area of 964 acres.





Fuel for the plant will be sourced from the mines in Margherita area in Assam under

North-Eastern Coal Fields LTD (NECL) and Raniganj coal sources in West Bengal

under Eastern Coal Fields Ltd (ECL).

BHEL is executing the NTPC’s project for setting up three units of 250 MW (750 MW

in total) each as coal-based project which will be completed by 2016. On completion,

this will become the highest rating coal based power plant in North East India.

The beneciary states of the project are seven states of North East and adjoining

Eastern region states along with the Union Territories.

Known as the gateway to Lower Assam, Bongaigoan is one of the industrial towns ofthe state, which also has a major petrochemical industry.

Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee appointed as acting Chief

Justice of Karnataka High Court

Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee on 24 June 2015 was appointed as the acting Chief

Justice of Karnataka High Court. He was the senior-most Judge of the High Court.

He was appointed by the President Pranab Mukherjee as per the powers vested in

him under theArticle 223 of the Indian Constitution.

He will assume the charge from the date Justice Dhirendra Hiralal Waghela relinquishes

the ofce consequent upon his transfer as the Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court.

As per article 223 of the Indian Constitution, the President of India can appoint one of

the other judges of a High Court as acting Chief Justice of High Court when the ofce

of Chief Justice of High Court is vacant or when any such Chief Justice is, by reason

of absence or otherwise, unable to perform the duties of his ofce.

Rajasthan topped the list of States commissioning grid

connected Solar Power projects





Rajasthan topped the list of states commissioning grid connected solar power

projects in the country with an installed capacity of 1147 megawatt. The list was

released by the Union ministry of New and Renewable Energy on 4 June 2015.

Gujarat, which remained the undisputed leader in solar energy generation till 2014,

came second with an installed capacity of 1000MW.

Top 5 states commissioning grid connected Solar Power Projects

States Installed Capacity (Megawatt)

Rajasthan 1147

Gujarat 1000

Madhya Pradesh 563.58

Maharashtra 363.7

Andhra Pradesh 248.4

In the last one year, Rajasthan government has inked agreements with private players

to develop solar parks with a cumulative capacity of 26000 MW. Once fully operational,

these parks can attract investments worth more than 1.50 lakh crore rupees.

The state has also signed MoUs with power developers like SunEdison, Adani

Enterprises, Reliance Power and Azure Power that will generate 14000 MW solar

power. National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is already in the process of

commissioning 680 MW in the state.

Lucknow zoo renamed after last Nawab Wajid Ali Shah

Uttar Pradesh Government on 23 June 2015 renamed the Lucknow Prani Udyan,

popularly known as Lucknow zoo, asNawab Wajid Ali Shah Prani Udyan, Lucknow.

Shah was the last Nawab of Oudh under whom the province was annexed by theBritish under the policy of Doctrine of Lapse in 1856. Later, Shah was exiled to Matia





Birj in Bengal.

Lucknow Zoo established in 1921 and named after England’s Prince of Wales as

Prince of Wales Zoological Gardens was renamed as Lucknow Prani Udyan on 4

June 2001.

Since independence, it is the rst incident in which a monument was named after a

Nawab of Oudh or Avadh.

Besides, the state government also renamed Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary of Unnao

district as Shaheed Chandra Shekhar Azad Pakshi Vihar, Nawabganj. The sanctuary

was named after revolutionary freedom ghter Chandra Shekhar Azad because of Azad’s parental ties with Unnao district.

Azad was born on 23 July 1906 in Alirajpur district in Madhya Pradesh but his father

Sitaram Tiwari, belonged to Badarka village in Unnao district.

The decisions of renaming the zoo and bird sanctuary were taken at a cabinet meet

chaired by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

Maharashtra declared Blue Mormon as State buttery

Maharashtra Government on 23 June 2015 declared the Blue Mormon (Papilio

polymnestor) as the State buttery. Blue Mormom is the second largest buttery

found in India after the southern birdwing.

With this, Maharashtra became India’s rst state to have a State buttery.

The decision to declare Blue Mormom as the state buttery was taken at a meet of

the State Wildlife Board in Mumbai.

Blue Mormom

It is a large, swallowtail black coloured velvet winged buttery. They carry bright blue

spots on wings and red spot in the body.The species of buttery is primarily found in Sri Lanka and South India (mainly restricted





to the Western Ghats of Maharashtra, South India and coastal belts). Occasionally

it is also spotted in the mainland of Maharashtra between Vidarbha and Western

Maharashtra.

Earlier, the state government has declared Yellow-footed Green Pigeon as state bird,

Giant Squirrel as state animal, Mango as state tree and Jarul as the state ower.

Jharkhand Government banned sale of thermocol plates

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghuvar Das on 19 June 2015 imposed a ban on sale of

thermocol plates in entire state. The decision was taken with an aim to promote leaf

plates and generate employment for the poor and tribal people of the state, who are

engaged in making leaf plates.

The Chief Minister, who is on a two-day visit to West Singhbhum district including

naxal-affected Saranda, also announced one lakh rupees to the villages which will

become liquor-free.

Besides, the Chief Minister also directed ofcials to provide electricity in the Sarandaarea through solar power.

WB State Assembly passed West Bengal Tea Plantation

Employees Welfare Fund Bill, 2015

The West Bengal (WB) State Assembly on 18 June 2015 passed West Bengal Tea

Plantation Employees Welfare Fund Bill, 2015. The bill is aimed at ensuring welfare

and provision of basic amenities for tea plantation workers in the state.

Provisions of the Bill

• It will provide interest subvention and matching grants to the employers of tea

gardens as soft loan which they may take for undertaking social welfare schemes,

medical facilities, housing, primary education, potable water supply, sanitation

and child care.





• It will provide other basic amenities for the families of tea plantations employees.

• It will provide scholarships to the children of tea garden employees for undergoing

training in technical institutes and polytechnics.

• It creates a 100 crore rupees corpus aimed at prodding owners to modernise

closed and sick tea gardens.

• It will have representations from trade unions and will ensure compliance of welfare

measures by the estates.

West Bengal is the second largest Indian tea-growing State after Assam, accounting

for a quarter of India’s 1100 million kg tea output. There are 283 registered gardens in

Darjeeling, Dooars and Terai. Several Central and state-sponsored welfare schemes

are now being run in these gardens.

Madras HC made wearing of helmets for two-wheelers compulsory

from 1 July 2015

The Madras High Court (HC) on 17 June 2015 directed the Tamil Nadu Government

to make wearing of helmets for two-wheelers compulsory from 1 July 2015 onwards.

This direction was given with concern over the increasing number of people losing

their lives in road accidents.

The order was passed by Justice N Kirubakaran who directed the State Home

Secretary to make the public aware of the happening through media under Section

129 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

The high court also told ofcials to install CCTV cameras in all junctions and roads

for monitoring the implementation of the respective order. If the rider fails to comply

with the rule, then his/her documents like driving licence will be impounded by the

concerned authorities.

The Surface Transport Ministry was told to look into the design of helmets to provideadequate visibility on the front and on the sides as well.





Background

Tamil Nadu has always been careless regarding the rule despite the various judgments

given by the Supreme Court and various other High Courts regarding the same rule.

Over the last 10 years in Tamil Nadu, a total of 41330 people lost their lives in accidents

as they were not wearing helmets and some 4253038 cases of non-compliance of

the same were registered. Also, a total of 62413 cases pertaining to head injuries

were led in the last 10 years.

Kapil Mishra appointed as Chairman of Delhi Jal Board

Delhi Law Minister Kapil Mishra was on 15 June 2015 appointed as the Chairman of

the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). He succeeded Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

Earlier, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung administered oath of ofce and

secrecy to Kapil Mishra as a Law Minister in Delhi Cabinet. Mishra was inducted in

the Cabinet following the resignation of Jitender Singh Tomar as Law Minister.

Tomar resignation came following his arrest by Delhi Police in connection with his

fake degree case.

Mishra is an AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) MLA from Karawal Nagar who won by a margin

of over 44000 votes in 2014 Delhi Elections.

Telangana Government unveiled Telangana Industrial Policy

2015

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on 12 June 2015 unveiled the

Telangana Industrial Policy 2015 in Hyderabad. The policy is intended to boost

industrial activity and employment opportunities in the state.

Highlights of Telangana Industrial Policy 2015





• Industrialists are accorded with Right to timely clearances from the state

government in order to set up industries.

• Clearances will be given in 2 weeks for mega projects.

• A system of self certication has been put in place for industrialists backed by

the Telangana State Industrial Project Approval and Self Certication System (TS-

iPASS) Act, 2014.

• A single window clearance system will be established.

• Entrepreneurs need to ll only a single common online application form.

• Industries categorized as Green (non- hazardous), Orange (less hazardous) and

Red (more hazardous) will be accorded approval within 15 days, 21 days and 30

days respectively.

• Fifteen sectors were identied as focus areas including Life Sciences, Automobiles,

Gems and Jewellery and IT & Hardware.

• All the industries will be given power supply round the clock.• A Chasing cell will be set up in the Chief Ministers Ofce (CMO).

• A nodal ofcer will be appointed to oversee matters related to industrial approval

and establishment under the policy.

Tamil Nadu and Adani Power Ltd signed PPA to set up 200 MW

solar power plant in Ramanathapuram

Tamil Nadu Government and Adani Power Ltd in the second week of June signed

a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to set up a 200 MW solar power plant in

Ramanathapuram district.

The plant will be constructed with an investment of nearly 1400 crore rupees.

The district was chosen by the group because of the fact that it is one of the two

districts along with Thoothukudi that receive highest solar radiation in the state.





In March 2015, Adani Power Ltd applied to Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution

Corporation (TANGDECO) for a load ow study to establish 1000 MW solar plant at

Kamuthi in the district.

In 2012, the State government unveiled Solar Energy Policy (SEP) that envisaged

generation of 1000 MW every year for three years through utility scale projects,

rooftops and Renewable Energy Certicates (REC) schemes.

However, the plan did not fructied with the state’s total grid connected solar power

achieving a mere 5 percent of its goal due to high capital cost (7 crore rupees per

MW) and land requirements (5 acres for 1 MW) involved in setting up solar powerplants.

As per data released by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Tamil

Nadu ranks seventh in terms of total commissioned solar capacity till May 2015,

contributing just about 3.8 percent of the total capacity of 3.88 GW.

In India, Rajasthan and Gujarat lead among the states and Union Territories (UTs) in

terms of solar power generation because of the fact that both the states receive high

solar radiation and have lot of arid land that is available at low cost.

Kapil Mishra named as Delhi Law Minister

Delhi Jal Board vice-chairman Kapil Mishra was on 10 June 2015 named as the new

Law Minister of Delhi.34-year-old Mishra, who represents Karawal Nagar Assembly seat, will succeed

Jitendra Singh Tomar who resigned on 9 June 2015 following his arrest in fake degree

case.

Mishra has been associated with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal since the days of

India Against Corruption (IAC).





Bihar launched campaign Badh Chala Bihar to produce

Bihar@2025 vision document

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on 9 June 2015 launched a campaign called Badh

Chala Bihar in Patna to collate ideas from the public to produce Bihar@2025. It is a

vision document on state’s development between 2015 and 2025.

Features of the campaign

• Its purpose is to ensure public participation in policy making.• It will elicit views of people; encourage them to tell about their issues, and what

they want in health, electricity, education, employment and other sectors of

development.

• It aims to reach out to four crore people residing in 40000 villages in the state,

including 10000 government and civil society members over the next eight to 10

weeks.

• Views will also be sought from people hailing from nonresident Biharis, as well as

from specialists in different elds.

• It is touted as world’s largest campaign for participatory agenda through massive

engagement of citizens.

• All the views and opinions collected as part of the campaign will be documented

and included to prepare Bihar@2025.

AMC launched USE and GET PAID scheme

Ahmadabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on 9 June 2015 announced USE and GET

PAID scheme, under which people will be paid one rupees for using public toilets.

The announced scheme aims to eradicate the practice of open defecation and willhelp to keep the city clean.





The scheme was recently approved by the standing committee of the AMC. According

to the health ofcer of AMC, every user will not be paid but the corporation will

identify people who defecate in open and sensitise them to use public toilets. Thescheme will be implemented in next few days.

AMC has turned around its previous scheme PAY and USE, under which people were

supposed to pay for using the public toilets.

The scheme was launched after the corporation indentied 120 spots in the city

where people used to defecate in the open. Now, these places will be provided with

lavatory facilities.

Bombay High Court banned horse driven carriages in Mumbai

The Bombay High Court on 8 June 2015 banned horse driven carriages in Mumbai.

The judgment was delivered by the Division Bench of Justices A S Oka and A K Menon

on a petition by the Animals and Birds Charitable Trust. The petitioners contended

that the horses were forced to overwork.

The bench termed that the use of horse carriages for joyrides is illegal and granted

one year to the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) to implement the

complete ban.

In Mumbai, the decorated horse-driven carriages are used for joyrides at Marine

Drive and other beaches.

The court also directed the state government to identify the number of families whose

livelihoods were connected with the running of horse carriages and come up with

schemes for their rehabilitation by December 2015. The government would also have

to formulate schemes for rehabilitation of the animals.

After the expiry of the one-year period, the MCGM would have to close down all

the stables meant for horses and ponies and take action under the provisions of thePrevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.





Haryana’s Jind, Karnal & UP’s Muzaffarnagar included in NCR

Jind and Karnal districts of Haryana and Muzaffarnagar of Uttar Pradesh were

included in National Capital Region on 9 June 2015.

This inclusion was announced by Urban Development minister M Venkaiah Naidu

after a meet of National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) meeting in New

Delhi.

The meeting was attended by Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and

representatives and government ofcials of other member states. Delhi Health

Minister Satyender Jain was representing Delhi government.

Earlier on 1 July 2013, Bhiwani and Mahendragarh districts of Haryana and Bharatpur

district of Rajasthan were included in the National Capital Region.

National Capital Region

National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) came into being in 1985, with

enactment of the National Capital Region Planning Board Act, 1985 of Government

of India. The aim of the concept was to develop a metropolitan area around Delhi, so

as to divert increasing pressure of population from the region.

The concept was essential in order to protect Delhi’s infrastructure from excessive

pressure and a planned development of the region.

Union Environment Ministry approved Coastal Road Project of

Mumbai

Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) Prakash

Javadekar on 8 June 2015 cleared the Coastal Road Project of Mumbai, Maharashtra.This 12000-crore project will cover 35.6 km between Nariman Point and Kandivali,





along the western seafront. The project will begin in mid-August 2015. The project

will help in decongesting Mumbai roads and will also create 91 hectares of green

space.

The Environment Ministry wanted to ensure three things before approvingthe project. These things were:

• Reclamation of land should be minimal

• No commercial activity should be carried out on reclaimed land

• The land will be open to public

The project was conceived by the previous Congress-NCP government after it

decided to drop the extension of Bandra-Worli sea link project up to Haji Ali.

Earlier on 6 June 2015, Maharashtra government signed a Memorandum of

Understanding with the Government of the Netherlands for obtaining technical advice

on feasibility of building Metro track along the proposed coastal road connecting

north and south Mumbai.

AP Postal Circle decided to sell River Godavari water as GOD-

JAL during Pushkaram festival

Andhra Pradesh (AP) circle of India Post in the rst week of June 2015 decided to

sell River Godavari water as GOD-JAL (Godavari Pushkaram Jal) during Pushkaram

festival season between 14 July and 25 July 2015.

The GOD-JAL will be sold at post ofces across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and

will be available for citizens who will not be able to take a dip in the river during the

Pushkaram festival.

500 ml of puried GOD-JAL will be duly bottled and puried as per ISI standards and

will be delivered at door step for as low a cost as 20 rupees per bottle.

The GOD-JAL will be sold through 95 post ofces, 2360 sub post ofces and 13611

branch post ofces of the two states.





The water can also be ordered online at www.appost/in/eshop by devotees till 14

July 2015. Even the abroad orders will be delivered through WorldNet Express, while

domestic orders will be delivered through EMS Speed Post.

The decision to sell the waters of River Godavari in the two states by AP Postal circle

was taken in lieu of the fact that most of the river length lies in both the states where

the Pushkaram festival is taking place.

Godavari Mahapushkaram is a unique event which happens once in 144 years. It is

once in a life time opportunity for believers to dip in the river and get puried.

HP High Court asked state government to establish separate

homes for differently-abled people

The High Court of Himachal Pradesh on 5 June 2015 asked the state government to

establish separate homes for differently-abled, shelter less, destitute and mentality

challenged people. The state government was asked to complete the work within ayear.

The court also directed the Principal Secretary (Social Justice and Empowerment) to

release adequate funds for the purpose within eight weeks. In order to ascertain that

people in old age homes are provided with the basic amenities or not, the court also

asked the Director Welfare to visit the old age homes.

It directed that if the amenities are not being provided then, the same should bemade available to them within two weeks after visiting the homes.

A division bench comprising Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan

passed these orders, taking cognizance of a letter written by Chairman, Umang

Foundation, Ajai Srivastava, wherein he had raised questions on the pathetic living

conditions provided to the inmates at the Old Age Home, Basantpur near Shimla.





Union Government signed 400 million US dollars loan agreement

with World Bank for TNSUDP

The Union Government on 4 June 2015 signed Loan and Project Agreements with

the World Bank for assistance of 400 million US dollars for Tamil Nadu Sustainable

Urban Development Project (TNSUDP).

The objective of the project is to improve urban services in participating Urban

Local Bodies (ULBs) in a nancially sustainable manner and to pilot improved urban

management practices in selected cities. The total project size is 600 million US

dollars

Three main components of the Project

Investment in Urban Services: The project will support improvement in range of urban

services including water, sewerage, municipal solid waste, urban transportation,

sewerage management and storm water drainage. The project includes creation of a

reserve fund to provide credit enhancements for municipal bonds and other market

based Loan instruments issued by ULBs.

Result Based Grants for Urban Governance: The project will provide results-based

grants to eligible ULBs to implement new urban-management models that strengthen

governance and nancial sustainability.

Urban Sector Technical Assistance: The project will support strengthening the

capacity of ULBs and urban sector ofcials.

Delhi Metro got its rst driver-less train

Delhi Metro on 4 June 2015 received its rst driver-less train from Korea-based

manufacturer. The train is equipped with several advanced features and will be

operational on sections of Phase-III of the network, set to be operational by December2016.





Features of these trains

• Manufactured at Changwan in South Korea, the new train has undergone signicant

technological as well as eco-friendly upgrades. Many additional features have

been added to increase passenger comfort.

• The train will be more energy efcient because of improved design features such

as better regeneration of energy during braking, energy efcient sub systems like

LED lighting and air conditioning systems.

• The train is are designed for a maximum speed of 95 kmph and operational speed

of 85 kmph

• Due to the absence of cabin for the operator, these train will be able to accommodate

2280 passengers, which is 240 more than the regular six-coach Metro train

This six-coach train was ferried to India by sea to Gujarat’s Mundhra port and then

was brought to Delhi by road on specially made trailers.

These trains would run on the over 58 km-long Majlish Park-Shiv Vihar and the over

38 km-long Janakpuri (West)-Botanical Garden corridors of the Phase-III.

According to DMRC, a total of 20 such train sets of Hyundai Rotem will be manufactured

in South Korea’s Changwan by the end of 2015 while the remaining 61 are being

manufactured at the Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) plant in Bengaluru.

Jharkhand Cabinet approved Jharkhand Special Courts

Ordinance, 2015

Jharkhand Cabinet on 3 June 2015 approved Jharkhand Special Courts Ordinance,

2015. The decision was taken during a Cabinet meet chaired by Chief Minister

Raghubar Das.

These Special Courts will be established for speedy trail of corruption cases and will

help in creating a corruption-free state.

Further these courts will enable prosecution of individuals responsible for hoarding





black money and conscate the illegal acquired property of the guilty.

The step to create such Special Courts was taken in light of increasing number of

corruption cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 which resulted in

delay in disposal of cases by the vigilance courts.

In this light, the Cabinet requested the Governor of Jharkhand Draupadi Murmu to

provide clearance to the Jharkhand Special Court Ordinance, 2015 under Article 213

of the Constitution of India, which deals with the power of Governor to promulgate

ordinances during recess of Legislature.

Phase 1A of Jaipur Metro Rail Services inaugurated

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on 3 June 2015 inaugurated phase 1A of

metro rail services in Jaipur. With this, the pink city became the sixth city in the country

to have metro service; other ve cities are Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bangalore, and

Kolkata.In the rst phase, the metro will run on 9.6 kilometer stretch covering nine stations

from residential area Mansarovar to business hub in Chandpole.

Jaipur Metro has added three unique features in its service, and they are

• Passenger will enjoy jerk free journey because of Wheel Mounted Disk Braking

System.

• Each Coach is equipped with LCD which will continuously display information for

the passengers.

• It also carries facilities for special challenged people and senior citizens.

The Jaipur metro work is publicized as one of the fastest-built metros in the country

as it has been developed in a time period of four-and-a-half years.

One most important fact of Jaipur metro service is that six out of 24 Metro trainoperators, that is, 25 percent of metro drivers, are women.





Jaipur Metro Rail Project has been developed by Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation Ltd

(JMRCL) which was set up as a wholly owned subsidiary by the Government of

Rajasthan.

Maharashtra Cabinet approved a Composite Renewable Energy

Policy

Maharashtra Cabinet on 2 June 2015 approved a Composite Renewable Energy

Policy worth 4156.43 crore rupees which would help attract investment of 1 lakh

crore rupees. The policy was approved at a cabinet meet chaired by Chief Minister

Devendra Fadnavis.

The policy aims at achieving 14400 MW of installed capacity from the present 6700

MW over a period of ve years, that is, till 2020. In terms of percentage, the policy

targets to increase the share of renewable energy in total electricity production in the

state to 15 percent from present 9 percent.Out of the total 14400 MW installed capacity 7500 MW would come from solar energy,

5000 MW from wind energy, 1000 MW from bagasse based co-generation, 400 MW

from small hydro, 200 MW from industrial waste and 300 MW from agriculture waste-

based products.

Apart from this, in order to promote installation of new renewable projects, the state

government also decided to simplify the consent norms and reduce the number of

clearances.

Further, the procurement process would be by way of competitive bidding so as to

benet consumers in terms of affordable tariff.

In terms of nancial incentives, the state government decided to provide an exemption

on electricity duty for ten years apart from various other capital subsidies.

The current installed capacity of renewable energy in the state is 6700 MW. Currently,

the share of renewable energy is around nine per cent and we are targetting 15

percent.





PERSON IN NEWS

NEWS CAPSULE

Keith Vaz re-elected as chairman of UK Parliament committee

Britain’s longest-serving Indian-origin MP, Keith Vaz on 18 June 2015 was re-elected

as chairman of Parliaments Home Affairs Select Committee for the third time.

Vaz, a senior leader of Labour Party was elected as the chairman after receiving 412

votes in a secret ballot to all of the 25 select committees of the commons.

Keith Vaz born on 26 November 1956 is a British Labour Party politician who has

been Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicester East since the 1987 election. He has

been the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee since July 2007.

He was appointed as a member of the Privy Council in June 2006.

Between October 1999 and June 2001 he served as a Minister for Europe, Foreign

and Commonwealth Ofce.

Beno Zephine became rst 100% blind ofcer in IFS

Chennai’s NL Beno Zephine on 12 June 2015 became the rst 100 percent visually-

challenged person to be inducted into the Indian Foreign Services (IFS).





The 25-year-old, Beno was informed about her induction into the Indian Foreign

Services by the External Affairs Ministry.

At the time of being named as IFS ofcer, Beno was serving the State Bank of India

as a probationary ofcer. She is a postgraduate in English from Madras University.

Beno cleared her civil service examinations conducted in 2013. While preparing for

the exam, she took help of software named Job Access with Speech (JAWS), which

was a replacement of Brialle. The software allows visually challenged to read from a

computer screen, and can scan Tamil and English books.

This progressive development can be seen against the Supreme Court of India’s

order of October 2014. In its order, it had directed the Department of Personnel

& Training (DoPT) to calculate backlog vacancies for the differently-abled and then

accommodate them under the Persons with Disabilities Act 1995.

Earlier on 11 October 2013, Supreme Court also directed the Union Government to

identify the posts for disabled persons within a period of three months and implement

it without default.

UN elected Denmark’s Mogens Lykketoft to head General

Assembly

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 15 June 2015 elected Denmark’s

Mogens Lykketoft as its President for its upcoming 70th session in September 2015.He will have tenure of one year and succeeds Uganda’s Sam Kutesa to preside over

the 193-member body.

Lykketoft presently is the speaker of Danish Parliament since 2011 and is a member

of the Social Democrats party.

Earlier from 1993 to 2001, Lykketoft served Denmark as its Foreign and Finance

Ministers.





Dr Bimal K Roy removed as Director of Indian Statistical Institute

(ISI)

Dr Bimal K Roy was on 10 June 2015 removed as the Director of Indian Statistical

Institute (ISI) by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

(MOSPI).

He was removed from the position one-and-a-half months before the end of his term.

He was replaced by director-designate Prof S Bandyopadhayay who was set toassume the ofce on 1 August 2015 on Roy’s superannuation.

The ministry accused him of indiscipline and removed him on a reasonable

apprehension that he may indulge in propagation of indiscipline and mischief,

including acts of administrative and nancial impropriety in the interregnum up to 31

July 2015 when he is set to demit the ofce.

Roy was appointed to the position in August 2010.

Roy, a renowned cryptologist, was conferred with Padma Shri Award, India’s fourth

highest civilian honour in the discipline of literature and education.

Harriette Thompson became oldest woman to complete a

marathon

Harriette Thompson at 92 year 65 days became the oldest woman to complete a

marathon race on 31 May 2015.

She achieved this feat at San Diego’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon of 26.2 miles (42.2

kilometers) by completing the race in 7 hours, 24 minutes, 36 seconds. This was her

16th Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon and by far, the hardest.

With this, Harriette Thompson of Charlotte, North Carolina got her name inscribedinto the record books. The previous record holder was Gladys Burrill. She made the





record at the age of 92 years and 19 days at the 2010 Honolulu Marathon.

Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa sworn-in as Governor of Arunachal

Pradesh

Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa was sworn-in as Governor of Arunachal Pradesh on 1 June

2015. He became the 19th Governor of the state.

His oath of the ofce and secrecy was administered by the Chief Justice of GuahatiHigh Court (Acting), Justice K Sreedhar Rao in the Darbar Hall of Raj Bhawan.

His appointment was necessitated after Lt General (Retired) Nirbhay Sharma was

transferred to Mizoram in second week of May 2015. President Pranab Mukherjee on

12 May 2015 appointed Rajkhowa as the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh.

Rajkhowa was the former Chief Secretary of Assam and is a retired Indian Administrative

Service ofcer from 1968 batch.





PERSON VISIT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Bangladesh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a two-day visit to Bangladesh from 6 June to7 June 2015.

During his rst-ever visit to Bangladesh since becoming the Prime Minister, Modi was

received at the Shahjalal International airport by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina. He also received a 21-gun salute and a joint services guard of Honour in a

red carpet reception.

Events that happened during the visit include• The two nations signed, exchanged, adopted and handed 22 bilateral documents

in Dhaka, including historical 1974 Land Boundary Agreement which would settle

the 4096-kilometre-long border dispute

• Modi along with her Bangladeshi Counterpart Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee agged off the Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati and

Kolkata-Dhaka-Tripura bus services

• Modi received the Award of Liberation of War Honour on behalf of former Prime

Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who emphasized on strong ties with the neighboring

country.

• The Prime Minister Modi paid homage to martyrs of the 1971 Liberation War

against Pakistan at the National Martyrs War Memorial in Savar, about 20 kms

from Dhaka, where he planted a sapling.

• He visited the Father of Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Memorial Museum

in Dhanmudi, the site of the assassination of Bangabandhu and his family in 1975





• He offered oral tributes at the Memorial Museum on behalf of people of India

• He visited famous Dhakeshwari Kali temple in Lalbagh, Dhaka. The Dhakeshwari

temple was built in the 12th century by Ballal Sen, a King of Sena dynasty.

Dhakeshwari means Goddess of Dhaka and it was given the status of national

temple in 1996.

• He also visited the Ramakrishna Mission (RKM)

President Pranab Mukherjee concluded two-nation visit to

Sweden and Belarus

The President of India Pranab Mukherjee concluded his two-nation visit to Sweden

and Belarus.

He visited Sweden from 31 May to 2 June and Belarus from 2 June to 4 June 2015

and these visits were rst ever by an Indian President to either country.

During the visit, the President held discussions with his counterparts of both the

countries, admistrators and business leaders and concluded many agreements.

Takeaways from Sweden visit

• The focus of the visit was to strengthen bilateral economic ties and to provide

impetus to cooperation in specic areas of priority.

• Six intergovernmental agreements were concluded, covering cooperation in the

elds of urban development, medium and small-scale enterprises, polar research,

civil nuclear research and medicine.

• 17 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) were signed between educational

institutions, think tanks and the Chambers of Commerce of the two countries.

• Sweden expressed its support for India’s claim for permanent membership of the

UN Security Council (UNSC).

• Sweden expressed its support to India’s membership of the Missile Technology





Control Regime (MTCR).

• India formally conveyed its decision to grant Swedish nationals e-tourist visa.

This, along with signature of an Agreement on Diplomatic visa waiver took place.

• Sweden expressed its support to India’s membership of the Missile Technology

Control Regime (MTCR).

• Both the countries agreed to enhance bilateral trade to 5 billion US dollars by

2018.

• The President delivered a public lecture on the contemporary relevance to global

peace of Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi at Uppsala University, one of the oldest

universities of Europe founded in 1477.

Takeaways from Belarus visit

• Both the countries agreed to engage on a four-fold framework for enhanced

cooperation comprising regular political and institutional dialogue, rapid increase

in commercial and economic interaction, a paradigm shift in defence cooperation

towards joint research, design and manufacturing as well as wide-ranging

expansion of our S&T, educational, cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

• Belarus expressed its support for India’s claim for permanent membership of the

UN Security Council (UNSC).

• Five agreements and MOUs were signed, covering cooperation in textiles,

standardization, capital markets and broadcasting. A focused and substantive

Roadmap for India-Belarus Cooperation was also agreed, which identies specicareas for closer interaction in future.

• The President formally conveyed the decision of Government of India to grant

Market Economy Status to Belarus, which had been a long-standing request of

the Belarus side. This decision would open up new avenues for bilateral trade as

well as facilitate the integration of Belarus in international trade structures.

• Agricultural machinery, mining equipment, heavy construction equipment anddefence were identied as potential areas for manufacturing ventures in India.





• Both countries agreed to increase the bilateral trade 1 billion US dollars by 2020.

• India agreed to extend a new Line of Credit of 100 million US dollars to Belarus for

implementation of mutually agreed joint projects, thereby further deepening the

economic ties.

• Seven MOUs were signed between Indian and Belarusian Universities and

Institutes.

• The President, unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at the prestigious Belarus State

University campus. The University conferred upon him Professor Honoris Causa.





PERSON RESIGNED

Justice Gian Parkash Mittal resigned from the Ofce of the Judge

of Delhi High Court

Justice Gian Parkash Mittal on 19 June 2015 resigned from the Ofce of the Judge of

Delhi High Court with effect from the afternoon of 8 July 2015. However, the reason

behind his resignation was not disclosed

Mittal tendered his resignation from the ofce of the Judge of Delhi High Court, in

pursuance of provision (a) to clause (1) of article 217 of the Indian Constitution.

Article 217 of the Constitution of India

Article 217 of Indian Constitution states appointment and conditions of the ofce

of a Judge of a High Court. As per clause (1) of article 217, every Judge of a High

Court shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal after

consultation with the Chief Justice of India, the Governor of the State.

And as per provision (a) to clause (1) of Article 217 of the Indian Constitution, a Judge

may, by writing under his hand addressed to the President, resign his ofce.

Said Djinnit, UN envoy to Burundi crisis, stepped down as

mediator

Said Djinnit, the United Nations (UN) envoy to Burundi crisis, stepped down from his

role as mediator of the crisis on 11 June 2015.

He stepped down following requests of the opposition parties, who accused him of





being biased and demanded a new UN mediator for the crisis.

The Burundi crisis was triggered after President Pierre Nkurunziza bid for a third-

term.

However, Djinit will remain engaged with Burundi as part of his role of UN special

envoy to the Great Lakes region. The region comprises of nations surrounding African

Great Lakes namely Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda,

Tanzania and Uganda.

Burundi crisis

Burundi’s political crisis started on 25 April 2015 after President Nkurunziza (in power

since 2005) announced that he will run for a third term in the upcoming elections.

He announced his willingness to run for the elections, despite warnings at home and

abroad.

This bid for election led to clashes between protestors and police leading to death of

at least 30 people.

According to opponents, Nkurunziza’s decision violates the constitution that limits

the president to two terms in ofce.

On the other hand, supporters say that rst term of Nkurunziza doesn’t counts as he

was not elected by people, but was appointed by the Parliament.

Sepp Blatter resigned as FIFA president amid corruption scandal

Sepp Blatter resigned as President of FIFA on 2 June 2015 amid the corruption

scandal that has engulfed the football’s governing body. Blatter has been serving as

president of world soccer governing body FIFA since 1998.

79-year-old Blatter who was re-elected as FIFA president on 29 May 2015 said that

soon a special congress would be called to elect his successor. He will exercise his

functions as FIFA president until an election is held.

His resignation came within a week after Swiss police arrested seven FIFA ofcials,





including two vice presidents, at a hotel in Zurich. The arrests were called out on behalf

of US prosecutors who accuse the seven and eight other suspects of involvement in

150 million US dollars bribe.





PERSON APPOINTED

Anshula Kant appointed as CFO and Deputy Managing Director

of SBI

Anshula Kant was on 25 June 2015 appointed as the Deputy Managing Director and

Chief Financial Ofcer (CFO) of State Bank of India (SBI). She succeeded P K Gupta,

who was promoted as Chief Executive Ofcer of SBI Capital.

Till recently, Kant headed Bombay Circle of SBI as the Chief General Manager. She

joined State Bank of India as a Probationary Ofcer in 1983. Since then, she has

handled many crucial assignments in Retail Banking, Corporate Credit, Cross-Border

Trade and Banking in Developed Markets.

Earlier, she headed Network 2 of Mumbai Circle, which spans the State of Goa

and the Districts of Pune, Solapur, Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Nashik, Ahmadnagar,

Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri in the State of Maharashtra.

She has been a Certied Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers since 1990.

Aakar Patel appointed as Executive Director of Amnesty

International India

Journalist and writer Aakar Patel appointed as Executive Director of Amnesty

International (AI) India on 18 June 2015. He will head AI India’s operations and its

efforts to end human rights abuses in India and worldwide.

Patel as the organization’s chief political advisor, strategist and spokesperson will give

direction to its goal of being an independent, effective, and deep-rooted organization





in India.

Patel’s previous work includes

• India: Low Trust Society (2015)

• Rights and Wrongs, a report on the 2002 Gujarat riots which he co-authored

• Worked as a columnist with publications in India and Pakistan

• Television and radio work as an independent expert

Antani, Joshi appointed to the board of Future Majority Project

of US Republican Party

Two Indian-Americans Niraj Antani, an Ohio State legislature and Janak Joshi, a

Colorado State legislature, were on 18 June 2015 appointed to the board of the

2015-2016 Future Majority Project of the United States (US) Republican Party.

Niraj Antani is a student at the University Of Dayton School Of Law, having previously

graduated from Ohio State University with Bachelors degree in political science. He

became the youngest member of the House of Representatives in 2014 at the tender

age of 23.

While on the other hand, Joshi has been serving as a member of the Colorado House

of Representatives since 2011. He practiced internal medicine, nephrology, and

occupational medicine from Gujarat University in India.

The Board of FMP is chaired by TW Shannon, Chairman and former Speaker of the

Oklahoma House of Representatives.

Archana Ramasundaram appointed as Director of National

Crime Records Bureau





Narendra Kumar Yadav took charge as Chairman and Managing

Director of MTNL

Narendra Kumar Yadav took charge as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD)

of the state-run telecom operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) with

effect from 8 June 2015.

This was informed by MTNL on 16 June 2015 in a ling to the Bombay Stock Exchange

(BSE).

Yadav succeeded PK Purwar, who was given additional charge of the post after

company’s CMD AK Garg retired on 30 May 2014.

Setup on 1 April 1986 by the Union Government, MTNL is the principal provider

of xed-line telecommunication service in the two Metropolitan Cities of Delhi and

Mumbai.

MTNL has also been given Navratna status in 1997 and was listed in New York Stock

Exchange in 2001.

Prof S Bandyopadhayay appointed as Director of Indian Statistical

Institute (ISI)

Prof Sanghmitra Bandyopadhayay was on 10 June 2015 appointed as the Directorof Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme

Implementation (MOSPI).

She is the rst woman to lead the institute and replaced Dr Bimal K Roy who was

removed on charges of indiscipline.

Earlier on 8 June 2015, she was appointed as director-designate of the institute and

was set to assume the ofce on 1 August 2015 on Roy’s superannuation.

She is a computer scientist specializing in computational biology. Her research is





mainly in the areas of evolutionary computation, pattern recognition, machine learning

and bioinformatics. She received Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award in 2010 for her

contributions to engineering sciences.

Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar appointed as Director of CSIR-IICT

Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar on 9 June 2015 was appointed as the Director of Hyderabad-

based CSIR-Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT). The appointment was made by

the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is President of the CSIR (Council of Scienticand Industrial Research).

He is currently working as Chief Scientist at the IICT to which he was appointed

in 2010. He has made signicant contributions in the eld of organic chemistry,

synthesis of active natural products and pharmaceutical products.

He has more than 250 publications under his name along with 5000 citations.

He is also the fellow of all the three science academies of the country includingNational Academy of Sciences, Indian Academy of Sciences and Indian National

Science Academy. Moreover, he developed PEG (polyethylene glycol) which has

many applications from industrial manufacturing to medicines. He also invented

technologies for anti-depressive compound, sertraline, Asenapine, anti-tuberculosis

drug, etc.

For his contributions, Dr. Chandrasekhar was also awarded the Infosys Prize in 2014

in Physical Sciences, thus becoming the rst synthetic chemist to be honoured withthe Infosys science award.

RC Tayal appointed as Director General of National Security

Guard

Senior IPS Ofcer RC Tayal was on 8 June 2015 appointed as the Director General

(DG) of National Security Guard (NSG). He succeeded JN Choudhury who retired





on 31 May 2015. He will serve the ofce till August 2016 when he is scheduled for

superannuation.

Prior to this appointment, Tayal was serving as the Special Director General (DG) in

paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and was heading its formation in

Jammu and Kashmir. Tayal is a 1980-batch Assam-Meghalaya cadre IPS ofcer.

He had earlier served as an Additional DG in the Sashastra Seema Bal.

About National Security Guard (NSG)

• NSG was raised in 1984 as a federal contingency force with an aim to undertakecounter-terror and counter-hijack operations and it was later tasked to protect

high-risk VVIPs.

• It operates under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and is headed by the Director

General of the Indian Police Service (IPS).

• The NSG members are also known as Black Cats because of the black drill cotton

coveralls and for the black helmets that they wear.

Vijai Sharma appointed as Chief Information Commissioner of

India

Vijai Sharma was on 8 June 2015 appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner

in the Central Information Commission (CIC), New Delhi. He will have tenure of 5years or till he attain the age of 65, whichever is earlier.

Prior to this appointment, he was serving as an Information Commissioner in Central

Information Commission since 2012. Vijai Sharma is a 1974 batch IAS ofcer of Uttar

Pradesh Cadre.

Vijai Sharma’s name for post of Chief Information Commissioner was nalized on 1

June 2015 by Selection Committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Hisappointment was further approved by President Pranab Mukherjee.





About Chief Information Commissioner

• The Chief Information Commissioner is appointed by the President of India on

the recommendation of a selection committee comprising of Prime Minister, the

leader of single largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet

Minister.

• He holds the ofce for a term of 5 years or till he attains the age of 65 years. He is

not eligible for reappointment.

• He enjoys complete nancial and administrative powers of a Department of

the Union Government except in matters relating to the creation of posts, re-

appropriation and writing-off losses.

• The Ofce of Central and State Information Commission was established under

the Right To Information (RTI) Act, 2005 as a designated statutory authority to

receive and inquire into a complaint from any person.

KV Chowdary appointed as Chief Vigilance Commissioner

1978-batch IRS ofcer KV Chowdary was on 8 June 2015 appointed as the Central

Vigilance Commissioner (CVC). He was appointed by President Pranab Mukherjee

on the recommendation of Selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra

Modi.

With this appointment, Chowdary became rst non-IAS ofcer to head the CVC since

it was formed in 1964. He is a 1978-batch IRS ofcer of the Income Tax cadre.

About Central Vigilance Commission (CVC)

• CVC was set up by the Union Government in February 1964 on the recommendations

of the K. Santhanam Committee on Prevention of Corruption.

• It has the status of statutory autonomous body and is free of control from any

executive authority as per the provisions of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Act, 2003.





• The CVC is headed by a Central Vigilance Commissioner and has two Vigilance

Commissioners. They are appointed by President on the recommendations of

Selection Committee comprising of Prime Minister, Union Minister of Home Affairsand Leader of the second largest party in the Lok Sabha.

Syed Asif Ibrahim appointed as PM’s Special Envoy on Countering

Terrorism and Extremism

Syed Asif Ibrahim was on 3 June 2015 appointed as the Prime Minister’s Special

Envoy on Countering Terrorism and Extremism. He is a former Director of Intelligence

Bureau (DIB).

In this new capacity, he will liaise with governments in West Asia, Afghanistan,

Pakistan and South East Asia, among others, in setting up channels for the exchange

of intelligence and information on terror groups.

The appointment took place in the back drop of growing concern over probable

poaching of some Indian youth by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) and

other militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq.

He will report to National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and work out of the National

Security Council (NSC) Secretariat in New Delhi.

Syed Asif Ibrahim was a 1977 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) ofcer of Madhya

Pradesh cadre and retired in December 2014.He held the position of DIB from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2014.

P Kunhikrishnan appointed as Director of Satish Dhawan Space

Centre (SDSC) SHAR

P Kunhikrishnan was on 1 June 2015 appointed as the Director of Satish Dhawan

Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR with immediate effect. He succeeded MYS Prasad, who





superannuated in May 2015.

Before the present appointment, he was the Deputy Director at Vikram Sarabhai

Space Centre (VSSC). He has made signicant contributions in the area of System

level Quality Assurance of Avionics, Electrical Integration and Checkout Systems for

various Launch Vehicles of ISRO in the career spanning over three decades.

He was also the Project Director of PSLV Project in June 2010 and has successfully

accomplished 13 PSLV Missions as Mission Director. These PSLV Missions include

PSLV-C19 that carried RISAT-1, the heaviest Indian remote sensing satellite launched

by PSLV to Sun Synchronous Orbit so far; PSLV-C25 that launched India’s MarsOrbiter Spacecraft and the four PSLV missions that launched rst four satellites of

the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).

He is the recipient of Astronautical society of India (ASI) award for the year 2011 and

ISRO Individual Merit Award for the year 2010.

SDSC SHAR works under the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and is

located on an island off Sullurupeta, a small town in Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh.

K Sivan appointed as Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre,

ISRO

K Sivan was on 1 June 2015 appointed as the Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space

Centre (VSSC), an organisation that works under Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO), in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

He took the charge on the day of his appointment and succeded M Chandradathan,

who superannuated in May 2015. Before this appointment, he was the

Distinguished Scientist and Director at Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC),

Thiruvananthapuram.

Sivan joined ISRO in 1982 for Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) Project whichhas become the foundation for ISRO launch vehicles like Geosynchronous Satellite

Launch Vehicle (GSLV), GSLV Mk-III, as well as Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology





Demonstrator (RLV-TD).

He is the chief architect of 6D trajectory simulation software SITARA which is the

backbone of the real time and non real time trajectory simulations of all ISRO launch

vehicles.

He joined GSLV Project in April 2011 as Project Director. Under his leadership, GSLV

with indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage achieved historical success on 5 January

2014. For his contributions to the Indian space sector, he has received many awards,

which include Dr Biren Roy space science award for the year 2011, ISRO merit award

for the year 2007 and Shri Hari Om Ashram Prerit Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Researchaward for the year 1999.

Person Appointed

S Somanath appointed as Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems

Centre, ISRO

S Somanath was on 1 June 2015 appointed as the Director of Liquid Propulsion

Systems Centre (LPSC) with immediate effect. LPSC works under the Indian Space

Research Organisation (ISRO) and is located at Trivandrum, Kerala.

He succeeded K Sivan, who took over as the Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space

Centre (VSSC). Before the present appointment, he was an Associate Director

(Projects), VSSC as well as Project Director of GSLV Mk-III. He joined VSSC in 1985.He is an expert in a host of disciplines including designing of launch vehicle and has

specialised in launch vehicle systems.

As a convenor, Somanath authored the Project report of GSLV Mk-III (also known as

LVM3) during 2000-2002 and joined GSLV Mk-III Project in 2003. Later, he became

the Project Director of GSLV Mk-III in 2010.

He received the Performance Excellence award from ISRO in the year 2009 andTeam excellence award for GSLV Mk-III realisation.





PERSON DIED

Patrick Macnee, star of The Avengers, died

Patrick Macnee, star of the legendary Avengers TV series, died on 25 June 2015 athis home in Rancho Mirage in California. He was 93. Macnee was known for playing

the role of secret agent John Steed in the 1960s television series The Avengers.

During his schooling, he acted in a production of Henry V with his classmate

Christopher Lee. After completing his education from Eton College, he served in

the Royal Navy during World War Two by working on torpedo boats in the English

Channel and the North Sea.

He also appeared in a few London stage productions and lms including his role as

Marley in the Alastair Sim’s A Christmas Carol.

He was born as Daniel Patrick Macnee on 6 February 1922 in London and grew up

in Lambourn.

Veteran Journalist Praful Bidwai passed away

Veteran journalist, columnist and peace activist Praful Bidwai was on 23 June 2015

passed away in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He was 65.

Born in Nagpur, he worked in the Times of India for many years as a Senior Assistant

Editor before embarking on a freelance career that made his byline a household

name across India.

He wrote a regular column for Frontline and Hindustan Times for several years besides

other magazines and newspapers published across India and the World.





He was also an anti-nuclear activist and a founding member of Coalition for Nuclear

Disarmament and Peace that was set up after the 1998 Pokhran nuclear tests.

He authored several books, including South Asia on a Short Fuse: Nuclear Politics

and the Future of Global Disarmament (1999), New Nukes: India, Pakistan and Global

Nuclear Disarmament (co-authored with Achin Vanaik in 2002) and the Politics of

Climate Change and Global Crisis: Mortgaging Our Future (2012).

He had been a Professorial Fellow at the Centre for Social Development, New Delhi

and also a Senior Fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library.

He had also served as a member of the Indian Council for Social Science Research(ICSSR), the Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE) and the National Book

Trust (NBT).

He was a long-time Fellow of the Transnational Institute, the Amsterdam-based

organisation of international scholar-activists including Susan George and Walden

Bello.

In 2000, Bidwai and Vanaik were awarded the Sean McBride International PeacePrize by the International Peace Bureau in recognition of their work opposing nuclear

weapons development in South Asia.

Titanic composer James Horner died

James Horner, the two-time Oscar-winning composer, died on 23 June 2015 in aplane crash in California, United States. He was 61. He was an accomplished concert

hall composer and later he moved into writing lm scores.

His rst major movie score was in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) lm. He

had also composed for the Avatar and Titanic, both are highest-grossing lms of all

time. Till date, he has 95 soundtrack and 158 composes to his credits which includes

music of over 100 lms.

He was recognised for his work on two other Best Pictures- Braveheart and A Beautiful

Mind. He also received nominations for An American Tail, Field of Dreams, Apollo 13





and House of Sand and Fog.

In 1997, Horner won two Oscars (Academy Awards) for Best Original Score and

along with Best Original Song for My Heart Will Go On in the biggest Hollywood hit

movie Titanic directed by James Cameron. He had also won 2 Golden Globe Awards,

3 Satellite Awards, 3 Saturn Awards and was also nominated for 3 British Academy

Film Awards.

James Horner was born on 14 August 1953 in Los Angeles, United States.

Sister Nirmala Joshi, former head of Missionaries of Charity, died

Sister Nirmala Joshi, who succeeded Mother Teresa as the head of Missionaries of

Charity, died on 22 June 2015 following a prolonged illness in Kolkata. She was 81.

Sister Nirmala’s life was devoted to service, caring for poor and underprivileged.

On 13 March 1997, six months before Mother Teresa’s death in 1997, Sister Nirmala

was selected as the Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity. In April 2009,

Sister Mary Prema was elected to succeed Sister Nirmala during a general chapter

held in Calcutta.

Sister Nirmala was born in Ranchi on 23 July 1934 to a Brahmin soldier who came

from Nepal. She had joined the Order at the age of 17.

Former Indian women’s hockey captain Shashi Bala died

Former Indian women hockey captain Shashi Bala and her son Agrim Thakur died in

a road accident at the Ropar-Nawanshahr-Phagwara area of National Highway 344-

A in Punjab on 21 June 2015.

45-year-old Bala made her international debut in 1987 and captained national hockey

team during the 1997 FIH Women World Cup Qualier held in Harare, Zimbabwe.

She was a member of the national team in the 1998 FIH World Cup in the Netherlands.





After retirement, she coached Indian Railways hockey team and later became a

selector of Hockey Punjab.

Former Turkey President Suleyman Demirel died

Former Turkish President Suleyman Demirel died on 17 June 2015 following a heart

failure and a respiratory tract infection. He was 90. Demirel was one of the dominant

gures in Turkey’s politics for over half a century.

He served as the President of Turkey from 1993 to 2000, but before that he also held

the post of Prime Minister of the country several times in the 1960s and 1970s.

Demirel launched his political career in the aftermath of the 1960 military coup that

deposed the Government of Prime Minister Adnan Menderes. He came to power

with a landslide win in 1965 as the Prime Minister of Turkey.

However, when the ideological conict started to turn violent in the Turkey, Demirel

was forced out of ofce in 1971 through a military coup. Demirel was back in power

in 1975, but his Coalition Government including Islamists and nationalists again failed

to halt Turkey’s slide into chaos.

As president, Demirel fostered ties with the Turkic republics of the former Soviet

Union and took credit for brokering the removal of an Islamist government from power

under pressure from the secular-minded military in 1997.

Demirel was a trained civil engineer. He oversaw many hydroelectric projects andbecame Director General of the State Hydraulic Works where he looked after the

construction of dams. He was born to a farming family in the western Turkish province

of Isparta in November 1924.

Las Vegas casino tycoon Kirk Kerkorian died

Las Vegas multibillionaire Kirk Kerkorian on 16 June 2015 passed away after a brief





illness. He was 98. He was famously known as a casino tycoon, Hollywood mogul,

airline owner and auto industry investor.

Kerkorian founded MGM Resorts International (MGM.N) and was its largest

shareholder. He built the world’s biggest hotel in Las Vegas, the desert gambling

capital, where he rst made his fortune in the 1950s and 1960s.

He was also a player in the automobile industry, losing a battle for control of Chrysler

in the 1990s before taking stakes in General Motors and Ford in the 2000s.

In May 2015, Forbes magazine estimated Kerkorian’s wealth at 4.2 billion US dollars

after taking a hit on his investments during the nancial crisis in 2008.

He was a skilled aviator who ew dangerous missions delivering warplanes from

Canada to Britain during World War Two and later opened a charter ight business

serving gamblers wanting to get from Los Angeles to Las Vegas more quickly than a

10-hour drive.

He was born as Kerkor Kerkorian in Fresno, California, on 6 June 1917.

Sheila Kaul, former Governor of Himachal Pradesh, died

Former Governor of Himachal Pradesh, ex-Union Minister and Congress leader

Sheila Kaul died after a brief illness on 14 June 2015. She was 100.

She is now survived by sons Gautam Kaul, a retired IPS ofcer, and Vikram Kaul, an

international sports administrator, besides daughter Deepa Kaul, a former Information

Minister in UP.

She was married to renowned botanist Kailash Nath Kaul, who established the

National Botanical Research Institute in Lucknow. Kaul, sister-in-law of Jawaharlal

Nehru, was oldest surviving former Parliamentarian.

She was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for ve times in 1971, 1980 and

1984 (from Lucknow) and in 1989, 1991 (from Rae Bareli).

• From 1980 to 84 in Indira Gandhi Government, she served as Minister of State





(MoS) for culture, Education and Social Welfare (Independent Charge).

• From 1992 to 1995 in Narasimha Rao Government, she served as Union Minister

for Housing and Urban Development and was accused of making out-of-turn

allotment of government accommodations in return for monetary gain.

• From 1995 to 1996, she served as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh.

Chandigarh’s Rock Garden creator Nek Chand died

The creator of Chandigarh’s Rock Garden Nek Chand Saini died in Chandigarh on 12

June 2015. He was 90.

His creation Rock Garden of Chandigarh was opened for public on 24 January 1976.

The garden is maintained by the Nek Chand Foundation, formed in 1996. He was

awarded the Padma Shri in 1984

The Padma awardee Nek died few days before his 40 gurative mosaic sculptureswere to be put on display for the rst time in the UK Pallant House Gallery in the

setting of historic Chichester (West Sussex) from 13 June to 25 October 2015. The

works are on loan from the Nek Chand Foundation in London.

Born on 15 December 1924 in Shakargarh region, now in Pakistan, Chand immigrated

to India with his family and settled in Chandigarh in 1950.

Veteran actor Sir Christopher Lee died at the age of 93

Veteran actor Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, famous as the master of horror,

died on 7 June 2015 at London’s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. He was 93.

Lee was famous for his role as Count Dracula in a sequence of Hammer Horror lms.

He also appeared in Lord of the Rings trilogy (as Saruman), the James Bond lmThe Man with the Golden Gun (as Francisco Scaramanga), The Hobbit lm trilogy

Count Dooku, Stars Wars prequel trilogy Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Jinnah (biopic





of Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah), The Wicker Man and others.

The actor was knighted in 2009 for services to drama and charity. In 2011 and 2013,

he was awarded with the BAFTA fellowship and BFI Fellowship, respectively.

Former Indian Cricketer Hemant Kanitkar died

Former Indian cricketer Hemant Kanitkar died after a prolonged illness on 9 June

2015 at his residence in Pune, Maharashtra. He was 72.He is survived by his wife and sons Hrishikesh, also a former Indian batsman, and

Aditya.

Kanitkar, a stalwart of domestic cricket, played two Tests as a wicketkeeper-batsman

in the home series against West Indies cricket team led by Clive Lloyd in 1974-75. He

started his rst class career in 1963 for cricket team of Maharashtra and kept playing

for it till 1978, the year of retirement.

In his rst class career, he scored 5006 runs at an average of 42.78 with 13 centuries

and 23 half-centuries.

After retiring from rst-class cricket, he served as a coach and selector for Maharashtra,

and chaired the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) All-India Junior Selection

Committee from 1996-97 and 1998-99.

Telugu writer Dasaradhi Rangacharya died at 87

Legendary Telugu writer Dasaradhi Rangacharya died in Hyderabad on 8 June 2015,

after a brief illness. He was 87.

Rangacharya, born on 24 August 1928 in a village in Khammam district, now in

Telangana, took part in the armed struggle against the erstwhile Nizam ruler.

Inspired by Marxism and socialism, Rangacharya wrote several books that highlighted





Games, passed away on 1 June 2015. He was 64. He is survived by his wife, two

sons and a daughter.

Prem Nath, a President’s Medal-winning retired Delhi Police ofcial, was known for

his efforts to popularise wrestling in Delhi.

In 1976, he took over an akhara established by Guru Baijnath in the Kamla Nagar

area of New Delhi. Today, the akhara is known as the Guru Prem Nath akhara.

In 1974, he bagged the 57kg Commonwealth Games title in New Zealand. He got the

Arjuna Award for the year 1972.

Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry Irwin Rose passed away

Irwin Rose, a biochemist who won the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, died on 2 June

2015 in his sleep in Deereld, Massachusetts. He was 88.

Rose won the Nobel Prize for discovering a way that cells destroy unwanted proteinsfor developing new therapies for diseases such as cervical cancer and cystic brosis.

Rose was born in Brooklyn, New York on 16 July 1926.





AWARDS | HONOURS

Nadia district won the UN Public Service Award 2015 for

eliminating open defecation

The district administration of Nadia, West Bengal was on 26 June 2015 conferred

with the United Nations Public Service Award 2015 for eliminating open defecation

in the district.

The award was presented by acting Secretary General of the UN Lenni Montiel along

with Head UN Women Stefani Senese to District Magistrate of Nadia and Sabhapati

of Nadia Zilla Parishad on conclusion of United Nations Day Celebrations 2015 held

at Medellin, Columbia.

Nadia district could achieve this feat due to its collaborative effort with the United

Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Bank aimed at construction of toilets

across the district.

Till October 2013, half of the district’s population was defecating in open spaces.

However, the situation was improved under the Sabar Souchagar (Toilets for All)

programme that was launched on 2 October 2013 by the district administration.

Under this programme, around 356000 toilets were built that resulted in decline in the

number of people continuing with the practice to meager 0.2 percent.

Earlier, on 30 April 2015, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declared

Nadia as the rst open defecation-free (ODF) district in Indiaand launched Mission

Nirmal Bangla (MNB) aimed at making the state open defecation free.

She also declared 30 April as Nirmal Bangla Diwas, to be observed across the state,to mark the occasion.





About United Nations Public Service Awards

It is the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service. Itrewards the creative achievements and contributions of public service institutions that

lead to a more effective and responsive public administration in countries worldwide.

In 2014, the project Mobile Seva under Department of Electronics and Information

Technology (DeitY) had won the second rank in the 2014 United Nations Public

Service Award.

It won the second place in the Asian and Pacic Region in the Category 3: PROMOTINGWHOLE OF GOVERNMENT APPROACHES IN THE INFORMATION AGE.

President conferred Punyabhushan Award on Prataprao Pawar

President Pranab Mukharjee on 26 June 2015 conferred Punyabhushan Award on

Prataprao Pawar, Chairman of Sakal Media Group (SMG) at Balgandharva Auditoriumin Pune.

Pawar is the 27th recipient of the Punyabhushan award and his name was selected

for the award by a committee led by scientist Raghunath Mashelkar.

Besides, President also felicitated ve veteran freedom ghters in the function.

Punyabhushan Award

The Punyabhushan (Pride of Pune) award constituted by Tridal, Puneis annually

announced by the Punyabhushan Foundation on 23 March with a view to commemorate

the memory of Indian revolutionary martyrs Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru.

It is awarded to an eminent personality from the eld of art, music, culture, science,

industry, social service, or sports in the city of Pune Maharashtra, India. The award

carries a memento and cash prize of 1 lakh rupees.

26th Punyabhushan Award was presented to Dr Cyrus Poonawalla for his contribution

to the eld of Medicine & Research.





Famous Writer Vishwanath Tripathi chosen for 28th Moorti Devi

Award

Veteran Writer Vishwanath Tripathi was on 27 June 2015 selected for the 28th Moorti

Devi Award for the year 2014 for his book Vyomkesh Darvesh. Vyomkesh Darvesh is

a lifetime story of Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi.

Born on 16 February 1931 in Bishkohar village of district Basti in Uttar Pradesh,

Tripathi was a student of the Banaras Hindu University and Punjab University.

His other works include Lokwadi Tulsidas, Meera Ka Kavya, Desh ke is Daur Main,

Kuch Kahaniyan Kuch Vichar, Ped Ka Hath, Jaisa Kaha Saka and Nagatlai Ka Gaon.

About Moorti Devi Award

• Moorti Devi award was founded by Bharatiya Jnanpith and is given away to the

authors who have contributed in the eld of contemporary creative writing inmodern Indian languages.

• It is presented annually for a contemplative and perceptive work which expresses,

underlines and illumines human values rooted in the broad vision of Indian

philosophy and cultural heritage.

• Books written in English and all Indian languages are considered for the Prize,

which comprises a cash award of four lakhs rupees, a statue and a citation plaque.

Sahitya Akademi announced Bhasha Samman

Sahitya Akademi on 24 June 2015 announced Bhasha Samman. Four scholars were

selected for the award for their contribution to classical and medieval literature in

various languages.K Meenakshi Sundaram was selected for contributions to Classical and Medieval





Literature (Southern) for year 2013. She has written scholarly essays on Tirukkural

and made rich contribution to medieval Tamil literature. His work on Kambar and in

Cilappatikarm minor characters has won laurels for him.

Acharya Munishwar Jha has been recognised for Classical and Medieval Literature

(Eastern) for the year 2014. He has made valuable contribution in the area of Sanskrit

literature for which he was honoured with the Presidential Award in 2006. His chief

works include Vidyapati Vanmaya (Maithili), Tapasa Kavi Vidyapati (Maithili), Bhu-

Parikramanam (Sanskrit) among others.

Charu Chandra Pande and Mathuradutt Mathpal have been jointly recognised fortheir work towards the enrichment of Kumauni.

Pande has worked extensively on Kumauni language and has published Sej Gumani,

Eco Farms Hills (in English), Chhodo Gulami Khitab and Angwal. On the other hand,

Mathpal is a poet, teacher and Kumauni scholar and published Aang-Aang Chichail

Haigo (poetry), Mook Geet (a book based on famous Kumauni poet Pandit Kripal

Dutt Joshi) along with translation of many poems in Hindi.

Bhasha Samman

Bhasha Samman instituted in 1996 by Sahitya Akademi is an annual award and

is given to books of outstanding merit and for outstanding translations in the 24

languages recognised by it. The award is given for considerable contribution to the

propagation, modernization or enrichment of the languages concerned.

Every year 3-4 persons are awarded in different languages on the basis of

recommendation of experts’ committees constituted for the purpose.

The Samman carries a cash prize of 1 lakh rupees, an inscribed copper plaque and

a citation.

The rst Bhasha Sammans were awarded to Dharikshan Mishra for Bhojpuri, Bansi

Ram Sharma and MR Thakur for Pahari (Himachali), K Jathappa Rai and Mandara

Keshava Bhat for Tulu and Chandra Kanta Mura Singh for Kokborok. They were

awarded for their contribution to the development of their respective languages.





Sahitya Akademi announced Bal Sahitya Puraskar for the year

2015

Sahitya Akademi on 24 June 2015 announced Bal Sahitya Puraskar for the year 2015.

The awards were conferred on ve novelists, four writers of short stories and three

authors of poetries, one book of one-act play and eleven writers for their contribution

to children’s literature.

The awarded books were published between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2013

and the awards will be presented to the awardees on 14 November 2015 at Mumbai.

Awardees in Novel section: Tiren Boro (Bodo), Sowmya Rajendran, Niveditha

Subramaniam (English), Ramnath G Gawade (Konkani), Ramdeo Jha (Maithili) and

Mukti Upadhyay ‘Baral’ (Nepali).

Awardees in short stories Section: Nayeem Kashmiri (Kashmiri), Thockchom

Thouyangba Meitei (Manipuri), Krishna Kumar ‘Ashu’ (Rajasthani) and Janardan

Hegde (Sanskrit).

Awardees for collection of Poetry: Tara Chand Kalandri (Dogri), Srikanta Saren (Santali)

and Sella Ganpathi (Tamil), Bano Sartaj (Urdu).

Total Contribution To Children Literature: Eli Ahmed (Assamese), Kartik Ghose

(Bengali), Dhiruben Patel (Gujarati), T S Nagraja Shetty (Kannada), Sivadas (Malayalam),

Leeladhar Hegde (Marathi), Snehlata Mohanty (Odia), Sukhdev Madpuri (Punjab),

JethoLalwani (Sindhi) and Chokappu Venkataramana (Telugu).Instituted by the Sahitya Akademi, the Bal Sahitya Puraskar comprises 50000 rupees

and a casket containing an engraved copper plaque and a citation.

The awards were recommended by Jury members representing 24 Indian languages

and approved by the Executive Board of Sahitya Akademi that met under the

chairmanship of President of Sahitya Akademi Dr. Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari.





Sri Sri Ravi Shankar conferred with Columbia’s highest civilian

award

The spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was conferred with the Columbia’s highest

civilian award Orden de la Democracia Simon Bolivar en el grado de cruz Caballero

(Order of the Democracy Simon Bolivar) by Columbia.

For this, he was congratulated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 June 2015.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar founded the Art of Living Foundation in 1981, which aims torelieve individual stress, societal problems, and violence.

In 1997, he also founded the International Association for Human Values (IAHV) to

coordinate sustainable development projects, nurture human values and coordinate

conict resolution in association with The Art of Living.

The Order of the Democracy Simon Bolivar was created in 1980 to honour the

outstanding citizens for their service to the nation in any eld. It is granted by the

House of Representatives of Columbia.

The order was established to highlight the efforts, loyalty and virtues of citizens or

institutions for democracy.

UK-based philanthropist Benni Joseph Mavelil selected for VK

Krishna Menon Award 2015

Benni Joseph Mavelil, a UK-based philanthropist, was on 21 June 2015 selected

for the VK Krishna Menon Award in recognition of his outstanding professional and

altruistic achievements, contributions and services to the community and wider

multicultural society.

Mavelil, President of the UK Knanaya Catholic Community, will receive the award at

a function hosted by the VK Krishna Menon Institute in 2015.





At present, Mavelil is a registered Manager and Director for the Ideal Fostering in

Birmingham, United Kingdom. He is originally from Koodalloor, Kerala and has been

living and working in the UK for over a decade. He graduated from St. StephensCollege of Delhi.

About V K Krishna Menon Award

The VK Krishna Menon award is given to outstanding Indian patriots who served in the

Diaspora and have been distinguished in various elds including science, literature,

business, politics, diplomacy and philanthropy.The VK Krishna Menon Institute was established in 2006 to commemorate and

facilitate the life, times and achievements of VK Menon. It awards people from India

and diaspora from Asia for signicant accomplishments in various elds.

Three Indians won inaugural Queen’s Young Leaders Award in

UK

Three Indians on 22 June 2015 won the inaugural Queen’s Young Leaders Award in

the UK for taking the lead in transforming the lives of others and making a lasting

difference in their communities. These winners are Ashwini Angadi, Devika Malik and

Akshay Jadhao.

These three Indians are among 60 others who received the Queen’s Young Leadersaward from the British monarch at a gala ceremony in Buckingham Palace. The rst

60 recipients of the Queen’s Young Leaders Award will meet the Queen Elizabeth II

and David Cameron.

Ashwini Angadi was awarded for using her own experiences as a visually impaired

student to lobby for more braille and audio books. She runs Belaku Academy in

Bengaluru, offering education to disabled students from rural areas.

Akshay Jadhao won for his efforts in launching education and skills courses in the

rural farming region of Vidarbha, Maharashtra. While, Devika Malik was chosen for her





Wheeling Happiness Foundation which promotes inclusion, raises funds for disabled

people and promotes equality for those with disabilities.

The award does not come with any cash incentive, but offers each of the winners a

year-long mentoring opportunity through an online course. The award will run for a

period of 4 years and the search is already on for the next round of 60 with a vision

to cover each Commonwealth country by 2018.

About Queen’s Young Leaders Award

Queen’s Young Leaders Award was set up by Queen Elizabeth II to recognise

exceptional young people from across the Commonwealth. It was launched by her

grandchildren Prince William and Prince Harry in 2015.

Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust presents this award to recognise young

people from across the 53 countries of the Commonwealth who are taking the lead

in transforming the lives of others.

Sanjay Subrahmanyam selected for Sangitha Kalanidhi awardfor the year 2015

Renowned carnatic vocalist Sanjay Subrahmanyam was on 21 June 2015 selected

for the Sangitha Kalanidhi award of the Madras Music Academy.

The decision to award Subrahmanyam was taken at a meet of the Executive Committee.

Vocalist Subrahmanyam, one of the foremost south Indian classical vocalists, will

receive the award on 1 January 2016. Subrahmanyan, 47, will also preside over the

89th Annual Conference of the Academy slated between 15 December 2015 and 1

January 2015. With this award, Subrahmanyan joined the league of stalwarts like

Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, ML Vasanthakumari and

M Balamuralikrishna, Musiri Subramania Iyer, Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer and

others who received the award before turning 50.

Hindi writers Babusha Kohli, Upasana won 10th Navlekhan





Award of Bharatiya Jnanpith

10th Navlekhan Award of Bharatiya Jnanpith was awarded to Hindi writers Babusha

Kohli and Upasana on 16 June 2015. They were awarded for poem Prem Gilhari Dil

Akhrot and novel Ek Zindagi Ek Ek Script Bharrespectively.

The awards ceremony held at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi saw discussion on

Contemporary Modern Poetry and Fiction Writing by writers Upasana & Jitendra

Biseria and poetry recital by Babusha Kohli & Dilip Shakya.

Navlekhan Award was instituted with an objective to award young authors writing in

Hindi.

Sangeet Natak Akademi announced awardees for 2014 Akademi

Awards and fellowships

Sangeet Natak Akademi on 12 June 2015 announced the names of recipients of

Sangeet Natak Akademi fellowships (Akademi Ratna) 2014 and Sangeet Natak

Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) 2014.

The list of names selected for Sangeet Akademi Fellowships:

• R. Janakiraman (Musicologist)

• S. Sathyu (lm-maker)

• Vijay Kichlu (Classical singer)

• Tulsidas Borkar (Musician)

The Fellowship of the Akademi carries a cash prize of 3 lakh rupees and is the most

prestigious and rare honour which is restricted to a very limited number at a given

time. Presently there are only 40 Fellows of the Sangeet Natak Akademi.

Recipients of Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for the year 2014:





• In the eld of music For Hindustani vocal- Ashwini Bhide Deshpande Nath Narelkar,

Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan

• Hindustani instrumental music- Pandit Nayan Ghosh (tabla) and Ronu Majumdar

(ute)

• Carnatic instrumental music- Neyveli Santhanagopalan (Carnatic vocal), TA

Kaliyamurthy (Thavil), Sukanya Ramgopal (Ghatam) and Dwaram Durga Prasad

Rao (violin)

• In the eld of dance- Adayar Janardanan, Amusana Devi, Uma Dogra, Sudhakar

Sahoo, Vedantam Radhesyam, Jagru Mahto, Anita Sharma, Varanasi VishnuNamboothiri and Navtej Singh Johar

• In the eld of drama- Asgar Wajahat, Surya Mohan Kulshreshtha, Chidambar Rao

Jambe, Debshankar Haldar, Ramdas Kamath, Amod Bhatt, Manjunath Bhagwat

Hostota and Amardas Manikpuri.

• In the eld of Traditional/tribal music/folk/theatre/dance and puppetry- Puran

Shah Koti, KKalamandalam Ram Mohan, Kesavasamy, Abdul Rashid Haz, RebaKanta Mohanta, Ramdayal Sharma, K. Shanathoiba Sharma and Thanga Darlong

The award recognizes sustained individual work and contribution to the practice and

appreciation of the arts through award prize of 100000 rupees along with Tamrapatra

and Angavastram.

About Sangeet Natak Akademi

• Established in 1953, the Akademi is responsible for preservation and promotion of

the performing arts in India.

• It recognizes the contribution of outstanding musicians, dancers and theatre

artists by bestowing them the Fellowships and Awards on yearly basis. Its aim is

to create benchmarks in the practice of the performing arts.

• It has been bestowing Akademi Fellowship since 1954 and Akademi Award since

1952.





Parkash Singh Badal conferred with 2015 Sant Namdev National

Award

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was on 10 June 2015 conferred with the

prestigious 14th Sant Namdev National Award at a function in Pune, Maharashtra. He

was awarded for promoting peace, communal harmony and universal brotherhood.

The award was given by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on behalf of

the Sarhad Foundation.

Badal was honoured with a citation, a prize amount of 101000 rupees and a memento

by the foundation. As a goodwill gesture, the Chief Minister returned the award

money to the foundation and urged to utilise it towards the ongoing socio-cultural

programmes and other development activities.

ISRO presented with 2015 Space Pioneer Award for Mars Orbiter

Mission

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was presented with the Space

Pioneer award for the year 2015 in the Science and Engineering category during the

34th Annual International Space Development Conference held at Toronto in Canada

during 20 May- 24 May 2015.

The information was published on the ISRO’s website on 8 June 2015. The awardwas presented by National Space Society (NSS) of USA in recognition of ISRO’s

efforts in accomplishing Mars Orbiter Mission in its very rst attempt.

The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) was launched on 5 November 2013 and was

designed with ve scientic payloads within a record time of 18 months. Presently,

the spacecraft is under solar conjunction at Mars, which means the spacecraft, which

is orbiting Mars, is behind the sun as viewed from the Earth.

The Space Pioneer Award consists of a silvery pewter Moon globe cast by the Baker





Art Foundry in Placerville, California, from a sculpture originally created by Don Davis,

space and astronomical artist.

International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards 2015

The 16th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards or 2015 IIFA Awards were

presented in the rst week of June 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The awards were presented by the IIFA honouring the best Hindi lms of 2014.

List of 2015 IIFA Awards

Best Film – Queen

Best Director –Rajkumar Hirani (PK)

Best Actor-Shahid Kapoor (Haider)

Best Actress-Kangana Ranaut (Queen)

Best Supporting Actor- Riteish Deshmukh (Ek Villain)

Best Supporting Actress- Tabu (Haider)

Star Debut of the Year (Male)-Tiger Shroff (Heropanti)

Star Debut of the Year (Female)-Kriti sanon (Heropanti)

Best Comedian-Varun Dhawan (Main Tera Hero)

Best Villain Award-Kay Kay Menon (Haider)

Best Story-Queen (Vikas Bahl)

Debutant Director-Sajid Nadiadwala (Kick)

Best Music Director-Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy (2 States)

Best Lyrics-Manoj Muntashir for Galliyan (Ek Villain)

Best Male Playback Award-Ankit Tiwari for Galliyan (Ek Villain)





Best Female Playback Award-Kanika Kapoor for Baby Doll (Raginin MMS2)

Best Sound Design-Shajith Koyeri (Haider)

Best Background Score-Vishal Bharadwaj (Haider)

Award for Outstanding Achievment in International cinema-Subhash Ghai

Entertainer of the year - Deepika Padukone

About IIFA Awards

The awards are presented by the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) every year.

These are presented to both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in

Bollywood. The awards have categories like popular awards, technical awards and

special awards.

UK Author Ali Smith won 2015 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction

UK Author Ali Smith on 3 June 2015 won the 2015 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction

for her novel How to be Both.

Other nominees for the award were English author Laline Paull, Canadian author

Rachel Cusk, Pakistani author Kamila Shamsie and Welsh author Sarah Waters.

Ali Smith, a Scottish author, has also won the 2014 Goldsmiths Prize and the Novel

Award in the 2014 Costa Book Awards for the same book.

Earlier, the book was shortlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize and the 2015 Folio

Prize.

About Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction

Baileys Prize was set up in 1996 with an aim to celebrate and promote international

ction by women throughout the world. Earlier it was known as the Orange Prize.

This prize is awarded annually and it celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility

in women’s writing.





The winner of the prize receives a cheque for 30000 pounds and a limited edition

bronze known as a ‘Bessie’, created by the artist Grizel Niven.

Previous winners of the award include Eimear McBride for A Girl is a Half-Formed

Thing (2014) and AM Homes for May We Be Forgiven(2013).

Suresh Kalmadi conferred with Asian Athletics Association

President’s Award

Suresh Kalmadi on 2 June 2015 was conferred with the Asian Athletics Association

(AAA) President’s award. He was awarded for his contribution towards the development

of athletics in Asian continent.

Adille Sumariwala, the President of Athletics Federation of India received the award

on behalf of Kalmadi at the function held in Wuhan, China ahead of the start of Asian

Athletics Championships.

He is credited with the introduction of top events like Asian Grand Prix series, Asian

Indoor Championships and Asian All Star Meet and others during his tenure as the

president of AAA for 13 years from 2000 to 2013. He was defeated by Dahlan Al-

Hamad of Qatar in the presidential election of the AAA held in 2013 at Pune.

Earlier in March 2015, he was named as the Life President of AAA for his contribution

for Asian athletics. The decision was taken during the council meet of AAA in Jakarta,

Indonesia.He has served as the President of Indian Olympic Association from 1996 to 2012.

Asian Athletics Association

Asian Athletics Association is the governing body of athletics in Asia. It is headquartered

in Singapore. It organises the Asian Championships in Athletics and other continental

competitions.





McCullum, Hesson with Ofcers of the New Zealand Order of

Merit

New Zealand cricket captain Brendon McCullum and Coach Mike Hesson were

honoured with Ofcers of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM). Their names were

listed in the honours list that was released on 1 June 2015 to mark the annual Queen

Elizabeth II Birthday public holiday.

They were awarded for their part in leading New Zealand to the nal of 2015 Cricket

World Cup for the rst time. Both have been the captain and head coach, respectively,

of New Zealand since 2012.

Moreover, the head of the New Zealand World Cup organizing committee, Therese

Walsh was made a Dame Companion of the NZOM.

About the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM)

The New Zealand Order of Merit award was instituted in 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen

of New Zealand. The honour is conferred to recognise outstanding service of people

that they did to the Crown and people of New Zealand in a civil or military capacity.

The New Zealand Order of Merit has ve levels and they are

• Knight or Dame Grand Companion (GNZM)

• Knight or Dame Companion (KNZM / DNZM)

• Companion (CNZM)

• Ofcer (ONZM)

• Member (MNZM)

Those appointed to the highest two levels are entitled to use the titles Sir or Dame.

Prior to the creation of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 1996, the Order of the British

Empire was the most common honour awarded to New Zealand military personnel.





Uttarakhand’s Health Minister SS Negi conferred with World No

Tobacco Day Award 2015

Uttarakhand’s Medical, Health and Family Welfare Minister Surendra Singh Negi on

31 May 2015 was conferred with the World No Tobacco Day Award 2015 by the

World Health Organsiation (WHO).

He was one of the six awardees from the WHO South-East Asia Region.

In addition, the WHO Director-General Special awards were presented to

• Marcelo Fisch, Head of the Fiscal Special Control Division, Federal Revenue

Secretariat, Ministry of Finance, Brazil

• Kenya Revenue Authority

• WHO Director-General’s Special Recognition Certicates were presented to

• Luk Joossens of Belgium, one of the rapporteurs of the WHO expert group on

illicit tobacco trade

• Saira Afzal Tarar, Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulations and

Coordination of Pakistan.

Every year, the WHO recognizes individuals or organizations in each of the six WHO

Regions for their accomplishments in the area of tobacco control.

This recognition takes the form of WHO Director-General Special Recognition Awards

and World No Tobacco Day Awards. The prestigious awards are presented to mark

the occasion of the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD).





INVENTIONS | DISCOVERIES

3800-year-old statuettes of priestess and politicians discovered

in Peru

Researchers discovered a trio of mud statuettes inside a reed basket in a building, an

important archaeological site, in the ancient city of Vichama in northern Peru. They

believe that it was created about 3800 years ago by the ancient Caral civilization.

The information of the discovery of gurines measuring no more than 80 cm was

given by Ministry of Culture of Peru on 9 June 2015.

Two of the three gures, who were a man and woman, were painted in white, blackand red. It is believed that they represented political authorities. The third, a woman

with 28 ngers and red dots on her white face, is believed to represent a priestess.

The gures had been arranged to be looking at one another.

Apart from this, the research team, also unearthed two mud statuettes of women’s

faces which are wrapped in cloth and covered with yellow, blue and orange feathers.

Caral Civilisation

The Caral civilisation rst emerged some 5000-year-ago and lived in Peru’s Supe Valley.

The civillisation covered an area of over 60 hectares, with around 3000 inhabitants

and left an impressive architecture including pyramids and sunken amphitheaters.

It was abandoned around 1800 BC for unknown reasons.

17th Century Scottish pirate captain William Kidd treasurefound in Madagascar





Underwater explorers in Madagascar on 7 May 2015 said that they have discovered

treasure belonging to the notorious 17th Century Scottish pirate captain William Kidd.

The explorers, which were a joint team of UK and US archaeological research mission,

brought a 50-kg silver bar to shore on the island of Sainte Marie, from wreckage of

the Adventure Galley, the ship of Captain Kidd.

The bar was presented to Madagascar’s President at a special ceremony.

Captain Kidd was rst appointed by the British authorities to tackle piracy but later

became a ruthless criminal. He was executed in 1701 for piracy after returning from

a voyage to the Indian Ocean.

Besides, the US explorer Barry Clifford said that he believes there are many more

such bars still in the wreck.

Earlier, a team led by Barry Clifford in 2000 during underwater investigation discovered

some remains of William Kidd’s ship, Adventure Galley, including a metal oarlock,

shards of Ming porcelain and bottles of rum three centuries old.





PLACES IN NEWS

Azhagankulam: Ancient trade centre located in Ramanathapuram

district of Tamil Nadu

Azhagnakulam village in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu was in news on 29

June 2015 as archaeologists discovered fresh evidence that proves it had been an

important trading post between the Sangam Pandyas and the Romans from circa 50

BCE to circa 500 CE.

Azhagankulam is located about three km from the sea, near the area where the Vaigai

River enters the Bay of Bengal. Madurai was the capital of the Pandya country and

Ramanathapuram came under the Madurai region.

As part of the excavations under way since May 2015, Archaeologists from the Tamil

Nadu Department of Archaeology discovered broken Roman Amphora jars (used

for storing wine), Mediterranean pottery, embossed Roman potsherds, copper

coins, Chinese Celadon ware, rouletted ware, potsherds with Tamil Brahmi letters, a

potsherd with a swastika symbol among others.

Earlier in 1986-87 and again for ve seasons in the 1990s excavations were made atthe place that revealed that Azhagankulam was a part of the troika of trade centres

between Rome and the Tamil country during the Tamil Sangam age. Other two were

Arikkamedu (Puducherry) and Pattanam aka Muziris (Kerala).

As per historians, Azhagankulam, Arikkamedu and Korkai (Tamil Nadu) in the

Tamiraparani basin on the east coast and Muziris on the west coast saw ourishing

trade between the ancient Tamil country and the Romans for more than ve centauries

till circa 500 CE.





The Great Wall: A series of fortications built along the histori-

cal northern borders of China

The Great Wall of China, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was in news in the fourth

week of June 2015 as Beijing Times published a survey report stating that around 30

percent of the Wall disappeared overtime and around 1185 km of the fortication are

in poor condition.

The survey was conducted by the Great Wall of China Society in 2014.

As per the survey, the disappearance of over 1962 kms length of the wall, out of the

total length varying between 9000 km to 21000 km, was caused by numerous factors

over many centuries.

Some of them are perennial exposure to wind and rain, tourism, growth of plants in

the walls and reckless human activities like stealing the bricks to build houses, etc.

The Great Wall is a series of fortications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood,

and other materials built along an east-to-west line across the northern borders of

China. It is considered as the longest human construction in the world.

It stretches from Shanhaiguan on the east coast to Jiayuguan on the edge of the

Gobi desert.

Its purpose was to protect the Chinese states and empires against the raids and

invasions of the various nomadic groups of the Eurasian Steppe.

Though the construction of the UNESCO World Heritage site was rst begun in the

third century BC, nearly 6300 kms were built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Revdanda coast of Alibaug: 42-foot-long blue whale died

Revdanda coast of Alibaug, Maharashtra was in news on 24 June 2015. The coastcame in news after a 42-foot-long blue whale weighing 20 tonnes died after being

washed ashore at the Revdanda coast, 17-km south of Alibaug.





This was the rst time that such a big blue whale was spotted on the shores of

Maharashtra.

The incident happened few days after two blue whales (mother-calf pair) and

four Bryde’s whales were sighted near Kunkeshwar off the Sindhudurg coast in

Maharashtra. They were sighted on the Maharashtra coast after almost a century

by a group of researchers from the Konkan Cetacean Population Study (CPS) team

between March and May 2015.

The previous sighting of the mammal off the Maharashtra coast was in 1914, records

say. Almost 20 types of whales are found in the Arabian Sea. There are two basic types of

whales - toothed and baleen. Baleen whales have a specialised lter in their mouths

that blocks out dirt and other sea trash while these mammals drink the water.

Blue whales and Humpback whales, which were washed ashore in and around

Mumbai coast earlier, belong to the baleen whale category.

Nathu La pass in Sikkim: reopened for Kailash-Manasarovar

pilgrims after 53 years

Nathu La pass was in news on 16 June 2015 as External Affairs Minister Sushma

Swaraj agged off the rst batch of pilgrims for Kailash-Manasarovar yatra that will

travel through the pass.During the yatra, piligrims visit Mount Kailash, which Hindus believe as the abode

of Lord Shiva, and the Manasarovar Lake located in the south-western corner of

Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) of China.

The pass was reopened after China agreed to open the route following a bilateral

agreement signed in September 2014 during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to

India.

Nathua La pass is located on the Sikkim-Tibet border. The pass was closed by





Chinese authorities in 1962 following a war between the two countries.

The pass is located 54 km away from Sikkim’s capital Gangtok and was part of the

ancient silk route.

After a decade of talks between both the countries the pass was reopened for trade

purposes in 2006.

Nathu La Pass connects Sikkim to the Chumbi Valley in the Tibetan Autonomous

Region (TAR) of China.

The valley, hence the Nathu La pass, has geo strategic importance as it is located at

the intersection of India (Sikkim), China (TAR) and Bhutan in the Himalayas.

Bellandur Lake: Industrial efuents caused re on its water

Bellandur Lake, the largest lake of Bengaluru, was in the news in rst week of June

2015. It was in news as a team of researchers from Indian Institute of Science (IISc)found that the re on the water of Bellandur Lake on 16 May 2015 was caused due

to industrial efuents in the water.

The group in the study found that the foam was formed due to phosphorous present

in detergents.

The study conducted on Bellandur Lake along with Varthur Lake suggested that the

water of these lakes were harmful for domestic and irrigation purposes and it may

contaminate groundwater. It also suggested that the foam may cause an environmental

problem and can be a great threat for the wetlands of Bengaluru.

Tengnoupal, Manipur: 20 army personnel killed in militant

ambush

The place Tengnoupal in Manipur was in news on 4 June 2015 as at least 20 Army





personnel were killed and 16 others injured after a group of militants ambushed 6

Dogra Infantry Regiment.

Tengnoupal, a Kuki-ethnic village, falls in the Moltuk valley of Chandel district of

Manipur and lie 15-km from away from Indo-Myanmar border.

The ambush took place on Tengnoupal-New Samtal road when the convoy of 46

jawans belonging to the Dogra Infantry was returning to their headquarters in Dimapur,

Nagaland.

The responsibility of the attack was jointly claimed by three militant organizations,

namely National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K), Kanglei YawolKanna Lup (KYKL) and Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP).

The Union government has ordered an all-out counter-insurgency and combing

operations against the insurgents in the surrounding areas.





EXHIBITION | FAIR

30th India Carpet Expo to be held in Varanasi in October 2015

Union Ministry of Textiles on 31 May 2015 announced to hold 30th India Carpet Expoin Varanasi in October 2015. It would be held from 11 October to 14 October 2015 at

Sampurnanand Sanskrit University Ground.

The Expo will be organized by Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) set up by

Union Ministry of Textiles.

This would be the 11th edition of the Expo. The prime motive in holding the Expo

in the major carpet producing belt Varanasi is to provide unique pick and choose

business opportunity to all overseas carpet buyers.

The Expo is one of the largest Handmade Carpet Fairs in Asia, which provides a

unique platform under one roof, for buyers to source the best handmade carpets,

rugs and oor coverings.

It has become a popular destination worldwide for handmade carpets. India’s

unique capability in adapting to any type of design, colour, quality & size as per the

specications of carpet buyers has made it a household name in the international

market.





BOOKS | AUTHORS

Dealing with China: An Insider Unmasks the New Economic

Superpower by Henry M Paulson

Book titled Dealing with China: An Insider Unmasks the New Economic Superpower

authored by Henry M. Paulson was released on 14 April 2015.

The book takes the reader behind closed doors to witness the creation and evolution

and future of China’s state-controlled capitalism.

The book draws an unprecedented access to modern China’s political and business

elite and answers several key questions like how so quickly China become aneconomic superpower, the process in which business is done in the country, best

ways for Western business and political leaders to work with, compete with, and

benet from China and how can the U.S. negotiate with and inuence China given

its authoritarian rule, its massive environmental concerns, and its huge population’s

unrelenting demands for economic growth and security.

Transcendence: My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji

written by Abdul Kalam

Book titled Transcendence: My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji authored

by former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and Arun Tiwari was released on 15 June

2015.

In Transcendence, the authors Dr Kalam and Arun Tiwari have mapped a journey of

self-realization reected in the eyes of Pramukh Swamiji, painting a delightful fusion





of spirituality, science and leadership. His candid vignettes (literature) from life on the

centre stage of Indian technology and societal missions, Indian politics and world

affairs are interwoven with revelations of a profound connection with Swamiji.

Through the life of Pramukh Swamiji and the history of the Swaminarayan mission, Dr

Kalam traces the great rise of the Indian diaspora across the world. Drawing from the

lives of great scientists and creative leaders, Transcendence captures the spiritual

essence of all religions and is as much a fountain of inspiration and a treasury of

wisdom as it is a tribute to the multi-faith Indian society.

Pramukh Swamiji Maharaj, one of the most inspiring spiritual gures of modern timesand the fth spiritual successor of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, is the inheritor of a

legacy of Gunatit gurus hearkening to the early nineteenth century. Pramukh Swamiji

became a friend of the eleventh president of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. Together

they created an unparalleled spirituality-science fellowship.

Red Tape to Red Carpet... and then some written by Gina Rinehart

released

Book titled Red Tape to Red Carpet... and then some authored by Gina Rinehart was

released on 23 June 2015. Rinehart is Chairperson of the Australian mining company

Hancock Prospecting Group.

The book highlights the industry of Red Tape which thrives on doubt and Red Carpet

which is built on trust.

The book was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi in presence

of Australian Minister for trade and investment, Andrew Robb, and former Australian

Prime Minister Paul Keating.

Benazir Bhutto: A Multidimensional Portrait written by Dr Anna

Suvorova





The book Benazir Bhutto: A Multidimensional Portrait was released on 26 May 2015.

It was written by Dr Anna Suvorova of Russia.

The book is devoted to the life and work of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir

Bhutto (1953-2007). She was the rst female head of government in a Muslim state.

The book is based on Bhutto’s own books, articles and speeches and on the author’s

interviews with her close friends and colleagues.

It makes a study of emergence of Bhutto as a political leader, her journey and her

assassination by terrorists.

It was published by Oxford University Press. It is intended for a wide readership.

Dr Anna Suvorov, Professor of Indo-Islamic Culture, is currently Head of Department

of Asian Literatures at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of

Sciencesin Moscow, Russia.

For her contribution to the research of Pakistani literature and cultural heritage she

was conferred with one of the highest state awards of Pakistan — Sitara-i-Imtiaz.

Beyond Doubt: A Dossier on Gandhi’s Assassination written by

Teesta Setalvad

The book Beyond Doubt: A Dossier on Gandhi’s Assassination was in news in the

third week of June 2015.It was compiled and introduced by Indian civil rights activist Teesta Setalvad and

published by Tulika Books.

It is a collection of archival documents of the government and translation of works in

Marathi, Guajarati and Hindi related to assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on 30 June

1948.

In the book, the author tried to de-construct the ideology responsible for the killing. As per the author, the assassination was the rst act of terror committed in





independent India. Further, it was also a statement of Hindu right wing asserting their

ideology against idea of composite culture and inclusive nationhood advocated by

the Mahatma.

However, as per Teesta Setalvad, the subsequent events including the adoption of

the Indian Constitution on 26 November 1949, in which fundamental rights were

given primary importance, defeated the ideology of the assassin-Nathuram Godse.

In the book, the author also covered the controversy that erupted in July 2014 over

the destruction of classied les by the Union Government related to Gandhi’s

assassination.

Book titled Bikhare Khyalat written by Abdul Haq presented to

Vice-President

Book titled Bikhare Khyalat written by Prof Abdul Haq was presented to the Vice-

President M Hamid Ansari on 18 June 2015. The book is an Urdu translation ofMohammed Iqbal’s writing in English tilted Stray Reections.

The book contains old jottings based on Iqbal’s impressions of the books he was

reading at that time, his thoughts and feelings about the environment in which he

lived, and reminiscences of his student days.

According to this book, Iqbal started writing it on 27 April 1910 but stopped writing

after several months for some unknown reason.Prof Abdul Haq is the former head of the Department of Urdu at Delhi University.

Book titled Recasting India written by Hindol Sengupta released

Recasting India: How Entrepreneurship is changing the World’s Largest Democracy:

Hindol Sengupta

The book Recasting India: How Entrepreneurship is changing the world’s Largest





Democracy written by Hindol Sengupta was in news in June 2015.

In the book the author explains emergence of new class of entrepreneurs in India, in

recent times, especially from geographically and socially disadvantage spaces.

He traces the implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP) of 1991 and

subsequent economic reforms in last two and half decades as the reason for this

phenomenon.

In February 2015, the book was shortlisted for one of the world’s most renowned

prizes in economic writing, the Hayek Book Prize, given by the USA based Manhattan

Institute.

He became the youngest writer ever, at 34, to be nominated for the prize and the rst

ever from India.

Hindol Sengupta is an Indian journalist, writer and entrepreneur. At present, he is

Editor-at-Large at Fortune India.

Book titled Modi - Incredible emergence of a star in Chinese

language written by Tarun Vijay

A book on Prime Minister Narendra Modi titled Modi –Incredible emergence of a

star written in Chinese language by Tarun Vijay was in news on 16 June 2015 as one

copy of the book was given to Vice-President M Hamid Ansari. Tarun Vijay is a BJP

Member of Parliament and a journalist.

The book was published in July 2014 by Sichuan University’s South Asia Study

Centre.

The book is a biography based on the life and economic vision of Narendra Modi.





Sourav Ganguly: Cricket, Captaincy and Controversy written by

Saptarshi Sarkar

The book Sourav Ganguly: Cricket, Captaincy and Controversy was written by

Saptarshi Sarkar and was published in April 2015 by HarperCollins India.

The biography of former Indian Cricket Captain Sourav Ganguly deals with his

cricketing career.

In the book, the author throws light on some of the issues related to Ganguly’s careerlike underrated all-rounder, Lord of the left handers, relation with Aussies, brand

Ganguly, etc.

Earlier, two books were published on Ganguly - Sourav Ganguly by Vinod Tiwari and

Sourav Ganguly, the maharaja of cricket by Debashish Datta which were published

in 2005 and 2007 respectively.

Flood of re written by Amitav Ghosh

Booker Prize awardee Amitav Ghosh on 7 June 2015 released his new novel Flood

of re. With the novel, he has concluded the Ibis trilogy, his ctional recreation of the

events leading up to the rst opium war of 1839-42.

The Ibis trilogy is a work of historical ction by Amitav Ghosh. It comprises Sea ofPoppies (2008), River of Smoke (2011), and Flood of Fire (2015). The story is set in

the rst half of the 19th century. It deals with the trade of opium between India and

China run by the East India Company and the trafcking of coolies to Mauritius.

With all the verve of the rst two novels in the trilogy, Flood of Fire completes Ghosh’s

unprecedented reenvisioning of the nineteenth-century war on drugs.





DEFENCE | SECURITY

Indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant undocked in Kochi

India’s maiden indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant was on 10 June 2015 undockedat the Cochin Shipyard in Kochi, Kerala.

The structural work of the ship was completed and undocking was part of the second

phase of work on the carrier, which is expected to be complete by 2017.

Key Features of INS Vikrant

• It is India’s largest and rst indigenous aircraft carrier.

• Its basic design was done by the Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design, which

was developed into detailed design by the design team of the Cochin Shipyard

Limited (CSL).

• On the completion, it weighs around 40000 metric tonne and will have a length of

over 260 metres and breadth of 60 metres.

• It has two take-off runways and a landing strip with three arrester wires, capable

of operating STOBAR aircraft including the indigenous LCA, as well as a range ofhelicopters with hangar facilities.

• It will undergo basin trials in 2017 and is expected to be inducted into the Navy

by 2018 end.

Upon its induction, the aircraft carrier puts India in the elite group of four countries

in the world viz., USA, Russia, the UK and France that are capable of designing and

constructing aircraft carriers.





REPORT | SURVEY

IEP released Global Peace Index 2015

Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) on 16 June 2015 released the Global PeaceIndex (GPI) 2015. The GPI 2015 measured peace, its causes and its economic value

during 2014.

The GPI 2015 ranked the nations according to their level of peacefulness. It measured

peace for 162 countries constituting 99.6 of the world population. Among these 162

countries, India was placed at the 143rd position, the same as 2014.

The index gauged global peace using three broad themes: the level of safety and

security in society, the extent of domestic and international conict and the degree

of militarisation.

Highlights of GPI in terms of three broad themes

Societal safety and security: The Index analysed the effects of urbanisation on

violence, and nds that peace generally increases with higher levels of urbanisation.

However, countries that have weak rule of law, high levels of intergroup grievances

and high levels of inequality are more likely to experience deteriorations in peace as

urbanisation increases.

This domain improved slightly during 2014, driven by falls in the homicide rate and

the likelihood of violent demonstrations.

However, this improvement was counterbalanced by deteriorations in the ongoing

conict and militarisation domains, owing to increases in deaths from internal conict,

non-payment of UN peacekeeping dues, and a continuing deterioration in the impactof terrorism indicator.





Ongoing domestic and international conicts: The Index identied drivers of six

major Middle East and North Africa (MENA) conicts occurring in Syria, Iraq, Yemen,

Libya, Israel and Lebanon, which include challenges to government legitimacy,

deepening sectarian divides, the destabilising presence of ISIL and the cross-cutting

proxy conict between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The most substantial changes in the Index occurred in the MENA where several

countries suffered from an upsurge in violence related to sectarian strife and civil

conicts, resulting in the region being ranked as the least peaceful in the world,

overtaking South Asia from last year’s GPI.

Militarisation: Since 1990, there has been a slow and steady decrease in measures of

global militarisation, with large changes in militarisation occurring rarely and usually

associated with larger, globally driven geopolitical and economic shifts. Further,

countries with weak Positive Peace factors are more likely to use the military for

internal suppression.

General Highlights of GPI 2015

• In 2014, the global GPI score remained stable. However, while the average level

of global peacefulness was stable, a number of indicators and countries did

deteriorate while others improved.

• Over the past eight years, the average country score deteriorated by 2.4 percent

highlighting that on average the world has become slightly less peaceful.

• Iceland is the most peaceful country, followed by Denmark and Austria at second

and third positions, respectively.

• Others in the top 10 include New Zealand, Switzerland, Finland, Canada, Japan,

Australia, and Czech Republic. All the ten highest ranking nations in the GPI are

stable democracies.

• Guinea-Bissau had the largest improvement in peace, resulting in a rise of 24

places in the rankings to 120th. The next four largest improvements occurred in

Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Tajikistan and Benin.

• A common theme among the largest improvers was a fall in the level of organised





conict, which occurred in all of the four aforementioned African nations.

• Cancelling out its strong improvement in the 2014 edition of the GPI, Libya

experienced the largest deterioration this year. Its score deteriorated substantially

and consequently it fell 13 places down to 149th to become the 14th least peaceful

country.

• The second biggest decline was recorded for the Ukraine, due to the conict

between Russian separatists and the Ukrainian government as well as the instability

caused by Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

• Terrorism has grown steadily over the last decade, a trend that shows no sign

of abating. Deaths caused by terrorism increased by 61 per cent in 2013, which

resulted in almost 18000 people being killed in terrorist attacks. Of those deaths,

82 per cent occurred in just ve countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and

Syria.

• The threat of terrorism has also affected many of the world’s most peaceful

countries, with terrorist attacks occurring in France, Denmark and Australia in the

last year.

• The economic impact of violence on the global economy in 2014 was substantial

and is estimated at 14.3 trillion US dollars or 13.4 per cent of world GDP.

• This is equivalent to the combined economies of Brazil, Canada, France, Germany,

Spain and the United Kingdom. Since 2008, the total economic impact on global

GDP has increased by 15.3 per cent, from 12.4 US trillion dollars to 14.3 US trillion

dollars.

• The major expenditure categories are military spending at 43 per cent, homicide

and violent crime at 27 per cent and internal security ofcers, including police, at

18 per cent.

• While the cost of UN peacekeeping has more than doubled since 2008, it still only

accounts for less than 0.17 per cent of violence containment expenditure.

• The report outlines new ndings on Positive Peace, highlighting its impact on

peace, development and other important societal goals.





• Positive Peace is also statistically associated with many other outcomes considered

desirable: stronger business environments, better performance on well-being

measures, gender equality and better performance on ecological measures.

India and GPI 2014

• India is ranked 143rd out of 162 countries and maintained the same position

compared to the GPI 2014.

• The number of casualties from internal conict rose where a Maoist insurgency

stills runs rife.

• The downgrade in India’s score is tempered by an improvement in political stability.

• The world’s second most populous country witnessed an historic election in 2014

as the Bharatiya Janata Party secured India’s rst one-party majority since the

mid-1980s.

• Rankings of India’s neighbours: Bhutan (18), Nepal (52), Bangladesh (84), Sri Lanka

(114), Pakistan (154) and Afghanistan (160).

• India spent fourth largest violence containment expenditure during 2014 with 342

billion US dollars on PPP basis only behind USA, China, Russia. This is equivalent

to 4.7 per cent of India’s GDP, or 273 US dollars per person.

About Global Peace Index (GPI)

GPI as a measure of world peace was launched in 2007. The 2015 release was 9th

in the series.It is the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness produced by the Institute

for Economics and Peace. The Index is composed of 23 indicators, ranging from a

nation’s level of military expenditure to its relations with neighbouring countries and

the percentage of prison population in 162 countries.

The IEP is a Sydney-based international and independent think tank dedicated to

shifting the world’s focus to peace as a positive, achievable, and tangible measure of

human well-being and progress.





Indian Railways, Indian Army among world’s biggest employers:

World Economic Forum Study

Two Indian organizations Indian Army and Indian Railways are among theworld’s

biggest employers, together employing around 2.7 million people, as per a research

published by the World Economic Forum on 17 June 2015.

Indian Railways was ranked at the eighth place in the list of world’s biggest employers

with 1.4 million staff. Immediately after Indian Railways is the Indian Armed Forces

with 1.3 million people.

Highlights of the Report

• The US department of defense is the world’s biggest employer which claims over

3.2 million employees on its roster.

• On the second position is People’s Liberation Army (the Chinese military) with 2.3

million and in third is the US supermarket giant Walmart with 2.1 million workers.• McDonald’s is the 4th biggest employer with 1.9 million employees, however, as

the majority of its restaurants are franchises.

• UK’s National Health Service was ranked at the 5th place with 1.7 million

employees, followed by state-run China National Petroleum Corporation with 1.6

million employees in sixth place.

• Another Chinese company, the State Grid Corporation of China was ranked at 7thplace with 1.5 million employees.

• Hon Hai Precision Factory (Foxconn) came at 10th place with 1.2 million people.

Maharashtra topped the list of States and UTs in IPR ling in

2013-14: IBEF report

India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) in the third week of June 2015 released a report





on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) ling in India during 2013-14.

While Maharashtra topped the list of states and Union Territories (UTs), Bengaluru

was the top city in IPR ling.

The top ve states and UTs: Maharashtra (2892), Karnataka (1639), Tamil Nadu (1436),

Delhi (1009) and Andhra Pradesh (879).

Bengaluru lead patent hunt as Samsung R&D Institute (84); Infosys (83); Wipro Ltd (59);

Samsung India Software Operations Pvt. Ltd. (66) top lers from among technology

companies.

Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumakuru and

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) gured in the top 10 scientic bodies

and institutions with 32, 24 and 12 lings respectively.

About India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF)

It is a trust established by the Department of Commerce, Union Ministry of Commerce

and Industry.

Its primary objective is to promote and create international awareness of the Made in

India label in markets overseas and to facilitate dissemination of knowledge of Indian

products and services.

IAMAI released Social Media in India 2014 report

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) in collaboration with IMRB

International on 17 June 2015 released the Social Media in India 2014 report.

The report analysed the trends in using social media across the country between

March 2014 and April 2015.

Highlights of Social Media in India 2014 report

• There are 143 million social media users in India as on April 2015.

• For many people accessing the Internet for the rst time, social media was the





reason they embraced Internet.

• Usage of social media in rural India has grown by an impressive 100 percent to

reach 25 million users during April 2014 and March 2015.

• Urban India registered a relatively lower growth of 35 percent with the total number

of users at 118 million as on April 2015.

• The top 4 metros continue to account for almost half of the social media users in

urban India.

• College going students and young men still form the 60 percent of the social

media users in urban India.

• Facebook was leading social media website with 96 per cent of users in urban

areas accessing it, followed by Google Plus (61 per cent), Twitter (43 per cent) and

LinkedIn (24 per cent).

• The largest segment accessing social media consists of the college going students

with 34 percent followed by young men at 27 percent.

• School going children constitute 12 percent of the social media users.

• 61 percent of users access social media on their mobile device.

• Maintaining a prole on social networking sites are a top activity of users followed

by updating status.

• Commenting on a blog site is the third most popular activity among users in social

networking sites.

CBRE Research released Global Prime Ofce Occupancy Costs

survey

The CB Richard Ellis Group (CBRE) Research on 18 June 2015 released the Global

Prime Ofce Occupancy Costs survey. CBRE is an American commercial real estatecompany based in Seattle.





The survey listed out top 50 expensive ofce market spaces by surveying 127 markets

around the globe.

In the survey, while London’s West End continued to be the world’s highest-priced

ofce market, Connaught Place (CP) –Central Business District (CBD) in New Delhi

was the fth costliest ofce market in the world.

The cost of ofce space represents ofce rents and occupancy costs that include

rent, plus local taxes and service charges per square feet per year as of 31 March

2015.

Highlights of Global Prime Ofce Occupancy Costs survey

• London West End’s overall prime occupancy costs of 267 US dollars per sq. ft.

per year topped the most expensive list.

• Hong Kong (Central) followed with total prime occupancy costs of 254 US dollars

per sq. ft., Beijing (Finance Street) (196 US dollars per sq. ft.), Beijing (Central

Business District (CBD)) (188 US dollars per sq. ft.) and New Delhi(Connaught

Place –CBD) (157 US dollars per sq. ft.) rounded out the top ve.

• Hong Kong (Central) remained the only market in the world—other than London’s

West End—with a prime occupancy cost exceeding 200 US dollars per sq. ft per

year.

• Of the top 50 most expensive markets, 19 were in EMEA, 20 were in Asia Pacic

and 11 were in the Americas.

• Global prime ofce occupancy costs rose 2.0 percent year-over-year, with the Americas up 2.9 percent, Europe Middle East & Africa (EMEA) rising 1.5 percent and

Asia Pacic up 1.4 percent. The report said the change in prime ofce occupancy

costs mirrored the gradual recovery of the global economy.

• Asia dominated the list accounting for four of the top ve markets

• Asia Pacic had 20 markets ranked in the top 50 most expensive, including six of

the top 10—Hong Kong (Central), Beijing (Finance Street), Beijing (CBD), New Delhi(Connaught Place - CBD), Hong Kong (West Kowloon) and Tokyo (Marunouchi





Otemachi).

Indian cities in the Survey

• Connaught Place (CP) –Central Business District (CBD) in New Delhi was the fth

costliest ofce market in the world.

• CP-CBD moved up a spot in the rankings due to rupee depreciation when

compared to the previous list of semiannual survey.

• Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), the alternative business district in Mumbai, was at

the 15th position with a cost of 102 US dollars per sq. ft per annum) and Mumbai’sCBD of Nariman Point (76 US dollars per sq. ft per annum) was at 30th position.

UNHCR released Global Trends: World at War report on forced

displacement

The Ofce of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on 18June 2015 released a report titled Global Trends: World at War. It delineates worldwide

trends in forced displacement by the end of 2014.

The report declared that ongoing refugee crisis due to wars, conicts and persecution

is the worst in recorded history and over half of the world’s refugees are children.

Highlights of Global Trends: World at War report

• The number of people forcibly displaced at the end of 2014 had risen to a staggering

59.5 million compared to 51.2 million by 2013 and 37.5 million by 2005.

• The increase represents the biggest leap ever seen in a single yearand the situation

is likely to worsen in future.

• Globally, one in every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced, or

seeking asylum. If this were the population of a country, it would be the world’s

24th biggest.

• Since early 2011, the main reason for the acceleration has been the war in Syria,





• Ethiopia replaced Kenya as the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa and the

fth largest worldwide.

• The number of refugees and internally displaced people in Asia grew by 31 per

cent in 2014 to 9 million people.

• Continuing displacement was also seen in and from Myanmar in 2014,including of

Rohingya from Rakhine state and in the Kachin and Northern Shan regions.

• Iran and Pakistan remained two of the world’s top four refugee hosting countries.

• In Americas, the number of Colombian refugees dropped by 36300 to 360300 in

2014.

• With more people eeing gang violence or other forms of persecution in Central

America, the United States saw 36800 more asylum claims than in 2013,

representing growth of 44 per cent.

India as a country of origin had 10433 refugees and 16709 asylum seekers with

pending cases in 2014; and 199937 refugees and 5074 pending cases of asylum

seekers as country of asylum for 2014.

BCG released Global Wealth 2015 report

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) on 3 June 2015 released the Global Wealth

2015: Winning the Growth Game report.

The annual report listed out the status of generation and distribution of private wealth

in 2014. It also estimated the future prospects of global private nancial wealth.

According to the report, India is home to fourth largest ultra-high-net worth households.

Highlights of Global Wealth 2015 report

• Global private nancial wealth grew by nearly 12 percent in 2014 to reach a total

of 164 trillion US dollars. The rise was in line with 2013, when global wealth alsogrew by just over 12 percent.





• Over the next ve years, total private wealth globally is projected to post a

compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6 percent to reach an estimated 222

trillion US dollars in 2019.

• North America with 51 trillion US dollars in private wealth remained the world’s

wealthiest region in 2014 with the USA representing 28 percent of the global total.

It has also remained the wealthiest individual country ahead of China and Japan.

• Asia-Pacic (excluding Japan) remained the fastest-growing region in 2014 with

private wealth expanding by 29 percent. Continued economic expansion in India

along with China contributed to this performance.• The region overtook Europe (Eastern and Western Europe combined) to become

the world’s second wealthiest region in the world and projected to hold 34 percent

of global wealth in 2019. At such a pace, the region is expected to overtake North

America as the world’s richest region in 2016.

• Western Europe’s 7 percent growth rate brought private wealth to nearly 40 trillion

US dollars in 2014 and is projected to reach an estimated 49 trillion US dollars in

2019. In the region Sweden recorded highest growth rate (13 percent).

• Private wealth in Eastern Europe grew by 19 percent to 3 trillion US dollars in 2014

driven mainly by Russia’s 25 percent growth to 2 trillion US dollars.

• Japan’s private wealth achieved comparatively low growth of about 2 percent in

2014 to reach 14 trillion US dollars.

• Private wealth in Latin America achieved double-digit growth in 2014, by risingmore than 10 percent to nearly 4 trillion US dollars. Strong growth was observed

in Mexico (15 percent) and Columbia (10 percent).

• Private wealth in Middle East and Africa (MEA) region increased by more than 9

percent to reach nearly 6 trillion US dollars in 2014 in which Saudi Arabia occupied

the major share.

• Private wealth held by ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) households(those with above

100 million US dollars) grew by 11 percent in 2014 possessing 6 percent of global

private wealth.





• USA remained the country with the largest number of UHNW households with

5201, followed by China (1037) and the UK (1019).

• USA had the highest density of millionaire households in 2014 (7 million US dollars)

followed by China (4 million US dollars) which showed highest number of new

millionaires (1 million US dollars).

• The highest density of millionaires was in Switzerland, where 135 out of every

1000 households were millionaires.

India’s position in the report

Private wealth in India showed solid gain driven mainly by investments in local

equities. In 2014, India’s equity market rose by 23 percent.

India had fourth largest UHNW households (928) after USA, China and the UK. India

had only 284 UHNW households in 2013.





SUMMIT | CONFERENCE

International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction concluded

The one-day International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction (ICNR) concludedon 25 June 2015 in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.

The Conference was organised by the Government of Nepal to raise funds for carrying

out rebuilding of areas devastated by the April 25 earthquake of magnitude 7.8 on

Richter scale, which claimed nearly 9000 lives.

The Conference was attended by at least 35 countries, including China, Britain,

Norway, Japan, Sri Lanka, the European Union besides the UN, World Bank and

Asian Development Bank.

India was represented by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who pledged

1 billion US dollars in assistance to Nepal for its reconstruction programme. The

assistance is over and above India’s existing bilateral developmental assistance of

another 1 billion US dollars over the next ve years which takes the total assistance

to 2 billion US dollars.

41st G7 summit held in Germany

G7 Summit 2015 was held at Schloss Elmau in Bavaria, Germany from 7 June to 8

June 2015. This was the 41st G7 summit and the theme for the summit was Think

Ahead. Act Together.

The Summit focused on the global economy as well as on key issues regarding

foreign, security, environment and development policy. Further, the UN conferences





to be held in 2015 as well as the post-2015 agenda and the issues of sanctions

against Russia were also discussed.

The G7 Summit 2015 deliberated on following issues

• Protection of the marine environment and resources and marine governance.

• Antibiotic resistance, neglected and poverty-related diseases and Ebola.

• Retail and supply chain standards.

• Empowerment of women by giving vocational training.

After the talks, the leaders of the G7 committed to raising a 100 billion US dollars

fund through public and private sources to combat the rising global temperatures and

agreed to implement international mechanisms to bolster global healthcare security

by creating a nancial instrument at the World Bank to react better to pandemics.

The Summit was attended by all the seven members’ viz., Canada, France, Germany,

Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States and the European Commission

(EC). EC is a permanently welcome participant in all meetings and decision-makingsince 1981.

The guest invitees for the event included Ethiopia, Iraq, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal,

Tunisia and the UN.





COMMITTEES | COMMISSIONS

FSSAI set up an Expert Group on Salt, Sugar and Fat in Indian

Food Products

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on 12 June 2015 set up an

Expert Group on Salt, Sugar and Fat in Indian Food Products. The 11-member Expert

Group will be headed by Dr. D Prabhakaran, Director, Centre for Chronic Conditions

and Injuries and Vice-President, Public Health Foundation of India.

The Group will examine Foods with High in Fat, Sugar and Salt (HFSS), also called

Junk Food, on the health of consumers, especially on school going children. The

decision to set up the group was taken after the Delhi High Court asked the FSSAI to

issue guidelines in this regard.

The Expert Group will advise FSSAI on potential health risks to vulnerable groups

from consumption of Foods products with HFSS.

Further, it will also recommend FSSAI on prescription of regulations for display of fat,

sugar and salt on food products sold and served in eating joints or catering facilities

besides labelling requirements for packaged food.

Union Ministry of Finance constituted a Task Force headed by D

Swarup on Financial Redress Agency

Union Ministry of Finance on 5 June 2015 constituted a Task Force on Financial

Redress Agency (FRA). The 10-member task force will be headed by Dhirendra Swarup

who served as the rst chairman of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development





Authority (PFRDA) in 2004.

The Task Force was set up to begin the preparatory work for FRA that was

recommended by the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC).

FRA would act as a unied redress agency for nancial consumers across the country.

Terms of Reference of the Task Force

• Review the international best practices in consumer grievance redress, including

ombudsman and other dispute resolution mechanisms, with a focus on the

nancial sector.

• Review the present practices of management of nancial consumer redress in

India.

• Support the Ministry of Finance in procuring the services of competent consultants

to operationalise the FRA.

• To undertake cost-benet analysis (CBA) of alternatives/options while making

recommendations.

The expenditure related to Task Force activities would be met from the budget of

NIPFP-DEA research programme, which also will provide appropriate research

assistance to the Task Force

The Task Force will complete its task in one year.

About Financial Redress Agency (FRA)

FRA was envisaged in the draft Indian Financial Code (IFC) and was recommended bythe FSLRC. It would act as the rst forum of independent grievance redress which a

nancial consumer can access. It will entertain grievance against all nancial service

providers. It would also handle a large number of relatively low value complaints on

a pan-India basis and run a large scale, customer-centric process to deliver efcient

and effective outcomes.





ART | CULTURE

Assam’s Ambubachi Mela concluded

The four-day long Ambubachi Mela at Kamakhaya Devi temple at Guwahati, Assamconcluded on 26 June 2015. With this, the door of the Shakti shrine at Nilachal hillock

was re-opened for devotees.

The Ambubachi Mela also known as Ambubachi Festival that started on 23 June

2015 was visited by around 7 lakh 50 thousand pilgrims from various parts of the

world.

Ambubachi Mela (Ambubachi Festival)This yearly mela is celebrated during the monsoon season that happens to fall during

the Assamese month Ahaar, around the middle of June, when the Brahmaputra River

is in spate. It is related to the Tantric cult and is also known as Kamkhya Devi Puja.

The doors of the temple remains closed for three days during the festival as it is

believed that Goddess Kamakhya goes through her menstrual cycle.

Two-day long annual Hemis festival of Ladakh

Two-day long annual Hemis festival dedicated to the Guru Padmasambhava began

on 26 June 2015 in largest monastery of Ladakh Hemis Gompa (monastery) of Jammu

and Kashmir.

Hemis festival is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of Guru Padmasambhava.During this festive season, Lamas called ‘chhams,’ perform masked dances and





sacred plays to the accompaniment of cymbals, drums and long horns. The head

lama presides over the function.

The festival takes an auspicious turn every 12 years in the Tibetan Year of the Monkey,

when the two-storey high Thanka depicting Padmasambhava is displayed.

List of festivals of Ladakh and venue for celebrations

Name of Festival Venue

Spituk Gustor Spituk

Dosmochey Leh & Likir Monastery

Yargon Tungshak Nubra (Yarma)

Stok Guru Tsechu Stok Monastery

Matho Nagrang Matho Monastery

Saka Dawa All over Ladakh

Yuru Kabgyat Lamayuru Monastery

Hemis Tsechu Hemis Monastery

Stongday Gustor Zanskar

Karsha Gustor Zanskar

Phyang Tsesdup Phyang Monastery

Sachukul Gustor Sachukul Monastery

Korzok Gustor Tsomoriri

Dakthok Tseschu Dak thok Monastery

Sani Nasjal Zanskar

Deskit Gustor Nubra

Thiksay Gustor Thiksay

Chemday Wangchok / Padum Chemray Monastery





Galden Namchot All over Ladakh

Ladakhi Losar All over Ladakh

New series of Atithi Devo Bhava TV commercials launched

The Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge), Culture (Independent Charge)

and Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma on 19 June 2015 launched the new edition of Atithi

Devo Bhava television (TV) commercials starring Aamir Khan as brand ambassador.

The four lms, made on the theme of Atithi Devo Bhava, will spread awareness about

ways to extend hospitality to tourists visiting India by adopting an honest and helpful

attitude, as well as maintaining cleanliness and hygiene.

Veteran actor Aamir Khan is the brand ambassador for these impressive lms and

these lms have been directed by the eminent ad maker Prasoon Joshi. These four

lms will be telecasted on various television channels to spread the message of Atithi

Devo Bhava across the country.

Other announcements:

• Launched a brochure titled India- The Land of Yoga, that gives details of Yoga

destinations and will help to promote Yoga as a tourism product.

• Setting up of a National Medical and Wellness Tourism Board to boost medical

tourism. The Board will help to bring together the various streams of medicine

available in India including Ayurveda, Yoga, naturopathy, Unani and low cost

allopathic treatments.

• Development of four new tourist circuits on the themes of Wildlife, Spiritual, Desert

and Ramayana under the Swadesh Darshan scheme. These four circuits will be

in addition to the ve circuits already being developed by the Union Ministry of

Tourism.





350th foundation day of Shri Anandpur Sahib celebrated

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) celebrated the 350th foundation

day of Shri Anandpur Sahib from 17 June to 19 June 2015 at Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib

located in Anandpur Sahib in Punjab. The holy city was founded by the 9th Guru of

the Sikhs, Guru Tegh Bahadur in 1665.

Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib situated amid Shivalik hills on the bank of River Satluj is the

birthplace of the Khalsa. It is the place that commemorates the miracle of ‘celebrating

the scum of humanity’ and a wonder of the divine and transcendent guru-disciple

matrix.

Guru Teg Bahadar was father of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, who was the 10th Guru of

Sikhs. Later, Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 created Khalsa Panth.

Anandpur Sahib is the new name of Chak Nanki, the name designated by Guru Tegh

Bahadur after he purchased land of Makhowal.

800-year-old Buddha statue with 1000 hands unveiled by China

after 7 years of restoration

China on 12 June 2015 unveiled the 800-year-old Buddha statue (Qianshou Guanyin)

famous for its 1000 hands in Dazu County in Sichun province. The statue is listed as

World Heritage sites by UNESCO in 1999.

The statue was unveiled after it was restored by Chinese experts in seven years at an

expense of 60 million yuan (9.8 million US dollar).

The restoration work of the statue, one integral part of the Dazu Rock Carvings, was

started on 18 April 2008.

Restoration project

During the restoration project, the workers restored 830 hands and 227 instruments





of the statue by using one million gold foils. The 7.7 metres high and 12.5 metres

wide statue was carved during the Southern Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD). However,

the initial cravings date back to Tang Dynasty (618 to 907 AD).

Zhan Changfa, a researcher of the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage, was the

in charge of the project.





ABBREVIATIONS | TERMS

K2K Economic Corridor: Kolkata (India) and Kunming (China)

Economic Corridor

The term K2K Economic Corridor was in news in the fourth week of June 2015 as

China announced that the main artery of the corridor is nearly completed.

The 2800 km long corridor is at the core of the Bangladesh, India, China and Myanmar-

Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC) initiated by four countries in 2014.

Objective of the Corridor

• At the macro level, the corridor is aimed at deepening friendly cooperation among

the four member nations.

• The primary focus of the economic corridor is to facilitate trade and connectivity

between the landlocked and underdeveloped southwestern parts of China and

the North Eastern region of India.

• It will link South Asia with Southeast and East Asia by building multi-modal

connectivity, harnessing economic complementaries and enhancing people-to-people relations.

Route map of the Corridor

• From Kolkata, the corridor will head towards Benapole, a border town in Bangladesh.

After passing through Dhaka and Sylhet, it will re-enter the Indian territory near

Silchar in Assam.

• From Assam, the passage will be connected with Imphal and then pass through

the India-built Tamu-Kalewa friendship road in Myanmar before passing through a





small stretch in Arunachal Pradesh.

• In Myanmar, the corridor will pass through Lahiso and Muse prior to Mandalay.

• The Chinese stretch extends from Ruili before reaching Kunming, capital of Yunnan

province, through Longling and Dali.

• China also wants to include Mizoram as part of the corridor so that the K2K corridor

will be connected with the Kaladan Project.

How addition of Kaladan project will be benecial to India?

Under the Kaladan Multi-modal Transit Transport Project, initiated in 2008, Mizoramwill be connected with Myanmar’s port of Sittwe, through the Kaladan River.

Addition of Kaladan project will facilitate northeastern states in India to get easier

access to Kolkata, compared with the land route, located just 539 km away.

It will also reduce reliance of China on the Straits of Malacca (to reach the Indian

Ocean) that is militarily dominated by the USA.

FARC-EP or FARC: A guerilla movement based in Columbia

FARC was in news on 17 June 2015 as the militant organisation blew up a major oil

pipeline in the municipality of Catatumbo in northern Colombia.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People’s Army (FARC-EP) is a left

wing militant organization established in 1964.

It is Colombia’s largest rebel group and Latin America’s oldest left-wing insurgency.

It is active in Colombia, Venezuela, Panama and Ecuador.

Like any left-wing militant organisation, its aim is to overthrow the government in

power.

It was established as a communist-inspired peasant army ghting for land reform

and to reduce the gulf dividing rich and poor in the Andean country.





However, in recent times, the FARC has been criticized for eschewing its beliefs in

favor of illegal drug trade, kidnapping and extortion activities.

Now, Colombia is one of the world’s top cocaine producers and the FARC is estimated

to make around 500 million US dollars from the illicit drug trade per annum.

FARC has been engaged in peacetalks with the Columbian government, since

November 2012, aimed at ending more than 50 years of conict.

There has been agreement on several points and the negotiations continue to be

held in the Cuban capital, Havana.

There has been a spike in attacks on army and public infrastructure by FARC since it

suspended unilateral ceasere on 22 May 2015 which it declared in December 2014.

Bharat Mala Project: Linking border and coastal areas with road

network

Bharat Mala project of India was in news in the fourth week of June 2015 as NHAI

(National Highways Authority of India) has started inviting bids for preparing the

Detailed Project Reports (DRPs) of over 3500km of roads along the border and coast

lines.

Bharat Mala project is an ambitious plan of Union Ministry of Roads Transport &

Highways which contemplated building about 5000 km of road networks in the

country and link border and coastal areas with road network. The overall investment

is estimated around 50000 crore rupees.

The entire network will stretch across 15 states with Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu &

Puducherry, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Gujarat and Punjab getting substantial portion of

this network.

Further, under the project it has been assumed that in each stretch 80 percent of road

shall be two-lane with paved shoulders (two and half lanes) and 20 percent of lengthmay be four-laned.





Bharat Mala probably takes a cue from Sagar Mala, the project to construct a string

of ports in the Indian Ocean to protect maritime interests and Golden Quadrilateral,

the highway network connecting Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.

Exercise Ajeya Warrior -2015: Joint exercise between the armies

of India and UK

The term Exercise Ajeya Warrior was in news on 17 June 2015 as few soldiers of the

Indian Army sustained injuries that were in UK to participate in the military exercise.

The soldiers belong to the Kumaon Regiment.

Exercise Ajeya Warrior is a joint exercise between the armies of India and UK.

Its aim is to build and promote positive military relations between Indian and UK Army

and to enhance their ability to undertake joint tactical level operations in Counter

Insurgency/Counter Terrorism Environment under the United Nations Charter.

It is held biannually in both the countries, alternatively.

In 2015, the 16 day exercise began on 13 June 2015 at Westdown Camp in Salisbury

Plains Training Area, UK.

OROP Scheme: One Rank, One Pension scheme for ex-service-

men

The One Rank, One Pension (OROP) scheme for ex-servicemen was recently in news

on 16 June 2015 as the scheme is likely to be rolled out ahead of the Bihar Assembly

polls 2015.

The One Rank, One Pension is a scheme that lays down that the retired soldiers of

the same rank and length of service will receive the same pension, regardless ofwhen they retire. The scheme was laid out in 2014, but has not been implemented





yet due to some technical calculations and interpretations.

Under OROP, a soldier who retired in 1995 would get the same amount of pension as

the one who retired in 1996. The scheme will benet ex-servicemen drawing pensions

from the OROP scheme, especially those who retired before 2006 as at present,

pensioners who retired before 2006 draw fewer pensions than their counterparts and

even their juniors.

The scheme will benet all three services- Air Force, Navy and Army. The NDA

Government in its 2015 Budget announcement allotted 1000 crore rupees for the

scheme.

Reason behind delay in implementing OROP

Some of the ofcials within the Union Ministry of Defence (MoD) have been against

the implementation of OROP citing nancial, administrative and legal impediments.

In 2011, the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare of the MoD pointed out to a

parliamentary committee that OROP was not feasible to be implemented since

documents of military personnel are removed after 25 years, which is not true.

In reality, the Pension Payment Orders of pensioners, which contain all relevant details

such as the rank last held and the length of service are retained during the lifetime of

each pensioner. All these details are available in a document called Long Roll which

is maintained in perpetuity in terms of Regulation 592 of the Regulations for the Army.

Magna Carta: 800th anniversary celebrated in Britain

The term Magna Carta was in news on 15 June 2015 as the Queen Elizabeth II of the

UK inaugurated a ceremony to mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta.

The ceremony took place at Runnymede near London where King John II sealed the

original accord on 15 June 1215.

The most important principle that Magna Carta laid down was that Englishmen

should be governed by denite laws and not by the whims or the will of a despotic





ruler which had been the practice prior to the charter.

It promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons (feudal lords)

from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, and limitations on feudal payments

to the Crown among others.

The Great Charter, as it is often called, was said to be the foundation stone of the

rights and liberties of the English people that gradually paved way for principle of

Rule of Law across the world.

Buddhas of Bamiyan: Two 6th-century monumental statues of

standing Buddha

The Buddhas of Bamiyan were recently in news on 7 June 2015 as they were

resurrected in Bamiyan Valley, Afghanistan via 3D light projection technology.

The project was undertaken by a Chinese couple Janson Yu and Liyan Hu, who used3D laser light projection technology to ll the empty cavities in the cliff in the Bamiyan

Valley in Hazarajat with Buddha’s virtual images.

The two statues of Standing Buddhas of Bamiyan, 115 ft and 174 ft tall respectively,

were carved out of sandstone cliffs and stood at one point painted and gilded. They

managed to survive for more than 1500 years.

The statues represented the classic blended style of Gandhara art. The main bodies

of statues were hewn directly from the sandstone cliffs, but details were modeled in

mud mixed with straw, coated with stucco to enhance the expressions of the faces,

hands and folds of the robes.

The statues were among the most famous cultural landmarks of the region, and

the site was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site along with the surrounding

cultural landscape and archaeological remains of the Bamiyan Valley.

These statues were destroyed in March 2001 by Taliban declaring it as false idols.





ASHOBAA: A cyclonic storm over east central Arabian Sea

Cyclonic storm ASHOBAA was in news on 8 June 2015 after it developed into a

cyclonic storm from only a depression that formed over the Arabian Sea.

The cyclone is centered at 17.9°N and 67.2°E and is lying about 590 km west-

southwest of Mumbai and 470 km southwest of Veraval, Gujarat.

According to Skymet Meteorology Division in India, the cyclone would carry heavy

rainfall at most places over coastal Karnataka, Konkan and Goa as well as south

Gujarat. It will also carry strong winds ranging 70 to 120 kilometers per hour.

ASHOBAA is the rst tropical storm of the pre-monsoon season in the Indian seas

which developed into a cyclone after sustaining strength.

Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) categorises cyclones in various degrees,

starting with depression and deep depression, followed by a cyclonic storm.

ASHOBAA is expected to affect the Indian monsoon as in 2014 cyclonic storm Nanaukin Arabian Sea affected the progress of monsoon. It was supposed to hit Mumbai by

10 June 2014 but nally arrived on 15 June 2014.

Jan Aushadhi Campaign

Jan Aushadhi Campaign was in news as Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) rst-everJan Aushadhi Generic Drug (JAGD) Store under the campaign was inaugurated on 5

June 2015 at its headquarters in IP Estate, New Delhi.

The Campaign was launched on 23 April 2008 by the Union Ministry of Chemicals

& Fertilizers and Steel to ensure access to quality Medicines and Health Care for all.

The rst Jan Aushadhi Store with the active participation of the CPSUs namely, IDPL,

HAL, BPC was opened on 25 November 2008 at Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi.

The stores offers commonly used drugs at a 10 to 20 percent lesser price than market





value.

All medicines offered at JAGD store are approved and quality controlled by the Bureau

of Pharma Public Sector Undertakings of India (BPPI) under the aegis of Department

of Pharmaceuticals.

Section 12(1)(d) of Consumer Protection Act

The Section 12(1)(d) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was in news as the Union

Government led a complaint under it for the rst time in nearly three decades since

the enactment of the act.

The Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution on 3 June

2015 led a complaint with the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission

(NCDRC) against Maggi, the brand of instant soups and noodles owned by Nestle.

The government took this decision against the backdrop of alleged lapses related to

food safety standards in Maggi noodles containing high levels of lead and Monosodium

Glutamate (MSG).

The Section 12(1)(d) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 says that a complaint

in relation to any goods sold or delivered or agreed to be sold or delivered or any

service provided or agreed to be provided may be led with a District Forum by the

Central Government or the State Government.

They may le the complaint, as the case may be, either in its individual capacity or asa representative of interests of the consumers in general.

MCOCA: Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act

The abbreviation MCOCA was in news in rst week of June 2015. It came in news

after the state government of Maharashtra on 3 June 2015 invoked its stringentprovisions against ve persons from Nashik for allegedly being part of ration maa.





This ration maa was involved in the pilferage (theft of part of the contents of a

package) of foodgrains meant for public distribution.

This is the rst time that MCOCA was applied against ration maa and was done with

an aim of weeding out the widespread corruption in public distribution system.

Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) was enacted in 1999 to

combat organised crime and terrorism. It is a special law with stringent and deterrent

provisions including certain circumstances power to intercept wire, electronic or oral

communication to control the menace of organised crimes.

MERS virus: Two patients died in South Korea

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus was in news in the rst week of June

2015 as for the rst time two patients infected by MERS virus died in South Korea.

So far, there have been 25 conrmed cases of MERS since a man tested positive

following a trip to Saudi Arabia and became the country’s rst MERS patient in May

2015.

MERS was discovered in 2012 and has mostly been centred in Saudi Arabia. It

belongs to the family of coronaviruses that includes the common cold and SARS,

and can cause fever, breathing problems, pneumonia and kidney failure.

The virus is thought to be primarily acquired through contact with camels, but it can

also spread from human uids and droplets.

There have been 1167 cases of the virus worldwide and 479 of the patients have

died, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.





ACCIDENT | INCIDENT

Military transport plane of Indonesia, Hercules C-130, crashed

in Medan city

In Indonesia, a military transport plane Hercules C130 on 30 June 2015 crashed

in a residential city of Medan, on the northern island of Sumatra. The plane hit two

houses and a hotel before bursting into ames.

It is believed that all 113 people on board were killed. Many of the passengers are

thought to have been relatives of servicemen and women.

The accident occurred when the Hercules transport plane was on its way from an airforce base in Medan to Tanjung Pinang in Sumatra.

Medan, with about 3.4 million people, is the third most populous city in Indonesia

after the capital Jakarta and Surabaya.

Malvani hooch tragedy: more than 90 people died

More than 90 people died and 120 are critical after consuming spurious liquor at the

Laxmi Nagar slum in Malad’s Malwani area of Mumbai in the incident occurred that

occurred on 17 June 2015.

The incident has led to suspension of eight police ofcials and arrest of ve persons

so far.

This incident was the second biggest hooch tragedy in over a decade in the State.Earlier in 2004, about 87 people were killed after consuming spurious liquor in





suburban Vikhroli.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered an inquiry into the Malwani hooch

tragedy.

Chinese cruise ship Eastern Star capsized in the Yangtze River

Chinese cruise ship Eastern Star or Dongfangzhixing capsized in the Jianli section of

the Yangtze River in Hubei province on 1 June 2015.

The four-storey and 76-metre ship carrying 405 passengers, ve tour guides, and 46

crew members capsized after it got caught in a cyclone.

The ship was headed from the eastern city of Nanjing to the southwestern city of

Chongqing. Most of the passengers had retired for the night when the incident

happened.

More than 30 boats have been pressed into rescue operations and more than 10relief ships have also been dispatched to the area.

Tornado struck northern city of Ciudad Acuna in Mexico

Ciudad Acuna in Mexico was in news as on 25 May 2015 it was hit by a tornado

killing at least 13 people and injuring several.

It was the rst tornado to hit Acuna since the city’s foundation, more than 100 years

ago. The city Acuna lies on US-Mexico border.

The tornado that attained the speed of 270-300 kilometer per hour at one point also

damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes of the city.

Rescue work is being carried out by digging through the rubble of damaged homes

in a race to nd victims.

On the other hand, in the United States (US), the tornado that stretched from the





Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes dumped record rainfall on parts of the Plains

and Midwest causing major ooding and forcing at least 2000 Texans to leave their

homes.





SCIENCE | SPACE

SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket broke apart in ames minutes after

lifting off from Cape Canaveral

An unmanned American SpaceX rocket dubbed Falcon-9 broke apart in ames

minutes after lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on 28 June 2015. The accident

occurred in only two and half minutes after the launch.

According to Elon Musk, SpaceX founder and chief, pressurization in the liquid-

oxygen tank of the rocket was the main cause of the blast.

The rocket, which had 18 straight successes prior to this accident, was in the processof sending a cargo ship to the International Space Station (ISS). The rocket was

heading to ISS to bring food and supplies, including a robotic Dragin cargo capsule.

The US space agency NASA said that important supplies have been lost but the

orbiting lab’s crew (astronauts), who rely on food, water and equipment for their

operations in space have enough stock that will last till October 2015.

This incident is the third failure to send supplies to the ISS in the last eight months.





DAY | WEEK | YEAR

29 June: National Statistics Day

India on 29 June 2015 observed its ninth National Statistics Day. Theme for the 9thStatistics Day was Social Development.

The day organised by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI)

commemorates the birth anniversary of late Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis.

PC Mahalanobis born on 29 June 1893 was an Indian Bengali scientist and applied

statistician. He is best remembered for the Mahalanobis distance, a statistical

measure. He made pioneering studies in anthropometry in India. He founded the

Indian Statistical Institute in 1932 and contributed to the design of large-scale sample

surveys.

Later in his life, as a member of Planning Commission, he gave the Two-sector Input-

output model for the Second Five Year Plan (1956-61) which became famous as

Nehru-Mahalanobis model or Basic Industry strategy of economic growth.

26 June: International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Traf-

cking

The International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafcking was on 26 June 2015

observed globally with the theme Let’s Develop our Lives, our Communities, our

identities without Drugs.

This important day was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 7

December 1987 to help create a society free of illegal drugs and drug abuse. Each





year the United Nations Ofce on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) selects a theme for the

day.

The day is observed internationally by various countries by spreading awareness

about Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafcking through events and programmes.

14 June: World Blood Donors Day

World Blood Donors Day (WBDD) was observed on 14 June 2015. The theme of the

2015 World Blood Donor Day campaign is “Thank you for saving my life”.

The theme focuses on thanking blood donors who save lives every day through

their blood donation and encourages more people across the earth to donate blood

voluntarily and regularly with the slogan“Give freely, give often. Blood donation

matters.”

The campaign aims to highlight stories from people whose lives have been saved

through blood donation, as a way of motivating regular blood donors to continue

giving blood and people in good health who have never given blood to begin doing

so. The World Blood Donors Day (WBDD) was established in 2004 to raise awareness

of the need for safe bold and blood products, and to thank donors for their voluntary,

life-saving gifts of blood.

WBDD is one of the eight ofcial global public health campaigns marked by the World

Health Organization (WHO) along with World Tuberculosis Day (24 March), WorldHealth Day (7 April), World Immunization Week (last week of April), World Malaria Day

(25 April), World No Tobacco Day (31 May), World Hepatitis Day (28 July), and World

AIDS Day (1 December).

12 June: World Day Against Child Labour

The World Day Against Child Labour was on 12 June 2015 observed globally with the

theme NO to child labour – YES to quality education!The day is the United Nations





observance to bring awareness against child labour.

World Day Against Child Labour 2015 calls for:

• Free, compulsory and quality education for all children at least to the minimum age

for admission to employment and action to reach those presently in child labour;

• New efforts to ensure that national policies on child labour and education are

consistent and effective;

• Policies that ensure access to quality education and investment in the teaching

profession.The International Labour Organization (ILO) launched the World Day Against Child

Labour in 2002 to focus attention on the global extent of child labour and on the

action and efforts needed to eliminate it.

The latest surveys suggest that more than 215 million children work instead of

attending school. In India, the labour law allows children under the age of 14 to work

in non-hazardous industries, and has even fewer restrictions on children working

between the ages of 15 and 18.

8 June: World Ocean Day

World Ocean Day 2015 was celebrated across the world on 8 June 2015 with the

theme Healthy oceans, Healthy planet.To mark the occasion, various events were organised across the globe to spread

awareness about the importance of oceans in economic, Security and biological

spheres and need to protect them from vulnerabilities.

For the rst time, World Ocean day was introduced in 1992 at Rio de Janeiro with

a motive of raising awareness of people towards the crucial role that sea plays in

our lives. The ofcial designation of World Oceans Day is an opportunity to raise

global awareness of the current challenges faced by the international community

in connection with the oceans. In the year 2008, United Nations General Assembly





decided to designate 8 June as the World Oceans Day from 2009 onwards with its

resolution number 63/111, Paragraph 171.

Oceans are a critical part of our biosphere and are essential for food security, health

and survival of all lives and are responsible to power the climate of the world.

The theme for the World Ocean Day 2014 was Together, we have the Power to Protect

the Oceans.

5 June: World Environment Day

World Environment Day (WED) was observed globally on 5 June 2015 with theme

Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care.

The host country for the WED 2015 is Italy and the celebrations will be organized

by Expo Milano 2015 that will run from 1 May to 31 October 2015 and will see the

participation of 140 plus countries.

The day is observed to raise global awareness to take positive environmental action

to protect nature and the planet Earth. It is run by the United Nations Environment

Programme (UNEP).

What does theme highlights?

The theme focuses on the need to respect the carrying capacity of the planet and to

manage natural resources efciently to ensure prosperity and wellbeing globally. As per an estimate, if current consumption and production patterns remain the same

then by 2050 to sustain the same we will need three planets, as the population is

expected to rise to reach 9.6 billion.

Further, the last part of the theme, Consuming with Care highlights the need to live

within planetary boundaries to ensure a healthy future where our dreams can be

realized. Human prosperity need not cost the earth.





Deaths caused by Tobacco

The global tobacco epidemic kills nearly 6 million people each year, of which more

than 600000 are non-smokers dying from breathing second-hand smoke. If the similar

conditions persist, the epidemic is estimated to kill more than 8 million people every

year by 2030. Also, more than 80 percent of these preventable deaths will be among

people living in low-and middle-income countries.

Why the campaign against illicit trade of tobacco products launched?

From many angles, the illicit trade of tobacco products is a major global concern

especially in high-income countries, including health, legal and economic, governance

and corruption.

The illicit tobacco market may account for as much as one in every 10 cigarettes

consumed globally, according to studies, including information supplied by the

global customs community. The European Commission estimates that illicit trade in

cigarettes costs the EU and their Member States over 10 billion euros annually in lost

tax and customs revenue.

WHO FCTC

In response to the threat posed by illicit tobacco trade, the international community

negotiated and adopted in November 2012 the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in

Tobacco Products, the rst protocol to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco

Control (WHO FCTC). India ratied the convention in February 2004 and has becomethe seventh country to do so.





MISCELLANEOUS

Union Government launched weather alert service NOWCAST

Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on 18 June 2015 launched a weatheralert service named NOWCAST.

NOWCAST will be used to send SMS alerts on extreme weather data like hailstorm,

thunderstorm and squall originated by India Meteorological Department (IMD) to over

one crore farmers whose mobile numbers are registered on government’s mKisan

portal.

Further, the mKisan portal will send warning SMSs to farmers located in affected

district/blocks. These warnings will help the farmers to take precautionary measures

as needed and feasible. The SMS will be sent in English, Hindi and regional languages

as per farmers’ request.

This technological break-through is a collaborative effort between mKisan Portal

developed by DAC, weather technologies adopted by IMD and GIS Portal of NIC.

Besides, Radha Mohan Singh also launched Insurance Web-Portals for Farmers

(www.farmer.gov.in/insurance) that will enable farmers to insure their crops under

three schemes.

Prevailing provisions under which farmers can insure their crops are

• National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS)

• Modied National Insurance Scheme (MNAIS)

• Weather based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS)

Besides, Coconut Palm Insurance Scheme (CPIS) also is applicable in some parts of





the country.

The portal available in English will be used to create awareness and encourage more

farmers to insure their crops by taking advantage of existing schemes.

ASIC launched mobile app ASCIonline for consumer complaint

Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), the self regulatory body for content in

Indian advertising, on 17 June 2015 launched the country’s rst consumer complaint

mobile app named ASCIonline.

ASCI launched this consumer friendly app with an aim to address the issue of

misleading advertisements.

Features of the app ASCIonline

• It will allow consumers to raise their voice against misleading advertisements and

register their complaint in an easy manner by providing advertisement details andthe objection.

• It will allow users to attach les like image or video or YouTube link of the

advertisement.

• It will allow a consumer to track the status of the complaints which he or she has

registered on the portal with the help of the App.

The mobile app can be downloaded on android and iOS phone for free.

Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), established in 1985, is committed

to the cause of Self-Regulation in Advertising, ensuring the protection of the interests

of consumers. ASCI was formed with the support of all four sectors connected with

Advertising, viz. Advertisers, Advertising Agencies, Media (including Broadcasters

and the Press) and others like PR Agencies, Market Research Companies etc.





Indian Railways rechristened Haridwar Mail as Yoga Express

Indian Railways on 15 June 2015 rechristened train No 19031/19032 Ahmedabad-

Haridwar Mail Express also known as ‘Haridwar Mail’ as Yoga Express. The name

was changed with immediate effect.

However, there will be no change in the train timings and its composition.

Union Government is observing International Yoga Day on 21 June 2015.

Union Government launched mobile app to locate nearest blood

bank

Union Government on 14 June 2015 launched Mobile Blood Bank Locator App. The

app was launched on the occasion of World Blood Donors Day with an aim to ease

access of information regarding the nearest blood bank in the country.

Ministry of Health said that the National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) has made

available directory of all 2760 licensed blood banks at National Health Portal.

It also said that data of all 76 blood banks in Delhi NCR and 524 blood banks from

across the country has been made available. The process of uploading data of

remaining licensed blood banks in the country is under process and will be made

available soon.





WORLD DAIRY (JUNE 2015)

1 June 2015

• 92-year-old Harriette Thompson became oldest woman to complete a marathon

• Two patients died from MERS virus in South Korea• Mauritius designated Ameenah Gurib-Fakim as its rst woman President

• Stempeucel, a stem cell drug, received Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) in Europe

2 June 2015

• US President Barack Obama signed USA FREEDOM Act 2015 into law

• South Korea and China signed bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

• Trial run of Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala bus service began

• India, Sweden signed 6 agreements during visit of Pranab Mukherjee to Sweden

• AIFF signed an agreement with French Football Federation

• WJP Rule of Law Index 2015 released; India placed 59th out of 102 countries

• Sepp Blatter resigned as FIFA president amid corruption scandal

• Harley-Davidson tied-up with Myntra for online merchandise sale

3 June 2015

• India and the US signed 2015 Framework for the India-US Defence Relationship

• India joined MCAA on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (AEOI)

• India and Belarus signed six Agreements during the visit of President to Belarus





• AB De Villiers conferred with South Africa Cricketer of the Year Award for 2015

• UK Author Ali Smith won 2015 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction

4 June 2015

• WTO’s Dispute Settlement Board ruled against India’s ban on poultry imports fromthe US

• President Pranab Mukherjee concluded two-nation visit to Sweden and Belarus

• Justin Gatlin nished 100m race at Rome Diamond League in record time• Fortune released 61st edition of list of top 500 companies

5 June 2015

• India and the Netherlands signed agreements to enhance bilateral cooperation

• Prominent scientist Ameenah Gurib-Fakim sworn-in as President of Mauritius

• World Environment Day observed globally

6 June 2015

• India, Bangladesh signed Land Boundary Agreement of 1974

• India and Bangladesh signed 22 bilateral documents

• Eleven Indo-Canadians honoured with ICCC Annual Awards 2015

7 June 2015

• Justice and Development Party won Turkey’s parliamentary polls

• Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain won 2015 Canada Grand Prix of Formula1

• Momota and Ratchanok won Indonesia Open Badminton titles

• Stanislas Wawrinka won Men’s single title of French Open





8 June 2015

• Manchester United Football Club became World’s most valuable brand with 1.2billion US dollars

• Illegal trapping of migratory songbird Yellow-Breasted Bunting leading to its

extinction: Study

• Documentary on cricket titled Death of Gentleman screened at Shefeld

• World famous Buddhas of Bamiyan resurrected in Afghanistan

• 3800-year-old statuettes of priestess and politicians discovered in Peru

• 41st G7 summit held in Germany

• World Ocean Day observed with theme Healthy oceans, Healthy planet

• Telugu writer Dasaradhi Rangacharya died at 87

9 June 2015

• Dromedary camels are key source of MERS Virus: Study

• Nepal political parties reached agreement on proposed Constitution framework

• India, Japan and Australia held rst ever trilateral dialogue

• Big Band Leader James Last passed away

10 June 2015

• Forbes released 2015 World’s 100 Highest-Paid Athletes list

• African leaders signed 26-nation Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) agreement

• NASA scientist developed tool to predict destructive solar storms

11 June 2015

• Australia applied holding order to Maggi Noodles from India





• England’s cricketer Matt Prior retired from all forms of cricket

• Spain passed law awarding citizenship to descendants of expelled Jews

• Said Djinnit, UN envoy to Burundi crisis, stepped down as mediator

• Dick Costolo resigned as CEO of Twitter Inc

12 June 2015

• RTA of UAE included four Indian languages into its driving tests

• Moldova’s Prime Minister Chiril Gaburuci resigned

• 800-year-old Buddha statue with 1000 hands unveiled by China after 7 years of

restoration

• World Day Against Child Labour observed globally

13 June 2015

• Comet lander Philae woke up after seven months of hibernation

14 June 2015

• Rafael Nadal won Stuttgart Open

• World Blood Donors Day observed with theme Thank you for saving my life

15 June 2015

• India and Poland set trade target of 5 billion US dollars by 2018

• Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement signed inThimpu

• UN elected Denmark’s Mogens Lykketoft to head General Assembly

• Britain celebrated 800th anniversary of Magna Carta





16 June 2015

• Commission on GSJG released the Confronting the Crisis of Global Governance

report

• RTA of UAE included four Indian languages into its driving tests

• Previously unknown extreme star formation Eye of Medusa observed 100 millionlight years away

• India, China can protect 1.4 million premature deaths by improving quality of Air:Study

17 June 2015

• Columbia’s FARC blew up oil pipeline in Catatumbo

• Chinese Version of Bhagavad Gita launched in China

• China and Australia signed Free Trade Agreement

• Union Cabinet approved agreement with Spain on abolishing visa requirementsfor diplomatic passports

• Japan’s Parliament passed a Bill to lower voting age from 20 to 18

• Former Turkey President Suleyman Demirel died

• GADL, Oman Airport Management Company signed MoU on Aviation ConsultancyServices

18 June 2015

• France announced ban on earphones for Drivers and Cyclists

• Hong Kong lawmakers rejected Beijing-backed election reform package

• CBRE Research released Global Prime Ofce Occupancy Costs survey

• Antani, Joshi appointed to the board of Future Majority Project of US Republican

Party

• Keith Vaz re-elected as chairman of UK Parliament committee





• UNHCR released Global Trends: World at War report on forced displacement

• Immunogen eOD-GT8 60mer can stimulate immune system to block HIV/AIDSinfection in mice: Study

• Anti-Malarial compound DDD107498 that inhibits protein synthesis discovered

19 June 2015

• China launched world’s rst electric passenger aircraft BX1E

• Department of State of USA released Country Reports on Terrorism 2014

• India, Tanzania signed six MoUs during the visit of President of Tanzania to India

• Blue Opposition Bloc led by Lars Loekke Rasmussen won Denmark’s ParliamentaryElections

20 June 2015

• Brightest Galaxy in Early Universe named after Cristiano Ronaldo as CR7

21 June 2015

• First International Day of Yoga observed globally

• Commemorations of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo concluded

• Russia won European Team Athletics Championships 2015

• Jordan Spieth of US won US Open of Golf

• Andy Murray won the men’s singles of Aegon Tennis Championships at the Queen’sClub

• China won 2015 Nongfu Spring World Cup of Snooker

• Serbia won 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup by defeating Brazil 2-1

• Roger Federer won Gerry Weber Open tennis title for eighth time• Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg of Germany won Austrian Grand Prix of Formula





One

22 June

• India to be the Partner Country for Russian Industrial Trade Fair Innoprom 2016

• Nepal-India Treaty of Transit amended to facilitate import of vehicles into Nepal

• EU launched Operation EU NAVFOR Med against migrant-trafckers

• Typhoon Kujira struck south China’s Hainan Province

• Main artery of 2800-km K2K Economic Corridor nearly ready: China

• Sri Sri Ravi Shankar conferred with Columbia’s highest civilian award

• Three Indians won inaugural Queen’s Young Leaders Award in UK

23 June

• International Cricket Council approved amendments to playing conditions in ODIsand T20Is

• Sachin Tendulkar named as greatest Test player of 21st century

• WHO’s IARC classied lindane, DDT, and 2,4-D as carcinogenic to humans

• Titanic composer James Horner died

24 June

• Australia decided to join China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

• Bangladesh won 3-match ODI series against India 2-1

• Zaheer Abbas, former Captain of Pakistan’s Cricket team, named as President of

ICC

• First species of Yeti Crab in Antarctica named Kiwa tyleri discovered

25 June





• India, US signed MoUs to enhance cooperation in areas of Health Sector

• US Supreme Court gave nod to subsidies under US Health Care Law in Stateswithout health exchanges

• International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction concluded

• Satnam Singh Bhamara became rst Indian basketball player to join NBA

• Veselin Topalov won the Norway Chess Tournament 2015

• Patrick Macnee, star of The Avengers, died

26 June

• Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved Parliament

• US Supreme Court legalized Same-Sex Marriage Nationwide

• International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafcking observed globally

27 June

• Greece PM called for referendum on extension for bailout programme

• Rock Band Yes Guitarist Chris Squire died

28 June

• Nelson Piquet Jr won the inaugural FIA Formula E Championship title• Wei, Li won men’s & women’s singles of Canada Open Badminton tournament

2015

• SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket broke apart in ames minutes after lifting off from CapeCanaveral

29 June

• 50 countries signed Articles of Agreement for China-initiated Asian Infrastructure





Investment Bank (AIIB)

• India, Thailand signed ve MOUs during the 7th Meeting of India-Thailand JointCommission

• US Supreme Court ruled against EPA limiting mercury emissions from power plants

• Three-drug lethal injection protocol use did not violate Constitution: US Supreme

Court

30 June

• More than 100 feared dead in Indonesia transport plane crash in Medan city

• Finnish SMS pioneer Matti Makkonen died

• First-ever potential treatment for MERS identied





INDIA DAIRY (JUNE 2015)

1 June 2015

• Union Government simplied defence rules to woo foreign companies

• RBI permitted cross holding in infrastructure bonds

• Hike in Service Tax to 14 percent became operational

• Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman inducted in BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee

• Fishing ban of 61 days along the Western Coast became effective except in Kerala

• Wrestler Prem Nath passed away

• P Kunhikrishnan appointed as Director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC)

SHAR• Meena Hemchandra appointed as Executive Director of RBI

• Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa sworn-in as Governor of Arunachal Pradesh

• S Somanath appointed as Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, ISRO

• K Sivan appointed as Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), ISRO

• Volvo India appointed Tom von Bonsdorff as Managing Director

2 June 2015

• Union Government launched Khoya Paya web portal to exchange information onmissing children

• Union Ministry of Women and Child Development launched IAP HealthPhoneprogramme

• IREDA awarded Miniratna (Category-1) status by Department of Public Enterprises





• Second Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement 2015-16 announced; Repo ratecut by 0.25 percent

• Ravi Shastri re-appointed as Director of Indian Cricket team

• Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry Irwin Rose passed away

3 June 2015

• Inderjeet won gold in shot put at 21st Asian Athletics Championships

• Denudation in mangrove vegetation of Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary• Northern Railway rolled out India’s rst rail coach lit by solar panels

• Jharkhand Cabinet approved Jharkhand Special Courts Ordinance, 2015

• Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje inaugurated Phase 1A of Jaipur Metro Rail Services

• Union Government led complaint against Maggi under Section 12(1)(d) ofConsumer Protection Act

• Syed Asif Ibrahim appointed as PM’s Special Envoy on Countering Terrorism andExtremism

4 June 2015

• Sundaram Ravi inducted into Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires for 2015-16

• AP Postal Circle decided to sell River Godavari water as GOD-JAL during

Pushkaram festival

• Delhi Government introduced mechanical road sweepers

• Union Government signed 400 million US dollars loan agreement with World Bank

for TNSUDP

• Delhi Metro got its rst driver-less train

• 20 soldiers killed in militant ambush at Tengnoupal, Manipur





5 June 2015

• Union Ministry of Water Resources launched nationwide Jal Kranti Abhiyan from

Jaipur

• Union Government inaugurated Tier-I Oil Spill Response Centre for Mumbai and

JNPT Harbour

• HP High Court asked state government to establish separate homes for differently-

abled people

• Industrial efuents caused re on water of Bellandur Lake

• IMA’s rst Jan Aushadhi medical store launched in Delhi

• R Seshasayee appointed as Non-Executive Chairman of Infosys Limited

6 June 2015

• Rahul Dravid named coach of India ‘A’, U-19 cricket teams

• International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards 2015

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Bangladesh

7 June 2015

• Flood of re written by Amitav Ghosh

• Maharashtra Government invoked MCOCA against ration maa

• Anshu Jain, Juergen Fitschen resigned as Co-CEO of Deutsche Bank

8 June 2015

• RBI announced Strategic Debt Restructuring Scheme

• Indian Basketball Players Association launched in New Delhi

• Denudation in mangrove vegetation of Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary





• NMCG, NYKS signed MoU for involvement of youth in restoring the health of

Ganga river

• Bombay High Court banned horse driven carriages in Mumbai

• Union Environment Ministry approved Coastal Road Project of Mumbai

• ISRO presented with 2015 Space Pioneer Award for Mars Orbiter Mission

• Vijai Sharma appointed as Chief Information Commissioner of India

• KV Chowdary appointed as Chief Vigilance Commissioner

• Cyclone ASHOBAA intensied into severe cyclonic storm

• RC Tayal appointed as Director General of National Security Guard

9 June 2015

• Indian Army carried out cross-border operation against militants in Myanmar

• RBI issued Draft Framework on Issuance of Rupee linked Bonds Overseas

• Shah Rukh Khan acquired CPL T20 team Trinidad & Tobago

• Bihar launched campaign Badh Chala Bihar to produce Bihar@2025 vision

document

• AMC launched USE and GET PAID scheme; Public Toilet Users to be paid 1 rupee

• Haryana’s Jind, Karnal & UP’s Muzaffarnagar included in NCR• Former Indian Cricketer Hemant Kanitkar died

• Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar appointed as Director of CSIR-IICT

• PVR Ltd agreed to acquire DLF’s DT Cinemas for 500 crore rupees

• India-born Padmasree Warrior resigned as Chief Technology Ofcer of Cisco

• ICICI Bank appointed MK Sharma as non-executive chairman





10 June 2015

• Union Cabinet approved proposal to promulgate the Negotiable Instruments

(Amendment) Ordinance

• CCEA approved 4721 crore rupees road projects in Madhya Pradesh, Telangana

• Kapil Mishra named as Delhi Law Minister

• Prof S Bandyopadhayay appointed as Director of Indian Statistical Institute (ISI)

• Dr Bimal K Roy removed as Director of Indian Statistical Institute (ISI)

• Indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant undocked in Kochi

• Parkash Singh Badal conferred with 2015 Sant Namdev National Award

• HDFC Bank launched PayZapp

• Amazon opened its biggest Fullment Centre in Hyderabad

11 June 2015

• Union Government launched Migrant Resource Centre in Chennai

12 June 2015

• Railway Ministry decided to run Suvidha Trains

• Bibek Debroy committee on railway restructuring submitted report to UnionMinistry of Railways

• RBI issued nal guidelines for 6-year and 13-year Interest Rate Futures

• Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) launched India Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP)

• Telangana Government unveiled Telangana Industrial Policy 2015

• Sangeet Natak Akademi announced awardees for 2014 Akademi Awards and

fellowships





• Chandigarh’s Rock Garden creator Nek Chand died

13 June 2015

• CSIR set up India’s rst Micro Air Vehicle Aerodynamics Research Tunnel in

Bengaluru

14 June 2015

• Harbhajan Singh became 9th highest wicket-taker in Test Cricket

• Tamil Nadu and Adani Power Ltd signed PPA to set up 200 MW solar power plant

in Ramanathapuram

• Sheila Kaul, former Governor of Himachal Pradesh, died

• Union Government launched mobile app to locate nearest blood bank

15 June 2015

• Union Government launched website to connect employers, job seekers

• Book titled Recasting India written by Hindol Sengupta released

• PM Narendra Modi launched book titled Education of Muslims by Professor JS

Rajput

• Indian Railways rechristened Haridwar Mail as Yoga Express

• Union Government launched Augmented Reality Application named Sakaar

• Critically endangered Sangai deer found in Manipur’s Loktak Lake to be translocated

• Kapil Mishra appointed as Chairman of Delhi Jal Board

16 June 2015

• Election Commission of India (ECI) suspended recognition of National People’s





Party (NPP)

• India’s trade decit in May 2015 narrowed to 10.4 billion US dollars

• Renowned architect Charles Correa passed away

• Hindi writers Babusha Kohli, Upasana won 10th Navlekhan Award of Bharatiya

Jnanpith

• One Rank, One Pension scheme for ex-servicemen

• Las Vegas casino tycoon Kirk Kerkorian died

• Narendra Kumar Yadav took charge as Chairman and Managing Director of MTNL

• Book titled Modi - Incredible emergence of a star in Chinese language written by

Tarun Vijay

• AIBA constituted Ad-hoc committee chaired by Kishan Narsi for boxing in India

• Sunil Chhetri became rst Indian footballer to score 50 international goals

17 June 2015

• Union Ministry of Finance formed two committees for facilitating implementation

of GST

• CCEA approved Minimum Support Prices for Kharif Crops of 2015-16 season

• CCEA approved setting up of 2000 MW of Grid connected Solar PV Power Projects

under JNNSM

• Union Government launched Cluster Development Programme for Pharma Sector

• Union Government decided to increase number of work days under MGNREGA in

drought hit areas

• Union Cabinet revised target of solar power under JNNSM to 100000 MW by 2022

• NHAI invited bids for Bharat Mala Project• Malvani hooch tragedy: more than 90 people died





• CCEA approved inclusion of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh in National

Dairy Plan- I

• Union Cabinet approved transfer of NIL’s land to DRDO for establishing a defence

research centre

• Union Cabinet approved Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015

• Union Cabinet approved Housing for All by 2022 Mission

• IAMAI released Social Media in India 2014 report

• G Gurucharan given additional charge as Director General of Bureau of IndianStandards

• Archana Ramasundaram appointed as Director of National Crime Records Bureau

• ASIC launched mobile app ASCIonline for consumer complaint

• Sharad Pawar re-elected as President of Mumbai Cricket Association

• Madras HC made wearing of helmets for two-wheelers compulsory from 1 July

2015

18 June 2015

• Maharashtra topped the list of States and UTs in IPR ling in 2013-14: IBEF report

• India placed at 61st position in terms of foreigners’ money in Swiss banks

• Aakar Patel appointed as Executive Director of Amnesty International India

• Union Government launched weather alert service NOWCAST

• Book titled Bikhare Khyalat written by Abdul Haq presented to Vice-President

• Indian paddlers won team titles at South Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis

Championships

• WB State Assembly passed West Bengal Tea Plantation Employees Welfare FundBill, 2015





19 June 2015

• Union Ministry of Finance released Draft Outline of Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme

• Justice Gian Parkash Mittal resigned from the Ofce of the Judge of Delhi High

Court

• New series of Atithi Devo Bhava TV commercials launched

• 350th foundation day of Shri Anandpur Sahib celebrated

20 June 2015

• First-ever indigenously developed VRF ACs launched by Blue Star

21 June 2015

• Sanjay Subrahmanyam selected for Sangitha Kalanidhi award for the year 2015• International Yoga Day celebration at Rajpath sets two world records

• Former Indian women’s hockey captain Shashi Bala died

• Debendranath Sarangi elected as President of Squash Rackets Federation of India

22 June

• Union Ministry of Home Affairs designated Agatti and Minicoy Islands as Immigration

Check Posts

• Task Force report on enabling the Private Sector to grow pharmaceutical sector

released

• Union Ministry of Finance issued Draft Proposals for Facilitating Electronic

Transactions

• FBIL overnight Mumbai Inter-Bank Offer Rate (MIBOR) to become effective from





July 22

• EPFO made UAN mandatory for all employers under Employee Provident Fund

Act, 1952

• Kerala’s Trinity College of Engineering launched student satellite TASSAT project

• Sister Nirmala Joshi, former head of Missionaries of Charity, died

23 June

• SEBI relaxed the IPO norms for technological start-ups to raise funds from capitalmarket

• Inderjeet Singh, Jinson Johnson won gold at Asian Athletics Grand Prix

• Indian Railway Team won World Railway Championship 2015 in Tennis and

Volleyball

• Taygan Lions Park, Skazka Zoo, Thiruvananthapuram Zoo inked animal exchange

agreement

• Bhuvan Ganga Mobile Application launched to aid National Mission for Clean

Ganga

• Maharashtra government decided to amend MPDA Act, 1981

• Lucknow zoo renamed after last Nawab Wajid Ali Shah

• Maharashtra declared Blue Mormon as State buttery

• Veteran Journalist Praful Bidwai passed away

• Red Tape to Red Carpet... and then some written by Gina Rinehart released

24 June

• Union Cabinet approved setting up of six Indian Institutes of Management (IIM)• Union Government launched India’s rst Modernised Anganwadi Centre at





Hasanpur village in Sonepat

• Union Cabinet approved to set up a National Memorial at birth place of Lok Nayak

JP Narayan in Bihar

• UNCTAD released World Investment Report 2015

• Union Cabinet approved renaming of SECI as Renewable Energy Corporation of

India

• Union Cabinet approved signing of MoC between India and Japan on Industrial

Property

• Leander Paes became 47th player to join 100 partners club on ATP Circuit

• Stef Graf appointed as Kerala’s Ayurveda brand ambassador

• APMDC signed MoU with NSL Mining Resources India Pvt Ltd for iron ore mining

projects

• BHEL commissioned rst 250-MW unit of NTPC’s Bongaigaon Thermal Power

Project

• Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee appointed as acting Chief Justice of Karnataka

High Court

• 42-footlong blue whale washed ashore at Revdanda coast in Maharashtra died

• Sahitya Akademi announced Bhasha Samman

• Sahitya Akademi announced Bal Sahitya Puraskar for the year 2015

25 June

• Union Government approved a proposal for setting up second airport at Jewar in

NCR

• Union Government asked Bihar, TN, Rajasthan to introduce milk in mid day meal

scheme

• PM launched AMRUT, Smart Cities Mission and Housing for All (Urban)





• RBI extended deadline for exchanging pre-2005 currency notes by 6 months

• RBI allowed AD Category-I Banks to borrow from International Financial Institutions

• RBI released Financial Stability Report June 2015

• Delhi Budget 2015-16 presented

• Anshula Kant appointed as CFO and Deputy Managing Director of SBI

26 June

• Assam entrepreneurs signed pact on waste management

• Famous Writer Vishwanath Tripathi chosen for 28th Moorti Devi Award

• Nadia district won the UN Public Service Award 2015 for eliminating open

defecation

• President conferred Punyabhushan Award on Prataprao Pawar

• Two-day long annual Hemis festival of Ladakh

• Assam’s Ambubachi Mela concluded

27 June

• Haryana government revised the Dearness Relief from 212 per cent to 223 per

cent

28 June

• Gutta-Ponappa won women’s doubles of Canada Open Badminton tournament

2015

29 June

• 9th National Statistics Day observed with theme Social Development





• Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa launched rst phase of Chennai Metro Rail Service

• National Level Sikh museum to be constructed in Lakhnaur Sahib Village of Punjab

• Elephant Census Report 2015 of Odisha released

30 June

• Bombay HC allowed Nestle India to export Maggi noodles

• Literacy rate 71% in rural areas, 86% in urban areas: NSSO survey

• Jagmohan Yadav Appointed Director General of Police of Uttar Pradesh





ONE LINERS (JUNE 2015)

• Winner of three Wimbledon titles in a day, who died on 29 May 2015 at the age of

89 - Doris Hart

• Person who was sworn-in as 19th Governor of Arunachal Pradesh on 1 June 2015

- Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa

• Former cricketers who were inducted into the BCCI’s newly-constituted cricket

advisory committee on 1 June 2015 - Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS

Laxman

• Football club that on 30 May 2015 won Copa del Rey also known as Spanish

King’s Cup by defeating Athletic Bilbao, 3-1 - Barcelona

• Person who was appointed as the new Chancellor of the Nalanda University, Bihar

on 30 May 2015 - George Yeo, the former Foreign Minister of Singapore

• The women, who on 1 June 2015 was designated as the new President of the

Indian Ocean island nation, Mauritius by its government - Ameenah Gurib-Fakim

• India and Sweden on 1 June 2015 signed 6 agreements to boost ties and restart

the bilateral strategic dialogue in presence of - President Pranab Mukherjee, who

was on a state visit to Sweden

• One of the founders of India’s Information Technology (IT) industry and chairman

of Hinditron Group who died on 1 June 2015 - Hemant Sonawala

• 92 year 65 days old cancer survivor, who on 31 May 2015 became the oldest

woman to nish a marathon at San Diego’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon of 26.2 miles

(42.2 kilometers) - Harriette Thompson

• President of FIFA who resigned on 2 June 2015 amid the corruption scandal that

has engulfed the football’s governing body - Sepp Blatter





• To attract investment of 1 lakh crore rupees Maharashtra Cabinet on 2 June 2015

approved - a Composite Renewable Energy Policy worth 4156.43 crore rupees

• Scientists claimed that some female members of a critically endangered species

of sawsh are reproducing in the wild without sex, that is, by - Parthenogenesis

• US President Barack Obama on 2 June 2015 signed the USA FREEDOM Act 2015

in law for Uniting and Strengthening America by - Fullling Rights and Ensuring

Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2015.

• The former cricket captain of Indian team, who was on 2 June 2015 re-appointed

as the Director of Indian cricket team for the Bangladesh tour - Ravi Shastri

• Sixth city in the country to have metro services; other cities are Delhi, Gurgaon,

Mumbai, Bangalore, and Kolkata is – Jaipur

• Indian shot putter who on 3 June 2015 won gold medal in men’s shot put event in

the 21st Asian Athletics Championships - Inderjeet Singh

• India and Belarus on 3 June 2015 inked six agreements to boost ties and relationship

based on - friendship and mutual benet

• Jharkhand Cabinet on 3 June 2015 approved Jharkhand Special Courts Ordinance,

2015 to make Jharkhand - rid of corruption

• Person who for his contribution towards the development of athletics in Asian

continent was was conferred with the Asian Athletics Association (AAA) President’s

award on 2 June 2015 - Suresh Kalmadi

• World Bank Board approved $250 Million support to Jammu and Kashmir for -

Jhelum and Tawi Flood Recovery Project

• Name the legendary Telugu writer who died in Hyderabad on 8 June 2015, after a

brief illness - Dasaradhi Rangacharya

• Name the Cyclonic storm that was developed over the Arabian Sea on 8 June

2015 - ASHOBAA

• Three districts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh that were included in National Capital

Region on 9 June 2015 are - Jind, Karnal and Muzaffarnagar





• ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, on 9 June 2015 appointed a person

as the non-executive chairman for a period of ve years is - Mahendra Kumar

Sharma

• City that who’s Municipal Corporation (AMC) on 9 June 2015 announced USE and

GET PAID scheme, under which people will be paid one rupees for using public

toilets – Ahmadabad

• Person who was on 10 June 2015 conferred with the prestigious 14th Sant Namdev

National Award 2015 at a function in Pune, Maharashtra - Punjab Chief Minister

Parkash Singh Badal

• Former Indian cricketer who died after a prolonged illness on 9 June 2015 at his

residence in Pune, Maharashtra - Hemant Kanitkar

• Delhi Jal Board vice-chairman who was on 10 June 2015 named as the new Law

Minister of Delhi - Kapil Mishra

• Researchers discovered a trio of mud statuettes inside a reed basket in a building,

an important archaeological site, in the ancient city of Vichama in northern Peruis believed to be created about 3800 years ago by - the ancient Caral civilization.

• HDFC Bank on 10 June 2015 launched a mobile app as a complete digital payment

and purchase solution – PayZapp

• The United Nations (UN) envoy in Burundi crisis, who stepped down from his role

as mediator of the crisis on 11 June 2015 after being accused of being biased -

Said Djinnit

• Union Government on 11 June 2015 scrapped customs import duties for drugs

and test kits used to treat – AIDS

• Four Indian languages included in the books of Roads and Transport Authority

(RTA) of UAE which can be chosen while appearing for driving tests here in the

UAE from September 2015 includes - Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Bengali

• Cricketer who on 14 July 2015 became the ninth all-time highest Test wicket-takersby claiming 416 wickets in 102 matches is - Indian off-spin cricketer Harbhajan

Singh





• Person elected as the President of United Nations General Assembly’s 70th

session - Mogens Lykketoft of Denmark

• China on 12 June 2015 unveiled 800-year-old Buddha statue (Qianshou Guanyin)

famous for its 1000 hands in - Dazu County in Sichun province

• First Indian footballer to score 50 international goals - Sunil Chhetri

• India’s rst 100 percent visually-challenged person to be inducted into the Indian

Foreign Services (IFS) is - Beno Zephine

• The International Boxing Association (AIBA) on 16 June 2015 constituted a ve-

member ad-hoc committee to manage the process of nding a group to organise

and run boxing in India will be chaired by - Kishan Narsi

• It is a documentary lm on Test Cricket that was premiered at the Shefeld

International Documentary Festival on 8 June 2015 - Death of a Gentleman

• Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) that on 17 June 2015 launched

the country’s rst consumer complaint mobile app named ASCIonline is a - self

regulatory body for content in Indian advertising

• IPS ofcer of 1980-batch of Tamil Nadu cadre who was appointed as the Director

of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) - Archana Ramasundaram

• The Union Government on 17 June 2015 decided to increase the number of

workdays under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

(MGNREGA) from 100 days to 150 days in - Drought-hit areas

• Parliament of Japan (Diet) on 17 June 2015 passed a bill to lower the voting age

from - 20 to 18.

• Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on 18 June 2015 launched a

weather alert service named - NOWCAST.

• Journalist and writer Aakar Patel appointed as Executive Director of Amnesty

International (AI) India on 18 June 2015 and see its India operations and its efforts

to end human rights abuses - India and worldwide.

• Legislators of Legislative Council Hong Kong on 18 June 2015 rejected - Beijing-





of champions - John McEnroe, Lleyton Hewitt, Boris Becker and Andy Roddick

• Sanjay Subrahmanyam who was selected for the Sangitha Kalanidhi award of

the Madras Music Academy for the year 2015 on 21 June 2015 is a renowned –

carnatic vocalist

• The Ministry that will implement Bharat Mala project of linking borders and coastal

areas with road network – Union Ministry of Roads Transport & Highways

• Pitcairn Island, the world’s smallest country by population of 48 people was in

news as it legalised - same-sex marriage

• The European Union (EU) on 22 June 2015 launched a naval operation to stop

human trafckers from bringing migrants across - the Mediterranean to Europe

• The European Union (EU) on 22 June 2015 launched a naval operation to stop

human trafckers from bringing migrants across the Mediterranean to Europe –

EU NAVFOR Med

• The four border points through which India will allow the movement of vehicles

imported from a third country into Nepal after amending the bilateral Treaty

of Transit are - Raxaul-Birgunj, Jogbani-Biratnagar, Sunauli-Bhairahawa and

Nepalgunj Road-Nepalgunj border

• India will be the partner country for Russian Industrial Trade Fair INNOPROM 2016

to be held in - Yekaterinburg

• Blue Mormon (Papilio polymnestor) was declared as the state buttery by –

Maharashtra Government

• Bhuvan Ganga app was launched by Union Government on 23 June 2015 to aid

- National Mission for Clean Ganga

• Zoo that was renamed as Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Prani Udyan, Lucknow on 23

June 2015 was - Lucknow Prani Udyan, popularly known as Lucknow zoo,

• Bird Sanctuary of Unnao district was named as Shaheed Chandra Shekhar Azad

Pakshi Vihar, Nawabganj was - Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary

• Scientic name of Snake bird after which Kerala Government announced 22 June





as a Snake Bird Day - darter-Anhinga melanogaster

• Maharashtra’s state cabinet on 23 June 2015 approved the proposal to amend

the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities (MPDA) Act, 1981 to include

criminal activities related to - sand maa and black marketing

• German Tennis legend Stef Graf was appointed as Kerala’s Ayurveda brand

ambassador to promote - Visit Kerala Scheme

• National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) on 24 June 2015 commissioned the

rst 250 MW unit of Bongaigaon project of which state - Assam.

• Australia on 24 June 2015 decided to join China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment

Bank (AIIB) as a founding member with an investment of - 930 million Australian

dollars (718.5million US dollars)

• Four scholars selected for the Bhasha Samman on 24 June 2015 for their

contribution to classical and medieval literature in various languages – Acharya

Munishwar Jha, K Meenakshi Sundaram, Charu Chandra Pande, Mathuradutt

Mathpal

• Mustazur Rahman was awarded Man of the Series award in – 3-day ODI series

against India

• The online poll in which Sachin Tendulkar was voted as the Best Test Player of the

21st century - Top-100 Test players’ list since 2000

• Hemis festival is celebrated in largest monastery of Ladakh Hemis Gompa

(monastery) of Jammu and Kashmir is celebrated to mark the birth anniversaryof - Guru Padmasambhava

• Union Government on 25 June 2015 requested the Chief Ministers of Bihar, Tamil

Nadu and Rajasthan to encourage supply of free milk in - the Mid-Day Meal scheme

• Revdanda coast of Alibaug, Maharashtra came into news on 24 June 2015 after

death of - a 42-foot-long blue whale weighing 20 tonnes

• The four-day long Mela at Kamakhaya Devi temple at Guwahati, Assam thatconcluded on 26 June 2015 is known as – Ambubachi Mela





• Two local entrepreneurs, who in fourth week of June 2015 signed agreements with

several civic bodies in Assam to do away with the plastic hazards under a solid-

waste management project, are - Satyaki Saikia and Pulak Roy

• President Pranab Mukharjee on 26 June 2015 conferred Punyabhushan Award on

- Prataprao Pawar, Chairman of Sakal Media Group (SMG)

• The place where rst species of Yeti Crab named Kiwa tyleri was found - Antarctica

• Indian pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa on 28 June 2015 won the rst title

of the 2015 season – Canada Open Badminton tournament

• An unmanned American SpaceX rocket that broke apart in ames minutes after

lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on 29 June 2015 was dubbed as - Falcon-9

• Authors of the book Transcendence: My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh

Swamiji are - Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam & Arun Tiwari

• Book titled Dealing with China: An Insider Unmasks the New Economic Superpower

is authored by - Henry M. Paulson

• The place where rst species of Yeti Crab named Kiwa tyleri was found - Antarctica

• Indian pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa on 28 June 2015 won the rst title

of the 2015 season – Canada Open Badminton tournament

• The district to win the prestigious United Nations Public Service Award 2015 in

June 2015—Nadia of West Bengal

• The prestigious professional basketball league of North America in which SatnamSingh Bhamara of Punjab became the rst Indian national to join-- National

Basketball Association (NBA)

• The 10-km stretch of Chennai Metro Rail service launched on 29 June 2015 will

cover the distance between – Alandur to Koyabedu

• The Chinese-initiated multilateral lending bank established in June 2015-- Asian

Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)•





DESCRIPTIVE QUESTION (JUNE 2015)

1. Answer the following in not more than 50 words

(i) EU NAVFOR Med

(ii) BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement(iii) FARC

(iv) Bharat Mala Project

(v) One Rank, One Pension

(vi) Magna Carta

(vii) Buddhas of Bamiyan(viii) Section 12 (1)(d) of Consumer Protection Act, 1986

(ix) Ajeya Warrior 2015

(x) Yogapath

2. Critically examine the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh and

how the implementation of Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) between the two

nations will help in improving the ties between the two nations.

3. “To plug black money in India, government needs to bring down the physical

demand for gold.” Examine the statement in light of Gold Sovereign Bond

Scheme and other measures to control the demand for gold in India.

4. “Migration is a big problem facing EU nations and not controlling it may endanger

EU security and economy.” In this light bring out the problem of migration being

faced by the EU nations and what measures have been taken to control it.

5. Answer on the following developments in not more than 100 words




(i) DDD107498

(ii) 5G Network

(iii) TASSAT project

(iv) e0D-GT8 60mer

(v) Galaxy CR7

(vi) Micro Air Vehicle Aerodynamics Research Tunnel

(vii) Sakaar

(viii) India Nuclear Insurance Pool

(ix) Comet lander Philae

(x) Haemophilus Inuenzae type b (Hib) vaccine

6. Bring out the main highlights of Global Peace Index 2015 and how does India

fares in terms of fostering peace in the country?

7. “Jal Kranti Abhiyaan tries to conserve water through a holistic and integrated

approach involving all stakeholders.” Discuss the statement in light of Jal Kranti

Abhiyaan launched by the Union Water Resource Ministry. What other measures

can be suggested to conserve water?

8. Bring out the main features of Elephant Census Report 2015 released by the

Odisha government.

9. “Greece crisis can have negative impact on Indian economy and world economy,thus its integration with Euro Zone is must.” Critically examine the statement in

light of the latest developments

Current Affairs English June 2015

Documents

Transcript of Current Affairs English June 2015