13-14 july 2015

13 july

Green Signals: Ecology, Growth, and Democracy in India written by Jairam Ramesh

Green Signals: Ecology, Growth, and Democracy in India: Jairam Ramesh

The book Green Signals: Ecology, Growth, and Democracy in India was in news in the second week of July 2015. It was written by former Union Environment and Forest Minister (Independent Charge) Jairam Ramesh.

It unveils the story of environmental policy making in India from the perspective of a pivotal decision maker.

It chronicles India's environmental decision-making since the 1991 movement, telling the story of how, for the first time, the doors of the environment ministry were opened to voices, hitherto unheard, into the policy-making proces

It also takes us through India's coming of age in the global environmental and climate change community to take on a leadership role that is progressive, proactive, and steeped in national interest.

Further, the book also addresses the challenges involved in trying to ensure economic growth with ecological security.

At present, Jairam Ramesh is Chair of the Future Earth Engagement Committee, a research platform on global sustainability. He is also a member of the Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh.

He also authored Mobilising Technology for World Development (Co-editor, 1979) and Making Sense of Chindia: Reflections on China and India (2005).

Novak Djokovic won the men’s singles title of Wimbledon

Defending champion Novak Djokovic on 12 July 2015 won men’s singles title of Wimbledon. In the final clash played in London, Serbian Djokovic defeated Roger Federer of Switzerland 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.

This was his third Wimbledon title and Grand Slam crown.

Besides, Leander Paes (India) and Martina Hingis (Swiss) won the mixed doubles event of the Championship. In the final played in London, the Indo-Swiss pair defeated Austrian-Hungarian team of Alexander Peya and Timea Babos 6-1, 6-1. It was Paes' eighth mixed doubles title and second with Hingis. They had won the Australian Open early this year.

Wimbledon was held from 29 June to 12 July 2015.

Serena Williams won her sixth Wimbledon Women's Single title

World Number One Serena Williams on 11 July 2015 has won Wimbledon Women's Single title. In the final clash played at Centre Court, London, Williams (US) defeated Garbine Muguruza (Spain) in straight sets 6-4, 6-4.

This was Sixth Women's Singles title at Wimbledon for Williams. With 21 Grand Slam titles, Serena has also moved closer to a Calendar Grand Slam, last achieved by German Steffi Graf in 1988.

Muguruza was making her maiden appearance in a Grand Slam Final.

Besides, the Indo-Swiss pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis defeated the Russian combination of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the Women's Doubles Final.

Tata Steel’s West Bokaro Division conferred with Golden Peacock Environment Management Award 2015

Tata Steel's West Bokaro Division was on 11 July 2015 conferred with the Golden Peacock Environment Management Award (GPEMA) 2015 in New Delhi.

It was presented by the Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Prakash Javadekar to Sanjay Rajoria, General Manager of West Bokaro, Tata Steel of Jharkand.

Tata Steel won the coveted award for its responsible environmental practices and resource management while upgrading the skills of employees through training as new technologies evolve.

About Golden Peacock Environment Management Award

• It is annual award and presented for attaining significant achievements in the field of Environment Management during the previous year.
• It is awarded to manufacturing as well as service organizations both in the Public and Private domain located in India.
• It provides not only worldwide recognition and prestige to the winning organisation, but a competitive advantage in driving business of the firm.
• It was instituted by the World Environment Foundation (WEF) in 1998.
• Yes Bank received the 2014 award.

Patnitop Tunnel, India’s longest road tunnel, set to open in 2016

Patnitop Tunnel: Located on Jammu-Sri Nagar National Highwary (NH1A) in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Patnitop Tunnel was in news on 13 July 2015 as the Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari attended a ceremony when the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) engineers drilled a hole through the final section of the tunnel between Chenani and Nashri.

The Patnitop Tunnel or Chenani-Nashri Tunnel is touted as India’s longest road tunnel.

Features of Patnitop Tunnel

• It connects Chenani in Udhampur with Nashri in Ramban district on the National Highway-1A (NH1A).
• It’s objective is to make the NH1A all weather friendly by avoiding frequent disruptions to traffic that occur due to snowfall and avalanche in winter at Patnitop.
• The 9.2 km tunnel, which is part of the ambitious 286 km-long four-laning of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, will reduce the distance between two cities — Jammu and Srinagar — by around 30 km.
• It will also reduce the existing road distance between Chenani and Nashri on the highway from 41 km to 10.89 km.
• Work on the tunnel was started on 23 May 2011 and is likely to be opened to traffic in July 2016.
• The state-of-the-art tunnel project is being built at a cost of over 2500 crore rupees.

USA designated Tunisia as 16th Major Non-NATO Ally

The United States of America (USA) on 10 July 2015 formally designated Tunisia as the 16th Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA).

Earlier, the decision to confer the MNNA status on Tunisia was announced by the President Barack Obama on 21 May 2015 during Tunisian President Caid Essebsi’s visit to Washington.

The MNNA status offers tangible privileges including eligibility for training, loans of equipment for cooperative research and development, and Foreign Military Financing for commercial leasing of certain defense articles by the USA to Tunisia.

About Major Non-NATO Ally status

• It is a designation given by the United States government to close allies who have strategic working relationships with U.S. Armed Forces but are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
• While the MNNA status does not automatically include a mutual defense pact with the USA, it does confer a variety of military and financial advantages that otherwise are not obtainable by non-NATO countries.
• It was first created in 1989 when section 2350a, otherwise known as the Nunn Amendment, was added to Title 10 (Armed Forces) of the United States Code by Congress.
• List of MNNAs: Tunisia, Australia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Jordan, New Zealand, Argentina, Bahrain, Philippines, Thailand, Kuwait, Morocco, Pakistan, Afghanistan.
• During a 2015 Camp David summit with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, the Obama administration considered designating Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar as MNNAs.

Paes-Hingis won mixed doubles final at Wimbledon

Seventh seed Indo-Swiss pair of Leander Paes and Martina Hingis on 12 July 2015 won mixed doubles title at Wimbledon. In the final clash, the duo defeated the fifth seed Austrian-Hungarian team of Alexander Peya and Timea Babos 6-1, 6-1.

It was Paes’ 16th Grand Slam trophy and eighth mixed doubles title. Overall it was 18th Major title for the Swiss and third in mixed doubles.

This was second mixed double win for Paes and Hingis together. They had won the Australian Open in February 2015.

Besides, Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis on 11 July 2015 lifted the women's doubles title after defeating the Russian pair of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 5-7, 7-6, 7-5. While, Saumit Nagal won the junior boys doubles trophy.

Indo-Vietnamese pair Sumit Nagal-Nam Hoang Ly won 2015 Wimbledon Boys’ Doubles title

The Indo-Vietnamese pair Sumit Nagal-Nam Hoang Ly on 12 July 2015 won the 2015 Wimbledon Boys’ Doubles title by defeating Opelka and Akira Santillan in the final match held in London.

The eighth seeded pair defeated the fourth seeded USA-Japanese pair 7-6 (4) 6-4.

With this win, the 17-year- old Sumit Nagal became the sixth Indian to win a Grand Slam junior title.

Ramanathan Krishnan (1954 Wimbledon), Ramesh Krishnan (1979 French Open and Wimbledon), Leander Paes (1990 Wimbledon and 1999 U.S. Open), Sania Miraza (2003 Wimbledon Girls Doubles) and Yuki Bhambri (2009 Australian Open) are the other junior Grand Slam singles champions from India.

Union Civil Aviation Ministry launched GAGAN System

Union Minister of Civil Aviation P Ashok Gajapathi Raju on 13 July 2015 formally launched the GAGAN system (GPS AIDED GEO AUGMENTED NAVIGATION) in New Delhi.

On the technical front, the final operational phase of the system commenced on 19 May 2015, when it started broadcasting APV1 Certified aviation signals.

With this, India has become the fourth nation after the US, Europe and Japan to have inter-operable Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS). Also, GAGAN is the first SBAS system in the world to serve the equatorial region.

Features of GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) System

• It is a Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) developed jointly by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• Its primary objective is to establish, deploy and certify satellite based augmentation system for safety-of-life civil aviation applications for the Indian air space.
• It plays an important role in safety of life applications in transport, sensitive commercial applications and liability-critical applications needing legal course.
• It offers free enhanced satellite navigation signals by correcting deviancies in GPS signals by deploying ground based navigational infrastructure.
• The system is inter-operable with other international SBAS systems like US-WAAS, European EGNOS, and Japanese MSAS etc.
• It has been developed at an estimated cost of 774 crore rupees.
• It will enable transition of the air traffic management system to satellite-based seamless navigation across continents covering the airspace from Australia to Africa as well as west Asia to China and Russia.
• While the GAGAN Payload is already operational through GSAT-8 and GSAT-10 satellites, the third payload will be carried onboard GSAT-15 satellite scheduled for launch in October 2015.

Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis won women's doubles title in Wimbledon

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis, the top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair of Tennis on 11 July 2015 won women’s doubles title at Wimbledon. In the title clash played at Centre Court in London, the Indo-Swiss pair defeated Russian duo of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 5-7, 7-6, 7-5.

This is Sania's first-ever women's doubles Grand Slam title, although she has won three mixed doubles titles at the majors. With this title, Sania also became the first Indian women to win a Wimbledon title.

Sania is winner of three mixed doubles Grand Slam trophies. She won Australian Open (2009) and French Open (2012) with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi and the US Open with Bruno Soares last year. Hingis won the Wimbledon doubles with Helena Sukova in 1996 and Jana Novotna in 1998.

Earlier, the Indo-Swiss pair had won doubles title of BNP Paribas Open on 21 March 2015 and WTA Family Circle Cup doubles title on 12 April 2015.

India, Kyrgyzstan inked 4 agreements to strengthen bilateral relations

India and Kyrgyzstan on 12 July 2015 signed four agreements/Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) to strengthen bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest, in warm and friendly atmosphere.

The agreements were inked during the two-day visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kyrgyzstan from 11 July to 12 July 2015. Modi paid an official visit to the nation at the invitation of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Almazbek Atambaev.

List of Agreements/MOUs signed
Agreement on Defence Cooperation: The agreement seeks to deepen cooperation between India and Kyrgyzstan in matters relating to defence, security, military education and training, conduct of joint military exercises, exchange of experience and information, exchange of military instructors and observers etc.

Memorandum of Mutual Understanding and Cooperation in the field of Elections: To deepen cooperation in matters relating to legislation on elections and referendums, modern systems and technologies, rights of elections proc ess stakeholders as well as other issues of election administration.

MoU between on cooperation in the sphere of Standards: The MoU was inked between Ministry of Economy of Kyrgyzstan and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to strengthen and enhance technical cooperation in the fields of standardization, conformity assessment and sharing of expertise on mutual trade.

Agreement on Cooperation in Culture:It was reached to deepen cultural cooperation between India and Kyrgyzstan in areas such as preservation of cultural heritage, organisation of folk arts, theatre, youth festivals and cooperation in of publishing and translation of literature, sports and physical culture, exchange of archival materials, history, geography etc.

Besides, the PM Modi and President Atambaev also released a Joint Statement of the meet. During the meet, the two leaders expressed satisfaction at the steady development of political, trade-economic relations, cultural-humanitarian cooperation, and agreed to elevate the bilateral partnership to a higher trajectory in the days ahead.

Union Government appointed lawyer Rodrigo Oreamuno to arbitrate Vodafone tax case

The Union Government on 12 July 2015 appointed international lawyer Rodrigo Oreamuno to arbitrate with the UK telecom major Vodafone in the 20000 crore rupees tax case on its behalf. Oreamuno replaces former Chief Justice of India RC Lahoti, who recused himself in May 2015.

Vodafone already named Yves Fortier of Canada as its nominee on the panel. Now, Oreamuno and Fortier would name a third arbitrator, who will act as a chairman of the tribunal for the case.

The Union Government and Vodafone had earlier decided to appoint Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf of the International Court of Justice as the third arbitrator. However, he declined to be part of the three-member panel in June 2015.

Background
According to the Indian government, the tax liability on Vodafone is 20000 crore rupees. The said tax liability of Vodafone in India arose from the purchase of Hutch Essar in 2007 for 11 billion US dollar, as it involved cross-border transfer of Indian assets. Although, the basic tax demand were 7990 crore rupees.

In June 2013, the Cabinet approved the conciliation with Vodafone to resolve the capital gains tax dispute related to its 2007 purchase of Hutch Essar for 11 billion dollars.

Earlier in May 2014, India withdrew a conciliation offer to Vodafone on the issue saying the telecom major had initiated arbitration without waiting for the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal decision on another transfer pricing dispute.

The UPA-II Government led by former PM Manmohan Singh wanted the transfer pricing dispute to be settled first so that conciliation talks with Vodafone on the Hutchison Essar deal could go ahead.

Union Government appointed lawyer Rodrigo Oreamuno to arbitrate Vodafone tax case

CBI constituted 40 members team to probe multi-crore Vyapam scam

Vyapam: Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal/Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB)
Vyapam scam was in news in July 2015 as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on 12 July 2015 constituted a special team of 40 officers, under a Joint Director level officer, to probe the multi-crore Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh.

The team will be headed by CBI Joint Director RP Agarwal.

Vyapam scam is an admission and recruitment scam involving politicians, senior officials and businessmen in Madhya Pradesh. The scam involved a collusion of undeserving candidates, who bribed politicians and MPPEB officials through middlemen, to get high ranks in these entrance tests.

The CBI constituted the team following the direction of Supreme Court (SC) of India. SC bench headed by Chief Justice of India HL Dattu on 9 July 2015 transferred the probe of all cases related to Vyapam scam to the CBI. It also asked the agency to file its report before it on 24 July 2015.

Earlier, the case was being handled by a Special Task Force and was monitored by the High Court.

QS University Rankings: BRICS 2015 released

The QS Intelligence Unit on 8 July 2015 released the QS University Rankings: BRICS 2015. This 2015 edition reflects the increasingly strong global presence of leading Chinese universities with the top three spots going to Tsinghua University, Peking University and Fudan University.

All BRICS countries that is Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are represented within the top 20, however China’s dominance is clear throughout the ranking.

Highlights of the QS University Rankings 2015
• Driven by strong performance in the two global reputational surveys, of academics and employers, Chinese universities take seven of the top 10 spots and almost half of the top 50.
• With 53 institutions in the top 200, Russia is second only to China, which has 67 universities featured. Yet only seven Russian institutions make the top 50, compared to China’s 21, Brazil’s 10, and India’s 9 institutions.
• Russia’s Lomonosov Moscow State University falls by one position this year, but retains a highly respectable fourth place.
• India’s top representative the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore got the fifth place.
• Brazil makes its first appearance with the Universidade de São Paulo at ninth place.
• South Africa’s University of Cape Town stood at the 14th place.
• South Africa has 5.5 percent of the BRICS’ top universities despite comprising only 1.7 percent of the population of the BRICS nations. In addition, eight of these 11 are in the top 100.

Top 10 Universities

Rank	Overall Score	University	Location
1	100.0	Tsinghua University	China
2	97.0	Peking University	China
3	93.4	Fudan University	China
4	92.9	Lomonosov Moscow State University	Russia
5	92.5	Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore	India
6	91.4	Shanghai Jiao Tong University	China
6	91.4	University of Science and Technology of China	China
8	87.6	Nanjing University	China
9	86.3	Universidade de São Paulo	Brazil
10	85.4	Beijing Normal University	China

Top 10 Universities in India 2015

S.No.	University	State
1	Indian Institute of Science	Bangalore
2	Indian Institute of Technology	Delhi
3	Indian Institute of Technology	Mumbai
4	Indian Institute of Technology	Kanpur
5	Indian Institute of Technology	Madras
6	Indian Institute of Technology	Kharagpur
7	Indian Institute of Technology	Roorkee
8	University of Delhi	Delhi
9	Indian Institute of Technology	Guwahati
10	University of Calcutta	Kolkata

India, Tajikistan inked 2 agreements to strengthen bilateral relations

India and Tajikistan on 13 July 2015 signed two agreements/Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) to further strengthentheir defence cooperation which is a strong pillar of strategic partnership between both the friendly nations.

The agreements were inked during the two-day visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Tajikistan from 12 July to 13 July 2015.

Agreements signed include
Programme of Cooperation (POC) in the field of Culture for the years 2016-18:It envisages cooperation in the field of culture through exchange of expertise in protection, preservation and promotion of cultural heritage in both countries, exchange of information and experts and organization of cultural days in each other’s countries for greater cultural understanding between the countries.

Exchange of Note Verbale (NV) on setting up of Computer Labs in 37 Schools in Tajikistan:The Note Verbale conveys the intention of Indian side to set up computer labs in 37 schools in Tajikistan for supporting Government of Tajikistan’s human resource and skill development efforts. The NV also outlines responsibilities of both sides in implementing the project.

The two leaders Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon also agreed to promote the International North South transport corridor (INSTC). The INSTC is the ship, rail, and road route for moving freight between India, Russia, Iran, Europe and Central Asia.

The two sides also discussed measures to tap the rich potential in trade and commerce and to encourage joint ventures and investments.

Besides, PM Modi presented a specially commissioned miniature painting of the tomb of the 17th century Indian poet Abdul Qadir Bedilto President Rahmon. Bedil is regarded, especially in Tajikistan, as one the greatest masters of Persian poetry.

Born in 1644 in Patna, Bedil was influenced by Sufism and wrote 16 books of poetry. Bedil died in Delhi where his tomb, Bagh-e-Bedil is located. The miniature painting has been done by national award-winning Delhi-based artist Jai Prakash.

14 july

12-day Godavari Maha Pushkaram began in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh

The 12-day Godavari Maha Pushkaram began on 14 July 2015 on the banks of River Godavari in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. It will be held till 25 July 2015.

While Godavari Pushkaram occurs once in 12 years, Godavari Mahapushkaram is a unique event which happens once in 144 years.

About Godavari Pushkaram

• Pushkaram is a holy festival that is celebrated once in every 12 years at each of the 12 major rivers of India, the Godavari is one among them.
• Godavari Pushkaram, a 12-day festival of worshipping the river is held once in 12 years. Every 12th year Jupiter’s entry into the constellation Leo marks the Pushkaram for Godavari. The celebrations include reverence of ancestors, spiritual discourses, devotional music and cultural programmes.
• Theoretically, the festival lasts as long as Jupiter remains in the corresponding zodiac sign (generally, for one year).
• However, it draws major crowds only during the first 12 days. The first twelve days are known as Adi Pushkaram, and the last twelve days are called Anthya Pushkaram.

'Buddha in a Traffic Jam' bagged best screenplay award at Madrid film festival

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri's ‘Buddha in a Traffic Jam’ won the Best Original Screenplay award in the Foreign Language Category at the Madrid International Film Festival, Spain, which was held from 2 July – 11 July 2015.

It also had nominations in the categories Best Foreign Language Film and Best Lead Actress in a foreign language film for actress Mahie Gill at the fest.

Earlier, the film was premiered at the 2014 edition of Mumbai International Film Festival in the India Gold category.

Buddha in a Traffic Jam
Buddha in a Traffic Jam is an unreleased Bollywood film conceptualized and produced by Friday Night Productions (a venture of ISB alumni) and co-produced by Phoenix Multidimensions and Vivek Agnihotri Creates.

The film has been directed by Vivek Agnihotri and stars Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Arunoday Singh, Vivek Vaswani, Aanchal Dwivedi and Mahi Gill.

Lt General Man Mohan Singh Rai appointed as Vice-Chief of Indian Army

Lieutenant General Man Mohan Singh Rai was on 13 July 2014 appointed as the Vice-Chief of the Indian Army. Rai will succeed Lt Gen Philip Campose, who will superannuate the office on 31 July 2015.

Presently, Rai is working as the Eastern Army Commander. He is from the Corps of Engineers and is an alumnus of National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla. He was commissioned from the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, on 15 December 1976.

Other Appointment
Lt General Praveen Bakshi was appointed as the Army commander and moved to Eastern Command. Currently, he is serving as Chief of Staff, Northern Command.

MoD and MSDE signed MoU to increase employability of ex-servicemen

The Union Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) on 13 July 2015 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate strategic partnership on skill development and entrepreneurship.

The MoU was signed by the Defence Secretary Shri G Mohan Kumar and his counterpart from MSDE Shri Sunil Arora. The MoU will provide impetus to use the skills of servicemen for the country when they retire from the Armed Forces.

The MoU will be a harbinger of skill development in the country that will align the Armed Forces and the civilian field.

Highlights of the MoU
• It will boost employability and acceptability of Ex-servicemen (ESM) by the industry for those service personnel who are on the verge of retirement or already retired.
• To enhance their employability, the training facilities initiated by the Director General Resettlement (DGR) will be aligned with the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) developed by the Sector Skill Councils (SSCs).
• It will provide an opportunity for the Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and Ordnance Factories (OFs) to participate in skill development initiatives.
• It will train and provide gainful employment to approximately 3 lakh ex-servicemen and their family members in five years starting from this financial year.
• It will also make available skilled youth to DPSUs and OFs by using their infrastructure, CSR funds, establishment of Centre(s) of Excellence and Development of Model ITIs etc.

55th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships concluded in Tamil Nadu

55th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships was held between 10 July and 13 July 2015 in Chennai.

It was organised by the Tamil Nadu Athletics Association.

Final results of Championships

• Kerala topped the table with combined team score (both male and female) of 177.5 points among the 20 states participated.
• While the host state Tamil Nadu was at the second position, Haryana stood third.
• Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala stood in the top three positions, in the same order, in the male category.
• Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra stood in the top three positions, in the same order, in the female category.
• Inderjeet Singh of Haryanaclinching the gold with a new meet record in shot putwith 20.44m distance throw.
• Karnataka's sprinter M R Poovamma won her fifth straight title in women's 400m clocking 52.78 secs, while Tamil Nadu's Rajiv Arokiaclaimed the men's 400m gold clocking 45.72 sec.
• Poovamma was declared as the best women athlete of the meet.
• In men's 110m hurdles, Prem Kumar opened new entrant Telengana's gold medal with a time of 14.39 secs followed by Pinto Mathew (Kerala) 14.43s and J Thiyagarajan (TN) 15.11s.

India second among 40 countries in terms of Confidence in National Government: OECD

India stood second among 40 countries in terms of Confidence in National Government in 2014 as per the Government at a Glance 2015 report that placed Switzerland at the top with Norway coming in third.

The report was released on 6 July 2015 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It was based on a sampling survey of 1000 citizens in each country conducted by World Poll.

Out of 1000 Indian citizens surveyed, 730 answered in the affirmative to the question related to confidence of citizens and businesses in government to do what is right and perceived as fair.

However, between 2007 (pre financial crisis period) and 2014, trust levels in India dropped by 9 percentage points.

Also, India stood at the 24th position out of 35 countries in the comparison on protection of fundamental rights that include the right to equal treatment and the absence of discrimination, the right to life and security of the person and freedom of belief and religion among others.

4 Indians figured in Asia 21 Young Leaders Class of 2015 list

Four Indians-Mishi Choudhary, Manish Dahiya, Sanjay Vijayakumar and Aarti Wig- were figured in the Asia 21 Young Leaders Class of 2015 list that was released on 8 July 2015 in New York, the USA.

These were part of 32 young leaders (under the age of 40), who were selected for the Asia 21 Class of 2015 by the Asia Society as part of its leader ship development programme.

The selected leaders will be part of the Asia 21 Networkwhere they will find mentors, potential collaborators, who are devoted to find solutions to most vexing socio-economic problems in the Asia-Pacific region.

Asia 21 Network consists of young leaders from across the Asia Pacific, representing the private, public, and nonprofit sectors.

Mishi Choudhary: She is a technology lawyer and an online civil liberties activist, is the founding executive director of SFLC.in, a pro-bono legal services organization based in New Delhi. SFLC.in brings together lawyers, policy analysts, technologists, and students to protect freedom in the digital world.

Manish Dahiya:He is the executive director and Global Head of Energy Complex at Noble Group Limited. His work focuses on enabling the requirements of an energy short world as it balances its demands for growth with the obligation of providing basic power requirements to the populace.

Sanjay Vijayakumar: He is the CEO of MobME Wireless Solutions, one of India’s most exciting and innovative mobile value-added service companies. He is chairman of the board of Startup Village, India's first incubator for public-private partnerships, promoted jointly by the Union Government and private sector entities.

Aarti Wig: She is co-founder of the Indian arm of the Yunus Social Business (YSB), which was founded by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus to create selfless businesses that tackle social problems. She is creating a social business incubator program with India's premier management school and a social business market company for a leading international shoe company.

European Union gave in-principle approval for 86 billion euro bailout package to Greece

The European Union (EU) Summit on 12 July 2015 gave in principle approval to a bailout package worth between 82- 86 billion euro to Greece. The Summit was held in Brussels, Belgium.

A final Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) related to the bailout package will be reached between the creditors and Greece only after Greece undertakes certain reforms specified under the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) programme.

If finalized, the financial assistance will be the third bailout package from the European Union (EU) under the ESM, the eurozone bailout fund, since Greece plunged into severe economic crisis during 2009-10.

The bailout package is subject to following conditions

• Taking necessary legislative measures to broaden tax base to increase revenue, undertake comprehensive pension reform programme, safeguarding of full legal independence of ELSTAT, making the Fiscal Council operational among others prior to 15 July 2015.
• Adoption of the Code of Civil Procedure to accelerate the judicial process and reduce costs and transposition of the BRRD with support from the European Commission by 22 July 2015.

Further, before finalization of the MoU, the bailout package should beapproved by the parliaments of Finland, Germany and Greece. Germany is the biggest ESM contributor with 190 billon euro out of the 500 billion euro fund.

Former BSFI president Pashupatinath Roy died

Former Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) President Pashupatinath Roy died on 13 July 2015 following a cardiac arrest at a private hospital in Kolkata. He was 76. He is survived by his wife, daughter, son-in-law and two granddaughters.

Roy was also the president of West Bengal Badminton Association for more than five decades after he toook over charge from his father B K Roy in late 1960S.

He also served BSFI in various capacities. He was the secretary and advisor at BSFI for some time and later went on to join the Asian body of the game as Secretary and President.

Radiative impact of volcanic aerosol in lowermost stratosphere slowed global warming: Study

A study done by a team of international researchers, said that radiative forces associated with volcanic aerosols in the lowermost stratosphere (LMS) may have slowed down global warming. Volcanoes helped in slowing the global warming by injecting particulates into the atmosphere.

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications on 9 July 2015.

The team that included scientists from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) scientists says that the volcanic aerosols have acted during the last one decade as a natural umbrella to slow down global temperature increase from greenhouse gases.

However, the team says that despite this, the global greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has continuously increased over past decade, which means that global surface temperature has not followed the same path

BCCI suspended Mumbai Ranji player Hiken Shah for corruption

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on 13 July 2015 suspended Mumbai Ranji cricketer Hiken Shah with immediate effect. BCCI suspended him after he was found guilty of breaching BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Code for participants.

BCCI in its decision said that his involvement in any form of cricket, affiliated with the BCCI stands suspended till the time the disciplinary committee of the BCCI passes appropriate orders.

Hiken Shah was accused for making a corrupt approach to a fellow player from first-class cricket, who is also a member of one of the IPL teams. The approached player immediately informed the incident to his franchise team.

The franchise team followed the process of informing the incident to the Anti Corruption Unit of the BCCI. Based on the information, BCCI President, Jagmohan Dalmiya, instructed ACU to conduct an immediate enquiry into the matter.

After a detailed inquiry into the reported incident, the inquiry commissioner found Hiken Shah guilty of “committing breach ofArticles 2.1.1; 2.1.2; and 2.1.4of the BCCI Anti-Corruption Code for participants and recommended their provisions to the BCCI President.”

PM Narendra Modi concluded his 6-nation tour to Russia and five Central Asian nations

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 13 January 2015 returned to India after his six-nation tour of Russia and five Central Asian countries namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

During his eight-day visit, which took place from 6 July to 13 July 2015, he met the leaders of the five nations namely President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Almazbek Atambaev, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, and President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov.

During this visit, Modi also visited Russia and attended the 7th BRICS summit and 2015 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) held in Ufa. These two events became the highlight of the visit after PM Modi met and held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif and some other leaders.

He flew back to India from Dushanbe the capital city of Tajikistan, which was the last stop of his visit.

Major highlights of this Russia and five-Central Asian countries
• Prime Minister Modi, during his stay in Ufa in Russia, attended the Summit of the five-nation BRICS, which focused on economic and security cooperation.
• He also attended the Summit of the six-member grouping, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, SCO, which decided to grant full membership to India along with Pakistan.
• On the sidelines of the Summit, Modi held a meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister during which a host of significant decisions were taken to improve ties. One major decision was to speed up the trial in Mumbai attack case, including providing of voice samples of the accused.
• India-Pakistan joint statement was released at Ufa, Russia
• Head of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations on 9 July 2015 released the Ufa Declaration. The 7th BRICS was held under the theme ‘BRICS Partnership – a Powerful Factor of Global Development’.
• Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) on 8 July 2015 signed framework agreements for equity investments in infrastructure projects in BRICS countries
• To boost cooperation within the members of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed a 10 point initiative named as ‘Dus Kadam: 10 Steps for the Future’.

IT department launched OTP to e-file Income Tax

The Income Tax (IT) Department on 13 July 2015 launched One Time Password (OTP) based e-filing verification system for taxpayers.

This OTP will help in ending the practice of sending paper acknowledgement, called ITR-V, through post to the I-T Central Processing Centre (CPC) based in Bengaluru.

The facility can be accessed using internet banking, Aadhaar number, ATM and email.

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in its notification said that any taxpayer, whose income is 5 lakh rupees or below per annum and has no refund claims, can straightaway generate the 'Electronic Verification Code' (EVC) for e-filing and validating their Income Tax Return (ITR) through their registered mobile number and e-mail id with the department.

The facility will be available on the internet banking website and the verifier (taxpayer) will use this facility using internet banking id, login password and transaction password.

In the other options given, those taxpayers who have internet banking activated can do the e-verification of their ITR.

Once logged in on the banking portal, the taxpayer will be sent the EVC to his mobile number provided in the official e-filing web portal of the department which they will put in their ITR for final submission.

IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals suspended for two years by Justice Lodha panel

Justice RM Lodha-headed panel on IPL Betting Scandal 2013 on 14 July 2015 suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK)and Rajasthan Royals (RR) for two years. Suspension of two times IPL champion CSK and inaugural winner RR comes with immediate effect.

CSK was suspended by the panel citing operation rules as CSK or India Cements took no action against Meiyappan.

On the other hand, RR was suspended on account of being directly responsible for putting the game into disrepute and Raj Kundra'a action was unacceptable.

The panel also suspended Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra from all cricket matches for life as they were found guilty of illegal betting. They both acted contrary to the spirit of the game.

However, the panel gave no clarification on what happens to the six players who were mentioned in the sealed envelope submitted to the Supreme Court by the Justice Mudgal panel.

Justice Lodha said that the decision will uphold the paramountcy of the game and no one is bigger than the game.

The historic verdict

The verdict of Justice Lodha panel was quite historic as far as sports and law is concerned. This was the first time that a verdict was delivered in front of media cameras something like the Oscar Pistorious hearing in South Africa.

About Lodha Committee

The three-member Lodha committee headed by former Chief Justice of India (CJI) RM Lodha was appointed by a Supreme Court Bench on 22 January 2015 to determine the quantum of punishment in the case.

Its verdict will be final and binding on the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI), the promoters and owners of the cash-rich and popular IPL. However, the aggrieved party can seek legal redress.

The decision to appoint the committee was taken following the submission of the final report of findings of Justice Mukul Mudgal Committee on IPL Spot-fixing in the Supreme Court in November 2014.

2013 IPL Scandal

The 2013 IPL season was mired in controversy after police launched legal proceedings against several officials and cricketers that included S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, for illegal betting and spot-fixing.

Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Simhastha Kumbh Mela began in Maharsahtra

The Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Simhastha Kumbh Mela began on 14 July 2015. The year-long festival will end 11 August 2016.

The festival, known as largest peaceful gathering in the world, began with the traditional ceremony of hoisting of flags and thousands of people taking a holy dip in Kushawart and Ramkund in Godavari River in Nashik and Trimbakeshwar.

The ceremony at Trimbakeshwar was presided over by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and state Women and Child Welfare minister Pankaja Munde as chief guests, while Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis presided over Nashik ceremony.

To mark the festival, the civic body has set up 'Sadhu-Gram' over 315 acres in Nashik and temporary tent-town is being supplied with toilets, 24-hour drinking water, LPG cylinders and electricity. Railways have decided to run 12 super-fast special trains between Nashik Road and Howrah on account of the Mela.

Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Simhastha Kumbh Mela is held once in 12 years when the Sun and Jupiter come together in Leo zodiac sign in the month of Magha as per the Hindu calendar.

Kumbh Mela
Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage of faith in which Hindus gather to bathe in a sacred river. It is held every third year at one of the four places by rotation: Haridwar, Allahabad (Prayaga), Nashik and Ujjain. Thus the Kumbh Mela is held at each of these four places every twelfth year.

The rivers at these four places are: the Ganga at Haridwar, the confluence (Sangam) of the Ganges and the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati at Allahabad, the Godawari at Nashik, and the Shipra at Ujjain.

Ardha (Half) Kumbh Mela is held at only two places, Haridwar and Allahabad, every sixth year.

India and Georgia signed MoU for cooperation in field of Election Management

India and Georgia on 13 July 2015 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the field of election management and administration. The MoU was signed by Chief Election Commissioner of India Nasim Zaidi and Tamar Zhvania, Chairperson, Central Election Commission, Georgia.

Till now, Election Commission of India has signed twenty MoUs with Election Management Bodies and international organizations across the world.

Major purpose of the MoU between India and Georgia:
• Promotion of exchanges of knowledge and experience in electoral processes
• Exchange of information, materials, expertise and training of personnel
• Production and distribution of materials pertaining to electoral systems, voting technology, voters’ education and awareness
• Participation of women and minorities in electoral process

Tamil music composer Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan died

Iconic Tamil music composer Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (MSV) died on 14 July 2015 following a brief illness. He was 87. He is survived by four sons and three daughters.

In the Tamil film music world, no other composer was as diverse as Viswanathan. He had composed music for over 1700 films in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada and worked with three Chief Ministers MG Ramachandran, M Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa.

Born in Elapulli in Palghat district, Tamil Nadu, he entered the film world as a child artist starring as the Bala Murugan in the film Kannagi, produced by Jupiter Pictures in Tiruppur. MSV's career in the film world started with the Jupiter Studios in Tirupur as an office boy.

MSV was popular for his collaboration with music composer T K Ramamurthy. The duo composed music for 86 Tamil films during their association of over a decade. Some of their best films include Paasamalara, Sumaithaangi, Server Sundaram, Aayirathil Oruvan and Enga Veetu Pillai.

The MSV-Kannadasan combination also proved a great success in devotional music. The album Krishna Ganam bears testimony to this.

He was the only film music composer to receive the Tamil Isai Sangam's Isai Perarignar title, usually conferred on professional classical musicians.

Iran, P5+1 countries reached agreement on Iran's nuclear programme at Vienna

Ending a 12-year stand-off, Iran and P5+1 countries comprising of the United States, the United Kingdom (UK), Russia, China, France and Germany on 14 July 2015 reached an agreement on the Iran nuclear programme.

The agreement called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPA) orVienna agreement was reached after 17 days of almost uninterrupted negotiations in Vienna involving foreign ministers of seven countries.

Now, the Vienna agreement needs to be ratified by the UN Security Council (UNSC) and will come into force 90 days later.

Main highlights of the Vienna agreement

Restrictions on defensive arms will be lifted before those on offensive arms, that is, the conventional arms embargo will last another five years, and restrictions on ballistic missile technology will last eight years
A violation of the deal could lead to the automatic “snap-back” of sanctions within 65 days, if a dispute-resolution process failed.
800 Iranian individuals and entities will be delisted from the list of multilateral and international sanctions
The UN ban on Iranian student’s ability to study nuclear physics will be lifted.
The IR-6 and IR-8 centrifuges will be tested at laboratory level in the first 8 years of the Iran Deal
Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium will be partly sold on the international market, partly diluted, and partly converted into fuel
The excess centrifuges will be stored on-site in Natanz
Iran has not allowed the IAEA to use remote streaming cameras at nuclear facilities
The economic sanctions against Iran would be lifted immediately after verification of its compliance with the deal
The deal also provides for the lifting of economic sanctions imposed outside of the EU, like the banking and insurance restrictions on Iran by the EU and the US.
The draft provides for the lifting of restrictions for the EU to import oil and gas from Iran, as well as exports of oil and gas production equipment to Iran.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), UN's nuclear watchdog, signed a separate agreement with Iran on the military aspects of its nuclear activities. The separate agreement focuses on the issue of theParchin military site
Iran and P5+1 group are to hold ministerial-level meetings at least twice a year to evaluate how the agreement is being implemented
Iran agreed to a 15-year moratorium on enriching uranium beyond 3.67 percent. The enrichment would be conducted only at theNatanz facility, while the Fordo facility would not conduct any enrichment activities or store fissile material
Iran also agreed to store no more than 300 kg of low-enriched uranium. The Arak reactor would not be used to produce plutonium under the deal. The spent fuel would be handled by international mediators

Comment

The deal reached after a 12-year standoff is a significant development in the world politics. On the one hand, the deal would give a major psychological boost to Iran and on the other hand, it will lead to greater mutual understanding and cooperation on the many serious security challenges in the Middle East.

The boost to Iran will happen on two fronts. On the one front, the deal is a significant achievement for Iranian president Hassan Rouhani who sought to end the 12-year old stand-off with Western powers. On another, Iran’s economy will get a major boost as trade and investment will begin to flow within Iran as well as externally.

Further, the cooperation on the security challenges in the Middle East will serve as the vital contribution to peace and stability both in the region and beyond. Moreover, it would open the way to a new chapter in international relations and show that diplomacy can overcome decades of tension.

However, the deal was criticized by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who said, “World powers have made far-reaching concessions in all areas that were supposed to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons capability.