13-14 may

13 may

Indian-American professor Dr. Sivanadane Mandjiny won UNC’s 2015 Award for Excellence in Teaching

Indian-American Professor Dr. Sivanadane Mandjiny on 12 May 2015 won the University of North Carolina (UNC) Board of Governors 2015 Award for Excellence in Teaching. The award carries a commemorative bronze medallion and a 12500 US dollar cash prize.

He was one of the 17 winners of the annual awards that serve to underscore the importance of teaching.

Currently, he is a Chemistry professor at the University of North Carolina. He became department chair in 2011. He had joined University’s Department of Chemistry and Physics in 1996 as a teaching associate.

Sivanadane Mandjiny is a native of Tamil Nadu. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Madras and a master’s degree in biochemical engineering from the IIT.

He also holds a second master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Toronto and a PhD from the Universite de Technologie de Compiegne in France. Mandjiny’s has studied in four languages Hindi, Tamil, French and English

He is the recipient of three Excellence in Teaching Awards from the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Mandjiny won the university's Outstanding Teaching Award in 2006.

Picasso's painting Les Femme d’Alger sold for 179.3 million US dollars

Pablo Picasso's painting Les Femme d’Alger (Version O)was on 11 May 2015 sold for 179.3 million US dollars during an auction at Christie's in New York.

With this sale, this painting became the most expensive painting to be sold at an auction. Les Femme d’Alger, a 1955 painting known in English as The Women of Algiers had a pre-auction estimate of 140 million US dollars.

The previous world record for a painting sold at an auction was 142.4 million US dollars for British painter Francis Bacon's Three Studies of Lucian Freud.

About the painting Les Femme d’Alger

Pablo Picasso, the Spanish painter and sculptor, painted a series of fifteen variations of Les Femme d’Alger painting between December 1954 and February 1955. The paintings depict Algerian women in a harem smoking a hookah.

Picasso designated the series alphabetically as versions A through O. The version sold is Version O, the last of the series.

Arvind Saxena appointed as a Member of Union Public Service Commission

Arvind Saxena was on 7 May 2015 appointed as a Member of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). His appointment was made by the President Pranab Mukherjee.

With this appointment, Saxena became the first officer from Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) to become a member of UPSC. The tenure of Saxena will commence from the date he enters upon the office till he attains age of 65 years.

Prior to this appointment, Saxena was Director and Ex-officio Special Secretary, Aviation Research Centre (ARC) of India’s external snooping agency RAW. He is a Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) officer of 1978 batch.

As per Article 315 of Indian Constitution, the Chairman and members of UPSC have the term of six years or until they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

Moody's released the report Global Macro Outlook: 2015-16

Moody’s, the US research analytics firm, on 12 May 2015 released the quarterly Global Macro Outlook: 2015-16 report.

As per the report, stronger US dollar and shifts in capital flows will widen the gap between global economies in 2015-16. The anticipated tightening of US monetary policy as compared to monetary easing by other central banks reflects different prospects for growth and inflation around the world.

The divergence will be between those economies that have built up resilience, like the US and India, and those that are vulnerable to negative shocks, like Brazil, South Africa and Turkey. This gap will fuel shifts in capital flows and currency values and affect the global economic outlook.

The report further forecasts that although the stronger US dollar will dent the growth prospects of US economy but still the economic growth will be robust. Moody's forecasts US GDP growth of 2.8% in both 2015 and 2016.

Moody's also expects that GDP growth in G20 economies will be 2.8 percent in 2015, which remains broadly unchanged compared to 2014, however, the G20 GDP growth will increase to around 3 percent in 2016.

The weaker euro and lower oil prices is forecast to give a boost to the euro area economy, with GDP growth of around 1.5 percent in both 2015 and 2016. Lower oil prices and the weaker euro will boost growth in the short term.

In China, domestic factors will mainly account for economic developments. Moody's maintains its forecast that GDP growth will slow to 6.8 percent in 2015 and 6.5 percent in 2016, from 7.4 percent in 2014.

Moody’s on India’s growth prospects

India’s GDP will grow at a strong pace of 7.5 percent 2015-16, which is the highest among G20 economies, helped by the reforms drive and lower oil prices.

The report also forecasts a broadly balanced current account for the first time in 10 years. This has been due to lower energy import bill and restriction in gold imports.

Furthermore, Moody’s forecasts that, the Make-in-Indiacampaign will give a boost to domestic manufacturing and other reforms measures would bring in higher investment and boost growth.

On inflation front, it said that inflation will remain moderate helped by adoption of inflation targeting policy by Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This would in turn ensure that higher inflation on food products does not spill onto other goods, services and wages and will raise real incomes, profits and overall GDP growth.

According to the road map, RBI intends to lower retail inflation to 6 percent by January 2016 and 4 percent (+/- 2%) thereafter.

Downside risks to Global economy

The report has identified several risks that could lead to lower growth in some individual countries. These risks are

(a)    a Greek exit from the euro area, 
(b)    a disorderly reaction to tighter US monetary policy,
(c)    the impact of any future correction of Chinese equity or property prices, and
(d)    a possible disorderly liberalisation of China's capital account.

UP Government launched Samajwadi Shudha Payjal Yojna for UP Roadways bus stations

Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on 12 May 2015 launched the water ATM facility Samajwadi Shudha Payjal Yojna for UP Roadways bus stations. This facility was installed at Charbagh of Lucknow and at other 100 bus stations of the state.

Through this service, the passengers will get best potable water at the most affordable price of two Rupees per liter.

Moreover, the Uttar Pradesh government also flagged off four luxury buses Scannia to four different destination including Delhi. It also inaugurated an IVRS number 149 enquiry facility regarding bus services of UP.

The state government also laid the foundation stone for up gradation of 25 bus stations where state of the art technology and best passenger and civic facilities will be available.

Supreme Court issued Guidelines on Regulating Government Advertisements

The Supreme Court (SC) on 13 May 2015 issued guidelines on regulating government advertisements. The guidelines were issued by a SC bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi.

The new guidelines by the apex court were framed with a view to discourage such advertisements from creating personality cults and it applies to the frequent advertisements that are placed by the centre and state governments to publicise schemes.

Details of the guidelines

• Only photographs of the President, Prime Minister (PM) and Chief Justice of India (CJI) can feature in the newspaper advertisements released by state and central government departments.
• The photographs of these dignitaries can only be used with their prior approval.
• Besides, these three, the photos of late leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru can also be used in the government advertisements.
• The use of photo of any politicians other than these personalities was banned by the apex court.
• Other than politicians, the photos of even Chief Ministers and bureaucrats were also banned from being featured in newspaper advertisements.
• In order to see that the framed guidelines are not violated, the apex court even asked the government to appoint a three-member committee to monitor it.

The guidelines were issued by a SC bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi in response to a petition filed by lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan-headed NGO Common Cause, who sought strict rules to ban government advertisements glorifying the politicians and ministers of government in power as it is the blatant misuse of taxpayers' money.

These guidelines were based on the recommendations of NR Madhava Menon headed three-member committee constituted by the SC to look into the matter in August 2014.

President of India appointed four Governors and transferred two

President of India Pranab Mukherjii on 12 May 2015 appointed four Governors and transferred two others. These appointments and transfers were done in accordance with Article 155 of the Constitution of India.

Appointed Governors

V Shanmuganathan was appointed as the Governor of Meghalaya. He is a member of BJP national executive.

Draupadi Murmu was appointed as the Governor of Jharkhand. She is from BJP and was a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Odisha’s Rairangpur constituency in 2000.

Tathagata Roy was appointed as Governor of Tripura. Roy had unsuccessfully contested on BJP seat from Kolkata Dakshin Lok Sabha constituency in 2014.

JP Rakkhowa was appointed as Governor of Arunachal Pradesh. He is a 1968-batch IAS officer. He has been involved in issues related to Northeast after his retirement.

Transferred Governors

Syed Ahmed, Governor of Jharkhand was shifted to Manipur. He was appointed in September 2011. His tenure will end in September 2016.

Lt General (retd.) Nirbhay Sharma, who was serving as Governor of Arunachal Pradesh since May, 2011, was transferred and appointed as Governor of Mizoram for the remainder of his term, which ends in 2018. He is the eighth Governor of the state since 2014.

Facebook signed up with nine news publishers to launch Instant Articles

Facebook Inc on 12 May 2015 signed up with nine publishers to launch Instant Articles. Instant Articles will publish articles directly to the social network's mobile news feeds.

The launch partners for Instant Articles are NBC, The Atlantic, The Guardian, BBC News, Spiegel and Bild.

Instant Articles will let stories load more than 10 times faster than standard mobile web articles and will include content from publishers such as the New York Times, BuzzFeed and National Geographic.

The news publishers can either sell and embed advertisements in the articles and keep all of the revenue, or allow Facebook to sell ads.

The Internet social networking company will also let the news companies track data and traffic through comScore and other analytics tools.

Instant Articles lets them deliver fast, interactive articles while maintaining control of their content and business models.

Indian author Neel Mukherjee won 2014 Encore Award for The Lives of Others

Indian author Neel Mukherjee on 12 May 2015 won the 2014 Encore Award for his novel The Lives of Others. The award is worth 10000 pounds.

The Lives of Others is his second novel. The novel is set in Kolkata of the 1960s when Naxalite violence was at its peak. It is the story of Supratik Ghosh and his family, after he leaves home to join the Communist party of India, Marxist and mobilise the peasants against their landlords.

The Lives of Others was also shortlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize and the Costa Novel Award. Neel Mukherjee's first novel, A Life Apart, was published in 2010.

Other short-listed authors are Will Wiles, Deborah Kay Davies and Amanda Coe. Encore award was founded by Lucy Astor in 1990 to celebrate second novels.

2013 Encore award won by Evie Wyld for All The Birds, Singing.

Union Cabinet approved amendments to Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2012

Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 13 may 2015 approved official amendments to the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2012.

The official amendments along with the Amendment Bill 2012 seeks to amend the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) (CLPR) Act, 1986and allows children below the age of 14 years to work in select non-hazardous family enterprises

Following official amendments have been approved by the Cabinet:

• It prohibits employment of children below 14 years in all occupations and processes and links the age of prohibition of employment to age under Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. However, it will not prohibit
  
  
  • a child helping his family or family enterprise, which is other than any hazardous occupation or process, after his school hours or during vacation; and
  • a child working as artist in an audio-visual entertainment industry, except the circus, provided that the school education of the child is not affected.
• It introduces a new definition of adolescent in the CLPR Act and prohibits the employment of adolescents (14 to 18 years of age) in hazardous occupations and processes.
• It provides for stricter punishment for employers for violation of the CLPR Act has been proposed to act as a deterrent:
  
  
  • In case of first offence of employing any child or adolescent in contravention of the Act, penalty would be imprisonment for a term not less than six months, which may extend to two years or with fine not less than 20000 rupees which may extend to 50000 rupees or with both.
  • In case of a second or subsequent offence of employing any child or adolescent in contravention of the Act, the minimum imprisonment would be one year which may extend to three years.
• It makes the offence of employing any child or adolescent in contravention of the Act by an employer a cognizable offence.
• There would be no punishment in case of a first offence by the parents/guardians and in case of a second and subsequent offence; the penalty would be a fine which may extend to 10000 rupees. This amendment is introduced in light of socio-economic conditions of parents/guardians.
• It provides for constitution of Child and Adolescent Labour Rehabilitation Fund for one or more districts for the rehabilitation of the child or adolescent rescued.

Why the need for amending CLPR Act, 1986?

Firstly, the official amendments along with Amendment Bill, 2012 seeks to strike a balance between the need for education for a child and the reality of the socio-economic condition and social fabric in the country.

Secondly, the socio-economic milieu of India is such that, on the one hand, children help their parent especially in occupations like agriculture, artisanship etc. and on the other, they learn basics of occupation while helping the parents.

Thirdly, the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act (CLPR Act) 1986 was not in sync with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009that enjoins the State to ensure free and compulsory education to all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years. A corollary to this would be that if a child is in the work place, he would miss school.

Lastly, CLPR Act was not in conformity with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions 138 and 182, which provide for minimum age of entry into employment and prohibition of employment of persons below 18 years, in work which is likely to harm health, safety and morals.

Lee Alan Johnson named Head Coach of U-19 football team of India

Lee Alan Johnson of England on 12 May 2015 was named as the Head Coach of Under-19 football team of India. He was named by the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

Besides, 34-year-old Johnson will also act as the Head Scout for the national side and will also perform the role of Assistant Coach of the senior team.

Prior to this, Johnson was working as the Technical Director of the Football Federation of Rwanda where he was also the Head Coach of the U-17 national team.

Johnson was also an FA Learning Tutor for the Football Association besides being the academy coach at Crystal Palace Football Club and Chelsea Football Club.

Deepak Iyer appointed as MD and CEO of Bharti AXA General Insurance

Deepak Iyer was on 12 May 2015 appointed as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bharti AXA General Insurance.

Currently, he is working as the Managing Director-Indian subcontinent at Wrigley India, a subsidiary of the US-based Mars.

He will take the charge from June 2015. He will take charge from Interim CEO and MD Milind Chalisgaonkar.

Earlier, he worked with PepsiCo for 16 years handling multiple international assignments, including those of Senior Franchise Director-Africa, General Manager-North & East India (including Bangladesh, Nepal & Sri Lanka) and Director-Sales for Modern Trade/ Food service/ Leisure/ Travel & Transport channels of the company.

Iyer brings with him 22 years of diverse experience across various aspects of management, sales, marketing, P&L management, operational turnaround, research and development and franchise management across different countries.

RBI released the report titled State Finances: A Study of Budgets of 2014-15

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) 12 May 2015 released the report titledState Finances: A Study of Budgets of 2014-15. The theme of this year’s report is Fiscal Consolidation: Assessment and Medium Term Prospects.

The report is an annual publication that provides data, analysis and an assessment of the finances of state governments. It provides the snapshot of the changing dynamics of fiscal federalism over the years.

Main highlights of the report

• It calls for renewed and sustained efforts by states towards fiscal consolidation in the years following the global financial crisis so as to increase states’ own revenues.
• It calls for freeing up resources for higher capital outlays, improving the quality of fiscal consolidation and setting the consolidated debt-GDP ratio of the states, including off budget liabilities on a declining trajectory.
• The rapidly growing e-commerce could contribute to states’ own revenue efforts, provided there is greater clarity in rules and procedures to enable better compliance.
• Windfall gains accruing over time from auctioning of natural resources need to be channelised effectively for meeting developmental needs of the mineral rich states.
• Transition from the present origin-based indirect tax regime to a destination-based tax regime under the Goods and Services Tax from 1 April 2016 is expected to create a buoyant source of revenue for the centre and states in the medium term.
• Improvement in fiscal marksmanship is important for delivering on fiscal consolidation intentions, particularly by minimising the systematic bias towards over-estimation of expenditure relative to receipts.

The report has been prepared in the Fiscal Analysis Division (FAD) of the Department of Economic and Policy Research.

14 may

Indian-American Sivanadane Mandjiny won UNC Board of Governors 2015 Award

Indian-American professor Sivanadane Mandjiny on 12 May 2015 won University of North Carolina Pembroke’s UNC Board of Governors 2015 Award for Excellence in Teaching. Mandjiny is currently serving as a Chemistry Professor at the University of North Carolina (UNC) in US.

Annually, the Board of Governors of the University names one professor at each of the 17 UNC campuses to receive the award. The award consists of the prize money of 12500 US dollars and a commemorative bronze medallion.

Mandjiny joined the University's Department of Chemistry and Physics in 1996 as a teaching associate and earned tenure in 2006. He became department chairperson in 2011.

Mandjiny came to Pembroke from France where he obtained his PhD and was doing post-doctoral research. As a native of Tamil Nadu, he earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Madras and a master's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).

Mandjiny is a distinguished scholar with many published research papers, dozens of conference presentations and significant grant work. He has mentored 118 student research projects on subjects applicable to alternative energy, agricultural science and chemistry in zero gravity.

Indian-Origin Harbhajan Kaur Dheer became first Asian woman elected as Mayor in UK

Indian-Origin Harbhajan Kaur Dheer on 12 May 2015 became the first Asian woman to be elected as mayor in the United Kingdom (UK).

The 62-year-old councilor of the Labour Party assumed the charge asthe Mayor of Ealing Council in London in which she was the Deputy Mayor before assuming the present position.

She was a mental health professional and is a rights activist advocating for rights of children and elderly.

She is a Punjabi by origin and migrated to Britain in 1975 for pursuing higher education.

Incidentally, her husband Ranjit Dheer is a former mayor of Ealing Council.

Ealing Council serves the residents and businesses of London's third largest borough, which is located in the heart of west London.

Vatican recognised Palestine as State in the Holy See-Palestine Joint Statement

Vatican recognised Palestine as a state in the Holy See-Palestine Joint Statement released on 13 May 2015. 

The Joint Statement titled Bilateral Commission of the Holy See and the State of Palestine was released after the Plenary Session held in Vatican on a Comprehensive Agreement following on the Basic Agreement signed on 15 February 2000. The Basic Agreement of 2000deals with essential aspects of the life and activity of the Catholic Church in Palestine.

The Plenary Session was chaired by Mgr Antoine Camilleri, Under-Secretary for the Holy See’s Relations with States, and by Ambassador Rawan Sulaiman, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Multilateral Affairs of the State of Palestine.

Why the recognition is significant?
Although the Vatican had been officially referring to Palestine as a state following the Pope’s visit to the Holy Land in 2014 but the joint statement is thefirst legal document to be negotiated between the two. 

Also, the document changes its diplomatic recognition from thePalestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) to the state of Palestine. The official relation between the Holy See and PLO was established on 26 October 1994.

The recognition by Vatican came as Israel government published its official guidelines, which promised to advance the peace process and make an effort to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians but did not use the term Palestinian state.

Other nations to recognise Palestine as State
The Vatican has functionally dealt with Palestine as State since the2012 United Nations vote wherein Palestine was given a non-member, observer-state status. 135 member-nations of UN recognized Palestine as a State. 

InOctober 2014, Sweden recognised Palestine and in recent monthsthe British, French, Spanish and Irish Parliaments have passed resolutions urging their governments to follow the suit.

Comment
The present move by the Vatican is a welcome development and will help Palestine in its international effort to get the recognition as a State. This is not only politically significant but also morally significant because the Vatican represents hundreds of millions of Christians worldwide, including Palestinians.

Further, the endorsement of statehood by the Vatican counters images of Palestinians as terrorists and is recognition of the Palestinian character that has a clear message for coexistence and peace.

However, the move has been criticized by Israel and the US by terming it as disappointing. According to Israel’s Foreign Ministry, the recognition would “not advance the peace process” and “distances the Palestinian leadership from returning to direct and bilateral negotiations.”

Union Cabinet Approved Namami Gange programme under National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA)

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 13 May 2015 gave its nod for implementation of Namami Gange programme (NGP). 

The programme will be operational under the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA).

Key Features of Namami Gange Programme (NGP)
• It is an Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission in the sense that it tries to integrate the efforts to clean and protect the Ganga river in a comprehensive manner and will result in socio-economic benefits in terms of job creation, improved livelihoods and health benefits to the vast population that is dependent on the river.
• Its focus is on pollution abatement interventions namely Interception, diversion and treatment of wastewater flowing through the open drains through bio-remediation or appropriate in-situ treatment or use of innovative technologies such as sewage treatment plants (STPs) or effluent treatment plant (ETPs). 
• It has a budget outlay of 20000 crore rupees for 2015-20. This is a significant four-fold increase over the expenditure in the past 30 years as the Union Government incurred an overall expenditure of approximately 4000 crore rupees on this task since 1985.

• The Union Government will sanction100 percent funding for various activities or projects under this program and the operation and maintenance of the assets will be for a minimum period of 10 years.
• It would beimplemented by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), and its state counterpart organizations that is State Program Management Groups (SPMGs).
• A three-tier mechanismwill be establishedfor project monitoringviz., A high level task force chaired by the Union Cabinet Secretary assisted by NMCG at national level,  State level committee chaired by Chief Secretary assisted by SPMG at state level and District level committee chaired by the District Magistrate.
• It emphasizes on improved coordination mechanisms between various Ministries or Agencies of the Union and State governments and will involve the States and grassroots level institutions such as Urban Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and people living on the banks of the river in implementation to attain sustainable results.
• It adopts a PPP (Public Private Partnership) or Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) approach for pollution hotspots.
• A 4-battalion Ganga Eco-Task Force, a Territorial Army unit, will be set up to bolster enforcement.

Telangana Government signed MoU with Google to build a campus in Hyderabad

Telangana Government on 11 May 2015 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with tech giant Google Inc to build the biggest campus outside the United States (US) in Hyderabad.

The MoU was signed by Jayesh Ranjan, Telangana Secretary of Information Technology (IT) and his counterpart David Redcliffe, Google’s global head of facilities and workplace in Google headquarters at Mountain View in USA.

On completion, Google’s Hyderabad campus will be second-biggest in the world and the first in Asia.

Highlights of the MoU
• It will be set up at the cost of 1000 crore rupees and expected to be ready within four years by 2019. 
• It will have two million square feet working space and will employ around 13000 technologists that will be recruited over a period of four years for this project.
• For this campus, Telangana Government will allocate seven acres of land in Gachibowli, a major IT suburb of Hyderabad. 
• The work for this campus will formally start in 2016.

Google's StreetView project
Apart from this, Google agreed to pick Hyderabad for its StreetView project after Union Government gave its approval to include Hyderabad in Street View project.

Google’s street View is a tool in Google Map that gives panoramic view of streets, roads and monuments. The firm uses cars, treks and bicycles, fitted with cameras, to capture the images and collate them to give the users a 360 degree views.

World Economic Forum (WEF) released The Human Capital Report 2015

The World Economic Forum (WEF) on 13 May 2015 released the Human Capital Report 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The WEF prepared the report in collaboration with Mercer, an American global human resource and related financial services consulting firm.

The report elaborates the status of different countries across the world on the Human Capital Index and provides key inputs for policy makers to augment capacities of human capital in 124 countriesit has surveyed.

Import findings of The Human Capital Report 2015
The Human Capital Index was developed using two horizontal themes--Learning and Employment running across five vertical age group pillars  viz., Under 15, 15–24, 25–54, 55–64, and 65 and Over covering  46 indicators.

Top ten Countries in the Human Capital Index

Finaland (1)
Norway (2)
Switzerland (3)
Canada (4)
Japan (5)
Swedan (6)
Denmark (7)
New Zealand (8)
The Netherlands (9)
Belgium (10)

Bottom ten Countries in the Human Capital Index
Ethiopia (115)
Burkina Faso (116)
Cote d Ivoire (117)
Mali (118)
Guinea (119)
Nigeria (120)
Burundi (121)
Mauritania (122)

Chad (123)
Yemen (124)

India’s position in the Human Capital Index
• India occupied the 100th position among the 124 countries surveyed in the Index.
• In the Asia-Pacific region it is placed behind Sri Lanka (60), China (64), Indonesia (69), Iran (80), Bhutan (87) and Bangladesh (99).
• In the learning category , It has secured 67th, 98th, 109th, 115th and 114th position in the Under 15, 15–24, 25–54, 55–64, and 65 and Over categories respectively.
• It has ranked poorly also on the labour force participation rate due to its large informal sector.

Peter Gay, Eminent American historian on European Thought passed away

Eminent historian Peter Gay passed away on 12 May 2015 at Manhattan in New York City, USA. He was 91.

He is one of the major American historians of European thought and known for his groundbreaking books on Enlightenment, the Victorian middle classes, Sigmund Freud, Weimar culture and the cultural situation of Jews in Germany.

The German-born historian-writer worked as the Sterling Professor of History Emeritus at the prestigious Yale University and was a former director of the New York Public Library's Center for Scholars and Writers between 1997 and 2003.

His major works include Voltaire's Politics: The Poet as Realist (1959), The Enlightenment: An Interpretation: The Rise of Modern Paganism (1966), The Bridge of Criticism: Dialogues on the Enlightenment (1970), Reading Freud: Explorations and Entertainments (1990) and Mozart (1999) among others.

For his works, he received numerous awards and honours including National Book Award (1966), the A.H. Heineken Prize (1990) and American Historical Association Award for Scholarly Distinction (2004).

Benami Transactions (Prohibition) (Amendment) Bill, 2015 introduced in Lok Sabha

The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) (Amendment) Bill, 2015 was on 13 May 2015 introduced in Lok Sabha after Union Cabinet gave its approval to amend the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988.

The Bill seeks to amend the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988 by adding additional provisions that provides for stringent measures against violators in order to curb and check the generation of black money in the country.

It adds provisions for attachment and confiscation of benami properties and imposes fine with imprisonment. It has provision for prosecution and aims to act as a major avenue for blocking benami property, which leads to generation and holding of black money especially in real estate.

Background
The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act was earlier enacted in 1988, but the rules under that Act could not be formulated due to inherent infirmities in it. Following this, in 2011 the government introduced a Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Bill in Parliament.

The Bill was referred to the Standing Committee on Finance for examination, which submitted its report in June 2012. However, the Bill lapsed with the dissolution of 15th Lok Sabha.

Rajya Sabha passed The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2014

Rajya Sabha on 13 May 2015 passed the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2014 by voice vote. With this, the bill stands passed by the two houses of Parliament as Lok Sabha passed the bill earlier on 17 December 2014.

The bill seeks to amend the Companies Act, 2013 that came into effect on 1 April 2015. Some sixteen amendments pertaining to winding up of companies, board resolutions, bail provisions and utilisation of unclaimed dividends have been incorporated into the Companies Act and are designed to address some issues raised by stakeholders.

Further, the amendments are also aimed at simplifying bail provisions. For instance, except in various issues of serious frauds, normal Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) provisions would apply.

To maintain the confidentiality of the board resolutions, the relevant amendment now prohibits public inspection of board resolutions filed in the registry.

The paid-up capital criteria have been scrapped while threshold limits for various transactions for getting shareholders’ nod has now been stipulated.

Moreover, one of the amendments approves prescribing specific punishment for deposits accepted, a condition that was left out in the Companies Act inadvertently.

Another amendment exempts corporates from the need to get shareholders’ nod in the case of related party transactions valued lower than 100 crore rupees or 10 percent of net worth. Earlier corporate were required to get shareholders’ permission for party transactions valued more than 10 crore rupees.

Also, amendments to Companies Act exempts related party transactions between holding companies and wholly owned subsidiaries from the requirement of approval of non-related shareholders.

CCEA gave its approval for 5% disinvestment in NTPC and 10% in Indian Oil Corporation

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 13 May 2015 gave its approval for 5 percent disinvestment in National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) and 10 percent disinvestment in Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).

Disinvestment in these two Maharatna companies will fetch government over 13000 crore rupees at current market price. The proposed share sale of 5 percent in NTPC will fetch Union government 5600 crore rupees while that of 10 percent in IOC will bring in 8100 crore rupees.

Currently, Union Government holds 74.96 percent stake in NTPC and 68.57 percent stake in IOC. After the sale, the Government will be left with a 58.57 percent stake in Indian Oil and 69.96 percent in NTPC.

Disinvestment in both these companies will be executed through the Offer for Sale (OFS) route, through stock exchanges. Retail investors (those bidding for up to 2 lakh) will be required to deposit the full amount at the time of the bid, while high net-worth and institutional investors need not do so.

These approvals are part of Union Government’s budgeted target to raise 41000 crore rupees through disinvestment in CPSUs for the current financial year 2015-16.

Punjab government launched pan-state programme to monitor the soil health of every farm

Punjab Agriculture Department on 13 May 2015 launched a pan-state programme to monitor the soil health of every farm in the state by issuing them personalised Soil Health Cards (SHCs). With this, Punjab became the first state in India to issue Soil Health Cards to farmers.

In this regard, every district of state was assigned a mobile soil testing lab. These labs will take soil sample from every farm and will issue digitalised soil health details.

As per Punjab Government, it is mandatory for Soil Testing Labs to check  soil health quarterly. Each health card holder will be issued a written advisory on usage of fertilisers and seeds adaptability.

The constant monitoring of health profile of various farms in the state is imperative keeping in view over exploitation of soil after the advent of green revolution in the state. It is necessary to maintain the health structure of soil and educating the farmers to use right quantity of fertilisers to prevent soil becoming arid.

About Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme
•    The Soil Health Card Scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 19 February 2015 nationwide in Suratgarh town of Sriganganagar district, Rajasthan.
•    The cards contain all basic information and crop-wise recommendations of nutrients or fertilizers required for farms of different soil types.
•    It will carry crop-wise recommendation of fertilizers required for farm lands and other inputs to increase the productivity of individual farmer.