25-26 june 2015

25 oct

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 the Article 223 of the Indian Constitution.

He will assume the charge from the date Justice Dhirendra Hiralal Waghela relinquishes the office 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 office of Chief Justice of High Court is vacantor when any such Chief Justice is, by reason of absence or otherwise, unable to perform the duties of his office.

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 first series win against India.

India batting first 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 Mustafizur 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 Mustafizur 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.

Mustafizur 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 of India was declared as the man of the match.

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 Office (JPO), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan.

The MoC is aimed at establishing a framework for bilateral cooperation in the field 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 plan comprising 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

PM launched AMRUT, Smart Cities Mission and Housing for All (Urban)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 June 2015 launched three urban development schemes- AMRUT, Smart Cities Mission and Housing for All (Urban) in New Delhi.

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):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.

Read More about AMRUT

Smart Cities Mission: It is aimed at developing 100 smart cities across the country with an outlay of 48000 crore rupees between 2015-16 and 2019-20.

Housing for All (Urban): The Central Sector Scheme aimed at providing housing facilities to all eligible people in urban areas by 2022.

Union Government launched India’s first Modernised Anganwadi Centre at Hasanpur village in Sonepat

Union Government on 24 June 2015 launched the first 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 Yojanaof Union Government which aims at transforming the anganwadi centres.

The anganwadi centre at Hasanpur has been built in partnership with private mining firm 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 efficient 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 fight 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.

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 theSean McBride International Peace Prize by the International Peace Bureau in recognition of their work opposing nuclear weapons development in South Asia.

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 benefit 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 profits.

In contrast, a company underSection 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 for the promotion and commercialization of solar energy technologies.

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 five 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 fish. 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.

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 first 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 five 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.

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 role of 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 first-class centuries with 108 first-class hundreds who finished 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 Affiliate Member of the ICC while Brunei was removed as an Affiliate Member. The Council also suspended the Affiliate Memberships of Morocco and Turkey.

The ICC has 105 members and the ICC Council includes 37 associate members, five affiliate 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.

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 five 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.

Australia decided to join China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Australia on 24 June 2015 announced that it will join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as a founding member. It will contribute 930 million Australian dollars (718.5million US dollars) as paid-in capital to the institution over five years and will be the sixth largest shareholder.

According to an official statement, Treasurer Joe Hockey will attend the Articles of Agreement signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, on 29 June 2015.

India will be the second-largest shareholder of the Institution that is likely to be operational by December 2015.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) headquartered in Beijing will have paid-in capital of 20 billion US dollars with total authorised capital of 100 billion US dollars. It is designed to finance infrastructure like construction of roads, ports, railways and other projects in Asia. At present, the bank has 57 prospective members, including the UK, France, Germany and Iran.

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) inflows 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 flows 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 US dollars during 2014, overall FDI flows to developed countries declined by 28 per cent to 499 billion US dollars. They were significantly 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 transition economies. MNEs of developing countries continued to acquire developed country foreign affiliates in the developing world.
• The groups of countries negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) saw their combined share of global FDI inflows 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 Greenfield investment declined by 2 per cent to 696 billion US dollars. Developing countries continued to attract two thirds of announced Greenfield 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 inflows 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 flows: While inward FDI was pegged at 34.4 billion US dollars, outward FDI was 9.8 billion US dollars. There was an increase of 6.3 billion US dollars and 10.3 billion US dollars in inward inflows when compared to that of 2013 and 2014 respectively.

As a percentage of gross fixed capital formation, inward flows and outward flows stood at 5.9 percent and 1.7 percent respectively.
Though India attracted around 80 percent of total inward FDI inflows 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.

Greenfield 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 Greenfield projects during 2014. However, India was way behind China that attracted 77.4 billion US dollars during the same period.

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 Sundaramwas 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 Mathpalhave been jointly recognised for their 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 first 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.

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 Ka Tola, 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 fighter 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 making national flags 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.

BHEL commissioned first 250-MW unit of NTPC’s Bongaigaon Thermal Power Project

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) on 24 June 2015 commissioned the first 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 beneficiary 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 of the state, which also has a major petrochemical industry.

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

International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction concluded

The one-day International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction (ICNR) concluded on 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 five years which takes the total assistance to 2 billion US dollars.

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 to relieve 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 conflict 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 field. 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.

26 june

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 Officer (CFO) of State Bank of India (SBI). She succeeded P K Gupta, who was promoted as Chief Executive Officer 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 Officer 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 Certified Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers since 1990.

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 Bhuapthiwith 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 winswith victory in the Roland Garros first round in May 2015 and the first 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).

Assam's Ambubachi Mela concluded

The four-day long Ambubachi Mela at Kamakhaya Devi temple at Guwahati, Assam concluded 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.

42-footlong blue whale washed ashore at Revdanda coast in Maharashtra died

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

Revdanda coast of Alibaug, Maharashtra was in news on 24 June 2015. The coast came 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 first 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 filter 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.

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 notification 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 2013with prior permission from the RBI on a case-by-case basis.

In contrast, as per the recent notification, the banks can borrowwithout 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 flexibility 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 specified 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.

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 benefit 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 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 financially empower the rural folks residing in these states.

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking observed globally

26 June: International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

The International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking 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 Office 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 Trafficking through events and programmes.

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

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 great demand 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.

Main artery of 2800-km K2K Economic Corridor nearly ready: China

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 beneficial to India?

Under the Kaladan Multi-modal Transit Transport Project, initiated in 2008, Mizoram will 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.

World's first flexible 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 first full-colour, flexible thin-film reflective display. The findings 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, filter and other actively tunable optical technologies.
It does not need its own light source. Rather, it reflects the ambient light around it. Your camouflage, 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 flexible 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 reflective 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 fields 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 reflective 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.

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 official statement said that the notes can be exchanged for their full value. It has also clarified 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 in curbing the menace of fake currency.

Delhi Budget 2015-16: Highlights

Delhi Budget 2015-16 was presented by the Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on 25 June 2015 in the Vidhan Sabha. The budget has been termed as firstSwaraj Budget and is the first 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 financial support of 5908 crore rupees to local bodies in 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, five 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 five 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 specifications 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 to provide water and sewer services to citizens in efficient and friendly manner
Proposes to create a Energy Conservation Fund in 2015-16 to finance energy efficient 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