27-28 feb 2015 eng

27 feb

Former Haryana Chief Minister Hukam Singh died

Former Chief Minister of Haryana Hukam Singh died on 26 February 2015 at a private hospital in Gurgaon. He was 89.

Singh was Chief Minister of Haryana for 248 days in 1990-91 as member of Janata Dal. He was elected MLA thrice from Charkhi Dadri in Bhiwani district before 1990.

To condole, the death of Singh, state government declared a holiday in all state government offices and educational institutions on 27 February 2015. The holiday was announced under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instrument Act 1881.

The government also declared a three-day State mourning from 26 February to 28 February 2015.

US Federal Communications Commission approved Net Neutrality Rules to protect Open Internet vote

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States (US) on 26 February 2015d to implement the Net Neutrality Rules.

In the five-member FCC, three commissioners voted in favour of rules whereas two commissioners voted against it. The Rules were proposed by the FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.

The rules seek to make sure that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the US treat all legal content equally so as to preserve the Internet as a platform for innovation, free expression and economic growth.

Features of the Net Neutrality Rules
• Broadband access has been classified as a telecommunication service which means that it will be subject to much heavier regulation
• Broadband providers cannot block or speed up connections for a fee
• The rules bars internet providers from any deals with content firms, known as paid prioritisation, for smoother delivery of traffic to consumers
• Interconnection deals have been regulated. Interconnection deals means a place where content companies pay broadband providers to connect to their networks
• Firms that feel that they are levied with unjust fees can complain to the FCC in which each case will be dealt with on a case by case basis
• These rules are also applied to mobile providers as well as fixed line providers
These rules are guided by three principles, namely America’s broadband networks must be fast, fair and open. The principles were shared by a majority of nearly 4 million people who participated in the FCC’s Open Internet proceeding.

About Net Neutrality
Net neutrality also known as Internet neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers and governments should treat all data on the Internet equally, not discriminating or charging differentially by user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or mode of communication.

The term was coined by Columbia University media law professor Tim Wu in 2003 as an extension of the longstanding concept of a common carrier.

Railway Budget 2015-16: Statistical Highlights

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on 26 February 2015 presented his maiden Rail Budget 2015-16 in the Lok Sabha. This was also the second rail budget of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government.

The major statistical highlights of the Budget encompassing Financial Performance 2014-15, Budget Estimates 2015-16 and Plan outlay 2015-16 are given below:

Financial Performance in 2014-15
• In 2014-15, there was a net reduction in Gross Traffic Receipts by 917 crore rupees compared to the Budgeted Estimate (BE) of 160165 crore rupees
• Growth in Ordinary Working Expenses (OWE) scaled down to 11.7 percent. The budgeted OWE of 112649 crore rupees decreased in the Revised Estimate (RE) of 2014-15 to 108970 crore
• Appropriation to the Pension Fund increased to 29540 crore rupees in the RE 2014-15
• Internal resource generation also improved and accordingly the appropriation to Depreciation Reserve Fund (DRF) was scaled up to 7975 crore rupees in RE from the BE 2014-15 provision of 7050 crore rupees
• Excess of receipts over expenditure stood at 7278 crore rupees in RE 2014-15 reflecting better financial management
• Plan size for 2014-15 increased from 65445 crore rupees in the Budgeted Estimates to 65798 crore rupees in the Revised Estimates

Budget Estimates for 2015-16
• Passenger earnings growth pegged at 16.7 percent and target budgeted at 50175 crore rupees
• Freight traffic is pegged at an all time high incremental traffic of 85 million tonnes, anticipating a healthier growth in the core sector of economy
• Goods earnings proposed at 121423 crore rupees which includes rationalisation of rates, commodity classification and distance slabs
• Other coaching and sundries are projected at 4612 crore rupees and 7318 crore rupees respectively
• Gross Traffic Receipts estimated at 183578 crore rupees, a growth of 15.3 percent
• Ordinary Working Expenses proposed to grow at 9.6 percent over RE 2014-15. Traction fuel bill is anticipated to shrink further
• Lease charges, interest component of the current and previous market borrowings are pegged at a growth of 21 percent
• Appropriation to Pension Fund is proposed at 35260 crore rupees and appropriation to DRF at 8100 crore rupees
• Appropriation of 7616 crore rupees is proposed to be made to Capital Fund for payment of principal component of lease charges to IRFC

Plan Outlay 2015-16
• Gross Budgetary Support of 40000 crore rupees for the Railway’s annual Plan
• Total Plan Outlay is 100011 crore rupees, an increase of 52 percent over RE 2014-15
• 1645.60 crore rupees has also been provided as Railway’s share of diesel cess from the Central Road Fund
• Market borrowing under Extra Budgetary Resources (EBR) projected at 17655 crore rupees, an increase of about 46.5 percent
• Balance Plan outlay includes 17793 crore rupees from Internal Resources and 5781 crore rupees from PPP
• A new financing approach to expand EBR has been projected. This EBR, presently named EBR (Institutional Finance) is projected at 17136 crore rupees and is aimed at accelerating completion of capacity augmentation projects.

Wipro won seven awards at the CIO Choice Honour and Recognition 2015

Wipro on 19 February 2015 won seven awards at the third annual edition of the CIO Choice Honour and Recognition 2015. The awards were given to Wipro to recognise the customer satisfaction and endorsement by the CIO community.

Wipro won the award in the categories of Managed IT Services, Managed Security Services, Enterprise Infrastructure Automation Services, Systems Integrator, Network Maintenance Services, Service Assurance Program, and Application Managed Services.

This recognition emphasizes Wipro's commitment to deliver excellence to its customers. This is the third consecutive time that Wipro has been recognised by the CIO Choice Honor and Recognition.

Wipro Limited is a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company. Wipro has a workforce of over 150000, serving clients in 175 plus cities across six continents.

The CIO Choice Honor and Recognition was organised by the Centre of Recognition and Excellence (CORE). It is an independent democratic platform to help the CIO community connect with vendors who offer the most preferred and stable products, services and solutions.

The CIOs from across India cast their votes to choose the winners.

Researchers from Australia unveiled world's first 3D printed jet engine

Australian researchers on 26 February 2015 unveiled the world's first 3D-printed jet engine. This is the first of its kind 3D printed engine.

It was developed by a team of researchers from Monash Centre for Additive Manufacturing of Monash University in partnership with Amaero Engineering, the private company set up by Monash University to commercialize the product.

According to Amaero, these printed engines will flight tested within the next 12 months and will be certified for commercial use within the next two to three years.

Characteristic Features of the Jet Engine
• The jet engine was created using innovative additive manufacturing technique.
• In this additive manufacturing, the 3D printing machine uses a high-powered laser to fuse powdered nickel, titanium or aluminium into the shape of object.
• The engine will help engineers in making and testing parts of jet engines in days instead of months. It will also help engineers to manufacture cheaper, lighter and more fuel-efficient jet engines.

Significance of this development
The development of 3D printed jet engines is of great significance to the manufacturing sector of Australia, especially 3D printing market.

Australia has one of only three of the necessary large-format 3D metal printers in the world. France and Germany are the other two countries to have such printers.

Further, Australia is the only place that makes the materials for use in the machine and is also the world leader in terms of intellectual property (IP) regarding 3D printing for manufacturing.

Moreover, it is believed that Amaero is in talks with Boeing Co, Airbus Group NV, Raytheon Co and Safran to pay in part for the building of further large format printers, at a cost of around 3.5 million Australian dollars each (2.75 million US dollars), to ramp up the production of 3D jet engine components.

About 3D printing technology

3D printing is a process of making three dimensional solid objects from a digital file with extreme precision. 3D printing makes products by layering material until a three-dimensional object is created.
This technology is also termed additive manufacturing as the 3D printed object is created using additive processes.
Although 3D printing has been around since the 1980s, in recent years it has developed to produce a wide array of items including guns, houses and models of unborn children.

FBI announced 3 million US dollar award for information on Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev

Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev, one of the world’s most prolific cyber criminal from Russia, was in news recently.

He was in news because the US State Department, the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on 24 February 2015 announced a reward of 3 million US dollars for information on him. Bogachev, currently is one of the FBI’s most wanted criminal.

Bogachev is alleged for his involvement in a major cyber racketeering enterprise in which he played a role of administrator for the GameOver Zeus botnet. It is believed that he is responsible for the theft of more than 100 million US dollar from businesses and consumers in the US and around the world.

The reward will be offered under the auspices of the State Department’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Programme, established by Congress in 2013. The programme was established as a tool to assist the US government in identifying and bringing to justice members of significant transnational criminal organizations.

About GameOver Zeus botnet

GameOver Zeus botnet is a sophisticated type of malware designed specifically to steal banking and other credentials from the computers it infected by either secretly logging keystrokes for passwords or creating false webpages where victims would unwittingly enter banking information and passwords.

Economic Survey of India 2014-15: Highlights

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely on 27 February 2015 presented Economic Survey of India 2014-15 in the Parliament.

The Economic Survey reviews the developments in the Indian economy over the previous 12 months, summarises the performance on major development programmes and highlights the policy initiatives of the government and the prospects of the economy in the short to medium term.

Three pronged strategy suggested in Economic Survey 2014-15

To improve the investment climate and reduce the backlog of stalled projects, Economic Survey 2014-15 suggested a three-pronged strategy, namely
Revival of public investment in short term, to act as an engine of growth in infrastructure sector. It argues that public investment cannot be a substitute for private investment; but is required as a complement and to crowd it in.
Need of creative solutions to strengthen institutions relating to bankruptcy. This will ensure that exit options are available. This will also ameliorate over-indebtedness that lowers the capacity to generate new investments. Towards this end, it contemplates setting up of a high-powered Independent Renegotiation Committee.
Economic Survey highlights the need for reorientation and restructuring of the PPP model. This is expected to make them more viable in future.

Main Highlights of the Economic Survey 2014-15

General Highlights

Using the new estimate for 2014-15 as the base, GDP growth at constant market prices is expected to accelerate to between 8.1 and 8.5 percent in 2015-16.
Inflation declined by over 6 percentage points since late 2013 which is likely to remain in the 5-5.5 percent range in 2015-16, creating space for easing of monetary conditions.
The current account deficit declined from a peak of 6.7 percent of GDP in Quarter 3 of 2012-13 to an estimated 1.0 percent in the fiscal year 2015-16.
After a nearly 12-quarter phase of deceleration, real GDP has been growing at 7.2 percent on average since 2013-14, based on the new growth estimates of the Central Statistics Office.
Foodgrains production for 2014-15 is estimated at 257.07 million tonnes, which will exceed average food grain production of last five years by 8.5 million tones
Foreign portfolio flows have stabilized the rupee, exerting downward pressure on long-term interest rates which is reflected in yields on 10-year government securities and surge in equity prices.
From a cross-country perspective, a Rational Investor Ratings Index (RIRI) which combines indicators of macro-stability with growth illustrates that India ranks amongst the most attractive investment destinations.
It ranks well above the mean for its investment grade category (BBB), and also above the mean for the investment category above it (on the basis of the new growth estimates).
In the short run, growth will receive a boost from the cumulative impact of reforms, lower oil prices, likely monetary policy easing facilitated by lower inflation and improved inflationary expectations, and forecasts of a normal monsoon in 2015-16.
Growth in medium-term prospects will be conditioned the “balance sheet syndrome with Indian characteristics” that has the potential to hold back rapid increases in private sector investment.
In the long-run, private investments will be the engine of growth. However, there is a case for reviving targeted public investment as an engine of growth in the short run to complement and crowd-in private investment.
Expenditure control and expenditure switching from consumption to investment will be the key to growth in the short-run
It calls for complementing Make in India initiative with Skill India initiative to enable a larger section of the population to benefit from the structural transformation that such sectors will facilitate.
The Survey emphasizes on creation of a National Market for Agricultural Commodities in place of thousands of agricultural markets
The Model APMC Act, 2003 should be amended along the lines of the Karnataka Model that has successfully introduced an integrated single licensing system.

Fiscal Framework

The Survey calls for adhering to the medium-term fiscal deficit target of 3 percent of GDP. This will provide the fiscal space to insure against future shocks and also to move closer to the fiscal performance of its emerging market peers.
It also calls for moving toward the golden rule of eliminating revenue deficits and ensuring that, over the cycle, borrowing is only for capital formation.
Expenditure control combined with recovering growth and the introduction of the GST will ensure that medium term targets are comfortably met.
In the short run, the need for accelerated fiscal consolidation will be conditioned by the recommendations of the Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC).
The quality of expenditure needs to be shifted from consumption, by reducing subsidies, towards investment.

Subsidies and the JAM Number Trinity Solution

Food Subsidy Bill stands at 107823.75 crore rupees during 2014-15 (up to January 2015) which means an increase of 20 percent over previous year
The direct fiscal cost of select subsidies is roughly 378,000 crore rupees or 4.2 percent of GDP in 2011-12.
41 percent of subsidy given for the PDS kerosene is lost as leakage and only 46 percent of the remaining 59 percent is consumed by households that are poor.
The JAM Number Trinity – Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar, Mobile – can enable the State to transfer financial resources to the poor in a progressive manner without leakages and with minimal distorting effects.

Indian Railways and Public Investment

The Indian Railways over the years has been plagued by host of issues. Some of them include underinvestment resulting in lack of capacity addition and network congestion; neglect of commercial objectives; poor service provision; and consequent financial weakness. These have cumulated to below-potential contribution to economic growth.
As a result, the competitiveness of Indian industry has been undermined. Calculations reveal that China carries thrice as much coal freight per hour compared to India. Coal is transported in India at more than twice the cost vis-à-vis China, and it takes 1.3 times longer to do so.
The railways public investment multiplier (the effect of a 1 rupee increase in public investment in the railways on overall output) is around 5.
In the long run, the railways must be commercially viable and public support must be linked to railway reforms. These include adoption of commercial practices, tariff rationalization, and technology overhaul.

Gopinath Pillai appointed as Special Envoy to Andhra Pradesh by Singapore government

Singapore government on 26 February 2015 appointed Gopinath Pillai as its special envoy to Andhra Pradesh. Pillai, a senior policy strategist, was appointed to speed up construction of new capital in the state.

Pillai’s appointment as special envoy to Andhra Pradesh was announced by Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at the secretariat in capital Hyderabad.

At the time of appointment, Pillai was working as a Chairman of a Singapore based think-tank, Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), and an ambassador for city-state's government.

He will render advice on various issues like tourism and bringing in capital from foreign companies for building of the new capital.

Singapore government will present its first-phase of draft master plan of the new capital of Andhra Pradesh in June 2015. Currently Andhra Pradesh and newly created state Telangana shares Hyderabad as joint capital.

Shanmugam is on a four-day visit to India to strengthen bilateral cooperation with Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.

Parliament of Jamaica passed a law to decriminalise marijuana for personal use

Parliament of Jamaica on 25 February 2015 passed a law to decriminalise the possession of small amount of marijuana up to 57 grams for personal use.

Marijuana is widely grown in Jamaica and has cultural roots there. The country is also the biggest exporter of marijuana to the United States among Caribbean countries.

Provisions of the law
• It allows Jamaica's Rastafarians to use marijuana for religious purposes. The plant is regarded as sacred by members of the faith and has been celebrated in the island's reggae music.
• It paves the way for establishing Cannabis Licensing Authority to deal with regulating the cultivation and distribution of marijuana for medical and scientific purposes in Jamaica.
• It makes possession of up to 2 ounces of marijuana a petty offense that can result in a ticket but not in a criminal record.
• Cultivation of five or fewer plants of Marijuana on any premises will be permitted.
• Tourists who are prescribed medical marijuana abroad will soon be able to apply for permits authorizing them to legally buy small amounts of Jamaican weed.

Background
This move by Jamaican lawmakers is in line with the international trend of easing restrictions on marijuana for medical or personal use.

Uruguay was the first country in the world to approve the growth, sale and distribution of marijuana. In United States, states like Alaska, Colorado, and Washington have legalised the sale and possession of marijuana for both medical and non-medical use.

Mexico, Colombia and Argentina have also decriminalised the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Justice Amitava Roy sworn in as Supreme Court judge

Justice Amitava Roy was sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court (SC) on 27 February 2015. Prior to this, he served as the Chief Justice of Odisha High Court.

With his elevation, the strength of the SC judges has gone up to 29. SC has a sectioned strength of 31 judges.

He will have tenure of three years.

Amitava Roy born in Kolkata in 195, served as a member of Assam Law Commission and became a Judge of the Gauhati High Court on 4 February 2002.

On 2 January 2013, he was appointed as Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court.

Article 124 of Constitution of India says that the judge of SC shall be appointed by the President.

Any citizen of India who has been a judge of one high court or more, for at least five years or an advocate there, for at least ten years, or a distinguished jurist, in the opinion of the president, is eligible to be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Veteran cinematographer Aloysius Vincent passed away

Veteran cinematographer Aloysius Vincent passed away on 25 February 2015 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu following a brief illness. He was 86. He is survived by his two sons, wife and daughter.

He was a well-known cinematographer in various film industries including Telugu film industry, Tamil Film Industry and Bollywood as well.

Vincent was also credited for introducing the zoom shot in Indian cinema through his 1958 Tamil film Uthama Puthiran.

About Aloysius Vincent
• Vincent was born on 14 June 1928 in Calicut (now known as Kozhikode) in Kerala.
• In 1953, he started his career as a guest cinematographer in Telugu film Chandi Rani. Since then he has worked as cinematographer in more than 150 films.
• His last film as a cinematographer is Telugu film Annamayya (1997).
• Vincent is also multilingual director. Since mid-1960s he had directed around 30 movies in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.
• Some of his famous directed films were Bhargavi Nilayam (1964), Murrapennu (1965), Nagarame Nanni (1967) and Asuravithua (1968).
• In 2003, Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC) awarded him an honorary membership. He also won Filmfare Award for Best Cinematographer for Prem Nagar in 1974.

NSE signed MoU with GIFT to establish an international exchange in Gujarat

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 26 February 2015 with the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) to establish an international exchange in Gujarat. The MoU was signed in the presence of Gujarat Finance Minister Saurabh Patel.

The GIFT Special Economic Zone is being developed as India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). It is spread over 886 acres.

The expected investment in this multi-service SEZ is to the tune of 78000 crore rupees. An estimated five lakh persons are claimed to get direct employment in this mega commercial centre.

This will allow Indian and international entities to deal in financial products and services from India.

Further, this will provide an electronic platform for facilitating trading, clearing and settlement of securities, and will explore the possibility of starting trading facilities in different asset classes like equities, interest rates and currencies, among others.

Lenovo slapped with lawsuit over Superfish adware

Lenovo was on 24 February 2015 sued by unhappy customers over the Superfish adware. The adware apparently makes PCs susceptible to malware attacks.

The class-action suit was filed against Lenovo and Superfish after Lenovo admitted to pre-loading Superfish on some consumer PCs.

The customers sued both companies with fraudulent business practices and of making Lenovo PCs vulnerable to malware and malicious attacks by pre-loading the adware which customers referred to as spyware.

The issue came to fore in December 2014 when users had expressed concerns about scans of SSL-encrypted web traffic by Superfish Visual Search software pre-installed on Lenovo machines.

This became a major public issue, however, only in February 2015. The installation included a universal self-signed certificate authority; the certificate authority allows a man-in-the-middle attack to introduce ads even on encrypted pages.

About Superfish adware

Superfish Adware is advertising-supported software developed by California-based advertising company Superfish. The company was founded in Israel in 2006.

The adware is based on a visual search engine and it automatically renders advertisements in order to generate revenue for Superfish.

The adware was bundled with various applications by Superfish in 2010 and Lenovo began to bundle the software with some of its computers in September 2014. The adware has been described as malware or adware by several sources.

IBM Corporation tied-up with Tech Mahindra Ltd to accelerate Global Hybrid Cloud adoption

Tech giant International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) on 23 February 2015 tied-up with IT services major Tech Mahindra Limited to build a platform for the development of cloud-based apps for its clients to increase hybrid services adoption.

This will help the company in achieving high network performance and maintain maximum control over client data.

Highlights of the Tie-up
The platform will be built using IBM’s Bluemix Dedicated cloud infrastructure. Bluemix Dedicated runs on private, dedicated servers and hardware in an organization’s preferred IBM cloud centre, a network spanning over 40 regions across the globe.

Tech Mahindra will train 5000 of its own developers on how to build advanced apps on Bluemix for the hybrid cloud to link core functions like accounting systems with social apps using predictive analytics and data linked to the Internet of Things.

The engagement will help Tech Mahindra to develop apps in the areas of DevOps and the Internet of Things (IoT).

About Bluemix Dedicated
• Bluemix Dedicated is a deployment model that addresses many questions associated with corporate policy, data residency, privacy, noisy neighbors, enterprise connectivity and more.
• Bluemix runs on SoftLayer cloud infrastructure and combines the strength of IBM's middleware software with tools from IBM's partner ecosystem to offer DevOps in the cloud.
• With access to services across the tech industry, Bluemix helps developers speed application deployment from months to minutes.

28 feb

Assamese dictionary for Science and Technology terms released

The first dictionary in Assamese language for Science and Technology terms was released by Dibrugarh University Vice Chancellor Dr Alok Kumar Buragohain on 26 February 2015.

This Assamese dictionary with over 40000 words was released with an aim to benefit large number of students and to make scientific terminology simple and easily understandable by the people and particularly by students.

The 1160-page dictionary prepared by Asomiya Jatiya Abhidhan (AJA) covers almost all stream of science, including Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, Mathematics, Geology, Geography, Computer Science, Statistics and Astronomy among others.

Kshatrapati Shivaji appointed as CMD of Small Industries Development Bank of India

Kshatrapati Shivaji was on 27 February 2015 appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director (MD) of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). Shivaji was appointed on deputation basis for a period of three years.

Shivaji, a 1986 batch IAS officer, is currently the Principal Secretary (Expenditure), Finance Department in Maharashtra government.

Prior to this, Shivaji served as Director of state-run manganese-ore mining firm, MOIL Limited until March 2013. Earlier, he served as Principal Secretary of Industries at Government of Maharashtra and as a Chairman and Managing Director at Maharashtra State Financial Corporation.

Shivaji also served as Director of Sicom Limited.

Haryana Government raised cash reward under Inter-Caste Marriage Scheme

The reward was constituted under Rule 16 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

The reward money would be provided through bank accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY). The government also asked the officers to work on how to make the process of transferring reward money at the earliest to avoid any delay.

This decision to increase the cash reward under the inter-caste marriage scheme was made at a meeting of the state level Vigilance and Monitoring Committee held under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar at Chandigarh.

Other decisions made during the meet include
• Police Department directed to ensure wide publicity of HARSAMAY, a citizen portal of the Haryana Police, where anyone can register a complaint any time.
• Government also asked officials of the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Department to prepare schemes for ameliorating the status of people belonging to weaker sections of the society by way of education, scholarships, skill development and others.

IDC released a report on Indian Smartphone market

International Data Corporation (IDC) released a report on 24 February 2015 on Indian smartphone market. For the fourth quarter (October-December) of 2014, report highlighted that South Korean handset maker Samsung continued to retain its top position in the Indian Smartphone market.

Highlights of the report

• Samsung mopped up 22 percent of the market share followed by Micromax (18 percent0, Intex (8 percent) Lava (7 percent), Xiaomi (4 percent) and the rest (41 percent).

• According to IDC India, the smartphone market observed shipment contraction in Q4 for the first time ever (quarter-on-quarter basis).

• The Q4 of 2014 was seen as a correction phase wherein the smartphone market declined by 4 percent whereas the feature phone market plummeted by approximately 14 percent over the third quarter (July-September) 2014.

• The contraction in the shipment was largely owing to a high channel inventory at the beginning of the quarter amongst general trade which in turn was caused by the surge witnessed in online sales during festive season.

• The overall mobile phone market stood at 64.3 million units in Q4 2014, which reflects a sequential drop of 11 percent over Q3 2014 and an annual drop of five percent.

• Feature phone to smartphone migration trend is clearly visible. Smartphones formed a healthy 35 percent of the overall mobile business in Q4 2014, which is up by 13 percent from a year ago, that is, Q4 2013.

• Smartphone vendors are quick in gauging the consumer demand for 4G handsets. In percentage terms, 4G handsets are still in single digit.

• IDC anticipates a sluggish first quarter (January-March) 2015. However, a few global vendors which were in the inventory correction phase until now are likely to exhibit big shipment numbers starting Q1.

Union Budget 2015-16: Highlights

Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley on 28 February 2015 presented Union Budget 2015-16 in the Lok Sabha. This was the first full year Budget of the NDA government and the second budget of Arun Jaitley.
Highlights of the Union Budget 2015-16
• Gross tax receipts of 14.49 lakh crore rupees
• Non-planned expenditure was 1312200 crore rupees
• Corporate tax was reduced to 25 percent over next four years from existing 30 percent
• Defence allocation for fiscal 2015-16 is 246727 crore rupees
• 100 percent tax deduction for contribution to Swachh Bharat Fund
• Service tax hiked by 14 percent
• 34699 crore rupees allocated for MNREGA, which is highest ever allocation to the programme
• Yoga was included in the ambit of charitable purposes under the Income Tax Act
• Custom duty on 22 items will be reduced
• People will have to quote their PAN for all purchases above 1 lakh rupees
• AIIMS will be set up in five states namely Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Assam
• Centres for film production will be created in Arunachal Pradesh
• Law under FEMA on capital account transactions will be amended
• National skill development mission to be launched
• By 2022 there is plan to produce 175000 MW renewable energy
• Visa on arrival extended to 150 countries
• 1000 crore rupees more allocated to Nirbhaya fund
• Transport allowance increased to 1600 rupees per month
• To increase clean energy cess of 220 rupees per tonne of coal
• Online excise & service tax registrations in 2 working days
• Wealth tax has been abolished, replaced by 2 percent on superrich
• 9000 crore rupees from additional 2 percent surcharge on the super rich
• 1008 crore rupees was collected under total wealth tax
• GARR will be deferred by 2 years
• Benami transactions in property deals will be curbed
• 7-year imprisonment for non-filing of return on foreign asset
• 300 percent penalty on concealing income
• Undisclosed income to be taxed on maximum marginal rate
• New law to tackle black money
• Sovereign gold bond with fixed rate of interest will be developed
• Gold monetization scheme will be introduced
• Internationally competitive direct tax regime will be created
• Public debt management agency will be created

• 5 ultra-mega power projects, each of 4000MW
• To enable minority youth, a new scheme named Nayi Manzil will be started
• Investment on infrastructure to go up by 70000 crore rupees
• Integrated education and livelihood scheme for minorities were announced
• New scheme for assisted living devices for BPL senior citizen
• Senior citizens’ welfare fund will be created
• Access to the formal credit system will be increased
• Universal social security system will be created
• Micro unit development finance unit MUDRA Bank will be created
• 25000 crore rupees allocated for rural infrastructure development fund
• National unified market for farm produce will be created
• 5300 crore rupees allocated for micro irrigation and PM’s irrigation scheme
• Total transfer to the states will be 62 percent
• Will Form A Monetary Policy Committee
• At least 1 member of each family to have job by 2022
• Electrification of remaining 20000 villages by 2020
• GST will be rolled out on 1 April 2016

Noted sociologist Meera Kosambi died

Noted sociologist Meera Kosambi died on 26 February 2015 after a brief illness. She was 75. She was the youngest daughter of the great historian and mathematician DD Kosambi.

Her works were known for brilliant and incisive scholarship and her crowning achievement was to turn the light on Pandita Ramambai, the great 19 century Indian reformer and educationist and early pioneer of women’s emancipation in India.

Through her splendid translations of Returning the American Gaze: Pandita Ramabai’s the people of the United States (1889) and a volume of Ramabai’s Selected Works, Kosambi was instrumental in salvaging the great reformer’s reputation from the debris of time and restoring Pandita Ramabai to the pedestal of one of Modern India’s most illustrious figures.

She did her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Stockholm and retired as a professor and director of the Research Centre for Women’s Studies, at the SNDT Women’s University in Mumbai.

She wrote, co-wrote or edited more than 15 books which reflected a lifelong preoccupation and passion for with the notion of the modern, emancipated Indian woman.
Some of her books include

• Mahatma Gandhi and Prema Kantak: Exploring a Relationship

• Exploring History

• Women Writing Gender: Marathi Fiction before Independence

• Feminist Vision or 'Treason against Men?

Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov shot dead in Moscow

Boris Nemtsov, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia and present leading Russian opposition politician was shot dead on 27 February 2015. The unidentified attacker shot him four times in Central Moscow.

55-year-old Nemtsov was gunned down a day before he was supposed to lead a demonstration against Putin’s support for the pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine and his economic policies. The demonstration was scheduled to be held on 1 March 2015.

At the time of his death, he was serving as
• The Member of the regional parliament of Yaroslavl Oblast to which he was elected in 2013
• The Co-chair of the Republican Party of Russia – People’s Freedom Party (RPA-PARNAS), which is a member of the European Liberal-Democratic Alliance since 2012
• One of the leaders of the Solidarnost movement. Solidarnost is a Russian liberal democratic political movement founded in 2008 by a number of well-known members of the liberal democratic opposition, including Garry Kasparov, Boris Nemtsov and others from the Yabloko and Union of Right Forces

He also was one of the founders of Young Russia Movement in 1998. Nemtsov had served Russia as its first Deputy Prime Minister under the late President Boris Yeltsin during 1997 - 1998. During this period he also served as Minister of Fuel and Energy of Russia.

International Rare Disease Day observed on 28 February

28 February: International Rare Disease Day
Eighth International Rare Disease Day was observed globally on 28 February 2015. The Rare Disease Day annually takes place on the last day of February.

To mark the day, hundreds of patient organisations from more than 80 countries and regions worldwide carried-on awareness-raising activities around the slogan Day-by-day, hand-in-hand.

The day is observed to raise awareness for rare diseases and improve access to treatment and medical representation for individuals with rare diseases and their families.

The Rare Disease day is coordinated by European Organization for Rare Diseases (EURORDIS) and the main objective of the day is to raise awareness amongst the general public and decision-makers about rare diseases and their impact on patients' lives.

About Rare Disease Day
The Rare Disease Day was launched by EURODIS and Council National Alliances in 2008. Since its launch, the day has contributed to the advancement of national plans and policies for rare diseases in a number of countries.

Although the campaign started as a European event but became a world phenomenon after the US joined it in 2009. Further in 2014, number of participant nations went up to 84 countries.

Acclaimed US actor Leonard Nimoy passed away

Renowned US actor Leonard Nimoy passed away on 27 February 2015 in Los Angeles following chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 83.

Leonard Nimoy was best known for his half-human, half-Vulcan character of Mr Spock in the cult scientific-fiction series Star Trek. The character of Mr Spock had a significant cultural impact and garnered Nimoy with three Emmy Award nominations.

Born on 26 March 1931, Leonard Nimoy started his career in 1950s by teaching acting classes at Hollywood and making minor film and television appearances.

His first starring movie role came in 1952 with Kid Monk Baroni, in which he played a disfigured Italian street-gang leader who becomes a boxer.

In 1965, he appeared in Star Trek as pilot The Cage. From 1966-69, he played the role of Spock in original Star Trek series.

He also had appeared in multiple films like Queen for a Day and Rhubarb. Nimoy directed the movies Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).

ZSL and Gujarat Forest Department signed a MoU for conservation of Asiatic lion

The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Gujarat Forest Department on 26 February 2015 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for conservation of Asiatic lion and its habitat.

The MoU was signed by ZSL Director General Ralph Armond pledging support to safeguard the future of the precious big cats.

Apart from ZSL, Wildlife Institute of India will also be the knowledge partner with the forest department in conservation of lion.

Highlights of MoU
• ZSL with its expertise in managing zoo will provide technical assistance to forest department in handling rescue operations and treatment centres.
• ZSL will provide animal husbandry and specialist veterinary expertise to train forest guards.
• It will also help to manage Sakkarbaug Zoo in Junagadh.
• Gujarat Forest Department will use smart software jointly developed by the ZSL and the Gujarat forest department for tracking the movement of their staff and even the lions.

Earlier in 2014, the first-ever fundraising event was held by the Zoological Society of London. It launched the charity's Lions400 fundraising campaign and raised over 135000 pounds towards helping to save the Asian lions.

Today, the population of Asiatic lions remaining in a small pocket of the Gir Forest is just 400. They are particularly vulnerable to the threats of disease and conflict with humans.

Zoological Society of London (ZSL)
Founded in 1826, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is an international scientific, conservation and educational charity organisation whose mission is to promote and achieve the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats.

It runs active conservation projects in more than 50 countries and in its two Zoos- ZSL London Zoo and ZSL Whipsnade Zoo.

Indian Navy concluded TROPEX Exercise 2015

Indian Navy on 27 February 2015 concluded its Theatre Level Readiness and Operational Exercise (TROPEX)-2015. The event encompassed all dimensions of maritime warfare.

TROPEX-2015 was a month long exercise aimed at validating the Indian Navy’s Concept of Operations and the area of operations spanned across the Arabian Sea and Northern Indian Ocean.

Key facts about TROPEX-2015
• In TROPEX-2015, around 50 ships and submarines participated along with 70 aircrafts from the three Naval Commands.
• It saw the participation of units from the India Air Force and the Indian Coast Guard.
• Indian Navy deployed two Carrier Task Forces simultaneously at sea.
• It saw participation of both INS Viraat and INS Vikramaditya with their integral flights in an operational scenario.
• It witnessed extensive deployment of the nuclear submarine INS Chakra, the recently inducted P8I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance aircraft.
• Recently commissioned guided missile destroyer Kolkata and Anti-Submarine Warfare corvette Kamorta also took part in it.
• TROPEX-15 provided a reinforce platform for Indian Navy’s offensive capabilities across all dimensions. It included Network Centric Operations (NCO) by using satellite Rukmani.
• The exercise also reinforced the Navy's ability to serve in different roles with relative ease, when it exercised a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) mission.

Martin David Crowe inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

Former New Zealand cricket captain Martin David Crowe on 28 February 2015 was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame during the innings break of the New Zealand-Australia match in the 2015 World Cup at Eden Park, New Zealand.

He received his commemorative cap from Wally Edwards, ICC Director and Chairman of Cricket Australia.

The Player of the ICC Cricket World Cup 1992 Crowe became the third New Zealander after Sir Richard Hadlee and Debbie Hockley to be included in the Hall of Fame. Overall, he is the 79th cricketer to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Martin Crowe
• Crowe made his international debut against Australia in Wellington in February 1982
• He retired from the game in 1996 after playing 77 tests
• In his test career, he made 5444 runs at an average of 45.36 that included 17 centuries
• He played 143 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and with four hundreds and 34 half-centuries, he scored 4704 runs at an average of 38.55
• He played in three ICC Cricket World Cups, and led New Zealand to the semi-final of the World Cup 1992
• He captained cricket team of New Zealand in 16 tests and 44 ODIs

AB de Villiers of South Africa hit the fastest 150 runs in ODI

AB de Villiers, the Captain of South Africa cricket team, on 26 February 2015 hit the fastest-ever 150 runs in one-day internationals (ODIs). He achieved this feat in the league match against West Indies in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 at Sydney, Australia.

De Villiers took 64 deliveries to reach 150 runs and beat the previous record of Australian Shane Watson by 19 balls. He struck 162 not out from 66 balls.

Powered by 162 runs of De Villiers, South Africa batting first made 408 runs at the loss of 5 wickets, which is the second-highest total in any World Cup.

The highest total of 413 runs for 5 wickets stands in the name of India which it made against Bermuda in 2007 World Cup at Port-of-Spain, South Africa.

In return, West Indies could only manage to score 151 runs, thus losing the match by huge margin of 257 runs. This defeat of West Indies was the heaviest World Cup defeat by runs equalling India’s 257-run win over Bermuda in 2007 World Cup.

Earlier in January 2015, De Villiers had struck the fastest-ever ODI hundred in 31 balls against West Indies in Johannesburg. In the same innings, de Villiers, the South African captain also set the world record for the fastest fifty in ODIs from 16 balls.

Ericsson sued Apple for telecom patent infringement

Ericsson on 26 February 2015 sued Apple for telecom patent infringement. Ericsson filed two complaints with the International Trade Commission (ITC) and seven complaints in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against Apple.

Ericsson asserts that many aspects of Apple’s iPhones and iPads infringe upon 41 patents which are in its name.

The patents include standard essential patents related to the 2G and 4G/LTE standards as well as other patents that are critical to features and functionality of Apple devices such as the design of semiconductor components, user interface software, location services and applications, as well as the iOS operating system.

Ericsson accused Apple that they are using the technology without a license. Ericsson claimed that the technology was invented by them and therefore they are seeking help from the court and the ITC.

Apple's global license agreement for Ericsson's mobile technology expired in January 2015, and Apple has declined to take a new license offered on FRAND terms.

Bharat Puri appointed as Managing Director of Pidilite Industries Limited

Bharat Puri was on 27 February 2015 appointed as Managing Director of Pidilite Industries Limited with effect from 10 April 2015. Bharat Puri was the independent director of the company since 2008.

Puri will succeed MB Parekh who will step down from position of Managing Director on 10 April 2015. Prior to this appointment, he was the President for Global Chocolate, Gum and Candy Categories at Mondelez International Limited based in Zurich.

Bharat Puri began his career with Asian Paints in 1982. He then moved to Cadbury India in 1998 as Director of sales and marketing. In 2002, he was appointed as head of Cadbury for South Asia.

Puri is an alumnus of Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad.

Founded in 1959, Pidilite Industries Limited is the market leader in adhesives and sealants, construction chemicals, hobby colours and polymer emulsions in India.

Union Government blocked private email network for official work

Union Government blocked private email network like Yahoo and Gmail for official work. The aim of the move is to monitor staff's online activities.

In this regard, Union Government notified E-mail Policy of Government of India and Policy on use of Information Technology resources of Government of India on 18 February 2015.

As per the notification, only the e-mail services provided by National Informatics Centre (NIC) shall be used for official communication.

The notified policies stipulate measures to ensure secure and proper access to and usage of government's IT resources and prevent their misuse by official users.

Other measures spelt out in the notification are that NIC may monitor online activities on the government network, subject to SOPs as the organisation may lay down.

Further NIC has been given the power to access, review, copy or delete any kind of electronic communication such as files, e-mails and internet history, for security-related reasons under due intimation to the user.

These notified policies cover all central government employees, employees of those state governments/UTs which use email services of the Centre and those states that choose to adopt this in future.

The step was in the offing for long given the government's concern over foreign servers of Gmail and Yahoo and instances of US snooping.

A person can be accorded Scheduled Caste status on his re-conversion to Hinduism: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on 26 February 2015 held that a person can be accorded Scheduled Caste (SC) status on his re-conversion to Hinduism. The status can be accorded if the person is accepted by people of his caste and he proves that before converting either he or his forefathers previously belonged to SC caste.

The ruling was given by two-member Supreme Court bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice V Gopala Gowda on a plea of KP Manu, a Kerala resident, who had challenged the Kerala High Court verdict.

Supreme Court bench held that three things need to be established by a person who claims to be a beneficiary of the caste certificate:
• There must be absolutely clear-cut proof that he belongs to the caste that has been recognised by the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950
• There has been reconversion to the original religion to which the parents and earlier generations had belonged
• There has to be evidence establishing the acceptance by the community.

Background
Manu was born as a Christian as his grandfather had embraced the religion after leaving Hinduism. He became Hindu again at the age of 24 and was granted SC certificate of Hindu Pulaya caste to which his ancestors belonged.

However, later on a complaint, a scrutiny committee held that he cannot be treated as a Hindu on the ground that his forefathers were Christians and he himself had married a Christian woman. Kerala High Court also gave its ruling in favour of scrutiny committee and against the Petitioner.

On the basis of the report of the scrutiny committee, the Kerala government directed the employer of Manu to remove him from service and recover a sum of 15 lakh rupees towards the salary paid to him.

Words Ride-share, unboxing added to Oxford Dictionary

Words Ride-share and unboxing were added to Oxford dictionary on 27 February 2015. These words were added along with other words like bioprinting and vishing.

Ride-share has been defined as to participate in an arrangement in which a passenger travels in a private vehicle driven by its owner, for free or for a fee, especially as arranged by means of a website or app.

The word unboxing has been defined as an act or instance of removing a newly purchased product from its packaging and examining its features, typically when filmed and shared on a social media site.

Other additions included bioprinting, defined as the use of 3D printing technology with materials that incorporate viable living cells, e.g. to produce tissue for reconstructive surgery.

Oxford also added vishing, which is like phishing, but using phone calls or voice messages instead of emails to trick people in revealing sensitive information.