27-28 may

27 may

Nirbhay Sharma sworn in as Governor of Mizoram

Lt. General (Retd.) Nirbhay Sharma was sworn-in as Governor of Mizoram on 26 May 2015 at Raj Bhawan Dubar Hall.

Guwahati High Court Judge Justice T Vaiphei administered him oath of office. Sharma, the former Arunachal Pradesh Governor was transferred and appointed as the governor of Mizoram on 12 May 2015 by the President Pranab Mukherjee.

He replaced West Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi who took additional charge of Mizoram.

Earlier on 12 July 2014, the previous governor Vakkom Purushothaman resigned from the office in protest for being transferred to Nagaland and since then six governors have been appointed for Mizoram.

CS Santosh presented with 2014 FMSCI Motorsport Man of the Year Award

India’s off-road racer CS Santosh on 25 May 2015 was presented with the Motorsport Man of the Year Award at the 2014 Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) Price Distribution Ceremony held in Bangaluru, Karnataka.

He received the Raymond Gautam Singhania Rolling Trophy along with 2 lakh rupees as cash prize from Gautam Singhania, the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the Raymond Group.

Achievements of CS Santosh
• He became the first Indian to compete in Dakar Rally by participating in the world's toughest cross-country rally of 9000 km long held in South America in January 2015. In the rally he stood at the 36th position.
• He won the Desert Storm 2014 Championship of 2300 km long held in India by representing the Team Suzuki.
• He had become the first Indian to participate in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in 2013.
• He won the 14th Raid De Himalaya Trophy held in 2012 in his very first attempt, a feat that no one else has accomplished on debut. The rally considered to be one of the top 10 most difficult raids in the world and the world’s highest sports arena in the field of off-road racing.
• He won the National Supercross championship twice and National Dirt Track championship thrice.

About FMSCI
The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) is the only national motor sport federation recognised by the Government of India for the promotion and control of motor sport in the country and is affiliated to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

It was India founded in 1971 and is a long-standing member of the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) and the Federation International de l’Automobile (FIA), the world bodies for 2/3 and 4 wheeler motor sports respectively.

R Bharat Raj is the president of FMSCI.

GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) System fully operationalised

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on 25 May 2015 announced the complete operationalisation of the GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN).

The final operational phase of the system commenced on 19 May 2015 as it began broadcasting APV1 Certified signals.

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

Earlier on 30 December 2013, Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) gave its nod for GAGAN for enroute operations (RNP 0.1) and subsequently on 21 April 2015 for precision approach services (APV 1).

While the GAGAN Payload is already operational throughGSAT-8 and GSAT-10 satellites, the third payload will be carried onboardGSAT-15 satellite scheduled for launch in October 2015.

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

Abraj Kudai, world’s biggest hotel, set to open in Mecca in 2017

Abraj Kudai: The world’s biggest hotel project which is under construction in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

The term Abraj Kudai was in news in the last week of May 2015 as it was described as the world’s biggest hotel. It is set to open in 2017.

Features of Abraj Kudai
• Once completed, it will be the world’s largest hotel featuring 10000 bedrooms. At present, the Venetian Macao situated in Macau, China is the world’s largest hotel having 3000 rooms.
• It is located 2.2 km south of the Holy Haram (Grand Mosque) at the Manafia area in Makkah's central zone in Saudi Arabia.

• It has a total site area of approximately 60000 square meter and total built-up area of around 1.4 million square metre.
• It consists of a large podium topped by 12 towers accommodating several elements such as a podium housing a bus station, a shopping mall, 70 restaurants and food courts, a convention center and four helipads.
• The 45 stories tall, the desert fortress-style hotel is being built at a cost of 3.6 billion US dollars.
• The project is funded by the Saudi Ministry of Finance and designed by the Dar al-Handasah group.

Director-Producer Marty Pasetta passed away

Academy Awards telecast director Marty Pasetta passed away on 21 May 2015 following injuries sustained in a car accident in La Quinta, United States. He was 82. Pasetta is survived by his wife Elise, daughter Debbie, son Gregory and five grandchildren.

Pasetta was famously known as a veteran director of live TV extravaganzas including 17 Academy Awards shows. During four decades in television, Pasetta directed and produced specials for Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby and oversaw tributes to Elizabeth Taylor, Fred Astaire and Alfred Hitchcock.

He was credited with convincing Elvis Presley to suspend his drug use and lose weight for the 1973 special Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii, which has been described as the first satellite broadcast of a live concert.

Pasetta was born on 16 June 1932 in San Jose. He attended Santa Clara University, but dropped out to work at San Francisco's KGO-TV, where he became stage manager and producer.

Two Indians posthumously named for UN’s Dag Hammarskjold Medal

Two Indians Lance Naik Nand Ram and Raju Joseph on 23 May 2015 were posthumously named for prestigious United Nations (UN) Dag Hammarskjold Medal.

Lance Naik Nand Ram served the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) and Raju Joseph served in a civilian capacity with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

They will be awarded on the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers observed annually on 29 May 2015.

The 126 military, police and civilian personnel lost their lives in 2014 while serving with the UN as a result of hostile acts, accidents and disease and will receive the medal during a ceremony at UN headquarters in New York.

In 2014, eight Indian soldiers were posthumously awarded the medal, named after Dag Hammarskjold, the second UN Secretary-General.

The Dag Hammarskjold Medal was established in December 2000 and is awarded posthumously to members of peacekeeping operations who lost their lives during service with a peacekeeping operation under the operational control and authority of the United Nations.

Hammarskjold, a Swedish diplomat and second Secretary General of the UN died in a mysterious plane crash in 1961. He was posthumously awarded a Nobel Peace Prize the year he died.

India’s contribution to UN Peacekeeping Mission

India is among the largest contributors of military and police personnel to UN peacekeeping. It currently deploys 8112 military and police personnel to the UN peacekeeping operations in Cote d'Ivoire, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Lebanon, Liberia, the Middle East, Sudan, South Sudan and Western Sahara.

So far, India has contributed nearly 180000 troops to UN peacekeeping missions, including the 103-strong Indian female police unit in the UN mission in Liberia.

International Day of UN Peacekeepers

The International Day of UN Peacekeepers was established by the General Assembly in 2002, as a tribute to all men and women serving in peacekeeping operations for their high level of professionalism, dedication and courage, and to honour the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace.

United Nations Organisation (UNO) was formed in 1945. In 2015, UNO will mark 70th anniversary. The theme for the day in 2015 is UN at 70: Peacekeeping: Past, Present, and Future.

India and Vietnam signed Joint Vision Statement on Defence Cooperation 2015-2020

India and Vietnam on 25 May 2015 signed a Joint Vision Statement on Defence Cooperation for the period 2015-2020 in New Delhi.

It was signed by the Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and the Vietnamese Minister for National Defence General Phung Quang Thanh.

The statement is an outcome of delegation level talks held in New Delhi to discuss cooperation on maritime security.

Besides the Joint statement, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation between the Coast Guards of the two countries was also signed in the presence of the two Defence Ministers.

Earlier, in October 2014, India announced 100 million US dollar line of credit to Vietnam during the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung visit to the country to enable Vietnam acquire new naval vessels from India.

The above initiatives of the Union Government are part of its Act East policy, aimed at deepening its strategic and economic relations with Asian countries and curtailing growing China’s influence in the region.

Union Ministry of Finance constituted Committee on Revisiting & Revitalizing PPP Model

Union Ministry of Finance on 26 May 2015 constituted a Committee on Revisiting and Revitalizing the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model of Infrastructure Development under the Chairmanship of Vijay Kelkar.

Vijay Kelkar is a former Finance Secretary and Chairman, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), New Delhi.

The decision is in tune with the announcement made on 28 February 2015 by the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while presenting the 2015-16 budget.

The Terms of Reference of the Committee
• Review of the experience of PPP Policy, including the variations in contents of contracts and difficulties experienced with particular variations or conditions, if any.
• Analysis of risks involved in PPP projects in different sectors and existing framework of sharing of such risks between the project developer and the Government, thereby suggesting optimal risk sharing mechanism.
• Propose design modifications to the contractual arrangements of the PPP based on the above and international best practices and our institutional context.
• Measure to improve capacity building in Government for effective implementation of the PPP projects.

Members of the Committee
C S Rajan, Chief Secretary, Government of Rajasthan
S B Nayar, CMD, IIFCL, New Delhi
Dr. Shekhar Shah, Director General, NCAER
Pradeep Kumar, MD, CBG, State Bank of India
Vikram Limaye, MD, IDFC
Sudipto Sarkar, Barrister-at-law, Kolkata
P S Behuria, IRS (Retd)
Representative of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways – not below the rank of Joint Secretary
Sharmila Chavaly, Joint Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs will be the Member Secretary of the committee.

The committee is mandated to submit the report by 26 June 2015.

Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) will provide secretarial assistance to the Committee.

Forbes released the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women 2015 list

Forbes on 26 May 2015 released the list of World’s 100 Most Powerful Women of 2015 showing women who impacted businesses, media, philanthropy, politics and more.

All 100 women have the power to shape the world, but 18 stand out this year as entrepreneurs, the women who built their status from scratch.

This is Forbes’ definitive annual audit of the foremost heads of state, iconic entrepreneurs, CEOs, celebrity role models, billionaire activists, and pioneer philanthropists. All are ranked by money, media momentum, spheres of influence and impact.

Highlights of the List
• The world’s most powerful woman in the list is German Chancellor Angela Merkel who fetched the first spot.
• Hillary Clinton ranked at 2nd position, she has been appearing on this FORBES ranking every year as a senator, secretary of state and influential personality.
• The most powerful women in politics, philanthropy, business and tech are Angela Merkel, Melinda Gates, Barra and Sandberg.
• The top ranking billionaire in the list is Oprah Winfrey who stood at 12th spot, having personal net worth of 3 billion US dollars.
• Ana Patricia Botin, the newly installed chairman of Banco Santander, is the top woman in finance at 18th position.
• Beyonce Knowles leads the entertainment field at 21st position while Anna Wintour, Conde Nast artistic director, leads the media sector by fetching 28th slot.
• There are 19 newcomers in the list in 2015 including Beth Comstock, CEO of GE Business Innovations and Elizabeth Holmes, founder of blood testing company Theranos, Google CFO Ruth Porat, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, power pop star Taylor Swift and top venture capitalist Jenny Lee.
• Seven women who appeared on the inaugural list in 2004 are still in the list today including Melinda Gates, Christine Lagarde, Hillary Clinton, Indra Nooyi, Oprah, Queen Elizabeth II and Ho Ching.
• Technology takes a fourth place as a category on the Power Women list, seven tech women made the top 25 this year including Sandberg, YouTube’s CEO Susan Wojcicki, IBM’s Ginni Rometty, HP’s Meg Whitman and Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer.
• More than half of the women on the list are American, including immigrants such as von Furstenberg (Belgium), Ambassador Samantha Power (Ireland), Weili Dai (China), Donna Langley (UK), and Padmasree Warrior (India).
• 19 women are off the list from last year, among them are Margaret Hamburg, Amy Pascal, Gracas Silva Foster, Gail Kelly, Helene Gayle, Patricia Woertz and Joyce Banda.

Top 10 powerful women in the List

Rank	Name
1	Angela Merkel
2	Hillary Clinton
3	Melinda Gates
4	Janet Yellen
5	Mary Barra
6	Christine Lagarde
7	Dilma Rousseff
8	Sheryl Sandberg
9	Susan Wojcicki
10	Michelle Obama

Indian Women in the list
Four Indians have been named in Forbes list including Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson of State Bank of India (SBI), who stood at 30th position.

Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO of ICICI Bank, was placed at 35th position; Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD of Biocon Limited, was placed at 85th position and Shobhana Bhartia, Editorial Director of the Hindustan Times Group, was placed at 93rd position.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Doordarshan's farmer-centric Kisan TV Channel

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 26 May 2015 launched Doordarshan’s farmer-centric channel named DD Kisan from Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. The 24-hour channel will air information on farmer-related issues.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has included DD Kisan channel under the genre Infotainment (Hindi). With this, DD Kisan has become a must carry channel making it mandatory for every cable and Direct to Home (DTH) operators to provide DD Kisan to their subscribers.

The channel programmes would be primarily for agriculture sector and rural India and would help in revitalizing agriculture sector which in turn would aid the development of rural India.

48 tigers in non-protected Chandrapur forest areas of Maharashtra: WCT Survey

The tiger estimation study in non-protected areas of Maharashtra conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) on 26 May 2015 claimed that as many as 48 tigers have inhabited outside the protected areas in forests of Chandrapur district.

The survey claims that total number of such animals has now increased to 120 in the zone which is home to Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR). As per the survey, the number of big cats in the district stands at 120, including 60 in core area and 12 in buffer area of TATR.

The study was carried out in the territorial forests and areas under Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) over last four months. The study was first of its kind in the country, which was carried out across 2000 square kilometers of territorial area outside the protected area. The survey was sponsored by Chandrapur Forest department.

Besides, WCT President, Anish Andhariya informed that tiger density in some blocks in these areas was found to be higher than that of some tiger reserves, like tiger density in Kanhalgaon-Central Chanda Block was found to be 2.34, which is more than that of Melghat Tiger Reserve in the state, in Junona-Central Chanda block was found to be 1.77, which is higher than that of Sahyadri Tiger Reserve.

How tiger’s movement was monitored?
Movement of tigers in Greater Tadoba Landscape (non PA areas outside TATR) was identified by DNA identification through scat collection. In the process, the 2000 square kilometer area outside protected area was divided into six blocks in accordance to occupancy of tigers and other large carnivores.

The team used Phase-IV camera trap (capture-recapture) technique to ascertain the exact number of tigers and leopards in these blocks. As per the guidelines for Phase-IV tiger estimation, the entire area was covered by a network of 600 camera traps for 25 days.

High Court allowed Greenpeace India to operate two of its domestic accounts

The Delhi High Court on 26 May 2015 allowed Greenpeace India to operate two of its domestic accounts and access its fixed deposits. The high court bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher also allowed Greenpeace to encash its fixed deposits and utilise the funds for running the organisation.

The court said it was giving the interim relief to the Non Government Organisation (NGO) so that it can continue to work at the moment. The court clarified that the NGO cannot utilise the amount frozen by the government.

The court was hearing a plea of Greenpeace India to de-freeze its international and national bank accounts.

In April 2015, the accounts were blocked following a directive from Union Home Ministry. However, the Union Government reiterated that Greenpeace India violated the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act by merging its foreign donations with domestic ones.

Greenpeace India had filed a plea in court against the cancellation of its registration, saying that it was facing an imminent shut-down and it had barely a month to survive with the government recently freezing its accounts, over allegations of foreign funding that were specifically meant to target India’s economic and development interests.

The organisation has also faced a host of other penalties for which they have approached the court in the past.

The government had suspended Greenpeace India’s license for six months, which had barred it from receiving foreign funds. It had also issued a show cause notice to them asking why it should not be shut down permanently.

Trevor Bayliss appointed as head coach of England Cricket Team

Trevor Bayliss was appointed as the head coach of England cricket team on 26 May 2015. With this appointment, 52-year-old Bayliss became the first Australian to coach England.

The New South Wales coach succeeded Peter Moores and will take up the new job in June 2015. Moores second spell ended in first week of May 2015 after he was sacked.

Bayliss has led Sri Lankan team from 2007 to 2011 and later in 2014 took temporary charge of Australia for their Twenty20 series in South Africa. He has coached Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Sydney Sixers in Australia's Big Bash League.

Before becoming a coach, he played for New South Wales between 1985 and 1997.

Himachal Pradesh set up satellite tracking system to check forest fire

State forest department of Himachal Pradesh has set up the satellite tracking system to check the forest fire incidents during summer season. The system was launched with an aim to preserve the precious forest fire incidents during summer season.

In case of any fire incident, the forest officials will immediately receive SMS on their mobiles.

Apart from this, the department also launched an awareness campaign across the state to protect forests from fire in which local people will be involved to detect the fire incidents.

Forest cover of the Himachal Pradesh is one of the biggest wealth and identification of the hill state which faces forest fire as one of the biggest challenge and threat during the summer season. This satellite tracking system may help the state to keep on a vigil on the fire incidents in its forests.

Besides, 700 participatory committees had been constituted, more than 90 water tanks constructed and nearly 100 watch towers had been erected so that the people could easily detect fire incidents.

NRI scientist Latha Venkataraman created first single-molecule device

NRI scientist Latha Venkataraman on 25 May 2015 created first single-molecule device. The electronic device has a potential of real-world technological applications for nanoscale devices. The report was published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

Under the direction of Venkataraman, researchers created a single-molecule diode which performs 50 times better than all prior designs.

A team of Columbia Engineering researchers has constructed a device where the active element is only a single molecule, has long been a tantalising dream in nanoscience.

With electronic devices becoming smaller every day, the field of molecular electronics has become more critical in solving the problem of further miniaturisation. Single molecule represents the limit of miniaturisation.

The idea of creating a single-molecule diode was suggested by Arieh Aviram and Mark Ratner who theorised in 1974 that a molecule could act as a rectifier, a one-way conductor of electric current.

The researchers are now working on understanding the fundamental physics behind their discovery and trying to increase the rectification ratios they observed, using new molecular systems.

Manabi Bandopadhyay became first transgender principal of Krishnagar Women's College

Manabi Bandopadhyay on 26 May 2015 became the first transgender principal of Krishnagar Women's College in Nadia district, West Bengal. She will join her new job from 9 June 2015. Currently, she is working as an associate professor in Bengali at the Vivekananda Satobarshiki Mahavidyalaya.

She did her Master of Arts (MA) in Bengali and joined the Vivekananda Centenary College in Jhargram sub-division as a lecturer in the late 1990s.

In 1995, she published the country’s first transgender magazine, Ob-Manab (sub-human). The magazine, despite a very low circulation, continues to be published.

In April 2015, Supreme Court (SC) declared the transgender community as a legal third gender, granting them minority rights and privileges to education, employment and health benefits.

The court directed the government to provide transgender people with quotas in jobs and education in line with other minorities. India is estimated to have about two million transgender people.

NATO launched Arctic Challenge Exercise in the north of Norway, Sweden and Finland

NATO on 26 May 2015 launched the Arctic Challenge Exercise based in the north of Norway, Sweden and Finland. The exercise involves 115 fighter planes and 3600 troops from nine countries.

The participant countries include all NATO members like the US, Britain, Germany, France and the Netherlands as well as neutral Switzerland.

This exercise is the second of its kind, first similar tests was conducted in 2013.

Apart from this, Russia also on 26 May 2015 begun a four-day-long massive military exercise and described it as a massive surprise inspection, to check combat readiness. The exercise involves 12000 soldiers and around 250 aircraft, including long-range bombers carrying cruise missiles.

This Russian military exercise has coincided with an Arctic training exercise by NATO and has raised debate.

Russian military exercise on the same day when NATO military alliance launched their training exercise may raise tensions with West over Russia’s role in conflict in Ukraine.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in fourth week of May 2015 said that the large number of snap exercises conducted by Russia decreases transparency and practicability. But Russia has defended the exercise by terming that these drills are part of preparation for a larger exercise known as Center-2015, which will be held later in 2015.

28 may

US state of Nebraska abolished death penalty

The US state of Nebraska on 27 May 2015 abolished death penalty after a veto override was passed through the its legislature. This measure was backed by a coalition of conservatives who oppose execution as a form of punishment.

In the unicameral legislature the proposal to abolish death penalty was passed 30 to 19, which is the exact number of votes needed to override Governor Pete Ricketts earlier veto.

With this ban of the capital punishment, Nebraska has joined the league of 18 other states and the federal district of Washington, DC. It also became the first traditionally conservative state in four decades to do so.

Union Sports Ministry gave nod for creation of RSFs by recognising federations of indigenous sports

The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on 27 May 2015 gave its nod for recognising certain sports federations representing indigenous sports disciplines as Regional Sports Federations (RSFs).

The decision is aimed at promoting sports having only regional spread.

The recognition will be granted by the competent authority subject to the following conditions:
• The sports disciplines must be popular in a region or a state and played in one or more states.
• The sports should have been played in the region for at least last 10 years.
• The sports federations seeking RSF status should have conducted championships in all the categories namely Senior, Junior and Sub-Junior.
• In case there is an international body for a sport discipline, the recognition of the said body would be necessary.

In case there are several bodies in the international level for the same sports, and if, more than one sports federation applies for recognition, the ministry shall take a decision in the matter and the reasons for that will be recorded in writing.
• One of the conditions for recognition as National Sports Federations (NSFs) that is the federation should have affiliated units in two thirds of States/Union Territories (UTs) will not be applicable for grant of recognition as RSFs.
• There shall be only one RSF for each sport.
• Federations of only indigenous sports will be considered for recognition as RSFs and for remaining sports disciplines, the present guidelines for grant of recognition to NSFs will continue.

Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs notified the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2014

The Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs on 27 May 2015 notified the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2014 in the Official Gazette.

The act received the assent of the President of India in early May 2015.

Sixteen amendments pertaining to winding up of companies, board resolutions, bail provisions and utilisation of unclaimed dividends have been incorporated into the Act by amending the Companies Act, 2013.

Some of the important provisions of the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2014 are
• It seeks to simplifying bail provisions. For instance, except in various issues of serious frauds, normal Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) provisions would apply.
• To maintain the confidentiality of the board resolutions, the relevant amendment now prohibits public inspection of board resolutions filed in the registry.
• The paid-up capital criteria have been scrapped while threshold limits for various transactions for getting shareholders’ nod has now been stipulated.
• Specific punishment for deposits accepted, a condition that was left out in the Companies Act, 2013 inadvertently.
• Corporate are exempted from the need to get shareholders’ nod in the case of related party transactions valued lower than 100 crore rupees or 10 percent of net worth. Earlier corporate were required to get shareholders’ permission for party transactions valued more than 10 crore rupees.
• Transactions between holding companies and wholly owned subsidiaries are exempted from the requirement of approval of non-related shareholders.

Ajanmi Beti Ke liye Daud organised for the cause of saving girl child in Himachal Pradesh

Forum for Human Rights and Justice (FHRJ) on 27 May 2015 organised a Marathon named as Ajanmi Beti Ke liye Daud (Protecting the Unborn Girl) in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. The objective of this Marathon is to save girl child and arrest the declining sex ratio in the hill state.

Himachal is one among the ten worst states wherein sex ratio is worst. It has a child sex ratio of 906 against 1000 females.

The districts of Himachal with worst sex ratio are Una (875), Kangra (876), Hamirpur (887), Solan (899) and Bilaspur (900).

Districts with sex ration above 900 are Mandi (916), Shimla (925), Sirmaur (928), Chamba 953, Kullu have 962, Kinnuar have 963. Only Lahaul Spiti has a higher sex ratio of 1033.

Through the run, FHRJ tried to make people aware and mobilize them to join hands for a new beginning.

Tripura withdrew AFSPA from state

State government of Tripura on 27 May 2015 decided to withdraw the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958 from the remaining areas of the state with immediate effect.

The decision to withdraw the Act was taken during a cabinet meet held in Agartala after the Tripura police in its latest half-yearly review found no need to extend the Act further. The cabinet meet was chaired by Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.

The state government will forward the decision to the Union Home Ministry for formal withdrawal of the Central Act.

The Act was enforced in the state by the Union Government on 16 February 1997 in 40 police station areas of the state, dominated by the tribal due to relentless violence and bloodshed. Since then, the Act was reviewed and extended in every six months.

Earlier in June 2013, the Act was withdrawn from nine police stations, following decline in the incidents in insurgency.

As a result, the number of police stations under the Act was reduced to 25 from existing 34 and the number of police stations under partial imposition of the Act was increased from six to seven.

The Opposition Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) has been demanding repeal of the Act from the entire state and alleged that the Act was working as a tool of harassment to the people living in remote areas of the State.

Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA)
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958 was passed on 11 September 1958. The law grants special powers to the Indian Armed Forces in disturbed areas across the country.

Disturbed area means an area which is for the time being declared by notification under section 3 to be a disturbed area.

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair resigned as Special Envoy of the Middle East Quartet

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair on 27 May 2015 resigned as the Special Envoy of the Middle East Quartet.

He sent his resignation to the United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and is expected to officially step down in June 2015.

Tony Blair was appointed to the position by the Diplomatic Quartet on 27 June 2007, the same day he resigned as the Prime Minister of the UK after serving for ten years.

About The Middle East Quartet
It is a group of four members’ viz., the United Nations (UN), the United States, the European Union (EU), and Russia involved in mediating the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It was established in Madrid, Spain in 2002.

RBI notified FIIs to invest up to 49 percent in Gammon Infrastructure Projects Limited

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 27 May 2015 notified that the Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) or the Registered Foreign Portfolios Investors (RFPIs) can now invest up to 49 percent of the paid up capital in the Gammon Infrastructure Projects Limited under the Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS).

RBI stated that the company agreed for enhancing the limit for the purchase of its equity shares and convertible debentures by FIIs/RFPIs by passing resolutions at its Board of Directors’ level and a special resolution by the shareholders.

The purchases can be made through primary market and through stock exchange. However, the purchases will be subjected to Regulation 5(2) of FEMA Notification dated 3 May 2000 and other terms and conditions stipulated by the Reserve Bank.

The Reserve Bank notified this change under FEMA Act, 1999.

UNSC adopted resolution on protection of journalists in conflict zones

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on 27 May 2015 unanimously adopted a resolution 2222 (2015) on the protection of journalists in conflict zones. The resolution was adopted following number of deaths and kidnappings of media professionals which has continued to climb.

The resolution was adopted during a meet that was heard by nearly 70 speakers under the agenda item Protection of civilians in armed conflict. The meet was chaired by Lithuania’s Foreign Minister.

The Security Council resolution also condemned such attacks on journalists and warned parties to conflicts, including governments and armed groups, that they should take all reasonable steps to protect journalists. The resolution urged Member States to take active steps to ensure accountability.

Besides, Christophe Deloire, Director-General of Reporters Without Borders called on to appoint a special representative on the protection of journalists to ensure that Member States abided by their commitments under the text and under previous resolution 1738 (2006).

According to a concept note prepared by the Lithuanian presidency for the meeting, 61 journalists were killed in 2014 and 221 were imprisoned. 25 have died since January 2015. In last decade, 700 media workers were killed in the field or because of their profession.

Shantanu Khosla resigned as Managing Director of Procter and Gamble India

Shantanu Khosla on 27 may 2015 resigned as the Managing Director (MD) of Procter and Gamble (P&G), India. He will leave the office on 30 June 2015. Khosla joined the firm in 1983, when P&G, the world’s largest consumer company acquired Richardson Hindustan Ltd that is known for its Vicks brand.

In his place, Procter & Gamble India (P&G) appointed Al Rajwani as the new Managing Director & CEO. Rajwani will assume responsibilities for P&G India from 1 July 2015. Rajwani has more than 34 years experience working for P&G in countries including US, Canada, China, Korea and Arabian Peninsula.

P&G has one wholly-owned company in India named Procter & Gamble Home Products Ltd (PGHP), which sells detergents (Ariel and Tide) and shampoos (Head & Shoulders and Pantene).

P&G also has two listed companies in India including Gillette India Ltd, which sells razors such as Mach 3 and Gillette, and Procter and Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd (PGHH) that sells feminine hygiene products such as Whisper.