29-31 may

29 may

S Christopher appointed as Director General of DRDO

Eminent scientist Dr. S Christopher was appointed as the Director General (DG) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on 28 May 2015. He will have tenure of two years from the date of taking over the charge.

His appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC).

At the time of appointment, Christopher was Distinguished Scientist and Programme Director (airborne early warning and control system) and Director, Centre for Air-Borne Systems in the DRDO.

Till appointment of Christopher, the Department of Defence Research and Development (DoDRD) was under the additional charge of Defence Secretary since 30 January 2015, after Avinash Chander's contract was curtailed by the union government.

Chander’s contract as Secretary of Department of Defence Research and Development (DoDRD) and Director General DRDO from that of Scientific Advisor was terminated by the Union Government with effect from 31 January 2015.

Besides, the ACC also appointed Dr. GS Reddy as Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar for a two-year term. He is Distinguished Scientist and Director, Research Centre Imarat, and Programme Director of Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) in the DRDO.

Eminent American Photographer Mary Ellen Mark passed away

Celebrated American Photographer Mary Ellen Mark on 25 May 2015 died at Manhattan in New York, USA. She was 75.

She was regarded as one of the best documentary photographers of her generation.

She took a classic documentary approachto often difficult material and usually worked in black and white.

Her works were exhibited at galleries and museums worldwide and had been widely published in LIFE, the New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair.

She wrote 18 books and was working on her 19th for Aperture Foundation.

Her most notable worksinclude Streetwise, which depicted sordid state of teenagers in Seattle, and Ward 81, which focused on patients of the secluded wards in the Oregon State Mental Hospital. She was also famous for documenting the lives of sex workers in Mumbai.

She was a member of Magnum Photos between 1977 and 1981.

She received numerous accolades, including three Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards, three fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the 2014 Lifetime Achievement in Photography Award from the George Eastman House and the Outstanding Contribution Photography Award from the World Photography Organisation.

Microsoft announced to open India's first Digital Experience Centre in Gujarat

Microsoft on 27 May 2015 announced to open the India’s first Digital Experience Centre in Vadodara, Gujarat. Microsoft will open the centre in collaboration with the Vadodara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

The centre aims to bring to life these experiences for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), entrepreneurs and educational institutions and help them leverage contemporary cloud technology to drive business growth as well as enhance skills and promote learning.

In addition to SMEs, Microsoft and VCCI will also help educational institutions to adopt technology that will prepare future generations for the mobile-first, cloud-first world.

As a part of this initiative, Microsoft's latest innovative cloud-computing based offering Edu-Cloud will help education institutions enhance digital learning and teaching by providing them with access to digital content and free access to Office 365 on Windows-powered tablets.

The centre will help businesses, institutions, partners and individuals gain a first-hand experience of modern technologies on devices running Microsoft software, including Windows apps and Office 365.

Yogathon to be hosted in 100 US cities on First International Yoga Day

Yogathon: to be organised in 100 cities of US to promote awareness about Yoga
Yogathon is an event that will be celebrated in more than 100 US cities on 21 June 2015, the first International Yoga Day. It is a type of campaign to spread the awareness about Yoga.

The event is being organised by about 50 major spiritual and Yoga organisations like Art of Living, Overseas Volunteer for a Better India (OVBI) and others.

The United Nations (UN) on 11 December 2014 declared 21 June as the World Yoga Day following a proposal of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He made a proposal and urged the world community to celebrate Indian Yoga at the international level during his visit to the United Nations in September 2014.

Seven FIFA Officials arrested on bribery charges in Zurich by Switzerland authorities

Seven FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) officials were arrested on 27 May 2015 by Switzerland authorities in Zurich, Switzerland.

The arrested officials include Jeffrey Webb, FIFA vice-president and all the officials are awaiting extradition to USA.

They were arrested for allegedly accepting 150 million US dollars in bribes from USA based sports marketing agencies over a 24-year period starting from 1991.

The arrests were made by the Swiss authorities in cooperation with the US officials.

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) indicted 14 people including nine FIFA officials and five sports media and promotion executives in the Sports Marketing Bribery Scheme in which the officials accepted bribes and kickbacks in return for awarding lucrative media and marketing rights to international soccer tournaments including FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

NCDEX launched Gold Now platform for forward contracts in gold

The National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) on 27 May 2015 launched Gold Now platform to undertake forward trading in gold.

Features of Gold Now

• It is an India-centric gold forward contracts platform and involves selling and buying of locally-refined gold.
• The maximum duration of the contract is for 60 calendar days and delivery is compulsory.
• Delivery unit of the contract is 100 grams and 1 kilogram.
• The contract will have six delivery centres viz., Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Cochin and Chennai.
• The NCDEX have tied up with four gold refiners’ viz., MMTC-PAMP, Kundan Group, Shirpur Gold Refinery and Edelweiss for the delivery of the contracts.
• The NCDEX is also planning to set up purity verification centres in partnership with the NCDEX approved refineries.

Importance of Gold Now

Approximately 20000 metric tonnes of gold is estimated to be lying with Indian households, temples and trusts. If mobilized effectively, this could create a domestic supply of gold, while reducing dependence on imports.
The Gold Now platform is intended to complement the Gold Monetization Scheme (GMS) as proposed by the Union Finance Ministry in the draft outline released on 19 May 2015.
Under the scheme banks were allowed to mobilize unutilized gold from customers and buy and sell them on domestic exchanges.

What is a forward contract?

A forward contract is a contract between two parties to buy or sell an asset or commodity at a specified future time at a price agreed upon on the day of the contract. This is in contrast to a spot contract wherein, buying or selling takes place on the spot date, which is normally two business days after the day of the contract.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of USA granted work Permit for H-4 visa holders

A new rule proposed by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) allowing H-4 visa holders to work in the country came into force on 26 May 2015.

However, the extension of work authorization to H-4 visa holders would only apply if their spouses (H-1B visa holders) had applied for green-card, an authorization for permanent residence in the country.

This rule will encourage H-1B skilled workers to not to abandon their adjustment application with the department because their H-4 spouse is unable to work and also benefit the economy as in most of the cases they are eligible for doing highly skilled jobs.

The decision is expected to benefit over 179600 H-4 visa holders with particular salience to visa holders of Indian citizenship and employed in the IT sector.

India is receiving the largest proportion of H-1B visas from the U.S. every year having received 99705 H-1B visas of a total of 153223 issued globally, slightly over 65 per cent.

While the H-1B is a non-immigrant visa which allows the employers in the USA to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations, the H-4 visa issued to immediate family members (spouse and children under 21 years of age) of the H-1B visa holders.

Abhinav Bindra became 4th Indian shooter to qualify for 2016 Rio Olympics

India's only individual Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra on 28 May 2015 won a berth for 2016 Rio Olympic in men’s air rifle event.

With this, he became the fourth Indian shooter to win a quota place for the Rio Olympics and this will be his fifth consecutive appearance in the Olympics.

Other three shooters who have secured a quota for Rio Olympics are Gagan Narang, Jitu Rai and Apurvi Chandela.

Bindra succeeded in getting the Olympic berth after he was placed at the sixth place in the Men's 10 metre Air Rifle final at the ISSF Shooting World Cup in Munich. The former World and Olympic champion shot a score of 122.4 and aggregated a total of 627.5 in the final to qualify for Rio Olympics.

The event was participated by 136 shooters from 58 countries in the shooting World Cup in Munich.

Each country can win a maximum of 30 quota places from a total of 15 shooting disciplines (including shotgun events), two each from each discipline.

Sevilla FC won Europa League title

Sevilla Football Club (FC) on 27 May 2015 won Europa League title. In the final clash at National Stadium Warsaw, Poland, Sevilla defeated Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk football club, 3-2.

It was second consecutive Europa Cup win for Sevilla.

With this, Sevilla, the Spain’s oldest club solely devoted to football practice, became the first side to win the Europa League four times. Last time, it captured the trophy in 2006, 2007 and 2014.

For the first time, this Europa League winner will straight go to the subsequent Champions League.

Yaduveer of Wodeyar dynasty crowned as 27th Maharaja of Mysuru

Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja of Wodeyar dynasty on 28 May 2015 was crowned as the 27th Maharaja of erstwhile kingdom of Mysuru.

The 22-year-old adopted heir to the Wodeyar dynasty was coronated at a grand ceremony that took place in the hallowed precincts of Durbar Hall at the Amba Vilas Palace in Mysuru, also known as the city of palaces.

The grand ceremony was attended by around 1000 special invitees and pontiffs from the region including former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda and state ministers KJ George, RV Deshpande, DK Shivakumar, Srinivasa Prasad and Roshan Baig and Lokayukta Y Bhaskar Rao.

The last coronation took place 41 years ago when Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar was crowned at the age of 21.

Srikantadatta Wodeyar, the only son of Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar, the last ruling Maharaja of Mysuru, and his second wife Maharani Tripura Sundari Ammani Avaru, succeeded his father as the head of his dynasty in September 1974. He died of cardiac arrest in Bengaluru on 10 December 2013.

Wodeyar Dynasty

The Wodeyar dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Mysuru from 1399 to 1947, the last king being Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar, who ruled from 1940 until Indian independence in 1947 when he acceded his kingdom to the dominion of India, but continued as the Maharaja until India became a Republic in 1950.

Maharashtra CM sets up a high powered task force to develop IFSC

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on 29 May 2015 set up a high powered task force in order to make Mumbai a credible competitor among other International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs).

The Task Force would be co-chaired by Deutsche Bank Co-operative Chief Executive Officer (CO-CEO) Anshu Jain and SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya. They will devise the roadmap for development of IFSC.

Further, during the high-level meeting convened by Fadnavis on the IFSC plan it was mooted to set up an arbitration centre for dispute resolution on the lines of London as a basic requirement.

India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) became operational on 11 April 2015 at GIFT City in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Mahindra World City entered Joint Venture with Sumitomo to set up industrial park in Chennai

Mahindra World City Developers Ltd (MWCDL), a subsidiary of Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd (MLDL) of the Mahindra Group and Sumitomo Corporation of Japan have entered into an agreement to form a joint venture to set up an industrial park in North Chennai (the NH5 corridor).

The decision was announced on 28 May 2015 by the two companies in Mumbai.

Key Features of the Industrial Park

• The joint venture company called as Mahindra Industrial Park Chennai Ltd will have 60 per cent equity participation from Mahindra World City and the balance 40 per cent from Sumitomo.
• Around 375 crore rupees will be invested including cost of land and infrastructure.
• In the first phase, the industrial park will come up on a 300 acre land in North Chennai, identified among India’s 100 smart city projects.
• The focus sectors include automotive and auto ancillary, engineering, food processing, electronics and hardware and logistics.

The industrial park is targeted at Japanese companies which would be interested to set up base in India under the Union Government’s Make in India initiative. Already over 500 Japanese companies are operating from industrial zones in Tamil Nadu.

Besides Japanese companies, the joint venture partners are also targeting companies from China, Taiwan, Korea, the U.S. and Germany

RBI proposed to introduce PPI for Mass Transit Systems

The Reserve Bank of India on 28 May 2015 proposed to introduce Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) for Mass Transit System (PPI-MTS).

These PPI-MTS will be semi-closed instruments that will be used facilitate the migration to electronic payments in line with the country’s vision of moving to a less-cash society.

Further, it can also be used within the mass transit systems and will have a minimum validity of six months from date of issue. Such PPIs will be reloadable instruments subjected to an outstanding limit of 2000 rupees at any point of time.

Main features of Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs)
• The semi-closed PPIs will be issued by the mass transit system operator (PPI- MTS) who will be authorised under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.
• The PPI- MTS will necessarily contain the Automated Fare Collection application related to the transit service.
• Such PPI-MTS can be used by other merchants whose activities are allied to or are carried on within the premises of the transit system only.
• The PPI- MTS issuer will ensure on-boarding of merchants following due procedure applicable to any other PPI issuer.
• The PPI-MTS will have minimum validity of six months from the date of issue.
• The issuer may decide upon the desired level of Know Your Customer (KYC), if any, for such PPIs.
• No cash-out or refund will be permitted from these PPIs.
• Funds transfer under Domestic Money Transfer (DMT) will also not be applicable to these PPIs.

The RBI proposed to introduce PPIs after it received requests from various segments, including providers of mass transit services and road transport services, indicating the need for PPIs catering to the requirements of this segment to enhance commuter convenience.

Indian-origin teacher Gurnimrat Nimmy Sidhu named for Oxford University award

An Indian-origin teacher Gurnimrat Nimmy Sidhu on 27 May 2015 named for University of Oxford Inspirational Teacher Award.

The award was given to her for helping one of her students get into the world-famous varsity. She had received her trophy in Oxford alongside 11 others, also nominated by their students for their role in getting them admission into one of the world's most prestigious universities.

She is among 12 teachers to win the University of Oxford Inspirational Teacher Award. Currently, she is working as the head of science at Oaks Park High School in north-east London.

The award was set up to encourage more state-funded schools to connect with the university. The scheme was set up by the university to counter criticism of elitism with largely wealthy and privately educated students being able to gain admission.

Zoomcar co-founder David Back resigned

Zoomcar co-founder David Back on 28 May 2015 resigned from his post. He will continue to hold his stake and board position in US-based Zoomcar Inc, the parent of Zoomcar India.

Back used to head the company’s marketing and business development division.

About Zoomcar
• Bengaluru-based ZoomCar India Pvt. Ltd is a self-drive car rental company. The company was founded by Greg Moran and David Back in 2012. Since then, it has raised 12.5 million US dollars.
• Zoomcar operates a fleet of 1200 self-drive rental cars. It plans to expand to 10 more cities and almost triple its fleet to 3500 cars by December 2015.
• ZoomCar first started its services in Bengaluru. Currently, it has presence in Bengaluru, Pune and the national capital region of Delhi.

Five women suspended for anti-doping rule violations named for TOP Scheme

Target Olympic Podium (TOP) scheme: 39 athletes added to the list

The abbreviation TOP (Target Olympic Podium) Scheme formulated by Union Government under the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) was in news on 28 May 2015.

It was in news because Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports added names of five women for TOP Scheme who were suspended for anti-doping rule violations between mid-2011 and mid-2013.

These five women were named among the 39 athletes who were added to the list.

All these women, namely Priyanka Panwar, Ashwini Akkunji, Jauna Murmu, Sini Jose and Mandeep Kaur are 400m runners.
The TOP Scheme was formulated with the objective of identifying and supporting potential medal prospects for 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. The focused disciplines of the scheme were Athletics, Archery, Badminton, Boxing, Wrestling and Shooting.
For this purpose, a committee named Top Scheme Elite Athletes Identification Committee was constituted for laying down elaborate norms for selection of the right candidates, review of performance and operation of the scheme.

The chairman of the committee is Anurag Thakur, a member of Lok Sabha from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh and other members were Rahul Dravid, Pullela Gopichand, Abhinav Bindra and MC Mary Kom.

Under the TOP scheme the selected athletes will be provided financial assistance for their customized training at Institutes having world class facilities and other necessary support.

RBI released Draft Guidelines on Net Stable Funding Ratio for Banks

The Reserve Bank of India on 28 May 2015 released the Draft Guidelines on Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) under Basel III Framework on Liquidity Standards for banks.

The Reserve Bank proposed to make NSFR applicable to all banks in India from 1 January 2018. The objective of NSFR is to ensure that banks maintain a stable funding profile in relation to their assets and off-balance sheet activities.

A sustainable funding structure can reduce the probability of erosion of a bank’s liquidity position due to disruptions in its regular sources of funding that would increase the risk of its failure and potentially lead to broader systemic stress.

The NSFR limits overreliance on short-term wholesale funding, encourages better assessment of funding risk across all on-off balance sheet items and promotes funding stability.

What is NSFR?
Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) is defined as the amount of available stable funding relative to the amount of required stable funding.

It measures the amount of longer-term, stable sources of funding employed by an institution relative to the liquidity profiles of the assets funded and the potential for contingent calls on funding liquidity arising from off-balance sheet commitments and obligations.

In particular, the NSFR standard is structured to ensure that investment banking inventories, off-balance sheet exposures, securitisation pipelines.

Background
In the backdrop of the global financial crisis that started in 2007, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) proposed certain reforms to strengthen global capital and liquidity regulations with the objective of promoting a more resilient banking sector.

In this regard, the Basel III: International framework for liquidity risk measurement, standards and monitoring was issued in December 2010 which presented the details of global regulatory standards on liquidity. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision issued the final rules on the Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) in October 2014.

Two minimum standards- Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) and Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) for funding liquidity were prescribed by the Basel Committee for achieving two separate but complementary objectives.
The RBI has already started phasing in implementation of the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) from January 2015.

VA Prasanth appointed as the CFO of Indian Bank

VA Prasanth was on 28 May 2015 appointed as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Indian Bank with immediate effect. Before this appointment, he was serving as the General Manager of the Indian Bank. Prasanth succeeded K Srinivasa Raghavan.

Indian Bank, established in 1907, is an Indian state-owned financial services company, headquartered in Chennai, India. It has 20000 employees, 2412 branches in India and is one of the big public sector banks of India.

It has overseas branches in Colombo and Jaffna in Sri Lanka, and in Singapore. Since 1969, the bank is owned by Government of India.

30 may

The Pakistan Paradox written by Christrophe Jaffrelot

Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience: Christrophe Jaffrelot

Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience by Christrophe Jaffrelot was published by Vintage Books on 15 April 2015. Christrophe Jaffrelot is Research Director at CNRS and teaches South Asian Politics and History at Sciences Po (Paris).

The 688-pages book is an overview of the contemporary Pakistan which was born as the creation of elite Urdu-speaking Muslims who sought to govern a state that would maintain their dominance.

In order to maintain the dominance of this class, Jinnah imposed a unitary definition of Pakistan state that obliterated linguistic diversity. The centralization of power in Pakistan was justified by the Indian threat which fostered centrifugal forces that resulted in Bengali secessionism in 1971 and Baloch, as well as Mohajir, separatisms today.

Concentration of power remained the norm, and while authoritarianism peaked under military rule, democracy failed to usher in reform, and the rule of law remained fragile at best under Zulfikar Bhutto and later Nawaz Sharif.

Today, Pakistan faces existential challenges ranging from ethnic strife to Islamism, two sources of instability which hark back to elite domination. But the resilience of the country and its people, the resolve of the judiciary and hints of reform in the army may open a new and more stable chapter in its history.

Sepp Blatter re-elected as FIFA President

Incumbent FIFA President Joseph Sepp Blatter on 29 May 2015 was re-elected as President for the fifth term. He was chosen for the post by the 65th FIFA Congress held in Zurich.

79-year-old Blatter won another four-year term as FIFA President after he was able to secure 133 votes out of 206 valid votes in the 209-member FIFA.

Blatter defeated 39-year-old Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan who was able to secure 73 votes. Ali was a FIFA Vice President for the past four years.

Besides, the re-election of Sepp Blatter as President, the 65th FIFA Congress also saw
• The approval for creation of a committee to oversee different matters affecting the development of football in Palestine
• The update about the implementation of the Handshake for Peace campaign wherein team captains and referees meet to officially shake hands as a symbol of respect and solidarity before and after the match to set a strong example of friendship and peace
• The appointment of KPMG as FIFA’s auditors for the 2015-2018 cycle
• The extension of mandates of Moya Dodd and Sonia Bien-Aime as co-opted female members of the FIFA Executive Committee for a further term of one year

The 66th and 67th editions of the FIFA Congress will take place in Mexico City in 2016 and Kuala Lumpur in 2017.

International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers observed across the world

29 May - International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers

The international Day of United Nations Peacekeepers was observed on 29 May 2015 with the theme Together for Peace.

To mark the occasion, various events were organised across the globe to commemorate all brave men and women who have contributed towards establishing peace and security in the war torn countries and ravaged societies across the world.

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2003 and designated 29 May as the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.

The day was established to honour the memory of the UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives in the cause of peace and pay tribute to all the men and women who have served and continue to serve in UN peacekeeping operations for their high level of professionalism, dedication and courage.

On this day, the Dag Hammarskjold Medal is awarded posthumously to the peacekeepers who lost the lives while serving in the cause of peace, during the preceding year.

Incidentally, India began its tryst with UN Peacekeeping by providing the Custodian Force in Korea in 1950. At present, Indian Army is among the top three contributors to UN Missions.

Theme for the year 2014 was A Force for the Future.

G Satheesh Reddy appointed as Scientific Advisor to Union Defence Minister

Distinguished Scientist G Satheesh Reddy was on 29 May 2015 appointed as Scientific Advisor to Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar for a period of two years from the date of taking over charge. Reddy is Director at Research Centre Imarat (RCI) & Programme Director of MRSAM, DRDO.

Reddy joined DRDO in 1986 and led the Conceptualization, Design, Development and productionisation of Inertial Sensors, Navigation schemes, Algorithms & Systems, Calibration methodologies, Sensor Models and Simulation.

As a Project Director, Reddy led the design and development of Ring Laser Gyro based INS System, MEMS based INS System, Sea-Guard Reference System and Ship Navigation system and also successfully developed a 1000 kg class guided bomb.

As a Director of RCI, he led the development of Avionics technologies in critical areas of Inertial Systems, Embedded Computers, Control, Real Time Software and Simulation, Power Supplies, Flight Instrumentation for various Defence programmes- Agni A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, Prithvi, Dhanush, Akash, etc.

He has also been honoured with various awards including the Indian Science Congress Association Homi J. Bhabha Memorial Award, DRDO Young Scientist Award, Agni Award for Excellence in Self Reliance, DRDO Scientist of the Year Award etc.

Reddy is a graduate in Electronics and Communication Engineering from JNTU, Anantapur and received his Doctorate from JNTU, Hyderabad.

State Bank of India launched Online Customer Acquisition Solution

The State Bank of India (SBI) on 29 May 2015 launched an Online Customer Acquisition Solution (OCAS). It is an online platform to apply for Home Loans, Car Loans, Education Loans and Personal Loans.

The application was launched by SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya.

Features of the Online Customer Acquisition Solution
• The application will help the customers gauge their eligibility and get a quote personalized to their requirement.
• The customer will instantly get an e-approval on filling the online form.
• Thereafter, the Bank officials will contact the customer and complete all the loan formalities. Customers can even upload all necessary documents online.

The OCAS was launched with an aim to empower customer and reduce the processing time of their loan.

Besides, SBI will soon launch a similar application for the mobile platform.

Nigerian Army launched operations to flush out Boko Haram from Sambisa Forest

Sambisa Forest: Hide out for Boko Haram militant group located in Northeastern Nigeria

The Sambisa Forest was in news in April and May 2015 as the Nigerian Army has been conducting special operations to rescue abducted women by the group.

The forest is located in the Northeastern Nigeria along the Nigeria-Cameroon border. It was captured by the group in February 2013 and made it has their primary base in March 2015.

Since its capture, the militant group mined the mountainous forest region and used as the shelter especially during Chibok schoolgirl kidnapping incident in April 2014 in which 276 female students were kidnapped.

Recently, on 28 April 2015, the Nigerian Army freed nearly 300 girls and women from its captivity and destroyed 13 militant camps. However, none of the Chibok girls had been found among them.

Book titled Ahmedabad: A City in the World by Amrita Shah released

Book Ahmedabad: A City in the World: Amrita Shah
Book Ahmedabad: A City in the World authored by Amrita Shah was released 28 May 2015. The book is a biography of India's seventh-largest city Ahmedabad and its all too frequent complicity in communal violence.

The author in the book has described the six-hundred year old former textile town in Kaka-style development and sketches Mahatma Gandhi and his struggle against British rule.

The book is the story of roadmaps and rivers, kings and kingmakers, merchants and savants; of Dalit labourers and women bootleggers, displaced Muslims and a euphoric middle class. It is also the incredible story of hope and vulnerability at the heart of a metropolis.

Amrita Shah
Amrita Shah has been a columnist and contributing editor with the Indian Express and was the founding editor of Elle India. She has also written Biography of Vikram Sarabhai in 2007.

She received fellowships from the New India Foundation, the Homi Bhabha Fellowships Council and Fulbright to write Ahmedabad: A City in the World.

At present, she is a visiting faculty at the Centre for Contemporary Studies, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.

CSO released Provisional Estimates of National Income for FY 2014-15

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) on 29 May 2015 released the provisional estimates (PE) of national income for the financial year (FY) 2014-15 both at constant (2011-12) and current prices.

As per it, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at constant prices in the FY 2014-15 will grow at 7.3 percent while at current prices it is expected to grow at 10.5 percent.

Besides, CSO also released the quarterly estimates (QE) for the fourth quarter (January – March) of 2014-15. At constant prices, in Q4 GDP is estimated to grow at 7.5 percent while at current prices it is estimated to grow at 7.7 percent.

Main Highlights

In absolute terms, Real GDP (at constant prices) in FY 2014-15 is expected to grow to 106.44 lakh crore rupees.
In 2014-15, real Gross Value Added (GVA), that is, GVA at basic constant prices is estimated at 98.27 lakh crore rupees and growth rate is estimated at 7.2 percent.
The gross national income is estimated to have risen by 7.3 percent during 2014-15, in comparison to the growth rate of 6.8 percent in 2013-14.
The per capita net national income in real terms (constant prices) during 2014-15 is estimated to have attained a level of 74104 rupees as against 69959 rupees in FY 2013-14 (RE).
The growth rate in per capita income in real terms is estimated at 5.9 percent during 2014-15 as against 5.4 percent during 2013-14.
India's annual per capita or average income (in current prices) in 2014-15 stood at 87748 rupees from 80388 rupees in 2013-14.
The wholesale price index (WPI), in respect of the groups, food articles, manufactured products, electricity and all commodities, has risen by 6.1 per cent, 2.4 per cent, 5.7 per cent and 2.0 per cent, respectively during 2014-15.
The consumer price index has shown a rise of 6.4 per cent during 2014-15.
In terms of GDP, the rates of Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) at current and constant prices during 2014-15 are estimated at 28.7 percent and 30.0 percent, respectively, as against the corresponding rates of 29.7 percent and 30.7 percent, respectively in 2013-14.

Sector-wise Growth

The sectors registering growth rate of over 7.0 percent in 2014-15 are ‘trade, hotels, transport, communication and services related to broadcasting’, ‘financial, real estate and professional services’, ‘electricity, gas, water supply & other utility services’, ‘public administration, defence and other services’ and manufacturing.
The growth in the ‘agriculture, forestry and fishing’, ‘mining and quarrying’ and ‘construction’ is estimated to be 0.2 per cent, 2.4 per cent and 4.8 per cent respectively.
The third advance estimates of crop production released by the Ministry of Agriculture show a decline of 2.3 percent in food grain production in 2014-15 to 251.12 million tonnes (MT) as against 257.07 MT in second advance estimates.
The growth of ‘mining &quarrying’ is estimated at 2.4 percent, as against the Advance Estimate (AE) growth of 2.3 percent.
The growth of ‘manufacturing’ sector is estimated at 7.1 percent, as against the AE growth of 6.8 percent. The performance of corporate performance in manufacturing sector has also been taken into account.
The ‘Trade, hotels, transport, communication and services related to broadcasting sectors’ have registered a growth of 10.7 percent in 2014-15 as against 8.4 percent in the AE.
The sector, 'financial, real estate and professional services', has shown a growth rate of 11.5 percent during 2014-15 as compared to growth rate of 13.7 per cent in the AE.
The sector ‘public administration, defence and other services' has shown a growth rate of 7.2 percent in the PE, as against the growth rate of 9.0 per cent in the AE.

Comment

The provisional estimates of GDP for the FY 2014-15 vindicate the growth projection for Indian economy by various world bodies like IMF, World Bank amongst others. According to these bodies, India is set to become the world's fastest growing major economy in the world, overtaking China's 7.3 percent growth.

Further, at 125.4 lakh crore rupees (2.02 trillion US dollars as on March 2015) India's GDP at current prices has officially crossed the 2 trillion US dollars mark making it the world's 10th largest economy.

However, despite the current slowdown, at 10.3 trillion US dollars China's economy is five times bigger than India, while the USA remains the world's largest economy at 17.4 trillion US dollars.

Further, experts have pointed out that there were anomalies in the data as manufacturing shows an estimated growth of 7.1 percent for 2014-15, which under the index of industrial production (IIP) data for factory output was 2.3 percent.

Pradeep Kumar Sinha appointed as Cabinet Secretary to Union Government

Pradeep Kumar Sinha was on 29 May 2015 appointed as the Cabinet Secretary to the Union Government with effect from 13 June 2015. He succeeded Ajit Seth.

His appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). The ACC also approved the appointment of Sinha as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD).

Before this appointment, Sinha was serving as Secretary, in Union Ministry of Power since July 2013. He had earlier been Secretary in the Union Ministry of Shipping and has held several other important positions in the Union Government and in the State of Uttar Pradesh.

The Cabinet Secretariat is under the direct charge of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Secretary is the administrative head of the secretariat.

The Cabinet secretariat assists in decision-making in government by ensuring inter-ministerial coordination, ironing out differences amongst ministries or departments and evolving consensus through the instrumentality of the standing or adhoc committees of secretaries.

Anand Kumar, Founder of Super 30, honoured in Canada

Super 30 founder and mathematician Anand Kumar on 29 May 2015 was honoured by Legislature of British Columbia in Canada at Toronto University for his pioneering work in the field of education.

The Speaker Linda Reid honoured Kumar with a memento and also appreciated his endeavour at a proposal initiated by Marc Dalton, an MLA. The 42-year-old Kumar was honoured for his rare achievements for the students from India's underprivileged sections.

Kumar was invited by the British Columbia Government in recognition of his work through globally acclaimed Super 30, which has mentors 30 students mostly from the underprivileged sections of the society for IITs free of cost for the last 14 years.

About Anand Kumar
• Anand is a native of Bihar who in 2010 won the Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad Shiksha Puraskar, the highest award given by the Government of Bihar
• Mathematical Spectrum and Mathematical Gazette of the UK has published a number of papers of Anand Kumar. During graduation, Kumar submitted papers on Number Theory, which were published in Mathematical Spectrum and The Mathematical Gazette
• Three times, Kumar has been invited jointly by the Mathematical Association of America and the American Mathematical Society to present his papers

About Super30
• Super30 established in 2002 by Anand Kumar in Patna, Bihar under the banner of Ramanujan School of Mathematics. It provides free residential mentoring to 30 selected students from underprivileged families to appear in the entrance exam of IIT-JEE. Super30 as an institution that has achieved international recognition for social awakening
• In 2010, the Time Magazine selected Super30 in the list of the Best of Asia
• It was included in the list of four most innovative schools in the world by the Newsweek Magazine

Book titled Super Economies by Raghav Bahl released

Book Super Economies: America, India, China & The Future Of The World: Raghav Bahl

The book Super Economies: America, India, China & The Future Of The World written by Raghav Bahl published in May 2015. He is an Indian businessman best known for his ownership of several television channels, including TV18.

The book explains the vastly changed nature of the world since the Cold War and predicts what will be the likely changes in the 21st centuary.

For this, the author took a cue from the emergence of super powers in the 20th century and the ongoing process of emergence of super economies in the 21st century.

Further, the author defined super economy as one possessing innovation, vast swathes of territory, low unemployment, improving infrastructure, strong currency and a significant military or nuclear capability and explained in detail how each of the BRICS fare on this score - with China declared a super economy and categorizing India as a sleeper super economy.

At the end of the book, Raghav Bahl concludes that in future the US, India and China will come together against Islamic terrorism.

Raghav’s first book, Superpower? The Amazing Race Between China’s Hare and India’s Tortoise, was published by Penguin Allen Lane in 2010

Veena Jain appointed as Director General of Doordarshan News

Veena Jain was on 29 May 2015 appointed as Director General (news) in Doordarshan. She succeeded senior Indian Information Service (IIS) officer Akshay Rout. Her appointment was approved by the Union Ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B).

Jain will also hold the charge as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) and will oversee the ministry's new media wing and social media cell. She will report to the ministry for all purposes.

She is currently posted as Additional Director General in the News Services Division of All India Radio (AIR). Earlier, she has also served as director of Publications Division of AIR.

Andhra Pradesh brought 16 Sectors under Swiss Challenge method to develop Infrastructure

State government of Andhra Pradesh on 29 May 2015 issued orders to bring 16 sectors under Schedule III of the AP Infrastructure Development Enabling Act (APIDEA), 2001 with an aim to develop infrastructure in public private partnership (PPP) mode.

This order was issued by the Infrastructure and Investment Department to facilitate the government to extend Swiss Challenge method to award infrastructure project in these 16 sectors.

The sectors which have been included to be developed under Swiss Challenge method are
• Telecommunications and broadband internet services
• Power generation, transmission and distribution including renewable energy projects
• Highway projects including housing or other activities being an integral part of high way project, transport terminus and depots
• Railway systems
• Urban transit projects, ports and inland ports, airports
• Urban development projects including smart city and educational institutions

Swiss Challenge method
Swiss Challenge Approach means a Private Sector Participant (Original Project Proponent) submits an unsolicited or suo-motu proposal and draft contract principles for undertaking a project, not already initiated by the Government Agency or the Local Authority. The Government Agency or the Local Authority then invites competitive counter proposals in such manner as may be prescribed by the Government.

Proprietary information contained in the original proposal shall remain confidential and will not be disclosed.

Increasing number of hamlets responsible for decline of Tigers in Buxa Tiger Reseve: West Bengal

Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR): Situated near India-Bhutan border in Jalpaiguri District of West Bengal

Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) in West Bengal was in news as on 28 May 2015 West Bengal Minister for Forests Benoy Krishna Barman stated in the legislature that the dwindling population has been caused by the increasing number of hamlets along the reserve.

His reply came against the claims by some conservationists that the reserve lost all its tigers and no tiger was sighted in it since 2002.

However, Status of Tigers in India 2014 report released by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in January 2015 states that though there were no tigers sighted in 2010 as compared to 10 tigers spotted in 2006, their population increased to 3 in 2014.

Further, the report is optimistic that the BTR has potential for increasing tiger population.

Finance Minister inaugurated new Bank Note Paper Line unit in Hoshangabad, MP

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 30 May 2015 inaugurated the new Bank Note Paper Line unit of 6000 metric tonne capacity at Security Paper Mill in Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh.

With opening of this, India will become self-reliant in producing Bank Note Paper for big denominations. Earlier, India was considerably dependent on import of bank note paper for currency of big denominations.

He also flagged off the first consignment of one thousand rupees bank note paper made indigenously to Currency Note Press Nashik.

It is part of the indigenisation of the Bank Note paper under taken by Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited. The project has been completed at a cost of 495 crore rupees within the time schedule.

The plant is capable of incorporating the advanced security features into the Bank Note paper. It is also capable of manufacturing all denominations of Bank Note paper including 1000 rupees.

It is expected that the plant will help in generating both direct and indirect employment and overall will boost the economy of the state.

Another such unit will be soon operationalised in Mysore.