7-8 October 2015

Three-member Achary panel recommended 400% hike in basic salary of Delhi MLAs

A three-member committee chaired by PDT Achary, former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha, on 6 October 2015 submitted its report on MLAs’ salary packages to Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel. The other two members were KV Prasad and Balraj Malik.
In its 21-page unanimous report, the commission favoured 400 percent hike in the basic salary of the MLAs of Delhi, that is, from 12000 rupees to 50000 rupees per month, in addition to a slew of allowances for purposes ranging from travel to office furniture.

Overall, the hike recommended has been 138 percent.
Main highlights of the Report 
• Total salary and allowances of MLAs have been recommended to be enhanced from the present 88000 rupees per month to 2.10 lakh per month.
• It recommended a reimbursable sum of 70000 rupees per month as allowance under Secretarial, Research and Office Assistance head which is 30000 rupees at present.
• It recommended an allowance of 25000 rupees for office rental and related utilities, which would allow them to meet expenditure on office space and other essential amenities provided by government agencies.
• The committee has also suggested a communication allowance of 10000 rupees per month as well as 30000 rupees as monthly conveyance allowance for each MLA.
• It recommended hike of daily allowance of each MLA during every sitting if the House or its committees from 1000 rupees to 2000 rupees.
• It recommended that the one-time allowance of MLAs should be increased significantly with one time office furnishing allowance of 1 lakh rupees, 60000 rupess for purchasing office equipment and a vehicle loan of 12 lakh rupees, which is 4 lakh rupees at present.
• The committee has also recommended a hike in monthly pension from the existing 7500 rupees to 15000 rupees per month for first term of membership and an additional pension of 1000 rupees per month for every successive year of membership beyond the first term.
• The family pension has been recommended at 50 percent of the pension being paid to a deceased member or an ex-member.
• The committee's recommendations also include a maximum reimbursable travel allowance of 3 lakh rupees per annum for each MLA and his dependents by air, rail, road or steamer.
• It also favoured a 10 percent raise in the basic salary, 5000 rupees per month, after every 12 months, from the date on which new salary and allowances come into force.

Now the report of the committee will be sent to Assembly's Committee of Salary and Allowances for consideration. Thereafter the government will consider it and, if accepted, come up with a Bill, to the effect. 
Background
In July 2015, a group of AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) legislators demanded a significant hike in salary, arguing their earnings were not enough to run their family and offices.
The salary of lawmakers was last increased by 100 percent in September 2011 by the then Sheila Dikshit government.

Sergey Karjakin won the 2015 FIDE World Chess Cup

Russia’s Sergey Karjakin on 5 October 2015 emerged victorious in the 2015 FIDE World Chess Cup beating Peter Svidler by 6-4 in the final. It was held in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, from 10 September 2015 to 5 October 2015.

Karjakin and Svidler, both from Russia, won two classical games each. However, the title was decided in the tie-breakers.

In the tie-breaker, Karjakin won the opening rapid game, but Svidler came strongly back by winning the next two. However, Karjakin won the fourth rapid game to draw level. In the end, Karjakin took the tie-breaker by 6-4.

By reaching the final, the pair has qualified for the 2016 Candidates Chess Tournament.

The Chess World Cup is the highly regarded tournaments in chess after the World Championship and the Candidates Tournament.

About Sergey Karjakin

Sergey Karjakin is Russian chess grandmaster who was born in Ukraine on 12 January 1990.

Karjakin has competed in six Chess Olympiads, three times for Ukraine and three times for Russia, winning three gold medals, two silvers and a bronze.

He is World No. 11 in FIDE World Rankings that governs international chess competition.

The Clintons' War on Women authored by Roger Stone and Robert Morrow

The Clintons' War on Women: Roger Stone and Robert Morrow 
The book titled The Clintons' War on Women authored by Roger Stone and Robert Morrow was in news in first week of October 2015. It came into news as it claims that Hillary Clinton who is running for the US President as an advocate of women and girls is in actual volatile and prone to violent outbursts that terrorize even her own husband.

The New York Times bestselling author Roger Stone and researcher and alternative historian Robert Morrow through this book reveals how Bill and Hillary Clinton systematically abused women and others—sexually, physically, and psychologically—in their scramble for power and wealth. They together map the arc of Bill and Hillary’s crimes and cover ups. 
They reveal details about their actions in Arkansas, during Bill Clinton’s time in the White House, about who really ordered the deadly attack on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, during Hillary’s tenure as secretary of state, about their time at the Clinton Foundation, and during Hillary’s current campaign for president.
The book will be released on 13 October 2015.

INS Astradharani commissioned into Indian Navy

The Indian Navy on 6 October 2015 commissioned the first indigenously-designed and built torpedo launch and recovery vessel INS Astradharani at the Naval Base in Visakhapatnam. This 50-metre twin-hulled warship is also the first to be built at a private yard with armament fixtures.

The ship was collaboratively designed by Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) of DRDO, Shoft Shipyard and IIT Kharagpur. The design of the ship was tested at the facilities at the NSTL. It is an advanced replacement for INS Astravahini which was decommissioned on 17 July 2015. 
After commissioning, the ship entered the Eastern Fleet.

About INS Astradharini
• INS Astradharani will be used to carry out the technical trials of underwater weapons and systems developed by NSTL. 
• The ship has a complement of two officers and 27 sailors and can carry 13 scientists.
• The catamaran hull configuration in the ship significantly reduces its power requirement.
• With a length of 50 m, the vessel can undertake multiple trials during a single sortie and is fully equipped with all modern amenities that warships have.
The induction of INS Astradharani adds thrust to the Nation’s ongoing endeavours towards indigenisation and achieving the nation’s goal of self reliance in underwater weapons development.

2016 Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Conference to be held in New Delhi

The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Conference 2016 will be held in New Delhi from 8 January to 10 January 2016. 
The PBD Conference 2016 will be organised with an objective for developing a new paradigm for engagement with the Diaspora over the next decade.

The 2016 PBD Conference will be an attempt to do an expert study on various issues concerning the Diaspora and areas of mutual benefit to India and to them, while the previous PBDs focused only on meetings with the Diaspora. 
The traditional PBD convention will be held every alternative year, with the partner State.  Such a convention would be held in 2017.
Beside this, the Union Government also announced that it will organise the 9th Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (RPBD) at Los Angeles California, USA on the 14 November and 15 November 2015.

IMF released World Economic Outlook October 2015 Update

International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 6 October 2015 released World Economic Outlook (WEO) October 2015 Update titled Adjusting to Lower Commodity Prices.
The report projects global growth for 2015 at 3.1 percent, which is 0.3 percentage point lower than in 2014, and 0.2 percentage point below the forecasts in the July 2015 World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update.

India’s growth is expected to strengthen from 7.3 percent 2015 and last year to 7.5 percent in 2016. Also, Domestic demand in India is projected to remain strong.

Global Outlook for 2015-16
• Global growth is projected to decline from 3.4 percent in 2014 to 3.1 percent in 2015, before picking up to 3.6 percent in 2016 
• The decline in growth in 2015 reflects a further slowdown in emerging markets, partially offset by a modest pickup in activity in advanced economies—particularly in the euro area. This pickup, supported by the decline in oil prices and accommodative monetary policy, will modestly narrow output gaps.
• The decline in growth in emerging markets, for the fifth year in a row, reflects a combination of factors and they are 
a) Weaker growth in oil exporters
b) Slowdown in China
c) The pattern of growth becomes less reliant on investment
d) Weaker outlook for exporters of other commodities, including in Latin America, following price declines
• The sizable pickup in projected 2016 growth reflects stronger performance in both emerging market and advanced economies. 
• Among emerging market and developing economies, growth in countries in economic distress in 2015 including Brazil, Russia, and some countries in Latin America and in the Middle East, while remaining weak or negative, is projected to be higher than in 2015. Domestic demand in India is projected to remain strong.
• These developments more than offset the projected continuation of the slowdown in China. Among advanced economies, higher growth reflects a strengthening recovery in Japan, the United States, and the euro area, as output gaps gradually close.
Global Inflation
• Inflation is projected to decline in 2015 in advanced economies, reflecting primarily the impact of lower oil prices. 
• The pass-through of lower oil prices into core inflation is expected to remain moderate, in line with recent episodes of large changes in commodity prices. 
• In emerging market and developing economies, the inflation rate is projected to increase in 2015, but this reflects the sharp increase in the inflation forecast for Venezuela (more than 100 percent in 2015) and Ukraine (about 50 percent). 
• Excluding these countries, inflation in emerging market and developing economies in 2015 is projected to decline from 4.5 percent in 2014 to 4.2 percent in 2015.
• In advanced economies, inflation is projected to rise in 2016 and thereafter, but to remain generally below central bank targets. 
• In emerging market and developing economies, inflation is projected to decline in 2016, with markedly lower inflation in countries that experienced sizable depreciation in recent months, such as Russia and to a lesser extent Brazil.
External Sector Developments
• World trade growth is projected to remain modest, as in the past two years.
• A pickup in trade is forecast for advanced economies. 
• For emerging markets import growth is projected to decline further, reflecting weakening domestic demand and depreciating exchange rates, but export growth is projected to increase, sustained by higher oil exports from the Middle East and the pickup of domestic demand in advanced economies.
Projection about India
Growth in India is expected to rise above the rates in other major emerging market economies.

India’s growth is expected to strengthen from 7.3 percent 2015 and last year to 7.5 percent in 2016. Growth will benefit from recent policy reforms, a consequent pickup in investment, and lower commodity prices. 
On inflation, the report said in India, inflation is expected to decline further in 2015, reflecting the fall in global oil and agricultural commodity prices. 
Risks to the Global Outlook
The distribution of risks to global growth remains tilted to the downside. Compared to the risk assessment in the April 2015 WEO, downside risks to growth for emerging market and developing economies have increased. These downside risks are 
• Risks from China’s growth transition
• More protracted commodity market rebalancing
• Increased foreign-currency exposure of corporate balance sheets
• Capital flow reversals associated with disruptive asset price shifts
• A Further Sizable Strengthening of the U.S. Dollar
• Geopolitical Risks
In advanced economies, contagion risks from Greece related events to other euro area economies, while lower than earlier in the year, remain a concern, as do risks from protracted weak demand and low inflation. 
Oil price declines since June (and lagged effects from previous declines) could imply some upside risk to domestic demand and growth in oil importers.

India, Germany signed 125 million Euros Loan Agreement to fund two projects under Green Energy Corridor

Government of India and Federal Republic of Germany (KFW) on 5 October 2015 signed two loan agreements worth 125 million Euros for financing two projects under the Green Energy Corridor programme. These two projects are in Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

Germany will fund 57 million Euros for projects in Himachal Pradesh and 68 million Euros for Andhra Pradesh.

What is Green Energy Corridor programme?

Green Energy Corridor programme seeks to facilitate the flow of renewable energy into the national grid. In other words, it is aimed at synchronising electricity produced from renewable sources, such as solar and wind, with conventional power stations in the grid.

This comprehensive transmission plan was prepared by POWERGRID Corporation of India Limited in 2012 and it entails a total cost of 43000 crore rupees.

In April 2013 during the second Indo-German Government Consultations in Berlin, Germany committed developmental and technical assistance of 1 billion euro for the project.

Renewable Energy is one of the key areas of India-German partnership. It was mentioned in the Joint Statement of Hannover in April 2015.

Ashok Vemuri resigned as CEO of iGate Corporation

The Infosys veteran Ashok Vemuri on 6 October 2015 resigned from his position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of iGATE Corporation.

Vemuri joined the US-based iGate as CEO in September 2013. When Capgemini announced the acquisition, he held 400000 shares of iGate. The shares were valued at over 19 million US dollar in April 2015.

Vemuri was born on 22 April 1968. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in physics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi, and completed his master’s degree in business management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

In 2013, he was listed in the 50 Outstanding Asian Americans in Business by the Asian American Business Center.

About iGATE Corporation

iGATE is an IT services company, headquartered in Bridgewater, New Jersey. It was founded in 1966 and currently operates in North America, Asia, Europe, Japan and Australia.

The Nasdaq-listed corporation was acquired by French IT services group Capgemini on 27 April 2015 for 4.04 billion US dollars

Raif Badawi, James Fenton shared 2015 PEN Pinter Prize

Saudi blogger and activist Raif Badawi and British poet and critic James Fenton were on 6 October 2015 awarded with the 2015 PEN Pinter Prize. Badawi was named as the 2015 International Writer of Courage by Fenton himself during a public event held at the British Library in London.

Fenton officially accepted the 2015 PEN Pinter Prize at the event. He delivered a lecture written for the occasion, which was published in a limited edition by Faber & Faber. Fenton was selected for this prestigious award in June 2015 itself. 
While, due to Badawi's imprisonment, his award was accepted by Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia and campaigner for Raif Badawi.
About Raif Badawi's Incident
Raif Badawi has been a case of concern to English PEN since he was first imprisoned in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 2012 for setting up a website called Saudi Liberal Network challenging Saudi government. In May 2014, he received a fine of 1 million riyals along with a ten year prison sentence and was sentenced to 1000 lashes. 
He was charged against violating the Islamic values and propagating liberal thought. The public flogging of Badawi in January 2015 sparked global outrage. Since then, the campaign for his case spearheaded by his wife Ensaf Haidar has gathered international support.
An anthology of his writings 1000 Lashes: Because I Say What I Think, was also published in the UK in September 2015 by Greystone Books.

WWF Report Hidden Himalayas: Asia’s Wonderland released

World Wide Fund (WWF) on the day of World Habitat Day, that is, 5 October 2015 released Hidden Himalayas: Asia’s Wonderland report. The Eastern Himalayas spans Bhutan, the north-eastern Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Sikkim, North Bengal, the trans-boundary landscape of Terai Arc, far north of Myanmar, Nepal and southern Tibet.
According to the report, 211 new species like sneezing monkey, walking fish and jewel-like snake, were discovered in the Eastern Himalayas region between 2009 and 2014. On an average 34 new species were discovered annually for the past six years.

The 211 new species include 133 plants, 39 invertebrates, 26 fish, 10 amphibians, one reptile, one bird and one mammal. These species were found by scientists from various organizations.

This volume and diversity of discoveries highlight the region as one of the most biologically diverse places on Earth. 

Top unique species discovered in the region 
• Bulbophyllum Nepalense: It was for the first time reported from Nepal. The new species was collected from Shivapuri National Park, Kathmandu at an altitude of 2300 meters. The species has oblong dorsal sepals, the elliptic petals and oblong decurved ligulate lip with narrow pseudobulbs.
• Vibrant blue dwarf ‘walking’ snakehead fish (Channa Andrao):Discovered from Lefraguri swamp, West Bengal can breathe atmospheric air and survive on land for up to four days, although moving in a manner much clumsier than a slithering snake.
• Koponenius Unicorns: It is a millipede and represents the first westernmost indigenous representatives of Haplodesmidae reported from the Himalayas of Nepal and India. Its 19 body segments are unique among millipede species.
• Mycomya Jeti: Discovered by Dr. Rauno Vaisanen, a Finnish taxonomist is one among the seven species of mosquito discovered. It is named after the abominable snowman of the Himalayas - the Yeti and another one after his wife’s first name, Mycomya anneliae.
• Elachura Formosa: The spotted wren-babbler discovered in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar belongs to a unique family of birds which contains no other known species.
• Leptobrachium Bompu: A striking blue-eyed 47-mm frog was discovered at an altitude of 2000-m in Arunachal Pradesh, the second most heavily forested state in India.
• Parachiloglanis Bhutanensis: The first endemic fish species to Bhutan found nowhere else in the world and its common name, Khaling Torrent Catfish is in reference to the village of Khaling.
• Megophrys Ancrae: A rare endemic horned frog was discovered in Deban, Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve, Changlang district, Arunachal Pradesh. Commonly known as the litter frogs, Megophryids range in size from 2 to 12.5 cm in length.
• Rhinopithecus Strykeri: Critically endangered monkey without nose was found in Kachin state of Myanmar. It is nicknamed as Snubby.
• Danionella Dracula (Dracula Fish): Discovered in Myanmar, the fish represent the largest group of vertebrates and while the majority of fish are found in oceans almost as many can be found in freshwater habitats.
• Protobothrops Himalayansus: The bejeweled lance-headed pit viper was found in Tibet, Norther Sikkim, India and Western Bhutan. It is believed to be a new addition to the Asian pitviper genus Trimeresurus.
Threat to the region and ecosystem
The report also underscored dire threats and challenges faced by the ecosystem across the region spanning Bhutan, north-east India, Nepal, north Myanmar and the southern parts of Tibet.
It also found that as a consequence of development, only 25% of the original habitats in the region remain intact and hundreds of species that live in the Eastern Himalayas are considered globally threatened.
Some of the threats to the region include climate change; by far the most serious, population growth, deforestation, overgrazing, poaching, the wildlife trade, mining, pollution and hydropower development have all contributed to the pressures on the fragile ecosystems in the region.
The stakes are high as the Himalayas are home to at least 10000 plant species, 300 mammal species, 977 bird species, 176 reptiles, 105 amphibians and 269 types of freshwater fish.

Solution to protect the ecology of the region 
To protect the region’s rich diversity of flora and fauna, the WWF is involved in supporting the countries of the Eastern Himalayas’ progress towards green economies that value ecosystems and the services they provide to the millions of people in the region.  
For this purpose, it runs the WWW Living Himalayas Initiative that urges a strong regional collaboration to ensure that people in this region, live within the ecological means and remain within the boundaries of one planet.
It also develops and support programmes that help secure a brighter future for the region’s people and biodiversity, including its rich array of species.

2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar

Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar were on 7 October 2015 jointly awarded with the 2015 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for having mapped how cells repair damaged DNA and safeguard the genetic information at a molecular level.

All the three laureates will share the prize money of 8 million Swedish kronor equally. Tomas Lindahl is from the Francis Crick Institute, UK; Paul Modrich is from Duke University School of Medicine, USA and Aziz Sancar belongs to University of North Carolina School of Medicine, USA.

Their work provided fundamental knowledge of how a living cell functions and how it is used for the development of new cancer treatments. 
How cells repair damaged DNA?
Each day our DNA is damaged by UV radiation, free radicals and other carcinogenic substances, but even without such external attacks, a DNA molecule is inherently unstable. Thousands of spontaneous changes to a cell’s genome occur on a daily basis. 
Defects can also arise when DNA is copied during cell division, a process that occurs several million times every day in the human body. The reason our genetic material does not disintegrate into complete chemical chaos is that a host of molecular systems continuously monitor and repair DNA. 
However, these three pioneering scientists have mapped that how several repair systems function at a detailed molecular level. Tomas Lindahl demonstrated that DNA decays at a rate that ought to have made the development of life on Earth impossible. This insight led him to discover molecular machinery named Base Excision Repair which constantly counteracts the collapse of our DNA.
Aziz Sancar mapped Nucleotide Excision Repair, the mechanism that cells use to repair UV damage to DNA. People born with defects in this repair system will develop skin cancer if they are exposed to sunlight. The cell also utilises nucleotide excision repair to correct defects.
Furthermore, Paul Modrich demonstrated how the cell corrects errors that occur when DNA is replicated during cell division. This mechanism,Mismatch Repair, reduces the error frequency during DNA replication by about a thousand fold.

8 october

Union Cabinet approved Productivity Linked Bonus for railway employees

The Union Cabinet on 7 October 2015 approved the payments of Productivity-Linked Bonus (PLB) equivalent to 78 days’ wages for the financial year 2014-2015 to about 12.58 lakh non-gazetted railway employees excluding RPF/RPSF personnel.

It is estimated that the total payment of 78 days' PLB to railway employees will be around 1030.02 crore rupees.

The wage calculation ceiling prescribed for payment of PLB to the eligible non-gazetted railway employees is 3500 rupees per month. The maximum amount payable per eligible railway employee is 8975 rupees for 78 days. This is in disparity to the productivity-linked bonus equivalent to a month’s wage paid to other central government employees and even public sector units such as NTPC.

Between 2010-2011 and 2013-2014, railway officials had also received the same bonus amount, equivalent to 78 days’ pay, with a wage ceiling of 3500 rupees.

NCC National Games declared open

The Director General of the National Cadet Corps Lt. General Aniruddha Chakravarty on 7 October 2015 inaugurated the NCC National Games-2015 at DG NCC Camp, Delhi Cantt. The game will witness nearly 2000 cadets from all 17 state directorates in action.

The NCC Games aims at identifying the sportsperson in the cadets and provide them with a feel of a major sporting event and prepare them with essential match temperament and further their sporting careers.

In addition, the game showcases and promotes low cost indigenous games such as Kabbadi and Kho-Kho among the youth.

The NCC National Games will run for over 11 days from 7 October 2015 to 17 October 2015. The games will see competitions in seven sports disciplines, Football, Hockey, Athletics, Kabbadi, Kho-Kho, Volleyball and Shooting.

About National Cadet Corps (NCC)

The National Cadet Corps (NCC) is the Indian military cadet corps which was firstly started in Germany in 1666. The NCC in India was formed with the National Cadet Corps Act of 1948 and was first raised on 15 July 1948.

NCC adopted its motto Unity & Discipline on 23 December 1957.

Union Cabinet approved setting up of three AllMS under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7 October 2015 approved the setting up of three new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AllMS) under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY).

These three new AIIMS will come up at Nagpur in Maharashtra, at Manglagiri in Andhra Pradesh and at Kalyani in West Bengal.

All the three AIIMS will cost 4949 crore rupees to the exchequer with AIIMS at Manglagiri costing 1618 crore rupees, at Nagpur costing 1577 crore rupees and at Kalyani costing 1754 crore rupees respectively.

These AIIMS will be established as institutes of national importance for providing quality medical education, nursing education and also to provide tertiary healthcare facilities to the people of these locations.

Further, the proposed institution will have a hospital with capacity of 960 beds. In addition, these will also have an AYUSH block, nursing college, hostel and residential facilities among others.

Benefits

• Setting up of these AIIMS will address regional imbalances in availability of affordable and reliable tertiary health care services in these regions.
• It will augment the facilities of quality medical education and would also address the shortfall of health care professionals in these regions.
• The large populations of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra (Vidarbha) and West Bengal along with adjoining States and region will be beneficiary of this project.

The setting up of AIIMS at Mangalagiri fulfils the promise made under the Andhra Pradesh re-organization Act 2014 that provides for establishment of one AIIMS type institute in the successor State of Andhra Pradesh.

Background

Under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY) launched in 2006, so far six AIIMS have been made functional. Also construction of AIIMS, Rae Barely is under progress.

The AIIMS which have become functional are at Patna (Bihar), Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Bhubaneswar (Orissa), Jodhpur (Rajasthan) and Rishikesh (Utaranchal).

Union Cabinet approved Framework for Cooperation in Blue Economy between India and Seychelles

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on 7 October 2015 gave its ex-post facto approval to the protocol for cooperation in the field of blue economy.
India and Seychelles signed the protocol to this effect on 26 August 2015 during the visit of the President of Seychelles James Michel to India.
The protocol lays down the modalities and mechanism of cooperation between the two parties for ocean studies as well as scientific exploration and exploitation of sea based resources, for sustainable development and economic purposes.

How the Protocol will be beneficial for India?
• The cooperation will enhance India’s strategic cooperation in the field of blue economy; commercial benefits from export of human resources, expertise and technology and it will increase India’s access to ocean-based resources in cooperation with Seychelles. 
• Cooperation with Seychelles in blue economy will provide new data on ocean-based resources and also provide for sharing of expertise and technology developed by Indian scientists and research institutes. It will also help domestic innovation in the field of ocean research and technology.

What is Blue Economy?
The Blue Economy is a developing world initiative pioneered by SIDS (Small Island Developing States) but relevant to all coastal states and countries with an interest in waters beyond national jurisdiction.
It conceptualises oceans as “Development Spaces” where spatial planning integrates conservation, sustainable use, oil and mineral wealth extraction, bio-prospecting, sustainable energy production and marine transport. 
The Blue Economy breaks the mould of the business as usual “brown” development model where the oceans have been perceived as a means of free resource extraction and waste dumping; with costs externalised from economic calculations. 
Rather, the concept incorporates ocean values and services into economic modelling and decision-making processes.

SC refused to modify its order limiting Aadhaar use to LPG, Kerosene and PDS

Supreme Court of India (SC) on 7 October 2015 refused to modify its order of August 11 limiting the use of Aadhaar card for LPG connection, kerosene disbursement and foodgrain distribution under Public Distribution System (PDS).

The refusal order was passed by a three-member bench of apex court headed by Justice J Chelameswar and comprising of Justices SA Bobde and C Nagappan. However, bench while refusing to modify its order referred the issue to a larger SC bench.

The court directed the registry to put all the applications seeking clarification/modification before Chief Justice HL Dattu for appropriate order.

What is August 11 order of SC?

On 11 August 2015, the SC had ruled that Aadhaar card will remain optional for availing welfare schemes and the authorities were barred from using it for the purposes other than PDS and LPG distribution system.

The order led Union Government, RBI, SEBI, IRDA, TRAI, Pension Fund Regulatory Authority and states like Gujarat and Jharkhand to move the apex court, wherein they pitched strongly for voluntary use of Aadhaar cards for providing benefits of various welfare schemes.

Why relaxation demanded by government?

Aadhaar is central to many schemes including Jan Dhan Yojana and Digital India campaign and with the Supreme Court's order now restricting its use, there are doubts as to whether these schemes will take a hit.

Over 90 crore citizens have already been issued Aahaar cards by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and crores of rupees had been spent on the UIDAI scheme to connect six lakh villages with various welfare measures.

Further, the Aadhaar cards would help in stopping fake withdrawal of money arising out of welfare scheme.

Why restriction was put?

It was argued that the Aadhaar cards will be made mandatory for availing benefits of welfare schemes.

These cards will encroach upon an individual’s privacy, especially in the absence of any oversight or regulation and information collected during enrolment could possibly be misused.

The arguments had led SC in March 2014 to rule that these cards will not be mandatory and termed Aadhaar as optional and barred the authorities from sharing personal biometric data collected for enrolment under the scheme.

What is Aadhaar card?

Aadhaar card is a unique identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), established in 2009, to the citizens. Under the programme, every citizen is to be provided with a 12-digit unique identification number for which biometric information is collected.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited to India

German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited India between 4 October and 6 October 2015. On her arrival, she was received at the airport by the Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha. 
Prime Minister Modi and Chancellor Merkel held discussions on a wide range of issues of mutual interest, including deepening bilateral engagement in defence, security, education, renewable energy, skill development and agriculture.

Important events held during Merkel’s stay in India are
• Indo-German Summit 2015 was held in Bengaluru on 6 October 2015.
• Indo-German Joint Statement on Climate Change and Energy Technology Cooperation was released on 5 October 2015.
• 3rd Indo German Inter-Governmental Consultations take place in New Delhi and a Joint Statement on the IGC was also released on 5 October 2015. IGC is a unique Summit-level dialogue with Cabinet participation of both governments that helps advance bilateral partnership across areas of mutual interest.
• Eighteen MoUs/Agreements were inked between the two countries. 
• Prime Minister and Chancellor Angela Merkel visited of German automotive major Bosch Engineering and Innovation Centre in Bengaluru.
• The two countries signed deals worth 2.25 billion dollars (around 14600 crore rupees) on German investment in developing India's clean energy corridors and solar energy industry, ahead of the crucial UN climate change talks to be held in Paris in December 2015.
Apart from this, during this visit of Merkel to India, Germany returned a 10th century Durga idol which had gone missing from a temple in Kashmir over two decades back to India. Mahishasuramardini avatar that was stolen from a temple at Pulwama in Kashmir in the 1990s was handed over by Merkel to Modi after their talks in New Delhi. 
In 2012, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) received a tip-off that the idol was spotted at the Linden Museum, Stuttgart. 
India and Germany are strategic partners since 2001. Germany is India’s largest trading partner in the European Union and the seventh largest foreign investor in India.

Cyclist Deborah Herold became first-ever Indian to win five medals at Taiwan Cup

Indian cyclist Deborah Herold in the first week of October 2015 bagged one gold, three silver and one bronze medal at the 2015 Taiwan Cup held at the Hsin Chu Velodrome, Hsin-Chu city in Taiwan. With this, she became the first ever Indian cyclist to win in women's elite section.

Deborah fetched the gold medal in Taiwan Cup Track International Classic I by defeating the Malaysian top rider. On the other hand, she ended on second place in the keirin event and 500m time trial.

In November 2014, the Indian cyclist had won four gold medals at the Track Asia Cup Cycling Championship 2014.

About Deborah Herold

20-year-old Deborah is a tribal girl from Andaman and Nicobar Islands who survived the 2004 Tsunami that devastated the islands. She was trained at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Andaman and emerged as one of the rising stars of Indian cycling.

Union Cabinet approved Protocol on Double Taxation Avoidance with Israel and Vietnam

The Union Cabinet on 7 October 2015 approved the Protocol between India and Israel and between Indian and Vietnam for avoidance of double taxation and for prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital.

The Protocol with both the countries provides for internationally accepted standards for effective exchange of information on tax matters including bank information and information without domestic tax interest. 
With this, the information received from Israel and Vietnam in respect of a resident of India can be shared with other law enforcement agencies with authorisation of the Competent Authority of both the countries and vice versa. 
Besides, the Protocol with Israel also provides for Limitation of Benefits Article as an anti-abuse provision aimed at preventing misuse of the Convention. The provisions of this Article enable use of the provisions of domestic law and measures concerning tax avoidance or evasion in the event of misuse of the Convention. 

Background:
The existing Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) between Indian and Israel was signed in 1996 and between India and Vietnam was signed in 1994. 
Both the countries concurred with India to update Article 27 on the Exchange of Information in DTAC signed with India to meet internationally accepted standards and added a new Article on Assistance in the Collection of taxes.

NGT directed commercial vehicles entering Delhi to pay Pollution Tax in addition to toll

National Green Tribunal (NGT) on 7 October 2015 directed all commercial vehicles, including trucks, entering Delhi to pay an environmental compensation charge in addition to the toll tax. 
Now, the two-axle vehicles will have to pay 700 rupees, three-axle vehicles will have to pay 1000 rupees while four-axle vehicles will have to 500 rupees as an environmental tax charge. This tax is apart from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) toll already levied on them.
This amount collected in the form of environment compensation by the check posts would be paid to Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), which will maintain a separate account with an aim to improve air quality in Delhi.

The decision of levying the environmental charge on the commercial vehicles by the NGT bench headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar, who noted that there is no dispute over the fact that vehicular pollution is one of the main causes of air pollution in Delhi. 
Apart from this, the court also made it clear that all vehicles destined for other places like Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan other than Delhi should be diverted from Panipat at NH-71A and NH- 71 (Panipat-Rohtak-Jhajjar-Bawal) for the purpose. 
These vehicles usually use Delhi as cheap transit point as the toll tax levied on the heavy vehicles in Delhi is 600 rupees while it varies from 930 rupees to 1550 rupees in Haryana, depending on the kind of trucks entering the state. 
Besides, the NGT also asked the Joint Commissioners of Delhi and Haryana Police (Traffic) to deliberate on an alternate route from Gurgaon and Ghaziabad. It also directed the Haryana government and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to expedite the work on Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressways to ease traffic congestion in the Capital. 
World Health Organisation (WHO) study in May 2015 ranked Delhi as the most polluted city in the world among 1600 cities for levels of PM2.5 or particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns.

Union Cabinet approved construction of National War Memorial in Delhi

The Union Cabinet on 7 October 2015 approved the construction of National War Memorial and a National War Museum at Princess Park near India Gate, Delhi in memory of all Indian soldiers who have made the supreme sacrifice for the country post-independence. 
The estimated cost of the project will be around 500 crore rupees and the total time for completion of the entire project is estimated to be five years.

This prestigious project will be monitored by an empowered Steering Committee chaired by Defence Secretary and assisted by a dedicated project management team, to ensure that the proposed project is completed within scheduled time frame.
Post commissioning of the project, a management body will be formed for maintenance of the National War Memorial and Museum. 
The memorial will promote a sense of patriotism in the minds of visitors, and will award an opportunity to citizens of this vast nation, to express their token sense of gratitude to the brave soldiers. The museum will capture these poignant moments in history and bring out the variegated nature of soldier's commitments. 

Background
Post-Independence, more than 22500 soldiers have made the supreme sacrifice in national interests and in defence of the sovereignty and integrity of the country since 1947. However, even after 69 years of Independence, no memorial to commemorate the martyrs has been constructed till date. 
The proposal to build the country’s first national memorial for soldiers, who laid down their lives in post Independence, has been pending since the 1960s.

CCEA approved World Bank assisted National Watershed Management project Neeranchal

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 7 October 2015 approved implementation of the World Bank assisted National Watershed Management Project Neeranchal with a total outlay 2142.30 crore rupees.

The project will be implemented at the national level as well as in the nine states of Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana.

The government’s share in the project is 50 percent and the rest cost will be borne by the World Bank.

The project aims at achieving the major objectives of the Watershed Component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana (PMKSY) and for ensuring access to irrigation to every farm (Har Khet Ko Pani) and efficient use of water (Per Drop More Crop).

Concerns addressed by Neeranchal:

• To bring about institutional changes in watershed and rainfed agricultural management practices in the country.

• To build systems that ensure watershed programmes and rainfed irrigation management practices are better focussed, more coordinated and have quantifiable results.

• To devise   strategies   for   the   sustainability   of   improved   watershed management practices in programme areas, even after the withdrawal of project support.

• To support   improved   equity, livelihoods and incomes through forward linkages on a platform of inclusiveness and local participation.

About Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP)

The Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) was launched in 2009-2010 by the integration of various area development programmes of the Department of Land Resources (DoLR), including the Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP), the Desert Development Programme (DDP) and the Integrated Wastelands Development Programme (IWDP). However, the IWMP will be implemented as the Watershed Component of PMKSY from 2015-2016 onwards.

High Level Anil Baijal Panel suggested Uniform Tax Treatment for CSR Works

Union Government appointed committee chaired by Anil Baijal, former Union Home Secretary, on 7 October 2015 submitted its report on how to improve monitoring of CSR spending to government. 
The panel was set up by the Union Corporate Affairs Ministry to suggest steps to improve monitoring of CSR spending.
The panel in its report recommended uniform tax treatment for all CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities under Companies Act 2013 and leniency towards non-compliant companies in the first 2 to 3 years of the law.

Main Highlights of the Report
• It suggests that under the Companies Act, 2013, certain class of profitable entities is required to spend at least 2 percent of their three-year annual average net profit towards CSR activities. The first year of implementation of Companies Act was financial year that lasted from April 2014 to March 2015 and compliance reports would be available by the end 2015.  
• It says that the differential tax treatment for expenditure on various CSR activities may create distortion in the allocation of funds across development sectors.
• It says that there should be uniformity in tax treatment for CSR expenditure across all eligible activities. At present, certain activities such as contribution to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund qualify for exemption.
• It also asked to provide further clarity on applicability of section 135, which deals with CSR provisions.
• It also says that the leniency may be shown to non-compliant entities in initial two or three years to enable them to graduate to a culture of compliance, since these years would be a period of learning for all the stakeholders. The liberal view can be taken at least for smaller companies, it added.
• It says that the government should have no role in monitoring of SCR expenditure by corporate and this should be the job of their respective boards.
• It also suggests that government should have no role to play in engaging external experts for monitoring the quality and efficacy of CSR expenditure of companies.

UNCTAD released Trade and Development Report 2015

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on 6 October 2015 released the Trade and Development Report 2015 at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The report istitled Making the international financial architecture work for development.

Besides reviewing recent trends in the global economy, the report suggested ways to make international financial architecture, including IMF and World Bank, work for development.

Report with respect to trends in the global economy

• Following the 2008−2009 crisis and the rebound in 2010, the global economy has been growing at around 2.5 per cent.
• The growth rate for 2015 is expected to remain more or less unchanged from last year, at 2.5 per cent.
• Developed countries are expected to grow at around 1.9 per cent, compared with 1.6 per cent in 2014, as growth in the eurozone and Japan is experiencing a moderate acceleration, although from very low rates.
• The United States is expected to continue its post-crisis growth trajectory with an estimated growth rate of 2−2.5 per cent, which is below previous recoveries.
• Between 2012 and 2014, world merchandise trade grew between 2 and 2.5 per cent (very similar to the rates of global output). These growth rates are significantly below the average annual rate of 7.2 per cent recorded during the 2003–2007 pre-crisis period.

The report further prescribed following reforms in the global monetary and financial architecture in order to avoid any recurrence of financial crisis of 2008-09 and to augment investments for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 in the given time frame

• To avoid secular stagnation, developed countries need to combine monetary expansion with fiscal expansion and wage growth, and be mindful of the international spillovers that their policies can produce
• To make the provision of official international liquidity more stable and predictable developing countries may build on regional and interregional initiatives, set swap arrangements among Central Banks and reduce the need for reserve accumulation; Swap arrangement between the Bank of Japan and the Reserve Bank of India is a case in point.
• A bolder regulatory agenda should include strict separation of retail and investment banking, strong regulation of shadow banking as well as public oversight of credit rating agencies and their progressive substitution by more appropriate mechanisms for risk assessment
• New sovereign debt restructuring mechanism should be evolved based on a multilateral treaty defining a set of rules for a debt restructuring that restores growth and debt sustainability
• The international community needs to meet its Official Development Assistance commitments and to tune it better to strengthening the productive econom

Report with respect to India

The report projected that India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at 7.5 per cent in 2015 as the pressure on current account deficit has been easing due to the lowering oil prices in the international market.

However, on flip side, India’s export growth (by volume) slowed down from 8.5 per cent in 2013 to 3.2 per cent in 2014 due to the continuing not so optimistic trend in the global economy.

Russia retained 2015 Women’s European Volleyball Championship

Russia on 4 October 2015 won the Women’s European Volleyball Championship title. In the final played at the Sportpaleis Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, Russia defeated Netherlands, 3–0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-20). 
This was the 19th title for Russia. 
Medal Tally 
• Gold: Russia
• Silver: Netherlands
• Bronze: Serbia

Individual Awards
• Most valuable player: Tatiana Kosheleva of Russia
• Best outside Spikers: Tatiana Kosheleva (Russia) and Anne Buijs (Netherlands) 
• Best opposite Spiker: Lonneke Sloetjes (Netherlands)
• Best Setter: Maja Ognjenovic (Serbia)
• Best Middle Blockers: Irina Zaryazhko (Russia) and Eda Erdem Dündar (Turkey)
• Best Libero: Anna Malova (Russia)
• Fair Play Award: Hans Nieukerke (Netherlands)
2015 Women's European Volleyball Championship
2015 Women's European Volleyball Championship was the 29th edition of the tournament. It was jointly hosted by Netherlands and Belgium from 26 September to 4 October 2015.

India’s GDP to grow at 7.5 percent in 2015: UNCTAD

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on 6 October 2015 (UNCTAD) projected that India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at 7.5 per cent in 2015.

It was revealed by the UNCTAD in its Trade and Development Report 2015 entitled Making the international financial architecture work for development.

As per the report, the growth rate for world in 2015 is expected to remain more or less unchanged from last year, at 2.5 per cent.

Highlights of the report with respect to India

• India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at 7.5 per cent in 2015 compared to China’s 6.9 as China rebalances the structure of its demand by concentrating more on exports.
• India’s upward growth will be possible because of lowering oil prices in the international market that will ease pressure on current account deficit.
• India’s export growth (by volume) slowed down from 8.5 per cent in 2013 to 3.2 per cent in 2014.

• Public banks, which account for 62 per cent of Indian bank loans, will find it difficult to meet the Basel III capital requirements between 2015 and 2019.
• India has emerged as an important player in extending development assistance to developing and under developed countries as part of south-south cooperation that takes the form of credit, concessional loans and grants.
• India is one of the few countries where the Public Private Partnership investment is high. Almost 60 per cent of the total private participation in projects recorded in developing countries was in China, Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, Mexico and Turkey.
• It identified potential financial role of south-led multilateral banks including New Development Bank of BRICS and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in both of which India has membership.

Comment

The growth projection for India is in line with recent projections of the World Bank (7.5 %), Fitch (7.5 %) and the RBI (7.4 %).

Also, suggestions of the report for greater structural reforms in the global financial architecture including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are in consistent with India’s argument in favour of reforms in the multilateral institutions.

83rd Air Force Day observed across India

8 October: Indian Air Force Day 
The Air Force Day 2015 was on 8 October 2015 observed across India. This is the 83rd celebration of the Day that began in 1932.

This prestigious occasion was marked with celebrations at the Hindon Air Force Station in Ghaziabad. The event began with a fly past of three Mi-17 V5 helicopters with ensign of the Air Force in a V-shaped formation at the air base in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh.
The parade saw Hercules formation comprising three C-130J aircraft in the same formation.
Background
The Air Force Day was officially celebrated for the first time on 8 October in the year 1932 as an auxiliary air force of Indian Empire. The day was observed to increase the awareness about the importance of Indian air force in any organization of the national security by both officially and publicly. 
The Indian Air Force has been involved in the following operations and wars:
• World War II
• Sino-Indian War
• Operation Cactus
• Operation Vijay
• Kargil War
• Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
• Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
• Congo Crisis
• Operation Poomalai
• Operation Pawan

Indian firm Nualgi won Popular Choice Award at Climate CoLab of MIT

Nualgi, an Indian company with entirely Indian technology in the field of nano biotechnology, on 7 October 2015 won the Popular Choice Awards at the Climate CoLab of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge.

With this, Nualgi became the first Indian company to win the annual MIT contest.

The Indian company had submitted two proposals to reduce power and fuel consumption for sewage treatment and reuse of water built around their nano-scale product called Nualgi for the 2015 edition of the contest.

A panel of judges selected both of their proposals in the Top 10 category. Subsequently, both the proposals won the Popular Choice Awards in voting by general public internationally.

About Nualgi

Bengaluru’s T Sampath Kumar invented Nualgi after 15 years of research and development in nano biotechnology. It is an advanced product used to grow diatom algae in all types and volumes of water, from aquariums to oceans.

Nualgi contains trace, special and appropriate nutrients that can deliver in a biologically available form.

What is MIT’s Climate CoLab?

MIT’s Climate CoLab initiative is a budding community of 50000 people from around the globe, who work together online through a series of interrelated contests focused on different aspects of the climate change problem.

DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman announced retirement

Ellen Kullman, chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DuPont, an American chemical company, on 5 October 2015 announced retirement from her positions effective 16 October 2015. The sudden retirement is supposedly due to a battle with activist investor Nelson Peltz and his investment firm, Trian Fund Management.

DuPont has decided to appoint Edward Breen, chairman of Tyco International Plc and a current member of the DuPont Board of Directors, as the interim chair and CEO.

A former director of General Motors, Kullman had joined DuPont in 1988 as marketing manager in the company's medical imaging business. She was also ranked as the 31st of the 100 Most Powerful Women in 2014 by Forbes.

About DuPont

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, commonly known as DuPont, was founded by Éleuthère Irénée du Pont in 1802. It was initially founded as a gunpowder mill.

The company started developing many kinds of polymers in the 20th century.  It became the world's fourth largest chemical company based on market capitalization in 2014.

IMF released Global Financial Stability Report October 2015

International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 6 October 2015 releasedthe Global Financial Stability Report October 2015entitled Vulnerabilities, Legacies, and Policy Challenges-Risks Rotating to Emerging Markets.

The report assessed key risks facing the global financial system and came up with suggestions to the policy makers to counter them.

The report pointed out that as the advanced economies are on recovery path the time is ripe for them to normalize domestic interest rates. This will result in volatility in the emerging economies that are more integrated with global financial architecture.

With respect to India, the report pointed out that though the credit expansion was relatively more moderate that has not prevented high formation of new stressed loans.

Highlights of the report

• Financial stability has improved in advanced economies since April, but risks continue to rotate toward emerging markets.
• The global financial outlook is clouded by a triad of policy challenges: emerging market vulnerabilities, legacy issues from the crisis in advanced economies, and weak systemic market liquidity.
• The prospect of the U.S. Fed raising interest rates points to an unprecedented adjustment in the global financial system as financial conditions and risk premiums “normalize” from historically low levels alongside rising policy rates and a modest cyclical recovery.
• Although many emerging market economies have enhanced their policy frameworks and resilience to external shocks, several key economies face substantial domestic imbalances and lower growth that is evident from China’s bursting equity bubble.
• Policymakers should have a policy strategy in hand to cope with episodes of dry ups of market liquidity.
• Markets infrastructure reforms should be continued in the emerging markets to make capital markets more efficient and transparent and to absorb any volatility. 
• It cautioned about the growing level of corporate debt in emerging markets, which quadrupled between 2004 and 2014 and advised the authorities to regularly monitor corporate foreign currency exposures.

Hoesung Lee elected as the Head of Inter-governmental Panel for Climate Change

Hoesung Lee, a Korean professor of economics of climate change, energy and sustainable development, was on 6 October 2015 elected as the Head of the Inter-governmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) at its 42nd session in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Lee was elected by 78-56 votes in a run-off with Jean-Pascale van Ypersele of Belgium. A total of six candidates had been nominated for the post. 
He succeeded RK Pachauri of India, who stepped down in February 2015 after a female researcher accused him of sexual harassment.
Lee has served various roles including his role as an executive member of the Korean Academy of Environmental Sciences; as a member of the Asia Development Bank President’s advisory board; as a council member of the Global Green Growth Institute and as an editorial board member of the UK based Climate Policy.
He was the founding president of the Korea Energy Economic Institute and the former president of the International Association for Energy Economics. He also served Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in various capacities, including his post of the Working Group III Co-Chair.

Belarusian author Svetlana Alexievich won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature

Belarusian author Svetlana Alexievich was on 8 October 2015 awarded with the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time. 
She will be awarded with the 8 million Swedish kronor prize money at the annual award ceremony on 10 December 2015.

Svetlana Alexiyevich is a Belarusian investigative journalist and prose writer. In 2014, she was nominated by Ural Federal University to receive the 2014 Nobel Prize in literature.
She was born on 31 May 1948 in the Ukrainian town of Ivano-Frankovsk.
About Svetlana Alexievich's work
Svetlana Alexievich books are described as a literary chronicle of the emotional history of the Soviet and post-Soviet person. Her most notable works in English translation are about first-hand accounts from the war in Afghanistan (Zinky Boys) and a highly praised oral history of the Chernobyl disaster (Voices from Chernobyl).
Her first book War's Unwomanly Face was published in 1985. It was repeatedly reprinted and sold out in more than two million copies. This novel is made up of monologues of women in the war speaking about the aspects of World War II that had never been related before. 
Another book, The Last Witnesses: the Book of Unchildlike Storiesdescribes personal memories of children during war time. In 1993, she published Enchanted with Death, a book about real and attempted suicides due to the downfall of the Soviet Union. 
Alexievich's books have been published in many countries including US, Germany, UK, Japan, Sweden, France, China, Vietnam, Bulgaria and India with a total of 19 countries in all.

The Courage to Act - A Memoir of a Crisis and Its Aftermath by Ben S. Bernanke released

The Courage to Act - A Memoir of a Crisis and Its Aftermath: Ben S. Bernanke 
The book titled The Courage to Act - A Memoir of a Crisis and Its Aftermath authored by Ben S. Bernanke was released in the first week of October 2015.

The author through the book has questioned the inflation targeting policy followed by Federal Reserve even during the recession and in turn has proposed the adoption Nominal Gross Domestic Product (NGDP) policy to better deal with recessions like 2008 Financial Crisis.
The Courage to Act recounts and explains the worst financial crisis and economic slump in America since the Great Depression, providing an insider’s account of the policy response.

ICICI Bank launched mVisa-based Mobile Payment Service

ICICI Bank on 8 October 2015 launched a mobile payment service based on mVisa. The service enables customers to make electronic payments from their smartphones at traditional stores, e-commerce sites, deliveries made at home, radio taxi and utility bills among others.

Currently, this facility has been introduced in Bengaluru with 1500 merchants. However, it will be extended shortly  in other cities as well. 
Highlights of the mVisa-based Mobile Payment Service
• With this service, users of Pockets app can make cashless payments from their smartphones using their debit card by simply scanning a mVisa quick response (QR) code at a merchant location without swiping the card at an EDC machine. 
• The service provides customers the convenience of speed to complete a transaction along with enhanced security as the card remains in possession of the customer. 
• To use this facility, a customer is simply required to click on the mVisa icon on the home screen of the Pockets app. 
• The app automatically activates the camera in the phone, allowing customers to scan the QR code and enter their debit card PIN. 
• This mVisa solution will enable consumers to engage in secure and convenient payments and more easily access funds in their existing bank accounts to make everyday purchases and pay utility bills.

World Sight Day observed on 8 October with theme Eye care for all

8 October: World Sight Day
World Sight Day (WSD) was observed on 8 October 2015 with theme Eye care for all. The global event is observed to draw attention on blindness and vision impairment. 
The Day is an annual day of awareness held on the second Thursday of October, to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairment. 
The day was originally initiated by the SightFirstCampaign of Lions Club International Foundation in 2000. WSD is co-ordinated by International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) under theVISION 2020 Global Initiative.

2015 is the third year of the WHO Global Action Plan. 
International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB)
The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) was established in 1975 as a coordinating, umbrella organisation to lead international efforts in blindness prevention activities. Its first major achievement was to promote the establishment of a WHO programme for prevention of blindness, with which it has remained strongly linked, and which is now embodied in the global initiative, VISION 2020: The Right to Sight.
In September 2013 IAPB approved its new strategic plan 2013-17, which included a revision of our vision and mission.

China launched the first phase of China International Payment System

China on 8 October 2015 launched the first phase of China International Payment System (CIPS), a milestone in bolstering Yuan’s global usage and furthering cross-border clearing of its currency from the Chinese mainland instead of offshore centres abroad.

The launch of the CIPS was expected to boost the Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ) launched in 2013 as a test bed for new reforms. 
About China International Payment System (CIPS)
• Developed and administered by the People's Bank of China, CIPS enables market participants outside China to clear Yuan transactions with their Chinese counterparts directly from 9 am to 8 pm. 
• The CIPS provides capital settlement and clearing services for cross-border Yuan transactions for financial institutions domestically and abroad.
• It will enhance efficiency and increase global use of the Chinese currency.
• CIPS will help shore up China’s real economy and promoting the going abroad strategy of domestic enterprises.
Background
China has encouraged global use of the Yuan in recent years. The central bank designated 10 official Yuan clearing banks in 2014, bringing the total to 14 globally that can clear Yuan transactions with China.
Previously, cross-border Yuan clearing was done either through one of the offshore Yuan clearing banks in places like Hong Kong, Singapore and London, or else with the help of a corresponding bank on the Chinese mainland.
China’s Yuan at present is the world’s fourth most-used payment currency overtaking Japan’s Yen in September 2015, according to global transaction services organisation SWIFT.

Forbes Asia’s Richest Families list released

Forbes on 7 October 2015 released the inaugural list of Forbes' 50 richest families in Asia. The list was topped by Lee (Byung-Chull) family of South Korea with 26.6 billion dollar. The revenue of Lees of Samsung Group in 2014 was equivalent to 22 percent of South Korea’s GDP. 
Forbes on 7 October 2015 released the inaugural list of Forbes' 50 richest families in Asia. The list was topped by Lee (Byung-Chull) family of South Korea with 26.6 billion dollar. The revenue of Lees of Samsung Group in 2014 was equivalent to 22 percent of South Korea’s GDP.

10 richest in the list are

Rank	Name	Net Worth	Source	Citizenship
1	Lee (Byung-Chull) family	26.6 billion dollar	Samsung	South Korea
2	Lee (Shau Kee) family	24.1 billion dollar	Henderson Development	Hong Kong
3	Ambani family	21.5 billion dollar	Reliance Group	India
4	Chearavanont family	19.9 billion dollar	Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group	Thailand
5	Kwok family	19.5 billion dollar	Sun Hung Kai & Co	Hong Kong
6	Kwek / Quek family	18.9 billion dollar	Hong Leong group	Malaysia
7	Premji family	17 billion dollar	Wipro	India
8	Tsai (Wan-Tsai) family	15.1 billion dollar	Cathay Financial	Taiwan
9	Hinduja family	15 billion dollar	Hinduja Group	United Kingdom
10	Mistry family	14.9 billion dollar	Shapoorji Pallonji Group	India

Indian families in the list includes 
• Ambani family of Reliance Group was ranked at 3rd position with combined wealth of 21.5 billion dollar
• Premji family of Wipro was ranked at the 7th position with combined wealth of 17 billion dollar
• Mistry family of Shapoorji Pallonji Group was ranked at 10th position with wealth of 14.9 billion dollar
• Goodrej family of Godrej Group was ranked at 15th position with wealth of 11.4 billion dollar
• Mittal family of ArcelorMittal was ranked at 19th position with combined wealth of 10.1 billion dollar
• Birla family of Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd. was ranked at 22nd position with combined wealth of 7.8 billion dollar
• Bajaj family of Bajaj Group was ranked at 29th position with combined wealth of 5.6 billion dollar
• Burman family of Dabur India Ltd. was ranked at 30th position with combined wealth of 5.5 billion dollar
• Patel family of Cadila Healthcare was ranked at 33rd position with combined wealth of 4.8 billion dollar
• Lal family of Eicher Group was ranked at 40th position with combined wealth of 4 billion dollar
• Bangur family of Shree Cement was ranked at 42nd position with combined wealth of 3.9 billion dollar
• Jindal family of Jindal Group was ranked at 43rd position with combined wealth of 3.8 billion dollar
• Munjal family of Hero Group was ranked at 46th position with combined wealth of 3.2 billion dollar
• Hamied family of Cipla was ranked at 50th position with combined wealth of 2.9 billion dollar

Nearly half of the richest families in Asia are of Chinese descent, yet India with 14 in the list has the most spots from any jurisdiction. This is because most of the richest families in China are based out of the mainland, where conglomerates are young, run by the first generation able to muster billions of dollars in wealth in an open economy.

The qualifying criteria
To qualify, a family’s wealth and participation in building that fortune has to extend at least three generations and the minimum net worth required to qualify was 2.9 billion dollars. The valuations were based on stock prices and exchange rates on 25 September 2015.

A R Rehman chosen for 2015 Hridaynath Mangeskar Award

A R Rehman was on 8 October 2015 chosen for the 2015 Hridaynath Mangeskar Award.

The Academy award winning music composer and singer was chosen by the Hridayesh Art for his contribution to the Indian music in his career spanning over two decades.

He is expected to receive the award from veteran film maker Subhash Ghai on 26 October 2015 at a function in Mumbai.

About Hridaynath Mangeskar Award

• It was instituted by Hridayesh Art, a Mumbai- based socio-cultural organisation in honour of music composer and singer Hridaynath Mangeskar.
• Hridaynath is the son of noted musician Deenanath Mangeshkar and younger brother of Indian music legends Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle.
• The annual award is given since 2011 in recognition of contributions to Indian music.
• Recepeints of the earlier awards were-Lata Mangeshkar, Amitabh Bachchan, Sulochana Tai and Asha Bhosle.

Bombay HC ruled against ITAT order on Vodafone transfer pricing case

The Bombay high court on 8 October 2015 ruled against the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) order on 3700 crore rupees Vodafone transfer pricing case.

The verdict was delivered by High Court division bench of Justices S C Dharmadhikari and Anil Menon while hearing a petition filed by the Vodafone against the ITAT verdict.

The ITAT, in its earlier order, directed Vodafone to comply with the demand of 3700 crore rupees issued by the Income Tax (I-T) authorities.

The tax demand dates back to 2007-2008 involving the sale of Vodafone India Services Private Ltd. (VISPL), the call centre business of Vodafone, to Hutchison.

As per the I-T authorities, the transaction attracts the provisions of capital gain tax; hence, Vodafone is liable to pay the tax.

However, the Vodafone challenged the order arguing that the sale of the call centre business was between two domestic companies; hence, the transfer pricing norms are not applicable to the deal.

Swine Flu Vaccination for High-risk Groups made mandatory by Delhi Government

Government of Delhi on 8 October 2015 made swine flu vaccination mandatory for high-risk groups.

A decision in this regard was taken by Delhi’s health minister Satyendar Jain during a review meeting on the preparedness for dealing with the H1N1 virus (swine flu).

Under the mandatory vaccination, doctors, nurses and other paramedics in both government and private hospitals and high-risk groups like children, senior citizens and pregnant women will be provided free vaccination.

The government took this decision as reports suggest that swine flu is spreading in many parts of the country.

Besides the mandatory vaccination, the Education Department of Delhi will also appoint nodal teachers in schools to make students and staff aware of the preventive steps against the H1N1 virus.

These measures are in addition to the February 2015 decision that capped maximum charge levied by private labs on influenza testing at 4500 rupees.

Amrita Sher-Gil self-portrait sold for 17 crore rupees in London

An untitled self-portrait of renowned modernist painter Amrita Sher-Gil was sold for around 17 crore rupees in London at an auction by international auction house Sotheby’s on 8 October 2015.

The eminent painter had created the self-portrait in 1931 and gave it to French artist Boris Taslitzky.

In addition, the Modern and Contemporary South Asia Art auction, a part of the Indian Art Week in London, fetched record-breaking prices for the works of four artists Gagendranath Tagore, Prodosh Das Gupta, Gieve Patel and Nasreen Mohamedi.

Amrita Sher-Gil, also known as India’s Frida Kahlo, was born to a Punjabi Sikh father and a Hungarian Jewish mother on 30 January 1913 in Budapest, Hungary.

She was considered as one the most remarkable woman painter of the 20th century India, whose legacy stands at par with that of the Masters of Bengal Renaissance. She was also the most expensive woman painter of India. She died on 5 December 1941 at the age of 28 in Lahore, Pakistan.

Music composer AR Rahman named as Cultural Ambassador of Seychelles

Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman was on 8 October 2015 named as the Cultural Ambassador of Seychelles for his contribution in enhancing the country’s Art and Culture Development.

One of the most globally popular Indian music icons, Rahman has won two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe, besides national recognition in his illustrious career.
Despite of all these awards, Rahman will also receive the fifth Hridaynath Mangeshkar award 2015 on 26 October 2015 by veteran filmmaker Subhash Ghai on the birth anniversary of Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar, the late younger brother of legendary playback singers Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle.

Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet won the Nobel Peace Prize 2015

Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet won the Nobel Peace Prize 2015. It was announced by the Kaci Kullman Five, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee on 9 October 2015.

It was awarded for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of Jasmine revolution of 2011.

The Quartet was picked from the pool of 273 nominees with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Pope Francis among the list of top contenders to win the prize.

The first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly in 1901 to Jean Henry Dunant, founder of International Committee of Red Cross and French peace activist and economist Frederic Passy.

About Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet
The Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet comprised four key organizations in Tunisian civil society. These are:
• The Tunisian General Labour Union
• The Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts
• The Tunisian Human Rights League
• The Tunisian Order of Lawyers

FIFA suspended President Sepp Blatter, VP Michel Platini and Secretary General Jerome Valcke

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the governing body of association football, futsal and beach football, on 8 October 2015 provisionally suspended its president Sepp Blatter, secretary general Jerome Valcke and vice-president Michel Platini for 90 days.

FIFA’s ethics committee handed out the punishments due to alleged charges of corruption on Blatter, Valcke and Platini.

The association also banned ex-FIFA vice-president Chung Mong-joon for six years.

Issa Hayatou, head of Africa's football confederation (Caf), will act as the interim FIFA president during Blatter's ban.

Blatter, Platini, who is also the football administrator of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), and Valcke were banned from any football activity in the interim.

Sepp Blatter has served as the 8th president of FIFA since June 1998. However, after the ban, he is not allowed to represent the football's world governing body in any capacity.

However, the UEFA saw no need to remove Michel Platini from his position of football administrator.

The 2015 FIFA corruption case

• The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI) started an investigation, which mostly focused on collusion between officials of continental football bodies CONMEBOL (South America) and CONCACAF and sports marketing executives.

• The first arrest in the case was made in July 2013 of Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) former president Jack Warner’s son Daryll.

• After an investigation, the FBI and the IRS-CI charged 14 people with wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering in May 2015.

• On 27 May 2015, seven current FIFA officials were arrested at the Hotel Baur au Lac in Zürich. The officials were preparing to attend the 65th FIFA Congress, which was scheduled to include the election of the president of FIFA. Allegedly, they received 50 million US dollars in bribes.

• Former CONCACAF president Jack Warner and marketing executive Alejandro Burzaco surrendered themselves to police after a raid in CONCACAF headquarters in Miami.

• After the case was disclosed, Australia, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Switzerland ordered for separate criminal investigations into top FIFA officials for corruption.

Gannett Co agreed to acquire Journal Media for 280 million US dollars

A publicly traded media holding company, Gannett Company, Inc., on 7 October 2015 reached an agreement to acquire newspaper company Journal Media Group for approximately 280 million US dollars. After the agreement, Gannett will have control of publications in more than 100 local markets in the United States.

Under the terms of the transaction, Journal Media Group shareholders will receive cash of 12 US dollars per share in cash. Gannett will finance the transaction through a combination of cash on hand and borrowings under Gannett’s 500 million US dollars revolving credit facility.

About Gannett Company, Inc.

Gannett Co was founded by Frank Gannett in 1906 in Rochester, New York. At present, the company is headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia.

Gannett is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It publishes daily USA Today and the weekly USA Weekend.

About Journal Media Group

Journal Media Group, formerly known as Journal Communications, is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based newspaper publishing company, which was founded in 1882.

Journal Media was an outcome of a merger between E.W. Scripps Co and Journal Communications' newspaper operations in April 2015.

World Post Day observed globally

9 October: World Post Day 
World Post Day was observed globally on 9 October 2015 with the theme Posts claim their place in the changing communication landscape. The day marks the date of establishment of Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1874 in Bern, Switzerland. 
The UPU was the start of global communications revolution, allowing people could write to others all over the world.

World Post Day is observed to create awareness of the role of the postal sector in people’s and businesses’ everyday lives as well as its contribution to the social and economic development of countries.
The celebration encourages member countries to undertake programme activities aimed at generating broader awareness of their Post’s role and activities among the public and media on a national scale.

World Post Day celebrations in India 
In India, the day is celebrated as a part of the National Postal Week and it continues till 15 October. This week is observed in different forms and they are 
• 11 October – Savings Bank Day
• 12 October –Mail Day
• 13 October –Philately Day
• 14 October – Postal Life Insurance Day 
• 15 October – Business Development Day 
About World Post Day 
The day is observed annually on the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1874 in the Swiss Capital, Bern. 
Universal Postal Union Congress held in Tokyo, Japan in 1969 declared a day to be observed as the World Post Day. Since that declaration, the day is being observed and celebrated in different countries across the world. 
At the time of establishment in 1874, UPU had 22 founding member countries but at present it has 192 member countries.

British researchers developed mobile app ASCmeI.T to help people with autism

British researchers on 2 October 2015 developed a new mobile app named ASCmeI.T that will help people with autism in the development of new technologies for their own use. The app was developed by a consortium of researchers from the Universities of Southampton, Bath and Sussex.

ASCmeI.T is a simple yet highly effective way to enable people with autism to get their voices heard and to allow the creativity of a previously neglected group to be realised. This free mobile app can be downloaded on both Android and Apple devices.
The app enables people with Autism Spectrum Conditions as well as families, teachers, professionals and anyone who supports someone with autism to share their ideas on what kind of new technology would be of best help.
Through the app, users can upload a one-minute video explaining their idea, which will be shared with researchers so that new developments in digital technologies for autism can be matched to support the needs of users.
Autism Spectrum Conditions
Autism is a brain disorder that often makes it hard to communicate with and relate to others. With autism, the different areas of the brain fail to work together. 
Autism is characterized by:
• Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts
• Restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests, or activities
• Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (typically recognized in the first two years of life)
• Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning
Autism is the world's third most common development disorder. According to the National Autistic Society, one in every 100 people suffers from autism which accounts to close to 700000 autistic people in the UK. 
Another statistical report by Centres for Disease Control and Prevention of United States says that around 1 in every 68 American children suffers from autism. And in case of India, close to 15 million people suffer from Autism at present.

World Egg Day Observed across the world

Second Friday of October: World Egg Day
20th World Egg Day was observed on 9 October 2015 across the world. The Day is a unique opportunity to help raise awareness of the benefits of eggs and is celebrated in countries all around the world.

Countries all around the world celebrate the day by highlighting the benefits of eggs. Festivals, charitable events and city celebrations form part of the celebrations of the day for recognition of this small but mighty food source. Eggs are the source of life and a symbol of fertility.
Now part of the World Egg Organisation, World Egg Day provides the perfect platform for reminding us all of the many health benefits of eating eggs. 
World Egg Day was established at the International Egg Commission (IEC) Vienna 1996 conference when it was decided to celebrate World Egg Day on the second Friday in October each year.
Celebration of World Egg Day in India
As decided by the Union Government, the 20th World Egg Day was celebrated in four cities of the country- Bhubaneswar, Lucknow, Mumbai and Vijayawada. In Vijayawada, cultural programmes promoting consumption of eggs and contests were held to mark the World Egg Day celebrations.
The National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC) is conducting several programmes to promote awareness about the nutritional value of the egg as part of the World Egg Day campaign. The celebrations included contests in making egg-based preparations with participation from hoteliers, students and the people.
India is the third largest egg producer in the world after China and USA. The Per Capita Egg consumption in Andhra Pradesh is 99 eggs per year against the national average of 68 eggs and the recommendation of National Nutrition Council is of 180 eggs per head per annum.

Benefits of Eggs
• The egg white consists primarily of water (87 percent) and protein (13 percent) with all the essential amino acids in the right ratios. 
• Eggs also contain decent amounts of vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, folate, selenium and zinc.
• Eggs are highly fulfilling and help in losing weight.
• The egg, which comes in a unique shell of its own, is the only farm product that cannot be adulterated.

CGPCS reconfigured piracy High Risk Area in the Indian Ocean

The Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) on 2 October 2015 reconfigured the Indian Ocean piracy High Risk Area (HRA).

As per the reconfiguration, the eastern limit of the HRA has been reverted back to the 65 degrees east from the 78 degrees east longitude limit that has been in force since June 2010.

A decision in this regard was taken by the European Union Chair of the CGPCS and will come into effect from 1 December 2015.

The decision to minimize the limit was taken in view of the progress made in fighting piracy in the west coast of India that is evident from the fact that there was not a single incident of piracy in the HRA since 2012.

What is piracy HRA?

The High Risk Area (HRA) is a designated area where it is considered there is a higher risk of piracy and within which self-protective measures are required to protect shipping and seafarers.

The declaration of an area as HRA mandate that all the ships plying in the area should adopt Best Management Practices (BMP) like deployment of armed personnel on board the vessels, subscribing to insurance, travelling through designated sea lanes, etc.

By utilizing this mechanism, a piracy High Risk Area (HRA) was declared by the CGPCS in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean in 2010 to fight piracy off the Somalia coast.

However, since its inception the HRA has become controversial as it restricted the movement of ships and resulted on higher costs by the shipping industry.

The problem of over costs and security concerns has been a concern for India as well that strongly pressed for the present reconfiguration of the HRA limits.

Importance of reconfiguration to India

The reconfiguration holds much significance to India as its shipping industry has been facing higher costs since the extension of the eastern limit to 78 degrees east longitude.

Besides, the extension of HRA also caused much strain on the coastal security environment as the vessels travelling in the Arabian Sea were forced to travel in the sovereign territorial waters along India’s west coast.

These vessels having armed personnel on board sometimes led to security mishaps as happened in the Enrica Lexie, Italian merchant ship, incident that led to killing of two Indian fishermen.

About CGPCS

• It is a coalition of states, international organisations, the private sector and civil society that came together to fight piracy together in a coordinated manner.
• It was established in response to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1851 (2008), later recalled and replaced with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1918 (2010).
• It works on the basis of Contact Group model that facilitates discussion and coordination of actions among states and organizations to suppress Somali piracy.
• Till now, more than 60 countries and international organizations, including India, have become part of this forum.
• The European Union is the Chairperson of the CGPCS for two years-2014 and 2015. 
• The EU will hand over the Chairmanship of the Contact Group to the Republic of Seychelles in 2016.

V20 Group launched by Vulnerable Nations to Foster Greater Investment in Climate Resiliency

Finance Ministers of 20 nations vulnerable to climate change launched the V20 Group on 8 October 2015. The Group launched was during the annual meeting of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Lima, Peru.

The Group aims to pool resources for their fight against the impact of global warming and is a counterpoint to the G20 group of leading industrialised and emerging economies.
With the launch, the V20 Group Finance Ministers also held their inaugural meeting which was chaired by Cesar Purisima, Finance Minister of the Philippines.

Main Highlights of the V20 Group Meet

• They committed to act collectively to foster a significant increase of public and private finance for climate action from wide-ranging sources, including international, regional and domestic mobilization.
• They agreed to establish a sovereign V20 Climate Risk Pooling mechanism to distribute economic and financial risks arising due to climate change and ensure enhanced security for jobs, livelihoods, businesses and investors.
• V20 countries committed to develop or improve their financial accounting models and methodologies to enhance accounting of climate change costs, risks and response co-benefits in all their forms.
• They voiced support for an international financial transaction tax to aid the mobilization of additional resources for the fight against climate change.
• They also called for improved access to international climate change finance for adaptation and mitigation action, the fulfillment of the 100 billion dollars commitment to the Green Climate Fund.
• They also called for acceleration towards a 50:50 balance in resources mobilized given prevailing shortfalls for initiatives to adapt to climate change.

Background

The establishment of the V20 was conceptualised in the 2013 – 2015 Costa Rica Action Plan of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF). The V20 Group represents close to 700 million people threatened by climate change.

The V20 members, all CVF participating countries, comprise: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Nepal, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

Joint Declaration of the Heads of the Migration Authorities of the BRICS countries released

The Joint Declaration of the Heads of the Migration Authorities of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations was released on 9 October 2015 after the first BRICS Ministerial meeting on Migration. The meeting was held in Sochi, Russia.

The declaration guided by the Ufa Declaration and the commitment to respect human rights is a major milestone so far as orderly and legal migration amongst BRICS countries is concerned.

The members also resolved to combat and prevent transnational organized crime in line with the Ufa declaration.

The Indian delegation to the meeting was led by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju.

Following is the Text of the Joint declaration:

• Affirm the interest of BRICS countries in exchanging views and sharing experience on migration issues
• Acknowledge the interrelationship between transnational migration and development and the need to deal with the opportunities and challenges that migration presents and take advantage of its positive impacts
• Reaffirm the openness of the BRICS to deepen collaboration with other countries, international and regional organizations, based on principle of equality and mutual respect for discussing and addressing the issue of international migration including the facilitation of safe and orderly migration
• Acknowledge the impact of migration to the social and economic development and demographic situation in the BRICS countries
• Express the interest of BRICS countries in sharing best practices in the development and implementation of national migration policies or procedures
• Acknowledge the relevance of cooperation in the field of migration in the BRICS space
• Recognize the importance of promoting the mobility of skilled workers in the space of the BRICS countries
• Reiterate the commitment to combat and prevent organized criminal human trafficking and migrant smuggling
• Welcome strengthening of the dialogue and cooperation in the field of migration, including migration policies, procedures and strategies as well as working meetings of representatives of the migration authorities of the BRICS countries

The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Shanghai Cooperation Council (SCO), Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and other International bodies on migration.

7 october

Three-member Achary panel recommended 400% hike in basic salary of Delhi MLAs

A three-member committee chaired by PDT Achary, former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha, on 6 October 2015 submitted its report on MLAs’ salary packages to Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel. The other two members were KV Prasad and Balraj Malik.
In its 21-page unanimous report, the commission favoured 400 percent hike in the basic salary of the MLAs of Delhi, that is, from 12000 rupees to 50000 rupees per month, in addition to a slew of allowances for purposes ranging from travel to office furniture.

Overall, the hike recommended has been 138 percent.
Main highlights of the Report 
• Total salary and allowances of MLAs have been recommended to be enhanced from the present 88000 rupees per month to 2.10 lakh per month.
• It recommended a reimbursable sum of 70000 rupees per month as allowance under Secretarial, Research and Office Assistance head which is 30000 rupees at present.
• It recommended an allowance of 25000 rupees for office rental and related utilities, which would allow them to meet expenditure on office space and other essential amenities provided by government agencies.
• The committee has also suggested a communication allowance of 10000 rupees per month as well as 30000 rupees as monthly conveyance allowance for each MLA.
• It recommended hike of daily allowance of each MLA during every sitting if the House or its committees from 1000 rupees to 2000 rupees.
• It recommended that the one-time allowance of MLAs should be increased significantly with one time office furnishing allowance of 1 lakh rupees, 60000 rupess for purchasing office equipment and a vehicle loan of 12 lakh rupees, which is 4 lakh rupees at present.
• The committee has also recommended a hike in monthly pension from the existing 7500 rupees to 15000 rupees per month for first term of membership and an additional pension of 1000 rupees per month for every successive year of membership beyond the first term.
• The family pension has been recommended at 50 percent of the pension being paid to a deceased member or an ex-member.
• The committee's recommendations also include a maximum reimbursable travel allowance of 3 lakh rupees per annum for each MLA and his dependents by air, rail, road or steamer.
• It also favoured a 10 percent raise in the basic salary, 5000 rupees per month, after every 12 months, from the date on which new salary and allowances come into force.

Now the report of the committee will be sent to Assembly's Committee of Salary and Allowances for consideration. Thereafter the government will consider it and, if accepted, come up with a Bill, to the effect. 
Background
In July 2015, a group of AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) legislators demanded a significant hike in salary, arguing their earnings were not enough to run their family and offices.
The salary of lawmakers was last increased by 100 percent in September 2011 by the then Sheila Dikshit government.

Sergey Karjakin won the 2015 FIDE World Chess Cup

Russia’s Sergey Karjakin on 5 October 2015 emerged victorious in the 2015 FIDE World Chess Cup beating Peter Svidler by 6-4 in the final. It was held in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, from 10 September 2015 to 5 October 2015.

Karjakin and Svidler, both from Russia, won two classical games each. However, the title was decided in the tie-breakers.

In the tie-breaker, Karjakin won the opening rapid game, but Svidler came strongly back by winning the next two. However, Karjakin won the fourth rapid game to draw level. In the end, Karjakin took the tie-breaker by 6-4.

By reaching the final, the pair has qualified for the 2016 Candidates Chess Tournament.

The Chess World Cup is the highly regarded tournaments in chess after the World Championship and the Candidates Tournament.

About Sergey Karjakin

Sergey Karjakin is Russian chess grandmaster who was born in Ukraine on 12 January 1990.

Karjakin has competed in six Chess Olympiads, three times for Ukraine and three times for Russia, winning three gold medals, two silvers and a bronze.

The Clintons' War on Women authored by Roger Stone and Robert Morrow

The Clintons' War on Women: Roger Stone and Robert Morrow 
The book titled The Clintons' War on Women authored by Roger Stone and Robert Morrow was in news in first week of October 2015. It came into news as it claims that Hillary Clinton who is running for the US President as an advocate of women and girls is in actual volatile and prone to violent outbursts that terrorize even her own husband.

The New York Times bestselling author Roger Stone and researcher and alternative historian Robert Morrow through this book reveals how Bill and Hillary Clinton systematically abused women and others—sexually, physically, and psychologically—in their scramble for power and wealth. They together map the arc of Bill and Hillary’s crimes and cover ups. 
They reveal details about their actions in Arkansas, during Bill Clinton’s time in the White House, about who really ordered the deadly attack on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, during Hillary’s tenure as secretary of state, about their time at the Clinton Foundation, and during Hillary’s current campaign for president.
The book will be released on 13 October 2015.

INS Astradharani commissioned into Indian Navy

The Indian Navy on 6 October 2015 commissioned the first indigenously-designed and built torpedo launch and recovery vessel INS Astradharani at the Naval Base in Visakhapatnam. This 50-metre twin-hulled warship is also the first to be built at a private yard with armament fixtures.

The ship was collaboratively designed by Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) of DRDO, Shoft Shipyard and IIT Kharagpur. The design of the ship was tested at the facilities at the NSTL. It is an advanced replacement for INS Astravahini which was decommissioned on 17 July 2015. 
After commissioning, the ship entered the Eastern Fleet.

About INS Astradharini
• INS Astradharani will be used to carry out the technical trials of underwater weapons and systems developed by NSTL. 
• The ship has a complement of two officers and 27 sailors and can carry 13 scientists.
• The catamaran hull configuration in the ship significantly reduces its power requirement.
• With a length of 50 m, the vessel can undertake multiple trials during a single sortie and is fully equipped with all modern amenities that warships have.
The induction of INS Astradharani adds thrust to the Nation’s ongoing endeavours towards indigenisation and achieving the nation’s goal of self reliance in underwater weapons development.

2016 Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Conference to be held in New Delhi

The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Conference 2016 will be held in New Delhi from 8 January to 10 January 2016. 
The PBD Conference 2016 will be organised with an objective for developing a new paradigm for engagement with the Diaspora over the next decade.

The 2016 PBD Conference will be an attempt to do an expert study on various issues concerning the Diaspora and areas of mutual benefit to India and to them, while the previous PBDs focused only on meetings with the Diaspora. 
The traditional PBD convention will be held every alternative year, with the partner State.  Such a convention would be held in 2017.
Beside this, the Union Government also announced that it will organise the 9th Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (RPBD) at Los Angeles California, USA on the 14 November and 15 November 2015.

IMF released World Economic Outlook October 2015 Update

International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 6 October 2015 released World Economic Outlook (WEO) October 2015 Update titled Adjusting to Lower Commodity Prices.
The report projects global growth for 2015 at 3.1 percent, which is 0.3 percentage point lower than in 2014, and 0.2 percentage point below the forecasts in the July 2015 World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update.

India’s growth is expected to strengthen from 7.3 percent 2015 and last year to 7.5 percent in 2016. Also, Domestic demand in India is projected to remain strong.

Global Outlook for 2015-16
• Global growth is projected to decline from 3.4 percent in 2014 to 3.1 percent in 2015, before picking up to 3.6 percent in 2016 
• The decline in growth in 2015 reflects a further slowdown in emerging markets, partially offset by a modest pickup in activity in advanced economies—particularly in the euro area. This pickup, supported by the decline in oil prices and accommodative monetary policy, will modestly narrow output gaps.
• The decline in growth in emerging markets, for the fifth year in a row, reflects a combination of factors and they are 
a) Weaker growth in oil exporters
b) Slowdown in China
c) The pattern of growth becomes less reliant on investment
d) Weaker outlook for exporters of other commodities, including in Latin America, following price declines
• The sizable pickup in projected 2016 growth reflects stronger performance in both emerging market and advanced economies. 
• Among emerging market and developing economies, growth in countries in economic distress in 2015 including Brazil, Russia, and some countries in Latin America and in the Middle East, while remaining weak or negative, is projected to be higher than in 2015. Domestic demand in India is projected to remain strong.
• These developments more than offset the projected continuation of the slowdown in China. Among advanced economies, higher growth reflects a strengthening recovery in Japan, the United States, and the euro area, as output gaps gradually close.
Global Inflation
• Inflation is projected to decline in 2015 in advanced economies, reflecting primarily the impact of lower oil prices. 
• The pass-through of lower oil prices into core inflation is expected to remain moderate, in line with recent episodes of large changes in commodity prices. 
• In emerging market and developing economies, the inflation rate is projected to increase in 2015, but this reflects the sharp increase in the inflation forecast for Venezuela (more than 100 percent in 2015) and Ukraine (about 50 percent). 
• Excluding these countries, inflation in emerging market and developing economies in 2015 is projected to decline from 4.5 percent in 2014 to 4.2 percent in 2015.
• In advanced economies, inflation is projected to rise in 2016 and thereafter, but to remain generally below central bank targets. 
• In emerging market and developing economies, inflation is projected to decline in 2016, with markedly lower inflation in countries that experienced sizable depreciation in recent months, such as Russia and to a lesser extent Brazil.
External Sector Developments
• World trade growth is projected to remain modest, as in the past two years.
• A pickup in trade is forecast for advanced economies. 
• For emerging markets import growth is projected to decline further, reflecting weakening domestic demand and depreciating exchange rates, but export growth is projected to increase, sustained by higher oil exports from the Middle East and the pickup of domestic demand in advanced economies.
Projection about India
Growth in India is expected to rise above the rates in other major emerging market economies.

India’s growth is expected to strengthen from 7.3 percent 2015 and last year to 7.5 percent in 2016. Growth will benefit from recent policy reforms, a consequent pickup in investment, and lower commodity prices. 
On inflation, the report said in India, inflation is expected to decline further in 2015, reflecting the fall in global oil and agricultural commodity prices. 
Risks to the Global Outlook
The distribution of risks to global growth remains tilted to the downside. Compared to the risk assessment in the April 2015 WEO, downside risks to growth for emerging market and developing economies have increased. These downside risks are 
• Risks from China’s growth transition
• More protracted commodity market rebalancing
• Increased foreign-currency exposure of corporate balance sheets
• Capital flow reversals associated with disruptive asset price shifts
• A Further Sizable Strengthening of the U.S. Dollar
• Geopolitical Risks
In advanced economies, contagion risks from Greece related events to other euro area economies, while lower than earlier in the year, remain a concern, as do risks from protracted weak demand and low inflation. 
Oil price declines since June (and lagged effects from previous declines) could imply some upside risk to domestic demand and growth in oil importers.

India, Germany signed 125 million Euros Loan Agreement to fund two projects under Green Energy Corridor

Government of India and Federal Republic of Germany (KFW) on 5 October 2015 signed two loan agreements worth 125 million Euros for financing two projects under the Green Energy Corridor programme. These two projects are in Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

Germany will fund 57 million Euros for projects in Himachal Pradesh and 68 million Euros for Andhra Pradesh.

What is Green Energy Corridor programme?

Green Energy Corridor programme seeks to facilitate the flow of renewable energy into the national grid. In other words, it is aimed at synchronising electricity produced from renewable sources, such as solar and wind, with conventional power stations in the grid.

This comprehensive transmission plan was prepared by POWERGRID Corporation of India Limited in 2012 and it entails a total cost of 43000 crore rupees.

In April 2013 during the second Indo-German Government Consultations in Berlin, Germany committed developmental and technical assistance of 1 billion euro for the project.

Renewable Energy is one of the key areas of India-German partnership. It was mentioned in the Joint Statement of Hannover in April 2015.

Ashok Vemuri resigned as CEO of iGate Corporation

The Infosys veteran Ashok Vemuri on 6 October 2015 resigned from his position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of iGATE Corporation.

Vemuri joined the US-based iGate as CEO in September 2013. When Capgemini announced the acquisition, he held 400000 shares of iGate. The shares were valued at over 19 million US dollar in April 2015.

Vemuri was born on 22 April 1968. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in physics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi, and completed his master’s degree in business management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

In 2013, he was listed in the 50 Outstanding Asian Americans in Business by the Asian American Business Center.

About iGATE Corporation

iGATE is an IT services company, headquartered in Bridgewater, New Jersey. It was founded in 1966 and currently operates in North America, Asia, Europe, Japan and Australia.

The Nasdaq-listed corporation was acquired by French IT services group Capgemini on 27 April 2015 for 4.04 billion US dollars

Raif Badawi, James Fenton shared 2015 PEN Pinter Prize

Saudi blogger and activist Raif Badawi and British poet and critic James Fenton were on 6 October 2015 awarded with the 2015 PEN Pinter Prize. Badawi was named as the 2015 International Writer of Courage by Fenton himself during a public event held at the British Library in London.

Fenton officially accepted the 2015 PEN Pinter Prize at the event. He delivered a lecture written for the occasion, which was published in a limited edition by Faber & Faber. Fenton was selected for this prestigious award in June 2015 itself. 
While, due to Badawi's imprisonment, his award was accepted by Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia and campaigner for Raif Badawi.
About Raif Badawi's Incident
Raif Badawi has been a case of concern to English PEN since he was first imprisoned in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 2012 for setting up a website called Saudi Liberal Network challenging Saudi government. In May 2014, he received a fine of 1 million riyals along with a ten year prison sentence and was sentenced to 1000 lashes. 
He was charged against violating the Islamic values and propagating liberal thought. The public flogging of Badawi in January 2015 sparked global outrage. Since then, the campaign for his case spearheaded by his wife Ensaf Haidar has gathered international support.
An anthology of his writings 1000 Lashes: Because I Say What I Think, was also published in the UK in September 2015 by Greystone Books.

WWF Report Hidden Himalayas: Asia’s Wonderland released

World Wide Fund (WWF) on the day of World Habitat Day, that is, 5 October 2015 released Hidden Himalayas: Asia’s Wonderland report. The Eastern Himalayas spans Bhutan, the north-eastern Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Sikkim, North Bengal, the trans-boundary landscape of Terai Arc, far north of Myanmar, Nepal and southern Tibet.
According to the report, 211 new species like sneezing monkey, walking fish and jewel-like snake, were discovered in the Eastern Himalayas region between 2009 and 2014. On an average 34 new species were discovered annually for the past six years.

The 211 new species include 133 plants, 39 invertebrates, 26 fish, 10 amphibians, one reptile, one bird and one mammal. These species were found by scientists from various organizations.

This volume and diversity of discoveries highlight the region as one of the most biologically diverse places on Earth. 

Top unique species discovered in the region 
• Bulbophyllum Nepalense: It was for the first time reported from Nepal. The new species was collected from Shivapuri National Park, Kathmandu at an altitude of 2300 meters. The species has oblong dorsal sepals, the elliptic petals and oblong decurved ligulate lip with narrow pseudobulbs.
• Vibrant blue dwarf ‘walking’ snakehead fish (Channa Andrao):Discovered from Lefraguri swamp, West Bengal can breathe atmospheric air and survive on land for up to four days, although moving in a manner much clumsier than a slithering snake.
• Koponenius Unicorns: It is a millipede and represents the first westernmost indigenous representatives of Haplodesmidae reported from the Himalayas of Nepal and India. Its 19 body segments are unique among millipede species.
• Mycomya Jeti: Discovered by Dr. Rauno Vaisanen, a Finnish taxonomist is one among the seven species of mosquito discovered. It is named after the abominable snowman of the Himalayas - the Yeti and another one after his wife’s first name, Mycomya anneliae.
• Elachura Formosa: The spotted wren-babbler discovered in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar belongs to a unique family of birds which contains no other known species.
• Leptobrachium Bompu: A striking blue-eyed 47-mm frog was discovered at an altitude of 2000-m in Arunachal Pradesh, the second most heavily forested state in India.
• Parachiloglanis Bhutanensis: The first endemic fish species to Bhutan found nowhere else in the world and its common name, Khaling Torrent Catfish is in reference to the village of Khaling.
• Megophrys Ancrae: A rare endemic horned frog was discovered in Deban, Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve, Changlang district, Arunachal Pradesh. Commonly known as the litter frogs, Megophryids range in size from 2 to 12.5 cm in length.
• Rhinopithecus Strykeri: Critically endangered monkey without nose was found in Kachin state of Myanmar. It is nicknamed as Snubby.
• Danionella Dracula (Dracula Fish): Discovered in Myanmar, the fish represent the largest group of vertebrates and while the majority of fish are found in oceans almost as many can be found in freshwater habitats.
• Protobothrops Himalayansus: The bejeweled lance-headed pit viper was found in Tibet, Norther Sikkim, India and Western Bhutan. It is believed to be a new addition to the Asian pitviper genus Trimeresurus.
Threat to the region and ecosystem
The report also underscored dire threats and challenges faced by the ecosystem across the region spanning Bhutan, north-east India, Nepal, north Myanmar and the southern parts of Tibet.
It also found that as a consequence of development, only 25% of the original habitats in the region remain intact and hundreds of species that live in the Eastern Himalayas are considered globally threatened.
Some of the threats to the region include climate change; by far the most serious, population growth, deforestation, overgrazing, poaching, the wildlife trade, mining, pollution and hydropower development have all contributed to the pressures on the fragile ecosystems in the region.
The stakes are high as the Himalayas are home to at least 10000 plant species, 300 mammal species, 977 bird species, 176 reptiles, 105 amphibians and 269 types of freshwater fish.

Solution to protect the ecology of the region 
To protect the region’s rich diversity of flora and fauna, the WWF is involved in supporting the countries of the Eastern Himalayas’ progress towards green economies that value ecosystems and the services they provide to the millions of people in the region.  
For this purpose, it runs the WWW Living Himalayas Initiative that urges a strong regional collaboration to ensure that people in this region, live within the ecological means and remain within the boundaries of one planet.
It also develops and support programmes that help secure a brighter future for the region’s people and biodiversity, including its rich array of species.

2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar

Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar were on 7 October 2015 jointly awarded with the 2015 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for having mapped how cells repair damaged DNA and safeguard the genetic information at a molecular level.

All the three laureates will share the prize money of 8 million Swedish kronor equally. Tomas Lindahl is from the Francis Crick Institute, UK; Paul Modrich is from Duke University School of Medicine, USA and Aziz Sancar belongs to University of North Carolina School of Medicine, USA.

Their work provided fundamental knowledge of how a living cell functions and how it is used for the development of new cancer treatments. 
How cells repair damaged DNA?
Each day our DNA is damaged by UV radiation, free radicals and other carcinogenic substances, but even without such external attacks, a DNA molecule is inherently unstable. Thousands of spontaneous changes to a cell’s genome occur on a daily basis. 
Defects can also arise when DNA is copied during cell division, a process that occurs several million times every day in the human body. The reason our genetic material does not disintegrate into complete chemical chaos is that a host of molecular systems continuously monitor and repair DNA. 
However, these three pioneering scientists have mapped that how several repair systems function at a detailed molecular level. Tomas Lindahl demonstrated that DNA decays at a rate that ought to have made the development of life on Earth impossible. This insight led him to discover molecular machinery named Base Excision Repair which constantly counteracts the collapse of our DNA.
Aziz Sancar mapped Nucleotide Excision Repair, the mechanism that cells use to repair UV damage to DNA. People born with defects in this repair system will develop skin cancer if they are exposed to sunlight. The cell also utilises nucleotide excision repair to correct defects.
Furthermore, Paul Modrich demonstrated how the cell corrects errors that occur when DNA is replicated during cell division. This mechanism,Mismatch Repair, reduces the error frequency during DNA replication by about a thousand fold.

8 october

Union Cabinet approved Productivity Linked Bonus for railway employees

The Union Cabinet on 7 October 2015 approved the payments of Productivity-Linked Bonus (PLB) equivalent to 78 days’ wages for the financial year 2014-2015 to about 12.58 lakh non-gazetted railway employees excluding RPF/RPSF personnel.

It is estimated that the total payment of 78 days' PLB to railway employees will be around 1030.02 crore rupees.

The wage calculation ceiling prescribed for payment of PLB to the eligible non-gazetted railway employees is 3500 rupees per month. The maximum amount payable per eligible railway employee is 8975 rupees for 78 days. This is in disparity to the productivity-linked bonus equivalent to a month’s wage paid to other central government employees and even public sector units such as NTPC.

Between 2010-2011 and 2013-2014, railway officials had also received the same bonus amount, equivalent to 78 days’ pay, with a wage ceiling of 3500 rupees.

NCC National Games declared open

The Director General of the National Cadet Corps Lt. General Aniruddha Chakravarty on 7 October 2015 inaugurated the NCC National Games-2015 at DG NCC Camp, Delhi Cantt. The game will witness nearly 2000 cadets from all 17 state directorates in action.

The NCC Games aims at identifying the sportsperson in the cadets and provide them with a feel of a major sporting event and prepare them with essential match temperament and further their sporting careers.

In addition, the game showcases and promotes low cost indigenous games such as Kabbadi and Kho-Kho among the youth.

The NCC National Games will run for over 11 days from 7 October 2015 to 17 October 2015. The games will see competitions in seven sports disciplines, Football, Hockey, Athletics, Kabbadi, Kho-Kho, Volleyball and Shooting.

About National Cadet Corps (NCC)

The National Cadet Corps (NCC) is the Indian military cadet corps which was firstly started in Germany in 1666. The NCC in India was formed with the National Cadet Corps Act of 1948 and was first raised on 15 July 1948.

NCC adopted its motto Unity & Discipline on 23 December 1957.

Union Cabinet approved setting up of three AllMS under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7 October 2015 approved the setting up of three new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AllMS) under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY).

These three new AIIMS will come up at Nagpur in Maharashtra, at Manglagiri in Andhra Pradesh and at Kalyani in West Bengal.

All the three AIIMS will cost 4949 crore rupees to the exchequer with AIIMS at Manglagiri costing 1618 crore rupees, at Nagpur costing 1577 crore rupees and at Kalyani costing 1754 crore rupees respectively.

These AIIMS will be established as institutes of national importance for providing quality medical education, nursing education and also to provide tertiary healthcare facilities to the people of these locations.

Further, the proposed institution will have a hospital with capacity of 960 beds. In addition, these will also have an AYUSH block, nursing college, hostel and residential facilities among others.

Benefits

• Setting up of these AIIMS will address regional imbalances in availability of affordable and reliable tertiary health care services in these regions.
• It will augment the facilities of quality medical education and would also address the shortfall of health care professionals in these regions.
• The large populations of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra (Vidarbha) and West Bengal along with adjoining States and region will be beneficiary of this project.

The setting up of AIIMS at Mangalagiri fulfils the promise made under the Andhra Pradesh re-organization Act 2014 that provides for establishment of one AIIMS type institute in the successor State of Andhra Pradesh.

Background

Under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY) launched in 2006, so far six AIIMS have been made functional. Also construction of AIIMS, Rae Barely is under progress.

The AIIMS which have become functional are at Patna (Bihar), Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Bhubaneswar (Orissa), Jodhpur (Rajasthan) and Rishikesh (Utaranchal).

Union Cabinet approved Framework for Cooperation in Blue Economy between India and Seychelles

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on 7 October 2015 gave its ex-post facto approval to the protocol for cooperation in the field of blue economy.
India and Seychelles signed the protocol to this effect on 26 August 2015 during the visit of the President of Seychelles James Michel to India.
The protocol lays down the modalities and mechanism of cooperation between the two parties for ocean studies as well as scientific exploration and exploitation of sea based resources, for sustainable development and economic purposes.

How the Protocol will be beneficial for India?
• The cooperation will enhance India’s strategic cooperation in the field of blue economy; commercial benefits from export of human resources, expertise and technology and it will increase India’s access to ocean-based resources in cooperation with Seychelles. 
• Cooperation with Seychelles in blue economy will provide new data on ocean-based resources and also provide for sharing of expertise and technology developed by Indian scientists and research institutes. It will also help domestic innovation in the field of ocean research and technology.

What is Blue Economy?
The Blue Economy is a developing world initiative pioneered by SIDS (Small Island Developing States) but relevant to all coastal states and countries with an interest in waters beyond national jurisdiction.
It conceptualises oceans as “Development Spaces” where spatial planning integrates conservation, sustainable use, oil and mineral wealth extraction, bio-prospecting, sustainable energy production and marine transport. 
The Blue Economy breaks the mould of the business as usual “brown” development model where the oceans have been perceived as a means of free resource extraction and waste dumping; with costs externalised from economic calculations. 
Rather, the concept incorporates ocean values and services into economic modelling and decision-making processes.

SC refused to modify its order limiting Aadhaar use to LPG, Kerosene and PDS

Supreme Court of India (SC) on 7 October 2015 refused to modify its order of August 11 limiting the use of Aadhaar card for LPG connection, kerosene disbursement and foodgrain distribution under Public Distribution System (PDS).

The refusal order was passed by a three-member bench of apex court headed by Justice J Chelameswar and comprising of Justices SA Bobde and C Nagappan. However, bench while refusing to modify its order referred the issue to a larger SC bench.

The court directed the registry to put all the applications seeking clarification/modification before Chief Justice HL Dattu for appropriate order.

What is August 11 order of SC?

On 11 August 2015, the SC had ruled that Aadhaar card will remain optional for availing welfare schemes and the authorities were barred from using it for the purposes other than PDS and LPG distribution system.

The order led Union Government, RBI, SEBI, IRDA, TRAI, Pension Fund Regulatory Authority and states like Gujarat and Jharkhand to move the apex court, wherein they pitched strongly for voluntary use of Aadhaar cards for providing benefits of various welfare schemes.

Why relaxation demanded by government?

Aadhaar is central to many schemes including Jan Dhan Yojana and Digital India campaign and with the Supreme Court's order now restricting its use, there are doubts as to whether these schemes will take a hit.

Over 90 crore citizens have already been issued Aahaar cards by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and crores of rupees had been spent on the UIDAI scheme to connect six lakh villages with various welfare measures.

Further, the Aadhaar cards would help in stopping fake withdrawal of money arising out of welfare scheme.

Why restriction was put?

It was argued that the Aadhaar cards will be made mandatory for availing benefits of welfare schemes.

These cards will encroach upon an individual’s privacy, especially in the absence of any oversight or regulation and information collected during enrolment could possibly be misused.

The arguments had led SC in March 2014 to rule that these cards will not be mandatory and termed Aadhaar as optional and barred the authorities from sharing personal biometric data collected for enrolment under the scheme.

What is Aadhaar card?

Aadhaar card is a unique identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), established in 2009, to the citizens. Under the programme, every citizen is to be provided with a 12-digit unique identification number for which biometric information is collected.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited to India

German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited India between 4 October and 6 October 2015. On her arrival, she was received at the airport by the Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha. 
Prime Minister Modi and Chancellor Merkel held discussions on a wide range of issues of mutual interest, including deepening bilateral engagement in defence, security, education, renewable energy, skill development and agriculture.

Important events held during Merkel’s stay in India are
• Indo-German Summit 2015 was held in Bengaluru on 6 October 2015.
• Indo-German Joint Statement on Climate Change and Energy Technology Cooperation was released on 5 October 2015.
• 3rd Indo German Inter-Governmental Consultations take place in New Delhi and a Joint Statement on the IGC was also released on 5 October 2015. IGC is a unique Summit-level dialogue with Cabinet participation of both governments that helps advance bilateral partnership across areas of mutual interest.
• Eighteen MoUs/Agreements were inked between the two countries. 
• Prime Minister and Chancellor Angela Merkel visited of German automotive major Bosch Engineering and Innovation Centre in Bengaluru.
• The two countries signed deals worth 2.25 billion dollars (around 14600 crore rupees) on German investment in developing India's clean energy corridors and solar energy industry, ahead of the crucial UN climate change talks to be held in Paris in December 2015.
Apart from this, during this visit of Merkel to India, Germany returned a 10th century Durga idol which had gone missing from a temple in Kashmir over two decades back to India. Mahishasuramardini avatar that was stolen from a temple at Pulwama in Kashmir in the 1990s was handed over by Merkel to Modi after their talks in New Delhi. 
In 2012, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) received a tip-off that the idol was spotted at the Linden Museum, Stuttgart. 
India and Germany are strategic partners since 2001. Germany is India’s largest trading partner in the European Union and the seventh largest foreign investor in India.

Cyclist Deborah Herold became first-ever Indian to win five medals at Taiwan Cup

Indian cyclist Deborah Herold in the first week of October 2015 bagged one gold, three silver and one bronze medal at the 2015 Taiwan Cup held at the Hsin Chu Velodrome, Hsin-Chu city in Taiwan. With this, she became the first ever Indian cyclist to win in women's elite section.

Deborah fetched the gold medal in Taiwan Cup Track International Classic I by defeating the Malaysian top rider. On the other hand, she ended on second place in the keirin event and 500m time trial.

In November 2014, the Indian cyclist had won four gold medals at the Track Asia Cup Cycling Championship 2014.

About Deborah Herold

20-year-old Deborah is a tribal girl from Andaman and Nicobar Islands who survived the 2004 Tsunami that devastated the islands. She was trained at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Andaman and emerged as one of the rising stars of Indian cycling.

Union Cabinet approved Protocol on Double Taxation Avoidance with Israel and Vietnam

The Union Cabinet on 7 October 2015 approved the Protocol between India and Israel and between Indian and Vietnam for avoidance of double taxation and for prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital.

The Protocol with both the countries provides for internationally accepted standards for effective exchange of information on tax matters including bank information and information without domestic tax interest. 
With this, the information received from Israel and Vietnam in respect of a resident of India can be shared with other law enforcement agencies with authorisation of the Competent Authority of both the countries and vice versa. 
Besides, the Protocol with Israel also provides for Limitation of Benefits Article as an anti-abuse provision aimed at preventing misuse of the Convention. The provisions of this Article enable use of the provisions of domestic law and measures concerning tax avoidance or evasion in the event of misuse of the Convention. 

Background:
The existing Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) between Indian and Israel was signed in 1996 and between India and Vietnam was signed in 1994. 
Both the countries concurred with India to update Article 27 on the Exchange of Information in DTAC signed with India to meet internationally accepted standards and added a new Article on Assistance in the Collection of taxes.

NGT directed commercial vehicles entering Delhi to pay Pollution Tax in addition to toll

National Green Tribunal (NGT) on 7 October 2015 directed all commercial vehicles, including trucks, entering Delhi to pay an environmental compensation charge in addition to the toll tax. 
Now, the two-axle vehicles will have to pay 700 rupees, three-axle vehicles will have to pay 1000 rupees while four-axle vehicles will have to 500 rupees as an environmental tax charge. This tax is apart from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) toll already levied on them.
This amount collected in the form of environment compensation by the check posts would be paid to Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), which will maintain a separate account with an aim to improve air quality in Delhi.

The decision of levying the environmental charge on the commercial vehicles by the NGT bench headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar, who noted that there is no dispute over the fact that vehicular pollution is one of the main causes of air pollution in Delhi. 
Apart from this, the court also made it clear that all vehicles destined for other places like Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan other than Delhi should be diverted from Panipat at NH-71A and NH- 71 (Panipat-Rohtak-Jhajjar-Bawal) for the purpose. 
These vehicles usually use Delhi as cheap transit point as the toll tax levied on the heavy vehicles in Delhi is 600 rupees while it varies from 930 rupees to 1550 rupees in Haryana, depending on the kind of trucks entering the state. 
Besides, the NGT also asked the Joint Commissioners of Delhi and Haryana Police (Traffic) to deliberate on an alternate route from Gurgaon and Ghaziabad. It also directed the Haryana government and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to expedite the work on Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressways to ease traffic congestion in the Capital. 
World Health Organisation (WHO) study in May 2015 ranked Delhi as the most polluted city in the world among 1600 cities for levels of PM2.5 or particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns.

Union Cabinet approved construction of National War Memorial in Delhi

The Union Cabinet on 7 October 2015 approved the construction of National War Memorial and a National War Museum at Princess Park near India Gate, Delhi in memory of all Indian soldiers who have made the supreme sacrifice for the country post-independence. 
The estimated cost of the project will be around 500 crore rupees and the total time for completion of the entire project is estimated to be five years.

This prestigious project will be monitored by an empowered Steering Committee chaired by Defence Secretary and assisted by a dedicated project management team, to ensure that the proposed project is completed within scheduled time frame.
Post commissioning of the project, a management body will be formed for maintenance of the National War Memorial and Museum. 
The memorial will promote a sense of patriotism in the minds of visitors, and will award an opportunity to citizens of this vast nation, to express their token sense of gratitude to the brave soldiers. The museum will capture these poignant moments in history and bring out the variegated nature of soldier's commitments. 

Background
Post-Independence, more than 22500 soldiers have made the supreme sacrifice in national interests and in defence of the sovereignty and integrity of the country since 1947. However, even after 69 years of Independence, no memorial to commemorate the martyrs has been constructed till date. 
The proposal to build the country’s first national memorial for soldiers, who laid down their lives in post Independence, has been pending since the 1960s.

CCEA approved World Bank assisted National Watershed Management project Neeranchal

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 7 October 2015 approved implementation of the World Bank assisted National Watershed Management Project Neeranchal with a total outlay 2142.30 crore rupees.

The project will be implemented at the national level as well as in the nine states of Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana.

The government’s share in the project is 50 percent and the rest cost will be borne by the World Bank.

The project aims at achieving the major objectives of the Watershed Component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana (PMKSY) and for ensuring access to irrigation to every farm (Har Khet Ko Pani) and efficient use of water (Per Drop More Crop).

Concerns addressed by Neeranchal:

• To bring about institutional changes in watershed and rainfed agricultural management practices in the country.

• To build systems that ensure watershed programmes and rainfed irrigation management practices are better focussed, more coordinated and have quantifiable results.

• To devise   strategies   for   the   sustainability   of   improved   watershed management practices in programme areas, even after the withdrawal of project support.

• To support   improved   equity, livelihoods and incomes through forward linkages on a platform of inclusiveness and local participation.

About Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP)

The Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) was launched in 2009-2010 by the integration of various area development programmes of the Department of Land Resources (DoLR), including the Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP), the Desert Development Programme (DDP) and the Integrated Wastelands Development Programme (IWDP). However, the IWMP will be implemented as the Watershed Component of PMKSY from 2015-2016 onwards.

High Level Anil Baijal Panel suggested Uniform Tax Treatment for CSR Works

Union Government appointed committee chaired by Anil Baijal, former Union Home Secretary, on 7 October 2015 submitted its report on how to improve monitoring of CSR spending to government. 
The panel was set up by the Union Corporate Affairs Ministry to suggest steps to improve monitoring of CSR spending.
The panel in its report recommended uniform tax treatment for all CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities under Companies Act 2013 and leniency towards non-compliant companies in the first 2 to 3 years of the law.

Main Highlights of the Report
• It suggests that under the Companies Act, 2013, certain class of profitable entities is required to spend at least 2 percent of their three-year annual average net profit towards CSR activities. The first year of implementation of Companies Act was financial year that lasted from April 2014 to March 2015 and compliance reports would be available by the end 2015.  
• It says that the differential tax treatment for expenditure on various CSR activities may create distortion in the allocation of funds across development sectors.
• It says that there should be uniformity in tax treatment for CSR expenditure across all eligible activities. At present, certain activities such as contribution to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund qualify for exemption.
• It also asked to provide further clarity on applicability of section 135, which deals with CSR provisions.
• It also says that the leniency may be shown to non-compliant entities in initial two or three years to enable them to graduate to a culture of compliance, since these years would be a period of learning for all the stakeholders. The liberal view can be taken at least for smaller companies, it added.
• It says that the government should have no role in monitoring of SCR expenditure by corporate and this should be the job of their respective boards.
• It also suggests that government should have no role to play in engaging external experts for monitoring the quality and efficacy of CSR expenditure of companies.

UNCTAD released Trade and Development Report 2015

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on 6 October 2015 released the Trade and Development Report 2015 at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The report istitled Making the international financial architecture work for development.

Besides reviewing recent trends in the global economy, the report suggested ways to make international financial architecture, including IMF and World Bank, work for development.

Report with respect to trends in the global economy

• Following the 2008−2009 crisis and the rebound in 2010, the global economy has been growing at around 2.5 per cent.
• The growth rate for 2015 is expected to remain more or less unchanged from last year, at 2.5 per cent.
• Developed countries are expected to grow at around 1.9 per cent, compared with 1.6 per cent in 2014, as growth in the eurozone and Japan is experiencing a moderate acceleration, although from very low rates.
• The United States is expected to continue its post-crisis growth trajectory with an estimated growth rate of 2−2.5 per cent, which is below previous recoveries.
• Between 2012 and 2014, world merchandise trade grew between 2 and 2.5 per cent (very similar to the rates of global output). These growth rates are significantly below the average annual rate of 7.2 per cent recorded during the 2003–2007 pre-crisis period.

The report further prescribed following reforms in the global monetary and financial architecture in order to avoid any recurrence of financial crisis of 2008-09 and to augment investments for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 in the given time frame

• To avoid secular stagnation, developed countries need to combine monetary expansion with fiscal expansion and wage growth, and be mindful of the international spillovers that their policies can produce
• To make the provision of official international liquidity more stable and predictable developing countries may build on regional and interregional initiatives, set swap arrangements among Central Banks and reduce the need for reserve accumulation; Swap arrangement between the Bank of Japan and the Reserve Bank of India is a case in point.
• A bolder regulatory agenda should include strict separation of retail and investment banking, strong regulation of shadow banking as well as public oversight of credit rating agencies and their progressive substitution by more appropriate mechanisms for risk assessment
• New sovereign debt restructuring mechanism should be evolved based on a multilateral treaty defining a set of rules for a debt restructuring that restores growth and debt sustainability
• The international community needs to meet its Official Development Assistance commitments and to tune it better to strengthening the productive econom

Report with respect to India

The report projected that India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at 7.5 per cent in 2015 as the pressure on current account deficit has been easing due to the lowering oil prices in the international market.

However, on flip side, India’s export growth (by volume) slowed down from 8.5 per cent in 2013 to 3.2 per cent in 2014 due to the continuing not so optimistic trend in the global economy.

Russia retained 2015 Women’s European Volleyball Championship

Russia on 4 October 2015 won the Women’s European Volleyball Championship title. In the final played at the Sportpaleis Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, Russia defeated Netherlands, 3–0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-20). 
This was the 19th title for Russia. 
Medal Tally 
• Gold: Russia
• Silver: Netherlands
• Bronze: Serbia

Individual Awards
• Most valuable player: Tatiana Kosheleva of Russia
• Best outside Spikers: Tatiana Kosheleva (Russia) and Anne Buijs (Netherlands) 
• Best opposite Spiker: Lonneke Sloetjes (Netherlands)
• Best Setter: Maja Ognjenovic (Serbia)
• Best Middle Blockers: Irina Zaryazhko (Russia) and Eda Erdem Dündar (Turkey)
• Best Libero: Anna Malova (Russia)
• Fair Play Award: Hans Nieukerke (Netherlands)
2015 Women's European Volleyball Championship
2015 Women's European Volleyball Championship was the 29th edition of the tournament. It was jointly hosted by Netherlands and Belgium from 26 September to 4 October 2015.

India’s GDP to grow at 7.5 percent in 2015: UNCTAD

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on 6 October 2015 (UNCTAD) projected that India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at 7.5 per cent in 2015.

It was revealed by the UNCTAD in its Trade and Development Report 2015 entitled Making the international financial architecture work for development.

As per the report, the growth rate for world in 2015 is expected to remain more or less unchanged from last year, at 2.5 per cent.

Highlights of the report with respect to India

• India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at 7.5 per cent in 2015 compared to China’s 6.9 as China rebalances the structure of its demand by concentrating more on exports.
• India’s upward growth will be possible because of lowering oil prices in the international market that will ease pressure on current account deficit.
• India’s export growth (by volume) slowed down from 8.5 per cent in 2013 to 3.2 per cent in 2014.

• Public banks, which account for 62 per cent of Indian bank loans, will find it difficult to meet the Basel III capital requirements between 2015 and 2019.
• India has emerged as an important player in extending development assistance to developing and under developed countries as part of south-south cooperation that takes the form of credit, concessional loans and grants.
• India is one of the few countries where the Public Private Partnership investment is high. Almost 60 per cent of the total private participation in projects recorded in developing countries was in China, Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, Mexico and Turkey.
• It identified potential financial role of south-led multilateral banks including New Development Bank of BRICS and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in both of which India has membership.

Comment

The growth projection for India is in line with recent projections of the World Bank (7.5 %), Fitch (7.5 %) and the RBI (7.4 %).

Also, suggestions of the report for greater structural reforms in the global financial architecture including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are in consistent with India’s argument in favour of reforms in the multilateral institutions.

83rd Air Force Day observed across India

8 October: Indian Air Force Day 
The Air Force Day 2015 was on 8 October 2015 observed across India. This is the 83rd celebration of the Day that began in 1932.

This prestigious occasion was marked with celebrations at the Hindon Air Force Station in Ghaziabad. The event began with a fly past of three Mi-17 V5 helicopters with ensign of the Air Force in a V-shaped formation at the air base in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh.
The parade saw Hercules formation comprising three C-130J aircraft in the same formation.
Background
The Air Force Day was officially celebrated for the first time on 8 October in the year 1932 as an auxiliary air force of Indian Empire. The day was observed to increase the awareness about the importance of Indian air force in any organization of the national security by both officially and publicly. 
The Indian Air Force has been involved in the following operations and wars:
• World War II
• Sino-Indian War
• Operation Cactus
• Operation Vijay
• Kargil War
• Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
• Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
• Congo Crisis
• Operation Poomalai
• Operation Pawan

Indian firm Nualgi won Popular Choice Award at Climate CoLab of MIT

Nualgi, an Indian company with entirely Indian technology in the field of nano biotechnology, on 7 October 2015 won the Popular Choice Awards at the Climate CoLab of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge.

With this, Nualgi became the first Indian company to win the annual MIT contest.

The Indian company had submitted two proposals to reduce power and fuel consumption for sewage treatment and reuse of water built around their nano-scale product called Nualgi for the 2015 edition of the contest.

A panel of judges selected both of their proposals in the Top 10 category. Subsequently, both the proposals won the Popular Choice Awards in voting by general public internationally.

About Nualgi

Bengaluru’s T Sampath Kumar invented Nualgi after 15 years of research and development in nano biotechnology. It is an advanced product used to grow diatom algae in all types and volumes of water, from aquariums to oceans.

Nualgi contains trace, special and appropriate nutrients that can deliver in a biologically available form.

What is MIT’s Climate CoLab?

MIT’s Climate CoLab initiative is a budding community of 50000 people from around the globe, who work together online through a series of interrelated contests focused on different aspects of the climate change problem.

DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman announced retirement

Ellen Kullman, chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DuPont, an American chemical company, on 5 October 2015 announced retirement from her positions effective 16 October 2015. The sudden retirement is supposedly due to a battle with activist investor Nelson Peltz and his investment firm, Trian Fund Management.

DuPont has decided to appoint Edward Breen, chairman of Tyco International Plc and a current member of the DuPont Board of Directors, as the interim chair and CEO.

A former director of General Motors, Kullman had joined DuPont in 1988 as marketing manager in the company's medical imaging business. She was also ranked as the 31st of the 100 Most Powerful Women in 2014 by Forbes.

About DuPont

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, commonly known as DuPont, was founded by Éleuthère Irénée du Pont in 1802. It was initially founded as a gunpowder mill.

The company started developing many kinds of polymers in the 20th century.  It became the world's fourth largest chemical company based on market capitalization in 2014.

IMF released Global Financial Stability Report October 2015

International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 6 October 2015 releasedthe Global Financial Stability Report October 2015entitled Vulnerabilities, Legacies, and Policy Challenges-Risks Rotating to Emerging Markets.

The report assessed key risks facing the global financial system and came up with suggestions to the policy makers to counter them.

The report pointed out that as the advanced economies are on recovery path the time is ripe for them to normalize domestic interest rates. This will result in volatility in the emerging economies that are more integrated with global financial architecture.

With respect to India, the report pointed out that though the credit expansion was relatively more moderate that has not prevented high formation of new stressed loans.

Highlights of the report

• Financial stability has improved in advanced economies since April, but risks continue to rotate toward emerging markets.
• The global financial outlook is clouded by a triad of policy challenges: emerging market vulnerabilities, legacy issues from the crisis in advanced economies, and weak systemic market liquidity.
• The prospect of the U.S. Fed raising interest rates points to an unprecedented adjustment in the global financial system as financial conditions and risk premiums “normalize” from historically low levels alongside rising policy rates and a modest cyclical recovery.
• Although many emerging market economies have enhanced their policy frameworks and resilience to external shocks, several key economies face substantial domestic imbalances and lower growth that is evident from China’s bursting equity bubble.
• Policymakers should have a policy strategy in hand to cope with episodes of dry ups of market liquidity.
• Markets infrastructure reforms should be continued in the emerging markets to make capital markets more efficient and transparent and to absorb any volatility. 
• It cautioned about the growing level of corporate debt in emerging markets, which quadrupled between 2004 and 2014 and advised the authorities to regularly monitor corporate foreign currency exposures.

Hoesung Lee elected as the Head of Inter-governmental Panel for Climate Change

Hoesung Lee, a Korean professor of economics of climate change, energy and sustainable development, was on 6 October 2015 elected as the Head of the Inter-governmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) at its 42nd session in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Lee was elected by 78-56 votes in a run-off with Jean-Pascale van Ypersele of Belgium. A total of six candidates had been nominated for the post. 
He succeeded RK Pachauri of India, who stepped down in February 2015 after a female researcher accused him of sexual harassment.
Lee has served various roles including his role as an executive member of the Korean Academy of Environmental Sciences; as a member of the Asia Development Bank President’s advisory board; as a council member of the Global Green Growth Institute and as an editorial board member of the UK based Climate Policy.
He was the founding president of the Korea Energy Economic Institute and the former president of the International Association for Energy Economics. He also served Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in various capacities, including his post of the Working Group III Co-Chair.

Belarusian author Svetlana Alexievich won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature

Belarusian author Svetlana Alexievich was on 8 October 2015 awarded with the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time. 
She will be awarded with the 8 million Swedish kronor prize money at the annual award ceremony on 10 December 2015.

Svetlana Alexiyevich is a Belarusian investigative journalist and prose writer. In 2014, she was nominated by Ural Federal University to receive the 2014 Nobel Prize in literature.
She was born on 31 May 1948 in the Ukrainian town of Ivano-Frankovsk.
About Svetlana Alexievich's work
Svetlana Alexievich books are described as a literary chronicle of the emotional history of the Soviet and post-Soviet person. Her most notable works in English translation are about first-hand accounts from the war in Afghanistan (Zinky Boys) and a highly praised oral history of the Chernobyl disaster (Voices from Chernobyl).
Her first book War's Unwomanly Face was published in 1985. It was repeatedly reprinted and sold out in more than two million copies. This novel is made up of monologues of women in the war speaking about the aspects of World War II that had never been related before. 
Another book, The Last Witnesses: the Book of Unchildlike Storiesdescribes personal memories of children during war time. In 1993, she published Enchanted with Death, a book about real and attempted suicides due to the downfall of the Soviet Union. 
Alexievich's books have been published in many countries including US, Germany, UK, Japan, Sweden, France, China, Vietnam, Bulgaria and India with a total of 19 countries in all.

The Courage to Act - A Memoir of a Crisis and Its Aftermath by Ben S. Bernanke released

The Courage to Act - A Memoir of a Crisis and Its Aftermath: Ben S. Bernanke 
The book titled The Courage to Act - A Memoir of a Crisis and Its Aftermath authored by Ben S. Bernanke was released in the first week of October 2015.

The author through the book has questioned the inflation targeting policy followed by Federal Reserve even during the recession and in turn has proposed the adoption Nominal Gross Domestic Product (NGDP) policy to better deal with recessions like 2008 Financial Crisis.
The Courage to Act recounts and explains the worst financial crisis and economic slump in America since the Great Depression, providing an insider’s account of the policy response.

ICICI Bank launched mVisa-based Mobile Payment Service

ICICI Bank on 8 October 2015 launched a mobile payment service based on mVisa. The service enables customers to make electronic payments from their smartphones at traditional stores, e-commerce sites, deliveries made at home, radio taxi and utility bills among others.

Currently, this facility has been introduced in Bengaluru with 1500 merchants. However, it will be extended shortly  in other cities as well. 
Highlights of the mVisa-based Mobile Payment Service
• With this service, users of Pockets app can make cashless payments from their smartphones using their debit card by simply scanning a mVisa quick response (QR) code at a merchant location without swiping the card at an EDC machine. 
• The service provides customers the convenience of speed to complete a transaction along with enhanced security as the card remains in possession of the customer. 
• To use this facility, a customer is simply required to click on the mVisa icon on the home screen of the Pockets app. 
• The app automatically activates the camera in the phone, allowing customers to scan the QR code and enter their debit card PIN. 
• This mVisa solution will enable consumers to engage in secure and convenient payments and more easily access funds in their existing bank accounts to make everyday purchases and pay utility bills.

World Sight Day observed on 8 October with theme Eye care for all

8 October: World Sight Day
World Sight Day (WSD) was observed on 8 October 2015 with theme Eye care for all. The global event is observed to draw attention on blindness and vision impairment. 
The Day is an annual day of awareness held on the second Thursday of October, to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairment. 
The day was originally initiated by the SightFirstCampaign of Lions Club International Foundation in 2000. WSD is co-ordinated by International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) under theVISION 2020 Global Initiative.

2015 is the third year of the WHO Global Action Plan. 
International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB)
The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) was established in 1975 as a coordinating, umbrella organisation to lead international efforts in blindness prevention activities. Its first major achievement was to promote the establishment of a WHO programme for prevention of blindness, with which it has remained strongly linked, and which is now embodied in the global initiative, VISION 2020: The Right to Sight.
In September 2013 IAPB approved its new strategic plan 2013-17, which included a revision of our vision and mission.

China launched the first phase of China International Payment System

China on 8 October 2015 launched the first phase of China International Payment System (CIPS), a milestone in bolstering Yuan’s global usage and furthering cross-border clearing of its currency from the Chinese mainland instead of offshore centres abroad.

The launch of the CIPS was expected to boost the Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ) launched in 2013 as a test bed for new reforms. 
About China International Payment System (CIPS)
• Developed and administered by the People's Bank of China, CIPS enables market participants outside China to clear Yuan transactions with their Chinese counterparts directly from 9 am to 8 pm. 
• The CIPS provides capital settlement and clearing services for cross-border Yuan transactions for financial institutions domestically and abroad.
• It will enhance efficiency and increase global use of the Chinese currency.
• CIPS will help shore up China’s real economy and promoting the going abroad strategy of domestic enterprises.
Background
China has encouraged global use of the Yuan in recent years. The central bank designated 10 official Yuan clearing banks in 2014, bringing the total to 14 globally that can clear Yuan transactions with China.
Previously, cross-border Yuan clearing was done either through one of the offshore Yuan clearing banks in places like Hong Kong, Singapore and London, or else with the help of a corresponding bank on the Chinese mainland.
China’s Yuan at present is the world’s fourth most-used payment currency overtaking Japan’s Yen in September 2015, according to global transaction services organisation SWIFT.

Forbes Asia’s Richest Families list released

Forbes on 7 October 2015 released the inaugural list of Forbes' 50 richest families in Asia. The list was topped by Lee (Byung-Chull) family of South Korea with 26.6 billion dollar. The revenue of Lees of Samsung Group in 2014 was equivalent to 22 percent of South Korea’s GDP. 
Forbes on 7 October 2015 released the inaugural list of Forbes' 50 richest families in Asia. The list was topped by Lee (Byung-Chull) family of South Korea with 26.6 billion dollar. The revenue of Lees of Samsung Group in 2014 was equivalent to 22 percent of South Korea’s GDP.

10 richest in the list are

Rank	Name	Net Worth	Source	Citizenship
1	Lee (Byung-Chull) family	26.6 billion dollar	Samsung	South Korea
2	Lee (Shau Kee) family	24.1 billion dollar	Henderson Development	Hong Kong
3	Ambani family	21.5 billion dollar	Reliance Group	India
4	Chearavanont family	19.9 billion dollar	Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group	Thailand
5	Kwok family	19.5 billion dollar	Sun Hung Kai & Co	Hong Kong
6	Kwek / Quek family	18.9 billion dollar	Hong Leong group	Malaysia
7	Premji family	17 billion dollar	Wipro	India
8	Tsai (Wan-Tsai) family	15.1 billion dollar	Cathay Financial	Taiwan
9	Hinduja family	15 billion dollar	Hinduja Group	United Kingdom
10	Mistry family	14.9 billion dollar	Shapoorji Pallonji Group	India

Indian families in the list includes 
• Ambani family of Reliance Group was ranked at 3rd position with combined wealth of 21.5 billion dollar
• Premji family of Wipro was ranked at the 7th position with combined wealth of 17 billion dollar
• Mistry family of Shapoorji Pallonji Group was ranked at 10th position with wealth of 14.9 billion dollar
• Goodrej family of Godrej Group was ranked at 15th position with wealth of 11.4 billion dollar
• Mittal family of ArcelorMittal was ranked at 19th position with combined wealth of 10.1 billion dollar
• Birla family of Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd. was ranked at 22nd position with combined wealth of 7.8 billion dollar
• Bajaj family of Bajaj Group was ranked at 29th position with combined wealth of 5.6 billion dollar
• Burman family of Dabur India Ltd. was ranked at 30th position with combined wealth of 5.5 billion dollar
• Patel family of Cadila Healthcare was ranked at 33rd position with combined wealth of 4.8 billion dollar
• Lal family of Eicher Group was ranked at 40th position with combined wealth of 4 billion dollar
• Bangur family of Shree Cement was ranked at 42nd position with combined wealth of 3.9 billion dollar
• Jindal family of Jindal Group was ranked at 43rd position with combined wealth of 3.8 billion dollar
• Munjal family of Hero Group was ranked at 46th position with combined wealth of 3.2 billion dollar
• Hamied family of Cipla was ranked at 50th position with combined wealth of 2.9 billion dollar

Nearly half of the richest families in Asia are of Chinese descent, yet India with 14 in the list has the most spots from any jurisdiction. This is because most of the richest families in China are based out of the mainland, where conglomerates are young, run by the first generation able to muster billions of dollars in wealth in an open economy.

The qualifying criteria
To qualify, a family’s wealth and participation in building that fortune has to extend at least three generations and the minimum net worth required to qualify was 2.9 billion dollars. The valuations were based on stock prices and exchange rates on 25 September 2015.

A R Rehman chosen for 2015 Hridaynath Mangeskar Award

A R Rehman was on 8 October 2015 chosen for the 2015 Hridaynath Mangeskar Award.

The Academy award winning music composer and singer was chosen by the Hridayesh Art for his contribution to the Indian music in his career spanning over two decades.

He is expected to receive the award from veteran film maker Subhash Ghai on 26 October 2015 at a function in Mumbai.

About Hridaynath Mangeskar Award

• It was instituted by Hridayesh Art, a Mumbai- based socio-cultural organisation in honour of music composer and singer Hridaynath Mangeskar.
• Hridaynath is the son of noted musician Deenanath Mangeshkar and younger brother of Indian music legends Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle.
• The annual award is given since 2011 in recognition of contributions to Indian music.
• Recepeints of the earlier awards were-Lata Mangeshkar, Amitabh Bachchan, Sulochana Tai and Asha Bhosle.

Bombay HC ruled against ITAT order on Vodafone transfer pricing case

The Bombay high court on 8 October 2015 ruled against the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) order on 3700 crore rupees Vodafone transfer pricing case.

The verdict was delivered by High Court division bench of Justices S C Dharmadhikari and Anil Menon while hearing a petition filed by the Vodafone against the ITAT verdict.

The ITAT, in its earlier order, directed Vodafone to comply with the demand of 3700 crore rupees issued by the Income Tax (I-T) authorities.

The tax demand dates back to 2007-2008 involving the sale of Vodafone India Services Private Ltd. (VISPL), the call centre business of Vodafone, to Hutchison.

As per the I-T authorities, the transaction attracts the provisions of capital gain tax; hence, Vodafone is liable to pay the tax.

However, the Vodafone challenged the order arguing that the sale of the call centre business was between two domestic companies; hence, the transfer pricing norms are not applicable to the deal.

Swine Flu Vaccination for High-risk Groups made mandatory by Delhi Government

Government of Delhi on 8 October 2015 made swine flu vaccination mandatory for high-risk groups.

A decision in this regard was taken by Delhi’s health minister Satyendar Jain during a review meeting on the preparedness for dealing with the H1N1 virus (swine flu).

Under the mandatory vaccination, doctors, nurses and other paramedics in both government and private hospitals and high-risk groups like children, senior citizens and pregnant women will be provided free vaccination.

The government took this decision as reports suggest that swine flu is spreading in many parts of the country.

Besides the mandatory vaccination, the Education Department of Delhi will also appoint nodal teachers in schools to make students and staff aware of the preventive steps against the H1N1 virus.

These measures are in addition to the February 2015 decision that capped maximum charge levied by private labs on influenza testing at 4500 rupees.

Amrita Sher-Gil self-portrait sold for 17 crore rupees in London

An untitled self-portrait of renowned modernist painter Amrita Sher-Gil was sold for around 17 crore rupees in London at an auction by international auction house Sotheby’s on 8 October 2015.

The eminent painter had created the self-portrait in 1931 and gave it to French artist Boris Taslitzky.

In addition, the Modern and Contemporary South Asia Art auction, a part of the Indian Art Week in London, fetched record-breaking prices for the works of four artists Gagendranath Tagore, Prodosh Das Gupta, Gieve Patel and Nasreen Mohamedi.

Amrita Sher-Gil, also known as India’s Frida Kahlo, was born to a Punjabi Sikh father and a Hungarian Jewish mother on 30 January 1913 in Budapest, Hungary.

She was considered as one the most remarkable woman painter of the 20th century India, whose legacy stands at par with that of the Masters of Bengal Renaissance. She was also the most expensive woman painter of India. She died on 5 December 1941 at the age of 28 in Lahore, Pakistan.

Music composer AR Rahman named as Cultural Ambassador of Seychelles

Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman was on 8 October 2015 named as the Cultural Ambassador of Seychelles for his contribution in enhancing the country’s Art and Culture Development.

One of the most globally popular Indian music icons, Rahman has won two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe, besides national recognition in his illustrious career.
Despite of all these awards, Rahman will also receive the fifth Hridaynath Mangeshkar award 2015 on 26 October 2015 by veteran filmmaker Subhash Ghai on the birth anniversary of Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar, the late younger brother of legendary playback singers Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle.

Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet won the Nobel Peace Prize 2015

Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet won the Nobel Peace Prize 2015. It was announced by the Kaci Kullman Five, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee on 9 October 2015.

It was awarded for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of Jasmine revolution of 2011.

The Quartet was picked from the pool of 273 nominees with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Pope Francis among the list of top contenders to win the prize.

The first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly in 1901 to Jean Henry Dunant, founder of International Committee of Red Cross and French peace activist and economist Frederic Passy.

About Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet
The Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet comprised four key organizations in Tunisian civil society. These are:
• The Tunisian General Labour Union
• The Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts
• The Tunisian Human Rights League
• The Tunisian Order of Lawyers

FIFA suspended President Sepp Blatter, VP Michel Platini and Secretary General Jerome Valcke

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the governing body of association football, futsal and beach football, on 8 October 2015 provisionally suspended its president Sepp Blatter, secretary general Jerome Valcke and vice-president Michel Platini for 90 days.

FIFA’s ethics committee handed out the punishments due to alleged charges of corruption on Blatter, Valcke and Platini.

The association also banned ex-FIFA vice-president Chung Mong-joon for six years.

Issa Hayatou, head of Africa's football confederation (Caf), will act as the interim FIFA president during Blatter's ban.

Blatter, Platini, who is also the football administrator of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), and Valcke were banned from any football activity in the interim.

Sepp Blatter has served as the 8th president of FIFA since June 1998. However, after the ban, he is not allowed to represent the football's world governing body in any capacity.

However, the UEFA saw no need to remove Michel Platini from his position of football administrator.

The 2015 FIFA corruption case

• The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI) started an investigation, which mostly focused on collusion between officials of continental football bodies CONMEBOL (South America) and CONCACAF and sports marketing executives.

• The first arrest in the case was made in July 2013 of Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) former president Jack Warner’s son Daryll.

• After an investigation, the FBI and the IRS-CI charged 14 people with wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering in May 2015.

• On 27 May 2015, seven current FIFA officials were arrested at the Hotel Baur au Lac in Zürich. The officials were preparing to attend the 65th FIFA Congress, which was scheduled to include the election of the president of FIFA. Allegedly, they received 50 million US dollars in bribes.

• Former CONCACAF president Jack Warner and marketing executive Alejandro Burzaco surrendered themselves to police after a raid in CONCACAF headquarters in Miami.

• After the case was disclosed, Australia, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Switzerland ordered for separate criminal investigations into top FIFA officials for corruption.

Gannett Co agreed to acquire Journal Media for 280 million US dollars

A publicly traded media holding company, Gannett Company, Inc., on 7 October 2015 reached an agreement to acquire newspaper company Journal Media Group for approximately 280 million US dollars. After the agreement, Gannett will have control of publications in more than 100 local markets in the United States.

Under the terms of the transaction, Journal Media Group shareholders will receive cash of 12 US dollars per share in cash. Gannett will finance the transaction through a combination of cash on hand and borrowings under Gannett’s 500 million US dollars revolving credit facility.

About Gannett Company, Inc.

Gannett Co was founded by Frank Gannett in 1906 in Rochester, New York. At present, the company is headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia.

Gannett is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It publishes daily USA Today and the weekly USA Weekend.

About Journal Media Group

Journal Media Group, formerly known as Journal Communications, is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based newspaper publishing company, which was founded in 1882.

Journal Media was an outcome of a merger between E.W. Scripps Co and Journal Communications' newspaper operations in April 2015.

World Post Day observed globally

9 October: World Post Day 
World Post Day was observed globally on 9 October 2015 with the theme Posts claim their place in the changing communication landscape. The day marks the date of establishment of Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1874 in Bern, Switzerland. 
The UPU was the start of global communications revolution, allowing people could write to others all over the world.

World Post Day is observed to create awareness of the role of the postal sector in people’s and businesses’ everyday lives as well as its contribution to the social and economic development of countries.
The celebration encourages member countries to undertake programme activities aimed at generating broader awareness of their Post’s role and activities among the public and media on a national scale.

World Post Day celebrations in India 
In India, the day is celebrated as a part of the National Postal Week and it continues till 15 October. This week is observed in different forms and they are 
• 11 October – Savings Bank Day
• 12 October –Mail Day
• 13 October –Philately Day
• 14 October – Postal Life Insurance Day 
• 15 October – Business Development Day 
About World Post Day 
The day is observed annually on the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1874 in the Swiss Capital, Bern. 
Universal Postal Union Congress held in Tokyo, Japan in 1969 declared a day to be observed as the World Post Day. Since that declaration, the day is being observed and celebrated in different countries across the world. 
At the time of establishment in 1874, UPU had 22 founding member countries but at present it has 192 member countries.

British researchers developed mobile app ASCmeI.T to help people with autism

British researchers on 2 October 2015 developed a new mobile app named ASCmeI.T that will help people with autism in the development of new technologies for their own use. The app was developed by a consortium of researchers from the Universities of Southampton, Bath and Sussex.

ASCmeI.T is a simple yet highly effective way to enable people with autism to get their voices heard and to allow the creativity of a previously neglected group to be realised. This free mobile app can be downloaded on both Android and Apple devices.
The app enables people with Autism Spectrum Conditions as well as families, teachers, professionals and anyone who supports someone with autism to share their ideas on what kind of new technology would be of best help.
Through the app, users can upload a one-minute video explaining their idea, which will be shared with researchers so that new developments in digital technologies for autism can be matched to support the needs of users.
Autism Spectrum Conditions
Autism is a brain disorder that often makes it hard to communicate with and relate to others. With autism, the different areas of the brain fail to work together. 
Autism is characterized by:
• Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts
• Restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests, or activities
• Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (typically recognized in the first two years of life)
• Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning
Autism is the world's third most common development disorder. According to the National Autistic Society, one in every 100 people suffers from autism which accounts to close to 700000 autistic people in the UK. 
Another statistical report by Centres for Disease Control and Prevention of United States says that around 1 in every 68 American children suffers from autism. And in case of India, close to 15 million people suffer from Autism at present.

World Egg Day Observed across the world

Second Friday of October: World Egg Day
20th World Egg Day was observed on 9 October 2015 across the world. The Day is a unique opportunity to help raise awareness of the benefits of eggs and is celebrated in countries all around the world.

Countries all around the world celebrate the day by highlighting the benefits of eggs. Festivals, charitable events and city celebrations form part of the celebrations of the day for recognition of this small but mighty food source. Eggs are the source of life and a symbol of fertility.
Now part of the World Egg Organisation, World Egg Day provides the perfect platform for reminding us all of the many health benefits of eating eggs. 
World Egg Day was established at the International Egg Commission (IEC) Vienna 1996 conference when it was decided to celebrate World Egg Day on the second Friday in October each year.
Celebration of World Egg Day in India
As decided by the Union Government, the 20th World Egg Day was celebrated in four cities of the country- Bhubaneswar, Lucknow, Mumbai and Vijayawada. In Vijayawada, cultural programmes promoting consumption of eggs and contests were held to mark the World Egg Day celebrations.
The National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC) is conducting several programmes to promote awareness about the nutritional value of the egg as part of the World Egg Day campaign. The celebrations included contests in making egg-based preparations with participation from hoteliers, students and the people.
India is the third largest egg producer in the world after China and USA. The Per Capita Egg consumption in Andhra Pradesh is 99 eggs per year against the national average of 68 eggs and the recommendation of National Nutrition Council is of 180 eggs per head per annum.

Benefits of Eggs
• The egg white consists primarily of water (87 percent) and protein (13 percent) with all the essential amino acids in the right ratios. 
• Eggs also contain decent amounts of vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, folate, selenium and zinc.
• Eggs are highly fulfilling and help in losing weight.
• The egg, which comes in a unique shell of its own, is the only farm product that cannot be adulterated.

CGPCS reconfigured piracy High Risk Area in the Indian Ocean

The Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) on 2 October 2015 reconfigured the Indian Ocean piracy High Risk Area (HRA).

As per the reconfiguration, the eastern limit of the HRA has been reverted back to the 65 degrees east from the 78 degrees east longitude limit that has been in force since June 2010.

A decision in this regard was taken by the European Union Chair of the CGPCS and will come into effect from 1 December 2015.

The decision to minimize the limit was taken in view of the progress made in fighting piracy in the west coast of India that is evident from the fact that there was not a single incident of piracy in the HRA since 2012.

What is piracy HRA?

The High Risk Area (HRA) is a designated area where it is considered there is a higher risk of piracy and within which self-protective measures are required to protect shipping and seafarers.

The declaration of an area as HRA mandate that all the ships plying in the area should adopt Best Management Practices (BMP) like deployment of armed personnel on board the vessels, subscribing to insurance, travelling through designated sea lanes, etc.

By utilizing this mechanism, a piracy High Risk Area (HRA) was declared by the CGPCS in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean in 2010 to fight piracy off the Somalia coast.

However, since its inception the HRA has become controversial as it restricted the movement of ships and resulted on higher costs by the shipping industry.

The problem of over costs and security concerns has been a concern for India as well that strongly pressed for the present reconfiguration of the HRA limits.

Importance of reconfiguration to India

The reconfiguration holds much significance to India as its shipping industry has been facing higher costs since the extension of the eastern limit to 78 degrees east longitude.

Besides, the extension of HRA also caused much strain on the coastal security environment as the vessels travelling in the Arabian Sea were forced to travel in the sovereign territorial waters along India’s west coast.

These vessels having armed personnel on board sometimes led to security mishaps as happened in the Enrica Lexie, Italian merchant ship, incident that led to killing of two Indian fishermen.

About CGPCS

• It is a coalition of states, international organisations, the private sector and civil society that came together to fight piracy together in a coordinated manner.
• It was established in response to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1851 (2008), later recalled and replaced with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1918 (2010).
• It works on the basis of Contact Group model that facilitates discussion and coordination of actions among states and organizations to suppress Somali piracy.
• Till now, more than 60 countries and international organizations, including India, have become part of this forum.
• The European Union is the Chairperson of the CGPCS for two years-2014 and 2015. 
• The EU will hand over the Chairmanship of the Contact Group to the Republic of Seychelles in 2016.

V20 Group launched by Vulnerable Nations to Foster Greater Investment in Climate Resiliency

Finance Ministers of 20 nations vulnerable to climate change launched the V20 Group on 8 October 2015. The Group launched was during the annual meeting of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Lima, Peru.

The Group aims to pool resources for their fight against the impact of global warming and is a counterpoint to the G20 group of leading industrialised and emerging economies.
With the launch, the V20 Group Finance Ministers also held their inaugural meeting which was chaired by Cesar Purisima, Finance Minister of the Philippines.

Main Highlights of the V20 Group Meet

• They committed to act collectively to foster a significant increase of public and private finance for climate action from wide-ranging sources, including international, regional and domestic mobilization.
• They agreed to establish a sovereign V20 Climate Risk Pooling mechanism to distribute economic and financial risks arising due to climate change and ensure enhanced security for jobs, livelihoods, businesses and investors.
• V20 countries committed to develop or improve their financial accounting models and methodologies to enhance accounting of climate change costs, risks and response co-benefits in all their forms.
• They voiced support for an international financial transaction tax to aid the mobilization of additional resources for the fight against climate change.
• They also called for improved access to international climate change finance for adaptation and mitigation action, the fulfillment of the 100 billion dollars commitment to the Green Climate Fund.
• They also called for acceleration towards a 50:50 balance in resources mobilized given prevailing shortfalls for initiatives to adapt to climate change.

Background

The establishment of the V20 was conceptualised in the 2013 – 2015 Costa Rica Action Plan of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF). The V20 Group represents close to 700 million people threatened by climate change.

The V20 members, all CVF participating countries, comprise: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Nepal, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

Joint Declaration of the Heads of the Migration Authorities of the BRICS countries released

The Joint Declaration of the Heads of the Migration Authorities of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations was released on 9 October 2015 after the first BRICS Ministerial meeting on Migration. The meeting was held in Sochi, Russia.

The declaration guided by the Ufa Declaration and the commitment to respect human rights is a major milestone so far as orderly and legal migration amongst BRICS countries is concerned.

The members also resolved to combat and prevent transnational organized crime in line with the Ufa declaration.

The Indian delegation to the meeting was led by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju.

Following is the Text of the Joint declaration:

• Affirm the interest of BRICS countries in exchanging views and sharing experience on migration issues
• Acknowledge the interrelationship between transnational migration and development and the need to deal with the opportunities and challenges that migration presents and take advantage of its positive impacts
• Reaffirm the openness of the BRICS to deepen collaboration with other countries, international and regional organizations, based on principle of equality and mutual respect for discussing and addressing the issue of international migration including the facilitation of safe and orderly migration
• Acknowledge the impact of migration to the social and economic development and demographic situation in the BRICS countries
• Express the interest of BRICS countries in sharing best practices in the development and implementation of national migration policies or procedures
• Acknowledge the relevance of cooperation in the field of migration in the BRICS space
• Recognize the importance of promoting the mobility of skilled workers in the space of the BRICS countries
• Reiterate the commitment to combat and prevent organized criminal human trafficking and migrant smuggling
• Welcome strengthening of the dialogue and cooperation in the field of migration, including migration policies, procedures and strategies as well as working meetings of representatives of the migration authorities of the BRICS countries

The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Shanghai Cooperation Council (SCO), Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and other International bodies on migration.

He is World No. 11 in FIDE World Rankings that governs international chess competition.