9-10 feb 2015 eng

9 feb

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott survived vote of confidence on leadership of Liberal Party

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on 9 February 2015 survived a vote of confidence motion on spilling the top leadership of Liberal Party. Tony Abbott was elected as the Prime Minister of Australia in September 2013.

In a party room voting, the ruling Liberal Party voted to defeat the leadership spill motion by 61 to39 votes. The party decided to not open up the top positions to contenders.

The crucial party room meeting was called to hear a motion to spill the leadership, moved by Western Australian Member of Parliament Luke Simpkins and seconded by Western Australian colleague Don Randall.

The move was aimed to declare vacant the positions of party leader and deputy leader which is currently occupied by Tony Abbott and Deputy Prime Minister Julie Bishop.

Why confidence vote on leadership was brought?
Abbott’s leadership of the Liberal Party came under challenge after his popularity started slumping in past few weeks over his policy decisions. In a recent opinion poll conducted The Australian publication ruling Liberal-National coalition trailed to opposition Labour Party by 43 percent to 57 percent. Also 68 percent of the 1178 people interviewed said that they were dissatisfied with Abbott's performance.

Also within his party, he faced criticisms for his handling of the economy and for awarding an Australian knighthood to Queen Elizabeth's husband, Prince Philip.

He also was criticised for cutting health and education budgets and tightening welfare measures in a spree to rein in growing budget deficits.

If the vote of confidence would have succeeded, then the Liberal Party members of both houses of parliament could have voted for new candidates for the jobs.

The defeat of confidence vote means that Tony Abbott will remain the Prime Minister of Australia and also the leader of the conservative Liberal Party. However, the narrow margin of defeat of confidence vote means that his leadership of Liberal Party and as Prime Minister in future is uncertain.

Siemens bagged orders worth 450 crore rupees from Varanasi-based Diesel Locomotive Works

Siemens Ltd, a major engineering firm on 9 February 2015 bagged orders worth 450 crore rupees from Varanasi-based Diesel Locomotive Works of Indian Railways. The company won three orders for locomotive equipment.

According to the order, the company will supply and supervise the installation and commissioning of three-phase propulsion systems for Diesel Electric Locomotives and three-phase traction motors.

About Diesel Locomotives Works
It is a production unit of Indian Railways located at Varanasi, which annually manufactures around 300 diesel electric locomotives

Prime Minister constituted 3 sub-groups of Chief Ministers within NITI Aayog

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 February 2015 announced constitution of three sub-groups of Chief Ministers within the NITI Aayog. The decision was made after the first meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog.

Works assigned to the three sub-groups include

• First sub-group – it will study the 66 centrally-sponsored schemes and recommend which schemes should continue, which should be transferred to states, and which to discontinue.
• Second sub-group– it will focus on skill development and creation of skilled manpower within States.
• Third sub-group – it will decide on the institutional mechanisms to be evolved for Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, so that cleanliness becomes a part of life in perpetuity.

Beside this, the Prime Minister also asked the States to create two task forces under the aegis of the NITI Aayog of which one will focus on poverty alleviation and the other will focus on future development of agriculture in the states.

The first NITI Aayog meet was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Union Government decided to infuse 6990 crore rupees in nine Public Sector Banks

Union Government on 7 February 2015 decided to infuse 6990 crore rupees in nine Public Sector Banks to enhance their capital and meet global risk norms. The capital infusion was decided on the basis of performance of each bank.

This is the first tranche of capital infusion for which the government had allocated 11200 crore rupees in the Union Budget 2014-15.

The capital infusion into each bank was made on the basis of adoption of new criteria by the Union government.

According to the new criteria, the banks would be rewarded with extra capital for their equity on the basis of their efficiency and performance so as to further strengthen their position. The criteria includes
• Weighted average of Return on Assets (ROA) for all PSBs for last three years put together
• Return on Equity (ROE) for these banks for the last financial year.

Amount allocated to different banks on the basis of the above mentioned two efficiency criteria:

S. No.	Name of the Bank	Amount (Rupees in crore)
1	State Bank of India (SBI)	2970
2	Bank of Baroda (BoB)	1260
3	Punjab National Bank (PNB)	870
4	Canara Bank	570
5	Syndicate Bank	460
6	Allahabad Bank	320
7	Indian Bank	280
8	Dena Bank	140
9	Andhra Bank	120
	Total	6990

Eminent Marathi writer Bhalchandra Nemade chosen for Jnanpith Award 2014

Eminent Marathi writer Bhalchandra Nemade on 6 February 2015 was chosen for the Jnanpith Award 2014 by the Jnanpith Selection Board.

He will be the 50th recipient of Jnanpith award, the highest literary honour of India and he will receive the award in April 2015.

The decision to confer the award on Nemade was taken in a meeting of 10-member selection board chaired by Prof Namwar Singh, a scholar, writer and critic.

His novel Kosala (Cocoon) published in 1963 was not only instrumental in changing the dimensions of the Marathi novel, but also the world of Marathi fiction was transformed with its advent. Only the mega-novel Hindu published in 2010 appears to match this feat that Kosala achieved over five decades ago.

With this award, he will join the league of three noted Marathi writers who have won Jnanpith award. They are:
• Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar, received the award in 1974
• Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar alias Kusumagraj, received the award in 1988
• Govind Karandikar alias Vinda Karandikar, received the award in 2003

About Bhalchandra Nemade
• He is a novelist poet, critic, academic, and a relentless advocates of the literary movements and the leader of the post-1960s Little Magazine movement.
• His novels among others include Bidhar, Hool, Jarila, Jhool, etc. He composed various poems which are compiled up in his collections named Melody and Dekhani.
• He received various awards for his work including Sahitya Akademi Award (1990) for his critical work Teeka Svayanwar. He is also the recipient of Padma Shri in 2011.
• Nemade was born in 1938 in the village of Jalgoan district of Maharashtra.
• He did his graduation from Fergusson College, Pune and received Doctorate degree from North Maharashtra University.

About Jnanpith Award
• Jnanpith award is one of the prestigious literary awards in India. The name of award is taken from Sanskrit words Jnana and Pitha which means knowledge-seat.
• The award was instituted in 1961 and is presented by Bharatiya Jnanpith, a trust founded by the Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain family.
• The award is given to any Indian citizen who writes in any 22 official languages of India mentioned in VIII Schedule of Constitution of India.
• Prior to 1982, the award was only given for a single work by a writer. But since 1982, the award is given for lifetime contribution to Indian literature.
• The award includes cash prize of 11 lakh rupees, a citation plaque and a bronze replica of Saraswati.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan named in LIMCA Book of Records

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s name was included in the LIMCA book of records in the first week of February 2015. Her name was included for being the only woman of the country to represent the same Lok Sabha constituency on the same party ticket for eight times in a row.

As a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), she represents the Indore constituency of Lok Sabha in Madhya Pradesh. For the first time she was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989. Since then she has been re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2009 and finally to the 16th Lok Sabha on 18 May 2014.

During this period, Mahajan has served as member/head of various parliamentary committees and as a Minister. She was unanimously elected as Speaker of 16th Lok Sabha on 6 June 2014.

Veteran Marathi theatre artist Atmaram Govind Bhende died

Veteran Marathi theatre artist and film actor Atmaram Govind Bhende died on 7 February 2015 following brief illness in Pune, Maharashtra. He was 91.

Bhende is survived by his wife Asha with whom he had done several advertisements. The most recent being the one where Bhende - a grandfather is seen gifting a diamond ring to his wife (played by Asha) on Valentine's Day.

He was the father of late Nandu Bhende, a popular rock singer.

About Atmaram Govind Bhende
• He was fondly referred to as Bapu who graced Marathi stage for more than six decades in the capacity of director, actor and producer.
• He was the first Marathi stage artist to work in the English theatre as an actor speaking Indian English and was first to introduce the concept of revolving stage in Marathi theatre in 1962.
• Bhende held the reputation for being a pioneer of the experimental Marathi theatre and with his associate late Baban Prabhu introduced 'farce' in Marathi stage in 1958. Therefore, he was considered to be the Father of Marathi Farce.
• Bhende produced several radio plays for Mumbai station of AIR while being a regular at AIR for 55 years.
• He had appeared in English plays and had translated two plays of the American playwright Thornton Wilder into Marathi. These plays are Our Town and the Matchmaker.
• He also appeared in Hindi films like Rajkumar Hirani’s Lage Raho Munnabhai (2006) in which he plays the lonely man who is dumped outside the Second Innings home by his son.
• Born on 7 May 1923, Bhende was a qualified engineer from Mumbai’s Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI). He worked as an Engineer in several reputed organizations such as Volkart Brothers, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, etc.
Some of his popular plays include
• Dinuchya Sasubai Radhabai
• Tarun Turka Mhatare Arka
• Tujhe Aahe Tujapashi
• Zopi gelela Jaga Zala
• Pala Pala Kon Pudhe Pale

His contribution to Television
• He acted in several Marathi television plays and in Hindi television which include Yatra and Chunouti.
• He also directed a television film Sparsha in the serial Ek Kahani and many others.
• His latest contribution was Marathi serial Awhan which threw light on the evils of dowry system.
• He also directed a tele-serial, Ratrani, which is based on a story of well known Marathi writer GA Kulkarni.

Awards and Honours
• In 1991, Bhende was awarded The Shrimant Yuvraj Chatrapati Maharaj Kolhapur Award by Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Natya Parishad.
• In 1994, he was felicitated by Gomantak Marathi Academy, Kala Academy ( Goa )and Mumbai Marathi Sahitya Sangh for rendering meritorial service to the Marathi theatre.
• In 2003, he was awarded Life Time Achievement Award by Alpha Gavrav Puraskar (Alpha Marathi).

Nickolay Mladenov appointed as UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process

Nickolay Mladenov of Bulgaria was on 5 February 2015 appointed as new United Nations (UN) Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority.

His appointment was approved by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Mladenov succeeded Robert Serry of the Netherlands. He will oversee the ongoing UN-backed reconstruction efforts in Gaza.

This reconstruction in Gaza was undertaken by UN after thousands of people were displaced in July 2014 during the month long Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Prior to this appointment, Mladenov was head of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI).

Nickolay Mladenov, a Member of the European Parliament from 2007 to 2009, served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Government of the then Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov from 2010 to 2013.

First Robot-staffed Hotel of the World to open in Japan

The Nagasaki-based Henn-na Hotel (meaning Strange Hotel) of Japan in the first week of February 2015 announced to open the first Robot-staffed Hotel of the World. The hotel will be opened on 17 July 2015 and it will significantly reduce the operating costs.

The hotel will come up with a Huis Ten Bosch theme park (after a town of Netherlands) in Japan's Nagasaki Prefecture.

The hotel in its first-phase will be two-storied hotel with 72 rooms. In the second-phase, which will be completed in 2016, 72 additional rooms will be added to it.

The hotel has been developed by Japan's Osaka University and manufactured by the Japanese robotics company Kokoro. Several of these Actroid robots resemble like a young Japanese woman.

Characteristic Features of the Hotel
• It will be partially staffed by actroid androids, human like robots that will greet, carry luggage to rooms, and make coffee for guests
• These robots will be able to speak languages like Japanese, Chinese, Korean and English
• The hotel will have number of robots working for different purposes like three robots will be acting as receptionists, four will act as service and porter robots and others will be engaged in menial tasks like cleaning
• The guestrooms of the hotels will be accessed by facial-recognition technology and guests can request the items through a tablet when needed
• The temperature of the rooms will be adjusted through a radiation panel instead of air-conditioning. The panel will detect the body heat in rooms and adjust the temperature
• To reduce operating costs, solar power and other energy-saving features will be used

Uttarakhand Government launched Himalaya Darshan programme to boost tourism in the State

Uttarakhand Government on 7 February 2015 launched Himalaya Darshan programme at Dehradun. The programme was launched as part of ongoing efforts to boost tourism by the State Government.

The chopper was flagged off by Civil Aviation Secretary Akshat Gupta to mark the launch of the programme. As part of the celebrations, a chopper carrying a group of students was flagged off from the Sahastradhara Helidrome of Dehradun for a sortie around the mountains.

The motto of the programme is to enable common people to fly around the beautiful mountains of Uttarakhand for 5000 rupees to 10000 rupees.

The move is among a slew of measures being taken by the state government to put back on track Uttarakhand's tourism industry derailed by the 2013 calamity.

In 2014, the State government launched several schemes. These include winter time Char Dham yatra and a project named Mere Bujurg, Mere Teerth an initiative to help senior citizens undertake the yatra for free.

Under the Mere Bujurg, Mere Teerth initiative, the State government through Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam and Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam provides free food, accommodation and travel for all the yatris aged 65 years and above.

Reliance Jio Infocomm President Sumit Dutta Chowdhury resigned

Telecom operator Reliance Jio Infocomm President Sumit Dutta Chowdhury on 7 February 2015 resigned to start his own venture.

He joined Reliance Jio in September 2012 as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for one year and then moved into business leadership role.

He was responsible for creating the ecosystem of companies that will build solutions on top of RJio platforms and network to provide interesting consumer services.

This is the third high-profile exit from Reliance Jio and second since January 2015 after its Managing Director Sandeep Das was moved to its sister concern Reliance Retail.

In March 2014, Arvind Rao who was looking after innovation business and strategies for the company had also quit to pursue his own interest. In November 2014, head of the Human Resources of Reliance Jio Steve Correa had left the company.

Telecom operator Reliance Jio Infocomm President Sumit Dutta Chowdhury on 7 February 2015 resigned to start his own venture.

He joined Reliance Jio in September 2012 as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for one year and then moved into business leadership role.

He was responsible for creating the ecosystem of companies that will build solutions on top of RJio platforms and network to provide interesting consumer services.

This is the third high-profile exit from Reliance Jio and second since January 2015 after its Managing Director Sandeep Das was moved to its sister concern Reliance Retail.

Chambal Fertilisers shut down its urea plant in Kota

Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals on 8 February 2015 shut down one of its urea units located at Gadepan in Kota district of Rajasthan. The unit was shut down due to unfavourable government policy for production beyond 100 percent capacity of the plant for the fiscal year 2014-15.

The company in its announcement said that the closed plant may resume operations in last week of March 2015 or first week of April 2015.

Chambal Fertilisers have two urea plants with a combined production capacity of 2 million tonnes per annum. It also has a joint venture in Morocco for manufacturing phosphoric acid.

Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited
Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals is one of the largest private sector fertilizer producers in India and is promoted by Zuari Industries Limited. Its two hi-tech nitrogenous fertiliser (urea) plants are located at Gadepan in Kota district of Rajasthan. The first plant was commissioned in 1993 and second plant in 1999. These plants use state-of-the-art technology from Denmark, Italy, United States and Japan.

The company caters to the need of the farmers in eleven states in northern, eastern, central and western regions of India and is the lead fertiliser supplier in Rajasthan.

68th British Academy Film Awards announced

The 68th British Academy Films Awards (BAFTA) was announced on 8 February 2015. The BAFTA Awards were handed out at the Royal Opera House in London.

The awards were announced to honour the best British and international contributions to film in 2014. The nominees for the award were announced on 9 January 2015 by Stephen Fry and actor Sam Claflin.

The American film Boyhood won the Best Film Award. The Theory of Everything was named the Best British Film while The Lego Movie won the Best Animated Film and Citizenfour won the award in Best Documentary category.

List of Winners

• Best Film: Boyhood
• Leading Actress: Julianne Moore for her role in Still Alice
• Leading Actor: Eddie Redmayne for his role in The Theory of Everything
• Best Director: Richard Linklater for Boyhood
• Costume Design: Milena Canonero for The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Adapted Screenplay: Anthony McCarten for Theory of Everything
• Film Not in English Language: Ida
• Original Screenplay: Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Outstanding debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer: Stephen Beresford (Writer) and David Livingstone (Producer) for Pride
• Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for Birdman
• Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette for Boyhood
• Supporting Actor: JK Simmons for Whiplash
• Best Animated Film: The Lego Movie
• Best Editing: Tom Cross for Whiplash
• British Short Animation Film: The Bigger Picture
• British Short Film: Boogaloo and Graham
• Best Documentary: Citizenfour directed by Laura Poitras
• Original Music: Alexandre Desplat for The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Outstanding British Film: The Theory of Everything

57th Annual Grammy Awards

The 57th Annual Grammy Awards were held on 8 February 2015 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. In all, 83 Grammy Awards were presented at the function.

The nominations of the award were announced on 5 December 2014.

List of Top Grammy Awards

Category	Album	Artist
Best album of the year	Morning Phase	Beck Hansen
Best record of the year	Stay With Me	Sam Smith
Best song of the year	Stay With Me	James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith
Best new artist	-	Sam Smith
Children’s Album	I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up For Education And Changed The World (Malala Yousafzai)	Neela Vaswani
Best Pop solo performance	Happy (Live)	Pharrell Williams
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance	Say Something	A Great Big World With Christina Aguilera
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album	Cheek to Cheek	Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
Best Dance/Electronic Album	Syro	Aphex Twin
Best Rock Performance	Lazaretto	Jack White
Best Metal Performance	The Last In Line	Tenacious D
Best Rock Album	Morning Phase	Beck
Best R&B Performance	Drunk in Love	Beyonce featuring Jay Z
Best Rap Performance	I	Kendrick Lamar
Best Country Solo Performance	Something in the Water	Carrie Underwood
Best New Age Album	Winds of Samsara	Ricky Kej & Wouter Kellerman
Best Improvised Jazz Solo	Fingerprints	Chick Corea, soloist
Best Gospel Performance	No Greater Love	Smokie Norful, Aaron W. Lindsey, songwriters
Best Latin Pop Album	Tangos	Ruben Blades
Best World Music Album	Eve	Angelique Kidjo

Indians in 57th Annual Grammy Awards
This year two Indians have won Grammy Awards. They are:
•   Ricky Kej: His collaborated album Winds of Samsara won the Best New Age Album Trophy.
•   Neela Vaswani: She won award in Children’s Album category for her album I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up For Education And Changed The World (Malala Yousafzai).

About Grammy Awards
•   Grammy Awards are the recording industry’s most prestigious award presented annually by National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) of the United States.
•   The awards are awarded to artists and technical professionals for their outstanding achievements in the music industry.
•   The awards are presented to recipients at the annual presentation ceremony which features performances by prominent artists, and the presentation of those awards that have a more popular interest.
•   The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on 4 May 1959.

Alibaba signed an agreement to acquire 25 percent stake in One97 Communications

E-commerce firm Alibaba on 4 February 2015 signed an agreement to acquire 25 percent stake in One97 Communications. One97 Communications is the parent of mobile commerce firm Paytm.

With this deal, Alibaba announced its debut in m-Commerce space in India. Both the companies did not disclose the value of the transaction.

The deal is aimed to tap the mobile payments business in a market where the lines between telcos, banks, retailers, and so-called e-wallet companies.

Paytm will use the funds to grow its mobile payment ecosystem and further boost its commerce user base. The deal will also provide Paytm with strategic and technical support for its business.

Ant Financial and Paytm will also build on synergies in the mobile wallet front in order to offer Indian consumers comprehensive product and services and to tap the significant potential of the India mobile payment market.

Established in October 2014, Ant Financial Services Group focuses on small and micro enterprises (SMEs) and consumers. It operates business like Alipay, Yu'e Bao, Zhao Cai Bao and Ant Credit and Alipay Wallet -- largest mobile payment service provider in China with over 190 million users.

One97 Communications is a mobile Internet firm, which runs Paytm mobile payment and commerce platform. It is backed by marquee investors such as SAIF Partners, Sapphire Ventures and Saama Capital.

First World Ocean Science Congress held in Kochi

The First World Ocean Science Congress (WOSC) was held in Kochi, Kerala from 5 February 2015 to 8 February 2015.

The focal themes of the WOSC 2015 were Protect Oceans for Posterity and Blue Economy. WOSC -2015 was organised jointly by the Swadeshi Science Movement, Vijnana Bharati, Kerala chapter and the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), Kochi.

The aim of the WOSC was to find sustainable means to utilize the resources carefully without causing any damage to the oceans and its marine life.

The Congress witnessed presentation of 450 technical papers in 13 sessions by 86 Indian institutions and 14 foreign institutions. It evolved a set of recommendations that will be submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for further guidelines.

The Congress urged the Union Government to form a separate ministry to bring all the agencies and institutions working in the fields of ocean research and fisheries research under one roof for the smooth implementation and management of all the government policies related to the sectors.

About World Ocean Science Congress

World Ocean Science Congress (WOSC) is designed as a quadrennial event starting with WOSC-2015. It is expected to serve as a common platform for Oceanographers, Environmentalists, Fishing community, Shipping industry, Navigators, Defense establishments.

10 feb

Adani Enterprises, Rajasthan Government signed MoU to set up 10000 MW Solar Park

The Rajasthan Government and Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) on 9 February 2015 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly set up India’s largest solar park with capacity of 10000 MW of electricity in Rajasthan.

MoU was signed by Adani Enterprises CEO Vineet Jain and Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Managing Director B K Dosi.

The joint venture project includes generation projects and a manufacturing unit for solar module, parts and equipments. The project will be completed in the next ten years.

Adani Enterprises Ltd, the flagship company of Adani Group will set up solar project of 5000 MW on its own in the next five years.

It is expected that the project will produce 16644 million units of clean and green energy and help in reducing carbon footprint by approximately 16.2 metric tonnes.

Vinod Mehta awarded with Yash Bharti Samman 2015 by UP Government

Distinguished journalist Vinod Mehta was on 9 February 2015 awarded with the Yash Bharti Samman 2015 by Uttar Pradesh (UP) Government.

Vinod Mehta has launched a number of successful publications such as the Sunday Observer, Indian Post, The Independent, The Pioneer (Delhi edition) and Outlook. He has authored a biography of Meena Kumari (movie actress and poet) and Sanjay Gandhi- The Sanjay Story (2012).

His other acclaimed work includes memoir Lucknow Boy published in 2012, Mr Editor, How Close Are You to the PM? (1999) and Bombay: A Private View (1971). Currently, he is editorial chairman of the Outlook Group.

Other Awardees
In all, 56 people were bestowed with the award. The other recipients of Yash Bharti Samman are
• Actors:Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Jimmy Shergill
• Singers: Rahat Ali Khan Sabri, Kailash Kher, Rajan-Sajan Mishra, Shubha Mudgal, Anup Jalota, Urdu poet Bekal Utsahi, lyricist Sameer, music director Ravindra Jain
• Sports: Wrestler Alka Tomar, weight lifter Poonam Yadav

The other recipients of the award are Jagadguru Swami Bhadracharya, Yogendra Singh Yadav (Paramvir Chakra receipient) and Bekal Utsahi.

About Yash Bharti Samman
• Yash Bharti Samman was instituted by Mulayam Singh Yadav Government in 1994.
• The award is conferred by the Uttar Pradesh Government for excellence in literature, fine arts, folk and classical music and sports.
• The award carries cash prize of 11 lakh rupees, a citation and a shawl.
• The award was discontinued by the Bahujan Samaj Party Government from 2007-2013, but later it was revived after a gap of six years.

Damyant Singh appointed as Brand Director of Adidas India

Damyant Singh was on 8 February 2015 appointed as the Brand Director of German sportswear brand Adidas Group, India. He succeeds Tushar Goculdas who will now be the Brand Director-Adidas Emerging Markets.

As Brand Director, Damyant Singh will be responsible to deliver a strategic roadmap to further sharpen and strengthen the Adidas brand in India.

Prior to this new position, Damyant Singh was the Head of Category Marketing for Adidas in India. He became a part of Adidas sports marketing team in 2004.

About Adidas Group
• Adidas is Herzogenaurach, Bavaria based German Multinational Corporation that designs and manufactures sports shoes, clothing and accessories.
• It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe and the second biggest in the world after Nike.
• Adidas India is subsidiary of Adidas Group which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company, Rockport, and 9.1 percent of Football Club Bayern Munich.

M Ravindran appointed as Chairman of Indraprastha Gas Limited

M Ravindran was on 9 February 2015 appointed as the Chairman of Indraprastha Gas Ltd, the firm that sells CNG in New Delhi.

He succeeded KK Gupta who has handed over the charge upon completion of his two-year tenure. Gupta is the Director (Marketing) of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL).

Presently, M Ravindran is Director (Human Resources) of state-owned gas utility firm GAIL (India) Limited. The post of chairman of IGL is rotated among GAIL and BPCL in every two years.

About Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL)
• IGL is a joint venture of GAIL (India) Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Delhi Government.
• It is the sole supplier of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad.
• It has around 9500 km of pipeline network and meets fuel requirements of over 7.7 lakh vehicles running on CNG in NCR through a network of 297 CNG stations.
• IGL is also supplying PNG to nearly 530000 households in Delhi and NCR towns.

China launched first Maritime Silk Road cruise liner from Beihai port

China on 9 February 2015 launched its first cruise liner to sail via its ambitious transcontinental initiative Maritime Silk Road (MSR). The sail was launched from the Beihai port located in southwest China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

During its maiden tour the liner will visit three South-East Asian nations namely Vietnam, the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia.

The cruise liner is a 135-meter-long and 20-meter-wide that can accommodate 400 people and is equipped with wireless internet access.

Maritime Silk Road (MSR)
• The 21st century Maritime Silk Road project is an initiative of President of China Xi Jingping who in 2013 proposed the rejuvenation of the MSR and revival of the ancient Silk Road to establish close relation between the China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) communities
• The MSR seeks to string together partnerships with countries in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean, including India
• This maritime route entails expanding ports and industrial parks in Asia, the Mideast, Africa and Europe
• For development of the MSR, China had announced a 40 billion US dollar Silk Road fund which became operational from February 2015

Alibaba decided to invest 590 million US dollar in Meizu Technology Co

Alibaba on 9 February 2015 decided to invest 590 million US dollar in Meizu Technology Co. With the deal, the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Limited is expanding into the smartphone business.

Alibaba and Meizu issued a joint announcement and said that they would form a long-term strategic cooperative partnership.

Alibaba will provide support to Meizu on e-commerce, mobile Internet, data analysis and payment service, while Meizu would offer its experience in smartphone operating systems, market strategy and off-line sales. Alibaba and Meizu began talks on the tie-up in October 2014.

Instead of investing in a company such as Xiaomi Corp., Alibaba chose Meizu, China’s 13th-largest smartphone maker in the fourth quarter of 2014. Meizu sold more than 1.5 million handsets in January 2015.

Alibaba’s investment in Meizu Technology Corp. gives the e-commerce giant a key tool in its push to unlock more money from China’s half a billion smartphone users.

Kiran Bedi released comic book titled Kiran Bedi — Kaise Bani Top Cop

Kiran Bedi — Kaise Bani Top Cop: Reeta Peshawaria Menon and Anu Peshawaria
Kiran Bedi on 9 February 2015 released a comic book titled Kiran Bedi — Kaise Bani Top Cop at a thanksgiving event organised in her Vidhan Sabha constituency Krishna Nagar, Delhi. The book is penned down by her sisters, Reeta Peshawaria Menon and Anu Peshawaria.

The 32-page comic book with Hindi text and illustrations narrates the story of the first woman IPS officer of the country.

The comic talks about Bedi’s childhood life in Amritsar, how she met her husband Brij Bedi while playing tennis and how she became the first woman IPS officer on 16 July 1972.

Union Ministry for Health & Family Welfare launched National Deworming Initiative

The Union Ministry for Health & Family Welfare on 9 February 2015 launched the National Deworming initiative on the eve of the National Deworming Day at Jaipur.

The initiative is aimed at protecting more than 24 crore children in the ages of 1-19 years from intestinal worms. This initiative aims to target intestinal parasitic worms among the children to achieve status of being Worm-free.

According to WHO estimates, nearly 24 crore children in India in the age group of 1-14 years are at risk of intestinal parasitic worm infestation.

Highlights of the National Deworming Initiative
• In the first phase, about 14 crore children across eleven States/UT of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Tripura will be covered.
• Nearly 10 crore children will be targeted in the second phase.
• In the first phase beginning from 10 February 2015, Albendazole tablets will be given to all targeted children; half tablet to 1-2 years children and one full tablet for 2-19 years.
• The left-out children will be covered by a mop-up round that will be carried out till 14 February 2015.
• The initiative was launched with the technical assistance of Evidence Action's Deworm the World Initiatives which works with the state governments in Delhi, Bihar, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Google-appointed panel to recommend right to be forgotten for EU only

Google on 2 February 2015 appointed a panel of experts to advise it on a European court ruling ordering it to remove some personal information from search results is leaning toward limiting the application to European websites only.

Google appointed the panel to advise it on how to implement the ruling from the EU's Supreme Court (SC) ordering it to remove links to information that is inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant from search results for a person's name.

The panel will held public hearings across Europe. The panel is expected to publish its non-binding report in a few days. The panel includes a former German justice minister and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.

The territorial reach of the right to be forgotten decision from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has put the search engine giant at odds with the European Union's data protection watchdogs, who have told it to remove links across all relevant versions of its website, including Google.com.

Google has said that scrubbing links from all its European websites, such as Google.de in Germany, is in line with the ruling handed down last May.

The territorial scope of the ruling, as well as whether Google should inform publishers that links to their content have been scrubbed, have emerged as major impasse.

Naveen Chopra appointed as Chief Operating Officer of Vodafone India

Naveen Chopra on 9 February 2015 was appointed as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Vodafone India. He succeeded Sunil Sood who on 22 January 2015 was elevated to post of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer in the company.

Sood will succeed Marten Pieters, who has been its Chief Executive since 2009. Pieters is the longest serving Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a telecom firm in the country.

Prior to this appointment, Chopra was serving Vodafone as Director of Vodafone Business Services (VBS). Naveen Chopra joined Vodafone (the then Vodafone Essar Ltd) in 2004 as Vice-President Corporate Marketing, has served in various posts in the company which includes CMO, Business Head of Mumbai and Rajasthan circles and the Director of VBS.

Both Chopra and Sood’s appointment will come into effect from 1 April 2015.

North Korea test fires homegrown anti-ship short range missiles

North Korea on 8 February 2015 test fired homegrown anti-ship short range missiles. The missiles were tested off its east coast.

The missiles hit the sea after about 200 km (120 miles). This is the first time the ship and the missiles have been shown by North Korean state media.

The homegrown missile was developed by Korean People's Army from a new class of ship. The vessel is an attempt by the North Koreans to develop a high-speed stealth ship-killer using a surface effect hull—a combination of catamaran and hovercraft.

Surface Effect Ships (SESs) have a pair of rigid outer hulls surrounding a central air-cushion system that allows them to skim along the surface of the ocean and use more efficient marine propellers. Earlier, smaller KPA Navy SES patrol craft have reportedly reached speeds of 50 knots (90 kilometers per hour, or 57.6 miles per hour) and have incorporated some stealth features, such as faceted hull and superstructure designs intended to reduce their radar reflection.

However, the new SESs are bigger—as much as 40 meters (131 feet) long—and carry four of a new class of anti-ship missile derived from the Russian-made Kh-35 Uran—a sea-skimming missile with a range of over 250 kilometers (135 nautical miles) similar to the US' Harpoon missile.

It's not known if the North Korean built version has that sort of range, but during tests it was said to have hit and sunk a target ship 100 kilometers away. The SES is also equipped with two North Korean AK-630 30mm Gatling gun close-in weapons systems, four machine gun turrets, and a short-range anti-aircraft missile system.

Comment

The purpose of the test fire of the new missiles is to defend its waters and strongly react to any attempt of the enemy's fleets of warships for military attack, through close combat or distant combat.

North Korea frequently fires short-range missiles off its coast as part of military drills. The United Nations imposed sanctions banning North Korea from launching longer-range ballistic missiles, but not short-range missiles.

North Korea has increased the scale of air and naval military drills in recent weeks ahead of the annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises on the Korean peninsula.

Union Health minister declared 10 February as National Deworming Day

10 February: National Deworming Day
Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda declared 10 February as the National Deworming Day.

National Deworming Day is an initiative focused on reducing the threat of parasitic worm infections, a widespread health issue affecting over 24 crore children in India alone.

Beside this, Nanda on 9 February 2015 launched the National Deworming Initiative. The initiative aims to protect all pre-school and school-age children (enrolled and non-enrolled) between the ages of 1-19 years from intestinal worms.

Under the massive school-based deworming initiative, the targeted children will be given Albendazole tablets (half tablet to 1-2 years children and one full tablet for 2-19 years).

The Deworming Initiative will be carried out in two phases, they are
• First phase: to be carried out on 10 February 2015 and will cover about 14 crore children across eleven States/UT of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Tripura
• Second phase: to be carried out between 11 February and 14 February 2015 and during this period, rest 10 crore children will be targeted

Children up to the age of 5 years will be given the medicines at Anganwadi centres, while the children in age group of 6 to 19 years will be provided the medication at all government schools.

According to WHO estimates, nearly 24 crore children in the age group of 1-14 years are at risk of intestinal parasitic worm infestation in India.

Amartya Sen won Charleston-EFG John Maynard Keynes Prize 2015

Economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on 9 February 2015 won the newly established Charleston-EFG John Maynard Keynes Prize 2015.

With this, Professor Sen will receive 7500 British pounds to commission a work of art and will give the annual Charleston-EFG Keynes Lecture at the Charleston Festival in the United Kingdom. This year’s lecture is scheduled for 23 May 2015 and it will be on The Economic Consequences of Austerity.

Professor Sen is regarded as one of the foremost thinkers in the field of famine, poverty, social choice and welfare economics. His ground-breaking work has had a profound impact on the formation of development policy worldwide.

Currently, he is a Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University.

Amartya Sen
• Amartya Sen was born on 3 November 1933 in Manikganj, Bangladesh.
• Sen began his career both as a teacher and a research scholar in the Department of Economics, Jadavpur University, West Bengal.
• In 1972, he joined the London School of Economics as a Professor of Economics where he taught until 1977. From 1977 to 1986 he taught at the University of Oxford.
• His books have been translated into more than 30 languages including The Idea of Justice (2009).
• On 19 July 2012, Sen was appointed as the first chancellor of the proposed Nalanda University (NU) in India.
• He was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998 for his work in welfare economics.

Charleston-EFG John Maynard Keynes Prize
• The award was constituted on 23 May 2014 by Director of the Charleston Trust, Alistair Burtenshaw through an announcement during a lecture given by Channel 4 News Culture and Digital Editor Paul Mason at the Charleston Festival.
• It was jointly conceived by Keith Gapp, Head of strategy and marketing of EFG International, and the Charleston Trust.
• This new global prize aims to honour an individual of any nationality of exceptional and inter-disciplinary talents in the spirit of British Economist John Maynard Keynes’ work, life and legacy.

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured the rare triple-moon conjunction

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured the rare occurrence of the three largest moons of Jupiter namely Europa, Callisto, and Io racing across the banded face of the gas-giant planet. This was a rare occurrence, as the event occurs once or twice in a decade.

NASA gave this information on 5 February 2015.

The moons in the photos captured by the camera have distinctive colours. The ancient cratered surface of of Callisto is brownish; the smooth icy surface of Europa is yellow-white; and the volcanic, sulfur-dioxide surface of Io is orange.

The Hubble images were captured by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 in visible light on 24 January 2015.

These so-called three Galilean moons complete orbits around Jupiter with durations ranging from 2 days to 17 days. They were named after the 17th century scientist Galileo Galilei, who discovered four large moons, namely Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto with a telescope. Jupiter has over 60 moons.

About Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. The telescope is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, while the Hubble science operations are conducted by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore.

15th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit

The 15th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit was held at the Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi from 5 February 2015 to 7 February 2015.

The summit was organized by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). The theme of the summit was Sustainable Development Goals and Dealing with Climate Change.

The summit witnessed a pool of distinguished speakers from a wide spectrum of backgrounds. Politicians, Diplomats, Corporates, Government Officials, media, NGOs and activists attended the summit.

Issues like the need for mitigation in Energy supply sector, generating finances for projects focusing on Sustainable Development, and educating the youth about sustainable development were discussed. Stress was laid on collective actions of both public and private sectors in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

During the summit, two reports namely, Global Sustainable Development Report and Energy Security Outlook were also launched.

ABOUT DSDS

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) annually organizes the DSDS since 2001. DSDS is an international platform to facilitate the exchange of knowledge on all aspects of sustainable development.

Over the past fourteen years, it has emerged as one of the foremost fora on issues related to global sustainability. This flagship event of TERI brings together various Heads of State and Government, thought leaders, policy-makers and academia to deliberate on myriad issues. Till date, over 37 Heads of State and Government and over 50 countries have registered their presence at the Summit.

Telecom regulator TRAI released a report

Telecom regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 7 February 2015 released a report on subscriber base. India telecom subscriber base reaches all-time high at 970 million at the end of December 2014.

Main highlights of the report

•The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 964.20 million at the end of November 2014 to 970.97 million at the end of December 2014. This surpasses the previous record of 965.5 million reached in June 2012.

•The total broadband subscribers base increased by 4.28% on monthly basis to 85.7 million at the end of December 2014 from 82 million in November 2014.

•Teledensity in the country reached 77.58. It is connection per 100 persons.

•The mobile or wireless subscriber base in country is now already at all-time highs after it crossed 935.3-million mark at the end of October 2014.

•The previous record was set in June 2012 when the mobile subscriber base in the country reached 934 million. Of the total wireless subscriber base, 833 million wireless subscribers were active in December 2014.

•Bharti Airtel has maintained its leadership with 217.2 million mobile customers. It is followed by Vodafone with 178.6 million mobile subscribers, Idea Cellular 150.5 million, Reliance Communications 106.2 million, BSNL 81.3 million, Aircel 78.6 million, Tata Teleservices 66.1 million and Uninor 43.6 million.

•Idea Cellular added over 2500000 customers, the highest by any company, in December 2014. It was followed by Airtel which added over 1700000 new mobile customers, Vodafone about 1500000, Telewings (Uninor) 1200000, Aircel over 900000, Tata Teleservices about 600000, Videocon (including Quadrant) 270000 and MTNL 22445 new mobile customers.

•New operator Videocon registered the fastest growth rate in its mobile subscribers base and was followed by Telewings.

•State-run BSNL in the December 2014, lost 1300000 subscribers and Sistema Shyam lost 68110 customers. Closure of Mumbai-based Loop Mobile business in November also brought down subscriber base by about 700,000.

•During the reported month, about 3500000 subscribers submitted request to change their mobile service provider taking the total number of such requests under Mobile Number Portability (MNP) service to 142.9 million.

•Wireline connections further declined to 27 million from 27.1 million in November 2014.The growth in broadband subscribers was also dominated by mobile operators with 69 million customers.