9-10 november eng

9 november

Grand Alliance won the 2015 Assembly Elections of Bihar with two-thirds majority

Election Commission of India on 8 November 2015 announced the results of the 2015 Assembly elections of Bihar. The elections were held in 5 phases between 12 October and 5 November 2015 for 243 assembly seats.

Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), JANATA DAL (UNITED) (JD(U)) and Indian National Congress (INC) emerged as the winner of the election with thumping two-third majority. RJD, a part of the grand Alliance with 80 seats emerged as the largest party.

Results as declared

Party	Won in 2015
Bharatiya Janata Party	53 (24.4%)
Indian National Congress	27 (6.7%)
Janata Dal (United)	71 (16.8%)
Lok Jan Shakti Party	2 (4.8%)
Rashtriya Janata Dal	80 (18.4%)
Rashtriya Lok Samta Party	2
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation)	3 (1.5%)
Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular)	1 (2.3%)
Independent	4
Total	243

What Happened to Netaji? authored by former journalist Anuj Dhar released

What Happened to Netaji?: Anuj Dhar
Book titled What Happened to Netaji? authored by former journalist Anuj Dhar was released October 2015. The book talks about Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in form of an unseen holy man of Faizabad in disguise who lived in several parts of Uttar Pradesh from 1050s to 1980s.

The book provides three prominent theories of Bose’s death zeroing in on what has come to be known as the Faizabad angle of the Bose mystery.

The book talks about the controversy surrounding the fate of Subhas Chandra Bose and lights the factual position with regard to the air crash that reportedly killed Netaji in 1945.

The book also questions the truth behind Subramaniun Swamy's belief that Netaji was killed in Soviet Russia at Jawaharlal Nehru's behest? How do the biggest names of the past and present, from Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel to President Pranab Mukherjee, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee fare in India's longest-running controversy?

The book talks about the Gumnami Baba of Faizabad, and if indeed he was Netaji, why did he not surface? Above all, what is preventing the Narendra Modi government from declassifying the Netaji files? The answers would make you believe that truth is stranger than fiction.

Union Government issued notification for implementation of OROP

Union Government on 7 November 2015 issued the notification regarding implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) in respect of Defence Forces personnel.

The notification is in tune with the modalities for implementation announced on 5 September 2015.

Features of OROP scheme

• Pension will be re-fixed for all pensioners retiring in the same rank and with the same length of service as the average of minimum and maximum pension in 2013.
• The benefit will be given with effect from 1 July 2014 to the ex-service men of all the three forces.
• Those drawing pensions above the average will be protected.
• In future, the pension would be re-fixed every 5 years.

• Arrears will be paid in four half-yearly instalments.
• All widows, including war widows, will be paid arrears in one instalment.
• Personnel who voluntarily retire will not be covered under the scheme.
• The estimated cost to the exchequer would be 8000 to 10000 crore at present, and will increase further in future.

What is OROP?

In simple terms, OROP implies that uniform pension be paid to the armed forces personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service, regardless of their date of retirement.

At present, ex-servicemen receive differential pensions as it is calculated on the basis of their salary at the time of their retirement.

Differential payments occur as the salaries of personnel are frequently revised on the basis of pay commission’s recommendations.

For example, personnel who retired in 1990 receive fewer pensions compared to their juniors who retired in 2006 though they retired at the same rank with same length of service.

BCCI announced monetary benefits for former players

BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) on 8 November 2015 announced monetary benefits for former cricketers, both domestic and international, including monthly and one-time payments. The announcement was made a day before the Annual General Body Meeting of the Board in Mumbai.

The Board also announced the match fees for the umpires officiating in both domestic and international games.

Monetary benefits as per payment of monthly gratis’ announced by BCCI
International Cricketer
• All Test cricketers who retired before 31 December 1993 and have played more than 25 matches will get 50000 rupees per month.
• All Test cricketers who retired before 31 December, 1993 and have played less than 25 matches will get 37500 rupees per month
• All Test cricketers who retired on or after 1 January 1994 will get 22500 rupees per month.
• Widows of Test cricketers and Test Umpires will continue to get the same amount of gratis for their lifetime.
• All cricketers who have represented India in One-Day International will get 15000 rupees.

First Class Cricketer
• All Ranji Trophy cricketers who have played at least 10 matches before 1957-58 season will get 15000 rupees per month.
• All first class cricketers who have played 25 to 49 matches up to the end of 2003-04 season will get 15000 rupees per month.
• All first class cricketers who have played 50 to 74 matches and 75 and above matches up to end of 2003-04 season will get 22500 rupees and 30000 rupees respectively.

Women Cricketer
• Women cricketers who have played 10 or more Tests will receive 22500 rupees per month (Working Committee 23 April 2008).
• Women cricketers who have played 5 to 9 Tests will receive 15000 rupees per month.

Umpires
• All retired Test umpires will get 22500 rupees per month.
• All retired All India Panel Umpires who have officiated in ODIs as field Umpires will get 15000 rupees per month.

One Time Payment to International and First Class cricketers who retired up to the end of 2003-04 season:
• Cricketers who have played more than 100 Test matches will receive 1.5 crore rupees.
• Cricketers who have played between 75 & 99 Test matches will receive one crore rupees.
• Cricketers who have played between 50 & 74 Test matches will receive 75 lakh rupees.
• Cricketers who have played between 25 & 49 Test matches will receive 60 lakh rupees.
• Cricketers who have played between 10 & 24 Test matches will receive 50 lakh rupees.
• Cricketers who have played between 1 & 9 Test matches and who have played their last International match before 1970 will receive 35 lakh rupees.
• Cricketers who have played between 100 and more first class matches will receive 30 lakh rupees.
• Cricketers who have played between 75 & 99 first class matches will receive 25 lakh rupees.

Conference of Power, New Renewable Energy and Mines Ministers of States & UTs concluded

A two day Conference of Power, New Renewable Energy and Mines Ministers of States & Union Territories (UTs) concluded on 7 November 2015. It was held in Kochi, Kerala.

The conference discussed problems faced by the power and renewable energy sector and evolved appropriate resolutions.

It was attended by power ministers and secretaries of fifteen states and UTs and chaired by Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy.

Key resolutions of the conference

• States unanimously decide to adopt Mission Mode for electrifying remaining villages by March 2017 under Deendayal Upadhyaya Grameen Jyoti Yojana ( DDUGJY)
• Achieving the 24x7 Power For All by 2019 or earliest
• It was decided that the States whose plan documents on Power For All have not been prepared should get it expedited with the help of consultants and central team members so that all these documents are completed by 31st December 2015
• States resolved to ensure expeditious implementation of Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) projects by implementing them within 30 months from date of sanction.
• 15 percent Aggregate Technical and Commercial Losses (AT & C) to be achieved at national level by 2019-20

• A state level mission will be established to plan smart grid activities in States
• States which are presently not having Right of Way (RoW) and Right of Use (RoU) / policy should take immediate step for having the same
• States have resolved to set targets for replacement for all existing conventional street lights and incandescent bulbs with LED by 2019
• Nine States namely Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have decided to replace 10 percent of existing agricultural water pumps with energy efficient pumps including solar within one year
• States have also agreed to set up solar parks as per stipulated schedule and to mandate the installation of solar roof tops on Government buildings
• States have also decided to encourage interstate and intrastate transmission of renewable energy through various measures like allowing open access, not charging wheeling charges, cross subsidy charges, banking charges etc.
• States which are rich in wind resource agreed to put in place a mechanism for forecasting and scheduling of wind power by 1st January 2016

Santoor maestro Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma honoured with Kala Shikhar award

Santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma on 7 November 2015 was honoured with the Aditya Vikram Birla Kala Shikhar Awardfor lifetime achievement.

The governor of Maharashtra C Vidyasagar Rao presented the award to the 77-year old Santoor player in Mumbai.

On the other hand, Murad Ali Khan (Sarangi)and Satyajit Talwalkar (Tabla)were awarded with the Kala Kiran Awards. Special Jury Awardwas given to Shehnai players Sanjeevand Ashwani Shankar.

After starting his career as a vocalist, Pandit Sharma emerged out as the master instrumentalist of the Santoor. He is credited with making Santoor a popular Classical Instrument.

The Santoor maestro is also the recipient of the Padma Shriand thePadma Vibhushan.

About Aditya Vikram Birla Kala Shikhar Puraskaar

The Aditya Vikram Birla Kala Shikhar Puraskaar was instituted by theSangit Kala Kendrain the memory of Aditya Vikram Birla.

The award is conferred on a distinguished artist for his/her lifetime achievement in the chosen field of the performing and visual arts.

The award comprises a cash award of 2 lakh rupees, a memento and a scroll of honour.

WHO officially declared Sierra Leone Ebola-free

World Health Organization (WHO) on 7 November 2015 announced that Sierra Leone is free of the Ebola virus. West African nation's epidemic was declared over at a ceremony attended by President Ernest Bai Koroma and WHO representative Anders Nordstrom.

Sierra Leone was declared free of the Ebola virus after no new cases were reported in the West Africa country in 42 days (two Ebola virus incubation cycles), where the virus began in May 2014.

Sierra Leone recorded the first Ebola case in May 2014, a total number of 8704 people were infected and 3589 have died of which 221 were healthcare workers.

Steps that helped to achieve the status includes
• Sierra Leone Government worked with partners from around the globe and mobilized the necessary expertise needed to contain the outbreak.
• Sierra Leone that experienced a massive rise in cases in September and October 2014 curbed the disease by putting in place treatment facilities, setting up safe and dignified burial teams and working with communities to identify and stop Ebola.
• The use of rapid response teams and strong community involvement became the cornerstone of the national response strategy.
• International partners supported the government to maintain a rapid response capacity to detect, identify and shut down any new transmission chains, and also contributed technical assistance, personnel, food, supplies and equipment.

WHO declared that the country now enters a 90-day period of enhanced surveillance which will run until 5 February 2016 and WHO will continue to support Sierra Leone during this period. This new phase is critical for ensuring early detection of any possible new cases of Ebola virus disease.

Union Government launched E-Pathshala, Saransh, Shaala Siddhi Portals

The Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani on 7 November 2015 launched the e-Pathshala, Saaransh and National Programme on School Standards and Evaluation Framework (Shala Siddhi) web portals/ mobile apps.

These portals were launched during the edNEXT, the National Conference on ICT in School Education that was held at New Delhi. During the Conference, Shala Darpan, MDM-IVRS and Ekta project from Alwar, Rajasthan were also show-cased.

E-Pathshala web portal
• E-Pathshala is a web portal which hosts educational resources for Students, Teachers, Parents, researchers and educators.
• It contains textbooks and other e-books as E-Pub 3.0 and Flipbooks in English, Hindi and Urdu.
• It is available through especially developed mobile app interface on Android, IOS and windows platforms for wider access.

Shaala Siddhi web portal
• Shaala Siddhi web portal is a comprehensive instrument for school evaluation which enables the schools to evaluate their performance in more focused and strategic manner.
• The web-portal will help all schools to assess themselves and the results can be seen by all enabling them to provide feedback.
• The initiative has already been successfully piloted in four districts of Tamil Nadu.

Saransh platform
• Saransh is a tool which allows the schools to identify areas of improvement in students, teachers and curriculum to facilitate and implement change.
• The platform is presently available for classes 9th to 12th and provides a comprehensive overview of standard 10th performance since 2007 and standard 12th performance since 2009 till the current academic session.
• Presently, results of CBSE are available on this portal/app.

The event also showcased other ICT initiatives including the IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system to monitor the daily implementation of Mid Day Meal scheme and Shaala Darpan, an integrated platform to address all academic and administrative requirements of schools, teachers, parents and students.

Prof Ashok Misra headed Committee of Eminent Persons on JEE submitted its report

The Committee of Eminent Persons (CEP) on 5 November 2015 submitted its report. It was constituted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Council under the Chairmanship of Prof Ashok Misra to suggest reforms to the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE).

Recommendations of the CEP

Following changes in the structure of JEE shall be effected from 2017 onwards

• A National Testing Service shall be set up by early 2016, mandated to conduct an Aptitude Test, which should test the scientific aptitude and innovative thinking ability
• The Aptitude test may be offered 2 or more times in a year and would be an online test. The testing shall test the scientific thinking and cannot be gamed through coaching

• Based on this performance, about 4 lakh candidates shall be short-listed for taking the JEE
• The JEE itself will be on the lines of the current JEE (Advanced) and designed to test the knowledge in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics; and will be conducted by the IITs.
• From this, ranks will be issued to 40,000+ students who can seek admission in IITs and NITs based on a common counselling.
• The IITs be requested to set up a system for developing mock JEE examinations which will help students prepare for the JEE significantly and wean them away from the coaching industry. The possibility of using the MOOCS platform can also be explored.
• MHRD may take measures for the improvement of school education and the method of examination of the Boards, so that students with the Science aptitude are well prepared in the concepts by the time they reach 12th grade, without dependence on coaching institutions.

Till such time, that is for 2016 and 2017, the practice of two tier JEE examination shall be continued.

• The top 200,000 students from JEE (Main) shall be allowed to appear in JEE (Advanced).
• More than 40,000 ranks will be issued in JEE (Advanced) for developing a better system for selection of candidates.
• Joint counselling for IITs and NITs shall be continued as was done last year.
• Board marks shall not to be counted for giving rankings this year for NITs, CFTIs etc

About Joint Entrance Exam

At present, JEE is being conducted in two stages-JEE-Main, followed by JEE-Advanced. However, top two lakh JEE Main performers are only allowed to the Advanced stage.

JEE-Main exam is for admission in IIITs (Indian Institutes of Information Technology), NITs (National Institutes of Technology), CFTIs (Central Funded Technical Institute) and IIEST Shibpur (dual degree programme). It is conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

JEE-Advancedis for admission in Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), and Indian School of Mines Dhanbad (to be converted into IIT). It is conducted by IITs.

Nuclear capable surface-to-surface Agni-IV missile successfully test-fired

Indian Army’s Strategic Forces Command (SFC) on 9 November 2015 successfully test-fired surface-to-surface Agni-IV missile.

The 4000-km range nuclear capable missile was test-fired from Abdul Kalam (Wheeler) Island off the Odisha coast.

SFC is entrusted with the task of handling strategic weapons of the country.

Features of Angi-IV

• It is 20 meters in length weighs 17 tonnes and carries a pay load of one tone
• With light weight, the missile has two stages of solid propulsion and a payload with re-entry heat shield
• It was developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
• It is the fourth missile in the series of Agni missiles. It was earlier known as Agni-II prime

Nigeria won 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup

Nigeria on 8 November 2015 won the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup. It was held across 8 cities in Chile since 17 October 2015.

To win its third championship Nigeria defeated Mali 2-0. Oshimhen and Bamgboye scored the goals for Nigeria at the 56th and 59th minute respectively.

India will host the bi-annual championship in 2017.

FIFA U-17 World Cup

Year	Host	Champion
2007	South Korea	Nigeria
2009	Nigeria	Switzerland
2011	Mexico	Mexico
2013	UAE	Nigeria
2015	Chile	Nigeria

Union Government signed Loan Agreement with Asian Development Bank

The Union Government on 9 November 2015 signed 273 million US dollar loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to continue improving rural roads in the States of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.

The loan agreement was signed by S Selvakumar, Joint Secretary (Bilateral Cooperation), Department of Economic Affairs and Teresa Kho, Country Director of ADB.

The loan represents the third tranche, which is also the last tranche of the 800 million US dollars financing facility under the Rural Connectivity Investment Program. The loan will help in constructing over 6000 kilometers of all-weather rural roads and will benefit over 4200 rural habitations.

The Union Ministry of Rural Development (MORD) is the executing agency of the project at the central level, while the State Governments of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal will be handling the overall implementation at the respective State level.

The third tranche is expected to be completed by December 2017. The implementing agencies at the State level will be the respective State Rural Roads Development Agencies.

This loan will also be used to make further investments as well as supporting improved road design, road safety and asset management measures and training with women actively involved in all aspects.

Srinivasan removed as ICC Chairman; Shashank Manohar to take his place

Narayanaswami Srinivasan was on 9 November 2015 removed as the chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC). He was removed after Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to recall him and nominate its current president Shashank Manohar as the chief of the world body.

The decision to drop him was taken at the BCCI’s 86th Annual General Meeting in Mumbai. Now, BCCI will recommend this change to ICC.

Srinivasan was elected the first chairman of the International Cricket Council for a two-year term (from June 2014 to June 2016). His tenure will be completed by Shashank Manohar as it is India's turn to hold the top position.

As per protocol, respective Boards name a representative on the Ex-Co. The BCCI will propose former ICC President Sharad Pawar's name as an alternative director in the executive committee.

Other decisions taken at the 86th Annual General Meeting of BCCI includes
• Ravi Shastri has also been removed from the IPL governing council.
• Rajeev Shukla has been retained as IPL Chairman.
• Roger Binny was removed from the Team India selection committee. He will be replaced by MSK Prasad from the South zone.
• Gagan Khoda is the other new member of the selection committee, chosen to replace Rajinder Singh Hans.
• Former India captain and current Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Sourav Ganguly will replace Anil Kumble as the chairman of BCCI’s technical committee.
• The BCCI also named Visakhapatnam, Ranchi, Indore, Pune and Rajkot as the five new venues for hosting Test cricket.

Besides, the BCCI accepted in principle the proposed rules on conflict of interest and other amendments to its constitution. It also appointed retired Justice A.P Shah as the ombudsman, who will look into all conflict of interest disputes.

Belgian court ordered Facebook to stop tracking non-members

A court of Belgium on 10 November 2015 asked Facebook to stop tracking the country's Internet users who are not members of the US-based social networking website. It gave 48 hours to the social networking site to stop tracking people in Belgium.

The ruling was pronounced on a case lodged in June 2015 by the Belgian Privacy Commission, which said Facebook indiscriminately tracks Internet users when they click like or share on the website. It said that the site uses a special cookie called Datr that lodges on internet users’ device to track their activities.

The court said that the company was obliged to obtain consent to collect the information being gathered.

If Facebook fails to comply, it could face a fine of up to 250000 euros (269000 dollars) per day to the Belgian Privacy Commission.

Facebook says it will appeal against the decision and that the order relates to a cookie it has used for five years. The cookie is installed when an internet user visits a Facebook page even if they are not members.

Cookies are simple files that track whether a user has visited a website before and notify the site itself. They can track a number of user activities, such as how long they stayed, what they clicked and any preferences selected.

NRI industrialist Swraj Paul’s son Angad Paul dead

Angad Paul, the youngest son of NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul, on 8 November 2015 died after falling from his penthouse home in an eight-storey building in central London. He was 45.

Angad was pronounced dead on the spot by paramedics. He is survived by his wife Michelle and their two children.

The London police are enquiring into the issue; however, his death is being treated as non-suspicious as of now.

Angad’s death has come at the backdrop of large-scale job cuts at his steel company, Caparo plc. The company has been hit by a collapse in steel prices, which forced 16 of its companies to be put into administration, a process that is an alternative to liquidation.

CEO of Caparo plc, Angad had also been the producer of films like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatchand The Tournament.

He attended the Harrow School and obtained a degree in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Ministry of Defence launched Army Cloud, Data Centre & Digi-Locker for the Indian Army

Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on 9 November 2015 launched Army Cloud, Software Defined Data Centre and Digi-Locker facilities for the Indian Army at the Army Headquarters in New Delhi.

The three initiatives are aimed at catalysing automation and digitization of the Indian Army and help in transforming it from a Platform Centric to a Network Centric Force.

And, they are a part of Digital Army Programme which is in turn is part of the larger Digital India initiative.

Features of Army Cloud

The facility includes a Central Data Centre, a Near Line Data Centre, both in Delhi and a Disaster Recovery site for replication of its critical data along with virtualised servers and storage in an environmentally controlled complex.

It is similar to the Meghraj, the Cloud of National Informatics Centre (NIC), and will provide all IT infrastructure including servers for computing, storage, network and network security equipment centrally for automation of Indian Army.

Features of Software Defined Data Centre

The latest technologies in the field have been incorporated in its implementation wherein all the resources could be provisioned to different applications on the Cloud, on click of a button.

It has already started providing Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) to the pan Army users as the first Cloud service and will soon provide Software as a Service (SaaS).

Features of Digi-Locker

• It will provide a secure and exclusive data storage space to all the units and formation headquarters of the Army over its dedicated data network.
• It is similar to e-Locker of Digital India program and has all the advanced features like digital signatures and watermarking.
• It is an important step towards implementation of cyber security as it precludes carriage of soft copies of data on CDs/DVDs and removable media.
• By using this facility, users can store, share and access the data from anywhere any time on the Army Data Network.

Ministry of Railways issued Letter of Award to GE Global Sourcing India Pvt Limited

Ministry of Railways on 9 November 2015 issued a Letter of Award (LoA) to USA-based GE Global Sourcing India Pvt Limited for setting up of Diesel Locomotive Factory (DLF) at Marhowra, Saran district, Bihar and for procurement and maintenance of mainline Diesel Electric Locomotives.

With this, a Joint Venture Company between Union Ministry of Railways and GE Global Sourcing India Pvt Limited will be formed soon to construct and run the factory. The factory will manufacture modern diesel electric locomotives of 4500 HP and 6000 HP to Indian railways.

The Railways Ministry will hold 26 percent equity in the JV Company subject to a maximum of 100 crore rupees. The factory is expected to be established within a period of three years at a cost of about 1000 crore rupees.

The Company will work on an Assured Off-Take model of 100 locomotives per annum for 10 years. The company will also maintain these locomotives up to the 13th year. Thereafter, Indian Railways will take over the maintenance of these locomotives.

Highlights of the Letter of Award
• Around 1000 Locomotives will be manufactured in a period of ten years. The basic cost of 1000 freight locos will be about 14656 crore rupees.
• The 4500 HP and 6000 HP locomotives will also operate as 9000 HP and 12000 HP multiple units to provide the necessary economical and environmentally friendly motive power to growing heavy haul freight business of Indian Railways.
• These modern powerful locomotives will be useful for growing heavy haul freight operations and will also support the mega freight operations for the upcoming dedicated freight corridors
• These locomotives will be highly fuel efficient which will bring savings in fuel costs on Indian Railways.
• These will be equipped with latest technology like electronic fuel injection system, motor driven blowers and compressors, REMMLOT system, noise control to the latest standards.
• This factory will lead to direct and indirect employment and development of ancillaries and support industry in the neighbouring region.

The project was announced in the year 2006-07 to select a joint venture partner through International Competitive Bidding for manufacture and supply of modern diesel electric locomotives of 4500 HP and 6000 HP to Indian Railways.

Justice AP Shah appointed as the Ethics Officer (Ombudsman) at BCCI

Former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Justice Ajit Prakash Shah, was on 9 November 2015 appointed as the ethics officer (ombudsman) at Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He will preside as the sole decision maker on all conflict of interest issues plaguing Indian cricket.

The decision to appoint an ombudsman was taken at the Board's 86th Annual General Meeting to end the problem on conflict of interest in the Board. This is being considered as a BCCI’s clean-up operation.

The clean-up operation has been triggered by the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal, which was investigated by the Supreme Court-appointed RM Lodha committee.

The apex court-appointed panel had suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two years for their officials' involvement in the scandal.

Justice Shah, 67, is known for his bold judgments, including the July 2009 ruling that found India's 150-year-old statute prohibiting homosexual acts as discriminatory and therefore a violation of fundamental rights.

He was the Chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India and was also the Chairman of the Committee constituted by the Union Ministry of Finance in May 2015 to look into Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) on Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).

Odisha's Barabati stadium excluded from BCCI's new Test venues

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on 9 November 2015 excluded Barabati stadium in Cuttack, Odisha from the list of newly declared Test venues.

Barabati Stadium was excluded from the list after Cricket fans hurled plastic bottled onto the ground forcing the match referees to stop the match for some time.

The bottles were thrown during India’s dismal batting display in the 2nd T20 International match against South Africa on 5 October 2015. The visitors had won the match.

However, Visakhapatnam, Ranchi, Indore, Pune, Dharamsala and Rajkot were accorded the status of Test venues.

The new list for Test venues was declared at the Board’s 86th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Mumbai.

Richard Proud-chaired Independent Commission on Doping in Sports submitted its report to WADA

Richard Proud-chaired Independent Commission (IC) on Doping in Sports submitted its report to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The report was submitted on 9 November 2015 in Vienna, Switzerland.

WADA launched the IC in December 2014 to investigate the validity of allegations of doping practices, corrupt practices around sample collection, results management, etc that implicate Russian Government agencies, labs, athletes, coaches among others.

The allegations were based on a documentary titled Top Secret Doping: How Russia makes its Winners that was aired by the German television channel ARD.

Highlights of the repot

• The commission found that the allegations of widespread doping were substantiated by their investigation, and that far from being historical, many of the findings are still current in Russian sport today.
• There was a systematic level of doping that had been perpetuated by unscrupulous athlete support personnel and state agencies.
• The IC has recommended that WADA declare The All-Russia Athletic Federation (ARAF) and Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) to be Code noncompliant.
• The IC has recommended that WADA withdraw its accreditation of the Moscow laboratory as soon as possible and that its Director be permanently removed from his position.
• As the Moscow laboratory is unable to act independently, the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) should suspend ARAF.

India re-elected to UN Commission on International Trade Law

India on 9 November 2015 was re-elected by the General Assembly to a six year term on the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

Apart from India, 22 other countries including the United States and Pakistan were also re-elected to the UNCITRAL.

The Monday election was the fifth election that India has won in 2015. The country also won the re-election to the UN Human Rights Council held in 2014.

In April 2015, the UN Economic and Social Committee (ECOSOC) elected India to the executive councils of UNICEF and the World Food Programme, the governing council of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.

About UNCITRAL

The United Nations General Assembly by its Resolution 2205 (XXI) of 17 December 1966 established the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) to promote the progressive harmonization and unification of international trade law.

The Commission is a legal body with universal membership specializing in commercial law reform worldwide for over 40 years. It carries out its work at annual sessions held alternately in New York City and Vienna.

The Commission comprises of six working groups to perform the substantive preparatory work on topics within the Commission's programme of work. The six working groups and their current topics are:

•Working Group I - Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
•Working Group II - Arbitration and Conciliation
•Working Group III - Online Dispute Resolution
•Working Group IV - Electronic Commerce
•Working Group V - Insolvency Law
•Working Group VI - Security Interests

World Science Day for Peace and Development 2015 observed

10 November: World Science Day for Peace and Development

The World Science Day for Peace and Development, dubbed World Science Day, was observed on 10 November 2015 across the world. The theme for 2015 is Science for a Sustainable Future.

To mark the day, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) conducted several discussions, special campaigns, visits to science museums for school children, etc to raise awareness of benefits of science worldwide.

For 2015, the theme Science for a Sustainable Future is chosen against the backdrop of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as approved by the UN.

World Science Day was created as follow-up to the World Conference on Science, organized jointly by UNESCO and the International Council for Science in Budapest (Hungary) in 1999.

The theme for 2014 World Science Day was Quality Science Education: Ensuring a sustainable future for all.