RBI/ BANKING/BUSINESS NEWS THIS MONTH

Transcription

1 RBI/ BANKING/BUSINESS NEWS THIS MONTH 14 October: Indian government signed a deal, worth crore rupees, with Pipistrel, a Slovenian firm, for 194 micro-light aircraft named 'Virus SW 80/100' to be used by Indian Air Force, the Navy and the National Cadet Corps. However, the Indian version of the aircraft will be renamed as Garud. 14 October: Punjab National Bank (PNB) claimed the Beighton Cup hockey tournament at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) ground in Kolkata. PNB defeated Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). 14 October: ICICI Bank has launched 'Money2World,' a fully online outward remittance service for resident Indians. With this, non-account holders of ICICI Bank can now transfer money online from any bank account in India to any bank account overseas in 16 major currencies, in a "convenient and fully secure" manner. It is a first-of-its-kind service by any bank in India. Users can remit up to an equivalent of $25000 in a financial year through this online platform. 14 October: The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, announced that the AfDB would triple its annual climate financing to reach 5 billion dollar a year by October: Finance Ministers of 20 nations vulnerable to climate change launched the V20 Group. The Group was launched during the annual meeting of International Monetary Fund 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 industrialized and emerging economies. 13 October: India and Jordon inked six MoUs in various fields in Amman. These include, agreement on Maritime Transport, Exchange of information on structure and content of training programmes for diplomats, Cooperation in the field of IT & Electronics, Cultural Exchange Programme for , Cooperation in the fields of Standardization and Conformity Assessment; and Cooperation Agreement between Jordan News Agency

2 [Petra] and Press Trust of India [PTI]. The MoUs were signed as part of the President Pranab Mukherjee s three-day visit to Jordan from October October: China launched the much anticipated China International Payment System (CIPS), an international payment system that seeks to provide global dimensions to its currency Yuan. CIPS will provide capital settlement and clearing services for crossborder Yuan transactions for financial institutions domestically and abroad and will effectively enhance efficiency and increase global use of the Chinese currency. 12 October: Union Government released data which discloses that the National Pension System (NPS) and the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) have together crossed milestone figure of Rs. 1 lakh crore (or Rs. 1 trillion) with regard to total Assets Under Management (AUM). Both together have more than one crore subscribers with total AUM of Rs.1, 00,275 crores. 12 October: The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement of 12 Pacific Rim countries was reached at the ministerial meeting of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) held in Atlanta, USA that will cover almost 36% of global economic output. This is an ambitious agreement to lower trade and investment barriers in 12 partner countries in the Asia Pacific region. The TPP is world s biggest trade agreement in the past two decades. 12 October: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $15 million grant to rebuild schools, provide micro-loans to help restore livelihoods, and to boost disaster awareness in quake-ravaged Nepal. 10 October: ICICI Bank launched a mobile payment service 'mvisa'. The service enables customers to make electronic payments from their smart phones at traditional stores, e- commerce sites, deliveries made at home, radio taxi and utility bills among others without swiping a debit card. The service is based on 'mvisa', a new mobile payment solution from Visa. ICICI Bank is the first bank globally to launch a mobile app based on 'mvisa' solution for consumers and merchants. 10 October: Drug maker Cipla announced that its South African subsidiary Cipla Medpro (Pvt.) Ltd. has entered into an exclusive agreement with Serum Institute of India (SII). The two organizations have partnered to provide vaccines in South Africa. The partnership will enable affordable and accessible vaccines for South Africans as well as will facilitate a reliable supply stream to the South African Government. 9 October: International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected the economic growth rate of 7.5 percent for India in 2016 as against China's 6.3 percent. In its latest World Economic Outlook Update, IMF said growth in India is expected to rise above the rates in other major emerging market economies. 9 October: National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Ltd (NCDEX) signed an agreement with Kotak Mahindra Bank. Under the agreement, farmers and traders who

3 have kept their commodities in NCDEX-approved warehouses, can use such commodities as collateral for availing financial assistance from Kotak Mahindra Bank. 8 October: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has trimmed its growth forecast for India to 7.3% for the current fiscal, from 7.5% predicted in July, although it maintained the country s near-term growth prospects still remained favorable. The multilateral agency also cut its projection for global economic growth to 3.1% for October: Easing norms for foreign ownership of government debt, RBI announced higher investment limits in rupee terms in government securities by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) with a view to bringing in an additional Rs 1.2 lakh crore by March The announcement follows a decision by RBI to fix FPI investment limits in rupee terms and raise it in phases to reach 5 per cent of the outstanding stock by March October: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for the formation of a Group A service of the technical cadre of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSD&E). This was earlier called the Directorate General of Employment & Training, Ministry of Labour Employment. The new service will be called the Indian Skill Development Service (ISDS). 8 October: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to: (i) implement the World Bank assisted National Watershed Management Project "Neeranchal" with a total outlay of $357 million (Rs crore at Rs. 60 = $1 Government Share 50%) (ii) implement the project at the National level as well as in the nine States of Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana. 7 October: A framework MoU was signed between the Department of Heavy Industries (DHI), GoI and Fraunhofer, Germany, which will act as the 'technology resource partner'. The objective of this MoU is to support and augment the 'Make in India' programme through increasing the innovation and technology prowess of Indian industry. 7 October: According the provisional data of the RBI, UCO Bank was listed as the worst performer among the public sector banks (PSU banks) for registering the highest increase in gross non-performing assets (NPAs) in percentage terms against total loans for last fiscal year ( ). 6 October: The World Bank cut its 2015 and 2016 growth forecasts for the developing East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region, which includes China, to grow 6.5 per cent in 2015 and 6.4 per cent in 2016, down from 6.8 per cent growth in October: Private bank IDFC Bank became the latest entrant to India s banking sector on 1 October 2015 as it unveiled its banking operations on this day with 23 branches. 3 October: Global rating agency Fitch Ratings has lowered India's GDP growth estimate for the current fiscal to 7.5 per cent from 7.8 per cent.

4 1 October: With $31 billion of foreign capital inflows, India has surpassed China and the US to take the pole position in attracting largest FDI in the first half of The Finance Ministry forwarded a report published in Financial Times, London that said "India grabs investment league pole position." In 2014 India ranked fifth in terms of capital investment, after China, the US, the UK and Mexico. According to the report India has attracted $31 billion of FDI in H1 2015, ahead of $28 billion of China and $27 billion of US. 30 September: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lowered the repo rate by 50 basis points from 7.25 per cent to 6.75 per cent, while keeping CRR and SLR unchanged at 4 percent and 21.5 percent, respectively in its Fourth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, The reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 5.75 per cent, and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 7.75 per cent. However, it has lowered its FY GDP growth target to 7.4 percent from 7.6 percent. 30 September: The Government of India signed a loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for US $ million for tranche 3 of the Infrastructure Development Investment Program for Tourism to continue upgrading tourism infrastructure and services in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. The loan will be used for development and conservation of places of tourist attractions. The third tranche loan is part of the $250 million multi-tranche financing facility that ADB approved in September: Silicon Valley based chip-maker Qualcomm announced that it will invest 150 million US dollars for Indian start-ups. The investment will come through a venture fund. The announcement was made after the company s executive chairman Paul E. Jacobs met the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Digital Economy event in San Jose. 29 September: The commodities regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) formally merged with the securities market regulator SEBI in Mumbai. According to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the ultimate objective of merging Forward Markets Commission (FMC) with SEBI is to face the challenges posed by borderless market. Forward Markets Commission (FMC) was established in The announcement for the merger was made by the Finance Minister in his Budget speech earlier this year. 28 September: The Finance Ministry announced Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) exemption to foreign companies with no permanent establishment (PE) in India with effect from assessment year This means companies not having a permanent establishment or place of business in India would not come under MAT with effect from April Apart from this, the MAT will also not apply on a foreign company belonging to a country having a Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA). 28 September: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that government has set disbursement target for micro and marginal businesses under MUDRA scheme during the current fiscal at Rs lakh crore. MUDRA has been established as a subsidiary of SIDBI with an initial corpus of Rs. 5,000 crore to provide capital to all banks seeking refinancing of small business

5 loans under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY). PMMY loans fall into three categories Shishu (up to Rs. 50,000), Kishore (Rs. 50,000-Rs. 5 lakh) and Tarun (Rs lakh). 26 September: Snapdeal, India's largest online marketplace in partnership with educational loans specialists Credila - an HDFC group Company, has launched the country's first customized education loans offering on an e-commerce platform. The partnership will usher faster loan process. Customers will have the opportunity to avail exciting benefits, like up to 100% finance of their education with no upper cap on loan and easy EMI repayments at attractive rates of interest. 24 September: In its biggest ever fine, Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) imposed a penalty of 7,269 crore rupees on PACL Ltd. and its four directors for illegal and fraudulent mobilisation of funds from the public. The penalty follows another order by Sebi last year wherein the company was asked to refund 49,100 crore rupees it had collected through illicit schemes over a period of 15-years. 24 September: The Trust Fund for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, under the Department of Empowerment of People with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the The New India Assurance Company Limited on providing a comprehensive and affordable Health Insurance Scheme - Swavlamban Health Insurance Scheme - for the Persons with Disabilities (PwDs). The scheme has been designed to deliver comprehensive cover to the beneficiary as well as his family (PwD, Spouse & up to two children), has a single premium across age band and can be availed by PwDs aged between 18 years and 65 years with family annual income of less than Rs. 3,00,000 per annum. The scheme also ensures coverage of any pre-existing condition and a health Insurance cover up to Rs. 2, 00,000 per annum as family floater. 23 September: Banks having a capital adequacy ratio of at least 10 per cent, besides being profitable in the last fiscal, do not require prior approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for equity investments in financial institutions, stock exchanges, depositories and the like in case the investment is less than 10 per cent of the investee company s equity. Additionally, the RBI said, the bank s stake in the investee, along with those of its subsidiaries or joint ventures, should not exceed 20 per cent. 23 September: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has lowered growth projections for India for the current fiscal to 7.4 per cent, from the 7.8 per cent earlier due to weak monsoon, poor external demand and inability of the government to push economic reforms in Parliament. It has retained the consumer inflation forecast for India at 4 per cent (+/- 0.2 per cent). 22 September: Lower commodity prices are unlikely to narrow India's current account deficit, Standard Chartered has said, while revising its Current Account Deficit (CAD) forecast for the fiscal to 1.5% from 1.1% of GDP earlier. It has also revised down its fiscal year balance-of-payments (BoP) surplus forecast to $31.7 billion from $48.5 billion. Standard Chartered expects capital inflows of $64 billion in this financial year, down from its previous estimate of $75 billion. 19 September: As many as 15 MoUs with investment potential of USD 590 million have been signed between Chinese Province Gunagdong and its sister state Gujarat across various sectors for mutual cooperation in the China-India Economic and Trade Cooperation Conference 2015 held in Ahmedabad. These agreements signed for mutual cooperation and business, can be classified under three main areas including manufacturing and information technology. Some key agreements signed between business leaders include a MoU to develop the Ahmedabad Industrial Park and an agreement to promote ecommerce in both the contries.

6 18 September: 10 entities, including Ujjivan Financial Services and Equitas Holdings, got RBI's approval to set up Small Finance Banks to provide basic banking services to small farmers and micro industries. Other entities to get the Reserve Bank's nod are Au Financiers (Jaipur), Capital Local Area Bank (Jalandhar), Disha Microfin (Ahmedabad), ESAF Microfinance (Chennai), Janalakshmi Financial (Bengaluru), RGVN (North East) Microfinance (Guwahati), Suryoday Micro Finance (Mumbai) and Utkarsh Micro Finance (Varanasi). The Small Finance Banks can provide basic banking services like accepting limited deposits and small lending to the unbanked sections such as small farmers, micro business enterprises, micro and small industries and unorganised sector entities. 18 September: Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley launched an innovative HITS digital broadcasting platform that will provide over 500 TV channels to cable operators, with the promoter Hinduja group pegging the total project outlay at more than Rs. 5,000 crore. The Hinduja- HITS (Headend-in-the-Sky) Network, under the brand name NXT Digital, will serve Multi System Operators (MSOs) as well as Local Cable Operators (LCOs) and aims to tap the transition from analog to digital mode of cable TV services under the government's digitisation drive. 18 September: The Central Board of Trustees of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has decided to enhance the deposit linked Insurance benefit to 6 lakh rupees from the present 3 lakh 60 thousand. According to Union Labour and Employment Minister Bandaru Dattatreya it will benefit four lakh employees across the country. 16 September: Indian Bankers Chanda Kochhar and Arundhati Bhattacharya have been ranked as top two in a list of most powerful women in Asia Pacific prepared by the global magazine Fortune. Kochhar, 53, who heads the country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank has been ranked at the top, up from the second position last year. She is followed by Arundhati Bhattacharya, the chairman of the country's largest lender State Bank of India, whose ranking has also moved up from the fourth spot she was at last year. 16 September: Reserve Bank of India inked an agreement with Nepal Rastra Bank on exchange of supervisory information. The Reserve Bank of India signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 'Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information' with the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). RBI has entered into Memorandam of Understanding, Letter for Supervisory Co-operation and Statement of Co-operation with supervisors of a few countries to promote greater co-operation and share supervisory information. 16 September: India is likely to become the fastest-growing emerging market this year and its potential growth could rise to 8 per cent over the next five years driven by Technology, gains in Education and Ease of doing business due to less red tape, according to Goldman Sachs, a global brokerage firm. Terming these three factors as TEE's, it said that these could be the key drivers of growth and can contribute 3.6 percentage point to GDP growth annually. It forecasted that India's potential growth could rise to 8 per cent over the period from 7 per cent in , under the new GDP series. 15 September: With a Rs. 1, 60,950 crore ($24 billion) fortune, Reliance Industries Ltd chairman Mukesh Ambani continues to be the richest Indian for the fourth consecutive year, according to the Hurun report. For the first time, Wipro czar Azim Premji slips out of top five billionaires' spot owing to his philanthropic donations, while Bengaluru-based biotech leader Kiran Mazumdar- Shaw is the only self-made woman in the top rich list, though her net worth declined six percent to Rs.6,143 crore.

7 15 September: Axis Bank launched LIME service. It is country's first mobile phone application which is offering wallet, shopping, and payments and banking facilities. According to Axis Bank CMD Shikha Sharma Lime has a mobile wallet in which amount can be transferred using debit or credit card along with net banking. It has facility of shared wallets also. The software application also enables the users to compare and buy products and services. LIME will enable individuals to open a full-fledged savings account digitally, by completing the know your customer (KYC) process, using their mobile. 12 September: The Union Cabinet allowed 100% FDI under the automatic route for white label ATM operation. White labeled ATMs are set up by private non-bank companies that own and operate their own brand of ATMs. Till date, foreign investment in White Label ATM Operations (WLAO), was allowed through the government approval route. This required some processing time and projects were delayed. The move to allow 100% FDI under the automatic route for white label ATM operations is expected to promote financial inclusion in the country. 11 September: Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) and the New Development Bank (NDB) signed a memorandum to strengthen cooperation. The document was signed by BNDES President Luciano Coutinho and one of the vice presidents of the NDB, Paulo Nogueira Batista, at the Brazilian bank's headquarters in Rio de Janeiro.The main aim of the memorandum is the exchange of information and sharing of experiences related to supporting infrastructure projects and initiatives aimed at promoting sustainable development 10 September: The seventh session of India-Belarus Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation was held in the Belarus capital Minsk. It was co-chaired by Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman and her counterpart Vitali Mikhailovich Vovk. In the session bilateral trade target was set as 1 billion US dollars to be achieved by 2018 from the present level of 400 million US dollars. 10 September: Union Cabinet approved a new Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme and also a Gold Monetisation Scheme to incentivise people to park their gold assets in a paper format and earn interest, while seeking to productively use vast amounts of this idle metal in the economy. Under the gold bond scheme up to 500 grams worth of bonds per annum can be bought by an individual with lock-in of five-seven years and appropriate interest so that they are protected from volatility. The Gold Monetisation Scheme, also approved, calls for people to deposit their gold with authorised agencies for a short-, medium- or long-term periods, for which they will be given certificates of holding. This will also bear interest. This has been done to replenish the Reserve Bank's gold reserves. 10 September: According to Moody's Investors Service India's current account deficit is likely to remain low supported by declining oil prices but a slow recovery in industrial output and investment would drag economic growth to 7 per cent in the current fiscal. Moody's also lowered growth forecasts for many Asia Pacific (APAC) sovereigns. It has reduced its projections for India to 7 per cent in 2015 and 7.5 per cent in 2016, from 7.5 per cent and 7.6 per cent based on high frequency indicators suggesting that the recovery in industrial output and investment is slow, and bank credit growth still subdued. 9 September: ICICI Lombard GIC announced the appointment of Sanjeev Mantri as executive director for its retail business division. Mantri has more than 20 years of experience in the banking, finance services and insurance sector and has held key leadership positions in his earlier assignments with BNP Paribas and ICICI Bank.

8 9 September: Doha Bank has tied up with the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group to generate business opportunities in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations and India. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Doha Bank and Reliance ADA Group have entered into an alliance to create new opportunities for cooperation and innovation in terms of business development across the GCC and India. 8 September: British financial services major Barclays has maintained its India growth forecast of 7.8 percent for According to Barclays the strong rise in central government spending should help GDP growth to accelerate in second quarter of fiscal year The Indian economy grew 7 percent in the first quarter of this fiscal and 7.5 percent expansion was seen in the quarter before. But the growth was 6.7 percent registered in the first quarter of the last fiscal. 8 September: A committee set up by the government to rationalise distribution incentives for financial products and curb their mis-selling, has in its report recommended flexible exits for financial products and that profits from exit charges not accrue to product providers. Sumit Bose, former Finance Secretary is the head of the committee. The report of the Sumit Bose Committee has recommended that the choice of withdrawal of all financial products, except those pertaining to pensions, should remain with the investor. 8 September: RBI released its Annual Report for It has revealed that the central bank s Contingency funds, used in case of unforeseen shocks, have fallen to 8.4% of total assets. Apart from this, for the last two years, the RBI has made no transfers to its Contingency Fund or its Asset Development Fund. While the total in these contingency funds of the RBI stood at Rs. 2,424 billion in , it was Rs. 2,434 billion in This meant that balance in these funds has barely changed since The stipulated target for funding of RBI s contingency funds is 12% of assets. 7 September: Sri Lanka Central Bank has received 1.1 billion dollars from the Reserve Bank of India under the currency swap agreement between the two reserve banks. Consequent to the signing of a special currency swap agreement for USD 1.1 billion by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) with the Reserve Bank of India on 17 July 2015, the CBSL has received USD 1.1 billion. This is in addition to the USD 400 million received in April September: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group announced that their 2018 Annual Meetings will take place in Bali Nusa Dua, Indonesia, in October 2018, following a vote by the Boards of Governors of the two institutions. According to Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, this will be a great opportunity to showcase Indonesia s impressive economic and social achievements, as well as the culture, beauty, and vitality of the country. 3 September: Foreign brokerages firms have cut their Indian GDP rate forecasts by up to 0.3 percentage points. Standard Chartered has revised down Indian GDP rate forecast for the FY to 7.3 per cent from 7.7 per cent. It attributed the cut to weaker growth data for Q1, external headwinds and slower agriculture growth. Its Japanese peer Nomura has also cut its forecast by 0.2 percentage points to 7.8 per cent for the fiscal. 3 September: The Reserve Bank of India declared SBI and ICICI Bank as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs), which literally means that these banks are so integral to the national economy that their failure would have to be prevented at any cost. While State Bank of India (SBI) is the largest public sector bank and the largest banking entity in the country, ICICI Bank is the largest private sector bank in the country. SBI and ICICI have been so designated on the basis of a systemic importance score, arrived at after an analysis of the banks size as a percentage of

9 annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Banks with assets that exceed 2% of GDP will be considered to be part of this class of lenders. 3 September: RBI released the preliminary estimates, according to which, the household financial savings in the country have successfully broken a five year trend over which the share of financial savings was seen dipping. Financial savings stands for savings or investments done in deposits, stocks, insurance, mutual funds, pension funds and other such instruments. Household financial saving for placed at 7.5 % of India s income as against 7.3% in September: Global ratings agency Fitch, downgraded Punjab National Bank's Viability Rating (VR) by one notch to bb on account of the growing risk to the bank s capital position from mounting stock of stressed assets. It has been done to reflect the growing risk to the bank s capital position from its mounting stock of stressed assets, which has risen at a faster rate than its capital replenishment. Fitch affirmed the Long Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at BBB- for banks including State Bank of India (SBI), PNB, Canara Bank, IDBI Bank, ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda and its subsidiary in New Zealand. 21 August: The Reserve Bank of India granted its in-principle approval to setting up Payments Banks to 11 entities. These are Aditya Birla Nuvo, Airtel M Commerce Services, Cholamandalam Distribution Services, Department of Posts, Fino PayTech, National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL), Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, Vodafone m-pesa, Dilip Shanghvi and Vijay S. Sharma. The two individuals to get RBI s approval Dilip Shanghvi and Vijay S. Sharma, are associated with Sun Pharma and Paytm respectively. Payments banks will be the entities which will be mainly involved in remittance services and will be allowed to accept deposits up to Rs. 1 lakh but cannot lend. They can also issue debit cards and offer internet banking but will be not allowed to issue credit cards. 20 August: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has launched two funds by Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), a fund of funds with total corpus of Rs 12,000 crore. The funds are Rs 2,000-crore India Aspiration Fund (IAF) and SIDBI Make In India Loan For Enterprises (SMILE) scheme with an investment size of Rs 10,000 crore. 20 August: The State Bank of India has launched its mobile wallet State Bank Buddy in collaboration with Accenture and MasterCard. The mobile wallet app is available in 13 languages on Google Play Store.The bank said the wallet will soon be available in the Apple App Store as well. 20 August: The Indian government's recent steps to support the capitalisation of public sector banks won't fully resolve their looming capital shortfall, according to a Standard & Poor's report. The government has recently announced its plan to allocate capital to each of the banks for fiscal (ending March 31), increase the capital allocation for fiscal 2016, and commit to further allocation in the next few years if needed. The government has earmarked Indian rupee (INR) 0.7 trillion (US$11 billion) for capital infusions for

10 20 August: To fund the unfunded, the Finance Ministry plans to launch a month long campaign for loans under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana and hopes to double loan disbursement to the small business sector to over Rs 1 lakh crore during the fiscal. 20 August: The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), the major player in the insurance sector launched its new endowment plus ULIP product. Mr B K Panda, Sr Divisional Manager LICI, Guwahati, along with Mr S Biswas, Manager Sales officially launched the policy. 18 August: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a new campaign 'Start-up India, Stand-up India' to promote bank financing for start-ups and offer incentives to boost entrepreneurship and job creation. The campaign was launched during the celebrations of 69th Independence Day at Red Fort, Delhi. The initiative is aimed at encouraging entrepreneurship among the youth of India. 18 August: Government appointed new heads in five Public Sector Banks. Bank of Baroda (BoB) and Canara Bank have become the first public sector banks which will be headed by private sector professionals. P.S. Jayakumar (53), who currently heads realty firm VBHC Value Homes, has been appointed as the managing director & chief executive officer of Bank of Baroda. MD and CEO of private sector lender Laxmi Vilas Bank Rakesh Sharma (57) will head Canara Bank. M.O. Rego (Deputy Managing Director, IDBI Bank), Kishore Kharat Piraji (Executive Director, Union Bank of India), and Usha Ananthasubramanian (CMD, Bhartiya Mahila Bank) are the new MD and CEOs of Bank of India, IDBI Bank and Punjab National Bank, respectively. 18 August: Reserve Bank of India notified the Union Budget Interest Subvention Scheme (ISS) and asked all banks to provide interest concession of 2 percent on short term crop loans of up to 3 lakh rupees. The central bank in its notification said that interest subvention of 2 percent per annum will be made available to public and private sector banks. 17 August: The Reserve Bank of India paid a dividend of nearly Rs. 66,000 crore to the government, the highest ever from the central bank in its 80-year history, and 22% more than it paid last year. On a point to point basis, RBI's dividend payment to the government is up more than four times in as many years. This payment can help ease the government's finances, help meet its fiscal deficit targets, provide liquidity to the system so that the rate of interest remains low. 17 August: The programme to pay cash subsidy to cooking gas LPG consumers has been recognised by Guinness Book of World Records as the largest cash transfer programme in the world. The Direct Benefit Transfer on LPG (DBTL), or Pratyaksha Hastaantarit Laabh (PAHAL) scheme, was launched in 54 districts on November 15, 2014 and all over the country from January 1, 2015 with a view to provide subsidy to the right beneficiary and to cut diversion and subsidised fuel being consumed by unintended segments like restaurants and other commercial establishments.

11 17 August: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) allowed banks to tie up with insurance companies. This decision is taken on the basis of 'Bancasurance' guidelines soon to be notified. Prior to this decision no bank was allowed to tie up with more than one insurance company. Now, according to the new bancassurance guidelines banks can tie up with a maximum of 9 insurers from three segments life, non life and standalone health insurers as part of the new. While such a tie-up will not be mandatory on the banks. 13 August: Wipro Chairman Azim Premji and HCL founder Shiv Nadar are the only two Indian tycoons in the top 20 richest people in the world of technology, according to an inaugural list by Forbes that has been topped by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Premji is ranked 13th on Forbes' first ever list of '100 Richest People In Tech', followed by Nadar on the 14th spot. Premji, 70, who has a net worth of $ 17.4 billion, is among Asia's most generous tycoons. Nadar has a net worth of $ 14.4 billion. 13 August: The Financing Agreement for World Bank assistance of US$ 104 million for Additional Financing under National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project-I (NCRMP-I) was signed between Government of India and the World Bank. The objective of Additional Financing under NCRMP-I is to reduce the vulnerability of coastal communities to cyclone and other hydro meteorological hazards in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. 13 August: The Financing Agreement for World Bank assistance of US$ million for National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project-II (NCRMP-II) was signed between Government of India and the World Bank. The objective of NCRMP-II is to reduce vulnerability to cyclone and other hydro-meteorological hazards of coastal communities in the States of Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and West Bengal. 12 August: In view of the forthcoming festival of Raksha Bandhan, a special enrolment drive, Suraksha Bandhan, is being launched by participating banks and insurance companies for enrolling bank account holders in Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY). The Suraksha Bandhan drive aims to take forward the Government s objective of creating a universal social security system in the country. It is targeted especially at the poor and the underprivileged. 11 August: In a report on Working Conditions of Women in Public Sector Banks a parliamentary panel has recommended making at least 15 per cent public sector banks branches all-women offices to provide safe and convenient work environment to women in the banking sector. The PSBs have a total staff strength of about 8, 57, 868. Of this, women employees account for 1, 96, 374, constituting 24 per cent of the total workforce as of September, 2014.

12 11 August: Payment system running companies in India like Airtel, Vodafone, OneMobikvik etc. who have applied for licence with Reserve Bank of India (RBI), might have to be under control of the two regulators. They will contnue to be regulated by the RBI, and after the Indian Financial Code (IFC) is implemented the proposed financial authority will also superwise them. Regulation of banking sector, the systematically important payment systems and authorized dealerships shall remain with RBI. 11 August: The Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana launched by the Government of India on August 15, 2014, is set to close on August 14, Administered by the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India, the scheme is aimed at the welfare of the senior citizens of the country, offering a yield of 9.38 per cent annually. 11 August: ICICI Bank has launched its Saral-Rural Housing Loan at base rate of 9.7 per cent for borrowers from the rural areas.the loan would range from Rs lakh for a period of 3 20 years and the loan could be up to 90 per cent of the property value.the offer would be available in 189 cities across the country. 8 August: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed banks to shift, merge or close branches in urban areas without seeking its prior permission. According to RBI banks can shift, merge or close all branches except rural branches and sole semi-urban branches at their discretion. Shifting, merging or closing a branch in a rural area or a sole branch in a semi-urban area would, however, continue to require prior permission from RBI. RBI took this decision to give extra freedom to banks. 8 August: In a historic move, retirement fund body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) kickstarted the process of investing in the stock market, with an initial corpus of around Rs. 5,000 crore to be invested through Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in the current fiscal. It invested in the major shares of SENSEX and NIFTY. Next year this investment woud increase upto 15,000 crore rupees. Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya announced the first investment. 8 August: Federal Bank launched India s first Mobile App for Bank Account Opening in Mumbai. Federal Bank has introduced this unique facility of Mobile based Bank Account Opening as an upgrade to FedBook, its e-passbook App, launched two years ago. With the new avatar of FedBook, anyone having an Aadhaar Card and PAN Card can now open a Savings Bank Account and get their Account Number instantly using a mobile from anywhere at any time. Further, the account can also be funded with an initial remittance through online fund transfer up to a maximum amount of Rs August: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept its interest rates unchanged in its third bi-monthly monetary policy review. The Reserve Bank of India retained the growth target for at 7.6 percent. The Repo Rate is retained at 7.25 percent, the Reverse Repo Rate at 6.25 percent, Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) at 4 percent and 21.5 percent, respectively

13 5 August: Snapdeal, an online marketplace, and HDFC Bank launched a co-branded credit card, 'Snapdeal HDFC Bank credit card' in partnership with Visa. This partnership aims at encouraging more customers from tier-2 and tier-3 markets to adapt to digital payments. Snapdeal will also give reward points to customers for making digital payments through the co-branded card. 4 August: The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the disbursement of about USD 1.7 billion to Ukraine. The IMF has pledged USD 17.5 billion in total financial assistance over four years. Thus, the total amount of financing of Ukraine from the Fund will reach 6.68 billion. This financing is aimed at restoring the country's economy, empowering public finance system and maintaining financial stability. 3 August: Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) launched Kotak Bharat, mobile banking app primarily for un-banked regions. Kotak Bharat is the inclusive digital banking app launched by KMB that is primarily targeted to benefit customers in the under-banked and un-banked regions, who can access its services in their preferred language. One major benefit of this app is that it requires no internet connectivity. The app is Androidbased. It works on the existing SMS banking. 3 August: BNP Paribas, a multi-national bank announced to acquire Indian retail brokerage firm Sharekhan Limited. BNP Paribas is the leading French bank with worldwide presence. Currently, BNP Paribas has a presence in India through Geojit BNP Paribas in which it holds a stake of about 33%. Sharekhan was set up in 2000 by Mumbai-based entrepreneur Shripal Morakhia. 1 August: According to Global rating agency Moody's Indian economy started recovering by the end of 2014 but till now no big recovery is seen. According to Moody's accommodative monetary policy will lift the GDP (gross domestic product) to 7.6% in 2015, increasing to 8% in However, Moody s pointed out that India s true potential GDP growth lies somewhere near 10%. 1 August: According to a survey released by leading global management consulting firm AT Kearney, India has fallen four spots to 11th place in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) during According to a latest survey titled Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index 2015 commissioned by AT Kearney India attracted $35 billion as FDI in India lost its top 10 position for the first time since The US topped the Index for the third straight year followed by China. 30 July: India signed a loan agreement of 300 million US dollars with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for its flagship programme National Urban Health Mission (NUHM). The main of the NUHM is to improve the health status of the country s urban population. The loan agreement is titled Supporting National Urban Health Mission and it seeks to

14 reinforce ongoing government efforts under the NUHM to develop health systems in urban areas that can deliver quality health services to the urban poor and vulnerable. 29 July: Axis Bank, India s third largest private sector bank, has signed a $200 million 7- year bilateral loan deal with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The deal will help bolster Axis Bank s efforts of improving farm efficiency by extending customized and affordable agriculture credit to farmers. The bank would effectively leverage its extensive semi urban and rural branch network to deliver agriculture credit. 24 July: Unveiling a set of 13 corporate governance principles for the banking sector, the BCBS has said that regulators should set corporate governance guidelines in line with these principles, besides addressing expectations for checks and balances, clear allocation of responsibilities, accountability and transparency among the members of the board, senior management and within the bank. 24 July: Non-resident Indians (NRIs) can invest in National Pension System (NPS) to get a social security cover, pension regulator PFRDA s Chairman Hemant Contractor has said. While RBI has communicated to PFRDA about NRIs being eligible to make such investments, the government will shortly come out with a clarification on Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) guidelines to facilitate non-resident Indians to invest in National Pension System (NPS), he said. 22 July: The International Monetary Fund named Maurice Obstfeld, a widely respected economist known for his work on how policies spill over into the global economy, as the emergency-lender s next chief economist. Obstfeld, a University of California, Berkeley, professor and a member of the White House s Council of Economic Advisers, will replace Olivier Blanchard in September. 21 July: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) retained its India GDP growth projection for FY at 7.8 percent and 8.2 percent in , but cautioned that delay in reforms relating to land acquisition and GST could hamper growth. Indian economy grew 7.3 percent in ADB, however, has cut its growth forecast for developing Asia to 6.1 percent from the earlier 6.3 percent. 21 July: The Reserve Bank of India signed a special currency swap agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka that will allow the latter to draw up to $1.1 billion. Under the arrangement, the Sri Lankan bank can draw up to $1.1 billion for a maximum period of six months. Earlier in March, RBI had signed a Currency Swap Agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka for $400 million under the existing SAARC Currency Swap Framework within the overall limit of $2 billion. 20 July: Competition Commission of India (CCI) slapped Rs. 671 crore penalty on four state-run insurance companies -- National Insurance, New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance and United India Insurance -- for cartelisation and indulging in anticompetitive practices. It is being considered as the biggest fine in the insurance sector of

15 the country. Competition Commission has imposed a penalty of Rs crore on New India Assurance, Rs crore on National Insurance, Rs crore on United India Insurance and Rs crore on Oriental Insurance, respectively. 20 July: The World Bank Group (WBG) and China signed an agreement to set up a trust fund to help reduce poverty. The fund aims to enhance the WBG-China cooperation and leverage financial and knowledge-based resources to help developing countries achieve inclusive and sustainable development. The fund worth $50 million is expected to start later this year. 20 July: India signed a pact with the World Bank for $250 million financial assistance for Andhra Pradesh Disaster Recovery Project which will help the state enhance its capacity to respond promptly and effectively in times of crisis. The project, through its different components, will provide both direct and indirect benefits to Andhra Pradesh. The beneficiaries include populations of the affected coastal areas, specifically four heavily impacted districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and East Godavari. 17 July: The Reserve Bank of India constituted a committee to work out a medium-term (five-year) action plan for financial inclusion. The 14-member panel will be headed by RBI executive director Deepak Mohanty. The Committee will work to spread the reach of financial services to unbanked population. 15 July: In order to leverage Indian creativity, expertise, and resources to identify and scale innovative solutions, the FICCI and the World Bank announced their partnership to advance the Millennium Alliance (MA) initiative. The agreement was signed to formalize a shared commitment to support sustainable and scalable innovative solutions in the identified priority areas of sanitation, education, healthcare, clean energy and agriculture. 13 July: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed mass transit system (MTS) operators like Mumbai Metro, Delhi Metro, Indian Railways, etc. to issue pre-paid cards to their customer. This is expected to provide a huge relief to the commuters who face problems while purchasing tickets. RBI guidelines also say that the balance in the prepaid instrument issued by the MTS should not exceed Rs. 2,000 at any point of time. Also, MTS would not be allowed to refunds cash that is stocked in the pre-paid instruments (PPI). These PPIs will have a minimum validity of 6 months from the date of issue. 13 July: The World Bank and Norway has approved an amount of 55 crore dollars for education sector in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Group has signed an agreement with Norway for result based financial help in the education sector. Under this agreement both states will get a separate loan of 55 crore dollars. Loan to the state of Bihar is sanctioned for capacity addition of Primary teachers in Bihar while Madhya Pradesh will get the financial help for higher education reforms.

16 13 July: Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has signed a multilateral agreement to cooperate with New Development Bank (NDB) along with other member development banks of BRICS nations. New Development Bank (NDB) is promoted by the BRICS nations -- Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The agreement was signed between Exim Bank Chairman and Managing Director Yaduvendra Mathur and Chairpersons or Presidents of other member development banks of BRICS in Ufa, Russia during the BRICS Summit July: Vodafone India, the telecom service providers, has entered into a strategic tieup with Walmart India. This tie-up will enable business members of six Best Price Modern Wholesale stores, owned and operated by Walmart India, to make payments using M-Pesa from their mobile anywhere, anytime. The first-of-its-kind partnership with Walmart India, gives all its members, including small businesses such as kiranas/resellers, the benefit of sending money through their mobile phones instantly and securely and run their customer facing businesses more efficiently and in hasslefree manner. 11 July: MakeMyTrip, RBL Bank, Inox wind and IRCTC are among the firms that have made it to the Fortune Next 500 list of Indian companies, which has been topped by iphone distributor Redington India. Redington India tops the list with annual revenue of over Rs. 1,690 crore followed by Inox Wind (Rs 1,689 crore), ISMT (Rs 1,685 crore), Emcure Pharmaceuticals (Rs 1,683.5 crore) and Orientcraft (Rs 1,683 crore). 11 July: Country's second largest IT services firm Infosys has signed a multi-million euro deal with Deutsche Bank. Under the terms of the agreement, Infosys will provide services like development, application maintenance, digital and mobility, package implementation and testing services across the Deutsche Bank Group. 9 July: Sriram Kalyanaraman, Director-Business Development, Equifax Credit Information Services Pvt. Ltd has been appointed as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, National Housing Bank for a period of five years from the date of his taking over the charge. The appointment of Shri Kalyanaraman is unique in its way as he is the first person form the Private Sector to head a Public Sector Financial Institution. 9 July: According to World Bank India's rural employment guarantee programme MNREGA has been ranked as the world's largest public works programme, providing social security net to almost 15 percent of the country's population. According to World Bank Group's report 'The State of Social Safety Nets 2015', India is among the five middle-income countries running the world's largest social safety net programmes. India's Mid-day meal scheme has been classified as biggest school feeding programme benefiting 105 million beneficiaries. 9 July: China named Jin Liqun as the first Chief of the Beijing-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which is being established as an alternative financial entity to

17 World Bank and IMF. Jin Liqun is a former Finance Minister of China. AIIB is a multilateral development bank proposed by the government of China to provide finance to infrastructure projects in the Asia region. 9 July: State-run IDBI Bank has signed an agreement with Mudra Bank for refinancing of loans given to small enterprises. As per the agreement, the Bank will offer credit facilities up to Rs. 10 lakh to micro enterprises, at a competitive interest rate under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) and Mudra will be providing refinance assistance to the bank for eligible sanctioned loan cases. 8 July: Euclid Tsakalotos, the deputy foreign minister of international economic affairs and chief coordinator of the country's negotiating team over the debt deal with lenders, has been appointed as new Finance Minister of Greece after Yanis Varoufakis resigned from the post because Greek voters delivered an overwhelming "No" vote in a referendum on whether to accept more austerity measures in return for new bailout cash. 8 July: Taking a step towards digitalisation, Union Bank of India launched a slew of initiatives such as IMPS at branches and M-passbooks for its customers. The bank has become the first lender to launch immediate payment service (IMPS) through branches for its retail and corporate customers by integrating the platform to its core banking solution. This will allow customers to instantly transfer funds to any account from the branch. The limit has been set at up to Rs. 2 lakh per day. The digital passbook or M- passbook feature will enable customers to view account statement on mobile. 7 July: Corporation Bank has become the first bank to launch the MUDRA Card. Hasmukh Adhia, secretary, department of financial services, union ministry of finance launched the first MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency) card under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) for small entrepreneurs. Mudra Card based on the RuPay platform. PMMY aims to fund micro units in manufacturing, trading and services sectors with affordable credit upto Rs. 10 lakh. 7 July: Reserve Bank of India prohibited the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in manufacturing of tobacco products, though activities such as retail and wholesale trading fall under the sectoral restrictions. According to RBI notification Foreign direct investment (FDI) is prohibited in the manufacturing of cigars, cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes of tobacco or of tobacco substitutes. Foreign direct investment in other activities relating to these products including wholesale cash and carry, retail trading shall be governed by the sectoral restrictions laid down in the FDI policy. 7 July: China unveiled an Internet Plus scheme, aiming to integrate the Internet with traditional industries and fuel economic growth. China s Internet Plus action plan will integrate mobile Internet, cloud computing, big data with modern manufacturing, to

18 encourage the healthy development of e-commerce, industrial networks, and Internet banking, and to help Internet companies increase their international presence. 6 July: Google India, Tata Trust and Intel have started a unique initiative to educate rural women about internet and create awareness towards it. These companies joined hands to launch a programme 'Internet Saathi'. Under the programme 1,000 speciallydesigned bicycles equipped with internet devices will be sent into remote villages. The aim of the initiative is to create awareness towards internet among 5 lakh Indian rural women in the next 18 months. 6 July: The country s largest public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) launched Project Tatkal, an initiative to provide doorstep services and expedite Home Loan Application (HLA) process. The project will help home loan applicants to get the loan within 10 days after receipt of application form and relevant supporting documents. 6 July: State-run operator BSNL launched a pre-paid card linked mobile wallet service which would allow its customers to transfer money, pay for services as well as withdraw cash of up to Rs. 1 lakh. The wallet service, Speed Pay, allows a customer to load money even if he does not have a bank account. The money loaded in the mobile wallet can be transferred to a bank account and even withdrawn at bank branches or at BSNL outlets. 4 July: Mobile Number Portability (MNP) has been launched across the country on 3rd July With the launch of nationwide MNP, mobile users can retain their numbers despite changing states/circles across the country, without incurring any roaming charges. Telecom operators such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, Uninor, MTS, Reliance Communications, Videocon Telecom, BSNL and MTNL have already announced the launch of full MNP. 4 July: According to the data released by World Bank in Washington the size of Indian economy stood at $2.06 trillion at the end of It has almost doubled in size since the financial crisis hit the country in 2008, and has more than quadrupled from the start of this millennium. India s growth rate, at 7.4% in 2014, makes it the fastest growing major economy along with China s. 4 July: The World Bank announced to provide $650 million loan for a major project of Indian Railways, the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor project. Construction of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor will help speed up the carrying of goods between Ludhiana in the west of India and Kolkata in the east. This huge project will span 1,840 kms (1,140 miles) across the North India. The loan is the third from the World Bank to help fund the freight corridor. 3 July: Greece became the first developed nation to default on International Monetary Fund (IMF) debt. It became a defaulter after it missed the deadline for payment of 1.7 billion dollar (1.5 billion euro) to IMF. According to IMF's Fund spokesman Gerry Rice,

19 Greece has too much debt to return and it can get finance from the IMF only if it repays the loan. 3 July: Country s largest bank State Bank of India (SBI) announced its tie-up with travel company MakeMyTrip.com. This partnership includes partnership with personal banking unit for consumer facing propositions including EMIs on purchase of holidays & international travel, customized travel products like Forex cards and travel products. On the other hand MakeMyTrip customers will be able to access special offers from SBI on debit/credit cards and personal financing. 2 July: Infosys has launched a mobile app, the 'Finacle SME Enable' to help banks enhance support and service for their small and medium business enterprise (SME) customers. The mobile-based financial and business management solution will provide bank s SME customers real-time access to their account information and relevant financial management tools to manage their day-to-day business operations in a selfservice mode. 2 July: National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and JCB International Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of Japan's JCB Co. Ltd., entered into a partnership for payment cards issuance and acceptance. Under the pact, JCB cards will be accepted at all NPCI locations in India. The partnership will also include the issuance of RuPay/JCB international cards by NPCI member banks that will be globally accepted through the JCB network. These cards will be launched in the second half of July: The Union Government approved 643 crore rupees drinking water and sewerage project for Shimla town for World Bank funding. Under the project, World Bank will provide a loan of 514 crore rupees and remaining 129 crore rupees will be provided by the state government as counterpart funding over a project period of three years. The project would help the people of Shimla and adjoining Special Planning Area in addressing the chronic water shortage problem and also sewerage connectivity. 1 July: Country's second largest private sector lender HDFC Bank launched '30-min auto' and '15-min 2-wheeler' loan schemes, for which customers have to provide only their biometric details. The 30-minute auto loan is available for HDFC Bank customers, as well as others. With this technology-enabled solution, loans for two-wheelers can also be approved within 15 minutes. 4 July: Just 4.6% of all rural households in the country pay income tax while such households with salaried income are close to 10%, the first Socio-Economic and Caste Census released in eight decades said. According to the Socio-Economic and Caste Census 2011 the percentage of Scheduled Caste (SC) households paying income tax was 3.49% while Scheduled Tribe (ST) tax-paying rural households were mere 3.34%.

20 NATION THIS MONTH 13 October: Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of a world-class memorial for constitution-maker Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar at Indu Mill land in Dadar (Mumbai). The proposed memorial would have a 40-feet-tall full-size statue of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar along with a big stupa with 24 ribs denoting Dhammachakra. PM also announced that from now 26 November will be celebrated as Samvidhaan Divas (Constitution Day) every year. 10 October: To protect the endangered Gangetic river dolphins country s first community reserve for the mammal will soon be established in West Bengal. 9 October: An expert committee under the Chairmanship of former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha, P.D.T. Achary, and formed by the Speaker of the Delhi Assembly Ram Niwas Goel has proposed a huge 316% salary increase for the MLAs of Delhi in its report. The committee proposed raising the salary from present Rs. 12,000 to Rs. 50,000 per month. 9 October: Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan launched KISAN Project (C(K)rop Insurance using Space technology And geoinformatics) that seeks to speed up payment of crop insurance claims to farmers and provide accurate assessment of crop damage. An Android-based app for collection of data of hailstorm with assistance from ISRO to assess large-scale damage to standing crops was also launched. 8 October: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, gave its approval for setting up of three new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AllMS) at Nagpur in Maharashtra, at Manglagiri in Andhra Pradesh and at Kalyani in West Bengal under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY). This involves financial implication of Rs.4949 crore. 8 October: construction of a National War Memorial and a National War Museum at Princess Park, near India Gate, New 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 Rs. 500 crore and the total time for completion of the entire project is estimated to be five years. 7 October: J.P. Nadda, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare launched the second phase of Mission Indradhanush in 352 districts. The aim of mission to achieve more than 90% full immunization in the country by October: Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister of Shipping and Road Transport & Highways chaired the first meeting of the National Sagarmala Apex Committee (NSAC) held in New Delhi. The meeting was part of the ambitious Sagar Mala Project of the Union Government. The main objective of this project is to develop 12 major ports and

21 also over 1,200 islands spread across the country so that they can contribute significantly to India s growth. 6 October: Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS) has been ranked as the most valuable company in India in terms of market capitalization, according to the date released by BSE. It is followed by Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL). Infosys dethroned HDFC Bank Ltd to become the third most valuable company in India. 5 October: Rural Development Ministry launched Intensive Participatory Planning Exercise II (IPPE-II) scheme in 2,532 poorer Backward Blocks of the country on 2nd October Its aim is to address the various facets of poverty of rural families by incorporating all rural development programmes in a single participatory planning exercise. 3 October: Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) has set up its first 10 MW solar power plant at a cost of Rs crore at Neyveli, Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu. This is the first Renewable Energy project commissioned by the company. 3 October: Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma launched the NOC Online Application Portal and Processing System (NOAPS) for the National Monument Authority (NMA), Ministry of Culture in New Delhi. It will make the approval procedure more efficient for construction related activities in regulated/restricted areas in the vicinity of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protected monuments in different cities of India. 1 October: Naval warship INS Kochi, the largest-ever warship built in India, was commissioned by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai. It is of 7,500-tonne. The strike range of INS Kochi is 300 km and hit 50 targets simultaneously. 1 October: Maharashtra State Government announced popular Violinist and music composer Prabhakar Jog as the winner of Lata Mangeshkar Award for Lifetime Achievement (2015) for his contribution in the field of Music. In his sixty-year journey Prabhakar has made outstanding contribution in Hindi and Marathi music industry. 1 October: Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping, launched the Green Highways (Plantation, Transplantation, Beautification & Maintenance) Policy, 2015 in New Delhi. According to the provisions of the Green Highways Policy 2015, about Rs crore per year will be available for plantation purpose on Highways by keeping aside 1% of the expenses for the construction of highways. 30 September: Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu launched a Railway Portal for dissemination of detailed information on Indian Railways. 'Indian Railway Knowledge Portal' which is accessible at is an initiative of the National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR) which allows the user to access most of the available knowledge about Indian Railways at one location due to linkage of websites,

22 documents and much more. National Informatics Centre (NIC) has clustered all the libraries to a single interface via e-granthalaya. 30 September: Gujarat Tourism Policy for was unveiled by state tourism Minister Saurabh Patel. In this policy, the state govt. accorded industry status to tourism for the first time. The policy document pegs the investment potential in the tourism sector in the state at $4 billion or around Rs. 26,000 crore by September: Government has decided to appoint NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya as the Sherpa for G-20 talks, replacing Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. The next G20 Leaders' Summit is scheduled on November at Antalya in Turkey. 26 September: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani has been named India's richest for ninth year in a row with a net worth of $18.9 billion, while ecommerce giant Flipkart's co-founders Sachin and Binni Bansal made their debut at 86th position on the 'India top 100 rich list' released by Forbes magazine. Ambani was followed by Sun Pharma's Dilip Shanghvi as the second richest, while Wipro's Azim Premji retained his third place. The combined wealth of India's 100 richest persons remained largely unchanged at $345 billion, compared with $346 billion in September: Rajasthan government passed first-of-its-kind of legislative bill that provides 14% reservation (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutes in the State and of Appointments and Posts in Services under the State) for economically backward classes (EBCs). According to Rajasthan Economically Backward Classes Bill 2015, criterion for reservation in the EBC category will be purely economic and not caste-based, enabling the poor among upper castes to be eligible for quotas in government jobs and educational institutions. 26 September: Yudhvir Singh Malik, who presided over the ban of Nestlé India s Maggi noodles as chief executive officer of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has been transferred to NITI Aayog as additional secretary. Malik is a Haryana cadre IAS officer of the 1983 batch. 26 September: The Rajasthan Assembly passed the Rajasthan Special Backward Classes Bill, 2015 that provides 5% reservation (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutes in the State and of Appointments and Posts in Services under the State) quota for Gujjars and some other communities under special backward classes (SBC). 24 September: India and the US have signed a significant MoU on energy security, climate change and clean energy which reflects the commitment of the two countries to make the Paris summit later this year a success. India's Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and US Secretary of State John Kerry co-chaired the first India-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue at Washington. In a joint declaration issued in Washington India and the US have agreed to increase their level of cooperation to fight the menace of terrorism.

23 24 September: The Ministry of Women and Child Development has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Vedanta to develop and modernise 4000 Anganwadis in the country. Vedanta will build the next generation Anganwadi centres, for which they will commits Rs. 400cr. These anganwadi centres will be built in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh among others. These model Anganwadis will be built in clusters of in a particular district with multifunctional capabilities. 23 September: The Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) as a Society under the Societies Registration Act, The ISLRTC will be under the aegis of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. It shall be located initially at the Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya Institute for the Physically Handicapped, New Delhi. 22 September: The Telangana government has decided to enhance the relief amount being paid to families of farmers who committed suicide due to farm distress to 6 lakh rupees from the present one lakh fifty thousand rupees. 21 September: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which issues Aadhaar cards to Indian citizens, has been shifted to the administrative control of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology from Niti Aayog, keeping in mind the government's ambitious 'Digital India' programme as the Aadhaar numbers are being linked with several services. The Cabinet Secretariat has amended Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 and put it under Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeITy), Ministry of Communication and Information Technology 21 September: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ambitious Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) on the occasion of his visit to Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency. Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) is one of the flagship schemes of the Ministry of Power and will be at the core attempt to ensure 24 7 power for all by Rs. 45,000 crore will be spend on the scheme. 21 September: The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi launched a significant financial inclusion initiative in Varanasi. A total of 101 e-rickshaws, 501 pedal rickshaws, and push-carts are being given as part of this initiative. The beneficiaries will also get bank accounts and RuPay cards under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. The initiative has been synergized through various financial institutions including SIDBI, IDBI Bank, UCO Bank and the American India Foundation. 19 September: The Central Government announced the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY). This is a new programme meant to provide for the welfare of areas and people affected by mining related operations, using the funds

24 generated by District Mineral Foundations (DMFs). The objective of PMKKKY scheme will be (a) to implement various developmental and welfare projects/programs in mining affected areas; (b) to minimize/mitigate the adverse impacts, during and after mining, on the environment, health and socio-economics of people in mining districts; and (c) to ensure long-term sustainable livelihoods for the affected people in mining areas. 18 September: Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya launched three mobile based services -- a Mobile Application, SMS-based UAN (Universal Account Number) Activation and Missed Call service -- for the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members. The members would be able to activate their UAN accounts from the comfort of their mobile phones and can also access their accounts for viewing their monthly credits through the passbook as well as view their details available with EPFO. This app can be downloaded from the website. These services will help nearly 3.54 crore contributing members, lakh pensioners and 6.1 lakh employers. 18 September: In Madhya Pradesh, the state government has launched M-Shiksha- Mitra mobile app to provide various services and teaching-related work to teachers in simple and easy way. Madhya Pradesh is the first state to develop such an app for teachers. A number of facilities have been given in the Shiksha-Mitra mobile app, which has been developed by the NIC. Teachers can use this app to browse salary slips, funds sent to school under various heads, scholarships, different circulars and GPF statement. 17 September: In an ambitious bid to transform rural areas to economically, socially and physically sustainable spaces, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) with an outlay of Rs crores. The Mission aims at development of rural growth clusters which have latent potential for growth, in all States and UTs, which would trigger overall development in the region. 17 September: Tamil Nadu state government announced making it mandatory for all high rise buildings in the state to have solar power generation facility. This announcement was made in the Tamil Nadu Assembly by Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. Under it all new multi-storey buildings (more than four floors) will have to establish solar power generation facility. The rule would be applicable to all group developments (with more than eight dwelling units) also. In effect, it will cover almost 90% of residential and commercial developments in cities like Chennai and Coimbatore. This is being seen as the first-of-its-kind initiative in urban solar power plants. 16 September: Gujarat emerged as number 1 state in ease of doing business with 71.14% according to World Bank report. Andhra Pradesh followed Gujarat with 70.12%. Jharkhand is on the third place. Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are at 4th and 5th spots, respectively. Arunachal Pradesh is ranked the last with 1.23%. This is World Bank s first ever ranking of States on the ease of doing business in India.

25 16 September: RailTel of the Indian Railways partnered with Google to provide free Wi- Fi services under Project Nilgiri. Under this initiative, free Wi-Fi services will be provided to passengers in 400 railway stations across the country. Users will be able to access high speed internet for the first 30 minutes by using One Time Password (OTP) generated for this purpose. After 30 minutes, the speed will drop and become slow. The project employs Google s Fiber technology under which the company provides internet services up to a speed of 1 Gbps. Google Fiber was launched in 2010 and the service is available only in the USA. 16 September: The Centre has decided to provide additional 50 days of work to farmers in drought-hit areas under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme. The decision was taken to provide relief to farmers in view of the deficit monsoon in various parts of the country. At present, 100 days of work is provided to rural job card holders under MGNREGA. 14 September: Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to submit State Annual Action Plan under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) targeting universal coverage in respect of water supply connections and sewerage connections to all urban households in the state. The State Government has proposed projects under these two categories worth Rs.1,087 cr for approval by the Union Urban Development Ministry during the current financial year. Under the State Annual Action Plan, AMRUT projects are proposed to be taken up in 13 of the 28 AMRUT cities in Rajasthan. 12 September: Rajasthan government signed 9 MoUs worth Rs. 30,530 crore with nine petroleum companies. These companies are - Cairn India Limited, GSPL Gasnet India Ltd, Focus Energy Limited, GAIL (India) Pvt Ltd, Rajasthan State Gas Limited, IOCL, ONGC, OIL and Deep Industries Ltd. The investment plan of the MOUs will be implemented during the period of three years ranging from 2015 to These MOUs will facilitate city gas distribution, pipeline network and terminals for exploration as well as production activities. 12 September: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a Hindi networking site, 'Mooshak' envisaged on the lines of popular English social media platform Twitter in the 10th World Hindi Conference. This new networking site is targeted at Hindi language buffs. According to the Hindi networking site's CEO Anurag Gaud the word limit on Twitter is 140, while in 'Mooshak' it is 500 words. 'Mooshak' can be accessed on smartphones by downloading it from Google Play Store or visiting its website of the same name. The Madhya Pradesh capital is hosting the 10th World Hindi Conference from September 10 to 12. The three-day meet is being organised by the Ministry of External Affairs in partnership with the Government of Madhya Pradesh.

26 11 September: In an important initiative, the Union Govt. set an ambitious literacy target to achieve 100% literacy in villages adopted under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) by March This announcement was made by Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Irani during a function. In this function President Pranab Mukherjee felicitated Tamil Nadu as the best performing state for its literacy related efforts. 11 September: Andhra Pradesh Govt. created history by taking the first step to link two mighty rivers of the state, Godavari and Krishna. Andhra Pradesh government took first step to link Godavari and Krishna rivers as water from Godavari river was diverted from Tadepudi reservoir to facilitate supply to the Krishna river. This water would later be supplied to the Delta region. About 600 cusecs of water from Godavari has been diverted to Krishna. The linking of Godavari and Krishna is being seen as a major help for the delta region and drought-proofing water-short Rayalaseema region of the state. 10 September: Haryana became the second in the country after Rajasthan to fix the minimum educational qualification for elections to the Panchayati Raj institutions. The Haryana State Assembly passed a bill the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2015, for fixing the minimum educational qualification for elections to the Panchayati Raj institutions. The Bill fixed, matriculation as essential qualification for general candidates contesting the Panchayat elections while the qualification for the women (general) and Scheduled Caste candidate will be middle standard (VIII). However, in case of a woman candidate belonging to SC category contesting election for the post of Panch, the minimum qualification shall be V pass. 7 September: The government announced the implementation of the One Rank One Pension or OROP for ex army servicemen. The base year of One Rank One Pension will be Benefit of OROP will be given with effect from July 1, Arrears to be paid from July 2014 and on 4-half-yearly basis. Pension will be revised after every 5 years. 5 September: Bengaluru has for the first time overtaken Mumbai in unsold housing units and thus become the city with the second-highest residential real estate inventory overhang after the National Capital Region. This was disclosed by JLL India, a private entity with interests in real estate. With more than 84,000 unsold housing units by the end of the second quarter (April-June) of 2015 Bengaluru has surpassed Mumbai for the first time. 4 September: Union Government announced landmark and first-of-its-kind reform associated with oil and natural sector. It announced that it will now auction previously allotted small oil and gas fields to private firms. In a huge reform for country s oil and gas sector, Union Oil and Natural Gas Ministry announced that it will, for the first time, auction 69 small and marginal oil and gas fields surrendered by state-run explorers like ONGC. The government hopes to raise Rs. 70,000 crore from the sale. The government

27 expects private companies to boost output from the areas that hold resources of more than $10 billion. 4 September: In order to enable seamless travel by different metros and other transport systems across the country, the Ministry of Urban Development has come out with a smart National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) model which will be inter-operable across different transport systems in the country. This card will also enable retail shopping and purchases. Minister of Urban Development M.Venkaiah Naidu has approved the EMV Open Loop Card with stored value in this regard. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is being given the task of establishing a robust payment system for this proposed card initiative. 2 September: Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was given the additional charge of the Law Ministry of the city. Sisodia, who is the third person to hold charge of the portfolio in less than seven months, will replace Kapil Mishra. Kapil Mishra, an MLA from Karawal Nagar, was handing the Law Ministry portfolio ever since Jitendra Singh Tomar was arrested in a fake degree case in June Mishra will continue as Minister for Water and Tourism and Delhi Jal Board s chairman. 2 September: Union Government identified 305 cities and towns spread across nine states of the country for implementation of its ambitious Housing for All scheme under which assistance of over Rs. 2 lakh crore would be provided over the next 6 years for enabling two crore urban poor own their own houses. The selected cities and towns are in Chhattisgarh (36 cities/towns), Gujarat (30), Jammu and Kashmir (19), Jharkhand (15), Kerala (15), Madhya Pradesh (74), Odisha (42), Rajasthan (40) and Telangana (34). Under Housing for All scheme, two crore houses are targeted to be built for the poor in urban areas by year 2022, coinciding with 75 years of Independence. Housing for All scheme was launched as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 June September: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the digital version of Tulsidas's 'Ramcharitmanas'. This digital compilation of epic Ramcharitmanas has been done by All India Radio (AIR). India's family values are admired by the world and Ramcharitmanas speaks about family values. 1 September: In line with Digital India Vision envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Minister of state(i/c) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan launched Sahaj - the on line release of new LPG connections, through the portal mylpg.in to enable customers to register for new LPG connections online, as well as make on line payments for the same. At present, the scheme will be available in 13 cities of the country. 20 August: Domestic airlines carried lakh passengers in July this year, an increase of per cent over the lakh passengers during the same period in the previous

28 year. The latest data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) shows that IndiGo remained the market leader having flown lakh passengers. Jet Airways took the second position (13.35 lakh passengers) followed by Air India at lakh passengers. 19 August: IndiGo, India s biggest airline by market share signed a huge $26.55 billion order for purchasing 250 aircrafts from Europe s Airbus company, which is the largest ever order (by volume) for Airbus. It had earlier placed a provisional order for supply of 250 narrow-body A320neo aircrafts from Airbus during October The company confirmed that provisional order with Airbus. This order worth $26.55 billion is the largest supply order for Airbus by volume, i.e., the number of aircrafts to be supplied. It is also the second-largest order by value for Airbus. 19 August: Tamil Nadu led in employment generation in manufacturing sector in the country in , according to an analysis done by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). Tamil Nadu was the leading State in employment generation in the country, generating as much as 15.2% of country s manufacturing sector jobs during During this period Tamil Nadu and West Bengal recorded a positive growth, while others saw a significant decline. 17 August: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu announced an investment of Rs lakh crore in Haryana in the next five years to strengthen rail network in the state. Prabhu, who is a Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana, also assured that a rail coach factory would be set up in the state. To provide smooth journey to the passengers, it has been decided to develop 400 world class railway stations throughout the country. 14 August: Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (TEEMA) signed a pact with Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) for establishing Taiwan Electronic Manufacturing Cluster (TEMC) in Benguluru with an investment of $500 million. This manufacturing cluster will be established at 100-acre Devanahally IT park. 12 August: The Government has launched the School Nursery Yojana, an initiative to bring students closer to nature, by involving them in raising of saplings in nurseries created in schools. The underlying theme of the Yojana is to plant a tree for sustainable future and to make the nation clean and green. Under the Yojana, students will sow the seeds, grow saplings in the school nursery, as part of practical exercise for Biology classes and extra-curricular activities for students of other streams. 12 August: Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launched a new mobile app named Disha to promote digital literacy in Bihar. The app aims to help people learn about computers and Internet through self learning modules. The app also aims to offer digital literacy to tribal and Dalit women in the state. The app can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store. The Ministry also launched Disha handbook that has pictographic

29 lessons on computers operations. The Disha handbook is framed by the Common Service Centres (CSCs) for the purpose of digital literacy. 12 August: Dr. Najma Heptulla, the Union Minister for Minority Affairs launched a new Central Sector Scheme Nai Manzil in Patna. The scheme Nai Manzil scheme will address educational and livelihood needs of minority communities in general and muslims in particular as it lags behind other minority communities in terms of educational attainments. It is a new direction and a new goal for the all out of school/dropped out students and those studying in Madrasas. 11 August: On the 10th August in the afternoon, in many parts of north India, including Delhi-NCR, tremors of Earthquake were felt. The epicenter was Hindukush in Afghanistan, the earth was trembling in the national capital for nearly 40 seconds. Apart from Delhi-NCR, shocks were also felt in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Srinagar. The intensity of the earthquake was August: For the first time Department of Science and Technology (DST) has decided to fund research on the impact of yoga and meditation on human health. Research and studies on yoga have so far remained within the domain of AYUSH, a government department whose mandate is to promote traditional medicine, including ayurveda, unani and homeopathy. 11 August: There has been a rush for registration of political parties, with as many as 239 new outfits enrolling themselves with the Election Commission between March, 2014 and July this year, taking their number to 1,866. Out of these, 56 are recognised as registered national or state parties, while the rest are unrecognised, registered parties. 10 August: As per India State of Forest Report 2013, the total forest cover in the country is 697,898 square kilometers which is 21.23% of the total geographical area of the country. There is a net increase of 5871 square kilometers in the forest cover of the country as compared with India State of Forest Report It is also been mentioned in the report that the density of population has increased in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand. 10 August: The Centre is going to extend the facility of E-Tourist Visa to 36 more countries from the 15th of this month. With this addition, the total count of countries under the scheme will go upto 113. Simultaneously, the Centre is going to add 7 more Indian airports as designated airports for entry on E-Tourist Visa from the 15th of this month. With this, the total number of designated airports will become 16. The Centre launched this scheme in November last year. Since the launch of this scheme more than 2 lakhs e-tourist Visas have been issued till now. 7 August: President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated Navachara Kaksh, a science and innovation museum in the Rashtrapati Bhavan campus. The museum aims to spark

30 curiosity about technology among children visiting the Presidential Estate. It has been established with the assistance of the chip-maker Intel while many of the innovations are by Indian students. 7 August: State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) inked Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with government aided telecom companies BSNL and MTNL for another term of 3 years. PNB, BSNL and MTNL had joined hands together in year 2004 and since then BSNL & MTNL are the primary IT link providers for providing connectivity to branches, ATMS and service outlets of the Bank. 6 August: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be launching nine nano / micro satellites for United States during time frame. This will be the first time that ISRO will launch US satellites. Antrix Corporation Ltd, the commercial arm of ISRO, has signed agreement to launch about nine nano/micro (US) satellites during time frame. These satellites will go as piggyback on PSLV's (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle). So far, 45 satellites belonging to international customers from 19 countries have been launched successfully by ISRO's satellite launch vehicles. 6 August: Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh launched a web portal SAMANVAY. It contains a compilation of all schemes of both Union and State governments for Gram Panchayats. SAMANVAY was launched with an aim to help MPs in utilising relevant schemes in the planning and implementation of Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. More than 1800 state schemes from across all states have been documented in SAMANVAY. 4 August: Kochi (Kerala) naval harbour of Indian Navy became the first in the country to get the Integrated Underwater Harbour Defence and Surveillance System (IUHDSS), an automated system capable of detecting, identifying, tracking and generating warning for surface and underwater threats. IUHDSS is a state-of-the-art naval defence system which will enable operators to foresee, and respond to, surface and sub-surface threats to vital assets along the harbour and warships in the quay. It was designed by Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI). 4 August: According to data released from the 68th round of the National Sample Survey (NSS) on fuel used for cooking and lighting, the percentage of rural population in the country still used firewood for cooking in was 67.3%. The data relate to a survey conducted by the NSSO on a nationally representative sample during According to the survey Tamil Nadu had the highest use of LPG among rural households during August: The Union Cabinet approved amendments proposed by Rajya Sabha Select Committee on Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitution Amendment Bill, According to the recommendations of Rajya Sabha Select Committee compensation to the states should be made for 5 years for any revenue loss due to introduction of GST.

31 3 August: Union Government has decided to celebrate first National Handloom Day on 7th August. This day will be celebrated every year as National Handloom Day. It was announced by Union Textiles Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar in both the Houses of Parliament. Observance of this day aims at development of handloom weavers in the country. It also seeks to promote genuine, global quality handloom in international market. 1 August: India had 2.6 million cases of Tuberculosis as per the latest count and ranks 14th among 22 high TB burden countries globally. As per WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2014, in India, the estimated prevalence of TB is 2.6 million cases. 30 July: Union Government has announced to roll out e-tourist visa facility to Chinese nationals from July 30, Hong Kong and Macau nationals will also be provided with e-tourist visa facility along with Chinese citizens. This decision was taken in lines with promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard during his visit to China in May It should be noted that PM Modi had made this announcement notwithstanding frequent issuance of stapled visa by Chinese to Indian citizens from Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. 28 July: Rajesh Exports Ltd (REL) has announced acquisition of 100% stake in Valcambi, the world's largest gold refinery. The cash deal was settled on an investment of $400 million, which means, REL will maintain the globally acclaimed management of Valcambi. REL hopes to expand revenues and profitability of both the companies. Valcambi is the world s largest precious metals refining company, headquartered in Switzerland. 28 July: Battling the Maggi controversy, global giant Nestle recalled its current India chief Etienne Benet to Switzerland head office and appointed Suresh Narayanan as his successor -- the first Indian to get this position after a gap of over 16 years. Narayanan will take charge as the new Managing Director of Nestle India with effect from August July: In a major welfare measure for women employees in Jammu and Kashmir, the state government has approved Child Care leave for them for a period of two years to look after their children. As per the new provision, a women employee can avail a maximum period of 730 days of child care leave during her entire service for taking care of her two eldest children, an official spokesman said. 27 July: The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has finalised a new Green Highways (Plantation and Maintenance) Policy, 2015 to tree-line 140,000 kilometres of national highways. Under this policy, one per cent of the civil cost of national highway development projects will have to be set aside for the planting of trees in a planned manner, covering both existing NH sections and new routes that would be added to the network.

32 27 July: Centre has said foreign direct investment amounting to USD 1.31 million has been received in the defence sector in last three years and current year. Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh said that since the opening up of FDI in defence sector in 2012, 34 proposals involving foreign investment have been approved so far. He also said that a total 287 industrial licenses have been issued till date in defence sector. 27 July: Prime Minister of India has launched various development projects at Patna: Deendayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana; inaugurated the Daniawan-Bihar Sharif new railway line; flagged off the Rajgir-Bihar Sharif-Daniawan-Fatuha passenger train and Patna-Mumbai AC Suvidha Express; dedicated to the nation the permanent IIT Campus at Patna; and inaugurated the construction of the first phase of the Jagdishpur-Haldia pipeline project. 25 July: NITI Aayog has constituted an expert panel to suggest ways to promote innovation and entrepreneur friendly ecosystem for pushing job growth. The group will also workout the detailed contours of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Self- Employment & Talent Utilisation (SETU). The Expert Committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Prof. Tarun Khanna, Director, South Asia Institute, Harvard University and Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor, Harvard Business School, USA. 25 July: Puducherry became the first city to send its nomination for the Smart City mission as the Union Territory of Puducherry nominated its capital city for inclusion in this ambitious project. Puducherry which has a population of 6,57,209 has done well in respect of several Stage-1 evaluation criteria and scored 75 of the possible 100 marks. 24 July: Seven Indian companies, including Reliance Industries and Tata Motors, are among the world s 500 largest companies, according to a list compiled by Fortune that has been topped by retail giant Walmart. While Indian Oil, Reliance, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum, and Oil and Natural Gas slipped in rankings from the previous year, Tata Motors and SBI improved in rankings. 23 July: Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution launched the Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan, a countrywide campaign to create mass awareness and capacity building for safe and hygienic food. The campaign planned by CII and its partners including Consumer Organization VOICE, and National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), is an effort towards building a culture of food safety in the country. 22 July: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the National Career Service (NCS) Portal at the 46th session of Indian Labour Conference as part of an endeavour to modernise all government-run employment exchanges. This portal aims to create a direct market place for workers and employers. The portal aims to bring on board around 20 million job seekers already registered with employment exchanges across

33 India. It also aspires to bring 900,000 establishments and companies on the portal. The NCS will offer registration for job aspirants and employers for free. 20 July: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, gave its approval for forming an expert group under the Chairmanship of Arvind Panagariya, Vice-Chairperson, NITI AAYOG, to classify the Caste names returned in the Socio- Economic and Caste Census, 2011 (SECC). The expert group will be serviced by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and Tribal Welfare. 20 July: Union Women and Child Welfare Minister Maneka Gandhi along with Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh inaugurated country's first 'One stop Centre' for women who have been victims of various kinds of violence in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The victims of rape, dowry harassment, domestic violence, human trafficking, child marriage, infanticide and sati etc. will get medical aid, protection and also help in filing FIRs, legal advice and psychological counselling. 20 July: The Haryana government appointed Bollywood actress Parineeti Chopra as its brand ambassador for the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' campaign to promote the cause of the girl child. She has bagged many awards including national and filmfare awards. Parineeti was chosen for the campaign as she hailed from the state's Ambala town. The campaign was launched from Haryana as the state has the worst sex ratio at 879 females per 1,000 males. The child sex ratio in Haryana is worst among all states in the country. 17 July: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, gave its approval for signing and ratification of an Inter-Governmental agreement between India and Armenia, on cooperation in the field of Agriculture. This agreement will promote cooperation through short and medium term programs, within the framework of the joint activities mentioned in the agreement. The agreement will promote understanding of best agricultural practices in the two countries and will be mutually beneficial. 17 July: Union Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated Gandhidham-Tuna Tekra Port Rail Line (Gujarat), a newly constructed broad-gauge railway-line which is the first Non- Government Railway Project of Indian Railways. The 11-km long Gandhidham-Tuna Tekra Port rail line connects Gandhidham in Kutch district of Gujarat with the Tuna- Tekra Port which are ports situated around 20 km west of Kandla in Gulf of Kutch in the state. 16 July: To address the growing problems of pollution, congestion and shortage of housing stock for the poor and middle class in Delhi, the Ministry of Urban Development has approved the Transit Oriented Development Policy (TOD) for Delhi. Minister of Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu has cleared the Policy which is expected to recast Delhi s landscape as part of review of Master Plan for Delhi TOD is a key policy initiative for low-carbon, high-density, compact, mixed land use and sustainable

34 development by minimizing travel time for citizens, promoting use of public transport, reducing pollution and congestion in the national capital. 15 July: In fresh trials, India has test-fired its indigenously developed Nag an anti-tank guided missile, which can hit a target upto 7 km, from a helicopter at a firing range in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. Three-round trial of helicopter-launched Nag (HeliNa) missile were conducted at the Chandhan firing range. HeliNa is a helicopter-launched version of Nag and has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). 14 July: The foundation stone for an international Internet gateway was laid by Union Communication and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad at Tripura s capital Agartala. This Internet gateway is being established in an effort to create a hassle-free and potent Internet link for the northeastern states. The Agartala Internet Gateway would become third international Internet gateway in India after Mumbai and Chennai. This gateway will comprise of the optical fibre cable (OFC) link between Akhaura (near Agartala) and Cox s Bazar (Bangladesh). 11 July: Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA), a unique initiative developed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development with the objective to inculcate a spirit of inquiry, creativity and love for Science and Mathematics in school children was launched by the former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. This is the Phase I of RAA, while Phase II of RAA will be launched in January, 2016 for higher education under which model science labs will be established in all districts of the North Eastern States. 10 July: The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) the government company tasked to promote renewable energy has launched a new loan scheme in order to promote rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) power projects. The scheme will provide loans at the interest rate of 9.9 to percent to the system aggregators and the developers. The scheme was launched by Union Minister of State for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal. 10 July: Telangana government and International Crops Research Institute for the Semi- Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to improve profitability of farmers. The MoU was signed by C. Parthasarathi, Secretary and Agri- Production Commissioner; Jayesh Ranjan, Secretary, IT, Electronics & Communications; and ICRISAT Director General David Bergvinson. Under this MoU, the organisation will provide Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-based knowledge sharing platforms and other agricultural innovation initiatives to farmers in order to improve their productivity. 9 July: Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, the railway coach manufacturing entity of the Indian Railways, became the first in the world to have manufactured 50,000 railway coaches. Union Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu released the 50,000th coach manufactured

35 by ICF. To mark this occasion the Rail Minister also dedicated the New LHB Coach (Modern Passenger Coach) Manufacturing Unit in ICF itself to the nation. 8 July: Latest UNICEF data showed that both child stunting and the number of underweight children in India had fallen to a historic low for According to the Rapid Survey on Children (RSOC) conducted by the UNICEF, the Indian 4 states--tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttarakhand and Tripura have successfully reduced the proportion of underweight adolescent girls. Uttar Pradesh accounts for more than 50% of the children under the age of five years who are underdeveloped. 6 July: The Maharashtra government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with global technology major Cisco for making Nagpur a smart and safe city. This MoU is for making Nagpur a smart and safe city with the help of modern technology and use of Internet to improve quality of life. It envisages for effective and fast delivery of services like CCTV, intelligent transport system, integrated command and control, environmental monitoring, improved health services in coordination with Nagpur Municipal corporation. 4 July: Partaking in 'Digital India' week, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal launched the state Portal epms (Electronic Projects Management System) to fast track infrastructural development. The project was kicked off to enhance efficiency, bring transparency, boost the investor confidence, revive the investment cycle, eliminate the human interaction and improve the communication between industries to Government (B2G), State to Centre (G2G), or vice versa (G2B). 4 July: The Union Cabinet approved the institutional framework for the National Skill Development Mission The Mission will provide a strong institutional framework at the Centre and States for implementation of skilling activities in the country. The Union Cabinet also gave its approval for a new scheme called Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY). The Yojana was approved with an outlay of 50,000 crore rupees over a period of five years ( to ). Its aim is provide convergence to existing schemes of water management, thus bringing efficiency to the use of water. 4 July: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar launched a new automation software, ARPAN 3.0 for the over 12 lakh soldiers of the Indian Army which would provide them easy access to their service records including pay and leave details and transfer and postings among others. The roll out of ARPAN 3.0 (Army Record Office Process Automation 3.0) is aimed at digitisation of Indian Army's 45 Record Offices pan India in one year time. 3 July: Literacy rate in rural areas was pegged at 71 percent in 2014, compared to 86 percent in urban areas, while among the age group of seven years and above, male literacy rate was found higher than the female literacy rate, according to NSSO survey. Among the age group of seven year and above, the male literacy rate was registered at 83 per cent vis-a-vis the female literacy rate of 67 per cent.

36 2 July: Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel has become the world s third largest mobile operator with 303 million subscribers. It operates in 20 countries. According to World Cellular Information Service (WCIS) Bharti Airtel has moved up one position in the global rankings. China Mobile is the top mobile operator in the world with million subscribers. Vodafone Group of UK ranks second with million subscribers. 1 July: Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the Integrated Security System (ISS) at four railway stations in Mumbai comprising Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), Dadar, Kurla and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT). The ISS was installed with a total cost of crore rupees. The ISS is aimed at improving security on Railway premises, ensuring safety of the people and averting terror attacks. It has a total of 118 CCTV cameras. GLOBE- TROT THIS MONTH 14 October: The third India-Sri Lanka joint training exercise, named 'Mitra Shakti-2015', culminated at Aundh Military Camp, Pune. The 14-day joint training included understanding of transnational terrorism, developing interoperability and conduct of joint tactical operation controlled by a Joint Command Post. 14 October: The fifth Indo-China joint military training exercise Hand-in-Hand commenced at Kunming, China. The purpose of this exercise is to enhance mutual cooperation between the two armies. 12 October: The Joint Declaration of the Heads of the Migration Authorities of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations was released after the first BRICS Ministerial meeting on Migration 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. 12 October: The Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the 2015 WBG/IMF Annual Meetings started in Lima, Peru in which representatives of the 188 member countries of both multilateral financial institutions took part. This Annual Meeting serve to discuss international economic and financial developments, the state of the Global economy, and policies to reduce poverty and promote inclusive economic growth. 12 October: Japan announced to give Madhya Pradesh government Rs. 12,000 crore loan for its Ambitious Bhopal and Indore Metro rail projects. This amount will be given by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for 50 years at 0.3% interest rate. 8 October: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved The Protocol amending the Convention and the Protocol between India and Israel, and between India and Vietnam for avoidance of double taxation and for prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital.

37 8 October: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its ex-post facto approval to the protocol for cooperation in the field of blue economy which was signed between India and Seychelles during the visit of the President of Seychelles to India on August 26, October: The State Secretary for Home Affairs, Sweden, Ms. Ann Linde called on the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju. During the meeting both the Ministers discussed various issues of importance to the two countries including Disaster Management, threat of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and radicalization and steps being taken for counter terrorism etc. 7 October: India and Germany inked 18 pacts to boost bilateral cooperation in a broad range of areas like defence, security, intelligence, railways, trade and investment, clean energy, etc. during the three-day visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to India. 7 October: German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced to assist India with Euro 2 billion ($2.25billion) for developing a clean energy corridor and solar projects during Indo- German Summit 2015 organised by NASSCOM in Bengaluru. 6 October: India accounted for the largest number of poor people in any country in 2012, but its Poverty rate was lowest among countries having large number of poor population, according to a latest World Bank report. According to the report, the poverty rate in lowincome countries averages 43 per cent in 2012, compared to 19 per cent in lower-middleincome countries. 6 October: Indian Navy started the 26th edition of the coordinated patrol (CORPAT) exercise with the navy of Indonesia. Main aim of CORPAT exercise is to keep vital part of the Indian Ocean Region safe andsecure for commercial shipping and international trade. 6 October: As a part of Indian Navy s overseas deployment to West Asia, Africa and Europe, INS Trikand entered Turkey s Istanbul for a three day visit. During her stay in Istanbul the ship will engage extensively with the Turkish Navy. 5 October: Indian Naval Ship (INS) Sahyadri entered Da Nang in Vietnam on a four-day visit. The Shvalik class stealth frigate is on an Operational Deployment' mission to South China Sea and the North West Pacific region. The deployment is a part of India's Look East' and Act East' policy. 5 October: India will host G20 Summit, a prestigious international meet during Turkey will chair the G20 Summit of 2015, followed by China (2016) and Germany (2017).

38 3 October: Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), the ambitious anti-offshore tax evasion and black money detection agreement between India and the United States became operational from 30 September October: The International Court of Arbitration (ICA) of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) asked ISRO s commercial arm Antrix to pay $562.5 million in damages to Devas Multimedia Pvt. Ltd, a Bengaluru-based space technology firm. 1 October: Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that Beijing will establish an assistance fund with an initial pledge of $2 billion to help developing countries implement a sweeping global sustainable development agenda over the next 15 years. China will continue to increase investment in the least developed countries, aiming to increase its total to $12 billion by October: Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a major initiative to help developing countries reduce poverty. The "Six 100s" initiative, declared at a South-South cooperation roundtable Xi hosted, covers poverty reduction, agriculture, trade, environment, health and education. China will make available to developing countries in the next five years 100 poverty reduction programs, 100 agricultural cooperation projects, 100 trade promotion programs, 100 environment protection and climate change programs, 100 hospitals and clinics, as well as 100 schools and vocational training centers. 1 October: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding and Ant Financial Services Group will make a strategic investment in Paytm. Paytm is presently India s largest mobile payment and commerce platform. 30 September: NASSCOM, TiE and IIM Ahmedabad s CIIE India hosted the first 'India-U.S. StartUp Konnect 2015' programme in the Silicon Valley, to highlight the strengths of the Indian startup ecosystem. With an aim to boost startups in various organizations in India and the US seven MoUs were signed. During the programme Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Bharat Fund. It is aimed at providing seed funding to Indian entrepreneurs. 30 September: Google has announced its plans to make Internet accessible to one crore passengers at 100 busiest railway stations in India by the end of 2016 and will later expand it to 400 other stations, making it one of the largest public Wi-Fi projects in the world. This announcement was made by Google CEO Sundar Pichai during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Google's US headquarters in Mountain View, California. 29 September: The Group of Four (G4) Summit took place in New York after almost a decade which involves Japan, Germany, India and Brazil as its members, formed with the main objective of supporting each other s bid for permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). G4 Summit was attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The

39 leaders emphasized that the G4 countries are legitimate candidates for permanent membership in Security Council. 28 September: China successfully launched a new model of carrier rocket Long March-11 for sending four micro satellites into space from the country's northwestern province. The rocket will mainly be used for launching micro-satellites. The successful launch of the rocket marked a major breakthrough for the nation in key technology for solid propellant rockets. The trip was the 211th mission for the Long March rocket family. 28 September: The 193 member states of the United Nations adopted new Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to replace the expiring Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at UN Sustainable Development Summit in New York. 17 broad goals and 169 specific targets are there in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The new goals primarily expect to reduce world poverty, improve health and education and quell climate change. SDGs are expected to be achieved by year They replaced the eight Millennium Development Goals adopted at a UN summit in September: The 9th Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (RPBD) will be held at Los Angeles, California, USA from 14 November to 15 November The Theme of 9th RPBD will be The Indian Diaspora: Defining a New Paradigm in India-US Relationship. 26 September: India has slipped in global rankings on broadband penetration but has made slight progress in the percentage of individuals using internet in the country. The UN Broadband Commission released The State of Broadband report, in which India ranked 131 out of 189 countries on fixed-broadband subscriptions in 2014, a drop from the 125th rank a year before. On active mobile-broadband subscriptions, India ranked 155, a significant drop from the 113th rank in India ranked 136th in individuals using the Internet in 2014, an improvement over the 142nd rank in September: The World Bank s investment arm International Finance Corporation (IFC) has invested $145 million (around Rs 950 crore) in six of the 10 companies that have been granted small finance bank licences with a collective client base of nine million. IFCs investments in Equitas, Ujjivan, Suryoday, Utkarsh, AU Financiers and Janalakshmi were made through debt and equity mainly during IFC s shareholding is in the range of per cent because the institution generally does not take more than 20 per cent stake in the companies it invests in. 23 September: Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras stormed back into office on 21 September with an unexpectedly decisive election victory claiming a clear mandate to steer Greece's battered economy to recovery. The vote ensured Europe's most outspoken leftist leader would remain Greece's dominant political figure, despite having been abandoned by party radicals last month after he caved in to demands for austerity to win a bailout from the euro zone. 23 September: According to a report titled "International Migration Outlook 2015" which was released on 22 September, one in ten new immigrants to developed countries in 2013 was from China. Immigration flows from India were comparatively low; despite being the next largest country, India made up only 4.4 per cent of new migrants and was in fourth position after Poland and Romania. This report was released by Organisation for Economic Cooperation and

40 Development s (OECD). Germany is now second only to the United States in the number of migrants it receives. 21 September: Hamid Ansari, who arrived in Laos for a two-day visit, the first by an Indian Vice President to this country, held talks with his counterpart Bounnhang Vorachith. Two MoUs, including one on "quick impact projects" and another on air services agreement, were signed between the two sides after the talks. 21 September: Chinese and Malaysian armed forces launched their first joint military exercise, aiming to deepen all-round strategic partnership between the two countries. The drill is coded "Peace and Friendship 2015" and it is being conducted in the Malacca Strait and surrounding waters. 21 September: Metro Man E. Sreedharan has been invited to the United Nations' High Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport (HLAG-ST). Sreedharan, the Principal Advisor to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, has been invited by the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to serve on his HLAG-ST. The service is for a period of three years and Sreedharan has accepted the offer. 19 September: India and the US have created a "joint challenge coin" to symbolise their unique partnership in creating a next-generation aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy. One side of the coin reads "Forward Together We Go" and "Chale Chale Saath Saath" in Hindi; which is the vision statement of US President Barack Obama Prime Minister Narendra Modi, issued in their first meeting at the White House last September. The other side of this coin, which is golden in colour, has the flags of India and the United States and an aircraft carrier floating on blue water. The "joint challenge coin" was created by the joint working group at their first meeting in US last month "to symbolise partnership". 18 September: The OECD cut its world economic growth forecasts for 2015 and 2016, warning of a dramatic slowdown in Brazil and a global outlook clouded by uncertainty over China. The OECD trimmed its world growth forecast for this year to 3.0 per cent, lopping 0.1 percentage points off its previous estimate made in June. For the world economy in 2016, the OECD lowered the outlook to growth of 3.6 per cent, a reduction of 0.2 percentage points from three months ago. 17 September: India and Sri Lanka signed four pacts during the talks held between visiting Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The MoUs are exchange of letters on establishment of emergency ambulance services in Sri Lanka and supply of medical equipment to 200 bed ward complex at district hospital, Vavuniya in Sri Lanka, cooperation of exchange of SAARC region satellite technology and rejuvenation of small industries program with the patronage of Indian government. The two countries agreed to intensify cooperation in combating terrorism and work together for security and stability in the neighbourhood. 17 September: India and Cambodia have signed two agreements relating to Tourism and Mekong Ganga Cooperation Project. The agreements were signed after Vice-President Md. Hamid Ansari held delegation-level parleys with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the the

41 Peace Palace in Phnom Penh. Vice-President Mohd. Hamid Ansari is on a four day visit to the South East Asian countries of Cambodia and Laos. 17 September: The Pentagon, the headquarters for U.S. defence establishment, set up a firstever country specific special cell with the objective of speeding up its defence ties with India. India Rapid Reaction Cell (IRRC) the first-ever country special cell at Pentagon was established to speed up United States defence ties with India and accelerate the process of co-development and co-production of hi-tech military equipment in the country. It is headed by Keith Webster, Under Defence Department. 16 September: Malcolm Turnbull, a former Liberal Party leader and Communications Minister, became Australia s fourth Prime Minister in after Tony Abbott lost a leadership ballot by members of his party. The members of the ruling Liberal Party voted 54 to 44 to replace Abbott with Turnball. 15 September: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong registered a landslide victory in the general election held in the country. His party returned to the power with a massive mandate for the 12th time since Singapore attained independence. People s Action Party (PAP) has ruled Singapore since it attained Independence some 50 years ago. The People s Action Party (PAP) won an absolute majority of 83 seats in the 89-member Parliament. The PAP s main rival the Workers Party, ended up with just six seats, less than the seven it held in the outgoing parliament. 15 September: Egypt's Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab and his entire cabinet resigned after 15 months in office following corruption allegations. While accepting Mahlab's resignation, President Abdel Fattah el-sisi asked outgoing petroleum minister Sherif Ismail to form a new government within a week. Sisi told the cabinet to remain in a caretaker role until a new cabinet was formed. 14 September: The UN General Assembly gave its overwhelming approval to a Palestinian resolution which permits the flag of Palestine to fly at the UN Headquarters in New York, despite this country not being a member of the UN. There were 119 votes in favour out of 193 UN members while the United States and Israel were among eight countries that voted against the Palestinian-drafted resolution. Palestine described this as a major step toward full UN membership. Most of the 28-nation European Union were among the 45 nations that abstained from voting. 14 September: India and Australia began their first bilateral naval exercise that will focus on anti-submarine warfare as the two countries look at deepening defence cooperation especially in the Indian Ocean. AUSINDEX-15 is being conducted off the east coast of India from September September: The Indian government has approved the purchase of 10 missile-armed drones from Israel a crucial acquisition that will enhance India's cross-border military strike capability. Government approved this $400-million proposal for buying armed Heron TP drones from Israel. These drones will be operated by the Indian Air Force. 12 September: India and Indonesia signed a pact for repatriation of wanted prisoners and cooperation in all criminal matters including gathering evidence. In this regard, Union Ministry

42 of Home Affairs issued an official gazette notification for service or execution of summons or warrant in relation to criminal matters in both countries. Under the agreement, India will execute summons to an accused person or to any person requiring to attend and produce documents or a search-warrant issued by an Indonesian court. While, Indonesia will reciprocate with similar action, if there is any request from any Indian court. 11 September: Japan has agreed to modernize 400 railway stations across the country while participating in Indian Railways USD 140 billion investment over the next five years. A Japanese delegation will soon visit India to study the opportunities for industries in the railway station development plan of railways as the public transporter has identified 400 stations to be upgraded in private investment. 9 September: India gave the first tranche of $500,000 for Syrians in distress and displaced from their homes. The Indian ambassador to Jordan Anil Trigunayat gave the money to the Jordanian government which is coordinating relief for the Syrian refugees. India had promised $2 million for humanitarian assistance to Syrians in March. This was the first portion of that commitment. 9 September: Seven Indians feature in Forbes Asia's ninth Heroes of Philanthropy list, highlighting most noteworthy contributions to philanthropy from 13 countries across Asia Pacific. Of them, four are co-founders of Infosys, one of India's largest information technology (IT) services company. These are Senapathy Gopalakrishnan, Nandan Nilekani and S.D. Shibulal and N.R. Narayana. Kerala-born Dubai entrepreneur Sunny Varkey, tops the list of philanthropists in the region. The other two Indian philanthropists are brothers Suresh Ramakrishnan and Mahesh Ramakrishnan. 9 September: India has been ranked very low, mostly in the bottom half, globally on most of the parameters for inclusive growth and development. India's overall place in the Global Competitiveness Index rankings is 71 out of 144 countries. In areas like corruption and rent India comes at 8th. For business and political ethics, India ranks 12th, while it ranks 11th on the financial intermediation of real economy investment pillar. India has mostly been ranked in the bottom half of the 38 countries that make up our lower middle income bracket. Particularly disappointing is its position in terms of Fiscal Transfers, where it ranks 37th out of 38. It also ranks very low at 32nd for Tax Code and 36th for social protection. 9 September: G20 formed a new group named 'W20' with the objective to empower women and to boost the role of women in global economic growth. W20 was formed as a grouping of female leaders to work towards empowering women and ensuring their participation in economic growth. It would work as an outreach group and seek to promote gender inclusiveness in economic growth process by empowering women. Gulden Turktan of Turkey was appointed as the first President of W20. All G20 countries are now expected nominate their members for the grouping. 8 September: To safeguard minority shareholders' interests and promote capital market as a key platform to raise funds, G20 and OECD announced new Corporate Governance Principles for listed companies and regulators in all member countries including India. The new global principles were released on the sidelines of the G20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central

43 Bankers (Ankara, Turkey) being attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and RBI chief Raghuram Rajan. The new code calls for enhanced cross-border cooperation among regulators, including through bilateral and multilateral arrangements. 8 September: In a significant development in the ongoing European migrant crisis, Germany and Austria opened their borders to thousands of refugees. Both Germany and Austria threw open their borders to thousands of refugees as after days of confrontation and chaos, Hungary s government deployed over 100 buses overnight to take thousands of refugees to the Austrian frontier. From Austria these migrants entered Germany, with over 1,000 arriving by special trains in Munich. The migrant crisis of 2015 has become Europe s most acute refugee crisis since the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. 5 September: The leaders of Japan, China and South Korea signed an agreement to hold a threenation summit. Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Park Geun-hye met in Beijing where they agreed to hold a summit with Japan in late October or early November in South Korea. The first ever talks between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye on the sidelines of the trilateral summit will also be held. 4 September: India and Australia decided to deepen their bilateral defence partnership by taking a slew of fresh initiatives including setting up of a joint working group on defence research and material cooperation. It was also decided that India will take part in the first ever air exercise with Australia. This is in addition to the first-ever bilateral naval exercise that is scheduled to be held later in the month of September. The decisions came following the delegation-level talks between visiting Australian Defence Minister Kevin Andrews and his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar. 4 September: China, a country with the world's largest Army (People's Liberation Army) will cut its number of troops by 300,000. This was announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping, as he kicked off a massive military parade marking 70 years since the end of World War Two in Asia. While making the announcement Xi said that China will always go down the path of peaceful development. Also, it wants the whole world to progress on the path of development. 21 August: Pakistan and Russia signed a landmark defence deal that includes the sale of four Mi-35 'Hind-E' attack helicopters to Pakistan. The agreement was signed by top defence officials from Pakistan and Russia in Rawalpindi. Pakistan will use these helicopters in its anti-terrorist campaign. 19 August: To boost economic ties, the UAE agreed to increase investments in India to $75 billion (about Rs. 5 lakh crore) including through a dedicated infrastructure fund, while the two nations will raise their bilateral trade to nearly $100 billion in five years. UAE's investment would support investment in India's plans for rapid expansion of next generation infrastructure, especially in railways, ports, roads, airports and industrial corridors and parks. 19 August: Small Farmers Agri Business Consortium (SFAC) has been mandated as the lead promoter of National Agriculture Market (NAM), the national e-market for agriculture commodities, as announced by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC). Small Farmers Agri Business Consortium (SFAC) is a registered society of DAC. It has been mandated

44 as the lead promoter of India s e-market for agriculture commodities under the umbrella of the National Agriculture Market. 17 August: India and Slovak Republic have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on technical cooperation in railway sector. The MoU was signed between India's Union Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic. The MoU will be valid for a period of two years and after completion of valid term it will be automatically renewed for further successive period of two years at a time. 14 August: China and Pakistan signed 20 cooperation agreements, worth billion yuan (US$1.6 billion), and issued the "Karamay Manifesto" on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a major project in China's proposed Belt and Road Initiatives. The two countries pledged to boost bilateral economic development through energy and power projects, and will also cooperate in education and health care. 14 August: South Korean steelmaker POSCO signed an agreement with a unit of India s Uttam Galva Group to set up a steel plant with annual production of 3 million tons at an investment of nearly Rs. 20,000 crores in the western state of Maharashtra. Under the new proposed joint venture, POSCO and Shree Uttam Steel & Power Ltd., will build a plant in Satarda. 14 August: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the India and Nepal for the construction of a petroleum products pipeline from Raxaul (India) to Amlekhgunj (Nepal). The MoU will promote bilateral cooperation in the oil and gas sector and secure long term supply of petroleum products to Nepal. 13 August: In an important development in the process of evolving a new constitution for Nepal, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and top leaders of CPN-UML, Nepali Congress, Unified CPN-Maoist and Madhesi Peoples Rights Forum Democratic (MPRFD) reached the landmark agreement to divide Nepal into six provinces, each sharing its border with India. Dividing the state was one of the thorny issues of the new constitution. 13 August: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a high-level summit on sustainable development hosted by the UN on September 25 and will also travel to San Francisco during his US visit, becoming the fourth Indian premier to visit America s West Coast. The United Nations summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda will be held from September 25 to 27 in New York and will be convened as a high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly. 12 August: Thomas Cook (India) Limited announced acquiring Kuoni Group s travel businesses in India and Hong Kong for Rs. 535 crore. It is a very big deal in India's Tourism sector. The deal includes outbound travel brand SOTC and destination management brand SITA. India-born entrepreneur Prem Watsa backs Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. The deal to acquire Kuoni Group s travel businesses in India and Hong Kong is the third acquisition by it in the last two years. 10 August: India and Myanmar inked an agreement to set up Centre of Excellence in Software Development and Training (CESDT) in Myanmar. The project to be set up with the financial support through ASEAN-India Cooperation fund will be implemented by C-DAC. The project envisages setting up of a state of the art Information and Communication Technology Centre,

45 imparting intensive teachers training, extending support for ICT curriculum development, and will be accredited as an authorized Centre of C-DAC 10 August: Global electronic manufacturing giant Foxconn announced to invest $ 5 billion over the next five years in Maharashtra to establish electronic manufacturing plant in the state. Foxconn is a Taiwan-based company. According to Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou the facility in Maharashtra will focus on research and development as well as manufacturing, and the company has chosen the state for being a financial centre, availability of quality talent and software-hardware integration facilities. 8 August: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-sisi opened a new USD 9 billion Suez Canal amid lavish celebrations as Egypt unveiled its 'gift to the world', the historic waterway that will run parallel to the existing one amid hopes of boosting the country's ailing economy. 8 August: India and Mozambique signed Memorandum of understanding (MoU) to deepen cooperation in New and Renewable Energy Sector. The agreement was signed during the official visit of Filipe Nyusi, President of Mozambique to India. Moreover, both nations also agreed to intensify cooperation in maritime security and ocean economy as both the countries have large coastlines and are linked by Indian Ocean. 7 August: NASA has extended a contract with Russia's space agency for $490 million to carry US astronauts to the International Space Station amid a lack of Congressional funding. The United States will continue to rely exclusively on Russia to take astronauts to the orbiting outpost under the new contract, which runs until 2019, even as relations between the two countries have reached their lowest point since the Cold War. 7 August: In a historic first, a Chinese DNA experiment is set to fly on the International Space Station (ISS) as per the agreement signed between a US private firm and a research group from the Beijing Institute of Technology. The agreement was reached between the Houston-based NanoRacks and Beijing Institute of Technology. The Chinese team, led by Professor Deng Yulin, will shell out nearly $200,000 to NanoRacks for the delivery of the experiment to the ISS on board a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. 7 August: The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and FICCI took their partnership to the next level by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to impart training to MSMEs to make them competitive and boost productivity. This is the second phase of the signing of SCORE Global Programme, wherein national institutes provide training to MSMEs. In line with the objective of Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises (SCORE), ILO is entrusted with building capacity of FICCI in three phases. 6 August: The 48th ASEAN foreign ministers' meet opened in Kualalumpur, drawing representatives from 10 Southeast Asian countries. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is in its final stages to establish a single community by the end of 2015, which involves a plan to create a common economic, political-security and socio-cultural region. 5 August: The 193 member states of the United Nations reached agreement on a new Sustainable Development Agenda for the next 15 years ( ). It calls for eradicating poverty and hunger, achieving gender equality, improving living standards and taking urgent action to combat climate change. The draft agreement outlines 17 goals with 169 specific

46 targets. With this agreement, the document called "Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" will be adopted at a UN summit just before the annual meeting of world leaders at the General Assembly in September August: A path-breaking peace treaty was signed between the Union Govt. and the Naga rebels led by the National Socialist Council of Nagalim-IM (NSCN-IM) on 03 August This treaty thus brings to end the ongoing peace talks between the Naga rebels and the Union Government. These talks had started in The treaty is expected to bring under control the decades-old insurgency problem in the North-East India including Nagaland. 4 August: CERN announced to formally confer its associate membership to Pakistan. With this Pakistan received a huge boost for its nuclear programme. Pakistan thus became the first member of CERN among Asian countries and the first non-european member of this prestigious organization. The associate membership will open a new era of cooperation that will strengthen the long-term partnership between CERN and the Pakistani scientific community. 4 August: South Sudan became the latest and the 206th member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at committee s ongoing annual meet at Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). The significance of its inclusion is that this was done despite the ongoing fighting in the South Sudan. With the country now officially part of the IOC, it can send a team to next year s Rio Summer Olympics who can compete under its own flag. 4 August: On August 21, India will host the heads of 14 island nations at the Forum for India- Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC), in what is seen as a first step towards greater engagement with the region, which is important from an economic and geostrategic standpoint. The upcoming summit in Jaipur is expected to pave the way for agreements in agriculture, food processing, fisheries, solar energy, e-networks for coordination in telemedicine and teleeducation, space cooperation and climate change. 3 August: Ending more than four decades of wait India and Bangladesh implemented their landmark Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) on 01 August India and Bangladesh started the exchange of 162 adversely-held enclaves. While India handed over 51 enclaves, comprising 7,110 acres to Bangladesh, the neighbouring country given India 111 enclaves comprising around 17,160 acres. 1 August: Singapore has appointed Indian-origin businessman Karan Singh Thakral as the country's Non-Resident Ambassador to Denmark. Karan Singh Thakral (81) has served as Singapore's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka. He is an Executive Director in the Thakral Group of Companies. Thakral is chairman of the South Asia Business Group and 'Business India' in Singapore as well as chairman of Givo Limited in India. 1 August: A Chinese firm has set up the world s first unmanned factory at Dongguan city where all the processes are operated by robots. Changying Precision Technology Company, known as the "world factory", which manufactures cell phone modules has 60 robot arms. This has reduced China's dependence on manual workers. In the plant, all the processes are operated by computer- controlled robots, computer numerical control machining equipment, unmanned transport trucks and automated warehouse equipment.

47 30 July: Government of Sri Lanka inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with search engine giant Google to launch the Google Loon project in the country. As per the MoU, Google will place 13 high-altitude balloons over the island nation to provide affordable high-speed 3G (3rd Generation) internet services to the entire country. It is also expected that this project will provide free Wi-Fi connectivity across Sri Lanka. Successful implementation of this project will make Sri Lanka the first country in the world to have Internet access covering the whole country with the government support. 30 July: The United States named a new special envoy to Syria, the third since the war began four years ago, as Washington seeks a political solution to the conflict. Michael Ratney, an Arabic speaker who served as US consul general in Jerusalem, and as a diplomat in Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco and Qatar, replaces Daniel Rubinstein. 29 July: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her delegation to the UK signed 21 MoUs with the UK in the fields of industry, health, education and urban development. The agreements were signed during a bilateral meeting at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. According to Britain's Minister of State for Employment Priti Patel these MoUs will help bring the UK and West Bengal ever closer, and unleash the potential of India-Britain relationship. 29 July: The World Trade Organization formally accepted Kazakhstan as its member, ending nearly two decades of negotiations. Meeting at its headquarters in Geneva, the WTO General Council approved the membership terms finalised last month. With this Kazakhstan has become the WTO's 162nd member state. 29 July: Union Government sanctioned 1000 crore rupees for the laying of km long tracks to connect Indian Railways with Bangladesh through the North East. The Indo-Bangla Rail link would be completed by 2017 and the entire route will be constructed by IRCON. 28 July: India has seen the second biggest outflow of high net worth individuals in last 14 years, with as many as 61,000 millionaires shifting base to abroad due to reasons like tax, security and child education. According to a joint report by New World Wealth and LIO Global the change in domicile, along with a rise in second citizenship applications, has increased dramatically since the turn of the century. Some 61,000 uber-rich Indians have changed domicile between 2000 and 2014, second only to China, which saw an outflow of 91,000 ultra-rich persons in the same period. 27 July: WTO members has finalised a deal to cut tariffs on $1 trillion worth of information technology products in a boost for producers of goods ranging from video games to medical equipment. The agreement to update the WTO's 18-year-old Information Technology Agreement (ITA) adds more than 200 products to the list of goods covered by zero-tariff and duty-free trade. 27 July: Singapore s Foreign Affairs and Law Minister will address an industry symposium in India on 27th July as part of the city-state s 50th anniversary of Independence celebrations. K Shanmugam will address the Singapore Symposium 2015, which will host dignitaries and

48 experts in a discussion and exchange with South Asian countries on issues pertinent to the region. 25 July: China announced to provide cash assistance of $10 million to help quake-ravaged Nepal in its reconstruction process. Nepal and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on this following a bilateral meeting on Post Disaster Reconstruction Plan at Nepal's finance ministry. 25 July: Pakistan will buy eight submarines from China in a multi-billion dollar deal that will boost Pakistani navy's maritime capabilities. An agreement was reached during a meeting between Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Xu Ziqin, President of state-owned China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Company Limited (SCOC)-- the trade arm of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation. The two sides in-principle agreed on the sale of eight submarines that China will provide to Pakistan Navy. 24 July: India and Russia pursue joint programmes in a few areas of space research. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on expansion of cooperation in the field of the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes. There is no transfer of space technology envisaged under this MoU. 23 July: Anil Ambani-led Reliance group company Pipavav Defence has signed an agreement with Russia's company JSC Ship Repairing Centre for medium refits and life certification of 877 EKM submarines in India. This will also mark the first time the work for refit of submarines is being considered for the private sector in India. The indicative value of work proposed to be undertaken by the proposed JV is approximately Rs. 11,000 crore. 23 July: India has jumped to the eighth position for tourist arrivals in Australia till May this year, with over 27.5 percent more Indians choosing the country as their travel destination. According to latest official data released by Tourism Australia (TA), India was ranked Australia's tenth largest inbound market for visitor arrivals in 2014 but figures during the five months this year has moved India to eighth position. 23 July: China and Taiwan inked a landmark deal that will see water pumped from the Chinese mainland to a Taiwanese-controlled archipelago, in another sign of warming ties between the rivals. The agreement will see water pumped from China's southeastern province of Fujian to the 100,000 residents of Taiwan's Kinmen County by July: China has begun building the world s largest amphibious aircraft. Amphibious aircraft can fly in the sky and can also be used in the water. The assembly of the domestically developed AG-600 seaplane started in Zhuhai city. The AG-600 s overall specifications, such as the maximum takeoff weight and flight range, are better than other amphibious planes in the world. The aircraft can carry 50 people during a maritime search and rescue mission. 23 July: India and Singapore signed Technical Agreement (TA) on sharing white-shipping information to enhance maritime cooperation between the two navies. The agreement was

49 signed during the visit of Navy chief Admiral R.K. Dhowan to Singapore. The White-shipping refers to commercial shipping information about movement of cargo ships. The Singapore Navy and the Indian Navy conduct the Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX) together annually. 21 July: India and Russia signed an agreement in defence sector. In a move aimed at boosting India s defence sector, 200 helicopters will be manufactured in the country with Russian collaboration as part of intensification and diversification of their strategic ties. According to Indian Ambassador to Russia P.S. Raghavan the agreement is one of the several new defence projects on which the two countries are working on, including under the ambit of Make in India programme. 21 July: With bilateral trade extremely low, India and Russia have initiated steps to remove the hindrances and boost commerce by signing an agreement in the area of customs and moving to liberalize business visas. The bilateral trade during the last year was just $9.51 billion. The two countries have fixed a trade target of $30 billion to be achieved by July: Canada has been named as the most reputable nation in the world, in a recent survey on how countries are perceived across the world. The north American country reclaimed the top spot in the Reputation Institute's annual report, which looks at the government, environment and economy of 55 nations. The top five countries in the survey are Canada, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Australia. 20 July: The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Canada in the field of Civil Aviation. MoU will help in deepening the bilateral cooperation and enhancing the experience and technical knowledge in the field of Civil Aviation between India and Canada. 20 July: Indian-origin John Paul Joy Alukkas has made it to the list of Asia's top 10 wealthiest millennials, with a personal fortune of USD 820 million. The 29-year-old Alukkas, Executive Director Joyalukkas group has been ranked 8th wealthiest on the Wealth-X list of millennials -- defined as those born from 1981 to 1997, as per the global wealth intelligence and prospecting company. The list was topped by the 34-year-old Yang Huiyan (USD 6.1 billion) - Vice Chairman of Country Garden Holdings. 17 July: The Russian government has chosen Anil Ambani's Pipavav shipyard for a 'Make in India' naval frigate order that is likely to exceed $3 billion, making it the private sector's biggest-ever warship-building project. Russia, which has been keen to build the frigates at a Russian shipyard, was firmly told last year that the order would only be placed through the Make in India route but it would have the flexibility to choose an Indian partner for the project. 17 July: Global aircraft maker Boeing and Tata Advanced Systems signed a pact to collaborate in aerospace and defence manufacturing as well as to tap into integrated systems development opportunities, including unmanned aerial vehicles. The companies, under the memorandum of understanding, intend to access markets jointly for products and platforms developed together

50 by Boeing and TASL. The collaboration, which is in line with the government's 'Make in India' initiative, will not only work in the domestic market but will also be for international markets. 16 July: India is the highest recipient of US economic assistance according to USAID. The US provided USD 65.1 billion as economic assistance to India between 1946 and 2012, according to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) statistics. It was the highest among the economic assistance provided to 200 countries and regions by the US during the period. India is followed closely by Israel, which got USD 65 billion. 16 July: In an historic event, comprehensive deal on Iran s nuclear programme was reached on which brought to end a 13 year stand-off between Iran and western powers that had threatened to trigger a new war in the Middle East. The agreement between Iran and P5+1 group (five permanent members of the UN Security Council, namely China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, plus Germany) was reached after clearing final obstacles included a compromise between Washington and Tehran that would allow U.N. inspectors of press for visits to Iranian military sites as part of their monitoring duties. 15 July: India and Georgia signed a MoU in New Delhi, for cooperation in the field of election management and administration. The major aims of MoU are: promotion of exchanges of knowledge and experience in electoral processes; exchange of information, materials, expertise and training of personnel; production and distribution of materials pertaining to electoral systems, voting technology, voters education and awareness, and participation of women and minorities in electoral process. 14 July: India and Tajikistan inked agreements in the field of culture and human resource development after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tajikistan s President Emomali Rahmon. This is the last leg of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 6-nation tour of Central Asian countries. As part of the agreement, India is to set up computer labs in 37 schools in Tajikistan. 14 July: India and Kyrgyzstan signed four agreements including one on bolstering defence cooperation and holding annual joint military exercises during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's fifth leg of his Central Asian tour to Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan's President Almazbek Atambayev and Narendra Modi signed four key agreements including on cooperation in defence and culture fields. Two MoU were also signed for cooperation between the Election Commissions of the two countries and on cooperation in the sphere of Standards, a move that will help economic relations. 13 July: India and Turkmenistan signed 7 agreements for enhancing cooperation in a number of sectors during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's fourth leg of his Central Asian tour to Turkmenistan. The agreements were signed in the fields of defence, supply of chemical products, foreign affairs, sports, science and technology, medicine and tourism. 13 July: India and Pakistan were accepted as full members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a regional grouping including China and Russia. This decision was taken at

51 the 15th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit held in Russia. India, which has had an observer status for the past 10 years, will technically become a member by next year after completion of certain procedures. 11 July: India will host the next BRICS Summit in This was announced in the 7th BRICS Summit held in Russian city of Ufa in Bashkortostan. The eighth BRICS Summit will be organised in New Delhi in four years after India organised the fourth summit in India would become BRICS chairperson from February July: India and United States (US) signed Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The agreement will promote transparency on tax matters between the two countries. As per the IGA, FFIs in India will be required to report tax information about US account holders directly to the Indian Government which will, in turn, relay that information to the IRS. The IRS will provide similar information about Indian account holders in the United States. 10 July: 7th BRICS Summit commenced in Ufa, Russia on 9th July with the theme, "BRICS partnership: A powerful factor for global development". The summit is being attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, South African President Jacob Zuma and Chinese President Xi Jinping. In a significant step in economic cooperation, Russia's Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) signed an MoU with India's Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) for funding of hydrogeneration projects. 10 July: Russian oil firm Rosneft announced to buy 49 percent stake in Essar Oil, the firm that owns India's second biggest oil refinery. Both the firms signed a non-binding Term Sheet in this regard. Also, a Long Term Crude Oil Supply Agreement by the two firms was signed in Ufa, Russia for import of 10 million tonnes a year of crude oil for a period of 10 years. This contract has been signed in pursuance to the Key Terms executed between the two companies in December 2014 at New Delhi. 9 July: India and Kazakhstan inked 5 agreements, including defence, railways and uranium supply, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev on his second leg of visit to the Central Asian countries. Both sides also agreed to collaborate closely in the framework of the International North South Transport Corridor and through bilateral initiatives to improve surface connectivity. 9 July: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kazakhstan premier Karim Massimov launched the first exploratory drilling of the Satpayev oil block by India's OVL and KazMunaiGaz. The two leaders launched the drilling through live video conferencing. ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL) -- the overseas arm of state-run ONGC -- had in 2011 picked up 25 percent stake in the Satpayev oil block in the North Caspian Sea. The Satpayev oil block is an offshore field in the Northern Caspian sea, with potential reserves estimated at 1.8 billion barrels.

52 9 July: India has overtaken the US to become the world's third largest steel producer and is working towards achieving 300 million tonnes (MT) target in the next 10 years. So far India was the 4th largest steel producer in the world only after China, Japan and the US. Last year the growth in crude steel production in India was more than 8 percent. 8 July: Japan committed 6.1 billion US dollars (750 billion Japanese Yen) in Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Mekong Region countries for the next three years. The decision was taken by Japan during the 7th Mekong-Japan Summit held in Tokyo. The decision to provide the development aid to Mekong countries was taken in line with the Development Cooperation Charter approved by the Japan s Cabinet in February The Mekong region countries include Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. 8 July: On the first leg of his visit to Central Asian countries and Russia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Uzbekistan. He held talks with Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov on key bilateral and regional issues including the situation in Afghanistan. India and Uzbekistan inked 3 pacts to boost cooperation between their foreign offices and in the field of culture and tourism. 7 July: Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on his six-nation tour to attend the BRICS summit in Russia and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Modi will visit five Central Asian nations--uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to deepen strategic relations and energy cooperation. He is scheduled to travel from July 6 to 13 to five Central Asian countries and Russia where he will attend the summits of BRICS and SCO. 4 July: The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, inducted the Old City of Sana a to the list of World Heritage in danger due to the serious damage done amid clashes between Shiite Houthi rebels and pro-government forces in Yemen. The decision was made during the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee in Bonn, Germany, while the Old Walled City of Shibam in Yemen and the ancient Iraqi city of Hatra were also added to the list. 2 July: Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani, in an unprecedented move for the first time nominated a female to the post of judge in Afghanistan's Supreme Court. He has appointed Anisa Rasouli to the post of judge. Anisa Rasouli, the head of the Afghan Women Judges Association and a former juvenile court judge, is the only female nominated to the nine-member bench. 2 July: The US and Cuba announced the opening of embassies in each other's capitals, a major step in re-establishing diplomatic ties severed in Relations had been frozen since the early 1960s when the US broke links and imposed a trade embargo with the Communist island. But the US and Cuba agreed to normalise relations at the end of July: Cuba has become the first country to eliminate the transmission of HIV and syphilis from mother to child, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The World Health Organization hailed what it called one of the greatest public health achievements possible. Only two children in the country were born with HIV and five with syphilis in 2013.

53 APPOINTMENTS/RESIGNATIONS THIS MONTH 13 October: Fiji s Parliament elected the Minister for Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations, Jioji Konrote, as the country s next President. He will succeed Epeli Nailatikau. Konrote defeated Ratu Epeli Ganilau in the elections. Jioji Konrote is also popularly known as George Konrote. 13 October: K.P. Sharma Oli was elected as the new Prime Minister of Nepal as he defeated Sushil Koirala by securing 338 votes against Koirala s 249 votes in the elections held in Nepal. Earlier current Prime Minister Sushil Koirala had stepped down from his post, which was required for voting. 12 October: Cabinet Minister Rao Inderjit Singh has been appointed unopposed as the new President of the Paralympics Committee of India (PCI). Kavinder Chaudhary has been elected PCI vice-president. Shivaji Kumar has been appointed as joint secretary of the committee. 12 October: Sekhar Basu has been appointed as the chairman of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). By virtue of this position, he will also occupy the office of secretary, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). He will succeed R.K. Sinha. Basu is presently the director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai. 9 October: Steve Simon has been named as the new Chief Executive of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Earlier he was the Tournament Director and Chief Operating Officer of the BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells Tennis Tournament. Simon (American) succeeds Stacey Allaster. 9 October: South Korea's Hoesung Lee has been elected as the new head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN body tasked with assessing climate science at its 42nd session in Dubrovnik, Croatia. He succeeded India s R.K. Pachauri. 9 October: IFS officer Vinay Mohan Kwatra was appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in Prime Minister's Office for three years. Kwatra, a 1988 batch Indian Foreign Service officer will be replacing IFS officer Jawed Ashraf in the PMO. 7 October: Ashish Bahuguna, the Chairman of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), was given an additional charge of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of FSSAI. The decision was taken following the shift of Yudhvir Singh Malik to NITI Aayog as an Additional Secretary. 6 October: Shashank Manohar was elected President of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He was elected unopposed during a special general meeting called by the BCCI following the demise of Jagmohan Dalmiya.

54 6 October: Ajay Sharma, an Indian-origin diplomat, has been appointed the new British Ambassador to Qatar. Sharma, currently the charge d'affaires to Iran, will succeed Nicholas Hopton. 6 October: Homegrown e-commerce company Flipkart has appointed Sriram Venkataraman as the CFO for its commerce platform and Pramod Jain as Vice President and Head of Taxation. 5 October: Sarat Kumar Acharya assumed office as Chairman and Managing Director of Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited (NLC). He succeeded B. Surender Mohan. 5 October: HSBC announced retirement of Naina Lal Kidwai as HSBC India chairman on 31 December October: Former Indian ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad was appointed as the Director General of Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), the prestigious New Delhi-based think tank on strategic affairs. 1 October: Following its sixteenth annual general meeting in New Delhi, the board of directors of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) re-elected Uday Shankar of Star India as President for a second term. Uday Shankar succeeded Man Jit Singh. 1 October: FC Goa has appointed former footballer and seasoned administrator Sukhvinder Singh as its CEO. Sukhvinder has previously worked with the All India Football Federation. 1 October: Anil Khanna, President of All India Tennis Association has been elected as Vice President of International Tennis Federation (ITF). Khanna, joins Katrina Adams of the United States and Rene Stambach of Switzerland as Vice Presidents. 30 September: Consequent upon the demise of Dr. Syed Ahmed, Governor of Manipur, and the President of India has appointed V. Shanmuganathan, Governor of Meghalaya, to discharge the functions of the Governor of Manipur, in addition to his own duties, until regular arrangements are made. 29 September: Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been appointed as brand ambassador of Jharkhand Tourism. Chief Minister Raghubar Das announced this during 'Unexplored Jharkhand 2015' programme organised on the occasion of World Tourism Day on 27th September. 28 September: The Ministry of External Affairs appointed new Indian envoys to Pakistan, China, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United Nations (UN) in a major reshuffle. Navtej Sarna will be the new High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He succeeded Ranjan Mathai. Gautam Bambawale (India's Ambassador to Bhutan) will take over as High Commissioner to Pakistan. He succeeded T.C.A. Raghavan. Syed Akbaruddin will be the next Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, New York. He will replace Asoke Mukerji. Vijay Gokhale (India's Ambassador to Germany) will be the

55 Ambassador to China. He succeeded Ashok Kantha. Anil Wadhwa (Secretary (East)) will be the new Ambassador to Rome. Pankaj Saran will replace P.S. Raghavan as the Ambassador of Moscow. Harsh V. Shringla (Indian Ambassador to Bangkok) will serve as High Commissioner to Bangladesh. Sujan Chinoy (Indian Ambassador to Mexico) will now be the Ambassador to Japan and replace Deepa Wadhwa. 28 September: Matthias Muller was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Volkswagen Group. He succeeded Martin Winterkorn who resigned following the revelation that the German carmaker manipulated US diesel car emissions tests. 28 September: Senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui has been elected as President of Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) after an election held as per directions of the Supreme Court. Siddiqui defeated Vinod Kumar, a former president of BCA, by a margin of 30 votes. 28 September: Sourav Ganguly has been appointed as the President of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) succeeding Jagmohan Dalmiya as announced by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Jagmohan Dalmiya passed away recently. Sourav Ganguly is the former Indian cricket captain. 26 September: The All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF) has appointed Sreedhar GV as Chairman. Sreedhar, who was the former Director and Vice Chairman of GJF. 26 September: Women and Child Development Ministry has appointed Stuti Narain Kacker as Head of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). Kacker, a 1978 batch IAS officer, retired as Secretary from Disability Affairs, in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The Chairperson's position fell vacant after the tenure of Kushal Singh ended in October September: Zayn Khan was unanimously elected as the President of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI). His appointment was necessitated by the death of R. Bharath Raj, who passed away while serving as President on August September: Raman Agarwal has been appointed the new Chairman of Finance Industry Development Council (FIDC). FIDC is a Representative-cum-Self Regulatory Organisation of Non-Banking Finance Companies and associated with asset-financing. 23 September: Information technology major Infosys has won an Rs 1,400-crore contract from GST Network (GST-N) to build the IT system so that the goods and services tax (GST) regime is rolled out on schedule. Navin Kumar has been appointed as Chairman of GST-N. The company is supposed to lay the IT-backbone to implement the GST regime. Once the backbone is ready, Infosys will operate it for five years. 23 September: John T. Chambers, Executive Chairman of Cisco, has been elected as the new chairman of the US India Business Council (USIBC), the apex advocacy group for India and American companies in the US. The transition will come at the end of a four-

56 year term of Ajay Banga, president and CEO of MasterCard. Banga has been its longestserving chairman. 22 September: Raman Agarwal has been appointed the new Chairman of Finance Industry Development Council (FIDC). FIDC is a Representative-cum-Self Regulatory Organisation of Non-Banking Finance Companies and associated with asset-financing. 21 September: P.V. Chandran was elected President of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) for The annual general meeting of the INS chose him to succeed Kiran B. Vadodaria. Chandran is the Managing Director and a whole-time director of the Mathrubhumi group of publications. 18 September: A 43-year-old Indian-origin British MP Seema Malhotra has been appointed as the shadow chief secretary for Treasury by the newly elected Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Seema Malhotra became MP for the London seat of Feltham and Heston in 2011 in a by-election following the death of Alan Keen (Conservative). In August 2014, she was given the newly-created role of shadow minister for preventing violence against women and girls by the then Labour leader Ed Miliband. She will be shadow Chancellor John McDonnell's Assistant in the shadow Treasury team. 15 September: Hormusji N. Cama, Director of Bombay Samachar and Riyad Mathew, Director of Malayala Manorama, were unanimously elected Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively of the Press Trust of India (PTI). Cama, whose daily is the oldest continuously-published newspaper in India from 1855, succeeds Mahendra Mohan Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of the Jagran Prakashan. Mathew succeeds him as the Vice Chairman. 14 September: Qatar's emir has appointed an ambassador to Iraq, the first since the embassy was closed 25 years ago, in the latest sign of a thaw in relations between Gulf Arab countries and Iraq. The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-thani had issued a decree appointing Zayed al-khayareen as Qatar's ambassador to Iraq. 11 September: An outstanding scientist, J. Manjula has been appointed the first woman Director General of the Defence Research and Development Organization's Electronics and Communication Systems (ECS) cluster. Manjula was the first woman director of the DRDO's Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE) from Manjula will succeed K.D. Nayak. 11 September: Chennai native Mahesh Ramanujam has been named the new CEO of the prestigious US Green Building Council (USGBC), a non-profit organisation that promotes sustainability in how buildings are designed, built, and operated. Ramanujam would replace Rick Fedrizzi, the co-founder of USGBC and current CEO after he steps down at the end of September: Agriculture expert Ramesh Chand has been appointed as new member of the Niti Aayog. Chand is the third member to join the government's think tank which has

57 replaced the erstwhile planning commission. The Aayog, which is headed by eminent economist Arvind Panagariya (Vice Chairman), has two other members economist Bibek Debroy and former DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat. 9 September: The Jammu and Kashmir government appointed Brij Raj Sharma as the new chief secretary, ending the administrative inertia that hit the state after Muhammad Iqbal Khandey chose to seek voluntary retirement (VRS) three months prior to his superannuation. Sharma, a 1984 batch IAS officer, would remain the chief secretary till September: Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre was sworn in as new president of Guatemala following the resignation of Otto Perez Molina. Otto Perez Molina resigned from the Presidential post as he involved in a corruption case. Aguirre will complete Perez's remaining term of office till January 14, 2016 and hand over power to the winning candidate after elections. 5 September: Dinesh Kumar Likhi took charge as the Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (MIDHANI). Prior to this appointment, he was Director (Production & Marketing) of MIDHANI itself. Likhi succeeded M. Narayana Rao. 5 September: Girish Shankar took charge of Secretary, Department of Official Language under the Ministry of Home Affairs. A 1982 batch IAS officer of Bihar Cadre, Shankar was working as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism. He replaces Sanjay Kumar Srivastava who has joined as Secretary, Coordination and Public Grievances in the Cabinet Secretariat. 5 September: Vinod Dasari has been appointed as President of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), an automobile industry body. Dasari is the Managing Director of Ashok Leyland. Arvind Saxena, President of General Motors India, has been elected as the Vice-President of the organisation. SIAM is the apex Industry body representing leading vehicle and vehicular engine manufacturers in India. 4 September: NTPC's Director (Technical) A.K. Jha has taken the additional charge of the post of the Chairman & Managing Director, NTPC. A.K. Jha succeeded Arup Roy Choudhury. After refusing extension to Arup Roy Choudhury as CMD of NTPC, the government has decided to give the additional charge to Jha for three months from September 1 as an interim arrangement. A search committee headed by Power Secretary P.K. Pujari is currently looking for a full-time CMD for NTPC. 3 September: Nuclear safety expert Shiv Abhilash Bhardwaj has been appointed as the new chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERD). Bhardwaj took over from Satinder Singh Bajaj who was steering the organisation since January A post graduate in mechanical engineering, Bhardwaj was earlier with Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). He is a recipient of

58 Indian Nuclear Society award for outstanding achievement in nuclear technology including nuclear safety. 3 September: Noted scientist S.A.V. Satya Murty has been appointed as Director of Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam. Murty, a Gold Medalist from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada, currently serves Electronics and Instrumentation and Radiological Safety Group as its Director, an official release said. Murty succeeds P.R. Vasudeva Rao. 2 September: Ahead of beginning of work on the Budget for , government designated Ratan P. Watal as new Finance Secretary even as a new team of officials took charge at the finance ministry. Shaktikanta Das, 58, took charge as the Secretary for Department of Economic Affairs after Rajiv Mehrishi on his last day in office was appointed Home Secretary for a two-year tenure. Das, who was Revenue Secretary, has been succeeded by Hasmukh Adhia. Adhia, who held the post of Secretary in the Department of Financial Services, passed on the baton to Anjuly Chib Duggal 2 September: Senior IAS officer Raghav Chandra has taken over as the Chairman of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Chandra succeeds Road Transport and Highways Secretary Vijay Chhibber who was given the additional charge of the key post in June this year for three months after relinquishment of charge by former Chairman R.P. Singh on completion of his tenure. Raghav Chandra is an IAS Officer of the 1982 batch Madhya Pradesh who has held important positions in the central government and the Government of Madhya Pradesh. 2 September: The government appointed outgoing Home Secretary L.C. Goyal as the Chairman and Managing Director of India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO). The Prime Minister approved the appointment of L.C. Goyal (1979 batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer) as Chairman and Managing Director, India Trade Promotion Organisation. Earlier, Goyal had sought an early retirement, 17 months ahead of schedule, for personal reasons which was approved by the government. 1 September: Senior bureaucrat Rajiv Mehrishi has been appointed country's new Home Secretary. Mehrishi, a 1978 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre succeeded L.C. Goyal who requested for voluntary retirement (VRS) which has been approved by Prime Minister. Rajiv Mehrishi was Finance Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, Finance Ministry. He was due to retire on 31 August but has been given a two-year extension by the government after it decided to post him on the post of Home Secretary. 14 September: The First Minister of Northern Ireland resigned. Peter Robinson stepped aside and pulled ministers out of the government plunging the province back into

59 political crisis. The mass walk out was sparked by the murder of ex-ira man Kevin McGuigan in Belfast last month. 11 September: Australia's veteran wicketkeeper/batsman Brad Haddin announced his retirement from international cricket at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Brad Haddin is the fourth player to take retirement from Australian team which lost the Ashes series against England. Before Haddin captain Michael Clarke, opener Chris Rogers and allrounder Shane Watson has already announced their retirement after losing the Ashes. 10 September: Hungary's Defense Minister Csaba Hende resigned after a national Security Council meeting held to discuss the huge influx of refugees and migrants arriving in the country. Prime Minister Viktor Orban accepted Hende's resignation and appointed Istvan Simicsko, also a member of his Fidesz party as new Defence Minister of the country. 5 September: Vijay Laxmi Joshi, in-charge of the Prime Minister's ambitious Clean India Mission, has sought voluntary retirement from service. She has quit the Swachh Bharat campaign as head even before one year of its completion. A 1980-batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, was associated with Swachh Bharat campaign as Secretary of Ministry of Drinking water and Sanitation. 57-year-old Joshi still has three years of service left. 21 August: In a move set to further strengthen education ties with India, Australian government appointed former cricketer Adam Gilchrist as nation's inaugural ambassador to India on education. The announcement was made by the Minister for Education and Training Christopher Pyne prior to attending the Annual Ministerial Dialogue and third Australia-India Education Council meeting in New Delhi. 21 August: Veteran actor Anupam Kher has been appointed as the UN ambassador of the 'HeForShe' campaign for gender equality. The 'HeForShe' campaign has been initiated by UN Women. Its goal is to engage men as agents of change for the achievement of gender equality and women's rights, by encouraging them to take action against inequalities faced by women and girls. 21 August: Raffi Freedman-Gurspan is the first openly transgender White House staff member, appointed by President Barack Obama. She was a former policy adviser at the National Center for Transgender Equality and will serve as an outreach and recruitment director in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. This is one of several steps the Obama administration has taken to show support for the LGBT community. 20 August: Britain's Sebastian Coe was elected as new International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) president at the 50th IAAF Congress 20 August: Athletics Federation of India President Adille Sumariwalla was elected as one of the members of the prestigious Council of the IAAF, the global governing body of the sport. Sumariwalla is the first Indian to be elected in the IAAF Council.

60 19 August: Union Government appointed former Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth as the Chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB). He was appointed for a period of three years or till he attains 65 years of age. Seth succeeded Atul Chaturvedi, who has completed his tenure. Seth is a 1974-batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre. 18 August: Noted Urdu litterateur Shamim Hanfi has been selected for the first Jnangarima Manad Alankaran award, instituted by the Bharatiya Jnanpith in the year The award marks the seven decades of Jnanpith. Hanfi was selected for the award in a meeting of jury members chaired by Hindi author Vishwanath Tripathi. The Jnangarima Manad Alankaran award comprises a monthly honorarium for one year. 17 August: Om Prakash Rawat, a 1977 batch Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre was appointed as the Election Commissioner of India. His appointment will come into effect from the day he assumes office. With Rawat s appointment, the sole vacancy in the three-member poll body has been filled. Rawat will have tenure of more than three years which will end in December He had retired from government service in December Naseem Zaidi is the Chief Election Commissioner and Achal Kumar Jyoti is the other Election Commissioner. 14 August: Sudhakar Shetty of Maharashtra was unanimously elected as the President of the Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI). He will have a four year term. He succeeds Jaspal Singh Kandhari. Shantikumar Singh has been appointed as general secretary, Gian Singh as treasurer and Riyaz Bhati as Vice President. Elections for the executive committee of Federation were attended by 35 members from 18 States and Units. 14 August: Larsen & Toubro has announced to appoint Sanjay Jalona as chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) of its wholly-owned subsidiary L&T Infotech. Prior to joining L&T Infotech, Jalona was with Infosys as executive vice president. During his 15 years at Infosys, he had held senior leadership positions across USA, Europe and India. 12 August: India-born Sundar Pichai was named CEO of Google by the company's founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin in course of a re-organization that created a mother company called Alphabet. All the companies of Google will work in collaboration with Alphabet. Pichai, 43, is a Chennai native and a passout of IIT Kharagpur. Page will be CEO of Alphabet. 10 August: President Pranab Mukherjee appointed new Governors for Bihar and Himachal Pradesh. Acharya Dev Vrat has been appointed the Governor of Himachal Pradesh. Ram Nath Kovind, a BJP politician from UP, has been named governor of Bihar. 10 August: Global technology and consultancy giant Accenture elevated Rekha M. Menon as chairman of its India operations. It has also roped in Anindya Basu as the managing director (MD) in India. These appointments are effective from August 21, 2015.

61 8 August: Amitava Ghosh was appointed as Vice President (Engineering) of e-commerce portal Snapdeal. As a Vice President-engineering, Ghosh will head company s technology innovation centre in Bengaluru. Prior to this appointment, he was the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at TaxiForSure. Earlier, he was serving as the Head of Indian engineering team of Tribune Digital Ventures. 7 August: President Mamnoon Hussain approved Justice Jawad S. Khawaja s appointment as new Chief Justice with effect from August 17 after retirement of Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk. Justice Jawad S Khawaja will take charge as Chief Justice from August 17. Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk is set to retire on August 16 after completing his tenure. Justice Khawaja is the senior most judge in the ranks after Justice Mulk s retirement. 7 August: Indian-American Atul Keshap has been confirmed as the U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives, becoming the second Indian-origin diplomat to be posted to the region after Richard Rahul Verma. Keshap (44), a former official at the US Embassy in India, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the country s envoy which would be his first Ambassadorial posting. He is currently working as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in South and Central Asian Affairs Bureau of State Department. 6 August: Alibaba named former Goldman Sachs vice president Michael Evans as President, putting him in charge of the Chinese e-commerce company's global expansion. Goldman Sachs veteran Michael Evans will take over the role of president of Alibaba Group with immediate effect. Evans will lead the company's expansion outside China and help develop its international plans for growth. 6 August: Senior IPS officer Ashok Prasad has been appointed as Secretary of Home Ministry's crucial Internal Security division. Prasad is a 1979 batch IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre. He was appointed as Special Secretary (Internal Security) in Home Ministry on December 31, Prior to that, Prasad was posted as Special Director in Intelligence Bureau. 4 August: Ved Prakash Mahawar took over as Director (Onshore) of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC). As Director (Onshore), a board level position, he will be directly looking after all the onshore operations spread across the country which significantly contribute towards ONGC's overall physical performance. He replaces Ashok Verma, who superannuated. 4 August: Ganga Ram Agarwal, an officer of the Indian railway services of electrical engineering (IRSEE), has been posted as the new secretary of the railway board. He takes over from P.C. Gajbhiye, who superannuated. Prior to this, Agarwal was working as chief electrical engineer, central railway. 30 July: Union Government appointed Ram Sewak Sharma as the new Chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the regulating body of Indian telecom sector. R.S. Sharma, an engineering post-graduate from IIT Kanpur and a 1978 batch IAS

62 officer of Jharkhand cadre, was till now Secretary, Information Technology Department. He will have tenure of 3 years. He succeeded Rahul Khullar who retired from post on 14 May July: Union Government appointed Ashish Bahuguna as the Chairman of food safety regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). Former Agriculture Secretary, Bahuguna's tenure will be of three years and he succeeded K. Chandramouli whose tenure ended in January Since then the position was lying vacant and the Health Secretary Bhanu Pratap Sharma was given the interim charge of chairman of FSSAI. Bahuguna is a 1978-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Rajasthan cadre who retired from the post of Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture in February July: Qualcomm Incorporated has appointed former BlackBerry India head Sunil Lalvani as vice president and president of Qualcomm India, as Avneesh Agrawal, senior vice president and president of Qualcomm India and South Asia exits the company. Lalvani has more than 20 years of experience in sales, business development, strategic planning and business operations across the IT and telecom sectors 27 July: Roelant Oltmans is new coach of the Indian hockey team, replacing Paul van Ass, who was sacked after a bitter spat with Hockey India President Narinder Batra. The 61-year-old Dutchamn will be at the helm of affairs at least till next year s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Van Ass was the fourth foreign coach to be shown the door unceremoniously ever since Hockey India took over the reins of the game in July: All India Football Federation President and senior NCP leader Praful Patel and Souter Vaz have retained their posts as President and Secretary of the Western India Football Association (WIFA) respectively. Former Union Minister Patel, who is also the Vice President of the Asian Football Confederation, and Vaz were re-elected unopposed. 22 July: Bhanu Pratap Sharma was given additional charge of Chairperson of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). Sharma is an IAS officer of 1981 batch from Bihar cadre. Sharma was given this additional charge of FSSAI for three months or till the appointment of a regular incumbent. Currently, he is the Secretary of Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 22 July: Pankaj Munjal was appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Hero Motors Group. He succeeded O.P. Munjal, who was elevated to the position of Chairman Emeritus. Pankaj Munjal joined the Hero group in 1988 as a trainee and was appointed as its Co-Chairman and Managing Director in December July: Prashant Pathrabe was appointed as the new Director of Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) by the Union Govt. Prashant Pathrabe is the Director of National Film Archive of India (Pune) and he has been given the charge of FTII Director as additional charge. Pathrabe, an MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad joined the Indian Information Service in He replaced D.J. Narain.

63 16 July: Global financial services hub Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) has appointed Ajay Kumar Pandey as its new Managing Director and Group CEO. Pandey will take over the charge from August 1. Pandey will replace the current head of GIFT, Ramakant Jha, who has been associated with the project since November Jha will move to Mumbai as CEO of IL&FS's Smart City initiative. 16 July: Madhya Pradesh government has appointed former Chief Secretary Rakesh Sahni as the Chairman of Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA). After his retirement from the post of chief secretary, the 1972 batch IAS officer also served as the Chairman of MP Electricity Regulatory Commission. 15 July: Lieutenant General Man Mohan Singh Rai has been appointed as the Vice-Chief of the Indian Army. Rai will succeed Lt Gen Philip Campose, who will superannuate the office on 31 July Presently, Rai is working as the Eastern Army Commander. 13 July: Cipla, the country's leading company in Pharma sector, has appointed Samina Vaziralli as Executive Director on its board. Vaziralli is the daughter of M.K. Hamied, Vice Chairman of the Board of Cipla. She is part of the core leadership team and has been with the company since Earlier, she worked at Goldman Sachs's investment management department. Vaziralli brings diverse experience of working in the US, the UK, and more recently India. 13 July: NRI entrepreneur Lord Karan Bilimoria has been appointed as the President of the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA). He will replace Baroness Usha Prashar as she steps down, having served the maximum term of nine years. Hyderabad born Bilimoria, the founder of Cobra Beer, is also the Chancellor of the University of Birmingham. 11 July: Ashok K. Lahiri, a former Chief Economic Advisor (CEA), was named as the first Chairman of Bandhan Bank during the announcement of appointment of Board of Directors of the bank was made. Chandra Sekhar Ghosh will be the MD and CEO of the bank. The bank will start its operations from 23 August 2015 and will be inaugurated by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. 11 July: Credit Information Bureau India Ltd (CIBIL), India s leader in credit information, has appointed Satish Pillai as its new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Pillai succeeds Arun Thukral who retires this year after a decade. 10 July: Sunil Bharti led Bharti Enterprises appointed Rahul Bhatnagar as its new Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer. Bhatnagar takes over from Manoj Kohli, who has assumed the role of Executive Chairman, SBG Cleantech -- a JV between SoftBank, Bharti and Foxconn for renewable energy. 10 July: Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav appointed Justice Kalyan Shrestha as the new chief justice of the country. The president appointed Shrestha, 64, as the new chief

64 justice on the recommendation of the Constitutional Council. He has been appointed to the post after the retirement of Ram Kumar Prasad Saha. 9 July: Sriram Kalyanaraman, Director-Business Development, Equifax Credit Information Services Pvt. Ltd has been appointed as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, National Housing Bank for a period of five years from the date of his taking over the charge. The appointment of Shri Kalyanaraman is unique in its way as he is the first person form the Private Sector to head a Public Sector Financial Institution. 6 July: Commodore C.D. Balaji (Retd) took charge as the Director of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Programme Director of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). He succeeded P.S. Subramanyam, a distinguished Scientist, who superannuated on 30 June Prior to this appointment, Balaji, an outstanding scientist, was Project Director of the LCA s naval version. 3 July: The government appointed U.P. Singh, a Joint Secretary in Oil Ministry, as the interim chairman of state-run Oil India Ltd, after appointment of a regular head was delayed because of questions being raised on the shortlisted candidate. U.P. Singh, Joint Secretary (Exploration), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas assumed the additional charge of Chairman and Managing Director in place of S.K. Srivastava who superannuated. 3 July: Balvender Kumar IAS (UP: 1981) took over as Secretary Ministry of Mines in New Delhi. Before joining the Ministry of Mines, Balvender Kumar was holding the charge of Vice-Chairman, Delhi Development Authority under Ministry of Urban Development. He took over the charge from Dr. Anup K. Pujari. 3 July: Congress leader K.A. Sabarinathan was sworn-in as a legislator of the Kerala legislative assembly. In the results for the Aruvikara by-election announced, Sabarinathan, 31, secured 56,448 votes to defeat former speaker and minister M. Vijayakumar, 67, of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), who secured 46,320 votes. 3 July: Dr. Anup K. Pujari took over as Secretary Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME). He is a 80th batch IAS officer. He succeeds Madhav Lal who superannuated on June, Before joining the Ministry of MSME, Dr. Pujari was holding the charge of Secretary, Mines. Pujari has served the Central and Karnataka Govt. in various capacities. 1 July: Infrastructure financing firm IDFC appointed former Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Vinod Rai as independent director. The appointment has been made with immediate effect. Vinod Rai also worked as Financial Services Secretary. He was director on several boards including the State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank and Life Insurance Corporation of India.

65 1 July: Senior IPS officer Y.C. Modi, who had been part of a Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) that probed 2002 Gujarat riots cases, has been appointed as Additional Director in the CBI. Modi is a 1984 batch IPS officer of Assam- Meghalaya cadre. He has been appointed in place of Archana Ramasundaram, who was recently moved out of the CBI and appointed as Director, National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). 1 July: Nandkumar Saravade has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Data Security Council of India (DSCI). He will take over from the current officiating CEO, Rama Vedashree, vice-president of Nasscom. Saravade was, until recently, working as an independent advisor on fraud and security to Ernst & Young (EY) and ICICI Bank. Till September 2013, he was the South Asia head of security, investigation and vigilance function for Citibank. AWARDS/HONOURS/WORLD TITLES/NEW DISCOVERIES THIS MONTH 14 October: Renowned Malayalam filmmaker Irruppam Veedu Sasidaran, popularly known as I.V. Sasi was awarded with the J.C. Daniel Award for the year 2014 for his contribution towards the Malayalam entertainment industry. Sasi has made over 150 Indian films in various languages and genres. However, he is mostly known for his South Indian films. 13 October: 2015 Noble Prize in Economic Sciences has been awarded to Angus Deaton "for his analysis of consumption, poverty, and welfare". Angus Deaton is the microeconomist born in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. 10 October: The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2015 is to be awarded to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, a coalition of four institutions, for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of October: The Seychelles Ministry of Tourism and Culture appointed Indian composer A.R. Rahman as Cultural Ambassador for Seychelles in appreciation for the invaluable services contributed to enhance Seychelles s Art and Cultural development. 10 October: Families from India hold 14 spots in Forbes Asia s ranking of the Asia s 50 richest families with the Ambani family third on the list with a combined fortune of $21.5 billion. India s Premji is seventh on the list followed by Hinduja on ninth spot and Mistry ranked tenth. According to the Forbes list four India billionaire families found place in the top ten richest families. South Korea s Lee family, which controls the formidable Samsung conglomerate, topped an inaugural list of Asia s 50 richest families by Forbes Asia magazine with a net worth of $26.6 billion.

66 10 October: Nualgi, an Indian company with wholly Indian technology in the field of nano biotechnology has won a prestigious award at the Climate CoLab of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge. 10 October: Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman will be honoured with the Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award in Mumbai on October 26. Filmmaker Subhash Ghai will present the fifth Hridaynath Award to Rahman. 9 October: The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2015 is awarded to the Belarusian journalist and author Svetlana Alexievich "for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time". 9 October: Bollywood actor Sidharth Malhotra has been named the first Indian ambassador for Tourism New Zealand, which markets New Zealand as a visitor destination. 9 October: Saudi blogger and social activist Raif Badawi and British poet and critic James Fenton were jointly awarded with the 2015 PEN Pinter Prize. While, due to Badawi's imprisonment, his award was accepted by Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia and campaigner for Raif Badawi. 8 October: Writer Nayantara Sahgal has returned the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award, recording her protest against what she calls a "vicious assault" on India's diversity and debate, and the government's failure to safeguard it. Ms Sahgal, 88, is the niece of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. She received the literary award in October: Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh, presented the Award of Excellence to Shri Rajiva Ranjan Verma, Director General / RPF, for the commendable contribution of Railway Protection Force (RPF) during Operation Smile, in the field of Anti Human Trafficking. It was presented in a function on National Conference of Anti Human Trafficking held at New Delhi on October: Sweden's Tomas Lindahl, the US-based Paul Modrich and Turkish-born Aziz Sancar won the 2015 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for work on mapping how cells repair damaged DNA. 8 October: Ahmed Mansoor of UAE has been was awarded the Martin Ennals award. The award is named after the former secretary general of Amnesty International. This is also known as nobel prize of human rights. He campaigned for freedom of expression and greater political and civil rights in the United Arab Emirates since 2006, and successfully pushed for the liberation of two bloggers jailed for highlighting social problems in the country. 7 October: William C. Campbell (US), Satoshi Omura (Japan) and Youyou Tu (China) are the three scientists jointly chosen for the Nobel Prize 2015 for Medicine (or Physiology)

67 as announced by the Nobel Prize Committee. Campbell and Omura were chosen for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites. Youyou Tu was chosen for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy for malaria. 7 October: Sanjay Kaushik, general manager of Crowne Plaza, Kochi, received the Best General Manager, South India award at the 11th Hospitality India Annual Travel Awards held in New Delhi. 7 October: The Tiruchirapalli City Municipal Corporation was awarded with Skoch Smart Governance Award for achieving Operational Excellence in Waste Transportation using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based solutions. 7 October: The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics has been jointly awarded to Takaai Kajita (Japan) and Arthur B. McDonald (Canada), for discoveries that proved that neutrinos have mass. 5 October: Rangarajan Vellamore, CEO Infosys China, has become the first Indian to receive the Magnolia Gold Award in recognition of his contributions to the development of IT industry in Shanghai, China's financial hub. 5 October: Forbes India Leadership Awards 2015 were presented in Mumbai. Awards are-- Outstanding Start-up for the Year: Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati of Ola. Best CEO Multinational Company: Uday Shankar, Star India Pvt. Ltd. Best CEO - Public Sector: Arundhati Bhattacharya, State Bank of India. Best CEO - Private Sector: C.P. Gurnani, Tech Mahindra Ltd. Lifetime Achievement Award for the Year: R.C. Bhargava of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. Entrepreneur for the Year: Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. 3 October: Kartik Chandran, an Indian-American associate professor of earth and environmental engineering at Columbia Engineering, has been named a 2015 MacArthur Fellow with a "genius grant" of $625,000. He won the fellowship for his work in transforming wastewater from a pollutant requiring disposal to a resource for useful products, such as commodity chemicals, energy sources, and fertilisers. 30 September: Mathematician Jacob Tsimerman of the University of Toronto, Canada was chosen for the prestigious 2015 SASTRA Ramanujan Prize. Tsimerman is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the University of Toronto. He primarily conducts research in Number Theory. 30 September: Bengali movie Kadambari has bagged two major awards at the Washington DC South Asian Film Festival, including the best film honour and the best actress trophy for Konkona Sen Sharma, while India's Oscars entry Court took home the best director gong for Chaitanya Tamhane. Kadambari is directed by Suman Ghosh. 29 September: Indian film talent Swara Bhaskar has won the Best Actress award at a film festival in the capital city of Fujian province (China) for playing a mother to a

68 teenager in Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari s directorial Nil Battey Sannata (The New Classmate). She won the honour at the China's second Silk Road International Film Festival. 26 September: The government has decided to confer the Defence Research and Development Organisation s (DRDO s) Lifetime Achievement Award for 2015 on V.S. Arunachalam, formerly a scientific advisor to the defence minister, for his outstanding contribution over several decades in the field of scientific research and technology. 26 September: Director Chaitanya Tamhane's debut Marathi movie Court was chosen as India's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 88th Academy Awards or 2016 Oscars. This year, the 17-member jury to choose the entry from India was headed by veteran actor-filmmaker Amol Palekar. 26 September: A 13-year-old 9th class student from Odisha, Lalita Prasida Sripada Srisai has won the Community Impact Award at the prestigious Google Science Fair in the years age category for developing a water purifier that works using waste corn cobs and is very cost-effective. 24 September: Eminent Hindi writer Dr. Kamal Kishore Goenka was conferred with 24th Vyaas Samman for the year He was awarded for his work 'Premchand ki Kahaniyon ka Kaal Kramanusaar Adhyayan'. He was awarded a citation along with a cash amount of 2.5 lakh rupees by eminent Hindi writer Prof. Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari. 24 September: PepsiCo CEO and chairman Indra Nooyi and HT Media Ltd chairperson Shobhana Bhartia have been presented with the 2015 Global Leadership Award of the US India Business Council (USIBC). They were honoured for their contributions and commitment to driving a more inclusive global economy and for their roles as women leaders. 22 September: Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus and actor Jeffrey Tambor won the Emmy Awards in the Outstanding Lead female and male actor category in a Comedy Series at the 67th annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. Game of Thrones (HBO) won Best Drama Series and Veep won Best Comedy Series award. 19 September: Afghan refugee teacher Aqeela Asifi was awarded with the 2015 Nansen Refugee Award by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Asifi dedicated her life to bring education to refugee girls in Pakistan. Aqeela Asifi was awarded for her brave and tireless dedication to education for Afghan refugee girls in the Kot Chandana refugee village in Mianwali, Pakistan. 19 September: Swetha Prabhakaran, an Indian American 15 years old teen, was awarded with the prestigious Champions of Change Award of US at the White House. She is among 11 young women selected by the White House as Champions of Change. Prabhakaran, a junior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia, founded a non-profit organisation 'Everybody Code Now' to empower the next generation of youth to become engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs.

69 19 September: Swami Vivekananda Airport (or Mana Airport) in Raipur has been conferred the "Best Airport for National Tourism Award " by the President of India Pranab Mukherjee. This is the second consecutive year the award has been given to Raipur airport. Raipur Airport proved to be the best airport of the country in Rest of India category. Best Airport is select on the basis of tourism, infrastructure, design, hygiene, management. 18 September: Indian-origin British author Sunjeev Sahota was among the 6 writers short-listed for the prestigious Man Booker Prize Sunjeev Sahota was short-listed for his book The Year of the Runaways, which centers around the lives of three Indian men, one a Dalit and a woman, all migrants from India. This is the second year that the prize has been open to writers of any nationality, writing in English and published in the United Kingdom. Till 2014, the Booker Prize was open to authors only from the U.K. and Commonwealth, Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe. 17 September: The Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) conferred the Excellence in Golf in 2015 award on 17-year-old Aditi Ashok in recognition of her recent achievements which included winning the Singha Thailand Amateur Championship last week, the 2015 British Ladies Amateur Strokeplay Championship and the prestigious 2015 St. Rule Trophy at St. Andrews. KGA president Venkat Subramaniam presented the local golfer an award at the prize distribution ceremony of the seventh Toyota Karnataka Golf Festival held in Karnataka. 17 September: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been announced as one of the winners of the United Nations Champions of the Earth award in recognition of her country's initiatives to address climate change. United Nations Champions of the Earth award is the highest award in the world of environment conservation. 17 September: Two Indian educational Institutes find place in ' QS World University Rankings's World Top-200. It was the 12th edition in the series of annual global university ranking list. The Indian Institute of Science-Bangalore (IISc-B) and the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-D) were ranked 147 and 179 respectively. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) topped the list of universities in the world for record fourth time. Harvard University is at second place, followed by the University of Cambridge and Stanford University in joint third place. 16 September: President Pranab Mukherjee awarded the Rajbhasha Kirti Award to the Ministry of Railways. The Ministry of Railways received this award for the best work in Hindi during the year On the occasion of Hindi Diwas celebrated on 14th September Ministry of Railways won the award for the best implementation of the Official Language Policy. On behalf of the Ministry of Railways Railway Board's Chairman A.K. Mittal received the award from the President.

70 16 September: Bollywood actor Anupam Kher has been awarded for his commendable contribution to cinema and art globally in Naveda with the US state's most populous city Las Vegas declaring 10 September as 'Anupam Kher Day'. The 60-year-old veteran actor was presented with the 'Certificate of Excellence' in Las Vegas by Nevada Senator Ruben Kihuen for providing quality entertainment. 16 September: Ashok Sridharan, a mayoral candidate of Chancellor Angela Merkel-led Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has comprehensively won the election in Bonn, becoming the first person of Indian-origin to occupy the mayor s office in a major German city. 49-year-old Sridharan secured the absolute majority by polling per cent of the votes election in the former German capital. His victory marks the end of more than 21 years rule of the city by the Social Democratic Party (SPD). 15 September: Recognising his contribution in the field of modern scientific, medical writing, the Ministry of External Affairs Government of India conferred the Vishva Hindi Samman to Dr. K.K. Aggarwal. The award was given to Dr. Aggarwal at the 10th World Hindi Conference in Bhopal for his book Alloveda. 15 September: Frank D. Gilroy, whose play The Subject Was Roses, won him a Pulitzer Prize, died in Monroe, New York. He was 89. Gilroy, who served in the Army from 1943 to 1946 in the European Theatre, also won a Tony Award for The Subject Was Roses. 14 September: Renowned Hindi writer Uday Prakash has returned his Sahitya Akademi Award as protest against the recent killing of Kannada litterateur M.M. Kalburgi, and in disapproval of the national literary body's deafening silence over the assaults on writers. The 63-year-old writer had received the award in 2010 for his creation 'Mohandas'. 12 September: PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi is the sole Indian-origin executive in Fortune's list of 50 most powerful women in business, which has been topped by General Motors CEO Mary Barra. India-born Nooyi is ranked 2nd on the list, moving up a notch from her third position last year. 59-year-old top executive Nooyi marks her ninth year atop the $66.6 billion snack-and-drink behemoth in a stronger position than she's been in for a long time. The list also includes IBM CEO Ginni Rometty on the third rank and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg on the 8th place. 12 September: The Global MBA program of S.P. Jain School of Global Management (S.P. Jain) has got a global Top Ten ranking by Forbes in its Best International MBAs: One-Year Program rankings ( ). S.P. Jain is also the only school of Indian-origin to be ranked in the world's top 10. For four years in a row now, S.P. Jain has featured in Forbes' biennial rankings of the world's top business schools. In , it was ranked 11th in the world. Insead earns the No. 1 spot in Forbes ranking of The Best International One-Year Business Schools. It has campuses in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

71 12 September: Renowned Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan was conferred with Kerala Goverment's prestigious music award, 'Swathi Sangeetha Puraskaram' for his outstanding contribution to Indian music. The award, instituted in memory of legendary music composer Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, carries a cash prize of Rs. one lakh, citation and a medal, and was presented to the maestro by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. 11 September: An Indian-origin entrepreneur has been named among the most promising businesswomen of 2015 by Fortune magazine in its annual recognition of 10 women innovators, groundbreakers and game changers. Payal Kadakia is the CEO and co-founder of ClassPass, a two-year-old start-up that gives customers access to thousands of boutique fitness classes in their area. The other honorees this year are Brit Morin, founder and CEO, Brit + Co, Jody Miller, co-founder and CEO of Business Talent Group and Christina Lomasney, president and CEO of Modumetal. 10 September: President Pranab Mukherjee presented the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2014 to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi. The annual Gandhi Peace Prize -- instituted by the government of India in 1995 on the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi -- is given to individuals and institutions for their contributions towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian methods. 10 September: Bollywood actor Anupam Kher has been presented with the Honoured Guest award by the U.S. state of Texas for his contribution to cinema and art. The 60- year-old actor was honoured by Deputy Mayor of Houston Ed Gonzalez on behalf of Texas Governor Greg Abbot. This honour comes just days after he was conferred with a Senate Proclamation by The Texas State Senate. 9 September: Acclaimed short story writer T. Padmanabhan has been selected for Mathrubhumi Literary Award The award carries a purse of Rs. two lakh, sculpture and a citation. Padmanabhan's stories have been translated to various Indian languages and also to English, French, German and Russian. 7 September: Preetika Kumar, an Indian American associate professor at Wichita State University, has been selected to receive the 2015 C. Holmes MacDonald Outstanding Teacher Award for demonstrating special dedication and creativity in her teaching. Kumar, who teaches electrical engineering, will receive the national honour on Nov. 19 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. 7 September: Haryana bagged the Skoch Order-of-Merit national award for implementation of six e-governance and IT initiatives in the state. The award will be presented to the state government during the 41st Skoch Summit - Transformative Governance, scheduled to be held on September 2015 in New Delhi. 7 September: Indian-American Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri has been selected for the prestigious 2014 National Humanities Medal which would be presented to her by

72 US President Barack Obama next week. Jhumpa, 48, has been selected for the award for enlarging the human story. In her works of fiction, Lahiri has illuminated the Indian- American experience in beautifully wrought narratives of estrangement and belonging. 7 September: Chhattisgarh's Maoist affected Bastar district and the gram panchayat of Girod, Raipur have been selected for National Literacy Award 2015, instituted in the memory of Satyen Maitra, an eminent educationist, in The purpose of the National Literacy Mission is to literate people in the age group of 15 years and above. In Bastar, this program was started in 2011, under which public education centres were opened in 327 gram panchayats. Till now, around one lakh people have been educated under this programme. 4 September: The West-Central Railway (Headquarter: Jabalpur) Zone has become the first Railway Zone in Indian Railways to eliminate all unmanned level crossings from its system. Out of total 118 unmanned level crossings falling on West-Central Railways as on 1st April, 2014, 80 were eliminated in the financial year and the target of 66 and the remaining 38 have been achieved in current financial year. This could only be achieved by constructing 33 Limited Height Sub Ways (LHs) and manning of 30 level crossings. It is a big safety initiative. 4 September: Whistleblower bureaucrat Sanjiv Chaturvedi was conferred the prestigious Magsaysay Award for 2015 along with founder of NGO Goonj Anshu Gupta. These awards were given in the award ceremony organized in Manila, the capital of Philippines. 3 September: India has won the top UNESCO prize 'Award of Excellence-2015' for the remarkable conservation efforts of the majestic Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple in Kerala. The Award of Excellence for the conservation of Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur, won this year's top prize in the Asia Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation. The award recognises the remarkable conservation effort undertaken at the sacred site which employed age-old rituals and conservation techniques drawn from vastu shastra focusing on architecture and construction. Sdaring Xieng Thong Temple in Luang Prabang won the Award of Merit. 3 September: An Indian-origin driver in Australia Tejinder Pal Singh has been named for Australian of the Day award by Commonwealth Bank of Australia for feeding the homeless in Darwin for the past three years. The award recognises the extraordinary Australians who have made a big difference to the country. He dedicated the last Sunday of every month to feed the poor and homeless in northern Darwin. 2 September: The American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin (AFMI) has honoured India-born entrepreneur and philanthropist, Frank Islam with the "Pride of India" award. India's Consul General in New York Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay conferred the

73 award upon Islam who had donated $222,000 in May this year to the Aligarh Muslim University in India. 1 September: On the occasion of National Sports Day President of India presented Arjuna Award to 17 players and Dronacharya Award to five coaches. The Arjun awardees are P.R. Sreejesh (hockey), Dipa Karmakar (gymnastics), Jitu Rai (shooting), Sandeep Kumar (archery), Mandeep Jangra (boxing), Babita Kumari and Bajrang (wrestling), Rohit Sharma (cricket), K. Srikanth (badminton), Swarn Singh (rowing), S. Satish Kumar (weightlifting), Sanothoi Devi (wushu), Sharath Gayakwad (paraswimming), M.R. Poovamma (athletics), Manjeet Chillar, Abhilasha Mhatre (kabaddi), Anup Kumar Yama (rollerskating). The Dronacharya awardees are Naval Singh (paraathletics), Anoop Singh (wrestling), Harbans Singh (athletics-lifetime), Swatantar Raj Singh (boxing-lifetime), Nihar Ameen (swimming-lifetime). 1 September: President of India awarded Dhyan Chand Award, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy, Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar and Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards Romeo James (hockey), Shiv Prakash Misra (tennis) and T.P.P. Nair (volleyball) received Dhyan Chand Award. Punjabi University, Patiala got Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy. Directorate-General of Military Training, Coal India Limited, Haryana Police, Sports Coaching Foundation, Hyderabad recieved Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar. Arunima Sinha (land), Jot Singh (land), Paramvir Singh (water), Satyendra Verma (air), Satish Chander Sharma (lifetime) were awarded Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards September: Country's ace Tennis player Sania Mirza was conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the highest award given to players at a glittering ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Along with her other sportspersons and coaches were also honoured with National Sports Awards on the occasion of National Sports Day on 29 August. With this Sania Mirza became the second tennis player after Leander Paes to win the award. 21 August: Manasvi Noel of Mississauga city has been crowned Miss India-Canada 2015 at the 25th edition of the annual beauty pageant organised in Toronto, Canada. The Dubai-born Noel won the esteemed title among the final top contenders of this event. In the event, bollywood actress Preity Zinta was also presented with the Special Achievement Award for her contribution to Indian and international cinema. 21 August: Bangladesh-born British citizen (novelist) Zia Haider Rahman won Britain's oldest literary award the James Tait Black award 2015 for his debut novel In the Light of What We Know. He received this prize during the 2015 Edinburgh international book festival. 18 August: Prof. Mustansir Barma won the prestigious Gujar Mal Modi Award for Innovative Science and Technology for the year He was awarded for his

74 commendable contribution in the field of Science and Technology. He received the award from Vice President of India Hamid Ansari at a ceremony in New Delhi. Barma, a distinguished Professor and former Director of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, has made immense contribution in the field of Statistical Physics in India. 18 August: Amitabh Bachchan starrer Hindi film "Piku" won the Best Film Award at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM -2015). The award ceremony was held on the occasion of India's 69th Independence Day. Piku won the award of Best Film and Shoojit Sircar won award of Best Director at IFFM. 17 August: The two young men from Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir, who overpowered and caught alive Naveed alias Mohammad Usman, a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorist last week, were given Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Bravery award for showing exemplary courage. Rakesh Sharma and Vikramjit were felicitated and given the award by the All India Anti Terrorist Front (AIATF) chairman M.S. Bitta and Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty. The duo were given cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh each 17 August: Bollywood actress Parineeti Chopra will be the Grand Marshall and guest of honour at the prestigious New York India Day Parade to be held in New York this year. The non resident Indians (NRIs) on August 16 will gather in New York from all across North America to celebrate the independence of India. 17 August: Marathi writer Prof Shyam Manohar has been selected for the Kuvempu Rashtriya Puraskar It is a national award instituted in memory of famous Kannada poet Kuvempu. The prestigious award carries a cash award of five lakh rupees. He will be honoured with the award in Kuppali, Karnataka on 29 December 2015, which is his birth anniversary. Shyam Manohar is the author of eight short story works, eight plays and many critical essays. Shyam Manohar is a retired professor from S.P. College, Pune. 14 August: India has regained its top spot as Abu Dhabi's largest international source market as guest arrivals into the emirate in the first six months of the year reached more than 1.98 million. According to the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) India is at the top spot, seeing 1,27,312 Indian nationals arriving into the emirate. India is closely followed by the UK, China, Germany and the US as the largest overseas markets. 13 August: Versatile Marathi theatre actor, drama director, producer and songwriter Bhalchandra Pendharkar passed away in Mumbai after a brief illness, at the age of 94. Among Pendharkar's most memorable contributions to the field of theatre were plays like 'Duritanche Timir Jaavo', 'Panditrao Jagannath' and 'Gita Gaati Dnyaneshwar'. He was awarded many awards including Bal Gandharva Puraskar and Vishnudas Bhave Puraskar. 13 August: Suhasini Haidar, Diplomatic and Strategic Affairs Editor at 'The Hindu' newspaper, was presented the Prem Bhatia Memorial Award for Excellence in Political

75 Reporting and Analysis, While 'The Times of India' newspaper's journalist Priyanka Kakodkar was presented with the Prem Bhatia award for excellence in environmental and development reporting, August: Kochi became the first Indian city to be a member of Beijing headquartered World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) Council. Kochi became the member of the council on ground of its partnerships in culture, sports and tourism. Kochi's cuisine, martial arts and snake and dragon boat races fulfill the set ground for membership. 12 August: President Pranab Mukherjee presented the 24th Saraswati Samman for 2014 to Kannada writer and former Union Minister Dr. M. Veerappa Moily for his epic Sri Ramayana Mahanveshanam written in Kannada. He is the second author to get this award in Kannada. Moily's award-winning epic Sri Ramayana Mahanveshanam was published in So far it has been translated in Hindi, English, Tamil and Telugu languages. 12 August: As per the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) 2015, of the World Economic Forum, rank of India has improved significantly to 52nd in 2015 from 65th in Improving ranking of India from 65th to 52nd position in travel and tourism competitiveness index had been set as a target in the Result Framework Document (RFD) of Ministry of Tourism for the year August: Mysore city in Karnataka has topped the Swachh Bharat Rankings of 476 cities in the country with three more from the State figuring in the top 10. West Bengal does well with 25 cities/towns from the State finding a place in the top 100 cities. These rankings are based on the extent of open defecation and solid waste management practices in these cities. The city of Mysore leads the cities with minimal open defecation and extensive adoption of solid waste management practices. 10 August: Zhanna Nemtsova, the daughter of slain Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, has been awarded Poland s Solidarity Prize Nemtsova received the award for championing democracy and human rights. Zhanna Nemtsova received prize money of 1.1 million US dollars. 10 August: Michael Phelps clocked a stunning 1min 52.94sec to win the 200m butterfly at the US swimming championships Matt Conger came at second place with 1min 54.54sec. Phelps has posed the fastest time in the world this year -- eclipsing Hungarian Laszlo Cseh's world championship-winning time of 1: It's the fastest time Phelps has produced in the event since he set the world record of 1:51.51 in August: Michael Phelps clocked a stunning 1min 52.94sec to win the 200m butterfly at the US swimming championships Matt Conger came at second place with 1min 54.54sec. Phelps has posed the fastest time in the world this year -- eclipsing Hungarian Laszlo Cseh's world championship-winning time of 1: It's the fastest time Phelps has produced in the event since he set the world record of 1:51.51 in 2009.

76 8 August: Arvind Kumar Singh, senior journalist of Rajya Sabha TV has been awarded with top most award of Agricultural Journalism, the Chaudhary Charan Singh Award for Excellence in Journalism in Agricultural Research and Development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented the award to Singh in electronic media category at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research s 87th foundation day celebrations. Singh is a well known Hindi writer and journalist. 8 August: Delhi Government reconstituted the Urdu Academy which will comprise of 19 Urdu poets, renowned academicians, and authors. Dr. Majid Deobandi was appointed as the Vice-Chairperson of the Academy. Deobandi is a very well known and popular figure in the Urdu Circle. 7 August: Microsoft's Bill Gates tops the first Forbes list of the richest global tech billionaires. Gates led the group with an estimated worth of $79.6 billion, trailed by Oracle founder Larry Ellison at $50 billion. Jeff Bezos of Amazon came at third with net worth of $47.8 billion. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg snared the number four position ($41.2 billion), followed by Google founders Larry Page ($33.4 billion) and Sergey Brin ($32.8 billion). 6 August: The Ramanujan Prize for 2015 has been won by mathematician Amalendu Krishna of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. Dr. Krishna has been recognised for outstanding contributions in the area of algebraic K-theory, algebraic cycles and the theory of motives. The prize is awarded jointly by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy, the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, and the International Mathematical Union (IMU) to a person under 45 working in a developing country. 6 August: Bollywood actors Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar are among the world s top ten highest-paid actors in Forbes first global list of actors from Hollywood to Hong Kong and Bollywood. Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan entered the list in joint seventh place, with estimated earnings of $33.5 million in the past year. Akshay Kumar follows behind in ninth place with $32.5 million. Robert Downey Jr topped the list with estimated total earnings of $80 million while Jackie Chan came comes on second position with a $50 million pay packet. 5 August: Hindi litterateur Kashinath Singh has been chosen for the Uttar Pradesh's highest literary award Bharat Bharti for the year The award is given by UP Hindi Sansthan every year. It carries a cash prize of 5 lakh rupees. Singh has penned many novels and short stories. One of his most famous novel is Kashi ka Assi, which captures the vibrant hues of Banaras.

77 5 August: Veteran author Rangnath Ramdayal Tiwari was awarded 'Hindi Ratna Samman'. He was conferred with the honour at a ceremony held in Hindi Bhawan auditorium in Delhi. Rangnath Ramdayal Tiwari is the 18th recipient of Hindi Ratna Samman. It carries a citation and a cash prize of Rs.1 lakh. 3 August: Fourteen years old Master Prabhroop Sekhon won two gold medals in 300 metre and 500 metre Roller Skating at the Special Olympics World Summer Games. The event is being held at Los Angeles, USA. Sekhon is a student of ASHA School in Lucknow Cantt where he was coached and selected for various camps at State and National level as one amongst the 241 participants representing India. 1 August: The Airports Authority of India dethroned Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) to win the youth girls team title in the 45th All India International Table Tennis Championships. In the finals, the men and women teams of PSPB defeated Railway Sports Promotion Board and Reserve Bank of India respectively to win the title. 1 August: Garth Brooks has been named as the highest-paid country singer in the music industry, according to a new Forbes report. He has made $90 million over the past year. Toby Keith s occupied second place on the list with USD 53 million earnings. Jason Aldean comes in at number three with an estimated USD 43.5 million. 1 August: Anuradha Roy is the lone Indian author among 13 international authors longlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize as announced by the Booker Prize Committee. Anuradha Roy was picked for her third novel Sleeping on Jupiter. This book has exposed the hypocrisies of Indian society. British-Indian Sunjeev Sahota was also among the 13 long-listed authors for his book The Year of the Runaways. 1 August: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has topped the list of the world's wealthiest private foundations established by living ultra high net worth (UHNW) individuals, according to a Wealth-X report. It has total assets of $43.4 billion. Li Ka Shing Foundation, founded by Hong Kong business magnate Li Ka-Shing, ranked second with $8.1 billion assets followed by Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation ($6.4 billion) and Bloomberg Philanthropies ($5.4 billion) in the third and fourth place, respectively. 30 July: Whistleblower Indian forest officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi, who was removed from the post of Chief Vigilance officer at AIIMS, and founder of NGO Goonj Anshu Gupta are the two Indians selected for this year's prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award. Three others who have been selected for the award include Kommaly Chanthavong from Laos, Ligaya Fernando-Amilbangsa from Philippines and Kyaw Thu from Myanmar. They will be formally conferred the Magsaysay Award on 31 August at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. 28 July: Helena Ndume of Namibia and Jorge Sampaio of Portugal were awarded the first-ever Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize by the United Nations (UN) at the UN Headquarters in New York. Ndume, a female ophthalmologist, was awarded for treating

78 blindness and eye-related illnesses in Namibia and throughout the developing world. While Jorge Sampaio, the former President of Portugal from 1996 to 2006 and also the former mayor of Lisbon from 1989 to 1995, was awarded for his contribution to his country for his struggle for the restoration of democracy in Portugal. 27 July: Veteran mountaineer Nalini Sengupta is set to become the first Puneite to have a Himalyan peak christened in her honour. Sexagenarian Sengupta, who has scaled several summits till now, was bestowed with his honour recently after trekkers of Giripremi, a noted mountaineering institute in the city, conquered peak 5260 in the Hamta pass region in Himalayas and decided to name it as Mount Nalini, to salute her persistent efforts to inculcate mountaineering in youngsters since July: Pulitzer winning Indian-born American doctor Siddhartha Mukherjee has been nominated for an Emmy Award for the documentary series on cancer based on his book 'The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer'. The six-hour programme based and titled after Mukherjee's Pulitzer Prize-winning 2010 book Produced and co-written by US filmmaker Ken Burns, the documentary titled "Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies" is a six-hour series for American TV channel PBS and is based on Mukherjee's book. 25 July: Ravi Kailas, Chairman and CEO, Mytrah Energy, was named the Wind Power Person of the year 2015 at the 3rd World Renewable Energy Conference in New Delhi. The award was conferred on him by the Renewable Energy Expert Committee headed by Dr. Praveen Saxena, Former Advisor, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy. 24 July: Nobel prize winner Peter Higgs has joined the ranks of Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein by winning the world s oldest scientific prize, the Royal Society s Copley Medal, for his pioneering work on the theory of the Higgs boson, which was discovered in The Copley medal was first awarded by the Royal Society in 1731, 170 years before the first Nobel Prize. 24 July: Indian hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand will be conferred with the Bharat Gaurav Lifetime Achivement Award by NRI orgainsation Sanskriti Yuva Sangstha at the House of Commons inside the British Parliament of July 25. On behalf of Dhyan Chand, his son and former Indian hockey player Ashok Kumar will receive the award 22 July: Actress-politician Hema Malini has been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Art and Cinema. The 66 years old actress was honoured by the Bank of Baroda on the occasion of its 108th Foundation Day on July July: The British government has decided to honour India's greatest hockey player Major Dhyan Chand with 'India Pride Award'. In British Parliament's House of Commons this award will be presented to him on 25th July. On behave of Dhyan Chand, his son Ashok Chand and former captain of Indian hockey Ashok Kumar has been invited to London for the award. One of the world's best hockey players Dhyan Chand won Gold

79 medals in three Olympics: 1928, 1932, In 1956 he was awarded the country's third highest civilian honor, the Padma Bhushan. 21 July: The Kerala Tourism has bagged this year's Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) award for its Muziris Heritage Project in the 'Heritage & Culture' category. The award, sponsored by the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO), went to the Muziris Heritage Project for its conservational efforts, uniqueness and impact on local community. The flagship project of the government of Kerala is one of the biggest heritage conservation projects of modern India. 21 July: The French government has knighted veteran South African freedom fighter Ahmed Kathrada for his life-long service to the community. The award is part of the National Orders of the Legion of Honour established by Napoleon Bonaparte in May Kathrada, 85, became the confidante of anti-apartheid icon and former South African president Nelson Mandela. 21 July: An Indian-origin doctor has received the honorary fellowship by one of the leading British Universities for his contribution to the community as a general practitioner and medical educator. 77-year-old Shiv Pande has been awarded an honorary fellowship of the University of Central Lancashire. 20 July: A PSU of Ministry of Railways, namely, RailTel Corporation of India Ltd. bagged the 12th National Awards for Excellence in Cost management Col Rajyavardhan Rathore (Retd.), AVSM, Union Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting presented the award to RailTel in a function. This award is organized by The Institute of Cost Accounts of India. RailTel has won the award in the category of Public- Service Sector (Medium). 17 July: An Indian American woman is among 12 faith leaders to be honoured as "Champions of Change" by the White House for their efforts in protecting environment and communities from the effects of climate change. Sunita Viswanath, the only Indian American to figure in the list, has been selected for her work to encourage Hindus to take care of the environment. Working with women's and human rights organisations for almost three decades, Sunita is co-founder and active board member of human rights organisation, Women for Afghan Women. 17 July: Modern Indian artist Sayed Haider Raza, has been conferred with the highest French civilian honour, The Legion of Honour for his peerless achievements. The award was bestowed by Ambassador Francois Richier at a function at the French Embassy. The French honour was conferred on the 93-year-old artist in acknowledgment of his peerless achievements transcending all boundaries, the lasting ties he has forged between France and India, and his continuing artistic quest straddling nations, cultures, religions and philosophies.

80 17 July: Varanasi has been chosen as City of Music by UNESCO under the Creative Cities Network. The city of Varanasi has been chosen in the music category under UNESCO s Field of Excellence plan. The inclusion of Varanasi in this prestigious list paves the way for representing the cultural heritage of the holy city on the world stage through the UNESCO project. 16 July: Frost & Sullivan, USA presented the 2015 Asia Pacific Economic Development Innovation: Policy and Program Implementation Excellence Award in Manufacturing to Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion for the Make in India initiative. Frost & Sullivan, a US based Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation, and leadership. The award is in recognition of the outstanding contribution of the Make in India program s vision and implementation excellence to simplify the regulatory framework, reinforce connectivity and incentivize investments. 16 July: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav announced to give Yash Bharti award to noted Urdu poet Anwar Jalalpuri for translating Shlokas of the Bhagvad Geeta into Urdu verses. It is one of the most prestigious awards of Uttar Pradesh. Jalalpuri has translated the Shrimad Bhagwad Gita into over 1,700 Urdu couplets. 15 July: An India-based software products and technology services company is among the winners of the prestigious Microsoft Country Partner of the Year Award for 2015, a recognition that honours the technology giant s partner achievements across the globe. Comparex India Pvt. Ltd, headquartered in New Delhi, was honoured, along with 110 awardees by Microsoft, at its Worldwide Partner Conference July: Tata Steel's West Bokaro Division was conferred with the Golden Peacock Environment Management Award (GPEMA) 2015 during 17th World Congress on Environment Management organised in New Delhi. It was presented by the Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Prakash Javadekar to Sanjay Rajoria, General Manager of West Bokaro, Tata Steel of Jharkhand. 15 July: Olivia Jordan of Oklahoma was crowned Miss USA 2015.The competition was held in Lusiana. The 26-year-old winner was followed by first runner-up Ylianna Guerra, 22, of Texas, and second runner-up Anea Garcia, 20, of Rhode Island. 14 July: Buddha In A Traffic Jam film has won the best original screenplay in a Foreign Language award at the Madrid International Film Festival. The film is a political satire directed by filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri. It stars Arunoday Singh and Mahi Gill in a lead role along with Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi and introduces Anchal Dwivedi. 10 July: The Film Society of Jodhpur was conferred with the Pritiman Sarkar Award for the fourth time for being the best film society in Northern Region in raising awareness and film appreciation. The award was presented by the Federation of Film Societies of India (North Region). The award was given in recognition of screening of a

81 series of films by the society in in Jodhpur to mark 100 glorious years of Indian cinema under the Incredible Journey of Indian Cinema. 10 July: Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka entered Guinness World Records for spending most number of days in the space. He achieved the feat by spending 804 days on the International Space Station (ISS). He surpassed cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, also a Russian, record of 803 days, 9 hours and 41 minutes in the space which Sergei achieved across six missions from 1998 to Padalka, who is the commander of the crew on the ISS, is scheduled to return to earth in September It means he would have spent a total of 877 days in space by then. 7 July: Hyderabad House, Vigyan Bhawan and Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan have topped the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) ratings, leaving behind 49 government buildings including Rashtrapati Bhawan in the capital that were screened for overall cleanliness. The three buildings scored 20 points each while Rashtrapati Bhawan and South Block were ranked 6th with 14 points each. The survey was conducted by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD). 6 July: Dr. Fazle Hasan Abed, the founder of Brac, the largest non-governmental organisation on the planet, has been awarded the World Food Prize 2015 for his unparalleled work on reducing poverty in Bangladesh and 10 other countries. Abed established Brac formerly known as the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee in July: Four Indian-Americans, including top US attorney Preet Bharara, are among 38 distinguished personalities who have been honoured with this year's prestigious "Great Immigrants: The Pride of America" award. Among other Indians honoured with the top annual award by the prestigious New York-based Carnegie Corporation are Rakesh Khurana, Dean of Harvard College and Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership and Development; Madhulika Sikka Executive Editor, Mic and Abraham Verghese, eminent physician, professor and author. 4 July: Indian-American Professor R. Paul Singh has been named as the 2015 Global Confederation for Higher Education Associations for Agriculture and Life Sciences World Agriculture Prize laureate. The award will be formally presented on September 20, during a ceremony at Nanjing Agricultural University, Jiangsu Province, China. 3 July: Noted scientist Sanjeev Galande has been selected for the prestigious G D Birla award for 2014 for his pioneering research in the field of epigenetics and molecular cell biology. Galande is a professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Pune and is widely respected for his works in genomics and related areas. He is the 24th recipient of the award. 2 July: Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was conferred with Peru's one of the highest awards 'Grand Officer' for social work and mission to deliver peace through his

82 foundation 'The Art of Living'. Earlier the government of Colombia honoured him with the country's highest civilian award for his contribution to peace. 1 July: Bollywood stalwarts Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni are among the world's 100 highest-paid celebrities, according to the Forbes' annual list which is topped by American boxer Floyd Mayweather. The Forbes 2015 list of 'Celebrity 100: The World's Top-Paid Entertainers 2015' has been topped by Floyd Mayweather with earnings of 300 million dollars. Breaking into the elite global club, Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan are tied for the 71st rank with earnings of 33.5 million dollars each. Akshay Kumar is at 76th spot (USD 32.5 million). Dhoni is ranked 82nd (USD 31 million dollars). SPORTS NEWS THIS MONTH 13 October: Country s second largest software services firm Infosys announced that its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Rajiv Bansal has resigned from the company. He will be replaced by M.D. Ranganathan. 14 October: Shweta Rathore became the first Indian female bodybuilder to win a silver medal in the 49th Asian Bodybuilding Championship held in Uzbekistan. 13 October: India's Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won women's doubles title of the China Tennis Open in Beijing. The top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated Chinese Taipean pair of Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan Chan. This was eighth title of the season as a team for Sania-Hingis and fourth title in a row. 13 October: Canada's Vasek Pospisil and American Jack Sock beat Canada's Daniel Nestor and France's Edouard Roger-Vasselin to win the China Tennis Open men's doubles finals. 13 October: Spain s Garbine Muguruza captured the China Tennis Open Women's singles title by defeating Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky. On the other hand, world no. one Serbia's Novak Djokovic won the China Tennis Open Men s Singles title by defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain. 13 October: Britain's Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) won the 2015 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix title at the final race held at Sochi Autodrom in Sochi, Russia. While Hamilton topped the table, Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel (Germany) and Sergio Perez (Mexico) of Force India stood at second and third positions respectively.

83 13 October: Ajay Jayaram of India won the 2015 Dutch Open Men s Singles Badminton title. In the summit clash held at Almere in Netherlands, Ajay defeated Estonia s Raul Must. 12 October: FIFA, the governing body of association football provisionally suspended its president Sepp Blatter, secretary general Jerome Valcke and vice-president Michel Platini for 90 days, due to alleged charges of corruption. Issa Hayatou, head of Africa's football confederation, will act as the interim FIFA president during Blatter's ban. 10 October: Swimming world champion of China Ning Zetao claimed two gold medals at the sixth Military World Games in South Korea. Ning won gold medal in 50m freestyle event. He also led the Chinese team to win the 4x200m freestyle relay title. 9 October: Indian cyclist Deborah Herold bagged one gold, three silver and one bronze medal in the Taiwan Cup Track International Classic I Tournament 2015 held at the Hsin Chu Velodrome, Taiwan. With this, she became the first ever Indian cyclist to win in women's elite section. 9 October: Russia's women volleyball team beat the Netherlands to win 2015 Women's European Volleyball Championship held in Rotterdam, Netherlands. 9 October: Russia s Sergey Karjakin won the 2015 FIDE World Chess Cup by beating Peter Svidler (Russia) by 6-4 in the final. Championship was held in Azerbaijan s capital, Baku. 7 October: Spanish tennis player David Ferrer won the men's singles title of Malaysian Open 2015 held at Kuala Lumpur by defeating Spain's Feliciano Lopez. 7 October: China won the FIBA Asian Basketball Championship 2015 by defeating Philippines by in the final. Philippines and Iran have secured the second and third place respectively in the tournament. India ended on eighth place in the tournament. 6 October: Ace Indian tennis star Sania Mirza and her partner, Switzerland's Martina Hingis clinched their seventh title together by winning the Wuhan Open Tennis Tournament. The top-seeded pair defeated the Romanian team of Irina-Camelia Begu and Monica Niculescu in the title clash. 6 October: Luis Leao Pinto of Portugal won Asia s premier mountain biking race that ended in capital Shimla of Himachal Pradesh and got the crown of King of the Himalaya for the second time. 5 October: Virat Kohli has become the first Indian batsman to reach the milestone of 1,000 runs in the Twenty20 International (T20I) format by scoring 28 runs. The feat was achieved during the first T20I between India and South Africa at Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh. 3 October: Indian pistol shooter Heena Sindhu won the gold medal in women's 10 meter air pistol event at the 8th Asian Air Gun Championships in New Delhi.

84 3 October: Popular Tamil actor Dhanush was named as the brand ambassador of Hero Indian Super League (ISL) Football Tournament Season 2 for Tamil Nadu. 1 October: Indian shooter Gurpreet Singh and Jitu Rai clinched a silver and bronze, respectively, in the men's 10m metre Air Pistol event at the Asian Air Gun Championship. Sepehr Safari Boroujeni of Iran claimed the gold medal. 30 September: India bagged seven medals, including five silver and two bronze at the 16th Asian Rowing Championships that concluded in Beijing, China. China bagged the maximum medals including 15 gold. 29 September: Beijing Olympics champion Abhinav Bindra clinched gold in the men's 10m Air Rifle event of the Asian AirGun Championships. He shot to bag the top prize ahead of Kazakhstan's world number eight Yurkov Yuriy (206.6) and Korea's Yu Jaechul (185.3). 29 September: Lewis Hamilton of Britain and Mercedes racing driver won the 2015 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix title held at Suzuka Circuit, Japan. Mercedes team driver Nico Rosberg of Germany stood second and Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) finished third. 29 September: Pankaj Advani won the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Adelaide (Australia) to take his world title count to 14. Advani defeated Singapore s Peter Gilchrist in the final by 1168 points at Adelaide. 29 September: The world number one team of India's Sania Mirza and Switzerland's Martina Hingis defeated China's pair of Xu Shilin and You Xiaodi 6-3, 6-1 in the final to win the Guangzhou Open Tennis title. 29 September: David Haggerty, former President and Chief Executive of the US Tennis Association, was elected president of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). He defeated All India Tennis Association (AITA) President Anil Khanna in the voting. Haggerty, 58, was elected to a four-year term. 28 September: Australia's oldest cricketer Harold Stapleton, who represented Australian club New South Wales, died aged 100. An all-rounder, who played only one first-class match for NSW in 1941 before his career was cut short by the second World War. 26 September: Robert Lewandowski (Poland) created a Footballing history for the German football league (Bundesliga) as he scored record five goals in nine minutes to give his team Bayern Munich a 5-1 win over Wolfsburg. 24 September: Belgium created history by entering the finals of the prestigious Davis Cup for the first time in last 111 years. Belgium reached its first Davis Cup final since Steve Darcis defeated Federico Delbonis in the decisive fifth match against Argentina to win September: The Indian Wushu team secured 12 medals comprising of one gold, four silver and seven bronze medals at the Fifth International Pars Wushu Cup held in Tehran. India s L. Budhachandra Singh won the gold medal after defeating Masod

85 Ansari of Iran in the final of the 56 kg category on the last day of the tournament. 200 athletes from 18 countries participated in this international event. 22 September: Mariko Kipchumba of Kenya won the annual Beijing International Marathon In women s competition, Ethiopian runner Betelhem Cherenet won. 22 September: Czech Republic defeated India 3-1 in the Davis Cup World Group playoff tie, which was played at Delhi s R.K. Khanna Stadium. The defeat means that India will remain in the Asia-Oceania Group 1 for next year s competition while the top seeds and three-time Champions Czech Republic regained their place in the elite-16 nation World Group. 22 September: World no. one Chinese Cheng Long defeated Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram 21-14, in the final to win the singles title of 2015 Korea Open Badminton tournament at Seoul. For Cheng, it is the sixth trophy of the season. 19 September: Indian sprinter Dutee Chand has won the gold medal in 100-metre at the 55th National Open Athletic Championship. Although she did not make an impressive start, she gained pace towards the end to outrun Srabani Nanda. Dutee Chand clocked seconds to beat Nanda's who completed the race in seconds. 19 September: India Cements won the Moin-ud Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament by defeating Hyderabad XI. This was the third title for the winning team. The final match was held at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad. 18 September: Railways shot putter Manpreet Kaur shattered an 18-year-old national record en route to a sixth title at the 55th National Open Athletics Championship at Kolkata. Patiala-based shot putter broke the record of Harbans Kaur of metres that came in 1997 by throwing metres in her second attempt to claim the gold medal, a hat-trick of titles at the National Open. With this, Manpreet Kaur (25) also qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympics that is scheduled to be held from 5 August to 21 August September: Hangzhou, capital city of Zhejiang Province in east China, was chosen by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to host the 2022 Asian Games. The OCA made the decision at its 34th Congress in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Hangzhou was the only candidate city for the 2022 Asian Games. Its successful bid means the regional games will be staged in China for the third time following Beijing in 1990 and southern Guangzhou in Beijing was just selected to hold the 2022 Winter Olympics after hosting the Summer Games in South Korea's Incheon held the last Asian Games in 2014, while Indonesia's Jakarta will play host in September: Italy's Flavia Pennetta won the 2015 US Open Women s Singles title. She defeated fellow Italian Roberta Vinci 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 in the summit clash held in New York. It was her maiden Grand Slam title and after the victory she announced that she will retire from the professional tennis after the 2015 season. On the other hand Novak

86 Djokovic won the US Open Men s Singles title. In the summit clash held at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, the Serbian defeated Roger Federer For Djokovic, it was a second US Open singles title and a 10th Grand Slam singles title. 15 September: Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won the 2015 US Open Women s Doubles title. The top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated the fourth-seeded duo of Casey Dellacqua (Australia) and Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) in the summit clash held in New York. On the other hand Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert won the US Open men`s doubles crown with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Britain`s Jamie Murray and Australian John Peers. 15 September: Indian wrestler Narsingh Pancham Yadav bagged a bronze medal in the Men's 74kg Freestyle category, at the World Wrestling Championship in Las Vegas, US. With his third-place finish, Narsingh became the lone Indian to win a medal at the prestigious tournament as well as book a berth for the 2016 Rio Games. In his bronze medal play-off, he got his act together to outplay Zelimkhan Khadjiev of France 12-8 to make it to the podium. This is the first time that an Indian wrestler has earned an Olympic berth with a medal at the World Championship. 15 September: World welterweight boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (US) ended his illustrious boxing career with a win over Andre Berto to claim the 49th and final win of his career. He thus ended 49-0 to match the record of heavyweight boxing legend Rocky Marciano. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. had announced that the bout with Andre Berto will be his final fight. 14 September: India's Leander Paes with his Swiss partner Martina Hingis won the US Open mixed doubles title in New York. They became the first team since 1969 to win three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles in the same season at the US Open. The fourth seeds defeated non-seeded American duo Sam Querrey and Bethanien Mattek-Sands 6-4, 3-6 (10-7) in the finals of mixed doubles. 14 September: World football governing body FIFA has appointed Uganda's Moses Magogo on the committee for security and integrity. Ahmed Hussein, spokesman of Uganda's football governing body received a communication from the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) about the appointment. Magogo is also a member of Confederation of African Football Inter-clubs competitions committee. 14 September: India Test captain Virat Kohli recently acquired stake in UAE Royals, a franchisee team of Indian Premier Tennis League (IPTL) to become a co-owner of it. Virat Kohli became a co-owner of UAE Royals, which is one of the five franchisee teams of the Mahesh Bhupathi promoted IPTL. UAE Royals will be led by Swiss great Roger Federer. 10 September: Indian weightlifter Deepak Lather won a gold medal in the 62 kg category of the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) being held in Apia, Samoa.

87 This was India s second gold in weightlifting after Jamjang Deru (17-year-old) who won a gold medal in the 56 kg category on the opening day of the event. 10 September: India's Ruthvika Shivani Gadde and Lakshya Sen clinched the women's and men's singles titles respectively at the Sushant Chipalkatti Memorial India Junior International Badminton Championships in Pune. Top seed Ruthvika thrashed Thailand's Supamart Mingchua, seeded second, in just 26 minutes, while sixth seed Lakshya beat compatriot Chirag Sen in a 27-minute clash. 9 September:Indian boxer Vikas Krishan (75kg) won the silver medal in the Asian Boxing Championships In the summit clash at Bangkok, Thailand, Vikas was defeated 0-2by reigning Youth Olympic champion Bektemir Melikuziev of Uzbekistan. With Vikas's silver, India finished their campaign with one silver and three bronze medals. L. Devendro Singh (49kg), Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Satish Kumar (+91kg) won the bronze medals. 9 September:India opened its account with a gold medal through weightlifter Jamjang Deru who won the boys 56kg category event at the 5th Commonwealth Youth Games organised in Apia, Samoa. The 17-year-old Deru lifted a total of 237kg with 102kg in snatch and 135kg in clean and jerk to bag the gold. India is being represented by 25 athletes in eight disciplines out of the nine being competed in the CYG. 8 September: Australian all-rounder cricket player Shane Watson announced his retirement from Test cricket. He will continue his international career in the One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals. 34-year-old Watson's 10-year Test career came to an end at the Ashes opener at Cardiff, which England won by 169 runs. 8 September: Britain's Mercedes racing driver Lewis Hamilton won the 2015 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix. The final race was held at Monza near Milan in Italy. While Hamilton topped the table, Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) and Felipe Masse (Williams) were at the second and third positions respectively. Sergio Perez (Mexico) and Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) of Force India stood at the 5th and 6th positions respectively. 8 September: Pune girl Snehal Mane won her second ITF girls' singles tennis title in two weeks in Mauritius. The 16-year-old Maharashtra player claimed the title by winning the Mauritius Open ITF Junior championships, a Grade 5 event. Snehal, the fifth seed, bagged the crown by defeating sixth-seeded local girl Amelie Boy 6-3, 6-0 in just over an hour in the final. 8 September: Young Indian shooter Apurvi Chandela clinched the silver medal in women s 10m air rifle event of the ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Finals in Munich. The 22-year-old Jaipur girl finished second on the podium after she tallied 206.9, just 0.6 behind Ahmadi Elaheh of Iran, who won the gold medal with a tally of Andrea Arsovic of Serbia bagged the bronze after prevailing in a shoot-off with Croatia s Valentina Gustin.

88 7 September: Olympic medallist Gagan Narang of India has achieved the number one spot in men's 50m rifle prone shooting category in Asia. Narang has 971 points to his credit while China's Shengbo Zhao is placed second with 896 points. Pistol King Jitu Rai was placed number two in men's 50m pistol with 1929 points, behind Jongoh Jin of Korea. Beijing Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra was ranked fifth in 10m air rifle followed by Narang in seventh position. Gurpreet Singh was positioned fifth in 25m rapid fire pistol. 7 September: Following their 1-2 series loss to Indian cricket team in the recently concluded three-match Test series, Marvan Atapattu stepped down as the coach of the Sri Lanka s national cricket team. His resignation was confirmed by Sri Lankan cricket board.. 5 September: South Africa s Durban city has been confirmed as the host of the Commonwealth Games It has became the first-ever city from Africa to get the hosting rights of the Commonwealth Games. This announcement was made at the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) general assembly in Auckland (New Zealand). The Games will be held from 18 to 30 July It will be the 22nd staging of the event, which is held every four years. Athletes from more than 50 countries, most of which are former British colonies, compete in these Games. The Commonwealth Games was last held in 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland with Australia s Gold Coast hosting the 2018 event. 5 September: West Indies cricket team's all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has been presented with the Hummingbird Medal, Trinidad and Tobago's third highest award. The medal was presented to Bravo for his service to sport. Bravo has played 40 Tests and 164 One- Day Internationals (ODI) for the West Indies as well as 11 first-class matches and over 300 Twenty20 games till now. 4 September: British sports administrator and former star women swimmer Louise Martin was elected as the President of Commonwealth Games Federation. She has become the first female President to be elected as the President of Commonwealth Games Federation. Martin beat the incumbent Prince Tunku Imran of Malaysia in the Federation's elections. Martin was the Vice President at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in September: The Sports Ministry decided to recognize Yoga as a sports discipline and placed it in the Priority category. The Ministry also decided to upgrade Fencing from 'Others' to 'General' category, based on the past performance in major international events. It has also been decided to place 'University Sports' in the 'Priority' category. 3 September: Mumbai won the Buchi Babu Memorial Cricket Trophy in the All India competition. In the final match played in Chennai, Mumbai defeated Tamil Nadu Cricket Association Districts (TNCA) XI by six wickets. TNCA batting first was able to score 163 all

89 out in 74 over, in response to which, Mumbai scored 166 for four in 45.2 over. Mumbai's Surya Kumar Yadav, was adjudged as the Man of the Series. 3 September: India won a historic Test series against Sri Lanka as it defeated the hosts by 117 runs in the third and final test match played in Colombo. With this win India ended a 22-year long wait for a Test series win over Sri Lanka on their home soil. India s last series success in Sri Lanka came under Mohammad Azharuddin s captaincy in 1993 when they won 1-0. India won this Test series under the captaincy of new Test captain Virat Kohli. Needing 386 runs to win the final Test as well as the series, Sri Lanka were bowled out for September: Kenya created history by topping the medals tally at the 15th World Athletics Championships that concluded at Beijing. With 7 gold medals, 6 silver and 3 bronze (total 16) Kenya was at top spot ahead of Jamaica (7 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze) and the United States (6 gold, 6 silver and 6 bronze) had to be satisfied with the third position. It was the best ever finish for Kenya in World Championships as the country once again performed exceedingly well in its traditional domains of middle- and longdistance running. 2 September: England batsman Ian Bell announced his retirement from one-day internationals to concentrate on prolonging his test career. The 33-year-old Bell gave signals to retire after winning Ashes series. Bell is the highest scorer batsman in ODIs from England. He has scored an England record 5,416 runs with the help of four centuries in 161 one-dayers 1 September: Ethiopia's Mare Dibaba triumphed in the women's marathon following a sprint finish at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing. Dibaba edged out Kenyan Helah Kiprop in the home straight inside the Bird's Nest to win by just one second in a time of two hours, 27 minutes and 35 seconds. Although fighting hard, Kiprop had to be satisfied with silver. Eunice Kirwa of Bahrain claimed bronze. 1 September: Britain's Mo Farah became the first man athlete to win back-to-back world distance doubles when he stormed to a 5,000 metres victory in World Athletics Championships. The Briton won gold medal as he produced a devastating final 80 metres to romp home in 13 minutes seconds. Kenyan Caleb Ndiku held on for silver. Ethiopian Hagos Gebrhiwet took bronze. Farah who previously won gold medal of 10,000 meters completed a historic 'triple-double' 1 September: Indian wrestler Anil won gold medal in the 50 kg freestyle category in the Cadet Wrestling World Championships at Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He defeated Efan Aeini of Iran It was the first gold and second medal for India in this championship as previously Ankush won silver in the 38 kg women freestyle. To reach the finals of the competition, earlier, Anil defeated Tumentsogt Bold

90 of Mongolia in the semi-final bout while in quarter-final he defeated Ertugrul Kahveci of Turkey. 19 August: Goalkeeper of India's national football team Aditi Chauhan has signed a deal with English Premier League (EPL) club West Ham United Ladies team, becoming the first woman player from the country to play for a first eleven of a top club in England. Aditi was a late addition to their squad during pre-season. West Ham Ladies are currently in the Football Association's (FA) Women's Premier League Southern Division, a league in the third level in the women's football structure in England. 19 August: India's Abhishek Verma won the gold medal in the compound men's individual section in the Archery World Cup Stage 3 competition at Wroclaw, Poland. The Asian Games silver medalist defeated Esmaeil Ebadi of Iran At the Incehon 2014 Asian Games, Ebadi defeated Verma Apart from this, India's recurve mixed pair of Deepika Kumari and Mangal Singh Champia won silver at the World Cup stage 3. The duo faced defeat by Mexican pair of Aida Roman and Juan Rene Serrano. 19 August: Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri created history by becoming the first from the country to finish inside the top-five of a major golf tournament. 28-year old Anirban Lahiri scaled a new high for Indian golf by becoming the first from the country to finish inside the top-five of a Major as he ended the prestigious PGA Championships at Wisconsin (USA) at fifth place. The tournament was won by Jason Day, who finally won a Major, after nine top-10 finishes. Branden Grace and Justin Rose were third and fourth, while Lahiri tied with Brooks Koepka for fifth place. 18 August: India s ace shuttler Saina Nehwal became the first Indian to win silver at the World Badminton Championship. She lost the women's singles summit clash to Spain's Carolina Marin 16-21, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Olympic bronze medallist Saina had reached the finals of the event by defeating Indonesia's Lindaweni Fanetri. This was India's fifth medal at the World Badminton Championship. 18 August: Top seed Chinese player Chen Long retained men's title at the World Badminton Championship in Jakarta by defeating Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei. Long stormed to a 21-14, victory in just over an hour by defeating world's no. two player Wei. This is Chong Wei's fourth consecutive world championships silver medal. 18 August: Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane created a world record as he became the first player to take eight catches in a Test match. Rahane achieved the feat during the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle when he caught catch of Rangana Herath. Prior to this Yajurvindra Singh (India), Greg Chappell (Australia), Hashan Tilakaratne (Sri Lanka), Stephen Fleming (New Zealand) and Mathew Hayden (Australia) made a record of 7 catches in a match. 14 August: FIFA has appointed François Carrard as the independent chairman of the 2016 FIFA Reform Committee. He was former Director General of the International

91 Olympic Committee (IOC). Carrard will head 11-member reform committee for bringing structural reforms in scandal-plagued FIFA. 14 August: Grandmaster and former national champion Surya Shekhar Ganguly defeated Zhang Zhong of Singapore and secured the silver medal in the Asian Continental Chess Championship 2015 that concluded in Al Ain, UAE. Out of the six medals at stake, the Indians won three with S.P. Sethuraman winning the bronze in the open while S. Vijayalakshmi got the bronze in the women's section that was held simultaneously. UAE Grandmaster A.R. Salem Saleh won gold medal. 13 August: India's star of cue sports Pankaj Advani clinched his 13th world title after winning the World 6-Red Snooker Championship held in Karachi, Pakistan. Defending champion Advani outplayed Chinese Yan Bingtao 6-2, stamping his authority on the green baize in the final. The final started off with a bang with the Bangalore cueist racing to a rapid 3-0 lead in the best-of-11 final. 13 August: London Olympics-2012 bronze medallist Gagan Narang finished fifth in the men's 10 metre Air Rifle event at the Shooting World Cup. Gagan gave a better account of himself in the final, moving up three positions with a score of Cao Yifei of China won the gold with a final round score of 207.4, while Kim Sang Do (206.9) of South Korea finished with the silver and Petar Gorsa (186.5) of Croatia bagged the bronze. 12 August: World's fifth seeded Japan`s Kei Nishikori defeated big-serving American John Isner 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 to win the Washington Open and capture his 10th career ATP title. The 25-year-old Asia's number one won his third crown of the season by defeating eighth seeded Isner. 12 August: Senior India hockey player Gurbaj Singh was suspended for 9 months for indulging in groupism and creating disharmony within the team. This suspension means that Gurbaj will be unable to play for India till 9 May The decision to suspend Gurbaj was taken after a meeting of Hockey India's disciplinary committee headed by Harbinder Singh with the midfielder and former India coach Jude Felix. 8 August: Katie Ledecky picked up her fourth gold medal at 2015 FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia as the United States won the women's 4x200m freestyle title. Ledecky touched the wall in 7min 45.37sec. Italy won silver medal whereas China came third and won bronze medal. 6 August: The performance of Indian contingent at the 2015 Special World Summer Games held in Los Angeles, USA has been outstanding. India won a total of 173 medals, including 47 Gold, 54 Silver and 72 Bronze. In comparison India had won 156 medals (56 Gold, 48 Silver and 52 Bronze) in the last edition of the games held at Athens, Greece. 5 August: Ace Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar clinched the women's vault bronze medal at the 6th Senior ART Gymnastics Asian Championships at Hiroshima, Japan. Dipa, who won a bronze in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, stood third at the podium

92 with points. Chinese Yan Wang defended her title with points and won gold medal. Japanese Sae Miyakawa with points won silver medal. 5 August: Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal defeated Italian Fabio Fognini to win the Hamburg Open and clinch his third title of the year. It is the 67th singles title of the 29-year-old's career and his third in Hamburg, where he last won in Nadal, who had played 14 Grand Slams, has now won his 47th title on clay. 4 August: Indian women's recurve team of Deepika Kumari, Laxmirani Majhi and Rimil Buriuly won a silver medal at the World Archery Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark. In the Summit clash, the Indian trio lost the World Championship final to top seeded Russians 4-5. The Russian team that defeated the Indian trio was comprised of Inna Stepanova, Ksenia Perova and Tuyana Dashidorzhieva. It is India's second silver in the ongoing World Archery Championships where compound archer Rajat Chauhan opened the account with a historic individual medal. 4 August: Golfer Ranveer Singh Saini created history by becoming the first Indian to win a Gold medal at the Special Olympics World Games. The 14-year-old autistic golfer achieved the feat in GF Golf-Level 2 Alternate Shot Team Play event. Ranveer and his partner Monica Jajoo were nine shots clear of joint second-placed teams from Hong Kong (Tsz Leung Chung-Ka Kit Lam) and Nippon (Takefumi Hiyoshi-Tadatoshi Sakai). 4 August: Indian squash champion Joshna Chinappa won the women s squash title in the US Dollar Victorian Open WSA Event in Melbourne, Australia. In the final clash, Chinappa defeated second seeded Line Hansen of Denmark 11-5, 11-4, This was tenth WSA title for 28-year-old Joshna, the last being the Richmond Open title win in April August: China's capital Beijing was chosen by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in a secret ballot held at a convention centre in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). It thus became the first city to be awarded both Summer and Winter Games in more than 120 years of Olympic history. Beijing had hosted the Summer Olympics in August: India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was presented the Arjuna Award which was conferred. on him last year, by the Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Ashwin was not present during the Award Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan on August 29, 2014 as he was a part of the India ODI team, which was touring England at that time. 30 July: Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports constituted a Working Group to prepare a revised draft of National Sports Development Code of India (NSDCI). The ninemember Working Group will be headed by Justice C.K. Mahajan (retd.), Former Judge of Delhi High Court. Its aim is to examine the existing NSDCI from both sports governance

93 and legal angles and fine-tune/revise the same with the purpose of making it more precise and succinct. 30 July: Delhi boy Yash Singh bagged India's first medal at the Special Olympics World Summer Games 2015 in Los Angeles. The 13-year-old swimmer (suffering from autism) won bronze in the 25-metre backstroke swimming event.yash clocked seconds. The gold medallist clocked seconds and the winner of the silver clocked seconds. 29 July: Mexico won the CONCACAF Gold Cup football tournament played in Washington for a record seventh time by defeating Jamaica 3-1. Caribbean team reached the finals of the tournament for the first time. This is Mexico team's third title win in the last four tournaments. Andres Guardado in 31st minute, Jesus Corona in the 47th minute and Oribe Peralta in the 61st minute scored one-one goal each. 29 July: Shahrukh Khan s Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel defeated Barbados Tridents to win Caribbean Premier League T20 (CPL T20) 2015 at Queen s Park Oval in Trinidad. The Red Steel beat the 2014 champions, Barbados Tridents, by 20 runs. 29 July: The Australian state of Victoria has secured the rights to host football's International Champions Cup (ICC) for a further three years according to which Melbourne will host the tournament till New South Wales attempted to lure the tournament to Sydney but Victoria was granted "exclusive" rights to host the ICC for the next three years following the success of the three matches played in July. 28 July: Former World Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel (Germany) won the Hungarian Grand Prix in a surprising result as present champion and this year s leader Lewis Hamilton (Britain) finished the race at sixth place despite starting from the pole position. This was Vettel s 41st F1 title and with this win he equaled the record of former F1 champion Ayrton Senna. 28 July: The Indian women's wrestling team finished second in the fifth edition of Cup of the President of Republic of Kazakhstan held in Kazakhstan. The eight-member Indian team displayed a spirited performance in the event and won prize money of 10,000 dollars. The event was topped by hosts Kazakhstan with Mongolia settling for the third spot. 28 July: The 14th edition of Special Olympics Games is being held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles (United States) from 25 July to 2 August Over 7,000 athletes representing over 170 countries are taking part in these games and will compete in 25 sporting events ranging from weightlifting to the triathlon. The games were the brainchild of President John Kennedy s sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Special Olympics is the world s largest sports activity for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

94 28 July: India's under-21 women's hockey team has finished third at the Volvo Invitational tournament in the Netherlands. They defeated England in a penalty shoot out after the match ended in a 1-1 draw after regulation time. In the penalty shoot-out, goal-keeper Inderpreet Kaur saved all the shots, with Deep Grace Ekka scoring the winning goal for India. 28 July: Britain's Cyclist Chris Froome became the first Briton to win the prestigious cycling championship of Tour de France twice when he safely reached the finish line in Paris at the end of the race. The 2013 champion finished alongside his team-mates on the final stage, behind a sprint won by Andre Greipel. Froome, 30, beat Colombia's Nairo Quintana to the yellow jersey by 72 seconds with Spain's Alejandro Valverde third. 28 July: Olympic champion and world record holder Usain Bolt won 100 metres race in the Diamond League meet. Bolt, hampered by injury for much of this year, prevailed in his first competitive heat in six weeks with a time of 9.87 seconds on the same track at the London Olympic Stadium where he delivered three gold medal winning performances during the 2012 Games. Bolt, outpaced US runner Michael Rodgers to claim the victory. 27 July: India s ODI cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named the ninth most marketable sportsperson in the world ahead of the likes of football superstar Lionel Messi in a list prepared by London School of Marketing. Dhoni also pipped football star Cristiano Ronaldo and Andy Murray in the list of the world s 20 most marketable sportspersons. 25 July: 10-year-old Shubham Jaglan created history by winning the International Junior Golf Academy World Stars event in Las Vegas. He brought home a score of 106 in three rounds to win by five strokes, ahead of two Americans Justin Dang and Sihan Sandhu and Thailand's Pongsapak Laopakdee for the Boys 9-10 years category title at the Angel Park. Less than a week back, the son of a milkman from rural Haryana, scripted a scintillating one-stroke win at the Junior World Golf Championships being played at Welk Resort Fountain Course in California. 25 July: First All Women Trans Continental Road Expedition from Delhi to London was flagged off. The expedition, which started from Major Dhyanchand Stadium of New Delhi, was flagged off by Union Minister of Chemical and Fertilizers, Ananth Kumar and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports Sarbananda Sonowal. The three woman participants, namely Nidhi Tiwari, Rashmi Koppar and Soumaya Goel, will reach United Kingdom in 55 days. 25 July: India climbed up a rung to occupy the eighth spot in the men's section, while the eves remained static at 13th position in the latest International Hockey Federation (FIH) rankings issued. The FIH released the latest world rankings following the completion of four events comprising the Hockey World League Semi-Finals in Buenos

95 Aires and Antwerp (men); Valencia and Antwerp (women). World Cup holders Australia men and the Netherlands women remain at the top of the chart. 23 July: Zach Johnson won the British Open Golf title for Zach Johnson of the United States claimed the second major triumph of his career as he won the prestigious British Open. 39-year-old Johnson surged through the field with a closing 66 before overcoming South African Louis Oosthuizen and Australian Marc Leishman in extra holes. His first major title was the U.S. Masters in July: Indian wrestler Sangram Singh made history by defeating Canada's Joseph Edward to win the WWP Commonwealth Championship at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in South Africa. He had signed the death contract that clearly stated no owning up by organizers if either of the two fighters are fatally hurt in the process. Sangram is said to be the first Indian wrestler to sign such an agreement. 22 July: Model-actor Milind Soman (49) has won the Ironman title at a triathlon held in Zurich in Switzerland. Milind Soman, who took part in the race, which is said to be the toughest triathlon, for the first time, took 15 hours and 19 minutes to finish it. The triathlon, organised by World Triathalon Corporation, includes a 3.8 km swim, km cycle ride and 42.2 km run and is widely regarded as the world s toughest race, which has to be completed in 16 hours by participants for an Ironman title. 21 July: French Formula One driver Jules Bianchi (25), who sustained serious head injuries at last year s Japanese Grand Prix, passed away. He was in coma for last 9 months. He was racing for F1 team Marussia at this Grand Prix. He sustained critical head injuries in the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka in October July: The eighth Asian Airgun Shooting Championship will be held in National Capital New Delhi from September 25 to October 1 at the Karni Singh Shooting Range. There are 12 men and women events over four days of competition in the senior, youth and junior categories. Airgun competitions are restricted to the Air Rifle and Air Pistol segments. 16 July: India won the three-match One Day International (ODI) Series against Zimbabwe 3-0 played in Harare. India batting first in the third match of series scored 276 runs at a loss of five and in reply to the target Zimbabwe was bowled out at the score of 193 in 42.4 over. Kedar Jadhav for his 105 runs in 87 balls was declared Man of the Match whereas Ambati Rayudu won Man of the Series 15 July: Indian grapplers finished with an impressive haul of 16 medals, including three gold, at the Junior Asian Freestyle, Greeco-Roman and Female Wrestling championship at Nay Pyi Taw in Myanmar. The Indian team's performance has won them 68 Champion Trophy points, while the Greeco-Roman team finished runners-up with 59 points. In Men's Freestyle category, the Indians claimed a total of eight medals with Ravi Kumar bagging the yellow metal in 55kg division.

96 14 July: Serena Williams claimed her sixth Wimbledon title by beating Spain's Garbine Muguruza in the women s singles final. She now has 21 Grand Slam titles. On the other hand, Serbia s Novak Djokovic defeated Switzerland s Roger Federer by 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the men s singles final of Wimbledon World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has now won three Wimbledon singles title 2011, 2014 and July: In the Wimbledon 2015 women s doubles final, Indo-Swiss pair of Sania Mirza- Martina Hingis defeated Russian pair Ekaterina Makarova- Elena Vesnina by 5-7, 7-6, 7-5 to win their first Wimbledon title. On the other hand Jean-Julien Rojer, along with Horia Tecau beaten Jamie Murray and John Peers by 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 to win their Wimbledon 2015 men's doubles title. 14 July: Indian tennis veteran Leander Paes won the mixed doubles title of the Wimbledon Championship 2015 with legendary Martina Hingis. This was Paes 16th Grand Slam title. Whereas this was overall 18th Grand Slam title of Hingis. Seventh seeded Indo-Swiss pair of Paes and Hingis drubbed the fifth seeded Austrian-Hungarian team of Alexander Peya and Timea Babos by in the lop-sided summit clash which was over in just 40 minutes. 14 July: Sumit Nagal became the sixth Indian to win a Grand Slam junior title after winning the boys doubles trophy at the Wimbledon championship year-old Nagal and his Vietnamese partner Nam Hoang Ly overcame Reilly Opelka and Akira Santillan 7-6(4), 6-4 in the title clash that lasted 63 minutes to make their place in history books. 11 July: A brilliant half-century by Thirush Kamini lifted India to a nine-wicket win over New Zealand and enabled them to take the five-match women's One-Day International (ODI) series 3-2. After bundling out New Zealand for 118 in 41 overs, India, spearheaded by Kamini (62 not out) and Deepti Sharma (44 not out), who put on 103 runs for the second wicket, made 121/1 in 27.2 overs to round off a commanding performance. 11 July: India dropped a whopping 15 places to languish at the 156th position with 161 points in the latest FIFA rankings, after successive losses to Oman and lowly-guam in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers match held last month. Earlier India was ranked 141st in world rankings. Argentina, meanwhile, takes top spot in the FIFA rankings from World Cup winner Germany despite losing another tournament final. Beaten by Chile in the Copa America finalargentina rises two places to lead the rankings. Germany falls to No. 2, followed by Belgium. 10 July: India's Shot putter Inderjeet Singh created history by winning the first ever gold medal for India in the shot put event at the World University Games 2015 in Gwangju, South Korea. His sixth and final throw covering a distance of was good enough to win him the coveted yellow metal. This helped India to register its first ever win in the World University Games.

97 9 July: Indian woman cricketer Mithali Raj made history by becoming the first Indian and second in women s ODI history to complete 5000 runs. Indian captain Mithali Raj achieved this distinction as she scored a stylish 81 runs in the fourth one day international (ODI) of the series against New Zealand to enable the Indian team to register a comfortable eight-wicket victory. She became the second woman cricketer in history to complete 5000 runs in ODIs after England s Charlotte Edwards. 9 July: Mariyappan Thangavelu from Salem district in Tamil Nadu clinched the high jump gold medal at the just-concluded IWAS World Junior Games 2015 in the Netherlands. He had cleared a distance of 1.77 meters in the F 42 category. 8 July: India has won a record 156 medals, including 89 gold and 50 silvers, in the World Police and Fire games held in the suburb of the American Capital. Topping this tally on medal haul was Richa Mishra from Central Reserve Police Force, who won six golds and two silvers in swimming events. This is for the first time that the Indian contingent's medal tally has crossed July: Aseel Shaheen (Kuwait) made history by becoming the first-ever Arab woman to officiate at Wimbledon Tennis Tournament Wimbledon tennis tournament is a traditional competition organised by All England Club, which primarily houses British match officials. She is a line judge and is one of around 350 men and women officiating at Wimbledon July: Fiji broke the record for the biggest win in international football with a 38-0 victory over Micronesia. This match was played under Pacific Games Fiji trounced the Federated States of Micronesia by 38-0 to break Australia s long standing record of 31-0 against American Samoa. That win came way back in 2001 during an Oceania confederation qualifier for the 2002 World Cup. 7 July: United States lifted the FIFA Women s World Cup 2015 for the third time. In the finals played at Vancouver, Canada, USA scored 4 goals in the first 16 minutes to dethrone Japan, 5-2 and win their first World Cup since England defeated Germany, 1-0 to finish third. 7 July: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain won the 2015 Formula 1 British Grand Prix title by winning the final race held at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England. This is his second consecutive British Grand Prix title win. While his teammate Nico Rosberg stood second, Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel came at the third position. Both the drivers belong to Germany. 7 July: Chile created history by winning the Copa America tournament for 2015, football's most prestigious competition, organised in South America. The host team defeated the much-fancied Argentina by 4-1 on penalties to win the tournament in the finals played at Santiago. This was the first Copa America title for Chile. Chile had

98 reached Copa America finals four times (1955, 1956, 1979 and 1987) times without winning the tournament. Peru finished at third place in Copa America July: India won the South Asian Basketball (SABA) Championship title. In the final of the 4th edition of the championship played at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India defeated Sri Lanka India was also the winner of third SABA Championship. With this win, India qualified for the FIBA Asia Championship in China. FIBA Asia Championship will be played in September July: A woman assistant subinspector (ASI) of Rajasthan Police Athletics Team Sapna, who represented Indian police team won a gold medal in the 5 km race walk event in the World Police Games 2015, held in Virginia, USA. Sapna completed the event in minutes, which is a new police games record. 2 July: Goa has been selected to host FIFA U-17 World Cup Goa would be one of the six centres in the country that are provisionally selected to host forthcoming FIFA U- 17 World Cup 2017 matches. FIFA has provisionally shortlisted other centres like Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata, Navi Mumbai and New Delhi besides Goa as the World Cup venues. 2 July: Star shot putter Inderjeet Singh and half-miler Jinson Johnson clinched their third gold in a row at the third and final leg of Asian Athletics Grand Prix Series 2015 held in Thailand's Chantaburi. With this gold, both Inderjeet and Johnson completed their golden hat-trick as they had bagged the yellow metal in their respective events in the first and second legs. Johnson led men's 800m final all through with a timing of 1:50.56 while Inderjeet produced a best effort of 19.83m to take the top honours. 2 July: Grandmaster and former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta won the Commonwealth Chess Championship after settling for a quick draw with Arghyadip Das in the ninth and final round. Gupta made eight points out of a possible nine. In the women's section, Padmini Rout won gold medal by defeating S. Vijayalakshmi. 1 July: Brazilian racer Nelson Piquet Jr won the FIA Formula E Championship title of the season. He beat Switzerland's Sebastien Buemi. He won the title after finishing seventh in the final race held at Battersea Park in London, the UK. Piquet drove for Chinese team Nextev. It is the first such championship held by FIA, the global governing body for auto racing events. 1 July: Khalin Joshi was the best-placed Indian golfer as he finished tied sixth at the USD 76,000 Bali National Golf Championship. Joshi carded one-under 71 and finished at fiveunder 288 in tied sixth place. Also finishing in top-10 was Himmat Rai (74) in tied ninth and Chiragh Kumar (75) was tied 15th. At the top, Matthew Giles of Australia sank a clutch birdie putt on the last hole to win the Bali National Golf Championship title by one-shot.

99 EULOGIES THIS MONTH 12 October: Renowned music director and lyricist Ravindra Jain passed away. He was 71. Hecomposed music for over 150 Hindi movies. 13 October: Renowned Carnatic flautist Dr. N. Ramani passed away. He was September: Renowned Hindi poet and eminent journalist Viren Dangwal passed away. He was 68. His famous poem collection 'Dushchakra Me Shrista' had earned him prestigious Sahitya Academy award in September: Consequent upon the demise of Dr. Syed Ahmed, Governor of Manipur, and the President of India has appointed V. Shanmuganathan, Governor of Meghalaya, to discharge the functions of the Governor of Manipur, in addition to his own duties, until regular arrangements are made. 28 September: Sourav Ganguly has been appointed as the President of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) succeeding Jagmohan Dalmiya as announced by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Jagmohan Dalmiya passed away recently. Sourav Ganguly is the former Indian cricket captain. 29 September: The Governor of Manipur Dr. Syed Ahmad passed away. He was 75 years old. He was the 16th Governor of Manipur. He was sworn in as state s Governor on 16 May Prior to this he was the Governor of Jharkhand for more than 3 years. He was a senior leader of the Congress from Maharashtra. 22 September: Jagmohan Dalmiya, former President of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), passed away in Kolkata. He was 75. He became BCCI president in 2001 and continued till September: The pioneer of cricket commentary in Marathi who made the game more popular in Maharashtrian households, Bal Pandit passed away. He was 86. Maharashtra government bestowed him with the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Award in September: Renowned mohiniyattam dancer and Padma Sri awardee Kalamandalam Satyabhama passed away. She was 77. A former principal of Kalamandalam, she was accorded Padma Shri in She was also the first recipient of Kerala government's Nritha Natya Puraskaram. 12 September: Renowned water policy expert Ramaswamy R. Iyer passed away in New Delhi. He was 86. Iyer was known for forming an expert committee on water policy and environmental issues. His last held position was that of an honorary research professor at the Centre for Policy Research. Prior to that, Iyer served as Secretary of Water Resources in the central government as an officer of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service. 5 September: Legendary Ghanaian former footballer and coach Charles Kumi Gyamfi has died after prolonged illness aged 85. Gyamfi was the first African player to play in Germany, when he joined Fortuna Dusseldorf in 1960

100 2 September: Renowned neurologist and author Oliver Wolf Sacks passed away in New York, the USA. He was 82. Compared to his career as a practitioner of neurology and an academician he was better known as the author of best-selling books on the grey matter like Migraine, Awakenings, The Mind s eye, etc. 1 September: Renowned Kannada writer M. M. Kalburgi passed away. The Sahitya Akademi winner was shot dead by two unidentified assailants in Dharwad. M. M. Kalburgi was a noted Kannada epigraphist and also a former vice-chancellor of Kannada University. Apart from Sahitya Akademi Award he was also awarded Karnataka State Sahitya Akademi, Nrupatunga Award and the Pampa Award. 20 August: Malayalam actor Paravoor Bharathan, who acted in nearly 300 regional films, died in Kerala. 19 August: President Pranab Mukherjee's wife Suvra Mukherjee passed away. The President's wife, Suvra Mukherjee, had been ill for some time. Country's First Lady founded the 'Geetanjali Troupe', whose mission is to propagate Rabindranath Tagore's philosophy as expressed through his songs and dance-dramas. 14 August: Om Prakash Munjal, Co-Chairman of Hero Cycles Ltd. And a leading industrialist, passed away in Ludhiana. He was August: Colonel Harwant Singh (retd), a World War-II hero, died at Patiala. He was 95. He was officer-in-charge of the flag hoisting ceremony on the first Independence Day of India in Commissioned in 2nd battalion of the Sikh Regiment in September 1941, Singh served in Iraq, Palestine, North Africa, Cyprus and Italy during World War-II for the British Army flag hoisting ceremony. 6 August: Senior Congress leader and former Punjab Minister Chaudhary Jagjit Singh died. He was 82. Jagjit, a prominent Dalit leader, became an MLA for the first time in August: Former Madhya Pradesh minister and senior BJP leader Jagannath Singh passed away after prolonged illness. He was 69. Singh had served as state labour minister during in the BJP government 3 August: Sir Peter O Sullevan, an iconic British Horse Racing commentator passed away at the age of 97. Sir Peter O Sullevan was a former racing commentator associated with the BBC. He was known simply as The Voice of Racing throughout five decades at the microphone. 30 July: Clive Rice, South African team s former captain and legendry cricketer has died in a Cape Town hospital aged 66. He had been suffering from a brain tumour and visited India in March 2015 to have radiation treatment in Bangalore. He entered the first stage cricket in As Nottinghamshire and South Africa's Captain Rice scored 26,331 runs and took 930 wickets. 29 July: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the 11th President of India and a pioneer of the country s space and missile programmes, passed away on 27 July 2015 at the age of 83. He passed

101 away after collapsing during a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Shillong (Meghalaya). Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, popularly known as Missile Man of India, was the President of India between 2002 and He was honoured with highest civilian award Bharat Ratna in July: Popular Tamil film producer Ibrahim Rowther, who gave actor Vijayakant his moniker Captain and produced some of his biggest hits such as Pulan Visaranai and Captain Prabhakaran, died in Chennai. He was 64 years old. 23 July: Tom Moore, the "Archie" (America's famous cartoon character) cartoonist who brought to life the escapades of the freckled-face, red-haired character passed away. He was 86. Moore, who began drawing cartoons while in the US Navy during the Korean War, died in his hometown of El Paso. Annual sales of the comic regularly surpassed half a million during the 1960s. 17 July: Sheila Ramani, famous Bollywood actress of 50s passed away following a prolonged illness. She was 83. She is well known for her performances in films like Driver and Naukri. 16 July: Former Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) President Pashupatinath Roy died following a cardiac arrest in Kolkata. He was 76. Roy was also the President of West Bengal Badminton Association for more than five decades after he took over charge from his father B.K. Roy in late 1960s. 15 July: Southern music composer M.S. Viswanathan, who has over 750 films to his credit passed away. He was 87. He was popularly known as MSV in the film industry. Popular for composing music in more than 750 films in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam, MSV started his career as a composer for 1952 Tamil film "Panam". 10 July: Noted Urdu poet, critic and orator Bashar Nawaz, who had penned the immensely popular song 'Karoge yaad' in Hindi film 'Bazaar', passed away at Aurangabad after a brief illness. Born on August 18, 1935 at Aurangabad, Nawaz's writings were regularly published in various Urdu literary journals magazines in India and abroad. He was also honoured with prestigious "Pulotsav Samman" for his contribution to Urdu literature. 8 July: Renowned American Actress Amanda Peterson, whose most famous role was in the 1987 romantic comedy Can't Buy Me Love, has died at age of 43. She died because of heart attack. 7 July: Renowned Urdu novelist from Pakistan Abdullah Hussain died in Lahore after battling with blood cancer. He was 84. He authored the bestseller and critically acclaimed novel Udas Naslain, it is considered as a masterpiece of Urdu literature. His other famous works are Baagh, Faraib and Nashaib

102 6 July: Former Chief Justice of India Y.K. Sabharwal passed away at the age of 73. Justice Sabharwal was appointed as chief justice in 2005 and retired after a 14-month term. During his tenure, he gave several important decisions 3 July: Finland's Matti Makkonen, the man responsible for conceiving the idea of short messaging service (SMS) technology, passed away following chronic illness. He was also known as Father of SMS. He was 63. MISCELLANEOUS NEWS THIS MONTH 14 October: Iran has successfully test-fired a new indegenously built precision-guided, long-range missile. The Emad (Pillar) surface-to-surface missile is the country's first longrange missile that can be precision-guided until it reaches its target. 12 October: Kishore Biyani-led retail major Future Group entered into an agreement with Baba Ramdev-promoted Patanjali Ayurved to sell the latter's FMCG products through its stores. Future Group expects sales from Patanjali, to the tune of Rs. 1,000 crore in the next 20 months. 10 October: Indian-American social entrepreneur Bhagwati Agrawal has made his way into the CNN s Top Ten Heroes of 2015, for creating a rainwater harvesting system that now provides life-changing, safe drinking water across six villages in Rajasthan. Each will receive US $10,000 and be recognised as "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute". 9 October: INS Astradharini, the first indigenously-designed and built torpedo launch and recovery vessel commissioned into the Indian Navy. INS Astradharini is an advanced replacement for INS Astravahini which was decommissioned earlier. 7 October: World s highest terrestrial Research and Development centre was established by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at Changla (Ladakh), Jammu & Kashmir. Its name is 'Extreme Altitude Research Centre'. 5 October: In an important development ahead of the U.N. Climate Change Summit in Paris in December 2015, India released its climate-change policy statement. India has set the target to cut the carbon emission by 33-35% by 2030 and increase renewable energy production capacity by 40 per cent. 3 October: India ranked 55th (India recorded a massive 16 spots jump as compared to the previous year) among 140 countries on the Global Competitiveness Index for 2015, which was released by Switzerland-based World Economic Forum (WEF). Switzerland tops the latest rankings. 3 October: Australia launched its one of two new satellites specifically designed for the country's National Broadband Network. The satellite "Sky Muster", was launched from French Guiana. It is one of the world's largest communication satellites and its purpose is to deliver broadband to Australia.

103 1 October: China launched a new-generation satellite into orbit that will support its global navigation and positioning network. The satellite was boosted by a Long March- 3B carrier rocket. It is the 20th satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), and puts China one step closer to providing an alternative to the US-operated GPS. For the first time, the satellite featured a hydrogen atomic clock. 29 September: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched India s first dedicated satellite for astronomy research, named ASTROSAT by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C30) from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The satellite is of about 1513 kg. ASTROSAT will help in understanding the universe. It is India s first dedicated multi wavelength space observatory. PSLV-C30 is carrying Indian ASTROSAT, along with six other co-passengers, one satellite each from Indonesia and Canada, and four nanosatellites from the US. With the successful launch of Astrosat, India gained an entry into the select club of nations having its own space observatory after the US, Japan, Russia and Europe. 28 September: Singer-actress Jennifer Lopez has been named the first-ever global advocate for girls and women at the United Nations Foundation. The 46-year-old star will travel the globe in an attempt to highlight the plight of females struggling in war zones, refugee camps and even on the mean streets of her native New York. 24 September: Cow was declared as the National Animal of Nepal as per the new secular constitution of Nepal unveiled by Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav at a special ceremony held in Parliament at Kathmandu. 23 September: Three Indians have made it to a new list of 100 notable tattoo artists from around the globe. The World Atlas of Tattoo, published by Yale University Press, features Nagaland s Mo Naga, Kolkata s Abhinandan Obi Basu and Delhi s Manjeet Singh amongst the who s who of tattoo art all over the world. 23 September: States have broadly agreed to ensure compliance with the proposed Environmental Guidelines for construction projects in urban areas at the Workshop on Climate Change Mitigation in Urban Sector organized by the Ministry of Urban Development in New Delhi on September 21, The Workshop was organized for green construction in view of the fact that building sector consumes 40% of electricity generated in the country, 30% of raw materials and 20% each of water and land resources besides generating 30% of solid waste and 20% of effluents. 22 September: According to recruitment platform MyHiringClub.com s Worldwide IT Salary 2015 survey, India was ranked 7th on the list of lowest paymasters for information technology (IT) managers. In India a mid-level IT manager draws an average salary of USD 41,213. Bulgaria topped the list with a meagre USD 25,680, followed by Vietnam (2nd), Thailand (3rd) and Indonesia (4th). At the other end of the spectrum, when it comes to countries that pay out the best IT salaries, Switzerland again topped the list with an average annual remuneration of USD 1, 71,465. It is followed by Belgium (2nd), Denmark (3rd), the US (4th) and the UK (5th). 22 September: China launched the rocket, Long March-6, successfully from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in North China's Shanxi Province which carried 20 micro-satellites into the space

104 for space tests. The new 29.3 metres high rocket, is China's first carrier rocket that uses fuel which is free of toxicity and pollution. 21 September: New Delhi and Mumbai are among the cheapest places in the world to live, according to a report by Swiss Bank UBS. However, Mumbai is a little expensive in comparison to Delhi. In the report 71 locations were compared around the world. According to the report Zurich is the most expensive city in the world, which is followed by Geneva, New York, Oslo and London. 21 September: PTC India Financial Services Ltd (PFS), a leading infrastructure finance company promoted by PTC India Ltd., has sanctioned loans aggregating to about Rs. 10 billion for providing financial assistance to renewable energy projects and energy efficiency projects in India. This loan amount is for to 9 projects 19 September: India's ranking has slipped further to 81 in the list of Global Innovation Index 2015, compared to 76 in 2014, on account of factors like consistently poor performance in ease of doing business, slow pace of policy decision-making and changing political environment. The study ranked 141 economies across the world. However India has outperformed its peers in the Central and Southern Asian Region (CSA) and positioned itself as innovation achiever in the lower-middle income category. Switzerland, the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and the US are the world's five most innovative nations in the list of Global Innovation Index September: India has been ranked 34th among 60 leading economies in terms of 'business growth environment' but the country has been ranked among the bottom ten when it comes to 'business operating environment'. In the Grant Thornton Global Dynamism Index (GDI), India was ranked at the 34th place, registering a gain of 14 places since the last version of the index, largely driven by a strong and productive workforce. However, India was ranked 53rd out of 60 in the GDI when it comes to its business operating environment. 19 September: Delhi Government approved Victim Compensation Scheme. It enhanced the upper limit of compensation to rape victims to 5 lakh rupees from existing 3 lakh rupees and to the victims of acid attack to 7 lakh rupees from 3 lakh rupees. The decision was taken during a cabinet meet headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. 19 September: The largest Indian drugmaker, Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. entered into a deal to acquire US-based InSite Vision Inc. for $48 million (about Rs.300 crore). As per the terms of the agreement and merger plan, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Sun Pharma will make a tender offer for all of the issued and outstanding common stock of InSite Vision at 0.35 US dollars per share in cash. 18 September: Exhibition Shauryanjali was launched at the India Gate lawns in New Delhi to celebrate the Golden Jubilee (50th Anniversary) of Indo-Pak War of Shauryanjali has recreated the battle scene in various sectors beginning from Rann of Kutch to the ceasefire and Tashkent Summit. It has been presented as an ode to splendid show of valour and sacrifice of Indian Armed Forces personnel for protecting the borders of the country. The exhibition was inaugurated by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

105 18 September: Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) successfully test-fired an indigenously developed second generation, 2.8 km range, anti-tank guided missile called Amogha-1. The test firing was carried out at Babina Army Range in Madhya Pradesh. This is the first ever design and developmental effort in respect of missiles by BDL, Hyderabad. Two missiles were fired and both hit targets placed at 2.6 km as well as 2.8 km respectively. 17 September: China launched its most sophisticated observation satellite, Gaofen-9, as part of the country's high-definition Earth observation project. Gaofen-9 was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern province of Gansu aboard a Long March-2D carrier rocket. It was the 209th flight of the Long March rocket series. The optical remote sensing satellite is capable of providing photographs with a resolution of less than a meter. It will be used in land survey, urban planning, road network design, agriculture, and disaster relief. 16 September: The sixth edition of Indo-Maldives joint Military Training Exercise concluded at Pangode Military Station in Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala). It was titled EKUVERIN 2015 and comprised of 45 soldiers from the Bihar Regiment of Indian Army and same number of marines from the Maldivian National Defence Force. It was the first joint exercise involving an international contingent to be conducted at Thiruvananthapuram, which is being developed as a Training Node by the Indian Army. The bilateral exercise is held annually, with the aim of enhancing military cooperation and interoperability between defence forces of the two countries. 14 September: China has build the world's longest solar park in Pakistan. Pakistan will get about 100 MW electricity with the help of this solar park. China has installed around 400,000 solar panels to build the world's longest Solar Park. The park is being installed on 200 hectares. 11 September: Switzerland is the best place in the world to live for those aged 60 and over while India ranks a dismal 71st among 96 countries when it comes to social and economic wellbeing of older people, according to a new report. The Global AgeWatch Index 2015 from HelpAge International, working in partnership with the University of Southampton, found that Switzerland is the best place to live for those aged 60 and over, followed by Norway and Sweden. Germany was the fourth best place for older people to live, Canada stood at fifth. According to the report in India million people over 60 are living. 11 September: Defence minister Manohar Parikkar commissioned INS Vajrakosh, the latest establishment of the Indian Navy in Karwar, Karnataka. Karwar is poised to emerge as the Indian Navy s premier base on the Western seaboard in the not too distant future. Some of the vital naval assets are planned to be based there. INS Vajrakosh will have all the required infrastructure and is manned by specialists to meet these requirements. 10 September: Queen Elizabeth II becomes Britain's longest-reigning monarch later when she passes the record set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria. The Queen will have reigned for 63 years and seven months - calculated at 23,226 days. The Queen is 89 years old. 8 September: India finally has an estimate of leopards. The first ever count of India's leopards, conducted alongside last year's tiger census, has put the spotted cat population at 7,910 in and around tiger habitats across the country, except the northeast. The leopards were counted using the same methods adopted for the tiger census. India's total leopard population is in the range

106 of 12,000 to 14,000. The exercise covered 3, 50,000 sq km of forested habitat of central and western part of the country. 5 September: India has emerged as the 8th largest tourism market for Australia with over 2 lakh Indians visiting the country last year. India was one of the fastest growing markets with expenditure reaching a record of 1 billion Australian dollars for the first time, an increase of 39 per cent. The total number of Indian visiting Australia this year stood at 2, 07, September: Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) launched a new mobile app service named flydel that aims to augment the passenger experience and provide them facilities. The app, which is available for both Android as well as ios based devices, covering a majority smart phone users in the country, provides real-time flight information and access to all passengers facilities available at the airport among others. 21 August: Wang Jianlin, Chairman of China's property and entertainment giant Dalian Wanda Group, has overtaken Hong Kong's Li Ka-shing to become the richest Chinese in the world, according to the new Hurun Rich List. Wang's wealth increased more than 50 percent year on year to 260 billion yuan (40.6 billion U.S. dollars) as of early June. Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, 87, was the second richest with a fortune of 200 billion yuan and Jack Ma, founder and chairman of Internet giant Alibaba, was named third richest with wealth of 165 billion yuan. 21 August: Taj Mahal has made it to the top five of a prestigious new list of the world's best tourist attractions. Travel Guide Book Lonely Planet's Ultimate Travelist list ranks the Taj Mahal built in Agra by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as the fifth most attractive travel hotspot in the world and describes it as a "magnificent Mughal masterpiece". The Temples of Angkor Wat, a UNESCO World Heritage site in northern Cambodia, tops the list. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia comes in at number two, the Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru at number three, and the Great Wall of China at four. 21 August: United National Party (UNP) led United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) coalition with 106 seats emerged as the winner in the 2015 Parliamentary elections of Sri Lanka. But it failed to secure absolute majority in the Parliament of 225 members. UNP led by incumbent Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe emerged the winner with his alliance taking 45 percent of the vote cast, or about 51 lakh votes. The main opposition party the United People s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) that is an alliance led by Mahinda Rajapaksa was able to secure 95 seats with 42 percent of votes. 20 August: Islamic leaders from 20 countries who have gathered at the International Islamic Climate Change Symposium in Istanbul, Turkey, issued a Declaration on climate change which calls for phasing out of greenhouse gas emissions. The declaration, replete with quotes from the Qur an, calls upon the world, particularly the 1.6 billion Muslims, to protect the planet from being destroyed by human activity. 20 August: A NASA spacecraft has confirmed for the first time that the Moon s thin atmosphere contains neon, a gas commonly used in electric signs on Earth because of its intense glow. There s not enough neon to make Moon visibly glow because the Moon s atmosphere is extremely tenuous. A dense atmosphere like Earth s is relatively rare in our solar system because an object has to be sufficiently massive to have enough gravity to hold onto it.

107 19 August: The Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Culture (Independent Charge) and Tourism (Independent Charge), Dr. Mahesh Sharma jointly inaugurated direct flight of Air India s budget arm, Air India Express, between Varanasi and Sharjah (UAE). The Varanasi-Sharjah flight, IX 183, took off from Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi with 170 passengers. 18 August: UAE government announced its historical decision to allot land for building first temple in Abu Dhabi during PM Narendra Modi's two day (16th and 17th August) visit. Prime Minister Modi visited the famous Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. There are two temples in Dubai. One of Lord Shiva and the other one of Lord Krishna, but there is not a single temple in UAE's capital Abu Dhabi. 17 August: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) fully commissioned and started commercial production of its indigenous titanium sponge plant. With the commissioning of this plant, India has become the seventh country in the world producing titanium sponge commercially. ISRO s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (Ahmedabad) established India's first titanium sponge plant at Chavara in Kerala s Kollam district. Titanium sponge is used primarily for space and defence applications. 11 August: The largest ever rainfall in over a century by Super Typhoon Soudelor in China had forced evacuation of more than 3.34 lakh people. More than 550,000 people and 19,600 hectares of crops in ten cities were affected by the typhoon. 11 August: Overtaking the CIA, FBI, NASA and the Pakistani army Indian army once again has reached the top of popularity on social networking site Facebook. Indian Army Facebook page has now figured in the "People Talking About That" (PTAT) ranking in terms of popularity. It was the second time within a few months, when the Indian Army Facebook page topped the list. 10 August: A global satellite for earth observation and disaster risk reduction - GlobalSat for DRR - proposed under the UN framework is to be dedicated to A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as a tribute to the vision of the Missile Man of India and former Indian President who died on July 27. The "GlobalSat for DRR" is a UN-driven global initiative on sharing space technology for disaster risk reduction. 7 August: India s biggest telescope Multi-Application Solar Telescope (MAST) was inaugurated at Udaipur (Rajasthan). MAST would help in the study of movements of stars and sun even in day time. MAST has been installed at the Udaipur Solar Observatory, where it is surrounded by water to keep temperature pleasant. Authorised by the Ministry of Science and Technology, MAST has been funded by the Department of Space. So far Rs. 26 crore has been spent on the project 7 August: The US space agency NASA has named Kirk Shireman as the new manager of its International Space Station (ISS) Program, based at NASA s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Shireman has served as deputy director of NASA s Johnson Space Center in Houston since Shireman succeeds Michael Suffredini 5 August: NASA sets up a new traffic monitoring process to avoid spacecraft collisions on Mars. The system involves process of traffic monitoring, communication and maneuver planning. The step was taken after addition of two new spacecraft, namely NASA's Mars Atmosphere and

108 Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) and India's Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan), to orbit the Mars has gone up to five. 3 August: An automobile group Volkswagen replaced Japanese auto giant Toyota to emerge as the world s largest-selling vehicle maker in the first half of It was for the first time in the history of automobiles when Germany's automobile group Volkswagen overtook Toyota in global vehicle sales. It sold 5.04 million cars between January and June 2015, which is slightly more than the 5.02 million sold by Toyota during the same period. 24 July: With 14,310 suicides contributing 10.9 percent of total suicides in the country in 2014 West Bengal ranks third among of States in the number of suicides after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu as per the statistics released by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).Rate of suicides per lakh population in West Bengal was 15.5 per cent, while the national average was 10.6 per cent in July: Rajamahendravaram will be the new name of Rajahmundry, the historic and cultural city of Andhra Pradesh, as announced by state Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. The name Rajamahendravaram is derived from a Chalukya dynasty ruler of the 11th century who ruled over the city. 29 July: Google has partnered with NASA and 13 other companies, including Amazon and Verizon, to create an air-traffic control system for drones, called the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Traffic Management. The move comes after a series of incidents involving drones. The government is seeking to work with the private sector to create rules of the aerial road and in view of growing demand and use of drones. 27 July: The first cargo ships passed through Egypt's New Suez Canal on 25th July in a test-run before it opens next month on 6th August, 11 months after the army began constructing the $8 billion canal alongside the existing 145-year-old Suez Canal. 25 July: The hunt for India's most desirable man by country's oldest and most prestigious pageant for men came to its end with Rohit Khandewal from Hyderabad being announced Provogue Personal Care Mr India Rohit Khandewal from Hyderabad was announced Mr India 2015 winner, Rahul Rajasekharan from Bangalore was announced 1st Runner up and Prateek Gujaral from Mumbai was announced 2nd Runner up. 24 July: The January-June period of 2015 was the hottest such period since 1880, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has said.during the period, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 0.85 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average. 24 July: RK Pachauri, accused of sexual harassment by a woman employee, has been sacked as the chief of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). He will be replaced by Ajay Mathur who is the Director General of Bureau of Energy Efficiency. 23 July: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) achieved a huge milestone as it successfully tested India s latest and most powerful cryogenic engine for 800 seconds. This cryogenic engine will be utilized to power ISRO s next generation monster rocket, the GSLV Mark-III, which will be capable of carrying the 8 ton class of satellites to space. This full duration test was performed successfully at Mahendragiri (Tamil Nadu).

109 22 July: Stephen Hawking, the eminent British scientist launched a whopping USD 100-million project to search for aliens in association with Russia's billionaire entrepreneur Yuri Milner. This is a 10 year project. This project was launched at the Royal Society in London and characterised as the biggest scientific search ever undertaken for study of aliens 22 July: An Indigenous Visibility Measuring System Drishti has been installed at New Delhi s Indira Gandhi International Airport with which the airport has become the first Airport in the country to have 10 indigenous systems operating in all its three runways. It that has been designed and developed by CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL), Bengaluru. It is primarily used for reporting the runway visual range, which is a critical parameter for safe landing and take-off of aircraft in poor visibility conditions. 17 July: The Prime Minister formally launched the Skill India Mission and unveiled the new National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015 on 15 July 2015 on the occasion of the World Youth Skills Day. The aim of Skill India Mission is to converge and monitor all skill development schemes across the country, promoting entrepreneurship and equipping 500 million Indians with skills by 2022 that would enable them to find jobs. On this occasion Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, was also launched. PMKVY seeks to inculcate various skills among 24 lakh youth, across India, over the next one year. 15 July: Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju launched the GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system, which would make airline operations more efficient and reduce costs. GAGAN is a satellite-based navigation system which provides autonomous, high precision geo-spatial location information of the user in terms of latitude, longitude and height along with velocity and time. Jointly developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), at an investment of Rs. 774 crore, GAGAN will offer seamless navigation to the aviation industry. 14 July: Indian-origin Sunita Williams is among four veterans picked by NASA to fly the first commercial space vehicles, a part of the space agency s ambitious plan to put a man on Mars by Williams, 49, accompanied by Robert Behnken, Eric Boe and Douglas Hurley, will train and prepare for commercial spaceflights. 14 July: India's first Community Skill Park has been opened at Chavara in Kollam district of Kerala with the aim to train youths so that they may become skilled to get better employment. Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy inaugurated the first 'Kaushal Kendra'. These 'Kaushal Kendras' will develop skills and increase the employability of the youth of the state which they need. 4 July: The Union Cabinet approved the institutional framework for the National Skill Development Mission The Mission will provide a strong institutional framework at the Centre and States for implementation of skilling activities in the country. The Union Cabinet also gave its approval for a new scheme called Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY). The Yojana was approved with an outlay of 50,000 crore rupees over a period of five years ( to ). Its aim is provide convergence to existing schemes of water management, thus bringing efficiency to the use of water

110 3 July: China has become successful in making first fully indigenous bullet train. It has began testing the first bullet train completely made from locally produced parts. This move of China is being considered as a major step in eliminating dependence on import of bullet train from Germany, Canada and Japan. Till now most of the parts of bullet trains made by China were imported from abroad. RECURRING TERMS (1) ASTROSAT ASTROSAT is the name of India s first dedicated astronomy satellite that was launched successfully in the space by ISRO on 28 September ASTROSAT is a first-of-its-kind Indian space observatory to study celestial objects. Unlike most other telescopes, the five instruments (payloads) of ASTROSAT can observe a wider variety of wavelengths, from visible light to the ultraviolet and X-ray bands. Even in the X-ray band, it can study both low and high energy X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Most other satellites are capable of observing only a narrow range of wavelength band. It is worth mentioning that till date, Indian astronomers had to rely on international resources for X-ray and ultraviolet data. But this is expected to change now with ASTROSAT in the space. The scientific objectives of ASTROSAT mission: Understand high energy processes in binary star systems containing neutron stars and black holes, Estimate magnetic fields of neutron stars, Study star birth regions and high energy processes in star systems lying beyond our galaxy, Detect new briefly bright X-ray sources in the sky and Perform a limited deep field survey of the Universe in the ultraviolet region. (2) Gold Monetization Schemes: Union Cabinet on 9 September 2015 announced the Gold Monetisation Scheme under which gold in any form can be deposited with banks for a period of one to 15 years. To bring out the huge amount of gold that is being kept idly by Indians is the primary objective of this scheme. The Gold Monetisation Scheme has been announced primarily to bring an estimated 20,000 tonnes of idle gold lying with Indian consumers into the economy and also reduce India s

111 dependence on gold imports. Under it, Indians citizens would be able to deposit gold in any form in the banks for a period of one to 15 years. This gold will earn interest and redemption will be at the prevailing market value at the end of the tenure of deposit. By taking advantage of Gold Monetisation Scheme, people can thus deposit idle gold with authorised agencies and take advantage of the price escalation of gold as well as earn interest on the deposit. The gold deposited with banks under the monetisation scheme will be allowed to be sold to jewelers in order to boost domestic supply. However, the government intends not to allow the Gold Monetisation Scheme to become a vehicle for converting black money into white. The draft proposal of Gold Monetisation Scheme was put up on 19 May 2015 while it was announced in the Union Budget with the aim of replacing both the existing Gold Deposit and Gold Metal Loan Schemes. (3) D-SIBs (Domestic Systemically Important Banks) The Reserve Bank of India on 31 August 2015 declared SBI and ICICI two banks of the country as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs), which literally means that these banks are so integral to the national economy that their failure would have to be prevented at any cost. While State Bank of India (SBI) is the largest public sector bank and the largest banking entity in the country, ICICI Bank is the largest private sector bank in the country. The two banks were designated as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) by the RBI, meaning their collapse could have a cascading impact on the entire financial system and the economy. SBI and ICICI have been so designated on the basis of a systemic importance score, arrived at after an analysis of the banks size as a percentage of annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Banks with assets that exceed 2% of GDP will be considered to be part of this class of lenders. As of 30 June 2015, SBI s loan book was worth Rs.12.8 trillion and ICICI s loan book was close to Rs.4 trillion. The RBI had issued the framework for dealing with Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D- SIBs) on 22 July The D-SIB framework requires the RBI to disclose the names of banks designated as D-SIBs every year in August starting from August 2015.

112 The framework requires that D-SIBs may be placed in four buckets depending upon their Systemic Importance Scores (SISs). Based on the bucket in which a D-SIB is placed, an additional common equity requirement has to be applied to it, as mentioned in the D-SIB framework. While SBI has been kept in Bucket -3 category, ICICI Bank has been placed in Bucket-1 category. In November 2011, the Basel committee of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) announced a framework for identifying global systemically important banks and the additional buffers that such banks need to hold. (4) Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY) PMKKKY is the name of the new scheme launched by the Union Govt. for the welfare of people affected by mining related operations on 17 September 2015 PMKKKY is a new programme primarily meant to provide for the welfare of areas and people affected by mining related operations. It will be implemented by using the funds generated by District Mineral Foundations (DMFs). The Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015, mandated the setting up of District Mineral Foundations (DMFs) in all districts in the country affected by mining related operations. The objective of PMKKKY scheme will be: (a) To implement various developmental and welfare projects/programs in mining affected areas that complement the existing ongoing schemes/projects of State and Central Government (b) To minimize/mitigate the adverse impacts, during and after mining, on the environment, health and socio-economics of people in mining districts and (c) To ensure long-term sustainable livelihoods for the affected people in mining areas. (5) One Rank One Pension (OROP) The Union Govt. on 5 September 2015 announced the acceptance of the long-standing demand of one rank, one pension (OROP) pertaining to the pensions of ex-servicemen. OROP would be implemented with effect from 1 July 2014, and would cost the government Rs 18,000-22,000 crore this year. However, numerous proposals of the govt. were rejected by ex-servicemen, who have staged an almost three-month-long public agitation for their demand of OROP. About the exclusion from OROP of those who took premature retirement (PMR) major proposal of the govt. was severely criticized by the ex-servicemen. In simple terms, OROP implies 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.

113 However, in its proposals, the Union Govt. rejected the provisions of OROP for personnel taking voluntary retirement (VRS) premature retirement (PMR). This proposal was severely criticized by the ex-servicemen fraternity and they said they will continue to hold their protests against the govt. However, later on 6 September 2015 Prime Minister cleared the air from OROP controversy by announcing that servicemen who have taken early retirement will be eligible to receive the benefits of OROP. After this announcement, the ex-servicemen who were holding hunger protest for last 88 days called-off the hunger strike but said they will continue with the stir till all their demands were met by the Govt. Key points of Union Govt. s OROP grant: OROP granted with effect from 1 July 2014 Arrears to be paid in four half-yearly instalments Widows of casualties to be paid in single instalments OROP will raise annual pension bill by Rs. 8,000-10,000 crore This amount will rise in tandem with military salaries Arrears will involve one-time payment of Rs. 10,000-12,000 crore Pensions to be equalised and adjusted once every 5 years Pensions to be average of maximum & minimum in 2013 (6) Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme Union Cabinet approved Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme to reduce dependence on physical gold The Union Cabinet gave its approval for the Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme. The purpose of the scheme is to reduce the demand for physical gold and to shift part of the estimated 300 tons of physical bars and coins purchased every year for investment into Demat (Dematerialised) gold bonds. Features of Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme Bonds will be issued on payment of money and would be linked to the price of gold. The sell would be restricted to resident Indian entities and each entity cannot buy more than 500 grams per person per year. The bonds will be issued in denominations of 2, 5 and 10 grams of gold or other denominations. The cap on bonds that may be bought by an entity would be at a suitable level, not more than 500 grams per person per year. The bonds will be issued with a nominal rate of interest (which will be linked to international rate for gold borrowing) as decided by the government. The rate of interest on the bonds will be payable in terms of grams of gold. The interest will be calculated on at a certain per cent say 2 or 3 percent. On maturity, the investor receives the equivalent of the face value of gold in rupee terms.

114 Bonds will be issued on behalf of the Government of India by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The bond will be marketed through post offices and by various brokers/agents who may need to be paid a commission (like for Kisan Vikas Patra). The price of gold may be taken from National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) / London Bullion Market Association/RBI and the rupee equivalent amount may be converted at the RBI reference rate on issue and redemption. Banks/ Non-bank financial companies (NBFCs)/Post Offices may collect money / redeem bonds on behalf of government (for a fee, the amount would be as decided). Capital gains tax treatment will be the same as for physical gold. This will ensure that an investor is indifferent in terms of investing in these bonds and in physical gold- as far as the tax treatment is concerned. The tenor of the bond could be for a minimum of 5 to 7 years so that it would protect investors from medium term volatility in the gold prices. These Bonds will be easily sold and traded on commodity exchanges Bonds can be used as collateral for loans. The Loan to Value ratio can be set equal to ordinary gold loan mandated by RBI from time to time. During financial year gold bonds equivalent of 50 tonnes of gold would be issued. Since the amount, around crore rupees, is not very high, it can be accommodated within the market borrowing programme for Since these bonds are part of the sovereign borrowing, they will be within the fiscal deficit target for and onwards. The amount received from the bonds will be used in lieu of government borrowing and the notional interest saved on this amount would be credited in an account Gold Reserve Fund. Gold Reserve Fund will be utilised to take care of the risk of increase in gold price that will be borne by the government. (1) A P Shah Committee recommends MAT relief to FIIs Union Finance Ministry appointed committee chaired by retired SC judge A P Shah has recommended that Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) should not be imposed on FIIs retrospectively for the period preceding 1st April 2015 This recommendation is considered as a big relief to FIIs as government had exempted them from MAT starting April 1, 2015 in the Union Budget for but had not made the clarification retrospective imposition. In its report committee has mention that there is no legal basis for levying 20 per cent MAT on past capital gains of FIIs. Background

115 Union Finance Ministry had appointed this 3 member Committee on the issue of levying MAT on capital gains made by FIIs retrospectively. Members of Committee: A P Shah (Chairman), Dr. Girish Ahuja and Dr. Ashok Lahiri. The committee was constituted after the tax department had sent legal notices to 68 FIIs demanding around six hundred crore rupees as MAT dues of previous years. This had raked up a MAT controversy within FIIs and they had moved to court challenging this tax imposition. (2) Government launched education loan portal for students seeking loans On 20 August 2015, Government launched a web-based portal for the students seeking educational loans. In order to ensure that no student misses out on higher education due to lack of funds, finance minister in the Union Budget for had proposed to set a fully IT-based Student Financial Aid Authority. In line with this proposal this portal was launched with an aim to administer and monitor scholarship as well as educational loan schemes under the Pradhan Mantri Vidya Lakshmi Karyakram (PMVLK). The launch of this portal also aims to bring all banks providing educational loans under one roof. About the portal: The portal has been developed and maintained by NSDL e-governance Infrastructure Limited (NSDL e-gov) under the guidance of Ministry of Finance, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development and Indian Banks Association (IBA). It is a first of its kind portal that provides access to information and makes application for educational loans provided by banks and also government scholarships under a single window. The portal also has a provision to apply to multiple banks for educational loans and facility for banks to download students loan applications among others. It also carter facility for banks to upload loan processing status and students can view status of their loan application and linkage to National Scholarship Portal for information and application for government scholarships on the dashboard of the portal. Up till now over 13 banks have registered and 22 educational loan schemes on the Vidya Lakshmi Portal.

116 SBI, Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Canara Bank & Union Bank of India have integrated their system with the portal for providing loan processing status to students. Note: PMVLK was launched on 15 July 2015 under the government s ambitious National Skill Development Mission. (3) BSE extends direct market access facility to foreign portfolio investors (FPI) On 19 August the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has extended the direct market access facility (DMA) to foreign portfolio investors (FPI). Henceforth, the foreign investors will have direct access to the exchange trading system in Indian stock market without any manual interventions of the broker. Earlier FPI had to conduct stock exchange trading in BSE through the broker who used to manually place the orders on their behalf. According to SEBI regulations FPI seeking to avail DMA facility would not have to enter into a separate broker- client agreement and it would be replaced by a simpler terms and conditions document. Broker s role: Henceforth the broker have to specifically authorize their clients and have to provide a technologically secure DMA system to their FPI clients. They are obliged to maintain client KYC records relating to exchange trading and have to maintain client margins in a separate bank account and also have to send settlement updates to the client including delivery/payment schedules. Implications: This step by BSE will provide FPI clients a direct control over their orders, now they can execute orders faster, secure and in transparent manner. It will increase liquidity in stock exchange market and will have lower impact costs for large orders. The FPI clients can now audit trails in better way and can use hedging and arbitrage opportunities through the use of decision support tools i.e. algorithms for trading in better way. About BSE:

117 Bombay Stock Exchange is the oldest stock exchange in Asia formed by eight native stock brokers association in 1875 located at Dala street, Mumbai. It got temporary approval by Bombay government in 1927 and permanent approval by Indian Government on 31 Aug Today it is 10th largest stock market in the world by market capitalization at $1.7 trillion and has more than 5,000 companies listed in it. (4) Reserve Bank of India granted in-principle approval to 11 applicants to start a payments bank Reserve Bank of India granted in-principle approval to 11 applicants to start payments banks. The Committee of the Central Board (CCB) of RBI has selected 11 entities among the 41 applicant who has the reach and the technological and financial strength to provide service to the customers and promote government s initiative of financial inclusion across the country. The selected applicants are: Reliance Industries Airtel M Commerce Services Tech Mahindra Vodafone m-pesa Aditya Birla Nuvo Department of Posts Cholamandalam Distribution Services Fino PayTech PayTm National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) Sun Pharma. As per RBI notification for Payment Banks: RBI has given in principle approval to these 11 applicants to set payment banks is valid for 18 month period. The payments banks will be able to take deposits and remittances, internet banking and other specified services but cannot undertake lending services. Their holding are restricted to a maximum balance of Rs 1 lakh per individual customer.

118 They can issue ATM/debit cards but not credit cards and can also issue other prepaid payment instruments. They can distribute non-risk sharing simple financial products like mutual funds and insurance products. Non resident Indians will not be allowed to open accounts in payment banks Finance Minister had directed RBI to create a framework for licensing payment banks so as to meet government s financial inclusion target. It is mandatory for payment banks to hold minimum capital of Rs. 100 crore. FDI of 74 per cent is allowed in payment bank. It is mandatory for payment banks to hold minimum capital of Rs. 100 crore. FDI of 74 per cent is allowed in payment bank. Selection: The applicants were detailed inspected by an External Advisory Committee (EAC) under the Chairmanship of Dr. Nachiket Mor the Director, Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India. Atal Pension Yojana(APY) for Social Security in India: Financial inclusion, social security, and low-cost benefits for the masses have been high on the NDA government s agenda. Ever since the NaMo government s ascent to the centre, PM Modi, FM Jaitley, and the Cabinet have worked relentlessly towards promulgation of new schemes that make financial security for the common man. The first step towards achievement of social security was the rollout of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). With Phase I being declared a major success and 1.8 crore accounts having been opened across the country, the government has flagged off three new schemes on 9 May 2015 two insurance schemes (Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana), and a pension scheme (Atal Pension Yojana). This is called Phase II of the PMJDY, since it was important to get people into mainstream banking before any benefits can be extended to them. Atal Pension Yojana: As our young population ages, it is also going to be pension-less. Encouraged by the success of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, I propose to work towards creating a universal social security system for all Indians that will ensure that no Indian citizen will have to worry about illness, accidents or penury in old age, said Finance Minister Jaitley in his February 2015 Budget speech. In keeping with this ideal, a National Pension Scheme, the Atal Pension Yojana will be effective from 1 June The scheme intends to bring pension benefits to allow people of the unorganised sector to enjoy social security with minimum contribution per month.people who work in the private sector or employed in occupations that do not give them the benefit of pension can apply for the scheme. They can opt for a fixed pension of INR 1,000 or 2,000 or 3,000 or 4,000 or 5,000 on attaining the age of 60. The amount of contribution and the individual s age will determine the pension. Upon the contributor s death, the spouse of the

119 contributor can claim the pension and after the spouse s death the nominee will be returned the corpus accrued.the amount collected under the scheme is to be managed by Pension Funds as per the investment pattern specified by the Government. Individual applicants will have no choice of pension funds or investment allocation. Benefits of Atal Pension Yojana: The Atal Pension Scheme will bring security to ageing Indians while at the same time promote a culture of savings and investment among the lower and lower middle class sections of society. One of the greatest benefits of the scheme may be enjoyed by the poorer sections of society. The government of India has decided to contribute 50 percent of the user s contribution or INR 1,000 a year (whichever is lower) for a period of five years. This contribution will, however, be enjoyed only by those who are not income tax payers and those who join the scheme before 31 December Indicative Contribution for Various Pension Options (in INR) Entry Age Monthly Pension INR 1000 Monthly Pension INR 2000 Monthly Pension INR 3000 Monthly Pension INR Monthly Pension INR Total Corpus 1,70,000 3,40,000 5,10,000 6,80,000 8,50,000 Launch across the Country The Atal Pension Scheme and the other insurance schemes were launched on 9 May, simultaneously by Union and Chief Ministers. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the scheme from Kolkata. Launch functions were held at about 116 locations across the country including state capitals and a number of district headquarters. Post its launch, 41,124 people have already registered for the scheme as on 11 May Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) What is Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) or Housing for All by 2022 scheme? Housing for All by 2022 Scheme has been renamed to Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). This scheme has been launched on 25th June, 2015 at a launch ceremony in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. This latest housing scheme launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi aims to construct about Two Crore

120 houses in the country for common citizen, within these seven years when country will have celebrates its 75th Independence Day on People who will be benefited through this scheme will be homeless ones, poor urban people and belonging to EWS and LIG categories. Who will be the beneficiary of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)? According to the terms of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) Scheme, the government of India will undertake to construct about two Crore houses by the year The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is very much clear about its goals affordable housing for all by The main beneficiaries of PM Narendra Modi recently launched Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) Scheme or housing for all by 2022 scheme will be following categories; Women People belonging to Scheduled Casts (SC) People belonging to Scheduled Tribes (ST) Economically weaker section (EWS) Apart from above mention groups members of society who often find themselves out of a home, seniors and differently-abled people shall also gain preference in allotment of houses. They shall also be able to choose a ground-floor house if need be. Apart from this, it is also mandatory that while registering to avail the benefits of the scheme, the beneficiaries must necessarily mention their mother or wife s name. Central Government has planned to grant subsidy for these beneficiaries to buy home. The subsidy amount will be from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs lakhs. What are the features of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) Scheme? As per the terms of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) Scheme some of the important features about the scheme listed here; Interest Subsidy of 6.5 % on housing loan will be provided for 15 years to the beneficiaries of PMAY 2022 scheme. While Registering for the various Affordable housing Schemes under the PMAY 2022 scheme, it would be important for the applicants to include the name of Mother or Wife. Note: The newly constructed houses will either be allotted on the name of the women head of the family or it could be joint name of man and woen head of family Older and Differently-abled persons will be given preference in the allotment of ground floors under the PM Awas Yojana Scheme Eco Friendly and sustainable technologies will be used during the construction process of housing under Housing for All by 2022 scheme.

121 Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) An accidental insurance scheme The Pradhan Mantri of India Narendra Modi has launched another flagship social security scheme: Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) - An accidental Death and Disability insurance scheme. A large part of the Indian population lives in rural areas and most of them are not covered under any kind of social security scheme. A large section of this population has not even gained the benefits of the banking system and most are still unaware of various governmental schemes that are launched from time to time. To correct this serious anomaly in the lives of ordinary and poor people, the Pradhan Mantri of India has launched the PMSBY scheme in Kolkata on 9 May 2015, along with two other insurance- and pensionrelated schemes. Such is the seriousness of the government to make these schemes a success that almost the entire senior Cabinet has fanned out to various state capitals and major towns to simultaneously launch the scheme and ensure its successful implementation. Who is eligible to be covered under PMSBY? Any person between the age of 18 and 70 with a savings bank account and Aadhaar Card can join the scheme.a person will need to fill out a simple form, mentioning the name of the nominee and linking the Aadhaar Card to the bank account. The person will need to submit the form each year before 1st June to continue the scheme.with this, the account can be easily activated and the entire premium due will be auto-debited from his or her account. In other words, all a person has to do is to open a bank account and then ensure the availability of at least Rs. 12/- before 1st June of each year to ensure automatic renewal of the scheme. A person has the option to go in for a long-term inclusion under the scheme by instructing the bank to auto-renew the scheme every year. Who will implement the PMSBY? All government-sponsored general insurance companies will offer the scheme, while other insurance companies will have the option to join the program delivery by signing-up with banks. ABBREVIATIONS PMKKKY: Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana DMFs- District Mineral Foundations MSOs- Multi System Operators LCOs- Local Cable Operators IIFT- Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

122 OROP- One Rank One Pension CRIS- Centre for Railway Information Systems PMJDY- Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana RPBD- Regional Pravasi Bhartiya Divas GDP- Gross Domestic Product UNSC- United Nations Security Council IGAD- Intergovernmental Authority on Development W20- Women20 Ccotvm- Cash/Smart Card Operated Ticket Vending Machine MDG- Millennium Development Goals IPDS- Integrated Power Development Scheme FMC- Forward Markets Commission NEFT- National Electronic Fund Transfer SEBI- Securities and Exchange Board of India KYC- Know Your Customer SIDBI- Small Industries Development Bank of India NBFC- Non Banking Finance Companies BCSBI- Banking Codes and Standards Board of India NABARD- National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development ALM- Asset Liability Management IRDA- Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority

123 DSCR- Debt Service Coverage Ratio NPV- Net Present Value IRDA- Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India CAR- Capital Adequacy Ratio NSE- National Stock Exchange CIBIL- Credit Information Bureau of India Limited FCNR- Foreign Currency Non Resident Deposit Accounts SLR- Statutory Liquidity Ratio GDP Gross Domestic Product INR- Indian Rupee NHB National Housing Bank ISO International Standards Organization ICICI =Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India AFS Available For Sale USD US Dollars ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode CAG -Controller and Auditor General of India DD -Demand Draft FDI Foreign Direct Investment BSCS- Basel Committee on Banking Supervision SME- Small and Medium Industries

124 ASSOCHAM- Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India NBFC- Non Banking Finance Companies BOE- Bill of Exchange MCA- Ministry Of Company Affairs ICRA- Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency of India Limited SHG- Self Help Group NEFT- National Electronic Fund Transfer SEBI- Securities and Exchange Board of India KYC- Know Your Customer LIC- Life Insurance Corporation of India SIDBI- Small Industries Development Bank of India NBFC- Non Banking Finance Companies BCSBI- Banking Codes and Standards Board of India RBI- Reserve Bank of India KCC- Kisan Credit Card RTGS- Real Time Gross Settlement NRI- Non Resident Indian LAMPS- Large Sized Adivasi Multipurpose Societies NABARD- National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development EXIM bank- Export and Import Bank of India AMRUT Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation

125 APY - Atal Pension Yojana MRT Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy PMJJBY - Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana PMSBY - Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana PMAY- Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana UPI Unified Payment Interface TLCs Tech Learning Centres POTUS NERPAP IRNSS President of the United States National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System IMPORTANT DAYS 1st October- International Day of Older Persons, World Vegetarian Day, National Voluntary Blood Donation Day - India 2nd October- World Smile Day, International Day of Non-Violence, Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti 4th October- World Animal Day 5th October- World Teacher's Day, World Habitat Day, World Architecture Day 8th October- Indian Air force Day, World Sight Day 9th October- World Post Day 10th October- Indian National Postal Day, World Mental Health Day 11th October- International Day of the Girl Child

126 13th October- International Day for Disaster Reduction, World Calamity Control Day 14th October- World Standards Day 15th October- International Day of Rural Women, Global Handwashing Day White Cane Safety Day, World Maths Day 16th October- World Food Day 17th October- Anti-Poverty Day 24th October- United Nations Day, World Development Information Day 31st October- World Savings Day 05 Sep Indian National Teachers' Day 08 Sep International Literacy Day 10 Sep World Suicide Prevention Day 14 Sep Hindi Diwas. 16 Sep - World Ozone Day 22 September- World Rhino Day, It is first announced by WWF South Africa in Sep Birth Anniversary of Rashtrakavi Ramdhari Singh Dinkar. 15 Sep Engineer's Day in India, International Day of Democracy 21 Sep UN International Day of Peace, World Alzheimer's day 25 Sep - Social Justice Day 28 Sep - World Rabies Day 27 Sep - World Tourism Day 29 Sep - World Heart Day

127 August 6: August 6: August 9: August 9: August 12: August 14: August 15: August 19: August 19: August 20: August 29: August 30: July 1 : July 11: July 12: July 18: July 28 : JULY 29: July 30: Hiroshima Day Anti Nuclear Day Quit India Movement Day Nagasaki Day International youth Day Pakistan's Independence Day India's Independence Day World Humanitarian Day World Photography Day Sadbhavana Diwas National Sports Day of India (Dhyanchand's Birth Day) Small Industry Day National doctor s Day World Population Day Malala Day Nelson Mandela International Day World Nature Conservation day, World Hepatitis Day World Tiger Day International Day of Friendship

128 SPECIAL FEATURES (1) The 2015 Nobel Prize PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to William C. Campbell, Satoshi Omura and YouYou Tu. Campbell, an Irishman and research fellow emeritus at Drew University in Madison, N.J., and Japanese scientist Satoshi Omura, professor emeritus at Kitasato University, will receive half of the prize for their novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites. They will share the prize with YouYou Tu, chief professor at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, for her work in significantly reducing the mortality rates of patients suffering from malaria. She is the 12th woman to receive the Nobel Prize in the medicine category. The winners will share the 8 million Swedish kronor (about $960,000) prize money with one half going to Campbell and Omura, and the other to Tu. Each winner will also get a diploma and a gold medal at the annual award ceremony on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of prize founder Alfred Nobel. The diseases Lymphatic Filariasis Commonly known as elephantiasis; tropical disease caused by transmission of parasites classified as nematodes (roundworms) of the family Filariodideato, to humans by mosquitoes. Adult worms lodge in lymphatic system and disrupt immune system. Causes abnormal enlargement of body parts, pain, severe disability and social stigma. Over 120 million people are infected, about 40 million disfigured or incapacitated. About 1.23 billion in 58 countries are threatened 80% of whom live in 10 countries, including India, Bangladesh and Nepal. River Blindness Also known as onchocerciasis or Robles Disease; is caused by transmission of the parasitic worm Onchocerca volvulus by black flies of the genus Simulium. Vector lives near rivers, thus the name. Inside the host, the worms create larvae that travel to the skin, and infect other flies that bite the victim. Symptoms include severe itching, eruptions under the skin, and blindness.

129 About million are infected; some 0.8 million have some degree of vision loss. Most infections in sub-saharan Africa. Malaria Caused by Plasmodium parasite that spreads through the bites of infected Anopheles mosquitoes, which bite mainly between dusk and dawn. In 2013, malaria caused an estimated 5,84,000 deaths, with an uncertainty range of 3,67,000 to 7,55,000, mostly among African children. This is especially tragic because malaria is both preventable and curable. According to the latest estimates, released in December 2014, there were about 198 million cases of malaria in Mortality rates have fallen by 47% globally since 2000, and by 54% in the WHO African Region. PHYSICS The Nobel Prize 2015 in Physics has been given jointly to Takaaki Kajita from the University of Tokyo and Arthur B. McDonald from Queen's University, Canada. The Nobel was awarded "for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass. Mr. Kajita discovered that neutrinos from the atmosphere switch between two identities when coming to Japan's Super-Kamiokande neutrino detector. The 2002 Physics Nobel was awarded for pioneering contributions for the detection of cosmic neutrinos". On the other hand, the research group Mr. McDonald demonstrated that the neutrinos from the Sun were not disappearing on their way to Earth. Instead they were captured with a different identity when arriving to the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory. Compared to theoretical calculations of the number of neutrinos, up to two thirds of the neutrinos were missing in measurements performed on Earth. Now, the two experiments discovered that the neutrinos had changed identities. The discovery led to the far-reaching conclusion that neutrinos, which for a long time were considered massless, must have some mass, however small. Mr. Kajita is director of the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research and professor at the University of Tokyo. Mr. McDonald is a professor emeritus at Queen s University in Kingston, Canada. The winners will share the 8 million Swedish kronor (about $960,000) prize money with one half going to Mr. McDonand and the other to Mr Kajita. Each winner will also get a diploma and a gold medal at the annual award ceremony on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of prize founder Alfred Nobel.

130 CHEMISTRY The Nobel Prize 2015 in Chemistry has been jointly awarded to Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar. The Nobel was awarded for mechanistic studies of DNA repair. Mr. Lindahl is from the Francis Crick Institute. "He 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 a molecular machinery, base excision repair, which constantly counteracts the collapse of our DNA," said the Nobel Institute in a statement. Mr. Lindahl is also the 29th Nobel Laureate born in Sweden. Mr. Modrich is from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Duke University School of Medicine. "He 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 thousandfold. Congenital defects in mismatch repair are known, for example, to cause a hereditary variant of colon cancer," added the release. Mr. Sancar is from the University of North Carolina. "He has mapped nucleotide excision repair, the mechanism that cells use to repair UV damage to DNA. People born with defects in this repair sstem will develop skin cancer if they are exposed to sunlight. The cell also utilises nucleotide excision repair to correct defects caused by mutagenic substances, among other things," said the release. "Their work has provided fundamental knowledge of how a living cell functions and is, for instance, used for the development of new cancer treatments," said the press release. LITERATURE Belarussian writer Svetlana Alexievich won the 2015 Nobel Literature Prize. The 67-year-old has been honoured for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time. Alexievich has drawn international acclaim with her emotional accounts of the Chernobyl disaster and World War II based on witness accounts. Chronicling such horrors in the first person through the words of witnesses, Alexievich has seen her works translated into numerous languages and scooped international awards. But her books, controversially written in Russian, are not published in her home country, long ruled by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, amid what the author has described as a creeping censorship.

131 Alexievich, only the 14th woman to be awarded the Nobel literature prize, takes home the sum of eight million Swedish kronor (around $950,000 or 855,000). PEACE The 2015 Nobel Peace Prize went to the National Dialogue Quartet in Tunisia. The prize was awarded to the group for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of The National Dialogue Quartet consists of four organisations in Tunisian civil society - the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA), the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH), and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers. After the Arab Spring in Tunisia in , the Quartet paved the way for a peaceful dialogue between the citizens. The Quartet was formed in the summer of 2013 when the democratisation process was in danger of collapsing as a result of political assassinations and widespread social unrest. It established an alternative, peaceful political process at a time when the country was on the brink of civil war. It was thus instrumental in enabling Tunisia, in the space of a few years, to establish a constitutional system of government guaranteeing fundamental rights for the entire population, irrespective of gender, political conviction or religious belief. ECONOMICS British-born economist Angus Deaton won the 2015 economics Nobel Prize for "his analysis of consumption, poverty and welfare". Deaton's work had been a major influence on policy making, helping for example to determine which social groups are affected by an increase of value-added tax on food. Deaton also spearheaded the use of household survey data in developing countries, especially data on consumption, to measure living standards and poverty. The economics prize, officially called the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, was established in It was not a part of the original group of awards set out in dynamite tycoon Nobel's 1895 will. Deaton, who was born in Edinburgh and holds both British and U.S. citizenship, is professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University in the United States.

132 ABOUT NOBEL PRIZES The prizes in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace were established by the will of Alfred Nobel, a wealthy Swedish industrialist and the inventor of dynamite. The first awards were given in 1901, five years after Nobel s death. Each prize is worth 8 million Swedish kronor ($960,000) and is handed out with a diploma and gold medal on December 10. The Nobel Peace Prize is presented in Norway while the other awards are handed out in Sweden. That s how Alfred Nobel wanted it. (1) Global Investors Meet 2015 held in Tamil Nadu The Global Investors Meet (GIM 2015) was on 10 September 2015 held in Tamil Nadu to woo investors to invest in the state. The GIM 2015 was officially inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at the Chennai Trade Centre. Nine countries registered themselves as partner nations for this mega investment event. Highlights of the GIM 2015 Tamil Nadu attracted investments worth more than 2 Lakh 42 thousand Crore rupees at Global Investors Meet, double of the targeted investment that was 1 lakh crore rupees. A total of 98 Memorandum of Understanding were signed and promised that the investments are safe and mutually beneficial. Almost 90 percent of the investments were in the traditionally strong areas of manufacturing and energy sectors. Tyre majors MRF Ltd, Apollo Tyres and various other companies in the manufacturing sector have proposed to invest close to crore rupees that would generate over jobs in Tamil Nadu. FICCI jointly with Tamil Nadu Government organised Investment Roadshows at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Pune, Mumbai and Kolkata for Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet HCL will invest over 1 billion US dollars over the next five years in southern Tamil Nadu. Mahindra & Mahindra will invest 2000 crore rupees in the state.

133 Yamaha will set up a third plant in Tamil Nadu while TVS Motor Company will expand its footprint in Hosur and TICEL Bio Park II will also be set up. Several agreements were signed for setting up of 5345 MW solar power projects involving an outlay of crore rupees. (2) G20 launched W20 to enhance role of women in business The G20 grouping on 6 September 2015 launched the W20 (Women20) in Ankara, Turkey. The focus of the W20 is to enhance the role of women in business. Though the grouping was created in April 2015 it was formally launched on the sidelines of the G-20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. G20 is a group of major economies formed to bring together systemically important industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy. The mandate of W20 is to advance and realize recent G20 commitments on Achieving women s full economic and social participation (Los Cabos Leaders Declaration, 2012). Enhancing women s financial inclusion and education (St Petersburg Leaders Declaration, 2013). Reducing the participation gap between women and men in G20 countries by 25 per cent by 2025, taking into account national circumstances (Brisbane Leaders Declaration, 2014). It is in addition to the existing official engagement groups of the G20-B20 (Business20), C20 (Civil society20), L20 (Labour20), T20 (Think20) and Y20 (Youth20). Gulden Turktan was appointed as the first president of the group. She is one of the founders and President of the Women Entrepreneurs' Association in Turkey (KAGIDER), and is currently a member of its Executive Board. (3) Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis won 2015 US Open Women's Doubles title : Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis on 13 September 2015 won the US Open Women s Doubles title. The top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated the fourth-seeded duo of Casey Dellacqua (Kazakhstan) and Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) in the summit clash held in New York.

134 Incidentally, Martina Hingis also won the Mixed-Doubles title on 12 September 2015 with Leander Paes. For Sania-Hingis duo, the title was the second Grand Slam in a row as they won their maiden title in July 2015 at the Wimbledon in England. Now, Sania has five Grand Slam titles overall including three mixed doubles trophies. In the Mixed doubles category, she won Australian Open (2009) and French Open (2012) with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi and the 2014 US Open with Bruno Soares. Apart from the two titles with Sania in 2015, Hingis won the Wimbledon doubles with Helena Sukova in 1996 and Jana Novotna in Earlier, the Indo-Swiss pair had won doubles title of BNP Paribas Open on 21 March 2015 and WTA Family Circle Cup doubles title on 12 April (4) Railway Ministry launched three IT Initiatives developed by CRIS: The Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu on 1 September 2015 launched three IT initiatives developed by Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), IT arm of Ministry of Railways. These initiatives are: Paperless unreserved ticketing through mobile phone between New Delhi-Palwal section (nr) Currency coin cum card operated automatic ticket vending machines at New Delhi railway station Mobile application for freight operations (PARICHAALAN) Paperless unreserved ticketing mobile application: CRIS has developed a paperless Unreserved Ticketing feature in Mobile Application utsonmobile both for Android and Windows platforms. This will eliminate the need for printing of Unreserved Tickets on ATVMs at the stations. User can download App from Google Play Store or Window Store. The application has now been implemented on complete suburban area of Chennai & Mumbai Western Railway suburban section which covers 125 stations over 295 kms distance. Presently, about 1600 tickets are being booked daily by the passengers through this application. The application is now being implemented on the New Delhi-Palwal section of Northern Railway covering 11 stations over 57 kms distance. Payment for the ticket is done through the Railway Wallet feature in the App. After booking the ticket, the passenger will get the ticket confirmation screen which contains limited information of the ticket.

135 The ticket has distinct colour scheme everyday and it is embedded with Quick Response (QR) code. For the purpose of ticket checking, the application has various features such as colour scheme, show ticket features, secret code of the day, booking time of the ticket. (5) The Group of Four (G4) Summit: The Group of Four (G4) Summit took place on 26 September 2015 after almost a decade. G4 was formed with the objective of supporting each other s bids for permanent seats in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Japan, Germany, India and Brazil are the third, fourth, seventh and eighth biggest economies, respectively. In terms of population, India is the second biggest, Brazil 5th, Japan 10th and Germany 16th biggest in the world. Unlike the G7, where the common denominator is the economy and long-term political motives, the G4 s primary aim is the permanent member seats on the UNSC. Their economic and political influence has grown significantly in the last decades, reaching a scope comparable to the permanent members (P5). However, the G4 s bids are often opposed by Uniting for Consensus movement, and particularly their economic competitors or political rivals. The G4 Summit 2015 took place on 26 September 2015 at New York s Waldorf Astoria Hotel and was attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The leaders emphasized that the G4 countries are legitimate candidates for permanent membership in an expanded and reformed Security Council and supported one another s candidature. (6) Bandhan Bank: A New Entrant in the Banking Sector The banking sector seems to get a new entrant and a boost in the economy in India. After 11 years, India has got a new private bank Bandhan Bank. The bank is a full-fledged commercial bank that came into being recently. Bandhan is also the first microfinance company in India that has been transformed into a bank. It got a banking licence from the Reserve Bank of India in The bank is set up to cater to the needs of the unorganised sector such as daily wage earners and women running small business. It will offer saving, insurance and remittance services. The bank focuses on Eastern India as banking penetration is still poor in the region.

136 About Bandhan Bank Bandhan came into being on 23 August 2015 and is headquartered in Kolkata. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated the bank in at the Science City Auditorium in Kolkata. The inauguration ceremony was attended by policy makers, regulators and luminaries from financial sector. Besides its founder, Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Singapore Sovereign Wealth Fund GIC, World Bank s International Finance Corporation (IFC), North Eastern Financial Inclusion Trust, Financial Inclusion Trust, Bandhan Employees Welfare Trust and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) are the main investors of the bank. History Previously, Bandhan Bank was Bandhan one of the largest microfinance companies of India and world s largest non-deposit-accepting microfinance institution (MFI). The microfinance company was founded by Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, who is also its Chairman and Managing Director. The microfinance company lent money to small-scale business, low income women entrepreneurs and Self Help Groups (SHGs). Bandhan was established in 2001 and has total assets of approximately Rs.6,770 crore at the time of gaining a bank licence. With more than 13,000 employees, Bandhan was operating from more than 2,000 branches across the country. Bandhan Bank Begins Operations The bank opened 501 branches where operations have commenced. It started operations with 1.43 crore accounts and Rs. 10,500 crore loan book across the country. It opened 2022 service centres and 50 ATMs across 24 states. It has hired 19,500 employees as of now. It has opened branches in few states 220 in West Bengal, 67 in Bihar, 60 in Assam, 21 in Maharashtra, 20 in Tripura and Uttar Pradesh and 15 in Jharkhand. It is said that 71% of its branches will be in rural areas, which will include 35% branches in unbanked rural regions. It garnered the deposit of Rs. 80 crore and 60,000 new accounts on the first day of its operations. It will have 18 such branches, out of all the branches, which will be open seven days a week. It plans to increase the number of branches to 632 and add 250 ATMs in 27 states by the end of the current fiscal year. (7) Preferential Treatment by India to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Trade in Services in the WTO:

137 The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, gave its approval for notification of Preferential Treatment by India to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Trade in Services in the WTO. India will notify preferential treatment to the LDCs in Trade in Services in respect of: 1. Article XVI of the GATS (Market Access); 2. Technical Assistance and capacity building; and 3. Waiver of visa fees for LDC applicants applying for Indian Business and Employment visas. The preferences will be bound with validity for 15 years from the date of notification by India. A generous offer in Trade in Services by India should win the country goodwill of LDCs. India has already made a very generous offer to LDCs in the area of Trade in Goods in the form of a Duty Free Tariff Preference (DFTF) scheme. An equally generous offer in Trade in Services will help India preserve and consolidate its leadership position on LDC issues. Further, given the development dimension of the Doha Round of the WTO, it is important that India makes liberal offers to LDCs in Trade in Services also. Moreover, several of the LDCs are located in South Asia while majority are in Africa with whom India maintains special relations. India's preferential treatment to the LDCs in Trade in Services would involve a cost of Rs. 6.5 crore annually on account of waiver of visa fees and Rs. 2.5 to 3 crore, per annum, for providing training in management and technical consultancy courses to LDC applicants. As regards offers under Article XVI of the GATS (Market Access) is concerned, there are no direct financial implications. Background: (1) As per the WTO mandate, decisions of the WTO Ministerial Conferences and requests made by the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), developed country and developing country members of the WTO, in a position to do so, were to voluntarily consider providing LDCs preferential treatment in Trade in Services.

138 (2) Union Government announces Rs 1.25 lakh crore special package for Bihar Union Government has announced 1.25 lakh crore rupees special package for poll bound Bihar as part of Prime Minister s Bihar Package. It was announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Arrah, Bihar.It was announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Arrah, Bihar. Key facts The special package to Bihar was declared in line with the on-going national social sector schemes of Union Government. These schemes are Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Free LPG connections to BPL and Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan. Roads and Railways: Off the total package amount around 55 thousand crore rupees will be spent on 4 laning and widening of highways. It will include construction of bridges across Sone, Kosi and Ganga, rivers and 12 Rail overbridges. Besides, around 14 thousand crore rupees will be provided for rural roads. Barauni Refinery: Over 21,000 crore rupees will be allocated for expansion of Barauni Refinery and setting up of new Petrochemical Plant along with construction of Gas pipelines and massive expansion in domestic LPG connections. Electrification: Around 16,000 crore rupees will be earmarked for electrification of villages and towns and over 3000 crore rupees for farmers welfare. Other investments: It will include over crore rupees which is unspent amount of 2013 Package given to state for the ongoing works of National Highways and Ultra Mega Power Project in Banka. (3) ICICI Bank launches Smart Vault digital locker facility India s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank has launched Smart Vault first of its kind fully automated digital locker facility in India. It was launched by Managing Director (MD) and CEO of ICICI Bank, Chanda Kochhar in New Delhi. Key features of Smart Vault The locker is equipped with multi-layer security system, including PIN, biometric and debit cards authentication. This system has been designed in lines with Make In India programme as it has been manufactured and designed by Indian partners of ICICI Bank. Customers can access the vault without any intervention by the branch staff and the facility will be available to customers even on weekends and post banking hours.

139 The vault facility uses advance robotic technology to access the lockers from the safe vault. The lockers will be available in three different sizes and charges will depend on the size. (4) Special Olympics World Games Los Angeles 2015 (LA2015) With 6500 athletes and 2000 coaches representing 165 countries, along with volunteers and an anticipated spectators, the 2015 Special Olympics World Games being staged in Los Angeles between 25 July 25 and 2 August 2015 will be the largest sports and humanitarian event anywhere in the world in It is also the single biggest event in Los Angeles since the 1984 Olympic Games. Honorary Chairs of the Games are President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and California Governor Jerry Brown serving as Honorary Hosts. Fourteen year old Master Prabhroop Sekhon on 31 July 2015 won two gold medals in 300 metre and 500 metre Roller Skating at the Special Olympics World Summer Games. The event is being held at Los Angeles, USA. Sekhon is a student of ASHA School in Lucknow Cantt where he was coached and selected for various camps at State and National level as one amongst the 241 participants representing India. He has been a student of ASHA School since Sep An Autistic student, Prabhroop Sekhon is the son of a serving Air Force Officer, Group Captain BS Sekhon. (5) 48th ASEAN Foreign Ministers meet held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia The 48th ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Foreign Ministers meet was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia between 4 August and 6 August The meet was chaired by Anifah Aman, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia. The meet was held under the theme "Our People, Our Community, Our Vision", to create an ASEAN Community which is truly people-oriented, people-centred comprising all areas of cooperation. The foreign ministers of ASEAN had a productive discussion revolving round the theme of the meet. They also discussed regional and international issues as well as their ongoing efforts to maintain peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

140 ASEAN is a political and economic organisation of ten Southeast Asian countries. It was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Since then, membership has expanded to include Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), and Vietnam. The group aims to accelerating economic growth, social progress, and socio-cultural evolution among its members, protection of regional peace and stability, and opportunities for member countries to resolve differences peacefully. Besides, the ASEAN foreign ministers meet was participated by India s Minister of State for External Affairs of India Gen (Retd) VK Singh. On the sidelines of the of ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers' meet, Singh held talks with the foreign ministers of ASEAN countries. (1) 2015 Wimbledon Championships The 2015 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament which took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom, from 29 June to 12 July It was the 129th edition of the championships. It is organised by the All England Lawn Tennis Club and the International Tennis Federation. Novak Djokovic of Serbia won his third Wimbledon title in men's singles. Serena Williams won her sixth Wimbledon. The tournament was an event run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is part of the 2015 ATP World Tour and the 2015 WTA Tour calendars under the Grand Slam category. Prize money The Wimbledon total prize money for 2015 has been increased by 7% to 26.75m. The winners of the men's and women's singles titles will earn 1.88m, up 120,000 from the previous year. List of winners- Women's Single title World Number One Serena Williams on 11 July 2015 has won Wimbledon Women's Single title. In the final clash played at Centre Court, London, Williams (US) defeated Garbine Muguruza (Spain) in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. Men s Singles title It s Novak Djokovic s ninth grand slam. He is 28. He did what was beyond Andy Murray: he broke down Roger Federer s serve with the depth and ferocity of his returns and whenever he was in trouble on his own serve, he always found a way. It was a bit anti-climactic in the end. The brilliant Djokovic refused to be steered off course after losing that tie-break in the second set.

141 Mixed Doubles title Seventh seed Indo-Swiss pair of Leander Paes and Martina Hingis won mixed doubles title at Wimbledon. In the final clash, the duo defeated the fifth seed Austrian-Hungarian team of Alexander Peya and Timea Babos 6-1, 6-1. Women s Doubles title Martina Hingis has waited 17 years half her life to add to her three Wimbledon titles. The wait is over after a topsy-turvy, tooth-and-nail women s doubles final in which the 34-year-old Swiss and her partner, India s Sania Mirza, defeated the formidable Russian pairing of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. Men s Double title Jean-Julien Rojer (Netherlands) and Horia Tecău (Romania) pair won the 2015 men s Doubles Wimbledon Title. In the final match they defeated Jamie Murray (UK) and John Peers (Australia) pair by 7 5, 6 4, 6 4 score. Boy s Doubles title Youngster Sumit Nagal entered the history books as only sixth Indian to win a Grand Slam junior title after winning the boys doubles trophy at the Wimbledon championships with partner Nam Hoang Ly, in London. (2) UNCTAD released World Investment Report 2015 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released the World Investment Report 2015 (WIR15) titled Reforming International Investment Governance. The WIR15 delineated the investment trends at the global, regional and country level during 2014 and offered a comparative perspective across the space and time. Highlights of World Investment Report 2015 In 2014, Global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows fell by 16 per cent to 1.23 trillion US dollars mostly because of the fragility of the global economy, policy uncertainty for investors and elevated geopolitical risks. However, they are projected to grow by 11 per cent to 1.4 trillion US dollars in Inward FDI flows to developing economies reached their highest level at 681 billion US dollars with a 2 per cent rise. China became the world s largest recipient of FDI and among the top 10 FDI recipients in the world, 5 are developing economies. Despite a revival in cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As), 399 billion US dollars during 2014, overall FDI flows to developed countries declined by 28 per cent to 499 billion US dollars. They were significantly affected by a single large scale divestment from the USA. Investments by developing-country multinational enterprises (MNEs) also reached a record level. They now invest abroad more than any other MNEs.

142 Nine of the 20 largest investor countries were from developing or transition economies. MNEs of developing countries continued to acquire developed country foreign affiliates in the developing world. The groups of countries negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) saw their combined share of global FDI inflows decline. However, ASEAN (up 5 per cent to 133 billion US dollars) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) (up 4 per cent to 363 billion US dollars) bucked the trend. In 2012, services accounted for 63 per cent of global FDI stock, more than twice the share of manufacturing. The primary sector represented less than 10 per cent of the total. In 2014, announced Greenfield investment declined by 2 per cent to 696 billion US dollars. Developing countries continued to attract two thirds of announced Greenfield investment. International production, production by MNEs, rose in 2014 generating value added of approximately 7.9 trillion US dollars. Developing Asia (up 9 per cent) saw FDI inflows grow to historically high levels. They reached nearly half a trillion dollars in 2014, further consolidating the region s position as the largest recipient in the world. In South Asia (up 16 per cent to 41 billion US dollars), FDI has increased in manufacturing, including in the automotive industry. (3) 7th BRICS Summit The 7th BRICS summit held on 8-9 July 2015 summit of the head of states or government of the BRICS member states. It was held in the Russian city of Ufa in Bashkortostan. During the 6th BRICS summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, the BRICS leaders signed a declaration reading: "Brazil, India, China and South Africa convey their appreciation to Russia for its offer to host the Seventh BRICS Summit in 2015 in the city of Ufa and extend their full support to that end." Agenda On 10 July 2015, the participating nations decided to lend in their own local currencies to the New Development Bank starting April The BRICS held a joint summit with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Eurasian, Economic Union in Ufa on 9 July. Invited countries are- Pakistan, Armenia, Belarus, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Highlights New Development Bank BRICS has established a New Development Bank, headquartered in Shanghai and headed by one of India's most eminent private-sector bankers. But China's major priority remains the 57-member Asian

143 Infrastructure and Investment Bank, of which India and Russia are the second and third largest stakeholders respectively (and to which Brazil and South Africa also belong). BRICS countries, including India, voiced concern over the fragile recovery of global growth and the potential spill over effects from the unconventional monetary policies of the developed countries and felt that the BRICS Development Bank will serve as a powerful instrument for financing infrastructure investment. The BRICS Bank will approve its inaugural investment projects in the first quarter of 2016 and will work closely with the China-led AIIB, said the declaration adopted at the Summit of five countries which are members of the AIIB. The Declaration of the BRICS countries, which also include Russia, China, Brazil and South Africa, said the global growth has witnessed fragile recovery. BRICS countries together account for about 18 per cent of global trade and their combined GDP (purchasing power parity) surged from USD 10 trillion in 2001 to USD 32.5 trillion in Referring to the New Development Bank (NDB) of BRICS, the declaration said it shall serve as a powerful instrument for financing infrastructure investment and sustainable development projects in the BRICS and other developing countries and emerging market economies. Industrial development The Ufa Declaration points to the industrial development as the key source of growth for the group. It recognize that industrial development is a fundamental source of growth for the BRICS countries, which possess ample natural resources and significant labour, intellectual and technical capacities. Increasing production and export of high value-added goods will help BRICS countries enhance their national economies, contribute to their participation in global value chains and improve their competitiveness. In this connection, it reaffirm the unique mandate of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development.. PM of India meets President of China Prime Minister Narendra Modi took up with President Xi Jinping the issue of China putting on technical hold India s move in the United Nations to question Pakistan on the release of 26/11 attack mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi. During the course of their 95-minute meeting ahead of the BRICS and SCO summit in the Russian city of Ufa, the two leaders also discussed border issues and the need to accelerate the boundary talks process. Modi also conveyed to Xi concerns in India over the economic corridor China is building through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). PM of India meets President of Russia India and Russia reviewed their bilateral relations as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin. Foreign secretary S Jaishankar said in a briefing after the 90-minute interaction

144 between the two leaders that energy sector cooperation was a key area for rebooting the engagement, including nuclear engagement and hydrocarbons. The nuclear cooperation includes building on negotiations to sign advance contract for the design of the third and fourth reactor units to come up at the Kudankulam site in Tamil Nadu. A contract for the design (of the third and fourth power units) has been under negotiation. 100-billion dollar forex pool pact inked, India s share at 18 billion dollar The central banks of the BRICS countries have signed an operating agreement on a $100 billion foreign exchange reserve pool that is being set up by the grouping s five member nations to help each other in case of any problems with dollar liquidity. The $100 billion pool aims to protect BRICS member states from currency volatility shocks. India will chip in with $18 billion. The agreement was signed in Moscow after the meeting of the finance ministers and heads of the central banks of BRICS, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) said in a statement. India to be inducted into Shanghai Cooperation group as member Russian President Vladimir Putin conveyed to PM Narendra Modi that the process of India s accession to the strategically-important Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has been set into motion. Putin, during the course of his bilateral talks with PM Modi ahead of the BRICS and SCO summits being held in this Russian city, said: We are beginning the process of full-fledged inclusion of India into the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Putin said it was a very important event, as Modi expressed his thanks. (3) Digital India Week Several initiatives have been taken for introduction of Information Technology to empower people. Some of the initiatives have resulted in development of products to extend various services in areas relating to health, education, labour and employment, commerce etc. The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi would launch the Digital India Week this evening urging people to gain knowledge and to empower themselves through the Digital India Programme of his Government. This programme has been envisaged and coordinated by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) in collaboration with various Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments. The Prime Minister as the Chairman of Monitoring Committee on Digital India, activities under the Digital India initiative is being carefully monitored. All the existing and ongoing e-governance initiatives have been revamped to align them with the principles of Digital India. The vision of Digital India programme also aims at inclusive growth in areas of electronic services, products, manufacturing and job opportunities etc. The vision of Digital India is centred on three key areas - (i) Digital Infrastructure as a Utility to Every Citizen (ii) Governance & Services on Demand and

145 (iii) Digital Empowerment of Citizens With the above vision, the Digital India programme aims to provide Broadband Highways, Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity, Public Internet Access Programme, E-Governance: Reforming Government through Technology, ekranti - Electronic Delivery of Services, Information for All, Electronics Manufacturing: Target Net Zero Imports, IT for Jobs and Early Harvest Programmes. Several projects/products have already launched or ready to be launched as indicated below: Digital Locker System aims to minimize the usage of physical documents and enable sharing of e-documents across agencies. The sharing of the e-documents will be done through registered repositories thereby ensuring the authenticity of the documents online. MyGov.in has been implemented as a platform for citizen engagement in governance, through a Discuss, Do and Disseminate approach. The mobile App for MyGov would bring these features to users on a mobile phone. Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) Mobile app would be used by people and Government organizations for achieving the goals of Swachh Bharat Mission. esign framework would allow citizens to digitally sign a document online using Aadhaar authentication. The Online Registration System (ORS) under the ehospital application has been introduced. This application provides important services such as online registration, payment of fees and appointment, online diagnostic reports, enquiring availability of blood online etc. National Scholarships Portal is a one stop solution for end to end scholarship process right from submission of student application, verification, sanction and disbursal to end beneficiary for all the scholarships provided by the Government of India. DeitY has undertaken an initiative namely Digitize India Platform (DIP) for large scale digitization of records in the country that would facilitate efficient delivery of services to the citizens. The Government of India has undertaken an initiative namely Bharat Net, a high speed digital highway to connect all 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats of country. This would be the world s largest rural broadband connectivity project using optical fibre. BSNL has introduced Next Generation Network (NGN), to replace 30 year old exchanges, which is an IP based technology to manage all types of services like voice, data, multimedia/ video and other types of packet switched communication services. BSNL has undertaken large scale deployment of Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the country. The user can latch on the BSNL Wi-Fi network through their mobile devices. To deliver citizen services electronically and improve the way citizens and authorities transact with each other, it is imperative to have ubiquitous connectivity. The government also realises this need as reflected by including broadband highways as one of the pillars of Digital India. While connectivity is one criterion, enabling and providing technologies to facilitate delivery of services to citizens forms the other.

146 The estimated impact of Digital India by 2019 would be cross cutting, ranging from broadband connectivity in all Panchayats, Wi-fi in schools and universities and Public Wi-Fihotspots. The programme will generate huge number of IT, Telecom and Electronics jobs, both directly and indirectly. Success of this programme will make India Digitally empowered and the leader in usage of IT in delivery of services related to various domains such as health, education, agriculture, banking, etc. ALL The Best!!!