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VAID’S ICS LUCKNOW B-36, Sector-C, Aliganj, Lucknow
Cont.9415011892/93
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NOVEMBER, 2015
Vaid’s ICS Lucknow B-36, Sector –C, Aliganj, Lucknow
Ph: 0522-2326249/ Mob: 9415011892/93
website: www.vaidicslucknow.com
VAID’S ICS LUCKNOW B-36, Sector-C, Aliganj, Lucknow
Cont.9415011892/93
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Content
Pages
1. National Events 3
2. International Events 5
3. Science & Technology 9
4. Economy 11
5. Environment 14
6. Sports 16
7. Awards 18
8. Appointments 20
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NATIONAL EVENTS
Union Government decided to impose
0.5% Swachh Bharat Cess on all
services Union Ministry of Finance on 6 November
2015 decided to impose 0.5 percent Swachh
Bharat Cess (SBC) on all taxable services. It
will be levied in addition to the 14 percent
service tax that is in force now.
The SBC will come into force on 15
November 2015. Its proceeds will be
exclusively used to support Swachh Bharat
initiative.
The decision to impose SBC is in tune with
the announcement made by the Union Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley in his budget 2015-16
budget speech advocating for 2 percent
additional cess to fund Swachh Bharat.
As per an estimate, the SBC is expected to
fetch additional 4000 crore rupees per annum in
tax revenues to the government.
The Union Government under the Swachh
Bharat Mission (SBM) is planning to spend
around 134000 crore rupees by 2019 to
construct 11 crore 11 lakh toilets in the country.
Union Government signed Loan
Agreement with Asian Development
Bank The Union Government on 9 November 2015
signed 273 million US dollar loan agreement
with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to
continue improving rural roads in the States of
Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha
and West Bengal.
The loan agreement was signed by S
Selvakumar, Joint Secretary (Bilateral
Cooperation), Department of Economic Affairs
and Teresa Kho, Country Director of ADB.
The loan represents the third tranche, which is
also the last tranche of the 800 million US
dollars financing facility under the Rural
Connectivity Investment Program. The loan
will help in constructing over 6000 kilometers
of all-weather rural roads and will benefit over
4200 rural habitations.
The Union Ministry of Rural Development
(MORD) is the executing agency of the project
at the central level, while the State Governments
of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh,
Odisha, and West Bengal will be handling the
overall implementation at the respective State
level.
The third tranche is expected to be completed
by December 2017. The implementing agencies
at the State level will be the respective State
Rural Roads Development Agencies.
This loan will also be used to make further
investments as well as supporting improved road
design, road safety and asset management
measures and training with women actively
involved in all aspects.
Union Government launched E-
Pathshala, Saransh, Shaala Siddhi
Portals The Union Human Resource Development
Minister Smriti Irani on 7 November 2015
launched the e-Pathshala, Saaransh and National
Programme on School Standards and Evaluation
Framework (Shala Siddhi) web portals/ mobile
apps.
These portals were launched during the
edNEXT, the National Conference on ICT in
School Education that was held at New Delhi.
During the Conference, Shala Darpan, MDM-
IVRS and Ekta project from Alwar, Rajasthan
were also show-cased.
E-Pathshala web portal-
• E-Pathshala is a web portal which hosts
educational resources for Students, Teachers,
Parents, researchers and educators.
• It contains textbooks and other e-books as E-
Pub 3.0 and Flipbooks in English, Hindi and
Urdu.
• It is available through especially developed
mobile app interface on Android, IOS and
windows platforms for wider access.
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Shaala Siddhi web portal-
• Shaala Siddhi web portal is a comprehensive
instrument for school evaluation which enables
the schools to evaluate their performance in
more focused and strategic manner.
• The web-portal will help all schools to assess
themselves and the results can be seen by all
enabling them to provide feedback.
• The initiative has already been successfully
piloted in four districts of Tamil Nadu.
Saransh platform-
• Saransh is a tool which allows the schools to
identify areas of improvement in students,
teachers and curriculum to facilitate and
implement change.
• The platform is presently available for classes
9th to 12th and provides a comprehensive
overview of standard 10th performance since
2007 and standard 12th performance since 2009
till the current academic session.
• Presently, results of CBSE are available on this
portal/app.
The event also showcased other ICT initiatives
including the IVR (Interactive Voice Response)
system to monitor the daily implementation of
Mid Day Meal scheme and Shaala Darpan, an
integrated platform to address all academic and
administrative requirements of schools, teachers,
parents and students.
President Pranab Mukherjee launched
research project Imprint India President Pranab Mukherjee on 5 November
2015 launched Imprint India, a Pan-IIT and IISc
joint initiative.
The project encourages the Indian technical
institutions to develop a blueprint for research to
crack major engineering and technology
challenges relevant to the nation.
Imprint India is a 1000 crore rupees project,
which aspires to: • Identify areas of immediate relevance to
society requiring innovation
• Direct scientific research into identified areas
• Ensure higher funding support for research
into these areas
• Measure outcomes of the research effort with
reference to impact on the standard of living in
the rural/urban areas
The Imprint India will focus on 10 themes and
each will be coordinated by one IIT/IISc.
The themes are: 1. Health Care - IIT Kharagpur
2. Computer Science and ICT – IIT Kharagpur
3. Advance Materials – IIT Kanpur
4. Water Resources and River systems – IIT
Kanpur
5. Sustainable Urban Design – IIT Roorkee
6. Defence – IIT Madras
7. Manufacturing – IIT Madras
8. Nano-technology Hardware- IIT Bombay
9. Environmental Science and Climate Change –
IISc, Bangalore
10. Energy Security – IIT Bombay
On the occasion, Prime Minister Narendra
Modi released the IMPRINT India brochure and
hand over the first copy to the President
Mukherjee.
Besides, an Inter Ministerial Group
(IMG) is being set up as the single window
mechanism. The group will shortlist research
projects by leading research and technology
institutes. It will also approve funds for the
same.
IMG will comprise of members from multiple
ministries, such as Ministry of Human Resource
Development (HRD), Ministry of Defence,
Department of Science & Technology,
Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Rural
Development and so on.
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INTERNATIONAL
EVENTS
India, Indonesia signed MoUs on
Energy, Culture Exchange India on 2 November 2015 signed two
Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with
Indonesia to strengthen it ties in energy and
culture exchange area. These MoUs were signed
in the presence of Vice President Hamid Ansari
and his counterpart Jusuf Kala in Jakarta.
The MoU on New and Renewable Energy
sector was signed between Indonesian Water
Resources and Mineral Minister and Indian
ambassador to Indonesia Gurjit Singh. The MoU
will help both nations to take steps in reducing
carbon emissions by 2030 by 35 percent in India
and 29 percent in Indonesia respectively.
Both the sides also signed a MoU for
Cooperation in Cultural field. Indonesia also
organised Sahabat India- The Festival of India
on its land in 2015.
India and Indonesia already enjoy a long
standing shared historical affinity and close
cultural ties. Indonesia is an important partner of
India among the ASEAN countries.
India re-elected to UN Commission on
International Trade Law India on 9 November 2015 was re-elected by
the General Assembly to a six year term on the
United Nations Commission on International
Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
Apart from India, 22 other countries including
the United States and Pakistan were also re-
elected to the UNCITRAL.
The Monday election was the fifth election
that India has won in 2015. The country also
won the re-election to the UN Human Rights
Council held in 2014.
In April 2015, the UN Economic and Social
Committee (ECOSOC) elected India to the
executive councils of UNICEF and the World
Food Programme, the governing council of the
United Nations Human Settlements Programme
(UN-Habitat) and the Commission on Crime
Prevention and Criminal Justice.
About UNCITRAL- The United Nations General Assembly by its
Resolution 2205 (XXI) of 17 December 1966
established the United Nations Commission on
International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) to
promote the progressive harmonization and
unification of international trade law.
The Commission is a legal body with
universal membership specializing in
commercial law reform worldwide for over 40
years. It carries out its work at annual sessions
held alternately in New York City and Vienna.
The Commission comprises of six working
groups to perform the substantive preparatory
work on topics within the Commission's
programme of work.
The six working groups and their current
topics are:
• Working Group I - Micro, Small and Medium-
sized Enterprises
• Working Group II - Arbitration and
Conciliation
• Working Group III - Online Dispute
Resolution
• Working Group IV - Electronic Commerce
• Working Group V - Insolvency Law
• Working Group VI - Security Interests
Terrorist attack in Paris; Hundreds
Killed Terrorists on 13 November 2015 attacked six
locations around Paris killing around 130
civilians and injuring another 200 people and
security personnel.
While majority of the deaths occurred in the
Bataclan concert venue, around 80000 football
fans in the Stade de France (National Stadium
of France) came under the deadliest attacks who
were watching a friendly match between France
and Germany.
To deal with impending attacks, France
President Francois Hollande, who was at the
venue during the attack, immediately convened
an emergency cabinet meeting outside the
stadium and announced a state of emergency.
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The decree enables the authorities to close
public places and impose curfews and
restrictions on the movement of traffic and
people.
France saw its most recent emergency in
November 2005 while the suburbs of Paris
came under a series of attacks by rioting mob.
The present attack in Paris is the deadliest
violence to strike France since World War II and
the second major terror incident in 2015 afterthe
Charlie Hebdo Shooting. In the January 2015 incident, terrorists
belonging to the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula (AQAP) killed 11 people when they
stormed into the offices of the French satirical
weekly newspaper in Paris.
India, Australia completed formalities
for Civil Nuclear Pact India and Australia on 15 November 2015
announced completion of procedures for
bringing the two-nation nuclear deal into force.
The deal was finalized at the bilateral meeting
between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his
Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull on the
sidelines of the G-20 Summit at Antalya in
Turkey.
With the completion of procedures, including
the administrative arrangements, India-Australia
civil nuclear agreement will enter into force and
India will be the first country to buy Australian
uranium without being a signatory to the
Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
Australia has the world’s highest Uranium
reserves (about a third of world’s recoverable
uranium resources and exports nearly, 7000
tonnes in a year) and is also a key member in the
Nuclear Suppliers Group where India is making
efforts to gain entry.
The civil nuclear agreement between India
and Australia was signed-in on 5 September
2014 during the state visit of Australian Prime
Minister Tony Abbott to India. However, the
decks for its implementation were cleared with
the announcement of completion of the
procedures to enforce the agreement.
India, UK announced commercial
deals worth 9 billion pounds India and the UK on 12 November 2015
announced commercial deals worth 9 billion
pounds in London.
The deals took place between the companies
operating from both the countries and were
agreed upon during the Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s visit to the UK.
Details of Commercial Deals-
Creative and retail- • Merlin Entertainments: It will open the first
Madame Tussauds in the sub-continent. It will
be set up in New Delhi in 2017. Further, it will
invest up to 50 million pounds over 10 years to
open more of company’s iconic brands that
include Discovery Centre and Sea Life
Aquarium.
• Apollo Hospitals: It partnered with Holland
& Barrett Internationalto open 1000 Holland
& Barrett outlets in India over the next 5 years.
The first store will open in New Delhi in
January 2016 with 115 outlets open at the end of
the year.
• Genus ABS will invest 1 million pounds in
India providing the latest dairy genetics and
constructing a state-of-the-art facility near
Pune in Maharashtra.
Logistics TVS is opening a 20 million pounds advanced
logistics facility in Barnsley (the UK) generating
100 new jobs, growing to 500 across the TVS
Group over 5 years. As part of Team Leidos, the
company is integral to delivering 500 million
pounds worth of procurement savings to the UK
Ministry of Defence over 13 years.
Finance and professional services • HDFC, India’s largest housing finance
company, has announced the proposal to issue
rupee denominated bonds overseas of up to
490 million pounds.
• Bharti Airtel Ltd announced that it intends to
issue its maiden sterling bond of up to 500
million pounds to be listed on the London
Stock Exchange.
• Major UK- based insurance
companies like Standard Life, Bupa and
Aviva have committed to invest a combined
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total of approximately 238 million pounds worth
of FDI in their Indian joint ventures.
• London Stock Exchange Group and Yes
Bank will sign a MoU to foster the development
around bond and equity issuance, with a strong
focus on green infrastructure finance. As part of
this MoU, the bank is expected to list a green
bond of up to 330 million pounds through
Medium Term Notes by December 2016.
• State Bank of India (SBI) and London Stock
Exchange Group have announced a
collaboration to create the FTSE-SBI India
Bonds Indices to be used initially by a new
investment fund run by SBI. These indices, to be
launched in the first half of 2016, will facilitate
investment into India’s bond markets and
support market liquidity and pricing.
• Zyfin and Sun Global announced that they
would be listing the world’s first India fixed
income exchange traded fund (ETF) on the
London Stock Exchange. This ETF will give
international investors access to the Indian fixed
income market, which is worth 1.3 trillion
dollars and is a vital source of finance for the
infrastructure sector.
• A new MoU on technical co-operation in the
rail sector was agreed which will boost
potential business opportunities for the rail
industry. Further, India announced its intention
to launch the first government-backed rupee
bond (Railway Rupee Bond) in London to fund
railway infrastructure development.
Energy • Lightsource Renewable Energy
Holdings has announced a 2 billion pounds
investment in India. They will design, install
and manage around 3 gigawatts of solar power
infrastructure in India over the next 5 years.
• UK technology company Intelligent Energy is
now facilitating an initial order of over 10000
hydrogen fuel cells, worth over 128 million
pounds.
• UK-listed OPG Power Ventures plc will
invest 2.9 billion pounds in India to create 4200
MW of new power capacity in India, of which
1000 MW will be solar power and 3200 MW
will be thermal and renewable power in
Tamil Nadu.
IT and cyber • Kloudpad Mobility Research will invest 100
million pounds produce the next generation of
smart watches, wearables and tablets in South
India. • Vodafone has announced investments in India
totaling 1.3 billion pounds of which 100 million
pounds will be used to create a payment
bank focused on serving the unbanked and
under banked and to accelerate India’s journey
towards a cashless economy.
• E-commerce cloud platform
provider, CloudBuy, will sign a contract
with the Confederation of Indian industry
(CII) for an online business to business
marketplace. Over the next 5 years the platform
is projected to facilitate transactions worth 3.5
billion pounds.
Healthcare
King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation
Trust and Indo UK Healthcare Pvt Ltd will
open King’s College Hospital in
Chandigarh.This is the first of a proposed 11
new Indo-UK institutes for health that will be
developed across India, which, when fully
implemented, would amount to a 1 billion pound
investment into India’s healthcare system.
Education • A partnership between the British Council
and TCS will see the global IT services firm
provide opportunities for 1000 graduate interns
from British universities to train and work in
India between 2016 and 2020.
• HSBC announced the launch of its Skills for
Life initiative in India, a programme to skill
75,000 disadvantaged young people and women
over 5 years.
• Indian integrated learning solutions
provider Dexler will set up Dexler Education
UK, its European headquarters, with an
investment of around 10 million pounds to
augment corporate training, higher education
and individual learning.
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UN Security Council approved French-
sponsored resolution urging action
against ISIS The United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
on 20 November 2015 unanimously adopted
a French-sponsored resolution 2249
(2015)calling all nations to take all necessary
measures to prevent and suppress the terrorist
acts of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and
other extremist groups.
Highlights of the resolution-
• It mentions that ISIS group constitutes a global
and unprecedented threat to international peace
and security and expresses its determination to
combat it by all means.
• It unequivocally condemns in the strongest
terms the horrifying terrorist attacks carried out
by the Islamic State in Sousse, Tunisia and
Ankara, Turkey in 2015.
• It urges UN member states to intensify their
efforts to stem the flow of foreign terrorist
fighters in Iraq and Syria and to prevent and
suppress the financing on terrorism.
• It is the 14th terrorism-related resolution
adopted by the UNSC since 1999.
However, the resolution does not constitute an
authorisation for military action because it is not
drafted under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter
which is the only way the United Nations can
give a green light to the use of force.
What led to the adoption of resolution?
The resolution was adopted by UNSC a week
after ISIS extremists had launched a coordinated
barbaric gun and bomb assault in Paris (France)
on 13 November 2015 that killed 130 people.
ISIS also claimed responsibility for twin
suicide bombings in Beirut (Lebanon) which
killed 43 people and for bombing of Russian
airliner which was crashed over Egypt’s Sinai
peninsula killing all 224 people on board earlier
in November 2015.
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SCIENCE &
TECHNOLOGY
Civil communications satellite
ChinaSat 2C launched by China China on 3 November 2015 launched a civil
communication satellite ChinaSat - 2C from the
Xichang space center in Sichuan province.
The satellite was launched aboard the launch
vehicle Long March 3B rocket which placed the
satellite in its orbit successfully. This launch
was 216th mission of Long March carrier rocket
series.
The telecommunication satellite will serve
customers in a swath of the Asia-Pacific with
television broadcasting, broadband multimedia
and data transmission services.
The satellite has been developed by China
Academy of Space Technology and is owned by
China Satellite Communications Co., which is
China's primary operator of civil
communications satellites. The firm is a state-
owned subsidiary of China Aerospace Science
and Technology Corp.
The satellite will provide television
broadcasting, data transmission, digital
broadband multimedia and media streaming
services in China and neighboring regions.
India's GSAT-15 communication
satellite launched successfully Indigenously made communications satellite
GSAT-15 was launched successfully on 11
November 2015 by the European Ariane 5 VA-
227 launch vehicle at 3:04 am.
The launch took place from Kourou in French
Guyana in South America.
The Ariane-5 rocket was hired at a cost of
approximately 581 crores rupees.
The 3164 kilogram GSAT-15 carries
communication transponders in Ku-band as well
as a GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation
(GAGAN)payload operating in L1 and L5
bands. An Arabsat communications satellite also
accompanied the GSAT-15 on the same launch.
The GSAT-15 was launched into
a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit
(GTO) after its co-passenger Arabsat-6B
(BADR-7) was injected into space.
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s
Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in
Karnataka took over the command and control
of GSAT-15 immediately after its separation
from the launch vehicle.
After the completion of orbit raising
operations, the two solar arrays and both the
antenna reflectors of GSAT-15 will be
deployed. Afterwards, the satellite will be put in
its final orbital configuration.
GSAT-15 will be positioned at 93.5 degrees
East longitude in the geostationary orbit along
with the operational INSAT-3A and INSAT-4B
satellites. After the successful completion of all
the in-orbit tests, GSAT-15 will be ready for
operational use.
GSAT-15 is the 10th communication satellite
and has an estimated lifespan of 12 years. It will
augment telecommunication, Direct-To-Home
and radio navigation services.
China’s Tianhe-2 retained its position
as World’s most powerful
Supercomputer Tianhe-2, the supercomputer of China,
retained its numero uno position as the most
powerful supercomputer in the world. This was
revealed by the 46th edition of the bi-annual
TOP500 list of the world’s most powerful
supercomputers released on 17 November 2015.
The supercomputer developed by China’s
National University of Defence technology
topped the list for the sixth consecutive time.
Tianhe-2 means Milky Way-2 and it led the
list with a performance of 33.86 petaflop per
seconds (quadrillions of calculations per second
or Pflop/s) on the Linpack benchmark.
Main Highlights of TOP500 list-
Top 10 in the list largely remain unchanged
compared to July 2015 TOP500 list with only
two new entries.
The two new entries are: Trinity
supercomputer built by Cray and jointly
deployed by the Department of Energy’s (DOE)
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Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories,
and the Hazel-Hen system built by Cray and
installed at the HLRS -
Höchstleistungsrechenzentrum Stuttgart in
Germany.
China nearly tripled the number of systems
on the November 2015 TOP500 list
The number of systems in the United States
(US) has fallen to the lowest point since the
TOP500 list was created in 1993.
China is also carving out a bigger share as a
manufacturer of high performance computers
with multiple Chinese manufacturers becoming
more active in this field.
At number 2 spot is Titan, a Cray XK7
system installed at DOE’s Oak Ridge National
Laboratory. Titan, the top system in the US and
one of the most energy-efficient systems,
achieved a speed of 17.59 petaflop/s.
Six of the Top 10 systems were installed in
2011 or 2012; Tianhe-2 in 2013 and only
Trinity, Hazel-Hen, and Shaheen II in Saudi
Arabia were installed in 2015.
The low level of turnover among the top
supercomputers reflects a slowing trend that
began in 2008.
Kosmos 2510, the first satellite of EKS
(Tundra) system, launched by Russia Russia successfully on 17 November 2015
launched the first satellite for its newest early
warning system, named EKS or Integrated
Space System. The satellite was officially
named Kosmos 2510 (Tundra 11L).
This new-generation satellite is designed to
restore Moscow's capability to detect, track and
identify worldwide missile launches from space.
The satellite was carried by a Soyuz-2.1b rocket
from Site 43/4 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome,
located in Northern Russia.
The launch was carried out under the
command of Deputy Commander of Russian
Aerospace Defence Forces (VKO) –
Commander of the Space Troops Alexander
Golovko.
Key highlights of the Tundra 11L satellite- • RKK Energia, a Russian manufacturer of
spacecraft and space station components, built
the Tundra spacecraft.
• The satellite will be operated by the Russian
Aerospace Defence Forces.
• It was delivered into a highly elliptical
geosynchronous orbit, called a Tundra orbit.
• It features two deployable solar arrays.
• It will detect missiles launched from the sea as
well as from the U.S. territory.
What is EKS? • EKS (Integrated Space System) is a
replacement for the US-KMO and US-K
satellites of the Oko programme.
• These satellites identify ballistic missile
launches from outer space and complement
early warning radars such as the Voronezh.
• There are six Tundra satellites planned to be
launched until 2020.
• The next Tundra mission is scheduled for
2016.
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ECONOMY
Eight Core Industries of IIP grew by
3.2% in September 2015; Fastest in 4
months The Department of Industrial Policy and
Promotion (DIPP) on 2 November 2015
announced that the eight core industries of Index
of Industrial Production (IIP) grew by 3.2
percent in September 2015 as compared to 2.6
percent in September 2014.
The growth was calculated with base year
2004-05 and was the highest in four months
since May 2015 that saw 4.4 percent growth.
However, the cumulative growth rate in the
April-September period of FY 2015-16 was
pegged at 2.3 per cent, lower than 5.1 per cent
registered during the same period in FY 2014-
15.
The eight core industries — coal, crude oil,
natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel,
cement and electricity — comprises about 38
per cent of IIP.
The accelerated growth in September 2015
was attributed to sharp pick-up in fertiliser
production and electricity generation.
Fertiliser and electricity generation sectors
grew by 18.1 and 10.8 per cent in September
2015 as compared to (-)11.6 and 3.9 percent
growth respectively in September 2014.
Growth in Core Sectors: Weights & Growth Chart
Core Sectors Weight in
IIP
Growth in
September
2015
Cumulative
Growth
April-
September
2015
Coal 4.38 % 1.9 % 4.2 %
Crude Oil 5.22 % Declined by
0.1 %
0.4 %
Natural Gas 1.71 % 0.9 % Declined by
2.1%
Refinery
Products
(93% of
Crude
Throughput)
5.94% 0.5 % 3.6 %
Fertilizers 1.25% 18.1 % 8.0 %
Steel
(Alloy+Non-
Alloy)
6.68% Declined by
5.9 %
Declined by
0.03 %
Cement 2.41% Decline by
2.5 %
Declined by
0.4 %
Electricity 10.32% 10.8 % 4.1 %
RBI issued Uniform Guidelines on
Internet Banking for Cooperative
Banks Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 5 November
2015 issued revised and uniform guidelines on
Internet Banking for all licensed cooperative
banks including Urban Cooperative Banks
(UCBs), Cooperative Banks (StCBs) and
Districts Co-operative Banks (DCBs).
These guidelines relate to Internet Banking
(View Only) facility and Internet Banking with
Transaction facility.
Revised guidelines for Internet Banking
(View Only) facility
• All licensed StCBs, DCCBs and UCBs which
have implemented Core Banking Solution
(CBS) and migrated to Internet Protocol Version
6 (IPv6) may offer Internet Banking (View
only) facility to their customers, without prior
approval of RBI.
• In case, any service offered under ‘view only’
facility requires two-factor authentication or
One Time Password (OTP), banks may adopt
the security features related to internet banking
as prescribed by RBI, as appropriate to such
services.
• The cooperative banks offering this facility to
their customers should ensure that the facility is
strictly for non-transactional services such as
balance enquiry and balance viewing among
others.
• The cooperative banks have to report
commencement of the service to the concerned
Regional Office of RBI (and also NABARD in
case of StCBs/DCCBs) within one month of
operationalisation of this facility.
Earlier in 2014, only Urban Cooperative
Banks (UCBs) were permitted to offer this
facility to their customers.
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Revised guidelines for Internet Banking with
Transaction facility
Only those licensed StCBs, DCCBs and UCBs,
which have implemented CBS and have also
migrated to IPv6 can offer this facility to their
customers with prior approval of RBI if they
fulfill the following criteria:
• Credit to Risk Adequacy Ratio (CRAR) of not
less than 10 per cent
• Net worth is 50 crore rupees or more as on 31
March of the immediate preceding financial year
• Gross Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) less
than 7 % and Net NPAs not more than 3%
• The bank should have made a net profit in the
immediate preceding financial year and overall,
should have made net profit at least in three out
of the preceding four financial years.
• It should not have defaulted in maintenance of
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)/Statutory Liquidity
Ratio (SLR) during the immediate preceding
financial year.
• It has sound internal control system with at
least two professional directors on the Board.
• The bank has a track record of regulatory
compliance and no monetary penalty has been
imposed on the bank for violation of RBI
directives/guidelines during the two financial
years, preceding the year in which the
application is made.
CCEA approved disinvestment of 10
percent paid up equity capital in Coal
India Limited
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
(CCEA) on 18 November 2015 approved the
disinvestment of 10 percent paid up equity
capital of Coal India Limited (CIL).
With this disinvestment in CIL, the Union
Government is expecting to mop up around
20000 crore rupees. As at current market
capitalisation, based on CIL stock price, 10
percent stake sale could fetch about 21137.71
crore rupees.
Highlights of the disinvestment-
• This disinvestment implies divesting of
631636440 shares of Face Value of 10 rupees
each out of the Union Government shareholding
of 78.65 percent through public offering in the
domestic market.
• This figure has been estimated after adjusting
one percent equity to be offered for sale to the
employees of CIL as per CCEA decision in
September 2014, which is under process of
implementation.
• The paid up equity capital of the CIL is 6316
crore rupees. After the disinvestment of 10
percent equity, the Government's shareholding
in CIL would come down to 68.65 percent.
• The disinvestment transaction will be an Offer
for Sale (OFS) of shares by the Promoters
through the Stock Exchange Mechanism method
as per the Securities and Exchange Board of
India (SEBI) Rules and Regulations.
IAMAI released Internet in India 2015
report Internet and Mobile Association of India
(IAMAI) on 17 November 2015 released a
report entitled Internet in India 2015 report.
The report surveyed usage of internet on
different devices (mobile, desktop, etc), in
different areas (village and urban) and among
different demographic segments.
The key finding of the report is India’s internet
user base will touch 402 million by December
2015 making it the second-largest in the world
after China.
Highlights of Internet in India 2015- • The number of Internet users in India is
expected to reach 402 million by December
2015 registering a growth of 49 percent over last
year. With this, India will surpass the USA and
will have second largest user base next only to
China.
• Currently, while internet users in India are
pegged at 375 million, China leads in the world
with more than 600 million internet users.
• While Internet in India took more than a
decade to move from 10 million to 100 million
and 3 years from 100 to 200 million, it took only
a year to move from 300 to 400 million users.
• Overall, 71 percent male and 29 percent
female are Internet users in India. The Internet
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usage among males has been growing at a rate
of 50 percent while it is growing at 46 percent
for female users. And, among the female
Internet users, the highest growth has been
among the Non-Working women.
In urban areas- • In Urban India, the ratio between male to
female Internet users is 62:38. Significantly,
Internet users among females are growing at a
rate of 39 percent compared to 28 percent
among males.
• Significantly, there has been a huge spurt in
the number of people accessing internet on a
daily basis in Urban India. As on October 2015,
69 percent of users are using Internet on a daily
basis. This daily user base has gone up by 60
percent from last year.
• In Urban India, mobile Internet user base has
grown at a rate of 65 percent over last year to
reach 197 million in October 2015. The Mobile
Internet Users have surged to 80 million by
October 2015 growing at 99 percent over last
year.
• Interestingly, the report also reveals that out of
all the Internet non-users surveyed in the 35
cities as part of this study, 11.4 million Non-
Users are willing to access the Internet in the
next one year and over 2/3rd of them intend to
do so through mobile phones.
In Rural areas- • Among the Rural Internet users, 88 percent are
males. The Internet users among females are
growing at 61 percent and 79 percent among
males. And, 75 percent of the rural internet users
belong to the age group of 18-30 years.
• The user base of mobile internet users in Rural
India is expected to reach 87 million by
December 2015 and 109 million by June 2016.
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ENVIRONMENT
IEA released World Energy Outlook
2015 International Energy Agency (IEA) on 10
November 2015 released the World Energy
Outlook 2015 (WEO-2015). The report, in light
of low energy prices, calls for no complacency
on energy security front and sees clear signs that
the energy transition is underway, that is, from
fossils to renewable.
The WEO-2015 presents updated projections
for the evolution of the global energy system to
2040 as well as detailed insights on the
prospects for fossil fuels, renewables, the power
sector and energy efficiency. It also presents an
analysis on trends in CO2 emissions and fossil-
fuel and renewable energy subsidies.
India, which will move to the centre stage of
global energy, is the subject of an in-depth focus
in WEO-2015.
Main highlights of the WEO-2015- An extended period of lower oil prices
would benefit consumers but would trigger
energy-security concerns by heightening
reliance on a small number of low-cost
producers, or risk a sharp rebound in price if
investment falls short.
The plunge in oil prices will set in motion
the forces that lead the market to rebalance, via
higher demand and lower growth in supply.
In the central scenario of WEO-2015, a
tightening oil balance will lead to a price around
80 dollars per barrel by 2020.
World energy demand will grow by nearly
one-third between 2013 and 2040 in the central
scenario of WEO-2015, with the net growth
driven entirely by developing countries.
By 2040, China's net oil imports will be
nearly five times those of the United States,
while India's import will easily exceed those of
the European Union.
Developing Asia will be the leading demand
centre for every major element of the world's
energy mix in 2040 – oil, gas, coal, renewables
and nuclear.
India in the developing Asia region will take
over China as the largest source of consumption
growth.
The single largest energy demand growth
story of recent decades, that is, China's coal use
will reach its plateau as its economy rebalances
and overall energy demand growth slows, before
declining.
With India moving to the centre stage in
global energy, the energy demand will increase
to two-and-a-half-times current levels. The main
causes will be India’s high level of economic
growth, large (and growing) population and low
(but increasing) levels of energy use per capita.
The links between global economic growth,
energy demand and energy-related emissions
will weaken. This is because some markets
(such as China) will undergo structural change
in their economies and others reach a saturation
point in demand for energy services.
A prolonged period of lower oil prices could
undercut the adoption of energy efficient
technologies. Diminished incentives and longer
payback periods mean that 15% of the energy
savings will be lost in a low oil price scenario.
Lower prices alone would not have a large
impact on the deployment of renewables, but
only if policymakers remain steadfast in
providing the necessary market rules, policies
and subsidies.
Renewables: The leading source of energy in
2040- There are clear signs that an energy
transition is underway, that is, renewables
contributed almost half of the world's new
power generation capacity in 2014 and have
already become the second-largest source of
electricity (after coal).
The coverage of mandatory energy
efficiency regulation has expanded to more than
one-quarter of global energy consumption.
Renewables are set to become the leading
source of new energy supply from now to 2040.
Their deployment grows worldwide, with a
strong concentration in the power sector where
renewables overtake coal as the largest source of
electricity generation by the early-2030s.
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Renewables-based generation reaches 50%
in the EU by 2040, around 30% in China and
Japan, and above 25% in the United States and
India.
The net result of the changes seen in the
WEO-2015 central scenario is that the growth in
energy-related emissions slows dramatically, but
the emissions trajectory implies a long-term
temperature increase of 2.7 °C by 2100. A major
course correction is still required to achieve the
world's agreed climate goal.
Cyclone Megh struck Yemeni Island of
Socotra Cyclone Megh struck the eastern shores of the
Yemini island of Socotra on 8 November 2015.
The cyclone made landfall with the force of a
Category 3 hurricane carrying heavy rains and
destructive winds with a speed of 200km/h.
The cyclone had killed at least one person and
injured several.
The cyclone also caused massive damage in
Socotra Island which lies about 360 kilometres
off the Yemeni coast. It is expected that the
cyclone would trigger flooding and landslides in
the country.
This is the second most tropical storms within
a week after Cyclone Chapala (Category 4) to
strike the region.
Megh is the 28th storm in the northern
hemisphere to become a Category 3 or stronger
in 2015.
2nd World Congress on Disaster
Management concluded;
Visakhapatnam Declaration adopted Second World Congress on Disaster
Management (WCDM) concluded on 22
November 2015 at Visakhapatnam, Andhra
Pradesh.
The four-day WCDM that started on 19
November 2015 was attended by over 1000
delegates from 40 countries and 20 states.
It was organized in collaboration with Disaster
Management Infrastructure and Control Society
(DMICS), with Andhra Pradesh government and
various local, national, regional and
international organisations.
The Congress ended with the adoption of
'Visakhapatnam Declaration’.
Visakhapatnam Declaration-
• The Declaration calls for a comprehensive
action plan for a disaster-resilient society.
• It recommended effective funding by creating
national disaster mitigation fund for resource
implementation of local plans
• It also recommended for building a platform of
knowledge management / good practices /
innovations at local level.
• It calls for global linkages to undertake
cooperative studies among communities and
local governance on evidencing climate change
understanding and local commitments
• It calls for promoting private sector
participation to strengthen humanitarian
commitments.
• It moots for setting-up of an independent
experts group with statutory powers like a state
Disaster Management Authority for formulating
policies on disaster management.
• The declaration listed out priorities and
strategies for disaster management and
preventive measures, which were learnt from
previous experiences of Cyclones Phailin and
Hudhud that struck Andhra Pradesh and Odisha
in a span of one year.
The second World Congress on Disaster
Management (WCMD) was organized six years
after the first WCMD was held in Hyderabad in
the year 2008.
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SPORTS
New Zealand won Rugby World Cup
for record third time New Zealand on 31 October 2015 won the
Rugby World Cup for the third time. In the final
played at Twickenham Stadium in London, the
New Zealanders defeated Australia 34-17.
With this win, New Zealand became the first
team to retain the Webb Ellis Cup. For the All
Black Caps, this was their first World Cup win
outside New Zealand.
Since 2011, New Zealand has won 49 of the
54 games under Coach Steve Hansen.
World Rugby Awards Winners-
• Man of the Match: Dan Carter (New Zealand)
• Team of the Year: New Zealand
• Coach of the Year: Michael Cheika
(Australia)
• Player of the Year: Dan Carter (New
Zealand)
• Breakthrough Player of the Year: Nehe
Milner-Skudder (New Zealand)
• Try of the Year: Julian Savea (New Zealand)
vs France
• Referee of the Year: Nigel Owens
Webb Ellis Cup-
• The Webb Ellis Cup is the trophy awarded to
the winner of the Rugby World Cup, the premier
competition in men's international rugby union.
• The Cup is named after William Webb Ellis,
who is often credited as the inventor of rugby
football.
• The trophy is silver gilt and has been presented
to the winner of the Rugby World Cup since the
first competition in 1987.
• It has been held thrice by New Zealand (1987,
2011 & 2015), twice by Australia (1991 &
1999) and South Africa (1995 & 2007), and
once by England in 2003.
FIFA World Rankings 2015: Belgium
topped for first time November 2015 moved to the top of the FIFA
world ranking list in football for the first time.
The team rose from third to first after
overtaking Argentina and world champions
Germany. This follows their victories in
October’s European qualifiers.
The former No. 1 ranked side, Argentina,
dropped to third, while Copa America
champions Chile rose four places to fifth, their
highest ranking. Austria improved one place to a
best ever tenth place. Iran continued to top the
rankings among AFC countries followed by
Korea and Japan.
Top 5 ranked teams are-
Rank Team Points
1 Belgium 1440
2 Germany 1388
3 Argentina 1383
4 Portugal 1364
5 Chile 1288
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin
became fastest Indian to reach 150 test
wickets Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on 6
November 2015 became the fastest Indian to
reach 150 wickets mark in the Indian test cricket
history.
He achieved this feat when he took Imran
Tahir’s wicket in the first innings of the first test
against South Africa in Mohali, Punjab.
In this match, Ashwin also became the first
bowler in over 100 years to take 50 wickets after
opening the bowling. He achieved this feat in 12
matches off 1888 balls.
The previous record was held by Colin Blythe
of England who took 74 wickets between 1902
and 1910 in 13 tests.
The test is a part of four-match test series
played to win Freedom Trophy, which is in
turn is a part of the larger Mahatma Gandhi-
Nelson Mandela Series that includes ODIs and
T20s as well.
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Djokovic became 1st player to win
ATP World Tour Finals for 4th
consecutive time World number one Novak Djokovic on 22
November 2015 won the season-ending ATP
World Tour finals. In the title clash played in
London, Djokovic defeated third seed Roger
Federer, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
With this, he also became the first player to
win ATP world tour finals for the fourth
consecutive time. He also surpassed Ivan
Lendl's 1987 feat, when he had won his third
straight Tour Finals title in New York.
Overall, this was the fifth time that Djokovic
won this tournament. He ends the year with 11
titles, including three Grand Slams, taking his
total to 10 majors.
Besides, in the Doubles, the eighth seeded
Indo-Romanian team of Rohan Bopanna and
Florin Mergea has ended as runner up. They lost
to the second seeded Dutch-Romanian team of
Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, 6-4, 6-3.
Bopanna was appearing in his second season-
end Finale, having reached the final with
Mahesh Bhupathi in 2012.
Czech Republic defeated Russia to
retain Fed Cup The Czech Republic on 15 November 2015
successfully defended its Fed Cup crown after
beating Russia in final day's play in Prague.
Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova emerged
as the team’s hero as she not only won her
singles rubber to tie the match at 2-2 but also
returned to court after a break to secure another
comeback victory in the finals of the deciding
doubles.
• The victory marked a fourth Fed Cup success
for the Czech Republic in five years.
• The country has won the Fed Cup nine times
overall, including Czechoslovakia's five before
its split in 1993.
About Fed Cup- • Fed Cup is the premier international team
competition in women's tennis.
• It was launched in 1963 to celebrate the 50th
Anniversary of the International Tennis
Federation (ITF).
• The competition was known as the Federation
Cup until 1995.
Indian cueist Pankaj Advani won 2015
IBSF World Snooker Championship Indian cueist Pankaj Advani on 21 November
2015 won the IBSF World Snooker
Championship held at Sunrise Crystal Bay resort
in Hurghada, Egypt.
In the best-of-15 final, he defeated Zhua
Xintong of China 8-6. This was the 15th World
title for Advani.
Earlier, in September 2015 in Adelaide, he
had won his 14th World title in the form of
IBSF World Billiards Championship.
Advani is also the first person in history to
take the short (6-Red) and the long snooker (15-
Red) format in the same calendar year.
In August 2015 in Karachi, he had retained
the World 6-Reds Snooker title and IBSF World
Snooker Championship was his first 15-Red
Snooker title since 2003 when he won the crown
in China.
Women World Snooker Championship- Wendy Jans of Belgium won the Women World
Snooker Championship. She defeated Anastasia
Nechaeva (Russia). This was her 5th World title
and 4th in a row.
Amee Kamani of India who defeated Wendy
Jans in the group stage and Waratthanun
Sukritthanes of Thailand shared the joint bronze.
World Snooker Masters title- Phisir Chandsri of Thailand successfully
defended his World Snooker Masters title. He
defeated defeating Jason Peplow 6-2 in the final.
This was his third world title in a row from his
début in snooker at Daugavpils (2013) followed
by Bangalore (2014).
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AWARDS
Abraham M Keita from Liberia won
the 2015 International Children's
Peace Prize Liberian teenager Abraham M Keita was on
10 November 2015 awarded with the prestigious
International Children’s Peace Prize 2015. He
was awarded for his extraordinary and peaceful
fight for justice for child victims of physical or
sexual violence, and for successfully
campaigning for the Liberian parliament to
adopt the Children’s Law.
Seventeen-year-old Keita received the prize
from Nobel Peace Laureate and his
countrywoman Leymah Gbowee in The Hague.
Gbowee in 2011 became the first Liberian to
receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent
struggle for the safety of women and for
women's rights to full participation in Liberia’s
peace-building process.
About International Children’s Peace Prize-
International Children’s Peace Prize is
awarded annually to child from across the world
for his or her dedication to children’s rights. The
prize is an initiative of Marc Dullaert, Chairman
and Founder of the Dutch KidsRights
Foundation.
The prize was launched by KidsRights during
the 2005 Nobel Peace Laureates’ Summit
chaired by Mikhail Gorbachev. Since then, the
prize has been presented every year by a Nobel
Peace Laureate.
Neha Gupta, an 18-year-old Indian American
from Philadelphia, was awarded with the 2014
International Children’s Peace Prize for her
work to help orphans in India and other
vulnerable children. Neha was the first ever
American to be awarded with the prize.
UNHCR chosen for Indira Gandhi
Prize for Peace, Disarmament and
Development for 2015 The United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) was on 19 November 2015
chosen for the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace,
Disarmament and Development for 2015.
A decision in this regard was taken by the
international jury of the prize, headed by Vice
President of India Mohammad Hamid
Ansari on the occasion of birth annniversary of
Indira Gandhi.
The UNHCR was chosen for the award in
recognition of its immense contributions in
assisting millions of refugees in their
rehabilitation and resettlement.
Contributions of UNHCR- • It was established on 14 December 1950 by the
UN General Assembly with a mandate to lead
and co-ordinate international action to protect
refugees and resolve refugee problems
worldwide.
• Its headquarters is in Geneva,
Switzerland and operates in 123 countries
across the world.
• Since its inception, it has helped tens of
millions of refugees, returnees, internally
displaced persons (IDPs) and stateless people.
• Its ongoing work in Turkey, Lebanon,
Jordan and the Mediterranean region to deal
with the European Migration Crisis has been
appreciated worldwide.
• In India, it has been working closely for
decades with the government in identifying
refugees and their rehabilitation and
resettlement.
• In the absence of a national legal framework
for refugees, UNHCR conducts refugee status
determination under its mandate for asylum
seekers who approach the Office.
• Based on this documentation, refugees can
apply for long term visas (LTVs), work permits,
access to education facilities, etc with the
Government of India.
• For its humanitarian work worldwide, so far it
has won two Nobel Peace Prizes, once in 1954
and again in 1981.
• At present, Antonio Guterres is the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees.
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Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament
and Development • It is the prestigious annual award accorded
annually by Indira Gandhi Trust since 1986.
• It is presented to individuals or
organizations in recognition of creative efforts
towards promoting international peace,
development and a new international economic
order.
• It also ensures that the scientific discoveries
are used for the larger good of humanity, and
enlarging the scope of freedom.
• It is presented by the President of India and
carries a cash award of 25 lakh rupees and a
citation.
• Notable recipients of the award- Mikhail
Gorbachev (1987), UNICEF (1989), Rajiv
Gandhi (1991), M S Swaminathan (1999), Kofi
Annan (2003), Ela Bhatt (2011) and Angel
Merkel (2013).
• For 2014, Indian Space Research
Organization (ISRO) received the award.
Santoor maestro Pt. Shiv Kumar
Sharma honoured with Kala Shikhar
award Santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma
on 7 November 2015 was honoured with
the Aditya Vikram Birla Kala Shikhar
Award for lifetime achievement.
The governor of Maharashtra C Vidyasagar
Rao presented the award to the 77-year old
Santoor player in Mumbai.
On the other hand, Murad Ali Khan
(Sarangi) and Satyajit Talwalkar
(Tabla) were awarded with the Kala Kiran
Awards. Special Jury Award was given to
Shehnai players Sanjeev and Ashwani
Shankar.
After starting his career as a vocalist, Pandit
Sharma emerged out as the master
instrumentalist of the Santoor. He is credited
with making Santoor a popular Classical
Instrument.
The Santoor maestro is also the recipient of
the Padma Shri and thePadma Vibhushan.
About Aditya Vikram Birla Kala Shikhar
Puraskaar The Aditya Vikram Birla Kala Shikhar
Puraskaar was instituted by theSangit Kala
Kendra in the memory of Aditya Vikram
Birla.
The award is conferred on a distinguished
artist for his/her lifetime achievement in the
chosen field of the performing and visual arts.
The award comprises a cash award of 2 lakh
rupees, a memento and a scroll of honour.
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APPOINTMENTS
Swati Dandekar appointed Executive
Director to Asian Development Bank
by Obama Indian-American politician Swati Dandekar
was on 20 November 2015 nominated as
executive director to the Asian Development
Bank (ADB) with ambassadorial rank by US
President Barack Obama.
Dandekar, 64, will succeed Robert M Orr,
who has held the position since 2010. Dandekar
will serve as one of 12 international directors
and hold the title of ambassador.
Obama announced his intent to nominate
Dandekar to this top US position in Asian
Development Bank (ADB) along with other key
administration appointments and nominations.
About Swati Dandekar-
• She was the first-ever Indian-American to be
elected to Iowa House of Representatives in
2003.
• She was the first Indian-born American citizen
to win a state legislature seat in the United
States.
• She served in the Iowa House and Senate from
2003 to 2009 until she was appointed to the
Iowa Utilities Board in 2011.
• She was also member of the Iowa Senate from
2009 to 2011.
• She received a Bachelor of Science from
Nagpur University and a Post-Graduate
Diploma from Bombay University.
About Asian Development Bank-
• The Asian Development Bank is an
international organization that provides loans,
grants, policy aid, technical assistance and
equity investments to countries in Asia and the
Pacific.
• It was established as a regional development
bank on 22 August 1966 which is headquartered
in Manila, Philippines
• From 31 members at its establishment, ADB
now has 67 members, of which 48 are from
within Asia and the Pacific and 19 outside.
Harshavardhan Neotia elected as
President of FICCI Harshavardhan Neotia, Chairman of Ambuja
Neotia group, was on 20 November 2015
elected as the President of industry body
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce
and Industry (FICCI) for the year 2016.
Neotia will succeed the current FICCI
President Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson and
Managing Director of Bharat Hotels Ltd, during
the chamber's AGM in December 2015.
About Harshavardhan Neotia Currently, Neotia is the Senior Vice
President (VP) of FICCI.
He is also a member of the Rajasthan Chief
Minister's Advisory Council and West Bengal
Chief Minister's Core Committee on Industry.
Harshavardhan Neotia is the Chairman of
Ambuja Neotia Group that covers the entire
spectrum of the Real Estate industry including
housing, hospitality, health care and education.
In 1999, Neotia was conferred with Padma
Shri for his outstanding initiative in social
housing.
Justice T S Thakur appointed Chief
Justice of India The President of India Pranab Mukherjee on
18 November 2015 appointed Justice Tirath
Singh Thakur as the Chief Justice of India.
Justice Thakur will take over the office from 3
December 2015 as the 43rd Chief Justice of
India. His tenure will be till 3 January 2017.
About Justice T. S. Thakur • Justice Thakur was enrolled as a Pleader in
October 1972 and joined the Chamber of his
father D.D. Thakur.
• He practiced in Civil, Criminal, Constitutional,
Taxation and Service matters in the High Court
of Jammu & Kashmir.
• He was elected as the President of the Bar
Association in 1986.
• He was designated as a Senior Advocate in
1990.
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• He was appointed as an Additional Judge of
the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir on 16
February 1994.
• He was transferred as Judge of the High Court
of Karnataka in March 1994.
• In July 2004, he was transferred as a Judge of
the High Court of Delhi.
• He was appointed as Acting Chief Justice of
Delhi High Court on 9 April 2008.
• He took over as Chief Justice of the High
Court of Punjab and Haryana on 11 August
2008.
• He was elevated as Judge of Supreme Court
and assumed the charge on 17 November 2009.
• He was conferred Doctor of Laws (Honoris
Causa) degree by Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya
National Law University, Lucknow on 31
October 2015.
Subir Gokarn appointed as IMF's
Executive Director Former Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of
India Subir Vithal Gokarn on 12 November
2015 was appointed as an Executive Director on
the board of the International Monetary Fund
(IMF).
Gokarn will replace Rakesh Mohan at the
IMF. Mohan’s three year tenure ends in
November 2015.
Gokarn’s name was cleared by Appointments
Committee of Cabinet presided by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, as per an order issued
by the Department of Personnel and Training.
The former Deputy Governor of RBI will
represent India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and
Bhutan on IMF's Executive Board. The Board is
responsible for conducting the day-to-day
business of the multilateral institution.
IMF's Executive Board is composed of 24
Directors, who are elected by member countries
or by groups of countries, and the Managing
Director, who serves as its Chairman. The Board
conducts its meeting several times in a week and
carries out its work largely on the basis of
papers prepared by IMF management and staff.
Gokarn had served as one of the four Deputy
Governors of the Reserve Bank of India along
with Anand Sinha, K C Chakrabarty and H R
Khan. Prior to his appointment as the Deputy
Governor of RBI, he worked as the Chief
Economist of global rating agency Standard and
Poor's (S&P) Asia-Pacific from 2007 to 2009.
Gokarn obtained his bachelor’s degree in
Economics from St Xavier’s College, Mumbai.
He completed his MA in Economics from Delhi
School of Economics. He obtained his PhD in
Economics from Case Western Reserve
University of Cleveland, Ohio.
RBI Governor Dr Raghuram Rajan
elected as Vice-Chairman on BIS
Board Dr Raghuram Rajan, Governor of the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI), on 9 November 2015 was
elected as the Vice-Chairman on the Board of
Directors of BIS.
With this, he became the first Indian to be
elected to this position in the Bank for
International Settlements (BIS).
In this capacity, he will serve the BIS for three
years starting from 10 November 2015 and will
assist the Chairman of the BIS Board in his/her
functioning.
At present, Jens Weidmann is the Chairman of
the Board of Directors. He is also the head of
Bundesbank, the German banking regulator.
About Bank for International Settlements • Established on 17 May 1930, the BIS is the
world's oldest international financial
organisation.
• It mission is to serve central banks in their
pursuit of monetary and financial stability, to
foster international cooperation in those areas
and to act as a bank for central banks.
• It has 60 member central banks, representing
countries from around the world that together
make up about 95 percent of world GDP.
• The head office is in Basel, Switzerland and
there are two representative offices: in the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region of the
People's Republic of China and in Mexico City.
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