Indian scientists peeved over credit grab
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BENGALURU: A technique used globally for DNA-based identification of animal species is now at the centre of a credit dispute between scientists from India and Canada.
Sunil Kumar Verma, principal scientist at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad and the institute's former director Lalji Singh say they are upset that credit for their invention, patented in 14 countries including the US, is being grabbed by a Canadian group.
CCMB's Universal Primer Technology (UPT) can be used to identify bird, fish, or any animal species from a given biological sample.
Among other things, the technology can help detect adulteration of animal meat in food products, and curb illegal trade in wildlife estimated to be worth at least $19 billion per year globally.
The invention is based on a concept that just a tiny segment of a gene located in a part of the cell called "mitochondria" can serve as a "molecular signature" and slight variations in the DNA sequence of this segment can be used for species identification.
The CCMB technology grabbed national attention in 2000 when a famous Indian cine star was convicted for hunting and killing an endangered blackbuck whose identity was established from confiscated meat samples using this method.
The Indian parliament was informed recently that CCMB's invention has helped to crack over 1,500 wildlife crimes in India and is routinely used in the Hyderabad-based Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) to provide wildlife forensic services.
The concept that the CCMB scientists exploited for species identification is also the basis of 'DNA Barcoding' developed by Paul Hebert, a zoologist in the University of Guelph in Canada and published in 2003 -- two years after the CCMB group filed for patent.
The dispute now is who should be rightfully credited for work done using this concept.
The CCMB scientists say their patent, filed in 2001, predates Hebert's publication and thereby sets the priority.
"By the time Hebert published his work on DNA barcoding in 2003, we had reported 20 cases of wildlife identification in various courts in India using our method," co-inventor Lalji Singh, who was one of the pioneers of DNA fingerprinting technology, told IANS.
Sunil Kumar Verma, principal scientist at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad and the institute's former director Lalji Singh say they are upset that credit for their invention, patented in 14 countries including the US, is being grabbed by a Canadian group.
CCMB's Universal Primer Technology (UPT) can be used to identify bird, fish, or any animal species from a given biological sample.
Among other things, the technology can help detect adulteration of animal meat in food products, and curb illegal trade in wildlife estimated to be worth at least $19 billion per year globally.
The invention is based on a concept that just a tiny segment of a gene located in a part of the cell called "mitochondria" can serve as a "molecular signature" and slight variations in the DNA sequence of this segment can be used for species identification.
The CCMB technology grabbed national attention in 2000 when a famous Indian cine star was convicted for hunting and killing an endangered blackbuck whose identity was established from confiscated meat samples using this method.
The Indian parliament was informed recently that CCMB's invention has helped to crack over 1,500 wildlife crimes in India and is routinely used in the Hyderabad-based Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) to provide wildlife forensic services.
The concept that the CCMB scientists exploited for species identification is also the basis of 'DNA Barcoding' developed by Paul Hebert, a zoologist in the University of Guelph in Canada and published in 2003 -- two years after the CCMB group filed for patent.
The dispute now is who should be rightfully credited for work done using this concept.
The CCMB scientists say their patent, filed in 2001, predates Hebert's publication and thereby sets the priority.
"By the time Hebert published his work on DNA barcoding in 2003, we had reported 20 cases of wildlife identification in various courts in India using our method," co-inventor Lalji Singh, who was one of the pioneers of DNA fingerprinting technology, told IANS.
Iran marks Islamic Revolution's anniversary
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TEHRAN: Iran is marking the 36th anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution as the country continues negotiations with world powers over its contested nuclear program.
State television aired footage of commemorations in Tehran and elsewhere across the country on Wednesday. Some participants chanted ''Down with the US'' and ''Death to Israel.''
On Feb. 11, 1979, followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ousted US-backed Shah Reza Pahlavi. America helped orchestrate the 1953 coup that overthrew Iran's popularly elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, which brought Pahlavi to power and set the stage for decades of mistrust between the countries.
In recent years, Iran has used the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution to demonstrate against the West over its sanctions for the country's disputed nuclear program. Diplomats are negotiating a final deal over the program now.
State television aired footage of commemorations in Tehran and elsewhere across the country on Wednesday. Some participants chanted ''Down with the US'' and ''Death to Israel.''
On Feb. 11, 1979, followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ousted US-backed Shah Reza Pahlavi. America helped orchestrate the 1953 coup that overthrew Iran's popularly elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, which brought Pahlavi to power and set the stage for decades of mistrust between the countries.
In recent years, Iran has used the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution to demonstrate against the West over its sanctions for the country's disputed nuclear program. Diplomats are negotiating a final deal over the program now.
National Games mascot in Limca Book of Records
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National Games mascot Ammu, the Great Hornbill, has immortalised itself by finding a mention in the Limca Book of Records.
The mascot found a place in the record books owing to a play, Kalikkunna Kuttikalkkayi Bharatham Kathirikkunnu (India Awaits Children Who Play) in which Ammu is featured.
According to the Limca Book’s 2015 Special Literature Edition, it is a play about a mascot which had been staged in most number of schools.
“By April 9, 2014 the drama starring Ammu, the Great Indian Hornbill, had been staged in 147 schools across seven districts of Kerala. It encourages students to participate in sports,” it says.
The play was envisaged to promote sports among children and persuade them to take up sports along with academics, National Games Secretariat sources here said.
Scripted and directed by theatre artist Anil Karetee and enacted by a team of police officers led by Chandrakumar, the play was first enacted at a school in the city last September, they added.
The mascot found a place in the record books owing to a play, Kalikkunna Kuttikalkkayi Bharatham Kathirikkunnu (India Awaits Children Who Play) in which Ammu is featured.
According to the Limca Book’s 2015 Special Literature Edition, it is a play about a mascot which had been staged in most number of schools.
“By April 9, 2014 the drama starring Ammu, the Great Indian Hornbill, had been staged in 147 schools across seven districts of Kerala. It encourages students to participate in sports,” it says.
The play was envisaged to promote sports among children and persuade them to take up sports along with academics, National Games Secretariat sources here said.
Scripted and directed by theatre artist Anil Karetee and enacted by a team of police officers led by Chandrakumar, the play was first enacted at a school in the city last September, they added.
Dr. Ambedkar National Merit Awards
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The Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment, Shri Thaawar Chand Gehlot gave away the National Merit Awards to Meritorious Students of Secondary & Sr. Secondary School 2014 conducted by State/Central Education Boards/Councils under Dr. Ambedkar National Merit Awards here today.
Under the scheme 84 Students belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes category were given the Awards.
Speaking on the occasion the Minister said that the his Ministry is committed to give all possible support to Students belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities in advancing their academic careers and boosting their careers prospects. He encouraged the Students to put in lot of hard work to ensure that they get their rightful place in the society. Reminding them of the spectacular achievements of Dr. Ambedkar against all odds, he exhorted the award winning students to emulate him and work for the betterment of the society and the country.
The Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar said that students belonging to SCs and STs should take advantage of various schemes of the Central Government to enhance their future prospects. He said that award winning students should realize the importance of education as it is the key to resolve all their problems.
Secretary, (SJ&E) Ms. Anita Agnihotri also spoke on the occasion and encouraged the students to put in more hard work to further their academic careers.
The Ambedkar National Merit Award are given to three SC/ST students scoring highest marks in the Secondary/Sr. Secondary examinations conducted by all the State Education Boards and Councils etc. In case none of the first three eligible students are girls, the girl students scoring the highest marks are given special award.
Under the scheme 84 Students belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes category were given the Awards.
Speaking on the occasion the Minister said that the his Ministry is committed to give all possible support to Students belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities in advancing their academic careers and boosting their careers prospects. He encouraged the Students to put in lot of hard work to ensure that they get their rightful place in the society. Reminding them of the spectacular achievements of Dr. Ambedkar against all odds, he exhorted the award winning students to emulate him and work for the betterment of the society and the country.
The Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar said that students belonging to SCs and STs should take advantage of various schemes of the Central Government to enhance their future prospects. He said that award winning students should realize the importance of education as it is the key to resolve all their problems.
Secretary, (SJ&E) Ms. Anita Agnihotri also spoke on the occasion and encouraged the students to put in more hard work to further their academic careers.
The Ambedkar National Merit Award are given to three SC/ST students scoring highest marks in the Secondary/Sr. Secondary examinations conducted by all the State Education Boards and Councils etc. In case none of the first three eligible students are girls, the girl students scoring the highest marks are given special award.
G20: India concerned on black money
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New Delhi: India has strongly advocated the fast implementation of the automatic exchange of tax information globally, within the time-frame agreed by the G20 countries, in the backdrop of media reporting names of Indian account holders in HSBC bank’s Swiss branch.
“This would help India trace transactions of money illegally earned or stashed in foreign banks without paying appropriate taxes in the countries where those transactions took place,” Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha told a meeting of the G20 nations’ finance ministers and central bank governors in Istanbul held Feb 9-10, on official release said here Wednesday.
At the G20 Brisbane summit last November, leaders endorsed a new global transparency standard by which more than 90 jurisdictions will begin automatic exchange of tax information, using a common reporting standard by 2017-2018.
Reacting to an Indian Express report Monday that 1,195 Indians were in the list of clients who held accounts in HSBC bank’s Geneva branch from 2006-2007, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said: “The details that have come out today (Monday) are the ones we already have.”
The central government has completed assessment of 350 foreign accounts while tax-evasion proceedings have been initiated against 60 account holders Jaitley told reporters here.
India has no official estimates of illegal money stashed away overseas, but the unofficial ones range from $466 billion to $1.4 trillion.
Sinha also expressed concern over the monetary policies of a number of developed countries including members of the G20, the finance ministry said.
He called for installing an effective mechanism to deal with negative spillovers that may arise due to such policies or even their unexpected and disorderly withdrawal in future, the statement added.
Presenting the Reserve Bank of India’s latest monetary policy review last week, deputy governor Urjit Patel described the “important backdrop” to the RBI’s move to keep key interest rates unchanged, that left analysts puzzled over whether it was “dovish” or “hawkish”.
“We are in the midst of the age of competitive depreciation and of a beggar-my-neighbour philosophy. It brings to mind an old African saying that when elephants fight the grass suffers,” Patel said at the press conference to announce the policy review, on the trend of accommodative monetary policies being adopted by developed economies.
“While the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) are printing money and devaluing their currencies on one hand, the US economy is reviving on the other. Anyone in the middle is getting crushed,” he added.
“This would help India trace transactions of money illegally earned or stashed in foreign banks without paying appropriate taxes in the countries where those transactions took place,” Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha told a meeting of the G20 nations’ finance ministers and central bank governors in Istanbul held Feb 9-10, on official release said here Wednesday.
At the G20 Brisbane summit last November, leaders endorsed a new global transparency standard by which more than 90 jurisdictions will begin automatic exchange of tax information, using a common reporting standard by 2017-2018.
Reacting to an Indian Express report Monday that 1,195 Indians were in the list of clients who held accounts in HSBC bank’s Geneva branch from 2006-2007, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said: “The details that have come out today (Monday) are the ones we already have.”
The central government has completed assessment of 350 foreign accounts while tax-evasion proceedings have been initiated against 60 account holders Jaitley told reporters here.
India has no official estimates of illegal money stashed away overseas, but the unofficial ones range from $466 billion to $1.4 trillion.
Sinha also expressed concern over the monetary policies of a number of developed countries including members of the G20, the finance ministry said.
He called for installing an effective mechanism to deal with negative spillovers that may arise due to such policies or even their unexpected and disorderly withdrawal in future, the statement added.
Presenting the Reserve Bank of India’s latest monetary policy review last week, deputy governor Urjit Patel described the “important backdrop” to the RBI’s move to keep key interest rates unchanged, that left analysts puzzled over whether it was “dovish” or “hawkish”.
“We are in the midst of the age of competitive depreciation and of a beggar-my-neighbour philosophy. It brings to mind an old African saying that when elephants fight the grass suffers,” Patel said at the press conference to announce the policy review, on the trend of accommodative monetary policies being adopted by developed economies.
“While the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) are printing money and devaluing their currencies on one hand, the US economy is reviving on the other. Anyone in the middle is getting crushed,” he added.
Four new fish species discovered in Kerala
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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Four new fish species have been found in Kerala, the college professor who made the discovery has said.
The new new species have been named Puntius nelsoni, Puntius nigronotus, Systomus chryseus and Systomus rufus, said Mathews Plamoottil, a zoology professor at Kollam's Baby John Memorial Government College.
"Detailed articles describing these new species have been published in international publications like 'Journal of Research in Biology' and 'International Journal of Fauna and Biological Studies'," Plamoottil told IANS.
Elaborating, he said the body and fins of Puntius nelsoni are yellowish in colour, the head is deeper, the snout shorter and the mouth wider. It was discovered at Kallumkal in Thiruvalla, at the place where Pamba and Manimala rivers merge.
The Puntius nigronotus was discovered at Mananthavady in the hilly Wayanad district. Its dorsal fin is black in colour, the lateral line scales are greater than its closest relatives and its dorsal fin has more rays.
Systomus chryseus was discovered from Keezhvaipur near Thiruvalla. It is golden in coloured and its pectoral fin is greatly elongated.
Systomus rufus was discovered from Venpala, also near Thiruvalla. Its fins are red in colour.
"It is interesting to note that a new species of the genus Systomus is being discovered after one-and-a-half century from Kerala. All the four new species have received a Zoo bank register number from the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature, the worldwide scientific authority for naming new animals. The new fish have been deposited in the museum of the Zoological Survey of India at Kolkata and Kozhikode," the professor said.
The Kerala State Biodiversity Board, the custodian of the state's rich biodiversity, said Kerala is home to 242 species of inland fish.
The new new species have been named Puntius nelsoni, Puntius nigronotus, Systomus chryseus and Systomus rufus, said Mathews Plamoottil, a zoology professor at Kollam's Baby John Memorial Government College.
"Detailed articles describing these new species have been published in international publications like 'Journal of Research in Biology' and 'International Journal of Fauna and Biological Studies'," Plamoottil told IANS.
Elaborating, he said the body and fins of Puntius nelsoni are yellowish in colour, the head is deeper, the snout shorter and the mouth wider. It was discovered at Kallumkal in Thiruvalla, at the place where Pamba and Manimala rivers merge.
The Puntius nigronotus was discovered at Mananthavady in the hilly Wayanad district. Its dorsal fin is black in colour, the lateral line scales are greater than its closest relatives and its dorsal fin has more rays.
Systomus chryseus was discovered from Keezhvaipur near Thiruvalla. It is golden in coloured and its pectoral fin is greatly elongated.
Systomus rufus was discovered from Venpala, also near Thiruvalla. Its fins are red in colour.
"It is interesting to note that a new species of the genus Systomus is being discovered after one-and-a-half century from Kerala. All the four new species have received a Zoo bank register number from the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature, the worldwide scientific authority for naming new animals. The new fish have been deposited in the museum of the Zoological Survey of India at Kolkata and Kozhikode," the professor said.
The Kerala State Biodiversity Board, the custodian of the state's rich biodiversity, said Kerala is home to 242 species of inland fish.
Big Bang may have never happened
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WASHINGTON: The Big Bang never happened and our universe may have no beginning and no end, suggests a new theory by physicists, including one of Indian-origin.
The theory applies quantum correction terms to complement Einstein's theory of general relativity and may also account for dark matter and dark energy.
The widely accepted age of the universe, as estimated by general relativity, is 13.8 billion years. In the beginning, everything in existence is thought to have occupied a single infinitely dense point, or singularity.
Only after this point began to expand in a "Big Bang" did the universe officially begin.
Although the Big Bang singularity arises directly and unavoidably from the mathematics of general relativity, some scientists see it as problematic because the math can explain only what happened immediately after - not at or before - the singularity, 'Phys.org' reported.
Ahmed Farag Ali at Benha University and the Zewail City of Science and Technology, in Egypt and coauthor Saurya Das at the University of Lethbridge in Canada, have shown that the Big Bang singularity can be resolved by their new model in which the universe has no beginning and no end.
Their work, published in the journal Physics Letters B, is based on ideas by theoretical physicist David Bohm in the 1950s, who explored replacing classical geodesics (the shortest path between two points on a curved surface) with quantum trajectories.
Researchers applied these Bohmian trajectories to an equation developed in the 1950s by physicist Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri at Presidency University in Kolkata.
In addition to not predicting a Big Bang singularity, the new model does not predict a "big crunch" singularity, either.
The model avoids singularities because of a key difference between classical geodesics and Bohmian trajectories, researchers said.
Researchers explain that the quantum corrections can be thought of as a cosmological constant term (without the need for dark energy) and a radiation term.
These terms keep the universe at a finite size, and therefore give it an infinite age.
The theory applies quantum correction terms to complement Einstein's theory of general relativity and may also account for dark matter and dark energy.
The widely accepted age of the universe, as estimated by general relativity, is 13.8 billion years. In the beginning, everything in existence is thought to have occupied a single infinitely dense point, or singularity.
Only after this point began to expand in a "Big Bang" did the universe officially begin.
Although the Big Bang singularity arises directly and unavoidably from the mathematics of general relativity, some scientists see it as problematic because the math can explain only what happened immediately after - not at or before - the singularity, 'Phys.org' reported.
Ahmed Farag Ali at Benha University and the Zewail City of Science and Technology, in Egypt and coauthor Saurya Das at the University of Lethbridge in Canada, have shown that the Big Bang singularity can be resolved by their new model in which the universe has no beginning and no end.
Their work, published in the journal Physics Letters B, is based on ideas by theoretical physicist David Bohm in the 1950s, who explored replacing classical geodesics (the shortest path between two points on a curved surface) with quantum trajectories.
Researchers applied these Bohmian trajectories to an equation developed in the 1950s by physicist Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri at Presidency University in Kolkata.
In addition to not predicting a Big Bang singularity, the new model does not predict a "big crunch" singularity, either.
The model avoids singularities because of a key difference between classical geodesics and Bohmian trajectories, researchers said.
Researchers explain that the quantum corrections can be thought of as a cosmological constant term (without the need for dark energy) and a radiation term.
These terms keep the universe at a finite size, and therefore give it an infinite age.
Current Affairs were found in Month - January 2015
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2014 has been ranked as Earth’s hottest year since 1880 as per analyses done by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Global average temperature for 2014 was 1.24°F (or 0.69°C) warmer than the 20th-century average.- Government launched two schemes to support the Scheduled Castes (SC). Named Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castesand Green Business scheme.
- Venture Capital Fund - Financial assistance of 15 Crore rupees for 6 years will be provided to 30 SC entrepreneurs in a year. Initial capital is 200 crore rupees
- Green Business - loan for up to 1 lakh rupees at concessional interest rate will be provided to Scheduled Castes for activities such as e-rickshaw, Solar Pump and Solar energy powered implements, poly house etc.
- India - CHINA TRADE deficit increased to 37.8 billion USD in 2014. Although the bilateral trade was increased to 70.59 USD (Hike of 7.9 %).
- India CHINA TRADE was USD 73.9 billion in 2011, 66.57 billion in 2012, 65.57 billion in 2013 and 65.49 billion USD in 2013.
- China’s export to India in 2014 was 54.2 billion USD and India’s exports to China was 16.4 billion USD. The trade target of India China was 100 billion USD for 2014.
- Indian Government's Jan Dhan Yojana has been included in Guinness Book of World Records for Opening of About 11.5 Crore Bank Accounts in short span of About five months. It makes way for government's ambitious plan to transfer annual subsidy directly to bank accounts of more than 15 crore beneficiaries to remove system leakages.
- PM Narendra Modi launched Sukanya Samridhi Yojana small deposit scheme for girl child under Beti Bachao Beti Padhaocampaign. It will ensure equitable share to a girl child in resources and savings of a family and will enable parents to open bank accounts of girls who are under 10 years of age with an interest rate of 9.1 %.
- 12 January - National youth day (birthday of Swami Vivekanand).
- 15 January - Army Day (India).
- 18th National Conference on e-Governance held in Gujarat with Theme Conference was Digital Governance - New Frontiers.
- 19 Jan - National Investigation Agency Foundation day.
- 20th Law Commission of India headed by A P Shah submitted 253rd report Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts and Commercial Courts Bill, 2015.
- 21st screen awards -
- Actor - Shahid Kapoor (Haider)
- Actress - Priyanka Chopra (Mary Kom)
- Film - Queen
- Director - Vikas Bahl (Queen)
- Lifetime Achievement Award - Hema Malini
- 24 January - National Girl Child Day.
- 26 Jan - Indian Republic Day.
- 30 Jan - World Laprosy Day.
- 4 Jan - Louis Braille Day, he was the inventor of braille, a system of reading and writing used by people who are blind or visually impaired.
- 72nd Golden Globe Award
- Drama
- Picture - Boyhood
- Actor - Eddie Redmayne
- Actress - Julianne Moore
- Musical / Comedy
- Picture - The Grand BUDAPEST HOTEL
- Actor - Michael Keaton
- Actress - Amy Adams
- Supporting Actor - J. K. Simmons
- Supporting Actress - Patricia Arquette
- Director - Richard Linklater
- 76th Senior Table Tennis Championship 2015 - Soumyajit Ghosh won in Male and Mouma Das won in Female Category.
- 9 Jan - Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Mahatama Gandhi Returned to India from south africa on this day).
- A few Good men and the angry sea has been written by Nitin Sathe on the tenth anniversary of Tsunami Tragedy.
- Atal Bihari Vajpayee Srajan aur Mulyankan has been written by Pritam Singh.
- Defence Research and Development Organisation got approval for building a missile launch testing facility at a site near to Krishna Delta Complex in Andhra Pradesh. The is a nesting site of Olive Ridley turtles which is an endangered species.
- Neither a Hawk nor a Dove is written by Pakistan's Ex-Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri.
- Rajesh Khanna : Kuch to Log Khenge has been written by Yasir Usman.
- Raksha Blu vaccine was launched by Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL), (Telangana) To counter the bluetongue disease.
- Relbanks issued list of 66 largest banks in the world by market Capitalization.
- India's HDFC was ranked 45th with 41.58 USD Market Capitalization. SBI was ranked 51st with 36.40 USD and ICICI was 55th with 33.42 USD Market Cap.
- Wells Fargo & Co. of US is first with market cap of 284.39 Billion USD and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) of China is second with market cap of 269.70 Billion USD.
- Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is named as new King of Saudi Arabia after King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz passed away.
- The Lunchbox has been nominated for British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards 2015 under non-English best film category. The film is the only Indian film to be nominated for 2015 BAFTA Awards.
- Tipu Sultan : A Crussader for Change has been written by B Sheikh Ali.
- Vande Mataram has been written by Prabodh Kumar Mishra.
- A.K. Mittal has been appointed as Chairman of Railway Board replacing Arunendra Kumar.
- Actor Amitabh Bachchan has been presented with Social Media Person of Year 2015 award by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).
- Alexis Tsipras is appointed as Prime Minister of Greece after his party SYRIZA won the Greek General Elections.
- Amitabh Bachchan has been conferred with the second Yash Chopra Memorial Award.
- An advanced Electronic Warfare (EW) suite made by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was successfully tested on Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas-PV1.
- Andhra Pradesh Government decided to file a defamation case against State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) as SBH Freezed Accounts of Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) amounting to 25 crore rupees.
- The accounts of APSCHE were frozen after Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) sent a letter to various banks asking them to freeze the accounts of APSCHE as it accused APSCHE of illegally capturing off money that was to be shared between the two states.
- Andhra Pradesh government constituted Fourth State Finance Commission under the Chairmanship of M L Kantha Rao.
- Andhra Pradesh government launched 17 Skill Development Centres (SDC) for training and honing skills of youth and help them select the course at the time of entering college and provide source of information for employment.
- Andhra Pradesh government signed a pact with International Crop Research Institute for Semi-arid Tropics (ICRISAT) to provide assistance in making agriculture sustainable and profitable.
- Andy Murray (Scotland) won ATP World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi after Serbian Novak Djokovic withdrew from finals due to illness.
- Anupam Shrivastava is appointed as Chief Managing Director of BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited).
- Arvind Panagariya has been appointed as Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog that replaced Planning Commission. Sindhushree Khullar has been appointed as CEO of NITI Aayog.
- As per IMF (International Monetary Fund) Report -
- India's GDP Growth Rate in 2016 will be 6.5 %, It will surpass China's Expected growth rate of 6.3 % in 2016.
- India VS China GDP Growth Rates -
Year India China 2013 5 7.8 2014 5.8 7.4 2015 6.3 6.8 2016 (Expected) 6.5 6.3
- As per recent Reports, Number of Tigers in India has risen by 30% up to 2226 from 1706 in 2010. Nearly 70% of world's Tigers are in India. Karnataka has most number of tigers (406) followed by Uttarakhand (340) and Madhya Pradesh (308).
- As per a recent report by Assam's Tocklai Tea Research Institute (TTRI), Assam has the potential to produce Purple Tea which is believed to be health rich and is currently grown in Kenya Only.
- As per a recent report by ICC, India will Host the Twenty-20 cricket world cup in 2016 and England will host the ODI world cup in 2019.
- Ashok Prasad has been appointed as new special secretary of home ministry's crucial internal security division.
- Australia's Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb Visited India.
- Australia’s national airline Qantas has been named as the world’s safest airline by AirlineRatings.com.
- Avijit Ghosh appointed as CMD of Heavy Engineering Corporation.
- Ayonika Paul (Railways) and Annu Raj Singh (Maharashtra) won Gold in 4th Gun for Glory Shooting Championship.
- Baba Ramdev is named as state brand ambassador for Haryana Government.
- Beji Caid Essebsi has been appointed as President of Tunisia.
- Bengaluru FC won the federation cup Football by beating Dempo FC.
- Bhagabatpur Crocodile Project in Sunderbans (West Bengal) has been given as fresh start with help of renowned experts in herpetology and best global practices in crocodile conservation to increase the number of saltwater crocodiles.
- In past few years, project did not see a significant increase in the number of salt-water crocodiles. The eggs to hatching ratio also declined to 40 per 100 eggs collected.
- Bibek Debroy is appointed as a Member of NITI Aayog.
- Book The Indian Parliament – A Critical Appraisal has been written by Sudha Pai and Avinash Kumar.
- Boxing India has been recognised as governing body for representing boxing in India.
- British government honored Indian Fauja Singh by prestigious British Empire medal for being world's oldest marathon runner
- Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved proposal of HDFC Bank to raise the foreign holding limit to 74 % (From 73.2 Currently). It will enable inflow of around 10000 crore rupees into the country from overseas investors.CCEA also approved proposal of Drug Maker Lupin's proposal of raising foreign holding up to 49%.
- Central Banking Awards 2015 announced by the Central Banking Publications-
- Governor of the Year Award: Raghuram Rajan, RBI Governor
- Central Bank of the Year award: The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ)
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Jacques de Larosiere former Governor of the Banque de France (1987–1993)
- Economics in Central Banking (inaugural award): Claudio Borio, head of the monetary and economic department at the Bank for International Settlements
- China Successfully tested ICBM DF-41 (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) with Over 12000 KM Range.
- China's submersible Jiaolong started exploration for active hydrothermal vent for first time in southwestern Indian Ocean.
- Chinese nuclear physicist Yu Min was was given the State Preeminent Science and Technology Award 2014 by Chinese President Xi Jinping for his research in nuclear weapons since 1960s.
- Committee headed by Shanta Kumar submitted report on restructuring of Food Corporation of India (FCI) and suggested to focus procurement on eastern belt and hand over procurement of wheat and rice to six States - Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
- Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and China's e-commerce firm ALIBABA signed an agreement to provide global platform to Indian small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
- Deep Kumar Upadhyay is appointed as Nepal's ambassador to India.
- Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar commissioned four Indian Coast Guard (ICG) patrolling and interception vessels in Goa. These are two fast patrol vessels - ICG Amogh and ICG Amey and two interceptor boats Charlie 413 and Charlie 414.
- Devender Singh Ahluwalia has been appointed as Director (Finance) of National Minerals Development Corporation (NMDC).
- Dinesh Oraon of Bharatiya Janata Party has been elected as Speaker of Jharkhand Legislative Assembly
- Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) imposed penalty of 100 crore rupees on Riddhi Siddhi Bullion Limited (RSBL) for violation of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) norms.
- Divya Prakash Sinha appointed as Security Secretary in the Union Cabinet Secretariat.
- Dubai’s 55-storey tall Maze Tower has been listed in Guinness World Record as world’s largest vertical maze.
- Ease of Business Report by Forbes -
- India has been ranked at 93rd place in 143 Countries.
- Denmark at top, followed by Hongkong.
- Eminent Indian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist, Frank Islam, has been honored by prestigious Martin Luther King Jr Award for his efforts in international service and civil engagement.
- European Union decided to lift a seven-month-long ban on the import of mangoes from India on account of health concerns.
- Evans Paul Assumed Office as 18th Prime Minister of Haiti (Caribbean country).
- Famous Cartoonist R K Laxman Passed Away.
- Famous Greek Singer Demis Roussos passed away.
- Famous Malayalam Actor Mala Aravindan passed away.
- Famous mobile messaging application WhatsApp launched a new service for sending messages from a Web browser.
- Filmmaker Pahlaj Nihalani has been appointed as Chairman of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
- Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Vsited Davos (Switzerland).
- Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India declined by over 6 % in November 2014 to USD 1.53 billion as compared to USD 1.63 billion FDI In November 2013. However, for the April-November period of the ongoing fiscal, FDI grew by 22 per cent to USD 18.88 billion as against USD 15.45 billion in the same period a fiscal before, according to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion data.
- Former Dutch Hockey team coach Paul van Ass is appointed as head Coach of Indian men's hockey team.
- French weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo’s Paris office was attacked by Terrorists reportedly due to the aggressive history of Charlie Hebdo and Publishing of Cartoons of Islamic Prophet Mohammed.
- Global Talent Competitiveness Index By INSEAD Business School and Human Capital Leadership Institiute of Singapore -
- Switzerland Topped The List, Followed by Singapore and Luxembourrg.
- India Got 78th Place in the List with Yemen at Last.
- Google’s CEO Larry Page has named as the ‘business person of the year’ for 2014 by Fortune magazine.
- Government Scrapped Planning Commission (Formed in 1950) and created National Institute of Transforming India (NITI) Aayog.
- Government accepted recommendations of M P Bezbaruah committee to look into concerns of people of the the North East states living in other parts of the country.
- Government allowed fertiliser firms to produce 100 % Neem-Coated Urea to boost income of farmers and reducing subsidy bill by up to 6500 crore rupees.
- Neem coated urea
- Neem coated urea works as insecticide. It costs 5 % more than the cost of normal urea which is about 260 rupees per tonne.
- It will reduce ground and soil pollution, increase crop yields and will lower cost for the farmers.
- It reduces nitrogen loss by more than 10 % thereby gaining a net savings of 13.5 rupees per bag for farmers.
- Government announced to re-issue One Rupee Note after two decades of outage.
- Government appointed M Sathiyavathy as First Women Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
- Government approved mandatory packaging of sugar and foodgrains in jute material to minimum extent of up to 90 per cent of production as a major boost to jute sector.
- Government approved to set up India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) in Tamil Nadu
- Government divested 10 % Stake in Maharatna Coal India Limited (CIL). With this, government’s share in CIL came down to 79.65 %. Government divested 63.16 crores shares (10 %) of CIL through offer for sale (OFS) at a floor price of 358 rupees per share and got an amount of 22557.63 crore rupees through the disinvestment.
- Government launched Website, Logo, Vision and Mission of National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL). Site - www.nhidcl.com Logo: Building Infrastructure - Building the Nation.
- Government launched women safety mobile app called Himmat.
- Government reconstituted Empowered Committee for setting up of Semiconductor Wafer Fabrication (FAB) manufacturing facilities in the country under NITI Aayog member V K Saraswat.
- Government reconstituted Pollution Control Board Working Group to simplify procedures to get consent certificates and categorisation of industries. The Working Group comprising of 11 members will be headed by Ayi Vaman N Acharya.
- Government released commemorative coin to mark 175th birth anniversary of Jamsetji Tata.
- Gujarat Government launched Taluka (Tehsil) Planning Atlas (TPA) to enable local administration for taking decisions about the regional development through precise information about current status of various facilities and schemes.
- Gujarat Technological University (GTU) launched e-Raksha Research Centre to fight cybercrime to curb cybercrimes. Centre will encourage research and enhance capability to provide solution for issues related to cyber security.
- Hanumanthu Purushotham is appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of National Research Development Corporation (NRDC).
- Harishankar Brahma is appointed as 19th Chief Election Commissioner of India.
- Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Chairman R.K. Tyagi has been conferred with JGBS-Top Rankers' Excellence Award for CEO of 2014.
- Hockey Player Jaswant Singh Rajput passed away, he was part of Indian hockey team that won GOLD medal in 1948 London and 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
- Hyderabad (Telangana) will host World Congress on Information Technology in 2018 with theme Future of enterprises.
- ICICI Bank launched Digital Village Project in Akodara Village of Gujarat to provide various services from cashless banking to digitised school teaching with themes - cashless, comprehensive and connected.
- ICICI Bank launched India’s first contactless debit and credit cards using Near Field Technology enabling payments by just waving the card near merchant terminals instead of swiping them
- Idukki district of Kerala became first district in India to have complete rural broadband coverage after it was linked to the National Optic Fiber Network.
- In the sixth Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement 2014-15, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced cut in REPO rate of .25%.Now the REPO rate has come down to 7.75%. Accordingly, Reverse Repo rate has come down to 6.75%, Bank rate to 8.75% and Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate to 8.75%. Note that CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) is unchanged at 4% and SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio) is unchanged at 23%.
- India provided 7 Crore rupees Assistance to Nepal for Nepal's Iodine Deficiency Disorder Control Programme (IDDCP) for goitre control across the country.
- Goitre is swelling of neck or larynx due to enlargement of thyroid gland (thyromegaly) due to its functioning properly.
- India will host the 42nd World Bridge Championships in Chennai.
- India will provide 60 million USD Line of Credit (LoC) to Guyana for its road infrastructure projects.
- India's First CNG Train Started Between Rewarti and Rohtak in Haryana.
- India's First international institute dedicated to music is to be opened in Kerala.
- India's National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Black Business Council of South Africa for developing youth enterprises and empower the marginalized group in South Africa through NSIC's Rapid Incubation Programme.
- India's State Bank of India (SBI) signed a 100 million Euro loan agreement with European Investment Bank (EIB).
- India's Trade deficit (Imports - Exports) declined to ten month low of 9.43 billion USd in December 2014 mainly due to fall down of global OIL PRICES and fall of demand for GOLD. Imports declined by 4.8 % to 34.8 billion USD in December 2014 as compared to 36.6 billion USD dollars in December 2013. Exports fell by 3.8 % to 25.4 billion USD.
- Indian Badminton Player Saina Nehwal won women’s singles of Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold Badminton Tournament 2015 after defeateing Carolina Marin of Spain in Lucknow (India).
- Indian Jasjit Ahluwalia has been appointed as Dean of School of Public Health at the Rutgers University in the US.
- Indian Nihal Singh Agar has been honored by Order of Australia for his service to the Hindu community in Australia and fostering cross-cultural co-operation with a focus on medical education.
- Indian Novelist Vikram Chandra is named among the finalists for National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Awards of US for his non-fiction work Geek Sublime: The Beauty of Code, the Code of Beauty.
- Indian Origin writer Sumona Sinha has been awarded French academy award for her contribution to French language and literature.
- Indian Person Atul Khare has been appointed as United Nations Under-Secretary General.
- Indian open water swimmer Bhakti Sharma set a world record by swimming 1.4 miles in 52 minutes in one degree temperature in the Antarctic Ocean. 24-year old Bhakti is the first Asian girl and youngest in the world to do this.
- India’s Mars Orbiter programme team has won the 2015 Space Pioneer Award in the science and engineering category from the US based National Space Society (NSS).
- Indo-Russian Musical Festival ZimaFest 2015 has been hosted by Goa.
- International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) launched GreenPHABLET for small farmers to help them purchase inputs at lower price, get a better price for their produce, and link them to markets.
- International Hindi Conference will be held in New Jersey (USA) in April 2015 with theme Expanding World of Hindi: Possibilities and Challenges.
- International Hockey Federation (FIH) Player of the Year 2014 -
- Men - Mark Knowles (Australia)
- Women - Ellen Hoog (Netherland)
- International Labour Organisation (ILO) released a report titled World Employment and Social Outlook - Trends 2015 -
- The report stated that unemployment will rise in the coming years to more than 212 million in 2019 as compared to 201 million currently.
- Jammu and Kashmir has been selected for National Award for e-Governance for the best district-level initiative in Citizen-Centric Service Delivery through ICT.
- Jan 10 - World Hindi Day.
- Japan announced to provide an Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) loan of 2620 crore rupees to India.
- Japan approved largest budget ever for 2015 of total 814 Billion USD. The defence budget was also enhanced to an all time high of 43 Billion USD.
- Jiji Thomson resigned as Director General of Sports Authority of India (SAI).
- Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir as the Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
- Justice Narayanan Nadar Paul Vasanthakumar is appointed as new Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
- K Durga Prasad is appointed as the Special Director General of CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force).
- Kalyan Singh has been appointed as 20th Governor of Rajasthan.
- Kalyan Singh has been appointed as Governor of Himachal Pradesh. He is also the governor of Rajasthan.
- Kanagasabapathy J Sripavan is appointed as 44th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka.
- Kaptan Singh Solanki has been appointed as New Governor of Punjab. He is also the governor of Haryana.
- Kiran Bhai Vadodaria has been elected as President of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) for 2014-2015.
- Kiran Kumar Alur Seelin has been appointed as new chief of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization).
- Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic on won 2015 Presidential elections of Croatia and she will be croatia's First Female President.
- Krishna Chaudhary is appointed as Director General (DG) of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
- Legendary social activist and freedom fighter Ghelubhai Naik passed away.
- Libby Lane has been named as Church of England’s first female bishop.
- Lithunia Joined as 19th Member of The Eurozone.
- M K Goel has been appointed as Chairman of PFC (Power Finance Corporation).
- M Satyawati has been appointed as First Female Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
- M.Y.S.Prasad, director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, has been awarded the Vikram Sarabhai Memorial Award for 2014-2015 by the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA).
- Maharashtra government announced to observe September 17 as ‘Industries Day’.
- Maharashtra government launched online Facility for filling Right to Information (RTI) application.
- Major Mukund Varadarajan and Naik Neeraj Singh Posthumously Awarded Ashok Chakra during the 66th Republic day celebrations.
- Ministry for Social Justice & Empowerment launched national toll free helpline (1800-11-0031) to assist the alcoholic and drug dependent persons.
- Ministry of Defence Awards of the 2015 Republic Day Parade -
- Services - Brigade of Guards Regiment and Sikh Regiment jointly judged as best marching contingents.
- Para-Military Forces - Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) contingent
- Tableaux Category- First position won by Maharashtra, which depicted the pilgrimage to Pandharpur. Jharkhand tableau on Maluti Temples was second best and Karnataka Tableau was third (based on Channapatna Toys).
- Competitive category of school children items- Daang Dance of Gujarat by West Zone Cultural Centre, Udaipur (Rajasthan).
- Mithripala Sirisena won 2015 Presidential Elections of Sri Lanka. He will be 7th President of Sri Lanka.
- Modibo Keita has been named as New Prime Minister of Mali by President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.
- Music composer Shekhar sen is appointed as Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) replacing Leela Samson.
- NGO Pratham released 10th Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2014).
- New antibiotic Teixobactin has been discovered by a team of scientists from Northeastern University in Massachusetts. This antibiotic is capable of fighting infections that kill several people each year.
- Noted Hindi Writer Kamal Kishore Goenka has been honored by the Vyas Samman 2014 for his Research Work 'Premchand Ki Kahaniyon ka Kaalkramanusar Adhdhyan'.
- Oil & Natural Gas Corporation won 10th Savio Cup All India Basketball tournament by defeating Indian Overseas Bank.
- P Krishnamurthy is appointed as Private Secretary of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
- PM Narendra Modi Inaugerated 102nd session of Indian Science Congress (ISC) at University of Mumbai.
- PM Narendra Modi inaugurated Dandi Kutir museum in Gandhinagar, Gujarat during the 13th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD). to mark the 100th anniversary of MK Gandhi's return to India from South Africa. A Commemorative Postal stamp was also released on this occasion.
- PM Narendra Modi presented National Bravery Awards 2014 to 24 awardees.
- Pachim Bekeli Village of Assam has been adopted by Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna (SAGY). He represents Assam in the Rajya Sabha.
- Padam Awards 2015 - Total 104 Padma Awards have been conferred this year (9 Padma Vibhushan, 20 Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri)
- Padma Vibhushan
S. No. Name of the Awardee Discipline State/Domicile 1. Shri L. K. Advani Public Affairs Gujarat 2. Shri Amitabh Bachchan Art Maharashtra 3. Shri Prakash Singh Badal Public Affairs Punjab 4. Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade Social Work Karnataka 5. Shri Mohammad Yusuf Khan alias Dilip Kumar Art Maharashtra 6. Shri Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Rambhadracharya Others Uttar Pradesh 7. Prof. Malur Ramaswamy Srinivasan Science and Engineering Tamil Nadu 8. Shri Kottayan K. Venugopal Public Affairs Delhi 9. Shri Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan (Foreigner) Trade and Industry France/UK
- Padma Bhushan
S. No. Name of the Awardee Discipline State/Domicile 1. Shri Jahnu Barua Art Assam 2. Dr. Vijay Bhatkar Science and Engineering Maharashtra 3. Shri Swapan Dasgupta Literature and Education Delhi 4. Swami Satyamitranand Giri Others Uttar Pradesh 5. Shri N. Gopalaswami Civil Service Tamil Nadu 6. Dr. Subhash C. Kashyap Public Affairs Delhi 7. Dr. (Pandit) Gokulotsavji Maharaj Art Madhya Pradesh 8. Dr. Ambrish Mithal Medicine Delhi 9. Smt. Sudha Ragunathan Art Tamil Nadu 10. Shri Harish Salve Public Affairs Delhi 11. Dr. Ashok Seth Medicine Delhi 12. Shri Rajat Sharma Literature and Education Delhi 13. Shri Satpal Sports Delhi 14. Shri Shivakumara Swami Others Karnataka 15. Dr. Kharag Singh Valdiya Science and Engineering Karnataka 16. Prof. Manjul Bhargava(NRI/PIO) Science and Engineering USA 17. Shri David Frawley (Vamadeva)(Foreigner) Others USA 18. Shri Bill Gates(Foreigner) Social Work USA 19. Ms. Melinda Gates(Foreigner) Social Work USA 20. Shri Saichiro Misumi(Foreigner) Others Japan
- Padma Shri
S. No. Name of the Awardee Discipline State/Domicile 1. Dr. Manjula Anagani Medicine Telangana 2. Shri S. Arunan Science and Engineering Karnataka 3. Ms. Kanyakumari Avasarala Art Tamil Nadu 4. Dr. Bettina Sharada Baumer Literature and Education Jammu and Kashmir 5. Shri Naresh Bedi Art Delhi 6. Shri Ashok Bhagat Social Work Jharkhand 7. Shri Sanjay Leela Bhansali Art Maharashtra 8. Dr. Lakshmi Nandan Bora Literature and Education Assam 9. Dr. Gyan Chaturvedi Literature and Education Madhya Pradesh 10. Prof. (Dr.) Yogesh Kumar Chawla Medicine Chandigarh 11. Smt. Jayakumari Chikkala Medicine Delhi 12. Shri Bibek Debroy Literature and Education Delhi 13. Dr. Sarungbam Bimola Kumari Devi Medicine Manipur 14. Dr. Ashok Gulati Public Affairs Delhi 15. Dr. Randeep Guleria Medicine Delhi 16. Dr. K. P. Haridas Medicine Kerala 17. Shri Rahul Jain Art Delhi 18. Shri Ravindra Jain Art Maharashtra 19. Dr. Sunil Jogi Literature and Education Delhi 20. Shri Prasoon Joshi Art Maharashtra 21. Dr. Prafulla Kar Art Odisha 22. Ms. Saba Anjum Sports Chhattisgarh 23. Smt. Ushakiran Khan Literature and Education Bihar 24. Dr. Rajesh Kotecha Medicine Rajasthan 25. Prof. Alka Kriplani Medicine Delhi 26. Dr. Harsh Kumar Medicine Delhi 27. Shri Narayana Purushothama Mallaya Literature and Education Kerala 28. Shri Lambert Mascarenhas Literature and Education Goa 29. Dr. (Mrs.) Janak Palta McGilligan Social Work Madhya Pradesh 30. Shri Veerendra Raj Mehta Social Work Delhi 31. Shri Tarak Mehta Art Gujarat 32. Shri Neil Herbert Nongkynrih Art Meghalaya 33. Shri Chewang Norphel Others Jammu and Kashmir 34. Shri T. V. Mohandas Pai Trade and Industry Karnataka 35. Dr.Tejas Patel Medicine Gujarat 36. Shri Jadav Molai Peyang Others Assam 37. Smt. Bimla Poddar Other Uttar Pradesh 38. Dr. N. Prabhakar Science and Engineering Delhi 39. Dr. Prahalada Science and Engineering Maharashtra 40. Dr. Narendra Prasad Medicine Bihar 41. Shri Ram Bahadur Rai Literature and Education Delhi 42. Ms. Mithali Raj Sports Telangana 43. Shri P. V. Rajaraman Civil Service Tamil Nadu 44. Prof. J. S. Rajput Literature and Education Uttar Pradesh 45. Shri Kota Srinivasa Rao Art Andhra Pradesh 46. Prof. Bimal Roy Literature and Education West Bengal 47. Shri Shekhar Sen Art Maharashtra 48. Shri Gunvant Shah Literature and Education Gujarat 49. Shri Brahmdev Sharma (Bhaiji) Literature and Education Delhi 50. Shri Manu Sharma Literature and Education Uttar Pradesh 51. Prof. Yog Raj Sharma Medicine Delhi 52. Shri Vasant Shastri Science and Engineering Karnataka 53. Shri S. K. Shivkumar Science and Engineering Karnataka 54. Ms. P. V. Sindhu Sports Telangana 55. Shri Sardara Singh Sports Haryana 56. Ms. Arunima Sinha Sports Uttar Pradesh 57. Shri Mahesh Raj Soni Art Rajasthan 58. Dr.Nikhil Tandon Medicine Delhi 59. Shri H. Thegtse Rinpoche Social Work Arunachal Pradesh 60. Dr.Hargovind Laxmishanker Trivedi Medicine Gujarat 61. Shri Huang Baosheng(Foreigner) Others China 62. Prof. Jacques Blamont(Foreigner) Science and Engineering France 63. Late Shri Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin(Posthumous) Others Maharashtra 64. Shri Jean-Claude Carriere(Foreigner) Literature and Education France 65. Dr. Nandrajan “Raj” Chetty(NRI/PIO) Trade and Industry USA 66. Shri George L. Hart(Foreigner) Others USA 67. Jagat Guru Amrta Suryananda Maha Raja(NRI/PIO) Others Portugal 68. Late Shri Meetha Lal Mehta (Posthumous) Social Work Rajasthan 69. Ms. Tripti Mukherjee(NRI/PIO) Art USA 70. Dr. Dattatreyudu Nori(NRI/PIO) Medicine USA 71. Dr. Raghu Rama Pillarisetti(NRI/PIO) Medicine USA 72. Dr. Saumitra Rawat(NRI/PIO) Medicine UK 73. Prof. Annette Schmiedchen(Foreigner) Literature and Education Germany 74. Late Shri Pran Kumar Sharma alias Pran(Posthumous) Art Delhi 75. Late Shri R. Vasudevan(Posthumous) Civil Service Tamil Nadu
- Pakistan Parliament passed 21st Constitution Amendment Bill 2015 and the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill 2015 to make way for establishment of military courts in the country.
- Pankaj Advani won his seventh National Billiards Championship in Kolkata after defeateding Dhruv Sitwala.
- Paulina Vega of Colombia has been named as winner of Miss Universe 2015 beauty pageant held in Miami (USA).
- People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) announced to create India's first fenced elephant sanctuary within Bannerghatta Biological Park in Karnataka to allow elephants to move around freely within the secure area.
- Periyar Tiger Reserve, spread over 925 sq.km. in Kerala, has won the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) biennial award for encouraging local public participation in managing the reserve.
- Poet Arundhathi Subramaniam has been given the first Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for her work When God is a Traveller at Jaipur Literature Festival.
- Poland Won the Hopman Cup of Tennis after beating USA in Australia.
- Pope Francis Declared 17th Century Indian Priest and Missionary Joseph Vaz as Saint in Sri Lanka.
- Popov Ivan of Russia won 7th Chennai International Open Grandmaster Chess title.
- Portugese Footballer who plays for Real Madrid Club, Cristiano Ronaldo won the 2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or award for the best footballer of the year in the world.
- Prabhu Nath Dwivedi has been named as winner of Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit, 2014 for his short stories collection - Kanakalochanaha.
- President signed bill for creating new system of appointment of judges to Supreme and High Courts by forming National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC) to replace collegium system of appointing judges to higher judiciary by six-member panel comprising Chief Justice of India, two Supreme Court judges, Law Minister and 2 eminent persons.
- President rule was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir (J &K) on the recommendation of the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir N N Vohra due to deadlock over the formation of the new government. Note that Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election were held in five phases in December 2014. In the Assembly election, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) won 28 seats, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 25 and National Congress (NC) won 15 seats.
- Prime Minister of Bhutan Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay visited India with his spouse Aum Tashi Doma, Foreign Minister Rinzin Dorji and Economic Affairs Minister Norbu Wangchuk.
- RBI Relaxed Know Your Customers (KYC) rules for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) due to difficulties being faced by NBFCs in getting KYC documents at frequent intervals. Now, the KYC exercise will be required to be done -
- High-risk individuals and entities - Every 2 years
- Medium risk individuals and entities - Every 8 years
- Low risk individuals and entities - Every 10 years
- RBI allowed Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)/Registered Foreign Portfolios Investors (RFPIs) to buy up to 49 % of paid-up capital of Bajaj Corp Ltd under Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS).
- Renowned Indian RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal has been given the Giraffe Hero award 2015 by a US-based NGO The Giraffe Heroes Project for his bravery in utilising Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 for public good despite challenges.
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) constituted a Committee under RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi, to re-examine appropriate set of businesses and licensing terms for Urban Cooperative Banks (UCB).
- The eight-member committee will be chaired by R Gandhi, the Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India.
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information with Brazil’s Central Bank, Banco Central do Brasil (BCB).
- Reserve Bank of India lifted ban on carrying bank notes of Indian Rs 1000 and 500 to Nepal and Bhutan.
- Ruhakana Rugunda is appointed as New (10th) Prime Minister of Uganda.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin approved foreign soldiers to serve in Russian Military for at least five years.
- S Jaishankar has been appointed as new Foreign Secretary of India replacing Sujata Singh.
- S Shrikrishna won National Sub-Junior Billiards title berating Ishpreet Singh Chadha of Maharashtra.
- Samsung India Electronics and NMDC (National Mineral Development Corporation) have been awarded the ‘Golden Peacock Award for Corporate Social Responsibility 2014’ for its initiatives for children’s education and skill development.
- Scientists of UK's University of Southampton are planning to grow lettuce on Mars in 2018 under Project LettuceOnMars.
- Sean Abbott of Australia has been named as Bradman Young Cricketer for the Year 2015.
- Sikkim government signed Memorandum of Understanding with Netherlands and Thailand for development of floriculture.
- Sindhushree Khullar has been appointed as First CEO of NITI Aayog and Arvind Panagariya has been appointed as Vice Chairman.
- SnoopSnitch Android app launched in Chaos Computer Congress’ annual meeting in Germany. The app can detect International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) catchers so as to inform a person that someone is spying on him.
- Social Media Site Twitter Buys ZipDial, Its First Acquisition of an Indian Company in a 35 Million USD Deal.
- South Africa’s cricketer AB de Villiers hit fastest century in One-Day International (ODI) cricket in Just 31 Balls against West Indies.
- South American Country Venezuela entered recession with shrinking economic growth and Recession Jumping upto 63%.
- Spanish writer Javier Moro's Book 'The Red Sari' - biography of Congress President Sonia Gandhi released in India.
- Sport Education Development Australia (SEDA) and India's Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited (IL-FS) signed an Memorandum of Understanding during Australian Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb's Visit to India.
- Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara became fastest cricketer to score 12000 Test runs.
- Stephen Constantine has been appointed as head coach of Indian men’s football team.
- Steve Easterbrook has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Famous Fast Food Chain McDonald’s Corporation.
- Surendra Kumar Sinha has been appointed as First Hindu Chief Justice of Bangladesh.
- Sutirtha Bhattacharya took charge as Chairman and Managing Director of Coal India Limited.
- Switzerland Tennis Player Roger Federer claimed his 1000th ATP career win at the Brisbane International by defeating Canadian Milos Raonic. It was 1000th win and 83rd title of his career.
- Sydney International Tennis tournament
- Men's Singles - Viktor Troicki of Serbia won by defeating Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.
- Women's Singles - Cetra Kvitova of Czech Republic won by defeating Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic.
- Women's Doubles - Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek-Sands of US won by beating Americans Abigail Spears and Raquel Kops-Jones.
- The Fifth General Assembly of IRENA (International Renewable Energy Association) held in Abu Dhabi (UAE).
- Thomas Kurian Is appointed as New President of Oracle Corporation.
- Trends in Global Carbon Di-Oxide Emission Report 2014
- US will host an international Anti-terror Summit in Washington in February 2015 to prevent terrorism.
- USA President Barack Obama Arrived in India for attending Celebrations and Parade of India's 66th Republic day.
- USA based Apple Inc recorded profit of 18 billion USD dollar in 2014 which is Highest ever profit earned by any company in the corporate world.
- Apple sold 74.5 million iPhones in quarter ending December 2014.
- Revenue of the Apple Inc rose to 74.6 billion USD in 2014 from 57.6 billion USD in 2013.
- Apple now has a cash pile up of 178 billion USD which is enough to buy IBM or the equivalent to pay 556 USD to every American.
- The success of Apple may be attributed to -
- Apple's partnership in China with China Mobile Limited
- Larger screen size of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
- Doubling of sales of iPhone in Singapore and Brazil and Significant rise in India as well.
- United Nation (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Indian sociologist Saraswathi Menon in a Panel for reviewing peace building activities.
- United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released Global Investment Trend Monitor Report to provide global investments trend in 2014 and prospects of global investments in 2015.
- Global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows declined by 8 % in 2014 to 1.26 trillion USD due to fragility of global economy, geopolitical risks and Political Uncertainities.
- Report in context of India
- FDI flow in India in 2014 increased to 35 billion USD (26 % Up) with maximum growth in the services sector.
- Maximum growth in FDI in India was in services sector especially in electricity, gas, water, waste management and information and communication
- This is one of the highest in recent years, though in 2008 FDI peaked in India with 47 billion dollars followed by 35.6 billion dollar in 2009
- Top five FDI recipients’ countries in 2014
- China is largest recipient of FDI with 3 % Increase. China replaced US that attracted largest FDI since 1980.
- Rankings of Highest FDI Attracting Countries -
- China with 128 billion USD
- Hong Kong with 111 billion USD
- The United States with 86 billion USD
- Singapore with 81 billion USD
- Brazil with 62 billion USD
- United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospectus Report 2015 -
- India 's GDP growth will rise to 5.9 % in 2014-2015 and 6.3 % in 2016, recovery is credited to key reforms by the new Government led by PM Narendra Modi.
- Economic growth in South Asia will pick up from 4.9 % in 2014 to 5.4 % in 2015 and 5.7 % in 2016.
- Global economy is expected to grow at 3.1 % in 2015 and 3.3 % in 2016, compared with growth of 2.6 % in 2014.
- The WESP report is produced at the beginning of each year by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the five UN regional commissions and the World Tourism Organisation ( UNWTO).
- Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2015 was inaugurated in Gandhinagar, Gujarat to be held from 11th to 13th January 2015.
- Vistara airline, a joint venture of Tata-SIA, started its flight operation in India with first flight from Delhi to Mumbai.
- Weightlifter Jimjang Deru of Arunachal Pradesh created national record in weightlifting by lifting 238 kilograms in 56 kilograms category during 10th Youth National Weightlifting Championships in Haryana.
- Wing Commander Puja Thakur became first lady officer to lead Inter-Service Guard of Honour with theme - "Nari Shakti".
- World Bank Group released bi-annual Global Economic Prospects (GEP) Report, 2015. -
- Economic growth of India estimated at 5.6 % in 2014, will improve to 6.4 % in 2015 and 7 % in 2016.
- Global economy grew by 2.6 % in 2014 and is expected to grow by 3 % in 2015, 3.3 % in 2016 and 3.2 % in 2017.
- USA has growth above 2.4 % in 2014, expected to grow at 3.2 % in 2015 and 3 % in 2016.
- China’s growth is expected to come down to 7.1 % in 2015, 7 % in 2016 and 6.9 % in 2017.
- World bank released a report named Heights: Social Inclusion and Sustainable Development in Himachal Pradesh to mark significant growth over the past decades for Himachal Pradesh. highlights of the Report are -
- Per capita income in Himachal Pradesh is second highest in India despite 90 % of its residents live in rural areas. Education and share of women in the workforce is also appreciable.
- Himachal Pradesh is first in India to have banned use of plastic bags and has set heights in becoming free of defecation in open.
- Poverty is one-third the national average. Rural poverty decline four times to 85. % in 2011 from 36.8 % in 1993–94.
- Yash Pal Singhal has been appointed as new Director General of Police (DGP) of Haryana.
- Yes bank signed a $200 Million Loan Agreement with th Asian Development Bank for promoting financial inclusion in rural areas an advancing loans to women self help groups..
- Venture Capital Fund - Financial assistance of 15 Crore rupees for 6 years will be provided to 30 SC entrepreneurs in a year. Initial capital is 200 crore rupees
- Green Business - loan for up to 1 lakh rupees at concessional interest rate will be provided to Scheduled Castes for activities such as e-rickshaw, Solar Pump and Solar energy powered implements, poly house etc.
- India CHINA TRADE was USD 73.9 billion in 2011, 66.57 billion in 2012, 65.57 billion in 2013 and 65.49 billion USD in 2013.
- China’s export to India in 2014 was 54.2 billion USD and India’s exports to China was 16.4 billion USD. The trade target of India China was 100 billion USD for 2014.
- Actor - Shahid Kapoor (Haider)
- Actress - Priyanka Chopra (Mary Kom)
- Film - Queen
- Director - Vikas Bahl (Queen)
- Lifetime Achievement Award - Hema Malini
- Drama
- Picture - Boyhood
- Actor - Eddie Redmayne
- Actress - Julianne Moore
- Musical / Comedy
- Picture - The Grand BUDAPEST HOTEL
- Actor - Michael Keaton
- Actress - Amy Adams
- Supporting Actor - J. K. Simmons
- Supporting Actress - Patricia Arquette
- Director - Richard Linklater
- Drama
- India's HDFC was ranked 45th with 41.58 USD Market Capitalization. SBI was ranked 51st with 36.40 USD and ICICI was 55th with 33.42 USD Market Cap.
- Wells Fargo & Co. of US is first with market cap of 284.39 Billion USD and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) of China is second with market cap of 269.70 Billion USD.
- The accounts of APSCHE were frozen after Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) sent a letter to various banks asking them to freeze the accounts of APSCHE as it accused APSCHE of illegally capturing off money that was to be shared between the two states.
- India's GDP Growth Rate in 2016 will be 6.5 %, It will surpass China's Expected growth rate of 6.3 % in 2016.
- India VS China GDP Growth Rates -
Year India China 2013 5 7.8 2014 5.8 7.4 2015 6.3 6.8 2016 (Expected) 6.5 6.3
- India VS China GDP Growth Rates -
- As per recent Reports, Number of Tigers in India has risen by 30% up to 2226 from 1706 in 2010. Nearly 70% of world's Tigers are in India. Karnataka has most number of tigers (406) followed by Uttarakhand (340) and Madhya Pradesh (308).
- India's GDP Growth Rate in 2016 will be 6.5 %, It will surpass China's Expected growth rate of 6.3 % in 2016.
- In past few years, project did not see a significant increase in the number of salt-water crocodiles. The eggs to hatching ratio also declined to 40 per 100 eggs collected.
- Governor of the Year Award: Raghuram Rajan, RBI Governor
- Central Bank of the Year award: The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ)
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Jacques de Larosiere former Governor of the Banque de France (1987–1993)
- Economics in Central Banking (inaugural award): Claudio Borio, head of the monetary and economic department at the Bank for International Settlements
- India has been ranked at 93rd place in 143 Countries.
- Denmark at top, followed by Hongkong.
- Switzerland Topped The List, Followed by Singapore and Luxembourrg.
- India Got 78th Place in the List with Yemen at Last.
- Neem coated urea
- Neem coated urea works as insecticide. It costs 5 % more than the cost of normal urea which is about 260 rupees per tonne.
- It will reduce ground and soil pollution, increase crop yields and will lower cost for the farmers.
- It reduces nitrogen loss by more than 10 % thereby gaining a net savings of 13.5 rupees per bag for farmers.
- Neem coated urea
- Goitre is swelling of neck or larynx due to enlargement of thyroid gland (thyromegaly) due to its functioning properly.
- Men - Mark Knowles (Australia)
- Women - Ellen Hoog (Netherland)
- The report stated that unemployment will rise in the coming years to more than 212 million in 2019 as compared to 201 million currently.
- Services - Brigade of Guards Regiment and Sikh Regiment jointly judged as best marching contingents.
- Para-Military Forces - Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) contingent
- Tableaux Category- First position won by Maharashtra, which depicted the pilgrimage to Pandharpur. Jharkhand tableau on Maluti Temples was second best and Karnataka Tableau was third (based on Channapatna Toys).
- Competitive category of school children items- Daang Dance of Gujarat by West Zone Cultural Centre, Udaipur (Rajasthan).
- Padma Vibhushan
S. No. Name of the Awardee Discipline State/Domicile 1. Shri L. K. Advani Public Affairs Gujarat 2. Shri Amitabh Bachchan Art Maharashtra 3. Shri Prakash Singh Badal Public Affairs Punjab 4. Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade Social Work Karnataka 5. Shri Mohammad Yusuf Khan alias Dilip Kumar Art Maharashtra 6. Shri Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Rambhadracharya Others Uttar Pradesh 7. Prof. Malur Ramaswamy Srinivasan Science and Engineering Tamil Nadu 8. Shri Kottayan K. Venugopal Public Affairs Delhi 9. Shri Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan (Foreigner) Trade and Industry France/UK - Padma Bhushan
S. No. Name of the Awardee Discipline State/Domicile 1. Shri Jahnu Barua Art Assam 2. Dr. Vijay Bhatkar Science and Engineering Maharashtra 3. Shri Swapan Dasgupta Literature and Education Delhi 4. Swami Satyamitranand Giri Others Uttar Pradesh 5. Shri N. Gopalaswami Civil Service Tamil Nadu 6. Dr. Subhash C. Kashyap Public Affairs Delhi 7. Dr. (Pandit) Gokulotsavji Maharaj Art Madhya Pradesh 8. Dr. Ambrish Mithal Medicine Delhi 9. Smt. Sudha Ragunathan Art Tamil Nadu 10. Shri Harish Salve Public Affairs Delhi 11. Dr. Ashok Seth Medicine Delhi 12. Shri Rajat Sharma Literature and Education Delhi 13. Shri Satpal Sports Delhi 14. Shri Shivakumara Swami Others Karnataka 15. Dr. Kharag Singh Valdiya Science and Engineering Karnataka 16. Prof. Manjul Bhargava(NRI/PIO) Science and Engineering USA 17. Shri David Frawley (Vamadeva)(Foreigner) Others USA 18. Shri Bill Gates(Foreigner) Social Work USA 19. Ms. Melinda Gates(Foreigner) Social Work USA 20. Shri Saichiro Misumi(Foreigner) Others Japan - Padma Shri
S. No. Name of the Awardee Discipline State/Domicile 1. Dr. Manjula Anagani Medicine Telangana 2. Shri S. Arunan Science and Engineering Karnataka 3. Ms. Kanyakumari Avasarala Art Tamil Nadu 4. Dr. Bettina Sharada Baumer Literature and Education Jammu and Kashmir 5. Shri Naresh Bedi Art Delhi 6. Shri Ashok Bhagat Social Work Jharkhand 7. Shri Sanjay Leela Bhansali Art Maharashtra 8. Dr. Lakshmi Nandan Bora Literature and Education Assam 9. Dr. Gyan Chaturvedi Literature and Education Madhya Pradesh 10. Prof. (Dr.) Yogesh Kumar Chawla Medicine Chandigarh 11. Smt. Jayakumari Chikkala Medicine Delhi 12. Shri Bibek Debroy Literature and Education Delhi 13. Dr. Sarungbam Bimola Kumari Devi Medicine Manipur 14. Dr. Ashok Gulati Public Affairs Delhi 15. Dr. Randeep Guleria Medicine Delhi 16. Dr. K. P. Haridas Medicine Kerala 17. Shri Rahul Jain Art Delhi 18. Shri Ravindra Jain Art Maharashtra 19. Dr. Sunil Jogi Literature and Education Delhi 20. Shri Prasoon Joshi Art Maharashtra 21. Dr. Prafulla Kar Art Odisha 22. Ms. Saba Anjum Sports Chhattisgarh 23. Smt. Ushakiran Khan Literature and Education Bihar 24. Dr. Rajesh Kotecha Medicine Rajasthan 25. Prof. Alka Kriplani Medicine Delhi 26. Dr. Harsh Kumar Medicine Delhi 27. Shri Narayana Purushothama Mallaya Literature and Education Kerala 28. Shri Lambert Mascarenhas Literature and Education Goa 29. Dr. (Mrs.) Janak Palta McGilligan Social Work Madhya Pradesh 30. Shri Veerendra Raj Mehta Social Work Delhi 31. Shri Tarak Mehta Art Gujarat 32. Shri Neil Herbert Nongkynrih Art Meghalaya 33. Shri Chewang Norphel Others Jammu and Kashmir 34. Shri T. V. Mohandas Pai Trade and Industry Karnataka 35. Dr.Tejas Patel Medicine Gujarat 36. Shri Jadav Molai Peyang Others Assam 37. Smt. Bimla Poddar Other Uttar Pradesh 38. Dr. N. Prabhakar Science and Engineering Delhi 39. Dr. Prahalada Science and Engineering Maharashtra 40. Dr. Narendra Prasad Medicine Bihar 41. Shri Ram Bahadur Rai Literature and Education Delhi 42. Ms. Mithali Raj Sports Telangana 43. Shri P. V. Rajaraman Civil Service Tamil Nadu 44. Prof. J. S. Rajput Literature and Education Uttar Pradesh 45. Shri Kota Srinivasa Rao Art Andhra Pradesh 46. Prof. Bimal Roy Literature and Education West Bengal 47. Shri Shekhar Sen Art Maharashtra 48. Shri Gunvant Shah Literature and Education Gujarat 49. Shri Brahmdev Sharma (Bhaiji) Literature and Education Delhi 50. Shri Manu Sharma Literature and Education Uttar Pradesh 51. Prof. Yog Raj Sharma Medicine Delhi 52. Shri Vasant Shastri Science and Engineering Karnataka 53. Shri S. K. Shivkumar Science and Engineering Karnataka 54. Ms. P. V. Sindhu Sports Telangana 55. Shri Sardara Singh Sports Haryana 56. Ms. Arunima Sinha Sports Uttar Pradesh 57. Shri Mahesh Raj Soni Art Rajasthan 58. Dr.Nikhil Tandon Medicine Delhi 59. Shri H. Thegtse Rinpoche Social Work Arunachal Pradesh 60. Dr.Hargovind Laxmishanker Trivedi Medicine Gujarat 61. Shri Huang Baosheng(Foreigner) Others China 62. Prof. Jacques Blamont(Foreigner) Science and Engineering France 63. Late Shri Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin(Posthumous) Others Maharashtra 64. Shri Jean-Claude Carriere(Foreigner) Literature and Education France 65. Dr. Nandrajan “Raj” Chetty(NRI/PIO) Trade and Industry USA 66. Shri George L. Hart(Foreigner) Others USA 67. Jagat Guru Amrta Suryananda Maha Raja(NRI/PIO) Others Portugal 68. Late Shri Meetha Lal Mehta (Posthumous) Social Work Rajasthan 69. Ms. Tripti Mukherjee(NRI/PIO) Art USA 70. Dr. Dattatreyudu Nori(NRI/PIO) Medicine USA 71. Dr. Raghu Rama Pillarisetti(NRI/PIO) Medicine USA 72. Dr. Saumitra Rawat(NRI/PIO) Medicine UK 73. Prof. Annette Schmiedchen(Foreigner) Literature and Education Germany 74. Late Shri Pran Kumar Sharma alias Pran(Posthumous) Art Delhi 75. Late Shri R. Vasudevan(Posthumous) Civil Service Tamil Nadu
- High-risk individuals and entities - Every 2 years
- Medium risk individuals and entities - Every 8 years
- Low risk individuals and entities - Every 10 years
- The eight-member committee will be chaired by R Gandhi, the Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India.
- Men's Singles - Viktor Troicki of Serbia won by defeating Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.
- Women's Singles - Cetra Kvitova of Czech Republic won by defeating Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic.
- Women's Doubles - Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek-Sands of US won by beating Americans Abigail Spears and Raquel Kops-Jones.
- Apple sold 74.5 million iPhones in quarter ending December 2014.
- Revenue of the Apple Inc rose to 74.6 billion USD in 2014 from 57.6 billion USD in 2013.
- Apple now has a cash pile up of 178 billion USD which is enough to buy IBM or the equivalent to pay 556 USD to every American.
- The success of Apple may be attributed to -
- Apple's partnership in China with China Mobile Limited
- Larger screen size of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
- Doubling of sales of iPhone in Singapore and Brazil and Significant rise in India as well.
- Global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows declined by 8 % in 2014 to 1.26 trillion USD due to fragility of global economy, geopolitical risks and Political Uncertainities.
- Report in context of India
- FDI flow in India in 2014 increased to 35 billion USD (26 % Up) with maximum growth in the services sector.
- Maximum growth in FDI in India was in services sector especially in electricity, gas, water, waste management and information and communication
- This is one of the highest in recent years, though in 2008 FDI peaked in India with 47 billion dollars followed by 35.6 billion dollar in 2009
- Top five FDI recipients’ countries in 2014
- China is largest recipient of FDI with 3 % Increase. China replaced US that attracted largest FDI since 1980.
- Rankings of Highest FDI Attracting Countries -
- China with 128 billion USD
- Hong Kong with 111 billion USD
- The United States with 86 billion USD
- Singapore with 81 billion USD
- Brazil with 62 billion USD
- India 's GDP growth will rise to 5.9 % in 2014-2015 and 6.3 % in 2016, recovery is credited to key reforms by the new Government led by PM Narendra Modi.
- Economic growth in South Asia will pick up from 4.9 % in 2014 to 5.4 % in 2015 and 5.7 % in 2016.
- Global economy is expected to grow at 3.1 % in 2015 and 3.3 % in 2016, compared with growth of 2.6 % in 2014.
- The WESP report is produced at the beginning of each year by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the five UN regional commissions and the World Tourism Organisation ( UNWTO).
- Economic growth of India estimated at 5.6 % in 2014, will improve to 6.4 % in 2015 and 7 % in 2016.
- Global economy grew by 2.6 % in 2014 and is expected to grow by 3 % in 2015, 3.3 % in 2016 and 3.2 % in 2017.
- USA has growth above 2.4 % in 2014, expected to grow at 3.2 % in 2015 and 3 % in 2016.
- China’s growth is expected to come down to 7.1 % in 2015, 7 % in 2016 and 6.9 % in 2017.
- Per capita income in Himachal Pradesh is second highest in India despite 90 % of its residents live in rural areas. Education and share of women in the workforce is also appreciable.
- Himachal Pradesh is first in India to have banned use of plastic bags and has set heights in becoming free of defecation in open.
- Poverty is one-third the national average. Rural poverty decline four times to 85. % in 2011 from 36.8 % in 1993–94.
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