General Affairs
'Highway Squad' Attacked Pathankot Base, Claims United Jihad Council
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On the third day of the grueling mission to secure the Pathankot air force base that was attacked by at least five terrorists, a conglomerate of terror groups called the United Jihad Council has claimed responsibility for the attack according to CNS, a news agency based in Srinagar.
The UJC is based in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and is headed by Syed Salauddin, an Indian Kashmiri who chiefs the Hizbul Mujahideen.
However, Indian intel sources warn that the claim could be an attempt to deflect attention from the real perpetrators of the attack, believed to be the Jaish-e-Mohammed, a terror group based in Pakistan that says it's committed to securing Kashmir's independence. A senior police officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said to, " The statement may well be an attempt to indigenize the attack to highlight the Kashmir issue."
A spokesman for the UJC was quoted by news agency CNS as saying that the attack was carried out by "Kashmiri militants associated with 'Highway Squad'."
Seven military personnel were martyred at Pathankot in Punjab at the huge base that's located just 25 km from the border with Pakistan. Another 20 were injured. Five terrorists have been killed.
The attack began at dawn on Saturday when the terrorists, who reportedly crossed the border into India on the night of December 30, started firing indiscriminately. They allegedly entered the base in two groups - the first hijacked the vehicle of a senior police officer and used the car to enter the base, which holds fighter jets and attack helicopters.
The attack came about a week after a surprise visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, the first by an Indian premier in 12 years.
Officials said the attack bore the hallmarks of previous suspected assaults by Pakistan-based terror groups, underscoring the fragility of recent efforts to revive talks between the neighbours.
Air assets at the base, including aircraft and helicopters, are secure, and there has been no collateral damage or civilian casualties, officers stressed.
On the third day of the grueling mission to secure the Pathankot air force base that was attacked by at least five terrorists, a conglomerate of terror groups called the United Jihad Council has claimed responsibility for the attack according to CNS, a news agency based in Srinagar.The UJC is based in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and is headed by Syed Salauddin, an Indian Kashmiri who chiefs the Hizbul Mujahideen.
However, Indian intel sources warn that the claim could be an attempt to deflect attention from the real perpetrators of the attack, believed to be the Jaish-e-Mohammed, a terror group based in Pakistan that says it's committed to securing Kashmir's independence. A senior police officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said to, " The statement may well be an attempt to indigenize the attack to highlight the Kashmir issue."
Seven military personnel were martyred at Pathankot in Punjab at the huge base that's located just 25 km from the border with Pakistan. Another 20 were injured. Five terrorists have been killed.
The attack began at dawn on Saturday when the terrorists, who reportedly crossed the border into India on the night of December 30, started firing indiscriminately. They allegedly entered the base in two groups - the first hijacked the vehicle of a senior police officer and used the car to enter the base, which holds fighter jets and attack helicopters.
The attack came about a week after a surprise visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, the first by an Indian premier in 12 years.
Officials said the attack bore the hallmarks of previous suspected assaults by Pakistan-based terror groups, underscoring the fragility of recent efforts to revive talks between the neighbours.
Air assets at the base, including aircraft and helicopters, are secure, and there has been no collateral damage or civilian casualties, officers stressed.
160 Villages Electrified Last Week: Government
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NEW DELHI: The Uunion Power Ministry electrified 160 villages in the country last week, the ministry said today.
"Of the electrified villages, 57 fall in Chhattisgarh, 40 in Odisha, 27 in Bihar, 16 in Rajasthan, nine each in Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh and one village each in the states of Tripura and Assam," the ministry said in a statement.
"Electrification of 160 villages resulted in overall increase of 42 percent over the week before of the ongoing electrification process under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna," it added.
"Happy to share that we electrified 160 villages last week, an increase of 42 percent over the week before," Power Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted.
The central government has decided to electrify remaining 18,452 un-electrified villages by May 1, 2018, the statement said.
"The project has been taken on mission mode and strategy for electrification consists of squeezed implementation schedule of 12 months with 12-stage milestones for village electrification monitoring with defined timelines," it added.
In a separate communication, the ministry said Jharkhand would be the first state to sign an MOU on adopting the union government-approved UDAY scheme for debt restructuring of state distribution companies (discoms) at a ceremony in New Delhi on Tuesday.
NEW DELHI: The Uunion Power Ministry electrified 160 villages in the country last week, the ministry said today."Of the electrified villages, 57 fall in Chhattisgarh, 40 in Odisha, 27 in Bihar, 16 in Rajasthan, nine each in Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh and one village each in the states of Tripura and Assam," the ministry said in a statement.
"Electrification of 160 villages resulted in overall increase of 42 percent over the week before of the ongoing electrification process under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna," it added.
"Happy to share that we electrified 160 villages last week, an increase of 42 percent over the week before," Power Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted.
The central government has decided to electrify remaining 18,452 un-electrified villages by May 1, 2018, the statement said.
"The project has been taken on mission mode and strategy for electrification consists of squeezed implementation schedule of 12 months with 12-stage milestones for village electrification monitoring with defined timelines," it added.
In a separate communication, the ministry said Jharkhand would be the first state to sign an MOU on adopting the union government-approved UDAY scheme for debt restructuring of state distribution companies (discoms) at a ceremony in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Santa-Banta Type Jokes: Supreme Court To Consider Sikh Community's View
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NEW DELHI: Do Sikhs feel bad about Santa Banta jokes on them? If so, the Supreme Court today said it will seriously consider examining a plea to ban websites displaying jokes on them.
"If we think that your community do feel bad about it, we will definitely seriously consider it," a bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justices AK Sikri and R Banumathi said.
"Does your community stand by you," the bench asked a Sikh woman lawyer Harvinder Chowdhury, who has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in this regard.
She said Delhi Sikh Gurduwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has also filed a petition on the same issue and they are engaging a battery of senior advocates including Ram Jethmalani to argue the matter.
While the woman advocate was making submissions, the bench intervened and asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) PS Patwalia to express his views on the issue being a Sikh himself.
However, before he could say something, the woman lawyer continued to make submissions in high pitch, prompting the ASG to comment that "she is getting over-excited".
Later, at the end of the proceedings, Mr Patwalia said, "we have taken things seriously."
The bench said that matter will be heard along with the petition of the DSGMC.
During the hearing, the bench wanted to know from the woman lawyer as to "who will determine that a particular joke is derogatory."
Ms Chowdhury also had reservation about the jokes and outspoken comments of noted Sikh author Khushwant Singh.
The bench stopped the lawyer from going ahead by saying that she should keep her submissions reserved for the main hearing.
During the last hearing on October 30, 2015, the bench had said, "This (Sikh) community is known for a great sense of humour and they also enjoy such jokes. You must have gone through the jokes of Khushwant Singh... This is only an amusement. Why do you want it to be stopped?...Prepare your case well. We will hear you," the bench had said.
The PIL had said that there are more than 5,000 websites which display jokes on Sikhs projecting the members of the community in poor light.
NEW DELHI: Do Sikhs feel bad about Santa Banta jokes on them? If so, the Supreme Court today said it will seriously consider examining a plea to ban websites displaying jokes on them."If we think that your community do feel bad about it, we will definitely seriously consider it," a bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justices AK Sikri and R Banumathi said.
She said Delhi Sikh Gurduwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has also filed a petition on the same issue and they are engaging a battery of senior advocates including Ram Jethmalani to argue the matter.
While the woman advocate was making submissions, the bench intervened and asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) PS Patwalia to express his views on the issue being a Sikh himself.
However, before he could say something, the woman lawyer continued to make submissions in high pitch, prompting the ASG to comment that "she is getting over-excited".
Later, at the end of the proceedings, Mr Patwalia said, "we have taken things seriously."
The bench said that matter will be heard along with the petition of the DSGMC.
During the hearing, the bench wanted to know from the woman lawyer as to "who will determine that a particular joke is derogatory."
Ms Chowdhury also had reservation about the jokes and outspoken comments of noted Sikh author Khushwant Singh.
The bench stopped the lawyer from going ahead by saying that she should keep her submissions reserved for the main hearing.
During the last hearing on October 30, 2015, the bench had said, "This (Sikh) community is known for a great sense of humour and they also enjoy such jokes. You must have gone through the jokes of Khushwant Singh... This is only an amusement. Why do you want it to be stopped?...Prepare your case well. We will hear you," the bench had said.
The PIL had said that there are more than 5,000 websites which display jokes on Sikhs projecting the members of the community in poor light.
After Pathankot Attack, India Looks At Delaying Foreign Secretary Talks
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NEW DELHI: Talks scheduled for next week in Islamabad between the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan may be delayed by Delhi because of the deadly attack on the air force base in Pathankot which has martyred seven military personnel and injured 20.
The Foreign Secretary talks are scheduled for January 14 and 15. But top government sources tell NDTV that Delhi may choose to first ask for a consultation between National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Naseer Khan Janjua.
However, a final decision is expected in the next few days.
Five terrorists have been killed since the attack began on Saturday at dawn, the National Security Guard has said.
The attack on Pathankot, just 25 km from the border with Pakistan, came a week after a surprise visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, the first by an Indian premier in 12 years. The attack may have been carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed, according to security officers, based on an initial analysis. The Pakistan-based terror group is seeking independence for Kashmir.
Pakistan has condemned the attack and said it wanted to continue to build on the goodwill created by the impromptu meeting between Mr Modi and Mr Sharif last month.
The NSAs have been mandated by Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif to discuss countering terrorism, while the Foreign Secretaries are meant to discuss a roadmap for the new comprehensive dialogue.
The discussions on what to do next have been taking place at the highest levels with the PM meeting top officials including the NSA and the Foreign Secretary last night. PM Modi met senior ministers as well this morning.
NEW DELHI: Talks scheduled for next week in Islamabad between the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan may be delayed by Delhi because of the deadly attack on the air force base in Pathankot which has martyred seven military personnel and injured 20.The Foreign Secretary talks are scheduled for January 14 and 15. But top government sources tell NDTV that Delhi may choose to first ask for a consultation between National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Naseer Khan Janjua.
However, a final decision is expected in the next few days.
The attack on Pathankot, just 25 km from the border with Pakistan, came a week after a surprise visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, the first by an Indian premier in 12 years. The attack may have been carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed, according to security officers, based on an initial analysis. The Pakistan-based terror group is seeking independence for Kashmir.
Pakistan has condemned the attack and said it wanted to continue to build on the goodwill created by the impromptu meeting between Mr Modi and Mr Sharif last month.
The NSAs have been mandated by Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif to discuss countering terrorism, while the Foreign Secretaries are meant to discuss a roadmap for the new comprehensive dialogue.
The discussions on what to do next have been taking place at the highest levels with the PM meeting top officials including the NSA and the Foreign Secretary last night. PM Modi met senior ministers as well this morning.
Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi Says Peace Talks Will Be Priority
- YANGON, MYANMAR: Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi Monday said bringing peace to the country's strife-wracked ethnic regions will be a priority for her government when it takes power.
The veteran democracy champion's National League for Democracy (NLD) party swept landmark November polls that look set to curtail the military's decades-long chokehold on the country.
But under Myanmar's complicated junta-era political charter, her party is not expected to take power until February -- and Suu Kyi herself is banned from becoming president.
"We have to build peace. Building peace is the first ever duty of a new government," she told supporters at the party's Yangon headquarters on Monday, during a speech marking the country's Independence Day.
"We have to work to include everyone in a signed ceasefire agreement by holding a really effective peace conference," she added.
The 70-year-old opposition leader had remained somewhat tight-lipped on what her government's main objectives and who her main players will be, as delicate transition negotiations continue between the incumbent military-backed government and the her victorious party.
Myanmar is a patchwork of ethnic identities with over 130 officially-recognised minority groups, many with distinct languages and cultures.
Across vast swathes of these often remote regions, ethnic rebel groups have fought wars against the military for greater autonomy, many of them lasting for decades.
Ethnic minorities have long accused the central government and the military of human rights abuses and resource grabs.
Myanmar's outgoing quasi-civilian, military-backed government recently inked ceasefires with a clutch of ethnic armed groups, with a landmark peace conference due to start next Tuesday.
But several major conflicts persist and some of the most significant insurgent outfits have yet to sign up to the deal.
Suu Kyi has said her party supports a federal future and has made ethnic affairs and peace a central pillar of her party manifesto for Myanmar, where ethnic minority groups have fought decades-long wars for greater autonomy
But she was criticised in the run-up to the polls for failing to reach out to minority parties.
"All people have to participate in our struggle," she told supporters. "Tatmadaw (the army) must participate. Ethnic groups must participate."
Suu Kyi is accutely aware that even once her government takes power, its rule will be limited.
The military retains huge power with a quarter of parliamentary seats reserved for unelected soldiers, and military appointees in charge of key security ministries.
The ban on Suu Kyi taking the top position of president stems from her having married a foreigner and having foreign born children.
Outgoing president Thein Sein steps down on March 31. His successor will be chosen in a vote by Myanmar's two legislative houses and the military parliamentary bloc.
Suu Kyi has vowed to rewrite the junta-era constitution and be "above the president" when her government takes power.
The veteran democracy champion's National League for Democracy (NLD) party swept landmark November polls that look set to curtail the military's decades-long chokehold on the country.
But under Myanmar's complicated junta-era political charter, her party is not expected to take power until February -- and Suu Kyi herself is banned from becoming president.
"We have to work to include everyone in a signed ceasefire agreement by holding a really effective peace conference," she added.
The 70-year-old opposition leader had remained somewhat tight-lipped on what her government's main objectives and who her main players will be, as delicate transition negotiations continue between the incumbent military-backed government and the her victorious party.
Myanmar is a patchwork of ethnic identities with over 130 officially-recognised minority groups, many with distinct languages and cultures.
Across vast swathes of these often remote regions, ethnic rebel groups have fought wars against the military for greater autonomy, many of them lasting for decades.
Ethnic minorities have long accused the central government and the military of human rights abuses and resource grabs.
Myanmar's outgoing quasi-civilian, military-backed government recently inked ceasefires with a clutch of ethnic armed groups, with a landmark peace conference due to start next Tuesday.
But several major conflicts persist and some of the most significant insurgent outfits have yet to sign up to the deal.
Suu Kyi has said her party supports a federal future and has made ethnic affairs and peace a central pillar of her party manifesto for Myanmar, where ethnic minority groups have fought decades-long wars for greater autonomy
But she was criticised in the run-up to the polls for failing to reach out to minority parties.
"All people have to participate in our struggle," she told supporters. "Tatmadaw (the army) must participate. Ethnic groups must participate."
Suu Kyi is accutely aware that even once her government takes power, its rule will be limited.
The military retains huge power with a quarter of parliamentary seats reserved for unelected soldiers, and military appointees in charge of key security ministries.
The ban on Suu Kyi taking the top position of president stems from her having married a foreigner and having foreign born children.
Outgoing president Thein Sein steps down on March 31. His successor will be chosen in a vote by Myanmar's two legislative houses and the military parliamentary bloc.
Suu Kyi has vowed to rewrite the junta-era constitution and be "above the president" when her government takes power.
Business Affairs
Market tanks 2% but offers array of opportunities; top stock picks for 2016
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Even as nothing concrete has changed on the ground, investors and fund managers across the world are ritualistically re-writing market strategies for 2016 with a fresh vigour. The domestic benchmark indices bid adieu to year 2015 posting losses for the first time in four years.
The first day of trade for most Asian markets too was a sort of reality check. Chinese markets crashed 7 per cent on weak PMI manufacturing readings, sending global markets tumbling. US Dow Jones futures too were hinting at a weak opening. The NSE barometer was struggling to hold on to 7,800 level in its second trading day of 2016.
Yet, the analyst community remains upbeat on domestic equities. Analysts believe first half of 2016 may mirror bearish trend of 2015, but benchmark indices may begin to log gains in the second half of 2016.
Brokerage firm Anand Rathi Financial Services said that the consensus estimate for earnings per share (EPS) outlook of Sensex for 2016 has fallen around 16 per cent to Rs 1,640 from Rs 1,950 in 2015, but the brokerage believes things to start looking up again towards the mid-2016, for a two-three-year long bull run.
"The momentum for estimate revision for further downgrades remains high, thus indicating the cuts to continue in first half of 2016. But, in our opinion, this should bottom out in mid-2016 and would get poised for looking up towards the end of 2016. Markets are smarter than the analysts and hence we should expect equity markets to start looking up again towards the mid-2016 for a 2-3 year bull run," said Amit Rathi, Managing Director of Anand Rathi Financial Services.
G Chokkalingam, Founder & Managing Director, Equinomics Research & Advisory is also positive on the equities. He believes the headline indices are likely to give around 20 per cent return in 2016. Chokkalingam believes though believes midcap indices to outdo largecap indices in the first half of 2016.
"Midcap indices are likely to outperform the broad indices in the first half as substantial pick up in the earning for the large cap stocks are likely to be delayed. Only in the second half, the industrial economy and hence, the overall economy is expected to grow substantially. Hence, large companies would take another 1 or 2 quarters to improve their earnings as the impact of global deflationary pressures are likely to continue for another 6 months," said Chokkalingam.
Here is a list of stocks recommended by top three brokerages that can yield you healthy returns going ahead:
Ambit Capital
1) Bank of Baroda (Target price: Rs 190)
Ambit Capital noted the asset quality of Bank of Baroda bank has deteriorated in the last year, but credible appointments of a MD & CEO and a Chairman from the private sector, in September 2015, have raised expectationsa of structural reforms.
The brokerage maintained 'buy' on the stock and said the scrip is their preferred pick among PSU stocks. Ambit Capital expects 19.49 per cent upside on the stock in 12 months against Friday's closing figure.
2) Trent (Target price: Rs 2,010)
Trent is India's largest women's wear and fast fashion company built around an own brand portfolio and a fast fashion brand under its JV with Inditex.
The brokerage believes the current valuations of the company (18x FY17E EV/EBITDA) do not reflect the high EBITDA growth from structural changes in Westside, the turnaround of Trent Hypermarket (THL) and the sustainability of the Zara JV.
"After investing time to get the model right, Trent will step up store expansion, leading to operating leverage (EBITDA CAGR of 78 per cent over FY15-FY17E)," said Ambit Capital.
The brokerage expects an upside of 32 per cent on the stock with a target price of Rs 2,010.
3) Sadbhav Engineering (Target price: Rs 375)
Sadbhav Engineering's strong EPC execution (19%/17% revenue/EBITDA CAGR over FY10-FY15) and a healthy standalone balance sheet (0.7x D/E) set it apart from its struggling overleveraged peers. Its asset holding subsidiary (SIPL), owns the fourth largest BOT (build-operate-transfer) portfolio in India, which is entirely funded. SIPL will not only benefit from falling interest rates but also from rising trade traffic.
Ambit Capital sees an upside of 8 per cent on the stock with a target of Rs 375 against Friday's closing figure.
4) Ashoka Buildcon (Target Price: Rs 225)
The brokerage believes Ashoka Buildcon's strong balance sheet, lifecycle road development experience and financial discipline positions it as the best road developer in India.
"Improving road order inflows should address investor concerns regarding Ashoka's tepid EPC revenue growth. Moreover, mining resumption in eastern India will drive non-linear traffic growth on its BOT asset portfolio, which in turn would narrow the valuation discount with Sadbhav," said the brokerage.
Ambit Capital expects an upside of 13 per cent with a target price of Rs 225 against Friday's closing figure.
Edelweiss Securities
1) Dalmia Bharat
Dalmia Bharat is India's 3rd largest cement group, with a capacity of 24 MT spread across South, East and North East regions. The company is expected to witness substantial boost in profitability with the incremental clinker capacity addition in the North East.
"North East remains one of the most underpenetrated regions in terms of cement demand, with per capita consumption at 142 kgs vs all India average of 210 kgs," said the brokerage.
Change in investment plans, inability to pass on increase in cost and changes in macro environment are some of the risks that loom over the company.
2) Jamna Auto Industries
Jamna Auto Industries (JAI) is a market leader in the CV suspension leaf spring segment (90% of sales), including products like the conventional leaf spring and parabolic leaf spring.
JAI is expected to be a significant beneficiary of the CV cycle recovery in India.
"Post a 2-year downturn, the MHCV industry in India is registering a recovery. JAI is the largest player in the domestic leaf spring industry with 64 per cent market share whilst several other small companies contribute to the remaining 36 per cent share," said the broking firm.
Risks: 1) End-segment concentration risk, 2) Steel price pass-through may affect revenue growth
3) Natco Pharma
Natco Pharma is focused on R&D play in Oncology, CNS and other niche therapies. It has track record of winning complex patent challenges (Nexavar (CL)/ Copaxone/Sovaldi/Tamiflu) and it also de-risks itself from litigation expenses. The company also accounts for 30 per cent market share in Indian generic Oncology market.
"Current opportunity of $15 billion of the drugs known filed ANDA's in the US Market will benefit the profitability of the company, but currency risk must be taken into account," the brokerage cautioned.
4) Siyaram Silk Mills
Siyaram Silk Mills (Siyaram) is an integrated textile manufacturer with a domestic focus which has strategically transformed itself from a textile manufacturer to a major garmenting and brand house.
"The stock trades at very attractive valuations of 9x FY16E and 8x FY17E EPS of Rs 105 and Rs 121, respectively - much cheaper than its peers," said Edelweiss.
Risks: 1) Fluctuation in raw material prices, 2) competition from the unorganized sector, 3) semi-urban slowdown and limited Pricing Flexibility
5) United Spirits
USL has achieved unparalleled dominance in the IMFL industry, holding 40 per cent market share in terms of volume with 19millionaire brands and has presence across all five segments, viz. whisky, rum, gin, brandy and vodka and has also entered the fast growing wine segment.
"The company will benefit as it will become the sole and exclusive manufacturer and distributor of Diageo's brands in India resulting in USL products being available across the price range, right from low to premium, providing it a wider reach to divergent consumers. We expect USL's market share in premium IMFL to jump from 36 per cent currently to 40 per cent on back of tie-up with Diageo," said the brokerage.
AnandRathi Institutional Research
We believe that 2016 belongs to infrastructure investments by government especially in the roads and power transmission segment. Hence we advise building up portfolios with road asset owners (Ashoka Buildcon), EPC companies focused on road projects (KNR Construction), and transmission asset owners as well transmission EPC companies (KEC International).
Alternative energy investments is driving growth for a number of capital goods companies, hence look out for good companies which manufactures components or provides services to this segment (Sanghvi Movers).
Infrastructure investments will bode well for Cement companies (Heidelberg Cement) as well as they have been having a subdued demand from housing sector till now.
One must balance these high beta sector with low beta sectors like consumer (Bajaj Corp), pharmaceuticals (Suven Pharma) and technology (Persisent Systems).
Even as nothing concrete has changed on the ground, investors and fund managers across the world are ritualistically re-writing market strategies for 2016 with a fresh vigour. The domestic benchmark indices bid adieu to year 2015 posting losses for the first time in four years.
The first day of trade for most Asian markets too was a sort of reality check. Chinese markets crashed 7 per cent on weak PMI manufacturing readings, sending global markets tumbling. US Dow Jones futures too were hinting at a weak opening. The NSE barometer was struggling to hold on to 7,800 level in its second trading day of 2016.
Yet, the analyst community remains upbeat on domestic equities. Analysts believe first half of 2016 may mirror bearish trend of 2015, but benchmark indices may begin to log gains in the second half of 2016.
Brokerage firm Anand Rathi Financial Services said that the consensus estimate for earnings per share (EPS) outlook of Sensex for 2016 has fallen around 16 per cent to Rs 1,640 from Rs 1,950 in 2015, but the brokerage believes things to start looking up again towards the mid-2016, for a two-three-year long bull run.
"The momentum for estimate revision for further downgrades remains high, thus indicating the cuts to continue in first half of 2016. But, in our opinion, this should bottom out in mid-2016 and would get poised for looking up towards the end of 2016. Markets are smarter than the analysts and hence we should expect equity markets to start looking up again towards the mid-2016 for a 2-3 year bull run," said Amit Rathi, Managing Director of Anand Rathi Financial Services.
G Chokkalingam, Founder & Managing Director, Equinomics Research & Advisory is also positive on the equities. He believes the headline indices are likely to give around 20 per cent return in 2016. Chokkalingam believes though believes midcap indices to outdo largecap indices in the first half of 2016.
"Midcap indices are likely to outperform the broad indices in the first half as substantial pick up in the earning for the large cap stocks are likely to be delayed. Only in the second half, the industrial economy and hence, the overall economy is expected to grow substantially. Hence, large companies would take another 1 or 2 quarters to improve their earnings as the impact of global deflationary pressures are likely to continue for another 6 months," said Chokkalingam.
Here is a list of stocks recommended by top three brokerages that can yield you healthy returns going ahead:
Ambit Capital
1) Bank of Baroda (Target price: Rs 190)
Ambit Capital noted the asset quality of Bank of Baroda bank has deteriorated in the last year, but credible appointments of a MD & CEO and a Chairman from the private sector, in September 2015, have raised expectationsa of structural reforms.
The brokerage maintained 'buy' on the stock and said the scrip is their preferred pick among PSU stocks. Ambit Capital expects 19.49 per cent upside on the stock in 12 months against Friday's closing figure.
2) Trent (Target price: Rs 2,010)
Trent is India's largest women's wear and fast fashion company built around an own brand portfolio and a fast fashion brand under its JV with Inditex.
The brokerage believes the current valuations of the company (18x FY17E EV/EBITDA) do not reflect the high EBITDA growth from structural changes in Westside, the turnaround of Trent Hypermarket (THL) and the sustainability of the Zara JV.
"After investing time to get the model right, Trent will step up store expansion, leading to operating leverage (EBITDA CAGR of 78 per cent over FY15-FY17E)," said Ambit Capital.
The brokerage expects an upside of 32 per cent on the stock with a target price of Rs 2,010.
3) Sadbhav Engineering (Target price: Rs 375)
Sadbhav Engineering's strong EPC execution (19%/17% revenue/EBITDA CAGR over FY10-FY15) and a healthy standalone balance sheet (0.7x D/E) set it apart from its struggling overleveraged peers. Its asset holding subsidiary (SIPL), owns the fourth largest BOT (build-operate-transfer) portfolio in India, which is entirely funded. SIPL will not only benefit from falling interest rates but also from rising trade traffic.
Ambit Capital sees an upside of 8 per cent on the stock with a target of Rs 375 against Friday's closing figure.
4) Ashoka Buildcon (Target Price: Rs 225)
The brokerage believes Ashoka Buildcon's strong balance sheet, lifecycle road development experience and financial discipline positions it as the best road developer in India.
"Improving road order inflows should address investor concerns regarding Ashoka's tepid EPC revenue growth. Moreover, mining resumption in eastern India will drive non-linear traffic growth on its BOT asset portfolio, which in turn would narrow the valuation discount with Sadbhav," said the brokerage.
Ambit Capital expects an upside of 13 per cent with a target price of Rs 225 against Friday's closing figure.
Edelweiss Securities
1) Dalmia Bharat
Dalmia Bharat is India's 3rd largest cement group, with a capacity of 24 MT spread across South, East and North East regions. The company is expected to witness substantial boost in profitability with the incremental clinker capacity addition in the North East.
"North East remains one of the most underpenetrated regions in terms of cement demand, with per capita consumption at 142 kgs vs all India average of 210 kgs," said the brokerage.
Change in investment plans, inability to pass on increase in cost and changes in macro environment are some of the risks that loom over the company.
2) Jamna Auto Industries
Jamna Auto Industries (JAI) is a market leader in the CV suspension leaf spring segment (90% of sales), including products like the conventional leaf spring and parabolic leaf spring.
JAI is expected to be a significant beneficiary of the CV cycle recovery in India.
"Post a 2-year downturn, the MHCV industry in India is registering a recovery. JAI is the largest player in the domestic leaf spring industry with 64 per cent market share whilst several other small companies contribute to the remaining 36 per cent share," said the broking firm.
Risks: 1) End-segment concentration risk, 2) Steel price pass-through may affect revenue growth
3) Natco Pharma
Natco Pharma is focused on R&D play in Oncology, CNS and other niche therapies. It has track record of winning complex patent challenges (Nexavar (CL)/ Copaxone/Sovaldi/Tamiflu) and it also de-risks itself from litigation expenses. The company also accounts for 30 per cent market share in Indian generic Oncology market.
"Current opportunity of $15 billion of the drugs known filed ANDA's in the US Market will benefit the profitability of the company, but currency risk must be taken into account," the brokerage cautioned.
4) Siyaram Silk Mills
Siyaram Silk Mills (Siyaram) is an integrated textile manufacturer with a domestic focus which has strategically transformed itself from a textile manufacturer to a major garmenting and brand house.
"The stock trades at very attractive valuations of 9x FY16E and 8x FY17E EPS of Rs 105 and Rs 121, respectively - much cheaper than its peers," said Edelweiss.
Risks: 1) Fluctuation in raw material prices, 2) competition from the unorganized sector, 3) semi-urban slowdown and limited Pricing Flexibility
5) United Spirits
USL has achieved unparalleled dominance in the IMFL industry, holding 40 per cent market share in terms of volume with 19millionaire brands and has presence across all five segments, viz. whisky, rum, gin, brandy and vodka and has also entered the fast growing wine segment.
"The company will benefit as it will become the sole and exclusive manufacturer and distributor of Diageo's brands in India resulting in USL products being available across the price range, right from low to premium, providing it a wider reach to divergent consumers. We expect USL's market share in premium IMFL to jump from 36 per cent currently to 40 per cent on back of tie-up with Diageo," said the brokerage.
AnandRathi Institutional Research
We believe that 2016 belongs to infrastructure investments by government especially in the roads and power transmission segment. Hence we advise building up portfolios with road asset owners (Ashoka Buildcon), EPC companies focused on road projects (KNR Construction), and transmission asset owners as well transmission EPC companies (KEC International).
Alternative energy investments is driving growth for a number of capital goods companies, hence look out for good companies which manufactures components or provides services to this segment (Sanghvi Movers).
Infrastructure investments will bode well for Cement companies (Heidelberg Cement) as well as they have been having a subdued demand from housing sector till now.
One must balance these high beta sector with low beta sectors like consumer (Bajaj Corp), pharmaceuticals (Suven Pharma) and technology (Persisent Systems).
Why Sensex fell more than 500 points today
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The market took a hit from global developments and domestic manufacturing data on the second trading day of 2016.
The Sensex fell 537 points while Nifty fell 171 points to close at 7,791 points. We look at why the market tumbled in afternoon trade.
- China market fall: The Chinese market fell 7 per cent after data on Friday showed the econmomy's factory activity shrank for a 10th straight month in December. Trading on CSI300 share index was halted for the rest of the day.
- Asian market sentiment: Asian markets were also impacted by the Chinese factory activity. While Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 587 points or 2.68 per cent, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 3.06 per cent or 225 points lower on Monday. The Taiwan TSEC 50 Index too fell 2.68 per cent or 223 points, impacted by negative market sentiment across Asia.
- Domestic manufacturing data: Manufacturing activity contracted in December for the first time in more than two years, hurt by softening domestic demand, adding pressure on the central bank to ease policy, a business survey showed on Monday. Nikkei's Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by Markit, fell to a 28-month low of 49.1 in December from November's 50.3.
The market took a hit from global developments and domestic manufacturing data on the second trading day of 2016.
The Sensex fell 537 points while Nifty fell 171 points to close at 7,791 points. We look at why the market tumbled in afternoon trade.
- China market fall: The Chinese market fell 7 per cent after data on Friday showed the econmomy's factory activity shrank for a 10th straight month in December. Trading on CSI300 share index was halted for the rest of the day.
- Asian market sentiment: Asian markets were also impacted by the Chinese factory activity. While Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 587 points or 2.68 per cent, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 3.06 per cent or 225 points lower on Monday. The Taiwan TSEC 50 Index too fell 2.68 per cent or 223 points, impacted by negative market sentiment across Asia.
- Domestic manufacturing data: Manufacturing activity contracted in December for the first time in more than two years, hurt by softening domestic demand, adding pressure on the central bank to ease policy, a business survey showed on Monday. Nikkei's Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by Markit, fell to a 28-month low of 49.1 in December from November's 50.3.
TCS back to negotiating table over Dell's Perot IT business
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Tata Consultancy Services is in talks again to buy Dell's Perot IT business, according to media reports.
The Indian IT services major had earlier withdrawn from talks to buy the Perot IT business after failed consensus on price. But according to a report published in The Economic Times, TCS is back on the negotiating table to compete against other rivals like US-based Cognizant for the Dell's Perot IT business.
Dell has put a price tag of $5 billion for its Perot IT business and had purchased it for $3.9 billion in 2009, according to the report. Dell has three companies - TCS, Cognizant and another France-based Atos SE - vying for its Perot business but has till date failed to get the price it is expecting because of a depreciation over the years.
It remains to be seen how far TCS goes in pursuing the Perot deal amid the slowdown in the Indian IT industry as clients cut IT spending or take up software projects in-house.
Tata Consultancy Services is in talks again to buy Dell's Perot IT business, according to media reports.
The Indian IT services major had earlier withdrawn from talks to buy the Perot IT business after failed consensus on price. But according to a report published in The Economic Times, TCS is back on the negotiating table to compete against other rivals like US-based Cognizant for the Dell's Perot IT business.
Dell has put a price tag of $5 billion for its Perot IT business and had purchased it for $3.9 billion in 2009, according to the report. Dell has three companies - TCS, Cognizant and another France-based Atos SE - vying for its Perot business but has till date failed to get the price it is expecting because of a depreciation over the years.
It remains to be seen how far TCS goes in pursuing the Perot deal amid the slowdown in the Indian IT industry as clients cut IT spending or take up software projects in-house.
Manufacturing sector contracts for first time in over 2 years
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Manufacturing activity contracted in December for the first time in more than two years, hurt by softening domestic demand, adding pressure on the central bank to ease policy, a business survey showed on Monday.
Nikkei's Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by Markit, fell to a 28-month low of 49.1 in December from November's 50.3.
It was also the first reading below the 50 threshold that separates growth from contraction since October 2013.
"India's manufacturing sector took a turn for the worse at the year-end, with already gloomy internal demand further hampered by floods in the south of the country," said Pollyanna De Lima, economist at Markit.
Severe rainfall and flooding caused widespread destruction in late November and early December, constraining output to its lowest since the global financial crisis.
The output sub-index fell to 46.8 from 50.4 the previous month, its lowest since early 2009, as new orders fell for the first time in more than two years.
Weak growth will likely harden expectations that the Reserve Bank of India will ease policy further by June, provided inflation is under control.
Inflation has remained within the RBI's January target range of 2-6 per cent, giving room for the central bank to shave 125 basis points from rates in 2015. After four moves, the benchmark rate currently sits at 6.75 per cent.
But the survey showed output prices continued to rise, driven by higher input costs.
Manufacturing activity contracted in December for the first time in more than two years, hurt by softening domestic demand, adding pressure on the central bank to ease policy, a business survey showed on Monday.
Nikkei's Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by Markit, fell to a 28-month low of 49.1 in December from November's 50.3.
It was also the first reading below the 50 threshold that separates growth from contraction since October 2013.
"India's manufacturing sector took a turn for the worse at the year-end, with already gloomy internal demand further hampered by floods in the south of the country," said Pollyanna De Lima, economist at Markit.
Severe rainfall and flooding caused widespread destruction in late November and early December, constraining output to its lowest since the global financial crisis.
The output sub-index fell to 46.8 from 50.4 the previous month, its lowest since early 2009, as new orders fell for the first time in more than two years.
Weak growth will likely harden expectations that the Reserve Bank of India will ease policy further by June, provided inflation is under control.
Inflation has remained within the RBI's January target range of 2-6 per cent, giving room for the central bank to shave 125 basis points from rates in 2015. After four moves, the benchmark rate currently sits at 6.75 per cent.
But the survey showed output prices continued to rise, driven by higher input costs.
Centre mulls law for greater flexibility to retailers
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The Labour Ministry will hold first tripartite discussions on Tuesday on a model law which seeks to provide greater flexibility to retailers as well as malls on various issues including the timings of opening and closing of shops throughout the year.
"Labour Ministry has called a tripartite meeting which is scheduled on January 5, to discuss the Model Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2015," a ministry official said.
According to the draft bill, the Model Act would bring uniformity in the legislative provisions, making it easier for all the states to adopt it and thereby ensuring uniform working conditions across the country.
At present, states have their own legislation which regulates shops and establishments like their closing and opening times, holidays and working shifts of women.
The bill says that women should be permitted during night shift and there should be no discrimination against women in the matter of recruitment, training, transfer or promotions.
It will be applicable to shops and establishments having 10 or more workers except manufacturing units.
"Why should there be central legislation when states have their own legislation. Secondly, its is conceived with the presumption that one size fits all," All India Trade Union Congress Secretary DL Sachdev said.
"States have laws to regulate shops and establishments as per to their requirement and conditions. Allowing women to work in night shifts may be compromise with their safety and security in some states," he added.
However, as per the background note of the model law, the state laws are inadequate to deal with the issues related to shops and establishment.
Central government has found that there is rigidity in opening and closing of shop. There are other issues like discouragement to women in employment, difficulties in registration & annual renewal (of shop permits or licenses), problems in maintenance of statutory records and arbitrariness in statutory inspections.
The draft bill also provides for online one common registration (of retailers) through a simplified procedure and power of the government to make rules regarding the safety and health of workers.
It also provides for facilities like lavatory, creche, first aid and canteen by group of establishments, in case, it is not possible due to constraint in space or otherwise by individual establishment.
The draft law also made a provision for 12 days casual cum sick leave for workers, one day earned leave for every 20 days of work performed (can be accommodated upto 45 days), five paid holidays for festivals in addition to three national holidays, compensatory leave in lieu of overtime wage.
It also provides for exemption of highly skilled workers (for example workers employed in IT, Bio-Technology and R&D division) from daily working hours of 9 hours and weekly working hour of 48 hrs subject to maximum 125 over-time hours in a quarter.
The Labour Ministry will hold first tripartite discussions on Tuesday on a model law which seeks to provide greater flexibility to retailers as well as malls on various issues including the timings of opening and closing of shops throughout the year.
"Labour Ministry has called a tripartite meeting which is scheduled on January 5, to discuss the Model Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2015," a ministry official said.
According to the draft bill, the Model Act would bring uniformity in the legislative provisions, making it easier for all the states to adopt it and thereby ensuring uniform working conditions across the country.
At present, states have their own legislation which regulates shops and establishments like their closing and opening times, holidays and working shifts of women.
The bill says that women should be permitted during night shift and there should be no discrimination against women in the matter of recruitment, training, transfer or promotions.
It will be applicable to shops and establishments having 10 or more workers except manufacturing units.
"Why should there be central legislation when states have their own legislation. Secondly, its is conceived with the presumption that one size fits all," All India Trade Union Congress Secretary DL Sachdev said.
"States have laws to regulate shops and establishments as per to their requirement and conditions. Allowing women to work in night shifts may be compromise with their safety and security in some states," he added.
However, as per the background note of the model law, the state laws are inadequate to deal with the issues related to shops and establishment.
Central government has found that there is rigidity in opening and closing of shop. There are other issues like discouragement to women in employment, difficulties in registration & annual renewal (of shop permits or licenses), problems in maintenance of statutory records and arbitrariness in statutory inspections.
The draft bill also provides for online one common registration (of retailers) through a simplified procedure and power of the government to make rules regarding the safety and health of workers.
It also provides for facilities like lavatory, creche, first aid and canteen by group of establishments, in case, it is not possible due to constraint in space or otherwise by individual establishment.
The draft law also made a provision for 12 days casual cum sick leave for workers, one day earned leave for every 20 days of work performed (can be accommodated upto 45 days), five paid holidays for festivals in addition to three national holidays, compensatory leave in lieu of overtime wage.
It also provides for exemption of highly skilled workers (for example workers employed in IT, Bio-Technology and R&D division) from daily working hours of 9 hours and weekly working hour of 48 hrs subject to maximum 125 over-time hours in a quarter.
General Awareness
Current Affairs were found in Month - December 2015
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Appointments
Arun Kumar Jain has been appointed as chief of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).- Devendra Chaudhary is appointed as Secretary in Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI).
- Gautam H Bambawale appointed as High Commissioner of India to Pakistan.
- Giorgi Kvirikashvili has been elected as 12th Prime Minister of Georgia.
- Government appointed Ahmad Javed as India’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
- Government gave industry secretary Amitabh Kant an additional charge of post of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog.
- Gyanendra D. Bandgaiyan has been appointed as Director General in National Centre for Good Governance under Department of Personnel & Training.
- Henk Bekedam (Netherlands) is named as new World Health Organisation (WHO) representative to India.
- Indian-American Vijay M Rao named as chairperson of prestigious Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Board of Directors.
- Indian-origin Pravin Gordhan appointed as South Africa's Finance Minister.
- Janta Dal United's Vijay Kumar Chaudhary elected as new Speaker of Bihar legislative assembly.
- Jeff Williams appointed as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Apple Inc.
- Jet Airways appointed Amit Agarwal as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
- Kaher Kazem is appointed as President and Managing Director of India operations of General Motors.
- Kapil Chopra has been appointed as Chairman of World Travel & Tourism Council India Initiative (WTTCII) for 2016.
- Karan Adani appointed CEO of Adani Ports and SEZ (APSEZ).
- Mauricio Macri sworn in as new President of Argentina.
- Metropolitan Stock Exchange (formerly MCX Stock Exchange) appointed Udai Kumar as MD and CEO.
- Mohd.Jamshed taken over as new Member Traffic, Railway Board.
- Noted Electrical Equipment Manufacturer ABB India appointed Sanjeev Sharma as Managing Director.
- Ola Cabs appointed Joy Bandekar as Corporate President.
- Open Government Partnership selected Indian-origin Sanjay Pradhan as its head.
- Pawan Kumar Agarwal appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Food Regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
- Prakash Kumar Singh appointed as chairman of Steel Authority of India (SAIL).
- R. K. Mathur has been appointed as Chief Information Commissioner in Central Information Commission.
- Scientist M Nair Rajeevan is appointed as Secretary of Union Ministry of Earth Sciences.
- Supreme Court appointed Virendra Singh as new Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh.
- Tata Starbucks appointed Sumi Ghosh as Chief Executive Officer.
- Venkatraman Ramakrishnan assumed Presidency of Royal Society in London. He was elected by society’s council earlier and will serve for five years.
Awards
- 6th Asian Business Leadership Forum (ABLF) in Dubai -
- Biocon Limited CMD Kiran Mazumdar Shaw honoured with 2015 Outstanding Business Achiever award.
- Hinduja brothers and GMR Group chairman G.M. Rao presented with Achievement Award of ABLF.
- Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah honoured with lifetime achievement award at 12th edition of Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF).
- Delhi Development Authority has been awarded with E-India award at E-India Summit 2015 for adopting technology to serve public better and using resources efficiently through mobile applications.
- Gujarati litterateur Raghuveer Chaudhary has been selected for 51st Jnanpith award. He is fourth Gujarati litterateur to receive this prestigious honour. He wrote over 80 books including Amrita, Venu Vatsala, etc.
- India's former cricketer Syed Kirmani has been selecte for BCCI Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award 2015.
- Indian American professor Rakesh K. Jain has been selected for 2015 National Medal of Science of United States, along with 16 other winners.
- Indian IT Firm Wipro won 2015 Aegis Graham Bell Award for developing a solution for the Internet of Things (IoT), called Universal Data Parser (UDP).
- Indian Institute of Science (IISC) Bengaluru's Mr. U Ramamurty won 2015 Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) award in engineering. Jagdish Ladha (International Rice Research Institute, New Delhi) won in agricultural sciences and Sandip Trivedi (Tata Institute for Fundamental Research, Mumbai) in physics category.
- Indian author Salman Rushdie awarded 2015 Mailer Prize for Lifetime Achievement.
- Indian-American doctor Amit Majmudar has been named as first Poet Laureate by US state of Ohio for his various poetry styles.
- Indian-American entrepreneur Frank Islam chosen for inaugural Uttar Pradesh Ratna Award for his achievements and outstanding contributions in a foreign country (USA).
- Indian-origin software engineer Nandagopal Lakshminarayanan won a prestigious award in UK for creating an innovative electronic smart key system which enables creation of keys and locks that cannot be copied.
- Indian-origin writer Jamaludeen Mohamed Sali from Singapore has been awarded with 2015 South East Asia Write Award at annual ASEAN regional award for literary excellence in Bangkok (Thailand).
- Israeli-American violinist Itzhak Perlman awarded 2016 Genesis Prize (also known as Jewish Nobel prize).
- London-based Asian Lite newspaper conferred its 2015 Person of Year honour on businessman K.T. Mohammed Rabeeh Rabeeulla.
- Mireia Lalaguna of Spain won Miss World 2015 (65th edition of Miss World pageant) held in Sanya (China).
- Pia Wurtzbach of Philippines won Miss Universe 2015 (64th Miss Universe pageant) held in Las Vegas (USA).
- President Pranab Mukherjee has been awarded 2015 Garwood Award for Outstanding Global Leader in Open Innovation from UC Berkeley-Haas School of Business.
- Pulin Kumar (Adidas India Executive) conferred with Indian National Bar Association's (INBA) General Counsel of the year 2015 - Retail Award.
- Pump manufacturer CRI Pumps won Export Quality Excellence award for 11th time in a row in the Engineering Export Promotion Council Awards 2015.
- Renowned violinist Lakshminarayana Subramaniam to be honoured with Sangeet Samman at ITC Sangeet Sammelan 2015 in Kolkata.
- Sahitya Akademi Awards 2015 in 23 languages -
- Jury headed by Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari. Award in Bengali is to be announced later
- Award carries plaque, shawl and a cheque of 1 lakh rupees and presented on 16 February 2016 during Festival of Letters (annual festival of Sahitya Akademi).
- Awardees -
- Poets - Brajendra Kumar Brahma, Dhian Singh, Ramdarash Mishra, KV Tirumalesh, Kshetri Ranjen, Ram Shankar Awasthi
- Short Stories - Kula Saikia, Man Mohan Jha, Gupta Pradhan, Bibhuti Pattanaik, Maya Rahi, Volga
- Novelists - Cyrus Mistry, KR Meera, Jaswinder Singh, Madhu Acharya
- Essayists - Rasik Shah, A Madhavan
- Play Writers - Uday Bhembre, Rabilal Tudu
- Authors of Books on Criticism - Bashir Bhadarwahi, Shamim Tariq
- Author selected for a book on memoirs - Arun Khopkar for Chalat Chitravyooh in Marathi
- Sanctuary Asia magazine Awards 2015 -
- Lifetime Service Award - Claude and Norma Alvares.
- Sanctuary Legend - Ashok Kumar
- Wildlife Service Awards - Varad Giri (National Centre for Biological Sciences), Nandini Velho (organiser of first Arunachal Pradesh Bird Festival), Param Jit Singh, Yash Veer Bhatnagar (Snow Leopard Trust's India) and Gir Lion Protection Team.
- Time magazine named German Chancellor Angela Merkel as Person of Year 2015. Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is named runner-up.
- Two Indians, Kartik Sawhney and Neha Swain won 2016 Queen's Young Leaders award in United Kingdom for their exceptional work in transforming lives of others and making lasting difference in communities.
- West Bengal Government honoured Bappi Lahiri and Kumar Sanu with Lifetime Achievement Awards at annual Bangla Sangeet Mela. Musician Shantanu Moitra was awarded Sangeet Mahasamman Award.
Books
- Bose Brothers and Indian Independence – An Insider’s Account written by Madhuri Bose(Grand-niece of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose) has been released.
- On My Terms: From the Grassroots to the Corridors of Power, autobiography of former Union Minister Sharad Pawar has been released.
Committees
- Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian led Committee recommendations for Tax Rates under GST Goods and Services Tax (GST) -
- Standard GST rate of 17 to 18 %. It is the rate at which most products would likely be taxed.
- Revenue-neutral rate of 15 to 15.5 %. It is a single rate at which there will be no revenue loss to the centre and states in the GST regime.
- Two options for states: Single rate of 1 % or a range of 17-18 %.
- Three-tier GST rate structure: Essential goods will be taxed at a lower rate of 12 %. Demerit goods such as luxury cars, aerated beverages, pan masala and tobacco products will be taxed at 40 % and remaining all goods will be taxed at a standard rate of 17 to 18 %.
- Delhi Assembly passed Members of Legislative Assembly Salaries, Allowances, Pension Amendment Bill 2015. It seeks 400 % hike in salaries of Delhi MLAs. It is based on recommendations of three-member PDT Achary panel.
- Delhi Government appointed Gopal Subramanium Commission for enquiring DDCA (Delhi & District Cricket Association) scam.
- Delhi became first to implement recommendations of Supreme Court appointed committee under KS Radhakrishnan To deal with traffic violations in the city.
- Government appointed Justice L Narasimha Reddy as chief of Judicial Committee to look into implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for Ex-Servicemen.
- Ministry of Finance released report of Committee on Revisiting and Revitalising Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model under Vijay Kelkar. Key recommendations are
- Amend Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 that does not distinguish genuine errors in decision making and acts of corruption.
- Do not adopt PPP structures for very small projects
- Banks should be encouraged to issue Deep Discount Bonds or Zero Coupon Bonds to mobilise long term capital at low cost.
- Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas appointed committee under Ajit Prakash Shah to look into dispute between Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) and Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) on Krishna Godavari (KG) gas fields.
- Reserve Bank of India released Report of Committee on Medium-term Path on Financial Inclusion headed by RBI Executive Director Deepak Mohanty. Recommendations Mainly include -
- Sukanya Shiksha - Banks should try to step up account opening for females belonging to lower income groups.
- Aadhaar should be linked to each individual credit account and must be shared with Credit information bureau to enhance stability of credit system.
- Bank’s business model should be changed as per mobile technology to improve service delivery.
- Digitisation of land records should be done to increase formal credit supply to all agrarian segments through Aadhaar-linked mechanism for Credit Eligibility Certificates (CEC).
- Companies should nurture self help groups as part of Corporate Social Responsibility initiative.
- Government should replace current agricultural input subsidies on fertilizers, irrigation and power by a direct income transfer scheme.
- Agricultural interest subvention Scheme should be phased out.
- Government should introduce universal crop insurance scheme covering all farmers with ceiling of Rs. 2 lakhs.
- Unique identification of MSME should be introduced for all MSME borrowers and information should be shared with credit bureaus.
Days
- 01 Dec - Statehood day of Nagaland. State was formed on 01 Dec, 1963.
- 01 Dec - World AIDS Day (Held since 1988).
- 03 Dec - Birth Anniversary of Rajendra Prasad, first President of India.
- 03 Dec - International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Theme for 2015 is Disabilities is Inclusion matters: access and empowerment for people of all abilities. Government launched Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan (Accessible India Campaign) to achieve universal accessibility to persons with disabilities.
- 04 Dec - Indian Navy Day. It commemorates start of Operation Trident during Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. In one-night attack the Indian Navy sank three vessels near largest Pakistani port of Karachi.
- 05 Dec - International Volunteer Day. Observed across the world with the theme The world is changing. Are you? Volunteer!
- 07 Dec - Armed Forces Flag Day.
- 10 Dec - Human Rights Day (HRD). It marks 10 Dec 1948 when the United Nations adopted Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Theme for 2015 is Our Rights. Our Freedoms. Always.
- 11 December - International Mountain Day.
- 14 Dec - National Energy Conservation Day. Government launched ‘Star Rating’ mobile app on this occasion. It is linked to Standards and Labeling database and provides platform to compare energy saving devices across and get real-time feedback from consumers. It will help make better purchase decisions.
- 16 Dec - Vijay Diwas observed to remember martyrs who laid down their lives during Indo-Pak War of 1971.
- 18 December - International Migrants Day.
- 22 December - Indian National Mathematics Day. Marsks birth of great Indian Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan on 22 Dec, 1887.
- 24 December - National Consumer Day. On this day in 1986, Consumer Protection Act received assent of the President.
- 25 December - India's National Good Governance Day. It marks birth anniversary of former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna recipient Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
- 9 December - International Anti-Corruption Day.
Defence
- 8th Joint Indian-Russian Navies Exercise INDRA NAVY edition of INDRA NAVY to be conducted in Bay of Bengal from 07-12 December 15.
- Cochin Shipyard Ltd launched nineteenth of 20 Fast Patrol Vessels being built for Indian Coast Guard. The vessel was named ICGS Atulya.
- Combined Commanders Conference annual tri-services event chaired by PM Narendra Modi held on board INS Vikramaditya. It was first time when this conference was held outside Delhi.
- Defence Acquisition Council approved purchase of Russian advance S-400 Triumf Air Defence Missile Systems from Russia for approx 40000 crore rupees.
- Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully tested anti-jamming capability of Astra missile with ECCM (electronic counter-counter measure) features to overcome any jamming. It Has payload capacity of 15 kg with Shot Kill Probability (SSKP) and range 60-km.
- India's first indigenously designed warship INS Godavari has been decommissioned after 32 years of service.
- Indian Navy successfully test fired newly developed Long Range Barak 8 Surface-to-Air Missile (LR SAM) from INS Kolkata. It is jointly developed with Israel. Range is upto 100 KM.
- Indian army and Air Force started Operation Madad for relief work in Heavy Floods in Chennai (Tamilnadu).
- Ministry of Defence launched website www.makeinindiadefence.com to make defence acquisition process simpler and to provide an interface with industry.
- Pakistan successfully test-fired nuclear-capable Shaheen-III ballistic missile with range upto 2700 KM.
- Pakistan successfully tested nuclear-capable Shaheen-IA ballistic missile with a range of 900 km.
- Southern Command of Army organized Command level exercise Drad Sankalp in Rajasthan.
Economy
- Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh launched two mobile apps for farmers.
- Mobile app Crop Insurance will help farmers in finding details about insurance cover available in their area and calculate insurance premium for notified crops, coverage and loan amount etc.
- Mobile apps AgriMarket Mobile can be used by farmers to get market prices of crops in mandis within 50 km radius of the device and other mandis in the country.
- Axis Bank become India’s first bank to launch Display variant Debit Cards. The debit card has a display screen and touch-sensitive button that enables generating OTP on the card itself. This OTP will allow using internet banking and other facilities without having to wait for OTP delivery via SMS.
- Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved an umbrella scheme for integrated development and management of fisheries under Blue Revolution. Cost will be approx 3000 crores.
- Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved creation of buffer stock of pulses to deal with fluctuation in prices of pulses and food inflation. Stock will consist about 50000 tonnes of kharif pulses and 1 lakh tonnes rabi Pulses from crops in 2015-16.
- Central Government will organize Make in India Week in Mumbai during February 13-18, 2016. The week-long event, being organised by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) will have investors meet for manufacturing sector under Make in India.
- Digital media brand Arre from UDigital, acquired Apalya Technologies.
- Direct-selling firm Amway announced Actor Farhan Akhtar as its brand ambassador to promote Nutrilite range of products.
- For implementation of FATCA and CRS, changes are made in Income-tax Act 1961 and Income-tax Rules 1962. Rules 114F, 114G & 114H and Form 61B have been inserted to frame legal basis for Reporting Financial Institutions (RFIs) for reporting information about Reportable Accounts
- An Agreement between India and USA was signed for implementation of Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
- India also joined Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) for Automatic Exchange of Information as per Common Reporting Standard (CRS).
- Fortune 500 companies in India -
- Indian Oil Corporation is biggest Indian company in terms of annual revenue - 4,51,911 crore.
- Reliance Industries is second, Tata Motors (3), State Bank of India (4), Bharat Petroleum (5), Hindustan Petroleum (6), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (7), Tata Steel (8), Hindalco Industries (9), Tata Consultancy Services (10).
- Government approved 4000 crore rupees proposal for encouraging Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Industry.
- To counter cost-disadvantages, government will grant assistance of 20 % of contract price or fair price, following delivery of the ship. Assistance will be reduced by 3 % in every 3 years.
- Government approved investment of 5000 crore rupees by Oil and Natural Gas Company Limited (ONGC) into ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) by converting existing loan of equivalent amount into equity.
- Government approved revised Model Text for Indian Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT).
- Government has set up the Rs. 40,000 crore National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF). It’s chief executive will be finalised by January end. Government will invest Rs. 20,000 crore in NIIF while another 20,000 crore will come from private investors.
- Government linked LPG subsidy to income of consumers to ensure that subsidy benefits go to targeted group. Now, LPG subsidy will not be available to consumers with taxable income of over 10 lakh rupees. It will affect 60 lakh of 16.5 crore LPG consumers and will save Rs. 113 crore for Government. Earlier under ‘Give it Up’ campaign, 57.50 lakh LPG consumers opted out of LPG subsidy voluntarily.
- Government lowered it’s economic growth forecast for 2015-16 to 7-7.5 % from 8.1-8.5 %. Finance ministry said it will stick to fiscal deficit target of 3.9 % for current year.
- Government said to unveil action plan for ‘Start up India, Stand up India’ on January 16, 2016 Seeking to boost entrepreneurship at the grassroots level.
- Government slashed Minimum Export Price (MEP) of onions to 400 USD per tonne from 700 USD. MEP is rate below which no exports are allowed for concerned goods. Rise in MEP restricts exports and improves domestic supply.
- Government will introduce system of e-transfer of wages to the MGNREGA scheme beneficiaries from January 1, 2016 in Kerala. This will try to prevent leakages in the scheme and If successful, then e-transfer of wages will also be introduced in other states
- Gurgaon-based on-demand grocery service PepperTap acquired Bengaluru-based hyperlocal grocery delivery startup Jiffstore.
- Idea Cellular became third mobile operator in India to launch 4G services in India after Bharti Airtel and Vodafone.
- Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation tied up with PayTm for making it easier for Train passengers to make online payments for food ordered through e-catering with IRCTC.
- India’s External Debt at end of September 2015 stood at US$ 483.2 billion, an increase of US$ 8.0 billion (1.7 %) over end of March 2015. Rise is due to external debt including commercial borrowings and NRI deposits.
- Lok Sabha passed Bureau of Indian Standards Bill 2015 to establish Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) by replacing Bureau of Indian Standards Act 1986. BIS will be responsible for standardization and quality assurance of goods, articles and services etc. It will empower Government to make it mandatory to carry standard mark for certain notified goods and articles.
- National Stock Exchange launched three separate indices on 3 corporate houses - Tata, Aditya Birla and Mahindra Group. Its first of its kind indices made to reflect performance of companies belonging to these corporate groups.
- Nifty Tata Group Index has 25 companies with market capitalisation of 7.51 lakh crore rupees and 7.83 % share in market capitalisation of companies listed on NSE
- Nifty Aditya Birla Group Index- It has 8 companies with market capitalisation of 2.08 lakh crores and represents 2.17 % of market capitalisation of companies listed on NSE.
- Nifty Mahindra Group Index has 7 companies with market capitalisation of 1.64 lakh crores and 1.71 %of market capitalisation of companies listed on NSE.
- Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) become first oil company from India to join the World Bank’s Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 Initiative, a global initiative to end routine gas flaring at oil production sites.
- Pension fund regulator PFRDA started using PAN instead of Aadhaar for validation of new customers who can now be registered online under National Pension System (NPS) scheme.
- RBI created a dedicated helpline for startups (Email - helpstartup@rbi.org.in) in Forex Matters to provide guidance to startups for undertaking cross-border transactions.
- Rajasthan became third state after Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand to join Centre's UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana) Scheme, aimed at revival of debt-stressed power distribution companies.
- Reliance Jio Infocomm launched 4G telecom service. Currently it is limited to 85000 employees and their families, while commercial services will begin by April 2016.
- Reserve Bank of India announced revised Priority Sector Lending (PSL) norms for Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) -
- PSL target increased to 75 % of total outstanding from existing 60 %, effective from 01-01-2016.
- Under PSL, Loans to individual farmers was increased to 50 lakh from present 10 lakh rupees against pledge of agricultural produce for upto 12 months.
- RBI lowered quantum of loans that will qualify as PSL from 25 lakh to 20 lakh rupees.
- Reserve Bank of India cancelled certificate of registration of 56 non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), including ABNL, Future Ventures India and Bajaj Finserve.
- Reserve Bank of India extended deadline for exchanging pre-2005 currency notes of various denominations by another six months to June 30, 2016.
- Reserve Bank of India introduced Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) to calculate the banks lending rate to borrowers, To ensure better transmission of its rate cut to borrowers.
- All loans sanctioned and credit limits renewed w.e.f. April 1, 2016 will be priced with reference to MCLR method. Currently, many banks follow average cost of funds or ‘blended cost of funds (liabilities) method’ for calculating base rate.
- MCLR methodology will help borrowers to reap the benefit of lower lending rates. It will also improve transparency in the methodology followed by banks for determining interest rates.
- Reserve Bank of India invited applications for “Payment System Innovation Awards” to be organized by Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology to encourage innovative solutions in field of Payment and Settlement System.
- Singapore replaced Mauritius as top source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India during first half of current fiscal year 2015-16. India received 6.69 billion dollars FDI from Singapore while it received 3.66 billion dollars from Mauritius.
- Tata Sons Limited and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) formed a long-term partnership, under which ICBC will become a strategic banking partner to the $108 Billion Tata group. ICBC will provide Tata group with financing products, cash management, consulting and various other services.
- Tech Mahindra launched India's first ‘Tap N Pay’ contactless digital payment wallet MoboMoney as a commercial NFC ecosystem that would allow converting cash into e-cash for payments. MoboMoney is prepaid wallet issued in form of Near Field Communication (NFC) contactless tag to be used to ‘Tap N Pay’ for goods.
- Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced launch of India Post's Payment Bank by March 2017.
- UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana) Scheme joined by Punjab , J &K , Himachal Pradesh & Uttarakhand. Note that Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Rajasthan joined earlier.
- Under Ethanol Blending Programme (EBP), Government scaled up blending targets from 5% to 10% to promote blending of ethanol with petrol and its use as alternative fuel.
- Yes Bank announced to mobilize 5 billion USD by 2020 for climate action through lending, investing and raising capital towards climate changes actions. Bank also Targeted
- funding of 5000 MW of clean energy.
- Creating a carbon sink by planting 2 million trees.
- Touch 100 million lives through its safe and clean drinking water program.
International
- Gambia (West Africa) declared itself as an Islamic republic. About 90 % of Gambia’s 1.8 million people are Muslims.
- India's Mahindra Group acquired Italian car designer Pininfarina SpA for 165 million USD.
- World Trade Organisation approved Afghanistan’s membership as 164th Member at WTO’s Tenth Ministerial Conference in Nairobi (Kenya).
- 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference started in Paris (France) -
- It is 21st COP (Conference of Parties) for Planning Climate Change Actions and Combating Global Warming Issues.
- About 40,000 delegates from 195 nations are attended the summit. 183 countries submitted action plans to achieve the goal of limiting warming to 2 degree centigrade.
- Participating countries decided to double their clean energy research and development funding by 2020, as part of Mission Innovation for accelerating clean energy revolution across the world.
- Bill Gates led Breakthrough Energy Coalition formed to reduce demand for fossil fuels. It involves 28 rich people from different countries and works on five Investment Principles - Invest Early, Invest Broadly, Invest Wisely and Invest Together.
- United Nations and 13 agencies of UN system launched new initiative Anticipate, Absorb, Reshape to build climate resilience in world’s most vulnerable countries. The Iinitiative will enhance ability of the countries to anticipate climate hazards, absorb consequences and reshape development to reduce risks from climate hazards.
- Coalition of African countries launched African Restoration Initiative (AFR100) on with aim to restore 100 million hectares (250 million acres) of degraded African land by 2030.
- India and France launched International Solar Alliance (ISA) with an aim to harness solar power as a major step to mitigate carbon gas emissions.
- It will bring solar rich 121 tropical countries located between Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn together to tap solar energy.
- It will function from the Gurgaon based National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE).
- India will give assistance of $30 million for this initiative.
- PM Modi stated that India has solar capacity of 4GW and targets 100 GW by 2022. He called for developed countries to mobilise $100 billion annually by 2020 for mitigation and adaptation.
- France will invest 6 billion euros in 2016-2020 in Africa for enhancing renewable energy sources and cope with climate deterioration.
- Under Lima to Paris Action Agenda (LPAA) on climate change, A broad coalition of nations and river basin organisations across world announced Paris Pact on Water and Climater Change Adaptation. It aims to make water systems more resilient to climate change impacts and seeks to promote financial sustainability and new investment in water system management.
- Alibaba Group Holding Ltd acquired 112-year old English newspaper South China Morning Post.
- As Per Report by UK's Centre for Economics Business and Research -
- India will become world's third largest economy after 2030. India and Brazil will replace France and Italy in G8 group.
- China will overtake US as largest economy by 2029, with US slipping to second and India being Third.
- India's projected GDP in 2030 will be 10 Trillion USD. USA will be 32 Trillion and China 34 Trillion USD.
- India will become largest economy in Commonwealth by 2019 by leaving Behind UK.
- Britain will become fourth while Brazil completes at 5th place in world.
- As per Harvard researchers at Centre for International Development, India with annual growth rate of 7 % will be world’s fastest growing economy over 10 years. Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya will also rank in top 10 with 5.5 % Growth. US is expected to grow at 2.8 %.
- Asian Development Bank released report Asian Economic Integration Report 2015. It examines current trends in trade, finance, migration, remittances and other economic activities and special economic zones (SEZs).
- Asia’s income elasticity of trade declined from 2.69 before the global financial crisis (2008-09) to 1.30 in 2015.
- Number of SEZs from 500 in 1995 to 4300 in 2015 shows strong and rising interest to this form of policy experiment.
- India has become the third largest source of inward FDI for the United Kingdom (UK) after the US and France in number of projects.
- For India, high technology and low technology exports constituted 4.1 and 58.8 respectively in 1990, they contributed to 8.6 and 35.0 % respectively in 2014.
- Asia’s largest underground railway station opened in China’s city of Shenzhen. The three-storey ‘Futian High-speed Railway Station’ has area of 147,000 square meters with seating for 3,000 passengers. It is Asia's Largest and world’s second largest underground railway station (after the Grand Central Station in New York (USA)).
- Australia passed Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Bill, 2015 to strip citizenship of convicted persons on terrorism charges.
- Average temperature over Arctic land for year ending September 2015 was highest on record indicating that Arctic is warming twice as fast as other parts of Earth. It was announced by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of USA. Temperatures in Arctic were 1.3 degrees Celsius above average.
- Bangladesh signed deal with Russia to set up 2 nuclear power plants each of 1,200 MW capacity at investment of total $12.65 billion. Amount's 90 % will be provided by Russia as Loan.
- Belgium ranks at top in employee happiness as per report Global Workforce Happiness Index by Universum.
- Brazil's economy decreased by 1.7 % during July-September 2015. Since 1930s it is Brazil’s longest recession as Brazil's third consecutive quarter of contraction started from January 2015.
- Canada sent first consignment of 250 tonnes of uranium to India as part of bilateral civil nuclear cooperation between both countries.
- China adopted it’s first Counter Terrorism Law, A law against domestic violence and officially abandoned its One Child Policy due to deepening crisis of shrinking workforce and aging population.
- China issued first red alert on pollution it Capital Beijing due to hazardous air quality caused by severe air pollution.
- Chinese President Xi Jinping announced 60 billion US dollars package to African nations during Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
- DuPont and Dow Chemical Company merged in an all-stock deal to create merged firm DowDuPont with combined market capitalization of approximately 130 billion USD.
- Facebook set up a SME Council in India to help small ventures from various industries share feedback and discuss ideas around leveraging technology.
- Federal Reserve, central bank of USA increased interest rate by 0.25 %. With this, interest rates in USA are now in range of 0.25 – 0.50 % as compared to 0 to 0.25 % earlier.
- Government approved MOU between SINTEF (Norway) and Central Public Works Department in Recycling of Construction and Demolition Waste.
- Government approved Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) on Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia. This MoU is also called as Raptor MoU under Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS). India became 54th signatory to the MoU.
- Government approved Memorandum of Understanding with Spain for cooperation in Port matters.
- Government approved Memorandum of Understanding with and Jordan for cooperation In Information Technology and Electronics.
- Government approved agreement with Indonesia in field of cooperation in renewable energy.
- Government approved agreement with United Kingdom in field of cooperation in energy.
- Government approved agreements -
- Germany - Capital Goods Sector and Solar Energy.
- Japan - amending Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) signed in 1989 for avoidance of double taxation and fiscal evasion
- Iran - visa facilitation for Diplomatic, Official/Service and Ordinary passport holders.
- Maldives - sports and youth affairs
- Israel - water resources management and development cooperation
- Korea - Air Services
- Government approved an MoU with BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries for strengthening and further developing of energy saving and energy efficiency cooperation.
- Government approved revised c ost estimates to Rs 1775 Crore for Construction of Salma Dam Project in Afghanistan. It is one of important project implemented to generate goodwill for India in Afghanistan.
- Government approved signing MoU among BRICS countries on BRICS Network University for which negotiations were held during 3rd BRICS Education Ministers meeting in November 2015 in Russia.
- Government approved signing of MOU between Ministry of Urban Development and Bloomberg Philanthropies (New York) to support development of Smart Cities.
- Government approved the construction of 69 Bridges on Tamu-Kyigone-Kalewa (TKK) road section of Trilateral Highway in Myanmar for Rs.371.58 crores. It will enable all weather usability to TKK road section that is also part of proposed Imphal-Mandalay bus service.
- Government imposed anti-dumping duty ranging from 5 - 57 % on import of cold-rolled flat products of stainless steel for 5 years. Hhighest duty of 57.39 % has been levied on steel imports from China, followed by European Union at 52.56 5. Imports from Thailand will have least imposition of 4.58 %.
- Government of Nepal amended Constitution to address two key demands of Madhesis -
- Madhesi people inhabit the flat southern region of Nepal known as the Madhesh.
- Their Demands are -
- Dissatisfaction with Pahadi (hill) communities getting 100 seats in parliiament while Madhesis got 65 only, being that both communities have equal participation in population.
- Secondly, Madhesis’ were also fighting against Constitutional scheme related to proposed boundaries of the new provinces.
- Haryana Government will celebrate Gita Jayanti Mahotsava in Dec 2015. Rs 10 lakh would be provided to each district for setting up of exhibition, tentage, craft work etc .
- In a recent International Poll, Dubai's Burj Khalifa’s observation deck is named as world’s Best Attraction 2015. The Empire State Building named as best in Best Observation Deck category.
- Burj Khalifa has over 200 storeys and highest number of floors in world. Height is 829.8 meters.
- India and Japan signed Protocol for amending existing convention for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to income taxes.
- India and South Korea signed Memorandum of Understanding on suspension of collection of taxes during pendency of Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP), to relieve burden of double taxation for taxpayers in both countries during the pendency of MAP proceedings.
- India and United Kingdom launched joint initiative 2016: UK-INDIA Year of Education and Research. It will allow UK academicians to come to India under Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) programme and will enhance partnership in research work under IMPRINT (IMPacting Research Innovation and Technology).
- India has been ranked 97th out of 144 nations on Forbes's annual list of best countries for doing business. Denmark topped the list. USA (22nd), United Kingdom (10th), Japan (23rd), China (94th) and Pakistan is 103rd.
- India placed at 4th position in black money outflows among developing and emerging economies between 2004-2013, as per a report by Global Financial Integrity’s. China at top with 139 billion dollars average,Russia (104 billion dollars / annum), Mexico (52.8 billion dollars) and India fourth with 51 billion dollars black money outflowed per annum.
- India's National Stock Exchange signed an agreement with London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) for collaboration and setting up a Joint research centre.
- Indo-Australian civil nuclear cooperation agreement has been approved by Union Cabinet. It was enacted on November 13, 2015.
- International Atomic Energy Agency ended its 12-year investigation into Iran's developing nuclear weapons. Move is seen as key step towards lifting international sanctions agaist Iran. Earlier in July 2015, P5+1 nations and Iran had agreed Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to lift the sanctions.
- Iran successfully carried out test of medium range Ghadr-110 ballistic missile with range 1,800 - 2000 km. With this, Iran so far has breached 2 United Nations Security Council resolutions that refrained Iran from any work on ballistic missiles for 8 years.
- Japan and South Korea signed an Agreement on Issue of Comfort Women.
- It aims to resolve an old dispute over Korean women who were used as sex slaves by Japanese soldiers during World War II. This issue had been cause of tensions between Japan and South Korea for decades.
- Luxembourg became 10th country to ratify Articles of Agreement (AoA) to lay legal framework for China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).Australia, Austria, Brunei Darussalam, China, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Singapore and United Kingdom have already ratified agreement so far. There are 57 founder-member countries of AIIB with its headquarters in Beijing.
- Mexico approved world’s first-ever Dengue fever vaccine named Dengvaxia , manufactured by French pharmaceutical manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur.
- Miss Iraq beauty pageant held for first time since 1972. Shaymaa Qasim Abdelrahman won Miss Iraq 2015.
- Myanmar launched its first United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Biosphere Reserve Inle Lake in Shan state.
- Myanmar launched its first stock exchange named Yangon Stock Exchange.
- New Zealand formally become 9th founding member of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). New Zealand's ratification will contribute to AIIB reaching 50 % threshold needed for AIIB to establish operations. AIIB would have around 100 billion U.S. dollars of initial capital.
- Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) released 2015 OPEC World Oil Outlook (WOO) -
- Oil and gas, combined, are expected to supply around 53 % of global energy demand by 2040.
- Global energy demand will increase by almost 50 % by 2040, overall energy mix continuing to be led by fossil fuels will rise to 78 %.
- Medium-term oil demand will rise by 97 million barrels a day by 2020 and 110 mb/d by 2040.
- Developing Asia region will account for 70% of increase by 2040.
- Non-OPEC liquids supply increases from 56.5 mb/d in 2014 to around 60 mb/d in 2020.
- OPEC crude expands to 40.7 mb/d by 2040.
- Long-term value of OPEC Reference Basket is assumed to rise from more than 70 US dollars per barrel in 2020 to 95 US dollars per barrel by 2040 (both in 2014 dollars).
- Required cumulative distillation capacity additions are projected to be around 20 mb/d by 2040.
- Philippines became first Asian country to approve sale of the world’s first ever dengue vaccine Dengvaxia manufactured by French pharmaceutical manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur.
- Powerful Typhoon Melor (also known as Nona) hit central Philippines with powerful wind of 200 kph followed by intense rainfall.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi Visited Russia, Afghanistan and Pakistan -
- Russia -
- India and Russia signed 16 agreements to expand cooperation in various sectors -
- India's Reliance Defence signed $6 billion pact with Russian arms firm Almaz-Antey. Two firms will work jointly on entire range of AD Missile and Radar Systems that are required for Indian defence forces.
- India's Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) and Oil India Ltd. (OIL) signed an agreement with Russian oil firm Rosneft to explore possibility of picking up stake in Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha oilfield in East Siberia.
- Agreement on Cooperation in field of Tourism, Helicopter Engineering, Railways, Solar Energy, Broadcasting, investment cooperation, geologic survey, exploration and production of hydrocarbons.
- Cooperation between India's Central Board of Excise and Customs (India) and Russian Federation for combating Customs violations in 2015 – 2017.
- Agreement for co-operation in Atomic Energy (India's DAE and Russia's Rosatom for Localization of Manufacturing in India for Russian-Designed Nuclear Reactor Units.
- MoU for cooperation between HEC & CNIITMASH for development of Centre of Excellence for heavy engineering design at HEC and upgradation of HEC’s manufacturing facilities.
- Tripartite MOU between Centre for Development of Advance Computing (C-DAC), Indian Institute of Science Bangalore (IISc) and Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU).
- Tripartite MOU between CDAC, OJSC "GLONASS” and GLONASS Union.
- Afghanistan
- Modi inaugurates new Afghan Parliament built by India in Kabul.
- Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe visited India -
- India and Japan signed co-operation agreements in various fields Including
- Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology Cooperation
- Amendment of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement
- Technological Cooperation in Rail Sector
- Medical Products Regulation Dialogue and Cooperation Framework
- Forests
- Civil Nuclear Pact
- Co-operation to introduce High Speed Rail (HRS) on Mumbai Ahmedabad sector. It is a 508 km line connecting Mumbai and Ahmedabad with total cost 97,636 crores rupees and to be done in 7 years. It will reduce travelling time between the two cities from eight hours to around three. Japan will extend loan of 12 billion dollars (.1%) and technical assistance. Loan will be for 50 years.
- Ruling conservative People’s Party of Spain led by Mariano Rajoy won 2015 general elections by winning 123 seats. It will form coalition government for another 4 years term.
- Russia and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) agreed to reform Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) that was suspended earlier due to scams.
- Russia’s Rostech Corporation signed 1 Billion USD deal with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to manufacture 200 Kamov 226T light helicopters to replace ageing fleet of Cheetah and Chetak helicopters.
- Saudi Arabia announced launch of Islamic Military Coalition to counter terrorism with participation of 34 nations and operations center in Saudi Arabia’s capital (Riyadh).
- Seychelles allowed India to build its first Naval Base on Assumption Island in Indian Ocean region as a joint project between both countries.
- Tata Motors named 49th in Top 50 in annual Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard for 2015, Prepared by the European Commission. List was topped by German automaker Volkswagen. Others in Top Five were Samsung, Microsoft, Intel and Novartis.
- Tata Motors moved up from last year’s 104th position and showed largest increase in R&D investments on the list.
- In the expanded list of world's 2500 top R&D firms, there are 26 Indian companies. 829 from US, 360 from Japan, 301 from China.
- In terms of number of companies on the list, India was overall placed at 15th position.
- Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India launched $10 billion gas pipeline to help ease energy deficits in South Asia. Indian Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari attended on India'a Behalf. It is expected to build gas link with annual capacity of 33 billion cubic metres by end of 2018.
- TAPI project will cover 1,800 km, beginning from Turkmenistan’s Galkynysh field with gas reserves are 16 trillion cubic feet.
- It has capacity to carry 90 million standard cubic metres a day (mmscmd). Both India and Pakistan will get supply of about 38 mmscmd and Afghanistan will get 14 mmscmd supply of natural gas.
- US House of Representatives passed Visa Waiver Program Improvement Act 2015. It will bar people who visited Iraq, Syria and countries after 1 March 2011 to participate in visa-free program.
- United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) asked China to halt torture of detainees and oppression of human rights activists. Report is based on survey of eight countries - Liechtenstein, Azerbaijan, Austria, Denmark, China, Hong Kong China, Macao China and Jordan.
- United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Handbook of Statistics Report 2015 -
- This annual publication provides statistics relevant to international trade, investment and development for 2014.
- Total global exports for 2014 were 24 trillion USD, up by 1.2 % compared with 2013. India's exports were 321 billion USD as compared to 314 billion USD in 2013.
- International service exports accounted for 21 % of total global exports.
- Merchandise Exports were total 19 trillion USD (79 %).
- Foreign Direct Investment : Total FDI inflows were 1.2 trillion USD, fell by 16 % in 2014 as compared to 2013.
- United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Index 2015 -
- India placed at 130th position in among 188 countries. with 0.609 score. In 2014, India’s rank was 135 with 0.586 score.
- India’s Life expectancy at birth - Increased to 68 years in 2014 from 67.6 in previous year and 53.9 in 1980.
- Gross National Income (GNI) per capita increased to $5,497 in 2014 from $5,180 in 2013 and $1,255 in 1980.
- Access to knowledge - Expected years of schooling remained at 11.7 since 2011. Mean years of schooling at 5.4 has not changed since 2010.
- Gender Development Index (GDI) of India is 0.795 in 2014. The female HDI value for India is 0.525 in contrast with 0.660 for males.
- Gender Inequality Index - India ranked 130th with value of 0.563 out of 155 countries in 2014.
- Top Three Countries - Norway, Australia and Switzerland (3rd).
- India’s Neighbours - : Sri Lanka (73), China (90), Bhutan (132), Bangladesh (142), Nepal (145), Pakistan (147) and Afghanistan (171).
- BRICS - Russia (50), Brazil (75), China (90), South Africa (116) and India (130)
- United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution Submitted by Japan to observe 5 November every year as World Tsunami Awareness Day.
- United Nations International Labour Organisation report Global Estimates on Migrant Workers -
- Number of Migrant workers are approx 15 crores while Number of Total International migrants are approx 23 Crores. Among migrant workers, 55.7 % are men.
- 48.5 % of migrant workers are in two sub-regions - Northern America and Northern, Southern and Western Europe.
- About ILO - Headquarters (Geneva, Switzerland), Chief - Guy Ryder
- United Nations Launched International Year of Pulses 2016 with theme nutritious seeds for a sustainable future.
- United Nations Security Council adopted resolution No. 2254 outlining a peace process in Syria to end Syria's five-year-long civil war.
- United Nations agencies launched a 1.98 billion USD Sahel humanitarian appeal for 2016 to mobilise international support to tackle triple crisis of poverty, insecurity and climate change in 9 Nations in Sahel region in Africa.
- United Nations-brokered Libyan Political Agreement on formation of a national unity government has been signed. Aim is to create a single set of institutions for a secure and prosperous Libya.
- United States (US) Senate ratified reforms in International Monetary Fund (IMF). Proposed reforms are -
- Put Brazil, China, India and Russia among IMF’s top 10 shareholders and give emerging markets more influence in IMF.
- China’s vote at IMF would increase to 6 % from 3.8 %.
- IMF’s Board will entirely consist of elected Executive Directorsa and will end current category of appointment of Executive Directors by five largest quotas holders.
- Quotas of all 188 members will increase as Fund’s quota resources rise to about 477 billion special drawing rights (SDR) from 238.5 billion.
- India’s voting rights will also rise to 2.6 % from the current 2.3 % while those of US drop from 16.7 % to 16.5 %.
- United States (USA) lifted 40 year ban on oil exports as part of a 1.1 trillion USD spending bill to fund US government until 2016. It would enable energy deficient countries including India to open up another frontier and diversify import basket of oil from US.
- University of South Florida launched a postgraduate annual fellowship worth $156,000 in name of former Indian president Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam for Indian students. Recipients will obtain a fee waiver for 4 years and a stipend worth $18,000 every year.
- World Bank Group’s Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD) initiative released Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016 about latest statistics on Migration and remittance flows for 214 countries -
- Number of international migrants is expected to surpass 25 crore in 2015.
- Top migrant source countries - India, Mexico, Russia, China, Bangladesh and Top migrant destinations - USA, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Russia, UAE.
- India was largest remittance receiving country with 72 billion USD in 2015, followed by China (64 billion) and the Philippines (30 billion USD).
- United States was largest remittance source country with 56 billion USD outflows in 2014, followed by Saudi Arabia (37 billion) and Russia (33 billion).
- World Bank and FIRST Initiative launched Principles for Public Credit Guarantee Schemes (CGSs). These provide generally accepted set of good practices that can serve as a global reference for the design, execution and evaluation of public CGSs that serve small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
- World Bank approved $1.5 billion loan for clean India campaign to ensure all citizens in rural areas have access to improved sanitation and end open defecation by 2019.
- World Bank approved assistance of $35 million to Pakistan to support development of water resources in Indus River Basin. It is in addition to $38 million given earlier towards same cause.
- World Bank launched a $500 million dollars Transformative Carbon Asset Facility (TCAF) to help developing countries pay for emission reductions and combat climate change. Scheme will reward countries for reducing emissions by paying a fee for each tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) reduced.
- World Health Organization declared Guinea (West Africa) as Ebola-free.
- Zimbabwe adopted Chinese Yuan as legal tender in return for debt cancellation worth 40 million dollars. Yuan will now be acceptabile with customers in Zimbabwe.
Meetings
- 10th Ministerial Conference of WTO (World Trade Organization) held in Nairobi (Kenya). Attended by Ms Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State(Independent Charge) for Commerce and Industry on India's Behalf.
- 14th Meeting of Heads of Governments of SCO (Shanghai Co-operation Organization) Member States concluded in Zhengzhou (China).
- 26th conference of Southern Zonal Council hosted in Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh).
- Zonal Councils in India are created under State Reorganization Act, 1956. These are advisory bodies that discuss various matters of common interest. There are five Councils - Eastern, Western, Northern, Southern, and Central.
- Meeting of each Zonal Council needs to be held once in a year.
- 2nd World Internet Conference held in Zhejiang province of China.
- BRICS Emerging Economies Universities Summit 2015 Held in Delhi, sponsered by TIMES Group.
- Fifth edition of Heart of Asia conference started in Islamabad (Pakistan). It is annual regional gathering of Asian and other countries. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj visited of India's Behalf.
- India- OPEC Meet held in Delhi. Attended by Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan on India's Behalf.
- OPEC - Secretary General is Abdallah Salem el-Badri and Head quarters in Vienna (Austria)
- Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is an international organization of 13 member countries. Members are - Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela.
- Sixth Meeting of Group on Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) Group of Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes held in Delhi.
- Turkmenistan hosted International conference on policy of neutrality on the occasion of 20th anniversary of status of permanent neutrality.
- United Kingdom has been selected as host for next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2018.
National
- Govenment approved scaling up of budget from Rs, 600 crore to Rs. 5,000 crore for implementation of Grid Connected Rooftops systems upto 2019-20 under National Solar Mission (NSM) to support Installation of 4200 MW Solar Rooftop systems by 2020. Note that Government has revised the target of National Solar Mission (NSM) from 20,000 MWp to 1,00,000 MWp by 2022.
- 10 Day Long Festival of Losar begun in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir to mark beginning of New Year in this Himalayan region.
- 5th India International Science Festival (IISF) 2015 held in IIT Delhi. An attempt was made to set a new world record for largest practical science lesson by 2,000 schoolchildren from Delhi and NCR region here.
- Aditya Birla Group’s Idea Cellular signed Memorandum of Understanding with Akshaya Patra Foundation of Odisha for providing mid-day meals to school students in the state.
- Allahabad High Court ruled that married daughters of deceased government employees will be eligible for appointments on compassionate grounds in government jobs.
- Andhra Pradesh Government approved to abolish VAT (Value-added tax), CST (Central Sales Tax) on Sugar factories.
- Andhra Pradesh Government hiked wages of Anganwadi workers from 4200 rupees to 7000 rupees and wages of Anganwadi helpers hiked to 4500 rupees.
- Andhra Pradesh Government signed Memorandum of Understanding with Microsoft on a range of technology initiatives in the state.
- Aricent (USA) product engineering firm tied-up with India's Nasscom Foundation to launch Aricent Employability Programme aimed at creating employment opportunities for 2500 engineering graduates across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi NCR and Rajasthan.
- Arunachal Pradesh's Legislative Assembly Members (MLA) passed a resolution to remove Speaker Nabam Rebia.
- As per a report, India’s forest and tree cover increased by 5081 Square kilometres. Total forest and tree cover is 79.42 million hectare(24.16 % of total geographical area).
- 15 States/UTs have forest cover above 33 % of geographical area.
- State wise maximum increase in forest cover - Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Jammu & Kashmir
- Largest forest cover in terms of area: Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh
- Highest %age of forest cover : Mizoram (88.93%) Lakshadweep (84.56%).
- Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited commissioned a 660 MW unit of Prayagraj Super Thermal Power Project at Bara town in Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh).
- Bharat Petroleum commissioned a new 6-million tonne Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) at its Mumbai refinery, which will take capacity of its oldest facility to 12 million tonne / annum with cost of 1419 crores.
- Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar approved Patna Metro Rail project's proposal to be presented for central government's clearance. Project cost is between -14000 - 17000 crores with total distance of 31km.
- Bihar government banned 15-year-old diesel vehicles in Capital City of Patna, due to increasing pollution.
- Biocon launched generic version of hepatitis – C drug Harvoni in India with brand name CIMIVIR-L.
- Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (ATUFS) for technology upgradation of textiles industry to replace existing Revised Restructured Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (RR-TUFS).
- ATUFS targets Employment generation and global exports by Promoting Technical Textiles. and upgrading quality of existing looms.
- Two broad categories of ATUFS
- Apparel, Garment and Technical Textiles sectors would be provided on capital investment with 15 % subsidy, subject to ceiling of 30 crore for entrepreneurs over period of five years.
- Remaining sub-sectors of textile sectors would be provided subsidy at rate of 10 %, subject to ceiling of 20 crore.
- Central Research Institute in Yoga and Naturopathy will be set up in Khordha District, Odisha by Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy.
- China approved production of first manned two seater electric aircraft RX1E known as RX1E. RX1E is electric light-sport aircraft powered by lithium batteries and capable of flying upto 3000 meters.
- Civil Aviation Ministry gave clearance for 4 greenfield airports. 3 airports will be in Andhra Pradesh and one international airport at Dholera (Gujarat).
- Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar Inaugurated North India's first cable-stayed bridge (592-metre) in Basohali town of Jammu and Kashmir. It is constructed over river Ravi on Dunera- Basohli-Bhadharwah road to provide good connectivity between J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. It has been named as Atal Bridge.
- Delhi Assembly passed Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill, 2015 for establishment of statutory anti-corruption ombudsman to act against any government functionary through its own investigation wing.
- Delhi Assembly passed three education bills - Delhi School Verification of Accounts and Refund of Excess Fee Bill, Delhi School Education (Amendment) Bill (DSEAA), and Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Delhi Amendment) Bill. These bills aim at reining in private schools and bringing in systemic reforms in education sector.
- Delhi Government announced vehicle rationing scheme to curb air pollution in the city. In first phase , vehicles with odd and even number plates would be allowed to run on alternate days between 1 January and 15 January 2016.
- Drug Authentication and Verification Application (DAVA) project of Department of Commerce won the 2015 eASIA Award under Trade Facilitation category.
- Award was announced by Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation (APCTF) and Tehran based (Iran) Electronic Business.
- eASIA award is administered by AFACT that aims development of trade facilitation, electronic business policies and activities in Asia Pacific.
- GAIL India Limited launched geo-portal ‘Bhuvan-GAIL Portal’ system for utilising space technology for its pipeline monitoring to address pipeline safety concerns, in collaboration with National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of ISRO.
- Goa Government launched National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013 to benefit over 33 % of state’s population. Beneficiaries will receive 5 kgs subsidised rice or wheat at subsidised rate of 3 rupees per kg and wheat at the rate of 3 rupees per kg to target persons.
- Goa is listed in top 10 Best Winter Locations of World by international agency Atlas Choices.
- Government added 106 medicines and removed 70 medicines from National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). With this, total number of essential medicines in list has gone up to 376 from 348 earlier.
- Government approved Google's Project Loon for providing Internet connectivity by using large balloons, Announced by Google CEO Sunder Pichai during His Visit in Delhi.
- Loon is Google’s ambitious project that aims at providing low-cost Internet access to remote areas. Under this, high altitude floating telecom tower balloons are positioned at a height of 20 km for transmission of internet services. Each balloon can provide broadband internet coverage up to an area of 40 km.
- Government approved Lucknow Metro Rail Project Phase – 1 A. It will cover approx 23 km with 22 stations with cost of 6,928 crore rupees.
- Government approved aid of Rs. 6,794 crore for Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh affected by deficit rainfall in 2015.
- Government approved amendments inNational Waterways Bill, 2015 and declared 106 additional inland waterways as national waterways. Now total number of national waterways goes upto 111.
- Government approved establishing 3 Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIITs) at Ranchi, Nagpur and Pune.
- Government approved formation of joint venture companies (Initial capital 100 Crore) with state governments to mobilise resources for undertaking rail infrastructure projects.
- Government approved introduction of Bill for establishment of a Regional Centre for Biotechnology in Faridabad (Haryana).
- Government approved introduction of Bill to amend Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 to modify list of Scheduled Castes in 5 States - Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Kerala, Odisha and West Bengal.
- Government approved policy framework for development of Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) in unexplored coal and lignite bearing areas.
- Underground Coal Gasification is a clean coal extraction technology for extracting energy from coal seams and lignite resources which cannot be mined through traditional mining.
- In this, coal ias converted into product gases such as methane, hydrogen, CO and CO2 that are used for electricity generation.
- Gasification is carried out in non-mined coal seams using injection of oxidants that brings product gas to surface through production wells.
- Government approved rehabilitation package of Rs 1110 Crores for Bangladeshi enclaves and Cooch Behar district (West Bengal) after transfer of enclaves between India and Bangladesh.
- Government approved revised cost estimates of Rs. 4,799 crores for setting up five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) at Kolkata, Pune, Mohali, Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram.
- Government approved setting up six new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in Andhra Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Goa, Jammu, Kerala and Karnataka.
- Government asked states to start Operation Smile-II from 1 January 2016. Operation Smile-II is a campaign to rescue/rehabilitate the missing children.
- Government has placed in public domain Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS) for three years (2015 - 2018). MTDS is in consonance with Medium-Term Fiscal Policy Statement (MTFPS) and has been prepared based on international practices and domestic economic and financial conditions.
- Government has set up A mechanism known as SETU (Self-Employment and Talent Utilisation) under NITI Aayog to support all aspects of start-up businesses and other self- employment activities.
- Government launched website of all 36 Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospitals with URLwww.esichospitals.gov.in. It will bring all 36 ESIC hospitals on one platform.
- Government released commemorative postage stamp to mark Centenary year (100 year) of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).
- Government released two commemorative coins (Rs 10, Rs 125 denominations) as part of 125th birth anniversary year celebrations of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
- Government will allow e-Postal Ballot System and Proxy voting to Overseas electors alternative voting options.
- e-Postal Ballot System - Blank ballots will be provided electronically to NRIs and thereafter after casting vote they can return it by normal post.
- Proxy voting - Appoint a proxy after following certain formalities and exercise his/her franchise.
- Government will establish 2 new Indian Institutes of Science Education & Research (IISERs) in Nagaland and Odisha States.
- Green Peace India released National Air Quality Index (NAQI) Report of 17 cities.
- Delhi is listed as most polluted city in world, while 13 Indian cities figured in 20 most polluted cities.
- World Health Organisation reported that estimated that outdoor air pollution caused 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2012.
- Delhi has PM2.5 Annual Average (µg/m3) Value of 153, most in the world. Followed by Patna and Gwalior.
- Gujarat became first state to take up Public-Private Partnership Projects for rehabilitation of slum dwellers in Ahmedabd, Surat, Rajkota and Vadodara under Prime Minister’s AwasYojana (Urban).
- Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health will open its First South Asian Centre in Mumbai (Maharashtra), in a bid to broaden its reach and improve health in India and world.
- Haryana Government fixed minimum educational qualification for contesting urban local bodies (ULB) elections after doing the same for panchayat polls. Minimum qualification for male candidates would be matriculation while for females it would be middle pass.
- Health Minister Jaiprakash Nadda laid foundation stone for India’s largest National Cancer Institute at AIIMS campus in Haryana’s Jhajjar district.
- Himachal Pradesh become first state to start Rotavirus vaccination project under Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP).
- Hindustan Unilever accquired Mosons Group's flagship brand Indulekha for 330 crore rupees.
- Hyderabad based Hetero Drugs became first Indian company to receive DGCI’s approval for hepatitis C drug in India, under product name Ledisof.
- India and Singapore signed an agreement for Singapore airport developer Changi being nominated for taking up management of the Indian airports - Ahmedabad and Jaipur.
- India launched Indian Long Term Ecological Observatories (I-LTEO) programme to scientifically monitor 8 different biomes (natural landscapes) across the country. It aims to identify and monitor targeted socio-ecological challenges and help build capacity within India.
- India launched injectable inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) as part of global polio eradication. IPV injection will be given to children below one year of age. First phase will include namely Assam, Gujarat, Punjab, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh.
- In India, Hyderabad-based Shantha Biotechnics Private Limited is manufacturing ShanIPV vaccine, which will be used in injectable IPV programme. Shantha will provide 2.3 million doses of ShanIPV in 2015, and 9 million in 2016.
- India's Cochin Shipyard Limited Received notice to build Liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships. Cochin Shipyard signed a license agreement with French technology company Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT) in this Regard.
- India's biggest Wildlife Rescue Centre named as Gorewada Zoo and Wildlife Rescue Centre started in Gorewada (Near Nagpur), Maharashtra.
- India-Laos Cultural Conference held in Delhi.
- Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru bagged United States military contract worth $52900 for research and development (R&D) on solar powered micro-grid.
- Karnataka government signed an Expression of Interest agreement with Reitzel Group.
- Lok Sabha passed Indian Trusts (Amendment) Bill 2015, to amend Indian Trusts Act 1882 to remove irrelevant archaic provisions from 133 year old legislation.
- Lok Sabha passed Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Bill 2015 to amend Payment of Bonus Act, 1965
- It seeks to raise eligibility limit for payment of bonus from a salary of 10000 to 21000 rupees.
- It seeks to raise this calculation ceiling of bonus to 7000 rupees per month or minimum wage under Minimum Wages Act 1948 (whichever is higher).
- Maharashtra become first state to launch an online mechanism for its members to send questions and move different motions in the House through website mls.org.in.
- Maharashtra government constituted a task force for setting up an International Financial Service Centre in Mumbai. It will be headed by Union Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha.
- Memorandum of Understanding signed among Ministry of Textiles, Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) and National Textile Corporation (NTC) in order to set up a Technology Centre (Tool Room) at Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh).
- Minister for Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda announced 4 new IT-based initiatives to provide citizen-centric health services and toll free number 1800-11–6666 to provide counselling for TB patients.
- Kilkari - It is an audio-based mobile service that delivers weekly audio messages to families about pregnancy and child care.
- Mobile Academy - It is a mobile application to provide training services to 9 million ASHAs to enhance their inter-personal skills.
- M-Cessation - It is an IT-enabled tool to help tobacco users to quit tobacco.
- Ministry of Environment and Forest gave an environment clearance to the proposed Dholera International airport in Ahmedabad district.
- Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change notified revised standards for coal-based Thermal Power Plants with aim of minimising pollution.
- Thermal power plants are categorised into 3 categories - Installed before 31st December, 2003, Installed after 2003 and up to 31st December, 2016 and Installed after 31st December, 2016.
- It would help improving Nation Ambient Air Quality (AAQ) index around thermal power plants and reducing mercury emission to 70-90%.
- Ministry of Finance raised monetary limit for filing appeals to 10 lakh rupees in Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) and 20 lakh rupees in High Court. Ministry seeks to reduce tax litigation by about 50 %.
- National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Annual Report 2014-15 Recommendations -
- Make the Commission a permanent and statutory body with powers of Civil Court to lend it more credibility.
- Contract system should be abolished and ensure payment of minimum wages for Safai Karamcharis.
- Death victims among Safai Karamcharis should be compensated with minimum 10 lakh rupees.
- Protection of rights, ensuring risk allowance, implementation of effective financing schemes for rehabilitation of Safai Karamcharis, etc.
- National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned on registration of new diesel vehicles in Delhi due to growing air pollution in city.
- National Green Tribunal put complete ban on use of plastics along stretch of Ganga from Gomukh to Haridwar in Uttarakhand.
- National Research Development Corporation signed memorandum of agreement with CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad for marketing its inventions, patents, formulations, processes and collection of royalties.
- National Textile Corporation became First Textile Corporation, 51st Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) to sign Memorandum of Understanding with Transparency International India (TII) for adopting Integrity Pact (IP).
- Odisha Government launched Anwesha scheme to provide free education to scheduled caste and scheduled tribe students. Under the scheme, 5000 SC and ST children will annually be enrolled into Standard I in leading private schools in urban areas.
- Pandorum Technologies developed India's first artificial liver tissue with help of 3-D printing technology. It is major step towards on-demand manufacturing of 3D printed human organs. The artificial liver tissue performs all functions of a human liver including, metabolism, secretion of biochemicals.
- Parliament passed Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2015 for trying juveniles as adults for heinous offences.
- Parliament passed Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill 2015 to amend Negotiable Instruments Act 1881 to make cheque-bounce filing of cases more convenient for check payees.
- President Pranab Mukherjee dedicated National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) Bangalore to the nation.
- President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated Sri Venkateswara Veda Patasala at I. Bhimavaram village in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.
- President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated Umang 2015 (a Festival of Energy) in Delhi.
- President Pranab Mukherjee laid foundation stone for Karnataka state cancer institute of Kidwai memorial institute of Oncology in Bengaluru.
- Railways flagged off first Goa to Mumbai double-decker Shatabdi train.
- Railways signed 3 Memorandum of Understanding with Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) at Kanpur, Madras and Roorkee for setting up of Centres for Railway Research.
- Rajasthan become first state to submit smart city plans for three selected cities - Udaipur, Kota and Ajmer.
- Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik created a 45 feet high Santa Claus sculpture that has been included in Limca Book of World Records as largest sand Santa Claus ever.
- Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan unveiled National Biotechnology Development Strategy (NBDS) 2015-2020 aimed at establishing India as a bio-manufacturing hub.
- It intends to launch a major mission under Make in India programme to boost creation of new biotech products.
- Key elements
- Skilled workforce - Includes dual degree programmes that cover aspect of core science and business applicability.
- Enhance research opportunities - In basic, disciplinary and inter-disciplinary sciences and also foster global and national alliances.
- Search engine Yahoo named Cow as Personality of the Year 2015 for India due to buzz around beef ban and associated discussions on intolerance in India in 2015.
- Second All Light India International Film Festival (ALIIFF) and Indywood Film Market will be held at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad from August 17 - 21, 2016.
- Seeking to fast-track nuclear power projects,Union Government has introduced Atomic Energy (Amendment) Bill, 2015 in Lok Sabha. The amendment seeks to facilitate fast expansion of nuclear power and utilities. The move will help in getting funds for big projects by enabling NPCIL to enter into joint ventures with other government undertakings.
- South Western Railways Zone introduced biodiesel for trains, operating under its zone with 5 % biodiesel blended with High Speed Diesel. Aim is to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission and make fuel more efficient.
- SpiceJet Airlines launched an end-to-end travel solutions platform - SpiceVacations.com. It offers customized travel packages to customers while planning their holiday, at no added cost.
- Supreme Court ordered Government to operationalise Organised Crimes Investigating Agency (OCIA) by 1 December 2016 to probe human trafficking cases.
- Supreme Court upheld Haryana Government's amendment to Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act, 2015. The Act mandates educational qualifications and other eligibility criteria for candidates who aspire to contest the rural local body elections.
- Tata Trusts and Khan Academy announced five-year partnership to enable free online education for Indian market.
- To curb Increasing Pollution, Supreme Court banned registration of all diesel SUVs (Sports Utility Vechiles) and luxury cars in National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi with engine capacity over 2000 cc.
- Trucks carrying goods for Delhi will have to pay environment compensation charge of 2,600 rupees for big trucks and 1,400 rupees for light commercial vehicles.
- All private cabs in Delhi should convert to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) by March 1, 2016.
- Two Indian cities Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) and Jaipur (Rajashan) have been designated as members of UNESCO's Creative Cities Network (UCCN).
- Union Ministry of Women and Child Development introduced e-office as an initiative to provide efficient services to the people by digitizing more than 12,000 files.
- Uttar Pradesh Government approved UP Revenue Code (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 to enable Dalits to sell their land to non-Dalits without administration approval.
- Uttar Pradesh Government launched International festival on Birds at National Chambal Sanctuary to promote state as an international bird-watching destination.
- Uttar Pradesh government baned use of polythene to protect environment and public health.
- West Bengal Government approved formation of 5 new districts, taking total number of districts to 25. New districts are -
- Kalimpong - Will be carved out from Darjeeling district.
- Sundarbans
- Basirhat - Will be formed from North 24 Parganas district.
- Burdwan (Industrial) - Will be made by dividing existing Burdwan district
- Jhargram - Will be made out of West Midnapore district
- YouTube and Subhash Ghai-owned film school Whistling Woods International opened its first video production studio in India.
Persons
- Noted German Music Conductor, Kurt Masur passed away.
- Abdulla Al Khalifa, Minister of Interior of Kingdom of Bahrain visited India.
- Ali Tayebnia, Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance of Iran visited India for 18th India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting.
- Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, President of Mauritius Visited India.
- British astronaut Tim Peake will run London Marathon in space On 24 April 2016. He will run 26.2 miles on a treadmill on International Space Station (ISS) along with over 30,000 runners doing it in London Marathon.
- External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Visited Pakistan.
- Finance Minister of British Columbia state of Canada, Michael de Jong, Q.C. visited India.
- Former Chief Justice of Karnataka and Kerala High Courts Justice V S Malimath died.
- Industrialist, founder of Chettinad Group, MAM Ramaswamy passed away.
- Legendary actor Dilip Kumar has been conferred with prestigious Padma Vibhushan, country’s second highest civilian award.
- Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance of Islamic Republic of Iran, Ali Tayyebnia visited India.
- Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic religious sister and missionary will be given Sainthood and will be made a saint of Roman Catholic Church in September 2016.
- Mr. Panos Kammenos, Defence Minister of Greece visited India.
- Noted American cinematographer Haskell Wexler passed away.
- Noted American science-fiction writer George Clayton Johnson passed away. He was best known for dystopian novel Logan’s Run.
- Noted Bollywood actress Sadhna Shivdasani passed away.
- Noted British Novelist Peter Dickinson passed away. He was best known for children’s books and detective stories.
- Noted Marathi poet Mangesh Padgaonkar passed away.
- Noted Moroccan feminist writer and sociologist, Fatema Mernissi passed away.
- Noted Sarangi player,Ustad Sabri Khan Passed Away.
- Noted Telugu actor and dialogue writer Chilukoti Kashi Viswanath passed away.
- Noted agro-economist Sharad Anantrao Joshi passed away.
- Noted singer Subir Sen passed away.
- Renowned theatre artist and writer Chatla Sriramulu passed away.
Science
- American aerospace company SpaceX successfully launched and landed Falcon 9 rocket along with 11 satellites to low-Earth orbit. It is the first time in history that a rocket has returned back after delivering a spacecraft to its orbit, so that it could potentially fly again. This will help in reducing cost of access to space making explorations a more realistic goal.
- CDAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) and Amrita CREATE (Centre of Research in Advanced Technologies for Education) created a virtual science-lab for Students who opted for Science stream at high school level but have no access to physical labs.
- China launched Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) satellite to shed light on mysterious dark matter and search for smoking-gun signals of dark matter, invisible material.
- China launched its most sophisticated observation satellite Gaofen-4, as part of the high-definition (HD) earth observation Gaofen project.
- ISRO Launched its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C29 successfully with six satellites from Singapore. Six satellites together weighed about 624 kg.
- Scientists at London based Imperial College genetically modified malaria-causing mosquito Anopheles gambiae species to fight disease of malaria.
- Zoological Survey of India Scientists discovered new species of eel named Bengal moray eel (Gymnothorax mishrai) in Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal.
Sports
- 12th South Asian Games 2016 will be jointly hosted by Guwahati and Shillong from February 6-16, 2016. TIKHOR, a one-horned rhino will br mascot of the games. Logo of the event is a flower with eight petals representing 8 - participating nations.
- 59th National Shooting Championships in New Delhi -
- Elizabeth Susan Koshy - Gold in Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions
- Vijay Kumar - Gold in centre fire pistol
- Gurpreet Singh - 25m standard pistol
- Pemba Tamang - Rapid fire pistol
- Achal Pratap Singh Grewal - 25m sports pistol
- Apurvi Chandela - Gold in 10 metre Air Rifle
- Chain Singh - Gold in 50m rifle 3-position
- Andhra Pradesh won bid to host 2019 National Games.
- Goa will hosting next (36th) National Games in 2016.
- National Games are held once in two years, year for next national games (37th) is adjusted to 2019 after Andhra Pradesh’s request.
- Andy Murray (UK) received 2015 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in London.
- Australia won 2014-15 Men’s Hockey World League Final by defeating Belgium. Final was played in Raipur (Chhattisgarh).
- Barcelona FC won 2015 FIFA Club World Cup for record third time. Final match was played at International Stadium Yokoham in Japan and Barelona FC Defeated River Plate FC by 3-0 goals.
- Carolina Marin of Spain won 2015 BWF Female Player of the Year Award. China’s Chen Long won prize in Male Category.
- Chennaiyin FC won second edition of Indian Super League (ISL) Football tournament by defeating Goa FC.
- Coal India become title-sponsor for 3 editions of Hockey India League beginning 2016. Tournament has six franchises - Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai, Ranchi, Odisha and Punjab.
- Cricketer Rohit Sharma along with Graphic India will launch a new environmental superhero team called 'Hyper Tygers'.
- Cricketer Rohit Sharma became co-owner of Pro Wrestling League team UP Warriors.
- Eugeneson Lyngdoh won Men's and Bala Devi won Women's 2015 All India Football Federation (AIFF) Player-of-the-Year Awards respectively.
- Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene awarded with an honorary life membership of Marylebone Cricket Club (UK).
- Gujarat won Vijay Hazare Cricket Tournament by beating Delhi.
- ITF (International Tennis Federation) World Champions 2015 -
- Women's Singles - Serena Williams (United States) - 6th Time
- Men's Singles - Novak Djokovic (Serbia) - 5th Time
- Women’s Doubles - Martina Hingis (Switzerland) and Sania Mirza (India)
- Men’s Doubles - Jean-Julien Rojer (Netherlands) and Horia Tecau (Romania)
- Junior World Champions - Dalma Galfi of Hungary (Male) and USA’s Taylor Fritz (Female)
- India will host ICC World Twenty20 Tournaments of Men and Women in 2016. Men's event will have total prize money of $5.6 million and prize money for women's event will be $400,000.
- Indian Boxer Vijender Singh became first Indian to score Pro-Boxing hat-trick by winning third successive knockout against Bulgaria’s Samet Hyuseinov in England.
- Indian cyclist Deborah Herold became first Indian female cyclist to be ranked 4th in World Women Ranking for 500m time trial event by International Cycling Union. Indian team also improved to 13th rank.
- Indian luge Player Shiva Keshavan won silver at 2015 Asian Luge Championship in Nagano (Japan). First place was claimed by Japan's Hidenari Kanayama.
- India’s Abhay Singh won Under-19 Singapore Squash Open by defeating Alwin Chai of Malaysia.
- India’s Thakur Anoop Singh won gold medal in 7th WBPF World Bodybuilding and Physique Championships.
- India’s golfer Anirban Lahiri won coveted Order of Merit crown of Asian Tour for year 2015.
- International Cricket Council (ICC) Awards 2015 in Dubai (UAE)
-
Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy - Steven Smith (Australia)
-
Test Cricketer of the Year - Steven Smith (Australia)
- ODI Cricketer of the Year - AB de Villiers (South Africa)
- Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year - Meg Lanning (Australia)
- Emerging Cricketer of the Year - Josh Hazlewood (Australia)
- Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year - Khurram Khan (UAE)
- Twenty20 International Performance of the Year - Faf du Plessis (South Africa)
-
David Shepherd Trophy for Umpire of the Year - Richard Kettleborough
- Spirit of Cricket Award - Brendon McCullum (New Zealand)
- International Cricket Council announced new 4 year (2016 - 2020) global partnership with OPPO (Chinese Mobile Brand). In October 2015, ICC entered into an 8-year global partnership deal with Japanese car maker Nissan Motors.
- Japanese Badminton Players Kento Momota and Nozomi Okuhara won Men's singles and Women’s singles title respectively at BWF World Superseries finals in Dubai.
- Kane Williamson became first New Zealand cricketer to top International Cricket Council's (ICC's) Test rankings.
- Lalit Modi re-appointed as president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association after being ousted for 14 months.
- Laxmi Ratan Shukla, former Indian cricketer from west begnal Bengal, announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
- Maharashtra defeated Punjab to win 2015 National Wheelchair Basketball Championship.
- Mumbai Garuda beat Haryana Hammers to win Pro Wrestling League title.
- New Zealand cricketer Brendon McCullum announced retirement from all forms of international cricket. He will retire after test series against Australia to be held in February 2016.
- Poland's footballer, Robert Lewandowski awarded with four separate official Guinness World Record certificates for scoring five goals in 9-minutes for German Football Club Bayern Munich against Wolfsburg.
- Senior National Weightlifting Championships Organized in Patiala (Punjab).
- Singapore Slammers defeated Indian Aces to win Indian Premier Tennis League (IPTL) - 2015.
- Sixth Globe Soccer Awards 2015 -
- Best Player - Lionel Messi
- Best President - Josep Maria Bartomeu
- Best Club - F.C. Barcelona
- Best Coach - Marc Wilmots
- Best Academy - Benfica
- Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Kusal Perera banned for four years after being tested positive for a banned substance.
- Sweden's Bjorn Isberg has been appointed as Tournament Director of Coal India Hockey India League (HIL).
- Teams from Pune and Rajkot will compete in Indian Premier League (IPL) replacing suspended Chennai Superkings and Rajasthan Royals for 2 years.
- Biocon Limited CMD Kiran Mazumdar Shaw honoured with 2015 Outstanding Business Achiever award.
- Hinduja brothers and GMR Group chairman G.M. Rao presented with Achievement Award of ABLF.
- Jury headed by Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari. Award in Bengali is to be announced later
- Award carries plaque, shawl and a cheque of 1 lakh rupees and presented on 16 February 2016 during Festival of Letters (annual festival of Sahitya Akademi).
- Awardees -
- Poets - Brajendra Kumar Brahma, Dhian Singh, Ramdarash Mishra, KV Tirumalesh, Kshetri Ranjen, Ram Shankar Awasthi
- Short Stories - Kula Saikia, Man Mohan Jha, Gupta Pradhan, Bibhuti Pattanaik, Maya Rahi, Volga
- Novelists - Cyrus Mistry, KR Meera, Jaswinder Singh, Madhu Acharya
- Essayists - Rasik Shah, A Madhavan
- Play Writers - Uday Bhembre, Rabilal Tudu
- Authors of Books on Criticism - Bashir Bhadarwahi, Shamim Tariq
- Author selected for a book on memoirs - Arun Khopkar for Chalat Chitravyooh in Marathi
- Lifetime Service Award - Claude and Norma Alvares.
- Sanctuary Legend - Ashok Kumar
- Wildlife Service Awards - Varad Giri (National Centre for Biological Sciences), Nandini Velho (organiser of first Arunachal Pradesh Bird Festival), Param Jit Singh, Yash Veer Bhatnagar (Snow Leopard Trust's India) and Gir Lion Protection Team.
- Standard GST rate of 17 to 18 %. It is the rate at which most products would likely be taxed.
- Revenue-neutral rate of 15 to 15.5 %. It is a single rate at which there will be no revenue loss to the centre and states in the GST regime.
- Two options for states: Single rate of 1 % or a range of 17-18 %.
- Three-tier GST rate structure: Essential goods will be taxed at a lower rate of 12 %. Demerit goods such as luxury cars, aerated beverages, pan masala and tobacco products will be taxed at 40 % and remaining all goods will be taxed at a standard rate of 17 to 18 %.
- Amend Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 that does not distinguish genuine errors in decision making and acts of corruption.
- Do not adopt PPP structures for very small projects
- Banks should be encouraged to issue Deep Discount Bonds or Zero Coupon Bonds to mobilise long term capital at low cost.
- Sukanya Shiksha - Banks should try to step up account opening for females belonging to lower income groups.
- Aadhaar should be linked to each individual credit account and must be shared with Credit information bureau to enhance stability of credit system.
- Bank’s business model should be changed as per mobile technology to improve service delivery.
- Digitisation of land records should be done to increase formal credit supply to all agrarian segments through Aadhaar-linked mechanism for Credit Eligibility Certificates (CEC).
- Companies should nurture self help groups as part of Corporate Social Responsibility initiative.
- Government should replace current agricultural input subsidies on fertilizers, irrigation and power by a direct income transfer scheme.
- Agricultural interest subvention Scheme should be phased out.
- Government should introduce universal crop insurance scheme covering all farmers with ceiling of Rs. 2 lakhs.
- Unique identification of MSME should be introduced for all MSME borrowers and information should be shared with credit bureaus.
- Mobile app Crop Insurance will help farmers in finding details about insurance cover available in their area and calculate insurance premium for notified crops, coverage and loan amount etc.
- Mobile apps AgriMarket Mobile can be used by farmers to get market prices of crops in mandis within 50 km radius of the device and other mandis in the country.
- An Agreement between India and USA was signed for implementation of Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
- India also joined Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) for Automatic Exchange of Information as per Common Reporting Standard (CRS).
- Indian Oil Corporation is biggest Indian company in terms of annual revenue - 4,51,911 crore.
- Reliance Industries is second, Tata Motors (3), State Bank of India (4), Bharat Petroleum (5), Hindustan Petroleum (6), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (7), Tata Steel (8), Hindalco Industries (9), Tata Consultancy Services (10).
- To counter cost-disadvantages, government will grant assistance of 20 % of contract price or fair price, following delivery of the ship. Assistance will be reduced by 3 % in every 3 years.
- Nifty Tata Group Index has 25 companies with market capitalisation of 7.51 lakh crore rupees and 7.83 % share in market capitalisation of companies listed on NSE
- Nifty Aditya Birla Group Index- It has 8 companies with market capitalisation of 2.08 lakh crores and represents 2.17 % of market capitalisation of companies listed on NSE.
- Nifty Mahindra Group Index has 7 companies with market capitalisation of 1.64 lakh crores and 1.71 %of market capitalisation of companies listed on NSE.
- PSL target increased to 75 % of total outstanding from existing 60 %, effective from 01-01-2016.
- Under PSL, Loans to individual farmers was increased to 50 lakh from present 10 lakh rupees against pledge of agricultural produce for upto 12 months.
- RBI lowered quantum of loans that will qualify as PSL from 25 lakh to 20 lakh rupees.
- All loans sanctioned and credit limits renewed w.e.f. April 1, 2016 will be priced with reference to MCLR method. Currently, many banks follow average cost of funds or ‘blended cost of funds (liabilities) method’ for calculating base rate.
- MCLR methodology will help borrowers to reap the benefit of lower lending rates. It will also improve transparency in the methodology followed by banks for determining interest rates.
- funding of 5000 MW of clean energy.
- Creating a carbon sink by planting 2 million trees.
- Touch 100 million lives through its safe and clean drinking water program.
- It is 21st COP (Conference of Parties) for Planning Climate Change Actions and Combating Global Warming Issues.
- About 40,000 delegates from 195 nations are attended the summit. 183 countries submitted action plans to achieve the goal of limiting warming to 2 degree centigrade.
- Participating countries decided to double their clean energy research and development funding by 2020, as part of Mission Innovation for accelerating clean energy revolution across the world.
- Bill Gates led Breakthrough Energy Coalition formed to reduce demand for fossil fuels. It involves 28 rich people from different countries and works on five Investment Principles - Invest Early, Invest Broadly, Invest Wisely and Invest Together.
- United Nations and 13 agencies of UN system launched new initiative Anticipate, Absorb, Reshape to build climate resilience in world’s most vulnerable countries. The Iinitiative will enhance ability of the countries to anticipate climate hazards, absorb consequences and reshape development to reduce risks from climate hazards.
- Coalition of African countries launched African Restoration Initiative (AFR100) on with aim to restore 100 million hectares (250 million acres) of degraded African land by 2030.
- India and France launched International Solar Alliance (ISA) with an aim to harness solar power as a major step to mitigate carbon gas emissions.
- It will bring solar rich 121 tropical countries located between Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn together to tap solar energy.
- It will function from the Gurgaon based National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE).
- India will give assistance of $30 million for this initiative.
- PM Modi stated that India has solar capacity of 4GW and targets 100 GW by 2022. He called for developed countries to mobilise $100 billion annually by 2020 for mitigation and adaptation.
- France will invest 6 billion euros in 2016-2020 in Africa for enhancing renewable energy sources and cope with climate deterioration.
- Under Lima to Paris Action Agenda (LPAA) on climate change, A broad coalition of nations and river basin organisations across world announced Paris Pact on Water and Climater Change Adaptation. It aims to make water systems more resilient to climate change impacts and seeks to promote financial sustainability and new investment in water system management.
- India will become world's third largest economy after 2030. India and Brazil will replace France and Italy in G8 group.
- China will overtake US as largest economy by 2029, with US slipping to second and India being Third.
- India's projected GDP in 2030 will be 10 Trillion USD. USA will be 32 Trillion and China 34 Trillion USD.
- India will become largest economy in Commonwealth by 2019 by leaving Behind UK.
- Britain will become fourth while Brazil completes at 5th place in world.
- Asia’s income elasticity of trade declined from 2.69 before the global financial crisis (2008-09) to 1.30 in 2015.
- Number of SEZs from 500 in 1995 to 4300 in 2015 shows strong and rising interest to this form of policy experiment.
- India has become the third largest source of inward FDI for the United Kingdom (UK) after the US and France in number of projects.
- For India, high technology and low technology exports constituted 4.1 and 58.8 respectively in 1990, they contributed to 8.6 and 35.0 % respectively in 2014.
- Germany - Capital Goods Sector and Solar Energy.
- Japan - amending Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) signed in 1989 for avoidance of double taxation and fiscal evasion
- Iran - visa facilitation for Diplomatic, Official/Service and Ordinary passport holders.
- Maldives - sports and youth affairs
- Israel - water resources management and development cooperation
- Korea - Air Services
- Madhesi people inhabit the flat southern region of Nepal known as the Madhesh.
- Their Demands are -
- Dissatisfaction with Pahadi (hill) communities getting 100 seats in parliiament while Madhesis got 65 only, being that both communities have equal participation in population.
- Secondly, Madhesis’ were also fighting against Constitutional scheme related to proposed boundaries of the new provinces.
- Burj Khalifa has over 200 storeys and highest number of floors in world. Height is 829.8 meters.
- It aims to resolve an old dispute over Korean women who were used as sex slaves by Japanese soldiers during World War II. This issue had been cause of tensions between Japan and South Korea for decades.
- Oil and gas, combined, are expected to supply around 53 % of global energy demand by 2040.
- Global energy demand will increase by almost 50 % by 2040, overall energy mix continuing to be led by fossil fuels will rise to 78 %.
- Medium-term oil demand will rise by 97 million barrels a day by 2020 and 110 mb/d by 2040.
- Developing Asia region will account for 70% of increase by 2040.
- Non-OPEC liquids supply increases from 56.5 mb/d in 2014 to around 60 mb/d in 2020.
- OPEC crude expands to 40.7 mb/d by 2040.
- Long-term value of OPEC Reference Basket is assumed to rise from more than 70 US dollars per barrel in 2020 to 95 US dollars per barrel by 2040 (both in 2014 dollars).
- Required cumulative distillation capacity additions are projected to be around 20 mb/d by 2040.
- Russia -
- India and Russia signed 16 agreements to expand cooperation in various sectors -
- India's Reliance Defence signed $6 billion pact with Russian arms firm Almaz-Antey. Two firms will work jointly on entire range of AD Missile and Radar Systems that are required for Indian defence forces.
- India's Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) and Oil India Ltd. (OIL) signed an agreement with Russian oil firm Rosneft to explore possibility of picking up stake in Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha oilfield in East Siberia.
- Agreement on Cooperation in field of Tourism, Helicopter Engineering, Railways, Solar Energy, Broadcasting, investment cooperation, geologic survey, exploration and production of hydrocarbons.
- Cooperation between India's Central Board of Excise and Customs (India) and Russian Federation for combating Customs violations in 2015 – 2017.
- Agreement for co-operation in Atomic Energy (India's DAE and Russia's Rosatom for Localization of Manufacturing in India for Russian-Designed Nuclear Reactor Units.
- MoU for cooperation between HEC & CNIITMASH for development of Centre of Excellence for heavy engineering design at HEC and upgradation of HEC’s manufacturing facilities.
- Tripartite MOU between Centre for Development of Advance Computing (C-DAC), Indian Institute of Science Bangalore (IISc) and Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU).
- Tripartite MOU between CDAC, OJSC "GLONASS” and GLONASS Union.
- India and Russia signed 16 agreements to expand cooperation in various sectors -
- Afghanistan
- Modi inaugurates new Afghan Parliament built by India in Kabul.
- Russia -
- India and Japan signed co-operation agreements in various fields Including
- Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology Cooperation
- Amendment of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement
- Technological Cooperation in Rail Sector
- Medical Products Regulation Dialogue and Cooperation Framework
- Forests
- Civil Nuclear Pact
- Co-operation to introduce High Speed Rail (HRS) on Mumbai Ahmedabad sector. It is a 508 km line connecting Mumbai and Ahmedabad with total cost 97,636 crores rupees and to be done in 7 years. It will reduce travelling time between the two cities from eight hours to around three. Japan will extend loan of 12 billion dollars (.1%) and technical assistance. Loan will be for 50 years.
- India and Japan signed co-operation agreements in various fields Including
- Tata Motors moved up from last year’s 104th position and showed largest increase in R&D investments on the list.
- In the expanded list of world's 2500 top R&D firms, there are 26 Indian companies. 829 from US, 360 from Japan, 301 from China.
- In terms of number of companies on the list, India was overall placed at 15th position.
- TAPI project will cover 1,800 km, beginning from Turkmenistan’s Galkynysh field with gas reserves are 16 trillion cubic feet.
- It has capacity to carry 90 million standard cubic metres a day (mmscmd). Both India and Pakistan will get supply of about 38 mmscmd and Afghanistan will get 14 mmscmd supply of natural gas.
- This annual publication provides statistics relevant to international trade, investment and development for 2014.
- Total global exports for 2014 were 24 trillion USD, up by 1.2 % compared with 2013. India's exports were 321 billion USD as compared to 314 billion USD in 2013.
- International service exports accounted for 21 % of total global exports.
- Merchandise Exports were total 19 trillion USD (79 %).
- Foreign Direct Investment : Total FDI inflows were 1.2 trillion USD, fell by 16 % in 2014 as compared to 2013.
- India placed at 130th position in among 188 countries. with 0.609 score. In 2014, India’s rank was 135 with 0.586 score.
- India’s Life expectancy at birth - Increased to 68 years in 2014 from 67.6 in previous year and 53.9 in 1980.
- Gross National Income (GNI) per capita increased to $5,497 in 2014 from $5,180 in 2013 and $1,255 in 1980.
- Access to knowledge - Expected years of schooling remained at 11.7 since 2011. Mean years of schooling at 5.4 has not changed since 2010.
- Gender Development Index (GDI) of India is 0.795 in 2014. The female HDI value for India is 0.525 in contrast with 0.660 for males.
- Gender Inequality Index - India ranked 130th with value of 0.563 out of 155 countries in 2014.
- Top Three Countries - Norway, Australia and Switzerland (3rd).
- India’s Neighbours - : Sri Lanka (73), China (90), Bhutan (132), Bangladesh (142), Nepal (145), Pakistan (147) and Afghanistan (171).
- BRICS - Russia (50), Brazil (75), China (90), South Africa (116) and India (130)
- India placed at 130th position in among 188 countries. with 0.609 score. In 2014, India’s rank was 135 with 0.586 score.
- Number of Migrant workers are approx 15 crores while Number of Total International migrants are approx 23 Crores. Among migrant workers, 55.7 % are men.
- 48.5 % of migrant workers are in two sub-regions - Northern America and Northern, Southern and Western Europe.
- About ILO - Headquarters (Geneva, Switzerland), Chief - Guy Ryder
- Put Brazil, China, India and Russia among IMF’s top 10 shareholders and give emerging markets more influence in IMF.
- China’s vote at IMF would increase to 6 % from 3.8 %.
- IMF’s Board will entirely consist of elected Executive Directorsa and will end current category of appointment of Executive Directors by five largest quotas holders.
- Quotas of all 188 members will increase as Fund’s quota resources rise to about 477 billion special drawing rights (SDR) from 238.5 billion.
- India’s voting rights will also rise to 2.6 % from the current 2.3 % while those of US drop from 16.7 % to 16.5 %.
- Number of international migrants is expected to surpass 25 crore in 2015.
- Top migrant source countries - India, Mexico, Russia, China, Bangladesh and Top migrant destinations - USA, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Russia, UAE.
- India was largest remittance receiving country with 72 billion USD in 2015, followed by China (64 billion) and the Philippines (30 billion USD).
- United States was largest remittance source country with 56 billion USD outflows in 2014, followed by Saudi Arabia (37 billion) and Russia (33 billion).
- Zonal Councils in India are created under State Reorganization Act, 1956. These are advisory bodies that discuss various matters of common interest. There are five Councils - Eastern, Western, Northern, Southern, and Central.
- Meeting of each Zonal Council needs to be held once in a year.
- OPEC - Secretary General is Abdallah Salem el-Badri and Head quarters in Vienna (Austria)
- Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is an international organization of 13 member countries. Members are - Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela.
- 15 States/UTs have forest cover above 33 % of geographical area.
- State wise maximum increase in forest cover - Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Jammu & Kashmir
- Largest forest cover in terms of area: Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh
- Highest %age of forest cover : Mizoram (88.93%) Lakshadweep (84.56%).
- ATUFS targets Employment generation and global exports by Promoting Technical Textiles. and upgrading quality of existing looms.
- Two broad categories of ATUFS
- Apparel, Garment and Technical Textiles sectors would be provided on capital investment with 15 % subsidy, subject to ceiling of 30 crore for entrepreneurs over period of five years.
- Remaining sub-sectors of textile sectors would be provided subsidy at rate of 10 %, subject to ceiling of 20 crore.
- Award was announced by Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation (APCTF) and Tehran based (Iran) Electronic Business.
- eASIA award is administered by AFACT that aims development of trade facilitation, electronic business policies and activities in Asia Pacific.
- Loon is Google’s ambitious project that aims at providing low-cost Internet access to remote areas. Under this, high altitude floating telecom tower balloons are positioned at a height of 20 km for transmission of internet services. Each balloon can provide broadband internet coverage up to an area of 40 km.
- Underground Coal Gasification is a clean coal extraction technology for extracting energy from coal seams and lignite resources which cannot be mined through traditional mining.
- In this, coal ias converted into product gases such as methane, hydrogen, CO and CO2 that are used for electricity generation.
- Gasification is carried out in non-mined coal seams using injection of oxidants that brings product gas to surface through production wells.
- e-Postal Ballot System - Blank ballots will be provided electronically to NRIs and thereafter after casting vote they can return it by normal post.
- Proxy voting - Appoint a proxy after following certain formalities and exercise his/her franchise.
- Delhi is listed as most polluted city in world, while 13 Indian cities figured in 20 most polluted cities.
- World Health Organisation reported that estimated that outdoor air pollution caused 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2012.
- Delhi has PM2.5 Annual Average (µg/m3) Value of 153, most in the world. Followed by Patna and Gwalior.
- In India, Hyderabad-based Shantha Biotechnics Private Limited is manufacturing ShanIPV vaccine, which will be used in injectable IPV programme. Shantha will provide 2.3 million doses of ShanIPV in 2015, and 9 million in 2016.
- It seeks to raise eligibility limit for payment of bonus from a salary of 10000 to 21000 rupees.
- It seeks to raise this calculation ceiling of bonus to 7000 rupees per month or minimum wage under Minimum Wages Act 1948 (whichever is higher).
- Kilkari - It is an audio-based mobile service that delivers weekly audio messages to families about pregnancy and child care.
- Mobile Academy - It is a mobile application to provide training services to 9 million ASHAs to enhance their inter-personal skills.
- M-Cessation - It is an IT-enabled tool to help tobacco users to quit tobacco.
- Thermal power plants are categorised into 3 categories - Installed before 31st December, 2003, Installed after 2003 and up to 31st December, 2016 and Installed after 31st December, 2016.
- It would help improving Nation Ambient Air Quality (AAQ) index around thermal power plants and reducing mercury emission to 70-90%.
- Make the Commission a permanent and statutory body with powers of Civil Court to lend it more credibility.
- Contract system should be abolished and ensure payment of minimum wages for Safai Karamcharis.
- Death victims among Safai Karamcharis should be compensated with minimum 10 lakh rupees.
- Protection of rights, ensuring risk allowance, implementation of effective financing schemes for rehabilitation of Safai Karamcharis, etc.
- It intends to launch a major mission under Make in India programme to boost creation of new biotech products.
- Key elements
- Skilled workforce - Includes dual degree programmes that cover aspect of core science and business applicability.
- Enhance research opportunities - In basic, disciplinary and inter-disciplinary sciences and also foster global and national alliances.
- Trucks carrying goods for Delhi will have to pay environment compensation charge of 2,600 rupees for big trucks and 1,400 rupees for light commercial vehicles.
- All private cabs in Delhi should convert to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) by March 1, 2016.
- Kalimpong - Will be carved out from Darjeeling district.
- Sundarbans
- Basirhat - Will be formed from North 24 Parganas district.
- Burdwan (Industrial) - Will be made by dividing existing Burdwan district
- Jhargram - Will be made out of West Midnapore district
- Elizabeth Susan Koshy - Gold in Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions
- Vijay Kumar - Gold in centre fire pistol
- Gurpreet Singh - 25m standard pistol
- Pemba Tamang - Rapid fire pistol
- Achal Pratap Singh Grewal - 25m sports pistol
- Apurvi Chandela - Gold in 10 metre Air Rifle
- Chain Singh - Gold in 50m rifle 3-position
- Goa will hosting next (36th) National Games in 2016.
- National Games are held once in two years, year for next national games (37th) is adjusted to 2019 after Andhra Pradesh’s request.
- Women's Singles - Serena Williams (United States) - 6th Time
- Men's Singles - Novak Djokovic (Serbia) - 5th Time
- Women’s Doubles - Martina Hingis (Switzerland) and Sania Mirza (India)
- Men’s Doubles - Jean-Julien Rojer (Netherlands) and Horia Tecau (Romania)
- Junior World Champions - Dalma Galfi of Hungary (Male) and USA’s Taylor Fritz (Female)
- Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy - Steven Smith (Australia)
- Test Cricketer of the Year - Steven Smith (Australia)
- ODI Cricketer of the Year - AB de Villiers (South Africa)
- Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year - Meg Lanning (Australia)
- Emerging Cricketer of the Year - Josh Hazlewood (Australia)
- Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year - Khurram Khan (UAE)
- Twenty20 International Performance of the Year - Faf du Plessis (South Africa)
- David Shepherd Trophy for Umpire of the Year - Richard Kettleborough
- Spirit of Cricket Award - Brendon McCullum (New Zealand)
- Best Player - Lionel Messi
- Best President - Josep Maria Bartomeu
- Best Club - F.C. Barcelona
- Best Coach - Marc Wilmots
- Best Academy - Benfica
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