Josh_Feb.16

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/joshfeb16 1/254www.jagranjosh.com 1

CURRENT AFFAIRS FEBRUARY 2016

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/joshfeb16 2/254

2 www.jagranjosh.com


The Current Affairs February 2016 eBook covers the current events that happened in the month of February.

Current Affairs is a crucial component of any competitive exams including IAS|PCS, SSC, Banking, MBA.

The lack of preparation for current affairs by the aspirants and candidates often is a main cause of their

failure. Even though the candidates know it but they are often confused about how to prepare the current

affairs section of the different competitive exams. It is to clear such doubts and confusion, Jagranjosh.com

has come up with eBook concept. Although current affairs section per se is very wide to be covered, yet we

have tried to cover all the possible current affairs for the month of February 2016.

The Current Affairs February 2016eBook is divided into different section keeping in mind the need of various

exams. The sections covered namely are International, National, Economy, Ecology and Environment,

Science & Technology, Corporate, Sports, States, and News Capsule. Every news item in each section is

arranged date wise with the most recent news being covered first and so on. Although there might be some

deviations but that is solely to give priority to the most important current affairs in each section.

Presentation of the given current affairs has been planned meticulously. It has been planned in such a

way that it remains in the minds of readers for a longer duration. Wherever necessary each news item is

presented along with a background and analysis so as to help candidates contemplate all the important

current events at the time of exam in an effective way.

Copyright ©Jagranjosh.com

All rights reserved. No part or the whole of this eBook may be copied, reproduced, stored in retrieval system ortransmitted and/or cited anywhere in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording orotherwise), without the written permission of the copyright owner. If any misconduct comes in knowledge or broughtin notice, strict action will be taken.

Disclaimer

Readers are requested to verify/cross-check up to their satisfaction themselves about the advertisements, advertorials,and external contents. If any miss-happening, ill result, mass depletion or any similar incident occurs due to anyinformation cited or referenced in this e-book, Editor, Director/s, employees of Jagranjosh.com can’t be held liable/ responsible in any matter whatsoever. No responsibilities lie as well in case of the advertisements, advertorials, andexternal contents.

PREFACE

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16


www.jagranjosh.com 3

CURRENT AFFAIRS FEBRUARY 2016CURRENT AFFAIRS FEBRUARY 2016

PICK OF THE MONTH

Shyama Prasad Mukherjee National Rurban Mission launched 4

Zika Virus: What, Why & How? 8

IndIGO: The Indian Gravitational Wave Detector Project 14

Indian scientists associated with detection of gravitational waves 18

Non-Performing Assets: The Indian Banks Nightmare 21

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Shyama Prasad Mukherjee National Rurban Mission launched

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 21 February 2016 launched Shyama Prasad

Mukherjee National Rurban Mission (SPMRM). The mission was launched from

Kurubhat village in Dongargarh block of Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh.

SPMRM announced in the Union Budget 2014-15 adopts the Rurban development

model of urbanization of the rural areas of Gujarat through which people living in the

rural areas are given efcient civic infrastructure and associate services.

It was approved by the Union Cabinet on 16 September 2015.

What is Rurban Mission?

Rurban Mission is composed of two words, namely Rural and Urban. It is based

on the best practices of earlier PURA (Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas)

model of 2003, which was conceived by former and late President APJ Abdul Kalam

and implemented under the regime of United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

Rurban Mission is a scheme that seeks to deliver integrated project based infrastructure

in the rural areas, which will also include development of economic activities and skill

development. The preferred mode of delivery is through Public Private Partnerships

(PPPs) while using various scheme funds for nancing.

What is the objective?

The Mission with an outlay of 5142.08 crore rupees seeks to transform rural areas to

economically, socially and physically sustainable spaces. It also seeks to check the

urban to rural migration.

The said objectives it sought to achieve through adopting a ‘cluster approach’, that

is it seeks to transform rural lives through creating 300 Rural growth clusters over the

next 3 years across the country.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




PURA Model

Provision of Urban Amenities to Rural Areas (PURA) is a strategy for rural development

in India. This concept was given by former president Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and

discussed in his book ‘Target 3 Billion’ which he co-authored with Srijan Pal Singh.

PURA proposes that urban infrastructure and services be provided in rural hubs to

create economic opportunities outside of cities and check rural to urban migration.

It provides for four connectivities to achieve the goal of PURA. These are:

Physical connectivity by providing roads;

Electronic connectivity by providing communication network

Knowledge connectivity by establishing professional and technical institutions;

Economic connectivity: All the above will be integrated in a way so that economic

connectivity emanates

What are the main elements of Mission?• Development of Rurban growth clusters, which have latent potential for growth, in

all States and UTs to trigger overall development in the region. These clusters are

essentially Smart Villages.

• Rural growth clusters would be developed by provisioning of economic activities,

developing skills & local entrepreneurship and providing infrastructure amenities.

• Further, these clusters would be well delineated areas with planned layouts, which

would be duly notied by the State/UTs. These plans would be nally integrated

with the District Plans/Master Plans as the case may be.

• The States would prepare Integrated Cluster Action Plans for Rurban Clusters

in accordance with the Framework for Implementation prepared by the Union

Ministry of Rural Development.

• The clusters will be geographically contiguous to Gram Panchayats with a

population of about 25000 to 50000 in plain and coastal areas and a population of

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




5000 to 15000 in desert, hilly or tribal areas.

• There would be a separate approach for selection of clusters in Tribal and Non-

Tribal Districts.

• As far as practicable, clusters of village would follow administrative convergence

units of Gram Panchayats.

• The Mission envisages institutional arrangements both at the State and Center to

ensure smooth implementation of the Mission.

• The Mission also has an Innovation budget towards facilitating research,development and capacity building.

How the Mission will be funded?

• The funding for Rurban Clusters will be through various schemes of the Government

converged into the cluster.

• The SPMRM will provide an additional funding support of up to 30 percent of the

project cost per cluster as Critical Gap Funding (CGF) as Central Share to enable

development of such Rurban clusters.

• In addition to the Critical Gap Funding, proactive steps have been taken to ensure

the success of the mission with adequate budget provisions for supporting the

State Government towards project development, capacity building and other

institutional arrangements at the state level.

What are the fourteen components of Rurban growth clusters?

To ensure an optimum level of development, fourteen components have been

suggested as desirable for the cluster. These include

• Skill development training linked to economic activities

• Agro Processing/Agri Services/Storage and Warehousing

• Digital Literacy

• Sanitation

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• Provision of piped water supply

• Solid and liquid waste management

• Village streets and drains

• Street lights

• Fully equipped mobile health unit

• Upgrading school /higher education facilities

• Inter-village road connectivity• Citizen Service Centres- for electronic delivery of citizen centric services/e-gram

connectivity

• Public transport

• LPG gas connections

What are the deciencies?

• Though role has been given to state governments to delineate the clusters, role of

PRIs has not been demarcated.

• Poor implementation of the 73rd amendment act to achieve meaningful devolution

of funds, functions and functionaries risks jeopardising any signicant socio-

economic growth of rural areas.

• Multiplicity of schemes for the development of rural areas in the form of SAGY,BRGF, etc can lead to delayed decision making and confusion.

• Poor agricultural performance in dwindling monsoon times need to be safeguarded

• Drought mitigation, smart cropping patterns and institutional support in the form

of insurance are key for any scheme for rural development and this has not been

integrated with the SPMRM.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Conclusion

The scheme through development of rurban growth clusters aimed at catalyzing

overall regional growth, would thus simultaneously benet the rural as well as urban

areas of the country, by achieving twin objectives of strengthening rural areas and

de burdening the urban areas hence leading to balanced regional development and

growth of the country.

The Rurban mission in order to be successful has to look to supplement and augment

capabilities of PRIs, improve congruencies with AMRUT for deciding on administering

an ever growing rural-urban fringe and promote a low carbon growth pattern forvillages through use of renewables to achieve a model sustainable growth paradigm

for our villages.

Zika Virus: What, Why & How?

World Health Organisation (WHO) on 1 February 2016 declared Public Health

Emergency of International Concern over the explosive spread of the mosquito-borne

Zika virus. Incidentally, the declaration came just two weeks after the end of Ebola

outbreak in West Africa that killed around 11000 people in the region.

Against this backdrop, it is pertinent to understand the nature of the Zika virus, its

spread and ways to mitigate its potential outbreak.

Where does Zika virus occur?

Zika virus occurs in tropical areas with large mosquito populations and is known to

circulate in Africa, the Americas, Southern Asia and Western Pacic. The virus was

discovered in 1947, but for many years only sporadic human cases were detected in

Africa and Southern Asia.

In 2007, the rst documented outbreak of Zika virus disease occurred in the Pacic.

Since 2013, cases and outbreaks of the disease have been reported from the Western

Pacic, the Americas and Africa.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Given the expansion of environments where mosquitoes can live and breed, facilitated

by urbanisation and globalisation, there is potential for major urban epidemics of Zika

virus disease to occur globally.

How do people catch Zika virus?

People catch Zika virus by being bitten by an infected Aedes mosquito – the same

type of mosquito that spreads dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.

World Bank announced $150 million to combat Zika Virus in Latin America

and the Caribbean

The World Bank Group on 18 February 2016 announced 150 million US dollars in

funding to combat Zika virus in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The funding is aimed at supporting the countries in the region that are projected to

incur losses up to 3.5 billion US dollars or 0.06 percent of gross domestic product

(GDP) in 2016 due to the spread of Zika virus.

The World Bank announced funding as it was observed that a group of countries

highly dependent on tourism—notably in the Caribbean—could suffer losses in

excess of 1 percent of GDP.

Where can the Aedes mosquito survive?

There are 2 types of Aedes mosquito capable of transmitting the Zika virus – Aedes

aegypti and Aedes albopictus.

In most cases, Zika spreads through the Aedes aegypti mosquito in tropical and

subtropical regions. The Aedes aegypti mosquito does not survive in cooler climate

temperatures.

The Aedes albopictus mosquito can also transmit the virus. This mosquito can

hibernate and survive cooler temperature regions.

Can the Aedes mosquito travel from country to country and region to region?

The Aedes mosquito is a weak yer; it cannot y more than 400 meters. But it may

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




inadvertently be transported by humans from one place to another, for example in

the back of the car and plants.

What are the symptoms of Zika virus disease?

Zika virus usually causes mild illness; with symptoms appearing a few days after a

person is bitten by an infected mosquito.

Most people with Zika virus disease will get a slight fever and rash. Others may also

get conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, and feel tired. The symptoms usually nish

in 2 to 7 days.

What might be the potential complications of Zika virus?

Because no large outbreaks of Zika virus were recorded before 2007, little is currently

known about the complications of the disease.

During the rst outbreak of Zika from 2013 - 2014 in French Polynesia, which also

coincided with an ongoing outbreak of dengue, national health authorities reported

an unusual increase in Guillain-Barré syndrome.

A similar observation of increased Guillain-Barré syndrome was also made in 2015 in

the context of the rst Zika virus outbreak in Brazil.

In 2015, local health authorities in Brazil also observed an increase in babies born

with microcephaly at the same time of an outbreak of Zika virus.

Health authorities and agencies are now investigating the potential connection

between microcephaly and Zika virus, in addition to other possible causes.

However more investigation and research is needed before we will be able to better

understand any possible link.

What is Guillain-Barré syndrome?

It is a condition in which the body’s immune system attacks part of the nervous

system. It can be caused by a number of viruses and can affect people of any age.Exactly what triggers the syndrome is not known.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




The main symptoms include muscular weakness and tingling in the arms and legs.

Severe complications can occur if the respiratory muscles are affected, requiring

hospitalisation.

What is microcephaly?

It is a rare condition where a baby has an abnormally small head. This is due to

abnormal brain development of the baby in the womb or during infancy. Babies and

children with microcephaly often have challenges with their brain development as

they grow older.

Microcephaly can be caused by a variety of environmental and genetic factors such

as Downs syndrome, exposure to drugs, alcohol or other toxins in the womb and

rubella infection during pregnancy.

Can El Niňo have an effect on Zika?

The Aedes aegypti mosquito breeds in standing water. Severe drought, ooding,

heavy rains and temperature rises are all known effects of El Niño—a warming of thecentral to eastern tropical Pacic Ocean.

An increase in mosquitos can be expected due to expanding and favourable breeding

sites.

What is the situation in India?

So far there were no reported incidents of the virus in India. However, to contain its

transmission the Union Government on 29 January 2016 formed a technical expert

group to suggest measures to deal with the virus.

How is Zika virus disease diagnosed?

For most people diagnosed with Zika virus disease, diagnosis is based on their

symptoms and recent history like mosquito bites or travel to an area where Zika virus

is known to be present. A laboratory can conrm the diagnosis by blood tests.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




How is Zika virus disease treated?

The symptoms of Zika virus disease can be treated with common pain and fever

medicines, rest and plenty of water. If symptoms worsen, people should seek medical

advice. There is currently no cure or vaccine for the disease itself.

Bharat Biotech unveiled rst vaccine candidate Zikavac for Zika Virus

Indian biotechnology company Bharat Biotech on 3 February 2016 claimed that it

has achieved a breakthrough in developing a vaccine to ght the mosquito-borne

Zika virus.

Bharat Biotech developed world’s rst, two promising candidates ZikaVac vaccines

for Zika infection.

The company is probably the rst in the world to le for global patent for the two

vaccines.

One of the possible vaccines is recombinant, which means it is created by genetic

engineering, while the other was inactivated, and will enter pre-clinical trials in animals

in two weeks.

The company announced that it could make available the inactivated vaccine in two

years if the Indian Government fast-tracked the regulatory approvals once the pre-

clinical trials proved to be successful.

While the recombinant vaccine might take time, the pre-clinical testing of the

inactivated vaccine in animals will be completed in ve months.

Bharat Biotech is headquartered at Genome Valley, Hyderabad and the company

was founded by Indian scientist, Krishna Ella.

How to protect oneself from the virus?

The best protection from Zika virus is preventing mosquito bites. Preventing mosquito

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




bites will protect people from Zika virus, as well as other diseases that are transmitted

by mosquitoes such as dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.

Recommended measures by WHO to tackle Zika Virus spectre

World Health Organisation (WHO) on 1 February 2016 declared Public Health

Emergency of International Concern over the explosive spread of the mosquito-

borne Zika virus, which is linked to birth defects in the Americas.

Recommended Measures

After the meeting a broad list of precautionary measures were recommended and

they are:

• Surveillance for Zika virus infection should be enhanced, with the dissemination of

standard case denitions and diagnostics to at-risk areas.

• The development of new diagnostics for Zika virus infection should be prioritized

to facilitate surveillance and control measures.

• Risk communications should be enhanced in countries with Zika virus transmission

to address population concerns, enhance community engagement, improve

reporting, and ensure application of vector control and personal protective

measures.

• Vector control measures and appropriate personal protective measures should be

aggressively promoted and implemented to reduce the risk of exposure to Zika

virus.

• Attention should be given to ensuring women of childbearing age and particularly

pregnant women have the necessary information and materials to reduce risk of

exposure.

• Pregnant women who have been exposed to Zika virus should be counselled and

followed for birth outcomes based on the best available information and national

practice and policies.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Longer-term measures

• It calls to intensify an appropriate research and development efforts for Zika virus

vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.

• In areas of known Zika virus transmission health services should be prepared for

potential increases in neurological syndromes and/or congenital malformations.’

Travel measures

• There should be no restrictions on travel or trade with countries, areas and/or

territories with Zika virus transmission.

• Travellers to areas with Zika virus transmission should be provided with up to date

advice on potential risks and appropriate measures to reduce the possibility of

exposure to mosquito bites.

• Standard WHO recommendations regarding disinsection of aircraft and airports

should be implemented.

IndIGO: The Indian Gravitational Wave Detector Project

The term IndIGO or Indian Initiative in Gravitational-wave Observations was in news in

the second week of February 2016 as international physicists announced detection of

gravitational waves for the rst time since their prediction by Albert Einstein in 1916.

The waves were detected using the facilities at the existing three LIGO detectors that

are located in Livingston, Louisiana and Hanford, Washington of the USA.

In lieu of the above development, the Union Cabinet on 17 February 2016 gave in-

principal approval to the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)

- India project to study gravitational waves.

What is IndIGO?

IndIGO is an initiative to set up advanced experimental facilities, with appropriate

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




theoretical and computational support, for a multi-institutional Indian national project

in gravitational-wave astronomy. It is also touted as one of the large scale scientic

projects undertaken in independent India in collaboration with global partners.

What is LIGO-India?

LIGO-India is the prime project under the IndIGO initiative. The Laser Interferometer

Gravitational-wave Observatory or LIGO project operates three gravitational-wave

(GW) detectors. Two are at Hanford in the state of Washington, north-western USA,

and one is at Livingston in Louisiana, south-eastern USA.

Currently these observatories are being upgraded to their advanced congurations

(called Advanced LIGO). The proposed LIGO-India project aims to move one

Advanced LIGO detector from Hanford to India.

LIGO-India project is envisaged as an international collaboration between the LIGO

Laboratory and three lead institutions in the IndIGO consortium: Institute of Plasma

Research (IPR) Gandhinagar, Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics

(IUCAA), Pune and Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), Indore.

LIGO lab would provide the complete design and all the key detector components.

Indian scientists would provide the infrastructure to install the detector at a suitable

site in India and would be responsible for commissioning it.

The proposed observatory would be operated jointly by IndIGO and the LIGO-Lab

and would form a single network along with the LIGO detectors in USA and Virgo

interferometer – an interferometer similar to LIGO, located close to Pisa, Italy.

How LIGO-India will be designed?

The proposed detector will be a Michelson Interferometer with Fabry-Perot enhanced

arms of 4 km length and aims to detect differential changes in the arm-lengths as

small as 10-23 Hz-1/2 in the frequency range between 30 to 800 Hz.

The design would be identical to that of the Advanced LIGO detectors that are beingcommissioned in the USA.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




What are its scientic benets?

• The scientic benets of LIGO-India are enormous. Adding a new detector to

the existing network will increase the expected event rates, and will boost the

detection condence of new sources by increasing the sensitivity, sky coverage

and duty cycle of the network.

• But the dramatic improvement from LIGO-India would come in the ability of

localizing GW sources in the sky. Sky-location of the GW sources is computed by

combining data from geographically separated detectors (‘aperture synthesis’).

• Adding a new detector in India, geographically well separated from the existing

LIGO-Virgo detector array, will dramatically improve the source-localization

accuracies (5 to 10 times), thus enabling us to use GW observations as an excellent

astronomical tool.

What will be its impact on Indian science, industry and education?

Impact on Indian science

• The proposed LIGO-India project will help Indian scientic community to be a

major player in the emerging research frontier of GW astronomy.

• A major initiative like LIGO-India will further inspire frontier research and development

projects in India. The nature of the experiment is intrinsically multidisciplinary.

• It will bring together scientists and engineers from different elds like optics, lasers,

gravitational physics, astronomy and astrophysics, cosmology, computationalscience, mathematics and various branches of engineering.

• In order to fully realize the potential of multi-messenger astronomy, the LIGO-

India project will join forces with several Indian astronomy projects. Potential

collaborators include the Astrosat project, future upgrades of the India-based

Neutrino Observatory and optical/radio telescopes.

Impact on industry

The high-end engineering requirements of the project (such as the world’s largest ultra-

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




high vacuum facility) will provide unprecedented opportunities for Indian industries in

collaboration with academic research institutions.

LIGO project has facilitated major industry-academic research partnerships in USA

and Europe, and has produced several important technological spin offs. LIGO-India

will provide similar opportunities to Indian industry.

Education and public outreach

• A cutting edge project in India can serve as a local focus to interest and inspire

students and young scientists.

• The LIGO-India project involves high technology instrumentation and its dramatic

scale will spur interest and provide motivation to young students for choosing

experimental physics and engineering physics as career options.

• The ‘multi-spectral’ reach to physics will attract a large number of talented and

motivated young researchers and students to the program, as it has done in other

countries.• The observatory will also be one of the very few research facilities in India of this

scale, international relevance and technological innovation to which the general

public and students can have access.

What is the present status of IndIGO?

Since 2009, the IndIGO Consortium has been involved in constructing the Indian

road-map for Gravitational Wave Astronomy and a phased strategy towards Indian

participation in realizing the crucial gravitational-wave observatory in the Asia-Pacic

region.

In October 2011, LIGO-India was included in the list of Mega Projects under

consideration by the then Planning Commission.

What is Indian Neutrino Observatory?

Similar to IndIGO, Indian Neutrino Observatory (INO) Project is another mega-science

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




project. It is a proposed underground observatory to detect ephemeral particles called

neutrinos. The Union Cabinet cleared the project in 2015 to set up the laboratory in

Tamil Nadu. However, the project has been stalled for over a year due to protests by

activist groups, concerned over its environmental impact.

Indian scientists associated with detection of gravitational

waves

Indian scientists have, over 30 years, contributed substantially to the recent discovery

of gravitational waves. Notable among them are C V Vishveshwara, Bala Iyer, Anand

Sengupta and Sanjib Mitra.

C V Vishveshwara and Bala Iyer were among the rst in the world to solve Einstein’s

equations to derive a mathematical model to explain how colliding black holes would

look and what tell-tale signals they emitted.

While Anand Sengupta developed methods to ensure that both the LIGO detectors

— separated by 3,000 kilometres — have caught the same gravitational wave, Sanjib

Mitra has found ways to tell apart gravitational waves from various exotic stars.

2016 South Asian Games

12th South Asian Games (SAG) 2016 concluded on 16 February 2016 at the Indira

Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Sarusajai of Guwahati, Assam. The game that saw 228events in 23 sports disciplines was held from 5 February to 16 February 2016.

Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Sarbananda Sonowal declared the Games

closed at a colourful closing ceremony. The main attraction of the closing ceremony

was different bands played from the north eastern region, namely Still Waters (Sikkim),

The Soul Rebels (Arunachal Pradesh), Salvator (Manipur), Boomarang (Mizoram) and

Purple Fusion (Nagaland).

The event saw participation of about 2600 athletes from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,

Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives. It was co-hosted by Guwahati,

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Assam and Meghalaya capital, Shillong. The games were conducted in 26 venues

across the cities of Guwahati and Shillong. 17 venues in Guwahati and 9 venues in

Shillong.

Indian women football team defeated Nepal to bag gold at SAG

The India women’s team on 15 February 2016 won gold at the 12th South Asian

Games (SAG), beating Nepal 4-0 in the nal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in

Shillong.

India’s Kamala Devi scored twice. Bala Devi and Ashalata Devi were the other scorers.

On the other hand, the match brought to an end India’s top women’s footballer

Bembem Devi’s international career.

India nished at the top with a record 308 medals - 188 Gold, 90 Silver and 30 Bronze,

which put to shade its previous best of 214 medals at the 2006 Games in Colombo.

Athletics, Shooting, Archery, Wrestling, Boxing, Weightlifting and Swimming were the

events that witnessed the Indian master-class.

Medals Tally

Countries Gold Medal Silver Medal Bronze Medal Total

India 188 90 30 308

Sri Lanka 25 63 98 186

Pakistan 12 37 57 106

Afghanistan 7 9 19 35

Bangladesh 4 15 56 75

Nepal 3 23 34 60

Maldives 0 2 1 3

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Bhutan 0 1 15 16

India made clean sweep in Boxing (won 10 Gold medals at stake), tennis and kabaddi

(won both men and women gold). Besides, Shooter Chain Singh’s 6 Gold, new Games

records by swimmers Sandeep Sejwal and Sayani Ghosh, and magical performances

in track and eld are some of the moments that Guwahati and Shillong will remember

for many days to come.

And, not to mention, Sri Lanka, the one country that made India toil hard, and even

beat them on several occasions. Its swimmers, notably Mathew Abheysinghe, and

track athletes made the headlines with some awless performances. In a nutshell, it

was all India at the Games, and, it was the country’s ag, at the end, on which the

closing credits rolled.

Joshna Chinappa clinched squash individual gold at the South Asian Games

Joshna Chinappa on 8 February 2016 clinched the gold in women’s individual squash

after beating Maria Toorpaki Wazir of Pakistan at the South Asian Games.Top seed Chinappa recovered from one set down to beat second seeded Wazir 10-

12 11-7 11-9 11-7 at the R G Baruah Sports Complex in Guwahati.

Ei Prithibi Ek Krirangan was the theme song of the 12th South Asian Games, which

literally translates to “The world is a playground”. It was written by Dr. Bhupen Hazarika,

an Indian lyricist, musician, singer, poet and lm-maker from Assam. Games slogan

was ‘Play for Peace, Progress and Prosperity’.

Tikhor, a one-horned rhino that represents endangered fauna of Assam found in

Kaziranga National Park, was the ofcial mascot of the event.

13th South Asian Games will be held in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2019.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Non-Performing Assets: The Indian Banks Nightmare

Banks in India are considered to be the lifeline of the economy. They play a catalytic

role in activating and sustaining economic growth. As per KPGM-CII report, India’s

banking sector is expanding rapidly and has the potential to become the fth largest

banking industry in the world by 2020 and third largest by 2025.

Amidst the signs of progress, the Indian banking sector has been facing multiple

challenges in recent times, like reduced prots, issue of monetary transmission,

corruption, crisis in management and rising spectre of non-performing assets (NPAs),

the last one being the most serious concern.

Recently Parliamentary Standing committee on Finance tabled its report on NPAs

of Public Sector Banks. The committee reported that NPAs in the country’s PSBs

are around 25024 crore rupees till September 2015 and the Gross NPAs during

the same period is around at 369990 crore rupees. It said the deceleration in the

economy has grind down the market for distressed assets so much so that even Asset Reconstruction Companies could not ofoad them.

What is a Non-Performing Asset?

Non Performing Assets (NPAs) are a classication used by nancial institutions

that refer to loans that are in jeopardy of default. Once the borrower has failed to

make interest or principal payments for 90 days the loan is considered to be a non-

performing asset.

In general terms NPAs are assets/project not generating cash ow to the extent and

in the period originally envisaged. By translation, banks may not be able to timely

recover the entire amount lent and hence, provisioning. However, in real world, NPAs

arise due to genuine reasons, wrong assumptions/inefciencies and misdemeanour.

The Magnitude of NPAs

As per a survey, net NPAs amount to only 2.36 percent of the total loans in the

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




banking system. However, if restructured assets are taken into account, stressed

assets account will be 10.9 percent of the total loans in the system. As per the

International Monetary Fund (IMF), around 37 percent of the total debt in India is at

risk.

India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) reported a massive 67 per cent fall in

consolidated net prot at 1259.49 crore rupees in the third quarter of the 2015-16

nancial year and classied loans worth 20692 crore rupees as having turned bad.

As per an estimate, the cumulative gross NPAs of 24 listed public sector banks,

including market leader SBI and its associates, stood at 393035 crore rupees as on

31 December 2015.

The Economic Survey 2015-16 also alarmed the policy makers about growing bad

debts with the banks and their potential to disrupt the growth prospects in the future.

Causes of rising trend of NPAs

In real world, NPAs arise due to genuine reasons, wrong assumptions/inefcienciesand misdemeanour. The causes can be categorized into external environment and

internal environment.

Under the external environment falls global slowdown, fall in domestic demand,

policy logjam & disputed contracts

Under the internal environment falls:

Banks: Governance decit, poor credit appraisal; weak risk management; all debt-no

equity; infra nancing particularly highways- ‘gold plated’ contracts; power – faulty

FSAs, pass through arrangement, termination payments; chasing quick growth;

pretend and extend Corporate India: Complex web holding company, step down

entities; high leverage; overseas acquisitions; unhedged exposures; siphoning,

diversion and so on

Value sale v/s distress sale: Minsky’s Financial Instability Hypothesis- 3 types ofborrowers (Hedge, Speculative and Ponzi) Beyond Corporate Universe: Kisan Credit

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Card and Agriculture distress vis-a-vis crop insurance; Small/ medium enterprises….

lack of timely support and delayed payments

Effects of rising trend of NPAs

• Public Sector banks provide around 80% of the credit to industries and it is this

part of the credit distribution that forms a great chunk of NPA. Last year, when

kingsher was marred in nancial crisis, SBI provided it huge amount of loan

which it is not able to recover from it.

• If Indian industry is in crisis, it is bound to hit the banking sector and their NPA will

rise.

• Only PSBs can’t be blamed for the situation. The economic policy of the government

and also politician-corporate nexus is behind the current state of banking industry.

• If the NPAs keep rising in the current state like that of Kotak Mahindra or Union

Bank, it will lead to shutting down of bank and it can also create a very serious

economic crisis in the nation.

• One of the main reasons of rising NPA is the relaxed lending norms especially for

corporate honchos when their nancial status and credit rating is not analyzed

properly. Also, to face competition banks are hugely selling unsecured loans which

attributes to the level of NPAs.

• Global economy can effect the banking sector but to a very small extent. It is the

policies of RBI and govt. that can improve the situation.

• If the status of NPAs in banks is not controlled, banks can become bankrupt.

The entire credit distribution structure of the economy can be destructed and the

country could be in a major nancial turmoil.

• When US hit the subprime crisis, it was because of the lenient lending norms and

baks had huge number of loan defaulters. The big banks led for bankruptcy and

US economy went jittery. So, NPA problem is to be taken seriously.

• Steps taken by RBI

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• RBI suggested that lenders should carry out their independent and objective credit

appraisal in all cases and must not depend on credit appraisal reports prepared by

outside consultants, especially the in-house consultants of the borrower company.

• Banks/lenders should also carry out sensitivity tests/scenario analysis, especially

for infrastructure projects, which should inter alia include project delays and cost

overruns. This will aid in taking a view on viability of the project at the time of

deciding the Corrective Action Plan (CAP).

• RBI also suggested that Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) should be

construed as a supportive system for stressed asset rather than the last resort

to dispose of NPAs by banks. Sale of assets to ARCs at a stage when the assets

have good chance of revival and fair amount of realizable value, for rehabilitation

and reconstruction is encouraged.

• RBI will encourage banks to use oating provisions towards accelerated

provisioning/additional provisions incurred at the time of sale of NPAs as per their

approved internal policy without obtaining prior permission of The promoters ofthe company/defaulting borrowers shall be barred from directly/indirectly buying

back the asset from the ARCs. RBI proposed to look into the possible legal issues

involved and address the same.

RBI’s Action Plan for Early Idnetication and Resolution of Bad Loan cases

Expensive loans for borrowers whose credit worthiness is suspect

Debt restructuring plan to ready within 17-100 days as against 180 days earlier

Payment delay of 30-60 days to trigger action as against 90 days earlier

A joint lenders forum for large borrowings of 100 crore rupees and more

Setting up special branches for speedy disposal of SARFESI (Securitisation and

Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act) cases.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




INTERNATIONAL

Italy Senate approved Gay Civil Union’s Bill 27

Cabinet approved $150 million Credit for Chabahar Port Development 27

Missouri state court ordered J&J to pay $72 million for cancer death 28

Pakistan Parliament became rst in world to run on solar power 29

Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities in Syria came into effect 30

India and Nepal signed Seven Agreements 33

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




First Silk Road train arrived in Tehran from China 36

India and UAE signed Nine Agreements 38

UN Secretary-General launched One Humanity: Shared Responsibility re-

port 42

US President unveiled Cyber Security National Action Plan 44

North Korea launched Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite 45

France banned Supermarket Food Waste 46

India ratied Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear

Damage 47

Pacic Rim nations signed Trans-Pacic Partnership agreement 50

EU and the US agreed on framework for transatlantic data ows 53

India and Brunei signed three Memorandums of Understandings 53

Bangladesh Cabinet expanded Scope for Dual Citizenship 54

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Italy Senate approved Gay Civil Union’s Bill

The Senate of Italy on 25 February 2016 approved a bill recognising civil unions for

same-sex and heterosexual couples. The motion was approved by a 173-71 vote.

The text maintains provisions including the right to a residence permit for foreign

partners and to take a same-sex partner’s name.

However, the bill was not passed by the Senate until the Prime Minister Matteo Renzi

removed the provision that would have allowed gay adoptions and other clauses.Italy is a Catholic country.

The bill now needs to go before a vote in the lower house (Chamber of Deputies), and

will become an act within two months after being approved there.

Gay rights groups have voiced anger, on the streets and on social media, saying the

bill has been diluted too much. Earlier in 2015, the European Court of Human Rights

ruled that Italy had violated human rights by failing to offer enough legal protectionfor same-sex couples.

Italy is the only major European country to have so far given no legal rights to same-

sex couples.

Cabinet approved $150 million Credit for Chabahar Port Devel-

opment

Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24 February 2016

approved the proposal for loan of 150 million US Dollars to Iran for the development

of Chabahar Port.

The credit will be provided from EXIM Bank and was made by Union Ministry of

Shipping. The Cabinet authorized the Ministers of Finance, External Affairs and

Shipping to approve the nal contract with Iran and for resolution of any issue arising

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




in implementation of the project. It also authorized the Union Ministry of Shipping to

form a Company in Iran for implementing the Chabahar Port Development Project

and related activities.

As per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India and Iran on

6 May 2015, India on a ten year lease will equip and operate two berths in Chabahar

Port Phase-I with capital investment of 85.21 million US dollars and annual revenue

expenditure of 22.95 million US dollars.

The Iranian side had appealed for provision of a credit of 150 million US dollars in

accordance with the MoU. Post signing of the contract, the operation of two berths

would commence within a period of maximum 18 months.

The ownership of equipment will be handed over to Iran after 10 years or extended

period based on the mutual agreement. The two berths will be operated by the India

Ports Global Private Limited, a Company promoted by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port

Trust and Kandla Port Trust - two major ports working under the Union Ministry of

Shipping.

About Chabahar Port

It lies outside the Persian Gulf in Iran and will help in expanding maritime commerce in

the region. India negotiated the project to facilitate the growing trade and investment

with Iran and other countries in the region, notably Afghanistan and also to provide

opportunities to Indian companies to penetrate and enhance their footprint in the

region.

Missouri state court ordered J&J to pay $72 million for cancer

death

Missouri state court of United States on 22 February 2016 ordered Johnson & Johnson

(J&J) Company to pay 72 million dollars to the family of Jacqueline Fox, who died of

ovarian cancer.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




The cancer was caused due to the use of the company’s talc-based Baby Powder

and Shower to Shower for several decades.

In a verdict, jurors in the circuit court of St. Louis awarded the family of victim, 10

million dollars as actual damages and 62 million dollars as punitive damages.

US lawyers claimed that this verdict as the rst of its kind by a U.S. jury to award

damages over the claims.

Johnson & Johnson faces several hundred lawsuits claiming that it, in an effort to

boost sales it failed to alert the consumers about the hazardous effects of talc-based

products for decades.

Earlier in October 2013, a federal jury in Sioux Falls, South Dakota found that plaintiff

Deane Berg’s use of Johnson & Johnson’s body powder products was a factor in her

developing ovarian cancer. But it did not award any damages.

Pakistan Parliament became rst in world to run on solar power

The Parliament of Pakistan on 23 February 2016 became the world’s rst to run fully

on solar power.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the solar power system, which provides 62

MW to the parliament and a surplus 18 MW to the national grid.

Key facts related to the project

• The project was rst announced in 2014.

• The venture was funded by China as an act of friendship with the solar power

plant costing around 55 million dollars. It was ofcially launched during President

Xi Jinping’s visit in 2015.

• The project was completed in seven months at a cost of 280.61 million rupees.• The solar plant will help the parliament save around 12 million rupees in electricity

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




bills every year.

• It is the rst project of its kind in a public building in Pakistan.

About Parliament of Pakistan

• The Parliament of Pakistan is ofcially known as the Majlis-e-Shoora, which is the

federal and supreme legislative body of Pakistan.

• It is a bicameral federal legislature that consists of the Senate as upper house and

the National Assembly, as lower houses.

• According to the constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the President of

Pakistan is also a component of the Parliament.

Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities in Syria came into effect

Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities in Syria that was announced by United Statesand Russia on 22 February 2016 came into effect on on 27 February 2016.

The announcement was made by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group

(ISSG) Ceasere Taskforce.

The agreement said that the group would work to “develop procedures” to ensure

those abiding by the deal are not attacked by Russian armed forces or a US-ledcoalition both of which are carrying out air strikes in the country.

It also said that the truce did not include so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria

(ISIS) and the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. Thus, the air strikes by Syria, Russia and

the US-led coalition against ISIS, Nusra and other terrorist organisations designated

by the UN would continue.

The agreement was welcomed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon who saidthat, if respected, the agreement would constitute a signicant step forward in the

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




implementation of Security Council Resolution 2254 (2015).

The Resolution 2254 gave the UN an enhanced role in shepherding the opposing

sides to talks for a political transition, endorsing a timetable for a ceasere, a new

constitution and elections.

Syria approved humanitarian access to Besieged areas

The Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities in Syria comes following the allowing of

humanitarian access to seven besieged areas by Syrian government on 16 February

2016. According to the UN, almost half a million people live in besieged areas.

The seven areas are those deemed by the 17-member International Syria Support

Group to be most in need of relief. These seven areas are

• Deir el-Zour, a city in the east under siege from so-called Islamic State in Iraq and

Syria (ISIS)

• Foah and Kefraya, in northern Idlib province that is besieged by rebels

• Madaya, Kafr Batna, Muadhamiya, and Zabadani, all in rural Damascus area that

is under siege from government forces

So far more than 2 lakhs 50 thousands Syrians have been killed in the conict which

began in March 2011.

Supporting Syria & the Region Conference 2016 held in London

Supporting Syria and the Region Conference 2016 was held on 4 February 2016 in

London. The objective of the conference was to discuss issues related to the over

5-year old civil war in Syria and measures to mitigate the humanitarian conict faced

by the country and the region as a whole.

The conference was co-hosted by Germany, Kuwait, Norway, the United Kingdom

and the United Nations and saw the participation of over 60 countries.

In addition to deliberating on the 2016 Syria humanitarian response plan (HRP) and

Regional refugee and resilience plan (3RP) 2016-17, the conference announced 10.7

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




billion US dollars to undertake humanitarian activities in Syria between 2016 and

2020.

Highlights of the Conference

• Apart from the 60 participating nations, several international organisations,

business, civil society, Syrians and people affected by the conict were also part

of the conference.

• The participants agreed on a comprehensive new approach on response to the

protracted crisis in Syria, building on the 2014 Berlin Conference and the three

Kuwait Pledging Conferences.

• The donors pledged over 10 billion US dollars in funding – 5.6 billion US dollars

for 2016 and a further 5.1 billion US dollars for 2017-20 towards provision of

support to children, women and girls, rehabilitation of infrastructure and support

for sustainable agriculture.

• In addition, Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and donors announced

around 40 billion US dollars in loans on concessional terms.

• The funding will also help in providing access to education for all refugee and host

community children by the end of the 2016-17 school year. This measure will help

over 2 million children who are out of school.

Situation in Syria & the region

• Beginning from 2011, the over 5 years of intensifying conict in Syria have

precipitated the greatest humanitarian crisis witnessed in generations.

• Due to the conict, over 250000 people have been killed and over one million

injured, while more than half of all Syrians have been forced to leave their homes,

often multiple times.

• On average, since 2011, 50 Syrian families have been displaced every hour of

every day. In 2015 alone, over 1.4 million people were displaced inside the country.

• Increasing numbers of civilians are eeing to neighbouring countries, Turkey,

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Lebanon and Jordan, and risking their lives to reach safety beyond the region

(Europe).

• Inside Syria today, 13.5 million people, including 6 million children, are in need of

humanitarian assistance.

• At least 8.7 million people are unable to meet their daily food needs, while a

staggering 70 per cent of the population is without regular access to safe drinking

water

• During 2015, the number of registered Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan,

Iraq and Egypt increased by more than 1 million, bringing the overall total to almost

4.6 million.

• The conict also pushed more than 440000 Syrians to take the dangerous

Mediterranean Sea route to reach the shores of Europe in 2015 killing thousands

of them en route.

India and Nepal signed Seven Agreements

India and Nepal on 20 February 2016 inked and exchanged seven agreements and

Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) to boost the bilateral cooperation.

The agreements covered utilisation of Indian grant of 250 million US dollars to Nepal

for post-earthquake reconstruction and another on improving of roads in Terai region.

These agreements were signed during the state visit of Prime Minister of Nepal KP

Sharma Oli to India. Oli is on a ve day visit to India (19-24 February 2016), which

was his rst foreign visit after assuming ofce in October 2015.

List of Agreements/MoUs signed

MoU on utilization of 250 US dollars million Grant: This grant is component of India’s Assistance package for Post-earthquake reconstruction assistance, which will be

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




ustilised in four identied sectors and they are housing, health, education and cultural

heritage.

• In housing, 100 million US dollars would be utilised for construction of 50000

houses in 14 severely earthquake affected districts.

• 50 million US dollars each would be utilised in health, education and cultural

heritage sectors in 31 earthquake affected districts of Nepal.

MoU on strengthening of road infrastructure in the Terai area of Nepal: ThisMoU will enable speedy implementation of remaining work on 17 Roads in Package

2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Terai Road Phase-I project, totaling 518 kms. Two roads in

Package 1 totaling 87 kms have already been completed.

MoU between Nepal Academy of Music and Drama and Sangeet Natak Academy:

This MoU aims to enhance relations between India and Nepal in the eld of performingarts through exchanges of experts, exponents, dancers, scholars and intellectuals.

Letters of Exchange on Transit Routes: This would result in simplication of

modalities for trafc of goods between Nepal and Bangladesh while transiting through

India, through the Kakarbhitta (Nepal) and Banglabandha (Bangladesh) corridor.

This Exchange of Letters would provide for transit facilities for Nepal through theVishakhapatnam port.

Letters of Exchange on Rail Transport: This would allow for rail transport to and

from Vishakhapatnam to Nepal. This Exchange of Letters would help operationalise

rail transit facility through Singabad in India for Nepal’s trade with and through

Bangladesh.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Inauguration of Muzaffarpur-Dhalkebar transmission line: I nitial supply of 80

MW, to be augmented to 200 MW by October 2016 and 600 MW by December 2017.

The Nepal portion of the 400 KV Muzaffarpur-Dhalkebar transmission line is being

implemented by Government of Nepal, under an LoC of 13.5 million US dollar.

80 MW power would ow immediately through this line, with an initial charge of 132

KV. Thereafter, it will be augmented to 200 MW in October 2016 at 220 KV, and then

to 600 MW by December 2017 at 400 KV.

Establishment of Eminent Persons Group: At the third meeting of the India–Nepal

Joint Commission held at Kathmandu in July 2014, it was decided to establish an

Eminent Persons Group (EPG).

The EPG comprises eight members with each country nominating four members,

preferably a parliamentarian, a lawyer, an economist and a civil society activist.

The EPG has now been constituted. Its mandate would be to comprehensively review

bilateral relations and recommend measures including institutional frameworks to

further enhance bilateral ties.

Nepal to constitute 11-member political committee over provincial demar-cations

Nepal Government on 18 February 2016 decided to constitute an 11-member-

political committee to study the demarcation of federal states on the constitution.

It will also review the disputed provisions within the country’s new constitution that

was adopted on 20 September 2015.

The 11-member will be chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister

Kamal Thapa and will also include representatives from the agitating Madhesis.

Moreover, the committee will decide its terms of reference (ToR) on its own.

The committee is mandated to prepare its report and suggest recommendations

within three months after it gets full shape.

The full shape to the committee will be given after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




back from his visit to India that started on 19 February 2016. Oli is on his rst foreign

visit since he became prime minister in October 2015.

Earlier, the three major parties of Nepal, namely Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and

UCPN (Maoist) and the agitating United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) had agreed

to form a high-level political committee to suggest a solution for the demarcation

dispute within three months of its formation.

The Madhesis Agitation

The Madhesis, who are largely of Indian-origin and are ethnic minority in Nepal, has

been agitating against the adoption of the new Constitution by Nepal Constituent

Assembly on 20 September 2015.

Their dissatisfaction of the Madhesis with the new Constitution was with the fact that

the Pahadi or hill communities, who constitute 50 percent of the population, got 100

seats in the parliament, while Madhesis’ got only 65 seats.

Secondly, Madhesis’ were also ghting against the Constitutional scheme related toproposed boundaries of the seven new provinces mentioned in the new Constitution

Unlike the earlier structure in which majority Madhesis’ were within a single

administrative region, the new schemes proposes its split in two and force them to

share their provinces with hill districts.

The agitation led to a crippling border blockade that ended earlier in February 2016

but not before leaving at least 50 people dead since September 2015.

First Silk Road train arrived in Tehran from China

The rst train connecting Iran and China packed with Chinese goods arrived in

Tehran on 15 February 2016. The arrival revived the ancient Silk Road trade route and

also highlighted the economic possibilities for Iran since the lifting of internationalsanctions.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




The train, also referred to as Silk Road train, passed through Kazakhstan and

Turkmenistan to Iran, travelling a distance of 10399 kilometres. It had left Yiwu city in

east China’s Zhejiang province on 28 January 2016.

The train, carrying 32 containers of commercial products, took 14 days to make the

journey. Compared to the sea voyage of the cargo ships from China’s Shanghai city

to Iran’s Bandar Abbas port city, the travel time of the train was 30 days shorter.

China-Iran bilateral trade to get boost

China is Iran’s biggest trading partner and accounts for one third of its foreign trade.

The rail route will boost bilateral trade between both countries as Chinese President

Xi Jinping and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had agreed in January 2016 to build

economic ties worth up to 600 billion US dollars within the next 10 years.

One Belt, One Road initiative

The arrival of Silk Road train is part of the China’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR)

initiative. The initiative was proposed by the Chinese President Xi Jingping in 2013with an idea of creating a new Silk Road through Russia and the Ukraine into Europe.

The initiative is China’s new national vision to improve its connectivity to Europe,

Asia, and Africa.

It also seeks to revive the ancient Silk Route, an ancient network of trade routes that

were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting

the West and East from China to the Mediterranean Sea.

OBOR and its two parts

It has two parts, a new Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) linking China to Europe

that cuts through mountainous regions in Central Asia. China launched SERB on

28 February 2015 with a cost of 79.8 billion US dollars in the northwest province of

Gansu.

The other is Maritime Silk Road (MSR), which will link China’s port facilities with the

African coast and then pushes up through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Sea. China on 19 May 2014 set up a 1.6 billion dollars (10 billion Yuan) fund to

support projects related to MSR.

What is Belt?

The word Belt is referred as a planned network of overland road and rail routes,

oil and natural gas pipelines, and other infrastructure projects that will stretch from

Xi’an in Central China, through Central Asia, and ultimately reach as far as Moscow,

Rotterdam, and Venice.

What is Road?While Road is its maritime equivalent, that is, a network of planned port and other

coastal infrastructure projects that dot the map from South and Southeast Asia to

East Africa and the northern Mediterranean Sea.

Comment

The location of Iran is strategically important as it is in the Middle East (West Asia)

and shares land borders with 8 nations. It also has sea channels on its northern

and south-western coasts. By connecting Iran through revived Silk Road China will

leverage Iran’s strategic location to get access to extensive delivery routes connecting

to the Eurasia and Middle East.

India and UAE signed Nine Agreements

India and United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 11 February 2016 signed nine agreements.

The agreements covered a wide range of sectors like the sphere of cyber security,

infrastructure, renewable energy and nance.

The pacts were inked after talks between visiting Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh

Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad

House in New Delhi.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




List of Agreements/MoUs signed

MoU on Technical Cooperation in Cyber Space and Combating Cyber Crime: The

agreement provides for technical cooperation in Cyber Space and in the area of

Combating Cyber Crime.

MoU on Establishing a Framework for Facilitating Participation of UAE investors in

India: The MoU aims at establishing a framework for facilitating the participation of

UAE institutional investors in Infrastructure Investments in India.

General Framework Agreement on Renewable Energy Cooperation: The framework

agreement provides for bilateral cooperation through extensive projects, investments,

cooperation in R & D in renewable and clean energy. Knowledge sharing platforms

could also be enacted.

MoU on Cooperation in Exploration and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes: It

was inked between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the United Arab

Emirates Space Agency and establishes a framework for cooperation in space science,technology and applications including remote sensing; satellite communication and

satellite based navigation.

MoU for bilateral cooperation in the eld of insurance supervision: The MoU between

Insurance Regulatory Authority of India (IRDA) and the Insurance Authority of UAE

aims at promoting cooperation between the concerned authorities in the eld of

insurance supervision through a framework for cooperation and by increasing

mutual understanding through the exchange of regulatory and relevant supervisory

information to ensure compliance with their respective laws and regulations.

Executive Programme for Cultural Cooperation (EPCC): The Cultural Exchange

Programme 2016 – 2018 follows from the existing bilateral cultural agreement (1975)

and provides for a range of cultural exchange activities under the new EPCC between

both the countries.

Letter of Intent on Cooperation for skill development and recognition of qualications:

It was inked between the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE),

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




India and The National Qualications Authority (NQA), UAE and provides collaboration

on skill developments and mutual recognition of qualications.

MoU for exchange of information on trade and business opportunities: The MoU

was signed between Dubai Economic Council (DEC) and Export-Import bank of

India. It provides for both parties to exchange information on trade and business

opportunities and to further the goal of facilitating procurement of Indian goods and

services by Dubai Government.

MoU Bilateral Currency Swap Arrangement: The agreement between Reserve Bank

of India and Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates promotes bilateral nancial

relations through currency swap arrangement between the RBI & Central Bank of

UAE.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company agreed to store crude oil in India’s Strate-gic Storage

The UAE’s national oil company Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) on

10 February 2016 agreed to store crude oil in India’s maiden strategic petroleum

storage. The strategic reserve will help guard against global price shocks and supply

distribution.

The decision was taken during the state visit of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and

Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed

Al Nahyan to India from 10 February to 12 February 2016.

Main Highlights of Bilateral Meeting

• It will take half of the 1.5 million tonne (MT) Mangalore facility, that is, 0.75 MT (6

million barrels). ADNOC will use this facility as a warehouse for trading its oil.

• Out of 0.75 MT, ADNOC agreed to give two-third of the oil to India for free, that is,

0.50 MT will belong to India, which will be used in cases of emergencies.

• UAE will use to stock oil at Mangalore facility when prices are low and supply toits customers when rates are good.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Besides, India also offered UAE renery projects, petrochemical plans, pipelines and

LNG terminals for investment. These include:

• ONGC petrochemical project, Dahej, Gujarat: Offered 26 percent stake in 700

million US dollars project

• BPCL’s Bina renery, Madhya Pradesh: offered 24 percent equity in 200 million

US dollars project that seeks to expand the rening capacity from 6 million tons

to 7.5 million tones

• HPCL’s petrochemical plant on Andhra coast: Offered 25-40 percent stake in 530-

850 million US dollars project

• UAE can also invest in the planned 60 million tons in Maharashtra and the

Jagdishpur-Haldia and Paradip-Surat gas pipelines.

Besides ADNOC, Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) has also evinced interest in hiring a

part of the maiden strategic storage.

About Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited

• To store about 5.33 million tonnes of crude oil as strategic reserve, India established

a company Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL).

• ISPRL is a Special Purpose Vehicle and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Oil Industry

Development Board (OIDB).

• The company is involved in managing the construction of underground storage

at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Mangalore and Padur in Karnataka.

Engineers India Limited (EIL) is the Project Management Consultant for all three

projects

• The 1.33 million tonnes Visakhapatnam storage and 2.5 million tonnes Padur

stockpile together with 1.5 million tonnes Mangalore storage will be enough to

meet nation’s oil requirement of about 10 days.

Besides, India is looking at building four more strategic crude oil facilities at Bikaner

in Rajasthan, Rajkot in Gujarat, Padur in Karnataka and Chandikhole in Jajpur district

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




of Odisha.

India imports 79 percent of its crude oil needs out of which UEA makes up for 8 per

cent of our oil imports.

UN Secretary-General launched One Humanity: Shared Respon-

sibility report

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on 9 February 2016 launcheda report titled One Humanity: Shared Responsibility. The report called for a global

campaign to prevent the erosion of humanitarian law and protect civilians in conict.

The report was launched as part of the rst-ever World Humanitarian Summit that is

scheduled to be held from 23 May to 24 May 2016 with the theme One Humanity:

Shared Responsibility.

The summit aims at providing an opportunity for concrete steps towards ending thesuffering experienced by billions of people at present.

Five Core Responsibilities

The Secretary-General’s Agenda for Humanity calls on global leaders to commit to

ve core responsibilities. They are:

Global leadership to prevent and end conict

• Preventing conicts and nding political solutions to resolve them.

• As per the report, conicts drive 80 per cent of all humanitarian needs.

Uphold the norms that safeguard humanity

• Every day, civilians are deliberately or indiscriminately killed in wars. In this regard,

leaders must recommit to upholding the rules that protect humanity.

• As per the report, 90 per cent of people killed or injured by the use of explosive

weapons in populated areas are civilians.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Leave no one behind

• Reaching everyone and empowering all women, men, girls and boys to be agents

of positive transformation. It means reducing displacement, supporting refugees

and migrants, ending gaps in education and ghting to eradicate sexual violence.

Change people’s lives – from delivering aid to ending need

Ending need will require three fundamental shifts in the way system works:

• Reinforce, don’t replace national systems• Anticipate, do not wait for crises

• Transcend the humanitarian-development divide

At present, 43 per cent of people live in fragile situations. By 2030, the gure is

estimated to reach 62 per cent.

Invest in humanity

• Accepting and acting upon the shared responsibilities for humanity requires

political, institutional and nancial investment.

• As per the report, only 0.4 per cent of ofcial development assistance spent on

disaster preparedness in 2014.

Background

The report states that the year 2015 witnessed some of the greatest challenges of

the time:

• 125 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance

• 60 million people were forced to ee from their homes

• 37 countries were affected

• 20 billion US dollars were needed

The above statistics forced the UN Secretary-General to organise the rst ever World

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Humanitarian Summit, which aims at reafrming the commitment to humanity and

charting a course for change.

US President unveiled Cyber Security National Action Plan

The President of United States (US) Barack Obama on 9 February 2016 unveiled a

Cyber Security National Action Plan. The action plan called for an overhaul of aging

government networks and a high-level commission to boost security awareness.

The action plan was unveiled on eve of Safer Internet Day designated by governments

and technology rms to boost awareness on cybersecurity issues.

Main highlights of Action Plan

• The plan seeks to address both short-term and long-term threats, with the goal of

providing every American a basic level of online security.

• Obama issued an executive order creating a 12-member Cybersecurity Commission

to make recommendations to both the public and private sectors. The panel will

submit the report to the president by 1 December 2016.

• The plan also called for a new federal chief information security ofcer to direct

cybersecurity across the federal government.

• Step up efforts with the help of private sector to help consumers improve online

security, in part by adding new protection to services requiring passwords.

• Launching National Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign calling for “moving

beyond just passwords and adding an extra layer of security,” such as biometric

identication or multi-factor authentication using a secure code.

• The campaign will rope in major technology rms such as Google, Facebook,

Dropbox, and Microsoft as well as nancial service providers such as MasterCard,

Visa and PayPal.

• The government will also step up security for its own transactions with citizens

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




with effective identity proong and strong multi-factor authentication methods

Budget for Cyber Security Action Plan

Obama asked for 19 billion US dollar for cyber security efforts in his budget request,

a 35 percent increase from current levels, with 3 billion US dollar earmarked to help

modernise the patchwork of computer systems used in government agencies.

Background

The action plan was unveiled following the disclosures made in 2015 that personal

data from some 20 million federal employees, contractors and others were leaked in

a massive breach at the Ofce of Personnel Management.

Though there is system in place since 1960s in the form of Social Security Administration

but these systems and codes are outdated and no successful business could

operate this way. Moreover, the US Intelligence Chief James Clapper in his testimony

highlighted the heightened risk from new technologies and named Russia, China,

Iran and North Korea as leading threat actors which pose risks for US security.

North Korea launched Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite

North Korea’s National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) on 7 February

2016 launched the Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite.

The satellite was launched on-board the Kwangmyongsong rocket from the Sohae

Space Center in Cholsan County, North Phyongan Province.

Features of Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite

• It is an earth observation satellite and was launched as per the 2016 plan of the

5-year program for national aerospace development.

• It seeks to augment country’s science, technology, economy and defense capability.

• It was placed in the polar orbit at a distance of 500 km from the Earth.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• It was named after late leader Kim Jong Il, the father of the present leader Kim

Jong Un.

Comment

The launch attracted wide spread criticism from the UN and other major powers

including the western countries led by the USA.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC), in an emergency meeting on 7 February

2016, also condemned the launch terming it as a missile test to validate nuclear arms

carrying capabilities which are under development.

Earlier, on 6 January 2016, North Korea claimed that it conducted nuclear bomb

test. It was the third nuclear test since its rst launch in 2006 which attracted UN

sanctions.

The timing of the test also assumed signicance as it was conducted ahead of a

ruling party congress in May 2016, the rst since 1980.

France banned Supermarket Food Waste

The French Senate on 3 February 2016 unanimously passed a law to ban large food

stores from throwing away food that is approaching its expiration date. The National

Assembly, France’s other legislative chamber, had unanimously voted on the same

measures in December 2015.

With this, France has become the rst country in the world to ban supermarkets

from throwing away or destroying unsold food, forcing them instead to donate it to

charities and food banks.

The law came into being after a petition was launched by anti-poverty campaigners

led by Councillor Arash Derambarsh.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Key highlights of the new law

• With the new law, supermarkets are bound to make donations to charities and

food banks, failing which they face a ne of 75000 euros and a jail term of 2 years.

• Stores of 400 square metres and above will have to sign contracts promising that

they will give unsold food due to be thrown away before its best before date to

charities and food banks.

• The law also prohibits stores from pouring bleach over food items.

By passing the law France goes further than the United Kingdom (UK), where thegovernment has a voluntary agreement with the grocery and retail sector to cut food

and packaging waste in the supply chain and does not have mandatory targets.

Background

In recent years, growing numbers of families, students, unemployed and homeless

people in France have been foraging in supermarket bins at night to feed themselves.

People have been nding edible products thrown out just as their best-before datesapproached

Of the 7.1m tonnes of food wasted in France annually, 67% is binned by consumers,

15% by restaurants and 11% by shops. Each year 1.3bn tonnes of food are wasted

worldwide.

India ratied Convention on Supplementary Compensation forNuclear Damage

India on 4 February 2016 submitted its Instrument of Ratication of the Convention

of Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), 1997 to International

Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at Vienna, Austria.

The instrument is an important multilateral treaty relating to liability and compensation

for damage caused by a nuclear incident.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




The instrument of Ratication was handed over to Juan Carlos Lentijo, Acting Director

General of IAEA by India’s Permanent Representative in Vienna Rajiva Misra. The

CSC was ratied ve years after it was signed on 27 October 2010.

The Convention will come into force for India on 4 May 2016 because as per law, the

convention comes into force after 90 days of submission of ratication.

Why the need to submit the instrument of ratication of CSC?

Certain clauses, especially Section 17(b) and Section 46 under India’s Civil Liability

Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 were major impediments in the progress of building

reactors with the help of the established rms of the US as well as France and Russia

in India.

The clause Section 17(b) relates to the Right of Recourse and Section 46 deals with

potential claims against the supplier of nuclear equipment.

These clauses made equipment suppliers like General Electric potentially accountable

for accidents, not just the plant operators as is the global norm.

Advantages to India

However, with India submitting the instrument of ratication, the following advantages

are expected:

• It will help establish a worldwide liability regime and to increase the amount of

compensation available to the victims of nuclear accidents.

• It will help India in addressing the concerns of foreign nuclear suppliers over civil

nuclear liability in India, although in 2015 India launched an insurance pool with a

liability cap of 15 billion Indian rupees (225 million dollars) to cover the suppliers’

risk of potential liability

• It will help in drawing the foreign nuclear suppliers to Indian nuclear market which

is worth billions of dollars.

• It will help India achieving the objective of increasing the share of nuclear power

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




from barely 3 percent to 25 percent by 2050.

• It will give India access to international funding, beyond those available through

national resources, to pay for damages in the event of a nuclear accident.

India Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP)

The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) on 12 June 2015 launched the India Nuclear

Insurance Pool (INIP).

The INIP has become the 27th such insurance pool in the world as countries such asFrance, Russia, South Africa and the U.S. have put in place such similar risk transfer

mechanisms.

Features of India Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP)

• It will cover the risks of liability of nuclear operators and suppliers under Section

6(2) and Section 17 of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages (CLND) Act, 2010

respectively.

• It provides three types of policies viz., tier 1 policy for operators, tier 2 policy for

turn key suppliers and tier 3 policy for suppliers other than turn key suppliers.

• The pricing of premiums will depend on factors such as risk probability, possible

severity of damage and exposure to people and property around nuclear

installations.

• It will be administered by the General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re), the

sole reinsurance company in the Indian insurance market.

• Out of the total fund amount of 1500 crore rupees the GIC Re and other four

Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) including New India, Oriental Insurance,

National Insurance and United India Insurance invested 750 crore rupees. The

British Nuclear Insurance Pool has also invested 500 crore rupees in the pool.

• The amount is in accordance with the act that prescribes that the operator’s

maximum liability shall be 1500 crore rupees.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• It will provide insurance cover for both hot zones (radiation and nuclear reactors)

and cold zones (outside the reactor areas). At present, nuclear plants in India only

have insurance cover for zones that are outside the area of radiation and reactors.

India’s interaction with nuclear suppliers

India plans to construct about 60 nuclear reactors and has been in talks with

Westinghouse Electric Co LLC, GE as well as France’s Areva for setting them up at

sites already selected around the country.

Russia is separately building six reactors in south India and is in talks for another six.

The total size of the Indian market is estimated at 150 billion dollars making it equal

to or just behind China’s.

About Convention of Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage(CSC)

• The CSC was adopted on 12 September 1997, together with the Protocol to

Amend the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage, and entered

into force on 15 April 2015.

• It aims at increasing the amount of compensation available in the event of a nuclear

incident through public funds to be made available by the Contracting Parties on

the basis of their installed nuclear capacity and UN rate of assessment.

• It also aims at establishing treaty relations among States that belong to the Vienna

Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage, the Paris Convention on Third

Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy or neither of them.

Pacic Rim nations signed Trans-Pacic Partnership agreement

All twelve Pacic Rim countries on 4 February 2016 signed the US-led Trans-Pacic

Partnership (TPP) agreement in New Zealand. This is one of the biggest trade deals

in history.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




The ceremonial signing event on the pact was led by New Zealand Prime Minister John

Key and US Trade Representative Mike Froman at Auckland’s Sky City Convention

Centre.

The other 10 countries which signed the TPP are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile,

Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.

The signing of the pact ends the process of negotiation but the member countries

have two years to get approval on the deal at home. The deal was signed even after

the US is struggling to get the pact ratied in Congress.

What is TPP agreement about?

The trade deal looks to facilitate investment between 12 countries across the Pacic

Rim, which together account for about 40 percent of the global economy.

It cuts trade tariffs and sets common standards in trade for 12 Pacic-rim countries,

including the US and Japan.

What will TPP do?

• The partnership eliminates more than 18000 taxes that various countries put on

made-in-America goods; this will level the playing eld for farmers, ranchers and

manufacturers.

• The TPP deal also sets minimum standards on issues ranging from workers’ rights

to environmental protection.

• It also sets up dispute settlement guidelines between governments and foreign

investors separate from national courts.

• Unfortunately, the TPP will not create jobs. While the administration touts the

TPP as a job-creating, wage-raising enterprise, but it has not made public any

employment or sectoral impacts study.

Overall Benets of TPP

• Includes the Strongest Worker Protections of Any Trade Agreement in History

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• Includes the Strongest Environmental Protections of Any Trade Agreement in

History

• Helps Small Businesses Benet from Global Trade

• Promotes E-Commerce, Protects Digital Freedom, and Preserves an Open Internet

• Levels the Playing Field for US Workers by Disciplining State-Owned Enterprises

(SOEs)

• Prioritizes Good Governance and Fighting Corruption

• Includes First Ever Development Chapter

• Capitalizes on America’s Position as the World Leader in Services Exports

How TPP Upgrades NAFTA?

The past trade deals including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

have not always lived up to the expectations. The TPP improves substantially on

NAFTA’s shortcomings, it delivers on that promise. TPP upgrades existing standardsand sets new standards that reect today’s economic realities:

• It adopts highest environmental standards of any trade agreement.

• It adopts the highest labor standards, including fully-enforceable requirements to

protect the freedom to form unions and bargain collectively.

• It includes the rst-ever measures to ensure that state-owned enterprises compete

on a commercial basis.

• It sets the standards to protect digital freedom, by preserving the free ow of

information across borders.

• It improves protections for 40 million American workers whose jobs depend on

innovation.

CommentThe US-led initiative is a key part of President Barack Obama’s so-called pivot to Asia

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




but has proved to be a controversial issue ahead of the US elections in November

2016. Obama has barely a year left on his term and his administration warns that the

US economy will suffer if politicians don’t ratify the TPP agreement.

EU and the US agreed on framework for transatlantic data ows

The European Commission (EC) and the USA on 2 February 2016 agreed on a new

framework for transatlantic data ows.

The framework that will be known as the EU-US Privacy Shield will enable the

government agencies to transfer data relied on by Facebook and Google across the

Atlantic.

And, the agreement will replace the 16-year old Safe Harbour arrangement that was

ruled illegal by the European Court of Justice in October 2015.

The court had scrapped the agreement in the wake of the Edward Snowden revelations

on US intelligence.

Compared to the Safe Harbour, the Privacy Shield arrangement seeks to provide

stronger obligations on companies in the USA to protect the personal data of

Europeans and stronger monitoring and enforcement by the US agencies.

India and Brunei signed three Memorandums of Understandings

India and Brunei on 2 February 2016 signed 3 Memorandums of Understanding

(MoUs) to deepen bilateral cooperation. The MoUs were signed in Brunei capital

Bandar Seri Begawan during the Vice President Hamid Ansari’s 3-day visit to the

country.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Details of the MoUs

MoU in health cooperation: The objective of this MOU is to establish cooperation

in the eld of health by means of pooling technical, scientic, nancial and human

resources and to upgrade the health care, medical education, research between the

two countries.

MoU on Defence cooperation: The purpose of this MOU is to enhance Defence

cooperation between India and Brunei in various elds. Cooperation in defence

already exists in the form of naval ship visits, training of senior military ofcers in

Staff colleges and exchange of experience.

MOU on cooperation in youth and sports affairs: It seeks to provide a framework for

exchanges of sports persons and sports teams; to facilitate the exchange of expertise

in coaching, sports talent identication, sports management and administration and

exchange of information in the eld of youth affairs.

Bangladesh Cabinet expanded Scope for Dual Citizenship

Bangladesh Cabinet on 1 February 2016 approved the draft of a proposed Citizenship

Law, 2016 that was framed by amalgamating two existing laws and expanding scopesfor dual citizenship for expatriate Bangladeshi nationals.

The new Law was proposed by amending the existing the Citizenship Act 1951 and

consolidating it with the Bangladesh Citizenship Temporary Provisions Order 1972 to

help future citizens in the complex immigration world.

Before this, a provision was available for Bangladeshis having nationality of the UK

and the US only.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Some provisions of the Citizenship Law

• Bangladeshis staying in all the countries who have diplomatic ties with Bangladesh

would be eligible for the dual citizenship but SAARC states and Myanmar were

exempted.

• The law barred dual citizenship with countries the government has imposed a

bar on by issuing gazettes and with those countries which have no diplomatic

relations with Bangladesh.

• Supreme Court judges, Parliament members, members of the armed forces, public

services and anyone holding a constitutional post are also not been permitted to

possess dual citizenship.

• Foreign nationals who marry Bangladeshis would have to reside in Bangladesh for

at least ve years to qualify for citizenship while currently the period of residence

was four years.

• The government may also confer honorary citizenship on individuals for their

contributions to their Country.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




NATIONAL

Lok Sabha passed Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016 58

Union Government allowed birth companions during delivery 59

Private Banks employees should be considered public servants under Pre-

vention of Corruption Act: SC 61

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Union Government sanctioned building of 82000 houses for poor in urban

areas of 163 cities 62

PM Modi released guidelines for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana 64

Results of Swachh Survekshan 2016 announced 65

SC upheld Army’s Command Exit Model of Preferential Promotion 66

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Lok Sabha passed Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016

The Lok Sabha on 25 February 2016 passed Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

The bill seeks to amend the Delimitation Act, 2002 and the Representation of the

People Act, 1950.

These Acts regulate allocation of seats to the national and state legislatures, and

delimitation (that is, xing boundaries) of parliamentary and assembly constituencies.

Features of Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016

Objective: The Bill aims to empower the Election Commission to carry out delimitation

of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal

that were affected by the enactment of the Constitution (100th Amendment) Act,

2015.

Constitution (100th Amendment) Act, 2015: This Act was enacted to give effect to

the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement between India and Bangladesh that was signedon 6 June 2015 during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bangladesh.

Under the Agreement, 51 Bangladeshi and 111 Indian enclaves were exchanged

between India and Bangladesh on 31 July 2015. Enclaves are territories belonging to

one country that are entirely surrounded by another country.

Addition powers to Election Commission: The Bill amends the Acts in order to give

additional powers and responsibilities to the Election Commission. It states that theElection Commission may amend the delimitation order to

a) exclude from the relevant constituencies the Indian enclaves that were transferred

to Bangladesh; and

b) include in the relevant constituencies the Bangladeshi enclaves that were

transferred to India.

RP Act, 1950 and Delimitation Act, 2002: The Section 9 of the 1950 Act and Section11 of the 2002 Act provide the Election Commission the responsibility to maintain

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




up-to-date delimitation orders.

Responsibility of EC under Delimitation orders: Delimitation orders specify the

boundaries of territorial constituencies. This responsibility includes

a) Correcting printing mistakes and inadvertent error

b) Making necessary amendments if the name of any territorial division mentioned

in the delimitation order has been altered.

The Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister for Law and Justice, DV

Sadananda Gowda, on February 24, 2016.

Earlier, Union Cabinet approved the amendment to the Section11 of the Delimitation

Act, 2002 and Section 9 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 on 17 February

2016.

What is Delimitation?

Delimitation means the act or process of xing limits or boundaries of territorial

constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body. The job of

delimitation is assigned to a high power body. Such a body is known as Delimitation

Commission or a Boundary Commission.

In India, such Delimitation Commissions have been constituted 4 times – in 1952 under

the Delimitation Commission Act, 1952, in 1963 under Delimitation Commission Act,

1962, in 1973 under Delimitation Act, 1972 and in 2002 under Delimitation Act, 2002.

The Delimitation Commission in India is a high power body whose orders have the

force of law and cannot be called in question before any court.

Union Government allowed birth companions during delivery

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on 25 February 2016 decided to allowbirth companions during delivery in public health facilities. The decision is aimed at

reducing Maternal Mortality Ratio and Infant Mortality Rate in India.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16


8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Private Banks employees should be considered public servants

under Prevention of Corruption Act: SC

Supreme Court of India on 23 February 2016 ruled that the top ofcials and

employees of private banks will be considered as public servants for the purposes of

the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

With this, the investigating agencies like Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will be

able to examine frauds and scams involving private banks operating in the country.

The judgment was given by a SC bench comprising of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and

Prafulla C Pant.

Main highlights of the Judgment

• The intent of Parliament to enact the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), 1988

was to widen the denition of ‘public servant’ so that the anti-corruption law

can be made more effective. So far, PCA has been applied only against corrupt

government ofcials.

• Within the meaning of the Section 46A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the

chairman, managing director, director, auditor, liquidator, manager or any employee

of a banking company is deemed to be a public servant for the offences under

Indian Penal Code (IPC).

• Merely because the parliament had said that Section 46A of Banking Regulation

Act was applicable only with respect to IPC offences, operation of PCA, 1988 for

the same offences could not be shut out.

• If they were public servants in connection with offences under IPC, they would be

deemed to be so under PCA, 1988 as well.

• Thus, the denition of public servant given in the PCA, 1988 should be read with

Section 46A of Banking Regulation Act for the purpose of offences related to

corruption in the banking eld.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• The judgment is not meant to obliterate all distinction between the holder of a

private ofce and a public ofce.

What was the case?

The judgment of SC came during the hearing of a case pertaining to actions of two

top ofcials of private Global Trust Bank (GTB), who were accused of abusing their

position to siphon off the bank’s money.

In the said case the two ofcials ex-chief Ramesh Gelli and ex-MD Sridhar Subasri of

the erstwhile Global Trust Bank (GTB) siphoned off 41-crore rupees. This was before

GTB was merged with Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) in 2004.

Subsequently, on the basis of a complaint led against them by OBC’s Chief Vigilance

Ofcer, CBI lodged an FIR under IPC within the meaning of Banking Regulation Act.

However, the trial court and the Bombay High Court refused the CBI permission to

slap charges under Section 13(1)(d) and Section 13(2) of Prevention of Corruption Act

against them.

Union Government sanctioned building of 82000 houses for

poor in urban areas of 163 cities

The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation on 18 February 2016

sanctioned construction of around eighty two thousand houses for EconomicallyWeaker Sections (EWS) in urban areas of 163 cities.

The cities are in West Bengal, Telangana, Bihar, Mizoram, Rajashtan, Jharkhand and

Uttarakhand. State wise number of houses sanctioned

• West Bengal - 27830 houses

• Telangana – 22817

• Bihar – 13315

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• Mizoram – 8922

• Rajasthan – 6052

• Jharkhand—2337

• Uttarakhand - 484

According to the Ministry, the construction will involve an investment of over four

thousand crore rupees, of which, the Union Government will provide an assistance

of 1226 crore rupees. These 1226 crore rupees will be provided under the Prime

Minister’s Awas Yojana (Urban).

The proposals on sanctioning houses for EWS in urban areas by seven states was

approved by an inter-ministerial Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee,

chaired by HUPA Secretary Nandita Chatterjee.

How the constructions will be done?

• Of the total houses, 58456 houses will be built under the ‘Benecary Led

Construction’ component. Under this, beneciaries will build new houses on their

own land with assistance from the central and state governments.

• Rest of the houses will be built under the Affordable Housing in Partnership’

component under which state governments will provide land and the central

government will give an assistance of 1.50 lakh rupees to each beneciary.

With this decision, the Government has so far sanctioned over ve lakh houses in

different states. Under the Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana (Urban), the government has

targeted assisting construction of 2 crore houses for urban poor in 4041 statutory

urban local bodies in the country.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




PM Modi released guidelines for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima

Yojana

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 18 February 2016 launched the guidelines for

operationalization of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). The guidelines

were issued at a farmers’ convention in Sherpur village of Madhya Pradesh.

The PMFBY is a path breaking scheme for crop insurance and was approved by the

Union Cabinet on 13 January 2016.The theme of the Scheme is One Nation – One Scheme. In this, all shortcomings and

weaknesses of all previous schemes were removed and incorporated with the best

features of all schemes.

Highlights of the Scheme

• Farmers will pay a uniform premium of only 2 percent for all Kharif crops and 1.5%

for all Rabi crops.

• In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, farmers will pay a premium

of only 5 percent. The balance premium, after farmers paying the premium at very

low rate, will be paid by the Government to provide full insured amount to the

farmers against crop loss on account of natural calamities.

• There will not be any upper limit on Government subsidy. Even if balance premium

is 90%, it will be borne by the Government.

• Earlier, there was a provision of capping the premium rate which resulted in low

claims being paid to farmers. This capping limited the Government outgo on the

premium subsidy. Now, this capping was removed and farmers will get full sum

insured without any reduction against their claim.

• The usage of technology will be encouraged to a great extent. Smart phones will

be used to capture and upload data of crop cutting to reduce the delays in claim

payment to farmers. Remote sensing will be used to reduce the number of crop

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




cutting experiments.

• The Yojna will come into force from the 2016 Kharif season (from June to October

in India).

On the occasion, the Prime Minister Modi also presented a trophy of Krishi Karman

Award to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

On the other hand, Modi was conferred with Kisan Mitra and Kisan Hiteshi Samman

on behalf of Madhya Pradesh government for his historic decisions in the interest of

farmers’ community.

Results of Swachh Survekshan 2016 announced

Union Urban Development Miniser M Venkaiah Naidu on 15 February 2016 announced

the results of Swachh Survekshan 2016 survey.

Under the Swachh Survekshan 2016, 73 cities were surveyed for cleanliness and

categorized based on the marks scored by each of them.

Out of the 73 cities, while Mysuru in Karnataka was adjudged as the cleanest city,

Dhanbad in Jharkand was adjudged as the least clean city.

The survey was conducted for total marks of 2000 and the cities were divided into

the following four categories based on their percentage of marks.

• Leaders (> 70 percent): 15 cities

• Aspiring Leaders (60 – 70 percent): 20 cities

• Acceleration required (50 – 60 percent): 18 cities

• Slow Movers (< 50 percent): 20 cities

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




SC upheld Army’s Command Exit Model of Preferential Promo-

tion

The Supreme Court (SC) on 15 February 2016 upheld the Union Government’s

Command Exit Model (CEM) of preferential promotion. The 2009 CEM aimed at

lowering the age of battalion and brigade commanders as well as improvement in

career aspirations of military ofcers.

While upholding the CEM, the apex court bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur and KurianJoseph directed the Union Government to create 141 additional posts of colonel for

combat support stream to accommodate ofcers who are eligible for promotions.

However, the SC bench turned down the plea to extend the benet to Army Service

Corps.

The bench further said that there is nothing perverse, unreasonable or unfair about

the CEM, which is laudable and intended to make Army more efcient and betterequipped for combat situations.

The bench also said that there is no reason for any argument just on the basis of

legitimate expectation. Thus, it does not violate any right, much less any fundamental

right.

AFT’s March 2015 Order

The bench gave the judgment while hearing an appeal led by the Union Government

against the Armed Forces Tribunal’s (AFT) 2 March 2015 order that quashed its 20

January 2009 promotion policy circular.

AFT in its March 2015 order, held that the 2009 promotion policy for colonels (or CEM)

was discriminatory as it violated the Article 14 of the Constitution and was skewed in

favour of infantry and artillery ofcers as compared to other arms and services.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




What is the case?

The case emanates from the recommendations of the Ajai Vikram Singh Committee

(AVSC) that was constituted in 2001 and submitted its report in 2004. On the basis of

AVSC recommendations, in the rst phase 750 vacancies for colonels were distributed

from 2005 to 2008 among the different arms on “pro rata basis” of their strength.

However, the remaining 734 vacancies in 2009 were distributed under the new CEM

policy, ushered in by the Army HQ without clearance from the government, and led

the infantry to corner 441 and artillery 186 of them.

Since the Army comprises of three streams — Combat Arms, Combat Support Arms

and Services – but non-creation of additional posts for the Services led to challenging

of CEM policy by 30 ofcers in the AFT.

Although later in 2015, AFT’s March 2015 order was stayed by the Supreme Court on

an appeal by the Union Government.

Ajai Vikram Singh Committee (AVSC)

On the basis of the Kargil Review Committee report that was constituted under

the chairmanship of K Subrahmanyam in 2000, a panel headed by former Defence

Secretary Ajai Vikram Singh was set up in 2001.

It was set up to look into the issue of army promotion policy with two main objectives:

reduction in age of battalion and brigade commanders as well as improvement in

career aspirations of military ofcers.

The AVSC recommended the following:

• Short-term deputation to other forces be allowed, and termed it as the “peel off”

factor to mitigate stagnation at the middle level.

• A colonel should be of the age 36 to 37 years, while brigadiers should be 44 to 45

years old.

• It recommended a ‘command-and-exit’ policy by which colonels would serve as

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




battalion commanders for two to three years and exit to a non-command post by

the time they reach the age of 40.

• To bring down the age to 37 years, it had recommended creation of additional

posts for colonels.

• It found that the Indian Army is aged as compared to armies of Israel, US, Russia

and Pakistan.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




ECONOMY

Union Budget 2016-17: Highlights 71

Economic Survey of India 2015-16: Highlights 75

Railway Budget 2016-17: Highlights 78

Union Government approved Constitution of Banks of Board Bureau 82

Union Cabinet approved proposal to establish Atal Innovation Mission 82

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Cabinet approved Steps to Promote Payments through Cards and Digital

means 83

RBI cancelled Certicate of Registration of 26 NBFCs 85

Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for North-East released 87

CCEA approved REIL to delink from IL to form an independent CPSE 88

Union Cabinet approved Trade Facilitation Agreement 89

Interest rates on various National Saving Schemes amended 91

National Capital Goods Policy 2016 unveiled 93

CSO released Advance Estimates of National Income 2015-16 95

Chettinad Cotton Saree won India Handloom tag 99

Prime Minister inaugurated Paradip Oil Renery in Odisha 100

Prime Minister dedicated Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited to Na-

tion 101

Union Government granted Miniratna Category-I Status to HSCC 102

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Union Budget 2016-17: Highlights

Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley on 29 February 2016 presented Union Budget

2016-17 in the Lok Sabha. This was the second full year Budget of the NDA government

and the third budget of Jaitley.

The nance minster announced nine pillars of the budget and they are Agriculture

and farmers’ welfare, rural sector, social sector including healthcare, education, skills

and job creation, infrastructure, nancial sector reforms, ease of doing business,

scal discipline, tax reforms to reduce compliance burden.

Highlights of the Union Budget 2015-16

• 28.5 lakh hectares will be brought under irrigation under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi

Sichai Yojana

• A dedicated long term irrigation fund will be created in NABARD with a corpus of

20000 crore rupees

• 35984 crore rupees allocation done for the farm sector

• Agricultural credit target of 9 lakh crore rupees

• Unied e-platform for farmers to be inaugurated on Ambedkar’s birthday

• Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana to bring 5 lakh acres under organic farming

• 38500 crore rupees allocated to MNREGA

• Allocation to PM Fasal Bima Yojana for 2016-17 is 5500 crores rupees

• 87765 crores rupees for rural development as a whole have been allocated in the

budget

• 100 % village electrication to be achieved by 1 May 2018

• Allocation of Pradhanmatri Gram Sadak Yojna to be increased to 19000 Crorerupees

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• 65 eligible habitats to be connected via 2.23 lakh kms of road

• 5500 crore rupees allocated for crop insurance scheme

• Health insurance of up to 1 lakh rupees per family, top up of 35000 rupees for

people above 60 years

• 3000 generic drugs stores to be opened

• 9000 crore rupees allocated for Swachch Bharat Abhiyan

• 10 public and 10 private educational institutions to be made world-class

• 1000 crore rupees provided for LPG connection to rural households in name of

women; scheme to go on for 2 yrs to cover 5crore BPL households

• 500 crore rupees allocated for Stand Up India scheme

• At least one crore youth to be skilled over next three years

• 62 new Navodaya Vidyalayas to be opened in next two years

• 160 airports and airstrips to be revived at a cost of 50-100 crore rupees each

• 97000 crore rupees sanctioned for all roads

• Total outlay on roads and rails will be 2.80 lakh crore rupees, under which 10000

km of national highways in 2016-17 and 50000 km state highways to be converted

to NH roads.

• 1700 crore rupees to be spent for setting 1500 multi-skill training institutes

• 8.33% will be paid towards employee pension fund

• 8000 crore rupees provided for Sagarmala project

• Department of Disinvestment renamed as Department of Investment and Public

Asset Management

• 25000 crore rupees sanctioned for recapitalisation of public sector banks

• 900 crore rupees for buffer stock of pulses

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• Ceiling of tax rebate for tax payers with up to 5 lakh rupees annual come to be

raised to 5000 rupees from 2000 currently

• 100 percent FDI will be allowed through FIPB in marketing of food products

produced and manufactured in India

• To benet those living in rented houses, deduction for rent paid will be raised from

Rs 20000 rupees to 60000 rupees

• Presumptive income tax scheme to be extended to all professionals with income

of 50 lakh rupees with a presumption of 50 percent prot

• Accelerated depreciation to be limited to 40% w.e.f from 1 April 2017 as part of

phasing out of exemptions to industry

• In 2016-17, credit target of 180000 crore rupees set up through Mudra bank

• Tax holiday for startups for three of ve years of setting up the company. Tax

holiday for startups for three of ve years of setting up the company. Start-ups to

get 100% tax exemption for 3 years except MAT which will apply from April 2016-2019 for creation of jobs

• Lowering of Corporate IT rate for companies not exceeding 5 crore rupees turnover

to 25% plus surcharge

• Service Tax to be exempted on general insurance schemes under NIRMAYA

Scheme

• 1% service charge on purchase of luxury cars over 10 lakh rupees and in-cash

purchase of goods and services over 2 lakh rupees

• Additional exemption of 50000 rupees for housing loans up to 35 lakh rupees,

provided cost of house is not above 50 lakh rupees

• Long term capital gains period for unlisted companies to be reduced from 3 to 2

years

• Service tax on single premium annuity to be reduced to 1.5 percent from 3.5

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




percent

• Fiscal decit target for 2015-16 and 2016-17 retained at 3.9%and 3.5% respectively.

• Plan to spend 19.78 lakh crore rupees in 2016-17 - 5.5 lakh crore rupees under

plan head, 14.28 lakh crore rupees under non-plan head

• Revenue decit target improved from 2.8 %to 2.5% in current scal

• New manufacturing companies incorporated after March 2016 will be given option

of being taxed at 25% plus cess plus surcharges

• Clean energy cess increased from 200 rupees/ton to 400 rupees/ton on coal,

lignite and peat

• Plan and non-Plan classication of Budget will be done away with from Fiscal

2017-18

• 13 different cesses levied by various ministries with collections less than 50 crore

rupees a year to be done away with.

• No Service Tax for houses built in less than 60 square metres

• Excise duty on tobacco increased by 10-15 percent.

• GAAR (General anti-avoidance rule) to be implemented from 1 April 2017

• Dividend in excess of 10 lakh rupees per annum to be taxed at additional 10%

• Rate of securities transaction tax to be raised from 0.017% to 0.05%

• 0.5% Krishi Kalyan Cess to be levied on all services

• Pollution cess of 1% on small petrol, LPG and CNG cars; 2.5% on diesel cars of

certain specications; 4% on higher

• 15% surcharge on income above 1 crore rupees

• Tax on black money declared will be 30% plus 7.5% penalty and 7.5% surcharge

• 11 new benches of Customs & Excise Services Appelate Tribunal to be introduced

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• Government to pay interest of 9% if there is delay in giving effect to an appellate

order

Economic Survey of India 2015-16: Highlights

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely on 26 February 2016 presented Economic Survey

of India 2015-16 in the Parliament.

The Economic Survey reviews the developments in the Indian economy over theprevious 12 months, summarises the performance on major development programmes

and highlights the policy initiatives of the government and the prospects of the

economy in the short to medium term.

Main Highlights

GDP Growth: The growth rate of GDP at constant market prices is projected to

increase to 7.6% in 2015-16 from 7.2% in 2014-15.

Real GDP growth for 2015-16 is expected to be in the 7% to 7.75% range.

Twin balance sheet problem: Resolving the challenge of twin balance sheet problem

– the impaired nancial positions of the Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and some

corporate houses would require 4 Rs:Recognition, Recapitalization, Resolution, and

Reform.

Energy: 2014-15 witnessed the highest ever increase in generation capacity of 26.5

GW compared to the average annual addition of around 19 GW over the past ve

years.

Horticulture: The percentage share of horticulture output in agriculture is more than

33 per cent. The share of plan outlay for horticulture, which was 3.9 per cent during

Ninth Plan, has increased to 4.6 per cent during the Twelfth Plan.

Over the last decade, the area under horticulture grew by about 2.7% per annum and

annual production increased by 7%

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Milk Production: Production of horticulture crops have outpaced the production of

food grain since 2012-13.

India ranks rst in milk production, accounting for 18.5% of world production

achieving an annual output of 146.3 million tonnes during 2014-15 as compared to

137.69 million tonnes during 2013-14 recording a growth of 6.26%.

Per capita availability of milk in India increased from 176 grams per day in 1990-91

to 322 grams per day by 2014-15.

Food Security: According to the data of the 66th round of the National Sample

Survey (2009-10), the average dietary energy intake per person per day was 2147

Kcal for rural India and 2123 Kcal for urban India. 57 % of households had calorie

intake below 2160 Kcal/Consumer unit/day.

India has the second highest number of undernourished people at 194.6 million

person (FAO, State of Food Insecurity in the World, 2015) which warrants immediate

attention.

Fiscal Management: Fiscal Decit target of 3.9% for 2015-16 seems achievable.

The total expenditure for 2015-16 was estimated at Rs.17.77 lakh crore which was

5.7 per cent higher than the revised estimates of 2014-15.

A growth of 25.5 per cent was envisaged in capital expenditure, reiterating the focus

on quality of expenditure.

Direct taxes grew by 10.7% in the rst 9 months of 2015-16 while indirect taxes were

also buoyant.

The aggregate capital expenditure of the government increased by 0.6% in 2015-16.

This occurred both in the centre and states, with the former contributing 54% and

the latter 46%.

Services: Services Sector remained the key driver of economic growth contributing

almost 66.1 percent in 2015-16.

Services Sector continues to be the key driver of India’s economic growth and it

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




accelerated to 10.3 per cent in 2014-15 from 7.8 per cent in 2013-14 and it is expected

to be 9.2 per cent (constant prices) in 2015-16 as per the advanced estimates. This is

due to lower growth in Public Administration, Defence and other Services.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): There has been a rising trend in FDI equity inows

to the services sector in the rst seven months of 2015-16 with FDI inows growing

by 74.7 per cent.

Trade: Overall exports declined by about 18% in the rst three quarters. Realizing

India’s medium term growth potential of 8-10 percent will require rapid growth of

export.

To achieve trajectory similar to China, India’s competitiveness will have to improve so

that its services exports, currently about 3 percent of world exports, capture nearly

15% of world market share.

Trade decit declined to 106.8 billion US dollars in April-January 2015-16 from 119.6

billion US dollars in corresponding period 2014-15.

Public Debt: At the end-September 2015, India’s external debt has remained in safe

limits as shown by long term debt accounted for 82.2% of India’s total external debt,

vis-à-vis 82.0% at end-March 2015.

The proportion of short term debt to total external debt decreased from 18.0% at

end-March 2015 to 17.8% at end-September 2015.

External debt to GDP ratio of 23.7% and debt service ratio of 7.5% in 2014-15 are at

comfortable levels, it adds.

Human Capital: Increasing investment in human capital is a key requirement to improve

productivity of the population says the Economic Survey. The total expenditure on

Social Services including Education, Health, Social Security, Nutrition, Welfare of SC/

ST/OBC etc. during 2014-15 (RE) was 7% of GDP while it was 6.5% during 2013-14.

According to Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2014, there is sharp decline

between 2007 and 2014 in the number of children in Standard V who can read a

textbook of Standard II, in both government and private schools.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




The expenditure on health as a percentage of total expenditure on social services

increased from 18.6% in 2013-14 to 19.3% in 2014-15 (RE) and 19.5% in 2015-16

(BE).

The ‘under ve mortality’ has declined from 126 in 1990 to 49 in 2013.

Employment: The proportion of economically active population (15-59 years) has

increased from 57.7% to 63.3% during 1991 to 2013, as per Sample Registration

System (SRS) data for 2013.

The employment growth in the organized sector (Public and Private combined)

increased by 2% in 2012 over 2011, while it increased by only 1% in 2011 over 2010.

The annual growth rate of employment for the private sector was 4.5 % in 2012 over

2011 whereas the public sector registered a marginal growth of 0.4 % in the same

year. According to the Labour Bureau during the period January 2014 to July 2014

has shown that the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) is 52.5 % for all persons.

The LFPR for rural areas stands at 54.7% which is much greater than that for rural

areas i.e. 47.2 %.

The LFPR for women is signicantly lower than that for males in both rural and urban

areas.

The Unemployment Rate is 4.7 % in rural areas and 5.5% in urban areas. The total

unemployment rate reported is 4.9% as per the Labour Bureau Survey.

National Sample Survey Ofce (NSSO, 2012-11) reported unemployment rate of2.3% for rural areas, 3.8% for Urban Areas and 2.7% for India as a whole.

Railway Budget 2016-17: Highlights

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on 25 February 2016 presented the Railway Budget

2016-17 in the Lok Sabha. In his second Rail Budget, Prabhu outlined a capital plan

of 121000 crore rupees in 2016-17.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




A saving of 8720 crore rupees for Budget estimates of 2015-16 will be effected in

2016.

Theme of the Budget is Overcoming challenges – Reorganize, Restructure Rejuvenate

Indian Railways: ‘Chalo, Milkar Kuch Naya Karen’.

Railway Budget of 2016-17 is based on three pillars and they are Nav Arjan (New

Revenues), Nav Manak (New Norms) and New Sanrachna (New Structures).

Major Highlights of the Rail Budget

• Delay in running of 95% trains will be ended by 2020

• Rail tickets will be available at all places by 2020

• Aimed at increasing speed of passenger train by 80km/hr

• LIC has agreed to invest 1.5 lakh crore rupees over 5 years on extremely favourable

terms

• Two new Dedicated Freight Corridors announced, namely Delhi-Chennai,Kharagpur-Mumbai, Kharagpur-Vijayawda.

• To commission broad gauge lines at the rate of 7 km per day against 4.5 km over

last ve years

• Plan to generate 9 crore man-days employment by 2017-18 and 14 crore man-

days by 2018-19

• Institutional nancing will be introduced for funding projects

• Aimed at eliminating unmanned level crossings by 2020

• Aimed at generating revenues of order of 184820 crore rupees in 2016, which is

10.1 percent higher than revised target of 2015

• North-East India, especially Mizoram and Manipur, to be connected through broad

gauge soon

• To commission 2800 km of new tracks in 2016-17

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• Bids for setting up 2 locomotive factories was nalised and the new factories will

be set up with an order book of 40000 crore rupees.

• Indian Railways to surpass ambitious target of commissioning 2500 kms of broad

gauge lines, almost 30% higher than last year

• e-ticket facility for foreign debit and credit card holders will be provided

• Cancellation facility through 139 helpline number will be provided

• Journalists to get facility of e-booking of tickets on concessional passes

• Bar-coded tickets will be introduced on pilot basis, this will help to tackle menace

of ticketless travel

• Overnight double-decker trains to be introduced on business travel routes

• Long distance superfast train Antyodaya Express for unreserved passengers will

be launched

• Fully unreserved superfast trains to be introduced on dense trafc routes

• Deen Dayal coaches for long distance trains for unreserved passengers will be

introduced

• Full-edged Railway University will come-up soon

• Railways to increase the quota of lower berths for women and senior citizens

• Bidding for redevelopment of few large and medium stations will be undertaken

• Enhanced capacity of e-ticketing system from 2000 tickets/min to 7,200/min.

• A framework will be formulated where net saving from electrication will be able

to nance capital expenditure.

• Wi-Fi will be provided at 400 railway station in 2016-17, as compared to 100 in

2015-16

• 2000 km of electrication proposed for 2016-17

• Chennai will have India’s rst rail auto hub. Railway Ministry will partner with Tamil

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Nadu Government to develop suburban network in Chennai through innovative

nancing methods

• For suburban rails, Railway Ministry will work with Karnataka Government

• Ring Railway to be redeveloped in partnership with the Delhi government.

• FM radio stations will be invited to provide train borne entertainment via PA systems

• Rail Bandhu magazine will be published in all regional languages

• GPS-based digital display in coaches for showing upcoming stations will be

installed

• Elevated rail corridors from Churchgate to Virar and CST to Panvel are planned

• Coolies have been renamed and will be called ‘Sahayaks’

• Children’s menu, baby foods, baby boards to be made available for travelling

mothers

• IRCTC will make available local cuisine of choice, hygienic food. Local cuisine of

choice will be made available to passengers

• All new Railway stations to be built as per Accessible India guidelines

• The companies owned by Railways to come under a holding companies

• 50 crore rupees kept aside for providing innovation grants to start-ups

• Drones will be used for remote monitoring of ongoing projects

• 33 percent sub-quota for women under all reserved categories

• Advertising revenue to be increased by more than four times in 2016-17

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Union Government approved Constitution of Banks of Board Bu-

reau

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28 February 2016 approved the proposal of the

Department of Financial Services for the constitution of the Banks Board Bureau

(BBB). The BBB will start functioning from 1 April 2016.

The Bureau constituted with an aim to improve the Governance of Public Sector

Banks (PSBs) will be chaired by former CAG Vinod Rai. In addition to the Chairperson,the autonomous body will have ex-ofcio members and three expert members. All

the Members and Chairman will be part time.

The expert members are Anil K Khandelwal (former CMD of Bank of Baroda), Rupa

Kudwa (former MD & CEO, CRISIL) and HN Sinor (former Joint MD, ICICI Bank). The

three ex-ofcio members will be Secretary, Department Financial Services, Secretary,

Department of Public Enterprises and Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India.

The Banks Board Bureau, BBB is a super authority for public sector unit lenders to

recommend board level appointments and advise on strategies for raising funds as

well as mergers and acquisitions.

Union Cabinet approved proposal to establish Atal Innovation

Mission

Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24 February 2016 gave

its nod for a proposal to establish Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Self Employment

and Talent Utilisation (SETU) in NITI Aayog with appropriate manpower.

It was observed that AIM is a mission and SETU is an approach to encourage

innovation ecosystem and entrepreneurship. The proposed Mission activities will be

implemented in a focused manner with the establishment of AIM and AIM Directorate.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Features of the Mission

• Mission High Level Committee (MHLC) would guide the Mission to take all decisions

relating to approval of requisite guidelines which include Grand Challenge areas,

prize money and implementation of various elements of AIM and SETU.

• Mission Director and other appropriate manpower will be hired by NITI Aayog.

• They will be established with an initial sum of 500 crore rupees and 1000 crore

rupees respectively.

• New Delhi will be headquarters to the Mission.

Background

The AIM and SETU are being initiated as a follow up of Union Budget 2015-16

announcements. Expenditure Finance Committee of NITI Aayog (EFC) considered

the proposal on 28 August 2015 and constituted an Expert Committee on Innovation

and Entrepreneurship to work out detailed contours of AIM and SETU under the

Chairmanship of Prof. Tarun Khanna, Director, South Asia Institute, Harvard University,USA. The Committee recommended for the short-term where action can be taken

relatively quickly to deliver almost immediate payoffs, medium-term that can be

addressed within a 5-7 years time frame and long-term, which are likely to have long

gestation period, but will lead to a profound transformation in the entrepreneurial

fabric of the country.

The Committee also emphasized the need to establish clear systems to monitor

implementation, execution, and impact.

Cabinet approved Steps to Promote Payments through Cards

and Digital means

Union Government on 24 February 2016 approved introduction of steps for promotionof payments through cards and digital means. The move aims at reducing cash

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




transactions.

Under the move no surcharge, service charge, convenience fee will be levied on card

and digital payment. Steps will be taken for payments beyond a prescribed threshold

mandatory through cards or digital mode.

As per the decision, several short term (to be implemented within one year) and

medium term (one year to two years) by the Government Ministries/ Departments/

Organisations.

Key Steps Proposed

• Steps for withdrawal of surcharge/service charge/convenience fee on card/digital

payments currently imposed by various Government Departments/organisations

and introduction of appropriate acceptance infrastructure in Government

Departments/organisations

• Rationalization of Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on card transactions and a

differentiated MDR framework for some key transaction segments

• Mandating payments beyond a prescribed threshold only in card/ digital mode

• Introduction of formulae linked acceptance infrastructure by the stakeholders of

certain card products

• Rationalisation of telecom service charges for digital nancial transactions

• Promotion of mobile banking

• Creation of necessary assurance mechanisms for quick resolution of fraudulent

transactions and review the payments ecosystem in the country

Benets of the Steps Proposed

• It will be instrumental in reducing tax avoidance, migration of Government

payments and collections to cashless mode

• It will discourage transactions in cash by providing access to nancial payment

services to the citizens to conduct transactions through card/digital means

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• It will help in shifting payment ecosystem from cash dominated to non-cash/less

cash payments

Background

In this direction, Union Government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the past have

taken several initiatives so as to make transition from cash payment to cashless

payment through use of cards and digital mode.

In 2007, Union Government notied the Payment and Settlement Systems Act which

has resulted in deeper acceptance and penetration of modern card/ digital payment

systems in the country.

Further, Aadhaar Enabled Payment Systems (AEPS) has been brought to effect to

leverage upon biometric verication and a domestic card network namely, RuPay.

RBI recently approved giving licences for setting up of Payments Bankswith the

objective of greater nancial inclusion through providing small savings accounts and

payments/remittance services to migrant labour workforce, low income households,small businesses and other unorganised sector entities.

RBI cancelled Certicate of Registration of 26 NBFCs

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 22 February 2016 cancelled the certicate of

registration of the 26 non-banking nancial companies (NBFCs).

RBI cancelled the certicate of registration of these 26 NBFCs in exercise of the

powers conferred on it, under Section 45-IA (6) of the Reserve Bank of India Act,

1934.

Following the cancellation of registration certicate, these companies cannot transact

the business of a non-banking nancial institution as laid down under clause (a) of

Section 45-I of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




The NBFCs whose registration was cancelled includes

• Labh Lease and Finance Ltd

• Advantage Finvest Limited

• Mathura Financial Services Limited

• Wizard Fincap Limited

• M.J.K. Mercantiles Private Limited

• Avorik Vyapaar Private Limited

• Bengani Resources Private Limited (Formerly known as Mayuri Vinimay Private

Limited)

• Bajaj Auto Holdings Limited

• Alpha General Leasing & Finance Private Limited

• Binikom Vyapaar Private Limited

• MIS Consultants Private Limited

• S.J. Finance & Consultants Private Limited

• Ganpati Vincom Private Limited (Presently, Savi Global Realtors Limited)

• Delton Impex (P) Lt

• Abirami Financial Services [India] Limited

• ITI Capital Markets Limited

• Breakeven Business Credits Private Limited

• Pathik Overseas Limited

• J.M.B. Commercial & Credit Limited

• Esjay Estates Limited

• Cosmat Investment Private Limited

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• Pavai Trading Co. Private Limited

• Modern Vintrade Private Limited

• Swadhaar Finserve Private Limited

• Punwire Holdings Limited

• IDFC Finance Limited

Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for North-East released

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas

Dharmendra Pradhan on 9 February 2016 released the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for

north-east India.

The Vision 2030 has been prepared by the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural

Gas in consultations with the state governments. CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory has

been the knowledge partner to develop the Vision report.

The states covered under this vision are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur,

Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

Main Features of the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030

• It outlines the steps to leverage the hydrocarbon sector for development of the

region in Guwahati.

• It is focused and consultative exercise to develop a common and shared aspiration

for beneting people of the north east region with involvement and inputs of various

stakeholders, industry players and state governments.

• It not only includes the ambition for the region but also an actionable roadmap.

• The objectives of the plan are to leverage the region’s hydrocarbon potential,

enhance access to clean fuels, improve availability of petroleum products, facilitate

economic development and to link common people to the economic activities in

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




this sector.

• It rests on ve pillars: People, Policy, Partnership, Projects and Production.

(i) People: It foresees clean fuel access to households alongside fostering skill

development and involvement of the local community.

(ii) Policy: It focuses on moderation in light of specic terrain and weather conditions

of the region coupled with ensuring fund planning for new projects.

(iii) Partnership: The stress is on greater involvement of state governments in planning

and implementation, and on boosting trade with neighbouring nations.

(iv) Projects: The focus is on pipeline connectivity for carrying liqueed petroleum

gas (LPG), natural gas, and petroleum products, oil and lubricants (POL); building

reneries and import links; and development of compressed natural gas (CNG)

highways and city gas distribution network.

(v) Production: It emphases include production enhancement contracts, technology

deployment and fast-track clearance, and development of service provider hubs.

• It aims at doubling Oil and Gas production by 2030, making clean fuels accessible,

fast tracking projects, generating employment opportunities and promoting

cooperation with neighbouring countries.

CCEA approved REIL to delink from IL to form an independent

CPSE

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) under chairmanship of Prime

Minister Narendra Modi on 3 February 2016 approved Rajasthan Electronics and

Instruments Limited (REIL) of Jaipur to delink from its parent company Instrumentation

Limited (IL) and turn into an independent Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE)

under Department of Heavy Industry.

Union Government will buy 51 percent of the IL shareholding. It will be about 6247500

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




shares of face value of 10 rupees each at book value of 77.09 rupees per share, as

on 31 March 2015, a fair valuation comes to 48.16 crore rupees.

It will help REIL to attain a level of growth commensurate with its potential.

It will result in conversion of REIL in to an independent CPSE with greater autonomy

to capitalize on the available business opportunities and freedom to approach capital

markets for its expansion.

About Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments Limited (REIL)

• It was incorporated in 1981 with an initial authorized and paid up capital of 40 lakhrupees.

• It has a prominent place amongst the electronics industry of Rajasthan.

• It is a Joint venture company of IL and Rajasthan State Industrial Development

and Investment Corporation, Jaipur (RIICO).

• It was conferred the status of a MINI RATNA by the Department of Public Enterprises

under Union Ministry of Industry in 1997.

• The area of business extends to manufacturing and marketing of electronic

products and services in the areas of Agro-Dairy Sector, Solar Photovoltaic Sector,

Industrial Electronics Sector, Information Technology.

Union Cabinet approved Trade Facilitation Agreement

Union Cabinet on 17 February 2016 approved Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of

the World Trade Organization (WTO). It approved the Notication of Commitments,

its ratication and acceptance of the Instrument of Acceptance of Protocol of TFA to

the WTO Secretariat.

India is the 71st country to give nod to the agreement that seeks to ease customsprocedures to boost commerce.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




On Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA)

The negotiation on Trade Facilitation Agreement was concluded during the Bali

Summit of WTO in 2013. The TFA contains provisions for expediting the movement,

release and clearance of goods, including goods in transit. It also sets out measures

for effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate authorities on trade

facilitation and customs compliance issues.

The Trade Facilitation Agreement has three sections:

Section I: It contains provisions for expediting the movement, release and clearance of

goods, including goods in transit. It also sets out provisions for customs cooperation.

Section II: It contains special and differential treatment (SDT) provisions that allow

developing and least-developed countries (LDCs) to determine when they will

implement individual provisions of the Agreement.

To benet from SDT, a member must categorize each provision of the Agreement

and notify other WTO members of these categorizations in accordance with specic

timelines outlined in the Agreement.

• Category A: provisions that the member will implement by the time the Agreement

enters into force (or in the case of a least-developed country member within one

year after entry into force)

• Category B: provisions that the member will implement after a transitional period

following the entry into force of the Agreement

• Category C: provisions that the member will implement on a date after a transitional

period following the entry into force of the Agreement and requiring the acquisition

of assistance and support for capacity building.

Section II: It contains provisions that establish a permanent committee on trade

facilitation at the WTO, require members to have a national committee to facilitate

domestic coordination and implementation of the provisions of the Agreement. It

also sets out a few nal provisions.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




As per the Trade Facilitation Agreement adopted by the WTO on 27 November 2014

in Geneva, Switzerland, the TFA shall enter into force for the notied members (107

countries) upon acceptance by two-third WTO Members.

The TFA contains provisions for expediting the movement, release and clearance of

goods, including goods in transit.

It also sets out measures for effective cooperation between customs and other

appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues.

These objectives are in consonance with India’s “Ease of Doing Business” initiative.

National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF)

Besides, Union Cabinet also approved the constitution of the National Committee

on Trade Facilitation (NCTF). NCTF will facilitate both domestic coordination and

implementation of the provisions of the Agreement and it will be set up under the Joint

Chair of Secretary, Department of Revenue and Secretary, Department of Commerce.

Interest rates on various National Saving Schemes amended

The Union Ministry of Finance on 16 February 2016 announced changes to regulations

that govern interest rates on various National Saving Schemes (NSSs).

The changes primarily focused on aligning interest rates on NSSs with other

comparable saving instruments so that the operation of NSSs will become market

oriented.

The changes, which will come into effect from 1 April 2016, were announced in the

interest of overall economic growth of the country, even while protecting their social

objectives and promoting long term savings.

At present, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, Senior Citizen Savings Scheme and Monthly

Income Scheme, National Saving Certicates, Public Provident Fund and Kisan Vikas

Patra (KVP) are considered as part of NSSs.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Key changes to National Saving Schemes

• The present interest rate spread enjoyed by the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, the

Senior Citizen Savings Scheme and the Monthly Income Scheme over the G-sec

rate of comparable maturity viz., of 75 basis points (bps), 100 bps and 25 bps

respectively were left untouched.

• The spread of 25 bps that long term instruments, such as the 5 yr Term Deposit, 5

year National Saving Certicates and Public Provident Fund (PPF) currently enjoy

over G-Sec of comparable maturity were left untouched. This will help the self-employed professional and salaried classes and encourage long term savings.

• The 25 bps spread that 1 yr., 2yr. and 3 yr. term deposits, KVPs and 5 yr Recurring

Deposits have over comparable tenure Government securities, shall stand

removed. This will make them closer in interest rates to the similar instruments of

the banking sector.

• The interest rates of all NSSs would be recalibrated on a quarterly basis to alignthe small saving interest rates with the market rates of the relevant government

securities.

• The compounding of interest which is biannual in the case of 10 yr National Saving

Certicate, 5 yr National Saving Certicate and Kisan Vikas Patra shall be done on

an annual basis.

• Premature closure of PPF accounts shall be permitted in genuine cases, such ascases of serious ailment, higher education of children, etc. This shall be permitted

with a penalty of 1% reduction in interest payable on the whole deposit and only

for the accounts having completed ve years from the date of opening.

Why these changes were announced?

At present, small saving schemes offer higher interest rates when compared to that

of other comparable public and private saving instruments in the market.

This interest rate disparity is perceived to limit the banking sector’s ability to lower

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




deposit rates in response to the monetary policy of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

In effect, there is insufcient monetary transmission leading to higher interest rate

regime in the nancial market, which in turn is leading to less investment and ultimately

resulting in lower economic growth.

Hence, in the context of easing the transmission of the lower interest rates in the

economy, the government took a comprehensive view on the social goals of National

Small Savings Schemes and revised them accordingly.

These new regulations are expected to help the economy move to a lower overall

interest rate regime eventually and thereby help all, particularly low-income and

salaried classes.

National Capital Goods Policy 2016 unveiled

Union Ministry of Heavy Industries on 15 February 2016 unveiled National CapitalGoods Policy 2016.

The policy, with the theme Building India of Tomorrow, seeks to achieve the vision of

Make in India initiative and establish India as a global manufacturing hub by unlocking

the potential for capital goods sector.

Features of National Capital Goods Policy 2016

Vision: To increase the share of capital goods contribution from present 12 to 20

percent of total manufacturing activity by 2025

Mission: To become one of the top capital goods producing nations of the world by

raising the total production to over twice the current level

• To raise exports to a signicant level of at least 40 percent of total production and

thus gain 2.5 percent share in global exports of capital goods

• To improve technology depth in Indian capital goods from the current basic and

intermediate levels to advanced levels

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Objectives: Increase total production to achieve total production in excess of 5 lakh

crore rupees by 2025 from the current 2.2 lakh crore rupees

• To increase domestic employment from the current 15 lakhs to at least 50 lakhs by

2025 thus providing additional employment to over 35 lakhs people

• To increase the share of domestic production in India’s capital goods demand from

56% to 80% by 2025 and in the process improve domestic capacity utilization to

80-90 percent

• To improve skill availability by training 50 lakhs people by 2025

• To improve ‘technology depth’ in capital goods sub-sectors by increasing research

intensity in India from 0.9 percent to at least 2.8 percent of GDP

Programmes: To achieve the above objectives the policy proposed a new scheme

Heavy Industry Export & Market Development Assistance Scheme (HIEMDA) on pilot

basis, Technology Development Fund under PPP model, start-up centre for capital

goods sector.

• In addition, the policy recommended for strengthening the existing Scheme on

Enhancement of Competitiveness of Capital Goods and modernizes the CG

manufacturing units, especially SMEs.

Nine-point action plan: The policy has proposed a comprehensive set of policy

actions which would enable the achievement of the objectives for the sector and had

recommended a set of nine new initiatives and policy actions and they are:

1) Devising a long term, stable and rationalized tax and duty structure to ensure

cost competitiveness of the sector

2) Drafting a comprehensive public procurement policy with amended qualifying

criteria and introducing special provisions in contracts for domestic value addition

3) Promoting development of new technology through indigenous sources

4) Providing Technology Upgrade Fund Support across all capital goods sub-

sectors

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




5) Creating a level playing eld vis-à-vis imports by restricting imports of second

hand machinery and mitigating duty disadvantages

6) Supporting availability of short and long term of nancing at competitive rates to

capital goods manufacturers

7) Enabling skill development by setting up sub-sector specic Skill Councils.

8) Enabling higher participation of India in standard creation and developing support

system to improve compliance.

9) Developing manufacturing clusters with shared facilities especially for SMEs

Governance Mechanism: The policy proposes a governance mechanism for smooth

implementation and effectiveness of the policy. The mechanism will be in the form of

inter-ministerial and inter-departmental committees at the highest level to ensure due

consideration of the interests of all stakeholders.

Periodic Review of Policy: The capital goods sector operates in a dynamic local and

global environment and it is imperative for the policy to undergo a periodic reviewand revision to maintain its relevance.

The National Capital Goods Policy 2016 will be reviewed every ve years and revised

appropriately to take account of progress in implementation and emerging trends in

the national and international environment.

CSO released Advance Estimates of National Income 2015-16

Central Statistics Ofce (CSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme

Implementation (MoSPI) on 8 February 2016 released the Advance Estimates (AE) of

National Income for the nancial year (FY) 2015-16.

It also released the Quarterly Estimates (QE) of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

for the third quarter (Q3) of the FY 2015-16.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Main highlights of Advance Estimates

• The growth in GDP during 2015-16 is estimated at 7.6 % as compared to the

growth rate of 7.2 % in 2014- 15.

• Real GDP or Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at constant (2011-12) prices in the

year 2015- 16 is likely to attain a level of 113.51 lakh crore rupees.

• Real Gross Value Added (GVA) or GVA at basic constant prices (2011-12) is

anticipated to increase from 97.27 lakh crore rupees in 2014-15 to 104.38 lakh

crore rupees in 2015-16.

• Anticipated growth of real GVA at basic prices in 2015-16 is 7.3 % against 7.1 %

in 2014-15.

• The sectors which are likely to register growth rate of over 7.0 % are nancial,

real estate and professional services, trade, hotels, transport, communication and

services related to broadcasting, and manufacturing.

• The growth in the agriculture, forestry and shing, mining and quarrying, electricity,

gas, water supply and other utility services, construction and public administration,

defence and other services is estimated to be 1.1 %, 6.9 %, 5.9 %, 3.7 % and 6.9

% respectively.

• The per capita income in real terms (at 2011-12 prices) during 2015-16 is likely to

attain a level of 77431 rupees as compared to 72889 rupees for the year 2014-15.

• The growth rate in per capita income is estimated at 6.2 % during 2015-16, as

against 5.8 % in the previous year.

• The wholesale price index (WPI), in respect of the groups - food articles,

manufactured products, electricity and all commodities, has risen by 3.0 %, (-)1.3

%, 4.4 % and (-)3.0 %, respectively during April-December 2015-16.

• The consumer price index has shown a rise of 4.8 % during April-December, 2015-

16

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• GDP at current prices in the year 2015-16 is likely to attain a level of 135.67 lakh

crore rupees, as against 124.88 lakh crore rupees in 2014-15 showing a growth

rate of 8.6 %.

• The nominal Net National Income (NNI), also known as national income (at current

prices) is likely to be 119.62 lakh crore rupees during 2015-16, as against 110.08

lakh crore rupees for the year 2014- 15.

• In terms of growth rates, the national income registered a growth rate of 8.7 % in

2015- 16 as against the previous year’s growth rate of 10.8 %.

• The per capita net national income during 2015-16 is estimated to be 93231 rupees

showing a rise of 7.3 % as compared to 86879 rupees during 2014-15 with the

growth rate of 9.4 %.

• In terms of GDP, the rates of Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE) at

current and constant (2011-12) prices during 2015-16 are estimated at 59.8 %

and 55.6 %, respectively

• In terms of GDP, the rates of Government Final Consumption Expenditure (GFCE)

at current and constant (2011-12) prices during 2015-16 are estimated at 10.7 %

and 10.0 %, respectively

• In terms of GDP, the rates of Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) at current and

constant (2011-12) prices during 2015-16 are estimated at 29.4 % and 31.6 %,

respectively

• The GFCF is expected to register growth rate of 3.6 % at current prices and 5.3

% at constant prices.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Advance Estimates of GVA at Basic Price by Economic Activity (At currentprices)

Industry Percentage over previous year

2014-15 2015-16

Agriculture, forestry & shing 4.9 4.4

Mining & quarrying 2.8 3.7

Manufacturing 7.6 8.1

Electricity, gas, water supply& other utility

services12.9 10.5

Construction 7.8 0.6

Trade, hotels, transport, communication and

services related to broadcasting13.3 6.4

Financial, real estate & professional services 13.3 7.0Public administration, defence and Other

Services17.3 12.5

GVA at Basic Price 10.5 6.8

Growth rates of GDP

Constant Price(2011-12)

Current Prices

Annual 2015-16 (Advance) 7.6 8.6

Q1 2015-16 (April – June) 7.6 8.7

Q2 2015-16 (July – Sep) 7.7 6.4

Q3 2015-16 (Oct- Dec) 7.3 9.2

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Chettinad Cotton Saree won India Handloom tag

The Chettinad cotton saree in the rst week on February 2016 won the India Handloom

tag for its unique designs and identity.

The Textiles Committee, Union Ministry of Handlooms and Textiles, Mumbai, registered

the Chettinad cotton saree under the India Handloom Brand Scheme after checking

various quality parameters stipulated by the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).

The Ministry authorised the Amarar Rajiv Gandhi Handloom Weavers CooperativeSociety, which produced the sarees, to use the brand and logo for marketing the

product.

About Chettinad saree

• The Chettinad cotton saree, also known as kandaangi, is unique in the dramatic and

spontaneous use of colour and pattern with bold checks, stripes and contrasting

hues.

• Its vibrancy and weight are its distinguishing factors.

• Records and old photographs show the use of saree by previous generations,

before the advent of blouses and underskirts, which is worn rather differently from

the regular sari.

About India Handloom Brand Scheme

• India Handloom Brand is an endorsement to quality of the handloom products

in terms of raw material, processing, embellishments, weaving design and other

parameters besides social and environmental compliances for earning the trust of

the consumers.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the India Handloom Brand at Chennai on

7 August 2015 as part of the First ever National Handloom Day celebrations.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Prime Minister inaugurated Paradip Oil Renery in Odisha

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7 February 2016 inaugurated the Paradip Oil

Renery in Odisha. It is Indian Oil Corporation Limited’s 11th renery, which was

dedicated to the nation by PM Modi.

Built over a period of 16 years at a cost of 34555 crore rupees, the foundation stone

for the Paradip Oil Renery was laid by ex-prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 24

May 2000.

The renery was expected to start production in the third quarter of 2013. Due to

delays the cost of renery project has increased by 2.5 per cent.

Key highlights of Paradip Oil Renery

• Located 140 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar, Paradip renery is one of

the most modern reneries in the world which can process cheaper high sulphur

heavy crude oils. It has a complexity factor of 12.2 based on Nelson index.

• The renery is equipped to produce fuels of premium grade Euro-IV and Euro-V

quality.

• It will produce 5.6 million tonnes per annum of diesel, 3.79 million tonnes of petrol

and 1.96 million tonnes of kerosene/ATF. Besides, 790000 tons of LPG and 1.21

million tonnes of pet-coke will also be produced.

• The renery sent out its rst consignment of products comprising diesel, kerosene,

LPG on 22 November 2015.

• At present, the renery will produce petrol and diesel of Bharat Stage IV (BS IV)

and later will switch to BS VI quality to comply with Auto Fuel Policy.

• The nished petroleum products from Paradip Renery will be shipped to as far as

Asia Pacic, Europe, USA, and to the demand centres in the east of India, north

east and to some southern states like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• The renery is equipped with 11 crude oil tanks to store high-sulphur heavy crude,

with 58 petroleum product and intermediate tanks.

Prime Minister dedicated Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer

Limited to Nation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5 February 2016 dedicated the Brahmaputra

Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL) at Lepetkata, Assam to the nation.

The 10000-crore plant is the rst ever petro-chemical project in the entire North-East

and it will make raw material for manufacturing plastic.

The Brahamputra Cracker and Polymer Ltd was conceived as part of the Assam peace

accord signed during the tenure of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and its foundation

stone was laid in 2007 by the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Besides, the Prime Minister also dedicated India’s highest wax producing unit usingindigenous technology in Numaligarh Renery Limited to the nation.

During his visit to Assam, the Prime Minister also

• Addressed the Annual Conference of Srimanta Sankaradeva Sangha at Sibsagar.

Modi was the rst Prime Minister to attend the annual conference of the Srimanta

Sankardev Sangha in its 85 years history.

• Inaugurated the 12th South Asian Games in Guwahati.

About Srimanta Sankaradeva Sangha

• Established in 1930, the Sangha has published over 200 books and journals and

have over 30 lakh members. The organization is also running a university and 64

schools in different parts of Assam.

• The Sangha started Srimanta Sankardev Thrift and Credit Co-operative Society in2009 which has bank balance of 5 crore rupees.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Union Government granted Miniratna Category-I Status to HSCC

Union Health and Family Welfare Minister JP Nadda on 1 February 2016 awarded

the certicate of Miniratna Category-I status to Hospital Services Consultancy

Corporation (I) Ltd (HSCC). The honour was awarded to its CMD Gyanesh Pandey

at Nirman Bhawan in New Delhi. It got the status for its consistency in excellent

performance in top and bottom-line growth along with its turnover, particularly for

the last ve years. These status are granted by the Department of Public Enterprises

under Union Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

HSSC is a Public Sector Enterprise under the Union Ministry of Health and Family

Welfare since its inception it has been a prot making organisation. As a result, it

attained the Miniratna-II status in 2002.

Criteria to award Miniratna Status

Those CPSEs that have shown prots in the last continuous three years and have

positive net worth can be considered eligible for grant of Miniratna status.

These are divided in two catergories – I and II.

Miniratna Category-I

CPSEs should have made prots continuously for the last three years otherwise, it

should have earned a net prot of 30 crore rupees or more in one of the three years.

The company boards are entitled to invest up to 500 crore rupees or equal to their net

worth, whichever is lower without seeking government permission.

Miniratna Category-II

CPSEs should have made prots for the last three years continuously and should

have a positive net worth.

The company boards are entitled to invest up to 300 crore rupees or up to 50 percentof their net worth, whichever is lower without seeking government permission.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

ISRO successfully tested high-thrust Cryogenic Engine CE-20 105

Japan launched astronomy satellite ASTRO-H 106

Utah Scientists discovered 2D Semiconducting Material made of Tin Monox-

ide 106

National Framework for Elimination of Malaria 2016-2030 launched 108

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Project Sunrise to improve HIV interventions in North-Eastern states

launched 110

First machine harvestable chickpea variety NbeG 47 released 111

India’s rst Ayurvedic anti-diabetic drug, BGR-34 launched by CSIR 112

NASA to launch its new rocket Space Launch System carrying 13 CubeSats

in 2018 113

UK granted licence to use gene editing techniques on human embryos 116

WHO recommended to rate movies with smoking scenes 117

India, NASA to study Ladakh region under Spaceward Bound programme

119

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




ISRO successfully tested high-thrust Cryogenic Engine CE-20

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 19 February 2016 successfully

tested high-thrust cryogenic engine CE-20 at its Propulsion Research Centre in

Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu.

The successful hotbed test lasted 640 seconds and paved the way for the rst

developmental ight of the GSLV Mark 3 in December 2016.

The GSLV Mark 3, the biggest rocket made in India, will be capable of launching4-tonne satellites into geosynchronous orbit.

So far India’s GSLVs were being powered by cryogenic engines given by Russia. But

this development marks a milestone in the country’s effort to develop a big cryogenic

engine to y satellites of up to ve tonnes.

About Cryogenic Engine

• It uses Hydrogen as fuel, stored at minus 253 degrees Celsius and liquid oxygen

as oxidizer at minus 193 degrees Celsius.

• The CE-20 has been developed at the Liquid Propulsion System centre (LPSC) in

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

• It can develop the thrust needed in the nal stage of the rocket to put satellites,

weighing two tonnes or more, into a geosynchronous orbit.

• It will also give boost to India’s interplanetary probes and manned space missions.

• It is essential to master this technology for any space power as launching heavier

satellites requires cryogenic engines even in the lower stages of the rocket.

Background

India has been on a long arduous journey to develop an operational indigenous

cryogenic engine which began around 30 years ago.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Japan launched astronomy satellite ASTRO-H

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on 17 February 2016 successfully

launched astronomy satellite ASTRO-H from the Tanegashima Space Center in

Kagoshima Prefecture. The satellite was launched on-board the H-IIA rocket, which

was previously known as the New X-ray Telescope (NeXT), and is expected to operate

in low Earth orbit for three years.

The rst success came in January 2014 when India successfully launched GSLV-D5,

marking the rst successful launch of a vehicle with an indigenous cryogenic engine.

But at present, India can only launch satellites of up to two tonnes.

Features of ASTRO-H Mission

• ASTRO-H is the eye to study the hot and energetic universe. The ‘H’ refers to the

word Japanese word Hitomi that means pupil or entrance window of the eye.

• The mission involves the 2700-kilogram satellite that is equipped with 4 telescopesand 6 detectors, allowing it to study both “hard” and “soft” x-rays and gamma

rays.

• The high-energy astronomy mission primarily seeks to study x-rays emanating

mainly from black holes and galaxy clusters.

• The mission was led by the JAXA in partnership with the NASA, European Space

Agency, Canadian Space Agency, Netherlands Institute for Space Research anduniversities in Japan, Europe and North America.

Utah Scientists discovered 2D Semiconducting Material made

of Tin Monoxide

Engineers belonging to the University of Utah, the USA, discovered a new kind of

2D semiconducting material for electronics that is made up of the elements tin and

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




oxygen or tin monoxide (SnO). The discovery was made by a team of engineers led

by Indian-Orgin Ashutosh Tiwari and published online on 15 February 2016 in the

journal Advanced Electronic Materials.

The only one atom thick 2D SnO material allows electrical charges to move through

it much faster than conventional 3D materials such as silicon and will facilitate

development of much speedier computers and smartphones.

Differences between 2D and 3D materials

Transistors and other components used in electronic devices are currently made of3D materials such as silicon and consist of multiple layers on a glass substrate. But

the downside to 3D materials is that electrons bounce around inside the layers in all

directions.

2D materials, which came into prominence ve years ago, are made up of one layer

with the thickness of just one or two atoms. Consequently, the electrons can only

move in one layer so it’s much faster and the devices made up of them consume lesspower.

And, as the electrons move through one layer in 2D material instead of bouncing

around in a 3D material, there will be less friction, meaning the processors will not get

as hot as normal computer chips.

Difference between SnO and other 2D materials

While researchers in the eld of materials science and engineering discovered new

types of 2D material such as graphene, molybdenun disulde and borophene, they

are of limited use as they only allow the movement of N-type, or negative, electrons.

However, in order to create an electronic device, there is a need for semiconductor

material that allows the movement of both negative electrons and positive charges

known as “holes”.

The present SnO material lls this vacuum as it has become the rst stable P-type 2D

semiconductor material ever in existence.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Signicance of the discovery

Typically, a computer processor is comprised of billions of transistors and the more

transistors packed into a single chip the more powerful the processor can become.

With the availability of P-type and N-type 2D semiconductors, the scientists will be

able to manufacture smaller and faster transistors than that are available now.

Since transistors are the lifeblood of all electronic devices such as computer processors

and graphics processors the discovery could lead to development of computers and

smartphones that are more than 100 times faster than regular devices.

The low-battery requirement of 2D semiconductor-based material is of particular

signicance for medical devices such as electronic implants that run longer on a

single battery charge.

National Framework for Elimination of Malaria 2016-2030

launched

Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda on 11 February 2016

released the National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME) 2016-2030 at New

Delhi. The framework outlines India’s strategy for elimination of the disease by 2030.

NFME document denes goals, objectives, strategies, targets and timelines to

eliminate malaria from the country. It will serve as a roadmap for advocating andplanning malaria elimination from the country in a phased manner.

The objectives of the NFME are to

• Eliminate malaria from all low (Category 1) and moderate (Category 2) endemic

states/UTs (26) by 2022

• Reduce incidence of malaria to less than 1 case per 1000 population in all States/

UTs and the districts and malaria elimination in 31 states/UTs by 2024

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• Interrupt indigenous transmission of malaria in all States/ UTs (Category 3) by

2027

• Prevent re-establishment of local transmission of malaria in areas where it has

been eliminated and to maintain malaria-free status of the country by 2030

The milestones and targets are set for 2016, 2020, 2022, 2024, 2027 and 2030 by

when the entire country has sustained zero indigenous cases and deaths due to

malaria for 3 years and initiated the processes for certication of malaria elimination

status to the country

The NFME 2016-2030 also denes key strategic approaches such as

• Programme phasing considering the varying malaria endemicity in the country

• Classication of States/UTs based on API as primary criterion (Category 0:

Prevention of re-introduction phase; Category 1: Elimination phase; Category 2:

Pre-elimination phase; Category 3: Intensied control phase)

• District as the unit of planning and implementation

• Focus on high endemic areas

• Special strategy for P. vivax elimination

An enabled environment and necessary resources would remain critical to realize the

objectives in the pathway to malaria elimination.

Expectations from States/Union Territories

• By the end of 2016, all states/UTs are expected to include malaria elimination in

their broader health policies and planning framework

• By the end of 2017, all states are expected to bring down API to less than 1 per

thousand population

• By the end of 2020, 15 states/UTs under category 1 (elimination phase) are

expected to interrupt transmission of malaria and achieve zero indigenous cases

and deaths due to malaria

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• It is also envisaged that in states with relatively good capacity and health

infrastructure, such as, Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra, accelerated efforts

may usher malaria elimination sooner - within two to three years

• As per the targets under the 12th Five Year Plan, the country is to achieve API<1 at

state and district level by 2017 and pave way to malaria elimination in subsequent

years

Project Sunrise to improve HIV interventions in North-Eastern

states launched

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda on 6 February

2016 launched the Project Sunrise in Imphal, Manipur.

The project seeks to improve interventions against human immunodeciency virus

infection and acquired immune deciency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) among people who

inject drugs (PWID) in eight north east States.

Features of Project Sunrise

• It seeks to improve coverage, quality and scale of HIV interventions among PWID,

Female Injecting Drug Users (FIDU) and spouses of PWID.

• It is a 5-year programme aimed at complementing the ongoing National AIDS

Control Programme (NACP).

• It will be implemented in 20 districts of 8 north eastern states at an estimated cost

of 70 crore rupees.

• Under the project, needles and syringes will be made available through secondary

distributors such as Government health care facilities, preferred healthcare

providers, non-traditional outlets and peer volunteers,

• It includes lower threshold strategies to improve Opoid Substitution Therapy

(OST), coverage and sensitization workshops for law enforcing ofcials.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• It also includes HIV intervention in prison settings and will adopt the National

Human Resource reduction strategy.

• It will be implemented in a customized exible approach so as to increase the

availability and accessibility to clean needles and syringes.

• Initiatives under the project are to be implemented through the existing system in

close co-ordination with State AIDS Control Societies (SACS).

First machine harvestable chickpea variety NbeG 47 released

The rst machine harvestable chickpea variety, NBeG 47 was released in Andhra

Pradesh on 4 February 2016. It was released by International Crops Research Institute

for the Semi-Arid-Tropics (ICRISAT).

The normal process of harvesting 2.25 tons of chickpea takes three days while the

new variety will be harvested in just 75 minutes by the standard machinery.

This is made possible due to the breeding of a taller chickpea variety that is suitable

for machine harvest which would be cost effective and quicker. More research efforts

are underway to develop machine harvestable chickpea varieties suited for other

parts of India like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.

About Chickpea variety, NBeG 47

• The new variety was developed through a project titled Developing chickpeavarieties suitable for machine harvesting and tolerant to herbicides.

• It was funded by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation under National

Food Security Mission of Union Ministry of Agriculture.

• This was developed to address the issue of labor shortage on farms and reduce

hard work, especially for women laborers.

• This development was demonstrated elds of Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• This variety was developed by Doctor Veera Jayalakshmi, the Principal Scientist

for Chickpea Breeding at Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University with support

from ICRISAT.

• The breeding material and technical support for developing this variety was

provided by ICRISAT.

• This is better for the health of the laborers, especially women as handling the crop

causes painful dermatitis due to its high acid content.

• The yield of this new variety would be 2.25 tons per hectare provided the prescribed

plant spacing is followed while the existing variety JG 11 is yielding 1.75 to 2.5

tons per hectare.

• It would reduce the risk of the ripened crop’s exposure to untimely rain and other

extreme weather conditions.

About ICRISAT

• The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)was founded in 1972 by a consortium of organisations convened by the Ford and

the Rockefeller Foundations.

• Its charter was signed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United

Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

• It is an international organisation that conducts agricultural research for rural

development and is headquartered in Hyderabad, Telangana.

India’s rst Ayurvedic anti-diabetic drug, BGR-34 launched by

CSIR

Council for Scientic and Industrial Research (CSIR) on 3 February 2016 launched

the BGR-34, the country’s rst anti-diabetic ayurvedic drug for Diabetes. BGR is

acronym for blood glucose regulator.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




The ayurvedic drug BGR-34 was launched at Kozhikode, Kerala by CSIR’s Senior

Principal Scientist Dr AKS Rawat as part of the Global Ayurveda Festival in the city.

BGR-34 is designed for type 2 Diabetes mellitus, has been scientically validated for

its efcacy and safety. Priced at 5 rupees per tablet, the medicine is now available at

all major chemist counters of Kerala.

The drug works by controlling blood sugar level (anti-hyperglycaemic property) and

limiting the harmful effects of other drugs and is not toxic in nature nor carries any

side-effects.

The drug was developed by CSIR in collaboration with National Botanical Research

Institute and Central Institute for Medicinal and Aromatic Plant. It was developed as

diabetes has become a major threat in the health sector and about 6 crore of adult

Indian population has been found to be diabetic and there is no effective solution for

the disease yet.

NASA to launch its new rocket Space Launch System carrying13 CubeSats in 2018

The US space agency NASA on 2 February 2016 announced that the rst ight of its

new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), carrying 13 CubeSats and an uncrewed

Orion Spacecraft will be launched in 2018.

These small satellites secondary payloads will carry science and technology

investigations, which will help in paving the way for future human exploration in deep

space, including the journey to Mars. These payloads were selected through a NASA

challenge and negotiations with NASA’s international partners.

SLS’ rst ight, referred to as Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), will provide the rare

opportunity for these small experiments to reach deep space destinations, as most

launch opportunities for CubeSats are limited to low-Earth orbit.

This rocket has the unprecedented power to send Orion to deep space plus room

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




to carry 13 small satellites – payloads that will advance our knowledge about deep

space with minimal cost.

List of CubeSats to be carried by SLS

Payload Process of Selection Objective

Skyre Through the Next Space

Technologies for Exploration

Partnerships (NextSTEP)

Broad Agency

• To be developed by Lockheed

Martin Space Systems

Company, Denver, Colorado.

• This CubeSat will perform a

lunar yby of the moon, taking

sensor data during the yby to

enhance knowledge of the lunar

surface.

Lunar IceCube Through the Next Space

Technologies for Exploration

Partnerships (NextSTEP)

Broad Agency

• To be developed by Morehead

State University, Kentucky.

• This CubeSat will search for

water ice and other resources

at a low orbit of only 62 miles

above the surface of the moon.

Near-Earth

Asteroid Scout

(NEA Scout)

NASA’s Human Exploration

and Operations Mission

Directorate

• It will perform reconnaissance

of an asteroid, take pictures and

observe its position in space.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Besides, the three additional payloads will be determined through NASA’s Cube

Quest Challenge – sponsored by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. It is

designed to foster innovations in small spacecraft propulsion and communications

techniques. CubeSat builders will vie for a launch opportunity on SLS’ rst ightthrough a competition that has four rounds, referred to as ground tournaments,

BioSentinel NASA’s Human Exploration


Directorate

• It will use yeast to detect,

measure and compare the

impact of deep space radiation

on living organisms over long

durations in deep space.

Lunar Flashlight NASA’s Human Exploration


Directorate

• It will look for ice deposits

and identify locations where

resources may be extractedfrom the lunar surface.

CuSP NASA’s Science Mission

Directorate

• It is a space weather station

to measure particles and

magnetic elds in space, testing

practicality for a network of

stations to monitor space

weather.

LunaH-Map NASA’s Science Mission

Directorate

• It will map hydrogen within

craters and other permanently

shadowed regions throughout

the moon’s South Pole.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




leading to the selection in 2017 of the payloads to y on the mission.

NASA has also reserved three slots for payloads from international partners.

Discussions to y those three payloads are ongoing, and they will be announced at

a later time.

Other the other hand, during this rst ight, SLS will also launch the Orion Spacecraft

to a stable orbit beyond the moon to demonstrate the integrated system performance

of Orion and the SLS rocket prior to the rst crewed ight.

The rst conguration of SLS that will y on EM-1 is referred to as Block I and will have

a minimum 70-metric-ton (77-ton) lift capability and be powered by twin boosters

and four RS-25 engines.

The CubeSats will be deployed following Orion separation from the upper stage

and once Orion is a safe distance away. Each payload will be ejected with a spring

mechanism from dispensers on the Orion stage adapter. Following deployment, the

transmitters on the CubeSats will turn on, and ground stations will listen for their

beacons to determine the functionality of these small satellites.

UK granted licence to use gene editing techniques on human

embryos

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) of United Kingdom on 1

February 2016 granted license to the Francis Crick Institute to use new gene editing

techniques on human embryos.

Under the license, the institute will be allowed to genetically modify human embryos

for research purposes in order to better understand infertility and miscarriage issues.

With this issuance of license, the UK became one of the rst countries in the world

to give authorization for experimentation on human embryos. Earlier, China allowed

similar research on a limited scale.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Details related to the research

• The aim of the research, led by Dr Kathy Niakan, is to understand the genes

human embryos need to develop successfully.

• The work carried out at the Crick will be for research purposes and will look at the

rst seven days of a fertilised egg’s development (from a single cell to around 250

cells).

• The knowledge acquired from the research will be important for understanding

how a healthy human embryo develops.

• This knowledge may improve embryo development after in vitro fertilisation (IVF)

and might provide better clinical treatments for infertility, using conventional

medical methods.

• In line with HFEA regulations, any donated embryos will be used for research

purposes only and cannot be used in treatment.

• These embryos will be donated by patients who have given their informed consentto the donation of embryos which are surplus to their IVF treatment.

However, the genome editing research needs to gain ethical approval and, subject to

that approval, the research programme will begin. The ethical approval to the project

is of prime concern as some critics warned about the potential of creating designer

babies by using the gene editing techniques.

WHO recommended to rate movies with smoking scenes

World Health Organisation (WHO) on 1 February 2016 recommended all governments

to rate movies with smoking scenes to protect children and adolescents from tobacco

addiction in Geneva.

According to the WHO’s third edition of Smoke-free movies: from evidence to action

report, movies showing the use of tobacco products have enticed millions of young

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




people worldwide to start smoking.

The report also stated that many lms produced outside of the United States also

contain smoking scenes. Surveys had shown that tobacco imagery was found in top-

grossing lms produced in six European countries which are Germany, Iceland, Italy,

Poland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom and two Latin American countries,

Argentina and Mexico.

Nine in 10 movies from Iceland and Argentina contained smoking including lms

rated for young people.

The WHO Smoke-Free Movie report recommended the following policy measures in

line with the guidelines of article 13 of the WHO FCTC. These are:

• Requiring age classication ratings for lms with tobacco imagery to reduce overall

exposure of youth to tobacco imagery in lms.

• Certifying in movie credits that lm producers receive nothing of value from anyone

in exchange for using or displaying tobacco products in a lm.

• Ending display of tobacco brands in lms.

• Requiring strong anti-smoking advertisements to be shown before lms containing

tobacco imagery in all distribution channels (cinemas, televisions, online, etc).

• In addition, the report also recommended making media productions that promote

smoking ineligible for public subsidies.

WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC)

The FCTC which came into force in 2005 was the rst international treaty to be agreed

under WHO’s auspices. It has successfully helped to co-ordinate and energise the

global struggle against tobacco.

The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the Convention’s governing body and is

comprised of all 180 Parties, which are obliged by international law to ban tobaccoadvertising, promotion and sponsorship.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




COP regularly reviews the implementation of the Convention and takes action to

promote its effectiveness. The regular sessions of COP are held at two yearly intervals.

India will host the seventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP7) and the

rst session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP1) in November 2016 at Noida.

India, NASA to study Ladakh region under Spaceward Bound

programme

India and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) entered into

a partnership in January 2016 to explore the environment of Ladakh under NASA’s

Spaceward Bound programme.

Under the partnership, a team of scientists from NASA, the Mars society Australia

and the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow will undertake an expedition

to Ladakh in August 2016.

During their 10-day expedition, the scientists will study the similarities of certain parts

of the region’s topography and microbial life to the surroundings of Mars.

Why Ladakh was chosen?

• Ladakh offers a cold, high altitude (3500 - 5500 meter above sea level), high UV

exposed, dry ecosystem with Mars analogue topological features.

• The pristine Ladakh environment will tell us about the origin and evolution of

Earth’s topological features and also about how microbial life has adapted itself to

sustain itself in such harsh conditions.

• High passes, permafrost regions, glaciers, hot springs, shallow and palaeo lakes

and high altitude night skies help the astrobio/geoscientsts to conduct experiments

in order to nd answer some of the most fundamental questions about life.

• India’s success in executing the Mars Orbiter Mission will be an added advantage

for international scientists for achieving greater results as part of the collaboration.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




About Spaceward Bound programme

• It is an educational program developed at NASA Ames Research Center in

California, the USA.

• It mission is to train the next generation of space explorers by having students and

teachers participate in the exploration of different regions on the planet.

• The regions are of scientically interesting but remote and extreme environments

on Earth as analogs for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

• Previous spaceward bound expeditions were Atacama Desert (South America),

Mojave Desert (the USA), Pavilion Lake (Canada) and Arctic region among others.

• Ladakh is the rst region chosen for study in India under the programme.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




ENVIRONMENT & ECOLOGY

Seismic Microzonation reports for Delhi and Kolkata released 123

Tropical Cyclone Winston lashed Fiji killing scores of people 125

Pangolin, the critically endangered scaly Anteater 125

Bees can help boost food security of two billion small farmers at no cost:

FAO 128

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




World Banks’ Road to Resilience initiative Concluded 130

US Supreme Court stalled Obama’s Clean Power Plan 131

ICAO proposed binding carbon emission standards for aviation industry

133

Goal of proposed carbon emission standards 134

Storm Imogen lashed parts of Britain 134

World’s largest concentrated solar plant opened in Morocco 135

Marine Museum inaugurated at Marine Aquarium and Regional Centre in

Digha 136

Draft National Wildlife Action Plan (2017-2031) released 137

MoEF notied Wild Boar as Vermin for a year in Uttarakhand 139

New species of Hydroid Polyps emitting green uorescence discovered in

Red Sea 140

Union Government to set up a BGRL to understand earthquake mechanism

in Koyna region 141

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Seismic Microzonation reports for Delhi and Kolkata released

The Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan

released the Seismic microzonation reports for Delhi and Kolkata in New Delhi on 22

February 2016.

It will help in minimizing the effects of earthquakes by assessing Seismic Hazards, by

implementing safe building construction codes, and adopting appropriate land-use

planning.

The integrated seismic hazard map based on microzonation for Delhi was prepared

by the Earthquake Risk Evaluation Center (under the IMD), now merged with National

Centre for Seismology, Union Ministry of Earth Sciences.

On the other hand, the seismic microzonation project for the city of Kolkata was

conceived by Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur in consortium with a few other

organizations in Kolkata under the aegis of the Geosciences Division, Union Ministry

of Earth Sciences.

What, Why and How of Seismic microzonation?

It is a process of identifying geological, seismological, hydrological and geotechnical

site characteristics in a specic region. These would help design of safe structures

to reduce loss of human life.

Under this process various investigations which are ambient noise survey, Multi-Channel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) survey, in-situ geotechnical testing,

in-situ seismic measurements etc. were carried out and after analysis of data sets

different maps.

They include Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA), spectral accelerations for different

periods, liquefaction potential, predominant frequency, amplication factor, average

shear wave velocity at 30 meters depth, geology and geomorphology and projectedHazard Scenarios at GIS platform etc. are prepared.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




The need for the microzonation arose after the Mexico earthquake in 1985 which

caused severe damage in Mexico city, though the earthquake source was located

about 350 km away from the city. It was realized that putting a large region into a

single seismic hazard zone is not a good idea. This and several other examples led

to a new concept, called Microzonation.

Beneciaries of seismic microzonation maps of Delhi and Kolkata

• Disaster Mitigation and Management Authorities

• Urban Development Authorities

• Planning, Design & Construction Agencies

• Risk Assessment to existing life & Property

• Defense Installations

• Heavy Industry

• Public Utilities and Services

Present Classication of Seismic Zones in India

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) classies and publishes seismic zoning map for

entire India. It classied India into 4 major groups which are:

Zone - II: This is said to be the least active seismic zone.

Zone - III: It is included in the moderate seismic zone. Zone - IV: This is considered to be the high seismic zone.

Zone - V: It is the highest seismic zone.

India into earthquake hazard zones does not use Zone 1. No area of India is classied

as Zone 1. National Capital Territory (NCT) Delhi is located in Seismic zone IV,whereas

Kolkata is placed at the border of Seismic Zone III and IV.

The presence of these two cities in high intensity seismic zones necessitated systematic

assessment of seismic hazard, vulnerability and risk. Unplanned urbanization defying

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




building codes are continuously increasing the earthquake vulnerability of Delhi and

Kolkata.

Tropical Cyclone Winston lashed Fiji killing scores of people

The tropical cyclone Winston lashed Fiji with winds up to 330 kilometers per hour on

20 February 2016. The cyclone that was accompanied with torrential rain and strong

winds killed at least 29 people.

The cyclone did a considerable damage across the main island Viti Levu and the

island of Koro, which were directly hit by strong winds. The Winston, a category ve

storm, is thought to be the biggest to ever hit the Southern Hemisphere, leaving a

trail of destruction in its wake while moving west away from Fiji. The cyclone left

many cities without power and running water. It also destroyed homes and ooded

the low-lying areas.

In lieu of damage caused by Winston, India has extended a package of one million

US dollars as immediate assistance to Fiji. Winston’s estimated winds over Koro

Island, Fiji, were equal to the estimated winds at landfall of the infamous Labor Day

hurricane of 1935 in the Florida Keys and stronger than Hurricane Camille’s winds at

landfall in 1969, though Camille’s eyewall destroyed wind instruments along the Gulf

Coast.

Fiji is an island country in Melanesia in the South Pacic Ocean about 1100 nautical

miles (2000 km; 1300 mi) northeast of New Zealand’s North Island.

Pangolin, the critically endangered scaly Anteater

Pangolins, the scaly anteaters and insectivorous mammals of the order Pholidota,

were in news because 20 February 2016 was observed as the fth annual World

Pangolin Day.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




The day is celebrated annually on the third Saturday of February with a hope to raise

awareness about these unique mammals and their plight.

There are eight species and they are only found in Africa and Asia, of which two

are known from India namely Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) and Chinese

Pangolin (Manis pentadactyla).

In India, it is a protected animal under Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972

meaning that no trade is permitted.

Asian pangolins:

• Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) – Critically Endangered

• Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) – Critically Endangered

• Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) – Endangered

• Philippine pangolin (Manis culionensis) – Endangered

African pangolins:

• Cape or Temminck’s Ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) – Vulnerable

• White-bellied or Tree pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis) – Vulnerable

• Giant Ground pangolin (Smutsia gigantea) – Vulnerable

• Black-bellied or Long-tailed pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla) – Vulnerable

Characteristic features of Pangolins

• The word Pangolin is derived from Malay word Punggoling, which means something

that, rolls up.

• These species are a scaly variant of anteaters and are mammals with an exterior

formed by hard, plate-like scales generally feeds on ants and termites.

• They don’t have teeth and use their long, sticky tongue to hunt insects and gulp

them.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• Their scales are made from keratin — the same protein that forms human hair and

nger nails.

• Pangolin undersides do not have scales, and are covered with sparse fur.

• Unlike African pangolins, Asian pangolins also have thick bristles that emerge

from between their scales.

Threat faced by the species

• Reports have indicated a growing demand for pangolin meat in India, which has

the potential to put the species under immense pressure. They are among themost frequently seized species smuggled in Asia.

• Seizure reports from 2009 to 2013 have revealed that around 3350 pangolins were

poached in India alone. However, it may only be a conservative estimate since a

large part of this illegal trade remains undetected.

• In India, the species are trapped and killed for local trade and to cater to international

markets in China and South-East Asia where there is a heavy demand for theirscales, skin and meat.

• Further, pangolins are ritualistically hunted during ‘Shikar Utsav’ in eastern Indian

states.

Why they are exploited?

• Their meat is deemed a delicacy among several communities and is also consumed

because of its alleged medicinal properties.

• Pangolin scales are widely used in traditional oriental medicines as an aphrodisiac

and to cure ailments ranging from asthma and psoriasis to cancer. However, the

medical efcacy of the scales remains unproved!

• Their scales are also made into rings or charms.

• Their skins are used to manufacture leather goods like boots and shoes.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Bees can help boost food security of two billion small farmers

at no cost: FAO

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 19 February 2016

brought to light the publication of a new study that quanties how much crop yields

depend on the work of bees that unknowingly fertilize plants as they move from

ower to ower.

The FAO also stated that bees may have a pivotal role to play in improving the

production of some two billion smallholder farmers worldwide and ensuring the food

security and nutrition of the world’s growing population.

The paper, published in the magazine Science, makes the case that ecological

intensication, or boosting farm outputs by tapping the power of natural processes,

is one of the sustainable pathways toward greater food supplies.

Spotlight on developing nations

• In the eld study coordinated by FAO, scientists compared 344 plots across Africa,

Asia and Latin America and concluded that crop yields were signicantly lower in

farming plots that attracted fewer bees during the main owering season than in

those plots that received more visits.

• When comparing high-performing and low-performing farms of less than two

hectares, the outcomes suggest that poorly performing farms could increase their

yields by a median of 24 per cent by attracting more pollinators to their land.

• The research also looked at larger plots and concluded that, while those elds

also beneted from more pollinator visits, the impact on yields was less signicant

than in the smaller plots. It was probably because many bees have a harder time

servicing large elds, far from their nesting habitat. However, a diversity of bees,

each with different ight capacities, can make the difference.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Unstudied facts

• Pollinators, such as bees, birds and various types of insects that y, hop or crawl

from one ower to another, have for centuries been the invisible helpers of farmers

worldwide.

• Different types of bees have distinct tastes and roles to play in the food system.

For example, Bumble bees are one of the few types of bees that can successfully

pollinate tomatoes.

• Honey bees are important because they are the least picky in their choice of

owers.

• The study shows that for smallholdings, crop yield increased linearly with increased

visits to the owers that were being tracked.

• Pollination was the agricultural input that contributed the greatest to yields, beyond

other management practices.

Tricks to attract bees

• The report also found that attracting pollinators to farms is not as easy as planting

for the season and waiting for them to arrive.

• Maintaining habitat and forage resources all year long is the key to attracting

pollinators and keeping them on the land for longer periods of time.

• Maintaining owering hedge rows around the farm and mulch on the ground that

bees can hide under apart from reducing the use of pesticides.

• The key to getting the best yields probably lies in a mix of managed pollination

services. For example, installing bee hives in plots at owering time and wild

pollination.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




World Banks’ Road to Resilience initiative Concluded

The Road to Resilience is an initiative of the World Bank, under which a team undertook

a bus trip along the entire Indian coastline. The journey commenced on 10 January

2016 and ended on 15 February 2016.

This 10000 kilometer journey provided a chance to implement support for six coastal

disaster management and climate resilience projects covering all ten coastal states

of India, which are supported by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and

Recovery (GFDRR).

Some of those projects aim to enhance resilience and mitigate the impact of future

disasters, while others are intended to help the country recover from previous events

such as Cyclone Phailin (2013) andCyclone Hudhud (2014).

Main highlights

• The total lending for the project by the World Bank was 1.3billion dollars

• Under the project, combined 1000 cyclone shelters were set up with the help of

coastal communities especially in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh

• Setting up of Tsunami early warning centers to serve close to 50 million people

• Coastal embankments through building road network and 120 bridges

• Focused on building combined infrastructure as well as softer Disaster RiskManagement (DRM) projects

• Underground cabling in a big way in many states as in coastal areas electrical

network are the most vulnerable especially in high wind cyclonic conditions, one

of these initiatives for building electrical resilient network.

The “Road to Resilience” initiative was a unique opportunity to raise awareness

about risk mitigation and to interact more directly with local communities, who playa crucial role in preventing and responding to disaster.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




US Supreme Court stalled Obama’s Clean Power Plan

The Supreme Court of United States of America (USA) on 9 February 2016 stalled

President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide

from US power plants.

The court’s ve conservative member bench in its verdict ruled that the President’s

Clean Power Plan could not go forward until all legal challenges were heard.

Designed to cut US emissions by 32 percent by 2030, the scheme put huge emphasison a shift to renewable energy.

It formed the key element of the US pledge at UN climate negotiations held in Paris

in December 2015.

This is the second time that the executive action of President Obama was stalled by

the court. Earlier, the court stalled Obama’s plan to deport at least 4 million illegal

immigrants. The decision is pending for the high court’s review.

Clean Power Plan

What is it?

• The Clean Power Plan was proposed by US Environmental Protection Agency

under President Barack Obama Climate Action Plan on 2 June 2014. It seeks to

cut carbon pollution from power plants.

• The Plan seeks to maintain an affordable, reliable energy system, while cutting

pollution and protecting our health and environment now and for future generations.

• Nationwide, the Plan will help cut carbon pollution from the power sector by 30

percent from 2005 levels.

• The proposal will also cut pollution that leads to soot and smog by over 25 percent

in 2030.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Why the need?

• Pertinent climate change that is happening and its cost on the society, average

temperatures have risen in most states since 1901, with seven of the top 10

warmest years on record occurring since 1998.

• Climate and weather disasters in 2012 cost the American economy more than

$100 billion.

• Although there are limits at power plants for other pollutants like arsenic and

mercury, there are currently no national limits on carbon.

• Power plants are the largest source of carbon pollution in the U.S., accounting for

roughly one-third of all domestic greenhouse gas emissions.

• Americans will see billions of dollars in public health and climate benets, now

and for future generations.

What are the benets?

• The Clean Power Plan will lead to climate and health benets worth an estimated

55 billion US dollars to 93 billion US dollars in 2030

• It will avoid 2700 to 6600 premature deaths and 140000 to 150000 asthma attacks

in children.

• It will make the U.S. electricity system less polluting and our homes and businesses

more efcient, shrinking electricity bills by roughly 8 percent in 2030.

• It will help save nearly 85 dollar a year on their energy bills in 2030 and save

enough energy to power 30 million homes in 2030.

• It will keep the United States—and more importantly our businesses—at the

forefront of a global movement to produce and consume energy in a better, more

sustainable way.

• It will lead to 30 percent more renewable energy generation in 2030, create tens ofthousands of jobs and continue to lower the costs of renewable energy

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




However, a group of 27 states, utilities and coal miners sought to block the proposal

in the courts. They argued that the plan was an infringement on states’ rights.

ICAO proposed binding carbon emission standards for aviation

industry

Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) of United Nations’ (UN)

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on 8 February 2016 proposed binding

carbon emission standards for aviation industry. Hence, it paved the way for its

ultimate adoption by ICAO Governing Council.

CAEP has ensured that the full range of sizes and types of aircraft used in international

aviation used in present times are covered while proposing the standards. And it

comprehensively encompassed all technological feasibility, emissions reduction

potential, and cost considerations.

CAEP Recommendations on the Carbon Emission Standards (CES)

• The new CO2 emissions standard would not only be applicable to new aircraft

type designs as of 2020, but also to new deliveries of current in-production aircraft

types from 2023.

• A cut-off date of 2028 for production of aircraft that do not comply with the standard

was also recommended.• In its current form the standard equitably acknowledges CO2 reductions arising

from a range of possible technology innovations, whether structural, aerodynamic

or propulsion-based.

• The proposed global standard is especially stringent where it will have the greatest

impact: for larger aircraft.

• Operations of aircraft weighing over 60 tonnes account for more than 90% of

international aviation emissions.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• They also have access to the broadest range of emissions reduction technologies,

which the standard recognizes.

Goal of proposed carbon emission standards

The goal of this process is ultimately to ensure that when the next generation of

aircraft types enters service, there will be guaranteed reductions in international CO2

emissions. The aviation sector at present accounts for fewer than 2 percent of the

world’s annual CO2 emissions.

However, it is estimated that global passengers and ights would be doubled by

2030 which should be managed responsibly and sustainably.

About International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

• It is a UN specialized agency which was established in 1944 to manage the

administration and governance of the Convention on International Civil Aviation(Chicago Convention).

• It works with the Convention’s 191 Member States and industry groups to reach

consensus on international civil aviation Standards and Recommended Practices

(SARPs) and policies in support of a safe, efcient, secure, economically sustainable

and environmentally responsible civil aviation sector.

Storm Imogen lashed parts of Britain

Storm Imogen on 8 February 2016 battered parts of southern Britain with heavy rain

and winds up to 96 miles per hour (mph). It forced the environment agency to issue

multiple ood warnings requiring immediate action for parts of the south west, south

east and Wales

Isles of Scilly (81mph), Pembrey Sands (84 mph), Carmarthenshire (84 mph) and The

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Needles off the Isle of Wight (96 mph) were the worst affected areas.

More than 5000 homes were without power in south-West England, south and mid-

Wales and the Midlands. The storm also disrupted the Rail services, some cross-

Channel ferries were cancelled and drivers urged to take extra care.

Storm Imogen is the ninth named storm to hit the UK this season. In Britain, the 2016

storms are being names by Met Ofce and Met Eireann. This exercise is an effort to

increase public awareness and safety. They were named by public ballot but there

are no names for the letters Q, U, X, Y and Z.

World’s largest concentrated solar plant opened in Morocco

The Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex, world’s largest solar power plant, was opened

on 4 February 2016 in the Souss-Massa-Drâa area in Morocco, 10 km from Ouarzazate

town.

The plant holds the capacity to produce enough energy to power over one million

homes by 2018 and reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 760000 tons per year.

Phase One of the project involved the construction of a 160MW concentrated solar

power (CSP) plant named Noor I, while Phase Two involved the construction of the

200MW Noor II CSP plant and the 150MW Noor III CSP plant, and Phase Three will

involve the construction of the Noor IV CSP plant.

The World Bank partially nanced construction of the plant through a 97 million US

dollar loan from the Clean Technology Fund.

Key highlights of Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex

• The project forms part of the Moroccan Solar Energy Programme (NOOR), which

aims to develop ve solar complexes with a combined capacity of approximately

2GW by 2020 to meet the energy demands of the country, which depends on 95%imports.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• The Noor I CSP plant is expected to offset 240000 tons a year of CO2 emissions,

and generate approximately 1000 construction jobs and 60 permanent jobs during

the operations and maintenance phase. The Noor II and Noor III plants combined

will help offset 533000 tons of CO2 emissions a year.

• The plant uses concentrating solar power which is more expensive to install than

the widely used photovoltaic panels. However, CSP enables the storage of energy

for nights and cloudy days.

• Mirrors focus the sun’s light and heat up a liquid, which, when mixed with water,

reaches around 400 degree Celsius. The steam produced from this process drives

a turbine and generates electrical power.

• A cylinder full of salt is melted by the warmth from the mirrors during the day, and

stays hot enough at night to provide up to three hours of power.

Marine Museum inaugurated at Marine Aquarium and Regional

Centre in Digha

The Marine Museum was inaugurated on 3 February 2016 at the Marine Aquarium and

Regional Centre (MARC) of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) in Digha, West Bengal.

It was inaugurated along with one day National Seminar on Coastal Zone Management

and Marine Biodiversity at East Medinipur district of West Bengal.

Features of the Marine Museum

• The newly constructed museum that is thrown open to the public contains Fish

gallery, Coral gallery, and Molluscan gallery with more than 500 marine species

display.

• The species include shes, sea snakes, molluscs, corals, crabs, prawns, lobsters,

echinoderms, horse-shoe crabs etc.

• It displays several awareness posters related to marine life, marine biodiversity

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




and conservation.

• It would help the students and public for the purpose of awareness on marine

biodiversity conservations as well as serve as a platform for the students having

interest on marine biology from all over India.

About Zoological Survey of India (ZSI)

• It is a premier Indian organisation in zoological research and studies. It was

established on 1 July 1916 to promote the survey, exploration and research of the

fauna in the region.

• The activities of the ZSI are coordinated by the Conservation and Survey Division

under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Draft National Wildlife Action Plan (2017-2031) released

Draft National Wildlife Action Plan (2017-2031) prepared by the Committee under

the chairmanship of JC Kala was released on 3 February 2016 by Union Ministry of

Environment, Forest and Climate (MoEF).

The Committee was constituted by the MoEF to review the implementation of the

National Wildlife Action Plan (2002-2016) and to suggest a new Plan of Action for

Wildlife Conservation.

It will be the third National Wildlife Action Plan (NWAP-3) of the country. The other

two are

• NWAP-1, adopted in 1983 and implemented from 1983 through 2001.

• NWAP-2, revised plan was put in place for the period 2002-2016.

The MoEF called for suggestions and comments on the released draft NWAP-3 latest

by 17 February 2016.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Highlights of the Draft Plan

• It is based on the premise that essential ecological processes that are governed,

supported or strongly moderated by ecosystems, are essential for food production,

health and other aspects of human survival and sustainable development. And

maintenance of these ecosystems which can be termed as Life Support Systems

is vital for all societies regardless of their stage of development.

• It also emphasizes on other two aspects of living resource conservation which

are preservation of genetic diversity and sustainable utilization of species and

ecosystems which has direct bearing on our scientic advancements and support

to millions of rural communities.

• It adopts landscap e approach in conservation of all uncultivated ora and

undomesticated fauna that has ecological value to mankind irrespective of where

they occur.

• It accords special emphasis to rehabilitation of threatened species of wildlife while

conserving their habitats which include inland aquatic, coastal and marine eco-

systems.

• It also takes note of concerns relating to climate change on wildlife by integrating

it in to wildlife management Planning.

• It underlines the fact that despite being one of 12 mega biodiversity countries

of the world, national planning has not taken serious note of adverse ecological

consequences of reduction and degradation of wilderness areas from the pressures

of population, commercialization and development projects.

• Accordingly, the plan has brought to focus the alarming erosion of our natural

heritage comprising of rivers, forests, grasslands, mountains, wetlands, coastal

and marine habitats arid lands and deserts

• The plan underscores the increasing need for people’s support for conservation of

wildlife and to this effect recommends strengthening the core buffer multiple use

surround structure with higher inputs for eco-development, education, innovation,

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




training, extension, conservation awareness and outreach programs.

• The plan is alive to communities, inhabiting forest lands and other wilderness areas,

to be treated appropriately in the light of Forest Rights Act and their inadequacy of

resources and strong dependence on natural biomass resource.

• The plan takes note of and addresses rising human animal conict owing to

shrinkage, fragmentation and deterioration of habitats generating animosity

against wild animals and protected areas.

MoEF notied Wild Boar as Vermin for a year in Uttarakhand

Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) on 3 February

2016 notied wild pig as vermin for a period of one year from the date of issue of the

notication in Uttarakhand.

The notication claimed that in exercise of the powers conferred by section 62 of theWild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, the Union government declared wild pig (sus scrofa)

listed to be vermin.

It declared the animals to be vermin across 13 districts (71 of 79 sub divisions) of

Uttarakhand.

What is being declared to be Vermin?

• It will allow state authorities to carry out an extermination of the declared species

on a large scale without attracting penal provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act,

1972.

• Forest staff, police men or anybody who has got licensed revolver can kill the

animal.

• The forest department will provide ammunition by giving 50 percent fund for

purchasing the bullet, the remaining amount of which will be paid to the user once

they provide the video-graphical evidence along with empty bullet used to kill the

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




pig.

• The carcass has to be burnt as per the norms with regard to wildlife. Videography

of this method of disposal will have to be furnished to the forest ofcial of the area.

Background

The Uttarakhand Government has reported harm to life and property, including large-

scale destruction of agriculture, due to overpopulation of wild pig in areas outside

forests. The forest department has sent the proposal to the MoEF to declare both

wild pig and neel gai (blue bull) vermin in July 2015. However, it is only wild pig, which

has been permitted.

New species of Hydroid Polyps emitting green uorescence dis-

covered in Red Sea

An international team of scientists (biologists) discovered a new species of hydroidpolyps emitting green uorescence in the Red Sea. These polyps were found to be

emitting light in the night in association with the gastropod Nassarius margaritifer.

These hydroid polyps also called hydrozoas (presumably a new species of the genus

Cytaeis, whose body length reaches 1.5 mm) was found during the investigations of

the biodiversity of coral reefs of the archipelago Farasan (Saudi Arabia, south of the

Red Sea).The team included researchers from the Lomonosov Moscow State University and

the Russian Academy of Sciences. The results of the study are published in PLOS

ONE.

Key ndings of the study

• For the rst time, scientists showed that the localization of glow in certain parts of

the body can help to distinguish different species of organisms that have identical

structure.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• The discovered new species form spreading colonies decorating miniature

shells of gastropods Nassarius margaritifer (20-35 mm in length) with garlands of

‘uorescent lanterns’ emitting a green glow.

• Intensive green uorescence with a spectral peak at 518 nm was detected in

the hypostome of the Cytaeis polyps, unlike in previous reports that reported

uorescence either in the basal parts of polyps or in other locations on hydroid

colonies.

• The ‘uorescence’ can be useful for quick identication of hardly recognizable

species and for the studies of ecological peculiarities and distribution of hydroids

and their hosts – mollusks.

What is Green Fluorescence?

Fluorescence is a glow of some proteins or pigments under light illumination, fading

instantly after the end of the illumination.

Green uorescent proteins (GFPs) are widespread among the corals Anthozoa and

hydroid jellyshes, and also were found in some lancelets (Cephalochordata) and

combjellies (Ctenophora).

For the rst time, the scientist Osama Shimomura isolated the famous GFPs from

the jellysh Aequorea Victoria that was later widely used in experimental biology as a

glowing marker for study of protein work in cells.

The discovery led to awarding of Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Shimomura in 2008

along with Martin Chale and Roger Tsien.

Union Government to set up a BGRL to understand earthquake

mechanism in Koyna region

Dr Harsh Vardhan, the Union Minister for Science, Technology and Earth Scienceson 2 February 2016 inaugurated the construction work of Borehole Geophysics

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Research Laboratory (BGRL) at Hazarmachi, Karad of Maharashtra.

BGRL is being developed at Karad to understand and address the challenges of the

seismological problems (natural calamities) of societal relevance in the Koyna Region

through drilling investigation.

BGRL was conceptualised as part of the Ministry’s programme of Scientic Deep

Drilling in Koyna Intra-plate Seismic Zone for geographical investigations and

modeling dedicated to earthquake research in the area.

About the BGRL Programme

The programme is a unique approach to understand the mechanism of earthquakes

in the Koyna region and it proposes

• It is proposed to drill deep boreholes to reach the depths of earthquakes in this

region and set-up a deep borehole observatory.

• Direct observations in the source zone of the earthquakes will provide new and

critical information to model these earthquake mechanisms.

The goal of BGRL is to emerge as an Institution of international repute housing highly

specialized geophysical, geological and geotechnical facilities related to earthquake

research.

About Koyna region

Koynanagar is a town near the Koyna Hydroelectric Project in Maharashtra. The area

is one of the most seismically active in Maharashtra as well as the country. Koyna

region lies in Zone IV of earthquake hazard zoning.

Reservoir triggered earthquakes have been occurring persistently in the Koyna region

since the impoundment of the Shivaji Sagar Lake in 1962. In 1967, the region faced

a quake of magnitude 6.3, which was the largest triggered earthquake of the area.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




STATE

Punjab imposed ban on sale of Army Uniforms in the state 145

Muziris Heritage Conservation Project inaugurated 145

Mumbai Police created 16 no-sele zones 146

Maharashtra nalised PMC for Shivaji memorial in Arabian Sea 146

Mizoram launched National Food Security Act, 2013 147

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




West Bengal to constitute two task forces for Tribals, Gorkhas 148

Assam Cabinet approved Metro Rail for Guwahati 149

Kalikho Pul sworn in as Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh 150

Tamil Nadu announced Free Bus Pass Scheme for senior citizens 150

Odisha to introduce self-certifying scheme for industries 151

Jharkhand and Adani Group inked MoU to set up thermal power plant 152

West Bengal launched Utkarsh Bangla Scheme for school-dropouts 152

1st Mega Food Park of Jharkhand inaugurated at Getalsud 153

1st Mega Food Park in Madhya Pradesh inaugurated at Panwa 154

Assam CM Gogoi unveiled Vision Assam 2030 155

Sikkim to construct Mini Sikkim for showcasing state’s diverse & rich cul-

ture 156

Andhra Pradesh proposed to develop INS Viraat as Tourism Center 157

Odisha allowed tourists into certain tribal areas after three years ban 158

CIPET signed MoU with Karnataka Government to set up Advanced Polymer

Laboratory in Bengaluru 159

Odisha extended Aahar cheap meal scheme to 29 districts 160

Maharashtra announced Babasaheb Ambedkar Special Collective Incentive

Scheme 160

World Bank approved $35 million to improve citizen access to public servic-

es in Madhya Pradesh 162

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Punjab imposed ban on sale of Army Uniforms in the state

Punjab government on 28 February 2016 imposed a ban on the sale of army uniforms

across the state.

Any person who wants to buy the uniform would have to submit a self-attested copy

of his identity card and phone number with the shopkeeper. This record would be

duly maintained along with date of sale in the record register of the shopkeeper.

These orders would remain in force till 21 April 2016 and next course of action willbe decided afterwards.

Besides, the state also banned use of red and blue coloured stickers used by police

on vehicles. The government has also prohibited the use of plates of political parties

on vehicles with immediate effect.

The decision was taken in backdrop of terror attacks in Pathankot and Gurdaspur

in the recent past. During the attacks, the militants had disguised themselves in thearmy fatigues.

Muziris Heritage Conservation Project inaugurated

President Pranab Mukherjee on 27 February 2016 inaugurated Kerala Tourism’s

Muziris Heritage Project (MHP) at Trissur in Kerala.

The project is India’s largest heritage conservation project and Kerala Government’s

rst green Project.

Muziris is the hub of the spice route and the bustling port of the rst century BC that

drew legions of Arab, Roman, Greek, Chinese and Jewish traders from across the

seas. Its launch will unveil the history and heritage of Muziris described by Roman

Naturalist Pliny the Elder as India’s rst emporium

Featuring a host of initiatives including museums and a number of heritage sites,

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




MHP, supported by the Union Government will conserve and showcase the culture

of 3000 years or more for posterity. The project gains added signicance due to its

close link with the Spice Route initiative launched by Kerala Tourism with the support

of UNESCO to revive Kerala’s age-old trade ties with 41 countries of the world.

Earlier on 18 July 2015, the Project bagged the 2015 Pacic Asia Travel Association

(PATA) award in the ‘Heritage & Culture’ category.

Mumbai Police created 16 no-sele zones

Mumbai Police on 25 February 2016 created 16 no-sele zones around the city. The

action was taken in response to several deaths of people taking seles.

This enforcement of the order is police’s bid to discourage people from putting

themselves at risk while taking seles.

The spots include popular sea-fronts like Bandra Bandstand, Marine Drive and JuhuChowpatty. The process of identifying and marking certain spots in the city as ‘No

Sele Zones’ was initiated by Mumbai police in January 2016.

India is home to 19 of the world’s 49 reported sele deaths since 2014. These include

two people who died earlier in February 2016 after one tried to take a sele near a

dam in the town of Nashik. A classmate who jumped in to try to save the man also

drowned.

In January 2016, an 18-year old woman drowned after falling into the ocean at

Mumbai’s Bandstand Fort, a site frequented by tourists.

Maharashtra nalised PMC for Shivaji memorial in Arabian Sea

Maharashtra Government on 24 February 2016 nalised a Project Management

Consultant (PMC) for the proposed Chhatrapati Shivaji Memorial in the Arabian Sea.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




The project scheduled to be completed by 2018 will be executed at an expense of

84 crore rupees.

The consultant was nalised at a meeting headed by Chief Minister Devendra

Fadnavis. As per the decision a consortium of Egis India Consulting Engineers Pvt

Ltd and Design Associates were appointed as the PMC.

PMC will nalise the concept design, oat tenders and oversee the implementation

of the project. Chairperson of the Oversee committee MLC Vinayak Methe said that

the agreement will be signed with the consortium within a week’s time.

The JJ School of Art had submitted a schematic diagram for the memorial on the 16

hectare rocky terrain.

Mizoram launched National Food Security Act, 2013

National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013 was ofcially launched in Mizoram on 24February 2016. The Act was launched by state Food civil Supplies and Consumer

affairs Minister John Rotluangliana at Aizwal.

The Act will become effective in the state from 1 March 2016.

The state has decided to allocate 3 kilogram of rice in addition to the 5 kilogram

covered by Food Security Act.

As per Census 2011, a total of 644882 people will be covered by Food Security Act

which is 81.88 percent of people living in rural areas and 48.60 percent of urban

areas. In addition, the state government has also decided to provide 8 kilogram of

Rice at the rate of 15 Rupees to those not covered by Food Security Act.

National Food Security Act (NFSA)

The National Food Security Act (NFSA) came into effect on 5 July 2013. It aims at

providing legal entitlement to 5 kg of subsidised foodgrains per person per month at 1

rupee to 3 rupees per kilogram to two-thirds (67 percent) of the country’s population.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




West Bengal to constitute two task forces for Tribals, Gorkhas

West Bengal Government on 24 February 2016 announced its decision to constitute

two task forces for the development of Adivasis and Gorkhas living the state.

One task force will work for the tribals of the Terai-Dooars and the other for the

Gorkhas living in the Darjeeling Hills region in northern part of the State.

These task forces will have working authority akin to the development boards

constituted earlier.

The decision to the effect was taken at the State Cabinet meet held on 17 February

2016. But the announcement was made by State Sports and Youth Affairs Minister,

Arup Biswas at a meeting of the Dooars Siliguri Terai Bhartiya Nepali Development

Forum (DSTBNDB) held on 24 February.

Earlier, the State Government had set-up six development boards for the Lepchas,

Bhutias, Sherpas, Tamangs, Mangars and Khambu-Rais inhabiting in the northBengal region.

About Dooars region

Dooars, meaning door, is synonymous with the term Terai used in Nepal and northern

India and form the only nitrate rich soil in India.

These areas are the oodplains and foothills of the eastern Himalayas in North-East

India around Bhutan and the region is divided by the Sankosh River into the Eastern

and the Western Dooars, consisting of an area of 8800 square kilometer.

The Dooars region politically constitutes the plains of Darjeeling District, the whole

of Jalpaiguri district and Alipurduar district and the upper region of Cooch Behar

district in West Bengal and the districts of Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Goalpara and

Bongaigaon in the state of Assam.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Assam Cabinet approved Metro Rail for Guwahati

The Assam Cabinet on 23 February 2016 approved the detailed project report (DPR)

for a Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) for Guwahati. The cabinet also gave green

signal to setting up of the Guwahati Metro Rail Corporation Limited (GMRCL).

State Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi will lay the foundation stone for the Metro project in

Khanapara area on 29 February 2016.

Key highlights of Guwahati Metro project

• The 203 kilometres Metro corridor will be completed in three phases.

• Phase I will cover a length 61.4 kilometres, and will have four corridors: Dharapur-

Narangi (elevated), M.G. Road to Khanapara (underground), Jalukbari to Khanapara

(elevated) and ISBT to Paltanbazar (elevated).

• There will be 54 stations in the rst phase.

• The trains will have a carrying capacity of up to 975 passengers each.

• The estimated projected cost including land is 18020 crore rupees.

• The Assam Government and the Union Government will share 20 per cent each of

the total cost. Local bodies will contribute 350 crore rupees, while the remaining

10074 crore rupees will be funded through soft loans from funding agencies withguarantees from the Union Government.

• GMRCL will be a wholly-owned company of the Assam Government and will look

after the operation and maintenance of the project.

• The company will be later converted into joint ownership (50:50) of the State and

Union Governments.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Kalikho Pul sworn in as Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh

Kalikho PulKalikho Pul on 19 February 2016 was sworn in as the ninth Chief Minister

of Arunachal Pradesh. State Governor J P Rajkhowa administered the oath of ofce

to Pul.

Pul was sworn in as the CM with the support of 18 rebel Congress MLAs, and two

Independents and 11 BJP MLAs who gave outside support.

Background

• Arunachal Pradesh witnessed a political crisis after 14 Congress MLAs were

suspended by Speaker Nabam Rebia in June 2015.

• Later in December 2015, the Deputy Speaker TN Thongdok cleared an impeachment

motion against the Speaker owing to his personal relationship with Chief Minister

Nabam Tuki.

• On 26 January 2016, President Pranab Mukherjee approved the Union Cabinet’s

recommendation for the imposition of President’s rule on Arunachal Pradesh.

• The President’s Rule was lifted after the Supreme Court vacated its interim order

to maintain status quo in the Arunachal Pradesh assembly, paving the way for

government formation.

• President Pranab Mukherjee on 19 February 2016 approved the recommendation

of the Union Cabinet for revocation of the President’s Rule in the state.

Tamil Nadu announced Free Bus Pass Scheme for senior citi-

zens

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on 18 February 2016 announced a free buspass scheme for senior citizens in Chennai.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




The scheme would come into effect from 24 February 2016, the day that coincides

with the birthday of Jayalalitha.

Highlights of the Scheme

• People above 60 years of age can avail the free travel facility in non-AC buses

being run by the state run Metropolitan Transport Corporation in Chennai.

• The beneciaries will be given ten tokens every month for the free travel,

Based on the response to the scheme from the senior citizens, it would be extended

to the whole state. The announcement was a part of promises which were made by AIADMK in the 2011 election manifesto.

Odisha to introduce self-certifying scheme for industries

Odisha government on 17 January 2016 decided to introduce a self-certifying scheme

for non-hazardous industries.

This scheme will ease the process of doing business in the state by shortening the

inspection process at the initial levels required for non-hazardous industries to set

up units.

The decision in regard to the scheme was taken at a high-level meeting in Bhubaneswar,

presided over by Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi.

The Chief Secretary suggested the Labour and ESI Department to expedite the

process for notifying the self-certication scheme. The department was also asked to

simplify the compliance process to Labour and Factories Act as a step for facilitating

setting up of more industrial units and creation of more jobs.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Jharkhand and Adani Group inked MoU to set up thermal power

plant

The Jharkhand government and Adani Group on 17 February 2016 signed a

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for investment of 15000 crore rupees in the

state to set up a 1600 MW capacity thermal power plant.

The MoU was signed between Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das and Rajesh

Adani, managing director, Adani Group during the Jharkhand Investors Summit atMake In India Week in Mumbai.

The Adani Group has entered into an agreement with Bangladesh Power Corporation

to provide it energy and the proposed plants in Jharkhand will help the company to

supply power to Bangladesh.

The proposed plants will be set up in Godda and Sahibganj districts of the state.

The Jharkhand government announced that it is expecting a total investment of over62000 crore under various Make in India projects.

The biggest investment to the state has been committed by the Adani Group which

will invest 50000 crore rupees for power and fertiliser manufacturing plants.

The state is also getting an investment of 2000 crore from Vedanta group to set up a

steel plant.

West Bengal launched Utkarsh Bangla Scheme for school-drop-

outs

Utkarsh Bangla SchemeWest Bengal government on 16 February 2016 launched

Utkarsh Bangla Scheme, a welfare scheme for school-dropouts, in Kolkata.

Utkarsha Bangla is aimed at giving vocational training to school dropouts. Each youth

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




will get training ranging from 400 to 1200 hours. The school-dropouts will be trained

free of charge in tailoring, driving, repairing television and other electronic equipment

and beauty courses etc.

During the inauguration programme, the Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee said that in

the last four years, state administration has trained 15 lakh boys and girls in vocational

streams. Out of which about 10 lakh secured jobs.

Besides Utkarsh Bangla, Banerjee also inaugurated a number of industrial training

institute buildings. She also inaugurated the campus of Amity University in Kolkata.

She also operationalised the Online Single-Window Clearance System portal for

industrial projects and inaugurated industrial estates in Durgapur and Beliaghata

from the programme venue in Kolkata.

On this occasion, she gave away awards to national and state-level winners for

excellence in skill development as well.

1st Mega Food Park of Jharkhand inaugurated at Getalsud

Mega Food ParkThe rst Mega Food Park (MFP) of Jharkhand was on 15 February

2016 inaugurated at Getalsud village in Ranchi district. The MFP, named Jharkhand

Mega Food Park, was inaugurated by Union Minister of Food Processing Industries

Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

Features of Jharkhand Mega Food Park

• It was set up as a public private partnership (PPP) project under the aegis of

the Mega Food Park Scheme (MFPS) of the Union Ministry of Food Processing

Industries (MFPI).

• It is promoted by M/s Jharkhand Mega Food Park Pvt Ltd. at an estimated cost of

114.73 crore rupees in an area of 51.50 Acres.

• It has Central Processing Centre (CPC) at Ranchi and six Primary Processing

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Centres (PPCs) are being set up at Lohardaga, Gumla, Hazaribagh, Belchampa,

Domchach and Patratu to provide strong backward linkages.

• It will have facilities of Multi Chamber Cold Storage, Dry Warehouse, Vegetable

Dehydration Line, modern Quality Control& Testing Laboratory and other processing

facilities for fruits & vegetables.

• It will create a modern infrastructure for arresting post-harvest losses of

horticultural and non-horticultural produce and provide impetus to the growth of

food processing sector in Jharkhand.

• It will help in providing better prices to farmers, reduce wastage of perishables, add

value to agricultural produce and create huge opportunities for entrepreneurship

and employment for the youth of the State.

• It will benet the people of Ranchi district and the people of nearby districts of

Lohardaga, Gumla, Ramgarh, Garhwa, Koderma, & Hazaribagh etc.as well.

• It is expected to provide direct and indirect employment to about 6000 people and

benet about 25000-30000 farmers in its catchment area.

1st Mega Food Park in Madhya Pradesh inaugurated at Panwa

The rst Mega Food Park (MFP) of Madhya Pradesh was on 12 February 2016

inaugurated at Panwa village in Kasarwad tehsil of Khargone district.

The MFP, named after Indus, was inaugurated by Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union

Minister of Food Processing Industries.

Details related to the Mega Food Park

• It was set up by M/s Indus mega Food Part Pvt. Ltd at an estimated cost of 127.70

crore rupees in an area of 53.78 acres.

• It has a Central Processing Centre at Khargone and three Primary Processing

Centres are being set up at Bedia, Ratlam and Ujjain to provide strong backward

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




linkages.

• It is expected to provide direct and indirect employment to about 6000 people and

benet about 25000 to 30000 farmers in its catchment area.

• It will have facilities of 3000 MT Cold Storage, 9000 MT Dry Warehouse, Instant

Quick Freeze (IQF) 5 MT per hour, modern Quality Control lab and other processing

facilities for fruits and vegetables.

• It will create a modern infrastructure for arresting post-harvest losses of

horticultural and non-horticultural produce and provide impetus to the growth of

food processing sector in Madhya Pradesh.

• It will help in providing better prices to farmers, reduce wastage of perishables

and add value to agricultural produce.

• It will help in creating huge opportunities for entrepreneurship and employment for

the youth of the State.

• It will benet the people of Khargone district and the people of nearby districts ofIndore, Ratlam, Ujjain, Dhar, Khandwa, Dewas&Barwani as well.

Assam CM Gogoi unveiled Vision Assam 2030

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on 10 February 2016 unveiled a draft document,

‘Vision Assam-2030: Everything for Everyone-Achieving inclusive and Sustainable

Development’. The document was released to ensure inclusive and sustainable

development of the state.

The vision document was released during the two-day partnership conference in

connection with implementation of sustainable development goals that began in

Guwahati on the same day.

‘Vision Assam 2030’ envisions a transformed future for the people of Assam free

from all forms of deprivation, inequities and insecurity within the next 15 years.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




With this, Assam became the rst state to have a vision document on sustainable

development goals.

Background

The ‘Vision Assam 2030’ is based on the United Nations the ofcial agenda,

Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The agenda was adopted as a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly

on 25 September 2015 for sustainable development comprising 17 goals and 169

targets.

The 17 goals include ending poverty in all forms, ending hunger, achieving good

health for all, quality education for all, gender equality, clean sanitation and water,

affordable and clean energy, employment and economic growth, industrialisation and

innovation, reducing inequalities, responsible consumption and production, climate

change, protecting life under water, conserving life on land, achieving justice and

peace and partnerships to achieve these goals.

Sikkim to construct Mini Sikkim for showcasing state’s diverse

& rich culture

Sikkim’s Chief Minister Pawan Chamling on 9 February 2016 announced that the

state government will construct a ‘Mini Sikkim’, which will be a centre for showcasing

the state’s diverse and rich culture.

The ‘Mini Sikkim’ will be constructed under the Namthang Ratheypani constituency

in South Sikkim district.

The announcement was made while inaugurating a newly constructed market at

Maniram Bhanjyang in the district.

As per reports, the new project will consist of traditional houses of fteen ethnic

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




communities of Sikkim. Traditional museums will also be put in place alongside

commercial outlets throughout the State.

This initiative will help the state in garnering domestic and international tourists

throughout the year.

Andhra Pradesh proposed to develop INS Viraat as Tourism Cent-

er

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on 8 February 2016 announced

plans to develop aircraft carrier INS Viraat as a tourism center. It will be developed as

a tourism centre after its decommissioning at Vishakhapatnam in June 2016.

During the International Fleet Review held in Vishakhapatnam, the Andhra

Pradesh government requested the Defence Ministry to allot INS Viraat to it after

decommissioning.

For this, Naidu said that a joint venture would be set up by the Andhra Pradesh

government the Indian Navy and a private organisation to take up the tourism-

related activities such as yachting, sea sports, sailing, gliding and cruising would be

promoted.

With nearly 1500 rooms, a conference hall with a capacity to seat 500 people and a

helipad are available in the aircraft carrier, the State government has plans to establish

a restaurant too.

INS Viraat, the aircraft career that has had a service life of 56 years - rst as HMS

Hermes in the Royal British Navy and in its present avatar since 1987 - will be

decommissioned in June 2016. It saw action in the Falklands War.

Following the decommissioning of the rst Indian carrier INS Vikrant in 1997, it

remained as the sole aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean for over a decade.

Apart from this, the Chief Minister also announced setting up of a memorial and

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




museum exclusively dedicated to the Indian freedom ghters in West Sikkim district.

The memorial will have statues of martyrs from the state as well as those from other

parts of the country.

Odisha allowed tourists into certain tribal areas after three years

ban

The Odisha government on 4 February 2016 lifted the restrictions on visit of foreign

tourists to certain tribal areas in the State. The ban was lifted after three years.

The revised guidelines relaxed restrictions that will enable foreign tourists to trek and

learn the lifestyle of primitive tribes living in certain hilly terrains.

Highlights of the revised guidelines

• Foreign tourists have been asked to pay respect to the culture and tradition of

tribals.

• The tourists will have to submit their proposed itinerary to the police superintendents

of the concerned districts.

• The foreign tourists have been asked to take photographs only with the consent

of the tribals.

The government tightened the restrictions following the abduction of two Italian

tourists in Kandhamal district by Maoists three years ago.

The state government reportedly took the decision following dwindling tourist footfalls

in Odisha. Notably, Odisha is home to 62 tribal communities, including 13 categorised

as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




CIPET signed MoU with Karnataka Government to set up Ad-

vanced Polymer Laboratory in Bengaluru

Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology (CIPET), under the Union

Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers on 3 February 2016 signed a Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) with Karnataka Government to set up Advanced Polymer Design

and Development Research Laboratory cum High Learning Centre at Bengaluru.

The State Government share 50 percent of project cost apart from allotting therequired land for the centre.

Union Government will bear the remaining 50 Percent and act as a multi-functional

one-step facility with specialization in product development in Polymer sector.

Features of the Advanced Polymer Design and Development Research Labo-ratory

• The Laboratory would be set with all modern equipment and machinery with anestimated investment of 87 crore rupees.

• It will also conduct Research and development, product tests and evaluations and

commercialization of technology.

• It will play an important role in developing new Plastics Technologies, Processes

and Products to enhance the use of plastics for promotion of industries and

betterment of the people.

• It will establish a strong relationship with industries, especially for design and

development of advanced polymers, micro uidic device development and

manufacturing techniques for medical and electronics etc.

• It will also compliment a number of projects of ISRO, DRDO, Department of

Science and Technology, CSIR and other public and private sector organizations.

• It would also help India to address various global issues such as requirement

of light weight components, nano-composites, high performance coatings, ame

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




retardant polymers, increased use of plastic in agriculture and construction, and

tailor-made polymer solution for various industries.

Odisha extended Aahar cheap meal scheme to 29 districts

The Government of Odisha on 2 February 2016 decided to extend the Aahar scheme

to 29 districts in the State. A decision in this regard was taken at a review meeting on

the programme at the State secretariat in Bhubaneswar.

As per the decision, 58 centres will be established in 29 districts across the State to

provide subsidized food to urban poor under the scheme. The centres will be opened

from March 2016.

Features of Aahar Scheme

• It was launched by the State Government on 1 April 2015 to mark the State’s

Foundation Day, Utkala Diwas.

• As part of the rst phase of the scheme, Aahar outlets were opened in ve cities,

namely, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur and Rourkela.

• The outlets served meal comprising of Rice, Dalma and Pickle at a subsidised rate

of 5 rupees with nancial assistance from three State run corporations and Tata

Steel.

• Each Aahar outlet will cater to one thousand people daily between 11 am and 3

pm.

Maharashtra announced Babasaheb Ambedkar Special Collec-

tive Incentive Scheme

Maharashtra Cabinet on 2 February 2016 announced Bharatratna Dr. Babasaheb

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Ambedkar Special Collective Incentive Scheme for the economically backward Dalit

entrepreneurs.

The scheme was launched to celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar.

Under this scheme, special facilities would be given to Dalit entrepreneurs besides

the present Collective Incentive Scheme 2013. Businessmen in Commodities and

Service sector would be able to avail the benets of this scheme.

Major highlights of the Scheme

• Dalit and tribal communities will be allowed to set up their businesses on landsprovided by Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). These lands

will be offered at cheaper rates.

• The government will set aside a portion of land in every integrated town for

businessmen belonging to lower class.

• Tribal entrepreneurs will be also included under this new scheme.

• Only one member of the family will be eligible for loan under this scheme and start

up Unit till get an additional 10 pc incentive

• A single window (Maitri Kaksha) was initiated for giving all permissions required

starting business.

• Online Wallet would be made available for those wanting to apply for industrial

permissions and all scrutiny and processing fees for would be paid through this

and application tracking be available online.

Apart from this, the government has also decided to set up a Venture Capital Fund

(VCF) with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) only for Dalit and

tribal businessmen.

Besides this, other State Cabinet decisions include effective implementation of rural

housing scheme, simplication of agriculture land dealings and green signal for State

Innovation Council for boosting Start Up India programme.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




World Bank approved $35 million to improve citizen access to

public services in Madhya Pradesh

The World Bank Board on 29 January 2016 approved a 35 million US dollars credit for

the Citizen Access to Responsive Services Project. The Project will improve access

to selected public services for the people of Madhya Pradesh (MP) and particularly

those belonging to deprived groups.

The World Bank’s concessionary lending arm, the International Development Association (IDA) will lend the amount with a maturity of 25 years, including a 5 year

grace period.

Silent Features of the Citizen Access to Responsive Services Project

• This project will provide support to Madhya Pradesh Government to expand the

number of services under the 2010 Public Services Guarantee Act.

• It would help to open LSK centers in underserved and remote areas, streamline

government procedures and reach out to citizens so they all benet from access

to key public services anywhere, anytime through transparent and accountable

governance as per the government’s Vision 2018.

• Madhya Pradesh was the rst state in India and worldwide to approve a Right to

Public Services legislation and since then, 14 states have emulated the initiative

by focusing on providing a more responsive service delivery, particularly for thepoor and underserved groups.

• Three guiding principles will drive the next generation of PSGA reforms in MP:

inclusiveness, simplication and accountability.

• It will integrate various service delivery platforms currently under operation and

develop a Sarv Seva portal to allow citizens to access services through the channel

of their choice (i.e., kiosk, phone, web or mobile technologies).

• The MP government is also working on simplifying government procedures so

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




that some certicates are not needed at all, or are available real time at a single

repository.

Efforts of Madhya Pradesh Government to improve service delivery

• In an effort to improve service delivery, Madhya Pradesh Government adopted the

Public Services Guarantee Act (PSGA) in 2010.

• The PSGA has contributed to improving the delivery of public services to the

citizens of Madhya Pradesh in a transparent, efcient and accountable manner.

• It has triggered several reforms including mandatory issuance of receipts forapplications, online applications, and adhering to timelines.

• Under the PSGA, services are provided by Lok Seva Kendras (LSKs) or kiosks.

• The LSKs are privately operated under a public private partnership (PPP)

arrangement and allowed citizens to apply for multiple government services at a

one stop shop.

• Currently, there are 334 LSK centers throughout the state and more than 10 million

applications have been processed since 2010.

• Around 126 public services were notied under the Act which includes water and

electric connections, various government schemes like the widow allowance and

pension schemes, caste and property certicates, and legal agriculture documents

among others.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




REPORTS/SURVEY

18th Mercer Quality of Life survey released 165

UNESCO Report on Fight against Discrimination and Racism in Football166

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




18th Mercer Quality of Life survey released

18th Mercer annual Quality of Living survey was released on 23 February 2016. The

survey of 230 cities helps companies and organizations determine compensation

and hardship allowances for international staff.

The list compiled by consulting rm Mercer said Vienna, Austria’s grand capital on

the Danube River offers the highest quality of life of all cities in the world. On the

other hand, the Iraqi capital Baghdad, once more took its place at the bottom of a

live ability list.

The study says that despite recent security issues, social unrest, and concern about

the region’s economic outlook, European cities continue to offer some of the worlds’

highest quality-of-living.

Seven Indian cities ranked in the list

• Hyderabad – rank 139

• Pune – rank 144

• Bangalore – rank 145

• Chennai – rank 150

• Mumbai – rank 152

• Kolkata – rank 160

• New Delhi – rank 161

Top 10 Cities: Vienna (Austria), Zurich (Switzerland), Auckland (New Zealand), Munich

(Germany), Vancouver (Canada), Dusseldorf (Germany), Frankfurt (Germany), Geneva

(Switzerland), Copenhagen (Denmark), Sydney (Australia)

Mercer’s Quality of Living Survey assesses quality of living conditions to help

multinational companies and other employers fairly compensate employees when

placing them on international assignments. Mercer compiles reports for each city,

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




providing an overview of conditions and hardship premium recommendations. It uses

dozens of criteria such as political stability, health care, education, crime, recreation

and transport.

UNESCO Report on Fight against Discrimination and Racism in

Football

UNESCO report entitled Colour? What Colour? was presented on 9 February 2016 at

the General Assembly of the European Club Association in Paris.

The report was launched by UNESCO and Juventus in November 2015 to present

measures to ght on racism and discrimination in international football.

Features of the Report

• It takes stock of what has been done and is being done against racism and

discrimination in the sport.

• It examines ways to assess actions undertaken and envisages other complementary

actions, as well as offering examples of best practice.

• Football Clubs and the European Club Association can and should play a key role

in promoting football as a powerful educational tool to ght against racism.

• The values of inclusion, anti-racism and anti-discrimination should be taught

through football from a young age.

• The foreword to the Report stated that the values of solidarity, respect, equal

dignity and tolerance are the foundations for the struggle against the scourges of

racism and all forms of discrimination.

Recommendations of the Report

• Building on lessons learned from the success of political correctness in inuencingchange of use of vocabulary. No other instrument is more efcient than self-

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




regulation by the supporters themselves.

• Learning from the history of political correctness can help create a context in which

‘self-censorship’ changes linguistic habits and traditions in the football stadium

• Limiting sanctions of fans and other actors to individuals. Collective sanctions are

ethically wrong, highly controversial and counterproductive.

• Identifying and sanctioning individual perpetrators is feasible by way of

contemporary technology and close collaboration with authorities. Charity work

may be preferred over nes assanctions.

• Taking the education imperative seriously. There is consensus on the essential

role of education in the combat against racism and discrimination.

• Local initiatives by individual clubs and civil society organisations are useful and

effective.

• In addition to challenging the use of racism and discrimination as part of the fan

experience, broader humanistic education should provide alternative models tothe current ultra-competitive model of sport.

• Developing a sustainable concept of ‘civic brand management’. As fully-edged

corporate entities, professional clubs must be more aware of the ‘corporate social

responsibility’ that comes with increased economic power.

• Committing to a longer-term vision and sustainability of efforts could come from

a visionary group of clubs by introduction of a ‘quality label’ that would involvebrand ambassadors and supporter groups.

Discrimination in Football

• Discrimination in the selection of players has existed from the origins of the game.

Since the 1970s especially in Europe, multi-ethnic teams have become the norm.

• Xenophobic and racist attitudes and behaviours as well as hooliganism and

violence by fans persisted or even appeared where they were previously absent

throughout the last decades of the twentieth century.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• Since the beginning of the twenty-rst century, we have seen signicant change.

As awareness of racism and discrimination and measures to mitigate them has

made progress in society at large, this awareness has also increased within the

football community.

• Racism has been tackled by both bottom-up and top-down initiatives.

Multiculturalism is valued in the sport and the stands, and ethnic exclusion is a

regrettable abnormality.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




COMMITTEES/COMMISSIONS

Ajay Shankar Committee recommendations on Prior Permission and Regu-

latory Mechanisms 170

PG Apte Working Group Report on Introduction of Interest Rate Options in

India released 172

Tarun Ray Committee on examining Companies Act, 2013 submitted its re-

port 174

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Ajay Shankar Committee recommendations on Prior Permission

and Regulatory Mechanisms

The Government-constituted expert committee to examine the Possibility of Replacing

Multiple Prior Permissions with Pre-Existing Regulatory Mechanism submitted its

recommendations in the fourth week of February 2016.

The Expert Committee was constituted by Department of Industrial Policy and

Promotion (DIPP) in April 2015 to examine the possibility of replacing multiple priorpermissions with a pre-existing regulatory mechanism with adequate safeguards.

The 11 member committee was headed by Ajay Shankar, Former Secretary of DIPP.

Key recommendations of the committee are:

Regulatory Impact Assessment: Continuing Process

• There is need for a standing institutional mechanism within government for an

Independent Regulatory Impact Assessment on an on-going basis of the existing

regulatory requirements and proposed new ones across the entire range of

economic activities.

Inventory of clearances

• It was recommended that the listing of clearances at the level of the Union

Government and State Governments should be evolved in an open sourceWikipedia type of process in which all concerned stakeholders can participate.

Standards

• There should be a greater willingness to adopt the standards that are in force in

developed mature markets as this will enhance global competitiveness for Make

in India.

• CODEX Food Standards should be made automatically applicable in India from

the date of notication by CODEX and rms should not need any permission to

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




introduce food products in the Indian market conforming to the relevant CODEX

Standard.

• An efcient system of regulatory approval of conformity to standards is essential

for new products to be acceptable to doctors and patients.

Third Party Certications

• Credible Third Party Certication may be introduced in most areas of regulation

jointly with sectoral regulators in a planned and phased manner from prospective

dates.

• For better compliance and credibility of the process, some percentage of Third

Party Certication would need to be subject to random concurrent audit with stiff

penalties cumulatively leading up to even withdrawal of accreditation for laxity.

Environment Clearances

• India should seek to adopt global Best Practices in setting up standards and norms

for emissions, efuents and solid waste for different categories of Industries.

• Promoters of Industrial Parks, Zones and Areas may be allowed to obtain

Environment Approval for their whole area for setting up of identied environmentally

homogenous or similar industries with a specied level of nal gross annual

production and environmental load.

• For globally mature industries such as steel, cement, power etc. for which

international environment standards exist, environmental appraisal need not gointo the internal processes by which prescribed norms would be complied with.

Geographical Planning

• The Ministries of environmentally sensitive sectors such as power, petrochemicals

& chemicals, pharmaceuticals and steel should, jointly with the MoEFCC, work

out a 20-year perspective geographical plan indicating preferred locations in

prioritised categories for their anticipated projects, so that the negative impact on

the environment is minimized.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Forest Clearance

• A GIS-Digital map based inventory of the forest cover in the country has now

been created. It is recommended that this database be used for taking decisions

regarding approval of proposals for diversion of forest land for a project, as well

as for determining the Net Present Value (NPV) of the forest cover on the land

proposed for diversion as well as the cost of compensatory afforestation.

• MoEFCC in partnership with State Governments may create Land Banks for

compensatory afforestation.

• Ministries of environmentally sensitive sectors should join with the Ministry of

Environment and Forests to prepare a 20 year perspective geographical plan.

Start-ups

• Areas for start-ups through mixed land use re-development or greeneld

development may be earmarked.

• For specically identied activities from amongst the environmentally Greencategories of industries, no municipal licenses and Pollution Control Board

permissions should be required for Start-ups.

• Start-ups may be exempted from the requirement of seeking building plan

approvals.

PG Apte Working Group Report on Introduction of Interest RateOptions in India released

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 8 February 2016 released the Report of the

Working Group on Introduction of Interest Rate Options in India. The report was

prepared by RBI committee chaired by Prof PG Apte.

Key recommendations of the Apte Committee

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• To begin with, simple call and put Options, caps, oors, collars and swaptions

may be permitted. Complex structures may be introduced subsequently.

• Both Over-the-Counter (OTC) as well as exchange traded options may be

introduced. While in the OTC segment only European options may be permitted,

both American and European structures may be permitted on Exchanges.

• Fixed Income Money Market and Derivatives Association of India (FIMMDA)/

Financial Benchmark India Private Limited (FBIL) may come out with the list of

eligible domestic money or debt market rates as benchmarks like G-Sec, T-Bills,

MIBOR,OIS, MIFOR, IRF etc.

• While banks, PDs and other regulated entities having sound nancials and prudent

risk management may be allowed as market makers subject to the approval of

concerned regulator, all domestic entities having underlying interest rate risk may

be permitted as users.

• While no documentation relating to underlying exposure may be required for

exposures up to 5 crore rupees, large corporate may also be allowed to take

hedging positions for their anticipated interest rate exposures.

• The minimum lot size of the contract is to be kept at 2 lakh rupees on Exchanges

and on the OTC, it is 5 crore rupees and in multiples of 5 crore rupees thereof

among the market makers. Transactions between user and market maker may be

standardized.

The RBI placed the recommendations of the panel for comments, which can be

emailed by 26 February 2016. Final guidelines will be issued by the end March 2016

taking into account the feedback received.

Background

The Working Group under Chairmanship of Prof PG Apte was constituted by the

Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of the Reserve Bank on Financial markets on 21

April 2015. The Working Group was tasked to comprehensively look into all relevant

issues and give recommendations on the framework for introduction of Interest Rate

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Options in India.

At present, interest rate derivatives (IRD) in India exists only in the form of Interest

Rate Swap (IRS) and Forward Rate Agreement (FRA) in the OTC segment and Interest

Rate Futures (IRF) on the Exchanges. These were made available by the RBI in 1999.

IRS market has evolved over a period of time and is fairly liquid. Trading in IRF

market has gradually increased with wider participation by different categories of

participants. These IRDs can be used by the banks and other market participants to

manage market risk effectively in their books.

However, the nancial entities, including banks, do not have any instruments to

manage the embedded options on their balance sheets.

Tarun Ray Committee on examining Companies Act, 2013 sub-

mitted its report

Companies Law Committee submitted its report to the union government on 1 February

2016. It was constituted in June 2015 for examining and making recommendations

on the issues arising out of implementation of the Companies Act, 2013.

It was chaired by Tapan Ray Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs and consist 8

members and one member convener.

The Committee has proposed changes in 78 sections of the Companies Act, 2013,which along with consequential changes, would result in about 100 amendments to

the Act. Approximately fty amendments to the Rules have also been proposed.

The recommendations cover signicant areas of the Act, including denitions, raising

of capital, accounts and audit, corporate governance, managerial remuneration,

companies incorporated outside India and offences/ penalties.

Some of the key changes proposed

• Managerial remuneration to be approved by shareholders.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• Modify denition of associate company and subsidiary company to ensure that

equity share capital is the basis for deciding holding-subsidiary relationship rather

than both equity and preference share capital.

• Private placement process to be substantially simplied, doing away with separate

offer letter, making valuation details public, details/record of applicants to be kept

by company and to be led as part of return of allotment only, and reducing number

of lings to Registrar.

• Incorporation process to be made easier and allow greater exibility to companies:

An unrestricted objects clause to be allowed in the Memorandum of Association

dispensing with detailed listing of objects, self-declarations to replace afdavits

from subscribers to memorandum and rst directors; changes also in various

Forms.

• Provisions relating to forward dealing and insider trading to be omitted from

Companies Act. Listed companies are covered under SEBI Act/Regulations.

• Companies may give loans to entities in which directors are interested after passing

special resolution and adhering to disclosure requirement.

• Restriction on layers of subsidiaries and investment companies to be removed.

• Change in the denition of term relative for determining disqualication of auditor

• Rationalize penal provisions with reduced liability for procedural and technical

defaults. Penal provisions for small companies to be reduced.

• No ling fees if nancial statements and annual returns led within prescribed

time.

• Auditor to report on internal nancial controls with regard to nancial statements.

• Frauds less than 10 Lakh rupees to be compoundable offences. Other frauds to

be continued to be non-compoundable.

• Reducing requirement for maintaining deposit repayment reserve account from 15

percent each for last two years to 20 percent during the maturing year.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• Foreign companies having insignicant/incidental transactions through electronic

mode to be exempted from registering and compliance regime under Companies

Act, 2013.

• Disclosures in the Directors’ Report to be simplied and duplications with SEBI’s

disclosure requirements and nancial statements to be removed while retaining

the informative content for shareholders.

• Increased threshold for unlisted companies for compliance in context of

requirement for Independent Directors (IDs), Audit Committee and Nomination

and Remuneration Committee.

• Test of materiality to be introduced for pecuniary interest for testing independence

of ID; thresholds for relatives’ pecuniary interest to be revised to make it more

practical.

• Requirement for a managerial person to be resident in India for twelve months

prior to appointment to be done away with.

• Disclosures in the prospectus required under the Companies Act and SEBI

Regulations to be aligned, with a view to make these simpler, by allowing

prescriptions to be as per SEBI Regulations.

• Employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)s to be allowed to promoters working as

employees/directors.

• Limit on sweat equity to be raised from 25percent of paid up capital to 50percent

for start-ups.

• Recognition of the concept of benecial owner of a company proposed in the Act.

Register of benecial owners to be maintained by a company, and led with the

Registrar.

• Provisions with regard to consolidation of accounts to be reviewed and those

with respect to attachment of standalone accounts of foreign subsidiaries to be

relaxed in certain cases.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• Re-opening of accounts to be limited to 8 years.

• Mandatory requirement of taking up some items only through postal ballot to be

relaxed in case of a company that is required to provide electronic voting at its

General Meetings.

• Requirement for annual ratication of appointment/continuance of auditor to be

removed.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




NEWS IN SHORTSCORPORATE NEWS 179

SPORTS NEWS 188

PERSON IN NEWS 196

PLACE IN NEWS 207

ABBREVIATION|TERMS 209

AWARDS|HONOURS 212

DEFENCE|SECURITY 220

DAYS|WEEKS|YEARS 223

MISCELLANEOUS 226

ONE LINERS 228

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Aditya Birla Nuvo, Idea Cellular formed JV for Payments Bank

Aditya Birla Group’s two companies Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd (ABNL) and Idea Cellular

Limited on 19 February 2016 announced that they formed a joint venture company.

The joint venture will be known as Aditya Birla Idea Payment Banks Limited and

will be set up under the Guidelines for Licensing of Payment Banks issued by the

Reserve Bank of India on 27 November 2014.

In the payments bank, while Aditya Birla Nuvo will be holding up to 51 percent shares,

balance 49 percent shares will be held by the Idea Cellular.

UltraTech acquired cement units of Jaiprakash Associates

UltraTech Cement Limited on 28 February 2016 entered into a binding Memorandum

of Understanding (MoU) with Jaiprakash Associates Limited for the acquisition of its

identied cement plants for an enterprise value of 16500 crore rupees.

The cement plants of Jaiprakash Associates to be acquired have a cement capacity

of 22.4 mtpa situated in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal

Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Under the deal, UltraTech will pay an additional 470 crore rupees for completion of

the grinding unit for 4 mtpa capacity under implementation.

The acquisition, which is subject to denitive agreements and regulatory approvals

as may be required, will augment UltraTech’s cement capacity to 90.7 mtpa from the

current 68.3 mtpa.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Michael Pesch appointed CEO of Infosys Consulting Holding

IT giant Infosys on 19 February 2016 appointed Michael Pesch as Chief Executive

Ofcer (CEO) of Infosys Consulting Holding AG, effective April 1 2016.

Pesch will focus on expanding the reach of Infosys consultants and experts in digital

transformation and design-led innovation, as well as increasing Infosys’ expertise in

large-scale SAP programmes.

Pesch will also serve as the Regional Head for the DACH (Germany, Austria andSwitzerland) countries, bringing an integrated approach to IT transformation to every

client engagement in the region.

Before Infosys, he served as Chief Executive Ofcer of arvato Systems Group.

Yoichiro Ueno appointed President and CEO of Honda Cars India

Japanese auto maker Honda Motor Company on 23 February 2016 announced that

it had appointed Yoichiro Ueno as the President and Chief Executive Ofcer (CEO) of

its car operations in India.

Ueno will replace Katsushi Inoue on 1 April 2016. Inoue has been named Operating

Ofcer of Honda Motor and Chief Operating Ofcer for regional operations (Europe

region).

Forbes released inaugural 30 Under 30 Asia List

Forbes on 25 February 2016 released its inaugural 30 Under 30 Asia List in Singapore.

The list included 300 young innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders across Asia in 10categories who are under 30 years of age.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




These are transforming business, technology, industry, media, culture and more

and judged by some of the most accomplished and acclaimed individuals in each

category.

From India, 56 were included in the list. Some of the prominent among themwere –

• Sania Mirza (Tennis)

• Virat Kohli (Cricket)

• Saina Nehwal (Badminton)

• Shraddha Kapoor (Actress)

• Arunima Sinha (Mountaineer)

• Chaitanya Tamhane (Writer & Director)

• Raghav Verma (Co-founder Chaayos)

• Mehul Agrawal (Co-founder Cars24)

• Kanika Tekriwal (Co-founder JetSetGo)

• Ritesh Agarwal (Co-founder OYO Rooms)

Apple to set up Technology Development Centre in Hyderabad

Apple Inc. in the second week of February 2016 announced setting up of a Technology

Development Centre (TDC) in Hyderabad, Telangana. For Apple, it will be the rst

TDC outside the USA.

With this announcement, Apple joined other big technology rms like Microsoft,

Google and Facebook that focused on Hyderabad to expand their operations in Asia.

The centre will be set up at an estimated investment of 25 million US dollars and

occupy 250000 square feet in Tishman Speyer’s WaveRock facility.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




The setting up of the TDC is also part of Apple’s recent efforts to expand operations

beyond the USA. Earlier, in January 2016, it announced setting up of Europe’s rst

iOS Development Centre in Italy.

Amazon launched Tatkal initiative for small businesses

E-commerce giant Amazon on 17 February 2016 launched Amazon Tatkal, an initiative

that enables small and medium businesses (SMBs) to go online and sell products on

Amazon.

Amazon Tatkal is a specially designed studio-on-wheels offering a suite of launch

services including registration, imaging and cataloguing services, as well as basic

seller training mechanisms, all in about 60 minutes.

Starting with New Delhi, Amazon Tatkal will gradually pass throughout the nation,

engaging with thousands of entrepreneurs, artisans, manufacturers and sellers and

help them sell online on the spot.

Paani Foundation joined hand with Maharashtra Government for water conservation

Paani Foundation, a not-for-prot company, started by Actor Aamir Khan and his

wife Kiran Rao on 17 February 2016 joined hands with Maharashtra government to

solve the water crisis in the state.

Paani Foundation is a not-for-prot company whose main objective is to bring abouta change in outlook about water conservation. It will communicate, impart knowledge

and bring a change in outlook at the grassroots level about water conservation and

watershed management.

Operation of the foundation is led by Satyajit Bhatkal who is its CEO, while Khan’s

ex-wife Reena Dutta is COO.

The members of the advisory board of the Foundation are Ratan Tata, Nita Ambani,Deepak Parekh, Baba Kalyani, Anu Aga, Dr Avinash Pol, Popatrao Pawar, Svati

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Chakravarty and Atul Kulkarni. Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR), a not-for-prot

NGO founded in 1993, is a knowledge partner.

Tata Teleservices subsidiary mRUPEE tied-up with IRCTC

mRUPEE, a subsidiary of Tata Teleservices, on 15 February 2016 announced that it

has tied up with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to provide

an additional payment gateway.

Indian Railways carries more than 23 million passengers a day and the association

will allow users one-tap payments for rail ticket bookings via mRUPEE wallet for a

signicant number of travelers.

Wipro acquired US-based HealthPlan Services for 3150 crore

rupees

Wipro on 11 February 2016 announced signing of a denitive agreement to acquire

HealthPlan Services from Water Street Healthcare Partners.

Wipro will acquire 100 per cent of HealthPlan Services’ shares for a purchase

consideration of 460 million US dollars.

The acquisition will help the country’s third largest software services rm strengthen

its position in the U.S. health insurance market.

Headquartered in Florida, U.S, HealthPlan was founded in 1970. It is a leading

independent technology and Business Process as a Service (BPaaS) provider in the

U.S. health insurance market.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




YES Bank partnered with Smartbox Ecommerce Solutions

The fth largest private bank of India YES Bank on 9 February 2016 announced its

tie-up with Smartbox Ecommerce Solutions for solving challenges related to last mile

delivery for e-commerce rms.

The bank will help power the payment solutions for Smartbox network of Automated

Parcel Delivery Terminals.

The cash on delivery (COD) model continues to account for over 50 per cent of thee-commerce market which is expected to reach a size of 100 billion US dollars by

2020.

With the association of YES Bank and Smartbox, COD will be handled as CSOD

(Card Swipe On Delivery) on the terminals, which will eventually reduce the burden of

handling cash on the entire ecosystem.

HeyBiz tied up with Su-Kam Power

HeyBiz, a sales-marketing-support application for SMEs, on 9 February 2016

announced its association with Su-Kam Power Systems Limited, a power back-up

solution provider.

The partnership aims at digitising HeyBiz’s dealers and distributor’s network that will

help in connecting with local customers.

Su-Kam Power Systems Limited, founded by Kunwer Sachdev in 1988, is an India-

based power solutions provider which sells its products in more than 70 countries.

Vishal Mehta appointed as President of International Grown Diamond Association

Vishal Mehta on 4 February 2016 was appointed as the President of the newly- formedInternational Grown Diamond Association (IGDA).

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Mehta is the Chief Executive Ofcer (CEO) of IIa Technologies, which grows diamonds

at its state-of-the-art facility in Singapore.

IGDA founded in the United States (US) is a newly formed platform of more than 10

leading grown diamond producers, distributors and retailers.

Reliance Infra signed Agreement with Birla Corp to sell its Ce-

ment Plant

Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (RInfra) on 4 February 2016 announced the signing of

Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Birla Corporation Ltd in relation to 100 percent

sale of its subsidiary Reliance Cement Company Private Limited (RCCPL).

While RInfra is an entity of the Anil Ambani-headed Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani

Group (Reliance ADAG), Birla Corp is the agship Company of the M P Birla Group.

The deal was valued at 4800 crore rupees or 140 US dollars per tonne and theproceeds will utilised by RInfra towards debt reduction.

Under the SPA, the Birla Corp will acquire an integrated cement capacity of 5.08

Metric tonnes per annum (Mtpa) at Maihar, Madhya Pradesh and Kundanganj, Uttar

Pradesh and a grinding unit of 0.5 Mtpa at Butibori, Maharashtra.

Reliance Defence to set up Dhirubhai Ambani Centre for Innova-tion & Research in Aerospace

Reliance Defence Ltd, a subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, will set up the

Dhirubhai Ambani Centre for Innovation and Research in Aerospace in Bengaluru.

An announcement in this regard was made by the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani

Group (Reliance ADAG) chairman Anil Ambani on 3 February 2016 at the Invest

Karnataka 2016 summit in Bengaluru.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




The centre, the rst-ever of its kind in the private sector in India, will be a world

class facility for research, development and innovation in aerospace technology. It

will generate more than 1500 highly skilled jobs.

The setting up of the centre is also in tune with the government’s Indigenous Design,

Development and Manufacturing (IDDM) for Defence equipment and Make in India

and Skill India initiatives.

TCS became world’s most powerful IT Services brand

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on 3 February 2016 announced that it has been

rated as the World’s Most Powerful Brand in IT Services by Brand Finance, the world’s

leading brand valuation rm.

Scoring highly on a wide variety of measures such as familiarity, loyalty, staff

satisfaction and corporate reputation, TCS emerged as the IT services industry’s

most powerful brand with a score of 78.3 points earning it an AA+ rating.

The company’s overall brand value has increased from $2.34 billion US dollars in

2010 (when the rst evaluation of the TCS brand was conducted) to 9.04 billion US

dollars in 2016, which shows a growth rate of 286 per cent.

Alphabet Inc. became world’s most valuable company

Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, on 2 February 2016 became the world’s

most valuable public company, replacing Apple Inc.

The shift occurred in extended trading of 1 February 2016 after Alphabet released

a fourth-quarter earnings report that highlighted the robust growth of the digital ad

market. Alphabet’s market cap hit about 570 billion US dollars, eclipsing Apple’smarket cap of roughly 535 billion US dollars. Shares of Apple opened down nearly 1

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




percent on 2 February 2016.

Alphabet Inc. earned 4.9 billion US dollars on revenue of 21.3 billion US dollars in the

fourth quarter.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




CRICKET

Trans-Tasman Trophy : Australia on 24 February 2016 won Trans-Tasman Trophy of

Cricket by defeating New Zealand 2-0. With this, it became World Number 1 in ICC

Test ranking by replacing India.

Ranji Trophy 2016: Mumbai won Ranji Trophy for the 41st time by defeating

Suarashtra with an innings and 21 run. Shreyas Iyer was named man of the match for

his 117 runs in Mumbai’s only innings of the match. In 2015, the trophy was won by

Karnataka which was their eighth title.

Indi-Sri Lanka Women ODI series: Indian women cricket team on 19 February 2016

won the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanks, 3-0. In the third and nal match

played in Ranchi, India defeated the Sri Lankan team by seven wickets.

Deepti Sharma, who played a pivotal role in steadying her side’s innings, was adjudged

the Player of the Match.

Indi-Sri Lanka T20 series: India won three-match T-20 series against Sri Lanka, 2-1.

In the third and nal Twenty20 match played in at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh,India defeated Sri Lanka by nine wickets. Ravichandran Ashwin was adjudged the

Man of the Series.

The series win also helped India retain its numero uno position in the ICC T20 rankings.

ICC U19 Cricket World Cup: The West Indies on 14 February 2016 lifted their

maiden ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup title. In the nal played at Mirpur, West

Indies defeated three time champions India by ve wickets.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




West Indies’ Keacy Carty grabbed the Man of the Match title while Mehidy Hasan

Miraz from Bangladesh was declared the Player of the Tournament.

Chappell-Hadlee Trophy: New Zealand on 8 February 2016 won the three-match

Chappell-Hadlee Trophy of cricket against Australia, 2-1. In the third and nal match

played at Seddon Park, Hamilton, the Black Caps defeated Australia by 55 runs.

Inderbir Singh Sodhi (New Zealand) was declared the Player of the Match.

India-Australia Women ODI series: The Australian women cricket team on 7

February 2016 won the three-match ODI series against Indian women team, 2-1. In

the third and nal match played at Hobart, India defeated the Australian team by ve-

wickets. Mithali Raj (India Women) was declared the Man of the Match.

Before the ODIs, the Indian eves had notched up a historic 2-1 Twenty20 series

triumph over the hosts.

FOOTBALL

2016 Sait Nagjee Trophy : The trophy resumed after 21-years gap by the Kozhikode

district Football Association and Mondial Sports Management LLP was won by

European team FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk from Ukraine. Dnipro beat Atletico

Paranaense of Brazil 3-0 in the nal.

ATHLETICS

7th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships: It was held in Doha, Qatar. India nished

the games with 1 Gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals.

Some Indian athletes who won the Medals won include

• Mayookha Johny (Gold in Long Jump and Silver in Triple Jump)

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• Kumaravel Prem Kumar (Silver in Long Jump)

• Om Prakash Singh Karhana (Bronze in Shot Put)

• Renjith Maheswary (Silver in Triple Jump)

• Dutee Chand (Bronze in 60m sprint)

• Sugandha Kumari (Bronze in women’s 1500m)

Ranchi will host 2017 Asian Athletics (Outdoor) Championships.

61st National School Athletics championship: Kerala on 2 February 2016 wonthe 61st National School Athletics championship. The national School Athletics

championship was held at Olympian Rahman Stadium in Kozhikode, Kerala from 29

January 2016 to 2 February 2016.

This is for the 19th consecutive time Kerala becomes the champions in the event.

Kerala, the host of the championship got 306 points winning 39 gold, 29 silver and

17 bronze medals.

On the other hand, Tamil Nadu stood at second position with 116 points winning 11

gold, 8 silver and 13 bronze medals. Maharashtra with 101 points gained the third

position.

TENNIS

Rio Open: Italian woman Tennis player Francesca Schiavone on 21 February 2016

won Rio Open title defeating Shelby Rogers of America with scores of 2-6, 6-2, and

6-2 in the nal held in Rio de Janeiro. It is her seventh career title. She won her rst

Grand Slam title at 2010 French Open.

Dubai Tennis Championships title: It was won by Italy’s Sara Errani on 20 February

2016. She defeated Czech Republic’s Barbora Strycova 6-0, 6-2 to clinch the women’s

singles title.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Dubai ATP Tennis title: Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland on 28 February 2016 won

his ninth straight nal to clinch the Dubai ATP Tennis title. In the nal played in Dubai,

Wawrinka defeated Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in straight sets with a 6-4, 7-6(13).

ATP Argentina Open: World No. 19 Dominic Thiem on 14 February 2016 defeated

Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 7-6 (2), 3-6, 7-6 (4) to win the Association of Tennis

Professionals (ATP) Buenos Aires tournament. With the win, Theim claimed his fourth

ATP singles title.

2016 St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy: Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina

Hingis on 14 February 2016 won the doubles trophy of the 2016 St. Petersburg

Ladies Trophy in Russia. To win the title, the top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated

the Russian-Czech team of Vera Dushevina and Barbora Krejcikova by 6-3 6-1.

For the duo, the victory in the nal was consequent 40 match win. Also, the title was

the fourth in the 2016 season and the 13th overall.

With this, they are now 4 short of longest winning streak registered by Jana Novotna

and Helena Sukova of Czech Republic who won 44 matches in a row.

The all time record is held by Martina Navratilova (Czech-American) and Pam Shriver

(the USA) who set up the record in 1983 by winning record 109 matches in a row.

HOCKEY

2016 Hockey India League: The Jaypee Punjab Warriors on 21 February 2016

defeated Kalinga Lancers 6-1 to clinch Hockey India League (HIL) title in the fourth

edition of the six-team tournament at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Ranchi,

Jharkhand.

The Player of the Tournament Award of 50 lakh rupees was awarded to Rupinder PalSingh of Delhi Waveriders.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Mark Knowles of the Punjab Warriors was awarded with the Man of the Match

Award, which carried 50000 rupees. The Goal of the Matchaward of 50000 rupees

was awarded to Armaan Qureshi of the Punjab Warriors.

The Emerging Player of the Match award of 25000 rupees was awarded to Armaan

Qureshi.

The Dhruv Batra Maximum Goals award of 20 lakh rupees was awarded to Kalinga

Lancers’ Glenn Turner. The Ponty Chadha Upcoming Player of the Tournament award

of 20 lakh rupees went toSumit of Ranchi Rays.

SNOOKER|BILLIARD

2016 Welsh Open: Ronnie O’Sullivan on 21 February 2016 won seven frames in a

row to beat Neil Robertson 9-5 and win 2016 BetVictor Welsh Open title of Snooker

held at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales.

It was O’Sullivan’s 28th ranking title, which put him in joint second place with Higgins

and Steve Davis for the number of career ranking titles. John Higgins was the winner

of 2015 Welsh Open. 1st All India Open Invitational Snooker Championship 2016: In

the nals played at Aurangabad, Maharashtra, it was won by Rahul Sachdev who

defeated Pushpender Singh of Railways with 5-3 score.

CHESS

36th National Chess Team Championship: Indian Railways on 14 February 2016

won the 36th National Chess team Championship in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. For the

Indian Railways team it was the rst ever title. To win the championship the team

defeated Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) team in the nal.

BADMINTON

Syed Modi International Badminton Championships: Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi

Srikanth won the Men’s Singles title of the Syed Modi International Badminton

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Championships 2016. In the nal played at Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium in

Lucknow, Srikanth defeated China’s Huang Yuxiang, 21-13, 14-21, 21-14.

Women’s Singles: Korean Sung Ji Hyun defeated Sayako Sato of Japan, 12-21, 21-

18, 21-18.

Men’s Doubles: Malaysian pair of Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong defeated Pranaav

Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar of India, 14-21, 24-22, 21-8.

Women’s Doubles: Korean duo of Jung Kyung Eun and Shin Seung Chan defeated

Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek of Netherlands, 21-15, 21-13.

Mixed doubles: Indonesian pair of Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto defeated

Puavaranukroh Dechapol and Sapsiree Taerattanchai of Thailand, 23-25, 21-9, 21-16.

PERSONALITY

Rozle Prezelj: Slovenian high-jumper Prezelj on 27 February 2016 was elected as

the Chairman of the Monaco-based International Association of Athletics Federations

(IAAF) Athletes’ Commission. Prezelj took over as Chairman of the commission fromFrank Fredericks with immediate effect. Britain’s marathon world record-holder Paula

Radcliffe was nominated Vice Chairwoman of the commission.

Brendon McCullum: New Zealand cricket team captain Brendon McCullum on 20

February 2016 scored fastest test century. McCullum scored the century in record

54 balls against Australia on the rst day of the 2nd match played for Trans-TasmanTrophy in Christchurch, New Zealand.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Gianni Infantino: He is the General Secretary of European governing body UEFA

and was elected as the ninth President of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football

Association) on 26 February 2016. He succeeded Sepp Blatter, who held the position

since 1998 and will serve FIFA for the remainder of current term of ofce (until 2019).

He surpassed the record jointly held by West Indies’ Viv Richards and Pakistan’s

Misbah-ul-Haq. While Viv Richards scored it against England in Antigua in 1986,

Misbah-ul-Haq’s century came against Australia in Abu Dhabi in 2014 in 56 balls.

Incidentally, for McCullum, the century came in his nal and 101st test in which healso made the following records –

• 183.54 strike rate: McCullum’s strike rate in his 79-ball 145. It is the second highest

in innings of 100 or more runs. So far, only Viv Richards’ strike rate of 189.75 in his

58-ball 110 not out is higher.

• 106 Sixes: McCullum started the innings with 100 sixes, the joint highest with

Adam Gilchrist of Australia. With six sixes in the match, McCullum’s 106 becamethe most by any batsman in test history.

Asad Rauf: He is a Pakistani Umpire who was banned by the BCCI on 12 February

2016 for 5 years for involvement in 2013 IPL spot-xing scandal. With this ban, Rauf

became ineligible for umpiring or playing or representing cricket in any form or being

associated with activities of the BCCI and its afliates for 5 years.

Brij Bhushan Singh: The South Asian Wrestling Federation on 8 February 2016

announced the appointment of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh as its President. Tabiur

Rehman from Bangladesh was also unanimously elected Secretary General.

Rahul Dravid: The former Indian cricketer nicknamed ‘The Wall’ was appointed as a

member of the newly constituted Anti-Corruption Unit Oversight Group. Apart from

him, the group will consist of a David Peever as the Chairman, two members and twoex-ofcio members.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




The Anti-Corruption Unit Oversight Group is mandated to meet once a year to review

and provide independent input into the strategy adopted by the sport to tackle

corruption and its implementation.

Virender Sehwag: Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag was appointed as

mentor of the Kings XI Punjab team for season 9 of Indian Premier League (IPL) on

1 February 2016. In his new role, Sehwag will work along with head coach Sanjay

Bangar and would be responsible for guiding and motivating the squad.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




PERSON APPOINTED

Alok Kumar Verma: He on 29 February 2016 took charge as the Delhi Police

Commissioner. He will hold the post till July 2017. He succeeded B.S. Bassi, who

retired on the same day.

Dinesh Sharma: India’s Governor to the International Fund for Agriculture

Development (IFAD) was unanimously elected as the Chairperson of the Governing

Council of IFAD for a period of two years in its 39th Session held on 17 February and

18 February 2016 in Rome, Italy.

IFAD was set up in 1977 as the 13th specialize agency of UN and the current president

is Kanayo F. Nwanze from Nigeria.

Bimal Julka: He was selected as one of the three Information Commissioners to the

Central Information Commission (CIC) by a selection committee headed by Prime

Minister Narendra Modi. He is a former Secretary to the Ministry of Information and

Broadcasting. He will hold post till he turns 65.

Divya Prakash Sinha:He was selected as one of the three Information Commissionersto the Central Information Commission (CIC) by a selection committee headed by

Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is a former IPS ofcer and was Secretary (Security)

in the Union Government. He will hold post till he turns 65.

Amitava Bhattacharyya: He was selected as one of the three Information

Commissioners to the Central Information Commission (CIC) by a selection committeeheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was the Chairman, Staff Selection

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Commission. He will hold post till he turns 65.

Rajendra Singh: He was appointed by the Union Government as the Director General

(DG) of Indian Coast Guard, the country’s coastal protection force. This is the rst

time an ofcer who is not from the Indian Navy has been elevated to the position.

Justice Dinesh Maheshwari: A judge of Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court

was sworn-in as the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court. He was administeredthe oath of ofce by state Governor V. Shanmuganathan. He succeeded Justice Uma

Nath Singh who retired as Chief Justice on 14 January 2016.

HL Dattu: He is a former Chief Justice of India (CJI) who was selected as the next

Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on 23 February 2016.

65-year-old Justice Dattu will have tenure of ve years. The post was lying vacantsince 11 May 2015, when KG Balakrishnan demitted ofce after ve-year term.

Justice Cyriac Joseph had been functioning as the acting chairperson since then.

Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee: He on 23 February 2016 took oath as the 28th

Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka. He was administered oath by the

Governor Vajubhai R. Vala

Udai Kumar: He was appointed as the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive

Ofcer (CEO) of the Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India Limited (MSEI) on 22

February 2016. MSEI was formerly known as MCX Stock Exchange Ltd. (MCX-SX)

and is India’s youngest and one of the three stock exchanges recognized by country’s

securities market regulator, SEBI.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Faustin-Archange Touadera: He is former Prime Minister of the Central African

Republic, who on 20 February 2016 was declared winner in the second round of

presidential elections. Touadera, who campaigned against corruption, won 62.71

percent of votes cast against his contender Anicet-Georges Dologuele who won

37.29 percent of the votes.

KN Vyas: He is a Distinguished Scientist who 23 February 2016 took charge as

Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). He replaced Dr. Sekhar

Basu, who is the Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary to the Union

Government, Department of Atomic Energy.

Justice Vineet Saran: He was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Orissa High

Court. He replaced Justice DH Waghela who was transferred as the Chief Justice of

Bombay High Court.

Christine Lagarde: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on

19 February 2016 selected Christine Lagarde to serve as IMF Managing Director for a

second ve-year term starting on 5 July 2016. Lagarde, the only candidate nominated

for the post, was backed by the UK, Germany, China, and her home country, France,

to stay on for another ve years.

Ashok Chawla: The Governing Council of TERI on 12 February 2016 appointed

Ashok Chawla, former Finance Secretary to the Government of India and former

Chairman of the Competition Commission, as its new Chairman. Chawla replaced B

V Sreekantan, who was serving as the Chairman of TERI.

Vilas Tonapi: He on 10 February 2016 was appointed as the Director of Indian Institute

of Millets Research (IIMR). At present, Tonapi is serving as the Principal Scientist at

Seed Science and Technology of the IIMR.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Justice Dhirendra Hiralal Waghela: He was appointed the Chief Justice of the

Bombay High Court, which has been functioning with an ofciating Chief Justice

since October 2015, after the retirement of Justice Mohit S Shah in September 2015.

John Nicholson: The US Army Lieutenant General Nicholson was appointed as the

commander of the NATO forces in Afghanistan. He succeeded US General John

Campbell who has been leading the Afghan operations for nearly 18 months.

DJ Pandian: Former chief secretary of Gujarat was appointed vice-president and

chief investment ofcer of the newly-created Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

(AIIB) on 3 February 2016.

Aruna Sethi: The Principal Adviser (Cost) on 1 February 2016 took over charge as the

head of Indian Cost Accounts Service (ICoAS). With this appointment, she becamethe rst woman to occupy the post.

Justice Ramayyagari Subhash Reddy: He was on 3 February 2016 appointed as

Chief Justice of the Gujarat high Court with effect from the date he assumes charge

of his ofce. He would replace Justice Jayant M Patel, who has been acting Chief

Justice of Gujarat High Court since 13 August 2015.

Major General Jai Shanker Menon: He was appointed as the Head of Mission and

Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).

His appointment was announced by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 2

February 2016.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Jai Kumar Garg: The Union Government on 1 February 2016 appointed him as the

Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Ofcer (CEO) of Corporation Bank for a

period of three years. He succeeded S R Bansal, who superannuated from services

as CMD on 31 January 2016.

Archana Ramasundram: Tamil Nadu Cadre IPS ofcer was on 1 February 2016

appointed as the Director General of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) that guards

India’s frontiers with Nepal and Bhutan. With this appointment, she became the rst

woman to head a paramilitary force.

Kamlesh Kumar Pandey: He was appointed as the Chief Commissioner for Persons

with Disabilities (CCPD) for a period of three years. Before joining the post of CCPD,

Pandey was associated with Saksham, an NGO working in the eld of disability.

Datta Padsalgikar: He on 30 January 2016 was appointed as the Commissioner of

Police of Mumbai with effect from 31 January 2016. He succeeds Ahmed Javed, who

was appointed as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. With this, Padsalgikar became the

40th Police Commissioner of Mumbai.

PERSON DIED Nihal Ahmed Maulavi Mohammed Usman: Socialist leader popularly known as

Nihalbhai died on 29 February 2016 in Nashik. He was 90. He was the rst mayor

of the Malegaon Municipal Corporation and was the state president of Janata Dal

(Secular). He also was Minister of technical and higher education of Maharashtra.

Kumarimuthu: Famous Tamil Comedy actor died on 28 February 2016 in Chennai.

He was 77. He was in politics as the celebrity faces of Karunanidhi headed Dravida

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Party.

BK Garudachar: India’s oldest rst-class cricketer who represented Mysore (as

Karnataka was called till 1974), United Province and Bombay, died on 26 February

2016 in Bangalore. He was 99. A right-hand batsman and a leg-break bowler,

Garudachar made 1126 runs at an average of 29.63 from 27 matches in rst-class

cricket between 1935 and 1946.

Bhubaneswari Mishra: The renowned classical singer passed away on 19 February

2016 in New Delhi following a cardiac arrest. She was 67. She began her career with

the song Tiki Mora Naa Ti for the mythological Odia movie Krushna Sudama in the

1970s.

Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan: Veteran Hindustani classical singer died in Kolkata on18 February 2016. He was 107. Born in Uttar Pradesh in 1908, Khan belonged to

Gwalior Gharana. In 2013, he became the oldest recipient of Padma Bhushan and in

2009 he received Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali: The former United Nations Secretary-General Boutros

Boutros-Ghali passed away on 16 February 2016 in Cairo, Egypt. He was 93. Heserved as UN Chief from January 1992 to December 1996 and became the rst

secretary general to be deprived of a second term as he struggled to impose the

UN’s writ in a post-cold war world. He was the rst African to hold the position. He

helped secure peace deals between Israel and Egypt.

O N V Kurup: Most celebrated contemporary poet and Jnanpith-winner OttaplakkalNeelakandan Velu Kurup passed away on 13 February 2016 in Thiruvananthapuram,

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Kerala. He was 84. He was a part of the progressive movement in Kerala and wrote

some of the most remembered poems and lm lyrics.

He received the Jnanpith Award, India’s highest literary honour, for the year 2007. He

is the fth Jnanpith laureate from Kerala and the second Malayalam poet to win the

prestigious award. He also received the Padma Shri in 1998 and Padma Vibhushan

in 2011.

Anatoli Ilyin: He was a Soviet football legend who passed away on 10 February 2016

in Moscow, Russia. He was 84. Ilyin was the scorer of the rst ever UEFA European

Championship qualifying goal and the strike that earned the Soviet Union Olympic

gold in 1956.

Sushil Koirala: Nepal’s former Prime Minister passed away on 9 February 2016 in

Kathmandu, Nepal due to chronic respiratory problem. He was 76. Koirala was a key

gure in adoption of Nepal’s new constitution in September 2015 with overwhelming

support in the Constitution Assembly.

Nida Fazli: Noted Urdu Poet and well known Bollywood lyricist died due to heart

attack in Mumbai on 8 February 2016. He was 78. His most acclaimed shers include

“Duniya jise kehte hain jaadu kaa khilona hai, Mil jaaye to mitti hai, kho jaaye to sona

hai”. Of a few popular lm songs written by him are ‘Aa bhi jaa (Sur)’, ‘Tu is tarah se

meri zindagi mein (Aap To Aise Na The)’ and ‘Hosh waalon ko khabar (Sarfarosh)’.

Sudhir Tailang: He was a cartoonist who died on 6 February 2016 due to brain tumor

in Gurgaon. He was 55. Tailang was awarded Padma Shri in 2004. Recently, he also

launched a book of cartoons titled No, Prime Minister, with a set of cartoons on

former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




He started his carrier as a cartoonist with the Illustrated Weekly of India in Mumbai in

1982 and his last assignment was with the Asian Age.

Balram Jakhar: Former Lok Sabha Speaker passed away on 3 February 2016 in New

Delhi. He was 92. He was elected as the Lok Sabha Speaker for two consecutive

terms from 1980 to 1989.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha four times and also served as the Union Agriculture

Minister in 1991 in P. V. Narasimha Rao Ministry.

Jakhar also served as the Governor of Madhya Pradesh from 2004 to 2009 and

was the rst Asian to be elected as Chairman of Commonwealth Parliamentarian

Executive Forum.

S S Tarapore: Former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) passed

away on 2 February 2016 in Mumbai. He was 80. Tarapore was mostly known for hisstrong views on issues, ranging from ination to capital account convertibility.

Intizar Hussain: Veteran Urdu ction writer and poet died on 2 February 2016 in

Lahore. He was 92. He was the rst Pakistan national and the rst Urdu writer ever to

be nominated for the international award. His acclaimed novel Basti was published

in 1979 and later translated into English.

Kotikalapudi Venkata Krishna Rao: He was a former Chief of Army Staff who passed

away on 30 January 2016 in New Delhi following a cardiac arrest. He was 92. He was

the 14th Chief of the Army Staff of Indian Army.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Person in News

Mahesh Kumar Singla: He is appointed the head of committee that was constituted

by Union Government to consider Scheduled Tribe status to six Communities of

Assam. The committee will recommend the modalities for granting of Scheduled

Tribe status to six Communities namely Koch Rajbongshi, Moran, Matak, Tai Ahom,

Chutia and Adivasi (Tea Tribes) in Assam. The Committee will submit its report by 31

May 2016.

Sagar Sarhadi: Renowned scriptwriter will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement

Award at the second edition of the International Film Festival of Prayag (IFFP). The

festival will be held in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh from 26 February to 28 February

2016. He rose to success with Yash Chopra’s lm Kabhi Kabhi.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk: The Prime Minister of Ukraine was in news as he survived a

no-condence vote hours after the President Petro Poroshenko asked him to step

down. The no-condence motion required 226 votes in the parliament, but only 194

out of the 339 members of the parliament supported it. The PM Yatsenyuk has been

criticised over the slow pace of reforms and faces allegations of corruption.

Evo Morales: The President of Bolivia was in news because the people of the country

on 24 February 2016 rejected an amendment to the Constitution seeking to give

fourth term to the President. The people rejected the amendment in a referendum

with 51.3 percent vote. With this, Morales stands disqualied to run for the fourth

term in 2019.

At present, Evo Morales is into his third term and his most recent victory was in 2014.

Prior to 2014, he was elected to the Presidency twice - in 2006 (under the 1967

Constitution) and 2009.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Ismail Mahomed: He is an Indian-origin playwright of South Africa who on 22 February

2016 was conferred with the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres (Knight of the

Order of Arts and Literature) by the French government for his lifelong devotion to

the promotion of arts.

Amar Singh: He is an Indian-origin Sikh ofcer who was appointed as Kuala Lumpur’s

commissioner of police. It was the highest police rank achieved by a Sikh in Malaysia.

He succeeded Tajuddin Mohamed.

Anil K Jain: He is an Indian-American Engineer who along with other three Indian-

Americans, namely Dr Arati Prabhakar, Ganesh Thakur and Dr KR Sridhar were

elected as the members of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) of the USA.

Sam Pitroda: Former technocrat was elected along with Reliance Industries chairmanMukesh Ambani as the member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) of the

USA.

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza: He is a Bangladeshi cricketer who on 25 February 2016

was appointed as National Goodwill Ambassador For Youth by the United National

Development Programme (UNDP). With this appointment, Mortaza also became therst personality to be appointed as a goodwill ambassador for youth development in

Bangladesh.

Sameer Anjaan: Renowned Bollywood lyricist was on 17 February 2016 ofcially

recognised by Guinness World Records as the “Most prolic Bollywood lyricist”ever

who has composed 3524 different songs in 650 Bollywood movies as of 15 December2015.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Davinder Singh: He is an Indian-origin lawyer who in the second week of February

2016 was appointed as a vice-chair of the International Chamber of Commerce’s

Commission on Corporate Responsibility and Anti-corruption.

Saroj Kumar Jha: He is an Indian national who was appointed as the Senior Director

for the Fragility, Conict and Violence Group at the World Bank on 1 February 2016.

He was appointed to provide strategic leadership to address the challenge of fragility,

conict and violence, working across the Bank Group and in close collaboration with

partners.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan: The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi on 12

February 2016 concluded his 3-day visit to India. He is also the deputy supreme

commander of UAE armed forces. He visited India on invitation of Narendra Modi

who became the rst Prime Minister to visit the UAE after a gap of 34 years in August

2015.

Hamid Ansari: The Vice President of India on 5 February 2016 concluded his two-

nation tour to Thailand and Brunei. During the 5-day visit that started on 1 February

2016, he held talks with the head of governments, political leaders and Indian diaspora

to enhance bilateral relations.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Central Shaheed Minar: Also called Martyr’s Monument was in news as Bangladeshi

nationals paid their homage to the martyrs of the historic 1952 Language Movement

on 21 February 2016.

It is a national monument in Dhaka, which was built in recognition of the people

who sacriced their lives for the recognition of Bangla as a state language. It was

designed and built by Hamidur Rahman a Bangladeshi sculptor in collaboration with

Novera Ahmed.

Elephanta Island: UNESCO world heritage site, Elephanta Island, also called Island

of Gharapuri, was in news in the second week of February 2016. It was in news

because the island, which was dependent upon diesel-powered generators for

electricity until now, will be completely electried by Independence Day 2016.

It is also called the ‘City of Caves’ and is situated in the Sea of Oman close to

Bombay. It contains a collection of rock art linked to the cult of Shiva.

Sonadia Island: The place Sonadia Island was in news on 8 February 2016. It was in

news because, as per newspaper reports, Bangladesh cancelled China’s proposal to

develop a deep sea port on the island that lies in the Bay of Bengal.

It is a small island of about 9-sq.km offshore of the Cox’s Bazaar coast in Chittagong

Division, Bangladesh. The island is seen as a potential deepwater port that could

serve the landlocked parts of India, Myanmar and China.

Malakal: It is a place in South Sudan which came into news because gunmen believed

to be government soldiers stormed a UNMISS-run camp, killing at least 18 people,

including 2 humanitarian workers. The attack has been strongly condemned by the

United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Dubai: The capital of United Arab Emirates was in news as it saw the hosting of 4th

World Government Summit.

Shanghai: The nancial hub of China was in news as it saw the hosting of 10th G-20

Summit of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




IMCOR: Stands for India-Myanmar Coordinated Patrol and was in news on 16

February 2016 as Indian Navy and Myanmar Navy signed Standard Operating

Procedure (SOP) on IMCOR at the Tri-Service Headquarters in Port Blair, Andaman

and Nicobar Islands.

Myanmar is the third country with which India has signed a formal agreement for

maritime coordinated patrols.

The 4th edition of IMCOR was successfully held from 13 February – 16 February

2016 by the two navies along the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) in the

Andaman Sea. It saw the participation of Indian Navy Ships Saryu and Bitra along

with Myanmar Ships Aung Zeya and FAC 563.

FARC-EP: Stands for Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army

and was in news on 17 February 2016 as the United Nations (UN) and Colombia

Government announced the launch of a new Peacebuilding Fund in Bogota to

respond to stabilization and peacebuilding needs.

Norway, Sweden and the UN’s own Peacebuilding Fund are the rst contributors,

helping the new fund kick off with an initial 8 million US dollars.

The FARC-EP is a guerrilla movement involved in the continuing Colombian armed

conict since 1964. The group claims to be an army of peasant Marxist–Leninists

with a political platform of agrarianism and anti-imperialism.

The conict carried out by FARC-EP is Latin America’s longest armed conict which

has been continuing for past 51 years and has left nearly a quarter of a million victims.

EMBO: Stands for European Molecular Biology Organisation founded in 1964 as a

professional organization for life scientists for Europe. It was in news because India

on 4 February 2016 signed a Cooperation Agreement to acquire the status of the

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Associate Member state, which will allow researchers working in India to participate

in all EMBO programmes and activities.

VVPAT: Stands for Voter-veried Paper Audit Trail and was in news because Assam’s

Chief Electoral Ofcer to introduce VVPAT in 10 constituencies in upcoming assembly

polls. It is an independent verication system for Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs)

that allows voters to verify that their votes are cast as intended and can serve as an

additional barrier to changing or destroying votes.

The idea of using VVPAT was for the rst time suggested during an All Party Meeting

on 4 October 2010.

For the rst time VVPAT with Electronic Voting Machines was used for the Noksen

Assembly seat in Tuensang district of Nagaland in September 2013.

E-Governance Vision 2020: The term came into news during a keynote address bythe Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr. Nasim Zaidi on a Seminar on ‘Leveraging

Technology for Transparent and Credible Elections”. The Vision 2020’ will provide

inclusive, integrated single window view of services to all stakeholders in all phases

of the electoral cycle using multiple channel of delivery. It will have ve strategic

goals and 11 mission mode projects wherein some of priority areas will be in mobile

apps, social media, knowledge and learning management.

FICV: Stands for Future Infantry Combat Vehicle and was in news in the second

week of February 2016 as Tata Motors, Bharat Forge and the USA-based General

Dynamics tied up for defense bid under Future Infantry Combat Vehicle programme.

The FICV Programme involves development of compact combat vehicles for the

Indian Army that will replace Russian-designed BMP (Sarath BMP-II) series armed

vehicles that are in operation since 1980.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




The nearly 10 billion US dollar project is touted as India’s largest indigenous defense

program.

Walk of Hope: The term was in news in the third week of February 2016. It came into

news as it reached the national capital, New Delhi after covering a distance of 5400

kilometers in 374 days. It is a padayatra for peace & harmony by the Manav Ekta

Mission–from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

Operation Raahat: It came in news in second week of February 2016 after the

Royal Navy of United Kingdom (UK) presented its desire to ofcially study India’s

humanitarian rescue operation in Yemen.

It was a massive air and sea operation carried out by India in Yemen in 2015, wherein

Indian forces rescued about 5600 people including 960 foreign nations from 41

countries in a short span of 10 days.

Cobra Gold 2016: The term Cobra Gold was in news on 3 February 2016 as India

conrmed its participation in the annual amphibious military exercise in 2016. It is the

largest Asia-Pacic military exercise and held in Thailand every year.

The decision in this regard was conveyed to Thailand, the host country, during Vice

President Hamid Ansari’s visit to the country.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Oscar Awards 2016 conferred

88th Academy Awards, popularly called Oscar Awards, were conferred on 29 February

2016. The award ceremony was held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles

and was given in 24 categories.

The list of winners

• Best Picture: Spotlight

• Best Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu for The Revenant

• Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant

• Best Actress: Brie Larson for Room

• Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies

• Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl

• Achievement in Costume Design: Mad Max: Fury Road

• Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling: Mad Max: Fury Road

• Best Foreign Language Film: Son of Saul

• Best Live Action Short Film: Stutterer

• Best Documentary Short Subject: A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness

• Original Screenplay: Spotlight

• Achievement in Sound Mixing: Mad Max: Fury Road

• Achievement in Sound Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road

• Achievement in Visual Effects: Ex Machina

• Best Animated Short Film: Bear Story

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• Best Animated Feature Film: Inside Out

Golden Reel Award: Famous sound designer Resul Pookutty on 27 February 2016

became the rst Asian to win the award for Best Sound for documentary India’s

Daughter at the Motion Picture Sound Editors’ (MPSE) 63rd annual Golden Reel

Awards.

Remi Award: Kanavu Variyam, a Tamil movie directed by a Chennai-based techie Arun Chidambaram depicting power cuts in Tamil Nadu was selected for this Award.

The previous recipients of the Remi Award, which is given to independent lms and

lmmakers, include George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, the Coen Brothers and Ang

Lee.

Crystal Bear Award in the ‘Generation K-Plus’ section: The award was won by the

Malyalam lm Ottal for being the Best Children’s Film at the Berlin International Film

Festival. The lm directed by Jayaraj Rajasekharan Nair is a story of an old sherman

and his grandson. It is an adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s short story ‘Vanaka’. Earlier

winners were “Killa” 2014 and “Dhanak” 2015.

Dinanath Mangeshkar award: Actor Ranveer Singh was on 26 February 2016

selected for Pandit Dinanath Mangeshkar award. The award will be bestowed upon

Ranveer by Lata Mangeshkar at a function to be held in Pune.

Pandit Dinanath Mangeshkar award was instituted in 1999 in the memory of Dinanath

Mangeshkar, father of Lata Mangeshkar. Since then it is awarded annually to persons

for their outstanding contributions to music and movies. The award carries monetary

award of 101001 rupees, a memento and a citation.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Aryabhata Award 2013: Former Scientic Adviser to Defence Minister and ex-DRDO

chief Dr Avinash Chander on 25 February 2016 received the prestigious Astronautical

Society of India’s Aryabhata Award 2013.

Besides, Dr.Ranganath R Navalgund, Vikram Sarabhai Distinguished Professor,

received the Aryabhata Award for the year 2012.

Aryabhata Award is presented every year to an individual for outstanding lifetime

contribution to the promotion of astronautics in India. It consists of a citation and one

lakh rupees in cash.

Cross of the Order of Merit: Renowned researcher in Chemical Sciences Goverdhan

Mehta on 23 February 2016 was conferred with Federal Republic of Germany’s

prestigious Cross of the Order of Merit.

The award was instituted in 1951 by Federal President Theodor Heuss and it is the

only honour that may be awarded in all elds of endeavour.

Green Bond Pioneer Award: YES Bank, India’s fth largest private sector bank,

on 23 February 2016 received the prestigious Green Bond Pioneer Award for being

the Pioneers in Emerging Markets-India in an award ceremony at London Stock

Exchange (LSE), London.

YES Bank was recognised for its pioneering efforts in the Green Bonds market,including the highly successful issuance of India’s rst ever Green Infrastructure

Bonds. It is the only Indian bank to be recognized in these rst ever Green Bond

Awards.

Presidential Early Career Awards: The US President Barack Obama on 18 February

2016 named 106 researchers, including six of Indian origin, as recipients of thePresidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




US Government honour for young independent researchers.

List of Indian winners:

• Shwetak Patel (University of Washington)

• Rahul Mangharam (University of Pennsylvania)

• Sachin Patel (Vanderbilt University Medical Centre)

• Milind Kulkarni (Purdue University)

• Vikram Shyam (NASA)

• Kiran Musunuru (Harvard University)

58th Annual Grammy Awards

The 58th Annual Grammy Awards were held on 15 February 2016 at the Staples

Center in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony recognized the best recordings,

compositions and artists of the eligibility year, which was from 1 October 2014 to 30

September 2015.

• Record of the Year: Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars

• Album of the Year: 1989 by Taylor Swift

• Song of the Year: Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge

Indo-British lmmaker Asif Kapadia won Grammy Award for Best Music Film for his

documentary Amy, which is a 2015 British documentary lm that depicts the life and

death of British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse. It was directed by Asif Kapadia.

Grammy Awards is given by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

(NARAS) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the mainly

English-language music industry. The rst Grammy Awards ceremony was held on 4May 1959.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Knight of the Legion of Honour: Fashion designer Manish Arora on 16 February 2016

was awarded with the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of

Honour), France’s highest civilian honour.

The Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte on 19

May 1802.

Golden Beaver Award: The lm Nagaland is changing, But... directed by Gurmeet

Sapal on conservation efforts by villagers on 13 February 2016 won the Golden

Beaver Best Film Award in the institutional category at the 6th National Science Film

Festival and Competition in Mumbai.

The lm also received the technical excellence award for best sound design at the

festival, organized by Vigyan Prasar of the Department of Science and Technology.

Infosys Prize 2015 conferred

President Pranab Mukherjee on 13 February 2016 conferred Infosys Prize 2015 on

six winners in New Delhi.

The list of winners

• Engineering and Computer Science: Won by Prof. Umesh Waghmare for his

innovative use of rst-principles theories and modelling in insightful investigations

of microscopic mechanisms responsible for specic properties of certain materialssuch as topological insulators, ferroelectrics, multiferroics and graphene.

• Humanities: Won by Prof. Jonardon Ganeri for his originality in interpreting and

scrutinizing analytical Indian Philosophy and shedding light on dichotomy between

Indian and Greek traditions of philosophical reasoning.

• Life Sciences: Won by Dr. Amit Sharma for his pioneering contributions towards

deciphering the molecular structure, at the atomic level, of key proteins involvedin the biology of pathogenesis of the deadly malarial parasite.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• Mathematical Sciences: Won by Prof Mahan Mj for establishing a central

conjecture in the Thurston program to study hyperbolic 3-manifolds and introduced

important new tools to study fundamental groups of complex manifolds.

• Physical Sciences: Won by Prof. G Ravindra Kumar for his contributions to the

physics of high intensity laser matter interactions. He provided, for the rst time,

unequivocal evidence of turbulent magnetic elds and the discovery of terahertz

frequency acoustic waves, in laser produced hot dense plasmas. These results

have signicance to testing stellar and astrophysical scenarios.

• Social Sciences: Won by Dr. Srinath Raghavan for outstanding research that

synthesizes military history, international politics, and strategic analysis into

powerful and imaginative perspectives on India in global context.

The Infosys Prize is awarded under the aegis of the Infosys Science Foundation, a

not-for-prot trust instituted in February 2009 in six categories. The prize for each

category consists of a purse of 65 lakh rupees, a 22 karat gold medallion and a

citation certicate.

69th British Academy Film Awards

The 69th British Academy Films Awards (BAFTAs) were announced on 14 February

2016. The award ceremony was held at the Royal Opera House in London. The

awards were announced to honour the best British and international contributions to

lm in 2015.

‘The Revenant’, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, won the Best Film Award. ‘Brooklyn’

was named the Outstanding British Film while ‘Inside Out’ won the Best Animated

Film. ‘Amy’ won the award in Best Documentary category.

2016 Best m-Government Service Award: The Award was won by Karnataka’s

Mobile One project on 10 February 2016 at the World Government Summit held in

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Dubai, UAE. The project was selected for the award in the One Stop App category

at the international level.

Directors Guild of America award 2015: The Revenant director Alejandro Gonzalez

on 6 February 2016 received his second consecutive Directors Guild of America

(DGA) award for best feature lm at the 68th annual DGA Awards.

He has joined a select group of directors who have won the DGA trophy twice including

Ang Lee, Francis Ford Coppola and Clint Eastwood among others. Steven Spielberg

is the only director to have won the DGA feature trophy three times.

Global Filmmaking award 2016: Indian writer Geetu Mohandas won Sundance

Institute Global Filmmaking Award 2016 on 30 January 2016 for her script of yet-to-

be shot lm ‘Insha Allah’. The award was presented at 2016 Sundance Film Festival

Awards Ceremony held in Park City, Utah.

Golden Conch Award: Manipuri documentary lm Phum-Shang on 3 February 2016

bagged the prestigious Golden Conch Award for the best documentary lm at the

14th Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Animation and Short Films

(MIFF 2016). The lm is directed by Haobam Paban Kumar, an alumnus of the Satyajit

Ray Film & Television Institute, Kolkata.

Bhimsen Joshi Award: Sarangi maestro Pandit Ram Narayan on 3 February 2016

was selected for the prestigious Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Classical Music

Award for 2015-2016.

The Award is an annual award, which was instituted by the Maharashtra Government.

It is given to individuals who have excelled in classical vocal or instrumental music.The award comprises 5 lakh rupees in cash, a trophy and a citation.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




V Shantaram Award Life Time Achievement Award: Veteran wildlife lmmaker

Naresh Bedi on 28 January 2016 was honoured with the V Shantaram Lifetime

Achievement Award at the 14th edition of the Mumbai International Festival for

Documentary, Short and Animation Films (MIFF 2016).

Bedi was honoured for his outstanding contribution to wildlife lmmaking. He is also

credited with lming several rare wildlife moments.

K Veeramani Award for Social Justice: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on 29

January 2016 was selected for the prestigious K Veeramani Award for Social Justice

2015. Kumar is chosen for the award for his contribution towards social justice as

Chief Minister. The award is given away by Periyar International, a Chicago-based

voluntary organisation.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Exercise IBSAMAR: The fth edition of exercise IBSAMAR between India, Brazil

and South Africa Maritime (IBSAMAR) Navies kicked off on 19 February 2016 in Goa.

This is the rst time that Exercise IBSAMAR is being conducted in Indian waters. The

exercise was initiated in 2006.

Exercise Lamitye 2016: The seventh in the series of Indo-Seychelles Joint Training

Exercises, Lamitye – 2016 concluded on 29 February 2016 at Victoria, Mahe Island

in Seychelles. It was conducted with an aim to improve interoperability between both

Armies in jointly ghting Counter Insurgency and Terrorism from 15 February to 28

February 2016.

Exercise Lamitye which means Friendship in Creole, has been a bridge between the

Armed Forces of India and SPDF since 2001.

The exercise ended with Exercise Sea Hunt in which Cordon and Search operations

were enmeshed with hostage rescue operations in an Anti-Piracy setting at Cape

Ternay, with realistic orchestration of events extending over two days in an urban

insurgency environment.

Prithvi II missile successfully test-red

India on 16 February 2016 successfully test red its indigenously developed Prithvi-II

missile from the Chandipur, off Odisha coast. The medium range missile is capable

of carrying 500 kg to 1000 kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twin

engines.

As part of a user trial, the missile with a strike range of 350 km, test was carried out

from a mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR). It

uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory to hit its target.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




The rst missile to be developed by DRDO under India’s Integrated Guided Missile

Development Program (IGMDP), Prithvi-II was inducted into India’s armed forces in

2003.

The last user trial of the surface-to-surface Prithvi-II was successfully conducted on

26 November 2015 from the same test range in Odisha.

Exercise Surya Kiran: The 9th Indo-Nepal Combined Battalion level Military Training

Exercise Surya Kiran commenced at Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand on 8 February 2016.

The 14-day long exercise will take place till 21 February 2016 under the aegis of

Panchshul Brigade of Central Command.

International Fleet Review 2016

International Fleet Review (IFR) 2016 of the Indian Navy concluded on 8 February2016 along the coast of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The 5-day long event was

hosted by the Indian Navy with the theme “United through Oceans.” It was attended

by the President of India Pranab Mukherjee and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Main Highlights

• The review was aimed at assuring the country of the Indian Navy’s preparedness,

high morale and discipline.

• Considered as country’s biggest military exercise, friendly naval contingents from

around the world joined Indian navy’s ships and submarines.

• It saw the participation of 50 navies, 90 ships, including 24 warships and over 70

aircraft.

• The list of participating countries included the 5 permanent members of the UNSC– the USA, China, the UK, Russia and France, South Korea, Brazil, Canada, etc.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• Indian Navy’s ships India’s biggest aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, INS Viraat,

destroyers INS Mysore, INS Kolkata and frigates - INS Satpura and INS Shivalik,

Teg participated in the event.

• Dolphin was chosen as the mascot for the IFR-2016.

• This was the second time an IFR was being held in India.

• The rst IFR was held off the coast of Mumbai in 2001 when APJ Abdul Kalam was

the President.

• 29 countries participated in that event.

Sino-India Cooperation 2016: It is rst joint tactical military exercise between India

and China that was held on 6 February 2016 in Chusul-Moldo area located along the

Line of Actual Control (LoAC) in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.

The exercise is part of the ongoing initiatives taken by India and China to ensure

greater interaction between troops stationed along the LoAC. It complements the

Hand-in-Hand series of India-China joint exercises which started in 2007.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




World Day of Social Justice: The day was observed on 20 February 2016 with the

theme A Just Transition - environmentally sustainable economies and societies. The

day was created by the UNGA in 2007 in order to support efforts of the international

community in poverty eradication, the promotion of full employment and decent

work, gender equity and access to social well-being and justice for all. It was created

in accordance with objectives and goals of the World Summit for Social Development

(1995).

International Mother Language Day: It was observed on 21 February 2016 with

the theme Quality education, language(s) of instruction and learning outcomes. The

day was proclaimed by the UNESCO in November 1999 in recognition of the 1952

Bangla Language Movement. The year 2008 was proclaimed as the International

Year of Languages.

National Science Day: The day was observed across India on 28 February 2016

with the theme Scientic Issues for Development of the Nation. The day is observed

annually to mark the discovery of the Raman Effect (phenomenon of scattering of

photons) by Indian physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman on 28 February

1928.

Raman was awarded with the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 for his discovery and

this was the rst Nobel Prize for India in the eld of Science.

Make in India Week: It was observed from 13 February – 18 February 2016 at

the MMRDA grounds in Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai. The week was launched

with the theme design, innovation and sustainability in order to showcase India’smanufacturing sector potential in the coming decade.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




The purpose is to attract foreign direct investment and give llip to the Make In India

initiative launched by the Union Government on 25 September 2014.

World Radio Day: It was observed globally on 13 February 2016 with the theme

“Radio in Times of Emergency and Disaster.” To mark the occasion, various activities

conducted across India celebrating importance of radio in the day to day life.

To mark the event, in Odisha, a two-day annual international event Outreach

International Radio Fair 2016 was inaugurated in Bhubaneswar.

UNESCO at its 36th General Assembly on 3 November 2011 proclaimed 13 February

as World Radio Day. The rst World Radio Day was ofcially celebrated in 2012 to

mark the anniversary of the rst broadcast by United Nations Radio in 1946.

National Deworming Day: India on 10 February 2016 observed the rst National

Deworming Day in schools and preschools (anganwadis). The day is observed tocombat parasitic worm infections among preschool (anganwadi) and school-age

children.

Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda declared 10 February

as the National Deworming Day in February 2015.

World Cancer Day: It was observed across the world on 4 February 2016. The day

was observed with year’s theme “We can. I can.” The tagline of the theme reects on

what you can do and asks to make a pledge and take action and make a difference

in ght against cancer.

The World Cancer Day 2016-2018 will explore how everyone – as a collective or as

individuals – can do their part to reduce the global burden of cancer.

It also aims at saving millions of preventable deaths each year. Currently, 8.2 million

people die from cancer worldwide every year, out of which, 4 million people die

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




prematurely (aged 30 to 69 years).

The Day was founded by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) to support

the goals of the World Cancer Declaration, written in 2008. The primary goal of the

day is to signicantly reduce illness and death caused by cancer by 2020.

World Wetlands Day: It was observed on 2 February 2016 across the globe to mark

the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands in the city of Ramsar in Iran in 1971.

The theme of World Wetlands Day this year is “Wetlands for our Future – SustainableLivelihoods.” It highlights the value of wetlands in securing local livelihoods through

activities as shing, rice farming, tourism, and water provision.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Swachh Paryatan Mobile App: It was launched by the Union Tourism Ministry on

22 February 2016. The App will facilitate the public to communicate their complaints

about any unclean area and garbage piles in and around tourist destinations. Initially,

25 Adarsh Smarak Monuments protected by Archaeological Survey of India have

been identied for inclusion in the app.

Film Neerja: The lm was in news as it was declared tax free in Delhi and Uttar

Pradesh on 26 February 2016. Sonam Kapoor-starrer movie is based on the life of

young ight attendant Neerja Bhanot, who died trying to save the lives of 350-odd

passengers on a hijacked Pan Am aircraft in 1986.

The lm already declared tax-free in Gujarat and Maharashtra is written by Saiwyn

Quadras and directed by Ram Madhvani.

30th Surajkund International Crafts Mela: The 30th edition of the Mela began at

Surajkund in Faridabad, Haryana on 1 February 2016. The event that will continue till

15 February 2016 was inaugurated by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

Telangana was selected as the Theme State and will showcase its unique culture

and rich heritage and about 300 artistes from the state will perform different folk arts.

Chhattisgarh was chosen as the Theme State for the 29th Surajkund International

Crafts Mela-2015.

At least 23 countries will be part of the Mela, with China and Japan being the two

focus countries.

Exhibition on Coin and Currency of India: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on

22 February 2016 inaugurated an exhibition on the Coin and Currency of India at

the Great Hall of North Block in New Delhi. The exhibition would help in knowing the

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




history of evolution of currency in the country

The Department of Expenditure (DoE) under Union Finance Ministry organised the

exhibition in coordination with the RBI, CPWD, CISF, the Indian Army, Staff of DoE,

Customs and Excise Ofcers.

National Arogya Fair-2016: The 4-day National Arogya Fair concluded successfully

on 8 February 2016 at Dehradun in Uttarakhand. The themes were based on Immune

system, Homeopathy in Women’s disorders, Treatment in Ayurveda, Yog se Arogya

and Non-Communicable Diseases management in Siddha System etc.

It was organized by the Union Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani,

Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) in collaboration with the State

government of Uttarakhand and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

4th World Government Summit: The 3-day long annual World Government Summit(WGS) concluded on 10 February 2016 in Dubai, the UAE. The summit was 4th in the

series since the launch of WGS in 2013 by the UAE Government.

The 2016 WGS was attended by 4500 participants from more than 130 countries

to discuss challenges and opportunities before present and future governments

worldwide.

It also provided an opportunity to showcase innovations, best practice and smartsolutions to inspire creativity to tackle these future challenges.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• This Sonam Kapoor-starrer lm was made tax free in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh on

26 February 2016 - Neerja

• Actor selected for Pandit Dinanath Mangeshkar award on 26 February 2016 -

Ranveer Singh

• General Secretary of European governing body UEFA was elected as the President

of FIFA on 26 February 2016 - Gianni Infantino

• Team that won the Ranji Trophy for a record 41st time with a comprehensive

innings and 21 run victory over Saurashtra - Mumbai

• Odisha government introduced 50 vehicles equipped with global positioning

system to transport medicines to State-run hospitals in remote areas, under -

Niramaya Yojana

• He is the co-founder of OYO Rooms and gured in the 30 Under 30 Asia List of

Forbes magazine – Ritesh Agarwal

• The three Information Commissioners appointed to Central Information

Commission on 25 February 2016 are - Bimal Julka, Divya Prakash Sinha and

Amitava Bhattacharyya

• This city police on 25 February 2016 created 16 no-sele zones around the city in

response to several deaths of people while taking seles - Mumbai

• The Lok Sabha on 25 February 2016 passed the Election Laws (Amendment)

Bill, 2016to enable Election Commission to start the delimitation process of the

enclaves transferred on account of 1974 Land Boundary Agreement coming into

effect on - 31 July 2015

• Senate of this country on 25 February 2016 approved a bill recognising civil unions

for same-sex and heterosexual couples - Italy

• Maharashtra Government on 24 February 2016 nalised a Project Management

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Consultant (PMC) for the proposed Chhatrapati Shivaji Memorial in - Arabian Sea

• Union Cabinet approved for an agreement between India and Maldives for the

avoidance of double taxation of income from - International Air Transport

• Union Cabinet gave its nod to the proposal for provision and operationalization

of credit of 150 million US Dollars from EXIM Bank on 24 February 2016 for the

development of - Chabahar Port in Iran

• The Former Scientic Adviser to Defence Minister and ex-DRDO chief, who

received the prestigious Astronautical Society of India’s Aryabhata Award on 25

February 2016 - Dr Avinash Chander

• The non-navy ofcer who was appointed as the Director General of Indian Coast

Guard is - Rajendra Singh

• The private sector bank which received the prestigious Green Bond Pioneer Award

for being the ‘Pioneers in Emerging Markets-India’ is - YES Bank

• The famous researcher in Chemical Sciences who was conferred with FederalRepublic of Germany’s prestigious Cross of the Order of Merit is - Goverdhan

Mehta

• The e-Tourist Visa (e-TV) facility will be extended to 37 more countries making the

total count of countries under the scheme - 150

• People of this country on 24 February 2016 rejected the President Evo Morales’s

appeal for allowing him to contest for the fourth term in 2019 elections in areferendum - Bolivia

• The Bangladesh cricketer who was named as the national goodwill ambassador

for youth by the United Nations Development Programme - Mashrafe Bin Mortaza

• This movie was selected for the Remi Award which will be presented at the 49th

WorldFest Houston International Film Festival in April 2016 - Kanavu Variyam

• He was sworn-in as the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court - Justice Subhro

Kamal

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• West Bengal Government on 24 February 2016 announced its decision to constitute

two task forces for the development of - Adivasis and Gorkhas living in - Terai-

Dooars and Darjeeling Hills region

• National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013 was ofcially launched on 24 February

2016 in this state - Mizoram

• Union Government on 24 February 2016 approved introduction of steps for

promotion of payments through cards and digital means with an aim to – Reduce

cash transactions

• Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on 25 February 2016 presented the Railway

Budget 2016-17 in the Lok Sabha with outlined capital plan of - 121000 crore

rupees

• In Railway Budget 2016-17 Coolies were renamed as - Sahayaks

• Haryana Government decided to appoint a retired IPS ofcer to inquire into the

acts of omission and commission on part of all ofcers and ofcials of both Police

and Civil Administration during the Jat Reservation agitation - Prakash Singh

• The latest Gulf states that urged their citizens to leave Lebanon due to tensions

over the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah which backs the Syrian government -

Qatar and Kuwait

• Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has hiked Minimum Support Price of raw

jute from 2700 to - 3200 rupees per quintal

• Union Government on 23 February 2016 divested 5 percent of its stake in this

public sector undertaking (PSU) – National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC)

• The judge of Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court who was sworn-in as

the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court is - Justice Dinesh Maheshwari

• The Parliament of Pakistan on 23 February 2016 became the world’s rst to run

fully on - Solar Power

• The city for which Assam Cabinet approved the detailed project report for a Mass

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Rapid Transit System (MRTS) is – Guwahati

• To enhance economic cooperation and strengthens nancial stability within the

SAARC region, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 23 February 2016 extended the

2 billion US dollars SAARC Currency Swap Arrangement till - 14 November 2017

• In cricket, Australia replaced India at the top of the world’s test rankings with a

2-nil test series victory over - New Zealand

• City ranked best for living in the 18th Mercer annual Quality of Living survey of 230

cities – Vienna, Austria

• City ranked worst for living in the 18th Mercer annual Quality of Living survey of

230 cities – Baghdad, Iraq

• He is a distinguished Scientist, who took charge as Director of the Bhabha Atomic

Research Centre (BARC) on 23 February 2016 - KN Vyas

• The Supreme Court on 23 February 2016 ruled that the top ofcials and employees

of private banks will be considered as public servants for the purposes of this Act- Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988

• This place saw the holding of ninth meeting of National Steering Committee on

Climate Change on 22 February 2016 by the Union Environment, Forest and

Climate Change Ministry (MoEFCC) – New Delhi

• The Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh

Vardhan released the seismic microzonation report for these two cities - Delhi andKolkata

• Odisha Government on 23 February 2016 launched a pilot project on Computerised

Fair Price Shop (FPS) Automation system to monitor the distribution of essential

commodities under - Public Distribution System (PDS)

• Former Chief Justice of India who was selected as the Chairman of National

Human Rights Commission (NHRC)on 23 February 2016 is - HL Dattu

• The veteran scriptwriter who will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Award at the International Film Festival of Prayag is - Sagar Sarhadi

• The naval exercise between India, Brazil and South Africa which kicked off on 19

February 2016 in Goa is - Exercise IBSAMAR

• It is in this country a family protection scheme for Non-resident Indians (NRI) was

launched - United Arab Emirates (UAE)

• India’s Long Jumper won silver medal on 22 February 2016 at the 7th Asian Indoor

Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar is - Kumaravel Prem Kumar

• The assistance extended by India as an immediate measure to Fiji, which was hitby tropical cyclone Winston - One Million US dollars

• A state on 22 February 2016 announced that no fee would be charged from

Scheduled Castes students in Government colleges from next academic session

- Madhya Pradesh

• United States and Russia announced that a planned cessation of hostilities in

Syria will come into effect at midnight on - 27 February 2016

• The Road to Resilience is an initiative of the World Bank, under which a team

undertook a bus trip along the entire Indian coastline between covering this many

states - 10

• The renowned singer from Odisha who passed away on 19 February 2016 in New

Delhi is - Bhubaneswari Mishra

• Udai Kumar was appointed as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Ofcer

of - Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India Limited

• The Indian-origin art lover and playwright who was conferred Knighthood by the

French government for his lifelong devotion to the promotion of arts is - Ismail

Mahomed

• He was appointed as the Chief Justice of Orissa (Odisha) High Court on 22 February

2016 - Justice Vineet Saran

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• An Indian-origin Sikh ofcer, who was in news in the third week of February 2016

as he was appointed as Kuala Lumpur’s commissioner of police - Amar Singh

• It became the sixth state to sign MoU with Union Government for power scheme

UDAY after Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand

– Bihar

• Italian woman Tennis player who won Rio Open title on 21 February 2016 -

Francesca Schiavone

• To facilitate the public to communicate their complaints about any unclean area

and garbage piles in and around tourist destinations, the Tourism Ministry on 22

February 2016 launched - Swachh Paryatan Mobile App

• Former Prime Minister of the Central African Republic who was declared winner in

the second round of presidential elections is - Faustin-Archange Touadéra

• The snooker payer who won the 2016 BetVictor Welsh Open title is - Ronnie

O’Sullivan

• The team that defeated Kalinga Lancers to win Hockey India League (HIL) title is

- Punjab Warriors

• Triple jumper on 21 January 2016 won silver medal at the 7th Asian Indoor Athletics

Championships in Doha, Qatar - Renjith Maheswary

• The Italian tennis player who won the 2016 WTA Dubai Duty Free Tennis

Championships women’s singles title is - Sara Errani

• This New Zealand cricketer scored fastest-ever test cricket century in 54 balls in

a match against Australia - Brendon McCullum

• With this telecom company Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd announced partnership to set

up a payments bank - Idea Cellular

• This high-thrust cryogenic engine was successfully tested by the ISRO for 640

seconds - CE-20

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• Yunus Khan who was appointed as the chairman of the Empowered Group of State

Transport Ministers that was formed to suggest measures to boost the transport

sector in the country belongs to – Rajasthan

• International Mother Language Day (IMLD) was observed globally on 21 February

2016 with the theme - Quality education, language(s) of instruction and learning

outcomes

• Bangladeshi nationals on 21 February 2016 paid their homage to the martyrs of

the historic 1952 Language Movement at - Central Shaheed Minar, Dhaka

• The critically endangered scaly anteaters and insectivorous mammals of the order

Pholidota that came in news because 20 February 2016 was observed as - World

Pangolin Day

• Malayalam lm “Ottal” was named the Best Children’s Film at the 2016 Berlin

International Film Festival and was honoured with - Crystal Bear Award in

Generation K-Plus section

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 21 February 2016 launched Shyama Prasad

Mukherjee National Rurban Mission from - Kurubhat village, Chhattisgarh

• This transmission line was jointly inaugurated by the Prime Ministers of India

and Nepal, Narenda Modi and KP Sharma Oli - Muzaffarpur-Dhalkebar Power

Transmission Line

• Tropical Cyclone that lashed Fiji after torrential rain and strong winds brought is -

Winston

• The Finance Minister of West Bengal who was named the chairman of the

Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on Goods and Services Tax

is - Amit Mitra

• The country against which the Indian Women Cricket Team won the three-match

ODI series, 3-0 is – Sri Lanka

• The author of novel To Kill a Mockingbird who passed away 19 February 2016 is

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




- Harper Lee

• The leader who was sworn in as the ninth Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh is

- Kalikho Pul

• The Polish lm director known for lm That Most Important Thing: Love who died

on 17 February 2016 is - Andrzej Zulawski

• The former West Indies cricketer with highest Test batting average in history who

passed away on 17 February 2016 is - Andy Ganteaume

• The Bollywood lyricist who entered Guinness Book of World Records for composing3524 songs is – Sameer Anjaan

• The Command Hospital which was awarded the Raksha Mantri’s Trophy for Best

Service Hospital is - Eastern Command

• The state in which BHEL commissioned a 270 MW generation unit at the Goindwal

Sahib Thermal Power Project of private producer GVK Power & Infra is – Punjab

• The state with which Uber signed an agreement to help create 75000 jobs across

the state is – Maharashtra Government

• Veteran Hindustani classical singer from Gwalior Gharana who died in Kolkata on

18 February 2016 at the age of 107 - Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan

• Nepal Government on 18 February 2016 decided to constitute an 11-member-

political committee to study - Demarcation of federal states on the constitution

• The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation on 18 February 2016

sanctioned construction of around eighty two thousand houses for Economically

Weaker Sections (EWS) in urban areas of 163 cities of - West Bengal, Telangana,

Bihar, Mizoram, Rajashtan, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand

• This former cricketer’s autobiography ‘Playing It May Way’ in February 2016

entered the Limca Book of Records for being the best-selling adult hardback in

both ction and non-ction categories - Sachin Tendulkar

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• It is with this country India signed its third Agreement on Standard Operating

Procedure for conducting maritime coordinated patrols – Myanmar

• It is for this region the World Bank Group announced 150 million US dollars in

funding to combat Zika virus – Latin America & the Caribbean

• This Indian-origin scientist belonging to Utah University led the discovery of 2D

semiconducting material made of tin monoxide - Ashutosh Tiwari

• For making the agriculture more lucrative, the Sikkim Government decided to

introduce - Contract farming in the State

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 18 February 2016 launched the guidelines for

operationalization of - Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

• Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on 18 February 2016 announced a free

bus pass scheme for - Senior citizens

• Odisha government on 17 January 2016 decided to introduce a self-certifying

scheme for - Non-hazardous industries

• India is the 71st country to approve Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of - World

Trade Organization (WTO)

• The not-for-prot company started by Actor Aamir Khan and his wife Kiran Rao

that will work with the Maharashtra government to solve the water crisis in the

state - Paani Foundation

• The Malayalam short-story writer and novelist, famous for his work Sarga

Sameeksha, who died on 17 February 2016 is - Akbar Kakkattil

• The renowned Indologist who was awarded the 2016 Israel Prize for Religious

Studies for his research into the literature and culture of southern India is - David

Dean Shulman

• The initiative launched by Amazon that enables small and medium businesses to

go online and sell products on Amazon is - Amazon Tatkal

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• The company with which the Jharkhand Government signed an MoU to set up a

1600 MW capacity thermal power plant in the state is – Adani Group

• The Union Cabinet approved appointment of the NITI Aayog CEO as a part-

member of this commission – Telecom Commission

• India’s Tata Motors and Bharat Forge tied up with this US-based company to bid

for 11 billion US dollar worth Future Infantry Combat Vehicle Programme - General

Dynamics

• This Russian made infantry combat vehicle will be replaced by the Future Infantry

Combat Vehicle Programme of the Indian Army - Sarath BMP-II

• It in this Indian city Apple Inc. will be setting up its rst Technology Development

Centre outside the USA – Hyderabad

• This yard of the Indian Railways in Uttar Pradesh was installed with Ultra Modern

Computer Based Signalling System to improve trafc movement – Khurja Yard

• A three-day expo Vibrant North East 2016 begin on 18 February 2016 in – Guwahati, Assam

• 12th South Asian Games (SAG) 2016 that concluded on 16 February 2016 in

Guwahati, Assam was topped by India with – 308 medals (188 Gold, 90 Silver and

30 Bronze)

• The fashion designer who was conferred Knight of the Legion of Honour, France’s

highest civilian honour is - Manish Arora

• The album that won Record of the Year award at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards

is - Uptown Funk

• The Iranian city in which the rst Silk Road train connecting Iran and China packed

with Chinese goods arrived on 15 February 2016 is – Tehran

• The former United Nations Secretary-General and author of the memoir

Unvanquished: A US-U.N. Saga who died on 16 February 2016 in Cairo, Egypt is

- Boutros Boutros-Ghali

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• After completion of this many years premature closure of PPF accounts will be

allowed in genuine cases, such as cases of serious ailment, higher education of

children, etc. – 5 years

• This city was adjudged as the least clean city in the Swachh Survekshan 2016

survey results – Dhanbad

• This city was adjudged as the cleanest city in the Swachh Survekshan 2016 survey

results – Mysuru

• This team won the 36th National Chess team Championship in Bhubaneswar –

Indian Railways

• A welfare scheme for school-dropouts that was launched by West Bengal

government on 16 February 2016 - Utkarsh Bangla Scheme

• United Nations on 16 February 2016 said that the Syrian government has approved

humanitarian access to seven besieged areas including - Deir al-Zor; Foua, Kafraya,

Madaya, Zabadani, Kafr Batna and Mouadamiya al-Sham

• United Nations said that more than 3000 people have ed their homes in northern

Myanmar following clashes between two ethnic rebel groups - Restoration Council

for Shan State (RCSS) and Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA)

• The historical personality from India whose 200th birth anniversary was celebrated

on 16 February 2016 – Tatya Tope

• The country that won Men and Women Kabaddi competition at the 12th South Asian Games – India

• National Capital Goods Policy 2016 aims to increase share of capital goods sector

from the present 12 to 20 percentage by – 2025

• The number of medal won by India in Boxing at the 12th South Asian Games - 10

• Two prominent sportspersons from Odisha who were included in the Target

Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme for the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games are –

Sprinter Jauna Murmu, Archer Ranjit

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• It is in this village of Ranchi Jharkhand’s rst mega food park was inaugurated –

Getalsud

• The famous Malayalam music director and composer of background score of lm

Aaraam Thampuran who passed away on 14 February 2016 is - Rajamani

• The subsidiary of Tata Teleservices which announced its tie-up with Indian Railway

Catering and Tourism Corporation to provide an additional payment gateway is –

mRUPEE

• The country defeated by Indian women football team to win gold medal at the

12th South Asian Games is - Nepal

• This prison in Maharashtra undertook a novel pilot project with the cooperation

of State Bank of India to provide ATM cards to all jail inmates for completion of

nancial transactions in the jail - Nagpur Central Prison

• Indo-British lmmaker who scooped a Grammy Award for Best Music Film for his

poignant documentary “Amy” on late British singer Amy Winehouse - Asif Kapadia

• This state announced an allocation of 1000 crore rupees towards the welfare of

Muslims to be implemented from the Financial Year 2016-17 - Andhra Pradesh

• The name of the Indian gravitational wave detector similar to Laser Interferometer

Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) at Livingston and Hanford in the US –

IndiGO

• Ishan Kishan, the captain of India’s under-19 cricket, was signed by this leadingsports management group for a period of three years in February 2016 - IOS

Sports and Entertainment

• Five ITDC-run loss making hotels identied by the Union for disinvestment – Hotel

Janpath, Hotel Bharatpur Ashok, Hotel Patliputra Ashok, Hotel Donyi Polo Ashok,

Hotel Pondicherry Ashok

• The ministry that released the data on Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based ination

for January 2016 which was pegged at 0.90 percent – Ministry of Commerce &

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Industry

• It is at this place the National Woman Sports started for the rst time in Bihar on

15 February 2016 – Patna

• This state on 15 February 2016 launched a one-month nancial inclusion drive

wherein cooperative banks will open new accounts and ll KYC forms – Rajasthan

• This UK-based banking giant announced in February 2016 to keep its headquarter

at London – HSBC Bank

• The Supreme Court on 15 February 2016 upheld Army’s policy of preferentialpromotion to ofcers in combat units which is also called – Command and Exit

Policy

• The place where US President Barack Obama hosted the US-Asean Summit on

15 February 2016 – California

• The team that lifted their maiden ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup title on 14

February 2016 is – West Indies

• The former Finance Secretary to the Government of India and former Chairman

of the Competition Commission who on 12 February 2016 was appointed the

Chairman of TERI is - Ashok Chawla

• A lm on conservation efforts by villagers that won the Golden Beaver Best Film

Award in the institutional category of the 6th National Science Film Festival and

Competition is - Nagaland is changing, But...

• A noted Malyalam poet and Jnanpith Award winner who died on 13 February 2016

in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala is - O.N.V. Kurup

• The wilderness drama that won the Best Film award at the 69th British Academy

Films Awards is - The Revenant

• Make In India Week was inaugurated in Mumbai with the theme - Design, Innovation

and Sustainability

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• The Indo-Swiss pair that won the doubles title of the 2016 St. Petersburg Ladies

Trophy - Sania Mirza & Martina Hingis

• These two countries began 2-week long joint military exercise LAMITYE 2016 –

India & Seychelles

• This Indian-British lmmaker who won the Best Documentary Film Award at the

69th BAFTA Awards for his poignant documentary “Amy” – Asif Kapadia

• This university which was established by Freedom ghter Pt Madan Mohan

Malviya completed 100 years of establishment on 13 February 2016 - Banaras

Hindu University

• World Radio Day was observed on 13 February 2016 with the theme - Radio in

Times of Emergency and Disaster

• This Pakistan umpire was banned for 5 years by the BCCI his involvement in 2013

IPL spot-xing scandal – Asad Rauf

• The 3-day long 2016 World Government Summit concluded in –Dubai, the UAE

• The legislature of this country adopted sanction on North Korea for conducting

nuclear test and rocket launch – United States of America

• The location of the rst mega food park in Madhya Pradesh which is promoted by

M/s Indus mega Food Part Pvt. Ltd – Panwa village in Khargone district

• These four Indian-Americans were elected as members of the National Academy

of Engineering of the USA for 2016 - Anil K Jain, Dr Arati Prabhakar, Ganesh

Thakur and Dr K R Sridhar

• He was appointed as the Vice-Chairman of the Paris-based International Chamber

of Commerce Commission - Davinder Singh

• Mobile One m-governance project of this State won gold at the 4th World

Government Summit in Dubai – Karnataka

• India’s rank among the 38 countries in the United States Chamber of Commerce’s

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




2016 Intellectual Property Index – 37

• The Supreme Court under this Section of CrPC upheld clampdown on access to

mobile internet by State Governments – Section 144

• The Indian IT consulting company which announced the acquisition of US-based

health insurance rm HealthPlan Services is – Wipro

• The Soviet footballer, the scorer of the rst ever UEFA European Championship

qualifying goal, who died on 10 February 2016 in Moscow, Russia is - Anatoli Ilyin

• The Indian lawyer who was appointed as the South Asia Regional Director atInternational Court of Arbitration is - Abhinav Bhushan

• To eliminate of Malaria disease by 2030, the Ministry of Union Health and Family

Welfare on 11 February 2016 released -National Framework for Malaria Elimination

(NFME) 2016-2030

• The country that on 11 February 2016 appointed women ministers to the newly

created portfolios for Happiness and Tolerance, And Youth Affairs – United ArabEmirates (UAE)

• A ction book titled ‘A Kingdom for his Love’ was launched in February 2016 by

Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) is co-authored by - Vani Mahesh and Shinie Antony

• The second phase of odd-even number scheme for cars in Delhi will be implemented

from - 15 April 2016

• The Rajya Sabha Chairman on 11 February 2016 appointed this Supreme Court

judge to head the panel probing sexual harassment charge against Madhya

Pradesh High Court judge - Justice Ranjan Gogoi

• Number of countries that will participate in the three-day International Roma

Conference on 12 February 2016 in New Delhi - 15 countries

• Indian-origin person appointed as Australia’s new High Commissioner to India on

11 February 2016 is - Harinder Sidhu

• This State Government on 10 February 2016 unveiled a draft document titled

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




“Vision -2030: Everything for Everyone-Achieving inclusive and Sustainable

Development” - Assam

• The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) on 10

February 2016 signed an agreement to improve cooperation in - Cyber Defense

• The UAE’s national oil company Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) on

10 February 2016 agreed to store crude oil in India’s maiden strategic petroleum

storage at - Mangalore

• India nominee D J Pandian appointed as Vice-President and Chief Investment

Ofcer of the newly formed 100 billion dollar - Asian Infrastructure Investment

Bank (AIIB)

• Union Government on 10 February 2016 extended its agship scheme Beti

Bachao, Beti Padhao in additional - 61 district, across eleven states

• The singer and songwriter who was named as IFPI Global Recording Artist of

2015 across all music formats is – Adele

• The bank with which Smartbox Ecommerce Solutions announced its tie-up for

solving challenges related to last mile delivery for e-commerce rms is – YES Bank

• The power back-up solution provider with which HeyBiz announced its association

on 9 February 2016 is - Su-Kam Power Systems Limited

• The veteran Bengali lm director who passed away on 10 February 2016 in Kolkata

is - Aurobindo Mukherjee

• Kerala martial artist who set a new world record for most knuckle push-ups in a

minute is - KJ Joseph

• The Marine Museum was inaugurated at the Marine Aquarium and Regional Centre

(MARC) of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) on 3 February 2016 in - Digha, West

Bengal

• Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) notied this

animal as vermin for a period of one year in Uttarakhand on 3 February 2016 - Wild

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Pig

• National Arogya Fair-2016 was concluded on 8 February 2016 at -Dehradun in

Uttarakhand

• The two-day annual international radio fair ‘Outreach International Radio Fair-

2016’ kicked off from 13 February 2016 in - Bhubaneswar

• This day was observed across schools and preschools (anganwadis) in India on

10 February 2016 - National Deworming Day

• United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon launched a report titled ‘OneHumanity: Shared Responsibility’ as part of - World Humanitarian Summit

• Union Government in February 2016 sanctioned about 580 crore rupees as part

of the cost for constructing the 15-km railway track that will connect Kolkata with

Tripura via - Bangladesh

• Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister on 8 February 2016 announced plans to develop

aircraft carrier INS Viraat as a tourism center after its decommissioning at -Vishakhapatnam

• Union Government released the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 on 9 February 2016 for

- North-east India

• The Academy to which Reliance Industries chairman and managing director (CMD)

Mukesh Ambani and Sam Pitroda were elected as members on 8 February 2016

- US National Academy of Engineering (NAE)

• The President of United States (US) Barack Obama on 9 February 2016 unveiled a

Cyber Security National Action Plan on the occasion of -Safer Internet Day

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 8 February 2016 released the Report of the

Working Group on Introduction of Interest Rate Options in India that was prepared

by RBI committee chaired by - Prof PG Apte

• The Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex, world’s largest solar power plant, was

opened in February 2016 in – Morocco

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16


8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Pradesh

• Two cities that topped the National Air Quality Indices (NAQI) with 409 points each

for having the ‘severe’ pollution are – Varanasi and Muzzafarpur

• The name of NASA’s new rocket that will be launched in 2018 and carry 13

CubeSats and an uncrewed Orion Spacecraft – Space Launch System (SLS)

• Padma Shri awardee Cartoonist who died on 6 February 2016 due to brain tumor

in Gurgaon - Sudhir Tailang

• Five common type of cancer that would be diagnosed with the help of a simpleblood test due to identication of a striking signature in tumour DNA by researchers

from National Institute of Health in US -Lung, breast, intestine, stomach and the

womb

• This rm was in news as it has been developing OX513A mosquito strain to check

the growth of Aedes mosquito that transmit Dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus

- Gangabishan Bhikulal Investment and Trading Ltd

• This country launched the Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite on 7 February 2016 –

North Korea

• The rst Indo-China joint tactical military exercise Sino-India 2016 was held at -

Chusul-Moldo area in Ladakh

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated this premier educational institution to the

nation in Odisha - National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER),Bhubaneswar

• These states will benet from the Project Sunrise that was launched by the Union

Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to improve interventions against HIV/AIDS

among people who inject drugs (PWID) –Eight north eastern States

• Sapna Devi won gold for India in the women Wushu Taulu Competition of - 12th

South Asian Games

• An oil renery of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) at this place was inaugurated by the

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Prime Minister Narendra Modi - Paradip Oil Renery

• For the rst time United Nations Postal Administration unveiled commemorative

stamps to promote – LGBT Equality

• The country that banned the supermarkets from throwing away or destroying

unsold food is – France

• Vishal Mehta was appointed as the President of the newly- formed association

named as - International Grown Diamond Association

• The Union Government agreed to Jharkhand’s proposal to set up a SanskritUniversity in - Deoghar

• The educational institute in Puducherry which became India’s rst fully solar-

powered educational institute is - Sri Aurobindo International Centre for Education

• The 9th Indo-Nepal Combined Battalion level Military Training Exercise Surya Kiran

will commence from 8 February 2017 at - Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand

• Andhra Pradesh Home Minister N China Rajappa on 5 February 2016 said that the

State government has constituted a Commission to provide reservation for - Kapu

community

• Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) will allow online

exit of subscribers from National Pension System from – 1 April 2016

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5 February 2016 inaugurated the Brahmaputra

Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL) at - Lepetkata, Assam

• In Tamil Nadu, lsland Express train from Kanyakumari to Bangalore derailed on 5

February 2016 at - Natrampalli, Vellore District

• The 12th South Asian Games began on 5 February 2016 in – Guwahati, Assam

• Vice-President Hamid Ansari on 5 February 2016 left for home after concluding a

ve-day tour of - Thailand and Brunei

• The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5 February 2016 dedicated India’s highest

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




wax producing unit using indigenous technology to the nation in - Numaligarh

Renery Limited

• US Senate committee on 4 February 2016 conrmed nomination of Army Lieutenant

General as the commander of the NATO forces in Afghanistan - John Nicholson

• The State government that on 4 February 2016 lifted the restrictions on visit of

foreign tourists to certain tribal areas in the State after three years - Odisha

• India on 4 February 2016 submitted its Instrument of Ratication of the Convention

of Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), 1997 to - International

Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at Vienna, Austria

• The Union Government decided to set up the National Organic Farming Research

Institute in this State – Sikkim

• This company announced acquisition of cement business of Reliance Infrastructure

for 4800 crore rupees – Birla Corp

• This city hosted the Supporting Syria and the Region Conference 2016 to mobilisefunds for reconstruction of conict-hit Syria – London

• He was appointed as a member of newly constituted Anti-Corruption Unit Oversight

Group by the ICC – Rahul Dravid

• The amount pledged by the Supporting Syria and the Region Conference 2016

towards reconstruction of conict-hit Syria between 2016 and 2020 – 10.7 billion

US dollars

• The Indian writer who won Sundance Institute Global Filmmaking Award 2016 on

30 January 2016 - Geetu Mohandas

• As per the NASA’s publication on 4 February 2016, the dwarf planet on which

NASA’s New Horizons mission spotted the nitrogen ice glaciers - Pluto

• World Cancer Day (WCD) 2016 was observed across the world on 4 February

2016. The day was observed with year’s theme – We can. I can.

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




• One of the biggest trade deals of the history that was inked by all twelve Pacic

Rim countries on 4 February 2016 in New Zealand is - Trans-Pacic Partnership

(TPP) Agreement

• Council for Scientic and Industrial Research (CSIR) on 3 February 2016 launched

the country’s rst anti-diabetic ayurvedic drug for Diabetes - BGR-34, BGR is

acronym for blood glucose regulator

• This country will be receive 3.3 billion Euros in funding from the European Union

to cope with Syrian migrants – Turkey

• The high court bench which called on citizens to refuse to pay taxes if the

government fails to curb corruption – Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court

• This country will host the Cobra Gold 2016 multilateral military exercise in which

India’s participation was conrmed – Thailand

• The city that hosted the 2-day Counter Terrorism Conference 2016 – Jaipur

• The city in which the Dhirubhai Ambani Centre for Innovation and Research in Aerospace will be set up by the Reliance Defence Ltd – Bengaluru

• The famous sarangi maestro selected for the prestigious Bhimsen Joshi Classical

Music Award for 2015-2016 is - Pandit Ram Narayan

• The Indian IT Services rm rated as the World’s Most Powerful Brand in IT Services

by Brand Finance is - Tata Consultancy Services

• The documentary lm that won the Golden Conch Award for the best documentary

lm at the MIFF 2016 is - Phum-Shang

• Name of the vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech to ght the mosquito-borne

Zika virus is – ZikaVac

• India signed a Cooperation Agreement to acquire the status of the Associate

Member State of - European Molecular Biology Organisation

• To face the challenges of both home-grown extremism and global Islamic State

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




(IS) threat, a De-radicalisation programme for the minority community was rolled

out by – Maharashtra Government

• The CPSE that received Miniratna status II on 1 February 2016 - Hospital Services

Consultancy Corporation (I) Ltd (HSCC)

• He will replace the longtime chief of Google’s Internet search business Amit Singhal

who is an India-origin on 26 February 2016 - John Giannandre

• It is a British-based software keyboard maker which was acquired by Microsoft on

4 February 2016 - SwiftKey

• President Pranab Mukherjee conferred Honorary Rank of General of Indian Army

on General Rajendra Chhetri. He is the Chief of the Army Staff of – Nepal

• The country that saw nine suspected deaths due to Lassa fever – Benin in West

Africa

• The growth of eight core sectors of the Indian economy in December 2015 – 0.9

percent

• Name of the agreement that was reached between the EU Commission and the

USA for transatlantic data ows - The EU-US Privacy Shield

• The State that extended the Aahar cheap meal scheme to all the districts beginning

from March 2016 - Odisha

• Major General of India who was appointed as the Head of Mission and Force

Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on 2

February 2016 is - Jai Shanker Menon

• The 61st National School Athletics championship held at Olympian Rahman

Stadium in Kozhikode, Kerala from 29 January 2016 to 2 February 2016 was won

by - Kerala

• Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Special Collective Incentive Scheme for the economically

backward Dalit entrepreneurs was announced on 2 February 2016 in - Maharashtra

• The former Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor who passed away on 2

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16


8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) that guards India’s frontiers with Nepal and Bhutan on

1 February 2016 is - Archana Ramasundram

• World Health Organisation (WHO) on 1 February 2016 declared Public Health

Emergency of International Concern over the explosive spread of - Mosquito-

borne Zika virus

• Dr Harsh Vardhan on 2 February 2016 inaugurated the construction work of

Borehole Geophysics Research Laboratory (BGRL) at - Hazarmachi, Karad of

Maharashtra

• In a match against Nepal, he scored the fastest fty in the U-19 ICC cricket world

cup history - Rishabh Pant

• This country will host the 1st ever Asia Cup in T-20 format starting from 24 Feb

2016 - Bangladesh

• The country that granted licence to use gene editing techniques on human embryos

– United Kingdom

• The city that hosted the third Global Ayurveda Festival – Kozhikode, Kerala

• The social legislation that completed ten years of implementation on 2 February

2016 – The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act, 2005

• Ace Indian shuttler on 31 January 2017 won the Men’s Singles title of the Syed

Modi International Badminton Championships 2016 - Kidambi Srikanth

• Veteran wildlife lmmaker who was honoured with the V Shantaram Lifetime

Achievement Award at the 14th edition of the Mumbai International Festival for

Documentary, Short and Animation Films is - Naresh Bedi

• India joined hands with NASA to explore its pristine environment as part of the

Spaceward Bound programme – Ladakh

• The national legislature of the country was opened for rst democratically elected

government in more than 50 years – Myanmar

• He won the 83rd Senior National Snooker Championship title in Indore, Madhya

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16




Pradesh - Aditya Mehta

• She won the National Snooker Championship in the women’s category in Indore,

Madhya Pradesh - Vidya Pillai

8/18/2019 Josh_Feb.16



Date post:	07-Jul-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	mahendra-pande
View:	239 times
Download:	0 times

Josh_Feb.16

Documents