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RBI/ BANKING/BUSINESS NEWS THIS MONTH

30 October: Yes Bank claimed that it has become the first bank to set up its IFSC banking

operations at the highly-ambitious Gujarat International Finance Tec City (GIFT City). It also

claimed that it is the first bank to start operations in GIFT City by setting up an IBU (IFSC Banking

Unit).

30 October: India and France signed a Memorandum of Understanding to conserve, develop

and publicize written heritage at the National Library in Kolkata.

29 October: India now ranks 130 out of 189 countries in the ease of doing business, moving up

12 places from last year, according to a World Bank's annual report 'Doing Business 2016'. Going

from 142 in the world to 130, as India has done, is very good sign. List is topped by Singapore,

followed by New Zealand, Denmark, South Korea, Hong Kong, Britain and the US.

28 October: Reserve Bank of India cleared a proposal under which Foreign Institutional Investors

(FIIs)/Registered Foreign Portfolios Investors (RFPIs) can now invest up to 74 per cent in the

paid-up capital of multi-system operator (MSO) DEN Networks Ltd under the Portfolio

Investment Scheme (PIS).

28 October: Indias elite disaster mitigation combat force, National Disaster Response Force

(NDRF) tied up with about 30 Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in order to develop mutual

understanding and enhance capabilities to jointly tackle man-made or natural emergencies.

28 October: Reliance Industries Limited became the first corporate company to sign the revised

listing agreement with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) as mandated under the newly

introduced Listing Regulation notified by SEBI. With the signing of the agreement with BSE, RIL is

the first listed company to conform to SEBI norms.

26 October: India is set to grow at 7.4 per cent this financial year, according to a report by Bank

of America Merrill Lynch. The brokerage firm cut the growth forecast for FY16 to 7.4 per cent

from its earlier prediction of 7.5 per cent. India grew at 7.3 per cent in 2014-15.

26 October: World Bank projected that remittances to India are expected to increase by 2.5 per

cent this year, even as weak economies in Europe, especially Russia, are slowing the growth of

remittance flows. In 2014, India is estimated to have received remittances worth USD 70.3

billion or nearly Rs. 4.5 lakh crore.

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24 October: Reserve Bank of India issued guidelines for the Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS)

that allow banks to fix their own interest rates on gold deposits. The RBI notification in this

regard comes ahead of the formal launch of the scheme by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on

Novermber 5. As per the guidelines, banks will be free to set interest rate on such deposit, and

principal and interest of the deposit will be denominated in gold.

24 October: The Union Govt. has circulated a draft note pertaining to monetary policy

mechanism in the country. It has proposed clipping the exclusive veto rights of the RBI governor

in setting monetary policy. It has proposed that a seven-member committee should draft

monetary policy. It has proposed that the committee would have four members from the

government and three from the central bank, with the RBI governor, as its chair, holding no veto

power as was earlier. The monetary policy committee will fix the benchmark interest rate of the

RBI and set inflation targets.

24 October: Reliance Capital Asset Management (RCAM) announced takeover of Goldman Sachs

Asset Management India (GSAMI), which is the Indian mutual fund entity of global financial

giant Goldman Sachs in all-cash deal of Rs. 243 crore with which it becomes the exclusive fund

manager for the governments ambitious Central Public Sector Enterprises Exchange Traded

Fund (CPSE-ETF).

23 October: Russia and United States inked an agreement on air security during the air strikes

on ISIS bases in Syria. The agreement was signed to avoid clashes between their air forces in the

skies over Syria.

23 October: Bharti Airtel has struck a deal to sell 8,300 towers in seven of the 13 countries it

operates in across Africa and the $1.7 billion (Rs. 11,000 crore) transaction will help the

company pare its troublesome debt in the continent. The company had entered Africa in 2010

by buying out the assets of Zain Telecom for about $10 billion.

23 October: The Reserve Bank of India signed an agreement on Supervisory Cooperation and

Exchange of Supervisory Information with the Central Bank of United Arab Emirates (UAE) to

curb black money. The MoU was signed by Saeed Abdulla Al Hamiz, Assistant Governor for

Banking Supervision Affairs on behalf of Central Bank of UAE and Meena Hemchandra, Executive

Director on behalf of RBI.

23 October: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) sanctioned a

loan of Rs. 134.64 crore to the Haryana government under Rural Infrastructure Development

Fund for 2015-16. The funds have been sanctioned for Rehabilitation of JLN (Jawahar Lal Nehru)

feeder system in three districts of Jhajjar, Rewari and Mahendergarh.

21 October: Government has made it compulsory for any budding entrepreneur to submit her

or his Aadhaar number in order to start a new business. Now, a new business cannot be started

without Aadhaar number. Under the new system before starting a business it would be

mandatory to get Aadhaar card registered.

20 October: India has been ranked among top 10 acquirers in the US market this year with 16

deals valued at $1.7 billion, says Baker & McKenzie. Majority of these deals were in the pharma

sector, with six transactions totalling $1.5 billion, as companies seek to increase their scale in

the US generics market, said a report by Baker & McKenzie.

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20 October: IT major Infosys announced the acquisition of Houston-based Noah Consulting for

$70 million or Rs 450 crore in an all-cash deal.

20 October: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) opened its sub-office in Imphal in Manipur. Manipur

chief minister, O Ibobi Singh and Harun R Khan, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India

inaugurated the Reserve Bank's sub-office in Imphal.

19 October: The Northern India Textile Research Association (NITRA) under textiles ministry has

signed a memorandum of understanding with the Technological University of Tajikistan to give a

boost to bilateral trade between the two countries. The MoU is aimed at forging close links

between the two countries to promote textile enterprises in Tajikistan.

17 October: The Reserve Bank of India formed a single Financial Inclusion Fund (FIF) with a

corpus of 2000 crore rupees. The fund is formed by merging the Financial Inclusion Fund (FIF)

and Financial Inclusion Technology Fund (FITF). The new FIF will be administered by the

reconstituted Advisory Board constituted by Union Government and will be maintained by

NABARD. Objective of FIF is to support developmental and promotional activities with a view to

securing greater financial inclusion.

16 October: The union cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding signed between

India and Mozambique in August this year to improve bilateral technical cooperation in the field

of new and renewable energy. The MoU was inked to promote technical bilateral cooperation,

investment promotion and partnership in the new and renewable energy sector.

16 October: The latest Global Wealth Report by Swiss bank Credit Suisse has disclosed that with

109 million middle class adults China has the worlds largest middle class population. It has

replaced the United States, which has around 92 million of its populace under middle class.

China now accounts for 5% of the world population, while holding nearly 10% of the global

wealth.

16 October: Yes Bank, the fifth largest private bank in India, received the approval of the

Reserve Bank of India to set up a mutual fund, asset management company (AMC) and a trustee

company.

15 October: President Pranab Mukherjee visited Palestine where he gave $5 million to the

Palestinian government as a budgetary support after talks with his Palestinian counterpart

Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. Both countries have also announced five projects worth $17.79

million aimed at capacity building in the Palestinian territories. The projects include a $12

million techno park, a $4.5 million Palestine Institute for Diplomacy and a $1 million India-

Palestine Centre for Excellence in Gaza.

14 October: Indian government signed a deal, worth 105.5 crore rupees, with Pipistrel, a

Slovenian firm, for 194 micro-light aircraft named 'Virus SW 80/100' to be used by

Indian Air Force, the Navy and the National Cadet Corps. However, the Indian version of

the aircraft will be renamed as Garud.

14 October: Punjab National Bank (PNB) claimed the Beighton Cup hockey tournament

at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) ground in Kolkata. PNB defeated Indian Oil

Corporation (IOC).

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14 October: ICICI Bank has launched 'Money2World,' a fully online outward remittance

service for resident Indians. With this, non-account holders of ICICI Bank can now

transfer money online from any bank account in India to any bank account overseas in

16 major currencies, in a "convenient and fully secure" manner. It is a first-of-its-kind

service by any bank in India. Users can remit up to an equivalent of $25000 in a financial

year through this online platform.

14 October: The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina,

announced that the AfDB would triple its annual climate financing to reach 5 billion

dollar a year by 2020.

14 October: Finance Ministers of 20 nations vulnerable to climate change launched the

V20 Group. The Group was launched during the annual meeting of International

Monetary Fund and World Bank in Lima, Peru. The Group aims to pool resources for

their fight against the impact of global warming and is a counterpoint to the G20 group

of leading industrialized and emerging economies.

13 October: India and Jordon inked six MoUs in various fields in Amman. These include,

agreement on Maritime Transport, Exchange of information on structure and content of

training programmes for diplomats, Cooperation in the field of IT & Electronics, Cultural

Exchange Programme for 2015-17, Cooperation in the fields of Standardization and

Conformity Assessment; and Cooperation Agreement between Jordan News Agency

[Petra] and Press Trust of India [PTI]. The MoUs were signed as part of the President

Pranab Mukherjees three-day visit to Jordan from 10-12 October 2015.

12 October: China launched the much anticipated China International Payment System

(CIPS), an international payment system that seeks to provide global dimensions to its

currency Yuan. CIPS will provide capital settlement and clearing services for cross-

border Yuan transactions for financial institutions domestically and abroad and will

effectively enhance efficiency and increase global use of the Chinese currency.

12 October: Union Government released data which discloses that the National Pension

System (NPS) and the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) have together crossed milestone figure

of Rs. 1 lakh crore (or Rs. 1 trillion) with regard to total Assets Under Management

(AUM). Both together have more than one crore subscribers with total AUM of Rs.1,

00,275 crores.

12 October: The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement of 12 Pacific Rim

countries was reached at the ministerial meeting of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)

held in Atlanta, USA that will cover almost 36% of global economic output. This is an

ambitious agreement to lower trade and investment barriers in 12 partner countries in

the Asia Pacific region. The TPP is worlds biggest trade agreement in the past two

decades.

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12 October: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $15 million grant to

rebuild schools, provide micro-loans to help restore livelihoods, and to boost disaster

awareness in quake-ravaged Nepal.

10 October: ICICI Bank launched a mobile payment service 'mVisa'. The service enables

customers to make electronic payments from their smart phones at traditional stores, e-

commerce sites, deliveries made at home, radio taxi and utility bills among others

without swiping a debit card. The service is based on 'mVisa', a new mobile payment

solution from Visa. ICICI Bank is the first bank globally to launch a mobile app based on

'mVisa' solution for consumers and merchants.

10 October: Drug maker Cipla announced that its South African subsidiary Cipla Medpro

(Pvt.) Ltd. has entered into an exclusive agreement with Serum Institute of India (SII).

The two organizations have partnered to provide vaccines in South Africa. The

partnership will enable affordable and accessible vaccines for South Africans as well as

will facilitate a reliable supply stream to the South African Government.

9 October: International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected the economic growth rate

of 7.5 percent for India in 2016 as against China's 6.3 percent. In its latest World

Economic Outlook Update, IMF said growth in India is expected to rise above the rates

in other major emerging market economies.

9 October: National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Ltd (NCDEX) signed an

agreement with Kotak Mahindra Bank. Under the agreement, farmers and traders who

have kept their commodities in NCDEX-approved warehouses, can use such

commodities as collateral for availing financial assistance from Kotak Mahindra Bank.

8 October: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has trimmed its growth forecast for

India to 7.3% for the current fiscal, from 7.5% predicted in July, although it maintained

the countrys near-term growth prospects still remained favorable. The multilateral

agency also cut its projection for global economic growth to 3.1% for 2015. .

8 October: Easing norms for foreign ownership of government debt, RBI announced

higher investment limits in rupee terms in government securities by foreign portfolio

investors (FPIs) with a view to bringing in an additional Rs 1.2 lakh crore by March 2018.

The announcement follows a decision by RBI to fix FPI investment limits in rupee terms

and raise it in phases to reach 5 per cent of the outstanding stock by March 2018.

8 October: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has

given its approval for the formation of a Group A service of the technical cadre of the

Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSD&E). This was earlier called the

Directorate General of Employment & Training, Ministry of Labour Employment. The

new service will be called the Indian Skill Development Service (ISDS).

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8 October: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by the Prime

Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to: (i) implement the World Bank

assisted National Watershed Management Project "Neeranchal" with a total outlay of

$357 million (Rs 2142.30 crore at Rs. 60 = $1 Government Share 50%) (ii) implement the

project at the National level as well as in the nine States of Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh,

Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana.

7 October: A framework MoU was signed between the Department of Heavy Industries

(DHI), GoI and Fraunhofer, Germany, which will act as the 'technology resource partner'.

The objective of this MoU is to support and augment the 'Make in India' programme

through increasing the innovation and technology prowess of Indian industry.

7 October: According the provisional data of the RBI, UCO Bank was listed as the worst

performer among the public sector banks (PSU banks) for registering the highest

increase in gross non-performing assets (NPAs) in percentage terms against total loans

for last fiscal year (2014-15).

6 October: The World Bank cut its 2015 and 2016 growth forecasts for the developing

East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region, which includes China, to grow 6.5 per cent in 2015

and 6.4 per cent in 2016, down from 6.8 per cent growth in 2014.

5 October: Private bank IDFC Bank became the latest entrant to Indias banking sector

on 1 October 2015 as it unveiled its banking operations on this day with 23 branches.

3 October: Global rating agency Fitch Ratings has lowered India's GDP growth estimate

for the current fiscal 2015-16 to 7.5 per cent from 7.8 per cent.

1 October: With $31 billion of foreign capital inflows, India has surpassed China and the

US to take the pole position in attracting largest FDI in the first half of 2015. The Finance

Ministry forwarded a report published in Financial Times, London that said "India grabs

investment league pole position." In 2014 India ranked fifth in terms of capital

investment, after China, the US, the UK and Mexico. According to the report India has

attracted $31 billion of FDI in H1 2015, ahead of $28 billion of China and $27 billion of

US.

NATION THIS MONTH

30 October: The Madhya Pradesh Government decided to provide 33 percent reservation to

women in government jobs in the state. With the decision, the reservation for women in

government jobs in the state increased from the present 30 percent to 33 percent.

29 October: The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched the e-Sahyog pilot project of the

Income-Tax Department to facilitate taxpayers by reducing their need to physically appear

before tax authorities. The e-Sahyog project is aimed at reducing compliance cost, especially for

small taxpayers. He also inaugurated a drive to provide public service at peoples door step by

holding special PAN camps in remote areas.

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28 October: Union Government has included a new tax, Sin Tax under the proposed Goods and

Services Tax (GST) law that will be effective from 1 April 2016 under which the companies which

manufacture harmful products like alcohol and tobacco will have to give additional Sin Tax. Sin

tax is an excise tax levied on products and services like alcohol, tobacco and gambling

considered bad for health or society. These additional taxes are also seen as efforts to

discourage people from use of such products or services.

27 October: In a landmark decision, the Ministry of Defence has approved the induction of

women into the fighter (Combat) stream of the Indian Air Force (IAF). The first women pilots

would be selected from the batch which is presently undergoing flying training at Air Force

Academy, Hyderabad. After successful completion of associated training, they would be

commissioned in the fighter stream in June 2016. Thereafter, they would undergo advanced

training for one year and would enter a fighter cockpit by June 2017.

26 October: The Department of Heavy Industry, in active consultation with industry associations

& bodies has drafted a National Policy on Capital Goods. This is the first time that a policy on

Capital Goods is being framed. This is the most critical sector for achieving the vision of Make in

India as the sector has multiplier effect on other sectors of economy. This National Policy on

Capital Goods is envisaged to unlock the potential for this promising sector and establish India

as a global manufacturing powerhouse.

23 October: The Telangana government signed an agreement with France's Bordeaux city for

strengthening economic links in biotechnology, aeronautical engineering, information

technology and urban renewal. Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma, who is on a visit to France, signed

the MoU with Bordeaux Metropolis Vice President Michel Vernejoul.

23 October: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting reconstituted the Central Press

Accreditation Committee (CPAC) that issues Press Information Bureau (PIB) cards to journalists.

PIB director general Frank Noronha will be the ex-officio chairman of the committee.

23 October: Konkan Railway announced to establish first-of-kind tunnel technology institute at

Goas Margao town. The proposed tunnel technology institute will be named as George

Fernandes Institute of Tunnel Technology, after former Railway Minister George Fernandes.

Fernandes is said to be the driving force behind the Konkan Railway.

20 October: The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has identified two major initiatives

towards better utilization of blood and blood components, as part of its commitment to ensure

safe blood and enhanced access to blood products, on the recommendation of the National

Blood Transfusion Council. The first step is permitting the transfer of blood from one blood bank

to another. This was not allowed earlier and will help in transfer of blood to places of scarcity.

20 October: The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched a pilot

project of a 'station-based e-catering' service allowing passengers to order meals as per their

choice, which will be delivered at stations from popular private caterers. In the first phase of the

project, all trains passing through 45 specified railway stations

20 October: The country's retirement system ranks last in the global pension index, says a study

by global consulting major Mercer. Still, the National Pension System (NPS), which was launched

by the government in June as part of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, will help the country

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improve its index, the study said. Denmark has been rated as the country with the best

retirement system in the world.

19 October: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has made it mandatory for telecom

operators to compensate consumers by one rupee for call drops with effect from 1st January

2016. The compensation will, however, be limited to three dropped calls in a day.

19 October: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu launched the My Brick My

Amaravati scheme so as to financially assist in the huge task of establishing the new capital

'Amaravati' for the state. Under this initiative, a person can contribute Rs.10 per digital e-brick

online and have his or her name engraved on it.

19 October: Real estate developer Tata Housing partnered with social networking firm Facebook

to sell its affordable homes online. For this Tata Housing has launched a new campaign titled

Social sell on Facebook. Through this new campaign the company plans to sell around 250 units

of its new five-acre residential project in Goa called Codename Goa Paradise.

17 October: The five-judge Constitutional Bench of Supreme Court in a collective order ruled

that 99th Constitutional Amendment Act and the National Judicial Appointments Commission

(NJAC), constituted for the appointment of judges, are unconstitutional and void. It also upheld

the Collegium system that existed before the NJAC as operative.

17 October: As part of its initiative to sensitize the masses about the issue of climate change,

the union government flagged off Science Express-Climate Action Special, a special train on the

subject of climate change action from Delhi. Science Express Climate Action Special is a 16-

coach air-conditioned train.

17 October: Union Minister of Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu declared that former

President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalams birth place Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu) has been included in

Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) for providing basic urban

infrastructure. Rameswaram is the 498th to be included in the Mission. With the addition of

Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu would have 32 cities and towns under Atal Mission.

17 October: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs introduced a scheme called Central Victim

Compensation Fund (CVCF) with an initial amount of 200 crore rupees. The scheme aims at

enabling support to victims of various attacks, such as rape, acid attacks, human trafficking and

women killed or injured in the cross border firing.

16 October: The Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar renamed the countrys prestigious DRDO

Missile Complex in Hyderabad as Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Missile Complex. The landmark event

took place at Research Centre Imarat (RCI) on the occasion of the 84th Birth Anniversary of Dr.

Kalam, the Missile Man on 15th October.

15 October: Rajasthan Government has taken lead in promoting affordable housing by signing

four MoUs firming up an investment of Rs. 5,400 cr. These four MoUs were a part of 27 MoUs

signed entailing an investment of Rs.12, 478 cr in housing and urban development projects. Tata

Housing Development Company Ltd has committed to invest Rs. 2,000 cr in affordable and

mixed use township in Rajasthan.

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13 October: Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of a world-class

memorial for constitution-maker Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar at Indu Mill land in Dadar

(Mumbai). The proposed memorial would have a 40-feet-tall full-size statue of Dr.

Babasaheb Ambedkar along with a big stupa with 24 ribs denoting Dhammachakra. PM

also announced that from now 26 November will be celebrated as Samvidhaan Divas

(Constitution Day) every year.

10 October: To protect the endangered Gangetic river dolphins countrys first

community reserve for the mammal will soon be established in West Bengal.

9 October: An expert committee under the Chairmanship of former Secretary General

of the Lok Sabha, P.D.T. Achary, and formed by the Speaker of the Delhi Assembly Ram

Niwas Goel has proposed a huge 316% salary increase for the MLAs of Delhi in its report.

The committee proposed raising the salary from present Rs. 12,000 to Rs. 50,000 per

month.

9 October: Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, Dr. Sanjeev Kumar

Balyan launched KISAN Project (C(K)rop Insurance using Space technology And

geoiNformatics) that seeks to speed up payment of crop insurance claims to farmers

and provide accurate assessment of crop damage. An Android-based app for collection

of data of hailstorm with assistance from ISRO to assess large-scale damage to standing

crops was also launched.

8 October: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, gave

its approval for setting up of three new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AllMS) at

Nagpur in Maharashtra, at Manglagiri in Andhra Pradesh and at Kalyani in West Bengal

under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY). This involves financial

implication of Rs.4949 crore.

8 October: construction of a National War Memorial and a National War Museum at

Princess Park, near India Gate, New Delhi in memory of all Indian soldiers who have

made the supreme sacrifice for the country post-independence. The estimated cost of

the project will be around Rs. 500 crore and the total time for completion of the entire

project is estimated to be five years.

7 October: J.P. Nadda, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare launched the second

phase of Mission Indradhanush in 352 districts. The aim of mission to achieve more than

90% full immunization in the country by 2020.

7 October: Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister of Shipping and Road Transport &

Highways chaired the first meeting of the National Sagarmala Apex Committee (NSAC)

held in New Delhi. The meeting was part of the ambitious Sagar Mala Project of the

Union Government. The main objective of this project is to develop 12 major ports and

also over 1,200 islands spread across the country so that they can contribute

significantly to Indias growth.

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6 October: Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS) has been ranked as the most valuable

company in India in terms of market capitalization, according to the date released by

BSE. It is followed by Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL). Infosys dethroned HDFC Bank Ltd to

become the third most valuable company in India.

5 October: Rural Development Ministry launched Intensive Participatory Planning

Exercise II (IPPE-II) scheme in 2,532 poorer Backward Blocks of the country on 2nd

October 2015. Its aim is to address the various facets of poverty of rural families by

incorporating all rural development programmes in a single participatory planning

exercise.

3 October: Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) has set up its first 10 MW solar power

plant at a cost of Rs. 74.60 crore at Neyveli, Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu. This is the

first Renewable Energy project commissioned by the company.

3 October: Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma launched the NOC Online

Application Portal and Processing System (NOAPS) for the National Monument Authority

(NMA), Ministry of Culture in New Delhi. It will make the approval procedure more

efficient for construction related activities in regulated/restricted areas in the vicinity of

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protected monuments in different cities of India.

1 October: Naval warship INS Kochi, the largest-ever warship built in India, was

commissioned by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.

It is of 7,500-tonne. The strike range of INS Kochi is 300 km and hit 50 targets

simultaneously.

1 October: Maharashtra State Government announced popular Violinist and music

composer Prabhakar Jog as the winner of Lata Mangeshkar Award for Lifetime

Achievement (2015) for his contribution in the field of Music. In his sixty-year journey

Prabhakar has made outstanding contribution in Hindi and Marathi music industry.

1 October: Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and

Shipping, launched the Green Highways (Plantation, Transplantation, Beautification &

Maintenance) Policy, 2015 in New Delhi. According to the provisions of the Green

Highways Policy 2015, about Rs. 1000 crore per year will be available for plantation

purpose on Highways by keeping aside 1% of the expenses for the construction of

highways.

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GLOBE- TROT THIS MONTH

31 October: India has now become the world's fastest growing economy. India has achieved this

feat overtaking China. World Bank's India Development Update expects India's economic growth

to be at 7.5% in 2015-16, followed by a further acceleration to 7.8% in 2016-17 and 7.9% in

2017-18.

31 October: China has dropped its controversial one-child policy bowing to pressures imposed

by the prospects of an ageing society and a growing shortfall in the workforce. The decision

allowing couples to have two children was taken by the Chinese Communist Party (CPC).The

policy change is an advance over the 2013 ruling, which allowed couples, where one of the

parents was a single child, to have two children.

31 October: India will offer concessional credit of $10 billion over the next five years to Africa,

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced. "We will also offer a grant assistance of $600 million.

This will include an India-Africa Development Fund of $100 million and an India-Africa Health

Fund of $10 million, Modi said while addressing the plenary session of the Third India-Africa

Forum Summit.

31 October: Beijing has dismissed the twin-pronged challenge it faces to its territorial claims in

the South China Sea posed by the U.S. military on the water and a Philippine legal team at a

United Nations-backed tribunal.

31 October: Pakistan on Wednesday failed to win a re-election to the top UN human rights

body, garnering just 105 votes in the 193-member General Assembly. A total of 18 members

were elected to the UN Human Rights Council through a secret ballot. Pakistans current term is

set to expire on December 31 and it was seeking re-election to the 47-member Council.

30 October: Indian Navy and Sri Lankan Navy began the 4th edition of Sri Lanka-India Exercise

'SLINEX 2015' at Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. The exercise will go on till 1 November 15. SLINEX 15 is

expected to enhance the capability of two navies to work together and contribute towards

maritime security.

30 October: India overtakes China as the biggest overall consumer of gold in the first nine

months of this year with a total consumption of 642 tonnes, according to a report published by

Thomson Reuters. China is trailing by just 63 tonnes at total consumption of 579 tonnes in the

first nine months of the year.

30 October: One of Britain's most well-known Indian-origin famous businessman of Indian

cuisine Lord Gulam Noon passed away in London. He was 79. Known as the Curry King, Noon

founded the Noon Products business.

29 October: USS Lassen, a guided missile destroyer of the US Navy, carried out its patrol inside

what China claims as a 12-mile territorial limit around Subi Reef in the South China Sea. China

has its artificial island in the area. Chinas Foreign Ministry said that the action was illegal and

without Chinese permission.

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27 October: Leading Chinese online and mobile commerce company Alibaba signed a

Memorandum of Understanding with UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) with an aim to help

British businesses to operate sales on Alibaba's popular China B2B e-marketplace platform. The

Memorandum of Understanding will see Alibaba help British companies join the 1688.com

trading platform -- a Chinese wholesale e-marketplace.

27 October: The 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit begins in New Delhi. Heads of States and

Representatives of all 54 African countries will participate in the 4-day event. Both the side will

discuss several economic, culture and political issues like green technology, blue economy,

space technology, education, health-care, peace and security, food security and connectivity.

26 October: Britain has signed a landmark nuclear deal with China to build the United Kingdoms

first nuclear power plant since the 1980s. The landmark deal was signed in London during the

official visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Under this deal, nuclear power plant will be built at

Hinkley Point, Somerset near London with total planned investment of 18 billion pound.

26 October: The government approved a proposal for maritime transport agreement between

India and Egypt. Recognizing the significant mutual benefit that can be derived from

cooperation in shipping between the two countries, it has been decided to sign the agreement.

26 October: Japan has offered $15 billion loan to India, at an interest rate of less than 1 percent,

for countrys first bullet-train network. Indias first bullet-train network has been proposed to be

established between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

26 October: Russia announced that it will permanently station a military unit in the Arctic by

2018. The defence minister of Russia Sergey Shoygu also announced that Russia is building

several new bases in the Arctic as well as rebuilding six Soviet-era air bases in the Arctic

21 October: North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies and partner nations launched the

Alliances Trident Juncture joint military exercise at the Trapani air force base in Italy. Trident

Juncture will end on 6 November 2015. The three week long intensive training involves 36000

troops from more than 30 nations across Italy, Spain and Portugal. The Trident juncture is the

largest NATO exercise for over a decade and will increase readiness and ability to work together.

21 October: As per the official data released by the Chinese Govt., China posted its weakest

quarterly economic growth since the global financial crisis. The growth rate during July-

September 2015 stood at 6.9%. The GDP growth rate is thus lower than 7% growth achieved

during the first half of 2015. This is the weakest reading since the first quarter of 2009, when

growth tumbled to 6.2%.

19 October: Pakistan and Russia signed a major agreement to build a 1,100-kilometre gas

pipeline from Lahore to Karachi at an estimated cost of $2 billion. Russia will invest $2 billion in

the project, the first phase of which is expected to conclude by December 2017.

16 October: India and Israel signed two agreements to enhance bilateral cooperation after the

meeting of President Pranab Mukherjee, who was in Jerusalem on the final leg of his tri-nation

tour to West Asia with his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin. Agreements were signed on a

cultural exchange programme for 2015-2018 and the amendment to the protocol on Double

Taxation Avoidance Agreement.

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16 October: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the United States government started its India

roadshow series with an aim to attract Indian investors. This road show is being held in Delhi,

Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. Select USA is the name of the programme of the US

Department of Commerce through which the US Govt. seeks to highlight the many advantages

the United States offers as a location for business and investment. The US delegation is being

led by Select USA Executive Director Vinai Thummalapally.

16 October: The Navies of India, USA and Japan began the five-day Malabar exercise 2015 on

the Eastern Coast in which several warships, aircraft carriers and fast attack submarine will be

participating.

15 October: Iran's parliament approved a historic nuclear deal with world powers and paves the

way for its formal implementation. Under the agreement, Iran agreed to eliminate its stockpile

of medium-enriched uranium, heavily cut its stockpile of low-enriched uranium and reduce by

about two-thirds the number of its centrifuges for at least 15 years. Iran also agreed not to

build any new uranium-enriching plants.

15 October: Indian community groups in the UK have launched a 'Modi Express' bus for a month-

long tour around iconic landmarks to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi's maiden visit to the

country next month. The bus made its first stop at Ealing Road, Wembley also known as 'Little

India'.

14 October: The third India-Sri Lanka joint training exercise, named 'Mitra Shakti-2015',

culminated at Aundh Military Camp, Pune. The 14-day joint training included

understanding of transnational terrorism, developing interoperability and conduct of

joint tactical operation controlled by a Joint Command Post.

14 October: The fifth Indo-China joint military training exercise Hand-in-Hand

commenced at Kunming, China. The purpose of this exercise is to enhance mutual

cooperation between the two armies.

12 October: The Joint Declaration of the Heads of the Migration Authorities of the BRICS

(Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations was released after the first BRICS

Ministerial meeting on Migration held in Sochi, Russia. The declaration guided by the Ufa

Declaration and the commitment to respect human rights is a major milestone so far as

orderly and legal migration amongst BRICS countries is concerned.

12 October: The Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group

(WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the 2015 WBG/IMF Annual

Meetings started in Lima, Peru in which representatives of the 188 member countries of

both multilateral financial institutions took part. This Annual Meeting serve to discuss

international economic and financial developments, the state of the Global economy, and

policies to reduce poverty and promote inclusive economic growth.

12 October: Japan announced to give Madhya Pradesh government Rs. 12,000 crore loan

for its Ambitious Bhopal and Indore Metro rail projects. This amount will be given by Japan

International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for 50 years at 0.3% interest rate.

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8 October: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has

approved The Protocol amending the Convention and the Protocol between India and

Israel, and between India and Vietnam for avoidance of double taxation and for

prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital.

8 October: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has

given its ex-post facto approval to the protocol for cooperation in the field of blue

economy which was signed between India and Seychelles during the visit of the President

of Seychelles to India on August 26, 2015.

8 October: The State Secretary for Home Affairs, Sweden, Ms. Ann Linde called on the

Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju. During the meeting both the Ministers

discussed various issues of importance to the two countries including Disaster

Management, threat of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and radicalization and

steps being taken for counter terrorism etc.

7 October: India and Germany inked 18 pacts to boost bilateral cooperation in a broad

range of areas like defence, security, intelligence, railways, trade and investment, clean

energy, etc. during the three-day visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to India.

7 October: German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced to assist India with Euro 2 billion

($2.25billion) for developing a clean energy corridor and solar projects during Indo-

German Summit 2015 organised by NASSCOM in Bengaluru.

6 October: India accounted for the largest number of poor people in any country in 2012,

but its Poverty rate was lowest among countries having large number of poor population,

according to a latest World Bank report. According to the report, the poverty rate in low-

income countries averages 43 per cent in 2012, compared to 19 per cent in lower-middle-

income countries.

6 October: Indian Navy started the 26th edition of the coordinated patrol (CORPAT)

exercise with the navy of Indonesia. Main aim of CORPAT exercise is to keep vital part of

the Indian Ocean Region safe andsecure for commercial shipping and international trade.

6 October: As a part of Indian Navys overseas deployment to West Asia, Africa and

Europe, INS Trikand entered Turkeys Istanbul for a three day visit. During her stay in

Istanbul the ship will engage extensively with the Turkish Navy.

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5 October: Indian Naval Ship (INS) Sahyadri entered Da Nang in Vietnam on a four-day

visit. The Shvalik class stealth frigate is on an Operational Deployment' mission to South

China Sea and the North West Pacific region. The deployment is a part of India's Look

East' and Act East' policy.

5 October: India will host G20 Summit, a prestigious international meet during 2018.

Turkey will chair the G20 Summit of 2015, followed by China (2016) and Germany (2017).

3 October: Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), the ambitious anti-offshore tax

evasion and black money detection agreement between India and the United States

became operational from 30 September 2015.

3 October: The International Court of Arbitration (ICA) of the International Chamber of

Commerce (ICC) asked ISROs commercial arm Antrix to pay $562.5 million in damages to

Devas Multimedia Pvt. Ltd, a Bengaluru-based space technology firm.

1 October: Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that Beijing will establish an assistance

fund with an initial pledge of $2 billion to help developing countries implement a

sweeping global sustainable development agenda over the next 15 years. China will

continue to increase investment in the least developed countries, aiming to increase its

total to $12 billion by 2030.

1 October: Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a major initiative to help developing

countries reduce poverty. The "Six 100s" initiative, declared at a South-South cooperation

roundtable Xi hosted, covers poverty reduction, agriculture, trade, environment, health

and education. China will make available to developing countries in the next five years

100 poverty reduction programs, 100 agricultural cooperation projects, 100 trade

promotion programs, 100 environment protection and climate change programs, 100

hospitals and clinics, as well as 100 schools and vocational training centers.

1 October: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding and Ant Financial Services

Group will make a strategic investment in Paytm. Paytm is presently Indias largest mobile

payment and commerce platform.

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APPOINTMENTS/RESIGNATIONS THIS MONTH

31 October: The US House elected Republican Rep. Paul D. Ryan as the chambers 62nd Speaker,

catapulting one of its youngest members to the top job in hopes that a policy-oriented, fiscal

conservative could give the party a fresh start after years of strife.

30 October: Nepals Parliament elected Bidhya Devi Bhandari (Communist Party of Nepal) as

countrys new President after she received 327 votes against 214 votes of the leader of Nepali

Congress Kul Bahadur Gurung in Presidential elections held in the Parliament. She thus became

countrys first-ever woman President. She has succeeded Ram Baran Yadav.

30 October: Government appointed senior Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Najib Shah as

Chairman of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), apex body on Indirect Taxes. Shah is a

1979 batch officer of Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise).

30 October: Senior IAS officer Aruna Sundarajan was appointed as Secretary in Ministry of Steel

as part of a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the government. Vijay Shankar Pandey

will be new Secretary in Department of Chemicals and Fertilisers.

29 October: As per the announcement made by the Polish National Electoral Commission

Jaroslaw Kaczynski-led centrist-right Law and Justice party, the PiS, scored an emphatic victory

in Polish (Polands) parliamentary elections with 37.6% of votes. It is the first time since

democracy was restored in Poland in 1989 that a single party has won enough seats to govern

alone. He will succeed the outgoing Prime Minister, Ewa Kopacz.

29 October: The Government of India has constituted a committee to recommend measures to

simplify the provision of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The ten-member committee will be headed

by former Delhi High Court judge Justice R. V. Easwar (Retd), who is a former president of the

ITAT.

29 October: Citibank announced that it has appointed Samiran Chakraborty as Chief Economist

for India. Prior to joining Citi, Chakraborty was Managing Director and Head of Macro Research

for South Asia at Standard Chartered Bank

29 October: Luxembourg ambassador to the United Nations, Sylvie Lucas was appointed as the

Chair of the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) on UN Security Council reforms. Lucas, who

was appointed by 70th UN General Assembly session President Morgens Lykketoft, replaced

Ambassador Courtenay Rattray of Jamaica.

28 October: Comedian-turned-politician Jimmy Morales elected as President of Guatemala. He

won with 70 percent of votes.

26 October: Dr. Sekhar Basu took the charge as Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and

Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy in Mumbai. He succeeded Dr. Ratan Kumar Sinha.

24 October: Alok Rawat has been appointed as the first-ever male member of the National

Commission of Women (NCW). Alok Rawat is a former Cabinet Secretary. He was appointed as

the first male member of the NCW by filling the fourth seat in the five-member body. The 5-

member NCW is led by Lalitha Kumaramangalam.

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24 October: Justice Reva Khetrapal is appointed as the new Lokayukta of Delhi. Reva Khetrapal

is a former Delhi High Court judge. The post of Delhi Lokayukta has remained vacant since

November 2013, when retired Justice Manmohan Sarin relinquished office.

21 October: Justin Trudeau became Canadas new Prime Minister after his Liberal Party won a

majority of Parliaments 338 seats. Justin Trudeau, who succeeded Stephen Harper, becomes

the second youngest prime minister in Canadian history.

21 October: The Union Government named veteran sports administrator Vijay Kumar Malhotra

as the President of the All India Council of Sports. His position will be in the rank of Minister of

State. Malhotra acted as the Senior Vice President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and

the acting President of the IOA after the arrest of Suresh Kalmadi in connection with the alleged

irregularities in awarding contracts for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

20 October: Pakistan is set to appoint a former army general as national security advisor,

tightening the powerful militarys control over security policy and negotiations with India.

20 October: All India Football Federation appointed former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia as

the advisor for overall issues of the game and the Federation.

19 October: M.K. Surana has been appointed as the new Chairman and Managing Director of

Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), India's third largest oil marketing company. He will

replace Nishi Vasudeva on her retirement at the end of March 2016.

19 October: Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) candidate Onsari Gharti Magar was

unanimously elected as the House speaker of Nepal. With this, Onsari Gharti became the first

female Speaker in the parliamentary history of Nepal.

17 October: The United Nations General Assembly elected Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and

Uruguay to serve as non-permanent members on the United Nations Security Council for two-

year terms beginning on 1 January 2016. New members Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and

Uruguay will serve until 31 December 2017.

17 October: G.L. Khanna was appointed President of the Asian Council of Exercise and Sports

Science (ACESS) for a minimum period of two years. Khanna is the first Indian to head ACESS.

16 October: An Indian national, Kundhavi Kadiresan was appointed by FAO Director General

Jos Graziano da Silva as the Assistant Director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture

Organization (FAO) and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific. Kadiresan succeeded

Hiroyuki Konuma.

16 October: Micro-blogging site Twitter has appointed Omid Kordestani, former chief business

officer at Google, as its executive chairman. Jack Dorsey, Twitters co-founder and newly

appointed full-time CEO, announced Kordestani's appointment.

15 October: IAS officer Alkesh Sharma was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and

Managing Director of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation

(DMICDC).

15 October: Telecom service provider Telenor India, earlier known as Uninor, appointed Sharad

Malhotra as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He succeeds Vivek Sood.

17 October: Zaheer Khan, one of India's greatest fast bowlers retired from international cricket.

He has played 92 Test matches, 200 ODIs and 17 T20 Internationals.

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13 October: Fijis Parliament elected the Minister for Employment, Productivity and

Industrial Relations, Jioji Konrote, as the countrys next President. He will succeed Epeli

Nailatikau. Konrote defeated Ratu Epeli Ganilau in the elections. Jioji Konrote is also

popularly known as George Konrote.

13 October: K.P. Sharma Oli was elected as the new Prime Minister of Nepal as he

defeated Sushil Koirala by securing 338 votes against Koiralas 249 votes in the elections

held in Nepal. Earlier current Prime Minister Sushil Koirala had stepped down from his

post, which was required for voting.

12 October: Cabinet Minister Rao Inderjit Singh has been appointed unopposed as the

new President of the Paralympics Committee of India (PCI). Kavinder Chaudhary has

been elected PCI vice-president. Shivaji Kumar has been appointed as joint secretary of

the committee.

12 October: Sekhar Basu has been appointed as the chairman of Atomic Energy

Commission (AEC). By virtue of this position, he will also occupy the office of secretary,

Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). He will succeed R.K. Sinha. Basu is presently the

director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai.

9 October: Steve Simon has been named as the new Chief Executive of the Women's

Tennis Association (WTA). Earlier he was the Tournament Director and Chief Operating

Officer of the BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells Tennis Tournament. Simon (American)

succeeds Stacey Allaster.

9 October: South Korea's Hoesung Lee has been elected as the new head of the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN body tasked with assessing

climate science at its 42nd session in Dubrovnik, Croatia. He succeeded Indias R.K.

Pachauri.

9 October: IFS officer Vinay Mohan Kwatra was appointed as Officer on Special Duty

(OSD) in Prime Minister's Office for three years. Kwatra, a 1988 batch Indian Foreign

Service officer will be replacing IFS officer Jawed Ashraf in the PMO.

7 October: Ashish Bahuguna, the Chairman of the Food Safety and Standards Authority

of India (FSSAI), was given an additional charge of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of FSSAI.

The decision was taken following the shift of Yudhvir Singh Malik to NITI Aayog as an

Additional Secretary.

6 October: Shashank Manohar was elected President of Board of Control for Cricket in

India (BCCI). He was elected unopposed during a special general meeting called by the

BCCI following the demise of Jagmohan Dalmiya.

6 October: Ajay Sharma, an Indian-origin diplomat, has been appointed the new British

Ambassador to Qatar. Sharma, currently the charge d'affaires to Iran, will succeed

Nicholas Hopton.

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6 October: Homegrown e-commerce company Flipkart has appointed Sriram

Venkataraman as the CFO for its commerce platform and Pramod Jain as Vice President

and Head of Taxation.

5 October: Sarat Kumar Acharya assumed office as Chairman and Managing Director of

Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited (NLC). He succeeded B. Surender Mohan.

5 October: HSBC announced retirement of Naina Lal Kidwai as HSBC India chairman on

31 December 2015.

1 October: Former Indian ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad was appointed as the

Director General of Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), the prestigious

New Delhi-based think tank on strategic affairs.

1 October: Following its sixteenth annual general meeting in New Delhi, the board of

directors of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) re-elected Uday Shankar of Star

India as President for a second term. Uday Shankar succeeded Man Jit Singh.

1 October: FC Goa has appointed former footballer and seasoned administrator

Sukhvinder Singh as its CEO. Sukhvinder has previously worked with the All India

Football Federation.

1 October: Anil Khanna, President of All India Tennis Association has been elected as

Vice President of International Tennis Federation (ITF). Khanna, joins Katrina Adams of

the United States and Rene Stambach of Switzerland as Vice Presidents.

AWARDS/HONOURS/WORLD TITLES/NEW DISCOVERIES THIS MONTH

31 October: Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in

prison for insulting Islam, was awarded the European Parliaments prestigious Sakharov human

rights prize. The 31-year-old blogger, who was arrested in 2012, is an outspoken advocate of

free speech whose vicious public flogging in January, when he was subjected to a first round of

50 lashes, triggered an international backlash.

30 October: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the 10th most admired personality globally, as per

a new survey by the World Economic Forum (WEF) that has ranked late South African President

Nelson Mandela on the top. Mahatma Gandhi is ranked fourth most admired leader, according

to a survey of more than 1,000 millennials. The WEFs Global Shapers Annual Survey 2015 found

that Pope Francis is the second most admired leader.

29 October: Manipuri documentary film-maker Haobam Paban Kumar was awarded the first

Bala Kailasam Memorial Award (BKMA) for Phum-Shang (Floating Life), a 52-minute film.

29 October: Indias veteran film maker, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and film critic-author, Aruna

Vasudev are chosen for the life-time achievement award to be awarded at the second edition of

the International Film Festival of Colombo to be held from November 7 to 11. They had been

chosen for having put the Asian cinema on the international map.

28 October: Indian film director-screenwriter Pan Nalins movie Angry Indian Goddesses has

bagged the BNL Peoples Choice Award at the 10th Rome Film Festival. The film is described as a

fresh and unbridled portrayal of women in India.

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28 October: Indian-American farmer manager Anita Adalja is among 12 individuals from across

the country who have been awarded as White House Champions of Change Award for

Sustainable and Climate-Smart Agriculture. She has been honored for her exemplary leadership

and innovation in agricultural production and education

27 October: Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has been awarded 2015 Confucius Peace

Prize by China. He has been chosen for this edition of prize for his inspirational leadership and

service to pan-Africanism and African independence.

24 October: Seven British-Indians have secured a spot in top 10 of the 'GG2 Power 101 list'. The

GG2 Leadership Awards recognise and reward high achievers within ethnic minorities and

celebrate the very best of multicultural Britain. The awards were presented at the 17th annual

GG2 Leadership Awards in London. Pakistan-origin business secretary, Sajid Javid, has topped

the list of 101 prominent people with Indian-origin Hinduja brothers -- S.P and G.P.Hinduja of

the global conglomerate Hinduja Group -- have jointly secured the second spot. Indian-origin

employment minister, Priti Patel, becomes the highest-ranking woman, taking the third place

slot.

24 October: Noted criminologist K. Chockalingam was conferred with the prestigious Paul H

Appleby Award given by the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA). He was awarded for

his distinguished services to public administration and IIPA, where he was a member.

24 October: India's Priyanka Khurana Goyal has been crowned Mrs. Earth 2015. Priyanka, who

won the Mrs. India, Queen of Substance 2015 title in February, was crowned as Mrs. Earth 2015

at a ceremony at Grand Palladium Jamaica Resort & Spa.

23 October: Eminent novelist and playwright Kiran Nagarkar has been chosen for this year's Tata

Literature Live Lifetime Achievement award, which is scheduled to be presented to him during

the upcoming Mumbai LitFest. He wrote a historical novel "Cuckold" (1997) for which he was

awarded a Sahitya Akademi award.

23 October: Tyre manufacturing giant MRF Limited named South African batsman AB de Villiers

as its brand ambassador. The association is for a period of three years.

21 October: Model-actress Urvashi Rautela was crowned as Yamaha Fascino Miss Diva 2015.

With this, she became Indias representative for the Miss Universe pageant. Natasha Assadi

from Bangalore was crowned 1st runner up while Naveli Deshmukh from Aurangabad was

crowned 2nd runner-up.

16 October: Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, who made her international TV debut with US

show Quantico, has earned a nomination for Peoples Choice Awards Favourite Actress In A

New TV Series for the American thriller series.

16 October: Indian Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi has been selected for the prestigious

Harvard Humanitarian of the Year Award. The annual award by the prestigious Harvard

University is given to an individual whose works and deeds have served to improve the quality of

lives and have inspired us to greater heights.

15 October: Jamaican writer Marlon James has been conferred with the prestigious Man Booker

Prize for 2015 for his novel A Brief History of Seven Killings. It is the first Booker Prize to be won

by a Jamaican.

15 October: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been honoured with 'Finance Minister of

the Year, Asia' Award by London-based publication Emerging Markets. The magazine has

recognised Jaitley's efforts for Indias relative economic success over the last 18 months.

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15 October: Spain's leading Football club Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) has

been presented with the Golden Boot award for the 2014-15 season for scoring highest goals in

Europe's last domestic season. The Portuguese forward netted 48 goals in 35 La Liga matches

last season.

14 October: Renowned Malayalam filmmaker Irruppam Veedu Sasidaran, popularly

known as I.V. Sasi was awarded with the J.C. Daniel Award for the year 2014 for his

contribution towards the Malayalam entertainment industry. Sasi has made over 150

Indian films in various languages and genres. However, he is mostly known for his South

Indian films.

13 October: 2015 Noble Prize in Economic Sciences has been awarded to Angus Deaton

"for his analysis of consumption, poverty, and welfare". Angus Deaton is the

microeconomist born in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.

10 October: The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize

for 2015 is to be awarded to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, a coalition of four

institutions, for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in

Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011.

10 October: The Seychelles Ministry of Tourism and Culture appointed Indian composer

A.R. Rahman as Cultural Ambassador for Seychelles in appreciation for the invaluable

services contributed to enhance Seychelless Art and Cultural development.

10 October: Families from India hold 14 spots in Forbes Asias ranking of the Asias 50

richest families with the Ambani family third on the list with a combined fortune of

$21.5 billion. Indias Premji is seventh on the list followed by Hinduja on ninth spot and

Mistry ranked tenth. According to the Forbes list four India billionaire families found

place in the top ten richest families. South Koreas Lee family, which controls the

formidable Samsung conglomerate, topped an inaugural list of Asias 50 richest families

by Forbes Asia magazine with a net worth of $26.6 billion.

10 October: Nualgi, an Indian company with wholly Indian technology in the field of

nano biotechnology has won a prestigious award at the Climate CoLab of Massachusetts

Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge.

10 October: Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman will be honoured with the

Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award in Mumbai on October 26. Filmmaker Subhash Ghai will

present the fifth Hridaynath Award to Rahman.

9 October: The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2015 is awarded to the Belarusian journalist

and author Svetlana Alexievich "for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering

and courage in our time".

9 October: Bollywood actor Sidharth Malhotra has been named the first Indian

ambassador for Tourism New Zealand, which markets New Zealand as a visitor

destination.

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9 October: Saudi blogger and social activist Raif Badawi and British poet and critic James

Fenton were jointly awarded with the 2015 PEN Pinter Prize. While, due to Badawi's

imprisonment, his award was accepted by Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia and

campaigner for Raif Badawi.

8 October: Writer Nayantara Sahgal has returned the prestigious Sahitya Akademi

Award, recording her protest against what she calls a "vicious assault" on India's

diversity and debate, and the government's failure to safeguard it. Ms Sahgal, 88, is the

niece of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. She received the literary award in

1986.

8 October: Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh, presented the Award of Excellence

to Shri Rajiva Ranjan Verma, Director General / RPF, for the commendable contribution

of Railway Protection Force (RPF) during Operation Smile, in the field of Anti Human

Trafficking. It was presented in a function on National Conference of Anti Human

Trafficking held at New Delhi on 07.10.2015.

8 October: Sweden's Tomas Lindahl, the US-based Paul Modrich and Turkish-born Aziz

Sancar won the 2015 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for work on mapping how cells repair

damaged DNA.

8 October: Ahmed Mansoor of UAE has been was awarded the Martin Ennals award.

The award is named after the former secretary general of Amnesty International. This is

also known as nobel prize of human rights. He campaigned for freedom of expression

and greater political and civil rights in the United Arab Emirates since 2006, and

successfully pushed for the liberation of two bloggers jailed for highlighting social

problems in the country.

7 October: William C. Campbell (US), Satoshi Omura (Japan) and Youyou Tu (China) are

the three scientists jointly chosen for the Nobel Prize 2015 for Medicine (or Physiology)

as announced by the Nobel Prize Committee. Campbell and Omura were chosen for

their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm

parasites. Youyou Tu was chosen for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy for

malaria.

7 October: Sanjay Kaushik, general manager of Crowne Plaza, Kochi, received the Best

General Manager, South India award at the 11th Hospitality India Annual Travel Awards

held in New Delhi.

7 October: The Tiruchirapalli City Municipal Corporation was awarded with Skoch Smart

Governance Award for achieving Operational Excellence in Waste Transportation using

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based solutions.

7 October: The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics has been jointly awarded to Takaai Kajita

(Japan) and Arthur B. McDonald (Canada), for discoveries that proved that neutrinos

have mass.

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5 October: Rangarajan Vellamore, CEO Infosys China, has become the first Indian to

receive the Magnolia Gold Award in recognition of his contributions to the

development of IT industry in Shanghai, China's financial hub.

5 October: Forbes India Leadership Awards 2015 were presented in Mumbai. Awards

are-- Outstanding Start-up for the Year: Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati of Ola. Best

CEO Multinational Company: Uday Shankar, Star India Pvt. Ltd. Best CEO - Public

Sector: Arundhati Bhattacharya, State Bank of India. Best CEO - Private Sector: C.P.

Gurnani, Tech Mahindra Ltd. Lifetime Achievement Award for the Year: R.C. Bhargava of

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. Entrepreneur for the Year: Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra Bank

Ltd.

3 October: Kartik Chandran, an Indian-American associate professor of earth and

environmental engineering at Columbia Engineering, has been named a 2015 MacArthur

Fellow with a "genius grant" of $625,000. He won the fellowship for his work in

transforming wastewater from a pollutant requiring disposal to a resource for useful

products, such as commodity chemicals, energy sources, and fertilisers.

SPORTS NEWS THIS MONTH

29 October: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach announced that all

the highly qualified athletes who are refugees will be allowed to compete in the Olympic Games.

This is for the first time that refugee athletes will be competing in any Olympic Games. As per

the announcement, all the eligible athletes will be able to compete for the 2016 Summer

Olympics and Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

29 October: Jammu and Kashmir will host South Asian Rugby 7S Championship in 2016. The

championship will be held at Jammu and Kashmir's Bakhshi Stadium from 18 June to 20 June

2016.

28 October: Emily Kristine Pedersen of Denmark won the Hero Womens Indian Open 2015 at

the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon, Haryana. It was her maiden European Tour title. She

beat the trio of Cheyenne Woods, Becky Morgan and Malene Jorgensen. While amateur golfer

Aditi Ashok was the best Indian performer, who tied at the 13th position, Vani Kapoor, finished

tied 20th, was adjudged as the best Indian professional at the tournament.

28 October: Hockey India (HI) announced Hockey Coorg of Karnataka as its new member.

Karnataka will now boast of two member units with Hockey India introducing Hockey Coorg as

an Associate Member unit from the state while Hockey Karnataka already operates as a

Permanent Member unit.

27 October: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix title.

In the final race, while his team-mate Nico Rosberg of Germany stood at the second position,

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel (Germany) was at the third.

27 October: Former world number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia clinched his third French

International Badminton title with a win over Taiwan's Chou Tien Chen. Lee also won this title in

Paris in 2007 and 2011.

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27 October: South Africa defeated India by 214 runs in the fifth and final one dayer at Mumbai

to register the first ever bilateral ODI series win on Indian soil. De Kock was adjudged man of

the match, while Ab DeVilliers was named player of the series.

27 October: Indian archer Abhishek Verma created history by winning a silver medal in the 2015

Archery World Cup Final held in Mexico City. With this, he became the first ever Indian to bag

Archery World Cup Final medal.

26 October: Manipur's football team defeated Odisha to win Under-18 Girls Junior National

Football Championship.

23 October: Virender Sehwag has announced his retirement from international cricket. He

scored 17,253 international runs. Sehwag is the only Indian batsman to score a triple-century in

Tests, and he did it twice. 21 October: India's tennis player Saketh Myneni won the Vietnam Open tennis trophy in the

mens singles category. In the title clash, he defeated Australia's Jordan Thompson. In the mens

doubles category, he, along with other Indian Sanam Singh, ended runner-up after losing the final

to Tristan Lamasine and Nils Langer of France and Germany respectively. 21 October: Britain's junior mens hockey team defeated Indian junior men's hockey team and

captured Sultan Johor Cup Hockey Tournament's title. The host Malaysia defeated Argentina to

settle for Bronze 21 October: S.A. Bhavani Devi bagged a bronze medal at the Flemish Open fencing

championship 2015 held at Ghent, Belgium. She lost to Lee Lau of Singapore in the semifinal. 19 October: FIFA suspended the Kuwait Football Association (KFA). The suspension will be lifted

only when the KFA and its members (the clubs) are able to carry out their activities and

obligations independently. As a result of this decision, no team from Kuwait of any sort

(including clubs) can have any international sporting contact (art. 14).

17 October: Punam Yadav (63kg) bagged gold medals for India in both the senior and junior

women's categories in 2015 Commonwealth Youth, Junior & Senior weightlifting championships.

In the men's section Vishnukanth S, Ragala Venkat Rahul and Vikas Thakur claimed the top

positions in their respective weight divisions.

17 October: Japanese carmaker company Nissan signed an eight-year deal with the

International Cricket Council (ICC). Nissan will be a global sponsor of the ICC's tournaments until

2023, which includes ICC World Cup, Champions Trophy, T-20 Championship, Women's cricket

and qualifying championships.

16 October: Google has topped the list of world's best company to work for, grabbing the

numero uno position for the third straight year, while software developer SAS Institute and

manufacturing firm WL Gore were ranked second and third respectively. The annual 'World's

Best Multinational Workplaces List' ranks the top 25 global companies to work for.

13 October: Countrys second largest software services firm Infosys announced that its

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Rajiv Bansal has resigned from the company. He will be

replaced by M.D. Ranganathan.

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14 October: Shweta Rathore became the first Indian female bodybuilder to win a silver

medal in the 49th Asian Bodybuilding Championship held in Uzbekistan.

13 October: India's Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won women's doubles title of the

China Tennis Open in Beijing. The top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated Chinese Taipean

pair of Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan Chan. This was eighth title of the season as a team

for Sania-Hingis and fourth title in a row.

13 October: Canada's Vasek Pospisil and American Jack Sock beat Canada's Daniel

Nestor and France's Edouard Roger-Vasselin to win the China Tennis Open men's

doubles finals.

13 October: Spains Garbine Muguruza captured the China Tennis Open Women's

singles title by defeating Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky. On the other hand, world no.

one Serbia's Novak Djokovic won the China Tennis Open Mens Singles title by defeating

Rafael Nadal of Spain.

13 October: Britain's Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) won the 2015 Formula 1 Russian Grand

Prix title at the final race held at Sochi Autodrom in Sochi, Russia. While Hamilton

topped the table, Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel (Germany) and Sergio Perez (Mexico) of

Force India stood at second and third positions respectively.

13 October: Ajay Jayaram of India won the 2015 Dutch Open Mens Singles Badminton

title. In the summit clash held at Almere in Netherlands, Ajay defeated Estonias Raul

Must.

12 October: FIFA, the governing body of association football provisionally suspended its

president Sepp Blatter, secretary general Jerome Valcke and vice-president Michel

Platini for 90 days, due to alleged charges of corruption. Issa Hayatou, head of Africa's

football confederation, will act as the interim FIFA president during Blatter's ban.

10 October: Swimming world champion of China Ning Zetao claimed two gold medals at

the sixth Military World Games in South Korea. Ning won gold medal in 50m freestyle

event. He also led the Chinese team to win the 4x200m freestyle relay title.

9 October: Indian cyclist Deborah Herold bagged one gold, three silver and one bronze

medal in the Taiwan Cup Track International Classic I Tournament 2015 held at the Hsin

Chu Velodrome, Taiwan. With this, she became the first ever Indian cyclist to win in

women's elite section.

9 October: Russia's women volleyball team beat the Netherlands to win 2015 Women's

European Volleyball Championship held in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

9 October: Russias Sergey Karjakin won the 2015 FIDE World Chess Cup by beating

Peter Svidler (Russia) by 6-4 in the final. Championship was held in Azerbaijans capital,

Baku.

7 October: Spanish tennis player David Ferrer won the men's singles title of Malaysian

Open 2015 held at Kuala Lumpur by defeating Spain's Feliciano Lopez.

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7 October: China won the FIBA Asian Basketball Championship 2015 by defeating

Philippines by 78-67 in the final. Philippines and Iran have secured the second and third

place respectively in the tournament. India ended on eighth place in the tournament.

6 October: Ace Indian tennis star Sania Mirza and her partner, Switzerland's Martina

Hingis clinched their seventh title together by winning the Wuhan Open Tennis

Tournament. The top-seeded pair defeated the Romanian team of Irina-Camelia Begu

and Monica Niculescu in the title clash.

6 October: Luis Leao Pinto of Portugal won Asias premier mountain biking race that

ended in capital Shimla of Himachal Pradesh and got the crown of King of the Himalaya

for the second time.

5 October: Virat Kohli has become the first Indian batsman to reach the milestone of

1,000 runs in the Twenty20 International (T20I) format by scoring 28 runs. The feat was

achieved during the first T20I between India and South Africa at Dharamsala, Himachal

Pradesh.

3 October: Indian pistol shooter Heena Sindhu won the gold medal in women's 10 meter

air pistol event at the 8th Asian Air Gun Championships in New Delhi.

3 October: Popular Tamil actor Dhanush was named as the brand ambassador of Hero

Indian Super League (ISL) Football Tournament Season 2 for Tamil Nadu.

1 October: Indian shooter Gurpreet Singh and Jitu Rai clinched a silver and bronze,

respectively, in the men's 10m metre Air Pistol event at the Asian Air Gun

Championship. Sepehr Safari Boroujeni of Iran claimed the gold medal.

EULOGIES THIS MONTH

27 October: Ireland's movie star Maureen OHara who appeared in classics ranging from the

How Green Was My Valley to Miracle on 34th Street passed away. She was 95.

23 October: Renowned scientist and leader of India's first expedition to Antarctica in 1981-82,

Syed Zahoor Qasim, passed away in Delhi. He was 88.

21 October: Noted Kannada film director, producer, actor and playback singer K.S.L. Swamy

popularly known as Ravee passed away. He was 77.

20 October: Pat Woodell, who played Bobbi Jo on 1960s CBS sitcom Petticoat Junction, died in

Fallbrook, Calif. She was 71.

20 October: Congress leader Paras Ram Bhardwaj, who represented Sarangarh (Scheduled

Castes) sans break from the seventh to the 12th Lok Sabha, passed away at his native village

Kharoda in Janjgir-Champa District. He was 67.

20 October: Telugu cinema's noted comedian M S Narayana passed away. He was 63.

12 October: Renowned music director and lyricist Ravindra Jain passed away. He was

71. Hecomposed music for over 150 Hindi movies.

13 October: Renowned Carnatic flautist Dr. N. Ramani passed away. He was 82.

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MISCELLANEOUS NEWS THIS MONTH

31 October: Delhi, the world's most polluted city, suffers a toxic blend of geography, growth,

poor energy sources and unfavorable weather that boosts its dangerously high levels of air

pollution, scientists, including one of Indian-origin, have found. A team of researchers led by the

University of Surrey in UK assessed how Delhi's landscape, weather, energy consumption

culture, and growing urban population combines to elevate concentrations of air pollutants,

including ultra-fine particles, the most harmful to human health.

31 October: A close encounter with Jupiter about four billion years ago may have resulted in

another planets ejection from the solar system altogether, scientists have found.The existence

of a fifth giant gas planet at the time of the solar systems formation in addition to Jupiter,

Saturn, Uranus and Neptune that we know of today was first proposed in 2011, researchers

said.

30 October: India is among the top 10 nations in terms of total private wealth held, but at the

bottom in terms of per capita riches. According to the report by New World Wealth, India's total

individual wealth stood at $3,492 billion, while the United States, which topped the list, had a

total individual wealth of $48,734 billion. Total individual wealth refers to the private wealth

held by all the individuals in each country.

28 October: China successfully launched the Tianhui-1C mapping satellite into its designated

orbit from Jiuquan satellite launch centre in the north-western province of Gansu. A Long

March-2D carrier rocket carried the Tianhui-1C mapping satellite blasts off from the launch pad.

The satellite will offer a boost to country's ability to carry out scientific experiments, land

resource surveys, mapping, crop yield estimation and disaster relief.

27 October: Public cloud services revenue in India is forecast to touch US$731 million by the end

of 2015, growing more than 31 per cent over last year, according to research firm Gartner. High

rates of spending on cloud services in India to continue through 2019 when the market is

expected to reach USD 1.9 billion.

26 October: Two mountaineers Arjun Vajpai and Bhupesh Kumar created history by becoming

first people to climb 6180 meter high unnamed peak in Himachals Spiti Valley. The duo named

the peak as Mount Kalam, in honour of former President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Newly

named Mt. Kalam is located near Bara Shigri Glacier, largest glacier located in Himachal Pradesh.

24 October: India has been ranked second on Global Business Optimism Index in the July-

September quarter, according to a Grant Thornton's International Business Report. Additionally,

86% Indian businesses are optimistic about an increase in revenue compared to 83% last

quarter, shows the survey.

24 October: Indian-American Comedian Aziz Ansari has managed to feature his name on the

Forbes list of Highest-Paid Comedians 2015. Ansari who is best known for the role of Tom

Haverford on NBC's blockbuster show, 'Parks and Recreation' managed to seal the spot with

$9.5 million in earnings. The Forbes list features Jerry Seinfeld as the top-earning comedian,

having $36 million in earnings.

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21 October: Vivo Mobiles replaced PepsiCo as the title sponsor of the high-profile Indian

Premier League (IPL), as announced by the BCCI. Vivo Mobile is an emerging smartphone maker

of China.

19 October: World Food Day (WFD) was celebrated on 16th October all over the world. The

theme of World Food Day 2015 was Social Protection and Agriculture.

16 October: Google has topped the list of world's best company to work for, grabbing the

numero uno position for the third straight year, while software developer SAS Institute and

manufacturing firm WL Gore were ranked second and third respectively. The annual 'World's

Best Multinational Workplaces List' ranks the top 25 global companies to work for. 15 October: India ranks third among global startup ecosystems with more than 4,200 new-age

companies, according to IT industry body Nasscom. According to Nasscom President R.

Chandrashekhar India has been given third position just after the US and the UK.

15 October: China operationalized all six of the station's units which were incorporated into the

power grid units of the Zam Hydropower Station, the largest dam in Tibet, built on river

Brahmaputra, raising concerns in India over the likelihood of disrupting water supplies. The Zam

Hydropower Station has been built at a cost of $1.5 billion (approximately Rs. 9764 crores).

14 October: Iran has successfully test-fired a new indegenously built precision-guided,

long-range missile. The Emad (Pillar) surface-to-surface missile is the country's first long-

range missile that can be precision-guided until it reaches its target.

12 October: Kishore Biyani-led retail major Future Group entered into an agreement

with Baba Ramdev-promoted Patanjali Ayurved to sell the latter's FMCG products

through its stores. Future Group expects sales from Patanjali, to the tune of Rs. 1,000

crore in the next 20 months.

10 October: Indian-American social entrepreneur Bhagwati Agrawal has made his way

into the CNNs Top Ten Heroes of 2015, for creating a rainwater harvesting system that

now provides life-changing, safe drinking water across six villages in Rajasthan. Each will

receive US $10,000 and be recognised as "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute".

9 October: INS Astradharini, the first indigenously-designed and built torpedo launch

and recovery vessel commissioned into the Indian Navy. INS Astradharini is an advanced

replacement for INS Astravahini which was decommissioned earlier.

7 October: Worlds highest terrestrial Research and Development centre was

established by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at Changla