SEPTEMBER CURRENT AFFAIRS

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS:
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on 27th September, to require Syria to
eliminate its arsenal of chemical weapons -- or face consequences."Todays resolution
will ensure that the elimination of the Syrian chemical weapons program happens as
soon as possible and with the utmost transparency and accountability," Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon said. The U.N. resolution was based on a deal struck this month
between the United States and Russia that averted an American military strike over
allegations the Syrian government used sarin nerve gas in an August 21 attack on a
Damascus suburb that U.S. officials said left at least 1,400 people dead. The resolution
did not authorize the automatic use of force if Syria is said to be in violation, as was
previously sought by the United States. The 15-member Security Council met shortly
after the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or OPCW, voted to fast-
track Syrias addition to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans such weapons.
For nearly two years, the U.N. Security Council had been unable to reach a consensus
over what to do to bring about an end to Syrias civil war. Russia and China repeatedly
vetoed resolutions dating back to October 2011 that condemned President Bashar al-
Assads government and called for him to step down. The turnaround came this month,
when Russia called for Syria to divest itself of its chemical weapons arsenal after U.S.
President Barack Obama accused Syria of crossing a "red line" with the use of nerve
gas and threatened a strike. Syria announced this month that it was willing to join the
agreement. Both the United States and Russia warned that if Syria failed to adhere to
the terms of the U.N. resolution, it would face consequences. U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry said the world community was imposing a binding obligation on the
government of al-Assad to get rid of its stockpile.The United Nations estimates more
than 100,000 people have died since March 2011 when a brutal government crackdown
against protesters devolved into an all-out civil war.
Ministers from 113 countries at U.N have signed a declaration pledging new action to
end sexual violence in conflict. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said it prohibits
amnesties for sexual violence in peace agreements. It also pledges to adopt a new
International Protocol in 2014 to help ensure that evidence collected can stand up in
court. Mr. Hague, who co-hosted on 25th Septembers meeting on the sidelines of U.N
General Assembly, said Britain will be encouraging the 80 U.N. member states that
havent signed the declaration to do so. He also announced that Britain will host a
conference next year on sexual violence in conflict.
Trailblazer Sri Srinivasan (46) was on 27th September, sworn in judge of the second
most powerful court of the U.S., making him the first Indian American to be on the
bench of the US Courts of Appeal for the District of Columbia Circuit. Chandigarh-born
Srinivasan, whose parents migrated to the United States in 1970s, was sworn in the
oath of office in an overflowing court room of US Courts of Appeal for the District of
Columbia Circuit by Justice Sandra Day OConnor, in the presence of legal luminaries,
friends and families. Mr. Srinivasan was previously the Principal Deputy Solicitor
General of the United States. He is a highly-respected appellate advocate.
Megan Young of Philippines on 28 September 2013 was crowned Miss World 2013 at
the Bali Nasa Dua Convention Center in Bali, Indonesia. Miss France, Marine Lorphelin
finished as the first runner-up, Miss Ghana Carranzar Naa Okailey Shooter was the
second runner up. Megan Young won the competition after beating 130 contestants
across the globe. She is 23 years old. She is a student of filmmaking. Megan was born
in US and she moved to the Philippines, when she was 10. Megan wants to become a
director after gaining experience and finishing her qualifications. Indias Navneet Kaur
Dhillon finished among the top 20 finalists but couldnt reach final ten. She won the title
of Miss Multimedia.
Chinas third richest man, Wang Jianlin, announced on 22nd September, that his
company Dalian Wanda Group was to embark on the construction of a giant film studio
in Quingdao, on the countrys eastern coast. Representing an investment of 50 billion
Yuan (£5.1 billion), Mr. Wang claimed it as the most expensive studio project
ever. Named the Oriental Movie Metropolis, the facility will contain 20 sound stages,
including the worlds first underwater studio, a convention and exhibition complex, a
shopping mall and amusement park, and seven hotels. It will not, apparently, be a
contender for the title of worlds largest: that appears to still reside with the 47-stage
Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, India, as certified by Guinness World Records. At a
ceremony to announce the project, Mr. Wang said: The Oriental Movie Metropolis is a
major step in Chinas strategy to become a global cultural powerhouse. Hollywood
stars such as John Travolta and Catherine Zeta Jones were in attendance. The project
marks the latest step in Chinas increasingly influential role in the global film business at
it seeks to take on Hollywoods financial and artistic dominance. Mr. Wangs $8.6 billion
fortune has been accrued largely through real estate development, and has acquired
considerable interests in entertainment and leisure industries. He made international
headlines last year after purchasing U.S. cinema chain AMC for $2.6 billion (£1.6
billion).
World Tourism Day observed on 27 September 2013 across the world to bring
awareness about the importance of tourism. The purpose of this day is to raise
awareness on the role of tourism within the international community and to demonstrate
how it affects social, cultural, political and economic values worldwide. Theme for 2013
is Tourism and Water: Protecting our Common Future This years theme highlights
tourisms role in water access and shines a spotlight on the actions currently being
taken by the sector in order to contribute to a more sustainable water future, as well as
the challenges ahead. World Tourism Day was first celebrated in 1980 by the United
Nations World Tourism Organisation.
Chancellor Angela Merkel won a third term by a landslide victory in German elections
on 22 September 2013.Chancellor Angela Merkels conservative Union bloc - the
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) won 41.5
percent of vote, but finished just short of an absolute majority. Final results gave the
CDU/CSU 311 seats, the Social Democrats 192, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD)
64 seats and the ecologist Greens 63 seats. Rising to the position of Chairwoman of the
Christian Democratic Union party, Merkel became Germanys first female chancellor,
and one of the leading figures of the European Union, following the 2005 national
elections.
The number of child workers worldwide has dropped by a third over the past 13 years,
according to a report from the International Labour Organization. But campaigners say
that protecting children from hazardous work and long hours remains a major challenge,
with families in poor countries such as Bangladesh heavily reliant on the income they
get from sending children to work. There are 168 million children working in situations
that fit the ILO definition of child labor. That is work undertaken by children below the
appropriate legal minimum working age, based on its minimum age convention.
According to the ILO, most of the progress on child labor was made between 2008 and
2012, when the number of children classed as laborers worldwide fell from 215 million
to 168 million. The report is being launched before a major conference on child labour in
Brasilia, Brazils federal capital, on October 8. One key focus of the ILOs work in the
coming year will be the informal sector, including small-scale manufacturers to children
working in a one-room house, roadside jewelers to children living with their family on a
farm and working long hours during the harvest. The ILO report documents the number
and type of actions over child labor taken around the world, including monitoring
mechanisms, measures taken to push for universal education, changes in the legal age
for working in some countries and stricter laws brought in to tackle slavery.
Banned chemical weapons have been used on a wide scale in the Syria war and there
is clear evidence sarin killed hundreds of people in one major attack, U.N. inspectors
said on 16th September. Chemical arms have been used in the 30-month-old conflict
on a relatively large scale, says the report to be released by UN leader Ban Ki-moon.
UN Experts, who went to Syria last month, are not allowed to say who carried out the
attacks. But they said there is clear and convincing evidence that sarin gas killed
hundreds of people in an attack on Ghouta near Damascus on August 21st.
The attack sparked threats by the United States and other western nations of a military
strike on President Bashar al-Assads forces. The United States says more than 1,400
people died in Ghouta. Though the military threat has eased after Russia and the United
States agreed a plan to put Syrian chemical arms under international control, the U.N.
report will influence what measures are taken to make Mr. Assad stick to the plan. The
experts said that based on evidence they had found, the conclusion is that chemical
weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arab
Republic ... against civilians including children on a relatively large scale.
Tony Abbott was sworn in as Australias new Prime Minister on 18th September. Tony
Abbott is the 28th Prime Minister of Australia. He took the oath at Government House in
Canberra in front of Governor-General Quentin Bryce. His Conservative Party defeated
former Prime Minister Kevin Rudds centre-left Labor Party in 7th September 2013
elections. Tony Abbott has immediately ordered the scrapping of Australias carbon tax
and the halting of asylum-seeker boats after being sworn in as Prime Minister.
Russia announced that they would reopen a major naval base in the Arctic and resume
regular naval patrols in the region as it laid claim to a vast swath of the Arctic seabed.
President Vladimir Putin said on 18th September, Russia is going to rebuild a naval
base off its Arctic coast that was abandoned 20 years ago. He added that the naval
facility would mark a new step in the opening up of the Northern Sea Route and would
help effectively control the Russian section of the Arctic Ocean. The move comes a
month after Russia submitted to the United Nations a claim to extend its 200-mile
Exclusive Economic Zone by another 150 miles or 1.2 million square kilometers.
Moscow argues that it has scientific evidence proving beyond doubt that seabed it
claims is continuation of its continental shelf. The Russian Defense Ministry said that
next year it will start establishing naval outposts in Novaya Zemlya and the Franz-Josef
Land archipelagos in the Arctic Ocean.
The United Nations and the African Union on 17th September, have agreed to
strengthen protection of conflict-affected children in Africa, where despite progress,
grave child rights violations including under-age recruitment, continue. As the African
Union is taking a larger role in the continents mediation and peacekeeping operations,
it had become essential to make our partnership stronger, said Leila Zerrougui, Special
Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.
Her office and the Peace and Security Department of the AU Commission signed an
agreement on 17 September, in partnership with the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF), to
step up measures to protect children from armed violence. Among the areas of
collaboration outlined in the document, the AU, with UN support, agrees to include the
protection of children in all its peace and security activities. The agreement also calls for
the development of a joint programme of work to align domestic legislation with regional
and international child rights, as well as to develop guidelines on protection of children.
In addition, improved and harmonized training programmes in child protection will be
developed for countries contributing troops to AU peace missions.
Chinas first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, returned to its homeport, Qingdao on 21st
September, after a three-month voyage, during which it carried out major and crucial
tests. During the voyage that started on June 11, the carrier witnessed more than 100
sorties of landing and takeoff by various aircrafts, including the J-15 carrier-borne
fighter, the official Liberation Army Daily (Jiefang Ribao) said on 22 September. The
tests have resulted in further improvement of the carriers flight control processes,
according to the official newspaper. The voyage is the longest and farthest that has
been taken by the Liaoning since its maiden voyage, the report said. It is also the first
since it based its homeport in Qingdao in February. The Liaoning is Chinas only aircraft
carrier in operation. It was refitted based on an unfinished Russian-made carrier and
delivered to the navy on Sept. 25, 2012.
Russia has offered to India, to set up manufacturing facilities in the country for joint
production of defense hardware and also reached an understanding for setting up two
major projects in a joint venture for producing civil choppers and aircraft. This was
decided during the meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma
and Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Rogozin and Russias Industry and Trade
Minister Denis Manturov in St. Petersburg. Mr. Sharma is there to attend the 7th India
Russian Forum on Trade and Investment. The visit assumes significance in the light of
Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs forthcoming visit to Russia next month. Both Mr.
Sharma and Mr. Rogozin agreed on collaboration to jointly develop and manufacture
civilian aircraft and helicopters for especially for emergency relief and medical purposes.
Both Russia and India felt that these two aircraft projects should not be seen only for
domestic use but will also explore the possibilities of third country exports. One of the
projects under collaboration for civilian aircrafts/helicopters envisages the setting up of
the joint venture for manufacturing in Indian factories different modifications of light
helicopters Ka-226T for medical, rescue and other purposes. The Russian side has
mooted a new proposal involving IL-112V.Russia also proposed to India for setting up
manufacturing facilities in the country for production of defense equipment in various
fields. The opportunity could also be used to make India as the export base for such
defense hardware it was felt.
A Nigerian woman, Obabiyi Aishah Ajibola (21) on 18th September, won the Miss
Muslimah World contest, a riposte to the Miss World. The 20 finalists, all required to
wear headscarves, were judged on beauty as well as how well they recited Koranic
verses and their views on Islam in the modern world. After a show in front of an
audience of mainly religious scholars and devout Muslims, a panel picked Obabiyi
Aishah Ajibola (21) from Nigeria as the winner. She said it was thanks to almighty
Allah that she had won the contest. She received 25 million rupiah (US $ 2,200) and
trips to Makkah and India as prizes.
The earliest fully modern humans arrived in West Asia around 42,000 years ago, a new
study led by Oxford scientists has found. Researchers obtained the radiocarbon dates
of marine shell beads found at Ksar Akil, a key archaeological site in Lebanon, which
allowed them to calculate that the oldest human fossil from the same sequence of
archaeological layers is 42,400 to 41,700 years old. This is significant because the age
of the earliest fossils, directly and indirectly dated, of modern humans found in Europe is
roughly similar, researchers said. The discovery throws up intriguing new possibilities
about the routes taken by the earliest modern humans out of Africa, according to the
study published in journal PLOS ONE .
The research team radiocarbon dated 20 marine shells from the top 15 meters of
archaeological layers at Ksar Akil, north of Beirut. It was widely believed that at some
point after 45,000 years ago early modern humans arrived in Europe, taking routes out
of Africa through the Near East, and, from there, along the Mediterranean rim or along
the River Danube. The evidence suggests populations of early modern humans arrived
in Europe and the Near East at roughly the same time, sparking a new debate about
where the first populations of early humans travelled from in their expansion towards
Europe and which alternative routes they may have taken. The team was able to
calculate the age of the lost fossil at 40,800-39,200 years ago.
As the rest of the world reconsiders the use of nuclear energy in the wake of the 2011
Fukushima accident in Japan, China has made its new, domestically-developed, fourth-
generation reactor as the answer for developing countries concerns regarding costs
and safety. The State-run China Nuclear Engineering Group Corporation (CNEC),
closely involved in the design and construction of many of the 17 nuclear reactors in
operation, on 15th September, presented designs of its new fourth-generation High
Temperature Reactor (HTR) and High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR), on
the sidelines of the first China-Arab States trade exposition which opened in this
western Chinese city. With global interest in nuclear power waning following Fukushima,
the CNEC is hoping that success with its reactor will help rekindle interest abroad. The
CNEC has been charged by the State Council, or Cabinet, with expanding the nuclear
industrys reach overseas. The company was behind the Chashma-3 and Chashma-4
reactors in Pakistan. The deals triggered controversy because they were agreed to after
China joined the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).China is building 28 reactors more
than in any other country with most of the projects entirely designed and constructed
domestically, using technology adapted from the U.S., France and Russia. China has
made a case for its domestically-developed, fourth-generation reactor as the answer for
developing countries concerns regarding costs and safety.
The Man Booker Prize, described as the the most important and influential award for
literary fiction in the English speaking world might from now on actually qualify for that
claim. According to an announcement by Jonathan Taylor, Chair of the Booker Prize,
the prize will from 2014 be expanded to include writers in English from any part of the
world provided their books have been published in the United Kingdom. Thus far the
Booker Prize was for literary fiction by authors from the Commonwealth, the Republic of
Ireland and Zimbabwe. The decision to open up the Booker was not one that the
trustees took quickly or lightly Mr. Taylor said. Over the following 18 months the views
of writers, readers, publishers, agents, booksellers and others were canvassed on both
sides of the Atlantic and beyond. However, other rules remain: the books must be
published in the UK and entered by their UK publishers, the practice of long lists and
shortlists will stay, and judges will be required to consider all entries.
U.S. President Barack Obama faced growing pressure from Russias Vladimir Putin and
other world leaders on 5 September, to decide against launching military strikes in
Syria, which many of them fear would hurt the global economy and push up oil prices.
At a summit of the Group of 20 (G20) developed and developing economies in St.
Petersburg, this was happened. The rift over Syria overshadowed the discussions on
how to revive growth but not before splits emerged within the group over a U.S. plan to
wind down an economic stimulus program. The G20 accounts for two thirds of the
worlds population and 90 percent of its output. The first round at the summit went to
Putin, as China, the European Union, the BRICS emerging economies and a letter from
Pope Francis all warned of the dangers of military intervention in Syria without the
approval of the U.N. Security Council. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
later told the leaders over the dinner in a tsarist-era seafront palace that any military
action must have the Security Councils backing. The G20 achieved unprecedented
cooperation between developed and emerging nations to stave off economic collapse
during the 2009 financial crisis, but the harmony has since waned. Member states are at
odds as the U.S. recovery gains pace, Europe lags, and developing economies worry
about the impact of the Federal Reserves plans to stop a bond-buying program that has
helped kick-start the U.S. economy. The BRICS agreed to commit $100 billion to a
currency reserve pool that could help defend against a balance of payments crisis,
although the mechanism will take time to set up. There is likely to be an agreement on
measures to fight tax evasion by multinational companies at the summit in the
spectacular, 18th-century Peterhof palace complex, built on the orders of Tsar Peter the
Great. An initiative will be presented on refining regulation of the $630-trillion global
market for financial derivatives to prevent a possible blow-up.
India will be hosting the 33rd Asian & Pacific Conference of Correctional Administrators
(APCCA), 2013 in New Delhi from 22nd to 27th September, 2013. The conference will
be inaugurated by the Union Home Minister. This is a prestigious event for the
correctional officers to share ideas and learn from others experiences and give
direction to innovative ideas in correctional administration and welfare. Apart from
delegates from 23 member countries, the delegates from States/UTs dealing with
correctional administrations will also attend the conference. The theme of this years
conference is Correction-Transformation-Re-integration. This pushes the agenda of
the correctional welfare beyond conventional practices to assist the reintegration of the
released inmates back to the society. Asian & Pacific Conference of Correctional
Administrators (APCCA) is an organisation of 23 countries viz., Australia, Brunei,
Cambodia, Canada, China, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Korea,
Macao, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri
Lanka, Thailand, Tonga and Vietnam. India is a founder member of this organization.
India is an elected member of the Governing Board of the organization since 2008.
Every year the annual conference is organized by the member countries on rotational
basis where Correctional Administrators of member countries exchange ideas in relation
to the prison reforms in the Asia Pacific region. The conference gives correctional
officers a chance to express their knowledge and exchange best practices being
adopted in various countries. The conference was organized by Brunei last year.
Malala Yousafzai on 3rd September, officially opened Europes largest public library in
Birmingham. She was shot in the head by the Taliban on her school bus in Pakistan -
for daring to campaign about girls rights to education. Malala made a speech at the
inauguration in which she said "I have challenged myself that i will read thousands of
books and i will empower myself with knowledge. The building cost nearly
£200m to build and holds a million books. Ms. Yousafzai was the chief guest at
the opening ceremony of the new Birmingham Library .The new state-of-the-art library
will now be the largest in Europe and is expected to attract three million visitors a year.
The Vice President of India, Hamid Ansari inaugurated the one day international
conference on alliance for literacy, peace and development in South Asia at New Delhi
on 7 September. India has called for enhanced cooperation in the field of literacy and
education. Inaugurating the conference, Hamid Ansari said that through mutual
cooperation involving sharing of experiences, lessons learnt and best practices, the
region can together fight the scourge of illiteracy, remove ignorance from our midst and
build modern educated and enlightened societies in our countries, the region and
beyond. He said 40 crore adults, almost half of the worlds illiterate population live in
South Asia. Women and girls constitute nearly two thirds of the illiterate adult
population, making the magnitude of the problem even greater. Appreciating the literacy
among young women growing at a faster pace than that of young men, the Vice-
President said that gender parity in literacy is a distinct possibility in the future. In the
Conference, the Vice-President of India also announced that Saakshar Bharat
programme has been recognized by experts and it is being conferred UNESCOS King
Sejong Literacy prize for this year. This International Conference on Peace, Literacy
and Development in South Asia was organized by National Literacy Mission Authority,
Department of School Education and Literacy under Ministry of Human Resource
Development.
Egypts army-backed government has dissolved the Muslim Brotherhood as a registered
non-governmental organization, the state-run Al-Akhbar newspaper reported on 6
September. The decision applies to the NGO registered by the Brotherhood in March in
response to a lawsuit that argued the group had no legal status and marks a legal
challenge to Morsis movement as the police round up its leaders across the country.
After veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in 2011, the Brotherhood won
parliamentary and presidential elections. The army deposed Morsi on July 3 in response
to mass protests against his rule. The authorities are mounting the harshest crackdown
on the Brotherhood in decades, killing hundreds of Morsis supporters and arresting
many of its leaders on charges of inciting violence. There has so far been no attempt to
ban its political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party.
India on 4th September gave USD one million as to the United Nations Relief and
Works Agency (UNRWA) for providing food and medicines to Palestine refugees.
UNRWA provides assistance to some five million registered Palestine refugees in
Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and in the Palestine. Spokesperson in the Ministry of External
Affairs Syed Akbaruddin said the financial assistance to the UN agency has been given
as part of Indias annual contribution to it. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary
contributions from UN member-states. UNRWA Commissioner General Filippo Grandi,
who had a meeting with senior officials in the MEA on 4 September, thanked India for its
continuous support to the UN agency. "India has been supporting the humanitarian
efforts. We want India to expand the cooperation further," he said.
Fijis military regime passed a Constitution on 6 September, in a step that is raising both
hopes and concerns among many who want democracy restored to the South Pacific
island nation. The regime that seized power in a 2006 coup says the Constitution is
another step toward it holding free elections next year. The document envisages a
Parliament consisting of 50 representatives elected every four years based on one
person, one vote. But many say the Constitution also curtails freedoms and is self-
serving to the regime. Former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry was among those
arrested and taken into custody for about two hours during protests on Friday against
the Constitution.
Iran plans to send its second monkey into space onboard home-made rocket Pishgam
(Pioneer) II within 45 days. In January, Iran had sent a capsule containing a monkey
onboard the Pishgam I, Xinhua reported. Unlike the first rocket which was solid-fuelled,
the Pishgam II will use liquid propellant, sources said. The plan to send living creatures
into space was part of the project to send human beings into space within a course of
five to eight years, said the Iranian official.
National affairs:
K. Rahman Khan, the Union Minister for Minority Affairs launched two new schemes
namely Seekho aur Kamao (Learn & Earn) and Jiyo Parsi in New Delhi on 23rd
September. The Minister launched the pilot project of 500 minority trainees through
IL&FS Skill Development Corporation at five locations in the country. These locations
are Delhi, Kolkata, Shillong, Barnala and Bengaluru. Fifty five trainees comprising
Muslims, Sikhs and Christians which started training from July this year were given
advance job letters today to ensure employment. Referring to members of the batch
from three important minority communities, the Minister assured to reach Buddhists and
Parsis, the remaining minority communities. The Minister also launched another very
essential scheme Jiyo Parsi for containing population decline of Parsis in India. It is a
100% central sector scheme. Referring to the alarming total fertility rate of Parsis that
has gone down below one ,Shri Khan said Government of India is very much concern
about the declining trend of the Parsi population in the country. Therefore, with the
involvement of Parsi community and on their demand, Ministry of Minority Affairs has
come up with an ambitious programme i.e. Jiyo Parsi.
The Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of
India allotted Customized Pin Code to the Supreme Court of India for the first time on 26
September 2013. The Customized Pin Code of the Supreme Court is 110 201.The
event took place on the occasion that marked the completion of 41 years of the
introduction of Pin Code in the country. The PIN was introduced on 15 August 1972 in
India. The Department of Posts also started a Locality Based Online Pin Code Search
Directory of Delhi on this occasion for the first time in India. Postal Index Number (PIN)
or PIN Code is a 6 digit code of Post Office numbering used by India Post. The PIN was
introduced on 15 August 1972. There are 9 PIN regions in the country.
The Union Cabinet on 24th September approved the proposal for implementation of the
multi-sectoral programme to address the maternal and child under-nutrition in 200 high
burden districts in the 12th Five Year Plan. The multi-sect oral nutrition programme
would address the maternal and child malnutrition in 200 high burden districts by
bringing together various national programmes through strong institutional,
programmatic and operational convergence at the State, District, Block and Village
levels. The scheme will cost Rs. 1,213.19 crore for the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17)
as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with a Centre : State cost sharing ratio of 90:10 for
all components in the North Eastern Region States and special category States and
75:25 for other States and Union Territories. The Central share would be Rs. 944.39
crore and the state share would be Rs. 268.80 crore. The programme targets to
contribute to the following as Outcomes i) Prevention an d reduction in child under-
nutrition (underweight prevalence in children under 3 years of age); and ii) reduction in
levels of anemia among young children, adolescent girls and women.
A six-member expert committee constituted by the Centre on fixing a new criterion for
determining the backwardness of Indian states on 26th September, gave its reports,
claiming Odisha, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh are the least developed states in the
country. The panel led by Raghuram Rajan, former Chief Economic Adviser in the
Finance Ministry and the incumbent Governor of Reserve Bank of India, said in its
report that Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are the most developed states in the country.
The Raghuram Rajan panel report has made a case for ending the special category
criteria for providing additional assistance to poorer states and suggested a new
methodology for devolving funds on states based on a Multi Dimensional Index (MDI).
Giving details of the report, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the committee has
suggested that the 28 states be split into three categories - least developed, less
developed and relatively developed - depending upon their MDI scores. As regards the
allocation of funds, the report suggested that each state should get a basic fixed
allocation and an additional allocation depending on its development needs and
development performance. The panel was formed by the Centre to finalize the new
criteria to determine backwardness of states for granting special category status and
was asked to submit its report in two months. The panel was set up in the wake of the
demand for special category status for Bihar by its Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who
held a rally in Delhi to push for this in March. Granting of special category status would
allow Bihar to receive untied central funds or grants as 30% of total government
assistance is kept aside for such states. The committee was asked to look at the gap
between a states statistics and the national average in terms of per-capita income and
other human development indicators, and evolve a composite development index.
The Supreme Court of India on 27 September 2013 held that citizens have the right to
reject all candidates contesting an election. The Supreme Court also directed the
Election Commission of India to provide none of the above options at the end of the list
of candidates contesting an election in a constituency. A bench headed by Chief Justice
P Sathasivam while pronouncing the judgment viewed that negative voting would foster
purity and vibrancy of elections .It also ensure wide participation as people who are not
satisfied with the candidates in the fray would also turn up to express their opinion
rejecting contestants. The bench noted that the concept of negative voting is prevalent
in 13 countries. Even in India parliamentarians are given an option to press the button
for abstaining while voting takes place in the Parliament. The bench also observed that
right to reject candidates in elections is part of fundamental right given by the
Constitution in article 19 (freedom of speech and expression). The court passed this
order on a Public Interest Litigation(PIL) filed by an NGO, Peoples Union for Civil
Liberties (PUCL), which had submitted that voters be given the right to negative voting.
The Ministry of Tourism on 27th September launched 777 Days of the Incredible Indian
Himalayas campaign to centre stage the Incredible Indian Himalayas on the World
Tourism Map. On this occasion, Minister of Tourism(I/C) Dr. K.Chiranjeevi announced
that the Ministry of Tourism has decided to meet 50% of Peak fee chargeable by Indian
Mountaineering Foundation from the climbing expeditions during the period of 777 days
of the campaign. The Minister added that the campaign has been designed to spread
awareness around the globe that 73% of Himalayan range lies in India. Describing the
Incredible Indian Himalayas as a greatest show on the earth, Dr. Chiranjeevi said that
the purpose of the campaign was to tell the entire world that Himalayas provide
opportunity for a round-the-year tourism right from hard adventure to soft adventure,
rich flora and fauna to bio-diversity hotspots, high altitude peaks to beautiful lakes, from
varied culture to the realm of spirituality and wellness. The Ministry also launched a
Himalayan Map and a Directory of Events that would contain the activities to be
undertaken during this period of 777 days of the Incredible Indian Himalayas
campaign. A book on safety regulations brought out by ATAOI was also release on the
occasion. The Ministry also released two short films titled Greatest Show on the Earth
and Life Altering Journey. The Adventure Travel Association of India (ATAOI) is
collaborating with the Ministry of Tourism in this campaign and they have designed
special adventure programmes running over the next 777 days.
The Union Minister for Culture Chandresh Kumari Katoch on 16th September unveiled
the Brass Plate World Heritage Plaque at the Chittorgarh Fort, Rajasthan and released
brochures on the Fort in Hindi & English. Chittorgarh Fort is one of the six hill forts of
Rajasthan recently inscribed in the World Heritage List by the World Heritage
Committee of UNESCO. The selection was approved in June 2013 in the 37th Session
of the Committee. The Union Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Dr. Girija
Vyas was also present on the occasion as a distinguished guest. Both the Ministers also
jointly inaugurated the restored topkhana and a photo exhibition in kumbha palace on
the occasion. Smt. Katoch lauded the people of Rajasthan for preserving rich cultural
heritage of the country for centuries and said, both the international and domestic
tourists always list Rajasthan as their preferred destination.
Kanoon Lugat, an Urdu law dictionary, billed as a first of its kind in the country, was
released in Mumbai on 15th September, in the presence of legal luminaries. The
dictionary, encompassing 52,000 legal terms, has been translated in Urdu for the first
time, said chief translator and Supreme Court advocate Muhammad Irshad Hanif.
Advocate Hanif has also translated Indian Penal Code and Indian Evidence Act in Urdu,
besides publishing two books Taziraat-e-Hind and Qanoon Shahadat-e-Hind. The
Urdu legal dictionary has a foreword written by Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir.
Jamiat Ulama-e-Maharashtra legal panel member, lawyer Shahid N Ansari said this is
the first time that line-to-line translation of the two laws is available in Urdu.
The Union Cabinet on 20th September, approved the following proposals of the
National Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy : i) to implement and
monitor of the Policy through National and State ECCE Councils; ii) to develop National
Early Childhood Care and Education Curriculum Framework and Quality Standards and
circulate to the States/Union Territories (UTs) for preparation of Action Plans and
implementation by States /UTs; and iii) to delegate of power to the Ministry of Women
and Child Development to make necessary changes.
The Policy would help to 158.7 million Indian children under six years of age who need
holistic and integrated early childhood care. In particular it would enable preschool
education inputs for their optimum development to realize their potential. The vision of
the National ECCE Policy is to promote inclusive, equitable and contextualized
opportunities for promoting optimal development and active learning capacity of all
children below 6 years of age. The Policy focus is on early preschool learning for every
child below six years. The key areas of this policy are universal access with equity and
inclusion, quality in ECCE, strengthening capacity, monitoring and supervision,
advocacy, research and review.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 21st September laid the foundation stone of the
Kishangarh Airport in Ajmer district. Dr. Singh said Kishangarh has become fully
accessible to tourists, which will rake in economic progress for the state. Dr. Singh
stated that commercial airports are expected to grow throughout the country as the
number of air travelers is expected to appreciate to 30 million by 2020.Kishangarh
airport started to be developed under this effort (airports in smaller cities) is the first
project. This number is expected to grow in the coming time, Dr. Singh said the airport,
which is likely to start operations in 2016, would cater to pilgrims who visit the Ajmer
Dargah and Pushkar Lake.
The project for development of Chhindwara as a Tourist Circuit in Madhya Pradesh,
with Central Financial Assistance from Government of India was launched on
September 21, 2013 by the Union Minister of Tourism (Independent charge), Dr K.
Chiranjeevi and the Union Urban Development & Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Dr.
Kamal Nath. The Ministry of Tourism is continuously striving for creating better
infrastructure, developing new tourism destinations and bringing them on the national
and international tourism map. Dr Chiranjeevi informed that in view of the immense
tourism potential in Chhindwara the scope of the tourist destination development project
was agreed to be enhanced as the development of Chhindwara as a tourist circuit, with
the inclusion of the famous Khedapati Mandir, Chakravyuha water falls in the
Ananjangaon Harrai, development of surroundings of Pataleshwar Mandir, Chhote
Mahadev Temple Tamia, Sharda Ghat Burman, Narsinghpur and Mundhara, Distt.
Seoni etc, thereby considering additional funds of approximately Rs. 300.00 lakh.
The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the 11th Asian Pacific Postal
Union (APPU) Congress on 3 September at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. Speaking on
the occasion, the President said that the Asian Pacific Postal Union, an inter-
governmental organization of 32 countries of the region is actively working to improve
cooperation among member nations in the field of postal services. He stated that the
changing global scenario calls for postal administrations around the world to think
differently. He called upon postal administration to be proactive to change. They must
leverage their strengths to provide quality service to the people. He stated that
worldwide, postal administrations enjoy the trust of people. The President said that
globalization and easier movement of workforce across nations have opened a great
window of opportunity for the postal sector. With increasing requirement for remittance
channels, it can, with the guidance of the Asian Pacific Postal Union, make a difference.
He added that there is a huge scope for postal services to be engaged in e-commerce,
and gain from the rising demand for such business products.
The Union Cabinet on 3rd September, approved the proposal for setting up of the
Bharat Rural Livelihood Foundation (BRLF) as an independent charitable society under
the Societies Registration Act, 1860 to facilitate and upscale civil society action in
partnership with Government for transforming livelihoods and lives of rural households,
with an emphasis on women, particularly in the Central Indian Tribal Region. It will
provide financial grants to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to meet their human
resource and institutional costs for up scaling of proven interventions; invest in
institutional strengthening of smaller CSOs and capacity building of professional
resources working at the grassroots. Projects supported by BRLF would be able to
reach 10 lakh poor families by the end of the fifth year. BRLF would also have
supported the capacity building of 1,000 CSO professionals and institutional
strengthening of a significant number of smaller CSOs within the above time frame.
Even though BRLF will have an India wide mandate, the initial focus of the organization
will be on the Central Indian Tribal Region, centered on blocks having significant tribal
population across 170 districts in the States of Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal,
Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Rs 500 crore will be released for creating the corpus fund of the new Society, in two
tranches. The society will be constituted as a partnership between Government on the
one hand and private sector philanthropies, private and public sector undertakings
(under Corporate Social Responsibility) on the other hand.
The Union Cabinet on 3rd September approved the proposal for setting up of an
autonomous "National Institute of Solar Energy" (NISE) to assist the Ministry and
function as the apex national centre for research and technology development and
related activities in the area of solar energy technologies in the country. The National
Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) is to be set up immediately by converting the Solar
Energy Centre (SEC), Gurgaon with a long term vision to develop it as a world class
institute. A broad based national team in the form of a Review-cum-Strategy
Formulation Committee would be set up with representation from industry, the scientific
community, financial institutions etc. to prepare a blue print. This committee would look
at various models available in the country and outside and prepare a roadmap for the
Institute. Setting up of an apex national centre for Solar Energy is a part of the JNNSM,
which was considered by the Prime Minister s Council on Climate Change in August,
2009. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) and other related
proposals were approved by the Govt. in November, 2009. While approving the
JNNSM, the Govt. also approved specific targets and budget for the first phase of the
Mission till March, 2013. This includes R&D in solar energy, including setting up of a
Centre of Excellence as an apex centre on different aspects of solar energy
technologies.
Bilateral Affairs:
After continuous round of dialogues between the two trading partners India and China,
both the allies have agreed to strengthen the coordination in various policies. This was
the outcome of the sixth China-India Financial Dialogue held on 26th September, in
Beijing."Both sides agreed to strengthen regular communication and coordination at
various levels on macro-economic policies and major international economic and
financial issues", said the press release. After signing the Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) on Launching the Financial Dialogue between China and India in
April 2005, both the countries had held five rounds of dialogues prior to this. In the
recent dialogue, the two sides deeply discussed new challenges facing the global
economy, macro-economic situations and policies in China and India."Both sides
recognized that global economic recovery was still fragile with downside risks remaining
high", the statement noted. It was discussed that with growth picking up in advanced
economies, there is a need for these countries to collaborate with other emerging
countries on the pace and timing of recalibration of their unconventional monetary
policies and strengthen communication with the market to avoid the spillovers. Also, it
was agreed to hold the 7th India-China Financial Dialogue in 2014 in New Delhi.
Mr. Rafael Ramirez, Minister of Energy and Mines of Venezuela visited India for
discussions with his counterpart, Dr. M. Veerappa Moily, Minister for Petroleum and
Natural Gas, Government of India. In the meeting held on 24th September, the two
Ministers reviewed on-going cooperation in the hydrocarbons sector. It was recognised
that Venezuela and India have shared a very robust relationship in the hydrocarbon
sector ever since the visit of former President of Venezuela Mr. Hugo Chavez to India in
2005. Minister Ramirez appreciated participation by Indian companies in the upstream
exploration and production sector and also the companies that were major off takers of
Venezuelan crude oil. He expressed that Indian oil and gas companies were very well
accepted in Venezuela and encouraged the Indian oil and gas companies to scale up
their participation in the prolific Venezuelan oil and gas sector. The Indian side
expressed difficulties faced by oil companies in terms of registration of refinery,
finalisation of pricing formulae and signing of term contracts for import of crude oil from
Venezuela. The Indian side also highlighted difficulties faced by Indian companies
working in the Venezuelan E&P sector in the joint venture mode with regard to delayed
payment of dividend to the JV partners. The Venezuelan side noted the difficulties and
assured to address the concerns raised. Minister Moily highlighted the increasing
appetite of crude oil of Indian refineries and requested for long term tie up for supply of
crude oil from Venezuela. Upon request from Minister Moily for enhanced participation
by a joint venture of Indian public and private sector oil and gas companies in the
upstream oil and gas sector of Venezuela, Minister Ramirez welcomed the suggestion
and agreed to carry forward this initiative. Both sides agreed to finalising a
comprehensive package for collaboration not only in the oil and gas sector but also for
participation by Indian companies in providing expertise for development of
infrastructure and technology, as well as boosting trade in goods and services between
the two countries.
India and China have agreed to initiate steps to include Media Cooperation as part of
2014 celebrations being observed to commemorate Friendly Exchanges between the
two countries. Both the countries agreed to proactively consider steps to promote high
level media exchanges and facilitation between the two nations. It has also been agreed
to outline a roadmap to include specific projects / proposals as part of the initiative
under the Media domain to be considered under activities to mark the commemoration
of Friendly Exchanges celebrations. Both sides agreed that media could play an
important role in acting as a bridge for better cooperation between the two countries by
highlighting the positive aspects of the bilateral relationship. This was agreed upon
during the meeting between Manish Tewari, Minister for Information and Broadcasting
and Mr. Cai Ming Zhao, Minister of State Council Information Office. The Chinese
Minister met Tewari with a High level delegation in New Delhi on 16th September.
During the discussions between the two delegations it was also agreed to explore
possible areas of cooperation in the field of Capacity Building, Co-production
Agreements related to Films, sharing of the experience of institutionalizing Digitization in
the Broadcasting sector and enhanced participation during the Film Festivals being held
in both countries.
The Government of India on 18th September, signed an Agreement and the Agreed
Note for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with
respect to Taxes on Income (DTAA) with the Government of Latvia. The Agreement and
the Agreed Note were signed by Salman Khurshid, External Affairs Minister, on behalf
of the Government of India and Mr. Edgars Rinkevics, Minister of Foreign Affairs, on
behalf of the Government of Latvia in New Delhi. Latvia is the third Baltic country with
which DTAA has been signed by India. Earlier DTAAs have been signed and have
come into force with Lithuania and Estonia. The DTAA provides that business profits will
be taxable in the source if the activities of an enterprise constitute a permanent
establishment (PE) in the source state. The Agreement provides for fixed place PE,
building site, construction or assembly PE, service PE, Off-shore
exploration/exploitation PE and agency PE. The Agreement further incorporates
provisions for effective exchange of information between tax authorities of the two
countries in line with latest international standard, including exchange of banking
information and supplying of information without recourse to domestic interest. Further,
the Agreement provides for sharing of information to other agencies with the consent of
supplying state. The Agreement also has an article on assistance in collection of taxes.
This article also includes provision for taking measures of conservancy. The Agreement
incorporates anti-abuse (limitation of benefits) provisions to ensure that the benefits of
the Agreements are availed of by the genuine residents of the two countries. The
Agreement will provide tax stability to the residents of India and Latvia and will facilitate
mutual economic cooperation between the two countries. It will also stimulate the flow of
investment, technology and services between India and Latvia.
India has offered to help Cuba to develop its renewable energy resources. This was
conveyed by Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Minister of New and Renewable Energy to Mr.
Marino Murillo, Vice president of the Republic of Cuba at Havana on 20th September.
Dr. Farooq Abdullah is visiting Cuba along with a high level delegation of experts to
explore greater opportunities for cooperation and collaboration between the two
countries. Dr. Abdullah also held detailed discussions with Mr. Alfredo Lopez Valdes,
the Cuban Minister of Energy and Mines. Dr. Abdullah briefed his counterpart on the
energy situation in India and Indias ambitious plans in renewable energy. He explained
that India currently has over 29 GW of grid-connected installed capacity using
renewable sources of energy and that it has plans over to add over 30 GW more
capacity by 2017. He also dwelt on the success of Indias wind programme as well as
the significant cost reductions in solar energy through the Jawahar Lal Nehru National
Solar Mission (JNNSM).
India and Japan have resolved to strengthen cooperation in the tourism sector. This
was decided at a meeting between the visiting Japanese Senior Vice Minister of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Mr. Hiroshi Kajiyama and Minister of State for
Tourism(I/C), Dr. K. Chiranjeevi in New Delhi on 3 September. The two sides agreed to
move further on signing an MOU to promote bilateral tourism relations. Dr.Chiranjeevi
informed his Japanese counterpart about the various measures being taken to improve
Golf Tourism and MICE Tourism in India, which may be attractive to Japenese tourists
and businessmen. Indian Tourism Minister invited Japan to invest in the low budget
hotel sector where India has liberalized the FDI route. Dr. Chiranjeevi told his Japanese
counterpart that there was a good potential for budget hotels for tourists coming from
across the world to India. Mr. Kajiyama said that the proposal for investments in the
budget hotel sector could form a part of the MOU between the two countries. The
Japanese Sr. Vice Tourism Minister said that he would like to lead a delegation of
businessmen from Japan in the next meeting in which he hoped to conclude the
agreement/MOU with India. Mr. Kajiyama informed that two Japanese airlines are
operating daily flights between India and Japan, which is an indication of the gravity of
tourist traffic between countries. Japan has set for itself a target of attracting 10 million
visitors from across the world to Japan. Japan Tourism is organizing a world class two-
day INDIA-JAPAN TOURISM EXPO in New Delhi on 13 to 17 January, 2014.
Economy:
The global financial services major, Barclays on 27th September, has lowered Indias
FY14 gross domestic growth (GDP) forecast for the current financial year to 4.7 per
cent, saying the growth and fiscal health of the country are likely to remain under
pressure, with 2014 election dynamics adding to uncertainties. Earlier, Barclays had
projected Indias growth at 5.3 per cent. Indias economic growth had slumped to
decade low of five per cent in 2012-13. It had slid to 4.4 per cent during April-June
quarter, the lowest in past several years, pulled down by a drop in mining and
manufacturing output. According to the global financial services major, the broader
trend in manufacturing and mining remains sluggish and the likely elevated-for-longer
interest rate trajectory is also emerging as another headwind for industrial
growth.Moreover, the countrys fiscal health is once again coming under pressure and
the upcoming national elections (around April-May 2014) are another source of potential
uncertainty for the economy and is likely to be a headwind against a revival of the
investment cycle. It said after the surprise rate rise in the September policy meeting, the
Reserve Bank of India is not likely to ease repo rates till the middle of next year. We
now do not expect any easing in the repo rate until mid-2014, as opposed to our earlier
expectation of that happening from December 2013, it said. The central bank has
categorically flagged that inflation is higher than its comfort level, the report added.It
said the rupee is expected to maintain a stable to positive bias in the near term,
reflecting an improving current account, delayed Fed tapering and likely inflows under
the FCNR scheme.
The Union government of India on 26 September 2013 notified GAAR (General Anti
Avoidance Rules). It seeks to check tax avoidance by investors routing their funds
through tax havens. It will come into effect from 1 April 2016. The GAAR will apply to
entities availing tax benefit of at least 3 crore rupees. It will apply to foreign institutional
investors, FIIs that have claimed benefits under any Double Tax Avoidance Agreement
(DTAA).Investments made by a non-resident by way of offshore derivative instruments
or P-Notes through FIIs, will not be covered by the GAAR provisions. The notification
said, investments made before 30 August 2010, will not be scrutinized under GAAR.
Indian Institution of Corporate Affairs (IICA) and BSE Ltd On 23rd September, signed an
MoU in Mumbai to work collaboratively to develop a Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) index, take up capacity building on CSR, conduct education and awareness
programmes, and other activities to facilitate a more effective corporate participation in
CSR areas. Indian Institution of Corporate Affairs (IICA) was established by Ministry of
Corporate Affairs (MCA), Government of India to act as think-tank and centre of
excellence to support the growth of the corporate sector in India through an integrated
and multi-disciplinary approach. In the new Companies Act, 2013 it has been mandated
for eligible companies to spend 2% of their profits on CSR activities. This initiative of the
Ministry of Corporate Affairs which requires companies to look beyond shareholder
value and make CSR a core driver of their strategy shall bring competitive advantage to
Indian Inc with the global players in the long run and shall attract more investment from
investors. The proposed IICA-BSE CSR Index shall assess impact and performance of
companies listed at BSE in CSR activities. The Index would also look at the
performance of companies in their mandatory CSR spend as per the new Companies
Act, 2013 as one of the important and objective criteria. The information provided in the
public domain on CSR activities by these listed companies and which is also assured,
shall have more preference in the various evaluation parameters of the Index.
Performance of the companies in CSR areas would be combined with the market
performance of companies for selection of companies. The Index would be sector
neutral. Companies eligible to be included in the Index for further evaluation shall
ensure basic compliance as per proposed CSR regulations. IICA-BSE proposes to form
an Advisory Committee which would guide for CSR index construction and its design.
This Advisory Committee would have consultative approach and interact with various
stakeholders so that best global practices are aligned to Indian needs as per Section
135, Companies Act 2013, in the index construction and it becomes benchmark index to
assess Indian corporate in CSR. IICA-BSE shall also work on capacity building to assist
companies for meeting their agenda of CSR and would conduct awareness programme
in next 6 months.
Reserve Bank of India on 25 September 2013 banned zero per cent interest rate
schemes for purchase of consumer goods. The decision has taken in order to protect
consumer interest. In this regard Reserve Bank of India issued a notification to all the
Schedule Commercial Banks and local area banks.
The very concept of zero per cent interest is non-existent and such
schemes only serve the purpose of alluring and exploiting vulnerable customers. Banks
should neither resort to any practice that would distort the interest rate structure of a
product nor hide any processing fees. All banks must stop these practices as they
violate the very principle of fair and transparent pricing of products which beholds
customer rights and protection, especially, in the more vulnerable retail segment. In the
zero percent EMI schemes offered on credit card outstandings, the interest element is
often camouflaged and passed on to customer in the form of processing fee.
India on 18th September has been recognized as Authorizing Nation under the
international Common Criteria Recognition Arrangement (CCRA) to test and certify
Electronics and IT products with respect to cyber security. Thus, India has become the
17th nation to earn such recognition. This international Arrangement has 26 Member
countries. USA, UK, Germany, South Korea, France, Japan, Canada, Australia, Turkey,
Malaysia etc. are the other countries who have this recognition. So far India was having
the status of Consuming Nation with respect to certification of Electronics and IT
products. The status of Authorizing Nation will enable India to test IT and Electronics
products and issue Certificates which will be acceptable internationally. The recognition
would also remove the bottleneck which as of now had prevented international
companies from submitting their products for testing and certification in India. The
recognition would also enable investment in setting up infrastructure and labs in public
and private sectors in India for testing Electronics and IT products. Standardisation
Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate of the Department of Electronics
and Information Technology (DeitY) has been operating Common Criteria Certification
(CC Certification) scheme in India for the last 5-6 years. Under it STQC undertakes
certification of Electronics and IT products after evaluation of the products at its lab in
Kolkata. The Certificates issued by STQC Directorate shall now be acceptable
internationally by all CCRA member countries.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 19th September, commissioned the NTPCs 2,980
MW Super Thermal Power Station to the nation at a grand function held at Sipat, in
Chhattisgarhs Bilaspur district. He also laid the foundation stone of 1,600 MW stage-I of
NTPCs Lara Super Thermal Power Project. The project to come up at Lara village in
the states coal-rich Raigarh district will have two 800 MW units in stage I and an
ultimate installed capacity of 4,000 MW. The coal-based Sipat Super Thermal Power
Station is capable of generating 2,980 MW of electricity and it will not only cater to the
demands of Chhattisgarh but also adjoining states like Madhya Pradesh and as far as
Jammu and Kashmir, the prime minister said in his brief speech, dedicating the project
to the nation. He noted that in the 11th Five Year Plan period, India achieved a record
power generation capacity of about 55,000 MW which was double the capacity added in
the 10th Plan period, and in the 12th Plan a target of adding over 118,000 MW of power
generation has been set. Built at an estimated cost of Rs. 13,000 crore, the Sipat plant
is the first to have used super critical technology. The prime minister stated that
advanced ultra super critical technology is now being developed in the country, and
lauded the efforts of NTPC, BHEL and Indira Gandhi Centre for Nuclear Research for
working in tandem to develop this technology.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 20th September has approved setting
up of Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) near Hyderabad subject to
fulfilling certain conditions. The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Ministry of
Urban Development and Ministry of Railways will be initiating detailed feasibility
study/action. The total investment for the ITIR will be about Rs. 2.19 lakh crore of which
the IT/ITES (Information Technology / Information Technology Enabled Services) Sector
is to attract investments of Rs. 1.18 lakh crore and the Electronic Hardware
Manufacturing (EHM) sector of Rs. 1.01 lakh crore. The major investment will be from
Public-Private Partnerships. Government of India has also proposed up gradation of
three radial roads and extension of the Metro Rail from Falaknuma to Shamshabad
International airport at total cost of Rs 3,275 crore. The ITIR is expected to generate
direct employment of 14.8 lakh and indirect employment of 55.9 lakh. The Government
of Andhra Pradesh has delineated an area of 202 sq. kms. for the proposed ITIR in
three clusters/ agglomerations viz., (i) Cyberabad Development Area and its
surroundings (ii) Hyderabad Airport Development area and Maheshwaram in the south
of Hyderabad (iii) Uppal and Pocharam areas in eastern Hyderabad. The ITIR will be
implemented in two phases. The Phase I will from 2013 to 2018 and Phase II will be
from 2018 to 2038. The ITIR is expected to develop into a key industrial region IT, ITES
and Electronic Hardware manufacturing sectors. Special consideration will be given to
accommodate Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the proposed ITIR.
The Union Cabinet on 20th September, approved the proposal of Hindustan Petroleum
Corporation Limited (HPCL), a Public Sector Undertaking to set up a 9 MMTPA
Greenfield Refinery cum Petrochemical Complex in Barmer District in Rajasthan, as a
Joint Venture (JV) with Government of Rajasthan under the name HPCL-Rajasthan
Refinery Limited (HRRL).The proposed refinery will be a subsidiary of HPCL with its
equity of 74% to be held by HPCL and 26% to be held by the Govt. of Rajasthan. The
cost of the project is estimated at Rs. 37,230 crore. The project cost is proposed to be
sourced with a debt/equity ratio of 1.5:1. Total equity component is Rs.14,892 crore and
debt is Rs.22,338 crore. HPCLs equity contribution is Rs.11,020 crore at 74% equity
and Govt. of Rajasthans equity contribution is Rs.3,872 crore at 26%.M/s. HPCL has
signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 14th May, 2013 with Govt. of Rajasthan in
this regard. HPCL has subsequently also signed a JV agreement with Govt. of
Rajasthan on 11th July, 2013 on these terms for setting up the refinery as a joint
venture. The proposed refinery will process 4.5 MMT of Mangala Crude and 4.5 MMT of
Arab/other crude(s).
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 20 September 2013 increased the repo rate or the
short term lending rate by 25 basis points to 7.5 per cent from 7.25 per cent with
immediate effect. This means that the Repo rate has been increased by 0.25 percent.
The Governor of RBI, Raghuram Rajan while reviewing the monetary policy for the first
time as a Governor, however, brought down the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate by
0.75 per cent to 9.5 per cent. The MSF rate is the one at which the other banks can
borrow from the Central Bank. The cash reserve ratio (CRR) remained unchanged at 4
percent. All these changes were a part of the monetary policy review for September
2013. The next monetary policy review of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is scheduled
for 29 October 2013.
Indian IT Company Wipro Ltd on 7 September 2013 signed agreement with the US-
based Kana Software to provide customer service solutions to its global insurers
through a joint development centre. The agreement provides Kana with systems
integration scalability, as Wipro has presence across 57 countries worldwide. Ana
Software is located at Silicon Valley in California. It provides customer service solutions
using cloud computing (on-demand) network to about 900 large enterprises and mid-
market organizations, which includes 250 government agencies all over the world.
Through its insurance practice division, Wipro works with 35 global insurers which
include property and casualty carriers and health insurance providers and life, annuity
and pension carriers.
Microsoft Corp. on 3rd September said it will buy Nokias phone business for $7.2
billion, making its boldest foray yet into mobile devices and bringing well-regarded Nokia
CEO Stephen Elop back into the fold. Microsoft will pay $5 billion for the Nokia Corp.
unit that makes mobile phones, including its line of Lumia smartphones that run
Windows Phone software. It is also paying $2.2 billion for a 10-year license to use
Nokias patents, with the option to extend it indefinitely. Finlands Nokia, once the
undisputed leader in mobile phones, has been struggling to respond to the challenge
from Smartphone makers such as Apple and Samsung Electronics. Nokia Chairman
Risto Siilasmaa will stay in his current role and assume the duties of interim CEO. When
the deal closes in early 2014, about 32,000 Nokia employees will transfer to Microsoft,
the companies said.
The Reserve Bank of India on 6 September 2013 allowed the Non-Resident Investors
including NRIs to purchase shares of Indian entities Under FDI Scheme. The
investment can be made as per the mentioned conditions. RBI has allowed the NRIs to
make investment under the FDI scheme only on the listed entities, on recognized stock
exchanges. The Reserve Bank of India has decided to include the non-residents,
including the NRIs to acquire the shares of domestic companies listed under FDI
scheme, on the stock exchanges through a registered broker, if the investor has already
acquired and continues to hold control in accordance with SEBI, Substantial Takeover
Code. Till now, the FIIs (Foreign Institutional Investor), QFIs (Qualified Foreign
Investors) and NRIs were eligible to invest and acquire the shares on the recognized
stock exchanges of India in compliance with the FEMA (Foreign Exchange
Management Act) regulations. But the NRIs were not allowed to acquire shares on
exchange (bourses) under the FDI Scheme.
Danish pharmaceutical major Novo Nordisk, on 2 September, said it would soon launch
its insulin injection Tresiba (insulin degludec) in India. Novo Nordisk is the leading
manufacturer of insulin in the world, and Tresiba, the new basal insulin, is used for the
treatment of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. The once-daily use medicine has duration of
action beyond 42 hours, and allows flexibility in daily dosing time without reducing
efficacy. Novo Nordisk India has 15 per cent share in the diabetes care market with a
significant share in insulin. In a bid to provide doctors access to updated and scientific
information on insulin therapy, Novo Nordisk has tied up with Indian Academy of
Diabetes (IAD) to launch a massive doctor education programme Master Class in
Insulin. India has 65 million diabetes patients and 130 million pre-diabetes patients said
Dr. Shashank Joshi, President, IAD. Yet, only 6 million receive appropriate treatment.
International Paper India on 2 September, inaugurated state-of-the-art machinery at its
Rajahmundry-based Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills Limited, which will allow the plant to
increase the conversion capacity of branded copier paper. International Paper, a global
company in packaging and paper, had acquired a 75 per cent stake in Andhra Pradesh
Paper Mills Limited two years ago. With the new machinery, the capacity has been
increased from 25,000 MT per year to 90,000 MT.
Banks will no longer be allowed lump-sum disbursal of sanctioned housing loans. The
Reserve Bank of India has told the banks that disbursal of sanctioned loan will have to
be closely linked to the stages of construction of the housing projects/houses. And, the
RBI has also made it clear to them that no upfront disbursal should be made in cases of
incomplete/under-construction/green field housing projects. The RBI diktat on 3
September, comes in view of the higher risks associated with such lump-sum disbursal
of sanctioned housing loans. Banks have tended to join hands with developers/builders
to introduce innovative housing loan schemes such as this one upfront disbursal of
sanctioned loans sans any linkage to stages of construction of a housing project. At
times, these are done through tripartite agreements between the bank, the builder and
the buyer of the housing unit. These loan products are popularly known by various
names such as 80:20, 75:25 schemes, the RBI said. While directing the banks to link
disbursal to stages of project construction, the RBI also told them to take into account
the customer suitability and appropriateness issues while introducing any kind of
product. Further, it said, banks should ensure that the borrowers/customers were made
fully aware of the risks and liabilities under such products.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 3 September, approved the proposal
for restructuring of the centrally sponsored Scheme of Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar
Yojana (SJSRY) in the 12th Plan and as the National Urban Livelihoods Mission
(NULM) with an allocation of approximately Rs. 6,405 crore. The Mission of NULM is to
reduce poverty and vulnerability of the urban poor households by enabling them to
access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities, resulting in
an appreciable improvement in their livelihoods on a sustainable basis, through building
strong grassroots level institutions of the poor. The mission would also aim at providing
shelter equipped with essential services to the urban homeless in a phased manner. In
addition, the Mission would also address livelihood concerns of the urban street vendors
also by facilitating access to suitable spaces, institutional credit, social security and
skills to the urban street vendors for accessing emerging market opportunities. NULM
will rest on the foundation of community mobilization and women empowerment. Under
the Mission, City Livelihood Centres (CLCs) will be established in Mission cities to
provide a platform whereby the urban poor can market their services and access
information on self-employment, skill training and other benefits. NULM will target the
urban poor who are occupationally vulnerable for Employment through Skills Training &
Placement (EST&P). Through the Self-Employment Programme (SEP), NULM will
provide financial assistance to individuals and groups of urban poor to set up gainful
self-employment / micro-enterprise ventures. A mission mode approach in the form of
the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) is considered necessary to organize
urban poor in Self Help Groups, creating opportunities for skill development leading to
market-based employment and helping them to set up self-employment ventures by
ensuring easy access to credit. This will result in the empowerment and dignity of life of
the urban poor. The approval of the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM)
represents a strategic shift in the Governments commitment to urban poverty
alleviation. The NULM will be implemented in two phases: Phase I (2013-2017) and
Phase II (2017-2022). In Phase I, NULM will target all cities with a population of one
lakh or more and district headquarter towns with a population of less than one lakh as
per Census of India 2011. However, other towns may be allowed in exceptional cases
on the request of the States. Funding will be shared between the Centre and the States
in the ratio of 75:25. For North Eastern and Special Category States (Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Jammu &
Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand), this ratio will be 90:10.
Persons:
Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi (80) ----- Eminent Indian classical singer and music
director, better known as a noted vocalist of Jayadevas Gita Govind, Pandit
Raghunath Panigrahi died of cardiac arrest in Bhuvaneswar. The doyen of Odissi music
maestro had celebrated his 79th birthday on August 10.Pandit Panigrahis effort to
popularise poet Jayadevas Gita Govinda, which has been hailed as the fountainhead
of Odissi music, not just in the state but worldwide, has been praised by his admirers.
Besides making his place in the world of classical music, Raghunath got the tag of
being a Suramani (a title given to him for his deeply mellifluous voice). He had also left
an indelible mark on Odissi light classicals like Na Jaa Radhika and an out-and-out
modern love song like Nali Nali Ei, Krushnachuda or Nupoor Bajaai Kie.Pandit
Raghunath was the first Odia singer to be honoured by the French government for his
Gita Govinda composition way back in the 70s. He got Padmashri award in 2010.
Yasin Bhatkal---- In a major breakthrough for security agencies in India, Yasin Bhatkal,
a key conspirator in several bomb blasts and co-founder of the banned Indian
Mujahideen (IM), was arrested from the India-Nepal border in Bihars Raxaul town on 29
August. Yasin, originally named Mohammad Ahmed Zarar Siddibappa, is on Indias list
of 12 most-wanted terror suspects. He is involved in Punes German Bakery blast and
blasts in Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai. The Bihar police detained him in
Raxaul and the National Investigation Agency made the formal arrest. He was then
taken to the district headquarters in Motihari.During his day-long interrogation, Yasin is
learnt to have revealed a lot about Pakistans role in several serial blasts in India.
Deepak Sandhu---- Former media adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Deepak
Sandhu, is likely to be appointed as next Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) to
succeed Satyanand Mishra who retires early next month. Ms. Sandhus appointment is
understood to have been cleared at a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
and the file recommending her name has been sent to the Presidents office for his
approval, official sources said on 27 August. The Chief Information Commissioner is
appointed by the President on the recommendation of a committee led by the Prime
Minister and including the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union
Cabinet Minister nominated by the PM. Ms. Sandhu, a retired Indian Information Service
(IIS) officer of 1971 batch, has already been serving in Central Information Commission
as Information Commissioner since September 2009.
Malati Chandur (84)----Telugu writer, novelist and columnist, Malathi Chandur, passed
away following prolonged illness in Chennai on 21 August 2013. Malati Chandur was
born in 1930 in Nuzvidu in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh. She wrote more than 25
novels and had more than 300 translations into Telugu to her credit. Her more famous
novels are Champakam, Cheedapurugulu, Aalochinchu, and Sadyogam. She was also
a prolific short story writer and published several of stories in weekly magazines. Malati
Chandurs novels offered practical solutions to the problems women encounter in daily
life. Most of her novels had a feminist slant. She was awarded the Sahitya Akademi
Award in 1992 for her novel Hrudaya Netri, and the Kalaprapoornam by the Padmavathi
Womens University.She was the recipient of Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Academy Award.
Nishi Vasudeva----Nishi Vasudeva became the first woman to be selected as the head
of the Navratna public sector unit (PSU), Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL). She
became the head of the state-owned oil company HPCL. At present, she is the Director,
Marketing, and HPCL and will take over as the chairman and managing director of the
company. She will replace Subir Roy Choudhury, who will retire on 28 February 2014.
Aswini kumar----Former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar has been appointed by Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh as his Special Envoy to visit Japan in the rank of a Cabinet
Minister on 22 August 2013.The Prime Minister has nominated Ashani Kumar to visit for
up to seven days as PMs Special Envoy to maintain the momentum of high-level
exchanges with Japan and to prepare for the upcoming visit of Their Majesties the
Emperor and Empress of Japan and the Prime Minister of Japan to India. Ashwani
Kumar resigned as Union Law Minister on 10 May 2013 for allegedly interfering in a
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe in coal blocks allocation. The Supreme
Court had come down heavily on the CBI for allowing the Law Ministry to vet the draft of
its probe report on the coal allocation.
Dilip Trivesi---- Senior IPS officer Dilip Trivedi has been appointed as the new chief of
the countrys largest paramilitary force CRPF. Trivedi, a 1978-batch officer of Uttar
Pradesh cadre, is presently serving as the Special Director General of the BSF. Trivedi
has served in various positions in the state police and has also served in the Centre as
ADG of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. The post of Central Reserve Police Force
(CRPF) DG fell vacant on July 31st after incumbent Chief Pranay Sahay retired.
Zafar Futehally (93)---- One of Indias best known naturalists and ornithologists, Zafar
Futehally, passed away on 11th August, at his home in Kihim in Maharashtra. He was
93. Mr. Futehally spearheaded the early years of the conservation movement in India,
serving as a link between conservationists and corporate. The Newsletter for
Birdwatchers, which he founded, was a vital publication and served to document
observations at a time when there was no digital documentation and there were few
scientific studies on wildlife in the country. Mr. Futehally was associated for 60 years
with the Bombay Natural History Society, of which he was honorary secretary for 16
years, till the 1970s, when he shifted to Bangalore. In Bangalore, Mr. Futehallys home
for four decades, he will be most remembered for nurturing a vibrant bird watching
community.
Abdul Karim Tunda--- the Delhi Police on 16th August arrested one of Indias 20 most
wanted terrorists, Abdul Karim Tunda, from Indo-Nepal border. 70-year-old Tunda, a
bomb expert of Lashkar-e-Taiba outfit, was wanted in 21 terror cases. Tunda was
arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi police and produced in a Delhi court. Born in
western UP and allegedly indoctrinated into the terrorist activities of Pakistans ISI in the
eighties, Tunda was trained in making improvised explosive devices and ranks number
15 in the dossier India handed over to Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks.After the serial
blasts, Tunda allegedly fled to Bangladesh where he came under direct command of
Lashkar chief Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi and soon became LeTs top bomb maker under
the guidance of Lakhvi.
"Metro Man" E. Sreedharan has been selected for the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak
award for 2013 for his outstanding contribution to society. The name of Sreedharan,
considered as the architect of the ambitious Delhi metro project, was announced by
Deepak Tilak who heads the Lokmanya Tilak Trust. The Padmashree laureate is also
credited for pulling off the Konkan Railway project. The award comprising a gold medal,
a citation and Rs one lakh cash, will be conferred on Sreedharan on August 1, Tilak
said.
Ms. Runa Laila---- SAARC Goodwill Ambassador for HIV/AIDS made official visit to
India from 31st July to 2nd August 2013, with the objective to extend support to the
cause of HIV/AIDS especially on the issues of stigma and discrimination related to
People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV). Ms. Laila from Bangladesh has been conferred
the honorary title of SAARC Goodwill Ambassador by SAARC Secretariat for the next
two years along with Ajay Devgan from India and Ms. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy from
Pakistan. In the capacity of SAARC Goodwill Ambassador on HIV/AIDS, Ms. Laila
would be contributing towards creating awareness on HIV/AIDS through public
appearances using different platform. She would address the issues of stigma and
discrimination prevailing in the community of SAARC Member States including
mainstreaming HIV/AIDS to form part of development agenda and advocate for
affordable treatment, care and support for PLHIV, facilitating fund raising from within
and outside the SAARC region.
Sharad Kumar-----Senior IPS officer Sharad Kumar was on 30 July, appointed as the
new Director General (DG) of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).The DG post of
the agency was lying vacant for about last two months following the retirement of
incumbent SC Sinha. Sinha was later appointed as a member of National Human Rights
Commission (NHRC).Kumar is a 1979-batch Haryana cadre officer and he takes over
the top post of the probe agency at a time when it is investigating important cases like
Hyderabad blasts and the recent Bodh Gaya blasts in Bihar.
Sujatha Singh--Assumed charge as Foreign Secretary on 1 August. Singh, a 1976
batch Indian Foreign Service officer, moved into her office in the Ministry of External
Affairs in South Block. She succeeds Ranjan Mathai and will have a fixed tenure of two
years. Asked about her priorities, Singh said the immediate neighborhood will be high
on her agenda besides strengthening relations with strategic partners around the world.
Singh said she would also optimize resources in the MEA and build on the work done
by her predecessor.
Samantha Power ----Samantha Power, on 2 August 2013 took oath to the office of US
ambassador to United Nations. Vice-President, Joe Biden administered her, the oath to
the office in a ceremony at the White House. Power succeeded Susan Rice, now the
President Barack Obamas National Security Adviser. Earlier, Samantha Power served
as the Foreign Policy Adviser to Obama during his 2008 election campaign, and
subsequently worked as an adviser in the White House. She started her career as a
journalist and won a Pulitzer Prize for her book A Problem from Hell: America and the
Age of Genocide in 2003.
The Senate of US approved the decision of Barack Obama to choose James Comey as
the next director of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Comey was supported by the
Senators with the vote of 93-1 on 29th July. He will be replacing Robert Mueller, who
had remained the Director of FBI since 2001. In May 2013, Comey was reportedly
nominated for the post of Director of FBI and news got confirmed officially in June 2013.
He was chosen over Lisa Monaco, who had overseen the security issues of US at the
Justice Department during the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya on 11
September 2012. Finally, on 29 July 2013, it was confirmed that the Senate gave
approval for James Comey to be the Director of FBI for a complete 10-year term.
Raghuram Rajan----The government has appointed Raghuram Rajan as the next
governor of the Reserve Bank of India, raising hopes that the former IMF chief
economist, who in 2005 famously predicted the financial crisis that hit the developed
world three years later, will bring a fresh and perhaps more innovative approach to pull
the economy out of the current crisis of slowing growth and a weakening currency.
Rajan, 50, who is currently the chief economic advisor, will take over from D. Subbarao
on September 4. He is the youngest governor of Indias central bank since Sir C.D.
Deshmukh, the first Indian governor whose tenure ran from August 1943 to June 1949.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY:
A state-of-the-art integration centre for the Naval Science & Technological Laboratory
(NSTL) was inaugurated by the outgoing Director of the laboratory SV Rangarajan in
Vishakapatnam, on 26th September. The Electrical Heavy Weight Torpedoes (EHWT)
building, christened Talvar Building, would serve the needs of the prestigious heavy
weight torpedo Varunastra project and the future heavy weight projects to be
undertaken by the laboratory.Speaking on the occasion Dr. Rangarajan advised the
Varunastra Project Director P. Trimurthulu to involve the Bharat Dynamics Limited
(BDL), which would undertake production of Varunastra, and Bharat Electronics Limited
(BEL), which would manufacture electronic components required for the purpose, at the
development-stage itself so that induction-ready torpedoes could be manufactured.
Speaking on the occasion, he said that this facility would be the state-of-the-art
integration centre for NSTLs prestigious heavy weight torpedo Varunastra, and future
heavy weight torpedoes to be undertaken by the Lab. He expressed the hope that
torpedoes developed by this lab would be world class in the days to come, with this
facility being set up.
The government will set up the worlds largest solar power project, having a total
generation capacity of 4,000 MW, in Rajasthan. The ultra mega green solar power
project, whose idea has been mooted by the Heavy Industries Ministry, would be set up
close to Sambhar Lake and about 75 kilometers from the state capital Jaipur.Total
capacity of this project will be 4,000 MW and, therefore, this will be the largest solar
based power project in the world, an official release said on 21st September. The
project would be spread across 23,000 acres area of Sambhar Salts Ltd, a subsidiary of
central enterprise Hindustan Salts Ltd. Minister of Heavy Industries and Public
Enterprises Praful Patel said the first phase of the project having 1,000 MW capacity
is likely to be commissioned by the end of 2016, according to the release. Once fully
implemented, the project would generate 6,000 million units of electricity annually. The
first phase would be implemented through a joint venture company, whose stakeholders
would be Bharat Heavy Electricals, Solar Energy Corporation, Power Grid Corporation,
SJVN, SSL and Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments Ltd (REIL).Being the first project
of this scale anywhere in the world, this project is expected to set a trend for large scale
solar power development, it added. India, which is a power deficit country, is working on
ways to increase contribution from renewable, especially solar, to its total energy mix.
The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission aims to have about 20,000 MW of grid-
connected solar power by 2022.
Giving impetus to the long standing strategic airlift of the Indian Air Force, the Defence
Minister AK Antony on 2 September, formally inducted the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III
into the IAF at a special ceremony held at Hindan airbase of the IAF. Describing the
induction of the C-17 Globemaster III in the Indian Air Force as a defining moment,
Antony said, With this, the IAF has taken a giant stride towards its goal of acquiring
multi- spectrum strategic capabilities, essential to safeguard Indias growing areas of
interest. Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne said The induction of ten C-17 aircraft
promises to be a game changer on how we conduct air transport operations. The C-17
fleet will provide tremendous flexibility in terms of operational response options in any
future campaign. The long range, heavy lift capability will allow the commanders to
induct Troops, squadrons, Re-locate Forces as well as shift forces between theatres
rapidly. The C-17 would form an extremely important component of the strategic airlift
capability and reach of the IAF. The government accorded approval to buy 10 C-17
Globemaster III along with associated equipment for the IAF in June 2011. The first of
the 10 aircraft touched down in India on 18th June 2013 and the delivery of all 10 is
expected to be completed by November 2014. This aircraft will enhance the operational
potential of the IAF with its payload carriage and performance and would augment the
strategic reach of the nation during Operations, Disaster Relief or any similar mission.
The induction of the C-17 is a major milestone in the modernization drive of the IAF.
Presently three aircrafts have been delivered and are operational. The newly inducted
C-17 Squadron (81 Squadron) will be based in Hindan.
Pakistan on 3 September, inducted PNS Aslat, its first ever indigenously constructed
frigate with Chinese collaboration at a ceremony at Karachi shipyard. Speaking on the
occasion, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that bringing all four frigates into service
within eight years is a remarkable achievement. The construction of the F-22P Frigate
at Karachi Shipyard was carried out under a transfer of technology arrangement.
SPORTS:
Defying intense criticism, N. Srinivasan was elected unopposed as BCCI President for a
third year during the Boards AGM held in Chennai on 28 September, even though he
will not take charge till further orders from the Supreme Court. Mr. Srinivasan was the
lone Presidential candidate put forward by the South Zone, from where he got the
proposer and the seconded. But he can resume his duties only after the Supreme Court
gives its final verdict on the case filed against his candidature by the Cricket Association
of Bihar secretary Aditya Verma. Mr. Srinivasans election was on expected lines
despite the fact that he is facing intense criticism on the issue of propriety after his son-
in-law and Chennai Super Kings Team Principal Gurunath Meiyappan was charge-
sheeted in the IPL betting and spot-fixing scandal. Another political heavyweight, Arun
Jaitley, relinquished the vice-Presidents position due to his political commitments and
was replaced by his Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) colleague Sneh
Bansal.
Olympian Swaran Singh Virk won a gold medal at the 15th Asian Senior Rowing
Championship at Luan, China, on 29th September. Besides Virks gold, India won two
silver and as many bronze medals in the championship.The team of Anil Kumar, Robin
P. Ulahannan, Olympian Bajrang Lal Thakar, Ranjit Singh, Kapil Sharma, Mohammed
Azad, Maninder Singh and Davinder Singh took 6:12.47 minutes to win the silver medal
in Mens Eights event. While Kapil Sharma, Mohammed Azad, Maninder Singh and
Davinder Singh bagged the Mens Fours silver in 6:03.50 minutes. India won the bronze
in Lightweight Mens Double Sculls with Sonu Laxmi Narian and Shokindar Tomar
winning it in 6:57.13 minutes.Monalisha, Dittymol Varghese, Chaoba Devim and
Amusana Devi clinched a brone in Leightweight Womens Quadruple Sculls with a
timing of 7:03.33 minutes. irk had booked his berth for the 2012 London Games by
winning the major qualifying event at the FISA Olympic Continental Qualification
Regatta for Asia in Chung Ju, Korea.
Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi won the bronze medal in the World Junior Chess
Championship (U 20) after settling for a quick draw with Yu Yangyi of China in the 13th
and final round that concluded at Kocaeli, Turkey on 26 September 2013.With Yu
Yangyi winning the gold, the silver went to Alexander Ipatov of Turkey who defeated
Aleksander Indjic of Serbia in the final round. Vidit Gujrathi was a former Under-14
world champion (2008). He was also three consecutive times age group National
Champion (Year 2005, 2006 and 2007). Vidit also won many national and international
tournaments in the under 14 category.
Milos Raonic of Canada defeated top-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 7-
6 (4), 6-3 to claim his fifth title at the Thailand Open on 29th September. In the doubles
final, third-seeded Jamie Murray of Great Britain and John Peers of Australia beat
fourth-seeded Tomasz Bednarek of Poland and Johan Brunstrom of Sweden 6-3, 3-6,
10-6. It was Raonics fifth tour victory, adding to the three in San Jose from 2011-13 and
Chennai in 2012.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on 25th September 2013 imposed a life
ban on former IPL Comissioner Lalit Modi from participating in any of its activities. The
decision to this effect was taken at the special general meeting under the chairmanship
of BCCI President N.Srinivasan at Chennai. The meeting which was attended by 30
members of the Board, discussed the findings of the disciplinary committee and found
Modi guilty on eight charges including financial irregularities, indiscipline and
misconduct. The official statement issued by the BCCI said the Board members will
again meet on the 29 September 2013 for the annual general meeting to elect its
Chairman. Earlier, Lalit Modi had appealed to the Supreme Court to issue a stay on
BCCIs meeting. The case was dismissed by the Court.
India won bronze medal in the 8th Womens Asia Cup 2013 as they defeated China 3-2
via penalty shootout in the 3rd/4th place play-off played at the National Stadium in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 27 September 2013. Ritu Rani captained Indian side in the
tournament, whereas Weilin Mao captained the China team. India had to win this
tournament to qualify for the 2014 World Cup at The Hague, Holland. However, it came
at the third place. Meanwhile, Japan stunned defending champions Korea 2-1 in the
final to win the Asia Cup and secure a place in next years World Cup. The 8th Womens
Hockey Asia Cup 2013 Held at Kualalumpur (Malaysia) from 21 to 27 September 2013.
The sports ministry on 18th September, decided not to confer Renjith Maheshwary with
the prestigious Arjuna award as the triple jumper has been found to have used a
scheduled substance (ephedrine) back in 2008, putting an end to all speculations
regarding his fate. After detailed investigations, the ministry has come to a conclusion
that Maheshwary was found to have used ephedrine during the 46th National Athletic
Championships in Kochi. The sample was collected on September 8, 2008 and given to
the National Dope Testing Laboratory on September 15, 2008.NDTL on October 3,
2008 analyzed the A-sample of Maheshwary and reported levels of ephedrine far above
the expected levels, even when ephedrine is consumed for therapeutic purposes.
Kolkatas Mohammedan Sporting club won the 126th Durand Foot ball tournament as it
defeated ONGC 2-1 in the final at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi on 19th
September. They have lifted the cup after 73 years having won it back in 1940.The last
time Sporting won Durand Cup was before Independence in 1940 by defeating
Warwickshire Regiment, and the last time they played a final in the capital was back in
1992.The Durand Football Tournament was started at Simla in the year 1888 by Sir
Henry Mortimer Durand, who was then, the Foreign Secretary to Government of India.
Durand is the third oldest football tournament in the world and oldest in Asia and India.
Indian wrestler Bajrang Kumar has bagged a bronze medal in the 60 kilogram freestyle
category at the World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary on 17 September
2013.Bajrang Kumar recorded an overwhelming 9-2 win over Mongolias Nyam-Ochir
Enkhsaikhan to bag the Bronze. This is the first time India has won two medals in the
Mens events at the World Championship level. Earlier, Amit Kumar had won a Silver
medal in the 55 Kg freestyle category, after losing to Iranian Hassan Farman Rahimi.
Former BCCI Secretary Jaywant Lele (78) passed away on 19th September 2013 in
Vadodara after he suffered a heart attack. Jaywant Lele had become the BCCI
secretary in 1996 and stayed in this post till 2001.In 2003, he was expelled from the
BCA, along with two other administrators, for alleged financial irregularities and
administrative lapses. Jaywant Lele was also a qualified umpire. In November 2011, he
penned a memoir titled I Was There - Memoirs of a Cricket Administrator.
World number one Serena Williams (31) won her fifth US Open title in a thrilling final
against Victoria Azarenka(24) at Flushing Meadows on 7 September. The American,
won by 7-5 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 over the Belarusian. Williams has now won 17 Grand Slam
singles titles, moving her to within one of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, and
seven short of Margaret Courts record total of 24.
All-time Grand Slam singles wins--
Margaret Court (Aus) 24
Steffi Graf (Ger) 22
Helen Wills Moody (USA) 19
Chris Evert (USA) & Martina Navratilova (USA) 18
Serena Williams (USA) 17
Billie Jean King (USA) 12
Leander Paes became the oldest man to win a Grand Slam title on 8 September, when
he and Radek Stepanek took the US Open doubles title. Indias Paes, 40, and 34-year-
old Czech Stepanek, the fourth seeds, defeated Alexander Peya of Austria and Brazils
Bruno Soares, the second seeds, 6-1, 6-3. It was their second major title as a pair, the
Asian stars third in New York, eighth in mens doubles and 14th overall. Paes and
Stepanek won the 2012 Australian Open .Paes had won the US Open title with Martin
Damm in 2006 and Lukas Dlouhy in 2009 and now has eight mens doubles trophies at
the majors as well as six mixed doubles crowns. Meanwhile, Andrea Hlavackova and
Lucie Hradecka of czech have won their first U.S. Open womens doubles title. The fifth-
seeded Czechs beat Australias Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-4
on 7 September. They also won the 2011 French Open championship. Hlavackova also
won this years mixed doubles championship at the U.S. Open, hoisting the trophy with
Max Mirnyi on 6 September.
South Korea defeated India 4-3 in the final of the Asia Cup Hockey at Ipoh, Malaysia on
1 September 2013. With this, South Korea confirmed its place in the World Cup at The
Hague. V.R. Raghunath (India) is the player of the tournament. In the meanwhile, the
Asian Hockey Federation gave the details of the participants for the next AHF
Champions Trophy to be held in Kakamigahara (Japan) from 1 November 2013 to 10
November 2013. In the mens section, the participants will be China, India, Japan,
Malaysia, Oman and Pakistan. In the womens section, the participants include China,
India, Japan and Malaysia.
Tokyo on 7 September 2013 won the right to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.
Members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting in Buenos Aires chose
the Japanese capital Tokyo. Japan won the right to host Olympic Games for the second
time. It had previously hosted the Games in 1964. Olympic is considered worlds biggest
sporting event. The decision means it will be the fourth time that Japan plays host to the
Olympics, having also organized hosted Olympic winter Games in Nagano (1998) and
Sapporo (1972). Asia will also see successive Olympics, as the South Korean resort of
Pyeongchang is hosting the 2018 winter edition.
Indias Bhuvana Kalva won her maiden 10000 US dollars ITF women singles title on 31
August 2013 after she won over sixth-seeded Akari Inoue of Japan by 6-4, 7-5 at the
Delhi Lawn Tennis Association complex. Bhuvana Kalva is from Andhra Pradesh. She
is 18-year-old. She also defeated top seed Ankita Raina and third seed Keren Shlomo
of Israel en route final. Her title win fetched her 12 ranking points while Akari, won 8
ranking points. Akari, had won the doubles title along with Hua-Chen Lee on 30 August
2013.
AWARDS:
Gyan Correas debut Gujarati movie The Good Road was on 21 September 2013
nominated as Indias official entry to 2014 Oscars in the Best Foreign Film category.
The Good Road is a 2013 Indian drama film written and directed by Gyan Correa. The
film The Good Road the story of a boy who is lost and found while his family is on a
holiday trip to the Kutch, Gujarat. The Good Road movie is produced by the National
Film Development Corporation (NFDC), the film stars Keval Katrodia as seven-year-old
Aditya who loses his way in the desert. The movie also stars Sonali Kulkarni and actor
Ajay Gehi as Adityas parents. India has never won a Foreign Language Film Oscar. So
far in the history of Indian cinema, only three Bollywood films, including Mehboob
Khans Mother India (1957), Mira Nairs Salaam Bombay (1988) and Ashutosh
Gowarikers Lagaan (2001), have made it to the nomination stage of the Oscar.
Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani schoolgirl and education rights campaigner presented
with the 2013 Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award (Harvard Humanitarian of the year)
by Harvard University on 27 September 2013.16 years old Malala received the award
by Dr Allen Counter, Director of the Harvard Foundation for her contribution in
promoting the education among girls. Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani school pupil. She
was shot in the head by a Taliban militant in October 2012 after she campaigned for
girls right to education.
India environmentalist Bunker Roy and Pakistans teenage education activist Malala
Yousufzai were on 23rd September, declared winners of this years of the prestigious
Clinton Global Citizens Awards. Roy is the founder of the Barefoot College, which has
been providing solutions to problems in rural communities for more than 40 years. As a
result of Barefoots work, one million litres of rainwater have been harvested to provide
clean drinking water to over 239,000 school children in more than 1,300 communities
worldwide. The Barefoot Approach is a proven community-based model, providing basic
infrastructure for power and water in remote, rural areas, as part of an integrated
solution to alleviating global poverty. Roy has been named one of the 50
environmentalists who could save the planet by the Guardian and one of the 100 most
influential people in the world by TIME magazine. Sixteen-year-old Yousafzai, who, after
being shot by the Taliban less than a year ago for her outspoken support for girls
education, has co-founded the Malala Fund to continue advocating for universal access
to education. The awards will be presented in a special ceremony on 24th September,
during the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in New York City, where more than
1,000 top business, government, and civil society leaders will convene to address some
of the worlds most pressing challenges. The Clinton Global Citizen Awards were
launched in 2007 to honour outstanding individuals for their visionary leadership,
demonstrated impact, and sustainable and scalable work in solving global issues.
Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram G Rajan on 26th September, has been
awarded the fifth Deutsche Bank Prize for Financial Economics 2013, in recognition of
his ground-breaking research work which influenced financial and macro-economic
policies around the world. The academic prize is sponsored by the Deutsche Bank
Donation Fund and carries an endowment of euro 50,000. The Centre for Financial
Studies (CFS) awards the prize bi-annually in partnership with Goethe University
Frankfurt. Rajan was picked up for the prize from more than 260 nominations from top
universities, central banks and research centers in 37 countries. More than half of the
nominations came from the US.
The University of British Columbias Faculty of Law at Allard Hall, Toranto presented
Anna Hazare, one of Indias most influential social activists, with the inaugural Allard
Prize for International Integrity at a special ceremony on 25th September. The $100,000
prize is one of the worlds largest awards recognizing efforts to combat corruption and to
promote human rights. Established in October 2012 by UBC Law alumnus Mr. Peter A.
Allard, QC, the Allard Prize is awarded to an individual, movement or organization that
has shown exceptional courage and leadership in combating corruption, especially
through promoting transparency, accountability and the rule of law. For decades, Anna
Hazare has led successful movements across India to enhance government
transparency and investigate and prosecute official corruption. TIME Magazine named
the 2011 movement he started one of the Top News Stories of 2011.
An Indian-origin scientist, who proved how cutting emissions of "black carbon" or soot
can significantly lessen the impact of climate change, has been selected for the United
Nations top environmental award. A statement issued by the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) on 17th September, said Veerabhadran Ramanathan
of Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California is to receive the 2013 " Champions
of the Earth award", the UNs highest environmental award. In 1997, he had co-led an
international research team that first discovered the climate impact in Asia of
widespread air pollution, known as the atmospheric brown cloud (ABC).The prize is
awarded annually to leaders from government, civil society and the private sector,
whose actions have had a significant and positive impact on the environment. A major
UNEP study in 2011 of which Ramanathan acted as vice-chairman, presented 16
actions to cut black carbon and methane emissions, which, if implemented, would save
close to 2.5 million lives a year through reduced respiratory illnesses, avoid crop losses
amounting to 32 million tones annually, and deliver near-term climate protection of
about 0.5 degree C by 2050.Ramanathans studies on the climate warming effects of
non-CO2 pollutants dates back to 1975, when he discovered the super greenhouse
effect of a class of halocarbons known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).Translating his
research into action, he had started "Project Surya" in India to phase out inefficient
cooking stoves.
Bollywood actor John Abraham on 17th September, conferred the Pride of the Nation
award for his attempt to raise the sensitive issue of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhis
assassination through his role as a RAW agent in "Madras Cafe". Constituted by Anti
Terrorist Front, the award was presented to Abraham by its chairman M. S. Bitta in New
Delhi. The film "Madras Cafe" is set in the late 80s and early 1990s, during the time of
Sri Lankan civil war and the assassination of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Bitta
said there was a need to initiate an "unbiased enquiry to expose the conspiracy" which
resulted in the death of Rajiv Gandhi.
Pakistani schoolgirl and education rights campaigner Malala Yousafzai and American
singer, human rights and social justice activist Harry Belafonte were on 17th
September, named as joint recipients of Amnesty Internationals Ambassador of
Conscience Award for 2013. The Ambassador of Conscience Award is the human rights
groups highest honour, recognizing individuals who have promoted and enhanced the
cause of human rights through their life and by example. The award will be presented at
a ceremony on 19th September, at the Mansion House in Dublin, Ireland, according to a
press statement issued by Amnesty International. Our two new Ambassadors of
Conscience are different from each other in many ways, but they share a dedication to
the fight for human rights everywhere and for all, said Salil Shetty, secretary general of
Amnesty International.
National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) was awarded Indira Gandhi Official
Language Award for propagation of Rajbhasha (Official Language) in the company by
the Union Government of India on Hindi Divas on 14th September. On 14 September
Hindi was adopted as an official language of the country. To promote the official
Language in the country, the Government of India introduced Indira Gandhi Official
Language Award from 1986-82.This award grants to the various
Ministries/Departments, Banks and Financial Institutions, Public Sector Undertakings
and employees.
Actor Aamir Khan has been selected for a US award for his television show Satyamev
Jayate along with eminent American director Kathryn Bigelow and the International
Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC). They will be honored at the inaugural awards
dinner by the America Abroad Media (AAM) in Washington DC on October 28. Their
work exemplifies the power of media to inform, educate and empower citizens about the
critical social and public policy issues of our time, America Abroad Media said in a
statement on 20th September.
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teen shot by the Taliban for championing girls
education, and US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden have been nominated for the
European Parliaments prestigious Sakharov human rights prize. Malala, who has
become emblematic of the fight against the most radical forms of Islamism, is backed by
the three main political groups in parliament, making her a favorite for the award.
Snowden, the US contractor who revealed widespread spying by the United States on
friends and foes alike and who has sought asylum in Russia, has been nominated by
the Greens and a far left group. A statement on 17th September, also named the
Standing Man group, activists behind the Taksim Square protests in Istanbul in June
which upset the accepted view that Turkey was on the smooth path to lasting political
stability. The other nominees are jailed Ethiopian journalist Reeyot Alemu and Eskinder
Nega, Belarus political prisoners Ales Belyatsky, Eduard Lobau and Mykola Statkevich,
and jailed former Russian oligarch and Putin foe Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Also nominated
is the CNN Freedom Project, a global media campaign to raise awareness on human
trafficking. The winner of the prize will be announced in October. Last years award went
to detained Iranians, lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and film maker Jafar Panahi, to honour
those standing up for a better Iran.Past winners of the 50,000 euro ($65,000) prize
include South African anti apartheid hero Nelson Mandela and former UN secretary
general Kofi Annan
President Pranab Mukherjee conferred National Communal Harmony Awards to Shri
Khamliana, Shri Md. Abdul Bari and The Foundation for Amity and National Solidarity in
New Delhi on 20th September. Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari and Prime
Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh were also present on the occasion. Shri Khamliana, a
resident of Aizawl, is the Founder President of the Mizoram Youth Club which was
established in 1990 and has nine branches all over the State. The Youth Club is a
reputed and renowned organization in the State and has done exemplary work in
diverse fields including extending support for rehabilitation of drug addicts, victims of
AIDs and other similarly affected people. Shri Khamliana has conducted AIDS
awareness and anti-drugs campaigns all over Mizoram. Shri Md. Abdul Bari, from
Bhadrak, Odisha is the President of the Bhadrak Muslim Jamat.
He is a known social activist who has been working towards maintaining communal
harmony in the area. No major communal incident has taken place in Bhadrak district
since 1993. Shri Bari has selflessly helped the police and local administration to
maintain peace, unity and harmony in the district. He has received commendation and
recognition from the Government as well as social organizations for his noble and
selfless work. The personal example set by Shri Abdul Bari and his meritorious and
creditable services to the society have inspired the present generation to promote an
atmosphere of peace and harmony amongst the different religious communities residing
in the district. The Foundation for Amity & National Solidarity (FANS) is a non-political,
non-partisan, social organization based in Delhi which works to spread and promote
amity and communal harmony in the country. Established in 1984, the Foundation in its
28 years of service to the nation has organized more than 400 events comprising of
Seminars, Workshops, Inter-religious meets, Symposia, Declamation Contests, Youth
Camps, Sadbhavana Sabhas and Peace Marches all over the country. The Foundation
has successfully conducted four Regional Children camps and 14 All India Inter
University National Integration Youth Camps in different parts of the country.
An Indian freedom fighter was posthumously conferred a Lifetime Achievement Award
at UKs House of Commons on 12 September, for his contribution during Indias
independence movement and its journey afterwards. Britains minister for business
engagement with India Gregory Barker and Virendra Sharma, chair of the Indo-British
all party parliamentary Group jointly presented the award to late Jawaharlal Dardas
son, Vijay Jawaharlal Darda, MP and chairman and editor-in-chief of Lokmat, the most
widely circulated Marathi language newspaper.
President of India Pranab Mukherjee on 6 September, conferred Tagore Award for
Cultural Harmony, 2013 on Maestro Zubin Mehta in New Delhi. The award carries an
amount of One Crore Rupees (Rs. 1 Crore), a citation in a scroll, a plaque as well as an
exquisite traditional handicraft/handloom item. The annual award was instituted by the
Govt. of India during the commemoration of 150th Birth Anniversary of Gurudev
Rabindranath Tagore. The award is open to all persons regardless of nationality, race,
language, caste, creed or sex. The first Tagore Award was conferred on Pt. Ravi
Shankar, the Indian Sitar Maestro in 2012. A High-level Jury under the Chairmanship of
Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh and comprising the Chief Justice of India, Justice
Altamas Kabir, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Smt. Sushma Swaraj and Shri
Gopalkrishna Gandhi after detailed discussions on 4th July, 2013, unanimously decided
to select Shri Zubin Mehta to be the second recipient of the Tagore Award, 2013 in
recognition of his outstanding contribution to cultural harmony.
Haraprasad Das was conferred the Moortidevi Award for 2012 for Vamsha, a poetic
recreation of the Mahabharata in contemporary idiom, which has been hailed as a post-
modern masterpiece. as, who has eleven works of poetry, four of prose, three
translations and one piece of fiction to his credit, was given the award on 3 September,
at Shastri Bhavan by the Moortidevi Award Selection Board, chaired by oil minister
Veerappa Moily.
Indian American Kavita Shukla in the first week of September 2013 won INDEX design
award for her innovative design, FreshPaper. It helps keep food fresh for a longer
period. The award carries 500000 Euro award. It recognizes the best of innovations
addressing problems facing the world. The Award is given biennially in Copenhagen,
Denmark. Kavita Shukla was among the five winners in categories such as Home,
Body, Work, Play and Community. Kavitas design won in the Home category. It
succeeded the jury with its simplicity and cost-effectiveness. FreshPaper is simple, low-
tech and hyper affordable, with the potential to scale into new markets. The FreshPaper
is compostable and infused only with organic spices.