Indian Government and Politics

The First time ever in Haryana, a scheme called Sakhi, was inaugurated to help the
women, who are suffering from sexual, mental and emotional harassments(Including eveteasing, domestic violence and rape).

The Ministry of Urban Development has come out with a Smart National Common
Mobility Card (NCMC) model to enable seamless travel by different metros and other
transport systems across the country besides retail shopping and purchases. Minister of
Urban Development M.Venkaiah Naidu has approved the EMV Open Loop Card with
stored value in this regard.

The Manipur Legislative Assembly unanimously passed the Protection of Manipur People
Bill, 2015. The House also unanimously passed two amendment bills, namely the
Manipur Shops and Establishments (Second Amendment) Bill, 2015and the Manipur
Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2015. All three bills were
passed by voice vote.

Law Commission of India recommended that the death penalty be abolished for all crimes
other than terrorism-related offences and waging war against the country after 53 years
which favored retention of the death penalty in statute books.

Maharashtra government gave permission to amend (alter) the Maharashtra Prevention of

Dangerous Activities (MPDA) Act

India is set to host the World Hindi Conference after a gap of 32 years which will focus for
the first time on promoting the language as a means to employment.

The Myawaddy- Thinggan Nyenaung-Kawkareik section (25.6 km long) of the Asian

Highway No.1, which links India to Thailand via Myanmar, has become operational. Now,
the travel time between Thinggan Nyenaung and Kawkareik will be reduced from 3 hours to
45 minutes.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)has reduced the permitted
level of trans-fat content in edible fats and oils from 10 to 5 per cent across the country.
The new standards will come into force by August 2016.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the
proposal of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, to reimburse
Rs.113.40 crore of losses on pulses imported between 2006 to 2011period by four

government agencies apart from losses incurred in the sale of pulses up to six months
after closure of the scheme.

A conference of SAARC countries to chalk out and undertake joint efforts on various issues
related to disaster mapping and mitigation in the member nations is being held in Delhi,
with the National Disaster Management Authority and National Disaster Response Force
also participating.

Railway launches 3 IT initiatives developed by Centre For Railway Information Systems

(CRIS)

On the eve of Teachers day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released two commemorative
coins of Rs 125 and Rs 10 in the memory of former President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.

Greenpeace India, a non-profit NGOs FCRA(Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) license

and Its plea to release 25% of unutilised amount from its detained bank accounts, is get
canceled by the Ministry of Home affairs(MHA).

Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed the Andhra Pradesh Special Courts Bill, that
seeks to expeditiously conduct trial in cases of ill-gotten wealth. It aims to recover illgotten wealth from individuals involved in corruption or financial frauds and ensure
speedy trials.

The Union Government on 5 September 2015 announced One Rank One Pension (OROP)
scheme for ex-servicemen. The scheme was pending for nearly four decades. This was
announced by the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. Benefit of OROP will be given with
effect from 1 July 2014

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi reached Bodh Gaya with tight security to
participate in the concluding ceremony of the 3-day International Buddhist Conclave
concluding ceremony.

PM Modi is the third prime minister to visit Bodh Gaya, after Jawaharlal Nehru and Atal
Bihari Vajpayee. He visited the Bodh Gaya on Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna.

Indian Navy has sent its guided missile frigate INS Trikand to take part in Exercise KONKAN
2015.

In a fitting tribute to former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam, the Odisha government on
Friday announced to rename the Wheeler Island as Abdul Kalam Island.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the extension of the Delhi Metro connecting
Badarpur line which will connect the satellite city of Faridabad to the national capital.

The 14-kmlong extension will have nine stations from Sarai to Escorts Mujesar in
Faridabad, an industrial hub in Haryana.

Slamming the gender discrimination practice which cant be allowed to block the progress
of women, the Delhi High Court in a historic judgment allowed women to get permanent
commission in Indian Navy.

Indian Railways to tie-up with ISRO for enhanced safety

In an attempt to put an end to nepotism in the police recruitments, the Haryana Legislative
Assembly passed Haryana Police (Amendment) Bill, 2015 abolishing the Police
Recruitment Board in the state.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley launched the e-version of
the 100 volumes of the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (CWMG) in New Delhi.

More than one crore users of BSNL will be able to surf internet with the minimum
speed of 2 Mbps against the speed of 512 Kbps without any additional cost.

India gave the first tranche of $500,000 for distressed Syrians who are also displaced from
their homes in their war torn country.

Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh announced 33% reservation to women in all
para-military forces. Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will also recruit
women under 33% reservations.

The Andhra Pradesh State Cabinet approved the launch of AP State Enterprise
Architecture (APSEA), e-Pragati, a comprehensive architecture to leverage the latest
advances in e-governance tools which will bring all the government services under one
roof.

Ministry of Home Affairs have asked Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion
(DIPP) not to allow bulk import of Ammonium Nitrate (AN) in loose form on the
ground that it poses threat to national security as the chemical is an extremely dangerous
explosive substance.

The Union Cabinet approved a proposal to increase dearness allowance by 6%, for
central government employees and pensioners.

Japan has agreed tomodernize railway stations across India while participating in the
countrys 140 billion USD investment plan in the Railways over the next five years.

International News and Global Awards

Mount McKinley, the 20,237-foot mountain and the tallest in North America which was
named after 25th U.S. president, William McKinley, Obama administration renames Mount
McKinley to Denali.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)and the US Agency for
International Development (USAID)have launched a new joint project named SERVIR
Mekong to strengthen regional environmental monitoring in five countries of Southeast
Asia namely Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Russian spacecraft Soyuz, carrying three astronauts- a Russian, Dane and Kazakh
blasted off From the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, becoming the 500th manned
launch in space travel history.

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has approved the draft 2030 Sustainable
Development Agenda. It has now been sent to all the states for adoption.

Russia rejects Frances proposal to limit the use of veto in the UNSC

India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) formally agreed to enhance their cooperation in
all areas of bilateral relations and to increase their trade by 60 per cent over the next five
years. Both the countries have agreed to enhance cooperation in different areas including
trade, commerce, energy, defense, space, investments, security and combating Crime.

Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan and AR Rahman join global campaign on UN goals

G20 and OECD announced new Corporate Governance Principles to listed

companies(Companies whose shares are traded on an official stock exchange) and
regulators in all member countries including India.

Rajavarothiam Sampanthan becomes first Tamil politician to be chosen as the Sri Lankan
leader of opposition in 32 years

Bala Tripura Sundari Devi Temple renovated under India-Nepal Economic programme
inaugurated

Chinese and Pakistani forces on Sunday launched a joint air drill, named Shaheen (Eagle)4. It is fourth edition of air exercise between the air forces of both countries which was
launched as part of a series of military exchange programmes between two countries.

Japan reopens radiation-hit town Naraha after four years

Seven Indians feature in Forbes Asias ninth Heroes of Philanthropy list, highlighting
most noteworthy contributions to philanthropy from 13 nations throughout the Asia Pacific.

The United States and South Korea conduct Joint anti biochemical exercises

India Expo exhibition began in Sri Lanka aimed at exploring and expanding their base in
the country.

Egypts Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab and his cabinet resigned amid corruption probe.

Constituent Assembly of Nepal has rejected the proposal to declare Nepal as a Hindu State.

Coast of Chile hit by 8.3 Magnitude of earthquake. At least Eleven people have been killed
and 1 million evacuated from their homes after a 8.3 magnitude earthquake the
strongest earthquake of this year in the World.

India and the US have created a joint challenge coin to symbolise their unique partnership
in creating a next-generation aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy.

India wins UNESCO Award for conserving Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple in Kerala

Obama to present the National Humanities Medal to Jhumpa Lahiri

Haryana wins the Skoch Order-of-Merit National Award for e-governance and IT initiatives

The prestigious Seacology Prize to be awarded to seaweed collector M Lakshmi

Fifteen-year-old prodigy K Vilasini is a holder of five world records, including the highest IQ
and IELTS (International English Language Testing System).

On the occasion of International Literacy Day, President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee
presented the Saakshar Bharat Awards 2015 in a celebration organized by Union
Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD).

The Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS), London has conferred G Satheesh Reddy,
Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister and eminent Missile Scientist of DRDO with
the Societys 2015 Silver Medal for work contributing to major advances or contributions in
aerospace.(RAeS Headquarter London)

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been recognised with United
Nations Champions of the Earth award in recognition of her countrys initiatives
to address climate change.

Banking & Finance

RBI proposes formula to calculate Base Rate. With an attempt to bring about uniformity
among banks for calculation of the base rate and for effective transmission of policy rates to
the customers, RBI proposed a new formula for calculating the Bank Rate.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will shortly put into circulation Rs 5 coins to
commemorate golden jubilee of Indo-Pak War 1965. The coins will be legal tender as
provided in The Coinage Act 2011 and existing coins in this denomination will also
continue to be legal tender.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) received USD 1.1 billion from the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI), under thecurrency swap agreement between the two reserve banks. The
signing of the special currency swap agreement for USD 1.1 billion by the CBSL with the RBI
took place earlier on 17 July 2015.

In its recent annual report, RBI had proposed that the non-competitive bidding option for
retailers should now be opened for t-bills too.

Capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has directed
banks and depositories to defreeze the bank and securities accounts of Gemini
Communications after it recovered pending dues of over Rs 11 lakh.

In a fresh setback to the beleaguered Sahara India Pariwar,the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
has cancelled the license of its holding company Sahara India Financial Corporation
Limited (SIFCL).

Oldest exchange in Asia Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has the highest number of listed
companies in the world by World Federation of Exchanges (WEF) report. It was
established in 1855

Paytm to launch Indias first payments bank by the end of this fiscal year. Paytm is the
one among the 11 applicants who got the approval from RBI to establish payment banks
recently.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) granted in principle approval to 10 companies to set up

small finance banks to provide access to financial services in rural and semi-urban areas.

Bank of Baroda won the first prize under the Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar Scheme of GOI.

Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) gets RBI nod for using Rs 2,500 crore
reserve as provision against bad loans.

The SEBI has slapped its highest ever fine of 7,269 crore, on PACL and its directors.

In order to facilitate e-commerce, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) started allowing banks to
enter into pacts with Online Payment Gateway Service Providers (OPGSPs) for import
purpose.

Sports

The Sports Ministry decided to recognize Yoga as a sports discipline and place it in the
Priority category.

India beat SL 2-1, their first test-series win on the Lankan soil in 22 years. The last series
win in the island nation was in 1993.

Cheteshwar Pujara has been placed as 20 th in the batsman list, entering the top- twenty
of ICC Test rankings. He scored his seventh century in Colombo with an unbeaten 145.
Pujara is the second batsman, with Virat Kohli (at 11), to feature in the top-20. But with
Kohli dropping one position from number 10, there are no Indian batsmen in the top 10
currently.

The Commonwealth Games Federation general assembly in New Zealand selected the South
African city of Durban, South Africa as the host for the 2022 multi-sports event.

India gains a place to 155th in FIFA rankings

Marvan Atapattu resigned as Head Coach of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) team, Jerome Jayaratna
is the interim national coach

Apurvi Chandela(age 22),Indian shooter secured the silver medal in womens 10 meters
air rifle event at ISSF (International Shooting Sport Federation) World Cup final.

Gagan Narang, An Indian shooter and Olympic medalist has rediscovered his old form by
achieving the No.1 spot in Mens 50m Rifle prone shooting category in Asia with 971
points.

Snehal Mane, the 16-year old Maharashtra tennis player won her 2nd ITF(International
Tennis Federation) girls single title in Mauritius on 5th September by winning the
Mauritius Open ITF junior championships.

Australian all-rounder Shane Watson has announced his retirement from International
Test cricket. Watson sustained a series-ending calf injury in Saturdays 64-run win in the
2nd ODI over England at Lords.

Lewis Hamilton wins 2015 Italian Grand Prix of Formula One

Indian weightlifter Deepak Lather won a gold medal in fifth Commonwealth Youth Games
(CYG) held in Apia, Samoa.

India wins 4 medals in Asian Amateur Boxing Championship 2015

The Usain Bolt of the tortoise Bertie has raced into the Guinness Book of Records as the
fastest ever. Bertie was 10 years old, covered 18ft (5.48m) in 19.59 seconds smashing the
previous best of 43.7 seconds, which stood since 1977.

World no 2 tennis player Roger Federer joins UAE Royals in the second season of the
IPTL(International Premier Tennis League) which is scheduled to be held from Dec 2 to
Dec 20.

Business and Economy

Ratan Tata invests in Food Tech Startup Holachef . Holachef is a food tech startup which was
launched in 2014 by Saurabh Saxena and Anil Gelra for retail customers in Mumbai and now
has a customer base in Mumbai and Pune.

E-commerce major Snapdeal will invest USD 100 million (about Rs 665 crore) in Shopo
as it looks to build up the recently launched venture into a one million seller strong
platform.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence Ltd (RDL) has signed an MoU with Abu Dhabi Ship
Building to set up a strategic partnership for construction of naval ships, including frigates
and destroyers to address the demands of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), over the next 10
years.

Doha Bank has tied up with Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group to generate business
opportunities in the Gulf Cooperation Council nations and India.

16.9 billion USD Mahindra group has finally made its debut into the e-commerce space
with the launch of M2ALL.com, an e-marketplace for Mahindra products and services.

Lycos and Apollo International Ltd have signed an agreement to launch a joint venture (JV)
that will provide B2B e-commerce marketplace for industrial goods and luxury brands.

Telecom operator, Uninor renamed as Telenor, the name of its parent company and
expands call drop refund plan. Telenor will provide compensation for call drops to all calls
local, STD and ISD made from its network.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence Ltd has signed a pact with UAEs Emirates Defence
Industries Company (EDIC) to work together in the defense sector in maintenance, repair
and overhaul category.

Acquisitions & Mergers

Snapdeal acquires Silicon Valley tech-startup Reduce Data

JSW Energy to buy Jaypee Groups Bina thermal power plant

Dr Reddys Laboratories signed pact with US Firm PanTheryx

Online auto classified portal Car Dekho set to acquire Zigwheels, an auto portal owned by
Times Internet.

JK group to acquire Haridwar unit of Kesoram Industries

Indias Practo buys Insta Health for $12mn

Sun Pharma to acquire Insite Vision

Suvidhaa Infoserve buys AasaanPays MPoS

Hero Cycles buys Firefox Bikes

he Blackstone Group acquires Serco Group plc

ABCL acquires Chlor-Alkali Division of Jayshree Chemicals

Azur Global acquires Chennai-based Sybrant Technologies

Healthcare Company Practo acquires Qikwell

FB launches Signal, a news gathering tool

Microsoft launches Office 2016 with Collaborative software

Books and Authors

Hungry Bengal: War, Famine, Riots and the End of Empire authored by Janam Mukherjee

Book titled Building a just world: Essays in Honour of Muchkund Dubey released

Vice President Releases the Book Feminist and Orientalist Perspectives A Study of Lady
Mary Montagus Turkish Embassy Letters

Kalburgi Murder : Kannada writer to return Pampa award

To the Brink and Back: Indias 1991 Story: Jairam Ramesh

Vice President Released 5 Volume Set Of Books Khirman Compiled By Famous lyricist
Javed Akhtar

Salman Rushdies Two Years Eight Months and Twenty Eight released

The Duels of the Himalayan Eagle authored by Air Marshal Bharat Kumar released

Appointments

Husain Bazmi to become the global CTO of ABB in 2016

Vinod Dasari appointed as President of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM)

Saina signed as Brand Ambassador of Edelweiss Group

Smita Purushottam appointed as the new Indian Ambassador to Holy See

Ashok Kumar was today appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Minister of State for
Prime Ministers Office Jitendra Singh.

Ramesh Chand appointed as new member of NITI Aayog

Brij Raj sharma appointed as chief secretary of jammu and Kashmir

Manjula becomes the first woman chief of Defence Research and Development Organisation
(DRDO).

Rakesh Sharma takes over as Canara Bank MD and CEO

Kumkum Dhar appointed as VC of Bhatkhande Music Institute

FC Goa to appoint Sukhvinder Singh as CEO

P.V. Chandran new President of Indian Newspaper Society

Rahul Chhabra, next Ambassador of lndia to the Bosnia and Herzegovina

S.N Subrahmanyan promoted as deputy MD and President of L&T

Yudhvir Singh Malik appointed as Additional Secretary, NITI Aayog

Rajat Sharma has been reappointed as the President of News Broadcasters Association
(NBA).

Syed Akbaruddin made Indias permanent representative at the UN

Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn resigns

Oxigen appoints Sachin as brand ambassador

Science & Technology

Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) successfully test-fired an indigenously developed

anti-tank guided missile called Amogha-1(2nd generation) at Babina Army Range in
MP.

HIV prevention drug PrEP(Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) showed positive results

GOI launching its own OS BOSS(Bharat Operating System Solutions) to replace

Microsoft Window developed by C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced
Computing).

Facebook unveiled a news gathering tool- Signal for journalists.

China successfully placed 20 micro satellites into space using its latest carrier rocket from
Long March - 6 in the northern province of Shanxi.

Microsoft launches Office 2016 with Collaborative, new office software provides real-time
collaboration on documents - available in 40 languages

India signed an agreement to launch 23 foreign satellites as per Antrix Cooperation

and to launch 6 Singapore satellites , Antrix Corporation signed pact with US to
launch 9 small satellites.

ISRO launched Indias 1st dedicated multi wavelength space observatory satellite
ASTROSAT for astronomical research from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre,
Sriharikota along with six foreign satellites (Indonesia, Canada and USA) - Vehicle
PSLV 30.

Evidence of flowing water on MARS - hydrated salt crystals containing molecules of

water - Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM).