September Eng Booster

RBI/ BANKING/BUSINESS NEWS THIS MONTH
30 September: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lowered the repo rate by 50 basis points
from 7.25 per cent to 6.75 per cent, while keeping CRR and SLR unchanged at 4 percent
and 21.5 percent, respectively in its Fourth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement,
2015. The reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 5.75 per cent, and the
Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 7.75 per cent. However, it
has lowered its FY 2015-16 GDP growth target to 7.4 percent from 7.6 percent.
30 September: The Government of India signed a loan agreement with Asian
Development Bank (ADB) for US $123.51 million for tranche 3 of the Infrastructure
Development Investment Program for Tourism to continue upgrading tourism
infrastructure and services in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. The loan will
be used for development and conservation of places of tourist attractions. The third
tranche loan is part of the $250 million multi-tranche financing facility that ADB
approved in 2010.
30 September: Silicon Valley based chip-maker Qualcomm announced that it will invest
150 million US dollars for Indian start-ups. The investment will come through a venture
fund. The announcement was made after the companys executive chairman Paul E.
Jacobs met the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Digital Economy event in
San Jose.
29 September: The commodities regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) formally
merged with the securities market regulator SEBI in Mumbai. According to Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley, the ultimate objective of merging Forward Markets Commission (FMC) with SEBI is to
face the challenges posed by borderless market. Forward Markets Commission (FMC) was
established in 1953. The announcement for the merger was made by the Finance Minister in his
Budget speech earlier this year.
28 September: The Finance Ministry announced Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) exemption to
foreign companies with no permanent establishment (PE) in India with effect from assessment
year 2001-02. This means companies not having a permanent establishment or place of business
in India would not come under MAT with effect from April 2001. Apart from this, the MAT will also
not apply on a foreign company belonging to a country having a Double Tax Avoidance
Agreement (DTAA).
VISIT- WWW.BANKERSGURU.ORG
28 September: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that government has set
disbursement target for micro and marginal businesses under MUDRA scheme during the current
fiscal at Rs. 1.22 lakh crore. MUDRA has been established as a subsidiary of SIDBI with an initial
corpus of Rs. 5,000 crore to provide capital to all banks seeking refinancing of small business
loans under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY). PMMY loans fall into three categories
Shishu (up to Rs. 50,000), Kishore (Rs. 50,000-Rs. 5 lakh) and Tarun (Rs. 5-10 lakh).
26 September: Snapdeal, India's largest online marketplace in partnership with educational
loans specialists Credila - an HDFC group Company, has launched the country's first customized
education loans offering on an e-commerce platform. The partnership will usher faster loan
process. Customers will have the opportunity to avail exciting benefits, like up to 100% finance of
their education with no upper cap on loan and easy EMI repayments at attractive rates of interest.
24 September: In its biggest ever fine, Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) imposed a
penalty of 7,269 crore rupees on PACL Ltd. and its four directors for illegal and fraudulent
mobilisation of funds from the public. The penalty follows another order by Sebi last year wherein
the company was asked to refund 49,100 crore rupees it had collected through illicit schemes
over a period of 15-years.
24 September: The Trust Fund for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, under the
Department of Empowerment of People with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the The New India
Assurance Company Limited on providing a comprehensive and affordable Health Insurance
Scheme - Swavlamban Health Insurance Scheme - for the Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).
The scheme has been designed to deliver comprehensive cover to the beneficiary as well as his
family (PwD, Spouse & up to two children), has a single premium across age band and can be
availed by PwDs aged between 18 years and 65 years with family annual income of less than Rs.
3,00,000 per annum. The scheme also ensures coverage of any pre-existing condition and a
health Insurance cover up to Rs. 2, 00,000 per annum as family floater.
23 September: Banks having a capital adequacy ratio of at least 10 per cent, besides being
profitable in the last fiscal, do not require prior approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for
equity investments in financial institutions, stock exchanges, depositories and the like in case the
investment is less than 10 per cent of the investee companys equity. Additionally, the RBI said,
the banks stake in the investee, along with those of its subsidiaries or joint ventures, should not
exceed 20 per cent.
23 September: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has lowered growth projections for India
for the current fiscal to 7.4 per cent, from the 7.8 per cent earlier due to weak monsoon, poor
external demand and inability of the government to push economic reforms in Parliament. It has
retained the consumer inflation forecast for India at 4 per cent (+/- 0.2 per cent).
22 September: Lower commodity prices are unlikely to narrow India's current account deficit,
Standard Chartered has said, while revising its Current Account Deficit (CAD) forecast for the
fiscal to 1.5% from 1.1% of GDP earlier. It has also revised down its fiscal year 2015-2016
balance-of-payments (BoP) surplus forecast to $31.7 billion from $48.5 billion. Standard
Chartered expects capital inflows of $64 billion in this financial year, down from its previous
estimate of $75 billion.
19 September: As many as 15 MoUs with investment potential of USD 590 million have been
signed between Chinese Province Gunagdong and its sister state Gujarat across various sectors
for mutual cooperation in the China-India Economic and Trade Cooperation Conference 2015
held in Ahmedabad. These agreements signed for mutual cooperation and business, can be
classified under three main areas including manufacturing and information technology. Some key
agreements signed between business leaders include a MoU to develop the Ahmedabad
Industrial Park and an agreement to promote eCommerce in both the contries.
18 September: 10 entities, including Ujjivan Financial Services and Equitas Holdings, got RBI's
approval to set up Small Finance Banks to provide basic banking services to small farmers and
micro industries. Other entities to get the Reserve Bank's nod are Au Financiers (Jaipur), Capital
Local Area Bank (Jalandhar), Disha Microfin (Ahmedabad), ESAF Microfinance (Chennai),
Janalakshmi Financial (Bengaluru), RGVN (North East) Microfinance (Guwahati), Suryoday Micro
Finance (Mumbai) and Utkarsh Micro Finance (Varanasi). The Small Finance Banks can provide
basic banking services like accepting limited deposits and small lending to the unbanked sections
such as small farmers, micro business enterprises, micro and small industries and unorganised
sector entities.
18 September: Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley launched an innovative HITS
digital broadcasting platform that will provide over 500 TV channels to cable operators, with the
promoter Hinduja group pegging the total project outlay at more than Rs. 5,000 crore. The Hinduja-
HITS (Headend-in-the-Sky) Network, under the brand name NXT Digital, will serve Multi System
Operators (MSOs) as well as Local Cable Operators (LCOs) and aims to tap the transition from
analog to digital mode of cable TV services under the government's digitisation drive.
18 September: The Central Board of Trustees of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has
decided to enhance the deposit linked Insurance benefit to 6 lakh rupees from the present 3 lakh
60 thousand. According to Union Labour and Employment Minister Bandaru Dattatreya it will
benefit four lakh employees across the country.
16 September: Indian Bankers Chanda Kochhar and Arundhati Bhattacharya have been ranked
as top two in a list of most powerful women in Asia Pacific prepared by the global magazine
Fortune. Kochhar, 53, who heads the country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank has been
ranked at the top, up from the second position last year. She is followed by Arundhati
Bhattacharya, the chairman of the country's largest lender State Bank of India, whose ranking
has also moved up from the fourth spot she was at last year.
16 September: Reserve Bank of India inked an agreement with Nepal Rastra Bank on
exchange of supervisory information. The Reserve Bank of India signed the Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) on 'Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information'
with the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). RBI has entered into Memorandam of Understanding, Letter
for Supervisory Co-operation and Statement of Co-operation with supervisors of a few countries
to promote greater co-operation and share supervisory information.
16 September: India is likely to become the fastest-growing emerging market this year and its
potential growth could rise to 8 per cent over the next five years driven by Technology, gains in
Education and Ease of doing business due to less red tape, according to Goldman Sachs, a global
brokerage firm. Terming these three factors as TEE's, it said that these could be the key drivers of
growth and can contribute 3.6 percentage point to GDP growth annually. It forecasted that India's
potential growth could rise to 8 per cent over the period 2016-2020 from 7 per cent in 2012-2015,
under the new GDP series.
15 September: With a Rs. 1, 60,950 crore ($24 billion) fortune, Reliance Industries Ltd chairman
Mukesh Ambani continues to be the richest Indian for the fourth consecutive year, according to
the Hurun report. For the first time, Wipro czar Azim Premji slips out of top five billionaires' spot
owing to his philanthropic donations, while Bengaluru-based biotech leader Kiran Mazumdar-
Shaw is the only self-made woman in the top rich list, though her net worth declined six percent to
Rs.6,143 crore.
15 September: Axis Bank launched LIME service. It is country's first mobile phone application
which is offering wallet, shopping, and payments and banking facilities. According to Axis Bank
CMD Shikha Sharma Lime has a mobile wallet in which amount can be transferred using debit or
credit card along with net banking. It has facility of shared wallets also. The software application
also enables the users to compare and buy products and services. LIME will enable individuals to
open a full-fledged savings account digitally, by completing the know your customer (KYC)
process, using their mobile.
12 September: The Union Cabinet allowed 100% FDI under the automatic route for white label
ATM operation. White labeled ATMs are set up by private non-bank companies that own and
operate their own brand of ATMs. Till date, foreign investment in White Label ATM Operations
(WLAO), was allowed through the government approval route. This required some processing
time and projects were delayed. The move to allow 100% FDI under the automatic route for white
label ATM operations is expected to promote financial inclusion in the country.
11 September: Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) and the New Development Bank (NDB)
signed a memorandum to strengthen cooperation. The document was signed by BNDES
President Luciano Coutinho and one of the vice presidents of the NDB, Paulo Nogueira Batista,
at the Brazilian bank's headquarters in Rio de Janeiro.The main aim of the memorandum is the
exchange of information and sharing of experiences related to supporting infrastructure projects
and initiatives aimed at promoting sustainable development
10 September: The seventh session of India-Belarus Intergovernmental Commission on Trade,
Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation was held in the Belarus capital
Minsk. It was co-chaired by Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce and Industry
Nirmala Sitharaman and her counterpart Vitali Mikhailovich Vovk. In the session bilateral trade
target was set as 1 billion US dollars to be achieved by 2018 from the present level of 400 million
US dollars.
10 September: Union Cabinet approved a new Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme and also a Gold
Monetisation Scheme to incentivise people to park their gold assets in a paper format and earn
interest, while seeking to productively use vast amounts of this idle metal in the economy. Under
the gold bond scheme up to 500 grams worth of bonds per annum can be bought by an individual
with lock-in of five-seven years and appropriate interest so that they are protected from volatility.
The Gold Monetisation Scheme, also approved, calls for people to deposit their gold with
authorised agencies for a short-, medium- or long-term periods, for which they will be given
certificates of holding. This will also bear interest. This has been done to replenish the Reserve
Bank's gold reserves.
10 September: According to Moody's Investors Service India's current account deficit is likely to
remain low supported by declining oil prices but a slow recovery in industrial output and investment
would drag economic growth to 7 per cent in the current fiscal. Moody's also lowered growth
forecasts for many Asia Pacific (APAC) sovereigns. It has reduced its projections for India to 7 per
cent in 2015 and 7.5 per cent in 2016, from 7.5 per cent and 7.6 per cent based on high frequency
indicators suggesting that the recovery in industrial output and investment is slow, and bank credit
growth still subdued.
9 September: ICICI Lombard GIC announced the appointment of Sanjeev Mantri as executive
director for its retail business division. Mantri has more than 20 years of experience in the
banking, finance services and insurance sector and has held key leadership positions in his
earlier assignments with BNP Paribas and ICICI Bank.
9 September: Doha Bank has tied up with the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group to generate
business opportunities in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations and India. Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman are part of the Gulf Cooperation
Council. Doha Bank and Reliance ADA Group have entered into an alliance to create new
opportunities for cooperation and innovation in terms of business development across the GCC
and India.
8 September: British financial services major Barclays has maintained its India growth forecast
of 7.8 percent for 2015-16. According to Barclays the strong rise in central government spending
should help GDP growth to accelerate in second quarter of fiscal year 2015-16. The Indian
economy grew 7 percent in the first quarter of this fiscal and 7.5 percent expansion was seen in
the quarter before. But the growth was 6.7 percent registered in the first quarter of the last fiscal.
8 September: A committee set up by the government to rationalise distribution incentives for
financial products and curb their mis-selling, has in its report recommended flexible exits for
financial products and that profits from exit charges not accrue to product providers. Sumit Bose,
former Finance Secretary is the head of the committee. The report of the Sumit Bose Committee
has recommended that the choice of withdrawal of all financial products, except those pertaining
to pensions, should remain with the investor.
8 September: RBI released its Annual Report for 2014-15. It has revealed that the central banks
Contingency funds, used in case of unforeseen shocks, have fallen to 8.4% of total assets. Apart
from this, for the last two years, the RBI has made no transfers to its Contingency Fund or its Asset
Development Fund. While the total in these contingency funds of the RBI stood at Rs. 2,424 billion
in 2012-13, it was Rs. 2,434 billion in 2014-15. This meant that balance in these funds has barely
changed since 2013. The stipulated target for funding of RBIs contingency funds is 12% of assets.
7 September: Sri Lanka Central Bank has received 1.1 billion dollars from the Reserve Bank of
India under the currency swap agreement between the two reserve banks. Consequent to the
signing of a special currency swap agreement for USD 1.1 billion by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka
(CBSL) with the Reserve Bank of India on 17 July 2015, the CBSL has received USD 1.1 billion.
This is in addition to the USD 400 million received in April 2015.
4 September: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group announced
that their 2018 Annual Meetings will take place in Bali Nusa Dua, Indonesia, in October 2018,
following a vote by the Boards of Governors of the two institutions. According to Christine
Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, this will be a
great opportunity to showcase Indonesias impressive economic and social achievements, as well
as the culture, beauty, and vitality of the country.
3 September: Foreign brokerages firms have cut their Indian GDP rate forecasts by up to 0.3
percentage points. Standard Chartered has revised down Indian GDP rate forecast for the FY
2015-16 to 7.3 per cent from 7.7 per cent. It attributed the cut to weaker growth data for Q1,
external headwinds and slower agriculture growth. Its Japanese peer Nomura has also cut its
forecast by 0.2 percentage points to 7.8 per cent for the fiscal.
3 September: The Reserve Bank of India declared SBI and ICICI Bank as Domestic Systemically
Important Banks (D-SIBs), which literally means that these banks are so integral to the national
economy that their failure would have to be prevented at any cost. While State Bank of India (SBI)
is the largest public sector bank and the largest banking entity in the country, ICICI Bank is the
largest private sector bank in the country. SBI and ICICI have been so designated on the basis of
a systemic importance score, arrived at after an analysis of the banks size as a percentage of
annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Banks with assets that exceed 2% of GDP will be
considered to be part of this class of lenders.
3 September: RBI released the preliminary estimates, according to which, the household
financial savings in the country have successfully broken a five year trend over which the share of
financial savings was seen dipping. Financial savings stands for savings or investments done in
deposits, stocks, insurance, mutual funds, pension funds and other such instruments. Household
financial saving for 2014-15 placed at 7.5 % of Indias income as against 7.3% in 2013-14.
3 September: Global ratings agency Fitch, downgraded Punjab National Bank's Viability Rating
(VR) by one notch to bb on account of the growing risk to the banks capital position from
mounting stock of stressed assets. It has been done to reflect the growing risk to the banks
capital position from its mounting stock of stressed assets, which has risen at a faster rate than its
capital replenishment. Fitch affirmed the Long Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at BBB- for
banks including State Bank of India (SBI), PNB, Canara Bank, IDBI Bank, ICICI Bank, Bank of
Baroda and its subsidiary in New Zealand.
NATION THIS MONTH
30 September: Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu launched a Railway Portal

for dissemination of detailed information on Indian Railways. 'Indian Railway Knowledge
Portal' which is accessible at www.kportal.indianrailways.gov.in is an initiative of the
National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR) which allows the user to access most of the
available knowledge about Indian Railways at one location due to linkage of websites,
documents and much more. National Informatics Centre (NIC) has clustered all the
libraries to a single interface via e-Granthalaya.
30 September: Gujarat Tourism Policy for 2015-20 was unveiled by state tourism
Minister Saurabh Patel. In this policy, the state govt. accorded industry status to tourism
for the first time. The policy document pegs the investment potential in the tourism
sector in the state at $4 billion or around Rs. 26,000 crore by 2025.
28 September: Government has decided to appoint NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind
Panagariya as the Sherpa for G-20 talks, replacing Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. The
next G20 Leaders' Summit is scheduled on November 15-16 at Antalya in Turkey.
26 September: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani has been
named India's richest for ninth year in a row with a net worth of $18.9 billion, while
ecommerce giant Flipkart's co-founders Sachin and Binni Bansal made their debut at
86th position on the 'India top 100 rich list' released by Forbes magazine. Ambani was
followed by Sun Pharma's Dilip Shanghvi as the second richest, while Wipro's Azim
Premji retained his third place. The combined wealth of India's 100 richest persons
remained largely unchanged at $345 billion, compared with $346 billion in 2014.
26 September: Rajasthan government passed first-of-its-kind of legislative bill that
provides 14% reservation (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutes in the State and
of Appointments and Posts in Services under the State) for economically backward
classes (EBCs). According to Rajasthan Economically Backward Classes Bill 2015, criterion
for reservation in the EBC category will be purely economic and not caste-based,
enabling the poor among upper castes to be eligible for quotas in government jobs and
educational institutions.
26 September: Yudhvir Singh Malik, who presided over the ban of Nestl Indias Maggi
noodles as chief executive officer of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
(FSSAI), has been transferred to NITI Aayog as additional secretary. Malik is a Haryana
cadre IAS officer of the 1983 batch.
26 September: The Rajasthan Assembly passed the Rajasthan Special Backward Classes
Bill, 2015 that provides 5% reservation (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutes in
the State and of Appointments and Posts in Services under the State) quota for Gujjars
and some other communities under special backward classes (SBC).
24 September: India and the US have signed a significant MoU on energy security,
climate change and clean energy which reflects the commitment of the two countries to
make the Paris summit later this year a success. India's Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj
and US Secretary of State John Kerry co-chaired the first India-US Strategic and
Commercial Dialogue at Washington. In a joint declaration issued in Washington India
and the US have agreed to increase their level of cooperation to fight the menace of
terrorism.
24 September: The Ministry of Women and Child Development has signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Vedanta to develop and modernise 4000
Anganwadis in the country. Vedanta will build the next generation Anganwadi centres,
for which they will commits Rs. 400cr. These anganwadi centres will be built in the
states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh among others. These
model Anganwadis will be built in clusters of 25-30 in a particular district with
multifunctional capabilities.
23 September: The Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of Indian Sign Language
Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) as a Society under the Societies Registration Act,
1860. The ISLRTC will be under the aegis of the Department of Empowerment of Persons
with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. It shall be located initially at
the Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya Institute for the Physically Handicapped, New Delhi.
22 September: The Telangana government has decided to enhance the relief amount
being paid to families of farmers who committed suicide due to farm distress to 6 lakh
rupees from the present one lakh fifty thousand rupees.
21 September: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which issues
Aadhaar cards to Indian citizens, has been shifted to the administrative control of the
Ministry of Communication and Information Technology from Niti Aayog, keeping in
mind the government's ambitious 'Digital India' programme as the Aadhaar numbers are
being linked with several services. The Cabinet Secretariat has amended Government of
India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 and put it under Department of Electronics
and Information Technology (DeITy), Ministry of Communication and Information
Technology
21 September: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ambitious Integrated Power
Development Scheme (IPDS) on the occasion of his visit to Varanasi, his Lok Sabha
constituency. Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) is one of the flagship
schemes of the Ministry of Power and will be at the core attempt to ensure 247 power
for all by 2022. Rs. 45,000 crore will be spend on the scheme.
21 September: The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi launched a significant financial
inclusion initiative in Varanasi. A total of 101 e-rickshaws, 501 pedal rickshaws, and
push-carts are being given as part of this initiative. The beneficiaries will also get bank
accounts and RuPay cards under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. The initiative has
been synergized through various financial institutions including SIDBI, IDBI Bank, UCO
Bank and the American India Foundation.
19 September: The Central Government announced the launch of the Pradhan Mantri
Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY). This is a new programme meant to provide for
the welfare of areas and people affected by mining related operations, using the funds
generated by District Mineral Foundations (DMFs). The objective of PMKKKY scheme will
be (a) to implement various developmental and welfare projects/programs in mining
affected areas; (b) to minimize/mitigate the adverse impacts, during and after mining,
on the environment, health and socio-economics of people in mining districts; and (c) to
ensure long-term sustainable livelihoods for the affected people in mining areas.
18 September: Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya launched three mobile based
services -- a Mobile Application, SMS-based UAN (Universal Account Number) Activation
and Missed Call service -- for the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members. The
members would be able to activate their UAN accounts from the comfort of their
mobile phones and can also access their accounts for viewing their monthly credits
through the passbook as well as view their details available with EPFO. This app can be
downloaded from the website. These services will help nearly 3.54 crore contributing
members, 49.22 lakh pensioners and 6.1 lakh employers.
18 September: In Madhya Pradesh, the state government has launched M-Shiksha-
Mitra mobile app to provide various services and teaching-related work to teachers in
simple and easy way. Madhya Pradesh is the first state to develop such an app for
teachers. A number of facilities have been given in the Shiksha-Mitra mobile app, which
has been developed by the NIC. Teachers can use this app to browse salary slips, funds
sent to school under various heads, scholarships, different circulars and GPF statement.
17 September: In an ambitious bid to transform rural areas to economically, socially and
physically sustainable spaces, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi approved the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) with an outlay of
Rs. 5142.08 crores. The Mission aims at development of rural growth clusters which
have latent potential for growth, in all States and UTs, which would trigger overall
development in the region.
17 September: Tamil Nadu state government announced making it mandatory for all
high rise buildings in the state to have solar power generation facility. This
announcement was made in the Tamil Nadu Assembly by Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.
Under it all new multi-storey buildings (more than four floors) will have to establish
solar power generation facility. The rule would be applicable to all group developments
(with more than eight dwelling units) also. In effect, it will cover almost 90% of
residential and commercial developments in cities like Chennai and Coimbatore. This is
being seen as the first-of-its-kind initiative in urban solar power plants.
16 September: Gujarat emerged as number 1 state in ease of doing business with
71.14% according to World Bank report. Andhra Pradesh followed Gujarat with 70.12%.
Jharkhand is on the third place. Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are at 4th and 5th
spots, respectively. Arunachal Pradesh is ranked the last with 1.23%. This is World
Banks first ever ranking of States on the ease of doing business in India.
16 September: RailTel of the Indian Railways partnered with Google to provide free Wi-
Fi services under Project Nilgiri. Under this initiative, free Wi-Fi services will be provided
to passengers in 400 railway stations across the country. Users will be able to access
high speed internet for the first 30 minutes by using One Time Password (OTP)
generated for this purpose. After 30 minutes, the speed will drop and become slow. The
project employs Googles Fiber technology under which the company provides internet
services up to a speed of 1 Gbps. Google Fiber was launched in 2010 and the service is
available only in the USA.
16 September: The Centre has decided to provide additional 50 days of work to farmers
in drought-hit areas under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
(MGNREGA) scheme. The decision was taken to provide relief to farmers in view of the
deficit monsoon in various parts of the country. At present, 100 days of work is provided
to rural job card holders under MGNREGA.
14 September: Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to submit State
Annual Action Plan under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation
(AMRUT) targeting universal coverage in respect of water supply connections and
sewerage connections to all urban households in the state. The State Government has
proposed projects under these two categories worth Rs.1,087 cr for approval by the
Union Urban Development Ministry during the current financial year. Under the State
Annual Action Plan, AMRUT projects are proposed to be taken up in 13 of the 28 AMRUT
cities in Rajasthan.
12 September: Rajasthan government signed 9 MoUs worth Rs. 30,530 crore with nine
petroleum companies. These companies are - Cairn India Limited, GSPL Gasnet India Ltd,
Focus Energy Limited, GAIL (India) Pvt Ltd, Rajasthan State Gas Limited, IOCL, ONGC, OIL
and Deep Industries Ltd. The investment plan of the MOUs will be implemented during
the period of three years ranging from 2015 to 2018. These MOUs will facilitate city gas
distribution, pipeline network and terminals for exploration as well as production
activities.
12 September: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a Hindi networking site,
'Mooshak' envisaged on the lines of popular English social media platform Twitter in the
10th World Hindi Conference. This new networking site is targeted at Hindi language
buffs. According to the Hindi networking site's CEO Anurag Gaud the word limit on
Twitter is 140, while in 'Mooshak' it is 500 words. 'Mooshak' can be accessed on smart-
phones by downloading it from Google Play Store or visiting its website of the same
name. The Madhya Pradesh capital is hosting the 10th World Hindi Conference from
September 10 to 12. The three-day meet is being organised by the Ministry of External
Affairs in partnership with the Government of Madhya Pradesh.
11 September: In an important initiative, the Union Govt. set an ambitious literacy
target to achieve 100% literacy in villages adopted under the Sansad Adarsh Gram
Yojana (SAGY) by March 2016. This announcement was made by Union Human Resource
Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Irani during a function. In this function President
Pranab Mukherjee felicitated Tamil Nadu as the best performing state for its literacy
related efforts.
11 September: Andhra Pradesh Govt. created history by taking the first step to link two
mighty rivers of the state, Godavari and Krishna. Andhra Pradesh government took first
step to link Godavari and Krishna rivers as water from Godavari river was diverted from
Tadepudi reservoir to facilitate supply to the Krishna river. This water would later be
supplied to the Delta region. About 600 cusecs of water from Godavari has been
diverted to Krishna. The linking of Godavari and Krishna is being seen as a major help for
the delta region and drought-proofing water-short Rayalaseema region of the state.
10 September: Haryana became the second in the country after Rajasthan to fix the
minimum educational qualification for elections to the Panchayati Raj institutions. The
Haryana State Assembly passed a bill the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill,
2015, for fixing the minimum educational qualification for elections to the Panchayati
Raj institutions. The Bill fixed, matriculation as essential qualification for general
candidates contesting the Panchayat elections while the qualification for the women
(general) and Scheduled Caste candidate will be middle standard (VIII). However, in case
of a woman candidate belonging to SC category contesting election for the post of
Panch, the minimum qualification shall be V pass.
7 September: The government announced the implementation of the One Rank One
Pension or OROP for ex army servicemen. The base year of One Rank One Pension will
be 2013. Benefit of OROP will be given with effect from July 1, 2014. Arrears to be paid
from July 2014 and on 4-half-yearly basis. Pension will be revised after every 5 years.
5 September: Bengaluru has for the first time overtaken Mumbai in unsold housing
units and thus become the city with the second-highest residential real estate inventory
overhang after the National Capital Region. This was disclosed by JLL India, a private
entity with interests in real estate. With more than 84,000 unsold housing units by the
end of the second quarter (April-June) of 2015 Bengaluru has surpassed Mumbai for the
first time.
4 September: Union Government announced landmark and first-of-its-kind reform
associated with oil and natural sector. It announced that it will now auction previously
allotted small oil and gas fields to private firms. In a huge reform for countrys oil and
gas sector, Union Oil and Natural Gas Ministry announced that it will, for the first time,
auction 69 small and marginal oil and gas fields surrendered by state-run explorers like
ONGC. The government hopes to raise Rs. 70,000 crore from the sale. The government
expects private companies to boost output from the areas that hold resources of more
than $10 billion.
4 September: In order to enable seamless travel by different metros and other transport
systems across the country, the Ministry of Urban Development has come out with a
smart National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) model which will be inter-operable
across different transport systems in the country. This card will also enable retail
shopping and purchases. Minister of Urban Development M.Venkaiah Naidu has
approved the EMV Open Loop Card with stored value in this regard. National Payments
Corporation of India (NPCI) is being given the task of establishing a robust payment
system for this proposed card initiative.
2 September: Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was given the additional
charge of the Law Ministry of the city. Sisodia, who is the third person to hold charge of
the portfolio in less than seven months, will replace Kapil Mishra. Kapil Mishra, an MLA
from Karawal Nagar, was handing the Law Ministry portfolio ever since Jitendra Singh
Tomar was arrested in a fake degree case in June 2015. Mishra will continue as Minister
for Water and Tourism and Delhi Jal Boards chairman.
2 September: Union Government identified 305 cities and towns spread across nine
states of the country for implementation of its ambitious Housing for All scheme under
which assistance of over Rs. 2 lakh crore would be provided over the next 6 years for
enabling two crore urban poor own their own houses. The selected cities and towns are
in Chhattisgarh (36 cities/towns), Gujarat (30), Jammu and Kashmir (19), Jharkhand (15),
Kerala (15), Madhya Pradesh (74), Odisha (42), Rajasthan (40) and Telangana (34).
Under Housing for All scheme, two crore houses are targeted to be built for the poor in
urban areas by year 2022, coinciding with 75 years of Independence. Housing for All
scheme was launched as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
on 25 June 2015.
1 September: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the digital version of Tulsidas's
'Ramcharitmanas'. This digital compilation of epic Ramcharitmanas has been done by All
India Radio (AIR). India's family values are admired by the world and Ramcharitmanas
speaks about family values.
1 September: In line with Digital India Vision envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, Minister of state(I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan
launched Sahaj - the on line release of new LPG connections, through the portal
mylpg.in to enable customers to register for new LPG connections online, as well as
make on line payments for the same. At present, the scheme will be available in 13
cities of the country.
GLOBE- TROT THIS MONTH
30 September: NASSCOM, TiE and IIM Ahmedabads CIIE India hosted the first 'India-U.S.
StartUp Konnect 2015' programme in the Silicon Valley, to highlight the strengths of the Indian
startup ecosystem. With an aim to boost startups in various organizations in India and the US
seven MoUs were signed. During the programme Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the
Bharat Fund. It is aimed at providing seed funding to Indian entrepreneurs.
30 September: Google has announced its plans to make Internet accessible to one crore
passengers at 100 busiest railway stations in India by the end of 2016 and will later expand it to
400 other stations, making it one of the largest public Wi-Fi projects in the world. This
announcement was made by Google CEO Sundar Pichai during the visit of Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to Google's US headquarters in Mountain View, California.
29 September: The Group of Four (G4) Summit took place in New York after almost a decade
which involves Japan, Germany, India and Brazil as its members, formed with the main objective
of supporting each others bid for permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council
(UNSC). G4 Summit was attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President
Dilma Rousseff, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The
leaders emphasized that the G4 countries are legitimate candidates for permanent membership
in Security Council.
28 September: China successfully launched a new model of carrier rocket Long March-11 for
sending four micro satellites into space from the country's northwestern province. The rocket
will mainly be used for launching micro-satellites. The successful launch of the rocket marked a
major breakthrough for the nation in key technology for solid propellant rockets. The trip was
the 211th mission for the Long March rocket family.
28 September: The 193 member states of the United Nations adopted new Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG) to replace the expiring Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at UN
Sustainable Development Summit in New York. 17 broad goals and 169 specific targets are there
in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The new goals primarily expect to reduce world
poverty, improve health and education and quell climate change. SDGs are expected to be
achieved by year 2030. They replaced the eight Millennium Development Goals adopted at a UN
summit in 2000.
28 September: The 9th Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (RPBD) will be held at Los Angeles,
California, USA from 14 November to 15 November 2015. The Theme of 9th RPBD will be The
Indian Diaspora: Defining a New Paradigm in India-US Relationship.
26 September: India has slipped in global rankings on broadband penetration but has made
slight progress in the percentage of individuals using internet in the country. The UN Broadband
Commission released The State of Broadband report, in which India ranked 131 out of 189
countries on fixed-broadband subscriptions in 2014, a drop from the 125th rank a year before.
On active mobile-broadband subscriptions, India ranked 155, a significant drop from the 113th
rank in 2013. India ranked 136th in individuals using the Internet in 2014, an improvement over
the 142nd rank in 2013
23 September: The World Banks investment arm International Finance Corporation (IFC) has
invested $145 million (around Rs 950 crore) in six of the 10 companies that have been granted
small finance bank licences with a collective client base of nine million. IFCs investments in
Equitas, Ujjivan, Suryoday, Utkarsh, AU Financiers and Janalakshmi were made through debt and
equity mainly during 2010-2012. IFCs shareholding is in the range of 10-15 per cent because the
institution generally does not take more than 20 per cent stake in the companies it invests in.
23 September: Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras stormed back into office on 21 September with an
unexpectedly decisive election victory claiming a clear mandate to steer Greece's battered
economy to recovery. The vote ensured Europe's most outspoken leftist leader would remain
Greece's dominant political figure, despite having been abandoned by party radicals last month
after he caved in to demands for austerity to win a bailout from the euro zone.
23 September: According to a report titled "International Migration Outlook 2015" which was
released on 22 September, one in ten new immigrants to developed countries in 2013 was from
China. Immigration flows from India were comparatively low; despite being the next largest
country, India made up only 4.4 per cent of new migrants and was in fourth position after
Poland and Romania. This report was released by Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Developments (OECD). Germany is now second only to the United States in the number of
migrants it receives.
21 September: Hamid Ansari, who arrived in Laos for a two-day visit, the first by an Indian Vice
President to this country, held talks with his counterpart Bounnhang Vorachith. Two MoUs,
including one on "quick impact projects" and another on air services agreement, were signed
between the two sides after the talks.
21 September: Chinese and Malaysian armed forces launched their first joint military exercise,
aiming to deepen all-round strategic partnership between the two countries. The drill is coded
"Peace and Friendship 2015" and it is being conducted in the Malacca Strait and surrounding
waters.
21 September: Metro Man E. Sreedharan has been invited to the United Nations' High Level
Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport (HLAG-ST). Sreedharan, the Principal Advisor to Delhi
Metro Rail Corporation, has been invited by the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
to serve on his HLAG-ST. The service is for a period of three years and Sreedharan has accepted
the offer.
19 September: 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. One side of the
coin reads "Forward Together We Go" and "Chale Chale Saath Saath" in Hindi; which is the
vision statement of US President Barack Obama Prime Minister Narendra Modi, issued in their
first meeting at the White House last September. The other side of this coin, which is golden in
colour, has the flags of India and the United States and an aircraft carrier floating on blue water.
The "joint challenge coin" was created by the joint working group at their first meeting in US last
month "to symbolise partnership".
18 September: The OECD cut its world economic growth forecasts for 2015 and 2016, warning
of a dramatic slowdown in Brazil and a global outlook clouded by uncertainty over China. The
OECD trimmed its world growth forecast for this year to 3.0 per cent, lopping 0.1 percentage
points off its previous estimate made in June. For the world economy in 2016, the OECD
lowered the outlook to growth of 3.6 per cent, a reduction of 0.2 percentage points from three
months ago.
17 September: India and Sri Lanka signed four pacts during the talks held between visiting Sri
Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The MoUs are
exchange of letters on establishment of emergency ambulance services in Sri Lanka and supply
of medical equipment to 200 bed ward complex at district hospital, Vavuniya in Sri Lanka,
cooperation of exchange of SAARC region satellite technology and rejuvenation of small
industries program with the patronage of Indian government. The two countries agreed to
intensify cooperation in combating terrorism and work together for security and stability in the
neighbourhood.
17 September: India and Cambodia have signed two agreements relating to Tourism and
Mekong Ganga Cooperation Project. The agreements were signed after Vice-President Md.
Hamid Ansari held delegation-level parleys with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the the
Peace Palace in Phnom Penh. Vice-President Mohd. Hamid Ansari is on a four day visit to the
South East Asian countries of Cambodia and Laos.
17 September: The Pentagon, the headquarters for U.S. defence establishment, set up a first-
ever country specific special cell with the objective of speeding up its defence ties with India.
India Rapid Reaction Cell (IRRC) the first-ever country special cell at Pentagon was established
to speed up United States defence ties with India and accelerate the process of co-development
and co-production of hi-tech military equipment in the country. It is headed by Keith Webster,
Under Defence Department.
16 September: Malcolm Turnbull, a former Liberal Party leader and Communications Minister,
became Australias fourth Prime Minister in after Tony Abbott lost a leadership ballot by
members of his party. The members of the ruling Liberal Party voted 54 to 44 to replace Abbott
with Turnball.
15 September: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong registered a landslide victory in the
general election held in the country. His party returned to the power with a massive mandate
for the 12th time since Singapore attained independence. Peoples Action Party (PAP) has ruled
Singapore since it attained Independence some 50 years ago. The Peoples Action Party (PAP)
won an absolute majority of 83 seats in the 89-member Parliament. The PAPs main rival the
Workers Party, ended up with just six seats, less than the seven it held in the outgoing
parliament.
15 September: Egypt's Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab and his entire cabinet resigned after 15
months in office following corruption allegations. While accepting Mahlab's resignation,
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi asked outgoing petroleum minister Sherif Ismail to form a new
government within a week. Sisi told the cabinet to remain in a caretaker role until a new cabinet
was formed.
14 September: The UN General Assembly gave its overwhelming approval to a Palestinian
resolution which permits the flag of Palestine to fly at the UN Headquarters in New York, despite
this country not being a member of the UN. There were 119 votes in favour out of 193 UN
members while the United States and Israel were among eight countries that voted against the
Palestinian-drafted resolution. Palestine described this as a major step toward full UN
membership. Most of the 28-nation European Union were among the 45 nations that abstained
from voting.
14 September: India and Australia began their first bilateral naval exercise that will focus on
anti-submarine warfare as the two countries look at deepening defence cooperation especially
in the Indian Ocean. AUSINDEX-15 is being conducted off the east coast of India from September
11-19.
12 September: The Indian government has approved the purchase of 10 missile-armed drones
from Israel a crucial acquisition that will enhance India's cross-border military strike
capability. Government approved this $400-million proposal for buying armed Heron TP drones
from Israel. These drones will be operated by the Indian Air Force.
12 September: India and Indonesia signed a pact for repatriation of wanted prisoners and
cooperation in all criminal matters including gathering evidence. In this regard, Union Ministry
of Home Affairs issued an official gazette notification for service or execution of summons or
warrant in relation to criminal matters in both countries. Under the agreement, India will
execute summons to an accused person or to any person requiring to attend and produce
documents or a search-warrant issued by an Indonesian court. While, Indonesia will reciprocate
with similar action, if there is any request from any Indian court.
11 September: Japan has agreed to modernize 400 railway stations across the country while
participating in Indian Railways USD 140 billion investment over the next five years. A Japanese
delegation will soon visit India to study the opportunities for industries in the railway station
development plan of railways as the public transporter has identified 400 stations to be
upgraded in private investment.
9 September: India gave the first tranche of $500,000 for Syrians in distress and displaced
from their homes. The Indian ambassador to Jordan Anil Trigunayat gave the money to the
Jordanian government which is coordinating relief for the Syrian refugees. India had promised
$2 million for humanitarian assistance to Syrians in March. This was the first portion of that
commitment.
9 September: Seven Indians feature in Forbes Asia's ninth Heroes of Philanthropy list,
highlighting most noteworthy contributions to philanthropy from 13 countries across Asia
Pacific. Of them, four are co-founders of Infosys, one of India's largest information technology
(IT) services company. These are Senapathy Gopalakrishnan, Nandan Nilekani and S.D. Shibulal
and N.R. Narayana. Kerala-born Dubai entrepreneur Sunny Varkey, tops the list of
philanthropists in the region. The other two Indian philanthropists are brothers Suresh
Ramakrishnan and Mahesh Ramakrishnan.
9 September: India has been ranked very low, mostly in the bottom half, globally on most of the
parameters for inclusive growth and development. India's overall place in the Global
Competitiveness Index 20142015 rankings is 71 out of 144 countries. In areas like corruption
and rent India comes at 8th. For business and political ethics, India ranks 12th, while it ranks
11th on the financial intermediation of real economy investment pillar. India has mostly been
ranked in the bottom half of the 38 countries that make up our lower middle income bracket.
Particularly disappointing is its position in terms of Fiscal Transfers, where it ranks 37th out of
38. It also ranks very low at 32nd for Tax Code and 36th for social protection.
9 September: G20 formed a new group named 'W20' with the objective to empower women
and to boost the role of women in global economic growth. W20 was formed as a grouping of
female leaders to work towards empowering women and ensuring their participation in
economic growth. It would work as an outreach group and seek to promote gender
inclusiveness in economic growth process by empowering women. Gulden Turktan of Turkey
was appointed as the first President of W20. All G20 countries are now expected nominate their
members for the grouping.
8 September: To safeguard minority shareholders' interests and promote capital market as a
key platform to raise funds, G20 and OECD announced new Corporate Governance Principles for
listed companies and regulators in all member countries including India. The new global
principles were released on the sidelines of the G20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central
Bankers (Ankara, Turkey) being attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and RBI chief
Raghuram Rajan. The new code calls for enhanced cross-border cooperation among regulators,
including through bilateral and multilateral arrangements.
8 September: In a significant development in the ongoing European migrant crisis, Germany
and Austria opened their borders to thousands of refugees. Both Germany and Austria threw
open their borders to thousands of refugees as after days of confrontation and chaos, Hungarys
government deployed over 100 buses overnight to take thousands of refugees to the Austrian
frontier. From Austria these migrants entered Germany, with over 1,000 arriving by special
trains in Munich. The migrant crisis of 2015 has become Europes most acute refugee crisis since
the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s.
5 September: The leaders of Japan, China and South Korea signed an agreement to hold a three-
nation summit. Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Park Geun-hye met in
Beijing where they agreed to hold a summit with Japan in late October or early November in
South Korea. The first ever talks between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South
Korean President Park Geun-hye on the sidelines of the trilateral summit will also be held.
4 September: India and Australia decided to deepen their bilateral defence partnership by
taking a slew of fresh initiatives including setting up of a joint working group on defence
research and material cooperation. It was also decided that India will take part in the first ever
air exercise with Australia. This is in addition to the first-ever bilateral naval exercise that is
scheduled to be held later in the month of September. The decisions came following the
delegation-level talks between visiting Australian Defence Minister Kevin Andrews and his Indian
counterpart Manohar Parrikar.
4 September: China, a country with the world's largest Army (People's Liberation Army) will cut
its number of troops by 300,000. This was announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping, as he
kicked off a massive military parade marking 70 years since the end of World War Two in Asia.
While making the announcement Xi said that China will always go down the path of peaceful
development. Also, it wants the whole world to progress on the path of development.
APPOINTMENTS/RESIGNATIONS THIS MONTH
30 September: Consequent upon the demise of Dr. Syed Ahmed, Governor of Manipur,
and the President of India has appointed V. Shanmuganathan, Governor of Meghalaya,
to discharge the functions of the Governor of Manipur, in addition to his own duties,
until regular arrangements are made.
29 September: Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been appointed as
brand ambassador of Jharkhand Tourism. Chief Minister Raghubar Das announced this
during 'Unexplored Jharkhand 2015' programme organised on the occasion of World
Tourism Day on 27th September.
28 September: The Ministry of External Affairs appointed new Indian envoys to
Pakistan, China, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United Nations (UN) in a major
reshuffle. Navtej Sarna will be the new High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He
succeeded Ranjan Mathai. Gautam Bambawale (India's Ambassador to Bhutan) will take
over as High Commissioner to Pakistan. He succeeded T.C.A. Raghavan. Syed Akbaruddin
will be the next Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, New York. He
will replace Asoke Mukerji. Vijay Gokhale (India's Ambassador to Germany) will be the
Ambassador to China. He succeeded Ashok Kantha. Anil Wadhwa (Secretary (East)) will
be the new Ambassador to Rome. Pankaj Saran will replace P.S. Raghavan as the
Ambassador of Moscow. Harsh V. Shringla (Indian Ambassador to Bangkok) will serve as
High Commissioner to Bangladesh. Sujan Chinoy (Indian Ambassador to Mexico) will
now be the Ambassador to Japan and replace Deepa Wadhwa.
28 September: Matthias Muller was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of
Volkswagen Group. He succeeded Martin Winterkorn who resigned following the
revelation that the German carmaker manipulated US diesel car emissions tests.
28 September: Senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui has been elected as President of
Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) after an election held as per directions of the Supreme
Court. Siddiqui defeated Vinod Kumar, a former president of BCA, by a margin of 30
votes.
28 September: Sourav Ganguly has been appointed as the President of Cricket
Association of Bengal (CAB) succeeding Jagmohan Dalmiya as announced by West
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Jagmohan Dalmiya passed away recently.
Sourav Ganguly is the former Indian cricket captain.
26 September: The All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF) has appointed
Sreedhar GV as Chairman. Sreedhar, who was the former Director and Vice Chairman of
GJF.
26 September: Women and Child Development Ministry has appointed Stuti Narain
Kacker as Head of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). Kacker, a
1978 batch IAS officer, retired as Secretary from Disability Affairs, in the Ministry of
Social Justice and Empowerment. The Chairperson's position fell vacant after the tenure
of Kushal Singh ended in October 2014.
24 September: Zayn Khan was unanimously elected as the President of the Federation
of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI). His appointment was necessitated by the death
of R. Bharath Raj, who passed away while serving as President on August 15.
24 September: Raman Agarwal has been appointed the new Chairman of Finance
Industry Development Council (FIDC). FIDC is a Representative-cum-Self Regulatory
Organisation of Non-Banking Finance Companies and associated with asset-financing.
23 September: Information technology major Infosys has won an Rs 1,400-crore
contract from GST Network (GST-N) to build the IT system so that the goods and
services tax (GST) regime is rolled out on schedule. Navin Kumar has been appointed as
Chairman of GST-N. The company is supposed to lay the IT-backbone to implement the
GST regime. Once the backbone is ready, Infosys will operate it for five years.
23 September: John T. Chambers, Executive Chairman of Cisco, has been elected as the
new chairman of the US India Business Council (USIBC), the apex advocacy group for
India and American companies in the US. The transition will come at the end of a four-
year term of Ajay Banga, president and CEO of MasterCard. Banga has been its longest-
serving chairman.
22 September: Raman Agarwal has been appointed the new Chairman of Finance
Industry Development Council (FIDC). FIDC is a Representative-cum-Self Regulatory
Organisation of Non-Banking Finance Companies and associated with asset-financing.
21 September: P.V. Chandran was elected President of the Indian Newspaper Society
(INS) for 2015-16. The annual general meeting of the INS chose him to succeed Kiran B.
Vadodaria. Chandran is the Managing Director and a whole-time director of the
Mathrubhumi group of publications.
18 September: A 43-year-old Indian-origin British MP Seema Malhotra has been
appointed as the shadow chief secretary for Treasury by the newly elected Labour
leader Jeremy Corbyn. Seema Malhotra became MP for the London seat of Feltham and
Heston in 2011 in a by-election following the death of Alan Keen (Conservative). In
August 2014, she was given the newly-created role of shadow minister for preventing
violence against women and girls by the then Labour leader Ed Miliband. She will be
shadow Chancellor John McDonnell's Assistant in the shadow Treasury team.
15 September: Hormusji N. Cama, Director of Bombay Samachar and Riyad Mathew,
Director of Malayala Manorama, were unanimously elected Chairman and Vice
Chairman respectively of the Press Trust of India (PTI). Cama, whose daily is the oldest
continuously-published newspaper in India from 1855, succeeds Mahendra Mohan
Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of the Jagran Prakashan. Mathew succeeds him
as the Vice Chairman.
14 September: Qatar's emir has appointed an ambassador to Iraq, the first since the
embassy was closed 25 years ago, in the latest sign of a thaw in relations between Gulf
Arab countries and Iraq. The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani had issued
a decree appointing Zayed al-Khayareen as Qatar's ambassador to Iraq.
11 September: An outstanding scientist, J. Manjula has been appointed the first woman
Director General of the Defence Research and Development Organization's Electronics
and Communication Systems (ECS) cluster. Manjula was the first woman director of the
DRDO's Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE) from 2014. Manjula will
succeed K.D. Nayak.
11 September: Chennai native Mahesh Ramanujam has been named the new CEO of
the prestigious US Green Building Council (USGBC), a non-profit organisation that
promotes sustainability in how buildings are designed, built, and operated. Ramanujam
would replace Rick Fedrizzi, the co-founder of USGBC and current CEO after he steps
down at the end of 2016.
9 September: Agriculture expert Ramesh Chand has been appointed as new member of
the Niti Aayog. Chand is the third member to join the government's think tank which has
replaced the erstwhile planning commission. The Aayog, which is headed by eminent
economist Arvind Panagariya (Vice Chairman), has two other memberseconomist
Bibek Debroy and former DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat.
9 September: The Jammu and Kashmir government appointed Brij Raj Sharma as the
new chief secretary, ending the administrative inertia that hit the state after
Muhammad Iqbal Khandey chose to seek voluntary retirement (VRS) three months prior
to his superannuation. Sharma, a 1984 batch IAS officer, would remain the chief
secretary till 2020.
5 September: Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre was sworn in as new president of
Guatemala following the resignation of Otto Perez Molina. Otto Perez Molina resigned
from the Presidential post as he involved in a corruption case. Aguirre will complete
Perez's remaining term of office till January 14, 2016 and hand over power to the
winning candidate after elections.
5 September: Dinesh Kumar Likhi took charge as the Chairman-cum-Managing Director
(CMD) of Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (MIDHANI). Prior to this appointment, he was
Director (Production & Marketing) of MIDHANI itself. Likhi succeeded M. Narayana Rao.
5 September: Girish Shankar took charge of Secretary, Department of Official Language
under the Ministry of Home Affairs. A 1982 batch IAS officer of Bihar Cadre, Shankar was
working as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism. He replaces Sanjay Kumar
Srivastava who has joined as Secretary, Coordination and Public Grievances in the
Cabinet Secretariat.
5 September: Vinod Dasari has been appointed as President of the Society of Indian
Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), an automobile industry body. Dasari is the Managing
Director of Ashok Leyland. Arvind Saxena, President of General Motors India, has been
elected as the Vice-President of the organisation. SIAM is the apex Industry body
representing leading vehicle and vehicular engine manufacturers in India.
4 September: NTPC's Director (Technical) A.K. Jha has taken the additional charge of the
post of the Chairman & Managing Director, NTPC. A.K. Jha succeeded Arup Roy
Choudhury. After refusing extension to Arup Roy Choudhury as CMD of NTPC, the
government has decided to give the additional charge to Jha for three months from
September 1 as an interim arrangement. A search committee headed by Power
Secretary P.K. Pujari is currently looking for a full-time CMD for NTPC.
3 September: Nuclear safety expert Shiv Abhilash Bhardwaj has been appointed as the
new chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERD). Bhardwaj took over from
Satinder Singh Bajaj who was steering the organisation since January 2010. A post
graduate in mechanical engineering, Bhardwaj was earlier with Department of Atomic
Energy (DAE) and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). He is a recipient of
Indian Nuclear Society award for outstanding achievement in nuclear technology
including nuclear safety.
3 September: Noted scientist S.A.V. Satya Murty has been appointed as Director of
Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam. Murty, a Gold Medalist
from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada, currently serves Electronics
and Instrumentation and Radiological Safety Group as its Director, an official release
said. Murty succeeds P.R. Vasudeva Rao.
2 September: Ahead of beginning of work on the Budget for 2016-17, government
designated Ratan P. Watal as new Finance Secretary even as a new team of officials took
charge at the finance ministry. Shaktikanta Das, 58, took charge as the Secretary for
Department of Economic Affairs after Rajiv Mehrishi on his last day in office was
appointed Home Secretary for a two-year tenure. Das, who was Revenue Secretary, has
been succeeded by Hasmukh Adhia. Adhia, who held the post of Secretary in the
Department of Financial Services, passed on the baton to Anjuly Chib Duggal
2 September: Senior IAS officer Raghav Chandra has taken over as the Chairman of the
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Chandra succeeds Road Transport and
Highways Secretary Vijay Chhibber who was given the additional charge of the key post
in June this year for three months after relinquishment of charge by former Chairman
R.P. Singh on completion of his tenure. Raghav Chandra is an IAS Officer of the 1982
batch Madhya Pradesh who has held important positions in the central government and
the Government of Madhya Pradesh.
2 September: The government appointed outgoing Home Secretary L.C. Goyal as the
Chairman and Managing Director of India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO). The
Prime Minister approved the appointment of L.C. Goyal (1979 batch Karnataka cadre IAS
officer) as Chairman and Managing Director, India Trade Promotion Organisation.
Earlier, Goyal had sought an early retirement, 17 months ahead of schedule, for
personal reasons which was approved by the government.
1 September: Senior bureaucrat Rajiv Mehrishi has been appointed country's new
Home Secretary. Mehrishi, a 1978 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre succeeded L.C.
Goyal who requested for voluntary retirement (VRS) which has been approved by Prime
Minister. Rajiv Mehrishi was Finance Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs,
Finance Ministry. He was due to retire on 31 August but has been given a two-year
extension by the government after it decided to post him on the post of Home
Secretary.
14 September: The First Minister of Northern Ireland resigned. Peter Robinson stepped
aside and pulled ministers out of the government plunging the province back into
political crisis. The mass walk out was sparked by the murder of ex-IRA man Kevin
McGuigan in Belfast last month.
11 September: Australia's veteran wicketkeeper/batsman Brad Haddin announced his

retirement from international cricket at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Brad Haddin is the
fourth player to take retirement from Australian team which lost the Ashes series
against England. Before Haddin captain Michael Clarke, opener Chris Rogers and all-
rounder Shane Watson has already announced their retirement after losing the Ashes.
10 September: Hungary's Defense Minister Csaba Hende resigned after a national
Security Council meeting held to discuss the huge influx of refugees and migrants
arriving in the country. Prime Minister Viktor Orban accepted Hende's resignation and
appointed Istvan Simicsko, also a member of his Fidesz party as new Defence Minister of
the country.
5 September: Vijay Laxmi Joshi, in-charge of the Prime Minister's ambitious Clean India
Mission, has sought voluntary retirement from service. She has quit the Swachh Bharat
campaign as head even before one year of its completion. A 1980-batch IAS officer of
Gujarat cadre, was associated with Swachh Bharat campaign as Secretary of Ministry of
Drinking water and Sanitation. 57-year-old Joshi still has three years of service left.
AWARDS/HONOURS/WORLD TITLES/NEW DISCOVERIES THIS MONTH
30 September: Mathematician Jacob Tsimerman of the University of Toronto, Canada

was chosen for the prestigious 2015 SASTRA Ramanujan Prize. Tsimerman is currently
working as an Assistant Professor in the University of Toronto. He primarily conducts
research in Number Theory.
30 September: Bengali movie Kadambari has bagged two major awards at the
Washington DC South Asian Film Festival, including the best film honour and the best
actress trophy for Konkona Sen Sharma, while India's Oscars entry Court took home the
best director gong for Chaitanya Tamhane. Kadambari is directed by Suman Ghosh.
29 September: Indian film talent Swara Bhaskar has won the Best Actress award at a
film festival in the capital city of Fujian province (China) for playing a mother to a
teenager in Ashwiny Iyer Tiwaris directorial Nil Battey Sannata (The New Classmate).
She won the honour at the China's second Silk Road International Film Festival.
26 September: The government has decided to confer the Defence Research and
Development Organisations (DRDOs) Lifetime Achievement Award for 2015 on V.S.
Arunachalam, formerly a scientific advisor to the defence minister, for his outstanding
contribution over several decades in the field of scientific research and technology.
26 September: Director Chaitanya Tamhane's debut Marathi movie Court was chosen as
India's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 88th Academy
Awards or 2016 Oscars. This year, the 17-member jury to choose the entry from India
was headed by veteran actor-filmmaker Amol Palekar.
26 September: A 13-year-old 9th class student from Odisha, Lalita Prasida Sripada Srisai
has won the Community Impact Award at the prestigious Google Science Fair in the 13-
15 years age category for developing a water purifier that works using waste corn cobs
and is very cost-effective.
24 September: Eminent Hindi writer Dr. Kamal Kishore Goenka was conferred with 24th
Vyaas Samman for the year 2014. He was awarded for his work 'Premchand ki
Kahaniyon ka Kaal Kramanusaar Adhyayan'. He was awarded a citation along with a cash
amount of 2.5 lakh rupees by eminent Hindi writer Prof. Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari.
24 September: PepsiCo CEO and chairman Indra Nooyi and HT Media Ltd chairperson
Shobhana Bhartia have been presented with the 2015 Global Leadership Award of the
US India Business Council (USIBC). They were honoured for their contributions and
commitment to driving a more inclusive global economy and for their roles as women
leaders.
22 September: Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus and actor Jeffrey Tambor won the Emmy
Awards in the Outstanding Lead female and male actor category in a Comedy Series at
the 67th annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. Game of Thrones
(HBO) won Best Drama Series and Veep won Best Comedy Series award.
19 September: Afghan refugee teacher Aqeela Asifi was awarded with the 2015 Nansen
Refugee Award by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Asifi
dedicated her life to bring education to refugee girls in Pakistan. Aqeela Asifi was
awarded for her brave and tireless dedication to education for Afghan refugee girls in
the Kot Chandana refugee village in Mianwali, Pakistan.
19 September: Swetha Prabhakaran, an Indian American 15 years old teen, was
awarded with the prestigious Champions of Change Award of US at the White House.
She is among 11 young women selected by the White House as Champions of Change.
Prabhakaran, a junior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in
Virginia, founded a non-profit organisation 'Everybody Code Now' to empower the next
generation of youth to become engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs.
19 September: Swami Vivekananda Airport (or Mana Airport) in Raipur has been
conferred the "Best Airport for National Tourism Award 2013-14" by the President of
India Pranab Mukherjee. This is the second consecutive year the award has been given
to Raipur airport. Raipur Airport proved to be the best airport of the country in Rest of
India category. Best Airport is select on the basis of tourism, infrastructure, design,
hygiene, management.
18 September: Indian-origin British author Sunjeev Sahota was among the 6 writers
short-listed for the prestigious Man Booker Prize 2015. Sunjeev Sahota was short-listed
for his book The Year of the Runaways, which centers around the lives of three Indian
men, one a Dalit and a woman, all migrants from India. This is the second year that the
prize has been open to writers of any nationality, writing in English and published in the
United Kingdom. Till 2014, the Booker Prize was open to authors only from the U.K. and
Commonwealth, Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe.
17 September: The Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) conferred the Excellence in Golf in
2015 award on 17-year-old Aditi Ashok in recognition of her recent achievements which
included winning the Singha Thailand Amateur Championship last week, the 2015 British
Ladies Amateur Strokeplay Championship and the prestigious 2015 St. Rule Trophy at St.
Andrews. KGA president Venkat Subramaniam presented the local golfer an award at
the prize distribution ceremony of the seventh Toyota Karnataka Golf Festival held in
Karnataka.
17 September: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been announced as one of
the winners of the United Nations Champions of the Earth award in recognition of her
country's initiatives to address climate change. United Nations Champions of the Earth
award is the highest award in the world of environment conservation.
17 September: Two Indian educational Institutes find place in '2015-16 QS World
University Rankings's World Top-200. It was the 12th edition in the series of annual
global university ranking list. The Indian Institute of Science-Bangalore (IISc-B) and the
Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-D) were ranked 147 and 179 respectively.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) topped the list of universities in the world
for record fourth time. Harvard University is at second place, followed by the University
of Cambridge and Stanford University in joint third place.
16 September: President Pranab Mukherjee awarded the Rajbhasha Kirti Award to the
Ministry of Railways. The Ministry of Railways received this award for the best work in
Hindi during the year 2014-15. On the occasion of Hindi Diwas celebrated on 14th
September Ministry of Railways won the award for the best implementation of the
Official Language Policy. On behalf of the Ministry of Railways Railway Board's Chairman
A.K. Mittal received the award from the President.
16 September: Bollywood actor Anupam Kher has been awarded for his commendable
contribution to cinema and art globally in Naveda with the US state's most populous city
Las Vegas declaring 10 September as 'Anupam Kher Day'. The 60-year-old veteran actor
was presented with the 'Certificate of Excellence' in Las Vegas by Nevada Senator Ruben
Kihuen for providing quality entertainment.
16 September: Ashok Sridharan, a mayoral candidate of Chancellor Angela Merkel-led
Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has comprehensively won the election in Bonn,
becoming the first person of Indian-origin to occupy the mayors office in a major
German city. 49-year-old Sridharan secured the absolute majority by polling 50.06 per
cent of the votes election in the former German capital. His victory marks the end of
more than 21 years rule of the city by the Social Democratic Party (SPD).
15 September: Recognising his contribution in the field of modern scientific, medical writing,
the Ministry of External Affairs Government of India conferred the Vishva Hindi Samman to Dr.
K.K. Aggarwal. The award was given to Dr. Aggarwal at the 10th World Hindi Conference in
Bhopal for his book Alloveda.
15 September: Frank D. Gilroy, whose play The Subject Was Roses, won him a Pulitzer
Prize, died in Monroe, New York. He was 89. Gilroy, who served in the Army from 1943
to 1946 in the European Theatre, also won a Tony Award for The Subject Was Roses.
14 September: Renowned Hindi writer Uday Prakash has returned his Sahitya Akademi
Award as protest against the recent killing of Kannada litterateur M.M. Kalburgi, and in
disapproval of the national literary body's deafening silence over the assaults on writers.
The 63-year-old writer had received the award in 2010 for his creation 'Mohandas'.
12 September: PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi is the sole Indian-origin executive in Fortune's
list of 50 most powerful women in business, which has been topped by General Motors
CEO Mary Barra. India-born Nooyi is ranked 2nd on the list, moving up a notch from her
third position last year. 59-year-old top executive Nooyi marks her ninth year atop the
$66.6 billion snack-and-drink behemoth in a stronger position than she's been in for a
long time. The list also includes IBM CEO Ginni Rometty on the third rank and Facebook
COO Sheryl Sandberg on the 8th place.
12 September: The Global MBA program of S.P. Jain School of Global Management (S.P.
Jain) has got a global Top Ten ranking by Forbes in its Best International MBAs: One-Year
Program rankings (2015-16). S.P. Jain is also the only school of Indian-origin to be
ranked in the world's top 10. For four years in a row now, S.P. Jain has featured in
Forbes' biennial rankings of the world's top business schools. In 2013-2014, it was
ranked 11th in the world. Insead earns the No. 1 spot in Forbes ranking of The Best
International One-Year Business Schools. It has campuses in Europe, Asia, and the
Middle East.
12 September: Renowned Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan was conferred with
Kerala Goverment's prestigious music award, 'Swathi Sangeetha Puraskaram' for his
outstanding contribution to Indian music. The award, instituted in memory of legendary
music composer Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, carries a cash prize of Rs. one lakh, citation
and a medal, and was presented to the maestro by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
11 September: An Indian-origin entrepreneur has been named among the most
promising businesswomen of 2015 by Fortune magazine in its annual recognition of 10
women innovators, groundbreakers and game changers. Payal Kadakia is the CEO and
co-founder of ClassPass, a two-year-old start-up that gives customers access to
thousands of boutique fitness classes in their area. The other honorees this year are Brit
Morin, founder and CEO, Brit + Co, Jody Miller, co-founder and CEO of Business Talent
Group and Christina Lomasney, president and CEO of Modumetal.
10 September: President Pranab Mukherjee presented the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2014
to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan in
Delhi. The annual Gandhi Peace Prize -- instituted by the government of India in 1995 on
the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi -- is given to individuals and institutions
for their contributions towards social, economic and political transformation through
non-violence and other Gandhian methods.
10 September: Bollywood actor Anupam Kher has been presented with the Honoured
Guest award by the U.S. state of Texas for his contribution to cinema and art. The 60-
year-old actor was honoured by Deputy Mayor of Houston Ed Gonzalez on behalf of
Texas Governor Greg Abbot. This honour comes just days after he was conferred with a
Senate Proclamation by The Texas State Senate.
9 September: Acclaimed short story writer T. Padmanabhan has been selected for
Mathrubhumi Literary Award 2015. The award carries a purse of Rs. two lakh, sculpture
and a citation. Padmanabhan's stories have been translated to various Indian languages
and also to English, French, German and Russian.
7 September: Preetika Kumar, an Indian American associate professor at Wichita State
University, has been selected to receive the 2015 C. Holmes MacDonald Outstanding
Teacher Award for demonstrating special dedication and creativity in her teaching.
Kumar, who teaches electrical engineering, will receive the national honour on Nov. 19
in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
7 September: Haryana bagged the Skoch Order-of-Merit national award for
implementation of six e-Governance and IT initiatives in the state. The award will be
presented to the state government during the 41st Skoch Summit - Transformative
Governance, scheduled to be held on 22-23 September 2015 in New Delhi.
7 September: Indian-American Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri has been selected
for the prestigious 2014 National Humanities Medal which would be presented to her by
US President Barack Obama next week. Jhumpa, 48, has been selected for the award for
enlarging the human story. In her works of fiction, Lahiri has illuminated the Indian-
American experience in beautifully wrought narratives of estrangement and belonging.
7 September: Chhattisgarh's Maoist affected Bastar district and the gram panchayat of
Girod, Raipur have been selected for National Literacy Award 2015, instituted in the
memory of Satyen Maitra, an eminent educationist, in 1996. The purpose of the
National Literacy Mission is to literate people in the age group of 15 years and above. In
Bastar, this program was started in 2011, under which public education centres were
opened in 327 gram panchayats. Till now, around one lakh people have been educated
under this programme.
4 September: The West-Central Railway (Headquarter: Jabalpur) Zone has become the
first Railway Zone in Indian Railways to eliminate all unmanned level crossings from its
system. Out of total 118 unmanned level crossings falling on West-Central Railways as
on 1st April, 2014, 80 were eliminated in the financial year 2014-15 and the target of 66
and the remaining 38 have been achieved in current financial year. This could only be
achieved by constructing 33 Limited Height Sub Ways (LHs) and manning of 30 level
crossings. It is a big safety initiative.
4 September: Whistleblower bureaucrat Sanjiv Chaturvedi was conferred the
prestigious Magsaysay Award for 2015 along with founder of NGO Goonj Anshu Gupta.
These awards were given in the award ceremony organized in Manila, the capital of
Philippines.
3 September: India has won the top UNESCO prize 'Award of Excellence-2015' for the
remarkable conservation efforts of the majestic Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple in Kerala.
The Award of Excellence for the conservation of Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur,
won this year's top prize in the Asia Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Heritage
Conservation. The award recognises the remarkable conservation effort undertaken at
the sacred site which employed age-old rituals and conservation techniques drawn from
vastu shastra focusing on architecture and construction. Sdaring Xieng Thong Temple in
Luang Prabang won the Award of Merit.
3 September: An Indian-origin driver in Australia Tejinder Pal Singh has been named for
Australian of the Day award by Commonwealth Bank of Australia for feeding the
homeless in Darwin for the past three years. The award recognises the extraordinary
Australians who have made a big difference to the country. He dedicated the last
Sunday of every month to feed the poor and homeless in northern Darwin.
2 September: The American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin (AFMI) has
honoured India-born entrepreneur and philanthropist, Frank Islam with the "Pride of
India" award. India's Consul General in New York Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay conferred the
award upon Islam who had donated $222,000 in May this year to the Aligarh Muslim
University in India.
1 September: On the occasion of National Sports Day President of India presented
Arjuna Award to 17 players and Dronacharya Award to five coaches. The Arjun
awardees are P.R. Sreejesh (hockey), Dipa Karmakar (gymnastics), Jitu Rai (shooting),
Sandeep Kumar (archery), Mandeep Jangra (boxing), Babita Kumari and Bajrang
(wrestling), Rohit Sharma (cricket), K. Srikanth (badminton), Swarn Singh (rowing), S.
Satish Kumar (weightlifting), Sanothoi Devi (wushu), Sharath Gayakwad (para-
swimming), M.R. Poovamma (athletics), Manjeet Chillar, Abhilasha Mhatre (kabaddi),
Anup Kumar Yama (rollerskating). The Dronacharya awardees are Naval Singh (para-
athletics), Anoop Singh (wrestling), Harbans Singh (athletics-lifetime), Swatantar Raj
Singh (boxing-lifetime), Nihar Ameen (swimming-lifetime).
1 September: President of India awarded Dhyan Chand Award, Maulana Abul Kalam
Azad Trophy, Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar and Tenzing Norgay National Adventure
Awards 2014. Romeo James (hockey), Shiv Prakash Misra (tennis) and T.P.P. Nair
(volleyball) received Dhyan Chand Award. Punjabi University, Patiala got Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad Trophy. Directorate-General of Military Training, Coal India Limited,
Haryana Police, Sports Coaching Foundation, Hyderabad recieved Rashtriya Khel
Protsahan Puraskar. Arunima Sinha (land), Jot Singh (land), Paramvir Singh (water),
Satyendra Verma (air), Satish Chander Sharma (lifetime) were awarded Tenzing Norgay
National Adventure Awards 2014.
1 September: Country's ace Tennis player Sania Mirza was conferred the Rajiv Gandhi
Khel Ratna award, the highest award given to players at a glittering ceremony held at
the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Along with her other sportspersons and coaches were also
honoured with National Sports Awards on the occasion of National Sports Day on 29
August. With this Sania Mirza became the second tennis player after Leander Paes to
win the award.
SPORTS NEWS THIS MONTH
30 September: India bagged seven medals, including five silver and two bronze at the
16th Asian Rowing Championships that concluded in Beijing, China. China bagged the
maximum medals including 15 gold.
29 September: Beijing Olympics champion Abhinav Bindra clinched gold in the men's
10m Air Rifle event of the Asian AirGun Championships. He shot 208.3 to bag the top
prize ahead of Kazakhstan's world number eight Yurkov Yuriy (206.6) and Korea's Yu
Jaechul (185.3).
29 September: Lewis Hamilton of Britain and Mercedes racing driver won the 2015
Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix title held at Suzuka Circuit, Japan. Mercedes team driver
Nico Rosberg of Germany stood second and Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) finished third.
29 September: Pankaj Advani won the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Adelaide
(Australia) to take his world title count to 14. Advani defeated Singapores Peter
Gilchrist in the final by 1168 points at Adelaide.
29 September: The world number one team of India's Sania Mirza and Switzerland's
Martina Hingis defeated China's pair of Xu Shilin and You Xiaodi 6-3, 6-1 in the final to
win the Guangzhou Open Tennis title.
29 September: David Haggerty, former President and Chief Executive of the US Tennis
Association, was elected president of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). He
defeated All India Tennis Association (AITA) President Anil Khanna in the voting.
Haggerty, 58, was elected to a four-year term.
28 September: Australia's oldest cricketer Harold Stapleton, who represented Australian
club New South Wales, died aged 100. An all-rounder, who played only one first-class
match for NSW in 1941 before his career was cut short by the second World War.
26 September: Robert Lewandowski (Poland) created a Footballing history for the
German football league (Bundesliga) as he scored record five goals in nine minutes to
give his team Bayern Munich a 5-1 win over Wolfsburg.
24 September: Belgium created history by entering the finals of the prestigious Davis
Cup for the first time in last 111 years. Belgium reached its first Davis Cup final since
1904. Steve Darcis defeated Federico Delbonis in the decisive fifth match against
Argentina to win 3-2.
24 September: The Indian Wushu team secured 12 medals comprising of one gold, four
silver and seven bronze medals at the Fifth International Pars Wushu Cup held in
Tehran. Indias L. Budhachandra Singh won the gold medal after defeating Masod
Ansari of Iran in the final of the 56 kg category on the last day of the tournament. 200
athletes from 18 countries participated in this international event.
22 September: Mariko Kipchumba of Kenya won the annual Beijing International
Marathon 2015. In womens competition, Ethiopian runner Betelhem Cherenet won.
22 September: Czech Republic defeated India 3-1 in the Davis Cup World Group playoff
tie, which was played at Delhis R.K. Khanna Stadium. The defeat means that India will
remain in the Asia-Oceania Group 1 for next years competition while the top seeds and
three-time Champions Czech Republic regained their place in the elite-16 nation World
Group.
22 September: World no. one Chinese Cheng Long defeated Indian shuttler Ajay
Jayaram 21-14, 21-13 in the final to win the singles title of 2015 Korea Open Badminton
tournament at Seoul. For Cheng, it is the sixth trophy of the season.
19 September: Indian sprinter Dutee Chand has won the gold medal in 100-metre at the
55th National Open Athletic Championship. Although she did not make an impressive
start, she gained pace towards the end to outrun Srabani Nanda. Dutee Chand clocked
11.68 seconds to beat Nanda's who completed the race in 11.70 seconds.
19 September: India Cements won the Moin-ud Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament 2015-16
by defeating Hyderabad XI. This was the third title for the winning team. The final match
was held at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad.
18 September: Railways shot putter Manpreet Kaur shattered an 18-year-old national
record en route to a sixth title at the 55th National Open Athletics Championship at
Kolkata. Patiala-based shot putter broke the record of Harbans Kaur of 17.43 metres
that came in 1997 by throwing 17.96 metres in her second attempt to claim the gold
medal, a hat-trick of titles at the National Open. With this, Manpreet Kaur (25) also
qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympics that is scheduled to be held from 5 August to 21
August 2016.
17 September: Hangzhou, capital city of Zhejiang Province in east China, was chosen by
the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to host the 2022 Asian Games. The OCA made the
decision at its 34th Congress in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Hangzhou was the only
candidate city for the 2022 Asian Games. Its successful bid means the regional games
will be staged in China for the third time following Beijing in 1990 and southern
Guangzhou in 2010. Beijing was just selected to hold the 2022 Winter Olympics after
hosting the Summer Games in 2008. South Korea's Incheon held the last Asian Games in
2014, while Indonesia's Jakarta will play host in 2018.
15 September: Italy's Flavia Pennetta won the 2015 US Open Womens Singles title. She
defeated fellow Italian Roberta Vinci 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 in the summit clash held in New York.
It was her maiden Grand Slam title and after the victory she announced that she will
retire from the professional tennis after the 2015 season. On the other hand Novak
Djokovic won the US Open Mens Singles title. In the summit clash held at the Arthur
Ashe Stadium in New York, the Serbian defeated Roger Federer 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-4. For
Djokovic, it was a second US Open singles title and a 10th Grand Slam singles title.
15 September: Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won the 2015 US Open Womens
Doubles title. The top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated the fourth-seeded duo of Casey
Dellacqua (Australia) and Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) 6-3 6-3 in the summit clash
held in New York. On the other hand Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues
Herbert won the US Open men`s doubles crown with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Britain`s
Jamie Murray and Australian John Peers.
15 September: Indian wrestler Narsingh Pancham Yadav bagged a bronze medal in the
Men's 74kg Freestyle category, at the World Wrestling Championship in Las Vegas, US.
With his third-place finish, Narsingh became the lone Indian to win a medal at the
prestigious tournament as well as book a berth for the 2016 Rio Games. In his bronze
medal play-off, he got his act together to outplay Zelimkhan Khadjiev of France 12-8 to
make it to the podium. This is the first time that an Indian wrestler has earned an
Olympic berth with a medal at the World Championship.
15 September: World welterweight boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (US) ended
his illustrious boxing career with a win over Andre Berto to claim the 49th and final win
of his career. He thus ended 49-0 to match the record of heavyweight boxing legend
Rocky Marciano. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. had announced that the bout with Andre Berto
will be his final fight.
14 September: India's Leander Paes with his Swiss partner Martina Hingis won the US
Open mixed doubles title in New York. They became the first team since 1969 to win
three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles in the same season at the US Open. The fourth
seeds defeated non-seeded American duo Sam Querrey and Bethanien Mattek-Sands 6-
4, 3-6 (10-7) in the finals of mixed doubles.
14 September: World football governing body FIFA has appointed Uganda's Moses
Magogo on the committee for security and integrity. Ahmed Hussein, spokesman of
Uganda's football governing body received a communication from the Federation of
International Football Associations (FIFA) about the appointment. Magogo is also a
member of Confederation of African Football Inter-clubs competitions committee.
14 September: India Test captain Virat Kohli recently acquired stake in UAE Royals, a
franchisee team of Indian Premier Tennis League (IPTL) to become a co-owner of it.
Virat Kohli became a co-owner of UAE Royals, which is one of the five franchisee teams
of the Mahesh Bhupathi promoted IPTL. UAE Royals will be led by Swiss great Roger
Federer.
10 September: Indian weightlifter Deepak Lather won a gold medal in the 62 kg
category of the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) being held in Apia, Samoa.
This was Indias second gold in weightlifting after Jamjang Deru (17-year-old) who won a
gold medal in the 56 kg category on the opening day of the event.
10 September: India's Ruthvika Shivani Gadde and Lakshya Sen clinched the women's
and men's singles titles respectively at the Sushant Chipalkatti Memorial India Junior
International Badminton Championships in Pune. Top seed Ruthvika thrashed Thailand's
Supamart Mingchua, seeded second, 21-9 21-6 in just 26 minutes, while sixth seed
Lakshya beat compatriot Chirag Sen 21-18 21-15 in a 27-minute clash.
9 September:Indian boxer Vikas Krishan (75kg) won the silver medal in the Asian Boxing
Championships 2015. In the summit clash at Bangkok, Thailand, Vikas was defeated 0-
2by reigning Youth Olympic champion Bektemir Melikuziev of Uzbekistan. With Vikas's
silver, India finished their campaign with one silver and three bronze medals. L.
Devendro Singh (49kg), Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Satish Kumar (+91kg) won the bronze
medals.
9 September:India opened its account with a gold medal through weightlifter Jamjang
Deru who won the boys 56kg category event at the 5th Commonwealth Youth Games
organised in Apia, Samoa. The 17-year-old Deru lifted a total of 237kg with 102kg in
snatch and 135kg in clean and jerk to bag the gold. India is being represented by 25
athletes in eight disciplines out of the nine being competed in the CYG.
8 September: Australian all-rounder cricket player Shane Watson announced his
retirement from Test cricket. He will continue his international career in the One-Day
Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals. 34-year-old Watson's 10-year Test career
came to an end at the Ashes opener at Cardiff, which England won by 169 runs.
8 September: Britain's Mercedes racing driver Lewis Hamilton won the 2015 Formula 1
Italian Grand Prix. The final race was held at Monza near Milan in Italy. While Hamilton
topped the table, Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) and Felipe Masse (Williams) were at the
second and third positions respectively. Sergio Perez (Mexico) and Nico Hulkenberg
(Germany) of Force India stood at the 5th and 6th positions respectively.
8 September: Pune girl Snehal Mane won her second ITF girls' singles tennis title in two
weeks in Mauritius. The 16-year-old Maharashtra player claimed the title by winning the
Mauritius Open ITF Junior championships, a Grade 5 event. Snehal, the fifth seed,
bagged the crown by defeating sixth-seeded local girl Amelie Boy 6-3, 6-0 in just over an
hour in the final.
8 September: Young Indian shooter Apurvi Chandela clinched the silver medal in
womens 10m air rifle event of the ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Finals in Munich. The
22-year-old Jaipur girl finished second on the podium after she tallied 206.9, just 0.6
behind Ahmadi Elaheh of Iran, who won the gold medal with a tally of 207.5. Andrea
Arsovic of Serbia bagged the bronze after prevailing in a shoot-off with Croatias
Valentina Gustin.
7 September: Olympic medallist Gagan Narang of India has achieved the number one
spot in men's 50m rifle prone shooting category in Asia. Narang has 971 points to his
credit while China's Shengbo Zhao is placed second with 896 points. Pistol King Jitu Rai
was placed number two in men's 50m pistol with 1929 points, behind Jongoh Jin of
Korea. Beijing Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra was ranked fifth in 10m air rifle
followed by Narang in seventh position. Gurpreet Singh was positioned fifth in 25m
rapid fire pistol.
7 September: Following their 1-2 series loss to Indian cricket team in the recently
concluded three-match Test series, Marvan Atapattu stepped down as the coach of the
Sri Lankas national cricket team. His resignation was confirmed by Sri Lankan cricket
board..
5 September: South Africas Durban city has been confirmed as the host of the
Commonwealth Games 2022. It has became the first-ever city from Africa to get the
hosting rights of the Commonwealth Games. This announcement was made at the
Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) general assembly in Auckland (New Zealand).
The Games will be held from 18 to 30 July 2022. It will be the 22nd staging of the event,
which is held every four years. Athletes from more than 50 countries, most of which are
former British colonies, compete in these Games. The Commonwealth Games was last
held in 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland with Australias Gold Coast hosting the 2018 event.
5 September: West Indies cricket team's all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has been presented
with the Hummingbird Medal, Trinidad and Tobago's third highest award. The medal
was presented to Bravo for his service to sport. Bravo has played 40 Tests and 164 One-
Day Internationals (ODI) for the West Indies as well as 11 first-class matches and over
300 Twenty20 games till now.
4 September: British sports administrator and former star women swimmer Louise
Martin was elected as the President of Commonwealth Games Federation. She has
become the first female President to be elected as the President of Commonwealth
Games Federation. Martin beat the incumbent Prince Tunku Imran of Malaysia in the
Federation's elections. Martin was the Vice President at the Commonwealth Games in
Glasgow in 2014.
4 September: The Sports Ministry decided to recognize Yoga as a sports discipline and
placed it in the Priority category. The Ministry also decided to upgrade Fencing from
'Others' to 'General' category, based on the past performance in major international
events. It has also been decided to place 'University Sports' in the 'Priority' category.
3 September: Mumbai won the Buchi Babu Memorial Cricket Trophy in the All India
competition. In the final match played in Chennai, Mumbai defeated Tamil Nadu Cricket
Association Districts (TNCA) XI by six wickets. TNCA batting first was able to score 163 all
out in 74 over, in response to which, Mumbai scored 166 for four in 45.2 over.
Mumbai's Surya Kumar Yadav, was adjudged as the Man of the Series.
3 September: India won a historic Test series against Sri Lanka as it defeated the hosts
by 117 runs in the third and final test match played in Colombo. With this win India
ended a 22-year long wait for a Test series win over Sri Lanka on their home soil. Indias
last series success in Sri Lanka came under Mohammad Azharuddins captaincy in 1993
when they won 1-0. India won this Test series under the captaincy of new Test captain
Virat Kohli. Needing 386 runs to win the final Test as well as the series, Sri Lanka were
bowled out for 268.
2 September: Kenya created history by topping the medals tally at the 15th World
Athletics Championships that concluded at Beijing. With 7 gold medals, 6 silver and 3
bronze (total 16) Kenya was at top spot ahead of Jamaica (7 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze)
and the United States (6 gold, 6 silver and 6 bronze) had to be satisfied with the third
position. It was the best ever finish for Kenya in World Championships as the country
once again performed exceedingly well in its traditional domains of middle- and long-
distance running.
2 September: England batsman Ian Bell announced his retirement from one-day
internationals to concentrate on prolonging his test career. The 33-year-old Bell gave
signals to retire after winning Ashes series. Bell is the highest scorer batsman in ODIs
from England. He has scored an England record 5,416 runs with the help of four
centuries in 161 one-dayers
1 September: Ethiopia's Mare Dibaba triumphed in the women's marathon following a
sprint finish at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing. Dibaba edged out Kenyan
Helah Kiprop in the home straight inside the Bird's Nest to win by just one second in a
time of two hours, 27 minutes and 35 seconds. Although fighting hard, Kiprop had to be
satisfied with silver. Eunice Kirwa of Bahrain claimed bronze.
1 September: Britain's Mo Farah became the first man athlete to win back-to-back
world distance doubles when he stormed to a 5,000 metres victory in World Athletics
Championships. The Briton won gold medal as he produced a devastating final 80
metres to romp home in 13 minutes 50.38 seconds. Kenyan Caleb Ndiku held on for
silver. Ethiopian Hagos Gebrhiwet took bronze. Farah who previously won gold medal of
10,000 meters completed a historic 'triple-double'
1 September: Indian wrestler Anil won gold medal in the 50 kg freestyle category in the
Cadet Wrestling World Championships at Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. He defeated Efan Aeini of Iran 10-6. It was the first gold and second medal
for India in this championship as previously Ankush won silver in the 38 kg women
freestyle. To reach the finals of the competition, earlier, Anil defeated Tumentsogt Bold
of Mongolia in the semi-final bout while in quarter-final he defeated Ertugrul Kahveci of
Turkey.
EULOGIES THIS MONTH
30 September: Renowned Hindi poet and eminent journalist Viren Dangwal

passed away. He was 68. His famous poem collection 'Dushchakra Me Shrista'
had earned him prestigious Sahitya Academy award in 2004.
30 September: Consequent upon the demise of Dr. Syed Ahmed, Governor of
Manipur, and the President of India has appointed V. Shanmuganathan,
Governor of Meghalaya, to discharge the functions of the Governor of Manipur,
in addition to his own duties, until regular arrangements are made.
28 September: Sourav Ganguly has been appointed as the President of Cricket
Association of Bengal (CAB) succeeding Jagmohan Dalmiya as announced by
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Jagmohan Dalmiya passed away
recently. Sourav Ganguly is the former Indian cricket captain.
29 September: The Governor of Manipur Dr. Syed Ahmad passed away. He was
75 years old. He was the 16th Governor of Manipur. He was sworn in as states
Governor on 16 May 2015. Prior to this he was the Governor of Jharkhand for
more than 3 years. He was a senior leader of the Congress from Maharashtra.
22 September: Jagmohan Dalmiya, former President of Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI), passed away in Kolkata. He was 75. He became BCCI
president in 2001 and continued till 2004.
21 September: The pioneer of cricket commentary in Marathi who made the
game more popular in Maharashtrian households, Bal Pandit passed away. He
was 86. Maharashtra government bestowed him with the Shiv Chhatrapati
Sports Award in 1978.
16 September: Renowned mohiniyattam dancer and Padma Sri awardee
Kalamandalam Satyabhama passed away. She was 77. A former principal of
Kalamandalam, she was accorded Padma Shri in 2014. She was also the first
recipient of Kerala government's Nritha Natya Puraskaram.
12 September: Renowned water policy expert Ramaswamy R. Iyer passed away
in New Delhi. He was 86. Iyer was known for forming an expert committee on
water policy and environmental issues. His last held position was that of an
honorary research professor at the Centre for Policy Research. Prior to that, Iyer
served as Secretary of Water Resources in the central government as an officer
of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service.
5 September: Legendary Ghanaian former footballer and coach Charles Kumi
Gyamfi has died after prolonged illness aged 85. Gyamfi was the first African
player to play in Germany, when he joined Fortuna Dusseldorf in 1960
2 September: Renowned neurologist and author Oliver Wolf Sacks passed away
in New York, the USA. He was 82. Compared to his career as a practitioner of
neurology and an academician he was better known as the author of best-selling
books on the grey matter like Migraine, Awakenings, The Minds eye, etc.
1 September: Renowned Kannada writer M. M. Kalburgi passed away. The
Sahitya Akademi winner was shot dead by two unidentified assailants in
Dharwad. M. M. Kalburgi was a noted Kannada epigraphist and also a former
vice-chancellor of Kannada University. Apart from Sahitya Akademi Award he
was also awarded Karnataka State Sahitya Akademi, Nrupatunga Award and the
Pampa Award.
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS THIS MONTH
29 September: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched Indias first
dedicated satellite for astronomy research, named ASTROSAT by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
(PSLV-C30) from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The satellite is of about 1513 kg. ASTROSAT will
help in understanding the universe. It is Indias first dedicated multi wavelength space
observatory. PSLV-C30 is carrying Indian ASTROSAT, along with six other co-passengers, one
satellite each from Indonesia and Canada, and four nanosatellites from the US. With the
successful launch of Astrosat, India gained an entry into the select club of nations having its own
space observatory after the US, Japan, Russia and Europe.
28 September: Singer-actress Jennifer Lopez has been named the first-ever global advocate for
girls and women at the United Nations Foundation. The 46-year-old star will travel the globe in
an attempt to highlight the plight of females struggling in war zones, refugee camps and even on
the mean streets of her native New York.
24 September: Cow was declared as the National Animal of Nepal as per the new secular
constitution of Nepal unveiled by Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav at a special ceremony
held in Parliament at Kathmandu.
23 September: Three Indians have made it to a new list of 100 notable tattoo artists from
around the globe. The World Atlas of Tattoo, published by Yale University Press, features
Nagalands Mo Naga, Kolkatas Abhinandan Obi Basu and Delhis Manjeet Singh amongst the
whos who of tattoo art all over the world.
23 September: States have broadly agreed to ensure compliance with the proposed
Environmental Guidelines for construction projects in urban areas at the Workshop on Climate
Change Mitigation in Urban Sector organized by the Ministry of Urban Development in New
Delhi on September 21, 2015. The Workshop was organized for green construction in view of
the fact that building sector consumes 40% of electricity generated in the country, 30% of raw
materials and 20% each of water and land resources besides generating 30% of solid waste and
20% of effluents.
22 September: According to recruitment platform MyHiringClub.coms Worldwide IT Salary
2015 survey, India was ranked 7th on the list of lowest paymasters for information technology
(IT) managers. In India a mid-level IT manager draws an average salary of USD 41,213. Bulgaria
topped the list with a meagre USD 25,680, followed by Vietnam (2nd), Thailand (3rd) and
Indonesia (4th). At the other end of the spectrum, when it comes to countries that pay out the
best IT salaries, Switzerland again topped the list with an average annual remuneration of USD
1, 71,465. It is followed by Belgium (2nd), Denmark (3rd), the US (4th) and the UK (5th).
22 September: China launched the rocket, Long March-6, successfully from Taiyuan Satellite
Launch Centre in North China's Shanxi Province which carried 20 micro-satellites into the space
for space tests. The new 29.3 metres high rocket, is China's first carrier rocket that uses fuel
which is free of toxicity and pollution.
21 September: New Delhi and Mumbai are among the cheapest places in the world to live,
according to a report by Swiss Bank UBS. However, Mumbai is a little expensive in comparison
to Delhi. In the report 71 locations were compared around the world. According to the report
Zurich is the most expensive city in the world, which is followed by Geneva, New York, Oslo and
London.
21 September: PTC India Financial Services Ltd (PFS), a leading infrastructure finance company
promoted by PTC India Ltd., has sanctioned loans aggregating to about Rs. 10 billion for
providing financial assistance to renewable energy projects and energy efficiency projects in
India. This loan amount is for to 9 projects
19 September: India's ranking has slipped further to 81 in the list of Global Innovation Index
2015, compared to 76 in 2014, on account of factors like consistently poor performance in ease
of doing business, slow pace of policy decision-making and changing political environment. The
study ranked 141 economies across the world. However India has outperformed its peers in the
Central and Southern Asian Region (CSA) and positioned itself as innovation achiever in the
lower-middle income category. Switzerland, the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and the US are
the world's five most innovative nations in the list of Global Innovation Index 2015.
19 September: India has been ranked 34th among 60 leading economies in terms of 'business
growth environment' but the country has been ranked among the bottom ten when it comes to
'business operating environment'. In the Grant Thornton Global Dynamism Index (GDI), India
was ranked at the 34th place, registering a gain of 14 places since the last version of the index,
largely driven by a strong and productive workforce. However, India was ranked 53rd out of 60
in the GDI when it comes to its business operating environment.
19 September: Delhi Government approved Victim Compensation Scheme. It enhanced the
upper limit of compensation to rape victims to 5 lakh rupees from existing 3 lakh rupees and to
the victims of acid attack to 7 lakh rupees from 3 lakh rupees. The decision was taken during a
cabinet meet headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
19 September: The largest Indian drugmaker, Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. entered into a
deal to acquire US-based InSite Vision Inc. for $48 million (about Rs.300 crore). As per the terms
of the agreement and merger plan, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Sun Pharma will
make a tender offer for all of the issued and outstanding common stock of InSite Vision at 0.35
US dollars per share in cash.
18 September: Exhibition Shauryanjali was launched at the India Gate lawns in New Delhi to
celebrate the Golden Jubilee (50th Anniversary) of Indo-Pak War of 1965. Shauryanjali has
recreated the battle scene in various sectors beginning from Rann of Kutch to the ceasefire and
Tashkent Summit. It has been presented as an ode to splendid show of valour and sacrifice of
Indian Armed Forces personnel for protecting the borders of the country. The exhibition was
inaugurated by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Union Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley.
18 September: Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) successfully test-fired an indigenously developed
second generation, 2.8 km range, anti-tank guided missile called Amogha-1. The test firing was
carried out at Babina Army Range in Madhya Pradesh. This is the first ever design and
developmental effort in respect of missiles by BDL, Hyderabad. Two missiles were fired and both
hit targets placed at 2.6 km as well as 2.8 km respectively.
17 September: China launched its most sophisticated observation satellite, Gaofen-9, as part of
the country's high-definition Earth observation project. Gaofen-9 was launched from the
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern province of Gansu aboard a Long March-2D
carrier rocket. It was the 209th flight of the Long March rocket series. The optical remote
sensing satellite is capable of providing photographs with a resolution of less than a meter. It
will be used in land survey, urban planning, road network design, agriculture, and disaster relief.
16 September: The sixth edition of Indo-Maldives joint Military Training Exercise concluded at
Pangode Military Station in Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala). It was titled EKUVERIN 2015 and
comprised of 45 soldiers from the Bihar Regiment of Indian Army and same number of marines
from the Maldivian National Defence Force. It was the first joint exercise involving an
international contingent to be conducted at Thiruvananthapuram, which is being developed as a
Training Node by the Indian Army. The bilateral exercise is held annually, with the aim of
enhancing military cooperation and interoperability between defence forces of the two
countries.
14 September: China has build the world's longest solar park in Pakistan. Pakistan will get about
100 MW electricity with the help of this solar park. China has installed around 400,000 solar
panels to build the world's longest Solar Park. The park is being installed on 200 hectares.
11 September: Switzerland is the best place in the world to live for those aged 60 and over
while India ranks a dismal 71st among 96 countries when it comes to social and economic
wellbeing of older people, according to a new report. The Global AgeWatch Index 2015 from
HelpAge International, working in partnership with the University of Southampton, found that
Switzerland is the best place to live for those aged 60 and over, followed by Norway and
Sweden. Germany was the fourth best place for older people to live, Canada stood at fifth.
According to the report in India 116.6 million people over 60 are living.
11 September: Defence minister Manohar Parikkar commissioned INS Vajrakosh, the latest
establishment of the Indian Navy in Karwar, Karnataka. Karwar is poised to emerge as the Indian
Navys premier base on the Western seaboard in the not too distant future. Some of the vital
naval assets are planned to be based there. INS Vajrakosh will have all the required
infrastructure and is manned by specialists to meet these requirements.
10 September: Queen Elizabeth II becomes Britain's longest-reigning monarch later when she
passes the record set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria. The Queen will have
reigned for 63 years and seven months - calculated at 23,226 days. The Queen is 89 years old.
8 September: India finally has an estimate of leopards. The first ever count of India's leopards,
conducted alongside last year's tiger census, has put the spotted cat population at 7,910 in and
around tiger habitats across the country, except the northeast. The leopards were counted using
the same methods adopted for the tiger census. India's total leopard population is in the range
of 12,000 to 14,000. The exercise covered 3, 50,000 sq km of forested habitat of central and
western part of the country.
5 September: India has emerged as the 8th largest tourism market for Australia with over 2 lakh
Indians visiting the country last year. India was one of the fastest growing markets with
expenditure reaching a record of 1 billion Australian dollars for the first time, an increase of 39
per cent. The total number of Indian visiting Australia this year stood at 2, 07,000.
2 September: Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) launched a new mobile app service
named flyDEL that aims to augment the passenger experience and provide them facilities. The
app, which is available for both Android as well as iOS based devices, covering a majority smart
phone users in the country, provides real-time flight information and access to all passengers
facilities available at the airport among others.
RECURRING TERMS
(1) ASTROSAT
ASTROSAT is the name of Indias first dedicated astronomy satellite that was launched
successfully in the space by ISRO on 28 September 2015.
ASTROSAT is a first-of-its-kind Indian space observatory to study celestial objects. Unlike most
other telescopes, the five instruments (payloads) of ASTROSAT can observe a wider variety of
wavelengths, from visible light to the ultraviolet and X-ray bands.
Even in the X-ray band, it can study both low and high energy X-ray regions of the
electromagnetic spectrum. Most other satellites are capable of observing only a narrow range
of wavelength band.
It is worth mentioning that till date, Indian astronomers had to rely on international resources
for X-ray and ultraviolet data. But this is expected to change now with ASTROSAT in the space.
The scientific objectives of ASTROSAT mission:
Understand high energy processes in binary star systems containing neutron stars and
black holes,
Estimate magnetic fields of neutron stars,
Study star birth regions and high energy processes in star systems lying beyond our
galaxy,
Detect new briefly bright X-ray sources in the sky and
Perform a limited deep field survey of the Universe in the ultraviolet region.
(2) Gold Monetization Schemes:
Union Cabinet on 9 September 2015 announced the Gold Monetisation Scheme under which
gold in any form can be deposited with banks for a period of one to 15 years. To bring out the
huge amount of gold that is being kept idly by Indians is the primary objective of this scheme.
The Gold Monetisation Scheme has been announced primarily to bring an estimated 20,000
tonnes of idle gold lying with Indian consumers into the economy and also reduce Indias
dependence on gold imports. Under it, Indians citizens would be able to deposit gold in any
form in the banks for a period of one to 15 years.
This gold will earn interest and redemption will be at the prevailing market value at the end of
the tenure of deposit. By taking advantage of Gold Monetisation Scheme, people can thus
deposit idle gold with authorised agencies and take advantage of the price escalation of gold as
well as earn interest on the deposit.
The gold deposited with banks under the monetisation scheme will be allowed to be sold to
jewelers in order to boost domestic supply.
However, the government intends not to allow the Gold Monetisation Scheme to become a
vehicle for converting black money into white.
The draft proposal of Gold Monetisation Scheme was put up on 19 May 2015 while it was
announced in the Union Budget 2015-16 with the aim of replacing both the existing Gold
Deposit and Gold Metal Loan Schemes.
(3) D-SIBs (Domestic Systemically Important Banks)
The Reserve Bank of India on 31 August 2015 declared SBI and ICICI two banks of the country
as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs), which literally means that these banks are
so integral to the national economy that their failure would have to be prevented at any cost.
While State Bank of India (SBI) is the largest public sector bank and the largest banking entity in
the country, ICICI Bank is the largest private sector bank in the country. The two banks were
designated as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) by the RBI, meaning their
collapse could have a cascading impact on the entire financial system and the economy.
SBI and ICICI have been so designated on the basis of a systemic importance score, arrived at
after an analysis of the banks size as a percentage of annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Banks with assets that exceed 2% of GDP will be considered to be part of this class of lenders.
As of 30 June 2015, SBIs loan book was worth Rs.12.8 trillion and ICICIs loan book was close to
Rs.4 trillion.
The RBI had issued the framework for dealing with Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-
SIBs) on 22 July 2014.
The D-SIB framework requires the RBI to disclose the names of banks designated as D-SIBs
every year in August starting from August 2015.
The framework requires that D-SIBs may be placed in four buckets depending upon their
Systemic Importance Scores (SISs). Based on the bucket in which a D-SIB is placed, an additional
common equity requirement has to be applied to it, as mentioned in the D-SIB framework.
While SBI has been kept in Bucket -3 category, ICICI Bank has been placed in Bucket-1 category.
In November 2011, the Basel committee of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS)
announced a framework for identifying global systemically important banks and the additional
buffers that such banks need to hold.
(4) Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY)
PMKKKY is the name of the new scheme launched by the Union Govt. for the welfare of people
affected by mining related operations on 17 September 2015
PMKKKY is a new programme primarily meant to provide for the welfare of areas and people
affected by mining related operations. It will be implemented by using the funds generated by
District Mineral Foundations (DMFs). The Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation)
Amendment Act, 2015, mandated the setting up of District Mineral Foundations (DMFs) in all
districts in the country affected by mining related operations.
The objective of PMKKKY scheme will be:
(a) To implement various developmental and welfare projects/programs in mining affected

areas that complement the existing ongoing schemes/projects of State and Central
Government
(b) To minimize/mitigate the adverse impacts, during and after mining, on the environment,
health and socio-economics of people in mining districts and
(c) To ensure long-term sustainable livelihoods for the affected people in mining areas.
(5) One Rank One Pension (OROP)
The Union Govt. on 5 September 2015 announced the acceptance of the long-standing demand
of one rank, one pension (OROP) pertaining to the pensions of ex-servicemen. OROP would be
implemented with effect from 1 July 2014, and would cost the government Rs 18,000-22,000
crore this year. However, numerous proposals of the govt. were rejected by ex-servicemen,
who have staged an almost three-month-long public agitation for their demand of OROP. About
the exclusion from OROP of those who took premature retirement (PMR) major proposal of the
govt. was severely criticized by the ex-servicemen.
In simple terms, OROP implies uniform pension be paid to the armed forces personnel retiring
in the same rank with the same length of service, regardless of their date of retirement.
However, in its proposals, the Union Govt. rejected the provisions of OROP for personnel taking
voluntary retirement (VRS) premature retirement (PMR). This proposal was severely criticized
by the ex-servicemen fraternity and they said they will continue to hold their protests against
the govt. However, later on 6 September 2015 Prime Minister cleared the air from OROP
controversy by announcing that servicemen who have taken early retirement will be eligible to
receive the benefits of OROP. After this announcement, the ex-servicemen who were holding
hunger protest for last 88 days called-off the hunger strike but said they will continue with the
stir till all their demands were met by the Govt.
Key points of Union Govt.s OROP grant:
OROP granted with effect from 1 July 2014

Arrears to be paid in four half-yearly instalments
Widows of casualties to be paid in single instalments
OROP will raise annual pension bill by Rs. 8,000-10,000 crore
This amount will rise in tandem with military salaries
Arrears will involve one-time payment of Rs. 10,000-12,000 crore
Pensions to be equalised and adjusted once every 5 years
Pensions to be average of maximum & minimum in 2013
(6) Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme
Union Cabinet approved Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme to reduce dependence on physical gold
The Union Cabinet gave its approval for the Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme. The purpose of the
scheme is to reduce the demand for physical gold and to shift part of the estimated 300 tons of
physical bars and coins purchased every year for investment into Demat (Dematerialised) gold
bonds.
Features of Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme
Bonds will be issued on payment of money and would be linked to the price of gold.
The sell would be restricted to resident Indian entities and each entity cannot buy more
than 500 grams per person per year.
The bonds will be issued in denominations of 2, 5 and 10 grams of gold or other
denominations.
The cap on bonds that may be bought by an entity would be at a suitable level, not
more than 500 grams per person per year.
The bonds will be issued with a nominal rate of interest (which will be linked to
international rate for gold borrowing) as decided by the government.
The rate of interest on the bonds will be payable in terms of grams of gold. The interest
will be calculated on 10000 at a certain per cent say 2 or 3 percent.
On maturity, the investor receives the equivalent of the face value of gold in rupee
terms.
Bonds will be issued on behalf of the Government of India by the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI).
The bond will be marketed through post offices and by various brokers/agents who may
need to be paid a commission (like for Kisan Vikas Patra).
The price of gold may be taken from National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange
(NCDEX) / London Bullion Market Association/RBI and the rupee equivalent amount may
be converted at the RBI reference rate on issue and redemption.
Banks/ Non-bank financial companies (NBFCs)/Post Offices may collect money / redeem
bonds on behalf of government (for a fee, the amount would be as decided).
Capital gains tax treatment will be the same as for physical gold. This will ensure that an
investor is indifferent in terms of investing in these bonds and in physical gold- as far as
the tax treatment is concerned.
The tenor of the bond could be for a minimum of 5 to 7 years so that it would protect
investors from medium term volatility in the gold prices.
These Bonds will be easily sold and traded on commodity exchanges
Bonds can be used as collateral for loans. The Loan to Value ratio can be set equal to
ordinary gold loan mandated by RBI from time to time.
During 2015-16 financial year gold bonds equivalent of 50 tonnes of gold would be
issued. Since the amount, around 13500 crore rupees, is not very high, it can be
accommodated within the market borrowing programme for 2015-16.
Since these bonds are part of the sovereign borrowing, they will be within the fiscal
deficit target for 2015-16 and onwards.
The amount received from the bonds will be used in lieu of government borrowing and
the notional interest saved on this amount would be credited in an account Gold
Reserve Fund.
Gold Reserve Fund will be utilised to take care of the risk of increase in gold price that will be
borne by the government.
ABBREVIATIONS THIS MONTH
ABBREVIATIONS
PMKKKY: Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana
DMFs- District Mineral Foundations
MSOs- Multi System Operators
LCOs- Local Cable Operators
IIFT- Indian Institute of Foreign Trade
OROP- One Rank One Pension
CRIS- Centre for Railway Information Systems
PMJDY- Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana
RPBD- Regional Pravasi Bhartiya Divas
GDP- Gross Domestic Product
UNSC- United Nations Security Council
IGAD- Intergovernmental Authority on Development
W20- Women20
Ccotvm- Cash/Smart Card Operated Ticket Vending Machine
MDG- Millennium Development Goals
IPDS- Integrated Power Development Scheme
FMC- Forward Markets Commission
NEFT- National Electronic Fund Transfer
SEBI- Securities and Exchange Board of India
KYC- Know Your Customer
SIDBI- Small Industries Development Bank of India
NBFC- Non Banking Finance Companies
BCSBI- Banking Codes and Standards Board of India
NABARD- National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
IMPORTANT DAYS THIS MONTH
05 Sep - Indian National Teachers' Day
08 Sep - International Literacy Day
10 Sep World Suicide Prevention Day
14 Sep- Hindi Diwas.
16 Sept - World Ozone Day
22 September- World Rhino Day, It is first announced by WWF-South Africa in 2010.
23 Sep - Birth Anniversary of Rashtrakavi Ramdhari Singh Dinkar.
15 Sep - Engineer's Day in India, International Day of Democracy
21 Sep - UN International Day of Peace, World Alzheimer's day
Sept 25- Social Justice Day
Sept 28- World Rabies Day
Sept 27- World Tourism Day
Sept 29- World Heart Day
SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE MONTH
(1) Global Investors Meet 2015 held in Tamil Nadu
The Global Investors Meet (GIM 2015) was on 10 September 2015 held in Tamil Nadu to woo
investors to invest in the state. The GIM 2015 was officially inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief
Minister J Jayalalithaa at the Chennai Trade Centre.
Nine countries registered themselves as partner nations for this mega investment event.
Highlights of the GIM 2015
Tamil Nadu attracted investments worth more than 2 Lakh 42 thousand Crore rupees at
Global Investors Meet, double of the targeted investment that was 1 lakh crore rupees.
A total of 98 Memorandum of Understanding were signed and promised that the investments
are safe and mutually beneficial.
Almost 90 percent of the investments were in the traditionally strong areas of manufacturing
and energy sectors.
Tyre majors MRF Ltd, Apollo Tyres and various other companies in the manufacturing sector
have proposed to invest close to 55201 crore rupees that would generate over 35000 jobs in
Tamil Nadu.
FICCI jointly with Tamil Nadu Government organised Investment Roadshows at Bangalore,
Hyderabad, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Pune, Mumbai and Kolkata for Tamil Nadu Global Investors
Meet 2015.
HCL will invest over 1 billion US dollars over the next five years in southern Tamil Nadu.
Mahindra & Mahindra will invest 2000 crore rupees in the state.
Yamaha will set up a third plant in Tamil Nadu while TVS Motor Company will expand its
footprint in Hosur and TICEL Bio Park II will also be set up.
Several agreements were signed for setting up of 5345 MW solar power projects involving an
outlay of 35356 crore rupees.
(2) G20 launched W20 to enhance role of women in business
The G20 grouping on 6 September 2015 launched the W20 (Women20) in Ankara, Turkey. The
focus of the W20 is to enhance the role of women in business.
Though the grouping was created in April 2015 it was formally launched on the sidelines of the
G-20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors.
G20 is a group of major economies formed to bring together systemically important

industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy.
The mandate of W20 is to advance and realize recent G20 commitments on
Achieving womens full economic and social participation (Los Cabos Leaders Declaration,
2012).
Enhancing womens financial inclusion and education (St Petersburg Leaders Declaration,
2013).
Reducing the participation gap between women and men in G20 countries by 25 per cent by
2025, taking into account national circumstances (Brisbane Leaders Declaration, 2014).
It is in addition to the existing official engagement groups of the G20-B20 (Business20), C20
(Civil society20), L20 (Labour20), T20 (Think20) and Y20 (Youth20).
Gulden Turktan was appointed as the first president of the group.
She is one of the founders and President of the Women Entrepreneurs' Association in Turkey
(KAGIDER), and is currently a member of its Executive Board.
(3) Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis won 2015 US Open Women's Doubles title :
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis on 13 September 2015 won the US Open Womens
Doubles title.
The top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated the fourth-seeded duo of Casey Dellacqua
(Kazakhstan) and Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) 6-3 6-3 in the summit clash held in
New York.
Incidentally, Martina Hingis also won the Mixed-Doubles title on 12 September 2015
with Leander Paes.
For Sania-Hingis duo, the title was the second Grand Slam in a row as they won their
maiden title in July 2015 at the Wimbledon in England.
Now, Sania has five Grand Slam titles overall including three mixed doubles trophies.
In the Mixed doubles category, she won Australian Open (2009) and French Open (2012)
with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi and the 2014 US Open with Bruno Soares.
Apart from the two titles with Sania in 2015, Hingis won the Wimbledon doubles with
Helena Sukova in 1996 and Jana Novotna in 1998.
Earlier, the Indo-Swiss pair had won doubles title of BNP Paribas Open on 21 March
2015 and WTA Family Circle Cup doubles title on 12 April 2015.
(4) Railway Ministry launched three IT Initiatives developed by CRIS:
The Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu on 1 September 2015 launched three IT
initiatives developed by Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), IT arm of Ministry of
Railways.
These initiatives are:
Paperless unreserved ticketing through mobile phone between New Delhi-Palwal section (nr)
Currency coin cum card operated automatic ticket vending machines at New Delhi railway
station
Mobile application for freight operations (PARICHAALAN)
Paperless unreserved ticketing mobile application:
CRIS has developed a paperless Unreserved Ticketing feature in Mobile Application

utsonmobile both for Android and Windows platforms.
This will eliminate the need for printing of Unreserved Tickets on ATVMs at the stations.
User can download App from Google Play Store or Window Store.
The application has now been implemented on complete suburban area of Chennai &
Mumbai Western Railway suburban section which covers 125 stations over 295 kms
distance. Presently, about 1600 tickets are being booked daily by the passengers
through this application.
The application is now being implemented on the New Delhi-Palwal section of Northern
Railway covering 11 stations over 57 kms distance.
Payment for the ticket is done through the Railway Wallet feature in the App. After
booking the ticket, the passenger will get the ticket confirmation screen which contains
limited information of the ticket.
The ticket has distinct colour scheme everyday and it is embedded with Quick Response
(QR) code. For the purpose of ticket checking, the application has various features such
as colour scheme, show ticket features, secret code of the day, booking time of the
ticket.
(5) The Group of Four (G4) Summit:
The Group of Four (G4) Summit took place on 26 September 2015 after almost a decade. G4
was formed with the objective of supporting each others bids for permanent seats in the
United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
Japan, Germany, India and Brazil are the third, fourth, seventh and eighth biggest
economies, respectively. In terms of population, India is the second biggest, Brazil 5th,
Japan 10th and Germany 16th biggest in the world. Unlike the G7, where the common
denominator is the economy and long-term political motives, the G4s primary aim is
the permanent member seats on the UNSC.
Their economic and political influence has grown significantly in the last decades,
reaching a scope comparable to the permanent members (P5). However, the G4s bids
are often opposed by Uniting for Consensus movement, and particularly their economic
competitors or political rivals.
The G4 Summit 2015 took place on 26 September 2015 at New Yorks Waldorf Astoria
Hotel and was attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President
Dilma Rousseff, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe. The leaders emphasized that the G4 countries are legitimate candidates for
permanent membership in an expanded and reformed Security Council and supported
one anothers candidature.
(6) Bandhan Bank:
A New Entrant in the Banking Sector
The banking sector seems to get a new entrant and a boost in the economy in India. After 11
years, India has got a new private bank Bandhan Bank. The bank is a full-fledged commercial
bank that came into being recently. Bandhan is also the first microfinance company in India that
has been transformed into a bank. It got a banking licence from the Reserve Bank of India in
2014. The bank is set up to cater to the needs of the unorganised sector such as daily wage
earners and women running small business. It will offer saving, insurance and remittance
services. The bank focuses on Eastern India as banking penetration is still poor in the region.
About Bandhan Bank
Bandhan came into being on 23 August 2015 and is headquartered in Kolkata. Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley inaugurated the bank in at the Science City Auditorium in Kolkata. The inauguration
ceremony was attended by policy makers, regulators and luminaries from financial sector.
Besides its founder, Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Singapore Sovereign Wealth Fund GIC, World
Banks International Finance Corporation (IFC), North Eastern Financial Inclusion Trust, Financial
Inclusion Trust, Bandhan Employees Welfare Trust and Small Industries Development Bank of
India (SIDBI) are the main investors of the bank.
History
Previously, Bandhan Bank was Bandhan one of the largest microfinance companies of India
and worlds largest non-deposit-accepting microfinance institution (MFI). The microfinance
company was founded by Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, who is also its Chairman and Managing
Director. The microfinance company lent money to small-scale business, low income women
entrepreneurs and Self Help Groups (SHGs). Bandhan was established in 2001 and has total
assets of approximately Rs.6,770 crore at the time of gaining a bank licence. With more than
13,000 employees, Bandhan was operating from more than 2,000 branches across the country.
Bandhan Bank Begins Operations
The bank opened 501 branches where operations have commenced.

It started operations with 1.43 crore accounts and Rs. 10,500 crore loan book across the
country.
It opened 2022 service centres and 50 ATMs across 24 states.
It has hired 19,500 employees as of now.
It has opened branches in few states 220 in West Bengal, 67 in Bihar, 60 in Assam, 21
in Maharashtra, 20 in Tripura and Uttar Pradesh and 15 in Jharkhand.
It is said that 71% of its branches will be in rural areas, which will include 35% branches
in unbanked rural regions.
It garnered the deposit of Rs. 80 crore and 60,000 new accounts on the first day of its
operations.
It will have 18 such branches, out of all the branches, which will be open seven days a
week.
It plans to increase the number of branches to 632 and add 250 ATMs in 27 states by the
end of the current fiscal year.
(7) Preferential Treatment by India to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Trade in Services in
the WTO:
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, gave its approval for
notification of Preferential Treatment by India to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Trade in
Services in the WTO.
India will notify preferential treatment to the LDCs in Trade in Services in respect of:
1. Article XVI of the GATS (Market Access);
2. Technical Assistance and capacity building; and
3. Waiver of visa fees for LDC applicants applying for Indian Business and Employment
visas.
The preferences will be bound with validity for 15 years from the date of notification by India.
A generous offer in Trade in Services by India should win the country goodwill of LDCs. India has
already made a very generous offer to LDCs in the area of Trade in Goods in the form of a Duty
Free Tariff Preference (DFTF) scheme. An equally generous offer in Trade in Services will help
India preserve and consolidate its leadership position on LDC issues. Further, given the
development dimension of the Doha Round of the WTO, it is important that India makes liberal
offers to LDCs in Trade in Services also. Moreover, several of the LDCs are located in South Asia
while majority are in Africa with whom India maintains special relations.
India's preferential treatment to the LDCs in Trade in Services would involve a cost of Rs. 6.5
crore annually on account of waiver of visa fees and Rs. 2.5 to 3 crore, per annum, for providing
training in management and technical consultancy courses to LDC applicants. As regards offers
under Article XVI of the GATS (Market Access) is concerned, there are no direct financial
implications.
Background:
(1) As per the WTO mandate, decisions of the WTO Ministerial Conferences and requests made
by the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), developed country and developing country
members of the WTO, in a position to do so, were to voluntarily consider providing LDCs
preferential treatment in Trade in Services.

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RBI/ BANKING/BUSINESS NEWS THIS MONTH

NATION THIS MONTH

30 September: Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu launched a Railway Portal

GLOBE- TROT THIS MONTH

APPOINTMENTS/RESIGNATIONS THIS MONTH

11 September: Australia's veteran wicketkeeper/batsman Brad Haddin announced his

AWARDS/HONOURS/WORLD TITLES/NEW DISCOVERIES THIS MONTH

30 September: Mathematician Jacob Tsimerman of the University of Toronto, Canada

SPORTS NEWS THIS MONTH

EULOGIES THIS MONTH

30 September: Renowned Hindi poet and eminent journalist Viren Dangwal

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS THIS MONTH

The scientific objectives of ASTROSAT mission:

(3) D-SIBs (Domestic Systemically Important Banks)

(4) Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY)

The objective of PMKKKY scheme will be:

(a) To implement various developmental and welfare projects/programs in mining affected

(5) One Rank One Pension (OROP)

Key points of Union Govt.s OROP grant:

OROP granted with effect from 1 July 2014

ABBREVIATIONS THIS MONTH

PMKKKY: Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana

DMFs- District Mineral Foundations

MSOs- Multi System Operators

LCOs- Local Cable Operators

IIFT- Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

OROP- One Rank One Pension

PMJDY- Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana

RPBD- Regional Pravasi Bhartiya Divas

GDP- Gross Domestic Product

UNSC- United Nations Security Council

IGAD- Intergovernmental Authority on Development

Ccotvm- Cash/Smart Card Operated Ticket Vending Machine

MDG- Millennium Development Goals

IPDS- Integrated Power Development Scheme

FMC- Forward Markets Commission

NEFT- National Electronic Fund Transfer

SEBI- Securities and Exchange Board of India

KYC- Know Your Customer

SIDBI- Small Industries Development Bank of India

NBFC- Non Banking Finance Companies

BCSBI- Banking Codes and Standards Board of India

NABARD- National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development

IMPORTANT DAYS THIS MONTH

05 Sep - Indian National Teachers' Day

08 Sep - International Literacy Day

14 Sep- Hindi Diwas.

16 Sept - World Ozone Day

22 September- World Rhino Day, It is first announced by WWF-South Africa in 2010.

23 Sep - Birth Anniversary of Rashtrakavi Ramdhari Singh Dinkar.

15 Sep - Engineer's Day in India, International Day of Democracy

21 Sep - UN International Day of Peace, World Alzheimer's day

Sept 25- Social Justice Day

Sept 28- World Rabies Day

Sept 27- World Tourism Day

Sept 29- World Heart Day

SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE MONTH

(1) Global Investors Meet 2015 held in Tamil Nadu

Highlights of the GIM 2015

(2) G20 launched W20 to enhance role of women in business

G20 is a group of major economies formed to bring together systemically important

The mandate of W20 is to advance and realize recent G20 commitments on

Gulden Turktan was appointed as the first president of the group.

These initiatives are: