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Table of Contents

Current Affairs MagazineAugust, 2015

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.

- Aristotle

RBI/Banking/Insurance/

Industry

State Bank of India (SBI)

and ICICI Bank have bee

n given the status of do

mestic systemically impo

rtant

banks (D-SIBs) by the Res

erve Bank of India (RBI) o

n 31st August, 201

5. RBI had announced the

framework

for dealing with D-SIBs

in July 2014 and the fra

mework requires RBI to

disclose the names of

banks

designated as domestic s

ystemically important ev

ery year in August startin

g from August 2015.

Based on the bucket in

which a D-SIB is placed,

an additional common

equity requirement has

to be

applied to it, as per the f

ramework. The framewo

rk also requires that D-SI

Bs may be placed in four

buckets

depending upon their Sy

stemic Importance Score

s (SISs).

The D-SIB framework sp

ecifies a two-step proces

s of identification of D-SI

Bs. In the first step, the s

ample

of banks to be assessed f

or systemic importance

has to be decided. The s

election of banks in the s

ample

for computation of SIS is

based on analysis of the

ir size as a percentage o

f annual GDP.

Indian Bank has launche

d IndPay, a mobile applica

tion service that enables

its customers to operate

bank

account from anywher

e, anytime. IndPay can

be operated through s

martphones compatible

with

Android, Windows and

iOS mobile operating s

ystems. Customers can

do transactions like enq

uiries,

getting mini statement

s and transferring fund

s to any account, the

Chennai-based bank sa

id in a

statement.

Reflecting a muted perf

ormance, the GDP grow

th slowed to 7 per cent

in the April-June quarte

r, from

7.5 per cent in the prev

ious quarter, amid dece

leration in farm, service

s and manufacturing se

ctors. A

slower GDP growth, alon

g with slower pace of ind

ustrial production expans

ion, however bolsters th

e case

for a rate cut by the Res

erve Bank. The Gross Va

lue Added (GVA), a new c

oncept introduced by CS

O to

measure the economic a

ctivity, also slipped duri

ng the first quarter to 7.1

per cent, from 7.4 per c

ent a

year ago.

Aurobindo Pharma Ltd.

has received approval fr

om the U.S. Food and D

rug Administration (USF

DA) to

manufacture and market

Raloxifene Hydrochloride

tablets USP 60mg.

The Reserve Bank of Indi

as (RBIs) High Powered

Committee on Urban Co

operative Banks (UCBs) h

eaded

by RBI Deputy Governor

R Gandhi in its report ha

s recommended convers

ion of UCBs with busines

s size

of 20000 crore rupees or

more into regular banks.

This will allow them to g

row and proliferate furth

er for

financial inclusion. RBI o

n 20 August 2015 placed

the panels report on its

website and invited sugg

estions

and comments from pub

lic on this report by 18 S

eptember 2015.

Entry Point Norms: The n

ew Entry Point Norms (E

PNs) may be as under:

To operate as a Mult

i-State Urban Co-operat

ive Bank- 100 crore rupe

es

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To operate beyond tw

o districts and as a State

level UCB - 50 crore rupe

es

To operate as Distri

ct level UCB (upto 2 dist

ricts) - 25 crore rupees I

n case of conversion of

co-

operative credit societie

s in unbanked areas an

d in the north-east, suit

able relaxation may be

made by the Reserve Ban

k.

Depositors as voting me

mbers: The depositors o

ught to have a say on t

he Boards of UCBs. For

this, a

majority of the board sea

ts may be reserved for d

epositors by making suit

able provisions in the bye

-laws.

Telecom operator Bharti

Airtel has tied up with

taxi-hailing app Uber for

its wallet services. Now,

Uber

riders can pay for their tr

ips with Airtels mobile w

allet service Airtel Mo

ney. Uber already has a

similar

tie-up with Paytm Wallet

. Additionally, in Mumba

i, riders can get free acce

ss to highspeed Internet i

nside

Uber, powered by Airtel

4G. This service will soon

be rolled out for Uber rid

ers pan-India.

The Union Government o

n 20 August 2015 issued

norms for selection of M

anaging Directors (MDs)

and

Chief Executive Officers

(CEOs) in Mid and Smal

l Public Sector Banks (PS

Bs). The guidelines were

issued

after the approval by the

Appointments Committe

e of Cabinet (ACC) for se

lection of MDs & CEOs in

Public

Sector Banks (PSBs) oth

er than five large Public

Sector Banks. The top p

ost in the PSBs would be

filled

from the existing pool of

executive directors (EDs

) or deputy managing dire

ctors (DMDs) in state-ow

ned

banks with a remaining s

ervice period of 2 years.

Henceforth the private

sector executives would

not be

the part of the selection

process of top managem

ent.

Bandhan Financial Servic

es, a Micro Financial Inst

itution (MFI), on 23 Aug

ust 2015 started operati

ons as

a Scheduled Commercia

l Bank (SCB). Henceforth

it will be called as Bandh

an Bank.

With this, Bandhan beca

me the first micro finan

ce company in the coun

try to start operations as

a full-

fledged commercial bank

. It is also the first comme

rcial bank from Eastern In

dia to get RBI clearance s

ince

independence. Bandhan

along with IDFC (Infrast

ructure Development Fi

nance Company) were g

ranted

banking licenses in 2014

by the Reserve Bank of

India (RBI). The move wa

s aimed at deepening fin

ancial

services reach in the coun

try by utilizing the service

s of the existing players

in the market.

PayU India on 25 Augu

st 2015 tied-up with on

line bus ticketing platfo

rm redBus to offer cash

-back

discounts to customers

who use its wallet PayU

Money to buy tickets.

Today, around 50 perce

nt of

bookings on redBus are t

hrough the PayU Wallet.

This tie-up is expected to

increase the wallet custo

mers

from the current 5 milli

on users to 20 million b

y 2015 end. However, p

ayments on redBus can

also be

made with credit and de

bit cards, net banking an

d cash on delivery.

Union Cabinet chaired b

y Prime Minister Narend

ra Modi on 26 August 201

5 gave 4 months extensi

on (up

to 31 December 2015) to

the 7th Central Pay Com

mission. Justice Ashok K

umar Mathur is the Chai

rman

of the Commission.

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Bharti Airtel has agreed

to acquire Augere Wirele

ss Broadband India, as th

e nation's top telecom ca

rrier

looks to consolidate its 4

G footprint ahead of the l

aunch of similar high-spe

ed broadband services by

rivals

such as Vodafone India,

Idea Cellular and Relian

ce Jio Infocomm.

The Union Minister of En

vironment, Forest and C

limate Change Prakash

Javadekar on 27 August

2015

launched an e-payment

module to accept com

pensatory amount for d

iversion of forest land

in the

country. This e-payment

module will cut delays a

nd bring transparency in

the system which is mean

t for

collecting fund from use

r agencies which diver fo

rest land for non-forest p

urpose.

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani G

roups Reliance Commu

nications Ltd. (RCoM) wa

s on 27 August 2015 en

tered

into an agreement with

the USA based Jasper Te

chnologies, Inc. to offer

Internet of Things (IoT) s

ervices

in India.

The government today ap

proved six new proposal

s, including four from IT

and ITeS sector, for setti

ng up

of Special Economic Zone

s (SEZs). The decision wa

s taken by the Board of A

pproval (BoA) for SEZ, cha

ired

by Commerce Secretary

Rita Teaotia, a Comme

rce Ministry official said

. The proposals which g

ot the

approval include those o

f HCL IT City Lucknow, Lo

ma IT Park Developer an

d North Mumbai Internati

onal

Commodity Township.

State-owned NTPC Ltd,

India's largest power g

enerator, has achieved

a record highest single

-day

electricity generation of

733.12 million units. The

record generation of 73

3.12 million units from N

TPC's

18 coal-based power pla

nts, 7 gas-based units a

nd 8 solar and hydro po

wer stations, was achiev

ed on

August 27, the company

said in a statement.

The Reserve Bank grant

ed in-principle approv

al to 11 entities, includ

ing Reliance Industries,

Aditya

Birla Nuvo, Vodafone and

Airtel, to set up paymen

ts banks and proposed su

ch licences on tap in fu

ture.

The other entities which

have been given in-prin

ciple approval are Depar

tment of Posts, Cholaman

dalam

Distribution Services, Te

ch Mahindra, National Se

curities Depository Limit

ed (NSDL), Fino PayTech

, Sun

Pharmas Dilip Shantilal

Shanghvi and PayTMs V

ijay Shekhar Sharma.

Going forward, RBI said t

he central bank would use

the learning from this lic

ensing round to appropria

tely

revise the guidelines and

move to give licences m

ore regularly, virtually o

n tap.

Payment banks allow m

obile firms, supermarke

t chains, and others to

cater to individuals and

small

businesses.

The Payments Bank will

be set up as a differentia

ted bank and shall confin

e its activities to accepta

nce of

demand deposits, remitt

ance services, Internet b

anking and other specifie

d services.

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Payments Banks will ini

tially be restricted to ho

lding a maximum balan

ce of Rs. 1 lakh per ind

ividual

customer.

They will be allowed to

issue ATM/debit cards a

s also other prepaid pay

ment instruments, but no

t the

credit cards.

These banks can also dist

ribute non-risk sharing s

imple financial products

like mutual funds and ins

urance

products.

They will not be allowed

to undertake lending se

rvices and non resident

Indians will not be allow

ed to

open accounts.

The Reserve Bank of Ind

ia (RBI) suspended licenc

es of seven non-banking

finance companies, inclu

ding

Religare Finance, which t

he company said is a dor

mant entity and would n

ot affect its business. The

seven

companies include Relig

are Finance, Eden Trade

& Commerce, Artisans M

icro Finance, Nott Invest

ments,

RCS Parivar Finance, Sw

etasree Finance, Dewra

Stocks & Securities. Rel

igare Enterprises, the ho

lding

company of the group, s

aid its lending operations

continues under Religar

e Finvest.

ICICI Bank on 18 August 2

015 launched Smart Vau

lt, a first-of-its-kind locke

r facility by a bank in Indi

a with

latest robotic technolog

y. The facility was launch

ed by Chanda Kochhar, M

D & CEO of ICICI Bank a

t the

Defence Colony branch o

f Delhi.

Countrys largest lender S

tate Bank of India launch

ed a mobile wallet app, S

BI Buddy, in collaboratio

n with

Accenture and Masterca

rd. The service will be av

ailable to existing as wel

l as non-SBI customers.

Stepping up its fight aga

inst black money genera

tion, the government ap

proved signing and ratifi

cation

of an agreement between

India and Seychelles for

exchange of information

on taxes. The agreemen

t will

stimulate information e

xchange between India a

nd Seychelles for tax pur

poses, which will help cu

rb tax

evasion and avoidance.

Reserve Bank of India on

13 August 2015 notified

the Union Budget-2015-

16 Interest Subvention S

cheme

(ISS) and asked all banks

to provide interest conc

ession of 2 percent on sh

ort term crop loans of up

to 3

lakh rupees. The central

bank in its notification sa

id that interest subventi

on of 2 percent per annu

m will

be made available to pub

lic and private sector ba

nks provided they lend sh

ort term credit at the gr

ound

level at 7 percent per an

num to farmers. The ban

k said that additional int

erest subvention of 3 per

cent

will be available to farm

ers for repaying the loa

n promptly from the da

te of disbursement of t

he crop

loan. This implies that fa

rmers paying promptly w

ould get short term crop

loans at 4 percent durin

g the

year 2015-16.

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Hindustan Unilever, Tata

Consultancy Services (

TCS) and Sun Pharma In

dustries are the three I

ndian

companies that have be

en named among the w

orld's 100 most innovati

ve companies by Forbes

in a list

that has been topped by

Tesla Motors .

The Insurance Regulator

y and Development Auth

ority of India (IRDA) has a

llowed banks to tie up w

ith a

maximum of nine insure

rs from three segments

life, nonlife and stand

alone health insurers

as part

of the new bancassuranc

e guidelines. While such

a tie-up will not be man

datory on the banks and

it has

been left to them to tak

e a call on the number o

f tie-ups, Irda is likely no

tify the new guidelines o

n the

bancassurance norm sho

rtly.

Axis Bank will upgrade c

lose to about one-fourth

, or 50,000, of its point

of sale (PoS) machines s

o that

they can accept debit an

d credit card payments f

rom contactless cards. T

he bank launched conta

ctless

multi-currency forex card

s in partnership with Visa

-the payments gateway

company. Axis Bank wou

ld be

the first bank to issue m

ulti-currency contactless

cards or 'tap and pay' c

ards which can be loade

d in 15

currencies such as Swiss

Franc and Hong Kong do

llar besides the three m

ain currencies -US dolla

r, Euro

and British Pound.

Union Governments am

bitious Pratyaksha Hasta

antarit Laabh (PAHAL) sc

heme was on 13 August

2015

acknowledged as the wo

rlds largest cash transfe

r program (households) b

y the Guinness Book of W

orld

Records.

To boost economic ties, t

he UAE agreed to increas

e investments in India to

USD 75 billion (about Rs 5

lakh

crore) including through

a dedicated infrastructu

re fund, while the two n

ations will raise their bi

lateral

trade to nearly USD 100

billion in five years.

India and Bangladesh on

13 August 2015 signed a

Memorandum of Unde

rstanding (MoU) to tackl

e the

menace of fake Indian cu

rrency notes (FICN) smug

gling. The MoU was signe

d during a maiden meeti

ng of

the Joint Task Force on F

ake Currency Notes (JTF

FC) in Dhaka.

Birla Corp to acquire Lafa

rge Indias cement units

for Rs. 5,000 crore.

IndiGo has signed an a

greement to purchase 2

50 Airbus 320 New Eng

ine Option (NEO) aircra

ft. The

aircraft have a book valu

e of $26.5 billion althou

gh it is not uncommon

for both Airbus and Boe

ing to

provide discounts from t

he listed price provided t

he order size is large.

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Mumbai based Real es

tate listing portal Hous

ing.com on 16 August 2

015 acquired Bengaluru

-based

customer relationship m

anagement software co

mpany HomeBuy360 in

all cash deal of 2 millio

n US

dollars.

Thomas Cook (India) Ltd

. has acquired Sri Lanka

-based destination man

agement company Luxe

Asia

through its wholly-owned

subsidiary Thomas Cook

Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd. for an u

nspecified amount.

India's second largest priv

ate sector lender, HDFC B

ank and online marketpl

ace Snapdeal jointly laun

ched

co-branded e-commerce

credit card. The card is

aimed at getting Snapde

al's customers, 70 per ce

nt of

whom are from smaller c

ities and towns, to make

online payments instead

of availing the cash on d

elivery

option. A customer can a

pply for the card from Sn

apdeal's website, mobile

site or mobile applicatio

n. The

applicant's credit eligibili

ty will be checked instan

tly.

HDFC Bank Ltd. on July

30, 2015 launched 'Dhan

chayat' an educational f

ilm to raise awareness o

n the

dangers of borrowing m

oney from unorganised

sources. This film has be

en launched under the a

egis of

Swachch Banking, the Ban

k's CSR initiative for rural

India. As part of Swachc

h Banking, which aims to

raise

awareness about clean a

nd convenient banking,

HDFC Bankbranded Dha

nchayat video vans will t

ravel

across East, West, South

, North and Central India

, covering thousands of v

illages across the countr

y.

Bharti Airtel is all set to

acquire digital financial s

ervice provider YTS Solut

ions and appoint its co-fo

under

and managing director M

anish Khera as CEO of Ai

rtel M Commerce Service

s Limited (AMSL), its flag

ship

semi-closed wallet unde

r the brand name Airtel M

oney.

Hotel aggregator OYO R

ooms has raised $100-m

illion funding, led by th

e SoftBank Group, alon

g with

participation from existin

g investors - Greenoaks

Capital, Sequoia Capital a

nd Lightspeed India.

eCommerce firm Snapde

al on 4 August 2015 laun

ched its new service nam

ed Snapdeal Instant to e

nable

delivery of packages to c

ustomers as early as with

in an hour of placing the o

rder. Snapdeal Instant is a

imed

at further improving cust

omer experience on the

eCommerce platform by

enabling faster deliverie

s and

maintaining product qua

lity at the same time.

Tata Sons, the promoter

of major operating comp

anies of the Tata group,

will acquire 2.18 per cen

t stake

in Titan Company at an e

stimated price of over Rs

. 680 crore taking its tota

l holding to 19.59 per cen

t.

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Indias largest private se

ctor lender ICICI Bank hit

the US dollar debt marke

t with a benchmark issue

, under

which it plans to raise up

to USD 500 million, mar

ket sources said. The fiv

e-year bond sale is a par

t of the

banks USD 7.5 billion g

lobal medium-term note

programme and will be

carried out from its Du

bai IFC

branch. The bonds will b

e listed on the Singapore

Exchange, the sources ad

ded.

NTPC has signed an agree

ment with Jharkhand gov

ernment and state utilit

y Jharkhand Bijli Vitran N

igam

Limited (JBVNL) to form

a joint venture compan

y that will help optimise

utilisation of assets, imp

rove

performance and expand

capacity of Patratu The

rmal Power Station in R

amgarh district. In a stat

ement

on July 31, state-run NTP

C said it will hold 74 per

cent share in the JV wh

ile JBVNL will have the r

est 26

per cent.

Cab aggregator Ola is sh

utting operations of its s

ubsidiary TaxiForSure (T

FS) in around 22 smaller

cities.

The company will migrat

e all TFS users in cities in

cluding Kochi, Trivandrum

, Coimbatore, Tiruchi, Ma

durai

among others.

Capital markets regulato

r SEBI has imposed a pen

alty of Rs 35 lakh on Mo

narch Research & Broke

rage

failing to check fictitiou

s trade in Sky Industries

Ltds stock. The Securiti

es and Exchange Board

of India

(SEBI) found that Monar

ch allowed its clients to

execute fictitious trades

through it.

Central Board of Direct T

axes (CBDT) on 3 August

2015 signed two unilater

al Advance Pricing Agree

ments

(APAs) with two Multi-N

ational Companies (MNC

s). The aim of the APAs is

to user in an era of cert

ainty

in taxation. This include

s for the first time an AP

A with Rollback provis

ion which means extend

ing the

tax certainty for nine fina

ncial years as against five

years in APAs without R

ollback.

The International Labo

ur Organisation (ILO) a

nd Federation of Indian

Chambers of Commerc

e and

Industry (FICCI) on 5 Aug

ust 2015 signed the Pha

se II of the Memorandum

of Understanding (MoU

) for

cooperation for establish

ing a National Coordinat

ion Centre for Sustainin

g Competitive and Respo

nsible

Enterprises (SCORE) Tra

ining Services in India.

The water treatment en

gineering company Polu

tech Limited of Muruga

ppa Group on 4 August

2015

signed an agreement wit

h Japan-based Organo C

orp to form a Joint vent

ure (JV) of an industrial

water

treatment requirement c

ompany.

The Union Cabinet on 5

August 2015 approved re

lease of wages directly to

the accounts of the wor

kers

engaged under the Ma

hatma Gandhi National

Rural Employment Guar

antee Act (MGNREGA).

The

decision in this regard w

as taken by the Cabinet,

chaired by Prime Ministe

r Narendra Modi, in New D

elhi.

As per the scheme, the

wage component of MGN

REGA will be released fol

lowing the State Employ

ment

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Guarantee Fund window

directly to the worker's

accounts. The transfer w

ill be based on a fund tr

ansfer

order to be generated b

y states' implementing

agencies in accordance

with procedures prescri

bed by

Rural Development Minis

try.

Healthcare platform Prac

to announced that it has

raised $90 million (Rs.

574 crore) in Series C fun

ding.

This round was led by Te

ncent, with participation

from investors including

Sofina, Sequoia India, Go

ogle

Capital, Altimeter Capital,

Matrix Partners, Sequoi

a Capital Global Equities

and Yuri Milner.

Reserve Bank of India (R

BI) on 6 August 2015 no

tified Section 23 of the

Banking Regulation Act,

1949 -

Relaxations in Branch A

uthorisation Policy. The

notification allows ban

ks to shift, merge or c

lose

branches, in urban areas

, at their own discretion.

The decision will provid

e more operational freed

om to

banks. The central bank

said that customers of th

e branch should be inform

ed well in time before act

ual

shifting, merger or closur

e of the office.

Private insurer SBI Life I

nsurance on 6 August 20

15 launched Smart Hum

safar, a unique plan whic

h offers

multiple benefits of savin

gs and insurance cover

for husband and wife un

der a single policy. The

plan

complements the coupl

e's efforts to achieve p

rosperity along with pro

tection to fulfill their dre

am of

leading a better life.

Smart Humsafar Plan Hig

hlights:

A Joint life insurance

cum savings plan wherei

n you can take insurance

cover for yourself and yo

ur

spouse under a single po

licy.

Guaranteed (Conditi

ons apply#) minimum bo

nus for first 3 years @ 2.

50 percent of the Basic S

um

Assured.

Provides financial pro

tection in the event of d

eath of either or both the

lives assured.

Pays a maturity amou

nt on survival of one or b

oth the lives assured at t

he end of the policy term

.

Benefits also include

premium waiver in case

of death of any one of t

he lives assured for in fo

rce

policies.

Additional rider bene

fit at an affordable cost

Tax benefits as per p

revailing norms under th

e Income Tax Act, 1961.

Leading e-commerce pla

yer Snapdeal on 6 Augus

t 2015 tied-up with retail

er Shoppers Stop Ltd to

launch

a digital marketplace thr

ough a flagship Shopper

s Stop store on Snapdea

l. The partnership will lev

erage

Shoppers Stops product

range, brands and Snap

deals reach.

Govt to impose 10% imp

ort duty on wheat till M

arch 2016.

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Travel major Thomas C

ook has acquired Kuoni

Travel (India) Private L

imited (Kuoni India') an

d Kuoni

Travel (China) Limited ('K

uoni Hong Kong') for Rs.

535 crore.

Foxconn signs pact with M

aharashtra Govt to invest

$5 bn over next five year

s.

Coal India Ltd. (CIL), the

largest producer of the f

uel in the country, will in

vest over Rs.62,500 cror

e in the

next five years with an

aim to ramp up annual

production to 908 milli

on tonnes by 2019-2020

, the

government has said.

The Revenue Departme

nt has amended income

tax rules to provide for

reporting of informatio

n with

regards to financial asse

ts and accounts, a month

after India signed a tax i

nformation sharing agre

ement

with the US. On July 9, In

dia and the US signed tax

agreement under the For

eign Account Tax Compl

iance

Act (FATCA) that will ena

ble automatic exchange

of financial information

between the two nations

about

tax evaders from Septem

ber 30. The rules define

various terms such as fin

ancial asset, financial acc

ount,

excluded accounts, partic

ipating and non-participa

ting financial institutions

, among others.

Chinese smartphone ma

ker Xiaomi Inc has tied

up with Foxconn to sta

rt assembling phones in

India,

seeking to cut costs a

nd grab a bigger slice

of the world's third-lar

gest smartphone marke

t. The

announcement comes o

n the heels of a separat

e announcement by Fox

conn to invest $5 billion

in an

electronics manufacturing

facility.

Indian Railway Finance

Corporation (IRFC) wou

ld raise Rs 6,000 crore t

hrough tax-free bonds

in the

current fiscal.

ToneTag, a Bengaluru fi

rm that has developed

technology that enables

contactless payments t

hrough

mobile phones raised $1

million (Rs 6.4 crore) in S

eries A from Reliance Ca

pital's Venture fund arm

.

ICICI Bank has launched

its Saral-Rural Housing

Loan at base rate of 9.7

per cent for borrowers f

rom the

rural areas. Applicants fr

om rural areas, including

women borrowers, can

now avail of home loans

at the

ICICI Bank Base Rate (I-B

ase), which is currently a

t 9.70 per cent. An eligib

le borrower can take up

to Rs.

15 lakh.

Search engine giant Goog

le Inc on 10 August 2015

launched a new parent

company called Alphabe

t Inc

that separates its highly

profitable search and adv

ertising business. The ne

w parent company was fo

rmed

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as part of Googles new o

rganisational structure w

hich will help the compa

ny to keep tremendous

focus

on the extraordinary opp

ortunities and products.

Social networking major

Facebook has given bene

fits of around $21 million

to Indian developers as

part

of its FbStart initiative. T

his is part of the $50 mill

ion worth of benefits the

company, which has mo

re than

70 per cent of its develo

pers outside the U.S., is d

istributing in the Asia-Pa

cific region.

Union Government and

World Bank on 11 Augus

t 2015 signed 308.40 mil

lion US dollar credit agre

ement

in support of the seco

nd phase of the Natio

nal Cyclone Risk Mitiga

tion Program (NCRMPI

I). The

agreement was also signe

d by the state Governm

ents of Goa, Gujarat, Ka

rnataka, Kerala, Mahara

shtra,

and West Bengal.

South Korean steel-make

r POSCO and Shree Uttam

Steel and Power Ltd. ha

ve agreed to set up a thr

ee

million tonne per year in

tegrated steel plant in w

estern Maharashtra State

.

India

The Union Government o

n 27 August 2015 declar

ed the names of 98 cities

for its ambitious smart

cities

project. The aspirant cit

ies were selected by the

States and Union Territ

ories on the parametres

set by

theCentre.

Name of the selected cit

ies were announced by U

nion Urban Development

Minister M Venkaiah Na

idu in

New Delhi.

The selected cities includ

e 12 cities from Uttar Pra

desh, 12 from Tamil Nadu,

10 from Maharashtra, 7

from

Madhya Pradesh, 3 each

from Bihar and Andhra

Pradesh. All other states

have also got one or two

cities

for the purpose, except J

ammu and Kashmir. Nea

rly 13 crore population ac

ross 98 cities, which cons

titute

35 percent of urban popu

lation, will be covered un

der the mission.

Geosynchronous Satellit

e Launch Vehicle (GSLV)

-D6 was successfully lau

nched on 27 August 201

5. It was

launched from the Secon

d Launch Pad at the Sati

sh Dhawan Space Centre

SHAR (SDSC SHAR), Sriha

rikota

in Andhra Pradesh. GSL

V-D6 inducted 2117 kg

GSAT-6, an advanced co

mmunication satellite i

nto a

Geosynchronous Transfe

r Orbit (GTO). The satelli

te is intended to provide

S-band communication s

ervices

in the country.

Kolkata Port was on 21 A

ugust 2015 adjudged as t

he Major Port of the Yea

r amongst 12 major por

ts in

the country for the year

2014-15. It was honoured

in recognition of its impr

essive growth rate in volu

mes,

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optimizing capacity utiliz

ation, growth in output p

er berth and customer sa

tisfaction. It has been de

clared

in the Gateway Award 20

15 programme held at Mu

mbai.

Aurangzeb Road to be re

named Abdul Kalam Road

in Delhi

Manipur Government on

27 August 2015 handed

over 336.93 acres of lan

d at Yaithibi Khunou in T

houbal

district to Union Ministry

of Youth Affairs and Spo

rts for construction of N

ational Sports University

.

The Union Cabinet cha

ired by Prime Minister N

arendra Modi on 26 Au

gust 2015 gave its nod

for

amendments to the Arb

itration and Conciliation

Bill, 2015. The amendm

ents are based on the

Law

Commissions recommen

dations of 246th reports

and suggestions receive

d from stakeholders.

The Niti Aayog has laun

ched an improved versio

n of its interactive data

tool on the country's e

nergy

security scenario to he

lp policy makers and s

takeholders make infor

med choices for better

energy

planning for the future.

The Indian Energy Securi

ty Scenarios (IESS) 2047

(Version 2.0) calculator,

housed

within the Niti Aayog, wi

ll suggest measures to s

hift the energy pattern in

a way to ensure advanc

ement

of the country's energy s

ecurity considerations.

The hotlines or secure lin

es of communication bet

ween Prime Minister Na

rendra Modi and US Pre

sident

Barack Obama and their n

ational security advisers

have recently become o

perational, though it has

not

been put to use during

its short lifespan so far.

With this India become

s only the fourth country

- after

Russia, Great Britain and

China - with which the U

S has a hotline. For India

this is the first hotline a

t the

level of head of state.

Search engine giant Goog

le has entered into a me

morandum of understand

ing with the governmen

t of

Haryana to promote dig

ital literacy in the state.

Google will undertake

a digital literacy drive c

overing

internet safety in govern

ment schools, and also c

onduct a similar exercise

for government officials.

Puducherry Chief Minist

er (CM) N Rangasamy on

21 August 2015 launche

d the much awaited Free

Laptop

Scheme. The scheme en

visages to provide free

laptops to all students w

ho have passed Plus Tw

o from

Government Higher Sec

ondary Schools in the las

t two academic years that

is 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Dr. Najma Heptulla, the

Union Minister for Min

ority Affairs Launched O

nline Application Manag

ement

System (OAMS) for Nai R

oshni. Speaking on the o

ccasion she said the sys

tem brings the scheme i

n to

public domain and will fa

cilitate transparency and

quick delivery.

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India's largest dairy coop

erative Gujarat Coopera

tive Milk Marketing Fede

ration (GCMMF) aka Am

ul is all

set to launch India's first

branded lactose-free mil

k in a month.

Union Government on 3

0 August 2015 launched

a scheme named SAHA

J for online release of n

ew LPG

connections for the co

nsumers. The scheme

launched by Petroleum

and Natural Gas Min

ister

Dharmendra Pradhan can

be availed through the p

ortal mylpg.in.

At present, the scheme w

ill be available in 13 citie

s of the country, namely D

elhi, Ahmedabad, Benga

luru,

Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar,

Chandigarh, Chennai, Hy

derabad, Kolkata, Luckno

w, Mumbai, Patna and P

une. It

will be launched pan-Ind

ia within the next few da

ys. SAHAJ facility will ena

ble the prospective cust

omers

to post online request

for a new connection

by filing Know Your Cu

stomer (KYC) form, uplo

ading

photographs and bank

account details. After s

ubmission, the custome

r will receive the regist

ration

number to know the con

nection status.

Prime Minister Narendra

Modi on 31 August 2015

released digital recordin

gs of epic Ramcharitman

as, as

a set of digital CDs produ

ced by All India Radio (A

IR).

India and Australia on 24

August 2015 signed a Me

morandum of Understand

ing (MoU) on cooperatio

n in

the fields of education,

training and research. T

he MoU was signed by

Smriti Irani, Union Mini

ster of

Human Resource Develo

pment and Christopher P

yne MP, Minister for Edu

cation and Training, Aust

ralia.

Union Telecom Minister R

avi Shankar Prasad on 24

August 2015 released a c

ommemorative postal sta

mp

on emperor Ashoka. The

postal stamp of 5 rupee

s will be available for sal

e in the post offices.

The National Democrati

c Alliance (NDA) governm

ent on Tuesday released

the religious census dat

a of

2011. According to the d

ata, while Hindus consti

tute 79.8 per cent of the

population, Muslims co

nstitute

14.2 per cent. The propo

rtion of Hindu population

to total population of 12

1.09 crore in 2011 has de

clined

by 0.7 percentage point

(PP); the proportion of S

ikh population has decli

ned by 0.2 PP and the Bu

ddhist

population has declined b

y 0.1 PP during the deca

de 2001-2011. The propo

rtion of Muslim populati

on to

total population has inc

reased by 0.8 PP. There

has been no significant

change in the proport

ion of

Christians and Jains. W

hile decadal growth rat

es are declining among

all religious communit

ies, the

decline has been faster

among Muslims than am

ong Hindus, as has bee

n the case for the past

three

decades. Fertility rates

are also reducing faster

among Muslims than a

mong Hindus, along exp

ected

demographic lines.

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Australias BRIDGE Progr

amme was in news in A

ugust 2015. The progra

mme that is run by Aus

tralian

Schools in collaboration

with Indian Schools cam

e in news on 24 August 2

015 after Australia agree

d to

include Jawahar Navoday

a Vidyalayas (JNVs).

The Second Forum for

India-Pacific Island Coop

eration Summit was hel

d on 21 August 2015 in

Jaipur,

Rajasthan. Besides the P

rime Minister Narendra M

odi, the summit was atte

nded by heads of states

and

governments and key of

ficials of the 14 pacific is

land nations of the group

.

The Union government o

n 25 August 2015 launch

ed a telemedicine initiativ

e 'Sehat' in collaboration

with

Apollo Hospitals to prov

ide healthcare facilities

in rural areas. The initi

ative was launched by U

nion

Communication and IT M

inister Ravi Shankar Prasa

d at a function in New Del

hi. Under the initiative pe

ople

will be able to consult do

ctors through video link a

nd also order generic dru

gs. It will also help in prov

iding

quality and affordable he

althcare is one of the em

erging needs for citizens

in rural areas.

India and Egypt on 24 A

ugust 2015 signed two

Memorandum of Under

standings (MoUs) to enh

ance

bilateral cooperation.

MoU on Cooperation

in the field of Tourism

MoU on scientific an

d technical Cooperation

Rajasthan State Food an

d Civil Supplies Corpora

tion (RSFCSC) and Kishor

e Biyani-led Future Con

sumer

Enterprise Ltd (FCEL) on

20 August 2015 inked a

n agreement to launch

the Annapurna Bhandar

Yojna,

which is a Public Private D

istribution Scheme, the f

irst-of-its kind in India.

Social entrepreneur an

d Nobel Peace Prize w

inner Muhammad Yunu

s of Bangladesh will g

uide

Maharashtra on microfin

ance and how to revive d

ying Micro, Small and Me

dium Enterprises (MSME

s) in

the State.

India will implement the

Sendai framework for d

isaster risk reduction in

letter and spirit. The 'Se

ndai

Framework for Disaster

Risk Reduction 2015-203

0' was adopted during t

he third UN World Conf

erence

on disaster risk reductio

n held in Sendai, Japan

on March 14-18, 2015 w

here India was represen

ted by

Home Minister Rajnath S

ingh.

'Jaisalmer War Museum

established in the Milita

ry Station of Jaisalmer, R

ajasthan was inaugurate

d on 24

August 2015. The mus

eum was inaugurated b

y Lieutenant General A

shok Singh, General O

fficer

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Commanding in Chief of

Southern Command to

mark the Golden Jubilee

Commemoration Year o

f 1965

Indo Pak War.

Himachal Pradesh Gover

nment on 20 August 2015

launched the Rajiv Gand

hi Illuminating Scheme fo

r Hill

Town Advancement (RIS

HTA) project, an efficie

nt smart LED based str

eet lighting project. Wit

h this,

Himachal Pradesh becam

e the first state in North

India to do so.

The Union Governmen

t on 15 August 2015

launched a web por

tal named Vidya Laksh

mi

(www.vidyalakshmi.co.in

) for the benefit of stude

nts seeking Educational L

oans. It is the first portal

of its

kind that provides single

window for students to a

ccess information and m

ake application for educ

ational

loans provided by banks

as well as for governme

nt scholarships. The Por

tal was developed by NS

DL e-

Governance Infrastructu

re Limited (NSDL e-Gov) u

nder the guidance of De

partment of Financial Se

rvices

under Union Ministry of

Finance, Department o

f Higher Education und

er Union Ministry of H

uman

Resource Development a

nd Indian Banks Associa

tion (IBA).

Delhi Jal Board (DJB) on

23 August 2015 commis

sioned the first ever Hyd

ro-power plant in the ci

ty. The

power plant set up at C

hilla area of east Delhi w

ill be run through the H

ydraulic Turbine propell

ed by

treated effluents coming

out of a Sewerage Treatm

ent Plant.

Tata Trusts has signed a M

emorandum of Understa

nding (MoU) with the An

dhra Pradesh Governme

nt to

develop 264 villages in V

ijayawada constituency a

nd transform them into s

mart villages. In a major b

oost

to the State Governmen

ts flagship Smart Village

-Smart Ward programme

, the Tata Trusts has agre

ed to

work in the areas of bam

boo cultivation, fisheries

, health and nutrition an

d village development.

United Nations Framew

ork Convention on Clim

ate Change (UNFCCC)

and the Chennai-based

MS

Swaminathan Research F

oundation (MSSRF) in thir

d week of August 2015 ag

reed to work together for

the

conservation of coastal re

sources in Andhra Prade

sh.

The Indian Railways on 1

2 August 2015 signed fou

r Memorandum of Under

standings (MOUs) with U

nion

Ministry of Power and Un

ion Ministry of New & R

enewable Energy for Coo

peration in areas of elect

ricity

transmission, energy con

servation and promotion

of renewable Energy in

a time bound manner.

The Cabinet Committee

on Economic Affairs (CCE

A) meet chaired by Prim

e Minister Narendra Mod

i on 12

August 2015 approved th

e 300-crore rupees pack

age to save standing kha

rif agriculture and hortic

ulture

crops from weak monsoo

n.

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The Union Cabinet chaire

d by the Prime Minister N

arendra Modi on 12 Augu

st 2015 gave its ex-post-f

acto

approval for the Memora

ndum of Understanding (

MoU) on cooperation to e

stablish the Pace Setter F

und

(PSF). The PSF seeks to s

upport the Promoting En

ergy Access through Clea

n Energy (PEACE) track o

f the

US-India Partnership to A

dvance Clean Energy (PA

CE) between India and U

nited States of America.

The Union Cabinet chair

ed by the Prime Ministe

r Narendra Modi on 12 Au

gust 2015 gave its approv

al for

the signing of a Memoran

dum of Understanding (M

oU) between the India an

d Nepal for the construct

ion

of a petroleum products

pipeline from Raxaul (Indi

a) to Amlekhgunj (Nepal)

.

The Ministry for New and

Renewable Energy has s

anctioned a 1,500-MW u

ltra mega solar power pa

rk for

development in Kadapa

district of Andhra Prades

h. This will become the t

hird park of over 1,000 M

W to

be taken up by the state

. Two other parks of 1,0

00 MW each are being e

xecuted by NTPC at Anan

tapur

and Kurnool districts, res

pectively.

India and Slovak Republic

on 13 August 2015 signe

d a Memorandum of Und

erstanding (MoU) on tec

hnical

cooperation in railway s

ector. The MoU was sign

ed in New Delhi by Gang

a Ram Agarwal, Secreta

ry of

Railway Board of India a

nd Zigmund Bertok, Amb

assador of Slovak Repub

lic to India.

Taj Mahal becomes 'first

historical monument' to d

ebut on Twitter

The Prime Minister Naren

dra Modi on 15 August 2

015 launched a new cam

paign Start-up India, Stan

d up

India to promote bank

financing for start-ups a

nd offer incentives to b

oost entrepreneurship a

nd job

creation. The campaign

was launched during the

celebrations of 69th In

dependence Day at Red

Fort,

Delhi. The initiative is a

imed at encouraging en

trepreneurship among

the youth of India. As p

er the

initiative, each of the 1.2

5 lakh bank branches sh

ould encourage at least

one Dalit or tribal entrep

reneur

and at least one woman

entrepreneur.

Odisha government on 1

3 August 2015 approved

a 1500 crore rupees Sta

te Capital Region Improv

ement

of Power System (SCRIP

S) scheme. The scheme w

ill be implemented in five

years that is from 2015-

16 to

2019-20.

Cochin International Air

port becomes world's f

irst to operate on sola

r power. Kerala Chief M

inister

Oommen Chandy inaugu

rated the 12 MWp solar

power plant, comprising

46,150 solar panels laid

across

45 acres near the cargo c

omplex, at a function at

the airport.

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Tata Trusts to develop 26

4 villages in Vijayawada

LS constituency.

Telangana Chief Ministe

r K. Chandrasekhar Rao o

n 17 August 2015 launch

ed a flagship programme

Grama

Jyothi across the state.

The scheme is aimed at

comprehensive develop

ment of rural areas allo

wing

planning and execution o

f works by villages them

selves.

Kerala government on 17

August 2015 signed a M

oU with Adani Group led

Adani Vizhinjam Port Pri

vate

Ltd for developing 7525

crore rupees Vizhinjam

International Deepwate

r Multipurpose Seaport

near

Kovalam beach.

The Second Round of Ind

ia-Paraguay Foreign Offic

e Consultations (IPFOC)

was held on 17 August 2

015 in

New Delhi. The meet aim

ed to strengthen the coo

peration between the tw

o countries.

Google-run video sharin

g portal YouTube on 19

August 2015 tied-up with

Whistling Woods Interna

tional

(WWI) to set up YouTub

e Space in Mumbai, a co

llaboration and productio

n facility for YouTube vi

deo

creators. However, the f

irms did not disclose any

financial details.

Prasar Bharti and Digital

Television Russia on 20 A

ugust 2015 signed a mem

orandum of understandi

ng for

cooperation which will

set the stage for a new

media era in both the

countries. This purpose

ful and

meaningful MoU was in

ked in New Delhi.

The Union Government o

n 19 August 2015 issued

the final notification dem

arcating the Eco Sensitiv

e Zone

(ESZ) around Okhla bird s

anctuary.

Haryana Chief Minister

Manohar Lal Khattar an

d Lt Governor of Maryla

nd Boyd K. Rutherford,

on 18

August 2015 have agree

d to explore the possibil

ities of cooperation in th

e fields of bio-technolog

y, life

sciences and agriculture,

cyber security and engin

eering.

162 enclaves of India an

d Bangladesh were inte

grated with the main la

nd with the execution o

f Land

Border Agreement, 197

4 between the two cou

ntries at midnight on 3

1 July 2015. According

to the

agreement, 51 Banglade

shi enclaves situated at

Indian soil in Coochbe

har District of West Be

ngal

amalgamated with India

, while 111 Indian enclav

es in Bangladeshi territo

ry integrated with that co

untry

when the clock struck 12

at night.

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With an aim of ending in

surgency in Nagaland, g

overnment signed an ac

cord with key outfit NSC

N(IM)

which Prime Minister Na

rendra Modi described a

s a historic step to ushe

r in peace in the state. Th

e pact

was signed in the prese

nce of the Prime Ministe

r, Home Minister Rajnath

Singh and National Secu

rity

Adviser Ajit Doval by the

outfits leader T Muivah

and governments inter

locutor R N Ravi at the

PMs

residence here. The signi

ng of the pact is the culm

ination of over 80 rounds

of negotiations that spa

nned

16 years with first break

through in 1997 when ce

asefire agreement was se

aled.

Registrar General & Cen

sus Commissioner of Ind

ia on 31 July 2015 relea

sed the Census 2011 da

ta on

Highest Education Level

Attained.

The data relates to popu

lation of 7 years and abo

ve by age and sex for tot

al, Scheduled Castes (SC

s) and

Scheduled Tribes (STs) u

p to district levels.

Main Highlights

Primary occupies th

e top position in terms o

f percentage share to tot

al literates in 2011 for bo

th

total and SCs. The respe

ctive shares are 24.1perc

ent for total and 27.7 pe

rcent for SCs.

The percentage shar

e of literates at the high

er educational levels, i.e.

Middle, Higher Seconda

ry

and above have gone up

at national level for tota

l, SCs and STs during cen

sus 2011 as compared

to census 2001.

In case of Matric/Se

condary, there is negligi

ble decline for total wh

ile for SCs & STs, there

is

improvement.

The percentage sha

re of Graduate and abo

ve population of 15 yea

rs and above has show

n

improvement from 5.7 pe

rcent to 8.2 percent for t

otal, 2.2 percent to 4.1 p

ercent for SCs and 1.5

percent to 2.6 percent fo

r STs during 2001-11.

The percentage sha

re of Graduate degree

other than technical de

gree to total Graduate a

nd

above has declined by 7

.2 percent for total, 7.7 p

ercent for SCs and 7.5 pe

rcent for STs during the

decade 2001-2011.

The share of Post G

raduate Degree other th

an technical degree has

shown improvement of

2.9

percent for total, 2.4 per

cent for SCs and 2.4 perc

ent for STs during 2001-1

1.

Technical Degrees or

diplomas equal to degre

e or post graduate degre

e has shown improveme

nt

of 4.4 percent for total,

5.3 percent for SCs and 5

.1 percent for STs during

2001-11.

With an aim to help lac

tating mothers who are

travelling, Tamil Nadu

Chief Minister Jayalali

thaa

inaugurated, through vid

eo conferencing, 352 roo

ms in bus terminals acro

ss the state where wom

en can

feed their newborns. Tim

ing the launch to sync w

ith World Breast Feeding

Week (August 1-7), she

also

inaugurated Mothers M

ilk Banks in seven govern

ment hospitals, including

Tiruchirappalli and Mad

urai.

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17

Aadi Perukku festival wa

s celebrated in Tamil Nad

u with traditional gaiety

on 3 August 2015. On th

is day,

thousands of people incl

uding newlywed couples

performed pooja in Cauv

ery River in Erode Tiruchi

rapalli

and Salem.

The state government o

f Tamil Nadu on 31 July

2015 instituted a youth

award in the name of f

ormer

President Dr APJ Abdul K

alam. In a statement issu

ed in Chennai, Chief Min

ister J Jayalalithaa said th

at the

annual Dr APJ Abdul Kala

m Award consisting 8 gr

am gold, 5 laks rupees in

cash and a citation.

Indo-UK bilateral Air Exe

rcise Indradhanush betw

een Indian Air Force (IAF

) and British Royal Air Fo

rces

(RAF) concluded on 30 Ju

ly 2015. The EX-Indradha

nush started in Britain on

21 July 2015.

Rural Development Min

ister Chaudhary Birend

er Singh on 4 August 2

015 launched SAMANV

AY, a

compilation of all schem

es of both Union and Sta

te governments for Gram

Panchayats. SAMANVA

Y was

launched with an aim to

help MPs in utilising rel

evant schemes in the pla

nning and implementatio

n of

Saansad Adarsh Gram Yo

jana (SAGY). It will also a

ct as a database for map

ped and compiled inform

ation

on various gram panchay

at activities through sch

emes undertaken by the

Centre and State Govern

ments.

More than 1800 state sc

hemes from across all st

ates have been documen

ted in SAMANVAY.

India's biggest multi-a

pplication solar telesco

pe (MAST) was inaugu

rated at the Udaipur

Solar

Observatory by Prof UR

Rao, the chairman of the

governing council of the

Physical Research Labor

atory,

Ahmedabad. Authorised

by the Ministry of Scie

nce and Technology, MA

ST has been funded by

the

Department of Space. So

far Rs 26 crore has been

spent on the project. The

Physical Research Labor

atory

of Ahmedabad will take

care of the project.

Maharashtra governme

nt on 4 August 2015 incre

ased the retirement age

for group 'A' category m

edical

officers from 58 to 60 ye

ars. The decision to this

effect was taken at a m

eeting of the state cabi

net in

Mumbai and will be impl

emented with retrospec

tive effect from 31 May 2

015.

Uttar Pradesh Governm

ent on 4 August 2015 a

nnounced that two films

namely Masaan and Ja

anisaar

will be free from the en

tertainment tax in the st

ate. They were made tax

free as they were entire

ly shot

in Uttar Pradesh.

A bill to reduce the workl

oad of the Delhi High Co

urt by enhancing the pec

uniary jurisdiction of civi

l suits

from the existing Rs 20

lakh to Rs 2 crore was

passed by Parliament

today. Once implemente

d, the

measure would allow tra

nsferring of civil suits, va

lued up to Rs 2 crore, to

the nine district courts i

n Delhi

from the high court.

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The Uttar Pradesh (UP) C

abinet on 4 August 2015

approved UP Technical

University (Amendment)

Bill,

2015. UP Technical Univ

ersity will now be known

as APJ Abdul Kalam Te

chnical University.

India will host the heads

of 14 island nations at t

he Forum for India-Pacif

ic Islands Cooperation (F

IPIC)

in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

The Integrated Underw

ater Harbour Defence a

nd Surveillance System

(IUHDSS), a state-of-t

he-art

automated system capa

ble of detecting, identif

ying, tracking and gener

ating warning for surfac

e and

underwater threats com

missioned in Kochi. With

this, Kochi got Indias fir

st harbour defence syste

m.

India and Mozambique

on 5 August 2015 signe

d Memorandum of und

erstanding (MoU) to de

epen

cooperation in New and

Renewable Energy Secto

r. The agreement was si

gned during the official

visit of

Filipe Nyusi, President o

f Mozambique to India.

Bharti Airtel on 6 August

2015 launched pan-India

4G high-speed data serv

ices. The service was laun

ched

in 296 towns across Ind

ia and it will be availab

le to customers through

4G-enabled mobile pho

nes,

internet dongles and Wi-

Fi routers.

Haryana Chief Minister,

Manohar Lal Khattar on

4 August 2015 launched

scheme named Thari Pen

sion

Thare Pass in Chandigar

h. Khattar launched the

scheme by pressing a bu

tton that allowed transf

er of

social security pensions

of July 2015 amounting

to about 119 crore rupee

s directly into the bank a

ccounts

of eligible beneficiaries u

nder the scheme.

BHEL commissions 500 M

W thermal unit at Vindh

yachal Super Thermal Po

wer Station in Maharas

htra.

A global satellite for earth

observation and disaster

risk reduction GlobalS

at for DRR proposed un

der

the UN framework is to

be dedicated to A.P.J. A

bdul Kalam as a tribute

to the vision of the celeb

rated

rocket scientist and form

er Indian president who d

ied July 27.

Government has decide

d that Aadhaar enrolme

nt of Non-Resident Indian

s, Persons of Indian Orig

in and

Overseas Citizen of India

should be eventually all

owed to help them auth

enticate their identity di

gitally.

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Prime Minister Narendr

a Modi on 7 August 20

15 inaugurated first Na

tional Handloom Day a

t the

Centenary Hall of Madra

s University in Chennai,

Tamil Nadu, where he a

lso unveiled 'India Hand

loom'

brand.

India and Myanmar on

6 August 2015 inked an

agreement to set up Ce

ntre of Excellence in Sof

tware

Development and Traini

ng (CESDT) in Myanmar

. The project to be set

up with the financial su

pport

through ASEAN-India Co

operation fund will be im

plemented by C-DAC.

Tendong Lho Rum Faat

(Prayer of the Tendong M

ountain), an ancient and

natural festival of the e

thnic

Lepcha tribe of Sikkim w

as celebrated with tradi

tional devotion and fanf

are on 9 August 2015. I

t is an

annual festival celebrated

in the month of July-Aug

ust.

Mysuru city in Karnataka

topped the Swachh Bha

rat Rankings that were re

leased by the Ministry of

Urban

Development.

The second position w

as bagged by Thiruchira

palli in Tamil Nadu, foll

owed by Navi Mumbai,

Kochi

(Kerala), Hassan, Mandya

and Bengaluru from Karn

ataka, Thiruvananthapu

ram (Kerala), Halisahar (

West

Bengal) and Gangtok (Sik

kim). Damoh in Madhya

Pradesh (MP) ranked the

lowest, preceded by Bh

ind in

M.P., Palwal and Bhiwan

i, both in Haryana, Chitta

urgarh (Rajasthan), Bula

ndshahar (UP), Neemuch

(MP),

Rewari (Haryana), Hindau

n (Rajasthan) and Samba

lpur in Odisha.

Union Government on

10 August 2015 launche

d the School Nursery Y

ojana, an initiative to b

ring

students closer to natur

e. The Yojana seeks to e

ngage class VI to IX in r

aising of saplings in nurs

eries

created in schools. The

Yojana was launched by

Union Environment Min

ister Prakash Javadekar i

n New

Delhi. The underlying th

eme of the Yojana is to p

lant a tree for sustainable

future and to make the n

ation

clean and green. The Yo

jana in its first phase wo

uld cover 1000 schools a

nd would be extended to

5000

schools in 2016 and 1000

0 schools the following y

ear.

The indigenous Titanium

Sponge Plant at Chavara

in Kerala has been fully

commissioned and has s

tarted

commercial production r

equired for space applica

tions, Indian Space Resea

rch Organisation (ISRO)

Kochi on 10 August 201

5 became the first Indian

city to be a member of

Beijing headquartered

World

Tourism Cities Federatio

n (WTCF) Council and joi

n its league of leading to

urism cities across the w

orld.

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The Union Minister for M

inority Affairs Najma Hep

tulla on 8 August 2015 la

unched a new Central Se

ctor

Scheme Nai Manzil in P

atna. The scheme will

address educational and

livelihood needs of min

ority

communities in general

and muslims in particula

r as it lags behind other

minority communities in

terms

of educational attainmen

ts.

It will provide them trad

e basis skill training in 4

courses including Manu

facturing, Engineering, Se

rvices

and Soft skills. The schem

e is intended to cover pe

ople in between 17 to 35

age group from all mino

rity

communities as well as M

adrasa students.

Railway Minister Suresh

Prabhu on 10 August 201

5 launched new train serv

ices in the Northeast afte

r the

completion of North Lak

himpur-Murkongselek a

nd Balipara- Bhalukpong

sections into broad-gau

ge. He

launched the service thr

ough video-conferencin

g from New Delhi.

Telecom Minister Ravi S

hankar Prasad on 10 Au

gust 2015 launched a ne

w mobile app named Di

sha to

promote digital literacy i

n Bihar. The app aims to

help people learn about

computers and Internet t

hrough

self learning modules.

National Bank for Agric

ulture and Rural Devel

opment (NABARD) has

been accredited by the

Green

Climate Fund as an imp

lementing entity for und

ertaking climate change

related projects in India

. The

Green Climate Fund (GCF

) was set up under the fr

amework of the United N

ations Framework Conven

tion

on Climate Change (UNFC

CC) in 2010 to help deve

loping countries finance

clean energy, other mitig

ation

efforts and adaptation to

climate change.

The Indian Space Resear

ch Organisation (ISRO) h

as tied up with the Unio

n Urban Development M

inistry

for mapping over 500 to

wns and cities, to make

a base plan for better pla

nning and management.

Uttar Pradesh Governm

ent on 11 August 2015

approved the amended

guidelines for Begum A

khtar

Award.

PM Visit to UAE

Prime Minister Narendr

a Modi visited United A

rab Emirates

He is the first Prime M

inister of India to visit UA

E after 34 years. The last

Indian Prime Minister to

visit the UAE was Indira G

andhi in 1981.

His Highness the Cro

wn Prince decided to allo

t land for construction o

f a temple in Abu Dhabi.

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He also visited the h

istoric Sheikh Zayed Gra

nd Mosque in Abu Dhab

i, which is the third large

st

mosque in the world an

d can accommodate arou

nd 40000 people at a tim

e.

It is named after the

founder and first Preside

nt of the UAE, the late S

heikh Zayed bin Sultan A

l

Nahyan.

The other two mosqu

ess which are larger tha

n the Zayed Grand Mosq

ue ate the ones in Mecc

a

and Madina in Saudi Ara

bia.

He visited Masdar Ci

ty, a zero carbon city, wh

ere he met with investors

.

He addressed Indian

Diaspora of the country

at the Dubai Cricket Stad

ium.

Indian Diaspora form

s 30 per cent of the UAE

s population.

He also interacted w

ith Indian workers at the I

CAD Residential Labour C

amping, Abu Dhabi, whic

h

houses thousands of mig

rant labourers from the I

ndian subcontinent.

Besides this, the Prim

e Minister announced tha

t the Indian mission in UAE

has set up an e-migrant

portal to help Indian mig

rant workers and an onl

ine platform 'MADAD' to

assist them.

Appointments

India

Rajiv Mehrishi appoi

nted as Union Home secr

etary

Outgoing Home Sec

retary L.C. Goyal Appoin

ted as CMD of India Tra

de Promotion Organisati

on

(ITPO)

R P Watal designate

d as new Finance Secreta

ry

Snapdeal appoints fo

rmer Adobe executive R

ajiv Mangla as CTO

Gillette India appoin

ts Al Rajwani as Managin

g Director

Balachandran M ha

s been re-appointed th

e Non-Executive Chairm

an of National Paymen

ts

Corporation of India (NP

CI)

Noted academician

Amitabh Mattoo appoin

ted as Advisor to J&K CM

Mufti Mohammad Sayee

d

Justice ML Tahaliyani

sworn-in as Lokayukta o

f Maharashtra

Ananth Padmanabh

an appointed as CEO of

HarperCollins India

Girish Sahni assumed

charge as Director Gene

ral of CSIR

Amol Palekar appoin

ted chairman of Indias O

scar jury

O.P. Rawat Appointe

d New Election Comissio

ner.

Coca-cola India signs

Sourav Ganguly for 3-ye

ars as social ambassado

r

Jayant Patel appoint

ed as acting Chief Justice

of Gujarat High Court

Sudhakar Shetty elec

ted as President of Gymn

astics Federation of India

Union Government

on 14 August 2015 app

ointed private sector p

rofessionals, namely P

S

Jayakumar and Rakesh S

harma, as Managing Dire

ctor (MD) and Chief Exec

utive Officer (CEO) of

Bank of Baroda (BoB) and

Canara Bank, respective

ly.

Ajit Kumar Seth appo

inted as Chairman of Pub

lic Enterprises Selection B

oard

Kishor Piraji Kharat

takes charge as MD & CE

O of IDBI Bank

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Karnal Singh assigne

d additional charge of D

irector of Enforcement D

irectorate

Air India appoints As

hwani Lohani as Chairma

n, MD

Dr Kandakatla Mano

har was on 27 August 20

15 appointed as the Dire

ctor of Nizams Institute o

f

Medical Sciences (NIMS)

of Hyderabad.

Senior IAS officer Raja

n S Katoch was given yet

another extension as the

Chief of the Enforcemen

t

Directorate (ED).

Bharti Airtel appoint

s Nilanjan Roy as Global

CFO

Iqbal Ahmed Ansari

appointed as Acting Chie

f Justice of Patna High Co

urt

Roland S Folger appo

inted as CEO and MD of M

ercedes-Benz India

Amitava Ghosh appo

inted as Vice President-e

ngineering of Snapdeal

Ved Prakash Mahaw

ar takes charge as Direct

or (Onshore) at ONGC

ONGC Videsh names

Sudhir Sharma as Direct

or (Exploration)

Senior BJP leader Ra

m Nath Kovind and Ach

arya Dev Vrat were app

ointed as Governors of p

oll-

bound Bihar and Himach

al Pradesh respectively.

Accenture appointed

Rekha Menon as Chairp

erson of India's operatio

n

Amitabh Bachchan s

igns up as Maharashtras

Tiger Ambassador

L&T Infotech appoin

ts Sanjay Jalona as MD,

CEO

World

Tennis Player Novak

Djokovic appointed as G

oodwill Ambassador of U

NICEF

Vassiliki Thanou app

ointed as Greece First Fe

male Prime Minister

Ranil Wickremesing

he sworn in as Prime Mi

nister of Sri Lanka

Indian-American Atu

l Keshap Sworn in As US

Envoy to Sri Lanka

Anupam Kher Name

d Advocate for UN's 'He

ForShe' Campaign

Australian governme

nt appoints Adam Gilchr

ist ambassador to India -

for education

Olympic champion S

ebastian Coe elected as

President of IAAF

India-born Sundar Pi

chai named new CEO of

restructured Google

Indian-American Atu

l Keshap sworn in as Am

bassador to Sri Lanka

Awards

India

Sania Mirza conferre

d with Rajiv Gandhi Khe

l Ratna

Indo-Tibetan Border

Police official and mou

ntaineer Jot Singh has

been honoured with th

e

Tenzing Norgay national

adventure award by Pre

sident Pranab Mukherjee

.

Urdu Author Shamim

Hanfi Chosen for Jnanga

rima Manad Alankaran A

ward

Mustansir Barma w

on 2015 Gujar Mal Modi

award for innovative scie

nce and technology

Babasaheb Purandar

e conferred with 'Mahar

ashtra Bhushan

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Hindi litterateur Kash

inath Singh chosen for B

harat Bharti literary awa

rd 2014

The Chartered Instit

ute of Management Ac

counts, (CIMA) has conf

erred on Rakesh Kumar

,

Director, Finance, NLC th

e prestigious award the

Most Influential CFOs (C

hief Financial Officers)

of India.

Ajeet Kumar Saroj, V

aranasi jail inmate award

ed with IGNOU gold me

dal.

President Pranab Mu

kherjee presented Saras

wati Sammaan to Dr. M

Veerappa Moily

Global

The Waterman of Ind

ia Rajendra Singh on 26 A

ugust 2015 was conferred

with the 2015 Stockholm

Water Prize.

Three Indians were n

amed as Fellows of Amer

ican Society for Metals (A

SM) in the fourth week o

f

August 2015. These thre

e Indians along with thre

e other Indian-origin pe

rsons featured among

the list of 29 fellows who

were named as Fellows

of ASM for 2015.

While, the Indian F

ellows were Pradeep G

oyal, Vivekanand Kain,

and Gankidi Madhusudh

an

Reddy, the Indian-ori

gin achievers were P

ranesh Aswath, Suvee

n Mathaudhu and

Muthukumarasamy Sada

yappan.

Noted Indian agricult

ure scientist Dr Modadu

gu Vijay Gupta, who has

done pioneering work i

n

aquaculture in India, Ba

ngladesh and several So

utheast Asian countries,

was today awarded the

first Sunhak Peace Prize

which he shared with th

e President of Kiribati Is

lands.

Barcelona's Lionel M

essi wins UEFA Best Play

er in Europe award

Syrian woman Journ

alist Zaina Erhaim award

ed with Peter Mackler Aw

ard 2015

Debut Novelist Zia H

aider Rahman won the Ja

mes Tait Black Award 20

15

Mathematician Doct

or Amalendu Krishna on

3 August 2015 won the

Ramanujan Prize for yea

r

2015.

The National Dairy D

evelopment Board (NDD

B) won the Esri Special A

chievement in GIS Awar

d

2015 for exemplary work

in Dairy Geographical Inf

ormation System.

Indian-Origin Rugby C

oach Rahul Das Named P

ersonality of the Year in

NZ.

Zhanna Nemtsova, t

he daughter of slain Rus

sian politician Boris Nem

tsov, was on 5 August 20

15

awarded with Poland's S

olidarity Prize 2015.

Indian-Origin Scribe A

drienne Batra Awarded

'Best Journalist' in Canad

a.

Raghavendra Gadagk

ar awarded with Germa

ny's Cross of Order of th

e Merit

Goa Tourism Ministe

r Dilip Parulekar on 7 Au

gust 2015 received the P

acific Area Travel Writer

s

Association (PATWA) - S

afari India South Asia Tr

avel Award 2015. Parule

kar is the first tourism

minister of Goa to receive

this prestigious award.

Days

World Photography

Day observed on 19th Au

gust

World Humanitarian

Day observed on 19th Au

gust

National Sports Day

celebrated on 29th Augu

st to commemorate the B

irth Anniversary of Hock

ey

Legend Major Dhyan Cha

nd

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International Day of

the World's Indigenous

Peoples was observed on

9 August

The World Bio-Fuel D

ay was observed across

the world on 10 August

Books

The Kumbh Mela: M

apping the Ephemeral

Megacity authored by T

arun Khanna released b

y

Akhilesh yadav

Book titled Mrs Fun

nybones authored by Tw

inkle Khanna released

Making India Aweso

me authored by Chetan B

hagat released

World News

China and Pakistan on 1

2 August 2015 signed 20

agreements worth 1.6 b

illion US dollars to imple

ment

the ambitious China-Pak

istan Economic Corrido

r (CPEC) project. These a

greements were signed d

uring

the CPEC Forum that wa

s held at Karamay city in

Xinjiang province of Chin

a bordering.

2015 US - India Cyber D

ialogue was held on 11

and 12 August 2015 at t

he US Department of St

ate in

Washington, DC. The dia

logue was held with an

aim to increase global c

yber security and promo

te the

digital economy.

Bangladesh on 20 Augus

t 2015 became the first co

untry to receive funds f

rom the United Nations

(UN)

for its fast growing sola

r home systems. The UN

Framework Convention

for Climate Change (UN

FCCC)

issued 395286 carbon cr

edits worth 3.56 million

US Dollar to two Banglad

eshi organisations.

Pakistan and Russia on

19 August 2015 signed a

landmark defence agre

ement that includes the

sale of

four Mi-35 Hind E attack

helicopters to Pakistan. T

he agreement was signe

d by top defence official

s from

Pakistan and Russia in Ra

walpindi.

NASA on 5 August 2015

signed a contract worth

490 million US dollars

with Russia's space age

ncy

Roscosmos for carrying t

he US astronauts to the In

ternational Space Station

(ISS). The contract was si

gned

amid a lack of Congressio

nal funding.

Ukraine had removed its

restriction on entry and

foreign travel for HIV-pos

itive people as part of gr

owing

efforts to improve relatio

ns with Europe after dec

ades of Moscow rule.

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The 48th ASEAN (Associ

ation of Southeast Asian

Nations) Foreign Minist

ers meet was held in K

uala

Lumpur, Malaysia betwe

en 4 August and 6 Augus

t 2015. The meet was chai

red by Anifah Aman, Min

ister

of Foreign Affairs of Ma

laysia. The meet was held

under the theme "Our

People, Our Community

, Our

Vision", to create an AS

EAN Community which i

s truly people-oriented,

people-centred compris

ing all

areas of cooperation.

List and Reports:

Forbes released the Wor

ld's Highest-Paid Actors

2015 list

Top ten in the list are

Robert Downey Jr. st

ood at top position in th

e list with earnings of 80

Million US dollars

Jackie Chan stood at

second position with ea

rnings of 50 Million US d

ollars

Vin Diesel stood at t

hird position with earnin

gs of 47 Million US dolla

rs

Bradley Cooper stoo

d at fourth position with

earnings of 41.5 Million U

S dollars

Adam Sandler with st

ood at fifth position with

earnings of 41 Million US

dollars

Tom Cruise stood at

sixth position with earni

ngs of 40 Million US doll

ars

Amitabh Bachchan a

nd Salman Khan stood a

t seventh position with e

arnings of 33.5 Million U

S

dollar

Akshay Kumar stood

at ninth position with ea

rnings of 32.5 Million U

S dollars

Mark Wahlberg stoo

d at tenth position with e

arnings of 32 Million US d

ollars

Wipro Chairman Azim P

remji and HCL founder S

hiv Nadar are the only tw

o Indian tycoons in the to

p 20

richest people in the wo

rld of technology, accord

ing to an inaugural list b

y Forbes, topped by Mic

rosoft

co-founder Bill Gates. P

remji is ranked 13th on

Forbes first ever list o

f 100 Richest People in

Tech,

followed by Nadar on th

e 14th spot.

Sports News

Indian Women Hockey T

eam Qualifies for Olympi

cs After 36 Years

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Air India's Hockey team

on 27 August 2015 won

the Guru Tegh Bahadur

Hockey title. In the final

s played

at the MHA-Mahindra St

adium in Mumbai, Air Ind

ia defeated defending ch

ampions Army XI 3-1 via

the

penalty shoot-out after th

e two teams were deadlo

cked goalle