Finance &Banking..

ICICI bank claimed to have become the first private sector lender to launch a branch-onwheels drive. Punjab National Bank won five RBI Rajbhasha Awards organized by Reserve Bank of India. The PFRDA Bill 2011, pegs the FDI in pension sector at 26 per cent or such percentage as may be approved for the insurance sector, which ever is higher. RBI has decided to open a forex swap window to meet the daily dollar requirement of three public sector oil marketing companies viz., IOC, HPCL and BPCL. The decision was taken based on the assessment of current market condition. RBI has increased the ceiling for FDI in asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) from 49% to 74% subject to the condition that no sponsor may hold more than 50% of the shareholding in an ARC either by way of FDI or by routing through a foreign institutional investor (FII). State-run firms, having less than Rs 100 crore Profit After Tax (PAT), are required to shell out 3 to 5% of that amount towards CSR and sustainability activities. In the case of companies having PAT of Rs 100 to 500 crore, the limit is 2 to 3%. For entities having PAT of Rs 500 crore and above, the spending level is fixed at 1 to 2%. Meanwhile, the CSR norms would be applicable for private companies having either net worth of Rs 500 crore or more; turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or more; or net profit of Rs 5 crore or more. The Bharatiya Mahila Bank proposes to complete the first six branches at Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Indore and Guwahati by October 15 and take the total to 25 by March 31, 2014. Its headquarters will be at New Delhi. Reserve Bank of India has decided to sell Government Bonds worth 22000 crore rupees every Monday to check volatility in the forex market. The measure is a part of a continuing effort to arrest the slide in the rupee, which hit record intra-day low of Rs 61.80 against the dollars. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) is the present top ranked profit-making Public Sector Undertakings. As per the RBI new guidelines, there would be a cap of 49% on foreign holdings in new banks and it must have a minimum paid up capital of Rs 500 crore. The Reserve Bank of India opened a special liquidity window for commercial banks that will allow banks to barrow a total of Rs 25,000 crore at rate of 10.25%. Banks can barrow

this money to lend onwards to Mutual Funds. Abenomics refers to the economic policies advocated by Shinzo Abe, the current Prime Minister of Japan. Abenomics is a set of policy measures meant to resolve Japans macroeconomics problems. It consists of monetary policy, fiscal policy, and economic growth strategies to encourage private investment. The SEBI amendment ordinance was promulgated to the SEBI Act, as a part of efforts to crack down Ponzi schemes. As per the RBI condition the new banks should have at least 25% of their branches in rural areas. The RBI says the rule is meant to avoid over-concentration of bank branches in urban areas with adequate banking presence. A new index on financial inclusion released by rating and analytics firm Crisil showed that Puducherry topped the list, followed by Chandigarh and Kerala. The report shows that Southern states have emerged on top on financial inclusion parameters, while the East and some of the developed states of the West-including Gujarat and Maharastra are below national average. Population base will be figures as of 1971 in all cases where population is a factor for determination of devolution of taxes and duties and grants-in-aid; however, the Commission may also take into account the demographic changes that have taken place subsequent to 1971. Vodafone India and ICICI Bank have launched M-Pesa, a mobile money transfer and payment service, in West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand on 17.4.2013. They want to roll out this M-pesa on pan India level within one and half years. Using M-Pesa, a mobile wallet service, customers can transfer money to any mobile phone in India and remit money to any bank account in the country. Medium term note (MTN) is a debt bond which usually matures in 5 to 10 years. Obviously it is used for raising funds in domestic or international markets. Recently Union Bank of India has hit the global debt market to raise around USD 500 million through bond issuance.

Committees RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has announced the setting up of an external committee to screen applicants for new bank licences. Rajan announced an external committee, under the chairmanship of former Governor Bimal Jalan, to screen applicants for new bank licences, from January next year. The idea of setting up Bullion Bank or Bullion Corporation of Bank was mooted by the RBI working group headed by the K U B Rao. Rao committee suggested the Bullion Bank can be set up by the RBI with 51% equity and should have Rs 1, 000 crore paid up equity, financial institutions and bank could be 49% equity holders. A committee headed by former SEBI chairman M Damodaran was set up to suggests the ways to improve Indias Business Climate. The government has set up a Tax Administration Reforms Commission under Parthasarathy Shome, advisor to finance minister. The Ministry of Panchayat Raj has constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Dr T. Haque to look into different aspects of Minor Forest Produce management in fifth schedule areas which has recommended for fixation of Minimum Support Price. Ministry of Finance constitutes a forum Chaired by Dr. Parthasarathi Shome, advisor to the Finance Minister for exchange of views between industry group and government on tax related issues or tax related disputes. The forum will meet every Wednesday. Union government recently set up a six member expert committee headed by Chief Economic Adviser Raghuram Rajan to evolve a composite index to measure backwardness of states. It would submit its report in 60 days. The other members of the committee are Shaibla Gupta, Bharat Ramaswami, Najeeb Jung, Niriha G Jayal and Tuhin Pandey. Rangachari Panel was constituted to bring about clarity on taxation matters pertaining to development centres and IT sectors. The first report of the committee made public recently. To boost the information technology sector, the Rangachary Committee has recommended that the profit split method (PSM), which leads to higher taxation, should

be used with extreme care and cautions. Former cabinet secretary K M Chandrashekar is the head of committee set up by market regulator SEBI, to standardise and unify the rules regarding foreign investments made under the various routes into the capital markets. SEBI in its recent board meeting accepted the recommendations of the committee which, inter alia include simplified and uniform entry norms for foreign investors by merging existing FIIs, Sub accounts and qualified foreign investors into a new investor class to be termed as Foreign Portfolio Investors. The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting constituted a committee headed by J S Mathur to review the rate revision of the newspaper advertisements. The committee will also look into different parameters on the basis of which advertisements are issued. J S Mathur is the additional secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Union Ministry of Women and Child development recently constituted a committee to examine aspects related indecent portrayal of women in mass media. The addition secretary and mission director (National Mission for Empowerment of Women) K Ratnaprabha was appointed as the head of the constituted committee. The committee, which was formed with an aim to remove ambiguity over the two types of foreign investments (FDI and FII), is headed by Department Economic Affairs (DEA) Secretary Arvind Mayaram, with DIPP Secretary, an RBI Deputy Governor and a SEBI Whole-time Member as other members. Subir Gokarn, the former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has been named the first director of research for Brookings India. He will also serve as a Brookings Senior Fellow. Subir Gokarn had recently completed his term as a Deputy Governor of the RBI. The Brookings India was launched in January in New Delhi to focus on policy issues related to India and the world. Brookings India is the India Centre of The Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC. Government has constituted a four-member committee headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram for giving clear definitions to FDI and FII, with an aim to remove ambiguity over the two types of foreign investments. The DIPP Secretary, an RBI Deputy Governor and a Sebi Wholetime Member are the other members of the "high power committee". It will take about two-and-a-half months to come out with the report. The Centre has constituted a six-member committee to prepare a blueprint for the proposed women's bank. The committee will be headed by M.B.N. Rao, ex-CMD of Canara Bank. It includes M.D. Mallya, ex-CMD of Bank of Baroda, Jayshree Vyas, MD Sewa, Arundhati Bhattacharya, MD & CEO of SBI Caps, Usha Ananthasubramaniam, Executive Director, Punjab National Bank, and K. Ramakrishnan, Chief Executive,

Indian Banks Association.

Defence The Fifth Generation Fighter Plane is Indias biggest and most ambitious defence project and the largest joint venture with Russia. Under a joint project with Russia to build a fifth-generation fighter aircraft India will modify and customize the prototype Russia has developed independently. INS Sindhurakshak is a submarine of the Indian Navy. Commissioned on 24 December 1997, it was the ninth of the ten Kilo-class submarines in the Indian Navy. The submarine suffered a major fire on 14 August 2013, which resulted in its sinking at Mumbais naval dockyard. The tour named Sair-e-Watan has been organized by Rastriya Rifles Battalion and was flagged off at Chanderkot in Ramban. The tour would help create friendly bonds among local sports persons and students from the mainland. This tour will enable the students to spread messages of peace and communal harmony and witness rapid development being made in the fields of information technology, medical science and other sectors in other parts of the country.

Cities countries. Tirupur With knitwear exports of over $2 billion a year, India's garment manufacturing hub Tirupur has earned the nickname "Dollar City". For the first time, the Election Commission has decided to attach a device with electronic voting machines which will leave a verifiable paper trial of votes cast in election. Called Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trial (VVPAT), system, it will be used in Nagalands Noksen (ST) assembly constituency where by poll is scheduled for September 4, 2013.

The Union cabinet gave its approval to the proposal for establishing the International Centre for Drinking Water Quality in Kolkata. Indias first Cyber Forensic Laboratory has been set up in Tripura. The lab established at the Tripura high court will provide court case related information. From the CFL, automatic SMS alerts would go to both lawyers and the litigant about the fate of the case. If any lawyer or the petitioner remains absent on the day of trial, the SMS alert would go the concern. The United State has decided to sell 145 state-of-the-art 155mm towed Howitzers to India worth about %885 million to improve the security of an important partner for political stability, peace, and economic progress in South Asia. Indias first wireless road traffic controller technology WiTrac that runs on solar power was unveiled in New Delhi. MSME ministry proposes to set up the centre at Bengaluru Aerospace Park near International airport, the centre is likely to train 10,000 people every year. The ministry has also planned to set up similar centers in 14 other cities across the country. NTPC will be setting up a technology institute in Madhya Pradesh as a part of plan to contribute to the community development in the state. The Pakistan government has decided to declare Panja Sahib a holy city. Panja Sahib is believed to house a rock having the hand paint of Guru Nanak, founder of Sikh religion, and a popular pilgrimage spot for Sikhs across the world. India has joined the Madrid Protocol, which will enable domestic companies and entrepreneurs to obtain a cost-effective global trademark registration. Acknowledging that the cases of sexual assault against women are required to be dealt with greater sensitivity, the first all-women court was set up in Mumbais Sessions court on International Womens Day. In a circular issued on March 7, the Bombay High Court directed to assign cases involving sexual assault against women exclusively to the courts presided over by women judicial officers in districts/establishment. Vijay Kelkar committee set up by Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry, to put in place a policy on energy security and prepare a roadmap for enhancing domestic oil and gas production to reduce dependence on exports by 2030. Who heads this committee

Govt Financial schemes DISHA is a scholarship scheme for a Women Scientists for societal programme is an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology. The Rashtriya Uchattar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) has proposed to put a ceiling of maximum number of colleges to be affiliated to any university at two hundred. Rajiv Gandhi Udyami Mitra Yojana was launched on February 7, 2008. The scheme aims to provide handholding assistance to first generation entrepreneurs through lead agencies or Udyami Mitra, who shall provide guidance to the potential entrepreneurs and help them in completion of various tasks and formalities necessary for the establishment of the enterprises. V K Shunglu committee was appointed to probe the allegation of corruption charges in the conduct of commonwealth games. WADI is a livelihood project launched by National Bank of Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD). This programme aims at reducing the migration of tribal people to urban centers by providing them livelihood in the form of income and basic necessities like fuel wood, timber and cattle fodder. The Union Government approved setting up of 12 Mega Food Parks during the 12th plan period (2012-17) with an allocation of Rs 1,714 crore in order to boost the food processing sector. People's Linguistic Survey of India (PLSI) has conducted India's first linguistic survey only after Irish linguistic scholar George Abraham Grierson conducted the Linguistic Survey of India from 1898 to 1928. It says that while people in India presently speak in 780 different languages, the country has lost nearly 250 languages in the last 50 years. (IANS) Annashree Yojana is a cash transfer scheme launched by Delhi government. Under this scheme monthly cash subsidy of Rs 600 will be directly transferred into Aadhaar- linked bank account of the senior-most female member of two lakh poor families. M-SIPS is a special incentive package to promote large-scale manufacturing in the Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sector.

India@75 is a path breaking initiative of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). It envisions how India should be in her 75th year of independence and seeks to bring together all stakeholders including the industry, government, institutions, community groups and individuals to translate the vision into a reality. It was inspired by Prof C.K.Prahalad. Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) is the SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) for the implementation of NOFN.

Awards.. Zubin Mehta is an Indian Parsi conductor of western classical music. President Pranab Mukherjee awarded him the Tagore Award 2013 for his outstanding contribution towards cultural harmony. Bayem Munich winger Franck Ribery won the UEFA Best Player in Europe award for 2012-13 ahead of the unusual contenders Lionel Messi and Christiano Rolanldo. Noted writer Dr Hariprasad Das has been selected for the prestigious Moortidevi Award 2013 for his book, Vamsha, a recreation of Mahabharata in the new idiom of contemporary poetry. Former chairperson of South Africas election body Brigalia Bam has received the prestigious Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Peace and Reconciliation for her commitment to democracy. Teenage activist Malala Yousafzai has won the prestigious International Childrens Peace Prize. Pakistani 16 year old will receive the award from 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner and womens rights campaigner Tawakkol Karman at ceremony in the Hague on September 6. The first Mahathir Award for Global Peace has been awarded to former South African President Nelson Mandela. Malaysia has introduced the Mahathir for global peace award in effort to promote peace for all. The following sport personalities who have been chosen for Dronacharya Award 2013: 1. Poornima Mahato. Archery 2. Mahavir Singh .. Boxing 3. Narinder Singh Saini hockey 4. Raj Singhwrestling Professor of economics, and conservationist, and mountaineer Dr. Harshwanti Bisht has been selected to receive the Sir Edmund Hillary Mountain Legacy Medal. The award is presented for remarkable services in the conservation of culture and nature in mountainous regions. Shram Ratna is the highest award among the Shram Awards and carries a cash award of 200000 rupees along with a Sanad. For the year 2012, the prestigious Shram Ratna award has been given to Subrata Kumar from Tata Steel Ltd., Jamshedpur. Delhi state government conferred Lifetime Achievement Award-2013 to two veteran artists, Abdul Rashid Khan and Anjolie Ela Menon. Menon is a Indias renowned contemporary artist whose work is recognised globally. She is considered as one of the foremost artists of her generation. She awarded Padma Sri in recognition of her

distinguished contribution in the sphere of arts. Prem Bhatia Memorial Awards are given to promote excellence in journalism. Shalini Singh, a deputy director of The Hindu presented with the Prem Bhatia Award for best political reporting of the year 2013. Jaideep Hardikar, a special correspondent of The Telegraph, bagged the Prem Bhatia award for excellence in environmental reporting, particularly related to rural and agrarian issues. Vinod Prakash Sharma an eminent scientist won the Gujar Mal Modi Award for Science and Technology 2013. Barack Obama will award the Medal of Freedom to 16 recipients including former President Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the Nations highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of United States of America. Wipro chairman Azim Premji has been awarded the Asian Business Leaders Award 2013 for his impressive business credentials and services to society by London-based Asia House. The award will be presented at a gala ceremony in London on October 14. Paradip port has been conferred the Major Port of the Year award in recognition of its excellent performance in 2012-13. In 2012-13 Paradip port handled a total 56.66 million tones of traffic, up from 54.25 million tones in 2011-12. Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who exposed the most extensive US global surveillance operations, was awarded this years German Whistleblower Prize worth USD 3,900 in absentia. Paul Hewson, popularly known as Bono, the frontman of the rock band U2 as well as the anti-poverty activist was awarded with the Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, the highest cultural award of France for the contribution of music. He was also praised for utilizing his popularity for the sake of humanitarian causes. Senior journalist of Arunachal Pradesh Tongam Rina has been selected for the prestigious prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media-2013 instituted by Media Foundation, Leipzing, Germany. Earlier Tongam Rina was honoured with the Laadli Media award 2011-12 for gender sensitivity November last year at Kolkata. Lydia Davis, best known as a short story writer, is the winner of the 2013 Man Booker International prize. Vandana Gandhi became the first ever Indian woman to receive Dubai Governments coveted Emirates Woman Award for business excellence. Vandan Gandhi is Founder & CEO of British Orchard Nursery, Middle East only ISO-certified nursery chain.

William D Dar, director general of International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics, has been selected for the M S Swaminathan award for leadership in agriculture for 2013. Dr. Dar had been selected by the Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS) for his multi-dimensional and Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has been selected for the United Nation Global award for Public Service. Chandy will receive award from the UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon at a ceremony to be held at Bahrain. At the 2013 Global India Business Meeting, currently being held at Belfast UK, Sanjiv Goenka was honoured with the coveted 2013 Indian Business Leader of the Year. This award is in recognition of the success of his business enterprise and to acknowledge his position as an outstanding entrepreneur in India. Legal Activist and the youngest daughter of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Amrit Singh received the India Abroad Publishers Special Award for Excellence 2012. Amrit is senior legal officer for national security and counterterrorism at the Open Society Justice Initiative based at the New York. Amrit Singh was given this award for her report Globalizing Torture: CIA Secret Torture and Extraordinary Rendition released in February 2013. Hugo Chavez, former president of Venezuela, was posthumously awarded the Simon Bolivar National Award of Journalism 2013 India fetched three top awards including the Best Feature film, the Best Director and Special Jury certificate of Recognition at the third SAARC film Festival. Indian film Paan Singh Thomar won the best feature film award for it fascinating plot and strong direction Self Employed Womens Association (SEWA) has been honoured FAOs Jacques Diouf Award for its innovative efforts to lift extremely poor women out of poverty and hunger. SEWA shares the award with the European Union. Jenita Mery Nongkynrih, A young woman scientist from Meghalaya was selected for ISRO Young Scientist Award 2013. She is currently working as a scientist at the North Eastern Space Application Centre (NESAC), Umaim, Nongkynrih. The Orphan Masters Son a novel based on North Korea by author Adam Johnson won the Pulitzer Prize 2013 for fiction. The novel deals with intertwined themes of propaganda, identity and state power in North Korea.

Senapathy Gopalakrishnan replaced Adi Godrej as the new chairperson of CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) for 2014-15. Toyo Ito has been declared as the winner of 2013 Pritzker Architecture Prize - the most prestigious and richest award of architecture, also often referred to as the Nobel Prize of Architecture. Fatehpur Sikri monuments has bagged the prestigious National Tourism Award 2011-12 for the best maintained and disabled-friendly monument Tan Twan Eng has won the Asias top literary prize Man Asian Literary Prize for his novel The Garden of Evening Mists, for the year 2012 Sir Tim Berners-Lee is among those who have won the first Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. The 1m award was made in recognition of his contribution to the development of the world wide web. He shares the prize with other internet pioneers Robert Kahn, Vinton Cerf, Louis Pouzin and Marc Andreessen. The international prize has been described as the "Nobel Prize for Engineering". Its aim is to acknowledge the field's contribution to the economy and society, and act as an inspiration for young people seeking a productive career. The Indira Gandhi award for the best debut film was bagged by Chittagong (Hindi) and 101 Chodiyangal (Malayalam). The Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organization set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Golden Lotus (Swarna Kamal). The award was instituted in 1980, at 28th National Film Awards and awarded annually for films produced in the year across the country, in all Indian languages. Alka Dhupkar, a journalist with Marathi-language TV news channel IBN-Lokmat, has won the prestigious Chameli Devi Jain Award for an outstanding woman media person. B. G. Verghese, coordinator of Media Foundation which has instituted the award, said, Ms. Dhupkar has covered a range of subjects with great compassion. Recent winners of the award include Tusha Mittal, Shahina K.K. and Shoma Chaudhary for their work in Tehelka magazine, Monalisa Changkija of Nagaland Page , Nirupama Subramanian of The Hindu , and Vinita Deshmukh of The Weekly Intelligent . Belgian mathematician Pierre Deligne, who is regarded as one of the most celebrated mathematicians of the 20th century, has been chosen for this years prestigious Abel Prize in Mathematics. Malaysian author Tan Tweng Eng has won this year's Man Asian Literary Prize for "The Garden of Evening Mists," set in the aftermath of the Japanese occupation of Malaysia.

The Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony has been instituted as a part of the commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and an announcement to this effect was made by the then Finance Minister in his Budget Speech on 28th February, 2011. Recently, a three-day SAARC festival of literature began in Agra with a call for concerted efforts to raise eco-consciousness and resist predatory policies that devour nature and its components. The theme of this year's festival is "Environment and Literature". The festival is being attended by delegates from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal and India.

Meetings Leaders of the Brics group of nations-Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have said they will set up a $100bn fund to guard against financial shocks. The ASEAN second ADMM plus meeting was held in Brunie. One of the major decisions taken at the meeting of the ADMM Plus, was the establishment of an additional (Sixth) Expert Working Group on Humanitarian Mine Action which will be co-chaired by India with Vietnam. johannesburg, South Africa is the venue for the BRICS Business Council 2013. Singapore will host the Second South Asian Diaspora Convention (SADC) this November on the theme of Connecting Global South Asians. To be organized by The Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), which is part of the National University of Singapore, the event (Nov 21-23) will witness prominent personalities discussing critical issues that will shape South Asias future and its role in global geopolitics in the 21st century. Moscow is the venue for G-20 ministerial meeting 2013. The 39th G8 summit was held on 17-18 June 2013 in Northern Ireland, UK. It was the sixth G8 summit to be held in the United Kingdom. The earlier G8 summits hosted by the United Kingdom were held at London (1977, 84, 91), Birmingham (1998) and Gleneagles (2005).

Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation was established in 1997 to promote cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region. The Association comprises 20 member states and the Association also has 6 dialogue partners. The World Economic Forum (WEF) India 2013 meet will be held in Kochi during November 8-9. Top leaders from industry and government, social entrepreneurs and young leaders will attend the meet. The decision to hold the conclave in Kochi was taken at the WEF headquarters in Davos, Switzerland. The SSNKE Facility will enable the exchange of ideas and experiences in clean energy among the members of the CEM and will function within the 21st Century Power Partnership, a CEM initiative led by India and the United States. The fifth BRICS summit is ended with eThekwini (Durban) Declaration. The Fifth BRICS Summit concluded the first cycle of BRICS Summits. The summit reaffirmed the BRICS nations commitment to the promotion of international law, multilateralism and the central role of the United Nations (UN).

India has been ranked 136 among 187 countries evaluated for human development index (HDI) a measure for assessing progress in life expectancy, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living or gross national income per capita.

State Preparations are on to establish nations first geo-thermal power project in Tatapani, the newly-formed Balrampur-Ramanujganj district of Chhattisgarh. Kerala government proposes to introduce a pension scheme for workers registered under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREG) and having worked under the scheme for at least 100 days a year The Kerala government has got a go ahead from the Reserve Bank of India to launch a financial institution following the principles of Islamic Finance. Cheraman Financial Services Limited (CFSL) will be floated by Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation to function as a non-banking finance company (NBFC). To reinstate the historical and cultural significance of the legendary port of Muzuris, the government of Kerala has initiated the Muziris Heritage Project Kerala State government laid the foundation stone of Bio 360, a life science park. It was initiated by state owned Kerala State Industrial Development in the outskirts of state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The first phase of Bio 360 will come up in 75 acres of land and the project would be ready in two years. Dadu Paryavaran Sanstan in Rajasthan, is best known for conservation of black bucks.. State government of Rajasthan laid the foundation stone for the worlds biggest solar park at Bhandla of Jodhpur district. The solar park with generation capacity of 3000WM would be commissioned in phased manner. In its first phase the solar park will generate 1000 MW. It would be established in 10 thousand hectare land and Asian Development Bank will provide 3000 crore rupees loan for the for development of transition lines. Sikkim is Indias Greenest State with a forest cover 47.3% of its total geographical area and is more than double the national average of 21%.

Bharat Bharti Samman is the highest literary honour of the Uttar Pradesh State. A day after the death of anti superstition activist Dr Narendra Dadholkar, the Maharastra cabinet adopted the anti-black magic and superstition ordinance. Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project is a 3,960 MW pit-head coal based power plant in Madhya Pradesh. The project is the first domestic coal-based Ultra Mega Power Project awarded in the country by the Government of India. Prime Minister Manamohan Singh has dedicated a piping unit and a high pressure boiler plant of public sector Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) to the nation in Thirumayam in Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu. Tipaimukh multipurpose hydroelectric project (1500 KW) is located near Manipur Mizoram boarder, 500 m downstream of confluence of the river Barak with Tuivai, in Churachandpur district of Manipur. The project has been conceived as a multipurpose storage project with the main objectives of hydropower development and flood moderation at its downstream regime. First Textile Park dedicated to hand block printing and craft was inaugurated by Union Minister of Textile Dr K S Rao at Bagru near Jaipur, Rajasthan. The park has been named Jaipur Integrated Textile Park Pvt. Ltd. The Government of India signed an agreement with Asian Development Bank for a 60 million dollars loan as to improve urban services and to strengthen municipal and project management in north Karnataka. ArcelorMittal has announced scrapping of its 12 million tonne per year integrated steel plant in Keonjhar district of Odisha where it was supposed to invest Rs.40,000 crore. The reasons cited are political and administrative bottlenecks. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan launched the Atal Jyoti campaign, aimed at providing 24X7 power supply in rural areas. Under the scheme, electricity is being supplied for domestic uses 24X7 and 10 hours a day for agriculture purpose. Chhattisgarh government has launched the Phulwari scheme for children between ages of 6 months and 3 years, aiming to curb malnutrition An agreement for credit of US$84 million from World Bank for the Bihar Panchayt strengthening project was signed recently at New Delhi. Graamin Haat Programme of Department of Cottage and Rural Industries in Madhya

Pradesh is one of the three Indian projects to receive United Nation Public service award for the year 2013. Mukhyamantri Bijli Bachat Lamp Yojna for energy conservation is a unique scheme launched by Rajasthan. The state government will provide two CFL bulb free of cost to all electricity consumer of villages and BPL consumers in Urban areas. The Rajasthan government will soon launch a new scheme under which it will bear all the expenses of boarding and lodging for senior citizens going to selected pilgrimage destinations. The state government of Maharastra recently announced that possession of Adhaar card is mandatory for teaching and Non teaching staff to draw salaries. 5170 Bharat Nirman Rajeev Gandhi Seva Kendras became operational across 9100 Village Panchayats of Rajasthan at an expense of Rs 1,000 crore First unit of the Women Armed Special Protection Squad (WASPS) has been flagged off by the state government in Muktsar town of Punjab. The new WASPS unit will serve six districts of Bathinda zone in southwest Punjab. These include Muktsar Sahib, Bathinda, Faridkot, Mansa, Ferozepur and Fazilka districts. (Zee News) It was a historic moment for Madduri Lakshmi Devi, a daily wage-earner from Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddys native Kalikiri village, when she became the first Indian to get MGNREGA wages from the postal department using the Aadhaar number. The West Bengal Government announced sops to encourage girls towards higher education. Announcing a special scheme for girls, Kanyasri Prakalpa, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the State Government would provide Rs 500 a year as scholarship to girls belonging to families with an annual income of Rs 50,000. This apart the Government would also provide aid of Rs 25,000 to the girl when she became 18 years under this scheme. The Chief Minister also announced that the State has readied a bill for reservation in higher education.

Dates.. International Day of Charity is being observed across the globe on 5th September every year. The day is observed to commemorate the death anniversary of renowned nun and missionary, Mother Teresa. The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 6 April as the International Day of Sports for Development and Peace August 20th is the Earth Overshoot Day 2013 making the date when humanity exhausted natures budget for the year. The International Youth Day is an awareness day designated by the United Nations to be observed on 12th August every year. This years observance of International Youth Day focuses on the issues of youth migration. The theme for 2013 is Youth Migration: Moving Development Forward. The United Nations International Day of the Worlds Indigenous People is observed on August 9 each year to promote and protect the rights of the worlds indigenous peoples. Kargil Vijay Diwas is celebrated on 26th every year in honor of the Kargil Wars Heroes. The United Nations general assembly proclaimed November 19 as World Toilet Day to foster access of basic sanitation services for the worlds poor. This new annual observance will go a long way towards raising awareness about the need for all human beings to have access to sanitations. Nelson Mandela International Day JULY 18 In the recognition of the notable contributions made by Late Prof. P C Mahalanobis in the

fields of economic planning and statistical developments, the Government of India has designated 29th June every year, coinciding with his birth anniversary as the Statistics Day. The theme for this years Statistics Day is Labour and Employment statistics. United Nation declared July 12 as Malala Day to commemorate the birth day of Pakistan child activist Malala Yousafzai. The day is intended to represent the goal of education for all children. The United Nation General Assembly declared 26 June as the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in the year 1987. International Olympic Day was celebrated across the world on 23 June 2013. The day celebrated for promotion of participation of people in the sports all across the world, irrespective of athletic, gender or age ability. The World Refugee Day is observed on 20 June every year to honour the courage, strength and determination to flee their homeland under threat of persecution, conflict and violence. World Day to Combat Desertification is observed on June 17. The Theme of 2013 World Day to Combat Desertification was Drought and Water Scarcity. The United Nation General Assembly declared May 3rd to be World Press Freedom Day to raise the awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and to uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Civil Service Day is celebrated on 21 April by members of Civil Services to rededicate and recommit themselves to the cause of the people. All officers of Central and State Governments are honoured for excellence in public administration by the Prime Minister of India. The 'Prime Minister Award for Excellence in Public Administration' is presented in three categories. These awards were instituted in 2006. World Water Day has been observed on 22 March since 1993 when the United Nations General Assembly declared 22 March as World Day for Water. On March 15 1962 US President John F. Kennedy gave a speech on consumer rights which led to the creation of the Consumer Bill of Rights. Consumer rights activist Anwar Fazal later proposed the observance of a "World Consumer Rights Day" marking that date, and on 15 March 1983 consumer organizations began observing that date as an occasion to promote basic rights of consumers.

Appointed. Mrs. Deepak Sandhu was appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner. Prime Minister Manmohan singh has appointed Rakesh Sood, Indias former Ambassador to Nepal, Afghanistan and France and the countrys first Ambassador in charge of Disarmament in Geneva, as his new Special Envoy for Disarmament and Nonproliferation. Nishi Vasudeva became the first woman to be selected as the head of the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited. At present she is the Director, Marketing HPCL and will take over as the chairman and managing director of the company. She will replace Subir Roy Choudhury, who will retire on 28th February 2014. Shri Ratan Thiyam has been appointed as the chairperson of the National School of Drama Society. The President of India has appointed Shri Thiyam for a period of four years as per the relevant rules and regulations of the Society. Ratan is a playwright and theatre director. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up High Level Committee to assess the status of Scheduled Tribes (STs) to ensure their upliftment, particularly in Socio-economic, health and education fields. Prof. Virginius Xaxa was appointed as the chairman of the seven member committee. Dr Bala Venkatesh Verma has been appointed as next ambassador and permanent representative of India to the UN Conference on Disarmament, Geneva. The 1988 batch IFS officer is expected to take up his assignment shortly. Justice Swatanter Kumar is the present Chairperson of National Green Tribunal of India.

Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Rajat Gupta took over as director general of Bureau of Police Research and Development, a post that had been lying vacant for more than six months Afghanistans first and only female governor Habiba Sarabi has been chosen for Ramon Magsaysay Award. Habiba Sarabi was honoured for helping build a functioning local government and pushing for education and womens rights in Afghanistans Bamyan provenance despite discrimination and poverty. Jammu & Kashmir finance minister Abdul Rahim Rather has been elected as the new Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State finance minister on Goods and Service Tax (GST). President Barack Obama nominated Nisha Desai Biswal, an accomplished IndianAmerican administrator, to head the South Asia Bureau in the US state department. When confirmed by the Senate, Desai will become the first person of India or even South Asian origin to head the bureau Indian American cardiac surgeon and Healthcare Economist Dr Mukesh Hariawala was recently conferred the prestigious Indian Healthcare Visionary of the Decade award. United Nation secretary general Ban Ki-moon has appointed Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, a former deputy president of South Africa and womens advocate as the new head of the United Nation body (UN Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women) tasked with promoting womens right and their full participation in global affairs. Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka replaces Michelle Bachelet, a former president of Chile who served as the first Executive Director UN women empowerment body. Former Telecom secretary R Chandrashekar has been appointed as president of IT software service body NASSCOM. He will take charge after Som Mittals tenure ends in January 2014. Chandrashekar was the Chairman, Telecom Commission and Secretary, Department of Telecommunication till March 2012. General Dahlan Jumaan Al-Hamad has been elected as the 6th president of the Asian Athletic Association during the 20th Asian Athletic Association congress meeting held in Pune. Indian Suresh Kalmadi lost 18-20 while seeking re-election to a post he has held for 13 years. He has been at the helm of affairs of the Asian Athletic Association since 2000. Lieutenant General Vijay Kumar Saxena has been appointed the 8th Director General of the Corps of Army Air Defence. The general officer has taken over the reins from Lieutenant General Kuldip Singh who superannuated from service on June 30 after a distinguished career of nearly 40 years.

Anil Goswami took over as Union Home Secretary. He succeeds Raj Kumar Singh who retired from the government service. Goswami is an IAS officer of 1978 batch and belongs to the Jammu & Kashmir cadre. Krishna Chaudhary an IPS officer has been appointed as Director General, National Disaster Response Force and Civil Defence. His appointment will take effect from the date he assumes charge of the post and until his superannuation on 30.06.2017. S Ramadorai, who headed Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) from 1996 to 2009, has been named as chairman of Air Asia India. Ramadorai, who continues as non-executive vicechairman of TCS, was appointed in February 2011 as advisor to the Prime Minister in the national skill development council and was made chairman of the council in May. The Union government appointed S.K. Roy as the Chairman of Life Insurance Corporation of India. Mr Roy joined LIC in 1981. Roy, who at present a Managing Director in the organization, would be succeeding D.K. Mehrotra, whose term as LIC chief ended on May 31. The United Nation general Assembly elected Ambassador John W. Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda as President of its upcoming 68th session. The union government has approved the appointment of Gulshan Rai current head of CERT.IN, as the cyber security coordinator. Robert Carvalho de Azevedo, Brazil's 55 years old ambassador to the WTO is the new Director General of WTO. Azevedo replaced Pascal Lamy. Bahrain's Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa was voted the new President of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). He replaced former leader Mohammed Bin Hammam. Narasimhan Ravi has been unanimously elected as the president of Editors Guild of India. Mr. Ravi is the director of Kasturi and Sons Limited , publisher of The Hindu newspaper. Narasimhan Ravi will succeed T N Ninan, Chairman and Editorial Director of Business Standard. Mr. Ravi has been elected President of the Editors Guild of India for a tenure of 2 years. Aruna Bahuguna is a 1979 batch AP cadre IPS officer. She has been appointed special director general in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). She would assume charge in July 2013. She is the first women Special Director General of CRPF. Kishnakumar Natarajan has been recently appointed as the new chief of NASSCOM ?

Senapathy Gopalakrishnan replaced Adi Godrej as the new chairperson of CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) for 2014-15. Navin Kumar Chief Secretary of Bihar, Navin Kumar, as the Chairman of the special purpose vehicle ( SPV) for the GST Network ( GSTN). GSTN is considered to be prerequisite for the new indirect tax regime. This network will help in setting up information technology infrastructure and services to various stakeholders, including the Centre and the States. Last April, the Cabinet approved setting up the SPV with an equity capital of Rs 10 crore. Chairman of the Empowered Committee of States Finance Ministers Sushil Kumar Modi said that Kumar had been appointed for three years. He was selected by a panel consisting of Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Unique ID Authority Chairman Nandan Nilekani besides Modi. \

Business Microsoft Corporation and Nokia Corporation announced that both the companies have decided to enter into a transaction whereby Microsoft will purchase substantially all of Nokias Devices and license and use Nokias mapping services. Routes n rivers,, The Chembur-Wadala corridor in Mumbai will be the countrys first monorail route and is expected to be operational later this year. North East India region Rajya Sabha passed a bill to declare the 121-km stretch of Barak River in Assam as National Waterway, a move aimed to unified development of

waterways for shipping, navigation and transportation of cargo to the north-eastern region. The Barak stretch National Waterway would be countrys sixth National Waterway and benefits Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh.

Funds. India reiterated its commitment to Bhutans socio-economic development as its announced an assistance package of Rs 4,500 crore for the neighbouring countrys 11th five year plan. In addition, India will also contribute Rs 500 crore to a special economic stimulus package devised by Thimphu. Medical area. Bharat Biotech launched the worlds clinically proven conjugate Typhoid vaccine Typbar-TCV which offers long-term protection and can be given to children as young as six months. Biotechnology firm Biocon rolled out its first biologic drug ALZUMAb for the treatment of auto-immune disease psoriasis. ALZUMAb will also be the worlds first novel anti CD-6 antibody to treat psoriasis.

Appointments in other countries

Appointment in unions Jose Manuel Barroso of Portugal is the current president of the European Commission.

Space.

Indias maritime security will get a fresh impetus as the stage is now set for the launch of an exclusive home-built satellite GSAT-7 for the Navy by European space consortium Arianespace from Kourou spacefort in French Guina. GSAT-7 is Indias first dedicated spacecraft for defence applications. It has frequency bands that will help marine communications. The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission, set to launch in 2013, will explore the planets upper atmosphere, ionosphere and interactions with the sun and solar wind.

Science&Inventions China has built the worlds biggest nuclear reactor in terms of per-unit installed capacity. The 1,750 MW generator will soon become the part of a power plant. China has completed installing five wind turbines in Tibet at a height of about 4,900 meters above sea level, making it the highest wind farm in the World. Chinese wind energy major, Longyuan Power, plans to install 33 wind turbines on the farm, located in Naqu Prefecture in southwest Chinas Tibet Autonomous region. Indias Kakrapar-1 reactor is the worlds first reactor which uses thorium rather than depleted uranium to achieve power flattening across the reactor core. Indias first commercial fast breeder reactor the 500 Mwe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) is in an advanced stage of completion at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu.

Indias largest blast furnace has become operational at Rourkela Steel Plant. With the start of the new state-of-the-art furnace, hot metal capacity at RSP will increase to 4.5 million tones per annum from its capacity of 2 million tones per annum. Durga, the largest blast furnace of the country, has built at an approximate expenditure of Rs 1,600 crore, the furnace has useful volume of 4,060 cubic meters. Kudankulam atomic power plant is the Indias first pressurized water reactor belonging to the light water reactor category. India successfully launched its first dedicated navigation satellite, IRNSS-1A using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C22. IRNSS-1A (Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System) was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Research Centre in Shriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. Denmarks Maersk Line unveiled the worlds largest container ship Maersk Mc-Kinney

Moller. As of June 2013, India has 11 systems in the list of top 500 fastest supercomputers in the world. The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) supercomputer iDataPlex stands 36th in the list. Param Yuva-II, developed by the Centre for Development of Advance computing (C-DAC) has bagged the 69th position. A male buffalo calf has been produced through at the Karnal-based National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI). This is the worlds second male cloned calf. The calf, named Swaran, was born through the new and advanced hand-guided cloning technique. Shresth was the first male buffalo born through the hand- guided cloning technique" developed at NDRI. Earlier this year, on January 25, the cloned buffalo Garima II gave birth to a calf and she was named Mahima. The oil-rich United Arab Emirates (UAE) officially opened the world's largest concentrated solar power plant, an USD 600 million project which can provide electricity to 20,000 homes. The solar park features long lines of parabolic mirrors spread over an area equivalent to 285 football pitches in the desert of the Western Region, some 120 kilometres southwest of Abu Dhabi. Rajasthan Welspun Energy has commissioned Asia's largest solar power project at Jodhpur district in Rajasthan. This is the largest solar project to be developed by Welspun Energy till date and is also the largest PV power plant in India.

Ambassadors,, The UNICEF goodwill ambassador Amitabh Bachchan has joined the UN and its humanitarian partners to promote The World Needs More a global campaign seeking to turn words into real assistance for communities affected by humanitarian crisis. Deepika Padukone and Aamir Khan are the brand ambassadors of the Indian Badminton League.

Films.awards. The audience at the World Cinema Amsterdam Film Festival chose Indian director Ritesh Batras The Lunchbox as the best film of the 2013 edition. Co produced by Anurag

Kashyap and Guneet Monga, among others, the movie was awarded the World Cinema Amsterdam Audience at the fest, which was held August 7-18. India fetched three top awards including the Best Feature film, the Best Director and Special Jury certificate of Recognition at the third SAARC film Festival. Indian film Paan Singh Thomar won the best feature film award for it fascinating plot and strong direction

SPORTS Belfast will host the prestigious World Police and Fire Games, the third largest international multi-sport event in the world, from 1-10 August 2013. Chris Froome wins the 100the edition of the Tour de France, becoming the second Briton in to be crowned champion in as many years. India finished at fourth position in the Archery World Cup stage 3 with Deepika Kumari winning gold and bronze medal. Indias K Jennitha Anto won the 13th IPCA World Womens Individuals Chess Championship title. In the event organized by the International Physically Disabled Chess Association, at Velke Losiny in the Czech Republic. Woman football referee Maria Rebello is set to create history as she has been named to officiate in the upcoming I-League season by All India Football Federation. In a historic decision, the AIFFs Referees Committee included Maria as the first-ever woman referee in the panel of Referees for the 2013-14 season of the I-League. Former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta has won the 19th edition of Commonwealth Chess Championship title. So far, Abhijeet has won 20 medals representing India at World, Asian and Commonwealth Chess Championship in subjunior, junior and senior categories. Francisco Garcia of Spain has been appointed head coach of the Indian womens basketball team. Prior to joining Basketball Federation of India, Garcia was involved in various womens professional programmes in Spain, Denmark and Finland. INSTAL is the new initiative taken by Ministry of Sports. Under the proposed Identification and Nurturing Sports Talent (INSTAL) scheme, each district will have a special school meant for young sports persons in the age group of 6-10 years who have shown talent in sports. The 2014 Winter Olympics are set to take place in February 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

EXTRAS The Alipore Zoo officially launched the Adoption of Zoo animal scheme. Under a unique Adopt and Animal scheme, around 40 of the zoo animals were adopted by individuals and corporate houses, who will pay for their upkeep and have access to information on the animals they have adopted. The seventh edition of the annual Regional Pravasi Bhartiya Divas will be held in the Australia city of Sydney this November. India ranked 66th in the Global Innovation Index-2013, published by Cornell University, INSEAD, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Confederation of India Industry (CII) as a knowledge partner. The study ranked 142 economies across the world on their innovation capacity and efficiency. India ranked number one in the Central and South Asia region followed by Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka and 11th overall in Innovation efficiency ratio. CISPA: Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act: To provide for the sharing of certain cyber threat intelligence and cyber threat information between the intelligence community and cyber security entities, and for other purposes. PIPA: Protect IP Act: Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 SOPA: Stop Online Piracy Act: To expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement to combat online copyright infringement and online trafficking in counterfeit goods. Bugatti Veyron Super Sport with a top speed of 431.072 km per hour is the world's fastest car as per Guinness.