Four Indians have been named in Forbes magazine’s 12th annual list of World’s 100 most powerful women. They are

Arundhati Bhattacharya: First woman (and youngest) Chairperson of State Bank of India (SBI) was placed at 30th position.

Chanda Kochhar: Managing Director (MD) and CEO of India’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank was placed at 35th position.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw: Founder, Chairman and MD of Biocon Limited was placed at 85th position.

Shobhana Bhartia: Chairperson and Editorial Director of the Hindustan Times Group was placed at 93rd position. It should be noted she has appeared on the list for the first time.

Apart from them, two women of Indian-origin PepsiCo Chief Indra Nooyi (15th position) and Cisco Chief Technology and Strategy Officer Padmasree Warrior (84th position) also have appeared in the list.

Top 10 powerful women: German Chancellor Angela Merkel (1st), Hillary Clinton (2nd), Melinda Gates (3rd), US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen (3th), GM CEO Mary Barra (5th), IMF Chief Christine Lagarde (6th), Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (7th), Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (8th), YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki (9th) and US First Lady Michelle Obama (10th).

About Forbes’ World’s 100 most powerful women list

It is an annual list of the 100 most influential women published by Forbes magazine.

The list feature extraordinary entrepreneurs, politicians, celebrity role models, visionary CEOs, billionaire activists and pioneer philanthropists who are transforming the world.

They are ranked by dollars, media presence and impact.

May 27, 2015No comments

Union government has constituted a 10-member committee to review and revitalise public private partnership (PPP) mode of infrastructure development.

The committee will be chaired by former finance secretary Vijay Kelkar and submit its report within a period of 3 months from the date of its Constitution.

Members of Committee: C.S. Rajan, Dr. Shekhar Shah, S.B. Nayar, Pradeep Kumar, Vikram Limaye, Sudipto Sarkar, P.S. Behuria, Sharmila Chavaly, Representative of Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.

Terms of Reference of the Committee

Review of the experience of PPP Policy. It will also include the variations in contents of contracts and difficulties experienced with particular conditions.

Suggest optimal risk sharing mechanism by analyzing risks involved in PPP projects in different sectors. It will also look into existing framework of sharing of such risks between the Government and project developer.

Propose design modifications to the contractual arrangements of the PPP based on best international practices and in correspondence with our institutional context.

Suggest measure to Government in order to improve capacity building for effective implementation of the PPP projects.

For firming-up its recommendations, the Committee may consult various stake holders in the different sectors including private, government sector, legal experts, banking and financial institutions and academia.

Background

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech of February 2015 had announced that the PPP mode of infrastructure development has to be revitalized and revisited in which the major issue involved is rebalancing of risk.

May 27, 2015No comments

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 26 May 2015 launched India’s first television channel DD Kisan dedicated to farmers in New Delhi.

The 24X7 channel is owned by public service broadcaster Doordarshan (DD) and is dedicated to agriculture and allied sectors.

Features of DD Kisan

DD Kisan will disseminate real-time inputs to farmers on new farming techniques, water conservation and organic farming.

It will also share best farm practices in different parts of the country, quiz shows for farmers, a bottoms-up approach involving agriculturists.

The channel show will also invite programme suggestions from general public and real-time interaction with experts and farm scientists.

Prior to launching this channel, Prasar Bharati was running ‘Krishi Darshan’ programme on DD1 for farmers. It was one of the longest running programmes on DD and was launched on January 26, 1967.

Background

During the Budget of 2014, NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had had earmarked 100 crore rupees to this dedicated channel to fulfill it election promise. BJP in its 2014 Lok Sabha election manifesto had announced that if they come to power they will set up dedicated 24X7 channel for Indian Farmers.

May 27, 2015No comments

India and Vietnam signed a Joint Vision Statement on Defence Cooperation for the period 2015-2020.

It was signed by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his Vietnamese counterpart Minister for National Defence General Phung Quang Thanh in New Delhi.

Apart from this statement, a MoU on cooperation between the Coast Guards of the two countries was also signed.

Vietnamese Defence Minister is on a 3-day official visit to India. Both nations also had held delegation level talks and discussed wide ranging issues concerning defence cooperation, including cooperation in the area of maritime security.

Both sides also reiterated their commitment to further enhancing the ongoing defence engagements between them for mutual benefit.

May 26, 2015No comments

Lt General (Retd) Nirbhay Sharma has sworn-in as the 17th governor of Mizoram.

Justice T Vaiphei, judge of the Gauhati High Court administered him the oath of office as per provisions of Article 159 of Indian Constitution.

Mr. Sharma will succeed West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi who was given additional charge of Mizoram in April 2015.

Prior to this appointment, he was serving as governor of Arunachal Pradesh. He was transferred to Mizoram by President Pranab Mukherjee on May 12, 2015.

About Lt General (Retd) Nirbhay Sharma

Nirbhay Sharma had served in Indian Army for 40 years before retiring in 2008.

He is considered as one of the most distinguished and decorated Field Commanders of the Indian Army.

In 2008, he was appointed as member of UPSC and was in office for 5 years i.e. till 2013.

In 2013, he was appointed as governor of Arunachal Pradesh.

He is third retired army officer to be appointed as Governor after Lt Gen (retd) S K Sinha and Gen J.J. Singh.

May 26, 2015No comments

Gujarat Government has initiated Sloth Habitat Project in Jessore wildlife sanctuary to provide better habitat to sloth bears.

The project aims at restoring the ecology of sloth bears in the sanctuary by planting fruit trees and removing unwanted plant species that have intruded in the habitat.

The planted trees will basically serve as food habitat for the sloth bears as their population increased. Nearly 293 sloth bears were found in the state forests in last census of 2011.

Unwanted encroached plant species like Lantenaspp and Prospisjuli-flora, which is called as Gando Baval in local language will be removed.

Background

State government’s decision to initiate this project comes after pilot project in this regard has shown positive results. This pilot project was implemented in Banaskantha district by state forest department in coordination with the Gujarat Ecology Commission (GEC).

However, the final testing will be conducted in the forests of Jessore sanctuary in monsoon season from June or July and after necessary process the project will be handed over to the state forest department for implementation on large area.

About Sloth bears

Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) is a nocturnal insectivorous species of bears found in India.

Categorised as vulnerable species in International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red list.

It is black and dark brown in colour with yellowish patch on the chest and has large feet and claw.

Sloth bear is omnivorous animal and mainly eat honey, termites, fruits (mangoes and figs) and grass.

Union Government has appointed Manoj Mishra as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of state-run National Fertilizers Ltd (NFL).

Mishra’s appointment comes after Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) had recommended his name for the top post at NFL in September 2014.

The post of CMD of NFL was lying vacant since February 2014 after the retirement of then CMD Neeru Abrol. Presently, Mishra is posted as Director Finance at State Trading Corporation (STC).

State-run NFL has five gas-based urea plants across India. They are Nangal & Bathinda in Punjab, Panipat in Haryana and two plants at Vijaipur in District Guna of Madhya Pradesh. The company is the second largest producer of urea in the country and has a total annual installed capacity of 35.68 lakh tonnes.

Union Government has approved twenty one proposals of Foreign Direct Investment (DI) amounting to over 280 crore rupees.

The approved FDI proposals were based on recommendations of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) taken in its meeting held on 30 April, 2015.

Some of approved FDI proposals are

La Renon Healthcare’s proposal to invest Rs 100 crore in a brownfield project.

Blue Dart Express’s proposal to acquire shares in Blue Dart Aviation Ltd and hike shareholding from 49 per cent to 74 per cent. It will infuse investment between 52.8 crore to Rs 69 crore rupees.

Quickjet Cargo Airlines proposal to increase foreign shareholding in the company to 74 per cent from 62.34 per cent. The deal will entail FDI worth 14.40 crore rupees.

Forever Living Imports (India) Pvt Ltd’s 18.30-crore rupees proposal to undertake single brand retailing of ‘Forever’ brand products in India.

However, FIPB has deferred 12 proposals including that of Mumbai-based Kotak Bank for increasing the aggregate foreign investment limit to 55 per cent in the bank.

FDI proposals approval

Presently, FDI proposals up to 3,000 crore rupees are cleared by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) under the normal approval route. However, those proposals involving FDI of more than 3,000 crore rupees are given final clearance by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

May 26, 2015No comments

An ancient aqueduct dating back 2,000 years ago was unearthed near Har Homa in in East Jerusalem city of Israel.

The discovered lower aqueduct was used in ancient times to transport water into the city of Jerusalem.

Key facts

Constructed during the rule of kings in the Hasmonean dynasty (140 B.C. to 37 B.C). It was one of Jerusalem’s principal sources of water.

It is 21 km long with starting point located at the En ‘Eitam spring, near Solomon’s Pools, south of Bethlehem.

Water through it flowed down a gentle slope to Jerusalem, passing through the Israel’s modern-day cities of Umm Tuba, Sur Bahar, East Talpiot and Abu Tor.

During the Ottoman period, around 500 years ago a terra cotta pipe was installed inside the channel in order to protect the water.

Apart from this, other sections of the extensive aqueduct were unearthed in the past in

Armon Ha-Natziv tunnels located in the City of David.

Around the Sultan’s Pool along the west side of Mount Zion in Jerusalem.

On the Sherover promenade in southern Jerusalem.

A new scientific study has found that a sudden and massive ice loss in a previously stable region of Antarctica is causing small changes in the gravitational field of the Earth.

This study was led by Dr Bert Wouters, a Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Bristol, England and was recently published in Science Journal.

Key highlights of Study

The changes were observed using the CryoSat-2 satellite, a mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) dedicated to remote-sensing of ice.

Researchers have found that the ice surface of some of the glaciers is currently going down by as much as 4 m each year.

They also have found out that Southern Antarctic Peninsula showed no signs of change up to 2009. But after 2009, multiple glaciers along a vast coastal expanse suddenly started to shed ice into the ocean.

These glaciers measure around 750 km in length and are shrinking nearly at a constant rate of 60 cubic km and adding about 55 trillion litres of water each year.

With level of shrinking, this region now has become the second largest contributor to sea level rise in Antarctica and causing small changes in the gravity field of the Earth.

India’s largest private sector lender Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) Bank has launched voice password facility for users.

This service will facilitate its customers to make transactions using their voice rather than using traditional means of authentication like entering id and password.

The voice recognition service authenticates customers based on their speech patterns and allows them to execute banking transactions through the bank’s call centre. Thus in this case of transaction customers voice will act as the password through the call centre.

The technology solution behind ICICI bank’s voice password facility works on unique voice prints which comprise over 100 characteristics. It also includes voice modulation, accent speed and pronunciation which are impossible to imitate.

This voice print will be stored and matched whenever the customer calls from the registered mobile. Thus it will provide highest security potential to its customers.

Over 33 million savings bank and credit card customers of ICICI bank will be able to use the service.

Sunil D’Souza was appointed as Managing Director (MD) of India’s home appliances maker Whirlpool. Prior to this appointment he was Head of PepsiCo’s VIMAPS Business Unit located in Malaysia.

In his 15 years of career with PepsiCo, he had held various senior management positions in Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and India.

He also has rich experience in Sunil’s rich and diverse experience across various fields including general management, sales, marketing, strategy and innovation in consumer-driven industries.

Apart from this appointment, Whirlpool also announced that Arvind Uppal incumbent President, Asia Pacific, Whirlpool Corporation and WIL CMD will continue as Executive Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors.

About Whirlpool

Whirlpool is one of the world’s largest consumer durables firms in the world.

It has about 20 billion dollar turn over in annual sales and employees around 100,000 people. Till 2014, it had 70 manufacturing and technology research centres globally.

Presently company markets brands like Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Brastemp, Consul, Bauknecht, Jenn-Air, Amana, Indesit and other major brand names in more than 170 countries.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg from Germany has won the Monaco Grand Prix Formula One (F1) World Championship title. It was the final race of F1 season 2015.

It is Rosberg’s tenth overall championship title and the second in the 2015 season. First was the Spanish Formula 1 World Championship title won on May 10, 2015.

With this victory, he has become the fourth driver in history of F1 to win three Monaco Grand Prix titles in a row. Others were Ayrton Senna, Graham Hill and Alain Prost.

Result of Monaco Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel from Ferrari team from Germany stood at the second position.

Lewis Hamiltion from Mercedes team from United Kingdom stood at the third position.

In the final race, Force India’s drivers Sergio Perez from Mexico and Nico Hulkenberg from Germany stood at the seventh and eleventh positions respectively.

Mumbai Indians (MI) on 24 May 2015 won the eight edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 by defeating Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

In the final match played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata they defeated CSK by 41 runs. CSK had won the toss in final summit had chosen bowl first. MI by batting first had set the target of 202 to their opponent team. However the CSK failed to reach the target score.

This is the second IPL title triumph for MI after their maiden win in the season six in 2013. It should be noted that Chennai has now lost four finals of 2008, 2012, 2013, 2015 in six appearances and had won in 2011 and 2012 IPL seasons.

Brief score: MI 202-5 in 20.0 Overs (Lendl Simmons 68, Rohit Sharma 50, Dwayne Bravo 2-36) beat CSK 161-8 in 20.0 Overs (Dwayne Smith 57, Mitchell McClenaghan 3-25).

Man of the Match:  Rohit Sharma.

Captains of the two teams

Mumbai Indains: Rohit Sharma.

Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Other highlights of IPL 2015

Player of the Tournament: Andre Russell (KKR).

Orange Cap awarded to: David Warner (Sunrisers Hyderabad).

Purple Cap awarded to: Dwayne Bravo (CSK).

Emerging Player of the Season: Shreyas Iyer (Delhi Daredevils).

Most Valuable Player: Andre Russell (KKR).

About Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians (MI) is owned by India’s biggest conglomerate, Reliance Industries led by Mukesh Ambani through its 100% subsidiary IndiaWin Sports.

Ownership of MI: IndiaWin Sports Pvt Ltd (Stake: 98.3%), Teesta Retail Pvt Ltd. (Stake: 1.7%).

Renowned American mathematician and Nobel laureate John Nash passed away on 24 May 2015. He was 86 and died in a car crash along with his wife Alicia Nash.

John Forbes Nash, Jr. was born on June 13, 1928 in West Virginia State of United States.

Work: He was renowned for works in game theory (mathematical study of decision-making), differential geometry and partial differential equations.

His theories (especially Nash Equilibrium in game theory) are used in modern computing, economics, evolutionary biology, artificial intelligence, accounting, politics and military theory.

Awards: In 1994, he shared Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with game theorists Reinhard Selten and John Harsanyi.

In 2015, he was awarded the Abel Prize along with Louis Nirenberg for his work on nonlinear partial differential equations.

Paranoid schizophrenia: In 1959, he got mentally ill and had undergone treatment of Paranoid schizophrenia. Later in 1970s he had recovered from mental illness.

A Beautiful Mind: His breakthroughs in maths and his struggles with schizophrenia were basis for biography A Beautiful Mindwritten by Sylvia Nasar’s.

The biography was later adapted in movie starring Russell Crowe in 2001 with the same name. In 2002, the film had won four Academy Awards (Oscars) for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress.

French film Dheepan honoured with Palme d’Or Award at 68th Cannes Film Festival

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May 25, 2015No comments

French film Dheepan has been awarded Palme d’Or Award at 68th Cannes Film Festival. The film is directed by Jacques Audiard.

Dheepan story revolves around the trio of Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka’s who pretend to be a family in order to flee their war-torn country to France.

Other awards at 68th Cannes Film Festival

The Grand Prix: Son of Saul, directed by László Nemes.

Best director: Hou Hsiao-Hsien for The Assassin.

Screenplay: Michel Franco for Chronic.

Best actress:  Emmanuelle Bercot in Mon Roi and Rooney Mara in Carol.

Best Actor: Vincent Lindon in The Measure of a Man.

Camera d’Or: La Tierra Y La Sombra, directed by César Augusto Acevedo.

Short Films Palme d Or: Waves ’98, directed by Ely Dagher.

The Jury Prize: The Lobster, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.

China sets up largest gold sector fund for nations along ancient Silk Road

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May 25, 2015No comments

China has set up a gold sector fund involving 65 countries along the ancient Silk Road.  It has been set up in China’s northwest Xi’an city during ongoing forum on investment and trade.

The fund will be led by Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) and is expected to raise 16.1 billion dollars in three phases. It should be noted that it is the largest fund set up by China in the gold sector.

Around 60 countries which fall along the routes of 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) and Silk Road Economic Belt have invested in the fund.

This fund will facilitate gold purchase for the central banks of member states to increase their holdings of the precious metal. It will be also invested in gold mining in countries along the Silk Road and also to increase exploration in countries such as Afghanistan and Kazakhstan

At present, China is the world’s largest gold producer and also a major importer and consumer of gold. But its share in international gold trade is very small and does not have a big say in gold pricing.

By setting up this fund China is seeking to increase the influence of its domestic currency Renminbi (RMB) in the international gold pricing by opening the domestic gold market to international investors.

Russia enacts law banning undesirable NGOscurrentaffairs.gktoday.in /russia-enacts-law-banning-undesirable-ngos-05201523036.html

May 25, 2015No comments

Russian government officially has enacted a law banning undesirable non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the country.

The law came into force after President Vladimir Putin signed the bill in this regard after it was passed by both houses of the Russian parliament.

The newly enacted law allows government authorities to

Prosecute foreign NGOs or firms designated as undesirable on national security grounds.

Individuals working for such NGOs could face up to six years in prison or fines.

Barr foreign NGOs employees from the country.

Ban Russian citizens or groups that have involvement or are engaged with such undesirable foreign NGOs.

The definition of undesirable in this case can be considered as threat to Russia’s defence capabilities or constitutional foundations.

Comments

Supporters of this enacted law consider it as a preventative measure which has become necessary after the wave of Western sanctions put on Russia in place over the Ukraine conflict and annexation of Crimean peninsula.

While, western critics think that the law gives powers to Russian authorities to impose the undesirable ban on NGOs without going to court.

Indian boxers clinch 4 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze medals in Doha Boxing Tournament

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May 25, 2015No comments

Indian boxers have rounded off a brilliant run at the Doha International Tournament by winning four gold, one silver and two bronze medals.

Gold medal winners are

L Devendro Singh in 49 kg category by defeating Aldren Moreno of Philippines by 3:0.

Shiva Thapa in 56kg category by defeating HYM Abdelaal of Egypt by 2:1.

Manish Kaushik in 60 kg category by defeating Rabi Hamza of Morocco by 3:0.

Manoj Kumar in 64 kg category by defeating Magliquian Nicole of Philippines by 3:0.

The silver medal was won by Gaurav Bidhuri in 52 kg category. While Mandeep Jangra and Vikas Krishan bagged bronze medals in 69kg and 75kg categories respectively.