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IN
CA-15-12
CURRENT AFFAIRS SNIPPETS : DECEMBER 2015
INSTRUCTOR NOTE
Time : 120 minutes
GOVERNMENT
Amitabh Kant made NITI Aayog CEO
In a significant secretary-level reshuffle at the Centre,
the Prime Minister-led Appointments Committee
of the Cabinet has transferred Disinvestment
Secretary Aradhana Johri and given Industry
Secretary Amitabh Kant the additional responsibility
of being Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog.
For more information, please visit: niti.gov.in
Gautam Bambawale made envoy to Pakistan
in major MEA rejig
Sweeping changes are afoot in MEA, with the
government moving new faces to top diplomatic
posts. Gautam Bambawale, India’s ambassador to
Bhutan, will take over from TCA Raghavan as
high commissioner to Pakistan when the latter
retires in December. This is a big appointment,
because Bambawale, an expert on China, will be
taking over one of India’s most sensitive diplomatic
positions.
Navtej Sarna, presently secretary (west) in MEA
will be India’s next high commissioner to London.
Sarna, who was ambassador to Israel, will have
just the right mix of political, cultural and diaspora
skills for the job. Anil Wadhwa, secretary (east),
will go to Rome, which has become more prominent
given the level of Indian economic interests.
The biggest jump has been reserved for Syed
Akbaruddin, who will take over as India’s per-
manent representative in the UN in New York.
Akbar, as he is known, was a familiar face as
MEA’s spokesperson, and it’s known that PM
Modi regards him highly. Akbaruddin will replace
Asoke Mukerji who will be retiring. The post is
generally a secretary-level one, so Akbaruddin’s
elevation is the first sign that merit is again one
of the top considerations for posts. Before he
leaves though, Akbaruddin will have to deliver the
big ticket India-Africa summit in October.
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INS Godavari, First Indigenously Designed
Warship, Decommissioned In Mumbai
INS Godavari, the country’s first indigenously
designed and built warship was decommissioned
in Mumbai after thirty-two years of service.
The ship’s flag was lowered for the last time
during the ceremony in Mumbai, with many of
her former commanding officers on board.
But the ship will not meet the same fate as aircraft
carrier INS Vikrant which was sold as scrap after
the decommissioning.
For more information, please visit:
http://indiannavy.nic.in/content/first-indig -
enously-designed-and-built-frigate-ins-godavari-
decommissioned
Rajya Sabha unanimously passes SC/ST Bill
The Rajya Sabha unanimously passed the SC and
ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill along
with two Bills on supplementary demands for 2015-
16, within minutes without any debate.
The House returned to Lok Sabha the Appropriation
(No.4) Bill and the Appropriation (No. 5) Bill
containing the second batch of supplementary
demands as part of grants for 2015-16 to meet
government’s expenditure.
As the House reassembled at 2 pm after four
adjournments earlier, the Opposition criticised the
government’s move to bring the Juvenile Justice
Bill through the supplementary agenda route.
Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad objected
to this saying that the ruling party itself was
complicating the issue.
Following this, Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien took
up the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities)
Amendment Bill, 2015.
This was passed unanimously through a voice vote
without any discussion. Congress leader Hussain
Dalwai did not move his motion for certain
amendments after his party asked him not to do
so.
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There was thumping on the desk as the House
passed the Bill.
The two Appropriations Bills were also passed
in a similar manner without any discussion.
TMC leader Derek O’Brien stood up and told the
Chair that it was important to mention that the
Bills were passed unanimously and not in a din.
RK Mathur set to be new Chief
Information Commissioner
Former defence secretary Radha Krishna Mathur
has been cleared for the post of Chief Information
Commissioner (CIC). He will be serving for nearly
three years, making him the second-longest serving
CIC. Mathur’s selection as the eighth CIC — cleared
by the high-level selection panel headed by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi approved by President
Pranab Mukherjee— is a departure from the
convention of appointing the most senior Infor-
mation Commissioner (IC) as the CIC.
The new CIC’s appointment will also kill any chance
whatsoever of most senior IC Basant Seth, who
will be completing his tenure by February 15,
2017, much before Mathur’s on November 24,
2018. From the time of the first CIC, Wajahat
Habibulla, and his successors A N Tewari, Satyanand
Mishra, Deepak Sandhu, Sushma Singh, Rajiv Mathur
till outgoing CIC Vijai Sharma, whose tenure ended
on December 1, the convention has been to appoint
the senior-most IC as the CIC. Mathur is not
only junior to many, but also a fresh face on
the panel.
Defending the selection, Habibulla said, “Seniority
had become a convention. It was not a rule. The
The CIC is appointed for five years or up to the
age of 65, whichever is earlier, and has a rank
equivalent to Chief Justice of India and Chief Election
Commissioner. The selection panel includes Fi-
nance Minister Arun Jaitley and Leader
of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.
For more information, please visit: http://cic.gov.in/
Justice Narasimha Reddy to head committee
on OROP (important)
Sidestepping the demand by ex-servicemen for a
five-member judicial commission with represen-
tatives from military fraternity, the government
appointed Justice L. Narasimha Reddy, former Chief
Justice of Patna High Court to head the one-man
judicial committee, which will look into the
implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP)
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scheme. The committee is as per the points of
the notification issued by the government on
November 7 for implementing OROP. A statement
issued by the Defence Ministry states that the
terms of reference for the committee shall be “to
examine and make recommendations on references
received from the government…”
These include: measures for the removal of anomalies
that may arise in the implementation of the OROP
as notified by the government on 07 November
2015, measures for the removal of anomalies that
may arise out of inter-services issues of the three
forces due to its implementation, implications on
service matters and any other matter referred by
the Central Government on implementation of the
OROP or related issues. The committee, based
in Delhi, will submit its recommendations within
six months of the date of its constitution, however,
it can give interim reports to the government on
matters related to its terms of reference.
The committee was swiftly rejected by the veterans
agitating over the issue. “We reject the notification
as it is one of the seven anomalies pointed out
by us to the government after issue of notification
on OROP on November 7 and repeatedly there-
after,” said Col. Anil Kaul (retd), media advisor
to United Front of Ex-Servicemen Movement
(UFESM). The statement also notes that in making
its recommendations “the committee shall take into
account the financial impact of its recommen-
dations.”
Parliament passes Negotiable Instruments
(Amendment) Bill
Parliament on Friday cleared a Bill providing for
filing of cheque bounce cases at the place where
a cheque is presented for clearance and not the
place of issue. The amendments incorporated in
the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill
affected by the Rajya Sabha were passed in the Lok
Sabha with voice vote and without a debate. The
Bill seeks to replace an ordinance which was re-
promulgated earlier. Minister of state for Finance,
Jayant Sinha moved the Bill in the House.
The amendments in the Negotiable Instruments
Act will have implications for over 18 lakh cheque
bounce cases pending in various courts. The
amendment, which enables filing of cheque bounce
cases in the place where the cheque was presented
for clearance or payment and not the place of
issue, seeks to overturn a Supreme Court ruling
which said the cases have to be initiated where
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the issuing branch was located.
An estimated 18 lakh cheque bounce cases are
there across the country, of which about 38,000
are pending in High Courts. The amendment provides
that cases of bouncing of cheques can be filed
only in a court in whose jurisdiction the bank
branch of the payee (person who receives the
cheque) lies. If a complaint against a person issuing
a cheque has been filed in the court with the
appropriate jurisdiction, then all subsequent com-
plaints against that person will be filed in the same
court, irrespective of the relevant jurisdiction area.
Pointing out that many Bills, that are passed by
the Lok Sabha, are returning to the House with
changes suggested by the Rajya Sabha, CPI-M’s
Mohd Salim said it is in violation of the Lok Sabha’s
dignity that such Bills had to be passed by it again.
For more information, please visit: http://
www.prsindia.org/billtrack/the-negotiable-instru-
ments-amendment-bill-2015-3778/
PM Modi to Launch ‘Accessible India Cam-
paign’ for Persons with Disabilities
Aiming to ensure ease of access for persons with
disabilities in government buildings, public trans-
portation and the information technology field, the
Centre will soon launch the ‘Accessible India
Campaign’ which is to be inaugurated by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi. The nationwide flagship
initiative for facilitating easy access for Persons
with disabilities will be inaugurated by PM Modi
on ‘International Day of Persons with Disabilities’
on December 3. Union Minister of Social Justice
and Empowerment, Thaawar Chand Gehlot, will
inaugurate the three-day film festival.
For more information, please visit: http://pib.nic.in/
newsite/mbErel.aspx?relid=126123
STATE
Odisha gears up for Operation Smile-2
After successfully tracing and rescuing about 900
missing children of Odisha under ‘Operation Smile’
in January 2015, the state police along with Women
and Child Development Department personnel are
now all set to launch the second version of the
drive in January 2016.
For more information, please visit: http://
www.operationsmile.org/
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Supreme Court upholds Haryana panchayat law
(important)
In what may be a precedent preventing illiterate
persons from participating in grass roots democ-
racy, the Supreme Court upheld a Haryana State
law mandating that only those having “minimum”
educational qualifications will be eligible to contest
panchayat elections in the State. The other grounds
for disqualification from contesting polls under
the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act, 2015
are failure to pay arrears to any primary agriculture
co-operative society or agriculture co-operative
banks, failure to pay electricity bill arrears and
not having a functional toilet at home.
The “minimum” education required for eligibility
to contest in a panchayat election is completion
of matriculation in case of general candidates;
completion of Class 8 for a woman candidate or
a candidate belonging to Scheduled Caste; and
completion of Class 5 pass for a Scheduled Caste
woman candidate contesting for the post of ‘Panch’.
The law leaves 68 per cent of the Scheduled Caste
women and 41 per cent of the Scheduled Caste
men in Haryana ineligible to contest panchayat
elections. The judgment may become a rallying
point for other States also to amend their laws
in the same fashion. The verdict by a Bench of
Justices J. Chelameswar and Abhay Manohar Sapre
agrees that the Haryana law creates “two classes
of voters,” that is, “those who are qualified by
virtue of their educational accomplishment to contest
the elections to the panchayats and those who
are not.”
But Justice Chelameswar, who authored the verdict,
reasons there is nothing “irrational or illegal or
unconnected” if the law prescribes minimum
educational qualification for candidates. Simply put,
the court feels that basic education would “enable
the candidates to effectively discharge duties of
the panchayat.” “It is only education which gives
a human being the power to discriminate between
right and wrong, good and bad. Therefore,
prescription of an educational qualification is not
irrelevant for better administration ,” Justice
Chelameswar reasoned.
The court completely agreed with Attorney-General
Mukul Rohatgi’s submissions during the hearings
that the law was meant to elect “model repre-
sentatives for local self government for better
administrative efficiency.” The apex court failed
to find any merit in the argument of three women
candidates, spurned by Haryana’s new poll law
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and who moved the Supreme Court, that “people
do not choose to be illiterate.”
On making insolvency a disqualification, Justice
Chelameswar agrees that rural India is reeling under
agrarian debts and farmers are committing suicide
to escape the debt trap. But then the judgment
points out how Haryana is “more prosperous”
compared to other States. The court does not
delve into statistics to make its point, saying such
an exercise is irrelevant in deciding the consti-
tutionality of making insolvency a cause of dis-
qualification. Justice Chelameswar then observes
that the impoverished and the “indebted” may not
be “genuinely interested” in contesting elections.
Besides, the verdict points out, “elections at any
level in this country are expensive affairs.”
“In such a case the possibility of a deeply indebted
person seeking to contest elections should normally
be rare as it would be beyond the economic capacity
of such persons,” the judgment held.
As far as making default in payment of power
bills, the Supreme Court merely says “we do not
understand what could be the constitutional in-
firmity if the legislature declares people who are
indebted to cooperative bodies or in arrears of
electricity bills to be ineligible to become elected
representatives of the people in panchayats.”
Justifying the Haryana’s decision to include functional
toilets at home an eligibility criterion, Justice
Chelameswar highlighted how open defecation is
a “notorious fact” and a rampantly unhealthy practice
in India. He narrates how Mahatma Gandhi tried
his best to eradicate the practice with his writings
and missionary zeal. The apex court acknowledges
that poverty may be one reason for open defecation
still continuing in the country, but adds that this
practice is not exclusive to the poor.
The apex court agreed with the Haryana govern-
ment that now “if people still do not have a toilet
it is not because of their poverty but because
of their lacking the requisite will.”
The court finally notes how the primary duty of
a civic body is sanitation. “Those who aspire to
get elected to those civic bodies and administer
them must set an example for others,” the Supreme
Court observed, paving the way for panchayat
elections in Haryana as per the new law.
U.P. to honour celebrated Indian-American
entrepreneur
Frank Islam’s journey from the hinterlands of
Purvanchal to the power galleries of the Potomac
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fits the proverbial ‘American Dream’. For his success
story, the 63-year-old celebrated Indian-American
entrepreneur is set to be felicitated by the Government
of Uttar Pradesh, the State where he was born.
On January 4, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will
honour Mr. Islam with the ‘Uttar Pradesh Ratna
Award’ at the U.P. Pravasi Diwas in Agra.
The ceremony is being held to recognise the
contributions and achievements of NRIs hailing
from the State. “I have received many awards.
But, this award is extra special because it comes
from my homeland,” says Mr. Islam.
Born Shah Fakhrul Islam in the humble setting
of Azamgarh, he spent his formative years in the
East U.P. town before leaving for Aligarh Muslim
University. “It is there [Azamgarh] where I learned
about the richness of different religions and respect
for other religions,” Mr. Islam remembers.
In the early 1970s, he moved to the U.S. and
completed his postgraduation in Computer Science
from the University of Colorado. In 1994, he founded
an Information Technology company, the QSS
Group, with just one employee on board. Thirteen
years later, when he sold the company, it had
2,000 employees and sales worth $ 300 million.
He then established the FI Investment Group, a
private investment firm.
Not only a successful entrepreneur, Mr. Islam
is also a well-known philanthropist, civic leader
and a regular writer. In January, he was part
of President Barack Obama’s high-power business
delegation that visited India. It was during that
trip Mr. Islam last visited his native.
Longest human chain formed on Human Rights
Day in Odisha
Urging for world peace on the occasion of
International Human Rights Day, more than 25,000
students of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences
(KISS) stood holding each other’s hand along a
30-km-long stretch forming the longest human chain
in the world by indigenous people.
Individuals and different organisations too organised
different awareness programmes here to celebrate
the International Human Rights Day.
For more information, please visit: http://
www.orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=63278
Delhi MLAs to get 400% hike in salary
The basic monthly salary of Delhi MLAs and Ministers
has been increased by 400 per cent besides significant
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hike of allowances. The Delhi Assembly approved
the Bill to hike salaries considering the rising cost
of living. A three-member Committee chaired by
former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha PDT
Achary, in its report submitted favoured a 400
per cent hike in the basic salary of the Capital’s
MLAs — from Rs. 12,000 to Rs. 50,000 per month
— in addition to a slew of allowances for purposes
ranging from travel to office furniture.
The Committee also felt that while the revised
salary and allowances be effective for one term,
it also recommended that legislators’ salary be
raised by 10% of the basic salary, or Rs. 5,000,
every year from the date on which the new pay
and allowances came into force to ‘neutralise the
impact of inflation.’ It is pertinent to mention here
that a similar exercise, presided over by the former
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit of the Congress at
the beginning of her third and final term in 2011,
had resulted in a two-fold increase in MLAs’ salary
with the Home Ministry , however, curtailing
recommendations to increase allocation for allow-
ances.
Apart from basic salary, the committee has
recommended hiking constituency allowance from
current Rs. 18,000 to Rs 50,000, a reimbursable
sum of Rs. 70,000 per month has also been
recommended as allowance under ‘Secretarial,
Research and Office Assistance’ head from Rs.
30,000, an ‘office rental and related utilities’
allowance of Rs. 25,000, a communication allow-
ance of Rs. 10,000 per month as well as Rs.
30,000 as monthly conveyance allowance for each
MLA. One-time allowances for ‘office furnishing’
at Rs. 60,000 and a vehicle loan of Rs. 12 lakh
have also been recommended. The report will now
be put before the Assembly’s Committee of Salary
and Allowances for consideration following which
the Cabinet will consider it and, if accepted, will
come up with a Bill to be sent to the Home Ministry
for approval.
The basic salary of legislators has been increased
from the current Rs. 12,000 to Rs. 50,000 and
their overall monthly package will be around Rs.
2.1 lakh as against existing Rs. 88,000. The Delhi
government will now send the Bill to the Centre
and if it is approved, then the salaries of Delhi
legislators will be among the highest in the country.
“Our MLAs don’t depend on other ‘means of
income’. With the current salary, many of us aren’t
able to pay daily household bills and by the end
of the month, some of us don’t have money in
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accounts...,” Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia
said, presenting the Bill in the Assembly.
For more information, please visit: http://
delhi.gov.in/wps/wcm/connect/doit/Delhi+Govt/
Delhi+Home
NATIONAL
Singapore knocks off Mauritius as top FDI
source into India in current fiscal
Singapore has replaced Mauritius as the top source
of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India during
the first half of the current fiscal.
During April-September 2015, India has attracted
$6.69 billion (Rs 43,096 crore) FDI from Singapore
while from Mauritius, it received $3.66 billion (Rs
23,490 crore), according to data from the De-
partment of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
Foreign investment from Singapore has more than
doubled from $2.41 billion in the year-ago period.
Sectors that attracted highest foreign investment
during April-September 2015 includes computer
software and hardware ($3.05 billion), trading ($2.30
billion), services and automobile ($1.46 billion each)
and telecommunications ($659 million).
Foreign investment is crucial for India, which needs
about $1 trillion by March 2017 to overhaul
infrastructure such as ports, airports and highways
and boost growth.
For more information, please visit: http://
www.makeinindia.com/policy/foreign-direct-in -
vestment
‘Inequality pulls back India’ in HDI Report
For just four per cent of its GDP, India could
provide “a basic and modest set of social security
guarantees for all citizens with universal pension,
basic health care, child benefits and employment
schemes”, the United Nations Development
Programme said in its Human Development Report,
2015. In addition to national employment strategies,
the report calls for a new social contract between
governments, society, and the private sector to
ensure that all members of society have their needs
taken into account in policy formulation, a global
deal among governments to guarantee workers’
rights and benefits around the world and a decent
work agenda, that will help promote freedom of
association, equity, security, and human dignity
in work life. The report repeatedly singles out
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India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employ-
ment Guarantee scheme for praise.
Workforce participation rates for women have
dropped globally, driven largely by declines in the
last decade in India and China, the report finds.
Women also consistently earn less than men and
are less likely than men to be in leadership positions,
the report finds. India ranked 130 of 188 countries
on the Human Development Index in 2014, up
marginally from 135 in 2013, and its index value
had improved slightly over 2013. When inequality
is factored in, however, India loses over one-
fourth of its HDI value, with education registering
the highest inequality in outcomes. There are also
substantial gender differences in outcomes; if the
women of India were their own country, they
would rank 151 out of 188 countries in human
development, while India’s men would come in
at 120. The average adult man in India gets twice
as many years of schooling as the average adult
woman.
On the Multidimensional Poverty Index developed
by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development
Initiative, which measures deprivation on six
indicators, over half of India’s population is multi-
dimensionally poor, while a further 18 per cent
are close to this line. However, the data for this
index for India dates back to 2005-06. The HDI
is a composite index meant to compare the well-
being of people across countries and was first
introduced by the UNDP in 1990. It is calculated
as the geometric mean of three indicators: life
expectancy, education and national income. Of
the three sub-components, India had a substantially
higher income per capita than countries that did
better than it on the index, while the average years
of schooling that the average Indian adult has received
(5.4 years) was particularly low among middle
income countries.
For more information, please visit:
http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/14/
hdr2013_en_complete.pdf
Gopal Subramanium agrees to head DDCA probe
panel
The former Solicitor-General, Gopal Subramanium,
has formally accepted the Delhi government’s offer
to head the Commission of Inquiry to probe the
alleged scam in the Delhi and District Cricket
Association (DDCA). Mr. Subramanium sent his
letter of acceptance to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
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However, Mr. Subramanium’s acceptance marks
a U-turn on his earlier stand that he would agree
to head the commission only after the government
sought the approval from the Lieutenant-Governor
and the Union Home Ministry.
On December 24, Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb
Jung said in a communication to the Centre that
since the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952,
empowers only the Centre and the State govern-
ments to appoint a commission of inquiry, Delhi
could do so only with the concurrence of the
Centre, through the Lieutenant-Governor, as it is
a Union Territory. Mr. Subramanium while agreeing
to accept the Delhi government’s offer to head
the Commission of Inquiry to probe the alleged
scam in the DDCA wrote that the Lieutenant-
Governor’s ‘receipt’ of information from both the
Cabinet and the House indicate that he “prima
facie” has consented to the appointment of the
commission.
However, the government’s choice was questioned
by the Opposition parties as Mr. Subramanium
had in the past “helped” the AAP government in
some cases. But the Delhi government said that
so far, Mr. Subramanium had given legal opinion
to the government on the issue of interpretation
of Article 239 AA of the Constitution, pro-bono
(free of cost). “In fact, he was among the five
constitutional experts who had given their opinions
on the subject,” an official statement said.
Railway minister Prabhu flags off Mumbai-
Margao double decker train
Railway minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off by
remote the Mumbai-Margao-Mumbai 1,000 pas-
senger capacity double decker express train from
the in Panaji. The service will be operated three
times a week. Prabhu said that the railways will
soon sign an agreement with the Japanese gov-
ernment to improve safety and standards of Indian
railways.
“2016 : UK-INDIA Year of Education, Research
and Innovation” Launched
India and United Kingdom launched a joint initiative
“2016: UK-INDIA Year of Education, Research
and Innovation” in New Delhi. Speaking on the
occasion, Union Minister of Human Resource
Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani highlighted
the importance of mobility of students and faculty
and expressed hope that, under the GIAN Program,
more UK academicians would be able to come
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to India in 2016. She expressed hope that areas
of mutual interest in research could be picked
up out of the ten research priority areas under
IMPRINT (IMPacting Research Innovation and
Technology). The Minister said that she would
like to see partnerships and interaction among school
students of India and UK, esp. children in Government
schools, like Navoday Vidyalays.
UKIERI-III which could build upon good work
already done under earlier phases of UKIERI. He
anticipated that more than 100 academicians from
UK would be coming under GIAN over next two
years. Under the UK Generation India program,
they would be looking forward to send 25,000
UK students to India during the next 5 (five) years.
It is worthwhile to mention that during the visit
of the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi,
to the United Kingdom last month, it was jointly
announced by both the Prime Ministers that 2016
would be the UK-India Year of Education, Research
and Innovation. On its part, Ministry of Human
Resource Development carried out a review of
current cooperation, and a process of identification
of possible and potential areas of activity under
the Year of Education, Research and Innovation.
Secretary of State of the United Kingdom Mr.
Sajid Javid and Mr. Jo Johnson, Minister of State
for Universities and Science visited India.
The third phase of UK-India Education and Research
Initiative (UKIERI-III), with higher budgetary
allocation of 3 million GBP per year from each
side, will commence on 1st April 2016. UKIERI-
III will provide a basic framework for the bilateral
cooperation between India and UK over the next
5 years. It will focus on leadership and faculty
development, integration of skills in the education
system, e-partnership & research incubation, and
enhancing mobility. The approach in research will
be inter-disciplinary cutting across various Min-
istries of Government of India. United Kingdom
will be the partner country for the “Technology
Summit 2016” to be organized jointly by the
Department of Science and Technology and
Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) on 24th-
26th October, 2016 in New Delhi.
For more information, please visit: https://
www.gov.uk/government/world-location-news/
india-and-the-uk-an-unbeatable-combination-in-
education-and-skills
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No new diesel SUVs to be registered in Delhi
till 31 March, directs SC
Close on the heels of the AAP government announcing
restrictions on cars in Delhi based on registration
numbers, the Supreme Court has stepped in to
curb high pollution levels in the national capital.
In a series of significant orders with aim to tackle
air pollution, the court banned the entry of trucks
which are more than ten years old in Delhi.
The apex court has also put restriction on the
passage of commercial vehicles through Delhi if
their destination is not the capital. Such vehicles
will not be allowed to enter Delhi through the
entry points of NH-8 and NH-1.
Further, the Supreme Court has also directed all
taxis in Delhi to be converted to CNG and has
doubled the pollution surcharge on vehicles. A
100 percent increase in the surcharge would now
mean that light commercial vehicles with two axles
will have to pay Rs.1,400 for entering Delhi and
commercial vehicles with three and four axles will
have to pay Rs.2,600 for each trip for entering
Delhi. Interestingly, the Supreme Court, way back
in 2001, had directed all public transport buses
to be converted to CNG to reduce air pollution.
The Supreme Court’s wide-ranging directions
come shortly after it voiced its concern in strong
words about rising pollution, saying that rich people
can’t go around in SUV’s polluting the environment.
Recently, the court had backed the Kejriwal
government’s odd-even policy on private cars.
Days before the Delhi government’s order, the Delhi
High Court had remarked that living in the city
was akin to living in a gas chamber, and asked
the Centre and the state government to take
comprehensive steps to tackle the issue.
With the Supreme Court’s latest directives, the
judiciary appears to have taken a firm stand on
reducing air pollution in the city, notorious for
being the most polluted city in the world.
Francois Hollande to be Chief Guest at 2016
Republic Day celebrations
French President Francois Hollande will be the
chief guest at the Republic Day parade of January
26, 2016. Though official sources are yet to confirm
this information, Julien Bouissou, the South Asia
correspondent of French daily La Monde has tweeted
the same. He later on clarified that his information
was based on the French sources.
The visit of Mr. Hollande to New Delhi for the
mega pageant of January 26 will be symbolic and
7 UGT-Module--CA-15-12

send a message of a worldwide solidarity among
the democratic countries against terrorism of the
IS which staged the November 13 attacks in Paris.
France is going to host the COP 21, Paris Climate
Conference, summit in Paris starting from No-
vember 30. French ambassador Francoise Richier
told the media in Delhi earlier this week that the
climate conference, though overshadowed by the
terror attacks will go ahead as planned but for
some changes about the peripheral events planned
for the summit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi
is expected to attend the COP21 brainstorming
in Paris, said official sources earlier this week.
The announcement on the presence of Mr. Hollande
during the Republic Day parade might have been
finalised during the talks that French foreign minister
Laurent Fabius had in Delhi on November 20.
Though, Mr Fabius, one of the longest serving
French diplomats, was in Delhi to discuss the
climate conference, his discussions with his
counterpart Sushma Swaraj and Prime Minister
Modi in Delhi expectedly were overshadowed by
the war on terror that France has declared following
the terror strikes in Paris.
INTERNATIONAL
2016 will be International Year of Pulses
The UN General Assembly voted in New York
on December 21 to declare 2016 as the International
Year of Pulses, providing a shot in the arm for
the world’s healthiest grain foods. With rates of
diabetes and obesity on the rise, the UN declared
international year presents an opportunity to
recognise pulses for their exceptional potential to
offer nutritional wellbeing to people everywhere,
Bahceci asserted. From an Indian perspective, pulses
are the most economical source of vegetable protein,
especially for the poor to fight protein deficiency.
India is the world’s largest producer of pulses
(18.5 million tonnes), largest importer (3.5 million
tonnes) and largest consumer (22.0 million tonnes).
For more information, please visit: www.fao.org/
pulses-2016/en
Modi inaugurates Afghan parliament building
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan Presi-
dent Mohammad Ashraf Ghani inaugurated the
newly-built Afghan parliament building in Kabul.
The new parliament building in Afghanistan will
stand as a symbol of ties between India and
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Afghanistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said
after the inauguration ceremony. Modi said he stands
on behalf of “1.25 billion friends in India in admiration
for your achievements and in gratitude for your
friendship.” He said the day was special as it was
former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birthday,
adding he was “deeply touched” that a block in
the new building was named ‘Atal block’.
Miss Universe 2015 – Miss Philippines
The Miss Universe contestant from the Philippines
is this year’s winner but for one brief moment,
it appeared as if it might be a repeat win for
Colombia. Colombia contestant Ariadna Gutierrez
Arevalo was already wearing the crown as this
year’s Miss Universe winner when host Steve Harvey
returned to apologize. A mystified Wurtzbach
appeared stunned as she walked to the front of
the stage alongside the crown-wearing Arevalo
before last year’s Miss Universe from Colombia
removed the crown and placed it on Wurtzbach’s
head instead.
The competition started with women representing
80 countries between the ages of 19 and 27. For
the first time, viewers at home weighed in, with
their votes being tallied in addition to four in—
person celebrity judges. NBCUniversal and Donald
Trump co-owned the Miss Universe Organization
until earlier this year. The real-estate developer
offended Hispanics in June when he made anti-
immigrant remarks in announcing his Republican
presidential run.
That led Spanish—language network Univision to
pull out of the broadcast for what would have
been the first of five years airing the pageants
and NBC to cut business ties with Trump.
The former star of the “Celebrity Apprentice” reality
show sued both companies, settling with NBC
in September, which included buying the network’s
stake in the pageants. That same month, Trump
sold the organization that includes the Miss Universe,
Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants to
entertainment company WME—IMG
For more information, please visit:
www.missuniverse.com
Saudi Arabia forms Islamic counter-terrorism
coalition
Saudi Arabia said that 34 nations have agreed to
form an “Islamic military alliance” to fight terrorism
with a joint operations centre based in the kingdom’s
8

capital, Riyadh. The alliance will be Saudi-led and
is being established because terrorism “should be
fought by all means and collaboration should be
made to eliminate it.” The statement said Islam
forbids “corruption and destruction in the world”
and that terrorism constitutes “a serious violation
of human dignity and rights, especially the right
to life and the right to security.”
The coalition includes nations with large and
established armies such as Pakistan, Turkey and
Egypt as well as war-torn countries with embattled
militaries such as Libya and Yemen. African nations
that have suffered terrorist attacks such as Mali,
Chad, Somalia and Nigeria are also members.
Saudi Arabia’s regional rival, Shiite Iran, is not
part of the coalition. Saudi Arabia is currently
leading a military intervention in Yemen against
Shiite Houthi rebels and is part of the U.S.-led
coalition bombing the Islamic State group in Iraq
and Syria. Smaller member-states included in the
coalition are the archipelago of the Maldives and
the island-nation of Bahrain. Other Gulf Arab
countries such as Kuwait, Qatar and the United
Arab Emirates are also in the coalition, though
notably absent from the list is Saudi Arabia’s
neighbour, Oman.
Historic Paris climate pact puts world on green
path (Very important)
CoP21 agreement adopted unanimously at the plenary
session amid cheers; Common but differentiated
responsibilities give developing nations a cushion;
Developed nations to raise $100 billion a year as
the floor to help other countries
The stage is set for all countries to move to a
low carbon pathway with the Paris Agreement
on climate change adopting a goal of “well below
2 degrees C” for temperature rise, and instituting
a regime of financing of developing economies
to help make the transition. Nations are to pursue
efforts to aim at the more difficult objective of
pegging temperature rise under 1.5 degrees C.
Underpinning the Agreement, which is scheduled
to go into effect from 2020, is the system of
voluntary pledges, or nationally determined con-
tributions made by individual countries to peak
their greenhouse gas emissions that are warming
the atmosphere and changing the climate. The
reference in the text for the need to achieve an
equalisation between emission of Green House Gases
(GHGs) and their removal by ‘sinks’ by the second
half of the present century has been welcomed
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widely since it turns attention to renewable energy,
and away from fossil fuels.
The text of the Agreement unveiled at the 21st
meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the
UN Framework Convention Climate Change after
two weeks of talks and an intensive three days
of convergence negotiations was formally adopted
amid cheers at the Plenary. The UNFCCC principle
of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities
ensuring equity is incorporated into the Paris
Agreement to provide developing countries a cushion.
India’s Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar
expressed happiness that the text addressed the
concerns raised by India in all areas — mitigation
of carbon emissions, adaptation to climate change,
financing, technology development and transfer,
capacity building and transparency. He said there
were some concerns, which he would raise at
the Plenary.
Mr. Javadekar told the media that Prime Minister
Narendra Modi had always advocated a sustainable
lifestyle and climate justice. Both find a place in
the Agreement text. The solar alliance which the
Prime Minister had launched was another success,
bringing together 120 nations and winning plaudits
from France. French President Francois Hollande
had called Mr. Modi about the Agreement, and
he expressed hope that it would be a historic pact
fulfilling the aspirations of seven billion people.
The Paris Agreement requires developed countries
to raise finances with $100 billion per year as
the floor by 2020, to help developing nations in
both mitigation and adaptation activities, while other
nations are encouraged to provide funding vol-
untarily. However, any basis for liability of countries
which have historically accumulated greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere causing disastrous climate
events such as droughts, floods and extinctions,
has been excluded.
The first global evaluation of the implementation
of the Paris Agreement is to take place in 2023,
and thereafter every five years to help all countries.
Pledges by countries with an end date of 2025
or 2030 will need to be updated by 2020, and
enhanced action every five years thereafter. It will
also be possible for countries to cooperate voluntarily,
form groups of nations for climate goals, and
use both public and private finances, market and
non-market mechanisms to meet the objective. A
facilitative dialogue of countries is to be held in
2018 to review the collective efforts, and the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is to
9 UGT-Module--CA-15-12

be asked for a special report in the same year,
on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 degrees
C above pre-industrial levels.
Major features of the text outlined by French
Foreign Minister and CoP21 president Laurent
Fabius are:
>> It takes into account the differentiation and
responsibility of developing countries, and their
respective capacities in light of national circum-
stances
>> Confirms the key objective of containing mean
global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius
and to endeavour to limit it to 1.5 degrees
>> There will be five-yearly national contributions
on actions taken to address climate change
>> There is provision for adaptation to climate
change. Cooperation on loss and damage suffered
by countries on a long term basis to provide necessary
means to all countries for durable development.
>> Provision of 100 billion per year as a floor
by 2020 to help developing nations.
>> A new figure to be defined for the period
between now and 2020
>> Collective stocktaking every five years of national
actions and consideration of steps if efforts are
insufficient for the objective set
Saudi Arabia’s women vote in election for first
time
Women were also standing as candidates, another
first, despite the conservative kingdom being the
only nation where women are not allowed to drive.
A total of 978 women have registered as candidates,
alongside 5,938 men. Female candidates have had
to speak behind a partition while campaigning or
be represented by a man. Turnout was high, state
media reported. About 130,000 women registered
to vote, officials said. That figure still falls well
short of male voter registration, which stands at
1.35 million. Elections themselves are a rare thing
in the Saudi kingdom - will be only the third time
in history that Saudis have gone to the polls.
There were no elections in the 40 years between
1965 and 2005.
The decision to allow women to take part was
taken by the late King Abdullah and is seen as
a key part of his legacy. At least 18 women have
won seats in Saudi Arabia’s municipal polls, the
country’s first-ever elections open to female voters
and candidates, local reports said. The women
who won hail from vastly different parts of the
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country, ranging from Saudi Arabia’s largest city
to a small village near Islam’s holiest site.
World’s first dengue fever vaccine cleared for
use in Mexico: French manufacturer
The first-ever vaccine against dengue fever, which
affects up to 400 million people per year, has
been cleared for use in Mexico, French manu-
facturer Sanofi said. This vaccine could potentially
become “a blockbuster” and generate more than
a billion dollars in revenue for the
French pharmaceutical company, Charmeil added.
It took 20 years and more than 1.5 billion euros
(USD 1.6 billion) in research and development
to create Dengvaxia. Until now, scientists have
been stumped by dengue which is caused by four
separate viruses acting in concert.
The World Health Organization says dengue has
become the fastest-growing mosquito-borne dis-
ease, with as many as 400 million people infected
every year.
For more information, please visit: http://
medicalobserverph.com/international-world-first-
dengue-fever-vaccine-cleared-for-use-in-mexico-
makers/
Storm Desmond: Homes flooded and thousands
without power in UK
Tens of thousands of homes are without power
after Storm Desmond caused severe flooding and
travel disruption across northern England and parts
of Scotland.
For more information, please visit: http://
www.metoffice.gov.uk/uk-storm-centre/storm -
desmond
Paris pact on water and climate change ad-
aptation announced; India is part of the coalition
to save water
A broad coalition of nations including India, river
basin organizations, business and civil societies
from across the globe announced Paris Pact on
Water and Climate Change Adaptation to make
water systems - the very foundation of sustainable
human development - more resilient to climate
impacts. These major collaborative projects rep-
resent over $ 20 million in technical assistance
and potentially over $ 1 billion in financing. India,
on its part, committed to build climate resilience
10

through improved groundwater management in the
country. Almost 290 water basin organisations are
engaged under the Paris Pact on Water and Climate
Change Adaptation.
The announcement was part of the “Water Resilience
Focus” event under the Lima to Paris Action Agenda
(LPAA) on climate change. It also highlighted other
key partnerships and coalitions to make river basins,
lakes, aquifers and deltas more resilient to climate
change and reduce human interference with oceans.
The Paris Pact on Water and Climate Change
Adaptation involves a wide geographic coalition
of national and cross-border river basin organisations,
governments, funding agencies, local governments,
companies and civil society.
German cabinet approves military aid for IS
fight
The German cabinet approved a mandate offering
military assistance to back the international fight
against the Islamic State jihadist group following
the Paris attacks.
The package, which still requires parliamentary
approval, covers Tornado reconnaissance jets, a
naval frigate and up to 1,200 troops following
a French request, the government said in a statement.
The mandate is for one year at a cost of 134
million euros and can be extended in 2016.
No date has been set for the parliamentary vote
but approval is considered virtually guaranteed as
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s “grand coalition”
government has an overwhelming majority.
A German frigate will help protect the French
aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the eastern
Mediterranean, from which fighter jets are carrying
out bombing runs, and the tanker aircraft could
refuel them mid-air to extend their range.
IMF names yuan global reserve currency
(Important)
The Executive Board of the International Monetary
Fund decided to include the Chinese currency,
the renminbi (yuan), into its basket of currencies
that make up the IMF’s Special Drawing Right
(SDR). The decision was taken during the IMF’s
five-yearly review of the basket of currencies.
The continuation and deepening of these efforts
will bring about a more robust international monetary
and financial system, which in turn will support
the growth and stability of China and the global
economy, Ms. Lagarde added.
The SDR, created by the IMF in 1969, functions
UGT
like an international reserve, allowing member
countries to draw upon any of the reserve currencies
in the basket. At present, these include the dollar,
euro, yen, and pound sterling. Following the IMF’s
decision, this basket will also include the renminbi
from October 1, 2016 onwards.
Beijing issues first ever ‘red alert’ on air pollution
China’s capital issued its first ever “red alert”
for pollution, the Beijing city government said,
warning that the city would be shrouded in heavy
smog.
China’s leadership has vowed to crack down on
environmental degradation, including the air pol-
lution that blankets many major cities, following
decades of unbridled economic growth.
In an online statement, the city government said
all outdoor construction work must stop on red
alert days, while also urging schools to close.
The notice, issued after days of heavy smog last
week, also places traffic restrictions on certain
types of vehicles in the city of 22.5 million people.
For more information, please visit: http://
www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/07/
458770044/beijing-issues-its-first-ever-red-alert-
over-air-pollution
Afghanistan’s WTO membership approved after
11 years of talks
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) formally
approved Afghanistan’s membership at its 10th
ministerial conference in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
Afghanistan has become the 164th WTO member
and the 36th least developed country (LDC) to
join the global trade body after 11 years of
negotiations, Xinhua reported.
The landlocked Asian country expects to reap the
benefits of the WTO membership for its post-
conflict reconstruction.
For more information, please visit: https://
www.wto.org/english/news_e/archive_e/
acc_arc_e.htm
Refugee and migrant arrivals in EU pass 1
million in 2015: UN
The number of refugees and migrants arriving by
land and sea in the European Union has passed
1 million this year, while a further 3,600 died
or went missing, the U.N. refugee agency and
the International Organization for Migration said.
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Half of those arriving were Syrians fleeing the
war, another 20 per cent were Afghans, and 7
per cent were Iraqis, the two agencies said in
a joint statement. Out of a total of 1,005,504 arrivals
to Greece, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Malta and Cyprus
by Dec. 21, the vast majority — 816,752 — arrived
by sea in Greece, IOM said.
The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR is planning for
arrivals to continue at a similar rate in 2016, but
IOM spokesman Joel Millman said it was impossible
to forecast future numbers. The record movement
of people into Europe is a symptom of a record
level of disruption around the globe, with numbers
of refugees and internally displaced people far
surpassing 60 million, UNHCR said last week.
The U.N. refugee chief Antonio Guterres called
for a “massive resettlement” of Syrian and other
refugees within Europe, to distribute many hun-
dreds of thousands of people before the continent’s
asylum system crumbles.
He called for European countries to recognise the
positive contributions made by refugees and migrants
and to honour what he said were “core European
values: protecting lives, upholding human rights
and promoting tolerance and diversity.”
BUSINESS
Reliance Jio launches 4G for employees
Mukesh Ambani introduced his much-touted 4G
telecom services, restricting it only for Reliance
employees for now, as the petroleum-to-retail
corporate giant prepares to shake the telecom industry
with a full-bloodied launch around March next
year. For Ambani, this is the second calling in
the telecom business after his first venture, Reliance
Communications, went into the kitty of younger
brother Anil as part of a family settlement between
the siblings.
On offer from Reliance Jio Infocomm will be low-
cost 4G devices (under ‘Lyf’ brand) costing as
low as Rs 4,000 and a host of services along
with the regular voice and data. These will include
a big collection of music (Jio Beats); around 200
television channels with back-up (Jio Play) and
movies (Jio on-demand). At the commercial launch,
Ambani is expected to go in for an aggressive
pricing for his offerings which are expected to
come bundled with a host of SIM cards (to make
it a family offering) and large data-pack plans.
The telecom entry is one of the group’s most
ambitious project to date (after retail) and it has
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pumped in nearly Rs 1 lakh crore into the business
which aims to take on the established telecom
behemoths such as homegrown Bharti Airtel,
Britain’s Vodafone and Aditya Birla group’s Idea
Cellular head-on.
For more information, please visit: http://
www.ril.com/ourBusinesses/Jio.aspx
RIL-ONGC gas dispute: Oil Ministry refers
consultant report to AP Shah committee
The Ministry for Petroleum and Natural Gas has
referred the American consultant DeGoyler and
MacNaughton (D&M) report on the dispute between
Reliance Industries Ltd and ONGC to a single
member committee under Justice AP Shah.
The committee will consider legal, financial and
contractual provisions and suggest the action to
be taken by the government within three months.
Since the committee was constituted on December
15, the three months timeline will expire on March
15, 2016. The AP Shah committee will suggest
a future course of action and also ‘quantify the
unfair enrichment’ on account of gas migration.
The office memorandum dated December 15 also
states that the committee will recommend action
to be taken to ‘make good’ on the losses suffered
by ONGC due to gas migration and how to prevent
further ‘unfair enrichment’.
ICC announces OPPO as Global partner
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has
announced an exciting new global partnership with
OPPO, a leading mobile telephone device com-
panies, on a four-year deal which runs from 2016
until 2020. Launched in China in 2004, OPPO
has a strong presence in more than 20 countries,
including Australia, China, USA and right across
Africa, Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and
Southeast Asia.
For more information, please visit: http://www.icc-
cricket.com/news/2015/media-releases/91055/icc-
announces-oppo-as-global-partner
In Paris, a ‘Breakthrough Energy Coalition’
Starring Bill Gates, Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani
Bill Gates and some of the world’s other richest
entrepreneurs will join with governments from both
rich and emerging countries at the Paris climate
talks by pledging billions of dollars of investment
in clean energy technologies.
12

Gates will launch the Breakthrough Energy Coalition,
a group of 28 private investors who hail from
Silicon Valley to South Africa, that will invest
billions of dollars in “patient, flexible risk capital”
to bring riskier new technologies to market.
Other members of the Breakthrough Energy Coalition
include Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark
Zuckerberg, Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma, Amazon
CEO Jeff Bezos, Ratan Tata, retired chairman of
Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group,
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director,
Reliance Industries Limited and South African
billionaire Patrice Motsepe of African Rainbow
Minerals. The investors want to eliminate the “valley
of death” between the early promise of a new
energy concept and commercializing it into a viable
technology, which “neither government funding
nor conventional private investment can bridge,”
the group said in a statement.
Since 2010, Gates has been an advocate for doubling
or trebling the amount of clean energy R&D to
meet both the challenges of providing energy access
to over 1 billion people, and to reduce carbon
emissions over the long term.
The Microsoft co-founder will also appear along-
side President Obama, Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and French President Francois Hollande who
will launch the Mission Innovation initiative at UN
climate summit in Paris.
The United States, France, India and 17 other
countries will announce they will double the $10
billion they collectively spend on clean energy
research and development in the next five years,
shining a spotlight on role of technology in any
climate agreement reached in Paris.
China, the world’s largest emitter, petro-states Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, EU countries,
Canada, Indonesia, Korea and Japan are among
the other signatories. Those countries represent
80 per cent of current global clean energy R&D.
For more information, please visit: http://
www.cop21.gouv.fr/en
Hinduja brothers presented Lifetime Achieve-
ment Award in UK
Leading NRI businessmen G P Hinduja and S P
Hinduja have been honoured with a Lifetime
Achievement Award in Business at a ceremony
in the House of Lords. The award, constituted
by the Indo-European Business Forum (IEBF), was
presented to the Hinduja brothers at the event which
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was hosted by Baroness Sandip Verma, an Indian-
origin minister in the UK’s Department of Energy
and Climate Change.
For more information, please visit: http://
www.iebf.org.uk/
India, 19 other nations pledge to promote clean
technologies
Twenty countries, including India, the US and
China, will launch an initiative to double their clean
energy research and development budget over the
next five years as part of global efforts to tackle
climate change. The total amount of money being
committed by these 20 countries - under Mission
Innovation — amount to $20 billion, about half
of which would come from the US, White House
officials said. Other participating countries include
France, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile,
Denmark, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea,
Mexico, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, the UAE
and the UK.
These 20 countries accounts for over 80 per cent
of global clean energy R&D.
Luxembourg became the 10th country to ratify
AoA of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
Luxembourg on 8 December 2015 became the
10th country to ratify the Articles of Agreement
(AoA) that will lay the legal framework for the
China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
(AIIB). Apart from Luxembourg, Australia, Austria,
Brunei Darussalam, China, Mongolia, Nepal, New
Zealand, Singapore and United Kingdom ratified
the 60-article agreement so far.
These 10 countries are among the 57 founder-
member countries of the multilateral bank that has
its headquarters in the Chinese capital Beijing.
Among the 57 founder-member countries, except
the Philippines all other 56 countries have signed
the AoA and 46 countries are yet to ratify it.
Earlier, on 29 June 2015, delegates of 50 countries
signed the AoA enmasse including India. Though
the Union Cabinet on 18 November 2015 gave
its approval for the ratification and submitting of
the AoA, formalities in this regard are yet to be
completed.
For more information, please visit: http://
www.luxembourgforbusiness.lu/en/news-bench-
marks/luxembourg-ratifies-aiib-articles-associa-
tion
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About Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
(AIIB)
• Representatives from 21 Asian countries signed
the Memorandum of Understanding on
Establishing Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank (AIIB) on 24 October 2014 in Beijing.
• It is designed to finance infrastructure building
in Asia and is headquartered in Beijing.
• It is expected to bridge the infrastructure
deficit by playing a complimentary role along
with other financial institutions like Asian
Development Bank (ADB) and the Interna-
tional Monetary Fund (IMF).
Alibaba to Buy South China Morning Post
China’s Internet giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
has agreed to buy Hong Kong’s biggest English-
language newspaper, saying that it wants to promote
wider views of China’s rise as a global economic
power. Alibaba’s purchase of the South China
Morning Post will give the e-commerce company
control of a media group that focuses heavily on
coverage of China for an international audience.
It also raised concerns over the paper’s future
editorial independence.
The newspaper, owned by SCMP Group Ltd.,
has a long history of critical reporting on China
but in recent years has been criticized for softening
its tone. It has expanded its China coverage and
launched an international edition in hopes of becoming
an important global voice in the coverage of China.
Beijing has been increasing its influence over Hong
Kong—a former British colony that is a semi-
autonomous region of China which enshrines freedom
of speech—since last year’s Occupy movement
shut down portions of the city in an unsuccessful
protest for greater democracy. After the protests,
the South China Morning Post’s website was blocked
in China for about a year. The site recently became
accessible again in the mainland.
For more information, please visit: http://
www.scmp.com/topics/alibaba
AWARDS
Dilip Kumar gets Padma Vibhushan, turns
emotional
Legendary actor Dilip Kumar was presented with
the Padma Vibhushan by Union Home Minister
Rajnath Singh at the thespian’s residence in suburban
Bandra.
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The announcement to honour Bollywood veterans
Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan and a few others with
the prestigious Padma Vibhushan award was made
by the government on the eve of Republic Day
on January 25, 2015.
However, Dilip Kumar, due to ill-health, could not
attend the special function held at the Rashtrapati
Bhavan in April when other Padma awardees were
honoured by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Born as Muhammad Yousuf Khan in Peshawar,
Kumar made his debut as an actor in the film
“Jwar Bhata” in 1944 produced by Bombay Talkies.
Called as the ‘tragedy king of Bollywood’, he also
did films like “Kranti” (1981), “Shakti” (1982),
“Karma” (1986) and “Saudagar” (1991) and others.
His last film was “Qila” (1998).
The Government of India honoured him with the
Padma Bhushan award in 1991, the Dadasaheb
Phalke Award in 1994 and the Padma Vibhushan
earlier this year, for his exceptional and distin-
guished contribution to the Indian cinema.
For more information, please visit: http://pib.nic.in/
newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=114952
Author Salman Rushdie Awarded Mailer Prize
For Lifetime Achievement
India-born author Salman Rushdie has been awarded
the prestigious Mailer Prize that honours writers
who fully exercise their freedom of creativity and
thrive on dialogue and debate.
The 68-year-old received the Mailer Center’s Annual
Lifetime Achievement Prize at a ceremony in New
York last night.
The prize is named after renowned American writer
Norman Mailer, considered among the most
influential writers of the second half of the 20th
century.
The Norman Mailer Centre recognises writers from
all over the world, in all genres, whether established
or emerging and the Mailer Prize, the center’s
highest award, is given to writers whose work
over the years have challenged readers’ perspec-
tives on the world around them.
Mr Rushdie is the author of twelve novels including
the Booker Prize winner Midnight’s Children and
The Satanic Verses.
His most recent novel, Two Years Eight Months
and Twenty-Eight Nights, was published in the
English language in September 2015.
A Fellow of the British Royal Society of Literature,
Mr Rushdie has received, among other honours,
14

the Whitbread Prize for Best Novel (twice), the
Writers’ Guild Award, the European Union’s
Aristeion Prize for Literature, the London Inter-
national Writers’ Award and a US National Arts
Award.
He holds honorary doctorates and fellowships at
six European and six American universities, is an
Honorary Professor in the Humanities at MIT and
University Distinguished Professor at Emory
University.
For more information, please visit: http://
nmcenter.org/pages/view/21/mailer-prize
“Embrace of the Serpent” wins Golden Peacock
award at 46th IFFI
South American filmmaker Ciro Guerra’s
film Embrace of the Serpent won the prestigious
Golden Peacock award at the 46th International
Film Festival of India (IFFI).
Indian filmmaker Kaushik Ganguly won the newly-
instituted UNESCO Fellini medal for his
film Cinemawala.
The IFFI closing ceremony came to an end with
awarding of the lifetime achievent to Russian
filmmaker Nikita Mikhailkov.
The 11-day festival began on November 20, with
the opening film The Man Who Knew Infinity directed
by Mathew Brown a film on the 1913 self-taught
Indian mathematical genius Ramanajun and his
friendship with G.H. Hardy who helped reveal the
mathematics genius to the world.
Over 7,000 delegates from 38 countries, most from
India, attended the festival, a total of 187 films
from 89 countries, 26 of which are official Academy
award entries, were screened at IFFI apart from
the films which were part of the Indian Panorama
section.
For more information, please visit: http://
www.iffi.nic.in/
2 Indians Win Queen’s Young Leaders Award
in UK
Two Indians have won the Queen’s Young Leaders
award in the UK for their exceptional work in
transforming the lives of others and making a
lasting difference in their communities.
Kartik Sawhney, 21, and Neha Swain, 28 from
India are among 60 others who won the Queen’s
Young Leaders award 2016 which will be presented
by the British monarch at a gala ceremony in
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Buckingham Palace in June next year.
Kartik, who was born blind, has been acknowledged
for his exceptional work highlighting universal access
to education for all.
Neha, a youth facilitator and co-founder of NGO
Rubaroo provides an inclusive space for young
people, irrespective of their socio-economic
background, to develop their leadership skills through
interactive workshops.
Her team provides workshops to schools in India
free of charge and has so far worked with nearly
2,000 young people in the city of Hyderabad.
For more information, please visit: https://
www.queensyoungleaders.com/
SPORTS
Pune, Rajkot join the IPL bandwagon
The Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council
painted a rosy picture of the tournament while
announcing the two news teams — Pune and Rajkot
— as replacements for the suspended Chennai
Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR).
The next season of IPL will be held from April
9 to May 29 (opening and final match in Mumbai)
and the new players’ auctions would be conducted
in Bengaluru on February 6.
Pune and Rajkot will be franchises for a period
of two years. Would the IPL be a ten-team tournament
in 2018 when CSK and RR return to the fold?
“We have not taken a call on this as of date.
CSK and RR stand suspended till 2017. This bidding
is only for two years and these teams (Pune and
Rajkot) will not continue.
New Rising, the Kolkata-based businessman Sanjiv
Goenka’s company, bought the Pune franchise,
while Rajkot was won by Intex Mobiles through
reverse bidding. The others in competition were
Harsh Goenka of RPG properties, Axis Clinicals
and Chettinad Cement. Twenty-one candidates had
obtained the Invitation To Tender (ITT) but only
five turned up.
When asked if there was a conflict of interest
in Sourav Ganguly being part of the IPL Governing
Council and Atletico de Kolkata, the ISL team
owned by the Goenka Group, Manohar noted, “When
a person can influence the process of decision
making, then only there is a conflict of interest
issue.
“You can’t stretch it to absurd levels. In the present
case, New Rising gave a closed bid and Sourav
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Ganguly had nothing to do with it.” On giving
the IPL a clean image, Manohar promised strong
steps. “We are making efforts from our side. I
met the Maharashtra Chief Minister (Devendra
Fadnavis) 10 days back and requested him for
a dedicated unit that would give its inputs so that
we have the information beforehand and can curb
this menace.
For more information, please visit: http://
www.iplt20.com/
Lewandowski honoured by Guinness for his
unbelievable goals
Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski was
officially honoured by the Guinness Book of Records
after his stunning five-goal haul in a single Bundesliga
match sent four records tumbling.
Lewandowski needed just eight minutes, 59 seconds
to score five goals after coming off the bench
in the second-half of Bayern’s 5-1 drubbing of
Wolfsburg in Munich on September 22 for the
German league leader.
He has claimed the record for the fastest hat-
trick, which took him just 3:22, the fastest four
goals, 5:42, the quickest to five and he is the
first player in German league history to score five
times off the bench.
Lewandowski is planning to donate the football
boots he used on the historic night to a charity.
The Poland star has scored 14 league goals so
far this season.
Pilot, actor Thakur Anoop Singh wins gold at
World Bodybuilding Championships
Thakur Anoop Singh at the recently held seventh
WBPF World Bodybuilding and Physique Cham-
pionships in Bangkok, Anoop won the gold medal
for India in the ‘physique fitness’ category.
Back in 2008 when the world was hit by recession,
Anoop was forced to leave his job as a pilot and
that is when he turned to small screen.
For more information, please visit: http://
www.ifbb.com/2015/11/2015-world-bodybuilding -
championships-benidorm-spain-unexpected-re-
sults-new-champions/
World Champs Australia win Hockey World
League Finals beating Belgium 2-1
World champions Australia lived up to their reputation
as they bested Belgium 2-1 in the final to become
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the champions of the Hero Hockey World League
(HWL) Final at the Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel
International Stadium in Raipur on Sunday.
Jeremy Hayward (16th minute) and Matthew Dawson
(37th) scored for Australia, who shrugged off
an average performance in the group stage. Simon
Gognard pulled one back for Belgium in the 60th
minute.
It was a game that Australia controlled the game
in every department. They looked hungry from
the beginning.
For more information, please visit: http://
www.fih.ch/events/hockey-world-league/
India crush world No. 1 South Africa by 337
runs, win Test series 3-0
India’s bowlers, led by Ravichandran Ashwin,
displayed outstanding perseverance to end South
Africa’s dogged resistance and register a com-
prehensive 337-run victory in the final Test at
the Feroz Shah Kotla, in Delhi, on Monday.
Needing a mammoth 481 for victory, South Africa
adopted an ultra-defensive strategy before being
bowled out for 143 in 143.1 overs, the last five
wickets falling for a mere seven runs in a dramatic
collapse after tea on the last day of the match.
The 3-0 series triumph enabled India to rise to
No 2 in the ICC Test rankings.
The Proteas, courtesy AB de Villiers’s 43 off 297
balls, looked like pulling off an improbable draw
from the jaws of defeat before India’s bowling
came to life in the final session courtesy pacer
Umesh Yadav’s fiery spell and Ashwin ending De
Villiers’s near six-hour resistance.
Ashwin produced a magical delivery – a sharp
bouncing off-break that de Villiers played awk-
wardly and the resultant catch was taken by Jadeja
at leg-slip.
The Proteas, who continued with their ‘Blockathon’
added only 21 runs in the first session of the
final day, consuming another 35 overs, while the
post-lunch session produced 42 runs in 31 overs.
With a session left, it looked as if South Africa
were inching towards one of their most creditable
draws in Test history.
However, the Indian bowlers ensured that the hosts
wrapped up the series in style.
While the pitch made it easier for the South Africans
but no credit can be snatched away from currently
the world’s best batsman, De Villiers, who showed
that a class player can change and adapt his game
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according to adverse situations.
De Villiers was in that zone where he did have
only one thing in mind: defend dourly and destroy
the opposition’s confidence.
Ashwin stays top all-rounder in ICC Test
rankings
India’s Ravichandran Ashwin continued to hold
on to the top spot in the ICC all-rounder rankings
while Ravindra Jadeja stayed fifth in the chart.
Ashwin, who manages a Test batting average of
31.68 with a highest score of 124, is well above
Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan in the chart.
Premier off-spinner Ashwin, who stood out with
31 wickets in four matches in India’s 3-0 triumph
over South Africa in the home series, has also
held on to his second spot in the bowling list
led by Proteas pace spearhead Dale Steyn.
Left-arm spinner Jadeja, who picked 23 wickets
in four Tests against South Africa, is the only
other Indian bowler in the top 10 list.
The batting list though is sans any Indian in the
top 10 with New Zealand’s Kane Williamson rising
two places to topple England’s Joe Root from
the top spot.
Williamson has become the second New Zealand
batsman after Glenn Turner to top rankings for
Test Batsmen after producing a man of the match
performance in the Hamilton Test against Sri Lanka,
which helped the home side win the match by
five wickets and the series 2-0.
India continue to be the second best Test side
behind South Africa.
For more information, please visit: http://www.icc-
cricket.com/player-rankings/overview
Suarez and Messi fire Barca to third Club World
Cup title
Lionel Messi marked his return from illness with
a brilliant goal as Barcelona beat Argentina’s River
Plate 3-0 to capture a record third Club World
Cup.
The Spanish giant welcomed back Messi after a
bout of kidney stones and the mercurial Argentine
scored with a clinical finish on 36 minutes, before
a lethal Luis Suarez double destroyed River’s hopes.
Chennaiyin FC stun FC Goa 3-2 to win Indian
Super League
Chennaiyin FC scored twice in the 90th minute
to snatch a pulsating 3-2 victory over FC Goa
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to win the second edition of the India Super League
(ISL).
Colombian striker John Stiven Mendoza compen-
sated for his missed penalty to score in the 90th
minute and claim the victory in a fluctuating contest
at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
He also became the highest goal-scorer of the
eight-team football tournament with 12 goals.
The match was goalless at halftime, but sprang
into life after the break when Bruno Pelissari (54th
minute) gave the visitors the lead with a penalty.
Thongkhosiem Haokip (58th) and Joffre Mateu
(88th) made it 2-1 for Goa.
But an own goal in the 90th minute from goalkeeper
Laxmikant Kattimani turned the tide and an
opportunistic goal from Mendoza seconds later
saw Chennaiyin claim the thrilling victory.
For more information, please visit: http://
www.starsports.com/football/leagues/hero-indian-
super-league-100586/index.html
Spain’s Mireia Lalaguna Royo wins Miss World
title in China
Spain’s Mireia Lalaguna Royo was named the winner
of the Miss World 2015 competition tonight in
the southern Chinese island resort of Sanya, an
event dogged by controversy over China’s refusal
to allow Canada’s entrant to attend.
Sofia Nikitchuk of Russia was the runner-up and
Indonesia’s Maria Harfanti took third place in the
final following a lengthy competition featuring 114
women.
Each had won the right to represent their country
in a series of local and regional competitions.
The victory marked the first-ever win for a Spanish
contestant.
Lalaguna is a 23-year-old model from Barcelona
with a degree in pharmacology who plans to pursue
a master’s degree in nutrition. She placed first
in the competition’s top model contest and appeared
to impress the judges with her public speaking.
Not present was Miss Canada, Chinese-born Anastasia
Lin, who had been prevented from boarding her
connecting flight to Sanya from Hong Kong last
month after China refused her a visa.
Lin is an outspoken critic of Chinese religious
policy and a follower of the Falun Gong meditation
practice, which was outlawed by China in 1999.
She said that after she won the Canadian title,
Chinese security agents visited her father, who
still lives in China, in an apparent attempt to intimidate
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her into silence.
China has hosted the competition seven times,
starting in 2003, part of its attempts to project
a more modern, outgoing image.
However, the controversy over Lin’s attendance
illustrates the authoritarian communist government’s
determination to do so on its own terms, regardless
of the cost to the country’s reputation.
Neither Beijing nor the London-based Miss World
Organisation has commented on the controversy. It
was the second consecutive year that outside events
intruded on the competition. Last year’s contest
in London was marred by the murder the month
before of Miss Honduras and her sister in that
country.
The first Miss World contest was held 64 years
ago in Britain.
For more information, please visit:
www.missworld.com
Brendon McCullum announces retirement from
international cricket
New Zealand cricket captain Brendon McCullum
announced he will retire from international cricket
in February, ending one of the sport’s most colorful
careers.
The 34-year-old McCullum will become the first
cricketer to play 100 consecutive Test matches
when he takes the field in New Zealand’s first
Test against Australia in Wellington from Feb. 12.
McCullum is expected to make the second Test
of that series – starting in Christchurch on Feb.
20 – his last match for New Zealand.
It is likely that McCullum, one of the world’s
hardest-hitting and most innovative batsmen, will
also play a limited role in New Zealand’s forth-
coming one-day series against Sri Lanka and
Pakistan, and will miss next year’s Twenty20 World
Cup.
McCullum, who is expected to be replaced by
25-year-old batsman Kane Williamson, hopes to
continue to make a full contribution until his final
match.
In his 99 Tests to date, McCullum has accumulated
6,273 runs to be New Zealand’s second-highest
Test run-scorer after former captain Stephen Fleming
(7,172). He has scored nine centuries and averaged
38.48 in Tests. Last year he became the first
New Zealander to score a test triple century, making
302 against India in Wellington.
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That innings, along with two double centuries,
saw him score 1,164 runs in 2014 which stood
as a calendar year record by a New Zealand batsman
until Kane Williamson (1,172) surpassed the mark
during this week’s second Test against Sri Lanka.
McCullum became New Zealand’s Test and one-
day captain in controversial circumstances in 2013
when new head coach Mike Hesson fired Ross
Taylor between the first and second Tests.
Public objections about the manner of McCullum’s
appointment quickly subsided as he proved himself
an outstanding leader.
Under McCullum, New Zealand is unbeaten in Tests
at home since 2013 – a run of 13 matches –
and reached the final of this year’s one-day World
Cup.
McCullum also excels in the short formats, having
scored 5,909 runs in one-day internationals and
2,140 in Twenty20s.
ICC Awards 2015 Winners
Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer
of the Year
Steven Smith (Australia)
ICC Test Cricketer of the Year
Steven Smith (Australia)
ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year
AB de Villiers (South Africa)
ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year
Meg Lanning (Australia)
ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year
Josh Hazlewood (Australia)
ICC Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the
Year
Khurram Khan (UAE)
ICC Twenty20 International Performance of
the Year
Faf du Plessis (South Africa for his 119 off 56
balls in 2nd T20I vs West Indies, 11 January
2015, Johannesburg)
ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year
Stafanie Taylor (West Indies)
18

David Shepherd Trophy for ICC Umpire of the
Year
Richard Kettleborough
ICC Spirit of Cricket Award
Brendon McCullum (New Zealand)
For more information, please visit:
www.espncricinfo.com/India/content/player/
37737.html
PERSONS IN NEWS
Venki Ramakrishnan is President-elect of Royal
Society
Sir Venkatraman (Venki) Ramakrishnan, Nobel
Laureate, Deputy Director of the British Medical
Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology
in Cambridge, and Fellow of the Royal Society,
has been confirmed as President-elect of the Royal
Society.
For more information, please visit: https://
royalsociety.org/people/venki-ramakrishnan-
12139/
Merkel is ‘Time’ magazine’s ‘Person of the
Year 2015’
As her leadership has helped preserve and promote
an open, borderless Europe in the face of economic
turmoil and refugee crisis.
Time magazine named German Chancellor Angela
Merkel its “Person of the Year 2015.”
Hailing her leadership, the magazine said it chose
the German Chancellor for the annual honour because
her leadership has helped preserve and promote
an open, borderless Europe in the face of economic
turmoil and an ongoing refugee crisis.
Islamic State leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and
Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump were
among the eight candidates shortlisted by Time
for its annual ‘Person of the Year’ title.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Reliance Industries
chairman Mukesh Ambani and Google’s India-born
CEO Sundar Pichai were among the initial 58 global
leaders, business chiefs and pop icons that Time had
named as contenders for its annual honour but
the three did not make the final shortlist.
Mr. Modi was a contender for the honour last
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year also and while he was not chosen the Person
of the Year by Time editors, he was named winner
of the readers’ poll, securing more than 16 per
cent of the almost five million votes cast.
Among the final eight contenders are Al-Baghdadi,
who Time said “as leader of ISIS has inspired
followers to both fight in his self-declared caliphate
of Iraq and Syria, and also stage attacks in countries
like Tunisia and France.”
For more information, please visit: http://time.com/
time-person-of-the-year-2015-angela-merkel/
Book review – Sharad Pawar’s On My Terms:
From the Grassroots to the Corridors of Power
Sharad Pawar is one of India’s key public figures.
Through his five- decade-long career, during which
he has never lost an election, he has served as
chief minister of Maharashtra four times and as
India’s defence minister and minister for agricul-
ture. On two occasions he came close to becoming
the country’s prime minister. He has often bucked
the trend, preferring policy and pragmatism over
populism, and won admiration for his administrative
acumen and consensual politics.
Eyewitness—at the highest levels—to India’s and
Maharashtra’s history since the 1960s, he shares
in this memoir his reflections on coalition politics,
the loss of democracy in the Congress Party (with
which he began his political life), the state of
agriculture and industry in the country, and the
absolute necessity of social harmony and a liberal,
inclusive ethos for India’s future.
As he does this, he also gives us rare information
about many crises and turning points: Emergency
and its impact on national and regional politics;
the fall of the Chandrashekhar government in 1991;
the signing of the Punjab Accord between Rajiv
Gandhi and H.S. Longowal; the Babri Masjid
demolition; the Mumbai bomb blasts of 1993; the
devastating earthquake in Latur; the controversy
over the Enron power project; and Sonia Gandhi’s
dramatic decision to give up the chance to occupy
the country’s highest office.
Throughout, the narrative also contains candid and
fascinating assessments of some of the biggest
names in Indian politics, among them, Indira, Rajiv
and Sonia Gandhi, Y.B. Chavan, Morarji Desai,
Biju Patnaik, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Chandrashekhar,
P.V. Narasimha Rao, George Fernandes and Bal
Thackeray.
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On My Terms is a rich, insightful and remarkably
frank memoir by one of India’s most experienced
and influential political leaders, and a valuable
document of the country’s recent political history.
For more information, please visit: http://
speakingtigerbooks.com/books/on-my-terms-from-
the-grassroots-to-the-corridors-of-power/
Indian-American Sanjay Pradhan to lead Open
Government Partnership at UN General As-
sembly
Sanjay Pradhan, an Indian-American World Bank
official, has been tapped to lead an international
initiative to promote government transparency,
accountability and responsiveness to citizens.
Pradhan, who currently is Vice President for Change,
Leadership and Innovation at the World Bank, would
assume the new charge by mid-2016.
The Open Government Partnership (OGP) was
launched by eight Heads of State at the UN General
Assembly in 2011, and in just four years, 69 countries.
For more information, please visit: http://
www.opengovpartnership.org/blog/open-govern-
ment-partnership/2015/12/16/sanjay-pradhan-
tapped-lead-open-government-partnership
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The review is based on users’ daily search habits
and an editorial selection of what they read,
recommended and shared most on Yahoo.
“Politics remained an all-consuming passion through
the year in 2015. With high-profile elections in
Bihar and New Delhi, chief ministers Nitish Kumar
and Arvind Kejriwal were among the top newsmakers
of the year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued
his run from 2014 and remained one of the top
newsmakers this year too,” Yahoo said.
The rise of ISIS, 2015 World Cup, APJ Abdul
Kalam’s demise, Sheena Bora Murder investigation
and Vyapam Scandal featured on the list of most
searched news/events in 2015, it added.
Sunny Leone retained the top position as the most
searched female celebrity for the fourth year in
a row, while Salman Khan claimed the No. 1 spot
in the most searched male celebrity list.
India’s most searched sportsperson saw MS Dhoni
topping the list, while Apple dominated technology
news and searches this year with the iPhone 6
taking the top spot in the list of most searched
gadgets.

‘Cow’ named Yahoo India’s ‘Personality of the

Year’
The humble ‘cow’ emerged as Yahoo India’s
‘Personality of the Year’ on the back of online
buzz around beef ban and associated discussions
on intolerance.
“In an unexpected twist, the humble ‘Cow’ emerged
as ‘Personality of the Year’, trumping other high-
profile contenders for the top spot. It started with
the Maharashtra government announcing a ban on
sale of beef in the state — a move which led
to massive debates online and offline, spiraling
into the ‘beef controversy’,” Yahoo said in a
statement.
It further said: “Fuelled further by the mob lynching
at Dadri, the ‘cow’ became the icon of discussions
on ‘intolerance’, sparking the ‘award wapsi’
campaign, and even stalling the Parliament pro-
ceedings at one point.”
The trend is a part of Yahoo’s 2015 Year in Review
(YIR) for India. It is a look at the year’s top
trends, happenings and events.

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