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Home , Eefje Muskens, Kay Kay Menon, Selena Piek, Vikas Bahl

1st June to 15th June

AWARDS & HONOURS

Former security contractor Edward Snowden won a Norwegian prize for freedom of expression and received yet another invitation to leave his exile and receive the award in person. The Norwegian Academy of Literature and Freedom of Expression said the 31-year old fugitive had won the Bjornson Prize -- named after a Norwegian Nobel literature laureate -- "for his work protecting privacy and for shining a critical light on US surveillance of its citizens and others." Snowden, a former analyst at the US National Security Agency, has lived in exile in Russia since 2013 after revealing mass spying programmes by the United States and its allies. The US administration has branded him a hacker and a traitor who endangered lives by revealing the extent of the NSA spying program.

Former West Indies paceman Sir Wesley Winfield Hall has been inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He is 80th cricketer to be inducted in the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and 18th from West Indies.

16th edition of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) informally known as the “ Oscars,” was held in Malaysia in June 2015. was awarded the most awards (09). Winners:-

Best Film:

Best Director: – PK

Best Actor in a Leading Role: –Haider

Best Actress in a Leading Role:

Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Riteish Deshmukh – Ek Villain

Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Tabu – Haider

Male Debutant Star: – Heropanti

Female Debutant Star: – Heropanti

Best Performance in a Comic Role: Varun Dhawan

Best Performance in a Negative Role: – Haider

Best Story: Vikas Bahl, Chaitally Parmar, Parveez Shaikh- Queen

Best Music Direction: 2 States – Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

Best Lyrics: Galliyan from Ek Villain – Manoj Muntashir

Best Male Playback Singer: Ankit Tiwari

Best Female Playback Singer: Kanika Kapoor

IIFA Award for Outstanding Achievement in International Cinema:

IIFA Award for Entertainer of the Year: Deepika Padukon

Prime Minister Narendra Modi received, on behalf of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Bangladesh's prestigious Liberation War Honour for his "active role" in the country's freedom struggle, saying the BJP veteran was an "inspiration" to him and other political workers. The citation of the Award hailed Vajpayee as a "highly respected political leader" and recognised his "active role" in support of the Liberation War of Bangladesh.

Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal was conferred the prestigious 14th Sant Namdev National Award- 2015 for promoting peace, communal harmony and universal brotherhood by the Sarhad foundation.

BUSINESS & CORPORATE

Global e-commerce major Amazon opened its biggest ‘fulfilment centre’ (FC) or warehouse in , at Kothur in Telangana. Spread over 280,000 square feet, the facility has come up in Mahabubnagar district, about 60 km from Hyderabad. This has taken to 11 Amazon’s FCs in eight states.

Mid-tier FMCG firm Emami Ltd acquired the 'Kesh King' brand of hair and scalp care products from SBS Biotech for Rs 1,651 crore, one of the largest deals in the segment in recent times.

Fortune released the 61st edition of list of top 500 companies. The list was topped by retail behemoth Walmart with revenue of 485.6 billion US dollar. It was followed by Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Berkshire Hathaway and Apple at the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th position respectively. The top five of 2015 list remains unchanged as compared to the 2014 list. Further, Apple was the most profitable company with profit of 39.5 billion US dollars followed by Exxon Mobil.

Cult bike maker Harley-Davidson tied up with fashion portal Myntra to sell its casual merchandise through an exclusive online store. The online store offers a range of casual outerwear, sportswear, denims and accessories.

Hero MotoCorp Ltd (HMCL), the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, appointed Mr. Pawan Munjal as its new Chairman. Under the leadership of Mr. Pawan Munjal, Hero has remained the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer in terms of unit volumes sold in a calendar year by a single company since 2001 – the year he took over as the MD & CEO.

ICICI Bank announced the appointment of M K Sharma, a former vice chairman of Hindustan Unilever Limited, as the non-executive chairman for a period of five years, in place of K V Kamath.

Infosys named R Seshasayee, vice chairman at truck and bus maker Ashok Leyland, as its non-executive chairman, replacing KV Kamath, who stepped down to take over as president of the newly created BRICS bank.

India’s leading private Bank, HDFC Bank announced launch of PayZapp, an all-in-one mobile payment and money transfer app that promises to make any sort of payments in a single click. The PayZapp app users can make variety of transactions like mobile recharges, instant money transfers, bill payments, shopping on various ecommerce portals to groceries, to even big-ticket purchases such as foreign holidays and designer clothes. PayZapp features a section called Smartbuy – a sort of a aggregator of the major ecommerce sites across various verticals. PayZapp has partnered with sites like Flipkart, Makemytrip, Cleartrip, Yatra, Big Basket among others.

PVR Cinemas, India's biggest multiplex operator controlled by Ajay Bijli, agreed to buy DT Cinemas, a wholly owned subsidiary of DLF, for Rs 500 crore to strengthen its position in the movie exhibition business.

E-commerce marketplace Snapdeal acquired mobility solutions company Letsgomo Labs to improve its mobile technology capabilities. Founded by Manav Kamboj and Vikas Banga, Letsgomo Labs helps companies with end to end mobility solutions like building mobile strategies, conceptualization of applications and mobile sites, implementation and hosting. Mobile is one of the key growth drivers of e-commerce in the country and building a robust mobile commerce platform has been a key focus area for Snapdeal.

BILLS / ACTS / COMMITTEES / SCHEMES / POLICIES

 President Pranab Mukherjee re-promulgated for the third time, as per provisions of Article 123 of Indian Constitution, the Land Ordinance that prescribes processes for acquisition of land for public projects.

 Union Government gave nod for promulgation of Ordinance to amend Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.The ordinance paves way for filing of cheque bounce cases in place where the cheque was issued. This move that will benefit around 18 lakh people involved in such cheque bounce cases.

 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved two road projects, one in Madhya Pradesh and another in Telangana. The projects will be executed under the flagship road building programme National Highways Development Project (NHDP) at a cost of Rs 4,721 crore.

 The panel on restructuring of the Indian Railways, headed by Mr. Debroy, submitted its final report. The committee has set a five-year timeframe for implementing its recommendations and has suggested doing away with the Railway Budget, Improving accountability, decentralising power and setting up an independent regulator are the key recommendations.

 The Telangana government unveiled its new industrial policy today which focuses on time-bound approvals for setting up projects in the state. As per the new policy Telangana State Industrial Project Approval and Self-certification System (TS-iPASS), penal action will be taken against government officials if there is any undue delay in processing applications and mega projects would get permissions in 15 days. The policy prescribed norms for giving permissions to mega (investments of Rs 200 crore and above), large (Rs 10 crore-Rs 200 crore) as well as small and medium project proposals. The government identified 14 core areas for a focused approach which include life sciences, pharma, information technology, aerospace, automobiles, textiles, minerals and transportation and logistics, among others.

 Ahmadabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) announced USE and GET PAID scheme, under which people will be paid one rupees for using public toilets. The announced scheme aims to eradicate the practice of open defecation and will help to keep the city clean.

 Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejunivetion Uma Bharti launched nationwide “Jal Kranti Abhiyan” from Jaipur, Rajasthan. The aim is to consolidate water conservation and management in the country.

 Union Minister of Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi launched the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) Health Phone programme in Delhi. The programme is the world's largest digital mass education programme for addressing malnutrition in women and children. This programme has been launched by the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) in partnership with the Ministry of Women and Child Development, UNICEF and supported by Vodafone India. This programme aims to tackle the challenge of malnutrition in mothers and children across India.

ECONOMY & FINANCE

 The Reserve Bank of India issued new norms for Strategic Debt Conversion (SDR) which will give lenders the right to convert their outstanding loans into a majority equity stake if the borrower fails to meet conditions stipulated under the restructuring package. Allowing loan conversion will now be a precondition for all debt restructuring deals.

 India joined the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (AEOI) on 3rd June, 2015, in Paris, France, alongwith Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Indonesia and New Zealand. With six countries joining the MCAA on 3rd June, 2015, the total number of countries/jurisdictions agreeing to exchange information automatically in accordance with MCAA has gone to sixty. The new global standards are very wide in scope and oblige the treaty partners to exchange wide range of financial information after collecting the same from financial institutions in their country/jurisdictions including information about the ultimate controlling persons and beneficial owners of entities. AEOI based on CRS, when fully implemented, would enable India to receive information from almost every country in the world including offshore financial centres and would be the key to prevent international tax evasion and avoidance and would be instrumental in getting information about assets of Indians held abroad including through entities in which Indians are beneficial owners. This will help the Government to curb tax evasion and deal with the problem of black money.

 Bangladesh has granted permission to India’s state-owned insurance group Life insurance Corporation (LIC) to do business in the country.LIC will start its operations in Bangladesh as a joint venture (JV) entity to be called LIC Bangladesh Ltd with a paid up capital of one billion Taka. In this JV entity LIC will hold half of the amount while the rest would be owed by its Bangladeshi partners. The capital will be raised from the Bangladesh’s capital market and local entrepreneurs.

 India slapped anti-dumping duty of up to USD 316 per tonne on imports of certain steel products from three countries, including China, to protect domestic producers from below-cost inbound shipments. A duty of USD 309 per tonne has been imposed on imports from China, while USD 316 per tonne duty has been fixed for Malaysia and USD 180 per tonne for Korea. The duties have been imposed for five years on imports of certain variety of hot-rolled flat products of stainless steel used in sectors such as auto.

 Adani Power Limited of India and Reliance Power Limited of India signed separate memorandums of understanding with state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). Reliance Power and BPDB today signed a MoU to develop four units of power plants to produce 3,000 MW of electricity with a cost of $3 billion. Adani Power will set up two, coal-fired plants with a total capacity of 1,600 MW that will cost more than $1.5 billion. Bangladesh produces 7,000 MW of electricity but demand far exceeds supply, with a daily deficit of up to 1,500 MW.

 The second border haat (market) of Tripura at Kamalasagar in Sipahijala district, bordering Brahmanbaria district of Bangladesh, was opened for common people in June 2015. After setting up a border 'haat' (market) near the India-Bangladesh international border at Srinagar in South Tripura district on January 13 this year bordering Madhugram village of Feni district of Bangladesh, another such market at Kamalasagar in Sipahijala district, was opened to boost bilateral trade and enhance people to people contacts. These markets are set up at the zero line of the international border with one part on the Indian side and the other in Bangladesh. Business in the market (haat) would take place once a week among the

people living within 5km radius of the border who would sell and buy locally produced goods and crops. No local taxes would be imposed on the items to be sold in the haats and currencies of both the countries would prevail.

 The Reserve Bank allowed non-resident Indians (NRIs) to invest in chit funds on non-repatriation basis without any ceiling, a move that will encourage flow of capital into the country. However, the subscription to the chit funds should be brought in through normal banking channel, including through an account maintained with a bank in India. Earlier in May 2000, non-residents were barred from investing in a company or firms engaged in the business of chit fund. Revising the extant guidelines for subscription to the chit funds, RBI said: “It has been decided to permit NRIs to subscribe to the chit funds, without limit, on non-repatriation“. It further said the Registrar of Chits or an officer authorised by the State Government may permit any chit fund to accept subscription from NRIs on non-repatriation basis.

 Union Cabinet approved an interest-free loan i.e. soft loan to the tune of 6,000 crore rupees to enable sugar mills pay arrears to farmers. As per this decision, interest on the loan will not be charged for a year but the interest will be borne by the Union government from sugar development fund. The money to be paid as arrears to farmers under this loan will be directed credited in Jan Dhan accounts of farmers.

 The United States has overtaken Saudi Arabia as the world's biggest oil producer in 2014 while India has recorded the highest growth in energy consumption among major economies. The US produced 15.9% more oil in 2014 at 11.6 million barrels of oil per day to topple Saudi Arabia's 11.5 million bpd production, according to BP Plc's Statistical Review of World Energy released in June 2015. Russia with 10.8 million bpd oil production was placed third.

 Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan cut the key interest rate by 0.25 per cent, third time this year, meeting market and government expectations of boosting growth by lowering borrowing cost. While the RBI cut the repo rate from 7.5 per cent to 7.25, it left all other policy tools like cash reserve requirement unchanged at 4 per cent and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) at 21.5 per cent.

 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released its final guidelines for 6-year and 13-year cash-settled Interest Rate Futures (IRF) on Government of India Securities with residual maturity of 4-8 years and 11-15 years, respectively. The present notification amends the Interest Rate Futures (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2013. Besides, the RBI has also changed the residual maturity for the existing 10-year cash-settled IRF to 8-11 years from 9-11 years. This would provide market participants greater choice and flexibility to hedge their interest rate risk across different tenors.

PEOPLE IN NEWS

Prominent scientist Ameenah Gurib-Fakim was sworn as president of Mauritius, becoming the first woman to hold the ceremonial position in the Indian Ocean island nation. Gurib-Fakim, 56, is the first female president of the island, which gained independence from Britain in 1968 and replaced Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state in 1992. Mauritius is one of the richest -- and least corrupt -- countries in Africa, a middle-income nation of some 1.3 million people with a per capita GDP of just over US $9,000 (7,200 euros).

A month and a half before the end of his term as Director of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), scientist , who was conferred Padma Shri earlier this year, has been unceremoniously removed. In an order issued by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Dr. Roy has been accused of “indiscipline” and the communication expresses apprehension that he may indulge in acts of “administrative and financial impropriety”. He has been replaced by director-designate Sanghmitra Bandyopadhyay, who was supposed to take charge of the institute on August 1.

Well-known Telugu writer and Sahitya Akademi awardee, Dasaradhi Rangacharyulu, passed away at the age of 86. He was noted for his simple writings, reflecting the culture and ethos of Telangana, and sharp wit. His writings — Chillara Devullu (Lesser Deities), Jeevana Yanam (autobiographical life’s journey), Modugu Poolu (fire flowers), and a translation of the four Vedas into Telugu, stood out in a long career. A high point of his life was his strident opposition of the oppressive rule of the Nizams in the erstwhile Hyderabad State, which landed him in jail. He played a significant role in the Telangana armed struggle against Hyderabad State.

Twitter Inc. announced that its CEO, Dick Costolo, would resign. Jack Dorsey, one of the company’s founding quadrumvirate and the company’s first CEO, will take his old job in an interim role. Some investors have called for Costolo’s resignation for more than a year, calls which became more strident after extremely disappointing quarterly results in April. By appointing Dorsey as acting executive, the company seems to be hearkening back to the idealism of its early days.

Hemant Sonawala, one of the founders of the country's IT industry and chairman of Hinditron Group, passed away at the age of 78.

Renowned biochemist Irwin Rose who was awarded 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering molecule Ubiquitin passed away at the age of 88.

K V Chowdary, the former chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes, was appointed the Central Vigilance Commissioner and senior-most information commissioner, Vijai Sharma was named the new Chief Information Commissioner. A retired Indian Revenue Service officer, Mr Chowdary had been working as the adviser to the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team, which is probing black money cases. Mr. Sharma, a former Environment Secretary, has been working as an Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission since 2012. Both posts had been vacant for months. The issue became politically charged after Congress president Sonia Gandhi raised it in the Lok Sabha last month, accusing the Narendra Modi government of undermining the posts by keeping them vacant.

Mahendra Kumar Sharma was appointed as non-executive chairman of India’s largest private sector lender Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) Bank. He will replace K V Kamath who had resigned in order to join as President of the Shanghai based New Development Bank established by the BRICS nations.

Former bureaucrat Dr. Mahesh N. Buch who was widely regarded as the architect of modern Bhopal, passed away at the age of 80. He was known for his clear views in context of urban planning and environment protection for betterment of Bhopal and Madhya Pradesh. He received Padma Bhushan in 2011 for his services to the nation.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appointed Meena Hemchandra as the executive director who would be in charge of department of banking supervision. She will also be in charge of department of non-banking supervision and department of co-operative banking supervision.

Nek Chand, creator of the iconic Rock Garden who amazed people for decades with his unique sculptures made from waste, died at the age of 90. The Padma Shri awardee, whose 90th birthday was celebrated by the Chandigarh Administration and the City residents on December 15, had millions of fans across the globe. Working as a roads inspector of the Public Works Department in Punjab from 1951, Nek Chand had quietly built his magical kingdom clearing a little forest patch near the famous Sukhna lake to create a small garden. Waste like broken crockery, electrical fittings, glass bangles, bathroom tiles, wash basins and bicycle frames were used to make mosaic sculptures of men, women, animals and gods. The iconic Rock Garden, inaugurated in 1976, is now spread over an area of forty acres and more than 2.5 lakh people from India and abroad visit it every year with the annual revenue generated from ticket sales around Rs 1.8 crore. Nek Chand’s unique art has also been showcased in museums abroad, including at the National Children’s Museum in Washington.

Union Home Ministry appointed Senior IPS Officer RC Tayal as the new Director General (DG) of India’s elite counter-terror force National Security Guard (NSG). He succeeds JN Choudhury who had retired on 31 May 2015. He will have tenure till August 2016.

Legendary English actor, singer and writer Sir Christopher Lee passed away in London, at the age of 93. The veteran actor was famously known as the master of horror for his famous villainy acting roles in numerous movies such as Dracula, The Wicker Man, James Bond, Lord of the Rings trilogy etc.

Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar, a senior scientist, was appointed Director of CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) a premier research institute of Union Government based in Hyderabad, Telangana.

Former Director of Intelligence Bureau (DIB) Syed Asif Ibrahim was appointed as Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Counter Terrorism and Extremism in National Security Council (NSC) Secretariat.

SPORTS

Barcelona FC won 2015 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League trophy for the fifth time after defeating Juventus FC in the finals.

Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the only Indian among Forbes magazine’s 100 highest-paid athletes in the world. American boxer Floyd Mayweather tops the list, which also includes golfer Tiger Woods, tennis star Roger Federer and Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo. Dhoni has been ranked 23rd, dropping a notch from his ranking of 22 last year. Dhoni’s total earnings stood at $31 million, including amount from salary/winnings at $4 million and endorsements worth $27 million. The 33-year old cricketer retired from Test cricket at the end of 2014, but remains India’s skipper at the One Day International and T20 levels.

India’s tennis player Rohan Bopanna along with his Romanian partner Florin Merge a won the ATP’s Stuttgart Open final doubles trophy in Germany after defeating Austrian-Brazilian pair of Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares.

President of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Sepp Blatter resigned amid a corruption scandal which is under investigation in United States. Earlier on 30 May 2015, he was re-elected as the FIFA President for a fifth term by defeating his rival candidate Prince Ali bins Al Hussein of Jordan.

Serena Williams of United States won French Open women’s single title after defeating Lucie Safarova of Czechoslovakia. This was her third French Open title and overall 20th Grand Slam title.

Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland won his first French Open Men’s single title of Tennis. After defeating Novak Djokovic of Serbia. It his first his first French Open title and second grand slam title.

India’s Sundaram Ravi was inducted into the Elite Panel of International Cricket Council (ICC) Umpires for year 2015-2016.With this appointment, Sundaram Ravi became second Indian umpire after S Venkataraghavan to be inducted into the ICC’s elite panel. S Venkataraghavan was inducted in this panel in 2004.

MISCELLANEOUS

World

 The World Day against Child Labour was observed across the world on 12 June to bring awareness against child labour. The theme of this year was “No to Child Labour, Yes to Quality Education.”

 The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) announced that in past one decade renewable energy targets have quadruple globally. As per the report released in June 2015, 164 countries have adopted at least one type of renewable energy target compared to 43 countries in 2005. All nations are adopting renewable energy targets to meet multiple objectives including energy security, environmental sustainability and socio-economic benefits.

 China conducted the fourth successful test of a new Wu-14 hypersonic strike vehicle which is capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

 African countries signed a historic The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) that facilitates creation of Africa’s largest free-trade zone, covering 26 countries in an area from Cape Town to Cairo. The deal, signed in Egypt, is intended to ease the movement of goods across member countries which represent more than half the continent's GDP. With this agreement comes into fruition a century-old dream to link the continent from the Cape to Cairo. Explorers and freedom fighters alike all shared the vision to integrate African economies.

India

 Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched a campaign called “Badh Chala Bihar” in Patna to collate ideas from the public to produce Bihar@2025. It is a vision document on state’s development between 2015 and 2025.

 Jind and Karnal districts of Haryana and Muzaffarnagar of Uttar Pradesh were included in National Capital Region in June 2015.

16th June to 30th June AWARDS & HONOURS

The Sahitya Akademi announced the Bal Sahitya Puraskar for this year, in which five novelists, four writers of short stories, and three authors of poetries, among others, were awarded for their contribution to children’s literature. Instituted by the Sahitya Akademi, the award comprises Rs 50,000 and a casket containing an inscribed copper plaque and a citation. Tiren Boro (Bodo), Sowmya Rajendran and Nivditha Subramaniam (English), Ramnath G Gawade (Konkani), Ramdeo Jha (Maithili) and Mukti Upadhyay ‘Baral’ (Nepali) were awarded for their novels. Those who were awarded for their short stories were Nayeem Kashmiri (Kashmiri), Thokchom Thouyangba Meitei (Manipuri), Krishna Kumar ‘Ashu’ (Rajasthani) and Janardhan Hegde (Sanskrit). Tara Chand Kalandri (Dogri), Srikanta Saren (Santali) and Sella Ganapathi (Tamil) were awarded for their poetry collections. Bano Sartaj (Urdu) was honoured for her book on a one act play. Eli Ahmed (Assamese) and Kartik Ghose (Bengali), among others, were honoured with the Bal Sahitya Puraskar 2015 for their contribution to Children’s Literature.

India’s oldest and largest shipping trade union, National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) was honoured with the ‘Best Welfare Organisation of the Year – 2015’ award. The award is promoted by the United Kingdom based International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) and recognise excellence of organisation in the provision of welfare services and facilities for seafarers.

Sahitya Akademi conferred 4 scholars with prestigious ‘Bhasha Samman’ for their contribution to classical and medieval literature in various languages.

 K Meenakshi Sundaram: For her contributions to Classical and Medieval Literature(Southern) .

 Acharya Munishwar Jha: For his contributions to Classical and Medieval Literature (Eastern).

 Charu Chandra Pande and Mathuradutt Mathpal: Jointly recognised for their work towards the enrichment of Kumauni.

Historian-author Ramachandra Guha was selected for Japan’s prestigious Fukuoka Prize in the Academic category. Guha’s fellow winners were Thant Myint-U (Grand Prize) and Minh Hanh (Arts and Culture). Fukuoka Prize honours those who have made outstanding contributions to academia, arts and culture across Asia.

Veteran Writer Vishwanath Tripathi was selected for the 28th Moorti Devi Award for the year 2014 for his book Vyomkesh Darvesh.

Eminent scientist and recipient of Bharat Ratna CNR Rao was conferred the 'Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star', Japan's highest civilian award, for promoting academic interchange and mutual understanding in science and technology between the two countries.

Carnatic vocalist Sanjay Subrahmanyan was selected for this year's Sangita Kalanidhi award. Subrahmanyan, 47, is one of the youngest to receive the award. He joined the illustrious line of stalwarts who had received the award before they turned fifty years like Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Musiri Subramania Iyer, Maharajapuram Viswanathan Iyer, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, G N Balasubramanian, M L Vasanthakumari and M Balamuralikrishna.

Nadia district in West Bengal won the United Nations Public Service Award 2015 in the category of improving delivery of public services for or eliminating open defecation in the district.

BUSINESS & CORPORATE

Private insurer Bajaj Allianz launched a weather-based crop insurance scheme for orange crops in Nagpur, Hingoli and Washim districts of . The index-based insurance policy will cover losses incurred by orange fruit-growing farmers due to deviation in weather conditions and has been approved by Central and the State government.

Blue Star, India's largest central air-conditioning company, launched VRF (variable refrigerant flow) IV Plus air conditioning (AC) system. This is the first-ever locally-developed-and-produced VRF ACs in India.

Bahrain-based GFH Financial Group signed an agreement with Indian conglomerate Adani Group for developing an economic development zone in . Under the agreement, the financial group's unit Energy City Navi Mumbai (ECNM) and Adani Group will work together in creating the master plan for the lands of Phases II and III of the project, which will offer world class business infrastructure for local and international services, IT and energy companies.

Micromax Informatics Ltd launched a 5.1mm thick smartphone in New Delhi, claiming that it’s the world’s slimmest 4G-enabled phone when measured ‘end-to-end’. Priced at Rs 17,999, the company announced ‘M! On- site Care’, a 7 day doorstep service policy. The phone is bundled with a free 4G SIM from Airtel, with a double data offer that doubles the 4G data cap upon activation for the first three months.

The Bombay High Court allowed Nestle India to export Maggi noodles, currently banned in Maharashtra and Many States. After samples of noodles manufactured in March 2014 were reportedly found to contain high lead content and Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), the brand is under scrutiny of various State governments and Union Consumer Affairs Ministry.

SoftBank Corp. formed a solar and wind energy joint venture that could invest as much as $20 billion in producing 20 gigawatts of power in India, partnering the country’s top wireless provider, Bharti Enterprises Ltd., with Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn Technology Co. Ltd. SoftBank is one of the largest investors in India’s biggest ridesharing services provider Ola Cabs and Snapdeal.com, which is the country’s second-largest e- commerce company. Subject to certain conditions, SoftBank, Bharti and Foxconn will jointly invest in the new venture, called SBG Cleantech Ltd. India has set itself the target of generating 100 gigawatts of electricity through solar installations and a further 60 gigawatts via wind turbines by 2022.

Japan’s SoftBank Corp announced that it was setting up a joint venture with Chinese online shopping giant Alibaba and electronics supplier Foxconn Technology to sell its human-like robot Pepper around the world.

US-based SunEdison Inc. announced to acquire Continuum Wind Energy Ltd, a Singapore-based company with assets in India, for an undisclosed sum. Continuum owns and operates 242 megawatts (MW) of wind power plants in Maharashtra and Gujarat, besides a 170 MW wind power unit under construction in Madhya Pradesh. It has more than 1,000 MW of wind power plants in development across six states in India.

India’s largest IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) launched a Next-Gen Technology Solutions Center of Excellence (CoE) at its campus in Hyderabad, dedicated to research and development of futuristic technologies and creation of next-generation products and solutions for its global customers in the Semiconductors, Devices and Networks space.

Wealth-X released the World’s Wealthiest Self-Made Billionaires List. It included world’s top 25 richest self-made billionaires. The list was topped by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates with a personal fortune totaling nearly 86 billion US dollars. American entrepreneurs dominated the list claiming 14 of the 25 spots.

BILLS / ACTS / COMMITTEES / SCHEMES / POLICIES

 The Maharashtra government decided to evoke Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act (MPDA) against those involved in black marketing of essential commodities and sand mafia. The decision to impose MPDA was taken by government in order to tackle the menace of black marketing of essential commodities and sand mafia in state and to prevent organised attacks against revenue officials and employees by sand mafias and smugglers.

 Union Cabinet approved introduction of Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015 in coming session of Parliament. The new bill seeks to replace the existing Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act, 1986 with an aim to bring in more products under the mandatory standard regime and end the inspector raj.

 Union Ministry of Finance constituted a 10 member Task Force on Financial Redress Agency (FRA) which will be headed by Dhirendra Swarup. Dhirendra Swarup has also served as first chairman of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) in 2004. This task force was set up to begin the preparatory work for FRA that was recommended by the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) as FRA will act as a unified redress agency for financial consumers across the country.

 The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) announced that it will soon constitute an expert group to regulate salt, sugar and fat in food products, following a Delhi High Court order. The committee will advise FSSAI on matters related to health risks, dietary intake and current levels of sugar, salt and fat in products in the market. It will also provide recommendations on regulations and labelling of these elements in food being manufactured, sold, marketed and imported.

 The Union Government of India increased The National Floor Level Minimum Wage (NFLMW) for workers from rupees 137 to 160 rupees which will be effective from 1st July 2015. It was fixed at 35 rupees per day in 1996 and has since been revised almost regularly every two years taking into account the increase in the CPI (IW). It was last raised in July 2013 from 115 rupees a day fixed in 2011. The Labour and Employment Minister, Bandaru Dattatreya, also emphasized to ensure implementation of various provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 so that the objective of ensuring the minimum wages to workers can be achieved.

 Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) notified an order to make Universal Account Number (UAN) mandatory for all employers covered under the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. The UAN facility that remains portable throughout the lifetime of an employee was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2014.

ECONOMY & FINANCE

• Continuing its declining trend, India’s exports shrank by about 20.19 per cent in May 2015 to USD 22.34 billion, marking a fall for the sixth straight month. The slump in exports is mainly due to global slowdown, dip in crude oil prices and rupee appreciation. In May 2014, the country’s merchandise exports stood at USD 27.99 billion. The main exporting sectors, including petroleum products, gems and jewellery, engineering and chemicals reported a negative growth in April. Imports, too, declined 16.52 per cent to USD 32.75 billion. Trade deficit narrowed to USD 10.4 billion in the month under review compared with USD 11.23 billion in May 2014, according to data released by the commerce ministry in June 2015.

• The Cabinet approved the revised target of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) to generate 100,000 Mw by 2022 — five times the previous target. The target will comprise 40 Gw power generated through rooftop units and 60 Gw through large and medium scale grid connected solar power projects. The total investment in setting up projects with capacity of 100 Gw will be around Rs 6 lakh crore.

• The government will provide additional employment of 50 days under its flagship rural employment scheme in areas affected by drought. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved a proposal that sought to raise the number of work days to 150 from 100 under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in drought-hit areas.

• Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley approved the formation of two committees to facilitate the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from next April. A steering committee, chaired by the Additional Secretary, Department of Revenue, and the Member Secretary of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers, will monitor the setting up of IT infrastructure for the GST network, the Central Board of Excise and Customs and other tax authorities. The committee will monitor the progress of consultations with stakeholders such as trade and industry and the training of officers. The other committee, chaired by Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser, will recommend possible tax rates under the GST that would be consistent with the present level of revenue collected by the Centre and the States. While making recommendations, the committee will take into account the expected levels of economic growth, the different levels of compliance, and the broadening of the tax base. The panel would assess the sector- and State-wise impact of the GST on the economy.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs(CCEA) increased the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy by Rs 50 to Rs 1,410 per quintal for this year. The decision on paddy is in line with the recommendation of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), a government advisory body. MSP is the rate at which government buys the grain from farmers.Paddy is the main crop grown in the kharif (summer) season.

• The Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers Shri Ananth Kumar formally launched the Cluster Development Programme for Pharma Sector (CDS-PS). The programme will provide support to the Pharmaceutical industry in becoming more capable, productive and competitive. The Cluster Development Programme is proposed to be the key step in ensuring health security of the country. The Minister said that by the end of this financial year, 06 Pharma Clusters are likely to come up of which 03 will be greenfields. Shri Ananth Kumar said that these Clusters will ensure adequate testing, training and affluent treatment facilities for pharmaceuticals industry.

• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) relaxed the norms for technological start-ups to raise funds from the capital market, while easing the norms for issuance of Initial Public Offering (IPO) by companies. Exchanges will have a separate platform, Institutional Trading Platform (ITP), and would facilitate capital raising as well for start-ups. The capital market regulator reduced the post-listing lock-in period for tech start-up promoters to six months, instead of three years for other IPOs.

• The association of bond dealers, local currency traders and bankers formed a new firm to fix the Mumbai Inter-Bank Offer Rate (Mibor), in line with a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) panel recommendation which seeks to avoid a Libor (London Interbank Offer Rate) like fiasco in India. Mibor is the rate at which banks lend and borrow overnight money to each other. The Fixed Income Money Market and Derivatives Association of India (FIMMDA), the Foreign Exchange Dealers’ Association of India (FEDAI) and the Indian Banks’ Association have together formed a new firm named the Board of Financial Benchmarks India Pvt. Ltd (FBIL), which will henceforth administer the Mibor.

• The finance ministry issued draft proposals for facilitating electronic transactions that are aimed at bringing transparency in the economy and promoting cashless payments. The ministry said that the objective is to improve the ease of conducting transactions for individuals and cut costs of managing cash. The decision, once implemented, will also go a long way in reducing tax avoidance that is rampant because of cash payments. The government said that the by facilitating electronic transactions, it will be able to build a transactions history which will in turn help customers in getting loans easily and will help in financial inclusion.

• The Union Cabinet gave its approval to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to apply to the Registrar of Companies for converting it into a Section 3 company under the Companies Act, 2013 and its renaming. The new corporation shall be known as Renewable Energy Corporation of India (RECI). The major impact of the decision will be that SECI will become a self-sustaining and self-generating organisation and will engage itself in owning solar power plants generating and selling power and in other segments of solar sector activities, including manufacturing of solar products and materials. After it is rebranded, the corporation will take up development of all segments of renewable energy namely, geo- thermal, off-shore wind, tidal and so on, apart from solar energy.

• India regained its position in the list of top 10 destinations for foreign direct investments (FDI) in 2014, after failing to make it to the list a year ago, according to the World Investment Report 2015 released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad). India is ranked ninth in the latest report; it was 15th last year. During 2014, FDI inflows into India jumped 22% to $34 billion at a time when global FDI fell by 16% to $1.23 trillion. Unctad projected global FDI flows to rise 11% to $1.4 trillion in 2015. India’s rank as a top prospective host country for FDI also rose to third place from fourth place in an Unctad survey for the period 2015-17. However, India fell to the seventh rank from sixth last year in the survey as a source country for FDI for 2014-2016 period.

• The report identified the automotive industry as one of the sectors in which India has the potential of becoming a world leader. The report revealed that China became the largest recipient of FDI in 2014, followed by Hong Kong and the US. Developing economies, as a group, attracted $681 billion worth of FDI and remain the leading region by share of global investment inflows.

• The Reserve Bank of India released its Financial Stability Report (FSR), the 11th issue of its bi-annual publication. The report states the easing global crisis and strong macroeconomic fundamentals in the domestic market, including increased FDIs in the past year offer India a "reasonable degree of resilience" to fight uncertainties, but poor asset quality of banks and managing expectations are key challenges for regulators and the government. "There has been a significant improvement in the macroeconomic environment, and going forward, economic performance is expected to be better," the FSR said.

PEOPLE IN NEWS

Journalist and writer Aakar Patel joined Amnesty International India as its new Executive Director. Patel will head Amnesty International India's operations. Amnesty International India is one of the movement's three national offices, set up to increase our impact in countries with growing global influence which continue to face human rights challenges.

Bangladesh's Supreme Court upheld the death sentence against the second highest ranking leader of the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami for war crimes, including massacre of intelligentsia during the liberation war against Pakistan, paving the way for his execution. Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha's four-member bench confirmed the death penalty for 67-year-old Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid, Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general and a former commander of Al-Badr, the militia raised by Pakistan to crush the Bangladesh's struggle for independence.

Anshula Kant was appointed as the Deputy Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of State Bank of India (SBI). She succeeded P K Gupta, who was promoted as Chief Executive Officer of SBI Capital.

India’s greatest contemporary architect Charles Correa passed away at the age of 84. He had played a pivotal role in the creation of architecture for post-Independence India. He was known for his sensitivity to the needs of the urban poor and use of traditional methods and materials for construction.

Senior Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leader and Lok Sabha MP Dileep Singh Bhuria passed away at the age of 71. He was Lok Sabha MP from Ratlam-Jhabua constituency of Madhya Pradesh.

James Horner, the consummate film composer known for his heart-tugging scores for Field of Dreams, Braveheart and Titanic, for which he won two Academy Awards, died in a plane crash at the age of 61.

Britain’s longest-serving Indian-origin MP Keith Vaz, was re-elected as Chairman of Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) in House of Commons of UK Parliament.

Billionaire financier Kirk Kerkorian, one of the founders of modern Las Vegas, whose name is synonymous with some of the Strip’s best-known hotel-casinos, died at the age of 98.

Mogens Lykketoft from Denmark was unanimously elected as President of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). He was only the nominee put forward by the Western Europe and other group (WEOG).

Narendra Kumar Yadav took charge as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the state-run telecom operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL). Yadav succeeded PK Purwar.

Journalist-activist-author Praful Bidwai passed away in Amsterdam at the age of 66. A former journalist with , Praful wrote with authority and erudition on human rights, environment, global justice and peace. He was a founder-member of the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace. He was a co-recipient of the prestigious Sean MacBride International Peace Prize.

Lenovo appointed Rahul Agarwal as the managing director for Lenovo India, effective June 29, 2015. He took over from Amar Babu who has been elevated as the Chief Operating Officer for the Asia Pacific region and Chairman of Lenovo India. This appointment comes at a time when the world's largest PC maker is diversifying

beyond PCs into smart connected devices which the company terms as 'PC+ devices'. These include smartphones, tablets, wearables and smart TVs among others.

Former Indian women hockey captain Shashi Bala passed away along with her son following a road accident in Punjab. 45-year-old Shashi Bala made her international debut in 1987 and was a member of the national team in the 1998 FIH Women World Cup in the Netherlands. She was captain of the national team during the 1997 FIH Women World Cup Qualifier held in Harare, Zimbabwe. After her playing career, she coached India Railways' hockey teams and later become a Selector of Hockey Punjab.

Sister Nirmala, who succeeded Mother Teresa as superior general of the Missionaries of Charity, died at the age of 81. Nirmala became the second head of the Missionaries of Charity after its founder Mother Teresa stepped down from the post in March 1997.

A comprehensive book in Dogri on the Dogri literature of 20th century, entitled ‘Beehmi Sadi Da Dogri Da Gadya Sahitya: Ik Jayzaa’ written by noted scholar of Dogri Dr Vijay Seth, was released in Jammu.

Former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, whose career included journalism, diplomacy and spycraft, died at the age of 85.

SPORTS

Astronomers named a newly discovered galaxy as CR7 (COSMOS Redshift 7) after Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo is famously known as CR7 after his initials and his jersey number. He had won Fifa’s Ballon d’Or award consecutively for two years in 2013 and 2014.

India was ranked third in Anti-Doping Rule Violations Report for year 2013 released by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Russia was ranked first in this report with maximum number of doping athletes, followed by Turkey.

Indian pair of and Ashwni Ponappa won the women’s doubles title of the tournament when they defeated Dutch pair of and in the finals.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman were fined 75 and 50 per cent of their match fees respectively after being found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the first One-Day International at Mirpur.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg from Germany won the Austrian Grand Prix Formula One (F1) World Championship title. It is Rosberg’s eleventh overall championship title and the third win in the 2015 season.

World number two Roger Federer won the Halle Open ATP title in Germany when he defeated Andreas Seppi of Italy in the finals.

India’s legendary batsman and Bharat Ratna recipient Sachin Tendulkar was voted the ‘Best Test player’ of the 21st century in an online poll conducted by Cricket Australia’s website for the list of the 100 best Test players since 2000.

Satnam Singh Bhamara became the first Indian basketball player to be drafted in the National Basketball Association (NBA) after being picked by Dallas Mavericks. The 19-year-old, who hails from a remote village in Punjab and stands 7 feet 2 inches tall, was the 52nd pick in the NBA Draft.

Tennis legend Steffi Graf was appointed the Ayurveda brand ambassador of God’s Own Country . The 46- year-old Graf, who retired in 1999, married former World No. 1 men’s tennis player Andre Agassi. Kerala’s Ayurveda, an ancient system of health care which is famous for its holistic effect on body and mind, attracts large number of people from the country and abroad every year.

Sunil Chhetri became the first Indian footballer to score 50 international goals. He achieved this feat in his 87th match i.e. during 2018 World Cup qualifying match between India and Guam.

Former Pakistan cricket team captain Zaheer Abbas was selected the new President of International Cricket Council (ICC) for one year term. He will be the 13th President of ICC and succeeds Mustafa Kamal of Bangladesh.

MISCELLANEOUS

World

 India was among the 50 founding countries that signed an agreement providing the legal framework for the China-led $100 billion multilateral Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) which is being seen as a rival to the US and Europe-dominated banking institutions. The 60-article agreement specified each member's share as well as governance structure and policy-making mechanism of the bank, which is designed to finance infrastructure in Asia. Australia was the first country to sign the agreement, followed by 49 other members.

 According to a research published by the World Economic Forum, the US department of defense is the world's biggest employer which claims over 3.2 million employees on its roster. Second is People's Liberation Army (the Chinese military) with 2.3 million, and in third is the US supermarket giant Walmart with 2.1 million workers. Indian Railways was placed at 8th position with 1.4 million staff, while Indian Army was placed at 9th position with 1.3 million employees in the list of world’s biggest employers.

 A three week long joint military training exercise code named ‘Silk Route- 2015′ between China and Sri Lanka begun at Buttala in Central Sri Lanka.

India

 India is the fourth largest carbon emitter in the world in terms of per capita emission accounting for 6.6 % of global emissions for the year 2012. It was revealed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) in its latest analyses of the country-wise carbon emissions of climate-damaging greenhouse gases (GHGs). According to the analysis figures of WRI, Top 5 emitters are: China (25.26%), US (14.4%), European Union (10.16%), India (6.69%) and Russia (5.36%).

 India pledged an assistance of one billion US dollars to the quake-ravaged Nepal for its massive re- construction programme.