22nd OCTOBER 2014

First-time legislator Manohar Lal Khattar, 61, is set to become the 21st Chief Minister of Haryana. Mr. Khattar, a Punjabi, pipped other aspirants to the post owing to his RSS background and proximity to top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah.

India received the most number of votes in the Asia-Pacific group of the U.N. Human Rights Council, winning a second consecutive two-year term at the world body. Official sources said this was a reflection of India’s standing in the world. India was a committed supporter of the U.N. human rights system and would continue to work towards strengthening of the Council. 162 of 190 countries voted for India. Three other countries including Indonesia, Bangladesh and Qatar were elected.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has asked the Centre to include the private sector in its ongoing programme for training and preparing the government healthcare sector for Ebola control. The IMA has pointed out that by focussing only on the government sector and leaving out the private healthcare industry from training could prove to be a serious lacuna in tackling Ebola, even though India is considered a low risk country.

A web portal that will contain digitised content from museums across the country was launched on Tuesday by Shripad Naik, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Culture and Tourism. The Ministry of Culture plans to digitise the collections of all museums under its control as well as the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Calling for a unified global response to the challenges of terrorism, cyber-warfare and maritime security, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval said here on Tuesday that it was time the United Nations passed a comprehensive convention on terror.

The Central Government, to help investors and others hit by the Rs.5,600-crore ‘fraud’ at the National Spot Exchange Ltd. (NSEL) get back their money, on Tuesday ordered merger of the scam-hit firm with its holding company Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL). The merger, pursuant to which Jignesh Shah-led Financial Technologies group would need to absorb NSEL along with all its liabilities, including payments due to be paid to brokers, investors and others, has been ordered by the Corporate Affairs Ministry through a rarely-used clause in the Companies Act to intervene in the affairs of private sector entities.

Tata’s Jaguar Land Rover, on Tuesday, rolled out its premium luxury Range Rover Evoque at colourful ceremony here, inaugurating its first overseas factory in China with an investment of over $1.7 billion to consolidate its position in the world’s largest car market.

City-based Voltech group, service provider in testing and commissioning of electrical plants, has floated two more joint ventures one in India and another in Zambia. The group, on Tuesday, signed agreements with Kuwait-based Rank General Trading & Contracting Company (RGTCC), and Goldberg Associates Ltd (GAL), Zambia. RGTCC is a leading electrical and telecom contractor and GAL a global trading company.

Sundaram BNP Paribas Home Finance (SBPHF) is in talks with smaller housing finance companies (HFCs) to buy their portfolio in the affordable housing space. The company is in advanced stages of discussion with a company in this space. The deal size is expected at about Rs.11 crore.