25th OCTOBER 2014

China led 21 Asian nations, including India, in forming a multilateral financial front in the form of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), being seen as a challenger to the U.S.-backed Bretton Woods institutions.

Acknowledging that private investment is stifled in India by “lots of regulations” and also scarcity of coal and power, new Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian has said that removing these bottlenecks will be key to kick-starting growth. “The Indian economy needs a couple of big things, better governance, a stronger state delivering security of contract, protecting property rights, and providing infrastructure,” Mr. Subramanian said in a podcast interview to the International Monetary Fund.

The Union Urban Development Ministry is putting together a management information systems (MIS) that will enable the Prime Minister’s Office to monitor various activities under the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Students of Super 30, the Patna-based coaching institute for IIT-JEE, celebrated Diwali on Thursday with a team of professors from Tokyo University. The visiting team also announced that one student of the Super 30 would be given a scholarship for pursuing higher education in Japan.

Bangladeshi war criminal Ghulam Azam, who led the Jamaat-e-Islami during the country’s liberation war in 1971, died at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University here on Thursday.

U.S. President Barack Obama has nominated a major fundraiser for his presidential campaign, Indian-American Azita Raji, as the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden. A former investment banker, Raji served as national vice-chair of finance for Obama’s presidential campaign in 2012. Considered as a top bundler, he had helped raise more than $500,000 for the campaign. Raji’s nomination was announced along with several other key administrative positions by White House.

The Commerce and Industry Ministry on Friday constituted a six-member think tank to draft the National Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) policy. The panel, to be chaired by retired Justice Prabha Sridevan, will identifies areas in IPRs where study needs to be conducted and furnish recommendations in this regard to the Ministry, an official statement said. The expert group, set up by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), will also advise the government on best practices to be followed in trademark offices, patent offices and other government offices dealing with IPRs to create an efficient and transparent system of functioning in the said offices.

Pankaj Advani, added yet another jewel to his glowing crown, outplaying former champion Peter Gilchrist in the 150 up points format World billiards championship final and pocket his 11th world title