24th OCTOBER 2014

The proposal for the elevated Light Metro, meant for Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, will be placed before the board of Kerala Monorail Corporation Ltd. (KMCL) that meets here on Friday. The KMCL board, chaired by Chief Minister Oommen Chandyis all set to give approval for the Detailed Project Report of the Rs.6,728-crore project prepared by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in place of the scrapped monorail.

The Kerala Police have launched a toll-free helpline (1099) for the public to seek police help in bringing accident victims to hospital. The decision was taken at a meeting convened by Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on the basis of the huge response to his Facebook post on accidents.

The Sukhoi fleet has been temporarily grounded following the latest crash involving a Su-30MKI near Pune, a Defence Ministry release said. “A Court of Inquiry is in progress.

After first proving his mettle as an IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre and then as the Chief Election Commissioner, N. Gopalaswami will now wear a new hat: that of chairman of the Chennai-based ‘Kalakshetra,’ the institution founded by Rukmini Devi Arundale to nurture India’s artistic traditions.

In 22 October 1964, Jean-Paul Sartre turned down the Nobel prize for literature.

Iran on Saturday hanged a woman (Reyhaneh Jabbari) convicted of murdering a former intelligence officer she claimed had tried to sexually assault her, defying international appeals for a stay on execution.

Google provided a sneak peek into Bhutan on Thursday by unveiling a Street View project for the remote Himalayan kingdom, featuring panoramic views of its majestic mountains, monasteries and crystal-clear rivers. The “Land of the Thunder Dragon” has long been one of the most isolated countries on earth, only lifting its ban on television in 1999.

The Chairman of Tesco, the world’s second-biggest retailer behind Walmart, announced his resignation on Thursday amid an accounting scandal in which the company admitted it had overstated its projected profits. Richard Broadbent said he would step down once a successor was found while the company confirmed its financial troubles continued, with a 99 per cent drop in first-half net income.

23rd OCTOBER 2014

The proposal for the elevated Light Metro, meant for Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, will be placed before the board of Kerala Monorail Corporation Ltd. (KMCL) that meets here on Friday. The KMCL board, chaired by Chief Minister Oommen Chandyis all set to give approval for the Detailed Project Report of the Rs.6,728-crore project prepared by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in place of the scrapped monorail.

Two days after show of strength by his supporters in Nagpur, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday asserted that he would not be a hurdle to the elevation of State BJP president Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister. Denying rumours of “differences” between the two, Mr. Gadkari reiterated that he was not in the running for the chief minister’s post. His comments came after Mr. Fadnavis met him twice, once at the former’s residence and later at the party office in Nagpur, in less than four hours.

Development economist Jean Dreze, along with hundreds of protesting MGNREGA workers, observed “Black Diwali” at a village in Muzaffarpur district on Thursday. For over a fortnight, the workers have been organising a dharna demanding payment of dues. Professor Dreze reached Mahant Manihari Panchayat Bhawan under the Kurhani block and sat on the day-long dharna.

A video of a pair of duelling, dancing American priests studying in Rome has gone viral, following the footsteps of a now-famous Italian nunwhose Alicia Keyes-esque voice won her a singing contest and a record contract.

The United States’ supposed grand strategy to thwart the rampaging Islamic State (IS) is seemingly in a shambles. Reports indicate that IS has not only foiled the U.S.-led attacks thus far, but has also perpetrated massive defeats on the Iraqi army. What’s more, the Syrian rebel coalitions that were working closest with the U.S. are also apparently beginning to turn against America.

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.

21st OCTOBER 2014

Haryana’s newly elected BJP legislators will meet in Chandigarh on Tuesday to “elect” a leader, who will be the party’s chief ministerial candidate. Indications are that veteran leader and RSS activist Manohar Lal Khattar will be the party’s choice.

The ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival has announced a new annual writing competition for budding authors. Supported by Teamwork Arts, producers of the Festival, the competition is open to applicants across the world.

Making music is all about “digging inside of yourself” for “real gold”, says Neil Diamond, one of the bestselling singer-songwriters of all time. His album Melody Road releases this week."…you have to devote yourself almost entirely to it [music] and remain passionate about it

The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), which insures families of unorganised sector workers for up to Rs. 30,000 of medical care, is expected to be transferred from the Ministry of Labour and Employment to the Union Health Ministry. The RSBY, operationalised in 2008 by the UPA government, will be merged with the Universal Health Assurance Mission (UHAM) proposed by the NDA government.

India and China have agreed to take solid steps to improve border management, including the establishment of a hotline between the two Army headquarters and designating additional border posts for meetings between local commanders. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying disclosed on Monday that both countries have decided to step up military-to military interaction during last week’s Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) held in New Delhi.

  

To popularise Indian system of medicine abroad, the Centre will host a four-day World Ayurveda Congress in the Capital from November 6 to 9. To be inaugurated by the Prime Minister, the conference will be attended by delegates and Health Ministers from 24 countries.

Africa’s most populous nation Nigeria was on Monday declared officially Ebola free but warned that it remained vulnerable as long as the virus was raging elsewhere in West Africa.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suffered a double setback on Monday with the resignations of two woman Cabinet Ministers over claims they misused political funds, dealing a blow to his proclaimed gender reform drive. Industry Minister Yuko Obuchi and Justice Minister Midori Matsushima quit after days of allegations that they had misspent money in what opponents insisted was an attempt to buy votes.

Warburg Pincus on Monday invested Rs. 1,200 crore ($200 million) in Thrissur-headquartered Kalyan Jewellers for an undisclosed minority stake. Kalyan will use the funds for expansion.

20th OCTOBER 2014

K. L. Rao Sagar Project, popularly known as Pulichintala project, which is seen as a boon for A.P. is back in focus with the Telangana government demanding that A.P. release Rs. 40 crore immediately as a pre-condition for impounding 20 tmcft water in the project. TS Irrigation Minister Harish Rao, on Sunday, said the Telangana government did not have any objection to store 20 tmcft if rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) packages were paid. When contacted, Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao said the government would release funds for the R&R packages to be implemented in TS.

President of the State unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Pralhad Joshi, on Sunday, urged the State government to review its decision of rejecting the B.K. Somashekhara Commission of Inquiry report into the 2008 church attacks.

Amid instances of property crimes reported on board trains, the Government Railway Police (GRP) has revamped the train beat system with focus on long-distance trains. The modifications were put in place following a review of the system to bring in some standardization in the train escort pattern and in an effort to curb crimes on board trains across the jurisdiction of GRP, Tiruchi District. The structural changes were brought in taking into account the crime pattern and by identifying important trains passing through the limits of the Tiruchi District that starts from Villupuram and extends up to Kanyakumari in the northwest direction.

For the first time, “a more extensive programme” of Nobel Prize-related events will take place in India in less than a fortnight from now, a posting on the official website of the prestigious prize, Nobelprize.org, said on Sunday.

In the run-up to the lift-off of India’s gigantic Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mark III) in November 2014, the unmanned crew module it will put into orbit and the vehicle’s equipment bay were flagged off on October 17 from the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, to Sriharikota.

Spanish wind turbine company, Gamesa, is bullish on India’s wind energy sector. The 2.4-billion euro company expects to sell turbines adding up to 650 MW this year in India which is already its biggest market. In a recent interview with a group of visiting Indian journalists at the company’s headquarters in Pamplona, Spain, Gamesa’s Executive Chairman Ignacio Martin said that the local unit in India could not produce enough to meet domestic demand. Mr. Martin joined Gamesa in May 2012 and has overseen rapid growth in the last couple of years.

19th OCTOBER 2014

India, which has so far not reported a single case of Ebola, is emulating the Senegal-model of tracking every individual who could have been exposed to the virus or come into contact with anyone else who did, to prevent the outbreak of the deadly disease in the country. The World Health Organisation has declared Senegal Ebola-free.

The State government has registered the Farmers Empowerment Corporation by depositing paid up capital of Rs.1 crore. The corporation will be established at the Animal Husbandry Livestock College Complex opposite Gannavaram airport. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is likely to inaugurate the corporation’s office on October 21.

Raising concern over rapid growth of tourism making light of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) regulations in coastal Goa, climate scientist Rajendra K. Pachauri on Saturday highlighted the role of whistle-blowers and activists in ensuring not only strict enforcement of these regulations but also generating public awareness among the people.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a trail that could see him become an icon — scripting a message that blends Confucius and Mao, without abandoning the centrality of Deng Xiaoping’s code of reforms.

Prompted by controversy over dangerous research and recent laboratory accidents, the White House announced on Friday that it would temporarily halt all new funding for experiments that seek 

to study certain infectious agents by making them more dangerous.

A field of around 10,000 runners will compete in the inaugural edition of the Shriram Properties Bengaluru Marathon, which will be flagged off from the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Sunday.

18th OCTOBER 2014

The Government of Telangana on Friday formed three separate panels – State Apex Committee, State Empowered Committee and State Mission Team to review progress in the implementation of Crime and Criminal Tracking System (CCTNS) Project. The committees have been formed on the suggestion of the Director General of National Crime Records Bureau for the purpose. The project has been launched by the Government of India and has been approved by the Planning Commission as Mission Mode Project under e-governance plan.

Deputy Commissioner Sasikant S. Senthil, who recently introduced a labour-intensive solid waste management system here with focus on increased people’s participation, has come up with another initiative to put a mechanism in place for addressing the unemployment problem.

Nigeria’s military and presidency on Friday claimed to have reached a deal with Boko Haram militants on a ceasefire but released contradictory statements on whether a deal for the release of more than 219 kidnapped schoolgirls was in place.

President Barack Obama on Friday named attorney Ron Klain to coordinate the U.S. response to the viral disease as it spreads beyond West Africa.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital & Research Centre here on October 25, Reliance Foundation said on Friday.

The Reserve Bank of India has signed a pact with the Central Bank of Kenya for exchange of information and supervisory cooperation. With this, the RBI has signed 22 such MoUs and one Letter for Supervisory Co-operation, the central bank said in a release.

A match that looked farcical at the halfway stage was given a decent burial by Marlon Samuels and Andre Russell as they made India work for its 59-run victory in the fourth ODI here on Friday