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RBI/ BANKING/BUSINESS NEWS THIS MONTH

30 June: The Union Government in June 2015 increased the national floor-level minimum wage (NFLMW) to 160 rupees per day from 137 rupees per day. The new rate will be effective from 1 July 2015.

26 June: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to allow Authorized Dealer Category I (AD Category-I) Banks to borrow foreign currency from International/Multinational Financial Institutions (IFIs/MFIs). Authorized Dealer Category -I Banks (AD Category–I Banks) is one of the three types of Authorized Money Changers (AMCs) approved by the RBI.

26 June: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the date to exchange pre-2005 bank notes till December 31, 2015 for third time. Earlier in December 2014, RBI had set the last date for public to exchange these notes as June 30, 2015.

26 June: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the Financial Stability Report (FSR) June 2015. It is the eleventh issue of its half yearly publication. Besides, the report discussed issues relating to development and regulation of the financial sector. Highlights of Financial Stability Report (FSR) June 2015

o Financial Institutions: Soundness and Resilience o Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs)

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o Urban Co-operative Banks and Non-Bank Financial Companies o Financial Sector Regulation, Banking sector, Securities market, Insurance

sector, Commodity derivative markets, Pension sector 25 June: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

released the World Investment Report 2015 (WIR15) titled. Highlights of World Investment Report 2015

• In 2014, Global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows fell by 16 per cent to 1.23 trillion US dollars mostly because of the fragility of the global economy, policy uncertainty for investors and elevated geopolitical risks. However, they are projected to grow by 11 per cent to 1.4 trillion US dollars in 2015.

25 June: The Union Cabinet approved renaming of Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) as Renewable Energy Corporation of India (RECI).

24 June: Union Ministry of Finance issued draft proposals for facilitating electronic transactions in the country. E-transactions mean authorization of transfer of money through electronic means and flow of funds directly from one account to another.

24 June: The Board of Financial Benchmarks India Private Limited (FBIL) decided to adopt FBIL overnight Mumbai Inter-Bank Offer Rate (MIBOR) from 22 July 2015.FBIL overnight MIBOR is a new method to set the overnight interest rate benchmark that will be based on traded levels instead of contributions from market participants.

24 June: 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. It reduced the post-listing lock-in period for tech start-up promoters to six months, instead of three years for other IPOs.



23 June: 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.

22 June: National Stock Exchange (NSE) operationalised the Overnight Liquid Transaction facility on its web-based Mutual Fund Service System (MFSS) platform.

20 June: The Union Government released the Draft Outline of Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme. The government invited comments till 2 July 2015 on it. The scheme is aimed at reducing the demand for physical gold and to shift part of the estimated 300 tons of physical bars and coins purchased every year for investment into demat gold bonds.

19 June: Union Ministry of Finance formed two committees for facilitating implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 1 April 2016. Terms of Reference of Committee on GST rate: • It will recommend possible tax rates under GST that would be consistent with the present level of revenue collection of the Union and States. • It will be headed by the Chief Economic Advisor (CEA), Ministry of Finance. The present CEA is Arvind Subramanian.

19 June: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave its approval for the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for Kharif Crops of 2015-16 season.

19 June: HDFC Bank, India’s second-largest private sector lender has launched a 10-second paperless instant loan Scheme for its existing customers. The 10-second loan Scheme was launched as part of HDFC Bank’s digital banking platform GoDigital. With this, HDFC bank became first



banking institution to completely automate the entire process of loan approval and disbursement.

19 June: The Union Government released the Draft Outline of Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme. The government invited comments till 2 July 2015 on it. The scheme is aimed at reducing the demand for physical gold and to shift part of the estimated 300 tons of physical bars and coins purchased every year for investment into demat gold bonds.

18 June: The Union Government decided to increase the number of workdays under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) from 100 days to 150 days in drought-affected areas of the country.

18 June: The Union Cabinet gave its approval for stepping up of solar power capacity target under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) by five times to 100000 MW (100 GW).The target to be achieved by 2022.

17 June: Bangladesh Supreme Court’s appellate bench upheld the death sentence of war criminal and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid. Decision in this regard was taken by 4-member bench headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha. The court has found Mujahid guilty of systematically killing intellectuals in the end of the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh.

17 June: Maharashtra Government has given nod to new Information Technology (IT) and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) policy. Key highlights of Maharashtra IT & ITES policy 2015

o Aims at making state an IT, animation and gaming industry hub by attracting 50,000 crore rupees of investment and creating 1 million jobs in nest five years i.e. by 2020.



o Promotes a walk-to-work concept by proposing the construction of integrated IT townships along with residential apartments and social infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, multiplexes, malls and parks etc.

17 June: Tokyo based online recipe network Cookpad has acquired Cucumbertown, a Bengaluru-based social network for cooks and chefs for an undisclosed amount. After this acquisition Cucumbertown will remain independent subsidiary under Cookpad.

15 June: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into the services sector grew by over 46 per cent to 3.25 billion dollars in 2014-15 fiscal. It was revealed by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

15 June: The High Level Committee (HLC) on railway restructuring headed by Dr Bibek Debroy submitted its final report to the Union Ministry of Railways.

15 June: Domestic e-commerce giant Snapdeal has acquired Gurgaon based mobility solutions company Letsgomo Labs. With this acquisition Letsgomo team will become part of Snapdeal. It will help to strengthen Snapdeal position in the m-commerce domain by further strengthen it mobile technology capabilities.

15 June: State owned telecommunications giant Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has launched free pan India roaming scheme. This scheme will allow company’s mobile customers across the country to receive incoming calls at no additional cost i.e. free of cost. It will benefit around 7.72 crore of its existing subscriber base as well as new subscribers.

15 June: Metal and mining giant Vedanta Ltd and its subsidiary oil explorer Cairn India have announced to merge. The merger will create India’s largest diversified natural resources company. It will also help Cairn spread its risk from volatile oil business to other metals and commodities.



15 June: World Bank and World Health Organization (WHO) in their latest report have reported that around 400-million people worldwide lack access to essential health services. It was revealed in a report by the World Bank and WHO on tracking universal health care (UHC) coverage. It is the first report to measure health service coverage and financial protection and to assess countries’ progress towards UHC.

13 June: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued the final guidelines for the 6-year and 13-year cash settled Interest Rate Futures (IRF) on government securities with residual maturity of 4-8 years and 11-15 years respectively under the Interest Rate Futures (Reserve Bank) (Amendment) Directions, 2015.

13 June: China has launched a freight train service between its northeastern city of Harbin and Europe. The 9,820-km-long distance rail route will open new trade options for Chinese goods in the European Market.

13 June: United States (US) government has opened an investigation against two of the biggest Indian Information Technology (IT) outsourcing companies for possible violations of H1-B visa rules. The two IT giants are Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys.

12 June: Reserve Bank of Indian has allowed non-resident Indians (NRIs) to invest in chit fund to encourage flow of capital into the country. Decision in this regard was taken after RBI had revised the extant guidelines for subscription to the chit funds in consultation with the government.

12 June: The second border haat (rural market) was opened for common people at Kamalasagar in Sipahijala district of Tripura bordering Brahmanbaria district of Bangladesh.

11 June: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced Strategic Debt Restructuring (SDR) Scheme which allows banks and non-banking lending



institutions to convert their loans into equity stake.The scheme will benefit all Scheduled Commercial Banks, excluding Regional Rural Banks (RRBs).

10 June: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved two road projects worth 4721 crore rupees, one in Madhya Pradesh and another in Telangana. The projects will be executed under the flagship road building programme National Highways Development Project (NHDP).

10 June: 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.

7 June: India has slapped anti-dumping duty on imports of certain steel products from three South Asian countries viz China, Malaysia and South Korea. The duties have been imposed for five years on imports of certain varieties of steel especially on hot-rolled flat products of stainless steel used in automobile sectors.

7 June: Adani Power Limited (APL) and Reliance Power Limited of India have signed separate memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). These MoUs were signed on the first day of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh. The deals were signed to set up 4,600 MW power plants in Bangladesh worth $5.5 billion.

6 June: Reserve Bank of Indian has allowed non-resident Indians (NRIs) to invest in chit fund to encourage flow of capital into the country. Decision in this regard was taken after RBI had revised the extant guidelines for subscription to the chit funds in consultation with the government.

6 June: Kotak Mahindra Bank and ING Bank have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for exploring opportunities arising from cross-border business, investment and trade flows across various regions, including Europe.



5 June: India has lost a poultry case against United States at World Trade Organization (WTO) after WTO’s Dispute Settlement Board (DSB) ruled that India’s ban on import of poultry meat, eggs and live pigs from US is inconsistent with the international norms.

4 June: India has joined the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (AEOI). The new global standards has wide in scope and oblige the treaty partners to exchange wide range of financial information from institutions from their country.

3 June: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reduced the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 7.5 per cent to 7.25 per cent with immediate effect.

3 June: Bangladesh has granted permission to India’s state-owned insurance group Life insurance Corporation (LIC) to do business in the country.

2 June: Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) was awarded the Miniratna (Category -1) status by the Department of Public Enterprises under the Union Ministry of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises.

2 June: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed cross holding in long-term infrastructure bonds. With this, now banks would be able to cross hold these bonds among themselves for financing infrastructure and affordable housing loans, which earlier was not permitted.

1 June: Researchers from China have successfully developed the first automated teller machine (ATM) with facial recognition technology. The machine has unique security feature which does not allow users to withdraw



cash unless their face matches their facial ID. The first of its kind ATM was developed by researchers from Tsinghua University and technology firm Tzekwan.

1 June: The decision of the Parliament to increase the rate of service tax from12.36 to 14 percent became operational..

NATION THIS MONTH

30 June: Construction of a memorial for former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao was completed in the fourth week of June 2015 at the Ekta Sthal Samadhi Complex in New Delhi. Already, Ekta Sthal Samadhi Complex hosts memorials of former Presidents Shankar Dayal Sharma, K R Narayanan, R Venkatraman, Giani Zail Singh and former Prime Ministers - Chandrasekhar and I K Gujral.

27 June: The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation approved a proposal for setting up a second international airport at Jewar in the National Capital Region. The proposal would soon be sent to the Union Cabinet for approval

26 June: Union Government requested the Chief Ministers of Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan to encourage supply of free milk in the Mid-Day Meal to school children. Milk Products will be provided with an aim to increase the nutritional level in the Mid-Day Meal for school children.

25 June: The Union Cabinet approved the setting up of a National Memorial at the birth place of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan. Lok Nayak was born at Lala Ka Tola, Sitab, and Diara in Chhapra (Saran) district of Bihar on 11 October 1902.

25 June: The Union Cabinet approved setting up of six new Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) in the country. The cabinet meet was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

25 June: Union Government launched the first modernised Anganwadi centre of India at Hasanpur village of Sonepat in Haryana. The centre was



inaugurated by Maneka Gandhi, the Union Minister for Women and Child Development (WCD).

25 June: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched three urban development schemes- AMRUT, Smart Cities Mission and Housing for All (Urban) in New Delhi.

• Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT): It is aimed at developing infrastructure in 500 cities and towns that are having a population of one lakh and above with an outlay of 50000 crore rupees between 2015-16 and 2019-20.

• Smart Cities Mission: It is aimed at developing 100 smart cities across the country with an outlay of 48000 crore rupees between 2015-16 and 2019-20.

• Housing for All (Urban): The Central Sector Scheme aimed at providing housing facilities to all eligible people in urban areas by 2022.

24 June: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) designated Agatti and Minicoy islands of Lakshadweep as authorised Immigration Check Posts for entry into or exit from India .Both the islands will be used as transit points for all classes of passengers with valid travel documents from 30 June 2015.

22 June: The Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar released the Task Force report on enabling the Private Sector to lead the growth of pharmaceutical sector. The Pharmaceutical Sector is suffering due to multiple decision making authorities. The Task Force recommended a Joint Committee which can take care of their problems.

18 June: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved inclusion of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh in the list of States to be covered under the National Dairy Plan- I (NDP-I).

18 June: Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the transfer of a portion of land of erstwhile National Instruments Limited (NIL) to Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The land



will be transferred by Jadavpur University in West Bengal to DRDO on long-term lease for establishing a defence research centre namely the Jagadish Chandra Bose Centre for Advanced Technology (JCBCAT).

17 June: The Union Cabinet gave its approval for Housing for All by 2022 Mission aimed at providing housing facilities to all eligible people in urban areas by 2022.

Broad Components of Housing for All by 2022 Mission

• It has four components viz., slum rehabilitation, credit linked interest subsidy, affordable housing and beneficiary-led individual house construction or enhancement.

12 June: Union Government scrapped customs import duties on drugs and test kits used to treat AIDS. The exemption will remain in effect until March 2016. The MRC will provide information, guidance, advice and counselling on all aspects of overseas employment including legal and regulatory requirements; documentation and procedures; policies; and problems faced while working aboard to intending migrants and overseas Indian workers.

12 June: The Union Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) along with the Tamil Nadu Government launched the Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) in Chennai. The MRC in Chennai is the fourth such MRC in India set-up by MOIA.

Functions of the MRC • The MRC will disseminate information on safe and legal migration. • It will disseminate information about status of Recruiting Agents and other service providers. • It will register and respond to complaints and grievances within the redressal forum of MOIA. • It will also offer counselling support (walk in or telephone and email support).



The first Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) was established by MOIA in 2008 in Kochi, Kerala, followed by fully functional MRCs in Hyderabad (Telengana & Andhra Pradesh), Gurgaon (Haryana) and Chennai (Tamil Nadu).

10 June: Special Forces of the Indian Army in coordination with the Air Force carried out surgical operations (cross-border operation) inside Myanmar to target militant groups.

6 June: Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejunivetion Uma Bharti launched nationwide Jal Kranti Abhiyan (campaign) from Jaipur, Rajasthan. The aim is to consolidate water conservation and management in the country through a holistic and integrated approach involving all stakeholders, making it a mass movement.

3 June: The Union Government launched the Khoya Paya web portal Khoyapaya.gov.in, the first-of-its-kind citizen based website to exchange information on missing and found children. It was jointly launched by Maneka Gandhi, Union Minister of Women & Child Development and Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Communication & Information Technology.

3 June: The Union Government simplified the defence rules to boost defence manufacturing in the country and encourage foreign players to explore business in India.

2 June: The Union Minister of Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi launched the IAP Health Phone programme in New Delhi. The IAP Health Phone programme is the world’s largest digital mass education programme for addressing the malnutrition in women and children.

2 June: President of India Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to the Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill, 2013 that related to the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) between India and Bangladesh.

1 June: The Union Government notified the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income as Assets) and imposition of Tax Act, 2015. The Act will come into effect from 1 April 2016.



Provisions of the Bill • Concealment of income and assets and evasion of tax in relation to foreign assets will be prosecutable with punishment of rigorous imprisonment up to 10 years. • Offence of stashing unaccounted money abroad will be made non-compoundable (A non-compoundable offence is one in which the complainant (the government in this instance) does not enter into a compromise with the accused. • The offenders will not be permitted to approach the Settlement Commission

GLOBE- TROT THIS MONTH

30 June: The US Supreme Court upheld the use of three controversial drug lethal injections protocol used in executions of inmates across the country. It said that it does not violate the Constitution in terms of being cruel and unusual punishment.

30 June: India and Thailand signed five Agreements/ Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) during the 7th Meeting of India-Thailand Joint Commission in Bangkok. The signed Agreements/MOUs includes

i. Agreed Minutes of the Seventh Meeting of the Thailand-India Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation:

ii. Exchange of Instruments of Ratification of the Treaty on Extradition iii. Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of Nalanda University: iv. Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of

Fiscal Evasion with respect to taxes on Income v. MoU on the Establishment of the "Academic Chair” in Ayurveda:



29 June: Delegates of 50 countries signed the 60-article agreement that will lay the legal framework for the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The agreement outlined the financial share of each member, policymaking, business and operational systems and governance structure of the AIIB.

27 June: India and the United States (US) signed a series of agreements on health sector to enhance cooperation in areas such as cancer research, infrastructure development, training, capacity building and better assessment and application of new diagnostic technologies.

27 June: The United States (US) Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage across the nation.

26 June: The US Supreme Court ruled that federal subsidies under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), 2010 could be made available to individual States, even if those States did not set up their own insurance exchanges.

26 June: Sri Lankan President, Maithripala Sirisena dissolved the Parliament. Sirisena signed a gazette notification dissolving parliament in an effort to consolidate power and push through political reforms.

25 June: The one-day International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction (ICNR) concluded 2015 in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. The Conference was organized by the Government of Nepal to raise funds for carrying out rebuilding of areas devastated by the April 25 earthquake of magnitude 7.8 on Richter scale, which claimed nearly 9000 lives.

25 June: Australia on announced that it will join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as a founding member. It will contribute 930 million Australian dollars (718.5million US dollars) as paid-in capital to the institution over five years and will be the sixth largest shareholder.



25 June: The Union Cabinet gave its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) and the Japan Patent Office (JPO), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan. The MoC is aimed at establishing a framework for bilateral cooperation in the field of industrial property (IP) with emphasis on capacity building, human resource development and awareness generation.

24 June: Austria decided to file a legal complaint against the European Commission (EU)’s approval to the Hinkley Point C nuclear power project in the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

23 June: India decided to be a partner country in the major Industrial Fair named INNOPROM 2016 to be held at Yekaterinburg, Russia in July 2016. India accepted the invitation extended by the Russian Government in December 2014.

23 June: Nepal-India Treaty of Transit of 1999 was amended to allow the movement of vehicles imported from a third country into Nepal through four border points. The four border points are Raxaul-Birgunj, Jogbani-Biratnagar, and Sunauli Bhairahawa and Nepalgunj Road-Nepalgunj border points.

23 June: To stop human traffickers from bringing migrants across the Mediterranean to Europe, the European Union (EU) launched a three-phase naval operation named EU NAVFOR Med (European Union Naval Force Mediterranean Sea).

23 June: Pitcairn Island, the world’s smallest country by population, legalised same-sex marriage. The law change was unanimously approved by the local council.

22 June: India was placed at 61st position in terms of foreigners’ money in Swiss banks. This was revealed by latest data released by Swiss National



Bank (SNB), the central bank of Switzerland, in the fourth week of June 2015.

20 June: France announced a ban on wearing earphones while driving a vehicle and riding a cycle. The ban will come into effect from 1 July 2015.

20 June: India and Tanzania signed six MoUs in the field of tourism, education and hydrography to deepen bilateral cooperation.

List of inked MOU/Project signed/Exchanged with Tanzania o MOU on establishing a collaborative program in official statistics: o MOU on cooperation in Agricultural Statistics, Computer Applications and

Bio-informatics: o MOU on Cooperation in the field of Tourism o Loan agreement to operationalize the LoC: o Agreement for appointing the former as PMC: o MOU for Cooperation in the field of Hydrography & Protocol on exchange

of Hydrographic Data: 20 June: China launched the world’s first electric passenger aircraft named BX1E that could be used in pilot training, tourism, meteorology and rescue operations. The aircraft was designed together by Shenyang Aerospace University and Liaoning General Aviation Academy located in the northeastern Liaoning Province of China.

19 June: The Chinese Version of the sacred ancient Indian scripture Bhagavad Gita was launched in China during an international yoga conference. The book was released by Indian Ambassador to China Ashok K. Kantha.

19 June: China and Australia signed the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) at Canberra in Australia.



18 June: Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the agreement between India and Spain on abolishing visa requirements for the holders of diplomatic passports.

17 June: Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the agreement between India and Spain on abolishing visa requirements for the holders of diplomatic passports. The Agreement will facilitate visa-free travel for holders of diplomatic passport of one country while entering into, transiting through, exiting from or staying for up to 90 days in the territory of the other country with additional safeguards.

17 June: The Agreement will facilitate visa-free travel for holders of diplomatic passport of one country while entering into, transiting through, exiting from or staying for up to 90 days in the territory of the other country with additional safeguards.

17 June: India and Poland set trade target of 5 billion US dollars by 2018. The decision was taken at the fourth session of the bilateral Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation, held in Warsaw, capital city of Poland.

16 June: The Department of Agriculture of Australia applied a holding order to Maggi brand noodles imported from India.

15 June: The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) of United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the second week of June 2015 decided to include four Indian languages to offer knowledge tests and lectures to aspirants who appear for driving test in the country. The four Indian languages included along with three other languages are Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Bengali. The other three are Chinese, Russian and Persian.

15 June: India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal 2015 signed the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal) Motor Vehicle Agreement in the Bhutanese capital Thimphu.



The transport ministers of four countries including the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari signed the agreement.

14 June: Philae comet lander has taken on the surface of Comet 67P (Churyumov-Gerasimenko) from seven-month hibernation. It was announced by European Space Agency (ESA) after the comet lander managed to communicate with Earth for more than a minute.

13 June: Moldova's Prime Minister Chiril Gaburuci resigned from his post after he was questioned about the authenticity of his high school and university degrees.

13 June: China has launched a freight train service between its northeastern city of Harbin and Europe. The 9,820-km-long distance rail route will open new trade options for Chinese goods in the European Market.

13 June: Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs V K Singh inaugurated first India-China Yoga College at Yunnan Minzu University in Kunming, China.

13 June: As per recently released report by British Petroleum (BP) Energy Company, United States (US) became the world’s largest oil producer in 2014 surpassing Saudi Arabia. It was reveled in BP Energy Company report tilled Statistical Review of World Energy.

12 June: The World Day Against Child Labour is being observed annually across world to bring awareness against child labour. The theme of this year is No to Child Labour, Yes to Quality Education.

12 June: The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has announced that in past one decade renewable energy targets have quadruple globally.



About International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) IRENA is an intergovernmental organization to promote adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy.

o It is a global hub for renewable energy cooperation and information exchange within its member nations.

o Founded: in 2009 and its statute entered into force on 8 July 2010. o Headquarters: Abu Dhabi.

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

11 June: African countries have signed a historic The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) that facilitates creation of Africa’s largest free-trade zone.

11 June: African countries have signed a historic The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) that facilitates creation of Africa’s largest free-trade zone. The pact was signed in Egypt will intent to ease the movement of goods across 26 member countries which represent more than half the continent’s GDP.

o TFTA pact combines existing three trade blocs among the African nations viz

o Southern African Development Community (SADC). o East African Community (EAC). o Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

11 June: The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave its approval for the proposal to promulgate the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015.

Key Features of Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2015



o 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.

o If a complaint against a person issuing a cheque has been filed in the court with the appropriate jurisdiction, then all subsequent complaints against that person will be filed in the same court, irrespective of the relevant jurisdiction area.

o If more than one case is filed against the same person before different courts, the cases will be transferred to the court with the appropriate jurisdiction.

11 June: India, Japan and Australia held their first ever high-level trilateral dialogue in New Delhi.

10 June: Major political parties of Nepal reached an agreement on the proposed framework of national Constitution providing for federal structure, form of governance, electoral and judicial systems.

9 June: The Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkey led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won Turkey’s parliamentary polls.

9 June: India and Netherlands have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development of Measles- Rubella Vaccines. The MoU was signed under Make in India initiative of Union government in the presence of the Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte during his visit to India.

5 June: India has lost a poultry case against United States at World Trade Organization (WTO) after WTO’s Dispute Settlement Board (DSB) ruled that India’s ban on import of poultry meat, eggs and live pigs from US is inconsistent with the international norms.

What is this case? 1 June: The US removed Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. The removal of Cuba from the terror list would also help in the process of



lifting economic sanctions. It had been a key Cuban demand as the countries move towards normalising relations.

APPOINTMENTS/RESIGNATIONS THIS MONTH

26 June: 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.

25 June: Former Pakistan cricket team captain Zaheer Abbas has been selected the new President of International Cricket Council (ICC) for one year term. He will be 13th President of ICC and succeeds Mustafa Kamal of Bangladesh who had resigned from the post of ICC President in April 2015.

24 June: Kerala government has appointed Tennis Icon Steffanie Graf as Ayurveda brand ambassador.

20 June: Blue Opposition Bloc led by Lars Loekke Rasmussen of right-wing Venstre party won the parliamentary elections of Denmark. Blue opposition bloc, also called Centre-Right coalition, won 90 seats in the 179-member parliament.

19 June: Two Indian-Americans Niraj Antani, an Ohio State legislature and Janak Joshi, a Colorado State legislature, were appointed to the board of the 2015-2016 Future Majority Project of the United States (US) Republican Party.

19 June: Journalist and writer Aakar Patel appointed as Executive Director of Amnesty International (AI) India. He will head AI India’s operations and its efforts to end human rights abuses in India and worldwide.

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



18 June: Senior IAS officer G Gurucharan was given additional charge as Director General, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for three months. He will hold the additional charge till the appointment of a regular incumbent or until further orders.

18 June: Archana Ramasundaram was appointed as the Director of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), New Delhi. Ramasundram is an IPS officer of 1980-batch of Tamil Nadu cadre.

17 June: Narendra Kumar Yadav took charge as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the state-run telecom operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) with effect from 8 June 2015.

12 June: Prof Sanghmitra Bandyopadhayay was appointed as the Director of Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI). She is the first woman to lead the institute and replaced Dr. Bimal K Roy who was removed on charges of indiscipline.

10 June: 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 from top most in order to join as President of the Shanghai based New Development Bank established by the BRICS nations.

10 June: Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar was appointed as the Director of Hyderabad-based CSIR-Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT). The appointment was made by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is President of the CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research).

10 June: P L Subramanian has been appointed as Non-Executive Director India Cements Limited (CIL) with an immediate effect. Subramanian had joined former BCCI President N Srinivasan-led India Cements in 1986 and had served in various responsibilities.



9 June: Vijai Sharma was appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission (CIC), New Delhi. He will have tenure of 5 years or till he attain the age of 65, whichever is earlier.

9 June: 1978-batch IRS officer KV Chowdary was appointed as the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC). He was appointed by President Pranab Mukherjee on the recommendation of Selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

8 June: Senior IPS Officer RC Tayal was appointed as the Director General (DG) of National Security Guard (NSG). He succeeded JN Choudhury who retired on 31 May 2015. He will serve the office till August 2016 when he is scheduled for superannuation.

6 June: Government of Mauritius has designated internationally renowned biodiversity scientist and biologist Ameenah Gurib-Fakim as their new President.

4 June: Syed Asif Ibrahim was appointed as the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Countering Terrorism and Extremism. He is a former Director of Intelligence Bureau (DIB).

2 June: K Sivan was appointed as the Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), an organisation that works under Indian Space Research Organisation in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

2 June: S Somanath was on appointed as the Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) with immediate effect. LPSC works under the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and is located at Trivandrum, Kerala.

2 June: P Kunhikrishnan was appointed as the Director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR with immediate effect. He succeeded MYS Prasad, who superannuated in May 2015.

2 June: Rear Admiral Philipose G Pynumootil was appointed as the Assistant Chief of Naval staff (Air). Prior to this appointment, Pynumootil served as the Principal Director of Aircraft Acquisition.

2 June: Meena Hemchandra was appointed as the Executive Director (ED) of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with immediate effect. As an ED, She will



look after Department of Banking Supervision, Department of Co-operative Banking Supervision and Department of Non-Banking Supervision.

2 June: Former Indian cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V V S Laxman have joined the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI’s) newly-constituted Cricket Advisory committee. They were nominated by BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya with immediate effect.

1 June: Muhammadu Buhari assumed the office of President of Nigeria. He became the 5th President of the country by defeating the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan in the March 2015 general election. It is the first time in Nigeria's history that an incumbent President was defeated in an election by the opposition.

1 June: Former Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo was appointed as the new Chancellor of the Nalanda University, Bihar.

20 June: Justice Gian Parkash Mittal resigned from the Office of the Judge of Delhi High Court with effect from the afternoon of 8 July 2015. However, the reason behind his resignation was not disclosed

13 June: Moldova's Prime Minister Chiril Gaburuci resigned from his post after he was questioned about the authenticity of his high school and university degrees.

12 June: Said Djinnit, the United Nations (UN) envoy to Burundi crisis, stepped down from his role as mediator of the crisis.

3 June: Sepp Blatter resigned as President of FIFA amid the corruption scandal that has engulfed the football’s governing body. Blatter has been serving as president of world soccer governing body FIFA since 1998.

AWARDS/HONOURS/WORLD TITLES/NEW DISCOVERIES THIS MONTH

29 June: President Pranab Mukharjee conferred Punyabhushan Award on Prataprao Pawar, Chairman of Sakal Media Group (SMG) at Balgandharva Auditorium in Pune.



29 June: The district administration of Nadia, West Bengal was conferred with the United Nations Public Service Award 2015 for eliminating open defecation in the district.

29 June: Veteran Writer Vishwanath Tripathi was selected for the 28th Moorti Devi Award for the year 2014 for his book Vyomkesh Darvesh. Vyomkesh Darvesh is a lifetime story of Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi.

25 June: The spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was conferred with the Columbia’s highest civilian award Orden de la Democracia Simon Bolivar en el grado de cruz Caballero (Order of the Democracy Simon Bolivar) by Columbia.

25 June: Sahitya Akademi 2015 announced Bhasha Samman. Four scholars were selected for the award for their contribution to classical and medieval literature in various languages.

o Sahitya Akademi 2015 announced Bhasha Samman. Four scholars were selected for the award for their contribution to classical and medieval literature in various languages.

o Acharya Munishwar Jha has been recognized for Classical and Medieval Literature (Eastern) for the year 2014

o Charu Chandra Pande and Mathuradutt Mathpal have been jointly recognised for their work towards the enrichment of Kumauni.

25 June: Sahitya Akademi announced Bal Sahitya Puraskar for the year 2015. The awards were conferred on five novelists, four writers of short stories and three authors of poetries, one book of one-act play and eleven writers for their contribution to children’s literature.

24 June: Benni Joseph Mavelil, a UK-based philanthropist, was selected for the VK Krishna Menon Award in recognition of his outstanding professional and altruistic achievements, contributions and services to the community and wider multicultural society.

24 June: Three Indians 2015 won the inaugural Queen's Young Leaders Award in the UK for taking the lead in transforming the lives of others and making a lasting difference in their communities. These winners are Ashwini Angadi, Devika Malik and Akshay Jadhao.



21 June: Renowned carnatic vocalist Sanjay Subrahmanyam was selected for the Sangitha Kalanidhi award of the Madras Music Academy.

18 June: 10th Navlekhan Award of Bharatiya Jnanpith was awarded to Hindi writers Babusha Kohli and Upasana. They were awarded for poem Prem Gilhari Dil Akhrot and novel Ek Zindagi Ek Ek Script Bhar respectively.

13 June: Sangeet Natak Akademi announced the names of recipients of Sangeet Natak Akademi fellowships (Akademi Ratna) 2014 and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) 2014. The list of names selected for Sangeet Akademi Fellowships:

o • R. Janakiraman (Musicologist) o • S. Sathyu (film-maker) o • Vijay Kichlu (Classical singer) o • Tulsidas Borkar (Musician) 13 June: 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.

11 June: The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was presented with the Space Pioneer award for the year 2015 in the Science and Engineering category during the 34th Annual International Space Development Conference held at Toronto in Canada during 20 May- 24 May 2015.

11 June: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was conferred with the prestigious 14th Sant Namdev National Award at a function in Pune, Maharashtra. He was awarded for promoting peace, communal harmony and universal brotherhood.

9 June: The 16th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards or 2015 IIFA Awards were presented in the first week of June 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The awards were presented by the IIFA honouring the best Hindi films of 2014.



6 June: Eleven Indo-Canadians were honoured with ICCC Annual Awards 2015 for strengthening bilateral ties and their business achievements besides contributions to the economy. Each award carried a trophy and citation.

6 June: UK Author Ali Smith on won the 2015 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction for her novel ‘How to be Both’.

4 June: Suresh Kalmadi was conferred with the Asian Athletics Association (AAA) President’s award. He was awarded for his contribution towards the development of athletics in Asian continent.

2 June: New Zealand cricket captain Brendon McCullum and Coach Mike Hesson were honoured with Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM). They were awarded for their part in leading New Zealand to the final of 2015 Cricket World Cup for the first time.

1 June: Uttarakhand’s Medical, Health and Family Welfare Minister Surendra Singh Negi was conferred with the World No Tobacco Day Award 2015 by the World Health Organsiation (WHO).

SPORTS NEWS THIS MONTH

29 June: Brazilian racer Nelson Piquet Jr won the FIA Formula E Championship title of the 2014-15 season. He won the title after finishing seventh in the final race held at Battersea Park in London, the UK.

29 June: Satnam Singh Bhamara became the first Indian national to join National Basketball Association (NBA) of USA. He is 19 years old.

29 June: Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and Michelle Li of Canada won the men's and women’s singles title of the Canada Open Badminton tournament respectively.

29 June: Indian pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwni Ponappa won the women's doubles of Canada Open Badminton tournament 2015. In the final played at



Calgary, the third seeded Indian pair defeated top Dutch pair of Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek in straight games of 21-19, 21-16.

29 June: The International Cricket Council (ICC) Chief Executives Committee approved amendments to the ICC playing conditions. The approvals were given during the ICC Annual Conference held in Barbados.

The key changes were

• In One Day Internationals (ODIs), there will be no compulsory catchers from the first to the 10th over. • In ODIs, no batting powerplays will be allowed between the 15th and 40th over. • In ODIs, five fielders will be allowed outside the 30-yard circle between the 41st and 50th over, rather than the current four. • In ODIs and T20Is, all no-balls, not just foot faults, will lead to a free hit.

27 June: Veselin Topalov won the Norway Chess tournament 2015 by leaving behind Viswanathan Anand into a quick draw. Topalov secured 6½ points while Anand ended the tournament in second place with 6 points.

26 June: India’s tennis player Leander Paes became the 47th player to play with 100 different partners on ATP Circuit. Of these 100 partners, While 71 played with him on the tour level, 29 at the Challenger level.

25 June: Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was voted as the Best Test Player of the 21st century in an online poll titled Top-100 Test players' list since 2000. The result of poll conducted by Cricket Australia’s website, cricket.com.au was released in the fourth week of June 2015.

25 June: Bangladesh won the three-match One Day International (ODI) Series against India 2-1 played in Dhaka. This was Bangladesh's first series win against India.



24 June: Inderjit Singh and Jinson Johnson of India bagged gold at the first leg of the Asian Athletics Grand Prix in Bangkok, Thailand. Inderjit won the gold in Shot Put by throwing 19.83 meters while Johnson won the gold in 800 meter event with a time of 1:48.52.

24 June: The Indian Railway Team won the World Railway Championship 2015 in Tennis and Volleyball.

23 June: Russia won the European Team Athletics Championships by winning 10 of the 40 events on the program. The championships were held in Cheboksary, Russia.

22 June: Jordan Spieth won the US Open at Chambers Bay. The win was his second straight major title of 2015 after he won the Masters Tournament at Augusta National, US in April 2015.

22 June: China won the 2015 Nongfu Spring Snooker’s World Cup by defeating Scotland 4-1 in the final match held at Wuxi near Shanghai in China.

22 June: Britain’s Andy Murray won the men’s singles of the Aegon Championships at the Queen’s Club in West Kensington, England. In the final clash, Murray defeated South African Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-4. This was his fourth Queen’s title and the previous were won in alternate years, that is, 2009, 2011 and 2013.

22 June: Serbia won the FIFA U-20 World Cup by defeating Brazil at the final match held at the North Harbour Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.

22 June: Swiss tennis ace Roger Federer won the 2015 Gerry Weber Open tennis title at the Gerry Weber Stadium in Halle, Germany. In the summit clash, he defeated Andreas Seppi of Italy 7-6 (1), 6-4 to claim the title for record eighth time.



21 June: Mercedes racing driver Nico Rosberg of Germany won the Austrian Grand Prix Formula 1 World Championship title. He won the final race held at the Spielberg circuit in Styria, Monaco.

19 June: India's junior boys and cadet girls won the team championship titles at the South Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships at the Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi.

17 June: The International Boxing Association (AIBA) constituted a five-member ad-hoc committee chaired by Kishan Narsi for boxing in India to manage the process of finding a group to organise and run boxing in India.

17 June: Sunil Chhetri has become the first Indian footballer to score 50 international goals. He achieved this fete in his 87th match i.e. during 2018 World Cup qualifying match between India and Guam.

16 June: Spaniard Rafael Nadal won the singles final of the ATP’s Stuttgart Open. In the final match in Germany, Nadal defeated Serbian Viktor Troicki 7-6, 6-3.

15 June: India’s tennis player Rohan Bopanna along with his Romanian partner Florin Mergea has won the ATP’s Stuttgart Open final doubles trophy in Germany.

13 June: 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.

13 June: Veteran West Indies fast bowler Sir Wesley Winfield Hall was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. With this, he becomes 80th cricketer to be inducted in the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and 18th from West Indies itself.

11 June: FC Barcelona won the 2015 UEFA Champions League title (Union of European Football Associations) by defeating Juventus FC 3-1 in the final match held at the Berlin’s Olympic Stadium in Germany.



11 June: Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the only Indian to find place in the Forbes magazine’s list of 100 World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 2015

7 June: Barcelona FC has won 2015 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League trophy for the fifth time.

5 June: India’s Machettira Raju Poovamma and Liksy Joseph have won silver medal each in 21st Asian Athletics Championships held in Wuhan, China.

5 June: India’s Sundaram Ravi was inducted into the Elite Panel of International Cricket Council (ICC) Umpires for year 2015-2016.

2 June: Former Indian Cricket Captain, Ravi Shastri was named interim coach of the Indian cricket team for the tour of Bangladesh starting from 10 June 2015 which will host one Test and three One-Day Internationals (ODIs).

1 June: Ace Indian shooter Gurpreet Singh has secured India a fifth quota place in shooting for the 2015 Rio Olympics.

1 June: Ace Indian archer Deepika Kumari has clinched the bronze medal in the women’s individual Women’s Recurve event at Antalya Archery World Cup held in Turkey.

1 June: Dilawar Singh of Haryana has won ‘Pedal for Kashmir’ cycling competition, held along the banks of picturesque Dal Lake in Srinagar.

1 June: Kolkata’s Mohun Bagan Football Club (FC) has won the I-League title by defeating Bengaluru Football Club. Mohun Bagan won the title after a 1-1 draw score against Bengaluru FC in their final game of the 2014-15 season played at the Kanteerva Stadium, Bengaluru.

EULOGIES THIS MONTH

27 June: Patrick Macnee, star of the legendary Avengers TV series, died at his home in Rancho Mirage in California. He was 93. Macnee was known



for playing the role of secret agent John Steed in the 1960s television series The Avengers.

27 June: Chris Squire, the co-founder and longtime bassist of progressive Rock Band Yes, died. He was 67.

23 June: Veteran journalist, columnist and peace activist Praful Bidwai was passed away in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He was 65.

23 June: James Horner, the two-time Oscar-winning composer, died in a plane crash in California, United States. He was 61. Horner won one Oscars (Academy Awards) for Best Original Song for My Heart Will Go On in the movie Titanic.

22 June: Sister Nirmala Joshi, who succeeded Mother Teresa as the head of Missionaries of Charity, died in Kolkata. She was 81. Sister Nirmala's life was devoted to service, caring for poor and underprivileged.

21 June: Former Indian women hockey captain Shashi Bala and her son Agrim Thakur died in a road accident at the Ropar-Nawanshahr-Phagwara in Punjab.

17 June: Former Turkish President Suleyman Demirel died. He was 90. Demirel was one of the dominant figures in Turkey's politics for over half a century.

16 June: India’s renowned contemporary architect Charles Correa passed away in Mumbai. He was 84. He led the creation of architecture for post-Independence India.

16 June: Las Vegas multibillionaire Kirk Kerkorian passed away. He was 98. He was famously known as a casino tycoon, Hollywood mogul, airline owner and auto industry investor.

16 June: India’s renowned contemporary architect Charles Correa passed away in Mumbai. He was 84. He led the creation of architecture for post-Independence India.

16 June: Las Vegas multibillionaire Kirk Kerkorian passed away. He was 98. He was famously known as a casino tycoon, Hollywood mogul, airline owner and auto industry investor.



14 June: Former Governor of Himachal Pradesh, ex-Union Minister and Congress leader Sheila Kaul died. She was 100.

12 June: The creator of Chandigarh’s Rock Garden Nek Chand Saini died in Chandigarh. He was 90.

9 June: German composer and Big Band leader James Last died in Florida. He was 86. He sold more than 80 million records worldwide and was best known for pop hits in a big-band style.

9 June: Former Indian cricketer Hemant Kanitkar died in Pune, Maharashtra. He was 72.

8 June: Legendary Telugu writer Dasaradhi Rangacharya died in Hyderabad,. He was 87

7 June: Veteran actor Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, famous as the master of horror, died. He was 93. Lee was famous for his role as Count Dracula in a sequence of Hammer Horror films.

12 June: Legendary English actor, singer and writer Sir Christopher Lee passed away in London, United Kingdom. He was 93.

2 June: Irwin Rose, a biochemist who won the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, died in Deerfield, Massachusetts. He was 88.

1 June: Hollywood Actor Hiroshi Koizumi passed away. He was 88. 1 June: Wrestler Prem Nath, a gold medallist at the 1974 Christchurch

Commonwealth Games, passed away. He was 64.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS THIS MONTH

30 June: The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) defined the speed of 5G (Fifth Generation) standard for mobile networking as 20 Gigabits per second (Gbps).

26 June: A team of scientists led by Indian-American Debashis Chanda from University of Central Florida (UCF) developed a nature-inspired technique for creating the world's first full-colour, flexible thin-film reflective display. The findings were published in Nature Communications journal. This technology



can help you switch your dress colour to a different colour in the blink of an eye, if someone at a wedding reception is wearing the same dress as yours

24 June: Trinity College of Engineering in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in the fourth week of June 2015 launched the Trinity Adrak Student Satellite (TASSAT) building project. The student satellite project is scheduled for completion by 2018

22 June: Scientists have shown that immunogen (virus protein) eOD-GT8 60mercan successfully stimulate immune system to block HIV/AIDS infection in mice. The new results were published in concurrent studies in Cell and Science.

20 June: Scientists in third week of June 2015 named a newly discovered galaxy after Portuguese football player Cristiano Ronaldo. The galaxy was labeled as CR7 (COSMOS Redshift 7). 30-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo is also known as CR7 after his initials and jersey number.

18 June: A novel anti-malarial compound DDD107498 that inhibits protein synthesis was discovered by the scientists. The study related to the discovery was published in the Journal Nature.

17 June: A team of astronomers observed a previously unknown extreme star formation Eye of Medusa in Medusa merger, a luminous collision of two galaxies at more than 100 million light years away from Earth.

16 June: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in June 2015 set up a Micro Air Vehicle Aerodynamics Research Tunnel (MART) at the CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) campus, Bengaluru.



16 June: The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singh launched an Augmented Reality (AR) application named Sakaar to highlight the achievements of the Department of Space. The application has been developed by Development and Educational Communication Unit (DECU) of ISRO for Android devices.

15 June: Rosetta's lander Philae woke up after seven months in hibernation on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It is the first spacecraft in the space history to land on a comet.

15 June: The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) launched the India Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP). The INIP has become the 27th such insurance pool in the world as countries such as France, Russia, South Africa and the U.S. have put in place such similar risk transfer mechanisms.

11 June: NASA scientists developed tool to predict destructive solar storms. The model will help predict solar geomagnetic storms 24 hours in advance.

10 June: Indian-origin scientist Manu Prakash along with his team developed World's first water-based computer. The results were published in the journal Nature Physics. Manu Prakash is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford University.

10 June: Researchers in Peru have discovered trios of statuettes which belong to some 3,800 years ago. They were discovered by research team led by archaeologist Ruth Shady. The final discovery announcement was made by the Peruvian Cultural Ministry in Lima.

10 June: As per recent study published in the Conservation Biology journal, Yellow-breasted buntings (Emberiza aureola), a songbird are near to extinction. The study has mentioned that population this bird species which is also known as he “rice bird” in China has plunged by 90 percent since 1980 and disappearing from Eastern Europe, Japan and parts of Russia.



9 June: World’s first prosthetic (artificial) leg capable of simulating the feelings of a real limb and fighting phantom pain was unveiled by researchers in Vienna, Austria.

6 June: Doctors from Texas State of United States have done the world’s first partial skull and scalp transplant from a human donor. This rare medical feat which opens new frontier in transplant surgery was achieved by team of Doctors from Houston Methodist Hospital and MD Anderson Cancer Center.

4 June: Scientists at Central Institute of Medicinal & Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), Lucknow succeeded in whole genome sequencing of Holy basil or Tulsi(Ocimum sanctum). CIMAP is a frontier plant research laboratory of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

RECURRING TERMS

(1) CLND Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage

The Union Govt. on 13 June 2015 launched an Indian insurance pool to the tune of Rs. 1,500 crore which is mandatory under the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLND). This insurance pool was launched to address the concerns of the clauses in the CLND Act, which give the operator the Right to Recourse and allow it to sue the suppliers in case of any accident.

General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) is the fund operator of this Rs. 1,500 crore Indian insurance pool and it includes 11 other non-life insurers as associates of the pool. Apart from GIC Re, New India, Oriental Insurance, National Insurance and United India Insurance from the public sector, the private ones are ICICI Lombard General Insurance, Tata AIG



General, Reliance General Insurance, Chola MS General Insurance, IFFCO Tokio General Insurance, SBI General and Universal Sompo General. This pool will be the 27th such market pool globally. It is expected to address third-party liability insurance to begin with and later expand into property and other hot zone (inside reactor areas) risk.

(2) TFTA The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) African countries have signed a historic The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) that facilitates creation of Africa’s largest free-trade zone. This free-trade zone will cover 26 countries in an area from southernmost tip of African continent i.e. Cape Town (South Africa) to Cairo (Egypt) in the north. The pact was signed in Egypt will intent to ease the movement of goods across 26 member countries which represent more than half the continent’s GDP. TFTA pact combines existing three trade blocs among the African nations viz Southern African Development Community (SADC). East African Community (EAC). Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). It will remove trade barriers on most goods, making them cheaper and stimulating $ 1 trillion worth of economic activity across the region of more than 600 million people. Thus bolster intra-regional trade by creating a wider market that will increase investment flow and enhance regional infrastructure development. The pact will then be officially unveiled at the upcoming 25th summit of the African Union in South Africa. After adopting it will need parliamentary ratification from all member-nations.



(3) Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme

The Union Government released the Draft Outline of Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme. The government invited comments till 2 July 2015 on it. The scheme is aimed at reducing the demand for physical gold and to shift part of the estimated 300 tons of physical bars and coins purchased every year for investment into demat gold bonds.

Features of Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme

• Bonds will be issued on payment of money and would be linked to the price of gold. • The sell would be restricted to resident Indian entities and each entity cannot buy more than 500 grams per person per year.



• The bonds will be issued in denominations of 2, 5 and 10 grams of gold or other denominations.

• The bonds will be issued with a nominal rate of interest (which will be linked to international rate for gold borrowing). • The rate of interest on the bonds will be payable in terms of grams of gold. The interest will be calculated on 10000 at a certain per cent say 2 or 3 percent. • On maturity, the investor receives the equivalent of the face value of gold in rupee terms. • Bonds will be issued on behalf of the Government of India by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). • The bond will be marketed through post offices and by various brokers/agents who may need to be paid a commission (like for Kisan Vikas Patra). • The price of gold may be taken from National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) / London Bullion Market Association/RBI and the rupee equivalent amount may be converted at the RBI reference rate on issue and redemption. • Banks/ Non-bank financial companies (NBFCs)/Post Offices may collect money / redeem bonds on behalf of government (for a fee, the amount would be as decided). • Capital gains tax treatment will be the same as for physical gold. This will ensure that an investor is indifferent in terms of investing in these bonds and in physical gold- as far as the tax treatment is concerned. • The tenor of the bond could be for a minimum of 5 to 7 years so that it would protect investors from medium term volatility in the gold prices. • These Bonds will be easily sold and traded on commodity exchanges



• Bonds can be used as collateral for loans. The Loan to Value ratio can be set equal to ordinary gold loan mandated by RBI from time to time. • During 2015-16 financial year gold bonds equivalent of 50 tonnes of gold would be issued. Since the amount, around 13500 crore rupees, is not very high, it can be accommodated within the market borrowing programme for 2015-16. • Since these bonds are part of the sovereign borrowing, these would need to be within the fiscal deficit target for 2015-16 and onwards.

Comment

The announcement of Draft Outline of Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme is in tune with the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s 2015-16 budget speech. Jaitley announced three major initiatives viz., Gold Monetisation Scheme, Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme and Indian Gold Coin to curb demand for physical gold there by reducing dependence on gold imports. Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS), for which the draft outline was released, is intended to replace both the gold deposit and gold metal loan scheme and to allow depositors to earn interest on their gold metal accounts jewelers to obtain loans.

Indian Gold Coin, which will carry the Ashok Chakra on its face, would help reduce the demand for gold coins and also help recycle the gold available in the country.



(4) SBI eforex

SBI eforex is the name of the online forex platform launched by State Bank of India (SBI) on 19 June 2015 that enables customers to book their foreign exchange transactions online.

Explanation: eforex is the name given to the Internet-based forex (foreign exchange) platform launched by the SBI that facilitates the customers of the bank to obtain forex rates without having to physically visit the branch and enable customers to book their foreign exchange transactions online. SBI eforex is also an innovative platform incorporating robust security features and is designed to be user-friendly, fast and convenient. It is a highly flexible product offering the facility to the customers to customise and set their own limits for deal size, daily transaction limits etc.

ABBREVIATIONS THIS MONTH

1 ABBREVIATIONS

1. NCDEX- National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange 2. GSM- Gold Monetisation Scheme 3. JNNSM- Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission 4. IREDA- Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited 5. MGNREGA- Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 6. SMEs- Small and Medium Enterprises 7. SECI- Solar Energy Corporation of India 8. SDR- Strategic Debt Restructuring



General financial abbreviations and acronyms:

AIR - Assumed Interest Rate APR - Annual Percentage Rate ARM - Adjustable Rate Mortgage CD - Certificate of Deposit CCEA- Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs EFT - Electronic Funds Transfer ETF - Exchange Traded Funds FDIC - Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation FOREX - Foreign Exchange FRB - Federal Reserve Board GST- Goods and Services Tax GNP - Gross National Product IRA - Individual Retirement Account LOI - Letter Of Intent MMKT - Money Market NAV - Net Asset Value NAPs- Non Performing Assets (NPA) NYSE - New York Stock Exchange PSP - Profit Sharing Plan REIT - Real Estate Investment Trust SEC - Securities Exchange Commission TSA - Tax-Sheltered Annuity YTM - Yield To Maturity

Banking Acronyms and Financial Abbreviations

CAGR - Compound annual growth rate CAPEX - Capital Expenditures



COB - Close of Business EPS - Earnings per share LLC - Limited Liability Company MTD - Month-to-Date NAV - Net Asset Value NCND - Non-Circumvent and Non-Disclosure NDA - Non-Disclosure Agreement P&L - Profit and Loss P/E - Price-to-earnings ratio QTD - Quarter-to-Date ROA - Return on assets ROCE - Return On Capital Employed ROE - Return on Equity ROI - Return on Investment ROIC - Return on Invested Capital RONA - Return on net assets ROS - Return on Sales SIV - Structured Investment Vehicle TSR - Total Shareholder Return WC - Working capital YTD - Year-to-date

Lastly, here are some abbreviations for people whose jobs are in business and finance:

CAO - Chief Accounting Officer CFA - Chartered Financial Analyst CFM - Certified Financial Manager CFO - Chief Financial Officer CIA - Certified Internal Auditor CISA - Certified Information Systems Auditor CMA - Certified Management Accountant



CMO - Chief Marketing Officer COO - Chief Operating Officer CPA - Certified Public Accountant CPP - Certified Payroll Professional CSO - Chief Security Officer CTO - Chief Technology Officer

IMPORTANT DAYS THIS MONTH

1st June: World Milk Day

3rd June: Summer Garden Festival, Latvia

4th June: Winnipeg International Children's Festival / International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression

5th June: World Environment Day / Northern Saskatchewan International Children's Festival

7th June: Cancer Survivors Day

8th June: World Oceans Day

11th June: Coal Miners Day

12th June: Anti-Child Labour Day

13th June: Shanghai International Film Festival

14th June: Flag Day - United States / World Blood Donor Day

15th June: ASEAN Dengue Day

17th June: World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought



20th June: World Refugee Day

21st June: International Yoga Day, Father's Day

23rd June: Public Service Day, International Olympic Day

30th June: International Mango Festival – Delhi

SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE MONTH

(1) 16th edition of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA)

16th edition of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) informally known as the “Bollywood Oscars,” was held in Malaysia. The award ceremony was held in Putra Indoor Stadium Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 2015 IIFA Awards honoured the best films of 2014 and the ceremony took place from June 05 to 07, 2015. Haider was awarded the most awards (09). Winners Popular Awards Best Film: Queen. Best Director: Rajkumar Hirani – PK.



Best Actor In A Leading Role: Shahid Kapoor –Haider as Haider Meer. Best Actress In A Leading Role: Kangana Ranaut – Queen as Rani Mehra. Best Actor In A Supporting Role: Riteish Deshmukh – Ek Villain as Rakesh Mahadkar. Best Actress In A Supporting Role: Tabu – Haider as Ghazala Meer. Male Debutant Star: Tiger Shroff – Heropanti as Bablu. Female Debutant Star: Kriti Sanon – Heropanti as Dimpy. Best Performance In A Comic Role: Varun Dhawan– Main Tera Hero as Seenu. Best Performance In A Negative Role: Kay Kay Menon– Haider as Khurram Meer. Best Story: Vikas Bahl, Chaitally Parmar, Parveez Shaikh- Queen. Special Awards IIFA Award for Outstanding Achievement in International Cinema: Subhash Ghai. IIFA Award for Entertainer of the Year: Deepika Padukone Musical awards Best Music Direction: 2 States – Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Best Lyrics: Galliyan from Ek Villain – Manoj Muntashir. Best Male Playback Singer: Ankit Tiwari for Galliyan – Ek Villain. Best Female Playback Singer: Kanika Kapoor for Baby Doll – Ragini MMS 2. Best Sound Design: Shajith Koyeri – Haider. Best Background Score: Vishal Bhardwaj – Haider. Technical awards Best Action: Parvez Shaikh & Andy Armstrong – Bang Bang.



Best Special Effects: Reupal Rawal (Prime Focus) – Kick. Best Choreography: Ahmed Khan – Kick. Best Cinematography: Binod Pradhan – 2 States. Best Costume Design: Dolly Ahluwalia – Haider. Best Dialogue: Abhijat Joshi & Rajkumar Hirani – PK. Best Editing: Anurag Kashyap & Abhijit Kokate – Queen. Best Makeup: Preetisheel Singh & Clover Wootton – Haider. Best Production Design: Subrata Chakraborty & Amit Ray – Haider. Best Screenplay: Vikas Bahl, Chaitally Parmar & Parveez Shaikh – Queen. Best Sound Mixing: Debajit Changmai – Haider. Best Sound Recording: Eric Pillai for Galliyan – Ek Villain.

(2) French Open Title of Tennis

Men’s Singles Title



Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland won his first French Open Men’s single title of Tennis. In the final match he defeated Novak Djokovic of Serbia by 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 score.

It his first his first French Open title second grand slam title after Australian Open 2014. This victory also makes him only the second Swiss to win French Open mens single title after Roger Federer.

Women’s Singles Title

Serena Williams of United States won French Open women’s single title. In the final match she defeated Lucie Safarova of Czechoslovakia by 6-3 6-7 (2) 6-2 score.

This was her third French Open title (earlier she had won in 2002, 2013) and overall 20th Grand Slam title.

Men’s Doubles Title



Ivan Dodig (Croatia) and Marcelo Melo (Brazil)

Ivan Dodig (Croatia) and Marcelo Melo (Brazil) pair won Men’s Doubles Title. In the final match they defeated Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan pair from US by 6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–5), 7–5 score.

Women’s Doubles Title

Lucie Šafářová (Czech Republic) and Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US)

Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US) and Lucie Šafářová (Czech Republic) won Women’s Doubles Title. In the match they defeated Casey Dellacqua (Australia) and Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) pair by 3–6, 6–4, 6–2 score.

Mixed Doubles Title

Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Mike Bryan pair from United States won Mixed Doubles Title. In the final match they defeated Lucie Hradecká (Czech Republic) and Marcin Matkowski (Poland) pair by 7–6(7–3), 6–1 score.



(3) Bibek Debroy committee on railway restructuring

A committee headed by Bibek Debroy, vice-chairman of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, presented its final report to the Rail Ministry on 12 June 2015. The Debroy Committee was constituted in September 2014 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the objective of recommending ways to restructure the railways and make the resources at its disposal more valuable. The final report of the committee has recommended some radical measures to improve the railways.

Following are the important recommendations of the Bibek Debroy Committee –

1. Passenger Operations

The committee has recommended the entry of private players to run passenger trains. However, that doesn’t mean that they will also manage the tracks. The track management will be taken care of by a separate company working under the railways’ ministry’s fold. But the railways will have to handle private trains competing among themselves, and also with its own trains, to attract passengers. While there was talk of private sector role in freight, this is the first time a move is being made to bring it in the running of passenger trains. Apart from this the committee has also supported the entry of private companies in operation and maintenance of railways.

2. Independent Regulator



The committee recommended the setting up of a Railway Regulatory Authority of India (RRAI) with a separate budget and independent of the railway ministry. The regulator, as envisioned by the committee, would be independent of the rail ministry and have quasi-judicial powers with the function of tariff regulation, safety regulation, fair access regulation, service standard regulation and licensing and setting technical standards.

3. Railway Budget

The panel has also suggested the scrapping of a separate railway budget. The committee felt that Railways was just another public sector company. The concept of separate railway budget is seen as British colonial legacy which has lingered on for decades. This would also that by not having separate budget it would be easier to segregate the railways’ social responsibility (subsidizing passenger fares) from its operational finances. This would, in effect, result in the central government showing the subsidies on railway fares in the general budget – and the state governments will have to bear their part for sub-urban trains.

4. Employing Commercial accounting techniques

An important recommendation has been given with regard to switching over to commercial accounting of railway functions, corporatization of railways production units and involving private sector in manufacturing coaches, wagons and locomotives. It is worth mentioning that till now the railway had focussed on expenditure accounting to gauge operational efficiency.

5. Non-core operations

The committee has backed the idea of separating the Railways’ unremunerative activities, such as running schools, hospital, stadia, catering, real estate development and its huge security set up, RPF, from the core



business of the railways. The railways run some of the biggest hospitals and schools across the country.

6. Organisational Structure

Commenting on the organizational structure of the railways, the committee has said that it has become an overly centralized and hierarchical organization. Its departments worked in separate silos and that has adversely affected the work culture. The panel suggested rewriting of some of its staffing rules in order to attract outside talent and restructure the house along business units for ushering in efficiency. The committee noted that the silo structures of the eight Group – A services within railways has led to departmentalism which has snapped the spirit of team work. He has suggested two feasible options for addressing the issue: amalgamation of all existing services into a single unified Railways Service or merging the eight services into two separate services – Indian railways Technical Service and Indian Railways Logistics Service. The committee has recommended the second option.

7. Private participation

The committee stressed that it was not recommending privatization (in the sense of sale of equity) of the railways. The committee noted that private sector participation in railways has been muted when compared to other sectors such as ports, telecom, airports and roads. It found that one of the main reasons was that the same organization dealt with the three prime functions – policy making, regulatory functions and operation.

8. Speedy Completion of Projects

For speedier execution of projects and to cut time and cost run, the committee suggested that construction organizations working at zonal railways must be brought under the umbrella of one or more PSUs such as



RVNL, IRCON etc. It has also strongly recommended decentralisation of decision-making to empower divisional and zonal railway managers.

What is the attitude of Railway Unions towards the Report of Debroy Committee?

Bibek Debroy committee’s recommendation to allow private players in Railways has met with strong opposition from employees’ union. The All India Railway Federation on 12 June announced its decision to observe black day on 30 June 2015 all over the country by wearing black badges. On its part, the committee observed that said it is not recommending privatisation of Railways by means of sale of equity but endorses private entry with the provision of an independent regulator.

Full name of the Committee

Committee for Mobilization of Resources for Major Railway Projects and Restructuring of Railway Ministry and Railway Board

Chairman of the Committee: Bibek Debroy (Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog)

Other 7 members of the Committee:

K M Chandrasekhar (Former Cabinet Secretary)

Ravi Narain (Former MD National Stock Exchange)

Gurcharan Das (Former CMD Proctor and Gamble)

R. Kashyap (Former Financial Commissioner, Railways)



Partha Mukhopadhyay (Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy research)

Ajay Tyagi (Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs)

Ajay Narayan Jha (Additional Secretary, Department of Expenditure)

(4) G7 Germany 2015

The 2-day Summit of G7 countries started on 7 June 2015. This summit is being held at Schloss Elmau (Germany). Schloss Elmau is a luxury hotel in the state of Bavaria in South Germany. It is site of the 41st Summit of G7 countries from 7 to 8 June 2015. G7 is the group of seven major advanced economies of the world and includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Apart from these 7 countries, the President of the European Commission is a permanent member at all G7 summits. Russia has been excluded from, what was previously known as the G8, since the annexation of Crimea last year. The G7 Summit 2015 in Schloss Elmau will focus on the global economy as well as on key issues regarding foreign, security and development policy. Additionally the UN conferences to be held in 2015 as well as the post-2015 agenda will be discussed. Russia is also a key subject of this summit over its role in support of Ukrainian rebels.



(5) Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched three urban development schemes- AMRUT, Smart Cities Mission and Housing for All (Urban) in New Delhi

AMRUT & SMART CITIES MISSION

Union Cabinet on 29 April 2015 approved the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) of 500 cities with an outlay of 50000 crore rupees over the next five years (2015-16 to 2019-20). Besides, the Cabinet also approved the Smart Cities Mission with an outlay of 48000 crore rupees. The two missions have twin objectives of meeting the challenges of growing urbanization in the country in a sustainable manner as well as ensuring the benefits of urban development to the poor through increased access to urban spaces and enhanced employment opportunities. (A) Main Features of AMRUT

Purpose: To develop civic infrastructure in 500 cities and towns having population of one lakh and above. The mission also includes some cities situated on stems of main rivers, a few capital cities, important cities located in hilly areas, islands and tourist areas. Implementation: Implementation is linked to promotion of urban reforms such as e-governance, constitution of professional municipal cadre, credit rating of urban local bodies, energy and water audit and citizen-centric



urban planning among others. In this regard, a reform matrix with timelines would be circulated by the Union Government to States in the Guidelines of the mission.

Approach: The mission adopts a project based approach to ensure basic infrastructure services relating to water supply, sewerage, transport and development of green spaces among others. Funding: 50000 crore rupees will be spent under the mission over next five years. Central assistance will be to the extent of 50 percent of project cost for cities and towns with a population of up to 10 lakh and one-third of the project cost for those with a population of above 10 lakh. Central assistance will be released in three installments in the ratio of 20:40:40 based on achievement of milestones indicated in SAAPs. 10 percent of budget allocation will be given to States/Union Territories (UTs) as an incentive based on achievement of reforms during the previous year.

(B) Features of Smart Cities Mission

Purpose: To build 100 smart cities across the country by promoting smart solutions for efficient use of available assets, resources and infrastructure with the objective of enhancing the quality of urban life and providing a clean and sustainable environment. Focus: The focus of the mission will be on core infrastructure services like Adequate and clean Water supply, Sanitation and Solid Waste Management, Efficient Urban Mobility and Public Transportation, Affordable housing for the poor, power supply, robust IT connectivity, Governance, especially e-governance and citizen participation, safety and security of citizens, health and education and sustainable urban environment.



Funding: While, each selected city would get central assistance of 100 crore rupees per year for five years a cumulative amount of 48000 crore rupees allocated for the mission Implementation: Smart City Action Plans will be implemented by Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) to be created for each city and state governments will ensure steady stream of resources for SPVs. How AMRUT differs from Smart Cities Mission? Though the two missions are interrelated in the sense that AMRUT seeks to lay a foundation to enable smaller cities and towns to eventually grow into smart cities, they differ in the following ways: While Smart Cities Mission focuses on a select larger urban areas, the AMRUT mission is intended to improve infrastructure in small cities having population of one lakh and above and towns of special importance only. While Smart Cities Mission adopts area based approach focusing on improving amenities in a specific area of a larger city, the AMRUT mission adopts functional based approach focusing on improving the delivery of services in the designated towns and smaller cities.

(C) Housing for All by 2022 Mission

The Union Cabinet on 17 June 2015 gave its approval for Housing for All by 2022 Mission aimed at providing housing facilities to all eligible people in urban areas by 2022.

It will be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme and the States and Union Territories (UTs) are given greater autonomy in execution of the mission.

Broad Components of Housing for All by 2022 Mission



• It has four components viz., slum rehabilitation, credit linked interest subsidy, affordable housing and beneficiary-led individual house construction or enhancement.

• States and Union Territories (UTs) can choose best options amongst four components of the mission to meet the demand of housing in their states. The process of project formulation and approval in accordance with Mission Guidelines would be left to the States, so that projects can be formulated, approved and implemented faster.

• Under the Slum rehabilitation component Union Government will provide grant of one lakh rupees per house. A State Government would have flexibility in deploying this slum rehabilitation grant to any slum rehabilitation project taken for development using land as a resource for providing houses to slum dwellers. • Under the Credit Linked Interest Subsidy component interest subsidy of 6.5 percent on housing loans availed up to a tenure of 15 years will be provided to Economically Weaker Sections/ Lower Income Group (EWS/LIG) categories, wherein the subsidy pay-out on Net Present Value (NPV) basis would be about 2.3 lakh rupees per house for both the categories. • Central assistance at the rate of 1.5 lakh rupees per house for EWS category will be provided under Affordable housing component in partnership with public and private sectors and Beneficiary-led individual house construction or enhancement. State Government or their para statals like Housing Boards can take up project of affordable housing to avail the Central Government grant.


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