Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Starred Articles

Atletico de Kolkata wins first edition of Indian Super League
Sports > Football >20th Dec
Atletico de Kolkata beat Kerala Blasters 1-0 to win the inaugural edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) football tournament. Although Kerala had more chances on goal than Kolkata, both teams remained goalless for more than 90 minutes. A header by Kolkata’s Mohammad Rafique in the 94rd minute helped Kolkata lift the cup.

Indian men’s and women’s hockey teams win Kabaddi World Cup
Sports > Kabaddi > 20th Dec
The Indian men’s hockey team continued their winning streak by clinching the fifth Kabaddi World Cup title defeating Pakistan 45-42 for the fourth time. The Indian women’s hockey team also won their fourth consecutive title beating New Zealand 36-27 for the second time in a row. Both teams in the men and women sections had clashed during the finals of Fourth Kabaddi World Cup at Ludhiana last year and in both the matches, India had emerged victorious.

PDP emerges largest party in J&K polls, BJP follows close; in Jharkhand BJP wins majority
Politics and Government > J&K and Jharkhand assembly polls > 23rd Dec
The regional People's Democratic Party (PDP) emerged as the largest party in Jammu & Kashmir winning 28 seats in the 87-member assembly. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) once again underlined its popularity among the electorate with strong performances in the Jammu & Kashmir and Jharkhand assembly elections. The BJP won 25 of 87 seats in Kashmir, its best performance ever in the Muslim-majority state, but fell short of a simple majority to form the government. Outgoing Prime Minister Omar Abdullah’s National Conference party won 15 seats.
In Jharkhand, the BJP is all set to form a majority government as it has won 43 seats, more than the 41 needed to form a majority government in the 81-member Jharkhand assembly. The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has improved its performance winning 20 seats. The Congress has only managed to win 6 seats.

Others

Jagran Prakashan buys FM channel Radio City’s parent company from India Value Fund Advisors for Rs. 350-400 crore
Corporate > FM Channel Radio City – Jagran Prakashan >20th Dec
India Value Fund Advisors, India's biggest homegrown private equity fund, has sold its entire stake in Music Broadcast Pvt. Ltd., the company that owns FM radio channel Radio City to the Jagran Prakashan Group for Rs 350-400 crore. India Value had brought Music Broadcast Pvt. Ltd. from the Star Group in 2007 for Rs. 75-80 crore and has made at least four times returns on investments by selling it. Radio City, one of the leading FM players in India, operates in 20 cities including major metros such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Delhi. Jagran Prakashan, publisher of Hindi daily Dainik Jagran, is one of the largest regional media houses in India.

RBI imposes fines on ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda for violating KYC norms
Bank specific > Penalties on banks >20th Dec
The Reserve Bank of India has imposed penalties on ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda for violating 'Know Your Customer' (KYC) as well as anti-money-laundering norms (ALM). ICICI Bank was fined Rs 50 lakh and BoB Rs 25 lakh. RBI also cautioned State Bank of India, Axis Bank and State Bank of Patiala that they should review and comply with KYC norms.

Minorities Rights Day observed throughout the world on 18th December
World > Others >20th Dec
18th December was observed as the World Minorities Day throughout the world in order to create awareness about the rights of minorities. On this day, various NGOs and organisations keep a tab on the recent developments and events pertaining to minority rights in India and the world over. The National Commission of Minorities is the body which observes the day in India.
On the aforementioned date in 1992, the United Nations promulgated the Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, to strengthen the cause of the minorities.

ISRO successfully launches its heaviest rocket – GSLV Mark III
India > ISRO >21th Dec
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) exhibited its growing expertise yet again when it launched the Geostationary Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Tamil Nadu on Thursday, 18th December, 2014. ISRO aims to put 4 tonne class satellites into the geostationary orbit through the vehicle. The vehicle has been under development from the past ten years, and its path through the atmosphere was a critical aspect during the launch. The GSLV can help the government in saving a lot of foreign reserve as heavy communication satellites are launched with the help of foreign space agencies, the government can also earn foreign exchange by helping other countries launch their satellites.

Rajinder Khanna and Prakash Mishra appointed as RAW and CRPF chiefs respectively
India > Others >21th Dec
The NDA government on Tuesday appointed Rajinder Khanna as the new chief of India's secret agency, Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) and Prakash Mishra as the Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The appointments were made by a cabinet committee headed by PM Narendra Modi. The appointments committee cleared Khanna, a 1978 batch RAS cadre, for the post of RAW chief for a period of two years from 31 December and Mishra, a 1977-batch IPS officer from Odisha cadre, was made chief of CRPF.

SpiceJet resumes operations
India > Aviation >23rd Dec
Budget carrier SpiceJet, the operations of which were hit due to non-payment of dues to oil companies and regulatory issues regained normalcy in operations on Sunday, 21st of December. The airline had already operated 124 flights by Sunday afternoon and was due to operate its full quota of 230 flights by the end of the day.
In the second week of December the debt ridden airline was struggling to deal with a sudden cut in jet fuel supply by oil companies. Many of its flights were cancelled or delayed, which resulted in an 8% drop in the company shares.


India's Shiva Kesavan wins silver medal at the Asian Luge Championship
India > Sports >23rd Dec
Indian luge player Shiva Kesavan bagged a silver medal at the Asian Luge Championship in Nagano, Japan. He clocked 49.934 seconds to cover the 1326 metre long ice track in the men's luge competition at the Spiral Olympic Sliding Centre. The gold was won by Japan's Hidenari Kanayama who won 49.791. The 33 year old Indian athlete failed to capitalise on his fabulous start of 3.191 seconds, which also happens to be an Asian start record.

Government introduces code to stop medical companies from gifting freebies to doctors
India > Unethical marketing of medicines >23rd Dec
Concerned with the rising unethical marketing practices and prescription drug promotions by medical companies, the government has introduced a uniform code of conduct for the pharmaceutical industry. The code bans gifts, freebies, hospitality, medical samples and grants from pharmaceutical firms or their agents to doctors. The code will be voluntary to start with and will be effective from 1st January. It will be reviewed after six months and if the government finds that the code has not been implemented "effectively", the government will "consider"' making it mandatory. There already exists a self-regulatory code in the industry which bans unethical sales promotion and marketing expenses. However, industry experts say that such a code exists only on paper as industry experts try to influence prescriptions through several ways.

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