Harshavardhan Neotia elected as
President of FICCI
Harshavardhan
Neotia, Chairman of Ambuja Neotia group, has been elected president of industry
body FICCI for 2016. Currently, he is the senior VP of the industry body.
Neotia will take over from the current Ficci President Jyotsna Suri during the
chamber’s AGM next month.
7th
Central Pay Commission submitted its report
Justice
AK Mathur was the head of 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) who has submitted
its report on 19 November 2015 to the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
SBI tags Mallya, his 2 firms as wilful
defaulters
State
Bank of India (SBI) has declared industrialist Vijay Mallya a ‘wilful
defaulter’ for defaults on nearly Rs 7,000 crore loans to the long-grounded
Kingfisher Airlines. Recently the Bombay High Court in August this year
allowed Mallya to be represented by his legal counsels, SBI moved the Supreme
Court challenging the HC order, saying that HC order violated the RBI rules on
grievance redressal committee that allow only the borrower to be present his
case in person.
Other
banks that have exposure to the airline include Punjab National Bank and IDBI
Bank (Rs 800 crore each), Bank of India (Rs 650 crore), Bank of Baroda (Rs 550
crore), Central Bank of India (Rs 410 crore).
Axis Bank enters B’desh, opens rep
office in Dhaka
Extending
its overseas footprint, Axis Bank has opened a representative office in
Dhaka, capital city of Bangladesh. The bank aims to influence the growing
economic incorporation between the two countries by actively facilitating trade
transactions, both inbound as well as out-bound. The bank will also contribute
towards employment generation, both directly and indirectly in the
country. Dhaka operations, primarily focused to promote the
trade finance business, will further strengthen the bank’s presence in
Asia. Total overseas assets of the Axis
Bank stood at USD 7.51 billion, as on September 30, 2015.
First Meeting of the Indo-European Water
Forum to be held in Delhi
The
first meeting of the Indo-European Water Forum is being co-organized by
National Water Mission, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and
Ganga Rejuvenation and the Environment Directorate-General of the European Commission
on November 23-24, 2015 at New Delhi to discuss key issues in water resources
management in India as well as the experiences of implementation of European
Water Policy. The Forum will provide platform for policy-makers and
stakeholders to discuss key issues surrounding water resources management in
India, as well as transferring lessons from experience and implementation of
European Water Policy.
India to host the First South Asian
Annual Disaster Management Exercise
The
first South Asian Annual Disaster Management Exercise (SAADMEx-2015) to provide
a platform for strengthening regional disaster response mechanism amongst the
Saarc countries will commence in the national capital region. The common
exercise with the participation of delegations and rescuers from each of the
eight Saarc Nations - India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be conducted by the National Disaster Response
Force (NDRF).
The
key focus of SAADMEx-2015 is to test coordination efforts, create synergy and
synchronize efforts to institutionalize regional cooperation on disaster
response among the member countries.
Suresh Prabhu inaugurates
Silchar-Lumding broad gauge rail line in Assam
Union
Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the
landmark Silchar-Lumding broad gauge rail line in Assam. Prabhu
flagged off a passenger train from New Delhi via video-conference. The rail
line brings Assam’s underdeveloped but strategically important Barak Valley on
the broad gauge map. The rail line would accelerate development, as it is
the lifeline of Barak Valley and Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram. The line passes
through 21 tunnels and has 75 major bridges and 340 minor bridges along the
track.
Tripura to supply power to Bangladesh
from Bijoy Dibosh
Tripura
will start supplying power to Bangladesh from December 16, the day when that
country observes Bijoy Dibosh or Victory Day when Bangladesh was created out of
East Pakistan after the end of the India-Pakistan War of 1971. Governments
of India and Bangladesh decided to import 100 MW electric power from Tripura's
Surjamuni substation to Comilla south in Bangladesh. Accordingly project was
taken one year back. Now the field level work is almost complete and line is to
be switched on from 16 December 2015.
ASEAN leaders agree to AEC
In
a historic development, ASEAN leaders have declared the establishment of
an European Union style regional economic bloc, the ASEAN Economic Community
(AEC). The declaration, signed by all ten members during the ongoing ASEAN
summit in Kuala Lumpur will create a community of a single market with a free
flow of goods, capital and skilled labour in the ASEAN region. It will
integrate Southeast Asia’s diverse economies, a region with 620 million people
and a combined gross domestic product of USD 2.4 trillion. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi was one among the East Asia Summit leaders who witnessed the
historic moment.
Pankaj Advani won IBSF
World Snooker Championship
India’s
most successful cueist Pankaj Advani added another feather in his cap by
winning the IBSF World Snooker Championship after battling past his Chinese
opponent Zhua Xintong in the final to take his world title count to
15. Advani, 30, once again mesmerised the green baize to prevail over the
teenage sensation 8-6 in the best-of-15 final at Sunrise Crystal Bay resort.
World Tour Championship: Rory McIlroy
wins to wrap up Race to Dubai
Rory
McIlroy won the World Tour Championship in Dubai to finish the season as
Europe’s number one golfer. The Northern Irish former world number one
shot a six-under-par final round of 66 to finish on 21 under, one clear of
England’s Andy Sullivan. The 26-year-old McIlroy retains his Race to
Dubai title, the third time he has won it in four years. England’s Danny
Willet finished tied for fourth in Dubai, and second to McIlroy in the
season-long standings.
India thrashes Pakistan 6-2 to win
Junior Men’s Asia Cup hockey
India’s
junior men’s hockey team beat arch-rivals Pakistan in the Asia Cup Hockey 2015
final to lift its 8th edition. The team was in supreme touch in the
tournament and sustained their run in the final where they
outplayed the neighbours 6-2. Harmanpreet Singh was the top scorer
with four goals, Armaan Qureshi and Manpreet chipped in with a goal each. For Pakistan,
there were only two goals – either side of the half – from Muhammad Yaqoob and
Muhammad Dilber respectively.
Carolina
Marin won Hong Kong Open Super Series
Carolina
Marin of Spain beat Japan's Nozomi Okuhara 21-17, 18-21, 22-20 to win the Hong
Kong Open Super Series. In doing so the Spaniard, a two-time world champion,
took her sixth title of the year.
WADA
Suspended Russia’s Anti-Doping Agency
World
Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on 18 November 2015 suspended the Russia’s Anti-Doping
Agency as non-compliant with international sport’s anti-doping code.