Indian filmmaker Kanu Behl directorial film ‘Titli’ won the Best First Foreign Film Award conferred by the French

Syndicate of Cinema Critics 2016 (FSCC).

Sarangi maestro Pandit Ram Narayan was chosen for the prestigious Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi

classical music award for 2015-2016. The annual award, instituted by the Maharashtra government, is given to

individuals who have excelled in classical vocal or instrumental music. Pandit Ram Narayan, 88, has been playing

the sarangi since his childhood, and over the years acquired global acclaim for his music for which he was

conferred India's second highest civilian honour, Padma Vibhushan, in 2005. He popularised the bowed instrument

as a solo concert instrument in Indian classical music and is considered the first sarangi player who became

successful in the international arena.

The 69th British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards were conferred for the outstanding

performances in films and documentaries screened at British Cinemas in 2015.

Best Film: The Revenant.

Outstanding British Film: Brooklyn.

Best Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu (The Revenant).

Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant).

Best Actress: Brie Larson (Room).

Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies).

Best Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs).

Best Original Screenplay: Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight).

Best Film Not in the English Language: Wild Tales (Argentina).

Most awards: The Revenant (5 wins).

Most nominations: Bridge of Spies and Carol (9 nominations each). 'Nagaland is changing, But...', a film on

conservation efforts by villagers won the Golden Beaver Best Film Award in the institutional category at this

year's 6th National Science Film Festival in Mumbai. The film also received the technical excellence award for best

sound design. Director of the film is Gurmeet Sapal.

Karnataka's flagship mobile-one governance project took on the British e-governance app, one of the biggest in

the world, to win gold at the m-governance awards at the fourth World Government Summit in Dubai. The

Karnataka Mobile-One app, which brings over 4,000 services including government ones and private ones onto one

integrated platform that can be accessed as an App on smartphones, a web portal or through SMS and IVRS, was

launched in December 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee. The app has been commended as India's first M-

governance model and there are plans at the Centre to upscale it to the national level.

Bollywood actress Vidya Balan was awarded the ‘Pride of Kerala’ award by the World Malayalee Council and

Kairali TV. The National award-winning actress has starred in films like “Parineeta”, “Paa”, “No One Killed Jessica”,

“The Dirty Picture” and “Kahaani”.

AWARDS & HONOURS

1st Feb to 15th Feb

Shares of Alphabet Inc. opened nearly 3 percent higher on 2 February 2016 to become the world's most valuable

public company, replacing Apple Inc. The shift occurred in extended trading of 1 February 2016 after Alphabet

released a fourth-quarter earnings report that highlighted the robust growth of the digital ad market. Alphabet Inc.

is an American multinational conglomerate created in 2015 as the parent company of Google and several other

companies previously owned by or tied to Google. The company is based in California and headed by Google's co-

founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Mahindra Asset Management Company received SEBI approval for setting up of mutual fund business.

Mahindra AMC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services (MMFS), had got the markets

regulator nod on February 4. At present, there are over 40 mutual fund houses operating in the country. HDFC MF,

ICICI Prudential and Reliance MF are among the top mutual fund companies in India. MMFS is a part of the Anand

Mahindra-led Mahindra group.

Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group chairman Anil Ambani announced setting up of a centre for research,

development and innovation in aerospace technology in Bengaluru. The proposed centre, to be set up under

Reliance Defence, will generate more than 1,500 highly-skilled jobs and support government's plan for indigenous

design, development and manufacturing of defence equipments.

Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) signed the agreement to sell its unlisted cement subsidiary,

Reliance Cement Company, to Birla Corp for Rs 4,800 crore. Birla Corp has interests in cement and jute, with

cement constituting over 90% of the company’s revenue. The company has a total operational cement capacity of

about 10 million tonnes with units in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. RInfra is one of

the largest infrastructure companies developing projects through various special purpose vehicles in several high-

growth sectors and has a strong presence in industries such as power, roads, metro rail, cement and defence.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's top IT services and consulting company today announced that it was

rated as the world's most powerful brand in IT Services by Brand Finance, the world's leading brand valuation

firm. TCS emerged as the IT services industry's most powerful brand with a score of 78.3 points - earning it an

AA+ rating. Across all industries, Disney was rated as the most powerful brand and Apple as the most valuable

brand for 2016. TCS is also the fastest growing brand within its industry over the last 6 years. The company's

overall brand value has increased from $ 2.34 billion in 2010 (when the first evaluation of the TCS brand was

conducted) to $ 9.04 billion in 2016 with a growth rate of 286%.Over the last year, TCS has invested in several

strategic initiatives to strengthen its brand. Its branding, public relations, sponsorships, employer brand and

community programmes have been recognized with 30+ awards worldwide in 2015.

Wipro announced to acquire Health Plan Services for $460 million (about Rs 3,150 crore), a move that will help

the country's third-largest software services firm strengthen its position in the US health insurance market.

Headquartered in Florida, US, Health Plan is a leading independent technology and Business Process as a Service

(BPaaS) provider in the US health insurance market. The purchase is in line with the company's "string of pearls"

acquisition strategy. In December last year, it acquired two companies -- Cellent of Germany for $77 million and

US-based Viteos Group for $130 million.

BUSINESS & CORPORATE

Private sector bank YES Bank tied up with Smartbox Ecommerce Solutions for solving challenges related to last

mile delivery for e-commerce players. YES Bank announced that it will help power the payment solutions for

Smartbox network of Automated Parcel Delivery Terminals. The Cash on Delivery model continues to account for

over 50% of the e-commerce market which is slated to reach a size of $100 billion by 2020 and YES Bank's

partnership will address this crucial challenge and help reduce costs for e-commerce companies while offering

additional convenience to online shoppers. With this association COD will be handled as CSOD (card swipe on

delivery) on the terminals – thereby reducing the burden of handling cash on the entire ecosystem.

� Union Railway Ministry signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chhattisgarh Government for

formation of Joint Venture Companies for development of railway infrastructure in the state.

� Maharashtra Government rolled out a de-radicalisation programme for the minority community to face the

challenges of both home-grown extremism and global Islamic State (IS) threat.

� The Government of Odisha announced to extend the Aahar scheme to 29 districts in the State, where 58

centres will be established in 29 districts across the State to provide subsidized food to urban poor under

the scheme. The centres will be opened from March 2016. The Aahar Scheme was launched by the State

Government on 1 April 2015 to mark the State’s Foundation Day, Utkala Diwas.

� Himachal Pradesh Government announced to spend 15 crore rupees on Swachh Bharat Mission in tribal

district of Kinnaur. The funds will be utilized on capacity building and organizing of workshops for

awareness.

� The Supreme Court appointed a committee under former chief justice R M Lodha to sell assets of

PACL(Pearls Agrotech Corporation Ltd) and refund Rs 49,000 crore to the public who had invested in the

firm’s collective investment scheme (CIS) that was deemed illegal by the Securities and Exchange Board

of India (Sebi). The money was allegedly collected by the Nirmal Singh Bhangoo-managed group through

two companies — PACL and Pearls Golden Forest — in a Ponzi scheme under the garb of sale and

development of agricultural land. The Pearls Group chairman-cum-managing and its three other directors

were arrested on January 8, after two years of a CBI probe ordered by the Supreme Court, in connection

with the alleged swindling of multiples of crore.

BILLS / ACTS / COMMITTEES / SCHEMES / POLICIES

� Kicking off the 'Make In India Week', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13 inaugurated the Make

In India Centre in Mumbai. Revolving around the theme of innovation, design and sustainability, the Make

In India Centre showcases some of the country's most innovative and trendsetting products and

manufacturing processes before the world for the first time after the global launch of the 'Make In India'

initiative in September 2014.

� The World Health Organisation (WHO) accorded PQP (Pre-qualification of Medicines Programme)

certification to chennai-based GreenSignal Bio Pharma Pvt. Ltd., a BCG vaccine-making firm. GreenSignal

is the second Indian company to get PQP certification from WHO.PQP certification helps GreenSignal to

participate in the global immunisation programme, which is facilitated through international procurement

agencies such as UNICEF and others.

� The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its sixth bi-monthly monetary policy review for year 2016 maintained

status quo in key policy interest rate. The key policy interest rates were kept unchanged on the basis of

an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation in the country. RBI kept its stance on

the credit policy accommodative. Key policy rates are

� Repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF): unchanged at 6.75 per cent.

� Reverse repo rate under the LAF: unchanged at 5.75 per cent.

� Marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate has unchanged at 7.75 per cent.

� Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks: Unchanged at 4.0 per cent of net demand and

time liability (NDTL).

� Continuation of liquidity under overnight repos at 0.25 per cent of bank-wise NDTL at the LAF

repo rate.

� Continuation of liquidity under 14-day term repos as well as longer term repos of up to 0.75 per

cent of NDTL of the banking system through auctions.

� Weak patent protection and inadequate patent mechanisms continued to weigh on India, which remained

at the 37th position amongst 38 countries in the International Intellectual Property Index released by the

US Chamber of Commerce. The country has remained at the bottom of the index for the fourth

consecutive year. In 2015, it had moved one notch higher from the last position to the second last. In the

2016 index, the US bagged the top position, followed by the UK, Germany, France and Sweden while

Venezuela was at the bottom and ranked a poor 38.

� Central Statistics Office (CSO) released the Advance Estimates (AE) of National Income for the financial

year (FY) 2015-16.

� The growth in GDP during 2015-16 is estimated at 7.6 % as compared to the growth rate of 7.2

% in 2014- 15.

ECONOMY & FINANCE

� Real GDP or Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at constant (2011-12) prices in the year 2015- 16 is

likely to attain a level of 113.51 lakh crore rupees.

� Real Gross Value Added (GVA) or GVA at basic constant prices (2011-12) is anticipated to

increase from 97.27 lakh crore rupees in 2014-15 to 104.38 lakh crore rupees in 2015-16.

� The sectors which are likely to register growth rate of over 7.0 % are financial, real estate and

professional services, trade, hotels, transport, communication and services related to

broadcasting, and manufacturing.

� The Union Government sanctioned about 580 crore rupees for constructing the 15-kilometer railway track

between Kolkata and Tripura, thus connecting Kolkata with Tripura via Bangladesh through railway. The

project that is expected to be completed by 2017 will pass through Bangladesh.

� Reserve Bank panel proposed introduction of Interest Rate Option up to Rs 5 crore without

documentation relating to exposure, a move aimed at providing more flexibility for hedging with regard to

interest rate. Currently, the only interest rate derivatives permitted in India are Interest Rate Swap (IRS)

and Forward Rate Agreement (FRA) in the OTC segment and Interest Rate Futures (IRF) on the

exchanges. The panel headed by P G Apte in the report said interest rate options may be permitted both

on the currency and derivatives segment of stock exchanges as well as in the OTC market.

� Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation Indian Oil Corporation's Rs. 34,555 crore refinery in

Paradip in Odisha, that has helped the state-owned firm overtake Reliance Industries to again become

country's top refinery. The 15 million tons per annum Paradip refinery was built over nearly 16 years.

� Miniratna Category-I status (profits for the last three years continuously with a positive net worth) was

awarded to Hospital Services Consultancy Corporation (I) Ltd (HSCC) by the Government.

� The Government created a Tax Policy Research Unit (TPRU) and Tax Policy Council to be chaired by the

Union Finance Minister with nine other members including Minister of State for Finance, Niti Aayog Vice

Chairman, Commerce and Industry Minister Revenue Secretary and the Chief Economic Advisor. Finance

secretary, Commerce Secretary and Industry Secretary will also be its members. The Council will be

advisory in nature, which will help the Government in identifying key policy decisions for taxation. The

TPRU will be a multi disciplinary body with the objectives of carrying out out studies on various topics of

fiscal and tax policies referred to it by CBDT and CBEC. It will provide independent analysis, prepare and

disseminate policy papers and background papers on various tax policy issues. It will assist Tax Policy

Council and liaise with State Commercial Tax Departments.

Mrs. Aruna Sethi (ICoAS 1985), Principal Adviser (Cost), took over the charge of Indian Cost Accounts Service

(ICoAS) as head. She is the first lady ICoAS officer who has achieved this laurel. ICoAS is one of the six Organized

Accounting Services of the Government of India. It is a professional body staffed by qualified Cost/ Chartered

Accountants. This Office is responsible for advising the Ministries and Government Undertakings on cost accounts

matters and to undertake cost investigation work on their behalf.

Tainted Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf was banned for five years by the BCCI after its disciplinary committee found

him guilty of corrupt practices and bringing the game into disrepute. The 59-year-old Rauf, who was part of the

ICC's elite panel and officiated in Test matches, was accused of accepting expensive gifts from bookies besides

placing bets on IPL matches in the 2013 edition.

Former IAS officer Ashok Chawla has been appointed as Chairman of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

TERI is a non-profit research institution that conducts research work in the fields of energy, environment and

sustainable development.

Vetteran film director Aurobindo Mukherjee passed away at the age of 97. Mukherjee was the maker of cult

Bengali classics in the early 70s. Mukherjee had given debut role to Jaya Bhaduri (Jaya Bachchan) in the film

Dhanyee Meye in 1971.

Former Lok Sabha Speaker and veteran Congress leader Balram Jakhar passed away at the age of 92. He was

elected to the Lok Sabha four times and also served as the Union Agriculture Minister in 1991 in then P. V.

Narasimha Rao Ministry. He was the first Asian to be elected as Chairman of Commonwealth Parliamentarian

Executive Forum. He was awarded the ‘Udyan Pandit’ Award in 1975 for his contribution to Horticulture.

India’s Ambassador to Tajikistan Biraja Prasad passed away following a massive cardiac arrest. He was

the youngest Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer to be appointed as India’s Ambassador to any country.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) announced the appointment of India's nominee, Dr. D.J.

Pandian, as the Vice-President, Chief Investment Officer of the newly formed USD 100 billion multilateral

development bank. The primary responsibility of the Chief Investment Officer is leading the planning and

supervision of the Bank’s infrastructure investment by promoting sustainable investment throughout Asia that is

consistent with the Bank’s vision, goals, and strategies, and by ensuring the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency

of AIIB operations. Dr. Pandian has had an extensive career spanning 30 years with the Indian Administrative

Service(IAS), holding key positions at the State, National, and International levels in the energy (oil and gas,

power, renewable), infrastructure, finance, and industry sectors.

Davinder Singh, a top Indian-origin lawyer in Singapore was named as vice-chairman of the Paris-based

International Chamber of Commerce Commission, a private sector world business organisation with a central role

in global trade and commerce.

Indian-origin Harinder Sidhu was appointed as Australian High Commissioner to India. She replaced outgoing

High Commissioner Patrick Suckling.

Major General Jai Shanker Menon of India was appointed as the Head of Mission and Force Commander of the

United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). The UNDOF was established on May 31, 1974 by UN

PEOPLE IN NEWS

Security Council following the agreed disengagement of the Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan. Since then,

UNDOF has remained in the area to maintain the ceasefire between the Israeli and Syrian forces and to supervise

the implementation of the disengagement agreement.

Uttar Pradesh Panchayati Raj Minister Kailash Yadav passed away at the age of 65. He was a senior Samajwadi

Party (SP) leader and a cabinet Minister in the present Akhilesh Yadav government and was considered . He was a

Minister of State for Revenue and Industrial Development in the Mulayam Singh government from 2003 to 2007.

Leslie Bassett, a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer known for his lush sonorities and ecumenical instrumentation,

died at the age of 93. A master orchestrator who could coax a vast range of tonal colours from the bits of wood

and brass for which he composed, Bassett wrote works for symphony orchestra, chamber and choral ensembles,

solo instruments and voice. Bassett received the Pulitzer in 1966.

Renowned Urdu Poet and well known Bollywood lyricist Nida Fazli passed away at the age of 78. He has 24 books

to his credit in Urdu, Hindi and Gujarati and won a lot of awards.

Noted Malayalam poet and lyricist O N V Kurup passed away in at the age of 84. In 2007, he was awarded

country’s highest literary honour, the Jnanpith Award for his overall contributions to the Malayalam literature. He

was also awarded Padma Shri (1998) and Padma Vibhushan (2011).

Eminent cartoonist Sudhir Tailang, who chronicled contemporary Indian politics with wit and humour, died at the

age of 56. The cartoonist, who had worked in a number of newspapers including Hindustan Times, Indian Express

and The Times of India, was awarded Padma Shri in 2004. As a cartoonist, many politicians including Indira

Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Behari Vajpayee, PV Narasimha Rao, Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi bore the

brunt of his brush. In 2009, he had come out with a book of cartoons titled "No, Prime Minister", which carried

cartoons on Manmohan Singh drawn during first stint of his prime ministership.

Tamar Hahn from Israel was appointed as the Director of United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Buenos

Aires, Argentina. UNIC serves as regional courier of information from the UN to the local public.

Dr. Vilas A. Tonapi has been appointed as Director of Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR). IIMR is the

central agency to work on all aspects of millets research and development under the aegis of Indian Council of

Agricultural Research (ICAR).

India’s ace squash player Joshna Chinappa won the gold medal in women’s individual category at the 12th South

Asian Games (SAG).

Kerala won the 61st National School Athletics championship which concluded in Kozhikode. Tamil Nadu was

second.

Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth won the 2016 Syed Modi International Grand prix Gold Championship Title

of Badminton in men’s singles category. The championship has been named after a famous Indian badminton

player Syed Modi, an eight-time National Badminton champion.

World Number One tennis player Novak Djokovic from Serbia won the 2016 Australian Open Title in the men’s

singles category when he defeated Andy Murray of Britain in the finals.

India’s Sapna Devi won gold for India in the women Wushu Taulu (Changquan) Competition at the 12th South

Asian Games (SAG).

The 12th edition of South Asian Games (SAG) begun in Guwahati, Assam. The 11-day event was jointly hosted

by Guwahati and Shillong. Over 2,500 athletes from 8 SAARC nations viz. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,

Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives participating in it. Total of 228 events in 23 sports disciplines were

played during the games. The slogan for the games was : ‘Play for Peace, Progress and Prosperity’, and the official

mascot was Tikhor, a one-horned rhino that represents endangered fauna of Assam found in Kaziranga National

Park.

West Indies for the first time won the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup by defeating three time champions India by

five wickets played at Mirpur (Bangladesh).

SPORTS

World

� Nine agreements were exchanged between India and the UAE, including on cyber security and

infrastructure investment, as the two sides agreed to further boost bilateral ties.

� United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon released a report called 'One Humanity: Shared

Responsibility' which called for a global campaign to prevent the destruction of humanitarian laws and to

protect civilians in conflict. The campaign was launched as a part of the World Humanitarian Summit with

the theme ‘One Humanity: Shared Responsibility’. According to the report, at present, 43 percent of

people live in fragile situations. By 2030, the figure is estimated to reach 62 percent.

� North Korea’s National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) launched the Kwangmyongsong-4

satellite. The launch attracted wide spread criticism from the UN and other major powers including the

western countries led by the USA.

� France became the first country in the world to ban supermarkets from throwing away or destroying

unsold food, forcing them instead to donate it to charities and food banks.

India

� UP Land Revenue Act, 2015 came into effect, thus replacing the pre and post British era British era Land

Revenue Act of 1901 and Zamindari Abolition and Land Reform Act 1950.

� Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi unveiled a draft document, 'Vision Assam 2030' for ensuring inclusive

and sustainable development in the state. With the unveiling of the document, Assam became the first

state to have a vision document on sustainable development goals.

� Union urban development ministry approved projects worth Rs 12 crore for improving tourist

infrastructure in heritage places of Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh and Warangal in Telangana.

MISCELLANEOUS

Former DRDO Director General Avinash Chander was given the prestigious Astronomical Society of India (ASI)

Aryabhata award for his lifetime contribution to aeronautics and astronautics in India. It consists of a citation of

Rs.1,00,000 in cash.

Dr. Goverdhan Mehta, chemical scientist and a well known researcher in Chemical Sciences was conferred with

Germany’s prestigious Cross of the Order of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz) Award. Cross of the Order of merit

is awarded to Germans and foreigners for their outstanding services to the nation in the field of social, charitable

or philanthropic work.

Malayalam film Ottaal was named the best children's film at the Berlin International Film Festival and honoured

with the Crystal Bear award in the 'Generation KPlus' section. The film, directed by Jayaraj Rajasekharan Nair, is

about the story of an old fisherman and his grandson. The movie is an adaptation of Anton Chekhov's short

story Vanaka.

GVK Biosciences bagged the Global CSR Excellence & Leadership Awards in the category of Best Environment

Friendly Project for its 'Go Green, Grow Green' plantation drive. The global CSR awards are constituted by the

World CSR Congress every year on the World CSR Day and are presented to companies who believe in the value of

sustainable corporate social responsibility. GVK Bio obtained this recognition for its mega plantation drive

conducted in July 2015.

India's leading private lender Yes Bank received the inaugural Green Bond Pioneer Award. The Green Bond

Pioneer Awards for 'Pioneers in Emerging Markets-India' were organised by Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), an

international investor-focused not-for-profit which focuses on mobilising the USD 100-trillion bond market for

climate change solutions. Yes Bank was recognised for its pioneering efforts in the Green Bonds market; including

the highly successful issuance of India's first ever Green Infrastructure Bonds. In 2015, Yes Bank had issued

India's first-ever Green Infrastructure Bonds for Rs 1,000 crore (USD 160 million), which witnessed strong demand

from leading global and domestic investors. Recently, Yes Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC)

opened trading of the world's first Green Masala Bond worth Rs 3.15 billion issued by IFC and listed on the London

Stock Exchange.

An Indian-origin art lover and playwright Ismail Mahomed from South Africa was knighted by the French

government for his lifelong devotion to the promotion of arts. He was bestowed with Knight of the Order of Arts

and Literature (The Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres).

The 88th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) was

held in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The Academy Awards (commonly referred as Oscars) were presented in twenty

four categories. The prominent ones are:-

� Best Picture: Spotlight

� Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

� Best Actress: Brie Larson (Room)

� Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

AWARDS & HONOURS

16th Feb to 29th Feb

� Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

� Best Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu (The Revenant)

� Best Original Screenplay: Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

� Best Animated Feature Film: Inside Out

� Most awards: Mad Max: Fury Road (6 Awards)

� Most nominations in 88th Academy Awards: The Revenant (12), Mad Max: Fury Road (10) and The

Martian (7)

Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and actor Ranveer Singh were chosen for the prestigious 2016 Pandit Dinanath

Mangeshkar Award. The award was instituted in 1999 in the memory of Dinanath Mangeshkar, father of Lata

Mangeshkar. Since then it is awarded annually to persons for their outstanding contributions to music and movies.

Director Arun Chidambaram’s Kanavu Variyam won the Remi Award at the 49th World Fest Houston

International. World Fest is the oldest Independent Film & Video Festival in the World. In addition to playing the

lead role and directing the movie, Arun has written the story, screenplay, dialogues and lyrics for Kanavu Variyam.

Apart from this, Kanavu Variyam won the Special Jury award at the National Science Film Festival 2016, organised

by the Government of India.

Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd (ABNL) announced formation of a joint venture with group firm Idea to set up a

payments bank. Last year in August, RBI had given in-principle approval to the company to set up a Payments

Bank under the guidelines for licensing of Payments Banks. The company jointly with Idea Cellular Ltd has

incorporated a new subsidiary for the aforesaid purpose in the name and style of Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank

Ltd. ABNL will hold 51 per cent shares and the rest 49 per cent by Idea Cellular. Payments banks are allowed to

collect deposits (initially up to Rs 1 lakh per individual), offer Internet banking, facilitate money transfers and sell

insurance and mutual funds.

E-commerce giant Amazon announced the launch of ‘Amazon Tatkal’, an initiative that enables small and medium

businesses (SMBs) to go online and sell products on Amazon. Starting with New Delhi, Amazon Tatkal will traverse

the country, engaging with thousands of entrepreneurs, artisans, manufacturers and sellers and help them sell

online on the spot. Amazon Tatkal is a specially designed studio-on-wheels offering a suite of launch services

including registration, imaging and cataloguing services, as well as basic seller training mechanisms.

Apple announced to build its technology development centre outside the US in Hyderabad with an investment of

$25 million (Rs 170 crore), likely employing about 4,500 people. Apple's centre will occupy 250,000 square feet in

the city's IT corridor and is set to start in the latter half of this year.

Indian pharmaceutical giant Cipla Ltd. acquired two US generic drug companies, InvaGen Pharmaceuticals Inc.

and Exelan Pharmaceuticals Inc. These deals will allow Cipla to further strengthen its presence in the US

pharmaceutical market is world’s largest pharmaceutical market.

Tennis star Sania Mirza, Indian batting mainstay Virat Kohli and top-seeded badminton player Saina Nehwal lead

the pack of over 50 Indians in Forbes’ inaugural list of top “promising young leaders and game changers” under

the age of 30 in Asia. The Forbes ‘30 under 30 Asia’ list includes 300 “young and driven entrepreneurs and game-

changers” from countries including India, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Pakistan, Vietnam and

Australia who are contributing to their industries in a significant way. With 10 categories in total, the list highlights

inspiring young leaders in various fields covering consumer technology, enterprise technology, arts, healthcare and

science, media, social entrepreneurship, finance, industry and retail. The retail and e-commerce category features

29-year-old Raghav Verma, who co-founded Indian tea chain ‘Chaayos’ with IIT-Mumbai alumnus Nitin Saluja. The

category also includes 29-year-old Mehul Agrawal, cofounder of automotive e-commerce site ‘Cars24’ and online

furniture store ‘FabFurnish’. Ritesh Agarwal, 22, founder and CEO of “disruptive hospitality business and app” ‘OYO

Rooms’ leads the consumer tech category.

Information technology (IT) major Infosys appointed Michael Pesch as chief executive officer (CEO) of Infosys

Consulting Holding AG (formerly Infosys Lodestone), effective April 1.

18th Mercer annual Quality of Living survey was released. The survey of 230 cities helps companies and

organizations determine compensation and hardship allowances for international staff. The list compiled by

consulting firm Mercer said Vienna, Austria's capital offers the highest quality of life of all cities in the world. On

the other hand, the Iraqi capital Baghdad, once more took its place at the bottom of a live ability list.

Telecom major Tata Teleservices announced that one of its subsidiary tied up with e-commerce behemoth Indian

Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to provide an additional payments gateway. According to the

telcom major, it entered into a payments gateway tie-up with IRCTC through its subsidiary "mRUPEE". The

company elaborated that its association will allow users one-tap payments options for all railway ticket bookings

via mRUPEE wallet. The IRCTC portal sees approximately 4.5 to 5 lakh bookings per day on an average.

BUSINESS & CORPORATE

� Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan partnered with the BJP-led Government in Maharashtra for its flagship

water conservation and drought-mitigation programme. Aamir and wife Kiran Rao, along with the team of

his popular TV show "Satyamev Jayate", formed "Paani Foundation", which will work in association with

the Government to solve water crisis in the drought-affected State.

� Lok Sabha passed Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016 to grant voting rights to people who became

citizens of India following the exchange of enclaves between India and Bangladesh. The bill seeks to

amend the Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1950 and the Delimitation Act, 2002. These Acts

regulate allocation of seats to the Lok Sabha and state legislatures and delimitation (fixing boundaries) of

parliamentary and state assembly constituencies.

� West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra was named the new chairman of the Empowered Committee of

State Finance Ministers on Goods and Services Tax (GST). He will be the second chairman of the panel,

tasked with framing rules for roll out of the ambitious GST regime, which will subsume all indirect taxes

and create one national market, from West Bengal.

� West Bengal government launched Utkarsh Bangla Scheme, a welfare scheme for school-dropouts, in

Kolkata. Utkarsha Bangla is aimed at giving vocational training to school dropouts. Each youth will get

training ranging from 400 to 1200 hours. The school-dropouts will be trained free of charge in tailoring,

driving, repairing television and other electronic equipment and beauty courses etc.

� Government-constituted expert committee to examine the Possibility of Replacing Multiple Prior

Permissions with Pre-Existing Regulatory Mechanism submitted its recommendations. The 11 member

committee was headed by Ajay Shanka, Former Secretary of Department of Industrial Policy and

Promotion (DIPP). The key recommendations are:-

� Introduction of credible third-party certification in most areas of regulation to cut down on multiple

permissions needed by investors.

� Adopting global best practices for emission norms in order to promote ease of doing business in the

country.

� Need for a standing institutional mechanism within the government for an independent regulatory

impact assessment.

BILLS / ACTS / COMMITTEES / SCHEMES / POLICIES

� Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely presented Economic Survey of India 2015-16 in the Parliament on

February 26, 2016. Main highlights are as under:-

� The growth rate of GDP at constant market prices is projected to increase to 7.6% in 2015-16

from 7.2% in 2014-15. Real GDP growth for 2015-16 is expected to be in the 7% to 7.75%

range.

� 2014-15 witnessed the highest ever increase in generation capacity of 26.5 GW compared to the

average annual addition of around 19 GW over the past five years.

� The percentage share of horticulture output in agriculture is more than 33 per cent.

� India ranks first in milk production, accounting for 18.5% of world production achieving an annual

output of 146.3 million tonnes during 2014-15 as compared to 137.69 million tonnes during

2013-14 recording a growth of 6.26%.

� The average dietary energy intake per person per day was 2147 Kcal for rural India and 2123

Kcal for urban India. 57 % of households had calorie intake below 2160 Kcal/Consumer unit/day.

India has the second highest number of undernourished people at 194.6 million person

� Fiscal Deficit target of 3.9% for 2015-16 seems achievable. The total expenditure for 2015-16

was estimated at Rs.17.77 lakh crore which was 5.7 per cent higher than the revised estimates of

2014-15.

� Services Sector continues to be the key driver of India’s economic growth and it accelerated to

10.3 per cent in 2014-15 from 7.8 per cent in 2013-14 and it is expected to be 9.2 per cent

(constant prices) in 2015-16 as per the advanced estimates.

� There has been a rising trend in FDI equity inflows to the services sector in the first seven months

of 2015-16 with FDI inflows growing by 74.7 per cent.

� Overall exports declined by about 18% in the first three quarters.

� The total expenditure on Social Services including Education, Health, Social Security, Nutrition,

Welfare of SC/ST/OBC etc. during 2014-15 (RE) was 7% of GDP while it was 6.5% during 2013-

14.

� Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu presented the Rail Budget 2016-17 in the Lok Sabha on February 25,

2016. This was the third rail budget of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government and the second railway

budget for Suresh Prabhu. Main points are:

� No hike in passenger fares

� Net reduction in Gross Traffic Receipts by 15744 crore (Revised Estimates) in 2015-16 compared

to the Budget Estimate (BE) target of 183578 crore rupees.

� Action initiated on 139 budget announcements made last year.

� Eliminate all unmanned level crossings by 2020.

� Swacch Bharat: 17000 biotoilets and additional toilets in 475 stations before the close of this

financial year.

ECONOMY & FINANCE

� Increased quota for senior citizens and women travellers this year.

� 33% sub-quota for women under all reserved categories.

� Wifi at 100 stations this year and 400 stations next year.

� All major stations to be brought under CCTV surveillance in a phased manner.

� The United States won a ruling against India at the World Trade Organization after challenging the rules

on the origin of solar cells and solar modules used in India's national solar power programme. In a

statement, the US Trade Representative's office called the ruling a significant victory that would hasten

the spread of solar energy across the world and support clean-energy jobs in the United States. The

United States complained to the WTO in 2013 about the Indian solar programme, which sought to ease

chronic energy shortages in Asia's third-largest economy without creating pollution. But a requirement

that certain cells and modules be made in India fell afoul of WTO rules on discriminating against imports.

The United States said its solar exports to India had fallen by 90% from 2011, when India imposed the

rules.

� The RBI cancelled registration of as many as 26 non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) including Bajaj

Auto Holdings and IDFC Finance Ltd. Following the cancellation of registration certificate, these

companies cannot transact the business of a non-banking financial institution. A majority of the NBFCs

belong to Kolkata. The Reserve Bank can cancel a certificate of registration granted to a non-banking

financial institution on various grounds including when a company ceases to carry on the business of an

NBFC in India. The registration is also liable to get cancelled if the entity doesn't comply with any

condition subject to which the certificate of registration had been issued to it.

� Parliamentary Standing committee on Finance, chaired by M. Veerappa Moily, submitted its report on the

Net Non performing Assets (NPAs) of Public Sector Banks (PSBs). The committee observed that many of

the bad loans of banks are because of companies with over capacity and weak demand. It also said that

the Reserve Bank hasn't "quite succeeded" in enforcing its rules on bad loans as it should not be a passive

regulator but exercise powers of punitive action against banks in case of defaults. As of September 2015,

the net Non Performing Assets of public sector banks stood at Rs 2,05,024 crore, while the Gross NPAs

were at Rs 3,69,990 crore. Such high incidence of NPAs obviously raises serious questions on the

credibility of the mechanisms to deal with NPAs.

� In order to enhance economic cooperation and strengthen financial stability, RBI extended the $2 billion

currency swap arrangement to SAARC nations till mid-November 2017. Under the arrangement, RBI is to

offer swap arrangement up to an overall amount of $2 billion both in foreign currency and Indian rupee.

The SAARC Swap Arrangement was offered by the RBI to SAARC nations on November 15, 2012. The

facility will be available to all SAARC member countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives,

Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The swap amount available to various member central banks has been

arrived at broadly based on two months import cover subject to a floor of $100 million and a maximum of

$400 million per country.

� State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) commissioned a 270 MW generation unit at the Goindwal

Sahib Thermal Power Project of private producer GVK Power & Infra in Punjab.

Renowned Malayalam writer Akbar Kakkattil passed away at the age of 62. He won the

prestigious Kerala Sahitiya Akademi award two times in 1992 and 2003.

Senior IPS Officer Alok Kumar Verma took charge as the new Police Commissioner of Delhi.

Amar Singh, an Indian-origin Sikh officer was appointed Kuala Lumpur's commissioner of police - the highest

police rank achieved by a Sikh in Malaysia.

West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra was named the new chairman of the Empowered Committee of State

Finance Ministers on Goods and Services Tax (GST). He will be the second chairman of the panel, which is tasked

with framing rules for roll out of the ambitious GST regime, which will subsume all indirect taxes and create one

national market, from West Bengal.

Renowned singer Bhubaneswari Mishra passed away at the age of 67. Apart from many awards, Ms. Mishra was

also conferred with the Odisha State Film Award for best playback singer (female) for two consecutive terms in

1979 and 1980.

Former United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali passed away in at the age of 93. Mr.

Boutros-Ghali was an Egyptian politician and diplomat who had served as sixth UN Secretary-General from 1992 to

1996. He was United Nations’ first secretary-general from Africa.

Christine Lagarde from France was appointed as the Managing Director (MD) of the International Monetary Fund

for a second five-year term. The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 188 countries, working to foster

global monetary cooperation, facilitate international trade, secure financial stability, promote high employment and

sustainable economic growth and reduce poverty around the world, based in Washington, D.C.

Devaraja Reddy was elected as President of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). ICAI is a

statutory body for the regulation of the profession of Chartered Accountants in India, established under the

Chartered Accountants Act, 1949.

Dinesh Sharma was elected as the Chairperson of the Governing Council of International Fund for Agriculture

Development (IFAD) for a period of two years in its 39th Session held in Rome, Italy. Currently, he is serving as

Additional Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs under the Union Ministry of Finance and is also India’s

Governor to the IFAD, Rome. IFAD was established in 1977 and India is a founder member of IFAD.

Faustin Archange Touadera won the 2016 Presidential election of Central African Republic (CAR). He had served

as former Prime Minister of ex-president Francois Bozize from January 2008 to January 2013. Central African

Republic is one of the world’s most chronically unstable countries.

The Government appointed former Chief Justice of India (CJI) H L Dattu as the new Chairman of National Human

Rights Commission (NHRC), to succeed Mr. K.G. Balakrishnan. NHRC is an apex statutory watchdog of human

rights in the country, i.e. the rights related to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the

Constitution or embodied in the international convents.

PEOPLE IN NEWS

Senior IRS officer Jayant Misra was appointed as Director General (DG) of Directorate of Revenue

Intelligence (DRI).

Distinguished scientist KN Vyas was appointed Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), the country's

premier multi-disciplinary nuclear research centre, based in Mumbai.

Kalikho Pul was sworn-in as the 9th Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh.

The government appointed Rajendra Singh as the Director General (DG) of Coast Guard, the country’s coastal

protection force. This is the first time an officer from within has been promoted as its Chief which was traditionally

headed by a three-star Naval officer.

Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee was sworn-in as the 28th Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka.

Udai Kumar was appointed as full-time Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Metropolitan

Stock Exchange of India (MSEI) Ltd. Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSEI) Ltd MSEI formerly known as

MCX Stock Exchange Ltd. (MCX-SX), is India’s youngest and one of the three stock exchanges recognized by SEBI.

It was founded in 2008.

Internationally acclaimed Italian writer and philosopher Umberto Eco, best known for his novel ‘The Name of the

Rose’, died at the age of 84.

Justice Vineet Saran was appointed as the new Chief Justice (CJ) of Orissa High Court.

Honda Motor Company appointed Yoichiro Ueno as the new President & CEO of Honda Cars India with effect from

April 1, 2016.

New Zealand Captain and Skipper Brendon McCullum smashed the fastest ever Test century off only 54 balls.

With this, he broke previous record held by Viv Richards (West Indies) in 1986 and Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan) in

2014.

Gianni Infantino of Switzerland was elected as the new President of Fédération Internationale de Football

Association (FIFA), a global governing body of football. He replaced Sepp Blatter and vowed to guide the world

football body out of its corruption trauma.

Jaypee Punjab Warriors won the fourth edition of Coal India Hockey India League (HIL) title 2016 when they

defeated Kalinga Lancers in the finals.

India’s Kumaravel Prem Kumar won a silver medal in long jump event in Asian Indoor Athletics Championships

held in Doha.

Mumbai won the Ranji Trophy for 2015-16 by defeating Saurashtra, thus winning Ranji title for record 41st time.

Sara Errani (Italy) won the 2016 Dubai ATP Tennis title in the women’s singles category.

Stan Wawrinka from Switzerland won the 2016 Dubai ATP Tennis title in the men’s singles category.

SPORTS

World

� India and UK signed a Memorandum of Understanding for establishment of a joint India-UK collaboration

programme in crop science. The aim of the agreement is to enhance collaborative research, promote

knowledge exchange, and support capacity building to develop resilience in food security.

� The Union Cabinet gave its approval for signing of an Agreement between India and Maldives for the

avoidance of double taxation of income from international air transport. The Agreement provides for relief

from double taxation for airline enterprises of India and Maldives by way of exemption of income derived

by the enterprise of India from the operation of aircraft in international traffic, from Maldivian tax and

vice-versa.

� Pakistan parliament became the first in the world to completely run on solar power, a venture supported

by China with $55 million funding.

� United States President Barack Obama signed off a new law imposing new sanctions against North Korea

aimed at punishing North Korea for its provocative recent nuclear test and rocket launch.

India

� President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the first phase of the Muziris Heritage Project at the International

Research and Convention Centre, KKTM College, Kodungalloor. Mr. Mukherjee said that being the largest

conservation project in the country and the first green project of the Kerala government, the Muziris

project had a lot to boast about, be it in the area of heritage, conservation or tourism. The Muziris project

would open up to Indian and foreign tourists a new destination, bringing economic benefits to the people

of the region as well as knowledge and enjoyment for the visitors.

� Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das presented the Annual State Budget 2016-17 in the legislative

assembly. The focus of the budget was on agriculture and rural development. The total size of the budget

is estimated at 63502.28 crore rupees

� Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav presented the State Budget 2016-17 in legislative assembly.

This was Akhilesh’s fifth consecutive budget. The size of the budget is 346935 crore rupees.

MISCELLANEOUS