Fortune’s list of 50 Most Powerful Women in Business

Indra Nooyi, CEO of food and beverage giant PepsiCo is the sole Indian-origin executive in 2015 edition of Fortune’s list of 50 Most Powerful Women in Business. India-born Nooyi was placed at second position in this year’s list and has moved up be single position from her previous third position in year 2015. This edition of the list was topped by General Motors CEO Mary Barra. She heads United States largest auto-maker and it is her second year as head. The list also includes Third position: Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM. Fourth position: Marillyn Hewson, CEO, Chairman and President of Lockheed Martin. Fifth position: Ellen Kullman, CEO and Chairman of DuPont. Sixth position: Abigail Johnson, CEO and President of Fidelity Investments. Seventh position: Meg Whitman, CEO, Chairman and President of Hewlett-Packard (HP). Eight position: Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook. Ninth position: Irene Rosenfeld, CEO and Chairman of Mondelez International. Tenth position: Phebe Novakovic, CEO and Chairman of General Dynamics.

The Tenth World Hindi Conference

The Tenth World Hindi Conference (विश्व हिंदी सम्मेलन) has begun in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh with the theme of Hindi Jagat-Vistar and Sambhavnaye. The three-day conference was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It has been organised in Madhya Pradesh for the first time and being held in India after 32 years. It is joint event of Union Ministry of External Affairs in partnership with the state Government of Madhya Pradesh. This edition of conference will host scholars from 39 countries who are going to discuss issues like Hindi in administration, foreign policy and law during the event. An exhibition showcasing assimilation of Hindi with modern techniques also has been set up at the conference venue. World Hindi Conference The First World Hindi Conference was organized in Nagpur by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. It was held from 10 to 12 January 1975. Since then every year 10th January is being observed as the World Hindi Day. In the first conference, then Prime Minister of Mauritius Seewoosagur Ramgoolam was Chief Guest and it was attended by 122 delegates from 30 countries. Ninth edition of World Hindi Conference was held in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2012.

Foreign direct investment

The Union Cabinet has allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) under the automatic route for white label ATM operations (WLAO). Decision in this regard was taken in Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. This decision will expedite and ease FDI inflows in WLAO further giving a fillip to the government’s ambitious effort to promote financial inclusion in the country, including the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY). Prior this approval, foreign investment in WLAO was allowed through the government approval route which required some processing time and projects were delayed. White labeled ATMs Private non-bank companies that own and operate their own brand of ATMs are termed as White labeled ATMs. They were meant to expand the reach of ATMs in Tier III to VI centres. As per RBI guidelines, it is mandatory to non-bank companies owning white labelled ATMs to provide banking services to customers based on cards (credit/debit/prepaid) issued by banks.

Banned the gutka, pan masala

Haryana government has completely banned the gutka, pan masala and other similar products containing tobacco in the state for one year from September 3, 2015. In this regard State Food and Drugs Administration has issued notification in the interest of public health. The ban includes manufacturing, distribution, storage and sale of gutka, pan masala, flavoured or scented tobacco, kharra and other similar products containing tobacco. The ban also includes mix of other ingredients such as heavy metals and anti-caking agents. These substances were banned due to presence of Nicotine which already has been added by state government in the list of poisons substances notified under Haryana Poison Possession and Sales Rules, 1966. Addition of Nicotine in this list means that it is mandatory to follow the same rules which were applicable on those indulged in possession and sales of already notified poisons.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited

State owed telecom service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has decided to upgrade Broadband speed to minimum 2 Mbps in the country. It was announced by Union Information Technology (IT) Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad at a function held in Gurgaon, Haryana. The speed will be at no additional cost for all its existing Broadband customers from 1 October 2015 from existing speed plans of 512 Kbps & 1 Mbps. Besides, BSNL is also going of free night calling services from its landline to all operator networks and free incoming roaming services for its mobile customers. BSNL Broadband services BSNL was the first telecom service provider in the country to provide the Broadband Access to the country. In 2005, it had launched the Broadband services in urban as well as Rural areas over its landline with minimum speed of 256kbps and above over the Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) based IP infrastructure. Since then, BSNL has constantly is increasing the broadband speed in urban as well as rural areas to meet minimum speed and quality requirements envisaged in New Telecom Policy 2012. Presently, BSNL has Broadband customer base of around 10 Million including about 1.1 Mn. Rural customers.

Shaheen (Eagle)-4 i

China and its strategic partner Pakistan have launched a joint air exercise called Shaheen (Eagle)-4 in China. It is fourth edition of air exercise between the air forces of both countries which was launched as part of a series of military exchange programmes between two countries. In this edition of exercise, Chinese contingent was represented by fighter jets, fighter bombers and early warning planes. Pakistani counterpart included fighter jets and early warning planes. Chinese air force by this joint air exercise is willing to expand the scope of cooperation with various countries in the region. The first edition of such joint air drill between both countries took place in Pakistan in March 2011. Late in September 2013 the second drill took place in China’s western Xinjiang Uygur region and third drill again took in Pakistan’s Punjab province in May 2014.

Teachers Day

Every year in India 5th September is being observed as National Teachers Day. Significance of Day: This day commemorates the birthday of India’s first Vice President and second President Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. This year’s celebration: On occasion of National Teachers Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi releasesed commemorative coins of 125 rupees and 10 rupees denomination in honour of former President S Radhakrishnan. About Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born on 5 September 1888 in Thiruttani in then Madras Presidency of British India. He was an Indian philosopher and statesman and one the best known scholars in the field of comparative religion and philosophy in India in the 20th century. He had tremendously contributed towards the new contemporary Hindu identity in the eyes of the ill-informed Westeners. He held great respect for teachers and always believed that  teachers are real nation builders and thus should always be the best minds in the country. Important Posts: First Vice President of India (in office from 1952–1962), Second President of India (in office from 1962 to 1967). Awards: He was honoured with Bharat Ratna (1954), British Royal Order of Merit (1963) etc. Note: He was first recipient Bharat Ratna, India highest civilian award along with politician C. Rajagopalachari, scientist C. V. Raman.

LAPAN A2/ Orari

India will launch Indonesia’s second multi-spectral remote sensing satellite LAPAN A2/Orari. The satellite will be launched by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh on September 27, 2015. About LAPAN A2/Orari satellite It is Indonesia’s domestically-made satellite and is successor to LAPAN A1/Tubsat satellite. It was produced entirely by the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN) of Indonesia in 2012. Satellite on its board is equipped with an automatic packet reporting system to aid disaster mitigation especially for monitoring floods, changes in the sea level and movements of the population. It will orbit the Earth along the equator with an altitude of 650 kilometers. It will encircle the Earth 14 times a day and travel at 7.5 kilometers per second. Functions: It will work to monitor land usage, ship movements, sea resources, fishing explorations, natural resource and disaster mitigation.

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West-Central Railway (WCR) zone headquartered in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh has become the first Railway Zone in Indian Railways to eliminate all unmanned level crossings. The target was achieved after all 118 unmanned level crossings of WCR zone were eliminated in phase manner by August 31, 2015. 80 crossings were eliminated in the financial year 2014-15 and the remaining 38 crossings were eliminated in August 2015. This target was achieved by constructing 33 Limited Height Sub Ways (LHs) and manning of 30 level crossings. It is a being considered as a big success in the safety initiative of Indian Railways as unmanned railway crossings continue to remain a deathtrap in India as alone it had killed 126 people in 2014-15. Elimination all unmanned level crossings Union Railway Ministry has taken a series of safety steps to prevent accidents at these unmanned railway crossings. Indian Railways have around 30,348 level crossings, out of which 11,563 i.e. nearly 40 per cent, are unmanned. Some of the safety initiatives include closing of many crossings, construction of rail overbridge and rail underbridge. At certain places Gate Mitra and Gate Counsellors are also deployed. Indian Railways is also planning to tie up with India Space Research Organistion (ISRO) to safety crossing system using Geo-spatial technologies. These technologies will include combination of Global Positioning System (GPS), Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing in order to send mobile message alerts to people in vicinity of an unmanned level crossing.