Former Indian ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad was on 29 September 2015 appointed as the Director General of Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), the prestigious New Delhi-based think tank on strategic affairs.
IDSA was established in New Delhi on 11 November 1965 as an autonomous body to promote national and international security through generation and dissemination of knowledge on defence and security-related issues.
Union Government on 29 September 2015 announced that four brand ambassadors for Digital India programme were appointed.
The appointments were took place in the first week of July 2015 as part of the Digital India Week campaign.
List of Brand Ambassadors
• Satwat Jagwani, All India IIT-JEE —Advanced Topper -2015 (Student)
• Krati Tiwari, All India IIT-JEE —Advanced Girl Topper -2015 (Student)
• Ankit Fadia, Author & Ethical Hacker
• Pranav Mistry, Samsung USA (Computer Scientist & Author of 6th Sense)
The International Translation Day was observed across the world on 30 September 2015 with the theme The Changing Face of Translation and Interpreting.
Established by the International Federation of Translators (FIT), the annual celebration of the International Translation Day is an opportunity to pay tribute to the work of translators who endeavour to make the world a slightly smaller place by breaking down language barriers.
The book titled Hungry Bengal. War, Famine, Riots and the End of Empire authored by Janam Mukherjee was in news in fourth week of September 2015.The book Hungry Bengal highlights the tumultuous period in the history of Bengal before the independence and after partition of India. It says that Bengal represented both as a major front in the Indian struggle against colonial rule, as well as a crucial front in the British/American conflict with Japan during World War II.
It tells that there are three major crises that shaped the social, economic and political context of pre-partition Bengal and they were
• The Second World War
• The Bengal famine of 1943
• The Calcutta riots of 1946
Indian Navy has commissioned INS Kochi, a Kolkata-class Guided Missile Destroyer in its contingent to showcase India’s indigenous efforts in the field of underwater warfare. The ship was commissioned by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in Mumbai. It is a second ship of the three ships Kolkata-class Guided Missile Destroyer to be inducted. Earlier in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had commissioned INS Kolkata. The third and last ship of Kolkata-class Guided Missile Destroyer INS Chennai is expected to join Indian Navy in 2016.
Prince Charles of Britain on 28 September 2015 awarded Indo-British van driver Dee Patel with the Pride of Britain Award. Patel had risked his life to save others.
The Pride of Britain Awards was founded by Peter Willis in 1999.The award is given to British people who have shown immense bravery in the hours of crisis.
The awards are organised in association with the Daily Mirror, Lidl, Good Morning Britain and The Prince’s Trust.
Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) on 28 September 2015 set up its first 10 MW solar power plant at Neyveli. It is the first renewable energy project of the corporation.
The plant spread on 54 acres was installed by the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) at a cost of 74.60 crore rupees.
The World Heart Day was celebrated on 29 September 2015 across the world with creating heart-healthy environments.
The purpose of the day is to ensure people participation across the globe in the world’s biggest intervention against cardiovascular disease (CVD).
World Heart Day was founded in 2000 to inform people around the globe that heart disease and stroke are the world’s leading causes of death, claiming 17.3 million lives annually.
WHF is a Geneva-based non-governmental agency committed to fight heart related health risks across the world.
The Maharashtra government on 28 September 2015 declared the year 2017 as the Visit Maharashtra Year to promote tourism in the state and thus to attract more tourists. The government also launched international tourism promotion project Maharashtra International Travel Mart 2015 (MITM).
M.R. Poovamma and Babita Kumari have been conferred with prestigious Arjuna Award 2015 for their individual achievements in sports. The award was presented to them by Union Minister of State (MoS) for Youth affairs and Sports Sarbananda Sonowal in New Delhi. M.R. Poovamma has been conferred with this award for her contributions in Athletics and Babita Kumari in the field of Wrestling. Arjuna Award was instituted in 1961. Given by Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to sportsperson in recognition of their outstanding achievement in National sports. Award carries: Bronze statuette of Arjuna, a scroll and a monetary award of 5 lakh rupees.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reduced the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 50 basis points from 7.25 per cent to 6.75 per cent with immediate effect. It was announced in the recently released fourth bi-monthly policy of RBI since January 2015. Policy repo rate under the LAF: Reduced by the 50 basis points from 7.25 per cent to 6.75 per cent.
India’s ace shooter Gurpreet Singh has won silver medal at 2015 Asian Air Gun Championship held in New Delhi. In the finals of 10 metre Air Pistol event, Gurpreet shot a tally of 197.6 to stand second on the podium. India’s Jitu Rai finished at third position wining bronze medal in this event.
A leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, Wipro Limited on 28 September 2015 was selected as member of the global Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) - 2015 for the sixth consecutive year.
Wipro is a member of DJSI World and Emerging Markets Indices.
Indian Government in conjunction with ICT Authority of Kenya, India’s Telecom Export Promotion Council (TEPC) and National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) on 28 September 2015 launched the 1st Indo-Africa ICT Expo in KICC, Nairobi.
New findings from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)provide a strong evidence that liquid water flows intermittently on the present-day Mars. The findings were published in the journal Nature Geoscience on 28 September 2015.
Hoping Stone Lyngdoh, Meghalaya’s oldest and longest serving legislator, passed away on 26 September 2015 in Shillong. At the time of his death, he represented the Nongstoin constituency of West Khasi Hills district in the state legislative Assembly. He was also the president of the Hill State Peoples Democratic Party. Before the formation of Meghalaya, he was a legislator in the united Assam legislative assembly also.
One of the fastest bowlers of all time, former England cricketer Frank Tyson died on 27 September 2015 in Australia. Nicknamed Typhoon, Tyson emigrated to Australia in 1960. Between 1954 and 1959, he played only 17 Tests for England, but captured 76 wickets at an average of 18.56. He was also declared as a Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World in 1955.
Indian Space Research Orgnaisation (ISRO) on 28 September 2015 launched India’s first dedicated satellite for astronomy research, named ASTROSAT. The satellite was launched from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh at 10 am by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C30). PSLV-C30 is the tenth flight of PSLV in its 'XL' Configuration. It was launched after the end of its 50-hour long countdown for its launch which began on 26 September 2015 at 8am.
Mathematician Jacob Tsimerman of the University of Toronto, Canada on 28 September 2015 was chosen for the prestigious 2015 SASTRA Ramanujan Prize.
Tsimerman is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the University of Toronto. He primarily conducts research in Number Theory.
Founded by Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy (SASTRA) University in 2005 after the name of the genius mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, the SASTRA Ramanujan Prize is awarded every year to a young mathematician.
The age limit for the prize is 32 years as Ramanujan died at 32. The current prize money for the award is 10000 US Dollars.
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CSIR-CIMAP), Lucknow on 26 September 2015 won the CSIR Award for S&T Innovations for Rural Development (CAIRD) 2014.
CSIR-CIMAP was awarded for enhancing incomes of farm communities through Vetiver based Technological Interventions. The award was announced on the occasion of CSIR Foundation Day by the DG, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Dr. Girish Sahni.
The award was instituted by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in the year 2006 to recognize and honour S&T innovations that have helped transform the lives of rural people.
Internet search engine giant Google on 27 September 2015 announced its tie-up with Indian Railways that will provide free Wi-Fi facilities to 400 stations. The Wi-Fi facilities will be provided under Project Nilgiri . The plan will initially start with 100 busiest railway stations. Later, the facility will be extended to the remaining stations.
Renowned Hindi poet Viren Dangwal passed away in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. Viren Dangwal was born 1947 in Kirtinagar, Uttaranchal. He was one of the leading Hindi poets. He had published three collections of poetry namely Isi Dushchakra Mein Srashta, Duniya Mein and Siyahi Taal. Awards: HIs famous poem collection Dushchakra me Shrista had earned him prestigious Sahitya Academy award in 2004. He was also bestowed with Shrikant Verma Puraskar, Raghuvir Sahay Samman and Shamsher Samman.
President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed Governor of Meghalaya V. Shanmuganathan to discharge the functions of the Governor of Manipur. He was given additional charge of Manipur after previous Governor Dr. Syed Ahmed passed away. V Shanmuganthan is a prolific writer and had written three books related to culture and social aspects in Tamil. It should be noted that Article 153 of Constitution says that there shall be Governor for each state. But the 7th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1956 has facilitated the appointment of the same person as a governor for two or more states.
Union Government has inked a loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for US 123.51 million dollars for Infrastructure Development Investment Program. The 3 tranche loan will be used for upgrading tourism infrastructure and services in three states Punjab, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
India-Sri Lanka joint military exercise MITRA SHAKTI 2015 has begun at Aundh Military Station in Pune, Maharashtra. It is third edition of the joint training exercise between both countries that seeks to build Military to Military co-operation and interoperability.