News Roundup - 17 October 2014

1. Former IMF economist Arvind Subramanian appointed as the Chief Economic Adviser and Rajasthan cadre IAS officer Rajiv Mehrishi appointed as the finance secretary. The medium term fiscal policy envisages a progressive reduction of the deficit to three per cent of the GDP by 2016-17.
2. The report of the Justice B.K. Somasekhara Commission of Inquiry that probed the 2008 church attacks in Mangalore was rejected by the State Cabinet. Besides giving a clean chit to the then BJP government, the report had exonerated the Hindutva organisations after referring to their involvement in its interim report. Law Minister T.B. Jayachandra said it was unacceptable that a judicial commission in its final report contradicts the findings of its interim report. The Opposition BJP said the government was politicising an old issue.
3. Satya Nadella, the Indian-American CEO of Silicon Valley giant Microsoft, has expressed regret in an internal memo for a remark that he made one week ago suggesting that women employees should rely on good karma rather than asking for a pay raise.
4. Vanita Gupta (39), an Indian-American attorney has been appointed to a senior role in the US Department of Justice’s Civil Rights division.
5. Sanjaya Rajaram awarded the World Food Prize in recognition of his significant contributions to global wheat production. He has developed some 480 wheat varieties that have been released in 51 countries across six continents and an estimated 58 million hectares. It has helped secure a 1.3 per cent rise in global wheat production per annum in the last four decades.
6. The Sri Lankan government has expressed concern after European Union (EU) judges struck down anti-terrorism sanctions imposed on the LTTE. The EU had proscribed the LTTE as a terrorist organisation in May 2006. Apart from the EU, the LTTE is proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the USA, India, Canada, the U.K. and Sri Lanka.
7. The creation of an Agra-Lucknow-Varanasi “heritage arc”, setting up a Mughal museum in Agra, organising travel marts and reducing value added tax (VAT) on aviation turbine fuel marked the newest attempts to promote tourism in Uttar Pradesh.
8. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday unveiled new measures for the youth, workers and employers to improve ease of doing business for enterprises while expanding government support for training workers. Mr. Modi also launched the Universal Account Number scheme (UAN) for all Provident Fund contributors which will allow portability and online tracking of PF benefits.
9. Canadian firm Novadaq Technologies inked an exclusive distribution pact with Kirloskar Technologies Private Ltd for distribution of  fluorescence imaging technologies in India. T
10. Ranbaxy Laboratories, agreed to pay $39.75 million to settle litigation concerning its participation in Texas Medicaid, the U.S. federal-state healthcare program for people with low incomes. The litigation related to the manner in which Ranbaxy historically reported pricing data to Texas Medicaid for some drugs, Ranbaxy said in a statement.
11. Exports of leather and leather products increased by 22 per cent to $3.488 billion in the first six months of the current financial year from $2.869 billion in the same months in the previous year.
12. The Exim Bank of India aims to boost project exports to over $50 billion from the current levels of $27 billion in the next five years through its innovative initiatives and by leveraging the increasing opportunities in Asia and Africa.
13. Google unveiled new Android software, to be dubbed ‘Lollipop’.  
14. ISRO to launch GSLV Mark III. The GSLV Mark III will help ISRO put heavier communication satellites of INSAT-4 class into orbit. These satellites weigh anywhere between 4,500-5,000 kg. The vehicle is 42.4 metre tall compared to the other GSLV which is 49 metre. It will be a three-stage vehicle. The vehicle envisages multi-mission launch capability for GTO (geo transfer orbit), LEO (low earth orbit), Polar and intermediate circular orbits.
15. The Indo-Russian BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, whose Block-III variant has perfected a surgical strike capability, is set to further expand its target engagement envelope by attaining a ‘near vertical dive capability’ to shock the enemy hidden behind mountains. 

Credits: The Hindu, Google