Top features of INS Kochi from Kolkata class Guided Missile Destroyer

The Indian Navy is all set to welcome INS Kochi, a second ship of the Kolkata-class Guided Missile Destroyer, in its contingent on September 30.

Here are the top features of The indigenously-designed ship.

Pictorial warnings on tobacco products to get bigger

Pictorial health warning on packages of tobacco products will become bigger from April 1 next year.

A notification to this effect was issued on Monday by the Health Ministry, saying that all tobacco products would carry warnings covering 85 per cent of the package area from April 1 next year, up from 40 per cent at present.

This came a day before a hearing on this matter is scheduled to take place in the Rajasthan High Court.

The Rajasthan High Court had on September 9 ordered the Centre to ensure that larger pictorial warnings are carried on all tobacco products by September 29.

He said that the Ministry will seek six months as the producers of the products need to make adjustments to their products.

Hardik Patel to launch new party on 30^th September

Hardik Patel, the man leading an agitation demanding reservation for the Patel community in Gujarat, will launch a political party � the Patel Nav Nirman Sena (PNNS) � in New Delhi on September 30. On the occasion, the party will also hold its first national executive meeting with Mr. Patel as its president.

Akhilesh Katiyar, who handles Mr. Patel's engagements in Delhi, will be the general secretary. He was earlier with the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), led by Upendra Kushwaha, but was asked to leave after it was discovered that he was Mr. Patel's point man in Delhi. Mr. Patel himself stopped over in Delhi on Monday, en route to Gujarat from Jharkhand, but remained confined to his south Delhi hotel.

India signs deal with Boeing to purchase Apache, Chinook helicopters

A few hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama met in New York, the two sides signed final agreements for the purchase of two of the most advanced American helicopters in a deal worth about $3 billion.

Ministry of Defence spokesperson Sitanshu Kar announced on his official Twitter handle: “Contract for purchase of 15 Chinook and 22 Apache helicopters signed.” Just an hour after the official announcement, Mr. Modi and Mr. Obama met in New York with a warm hug.

According to officials, the deal value is worth about $3 billion (Rs 19,800 crore) and would be completed in four years. The agreements were signed in the headquarters of the Ministry of Defence in South Block.

For the Chinook helicopters, the agreement was signed between representatives of MoD and Boeing. For Apache, there were two separate contracts �one between MoD and Boeing representatives and the other between the governments to cover parts of the deal under the Foreign Military Sales programme.

Like the agreement signing on Monday, the deal itself was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security just moments before Mr. Modi left on his visit of Ireland and the U.S. last Tuesday. The deal had been on the backburner for the past five years.

The contracts mark yet another significant step in rapidly expanding military ties between the two sides that would be discomforting to China, while drawing the contours of a broader coalition emerging in the region. Unlike the previous UPA government, which was reluctant to be seen to be doing U.S. bidding in the region, the Modi government has been receptive to U.S. deals and joint exercises. In a first, the latest Malabar exercise between the U.S. and India has been expanded to include Japan.

India an easy country to settle in for expats: HSBC Survey

India is seen as an easy country to settle in for expatriates, according to a HSBC survey. The survey shows that more than 62 per cent of expats in the country feel at home within the first year as compared to the global average of just 48 per cent.

 One of the major reasons for this, the survey points out, is the support expats receive from their employers.

As per the survey, India features among the top 10 destinations for expats in terms of 'family aspects of living' in the adopted country and 58 per cent of them believe the country is getting better as a place to live and work.  One of the biggest challenges for expats in India is integrating into the Indian culture, with almost a quarter (24 per cent) finding it difficult to do so, compared with the global average of 18 per cent.

 In the HSBC 'Expat Explorer 2015' survey, India ranked 10th on the family league table, which ranks each country using a score that summarises the expats' views concerning the family aspects of living in the adopted country.

Meanwhile, Singapore emerged as the best place overall for expats to enjoy an excellent quality of life, financial wellbeing and improved career prospects. New Zealand was ranked as second best, followed by Sweden and Bahrain in the third and fourth place respectively.

Others in the top 10 include Germany (5th), Canada (6th), Australia (7th), Taiwan (8th), UAE (9th) and Switzerland (10th). India ranked 17th on the country league table considering all parameters like economics, experiences and family.

Mumbai Central to be first station to get Google's wi-fi network

RailTel Corporation of India, a PSU under the Ministry of Railways, said that it has partnered with Google to set up a high-speed Wi-Fi network at 400 stations across the country.

As a part of this engagement, Mumbai Central is the first station where the Wi-Fi design prototype is being set up and validated and is expected ready for public use by mid October, RailTel said in a statement.

The Wi-Fi will be free for first 30 minutes over a 24 hour period. The Wi-Fi will be a high-speed network capable of delivering HD video streaming services and passengers will be able to download a movie in 4 minutes before they embark on long journeys, it added.

FMC merges with SEBI

his is the first major case of two regulators being merged, as against the relatively more frequent practice worldwide of creating new regulatory authorities.

In the first ever merger of two regulators, over 60-year-old commodities regulatory body Forward Markets Commission (FMC) today merged with the capital markets watchdog SEBI with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley ringing the customary stock market bell to formalise the amalgamation.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman U K Sinha said that the commodities market entities would get a timeframe of up to one year to adjust to the new regulations as they would have to follow the same norms that are applicable to their peers in the equity segment.

“In order to ensure that nothing is disrupted, there is no discontinuity... We are giving some timeframe so that they can adjust with the new regulations,” Sinha said.

The SEBI chief also said that the entire process has “all been very well thought out” and the regulator has also brought out a handbook for the benefit of all entities by making them aware about various rules and regulations.

SEBI's Whole-Time Member Rajeev Kumar Agarwal would oversee the commodities market regulation in the merged entity under the overall guidance of the SEBI Chairman.

At the event, Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said, "Unleashing the process of reforms is a continuous process. We don't wait for the Budget."

SEBI was set up in 1988 as a non-statutory body for regulating the securities markets, while it became an autonomous body in 1992 with fully independent powers.

FMC, on the other hand, has been regulating commodities markets since 1953, but lack of powers has led to wild fluctuations and alleged irregularities remaining untamed in this market segment.

The commodities market has been known to be more prone to speculative activities compared to the better-regulated stock market, while illegal activities like 'dabba trading' have also been more frequent in this segment.

Besides, the high-profile NSEL scam has rocked this market in the recent past and the subsequent regulatory and government interventions in this case eventually led to the government announcing FMC's merger with SEBI.

The announcement for the merger was made by the Finance Minister in his Budget speech earlier this year and he rung the customary bell today to formalise the merger.

This is the first major case of two regulators being merged, as against the relatively more frequent practice worldwide of creating new regulatory authorities, including by carving out new bodies from the existing entities.

At present, there are three national and six regional bourses for commodity futures in the country.

Together, all the exchanges clocked a turnover of nearly Rs 60 lakh crore in 2014�15, from over Rs 101 lakh crore in the previous fiscal.

Ronaldo to open 30 soccer schools in China

Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo announced on 28^th September that he will open 30 soccer schools in China and train Chinese youngsters with his special method.

When attending the opening ceremony of his soccer school in Campinas of Sao Paulo state, Ronaldo showed his optimism towards Chinese soccer market, and hoped his understanding of soccer could help China improve its soccer level.

Tendulkar lends voice to Swachh Bharat anthem

The anthem song written by lyricist Prasoon Joshi will also feature a video being produced by Mukesh Bhatt.

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has lent his voice to Swachh Bharat anthem, created under a government initiative to make the “Clean India” campaign a public movement.

The anthem, composed by musical trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and sung by Shankar Mahadevan and others, will be released on October 2, marking one year of the launch of Swachh Bharat campaign on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary.

Celebrities have come together to create a Swachh Bharat anthem aimed at enthusing and inspiring citizens to join hands in realising the collective dream of a "clean India", said a senior Urban Development Ministry official.