IISc, IIT-D in top 200 rankings

MIT and Harvard hold the top two positions in the world university rankings

India has made its debut in the Quacquarelli Symonds’ (QS) list of top 200 universities globally. The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D) have been placed 147 and 179 respectively in the QS World University Rankings for 2015-16, which has the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard at the top two positions.

While IIT-D has improved its position from the previous years’ rank of 235, IISC Bangalore is a new entry in the ranking list. None of the Indian universities has made it to the QS’ top 200 in the previous editions.

After Rajasthan, Haryana sets norms for panchayat election contestants

After Rajasthan, Haryana has become the second BJP-ruled State to fix minimum educational qualifications for those contesting panchayat polls, thus excluding a vast swathe of the poor and socially disadvantaged from aspiring to becoming members of local bodies.

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the passage of a Haryana government sponsored-law by the Assembly. The Khattar government had pushed the legislation through even though a writ petition that had been filed against the ordinance issued earlier had been stayed by the Haryana and Punjab High Court.

SC seeks Centre’s response on Chief Ministers in govt. ads

The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Centre\'s response on pleas made by several State governments, including Tamil Nadu, to review its verdict banning the publication of photographs of Chief Ministers from government advertisements.

A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and P.C. Ghose also issued notice to NGO Common Cause, who had filed the original PIL, on the review petitions filed by the States.

The States argued that they enjoy autonomy in a federal structure of governance, and so, if the court can allow the Prime Minister\'s photographs to be published in government advertisements heralding new projects and welfare schemes, Chief Ministers too have every right to have their photos published.

The Supreme Court, in its May 13 judgment, had banned ruling parties from publishing photos of Chief Ministers of States, political leaders and politicians in government-funded advertisements, saying that it cannot allow them to use taxpayers’ money to build “personality cults”.

The apex court said such photos divert attention from the policy of the government, unnecessarily associate an individual with a government project and pave the way for cultivating a “personality cult”.

World Bank ranks Gujarat as most investor-friendly State

Gujarat has come out on top in the World Bank’s first ever ranking of States on the ease of doing business in India.

States were assessed on the implementation, over a six-month period from January to June, of a 98-point reforms agenda.

Chief Secretaries of States participating in the “Make in India” workshop inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi last December finalised this action plan on “Ease of Doing Business”.

It was decided later to evaluate States to assess progress by June 2015.

BJP-governed States dominate the top ranks. Gujarat implemented 71.14 per cent of the reforms, according to the assessment. Andhra Pradesh came second with a score of 70.12 per cent, Jharkhand third at 63.09 per cent, Chhattisgarh fourth with 62.45 per cent and Madhya Pradesh fifth with 62 per cent.

The largest recipients of foreign investments, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, are ranked eighth and twelfth with less than 50 per cent scores.

Hormusji N. Cama new PTI Chairman, Riyad Mathew vice-chairman

Hormusji N Cama, Director of Bombay Samachar and Riyad Mathew, Director of Malayala Manorama, were today unanimously elected Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively of the Press Trust of India.

Mr. Cama, whose daily is the oldest continuously-published newspaper in India from 1855, succeeds Mahendra Mohan Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of the Jagran Prakashan.

Mr. Mathew succeeds him as the Vice Chairman.

The election took place at a meeting of the Board of Directors following the Company’s 67th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in New Delhi.

Mr. Cama has served two terms as president of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) and is currently the Chairman of the Readership Studies Council of India apart from being on the Board of Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) and Council for Fair Business Practices. He has been member of the Press Council for two terms earlier and has again been nominated to the Council last year.

Mr. Mathew, who is also a Senior Assistant Editor of the Malayala Manorama, looks after the Week, one of India’s leading news magazines. He holds a masters degree in journalism from the University of Maryland and has worked as a correspondent with Associated Press (AP) in Washington.

Besides Mr. Cama, Mr. Mathew and Mr. Gupta, members of the PTI Board are:

K.N. Shanth Kumar (Deccan Herald), Vineet Jain (Times of India), Aveek Kumar Sarkar (Ananda Bazar Patrika), Viveck Goenka (Indian Express), N Ravi (The Hindu), M.P. Veerendra Kumar (Mathrubhumi), Sanjoy Narayan (Hindustan Times), Vijay Kumar Chopra (Hind Samachar) and R. Lakshmipathy (Dinamalar).

SpiceJet becomes first airline to make night landing at Port Blair

A milestone was achieved at Port Blair’s Veer Savarkar International Airport on Friday after a Kolkata flight of budget carrier SpiceJet made the first ever night landing by a civil airliner at the airport.

The successful operation of the flight SG-251 on September 11, 2015 at 6.10 pm, 50 minutes post-sunset, paves the way for similar flight movements after sunset. The airport was recently upgraded with improved runway, lighting and navigation systems to allow commercial night flying.

Flipkart opens fulfilment centre near Chennai

With this new centre in Kuthambakkam, Flipkart has a storage capacity of over 2.5 million cubic feet across the country.

E-commerce giant, Flipkart, opened its fulfilment centre near Chennai, taking its total warehouse strength in the country to 15.

Mahindra Group enters e-commerce space

To begin with, will offer a range of Mahindra products and services and has already started taking bookings for the newly introduced Mahindra TUV300

The $16.9 billion Mahindra Group has forayed into e-commerce space with the start of its online marketplace M2ALL.com. This venture will complement its existing sales and distribution network, top officials said.

RBI cancels certificate of registration of Sahara India

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 14^th September, cancelled the certificate of registration of Sahara India Financial Corporation Ltd, a non-banking financial company (NBFC). Following the move, the company cannot transact the business of a non-banking financial institution, RBI said in a release.

North Korea to launch satellites to mark party anniversary

North Korea said on Monday it is ready to launch satellites aboard long-range rockets to mark the ruling communist party’s anniversary next month, a move expected to rekindle animosities with its rivals South Korea and the United States.

A National Aerospace Development Administration director said the North has been making “shining achievements” in the space development field ahead of the 70th birthday of the Workers’ Party, saying scientists and technicians are pushing forward on a final development phase for a new earth observation satellite for weather forecasts.

Australian boxer dies after fight

Australian boxer Davey Browne Jr. has died of injuries suffered in Friday’s IBF super-featherweight regional title bout against Carlo Magali of the Philippines.

Browne, a 28-year-old father of two, was knocked out 30 seconds from the end of the final round of the 12-round bout. He regained consciousness but later collapsed and was rushed to Sydney’s Liverpool Hospital in critical condition, suffering from a brain injury.

Gigantic ice slab found on Mars just beneath surface

Researchers have discovered an enormous slab of ice just beneath the surface of Mars, measuring 130 feet thick and covering an area equivalent to that of California and Texas combined.

The ice may be the result of snowfall tens of millions of years ago on Mars, scientists said.

Malcolm Turnbull defeats Tony Abbott in party vote to become Australian PM

Australia’s new prime minister has a little over a year to resurrect the government’s fortunes, having ousted his predecessor in a late night ballot of party lawmakers. His task from day one is to fix an economy battered by the slowdown in China.

Former Cabinet minister Malcolm Turnbull, 60, emerged the victor late on 14^th September, after challenging Tony Abbott, 57, for the Liberal Party leadership, capping weeks of speculation that another Australian prime minister was about to be ousted by his own ranks.

With an election due by next year the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive must turn around the government’s poor ratings, caused by missteps by the combative and gaffe-prone Abbott. While he enjoys strong public support, Turnbull may struggle to reunite his party after a vote in which nearly half the lawmakers picked Abbott to stay, and with some senior ministers expected to step aside.