Current Affairs Sep 15, 2015

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1. SriLanka plans new statute to redress Tamils’ grievances: The best guarantee for non-recurrence [of violence] is, of course, a political settlement that addresses the grievances of the Tamil people. We hope we can achieve this through the adoption of a new Constitution. A Constituent Assembly of Parliament will be set up for this purpose shortly. It would take into account the right of victims to “a fair remedy” and address the problem of impunity for human rights violations suffered by all communities.

2. SriLankan PM reaches India: SriLankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe arrived in India on a three-day official visit, his first trip abroad after he assumed office last month.

3. World Bank ranks Gujarat as most investor-friendly State: It is expected that investments will begin to flow to States that make it easier to do business, seeing which the low-rank States could be encouraged to take up reforms,” said former CII president Sunil Munjal at the release of the report.

4. Nepal stays secular, rejects plan to make nation Hindu: Nepal’s Constituent Assembly rejected calls to revert the Himalayan nation to a Hindu state during voting on a draft of the country’s long-delayed new Constitution, sparking violent protests.

5. U.N. motion raises India’s hope for permanent Security Council seat: In the first concrete step towards negotiations for India’s hopes of an expanded U.N. Security Council (UNSC), the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution to use a text as the basis for discussions on the issue over the next year.

6. WPI contraction spurs deflation fears: Inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) decelerated for the tenth consecutive month, and was -4.95 per cent in August compared with -4.05 per cent in July. At the same time, consumer price inflation for August slowed down marginally to 3.66 per cent from 3.69 per cent in July.

7. Centre imposes 20 per cent safeguard duty on select steel products: Safeguard duty is a WTO-compatible temporary measure that is brought in for a certain timeframe to avert any damage to a country’s domestic industry from cheap imports

8. RBI cancels certificate of registration of Sahara India: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) 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.

9. Mahindra Group enters e-commerce space: 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.

10. Djokovic 10 and counting: Novak Djokovic of Serbia holds up the U.S. Open trophy after defeating Roger Federer of Switzerland in their men's singles final match at the U.S. Open Championships tennis tournament in New York.

11. India's hopes for Security Council seat get a boost: General Assembly Agrees to Adopt Negotiating Text: India's goal of becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council took a significant step forward with the UN general assembly agreed to adopt a negotiating text for UNSC reforms amid protests from China, Russia and Pakistan.