DAILY G.A UPDATE : 19-11-2016
1. Priyanka bags People's Choice Awards nomination for 2nd time
1. Priyanka bags People's Choice Awards nomination for 2nd time
After winning favourite actress award for "Quantico" last year, actress Priyanka Chopra has won the second consecutive nomination at People's Choice Awards 2017.
Last year, the "Barfi" actress won the 'Favourite Actress in a new TV Series' award in debut year of her thriller series, "Quantico". She became the first South Asian actress in history to win a People's Choice Award, a press release issued here has said.
Now, the 34-year-old actress has been nominated for Favourite dramatic TV actresses by her fans across the globe for the second season of her American series.
She is up against Ellen Pompeo, Kerry Washington, Taraji P Henson and Viola Davis in the category.
The "Bajirao Mastani" actress became a household name in the US with her hit TV show "Quantico".
The award ceremony will take place in January 2017.
2. Trump picks Flynn as NSA, Pompeo to head CIA
US President-elect Donald Trump announced key Cabinet picks with the influential post of National Security Adviser going to his trusted military adviser Lt Gen (rtd) Michael Flynn while Congressman Mike Pompeo was selected to head the powerful CIA.
Trump also announced that he intends to nominate Senator Jeff Sessions to serve as Attorney General.
Sessions has a distinguished legal career and has served as both the US Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama and Alabama Attorney General prior to his service in the US Senate.
He has been one of President-elect Trump's trusted advisors on the campaign and will now continue his service as nation's chief law enforcement officer, Trump's transition team said.
Flynn, a retired United States Army Lieutenant General and former director of the Defence Intelligence Agency, assumes the position of National Security Advisor with a decorated career of more than 35 years in service.
Pompeo, representing Kansas' Fourth Congressional District, is a former active duty cavalry officer in the US Army and graduated first in his class from the US Military Academy at West Point.
He currently serves on the House Intelligence Committee, which oversees America's intelligence-gathering efforts.
3. Ami Bera re-elected to US Congress for 3rd consecutive time
Ami Bera, the only Indian- American in the current Congress, has been re-elected to the US House of Representatives for the third consecutive time after defeating his Republican rival.
Bera, 51, would be joined by three first-time Indian- American lawmakers in the US House of Representatives -- Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois, Pramila Jayapal from Washington State and Ro Khanna from California.
He defeated Republican Sacramento County sheriff Scott Jones.
This is for the first time that the House would have four Indian-American members.
Bera was projected to be declared elected after Sacramento County Registrar of Votes announced the latest update of its counting of votes.
According to this, Bera's lead over his Republican rival Scott Jones grew to more than two per cent, with129,064 votes to 123,056 in the Congressional Seventh District of California.
With Bera's victory, he ties the record of the most consecutive terms served by an Indian-American in Congress, previously held by Congressman Dalip Singh Saund,who served three terms from 1957-1963.
In both 2012 and 2014, Bera won by 9,191 and 1,455 votes respectively, after several days of counting.
In the run up to the polls, Bera was endorsed by US President Barack Obama.
In 2012, Bera led Republican Dan Lungren by 184 votes the morning after Election Day, and his lead eventually grew to 9,191 votes.
In 2014, Bera was down by more than 3,000 votes on election night, and he came back to win by 1,455 votes.
Saund was the first Indian-American elected to the US Congress. He represented the 29th Congressional District of California for three terms from January 3, 1957 to January 3, 1963.
4. Heart surgeon credited with world's 1st dies in US
Denton Cooley, a renowned heart surgeon who performed world's first artificial heart transplant in the US, has passed away at the age of 96.
Cooley, who was the founder of Texas Heart Institute, pioneered many techniques still used in cardiovascular surgery
He and his teams also performed more than 118,000 open-heart operations
Former President George H W Bush said in a statement: Barbara and I join the thousands of Houstonians, Americans, and admirers around the world who today are mourning the loss of a true giant, Denton Cooley.
DAILY G.A UPDATE : 18-11-2016
1. Haley elected Vice Chair of Republican Governors Association
Indian-American South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has been elected Vice Chair of the powerful Republican Governors Association.
44-year-old Haley’s elevation to this position came amid reports that she is being considered for the position of secretary of state by President-elect Donald Trump.
After the November 8 general elections, Republican Governors are now in charge of 33 States, something that has not happened in 94 years.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was elected Chair and Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, Vice Chair of the Republican Governors Association (RGA) for the year 2017.
2. India ranks 20th in Climate Change Performance Index
India has been ranked 20th in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2017, which underlined that countries like India are making "great efforts" in the fields of renewables and energy efficiency.
With the historic Paris Agreement having recently entered into force, the latest CCPI confirms a boost for renewable energy and positive developments in energy efficiency.
The publication was issued by German watch and Climate Action Network Europe.
While these encouraging trends are happening on a global scale, the necessary energy revolution is still happening too slowly, it said.
"Morocco (rank 8), this year’s host of COP22 continued its upward trend in the CCPI 2017. With massive investments in renewable energy and ambitious mid- and long-term targets, Morocco is a frontrunner in Africa.
"Positive trends are seen as well among emerging economies of the G20 like India (rank 20), Argentina (rank 36) and Brazil (40) which all improved their ranking in the CCPI 2017," it said.
3. Commerce Minister launches portal for facilitating Indo-Iran trade
The Commerce Ministry launched a portal to provide relevant information and an e-marketplace for buyers and sellers of India and Iran.
The move would help in enhancing bilateral trade between the two countries.
"The Hind-Iran portal (hindirantrade.org) is a joint initiative of STC and Douman Queshm, Iran," the Ministry said in a statement.
"The objective of the trade portal is to disseminate information relevant to Indo-Iran Trade, and provide an e-marketplace for the buyers and sellers of the two countries," it said.
It is also aimed at bridging the communication divide which the business communities face.
The portal was launched by Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce, Inder Jit Singh in the presence of Ambassador of Iran, Gholamreza Ansari and STC CMD Khaleel Rahim.
The two-way trade between the countries declined to USD 9 billion in 2015-16 from USD 13.13 billion in the previous fiscal.
4. India comes in at 25 among 27 pension systems globally
According to Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index (MMGPI) 2016, India has been ranked at a low 25 among 27 pension systems globally while Denmark maintained the top position for the fifth year. Netherlands and Australia have taken second and third slots, respectively.
According to MMGPI 2016, India showed maximum improvement in global pension and its index value has improved to 43.4 in 2016 from 40.3 in 2015.
Ageing populations, declining birth rates and lack of robust retirement systems will see many countries struggle under the burden of providing adequate pensions to their senior citizens without drastic action, the survey stated. "New initiatives by the Government of India in providing tax incentives under the National Pension System both during accumulation stage and withdrawal at retirement are increasing its popularity among employees in the corporate sector," said Anil Lobo, India Business Leader-Retirement, Mercer. Further, Atal Pension Yojana (APY), which was launched in 2015 has also contributed to increase in coverage for pension among workers in the unorganised sector, Lobo added. As per the report, possible measures to further enhance India’s system include increasing coverage of pension arrangements for the unorganised working class and introducing minimum access age so that it is clear that benefits are preserved for retirement purposes. It suggested other measures such as improving regulatory requirements for the private pension system, continuing to improve the required level of communication to members and increasing level of contributions in statutory pension schemes.
5. Hollande awards France's Legion of Honour to U.N.'s Ban Ki-moon
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon received the Legion of Honour from French President Francois Hollande for his contributions to tackling climate change.
The South Korean diplomat helped push through the 2015 Paris Agreement, a deal aimed at moving away from fossil fuels to cleaner energies that was signed by almost 200 countries after nearly two decades of negotiations.
"It was largely because of your contribution, because many years ago you started putting this topic on all the agendas," Holland said at the ceremony of Ban's efforts.
The Legion of Honour was established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte and is considered to be one of France's highest civilian awards.
"By doing this you are rewarding our honorable organization and I feel deeply honored and proud," said Ban, who will step down as head of the 193-member world organization after 10 years on Jan 1. He will be replaced by Antonio Guterres of Portugal.
6. Federal Bank ties up with Oxigen for cash management services
Federal Bank has tied up with Oxigen to expand the bank's e-collection facility to the latter's nearly 2 lakh-plus retail outlets.
Federal Bank has tied up with Oxigen to expand the bank's e-collection facility to the latter's nearly 2 lakh-plus retail outlets.
With this arrangement, which will initially be valid for one year, all the two-lakh plus retail outlets of Oxigen will be able to remit their cash collection at Federal Bank branches pan-India.
The private sector bank will leverage their e-collection platform to validate the details of the outlets on a real-time basis before accepting the payment. This tie-up would help the outlets replenish their running limits on-the-spot, enabling them to continue to serve customers hassle-free.
The agreement was exchanged between Shalini Warrier, Chief Operating Officer, Federal Bank, and Pramod Saxena, Founder and Chairman of Oxigen, in the Capital on Thursday.
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