Nuclear sanctions lifted as Iran, U.S. agree on prisoner swap

Iran emerged from years of economic isolation on Saturday when world powers lifted crippling sanctions against the Islamic Republic in return for Tehran complying with a deal to curb its nuclear ambitions.
In a dramatic move scheduled to coincide with the scrapping of the sanctions, Tehran also announced the release of five Americans including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian as part of a prisoner swap with the United States.
Together, the lifting of sanctions and the prisoner deal considerably reduce the hostility between Tehran and Washington that has shaped the Middle East since Iran's Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Tens of billions of dollars worth of Iranian assets will now be unfrozen and global companies that have been barred from doing business there will be able to exploit a market hungry for everything from automobiles to airplane parts.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog ruled on Saturday that Iran had abided by an agreement last year with six world powers to curtail its nuclear programme, triggering the end of sanctions.
"Iran has carried out all measures required under the (July deal) to enable Implementation Day (of the deal) to occur," the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement.
Within minutes, the United States formally lifted banking, steel, shipping and other sanctions on Iran, a major oil producer which has been virtually shut out of international markets for the past five years.
The European Union also began the process of lifting sanctions and Iran's transport minister said Tehran plans to buy 114 civil aircraft from European aircraft maker Airbus.
The end of sanctions means more money and prestige for Shi'ite Muslim Iran as it becomes deeply embroiled in the sectarian conflicts of the Middle East, notably in the Syrian civil war where its allies are facing Sunni Muslim rebels.
America's thaw with Iran is viewed with deep suspicion by U.S. Republicans as well as American allies in the Middle East, including Israel and Saudi Arabia. U.S.-Iranian suspicion still remains deeply entrenched.
Washington maintains separate, less comprehensive sanctions on Iran over its missile programme. For its part, Iran detained 10 U.S. Navy sailors on two boats in the Gulf a week ago, although they were released the next day.

Russia elects new athletics chief to clean up sport

Russia's new athletics head said his priority was to ensure Russian sportsmen and women compete at the 2016 Olympics as the sport tries to tackle rampant doping.
"This is not an easy time for Russia, it is not an easy time for athletics," said Dmitry Shlyakhtin, who was elected as the new president of the Russian Athletics Federation (VFLA) on Saturday. "Going to the Olympic Games is task number one."
Russia was suspended from world athletics last year following allegations of widespread and state-sponsored doping in a report by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), igniting the country's biggest sporting scandal in several decades.
Senior officials at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) were also involved in conspiracies to cover up the extent of the doping and blackmail athletes, a second part of the WADA report revealed on Thursday.

Shlyakhtin, who is sports minister of Russia's Samara region, was elected unanimously by over 100 VFLA officials at the federation's conference in Moscow.

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said Shlyakhtin was an experienced organizer who could grapple with the challenges facing Russian sport.
"I hope he will be the candidate who can manage the task of restoring the lost position of our athletics," he was quoted as saying by Tass news agency.

Taiwan opposition wins presidency, China warns against independence move

Taiwan's independence-leaning opposition leader Tsai Ing-wen won a convincing victory in presidential elections on Saturday and pledged to maintain peace with giant neighbor China, which warned it would oppose any move towards independence.
Tsai, leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), will be thrust into one of Asia's toughest and most dangerous jobs, with China pointing hundreds of missiles at the island it claims, decades after losing Nationalists fled from Mao Zedong's Communists to Taiwan in the Chinese civil war in 1949.
Tsai said she would establish "consistent, predictable and sustainable" relations with China and not be provocative, to ensure the status quo.
She risks antagonizing China if she attempts to forcefully assert Taiwan's sovereignty and reverses eight years of warming China ties under incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou of the Nationalists.
"Both sides have a responsibility to do their utmost to find mutually acceptable ways to interact with respect and reciprocity and ensure no provocation and no surprises," Tsai added, having taken around 56 percent of the vote.
She added, however, that she would defend Taiwan's interests and its sovereignty. China has not renounced the use of force to ensure eventual unification with the island.
"Our democracy, national identity and international space must be fully respected and any suppression would undermine the stability of cross-Strait relations," she said.
In a statement carried by state media, China's Taiwan Affairs Office said the achievements and peace of the past eight years should be cherished, and that it would not tolerate any Taiwan independence activities.
"On important issues of principle like protecting the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, our will is as hard as rock," it said.
China was willing to have exchanges with any party, as long as they recognize both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one China, it added.
Support for the DPP has swelled since 2014, when hundreds of students occupied Taiwan's parliament for weeks protesting against a China trade bill in the largest display of anti-China sentiment the island had seen in years.
Outside DPP headquarters, supporters cried for joy.

The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee launching the Nationwide Polio Programme

The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee launching the Nationwide Polio Programme by administering Polio Drops to the Children, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on January 16, 2016. The Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Shri J.P. Nadda is also seen.

PM launches Start-up India movement, unveils action plan for encouraging Start-ups

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today launched the Start-up India initiative in New Delhi. The launch by the Prime Minister this evening, was preceded by a day-long workshop on various aspects of entrepreneurship.

The Prime Minister visited a virtual exhibition and interacted with Start-up entrepreneurs. 10 outstanding Start-up innovators shared their thoughts and experiences before the Prime Minister delivered his address. He said that when he had launched the Start-up India Initiative on 15th August, the announcement had virtually gone unnoticed, but today it had registered with people.

He said successful start-ups are usually created by those who are driven by an idea, or an urge to solve a problem that people face. He said making money is not the primary objective, but is often a by-product. He said Start-up innovators are often driven by a sense of compassion for others.

The Prime Minister said he wishes to turn the youth of India from job-seekers to job-creators. He said if a Start-up can offer employment to even five people, it would be doing a great service to the nation. He mentioned some areas where youth innovators should focus, including crop wastage, and cyber security.

The Prime Minister unveiled the highlights of the Start-up Action Plan. He said a dedicated Start-up fund worth Rs. 10,000 crore will be created for funding of Start-ups.

He said Start-ups will be exempted from paying income tax on their profit for the first three years. He said the Government is working on a simple exit policy for Start-ups. He also said the Government is working towards fast-tracking of Start-up patent applications.

He announced an eighty percent exemption in patent fee for Start-up businesses, and said a self-certification based compliance system for Start-ups would be introduced for 9 labour and environment laws. He said the Atal Innovation Mission will be launched to give a boost to innovation.

Environment Ministry notifies revised standards for Common Effluent Treatment Plants (Cetps) Across industrial clusters

The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change has notified the revised standards for Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) operating at various industrial clusters in the country. The primary aim of the revised standards is to minimise water pollution. These standards were finalised after extensive consultations with industries and other stakeholders and detailed deliberations with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The revised standards were notified on January 1, 2016.

The revised standards will help in significantly improving the performance of CETPs through implementation of design inlet quality, addressing the problems of the coastal pollution due to industrial discharges and keeping a close watch on the impact of discharge of industrial effluent on soil and ground water quality.

A provision of soil and groundwater quality monitoring twice a year (pre- and post-monsoon) has been introduced in the standards to study the impact of disposal of treated effluent on land, in case of mode of disposal as ‘on land for irrigation’. This monitoring will be carried out by the respective CETP management.

The mode of ‘Discharge into sea’ (marine outfalls) providing very high dilution will qualify for a relaxed maximum permissible concentration of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD). The maximum permissible concentration of Fixed Dissolved Solids (FDS) by constituent units to CETP has been specified in terms of maximum allowable contribution value.

The State Pollution Control Boards are empowered to prescribe standards for Inlet quality of effluent in respect of Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) considering CETP design and local needs & conditions. This provision will help in enforcing the norms for treated effluent quality for the CETP constituent industrial units.

The draft standards had been uploaded on the website, seeking views/comments of stakeholders including general public. The standards were also studied by an Expert Committee, consisting of representatives of the Ministries concerned, environment experts and social scientists. 

PM to launch "Start-up India" movement tomorrow

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, will launch the "Start-up India" movement at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi tomorrow. The launch event is aimed at celebrating the entrepreneurship spirit of country’s youth, and will be attended by CEOs and founders of top Start-ups from across the country and abroad.

The Prime Minister will visit a virtual exhibition and interact with Start-up entrepreneurs. He will release the Start-up Action Plan, and address the gathering.

The Prime Minister's arrival at the venue will be preceded by a day-long workshop on start-up entrepreneurship, which shall include panel discussions on various aspects of the subject.

A unique Question and Answer (Q&A) session titled “Face-to-face with Policy-makers” is also being organized wherein Secretaries of Key Government Ministries and Departments will answer questions on how Government will be creating an enabling ecosystem for Start-ups. The objective is to reinforce commitment of the Government towards creating an ecosystem that is conducive for growth of Start-ups.

The event shall also feature interactive talks with global leaders and venture capitalists such as Mr. Masayoshi Son (Founder and CEO, SoftBank) and Mr. Adam Nuemann (Founder, WeWork).

The event will be telecast live in IITs, IIMs, NITs, IIITs and Central Universities and to youth groups in over 350 districts of India.

Rohit ton in vain again as Bailey steers Australia to victory

Rohit Sharma burnished his reputation in limited-overs cricket with a second successive century but could not stop Australia from winning the second one-dayer by seven wickets on Friday to consolidate their lead in the series.
For the second time in three days, India rode Rohit's elegant century to post a 300-plus total before watching George Bailey help the hosts mount a clinical chase to put Australia 2-0 up in the five-match series.
Rohit showed the kind of form he is in, hitting a sparkling 124 and featuring in century stands with test skipper Virat Kohli (59) and the selfless Ajinkya Rahane (89) to help India post 308-8.
Yet, the satisfaction of a team victory eluded him as Bailey (76 not out) saw Australia home after Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh had given the hosts a 145-run opening stand.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni opted to bat after winning his second toss of the series and opener Shikhar Dhawan again fell cheaply to pace with Joel Paris claiming his first ODI wicket in his second match.
Rohit and Kohli were once more left to rebuild the innings, which they did with some elegant shot-making.

The duo, who had forged a 207-run stand in India's five-wicket defeat at the WACA, added 125 before Kohli paid the price for attempting to steal a non-existent second run.
Rohit was lucky to reach his 10th ODI century, after snickometer confirmed he, then on 89, had edged Paris but Australia's caught-behind appeal was turned down by the umpire.
Rahane proved a perfect foil for Rohit, shunning risks and still finding the ropes to bring up a run-a-ball fifty in their 121-run stand when boundaries flowed from both ends.

Rohit's 127-ball knock ended in bizarre circumstances when Rahane's straight drive brushed bowler James Faulkner's fingers before hitting the stumps with the non-striker out of his crease.
After stemming the tourists' run flow in the last 10 overs, Australia returned for a strong start to their chase with Finch and Marsh denying India an early breakthrough with some fluent yet risk-free batting.
To make things worse, Ishant Sharma dropped Marsh when the batsman was 19.

Australia's opening pair eventually fell in quick succession after identical knocks of 71, but Bailey added 78 runs with skipper Steven Smith (46) and George Maxwell (26 not out) hit the winning run to complete the chase with one over to spare.
Bailey followed his 112 in Perth with a 58-ball knock that included six boundaries and a six.
Melbourne hosts the third match on Sunday.

Sensex posts biggest one-day fall in 1 week as crude cracks

Indian stocks ended lower for a second straight week and fell over 1 percent on Friday, posting their biggest one-day percentage fall in over a week, in a late sell-off triggered by crude oil prices that fell below $30 a barrel.
The broader Nifty ended 1.31 percent lower, its biggest single-day loss since Jan. 7. The index has lost 2.15 percent for the week.

The benchmark Sensex ended 1.28 percent lower, shedding 1.92 percent during the week.

Solar Power Capacity Crosses Milestone of 5,000 MW in India

On the auspicious occasion of Makar Sankranti/Pongal, the installed capacity of solar power in India crossed the milestone of 5,000 MW yesterday.  The cumulative installed capacity has reached to 5,130 MW with installed capacity of 1385 MW in current FY.  The state of Rajasthan stands 1^st in the country with 1264 MW, followed by Gujarat (1024MW), Madhya Pradesh (679 MW), Tamil Nadu (419 MW), Maharashtra (379 MW) and Andhra Pradesh (357 MW). 

The Government has set the ambitious target of generating 100 GW of solar power by the year 2021-22 under the National Solar Mission. It is envisaged to generate 60 GW ground mounted grid-connected solar power and 40 GW through roof-top grid interactive solar power to fulfill the 100 GW of solar power. The Ministry has also fixed year-wise targets to monitor the solar power generation in the country. The target for the current year is 2,000 MW and next year target is 12,000 MW.  The Ministry is putting all efforts through various schemes of Central Government and State Governments to achieve the targets.  It has been planned that around 18,000 MW tender should be out by 31^st March, 2016.