India ranks lowly 136 in World Press Freedom Index 2015

The Reporters Without Borders (RWB) on 12 February 2015 released the World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) 2015. In the WPFI 2015, India was placed at 136th position out of 180 nations that were surveyed worldwide in terms of press freedom. In the top of the list were three Scandinavian countries: Finland on the 1st position followed by Norway and Denmark. At the other end of the scale, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea were the worst performers securing the last places in the index.

India’s Neighbours rank: Sri Lanka (165th), Pakistan (159th), Afghanistan (122th), China (176th), Bangladesh (146th), Nepal (105 ).

FMCG major ITC has purchased two famous brands of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) 

ITC has entered into asset purchase agreements with Johnson & Johnson Ltd, India, and Johnson & Johnson Pte Ltd, Singapore for the purchase of the ‘Savlon’ and ‘Shower To Shower’ trademarks and other intellectual property, primarily for use in India. The company, however, did not provide any financial details about the deal, though analysts tracking FMCG sector estimate that could be in the range of ₹ 300-450 crore.

HAU selected for Mahindra Samridhi India Agri Award

Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (CCSHAU) has been selected for the prestigious Mahindra Samridhi India Agri Award 2015 in recognition of its contribution in increasing agriculture productivity and rural prosperity. The selection of this university for the present award has been made particularly for developing two single cross maize hybrids HM-12 and HM-13 and a wheat variety WH-1105 under the innovative farming technology in Year 2014. These hybrids are high yielding, disease resistant and environment friendly and capable of reducing the cost of cultivation.

Chhetri, Bala Devi named 2014 AIFF Player of the Year award

National football team captain Sunil Chhetri and Women’s national team striker Bala Devi, were named the All India Football Federations (AIFF) 2014 Player of the Year and 2014 AIFF Woman Footballer of the Year, respectively.
Others to be honoured with AIFF awards, include:

  • 2014 Player of the year (Men): Sunil Chhetri
  • 2014 Player of the year (Women): Bala Devi
  • 2014 Emerging Player of the Year: Sandesh Jhingan
  • 2014 Best Referee: Santosh Kumar
  • 2014 Best Assistant Referee: Sappam Kennedy
  • Best Grassroots Programme: Western India Football Association (WIFA)
  • Long Time Contribution to Indian Football: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)

Chhetri was voted as the winner by I­League coaches and this was the fourth time that he received the award. Earlier, he was named as the Player of the Year in 2007, 2011 and 2013. With the fourth title, he surpassed the legendary Inivalappil Mani Vijayan who won the award thrice.