Cabinet clears whistleblower protection bill
THE Union Cabinet has cleared a bill to protect whistleblowers and punish those exposing identity of people disclosing information. It is officially called ‘The Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making the Disclosure Bill, 2010’ which provides the Central Vigilance Commission powers of a civil court to hand down harsh penalty to people revealing identity of whistleblowers.
It is aimed at protecting the identity of citizens who reveal information about the misuse of public authority and public money
Once this bill becomes law, it would empower the CVC to penalise those who reveal the identity of whistleblowers or threaten them CVC to be the nodal agency in all cases. CVC will have powers of a civil court.
The bill will cover complaints against central and state govt employees as well as public sector employees The penalty under the proposed legislation for the guilty is up to 3 years of jail and a fine of up to 50,000
Parliament passes Trade Marks (Amendment) Bill
The Rajya Sabha passed by voice vote the Trade Marks (Amendment) Bill, 2009 that allows any person or an enterprise to seek registration or trade mark in any of the 84 member countries of the Madrid Protocol through a single application. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in December last. It also provides for international enterprises and persons to apply in India.
A sum of Rs.300 crore had been earmarked in the 11th Plan for this purpose.
Manmohan Singh is third longest-serving PM
HRD ministry to get 2.31 lakh cr for RTE
Union human resources development (HRD) ministry would be allocated 2.31 lakh crore over the next three years to set up infrastructure for implementing the Right to Education (RTE) Act.
JNNURM bonanza for Karnataka
Karnataka is all set to reap rich benefits from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) with the Union Government approving Rs. 5,000 crore for 52 infrastructure, housing projects.
The Centre had sanctioned Rs. 150 crore for the poor under the ‘affordable partnership' scheme.
Centre had approved construction of 20,000 houses at a cost of Rs. 20 crore for the poor families who were displaced from slums in the city.
GoM approval for caste-based census
Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, gave its seal of approval to the enumeration of caste in Census 2011. According to the proposal caste-based census will collect the data of Schedule Caste (SC), Schedule Tribe (ST) and other castes in the country. The caste-based census will start between June 2011 to September 2011. it will not be just an OBC headcount, but a comprehensive caste headcount, with every citizen being asked which caste he or she belongs to. This data will be tabulated and analysed later to arrive at figures of different castes in the country.
Cabinet nod for ‘Swavalamban' for unorganised workers
The Union Cabinet approved implementation of the ‘Swavalamban' scheme to cover workers in the unorganised sector and provide old age security to all, especially the vulnerable sections. Under the scheme, the government is to provide an assistance of Rs. 1,000 a year as co-contribution to every NPS (New Pension System) account of 10 lakh unorganised sector workers, starting this fiscal for four years, till 2013-14 to cover 40 lakh subscribers.
The scheme is to be managed by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), and the government would release its contribution to it. Towards this end, the government will also provide Rs. 100 crore to the PFRDA for creation of public awareness of NPS and enlistment of subscribers.
Mumbai the filthiest of all metros: Study
For the first time, the government has ranked 423 class 1 Indian cities on the basis of their sanitation standards and Mumbai with its 46th position falls behind even cities like Kanpur and Guntur. Navi Mumbai with 11th rank is the city with best sanitation in Maharashtra. Delhi came in fifth place with 61 points, Chennai was ranked 13th and Kolkata was placed 25th on the list.
The rating of cities was done under the National Urban Sanitation Policy and is part of an exercise started in 2009 to create awareness about sanitation. It covered almost 72% of India’s total urban population and each city was scored on 19 indicators such as public access to toilets, treatment of sewage, proper disposal of wastewater and elimination of manual scavenging. This shows that almost all of India’s urban population is living in sub-standard sanitary conditions, which poses a risk to both its health and life.
Rs. 50 crore a year to develop Naxal-hit and backward areas
The Centre plans to spend about Rs. 50 crore per annum to improve basic social infrastructure in 60 Naxal-affected and backward districts, as part of an Integrated Action Plan.
India to have forest satellite in 2013
To boost efforts towards environmental conservation and increasing green cover, India will have a dedicated forest satellite in 2013.
ADB gives $150 million loan for NCR
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is extending a $150 million financing facility to India to develop urban infrastructure in the National Capital Region (NCR). It approved the ‘India National Capital Region Urban Infrastructure Financing Facility' for providing funds in two or more tranches.
BlackBerry maker offers to provide ‘metadata'
The Canadian firm Research in Motion (RIM), makers of the BlackBerry will offer “metadata” and relevant information to security agencies, which will enable them in lawful interception.
The RIM representatives explained that “the BlackBerry mobile device sends the encrypted email to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) located with the service provider. The BES decrypts the messages and sends it to email server of the service provider where it remains stored in decrypted form. Then the message is pushed to the BlackBerry device in encrypted form.” And they can provide the metadata of the message like Internet Protocol address of the BES and PIN and International Mobile Equipment Identity of the BlackBerry mobile
The metadata is loosely defined as data about data. It provides information about a certain item's content such as how large the picture is, the colour depth, the image resolution, when the image was created, and other data. A text document's metadata may contain information about how long the document is, who the author is, when the document was written, etc.
India, U.K. to develop next generation wireless systems
A consortium of nine U.K. institutions and seven Indian scientific institutions are all set to design the next generation of wireless systems across India.
Dispute-free Village Scheme to get United Nations recognition
The United Nations has decided to recognise the Mahatma Gandhi Tanta Mukti Gaon Mohim (Dispute-free Village Scheme) of the Maharashtra government. The scheme was introduced as a way to get rid of small disputes in the village and thus bring about harmony. It was also seen as a measure to reduce the work pressure on policemen.
In April 2010, Khairlanji was recognised by the scheme as a dispute-free village.
Food processing park to come up in Haryana
North India's first agriculture and food processing park was being developed at villages Bhigan and Kurad at a cost of Rs.8,000 crore.
Bihar Super 30 best in India: US envoy
US PRESIDENT BARACK Obama’s special envoy Rashad Hussain said Bihar’s Super 30, which provides free IIT entrance examination coaching to underprivileged students, is the best institute in India.
Basmati may get 1-cr ad boost
BASMATI rice, among India’s best recognised exports worldwide, will get a rupees one crore adspend during the Commonwealth Games.
The Centre has allowed export of three lakh tonnes of non-basmati and two lakh tonnes of wheat for export to Bangladesh.
Software for e-governance
The Union Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication has praised software developed by the Rajasthan State Agency for Computer Services (RAJCOMP) for online monitoring of activities of the citizens' service centres functioning in the State.
Task forces to monitor microfinance institutions
Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), a self-regulatory organisation of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India, has decided to set up seven task forces to monitor and manage the MFIs and look into credit bureau, transparency, code of conduct, human resource development, policy issues, product diversification and media relations.
RTI Act not applicable to HPV vaccine project
Information on the demonstration project and licensing of two vaccines to prevent cervical cancer has been exempted from public disclosure under Section 8 of the Right to Information Act, 2005. This is the reply received in response to an RTI application, submitted to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, seeking information on the status and basis of approval granted to Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) Corp. and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to import, sell and market Gardasil and Cervarix in India, and the status, design and intent of the trials conducted by MSD and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Coimbatore to become an e-district soon
Coimbatore will soon become an “e-district” with select services of four departments going online initially. Revenue, Adi Dravida and Tribal Welfare, Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes and Minority Welfare and Social Welfare departments would be covered under the project.
E-governance would help the public on two fronts: information and services. Information was already available online on various schemes and projects. With the e-district project, the services would also be available online.
Plan to computerise co-operative banks in Rajasthan
Rajasthan has decided to get full computerisation of cooperative banks in the State carried out through public sector Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments Limited on a turnkey basis. The announcement for computerisation of 300 branches of central co-operative banks was made in the 2009-10 State Budget.
National Film Awards revamped
In a bid to give regional language films a bigger chance to bag the spotlight at the National Film Awards, the government has decided to introduce a two-tier selection system. The delayed selections for the 2009 Awards will be conducted under the new system.
The decision has been taken on the basis of recommendations submitted by an expert committee headed by filmmaker Shyam Benegal.
Five regional panels will be constituted to select the best films in their own areas, following which a central jury will make the final award decision.
Coffee table book on Shimla released
The Himachal Tourism and Civil Aviation Department brought out a glossy coffee table book on the heritage buildings and historic houses of Shimla. The book, “Har Ghar Kuchch Kehta Hai”(Every House tells a story), was unveiled.
Indian scientist proposes solution to math problem
A mathematics problem with a $1-million prize attached to it and one which has major implications in computer applications, like security and machine intelligence, is claimed to have been solved by an Indian Vinay Deolalikar working in the United States.
He has proposed a solution to the problem, commonly called by mathematicians as ‘Is P=NP?’
The problem is one of the seven listed by the Clay Mathematics Institute for the Millennium Prize worth $1 million, which will be awarded to the successful solver of each problem.
Intra-hospital committee looking into NDM-1 bug issue
Apollo Hospitals Chairman Prathap C. Reddy has said that an intra-hospital committee will be going into the issue of the NDM-1 bug and will submit a report to the medical director soon. in response to a question from journalists about the involvement of microbiologists from two Apollo Hospitals - Hospital, Kolkata, and Apollo Hospitals, Chennai – as co-authors in the Lancet study.
International affairs
UN launches $459m Pakistan flood appeal
By some estimates approximately 1,600 people have been killed by the monsoon floods thus far, principally in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh provinces.
Russia lists U.S. violations of START-1
Russia has accused the United States of gross violations of a number of arms-control and non-proliferation agreements in an apparent tit-a-tat for U.S. charges of Russia breaching the 1991 START-1 nuclear-arms treaty.
U.S. unemployment rate remains flat
Unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.5 per cent, According to the Unite States Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS).
S-300 air defence missiles deployed in Abkhazia
Russia has deployed S-300 air defence missiles in Abkhazia, Georgia's former breakaway region. Russia recognised Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states two years ago in the wake of a five-day war it waged to repulse Georgia's armed attack on South Ossetia. Georgia angrily reacted to the Russian move claiming it changed the regional balance of forces.
South Korea raids Google over personal data ‘theft’
The South Korean police raided the offices of Google Korea as part of an investigation into whether the company illegally collected and stored personal wireless data.
China pledges support to Sri Lanka
China has pledged its support to Sri Lanka against any international pressure for a United Nations-led probe into alleged war crimes.
Sri Lanka has opposed U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's decision to set up a three-member expert panel to look into the conclusion of the war against the LTTE, arguing that the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission appointed by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa was the right body to carry forward investigations.
Economy, Banking And Finance
Industrial growth slips to 7.1 % in June
For the first time in nine months, industrial growth slipped to single digit at 7.1 per cent in June this year — a 13-month low — following a drop in factory output. Also responsible for the deceleration were the other two segments, mining and electricity generation, which posted lower growth as compared to the performance in the same month last year.
| June 2010 | Percentage |
| General (overall Growth) | 7.1 |
| mining | 9.5 |
| Manufacturing | 7.3 |
| Electricity | 3.5 |
Source:Cso
The Centre's indirect tax collections grew 46.2 per cent in the first four months (April-July) of the current fiscal to Rs 96,223 crore.
While customs collections grew 70.8 per cent to Rs 41,545 crore, the Central excise collections for the period under review increased 42.8 per cent to Rs 38,260 crore. Service tax collections during April-July 2010 increased 11.8 per cent to Rs 16,418 crore
Parliament passes SBI (Amendment) Bill
State Bank of India (Amendment) Bill for reduction of government equity to 51 per cent from a minimum of 55 per cent has been passed by both housed of parliament. The Lok Sabha had already passed the Bill. With the passing of this Bill, State Bank of India will be able to raise fresh funds from the capital market.
PSUs out of 25% public float norm
THE finance ministry has exempted state-owned firms from the recent rule that requires listed companies to achieve at least 25% public holding within three years. Public sector firms will now have to maintain a minimum public float of only 10%.
private sector companies will have to comply with the minimum 25% public float within three years with a flexibility of without the annual 5% increase mandated in the current rules.
Finance ministry made this move as some of the PSUs were not ready to dilute 25%. And CIL was the first to come out openly and challenge the new rules saying that it will not dilute beyond 10%.
And now Only 15 state-run firms will have to comply with the new 10% norms as opposed to the earlier 35.
Bank of Rajasthan-ICICI Bank merger has been approved
The Reserve bank of India has approved the amalgamation of the Bank of Rajasthan with the ICICI Bank. All branches of Bank of Rajasthan Ltd. will function as branches of ICICI Bank Ltd. with effect from August 13, 2010.
The two had proposed a share swap ratio of 1:4.72, which means BoR shareholders will gain one share of ICICI Bank for every 4.72 shares of BoR.
1,000/year pension aid for informal sector workers
The government on Monday approved a 1,000 per annum pension assistance to unorganised sector workers to inculcate the habit of savings among this population of over 300 million. Under the ‘Swavalamban Scheme’, the government would contribute 1,000 per year to every New Pension System account of 40 lakh such workers over four years starting this fiscal. Initially 10 lakh workers would be covered each year over the four years ending 2013-14.
RBI allows NBFCs to trade in currency futures
The Reserve Bank of India has permitted non-banking finance companies to participate in currency futures through exchanges only for the purpose of hedging their underlying forex exposures. Now NBFCs can trade in currency futures on all the four pairs — US dollar-rupee; Pound Sterling-rupee, Japanese Yen-rupee and Euro-rupee. The NSE started trading in futures for the first time in August 2008. When the currency futures in the dollarrupee pair was introduced in 2008, it was a huge success as a product, with daily turnover being around $5.2 billion (approximately Rs 240 crore).
Now, polymer currency
By the year-end, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will come out with polymer (plastic) notes of Rs. 10 denomination and follow it up with such notes of other denominations. Polymer notes are in circulation in countries such as New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Rs. 10 notes are in maximum circulation with comparitively higher production cost
Nokia announces ‘Project Ujjwal'
Celebrating 15 years of mobility in India, Nokia India has announced an initiative, Project Ujjwal, to drive 100 per cent household mobility in five villages in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh.
Dr. Reddy's launches anaemia drug 'Cresp'
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories announced the launch of a new product, Cresp, a biosimilar Darbepoetin alfa, for use in the treatment of anaemia associated with chronic kidney disease and chemotherapy.
Food inflation surges to 11.4 %
After roosting at single digit for a fortnight earlier during the month, food inflation surged yet again to 11.40 per cent for the week ended July 31 from 9.53 per cent in the previous week.
RBI directive to core investment companies
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directed core investment companies (CICs) to register themselves with the central bank in case their asset size is at least Rs. 100 crore.
CICs are non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), which invest in shares for the purpose of owning a stake in a company, rather than for trading.
Wipro launches FluidState data centres
Wipro Infotech, a leading provider of IT and business transformation services, has announced the launch of FluidState data centres targeted at small, medium and enterprise businesses.
Appointments
Kidwai joins board of Hongkong Bank
P. M. Mathew inducted into FICCI committee
P. M. Mathew, economist and an expert on matters related to small and medium enterprises, has been inducted into the National Committee of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) as expert member.
Awards
Award for Nilamani Sahoo
For his pioneering contribution to Oriya literature, eminent litterateur Mohapatra Nilamani Sahoo will be conferred the coveted Sudramuni Sahitya Samman for the year.
Thrissur Jilla Souhrida Vedi awards for 2009
The Mohammed Abdul Rahman Sahib Best Media Personality Award - N. Ram
The award is instituted in memory of freedom fighter and journalist Mohammed Abdul Rahman Sahib.
C. Achutha Menon Award - K. Pankajakshan
The awards in the other categories were received by
Congress leader Aryadan Mohammed - K. M. Seethi Sahib Memorial Human Fraternity Award
social worker K. V. Rabiya - Joseph Mundassery Award for Outstanding Social Work
writer C. Radhakrishnan - T.V. Kochubava Literary Award)
actor Sukumari - Bahadur Memorial Best Actor Award
film director Blessy - Ramu Karyat Award
Gulf-based social worker V. Shihabudeen - Special Vedi Award for Community Activist
Sports
Olympic games
Bindra in ISSF committee
Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra has been elected as one of the four members of the Athletes' Committee of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) during the 50th World championship in Munich. Rajmond Debevec (Slovenia), Franck Dumoulin (France) and Vladimir Isakov (Russia) are the other members of the committee elected by 827 shooters.
Shooting
Tejaswini wins gold in World shooting championship
Rifle shooter Tejaswini Sawant became the first Indian woman shooter to be crowned a World champion when she won the 50m rifle prone event with a World record 597 in the 50th World shooting championship in Munich. Tejaswini joined Abhinav Bindra and Manavjit Singh Sandhu as the only two other Indian shooters to have won a World championship gold.
Athletics
Tyson Gay outruns Bolt
Tyson Gay beat Usain Bolt in the 100 metres at the DN Galan meet in 9.84 seconds.
National record for Sidhanth Thingalaya
Sidhanth Thingalaya, a 19-year-old Maharashtra athlete, bettered the National record in the 110-metre hurdles in the 50th National inter-State athletics championships.
Squash
India beats France in World junior squash team championships
Ramit Tandon set the path for India's 2-1 victory over France in the 5-8 play-off match at the World junior squash team championships.
Golf
Nicollet wins
Sharmila Nicollet, 19-year-old, won the Hero Honda KGA Women's Pro golf tournament.
Hockey
Australia triumphs Champions Trophy hockey
Australia defeated England 4-0 to win the Champions Trophy hockey tournament.
Tennis
Ashutosh wins
Ashutosh Singh with Hiroki Kondo of Japan won the doubles title, beating Yaoki Ishii and Arata Onozawa of Japan 6-4, 7-5 in the final of the $10,000 ITF men's Futures tennis tournament.
Shaik, Tahira take titles
Shaik Abdullah of Andhra Pradesh and Tahira Bhatti of Delhi won the under-16 boys' and girls' titles respectively in the AITA National series junior tennis tournament.
Table Tennis
Sharath, Poulomi emerge champions
Poulomi Ghatak defeated K. Shamini for the women's singles title in the 40th inter-institutional table tennis championship. And In the men's singles A. Sharath Kamal emerged as a champion.
Cricket
YSCA retains title
YSCA retained the Kalpathi-YSCA cricket tournament title by defeating Sutherland Global Services by eight wickets in the final.
ICC confirms Isaac as vice-president
The International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed New Zealand's Alan Isaac as its vice-president.
volleyball
India clinch bronze
India defeated a fighting Chinese Taipei 23-25, 25-20, 25-16, 27-25 for the bronze in the second Asia Men's Cup volleyball championship.
Rugby
India wins Istanbul title
India defeated Dubai Frogs 28-12 in the final to emerge winner in the Istanbul Rugby 7s tournament.
Basketball
Vijaya Bank wins the PSG Trophy
Vijaya Bank (Bangalore) defeated a Rail Coach Factory (Punjab) 75-69 in a crucial league clash of the 46th all-India basketball tournament for men for the PSG Trophy
Chess
Rahul Sangma of Delhi became the first player from outside Tamil Nadu to win the 10th Adyar Times FIDE-rated Open chess tournament.
More Current affairs
- A minor oil spill resulted from a collision of two merchant vessels, MSC Chitra and MV Khalijia-III, off the Mumbai coast
- Amanjot Singh and Sahil Wadhwa, Delhi students, have created a history of sorts by discovering the main belt asteroid named 2010 PO24.
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