NATIONAL UPDATES
India, Australia sign agreement to boost education ties
Despite the attacks on its student community in Australia, HRD minister Kapil Sibel signed an agreement to boost educational cooperation In view of strengthening the bilateral relationship. New Delhi wants to take the “relationship forward” with Canberra.
The aim of the ministerial statement is to strengthen what is already a solid partnership with the Indian government and open up more avenues to share expertise in the education arena.
An India-Australia Education Council comprising experts from both countries will now be set up. The relations between India and Australia had soured following several attacks on Indian students Down Under. A travel advisory had also been issued to Indian students coming to
Australia.
15th National Census 2011, a Biometric census, exercise kicks off
India, Australia sign agreement to boost education ties
Despite the attacks on its student community in Australia, HRD minister Kapil Sibel signed an agreement to boost educational cooperation In view of strengthening the bilateral relationship. New Delhi wants to take the “relationship forward” with Canberra.
The aim of the ministerial statement is to strengthen what is already a solid partnership with the Indian government and open up more avenues to share expertise in the education arena.
An India-Australia Education Council comprising experts from both countries will now be set up. The relations between India and Australia had soured following several attacks on Indian students Down Under. A travel advisory had also been issued to Indian students coming to
Australia.
15th National Census 2011, a Biometric census, exercise kicks off
- It is the 15th national census since 1872.
- Census in taken once in ten years
- President Pratibha Patil became the first person to participate in the decennial exercise.
- 11-month exercise will enumerate the country's 1.2 billion population
- It has over 25 lakh enumerators working to capture the socio-economic and cultural profile of
- Indians, will also seek information for the creation of the first-ever National Population Register (NPR).
- NPR would also take the photographs and fingerprints of all persons over 15 years to create biometric national database.
- The Census operation will cost around Rs 2,209 crore
- The creation of NPR is set to cost about Rs 3,539.24 crore.
- India will be the first democratic nation having got fingerprinted
- For the first time, information about the ownership of mobile phones, computers, internet, and availability of treated and untreated drinking-water facility will be recorded.
- Entire exercise would be completed by March 5, 2011Results in mid-2011
- It is worth noting that first and last caste based census was taken in 1931
Herculean Process
Census enumerators will visit each household and gather information on forms, which will be sent to data processing centres in 15 cities. Data processing will be done using a software called Intelligent Character Recognition Software (ICR), which will scan the forms at high speed and extract data automatically.
The NPR list will be sent to the Unique Identity Authority of India for eliminating duplicates and issuing Unique ID numbers for every person. The trimmed database along with the UID number will then be sent to the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner to form the National Population Register. The first NPR cards would roll out by 2011-end.
Whole Story
Two forms will be given in each household. The first relates to the house listing and housing census and will have 35 questions on building material, use of houses, drinking water, availability and type of latrines, electricity, possession of assets etc.
The second form relates to the National Population Register and will outline name, gender, date of birth, place of birth, marital status, name of father, name of mother, name of spouse, present address, permanent address, occupation; nationality; educational qualification; relationship to head of family.
Compulsory Excercise
A person who fails to cooperate can be fined or punished Information is confidential, not accessible even to courts
Every household will be given an acknowledgment slip at the time of enumeration.
Census enumerators will visit each household and gather information on forms, which will be sent to data processing centres in 15 cities. Data processing will be done using a software called Intelligent Character Recognition Software (ICR), which will scan the forms at high speed and extract data automatically.
The NPR list will be sent to the Unique Identity Authority of India for eliminating duplicates and issuing Unique ID numbers for every person. The trimmed database along with the UID number will then be sent to the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner to form the National Population Register. The first NPR cards would roll out by 2011-end.
Whole Story
Two forms will be given in each household. The first relates to the house listing and housing census and will have 35 questions on building material, use of houses, drinking water, availability and type of latrines, electricity, possession of assets etc.
The second form relates to the National Population Register and will outline name, gender, date of birth, place of birth, marital status, name of father, name of mother, name of spouse, present address, permanent address, occupation; nationality; educational qualification; relationship to head of family.
Compulsory Excercise
A person who fails to cooperate can be fined or punished Information is confidential, not accessible even to courts
Every household will be given an acknowledgment slip at the time of enumeration.
Some stats
12,000 tonnes Paper to be used, 64 crore No. of census forms, 50 lakh No. of instruction, 2.5 million No. of census officials, 7,000 No. of towns they will visit, 600,000 No. of villages they will
visit.
Food Act may cost govt Rs 63k cr every year
As per the Tendulkar committee report, the below poverty line population would jump by nearly 10 crore from 27.5% to 37.2% of the population which translates into 8.32 crore families with the base year of 2004-05. And the N C Saxena committee, appointed by the government to assess BPL numbers, found nearly 50% of the total population to be poor which translates into nearly 11-11.5 crore BPL families.
If 35 kg of foodgrain a family and the Tendulkar committee estimate of 8.3 crore BPL households could be the basis of the national food security Act, then the government’s bill adds up to a staggering Rs 63,750 crore a year.
At 25 kg a BPL family, it is slightly less at Rs 54,200 crore, which is roughly the food subsidy estimated in the 2010-11 budget by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. But the budgeted figure is provisional as last year the final bill came to Rs 72,200 crore due to rising cost of foodgrain and higher procurement, a 65% hike over the previous fiscal.
It is now clear that the number of BPL families to be covered by NFSA and the quantum of foodgrain is going to be increased after Sonia Gandhi wrote to PM Manmohan Singh pointing to demands to make the proposed Act more inclusive. UPA-1’s farm loan waiver was initially budgeted at Rs 60,000 crore and finally added up to Rs 72,000 crore.
If BPL cards issued by states are taken into account, the number totals 11.5 crore while according to Planning Commission, it is 6.52 crore families. As NFSA will be centrally funded, states are bound to push for an increase in BPL numbers.
visit.
Food Act may cost govt Rs 63k cr every year
As per the Tendulkar committee report, the below poverty line population would jump by nearly 10 crore from 27.5% to 37.2% of the population which translates into 8.32 crore families with the base year of 2004-05. And the N C Saxena committee, appointed by the government to assess BPL numbers, found nearly 50% of the total population to be poor which translates into nearly 11-11.5 crore BPL families.
If 35 kg of foodgrain a family and the Tendulkar committee estimate of 8.3 crore BPL households could be the basis of the national food security Act, then the government’s bill adds up to a staggering Rs 63,750 crore a year.
At 25 kg a BPL family, it is slightly less at Rs 54,200 crore, which is roughly the food subsidy estimated in the 2010-11 budget by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. But the budgeted figure is provisional as last year the final bill came to Rs 72,200 crore due to rising cost of foodgrain and higher procurement, a 65% hike over the previous fiscal.
It is now clear that the number of BPL families to be covered by NFSA and the quantum of foodgrain is going to be increased after Sonia Gandhi wrote to PM Manmohan Singh pointing to demands to make the proposed Act more inclusive. UPA-1’s farm loan waiver was initially budgeted at Rs 60,000 crore and finally added up to Rs 72,000 crore.
If BPL cards issued by states are taken into account, the number totals 11.5 crore while according to Planning Commission, it is 6.52 crore families. As NFSA will be centrally funded, states are bound to push for an increase in BPL numbers.
Tendulkar estimate for BPL families – 8.32 Cr
Cost for 8.32 Cr BPL at 35 kg food grain - Rs 63,750 crore
Cost for 8.32 Cr at 25 kg food grain - Rs 54,200 crore
Amount of food grain required for them - 345 lakh tonnes for BPL and for APL 191 lakh tonnes
While NFSA may not accept the “nutritional” approach which wants pulses and edibile oil to be included in the NFSA, it will still be left with the task of delivering 354 lakh tonnes of foodgrain to beneficiaries.
Going by current figures, the bill for 35 kg a family is Rs 52,000 crore, for the N C Saxena committee estimate of 50% of population being under the poverty line on basis of calorie intake it is Rs 74,300 crore. Going by the Tendulkar committee estimates, just the BPL segment will need 345 lakh tonnes.
If APL is retained, the total will be 536 lakh tonnes.
India, China sign pact on hotlineIndia and China signed an agreement to set up a hotline to open up direct communication between their Prime Ministers, but appeared to continue to speak in different languages on key issues that continue to challenge the bilateral relationship.
In talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Premier Wen Jiabao, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna called for China to review its position on India's bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). He also voiced India's concerns over Chinese support to development projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the issuing of stapled visas to Indian citizens from Jammu and Kashmir.
Education is fundamental right for kids aged 6-14 years
EDUCATION for children aged between 6 and 14 has finally become a fundamental right, with the notification of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act. It will come into force from April 1, 2010.
What are its main features?
All children aged 6-14 years shall have the right to free, compulsory elementary education at a neighbourhood school, No direct (school fees) or indirect cost (uniforms, textbooks, mid-day meals, transportation), need be borne by the child or his/her parents to obtain this elementary education The Thirteenth Finance Commission has provided for Rs 25,000 crore to states over five years for the implementation of RTE. Central govt has approved an outlay of Rs.15000 cr for 2010-11
Centre and state expenditure ratio would be 55:45. Private educational institutions would reserve 25% seats for children from weaker section of society.
Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010
The Cabinet approved a proposal to introduce the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010 in Parliament. The law is a step towards ratification of the UN convention against other cruel, inhuman punishment and degrading treatment. India is a signatory to the Convention.
24th chief of the Indian Army
General Vijay Kumar Singh has been appointed as the new chief of 1.13-million strong Indian army force.
SS Hussain is new Cidco chief
The new vicechairman and managing director of City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (Cidco) is SS Hussain. An IAS officer of 1976 batch, Hussain took over the post from G S Gill.
Failure of nuclear liability bill 2010
This bill has been considered detrimental to India's interests by all opposition parties. A harmful piece of legislation meant to serve the interests of the United States and its nuclear industry. This is also an outcome of the India-U.S. nuclear deal.
This Nuclear Liability Bill defines the financial and legal liabilities upon the involved parties viz. manufacturers, operators and government in case a nuclear accident occurs. US companies will be suppliers. Nuclear Power Corporation of India will act as an operator.
Bill seems to provide the freedom to suppliers in case of nuclear accident as the maximum Financial Liability for supplier is the Rs. 2,087 crore equivalent of 300 million special drawing rights (SDRs).
The operator's liability has been fixed at Rs. 500 crore. While the overall liability is capped at Rs.2,200 crore. Bill enjoins the state to pay Rs 2,334 crore (300 million SDRs), in addition to Rs 500 crore by the operator straightaway to the victim.
All children aged 6-14 years shall have the right to free, compulsory elementary education at a neighbourhood school, No direct (school fees) or indirect cost (uniforms, textbooks, mid-day meals, transportation), need be borne by the child or his/her parents to obtain this elementary education The Thirteenth Finance Commission has provided for Rs 25,000 crore to states over five years for the implementation of RTE. Central govt has approved an outlay of Rs.15000 cr for 2010-11
Centre and state expenditure ratio would be 55:45. Private educational institutions would reserve 25% seats for children from weaker section of society.
Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010
The Cabinet approved a proposal to introduce the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010 in Parliament. The law is a step towards ratification of the UN convention against other cruel, inhuman punishment and degrading treatment. India is a signatory to the Convention.
24th chief of the Indian Army
General Vijay Kumar Singh has been appointed as the new chief of 1.13-million strong Indian army force.
SS Hussain is new Cidco chief
The new vicechairman and managing director of City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (Cidco) is SS Hussain. An IAS officer of 1976 batch, Hussain took over the post from G S Gill.
Failure of nuclear liability bill 2010
This bill has been considered detrimental to India's interests by all opposition parties. A harmful piece of legislation meant to serve the interests of the United States and its nuclear industry. This is also an outcome of the India-U.S. nuclear deal.
This Nuclear Liability Bill defines the financial and legal liabilities upon the involved parties viz. manufacturers, operators and government in case a nuclear accident occurs. US companies will be suppliers. Nuclear Power Corporation of India will act as an operator.
Bill seems to provide the freedom to suppliers in case of nuclear accident as the maximum Financial Liability for supplier is the Rs. 2,087 crore equivalent of 300 million special drawing rights (SDRs).
The operator's liability has been fixed at Rs. 500 crore. While the overall liability is capped at Rs.2,200 crore. Bill enjoins the state to pay Rs 2,334 crore (300 million SDRs), in addition to Rs 500 crore by the operator straightaway to the victim.
Attractive aspects:
Currently india’s nuclear energy market is of billions dollars approximately $175 billion.
Padma awards 2010
Padma Awards, the country’s highest civilian awards, are conferred in three categories, namely,
Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The awards are given in all disciplines/ fields of activities, viz. art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year. This year the President has approved 130 awards including 13 in the category of Foreigners/ NRIs/ PIOs. These comprise 6 Padma Vibhushan, 43 Padma Bhushan and 81 Padma Shri awards. There are 17 ladies among the awardees
KP SINGH, the head of DLF, India’s largest real estate company, founder chairman of Apollo Hospitals Pratap C Reddy and New York-based hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal were among those conferred with the prestigious Padma awards. music maestro and double Oscar winner Rahman and actor Aamir Khan received their Padma Bhushan. cardiac surgeon Ramakant Panda, who performed a ‘beating heart’ surgery on PM Manmohan Singh last year. Dashing Indian opening batsman Virender Sehwag, Olympic bronzemedal winning boxer Vijender Singh and badminton star Saina Nehwal were among the six sportspersons who received the Padma Shri.
Padma Vibhushan Awardees
1. Ebrahim Alkazi (Art) 2. Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman (Art) 3. Zohra Segal (Art)
4. Yaga Venugopal Reddy (Public Affairs) 5. Dr.Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (Science and Engineering) 6. Prathap Chandra Reddy (Trade and Industry)
To read the complete list of awardees, have a look on Padma awards press release
Centre freezes 18 bank a/cs of terror recruiters
Government has invoked the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) to freeze 18 bank accounts held by Indian Mujahideen’s terror recruiter from Pune, Mohsin Ismail Chowdhury, and Manipuri insurgent outfit Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) commander-in-chief (C-in-C) Ningthoujam Rajen Singh across Ratnakar Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI.
Ranganath Mishra Commission
The National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, is better known as Ranganath Mishra Commission. Ranganath Mishra Commission is an enquiry commission assigned by Government of India to study and find solution for the minority status of India. The report was conducted by National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities. The report focused on the issue of the report was submitted to the government on 21st may 2007.
Dantewada MassacreThe deadliest ever Maoist attack on security forces left 73 CRPF personnel and a local policeman dead in the thick forests of Dantewada, Chhattisgarh. Home ministry says CRPF team may have been trapped on basis of ‘wrong’ intelligence.
The inquiry will be conducted by one-member committee of retired IPS officer E N Rammohan. It will submit its report in 15 days.
Repot “Shadows in the Cloud” reveals stealing sensitive data by China hackersAccording to report ‘‘Shadows in the Cloud’’, conducted by researchers researchers based at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto who tracked the cyber-espionage, Chinese hackers have stolen classified documents from India’s security, defence and diplomatic establishment, ranging from assessments of Maoist movements and the security situation in the North-East to New Delhi’s ties with Russia and the Middle East. Researchers said the breaches involved Indian embassy computers in Kabul, Moscow, Dubai and United Arab Emirates, and at the High Commission of India in Abuja, Nigeria. Also compromised were computers used by the Indian Military Engineer Services in Bengdubi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Jalandhar; the 21 Mountain Artillery Brigade in Assam and three air force bases; and computers at two military colleges. The report says the documents stolen included “sensitive information taken from a member of the National Security Council Secretariat concerning secret assessments of India’s security situation in the
states of Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura, as well as concerning the Naxalites and Maoists.’’
First terror attack on J&K rail trackRailway tracks were hit for the first time in the valley as suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba men blew up a part of the line near Avantipora station.
Inderlok-Mundka Metro line flagged offThe country’s first standard gauge railway line reached the western end of Delhi between Inderlok and mundka has been launched. most metros around the world run on standard gauge. Standard gauge rails measure 4.8 inches against the 5.6 inches of a broad gauge. Therefore, the tracks on the Inderlok to Mundka line will be narrower and the trains on them will run faster.
Justice (Retd) B.P.Jeevan Reddy Committee
This commission was set up for the amendment in Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA). And it had submitted its report in June, 2005.
Babu Jagjivan Ram 103rd Birth Anniversary
on April 5, 2010, Babu Jagjivan Ram was paid tribute on his 103rd anniversary. Babu Jagjivan Ram (5 April 1908 – 6 July 1986), known popularly as Babuji was a freedom fighter and a social reformer hailing from the backward classes of Bihar in India
Over 2,000 colleges across India flaunt expired ratings
Data provided by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) reveals that a whopping 2,028 colleges across the country have not renewed their ratings. Maharashtra, which used to take pride in having the maximum number of accredited institutes, is the largest defaulter; it has 831 colleges that have not renewed their accreditation. It is followed by Karanataka which has close to 300 institutes which continue to use expired NAAC ratings. Delhi seems to have the best record with merely one university which is using expired ratings. But the capital has the worst reputation; it has only one college and one university approaching the accrediting body ever since NAAC was formed.
NAAC rules specify that ratings are valid only for five years and they expire at the end of that term.
INSTITUTES ACROSS INDIA THAT HAVE DEFAULTED COLLEGES 2028, UNIVERSITIES 67.
MAHARASHTRA BIGGEST CULPRIT The state has 831 colleges and 9 universities that haven’t
renewed ratings
SIMBEX 2010 - naval war games between India and Singapore
It is the 17th edition of annual Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise. has commenced on April
03. The exercise is going on in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. SIMBEX 2010 is expected to
conclude on April 16.
Columbia Univ to have an Ambedkar Chair
Columbia University has instituted a Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Chair at its law school and two Professor
Jagdish Bhagwati scholarships with support from the Indian government. The chair, at the Columbia
University Law School in honour of Ambedkar, one of the university's alumni, has been instituted to
mark the 120th birth anniversary of the chief architect of the Indian Constitution on April 14.
India takes up stapled visa issue with China
India conveyed its serious concerns to the Chinese leadership here over Beijing’s issuance of stapled
visas to Kashmiris and plans to undertake projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). India do not
accept the stapled visas on the passports of residents from Jammu and Kashmir.
Rahul named new JBT trustee
CONGRESS GENERAL SECRETARY Rahul Gandhi has been made one of the trustees of the Jawahar
Bhavan Trust (JBT), which is involved in philanthropic activities and distributes scholarships and
awards in the name of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The trust will also have two
other new members -- AICC treasurer Motilal Vora and Union minister Mukul Wasnik.
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to set up call centre for accidents
The ministry of road transport & highways to facilitate quick medical services for highway users is
planning to set up a call centre which will act as a medium between medical authorities and highway
users. Highways users can inform the call centre about any accident and even register their complaints
about the construction and maintenance of the roads. National Highways Authority of India (NHAI),
has set a stringent bidding process for the selection of the call centre operator. According to the NHAI
bidding document, a company having at least 2,500 employees should have the experience of running
call centres for at least three consecutive years preceding the bidding year, an average turnover of
minimum Rs 100 crore during the three financial years and Rs 25 crore of its revenue should be from
call centre operations. Initially, the around-the-clock call centre will have a capacity of 50 seats.
According to latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau, over 1.14 lakh people lost their lives
on the national highways in 2007, against 1.05 lakh in 2006.
The government has already approved a draft Bill to set up the National Road Safety and Traffic
Management Board for improving safety provisions on the national highways. The Centre has also
decided to create a National Road Safety Fund to give the board financial freedom to carry out its
functions.
No more statues in Parliament
A decision has been taken to disallow further installation of statues and portraits in Parliament to
maintain its neat and spacious look. A high-powered committee of Parliament headed by Lok Sabha
Speaker Meira Kumar has recommended that no more statues be installed in Parliament in future.
The committee decided that only a symbolic unveiling of portraits would be allowed and after that the
portrait would be handed over to Parliament library.
India, Pak war games at same time
The Indian Army will launch its month-long wargames in mid-April in the Thar Desert. Codenamed
as 'Yodha Shakti’.
Pakistan will also conduct its 'Azm-e-Nau-III' (new resolve) exercise, described as its biggest war
games in two decades, to train for a conventional war with India. The manoeuvres will be held near
the border in the country's Punjab and Sindh provinces - close to Rajasthan's Thar Desert. Azm-e-
Nau (New Resolve) 3 Exercise is aimed at training troops for the threat of a conventional war with
India.
10th Mother Teresa International Award
Indian World Cup winning cricket captain Kapil Dev, former Davis Cupper Jaideep Mukerjea and
Olympic hockey skipper Gurbux Singh will be among a host of luminaries from various fields to
receive the tenth Mother Teresa International Award. Ajit Wadekar, who led the national cricket
team to a historic overseas series win in West Indies and England in 1971, famed soccer striker
Tulsidas Balaram, popular singer Amit Kumar, Bengali stage and screen actress Sova Sen, and noted
filmmaker Tarun Majumdar are also in the list of awardees.
By 2020 tobacco will be responsible for 13 per cent of all deaths in India
Tobacco smoking is killing one million Indians every year. But a simple rise in excise tax on bidis and
cigarettes could reverse this deadly trend. According to report — Economics of Tobacco and Tobacco
Taxation in India — released by two of its authors, Dr Govinda Rao of the National Institute for Public
Finance and Policy and Dr Prabhat Jha of the Centre for Global Health Research, on Thursday
concluded that without strong action, over 51 million Indians alive today would die prematurely from
tobacco consumption. The report points out that by 2020 more than 38.4 million beedi smokers and
13.2 million cigarette smokers are likely to die prematurely due to smoking. Raising taxes on
cigarettes and bidis to internationally recommended levels would generate more than Rs 18,000 crore
annually in new government revenues that could be used to support efforts to reduce tobacco use and
help bidi workers.
ISRO’s cryogenic fuel mission fails
India’s effort at joining the elite club of space faring nations with indigenous cryogenic fuel technology
hit a roadblock as the geo-synchornous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV-D3) carrying the geo-stationary
experimental satellite (GSAT-4) ‘deviated’ from its path. The satellite was to have been put into a
Geostationary orbit, 36,000 km above earth. GSLV was to place in orbit a satellite with navigational
features and will be followed by three more which will be part of Geo Augmented Navigational system
(GAGAN) aimed at enhancing satellite signals to the levels needed for a GPS programme. The launch
will be the first part of a plan that eventually leads to an Indian regional navigational satellite system
which is to be in place by 2014.
India is the sixth country to design and develop the cryogenic technology.
When the US prevented Russia from transferring its cryogenic technology to India in 1992,
the state-run ISRO embarked on a mission in 1994 to design and develop the cryo engine for achieving
self-reliance in such complex technology at a cost of Rs 335-crore (Rs.3.35 billion) in 16 years. India,
however, had imported seven cryo engines from Russia but used five to launch heavy satellites (above
two-tonne class) in GSLV-Mark I and Mark-II rockets during the last decade.
India developing sub-sonic missile “Nirbhay”
India is developing a sub-sonic 1,000-km range cruise missile “Nirbhay” which is a long
range, subsonic Stealth cruise missile. The missile will have a range of 1000 km and will arm three
services, the Indian Army, Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force. The Nirbhay will be able to be
launched from multiple platforms on land, sea and air.
Mid-term review of 11th Plan
According to the Appraisal document, India's targeted growth for the 11th Five Year Plan
(2007-12) may fall short of the earlier projected figure of 9 per cent impacted by the
slowdown in the past two years and the average rate of growth in the plan period could be a
little over 8 per cent. The economy would be well positioned for the transition to a growth
rate higher than 9 per cent in the 12th Plan period.
The Plan panel also approved a Rs.1, 350-crore for a crime tracking system, besides Rs.2,000 crore for
the modernisation of medical colleges across the country.
he agri sector will be the most challenging sector for policymakers in the remaining two years of the
11th Plan. Infrastructure will be another key issue for policymakers. The mid term review is likely to
recommend USD 1 trillion worth of investments during the 12th five year plan.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES
Eugene Terre'Blanche murdered
In South Africa, White supremacist leader Eugene Terre’Blanche was murdered on his Ventersdorp
farm in the North West.
2010 Nuclear Energy summit
The 2010 Nuclear Security Summit was held in Washington, D.C., on April 12 and 13, 2010. The
Summit focused on how to better safeguard weapons-grade plutonium and uranium to
prevent nuclear terrorism.
Ellison highest paid CEO in US
Lawrence Ellison, the CEO of Oracle topped the list with compensation of $84.5 million, more than
the next two highest-paid CEOs combined. Other highly-compensated executives in the study
included Boston Scientific Corp’s Ray Elliott with pay of $33.37 million, Occidental Petroleum Corp’s
Ray Irani with $31.4 million, Hewlett-Packard’s Mark Hurd with $24.2 million, Anadarko Petroleum
Corp’s James Hackett with $23.51 million, and P&G Co’s A G Lafley with $23.47 million. The lowest
paid was Apple’sSteven Jobs, at $1.
A state of emergency in Kyrgyzstan
Anti-government unrest rocked the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan’s president
Kurmanbek Bakiyev declared a state of emergency on Wednesday as thousands of protesters
demanded an end to his rule. Here’s a look at the crisis:
What triggered the turmoil?
Bakiyev came into power after the Tulip Revolution, which overthrew the previous govt in
2005
He has been accused of tightening grip on power, jailing opponents and failing to root out
corruption
Opponents say he has installed relatives in key govt posts
Key location
Kyrgyzstan is central to Western efforts to contain Islamist militancy from Afghanistan
It embraced US campaign to root out Taliban & invited US forces to work from its territory
Hosts both US and Russian military air bases
Rajapaksa’s alliance wins Lanka polls
Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s ruling coalition has won a simple majority of seats in
parliament. Rajapaksa’s United People’s Freedom Alliance had won 120 seats out of 180 initially
decided for the 225-member parliament. The poll was the first since Rajapaksa declared victory in
May in the war against Tamil Tigers, defeating the separatist Tamil Tigers and returning the entire
island to government control after 25 years.
Women can’t be forced to wear burqa: Bangla court
Bangladesh court has barred educational institutions in the country against forcing women teachers
for wearing a burqa or covering their head, saying it would amount to violation of their fundamental
rights.
CERN research center tried to discover the truth of universe
European Centre for Nuclear research (CERN) research center has experiment in its Large Hadron
Collider (LHC), the world’s biggest machine by slamming beams of particles at record collision energy
of 7 TeV or seven million million electron.
The collisions create simulations on a tiny scale of the Big Bang, the primeval fireball 13.7 billion years
ago out of which the entire cosmos — galaxies, stars, planets and eventually life as well as the
universal laws of physics — emerged.
It is theorized that the collider will produce the Higgs boson, the observation of which could confirm
the predictions and missing links in the Standard Model, and could explain how other elementary
particles acquire properties such as mass.
What is the big bang model?
According to the Big Bang model, the universe expanded from an extremely dense and hot state and
continues to expand today. A common and useful analogy explains that space itself is expanding,
carrying galaxies with it, like raisins in a rising loaf of bread. General relativistic cosmologies,
however, do not actually ascribe any 'physicality' to space. For better understanding of our solar
system, look at this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1AXbpYndGc&feature=player_embedded#!
Russia and U.S. Sign Nuclear Arms Reduction Pact
US president Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev signed a new Strategic
Arms Reduction Treaty (START) to shrink their nations’ nuclear arsenals, the biggest such pact
between the former Cold War foes in a generation. The treaty commits their nations to slash the
number of strategic nuclear warheads by one-third and more than halve the number of missiles,
submarines and bombers carrying them. The pact will shrink the limit of nuclear warheads to 1,550
per country over seven years, about a third less than the 2,200 currently permitted.
US and Russia, who together have 95% of the world’s nuclear weapons and this pact will cut their
nuclear arsenal by 30% within seven years.
HISTORY OF NUKE TALKS
1991 US and Soviet Union sign the first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I). The treaty bars
them from deploying over 6,000 nuclear warheads
1993 US and Russia sign START II. It stipulates that the US should reduce its deployed warheads to
3,500 while Russia cut its arsenal to 3,000. The treaty bans the use of multiple-warheads on ICBMs
2002 Russia withdraws from START II after US pulls out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
2002 George W Bush and Vladimir Putin sign the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT),
under which both countries slash arsenal to 1,700-2,200 nuclear warheads each. The treaty will expire
on Dec 31, 2012
April 2009 Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev agree to work out a new agreement to replace
START I, which expires in Dec 2009. Despite negotiations, they fail to reach a new pact
2010 Negotiators engage in tough talks in Switzerland to hammer out a pact
Nuclear warheads Russia (2010) 2,600 US (2009) 2,252 After Pact (max) 1,550 each
DEPLOYED LAUNCHERS Russia (2010) 566 US (2009) 798 After Pact (max) 700 each
Polish President Lech Kaczynski died
President of Poland Lech Kaczynski has been killed in a plane crash at the age of 60.
As mayor of Warsaw, he twice banned gay parades
and spoke in support of reintroducing the death
penalty. He was elected as Poland's president in
2005 as candidate of the Law and Justice Party.
The Law and Justice party, which stresses the
traditional values of the Roman Catholic Church, was
founded by Mr Kaczynski and his twin brother,
Jaroslaw, in 2001.
China builds 'Peace' airport just 100 km from Mt Everest
China is all set to increase its influence in Tibet, with the building of another civil airport near Mount
Everest. China has named it ‘Peace Airport’, apparently sending a message to Tibetan rebels or to
India. The fifth civil airport in Tibet is expected to start operations in October. The $71.7-million
airport coming up in Xigaze (also called Shigatse) prefecture in Tibet, which shares borders with
Nepal, Bhutan and India, also appears to be a politico-cultural coup of sorts.
LECH KACZYNSKI
Born in Warsaw in 1949
Arrested under martial law in
1981
Elected Warsaw Mayor in 2002
Elected president in October 2005
ECONOMY, FINANCE & BUSINESS WATCH
Falling dollar raises total debt by 12%
India’s total debt rose by nearly 12% in the last year to touch $251 billion till December 2009. This is an increase of $27.8 billion over the previous year’s $224.6 billion up to March 2009. The nearly 40% rise in external debt was on account of depreciation of the US dollar against major international currencies. Valuation effect accounted for $9.9 billion of the total surge. This implies that if the dollar had not depreciated against major currencies, the rise would have been limited to $17 billion, according to a finance ministry note. Long-term debt increased by 14% or $25 billion to $206 billion while short-term debt increased by 4% or $1.8 billion to $45 billion compared to the end-March estimates of the same at $181 billion and $43.4 billion, respectively. The debt-service ratio or the ratio of total debt service payments to current receipts worked out to 5% during April-December 2009 as against 4% for April-December 2008. The ratio of short-term external debt to foreign exchange reserves decreased from 17% at end-March 2009 to 15.7% at end-December 2009.
Exports surge 34.8% to $16 bn in February
Exports went up in February 2010 for the fourth straight month to $16.09 billion, an impressive growth of 34.8%. Imports maintained momentum growing by 66% to $25 billion
FDI incease by 15.4% in Feb
FDI rose 15.4% to $1.7 billion in February compared to $1.5 billion in the same month last year. During April-February of this fiscal, the inflow declined to $24.6 billion, from $25.4 billion in the same period last year. Government is considering to allow foreign investment in limited liability partnerships (LLPs). However, the existing norms of calculating FDI (which came in Dec 2009) on the basis of ownerships and not on the basis of proportionate holdings of foreign entities in an Indian company through various layers will continue. Because of these norms, ICICI Bank, in which foreign holding is almost 75% is considered as a foreign bank.
What is limited liability partnership?
LLP, a fast emerging form of business structure, is a hybrid of companies and partnership firms, which allow unlimited number of partners in an entity but their liabilities are restricted to the extent of the stakes held by them.
The government is yet to form guidelines for this structure.
Forex reserves dip by $1.15 bn to $277 bn
Country's foreign exchange reserves fell by $1.151 billion to $277.042 billion for the week ended March 26, against $278.193 billion in the previous week. foreign currency assets comprising dollars, pounds and euro, among others, dipped $1,090 million during the week. While SDR (special drawing rights — the reserve currency with the International Monetary Fund) and the reserve capital with IMF dipped by $48 million and $13 million, respectively. ways and means advances (WMA) is a facility under which the government (state as well as the Centre) can borrow from the central bank to meets its daily revenue mismatches.
Tax holiday ends in HP, Uttarakhand
Finance minister has put an end to the tax holiday regime from HP and uttarakhand. Henceforth, new investments in these states will not be eligible for 100% excise duty holiday provided as a part of the industrial development package for the upliftment of these industrially backward states. However, all investments made till March 31, 2010 will continue to enjoy the benefit for another 10 years.
GAIL to invest Rs 6,000 cr on 1,000-km pipelines in FY11
As part of plans to meet its target under the 11th Five-Year Plan of adding 5,000 km pipelines by 2013, public sector GAIL (India) will invest about Rs 6,000 crore in the next fiscal. The company, which has earmarked a total of Rs 28,000 crore for the five-year period, will lay 1,000 km of natural gas pipelines across the country in 2010-11.
Banks get 2 more yrs to meet IFRS norms
THE government has given two more years to banks and nonbanking finance companies to align their accounting practices with the international financial reporting standards (IFRS). The core group of the ministry of corporate affairs extended the deadline to April 2013 at a meeting on March 29.
External financial assets cross $100 b
INDIA’S net foreign currency liabilities or external financial assets as reflected in the net IIP (International Assets — International Liabilities) released by RBI on Wednesday has crossed the $100-billion mark. The data indicates that net liabilities increased by $ 21.2 billion to $117.1 billion in December 2009 from $96.0 billion as on September 2009. This the central bank attributed mainly to the rise in net inflow of direct investment as well as the portfolio investment in India. Total external financial assets increased by $7.0 billion to $385.9 billion as on December 2009 over the previous quarter.
Rising credit growth key to greater profits
The credit growth has improved to 16% as on March 12, while the deposit growth remains stagnant at 18%. So, the gap between the deposit and advances growth, which stood at around 8% in December, has narrowed down to 2%. How the difference between the credit and deposit growth affects the banks:
When the credit growth stumbled to 10.5%, the deposit growth stood at 18.2% in Dec 2009 So, banks had to pay interest on much higher base of deposits than the interest they were making on their advances. This severely affected banks in December 2009 quarter, as most of them reported flat net interest income (NII). Net interest income is the difference between interest earned and interest expense.
Credit growth was a mere 10.5% year-on-year as on December 4, 2009 and deposit growth was at 18.2%.
Food inflation up, RBI may take more steps
Higher prices of milk, fruits and pulses pushed food inflation to 17.7% for the week ended March 27, fuelling expectations that the RBI may further tighten key rates in its annual monetary policy on April 20. Food inflation in the previous week stood at 16.35%.
Financial inclusion drive
The ministry is considering a proposal to lower the weight for profitability in the points-based evaluation of state-owned banks and introduce some extra points for financial inclusion efforts. A total of 6,50,000 villages are covered under the programme. Out of the 600,000 habitations in the country, only about 30,000 have a commercial bank branch. Just about 40% of the population across the country have bank accounts. Banks will also be made more accountable for performance of the regional rural banks they have sponsored. The 24 public sector banks have sponsored 79 of these specialised rural banks.
Under the new guidelines, the net profit of the RRBs and their achievement in core banking solutions may form a part of the performance valuation of the sponsoring commercial bank. Performance of Regional Rural Banks will be taken under scanner to drive financial inclusion.
Lead bank in each district draw a roadmap by March 2010 for ensuring population of over 2,000 has access to financial services
One district in each state for 100% financial inclusion
RBI relaxes rules for asset classification, reduces banks’ bad loans
RBI has eased asset classification infrastructure and project loan guidelines, which in turn will lower the amount of bad loans in the books of banks. Till now, a bank had to classify a project loan as a ‘substandard’
asset if commercial operations did not start within six months of the completion of the project, even if the company regularly serviced its loan. Similarly, in case of infrastructure loans, a bank had to classify it as substandard if commercial operations did not start within two years of the completion of the project even if it is being repaid.
RBI has increased the grace period for classifying them as standard assets provided the borrower continue to pay.
For infrastructure projects, RBI has increased the grace period to a total of four years and for project loans, RBI has extended the grace period to one year from six months from the original date of commencement of commercial operations (DCCO).
The central bank has also increased the provisioning requirement on standard assets if banks choose to extend the grace period in case of project and infrastructure loans. If the grace period is six months from DCCO, the bank will have to provide standard provision of 0.40%, but if it gives a grace period of one year, the standard provision would be 1%. In case of infrastructure loans, if the grace period is two years, standard provision would be 0.40% and beyond two years is 1%.
India, US launch financial partnership forumIndia and the US launched a joint financial and economic partnership forum that would involve the two countries closely on designing a private system capable of financing future innovations and leverage investments in infrastructure development. Three key areas — macroeconomic policy, financial sector reforms and infrastructure financing, will be examined and strengthened. India needs an investment of $600 billion in the next five years in infrastructure sector.
Govt takes out Rs 600cr from EIL
The government has taken out Rs 600 crore by way of special dividend and taxes from state-run consultancy firm Engineers India Ltd (EIL). Of this, the government, which holds over 90% equity received, Rs 507.65 crore plus a dividend tax of over Rs 96 crore.
Disinvestment from SAIL will fetch 16, 000 cr Government is disinvesting 10% of its stake in SAIL which will raise 16, 000 cr in two tranches. As part of the proposal, SAIL will raise an additional 10% of the paid-up equity and the government on its part will disinvest 10% of its holding. After disinvesting, government holding will be limited to 69% approx and Public shareholding will be 31%. As of now, public holding in the company stands at 14.2%.
The government had set a target of raising about Rs 40,000 crore this fiscal through disinvestment, while last year it was Rs 25,000 crore.
United Spirits becomes world No. 2
United Spirits (USL), the flagship company of the Vijay Mallya-promoted UB Group, said on Wednesday that it had crossed sales volume of 100 million cases in 2009-10, making it the world's No 2 spirits company in volume terms. USL had dislodged Paris-headquartered Pernod Ricard from that position. Diageo, the No 1 spirits company, is now only about 9 million cases ahead of USL
Corporate Bharti, Zain sign definitive deal
INDIAN telco Bharti Airtel and the Zain Group of Kuwait have signed a definite agreement for purchase of Zain’s African assets. The $10.7-billion deal was signed in Amsterdam, the base of Zain’s African unit. With Zain Africa’s 42 million customers, Bharti Airtel will have 179 million subscribers, making it the world’s fifth-largest mobile phone operator.
India Inc’s Jan-Mar M&A tally at $19 b
According to VCCEdge, the financial research platform of VCCircle, the value of merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in India rose to $19.20 billion in the first quarter of this year, up from $5.19
billion a year ago. The number of domestic transactions doubled from 39 deals worth $2.27 billion in Q1 of 2009 to 80 deals worth $4.06 billion in the same period of this year.
The top two deals in the first three months of this year were the $10.7-billion acquisition of Zain’s African operations by Bharti Airtel, followed by the $1.8 billion acquisition of tower assets of Aircel by GTL Infrastructure.
Govt bans fresh FDI in cigarette manufacturing
The government banned fresh foreign direct investment (FDI) in cigarette manufacturing. FDI will be prohibited in the manufacture of cigarettes, whether it is for domestic consumption or for exports.
At present, three major global players — British American Tobacco (BAT), Japan Tobacco and the Altria Group — have large investments in India. Banning of FDI will help well entrenched cash rich company like ITC.
China March Trade Deficit Complicates Yuan Issue
For the first time in six years, China announced on Saturday that it has suffered a trade deficit.With imports of commodities surging last month, China swung to a trade deficit of $7.24 billion in March from a surplus of $7.61 billion in February, according to figures issued by China's Customs agency. Overall imports were up 66% from a year earlier in March, with purchases of crude oil and copper at near-record levels in volume terms.
APPOINTMENTS
Austrian Gustav Baldauf is AI’s first COO
Loss-making national carrier Air India announced the appointment of Capt Gustav Baldauf as its first
chief operating officer (COO) on Tuesday. The Austrian national will be the first expatriate in the
management team of India’s flagship airline.
Srinija Srinivasan
President Obama has appointed Chandigarhborn Srinija Srinivasan, 40, one of the three co-founders
of Yahoo! as a member of the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars.
BOOKS
1. Songs of Blood and Sword – by Fatima Bhutto, niece of late Pakistani Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto
2. The Immortals of Meluha – By Amish Tripathi
3. Becoming Indian – By Pavan K. Varma
4. The Museum Of Innocence – By Orhan Pamuk
5. India’s Foreign Policy : The democracy Dimension – By S D muni
6. On the Brink - By Hank Paulson
7. Solo –By Rana Dasgupta,
8. Maruti Story - How a Public Sector Company Put India on Wheels - By R C
Bhargava
9. The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of Dharma – By Gurcharan Das
10. Nixon, Indira and India – By Kalyani Shankar
11. The Veiled Suite - By Agha Shahid Ali
12. Empire of the Moghul: Brothers at War - By Alex Rutherford,
13. The Last Sunset – By Amarinder Singh
14. Victoria and Abdul – By : Shrabani Basu
15. Reforming Vaishno Devi – By Jagmohan
16. The Temple-Goers - By Aatish Taseer
17. The Palace of Illusions - By Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
18. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest – By Stieg Larsson,
19. Way to Go – By pamanyu Chatterjee,
20. True Blue - By David Baldacci
21. Coalition Politics In India – By C P Bhambhri
SPORTS NEWS
Golf
Karlberg seals the deal at SAIL Open
Richard Karlberg of Sweden closed with a superb six-under-par 66 for a winning aggregate of 20-
under-par 268 and beat joint overnight leader India's Shiv Kapur by five shots at the Delhi Golf Club.
Grand Prix
Malaysian Grand Prix
Sebastian Vettel’s victories in Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix to register his first race win of the Formula One season.
More Sports News
India finish fourth, Malaysia win Asian Rugby Sevens
Tournament being played at Delhi University North Campus grounds saw Malaysia emerge as the
Champion of Asian Rugby Sevens championship defeating Sri lanka in the final.
Former England great Alec Bedser dies at 91
Former seam bowler Alec Bedser, who took 236 Test wickets in a glittering England career spanning
51 matches, has died at the age of 91.
Sunil Kumar won silver in China Open
Former Commonwealth champion Sunil Kumar fought hard but had to settle for silver after losing to
Olympic champion Zou Shiming in the finals of the AIBA 3 Star China Cup in Guiyang City. South
Asian Games gold medallist Chhote Lal Yadav (57kg), Olympian Diwakar Prasad (60kg), Kuldeep
Singh (75kg) and Jasveer Singh (81kg) were India’s bronze medallists in the tournament featuring 102
boxers from 19 countries.
More Current Affairs
Currently india’s nuclear energy market is of billions dollars approximately $175 billion.
Padma awards 2010
Padma Awards, the country’s highest civilian awards, are conferred in three categories, namely,
Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The awards are given in all disciplines/ fields of activities, viz. art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year. This year the President has approved 130 awards including 13 in the category of Foreigners/ NRIs/ PIOs. These comprise 6 Padma Vibhushan, 43 Padma Bhushan and 81 Padma Shri awards. There are 17 ladies among the awardees
KP SINGH, the head of DLF, India’s largest real estate company, founder chairman of Apollo Hospitals Pratap C Reddy and New York-based hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal were among those conferred with the prestigious Padma awards. music maestro and double Oscar winner Rahman and actor Aamir Khan received their Padma Bhushan. cardiac surgeon Ramakant Panda, who performed a ‘beating heart’ surgery on PM Manmohan Singh last year. Dashing Indian opening batsman Virender Sehwag, Olympic bronzemedal winning boxer Vijender Singh and badminton star Saina Nehwal were among the six sportspersons who received the Padma Shri.
Padma Vibhushan Awardees
1. Ebrahim Alkazi (Art) 2. Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman (Art) 3. Zohra Segal (Art)
4. Yaga Venugopal Reddy (Public Affairs) 5. Dr.Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (Science and Engineering) 6. Prathap Chandra Reddy (Trade and Industry)
To read the complete list of awardees, have a look on Padma awards press release
Centre freezes 18 bank a/cs of terror recruiters
Government has invoked the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) to freeze 18 bank accounts held by Indian Mujahideen’s terror recruiter from Pune, Mohsin Ismail Chowdhury, and Manipuri insurgent outfit Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) commander-in-chief (C-in-C) Ningthoujam Rajen Singh across Ratnakar Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI.
Ranganath Mishra Commission
The National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, is better known as Ranganath Mishra Commission. Ranganath Mishra Commission is an enquiry commission assigned by Government of India to study and find solution for the minority status of India. The report was conducted by National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities. The report focused on the issue of the report was submitted to the government on 21st may 2007.
Dantewada MassacreThe deadliest ever Maoist attack on security forces left 73 CRPF personnel and a local policeman dead in the thick forests of Dantewada, Chhattisgarh. Home ministry says CRPF team may have been trapped on basis of ‘wrong’ intelligence.
The inquiry will be conducted by one-member committee of retired IPS officer E N Rammohan. It will submit its report in 15 days.
Repot “Shadows in the Cloud” reveals stealing sensitive data by China hackersAccording to report ‘‘Shadows in the Cloud’’, conducted by researchers researchers based at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto who tracked the cyber-espionage, Chinese hackers have stolen classified documents from India’s security, defence and diplomatic establishment, ranging from assessments of Maoist movements and the security situation in the North-East to New Delhi’s ties with Russia and the Middle East. Researchers said the breaches involved Indian embassy computers in Kabul, Moscow, Dubai and United Arab Emirates, and at the High Commission of India in Abuja, Nigeria. Also compromised were computers used by the Indian Military Engineer Services in Bengdubi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Jalandhar; the 21 Mountain Artillery Brigade in Assam and three air force bases; and computers at two military colleges. The report says the documents stolen included “sensitive information taken from a member of the National Security Council Secretariat concerning secret assessments of India’s security situation in the
states of Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura, as well as concerning the Naxalites and Maoists.’’
First terror attack on J&K rail trackRailway tracks were hit for the first time in the valley as suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba men blew up a part of the line near Avantipora station.
Inderlok-Mundka Metro line flagged offThe country’s first standard gauge railway line reached the western end of Delhi between Inderlok and mundka has been launched. most metros around the world run on standard gauge. Standard gauge rails measure 4.8 inches against the 5.6 inches of a broad gauge. Therefore, the tracks on the Inderlok to Mundka line will be narrower and the trains on them will run faster.
Justice (Retd) B.P.Jeevan Reddy Committee
This commission was set up for the amendment in Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA). And it had submitted its report in June, 2005.
Babu Jagjivan Ram 103rd Birth Anniversary
on April 5, 2010, Babu Jagjivan Ram was paid tribute on his 103rd anniversary. Babu Jagjivan Ram (5 April 1908 – 6 July 1986), known popularly as Babuji was a freedom fighter and a social reformer hailing from the backward classes of Bihar in India
Over 2,000 colleges across India flaunt expired ratings
Data provided by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) reveals that a whopping 2,028 colleges across the country have not renewed their ratings. Maharashtra, which used to take pride in having the maximum number of accredited institutes, is the largest defaulter; it has 831 colleges that have not renewed their accreditation. It is followed by Karanataka which has close to 300 institutes which continue to use expired NAAC ratings. Delhi seems to have the best record with merely one university which is using expired ratings. But the capital has the worst reputation; it has only one college and one university approaching the accrediting body ever since NAAC was formed.
NAAC rules specify that ratings are valid only for five years and they expire at the end of that term.
INSTITUTES ACROSS INDIA THAT HAVE DEFAULTED COLLEGES 2028, UNIVERSITIES 67.
MAHARASHTRA BIGGEST CULPRIT The state has 831 colleges and 9 universities that haven’t
renewed ratings
SIMBEX 2010 - naval war games between India and Singapore
It is the 17th edition of annual Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise. has commenced on April
03. The exercise is going on in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. SIMBEX 2010 is expected to
conclude on April 16.
Columbia Univ to have an Ambedkar Chair
Columbia University has instituted a Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Chair at its law school and two Professor
Jagdish Bhagwati scholarships with support from the Indian government. The chair, at the Columbia
University Law School in honour of Ambedkar, one of the university's alumni, has been instituted to
mark the 120th birth anniversary of the chief architect of the Indian Constitution on April 14.
India takes up stapled visa issue with China
India conveyed its serious concerns to the Chinese leadership here over Beijing’s issuance of stapled
visas to Kashmiris and plans to undertake projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). India do not
accept the stapled visas on the passports of residents from Jammu and Kashmir.
Rahul named new JBT trustee
CONGRESS GENERAL SECRETARY Rahul Gandhi has been made one of the trustees of the Jawahar
Bhavan Trust (JBT), which is involved in philanthropic activities and distributes scholarships and
awards in the name of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The trust will also have two
other new members -- AICC treasurer Motilal Vora and Union minister Mukul Wasnik.
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to set up call centre for accidents
The ministry of road transport & highways to facilitate quick medical services for highway users is
planning to set up a call centre which will act as a medium between medical authorities and highway
users. Highways users can inform the call centre about any accident and even register their complaints
about the construction and maintenance of the roads. National Highways Authority of India (NHAI),
has set a stringent bidding process for the selection of the call centre operator. According to the NHAI
bidding document, a company having at least 2,500 employees should have the experience of running
call centres for at least three consecutive years preceding the bidding year, an average turnover of
minimum Rs 100 crore during the three financial years and Rs 25 crore of its revenue should be from
call centre operations. Initially, the around-the-clock call centre will have a capacity of 50 seats.
According to latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau, over 1.14 lakh people lost their lives
on the national highways in 2007, against 1.05 lakh in 2006.
The government has already approved a draft Bill to set up the National Road Safety and Traffic
Management Board for improving safety provisions on the national highways. The Centre has also
decided to create a National Road Safety Fund to give the board financial freedom to carry out its
functions.
No more statues in Parliament
A decision has been taken to disallow further installation of statues and portraits in Parliament to
maintain its neat and spacious look. A high-powered committee of Parliament headed by Lok Sabha
Speaker Meira Kumar has recommended that no more statues be installed in Parliament in future.
The committee decided that only a symbolic unveiling of portraits would be allowed and after that the
portrait would be handed over to Parliament library.
India, Pak war games at same time
The Indian Army will launch its month-long wargames in mid-April in the Thar Desert. Codenamed
as 'Yodha Shakti’.
Pakistan will also conduct its 'Azm-e-Nau-III' (new resolve) exercise, described as its biggest war
games in two decades, to train for a conventional war with India. The manoeuvres will be held near
the border in the country's Punjab and Sindh provinces - close to Rajasthan's Thar Desert. Azm-e-
Nau (New Resolve) 3 Exercise is aimed at training troops for the threat of a conventional war with
India.
10th Mother Teresa International Award
Indian World Cup winning cricket captain Kapil Dev, former Davis Cupper Jaideep Mukerjea and
Olympic hockey skipper Gurbux Singh will be among a host of luminaries from various fields to
receive the tenth Mother Teresa International Award. Ajit Wadekar, who led the national cricket
team to a historic overseas series win in West Indies and England in 1971, famed soccer striker
Tulsidas Balaram, popular singer Amit Kumar, Bengali stage and screen actress Sova Sen, and noted
filmmaker Tarun Majumdar are also in the list of awardees.
By 2020 tobacco will be responsible for 13 per cent of all deaths in India
Tobacco smoking is killing one million Indians every year. But a simple rise in excise tax on bidis and
cigarettes could reverse this deadly trend. According to report — Economics of Tobacco and Tobacco
Taxation in India — released by two of its authors, Dr Govinda Rao of the National Institute for Public
Finance and Policy and Dr Prabhat Jha of the Centre for Global Health Research, on Thursday
concluded that without strong action, over 51 million Indians alive today would die prematurely from
tobacco consumption. The report points out that by 2020 more than 38.4 million beedi smokers and
13.2 million cigarette smokers are likely to die prematurely due to smoking. Raising taxes on
cigarettes and bidis to internationally recommended levels would generate more than Rs 18,000 crore
annually in new government revenues that could be used to support efforts to reduce tobacco use and
help bidi workers.
ISRO’s cryogenic fuel mission fails
India’s effort at joining the elite club of space faring nations with indigenous cryogenic fuel technology
hit a roadblock as the geo-synchornous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV-D3) carrying the geo-stationary
experimental satellite (GSAT-4) ‘deviated’ from its path. The satellite was to have been put into a
Geostationary orbit, 36,000 km above earth. GSLV was to place in orbit a satellite with navigational
features and will be followed by three more which will be part of Geo Augmented Navigational system
(GAGAN) aimed at enhancing satellite signals to the levels needed for a GPS programme. The launch
will be the first part of a plan that eventually leads to an Indian regional navigational satellite system
which is to be in place by 2014.
India is the sixth country to design and develop the cryogenic technology.
When the US prevented Russia from transferring its cryogenic technology to India in 1992,
the state-run ISRO embarked on a mission in 1994 to design and develop the cryo engine for achieving
self-reliance in such complex technology at a cost of Rs 335-crore (Rs.3.35 billion) in 16 years. India,
however, had imported seven cryo engines from Russia but used five to launch heavy satellites (above
two-tonne class) in GSLV-Mark I and Mark-II rockets during the last decade.
India developing sub-sonic missile “Nirbhay”
India is developing a sub-sonic 1,000-km range cruise missile “Nirbhay” which is a long
range, subsonic Stealth cruise missile. The missile will have a range of 1000 km and will arm three
services, the Indian Army, Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force. The Nirbhay will be able to be
launched from multiple platforms on land, sea and air.
Mid-term review of 11th Plan
According to the Appraisal document, India's targeted growth for the 11th Five Year Plan
(2007-12) may fall short of the earlier projected figure of 9 per cent impacted by the
slowdown in the past two years and the average rate of growth in the plan period could be a
little over 8 per cent. The economy would be well positioned for the transition to a growth
rate higher than 9 per cent in the 12th Plan period.
The Plan panel also approved a Rs.1, 350-crore for a crime tracking system, besides Rs.2,000 crore for
the modernisation of medical colleges across the country.
he agri sector will be the most challenging sector for policymakers in the remaining two years of the
11th Plan. Infrastructure will be another key issue for policymakers. The mid term review is likely to
recommend USD 1 trillion worth of investments during the 12th five year plan.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES
Eugene Terre'Blanche murdered
In South Africa, White supremacist leader Eugene Terre’Blanche was murdered on his Ventersdorp
farm in the North West.
2010 Nuclear Energy summit
The 2010 Nuclear Security Summit was held in Washington, D.C., on April 12 and 13, 2010. The
Summit focused on how to better safeguard weapons-grade plutonium and uranium to
prevent nuclear terrorism.
Ellison highest paid CEO in US
Lawrence Ellison, the CEO of Oracle topped the list with compensation of $84.5 million, more than
the next two highest-paid CEOs combined. Other highly-compensated executives in the study
included Boston Scientific Corp’s Ray Elliott with pay of $33.37 million, Occidental Petroleum Corp’s
Ray Irani with $31.4 million, Hewlett-Packard’s Mark Hurd with $24.2 million, Anadarko Petroleum
Corp’s James Hackett with $23.51 million, and P&G Co’s A G Lafley with $23.47 million. The lowest
paid was Apple’sSteven Jobs, at $1.
A state of emergency in Kyrgyzstan
Anti-government unrest rocked the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan’s president
Kurmanbek Bakiyev declared a state of emergency on Wednesday as thousands of protesters
demanded an end to his rule. Here’s a look at the crisis:
What triggered the turmoil?
Bakiyev came into power after the Tulip Revolution, which overthrew the previous govt in
2005
He has been accused of tightening grip on power, jailing opponents and failing to root out
corruption
Opponents say he has installed relatives in key govt posts
Key location
Kyrgyzstan is central to Western efforts to contain Islamist militancy from Afghanistan
It embraced US campaign to root out Taliban & invited US forces to work from its territory
Hosts both US and Russian military air bases
Rajapaksa’s alliance wins Lanka polls
Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s ruling coalition has won a simple majority of seats in
parliament. Rajapaksa’s United People’s Freedom Alliance had won 120 seats out of 180 initially
decided for the 225-member parliament. The poll was the first since Rajapaksa declared victory in
May in the war against Tamil Tigers, defeating the separatist Tamil Tigers and returning the entire
island to government control after 25 years.
Women can’t be forced to wear burqa: Bangla court
Bangladesh court has barred educational institutions in the country against forcing women teachers
for wearing a burqa or covering their head, saying it would amount to violation of their fundamental
rights.
CERN research center tried to discover the truth of universe
European Centre for Nuclear research (CERN) research center has experiment in its Large Hadron
Collider (LHC), the world’s biggest machine by slamming beams of particles at record collision energy
of 7 TeV or seven million million electron.
The collisions create simulations on a tiny scale of the Big Bang, the primeval fireball 13.7 billion years
ago out of which the entire cosmos — galaxies, stars, planets and eventually life as well as the
universal laws of physics — emerged.
It is theorized that the collider will produce the Higgs boson, the observation of which could confirm
the predictions and missing links in the Standard Model, and could explain how other elementary
particles acquire properties such as mass.
What is the big bang model?
According to the Big Bang model, the universe expanded from an extremely dense and hot state and
continues to expand today. A common and useful analogy explains that space itself is expanding,
carrying galaxies with it, like raisins in a rising loaf of bread. General relativistic cosmologies,
however, do not actually ascribe any 'physicality' to space. For better understanding of our solar
system, look at this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1AXbpYndGc&feature=player_embedded#!
Russia and U.S. Sign Nuclear Arms Reduction Pact
US president Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev signed a new Strategic
Arms Reduction Treaty (START) to shrink their nations’ nuclear arsenals, the biggest such pact
between the former Cold War foes in a generation. The treaty commits their nations to slash the
number of strategic nuclear warheads by one-third and more than halve the number of missiles,
submarines and bombers carrying them. The pact will shrink the limit of nuclear warheads to 1,550
per country over seven years, about a third less than the 2,200 currently permitted.
US and Russia, who together have 95% of the world’s nuclear weapons and this pact will cut their
nuclear arsenal by 30% within seven years.
HISTORY OF NUKE TALKS
1991 US and Soviet Union sign the first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I). The treaty bars
them from deploying over 6,000 nuclear warheads
1993 US and Russia sign START II. It stipulates that the US should reduce its deployed warheads to
3,500 while Russia cut its arsenal to 3,000. The treaty bans the use of multiple-warheads on ICBMs
2002 Russia withdraws from START II after US pulls out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
2002 George W Bush and Vladimir Putin sign the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT),
under which both countries slash arsenal to 1,700-2,200 nuclear warheads each. The treaty will expire
on Dec 31, 2012
April 2009 Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev agree to work out a new agreement to replace
START I, which expires in Dec 2009. Despite negotiations, they fail to reach a new pact
2010 Negotiators engage in tough talks in Switzerland to hammer out a pact
Nuclear warheads Russia (2010) 2,600 US (2009) 2,252 After Pact (max) 1,550 each
DEPLOYED LAUNCHERS Russia (2010) 566 US (2009) 798 After Pact (max) 700 each
Polish President Lech Kaczynski died
President of Poland Lech Kaczynski has been killed in a plane crash at the age of 60.
As mayor of Warsaw, he twice banned gay parades
and spoke in support of reintroducing the death
penalty. He was elected as Poland's president in
2005 as candidate of the Law and Justice Party.
The Law and Justice party, which stresses the
traditional values of the Roman Catholic Church, was
founded by Mr Kaczynski and his twin brother,
Jaroslaw, in 2001.
China builds 'Peace' airport just 100 km from Mt Everest
China is all set to increase its influence in Tibet, with the building of another civil airport near Mount
Everest. China has named it ‘Peace Airport’, apparently sending a message to Tibetan rebels or to
India. The fifth civil airport in Tibet is expected to start operations in October. The $71.7-million
airport coming up in Xigaze (also called Shigatse) prefecture in Tibet, which shares borders with
Nepal, Bhutan and India, also appears to be a politico-cultural coup of sorts.
LECH KACZYNSKI
Born in Warsaw in 1949
Arrested under martial law in
1981
Elected Warsaw Mayor in 2002
Elected president in October 2005
ECONOMY, FINANCE & BUSINESS WATCH
Falling dollar raises total debt by 12%
India’s total debt rose by nearly 12% in the last year to touch $251 billion till December 2009. This is an increase of $27.8 billion over the previous year’s $224.6 billion up to March 2009. The nearly 40% rise in external debt was on account of depreciation of the US dollar against major international currencies. Valuation effect accounted for $9.9 billion of the total surge. This implies that if the dollar had not depreciated against major currencies, the rise would have been limited to $17 billion, according to a finance ministry note. Long-term debt increased by 14% or $25 billion to $206 billion while short-term debt increased by 4% or $1.8 billion to $45 billion compared to the end-March estimates of the same at $181 billion and $43.4 billion, respectively. The debt-service ratio or the ratio of total debt service payments to current receipts worked out to 5% during April-December 2009 as against 4% for April-December 2008. The ratio of short-term external debt to foreign exchange reserves decreased from 17% at end-March 2009 to 15.7% at end-December 2009.
Exports surge 34.8% to $16 bn in February
Exports went up in February 2010 for the fourth straight month to $16.09 billion, an impressive growth of 34.8%. Imports maintained momentum growing by 66% to $25 billion
FDI incease by 15.4% in Feb
FDI rose 15.4% to $1.7 billion in February compared to $1.5 billion in the same month last year. During April-February of this fiscal, the inflow declined to $24.6 billion, from $25.4 billion in the same period last year. Government is considering to allow foreign investment in limited liability partnerships (LLPs). However, the existing norms of calculating FDI (which came in Dec 2009) on the basis of ownerships and not on the basis of proportionate holdings of foreign entities in an Indian company through various layers will continue. Because of these norms, ICICI Bank, in which foreign holding is almost 75% is considered as a foreign bank.
What is limited liability partnership?
LLP, a fast emerging form of business structure, is a hybrid of companies and partnership firms, which allow unlimited number of partners in an entity but their liabilities are restricted to the extent of the stakes held by them.
The government is yet to form guidelines for this structure.
Forex reserves dip by $1.15 bn to $277 bn
Country's foreign exchange reserves fell by $1.151 billion to $277.042 billion for the week ended March 26, against $278.193 billion in the previous week. foreign currency assets comprising dollars, pounds and euro, among others, dipped $1,090 million during the week. While SDR (special drawing rights — the reserve currency with the International Monetary Fund) and the reserve capital with IMF dipped by $48 million and $13 million, respectively. ways and means advances (WMA) is a facility under which the government (state as well as the Centre) can borrow from the central bank to meets its daily revenue mismatches.
Tax holiday ends in HP, Uttarakhand
Finance minister has put an end to the tax holiday regime from HP and uttarakhand. Henceforth, new investments in these states will not be eligible for 100% excise duty holiday provided as a part of the industrial development package for the upliftment of these industrially backward states. However, all investments made till March 31, 2010 will continue to enjoy the benefit for another 10 years.
GAIL to invest Rs 6,000 cr on 1,000-km pipelines in FY11
As part of plans to meet its target under the 11th Five-Year Plan of adding 5,000 km pipelines by 2013, public sector GAIL (India) will invest about Rs 6,000 crore in the next fiscal. The company, which has earmarked a total of Rs 28,000 crore for the five-year period, will lay 1,000 km of natural gas pipelines across the country in 2010-11.
Banks get 2 more yrs to meet IFRS norms
THE government has given two more years to banks and nonbanking finance companies to align their accounting practices with the international financial reporting standards (IFRS). The core group of the ministry of corporate affairs extended the deadline to April 2013 at a meeting on March 29.
External financial assets cross $100 b
INDIA’S net foreign currency liabilities or external financial assets as reflected in the net IIP (International Assets — International Liabilities) released by RBI on Wednesday has crossed the $100-billion mark. The data indicates that net liabilities increased by $ 21.2 billion to $117.1 billion in December 2009 from $96.0 billion as on September 2009. This the central bank attributed mainly to the rise in net inflow of direct investment as well as the portfolio investment in India. Total external financial assets increased by $7.0 billion to $385.9 billion as on December 2009 over the previous quarter.
Rising credit growth key to greater profits
The credit growth has improved to 16% as on March 12, while the deposit growth remains stagnant at 18%. So, the gap between the deposit and advances growth, which stood at around 8% in December, has narrowed down to 2%. How the difference between the credit and deposit growth affects the banks:
When the credit growth stumbled to 10.5%, the deposit growth stood at 18.2% in Dec 2009 So, banks had to pay interest on much higher base of deposits than the interest they were making on their advances. This severely affected banks in December 2009 quarter, as most of them reported flat net interest income (NII). Net interest income is the difference between interest earned and interest expense.
Credit growth was a mere 10.5% year-on-year as on December 4, 2009 and deposit growth was at 18.2%.
Food inflation up, RBI may take more steps
Higher prices of milk, fruits and pulses pushed food inflation to 17.7% for the week ended March 27, fuelling expectations that the RBI may further tighten key rates in its annual monetary policy on April 20. Food inflation in the previous week stood at 16.35%.
Financial inclusion drive
The ministry is considering a proposal to lower the weight for profitability in the points-based evaluation of state-owned banks and introduce some extra points for financial inclusion efforts. A total of 6,50,000 villages are covered under the programme. Out of the 600,000 habitations in the country, only about 30,000 have a commercial bank branch. Just about 40% of the population across the country have bank accounts. Banks will also be made more accountable for performance of the regional rural banks they have sponsored. The 24 public sector banks have sponsored 79 of these specialised rural banks.
Under the new guidelines, the net profit of the RRBs and their achievement in core banking solutions may form a part of the performance valuation of the sponsoring commercial bank. Performance of Regional Rural Banks will be taken under scanner to drive financial inclusion.
Lead bank in each district draw a roadmap by March 2010 for ensuring population of over 2,000 has access to financial services
One district in each state for 100% financial inclusion
RBI relaxes rules for asset classification, reduces banks’ bad loans
RBI has eased asset classification infrastructure and project loan guidelines, which in turn will lower the amount of bad loans in the books of banks. Till now, a bank had to classify a project loan as a ‘substandard’
asset if commercial operations did not start within six months of the completion of the project, even if the company regularly serviced its loan. Similarly, in case of infrastructure loans, a bank had to classify it as substandard if commercial operations did not start within two years of the completion of the project even if it is being repaid.
RBI has increased the grace period for classifying them as standard assets provided the borrower continue to pay.
For infrastructure projects, RBI has increased the grace period to a total of four years and for project loans, RBI has extended the grace period to one year from six months from the original date of commencement of commercial operations (DCCO).
The central bank has also increased the provisioning requirement on standard assets if banks choose to extend the grace period in case of project and infrastructure loans. If the grace period is six months from DCCO, the bank will have to provide standard provision of 0.40%, but if it gives a grace period of one year, the standard provision would be 1%. In case of infrastructure loans, if the grace period is two years, standard provision would be 0.40% and beyond two years is 1%.
India, US launch financial partnership forumIndia and the US launched a joint financial and economic partnership forum that would involve the two countries closely on designing a private system capable of financing future innovations and leverage investments in infrastructure development. Three key areas — macroeconomic policy, financial sector reforms and infrastructure financing, will be examined and strengthened. India needs an investment of $600 billion in the next five years in infrastructure sector.
Govt takes out Rs 600cr from EIL
The government has taken out Rs 600 crore by way of special dividend and taxes from state-run consultancy firm Engineers India Ltd (EIL). Of this, the government, which holds over 90% equity received, Rs 507.65 crore plus a dividend tax of over Rs 96 crore.
Disinvestment from SAIL will fetch 16, 000 cr Government is disinvesting 10% of its stake in SAIL which will raise 16, 000 cr in two tranches. As part of the proposal, SAIL will raise an additional 10% of the paid-up equity and the government on its part will disinvest 10% of its holding. After disinvesting, government holding will be limited to 69% approx and Public shareholding will be 31%. As of now, public holding in the company stands at 14.2%.
The government had set a target of raising about Rs 40,000 crore this fiscal through disinvestment, while last year it was Rs 25,000 crore.
United Spirits becomes world No. 2
United Spirits (USL), the flagship company of the Vijay Mallya-promoted UB Group, said on Wednesday that it had crossed sales volume of 100 million cases in 2009-10, making it the world's No 2 spirits company in volume terms. USL had dislodged Paris-headquartered Pernod Ricard from that position. Diageo, the No 1 spirits company, is now only about 9 million cases ahead of USL
Corporate Bharti, Zain sign definitive deal
INDIAN telco Bharti Airtel and the Zain Group of Kuwait have signed a definite agreement for purchase of Zain’s African assets. The $10.7-billion deal was signed in Amsterdam, the base of Zain’s African unit. With Zain Africa’s 42 million customers, Bharti Airtel will have 179 million subscribers, making it the world’s fifth-largest mobile phone operator.
India Inc’s Jan-Mar M&A tally at $19 b
According to VCCEdge, the financial research platform of VCCircle, the value of merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in India rose to $19.20 billion in the first quarter of this year, up from $5.19
billion a year ago. The number of domestic transactions doubled from 39 deals worth $2.27 billion in Q1 of 2009 to 80 deals worth $4.06 billion in the same period of this year.
The top two deals in the first three months of this year were the $10.7-billion acquisition of Zain’s African operations by Bharti Airtel, followed by the $1.8 billion acquisition of tower assets of Aircel by GTL Infrastructure.
Govt bans fresh FDI in cigarette manufacturing
The government banned fresh foreign direct investment (FDI) in cigarette manufacturing. FDI will be prohibited in the manufacture of cigarettes, whether it is for domestic consumption or for exports.
At present, three major global players — British American Tobacco (BAT), Japan Tobacco and the Altria Group — have large investments in India. Banning of FDI will help well entrenched cash rich company like ITC.
China March Trade Deficit Complicates Yuan Issue
For the first time in six years, China announced on Saturday that it has suffered a trade deficit.With imports of commodities surging last month, China swung to a trade deficit of $7.24 billion in March from a surplus of $7.61 billion in February, according to figures issued by China's Customs agency. Overall imports were up 66% from a year earlier in March, with purchases of crude oil and copper at near-record levels in volume terms.
APPOINTMENTS
Austrian Gustav Baldauf is AI’s first COO
Loss-making national carrier Air India announced the appointment of Capt Gustav Baldauf as its first
chief operating officer (COO) on Tuesday. The Austrian national will be the first expatriate in the
management team of India’s flagship airline.
Srinija Srinivasan
President Obama has appointed Chandigarhborn Srinija Srinivasan, 40, one of the three co-founders
of Yahoo! as a member of the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars.
BOOKS
1. Songs of Blood and Sword – by Fatima Bhutto, niece of late Pakistani Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto
2. The Immortals of Meluha – By Amish Tripathi
3. Becoming Indian – By Pavan K. Varma
4. The Museum Of Innocence – By Orhan Pamuk
5. India’s Foreign Policy : The democracy Dimension – By S D muni
6. On the Brink - By Hank Paulson
7. Solo –By Rana Dasgupta,
8. Maruti Story - How a Public Sector Company Put India on Wheels - By R C
Bhargava
9. The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of Dharma – By Gurcharan Das
10. Nixon, Indira and India – By Kalyani Shankar
11. The Veiled Suite - By Agha Shahid Ali
12. Empire of the Moghul: Brothers at War - By Alex Rutherford,
13. The Last Sunset – By Amarinder Singh
14. Victoria and Abdul – By : Shrabani Basu
15. Reforming Vaishno Devi – By Jagmohan
16. The Temple-Goers - By Aatish Taseer
17. The Palace of Illusions - By Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
18. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest – By Stieg Larsson,
19. Way to Go – By pamanyu Chatterjee,
20. True Blue - By David Baldacci
21. Coalition Politics In India – By C P Bhambhri
SPORTS NEWS
Golf
Karlberg seals the deal at SAIL Open
Richard Karlberg of Sweden closed with a superb six-under-par 66 for a winning aggregate of 20-
under-par 268 and beat joint overnight leader India's Shiv Kapur by five shots at the Delhi Golf Club.
Grand Prix
Malaysian Grand Prix
Sebastian Vettel’s victories in Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix to register his first race win of the Formula One season.
More Sports News
India finish fourth, Malaysia win Asian Rugby Sevens
Tournament being played at Delhi University North Campus grounds saw Malaysia emerge as the
Champion of Asian Rugby Sevens championship defeating Sri lanka in the final.
Former England great Alec Bedser dies at 91
Former seam bowler Alec Bedser, who took 236 Test wickets in a glittering England career spanning
51 matches, has died at the age of 91.
Sunil Kumar won silver in China Open
Former Commonwealth champion Sunil Kumar fought hard but had to settle for silver after losing to
Olympic champion Zou Shiming in the finals of the AIBA 3 Star China Cup in Guiyang City. South
Asian Games gold medallist Chhote Lal Yadav (57kg), Olympian Diwakar Prasad (60kg), Kuldeep
Singh (75kg) and Jasveer Singh (81kg) were India’s bronze medallists in the tournament featuring 102
boxers from 19 countries.
More Current Affairs
- THE SUN Behind the Clouds: Tibet’s Struggle for Freedom, a documentary ia executed by Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam
- The Central Vigilance Commission has asked the HRD ministry to fix responsibility for the ‘wrongdoings’ in the Indian Council of Historical Research in the appointment of consultants and hiring of lawyers.
- Solar-powered flight named “Solar Impulse” The plane has the wing span of an Airbus A340, the weight of an average car, and is powered by some 12,000 solar cells.
- The annual salary of US president Barack Obama is $400,000 per annum.
- Nooria Haveliwala, a US citizen, which is accused of having killed a traffic policeman and a driver while speeding under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs
Abbreviations
NUEPA - National University for Educational Planning and Administration
AFSPA - Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act
NAAC - National Assessment and Accreditation Council
ICHR - Indian Council of Historical Research
Important Days
National Days
World Health Day – April 7
National Maritime day – April 5
National Safe Motherhood Day – April 11
National Civil Servcies Day – April 21
National Panchayat Day – April 24
International Days
World Autism Day – April 3
World Health Day – April 7
World Heritage Day – April 18
Earth Day – April 22
For better read, download its pdf file April 1-14 current affairs
National Safe Motherhood Day – April 11
National Civil Servcies Day – April 21
National Panchayat Day – April 24
International Days
World Autism Day – April 3
World Health Day – April 7
World Heritage Day – April 18
Earth Day – April 22
For better read, download its pdf file April 1-14 current affairs
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