India, Malaysia taking bilateral ties forward, sign six pacts
India and Malaysia signed six pacts, with the accord for implementing the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) from July 1, 2011 being the centrepiece.
The Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the traditional systems of medicine makes India the second country with which Malaysia has inked such a pact. Due to the large presence of people of Indian and Chinese origin, Malaysia has a wide canvas of traditional systems of medicine, including the Malay herbal medicine.
Both sides would also finalise two-three other areas of economic cooperation from among infrastructure development, creative industries, tourism, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), business facilitation, science and technology, and human resource development
India and Malaysia would liberalise their respective investment regimes to facilitate greater Foreign Direct Investment into each other's territory.
The two also announced the setting up of a Joint ICT Talent Development Consultative Committee to make specific recommendations to both the governments for IT skills training, talent development and greater engagement of the Indian IT companies in Malaysia.
India is the sixth largest source country for inbound tourism to Malaysia ( six lakhs in 2009) while Malaysia is the 10th largest (1.15 lakhs in 2008).
India signs nuclear liability treaty
India signed the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), thereby delivering on the last of its commitments stemming from the landmark 2005 nuclear agreement with the United States.
CSC is the international covenant — which provides a framework for channelling liability and providing speedy compensation in the event of a nuclear accident.
It has so far been signed by 14 countries and ratified by four, including the U.S.
The CSC will enter into force only when at least five countries with a minimum of 4,00,000 units of installed nuclear capacity ratify the treaty.
With India signing the CSC and the Obama administration issuing the requisite ‘Part 810' licensing certifications, the stage is now set for the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. to begin full-fledged commercial negotiations with General Electric and Westinghouse for supply of two 1,000-MWe reactors.
India, Bangladesh sign $1 b line of credit agreement
The two countries have signed $1 billion Line of Credit agreement and Apart from the Line of Credit, the bulk power transmission agreement and an MoU between NTPC and the Bangladesh Power Development Board have also been signed in the power sector. India has decided to export 5 lakh tonnes of rice and wheat to Bangladesh despite ban on outward shipments of the foodgrains. Both nations have also agreed to establish ‘Border Haats' along the Meghalaya-Bangladesh border and open the Chittagong and Mongla ports to boost trade ties.
India signs new social security agreement with Korea
A reciprocal social security agreement (SSA) and protocol that will benefit a huge number of Indians — particularly those working in the fields of Information Technology, medicine and finance — was signed in Seoul.
An SSA with Korea would enhance the movement of professionals, and strengthen the trade and investment, between the two countries.
Population stabilisation target date pushed back to 2070
With the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) continuing at 2.8 per cent, the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has pushed back the target date for achieving population stabilisation to 2070 from 2045, stipulated in the National Population Policy (NPP) 2000.
The mid-term objective of NPP 2000 was to achieve a TFR of 2.1 per cent by 2010 and the long-term goal was to attain population stabilisation by 2045.
India drops to 87th rank in Integrity Index
India has fallen three places to 87th in Transparency International's latest Corruption Perceptions Index, in which 178 countries were surveyed. It happened due to recent damaging revelations in the Commonwealth Games contracts seems to have increased the perception about corruption and caused the country to further drop in the CPI ranking.
India's integrity score has fallen to 3.3 out of 10 in 2010.
Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore have the highest Integrity Index of 9.3. The United States is at the 22nd position with 7.1. The countries in the South Asian region have performed miserably with Bangladesh at 134, Pakistan at 143 and Nepal at 146. Bhutan is the sole exception, scoring a creditable 5.7 and ranked 36th in the world.
The CPI is based on corruption in the government and public sector and is calculated on corruption-related data from 13 source-surveys published between January 2009 and September 2010. The criteria used to arrive at the score include perception-related questions like the government's capacity to punish and contain corruption; transparency, accountability and corruption in the public sector; extent of corruption; implementation of anti-corruption initiatives; and encouragement of corrupt officials.
Number portability launch from Haryana circle
Customer will have to pay a maximum of Rs. 19 to the new operator to change network via MNP as Porting charges. However the new operator has the option to waive off the MNP fee or reduce it.
The mobile number portability (MNP) will be launched across India by January 20, 2011. For orderly technical migration of complex interconnected networks, each of the remaining service areas will be migrated one by one on alternate days. This will enable simultaneous validation of technical parameters and removal of any problems arising from migration activity to ensure successful and smooth migration of a service area.
Presently BSNL and Tata Docomo announced their attractive MNP offers with freebies. Wherein subscribers can switch to BSNL at FREE of cost while Tata Docomo charged Rs. 19 for number portability service.
To avail the MNP service subscriber needs to send SMS PORT followed by 10 Digit Mobile Number to 1900 and they will get UPC porting code by SMS after that they need to submit CAF (application form) and MNP form with UPC to desired new service provider.
Kishanganga arbitration court to be headed by Justice Stephen Schwebel
Judge Stephen M. Schwebel, the former President of the International Court of Justice, will head the Court of Arbitration being constituted to resolve the Kishanganga hydro-electric project dispute between India and Pakistan. Judge Schwebel is an expert on international law and dispute settlement.
The dispute is over India's 330 MW hydro-electric project on the Kishanganga, a tributary of the Jhelum in Jammu & Kashmir. According to India, the treaty allows it to divert Kishanganga waters to Bonar Madmati Nallah, another tributary of the Jhelum, which falls into the Wullar lake before joining the Jhelum again. Pakistan has objected to this saying India's plans to divert waters will obstruct the flow of the river affecting its Neelam-Jhelum project downstream.
As per the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960 under the aegis of the World Bank, the arbitration court has to have seven members, including the chairman. Already India and Pakistan have named two international experts each to represent them.
Finland offers cooperation in waste management
Finland on Tuesday expressed its willingness to offer new technologies to the Delhi Government in the field of waste management, improvement in sewer management and multi-utility pipe and cabling management.
China gets an ashram near Beijing
the People’s Republic of China got its first ashram.
The 165-acre retreat for yoga and meditation was opened by Sri Sri Ravishankar’s Art of Living foundation. Billing itself as the first authentic Indian retreat in a country where spirituality is on the rise, the ashram will offer a range of courses.
International Affairs
U.S.-Saudi arms deal-Biggest ever in history of USA
The United States has announced one of the largest weapons sales in its history, worth nearly $60 billion, to Saudi Arabia.
$2.29-billion U.S. aid for Pakistan to fight terror
The United States announced that it would provide a whopping $2.29 billion as military aid to Pakistan to bolster its army's anti-terror capabilities. Ms. Clinton made this deal at the opening of the third U.S.-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue with her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Ms. Clinton said a request would be made available for the period from 2012 to 2016. This would complement the five-year $7.5 billion in civilian aid to Pakistan under the Kerry-Lugar Bill. Ms. Clinton said a request would be made to Congress for the aid to be made available for the period from 2012 to 2016. This would complement the five-year $7.5 billion in civilian aid to Pakistan under the Kerry-Lugar Bill.
U.S., Russia to join EAS
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to invite the United States and Russia to join 16-nation East Asia Summit (EAS) on issues ranging from security to trade and the environment.
The EAS currently comprises the 10 ASEAN states plus Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.
Its leaders hold an annual meeting that coincides with the yearly ASEAN summit.
China's supercomputer world's fastest
China has overtaken the U.S. as home of the world's fastest supercomputer. Tianhe-1A, named in honour of the Milky Way, is capable of sustained computing of 2.507 petaflops — equivalent to 2,507 trillion calculations each second.
At 2.507 petaflops, Tianhe-1A is 1.4 times faster than U.S. Cray XT5 Jaguar
A first for women in Pakistan
Pakistan observes Black Day
Pakistan observed Black Day on Wednesday to mark the arrival of Indian troops in Srinagar this day in 1947, after the signing of the Instrument of Accession. Protests were held against “Indian occupation of Kashmir” and banners mounted at key points of Islamabad to draw attention to the situation in ‘Indian Held Kashmir.'
3 suspended from House of Lords over expenses claims
Three senior peers — Labour's Lord Swraj Paul and Baroness Manzila Pola Uddin and independent Lord Amir Bhatia — were on Thursday formally suspended from the House of Lords for varying periods over their expenses claims.
The House took the action after a report of the House of Lords Committee for Privileges and Conduct recommended their suspension for wrongly claiming expenses. They were also ordered to repay thousands of pounds they had claimed in excess.
$25,000 compensation for Kanishka victims mooted
The Canadian government has suggested a compensation of $20,000 to $25,000 to families of each of the victims in the tragic 1985 Air India Kanishka terror bombing that killed 329 people, mostly of Indian origin.
Parliament passes French pension reforms
France's Parliament granted final approval to a bill raising the retirement age from 60 to 62, a reform that has infuriated the country's powerful unions and touched off weeks of protests and strikes. It was a victory for conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has stood firm despite the protests — an unpopular stance that has resulted in his lowest approval ratings since he took office in 2007.
Singapore Indian gets Home portfolio
K. Shanmugam is being appointed Singapore's Home Affairs Minister with effect from November 1. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, another ethnic Indian leader, retains his post as Finance Minister.
Economy, Banking and Finance
India's rank up 3 notches in IMF
India will improve its rank by three notches to the 8th position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as the group of 20 nations (G-20) decided to increase the quota of emerging markets in the multi-lateral lending agency by over 6 per cent.
Quota represents the relative position of members of IMF.
By doing so, India's rank in the IMF will improve to the 8th position from the current 11th in terms of quota. The quota share (of India in IMF) will improve to about 2.75 per cent (from the present level of 2.44 per cent). Similarly, China will see an improvement in its ranking to the third position from the present sixth.
“Agreement on IMF reforms has been reached. There will be a shift in quota shares to dynamic EMDCs (emerging market developing countries) and to underrepresented countries of over 6 per cent while protecting the voting share of the poorest,” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.
FDI dips to $1.33 billion in August
Foreign direct investment (FDI) dipped by almost 60 per cent to $1.33 billion in August this year from $3.26 billion in the year-ago period. And this is the lowest FDI inflow in this fiscal.
Exports jumps 2-year high
Exports registered a jump of 23.2 per cent at $18.02 billion in September compared to the same month last year, whereas imports outstripped exports growing by 26.1 per cent to $27.14 billion in September compared to the same month in the previous year. And this massive rise in imports raised concerns over widening of the trade gap.
Crude oil, gems and jewellery and edible oil constitute the major part of the country's import bill.
The trade deficit in September alone stood at $9.12 billion. However, this was lower than the $13-billion deficit in August.
NABARD scheme for broiler farming
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has decided to introduce a scheme for contract broiler farming by women self-help groups in Kanyakumari district.
Biocon to invest $161 m in Malaysia
India's biotechnology major Biocon announced an investment of $161 million in Malaysia for setting up of a bio-manufacturing and research and development facility, marking the biggest foreign direct investment in this sector in the country.
The facility will be established in Bio-XCell, a biotechnology park in Iskandar, through a strategic partnership with Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation. The facility, targeted to be operational by 2014, would focus on research and development and production.
Rs. 11,218 cr tax notice slapped on Vodafone
The Income-tax department asked telecom major Vodafone to pay Rs.11,217.95 crore in taxes within a month for the acquisition of Hutchison's stake in its telecom joint venture with Essar in India in 2007.
PFC to help NPCIL set up nuclear plants
The Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and the Nuclear Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to facilitate NPCIL to set up nuclear power projects.
Under the MoU, PFC plans to offer debt financing, equity financing and consultancy services to NPCIL to facilitate the latter's large capacity addition programme. While PFC is a leading financier in the electricity sector, NPCIL is the only player operating nuclear power reactors in the country.
NPCIL now operates 19 nuclear electricity reactors in the country with an installed capacity of 4,560 MWe. Three reactors, with a total capacity of 2,220 MWe, are in an advanced stage of construction. They are two units of 1,000 MWe each from Russia under construction at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu and an indigenous pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) of 220 MWe at Kaiga in Karnataka. In addition, excavation is under way for 700 MWe indigenous PHWRs, two each at Kakrapar in Gujarat and Rawatbhatta in Rajasthan. The NPCIL's installed capacity will reach 9,580 MWe by 2017, 20,000 MWe by 2020 and 60,000 MWe by 2032.
Awards
Winners of Infosys Prize 2010
The Infosys Science Foundation, established by Infosys Technologies Ltd., on Monday announced the winners in the five categories of the Infosys Prize 2010.
The prize for excellence in Mathematical Sciences was awarded to Chandrashekhar Khare, Professor of Mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He won the prize for his “fundamental contribution” to number theory.
Professor at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, Sandip Trivedi, won the prize in the Physical Sciences category for “finding an ingenious way” to solve two of the most outstanding puzzles of superstring theory — what is the origin of dark energy and why there is no mass-less scalar particle — simultaneously.
Ashutosh Sharma, Chair Professor and Principal Investigator, Centre of Nanosciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, won the prize in the Engineering and Computer Science category for his “fundamental contributions” in materials science.
The winner in the Life Sciences category was Chetan E. Chitnis, Principal Leader, Malaria Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi.
Amita Baviskar, sociologist at the Institute of Economic Growth in New Delhi and Nandini Sundar, Chairperson of the Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, were declared joint winners of the prize for excellence in Social Sciences.
Microsoft sets Limca record
Efforts of 22 Microsoft employees enabled Microsoft storm into the Limca Book of Records for the first ever dominoes display of its kind in India. The Microsoft Dominoes effect required 7,000 wooden dominoes, each weighting 12 gm and placed barely 0.2 inches apart sidewise and 0.5 inches lengthwise to create the logo. The fall of a chip sets off a cascading effect. As the chips lined up in formations fall, a wave is created and vibrant colour pattern emerges.
Indian wins U.S. award for EVM security work
The San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a leading civil liberties group, will confer the 2010 Pioneer Award on researcher Hari Prasad, who was recently released on bail after having been jailed for his security work on electronic voting machines.
Mr. Prasad is the first Indian to receive the prestigious award.
Deaths
Legendary Everest climber feared dead
A Nepalese mountaineer Chhewang Nima Sherpa who has climbed Mount Everest 19 times is missing and feared dead in the Himalayas two days after being swept away by an avalanche.
Mr. Chhewang is one ascent away from equalling the world record of summiting Mount Everest 20 times, which is held by Apa Sherpa.
K.E. Eapen passes away
K.E. Eapen, a pioneer in journalism and communication education in the country, passed away. Professor Eapen was actively associated with journalism for over 50 years, having set up three university departments of journalism and communication, and many organisations connected with the field. Besides teaching journalism, he also served on policy-making bodies and authored books on communication.
Professor Eapen was a pioneer in identifying the significance of the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) and initiated a SITE evaluation study in the Karnataka cluster in 1975-76 when the nation experimented with satellite technology in taking developmental messages to the underdeveloped areas. Dr. Eapen was recently honoured in New Delhi with the “AMIC Asian Communication Award.”
Ex-President Nestor Kirchner dead
The former Argentine President, Nestor Kirchner — the country's most powerful politician along with his wife, current President Cristina Fernandez — died.
Sports
Alonso wins Korean GP
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso won Korean Grand Prix to seize back the Formula One World championship lead.
More current affairs
- Narmada Bachao Andolan completes 25 years
- The Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur and the Indian Institute of Management- Kozhikhode on Thursday entered into a partnership with the Yale University for academic leadership development programmes.
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