Weekly Current Affairs October 3 to 9, 2010
Prabhu nath singh
Weekly Current Affairs update
October 3 to 9, 2010
(for BANK PO General Awareness & UPSC General Studies)
Section A: INDIA
Newsmakers
‘Half of IAF equipment is obsolete’ – Naik
• Half the systems and equipment being used by the Indian Air Force (IAF) are obsolete, Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik said at a press conference on October 4, 2010. “By 2014-15, it would come down to 20%”, added Naik.
• IAF relies mainly on Russian-origin air defence systems such as the OSA-AK and Pechora and the shoulder-fired Igla missiles, which have been in service for more than two decades. More recently, it has been working on developing its air defence network and is looking to procure various systems. It has ordered six squadrons of the indigenously made Akash air defence systems and the Spyder medium-range surface to air missile system from Israel, along with aerostat radars to prevent aerial attacks.
• IAF also plans to purchase 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) for $11 billion in one of India's largest single defence deals. Six fighter aircraft – Lockheed Martin's F-16, Boeing's F/A-18, SAAB's Gripen, Dassault's Rafale, EADS's Eurofighter and MiG's MiG-35 – are in the race.
• K. Vijay Kumar is new director general of the CRPF: The Union government, on October 1, 2010, appointed K. Vijay Kumar, the director of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad, as the new Director
General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) replacing Vikram Srivastava who was appointed as the new Director General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) in Delhi. Srivastava replaced Prasun Mukherjee, who retired on September 30. Kumar shot to fame while leading Special Task Force operations against dreaded forest brigand Veerappan and his associates, who were gunned down in October 2004. On the other hand, Srivastava had come under criticism after the Dantewada massacre in which 76 CRPF men lost their lives in a Maoist attack on April 6 in Chhattisgarh.
• K M Nair appointed Chief Controller of VSSC: K M Nair was on October 8, 2010 appointed as the Chief Controller of the Thiruvananthapuram based Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). An officer of Indian Revenue Service of 1980 batch, Nair received the Finance Minister's Medal for combating tax evasion and smuggling and the Presidential Medal for Distinguished Service in 1996. The VSSC is a major space research centre of ISRO focusing on rocket and space vehicles for India's satellite programme.
• 5 members selected for child rights commission: The Union government on October 4, 2010 selected five members for the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). The members are Sukanya Bharatram, Dinesh Laroia, Yogesh Dube, Vinod Kumar Tikoo and Dipa Dixit. Sukanya Bharatram is an expert in the field of child education, while Dr. Dinesh Laroia specialises in the field of child healthcare and development. Yogesh Dube has been working for elimination of child labour and rehabilitating children in distress, while Vinod Kumar Tikoo is a child psychologist. Dipa Dixit, who has already served one term as a member of the Commission, is an expert on child-related laws. Set up in 2005 under the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act as a statutory body to protect the rights of children in the age group of 0-8, the NCPCR is chaired by Magsaysay Award winner Shantha Sinha, who was given a second term earlier this year.
• NDMA members nominated: The Ministry of Home Affairs on October 06, 2010 nominated M.S. Reddy, MLA; T. Nandakumar, IAS (Retd.); Maj. Gen. (Retd) J.K. Bansal & VSM, Chikitsa Rattan as members of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The Prime Minister of India is the chairperson of the NDMA.
• Gaddar launches Telangana Praja Front: Balladeer and folk artist Gummadi Vithal Rao, better known as Gaddar, on October 3, 2010 announced the launch of a new party, Telangana Praja Front, in Hyderabad. The Front is expected to try to wrest control of the Telangana movement from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) founded by K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) which is agitating for the formation of a Telangana state carved out of Andhra Pradesh.
• Award-winning filmmaker Pamela Rooks passes away: National Award-winning filmmaker Pamela Rooks passed away at the age of 52 on October 1, 2010 in New Delhi. A prolific documentary maker and writer, she is best remembered for her film ‘Train to Pakistan’ (1998), based on Khuswant Singh’s novel, which was screened at several international film festivals. Her award-winning films were ‘Miss Beatty's Children’ (1992) that won ‘National Film Award
- Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director’ and ‘Dance Like a Man’ which won a National Award for the Best Film in English for 2003.
• Prabhakar Pendharkar passes away: Film director and writer Prabhakar Bhalji Pendharkar passed away at the age of 77 in Pune on October 7, 2010. He recently received a special mention at the National Film Awards 2009 for his book ‘Eka Studioche Atmavrutta'. He also served as the director of Films Division of India for 30 years. His Marathi film Bal Shivaji won awards.
• Peace campaigner S. R. Sankaran passes away: Retired IAS Officer S R Sankaran, who had played a crucial role in bringing the Maoists and Andhra Pradesh government together for the first ever direct peace talks six years ago, passed away on October 8, 2010. Sankaran had worked with other prominent people to pave the way for direct talks between the AP government and the top leaders of the Maoists in 2004. However the talks could not progress beyond the first round as serious differences arose over the issue of Maoists moving around with weapons. He was also on the committee constituted on the right for food by the Supreme Court and the state government's committee on the rights of tribal people
• CIA Director meets Indian Home Minister: The Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Leon Panetta, on October 2, 2010, met Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and discussed the overall security scenario in the region. He was accompanied by U.S. Ambassador Timothy J Roemer and also met Home Secretary G.K. Pillai, Research and Analysis Wing chief A.K. Verma and Intelligence Bureau chief Rajiv Mathur. Panetta came from Islamabad and is said to have shared with Chidambaram information about his visit to Pakistan.
News round up
Sunni Waqf Board to move SC in Ayodhta dispute
• The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board on October 5, 2010 decided to challenge in the Supreme Court the Allahabad High Court verdict on the Babri Masjid title suits. At the same time, it has kept the doors open for an out-of-court settlement by authorising its chairman Zufar Ahmed Farooqui to discuss with members if any such proposal is sent to it.
• The original suit (OS) number 4 of 1989 of the Waqf Board, one of the four main parties involved in the Babri title suit, was rejected for being time-barred by the Special Bench of the Allahabad High Court in its judgment on September 30. The High Court, however, ruled that one-third of the disputed land in Ayodhya would be given to the Waqf Board. Nirmohi Akhara and the representatives of “Ram lalla virajman” have also been given one-third each of the disputed land.
• The Waqf Board has clarified that no individual had been authorised to carry out negotiations on its behalf with the other parties and individuals for finding an amicable solution to the dispute. The Board ruling came after claims by the oldest surviving litigant, Mohammed Hashim Ansari that he was “authorised” by the Waqf Board for negotiating the possibility of an out-of-court settlement.
• On the Hindu front, the head of the Nirmohi Akhara, Mahant Bhaskar Das, was reported to have said in Ayodhya that he was willing to open negotiations with the representatives of “Ram lalla virajman” for building a Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Cabinet approves Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill
• The Union Cabinet on October 5, 2010 approved the draft Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010, that provides for setting up of a five-member oversight committee to deal with complaints against members of the higher judiciary. The Bill seeks to replace the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 and will be introduced in Parliament in the Winter Session.
• Under the new provisions of the Bill, a judge facing serious charges, that are prima facie established after a preliminary inquiry, could be asked to step down. At present, there is no legal mechanism for dealing with complaints against judges, who are governed by ‘Restatement of Values of Judicial Life,' adopted by the judiciary as a code of conduct without any statutory sanction.
• The proposed oversight committee will be headed by a former Chief Justice of India. It will include the Attorney General, a Supreme Court judge, a Chief Justice of a High Court and an eminent person nominated by the President.
• The Bill has provision for setting up a three-tier mechanism to look into complaints. Besides the oversight committee, the Bill proposes to have a scrutiny committee and an investigation committee. The scrutiny committees will look into cases referred by the oversight committee.
• Scrutiny committees will be in place for Supreme Court and in each of the 21 high courts. The committees would investigate the charges and submit reports within three months to the oversight committee. A former chief justice of India and two judges of the apex court will be members of the scrutiny committee for the Supreme Court. Similarly, the former chief justice of a high court and two judges of high court would be members of the scrutiny committee.
• If the charges are not proved, the investigation committee can dismiss the case. Otherwise, it will give a report to the oversight committee, which can issue an advisory or warning if the charges are not too serious. If the charges are serious, the committee can request the judge concerned to resign. If the judge does not do so, the oversight committee will forward the case to the President with an advisory for his removal. In the Lok Sabha, not less than 100 members will be required to move the motion, and in the Rajya Sabha not less than 50 members will be needed.
• The Bill also makes it mandatory for judges of the SC as well as the High Courts to declare their assets and liabilities and put them up on the court websites within 30 days of being appointed.
Three tier mechanism
Complaints against members of high judiciary will go to Oversight Committee Oversight Committee will refer the complaints to Scrutiny Committee Scrutiny Committee will decide whether to forward complaint to investigation committee, monitor investigations If charges are proved, Oversight Committee will issue an advisory or warning; ask the judge to resign if charges are serious Case to go to parliament for impeachment if judge does not agree to resign
EC discusses EVMs, ‘Paid News’ with political parties
• The Election Commission on October 4, 2010 organised a meeting with recognized National and State Political Parties to discuss issues related to (i) Electronic Voting Machines, (ii) Money Power in Elections (iii) “Paid News” in connection with Elections and (iv) Criminalization of Politics. All the six National Political Parties and 35 out of 49 State Political Parties attended the meeting. Following is the outcome of the discussions:-
• Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs): Political Parties were explained the technical and administrative safeguards put in place by the Election Commission with respect to EVMs. There was a consensus among Political Parties for the continued use of EVMs. Several parties suggested that the feasibility of incorporating a ‘Voter Verifiable Paper Trail’ in the EVMs. The EC agreed to forward the suggestion to its Technical Expert Committee for further examination.
• Money Power in Elections: On the issue of the abuse of Money Power in elections, Political Parties were apprised about EC’s strict enforcement of expenditure monitoring measures in elections. Parties were of the view that audit of their annual accounts by a Chartered Accountant from a panel appointed by the CAG or the Commission is not required as they themselves are getting their accounts audited through their auditors and submitting annual returns to Income Tax Authorities. Many Parties said that the possibility of Sate funding of elections should also be explored. They also expressed the view that the ceiling on Election Expenditure should be raised in view of inflation.
• Paid News: Political Parties agreed that amendments might be required in the Representation of the People Act and for an effective control over Paid News by including it in the list of corrupt practices. One of the steps suggested was that an Expert Committee of eminent Jurists, Media Persons and others might be constituted by the Commission to develop effective methods of identification and accounting of Paid News. Parties also suggested that the Commission should reconsider the present level of restrictions on the conventional methods of election campaign as these restrictions have led to alternative and pernicious practices like Paid News.
• Criminalization of Politics: The view among Political Parties was that no change is called for in the present law which disqualifies a person only on conviction. They felt that under the system of jurisprudence in India a person is presumed to be innocent unless proved guilty.
• IAF celebrates 78th anniversary: The Indian Air Force (IAF) celebrated its 78th anniversary on October 8, 2010. A ceremonial Air Force Day Parade (AFDP), reviewed by the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal PV Naik, was held at the airbase in Hindan, near Ghaziabad commemorating the occasion. The Air Force Day is celebrated to mark the significance of the Day (October 8, 1932) when the Act to establish the IAF came into effect. The Air Chief presented 25 Vayu Sena Medals (VM) including nine for gallantry and 30 Vishisht Seva Medals (VSM) on behalf of the President of India, at an Investiture Ceremony held at the parade. He also awarded citations to four air force units – Helicopter Training School (HTS), No. 48 Squadron, No. 3004 Squadron and No. 27 Squadron, for excellence in performance.
• India to conduct joint anti-terrorism exercise with Russia: The Indian Army will conduct a joint anti-terrorism exercise with the Russian Army called Indra-2010 in Chaubatia in Uttarakhand from October 15-24, 2010. In October 2005, the first of the Indra exercises was held in India. Indra-2010 is the third of the Indra exercises, following the second conducted in Russia in 2007.
• Hyderabad signs ‘sister-city' pacts with Australian cities: The Mayors of Brisbane and Ipswich of Australia and Hyderabad signed a MoU in Hyderabad on October 5, 2010 for a three-way ‘Sister City Relationship' to further trade and education between the three cities.
• Govt approves funds for setting up 16 Central varsities: The Government on October 5, 2010 allocated Rs 3,000 crore during the 11th Plan period for setting up 13 new Central universities and converting three existing State universities into Central universities. The 16 Central universities were established in the various States by the Central Universities Act, 2009.
• New language discovered in Arunachal Pradesh: A team linguists from National Geographic and Ranchi University on October 5, 2010 claimed to have discovered a hitherto unknown language in remote Arunachal Pradesh, which is on the verge of extinction. The language, known as Koro, belongs to the Tibeto-Burman language family, a group of some 400 languages that includes Tibetan and Burmese, the linguists said. The expedition was part of National Geographic’s Enduring Voices project.
• AP is India’s top domestic tourist destination: Andhra Pradesh has emerged as the number one domestic travel destination followed by Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, according to data on ‘Indians travelling within India’ unveiled by the market research division of the Union Ministry of Tourism in October 2010. During 2009, the number of domestic tourist visits to various states was 650 million (65 crore), as compared to 563 million (56.3 crore) in 2008 and 527 million (52.7 crore) in 2007. The top 10 states in terms of the number of domestic tourist visits in 2009 were Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Gujarat.
• HRD Ministry announces free education for CW medal winners: Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Kapil Sibal, on October 8, 2010 announced that the cost of education of all students who are medal winners in the Commonwealth Games-2010, at New Delhi would be borne by the Government for the entire duration of their studies. While the expenditure for college going/University students, including those in professional colleges, would be borne by the UGC, the CBSE would bear all such expenditure on education of all those currently in Schools, irrespective of whether they are in CBSE affiliated schools or not.
• First V-C of Presidency University appointed: Retd. Jadavpur University professor, Amita Chatterjee was on October 6, 2010 appointed as the first Vice-Chancellor of the Kolkata-based Presidency University. Presidency College was granted the status of a university recently.
• IIM Bangalore to train principals CBSE affiliated schools: The CBSE on October 7, 2010 roped in IIM Bangalore to train principals of affiliated schools in efficiently managing reforms like replacing marks with grades and handling the continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) system. The training programme will be especially aimed at principals of senior secondary schools, empowering them to manage the reforms introduced by CBSE in the last couple of years. The training component will also include identifying and implementing suitable systems of appraisal and evaluation of feedback for teachers and staff and role of technology in management of schools.
• DoP unveils stamps on ‘Princely States of India’: Department Of Posts on October 06, 2010 released a set of four stamps on “Princely States of India” as a curtain raiser to INDIPEX 2011, the World Philatelic Exhibition. The exhibition is scheduled to be held during February 12-18, 2011 in New Delhi. This set of four commemorative postage stamps depicts the stamps issued by the Princely States- Sirmoor, Indore, Bamra and Cochin. There were as many as 568 states in India before Independence that cease to exist after independence. It is relevant to mention here that only forty odd states out of five hundred plus had issued stamps as symbol of their sovereignty.
• Indo-Russian film institute to be set up: An Indo-Russian film institute with state-of-art filmmaking technology from Russia will be set up next year at the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Chennai. According to the announcement made by the Indo-Russian Film Chamber of Commerce and Industries in October 2010, the film institute would introduce courses on digital filmmaking, animation, and script-writing, apart from a string of other programmes.
• World Space Week-2010 organised: NGO Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) hosted the week-long “World Space Week-2010” across the country from October 4-10, 2010. The “World Space Week” is an annual international astronomical event promoted by the United Nations General Assembly from October 4 to 10. Its objective is to celebrate the contributions of space science and technology for the betterment of the human condition. Dates of the weeklong celebration commemorate two historic events. October 4, 1957, marks the launch of the first human-made satellite “Sputnik 1” and October 10, 1967, marks the signing of the treaty on “Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space”.
• Senior Citizens’ Day observed: The International Senior Citizens’ Day was observed on October 1, 2010.
World’s tallest statue to be built in Gujarat: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on October 7, 2010 announced his government’s plan to build a Statue of Unity, a 182-metre high statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel “two times taller than the Statue of Liberty and easily the world’s tallest statue” located on Sadhu Bet, about 3 km from Sardar Sarovar dam, in river Narmada. Modi said the idea was to immortalise Patel’s contribution as the architect of modern and united India, earlier divided into over 500 princely states. While the tallest statue in the world will also have a Sardar Patel museum, research centres for agriculture and allied fields, the surrounding area will be developed as a tourist destination.
Tallest statues in the world (*proposed)
Statue Height Country
Sardar Patel Smarak* 182m India
Spring Temple Buddha 153m China
Ushiku Daibutsu 120m Japan
Statue of Liberty 93m USA
The Motherland Calls 85m Russia
Christ The Redeemer 39.6m Brazil
Section B: WORLD
Newsmakers
• Dilma Rousseff & Jose Serra in presidential runoff vote in Brazil: The Brazilian presidential election, 2010 was held on October 3, 2010. As no candidate polled 50 percent of the votes a run-off will be held on October 31 between Dilma Rousseff who won 46.91% votes and second placed José Serra who won 32.61% votes. Third placed Marina Silva got 19.33% votes. The election was organised to find a successor to incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, of the Workers' Party. According to the Constitution, the president is elected directly for a four-year term, with a limit of two consecutive terms. Lula has already served two
terms after winning the elections in 2002 and 2006. Dilma Rousseff is affiliated with the Workers' Party (PT). She was appointed Chief of Staff by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in June 2005, becoming the first female to assume the position. José Serra of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) is Governor of São Paulo state. Observers noted that the final outcome after the runoff would depend significantly on whether Silva made a public endorsement of either candidate.
• Donilon will be new US National Security Adviser: The US National Security Adviser General James L. Jones will step down by the end of this month. Jones, who assumed the duties of the post when Barack Obama was sworn into office on January 20, 2009 as President, announced his resignation on October 8, 2010. He will be replaced by Thomas E. Donilon, the current deputy National Security Advisor.
• Reinfeldt re-elected as Prime Minister of Sweden: Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt on October 5, 2010 announced the formation of a coalition government in the Riksdag, Swedish Parliament. Reinfeldt, leader of the Moderate Party, became Sweden's prime minister for a second term after his alliance won the general election organised on September 19, 2010.
• Desmond Tutu retires from public life: Desmond Tutu, whose outspoken criticism helped bring an end to South Africa's apartheid, announced his retirement from public life at the age of seventy-nine on October 7, 2010. Tutu is a South African activist and Christian cleric who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism in 1986, the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2005 and the US government’s Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.
• Diplomat-author Phillips Talbot passes away: Veteran diplomat and author Phillips Talbot, a Padma Shri recipient who covered India’s independence movement as a journalist with the Washington-based Institute of Current World Affairs, passed away at the age of 95 on October 1, 2010. He served as the president of the New York-based Asia Society from 1970 to 1981. He was US assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations from 1961 to 1965.
News round up
• French Constitutional Council approves ban on veil: The Constitutional Council, the top legal authority in France, on October 7, 2010 approved a law banning full-face veils in public in the country. The Council approved the version of the Bill which has been passed by both houses of Parliament. It judged, however, that the ban would be unenforceable in public places of worship, where it may violate religious freedoms. President, Nicolas Sarkozy’s government promoted the law as a means to protect women from being forced to wear Muslim full-face veils such as the burqa. The law, the first of its kind in Western Europe, imposes a euro 150 fine ($210) on anyone wearing one — and a euro 30,000 ($41,700) fine on anyone who forces a woman to wear one. Only some 2,000 women in France are estimated to wear such veils, but proponents see the law as a symbolic defense of French values such as women’s rights and secularism.
• EU, South Korea sign Free Trade Area: The European Union (EU) and South Korea on October 7, 2010 signed one of the world’s most ambitious free trade agreements (FTA). Announcing the signing of the deal, Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council said that trade liberalisation was a key element for the recovery of the world economy. The EU-Korea FTA is expected to cut some 3 billion euros worth of tariffs. It is now due to come into provisional effect on July 1, 2011.
• Pravasi Bhartiya Divas organised: The Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) Africa was organised from 1-2 October, 2010 at the International Convention Centre (ICC), Durban, South Africa. The event was inaugurated on October 1 by the Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi. The theme of the PBD, co-hosted by the Government of the Province of KwaZulu-Natal, was – ‘India-Africa: Building Bridges.’ This was the 4th regional PBD organized by Government of India outside India after New York (2007), Singapore (2008) and The Hague (2009). PBD Africa marked the 150th anniversary of the arrivals of Indians in South Africa.
• Iraq breaks record for time taken to form a govt.: Political parties in Iraq on October 2, 2010 broke the world record for the amount of time taken to form a new government. In 1977, it took 208 days for Dutch politicians to agree to a coalition. Neither the Iraqi National Movement (al-Iraqiya) bloc led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, which came out narrowly ahead with 91 seats in the Council of Representatives, nor the incumbent Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki, whose State of Law coalition came second with 89 seats, has been able to muster a big enough coalition to make a majority in the 325 seat Parliament. Elections were in Iraq on March 2010 and the new parliament opened on 14 June 2010.
• Constitutional Court restores President’s powers in Ukraine: Ukraine’s Constitutional Court on October 8, 2010 invalidated the controversial political reform of 2004 that deprived the President of the right to appoint the Prime Minister and the Cabinet and passed this authority to Parliament. The move strengthens the authority of the Moscow friendly President, Viktor Yanukovych. The Court ruling restores in Ukraine a presidential system similar to that in Russia and many other former Soviet republics.
• World’s largest book fair organised in Frankfurt: The Frankfurt Book Fair, the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented, was organised from October 6 to 10, 2010 in Frankfurt, Germany. The fair offers a major marketplace for buying rights and licenses and a global forum for discussion on the future of books. Israeli author David Grossman was awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade during the fair.
• Retirement age raised in France: The French Senate on October 8, 2010 voted to raise the country’s retirement age from 60 to 62 as part of the Government’s pension reform plan. The union leaders have called for national strikes against the package, designed to cut pension costs. The National Assembly, the lower House of Parliament, has already approved the change but further reforms are still to be voted on.
• Nepal’s Parliament fails to elect PM again: Nepal's Parliament on October 6, 2010 failed to elect a Prime Minister for the 10th time rejecting Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Poudyal, the sole candidate for the post, following a boycott by the Unified Communist Party of Nepal- Maoists (UCPN-M) which has the highest number of 238 seats and the Communist Party of Nepal – Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) which has 109 seats. The 65-year-old Poudyal secured 109 votes, far below the required figure of 301, in the 601-member Constituent Assembly.
• Interpol red corner notice against five Pakistanis for 26/11: Interpol has issued red corner notices against five Pakistani nationals, including two serving Army officers, for their alleged role in plotting terror attacks in India including the 26/11 Mumbai strike. The notices have been issued against Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives Sajid Majid and Syed Abdur Rehman Hashim, Major Iqbal, Major Sameer Ali, and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami chief Ilyas Kashmiri on October 7, 2010.
• 4,000-year-old Aryan city discovered in Russia: Russian archaeologists in October 2010 reported having unearthed ancient settlements, which they believe were built by the original Aryan race about 4,000 years ago. The settlements discovered in remote Russia steppe in southern Siberia bordering Kazakhstan, are said to date back to the beginning of the Western civilisation in Europe. The Aryans’ language has been identified as the precursor to a number of modern European tongues.
• Painting depicting Tipu's victory fetches $1,224,184: A collection of 24 paintings depicting the famous Battle of Pollilur, in which the British Army surrendered to Mysore warrior Tipu Sultan and his father Haider Ali in 1780, was sold on October 6, 2010 for a whopping $1,224,184 at Sotheby's in London. The British Army suffered many casualties, representing one of the worst defeats suffered in the subcontinent in this 1780 battle. They went on to defeat Tipu Sultan at the Battle of Seringapatam on May 4, 1799.
Section C: AWARDS
INDIA
• Rahman wins award for National Integration: Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman and the Ramakrishna Mission Ashram, located in Chhattisgarh's Narainpur, have been jointly selected for the 25th Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration for the year 2009 for their services in promoting and preserving national integration. The award, which consists of a citation and Rs.2.5 lakh, will be presented by Congress president Sonia Gandhi at Teen Murti House on October 31, the death anniversary of the former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. The award was instituted by the Congress in 1985 to recognise distinguished persons for outstanding contributions to the cause of national integration.
• Gulzar to receive Excellence in Cinema award: Lyricist-filmmaker Gulzar was on October 7, 2010 selected for the ‘Excellence in Cinema’ award this year by the London-based South Asian Cinema foundation. Gulzar, who won the Oscar for Best Original song for 'Jai Ho' with A R Rahman, is being honoured for his overall historic contribution to popular Indian cinema. His distinction lies in his creation of a unique imagery in film lyrics, making intense political films like 'Aandhi' (1975) and Maachis (1996) and breaking new ground with films impregnated with strong political undercurrent. The previous recipients of the award are Adoor Gopalakrishnan, M S Sathyu, Saeed Akhtar Mirza and Girish Kasaravalli.
• Calcutta Univ. confers doctorate on Bhutan King: The King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk, received an Honorary Doctorate from the State Governor and Chancellor of the University of Calcutta, M.K. Narayanan, in Kolkata on October 5, 2010. The King, who was conferred the Degree of Doctorate of Law, Honoris Causa, stressed the importance of human values in the present-day world.
• Ba, Bapu Puraskars awarded: The Ba, Bapu Awards for 2010 of the Gandhi National Memorial Society were given to veteran Gandhian activists Padmabhushan Dr Sarojini Varadappan and Padmabhushan Shailesh Bandopadhyay in Pune on October 2, 2010. Vidhayak Karyakarta Puraskar for 2010 was given to Dr Raziya Abdul Rahim Patel and Vishwas Yeole of Jaldindi Pratishthan.
WORLD
Nobel Prize winners 2010 announced
Every year since 1901 the Nobel Prize has been awarded for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and for peace. The Nobel Prize is an international award administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. Each prize consists of a medal, personal diploma, and a cash award. Following is the list of winners announced in the week October 3-9, 2010:
PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden on October 4, 2010 decided to award The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2010 to 85-year-old Robert G. Edwards for ‘the development of in vitro fertilization’. The prize carries a cash prize of ten million Swedish Kronor. His achievements have made it possible to treat infertility, a medical condition afflicting a large proportion of humanity including more than 10% of all couples worldwide. As early as the 1950s, Edwards had the vision that IVF could be useful as a treatment for infertility. He worked systematically to realize his goal, discovered important principles for human fertilization, and succeeded in accomplishing fertilization of human egg cells in test tubes (or more precisely, cell culture dishes). His efforts were finally crowned by success on 25 July, 1978, when the world's first "test tube baby", Louise Joy Brown, was born in Great Britain. During the following years, Edwards and his co-workers refined IVF technology and shared it with colleagues around the world.
PHYSICS
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on October 5, 2010 decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2010 jointly to Andre Geim (University of Manchester, UK) & and Konstantin Novoselov (University of Manchester, UK) for ‘groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene’. The duo will share the cash prize of ten million Swedish Kronor. A thin flake of ordinary carbon, just one atom thick, lies behind this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics. Geim and Novoselov have shown that carbon in such a flat form has exceptional properties that originate from the remarkable world of
quantum physics. Graphene is a form of carbon. As a material it is completely new – not only the thinnest ever but also the strongest. As a conductor of electricity it performs as well as copper. As a conductor of heat it outperforms all other known materials. It is almost completely transparent, yet dense. A vast variety of practical applications now appear possible including the creation of new materials and the manufacture of innovative electronics. Graphene transistors are predicted to be substantially faster than today’s silicon transistors and result in more efficient computers.
CHEMISTRY
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on October 6, 2010 decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2010 to Richard F. Heck of University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA, Ei-ichi Negishi of Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA and Akira Suzuki of Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan for ‘palladium-catalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis’. This chemical tool has vastly improved the possibilities for chemists to create sophisticated chemicals, for example carbonbased molecules as complex as those created by nature itself. Palladium-catalyzed cross coupling is used in research worldwide, as well as in the commercial production of for example pharmaceuticals and molecules used in the electronics industry.
LITERATURE
Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa was on October 7, 2010 selected for the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2010 for ‘his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual’s resistance, revolt, and defeat’. Llosa's novels are very varied, but whatever form they take, they are interested in the interrelationship between politics and the individual and explore the private histories of nations. His notable novels include ‘The Conversation in the Cathedral’ (1969), ‘Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter’ (1977) and ‘The War of the End of the World’ (1981). Llosa's political engagement actually saw him run, unsuccessfully, for President of Peru in 1990.
PEACE
The Norwegian Nobel Committee on October 8, 2010 decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo for ‘his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China’. For over two decades, Liu Xiaobo has been a strong spokesman for the application of fundamental human rights also in China. He took part in the Tiananmen protests in 1989; he was a leading author behind Charter 08, the manifesto of such rights in China which was published on the 60th anniversary of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 10th of December 2008. The following year, Liu was sentenced to eleven years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power". Liu has consistently maintained that the sentence violates both China's own constitution and fundamental human rights.
Seamus Heaney wins £10,000 Forward Prize: Poet Seamus Heaney was on October 6, 2010 named winner of the Forward Prize in poetry, which comes with a cheque for £10,000. The Nobel Prize winner scooped the trophy for ‘Human Chain’, which he has described as his most personally revealing collection of poems.
CORPORATE & ECONOMY
Aditya Puri is ET’s Business leader of the year
• The winners of the Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence 2010, given by the Economic Times newspaper, were announced on October 6, 2010. The awards, selected by an eight-member jury, chaired by Stephen Schwarzman (Chairman, CEO and co-founder of the Blackstone Group) recognize outstanding companies, institutions and individuals. The complete list winners:
• Company of the year: Larsen & Toubro – India’s largest engineering company and a professionally-managed firm, L&T has dominated the engineering and construction space for several decades and has managed to reward its shareholders consistently ever since its inception in 1938.
• Emerging company: Cadila Healthcare – The company gave India its own swine flu vaccine this year. The award also comes in a year when Cadila is all set to become a billiondollar pharma entity.
• Entrepreneur of the year: Narendra Murukumbi – The 39-year-old co-founder and managing director of Shree Renuka Sugars aims to do in sugar what Lakshmi Niwas Mittal did in steel. This year he managed to take control of Brazil’s seventh largest sugar and alcohol company Equipav at a cost 25% lower than initially agreed.
• Policy change agent of the year: Aruna Roy and Arvind Kejriwal, founders, ‘Parivartan’ – The unrelenting efforts of these two were vital in making the government, politicians and bureaucrats agree to the revolutionary Right to Information Act. Parivartan is a Delhi-based citizen’s movement that works to ensure just, transparent and accountable governance.
• Business reformer of the year: Kapil Sibal, HRD minister – Sibal has endeavoured over the past 15 months to find the meeting ground for the private and public in the field of education. He has attempted to bring the focus back on education.
• Global Indian of the year: Nitin Nohria, Dean, Harvard Business School – Nohria’s area of specialization is in organizational behaviour and his research over the years has covered topics like motivation, leadership and corporate transformation.
• Businesswoman of the year: Zia Mody, co-founder of AZB & Partners – One of India’s foremost corporate lawyers, Mody is among the very few women of her generation to have broken the glass ceiling in what many still consider to be a male-dominated profession.
• Lifetime achievement award: R C Bhargava, chairman, Maruti Suzuki – Bhargava can be called one of the driving forces of Maruti Suzuki that changed the face of India’s roads. He was also one of the first persons to popularise recruitment from ITIs.
• CIL chairman gets SCOPE award: Partha S Bhattacharyya, Chairman, Coal India Ltd, was on October 7, 2010 conferred with the SCOPE (Standing Conference of Public Sector Enterprises) ‘Special Award of the Jury' for the year 2008-09. The jury panel was chaired by former Chief Justice P.N. Bhagwati. Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) won gold trophies for 2008-09 under the institutional category. SJVN Ltd and BEML Ltd bagged gold trophies in the medium category, Andrew Yule & Co Ltd and MECON Ltd won
turnaround and small public enterprise category awards respectively. Arup Roy Choudhury, Chairman and Managing Director of NTPC, won the gold plaque and cash award of Rs 1 lakh in the individual excellence category.
• DLF Chairman conferred Monaco award: DLF Chairman K.P. Singh was conferred with the decoration of Officer of the Order of St. Charles by Prince Albert II of Monaco in New Delhi on October 4, 2010. The award was presented in recognition of his contributions as Honorary Consul General of Monaco for the last 20 years.
• Bank of Baroda wins best bank award: Public sector lender Bank of Baroda was on October 6, 2010 awarded the Best Bank of 2010 award instituted by the ‘Business India’ magazine. Chairman and Managing Director M D Mallya received the award in Mumbai.
• ICRISAT wins Research Leadership Award: The Hyderabad-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) received the prestigious Research Leadership Award-2010 at the Third Agricultural Leadership Summit in New Delhi on September 29, 2010. A press release issued by the institute on October 5, 2010 said it was cited as a pioneer of improving dryland agriculture, working with a wide array of partners in Asia and Sub- Saharan Africa. William Dar, Director-General, ICRISAT, received the award.
• IICT scientists receive Pharmaceutical awards: Three scientists of the Hyderabad based Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) on October 6, 2010 received awards from the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI). Dr G.V.M. Sharma had received the OPPI Scientist of the Year award — 2010. Dr K. Suresh Babu and Dr N. Shankariah had secured the Young Scientist Awards.
• Kandla gets ‘Major Port of the Year' award: The Kandla Port in Gujarat, run by the Kandla Port Trust (KPT), was on October 3, 2010 adjudged the ‘Major Port of the Year' at the Maritime and Logistics Awards (MALA) 2010, organised by Exim India. The Kandla Port had created history by handling 79.50 million tonnes of cargo in 2009-2010.
SPORTS
Tendulkar wins Sir Garfield Sobers Award; Sehwag is Test Player of the Year
• Sachin Tendulkar won the ‘The Sir Garfield Sobers Cricketer of the Year' Award at the LG ICC Awards in Bangalore on October 6, 2010. Based on the period between 24 August 2009 and 10 August 2010, the LG ICC Awards 2010 – presented in association with FICA (Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations) – take into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game. Tendulkar, who became the second Indian to win the award after Rahul Dravid won it in 2004, also won the ‘LG People's Choice Award.'
• During the voting period, the 37-year-old batsman played in 10 Test matches, scoring 1,064 runs, including six centuries, at an average of 81.84. Tendulkar also played in 17 ODIs, aggregating his way to 914 runs at an average 65.28 in a period that also included the record-breaking double-century against South Africa.
• Virender Sehwag won the Test Player of the Year award for making 1,282 runs with an impressive average of 85.46 in the 10 Test matches he played. He scored six centuries and four half-centuries during the period.
• South Africa's AB de Villiers won the ODI Player of the Year award. During the voting period, de Villiers played 16 ODIs and scored 855 runs at an average of 71.25 hitting four 50s and four centuries. He had a strike rate of 103.38 runs per 100 balls faced.
Following is the complete list of winners:
Award Winner
Sir Garfield Sobers Cricketer of the Year Sachin Tendulkar
LG People's Choice Award Sachin Tendulkar
Test Player of the Year Virender Sehwag
ODI Player of the Year A.B. de Villiers (South Africa)
Spirit of Cricket New Zealand
Umpire of the Year Aleem Dar (Pakistan)
Emerging Player Steven Finn (England)
Twenty20 International Performance of the Year Brendon McCullum of New Zealand
Women's Cricketer of the Year Shelley Nitschke (Australia)
Associate and Affiliate Player Ryan ten Doeschate (Netherlands)
• Inductees into the ICC Hall of Fame: Bishan Singh Bedi (India), Joel Garner & Courtney Walsh (West Indies) and Rachael Heyhoe Flint (England)
• ICC Test World XI: M.S. Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Simon Katich, Sachin Tendulkar, Hashim Amla, Kumar Sangakkara, Jacques Kallis, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Dale Steyn and Doug Bollinger.
• ICC ODI World XI: Ricky Ponting (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Shane Watson, Michael Hussey, A.B. de Villiers, Paul Collingwood, M.S. Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Daniel Vettori, Stuart Broad, Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris.
Section D: ECONOMY & CORPORATE
Newsmakers
Three Indians on Forbes powerful women list
Three Indian women — all from the corporate sector — find a spot on the Forbes list of 100 most powerful women in the world unveiled on October 8, 2010. The list has been topped by US First Lady Michelle Obama, followed by Irene Rosenfeld, CEO of the $40-billion snack food company Kraft. Chennai-born PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi came in at No 6, while Axis Bank CEO Shikha
Sharma and ICICI Bank Managing Director & CEO Chanda Kochhar were ranked 89th and 92nd respectively.
The top five:
Michelle Obama (46 years), First Lady, United States;
Irene Rosenfeld (57), Chief Executive, Kraft Foods, United States;
Oprah Winfrey (56), Talk show host and media mogul; United States,
Angela Merkel (56), Chancellor, Germany and
Hillary Clinton (62), Secretary of State, United States
Category-wise: For the 2010 exercise, Forbes magazine also divided the candidates under four heads: politics, business, media and lifestyle. It ranked the women in each group separately, apart from the overall ranking. Nooyi, Sharma and Kochhar fell in the business category, where they were ranked No 2, 33 and 35, respectively. Obama, Rosenfeld and Winfrey also topped in the Politics, Business and Media categories while Lady Gaga (24 years), singer and performance artist who ranked seventh in the overall list, occupied the first position in the Lifestyle category.
• Bachchan gets highest bid in celebrity auction: A lunch date with 67-year-old Amitabh Bachchan received the highest bid at an auction, Rs 10.02 lakh on October 5, 2010. A breakfast with Akshay Kumar invited a bid for Rs 5.92 lakh while the winning bid for a gym session with Salman Khan was Rs 3.52 lakh. The celebrity auctions are a part of the ‘Joy of Giving Week’ celebrations organised by online marketplace eBay in collaboration with charity organisations from around the country. The lunch with Bachchan and Salman's gym session was won by the corporate house Whirlpool and a lucky fan from the USA will get to have breakfast with Akshay. The celebrity auctions raised a total of Rs 27 lakhs and the proceeds will go to the star's charity of choice.
• Anand Mahindra donates $10 mn to Harvard: Anand Mahindra, Mahindra and Mahindra's Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, on October 4, 2010 donated $ 10 million to the Humanities Centre of the Harvard University, in memory of his mother Indira Mahindra. Mahindra had graduated from Harvard in 1977 and earned an MBA degree in 1981.
• Twitter co-founder Williams steps down as CEO: Social networking site Twitter co-founder, Evan Williams, on October 4, 2010 announced that he would step down as the Chief Executive Officer to focus on ways of making Twitter more profitable. He will be replaced by the current chief operating officer, Dick Costolo. Twitter has grown dramatically in recent years, with user numbers now topping 160 million, compared with three million two years ago.
• CBI questions Ramalinga Raju in Satyam scam: More than a year after taking up the investigation, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on October 5, 2010, finally got a chance to question the founder and former Chairman of Satyam Computer Services Ltd, B. Ramalinga Raju in the Satyam scam. The focus of the interrogation was centered on the alleged largescale funds diversion to some foreign countries. Raju founded Satyam Computers in 1987 and was its Chairman until January 7, 2009 when he resigned from the Satyam board after admitting to falsely inflating profits to jack up the company’s share price. After being held in jail on charges including cheating, embezzlement and insider trading, Raju was granted bail on 18 August 2010. The CBI had taken into custody voluminous data and records and also interrogated several accused in the scam. However, Raju had been dodging on the grounds of bad health and treatment. He had recently moved out of Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) to his residence.
• ED issues Blue Notice against Lalit Modi: The Enforcement Directorate has, in October 2010, issued a Blue Notice — an international alert to law enforcement agencies — against the former Indian Premier League chairman, Lalit Modi, in its probe into the finances of the T20 cricket tournament. The objective of a Blue Notice, according to Interpol, is “to collect additional information about a person's identity or activities in relation to a crime.” The ED is probing alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act by various IPL franchises. Modi was suspended as IPL chairman by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in April and is currently living outside India.
• SKS Microfinance sacks CEO Gurumani: SKS Microfinance Ltd on October 4, 2010 terminated the services of its Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Suresh Gurumani, with immediate effect. The board of the Hyderabad-based company, which was the first microfinance institution to unveil an initial public offer (IPO) in August 2010, has appointed the Deputy CEO, M. R. Rao, in his place. SKS founder Vikram Akula and Gurumani are said to have been locked in a power conflict for quite some time.
• Ratan Tata in UK govt. advisory committee: Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Tata Group, was on October 5, 2010 included in a 19-member group of notables that will assist the UK government in preparing business strategies and highlight priorities for the British economy. Tata’s inclusion in the panel illustrates the increasing visibility of the Indian group in the UK, where it owns brands such as Jaguar Land Rover and the tea company, Tetley.
• Priyanka Chopra signed as Samsung brand ambassador: Samsung India, in October 2010, signed actress Priyanka Chopra as the brand ambassador to promote its new range of washing machines and other home appliances.
• Kareena Kapoor to endorse M&M scooters: Actress Kareena Kapoor has signed an agreement to endorse all the three scooters of Mahindra & Mahindra – Rodeo, Duro and Flyte – in print, electronic and online campaigns. The actress appeared on a Flyte in the movie ‘3 Idiots’.
• Sonam Kapoor is Electrolux's brand ambassador: Home appliance maker Electrolux on October 4, 2010 appointed actress Sonam Kapoor as its new brand ambassador. Kapoor will endorse the products of PE Electronics Ltd which is a new business entity comprising Philips and Electrolux brands. Philips product range consists of high-definition LEDs, LCDs and ultra-slim colour TVs while the Electrolux product range will consist of refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens and air-conditioners.
• Montblanc launches John Lennon pens: Montblanc on October 4, 2010 launched John Lennon Edition Writing Instruments to celebrate the 70th birth anniversary (October 9) of the legendary musician. While the ‘John Lennon Limited Edition 70’ marks his 70th birthday and is limited to 70 pieces, ‘John Lennon Commemoration Edition 1940’ marks the year of Lennon’s birth and is limited to 1940 pieces.
• Siddharth is Peter England brand ambassador: Peter England Fashion and Retail (PEFR), a mid-priced apparel division of Aditya Birla Nuvo, on October 6, 2010 appointed actor Siddharth of ‘Rang De Basanti’ fame as its brand ambassador. The company has also forayed into denims and a line of club wear, called Peter England Party.
• Rogue trader Kerviel convicted: Jerome Kerviel was on October 6, 2010 sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to repay Societe Generale SA’s € 4.9-billion ($6.8 billion) trading loss in January 2008 by a judge who said the former trader’s actions threatened the bank’s existence. Kerviel has been accused by Societe Generale of breach of trust, forgery and unauthorized use of the bank's computers, resulting in losses valued at €4.9 billion
News round up
India's wealth triples to $3.5 trillion – Credit Suisse
• The Credit Suisse Research Institute on October 8, 2010 launched its inaugural Global Wealth Report, which finds that the global wealth currently held by 4.4 billion adults (defined as aged over 20) has increased 72% since 2000 to reach USD 195 trillion. The Institute estimates that global wealth will grow 61% to USD 315 trillion by 2015.
• China stands out as the third-largest wealth generator in the world, with total household wealth of USD 16.5 trillion, behind only the US (USD 54.6 trillion) and Japan (USD 21.0 trillion). If historic growth trends continue, total household wealth in China could rise 111% to USD 35 trillion by 2015, outstripping Japan to become the second highest in the world. India's wealth has tripled to $3.5 trillion in the last decade and could double to $6.4 trillion by 2015.
• Switzerland and Norway have emerged as the richest nations in the world in terms of average wealth per adult, which stands at USD 372,692 and USD, 326,530 respectively. They are followed by Australia, which is in third place with average wealth per adult of USD 320,909 and Singapore with average wealth per adult of USD 255,488.
Indo-EU drug patents dispute resolved
• India has settled its dispute with the European Union over the seizure of Indian generic drugs by a few European countries and will soon withdraw a complaint filed before the WTO on the matter, the Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma, said on October 7, 2010.
• India had taken the EU to the WTO after a number of instances of seizure of generic drugs (medicines that are off-patent), on the ground that the consignments were in violation of EU laws. India's stand was that the drugs that were being shipped to Latin America and Africa were off-patent and there was no violation of any international law. India had also argued that the seizures based on allegations of infringement of intellectual property rights in the country of transit were wrong as they were legal in their countries of origin and destination.
• The problem started two years ago, when a generic drug shipment on route from India to Brazil was seized by the Dutch Customs in transit, citing violation of European patent laws.
• Developing nations had criticised the move as a deliberate attempt by rich nations and pharma multinationals to diminish poor countries’ access to cheap medicines. The nearly $15-billion Indian pharmaceutical industry gets almost 40 per cent of its revenues from generic drug exports.
• IMF ups India’s GDP growth outlook to 9.7%: The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its World Economic Outlook report unveiled on October 7, 2010, revised upwards its India GDP growth projection for 2010 to 9.7 per cent, from the earlier estimate of 9.4 per cent. The IMF projection for 2010 is the highest among those made by several agencies. The government and Reserve Bank of India, which release estimates for the financial year ending March, have estimated GDP growth at around 8.5 per cent in 2010-11. The world economy, which declined by 0.6 percent in 2009, is projected to grow by 4.8 per cent in 2010 while the projection has been retained at 4.2 per cent for 2011.
• RBI forms group to review operation of monetary policy: The Reserve Bank of India on October 5, 2010 constituted a working group to review the current operating procedure of monetary policy. The group, to be headed by RBI executive director Deepak Mohanty, will also review the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF), through which the central bank manages money supply in the system on a day-to-day basis. The RBI conducts LAF through short-term lending (repo) rate and borrowing (reverse repo) rate. The difference between them is called corridor. The group will also assess the role of Bank Rate, at which banks borrow from RBI, which has not been used as a monetary tool by the apex bank for several years.
• Asia Europe Meeting organised in Brussels: The Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit was organised in Brussels, Belgium on October 4-5, 2010. The summit called for reforming the international financial institutions (IFIs), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, especially the quota regime of the IMF, by suggesting a deadline for the process. Both Indian Vice-President Hamid Ansari and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, during their interventions at the ASEM summit, sought more quota shares of the IMF to developing countries to improve the credibility, legitimacy and effectiveness of the IFIs.
• India implements FTA with Indonesia: India has implemented a Free Trade Pact (FTA) with Indonesia that reduces import duties on thousands of products traded between the two countries. Indonesia accounted for $11.7 billion of the total bilateral trade of $44 billion between India and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries in 2009-10. Besides Indonesia, the other five ASEAN countries with which India has operationalised FTAs are Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. The remaining four Asean members — Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and the Philippines — are also expected to become functional in the coming months.
• India has 706.37 million telecom subscribers: The total number of telephone subscribers (both mobile and landline) in India was at 706.37 million on August 31, 2010, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on October 5, 2010. The wireless subscriber base was 670.60 million while the wireline subscriber base was at 35.77 million. The overall teledensity (telephones per 100 people) in India touched 59.63 per cent. Bharti Airtel was the market leader in wireless category with 141.25 million subscribers. The total broadband subscriber base in
India was at 10.08 million.
• Power generation at 397.34 billion units in 1st half of 2010-11: The power generation in the first half this fiscal (April- September) was 97.15 per cent of the planned 409.04 billion units of electricity, according to the data unveiled by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) on October 8, 2010. The country generated 397.34 billion units of power during the six months period. Thermal power generation was 317.33 billion units during the April-September period, which is 80 per cent of the total power produced in the period.
• India's steel consumption rises 9.8% in 1st half of 2010-11: Steady demand from sectors like automobile and consumer durables helped domestic steel consumption rise 9.8 per cent to 29.82 million tonne during the first half (April-September) of the current fiscal (2010-11) over the year-ago period (2009-10). Consumption was at 27.15 million tonne (mt) in 2009-10, according to the data released by the Steel Ministry on October 7, 2010. Domestic production rose by 4.9 per cent to 30.63 mt in 2010-11, as against 29.21 mt last year.
• Tamil Nadu tops Economic Freedom Rankings for States: The Economic Freedom Rankings for the States of India, 2009 compiled by US-based Cato Institute and Indicus Analytics, in cooperation with Friedrich Naumann Stiftung, were unveiled on October 6, 2010. The rankings are a measure of the degree of government intervention in a state’s economy – the less coercive the intervention, the higher the rank. The Economic Freedom Index is based on the size of the government (in terms of expenditures, taxes and state-owned enterprises), the legal structures and security of property rights and the regulation of credit, labour and business. Tamil Nadu occupies the top rank followed by Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
• India Investment Forum organised: Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla and India's Ambassador to U.S. Meera Shankar participated in the annual India Investment Forum organised in New York on October 13, 2010. The Finance Minister called the global investor community to participate in the growth story saying the country is poised to expand by 9 per cent.
• Credit growth in first half at 5.6%: The total outstanding credit of the banking system grew 5.6 per cent to Rs 34,22,291 crore in the first half (April-September 2010) of 2010-11, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on October 7, 2010. The credit growth rate in the first half of 2009-10 was 3.5 per cent. Deposit growth, on the other hand, has sharply slowed from 7.6 per cent in April-September 2009 to 4.9 per cent in the first half of 2010. RBI has projected 18 per cent deposit growth for 2010-11.
• RBI sets up panel on new urban co-op licences: The Reserve Bank of India, in October 2010, has constituted an Expert Committee headed by Y. H Malegam for studying the advisability of granting new urban co-operative banking (UCB) licences. Some of the issues the committee will look into include the role and performance of UCBs over the last decade, the need for organisation of new UCBs in the context of the existing legal framework and the existing regulatory policy on setting up of new UCBs.
• ‘Financial Literacy on Wheels’ launched: Namo Narain Meena, Minister of State for Finance flagged off the New Delhi-Sealdah Rajdhani Express train, as part of National Stock Exchange’s (NSE) campaign ‘Financial Literacy on Wheels’, at the New Delhi Station on October 6, 2010. The train is an investor awareness initiative launched by the NSE to reach out to people in different parts of the country. The 14 coaches of the train will carry Nifty (index of NSE) images on the train, with panels inside on the precautions an investor should take before, during and after trading. The motto of the Rajdhani initiative is ‘soch kar, samajh kar, invest kar’. The campaign was first started in April, when an awareness drive was begun on the Rajdhani trains from Delhi to the Southern cities of Chennai, Trivandrum and Bangalore.
• India signs Tax Information Exchange Agreement with Bermuda: India on October 08, 2010 signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement with Bermuda, the first in a series of such pacts. Agreements with at least eight other traditional tax havens had been finalised and would be signed soon. These are the Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Isle of Man, Jersey, Cayman Islands, St Kitts & Nevis, Monaco and Argentina. The agreement provides for exchange of information on criminal tax matters.
• Tata Steel to launch 2nd agri-tools brand ‘Grasshopper’: Tata Steel will launch a new brand ‘Grasshopper’ for marketing mechanised agricultural implements. Its ‘Tata Agrico’ brand deals in traditional implements for agriculture such as hoes, shovels, sickles, crowbars, pickaxes and hammers.
• Toshiba to introduce 3-D TV that doesn't require glasses: Toshiba, the Japanese electronics maker, on October 4, 2010 said that it would be the first on the market with a TV that displays images in 3-D without requiring viewers to wear eye-glasses. The clunky and expensive glasses – which viewers must wear to watch 3-D images on TVs currently on sale from the likes of Samsung, Panasonic, Sony and Toshiba itself - have been one big obstacle to a wider adoption of 3-D technology.
• Tata Motors acquires Italian design firm Trillix: Tata Motors on October 4, 2010 acquired an 80 per cent stake in Italian design and engineering firm, Trillix SRL, for €1.85 million (Rs 11.2 crore). Indian automakers have been scouting for European design houses to enhance their capabilities. Mahindra & Mahindra, for instance, has already acquired Engine Engineering and Grafica Ricerca Design (GRD), both of Italy.
• BBC Top Gear's 5th anniversary issue in 3D: For its fifth anniversary celebration, BBC Top Gear magazine (India edition) has launched a 314 page issue, titled Epic 3D issue, in which about 80 pages of content is in 3D. The issue launched on October 5, 2010 has 3D glasses supplied with the magazine.
• Tata Communications launches cloud computing services: Tata Communications, in October 2010, expanded its services in the cloud computing space by launching two new services christened InstaCompute and InstaOffice. InstaCompute is an instant data centre infrastructure service which provides on-demand computing and storage resources to businesses over the network. InstaOffice brings global Internet-based collaboration and office tools to Indian companies.
• Dell introduces tablet PC ‘Streak’: Computer maker Dell in October 2010 introduced its tablet PC under the brand ‘Streak’ in the Indian market in association with Qualcomm and Tata DoCoMo. The ‘Streak’ is based on Google’s Android operating system and is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon mobile processor. The tablet is less than 10 mm in thickness, and weighs around 220 gm. Other tablets that are expected to be launched in India in the next few months include Apple’s iPad, Samsung's Galaxy Tab, BlackBerry PlayBook, ASUS Eee Pad and Huawei SmaKit S7.
• Facebook offers new way to sort friends, copy info: Palo Alto, California based Facebook is introducing tools that will make it easier for people to separate their online friendships into different groups and copy all the personal information they have posted on the website. The new features will start rolling out to Facebook's more than 500 million worldwide users from October 7, 2010. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was also in news recently for the release of the film “The Social Network,” a movie tracing Facebook's origins and evolution. Zuckerberg has previously scoffed at the critically acclaimed film as a gross exaggeration of his 6-year-old company's history.
• ASCI pulls up VW, R-Com & Parle for misleading ads: The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) on October 5, 2010 said some television commercials have been withdrawn or modified as they did not abide by its code of conduct. While Reliance Communications, Parle Agro and Volkswagon were asked to withdraw their ads, Johnson & Johnson and Scorpio Enterprise, which makes 'Natraj Atta', were directed to modify their claims. Reliance Communications had made unsubstantiated claims regarding unlimited talk-time. The offers were however subject to certain conditions which were not mentioned in the ads. The LMN Juice ad by Parle Agro hinted at racism by portraying an African national in bad light. Volkswagen had to discontinue the commercial for its Polo car as it portrayed violence against animals.
• Titan unveils ‘Tycoon’ collection: Tata Group company Titan unveiled its collection of chronograph and multifunction watches under the brand ‘Tycoon’ in October 2010. Priced between Rs 3000 and Rs 12000, Tycoon collection is available in 8 different styles across 25 variants.
• Gold Plus unveils diamond alternative Diamantine: Gold Plus, a jewellery retail brand from the Tata Group, launched Diamantine, a new stone that is an alternative to diamond but displays all properties of a diamond (cut, clarity, colour) and comes at one-tenth the cost of one on October 7, 2010.
• Vimal introduces anti-microbial fabric DEO2: Vimal, a textile brand promoted by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd., has introduced its new range of anti-microbial suiting fabric DE02, which has the ability to arrest growth of fungi and bacteria to keep apparels odourless in hot and humid conditions.
• Godrej launches high-end safes Defender Z+: Godrej Security Solutions (GSS), a part of Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Ltd, on October 08, 2010 launched its latest range of safes branded Defender Z+. The product aimed at banks and jewellers incorporate three layers of security — access control, alarm system and proximity sensor (camera).
• Sanofi launches hostile bid for Genzyme: Sanofi-Aventis SA, France’s largest pharmaceutical company, on 5, 2010 began an $18.5 billion hostile takeover offer for Genzyme Corp, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after the US biotechnology company spurned Sanofi’s $69-a-share bid as too low and refused to negotiate.
Recent Books
Book Author
Churchill’s Empire: The World That Made Him And The World He Made Richard Toye Henry Holt
Mumbai Fables Gyan Prakash
Adoor Gopalakrishnan - A Life in Cinema Gautaman Bhaskaran
War On Terrorism Or American Strategy For Global Dominance Manzoor Alam
Sonia Sotomayor - The True American Dream Antonia Felix
The Happy and Harmonious Family Acharya Mahapragya
Nothing to Envy - Real Lives in North Korea Barbara Demick
Wings of the Night Ragini
Luka and the Fire of Life Salman Rushdie
Profit at the Bottom of the Ladder Jody Heymann
The Myth of the Rational Market Justin Fox
Predictable Results in Unpredictable Times Stephen Covey, Bob Whitman
Section E: SPORTS
Newsmakers
• Mohinder Amarnath inducted into IPL Governing Council: The BCCI on October 6, 2010 inducted former Test cricketer Mohinder Amarnath, winner of the Col C K Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009, into the reconstituted Governing Council of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after both Sunil Gavaskar and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi refused to work as non-paid honorary members. Amarnath joins Ravi Shastri, a former India captain, as the second cricketer on the panel and will serve a one-year term in the Council which was reconstituted by the BCCI in September. Anurag Thakur, Ranjeeb Biswal, Arun Jaitley, Rajiv Shukla and Ajay Shirke are the other five members of the Council. Pataudi, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri were paid Rs 1 crore as annual remuneration for IPL-3. Now all council members will serve on a non-payment basis.
• Misbah-ul-Haq is the new captain of Pakistan Cricket team: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on October 7, 2010 named senior batsman, Misbah-ul-Haq as the captain for the Test series against South Africa next month in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Shahid Afridi has been retained as captain of the One-Day and T20 squads. Opener Salman Butt who led Pakistan in the Test matches in England remains provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for his alleged role in spot-fixing
.
• Abhinav Bindra is the flag-bearer at CWG opening ceremony: Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra on October 3, 2010 became the fourth Indian shooter to carry the tri-colour during the opening ceremony of a multi-discipline sporting event when he led the Indian contingent out during the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. Dr. Karni Singh (1982 Asian Games), Jaspal Rana (1998 Commonwealth Games) and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (CWG 2006) are the other Indian shooters to have carried the tri-colour.
• Wozniacki is ranked world’s No. 1 in women’s tennis: 20-year-old Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark clinched the world number one ranking on October 11, 2010 when she entered the quarterfinals of the China Open, in Beijing dethroning America’s Serena Williams. Wozniacki is the first from her country to reach No. 1 in world ranking. She was the runner-up at the 2009 US Open and has not won a single grand slam (Wimbledon, Australian Open, French Open and US Open) title so far.
News round up
Commonwealth Games open
• President Pratibha Patil declared the Commonwealth Games open after Prince Charles read out message from the Queen Elizabeth II on October 3, 2010 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
• The official song of the 2010 Commonwealth Games ‘Jiyo Utho Badho Jeeto’ was composed and performed by composer A. R. Rahman at the opening ceremony. The song's title is based on the slogan of the games, "Come out and play". The song is penned by Mehboob in Hindi with a sprinkling of English words.
• The Queen's Baton Relay arrived at the 2010 Games opening ceremony on 3 October 2010, after visiting the other 54 nations of the Commonwealth and travelling throughout India, reaching millions of people to join in the celebrations for the Games. The relay began when the baton, which contains Queen Elizabeth II's message to the athletes, left Buckingham Palace on 29 October 2009.
• The 2010 Commonwealth Games is the 19th Commonwealth Games, and the ninth to be held under that name. The Games are being held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010, the largest multi sport event conducted to date in Delhi and India, which hosted the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982. This marks the first time the Commonwealth Games have been held in India and the second time the event has been held in Asia (after the 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). Approximately 6081 athletes from 71 nations are participating in 17 sports.
• Jamaican Leron Clarke became the fastest man of the Commonwealth Games clocking 10.12s while Australia's Sally Pearson became the fastest woman by winning the 100 m sprint with a timing of 11.28s on October 7, 2010.
• India's Somdev Devvarman took the Gold medal in Men's Singles in empahtic style with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Greg Jones (AUS) at the R.K Khanna Tennis Stadium on October 9, 2010. Devvarman's win broke Australia's monopoly on Gold medals in tennis. Australia has already won Women's Singles, Women's Doubles and Men's Doubles Gold medals and Rodionova and Paul Hanley (AUS) will contest the Mixed Doubles final against Jocelyn Rae and Colin Fleming (SCO) later.
• Faavae Faauliuli (SAM) claimed Samoa's first Commonwealth Games Gold medal, in any sport, with his final lift in the men's 94kg at Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex on October 9, 2010.
Medals tally: As of Sunday, October 10, 2010-Top three countries
Gold Silver Bronze Total
Australia 59 34 36 129
India 28 19 21 68
England 25 45 29 99
• India win 1st Test of series with Australia: Hosts India scored a one wicket victory over Australia on the final day of the first test of the two-test series at Mohali in Punjab on October 5, 2010. An unbeaten 73 by V.V.S. Laxman guided India to the target of 216 on the final day. Zaheer Khan got the Man of the Match for taking 8 wickets in the match. Australia had won the toss and elected to bat scoring 428 with Shane Watson’s 101 not out as the highest score. India scored 405 with Tendulkar emerging as the top scorer with 98. In the second innings, Australia were all-out for 192 runs setting India a target of 216 runs for victory. The one-wicket win meant India retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with an unassailable 1-0 lead in the two-match series. The second Test begins in Bangalore on October 9.
• Rest of India wins Irani Trophy: Rest of India beat Mumbai by 361 runs to clinch the Irani Trophy title for the fifth consecutive year at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur on October 5, 2010. Chasing an improbable target of 782 to win, the Ranji Trophy champion was bowled out for 420. Off-spinner R. Ashwin (five for 106) and leg-spinner Chawla (four for 113) were the major wicket-takers. Wasim Jaffer was captain of Mumbai while Rest of India was laid by Yuvraj Singh. The scores: Rest of India: 668 and 387 for three declared beat Mumbai: 274 and 420 (A. Rahane 191, W. Jaffer 88; R Ashwin 5 for 106, P Chawla 4 for 113).
• East Bengal win Federation Cup: Reisangmi Vashum scored the winning goal in the 53rd minuteas East Bengal beat Mohun Bagan 1-0 in the Federation Cup final at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on October 2, 2010 to annex the title for the seventh time.
• Europe wins Ryder Cup: Europe won the Ryder Cup on October 4, 2010, beating the United States by 14-1/2 points to 13-1/2 points at Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales. The team captains were Colin Montgomerie for Europe and Corey Pavin for the USA. The Ryder Cup is a golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour, and is contested every two years, the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe.
--
Have a Nice Day
Prabhu nath singh
STUDY POINT,
Chas, Bokaro, (Jharkhand) 09955080486
For more details, visit our group at
http://groups.google.com/group/studypointbokaro?hl=en