The National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) launched to provide commuters hassle free travel experience.

The Union Ministry for Urban Development on 6 December 2011 launched the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), by the name More, on the concluding day of the four-day Urban Mobility India 2011 Conference-CumExhibition. The brand name has been chosen More signifying the national bird Peacock as also literally in English meaning more to convey that you get more and more by using this card. The idea of NCMC is to promote the user to perceive it as a single transport system and provide the commuter with a seamless, efficient and hassle free travel experience across the length and breadth of the country.

With the inauguration of the first state-of-the-art ATDC-SMART (Skill for Manufacturing Apparels through Research and Training) in Egmore, Chennai, the Integrated Skill Development Scheme (ISDC) for the textile and apparel sector was launched by the Ministry of Textiles.

The Ministry launched the project in association with the Apparel Training & Design Centre (ATDC), which was selected as a nodal agency for the project. The project aims to impart training to a workforce of about 256000 in the next two years.

The ATDC-SMART project worth Rs 23 billion focuses on the core workforce requirements of the garment industry located across India. The importance of the Scheme can be judged from the fact that the apparel industry is the second largest employment provider in the country after agriculture.

Rural youth and women stand to benefit the most from the ISDC. The rural youth would be able to find gainful employment in areas near their domicile with the help of the imparted training.

Indias domestic textile market is expected to grow to US$ 60 billion and exports to US$ 50 billion by 2015. By 2015 the sector is expected to create an additional 12 million jobs, nearly 40 per cent of which will be in the core production activities.

The handicrafts industry employs 12 million people in India currently.

According to the assessment by Cotton Advisory Board (CAB), total demand of cotton for 2011-12 is estimated to be marginally lower at 250 lakh bales as compared to the demand for 253 lakh bales for 2010. The domestic demand for cotton is expected to decline due to slowdown in the global and domestic markets.

The demand for the natural fibre stood at 253 lakh bales (one bale equal to 170 kg) during the 2010-11 cotton season (October - September).

The demand for cotton is moderate and buying is slow in the domestic market. Also lower textile shipment to the US and Europe forced domestic textile industry to cut down production by around 10 per cent. CAB projected the exports of natural fibre at 80 lakh bales in the 2011-12 cotton season against 70 lakh bales in 2010-11.

CAB pegged the India's cotton production at 356 lakh bales in the current cotton season, as against 325 lakh bales in the last cotton season.

A panel of jurors of the Permanent People's Tribunal, an international opinion tribunal, presented its findings following three days of depositions by citizens from around the world. The findings of the panel indicted parent states of six agrochemical multinational corporations, host countries such as India, and international bodies (such as the United National, Food and Agricultural Organisation and the World Trade Organisation).

The panel highlighted that the failure of states to regulate, monitor and discipline the activities of the companies made culpable along with the host states.

Witnesses from around the world had testified in the four-day Permanent People's Tribunal regarding the health impact, human rights violations and unethical practices by six transnational corporations Bayer, BASF, Dupont, Monsanto, Syngenta and Dow Chemical.

German economist Elmar Altvater presented the facets of the findings and also mentioned on the occassion that economic liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation of formerly public goods have led to human rights violations and unethical practices by six transnational corporations.

The conclusion drawn maintained that transnational have not been responsible in their pursuit of higher profits, and for this people have had to pay a hefty price.

A team of researchers from NASAs Kepler Mission discovered a habitable earth-like planet, called Kepler-22b. This newly discovered planet orbits around a sun-like star 600 light years away from the planet earth. The star is loacted near the constellations of Lyra and Cygnus. The team of researchers used photometric data from the NASA Kepler space telescope. The telescope monitors the brightness of 155000 stars. When earth size planet periodically passes in front of their stars, it results in tiny dimming of their host stars dimming, which is measured by a space telescope like Kepler. The planet is very much similar to earth in key aspects. It has a surface temperature of about 72 degrees Fahrenheit and it is likely to have water and land. The research team was led by William Borucki of the NASA Arms research centre. The star was categorized as a G5 star. It has a mass and radius smaller than that that of the Sun. It makes the star 25 percent less luminous than the Sun. NASA's Kepler mission confirmed its first planet in the habitable zone, the region where liquid water could exist on a planets surface. The newly confirmed planet, Kepler-22b, is the smallest yet found to orbit in the middle of the habitable zone of a star similar to our sun.The planet has an orbital period of 290 days in comparison of 365 days of planet earth. It is orbiting in the middle of the stars habitable zone, where liquid water can exist on the surface of the planet. The new exoplanet has the smallest radius amongst all the planets so far discovered -The Global Conference on Afghanistans future concluded here. Bonn is the capital of Germany. The one-day global conference in Bonn on Afghanistans future ended on 5 December 2011. During the summit, Afghanistan pledged to intensify the drive against corruption in exchange for international support after NATO forces withdraw in 2014.

About 1000 delegates from 100 countries and international organisations participated organisation. Pakistan didnt attend the Bonn summit. First Bonn summit was held in 2001.

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World Disability Day (WDD) is observed anually on 3 December. In 2011, the theme for the International Day of Persons With Disability was- Together for a better world for all: Including persons with disabilities in

development.
It is estimated that nearly 610 million people are existing with disabilities across the world. In India alone, nearly 60 million people suffer disabilities.

Apart from raising issues and creating awareness on the rights of disabled people, the day is observed with an objective to give back something to the society. World Disability Day intends to provide accessibility to infrastructure that could enable the differently abled to lead a life well-integrated with the civil society. World Disability Day aims to celebrate the rights of disabled people.

National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) works to promote better life for those who are differently abled.

NCPEDP has been celebrating this day on a national scale for last six years to encourage solidarity among disabled people. It managed to successfully focussed on the issue of disability among other social groups. NCPEDP had in 1997 organised the first walkathon Walk to Freedom in Delhi to commemorate the countrys 50 years of independence. Students from both regular and special schools had participated in the walk. Over the years the event became an integral part of WDD celebrations.

Observance of WDD in 2011

Observance of WDD celebration for 2011 included reaching out to general public and sensitising them about disability related issues and about their Inclusion in the everyday fuctioning of their society.

Regional Learning Centre on Deafblindness, supported by Sense International on 3 December 2011 organised the event to create more awareness on the needs of those with disabilities. According to project coordinator of Deafblind and Multi-Handicap Unit, the aim of such events is to create an inclusive environment for deafblind people in the society and ensure a quality life for them.

Helen Keller

Helen Keller, who herself was a severely disabled woman, deaf-mute and blind, fought against her disability to become a world famous speaker and author. Helen Keller championed the cause of the disabled and showed that it is only through knowledge that the disabled will be able to overcome their handicap to fulfill the purpose of their lives.

History

International Day of People with Disability is an international observance promoted by the United Nations since 1992. The Day aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

The objective of this day revolve around exploring better ways of accessing information and communication technologies that are a right to the disabled.

The United Nations General Assembly in 1976 proclaimed 1981 as the International Year of Disabled Persons

(IYDP). It called for a plan of action at the national, regional and international levels, with an emphasis on
equalization of opportunities, rehabilitation and prevention of disabilities.

The theme of IYDP was full participation and equality. The theme promoted the right of persons with disabilities to take part fully in the life and development of their societies, enjoy living conditions equal to those of other citizens, and have an equal share in improved conditions resulting from socio-economic development.

United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons was 1983-1992.

Each year the theme focusses on different issues related to disability. In 2009 the theme was- Making the MDGs Inclusive: Empowerment of persons with disabilities and their communities around the world.

Keeping the promise: Mainstreaming disability in the Millennium was the theme in 201

he Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) on 5 December 2011 transferred indigenously-developed Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) technology to seven telecom equipment manufacturers, including private players. The GPON technology was transferred to the telecom equipment manufacturers to give the muchneeded push to broadband penetration in India.

The government transferred this technology to seven manufacturers in public and private sectors ITI, Bharat Electronics, VMC Systems, United Telecoms, Sai InfoSystem (India), SM Creative Electronics. Transfer of technology was also signed with Tejas Networks for customised development.

GPON technology

The GPON technology is a pivotal component required for broadband connectivity over optical fibre. C-DOT indigenously designed and developed GPON technology, which can be used to provide triple play (voice, video and data) through fibre-based networks. The present GPON standards specify 2.5 Gbps (Gigabit per second) downstream and 1.25 Gbps upstream data capability to customer premise. Apart from urban areas, the large data carrying capability is important for Indian villages too where prevailing low literacy levels will require

better dissemination of information with greater graphic and audio content. Besides, voice telephony, high speed Internet access and IPTV, the C-DOT GPON has provision to carry cable TV signal too.

The GPON technology was tested, validated, field-evaluated and made operational in BSNL's network in Ajmer (Rajasthan). The technology will help fulfil requirements of major national programmes like the National Optical Fibre Network and the State Wide Area Network.

The Empowered Committee in its meeting on 5 December 2011 decided to send two technical members to inspect the Mullaperiyar dam before finalising its report following apprehensions raised by Kerala about the safety of the dam after mild tremors occurred in the area.

The Empowered Committee is headed by former Chief Justice of India, A.S. Anand. The other members of the committee include Justice K.T. Thomas, a retired Supreme Court judge representing Kerala; Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, a retired Supreme Court Judge representing Tamil Nadu; C.D. Thatte, former Secretary to the Ministry of Water Resources and D.K. Mehta retired Chief Engineer, Central Water Commission. The committee had conducted a spot inspection of the dam in December 2010.

During iots meeting on 5 December, the committee considered the reports of the studies and investigations conducted by various agencies it constituted to study the dam's safety. It also discussed the applications filed respectively by Kerala and Tamil Nadu and took note of their submissions.

Kerala had urged the Expert Committee to review its order rejecting permission for producing additional evidence in respect of the safety, based on the reports of two experts, D.K. Paul and M.L. Sharma. the committee had earlier rejected Kerala's application on the grounds that in 2009, the Supreme Court had not taken on record these reports.

The committee, according to Kerala ought not to have relied on the Supreme Court's order as it was not barred from receiving evidence in respect of seismic threat to the dam. Following Keralas argument the committee agreed to hear the State's arguments on this count.

Since Kerala filed an application for bringing on record the recent tremors and sought an oral hearing, the committee decided to send two of its members to conduct a spot inspection of the dam. Kerala's plea for oral hearing was also accepted. The committee directed Tamil Nadu and Kerala to make submissions on 2 January 2012. On 3 January the committee will consider the modalities for finalising its report to the Supreme Court.

Earthquakes in the region

During the months of July-November 2011, 25 earthquakes were reported in the Mullaperiyar dam region . Some of the earthquakes on 26 July and 18 and 26 November were more than magnitude 3 on the Richter Scale. The highest magnitude 3.8 was recorded on 26 July 2011.

The frequent earthquakes caused panic among 50 lakh people in the downstream region of the Periyar dam. The

fear was further heightened by the incessant rain in the catchments of Mullaperiyar shooting the storage above 136 feet mandated by the provisions of the Amendment Act of 2006.

If the Mullaperiyar dam breaks due to flood or earthquake, a mass disaster would follow, wherein not only the life and property of 50 lakh people will be affected in Kerala, but lakhs of farmers of Tamil Nadu will also lose irrigation of about 2.5 lakh acres. Kerala therefore feels that Tamil Nadu should agree for the construction of a new dam offered by Kerala as a precautionary measure.

Australias ruling Labour Party on 4 December 2011 in its annual policy conference approved plans to open up uranium sales to India. This cleared the way for talks on a bilateral nuclear agreement between India and Australia. The conference held in Sydney overturned its own ban, which prohibits Australia to sell uranium to nations such as India that have not signed Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty.

The policy change does not need to be approved by Parliament. Australia possesses approximately 40 percent of the worlds known uranium reserves. BEDMAP- Detailed map of Antarctica. Scientists produced the most detailed map of Antarctica, which can help understand how Antarctica might respond to a warming world. This is the second generation of the digital BEDMAP. It incorporates 27 million measurement points.

Scientists report significant changes at the margins of the continent, with increasing volumes of ice now being lost to the ocean, which in turn raises global sea levels. The type of information contained in BEDMAP will help scientists forecast the pace of future events.

The number of corporate debt restructuring (CDR) cases rose sharply to 35 in the first half of 2011-12 as compared to 22 in the first six months of 2010-11.

The corresponding amount of loan referred also increased by nearly seven times to Rs 34560 crore in the first half of 2011-12 as compared to Rs 5180 crore in 2010-11. The amount of loan referred was the highest amount in the last eight years.

There was thus an increase both in the number of cases as well as in the value of the loans being referred for recast.

According to bankers, the trend of rising CDR cases is unlikely to change in the next six months as companies continue to face difficulties because of the macro-economic environment and the uncertainty in developed nations.

During the first half of 2011, banks restructured around four per cent of their advances. PSU banks had to deal with higher restructuring proposal than private lenders. The State Bank of India restructured loans of over Rs 500 crore during the quarter, taking the cumulative restructured amount to Rs 35400 crore.

What is CDR?

CDR is a mechanism for restructuring debts of viable corporates who have been affected by internal or external factors. CDR cases include cases which are outside the purview of the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) and other legal proceedings.

There are certain conditions on the cases that can be recast under CDR. The mechanism involved in the recast covers only multiple banking accounts/syndication/consorti-um accounts with banks and financial institutions that have an outstanding exposure of at least Rs 10 crore.

The loans can be considered for restructure only if 75 per cent of the creditors by value agree to a restructuring package of an existing debt, this will be binding on the remaining creditors. Once a case is referred to CDR, there is a standstill agreement binding for 90/180 days.

During this period, both the borrower and the lender commit themselves not to taking recourse to any other legal action so that the debt restructuring exercise can be undertaken without any intervention.

The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) decided to roll out 21 Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) Plus centres to meet the increasing demand of providing second line drugs to HIV patients who failed to respond to treatment provided previously. The NACOs ART programme is headed by Dr B B Rewari.

21 more ART Plus centres will be rolled out exclusively for such HIV positive people who require second line drug therapy. 2600 people are currently on second line drugs for HIV as they were critical despite taking medication. Presently a total of 4.48 lakh people are availing free of cost drugs at 324 ART centres.

Centres were proposed in Surat, Patna, Guwahati, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, and Jaipur. The government earmarked Rs 350 crore for the entire project of providing free of cost drugs at all ART centres. Of these 21 centres, seven are already functional.

10 centres had also been set up to provide the facility for second line drugs and seven paediatric HIV centres in the country. In addition to the 324 ART centres and other second line ones, there are 678 link centres and 259 community care centres.

NACO streeses on strengthening the link between the ART centres and more than 5000 Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres where people are initially identified and detected with the virus.

As per the National Family Health Survey-3, there are 2.47 million HIV infected people in India of which 3.8 per cent are children. Nearly 40 per cent of the people are unaware of their HIV status. According to NACO, there are around 30000 patients availing of medication in the private sector.

The World AIDS Day theme was getting to zero, but for the NACO it was also providing 100 per cent access to anti-retroviral drugs. ndia successfully test-fired its nuclear capable Agni-I strategic ballistic missile on 1 December 2011 from the test range at Wheeler Island off Odisha coast, as part of the Indian Army's user trial. It was test-fired from a mobile launcher, from launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR). The Strategic Force Command (SFC) of the Army, as part of their training exercise, executed the trial with logistic support provided by Defence Research

Development Organisation (DRDO) at the ITR. The trajectory of the missile, which had an operational strike range of 700 km, was tracked by sophisticated radars and electro-optic telemetry stations located along the sea coast and ships positioned near the impact point in the downrange area. Agni-I missile is equipped with a specialised navigation system which ensures it reaches the target with a high degree of accuracy. Agni-I was developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), the premier missile development laboratory of the DRDO in collaboration with Defence Research Development Laboratory (DRDL) and Research Centre Imarat (RCI) and integrated by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), Hyderabad. The last trial of the Agni-I missile was successfully carried out on 25 November 2010 from the same base. About Agni-I Agni-I strategic ballistic missile is an indigenously developed surface-to-surface missile It is a single-stage missile It is powered by solid propellants Agni-I can carry payloads up to 1000 kg It Weighed 12 tonnes It was 15-metre-long

The state government of Delhi on 28 November 2011 launched a Kishori Scheme under which sanitary napkins would be distributed to adolescent girls. The scheme aims to promote menstrual hygiene among these girls. Under the Kishori Scheme, sanitary scheme will be provided to girls every month in their school.

The total expenditure on the scheme would be 1.05 crore rupees. The Supreme Court of India on 1 December 2011 stated that section497 of the Indian penal Code is biased against men. The section punishes a man alone for adultery for having consensual sex with a married woman. As per the observation of the court, the provision of section 497 reduces a married woman to a property of the husband and it punishes man only despite the fact that the woman with whom he had consensual sex was an equal partner in the alleged crime. The court added that the provision is under criticism from certain sections for showing a strong gender bias. A bench of the Supreme Court including Justices Aftab Alam and R M Lodha made the above observation. Section 497 of IPC Section 497 of IPC states that whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. In such case, the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor.

italian luxury auto maker Ferrari on 1 December 2011 unveiled a $ 250000 (over Rs 1.25 crore) diamond encrusted book depicting the history of the car maker. Antonio Ghini, Ferrari's longstanding communications director and editor-in-chief of The Ferrari Official Magazine was the creative advisor of the book, which was edited and designed by a team led by Ezster Karpati.

The books description

The book weighs 37 kg and has a 30-carat diamond studded Ferrari horse with about 1500 selected stones. The edition of the book, Enzo Diamante is limited to one copy per country. Ferrari India and Opus Media Group unveiled the Enzo Diamante's only edition for India is one of the most expensive books in India.

The special edition is presented in a bespoke hand-crafted black carbon-fibre case, features three signature sheets, bearing those of the current Ferrari drivers in addition to former world champions.

The leather cover binding sports a 16x12cm silver prancing horse - the Ferrari logo - encrusted with diamonds totaling 32.3 carats. The book has been personally signed by Ferrari F1 world champions such as Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso on a silver foil signature sheet, racing legends and current F1 drivers. It also bares a personal note by the Ferrari president.

Content of the book

The official Ferrari Opus contains two lakh words and over 2000 pictures across 852 pages. Many of the photographs were specially commissioned or sourced from Ferrari's archives and were not published earlier.

The 852-page book features more than 1000 images put together to paint the history of the iconic Ferrari. The Opus includes two metre long gatefold images as well as exclusive interviews with the motorsport legends who were part of Ferrari's unique history.

The Ferrari Opus (diamante edition) traces the company's history from the time of its inception. With only one book being printed per country, India stands on number 63.

The contributors to the book include legendary portrait photographer Rankin, Enzo Ferrari's biographer Leo Turrini, famous Ferrari designer Mauro Forgheiri, design guru Stephen Bayley and world champions like Niki Lauda, Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) put forth the regulations for uniform Know Your Client KYC Registration Agency (KRA) on 2 December 2011. The move is expected to benefit investors as it would save them the trouble of repeating the KYC process while investing in various financial products.

The regulator allowed stock exchanges, depositories or any other Self Regulatory Organisation (SRO) to form wholly-owned subsidiaries that could be registered as a KRA. SEBI will consider applications to grant certificates of initial registration to a wholly owned subsidiary of a recognised stock exchange that have a nation-wide network of trading terminals, a wholly owned subsidiary of a depository or any other intermediary registered with the Board.

The certificates of initial registration of KRA granted under sub-regulation would be valid for a period of five years from the date of its issue to the applicant.

What is KRA?

A KRA will make life simpler for investors who have to go through the entire KYC procedures each time they want to register with a new broker or a fund house. The role of a KRA will involve completion of the KYC procedures for a client and make it available to all capital market intermediaries that avail of its services. If there is more than one KRA, inter-operability will have to be put in place to avoid duplicacy. The KRA will be required to maintain a net worth of at least R25 crore on a continuous basis.

SEBI mentioned that the KRA will be responsible for storing, safeguarding and retrieving the KYC documents and it will also have to retain the original KYC documents of the client, in both physical and electronic form.

KRAs have the responsibility to appoint a compliance officer who shall be responsible for monitoring the compliance of the Act, rules and regulations, notifications, guidelines and instructions issued by the board or the central government and for redressal of clients grievances. The compliance officer will immediately and independently report to the Sebi board any non-compliance observed by him. About NYFCC

The NYFCC, which was founded in 1935, consists of acclaimed New York-based critics who meet annually to vote on the best movies and actors of the year. This was the first time the group announced its winners on Twitter . In 2010 they had picked Facebook film The Social Network as the Best Picture. In Assam, the militant outfit Mar Peoples Convention-Democratic (HPC-D) on 2 December 2011 declared a unilateral ceasefire paving the way for peace talks with the Government. The outfit announced this before their cadres somewhere in a dense forest near the district headquarter of Halflong.

The step was taken in response to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogois latest appeal to the militant outfits of the North-East to shun violence and to come for negotiations. The outfit announced it would not indulge in any kind of violence any more in the interest of creating a congenial atmosphere for the peace talks. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 2 December 2011 approved the creation of a separate category of nonbanking financial companies for the microfinance institution (MFI) sector. The central bank also specified that such institutions need to have a minimum net owned fund of Rs 5 crore.

An RBI-appointed panel headed by YH Malegam had earlier recommended setting up of a special category of NBFCs operating in the micro finance sector. The panel had suggested a minimum net worth of 15 crore for an entity to qualify as an NBFC-MFI.

The RBI highlighted that the NBFC-MFIs should have a minimum net worth of Rs 5 crore. However, for those operating in the North-Eastern states, the slab was kept at Rs 2 crore.

The RBI had in its second quarter policy review in October 2011 approved of setting up of this category of specialised financial companies which would cater to low-income groups.

Credit rating agency Standard and Poors (S&P) assigned stable outlook to 10 Indian banks and kept their long term and short-term issuer credit rating (ICR) at BBB- and A-3.

As per S&Ps ratings definition, BBB- denotes a long-term issue rating that exhibits adequate protection parameters but shows a weakened capacity to meet obligations under adverse economic conditions. A-3 on the other hand is a short-term issue rating that exhibits adequate protection parameters but shows a weakened capacity to meet obligations under adverse economic conditions.

Out of the top four Indian Banks in the list, S&P rated HDFC Bank highest on standalone credit profile (SACP) and offered it BBB+ while giving a BBB- to Axis Bank. State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank were assigned BBB.

HDFC Banks business position was rated as strong, its capital and earnings and risk position were rated adequate, and its funding and liquidity position was concluded to be above average and strong. Customer deposits represent more than 90 per cent of HDFCs funding base. Its savings and current deposits, which are inherently low cost and stable, have been stable at about 50 per cent of the banks deposit base. Also HDFCs liquidity ratios were found to be noticeably stronger compared to the other players.

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) on 1 December 2011 announced two significant oil discoveries.

ONGC discovered oil in North Kadi area of Gujarats Mehsana district, which is the companys major production centre. The discovery is a new layer, called play in industry parlance, and will add to the companys output. ONGC also made another strike in the Panna area, 40 km from its Mumbai offshore field. This discovery will make incremental addition to the output from a cluster that the company is developing.

ONGC is to invest Rs 25000 crore in bringing to production nearly a dozen marginal oil and gas fields by 2014.

Projects in pipeline

The 14 projects of ONGC entailed an investment of Rs 27305 crore. The Rs 506.22-crore development of D-1 field, Rs 219.77 crore SB-11 development and Rs 1,688.38 crore investment in development of Vasai East in western offshore have already been completed. Another 11 projects entailing an investment of Rs 24890 crore are under various stages of implementation.

The biggest among the projects is B-193 Cluster development at the cost of Rs 5633.44 crore which would yield 5.57 million tonnes of oil and 5.12 billion cubic metres of gas in 15 years. The project is scheduled to be completed by June 2012.

Another Rs 3,241.03 crore is being spent on Cluster-7 development by March 2013 to produced 9.73 million tonnes of oil and 4.52 billion cubic metres of gas over a period of 16 years.

ONGC is also investing Rs 3,195.16 crore in producing 6.13 million cubic metres of condensate and 15.14 bcm of gas from C-Series field by 2022-23. Rs 2218.01 crore is being investment in integrated development of G-1 and GS-15 fields in for producing 0.982 million tons of oil and 5.92 bcm of gas over 15 years period beginning May 2012.

ONGC is to invest Rs 2920.82 crore in producing 2.46 million tonnes of oil and 6.56 bcm of gas from B-22 Cluster, Rs 2,523 crore in WO-15 Cluster development for 2.83 million tonnes of oil and 8.58 bcm of gas and 2,163.65 crore in additional development of D-1 field. SAIL chairman C.S. Verma was conferred CEO of the Year award under public sector category by Minister of State for Road Transport Tushar Chaudhary in New Delhi on 2 December 2011.

The award was presented to Verma in recognition of his contributions in the area of supply chain management. The ceremony was organised as part of Natcom 2011, a convention organised by IIMM with the theme: Achieving Inclusive and Sustainable Growth Role of Supply Chains.

CEO of the Year award has been instituted by the Indian Institute of Materials Management. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 1 December 2011 approved 1656 crore rupees scheme for phase-3 of Yamuna Action plan. Under this project, the sewage treatment plants situated in Kondli, Rithala and Okhla will be rehabilitated. At present, the project is operational in 21 cities of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana. The Indian government will execute the phase-3 of Yamuna Action Plan with help from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). JICA is providing financial help since 1993.

A new sewage treatment plant in Okhla will be set up by the government under this project. The new plant will help improve the water quality of Yamuna. This plant will have a capacity of holding 13.6 crore liter of water on a daily basis. The project will be implemented by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) under the supervision of the department of Urban Development, Delhi government. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a proposal for additional funds under the interest subsidy scheme to the tune of over 2000 crore rupees. This scheme has been extended for the small and medium enterprises until March 2012. It also covers handicrafts, handloom and carpet sector.

Approximately, 1654 crore rupees were released by the Reserve Bank of India as the interest subsidy claims so far. In another decision, the CCEA approved 1645 crore rupees proposal by Japan International Cooperation Agency, assisted Yamuna Action Plan Phase III project at Delhi. The European Union slapped increased sanctions on Syria over continuing violence. International pressure is mounting on Syria to comply with the measures as per the Arab League's peace plan. European Union banned the purchase of Syrian bonds and the sale of surveillance software to the Syrian government. It also stopped EU companies from participating in oil or power projects in Syria. Arab League identified a list of 17 powerful people from Syria against whom the travel bans have been issued. These include the Syrian defence and the interior ministers.

Meanwhile, the report released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that more than 4000 people were killed in the crackdown on anti-government protesters in Syria. The Delhi Assembly on 1 December 2011 passed the Delhi Municipal Corporation, MCD (Amendment) Bill 2011 to trifurcate the Civic body with voice vote. The move will help provide better amenities in the city.

As per the bill, the MCD, which came into existence on 7 April 1958 under an Act of Parliament, will be divided into North, South and East Delhi municipal corporations and 50 per cent of total two hundred and seventy-two seats will be reserved for women as against current 33 per cent.

The Bangladeshi Parliament on 29 November 2011 passed a landmark bill, the Vested Properties Return (Amendment) Bill 2011 that will enable Hindus to reclaim their property taken over by the government and individuals. The land was taken under a controversial law enacted in the 1960s. It was implemented by the East Pakistan administration before Bangladesh became independent in 1971. The law was known as the Enemy Property Act initially and it allowed the authorities to confiscate land and buildings of Hindus who migrated to India. The act was renamed as the Vested Properties Act after independence.

As per the law, property belonging to millions of Hindus who fled to India was taken over. The law came into effect in 1965 during Indo-Pak wa The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) announced two online initiatives to safeguard the interest of insurance-seekers. The first of the two online initiatives is the extensive guidelines pertainining to web aggregators and the second one relates to the launch of a mobile application to compare unitlinked insurance policies (ULIPS) from various companies and their premium rates.

Guidelines to web aggregators

Web aggregators are sites like policybazaar.com, i-save.com, medimanage.com and click2insure.in that provide information on insurance products from various companies. The information so collated can help insuranceseekers compare premium rates for life, health, travel and motor insurance. Most portals just generate leads and not all offer the option to purchase a product online.

However, some do facilitate an online buying process to the extent possible, usually by directing the insuranceseekers to the companies website. However, aggregators often sell visitors personal information to several insurers, resulting in customers being bombarded with sales calls from the companies or their agents. IRDA therefore directed the aggregators not to pass visitors information on to companies on the sites home page. To ensure that aggregators do no indulge in promoting products, the insurance regulator has decreed that they cannot display ratings, rankings, endorsements or bestsellers of insurance products on their websites. Similarly, they have been barred from commenting on insurers or their products.

In addition, aggregators will from here on be required to highlight links to the product comparison charts and tables for each category of products covered by them. Items to be displayed include premiums quoted by each insurer as per age and other personal details, policy and premium term, sum assured, default underwriting requirements such as medical examination, diagnostics, etc, and key features of the product chosen. The diktat also puts the onus of safeguarding and securing the entire process on the aggregators.

Launch of the mobile application

The launch of the mobile application, is intended to help insurance-seekers compare ULIPs launched after 1 September 2010. The tool, which works on Android, iPhone, Nokia and Blackberry platforms, has been termed a mobile application and can be accessed even via a personal computer.

Users can search products for comparison through three options By company, Policy type and Keywords. Up to three products can be selected at a time for comparison, with the criteria listed being benefits offered, premiumpaying term, tenure, charges and so on.

The governments three oil marketing companies (OMCs) on 29 November 2011 cut petrol prices by Rs 0.78 per litre. It would now cost Rs 65.64 in Delhi against Rs 66.34 earlier. Earlier in November 2011 there was a cut of Rs 3.2 per cent in petrol prices.

Losses on retail sale of diesel, kerosene and LPG was moved up.The petrol cut is the second since the fuels price was decontrolled in June 2010.

The price of aviation turbine fuel was raised by 3.7 per cent, to Rs 64,622 per kl (Delhi).

Motor spirit or petrol prices internationally moved down significantly from $116 per barrel to $109 (in the current fortnight), while the exchange rate weakened further from Rs 49.32 to Rs 51.50 per dollar. The combined impact resulted in an over-recovery (margin) of Rs 0.65 per litr.

Price of petrol is callculated on the basis of its trade parity (80 per cent import price weight and 20 per cent export price weight) for the previous fortnight.

Petrol prices have moved up by nearly 39 per cent since decontrol. During the same period, the price of diesel, still regulated, increased by just 7.37 per cent, to Rs 40.91 per litre. Under-recovery or revenue loss on diesel had moved up from Rs 10.17 to Rs 12.03 per litre and on kerosene from Rs 25.66 to Rs 28.56 per litre. On domestic LPG, the loss widened from Rs 260.50 to Rs 286.50 per cylinder.

Petrol has a 1.09 per cent weighting in the overall wholesale price index basket and a price cut by Rs 1.80 a litre essentially implies easing of headline inflation by 0.27 percentage point. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 23 November 2011 constituted advisory committee for SEBI Investor Protection and Education Fund. The committee consist of eight member. The committee is to be headed by Infosys chiarman KV Kamath. The eight-member committee under the ICICI Bank chairman comprises five external members and three SEBI officers.

The eight-member panel also consists of Abraham Koshy, professor at IIM Ahmedabad; Jayashree Vyas, MD, Shri Mahila SEWA Sahkari Bank and Ramesh Narayan, communications consultant, among others. SEBIs ED Ananta Barua and chief general managers GP Garg and VS Sundaresan will represent the regulator.

The committee will recommend investor education and protection activities that may be undertaken directly by the board, or through any other agency, for utilisation of the SEBI Investor Protection and Education Fund for the purposes stated in the SEBI regulations, 2009. The committee will look at investor education and protection activities that SEBI could undertake directly or through any other agency.

According to the norms for SEBI IPEF, the fund can be also be used to aid investor associations, recognised by the regulator as well as undertake legal proceedings in the interest of investors in securities that are listed or proposed to be listed. It can also be used for awareness programmes and educational activities. India and Nepal on 27 November 2011 signed a revised Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA). This will help prevent tax evasion and facilitate exchange of information on banking between the two countries. DTAA, will allow Indian traders and investors to enjoy tax relaxation in India once they pay taxes in Nepal. The agreement is also likely to increase confidence of investors and help Nepal attract more investment from India.

The revised DTAA between India and Nepal will replace an earlier agreement signed between India and Nepal in 1987.

Important Information Indian firms are the biggest investors in Nepal. They account for about 47.5 per cent of total approved FDIs (Foreign Direct Investments). India is the biggest source of foreign investments in Nepal and its largest trading partner. However, Nepal accounts for only 0.44 per cent of India's total trade. The bilateral trade between India and Nepal increased from USD 1.98 billion US dollars in 2009-10 to around 2.70 billion US dollars in 2010-11, which is an increase of 37 per cent. In Manipur, Cabinet on 29 November 2011 decided to extend the Disturbed Area Status for another one year in the state except the seven assembly constituencies under the Imphal Municipal Area where the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was already withdrawn.The Cabinet reviewed the prevailing situation in the state. The Cabinet meeting also discussed reports on the Police, Assam Rifles and Army regarding the law and order situation in Manipu cientists identified genes that can increase a persons risk of developing multiple myeloma by 30 percent. Multiple myeloma is an aggressive form of bone marrow. A team at the Institute of Cancer Research used a technique known as genome wide association study to scan the DNA of 1675 patients with multiple myeloma.

When results were compared, scientists found that two regions of the DNA that were more common in people with multiple myeloma and were therefore linked to a higher chance of developing the disease.

Multiple myeloma is also known as plasma cell myeloma or Kahler's disease. It is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell responsible for the production of antibodies. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalins only daughter, Lana Peters, who had defected to the US while in India at the height of the Cold War died on 22 November 2011 in Wisconsin. At her birth, on 28 February 1926 she was named Svetlana Stalina, the only daughter and last surviving child of the brutal Soviet tyrant Josef Stalin. After Stalin died in 1953, she took her mothers last name, Alliluyeva. In 1970, after her defection and an American marriage, she became and remained Lana Peters.

Life of Joseph Stalins only daughter, Lana Peters

She graduated from Moscow University in 1949 with history. She initially workied as a teacher and translator. Her defection in 1967 to the US was partly motivated, among other things, by the poor treatment by Soviet authorities of Indian communist Brijesh Singh, with whom she had a relationship. She left the Soviet Union in 1966 for India, where she planned to leave the ashes of Singh who had died in the USSR. Instead of returning to her country, she walked unannounced into the US embassy in New Delhi and asked for political asylum.

Upon reaching the US in April 1967 she burned her passport, denouncing communism and her father, whom she called a moral and spiritual monster.

She took the name Lana Peters upon marrying architect William Wesley Peters in the US. Peters became a United States citizen in 1978.

She wrote four books, including two best-selling memoirs. Her first memoir, Twenty Letters to a Friend, was published in 1967 and made more than $2.5m (1.6m). In 1969 she recounted her journey from the Soviet Union in a second memoir, Only One Year.

She returned to the Soviet Union briefly in 1984, renouncing the US. However she left again for Georgia after her feud with relatives. During the latter years, she constantly moved from America to England, then to France, then back to America, gradually fading from the public eye.

Other famous exiles from USSR: Igor Gouzenko -spy, 1945, Canada; Rudolf Nureyev - ballet star, 1961, France; Anatoly Golitsyn - KGB officer, 1961, Finland; Alexander Solzhenitsyn - dissident writer, 1974, expelled to US; Natan Sharansky, human rights activist - 1986, Israel Union Labour and Employment Minister Mallikarjun Kharge presented the Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar and National Safety awards for the performance year 2009 at a function in New Delhi. For the performance year 2009, the total number of National Safety Awards were 123 (72 winners and 51 runners-up).

Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar

Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar (VRP) is awarded in recognition of outstanding suggestions given by a worker or group of workers and implemented by the management during the previous calendar year (Performance year) that result in improvement in quality, productivity and working conditions such as safety, health and environmental conservations in the industrial undertakings where Suggestion Schemes are in operations.

The financial savings, due to adopted and implemented suggestions of the winning applications of the VRP in 2009 was 1082.85 crores recurring and 94.83 crores non-recurring in Indian currency and 21.73 crores recurring & 29.59 crores nonrecurring in Foreign Exchange.

VRP is awarded in the form of cash prize and a certificate of merit in three classes- Class A 5 winners win Rs. 75000 each, Class B Eight winners win Rs. 50000 each and Class C 15 winners win Rs. 25000.

For 2009 performance, 28 puraskars Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar were shared by 117 winners.

National Safety Awards

The National Safety Awards is given in recognition of outstanding safety performance of industrial establishments, construction sites, ports and installations under AERB to stimulate and maintain the interests of both the management and the workers in accident prevention programmes.

For the performance year 2009, the total number of National Safety Awards were 123 (72 winners and 51 runners-up). NSA are given under twelve schemes, out of which ten are meant for Factories/Construction sites/Installations under AERB and two are for Ports. Under each award, a Shield and a Certificate of Merit is given to each of the Award Winners and Runners-up. The establishments are classified in different schemes on the basis of working of highest man-hours.

The criteria for presentation of these awards is: Lowest average frequency rate over a period of three consecutive years ending in the Performance year as compared to the National Average for that group of industries; Accident Free year based on man-hours worked during the contest year.

How the awardees are selected

The Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar (VRP), previously known as Shram Veer National Awards as well as the National Safety Awards (NSA) was instituted by the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment in 1965. The Awards Schemes are operated by the Technical Wing of the Ministry, namely, the Directorate General Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI), Mumbai.

The applications for Viswakarma Rashtriya Puraskar (VRP) & National Safety Awards (NSA) from eligible applicants are invited every year. For VRP, the management is required to send the application on behalf of the workers and for NSA the management directly applies for awards under each scheme. The applications received for VRP as well as NSA are then adjudged by a Tripartite Awards Committee constituted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, comprising of representatives from Employers organizations, Employees Organisations and Central/State Governments.

Besides the Tripartite representation, experts in the Committee from renowned institutions, Universities and Industries in the field of Safety, Health, Environment, Productivity and Quality also judge the applications. The United Naga Council (UNC) on 29 November 2011 decided to lift the economic blockade from Manipur following assurance from Union home affairs minister P Chidambaram. The UNC was spearheading the blockade on the two national highways since 21Aug 2011 to counter the economic blockade launched by the Sadar Hills District Demand Committee (SHDDC) on Aug 1. SHDDC is demanding conversion of the Kuki tribal majority Sadar Hills area into a district.

The SHDDC lifted the blockade on two highways; Imphal-Dimapur-Guwahati (NH39) and Imphal-Jiribam-Silchar (NH53) on the 92nd day after the Manipur state government agreed to their demand of creating a district. The Nagas are against this move. he first Elds deer was born via in vitro fertilization in Thailand. The researchers at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) collected eggs, inseminated in vitro with thawed semen to produce embryos and transferred the embryos to a surrogate mother. As a result, a fawn was born on 17 October 2011 at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand.

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute plays a key role in the Smithsonians global efforts to conserve species and train future generations of conservationists.

Eld's Deer is also known as the Thamin or Brow-antlered Deer. It is an endangered species of deer indigenous to southeastern Asia.

The Scandal

News Corporation, parent company of News International, owns 39 per cent of BSkyB and its multi-million pound bid to acquire the remaining 61 per cent was derailed earlier in 2011 by the hacking controversy. News Corp,

which owns 39 per cent of BSkyB, is also the parent company of News International (NI), of which Murdoch is the chairman.

Key shareholders had voted against James Murdoch because of his links with the News of the World phonehacking scandal.

The News of the World had allegedly resorted to phone hacking and other illegal or unethical reporting tactics. U.K. police is currently probing the phone hacking and other wrongdoing related to the News of the World. Eminent Assamese litterateur and Jnanpith award winner, Indira Goswami, popularly known as Mamoni Raisom Goswami passed away in Guwahati on 29 November 2011. Dr. Goswami authored several bestseller Assamese novels and short story collections in her life time. She was also instrumental in initiating peace talks between the government and insurgent United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).

Work of Indira Goswami

Born in 1942, Goswami was encouraged by Kirti Nath Hazarika who published her first short stories in a literary journal he edited. At 20, she published her first collection of short stories Chinaki Morom.

Goswami had served as a professor of modern Indian languages at Delhi University. Classics such as The Pages Stained with Blood and The Moth Eaten Howdah of a Tusker were written during her stint in Delhi University. Goswami was an expert in Ramayani studies.

Goswami authored several award winning books which include Datal Hathir Uwe Khowa, Neelakantha Braja, Mamore Dhora Tarowal, Ahiron, Chenabor Srot, Dasarathir Khoj, Tej Aru Dhulire Dhusaritha Prishta, Udaybhanur Charitra, Chhinmastar Manuhto and her autobiography Adha Lekha Dastavej. Her treatise Ramayana from Ganga to Brahmaputra is considered a literary masterpiece.

Awards she received

She won the Sahitya Akademi Award for her powerful novel Mamare Dhara Tarowal Aru Dukhan Upanyasa in 1982 and the Jnanpith Award in 2000. She was also a recipient of the Katha Award, the Karnataka Sangha Sammam, the Manas Chatuechati Samiti Samman, the Kamal Kumari Foundation National Awards, the Sauhardya award and the Bhart Nirman award.

She was India's first Principal Prince Claus Laureate in 2008.

Indira Goswami as peace maker

Dr. Goswami in 2004 mediated between the Centre and the ULFA and succeeded in convincing both the government and the ULFA to come forward for negotiations. Her initiative led to the formation of the Peoples' Consultative Group (PCG) by the ULFA to prepare the ground for peace talks.

She had prepared ground for talks between the two sides. She had acted as the sole mediator between Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh, her former colleague at Delhi University, and the ULFA leadership. She had prepared and submitted the first draft peace proposal to Singh.

Later, she had played a key role when the Sanmilta Jatiya Abhbartan, an umbrella body of civil society organisations of Assam, facilitated the resumption of dialogue between the ULFA and the Centre. ustice M. Karpaga Vinayagam was in November 2011 reappointed chairperson of the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, Petroleum and Natural Gas on the recommendations of Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia.

Justice Karpaga Vinayagam had first assumed office on 14 November 2008. He will serve in the capacity of chairperson of the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, Petroleum and Natural Gas for three more years in his second term. He is entitled to a monthly salary and such allowances and other benefits as are admissible to a Supreme Court judge.

Under his supervision during his first term, the tribunal had disposed of 1278 appeals/petitions/ interlocutory applications pertaining to consumer interests. He ensured that in all States, the posts of ombudsmen and the grievance redress forums became functional.

He directed the formation of State Regulatory Commissions wherever they did not exist. Justice Karpaga Vinayagam initiated steps for holding Circuit Bench sittings of the tribunal in Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai for the southern, eastern and western regions. The holding of the Circuit Bench is expected to provide relief to advocates and parties who have represented that it is difficult for them to go to Delhi every time.

Justice Karpaga Vinayagam was a judge of the Madras High Court from 1996 to 2006. Following which he served as Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court till retirement in May 2008. The Union government of India on 23 November 2011 approved the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2011, thus paved the way for dividing MCD into 3 corporations and to increase the reservation of seats for women to 50 percent from the current 33 percent. MCD is Asias largest civic body. The Bill proposes that MCD( Municipal Corporation of Delhi) should be divided into three separate corporations East Delhi Municipal Corporation, North Delhi Municipal Corporation, South Delhi Municipal Corporation and 50 per cent reservation for women and three different Mayors for three corporations and setting-up of Directorate of Local Bodies (DLB) which would be headed by director. As per Amendment Bill, the civic body in East Delhi will have 64 wards, while the new civic bodies in North and South Delhi will have 104 wards each. Both North and South Delhi municipality will have 26 Assembly constituencies each, while the 16 Assembly segments will be covered under the East Delhi municipality.

The municipal wards would remain 272. As per Amendment Bill, the MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) would retain supervisory powers that include administrative issues, dissolution of MCD, appointments of Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners and amendments in the Act. At present, the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi is the administrator of the MCD. Lieutenant Governor will only have emergency powers to dissolve the agency in case of any financial or other impropriety after the bill becomes an Act.

The Delhi government had sent the proposal to Home Ministry in June 2011 seeking the approval for trifurcation of the MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi). The Home Ministry had in September 2011 returned the proposal to the city government asking it to furnish details on the administrative structure, distribution of funds and the proper coordination among three proposed bodies.

Kuwaits Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah and the Cabinet resigned on 28 November 2011 amid accusations of corruption. Kuwaits emir, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, accepted the resignation. Opposition groups, liberals, Islamists, student associations and rival chiefs organised a mass rally in the Erada Square pressing for their demands. The opposition accused Sheikh Nasser of transferring public funds into his overseas bank accounts. The Kuwaiti Government denied these charges.

Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. The UPA-II Government set up an expert group to suggest restructuring of power utilities of seven major States, including Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh with an objective to push through power reforms and unlock the power sector. The government is to initiate a major reform in the shape of open access allowing consumers of above 1 MW to choose their preferred electricity supplier.

The plan for reforms follows a recent government report that revealed that the accumulated losses of the power utilities across the country ran into Rs.1.50-lakh crore and annual losses were around Rs.55.000 crore.

Task of the Expert Group

The expert group headed by Planning Commission member (Energy) B. K. Chaturvedi is expected to submit its report by March 2012. The group was entrusted with the responsibility to make an assessment of the cumulative losses of distribution utilities of seven major States, including Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. It was asked to suggest a strategy for capital restructuring of these power discoms (distribution companies), including commitment by other stakeholders like State governments. It will also have to suggest a road map and monitoring mechanism for implementing the above.

Open Access

Some of the interim recommendations on the issue of open access have already been submitted. Under the recommendations on Open Access, it was suggested that distribution licences should inform all consumers of 1MW and above that they could choose their electricity supplier.

Other suggestions includes: State power utilities should provide power to open access consumers at negotiated rates and not regulated rates, the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions should specify reasonable tariffs to be charged by distribution companies for providing standby supply, State load despatch centres should be upgraded in a time-bound manner to enable open access and 25 per cent of discretionary allocation of 15 per cent of central public sector undertakings generation must be made available for direct sale to open access consumers. The Union government on 28 November 2011 asserted that 30 per cent sourcing under FDI in multi-brand retail has been made mandatory from Indian MSEs only. The government highlighted that the 30 per cent obligation before the global players is limited to India. The governments explanation came amidst protests from the opposition and the micro and small enterprises (MSEs).

The governments assertion however was found to be in total contrast to the note issued earlier which stated that the 30 per cent sourcing by global retailers can be done from anywhere in the world and is not Indiaspecific. The provision for procurement from small units would not violate the WTO obligations.

According to governments previous stand, the overseas players have to do 30 per cent of their sourcing from MSEs which, however, can be done from anywhere in the world and is not India-specific. The only condition placed was that these MSEs must not have more than $1 million [Rs.5 crore] investment in plant and machinery.

Small enterprises had raised concerns over the clause of 30 per cent sourcing from MSEs anywhere in the world, complaining that it would help the cheap Chinese goods rather than Indians in view of cheaper labour available in China.

Union cabinet on 24 November 2011 approved 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. The Cabinet also decided to raise the cap on foreign investment in single-brand retailing to 100 per cent from 51 per cent. Afghanistan on 28 November 2011 awarded mining rights for three of the four Hajigak blocks located at the central Bamyan province to an Indian consortium led by state-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL). The four blocks in Hajigak are estimated to hold more than 1.8 billion tonnes of iron ore with 62% ferrous content.

This is the first time an Indian consortium successfully bid for a large mine, reversing a depressing trend of the past where Indian consortiums had failed to acquire overseas resources, losing out mainly to Chinese groups.

A seven-member consortium of Indian companies led by Steel Authority of India bagged the rights to mine iron ore at Hajigak in Afghanistan. The Indian consortium, called AFISCO for Afghan Iron and Steel Consortium, includes three state-run firms - SAIL, National Mineral Development Corporation and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam. It also includes four private steelmakers - JSW Steel, JSW Ispat, Jindal Steel and Power and Monnet Ispat. While SAIL is the largest stakeholder with a 20% holding in the consortium, RINL and NMDC hold 18% each. JSW Steel and Jindal Steel have 16% each. JSW Ispat owns 8% stake, while Monnet Ispat has 4%.

The consortium will develop the mines, build a 7-million tonne steel plant and an 800 mw power plant. The Indian syndicate will be allotted coking coal from Shabasha for steelmaking.

The rights to a fourth block at the deposit had been won by Canada's Kilo Goldmines Ltd. The 103-year-old Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE) launched operations on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) platform on 28 November 2011. The CSE thus became the only stock exchange in India to offer facility to trade on three trading platforms Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), National Stock Exchange (NSE) and CSE with a single membership.

As per the agreement signed with the NSE, CSE trading members will be able to access the trading platform of NSE and trade on the shares listed on the bourse.

CSE members will now be able to enjoy the opportunity to issue contract notes directly. This is special kind of opportunity where the brokers from CSE will go to national platform. Second, the companies which are listed in CSE platform, if they have the compliance, will go to the national platform.

At present, there are 2606 companies listed on the CSE, of which 1550 are listed exclusively on the CSE. Two New Delhi-based companies Tribute Financial Company and Elite Leasing were the most recent companies to

have been listed listed on the CSE. CSE's daily turnover stands at around Rs.70 crore presently. CSE was offering BSE trading platform since 2008.

The Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE) also introduced a Bangla language website in the presence of state Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee. The brouse declared its decision to fund a Chair at the Calcutta University for conducting studies in financial markets. About Rs.25 lakh was earmarked for this project out of the interest earned from the corpus of Investors Service Fun The Rajasthan state cabinet on 28 November 2011 approved the decision to give khatedari rights to over 30000 farmers occupying the custodian land in Alwar, Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh and Bharatpur. The farmers will have to pay a nominal regularisation fee to get the rights. The lands were vacated mostly by those famers, who left the country during the partition.

Earlier, the farmers were asked to pay 25 percent of the market prices fixed by the district level committee. Now, they would get the khatedari rights on the payment of 2000 rupees for irrigated land and 1000 rupees for other categories of land. Hyderabad-based drug discovery research and development organisation, GVK Biosciences (GVK BIO) on 28 November 2011 entered into an alliance with the Moulder Centre for Drug Discovery Research at Temple University, Philadelphia.

As part of the collaboration, GVK Bio would be responsible for the target validation, lead identification and lead optimisation of small molecules in selected therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular, metabolic and central nervous system disorders.

The Moulder Center is stated to be used for both internal research within Temple University and for external collaborations with pharmaceutical and biotech companies and other universities. It is focussed on drug discovery in the area of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. It works with industry and other universities in joint research projects. To push through power reforms and unlock the power sector, the UPA-II Government set up an expert group to suggest restructuring of power utilities of seven major States, including Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.

The plan for reforms follows a recent government report that revealed that the accumulated losses of the power utilities across the country ran into Rs.1.50-lakh crore and annual losses were around Rs.55.000 crore. The government is to initiate a major reform in the shape of open access allowing consumers of above 1 MW to choose their preferred electricity supplier.

Task of the Expert Group

The expert group headed by Planning Commission member (Energy) B. K. Chaturvedi is expected to submit its report by March 2012. The group was entrusted with the responsibility to make an assessment of the cumulative losses of distribution utilities of seven major States, including Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. It was asked to suggest a strategy for capital restructuring of these power discoms (distribution companies), including commitment by other stakeholders like State governments. It will also have to suggest a road map and monitoring mechanism for implementing the above.

The Justice and Development Party (PJD) won the parliamentary elections in Morocco according to the poll results announced on 27 November 2011. PJD won 107 seats out of the 395 seats, almost twice as many as the second place finisher. The Polls were held on 25 November 2011 and there was only a 45 percent turnout.

The PJD party follows the moral dictates of the religion. The party is the second Islamist party to win an election after the Arab Spring. Tunisias moderate Islamist party, Ennahda, recently won the election in that country. Arab uprising had some effect also on Morocco. The king responded by modifying the constitution to give the next parliament and prime minister more powers and held early elections.

Elections in Morocco are held on a national level for the legislature. Parliament has two chambers. The Assembly of Representatives of Morocco has 325 members elected for a five-year term, 295 elected in multi-seat constituencies and 30 in national lists consisting only of women. The Assembly of Councillors has 270 members, elected for a nine-year term, elected by professional chambers (91 seats), local councils (162 seats), and wageearners (27 seats).

Morocco has had a multi-party system since independence in 1956. Morocco is the North African Kingdom. King Mohammed VI is the head of the state. A researcher from Australia National University discovered a new type of cell, which boosts the ability of human body to fight off infections and life threatening diseases. The cell is called Natural killer T follicular helper (NKTfh). It generates antibody responses in B cells, which are the bodys natural defence against invasion by bacteria and viruses. These Natural Killer T Cells recognize molecules known as lipids instead of just recognizing proteins expressed by infectious bacteria. NKTfh cells also produce specialised structures called germinal centres, similar to those, which generated high affinity antibody responses to protein antigens. Both these qualities give a natural boost to B cells and strengthen the human immune system and its ability to fight infection. NKTfh cells provided this boost over a very short period of time. NASA on 26 November 2011, launched Rover, nicknamed Curiosity to explore the planet Mars. The rover was launched from Florida on an Atlas 5 rocket. The Rover will take eight and a half months to reach the Red Planet (Mars). The cost of the NASA space mission is 2.5 billion US dollars.

The Rover will then scour Martian soils and rocks for any signs that could have supported microbial life on the planet. The Atlas flight lasted almost three-quarters of an hour. The rover is also known as the Mars Science laboratory (MSL). It is due to arrive at the Red Planet on 6 August 2012. The Rover will land at a deep equatorial depression called Gale Crater, which contains a central mountain that rises some 5kilometre above the plain below. MSL is equipped with 10 sophisticated instruments to study the rocks, soils and atmosphere in Gale Crater. The five working groups on road safety that were set up by the ministry of road transport & highways have submitted their reports in November 2011. The different working groups constituted on road safety wereeducation, enforcement, engineering (roads as well as vehicles) and emergency. The groups were constituted following the March 2011 meeting of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) to lay out the macro and micro dimensions with potential solutions to road safety and to suggest short term and long term measures to curb road accidents in the country.

The wide-ranging recommendations contained in the report are meant to be incorporated in the decadal action programme on road safety. The NRSC will finalize the detailed decadal action plan on road safety at the national level which could be replicated by all governments at state and district levels.

Recommendations

The working group on enforcement mentioned that the penalty structure as per Amendment of Motor Vehicles Act 1988 has become redundant and the fines not a deterrence for traffic rule violators.

It suggested increasing the penalties for offences. While revising the penalties for traffic offences, the group mentioned a clause needs to be inserted in the Amendment Act so that every three years there is revision of the fines based on consumer price index. On the topic of overloading of commercial vehicles, the group specified that if a commercial vehicle was found overloaded it would be prosecuted with mandatory criminal case under the provisions of Damage to Public Property Act against the transporter, the consignor and the consignee.

The groups felt the need for digitization of the existing driving licence holders. Measures need to be adopted to ensure when driving licence of a defaulter is suspended he should not be able to get another licence from any other transport authority.

It was noted that a large number of accidents on roads happen because of many commercial vehicles not being in good condition. It was felt that fitness certificate for commercial vehicles needed to be issued in a routine and there should also be stringent checks of commercial vehicles before fitness certificate is issued to the vehicle. Stringent fitness certificate issuance will ensure enhanced road safety. Renowned sarangi maestro and singer Ustad Sultan Khan died of kidney failure on 27 November 2011. He belonged to the Indore Gharana of singing.

Born in the year 1940, Khan's first performance was at the All India Conference at the age of 11. He was taught sarangi by his father Gulab Khan. A Hindustani classical music exponent, Khan was renowned for his international collaborations and will always be remembered as the voice behind Piya Basanti Re and Albela Saajan (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam). His work in films like jab we met, maqbool, hum dil de chuke sanam was applauded by music lovers across the country.

He was one of the members of the Indian fusion group Tabla Beat Science, with Zakir Hussain and Bill Laswell. He had performed on an international scale with Ravi Shankar on George Harrison's 1974 Dark Horse World Tour. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest Indian civilian honour in 2010. He won numerous musical awards including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award which he won twice. He was presented the President's Award, as well as the Gold Medalist Award of Maharashtra and the American Academy of Artists Award in 1998. India lost two other renowned musicians in 2011 with the death of Jagjit Singh and Bhupen Hazarika. Tahrir Square, the epicentre of mass protests in Egypt against its President Hosni Mubarak in January 2011, is the common name of Midan Tahrir (means Liberation Square in English). Tahrir Square is a major public town square in Cairo, Egypt. Tahrir square was earlier called Midan Ismaileyaa after the 19th century ruler Khedive Ismail. After the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, the name of Midan Ismaileyaa was changed to Midan Tahrir or the Tahrir Square The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on 3 February 2011 approved the appointment of Expenditure secretary Sushma Nath as Finance Secretary. Sushma Nath will also shoulder the responsibility as Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance. ACC also approved of the service period extension of Sushma Nath for a period of two months beyond her retirement on 31 March 2011. Nath is an MP cadre IAS officer of the 1974 batch. She has been officiating as the expenditure secretary since 2008. Nath was a member of the Sixth Central Pay commission which was set on 5 October 2006 and headed by Justice B.N. Srikrishna. She succeeded outgoing Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla who ended his term on 31 January 2011.

ACC also appointed R. Gopalan, who has been appointed as the Economic Affairs Secretary in the Finance Ministry for a period of three months, with effect from 1 February 2011 or until further order whichever is earlier. Gopalan is a 1976 batch IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre. Prior to his appointment he served as the Financial Services Secretary in the ministry of Finance.

he V K Shunglu committee appointed by the government in October 2010 to investigate financial irregularities in the award of broadcasting rights of Commonwealth Games submitted its first report to the Government on 29 January 2011. The committee included former DoPT secretary Shantanu Consul as a member. The committee observed that the Indian exchequer was robbed of at least 135 crore due to the awarding of the contract for production and coverage of the Commonwealth Games to UK-based firm SiS Live. The committee mentioned that a clear nexus existed among SiS Live, New Delhi-based Zoom Communications and members of the Prasar Bharti management. The committee blamed former CEO B S Lalli for deliberately ignoring the I&B ministrys concerns and siding with private broadcast firm SIS Live ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

As per the report significant changes were made in the contract relating to liquidation damages and subcontracting without I&B ministrys approval. The changes agreed to by Prasar Bharati included changes in terms of payments, performance guarantee, liquidated damages and duties and liabilities of Prasar Bharati and SIS Live as well as sub-contracting. These changes were against the interests of Prasar Bharati and diluted the liabilities and obligations of SIS Live. The report emphasised that an advance payment to SIS Live was hiked from 30% to 60% days before the Games despite the ministrys reservations. The public broadcaster also ignored the ministrys advice to conduct price comparisons and verification of services and was willing to pay exorbitant rates for production and coverage of the Games The Indian government after a meeting with top officials from the finance, external affairs and oil ministries on 3 February 2011 decided to pay in euro for crude bought from Iran. Supplies did not stop coming in despite Indian importers running up an outstanding of $3 billion after RBI blocked a regional money-transfer mechanism. At the meeting it was decided that SBI would route the payment through the Hamburg-based EIH Bank. Importers would put money into SBI account and the bank would then transfer the money to EIH through its Frankfurt branch. SBI would first clear over $2 billion payment backlog for the four-month period beginning September 2010. Iran's national oil company, NIOC which has an account in EIH was cleared by the German central bank for receiving euro payments for Iranian crude.

India imported 21 million tonnes of crude from Iran in 2009-10 which amounts to roughly 12% of Indias total requirements. Imports from Iran in 2010-11 are expected to be 18 million tonnes given that Reliance Industries has stopped using crude from the Persian Gulf nation. Iran supplied oil worth $1.3 billion after the RBI scrapped the payment clearing system that included the central banks of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Maldives, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd on 3 February 2011 declared that it received an approval from the US health regulator to sell generic drug galantamine hydrobromide. Galantamine hydrobromide is used in treating mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease in the American market. The US Food and Drug Administration granted Sun's subsidiary an approval for an abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) to market a generic version of Razadyne ER, galantamine hydrobromide extended-release capsules. The approvals are for multiple strengths of extendedrelease capsules, 8 mg (base), 16 mg (base) and 24 mg (base).

Razadyne ER is a registered trademark of Ortho-McNeil Janssen Pharmaceuticals and records an annual sale of around USD 50 million in the US.

Yemeni leader Ali Abdullah Saleh declared on 2 Feb 2011 after coming under pressure from the opposition to step down that he will freeze constitutional changes which would enable him to remain President for life. Civil society and opposition leaders had organised a day of rage and on the eve of the day of rage called by opposing forces, Saleh declared in the Yemeni parliament that he put off controversial plans to hold elections in April 2011 without a promised dialogue on reform. He also appealed for an end to street protests. Like embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Saleh in the past was accused repeatedly by the opposition of grooming his son to succeed him in a bid to create a republican dynasty.

Yemen is located at the strategic southern tip of the Arabian peninsula and is wrecked with numerous conflicts like a separatist movement in the once-independent south, a Shia rebellion in the north, and a growing presence of Al-Qaeda guerrillas The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on 2 February 2011 arrested the former Union Communications and Information Technology Minister, A. Raja for his involvement in the 2G scam. Former DoT Secretary Behura and Raja's aide Chandolia were also taken into custody. Raja along with the other two officials is accused of conspiring with a slew of corporate groups for awarding 2G spectrum licences in early 2008 in violation of established guidelines and procedures.

The arrests came fifteen months after CBI first slapped cases under Section 120-B of the IPC (criminal conspiracy), and Section 13 (2), read with Section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against the three on 21 October 2009. The case was first registered against them on the basis of allegations of conspiracy and abuse of official position to show favour to applicant-companies in the processing and allocation of letters of intent before allocating spectrum for the launch of telecom services.

Market regulator SEBI on 2 Feb 2011 banned 39 entities from the market for indulging in circular trading in
Spectacle Infotek, Goldstone Technologies, Gemstone Investments, LGS Global and Well Pack Papers & Containers. SEBI ordered a detailed investigation in these stocks and their price movement between 2008 and 2010.

Several of these entities are linked to each other, through directorships in the same company, introduction during the mandatory know your client (KYC) verifications, have common telephone numbers, and some have even furnished the same email id in KYC form. SEBI investigation report highlighted that there were 196 members within the Walmiki-Shah group and 43 in the Pabari-Parikh group. The investigation also found out 39 entities which were the core members linked to these groups. The entities in question bought large quantities of the stock, created artificial volumes by trading among themselves, and lured unsuspecting investors to invest in these stocks.

Sebi barred 39 entities from accessing the stock market, and also prohibited them from buying, selling or dealing in shares. SEBI asked all the stock exchanges to remove any existing futures & options position these entities have.

eccan Charters, Tata-owned Taj Air and B-Jets entered into a partnership to pool their resources for chartering
passengers to remote parts of the country. The alliance between the oganisations termed as Power Fly will also allow people to own part of the aircraft by selling them flying hours. The services would be offered to people at anything between Rs 70000 to Rs 3 lakh per flying hour. The alliance has aircraft based in around 10 locations in India and nurtures plans to go international by tying up with charter services in Middle East, Europe and Singapore. Power Fly is targeted at corporate and leisure travellers.

Deccan is also involved in providing maintenance, repair and overhaul services to 50 aircraft. Taj Air also

provides charter services. Tata Group interested in similar business has already invested in Business Jets Private Limited (BJETS) through its subsidiary Indian Hotels Company Ltd Computer processor manufacturer AMD announced on 1 Feb 2011 the launch of itsnew generation of processors, the Fusion platform. Fusion platform comprising new family of chipsets, using the accelerated processing unit (APU) have been designed to handle multi-core processors as well as high-end graphics using a single die.

The new chipset design will help to bring about fundamental transformation in the computer landscape. The capabilities of the new range of processors make them ideal to be used in products ranging from mobile phones to desktop computers. The E-series and the C-series of APUs will be made available in India soon while the higher-end A-series APU would be available by May 2011. Yasi, one of the most powerful cyclones on record smashed into the sea coast of Australia on 3 February 2011. Yasi is category five Storm.

2 February: World Wetland Day

The World Wetland day was celebrated on 2 February 2011. The observation of World Wetland Day on 2nd February marks the date of adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar which is located on the shores of the Capsian Sea. On 2 February 2011 the 40th anniversary of Ramsar convention was celebrated. Wetlands and Forests was the theme for World Wetlands Day 2011 particularly because 2011 is the UN International Year of Forests. Forests for Water and Wetlands was the slogan for 2011 World Wetland Day. The slogan was chosen to highlight the role forested wetlands play and the special benefits they bring in our lives. The Environment Ministry of the government of India organised a function on this occasion at Bharatpur Sanctuary, Rajasthan.

Each year since 1997, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and groups of citizens used the opportunity to undertake actions aimed at raising public awareness of wetland values and benefits in general and the Ramsar Convention in particular. India's most well known and internationally regarded strategic affairs analyst K. Subrahmanyam expired at the age of 82 on 1 Feb 2011. K. Subrahmanyam was a prominent international strategic affairs analyst, journalist and former Indian civil servant. He played an important role in influencing Indian security and nuclear policy as well as advocating Indian nuclear positions on the global stage.Subrahmanyam, was at the time of his death, chairman, prime minister's Task Force on Global Strategic Developments.

He ranked first in the Civil Services Examination and was appointed to the Indian Administrative Service in 1951. He was also placed as a Rockefeller Fellow in Strategic Studies at the London School of Economics in 1966. He was appointed the Director ofInstitute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) in New Delhi where he continued in office until 1975. IDSA came into being on 11 November 1965 and its Executive Council is currently headed by Union Defence Minister, A K Antony. He served in several senior government positions- Chairman of India's Joint Intelligence Committee in New Delhi, Home Secretary for Tamil Nadu and Union Secretary for Defence Production in the Ministry of Defence before he returned as Director of IDSA in 1980. Subrahmanyam had in 1979, as Chairman of India's Joint Intelligence Committee authored a Cabinet note arguing for the resumption of India's nuclear weapons program.

Subrahmanyam was appointed the Convenor of India's first National Security Council Advisory Board (NSCAB) which was established by the Atal Behari Vajpayee government in 1998. NSCAB had drafted India's

Draft Nuclear Doctrine, which governs all policy aspects with regard to usage and deployment of India's nuclear

arsenal. The most significant aspect of the draft was the No First Use policy and the consequent directive that India's nuclear weapons would largely be oriented around a second strike capability. Subrahmanyam who was once a well-known critic of the US for its earlier Cold War-influenced foreign policy and was dubbed a leftist and Soviet sympathizer had been a leading advocate of the Indo-US Nuclear accord on civilian nuclear cooperationsigned by President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2007.

As the doyen of the Indian strategic community he headed the Kargil review committee in 1999 and submitted a voluminous report on security lapses and remedies. The committee's final report popularly referred to as the Subrahmanyam Report led to a large-scale restructuring of Indian Intelligence.

Journalist Subrahmanyam is also well known as a frequent commentator and columnist in several Indian and international newspapers had long made a demand for a National Defence University by the government.

Subrahmanyam both authored and co-author fourteen books. These include The Liberation War (1972) with Mohammed Ayoob about the Bangladesh Liberation War, Nuclear Myths and Realities (1980), India and the Nuclear Challenge (1986), The Second Cold War (1983) and Superpower Rivalry in the Indian Ocean (1989) with Selig S Harrison. He refused to accept the Indian government honour of a Padma Bhushanin 1999 mentioning that bureaucrats and journalists should not accept government awards. The IDSA instituted an annual 'K Subrahmanyam Award' for contributions to Strategic Affairs in 2007.

The report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) stated that money laundering still remains unchecked in India. The laws in India to check money laundering are still not up to the mark. The report elaborated that the main sources of money laundering in India are illegal activities like counterfeiting of Indian currency, fraud, drug trafficking and transnational organised crimes. According to the FATF report, the efficiency of laws meant for curbing money laundering in India like the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985 and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act could not be measured because of the low number of confiscations under these acts. The number of illegal cash seizures is very low despite the fact that a large number of people moves across Indias borders.

FATF report also pointed out that India has not undertaken a serious review of its Non Profit Organisations Sector as per the requirement of FATF standards. As per the ADRI report prepared by Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) and Centre for Economic Policies and Public Finance and released in the first week of February 2011, the quality of primary education has improved in Bihar. In the year 2009, 92.7 percent of the children who passed out of class 5 enrolled into class 6 against an average of 32 percent enrolling in classes 6, 7 and 8 in 2006, 2007 and 2008.The students are between the ages of 6 and 14 years. The number of schools has increased from 60 for every one lakh people to 114.3 schools for every one lakh in the state. Presently, Bihar has more than 50000 primary schools with 2 crore student enrolment.

More importantly, the number of school drop-outs has gone down considerably. Based on the data between 2005-06 and 2008-09 only 2.9 percent children between the ages of 6 and 14 are school drop outs. This marked an improvement over the recent Pratham report which said that 3.5 percent children are school drop-outs. The report by ADRI concluded that 94.1 percent children now study in government schools, 5.7 percent are enrolled in private schools and 0.2 percent in unrecognised madarsas.

The

main

findings

of

ADRI

report

on

primary

education

in

Bihar

are

as

following:

Only At In

2.91 present the past

percent

children

between

the

ages

of

and

14

are

out

of 60 92

school. earlier. percent.

there are three years,

114 schools per one Lakh population against enrolment in classes 6 to 8 increased from 32 to

Average class attendance is 61.6 percent of the total students ndia and Italy on 1 February 2011 agreed to set up a Joint Business Council to strengthen investment flows between the two nations. The agreement took place in Rome during the visit of Indias minister for commerce and industry Anand Sharma to Italy. The objective of the joint business council is to emphasise on 10 areas, which include information and communications technology, manufacturingand infrastructure. India and Italy aim to double bilateral trade to 17.5 billion US dollars in the next five years. POSCO, South Korean steel Company and Indias largest ever Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), on 1 February 2011, got the approval of the Union Environment Ministry of India for its proposed steel and iron plant in Orissa. The Environment ministry gave environmental clearance for the construction of iron and steel plant and a captive power plant at Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa. Myanmars new parliament opened on 31 January 2011 in Naypyitaw, the capital of Myanmar since 2005.

The Environment ministry also gave environmental and CRZ clearance to captive port planned to be constructed near Paradip. However, the ministry withheld forest clearance to the project complex. The total cost of the POSCO project is more than 54000 crore rupees. Prime minister of Tunisia, Mohamed Ghannouchi, announced a new government named National Unity Government on 17 January 2011, after the Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was deposed recently. The Prime Minister along with the ministers for defence, foreign affairs, internal affairs and finance are unchanged. Ghannouchi promised that political prisoners would be released, banned parties will be allowed to function and the Tunisian Federation of Human Rights will be freed from restrictions that Ben Ali imposed on it.

It was the first successful Arab over-throw of an authoritarian government many of which are still ruling countries namely Algeria, Libya, Jordan, Morocco in Middle East and North Africa. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali had taken over as president of Tunisia after a military coup on 7 November 1987 against Tunisias founder President Habib Bourguiba and had since ruled in autocratic fashion over the country.

The immediate cause for the protests in Tunisia was the public self immolation of a street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi after police forcibly took away his goods. Rising food prices, high unemployment and lack of political representation were the other main reasons behind the uprising.

Uprising in Tunisia against the autocratic rule has been termed Jasmine revolution. Jasmine is the national flower of Tunisia. Carbon foot print calculator for the use of manufacturers was launched by UK-based Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) South East in the last week of January 2011, to take advantage of the benefits associated with carbon footprint reporting. Using the calculator, manufacturing companies can measure their carbon footprint and start identifying ways to improve environmental performance going forward. Businesses reporting on its own their greenhouse gas emissions get benefits such as cost savings, improved green credentials, and better relations with customers and investors.

MAS is one of the Government's Solutions for Business suite of offerings, jointly funded by BIS (The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) and the nine English Regional Development Agencies. POSCO, the South Korean steel company, got the approval of the Union Environment Ministry of India to construct iron and steel plant at Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa.

Indian Navy warship INS Vindhyagiri was damaged by fire after it collided with the merchant vessel MV Nordlake on 30 January 2011. Defence officials ordered an inquiry into the incident and filed an FIR against the captain and crew of the Cyprus-flagged Nordlake under IPC sections 280 (rash navigation), 337 (causing hurt) and 427 (mischief causing damage).

The 29-year-old Vindhyagiri and 17-year-old Nordlake collided in Mumbai harbour when the warship was returning from A Day At Sea with around 400 navy personnel and their families the Nordlake, a container vessel was being guided through the harbour to reach open sea at the same time. Following the collision a fire began in the engine room of the 3000-tonne Vindhyagiri and spread. Vindhyagiri was brought to Naval Dockyard and evacuated, while the blaze was brought under control by fire fighters of the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai Port Trust and Mumbai fire brigade.

It was the fourth major collision in the harbour since 23 March 2010. The repeated collisions have sparked concerns about the safety of the navigational path. The Indian Finane Ministry on 31 January 2011 approved Rs 8000 crore in cash subsidy to state owned fuel retailers. The cash subsidy was approved of by the government to enable the state owned fuel retailers to make up for half of the revenues they lost on selling diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below cost in the third quarter of 29010-11.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is to get Rs 4442.45 crore, Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) Rs 1809.85 crore and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) Rs 1747.70 crore

Google announced on 31 January 2011 that it would provide assistance worth $5 million to upgrade and support 50 Satya Elementary Schools being run by the Bharti Foundation in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar
Pradesh. Bharti Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Bharti Enterprises. According to the agreement between Google and Bharti Foundation Google will provide financial support to set up middle schools (classes VI VIII) and also help meet operational expenses to upgrade primary schools to the elementary level. The initiative will help upgrade 50 primary schools to the elementary levels and reach over 15000 children. At full capacity the initiative will also provide employment and skills training to over 500 teachers.

Bharti Foundations flagship initiative, the Satya Bharti School Programme reaches out to over 30000 children, with particular focus on the girl child from socially and economically challenged backgrounds. Under the Satya Bharti School Programme, the foundation provides the children with access to free education through 236 village primary schools and one senior secondary school. South Korean engineering major Doosan in January 2011 acquired the Chennai works of Austrian power company AE&E. Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Company had been lately securing several orders from India and hence the Korean company wanted a manufacturing base in India. The acquisition will enable Doosan achieve its objective and get a manufacturing base in the growing Indian market for power plant boilers. Doosan won the first Indian order for a supercritical boiler for NTPC's Sipat project (3x660 MW) in 2004. In 2007, Tata Power selected Doosan to supply five supercritical boilers of 800 MW eachand in 2010 Doosan bagged a $1 billion order from GMR Energy for building the Raipur-Chhattisgarh thermal power plant.

AE&E plant belonged to Deutsche Babcock initially and was later taken over by Austrian Energy. In 2010 AE&E had secured its first order, for the supply of six CFBC-type boilers of 150 MW each, from the Essar group for the Salaya III project. he six core sectors including crude oil, petroleum refinery products, coal, electricity, cement and finished steel expanded by 6.2 per cent in December, 2009 while it charted 6.6 per cent growth in December2010. The index of industrial production or IIP numbers for December was thus higher. Industrial output measured by the IIP, had sunk to an 18-month low of 2.7 per cent in November 2010. The core industries account for 26.68 per cent

of the country's total industrial output. Petroleum refinery output grew by 8.3 per cent, while production of coal registered 3 per cent growth in December 2010. Finished steel production also grew by 11.2 per cent in December, 2010, from 9.6 per cent in the comparable period a year ago. However growth in cement production slowed to 2.2 per cent in December 2010 as compared to 11 per cent expansion in December 2009. A new scientific research, done by the University of Abertay Dundee and SPSA forensic experts on Vacuum Metal Disposition (VMD,)-that uses gold and zinc to recover the fingerprint mark-revealed that soon the fingerprint ridge detail and impressions from fabrics could be recovered.VMD is a highly sensitive technique already used to detect fingerprint marks on smooth surfaces such as carrier bags, plastics and glass. The research uses fine layers of metals to display fingerprints people may have left on fabrics, something which is more difficult to do with soft surfaces. The technique has been around since the 1970s and is used on many surfaces but was never widely used on fabrics. Fingerprints have been used as a means of identification for over 100 years but to recover fingerprints from fabrics has always proven to be quite difficult. Such an impression could help the police to frame a sequence of events and could be used to provide evidence in cases where someone was pushed and grabbed in a particular part of their clothing. Vacuum metal deposition (VMD) is a well known technique for the development of latent fingerprints on nonporous surfaces. VMD has an edge over cyanoacrylate fuming, especially in circumstances where prints are old, have been exposed to adverse environmental conditions, or are present on semi-porous surfaces. In normal circumstances, VMD produces negative prints as zinc deposits onto the background substrate and not the print ridges themselves. The Justice Shivraj V. Patil Committee appointed by the Indian government to look into the 2G spectrum allocation procedures submitted its report to Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on 31 January 2011. The one member committee identified officials in the Department of Telecommunications responsible for deficiencies, lapses and violations. The report also highlighted future course of action on how licenses should be allocated.

The Justice Shivraj V. Patil Committee was set up after the 2G spectrum scam came to light. The committee was asked to look into the appropriateness of procedures adopted by the Department of telecommunications in the issuances of 2G licenses from between 2001 and 2009 South Sudan became the newest nation in the world. It separated itself from North Sudan on 30 January 2011. The capital of South Sudan is Juba. The Indian Union Cabinet on 27 January 2011 approved the renaming of Tuticorin Port Trust as V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust. There had been demands from several quarters in Tamil Nadu to rename Tuticorin Port Trust as V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust. By renaming the port India paid homage to legendary freedom fighter, V.O. Chidambaranar who made significant contribution in Indias freedom struggle.

Ports in India are usually named after the city or the town in which these are situated. The Indian Government can however in special cases have renamed Ports after great leaders in the past.

Thiru V.O. Chidambaranar Pillai born on 5 September 1872 hailed from Ottapidararn near Tuticorin in Tamilnadu. As part of Swadeshi movement, he had started the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company. Under the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company he had procured two ships and launched the first indigenous Indian Shipping service between Tuticorin and Colombo in the year 1906. He was a scholar in Tamil, a prolific writer, a fiery speaker, a trade union leader of unique calibre and a dauntless freedom fighter. ondon-based Kashmiri novelist Mirza Waheed launched her debut novel, The Collaborator on 30 January 2011. The Kashmir conflict forms the backdrop of the novel where Waheed lauds the women of Kashmir for their resilience during the 20-year-long conflict. The book reflects the plight of women struggling to get dont the normal routine work like getting milk for their babies during continued curfews.

The novel, published by Penguin Books has already been listed among the top 10 novels of 2011. The

Collaborator is the first such piece of fiction by an individual born and brought up in the haze of the conflict in the 1990s.

A literature student of the Delhi University Waheed had worked in Delhi before he moved to London. He is currently a journalist with the BBC in London. The Quality Council of India on 30 January 2011 appointed a five-member committee to rate blood banks across India in order to regulate blood banks and ensure that safe blood is provided to people. The measure by the Quality Council is an attempt to bring down incidence of infections such as HIV and hepatitis. The committee for accreditation of blood banks chaired by Dr Bharat Singh of GTB hospital, Delhi will function under National Accreditation Board for Hospitals. Other members of the committee include Dr R C Khurana of the Escorts Heart Institute in New Delhi, Dr Sukesh Nair of Christian Medical College in Vellore and Dr BK Rana, deputy director of the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals. The committee which has two-year tenure will monitor the quality of blood dispensed from the accredited blood banks. They will also recommend policy changes to the QCI board. Accreditation is given only if the blood banks ensure that the blood volume is right, there is no mixing of blood cells after components like platelets, white blood cells and red cells are isolated. The committee will ensure that the bank follows stringent measures to rule out infections South Sudan referendum results were announced on 30 January 2011, according to which South Sudan became the new and the 54th nation in the Continent of Africa. The referendum was held as the part of the peace accord finalised between North Sudans President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and his counterpart of South Sudan, Salva Kiir in 2005. South Sudan referendum results were announced on 30 January 2011, according to which South Sudan became the new and the 54th nation in the Continent of Africa. As per South Sudan referendum, which was held in the first week of January 2011, 99.57 percent people voted to secede from the nations northern part, North Sudan. The referendum was held as the part of the peace accord finalised between North Sudans President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and his counter part of South Sudan, Salva Kiir in 2005. Salva Kiir, President of South Sudan, was also the head of the former Southern Rebel Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement. According to the terms of the accord, South Sudan will be able to declare independence on 9 July 2011.

The 2005 accord between North Sudan and South Sudan had ended Africas longest civil war, which had cost 2 million lives. North Sudan is Muslim dominated while South Sudan has Christians in majority. There was dispute over Oil revenues and Ayebi region between them. Juba is the capital of South Sudan. The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) in January 2011 approved road projects of Rs.434.23 Crores spanning the five states of Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Manipur and Mizoram. The road projects were approved as part of the ongoing 11th Plan Projects of the North Eastern Council (NEC).The projects would largely boost connectivity between the states and the connectivity within the states. NEC pledged its committed towards channelizing similar quantum of funds for improving the road sector in the Region.

The projects include:

Improvement of Jowai- Nartiang Khanduli Biathanlangsu road at an estimated cost of Rs. 138.36Crores which will link Assam and Meghalaya.

Construction and Improvement of Simchuthang Pabong Yangyang Road in Sikkim at an estimated cost of Rs.62.84 Crores and length 23 kms.

Improvement of Kangokpi Tamei Road in Manipur at an estimated cost of Rs.87 Crores and length 70.25 kms.

Upgradation of Sherkhan Bhagabazar Road at an estimated cost of Rs.146.03 Crores and length 115.20 kms.

The expenditure for the above projects will be met from Plan Funds of NEC to the extent of 90% of the approved cost and 10% would be borne by respective State Governments. The Projects will be implemented by the Public Works Department of the respective state Governments. A team of Scientists, in the last week of January 2011, led by Australias ICT research Centre of Excellences spinout company,Open Kernel Labs (OK Labs), developed worlds first hacker-proof software named SeL4. The SeL4 microkernel is a small operating system kernel which regulates access to the hardware of a computer. The unique feature of SeL4 is to differentiate trusted software from the untrusted one which enables it to protect critical services from a failure or a malicious attack. SeL4 will make sure that trusted financial transaction software from secure sources such as stock exchanges or banks alongside untrusted software like games download from the Internet could operate securely on the mobile phone of any customer. SeL4 could also provide safety to defence data. Moreover it will be helpful in protecting lifesupporting functions of a medical device like pacemaker from hacking.

SeL4 microkernel is the only operating system kernel which has been mathematically proven to operate correctly. An interim report by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), in the last week of January 2011, stated that the ship collision of MSC Chitra and MV Khalija near the Mumbai coast, which resulted into one of the worst oil spills, destroyed 1273 hectares of mangroves along the Mumbai and Raiged coast. The report estimated that 400 to 500 tonnes of oil leaked from one of the ships fuel tank. It severely affected mangroves in areas such as Rewas, Elephanta, Uran, Vashi and Karanja. These mangroves dont show any sign of regeneration.

The report by BNHS was commissioned by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests in the wake of collision between the merchant ships MSC Chitra and MV Khalija. tate-run Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) declared on 25 January 2011 that it produced first shale gas in the India at Icchapur in Durgapur district of West Bengal. It is a significant breakthrough as India became the first Asian country where gas was discovered from shale outside USA and Canada. ONGC had started drilling the first shale gas well at Icchapur village on 26 September 2010.ONGC awarded a contract to Schlumberger for the pilot project at icchapur. The other regions in India which has shale gas deposits are- Assam,Gujarat,Rajasthan,the Gangetic plain,the Cambay basin and the Gondwana basin. ONGC is also undertaking Rs 128-crore pilot project for exploration of shale gas in the Damodar basin in Jharkhand and intends to drill three wells by 31March 2012.

Shale gas is non-conventional natural gas reserves found in non-porous rock and requires fracking technology to extract gas from shale. The Finance Ministry declared that it has no plans to bring out a tax amnesty scheme to get back the black money stashed away in foreign accounts. The finance ministry made this submission before Parliament's standing committee on finance. The submission followed the Ministrys declaration on 25 January 2011 that it constituted an expert group to look into the issue of black money. Parliament's standing committee on finance expressed its displeasure at the ministrys continuance with special tax concessions to Mauritius, a country responsible for largest inflow of foreign capital into India.

The panel headed by BJP leader Yashwant Sinha asked the government to state as to what was the quantum of black money stashed outside India in foreign banks. It also asked the ministry to explain in detail how it had made use of the global fora such as G-20 to contain the menace of black money. The Committee needs in written from the Government by 2 February 2011 details on what it intends to do with regards to the issue of stashing away of black money in foreign countries. Additional district collector of Malegaon Yashwant Sonawane was on 25 January 2011 killed by suspected members of oil mafia at Manmad in Nashik district after detectedpilfering of kerosene. Sonawane was burnt alive

following which over 80000 gazetted officers in Maharashtra ceased work for the day to protest the killing. Authorities launched a massive crackdown on oil adulteration mafia across Maharashtra on 27 January 2011 raiding 200 places and arresting around 180 people. Main accused Popat Shinde who himself sustained burn injuries has two earlier cases registered against him in connection with fuel adulteration. Petroleum minister S Jaipal Reddy introduced steps including re-introduction of a chemical marker in kerosene in six months in order to eliminate the scope for adulteration of diesel using this subsidised fuel. He advised states to use GPS-based vehicular tracking system for trucks transporting petrol and diesel to track the movement and possible route deviations. The killing of Yashwant Sonawane once again highlighted the problem of kerosene being used for adulteration The Jammu and Kashmir state government announced the launching of Maa Tujhe Salaam free hospital services for pregnant women and children of the state on 26 January 2011, Republic Day of India. Under Maa Tughe Salaam, free hospital services will be provided to all pregnant women and children up to the age of 5 years. The scheme further provides that no user charge will be taken from pregnant women and children up to 5 years of age in government health care institutions such as District Hospitals and Primary health centres India and Indonesia, on 25 January 2011, signed a total of 18 agreements in sectors of mining, infrastructure and manufacturing during the visit of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to India. The agreements are worth 15.1 billion US dollars which include the one on Mining, Construction of Steel plant and its infrastructure between provincial government of Central Kalimantan and International Coal ventures Private Ltd. and another on setting up of airport at Buleleng, Bali between GVK Power and infrastructure and the Indonesian government. One more major agreement took place in form of SAIL and Chairman of the International Coal Venture Private Limited CS Verma signing MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the provincial Government of Central Kalimantan, Indonesia to develop mineral deposits and establish a Mineral processing facility, steel plant and the required infrastructure in the province.

Besides the above agreements, India and Indonesia issued a joint statement under which India and Indonesia set a strategic target of 25 billion US dollars bilateral trade by 2015 under the India-Indonesia strategic partnership set up in 2005.

Moreover, India and Indonesia agreed to start negotiations for concluding a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA). The objective of the CECA between India and Indonesia is to reduce or remove tariffs on goods and services between them. It would also cover investments.

In addition, India and Indonesia also agreed to have a Biennial Trade Minister Forum, which includes setting up of a trade and investment forum to avail of trade and investment opportunities existing in both the nations.

India and Indonesia also agreed to have summit level meetings on the sidelines of multilateral events. To develop A Vision Statement 2025 for the Indonesia-India Strategic partnership, the two nations announced the setting up of an Eminent Persons Group (EPG).The two nations reiterated their commitments to work together on UN reforms, Climate change and Global Financial crisis. The two nations also stressed upon the need of more cultural exchanges between them.

India and Indonesia announced the setting up of an Energy Forum co-chaired by the Minister of Energy and Mineral and Resources of Indonesia and the Minister of Coal of India.To strengthen consular cooperation and friendly relations between India and Indonesia, the former announced the establishment of a Consulate General of India in the Bali province of the latter.

At present, India-Indonesia trade is at 12 million US dollars. India and Indonesia had finalised free trade pact with Indonesia in October 2010 which abolished import duties on several products like sea food, chemicals and apparel

The Scientists of University of New South Wales, in the last week of January 2011, discovered the cause behind Schizophrenia. They discovered the link between the Schizophrenic condition and trapped brain cells which dont reach the cortex (the outer part of the brain). According to the scientists, in schizophrenia, brain cells associated with thinking and other cognitive abilities get trapped in the layer below and therefore, cant reach the Cortex. In normal human beings, the process of neuronal migration to the cortex is vigorous in infants and may continue in teenage years and beyond. The scientists hope that they can develop a therapy which can make neurons move to the cortex. If it happens, the therapy could reduce the symptoms or even prevent schizophrenia from developing. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) moved the Supreme Court seeking its nod to fix a cap of Rs 250 per month in non-Conditional Access System (non-CAS ) areas in the country. Trai had earlier filed its draft regulation informing the court that the regulator had proposed to cap the monthly tariff charges to Rs 250 in non CAS area. However various broadcasters including Sony Group, Star India, Zee Turner and multi-system operators (MSOs) had opposed TRAIs move.

Trai had proposed to divide cable services into three pricing slabs:

The first one was to have a monthly charge of Rs 100 for a minimum of 30 free-to-air (FTA) channels,

including the mandatory Doordarshan channels. As per the second basic package (which includes Doordarshan channels) that would include up to 20 pay channels, the monthly bill will be fixed at Rs 200. For the basic package with more than 20 pay channels, the subscribers will be expected to pay Rs 250 per month. Earlier, there were no limits on the number of FTA channels, but the monthly charge was fixed at Rs 83, while a maximum of Rs 260 was fixed for a basic package plus pay channels. As per industry estimates, there are at present 300 FTAs and 125 pay channels in the country. he Air France-KLM combine in January 2011 acquired 26% stake in a Mumbai-based firm, Max Aerospace. Air France-KLM expressed their intention to launch a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility for aircraft components in India. The European giant, Air France-KLM become one of the first international airlines to invest in a MRO in India. A simple business model for the MRO: Offer spare parts required by Indian carriers in the country itself without ordering them from abroad was adopted.

Indian carriers are compelled to send their planes abroad for maintenance checks and also rely on overseas suppliers for their component requirement. As a result there is wide business opportunity for international players who can at least have a warehouse for spares in the country and offer Indian carriers fast and at reasonable rates. 25 January: National Voters Day

The Election Commission observed first National Voters Day on 25 January which is also the formation day of EC. The commission handed over photo electoral cards to 15 lakh voters in over 66000 polling booths in the state. A function was organised to mark to occassion at Hari Hara Kala Bhavan, Secunderabad with former chief election commissioner J M Lyngdoh as the chief guest. The Voter's Day was organised in 66795 polling booths in 294 constituencies. The EC aims to increase the enrolment of voters so as to make universal adult franchise a complete reality and thereby enhance the quality of Indian democracy.

24 January: National Girl Child Day

National Girl Child Day is celebrated on 24 January every year since 2009. The theme for the National Girl Child
Day 2011 was Adolescent Girls: Issues and Challenges. The theme was chosen to address concerns relating to

health, nutrition and education of adolescent girls alongwith empowering them to face challenges like Domestic Violence, Child marriage and dowry. The celebrations on the occasion of the National Girl Child Day in New Delhi were presided over by Minister of State (Independent Charge) Krishna Tirath.

In India 8.3 crore girls are in the age group of 11-18 years which constitute 17% of the total female population of 49.65 crores. The female literacy rate is only 53.87% and nearly one third of the adolescent girls are undernourished. As per the NFHS-3 survey, 56.2% women in the reproductive age group 15-49, are anaemic. The female population in the country need to wake up to their rights and dues. Girls have been grated right to education under RTE Act. It is also important that young girls are informed about legislations such as: Dowry Prohibition Act 2006, Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 and Domestic Violence Act 2009, in order to be better prepared to face the numerous challenges in her life.

Ministry of Women and Child Development initiated few significant scehemes to help develop the woman lot in the country. Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls, named as SABLA was launched which through the use of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) platform work to empower the adolescent girls. Dhanalaksmi scheme is also operational under which cash transfers are made to the family of the girl child on fulfilling certain specific conditions relating to birth and registration, immunization, school enrolment and retention up to Class VIII. he first ever Indo-Bhutan Friendship Mela ended on 22 January 2011 at Subankhata in Baska district in Assam under Bodoland Territorial Council. Indo-Bhutan Friendship Mela was an initiative to boost the bilateral relations between India and Bhutan. Both the neighbouring countries decided to organize Friendship Melas on regular basis at different places in both the countries to further promote bilateral relations. The recently concluded IndoBhutan Friendship Mela is expected to strengthen the age old ties among the citizens of the two neighbouring countries. Senior government officials of Bodoland Territorial Council and Bhutan took part in the opening and closing ceremonies. The mela also saw participation from Representatives of Haryana,West Bengal, Jammu & Kasmir and Uttar Pradesh. Exhibitions, ethnic foods, folk dance and traditional fashion shows were some of the highlights of the mela. The $50000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2011 was announced at the Jaipur Literature Festival on 22 January 2011. Karachi based H M Naqvi won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2011 for his debut novel Home Boy. Home Boy is about the lives of three young Pakistanis in the US after 9/11. The award carries a cash award of $50,000 and a citation. The jury comprised Nilanjana S Roy, author Amitava Kumar, publisher Matthew Evans, columnist Ian Jack and writer Moni Mohsin. The jury members had selected six books from a longlist of 16 in October 2010.

DSC Prize for South Asian Literature was introduced in 2010 by infrastructure conglomerate DSC Limited, who also sponsors the Jaipur Literature Festival. The DSC prize is awarded for works of fiction in English as well as translations, which tell stories from the South Asian region though the author can belong to any nationality or ethnicity. Amit Chaudhuris The Immortals, Musharraf Ali Farooqis The Story of a Widow, Tania James Atlas of U n k n ow n s , Manju Kapurs The Immigrant and Neel Mukherjees A Life Apart were the other books shortlisted for the prize. The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) in January 2011 directed the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to take action against top-ranking officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), involved in questionable appointments. The Commission discovered serious lapses in the appointment process to fill 150 vacancies of deputy secretary-level posts and pointed that entire selection process for the post of deputy general manager (technical), done in 2010 was dubious. An internal vigilance inquiry conducted by NHAI Chief Vigilance Officer Aloke Prasad had revealed that candidates who did not even appear for interviews were selected. Based on Prasads report and CVC comments, the ministry is mulling action against four top officials of NHAIs administration department that conducted the appointment process. The role of selection and screening committee is also being probed. The selection committee was formed under the then NHAI chairman Brijeshwar

Singh and comprised member (administration) Rajiv Yadav, then member (projects) SI Patel, GM (technical) MPS Rana and Chief Engineer KC Verkayachan, a ministry representative.

Three members of the Brijeshwar Singh-led selection committee did not give marks to all the candidates, but signed on the final list of selected candidates. This could possibly imply that there could have been many candidates whose names could have been added later in the list.

NHAI had advertised to recruit 87 people (subject to change) for the deputy secretary-level post in January2010, with February 10 being the last date for receiving applications. A screening committee finalised a list of 147 provisionally eligible candidates who were called for interviews from 16 to 18 March 2010. The selection committee, under Brijeshwar Singh, interviewed and selected the candidates. Indian vocalist in the Hindustani classical tradition, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi expired in the early hours of 24 January 2011. Pandit Joshi was a member of the Kirana Gharanafounded by Abdul Karim Khan. Pandit Bhimsen Joshi is well known for the khayal form of singing, as well as for his popular renditions of devotional music (bhajans and abhangs).

In 1943 he had moved to Mumbai and had worked as a radio artist. He first performed live at the age of 19. At the age of 22 his first debut album containing a few devotional songs in Kannada and Hindi was released by HMV. Pt. Joshi's more popular Raags include Shuddha Kalyan, Miyan Ki Todi, Puriya Dhanashri, Multani, Bhimpalas, Darbari, and Ramkali. His rendition of Mile Sur Mera Tumhara as well as Piya Milan Ki Aas, Jo Bhaje Hari Ko Sada are still the favourites among his fans.

He had sung for several films like Basant Bahar (1956) with Manna Dey, Birbal My Brother (1973) with Pt. Jasraj and Nodi Swami Naavu Irodhu Heege, Tansen(1958) and Ankahee(1985). Pt. Joshi organized the Sawai Gandharva Music Festival as homage to his guru, Pt. Sawai Gandharva, along with the Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal for the first time in 1953. Since 1953 the festival has been held every year on the second weekend of December in Pune, Maharashtra and has become not only a cultural event for the city. Pt. Joshi conducted the festival annually since 1953, until his retirement in 2002.

Born into a Kannada Brahmin family in Gadag Karnataka in 1922, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi received the countrys highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna in 2008. He was also conferred the Natak Akademi Award (1976) Padma

Bhushan (1985),

and Padma Classical tradition of singing in India is divided into Hindustani and Carnatic.

Vibhushan (1999).

The NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) of USA announced on 20 January 2011 its earthobserving research mission, named as Glory mission, which is scheduled to be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on 23 February 2011.NASA's Glory is a low Earth orbit scientific research satellite mission which can increase our understanding of the Earth's energy balance.The Glory mission of NASA is aimed at to improve the understanding of how the sun and tiny atmospheric particles called aerosols affect the climate of the Earth. The mission also seeks to address the uncertainties about climate change.

According to the NASA plan, the Glory mission will join a fleet called the Afternoon Constellation or A train of satellites which also includes Aqua and Aura spacecrafts. Glory will fly in a low-Earth orbit altitude of 704.9 km.

The Glory mission has two primary instruments, the Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM) and the Aerosol PolarimetrySenor (APS). The APS will help in the measurement of aerosols. This can have an impact on the

climate by reflecting and absorbing solar radiation and modifying clouds and precipitation. The Glory mission by NASA can provide relevant inputs to Climate Change science.

Indian Navy, on 21 January 2011, inducted INS Deepak fleet tanker to support Indian warships in all missions abroad and to form an important part of the western fleet as the main re-supply vessel for INS Vikramaditya.

INS Deepak, the tanker ship, was designed by the Italian Fincanteri Shipyard. INS Deepak is one of the largest
vessels of the Indian navy. It can refuel large ships like INS Viraat within a short span of time. INS Deepak along with another ship, Shakti, can carry more than 500 tonnes of weapons to re-supply Indian navy soldiers at high sea.

The induction of INS Deepak in the Indian navy will contribute significantly to the ability of the latter to conduct operations distant from the Indian Coast. This would be important in the wake of increased incidents of sea piracy in the Indian Ocean which needs to be tackled successfully to safeguard Indian maritime interests in the Ocean. INS Deepak will also strengthen the national security.

INS Vikramaditya is the Indian name of Admiral Gorshkov, the former Soviet Aircraft carrier, procured by India from Russia. It is likey to enter Indian navy by the end of 2012.

The Supreme Court of India, on 21 January 2011, set guidelines on confessional statements made by the accused before a metropolitan or the judicial magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code).

A Supreme Court bench comprising Justice P.Sathasivam and Justice B.S.Chauhan ruled this while upholding the life imprisonment awarded to Dara Singh in the Staines murder case.

The Supreme Court bench in its judgment stated that the magistrate should make a searching enquiry from the accused about the treatment he had been receiving in the custody. The magistrate should make sure that the accused is not making the confessional statement under any torture or pressure from the police. The magistrate or the judicial officer while recording confession should ascertain that the confessional statement made by the accused is not because of any extraneous influence on him.

The Supreme Court further added that at the time of recording the confessional statement made by the accused, no police official should be present and the confession made by the co-accused would not be taken as a strong kind of evidence against the accused.

As per the Section 164 of the CrPC, the confessional statement made by the accused before the metropolitan or the judicial magistrate makes it as authentic as it was made during the court proceedings. The C. Rangarajan Committee on the proposed food security bill in January 2011 favoured legal entitlement of subsidised foodgrains to the poor (below the poverty line). Rangarajan however rejected the National Advisory Council's recommendation that above the poverty line (APL) households be partially covered mentioning that it is not feasible at the current levels of grain production and procurement. The NAC, headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi had recommended 75 per cent coverage of the population in two phases, with 90 per cent rural and 50 per cent urban population included. The Committee suggested 46 per cent of the rural population and 28 per cent of the urban population be entitled to 35 kg of rice at Rs. 3 a kg or wheat at Rs. 2 a kg per household a

month. The figures were arrived at by adding 10 per cent beneficiaries (to cover those on the margins) to the Tendulkar Committee's poverty estimates of 41.8 per cent of the rural poor and 25.7 per cent of the urban poor.

The committee proposed the price of subsidised foodgrains for the poor (BPL) be linked to inflation and indexed to the Consumer Price Index in the coming years, and the price at which wheat and rice was to be made available to the non-poor (APL) might be linked to the minimum support price (MSP). The Committee estimated the subsidy bill at Rs. 83,000 crore for the entitled groups at 100 per cent lifting. he Reserve Bank of India on 17 January 2011 tightened the prudential norms for nonbanking financial companies. The prudential norms were tightened by RBI with an objective to protect them from any impact of possible economic downturn, a development that can push up their lending rates. As per the new RBI norms, both deposit and non-deposit taking NBFCs will have to set aside 0.25% of performing loans to meet any financial exigencies. RBIs decision in this respect is expected to push up lending rates by NBFCs as they will be required to keep additional funds as buffer even for those loans on which interest has been paid regularly by the borrowers. The interest rate in this case can be pushed up to 25 basic points.

The NBFCs earlier were required to set aside funds for doubtful and bad assets and are to be loose loans on which the interest has not been paid regularly by borrowers or defaults had been reported. According to the RBI notification NBFCs ought to make a general provision at 0.25% of the outstanding standard assets. Standard assets comprise those loans on which interest has been regularly by the borrowers and the possibility of default is remote. The notification also specified that the provisions on standard assets should not be reckoned for arriving at net NPAs. RBI wants the provision towards standard assets be netted from gross advances but shown separately as 'Contingent Provisions against Standard Assets' in the balance sheet. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an inter-ministerial group under the Chief Economic Adviser to the Finance Ministry on 13 January 2011 to review the inflation situation with particular reference to primary food articles. The inter-ministerial group is expected to assess international tariff trends and recommend action on the fiscal, monetary, production, marketing, and distribution and infrastructure fronts to prevent price spikes. The inter-ministerial group will impose controls on exports and ease restrictions on imports, including tariff reduction wherever necessary with an objective to improve domestic supplies. The ban will continue on export of edible oils, pulses and non-basmati rice.

The States have been asked to consider waiving mandi tax, octroi and other local levies and to reduce commission agent charges and exempt horticulture produce from the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee Act. The States have also been urged to ensure that strict action is taken under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and the Competition Act, 2002, to prevent cartelisation.

Public sector undertakings shall intensify purchases of essential commodities, especially edible oils and pulses, for distribution through their retail network as well as the PDS. Also the help of resident welfare associations and self-help groups will be taken to ensure that supplies reach households with the least intermediation cost.

The Malegam sub-committee submitted its report to the RBI on 19 January 2011. The Reserve Bank of India committee laid down stricter profitability and loan caps, and higher capital requirements to regulate microfinance institutions. The committees measures breathed life into a sector currently plagued by poor funding and accusations of improper governance. The road map as suggested by the committee limited the total loans to an individual to Rs 25000, capped the interest rate at 24%, and suggested that bank loans to MFIs should continue to be treated as priority sector loans but with a higher capital adequacy ratio of 15%. The repayment tenure should be less than 12 months for loans below Rs 15000 and less than two years for loans above Rs 15000. The

sub-committee also recommended that borrowers should be allowed to choose a weekly, fortnightly or monthly repayment schedule.

With an objective to maintain solvency for MFIs, the report suggested the institutions should maintain an aggregate provision for loan losses which shall be the higher of 1% of current loan portfolio or 50% of the aggregate loan instalments that are overdue for 90-180 days. Aggregate provision for loan losses should be 100% of aggregate loan instalments that are overdue for 180 days or more. The report said one or more domestic social capital funds be created after talks with markets regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India as it was necessary to widen the funding sources of MFIs. The report highlighted that all for-profit MFIs which are regulated by RBI, should be clubbed under a new category called NBFC-MFIs, with a minimum net worth of Rs 15 crore. The report also suggested a margin cap of 10% for MFIs with loan portfolios above Rs 100 crore and a cap of 12% for those with a loan portfolio below Rs 100 crore. Moreover more than two MFIs cant lend to the same person.

The report specified that any MFI that doesnt comply with the norms being set for the sector should be denied priority sector lending. The report finally mentioned that NBFC-MFIs should be exempted from the purview of the Moneylending Acts, and that Andhra Pradesh should withdraw its controversial Andhra Pradesh Micro Finance Institutions (regulation of moneylending) Act.

RBI had constituted the panel in October 2010 in the wake of complaints about corporate misgovernance, overlending and coercive collections by some MFIs. The industry came under pressure after suicides amongst microfinance borrowers were reported in Andhra Pradesh, prompting the state government to pass an ordinance that made it very hard for MFIs to lend or collect money. nfrastructure Development Finance Company Limited (IDFC) introduced its second tranche of tax-saving longterm infrastructure bonds on 20 January 2011. The bonds will ensure tax benefits under Sec. 80 CCF of the Income-tax Act. The bonds were issued in two series, both with buyback option but with different interest payment options. The ten-year bonds by IDFC with a face value of Rs 5000 opened on 17 January 2011 and will close on 4 February 2011. The bonds with a lock-in period of five years carry an interest rate of 8 per cent annually. The amoortant Information Article 74 of the Indian constitution states that there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President in the exercise of his functions.

Article 75 of the Indian constitution says that the Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President and the other ministers shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.

And Article 75 (1A)(Inserted through the 91st amendment of the Indian Constitution) states that the total number of Ministers, including the Prime Minister, in the council of minister shall not exceed fifteen percent of the total numbers of the House of the People (Lok Sabha). unt raised through this second tranche would be utilised for infrastructure lending. According to the Bihar state cabinet decision on 18 January2011, the retirement age for doctors teaching in government colleges in Bihar will be increased from 62 years to 65 years. The decision would benefit teachers of six medical colleges. World Bank and India, on 14 January 2011, signed the agreement under which World Bank is to extend a credit of 255 million dollars to India to set up a project for lessening the impact of cyclones. The project is aimed at improving the early warning and communication systems in the Indian coastal areas and strengthening the ability of the communities near the coastal areas to respond to disaster. The project also seeks to better the availability of emergency shelters for them.

As per the project, an early warning system would be setup in 1740 villages out of which 980 villages in Orissa and 760 villages in Andhra Pradesh within 5 kilometres of the sea coastline would avail from the system. Besides, 148 multipurpose cyclone shelters and 22 new bridges would be constructed at important crossings in Andhra Pradesh and 155 shelters would be built in Orissa. razil, on 14 January 2011, suffered its worst ever natural disaster in form of the mudslips in the Serrana region near Rio de Janeiro, which killed more than 500 people. The death toll is likely to go 3-year old dictatorship government in Tunisia came to an end on 14 January 2011 when the dictator of Tunisia, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was ousted from his post and he fled to Saudi Arabia. The speaker of Tunisian Parliament, Foeud Mebazaa took over as the interim president of Tunisia backed by the army. Amidst fierce gun battles broke out in Tunisian capital Tunis, the talks started to fill the political vacuum. It was the first successful Arab overthrow of an authoritarian government. The authoritarian governments still exist in countries of Middle East and North Africa. Tunisia is the northernmost country in Africa. The trust board of the Seetharamachandra Swamy temple at Bhadrachalam on 12 January 2011 decided to appoint renowned Carnatic musician Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna as Asthana Sangeetha Vidwan, or court musician. The board decided to invite Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna for Vaggeyakarautsavam which is part of the Sri Bhakta Ramadasu Jayanti festivities.

At the board meeting it was also decided to organise Pushkara Pattabhishekam on a grand scale in April 2011. Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan would be invited to take part in the event as the chief guest at the inaugural function of Pushkara Pattabhishekam. The trust board approved a proposal to conduct yagas and other special rituals under the aegis of Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamy during Brahmotsavam. The meeting decided to make a representation to the Department of Archaeology and Museums for preservation of historical structures in the temple shrine and building a kalyanamandapam and dress-changing rooms at parnasala. China, on 13 January 2011, stated clearly that it would not issue visa to any official from Arunachal Pradesh. It will issue stapled visas to non-officials from Arunachal Pradesh. China made this statement despite India urging it to follow a consistent visa policy.

Recently, China issued stapled visas to two Indians- which include an athlete and his coach- domiciled in Arunachal Pradesh. Moreover, there have been instances when China also issued stapled visas to domiciles of Jammu and Kashmir. China issues visas on separate papers stapled to passports which is contrary to consistent visa policy under which visa is attached to the passport but not stapled with it.

India in its response cancelled high-level Defence exchanges with China after an Indian army officer from Arunachal Pradesh was denied visa by China.

India-China relations appear to be a complex one. India and China cooperate on important international issues like climate change and the world financial system. China is also the largest trading partner of India. In spite of this, India China relations can deteriorate because of Chinese stand on visa issue. China claims Aruncachal Pradesh its part. Therefore, it doesn't follow the consistent visa policy in case of Aruncahal Pradesh. Birla Corporation signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Assam Mineral Development Corporation (AMDC) on 13 January 2011 to set up a one million tonne cement plant in Assam at an investment of around 450 Crore Rupees. The plant is to be set up at Umrangsu, in the North Cachar Hills district. The project is likely to create 1200 jobs and it is in planning stage.

Birla Corporation will have 87.5 percent equity while the remaining 12.5 percent will be given to AMDC free of cost. In the largest deal in civil aviation history, Delhi-based low-cost domestic carrier IndiGoplaced an order for 180 aircraft with European-aircraft maker, Airbus. The deal valued at $15.6 billion will see IndiGo acquire 150 ecoefficient neo' series A-320 aircraft. IndiGo will be the first airline to operate the A-320neo in India as well as one of the first to launch the new aircraft amongst Asian carriers. The induction of A-320neo will enable the airline to reduce fare as the new aircraft offers 15 per cent reduction in operating costs. The remaining orders are for the standard A-320s aircraft. IndiGo currently has 37 A-320s in its fleet. The aircraft delivery will take place in a phased manner from 2016 to 2025. Indigo in 2010 had got in-principle approval by the Ministry of Civil Aviation for import of aircraft in the future. In 2010 Delhi-based low-cost carrier SpiceJet had ordered 30 Boeing-737 aircraft valued at $2.7 billion. HCL Learning, an education and talent development division of HCL Infosystems bagged a Rs 40-crore order from Department of Higher Education of Himachal Pradesh. The project won by HCL Learning entails setting up integrated Information and Communication Technology labs and multimedia classrooms in 628 Government Senior Secondary Schools of Himachal Pradesh. The project will essentially involve supply, installation and maintenance of multimedia educational content, computer hardware, software and other allied accessories. HCL Learning was entrusted with the responsibility of administering refresher courses, monitoring and subsequent reporting. As per the project, HCL Learning will provide training on usage of the multimedia educational content to a minimum of 6500 teachers across Himachal Pradesh.

The project is a part of Himachal Pradesh Government's initiative to provide avenues of Computer Aided Learning for government school students. nsurance regulator, IRDA in January 2011 permitted insurance companies to invest in bonds issued by foreign arms of ONGC and Coal India for acquiring energy assets abroad. IRDAs move is expected that will significantly increase funds available for state energy firms at more attractive rates. Insurance companies have long sought such investment avenues as they are required to invest 15% of their funds in the infrastructure sector. However it was not permitted as the Insurance Act forbids investments outside the country. Investments by companies such as ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas arm of the state-run explorer, are not seen as violations of the Insurance Act as they are listed in India and returns on their investments are brought back to the country.

The existing investments norms allow insurance companies to invest 50% in government-approved securities, 15% in infrastructure and the remaining 35% in equity and other instruments. Insurance companies can only invest in AAA or AA credit-rated debt paper. The World Bank, on 12 January 2011, signed 220 million dollars agreement with the Bihar state government for Bihar Kosi Recovery Project during the two-day state visit of World Bank President Robert Zoellick to Biahr. The aim of the Bihar Kosi recovery project is to rebuild affected areas around Kosi River in 2008 floods. Under the project around 100000 houses would be reconstructed. The constructed houses would be resistant to earthquakes. The cost expenditure per house under the Kosi recovery project would be 55000 rupees with the additional cost of 5000 rupees for solar powered lighting and 2300 rupees for a toilet.

The five components of the Bihar Kosi Recovery Project are:

1)strengthening flood management capacity 2) livelihood restoration 3) reconstruction of roads and bridges 4)owner driven housing reconstruction and 5)improving response capacity in case of emergency . Bihar state
government would contribute 39 million dollars to the Kosi recovery project and the rest of the amount would be shared by the World Bank.

Besides, the Kosi recovery project, the World Bank also agreed to help Bihar lessen risk of flooding and strengthen emergency response in case any disaster occurs.

The 2008 floods in Bihar, because of a breach in the embankment of Kosi River at Kusaha in Nepal, had caused massive damage to livelihoods and housing in the districts of Saharsa, Purnia, Araria, Madhepura and Supaul. Swami Vivekanand's 150th birth anniversary was observed on 12 January 2011. Vivekanads birth anniversary is celebrated as National Youth Day. The Vivekananda Kendra organised various programmes in Nashik beginning 12 January to commemorate Swami Vivekanand's 150th birth anniversary in all its branches throughout the country to spread his rich thoughts and literature. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh inaugurated the nationwide celebrations to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda in New Delhi. The Delhi Ramakrishna Mission organised the events jointly with a government-appointed national committee to mark the ocassion.

Vivekanand was born in the Datta family of Calcutta in 1863. He had found his guru in Sri Ramakrishna, who became his master, allayed his doubts, gave him God vision, and transformed him into sage and prophet with authority to teach. He traversed the world teaching the Vedanta philosophy.

In September 1893, Vivekanand had addressed the Parliament of Religions in Chicago. His address that began sisters and brothers of America electrified the audience and won him and the country wide accolade. Swami Vivekanandas Chicago address was a proud moment in Indias history and it heralded the arrival of one of Indias greatest spiritual leaders on the world stage. Swami Vivekanand dedicated his life to the service of his motherland and to the spiritual awakening of Indians. He also worked to instil pride in his countrymen in their cultural heritage as well as worked to build a national consciousness that was modern, rational and universal.

The great spiritual leader who founded the Ramakrishna Math and Mission breathed his last on 4 July 1902. Commercial banks at the pre-credit policy meeting with RBI deputy governor Subir Gokarn on 11 January 2011 asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to lower the level of cash and government bonds they are required to maintain as reserves. In the wake of a monetary crunch in the economy, lowering the reserve ratios which are a banks percentages of its net liabilities, will free resources that can be lent to support growth. RBI was asked to consider slashing cash reserve ratio (CRR), the portion of customer deposits that banks have to set aside as cash, as well as the statutory liquidity ratio which is the proportion of government securities that banks have to hold on their books. The CRR and SLR currently stand at 6 % and 24% respectively. CEOs of commercial banks suggested at the pre-credit policy meeting a 0.5% to 1% cut in CRR and SLR.

Bankers mentioned to the RBI that a cut in either CRR or SLR, or both will release liquidity in the banking system, which is presently facing a shortage of around Rs 80000 crore. The shortage would require the banks to borrow from RBI on a daily basis. Banks urged RBI to allow them restructure loans given to microfinance firms while retaining standard asset status on such loans. RBI regulation holds any restructured loan to a nonmanufacturing entity to be treated as substandard asset on the very day the loan is restructured. Banks demanded that they should be allowed to amortise the pension liabilities over the next five years. The Department of Telecommunication rejected Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Communications demands for additional 2G airwaves for its GSM based mobile services. DoT also put on hold similar pending applications from other new entrants. The telecom ministry declared that it was not feasible to entertain demands for additional 2G airwaves from any of the telecom operator as TRAI was looking into the feasibility of pricing additional airwaves.

RCOM, which had been awarded 4.4 MHz of start-up GSM radio frequencies in most circles, had demanded for additional 1.8 units of spectrum mentioning that this was the minimum amount committed to RCOM when it obtained approvals to launch services on this technology platform in 2008. Additional airwaves are given to companies after their subscriber base grows to touch certain pre-defined targets. RCOM pointed out TRAIs recommendations in this perspective according to which additional airwaves must first be made available to new entrants who have already been awarded start-up spectrum to help them perform their operations efficiently. TRAIs recommendations essentially means that companies which hold 4.4 MHz of start-up spectrum will be given first priority to enhance this to 6.2 MHz for no additional cost.

As per TRAI directives, the incumbents who held less than 8 MHz of airwaves would be entertained next. Those incumbents holding would be enhanced to the 8 MHz cap provided they meet rollout obligations and pay the onetime fee. Last in queue will be new entrants like Tata DoCoMo and Uninor, which are yet to receive start-up airwaves in many circles.

TRAIs proposal will benefit RCOM in all circles. However it will have a negative impact on operators such as Tata DoCoMo and Uninor which are yet to receive start-up airwaves in many circles being placed last in the priority queue for airwaves. These companies will then not stand any chance to get startup 2G spectrum in circles like Delhi. he Supreme Court on 11 January 2011 allowed the Kerala government to go ahead with the trial in 2.8crore palmolein oil import scam, involving PJ Thomas, head of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). A bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and RM Lodha vacated the stay on the trial after treating the appeal of former Kerala chief minister K Karunakaran as abated in view of his death on 23 December 2010. The Kerela Government had moved the Supreme Court seeking vacation of its stay on the trial in the palmolein oil import case of 1992 in which Thomas is an accused. The apex court had in August 2007 stayed proceedings in the case before a designated CBI court in Kerala.

The palmolein oil import case pertains to the import of palm oil from a Singapore firm at allegedly higher prices higher compared to the international rate. 15000 tonne of palm oil was imported at a rate of $405 per tonne whereas the market price was $392.25 per tonne. As secretary, food and civil supplies, Thomas had issued the government order for the import, which caused a loss to the state exchequer. The charge sheet in the palmolein oil import case was filed in 2000 against Karunakaran and seven senior state government officials, including Thomas, who was then Kerala food secretary.

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India and Bangladesh on 10 January 2011, agreed to sign the 15 year interim accord on sharing the waters of common rivers Teesta and Feni between the two countries during the secretary level meeting of the IndoBangladesh Joint River Commission in Dhaka. The agreement is to be signed during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs visit to Bangladesh in 2011. India and Bangladesh also discussed to formulate a working plan on the water sharing of the five other common rivers namely Dudhkumar, Manu, Dharala , Khowai ,Gumti and Muhuri.

India and Bangladesh for the first time agreed on a framework on sharing the water of Teesta River. Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance Company announced on 11 January 2011 that it received the initial R1 approval from insurance regulator, IRDA. Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance Company is a joint venture between Edelweiss Capital and Tokio Marine. R1 is the first step of regulatory clearances required for carrying out the business as life insurance company in India. stronomers team in the US on 10 January 2011announced the discovered a supermassive black hole in a nearby dwarf galaxy. Finding a black hole a million times more massive than the sun in a star-forming dwarf galaxy is a strong indication that supermassive black holes were formed before the

buildup of galaxies. It was reported by Nature that the galaxy, called Henize 2-10, is 30 million light years from Earth has been forming stars rapidly. he designer of children's television favourite Bob the Builder, Curtis Jobling was on 10 January 2011 nominated for Waterstone's Children's Book Prize. Curtis Joblings first novel for children, Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf was one of the nominations for the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize. The book is about a teenager struggling to deal with the knowledge that he is a werewolf. Curtis Jobling also worked as an animator on Wallace & Gromit's A Close Shave. Jobling signed a two two-book deal with publisher Puffin for his young adult series of fantasy horror books, Wereworld.

The other shorter children's books written by Jobling include Frankenstein's Cat, which became a popular TV series, as well as The Skeleton InThe Closet, My Daddy Is The Best In The Universe, Cheeky Monkey and Dinosaurs After Dark.

The nominees for Waterstone's prize also include Fantastic Frankie and the Brain Drain Machine which is set in the sinister Crammar Grammar boarding school and other nominated novels include stories of strife in partitionera India and war-torn Bosnia.

Capt. P.V.K. Mohan Committee, constituted by the Shipping Ministry in December 2010 submitted its report in
January 2011. The committee in the report recommended banning the entry of over 25-year-old ships in Indian ports. The report included 18 suggestions relevant for all major ports including Mumbai and Jawaharlal Nehru ports and the balance policy initiatives to be taken by the ministry. The recommendations as included in the report are as follows:

The committee recommended constitution of an independent casualty investigation agency to report directly to the Shipping Ministry as well as setting up a suitable authority on the line of the UK's SOSREP (Secretary of State Representative). The authority would be given overriding powers to ensure proper co-ordination among various agencies at the time of casualty. The committee suggested restructuring the decision-making hierarchy in various ports to tackle emergency such as collision. It also mentioned that the scope of the Navigational Safety Committee in Ports to mandatorily cover all major ports must be extended. The committee opined that the authorities of the Mumbai Port Trust and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust must upgrade the MoU signed by them more than 20 years ago. The committee is in favour of a separate VTS (vessel traffic system) authority to be formed under the Mumbai Port Trust to provide pilot service along the entire stretch of the channel. The manning, training and qualification of operators and supervisors of VTS should be upgraded. Also the committee report suggested that the VTS system must be modernised to have features such as guard-range, and the navigational safety in these two ports must be audited by an external oversight body. The pilots should be picked up from a common pool and work under a unified command. The committee proposed widening of the channel and pilot boarding areas should be expedited. Navigational aids such as fairway and navigation buoys and transit lights should be installed without delay. The committee also opined that the Certificate of Competence of the Masters and the Documents of Compliance issued to Technical Managers of the ships involved in the collision should be suspended.

The commiittee report recommended that all ports should include voluntary review of navigational safety by the Navigational Safety Committee. Review of contingency planning in crisis management plan and installation of Tier-I pollution control equipment were also suggested. Capt. P.V.K. Mohan Committee also comprised K. Raghuramaiah, former Chairman of Paradip Port Trust and Capt. Y. Sharma, Head, International Maritime Training Centre. The commiittee was set up to examine the

inquiry report on the collision between two ships, MSC Chitra and Khalijia III, near Mumbai port on 7 August 2010. According to the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) warning issued on 10 January 2011, Toxic pollution from flooded farms and towns along Australias Queensland coast is likely to have dangerous effect on the Great Barrier Reefs Corals and also to impact adversely the life of turtles, dugongs and other marine life. As per WWF warning, not only the flood costs farmers and communities terribly, it will result into the water quality on the Great Barrier Reef declining.

WWF stressed on the need of restoring woodlands in flood prone areas to protect communities and the marine environment from future floods. Because of excessive deforestation and overgrazing, floods have become more dangerous. Because of lesser trees, water cut deep inside the soil, resulting into the increased erosive intensity of floods. Trees and wetlands are important in a way that they slow flood waters down and absorb water and reduce the impact of floods.

Climate change can increase the occurrence of drought and floods causing more damage to soils and increasing the devastating impact of floods NASAs Kepler mission, using Kepler Space Telescope, in the first week of January 2011 discovered its first rocky planet named Kepler-10b. The discovery of this exoplanet is based on more than eight months data collected by the spacecraft from May 2009 to early January 2010. Kepler-10b is more than 20 times closer to its star than Mercury is to our Sun and it (Kepler-10b) is not in the habitable zone. It measures 1.4 times the size of Earth and it is the smallest planet discovered ever outside our solar system. The planet is unequivocally rocky. It has a mass 4.6 times that of Earth and with an average density of 8.8 grams per cubic centre. The daytime temperature at Kepler-10 b is 2500 degree Fahrenheit hotter than lava flows on Earth. Intense radiation from the star has kept the planet from holding onto an atmosphere. Kepler-10b is located about 560 light years from Earth, revolving around a star which is twice as old as our sun. Keplers ultra-precise photometre measures the little decrease in a stars brightness that happens when a planet crosses in front of it. The size of the planet can be calculated from the periodic decrease in the brightness of star. The distance between the planet and the star is estimated by calculating the time between successive decrease as the planet orbits the star.

Kepler is the first NASA mission capable of finding Earth-size planets.Kepler-10 was the first star identified that had the potential to harbor a small transiting planet

ASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) research team in the first week of January 2011, revealed that the moon possesses earth like solid, iron rich inner core with a radius of nearly 150 miles and a fluid primarily liquid iron outer core with a radius of roughly 205 miles. The difference between moons core and the core of the earth is a partially molten boundary layer around the moons core estimated to have a radius of 300 miles. The NASA research indicates that the core of the moon contains a small percentage of light elements such as sulfur, similar to the new seismology research on Earth that suggests the presence of light elements such as sulfur and oxygen in a layer around the core of the earth.

Revealing details about the lunar core is essential for developing accurate models of the moons formation. The data reveals information on the evolution of a lunar dynamo, a natural process by which the moon may have generated and maintained its own strong magnetic field.

NASA research team, used state of the art seismological techniques which was applied to Apollo 14-era data to suggest that the moon has a core similar to the earth.The NASA researchers used extensive data gathered during the Apollo era moon missions. The Apollo Passive Seismic Experiment consisted of four seismometers deployed between 1969 and 1972 which recorded continuous lunar seismic activity until late 1977.

The NASA research team also analyzed Apollo lunar seismograms using array processing, techniques that identify and distinguish signal sources of moonquakes and other seismic activity. The NASA researchers identified how and where seismic waves passed through or were reflected by elements of the moonterior, signifying the composition and state of layer interfaces at varying depths. The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests in India on 7 January 2011, notified the Coastal Regulation Zone notification 2011, replacing Coastal Regulation Zone 1991. According to the Coastal Regulation Zone notification 2011, the no development zoneis to be reduced from 200 metres from the high-tide line to 100 metres. The ministry has taken this step to protect the livelihood of fishing families, to promote economic activity in the coastal region and to preserve coastal ecology. The new CZR has special provision for Kerala, Greater Mumbai, Goa and other vulnerable coastal areas like Kundapur in Karnataka, East Godavari and Krishna Delta, Coringa in Andhra Pradesh and Gulf of Mannar in Tamil Nadu.

As per new CZR, for the first time, a separate draft island protection zone notification was issued to protect islands of Lakshadweep and Andaman& Nicobar.

No development zone is an area near the sea coast where no economic activity including power plants, ports and industrial enterprises is allowed enhance efforts in order to promote sustainable management, conservation and development of forests worldwide, the UN General Assembly on 20 December 2010 adopted a resolution declaring the year 2011 as the

International Year of Forests.

Throughout 2011 World Wildlife Fund (WWFs) Living Forests Campaign will combine cutting edge science, new perspectives from partners and decades of on-the-ground experience to help answer questions on sustainable development of forests. 2011 will be used to ensure Living Forests for generations to come. The International Year of Forests will raise awareness and promote global action to sustainably manage, conserve and develop all types of forests. The United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat is expected to serve as the focal point for the implementation of the International Year of Forests.

Forests are an integral part of global sustainable development and forest-related economic activities affect livelihoods of 1.6 billion people worldwide. Forests provide socio-cultural benefits and are the foundation for indigenous knowledge as well. The Ministry of Rural Development revised the wage rates for workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). The wage rates were increased with effect from 1 January 2011 following the UPA Chairperson, Sonia Gandhis pitching for a hike in wages for labourers and the recommendations of the National Advisory Council and after consultations with the different Ministries. The MNREGA wages were increased by 17-30 per cent. The wages were increased on the basis of Consumer Price Index for the agricultural labour calculated on the basis of Rs 100 or the actual wage rate, whichever is higher as on 1 April 2009. Wages would be enhanced every year as per the indexing and every five years the base of Rs 100 will be revised based on recommendations of the Pranob Sen Committee