A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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RBI�s
mid-term review
The RBI, in its first mid-quarter
review of its monetary policy, increased repo and reverse repo rates leaving the
cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged as it battles to contain inflation.
The central bank noted that food inflation has risen to 15.10 per cent for the
week ending September 4, thus making it necessary to rein in liquidity. As a
result, RBI raised short-term borrowing rate (reverse repo) by 0.50 percentage
points to 5 per cent and lending rate (repo) by 0.25 percentage points to 6 per
cent. The increased rates aim to make financing costly thus curbing consumption.
However, the RBI said that inflation rates have reached a plateau. The apex bank
also signalled banks to raise fixed deposit rates and also noted that the
government was on target to contain the fiscal deficit.
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Unique Identification Authority of India
The Union Cabinet has cleared a new law providing for strict penal action and
hefty fines going up to Rs 1 crore to guard against misuse of data collected for
allotment of a Unique Identity Card or a Aadhar number to Indian
citizens.
The proposed legislation, titled the National Identification Authority of India
Act, seeks to give statutory powers to the Unique Identification Authority of
India (UDAI), created as an attached office under the Planning Commission.
The decision to enact a legislation was taken after fears were expressed over
the privacy and security of data collected by the UDAI. In addition, several
civil rights groups had also pointed out that actions of the UDAI could well be
questioned in the absence of a legal framework.
This scheme of providing unique identity number to the citizens of the country
took off on September 29 when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presented the first
such number at a function in the tribal district of Nandurbar in Maharashtra.
Job scenario in India improves
According to the Ma Foi Randstad Employment Trends Survey, there is optimism in
the economic scenario across all sectors of India and most of the new jobs have
been created are in services. Conducted among 650 companies across 13 industry
segments that included eight Indian cities, the survey revealed 418,000 jobs
were created between January and June, 2010, with the healthcare sector creating
121,000 jobs, and another 63,000 in the hospitality sector. The top five sectors
leading the boom are healthcare, hospitality, real estate and construction,
information technology and IT-enabled services, and education, training and
consulting.
Real estate and construction leads with the highest growth in number of people
employed. It also expects growth in average salary by about four per cent,
followed by pharma (3.5 per cent) and healthcare (3.4 per cent) during the third
quarter.
The estimated proportion of experienced workforce is the highest in the pharma
sector, 87 per cent. Healthcare is estimated to have the highest percentage of
freshers,at 38 per cent. Kolkata has the highest estimated percentage of
experienced workforce, at 82 per cent, and New Delhi the highest estimated
percentage of freshers (35 per cent).
Fund to boost innovation
The National Innovation Council (NIC), a body to promote new ideas for inclusive
development, has announced the setting up of a Rs 1,000 crore fund to encourage
innovation.
�A major portion of the fund will come from the private sector and not the
government,� the chairman of the council, Sam Pitroda, said.
One of the council members and renowned film-maker, Shekhar Kapur, also mooted
the idea of starting a television reality show that would provide a platform for
the young minds to showcase their innovative ideas for solving the problems of
the economy.
Set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the council is aimed at energising
innovation initiatives so as to make them part of the national effort aimed at
reducing poverty, improving governance and making development more inclusive.
The aim of NIC is to herald a mindset change and create a push at the grassroots
level so that more and more people are involved in shaping a national-level
innovation strategy.
The council�s mandate also includes formulating a roadmap on innovation for the
2010 to 2020 period, focusing on inclusive growth.
Munda sworn in as Jharkhand Chief Minister
On September 11, 2010, BJP leader Arjun Munda became the eighth Chief Minister
of the 10-year-old Jharkhand State, as leader of a coalition with, among others,
the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. Munda, who is having a go at the top job for the
third time, will have two deputies � Sudesh Mahato of the All Jharkhand Union
and JMM patriarch Shibu Soren's son, Hemant Soren.
Although the function at the Governor's house showed the deep rift in the BJP
over the tie-up with the JMM�the BJP's partner last time in a government that
lasted only for five months�Munda said he would focus on strengthening the
party's grass-root level.
Visit of President of Mozambique
On September 30, 2010, during a meeting between President of Mozambique Armando
Guebuza and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, India and Mozambique inked three
pacts and a credit line of $500 million was extended to that country for
infrastructure projects, agriculture and energy.
The two countries have also decided to create a partnership based on greater
political engagement, deepening of economic cooperation, strengthening of
defence and security cooperation, specially to secure sea lanes against piracy,
and cooperation in capacity building and human resource development.
India would also support establishment of training and planning institutions in
Mozambique to support capacity building in the coal industry, besides supporting
capacity building for the defence and police forces of that country, the Prime
Minister said.
Expressing concern over the safety and security of sea lanes in the Indian
Ocean, Guebuza assured to provide all possible assistance to protect them.
Dhaka okays crucial highway link to Kolkata
In major development, Bangladesh has finally agreed to start the construction of
a highway that will not only provide transit facilities, ensuring easy movement
of goods, but also drastically shorten the circuitous route�crucial from the
military point of view�between north-eastern States and the port city of Kolkata.
The project�to be primarily financed by India�is part of the larger Asian
Highway network project connecting the Asian nations. The highway project
between India and Bangladesh had been hanging fire for more than five years,
with Dhaka stalling it for one reason or the other�primarily due to pressure
from Pakistan and China.
The change came after the Sheikh Hasina Government came to power and in July
2009 Indian negotiators managed to push Bangladesh to ink the inter-governmental
agreement.
The first route will enter from Bengal into Bangladesh at the existing Benapole
land port on the border and run across eastwards via Jessore and Dhaka; passing
through Sylhet, located on the north-eastern edge of Bangladesh, it will enter
Assam/Meghalaya.
The second axis will start from North Bengal and enter Bangladesh at Panchgarh
and run southwards via Srirajganj to Dhaka and further southeast to Cox Bazar
and Chittagong before entering into Myanmar. India will be able to use both
routes.
Once ready, the highway will solve India�s major problem of moving goods into
north-eastern States of Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur. At present, it
can take up to five days for a truck from Kolkata to reach these areas, adding
up to the costs, besides the time delay.
Crucial military pact with South Korea
Signalling a dramatic change in its strategic positioning, especially vis-�-vis
China, India, on September 3, 2010, entered into a crucial joint research and
manufacturing agreement with South Korea to co-develop and co-produce military
equipment.
Both countries are neighbours of China and have a rather testy and tense
relationship with it.
On the military front the importance of the agreement can be gauged from the
fact that India has such agreements for co-developing and co-producing military
equipment with its traditional �friend� Russia and other ally, Israel. It also
has product-based cooperation for joint production of key military equipment
with the French and Italians. Following the agreement, experts have placed
India-South Korea military relations at par with Indian relations with Russia
and Israel.
Memorandums of Understanding were signed following a 90-minute discussion
between high-level delegations led by Defence Ministers, AK Antony and Kim
Tae-young, respectively. This was the first-ever visit of an Indian Defence
Minister to South Korea.
Visit of Polish Prime Minister
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk visited India on September 7, 2010. The
Indo-Polish defence cooperation figured prominently during talks between the
visiting dignitary and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Since most of the Indian military hardware was acquired in the 1970s from the
then Soviet Union, Poland, which was a key ally of former USSR, has the spares
and the technology for upgrading the equipment with the Indian forces.
Poland is keen to sell tank recovery vehicles to India. The proposal was made
during Antony�s visit to Warsaw in April for a meeting of the joint working
group (JWG) on defence cooperation between the two countries.
A tank recovery vehicle is a type of armoured fighting vehicle used to repair
battle or mine damaged as well as broken down vehicles during combat operations,
or to tow them out of the danger zone for more extensive repairs.
Apart from making these vehicles available to India, Poland has shown interest
in providing to New Delhi its sophisticated military hardware up-gradation and
maintenance technology. It is also interested in joint ventures with Indian
companies.
Poland can also help India upgrade Indian T-72 tanks, BMP II infantry combat
vehicles and a variety of air defence systems purchased from the former Soviet
Union.
But more than defence ties, it is the prospect of a quantum jump in economic
ties with Poland that excites New Delhi. Poland, a key member of the European
Union (EU), is considered by India as a gateway to Europe and Central Asia.
Allahabad High Court Verdict on Babri Masjid-Ram Janambhoomi dispute
On September 30, 2010, the much-awaited judgement of the Lucknow Bench of the
Allahabad High Court unanimously ruled that the idols of �Ram Lalla� in the
makeshift temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya cannot be removed.
The three-judge Bench of Justices S.U. Khan, Sudhir Agarwal and Dharamveer
Sharma separately delivered the historic verdict. In a 2-1 majority verdict,
Justices Khan and Agarwal decreed that the 2.7-acre land comprising the disputed
site should be divided into three equal parts and be given to Sunni Waqf Board,
Nirmohi Akhara and the party representing �Ram Lala Virajman� (Ram deity).
However, the third judge Justice D.V. Sharma ruled that that the disputed site
is the birth place of Lord Ram and that the disputed building constructed by
Mughal emperor Babur was built against the tenets of Islam and did not have the
character of the mosque. The Bench directed maintenance of status quo at
the site for three months and invited suggestions from all the parties for
demarcation of the land.
The judges also dismissed the claims of the Sunni Central Waqf Board over the
Babri Mosque due to limitation or becoming time barred as well as the claim of
the Nirmohi Akhara.
With a 2-1 majority, the Bench held that all the three parties, namely Muslims,
Hindus and Nirmohi Akhara were joint titleholders of the property in dispute.
Both Justices Sudhir Aggarwal and SU Khan made it clear that the share of the
Muslim parties shall not be less than one third of the total area of the
premises. �...If while allotting exact portions some minor adjustment in the
share is to be made then the same will be made and the adversely affected party
may be compensated by allotting some portion of the adjoining land,� observed
Justice Khan.
The area under the erstwhile central dome where the idols are placed in the
makeshift temple has been allotted to the Hindus. The inner courtyard has been
given to both the communities �since it was being used by both since decades and
centuries�, noted Justice Aggarwal.
The �Ram Chabootra�, �Sita Rasoi� and �Bhandar� area in the outer courtyard will
go to the Nirmohi Akhara. The outer courtyard is once again to be shared by the
Nirmohi Akhara and the Muslim parties.
Highlights
�2.7 acre disputed site to be divided in three equal parts.
�Two portions to be handed over to Hindus, Muslims will get one.
�All three parties�Muslims (Sunni Waqf Board), Nirmohi Akhara and the parties
representing �Ram Lalla Virajman��declared joint title-holders.
�The portion below the central dome, where the idol of Lord Rama is presently
kept in makeshift temple, belongs to Hindus.
�All three parties may utilise the area to which they are entitled to by having
separate entry for egress and ingress of the people without disturbing each
other�s rights. The parties may approach Centre which shall act in accordance
with the directions and also as contained in the SC verdict.
Historical Background
The �first title suit� was filed on January 19, 1885. It was submitted by Mahant
Raghubirdas in the court of Faizabad sub-judge, seeking permission for �puja�
(worship) rights over a �chabootra� (platform) in front of the mosque which he
claimed was Ram�s birthplace.
In his February 24, 1885, order, the judge said: �It (chabootra) was so close to
the existing masjid that it would be contrary to public policy to grant a decree
authorising plaintiff to build a temple as desired by him.�
Sub-Judge Hari Kishan said: �It is most unfortunate that a masjid should have
been built on land specially held sacred by the Hindus, but as the event
occurred 356 years ago, it is too late now to remedy the grievance. All that can
be done is to maintain the status quo. In such a case as the present one any
innovation could cause more harm and derangement of order than benefit.�
Then Raghubirdas moved to the Faizabad district judge, Colonel J.E.A. Chambier,
who, after a spot inspection, dismissed the appeal on March 17, 1886, on the
same grounds.
Raghubirdas then filed an appeal before the Oudh Judicial Commissioner, W.
Young, who also declined his plea in his judgment of November 1, 1886.
Young observed: �This spot is situated within the precincts of the grounds
surrounding a mosque erected some 350 years ago, owing to the bigotry and
tyranny of the emperor who purposely chose this holy spot, according to Hindu
legend, as the site of his mosque.�
PM and Sonia Gandhi inaugurate UID:
The Prime
Minister of India Manmohan Singh and UPA Arch Sonia Gandhi shaped a record by
accordingly ablution the world�s aboriginal ID activity on September 29th 2010
forth with Nilekani, the arch man of the ministry is acclimated to accommodate
Unique Identification Numbers for India�s citizens (cumulatively well in
billions), by rendering them the aboriginal collection of twelve digit figures
to ten clannish. The PM as well as the UPA Chief were collectively congratulated
in the presence of former Infosys headman. This ID Card is assumed to be
nation�s biggest ever tech adeptness action alleged �Aadhaar�(base), that is due
to be issued to all Indians to accommodate them within a lucrative nationally
accurate and absolute individual antecedent of character affidavit through an
authenticity vault and that will help to accomplish supply processes
transparent. Biometric following abstracts include fingerprints and an iris
browse getting acclimated for the aboriginal time wherever in the planet.
Yamuna raises its bar, causes menace:
The
baptize akin in the river rose to 206.70 accent recently, 1.87 accent aloft the
crisis mark of 204.83 accent and is acceptable to go up added as neighboring
Haryana would absolution added water in the river, a chief official of the flood
ascendancy administration said. Waters from the flood reached into vicinities
like of the local areas as well (Yamuna and Sonia Vihar, Usmanpur, Jaitpur are a
few). A large number of localities that reside in the areas forth the banks of
the river were apparent lined up on the footpaths on the ITO arch with
whatsoever they had of their possessions. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had on
Friday requested the inhibiters not to get into agitation and said all basic
measures are getting put into abode to accommodated any possible occurrence.
Over 100 cadre from National Disaster Response Force, were soon deployed to
abetment the bounded authorities. The ascent Yamuna has affected the Northern
Railways to abolish 25 trains and absent 36 others. The cancelled train were
prominent ones (Kalka and Brahamaputra Mail, Shalimar, A.A. and G.N. Express,
etc). The 90 trains that have to be detoured included the most heavily commuted
ones and this has disrupted the life of the general public paralyzing their
usual movements, a Northern Railway spokesmen stated.
A.N. Tiwari is new Chief Information
Commissioner
Information Comm A N
Tiwari has been appointed as the new Chief Information Comm to succeed incumbent
Wajahat Habibullah whose five-year term as head of the
transparency
panel ended.
A
1969-batch IAS officer who was also a
former Secretary of Department of Personnel and Training, official sources said.
Tiwari,
who joined the Central Information Commission on 26thDecember 2005
will have a tenure of three months as his five-year term will end in December
this year.
According
to the RTI Act, �where the Information Commissioner is appointed as the Chief
Information Commissioner, his term of office shall not be more than five years
in aggregate as the Information Commissioner and the
Chief Information Commissioner�.
In one of
the path-breaking decisions, Tiwari as Information Commissioner brought the
Income Tax returns of political parties under public
scrutiny.
The Chief
Information Commissioner is chosen by a committee comprising the
Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition
and a minister of the Union Cabinet.
Sangeet Natak Akademi fellowships, awards given
Veteran actor Shriram
Lagoo, danseuse Yamini
Krishnamurti
and classical music exponent Kishori Amonkar were among a host of artistes
honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi fellowships and awards for the year 2009
by President
Pratibha Patil.
Six
eminent personalities were conferred Akademi Fellowships for 2009 and 33
artistes received the Akademi Awards.
The
highest honour of Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna) was conferred on Lalgudi
Jayaraman, Shreeram Lagoo, Yamini Krishnamurti, Kamlesh Dutt Tripathi and
Kishori Amonkar.
They
received Rs three lakh besides a citation and a shawl.
Presently, there are only 32 living Fellows of the
Sangeet Natak Akademi.
The
eminent representatives from the fields of music,
dance and theatre honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 2009
received Rs one lakh.
Lights, Camera and Applause:
The 57th
Edition of the National Film Award ceremony was concluded for the year 2009 in
the month of September. The awards were given away in three groups namely,
finest Feature Motion Picture Class led by Chairpersonship of Mr. Sippy, Non
Feature Motion Picture Group led by Chairpersonship of Mr. Pandey, and Script on
Movies beneath the Chairpersonship of Mr. S. Bandhopadhyay.
The following were the recipients of a few
awards in various nominations:
Motion Picture: Malayalam flick � KuttySrank
I.G.A. for the Best first appearance movie :
Hindi movie � Lahore for the Direction
Box office blockbuster (widespread
entertainment): Hindi � 3 Idiots
N.D.A. for the Best motion picture on
Patriotic Spirit: Hindi � Delhi 6
Best motion picture on Society�s Matters:
Bollywood � Well Done Abba
Motion Picture for Kids: Tied between Keshu
(Malayalam) and Putaani Party (Kannada)
Direction: Rituparno Ghosh for Abohoman
Actor: Amitabh Bachcha for Auro�s role
Actress: Ananya Chatterjee
Child�s Performance: Tollywood�s Pasanga
Male Singer: Rupam Islam in Bengali
Female Singer: Neelanjana Sarkar in Bengali
Sehwag is
now ICC brand ambassador for 2010-11
Explosive Indian batsman
Virender Sehwag is one of the four
current leading cricketers, who have been chosen by the International Cricket
Council as its ambassadors for year 2010-2011.
In all,
the ICC has chosen five ambassadors, including Australian umpire Simon Taufel,
for one-year period during which its flagship event ODI World Cup will be held
jointly by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka
captain Kumar Sangakkara, England�s World Twenty20 winning captain Paul
Collingwood, Australia vice-captain Michael Clarke are
the other ambassadors.
For
Sangakkara and Taufel, it is the third successive time that they have been
appointed as ICC Ambassadors since the programme was
launched in 2008 while Collingwood, Clarke and Sehwag have been appointed for
the first time.
Previous
ICC Ambassadors include Rahul David of India, JP Duminy of South Africa,
Charlotte Edwards of England and Lisa Sthalekar of Australia.
1150
international athletes, officials to land in Delhi
Sporting power houses
Australia and
England will
have their second batch of athletes
and officials
checking in
among the 1150 who are set to land in New Delhi for the October 3 to 14
Commonwealth Games.
The Australian contingent
is the largest one to arrive in New Delhi with their 146 member team comprising
swimmers, table tennis, athletics, tennis and badminton players.
England�s
contingent is the second largest with 97 athletes followed by
Singapore with 75.
Pakistan�s squad of 58 athletes will have
participants for hockey, squash, tennis, weightlifting, wrestling and boxing.
Among the
other large contingents arriving are those ofBarbados (57), New Zealand (49),
Maldives (43), Scotland(42), Seychelles (37) and
Zambia (28), the CWG Organising Committee said in a statement.
Reliance Capital plans to enter banking
Reliance Capital plans to enter the
banking sector once the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is ready with its final
guidelines for new banking licence.
�We have always regarded
banking as a high-priority sector with huge potential, and are evaluating
different options contained in theguidelines,� said
Anil Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Capital,
while addressing the 24th annual meeting of the company here on 28th
September, 2010.
Reliance Capital is the
financial services arm of the Anil Dhirubhai
Ambani Group (ADAG).
The company also reiterated
its plans for an initial public offering (IPO) for
Reliance Life, part of Reliance Capital, in 2011 depending on the finalisation
of guidelines by the regulator, Insurance
Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). The IRDA is now at an
advanced stage of finalizing the guidelines for the listing
of life insurance companies.
4
Indians in US billionaires rich list
Four
Indian-Americans are among
Forbes 400 Richest People in America,
a list topped by Microsoft founder
Bill Gates. The Indians who made the
cut include Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla, outsourcing firm Syntel�s
founder Bharat Desai, venture capitalist Kavitark Ram
Shriram and software king Romesh Wadhwani.
While Desai ranks 252 with
a net worth of $1.6 billion, Khosla occupies the 308th spot in the list with
fortunes worth $1.3 billion. Shriram is at 288 with assets worth $1.45 billion
and Wadhwani 290 with a total valuation of $1.4 billion.
The list is topped by
Gates, who is the richest man in America
for the 17th year in a row, with a net worth of $54 billion.
Forbes said the net worth
of its rich list climbed 8 per cent this year to $1.4 trillion compared to $1.27
trillion last year.
Anil
Ambani to buy stake in India commodity bourse
India�s market regulator
has approved a proposal by billionaire Anil
Ambani�s group to buy a 26 per cent stake in a local commodities
exchange, the Economic Times newspaper reaported on Saturday. The
Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group will buy the stake from Indiabulls
Financial Services in the Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX), jointly founded by
Indiabulls and trading giant MMTC.
The Anil Ambani group
controls India�s No.2 telecom firm Reliance Communications and financial
services firm Reliance Capital.
Peepli
Live is India�s official entry for Oscars
Aamir Khan�s �Peepli
Live�, a satire on media�s trivialisation of farmers� suicide, has been selected
as India�s
official entry at the next year�s Oscars
in the Best Foreign Film category.
�Peepli Live has been
selected as India�s official entry for the Oscars out of 27 films,� Supran Sen,
secretary general of the Film Federation of India said.
Written
and directed by debutant Anusha Rizvi, the small budget film stars theatre
actors and was shot in a small village in Madhya Pradesh.
� Peepli
Live is a reflection of India�s culture and ethos, even as it
highlights the burning problem � farmer suicides.�
This is
third time lucky for Aamir Khan Production
as the actor�s previous films �Lagaan� (2001) and �Taare Zameen Par� (2007) were
also selected to represent India at the Academy awards.
�Laagan�,
which saw Aamir playing a farmer in British Raj, was shortlisted in a category
of five but lost to Bosnian war film �No Man�s Land�.
�World
Statesman Award� for PM Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh has been honoured with the 2010 �World Statesman Award� by a US-based
interfaith coalition for his commitment to democracy, freedom, human rights and
peace in the service of humanity.
77-year-old Singh was awarded in absentia by the Appeal of Conscience Foundation
and Indian Ambassador to the US, Meera
Shankar, accepted the award on behalf of the Prime Minister at a glittering
ceremony here.
Railways to use five-digit numbering system for passenger trains
Indian railways will replace the existing
four digit numbering system for passenger trains by a
Five-digit system. Ministry of Railways in
an official release stated that the five digit numbering scheme has become
necessary in view of the four digit numbering system having got exhausted as the
railways run more than ten thousandtrains everyday. Only a prefix of numeral �1″
will be added to the four digit numbers of the existing trains to make the
transition smooth and simple.
The new
numbering system will enable scientific and logical numbering of all trains on
nationwide basis which was earlier confined to express trains only. The
new system will come into effect from 20th
December this year.
Manmohan welcomes new Oxford centre
Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh has welcomed the
establishment of what is claimed to be Europe�s first major school of government
at Oxford University, his alma mater.
-
The Blavatnik School of Government, funded with a �75
million donation from Russian-American
industrialist and philanthropist Leonard Blavatnik, would train outstanding
graduates from across the world in skills and responsibilities of government
-
The school will support over 40 academic posts at
Oxford.
-
It will also draw on the
teaching skills of a range of world leaders in
education, business and government.
-
The first students will start in 2012 and student numbers will
increase to approximately 120 within the next few years.
�Global outlook�
�This global outlook will
reflect the strongly international character of Oxford�s graduate community,
two-thirds of whose number are from overseas. It will provide a highly practical
series of courses, leading to a Master�s degree, with a unique balance of the
humanities, social sciences, law, science, technology, health, finance, energy
and security policy.�
Sensex
hits 20000-mark
Upbeat foreign investors on
21st September, 2010, pushed the
Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark index, Sensex, above the 20000-mark for
the first time in 32 months, as they bet on companies
that are driving the India growth story.
The barometer closed 95.45
points up at 20001.55, its best closing since January 15, 2008, when the index
ended at 20251.09.
Similarly, the 50-share
National Stock Exchange benchmark index
Nifty breached the psychological 6000-mark and ended
at 6009.05, up 28.60 points
Analysts said the rally in
Indian market was propelled by strong
inflows from overseas fund houses, which have made a net investment of over
Rs.71, 000 crore in domestic stocks so far this year.
The continuing positive
macroeconomic news from the domestic front
is boosting the investor sentiment. The economy seems
capable of registering a nine per cent annual growth rate and possibly moving on
to an even higher trajectory.
Railways to honour Sushil
Railway Minister
Mamata Banerjee announced her decision to
honour Railways� wrestler
Sushil Kumar for his gold medal performance in World wrestling championship in
Moscow by rewarding him with a purse of Rs. 10 lakh.
The
Railway Minister said that Sushil would receive other awards too. Mamata
complimented him for his spirit, drive and dedication and said that his victory
was a victory for the �Rail parivar� and dedication to the nation.
Sushil is
posted as an Assistant Commercial Manager with the Northern
Railway and is the third railwayman to secure a podium finish at the
World wrestling championships after Bishambar Singh and Ramesh Kumar secured a
silver and bronze in 1967 and 2009 respectively.
Sushil
Kumar creates history, wins gold at World Championship
Sushil Kumar made
history by becoming the first Indian to win a World wrestling championship gold
medal when he overpowered home favourite Alan Gogaev to win the 66kg freestyle
title in Moscow.The exciting
3-1 victory in the title-bout also made Sushil the first Indian grappler to bag
Olympic and
World championship medals. The 27-year-old already holds the Asian and
Commonwealth titles.On his way to the
final, Sushil convincingly defeated Anastasios Akritidis of Greece (6-0), Martin
Sebastian Daum of Germany (4-1) and Batzorig Buyanjar of Mongolia (9-1) before
rallying to beat reigning European champion Jabrayil
Hasanov of Azerbaijan (4-3).
Saraswat: Agni-V will be
test-fired in 2011
The three-stage
missile
will have a range of 5,000 kmDRDO working on next version of
BrahMosAgni-V,
the inter-continental ballistic missile being
developed in India, will be test-fired in 2011,�Agni-V
should be ready to be test-fired anytime next year. It is an intermediate-range
ballistic missile,�Agni-V will be a three-stage solid fuelled missile that will
carry a conventional nuclear warhead. It will reportedly have a range of more
than 5,000 km. It will be a canisterisedmissile, providing it
flexibility, to be launched from multiple platforms on land and sea.�Over
the past 15 years, the successful launches of the Prithvi, Agni and BrahMos
missiles have proved that the country�s missile programme
has reached a mature level,
Free
LPG connections for BPL families planned
The Centre is all set to
launch a scheme of granting domestic LPG connections free of cost to the
below poverty line (BPL)
families.
The
scheme, covering around 35 lakh families every year,
is likely to be launched on October 2 (Gandhi Jayanti). The
initiative was taken by Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas
Jitin Prasada.
Now, a
consumer has to pay Rs. 1,250 as security deposit for getting an LPG connection
and Rs. 150 for a pressure regulator. To get over the cost issue, the government
will provide for subsidisation of the entire amount.
About 5.5
crore new LPG connections are proposed to
be released till 2015 to touch the figure of 16 crore customers, with most
connections being released in rural areas.
IIT soon to have foreign
students & faculty
The
Indian Institutes of Technology will soon
have foreign students as well as faculty. Union Human
resource Devolpment Minister
Kapil Sibal while talking to reporters
after meeting of the Council of IITs, the decisions are being taken to bring
IITs at par with the international
institutes .These institutes will be conducting medical courses.the number of
foreign students will be limited to 25 percent and only for the post graduate
coursesThetotal number of foreign faculty will be capped at 10 percent. The
minister also informed that these admissions will not
affect the present number of Indian students in the institutes. In another major
decision, the minister said that medicine and medical research will be added to
the field of IITs
Filmmaker D Ramanaidu
gets Dada Saheb Phalke award
Movie moghul D Ramanaidu,
a veteran producer with 130 films in a dozen languages in five decades, has been
conferred the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award for 2009 for rendering
outstanding contribution to the world of
Indian cinema.
74-year-old Ramanaidu, the legendary and prolific film maker from Andhra Pradesh
who has worked with a galaxy of actors, will be presented the honour during the
National Films Award function scheduled to be held in October
The award
consists of a �Swarn Kamal�, a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and a shawl.
Over the
last 47 years, he has produced over 130 films in several Indian languages and
has found a mention in the Guinness Book of Records.
His film,
�Surigadu� was selected for the Indian Panorama in 1993. �Asukh�, a Bengali
film, won the National Award for the
Best Film in 1999.
India
ranks 77 in best countries for business
Despite the second highest
growth in the world among major economies in 2009, India ranks 77 in
Forbes Best Countries
for Business list even as the US dropped from No. 2 to No. 9.
�India is developing into
an open-market economy, yet traces of its past autarkic policies remain,� noted
the US business magazine placing India ahead of Sri Lanka (83), China (90) and
Pakistan (92) in its fifth annual ranking of 128 economies.
�Economic liberalization,
including reduced controls on foreign trade and investment, began in the early
1990s and has served to accelerate the country�s growth, which has averaged more
than 7 percent per year since 1997,� it said.
With the
US economy teetering on the edge of a
double-dip recession, business climate for entrepreneurs
and investors in the US is starting to lag behind other countries�, Forbes said
noting its fall from No. 2 to No. 9 in its annual ranking.
The ranking is based on 11
categories, including property rights, technology,
corruption, red tape, investor protection and stock
market performance.
Government to Strengthen Public Distribution System
The
Union government has decided to release an
extra 2.5 million tonnes of wheat and rice into the
Public Distribution System (PDS) over the
next six months in its bid to ensure food security, amid escalating inflationary
trends.
The minister of
agriculture, Mr. Sharad Pawar, at the end of a meeting
of the Empowered Groups of Ministers (eGoM)
which examined different dimensions of the proposed
National Food Security Act, said that the
additional stock will be released into the system at the price fixed for people
Below the Poverty Line (BPL).
The government is currently
taking stock to study the feasibility of implementing the proposed National Food
Security Act, which is being backed by the National Advisory Council (NAC), to
provide 35 kg wheat or rice to the BPL families every month at Rs. 3 per kg.
Under the Bill, if the
Centre cannot meet the quota of food grain for every state in a given year, it
would have to compensate the shortfall in cash. Theagriculture ministry is
worried about the prohibitive costs that an expanded net of beneficiaries would
entail, since according to estimates prepared by the Planning Commission, there
are currently 6.52 crore families registered under the BPL category.
But despite of the
government having 55 million tons of food stocks in its warehouses, with over
11,708 tons found damaged in various go-downs in July this year.
India
is still a Poor Country: Various Reports!!
The expert group headed by
Dr. Suresh Tendulkar, former chairman of the Prime Minister�s Economic
Advisory Council, estimated that 37.2 per cent of
Indians live below poverty line (BPL), 10
per cent higher than earlier estimated by the Planning Commission.
According to this
estimate, 41.8 per cent of rural population lived on a
monthly per capita expenditure of Rs. 447. In urban areas, the BPL population
was 25.7 per cent, living on a per capita expenditure of Rs. 578.80; the figures
are of 2004-05, drawn from the latest available major National Sample Survey (NSS)
round.
Experts called it as
�Starvation Line� instead of poverty
line. It is also evident that poverty in rural areas in much more acute; it is
as high as 57.2 per cent in Orissa, 55.7 per cent in Bihar and 53.6 per cent in
Madhya Pradesh.
Now, a new
Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) worked out by the United Nations
Development
Programme
(UNDP) and Oxford University in July this year,
which will be incorporated in the forthcoming
Human Development Report, shows
that we are poorer than we thought. Even in countries with strong economic
growth, the MPI analysis reveals the persistence of acutepoverty, as poverty is
more than an economic phenomenon based on income levels.
This composite indicator of
the New Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) takes into account the following
ten markers of education, health and standard of living, child
enrolment and years of schooling (education), child mortality and nutrition
(health), Electricity, flooring,
drinking water, sanitation, cooking fuel and assets (standard of living).
Going by these indicators
about 645 million people, or 55 per cent of India�s
population, are poor. Thus this research suggests that as compared with the 410
million multi-dimensionally poor people residing in 26 of the poorest African
countries, there are as many as 421 million such poor in
just eight of the poorest Indian States (Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand,
Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal).
If we look at an important
indicator such as the proportion of malnourished children, there seems to be
virtually no improvement here over the years � 46 per
cent in 2005-06 as compared with 47 per cent in 1998-99. Even with safe drinking
water and sanitation, the situation remains hugely disappointing.
A study by the
National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER)
shows that the top 20 per cent of India�s population had 53.2 per cent share of
the national income in 2009-10, up from 36.7 per cent in 1993-94. The bottom 60
per cent had a mere 27.9 per cent share in total income in 2009-10, down from
38.6 per cent at the start of the reform process.
Hindi
is gaining popularity over Sanskrit among Germans
Hindi is gaining popularity
among Germans over the once popular Sanskrit, with more and more of them
preferring India�s national language as
the best medium of communication with a large section of the Asian community.
�Hindi
and Sanskrit are being taught in several
cities of Germany, including universities in Heidelberg, Leipzig, Humboldt and
Bonn, for a few decades now. But off late, there has been a
reduction in the number of those wanting to study Sanskrit.�
Germany
has a tradition of teaching Hindi and Sanskrit, but
the latter gained popularity ever since English philologist William Jones
translated Kalidas� much-celebrated play Abhijnanasakuntalam in 1789.
India
could become the Largest Security Market
India could
emerge as one of the largest markets for security
systems in the next ten years, as per a report released by the Associated
Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham)
and KPMG.
The Assocham-KPMG report
�Homeland Security in India� predicts that by 2020, India, along with Britain,
Germany and France, might outgrow the United States, which presently enjoys a
34% of the market share in this field. It predicts that UAE is expected to
exhibit the fastest market growth in this sector, driven by a combination of
economic growth along with increasing threats of terrorism faced by it.
As per current
estimates homeland security expenditure projection as
a percentage of global spending in case of India is 3.6%,
France 3.4%, Germany 3.7%,
Saudi Arabia 4.5%, UK 3.9%, China 5.2%, USA 33.3% as
against 43% of other countries.
The
report further notes that in the
wake of India opening up its nuclear sector, nuclear market requirements will be
extremely critical and India will have to spend a great deal to keep its
nuclear installations completely
fool-proof against all possible security threats.
Sachin
becomes IAF�s honorary Group Captain
Senior
Indian batsman Sachin
Tendulkar was on conferred with the Indian
Air Force�s
honorary rank of Group Captain to honour his cricketing achievements and
contribution to the nation.
Tendulkar
is the first sportsperson to be conferred a rank by
IAF and the first personality with no
aviation background to receive the honour.
In 2008,
India�s World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev had received the honorary rank of
Lieutenant Colonel of the Territorial Army.
The
37-year-old Tendulkar was inducted into the Air Force as its brand ambassador
with IAF chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik doing the honours in a glittering
ceremony at the Air Force auditorium in
New Delhi
�Go
India, Go for gold� campaign launched
With 29 days to go for
the Commonwealth Games, the
organising committee launched a campaign to spread awareness about the mega
event and muster support for the Indian
sportspersons.
Under the
campaign titled � �Go India! Go for Gold� the OC in collaboration with HT Media
and Muthoot Pappachan group will collect about one lakh hand imprints from
citizens as a gesture of �high five� in support of the Indian teams.
In the
three-week campaign, canvases will be put up at
various colleges, schools, markets, malls, and offices and it will culminate in
a march on an undecided venue.
During
that march, the canvases will put up on both sides of the road to form a wall,
stretching up to 4-6 kms.
3G
revenue is Rs.106000 crores for Govt.
The
Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has
allotted 3G spectrum for commercial use on 1st September as per the timelines
indicated in the Notice Inviting Applications (NIA)
and in the Letter of Intent issued after the bid amounts were deposited.
The
3G spectrum has been allotted to AirTel,
Aircel, Vodafone, S Tel, Reliance, Idea Cellular and
Tata Cellular Services who won the bids through the electronic auction conducted
by the
DoT spread over a period of 34 days in
respect of 3G and 16 days in respect of BWA. The BWA spectrum has already been
assigned to the successful bidders� which are Aircel, Augere, Tikona, Qualcomm,
Infotel and Bharti.
3G & BWA spectrum would
enable users to have value added services like video streaming,
mobile internet access, higher & faster data
downloads. These services are expected to be launched early next year by the
service providers.
The electronic auction
conducted for 3G & BWA spectrum, the first of its kind in the country, has been
historic in terms of its success.
Auto Sales Grow at 38%
The Indian auto market is
amongst the fastest growing in the world. World famous automobile companies have
been entering the market with India-specific products,
much to the joy of customers.
The recent data shows that
as the global economy emerges out of recession, the
automobile sector in India has emerged to
be amongst the best performing in the world.
Market experts believe that auto manufacturing companies are betting big
on India because of the massive growth potential in the economy, which is
driving investments in the sector.
In July this year, compared
to the same period last year, the Indian
automobile industry has seen a growth of 38%, which is even more than
that of China, the world�s largest car market. Significantly, the rise in sales
is of commercial as well as private vehicles.
The benefits of such
expanding interest in a particular sector find extension across the economy as
increased foreign investment boosts real estate and strengthens its foreign
exchange reserves, while expanding employment opportunities
for its citizens.