MAY 2012

NATIONAL

• Bihar Government prohibited the sale and manufacturing of all the tobacco products for next one year. Madhya Pradesh was the first state to ban all the food products containing tobacco.
• Union government announced the constitution of a committee under the chairman C. Rangarajan to review the existing production sharing contracts (PSCs)
• Union Government of India decided to streamline debt worth 35000 crore rupees to rescue cash-strapped textile industry. The textiles industry of the country is under an outstanding debt of 155809 crore rupees.
• Union Finance Minister announced 25 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals worth Rs.2973.40 crore
• Union government of India approved the changes in the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill.As per amendment wife and children will get a clearly-defined share in the husband’s immovable residential property in case of divorce.
• The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) banned Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan from entering the Wankhede Stadium for five years due to misbehaving with its officials and violating its rules.
• Under the chairmanship of principal secretary of the finance department a committee is formed by Delhi Government to promote the welfare of Delhi Transport Corp (DTC) workers.
• Veteran Bengali Author Mahashweta Devi resigned as the chairperson of the Bangla Academy, an autonomous body set up to promote the Bengali literature.
• Supreme Court of India directed the Union Government to eliminate the Haj subsidy completely by reducing it gradually over the next ten years. Court instructed that the amount of Haj subsidy to be used for the uplift of the community.
• Union minister of labour and employment Mallikarjun Kharge inaugurated the E-Challan and Receipt (ECR) to bring transparency and accessibility for employers in depositing monthly Employees’ Provident Fund or EPF contributions of their workers.
• Union government constituted an Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) for developing a coordinated approach for optimal exploitation of coal bed methane (CBM), underground coal gasification and shale gas.
• A new report by Save the Children, titled Born Too Soon: the Global Action Report on Pre-term Birth revealed, India has the highest number of deaths due to premature births, and ranks 36th in the list of pre-term births globally. The ranking included 199 countries.
• Union Cabinet of India approved the proposal by Oman to hike the gas price for an Indian fertilizer plant in the Gulf nation to 1.5 per million dollar metric British thermal unit (mmBtu), a move that will ensure uninterrupted supply of urea to the Indian market.

INTERNATIONAL

• Shakeel Afridi, the man behind the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abottabad in Pakistan sentenced to 33 years imprisonment under the colonial vintage Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR)
• Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav removed Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai from his post, he has been asked to keep the charge until some alternative arrangements are put into place.
• Pakistan successfully test-fired a short-range Hatf 9 (Nasr) missile. The missile which has a range of 60 kilometers is capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
• United States decided to ease the stiff economic sanctions imposed on Myanmar and named the first ambassador to the former pariah state in the past 22 years.
• Serbian Progressive Party leader Tomislav Nikolic won the Serbia’s presidential election.
• Former Sri Lankan Army chief, Sarath Fonseka, was released from the high-security Welikada prison
• Qualcomm, the US chipmaker, received the broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum by the department of telecommunications (DoT).
• 50 people on board were killed in a Superjet 100 aircraft crash about 40 miles (64 km) south of Jakarta
• Pakistan successfully test-fired Hatf III Ghaznavi missile. The missile has a range of 290 km and it can hit its target in India. The missile is capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The missile was launched at the conclusion of the annual field training exercise of Army Strategic Force Command.
• Jean-Marc Ayrault a moderate Socialist took over as the France’s new Prime Minister
• Vladimir Putin the former Russian Prime Minister and the president of the United Russia Party took the oath as the President of Russia.

INDIA AND WORLD

• The Union Cabinet approved the 7.6 billion dollar TAPI gas pipeline project . The TAPI gas pipeline project which originates from the central Asian nation Turkmenistan and reaches to India via Afghanistan and Pakistan is also referred to as the “peace pipeline” as some of the countries that it passes through don’t enjoy good relationship with each other.
• As per report from Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India topped China as the largest importer of arms during 2007-11 and accounted for 10 per cent of global arms import as compared to Chinese share of five per cent.
• GAIL (India) Limited inked the gas sale and purchase agreement (GSPA) with TurkmenGaz, Turkmenistan's national oil company, for the 7.6-billion TAPI project . The agreement would enable India to bring gas from Turkmenistan.
• As per report published by the Security and Defence Agenda (SDA) and McAfee ranked fifth in the list of countries affected of cyber crime.

SPORTS & GAMES

• Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated the defending champion Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to win their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) title at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai
• Praveen Rana, the young Indian wrestler, clinched the 66kg freestyle title on the final day of the first Hari Ram Indian Grand Prix wrestling championship at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium
• Ace Indian chess player Vishwanathan Anand claimed the FIDE ( Federation Internationale des Echec) World Chess Title for the record fifth time. The defending champion Anand beat Israeli opponent Boris Gelfand in a rapid-chess tie-breaker. Anand received 1.5 million dollar as the winning amount, while rival Gelfand bagged 1 million dollar.
• Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova defeated Li Na of China to retain the Italian Open title.
• Chelsea, the English football club defeated German football club Bayern Munich to win its first Union of European Football Association (UEFA) Champions League.
• Spaniard Rafael Nadal defeated world no. 1 Novak Djokovic to claim his sixth Italian Open Title
• Fifth ranked Sriram Balaji defeated Swiss Joss Espasandin in the summit clash of the MCC-SR Subramaniam Memorial ITF Futures men's tennis tournament in Chennai
• India’s leading discus thrower Krishna Poonia created a new national record by winning the silver medal at the Altius Track Crew Throwdown meet in Maui Island, Hawaii. Krishna hurled the discuss to 64.76 meters and broke the existing national record of Seema Antil who had hurled 64.64 meters.
• Indian athletes bagged four gold, one silver and four bronze medals, in the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix in Bangkok. Sajeesh Joseph bagged gold in the men's 800m in 1:47.78 while, MR Poovama clinched the women's 400m in 52.94.
• Swiss tennis star Roger Federer defeated Czech Tomas Berdych to win Madrid Open title
• Malaysia defeated Pakistan to win the Junior Hockey World Cup
• Manjeet Singh Panghal defeated Gurleen Singh to clinch the 69kg title in the 45th National junior boxing championship at Patiala
• Ace Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar won the 66kg freestyle title at the World Qualifying Tournament in Taiyuan, China
• Spanish Football club Real Madrid clinched its 32nd Spanish league title and first in four years
• Seven-time World snooker champion Stephen Hendry announced his retirement after losing in the quarterfinals at the World Championships.
• Indian women squash team won its maiden gold at the 16th Asian Squash Championship in Kuwait.Women team created a history by defeating the top seeded Hongkong team in the title clash.
• Shon Wan Ho of Korea defeated Chinese defending champion Lee Chong Wei in the final clash and clinch his maiden Super Series title, at the India Open badminton.
• India's top-seeded snooker player Aditya Mehta defeated compatriot and seven-time world champion Pankaj Advani to win 28th Asian snooker title concluded in Doha.

PERSONALITIES

• Shouryya Ray a 16-year-old Indian-origin student from Germany cracked a 350-year old mathematics puzzle.
• Cyrus Mistry, the Chairman-designate of Tata groups was appointed as an additional director on the board of Tata Steel.
• Ranbir Kapoor roped in as the brand ambassador by Chinese computer Lenovo in India.
• Gajanan Verma , Rajasthani Hindi lyricist, musician and poet died.
• Tamae Watanabe(73 year) bettered her own record of being the world’s oldest women to climb the Mount Everest the world's highest mountain peak.
• Saurabh Chandra, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, was slated to hold the additional charge of the post of Secretary of the Department of Commerce on 14 May 2012.
• Debashree Mukherjee, IAS officer, was appointed the new Chief Executive Officer of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).
• BV Vanchoo was appointed the Governor of Goa on 28 April 2012.
• Vidya Balan roped in as the brand ambassador for improving the state of sanitation in the country by Union Rural development Ministry
• Pranab Mukherjee elected as Chair of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Board of Governors. India will host the 46th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank in New Delhi in 2013.
• Achla Sachdev Bollywood actress died in Pune.
• Bikram Singh took over the reins of Indian Army.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• Malaysiaian private equity company Navis Capital Partners acquired the stake of Samir Kuckreja the co-owner of Nirula’s to gain complete control over homegrown fast food chain.
• Sahara India Pariwar signed an agreement with the Bangladesh government to design and develop a new city Notun Dhaka (New Dhaka). Sahara Matribhumi Unnayan  Corporation signed the MoU with the Ministry of Housing and Public Works (MoPW) of Bangladesh Government.
• India’s third largest private sector lender Axis Bank signed an agreement with Ahli United Bank B.S.C., Bahrain for remitting money from Bahrain to any person in India.
• Korean mobile giant Samsung surpassed the Finland based mobile manufacturer Nokia to be become the market leader.
• Bharti Airtel India’s leading telecom company acquired 49 per cent stake in Qualcomm’s broadband wireless access (BWA) business in India in a deal worth 165 million dollar (about 922 crore rupees).
• Leading two-wheeler manufacturer Bajaj Auto launched the Discover 125 ST bike, the composition of a sports bike and a commuter motorcycle. The Discover 125 ST is powered by Bajaj's patented ‘DTS-iTwin Spark' technology.
• Honda launched Dream Yuga, its first low cost mass motorcycle in Indian market . Dream Yuga, Honda’s cheapest motorbike worldwide is priced at 44652 rupees.
• Reserve Bank of India published guidelines for implementation of the new global capital adequacy norms, called Basel III. Indian banks will have to maintain Tier I capital, or core capital, of at least 7 per cent of their risk weighted assets on an ongoing basis. The objective is to strengthen risk management mechanism.
• German luxury car maker Audi launched a new version of its largest selling sedan A4 in Indian market. The luxury car launched in both the petrol and diesel variants has a starting price of 27.33 lakh.
• Leading mobile manufacturer Nokia on launched its new web-enabled mobile Asha 202 priced at 4149 rupees.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• India successfully test-fired the indigenously built Akash missile from the DRDO’s (Defence Research Development Organisation) Interim Test Range (ITR), at Chandipur in Balasore district of north Odisha. 5.7 meter long and 720 kg in weight, anti-aircraft missile can hit its target locating at a distance of 25 to 30 kms. The missile is capable of carrying both conventional as well as nuclear warheads up to 60 kg.
• The International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University unveiled a list of the 10 best newly discovered species of 2011.  A monkey found in the high mountains of Myanmar, Rhinopithecus stryker, figured in the list. A beautiful but venomous jellyfish, a night-blooming orchid and an ancient walking cactus creature are also on the list.
• Tripura Industrial Development Corporation (TIDC) announced to set up North-East India’s fifth Software Technology Park in Tripura. The projected is suppurated by Software Technology Park of India (STPI). This will boost information technology in northeast India and to reach out to people of rural and remote areas with e-governance.
• The Union Government of India appointed Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar as the new chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) for a three-year term.

AWARDS & HONOURS

• Rahul Bhattacharya, Delhi-based author, won the prestigious Ondaatje Prize for his book  'The Sly Company of People Who Care'.
• The South Asian Cinema Foundation (SACF) in association with British Film Institute (BFI) Southbank and The Nehru Centre decided to honour the work of veteran Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal with the South Asian Cinema Foundation's 'Excellence in Cinema Award'
• The Tibetan spiritual leader, The Dalai Lama, received the 1.7 million dollar Templeton Prize for his role in promoting links between spirituality and science.
• Bollywood actor Mithun Chakravarti received the PC Chandra lifetime achievement award in Kolkata.
• Noted Tamil writer Ashokamitran, known for his novel Thanneer and other works was declared the recipient of the 6 NTR National Literary Award

APRIL 2012

 

NATIONAL

• Rajya Sabha passed amendments to the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admissions) Act, 2006, exempting some central institutions from implementing the other backward castes (OBC) quota.The institutions where implementation of the Act exceeds the 50 percent reservation limit fixed by the Supreme Court will fall under the amendment.
• Union Cabinet in a meeting headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved the signing of a new liberal visa regime with Pakistan thereby paving way for easing travel restrictions and increasing people-to-people exchange.
• Maoists released Orissa MLA Jhina Hikaka after keeping him in captivity for more than 30 days.
• Delhi Government increased the minimum wages of unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled workers in Delhi. Monthly minimum wages of unskilled workers was hiked from 6656 rupees to 7020 rupees, wages for semi-skilled labour was revised upwards from 7358 to  7748 rupees and for skilled labour the wage was increased from 8112 rupees to 8528 rupees.
• Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian parliament, passed the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill 2010. The amendment seeks to provide the right to receive home-based education to children with severe disabilities.
• Sikkim, won the best state award for strengthening its Panchayati Raj Institutions.
• India launched it’s first indigenous all-weather Radar Imaging Satellite, RISAT-1 developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The satellite’s images will facilitate agriculture and disaster management. It was launched successfully on board the PSLV-C19 from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
• Abhishek Manu Singhvi, the spokesperson of the ruling Congress Party, tendered his resignation following a CD allegedly showing him having sex with a lady went viral on the internet.
• Union government approved 22 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals, amounting to Rs.586.137 crore ($112.5 million). The proposals were cleared following recommendations made by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).
• Rajasthan State Assembly passed a resolution to establish an upper house in the state.
• India successfully test-fired its maiden nuclear-tipped inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) Agni-V developed by DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation). With the successful launch of Agni-V, India has entered into an elite group of nations (USA, Russia, China, UK and France) having such technology. India now has acquired the capability to hit targets in China, including Beijing, Eastern Europe, east Africa and the Australian coast. Indigenously built  Agni-V is 17.5m tall, solid-fuelled, surface to surface, three-stage missile with a launch weight of 50 tons, which includes a 1.5 tonne warhead. Agni-V has multiple independently targeted re-entry (MIRV) capability. Its range is over 5000 Kms. A missile which has a range of 5500 Kms is termed as inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM).
• Commemorative postage stamp released to mark the birth centenary of President R. Venkataraman, also known as the father of industrialisation.

• Union government decided to liberalise the external commercial borrowing (ECB) norms for the power sector. Power sector companies will now be able to use up to 40 per cent of ECB loans to refinance their rupee debt, provided the remaining 60% balance is utilised for investments in new projects. So far, power companies were permitted to use only 25 per cent of the ECB to refinance their domestic rupee-debt loan.

• BJP claimed all the three new civic bodies carved out of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). BJP bagged 138 of the 272 wards while the Congress was voted to victory in 78 wards.

• Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF)  banned the use of live animals in dissection and other experiments in educational and research institutions. However, the ban won’t be applicable on scientists conducting new molecular research.

• Himachal Pradesh, celebrated completed 65 years of its foundation.

• Pakistani scientist Mohammed Khalil Chishty released on bail from Ajmer jail, in a two decade old murder case.

• Union Cabinet approved a Bill seeking an amendment in the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 to include registration of marriages as well.The Cabinet also approved introducing a Bill in Parliament to further amend the Anand Marriage Act, 1909 to provide for registration of marriages under the Act.

• Union Cabinet approved a proposal to set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) to help facilitate the smooth introduction of the new indirect tax regime.

• Union Cabinet approved the extension of funding support for implementing the Swavalamban Scheme under the New Pension System (NPS) from three years to five years for all subscribers enrolled during 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13. The Cabinet decided to provide an additional funding support of Rs 2065 crore to the scheme till 2016-17.

• Union Cabinet approved Public Procurement Bill, 2012 which aims at regulating public procurement of above Rs 50 lakh and provides fair treatment to bidders. The move is aimed at bringing transparency in State purchases.

• Union government approved Rs 30000 crore bailout for Air India out of which Rs 6750 crore would be infused immediately to meet the airline's working capital requirement and the total of bailout amount would be spread out over a period of 9 years.

• Union Cabinet approved India’s Second National Communication to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change towards fulfilment of the reporting obligation under the Convention.

• Indian Navy inducted a Russian-origin nuclear submarine, INS Chakra, into its flotilla. The nuclear submarine has placed India into the elite group of nations which operate nuclear vessel.The Akula-II class submarine K-152 Nerpa, renamed INS Chakra-II, is on a 10-year lease from Russia at a cost of nearly 1 billion dollar.

• Tamil Nadu government announced to subsidise part of power tariff increase for domestic consumers. It will benefit 1.5 crore families.

 

INTERNATIONAL

• Supreme Court of Pakistan convicted Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raja Gilani for contempt of court for refusing to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

• Pakistan successfully test-fired an upgraded version of Shaheen-1 missile. The new upgraded Shaheen-1, with its even longer striking range and nuclear carrying capability, can hit its targets in India.

• Netherlands’ Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his Cabinet resigned after failing to reach agreement on reducing the country's budget to meet European guidelines.

• US and Afghanistan inked a strategic pact that aims at setting forth guidelines for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan as forces are withdrawn from the trouble-torn nation.The pact provides a strong foundation for the security of Afghanistan, the region and the world.

• World Trade Organisation (WTO) pegged world trade growth at 3.7 per cent for 2012.

• Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi  won a parliamentary seat in a historic by-election. Her party National League for Democracy (NLD) won 43 seats.

• United States of America and Afghanistan signed MoU on the controversial issue of conduct of night raids on Afghan homes. It empowered the Afghan security forces oversight over the raids led by the US troops.

 

INDIA AND WORLD

• United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki Moon visited India alongwith his wife, Madam Ban Soon-taek and a high-level delegation.
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF)  lowered India’s growth projection to 6.9 per cent for 2012 on the basis of country’s poor performance on the front of economic reforms and slowing investment.
• A World Health Organisation (WHO) study, Published in the British medical journal, The Lancet, revealed that India accounted for about 47 percent of measles deaths in 2010.
• Standard & Poor's downgraded credit rating outlook for India to negative from stable. The cut in credit rating is the reflection of India's widening fiscal and current account deficits.
• The Fourth BRICS summit held in New Delhi on 29 March 2012. The theme of the summit was ‘BRICS partnership for Global Stability, Security and Prosperity’. Development banks of BRICS signed two agreements- i) Master agreement on extending credit facility in local currency. ii) BRICS Multilateral letter of credit confirmation facility agreement.These two agreements are expected to enhance cooperation among the BRICS development banks and to significantly promote intra-BRICS trade. At the end of the summit, Delhi Declaration was issued.

        Main Highlights of Delhi Declaration was:

1. BRICS nations agreed on the reform of IMF and world bank.
2. Brazil, India, China and South Africa congratulated the Russian Federation on its accession to the WTO.
3. BRICS nation committed to play their part in the global fight against climate change.

• India and the UAE signed an agreement in Abu Dhabi to amend the double taxation avoidance treaty, paving the way for greater sharing of tax related information between the two countries and also agreed to set up a joint committee to look after consular issues.

• Credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service downgraded the local currency rating of ONGC and GAIL. ONGC was downgraded to Baa1 from A2 and GAIL to Baa2 from A3.

• The seventh meeting of the India-Russia Joint Working Group  was held in New Delhi. India and Russia held comprehensive discussions on combating international terrorism and reaffirmed their commitment to consolidate bilateral interaction in the fight against this menace.

• Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its flagship annual publication Asian Development Outlook (ADO)  projected moderate increase in growth rate for India to 7 percent in 2012-13.

• India and Germany decided to promote bilateral cooperation in the field of sustainable urban development through exploration of solutions to problems of mutual concern.

• India and Qatar signed six agreements including a pact on cooperation in oil and gas exploration.

• India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board was  admitted as the 11th member of MDEP (Multinational Design Evaluation Programme). MDEP is a multinational initiative taken by national safety authorities to develop innovative approaches to leverage the resources and knowledge of the national regulatory authorities who are currently or will be tasked with the review of new reactor power plant designs.

• India and Britain held the fifth ministerial level India-UK economic financial dialogue in New Delhi. Both nations discussed ways to strengthen their mutual cooperation and further boost trade and investment between them.

• India and UAE signed an agreement in Abu Dhabi, UAE, to ease the entry of Indian contract workers in the Emirates.

• Union Government of India, Asian Development Bank, and State Governments of Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand inked a $43.84 mn, loan agreement objected at promoting tourism in the states.

 

SPORTS & GAMES

• Rafael Nadal defeated sixth seeded David Ferrer to clinch the Barcelona Open Title. Nadal, following his Barcelona Open Title became the first player in the Open Era to win two tournaments seven times.
• China’s Chen Jin defeated fellow countryman Du Pengyu in the men’s finals of Asian Badminton Championship held in Qingdao, China.
• Rafael Nadal clinched his eighth consecutive Monte Carlo Masters. Nadal defeated Serbian Novak Djokovic in the final.
• China's Xiao Jia Chen defetaed Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal in the second round of the Asian Badminton Championship.
• World Shooting Championship of 2018 was awarded to Korean city of Changwon, the next championship will be held in Granada, Spain, in 2014.
• German luxury car manufacturer Audi, signed a 3 year contract with promising young motorsport driver Aditya Patel for a team called Pro-Handicap e.V., in the challenging VLN endurance series in Germany.
• Indian squash player Saurav Ghosal won $120,000 El Gouna International Open in El Gouna, Egypt.
• Geeta Kumari, the woman wrestler, won a gold in 55kg category at the Asian qualifying tournament in Astana, Kazakhastan.
• Agnieszka Radwanska, won Miami Masters women singles Title after defeating  Russian Tennis star Maria Sharapova.
• Indo-Czeck pair of Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek claimed the doubles title of Miami Masters. Paes by winning the Miami Titles took the total number of his career titles to 50.
• Novak Djokovic won the Miami Masters men’s singles title. Djokovic defeated fourth seeded Andy Murray in the final.

 

PERSONALITIES

• Justice Dalveer Bhandari, judge of the Indian Supreme Court, was elected to the position of Judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) also referred as the World Court.The ICJ is the principal judicial body of the United Nations is based in the in the Hague in Netherland.He will have six-year tenure. Justice Bhandari became the third Asian representative in the 15-member ICJ.
• S Narsing Rao, former chairman of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), assumed charge as the Chairman and Managing Director of Coal India Limited (CIL).
• Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic announced retirement from tennis after he defeated to Ivan Dodig at the Monte Carlo Masters.
• Nityananda Mohapatra, Veteran litterateur, freedom fighter and former Minister died at the age of 100.
• Ajay Banga, CEO of Mastercard elected next chairman of the US-India Business Council (USIBC). USIBC is a trade association made of 350 top American and Indian companies.
• Jim Yong Kim, Korean-born American health expert appointed as a new president of World Bank. He succeeded Robert Zoellick as the head of World Bank.
• Mata Prasad Pandey, Samajwadi Party MLA from Itawa in Sidhhart nagar district was unanimously elected Speaker of the 16th Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
• Shiva Thapa (18 year old) (56kg category) became the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympics.
• N. Varadarajan, Former Tamil Nadu State secretary of the CPI(M) and three-time MLA, died in Chennai.
• Amadou Toumani Toure, President of Mali resigned following the agreement signed with the mediators.The speaker of the Malian parliament Diouncounda Traore appointed as interim president.
• Fang Lizhi, one of China’s best-known dissidents and astrophysicist died in exile in the US.
• Amarendra Khatua, appointed as India’s special envoy to South Sudan and Sudan to broker peace between the two countries.
• James Murdoch, younger son of Rupert Murdoch, the founder of News Corporation resigned as the Chairman of satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting, BSkyB.
• Geeta Kumari, became the first Indian woman wrestler to have ever qualified for the Olympics.
• Jammu & Kashmir High Court Chief Justice F. M. Ibrahim Kalifulla was sworn in as Supreme Court judge.With the appointment of Kalifulla the number of judges has now gone up to 26 against the sanctioned strength of 31.
• Cyrus Mistry, Tata Sons Deputy chairman and former SBI group chairman O P Bhatt joined the board of directors of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

• Lieutenant-General Gautam Ravindranath took over as the Director General Medical Services (Army).

• Priti Mohanty, 1977 batch Indian Defence Accounts Service Officer, took over as Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA).

• D. Sarkar appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Public Sector Lender, Union Bank of India. Sarkar replaced MV Nair, who was holding the top post of the bank over the past six years.

• NKP Salve, former BCCI president and former Union Minister  passed away in New Delhi.

• Urvashi Gulati, former Haryana chief secretary was sworn in as Haryana state information commissioner (SIC).

• DRS Chaudhary was appointed as the new Secretary of Ministry of Steel.

• Vanya Mishra crowned as the Pantaloons Femina Miss India World 2012 in the grand finale of the 49th edition of the beauty pageant held in Mumbai.

• The Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, honoured with one of the world's leading religion prizes, Templeton Prize for 2012.

 

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) permitted GMR promoted DIAL (Delhi International Airport Limited) to increase airport charges for Delhi Airport by 345 per cent for next two years. It also approved the DIAL’s demand to levy a user development fee (UDF) on all passengers including, for the first time, those who arrive at the airport.

• Vodafone acquired communication service provider Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW) in a deal just over 1billion pound.

• Reserve Bank of India mandated for all commercial banks to print the MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) and IFSE (Indian Financial System Code) code on the passbook and statement of account of the customers.

• Telecom regulator TRAI issued a directive to all mobile phone operators in India, making it mandatory for the operators to offer a per second billing option to customers.

• Seoul based South Korean lender Woori Bank opened its maiden Indian branch in Chennai.

• Maruti Suzuki India launched its compact multi purpose vehicle Ertiga.

• Karnataka government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for mutual co-operation and investment promotion with Mizuho Corporate Bank of Japan.

• Telecom regulator TRAI approved increase in processing fee for all mobile recharge coupons (top-up vouchers) priced above Rs 20.

• India surpassed the export target of $300 billion for 2011-12 despite slowdown in demand in its traditional markets of the U.S. and Europe. Exports increased by 21 per cent to $303.7 billion in 2011-12 but imports surged by 32.1 per cent to $488.6 billion thereby leaving the highest-ever trade deficit of $184.9 billion.

• Union government permitted companies engaged in the aviation sector to raise working capital resources through the external commercial borrowings (ECBs) route to the tune of $1 billion. The limit for individual airline companies was set at $300 million.

• Trafigura Pvt. Ltd. a commodity trader in the global sphere picked up 24 percent equity in Nagarjuna Oil Corporation Ltd (NOCL) by investing around 650 crore rupees.

• As per the government data, retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) shot up to 9.47% in March 2012 because of higher prices of milk, vegetables, protein-based items and edible oil products.

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) instructed commercial banks to reduce their exposure to gold loan companies to 7.5% of their capital funds from the existing 10%.

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI), banned banks from charging a prepayment penalty on floating rate home loans. Banks were barred from charging any fee from a customer who wants to repay an outstanding loan and close the account.

• Serco, the international service company announced the launch of its new global business process outsourcing (BPO) division, Global Services.

• Zee TV became the first Indian channel to get a landing right in China.

• Rupert Murdoch led Star Group decided to put an end over its joint venture with its Indian television news channel partner. The company held 26 percent stake in the joint venture with local partner the Ananda Bazaar Patrika Group. The JV came into being in 2003.

• Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the services sector in India went up by 62% during April-January period 2011-12 on account of unfavourable economic conditions of the western markets.

• E-filing was made compulsory for the person who is an individual, or a Hindu Undivided Family, if his or its total income, or the total income in respect of which he is or it is assessable under the Act during the previous year, exceeds Rs 10 lakh for assessment year 2012-13 onwards.

• Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) can invest up to 23 percent in Indian commodity exchanges without government approval.

• State-owned ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the US oil major ConocoPhillips to conduct a joint study of shale gas potential in all domestic basins as well as some global ones owned by ConocoPhillips.

• Reserve Bank of India, directed banks to submit a monthly statement informing the central bank about the quantity of gold imported and mode of payment adopted. The statement is to be filed with the foreign exchange department of the RBI and has to be submitted at the end of March and September.

• Indian Mobile phone manufacturer Micromax announced its entry in the tablet market with the launch of FunBook.

• Star TV won the rights to broadcast Indian cricket for next six years in a bid to the tune of 3851 crore rupees. Rupert Murdoch owned Star TV won the bid defeating Sony which had offered 150 crore rupees less than the winning bid.

 

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• According to a research report published in the journal Nature Geoscience, the Arctic Ocean could be a significant contributor of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
• A study published in the journal Public Library of Science One, described that the diversity is the mammal's best defence when it comes to adapting climatic changes.
• Scientists discovered a combination of proteins involved in prostate disorders. This could pave the way for effective and better treatments. Scientists identified the G protein-coupled receptors, which enable cells to respond to neurotransmitters and hormones. G protein- coupled receptors are essential proteins on the outside of cells that enabled signals from hormones and neuro- transmitters to be transferred into the cell.
• Italian Scientists found an intestinal parasite in pigs called Dientamoeba Fragilis, which also causes diarrhoea in humans.
• Scientists identified two genes called OLFM4 gene and HOXB5 that increase the risk of common childhood obesity. The early Growth Genetics (EGG) Consortium made this finding.The scientists identified two novel loci, one near the OLFM4 gene on chromosome 13 and the other within the HOXB5 gene on chromosome 17.
• Pottery and iron age megaliths dated to the pre-Megalithic/Iron Age period in T.N. — 1,800 BC-1,500 BC found at Mandapam village, near Aarpakkam intersection, about 14 km from Kancheepuram.

 

AWARDS & HONOURS

• Pulitzer Prize 2012

1. The Associated Press won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting for documenting the New York Police Department's spying on Muslims.
2. The Philadelphia Inquirer was on the other hand honoured in the public service category for its examination of violence in the city's schools. A second Pulitzer for investigative reporting was given to The Seattle Times for a series about accidental methadone overdoses among patients with chronic pain.
3. The New York Times won two Pulitzers, for explanatory and international reporting.
4. The Huffington Post received its first Pulitzer, in national reporting, for its exploration of the challenges facing American veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
5. The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa., won for local reporting for breaking the Penn State sexual abuse scandal that eventually brought down legendary football coach Joe Paterno.

• BSES Yamuna Power limited (BPYL) won the prestigious 54th British International Safety Award.

 

 

MARCH 2012

 

NATIONAL

     State Elections 2012

• Uttar Pradesh: The Samajwadi Party won a landslide victory and formed the government without any outside support. It won 224 seats of the 403-member Assembly. Akhilesh Yadav, son of Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, was elected as the youngest Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, representing a generational shift in a State whose politics is dominated by caste and religion. He was sworn in on March 15.
• Goa: The BJP which, along with its ally the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), bagged a majority (24 seats) in the 40-member Assembly.Mr Manohar Parrikar was sworn-in as the Chief Minister on March 9.
• Uttarakhand: Congress won 32 seats, BJP bagged 31. BSP got 3 seats and Independents 4 in the Assembly of 70. Mr Vijay Bahuguna of Congress was elected as the Chief Minister of the State.
• Manipur: Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh sworn in as Chief Minister of the State. The veteran Congressman led the party to the third consecutive victory in Manipur.
• Punjab: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BJP alliance made history by overcoming anti- incumbency to retain power for the second consecutive term, thus creating history in the Punjab electoral politics. Mr Parkash Singh Badal was sworn-in as the Chief Minister on March 14.

• India hosted the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit for the first time. It was held in Indian capital New Delhi. The theme of the Summit was BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Security and Prosperity.

• Lok Sabha passed the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2011, aimed at striking a balance between maximising judicial independence and laying down accountability at the same time for members of the higher judiciary.

• BrahMos the supersonic cruise missile, was successfully test-fired from the Interim Test Range, Chandipur from Balesore district of Odisha. BrahMos, which has a target range of 290-km, is the surface-to-surface cruise missile capable of carrying a conventional warhead of 200 to 300 kg.

• Union government gave its consent to a seven percentage increase in the rate of dearness allowance (DA) for its employees and pensioners.

• Union Cabinet approved the setting up of a credit risk guarantee fund trust with an initial corpus of Rs. 1200 crore, to encourage housing for low-income groups in India.

• Union Cabinet approved the redrafted Marriage laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010. The bill seeks to give a woman share in her husband’s property in case of a divorce but the share will be decided by the courts on case by case basis.It also aims at giving rights to adopted children on par with biological off-springs.

• Union Government notified the setting up of the anti-terror body, National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC). NCTC will have the power to carry out operations including arrest, search and seizure under the provisions of the UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

• Mamoni scheme launched by the Assam government in the state under the National Rural Health Mission, to reduce Maternal Mortality Ratio.

• Madhya Pradesh emerged victorious by bagging maximum number of awards in National Tourism Awards 2010-11, held in New Delhi.
  

 INTERNATIONAL

• The US Senate confirmed career diplomat Nancy Powell as ambassador to India.
• Seoul nuclear security summit was held in South Korea. It was the second nuclear security summit.
• Lt General Zaheerul Islam appointed as Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.
• Abd-Rabbuh Mansour Hadi became the President of Yemen.
• Joachim Gauck was elected as Germany's new president.
• Vladimir Putin won the Russian Presidential Election with 63.75 percent of votes.
• Dav Whatmore appointed as coach of Pakistan Cricket Team.

  INDIA AND WORLD

• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited South Korea. India and South Korea agreed to set a new bilateral trade target of 40 billion US dollars by 2015.
• The World Bank approved a 109-million dollar grant to fund Rajasthan Agricultural Competitiveness Project which is aimed at promoting water-efficient agriculture through sustainable and efficient use of resources in Rajasthan.
• India signed an IDA credit worth 152 million dollar with the World Bank to finance the Centre's efforts to help improve the efficiency, quality and accountability of health services in Uttar Pradesh.
• India and Colombia signed a Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP) in New Delhi for the Years 2012-2016.
• Assam government signed an agreement for the grant of 81 mn dollar with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to develop urban infrastructure in the state.
• India and China decided to have maritime cooperation to build confidence and It was decided during the talks between the External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi in New Delhi.

 

SPORTS & GAMES

• M.C. Mary Kom and Sarita won two gold medals in the Asian women's boxing championship at Mongolian capital Ulaanbator.
• Ferrari driver, Fernando Alonso, won the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix.
• Pakistan defeated host Bangladesh to lift Asia Cup Cricket Trophy.
• Saina Nehwal won the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold trophy by securing a victory over China's Shixian Wang.
• Indian national women Kabaddi team won its maiden Women World Cup Kabaddi championship title.
• Mahesh Bhupati and Rohan Bopanna won the doubles title of Dubai Open.
• Roger Federar defeated Andy Murray to win the singles final of Dubai Open.

 PERSONALITIES

• Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee selected for India's highest film honour - the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2012.
• Manik Godghate, Marathi poet and Sahitya Akademi award winner passed away. He was popularly known by his pen name Grace.
• Sharukh Khan appointed as the brand ambassador for the state, West Bengal.
• Harsh Pati Singhania, took over as the President of International Chamber of   Commerce (ICC), India.
• C.P. Gurnani, appointed as the CEO of Mahindra Satyam-Tech Mahindra.
• K. Venkataramanan appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) and Managing Director of the company, Larsen and Toubro Ltd.
• Rahul Dravid, announced his retirement from international cricket.
• RK Tyagi took charge as Chairman of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

 

BOOKS & AUTHORS

     The Last Journey – Satish Pendharkar

      Baby – Nandini Krishnan

     Romeo & Juliet- No Strings Attached – Prashanth Kumar Nair

     Scratch – Swetanshu Bora

     AjataSatru – V.Narayanan

     Dark Clouds Of The Dawning Sky – Anand Raghav

     Metaphor – Deepa Kylasam Ayyar

 

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• NTPC board approved an investment of over 17000 crore rupees in two power projects in Maharashtra having a total generation capacity of 2640 MW. The two approved projects are the Mouda Super Thermal Power Project and Solapur Super Thermal Power Project.
• Hinduja Energy India, a subsidiary of Hinduja Group formed a joint venture with Steag Energy Services (India) for operation and maintenance of power projects.
• Shyamala Gopinath appointed as the Chairperson of the Advisory Board on Bank, Commercial and Financial Frauds.

• RBI restructured the fair practices code (FPC) to be adopted by non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) while doing lending business. The guidelines issued by the central bank covered general principles on adequate disclosures on the terms and conditions of a loan and also adopting a non-coercive recovery method.

• Bank of Baroda, 1001 ultra small branches to provide banking services to the people of villages which don’t have access to banking services.

• Microsoft, leading IT company took up five girl schools in Bihar under Digital Literacy Programme for computer training.

• National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) sanctioned, 423 crore rupees loan assistance to the Gujarat government under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund for an irrigation project in the water scarce district of Sabarkantha.

• ICICI Bank on launched a new card named, ICICI Bank Sapphiro, for the super rich class and the bank’s Wealth Management customers. It is the third in the bank’s gemstone series of credit cards, after ICICI Bank Coral and ICICI Bank Rubyx.

• Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India went up by 31 per cent to 27.5 billion US Dollars in 2011 despite global economic slowdown and uncertainities.

• Reliance Communications unveiled India’s first CDMA network technology driven tablet computers.

• ICICI Bank along with Bank of Baroda, Citicorp Finance India Ltd, Life Insurance Corporation, launched India's first infrastructure debt fund (IDF) of a capacity of 2 billion dollar.

• Madhukant Girdharlal Sanghvi appointed as new Chairman and Managing Director of Syndicate Bank.

 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• Astronomers discovered an ancient planetary system, which belonged to one of the earliest cosmic eras, 13 billion years ago. It consists of the star HIP 11952 and two planets namely HIP 11952b and HIP 11952c.
• Scientists discovered a human gene called IFTIM3 that influences how people respond to flu infections.
• NASA spacecraft, Messenger discovered further evidence for the existence of water ice at Mercury's poles.
• Scientist from Iran developed a gas-filled aspirin that can enhance the cancer-fighting ability of the drug. The new aspirin was dubbed NOSH, which stands for Nitric Oxide and Hydrogen Sulphide.
• Researchers found a new frog species in Meghalaya. The new species was named Fejervarya Sengupti.
• Researchers invented fibre-optic technology under a project called Sardana to run ultra-fast Internet. It demonstrated speed of upto 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps), around 2000 times faster than today’s fastest Internet speed.

AWARDS & HONOURS

• Russian President Dimitry Medvedev was conferred with the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by the Jawaharlal Nehru University.
• Tamil writer A A Manavalan to be honoured with the Saraswati Samman 2011 for his book on Ramayana.
• The 59th National Film Awards:

           Best Feature Film: ‘Deool’ (Marathi) and ‘Byari’ ( Beary language of coastal Karnatak

           Best Director: Gurvinder Singh for ‘Anhe Ghore Da Daan’

           Best Actor: Girish Kulkarni for ‘Deool’

           Best Actress: Vidya Balan for ‘The Dirty Picture‘

           Best Supporting Actor: Appu Kutty for ‘Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai’

           Best Supporting Actress: Leishangthem Tonthoingambi Devi for ‘Phijigee Mani’( Manipuri)

           Best Cinematography: Satya Rai Nagpaul for ‘Anhe Ghore Da Daan’

           Best Hindi Film: ’I AM’ directed by Onir

           Best Female Playback Singer: Rupa Ganguly for ‘Abosheyshey’

           Best Male Playback Singer: Anand Bhate for ‘Bal Gandharva’

           Best Child Artist: Partho Gupte for ‘Stanley ka Dabba’ and the Chillar Party Group

           Best Children’s Film: Chillar Party

EVENTS & DAYS

• World Glaucoma Day - March 12.
• World Forestry Day - March 21.
• World Water Day - March 22.

FEBRUARY 2012

NATIONAL

Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry on launched a web portal for implementation of the National Scheme of Incentive to Girls for Secondary Education (NSIGSE) in New Delhi. Web portal was developed by the Canara Bank to implement the scheme.

Vinod Rai, Comptroller and Auditor General of India is the new chairman of the 45-nation strong Asian Organization of the Institutions of the Accountants General. ASOSAI is the largest regional organisation of the government auditors. India took over the post of chairman from Pakistan.

Delhi government hiked the reservation for OBC [Other Backward Classes] in higher education institutions from 21 percent to 27 percent.

Supreme Court directed the union government to implement the ambitious interlinking of rivers project.

25 agriculture and allied activities were included in the new version of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, MGNREGA.

Haryana government announced to increase minimum wages of skilled and unskilled labourers. The state government decided to increase minimum wages of unskilled labourers to Rupees 186 a day while the wages for skilled labourer was raised to Rupees 211.42 a day.

Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Panel (PMEAC) projected 7.5 - 8 per cent growth rate for the fiscal 2012-13.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit launched a major State-wide de-worming campaign, as a part of the Chacha Nehru Sehat Yojna.

Supreme Court cancelled 122 2G licences granted during the tenure of former Telecom Minister A Raja declaring it as “illegal” and blamed the government's flawed first-come-first-served policy.

Gujarat topped the list of most preferred business destination in India in year 2011.

India's indigenously developed micro-light pilot-less target aircraft Lakshya-1 was successfully test flown from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur.

Union cabinet approved the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP-2012) to facilitate access to central government owned shareable data and information.

Delhi became the first State in the country to issue e-stamp papers in all denominations.

According to Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletin, December 2011 released by the Registrar General of India (RGI), Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has dropped further by  3 points from 50 to 47 infants deaths per 1000 live births during 2010. IMR for rural areas has dropped by 4 points from 55 to 51 infant deaths per 1000 live births while the Urban rate now stands at 31 from the previous 34/1000.




INTERNATIONAL

United Nations (UN) appointed former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan as the joint United Nations-Arab League envoy to Syria.

Iran launched three nuclear projects including a fourth generation Ultra Centrifuge, which is capable of enriching the Uranium faster than its earlier models.

President of Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, after weeks of protest. The protest was against his decision to sack a judge he had accused of favouring the opposition.

Vice President of Maldives Mohammed Waheed Hassan was sworn in as President, following Nasheed’s resignation.

Indonesia became the 157th country to adopt the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

SHADE- The pact signed by India, japan and China to achieve the most efficient use of Naval forces present in the Indian ocean region. This initiative is called the Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (SHADE).

Iran successfully launched an observation satellite called navid satellite into orbit above Earth.



INDIA AND WORLD


India and ADB (Asian Development Bank) signed the third and last tranche of loan agreement, amounts to 120.6 million US dollars to support electricity transmission and distribution capacity in Assam under the Assam Power Sector Enhancement Investment Programme. It amounts to 120.6 million US dollars.
India and the USA discussed ways of expanding their growing strategic partnership and cooperation at the 12th Defence Policy Group meeting held in New Delhi.
The 12th India-EU Summit was held in New Delhi.
India and Saudi Arabia agreed to set up a Joint Working Group on Defence Co-operation.The focus was on strengthening bilateral co-operation in the defence sector.
India and the USA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Washington to co-operate on Labour and employment issues during the visit of labour and employment minister Mallikarjun Khagre.


SPORTS & GAMES


South African Golfer James Barry Kruger won Avantha Masters Golf tournament in New Delhi. Popularly called Jbe Cruger, it was his maiden European Tour title.

Former Indian tennis player Manisha Malhotra conferred upon a top International Olympic Committee Award for her contribution in promoting sport among women.
Serbian tennis star, Novak Djokovic was awarded with the highest Serbian award, the Gold Star of Karadjordje.

Egypt defeated India 2-1 in the final of the SDAT-WSF Under-21 Squash World Cup.

Ajay Mittal of Haryana won the gold medal at the 55th National Shooting Championships for shotgun.

PERSONALITIES

Akhlaq Mohammad Khan (Shahryar), renowned Urdu poet  and noted lyricist of Umrao Jaan, passed away. Khan had received the Jnanpith Award for 2008.

Whitney Houston, winner of six Grammy Awards died.

Music composer Rajesh Roshan was honoured with the Lata Manageshkar award by the Madhya Pradesh government.

Rahul Bhatia, Managing Director of InterGlobe Enterprises group chosen for Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2011.
Vodafone India appointed Analjeet Singh as its non executive Chairman.

Mike Pandey, Veteran environmental filmmaker was honoured with the prestigious V. Shantaram Life Time Achievement Award.

Mallikarjun Kharge, union minister for labour and employment was presented with Pride of India award by the Indian-American community in Washington.


BOOKS & AUTHORS


Freedom's Mother – Anisul Hoque
The Convert – Deborah Baker
River Of Smoke- Amitav Ghosh
When Loss Is Gain- Pawan K. Verma
The Best Thing About You Is You – Anupam Kher

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Kotak Securities launched a ready to trade kit aimed at on-the-spot broking. The kit has been named My Box.

Flipkart, online shopping major unveiled its digital music store Flyte.

Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, appointed R.P. Singh as the Director (Personnel) of the company. He would take the charge from 1 April 2012.

US banking major Citi group sold its 9.85 percent stake in HDFC for around 1.9 billion dollars.

National Australia Bank opened its maiden branch in Mumbai, India.
RBI panel on priority sector lending proposed increment in the target (priority sector) for foreign banks to 40% of net bank credit from the current level of 32 per cent with sub-targets of 15 per cent for exports and 15 per cent for the MSE sector.
Competition Commission of India gave its nod to the proposed merger of Netizen Rajsthan with Reliance Infratel. Netizen Rajsthan, is a 100% subsidiary of Reliance Infratel.
Facebook, integrated the music site from Indiatimes Gaana.com as an application into its new Timeline.

RBI changed bank rate to realign it with Marginal Standing Facility rate after nine years. The bank rate, a benchmark rate at which RBI buys or re-discounts bills of exchange or other commercial papers eligible for purchase, was hiked with immediate effect to 9.5% from 6%. The bank rate will change whenever there is a change in the repo rate.

Indian FMCG major Marico bought the Paras Pharmaceuticals’ personal care arm from British consumer care giant Reckitt Benckiser.

RBI issued the Draft Circular for Deployment of White Label Automated Teller Machines (WLAs) from non-bank entities. The central banks' issuance of the draft reflected the bank’s intention to accelerate the growth and penetration of ATMs in the country. WLA means ATM owned, run and maintained by third parties on a contract basis from a financial institution.

SEBI gave its approval to the listing of 64.27 lakh shares of MCX[Multi Commodity Exchange of India] in the capital market.



SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Scientists identified two genes, NACP and MAPT linked to Parkinson's disease, a finding which may pave the way for better treatments for the second most prevalent neurological condition after dementia.

Researchers at the Harvard Smithsonian centre for Astrophysics discovered that the planet GJ1214b was largely covered in water. GJ1214b was described as a super-Earth. It is approximately 2.7 times Earth’s diameter and weighs almost 7 times as much.

Astronomers found the fourth habitable planet outside our solar system called GJ667Cc. The planet is 22 light years from Earth. The newly found planet is rocky in nature. It orbits its star every 28.15 days. It has a mass at least 4.5 times that of earth. The team of astronomers analysed data from the European Southern Observatory.



AWARDS & HONORS


Noted Hindi writer Professor Ramdarash Mishra was selected for the 21st Vyas Samman for his poetry collection Aam Ke Patte published in 2004.

84^th Academy Awards/Oscars Ceremony
Best Picture - The Artist
Best Actor - Jean Dujardin for The Artist
Best Actress - Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady
Best Director - Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Supporting Actor - Christopher Plummer for Beginners
Best Supporting Actress - Octavia Spencer for The Help
Best Animated feature film - Rango
Best foreign language film - A Separation ( Iran)

The 54th Annual Grammy Awards
Album of the Year: 21 - Adele
Record of the Year: Rolling in the Deep, Adele
Song of the Year: Rolling in the Deep, Adele
Best New Artist: Bon Iver
The British songstress, Adele swept the awards winning a staggering six golden gramophones for her Album, 21.

The 65^th annual British Academy Film awards
Best Picture: The Artist
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Best Actress: Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Best Supporting actress: Octavia Spencer – The Help
Best Supporting actor: Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Best Animated film: Rango directed by Gore Verbinski
Best Documentary: Senna
Outstanding British film: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Best Film not in the English language: The Skin I Live In (Spanish thriller film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar)
Outstanding debut: Tyrannosaur

JANUARY 2012

 

National

India and Pakistan on 1 Jan. 2012 exchanged lists of their nuclear installations and facilities under a two – decade – old pact prohibiting attacks on atomic assets.

Mali signs $100-m line of credit with Exim Bank of India.

India’s ranking in a global press freedom index fallen to 131 out of 179 on the press freedom index compiled by reporters without borders .

India Has The Most Toxic Air, India holds the very last rank among 132 nations in terms of air quality with regards to its effects on human health.

NTPC to build a 1,320 mw coal fired power plant in Bangladesh.

India to Grant $1.5 Million to University Of Chicago to establish a Vivekananda Chair for Indian Studies.

India selected the French fighter Rafale over the Euro fighter  Typhoon in a multibillion dollar contract for the supply of 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) the country ‘s largest defence deal estimated to be worth of $ 10.2 billion (54,000 crore).

Union Government gives nod to much-awaited National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC). The counter-terrorism agency will be a separate body under the control of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

India inks a multi lateral global pact to check tax avoidance and evasion with Germany and France

Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, also  the Chief Guest at the 26 Jan., 2012 Republic Day Parade in India has signed six accords, including one on defence cooperation, as the Southeast Asian nation acknowledged India’s credentials for a permanent seat in United Nations Security Council.

Union government notified the rules allowing 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in single-brand retail.

India and Trinidad & Tobago signed five agreements during the visit of Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar.

Home ministry of India launched the first batch of RICs (Resident Identity Cards) at Porthrapur village in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Asian Development Bank, signed an agreement with Union government of India to give a loan of 24.3 mn USD to boost investment in Maharashtra Agribusiness Infrastructure.

The Government of India and the World Bank signed an IDA credit of 130 mn USD to finance the project called NERLP (North East Rural Livelihoods Project).

The 10th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas was held in the pink city of Jaipur, Rajasthan. The event is held annually between 7th to 9th January.

Madhya Pradesh government launched Panch Parmeshwar scheme. The objective of the scheme is to further empower village Panchayats.

Government doubled the import duty on gold and silver by changing the customs and excise duty structure on precious metals.

International

Obama signs bill to suspend $ 1.1 bn aid to Pakistan

Pakistan wins temporary UN Security Council Seat for a term of Two Year securing 129 out of 193 votes in United Nations General Assembly

Pakistan Court issues Contempt Notice on 16 January 2012 against Prime Minister Gilani for failing to carry out its order to re-open a corruption case against the President.

25 out of 27 EU Nations agreed to sign a new treaty called Fiscal Compact

Romney wins first round battle for GOP’s (Grand Old Party), (US Republican Political Party )  US President nominations.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani dismissed Defence Secretary Lt Gen Khalid Naeem Lodhi.

Dutch government approves burqa ban.

World Future Energy Summit held in Abu Dhabi.

Sports

Novak Djokovic won in themen’s single category of the 2012 Australian Open

Victoria Azarenka won in the women category of the 2012 Australian Open

Rajasthan won the 78th Ranji Trophy by defeating Tamil Nadu.

Awards & Honours

69th Annual Golden Globe Awards

Best Picture: Drama - The Descendants
Best Actor: Drama - George Clooney (The Descendants)
Best Actress: Drama - Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
Best supporting Actor - Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
Best Supporting Actress - Octavia Spencer (The Help)
Best Screenplay - Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen)
Best Picture: Comedy or Musical- The Artist
Best Actor: Comedy or Musical - Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
Best Actress: Comedy or Musical - Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn)
Best Director - Martin Scorsese (Hugo)
Best Foreign Language Film - A Separation (Iran)
Best Animated Film - The Adventures of Tintin
Best Original Score - Ludovic Bource, The Artist

Books & Authors

NON STOP INDIA – Mark Tully

HIS MONSOON BRIDE - Aastha Atray

VIRTUOUS SIN - Shadan Ahmad

THE WORLD AT HIS FEET - Pullela Gopichand

Business & Economy

Net FII buying crossed the $2-billion mark in January 2012, making January the best month in terms of foreign fund flows since November 2010.

RBI cut the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points from 6 per cent to 5.5 per cent with effect from 28 January 2012.

US beverage maker Coca Cola retained its top position in Interbrand's list of the top 100 global brands in 2011.

SEBI allowed auctioning of securities through stock exchanges and introduced a new method for institutional placement of stocks.

Science & Technology

A team of scientists identified a group of cancer cells that play a main role in preventing the development of the disease.

Researchers identified a new species of earthworm in Port Blair, the capital of Andaman and Nicobar islands. The species was named Moniligaster Ivaniosi.

UK scientists discovered a new gene in maize plants, called Meg 1. The gene regulates the transfer of nutrients from the plant to the seed.

Personalities

Pankaj Pachauri, senior TV journalist, appointed as Communication Advisor in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Aamir Khan, appointed as UNICEF ambassador for promoting nutrition among children.

M O H Farook, Kerala governor and three-time Puducherry chief minister and MP, died in Chennai on 26 January 2012.

Sukumar Azhikode, award-winning Malayalam writer, scholar and one of the most influential Gandhian intellectual in Kerala, died on 24 January 2012.

Ricky Ponting appointed an officer in the general division of the Order of Australia, highest civil honour of Australia, for distinguished service to cricket & the community.

C. Jagannatha Rao, Senior congress leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh died.

Nikhat Kazmi, noted Times of India film critic who had been suffering from breast cancer died.

Homai Vyarawala, India’s first woman photo-journalist died.

Vice Admiral M.P. Muralidharan took charge as the 19th Director-General of the Indian Coast Guard.

Noted mathematician & Pro-Vice Chancellor, IGNOU Prof. Parvin Sinclair was appointed the Director of NCERT.

Laura Dekkar, 16 yrs old Dutch girl on 21st Jan 2012, became the youngest sailor to complete a solo circumnavigation of the world.

Events

World Hindi Day - January 10.

National Youth Day - January 12.

National Girl Child Day - January 24.

National Electorate Day - January 25.

Martyrdom Day - January 30

Railway Budget 2012

Union Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi presented the Railway Budget in Parliament on March 14, 2012.   Mr Dinesh Trivedi was forced to resign by Mamata Banerjee and Mr Mukul Roy was appointed as the Railways Minister, who rolled back the hike in fares proposed originally by Mr Trivedi, except in case of AC 2-tier and AC-1 fares.

The highlights of Railway Budget are:

• Minimum fare and platform tickets to cost Rs 5.

• 50 per cent concession in fare in AC-2, AC-3, Chair Car and Sleeper classes to patients suffering from ‘Aplastic Anaemia’ and ‘Sickle Cell Anaemia’.

• Extending the facility of travel by Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains to Arjuna Awardees.

• Travel distance under ‘Izzat Scheme’ to increase from 100 kms to 150 kms.

• SMS on passenger mobile phone in case of e-ticket to be accepted as proof of valid reservation.

• Introduction of satellite based real time train information system (SIMRAN) to provide train running information to passengers through SMS, internet, etc.

• On board passenger displays indicating next halt station and expected arrival time to be introduced.

• Installation of 321 escalators at important stations of which 50 will be commissioned in 2012-13.

• Introduction of regional cuisine at affordable rates; launching of Book-a-meal scheme to provide multiple choices of meals through SMS or email.

• Introduction of coin/currency operated ticket vending machines.

• Upgradation of 929 stations as Adarsh Stations, including 84 stations proposed in 2012-13; 490 stations have been completed so far.

• Specially designed coaches for differently-abled persons to be provided in each Mail/Express trains.

• Introduction of “Rail Bandhu” on-board magazine on Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains.

• Setting up of AC Executive lounges at important stations.

• 75 new Express trains to be introduced.

• 725 km new lines, 700 km doubling, 800 km gauge conversion and 1,100 km electrification targeted in 2012-13.

• Rs 6,872 cr provided for new lines, Rs 3,393 cr for doubling, Rs 1,950 cr for gauge conversation, Rs 828 cr for electrification.

• Highest ever plan outlay of Rs 60,100 cr

• A wagon factory to be set up at Sitapali (Ganjam District of Odisha)

• A rail coach factory with the support of government of Kerala to be set up at Palakkad; two additional new manufacturing units for coaches to be established in the Kutch area in Gujarat and at Kolar in Karnataka with active participation of the State governments.

• Setting up of a factory at Shyamnagar in West Bengal to manufacture next generation technology propulsion system for use in high power electric locomotives.

• Creating Missions as recommended by Pitroda Committee to implement the modernization programme.

• Setting up of Railway Tariff Regulatory Authority to be considered.

• Rail-Road Grade Separation Corporation to be set up to eliminate level crossings.

• Indian Railway Station Development Corporation to be set up to redevelop stations through PPP mode.

• National High Speed Rail Authority to be set-up.

• Introduction of a ‘Green Train’ to run through the pristine forests of North Bengal.

• Setting up of 200 remote railway stations as ‘green energy stations’ powered entirely by solar energy.

• Providing solar lighting system at 1,000 manned level crossing gates.

• 2,500 coaches to be equipped with bio toilets.

• Setting up of 72 MW capacity windmill plants in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

• Setting up of a Railway Safety Authority as a statutory regulatory body as recommended by Kakodkar Committee.

• Three 'Safety Villages' to be set up at Bengaluru, Kharagpur and Lucknow for skill development for disaster management.

• Institution of 'Rail Khel Ratna' Award for 10 rail sports-persons every year.

• New coaching terminal at Naihati, the birth place of Rishi Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, commemorating him on 175th Birth Anniversary.

• Project to connect Agartala with Akhaura in Bangladesh to be taken up in 2012-13.

• Freight loading of 1,025 MT targeted; 55 MT more than 2011-12

• Passenger growth targeted at 5.4 per cent.

Economic Survey 2012

Economic Survey 2012 Highlights


Key Highlights are as follows:

The Economy Survey 2011-12 was tabled by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Parliament on March 15, 2012.

The country's economic growth estimated at 6.9 per cent in the current fiscal; growth momentum to pick up in next two fiscals to 7.6 per cent 2012-13 and 8.6 per cent in 2013-14. 

RBI expected to lower policy interest rates, as inflationary pressures expected to ease in coming months; A low interest rate regime to encourage investment activity and push forward economic growth.
 
Steps required for deepening of domestic financial markets, especially corporate bond market and attracting longer-term inflows from abroad; Efforts at attracting dedicated infrastructure funds have begun. 

The growth rate of investment in the economy is estimated to have declined significantly; borrowing costs up due to a sharp increase in interest rates. 

High borrowing costs and increase in other costs affecting profitability and internal accruals. 

Slowdown in Indian economy largely due to global factors, as also because of domestic factors like tightening of monetary policy, high inflation and slower investment and industrial activities. 

Inflation high, but showing clear signs of slowdown by the year-end; Whole-sale food inflation down to 1.6 per cent in January 2012 from 20.2 per cent in February 2010. 

India remains one of the fastest growing economies of the world; Country's sovereign credit rating rose by a substantial 2.98 per cent 2007-12. 

Exports grew by 40.5 per cent in the first half of this fiscal and imports grew by 30.4 per cent; Foreign trade performance to remain key driver of growth. 

Forex reserves expanded further, covering almost the entire external debt stock to the country. 

Food grains production likely to cross 250.42 million tonnes; largely on back of increase in rice production. 

Agriculture and Services sectors expected to perform well; Industrial growth pegged at 4-5 per cent and expected to improve further as economic recovery resumes. 

Global economy remains fragile and concerted efforts needed to restore stability and renewed growth; Steps needed for sovereign debt crisis, financial regulation, growth and job creation efforts and energy security, globally. 

India much more closely integrated with world economy' share of trade to GDP of goods and services has tripled in 1990-2010. 

A progressive deregulation of interest rates on savings accounts to help raise financial savings and improve transmission of monetary policy. 

Sustainable development and climate change becoming central areas of global concern and India too is equally concerned and engaged constructively in global negotiations. 

FDI in multi-brand retail can come into effect in a “phased” manner, beginning from metropolitan cities. The survey said that allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail is one of the major issues in the services sector, but the move would address problems relating to food inflation.

Notwithstanding lower growth of domestic steel consumption during the first three quarters of the current fiscal, the overall performance of the sector is “optimistic”. The survey points out a list of bottlenecks responsible for lower steel consumption, including high inflationary pressure within, deteriorating global economy, multiple hikes in interest rates by the Reserve Bank of India. 

Rate of growth estimated to be 6.9% in FY 12.

Real GDP growth expected at 7.6% in FY 13.

GDP pegged at 8.6% in FY 14.

Agriculture grows at 2.5 % growth in FY 12.

Services grow at 9.4 %, in FY 12, share in GDP at 59%.

Industrial growth pegged at 4-5 % in FY 13.

WPI food inflation dropped from 20.2% in February 2010 to 1.6% in January 2012.

India’s sovereign credit rating rose by 2.98 percent in 2007-12.

Central spending on social services up at 18.5% in FY 12 Vs 13.4% FY 07.

Gross capital formation in Q3 of FY 12 as a ratio of GDP at 30%, down from 32% in FY 11.

Balance of Payments widens to USD 32.8 bn in H1 of FY 12 Vs USD 29.6 bn FY 11.

Forex reserves up from USD 279 bn in March ’10 to US USD 305 bn in March 11.

India’s share of trade to GDP of goods and services in world tripled in 1990-2010
.
FDI in multi-brand retail recommended.

Agriculture, allied activities account for 13.9 % of GDP in FY 12.

Foodgrains stocks at 55.2 million tonnes.

Production of foodgrains in FY 12 estimated at 250.42 million tones.

Industrial growth pegged at 4-5% in FY 12.

Employment in Industry increase from 16.2% in 1999-2000 to 21.9% in 2009-10 largely due to construction sector.

Services grow by 9.4% despite slowing GDP growth.

Share of services in GDP at increased from 55.1% in FY 11 to 56.3% in FY 12.

India’s exports grew at 23.5% to reach USD 242.8 bn in April 2011 - Jan 2012.

Imports up 29.4% during April - Jan 2011-12 at USD 391.5 bn.

Key import areas: petroleum, oil and lubricant, gold and silver.

UAE India’s largest trading partner, followed by China.

Total FDI inflows into major infrastructure sectors during April-December 2011 registered growth of 23.6%.

Rupee falls by 12.4 % against USD. Rupee’s high volatility impairs investor confidence.

Public sector banks show 19 % growth in priority sector lending.

Credit Disbursement to agriculture sector exceeded target by 19 %.

98 % public sector bank branches fully computerised.

Number of out-of-school children down from 134.6 lakh in 2005 to 81.5 lakh in 2009.

Share of women in organized-sector employment at 20.4% in 2010 March end.

MGNREGA: Coverage increases to 5.49 crore households in 2010-11.