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.