CURRENT AFFAIRS
USA Economy
American International Group Inc., the insurer under fire for handing out bonuses after its $173 billion government bailout, budgeted $57 million in “retention” pay for employees who will be dismissed. AIG disclosed the payments, part of a larger $1 billion program meant to retain staff. “Spending a billion dollars on retention payments while the company is on its deathbed is ludicrous, particularly when some of those payments are going to employees the company plans to terminate,” said Representative Elijah Cummings. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said that American International Group (AIG.N) will be taken to court if it does not provide details Thursday of bonus recipients that were requested under a subpoena. The Obama administration moved on Thursday to stabilize the American auto industry by creating a $5 billion fund to support troubled parts suppliers. The Treasury Department said the program would guarantee payments to suppliers for products shipped to ailing car companies. The supplier fund is the first direct action taken by President Obama’s auto task force to prop up the auto industry, which has suffered big losses from the steep decline in new-vehicle sales.
Pakistan under Taliban
The prisoners, who were presented to a peace committee, were released a day after Taliban officials demanded a total of 210 prisoners be freed. Since the peace agreement was reached, more than 30 Taliban militants have been released from custody in Pakistan.
Israel – Hamas
Talks between Israel and Hamas – taking placing through Egyptian mediators in Cairo came to a halt after Israel said that Hamas was asking for too much in return for its one captive soldier Gilad Shalit, seized by Palestinian militants who tunnelled into Israel from the Gaza Strip in 2006. Hamas demands to release all 450 long-serving Palestinian prisoners who were directly involved in planning suicide bombings during the intifada – a request that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said went beyond Israel’s “red lines”. Israeli forces arrested 20 Hamas operatives in the West Bank on 19th March, including at least seven politicians and parliamentarians affiliated with the Islamist group, in what some observers say is an Israeli crackdown aimed at putting more pressure on the Hamas leadership in Gaza to reach a prisoner-exchange deal.
Varun Gandhi
BJP nominee from Pilibhit Varun Gandhi's debut in electoral politics has seriously embarrassed the party and could well invite a serious rap on his knuckles if the charge of his making a communally inflammatory speech deriding Muslims is proved. The Election Commission left no room for the son of late Sanjay Gandhi and BJP leader Maneka Gandhi as it asked UP chief electoral officer Anuj Bishnoi to file an FIR against Varun. Election Commission came down heavily on Varun Gandhi, making it clear that his speech violated the model code of conduct and ordered that his movements be video tracked, the young leader was calculatedly defiant.
With Jai Sri Ram as Varun Gandhi's rally call, the BJP on Friday decided in a significant shift from their initial position to back the young Gandhi. After first stating that Varun did not have the official party candidature yet, on Friday the party said he will be their candidate, though they maintained they did not agree with his comments. In a severe indictment of Varun Gandhi, the Election Commission said his communal speeches were an unpardonable act and asked the BJP not to field him as a candidate for the Lok Sabha elections.
Seat Sharing
Hours after snubbing the Congress by offering merely three seats to it in Bihar on Tuesday, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav sought an appointment with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, expressing his desire to hold seat-sharing talks and reportedly offering two more seats. However congress — which had demanded no less than 10 of the 40 seats in the state — will contest more than 26 seats in Bihar. The Congress also sewed up a seat-sharing agreement with the JMM in Jharkhand on Wednesday, leaving the RJD only the two seats it had won last time.
After reports of differences between the Congress and the NCP in their seat sharing talks for Maharashtra, Congress on Friday said that the alliance with the Sharad Pawar-led party was in the process of being finalised. 22nd mar:
Meghalaya Government
The Union cabinet on 18th March decided to bring Meghalaya (which saw a controversial confidence vote in the state assembly on Tuesday) under President’s rule.
Satyam Case
At least two bidders said 20th March that they were in the race for India's Satyam Computer Services as a deadline expired for suitors to show they were serious about buying the scandal-tainted outsourcer. Potential bidders had until late Friday to show they had at least 15 billion rupees (300 million dollars) to back up their interest in the software services export giant whose finances were left in shambles by its founder. Indian tycoon B.K. Modi's Spice Group and telecom software firm Tech Mahindra Ltd (TML) said they were in the running for Satyam while engineering giant Larsen & Toubro said it would file a formal expression of interest. Larsen & Toubro has already built up a 12 percent stake in Satyam.
Aravali hills - court case
Haryana undertook before the Supreme Court that it will follow every recommendation of the Central Empowered Committee and will undo some of the damage to the ravaged Aravalis.
IPL Story
IPL – Sony talks fail; search on for new broadcaster. After weeks of suspense and intense negotiations, the second season of the Indian Premier League will finally go ahead — but it’s going to be a non-resident Indian league, taking place in either England or South Africa.
WORLD NEWS
1. U.S. President Barack Obama offered Iran a "new beginning" of diplomatic engagement on Friday in an unprecedented videotaped message, after decades of U.S. hostility to the Islamic Republic.
2. South Africa barred the Dalai Lama from attending a peace conference this week in Johannesburg. Activists for Tibet say China, one of South Africa's major trading partners, pressured the government into denying a visa to the Dalai Lama.
3. The US ambassador to Kabul said that America would be prepared to discuss the establishment of a political party, or even election candidates representing the Taliban, as part of political strategy.
NATIONAL NEWS
4. The trial has begun in India of Kasab. India has blamed a Pakistan-based terror group for the attack which killed some 170 people. The suspect told a court Monday that he is from Pakistan, and asked for legal counsel.
BUSINESS NEWS
5. Hemendra Kothari, leading investment banker and chairman of DSP Merrill Lynch, sold his remaining 10% stake in the company to Bank of America, which bought Merrill Lynch globally in 2008.
6. Russia has set aside 23.7 billion Rubles "for acquiring shares in the joint venture Shyam Telelink," now known as Sistema Shyam TeleServices, in its draft budget for 2009
7. Reliance had earlier brought in Chevron as an international strategic investor in Reliance Petroleum. Reliance Industries is planning to form a joint venture with another oil marketing firm to operate its existing 1,400 odd petrol retail outlets in the country.
8. Indian shares Thursday closed above the 9,000 mark for the first time in a month, helped by a rally in global markets following a Federal Reserve decision to inject $1trillion into the recession-hit U.S. economy. Inflation rate eased to 0.44% in the week ended March 7. The currency gained 1.7 percent in the five days ended March 20.
9. IDBI Bank will provide Air India a loan of $1 billion to help the airline acquire 12 aircraft mainly for domestic operations. IDBI Bank had recently extended Rs 300-crore loan to the beleaguered Satyam Computer, helping the IT-firm's newly appointed board to fulfil its near-term requirements.
10. The Tata Nano is all set to steer India into automotive history as the world’s cheapest car is launched on Monday, promising an affordable vehicle to millions of Indians.
SPORTS NEWS
11. India registered their biggest Test win in New Zealand, a convincing 10-wicket triumph in Hamilton on Saturday. Dhoni and his men also ended a 33-year wait — India last won a Test in New Zealand way back in 1976.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
TOP 20 THIS WEEK
CURRENT AFFAIRS
MADOFF FRAUD CASE
Bernard Madoff wrote a letter describing his fraud for which he got arrested on 11-dec-08.He wrote "I am so deeply sorry and ashamed about my crimes. When I began the scheme I believed it would end shortly and I would be able to extricate myself and my clients from the scheme. However, this proved difficult, and ultimately impossible, and as the years went by I realized that my arrest and this day would inevitably come. The essence of the scheme was that investments from people were taken for investing in market securities but transferred to my bank account"
AIG – ISSUING BONUS
AIG is to distribute Bonuses to its employees despite being a beneficiary of stimulus package. Obama vowed to try to stop AIG from paying out bonuses to executives.
SATYAM CASE
#At least eight serious suitors have entered the bidding fray for Satyam. Bidding by tech Mahindra has however been controversial. As the Indian promoters of the company Mahindra & Mahindra holds 44.18% in the company. And, Deepak Parekh, who is on the board of Satyam as a government appointee is also on the board of M&M. However, US-based outsourcing company iGate sought more clarity on the financials of Satyam before the final bidding.
#To prevent recurrence of Satyam-like frauds, the ICAI on Monday tightened the auditing standards by introducing new guidelines which will enable auditors interlink information and reports of other stakeholders and evaluate them.
UPCOMING ELECTIONS
#Congress and Trinamool Congress reached a seat-sharing accord for Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal. On the other hand, Third Front would not name any leader for the PM post in the run-up to the elections. Third Front was officially launched at an impressive rally with a coalition of Left and major regional parties vowing to defeat the Congress and BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.
#The 29-year-old son of Maneka and the late Sanjay Gandhi, Varun Gandhi was Sunday issued a notice by the district authorities on his pro-Hindu and anti-Muslim tone that could trigger a communal clash.
IPL STORY
#The tournament is likely to begin as scheduled on April 10, though the number of venues is likely to increase from eight to 11 or 12. Clouds of uncertainty are still looming large over the second season of IPL as security concerns still need to be addressed. The home ministry told to submit new schedule as revised schedule submitted on March 7 was unfeasible.
#Bombay High Court has blocked a move by the IPL to remove Sony as its broadcaster and strike a deal directly with World Sports Group (WSG), Sony's rights partner for the tournament.
PAKISTAN POLITICAL EVENTS (in sequence)
#'Long March’ outside the parliament by lawyers and Nawaz Sharif was planned to weaken the rule of the government and to restore a group of judges fired by Musharraf in 2007.
#Pakistan arrested hundreds of opposition activists and banned protests in two regions to curb the opposition.
#Pakistan army and PM Gilani asked Zardari to leave if he does not accept deal hatched by them in consultation with foreign powers. As part of the deal, the PM has been asked to immediately convince Zardari to accept the new constitutional arrangement and restore Supreme Court Justice Ifthikar Chaudhary.
#Pakistan government offered to challenge the disqualification of PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz from contesting elections in a bid to defuse the crisis but Sharif rejected the offer.
#Pakistan's government had put Nawaz Sharif under house arrest.
#Zardari agreed to the terms of the deal hatched by PM Gilani and Pakistan’s chief justice had been reinstated after a two-year struggle
MUMBAI ATTACKS
India provided more evidence, including forensic reports responding to Pakistan's questions on Mumbai attacks, and asked it to proceed fast. However, after political instability the ability of Pakistan to probe into Mumbai Attacks is questioned.
SUBHIKSHA CASE
The Employees Provident Fund Office (EPFO) will initiate action against retail chain Subhiksha following the ending of the 15 day deadline given to the company.
NEWS
POLITICS
1. Indian-American Vivek Kundra, who last week was appointed Federal Chief Technology Officer by Obama, is on leave after the FBI raided his old office. However, Kundra was not suspected of any wrong doing. Two others are arrested under corruption charges.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
1. China is concerned about the “safety” of $1 trillion investment in American government debt. Obama administration offered assurances that the securities would maintain their value.
2. Obama will ask people who volunteered for his presidential campaign to gather signatures from neighbours to support his budget, which proposes a $1.75 trillion deficit to lift the country out of recession.
3. Liquidity of markets got enhanced. RBI bought back Rs 8,000 crore of bonds and not planned 10000 crore bonds. This probably was because the cut off demanded by the market participants was higher than what the RBI’s 6.33%. Rupee also appreciated as markets surged in India and globally.
4. World Bank, which has decided to step up its exposure to India to $14 billion in the next three years, will soon clear a $2.6 billion special loan package
5. Unwilling to compromise on their demands, producers and distributors have decided not to release their movies from April 4 until multiplexes agree to an equal share in revenue.
SPORTS
1. Virender Sehwag blasted India's fastest ODI hundred off 60 balls and India won maiden one-day series in New Zealand by 3-1.
TECHNOLOGY
1. India is launching its own version of Google Earth for helping scientists and town planners amid worries that it could be misused by terrorists.
2. IBM's Indian research division has developed a new protocol that will help users create "Voice sites" on the Internet called Hyperspeech Transfer Protocol (HSTP) similar to HTTP.
3. Trend Micro, an international content security provider, has warned users against TROJAN vulnerability (a buffer overflow) in versions 9.0.0 and earlier of the Adobe Acrobat family of applications.
OTHERS
1. Nasscom on Tuesday said any proposed amendment restricting the H-1B visa norms would be of “extreme concern” to the industry. It said “Nothing should be done that seem attractive and populist in the short term, but will have a long term negative impact.”
2. An agriculture engineering student in AP was allegedly made to dance nude as part of ragging by her seniors following which the girl attempted to commit suicide. University Grants commission (UGC) has threatened to stop funds if any college is unable to stop ragging.
Monday, March 9, 2009
TOP 20 LAST WEEK (3-mar to 9-mar)
CURRENT AFFAIRS
MULTI YEAR LOW LEVELS
Wall Street witnessed a 12-year low in banking sector and General Motors Corp on Wednesday.
a. Citigroup Inc. finished down 10 percent at $1.02.
b. General Motors ended with a loss of 15 percent at $1.86.
Indian economy is also exhibiting the similar behaviour.
a. Rupee slid to an all-time low of 52.185 a dollar on Tuesday.
b. India's inflation rate fell to 3.03%, its lowest level in six years.
c. BSE sank by 2.9% to 8197.92, its 3-year low on Thursday with Reliance Industries (dropped 5.1%) and ICICI Bank Ltd (dropped 5.2%) leading the downfall.
d. Infrastructure sector recorded growth of 1.4% as compared to 3.6% in the same month last year.
SWAT VALLEY- TALIBAN - PAKISTAN
After a six-month campaign, the Pakistani military is claiming victory over the Taliban in Bajaur, a northern sliver of the tribal areas, saying the militants have suffered heavy losses and have been pushed over the border into Afghanistan.
TERRORIST ATTACK ON SRI-LANKAN PLAYERS
Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked in Pakistan by 12 gunmen on Tuesday while travelling by bus for second test match against Pakistan at 9 a.m. local time. Six security personnel were reported dead and eight players hurt. Batsmen Tharanga Paranavitana and Thilan Samaraweera sustained the worst injuries but are in a stable condition now. Next day, CCTV of Pakistan showed the footage in which the attackers made an easy getaway questioning the security arrangements. There were reports of advance threat alerts to Sri Lankan team by local security agencies.
With the proceedings of investigations, Pakistan ruled out the involvement of India or the LTTE indicating that the Al Qaida or Let activists may be behind the attack. The suspected mastermind of last week’s assault on the Sri Lankan cricket team escaped a police raid on his home in northern Punjab.
America speeds up efforts to save Pakistan with massive amounts of economic and military aid. Pervez Musharraf said he would consider becoming President again even as he ruled out joining any political party.
IPL CONTROVERSY
The T20 cricket blitz was rescheduled and on some days there will be three encounters squeezed in. The rescheduling of IPL came after govt. Raised concerns over security arrangements for IPL and elections at the same time. As IPL scrambled to meet the Centre’s security brief, it was decided that five matches scheduled on election days or just before or after would be rescheduled. However, there seems to be another hitch to season two of IPL. Home ministry sources say that police chief want more spacing between matches.
SUDAN PRESIDENT – ARREST WARRANT
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir, on the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. Sudan on Monday freed the country's top opposition leader, who was jailed for nearly seven weeks after calling on President Omar al-Bashir to surrender to face war crimes charges. The release of Hassan Turabi, ex- president also appeared to be an attempt to blunt opposition to the president who is trying to rally support at home after an issue of warrant.
NORTH KOREA – SATELLITE LAUNCH
South Korea and Washington are expected to fine-tune their response regarding the missile launch. They have already agreed with Japan that even if North Korea claims that it's launching a satellite instead of a missile, this should be sanctioned as it is a violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1718 that prohibits Pyongyang from engaging in missile-related activities.
The U.S. and South Korean military launched a massive joint military exercise on Monday amid Pyongyang’s strong opposition and repeated warnings. North Korean army also warned that it will stage a war on the territories of the United States, Japan and South Korea if its satellite launch "for peaceful purpose" was intercepted.
SATYAM CASE
After weeks of deliberations and suspense, Satyam received approval from SEBI to begin a global bidding process for 51% share to a strategic investor. Under the process, the investor will be issued fresh equity of 31% and will be required to make the mandatory open offer to purchase a minimum of 20% share from the public. There will also be no-claims clause which disallows the buyer to sue the government in case the real value of Satyam turns out to be less than estimated.
AUCTION – GANDHI’S BELONGINGS
Vijay Mallya, the new owner of the Mahatma's belongings (bought in $1.8 million) says he wants to donate them to the Indian government. Although he rejects any support from government in the bidding process. Later, the seller said he was withdrawing them so the auctioneer has agreed to wait two weeks before finalizing the sale.
India is preparing legislation to prevent more of Mahatma Gandhi's belongings being auctioned off abroad. Thus, selling or buying of heritage articles abroad will be illegal.
UPCOMING ELECTIONS
Samajwadi Party on Thursday accused Congress of ending their alliance. Earlier, Congress announced 24 candidates for UP which it said was in response to SP having unilaterally naming 64 contestants. The failure of two allies to cement a pact would be good news for prime ministerial ambitions of Mayawati.
NEWS
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
1. Banks said that they will pass on the benefit of cut on repo rate and reverse repo rate by RBI to the customers. This will result in loans to get cheaper to further extent. ICICI Bank has cut its home loan rates by 25-50 basis points for new customers with immediate effect.
2. The growing uncertainty among companies about their ability to recover all dues from customers is pushing many to take credit insurance policies. Manufacturers and wholesalers selling products on credit to customers can take trade credit insurance protection.
3. The stimulus packages announced by government seems to be working (especially excise cuts), with the country’s largest truck maker — Tata Motors recording a 35% growth in sales and the second largest — Ashok Leyland witnessing a 33% increase in February sales.
4. Microsoft, which had recently announced shedding some 5,000 jobs, will be giving pink slips to H-1B visa holders too, despite acknowledging that this category of workers has a significant contribution to the company’s success. Also, Technology giant IBM is resorting to "scattered layoffs" and the total could be nearly 4,600 employees in North America even though the company has reported surprisingly strong quarterly profits in January.
5. Five months after Tata Motors shifted its Nano plant to Gujarat, another Tata company has decided to move a project out of West Bengal. Tata Metaliks has scrapped its 500,000-tonne billet project, proposed to be built with an investment of Rs 700-800 crore, in the state and is likely to put it up in Karnataka. Company had initiated talks with both West Bengal and Karnataka some time in 2005, asking for 500 acres from each. However, the Karnataka project has now been scaled up to 900 acres.
6. China has begun designing two more nuclear reactors for Pakistan, which will come up at its Chashma Nuclear Power Complex. The decision came soon after Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari's visit to China in the last week of February.
TECHNOLOGY
7. After a failed bid in the previous test, a new version of the 290km-range supersonic BrahMos cruise missile was successfully test-fired on Wednesday at Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan.
8. A second prototype of Saras, India’s first indigenously designed civilian plane, crashed during a test flight, killing all the three crew members at Bidadi. India successfully staged a missile intercept test on Friday as part of its plan to build a missile defence system
OTHERS
9. In Ghaziabad riot started at 5:30 pm. mobs on Wednesday severely beat up two policemen, set fire to a police post, police jeep and about half a dozen motorcycles and vandalized the police control room on Meerut Road. Late in the night, prohibitory orders under Section 144 were imposed in the city. The rioting took place over allegations that two ‘‘carjackers’’ the police claimed to have shot in an encounter in the morning had actually been picked up from their homes around midnight on Tuesday by an SI and four constables. The cops denied the charge.
10. KASHMIR: The killing of a youth by CRPF at Nowhatta on Friday has evoked wide-spread condemnation from both separatists as well as mainstream politicians. Kashmiri people are living under military dictatorship. A local says “The blood of civilians living in J&K has become trivial for govt of India.”
11. Homemade bombs damaged police vehicles in a Tibetan part of western China on Monday, and authorities expanded a security cordon across the restive region ahead of the 50th anniversary of a failed revolt that sent the Dalai Lama into exile.
MULTI YEAR LOW LEVELS
Wall Street witnessed a 12-year low in banking sector and General Motors Corp on Wednesday.
a. Citigroup Inc. finished down 10 percent at $1.02.
b. General Motors ended with a loss of 15 percent at $1.86.
Indian economy is also exhibiting the similar behaviour.
a. Rupee slid to an all-time low of 52.185 a dollar on Tuesday.
b. India's inflation rate fell to 3.03%, its lowest level in six years.
c. BSE sank by 2.9% to 8197.92, its 3-year low on Thursday with Reliance Industries (dropped 5.1%) and ICICI Bank Ltd (dropped 5.2%) leading the downfall.
d. Infrastructure sector recorded growth of 1.4% as compared to 3.6% in the same month last year.
SWAT VALLEY- TALIBAN - PAKISTAN
After a six-month campaign, the Pakistani military is claiming victory over the Taliban in Bajaur, a northern sliver of the tribal areas, saying the militants have suffered heavy losses and have been pushed over the border into Afghanistan.
TERRORIST ATTACK ON SRI-LANKAN PLAYERS
Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked in Pakistan by 12 gunmen on Tuesday while travelling by bus for second test match against Pakistan at 9 a.m. local time. Six security personnel were reported dead and eight players hurt. Batsmen Tharanga Paranavitana and Thilan Samaraweera sustained the worst injuries but are in a stable condition now. Next day, CCTV of Pakistan showed the footage in which the attackers made an easy getaway questioning the security arrangements. There were reports of advance threat alerts to Sri Lankan team by local security agencies.
With the proceedings of investigations, Pakistan ruled out the involvement of India or the LTTE indicating that the Al Qaida or Let activists may be behind the attack. The suspected mastermind of last week’s assault on the Sri Lankan cricket team escaped a police raid on his home in northern Punjab.
America speeds up efforts to save Pakistan with massive amounts of economic and military aid. Pervez Musharraf said he would consider becoming President again even as he ruled out joining any political party.
IPL CONTROVERSY
The T20 cricket blitz was rescheduled and on some days there will be three encounters squeezed in. The rescheduling of IPL came after govt. Raised concerns over security arrangements for IPL and elections at the same time. As IPL scrambled to meet the Centre’s security brief, it was decided that five matches scheduled on election days or just before or after would be rescheduled. However, there seems to be another hitch to season two of IPL. Home ministry sources say that police chief want more spacing between matches.
SUDAN PRESIDENT – ARREST WARRANT
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir, on the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. Sudan on Monday freed the country's top opposition leader, who was jailed for nearly seven weeks after calling on President Omar al-Bashir to surrender to face war crimes charges. The release of Hassan Turabi, ex- president also appeared to be an attempt to blunt opposition to the president who is trying to rally support at home after an issue of warrant.
NORTH KOREA – SATELLITE LAUNCH
South Korea and Washington are expected to fine-tune their response regarding the missile launch. They have already agreed with Japan that even if North Korea claims that it's launching a satellite instead of a missile, this should be sanctioned as it is a violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1718 that prohibits Pyongyang from engaging in missile-related activities.
The U.S. and South Korean military launched a massive joint military exercise on Monday amid Pyongyang’s strong opposition and repeated warnings. North Korean army also warned that it will stage a war on the territories of the United States, Japan and South Korea if its satellite launch "for peaceful purpose" was intercepted.
SATYAM CASE
After weeks of deliberations and suspense, Satyam received approval from SEBI to begin a global bidding process for 51% share to a strategic investor. Under the process, the investor will be issued fresh equity of 31% and will be required to make the mandatory open offer to purchase a minimum of 20% share from the public. There will also be no-claims clause which disallows the buyer to sue the government in case the real value of Satyam turns out to be less than estimated.
AUCTION – GANDHI’S BELONGINGS
Vijay Mallya, the new owner of the Mahatma's belongings (bought in $1.8 million) says he wants to donate them to the Indian government. Although he rejects any support from government in the bidding process. Later, the seller said he was withdrawing them so the auctioneer has agreed to wait two weeks before finalizing the sale.
India is preparing legislation to prevent more of Mahatma Gandhi's belongings being auctioned off abroad. Thus, selling or buying of heritage articles abroad will be illegal.
UPCOMING ELECTIONS
Samajwadi Party on Thursday accused Congress of ending their alliance. Earlier, Congress announced 24 candidates for UP which it said was in response to SP having unilaterally naming 64 contestants. The failure of two allies to cement a pact would be good news for prime ministerial ambitions of Mayawati.
NEWS
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
1. Banks said that they will pass on the benefit of cut on repo rate and reverse repo rate by RBI to the customers. This will result in loans to get cheaper to further extent. ICICI Bank has cut its home loan rates by 25-50 basis points for new customers with immediate effect.
2. The growing uncertainty among companies about their ability to recover all dues from customers is pushing many to take credit insurance policies. Manufacturers and wholesalers selling products on credit to customers can take trade credit insurance protection.
3. The stimulus packages announced by government seems to be working (especially excise cuts), with the country’s largest truck maker — Tata Motors recording a 35% growth in sales and the second largest — Ashok Leyland witnessing a 33% increase in February sales.
4. Microsoft, which had recently announced shedding some 5,000 jobs, will be giving pink slips to H-1B visa holders too, despite acknowledging that this category of workers has a significant contribution to the company’s success. Also, Technology giant IBM is resorting to "scattered layoffs" and the total could be nearly 4,600 employees in North America even though the company has reported surprisingly strong quarterly profits in January.
5. Five months after Tata Motors shifted its Nano plant to Gujarat, another Tata company has decided to move a project out of West Bengal. Tata Metaliks has scrapped its 500,000-tonne billet project, proposed to be built with an investment of Rs 700-800 crore, in the state and is likely to put it up in Karnataka. Company had initiated talks with both West Bengal and Karnataka some time in 2005, asking for 500 acres from each. However, the Karnataka project has now been scaled up to 900 acres.
6. China has begun designing two more nuclear reactors for Pakistan, which will come up at its Chashma Nuclear Power Complex. The decision came soon after Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari's visit to China in the last week of February.
TECHNOLOGY
7. After a failed bid in the previous test, a new version of the 290km-range supersonic BrahMos cruise missile was successfully test-fired on Wednesday at Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan.
8. A second prototype of Saras, India’s first indigenously designed civilian plane, crashed during a test flight, killing all the three crew members at Bidadi. India successfully staged a missile intercept test on Friday as part of its plan to build a missile defence system
OTHERS
9. In Ghaziabad riot started at 5:30 pm. mobs on Wednesday severely beat up two policemen, set fire to a police post, police jeep and about half a dozen motorcycles and vandalized the police control room on Meerut Road. Late in the night, prohibitory orders under Section 144 were imposed in the city. The rioting took place over allegations that two ‘‘carjackers’’ the police claimed to have shot in an encounter in the morning had actually been picked up from their homes around midnight on Tuesday by an SI and four constables. The cops denied the charge.
10. KASHMIR: The killing of a youth by CRPF at Nowhatta on Friday has evoked wide-spread condemnation from both separatists as well as mainstream politicians. Kashmiri people are living under military dictatorship. A local says “The blood of civilians living in J&K has become trivial for govt of India.”
11. Homemade bombs damaged police vehicles in a Tibetan part of western China on Monday, and authorities expanded a security cordon across the restive region ahead of the 50th anniversary of a failed revolt that sent the Dalai Lama into exile.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Top 20 last week (24th feb to 2nd mar)
CURRENT AFFAIRS
USA ECONOMY
President Barack Obama presented first federal budget of his administration. It indicates significant rise in taxes levied on wealthy people while cutting taxes for working-class Americans. The budget estimates a deficit of $1.75 trillion for the current fiscal year.
SWAT VALLEY, PAKISTAN
Security forces announced a four-day ceasefire in Pakistan's tribal region bordering Afghanistan. According to Police report the Taliban terror network is spreading rapidly across Pakistan and it may be on course to strike financial and shipping hub (Karachi).
ISRAEL-GAZA
Hillary Clinton donation will be more than $900 million in humanitarian and rebuilding aid to the Palestinian Authority to help Gaza recover from the destruction.
Leaders of the rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have opened reconciliation talks in a renewed effort to create a unity government. Solving Fatah-Hamas differences is seen also as an essential step if an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal were to happen although analysts say that could be a long way off.
MUMBAI ATTACKS
Investigations in Mumbai attacks are leading to interesting results which say that VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) calls made by terrorists to their handlers have been traced to a serving colonel of the Pakistani army. Also, a formal 11,000 page charge sheet of this case was presented in court on Wednesday. Pakistan has refused for any link of army to the Mumbai attacks and has sought clarifications in its report sent in response to Indian document. India said that it will respond to Pakistan's queries seeking more details, including audio recordings of conversations between the Mumbai terrorists and their handlers but it signals Pakistan to take actions first and do the talks later
BANGLADESH RIFLES (BDR)
Bangladesh rifles (Bangladesh border Guards) revolted due to complaints about pay and working conditions. This mutiny began in Dhaka and spread across the country. More than 1,000 border guards were charged Sunday with murder and arson in the uprising that left at least 148 people dead or missing, most of them army officers, after the government withdrew its promise of amnesty it made in case BDR surrenders its weapons.
Pakistani footprints are showing up in the bloody mutiny. Interrogation of some of the rebels has thrown up the name of Salauddin, a well-known business-man who is reported to be very close to the Pakistan military-intelligence and the opposition BNP.
NEWS
POLITICS
1. At a staggering Rs 10,000 crore, the Lok Sabha polls this summer would cost more than what Barack Obama and others spent in the US presidential race i.e. Rs 8000 crore.
2. The much-awaited schedule for the Lok Sabha elections was announced on Monday afternoon. The country will go to polls from April 16 to May 13. Counting of votes will be done on May 16 and the 15th Lok Sabha will be constituted by June two. Chief Election Commissioner Gopalaswami said that 124 constituencies would vote on April 16, followed by 141 on April 23, 107 on April 30, 85 on May 7 and 86 on May 13.
3. Responding to the announcement of election dates, Trinamool Congress announced an alliance with Congress in West Bengal. BJP also announced Lok Sabha poll alliance with Ajit Singh-led RLD in Maharashtra.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
4. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee today announced an across-the-board cut in excise and service tax rates, as part of the third stimulus package to boost the domestic economy. Goods that attract a 10 per cent excise duty will now be charged 8 per cent. Nearly 90 per cent of excise duty collection comes from the slab rate of 10 per cent which is levied on industries like metal, iron and steel, copper and aluminium and the producers are ready to pass on these benefits to consumer.
5. The Tata Nano announced roll out on March 23 and bookings for the cheapest family car will start from the second week of April.
6. After a worrying 7 per cent fall in sales in January, Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motors, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Honda have notched up an impressive 18.78 per cent growth in sales in February.
7. India’s rupee plunged to a record low. The currency tumbled 22 percent versus the dollar in the past 12 months. The rupee tumbled as much as 1.4 percent to an all-time low of 51.175 per dollar, before closing at 51.150. India said this month their budget deficits will more than double to 6 percent of gross domestic product. Government borrowings are set to rise to 3.06 trillion rupees in the year ending March 31, from 1.56 trillion in the previous year. Foreign-exchange reserves dropped to $249.5 billion this month, from a record $316.2 billion reached in May 2008.
8. Stock market fell to a three month low. After a whopping loss of over Rs 40,00,000 crore in 2008, the stock market is continuing its free-fall and investors have lost an average of Rs 100 crore in every five minutes of trade in first two months of 2009. Cumulatively, the total investors' wealth has got eroded by about Rs 2,82,000 crore so far this year.
9. The board of directors of Reliance Industries and Reliance Petroleum on Monday approved the merger of the two firms, creating one of the world's largest petrochemical entity and offered the shareholders of RPL one RIL share for every 16 shares held by them.
10. India on Monday lifted the ban on importing toys from China provided they conform to international safety norms. India had earlier on January 23 banned the import of Chinese toys for six months on grounds of public health and safety.
TECHNOLOGY
11. Gmail was attacked on Tuesday. The oldest trick was used to hack when thousands of machines controlled by a group of people may have been directed to access Gmail simultaneously, resulting in a crash of Gmail’s servers. Gmail went down at 2 pm IST and recovered at 6 pm IST.
12. Apart from the Planning Commission approval to ISRO's Rs 12,400-crore manned space flight programme scheduled for liftoff in 2015, the Centre has hiked the pre-project funding for the mission by about Rs 40 crore this year. The government has earmarked a total of Rs 95 crore this year towards pre-project funding activity, which essentially involves initiating more studies relating to a human space flight.
13. The keel of first Indian aircraft was laid down at cochin shipyard. This will be India’s first aircraft Carrier. Till now only US, UK, Russia and France are capable of building a 40,000 tonne aircraft carrier.
OTHERS
14. In a case related to the controversial Yellampalli irrigation project, a special court of the Bureau directed the ACB (Anti-Corruption Bureau) Director General on Friday to register a case against Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, irrigation minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah and nine others for alleged misappropriation of public funds.
15. Filmfare awards: Major awards were bagged by Rock on and Jodha Akbar.
Best Film – Jodha Akbar
Best Actor – Hrithik Roshan, Jodha Akbar
Best Actress – Priyanka Chopra, Fashion
Best Director – Jodha Akbar
Best Music Director – A.R.Rahman, Jane tu..
Monday, February 23, 2009
Top 20 this week (17th Feb to 23rd Feb)
CURRENT AFFAIRS
USA ECONOMY
Obama is working hard to bailout US economy. He is also willing cooperation from other countries to fight global meltdown. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged China to keep buying US debt and to work with Washington in combating the global economic crisis. However, OBAMA started to distribute bailout money from the states where winning was most difficult for him. Some people said that it’s his game plan for the next elections.
USA - TERRORISM - AFGHANISTAN -PAK
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai is willing for more US help. The comments came as US President Barack Obama authorised up to 17000 more US troops for Afghanistan. U.S. defence is also looking for a new agreement with Kyrgyzstan that ordered US to leave key military base which supports western troops in Afghanistan. Pakistan has also provided inputs to US policy for Afghanistan.
SWAT VALLEY, PAKISTAN
The Pakistan army said on Monday it had ceased operations against Taliban militants in the north-western valley of Swat with the peace in the region as major reason. The local people of swat valley cheered with joy but USA, India and other countries have expressed their concerns on stance of Pakistan on this issue.
Earlier, Pakistan was finding it difficult to fight with the situation. A suicide bomber blew a funeral for a leader killing 30 people. Few gunmen abducted a senior govt administrator. Govt also planned to distribute 30000 rifles to villagers so that local people can help government regain control.
LTTE WAR
LTTE urged foreign powers to step in and arrange an immediate truce but Sri Lanka said it is nearing the end of Tamil Tiger rebels and there would be no need for a ceasefire at this stage. However, fight of Tamil tigers is still fierce. Capital Colombo witnessed attack on a govt building from two planes belonging to Tamil Tiger rebels.
The civilians of the north eastern region are facing a tough time in this war. The UN and the Red Cross urged both govt troops and LTTE rebels to free civilians from the war zone.
MUMBAI ATTACKS
The investigation in Mumbai terror attacks is crawling up from different fronts. A team of FBI is arriving in Islamabad this week to question terrorist attack suspects held by Pakistani authorities. Pakistan Defence Minister said that Kasab can undergo trial in India according to its own laws as he had committed a crime in that country. However, The Police charge sheet in the terror strikes is still incomplete and is likely to be filed in 2-3 days with the city police giving final touches to it.
STANFORD CASE
Allen Stanford, a business tycoon of Wall Street was charged with an $8 billion fraud. Stanford is accused of operating a fraud centred on the sale of certificates of deposit from his Antiguan affiliate, Stanford International Bank Ltd. The whereabouts of the 58-year-old financier are unknown.
Governments in Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador and Caribbean suspended operations of various Banks owned by the Stanford group, amid accusations of fraud.
[Note: Certificate of deposit is similar to fixed deposits but with short period of deposit say 3 months to one year]
SATYAM CASE
New Satyam board has paved the way for allowing a strategic investor to have management control by opening up the option of the investor acquiring a 51% stake (i.e. Rs 4,000-5,000 crore investment) in the software firm. The board decided to allow the strategic investor to buy up to 31% equity through a preferential allotment and an additional 20% through a mandatory open offer.
For investigations the judicial custody of Ramalinga Raju has been extended till March 7. The investigations are being carried by 5 agencies – CBI, SFIO, SEBI, ICAI and A.P Police.
THE OSCARS
Best Motion Picture - Slumdog Millionaire (Christian Colson)
Directing – Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Actor in a leading role - Sean Penn (Milk)
Actress in a leading role – Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Actor in a supporting role – Health Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Actress in a supporting role – Penelope Cruz (Vicky Christina Barcelona)
Documentary Short – Smile Pinki (Megan Mylan)
Music (Song) – A.R.Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire)
Music (Score) - A.R.Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire)
NEWS
POLITICS
1. Rubbishing the demand of BJP leader L K Advani for a thorough judicial inquiry into the Mumbai terror attack and his view that it could not have taken place without local support, Congress alleged that such "irresponsible statements" are providing fodder to Pakistan.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
1. Gold glitters as prices zoom to record high at the Multi Commodity Exchange of India, gold prices hit another high of Rs 15,617 (around $312) per 10 grams.
2. After causing a stir in the home loan market, the State Bank of India (SBI) has once again surprised competitors by slashing interest rates on loans for new cars to 10% for 1 year.
3. Indian telecom companies added a record 15 million customers in January, indicating that the world’s fastest growing telecom market remains untouched by the economic slowdown
SPORTS
1. The ICC on Tuesday revealed Bangladesh would host the opening ceremony of the 2011 World Cup on 19 February 2011. Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will jointly host the event and participants at the meeting, who included ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat, elected to make the tournament shorter than the one the West Indies organised in 2007.
TECHNOLOGY
1. A team of students, working under the guidance of faculty members of the institute and scientists of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are set to launch India's first nano satellite – Jugnu.
2. State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) today launched next generation 3G mobile services in the country even as the private operators are still waiting to get spectrum through auction process.
OTHERS
1. Ocean Nova a cruise ship carrying 74 passengers and 39 crew members became trapped near an Argentine navy base in Antarctica.
2. Mangalore pub case: Fifteen-year-old Ashwini committed suicide because she felt humiliated, but the men who caught and thrashed her and her Muslim friend haven't been arrested yet.
3. A group of advocates on 17th February assaulted Janata Party president Subramanian Swami. They alleged him of supporting Sri Lanka in LTTE war. The violent clashes between lawyers with police in Madras High Court rocked Tamil Nadu assembly, where the entire opposition was marshalled out, and attempt to murder cases were registered against 150 advocates even as protests against police action in Chennai erupted across the state. Lawyers across the country will observe 'black day' on February 27 to protest against the police lathi charge in the Madras High Court.
4. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) have rapped the Defence Ministry for "irregular withdrawal of funds". In its report for 2007-08 tabled in Parliament, the CAG said that the Navy and the Air Force made "irregular withdrawal" of Rs 2,745 crore in February-March 2008 to pay two Defence Public Sector units (DPSUs).
5. Seventy-four workers were killed after a gas blast on 22nd February at a northern Chinese colliery, the worst accident to hit the nation's mines in over 14 months.
Monday, February 16, 2009
TOP 20 LAST WEEK (10th feb to 16th feb)
CURRENT AFFAIRS
USA ECONOMY
US congress has passed the 787-billion-dollar economic stimulus plan to bailout US economy.
USA-PAK-AFGHANISTAN-TALIBAN
Obama said he regards Pakistan and Afghanistan (not Iraq) as the major anti-terror front and appointed Holbrooke as special representative to both countries. Holbrooke said after his visit to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border that Taliban is the common enemy of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Pakistan is facing Terror situation from Taliban. At least 31 people were killed Monday in a remote area of Pakistan close to the Afghanistan border in a missile strike from a remote operated aircraft. It is planning to introduce Islamic law in its north-western region to stop spreading Taliban insurgency.
LTTE WAR
Government troops are on a full-scale military offensive against the LTTE, which are cornered in an area less than 200 square-km in the Mullaittivu district. However, Tamil Tigers are reported to have targeted civilians preventing them from leaving Sri Lanka's war zone which may cause a delay in the situation.
ISRAEL-GAZA-HAMAS-PALESTINE
Israel is not ready to an agreement of peace with Hamas until release of soldier is agreed upon. Israeli warplanes have attacked smuggling tunnels between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, after militants in Gaza fired at least two rockets into southern Israel.
MUMBAI ATTACKS
Pakistan gave its first formal response to the Indian report on Mumbai terror attack. Although some issues are raised, Pakistan has agreed to most of the points. Also, Pakistani investigators arrested the six people charged for the Mumbai attacks. This includes the arrest of a Lashkar-e-Toeba leader and one of India's most wanted men - Zaki Ur Rehman Lakhvi. These steps will go down extremely well with New Delhi. On the other hand, Pakistan terror groups are making efforts to strengthen their stand. Mumbai police said that terror groups have approached Dawood Ibrahim to kill Kasab. Al Qaeda also warned India of more attacks if it retaliates against Pakistan.
SATYAM CASE
The government on Monday transferred the investigation of the Satyam scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a move which comes five days after the Andhra Pradesh government asked the Centre to transfer the investigation from the state Crime Investigation Department (CID) to the central probe agency. However, Bidding for the sale of fraud-hit Indian outsourcer Satyam Computer could begin before its accounts are restated. Details of the bidding process are expected to come as early as next week.
AUSTRALIA WILDFIRE
The Australian wildfires are expected to be an act of Human race. As, there were fresh fire attacks by some people as late as Wednesday. These Fires destroyed the town of Marysville last Saturday and decimated cities northeast of Melbourne. There are Hundreds of bodies lying in the burnt houses. However, the situation is better now with residents returning to fire-destroyed Australian town.
INDIAN ANNUAL BUDGET
1. Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Union Railway Minister, presented the interim Railway Budget for the first four months of FY2009-10 on Friday. He announced 43 new trains including four Garibraths, 15 train extensions and 11 increases in frequency competing with last year’s full-year budget.
2. Interim Budget boosts infrastructure sector. The allocation of about Rs 1, 00,000 crore to the infrastructure sector in the interim Budget presented in Parliament on Monday is expected to generate additional demand for steel, even as the industry said it was awaiting a sector-specific stimulus dose.
NEWS
POLITICS
1. Supreme Court alleged congress party of misusing CBI to save Samajwadi party leader Mulayam Singh in case of assets-in-excess than income.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
1. India's central bank will start buying government bonds as its open market operations on February, 19 to induce more money in the market plus the government has announced Rs 3,800-crore fund infusion into state-run lenders UCO Bank, Central Bank of India and Vijaya Bank.
2. Indian state-run firms NTPC Ltd and Nuclear Power Corp of India Ltd have agreed to form a joint venture to build a 2,000 megawatts nuclear power plant in India. NTPC, India's largest power utility, will hold 49 percent stake in the venture and Nuclear Power Corp will hold the majority 51 percent stake.
3. The fiscal deficit this financial year is expected to touch 6 per cent of GDP, the highest in seven years
SPORTS
1. Tennis: Vera Zvonareva justified her tag as favourite by beating India's Sania Mirza 7-5 6-1 to win the Pattaya Open. The 24-year-old Russian was tested by the world number 126 in
Bangkok, but came through a difficult first set to win her first title of the year.
TECHNOLOGY
1. Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) will be displaying the export version of the indigenously designed and developed advanced light helicopter (ALH) Dhruv for the first time at the seventh edition of the international air show, Aero India 2009.
2. Even though scientists at the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) here received a setback on Thursday after the country's first cloned buffalo calf died just five days after its birth, they are happy that the "superior technology" they used for cloning was "tested".
OTHERS
1. AT least 15 passengers were killed and 100 injured when 18 bogies of the Chennai-Howrah Coramandel Superfast Express derailed near Jaipur Road railway station in Orissa on Friday evening.
2. The uniform air fare hike by all domestic airlines has come under the lens of the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC). The commission would investigate the alleged cartelisation by all airlines including the national carrier Air India over withdrawal of promotional low air fares and increase in basic fares in unison
3. The Special CBI court pronounced death sentence to Nithari killings' convicts Surender Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher on 13th February afternoon. With this verdict, one chapter of the Nithari serial rapes and killings has ended on a positive note. Nithari is a village in the western part of the state of UP bordering on New Delhi.
4. All 48 passengers and crew, plus one person in the house, have been killed after a passenger plane nose-dived into a house near New York and exploded into a fireball.
USA ECONOMY
US congress has passed the 787-billion-dollar economic stimulus plan to bailout US economy.
USA-PAK-AFGHANISTAN-TALIBAN
Obama said he regards Pakistan and Afghanistan (not Iraq) as the major anti-terror front and appointed Holbrooke as special representative to both countries. Holbrooke said after his visit to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border that Taliban is the common enemy of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Pakistan is facing Terror situation from Taliban. At least 31 people were killed Monday in a remote area of Pakistan close to the Afghanistan border in a missile strike from a remote operated aircraft. It is planning to introduce Islamic law in its north-western region to stop spreading Taliban insurgency.
LTTE WAR
Government troops are on a full-scale military offensive against the LTTE, which are cornered in an area less than 200 square-km in the Mullaittivu district. However, Tamil Tigers are reported to have targeted civilians preventing them from leaving Sri Lanka's war zone which may cause a delay in the situation.
ISRAEL-GAZA-HAMAS-PALESTINE
Israel is not ready to an agreement of peace with Hamas until release of soldier is agreed upon. Israeli warplanes have attacked smuggling tunnels between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, after militants in Gaza fired at least two rockets into southern Israel.
MUMBAI ATTACKS
Pakistan gave its first formal response to the Indian report on Mumbai terror attack. Although some issues are raised, Pakistan has agreed to most of the points. Also, Pakistani investigators arrested the six people charged for the Mumbai attacks. This includes the arrest of a Lashkar-e-Toeba leader and one of India's most wanted men - Zaki Ur Rehman Lakhvi. These steps will go down extremely well with New Delhi. On the other hand, Pakistan terror groups are making efforts to strengthen their stand. Mumbai police said that terror groups have approached Dawood Ibrahim to kill Kasab. Al Qaeda also warned India of more attacks if it retaliates against Pakistan.
SATYAM CASE
The government on Monday transferred the investigation of the Satyam scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a move which comes five days after the Andhra Pradesh government asked the Centre to transfer the investigation from the state Crime Investigation Department (CID) to the central probe agency. However, Bidding for the sale of fraud-hit Indian outsourcer Satyam Computer could begin before its accounts are restated. Details of the bidding process are expected to come as early as next week.
AUSTRALIA WILDFIRE
The Australian wildfires are expected to be an act of Human race. As, there were fresh fire attacks by some people as late as Wednesday. These Fires destroyed the town of Marysville last Saturday and decimated cities northeast of Melbourne. There are Hundreds of bodies lying in the burnt houses. However, the situation is better now with residents returning to fire-destroyed Australian town.
INDIAN ANNUAL BUDGET
1. Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Union Railway Minister, presented the interim Railway Budget for the first four months of FY2009-10 on Friday. He announced 43 new trains including four Garibraths, 15 train extensions and 11 increases in frequency competing with last year’s full-year budget.
2. Interim Budget boosts infrastructure sector. The allocation of about Rs 1, 00,000 crore to the infrastructure sector in the interim Budget presented in Parliament on Monday is expected to generate additional demand for steel, even as the industry said it was awaiting a sector-specific stimulus dose.
NEWS
POLITICS
1. Supreme Court alleged congress party of misusing CBI to save Samajwadi party leader Mulayam Singh in case of assets-in-excess than income.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
1. India's central bank will start buying government bonds as its open market operations on February, 19 to induce more money in the market plus the government has announced Rs 3,800-crore fund infusion into state-run lenders UCO Bank, Central Bank of India and Vijaya Bank.
2. Indian state-run firms NTPC Ltd and Nuclear Power Corp of India Ltd have agreed to form a joint venture to build a 2,000 megawatts nuclear power plant in India. NTPC, India's largest power utility, will hold 49 percent stake in the venture and Nuclear Power Corp will hold the majority 51 percent stake.
3. The fiscal deficit this financial year is expected to touch 6 per cent of GDP, the highest in seven years
SPORTS
1. Tennis: Vera Zvonareva justified her tag as favourite by beating India's Sania Mirza 7-5 6-1 to win the Pattaya Open. The 24-year-old Russian was tested by the world number 126 in
Bangkok, but came through a difficult first set to win her first title of the year.
TECHNOLOGY
1. Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) will be displaying the export version of the indigenously designed and developed advanced light helicopter (ALH) Dhruv for the first time at the seventh edition of the international air show, Aero India 2009.
2. Even though scientists at the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) here received a setback on Thursday after the country's first cloned buffalo calf died just five days after its birth, they are happy that the "superior technology" they used for cloning was "tested".
OTHERS
1. AT least 15 passengers were killed and 100 injured when 18 bogies of the Chennai-Howrah Coramandel Superfast Express derailed near Jaipur Road railway station in Orissa on Friday evening.
2. The uniform air fare hike by all domestic airlines has come under the lens of the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC). The commission would investigate the alleged cartelisation by all airlines including the national carrier Air India over withdrawal of promotional low air fares and increase in basic fares in unison
3. The Special CBI court pronounced death sentence to Nithari killings' convicts Surender Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher on 13th February afternoon. With this verdict, one chapter of the Nithari serial rapes and killings has ended on a positive note. Nithari is a village in the western part of the state of UP bordering on New Delhi.
4. All 48 passengers and crew, plus one person in the house, have been killed after a passenger plane nose-dived into a house near New York and exploded into a fireball.
Monday, February 9, 2009
TOP 20 LAST WEEK (3rd Feb to 9th Feb)
CURRENT AFFAIRS
USA ECONOMY
1. The Senate on 3rd February began debating possible changes to an $885 billion economic stimulus bill which later grown to $920 billion. The Senate voted on this version of the bill. President Obama wants to get his economic stimulus bill passed as rapidly as possible. The Obama administration has imposed a cap of $500,000 for top executives at companies that receive large amounts of bailout money.
2. United States lost almost 600000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent, its highest level in more than 16 years.
LTTE WAR
1. Tamil rebels lose last airstrip to Sri Lanka army last week. Sri Lanka’s president predicted the total defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels within a few days.
ISRAEL-GAZA-HAMAS-PALESTINE
1. Israel and Hamas could carry out a long-discussed prisoner swap within six weeks, an Israeli cabinet minister said on Sunday, playing down media speculation that a deal was more imminent.
2. Human rights groups have called on Hamas officials to investigate allegations of abduction, torture and the killing of Palestinians accused of being collaborators during Israel's war on Gaza. A human rights monitor, told Al Jazeera that dozens of ‘Fatah’ members were shot and tortured as Israeli forces bombarded the Gaza Strip for 22 days.
MUMBAI ATTACKS
1. The Pakistan interior minister on Tuesday said the Mumbai attacks were planned outside Pakistan and that the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) final report will be handed over to India in a week, but Pakistan has issued a terse statement saying it has more questions and that India will have to respond to these questions before it can wrap up its probe. In response P Chidambaram said "We have given them a dossier. Let them respond to it. I will comment after they give the response.”
2. Home minister P Chidambaram visited Maharastra and Kerela on Monday 9th Feb to review the security situation in the two coastal states. The home ministry is providing assistance to nine coastal states and four union territories under the Coastal Security Scheme which was launched in 2005.
SATYAM CASE
1. A.S Murty has been chosen as the new CEO of Satyam. Murty's fifteen years in Satyam has been marked by lack of any kind of controversy, although he is reputed to know the DNA of the company. He knows each and every individual at Satyam's senior levels including their strengths and weaknesses.
2. Kiran Karnik was named Satyam's Chairman by corporate affairs minister P C Gupta. The former president of NASSCOM appointment comes a day after A S Murty was made the IT firm's CEO.
NEWS
POLITICS
1. Many muslim leaders wanted one time BJP chief minister of U.p. Kalyan singh to apologize for demolition of Babri masjid as a condition to join Samajwadi party. But Kalyan singh said he had taken the moral responsibility of demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 and resigned from the post of chief minister.
2. The release of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan will be met with joy in much of Pakistan, and an equal measure of alarm in Washington.former CIA Director reportedly referred to him as "at least as dangerous as Osama Bin Laden". Dr AQ Khan has always been a hero for many Pakistani people. The reason for his popularity is simple - he is widely seen as having made Pakistan a nuclear state.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
1. Barely two weeks after India announced a six-month ban on toys from China, Beijing is set to challenge the decision in the World Trade Organization. The decision to ban was meant to protect local manufacturers against the flooding of the market with cheap Chinese imports.
2. India's economy will grow the slowest since 2003-04 at 7.1 per cent this fiscal, as the global economic crisis hammered industrial output and killed jobs, but the government appeared optimistic about the future. The growth rate for agriculture, industry and services is estimated to be 2.6 per cent, 4.8 per cent and 9.6 per cent respectively... the corresponding growth rates for these three sectors were 4.9, 8.1 and 10.9 respectively (last year).
3. China likely overtook the US in vehicle sales for the first time last month, a trend that could make China into the world’s largest auto market this year.
4. Employee Provident fund office (EPFO) has initiated inquiry into Subhiksha for non-payment of provident fund dues of its 4600 employees since june '08. It has given 15 days of time to deposit the money i.e. 5 crores.
5. The friction between the power and the heavy industries ministries surfaced once again when Minister of State for Power and Commerce, Jairam Ramesh urged BHEL to take over NTPC’s 44.6 per cent share in Transformers and Electricals Kerala Ltd (TELK), the Kerala government-owned electrical equipment-maker.
SPORTS
1. After nine consecutive ODI victories, MS Dhoni-led Indian team moved up to the second spot in the ICC rankings last week. India won the series against Sri Lanka by 4-1after Sri Lanka succeeded to win the last match. India displaced Australia, who slipped to third spot after their second consecutive loss in ODI series against New Zealand.
2. West Indies bowled England for 51 to sweep to an incredible win by an innings and 23 runs on the fourth day of opening test on 8th February.
3. India conceded a goal in the dying moments to lose the final of the Punjab Gold Cup hockey tournament 1-2 against European champions the Netherlands on Monday.
TECHNOLOGY
1. One Voice Technologies, Inc, california said " In the telecom sector the government owned phone company in India, MTNL will launch our MobileVoice Email service this month." It allows people to send messages (E-mail, SMS, Instant Messaging and paging), purchase products, get information and control devices - all by using their voice.
USA ECONOMY
1. The Senate on 3rd February began debating possible changes to an $885 billion economic stimulus bill which later grown to $920 billion. The Senate voted on this version of the bill. President Obama wants to get his economic stimulus bill passed as rapidly as possible. The Obama administration has imposed a cap of $500,000 for top executives at companies that receive large amounts of bailout money.
2. United States lost almost 600000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent, its highest level in more than 16 years.
LTTE WAR
1. Tamil rebels lose last airstrip to Sri Lanka army last week. Sri Lanka’s president predicted the total defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels within a few days.
ISRAEL-GAZA-HAMAS-PALESTINE
1. Israel and Hamas could carry out a long-discussed prisoner swap within six weeks, an Israeli cabinet minister said on Sunday, playing down media speculation that a deal was more imminent.
2. Human rights groups have called on Hamas officials to investigate allegations of abduction, torture and the killing of Palestinians accused of being collaborators during Israel's war on Gaza. A human rights monitor, told Al Jazeera that dozens of ‘Fatah’ members were shot and tortured as Israeli forces bombarded the Gaza Strip for 22 days.
MUMBAI ATTACKS
1. The Pakistan interior minister on Tuesday said the Mumbai attacks were planned outside Pakistan and that the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) final report will be handed over to India in a week, but Pakistan has issued a terse statement saying it has more questions and that India will have to respond to these questions before it can wrap up its probe. In response P Chidambaram said "We have given them a dossier. Let them respond to it. I will comment after they give the response.”
2. Home minister P Chidambaram visited Maharastra and Kerela on Monday 9th Feb to review the security situation in the two coastal states. The home ministry is providing assistance to nine coastal states and four union territories under the Coastal Security Scheme which was launched in 2005.
SATYAM CASE
1. A.S Murty has been chosen as the new CEO of Satyam. Murty's fifteen years in Satyam has been marked by lack of any kind of controversy, although he is reputed to know the DNA of the company. He knows each and every individual at Satyam's senior levels including their strengths and weaknesses.
2. Kiran Karnik was named Satyam's Chairman by corporate affairs minister P C Gupta. The former president of NASSCOM appointment comes a day after A S Murty was made the IT firm's CEO.
NEWS
POLITICS
1. Many muslim leaders wanted one time BJP chief minister of U.p. Kalyan singh to apologize for demolition of Babri masjid as a condition to join Samajwadi party. But Kalyan singh said he had taken the moral responsibility of demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 and resigned from the post of chief minister.
2. The release of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan will be met with joy in much of Pakistan, and an equal measure of alarm in Washington.former CIA Director reportedly referred to him as "at least as dangerous as Osama Bin Laden". Dr AQ Khan has always been a hero for many Pakistani people. The reason for his popularity is simple - he is widely seen as having made Pakistan a nuclear state.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
1. Barely two weeks after India announced a six-month ban on toys from China, Beijing is set to challenge the decision in the World Trade Organization. The decision to ban was meant to protect local manufacturers against the flooding of the market with cheap Chinese imports.
2. India's economy will grow the slowest since 2003-04 at 7.1 per cent this fiscal, as the global economic crisis hammered industrial output and killed jobs, but the government appeared optimistic about the future. The growth rate for agriculture, industry and services is estimated to be 2.6 per cent, 4.8 per cent and 9.6 per cent respectively... the corresponding growth rates for these three sectors were 4.9, 8.1 and 10.9 respectively (last year).
3. China likely overtook the US in vehicle sales for the first time last month, a trend that could make China into the world’s largest auto market this year.
4. Employee Provident fund office (EPFO) has initiated inquiry into Subhiksha for non-payment of provident fund dues of its 4600 employees since june '08. It has given 15 days of time to deposit the money i.e. 5 crores.
5. The friction between the power and the heavy industries ministries surfaced once again when Minister of State for Power and Commerce, Jairam Ramesh urged BHEL to take over NTPC’s 44.6 per cent share in Transformers and Electricals Kerala Ltd (TELK), the Kerala government-owned electrical equipment-maker.
SPORTS
1. After nine consecutive ODI victories, MS Dhoni-led Indian team moved up to the second spot in the ICC rankings last week. India won the series against Sri Lanka by 4-1after Sri Lanka succeeded to win the last match. India displaced Australia, who slipped to third spot after their second consecutive loss in ODI series against New Zealand.
2. West Indies bowled England for 51 to sweep to an incredible win by an innings and 23 runs on the fourth day of opening test on 8th February.
3. India conceded a goal in the dying moments to lose the final of the Punjab Gold Cup hockey tournament 1-2 against European champions the Netherlands on Monday.
TECHNOLOGY
1. One Voice Technologies, Inc, california said " In the telecom sector the government owned phone company in India, MTNL will launch our MobileVoice Email service this month." It allows people to send messages (E-mail, SMS, Instant Messaging and paging), purchase products, get information and control devices - all by using their voice.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Introduction
Hi All
I have not followed the news for a large part of life because it is time consuming and boring but I always knew that I should know about the happenings around me. When I started following the news now I found that sometimes it happen that its difficult to follow a news and sometimes I miss on important news out of ignorance or shortage of time. Recently this target has become even more difficult due to excess of news on the news channels and various newspapers.
This is an intiative to know important weekly news in brief.
Follow this blog to be in touch with the curent affairs and news.
Complaints/suggestions/comments/corrections are welcome.
thanks and regards
Harsh Kumar Aggarwal - IMT, Ghaziabad
Tejash Sheth - IMT, Ghaziabad
Disclaimer:
The news are collected from different news sources and may not be the exact truth.
I have not followed the news for a large part of life because it is time consuming and boring but I always knew that I should know about the happenings around me. When I started following the news now I found that sometimes it happen that its difficult to follow a news and sometimes I miss on important news out of ignorance or shortage of time. Recently this target has become even more difficult due to excess of news on the news channels and various newspapers.
This is an intiative to know important weekly news in brief.
Follow this blog to be in touch with the curent affairs and news.
Complaints/suggestions/comments/corrections are welcome.
thanks and regards
Harsh Kumar Aggarwal - IMT, Ghaziabad
Tejash Sheth - IMT, Ghaziabad
Disclaimer:
The news are collected from different news sources and may not be the exact truth.
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