Top 20 Last Week

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.

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.

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.

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..