Newspaper cuttings

India’s 29th State Telangana

• The process that will culminate in the creation of what will be India’s 29th State promises to be complicated.
• The Centre, , would send the CWC resolution to the State Assembly to seek its views (its approval is not required), after which it will go to the Union Cabinet. A Group of Ministers to address all the issues of Telangana and Seemandhra — the sharing of waters, revenue, land, power, assets and liabilities — will then be set up.
• The Union Cabinet will then ask the Union Law Ministry to draft a bill that will be sent to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly for its comments. Next, the Union Home Ministry will make adequate provisions, incorporating the suggestions. After this, the government-approved draft bill will be sent to the President; Parliament will then have to pass the bill in both the Houses by a simple majority.
• The final step: it will go back to the President for notification.
• As for the provisions of Article 371 (D), which provides for special provisions for the State, the Union Cabinet would examine whether it would remain relevant after the creation of Telangana.
• For the moment, the proposal to include two districts of Rayalaseema — Anantapur and Kurnool — in Telangana has been put in cold storage.
• The new State will have 10 districts, while the remaining Andhra and Rayalaseema regions will together constitute Seemandhra.

Mamnoon is Pak. President

• Pakistan elected businessman Mamnoon Hussain as its 12th President, Lawmakers from both Houses of the national Parliament and four provincial Assemblies voted in the two-man race for the largely ceremonial post.
• Mr. Hussain (73), a businessman and close ally of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan’s financial capital Karachi, had been considered certain to replace Mr. Zardari. A long-serving member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) party, he briefly served as Governor of the southern province Sindh under Mr.Sharif’s last premiership in 1999.

Irish President signs abortion bill into law

• Irish President Michael D Higgins signed a landmark bill on abortion into law, allowing women in the predominantly Catholic country to have an abortion in case of fatal foetal abnormality. The law was drafted after the death of Savita Halappanavar, 31, on October 28 last year
• Senior IPS officer Sharad Kumar, a 1979-batch Haryana cadre officer, was appointed the new chief of the National Investigation Agency .

India’s first private DNA Forensics Lab in Gurgaon

• Global biotechnology company Life Technologies has launched India’s first private DNA forensics laboratory here, which is expected to accelerate sampling process, thus reducing the burden on existing forensic laboratories.
• “Life Technologies DNA Forensics Laboratory will reduce the burden on existing forensic system and address the requirements of DNA database generation for un-identified dead bodies or other crime investigations
• Currently, there are 28 laboratories for forensic DNA investigation and testing in the country. But, many of them are overburdened with an increasing number of cases and have sample backlogs.

Pir-Panjal Railway Tunnel –

• The Indian Railway added another feather in its cap with the historic milestone of connecting Kashmir Valley with the Jammu region.
• the newly constructed railway line between Banihal (Jammu region) – Qazigund (Kashmir valley) section and flagged off the first DEMU train from Banihal through
• the Pir Panjal tunnel- the longest transportation tunnel of India, from Banihal Railway station on 26th June 2013. On commissioning of this section, the first rail link has been established between the Jammu Region and Kashmir Valley providing all weather connectivity with significantly reduced travel time through the Pir Panjal mountains.
• This is an alternative connection between the two regions for the Jawahar Tunnel too,which is often snow bound during the winter months. With this section the distance between Banihal-Qazigund section has been reduced to 17.7 kms by railway line instead of 35 kms long road length. With the completion of this section the Kashmir Valley has come a step closer to being connected to the remaining Indian Railway network, signifying the dedication and resolution of Northern Railway in providing rail connectivity to the farthest corners under its jurisdiction.

Third Fast Patrol Vessel‘Abhinav’ Launched

• Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) launched the third Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) named ‘ABHINAV’ being built for the Indian Coast Guard (ICG).
• The vessel is the third in a series of 20 numbers Fast Patrol Vessels contracted by Cochin Shipyard Limited for the Indian Coast Guard.
• The contract was signed in 2010 with delivery of the last vessel slated for 2017.
• The primary role of the vessel include fisheries protection and monitoring, patrol within Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and coastal patrol , anti smuggling, search and rescue operations and for anti piracy operations.
• The vessels have a secondary role of providing communication link and escort convoys during hostilities and war time.

Today's GK

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi seems out to prove he is more popular than US President Barack Obama — at least on social networking sites. Having faced a defeat at the hand of the US president in November 2011 when Modi lost following a last-minute spurt in negative votes in the fifth annual Mashable awards in the category of 'Must-Follow Politician On Social Media', the Gujarat CM now wants to get back.

The tension surrounding N Srinivasan's return as the president of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) increased on Wednesday with conflicting reports indicating that Srinivasan might already be back in the seat.

Earlier in June, Srinivasan had said that he would step aside as BCCI president till the probe panel gave its findings into match-fixing and betting allegations against his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan and India Cements-owned franchise Chennai Super Kings. Now that the panel has submitted its report, and given them a clean chit, it is being suggested that he can return to the chair.

India has assured Thimphu that the subsidy on LPG and kerosene it supplies to Bhutan will be restored by the first week of August. New Delhi had earlier this month decided to put an end to the subsidy causing much heartburn in the strategically important country at a time when it was in the middle of its parliamentary polls.

Many said India was trying to influence the outcome of the polls — ruffled as it was with then PM Jigme Thinley's policies — but South Block steadfastly maintained its decision was apolitical. Government sources here said all "administrative, technical and financial arrangements" are in place for resumption of subsidy on cooking gas and kerosene.

Gold futures prices on Wednesday rose by 0.86% to Rs 28,590 per 10 grams as speculators enlarged positions, largely in tune with a firming overseas trend. Covering-up of short positions by speculators at prevailing levels also influenced Gold futures prices, traders said.

Addressing his 20th monetary policy review which marked the end of his five-year term, Reserve Bank of India governor D Subbarao left foreign exchange markets in a tizzy by stating that he did not favour a sovereign bond issue and that RBI will not stand in the way of a falling rupee except to curb volatility. The absence of the any further measures to protect the domestic currency and lower growth forecasts also increased pressure on the local currency which fell by more than a rupee on Monday. In what is probably his last monetary policy, Subbarao provided his take on economic issues facing the country...

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked market regulator Sebi whether other Sahara companies should face contempt of court proceedings and made liable for violating the court order directing Sahara India Real Estate Corporation (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation (SHICL) to refund Rs 24,000 crore.

The bench of Justices K S Radhakrishnan and J S Khehar asked, "What is the connection of SIRECL and SHICL with other group companies? Can we, while pursuing these two companies, order attachment of the assets of other group companies? Before us, only these two companies had given an undertaking that they had invested the monies in other group companies. But the other companies had not stood surety for these two companies."

Sebi counsel Arvind Datar termed the Sahara group as a "single economic entity" and said for the default of one of the companies within the single entity, the court could proceed against the group and its companies.

President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins on 31 July 2013 signed the bill (Government’s Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill) into law. The bill, overwhelmingly passed by both houses of the Irish parliament in July 2013, permits abortions only in cases where doctors deem the woman's life at risk from continued pregnancy. The law comes in the wake of the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar, 31, on 28 October 2012 of blood poisoning as a result of a miscarriage. Savita was reportedly denied a potentially life-saving abortion. The new legislation, which replaces 146 years old British era law, also permits abortions to alleviate life-threatening conditions, including a woman's own threat to commit suicide if refused a termination.

Till recently, Ireland's only legislation on abortion was a handed-down British law from 1867, outlawing the practice with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The new maximum sentence is 14 years.

Higgins convened a meeting of the Council of State on 29 July 2013 to seek its advice on the bill, which he could have opted to send to the Supreme Court to test its constitutionality. The meeting, chaired by the President, was attended by 21 members of the 24-strong council. The 21 persons who attended, including seven members of the judiciary, still made it the biggest council since the Constitution came into effect in 1937.

The Forbes, which released its list on 30 July 2013, declared that Angelina Jolie was the Hollywood’s highest paid actress. She had the estimated earnings of 33 million US dollar. She defeated Jennifer Lawrence, the 2013 Best Actress Oscar winner, who had the estimated earnings of 26 million US dollar. Angelina Jolie also defeated Kristen Stewart in the list. Kristen Stewart had the earnings of 22 million US dollar.

Yes Bank became the first lender to hike lending and deposit rates. Others may follow as the RBI move has tightened liquidity in the markets. Yes Bank said it would hike its deposit rates by 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent in select tenors effective from 1August 2013. Yes Bank took this step following the RBI’s decision to keep key policy rates unchanged and cut growth forecast.

This provides an opportunity for retail depositors to lock in higher rates on term deposits. The bank has also decided to hike its base rate by a quarter percent to 10.75 percent effective from Thursday. This will make lending by the bank costlier.
In the first quarter review of the monetary policy, the RBI had left all key policy rates unchanged to support the Rupee to stay stable. The repurchase, or the repo rate, the interest that commercial banks pay to the RBI on short-term borrowings, has been left unchanged at 7.25 percent, and so has the reverse repo rate at 6.25 percent.

The cash reserve ratio (CRR), or the share of deposits banks must keep with the central bank, is also maintained at 4 percent. Earlier this month, the central bank had taken a number of measures to squeeze liquidity out of the banking system, in order to ensure stability in the currency markets.

Yes bank is India’s fourth largest private sector lender.

Prasar Bharati and the Australian Network on 30 July 2013 signed an agreement to strengthen the partnership between the two public broadcasters. The accord was signed by Prasar Bharti CEO Jawahar Sircar and ABC International CEO Lynley Marshall in New Delhi. With the agreement, ABC International will be available on DD Direct plus from 1 November 2013.  It will allow the channel to be shown along with 59 other channels on Doordarshan's DTH platform.

The partnership between the two public broadcasters will help build better understanding between people of both the countries. The partnership between Prasar Bharati and the Australian broadcaster will cover other areas like co-production activities, exchange of TV programmes, exchange of radio programmes and aspects.

CHOP, CHOP, CHOP

CHOP, CHOP, CHOP

How India Divided into States after Independence.

Narendra Modi questions Congress's motives for creating Telangana state

 Narendra Modi today welcomed the creation of a separate state of Telangana, but slammed the Congress-led UPA government for not being transparent in its decision-making.

In an open letter to the people of Andhra Pradesh, Mr Modi, who is scheduled to address a huge rally in Hyderabad on August 11, reiterated that the BJP had championed the cause of smaller states. He said the NDA government had created three new states of Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand in 2000. "The BJP has been forthcoming and transparent in its support for statehood to Telangana," he wrote.

The Gujarat chief minister, who was last month elevated to head BJP's poll campaign for 2014, cautioned the people of Andhra Pradesh against trusting "a party (Congress) and a Government (UPA) that has betrayed the people on the issue of Telangana time and again."

Mr Modi said, "In the wake of the sequence of events, the Congress Party has done in the last few days what it shied away from doing in the last 9 years- to work overtime on a decision over Telangana. Now, at a time when there are only a few months left before the people of this country vote again, the Congress Party is rushing to announce Telangana. This raises serious concerns on the seriousness and intentions of the Congress," Mr Modi wrote.

Mr Modi asked the Congress to apologise to the people of Andhra Pradesh for treating them like "doormats."

"It is indeed ironical that the Congress Party has sought to hide itself behind committees, reports and futile deliberations instead of courageously facing the people of Andhra Pradesh. Neither the Congress President nor the Congress Vice President have set foot into Andhra Pradesh in recent years, despite the fact that Andhra Pradesh sent the highest MPs for the Congress both in 2004 and 2009."

His party the BJP has demanded that the UPA government bring a bill on creating a separate state of Telangana in the monsoon session of Parliament that begins on August 5.

newspaper cuttings

NEWEST SET OF CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE DATA FOR 2011-12, RELEASED BY NSSO

• The National Sample Survey Organisation’s newest set of consumption expenditure data for 2011-12 gives an insight into how those across the spectrum, from the poorest to the richest, live in different parts of India.
• An individual who spends over Rs. 2,886 per month in a rural area or Rs. 6,383 per month in an urban area is in the top 5% of the country (and this is using the modified mixed reference period, which gives the most generous expenditure estimates). This translates to spending Rs. 96.2 and Rs. 212.77 per day. The top 10% of the country includes anyone who spends over Rs. 2296 per month in a rural area and Rs. 4610 per month in an urban area.
• Moreover, even though poverty rates are converging, massive inter-State differences remain. A person spending over Rs. 1995 per head would be well into the top 5% of rural Bihar, but more than half of Kerala is spending at that level. Similarly, spending Rs. 1710 per month would put a person in rural Jharkhand into the top 5% of her State, but over 60% of Punjab is spending at that level.
• In urban India, spending Rs. 3400 per month in urban Bihar would put a person into the top 5% of that State, but only the top 30% of Delhi. Conversely, 30% of urban Chhattisgarh lives on a monthly per capita expenditure of Rs. 1046, while less than 5% of Kerala lives at that level of expenditure.
• Then there is the question of what the rich and poor are spending their money on; absolute spending on food rises as one climbs the income ladder in both rural and urban India, even as its proportion in total expenditure falls.

Myanmar pipeline to diversify China energy supply

• China has started receiving natural gas from Myanmar through an 800 km-long pipeline project. The opening of the pipeline hailed by State media here as a landmark step towards diversifying China’s energy supply routes.
• The gas pipeline, which can transport 12 billion cubic metres annually, runs from Kyaukpyu to Ruili in southwestern Yunnan province, which borders Myanmar. China is also building an oil pipeline that will bring 22 million tons annually to Yunnan when completed.
• “At present, as many as 80 per cent of China’s oil imports depend on the supply line going through the Malacca and Singapore straits, while the maritime route is patrolled by fleets headed by the U.S. navy,”
• Samet Island, a popular destination for weekend getaways from Bangkok, is situated about 150 km south-east of the city.

SINO-RUSSIA RELATION

• Earlier this month, Russia and China held their largest joint naval exercises in the Sea of Japan. Later this week, the land armies of the two countries will hold a joint drill in the Ural Mountains in Russia. In between these two events, Russia staged its biggest yet military manoeuvres in Siberia and the far eastern region along China’s borders.
• The exercises reflect the dual nature of Russia’s relations with its giant neighbour. China is Russia’s strategic partner but also a source of profound security fears.
• Code-named Joint Sea 2013, the joint naval drills were the largest in the history of the two countries and saw the Chinese Navy’s “single biggest deployment of military force in any joint foreign exercise,”

RIDICULOUS COUNTING OF POOR

• The Planning Commission has once again embarrassed us with its claims of decline in poverty by 2011-12 to grossly unrealistic levels of 13.7 per cent of population in urban areas and 25.7 per cent in rural areas, using monthly poverty lines of Rs. 1000 and Rs. 816 respectively, or Rs. 33.3 and Rs. 27.2 per day.
• The Commission instead simply applied price indices to bring forward the base year monthly poverty lines of Rs 49 rural and Rs.56 urban in 1973-74. The Tendulkar committee did not change this aspect; it merely altered the specific index.

STRENGTHENING SEBI the right way

•  The government is conveying a sense of urgency in plugging loopholes in capital market regulations
• The former failed after collecting huge sums of money through its Ponzi schemes, causing acute financial and social distress in eastern India.
• SEBI’s case against the Sahara group was buttressed by the Supreme Court, which ordered a refund of more than Rs.20,000 crore to investors.
• The Indian financial code which has been drafted to address inter-regulatory issues has not found universal acceptance and will take time before it is adopted.

BUREAUCRACY AND POLITICAL INTERFERENCE

• The relationship between the political executive and the civil service, often called the "permanent executive", is governed by clear rules.
• the former frames policy, the responsibility of the latter is to effectively implement it. In practice, their tandem functioning is not always easy.
• Transfers and postings can then become prizes or punishments, if used by the political establishment to send a message to officers, or if loyalty is rewarded over competence.
• Durga Shakti Nagpal, an IAS officer who had been visibly tackling illegal sand mining in the Yamuna and Hindon riverbeds, was recently transferred by the Uttar Pradesh government. The state's justification was that Nagpal had pulled down the wall of a mosque being built without clearances, a decision that, it insisted, "lacked foresight and disturbed communal harmony".
• While political leaders have the right to choose the officers best suited for various jobs, and to move them as they see fit, arbitrary or self-serving decisions can corrode the quality of public administration.
• It takes a while for civil servants to understand the complexity of their new roles, and the various pressures and interest groups at play.
• Transferring them before they have had a chance to make an impact, or sometimes if they have made too much of an impact, would ensure that the system doesn't have a chance to deliver.
• The prime minister has emphasised this point repeatedly, and there have been several attempts to create predictable work environments.
• The Central government introduced the Indian Administrative Service (Fixation of Cadre Strength) Regulations, 1955 (amended in 2010), which provides for a minimum tenure for postings for civil servants, but only 13 states and Union territories have formally indicated their acceptance. Maharashtra has a specific law, ensuring a minimum tenure of three years for all IAS officers, and any violation must be taken up with the state administrative tribunal.
• Fixed tenures for civil servants are not ideal. They reduce flexibility and they can hinder the executive. But at the same time, political leaders cannot transfer civil servants on a whim, without credible reasoning. Having been given these wide powers, they must be obliged to provide a convincing rationale for moving officers.

Preventive Vaccination Against Yellow Fever

• caused by a RNA virus, the first human virus discovered.
• The yellow fever virus is transmitted by the bite of female mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti, and other species) and is found in tropical and subtropical areas in South America and Africa.
• Even though the main vector Aedes aegypti also occurs in Asia, in the Pacific, and in the Middle East, yellow fever does not occur in these areas; the reason for this is unknown.
• Yellow fever presents in most cases with fever, chills, anorexia, nausea, muscle pain (with prominent backache) and headache, which generally subsides after several days
• Besides vaccination, control of the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti is of major importance, especially because the same mosquito can also transmit dengue fever and chikungunya disease. Aedes aegypti breeds preferentially in water, for example in installations by inhabitants of areas with precarious drinking water supply, or in domestic waste; especially tires, cans and plastic bottles.

NALANDA

• The Nalanda Mahavihara (ancient Nalanda University) had been a great seat of learning for about eight hundred years (from 5th century to 13th century A. D.).
• At the very beginning it was a monastic institution accommodating thousands of travelling monks coming from different regions.
• During their stay at Nalanda monastery the Buddha’s Dhamma and Vinaya based on ‘Pariyatti’ and ‘Patipatti-dhammasasanam’ etc.
• Actually the Nalanda Mahavihara had not only been a great seat of learning. But it also became a great centre of culture and civilization.
• Geographically speaking, Nalanda can be spotted on tourist map of India as one of the best archaeological sites that we Indians can be proud of.
• The ruins of famed University were found in Bargaon situated near the Nalanda Railway Station of Bakhtiyarpur-Rajgir branch line of the Eastern Railway.
• Nalanda was an example of the Guru-Shishya parampara, a great Indian tradition. The authority of the Guru (teacher) over the Shishya (student) was absolute, and yet dissent was permitted in academic matters. The tradition, although going back thousands of years, flourished at Nalanda more than elsewhere.
• However, the Governments initiative has been already taken for the revival of Nalanda. Now the Parliament has passed Nalanda University Bill. Accordingly the Central and State Government started the work for making Nalanda an academic institution of world class.

India’s First Dedicated Navigational Satellite IRNSS-1A

• With the launch of IRNSS-1A satellite, India has joined a select group of nations with indigenously developed navigation systems.
• India’s first dedicated navigational satellite the IRNSS-1A developed by the ISRO was successfully put into orbit on the night of 1st July 2013
• This is the first of the seven satellites of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).
• IRNSS is an Independent regional navigation satellite system being developed by India.
• It is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1500 Km from its boundary, which is its primary service area.
• The Extended Service Area lies between primary service area and area enclosed by the rectangle from Latitude 30 degree South to 50 degree North, Longitude 30 degree East to 130 degree East.
• IRNSS will provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS) which is provided to all the users and Restricted Service (RS), which is an encrypted service provided only to the authorized users.
• The IRNSS System is expected to provide a position accuracy of better than 20 metres in the primary service area.

Today's GK

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its first quarter review of monetary policy kept both the repo rate and Cash Reserve Ratio ( CRR) unchanged. This is in line with market expectations.

Maintaining an extremely hawkish stance, RBI also cut the GDP growth forecast for FY14 to 5.5% from 5.7% earlier. RBI Governor Subbarao cited various risks that are likely to hamper economic growth. Both domestic and global uncertainty were admitted to be a deterrent for economic recovery.

On inflation, while Subbarao acknowledged the ongoing rupee depreciation would create trouble for the price rise scenario, he stressed that the RBI will use all instruments at its disposal to contain it to 5 per cent by March.

Inflation as measured by wholesale prices increased marginally to 4.86 per cent in June.

Tata tops the list in the first edition of Interbrand's 'Best Indian Brands' study, with a valuation of $10.9 billion. It is followed by Reliance at $6.24 billion and AirtelBSE -2.74 % at $6.22 billion. Tata also happens to be the brand that Jez Frampton, the global chief executive of Interbrand, is most familiar with, given that Tetley is his preferred brand of tea and he drives a Range Rover. "Technically, I drive an Indian car," he says.Frampton believes Indian firms - even those like Tata, known best overseas for global acquisitions like Jaguar Land Rover and Tetley - would do well to focus on building their master brands. This will help Indian companies when they decide to roll out other products and services, or when they choose to become global brands. "A strong master brand creates awareness that you exist, mean something and add value to a purchase," he says.

'Best Indian Brands' is the first local iteration of Interbrand's 'Best Global Brands' study, a highly anticipated measure of brand valuation. Frampton and Interbrand India's MD Ashish Mishra intend to make it a benchmark to track the health and finances of India's leading brands.

Till some months ago, they were termed 'over the hill' in job market parlance. Today, companies are rushing to hire 50-plus CEOs to steer their ships in a tough market characterised by slowing consumer demand and rising prices.

 

The green surge that crushed Bengal's 34-year-old Red citadel in 2011 continues to swamp the countryside, but is just short of a clean sweep.

Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress decimated the Left in south Bengal, but met with hurdles in the north, where the Congress and the Left were ahead of the ruling party in Jalpaiguri, Uttar Dinajpur, Malda and Murshidabad. The projected Lok Sabha tally extrapolated from the grassroots would put Trinamool's seats at 27 out of 42, a prospect that would give Mamata bargaining power in national politics.

Polling started on Tuesday in Pakistan's National Assembly and four other provincial centres to elect a new president who will replace incumbent Asif Ali Zardari in September.

The polling started at 10am amidst strict security arrangements at the National Assembly, the four provincial assemblies and the Senate.

The voting will continue without any break till 3pm. Mamnoon Hussain, the India-born nominee of ruling PML-N, is likely to win the elections for the 12th president in the one-on-one contest with ex-judge Wajihuddin Ahmad of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party.

The Leander Paes-led Washington Kastles won their third World Team Tennis (WTT) title in a row — and their fourth in five years — after overwhelming Springfield Lasers 25-12 in the grand finale on Sunday.

Playing in front of their home fans at Kastles Stadium in Washington DC, the champions won all five matches with five-time Grand Slam singles champion Martina Hingis and doubles ace Paes playing stellar roles.

Hingis, who will make a comeback to the WTA Tour this week when she plays doubles with Daniela Hantuchova at the Southern California Open in Carlsbad, won her women's singles, women's doubles (with Anastasia Rodionova) and mixed doubles (with Paes) matches comfortably.

Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan was chosen for the 21st Rajiv Gandhi National Sadhbhavna Award for his contribution towards promotion of communal harmony and peace. It will be conferred on Amjad Ali Khan on 20 August 2013, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award (Rajiv Gandhi National Communal Harmony Award) is an award given for outstanding contribution towards promotion of communal harmony, national integration and peace. The award was instituted by All India Congress Committee of the Indian National Congress Party (INC), in 1992 to commemorate the lasting contribution made by the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The award carries a citation and a cash award of five lakh rupees.

The award is given on 20 August evry year, the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, which is celebrated as Sadbhavna Diwas (Harmony Day).The former recipients of the award comprise Mother Teresa, Bismillah Khan, Teesta Setalvad, Swami Agnivesh, Harsh Mander, Sunil Dutt, Dilip Kumar, Mohammed Yunus, Maulana Wahiuddin Khan and K R Narayanan.

A trial court on 30 July 2013 awarded life term to Batla House encounter convict Shahzad Ahmed for killing MC Sharma and injuring two others. Batla House encounter had taken place in 2008. Shahzad was also fined 95000 rupees of which 40000 rupees would be paid to family of slain inspector MC Sharma and 20000 rupees to injured cop Balwant. Additional sessions judge Rajender Kumar Shastri pronounced the judgment after listening to the arguments of the prosecution and the defence.

Batla House encounter officially known as Operation Batla House, took place on 19 September 2008, against Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists in Batla House locality in Jamia Nagar, Delhi. Encounter specialist and Delhi Police inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who led the police action was also killed during the incident.

British Airways on 30 July 2013 announced that it intends to increase its flight frequency from Hyderabad to London by having daily flights. The daily flights will be operated by a Boeing 777.

British airways is the UK-based premium airline. For British Airways, Hyderabad is truly a key market in their South Asian network. It has shown tremendous growth in the market since 2008, which resulted in concerted growth in the outbound business and leisure tourism.

India as a nation is amongst the fastest growing markets for British Airways and is the second largest market for the airlines after USA. As per international tourism board’s estimate, India emerged as the world’s fastest growing outbound market recently and in terms of numbers it is second only to China.

The number of Indians travelling overseas is set to rise from around 15 million to 50 million by 2020. India’s middle class is likely to grow to 50 per cent by 2030 as against the current 5 per cent. British Airways has been flying to India for the last 84 years. At present, it operates 46 flights a week from London Heathrow to five  following cities namely Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

The Government of Saudi Arabia, on 28 July 2013, announced that it awarded over 22 billion US dollar in contract for the development of metro line in the capital, Riyadh. This is said to be the largest public transport initiative of the world and will help in boosting the economy of Saudi Arabia considerably.

The metro line will join Dubai as well as Qatar in the expansion of the public transport networks. The contracts were awarded to Bechtel Group Inc. (9.4 billion US dollar), Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (7.8 billion US dollar) and Ansaldo STS SpA (STS) (5.2 billion US dollar).

US department of energy's (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory invented the fastest electrical switching in magnetite- a naturally magnetic mineral. This scientific finding will enable faster, more powerful computing devices. Scientists used SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray laser to find that it takes only 1 trillionth of a second to flip the on-off electrical switch in samples of magnetite, which is thousands of times faster than the electrical switch used in transistors.

This scientific finding will throw new light on the electronic properties of magnetite. We already know the basic magnetic properties of magnetite. In fact, for the first time the speed limit for electrical switching in magnetite was revealed by this scientific breakthrough.

Scientists hit magnetite with a visiblelight laser, which resulted into the fragmentation of the material's electronic structure at an atomic scale, rearranging it to form the islands. The laser blast was followed by an ultra bright, ultra short X-ray pulse. It allowed researchers to study the timing and details of changes in the sample excited by the initial laser strike.

After adjusting the interval of the X-ray pulses, the scientists measured the time duration of the material to shift from a non-conducting to an electrically conducting state and observed the structural changes during this switch. The magnetite was needed to be cooled to minus 190 degrees Celsius to lock its electrical charges in place.

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on 29 July 2013 cleared the proposal of Jet Airways to sell 24 percent stake to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad. With this clearance, Jet-Etihad deal has become the first one after the Union Government of India relaxed the FDI rules for aviation sector in the year 2012. The deal will now have to cross the hurdle of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for final approval.

The Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram announced that the Jet-Etihad deal was approved after the FIPB meeting, but with certain conditions.

Conditions Imposed

• According to the first condition, both Jet Airways as well as Etihad need to settle any dispute between them under the Indian law and not under the English common law as it was proposed originally.
• Apart from this condition, both the companies also need to get the prior FIPB approval for the purpose of change in the shareholding structure.

The approval for Jet-Etihad deal was stuck at FIPB on the grounds of various concerns such as whether Jet Airways would retain its effective control, including the retain of Indian owner or now. Also, it was a matter of concern whether Jet Airways would change the place of its business or not.

According to the revised agreement, it was agreed upon that all the committees formed by these two airlines for the operational as well as administrative functions would remain advisory in nature. The agreement also made it clear that Etihad would only make recommendations of the Senior Executives for appointments at Jet Airways.

Now, Etihad will have two directors on the Board which includes 12 members. Jet Airways would have four, which would in turn give more authority to the Indian promoters. The resolutions of the Board will be passed by a simple majority. The Veto power as well as the voting powers will vest in the Chairman, Naresh Goyal.

Impact of the Jet-Etihad Deal

• The deal is said to be very important for Jet Airways, which at present, is facing significant challenges in terms of finance.
• The deal will enable the Indian civil aviation industry because there will be an enhanced capacity, bringing down of airfares as well as increased competition.
• The deal, after the final approval, will instill more confidence on a global level in the airline industry of India.
• The deal will primarily benefit the partners, while at the same time, improving the prevailing investment climate of India.
• The deal is also very good for the civil aviation sector as well as passengers in India. There is a need of foreign investment in the infrastructure side of India. The deal will therefore reaffirm the confidence of the investors in India’s growth.
• The Jet-Etihad would garner approximately 2058 crore Rupees or 379 million US dollar for the Jet Airways, which in turn, will be used by it for paying off the debts as well as providing better passenger connectivity.
• The deal will enable the passengers from 23 cities of India to get direct international flights.
• The deal will also enable the passengers in India to avail the frequent flyer programmes of Jet Airways and Etihad.

RBI released the First Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2013-14 on 30 July 2013. The highlights are as following:
• The repo rate was kept unchanged at 7.25 percent.
• Reverse repo remains at 6.25 percent.
• Cash reserve ratio unchanged at 4.00 percent
• Keeps Marginal Standing Facility rate at 10.25 percent.
• Bank rate stands at 10.25 percent.

Considerations behind the Policy Move
• The policy stance in this review was informed by two considerations.
• First, the need for continuous vigil and preparedness to pro-actively respond to risks to the economy from external developments, especially those stemming from global financial markets.
• Second, managing the trade-off posed by increased downside risks to growth and continuing risks to inflation and inflation expectations.

Monetary Policy Stance
Accordingly, the four broad contours of RBI’s monetary policy stance are as following:
•    First, to address the risks to macroeconomic stability from external shocks;
•    Second, to continue to address the heightened risks to growth;
•    Third, to guard against re-emergence of inflation pressures; and
•    Fourth, to manage liquidity conditions to ensure adequate credit flow to the productive sectors of the economy.

RBI Cut GDP growth forecast for 2013-14 to 5.5 percent from 5.7 percent earlier.

India and central and west asia

Central Asia and West Asia are important regions in the present day world. The two regions
together possess more than two thirds of the world’s proven oil reserves and a considerable
amount of natural gas, which are vital for the functioning of modern industrial society. Oil imports
account for nearly two thirds of India’s oil consumption and more than half of this comes from this region (mainly the Persian Gulf). Hence, this area is crucial for India’s energy supplies.
Geographically, the two regions connect the Asian landmass to Europe and Africa and major
trade routes crisscross them. Historically, they have been the entry point for people and cultures
that have deeply influenced our civilisation and added to its rich tapestry. In recent times, this
whole area is considered vulnerable to the rise of religious extremism and terrorism. This has
serious implications for India in view of our 130 million Muslim populations and the ongoing
militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan’s attempt to increase its influence in these countries
adds to our concern. In view of their geographical proximity and historical linkages, the two
regions are often referred to as India’s extended neighbourhood. In spite of many commonalties,
Central Asia and West Asia are two distinct regions and should be dealt with separately. This
Unit examines India’s relations with the two regions in several important aspects.

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