Current Affairs April 1, 2010

Current Affairs: April 1, 2010 Events / Happenings / Observances: Reserve Bank of India: Platinum Jubilee Celebration Finale Established on April 1, 1935, the Reserve Bank of India, country’s central bank, celebrated 2009-2010 as its Platinum Jubilee year. The year-long celebrations included several events with a series of learning events to showcase the Reserve Bank as a knowledge institution, a set of internal events involving current and former RBI staff to reinforce a sense of belonging and inclusiveness among members of the RBI family and the outreach programme. The focus of the outreach programme was financial inclusion and financial literacy. The top management of the Reserve Bank travelled to remote villages across the country to listen to ordinary people, see and understand how grass root institutions operate and to learn of the challenges and opportunities for financial inclusion. October 2009 The Reserve Bank of India was established on April 1, 1935 in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 with a share capital of Rs. 5 crores on the basis of the

recommendations of the Hilton Young Commission. This commission submitted its report in the year 1926, though the bank was not set up for nine years. The share capital was divided into shares of Rs. 100 each fully paid which was entirely owned by private shareholders in the beginning. Office of RBI : The Central Office of the Reserve Bank was initially established in Kolkata but was permanently moved to Mumbai in 1937. It has 22 regional offices. Nationalization of RBI: With a view to have a cordinated regulation of Indian banking Indian Banking Act was passed in march 1949. To make RBI more powerful the Govt. of India nationalised RBI on January 1, 1949. The general superintendence and direction of the Bank is entrusted to Central Board of Directors of 20 members, the Governor and four Deputy Governors, one Government official from the Ministry of Finance, ten nominated Directors by the Government to give representation to important elements in the economic life of the country, and four nominated Directors by the Central Government to represent the four local

Boards with the headquarters at Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and New Delhi. Local Boards consist of five members each Central Government appointed for a term of four years to represent territorial and economic interests and the interests of co-operative and indigenous banks. Functions of RBI 1. Issue of Notes: Under Section 22 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, RBI has sole right to issue currency notes of various denominations except one rupee notes. The One Rupee note is issued by Ministry of Finance and It bears the signatures of Finance Secretary, while other notes bear the signature of Governor RBI. However RBI is the only source of legal tender money because distribution of one rupee notes and coins and small coins all over the country is undertaken by the Reserve Bank as agent of the Government. Issue Department: RBI has a separate Issue Department which is responsible for the issue of currency notes. Originally, the assets of the Issue Department were to consist of not less than two-fifths of gold coin, gold bullion or sterling securities provided the amount of gold was not less than Rs. 40 crores in

value. The remaining three-fifths of the assets might be held in rupee coins, Government of India rupee securities, eligible bills of exchange and promissory notes payable in India. Since 1957, the Reserve Bank of India is required to maintain gold and foreign exchange reserves of Rs. 200 crores, of which at least Rs. 115 crores should be in gold. The system as it exists today is known as the minimum reserve system. 2. Banker to Government The second important function of the Reserve Bank of India is to act as Government banker, agent and adviser. The Reserve Bank is agent of Central Government and of all State Governments in India excepting that of Jammu and Kashmir. The RBI performs all the banking functions of the State & Central Government and tenders advice related to economic and monetary policy. The Reserve Bank of India helps the Government - both the Union and the States to float new loans and to manage public debt. The Bank makes ways and means advances to the Governments for 90 days. It makes loans and advances to the States and local authorities. It acts as adviser to the Government on all monetary and banking matters. 3. Bankers' Bank:

The Reserve Bank of India acts as the bankers' bank. As per the provisions of the Banking Companies Act of 1949, every scheduled bank was required to maintain with the Reserve Bank a cash balance equivalent to 5% of its demand liabilites and 2 per cent of its time liabilities in India. However , by an amendment of 1962, the distinction between demand and time liabilities was abolished and banks have been asked to keep cash reserves equal to 3 per cent of their aggregate deposit liabilities. The minimum cash requirements can be changed by the Reserve Bank of India. 4. Controller of Credit The Reserve Bank of India has the responsibility of the controller of credit i.e. it has the power to influence the volume of credit created by banks in India. For this purpose RBI makes extensive use of qualitative and quantitative use of techniques such as changing the Bank rate or through open market operations. As per Banking Regulation Act of 1949, the Reserve Bank of India can ask any particular bank or the whole banking system not to lend to particular groups or persons on the basis of certain types of securities. Since 1956, selective controls

of credit are increasingly being used by the Reserve Bank. 5. Custodian of Foreign Reserves The Reserve Bank of India has the responsibility to maintain the official rate of exchange. As per the Reserve Bank of India Act of 1934, the Bank was required to buy and sell at fixed rates any amount of sterling in lots of not less than Rs. 10,000. After India became a member of the International Monetary Fund in 1946, the Reserve Bank has the responsibility of maintaining fixed exchange rates with all other member countries of the I.M.F. Besides maintaining the rate of exchange of the rupee, the Reserve Bank has to act as the custodian of India's reserve of international currencies. The vast sterling balances were acquired and managed by the Bank. Further, the RBI has the responsibility of administering the exchange controls of the country. 6. Supervisory Functions In addition to its traditional central banking functions, the Reserve bank has certain non-monetary functions of the nature of supervision of banks and promotion of sound banking in India. 7. Promotional functions

RBI performs a variety of developmental and promotional functions also such as helping in the 1. Set up of the IFCI and the SFC (State Financial Corporations) 2. Set up the Deposit Insurance Corporation in 1962 3. the Unit Trust of India in 1964, 4. The Industrial Development Bank of India also in 1964, 5. The Agricultural Refinance Corporation of India in 1963 6. Industrial Reconstruction Corporation of India in 1972. Legal Framework of RBI 1. Umbrella Acts Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934: governs the Reserve Bank functions Banking Regulation Act, 1949: governs the financial sector Acts governing specific functions Public Debt Act, 1944/Government Securities Act (Proposed): Governs government debt market Securities Contract (Regulation) Act, 1956: Regulates government securities market Indian Coinage Act, 1906:Governs currency and coins

Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973/Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999:Governs trade and foreign exchange market Acts governing Banking Operations Companies Act, 1956:Governs banks as companies Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970/1980: Relates to nationalisation of banks Bankers' Books Evidence Act Banking Secrecy Act Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 Acts governing Individual Institutions State Bank of India Act, 1954 The Industrial Development Bank (Transfer of Undertaking and Repeal) Act, 2003 The Industrial Finance Corporation (Transfer of Undertaking and Repeal) Act, 1993 National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Act National Housing Bank Act Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Act Training Establishments of RBI RBI sas six training establishments College of Agricultural Banking Bankers Training College

Reserve Bank of India Staff College The above three are part of the Reserve Bank of India National Institute for Bank Management Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research (IGIDR) Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) The above three are autonomous Institutions Subsidiaries of RBI Fully owned: National Housing Bank(NHB) Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation of India(DICGC) Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited(BRBNMPL) Majority stake: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) The Reserve Bank of India has recently divested its stake in State Bank of India to the Government of India. Monetary Policy : It is called as money and credit policy. It refers to a regulatory policy by which the RBI maintaines control over the money supply and demand for the realization of economic goals. Annual Policy Statement:

Since 1999-2000 , with the decline in agricultural credit and rise in its Industrial credit RBi has started making its annual policy statement in April every year and quarterly review of the same. Instruments of Control: Bank Rate: The rate at which RBI lends to its clients on long term borrowings.It is a direct quantitative method of RBI to control the economy. Open market Operations: Bying and selling of Government securities, treasury bills and other approved securities, short term commercial Bills, Switch Operations (purchansing one loans against the sale of another operations) . Cash Reserve Ratio: The banks keep a proportion of their assets in the form of cash -partly as cash on hand and partly as balance (reserve) with RBI . This is cash reserve ratio. RBI has power to fix CRR n commercial banks . Earlier this range was from 6% to 15 % . By an Amendment Act in 2006, this limit has been removed and so RBI is free to fix any CRR. On April 21, 2009 RBI in its latest Annual Monetary Policy kept CRR unchanged at 5 % . Statutory Liquidity Ratio: It is the ratio of the total deposits of of a bank that it has to maintain with itself in non cash form. This means that it is

against net demand and time liabilities. The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act of 1962 provides for maintaining a minimum SLR of 25% by the bank against their net demand and time liabilities, however RBI is powered by this act to raise the SLR up to 40%. The Reserve bank of India ( Amendment) Act 2005 which was approved by Lok Sabha on may 17, 2006 amends the Reserve Bank Act for providing flexibility to the Central Bank in Fixing the CRR. REPO rate and Reverse REPO Rate: Repo is “Repurchase Agreement. An agreement to sell a security for a specified price and to buy it back later at another specified price. A repo is essentially a secured loan. Whenever the banks have any shortage of funds they can borrow it from RBI. Repo rate is the rate at which our banks borrow rupees from RBI. A reduction in the repo rate will help banks to get money at a cheaper rate. When the repo rate increases borrowing from RBI becomes more expensive. On March 4, 2009 it was 5% in India. Some latest Current Affairs Related to RBI Annual Policy Statement: RBI declared it Annual Policy Statement for the Year 2009-10 on 21st April 2009 in consistance with the current assessment of macroeconomic and

monetary conditions, the Reserve Bank has decided to reduce the repo rate under the LAF by 25 basis points from 5.0% to 4.75% with immediate effect. reduce the reverse repo rate under the LAF by 25 basis points from 3.5% to 3.25% with immediate effect. keep the CRR unchanged at 5.0% of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL). Note issue of Rs. 1000 Note: Rs. 1000 note was released by RBI on October 9, 2000. The Rs. 1000 notes which were discontinued 22 years ago in 1978 to discourage hoarding by black marketers were be re circulated with additional security features like optically variable ink and micro letters. Issue of 10 Rupee Coin: On April 11, 2009, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched 10 Rupee coins. They are bimetallic coins comprising of Nickel-Bronze and Ferrous Steel. The weight of the coin is 8 grams and the diameter is 28 mm. The 10 Rupee coins were supposed to be released three years ago, but were delayed due to some technical issues. The new 10 Rupee coin has the lion capitol, the numeric 10 and the year of manufacturing on one side. On the reverse side, there is a double line

cross with a dot in each pellet of cross. The value of the coin is indicated on both Hindi and English. The 10 Rupee coin was designed by National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad with the theme of Unity in Diversity. The coins are being prepared at Noida and Mumbai mints. Reconstitution of Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) : June 24, 2009 The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) on Monetary Policy, Reserve Bank of India’s arm to advise it on its monetary policy stance, has been reconstituted effective July 1, 2009. The committee under the chairmanship of Governor Duvvuri Subbarao will have deputy governors Shyamala Gopinath, Usha Thorat and K.C. Chakrabarty as members.The tenure of the committee will be up to June 30, 2011. K C Chakrabarty has been appointmented as RBI Deputy Governor: June 15, 2009 Punjab National Bank CMD K C Chakrabarty has been appointmented as RBI Deputy Governor. K C Chakrabarty has demitted office on 14 June 2009 on his appointment as Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, Chakrabarty’s appointment to RBI came in place of V Leeladhar who had retired in December. RBI has four deputy governors, of whom Rakesh Mohan has resigned to take a

teaching profession in Stanford University in the US. National Updates: Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 comes into force on April 1, 2010. Right To Education Bill (The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act ) Recently India's parliament passed Right to Education Bill 4 August 2009. This act describes the modalities of the provision of free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 14 in India under Article 21A of the Indian Constitution. What is Article 21? Article 21. Protection Of Life And Personal Liberty: No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. Article 21A Right to Education: - “The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine.” Salient Features:

Every child between the ages of 6 to 14 years has the right to free and compulsory education. This is stated as per the 86th Constitution Amendment Act added Article 21A. The right to education bill seeks to give effect to this amendment The government schools shall provide free education to all the children and the schools will be managed by school management committees (SMC). Private schools shall admit at least 25% of the children in their schools without any fee. The National Commission for Elementary Education shall be constituted to monitor all aspects of elementary education including quality. No child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until completion of elementary education A child who completes elementary education (upto class shall be awarded a certificate Calls for a fixed student-teacher ratio Will apply to all of India except Jammu and Kashmir Provides for 25 percent reservation for economically disadvantaged communities in admission to Class One in all private schools Mandates improvement in quality of education

School teachers will need adequate professional degree within five years or else will lose job School infrastructure (where there is problem) to be improved in three years, else recognition cancelled Financial burden will be shared between state and central government History: 1950: Constitution of India contained Article 45, as one of the directive principles of State policy, which states that: "The State shall endeavor to provide within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years." 1968: First National Commission for education under Dr. Kothari submits its reports. It introduced several far-reaching changes as uniform curriculum for both boys and girls, mathematics and science as compulsory subjects etc. It also proposed a Common School System. 1976: Constitution amendment making education a concurrent subject (responsibility of both state and center) was passed. 1986: National policy on Education (NPE) endorsing Common School System (CSS) was

formulated. Subsequent NPE’s endorsed CSS but it has never been implemented. 1993: The Supreme court in the case Unnikrishnan vs State of Andhra Pradesh ruled that the right to education is a fundamental right that flows from the Right to life in Article 21 of the Constitution. 1997: Constitution Amendment making Education a fundamental right was introduced. 2002: 86th Constitution Amendment added Article 21A stating that “The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age six to fourteen years in such as a way as the State may, by law, determine.” The 86th Amendment also modified Article 45 which reads as “The state shall endeavor to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of 6 years”. 2005: CABE committee report constituted to draft the Right to Education Bill submits its report. Every time a new version was placed till it was tabled in Parliament in 2008. The bill was approved by the cabinet on 2 July 2009. Rajya Sabha passed the bill on 20 July 2009 and the Lok Sabha on 4 August 2009.

It received Presidential assent and was notified as law on 3 Sept 2009 as The Children's Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009. Right to Education in UN Declaration: As per article 26 of UN declaration of Human Rights, it has been clearly stated that "Everyone has the right to education…directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms". India's Problems: India is yet to achieve credible accomplishments in various segments of education - literacy, universal enrolment, lowering the dropout rate, improving quality and making the system more relevant. 50% students in the Indian education system fail at the secondary level. They often do not continue with their studies. Only six per cent of the youth in the 18-23 years bracket go in for higher education in India. The quality of many primary schools is appallingly low. One in five children is over or under age, one in three children drops out before completing the primary cycle; and one in two children does not have clean drinking water at school.

A recent study in rural India found that not a single grade 5 student had mastered grade 2 competencies in Hindi or mathematics. Vulnerable groups are often deprived of educational opportunities. The literacy rate in India varies from 90 percent for rich urban males to a mere 17 per cent for the poor. The difference between the primary enrolment rate of landless peasant households and medium to large landowners is almost 20 percentage points. About three-quarters of children denied education live in six states - Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The elusive goal of providing free and compulsory education until the age of 14 within a few years has been regularly reiterated, without any effective steps being taken to reach it- Amartya Sen Every 6-to-14-year-old will be provided eight years of elementary education in an age appropriate classroom in the vicinity of his or her neighborhood. Decennial Census Operation begins: President Pratibha Patil becomes the first citizen to be enumerated and with this, largest census

exercise ever attempted in the history of mankind begins. Registrar General and Census Commissioner C Chandramouli and Deputy Director General, National Population Register, S K Chakraborty were present when president launches the exercise. Fifteenth Census of India On April 1, 2010, President Pratibha Patil becomes the first citizen to be enumerated and with this, largest census exercise ever attempted in the history of mankind begins. Registrar General and Census Commissioner C Chandramouli and Deputy Director General, National Population Register, S K Chakraborty were present when president launches the exercise. Along with this preparation also begins for National Population Register (NPR) which is aimed to create a comprehensive identity database in the country. This will be first ever National Population Register. National Population Register project of usual residents of the country would cover an estimated population of 1.2 billion and the total cost of the scheme is Rs 3,539.24 crore. There are going to be two phases as first phase of census to be started in April and concluded in

September 2010, which would include assimilation of house listing and house census and collection of data on NPR and second and last phase from February 9 to 28 which will includ population enumeration. 2011 is going to be 15th census and 7th regular census after Independence. A systematic and modern population census, in its present form was conducted non synchronously between 1865 and 1872 in different parts of the country. This effort culminating in 1872 has been popularly labeled as the first population census of India . However, the first synchronous census in India was held in 1881. Since then, censuses have been undertaken uninterruptedly once every ten year. Fact Box: Constitutional Position of census Census of India' is statutory interpretation under Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Citizenship(Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rule, 2003 and Census Act, 1948 and Census Rules. Why Census? The census provides information on size, distribution and socio-economic, demographic and other characteristics of the country's population.

The data collected through the census are used for administration, planning and policy making as well as management and evaluation of various programmes by the government, NGOs, researchers, commercial and private enterprises, etc. Census data is also used for demarcation of constituencies and allocation of representation to parliament, State legislative Assemblies and the local bodies. Researchers and demographers use census data to analyze growth and trends of population and make projections. The census data is also important for business houses and industries for strengthening and planning their business for penetration into areas, which had hitherto remained, uncovered. India's first AC double-decker train The Rail Coach Factory (RCF), Kapurthala rolls out the India's first air conditioned double-decker coach for oscillation trials on the Delhi-Muradabad section. Introduction of AC double-decker coaches was announced by Railway Minister in Budget 2010-11. These high-speed stainless steel AC coaches would be introduced to cater to the heavy

rush of commuters in high density corridors offering AC travel at a low cost. Punjab: Pearls World Cup Kabaddi Punjab-2010 Stopper Mangat Singh Mangi Bagga is leading the 14-member Indian team in the first Pearls World Cup Kabaddi Punjab-2010 being organised by the Punjab Government at different venues of the state from April 3-12. Raider Hardawinder Singh Dulla Surkhpuria will be his deputy. Rajasthan: India's First Homeopathic University Rajasthan Assembly passes the Homeopathy University Jaipur Bill 2010,paving the way for India's First Homeopathic University at Jaipur. Bill was brought and passed to replace the ordinance promulgated by the state government for the purpose in October 2009. The University will be run by Dr MP Khunteta Homeopathy Medical College and Research Society. Fact Box: German physician Samuel Hahnemann was the first to propose Homeopathy in 1796 as an alternative medicine. Hahnemann conceived of the "law of similars", otherwise known as "let like be cured by like". He used Cincona for cure of malaria .

Himachal Pradesh: What are Sirmouri, Kulluvi, Kangri and Mahajavi? Sirmouri, Kulluvi, Kangri and Mahajavi are some dialects out of more than 10 dialects of Pahari Language. Pahari language is spoken in Himalayan region and not in only Himachal Pradesh. However , the mountains isn these regions have the tendency of isolating communities from change. These dialects have their own characteristics. All of these dialects are commonly referred to as the 'Pahari' languages, and most people from the Himalayan range as known as Pahari. On April 1, 2010 a resolution is passed by the Himachal Pradesh assembly to recommend the inclusion of Pahari language in the Indian Constitution. FactBox: Languages in the Indian Constitution: The Constitution of India has given 22 "languages of the 8th Schedule" the status of official language. Hindi is official language of the Union along with English. Hindi is NOT national language of India, neither is English. The 22 languages are: Assamese/Axomiya,Bengali,Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri,Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri (also Meitei or Meithei), Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, ,

Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu. Tamil is the first classical language of India which got this status in 2004. Sanskrit, Kannada & Telugu are other classical languages. Antarnaad in Guinness Book of World Records: The record for the largest simultaneous sing-along was organised by The Art of Living Foundation (India) and involved 104,637 participants singing 'Vande Mataram', India's national song, at Antarnaad in Pune, India on 12 January 2010. (citation issued by the Guinness World Records Ltd). There are two more entries in the Guinness Book in the name of Art of Living Foundation India. In the year 2006, as many as 1200 Mohiniattam dancers performing together on one stage in Kerala and a sitar concert titled "Brahm Naad" in New Delhi in November 2008, which brought together 1094 sitar exponents on one stage. Business & Economy: London 2012 Olympics : tier-two sponsor - ArcelorMittal ArcelorMittal becomes tier-two sponsor of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and will

support the infrastructure for the Games. The ArcelorMittal Orbit will be the iconic and permanent symbol of the 2012 Olympic and will embody both the artistic and functional versatility of steel as a construction material. ArcelorMittal will fund 16 million pounds of the 19.1 million pound project, with the outstanding 3.1 million pounds provided by the London Development Agency. Fact Box : London 2012 Olympics: London 2012 Olympics or XXX Olympiad will be held at London from 27 July to 12 August 2012. London is organising the mega event for third time. Previously London organised summer olympics in 1908 and 1948. London will become the first city to officially host the modern Olympic Games three times. State Bank of India: 15,000 business correspondents In order to expand its presence in the unbanked areas, the The State Bank of India intends to hire around 15,000 (business correspondents) in 2010-11. Business correspondents and business facilitator model would help in taking banking facilities to every part of the country, as its not possible for banks to open branches in every

village. Key Role of the business correspondents will be to accept deposits and remit money. As per the Reserve Bank's guideline, banks are allowed to engage retired employees, ex-servicemen and retired government employees and other entities, as prescribed by the central bank, as business correspondents. World Updates: Ireland's Richest person: Pallonji Mistry Construction Tycoon Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry is Ireland's richest person with a worth of 3.9 billion pounds ($5.93 billion). He became an Irish citizen in 2003 through his Irish born wife and his business is in real estate, cars, heavy industry, tea and partly owns the Taj Mahal Hotel. World's most visited place: Louvre Museum, Paris Louvre Museum, Paris which is home to 600,000 art pieces including Leonardo Da Vici's Mona Lisa tops list of most visited places in the world. In 2009, 8.5 million people visited the museum in 2009. The Louvre, which dates back to 1527, became a museum in 1793. First-ever Afghanistan Cannabis Survey:

The first-ever Afghanistan Cannabis Survey was conducted by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime has been released. The survey say that an estimated 10,000 to 24,000 hectares of cannabis are grown in Afghanistan every year. Afghanistan is not only the world's largest producer of hashish but also world's largest producer of illicit opiates. Current Affairs : April 2, 2010 Appointments / Elections: New Members of Jawahar Bhavan Trust Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi along with AICC Treasurer Motilal Vora and party General Secretary and Union Minister Mukul Wasnik are the new trustees of Jawahar Bhavan Trust. New Maharashtra BJP chief: Sudhir Mungantivar Sudhir Mungantivar, a senior BJP leader of Maharastra BJP is elected state party chief . He replaces Nitin Gadkari, who was elected national BJP president in December 2009. Events, Happenings & Observances: SIMBEX 2010

SIMBEX 2010 is the 17th edition of annual bilateral exercises between the Indian Navy (IN) and the Republic of Singapore Navy Its starts on April 3, 2010 at Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal Fact Box : Some Naval exercises of Indian Navy: Varuna with the French Navy, Konkan with the Royal Navy, Indra with Russian Navy, Malabar with the U.S. Navy and SIMBEX with the Republic of Singapore Navy. SIMBEX is an acronym of Singapore Indian Maritime Bilateral Exercise National Updates: Update on Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act Two panels viz. Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee and the Second Administrative Reform Commission had made the recommendation of replacing the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. Haryana : Senior Citizen Samman Scheme Senior Citizen Samman Scheme has been launched in Haryana. The scheme envisages creation of Senior Citizens Club in 1000 villages of Haryana. As per this scheme the village Gram Panchayats will provide land for a 400-square meter room at their own level in their villages.

Fact Box: Apni Beti Apna Dhan Yojna of Haryana: LAADLI Apni Betian Apna Dhan(Ladli) is being implemented in Haryana Government under which Rs.5000/- per family i.e. Rs.2500/- per daughter is given to the parents on the birth of their second daughter born on or after Ist January,2006 up to five years. Business & Economy: Kerala : First Multiplex The first cineplex of Kerala comes up in Kochi, promoted by Cinemax, one of the largest multiplex chains in India. Who is Nikesh Arora? Nikesh Arora is global sales boss of Google and is the top earning Indian at the global search giant. Arora received $26.3 million in compensation in 2009. This also makes him one of the highest paid executives in America. he is also the top Ranking Indian in Google. He had joined the company in April 2009, after replacing Omid Kordestsani. Before this he was running Google in Europe. India's External Debt: As of December 31, 2009 India's total external debt was $ 251.4 Billion. Out of this Long term

debt was $ 206 Billion while the short term debt was $ 45.2 Billion. RBI : Normal Ways and Means Advances Limits The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) keeps the limit of state governments' short-term borrowing from the central bank, called as Normal Ways and Means Advances, unchanged for the financial year started on April 1, 2010. The limit, which is also applicable for the union territory of Puducherry is placed at Rs 9925 crore. Current Affairs April 3, 2010 Appointments / Elections: Chief Justice of Madras High Court - Justice M Y Eqbal Justice M Y Eqbal is the new Chief Justice of Madras High Court. He replaces Justice H L Gokhale. Justice H L Gokhale & Jharkhand High Court Chief Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra have been recommended by Supreme Court collegium for elevation to the Supreme Court. Events Happenings & Observances: Nuclear Energy for All, Nuclear Weapon for None This is the tile of a meeting on Nuclear disarmament in Tehran scheduled for April 17-18,

2010. India decides to join this meet and India's ambassador to Tehran Sanjay Singh will participate in the meeting. Awards: Srimanta Sankardeva Award Srimanta Sankardeva Award are conferred by Assam Government. Eminent litterateur Homen Borgohain and eminent actress Sharmila Tagore have been chosen for Srimanta Sankardeva Award 2007 & 2008. Public Relations Council of India - Chanakya Awards Public Relations Council of India (PRCI), a Registered National body of PR and Communication professionals based at Chennai announces Chanakya Awards for the year 2010. some of the awardees are as follows: Lifetime Achievement Award : Bobby Sista & Manohar Prabhakar Bobby Sista is an advertiser and founder chairperson of NGO 'Population First'. Manohar Prabhakar is former director of the Information and Public Relations Department of Rajasthan Government.

Media Personality of the Decade Award: Barkha Datt Barkha Datt is Managing Editor of NDTV. NGO of the Year Award - Navjyoti Navjyoti is an NGO of Dr Kiran Bedi Organisation of the Year-PR Excellence - Coca-Cola Communicator of the Year-PR - Yogesh Joshi Yogesh Joshi is president of Association of Business Communicators of India Young Visionary - Phanindra Sama Phanindra Sama is CEO Red Bus Corporate Citizen of the Year - Centre For Social Research-Women Empowerment National Updates: India's first Standard Guage line Opens India's first Standard Guage line taking Delhi Metro from Inderlok to Mundka opens. Being on the Standard Gauge rails measuring four feet and 8.5 inches, as against Broad Gauge used for Phase one, the tracks on this line will be narrower and speed of the trains better. With the commissioning of this line, the total Metro network has increased to over 111 km and 97 stations. Sports: Asian Rugby Sevens Invitational Tournament

Malaysia is the champion of the Asian Rugby Sevens Invitational Tournament. India finihses 4th. Current Affairs - April 5, 2010 Awards & Honors: Haryana : Government Literary Awards: Haryana Sahitya Rattan Samman for 2008-09 goes to Dr Harish Chander Verma and for 2009-10 to Rajya Kavi Uday Bhanu Hans. April 2010 Haryana Sahitya Academy Awards The following persons are the winners of the Haryana Government literary awards for 2008-09 & 2009-10 Awards for 2008-09 Haryana Sahitya Rattan Samman : Dr Harish Chander Verma Mahakavi Surdas Samman Award : Dr.M.P.Bhardwaj Babu Bal Mukund Gupt Samman Award : Puran Mudgal Lal Deshbandhu Gupt Samman Award : Ms Urmi Kiran Pt Lakhmi Chand Samman Award: Mr Madan Gopal Shastri Haryana Gaurav Samman Award: Suresh Gautam Awards for 2009-10

Haryana Sahitya Rattan Samman : Rajya Kavi Uday Bhanu Hans Mahakavi Surdas Samman Award : Mr Kanwal Nain Kapoor Babu Bal Mukund Gupt Samman Award : Gian Parkash Vivek Lal Deshbandhu Gupt Samman Award: Mr Narender Kumar Upmanyu, Hament Atri Pt Lakhmi Chand Samman Award: Mr Rajbir Deswal Haryana Gaurav Samman Award: Dr.Kamal Kumar of Delhi Haryana Sahitya Sewa Samman Award For Haryanvi Literature (Mr.Bharat Bhushan Sanghiwal, Mr Satpal Gupt,. Mr Tara Chand Premi) Chairman of the Haryana Sahitya Academy Bhupinder Singh Huda announces 3 more awards to be institutded from this year - Haryanavi Puraskar, Hasya Puraskar and Mahila Rachnakar Puraskar Karnataka: Film Awards in the name of Vishnuvardhan, K.S. Aswath Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa announces institution of Vishnuvardhan Life Time

Achievement award and KS Aswath " best supporting actor" award. The state government also announces building a memorial in the name of Dr. Vishnuvardhan. Life Time Achievement award for the year 2008 has been conferred upon Dr. Vishnuvardhan and his wife Bharathi Vishnuvardhan receives this award. Events, Happenings & Observances: "Yodha Shakti" & "Azm-e-Nau" Yodha Shakti is the name of the month-long war games scheduled to be conducted by Indian Army in mid-April in the Thar desert of Rajasthan. This will be India's biggest war-game exercise ever. At the same time Pakistan army is organizing similar kind of wargame - Azm-e-Nau (New Resolution) on the Pakistan side of the Thar Desert. National Updates: Gujarat : 50 Years of Sardar Sarovar Narmada Project Out of the thirty large dams planned on river Narmada, Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) is the largest multipurpose project involved in the construction.

The foundation stone of this project was launched on 5th April 1961, by Gujarat's first Chief Minister Dr Jivraj Mehta. On 5th April 2010, the project enters its 50th year. The project was first conceived by Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1940s. At that time the aim was limited to iirigation of the Bharuch district and some adjacent areas. It was vision of Sardar Vallabh Bhai patel , that harnessing the excess waters of Narmada river will quench the thirst of the water starved areas of Gujarat. However it took decades to take the project form of development scheme to increase irrigation and produce hydroelectricity. The Narmada Valley Development Plan (NVDP) came in 1979, which envisaged 30 big dams, 135 medium dams and 3,000 small dams on the Narmada and its tributaries. Amongst the 30 large dams planned for the Narmada Sardar Sarovar dam is the largest with 136.5 m (455 ft) height. This 136.5 m (455 ft) height is the main focus of Narmada bachao Andolan. The project would irrigate 18000 square kilometers of land spread over Gujarat and Barmer, Jalor districts of Rajasthan.

Assam : Baideu & Nabou Schemes: Baideu & Nabou are two new schemes started by the Assam state government. These ambitious projects are for the benefit of unmarried women and widows respectively. Baideu means elder sister and this scheme targets unmarried women who are above the age of 45 and living below poverty line. Nabou which means Sister in law targets the widows living below poverty line. The scheme involves financial assistance of Rs 3,000 each annually and one-time assistance of Rs 10,000 to each beneficiary. Delhi : e-waste disposal system Delhi government goes ahead with the e-waste disposal system. The e-waste bins will be installed in various places across the capital from where the authorized recyclers shall collect the e-waste for recycling. e-Office of Finance Ministry: Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla initiates e-Office programme directed towards a paperless office by enabling access to internal information for its employees through any computer. The E-office has been developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC). Its going to be a platform for

personalized, role based, secure access to internal information for the employees that is accessible through any browser. Some features of the programme are unified view of data, content and document management, collaboration and messaging services with SMS interface, single standards based directory service, identity and access management role and integration of applications. Rajasthan: New Air field in Phalodi Phalodi which was called as Phalvardhika in ancient times is a strategic town located in Jodhpur District of Rajasthan. A new Indian Air Force (IAF) airfield equipped with modern infrastructure is to be inaugurated by Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal PV Naik at Phalodi. Its location between Jaisalmer and Jodhpur spans the distance between these two important air bases of Indian Air Force. Business & Economy: ONGC : First Public Sector Company to receive Emission Reduction Certificates from UNFCC On April 5, 2010, ONGC announces that it has become India's First PSU to receive Emission Reduction Certificates from the UN agency UNFC

& CC (UNFCCC). The certificate was issued on March 18. The first registered CDM project is 'Waste Heat Recovery Project at Mumbai High'. There are six registered CDM projects of ONGC. However, Waste Heat Recovery project happened to be the first registered project. The monitoring period was from February 5 ,2007 to March 31, 2009 and the issued CERs are 10,722 for the period. The remaining five projects are in the various phases of monitoring and verification. The remaining five projects are in the various phases of monitoring and verification. Highest paid CEO in United States: Larry Ellison Larry Ellison, co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation, a major enterprise software company emerges as the highest paid CEO in the US. His pay packet was $84.5 million. Ray Elliott of Boston Scientific is at the second place ($33.4 million). The listing has been published by cnnmoney.com Red Dot Product Design Award - BPL Studylite BPL Studylite is India's first eco-friendly rechargeable LED study lamp. It has been chosen from 4,252 entries across a field of around 1,635

companies from 57 countries across the world and is the only Indian product to win a Red Dot Award in 2010. It bags Red Dot Product Design Award in the Lighting category Red Dot award is one of the most prestigious International product design awards and denotes international seal of quality for outstanding design. Delhi : First green grid in North India - Commonwealth Games village Commonwealth Games village gets its dedicated power substation, as the 66/11 KV Commonwealth Grid sub-station gets inaugurated by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. Bankers meet RBI: Chief of Indian Bankers Association, M.V. Nair and chiefs of some big banks meet RBI ahead of RBI's annual monetary policy due to be released on April 20. Ashok Leyland’s Sales: Ashok Leyland 's vehicle sales records 100% jump in March to more than 10,000 units, with largest fraction from domestic markets. NABARD: Business Growth at a Glance

NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) is India's apex development bank. Factbox : NABARD: It was established by an act of Parliament on 12 July 1982 to implement the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Act 1981. It replaced the Agricultural Credit Department (ACD) and Rural Planning and Credit Cell (RPCC) of Reserve Bank of India, and Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation (ARDC). It is one of the premiere agencies to provide credit in rural areas. The main business of the Bank are long-term and short-term refinancing, plus funding under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund. In 2009-10, the bank has done a business of Rs. 1.36 Lakh Crore. Its current loans are over Rs. 1 lakh crore. The growth in 2009-10 was around 14 per cent over the previous year's business of Rs. 1.19 Lakh Crore. NABARD has appointed The Boston Consulting Group to prepare a roadmap for the future. Sports: Jumbo: Mascot for 2011 World Cup? Jumbo, an elephant is the mascot of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. It was unveiled on April 2, 2010.

It is after 28 years that elephant, which was chosen as the mascot for the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi. Seventh National Rafting Championship Indian Rafting Foundation, Arunachal Pradesh Tour Operators Association, the Department of Tourism had organized Seventh National Rafting Championship at Yingkiong, the headquarters of Upper Siang district in Arunachal Pradesh. Army Adventure Wing (AAW), Raiwal received the Champion Trophy. Current Affairs : April 6, 2010 Appointments: National Security Adviser - Shiv Shankar Menon Appointment of Shiv Shankar Menon as next National Security Advisor has been formally approved by Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). Fact Box: National Security Advisor The post of National Security Advisor is a brainchild of Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government. This post was created on 19 November 1998 to oversee the management of national security, both in the immediate term and long term. First NSA

Brajesh Mishra held the position till 2004. He was succeeded by J.N. Dixit, who died in harness in January 2005. Both were former Foreign Secretaries. Later M K Narayanan became India's National Security Advisor. Mr. Menon is India's 4th National Security Advisor. Its worth note that other than MK Narayanan, all the three National Security Advisors have been India's Foreign Secretaries. MK Narayanan was head of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) from 1987 to 1990. Functions of a National Security Advisor: To advise the Prime Minister on all matters relating to internal and external threats to the country. To advise the Prime Minister on oversees strategic issues. To serve as Prime Minister's Special Interlocutor on border issues To accompany Prime Minister on Foreign State visits. The directors of R&AW and IB report to the NSA rather than the Prime Minister directly. To receive all intelligence reports and co-ordinate them to present before the Prime Minister Factbox : Shiv Shankar Menon: Hailing from Kerala, Shiv Shankar Menon has served as the Foreign Secretary of India, the Indian

High Commissioner to Pakistan and in China and Israel as ambassador and diplomat. A milestone in his career was the Indo-US nuclear deal. Air India chief operating officer - Gustav Baldauf Gustav Baldauf, Austrian Airlines' executive vice-president, flight operations has been appointed chief operating officer (COO) of Air India. Baldauf will be the first ever COO of the airline and his job will be of salvaging Air India’s fortunes in the next three years. He was with Jet Airways also previously. National Aviation Company India Ltd (NACIL) - Committees on Turnaround National Aviation Company India Ltd (NACIL) which operates Air India creates 4 committees which shall give reports on the turnaround plan for the airline in the next 30 days. The committees and their heads are as follows: HR Committee: Fali Homi Major, Amit Mitra Amit Mitra is secretary general of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) Fali Homi Major is former chief of air staff Audit & Finance Committee: Anand Mahindra and Harsh Neotia

Anand Mahindra is vice-chairman and managing director of Mahindra & Mahindra Harsh Neotia is Chairman Ambuja Realty Development The other committees will be head by the independent directors. CMD Religare Enterprises Ltd : Sunil Godhwani Sunil Godhwani is the new chairman and managing director of Religare Enterprises Ltd. The erstwhile Chairman Malvinder Mohan Singh announced his resignation from the company's board of directors. His brother Shivinder Mohan Singh has also resigned as member of the Religare Enterprises Ltd board. The board of directors has been reorganised keeping in mind the organisation’s global plans and ambitions in the field of asset management and investment banking. National Updates: Maoist attack in Dantewada Maoist rebels kill 76 CRPF policemen in an ambush attack in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh. The attack occurred when over 80 officers from the Central Reserve Police Force

(CRPF) and a local police group were conducting a domination exercise in the area. This is the biggest loss of life security forces in a single day during the Naxal-Maoist insurgency. Assam: Package for Majuli Majuli, largest riverine island in the world and the largest freshwater island in South Asia is loacted in the Brahmaputra River in Assam. The total area of Majuli was 1500 square kilometers at the time of India's independence and was dotted with Hindu monasteries, however it lost half of this to erosion. The erosion started after an earthquake in 1950s, which shifted the river bed. The current area is 422 square kilometers. The Island was formed due to course changes by Lohit and othertributaries of Brahmaputra. Majuli is in danger and is prone to extensive flooding and erosion. In this context, India's central government announces a Rs. 5 Crore special financial package to curb the erosion and save the ecosystem of island. This grant has been announced for 5 years. Its worth note that Majuli was capital of Assam since 16th century. Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankardeva , a saint and social reformer of Assam , who is credited to bring unity to Assam straddling two major kingdoms

(Ahom and Koch kingdoms) and establishing a bedrock of Assamese culture, had visited the island and established monasteries and hermitages known as 'satras'. New Delhi: India's first online Community College India's first online Community College has been launched in New Delhi. Its a digital institution launched by Gurukul Online Learning Solutions Academy (GOLS) under the Community College scheme of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). website: What is the Turnaround Plan for Air India? In 2009, the National Aviation Company India Ltd submitted a turnaround plan to the government with an aim to reduce costs by over Rs 5,400 crore per year. It envisages cost savings viz. fuel expenses, hiring, parking and landing charges and ground handling fees. The plan also involves saving of Rs 700 crore in employee cost and increasing revenues by Rs 2,400 crore per year through higher earnings from cargo, engineering, training and passenger ticket charges. On Losses of Air India:

With the expected losses of Rs.5,400 crore in 2009-10, the carrier's losses will mount to over Rs.13,174 crore in three straight fiscals. The carrier had incurred a loss of Rs.2,226.16 crore in 2007-08 and Rs.5,548 crore in 2008-09 - Praful Patel, Civil Aviation Minister in Rajya Sabha Notes on Working Capital of Air India: Currently the airline's working capital is Rs.17,000 crore. The airline is waiting for a cabinet nod to raise its working capital by Rs.1,000 crore. It recently received the government's sanction for an equity infusion of Rs.800 crore in February 2010 with a provision of an additional Rs.1,200 crore in the next fiscal. It has also raised over Rs.700 crore from bonds for aircraft acquisition. Jairam Ramesh on Tiger Conservation: Kaziranga National park registers a density of 30 tigers over 100 sq. km which brings fresh hopes on Tiger Conservation. This density is Highest in the Country. Since the National Park spreads over 1000 sq. kms there should be more than 100 tigers. The figures of the Tiger census would be out in November. Four regional offices of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to be opened in

Bangalore, Nagpur, Kolkata and Guwahati to extend the activities of NTCA. The headquarters would remain in New Delhi. India has 39 project tiger areas, the situation in nine were good, 12 satisfactory while the scenario in 18 was precarious. About 50 to 60 per cent of the wild tiger population of the world is found in India and this had become possible because of huge and sustained efforts under Project Tiger. India US Agreement on comprehensive economic partnership India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee & United States Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner sign an agreement launch a comprehensive economic partnership to boost their bilateral engagement. A similar agreement US has with China. the key focus of this agreement will be micro-finance and infrastructure development. Science & Technology: NASA: STS-131 STS-131 is International Space Station assembly flight and NASA's current Space Shuttle mission which has blasted off on April 5, 2010 from Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A. The

mission is being flown by Space Shuttle Discovery. It is one of NASA's final servicing missions to the International Space Station. Alan Poindexter is the commander of this mission. Please note that STS-133 which is scheduled to be launched in September 2010 will be the last flight before Discovery is decommissioned in 2010. Current Affairs April 7, 2010 Events, Happenings & Observances: World Health Day, 2010 April 7 is observed all over as World Health Day. This commemorates the First World Health Assembly in 1948. However the observance started from 1950. WHO provides resources on particular theme of the World Health Day every year. 2010 theme is "Be part of a global movement to make cities healthier" The World Health Organization regards urbanization as an urgent public health concern. The urban setting influences health outcomes, both positively and negatively. In terms of health, urbanization presents challenges as well as opportunities. 1000 cities, 1000 lives

On the occasion of World Health Day the WHO launched a campaign " 1000 cities, 1000 lives". This campaign asks people to sign up their city and commit to opening up public spaces to health for one day during the week of 7–11 April 2010. World Health Organisation Established : April 7, 1948 Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland Head : Dr. Margaret Chan Constitution Objective: "The attainment by all people of the highest possible level of health" Constitution of WHO : Came into force on the first World Health Day, April 7, 1950 Memorable Point: Out of the Six Regional Offices of WHO, Regional Office for South East Asia (SEARO) is located in New Delhi . The First session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia was held from 4-5 October 1948 in the office of the Indian Minister of Health. It was inaugurated by the Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. 90th Birth Day of Pandit Ravi Shankar: Sitar Maestro Bharat Ratna (1999) Pandit Ravi Shankar was born on 7 April 1920. He was a shishya (pupil) of legendary Allauddin Khan. He is

a winner of three Grammy Awards. He had performed at the famous Woodstock Festival in 1969. My Music, My Life is the best selling autobiography of this Music maestro. He was honored by the prestigious UNESCO International Music Council in 1975. His daughter Norah Jones is a Grammy-winning American pop artist & other daughter Anoushka Shankar is a budding Sitar Artist. Festival of India in China Minister for External Affairs S M Krishna who is currently in China inaugurates the Festival of India in China at Beijing which eventually marks the 60th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between India & China. In 30 Chinese cities performances of various Indian classical dances, folk dances, classical music, martial arts and contemporary music will be organized. Appointments: Sony digicam brand ambassador- Deepika Padukone Sony India appoints Deepika Padukone as the brand ambassador for its digital still camera segment.

FactBox: Some Brands Deepika Padukone has been associated with : Liril, Dabur Lal powder, Close-Up toothpaste and Limca, Jewels of India retail jewellery show, Maybelline (cosmetic company) , BSNL Member of the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars - Srinija Srinivasan Yahoo was founded by David Filo and Jerry Yang. Srinija manages Yahoo! Inc's team of Surfers and is responsible for the design and maintenance of Yahoo!'s overall classification and organization scheme, the foundation stones of Yahoo's system. She has been appointed as member of the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars. Awards: 2010 CIF Chanchlani Global Indian Award - Ratan Tata Ratan Tata has been selected for the '2010 CIF Chanchlani Global Indian Award' for his outstanding global leadership, vision and professional excellence. This award is conferred by Canada India Foundation and carries $225,000. Phalke Ratna Award: Dev Anand Phalke Ratna Award is conferred by Dadasaheb Phalke Academy on the birth anniversary of father

of the Indian film industry Dadasaheb Phalke on April 30. Devanand Has been Selected for this Award 2010. BPO Excellence Awards 2009-10 Following are some of the winners of BPO Excellence Awards 2009-10 Social Change Agent Award : Patni Computer Systems Ltd. Most Significant contributor to the BPO Industry : Wipro Technologies Use of Technology for Operational Excellence Award : eClerx Services Ltd. Award for Operational Excellence & Quality : Patni Computer Systems Ltd., Wipro Technologies BPO Innovation of the year : Quatrro BPO Solutions Pvt. Ltd. BPO Organisation of the year : Patni Computer Systems Ltd, Infosys BPO National Updates: Kerala: CERT-Kerala In Lines of CERT-In the Kerala Government constitutes CERT-Kerala with the support of the Central Government to function as a nodal agency for the Cyber safety in the state and Central government institutions. N Krishan is the Director of CERT Kerala.

Green Gas Corridor Green Gas Corridor is a proposed 500 kms CNG route between Lucknow & New Delhi. The route passes via Sitapur, Shahjahanpur, Bareilly and Moradabad. This project is given Central Government's nod. This is being set up by GAIL (Gas Authority of India Ltd) and with this the vehicle owners of CNG would be able to get at least one gas station within 150 km on both highways. Fact Box: CNG: Compressed Natural Gas is made by compressing natural gas (main component Methane) which is stored and distributed in hard containers, at a normal pressure of 200–248 bar . It is used as substitute for gasoline (petrol), diesel. It produces lesser emissions of pollutants like carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrocarbons(UHC), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx) and particulate matter (PM), as compared to petrol & diesel. It does not contain any lead or benzene content and thus lead fouling of spark plugs is eliminated. New Delhi has the World's Largest Fleet of CNG Buses operated by Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC). In Delhi and Ahmadabad, CNG is mandated for the public transport system.

On Tamil Nadu Legislative Council Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was abolished in 1986 by the AIADMK Regime headed by the late M G Ramachandran (MGR). The Tamil Nadu Legislative Council (Abolition) Bill, 1986 was passed by both houses of the Parliament and received the assent of the president on 30 August 1986. The Act came into force on 1 November 1986 and the council was abolished. Fact Box : Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was previously named as Madras Legislative Council. It was the Upper House of the bicameral legislature of Madras Presidency. It was established by the first Indian Council Act of 1861. It was renamed as Tamil Nadu Legislative Council in 1961. Memorable Points: India's States with Bicameral Legislature Current 6 states in India have bicameral legislatures: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharastra, Uttar Pradesh On April 7, 2010, the Chief Minister M Karunanidhi informs the State Assembly that a resolution would very soon be adopted in the

Tamil Nadu Assembly to revive the Tamilnadu State Legislative Council. Andhra Pradesh: INFO-AGE Government INFO-AGE is a new concept of Andhra Pradesh State Government. The government seeks to leverage Information technology to achieve an INFO-AGE government. Its goal is to transform the state into a knowledge society and make available the benefits of ICT to all citizens, especially those in rural areas and living in poverty. INFO-AGE Government is an abbreviation of Inclusive, Networked, Fast, Open, Accountable, Globally benchmarked and Efficient Government. SMART Government: similar concept was devised by Former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu which was called SMART administration, abbreviated form of Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and Transparent administration. Business & Economy: Low Carbon Jobs in an Interconnected World Low Carbon Jobs in an Interconnected World is the title of a report released by Global Climate

Network. It says that implementation of the Indian government's National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) could create an additional 10.5 million direct jobs in wind, solar and bio-fuel energy production. As India is already a world leader in wind technology, ambitious global expansion of wind power could see 288,500 Indian jobs created if Indian firms were able to command 10 per cent of the global market. Read Summary Here USL becomes world's No 2 spirit co United Breweries is India's largest producer of beer with a market share of around 48% by volume. With sales volume of 100 million cases for the fiscal ended March 31, 2010, it has become world's second largest spirit company by volumes. SEBI : Technical Advisory Committee India's market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India creates a Technical Advisory Committee to recommend measures for changes and improvements in market structure in view of the technological changes. This committee will be headed by Professor S Sadagopan. The committee will also make recommendations to frame appropriate policies arising out of

technological advancements in areas like wireless trading, algorithmic trading and smart order routing,. Science & Technology: On Glonass: Glonass (Global Navigation Satellite System) is the Russian equivalent of the US Global Positioning System (GPS) and is designed for both military and civilian use. Both systems allow users to determine their positions too within a few meters. Glonass is a radio-based satellite navigation system. It was developed by the former Soviet Union and now operated for the Russian government by the Russian Space Forces. Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says that his country will send seven new Glonass satellites into orbit in 2010. Currently out of total 23 satellites , 21 are functioning perfectly. With seven more satellites , a total of 27-28 fully functional satellites will be there for the navigation system. Note: The predecessor program of Glonass was "Tsiklon" Caves on Moon: Chandrayaan-1 has discovered large caves on the lunar surface that can act as human shelter on

moon. The tunnel, which has been discovered near the lunar equator, is an empty volcanic tube, measuring about two km in length and 360 metres in width. Indian Space Research Organization’s Space Applications Centre based in Ahmadabad announces that terrain mapping camera, an Indian instrument on the lunar mission, has found "new types of rocks" and hollow tunnels. These tubes were formed after the flow of lava from volcanoes. Note: the similar kind of cave was discovered previously by Japanese spacecraft "Kaguya" Current Affairs : April 8, 2010 Events, Happenings & Observances: Army Ordnance Corps (AOC) : 235th Anniversary Army Ordnance Corps (AOC) deals with supply and maintenance of weaponry, ammunitions and other military equipment .8th April 2010 marks the 235th anniversary of Army Ordnance Corps. April 2010 Appointments: New CMD of ITI: K L Dhingra ITI Ltd (established 1948) is India’s first Public Sector Unit (PSU). It is a pioneering venture in the field of telecommunications in India and has contributed to 50% of the present national telecom

network. The company has manufacturing facilities spread across six locations and a countrywide network of marketing/service outlets, the company offers a complete range of telecom products and total solutions covering the whole spectrum of Switching, Transmission, Access and Subscriber Premises equipment. Mr K L Dhingra takes over as Chairman and Managing Director of Public Sector telecom major ITI Limited. National Updates: Working groups on Price Rise: The central government creates 3 high-powered working groups on the issue of the price rise. The Core Committee will be headed by Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh. Working group on Agricultural Production will be headed by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Chief Minister Haryana. Working group on Consumers Affairs will be headed by Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi. Working group on Food and Public Distribution system(PDS) headed by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. It has

been decided in a meeting prior to country wide agitation of the left on the price rise issue. Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010 Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010 was earlier drafted as Prevention of Torture Bill, 2009. April 2010 Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010 Background: Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010 was earlier drafted as Prevention of Torture Bill, 2009. The bill is a sequel to India's inking the 1975 UN Convention against torture and other cruel, Inhuman and Degrading treatment or punishment in 1997. The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment also known as Torture Convention was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1984. It entered into force on 26 June 1987 after it had been ratified by 20 States. India signed this convention on 14 Oct 1997 . India is yet to ratify this convention. Ratification by India: The Indian Penal Code has some provision regarding the subject matter of this convention, however it does not define 'torture' as clearly as in

Article 1 of the convention nor make it criminal as called for by Article 4 of this convention. This is a prerequisite of ratifying the convention that the country needs to bring in a domestic legislation. The government has earlier thought of modifying the IPC, but it would have complicated the procedure. Consultations: Criminal law, including all matters included in the Indian Penal Code come under the subject matter of Concurrent List of 7th schedule of the Constitution of India. (see concurrent list subjects 1, 2 & 3) So these issues require a consultation with the state governments also. Besides the mater has been examined at length in consultation with the Law Commission of India and the then attorney general of India. After long deliberation on the issue it was decided to bring a piece of 'stand alone' legislation so that the convention could be ratified. Current Status: India's Union cabinet approves a proposal on April 8, 2010 to introduce Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010 Gujarat: Kamdhenu University

After a Petroleum University and a Defense University, Gujarat, the largest milk producing state of India starts a Veterinary University in June 2010. The proposed name is Kamdhenu University. It is going to be started in Rajpura village in North Gujarat’s Sabarkantha district. Tamilnadu: JATROPT Project In recent times Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) has received much attention as a source of renewable oil for the production of sustainable and affordable bio-fuels. April 2010 JATROPA Project In recent times Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) has received much attention as a source of renewable oil for the production of sustainable and affordable bio-fuels. Jatropa is a wild species and there have not been satisfactory crop improvement programmes for this species. JATROPT project (Jatropha curcas, applied and technological research in plant Traits) is such a crop improvement programme for Jatropa cultivation. It is EU Framework 7 programme. The programme involves nine countries-- Brazil, France, Guatemala, India, Madagascar, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain and United Kingdom.

In India the Planning Commission has identified Jatropha as a potential crop for oil source for its various merits such as wide range of adaptation to different climatic and soil conditions. In this context, Centre of Excellence in Bio fuels of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has been selected as one of the networking partners in the JATROPT project for a four years period from 2010 to 2013. The project is worth 1,15,937 Euros (approximately Rs. 70 lakh). Punjab: Rs 592 crore for development of 19 towns The Punjab State Government gives approval to sanction Rs 592 crore for 19 towns in Mohali, Ludhiana and Jalandhar districts. This includes 10 towns of Ludhiana, 3 towns of Jalandhar and 6 Towns in Mohali. The idea is to facilities provide 100 per cent drinking water supply, sewerage including installation of sewage treatment plants, roads and street lighting. Delhi: HC allows lawyer to argue in Hindi. For the very first time, the Delhi Court allows a lawyer to argue in his Mother Tongue Hindi, bypassing the official Hindi language. Lawyer Das Goninder Singh was allowed to respond in Hindi and be asked the questions in Hindi only.

Indian Maritime University Indian Maritime University was established as a Central University by the Government of India under an Act of Parliament (Indian Maritime University Act 2008). It is located in Chennai. Its campuses are at Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and Vishakhapatnam. On 8th April 2010, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approves a financial support of Rs. 282.25 Crore to IMU. On Digitalization of All India radio & Doordarshan The 11th plan envisages Rs 620 crore for implementation of digitalization of transmitters, studios and connectivity programme of DD and Rs 920 crore in case of AIR. Digitalization aims at enabling people in the remotest corner of the country to receive a higher quality of AIR and DD signals. This programme gets cabinet nod on April 8, 2010. 20 production centers are going to be covered. The decision to digitalis AIR transmission has been taken in view of the serious challenge the public broadcaster was going to face from private players in the third phase of the extension of FM Radio.

India Australia Education Deal: India and Australia sign a major deal on education. This paves the way for setting up of India-Australia Education Council comprising experts from both countries. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre - solar heat and light based Desalination System Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai comes up with a desalination system based on solar heat and light. The solar energy-based small and community level reverse osmosis unit has been developed for producing safe drinking wate. In this unit the feed water is passed through the membrane with the help of a DC (direct current) pump connected to the Photovoltaics panels without any batteries. Business & Economy: Asian Cricket Council - Nimbus Deal: Nimbus Sport International, one of Asia's leading sports management companies, signs a 5 year deal with Asian Cricket Council. With this deal Nimbus gets right to globally market the commercial rights of three Asia Cups from 2010 to 2014. Fact Box: Asian Cricket Council

Conceived in 1983 as Asian Cricket Conference and rechristened in 1995 as Asian Cricket Council, it is a regional administrative body which functions as subordinate to International Cricket Council. It has 22 members (4 full test status members, 7 associate members, 11 affiliate members). 4 full test status members are Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Headquarters are in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Arjun Ranatunga, former captain of Sri Lanka Cricket Team is the current President. The officially sanctioned tournaments are Asia Cup, Asian Test Championship, ACC Trophy, and Asian Cricket Junior Tournament. Apart from this, ACC runs coaching, umpiring, and sports medicine programs. Asia Cup was conceived in 1983 to promote goodwill between Asian countries. First Asia Cup was held in 1984 at Sharjah. India was the winner of First Asia Cup. India & Sri Lanka have won this cup for 4 times each. Pakistan only once. 2010 edition of this tournament will be held in Sri Lanka in June 2010 No FDI in manufacturing of Cigarettes: On 8th April 2010, India's Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) prohibited Foreign

Direct Investment (FDI) in manufacturing of cigarettes. This was a sequel to a proposal moved by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. With this move the door for foreign players Such as Japan Tobacco's are closed for ever. Japan Tobacco’s had a proposal to invest $100 million into its Indian subsidiary. FDI in Cigarettes: Up till now, FDI up to 100 per cent with prior government and Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval was permitted in the manufacture of cigarettes, subject to the undertaking obtaining an industrial license under the Industrial (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951. However this policy was not in tune with the administrative decision not to grant industrial license for cigarette manufacturing The decision leaves the market open for dominant Indian Player ITC to increase its share in India's cigarette market. ITC has 50 % share in India's cigarette market. Two other major players are Godfrey Phillips and VST. SAIL Disinvestment Proposal: on 8th April 2010, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approves a proposal of the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) to raise

additional capital through sale of the government's stake in the company and issue of fresh equity in two tranches. These trenches will include a fresh issue of 5 percent pre-issue paid up equity of the company and offer of sale of 5 percent of government equity in SAIL. Both the government and SAIL will be able to raise up to Rs.8,000 crore each through the disinvestment and issue of fresh equity. As of March 2009, Government of India has 85.82 % share in the SAIL. India's Highest Individual Taxpayer: As per Economic Times, Analjit Singh, the founder and chairman of Max India, a diversified business group with interests in healthcare, IT services, and financial services, is India's highest individual taxpayer. He paid advance tax of Rs 99.7 crore . He paid a tax of Rs 13.3 crore in the previous fiscal 2008-09. Science & Technology: Solar Impulse: Solar Impulse is a long-range solar-powered plane project of École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, being promoted by Bertrand Piccard.

Bertrand Piccard had piloted the first balloon to circle the world non-stop. The first aircraft of this project is named HB-SIA. HB-SIA is a solar powered one-seater, capable of taking off under its own power, and intended to remain airborne up to 36 hours. On 7 April 2010 the HB-SIA underwent an extended 87 minute test flight piloted by Markus Scherdel. In contrast to earlier tests, the April flight reached an altitude of 1,200 m (3,937 ft). The project took 6 years to create this carbon fiber aircraft. World Economy: World Production of Manganese Manganese (Mn) atomic number 25 is a transition metal found a free element in nature and also in combination with iron, is the 12th most abundant element in Earth's crust. Principle Ores of Manganes are Pyrolusite (MnO2), Braunite, (Mn2+Mn3+6)(SiO12), Psilomelane (Ba,H2O)2Mn5O10, Rhodochrosite (MnCO3). In 2009 the total world reserves were estimated to be around 540,000 thousand metric tonnes.

Total world mining output of Mangense was 9,600 thousand metric tonnes. China was the largest producer of Manganese in 2009 with an output of 2400 thousand metric tonnes. However largest reserves of Manganese are found in South Africa & Ukraine. Current Affairs : April 9, 2010 Events / Happenings / Observances: London Symphony Orchestra returns to India after 45 years London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), a 100 member major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world which was established in 1904, performs in Mumbai after a span of 45 years. Awards: Aryabhata Intl Award - Mahantesh G Kivadasanavar Mahantesh G Kivadasanavarwas, Founder Managing Trustee of Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled has been conferred 'Aryabhata International Award' for the year 2009 for his relentless service to the disabled and the underprivileged.

Mother Teresa International Award Mother Teresa International awards which were instituted in 2000-2001 , are presented to eminent personalities for their outstanding contribution in the fields of education, science, culture, music, sports, social work, medicine, industry and politics in India and overseas. The winners of Mother Teresa Lifetime Achievement Award for the year 2010 is Ajit Wadekar. Other personalities to win the Mother Teresa International Award are former Captain of 1983 World Cup wining Indian Cricket Team Kapil Dev, Davis Cupper Jaideep Mukerjea and Olympic hockey skipper Gurbux Singh, famed soccer striker Tulsidas Balaram, popular singer Amit Kumar, Bengali stage and screen actress Sova Sen, and noted filmmaker Tarun Majumdar. Other winner is Matinee idol Uttam Kumar (posthumously). National Updates: Rajasthan: Highest Annual Plan Outlay of Rs 24,000 Cr Annual Plan of Rs. 24000 Crore of Rajsthan has been approved by the Planning commission for the fiscal 2010-11. The top most priority has been

given to Energy sector and social and community services. The plan also includes one time additional Central Assistance sanctioned by the Commission for construction of High Court building in Jodhpur and development of Durgah and Ana Sagar Lake area in Ajmer. The previous year plan (2009-10) was Rs 17,322 crore and growth comes out to be 38.55%. Gujarat: General Motors to grow Jatropa General Motors, jointly with US department of Energy will develop 84 hectares of Land Near Bhavnagar in Gujarat for Jatropa cultivation. For this purpose the company had announced a 5 years partnership with US Department of Energy. Out of 84 hectares, the company will develop 38 hectares near GM India's plant in Halol. Jatropa Bio fuel: Jatropha oil, produced from the seeds of the Jatropha curcas is one of the best candidates for future biodiesel production. Kerala: Disaster Risk Reduction Programme 2009-10 Disaster Risk Reduction Programme 2009-10 is a Joint initiative of Government of India and United Nations Development Programme. In this context

the Kerala state government constitutes a State-level Project Stearing Committiee to implement the programme in the state. National Marine Fisheries Census National Marine Fisheries Census 2010 will start from April 16, 2010. The aim of this census is to collect information about fisherfolk of the country. It will be launched by Central Marine Fisheries Reserch Institute (CMFRI), Kochi with financial aid from Department of Animal Husbandary, Dairying and Fisheries (DAHDF). The data of 10.98 lakh families, fishing boats, nets and socioeconomic conditions will be collected during the census. The compiled databsed will be used for the over all development of the sector. Fact Box: National Marine Fisheries Census -2005 There were 3.52 million fishermen in 7,56,212 houses across 3202 fisher villages in the country. It also accounted 238,722 fishing boats, including 58,911 motorised and 75,591 motorised traditional boats. Dantewada Massacre: Home Minister P chidambaram acepts moral responsibilty and offers to resign from his post and prime Minister rejects the offer.

Business Updates: India's First 3D TV range - Samsung Samsung releases the range of first 3D TVs in India. Viewers can convert the regular 2D programmes on their Samsung TVs to 3D viewing for which they would need to wear 3D glasses. Samsung 3D LED range is availaible in the screen size between 40 to 65 inches and its cost ranges from Rs 1,30,000 to Rs 4,35,000. Bharti foundation: 25 senior secondary schools for the underprivileged children 25 senior secondary schools for the underprivileged children will be established over next 3 years under PPP model by Bharti foundation, the philanthropic arm of Bharti Enterprises. Reliance Industries: Investment of $ 1.7 Billion in US Reliance Industries signs an agreement with Atlas Energy of US for a project in the United States for extracting gas from shale, a sedimentary rock. The project is located in Marcellus area spanning in some parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York. Reliance will acquire a 40 per cent

undivided interest in about 300,000 acres of undeveloped leasehold held by Atlas. World Economy: Zinc Production: Largest Producer of Zinc in 2009 was China 2,800,000 Metric Tonnes. 12 April 2010 The main use of Zinc (Zn) is for coating iron and steel products in order to make them corrosion resistant.The process known as galvanizing represents approximately 40 % of end use of Zinc. Other uses are in brass alloys, die casting alloys, chemicals and rolled zinc products. Zinc Ores: Mostly Zinc ore is associated with copper, lead and gold ores and is produced as a bye product. Sphalerite (Zn,FeS) is the main ore . Others are Smithsonite (ZnCO3), willemite (Zn2SiO4) and hemimorphite (Zn4Si2O7(OH)2 H2O). Zinc Reserves: Zinc is 24th most abundant element in Earth's Crust. The data from International Lead and Zinc Study Group / US Geological Survey Commodity Summary data for 2009, World Reserve Base of Zinc was 480,000 thousand Metric Tonnes. However, Identified zinc resources of the world are about 1.9 billion metric tons. Australia had the

largest reserve bases. The following graphic shows the world zinc reserve bases in 2009. Zinc Production: As per Mineral commodity Summary of United States Geological Survey, Largest Producer of Zinc in 2009 was China 2,800,000 Metric Tonnes. World Updates: China: Maglev Train Authorities in Sichuan province of China take the delivery of China's first indigenously built high-speed Maglev (magnetic levitation) train. This train has maximum speed of 500 kms per hour. The Shanghai Maglev Transportation Development Company had rum China's first commercial Maglev train in 2002 in Shanghai Fact Box: Magnetic Leviation: The system of magnetic leviation suspends, guides and propels the trains using large number of magnets for lift and propulsion. The highest recorded speed of a Maglev train is 581 kilometres per hour, achieved in Japan in 2003. The first commercial Maglev , christened "people-mover" was officially opened in 1984 in Birmingham, England, however it was closed in 1995 due to reliability and design problems.

16th ASEAN summit 16th ASEAN Summit of 10 member countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) was hosted by Vietnam (ASEAN President for 2010) at Hanoi ( capital and second-largest city of Vietnam) on 8th and 9th April 2010. Vietnam’s Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2010 coincides with the 15th anniversary of its accession to the Association. The last time Viet Nam hosted the Summit was in 1998. Theme: The theme of the summit was: Towards the ASEAN Community: From Vision to Action . The Summit was attended by the ASEAN Leaders, while Thailand was represented by its Foreign Minister. ACWC Prior to the summit, The ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) was inaugurated on 7th April, 2010 by Prime Minister of Vietnam, H.E. Nguyen Tan Dung. The establishment of the ACWC is to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and children in ASEAN. It will take into consideration the different historical, political socio-cultural,

religious and economic context in the region and the balances between rights and responsibilities. Protocol on Dispute Settlement Mechanisms On April 8, 2010, The Foreign Ministers of ASEAN signed the Protocol to the ASEAN Charter on Dispute Settlement Mechanisms. TheProtocol aims to put in place a mechanism to help ASEAN Member States resolve disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the ASEAN Charter. The Protocol also applies to other ASEAN instruments which do not specifically provide for dispute settlement mechanisms. The signing of the Protocol, which would facilitate the implementation of the ASEAN Charter, follows that of the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of ASEAN that was signed by the Foreign Ministers in October 2009 in Cha-Am Hua Hin, Thailand. ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on Sustained Recovery and Development Leaders at ASEAN summit said in the statement that they would focus efforts on ensuring financial stability, fostering regional infrastructure development and connectivity, promoting sustainable development and narrowing the development gap. In this context, they adopted the ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on Sustained

Recovery and Development. The Leaders highlighted the need to promote Green Growth, including the development of green technology, its application and investment. On ASEAN connectivity: The leaders took note of the on-going efforts in developing a Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity. This Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity is to be submitted in October 2010, 17th Summit at Indonesia. The first meeting of the High Level Task Force on ASEAN Connectivity was held on 9-10 March 2010 in Ha Noi. It had produced the key elements and principles for the Master Plan. The Leaders emphasized that priority should be given to enhancing intra-ASEAN connectivity, including the need to complete the missing air, sea and land transportation links in Mekong and other sub-regions of ASEAN building on achievements of existing frameworks. It was further reaffirmed that priority would be given to transport, information communication technology (ICT), energy and cross border facilitation for the smooth movement of people, goods and services. On ASEAN Charter: ASEAN Charter which aims of moving closer to "an EU-style community" is the institutional

framework of the member-states which was adopted at the 13th ASEAN Summit in at Jakarta, Indonesia in November 2007. The leaders of the ASEAN emphasized on the fast implementation of the charter. The signing of the protocol related to Dispute Settlement Mechanisms is also one step towards implementation of ASEAN Charter. Next ASEAN Summit: Next ASEAN summit will be held in October 2010 in Indonesia. Indonesia has proposed a swap with Brunei as it will play host APEC in 2013. The 2011 president of ASEAN is Indonesia. Mount Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation Initiative Mount Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation Initiative: Developing a Transboundary Framework for Conservation and Sustainable Development in the Greater Mt Kailash Region of Nepal, India and China. This is the title of a major transboundary project for conservation and sustainable development of Mount Kailash , launched jointly by India, China and Nepal under the guidence of International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). Current Affairs : April 10, 2010

Appointments: Karnataka: New Chief Justice - JS Khehar Justice JS Khehar is the new chief Justice of Karnataka High Court. He was enrolled as an advocate in 1979 and appointed Additional Advocate General, Punjab in January 1992. He was elevated to the High Court of Punjab in 1999 and appointed Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court on November 29, 2009. The present Chief Justice PD Dinakaran has been transferred to Sikkim High Court. Events, Happenings and Observances: First Public Sector Day April 10, 2010 marks the first "Public Sector Day" organized by Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) and the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) New Delhi. Awards: National Aeronautics Award - P S Subramanyam P S Subramanyam is an eminent DRDO scientist and Director, Aerospace Development Agency (ADA), Bangalore (an organ of DRDO) has been awarded National Aeronautics Award by the Aeronautical Society of India for the year 2009 for his outstanding contribution which led to

development leading to more production of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), 'Tejas'. FactBox: Tejas Tejas, a Light Combat Aircraft developed by India has a tailless, compound delta wing design powered by a single engine. LCA-Tejas has completed total 1334 test flights successfully till now. The name Tejas was given to this Light Combat Aircraft by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Tejas will be inducted into the Indian Air Force by early 2011. Its design has been prepared by Aeronautical Development Agency and the Manufacturer is Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. Tejas is the supersonic fighter being manufactured indigenously by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The project was launched in 1983, while took the first flight on 4 January 2001. National Updates: Jammu & Kashmir: Inter-District Recruitment Bill Jammu & Kashmir assembly passes a controversial Inter-District Recruitment Bill . This bill curtails job opportunities for general candidates across the state. As per this bill , the educated youth are allowed to apply for government jobs only in their home district, scheduled caste candidates can apply for

government jobs in any of the 22 districts of the state. . On India Australia Education Council India & Australia have agreed to constitute the India-Australia Education Council. Council will bring together government, academia, business and industry of both the countries to further bilateral collaboration in the education sector. In this context Three MoUs in the field of education were also signed in the presence of the two Ministers: Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource Development, and Ms. Julia Gillard, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations MoU between Association of Indian Universities and Universities Australia. MoU between Central Board of Secondary Education and Australian Council of Education Research and MoU between The Energy Research Institute (TERI) and Deakin University. Business & Economy: India's Forex Reserves:

India's Forex reserves are $279.096 billion for the week ended April 2, 2010. The RBI releases weekly report on Forex Reserves of the country. This includes $ 254.730 Billion Foreign Currency Assets excluding US$ 250 million invested in foreign currency denominated bonds issued by IIFC (UK) $ 17.986 Billion Gold Reserves Including USD 6,699 million , reflecting the purchase of 200 metric tonnes of gold from IMF on November 3, 2009. SDR worth $ 5.001 Billion including SDR 3,082.5 million (equivalent to US$ 4,883 million) allocated under general allocation and SDR 214.6 (equivalent to US $ 340 million) allocated under special allocation by IMF done on August 28, 2009 and September 9, 2009, respectively $ 1.379 Reserve Position in IMF. Reserve Position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF),i.e.,Reserve Tranche Position (RTP) which was shown as a memo item from May 23, 2003 to March 26, 2004 has been included in the reserves from the week ended April 2, 2004 in keeping with the international best practice. Latest Automobile Market growth Data: As per the data released by industry body SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers;

Located: New Delhi, Director General- Mr. Dilip Chenoy) the light vehicle market comprising passenger cars, utility vehicles, multi-purpose vehicles and light commercial vehicles have grown 27.5% in India in 2009-10. This growth rate is second in the world only after China (42%) and faster than Germany (23%), Brazil (11%), France (11%), Italy (-0.2%), UK (-6%), Japan (-9%), US (-21%) and Russia (-50%). The credit goes to government's economic revival package along with country’s low car penetration, stable economic growth, new model launches and lower interest rates. International : Poland: President & 131 others die in Russia Jet Crash Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife along with 130 others died in a plane crash, when their plane crashed while coming in for a landing in western Russia Iran: advanced centrifuge machines In a sequel to announcements about the development of the new machines, the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveils a third generation of domestically built centrifuges

accelerating country's uranium enrichment programme signaling the world about its fearful nuclear programme ambitions. SCOPE Awards 2008-09 & 2007-08 April 10, 2010 marks the first "Public Sector Day" organised by Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) and the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) at New Delhi. On the occasion of first Public Sector Day celebrations, SCOPE awards were presented. Here are details of award winners: SCOPE Meritorious Awards in Specialized Fields - CSR 2008-09: Mr S.K. Roongta, Chairman, SAIL SCOPE Meritorious Awards in Specialized Fields - CSR 2007-08: Mr. R.S. Sharma, CMD, ONGC SCOPE Meritorious Awards in Specialized Fields - R & D 2008-09: Mr. R.S. Sharma, CMD, ONGC SCOPE Meritorious Awards in Specialized Fields - R & D 2007-08: Mr S.K. Roongta, Chairman, SAIL SCOPE Meritorious Awards - 2008-09: Corporate Governance: Mr. K.R. Kamath, CMD, PNB HR Management: Mr R.S. Sharma, CMD, NTPC

Environmental Excellence: Mr Haribhai V Patel, MD, GSFC Best Managed Financial Institution: Mr P Uma Shankar, CMD, REC Best Managed PSE set up under Section 25 : Mr A.A. Naqvi, MD, NBCFDC SCOPE Meritorious Awards - 2007-08: Corporate Governance: Mr B.C. Tripathi, CMD, GAIL CSR Activities: Mr Arup Roy Choudhury, CMD, NBCC HR Management: Mr Arun Balakrishnan, CMD, HPCL Environmental Excellence: Mr V.K. Singh, CMD, NCL Best Managed Bank, Financial Institution or Insurance Company: Mr A.V. Muralidharan, CMD, ECGC Best Managed Financial Institution: Mr P Uma Shankar, CMD, REC R & D Activities: Mr A.K. Datt, CMD, BEL Abbreviations of Companies: SAIL - Steel Authority of India Ltd, ONGC- Oil & Natural Gas Corporation PNB - Punjab National Bank NTPC: National Thermal Power Corporation GFSC: Gujarat State Financial Corporation

REC: Rural Electrification Corporation Limited NBCFDC: National Backward Classes Finance and Development GAIL: Gas authority of India Ltd NBCC: National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd. NCL: National Chemical Laboratory, Pune HPCL: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Mumbai ECGC: Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Limited Current Affairs : April 11, 2010 Appointments: Bar Council Chairman: Gopal Subramanium Solicitor General of India Gopal Subaramanium has been unanimously elected as the Chairman of the Bar Council of India (BCI). Mr Dhanapal Raj, will be Vice Chairman. Awards: Dara Shikoh Award - Sheila Dixit: Dara Shikoh Award is presented by Indo-Iran Society. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit has been selected for the award for her substantial contribution in nurturing the values of peace, harmony and brotherhood.

National Updates: 5 Years of National Rural Health Mission National Rural Health Mission was launched by Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh on 12 th April, 2005 with objectives to provide effective health care to the rural population, the disadvantaged groups including women and children by improving access, enabling community ownership, strengthening public health systems for efficient service delivery, Enhancing equity and accountability Promoting decentralization. Some of the objects set while launching this programme were: Universal Health care, well functioning health care delivery system. IMR to be reduced to 30/1000 live births by 2012 MMR to be reduced to 100/100,000 live births by 2012 TFR to be reduced to 2.1 by 2012 Malaria Mortality Reduction Rate – 60% upto 2012 Kala Azar to be eliminated by 2010, Filaria reduced by 80 % by 2010 Dengue Mortality reduced by 50% by 2012 RNTCP-2 – maintain 85% cure rate

The maternal mortality rate (MMR) has come down to 204 from 254 per lakh live births and Infant mortality rate has come down from 66 to 53 . None of the above targets have been fully achieved and healthcare in rural India are still in dismay. Dismal Situation of Healthcare: Our country is still struggling with inadequate health infrastructure & shortage of trained personnel. In rural areas there is a large gap between the health needs and outreach of health services. India is short by 20,486 sub-centres, 4,477 primary health centres (PHCs) and 2,337 community health centres (CHCs) (Economic Survey 2009-10). Main Healthcare Challenges: The rural India still lacks basic facilities like proper hospital buildings, hygienic conditions in the hospitals , availability of water and electricity. Many healthcare centers are running without trained personnel’s and high absenteeism among the personnel is another bottleneck. The Primary Healthcare Centers and Community Healthcare Centers are devoid of any kind of in-patient services, operation theatres, labor rooms, pathology tests, X-Ray facilities and emergency care. High absenteeism among personnel manning

Public Health Centers and Community Health centers is also a major bottleneck. One third (34%) of the healthcare centers were running in rented buildings. However this fraction comes down to 29% in the latest economic survey. India is struggling with "uneven across regions, gender as well as space" in most health indicators. Achievements: The most visible achievement of this programme is that more and more women are going to the hospitals for delivery which has brought down the MMR. Apart from this , India's total life expectancy at birth has increased to 63.5 years between 2002-06 from 59.4 years in 1989-93. Jammu & Kashmir: Primitive Tribal Groups Jammu & Kasmir's nomadic Muslim community of Gujjars and Bakarwals demands for a Primitive Tribal Groups status and demanded a a separate 8% reservation out of total 10 per cent quota available to all 12 Scheduled Tribe (ST) groups in the state. Tribal Gujjars of J&K were given ST status in 1991, but they say that the status has failed to uplift them socially and economically. DRDO : Nirbhay

Nirbhay is the name of a sub-sonic multiple role 1,000-km range cruise missile with 300 Kgs warhead capability being developed by DRDO - Dr V K Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to Defense Minister and Chief of Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) TCS: Saakshar Bharat through Computers In connection with Saakshar Bharat programme , government chooses Tata Consultancy Services to teach illiterates through click and portal. The company comes up with a software which shall teach adults through animation, graphics and by downloading teaching materials from a dedicated site. The online version will be in several regional languages. Fact Box: India rolled out the flagship adult education programme named Saakshar Bharat in 2009. The focus of this scheme is female literacy and it aims to make 7 crore people including 85% women. By April 2010 the scheme is being implemented in 167 districts of 19 states of the country. Decoding Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome The Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome has been decoded by Indian Scientists of CSIR along with

100 science students from several universities. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is causing agent of Tuberculosis which kills 330000 Indians every year. This achievement paves the way to develop a new low cost Drug. Maharastra: proposed CISF kind of Force After the Mumbai attacks of 2008, the state government was suggested by the Central government to consider raising the state's own industrial security force to share the burden of the Central Industrial Security Force and ensure proper security arrangements for private and public sector industries. In this context the centre has amended the CISF Act 1968, so as to make security services to available to private and joint venture industrial undertakings. In this context, a bill was passed in the state assembly. The state government now says that it is coming up soon with such a force. The state government is initially planning to recruit about 5,000 personnel for the job under the Maharashtra State Special Security Corporation. Dantewada Tragedy: E N Rammohan Committee E N Rammohan Committee has been appointed to probe the recent Naxalite attack in Chhattisgarh

which killed 76 police personnel. E N Rammohan is former chief of Border Security Forces. The committee has started the work and E N Rammohan meets Director General of CRPF Vikram Srivastava. Orissa: E-dispatch E-dispatch is an Internet-based letter-dispatch system, started by Orissa’s Panchayati raj department in 2007 and now been adopted by 17 of the 35 State departments. This system has won the Nasscom award for social innovation in February 2010. Every letter sent by the department from its head office in Bhubaneswar to all the block offices and the gram panchayats is scanned, saved in PDF format and sent through the server to a dedicated mailbox called e-space that’s assigned to every official in the department. The system generates an auto letter number and assigns the address and mode of dispatch for each letter. A computer operator in the department sends every letter to the respective e-space. The moment a letter lands in the mailboxes of the respective BDO or Collector, they get an SMS. The same letters are also sent by fax and post to the collectors and BDOs.

The system is brainchild of Rabindra Nath Dash, commissioner-cum-secretary in Orissa’s Panchayati Raj Department. Uttar Pradesh: Withdrawal from Umbrella State Support Agreement (Umbrella SSA) Umbrella State Support Agreement (Umbrella SSA) has to be signed an state to enable the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to utilize the services of the state during highway development in any part a state. The Uttar Pradesh Government withdraws from this Umbrella SSA. Tamil Nadu: Naam Tamilar Naam Tamilar is the name of a new political party floated by Sebastian Seeman, a Tamil Film Director and ardent supporter of LTTE. The party's flag which has been unveiled on 11th April closely resembles that of LTTE's insignia — barring the twin rifles in the background. On Nuclear Security Summit Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh reaches Washington to participate in the two-day Nuclear Security Summit. The summit aims to enhance international co-operation to prevent nuclear terrorism which US President Barack Obama has

identified as the most immediate and extreme threat to global security. 42 nations and heads of the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency have been invited to participate in this Summit representing diverse set of regions and various levels of nuclear materials, and energy expertise. US Navy Chief Arrives in India Chief of Naval Operations of the United States Admiral G Roughead arrives India for a 6 days visit ahead of "Malabar Series" of Exercise between India and US Navies in April end. This is a six day visit aimed to enhance the navy-to-navy interaction. Iran's First indigenously built anti-aircraft missile - Mersad Mersad is the name of Iran's first indigenously built anti-aircraft missile, which as per reports is more powerful than the US-made Hawk missile. It can destroy modern aircraft at low and medium altitude. It is ready for use. Current Affairs : April 12, 2010 Events / Happenings & Observances: Hyderabad: International Congress of Mathematics

International Congress of Mathematics will be held in Hyderabad in August 2010. This will be for the first time that this Congress will be hosted in India. The Fields Medal will also be announced in the congress. Fields Medal is considered as equivalent to the Nobel Prize in Mathematics. TechED 2010 TechED 2010 is a much awaited technology conclave in India for developers, IT professionals and technology and business decision makers and would bring together over 50,000 of the best technical minds from nearly 100 towns and cities in the country. Its launched in Bangalore and Microsoft launches Visual Studio 2010 & .NET Framework 4 in this event. Appointments: MasterCard CEO - Ajay Banga MasterCard announces on April 12, 2010 that Ajay Banga, currently MasterCard’s president and chief operating officer, has been named by the Board of Directors to serve as the company’s president and chief executive officer, effective July 1, 2010. The company also announced that Banga would become a member of MasterCard’s Board of Directors, effective immediately. Banga will succeed Robert W. Selander, who has been

MasterCard's chief executive officer since March 1997. Awards & Honors: Pulitzer Prize 2010 The Pulitzer Prize is a United States Award for newspaper journalism, literature and musical composition. These awards are administered by Columbia University, USA. The awards were established by Hungarian-American publisher Joseph Pulitzer.This award is given in 21 categoies with award money f $ 10000 each. The Gold medal always goes to a Newspaper. The 2010 Pulitzer prizes were awarded on April 12, 2010. The Washington Post has won four awards while The New York Times has won 3. For the first time this award has been given to ProPublica, an online source. Following are the winners of the Pulitzer prizes 2010: Journalism Public Service - Bristol (Va.) Herald Courier Breaking News Reporting - The Seattle Times Staff Investigative Reporting - Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman of the Philadelphia Daily News

and Sheri Fink of ProPublica, in collaboration with The New York Times Magazine Explanatory Reporting - Michael Moss and members of The New York Times Staff Local Reporting - Raquel Rutledge of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel National Reporting - Matt Richtel and members of The New York Times Staff International Reporting - Anthony Shadid of The Washington Post Feature Writing - Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post Commentary - Kathleen Parker of The Washington Post Criticism - Sarah Kaufman of The Washington Post Editorial Writing - Tod Robberson, Colleen McCain Nelson and William McKenzie of The Dallas Morning News Editorial Cartooning - Mark Fiore, self syndicated, appearing on SFGate.com Breaking News Photography - Mary Chind of The Des Moines Register Feature Photography - Craig F. Walker of The Denver Post Letters, Drama and Music

Fiction - Tinkers by Paul Harding (Bellevue Literary Press) Drama - Next to Normal, music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey History - Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed (The Penguin Press) Biography - The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T.J. Stiles (Alfred A. Knopf) Poetry - Versed by Rae Armantrout (Wesleyan University Press) General Nonfiction - The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy by David E. Hoffman (Doubleday) Music - Violin Concerto by Jennifer Higdon (Lawdon Press) Special Citations Hank Williams - press release on the Special Citation awarded to Hank Williams Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2010 Established in 1987, the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize are organized and funded by the Commonwealth Foundation, an intergovernmental organization working in the 53 countries of the

Commonwealth of Nations & Macquarie Group Foundation. The main objective of these prizes is to encourage new Commonwealth fiction. Commonwealth Writers’ Prize is chaired by Justice Nicholas Hasluck, a distinguished author and leading judicial officer of Australia. This is for the first time that the award ceremony is hosted by India. Here are the winners of 2010 Commonwealth Writers' Prize Overall Winners: Commonwealth Writers' Prize Best Book: Rana Dasgupta (India/UK) for his work "Solo" Commonwealth Writers' Prize Best First Book: Glenda Guest of Australia for "Siddon Rock" Regional Winnes: -Africa: Best Book - Marié Heese (South Africa) for "The Double Crown" -Africa: Best First Book - Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani (Nigeria) for "I Do Not Come to You By Chance" -Caribbean and Canada: Best Book: Michael Crummey (Canada) for "Galore" -Caribbean and Canada: Best First Book:Shandi Mitchell (Canada) for "Under This Unbroken Sky" -South Asia and Europe: Best Book: Rana Dasgupta (India/UK) for "Solo"

-South Asia and Europe: Best First Book:Daniyal Mueenuddin (Pakistan) for "In Other Rooms, Other Wonders" -South East Asia and Pacific: Best Book: Albert Wendt (Samoa) for "The Adventures of Vela" -South East Asia and Pacific: Best First Book: Glenda Guest (Australia) for "Siddon Rock" NRHM Awards 2010 Vice President M. Hamid Ansari presented “National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) awards" to the States for their success in implementation of the Mission at a function to commemorate the ‘Five Years of NRHM’ organized by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. The Winner states are : Best performing State Award in North East : First : Assam , Second : Mizoram Best performing State Award among High Focus States: First : Rajasthan , Second : Madhya Pradesh Best performing award among other states: First : Tamil Nadu , Second: Haryana National Updates: National Integration Council (NIC) is reconstituted National Integration Council (NIC) has been reconstituted. To be chaired by the Prime Minister

of India, it has 147 members including Union Ministers, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Chief Ministers of all States & Union Territories with Legislatures, leaders of national political parties & regional political parties, Chairperson of National Commissions, eminent media persons, public figures, representatives of business and women’s representatives. The list of members is as under: PRIME MINISTER CHAIRMAN I UNION MINISTERS 1. Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Union Finance Minister Member 2. Shri Sharad Pawar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution 3. Shri A.K. Antony, Union Defence Minister 4. Shri P. Chidambaram, Union Home Minister 5. Kumari Mamata Banerjee, Union Minister of Railways 6. Shri M. Veerappa Moily, Union Minister of Law & Justice

7. Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource Development 8. Smt. Ambika Soni, Union Minister of Information & Broadcasting 9. Shri Dayanidhi Maran, Union Minister of Textiles 10. Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy 11. Shri Mukul Wasnik, Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment 12. Shri Kantilal Bhuria, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs 13. Shri Salman Khursheed, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs and Ministry of Minority Affairs 14. Smt. Krishna Tirath, Minister of State for Women and Child Development II LEADERS OF OPPOSITION IN LOK SABHA & RAJYA SABHA 15. Smt. Sushma Swaraj Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha 16. Shri Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha III CHIEF MINISTERS OF ALL STATES AND UNION TERRITORIES WITH LEGISLATURES

17. Chief Ministers of all the States and Union Territories which have Legislatures (30 includes Chief Ministers of NCT of Delhi and UT of Puducherry IV LEADERS OF NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTIES 1. Smt, Sonia Gandhi, President, Indian National Congress Member 2. Shri Nitin Gadkari, President, Bhartiya Janata Party 3. Shri Prakash Karat, General Secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist) 4. Shri A.B. Bardhan, General Secretary, Communist Party of India 5. Kumari Mayawati, President, Bahujan Samaj Party 6. Shri Sharad Pawar, President, Nationalist Congress Party V LEADERS OF REGIONAL POLITICAL PARTIES 1. Shri M. Karunanidhi, President, Dravida Munnetra Kzhagam Member 2. Dr. Farooq Abdullah, President, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference

3. Shri Ajit Singh, President, Rashtriya Lok Dal 4. Shri Sukbir Singh Badal, President, Shiromani Akali Dal 5. Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu, President, Telugu Desam Party 6. Shri E. Ahamed, President, Indian Union Muslim League 7. Shri Mulayam Singh Yadav, President, Samajwadi Party 8. Shri Lalu Prasad Yadav, President, Rashtriya Janata Dal 9. Shri H.D. Deve Gowda, President, Janata Dal (S) 10. Shri Sharad Yadav, President, Janata Dal (U) 11. Shri Navin Patnaik, President, Biju Janata Dal 12. Shri Chandra Mohan Patowary, President, Asom Gana Parishad 13. Ms. Mehbooba Mufti, President, People’s Democratic Party 14. Shri Shibu Soren, President, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha VI NATIONAL COMMISSIONS 1. Chairperson, National Commission for Minorities Member 2. Chairperson, National Commission for Scheduled Castes

3. Chairperson, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes 4. Chairperson, National Commission for Women 5. Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, 6. Chairperson, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights VII MEDIA PERSONS 1. Shri N. Ravi, Editor, The Hindu Member 2. Shri Shashi Shekhar, Editor-in-Chief, Hindustan 3. Shri Mammen Mathew, Editor, Malayala Manorama 4. Shri Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief, The Indian Express 5. Shri M.K. Razdan, Editor-in-Chief and CEO, Press Trust of India Ltd 6. Ms. Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson, Hindustan Times 7. Shri Arun Kumar Bhandari, General Manager & Chief Editor, United News of India 8. Shri Shravan Garg, Group Editor, Dainik Bhaskar 9. Shri T.N. Ninan, Editor, Business Standard Ltd

10. Shri V. Raja, Chief Editor, Sun TV Network Ltd. 11. Shri Kumar Ketkar, Editor, Lok Satta 12. Shri Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief, CNN-IBN 13. Ms. Barkha Dutt, Group Editor, NDTV 14. Shri Palagummi Sainath, Rural Affairs Editor and Bureau Chief, The Hindu 15. Shri Dileep Padgaonkar, Consulting Editor, Times of India 16. Shri K.N. Tilak Kumar, Editor, Deccan Herald 17. Shri Zahid Ali Khan, Editor, The Siasat Daily 18. Shri Shahid Latif, Editor, Inquilab 19. Shri Alok Mehta, Editor-in-Chief, Nai Duniya 20. Shri Pankaj Pachauri, Managing Editor, NDTV VIII REPRESENTATIVES OF BUSINESS 1. Shri Harsh Pati Singhania, President, FICCI, Member 2. Shri Venu Srinivasan, President, Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) 3. Dr. Ms. Swati Piramal, President, ASSOCHAM 4. Shri Som Mittal, President, NASSCOM 5. Shri Ratan N. Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons Limited

6. Shri Venu Srinivasan, Chairman, TVS Motor Company Limited 7. Shri Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro Ltd 8. Shri Ajay Chowdhry, Chairman, HCL 9. Shri Y.C. Deveshwar, Chairman, ITC Limited 10. Dr. Ramdas M. Pai, President & Chancellor, Manipal University 11. Mrs. R. Sandra Shroff, Vice-Chairman, United Phosphorous India Limited 12. Shri A.M. Naik, Chairman & Managing Director, Larsen & Toubro Limited 13. Shri Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) 14. Shri Vikram Kirloskar, Chairman & Managing Director, Kirloskar Systems Ltd 15. Shri Jamshyd N. Godrej, CMD, Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company Ltd IX EMINENT PUBLIC FIGURES 1. Shri H.D. Deve Gowda, Member 2. Shri I.K. Gujral 3. Shri L.K. Advani 4. Shri Somnath Chatterjee 5. Dr. Karan Singh 6. Shri Mrinal Sen 7. Shri Rishang Keishing 8. Dr. Amrik Singh 9. Prof. M.S. Swaminathan

10. Shri Bekal Utsahi 11. Shri Gulzar 12. Shri Vikram Seth 13. Shri Sitakanta Mohapatra 14. Professor Zoya Hasan 15. Rev. Prof. Valsan Thampu 16. Archbishop Vincent M.C. Concessao 17. Shri Sitaram Yechury 18. Shri Asghar Ali Engineer 19. Swami Agnivesh 20. Ms. Amarjeet Kaur 21. Shri Fali S. Nariman 22. Shri Madari Moideen 23. Shri C.K. Jaffar Sharief 24. Dr. John Dayal 25. Shri Asauddin Owaisi 26. Ms. Shabana Azmi 27. Shri Navaid Hamid 28. Dr. S.N. Subba Rao 29. Ms. Shabnam Hashmi 30. Shri Amar Singh 31. Shri Syed Shahabuddin 32. Ms. Mrinal Pande 33. Shri Rajnath Singh X WOMEN’S REPRESENTATIVES

1. Smt. Ela R. Bhatt, Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) Member 2. Dr. V. Mohini Giri, Guild for Service 3. Ms. Noor Bano 4. Dr. Amrit Srinivasan, Professor, Department of Humanities & Social Sciences 5. Ms. Annie Raja, National Federation of Indian Women 6. Ms. Gomathi Nair, President, All India Women’s Conference 7. Ms. Neerja Chowdhary, President, Indian Women Press Corps North East : Biometric Ration Cards The centre takes a decision to introduce the biometric ration cards in North East to check the pilferage of the highly-subsidized rice meant for poor people living under Below Poverty Line. Kerala : Annual Plan: Annual Plan for Kerala for year 2010-2011 has been finalized today at Rs 10,025 crore in a meeting between Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan.

New Delhi: Delhi Urban Mass Transit Authority (DUMTA), On April 12, 2010 the Delhi cabinet approves a bill for setting up Delhi Urban Mass Transit Authority (DUMTA). The bill provide for setting up of DUMTA for comprehensive planning, development and regulation of integrated multi-modal public transport for sustainable public transport. The objective to set up this authority is to create an integrated authority to handle constructing and managing road network, traffic police and transport department as the former two do not come under Delhi government. Abroad: Cayman Trough : World's deepest undersea volcanic vents The Cayman Trough also known as Bartlett Deep is located in Caribbean Sea between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. It is the deepest point in the Caribbean Sea and forms part of the tectonic boundary between the North American Plate and the Caribbean Plate. A UK team from the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton (NOCS), equipped with an autonomously controlled, robot submarine, began mapping the full extent of the trench and discovered black smokers on the ocean

floor at a depth of 3.1 miles (5 kilometers), the deepest yet found. These are world's deepest undersea volcanic vents. Greece Debt Crisis: 30 Billion Euro Package To stamp out Greece's fiscal crisis and restore confidence in the euro, the European governments put together a loan package worth 30 Billion Euro for debt-burdened Greece. The finance ministers of 16 countries decided to offer the loans at three-year interest rates of around 5 per cent in case Greece needs the money. This is the first time that Euro is facing such a grim test since it was introduced in 1999. The step to bail out Greece is indirectly related to currency’s viability as well. Sports: India Wins Kabaddi World Cup: India is the winner of Pearls World Cup Kabaddi Punjab 2010. Indian team led by Mangat Singh Mangi Bagga , defeated Pakistan in the final. Indian Team received Rs. 1 Crore. Current Affairs : April 13, 2010 Appointments: SSB Jharkhand Chairman: A K Chug

A K Chug, IAS and member of Revenue Council has bee appointed as next chairman of Staff Selection Board of Jharkhand. Chief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir High Court: Justice Aftab Hussain Saikia Justice Aftab Hussain Saikia was administered the oath of office by Jammu & Kashmir Governor N N Vohra as Chief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir High Court, Jammu. Awards: Ambedkar awards 2009 Mauritius Bhojpuri Institute founder director Sarita Boodhoo has been selected for the Dr Ambedkar International Award 2009 conferred by Bharatiya Dalit Sahitya Akademi (BDSA). The award will be conferred during the 26th National Conference of Dalit Writers of BDSA in the city on December 12. National Updates: Asian Development Bank (ADB) Latest projections about India's Growth 'Asian Development Outlook 2010' which is ADB's annual flagship publication has pegged India's growth rate 8.2 per cent in 2010 and 8.7 per

cent in 2011. The annual inflation projects are 5% in 2010 and 5.5% in 2011. Developing Asia was set to grow 7.5 per cent in 2010 and 7.3 per cent in 2011, picking up from 5.2 per cent in 2009, the ADB said in its Asian Development Outlook 2010. What is Developing Asia?: Developing Asia refers to 44 developing member countries of the Asian Development Bank and Brunei Darussalam, an unclassified regional member; East Asia comprises People’s Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Republic of Korea; Mongolia; and Taipei,China; Southeast Asia comprises Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia,Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam; South Asia comprises Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Bangladesh,Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka; Central Asia comprises Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan; and The Pacific comprises Cook Islands, Fiji Islands, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands,Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

On Green India Mission Green India Mission is one of the eight missions announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2008 under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). It aims to expand forest cover from 23 percent to 33 percent in the country and afforestation of 6 million hectares of degraded forest land. The Minister of Environment says that draft document will be ready by April End and implementation blue print will be ready by August 2010. Quick Facts: 8 Missions of Prime Minister's Action Plan on Climate Change: National Solar Mission National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency National Mission on Sustainable Habitat National Water Mission National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem National Mission for a "Green India" National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change Business & Economy:

State Bank of India: Assam Rifles salary package Similar to the earlier launched packages for Indian Army and Indian Navy, the State bank of India launches Assam Rifles salary package for personnel of Assam Rifles. This package includes free drafts, free cheque book, free fund transfers to any of the SBI Group's about 15,000 branches and free ATM cards. abilitymatrimony.com This is the url of new matrimonial website launched by Bharat Matrimony for differently-abled people. The portal has been launched by Bharat Matrimony Founder and CEO Murugavel Janakiraman. ICAI-CBEC MoU: Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) & Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) sign a MoU under which the ICAI praticing members will provide e-filing returns at a charge of maximum Rs 800.The aim is to reduce paperwork, transaction costs and increase accountability, efficiency and transparency. As per the MoU, a practicing CA or a firm with a minimum experience of one year could apply for

e-filing of service tax returns. CBEC will provide a user name and a password to activate the facility. India's Disclosure pacts with 9 Tax Heavens: A new agreement has been signed by Indian Government and 9 tax heavens. Now, India can initiate and negotiate agreements for exchange of information for the prevention of evasion or avoidance of income tax and assistance in collection of income tax with these nine specified territories which include Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey (all British Crown Dependencies), the Netherlands Antilles (an autonomous part of the Dutch kingdom) and Macau (a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China). The government has ordered re-negotiation of total 77 double-tax avoidance pacts entered into so far to get real time information and track tax evasions or stashing away of black money in other countries. BSE - NYSE Technologies Agreement NYSE Technologies is the commercial technology division of NYSE Euronext. NYSE Euronext is a Euro-American corporation that operates multiple securities exchanges, most notably Euronext, New

York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and NYSE Arca. NYSE Technologies was launched in January 2009, incorporating all the internal technology divisions of NYSE Euronext. The Bombay Stock Exchange enters into an agreement with the exchange solutions provider NYSE Tech to offer high speed and low latency trading facility. Abroad: China 's Second Lunar Probe Chang'e-2 is China's second lunar orbiter , an un-manned lunar probe scheduled for launch in October 2010. The The probe will conduct research at a 100-kilometer-high moon orbit as a preparation for a soft landing by Chang'e 3. EV-neo EV-neo is all-electric scooter launched in Japan by Honda Motor Company that will mark its first attempt at mass-marketing zero-emission motorbikes. Ads by Twitter: Twitter decides to sell advertising on its site for the first time. Advertisers will be able to buy "Promoted Tweets" that will appear on Twitter's

search results pages. Earlier Twitter had sold Tweet Search results to Google. Current Affairs April 14, 2010 Awards & Honors: Wisden Cricketer of the Year - Virender Sehwag Virender Sehwag has been named 'Wisden Cricketer of the Year' for the second successive time for scoring ''more quickly than any specialist batsman in Tests or one-day internationals.'' Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is also known as "the Bible of Cricket". It is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. It is considered the world's most famous sports reference book. Events / Happenings: Know Your Army Know Your Army is a two day exhibition organized by Army's EME center Secunderabad. It has been launched by Union Minister of State for Defense M M Pallam Raju. National Updates: Wild Life: Anti Poaching System

A software monitoring system to improve the effectiveness of all surveillance and anti-poaching interventions in the Project Tiger Reserve areas has been launched by the Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh. This system has been developed by the Wildlife Institute of India in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London and the National Tiger Conservation Authority. This system will ensure that the surveillance activities that are done by field director and his colleagues is based on ground level information. As a pilot initiative, it is proposed to implement the system within two months at six tiger reserves. They are Corbett; Uttaranchal, Ranthambhor; Rajasthan, Kanha; Madhya Pradesh, Bhadra; Karnataka, Annamalai; Tamil Nadu and Nagarjunasagar Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh. India's First 3D Digital Animation Film: India's first 3-D digital animation film, 'Bal Hanuman-2', will be released on May 14 in selected theaters, which are equipped with special projectors. Madhya Pradesh: India's First Buddhist University:

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan announces establishment of India's first 'Bauddh Vishwavidyalaya' (Buddhist University) at Sanchi. Haryana: Energy Conservation Fund To promote awareness, capacity building, research and development, creation of testing and certification procedures and demonstration projects on energy conservation , The Haryana Government decides to create a State Energy Conservation Fund which is also called Green Energy Initiative. The State Energy Conservation Fund was constituted under Section 16 of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001. Gujarat: Top state in Marine Fish output: As per NABARD, Gujarat has topped the list of states in marine fish production and exported 1.88 lakh tonnes of marine products worth Rs.1,265 crore in fiscal 2008-09. The Pipavav Port has emerged as a leader for export of marine products from India with a share of 27.18 percent in quantity and 16.36 per cent in value. Index watch: Confidence in Leadership Index

As per the Confidence in Leadership Index survey done by the Los Angeles-based Korn/Ferry International, executives in India have the highest faith in their CEOs and general corporate leadership among the 13 major nations. India is followed by China, Brazil and Russia. Business & Economy: On SAIL FPO: SAIL FPO is estimated Rs 16,000 crore share sale of the steel PSU. In This context a statements has come (in Indian Express) of Steel Secretary Atul Chaturvedi about creation of a committee comprising officials from Steel Ministry, Department of Disinvestment under the Ministry of Finance and SAIL. Please note that this is a two phase 20% share sale programme which was approved recently by the cabinet and estimated proceeds are Rs. 16000 Crore. However the final proceeds would depend upon the issue price of FPO. This will be decided by EGoM (Empowered Group of Ministers). Currently Government of India owes 85% in the company. The SAIL has a Rs. 70,000 crores expansion plan, which ramps up its capacity from present 14 million tonnes to 23 Million Tonnes.

Sports: ICC Global Partner: Hero Honda: International Cricket Council (ICC) and Hero Honda Motors Ltd announce a three-year partnership. ICC has now become global partner with a major presence at all ICC events. This agreement entitles Hero Honda to exercise certain promotional, advertising, marketing and other commercial rights on a world-wide basis in connection with the events. All Sports Magazine : Top 10 Indian sporting achievements of all time Following are the Top 10 Indian sporting achievements of all time as listed by "All Sports Magazine" Abhinav Bindra's individual gold medal in shooting at the 2008 Beijing Olympics -- he's the only Indian to earn this distinction in a century of Endeavour. Kapil's Devils' coup in the 1983 World Cup is India's most sensational team triumph even though it was replicated by M S Dhoni's 'Men in Blue' 24 years later, albeit in a more truncated version of cricket.

The Dhyan Chand-orchestrated golden symphony in the 1936 Berlin Olympics before a global audience and an impressed Fuhrer made supremacy and artistry in field hockey synonymous with the jugglers from the sub-continent. Viswanathan Anand set the final seal on his greatness when he won the 2007 (tournament) and 2008 (match play) FIDE world chess championships to confirm his 2000 world triumph in the knock out format which unleashed a chess revolution in India in its wake. Wilson Jones was right on cue in the 1958 World Amateur Billiards Championship in Kolkata, making him the first Indian world champion in any discipline. His success paved the way for a procession of world beaters in the three-ball game. Prakash Padukone's upset win over Liem Swie King in the final of the All England Badminton Championship in 1980 took him to No 1 in the world. Leander Paes' bronze in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics tennis singles while battling a wrist injury and also a top-quality field to clinch the second individual medal for India since 1952 was another big high for the tricolor.

He may have missed a podium finish by the proverbial whisker, but Milkha Singh's gallant run in the 400 m final at the 1960 Rome Olympics is still embedded in the nation’s collective memory. Mohun Bagan's sensational 2-1 victory over East Yorkshire Regiment in the 1911 IFA Shield final was the seminal moment in Indian football whose ripples echoed beyond the Kolkata maidan and sparked off nationalist reverberations across the entire nation. Ajit Wadekar's twin series triumphs in the West Indies and England in 1971 showed that Indian cricket had made giant strides. (courtesy : All Sports Magazine) Abroad: Saudi Arabia: Fatwa against terrorism Highest Religious authority of Saudi Arabia has issued a fatwa (edict) denouncing all acts of terrorism and criminalizing its financing. Council of Supreme Scholars declared "any act of terrorism, including providing financial support to terrorists, a crime," regardless of where it takes place (Asharq al-Awsat - English News paper) Current Affairs : April 15, 2010

Events, Happenings & Observances: 4th IBSA Summit: The 4th IBSA summit took place in Brasilia, Brazil on April 15, 2010. What is IBSA? IBSA is a trilateral, developmental initiative between India, Brazil and South Africa to promote South-South cooperation and exchange. Origin: Brasilia Declaration The birth of IBSA officially known as IBSA Dialogue Forum was a sequel of Brasilia Declaration, adopted by Ministers Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma from South Africa, Celso Amorim from Brazil and Yashwant Sinha from India in 2003. The three leaders had met on June 6, 2003, following ongoing consultations and after the respective Heads of State and/or Government of their countries held conversations during the G-8 meeting, in Evian. Objectives: The main objectives of the IBSA Dialogue Forum are as follows: To promote South-South dialogue, cooperation and common positions on issues of international importance To promote trade and investment opportunities between the three regions of which they are part

To promote international poverty alleviation and social development To promote the trilateral exchange of information, international best practices, technologies and skills, as well as to compliment each others competitive strengths into collective synergies To promote cooperation in a broad range of areas, namely agriculture, climate change, culture, defence, education, energy, health, information society, science and technology, social development, trade and investment, tourism and transport. New Delhi Agenda for Cooperation First Meeting of the Trilateral Commission of the IBSA Dialogue Forum was held in New Delhi on 4th and 5th March 2004. It is known as New Delhi Agenda for Cooperation. Cape Town Ministerrial Communique Second Meeting of the Trilateral Commission of the IBSA Dialogue Forum was held at Cape Town from 10-11 March 2005. This was Cape Town Ministerial Communique. Rio de Janeiro ministerial communique Third Meeting of the Trilateral Commission of the IBSA Dialogue Forum was held in Rio de Janeiro on 30 March 2006. This was Rio de Janeiro ministerial communique .

Summits: 1st IBSA summit was held in September, 2006 at Brasilia, Brazil. 2nd IBSA summit was held in October, 2007 at Pretoria, South Africa 3rd IBSA summit was held in October, 2008 at New Delhi, India 4th IBSA summit was held on April 15, 2010 at Brasília, Brazil. Trade: Trade between IBSA members amounts to be around US$11.9 billion in 2009 Discussions : Discussions were held on various global issues viz. Iran and nuclear weapons, the Middle East conflict, the furtherance of IBSA, reconstruction of Haiti through the IBSA Fund for Alleviation of Poverty and Hunger, and cooperation in science and technology. Leaders highlighted that the three countries’ commitment to democratic values, inclusive social development and multilateralism constitutes the basis for their growing cooperation and close coordination on global issues IBSA Satellite: India, Brazil and South Africa will explore the feasibility of launching an IBSA satellite. IBSA

satellite was on the agenda of the Grouping of these countries. The data to be supplied by this satellite will be very useful for all the three countries as they are fastest developing and emerging economies. The IBSA Facility Fund: The leaders of the IBSA reiterated the continued commitment of India, Brazil and South Africa to each contribute with at least US$ 1 million per year to the Fund. The people and authorities of Haiti, Palestine, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Burundi and Cambodia are benefiting from projects being undertaken under the IBSA Facility Fund. Remarks of Indian Prime Minister: India's Prime Minister called for an early finalisation of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism in the United Nations. Our Prime Minister said that terrorism continues to pose serious threat to our developmental goals and the scourge needs to be fought through collective international efforts. Global governanance have not kept pace with the changing times and there is an urgent need to reform the United Nations including the Security Council by making it more representative and democratic. On Economic Issues the PM said that past mistakes should not be

repeated as the recovery is still fragile and uneven. Global recovery must be anchored in the real economy in order to make it sustainable. Next IBSA Summit: South Africa will host the VIII Trilateral Commission and the V IBSA Summit of Heads of State/Government towards the end of 2011. Uttarakhand: Century's First Mahakumbha At Haridwar, century’s first Mahakumbha comes to an end after last Shahi Snan of Mesh Sankranti. Over 1.45 crore people took a holy dip at Haridwar on the occasion. Kerala: Vishu Vishu is the auspicious festival of prosperity and hope celebrated in Kerala. Thousands of devotees are thronging the temples for the traditional ritual of vishukani darshan. Vishu, one of the important festivals of Kerala comes in the month of April usually on the 14th. It is the 1st day of Malayalam month Medam which is the astronomical New Year, as per the traditional Malyalam Calender. The main event is 'Kani-Kanal' is the main event of the festival. On the previous night of the Vishu, the ladies of the house prepare the Kani which is a big pot

comprising coconuts, a gold ornament, a new cloth, fruits, cereals and Konna flower. A mirror and the garlanded deity of Lord Krishna is kept behind the mirror. In the morning of the Vishu day, the master of the house , followed by other members see the aupicious 'Kani'. The youngers get blessings from the elders of the family. The youngers also get money called Vishu Kaineetam . West Bengal: Poila Baisakh Poila Baisakh is the first day of the Bengali calendar 1417. The day is celebrated with traditional fervor and gaiety Assam: Rongali Bihu Rongali Bihu is the most popular post-harvest festival of Assam. The week-long festival marks the beginning of the Assamese New Year -“Bohaag”. Bangladesh: Pahela Baisakh Pahela Baisakh or the First day of the 'Nababarsha' or new Year is celebrated in 15th April 2010 in Balgladesh. The programmes include singing of devotional and patriotic songs in addition to street plays and colourful processions with a number of huge statues.

Appointments/ Elections: Cannes Film Festival jury - Shekhar Kapur Indian filmmaker Shekhar Kapur is selected to the jury of the competition section at the 63rd annual Cannes Film Festival scheduled to be held from May 12 to May 23, 2010.American film director Tim Burton will be the President of the Jury. Wynn Telecom brand ambassador - Saif Ali Khan Saif Ali Khan is appointed the Brand ambasador of Wynn Telecom Ltd (WTL), a mobile handset company. WTL is an extension of SAR Group of companies which has LUMINOUS as the flagship brand. Infoclip: In 2006, Saif Ali Khan had appeared along with Rani Mukerji, and Aishwarya Rai at the Closing Ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, as part of a performance showcasing Indian culture along with on behalf of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, to be held in Delhi. Awards: 34th Matrishree Media Awards

Matri-Swar, organiser of Matrishree Awards have been announced.Some of the winners are: M Chenna Nagraj - UNI Indra Shekhar Shah - Univarta Archana Jyoti - PTI Dharmendra Pant - Bhasha Mumtaz Alam - Hamara Samaj Usha Pahwa- Punjab Kesari Yousuf Kirmani - Navbharat Times Paras Amrohi: Dainik Hindutan Other Winners: Rashtriya Sahara's Vijay Rai, Dainik Jagran's Vibhuti Kumar, Amar Ujala's Navneet Sharan, Hindustan Times' Gaurav Chaudhary, Times of India's Saurabh Sinha, Nai Duniya's Harish Kumar , The Hindu's Madhur Tankah, R Prasad (cartoonist) of Mail Today , Vijay Kumar (photographer) of Press Trust of India, Doordarshan's K V Singh, Akashvani's S P Singh, Aaj Tak's Bhuvneshwar Sengar, Star News' Praful Srivastava, IBN 7's Puneet and NDTV's Anjali, Meenakshi Rao (film critic) of The Pioneer, S N Verma of Sahafat Urdu and Mahesh Darpan of Sandhya Times Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan & PAA in best film category. National Affairs:

Meghalaya: Mobile mammography van Meghalaya Government launches a mobile mammography van to detect breat cancer in the rural areas of the state.It is being jointly operated by Meghalaya government and MKC Roko Cancer Trust, a UK-based charity operating in India.. MKC Roko Cancer Trust has now covered nine Indian states viz. Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Meghalaya and Goa. Nor'wester Nor'wester is the severe cyclone that has hit Bihar, West bengal and Assam claiming 138 lives. Worst affected area is Karandighi in Bihar where 20 people have died so far. Budget Session Resumes: The Budget Session of the Parliament resumes after recess. The dominating topics : Passage of the finance and the women reservation bill , price rise issue , cut motion in a bid to put pressure on the government to roll back hike in petroleum prices, IPL franchise scam and Dantewada massacre of CRPF men by Naxals, Nuclear Liability Bill.

Chetna Yatras To mark the 125 years of Congress's foundation National General Secretary of Congress , Rahul Gandhi flags off ten Chetna Yatras in Uttar Pradesh. International Affairs: US: India to get $ 4.5 million under ATA ATA or Anti-terrorism assistance is a flagship counter-terrorism law enforcement capacity-building programme of the United States. India to receive $ 4.5 million US assistance to fight terrorism. Obama administration has doubled the assistance to India for the year 2011 to meet the increasing political will on the part of the Indian government, which has requested more and higher-level training in the aftermath of the Mumbai attack. Pakistan: Heraldo Munoz Report Heraldo Munoz commission an independent United Nations-appointed panel probing the killing of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto & headed by Chile's UN ambassador Heraldo Munoz commenced on July 1, 2009 and was to have submitted its report on December 31, 2009

but its term was extended for another three months. Volcanic Eruptions in Europe: Volcanic eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland have caused significant disruption to air travel across western and northern Europe. Much of the airspace in Europe gets closed until 20 April, causing cancellation of most flights within, to, and from Europe. Qinghai -Earthquake: China's north western Qinghai province comes under a massive attack of earthquake measuring 7.1 on Richter scale. Sports: Asian Junior Snooker Liu Chuang od China wins 11th Asian Junior Snooker Championship T T Paiboon of Thailand. The event was organised in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Current Affairs : April 16, 2010 Appointments:

Dr. N.C.Saxena Committee: Joint Committee of Ministry of Environment And Forests and Ministry of Tribal Affairs has been revised. Dr. N.C.Saxena, retired Secretary, Planning Commission will be Chairman of this committeeand Dr. Devendra Pandey, Fromer Director General, Forest Survey of India will be Co-Chairman. Awards: Prime Minister’s Awards for excellence in Governance for 2008-09 Prime Minister’s Awards for excellence in Governance for 2008-09 have been announced. These awards are given in individual, group and organization categories. The list of the winners is Here National Affairs: Failure of GSLV-D3 GSLV-D3, India's 330 crore rupees mission to flight test the first indigenous cryogenic engine failed after the rocket GSLV-D3 powered by it crashed into the sea five minutes after a perfect lift-off. Panchayat Yuva Krida Aur Khel Abhiyan

Panchayat Yuva Krida Aur Khel Abhiyan is a centrally sponsored scheme which was introduced from 2008-09 for creation of basic sports infrastructure in all village and block panchayats and for conducting sports competitions at block, district, state and national level in the country. The outlay for this scheme for 11th five year plan is Rs. 1500 Crores. Railways: 169.77 kms of new line track was added every year since 1950-51 As per a written reply of Minister of State for Railways, Shri K.H. Muniyappa in Rajya Sabha,the route kilometers of Indian Railways have grown from 53,596 kms to 63,273 kms at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of around 0.29 per cent. The Running Track Kilometers grew from 59,315 km to 85,158 km at a CAGR of 0.64 per cent and the electrified route grew from 388 kms to 18,274 kms at a CAGR of 6.99 per cent. The freight rates (average rate per tonne km) increased from 3.16 paise to 89.04 paise during the above period at a CAGR of 6.03 per cent. On an average 169.77 kms of new line track was added from 1950-51 to 2007-08.

Infloclip: The Vision 2020 document of the Railways envisages laying of 25,000 kms of new line by the year 2020. Accordingly, an enhanced target of laying 1000 kms of new lines has been indicated in the Budget 2010-11. Accelerated Pulses Production Programme (A3P) Government has approved the Accelerated Pulses Production Programme (A3P) under National Food Security Mission on Pulses from April 1, 2010 for the remaining period of 11th Plan. Under this plan 10 Lakh hectare of potential pulses area would be taken up. The intention is to demonstrate the impact of production and protection technologies in the farmers' field for boosting the production and productivity of pulses. Government has been implementing National Food Security Mission on Pulses in 16 Major Pulses Growing states of the country. Fact Box: Some Schemes in Budget 2010-11 for Agriculture Development Rs. 400 crore provided to extend the green revolution to the eastern region of the country comprising Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Eastern UP, West Bengal and Orissa. Rs. 300 crore provided to organize 60,000 “pulses and oil seed villages” in rain-fed areas during

2010-11 and provide an integrated intervention for water harvesting, watershed management and soil health, to enhance the productivity of the dry land farming areas. Rs. 200 crore provided for sustaining the gains already made in the green revolution areas through conservation farming, which involves concurrent attention to soil health, water conservation and preservation of biodiversity. Banks have been consistently meeting the targets set for agriculture credit flow in the past few years. For the year 2010-11, the target has been set at Rs. 3,75,000 crore. In view of the recent drought in some States and the severe floods in some other parts of the country, the period for repayment of the loan amount by farmers extended by six months from December 31, 2009 to June 30,2010 under the Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme for Farmers. Incentive of additional one per cent interest subvention to farmers who repay short-term crop loans as per schedule, increased to 2% for 2010-11. (from PIB) Business & Economy: Carriers Data of Domestic Airlines:

Total domestic passengers carried by the Scheduled Airlines of India in the first quarter of 2010 was: Air India (Domestic) 17.6%, Jet Airways 18.7%, Jet Lite 7.1%, Kingfisher 22.6%, Spice Jet 12.0%, Paramount 1.6%, Go Air 5.4% and IndiGo 15.0%. (PIB) Medical Technology Park There is a proposal to set up a Medical Technology Park a Integrated Vaccine Complex (IVC) at Chengalpattu, near Chennai for manufacture of medical devices and instruments and to address the growing vaccine demand of the country and to develop facilities for producing vaccines required by the Government. 2010 Bloomberg BusinessWeek annual rankings of Most Innovative Companies Apple tops the 2010 Bloomberg BusinessWeek annual rankings of Most Innovative Companies again. Apple is folowed by Google. Apple, Google, Microsoft,IBM & Toyota Motor are top 5 companies this year. Two Indian companies have apperaed in the top 50 Most Innovative Companies of the world. They are Tata Group on Rank 17 and Reliance Industries on Rank 33. For the first time

ever, more companies on our Top 50 are based outside the U.S. China's rise is the fastest. A year ago, its only representative was Lenovo, at 46. International Affairs: Youtube Record: Lady Gaga Access Hollywood says that Lady GaGa has broken a YouTube record passing one billion mark for video views from a single channel. On Findings of Heraldo Munoz Commission United Nations report into the assassination of the former prime minister of pakistan Benazir Bhutto has highly criticized the then military government of Gen. Parvez Musharraf. The report says that killing could have been prevented if adequate security measures had been taken. The report also says that authorities failed to investigate the crime properly. The report says that the versions of the story invloving Mr. Zardari and other members of the family simply had no basis, no evidence to be treated as credible. Current Affairs April 17, 2010 National Updates:

Amendment in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 An amendment in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 is introduced in the Rajya Sabha on April 17, 2010. This encompasses explicitly covering Children with cerebral palsy, mental retardation, autism and multiple disabilities under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009. Andhra Pradesh: Prajapatham Prajapatham is the new programme of the Andhra Pradesh government which envisages "taking the administration to the doorstep of the people''. Govt claims that People's issues requiring immediate attention would be taken up for redressal under the programme. On Cartosat-2B & STUDSAT The ISO is undeterred by the GSLV-D3 failure and now makes announcement to launch CARTOSAT 2B (an Earth observation satellite in a sun-synchronous orbit) on May 9. The Cartosat-2B has been flagged off from ISRO's facility at Bangalore to Sri harikota. It will be launched along with the 117 kg Algerian Satellite, one nano satellite each from Canada and Switzerland, and

StudSat, a pico satellite. Cartosat 2B is the third in the Cartostat series and is a high-resolution satellite designed for an operational life of five years. With a single panchromatic camera on board, this cartographic satellite will identify and take pictures of a moving car. STUDSAT or STUDent SATellite has been built by Engineering Colleges Students , Bangalore has been handed over to ISRO for launch along with Cartosat 2B from Sriharikota on May 9. The satellite has been developed by a consortium of seven Engineering Colleges from Bangalore and Hyderabad. Andhra Pradesh: Hazmat Hazmat is hazardous material handling vehicle capable of fighting nuclear, chemical and biological mishaps and effectively conducting search and rescue operations, has been launched by the Andhra Pradesh Government. Gujarat : Governor Returns the Bill Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2009 seeks to raise the reservation of seats for women in local self governance bodies from 33 to 50 per cent. The bill was passed on December 19, 2009 in the state assembly. As per this bill, if a

voter fails to vote for reasons other than prescribed in the rules, he may be declared a 'defaulter voter' and would face consequences, for which rules will be framed and placed before the assembly for its approval later. In other words, the bill sought to make voting mandatory in the state. The bill was sent to Governor Kamla Beniwal for assent and has been returned back. The objection of the governor are: 1. The bill violates the constitutional provision which does not allow voting to be made mandatory 2. No punishment can be meted out for not participating in the exercise of voting. 3. The state government has clubbed two bills together- the opposition was in favour of reservation for women bill but was opposed to the mandatory voting bill. The governor noted that the two bills should be separated. Recommended: Next Chief Justice of India - Justice S H Kapadia As per the Memorandum of Procedure which governs the appointment of members of the higher judiciary, "appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be of the senior most Judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office. It stipulates that the law minister would, at

the appropriate time, seek the recommendation of the outgoing Chief Justice of India for the appointment of the next CJI. Justice SH Kapadia is senior most Judge of supreme court after chief Justice KG Balakrishnan. In this context, Chief Justice has recommended name of justice S H Kapadia to be next CJI. Justice KG Balakrishnan will retire in May and final appointment by the President of India shall be made after that. International: Volcano eruption in Eyjafjallajokull Eyjafjallajökull which means island-mountain glacier is a smaller glacier of Iceland which covers a volcano, erupted relatively frequently since the last glacial period. it has erupted on 20 March and again on 14th April 2010. The April 2010 eruption was powerful and caused substantial disruption to air traffic across Europe. The volcano continues throw up plumes of grey ash as high as 10 kilometres across the Atlantic. Thousands of passengers are stranded at different airports in Europe and international flights to and from Europe have been affected. The entire airspace in the UK, Norway, Denmark, Belgium and Sweden is closed and air traffic in France and Finland have been partially affected. Flights have also been

grounded in Ireland, Norway and Poland. The drifting ash clouds also paralysed all the airports in, Finland and Sweden. In Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok, more than 1,000 passengers are stranded. Obituary : C K Prahalad Dr C K Prahalad, world's renowned management gurus,a corporate strategy specialist and well known figure passes away in United States at the age of 68. He was Professor of Corporate Strategy at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. An alumni of Loyola College, Chennai and IIM Ahmadabad, Dr. Prahlad's work "The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profit" was one of the best management books ever. Some other works are: The Core Competence of the Corporation (with Gary Hamel) Competing for the Future (with Gary Hamel), The Future of Competition (with Venkat Ramaswamy), The New Age of Innovation. (with MS Krishanan)

CK Prahalad was co-founder and CEO of Praja Inc. Current Affairs : April 18, 2010 Awards: Master Deenanath Vishesh award - Kajol On 68th year of commemoration of Deenanath Mangeshkar's memorial day, Kajol has been presented the Master Deenanath Vishesh award by Lata Mangeshkar National Updates: Bihar: Nitish Kumar on National Commission to identify BPL families Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar demands the creation of National Commission for Identification of Below Poverty Line(BPL) families in states which would continuously keep updated records for welfare schemes aimed at providing succour to them. He speaks of the discrepancies in identification of poor people citing example of Bihar where centre had estimated only 65 lakh BPL families while the actual figure was more than 1.40 crore. Haryana: First Grameen Nyayalaya

First Grameen Nayalaya (Rural Court) of Haryana has been inaugurated by Supreme Court Judge, Justice D K Jain at tehsil complex in Shahabad. Gujarat: Mobile Directory Gujarat University & 'Smile India Knowledge services' launch a mobile directory loaded with features like a search facility to find names of various colleges offering a particular course in various cities, finding out which city offers courses etc, listing of all the cities, colleges, their names, addresses, phone numbers and colleges and departments, affiliated to Gujarat University and contact details of colleges. It will give auto update on important information like admission status and quota. On Justice Soumitra Sen Impeachment Issue: Justice Sen of Calcutta High court is facing allegations of financial irregularities when he was a receiver in a dispute between SAIL and Indian Shipping Corporation before becoming High Court Judge in 2003. His impeachment was recommended by Chief Justice Justice K G Balakrishnan in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in August 2008 following refusal of the Justice to take voluntary retirement.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari had appointed a three-member panel headed by Supreme Court Judge B Sudarshan Reddy with Punjab and Haryana Chief Justice Justice Mukul Mudgal and noted lawyer Fali S Nariman to probe into the allegation. The panel has issued a charge sheet against Calcutta High Court Judge Justice Soumitra Sen. Independence Day in Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe marks 30 years of independence from British-backed minority white rule. Independence from the United Kingdom was established 1901 & proclaimed on 11 November 1965. However it was recognized 18 April 1980. President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe promises to continue his land seizure policy and transfer of control of foreign firms to locals as part of a black empowerment drive. Mugabe also asks that politically and racially driven violence in the country cease to be, the first time he has ever done this. 2010 Badminton Asia Championships - Results: Following are the winners of 2010 Badminton Asia Championships held at Siri Fort Stadium, New Delhi Men's singles

Lin Dan (China) Women's singles Xuerui Li (China) Men's doubles Cho Gun Woo (South Korea) Yoo Yean Seong(South Korea) Women's doubles Pan Pan (China) Tian Qing (China) Mixed doubles Chan Peng Soon (Malaysia) Goh Liu Ying (Malyasia) Semifinal of IPL: The semi-finals of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament moved from Bangalore to Mumbai following the discovery of further explosive devices. Current Affairs April 20, 2010 Appointments: Meghalaya: 21st Chief Minister - Dr Mukul Manda Sangma Dr Mukul Manda Sangma has been sowrn in as 21st Chief Minister of Meghalaya. He leads Congress-United Democratic Party-led five-party Meghalaya United Alliance coalition government.

Bindo M Lanong of the UDP was sworn-in as Deputy Chief Minister. List of Chief Ministers Resignation: Beleaguered Meghalaya Chief Minister D D Lapang has resigned, paving the way for his deputy Mukul Sangma to take over. Mr Lapang who has been facing revolt by at least 14 legislators tenders his resignation to Governor R S Mooshahary. National Updates: Home Minister in Dantewada Tragedy: Home Minister P Chidambaram admits while replying a debate in Rajya Sabha that Dantewada massacre was a failure of command and control and responsibility for the lapse will be fixed right up to his level.However he rules out use of Army and Air Force in the Naxal affected areas. On Henderson Brooks Report Henderson Brooks report is also known as Henderson Brooks-Bhagat report which is an analysis of India China war of 1962. This sensitive report was prepared by then commandants of Indian Military Academy Lieutenant-General

Henderson Brooks and Brigadier P S Bhagat. The government refuses in Lok Sabha that the report would not be made public as the report had current operational value. 1999 Jessica Lall murder Case: Supreme Court upholds Delhi High Court verdict , the conviction and life imprisonment awarded to Manu Sharma in the the 1999 Jessica Lall murder case. Automated Finger Print Identification Systems (AFIS) Automated Finger Print Identification Systems (AFIS) has been introduced by the government in 22 states (including J & K ) and Pondicherry. This comes under the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and System (CCTNS). CCTNS is a project under the national e-governance plan. Every police station in the country will be provided with a fingerprint reader for which Rs.15,000 per police station has been earmarked. The states are : Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Assam, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Nagaland, Delhi, Orissa, Goa, Punjab, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Tamil Nadu,

Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, West Bengal, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh. USB Pratirodh & NAYAN USB Pratirodh & NAYAN are two e-security products launched by C-DAC. USB Pratirodh and Malware Resist has been launched for Home Users and Network Abhigam Niyantran (NAYAN) for enterprises. Malware Resist is an anti-malware solution which protects an end system from damage caused by malware or any other rogue software by continuously scrutinizing the active programs or processes for malicious behavior. The solution helps users to protect from the Malware by quarantine the processes. NAYAN, especially developed for enterprises, addresses the access control and authentication requirements of a local area network. NAYAN controls the access to different network services at the end system level, protecting internal network from rapidly propagating threats and network misuse. (Govt. of India Press Release) Chhattisgarh - Foreign Travel Ban

State Government of Chhattisgarh imposes a ban on all foreign travels by ministers and officers on govt expenditure for 1 years. Assam: Chief Justice of the Gawahati High Court Justice Ramesh Surajmal Garg has been appointed as Chief Justice of the Guwahati High Court. Previously , he was a Judge of Madhya Pradesh High Court. Uttar Pradesh: New Tiger Reserve - Pilibhit The central government has decided to open a new Tiger Reserve in Pilibhit of Uttar Pradesh. The government also decides to come up with more reserves in Maharashtra, Orrisa and Madhya Pradesh. National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Zone Management Govt decided to set up National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Zone Management under the World Bank assisted Integrated Coastal Zone Management project within the Anna University, Chennai. Justice (Retd.) Madan Mohan Punchhi Commission:

Justice (Retd.) Madan Mohan Punchhi Commission on Centre State Relations submits its report to the Union Home Minister, Shri P. Chidambaram, in presence of Shri Dhirendra Singh, Shri V. K. Duggal, Dr. N. R. Madhava Menon and Shri Vijay Shankar (members of the commission). The Commission was constituted in April, 2007 to take a fresh look at the relative roles and responsibilities of the various levels of government and their inter-relations. It was asked to make recommendations to help address the emerging challenges. Assam: Bamboo Technology Park at Mymlhat Minister of Mines and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region B.K. Handique reveals about an MoU which was signed between NEC and the Ministry of Environment and Forest for setting up of a Bamboo Technology Park at State Forest College, Mymlhat. Foundation Stone of the same was laid in June 2009. Business & Economy: RBI : Annual Monetary Policy 2010-11 Reserve Bank of India is the apex Institution of India's monetary system and financial system and plays a leading role in organizing, running,

supervising, regulating and developing the monetary and financial system. Preparing and conducting the monetary policy and credit policy are special responsibilities of Reserve bank of India. RBI expresses its view on economy through changes in monetary policy which is known as Annual Policy Statement. The policy is released every year in April and is reviewed every quarter. Reserve Bank of India Governor D. Subbarao has released its annual monetary Policy statement on April 20, 2010 for the year 2010-11. This will be followed by the first quarter review of monetary policy for 2010-11 which will be announced on July 27, 2010. Following are the main points of this policy statement: Cash reserve ratio (CRR): CRR is the percentage of cash deposits that banks have to maintain with RBI. The RBI had hiked the CRR by 75 points in January 2010. This absorbed Rs. 36000 Crores from the systemThe latest move is to hike the CRR by an increase of 25 basis points from 5.75 to 6.0 percent has taken effect from April 24. This will suck out Rs. 12500 Crores from the banks.

This move means that banks have to park more money with the central bank. This money does not earn any interest to them (or negligible returns) and sucks out the liquidity in the banking system. As a result, banks have lesser money with them to lend. This could lead to higher interest rate as there isn't enough liquidity in the system. This affects the bank in the form of increased cost of funds because they have to keep more money for negligible returns on it. The banks pass on this cost to their customers and thus loans become dearer. It must be noted down that RBI had slashed frequently the CRR during 2008 & 2009 to maintain high liquidity in the system as a measure to fight the financial slowdown. The excess liquidity causes the bank to lend more and thus interest rates came down. Repo Rate: Repo Rate is the rate of interest at which the RBI lends money to banks. This also means that Repo Rate is the RBI's lending rate to other banks. When RBI reduces the Repo Rate, the banks can borrow more at a lower cost. This contributes to lowering of the rates. In the Annual Monetary Policy 2010-11 the RBI has hiked the Repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.25

percent. This means that RBI has increased its lending rate to other banks by .25%. For banks the borrowing from RBI becomes costlier. Reverse Repo Rate: Reverse repo rate is the rate at which RBI borrows funds from banks. This is opposite of repo rate. Reverse repo rate is also known as RBI's borrowing rate. In the Annual Monetary Policy 2010-11, the RBI has increased the Reverse Repo Rate by 25 basis points to 3.75 percent. This means that now RBI will provide 0.25% etc. interest on the money which it borrows from the banks. An increase in reverse repo rate means that banks earn higher returns by lending to RBI. This indicates a hike in the deposit rates. Thus we can see that change in Policy rates has a direct impact the lending and borrowing rates of the banks. The consumers get affected accordingly. Please note that Prime lending rate is going to be replaced with Base Rate System from July 2010 and the impact will be seen on Base Rates after the Base rate system comes into effect. Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) : Statutory Liquidity Ratio is the fraction of liquid assets which a bank has to keep an assured amount

of funds. The funds may be in the form of cash, gold, government bonds, etc. In October 2009 Credit Policy the RBI had RBI had hiked the SLR by 100 basis points - from 24 to 25 per cent. This measure controls bank's credit expansion and can lead to higher interest rates. In the October 2009 Credit Policy, RBI had hiked the SLR by 100 basis points - from 24 to 25 per cent. It has not been touched by RBI in the Annual Monetary Policy 2010-11. Growth Projection for the Year 2010-11: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has projected India's growth for this fiscal at upward of 8 percent, against 7.2 percent as per the earlier projection, while the annual rate of inflation at the end of March 2011 is projected at 5.5 percent. Inflation Projection for 2010-11: WPI (Wholesale Price Index) inflation has been projected 5.5 percent by RBI. The Policy says that Inflationary pressures have accentuated in the recent period & Inflation risk looms large due to domestic demand and price rise in global commodities. Money Supply: During 2009-10, money supply (M3) growth decelerated from over 20.0 per cent at the beginning of the financial year to 16.4 per cent in

February 2010 before increasing to 16.8 per cent by March 2010, slightly above the Reserve Bank’s indicative projection of 16.5 per cent. For policy purposes, M3 growth for 2010-11 is placed at 17.0 per cent. Consistent with this, aggregate deposits of SCBs are projected to grow by 18.0 per cent. The growth in non-food credit of SCBs is placed at 20.0 per cent. As always, these numbers are provided as indicative projections and not as targets. Aggregate Deposit projection: The aggregate deposits of the scheduled commercial banks are projected to grow by 18% in the 2010-11. Bank rate: Bank rate has been retained at 6 percent. Motive & Policy Stance of RBI: It is worth note that in the wake of Global Economic crisis, RBI had adopted a suitable monetary policy from September 2008, to boos market confidence and mitigate the adverse impact of global financial slowdown on Indian Economy. RBI was quite successful in achieving its goals but in the late 2009, the food inflation started soaring and RBI shifted to its first phase of exit from the expansionary monetary policy. The moves of RBI included raising the Key Policy rates and restoring

the statutory Liquidity Ratio in October 2009. RBI continued to move on the same track and announced 75 basis points increase in CRR in January 2010. Besides RBI stunned the market by mid-cycle increase of 25 basis points each in the policy repo rate and the reverse repo rate under the LAF on March 19, 2010. The latest policy has the following stance: Anchor inflation expectations, while being prepared to respond appropriately, swiftly and effectively to further build-up of inflationary pressures. Actively manage liquidity to ensure that the growth in demand for credit by both the private and public sectors is satisfied in a non-disruptive way. Maintain an interest rate regime consistent with price, output and financial stability. Financial Stability Report: The first Financial Stability Report (FSR) was released by RBI on March 25, 2010. in the Policy statement RBI announces that Financial Stability Reports will be published half yearly. he FSR will assess the strength of the financial sector, with particular focus on banks. Introduction of Base Rate System:

After indicating the base rate system in Annual Policy Statement of April 2009, RBI had constituted a Working Group on Benchmark Prime Lending Rate. Chairman of this working group was Shri Deepak Mohanty. The objective was to review the present benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) system and suggest changes to make credit pricing more transparent. Deepak Mohanty group submitted its report in October 2009 and the same was placed on the Reserve Bank’s website for public comments. Based on the recommendations of the Group and the suggestions from various stakeholders, the draft guidelines on Base Rate were placed on the Reserve Bank’s website in February 2010. RBI has now decided to mandate banks to switch over to the system of Base Rate from July 1, 2010. Guidelines on the Base Rate system were issued on April 9, 2010 Interest Rate Futures RBI had introduced the Interest Rate Futures contract on 10-year notional coupon bearing Government of India security was on August 31, 2009. In the policy statement of 2010-11 RBI announces to introduce Interest Rate Futures on 5-year and 2-year notional coupon bearing securities

and 91-day Treasury Bills. (Product design and operational modalities yet to be finalized) On Mobile banking facility Tii now, 32 banks have been approved to provide mobile banking facility by the Reserve Bank of India. Out of them 21 banks are providing these services. Banks are now permitted to offer this service to their customers subject to a daily cap of Rs.50,000/- per customer for both funds transfer and transactions involving purchase of goods/ services. Transactions up to Rs.1,000/- can be facilitated by banks without end-to-end encryption. Expert Group on Energy Drinks: Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has constituted an Expert Group for formulating the standards of the energy drinks.The group will examine the scientific literature and global position on use of caffeine and non-carbonated beverages and their labeling, recommend the limit of caffeine in energy drinks and non-carbonated beverages under Food Regulations. & will suggest suitable safety and products standards of Energy Drink Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSEs

Following the recommendations of Shri V. K. Sharma, working group on credit guarantee scheme of the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGFTMSE), the RBI has mandated the banks not to insist on collateral security in case of loans up to Rs.10 lakh as against the present limit of Rs.5 lakh extended to all units of the micro and small enterprises (MSEs) sector. Relaxations to BC Model: Under the previous guidelines of RBI on the business correspondent (BC) model, the banks could appoint/ engage only certain select categories of individuals as BC's. In the Policy 2010-11 RBI has permitted the banks to engage any individual, including those operating Common Service Centres (CSCs), as BC, subject to banks’ comfort level and their carrying out suitable due diligence.