IAS / IPS STUDIES - 10

RAPID GK SERIES

QUESTIONS

1. The Indian to beat the computers in mathematical wizardry is
2. The great Victoria Desert is located in
3. Which scientist discovered the radioactive element radium?
4. Who has been awarded the first lifetime Achievement Award for his/her contribution in the field of Cinema?
5. Who is the author of the book 'Forbidden Verses'?
6. The year 1995 is the Golden Jubilee year of which of the following international organisations?
7. Tripitakas are sacred books of
8. The members of the panchayat are
9. Devaluation of a currency means
10. The pass located at the southern end of the Nilgiri Hills in south India is called
11. Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology is located at
12. The words 'Satyameva Jayate' inscribed below the base plate of the emblem of India are taken from
13. January 15 is celebrated as the
14. Which of the following is used in pencils?
15. The absorption of ink by blotting paper involves
16. The most electronegative element among the following is
17. Pine, fir, spruce, cedar, larch and cypress are the famous timber-yielding plants of which several also occur widely in the hilly regions of India. All these belong to
18. 'OS' computer abbreviation usually means ?
19. Track and field star Carl Lewis won how many gold medals at the 1984 Olympic games?

ANSWERS

1. Shakunthala Devi
2. Australia
3. Marie Curie
4. Ashok Kumar
5. Abu Nuwas
6. UNO
7. Buddhists
8. The electorates of the respective territorial constituencies
9. Reduction in the value of a currency vis-a-vis major internationally traded currencies
10. The Palghat gap
11. Dehradun
12. Mundak Upanishad
13. Army Day
14. Graphite
15. Capillary Action Phenomenon
16. Fluorine
17. gymnosperms
18. Operating System
19. Four



RAPID GK SERIES 66
Posted: 05 Mar 2012 07:14 PM PST





1. The Indian to beat the computers in mathematical wizardry is
2. The great Victoria Desert is located in
3. Which scientist discovered the radioactive element radium?
4. Who has been awarded the first lifetime Achievement Award for his/her contribution in the field of Cinema?
5. Who is the author of the book 'Forbidden Verses'?
6. The year 1995 is the Golden Jubilee year of which of the following international organisations?
7. Tripitakas are sacred books of
8. The members of the panchayat are
9. Devaluation of a currency means
10. The pass located at the southern end of the Nilgiri Hills in south India is called
11. Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology is located at
12. The words 'Satyameva Jayate' inscribed below the base plate of the emblem of India are taken from
13. January 15 is celebrated as the
14. Which of the following is used in pencils?
15. The absorption of ink by blotting paper involves
16. The most electronegative element among the following is
17. Pine, fir, spruce, cedar, larch and cypress are the famous timber-yielding plants of which several also occur widely in the hilly regions of India. All these belong to
18. 'OS' computer abbreviation usually means ?
19. Track and field star Carl Lewis won how many gold medals at the 1984 Olympic games?

ANSWERS

1. Shakunthala Devi
2. Australia
3. Marie Curie
4. Ashok Kumar
5. Abu Nuwas
6. UNO
7. Buddhists
8. The electorates of the respective territorial constituencies
9. Reduction in the value of a currency vis-a-vis major internationally traded currencies
10. The Palghat gap
11. Dehradun
12. Mundak Upanishad
13. Army Day
14. Graphite
15. Capillary Action Phenomenon
16. Fluorine
17. gymnosperms
18. Operating System
19. Four


India launches infrastructure debt fund

The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that setting up of Infrastructure Debt Fund (IDF) through public private partnership would meet the long term need of infrastructure sector funding.
Mr. Mukherjee said this after presiding over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in New Delhi this evening between the ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda, CITI Bank and Life Insurance Corporation of India to Set-Up India’s First Infrastructure Debt Fund. He expressed confidence that the establishment of IDF through Public Private Partnership model would be a guiding principle for future activities.
The Finance Minister said funds to the tune of 1 Trillion US Dollars would be required for Infrastructure Sector funding in next five years and fifty percent of which would come from private sector through PPP model. Our correspondent reports that, India’s First Infrastructure Debt Fund is structured as a Non-Banking Finance Company (IDF-NBFC).
Speaking to All India Radio, Ms. Chanda Kochar, Managing Director, of ICICI Bank said the IDF size will total about 2 billion dollars, and equity is to be contributed by the ICICI Group 31 %, Bank of Baroda 30 %, Citi Bank 29 % and LIC 10 %. She said the total equities would amount to 300 crores, and the rest will be geared through capital and borrowed funds.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his Budget Speech for 2011-12 had announced setting-up of Infrastructure Debt Funds to accelerate and enhance the flow of long term debt in infrastructure projects for funding the government’s ambitious programme of infrastructure development.

Mild tremors hit parts of North India

Mild tremors measuring 4.9 on Richter scale hit parts of North India today on march 5. The tremors were felt at around 1.10 pm in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and some areas in Delhi.
Reports of tremors are coming in from other parts of North India. No immediate report of any damage has been recieved so far.
In Indonesia, a 5.1 magnitude earthquake today hit Northern Sumatra. The quake hit the region around 1226 hrs.

Haryana Govt presents tax free budget for 2012-2013

Haryana Finance Minister Harmohinder Singh Chatha presented the tax free state budget for 2012-2013 projecting Fiscal deficit of 7596.82 crore rupees in the Vidhansabha.
In the budget estimates total receipts are projected at 44708.47 crore rupees whereas the total projected expenditure is 45318.93 crore rupees. As per budget proposals the government will spend 100 crore rupees for improvement of water supply in Shivalik area, southern Haryana as well as Mewat area.
Minister has proposed 2807.74 crore rupees for scheduled caste sub plan. Minister has allocated 1653.03 crore rupees for the health sector. There is a proposal of enhancing the maintenance allowance for the mentally disabled children from 300 rupees per month to 700 per month.
The government has proposed to extend the benefits of Indira Gandhi Priyadarshani Vivah Shagun Yojna to the girls from all families whose land holding is less than 2.5 acres or have a income of less than 1 lakh rupees per annum. A grant of 10000 rupees will be given to girls from these families at the time of their marriage.

Mirage 2000 crashes in Rajasthan, pilot safe

A Mirage 2000 fighter plane of the Indian Air Force (IAF) today crashed near a village in Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur district, soon after taking off from an airbase in Gwalior, in a second mishap involving the aircraft type in 11 days.
The pilot managed to eject safely, IAF officials said. This is the second crash involving a Mirage-2000 aircraft since February 24.
"The crash took place 100 kilometres south-west of Jaipur near Baman Baas village in Sawai Madhopur district. Soon after taking off from Gwalior, the plane crashed at 1245 hours. The pilot managed to bail out safely," the officials said.
IAF and Army teams have reached the site of the accident and the pilot is being attended to for his injuries, they said, adding that the aircraft was on a routine sortie.
A court of inquiry (CoI) has been ordered to ascertain the reason for the crash.
Superintendent of Police, Sawai Madhopur, Anshuman Singh said a police party had been dispatched to the crash spot which was located in a hilly area.
This is the third crash involving an IAF aircraft this year. A Kiran MK II trainer plane had crashed in Chennai on January 30.
The second crash involving a Mirage-2000 aircraft took place on February 24 near Bhind in Madhya Pradesh.
The aircraft was being flown by Air Marshal Anil Chopra and Wing Commander Ram Kumar who had got airborne from Gwalior airbase for a routine flying sortie at 1201 hours. Within five minutes of taking off, the plane developed a technical snag and crashed in a forested area.

Pak test-fires Hatf-II ballistic missile

Pakistan test-fired the nuclear-capable Hatf-II short range surface-to-surface ballistic missile that can hit targets in India as part of the process of validating its land-based missile systems.
The test was conducted successfully, a military statement said.
The Hatf-II or Abdali has a range of 180 km and can carry nuclear and conventional warheads with "high accuracy".
The Hatf-II "provides an operational level capability to Pakistan's Strategic Forces, additional to the strategic and tactical level capability which Pakistan already possesses", the statement said. The authorities did not say where the test was carried out.
The test was witnessed by Strategic Plans Division chief Lt Gen (retired) Khalid Kidwai, Army Strategic Force Command chief Lt Gen Tariq Nadeem Gilani, senior officers of the armed forces, scientists and engineers of strategic organisations.

India, Indonesia agree to fast track FTA talks

India and Indonesia agreed to fast track the ongoing negotiations for early conclusion of the proposed comprehensive market opening pact, aimed at enhancing bilateral economic engagement between the countries.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, who is in Indonesia for a three-day visit, met Indonesian Economy Minister Hatta Rajasa and discussed about the progress of the free-trade agreement.
In October last year, both the sides started negotiations for CECA, which would cover trade in goods, services and investment.
The bilateral trade stood at over USD 20 billion in 2010-11.
He said that the bilateral trade target of USD 25 billion by 2015 would be achieved well before the time so both sides have felt the need to revise it.
Both the sides also deliberated on the widening the scope of free trade agreement between India-Asean, which would include services and investments. Indonesia is a member of Asean.
India and the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) has already implemented free trade pact in goods and are engaged in intense negotiations to widen the scope of the pact.
Sharma also met his Indonesian commerce counterpart Gita Irawan Wirjawanand and Industry Minister Mohamad S Hidayat.
Both the sides emphasised on increasing economic cooperation in sectors like mining, energy and infrastructure building.
India and Indonesia have identified five areas - manufacturing and skill training; healthcare and pharmaceuticals; mining, agro and food proc ssing; R&D – where joint working groups will be set up.

MRPL, HPCL to cut Iranian crude oil imports

Mangalore Refinery and Hindustan Petroleum are likely to cut crude oil imports from Iran next fiscal as western sanctions against the Persian Gulf nation forces them to diversify their oil sourcing basket.
MRPL, which is India's largest buyer of Iranian crude oil at 142,000 barrels per day, is likely to trim down its imports from Tehran to just about 100,000 bpd next fiscal, industry sources said.
India has already made pleas with Saudi Arabia and Iraq to supply more crude next fiscal to help MRPL and other cut their Iranian purchases.
Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy last month made a passionate plea for up to 5 million tons a year or 100,000 bpd of oil over and above the current purchase of 27.361 million tons from Saudi Arabia. Last week he sought 3-4 million tons additional oil from Iraq, which currently supplies 17.158 million tons a year.
Sources said Essar Oil, the nation's second largest buyer of Iranian oil, is renewing its contract to buy 100,000 bpd of oil and the same is the case with Indian Oil Corp (IOC) for its 30,000 bpd of purchases.
IOC would cut Iranian imports if Saudi Arabia were to increases exports.
HPCL plans to double crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia next fiscal and cut purchases from Iran by over 14 percent. HPCL in 2012-13 has proposed to buy 3.5 million tons of crude oil from Saudi Aramco of Saudi Arabia against 1.75 million tons of oil bought in current year.
It will cut down purchase from Iran to 3 million tons from 3.5 million tons in the current year.
Indian refiners fear problems in paying for crude oil they buy from Iran after the US and European Union imposed fresh sanctions to deter the Islamic regime for its nuclear programme.
Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) is not renewing its 20,000 bpd contract with Iran as it has not been able to open an account with a Turkish bank that currently routes payments made by Indian refiners to Iran.
MRPL, they said, may end up purchasing about 120,000 bpd of crude from Iran this fiscal as against 142,000 bpd contracted volumes.
Iran is India's second largest supplier of crude oil behind Saudi Arabia. It in 2010-11 supplied 18.499 million tons of oil or about 11.3 percent of the nation's total import of 163.594 million tons.
This fiscal, these imports are likely to fall by at least 10 percent. The decline would be more drastic next year, they said.

J& K Govt presents zero-deficit budget for 2012-13

Jammu and Kashmir government presented a zero-deficit budget for 2012-13, with emphasis on strengthening the backbone of its economy-- tourism and agriculture.
It also proposed multi-sectoral concessions like VAT,service Tax and stamp duty exemptions but hiked tax on cigarettes and liquor for additional resource mobilisation.
Presenting a 33,853 crore rupees budget, the fanance minister imposed tax on security and placement services, pandal and shamiana services and annual maintenance contracts. State Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather told reporters after presenting the budget in J&K Assembly in Jammu that it aimed at serving the interest of the common man.
He said the current financial year has been witness to the consolidation of peace and order in our state, which increased the state's revenue from 3,400 crore rupees to 4,600 crore rupees. So, government wants to share the dividends of peace with people in J&K so that they get a feel of it .

Govt bans cotton exports to increase domestic supply

Amid fears of shortfall in domestic market and apprehensions of hoarding in warehouses abroad, the government imposed a ban on cotton exports -- a move that took the textile industry by surprise.
The Textile Ministry said the ban on further cotton exports was imposed after taking into account "the trend of domestic consumption and depletion of domestic availability".
Explaining the reasons behind export ban, the ministry said the country has already shipped 10 lakh bales more than the exportable surplus, reducing the domestic availability.
Pointing out that there was sudden rush for registration of export contract after the figure of 84 lakh bales was reached, the ministry found that "in some cases L/Cs have been registered where the name of exporting and importing party is same. This is indicative of a tendency of hoarding in bonded warehouses abroad".
Asked about the government's decision to ban exports, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said: "I have not heard about it and I am coming to know about it from you."
Reacting on the ban, the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry said that it was surprised by the government's decision as there is slowdown in demand in both domestic and global markets.

Country to record highest ever production of Rice, Wheat and cotton

India is going to record highest ever production of Rice, Wheat and cotton during 2011-12. Foodgrain is likely to reach a record level of 250.42 million tonnes.
Addressing a two-day Kharif Conference in New Delhi today, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said, it happened due to tremendous efforts of the farming community supported by government initiatives and participation of stakeholders.
The minister said several new initiatives to increase agricultural production from existing cultivated area especially from high potential rainfed agriculture have been taken. The minister informed that his ministry is proposing a large programme for agricultural mechanisation during the 12th five year plan to increase farm production.
The Minister informed that 2012 is being launched as the year of Horticulture for bringing horticulture development in the country to centre stage. More focus and attention for successful implementation of various horticulture programme in the country is required in this direction.
Mr. Pawar said that soil health is crucial for ensuring farm productivity high priorty is needed towards soil health and nutrient management.

IAS / IPS STUDIES - 9

RAPID GK SERIES

QUESTIONS

1. Who was known as Iron man of India?
2. The higher the wind speed and the longer the fetch or distance of open water across which the wind blows and waves travel, the ____ waves and the ____ enerty they processes.
3. What J. B. Dunlop invented?
4. Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2000 was awarded to the former President of South Africa along with?
5. Which of the following is NOT written by Munshi Premchand?
6. The Indian delegation to the first World Conference on Human Rights was led by
7. Under Akbar, the Mir Bakshi was required to look after
8. The members of the Rajya Sabha are elected by
9. In the last one decade, which one among the following sectors has attracted the highest foreign direct investment inflows into India?
10. The southernmost point of peninsular India, that is, Kanyakumari, is
11. The famous Dilwara Temples are situated in
12. 'Dandia' is a popular dance of
13. When is the World Population Day observed?
14. Chlorophyll is a naturally occurring chelate compound in which central metal is
15. It is easier to roll a stone up a sloping road than to lift it vertical upwards because
16. The number of moles of solute present in 1 kg of a solvent is called its
17. Ozone hole refers to
18. What is part of a database that holds only one type of information?
19. Which was the 1st non Test playing country to beat India in an international match?

ANSWERS

1. Sardar Vallabai Patel
2. Larger, More
3. Pneumatic Rubber Rire
4. Grameen Bank of Bangladesh
5. Guide
6. Dr. Manmohan Singh
7. Military Affairs
8. Elected Members of The Legislative Assembly
9. Telecommunication
10. North of The Equator
11 Rajasthan
12. Gujarat
13. July 11
14. Magnesium
15. Work done in rolling a stone is less than in lifting it
16. Molality
17. Decrease in thickness of ozone layer in stratosphere
18. Field
19. Sri Lanka



States ask centre to hike CST to 4% or compensate adequately

States have asked centre for adequate compensation for their revenue loss due reduction in the Central Sales Tax -CST. Otherwise, the levy should be increased to the earlier rate of 4 per cent. Empowered Committee of the State Finance Minister in New Delhi also finalised a negative list of 35 services, which will notbe taxed under proposed Goods and Services Tax - GST regime.
Bihar Deputy CM and Finance Minister Sushil Kumar Modi told reporters later that if the government does not release compensation then Center should revert to the CST levy of 4 per cent from the present 2 per cent level.
The Centre is trying to phase-out the CST to usher in the new GST regime with a single tax merging excise, service tax and states tax, like value-added tax, entry tax and purchase tax.

Uttarakhand became the Ninth Indian State to introduce E-stamping

Uttarakhand government on 2 March 2012 introduced e-stamping in the state, which would ensure a secure way of paying non-judicial stamp duty to the government.
Uttarakhand is the ninth state in the country to implement the e-stamping service. In the first phase, e-stamping is set to be introduced in the four districts of Dehra Dun, Haridwar, Udhamsingh Nagar and Nainital.
E-stamps would be sold through the branches of Punjab National Bank (PNB) in these districts. The state government has roped in 45 branches of PNB to carry the sale of e-stamps.
E-stamping is a part of the e-governance initiative of the state which has been introduced by the state finance department in association with the Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited.


Lt General Bikram Singh to be next Army Chief

Lt General Bikram Singh will be the next Army Chief. An official press statement says that Lt Gen Bikram Singh will succeed Gen V. K. Singh, who retires on May 31st of this year. Lt General Bikram Singh was commissioned into the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment on March 31st 1972.
During his long and distinguished career, spanning nearly 40 years, Lt Gen Singh had served in a variety of command and staff appointments.
He has also served as Deputy Force Commander of a multi-nation UN Peace Keeping Mission in Congo and as UN Observer in Nicaragua and El Salvador during the early 90s.


Bilateral ties between India and Egypt reach new level

India and Egypt have agreed to carry forward their relations to a new level. The External Affairs Minister S.M.Krishna met the top Egyptian leaders in Cairo and said India will provide all possible assistance to Egypt in its rebuilding efforts.
Information Technology has been identified as the first key sector where India will contribute with its expertise and guidance. Addressing a Joint Press Conference with the Egyptian Foreign Minister, he said focus will be on strengthening the age old trade, economic ,cultural and scientific linkages between the two countries.
Giving a push to the bilateral ties, four Memorandum of Understanding, MoUs on environment protection, agricultural co-operation, cultural exchanges and standardisation were signed at the sixth Joint Commission Meeting in Cairo. Mr. Krishna told his meetings with top leaders have been fruitful and productive.
The External Affairs Minister called on the military ruler and the Supreme Commander of armed forces in Egypt, Field Marshal Mohammad Hussein Tanatawi who underlined the need to take the relations to the original level as in the 60s and 70s and further build upon it. S M Krishna thanked him for the support in evacuating over 3000 Indians from eastern Libya through Egypt and protecting the major Indian investment projects in Egypt during the transition period in the country. Sri Krishna also called on the Egyptian Prime Minister Kamal El Ganzouri who said Egypt is keen to enhance trade co-operation with India.
The External Affairs Minister’s visit to Egypt, warmth in the ties and a forthcoming response is a reflection of the desire on the part of two major civilizations to join hands in the times to come.

India successfully launches BrahMos Missile

The Indian Army on March 4 successfully launched BrahMos missile and destroyed the preselected target in the field firing ranges in Rajasthan.
Army Spokesperson Colonel Jagdeep Dahiya said in New Delhi, the second BrahMos unit of Indian Army has been operationalised at an undisclosed location in the western sector. He said, this is in conformity and pursuit of operational and strategic surface to surface missile capability development.
BrahMos has the capability of attacking surface targets by flying as low as 10 metres in altitude. It can gain a speed of Mach 2.8, and has a maximum range of 290 km.
The BrahMos has been developed as a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organization of India and the Federal State Unitary Enterprise NPO Mashinostroyenia of Russia under BrahMos Aerospace. The missile is named after two rivers, the Brahmaputra and the Moskva.


21 tonnes of illegal drugs discovered in Afghanistan

Afghan and the NATO-coalition forces discovered more than 21 tonnes of illegal drugs in the southern Helmand province. A press release issued by the Joint Command of NATO troops in Kabul says the haul included 2,151 kilograms of opium and approximately 24 kilograms of heroin.
It is one of the largest contraband yet discovered in what remains one of the nation's largest opium-producing regions. Security forces detained several suspects in this connection and destroyed the confiscated drugs immediately.
Afghanistan supplies 90 percent of the world's opium despite the efforts of the government and its international allies to curb production. The money earned from the opium is reportedly used to provide weapons for the insurgents. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime recently said that revenues from opium production in Afghanistan rose by 133 per cent in 2011.
Efforts are continuing in Helmand and other areas of Afghanistan to wean poor farmers away the cash crop and to encourage them to grow agricultural produce instead. There is a nexus between opium cultivators and the insurgency and until this nexus is broken, it will be difficult to maintain peace and normalcy in the country.


India wins first Women‘s World Cup Kabaddi crown

Host India lifted the first Women‘s World Cup Kabaddi crown defeating Iran. India defeated Iran 25-19 in a keenly contested final match.
The final match held at Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna.India and Iran entered the finals defeating Japan and Thailand respectively.
In the first semi final match Iran defeated Thailand 46-26. India thrashed Japan 59-20 in the second semi final match. 16 countries participated in this International sports meet .


Railways set to manufacture 2,500 'odourless' bio-toilets

Passengers travelling in long-distance trains will soon get respite from the stench of toilets with Railways set to replace them with "odourless" bio-toilets.
With a view to provide more hygienic conditions, Railways is firming up a green initiative to manufacture 2,500 bio-toilets in the upcoming fiscal.
Unlike traditional toilets in trains where the waste is discharged on tracks, the new system will treat the same inside a tank with the help of a bacterium, which will convert it into harmless gas and water.
Two expert panels appointed by Railways to suggest ways for upgradation of rail infrastructure and safety measures, have strongly recommended introducing "green toilets" in trains.
Manufacturing of these bio-toilets is likely to be mentioned in the Rail Budget 2012-13 as part of the green initiatives being undertaken by the nation's largest transporter to improve the cleanliness in rail premises.
This will not only improve the environment but also help in preventing corrosion of rail tracks, a senior Railway Ministry official said.
Estimated to cost about Rs one lakh per bio-toilet, these new age toilets will be manufactured at Kapurthala coach factory and fitted in long-route trains.
While about 50 bio-toilets will be fitted in LHB (Linke Holfmann Bush) coaches, the rest will be used in conventional coaches.


SBI launches new auto loan schemes

SBI Cards and Payment Services on March 4 said its auto loan customers will not have to produce income documents at the time of applying for a new card.
"The customer has to simply sign a declaration and provide the KYC (Know Your Customer) documents for enrolment. The customer does not need to provide any kind of income document to acquire the SBI Card," the company said in a statement.
Another initiative called 'Link', a customer referral programme, aims at providing a platform for existing SBI Card customers to refer their friends thereby becoming a SBI Card Link, it said.


India to expand science, tech cooperation with Africa

Building upon growing political and economic ties, India and the 54-nation African continent are now poised to expand their cooperation in frontier areas of research, capacity building and knowledge industries.
Empowerment through knowledge and technology was the buzzword at a two-day science and technology conclave here that brought together more than 100 scientists, diplomats and 31 science and technology (S&T) ministers from African countries.
The March 1-2 conclave, at the Vigyan Bhavan convention centre, focussed on building capacities in research and development, social entrepreneurship and innovation technologies.
Among the key areas the two sides agreed to work on are all people-related sectors to provide the over two billion population living in India and Africa better living conditions, quality food and water, affordable healthcare and meeting energy needs of two fast-growing economies.

The African Union, which represents 54 nations of the African continent, expressed its keenness to have a long-term strategic partnership with India in science and technology (S&T), given India's "remarkable progress" in this area in the last decade.


India to have Emigration Authority: Vayalar Ravi

India will soon have an authority to monitor and facilitate migration of its citizens to other countries, with a comprehensive database of Indians working abroad, Minister for Oversees Indian Affairs, Vayalar Ravi has said.
Speaking in Qatar's capital Doha, he said the government plans to bring a legislation in this regard in the next parliamentary session.
He said the Emigration Authority would facilitate regular, and legal migration of its citizens to other countries, and once such an authority comes into force, the government will have all details of its citizens migrating to other countries for a variety of reasons including work.


World's largest Hindu temple to come up in Bihar

Bihar would soon have the world's largest Hindu temple to be built on the lines of Combodia's Angkor Wat, that currently holds the feat.
The Bihar Mahavir Mandir Trust (BMMT) on March 4 said "they will build a bigger temple in Bihar's Vaishali district than the 12th century Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia."
To be built at a cost of Rs 100 crores, the five-storied and 222-feet tall temple will come up at a sprawling campus spread over 15 acres at a place near Ismailpur village on Hajipur-Bidupur road, which will be christened as Angkor Nagar, BMMT's secretary and ex-IPS officer, Acharya Kishore Kunal said.
Land worth around Rs 30 crore has already been acquired for the purpose from locals, he said.
The proposed temple will be named 'Virat Angkor Wat Ram Mandir' and will house the statues of Lord Radha-Krishna, Shiva-Parvati, Ganesh, Surya, Vishnu, along with the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu.

Govt proposes Cyber eye to monitor Internet traffic

The Government is mulling setting up of a National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) for assessing cyber security threat on a real time basis and monitoring of Internet traffic.
Recently a high-level meeting was called at the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) during which establishment of NCCC was deliberated upon.
The meeting, which was attended by officers from the IB, RAW, DRDO, Home Ministry and Army, was given a presentation of the proposal for NCCC and other cyber security related issues.
"Establishment of a multi-agency NCCC for real time assessment of cyber security threat in the country and generation of an actionable report or alerts for proactive actions...," was the purpose according to minutes of the meeting.
"The NCCC would scan traffic within the country, flowing at the point of entry and exit, including international gateway," the meeting was informed.
The proposed NCCC would be the first layer for threat monitoring and all communication with government and private service providers would be through this body only.
"NCCC would be in virtual contact with the Control room of Internet service providers," the meeting was told.
The manpower required for the proposed NCCC would be finalised by NSCS on a fast-track basis, it said.

IAS / IPS STUDIES - 6

RAPID GK SERIES

1. Who is the father of Geometry?
2. The Homolographic projection has the correct representation of
3. Who invented the BALLPOINT PEN?
4. B. C. Roy Award is given in the field of
5. Who wrote the famous book - 'We the people'?
6. Which of the following is not a chief organ of the United Nations Organisations?
7. The Battle of Plassey was fought in
8. The name of the Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi islands was changed to Lakshadweep by an Act of Parliament in
9. Development expenditure of the Central government does not include
10. The Paithan (Jayakwadi) Hydro-electric project, completed with the help of Japan, is on the river
11. The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology is situated at
12. Rabindranath Tagore's 'Jana Gana Mana' has been adopted as India's National Anthem. How many stanzas of the said song were adopted?
13. The first death anniversary day of Sri Rajiv Gandhi was observed as the
14. Brass gets discoloured in air because of the presence of which of the following gases in air?

ANSWERS

1. Euclid
2. Area
3. Biro Brothers
4. Medicine
5. Nani Palkhivala
6. International Labour Organisation
7. 1757
8. 1973
9. Defence expenditure
10. Godavari
11. Hyderabad
12. Only the first stanza
13. Anti-Terrorism Day
14. Hydrogen sulphide


CURRENT AFFAIRS

Antony calls for global efforts to uproot threat of piracy

The Defence Minister A K Antony has called for global efforts to uproot the threat of piracy. Inaugurating the Annual National Maritime Foundation Conference in New Delhi , Mr. Antony said, India has already submitted certain proposals at the United Nations. He said, if ever there was a need for consensual and cooperative effort, it is in relation to piracy and India has put forward certain proposals at the United Nations.
The Defence Minister pointed out that the Indian Navy has made significant contribution to the global anti-piracy efforts in the Indian Ocean Region, IOR, since 2008. Mr. Antony said that the challenge of piracy is yet to be effectively quarantined.
The Defence Minister also voiced concern at the military presence of world’s major powers in the IOR despite the waters being far from their shores.



DERC decides to introduce smart metering system

Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission, DERC, has decided to introduce a smart metering system in the national capital to bringing next-generation reforms in the power sector. Through the initiative, consumers can make informed choices about electricity use based on varying cost and availability during the course of a day.
Informing this in New Delhi, the Chairman of the Commission, P D Sudhakar said that under this service consumers will get real-time information about price of power depending on availability and procurement cost.
He said for this service Advanced Metering Infrastructure which is widely used in US and European countries, will be installed. Mr. Sudhakar said the advanced metering system will empower the consumers to voluntarily decided on their power consumption.



Indian men's Hockey team qualifies for London Olympics

India beat France 8-1 in the final of Olympics Qualifier at the Major Dhyanchand National Stadium in New Delhi.
With this spectacular win India qualified for Olympics men's hockey after eight years. India's ace drag-flicker Sandeep Singh slammed five goals, including a hat-trick. He was the highest scorer with the sixteen goals in the tournament.
Both India and France earned seven penalty corners each, but the visitors failed to utilise a single one while the hosts converted six.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has congratulated Indian Men's Hockey team for qualifying for London Olympics, and announced the bonanza of cash rewards included five lakh rupees per goal scored by each player of Haryana.
In addition, 11 lakh rupees per player would be given to each player hailing from Haryana. Mr Hooda also announced to give 2.51 lakh rupees to each player of Indian team.
The Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has congratulated Indian Hockey Team and announced that the Madhya Pradesh government will give reward of one lakh rupees each to every player of the winning Indian team.



WikiLeaks begin release of e-mails from Stratfor Global Intelligence

The whistle-blower website WikiLeaks says, it has begun releasing more than 5 million e-mails from Stratfor Global Intelligence, a private U.S.-based firm providing strategic analysis.
WikiLeaks said on its website that the e-mails reveal the company's web of informers, pay-off structure, payment-laundering techniques and psychological methods. It said the e-mails also contain privileged information about the U.S. government's attacks on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Stratfor's own attempts to subvert WikiLeaks.
The WikiLeaks said, the e-mails date from July 2004 to December 2011 and include more than 4,000 e-mails mentioning WikiLeaks or Assange, who is currently fighting extradition from Britain to Sweden on sexual assault charges.



Various projects to be undertaken by Railways in next five years

High Speed trains, Dedicated Freight Corridors and modernisation of 19000 kilometres of track, are among the ambitious projects to be undertaken by the Indian Railways in the next five years at a cost of over 8.2 lakh crore rupees. These are the recommendations of the Expert Group Chaired by Sam Pitroda, submitted to Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi in New Delhi. These also include a High speed railway line between Ahmedabad and Mumbai with 300 kilometers per hour speed.
Modernisation of 100 major stations and Radio frequency identification (RFID) tracking systems for wagons, coaches and locomotives are also on the anvil. Speaking on the occasion, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi said, to ensure safety, modernisation is a requirement and the roadmap laid out by the Expert Group looks at a future where the Indian Railways contributes to two per cent of the country's GDP.
Mr. Trivedi said, for various ambitious plans of the government including the Food Security Bill, fast movement of goods is a necessity. The Expert group has also recommended to develop Public-Private Partnership models to attract private investment to augment core capabilities including High speed railway lines, elevated rail corridors, private freight terminals and Loco and coach manufacturing.
Mr. Sam Pitroda, the Chairman of the Expert Group who attended through video conferencing from Chicago, said the Railways would strengthen 11,250 bridges to sustain higher load at higher speed, eliminate level crossings and implement automatic signalling system. He said, 15 focus areas of the Railways have been identified for revamping. He further said, the recommendations include that the Railway Board be reorganized along business discipline and reflect the Chairman as CEO.



The European Union slaps new sanctions on Syria

The European Union has slapped new and stricter sanctions on Syria. These include sanctions on the Iran’s Central bank, cargo flights, precious metal trade and seven ministers.
Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal said in Brussels that EU foreign ministers may also consider a peacekeeping mision to Syria. However the EU Ministers have insisted that military intervention is ruled out.
EU's new round of sanctions slaps travel bans and asset freezes on the ministers of health, education, presidential affairs, communications and technology, oil and mineral resources, industry, and transport.
The Syrian Central Bank will also no longer have access to any funds it may hold in the EU. Syrian-operated flights carrying only cargo will not be allowed to land in the 27 member bloc. EU businesses will be banned from trading in gold, precious metals and diamonds with Syrian public bodies.



Tourism Ministry introduces three new categories of awards

The Ministry of Tourism has introduced three new categories of awards from this year as part of National Tourism Awards.
A new award called the Best State for Campaign Clean-India has been introduced to encourage states to put into place effective mechanisms for maintaining cleanliness at tourist destinations. Apart form this, two new categories of awards are introduced for Best Heritage City and Best Heritage Walk.
According to an official release, the President Mrs. Pratibha Devisingh Patil will give away these awards on Wednesday in New Delhi. AIR Correspondent reports that the Ministry presents these national awards to various segments of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry in the country.



Italian vessel not to be let off until 27th :Kerala HC

The Kerala High Court on Feb 27 directed that the Italian vessel Enrica Lexie should not be allowed to leave the Cochin coast till 5 pm on Feb 28. The Court was considering the Admiralty petitions moved by the relatives of the two deceased fishermen, who were shot dead by the armed naval personnel on board the vessel on the 15th of this month. The Court also ordered that the petitions be heard by an appropriate Bench of the High Court.
Meanwhile, the Matsya Thozhilali Aikya Vedi President Charles George petitioned the High Court that the Captain of the Italian vessel be made an accused in the case. He also demanded that a Special Investigation Team should be formed comprising Indian Navy, Coast Guard, Police and officials of the Mercantile Marine Department to probe the case.
On Feb 28 the Kerala High Court will consider a petition moved by the Marines accused of killing the fishermen and the Italian Consul General in Mumbai, seeking to quash the FIR registered in connection with the case.



SC directs centre to implement rivers-interlinking project

The Supreme Court directed the centre to implement the ambitious interlinking of rivers project in a time-bound manner. Observing that the project has already been delayed resulting in an increase in its cost, a three judge bench, headed by S H Kapadia, appointed a high-powered committee to chart out and execute the project.
The committee will comprise of Union Minister of Water Resources, its Secretary, Secretary of Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) and four expert members appointed by Water Resources Ministry, Finance Ministry, Planning Commission and MoEF.
Representatives from state governments, two social activists and senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, who has been assisting the court in the case, will also be members of the committee.



Indian special envoy holds talks with Norway’s Foreign Minister

India's special envoy M. Ganpathy had positive discussions with Norwegian Foreign Minister in Oslo regarding early return of the children, taken away from an NRI couple there.
Mr. Ganpathy was rushed to Norway as a special envoy and met Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store to find an expeditious and amicable solution to the custody row of Aishwarya and Abhigyan who were taken away by child welfare officials in Norway and placed in foster care.
An official spokesperson in the MEA, Syed Akbaruddin, said in a tweet that the Indian special envoy has had positive discussions with the Norwegian Foreign Minister in Oslo. He also tweeted that Special Envoy will meet Norway's Minister of Children, Equality And Social Inclusion, Audun Lysbakken later.
Meanwhile, BJP and CPI-M joined the grandparents of the two children and held a sit-in near the Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi, launching a four-day protest demanding Norwegian government to send the kids back to India immediately.

IAS / IPS STUDIES -2

RAPID GK SERIES

QUESTIONS
1. The Oldest Stock Exchange of India is
2. The Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Act was passed in this year
3. H1F1 Virus is the causal factor of this disease
4. The first foreign bank of India was
5. This Indian State has the more number of Women
6. Tobogganing is the term used in this Sport event
7. The famous novel ‘Untouchable’ was written by
8. The Capital of Spain is
9. The Oldest Capital of India was
10. The Historic Boston Tea Party was happened in this year

ANSWERS

1. Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) (1875)
2. 1992
3. Swine Flu
4. Charted Bank
5. Kerala
6. Skiing
7. Mulk Raj Anand
8. Madrid
9. Kolkata
10. 1773



Nobel Peace laureate Wangari Maathai dies

Wangari Maathai, the first African woman recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, died after a long struggle with cancer, the environmental organisation she founded said Monday. She was 71.

One of Kenya’s most recognizable women, Maathai won the Nobel in 2004 for combining environmentalism and social activism. She was the founder of the Green Belt Movement, where over 30 years she mobilized poor women to plant 30 million trees.

Edward Wageni, that group’s deputy executive director, said Maathai died in a Nairobi hospital late Sunday. Maathai was in and out of the hospital since the beginning of the year, he said.

In recognizing Maathai, the Nobel committee said that she had stood up to a former oppressive regime in Kenya and that her “unique forms of action have contributed to drawing attention to political oppression.”

"Tree a symbol for democratic struggle"

Maathai said during her 2004 acceptance speech that the inspiration for her life work came from her childhood experiences in rural Kenya, where she witnessed forests being cleared and replaced by commercial plantations, which destroyed biodiversity and the capacity of forests to conserve water.

Although the Green Belt Movement’s tree planting campaign did not initially address the issues of peace and democracy, Maathai said it become clear over time that responsible governance of the environment was not possible without democracy.

“Therefore, the tree became a symbol for the democratic struggle in Kenya. Citizens were mobilized to challenge widespread abuses of power, corruption and environmental mismanagement,” Maathai said.

Tributes poured out for Maathai online, including from Kenyans who remember planting trees alongside her as schoolchildren. One popular posting on Twitter noted that Maathai’s knees always seemed to be dirty from showing VIPs how to plant trees. Another poster, noting Nairobi’s cloudy skies Monday, said- “No wonder the sun is not shining today.”

A long time friend and fellow professor at the University of Nairobi, Vertistine Mbaya said that Maathai showed the world how important it is to have and demonstrate courage.

“The values she had for justice and civil liberties and what she believed were the obligations of civil society and government,” Mbaya said. “She also demonstrated the importance of recognizing the contributions that women can make and allowing them the open space to do so.”

A former member of Kenya’s parliament, Maathai was the first woman to earn a doctorate in East Africa in 1971 from the University of Nairobi, where she later was an associate professor in the department of veterinary anatomy. She previously earned degrees from Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison, Kansas and the University of Pittsburgh.

Maathai first latched on to the idea of widespread tree planting while serving as the chairwoman of the National Council of Women in Kenya during the 1980s.

The Green Belt Movement, which was founded in 1977, said on its website that Maathai’s death was a great loss to those who “admired her determination to make the world a more peaceful, healthier and better place.”

Maathai is survived by her three children. Funeral arrangements were to be announced soon, the Green Belt Movement said.



India, China to open up markets

India and China agreed to boost economic cooperation, open up their markets and improve the investment environment for each other's companies during the first-ever Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED), which was held here on Monday.

A particularly promising outcome of the first SED, officials said, was agreement to have closer cooperation between the two countries' railway networks, which could subsequently pave the way for the involvement of Chinese companies in proposed plans to build six high-speed rail corridors in India.

Energy efficiency The two countries also agreed to learn from each other's development experiences to face common challenges, such as improving energy efficiency, tackling water scarcity and combating climate change.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission who led the Indian delegation, described the talks as an important first step of a “knowledge transfer” that could bring substantial benefits to both countries.

“China's economic reforms began a decade and more before those of India,” he told his Chinese counterpart Zhang Ping, who heads the powerful National and Development Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top planning body, at the start of the dialogue. “We in India are deeply impressed by your progress and we believe there are many lessons from your experience that may be valuable to us.”

The dialogue, said Mr. Zhang, wound enhance trust and promote the “long-term and steady development” of both economies and have a “profound impact” on both the countries. The two countries agreed to initiate the SED dialogue during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to India in December. The next round will be held in New Delhi in April 2012.

The SED was set up with the objective of increasing coordination on macro-economic policies and to provide a platform for both countries to leverage common interests and shared developmental experiences. The idea behind the dialogue, officials said, was to look at the larger picture and go beyond trade. A separate Joint Economic Group dialogue, between both Commerce Ministers, has been set up to tackle trade issues, including the widening imbalance in China's favour.

Monday's dialogue featured three specific working groups, on the railways, water, and energy efficiency and the environment.

Officials said the railways held particular potential for cooperation.

India is keen to learn from China's development of its freight network, which was, two decades ago, in a similar position to India's.

Freight traffic Today, China's freight traffic is four times that of India's.

Another area of possible collaboration is on high-speed train technology. China has built the world's biggest high-speed rail network in recent years, and has expressed interest to play a role in proposed plans for a network of six high-speed corridors in India.


Upgraded Tejas to take off in 3 years

An upgraded version of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas will be ready to take off within three years.

The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), along with the Central Scientific Instruments Organization (CSIO), Chandigarh, is working on the project. Tejas' aircraft technology will put India on the fifth spot after the US, France, Russia and UK.

This was disclosed by additional general manager of HAL, Bangalore, K P Singh, who visited the CSIO laboratory on the occasion of the CSIR foundation day on Monday.

Tejas LCA has a HUD (head up display) which was developed at the CSIO at the start of the year. It has unmatchable brightness on the display board. "We will provide HUD for the upgraded version which will have better range accuracy and will be lighter as compared to the existing one. At present, we have HUD weighing 18kg," said Dr Pawan Kapur, director CSIO.

The improvised version is being devised for the Indian Navy. According to official sources, there is a requirement of over 100 such HUDs for Tejas. "Already, we have provided 36 and 90 more are in the production line," said an official at the CSIO.

Talking about the plan, Singh said, "We have been working with CSIO on LCA and intermediate jet trainer aircraft."

Though HAL is the only supplier of Tejas to the Indian defence forces, catching up with the international competitors has not been easy. "We cannot afford to lose time. There are gaps in the system which slows down the pace of technology. Though red tapism has decreased to some extent, it still exists," said Singh.

The CSIO is working on Mark 2 for intermediate jet trainer aircraft where the weight of the HUD will be 11.8kg.


India hopes to achieve WHO’s doctor-people ratio by 2028

India will take at least 17 more years before it can reach the World Health Organization's ( WHO) recommended norm of one doctor per 1,000 people.

The Planning Commission's high-level expert group (HLEG) on universal health coverage (UHC) - headed by Dr K Srinath Reddy - has predicted the availability of one allopathic doctor per 1,000 people by 2028. It has suggested setting up 187 medical colleges in 17 high focus states during the 12th and 13th five-year Plan to achieve the target.

HLEG estimates that the number of allopathic doctors registered with the Medical Council of India (MCI) has increased since 1974 to 6.12 lakhs in 2011 - a ratio of one doctor for 1,953 people or a density of 0.5 doctors per 1,000 people.

The nation has a density of one medical college per 38.41 lakhs. There are 315 medical colleges that are located in 188 of 642 districts.

There is only one medical college for a population of 115 lakhs in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh (95 lakhs), Madhya Pradesh (73 lakhs) and Rajasthan (68 lakhs). Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu each have one medical college for a population of 15 lakhs, 16 lakhs and 19 lakhs, respectively.

The HLEG has proposed a phased addition of 187 colleges. It expects that by 2015 under phase A, 59 new medical colleges will admit students in 15 states like Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. By 2017, 13 of these states will have an additional 70 medical colleges, and by 2022, another 58 institutes will be built in two additional phases (2017-2020 and 2020-2022).

By 2022, India will have one medical college per 25 lakh population in all states except Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The implementation of HLEG's recommendations will enable the additional availability of 1.2 lakh doctors by 2017, and another 1.9 lakh doctors between 2017 and 2022.

"With this rate of growth, it is expected that the HLEG target of one doctor per 1,000 will be achieved by 2028," the report says.

It recommends that along with establishment of new medical colleges, the admission capacities of existing colleges in the public sector should also be increased. Partnerships with the private sector should be encouraged, with conditional reservation of 50% of seats for local candidates, fixed admission fees and government reimbursement of fees for local candidates. The revised MBBS curriculum proposed by the MCI should be refined to put greater focus on preventive, promotive and rehabilitative healthcare.

"Measures such as a compulsory posting of one year for all MBBS graduates immediately after internship, with 10% extra marks weightage for one year of rural service and 20% extra marks for two years of rural service in the post-graduate entrance examination should be included," the report suggests.

The World Health Statistics Report (2011) says, the density of doctors in India is six for a population of 10,000. India is ranked 52 among 57 countries facing human resource crunch in healthcare.

Between 2001 and 2005, India had a doctor: population ratio of 0.5 per 1,000 population in comparison to 0.3 in Thailand, Sri Lanka (0.4), China (1.6), the UK (5.4), the US (5.5) and Cuba (5.9).

The nation has the largest number of medical colleges in the world, with an annual churning rate of over 30,000 doctors and 18,000 specialists. However, the average annual output is 100 graduates per medical college in comparison to 110 in North America, Central Europe (125), Western Europe (149) and Eastern Europe (220). China, which has 188 colleges, produces 1,75, 000 doctors annually, with an average of 930 graduates per institute.


India to become 2nd largest steel producer by 2015

India is expected to become the world's second largest producer of crude steel by 2015, riding on expansion plans of domestic players like SAIL and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL), the government said today.

Chairing a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee, Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma said annual demand for steel is likely to grow at an average of over 10% in the next five years as compared to 8 per cent growth during 1991-92 and 2010-11.

India slipped one rank to become the fourth largest steel producer in 2010, with 68.3 million tonne (MT) of output. It produced 63.5 MT steel in 2009.

China is the number one producer of steel, followed by Japan and the US at second and third places, respectively.

"India also maintained its lead position as the world’s largest producer of direct reduced iron (DRI) or sponge iron," the official statement said, adding the per capita steel consumption during the last six years has risen from 38 kg in 2005-06 to 55 kg in 2010-11.

The steel sector contributes nearly 2% of the GDP and employs over 5 lakh people.

Expressing concerns over exports of iron ore, a fast depleting resource, Verma said iron ore is a non-renewable natural resource and his Ministry is of the view that it should be conserved for long-term utilisation of domestic steel industry.

"Our policy should, accordingly, aim at value addition of iron ore within the country instead of exporting iron ore," he said. National Steel Vision and strategy paper are being finalised for promoting steel sector, he said.

The Minister also elaborated on expansion plans of PSUs like SAIL, RINL etc.

"The major thrust of the modernisation and expansion plans is to adopt the best modern technology, which in addition to being cost effective should also be energy efficient and environment-friendly," he said.

State-run SAIL has undertaken a massive expansion drive to increase its steel production capacity from current 14 MT to about 24 MT, with an investment of about Rs 70,000 crore.


RBI relaxes overseas borrowing norms for infra companies

The Reserve Bank today relaxed norms for infrastructure companies with direct foreign equity up to 25% to raise fund overseas without government permission.

On a review, it has been decided, to further liberalise the External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) policy in respect of the infrastructure sector, RBI said in a statement.

Direct foreign equity holder (holding minimum 25% of the paid-up capital) and indirect foreign equity holder holding at least 51% of the paid-up capital, will be
permitted to provide credit enhancement for the domestic debt raised by Indian companies engaged exclusively in the development of infrastructure through issue of capital market instruments, it said.

It includes Infrastructure Finance Companies (IFCs) and no prior approval will be required from the Reserve Bank for providing such credit enhancements, it said.

The company fulfilling foreign equity criteria does not require permission for raising ECB up to USD 5 million.

Now onwards the term debt in the debt-equity ratio will be replaced with ECB liability and the ratio will be known as ECB liability-equity ratio to make the term signify true position as other borrowings or debt are not considered in working out this ratio, it said.

Service sector units, in addition to those in hotels, hospitals and software, could also be considered as eligible borrowers if the loan is obtained from foreign equity holders, it said.

This would facilitate borrowing by training institutions, R&D, miscellaneous service companies, etc, it said.

ECB from a group company may also be permitted provided both the borrower and the foreign lender are subsidiaries of the same parent, it added.


SAT upholds Sebi order against Axis Bank

The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) today upheld a Sebi order imposing a Rs 2-lakh fine on private lender Axis Bank , saying the same individual cannot be on the board of both the debenture trustee and the issuer.

In 2009, the market regulator had found certain deficiencies in Axis Bank's books and passed an order imposing a fine of Rs 2 lakh on the lender.

The case relates to two separate debenture issues from Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services and Noida Toll Bridge in early 2009, in which Axis Bank acted as a debenture trustee. According to Sebi rules, the same individual cannot be on the board of both the debenture trustee and the issuer.

The case came up for hearing before SAT after Axis Bank appealed against the Sebi order. The watchdog had inspected the bank's books and accounts to verify whether it was in compliance with the bench of trustee norms, and also to look into its conduct as a debenture trustee.

SAT upheld Sebi's contention. "This was the case at Axis Bank where the same individual was on the board in two cases - in Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services and in Noida Toll Bridge. Therefore, Axis Bank's appeal is thus rejected on these two grounds," SAT Presiding Officer N K Sodhi said.

Also, as per the norms, SAT said Axis Bank, which was the debenture trustee, cannot lend money to issuers of the debentures. It was found that in some cases, money was lent to the issuers at Axis Bank itself.

However, SAT observed there was "no intentional breach of norms" by the bank and therefore the lender would be fined merely Rs 2 lakh. Axis Bank was represented by R S Loona, while the Sebi counsel was Shiraz Rustomjee.


Singur judgement likely on Wednesday

The Calcutta High Court is likely to pass on Wednesay its judgement on Tata Motors Limited 's (TML) challenge of the Singur Land Act by which West Bengal government vested the Singur land leased to the company.

The judgement is scheduled to be passed at 10:30 am by the court of Justice I P Mukerji.

The hearing on TML's challenge of Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011, had ended on September 16.

TML was to set up a plant for manufacturing its low-cost Nano car at Singur but it shifted the plant to Sanand in Gujarat on October 7, 2008, citing law and order problem at Singur.

West Bengal government under Mamata Banerjee enacted the Singur Act on June 14 this year and vested 600 acres of land leased to TML.


Bharti Telecom raises stake in Airtel to 45.54%

Telecom major Bharti Airtel today said its promoter Bharti Telecom has bought about 7.2 lakh shares of the company for over 27 crore in different transactions from open market to raise stake to 45.54% in it.

Bharti Telecom purchased 15,000 shares for over Rs 56 lakh at BSE and 6,35,000 shares for close to Rs 23.97 crore on September 22, thus raising its stake marginally in the company to 45.53 from 45.52% on the same day, the company said in a filing to the BSE.

On September 23, Bharti Telecom again purchased 14,000 shares for Rs 50.82 lakh approximately from BSE and 52,000 shares for Rs 2.25 crore from NSE which raised its stake marginally by 0.1% to 45.54%, it added.

Bharti Telecom had been gradually increasing stake in the firm from 45.50 on September 13.

Bharti Telecom purchased 12,000 shares for Rs 45.9 lakh approximately from BSE and 1.47 lakh shares for close to Rs 5.62 crore from NSE on September 13.

Next day, it purchased 20,000 shares for Rs 75.34 lakhs approximately from BSE and over 3.85 lakh shares for Rs 14.47 crores from NSE.

In last two weeks, Bharti Telecom has purchased over 15 lakh shares of Bharti Airtel for close to Rs 57 crore.

Shares of Bharti Airtel closed at Rs 380.4 a piece, up by 1.48% compared to its previous close at BSE today.

IAS / IPS STUDIES -1

RAPID GK SERIES
QUESTIONS

1. The Largest Bay of the World is
2. The Chinese Revolution was happened in this year
3. According to the 2001 Census, the All India Male Literacy Rate is
4. A defect of Eye in which near Objects are not distinctly visible.
5. This is a line joining all the Points on a Graph that correspond to the same temperature
6. Onges is the tribal people who lives in this Indian Union Territory
7. In 2009, the Bank of Rajasthan was merged with this bank
8. The famous Character ADAM was created by this author
9. The famous author Kabir belongs to this language
10. The last Governor General of India’s Pre-Independence era was

ANSWERS

1. Hudson Bay (Northern Canada)
2. 1911
3. 75.85%
4. Hypermetropia or Long Sightedness
5. Isothermal
6. Andaman & Nicobar Islands
7. ICICI (Industrial Credit & Investment Corporation of India)
8. John Milton
9. Hindi
10. Lord Canning




Will support growth in all countries: IMF, World Bank

With turbulence and widespread fiscal strain threatening the global economic recovery, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank on Saturday vowed to support strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth in all of its member countries.

"We commit to do everything within our means to support strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth in all our member countries," said a joint communiqu? issued by the IMF and World Bank at the end of its annual meeting in Washington.

"We reaffirm the need to work cooperatively to meet our development commitments to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 and to support the poor in developing and emerging countries through this period of instability, as well as in the long-term," the joint communiqu? said.

Commending the G20 for making development the cornerstone of its agenda, the IMF and World Bank noted that the turbulence in global financial markets and widespread fiscal strains has put the robustness and sustainability of the global economic recovery at risk.

"Volatile commodity prices and pressures on food security are critical challenges. We are alert to the possible global impacts of these issues, particularly for the poor. While developing countries have been the main contributors to recent global economic growth, the economic crisis has reduced their capacity to withstand further shocks," the joint communiqu? said.

Observing that jobs are vital to translating growth into lasting poverty reduction and broad-based economic opportunities, the IMF and World Bank reiterated their commitment to job creation, especially by supporting the expansion of a vibrant private sector.

"In this connection, we recognise the important role the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) play in poorer countries and in challenging markets," the communiqu? said.

"We welcome and encourage the cooperation of the World Bank Group (WBG) with member governments and other partners, such as the G20, the International Labor Organisation and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to pursue a comprehensive approach to job creation for women and men," it said.

Asserting that the World Bank Group must continue to help member countries build their resilience and respond to crises, the joint communiqu? said to do this effectively, the WBG must remain prepared with human, knowledge and financial capacity.

"We welcome the WBG's enhanced focus on innovative approaches to support countries in the Middle East and North Africa region to address the social and economic consequences of their current transition. We call on the WBG to scale up support and strengthen collaboration with all relevant stakeholders, in particular other Multilateral Development Banks," it said.



IMF urges ECB to play bigger crisis-fighting role

A top IMF official on Sunday said the European Central Bank was the only player powerful enough to "scare" financial markets and keep the euro zone's debt crisis from further damaging the global economy.

Ahead of a high-stakes meeting on Sunday afternoon between IMF chief Christine Lagarde and the finance minister of Greece -- where the crisis is now centered -- officials were wrestling with how to bolster Europe's banking system and keep the crisis contained.

The IMF said the European Union's bailout fund could not go it alone.

"It is very important that we see a combination of the ECB and the EFSF," said Antonio Borges, the head of the IMF's European department, referring to the European Financial Stability Facility of 440 billion euros (USD 594 billion) .

"The ECB is the only agent that can really scare the markets," he added -- a vital consideration because investors are increasingly skeptical Greece can avoid a default and policymakers can prevent the crisis rolling to other nations.

Analysts say the bailout fund would be far to small if the crisis were to spread beyond Greece, Portugal and Ireland to hit the much larger economies of Italy and Spain.

Germany stands opposed to chipping in more to help nations it sees as profligate and the focus has now turned on ways to leverage existing bailout funds, possibly through the ECB.

The European Union's top economic official, Olli Rehn, said on Saturday that as soon as the region's governments confirm new powers for the EFSF, attention will turn to how to get more impact from the existing money.

"We need to find a mechanism where we can turn one euro in the EFSF into five, but there is no decision on how we could do that yet," another senior European official said.

The rescue fund would need to be at least 2 trillion euros to safeguard Italy and Spain if the crisis spread, analysts estimate.

Throughout a weekend of IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington, European officials have been under pressure to get a grip on the debt crisis before it spirals out of control.

While signs have mounted that Europe was preparing to step up its crisis response, there were still doubts that officials were moving swiftly enough.

"There is some risk of market disappointment due to the fact there were no further, more specific pledges from the euro countries at this time," Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg told reporters.

"It is clear they want to build a firewall (but) it will take time before we see the decisions necessary in place."

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pushed the ECB on Saturday to take on a pivotal role in fighting the crisis. "The threat of cascading default, bank runs, and catastrophic risk must be taken off the table," he told the steering committee of the 187-nation IMF.

In a measure of the global concern about the potential for renewed recession, Brazil's central bank chief also appealed for a better coordinated and stronger European approach.

"Brazil's experience with past crises suggests you have to confront the problems in a fast, consistent manner," said Alexandre Tombini.

"The longer it takes, the higher the cost, the more contagion spreads. You have to act with overwhelming force."



Salman Khurshid’sshri Visit to Kabul for Fateha Prayers for Late President of Afghanistan

Shri Salman Khurshid, Minister of Law & Justice and Minority Affairs,represented the people and Government of India at the offering of ‘Fateha’ prayers, in Kabul yesterday, for late Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani, Chairman of High Peace Council and former President of Afghanistan, who was assassinated on September 20, 2011. During the visit, Shri Khurshid called on Shri Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and also met Mr. Salahuddin Rabbani, son of late Professor Rabbani to convey condolences and express solidarity with the people and Government of Afghanistan in their hour of grief.


RTI ‘transgressing into govt functioning’, Moily wants a debate

Denying any rift between Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram, Corporate Affairs Minister Veerappa Moily today called for a “national debate” on the scope of the Right to Information Act (RTI), saying it “transgresses into the independent functioning of the government”.

This came in the context of Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy citing a Finance Ministry note that has brought the spotlight on Chidambaram’s role in the 2G spectrum allocation, which was obtained through RTI.

“We call it argumentative India. Every person or ministry has the right to express views but you cannot interpret it as differences between Pranab Mukherjee and Chidambaram. In the context of RTI exposures, people are misreading things. Transparency, yes, but it cannot scuttle the independence of individuals and ministries expressing difference of opinion. It’s time for a national debate on this issue,” Veerappa Moily told The Sunday Express.
As for the Finance Ministry’s purported letter regarding the role of Chidambaram, the Corporate Affairs Minister said it could not be construed as infighting in the government. The note sent to the PMO says that had the Finance Ministry, then under Chidambaram, stuck to the auction option, the grant of licences could have been cancelled. It adds that the note “had been seen by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee”.

“Just because there is exchange of views on administrative matters, one cannot call it infighting. In a democratic process that our Cabinet system follows, there is free exchange of views to arrive at a correct decision. Even at the Prime Minister’s level, we express our differences. How can democracy function otherwise? But RTI obtain some extracts of such exchange of views and attribute motives to them. If this continues, no officer or minister will discuss anything. Even the judiciary should appreciate it. Time has come to re-visit the issue of (making public) file notes and discussions,” said Moily.


6.5 ton NASA satellite crash lands, probably in Pacific

A 6.5 ton defunct satellite hurtling uncontrolled towards Earth has likely plunged into a remote section the Pacific Ocean off the western US coast, American space agency NASA said.

The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) crossed over portions of Indian Ocean and Africa before splashing down sometime between 11:23 pm (local time) Friday and 1:09 am yesterday, NASA officials said.

NASA said all debris from the research satellite, the biggest piece of US space junk to fall uncontrolled in 32 years, appears to have dropped in a remote section of the Pacific Ocean well "away from the western coast of the US," but the precise spot may never be pinpointed.

There was a 1-in-3,200 chance of a person getting hit by falling debris, but there is no such report yet. "NASA is not aware of any reports of injury or property damage," the officials wrote in a statement. Nick Johnson, chief scientist for orbital debris at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, told reporters the fiery trajectory of the 13,000-pound satellite ended as it crossed eastward over portions of the Indian Ocean and Africa for the final time.

It then most likely disintegrated and scattered debris over a roughly 500-mile stretch across the northern portion of the Pacific.

About 11 hours after the plunge, he said there is no credible report about debris falling on land or anyone recovering satellite parts -- contrary to widespread Internet speculation about purported remnants of the satellite falling to the ground in Canada or elsewhere.


Bank lobby rejects imposing losses on Greek private investors

The international bank lobbying group that has been taking a leading role in negotiations on giving debt-ridden Greece easier terms for its bonds on Sunday rejected calls to impose larger losses on private investors.

Forcing private creditors to write down their Greek bond holdings by more than the 21 per cent tentatively agreed to in a July deal would quickly cause a "domino effect" that would see the crisis spread to other parts of Europe, warned Josef Ackermann, the outgoing chairman of the Institute of International Finance.

Such a move would ultimately cost taxpayers much more than just bailing out Greece and erode confidence in the euro, warned Ackermann, who is also the CEO of Germany's Deutsche Bank, a major lender to Greece. Germany and other rich eurozone nations have been pushing for a re-negotiation of the July deal, arguing that the economic situation in Greece has significantly deteriorated since then and may require a steeper cut in the country's debt burden.

However, Ackermann quickly rejected that push, saying that the agreement was fair and already placed a heavy burden on banks at atime of major market turmoil. "If we now start reopening this Pandora's box we will lose a lot of time and I'm not sure people would be willing to participate," Ackermann told a news conference on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the IMF.

Under the July deal, Greece is asking banks and other large private investors to swap their existing Greek bonds for ones with longer repayment deadlines, a lower face value or lower interest rates.


RBI annual report imparts ‘downward bias' to India's growth rate

The Annual Report for 2010-11, a statutory publication of the Reserve Bank of India's central board, covers two broad areas — assessment of macroeconomy in 2010-11 as well as prospects for 2011-12 and working and operations of the RBI and its financial accounts.

The latest report released on August 25, like its predecessors, is a snapshot of the economy in the previous year even while it assesses its strengths and weaknesses during the current year.

Excerpts from the report covering growth prospects, inflation outlook and certain other aspects of the macroeconomy in the current year are given here.

The economy returned to a high growth path in 2010-11. However, there were significant challenges: investment slowed, fiscal consolidation was achieved through one-off and cyclical factors and inflation remained sticky on the back of new pressures.

In response, the RBI has raised the policy rates by 475 basis points (on a cumulative basis) since March, 2010. The central bank's medium-term target for inflation has been 3 per cent.

The current account deficit was contained within a reasonable limit, mainly due to an upswing in exports and a turnaround in invisibles.

Growth prospects

After growing slightly above its recent trend in 2010-11, the economy can be expected to decelerate this year. But quite significantly, the growth rate will still be around 8 per cent. However, there is a possibility of global problems getting magnified and imparting a ‘downward bias' to India's growth rate.

In general, growth prospects in the current year appear to be more subdued than last year. Apart from global uncertainties, high prices of oil and certain other commodities have a dampening effect. Other factors weighing on growth are persistent inflationary pressures, rising input costs, higher cost of capital (due to monetary tightening) and slow project execution.

While industrial growth may suffer because of loss of business confidence, the services sector is expected to make up for the shortfall and support the overall growth process.

Investment may remain soft in the near-term, while private consumption may decelerate. In the face of moderating demand, ‘expenditure switching' from government consumption expenditures to public investments would help. Inflation is expected to remain high and moderate only towards the latter part of the year to about 7 per cent by March, 2012. The decline in global commodity prices has not been significant so far. However, if the global recovery weakens further in the days ahead, commodity prices may fall and that may have a salutary effect on the Indian economy.

The ultra soft monetary policy pursued by the U.S. can keep commodity prices elevated. If the global oil prices stay at current levels, further increase in prices of administered oil prices will become necessary to control subsidies. Fertilizer and electricity prices will also require an upward revision in view of sharp rise in input costs.

Monetary policy by itself faces inherent limitations in tackling inflation in the absence of adequate supply side responses.

However, it can still play an important role in curbing the second round effects of supply-side inflation. In the face of nominal rigidities and price-stickiness, there are dangers of accepting the current elevated inflation level as the new normal.

The twin deficits
The fiscal deficit is likely to overshoot the budgeted provisions. If the economy slows down further as is anticipated, the erosion in revenue will magnify the fiscal slippage. Also, the space for counter-cyclical fiscal policies is more limited than it was at the time of the global crisis in 2008.

On a more positive side, the current account deficit (CAD) is expected to be contained within a sustainable 2.7-3 per cent of GDP. The export performance has been robust in 2010-11.

However, by all accounts exports are expected to slowdown later this year due to the deceleration in the advanced economies. Software exports too will be affected as bulk of them are to the U.S. and Europe.

Capital flows are more difficult to anticipate. Their ebb and flow depend on the degree of risk aversion. If the global crisis deepens, capital flows will moderate. However, capital flows can increase in spells on a relative return basis and due to interest differentials.

Medium-term challenges
The immediate challenge to sustaining high growth lies in bringing down inflation. Over the medium-term, however, growth can be sustained only by addressing the structural bottlenecks.

The medium-term challenges are: Lowering inflation and inflation outlook to acceptable levels; harnessing technology for agriculture productivity enhancements; maintaining right balance between consumption and investment; facilitating energy security; facilitating infrastructure finance; and promoting financial inclusion and inclusive growth.


10 Indians among 19 killed in plane crash near Kathmandu

Flight BHA-103 of Buddha Air, crashed in the Kathmandu valley on Sunday morning, killing all 19 persons, including 10 Indians, onboard.

The Beechcraft plane had completed a flight around Mount Everest when it lost contact with the Tribhuvan International Airport tower at 7.31 a.m. It crashed four minutes later at Kotdanda in Lalitpur district, around 15 km south of the airport.

The others killed were six Nepalis, including three crew members; two Americans and a Japanese.

According to a statement issued by the Indian Embassy here, the Indians were: Pankaj Mehta and his wife Chhaya Mehta, M. Maruthachalam, M. Manimaran, A.K. Krisunan, V.M. Kanakasabesan, T. Dhanasekaran, Kattoor Mahalingam, Meenakshi Sundaram, and K. Thyagarajan.

While Pankaj Mehta was with the UNICEF here, the other eight men were from Tiruchi in Tamil Nadu. They came here on Saturday evening and checked into the Grand Hotel.

Hotel manager Phurba Sherpa told The Hindu, “All the eight persons were part of the Tiruchirapalli Centre Builders Association. They first communicated with us on August 21 and booked rooms for three nights and four days. They checked into the hotel on Saturday at 5 p.m., and were scheduled to check out on September 27. They left for their mountain flight this morning at 5.45 a.m.”