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:: February 2013 International Affairs ::.

Nicos Anastasiades, the centre-right DISY (the Democratic Rally) party leader won the presidential elections of Cyprus. Nicos Anastasiades had a very easy-going victory over Communist-backed Stavros Malas . The major challenge that would be faced by Nicos Anastasiades is that Cyprus is standing on the verge of bankruptcy because of knock-on effect of the economic despair of Greece. Nicos Anastasiades after winning therefore declared that his first priority would be to reinstate the credibility of Cyprus. For this, he would favour deals with the foreign lenders. Nicos Anastasiades is a 66-year old lawyer and a member of the Cypruss parliament since 1981. He is the leader of centre-right DISY (the Democratic Rally) party since 1997.Nicos Anastasiades would be replacing the former President of Cyprus, Dimitris Christofias who served the office from 28 February 2008 and will remain into the designation till the end of his term on 28 February 2013. Dimitris Christofias belonged to the Progressive Party of Working People.

Former Republican senator Chuck Hagel on 27 February, sworn-in as the new US Defence Secretary, in the midst of a controversy over his remarks that India "financed problems" for Pakistan in Afghanistan. 66-year-old Hagel, a Vietnam war veteran, was confirmed by the Senate on 26 February. Senators voted 58-41 to approve Hagel, ending a long and acrimonious nomination process and clearing President Barack Obama's choice for the top post held by Leon Panetta. Sworn in by the Director of Administration and Management Michael L Rhodes, Hagel took the oath of office in a private ceremony attended by family members and his immediate office staff. Hagel will replace incumbent Panetta at a time when the department is faced with multiple challenges including defence budget cuts, rapidly changing developments in the Middle East, increasing threat from North Korea besides the scheduled withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in 2014.

Fresh clashes erupted on 1 March, in Bangladesh, bringing the number of people killed to 52 in violence triggered by convictions for Islamist leaders over war crimes committed during the 1971 independence war. On 28 February,clashes flared across the country after Jamaat's vice president was found guilty of murder, religious persecution and rape by a war crimes tribunal hearing cases dating back to the 1971 independence conflict. Delwar Hossain Sayedee, now a firebrand preacher, was the third person to be

convicted by the court whose previous verdicts have been met with outrage from Islamists who say the process is more about settling scores than delivering justice. According to Sultana Kamal, head of rights group Ain O Salish Kendra, it was the deadliest political day of violence in the impoverished country's history since winning its independence from Pakistan in 1971.Security has been stepped up at Hindu villages after homes and temples came under attack by Islamists in the southern Noakhali and Chittagong districts, killing one old Hindu man, police said. Cuban President Raul Castro (81) elected, sworn in to a second and final five-year term. This will be my last term, he told lawmakers after the National Assembly re -elected him. In a surprise move, the new Parliament named a rising young star as his first VicePresident, Miguel Diaz-Canel (52), a member of the political bureau who rose through the party ranks in the provinces to become the most visible possible successor to Mr. Raul Castro. He would succeed Mr. Raul Castro if he cannot serve his full term. Mr. Raul Castro was in charge of the security apparatus and its armed forces during his brother Fidels rule. But after succeeding the ailing Cuban revolutionary leader, he embarked on a reformist course in order to secure Communisms survival. Having assumed presidency in February 2008, he took the helm of the Communist Party in April 2011. Targeting highly skilled talents from India and China, the US lawmakers have introduced a new bill in the Congress on 15 February, to create more than 125,000 new visas to attract global talents to America. The bill called Startup 3.0 proposes to help increase America's access to talent by creating a new set of conditional visas for 75,000 immigrant entrepreneurs and 50,000 foreign STEM (Science technology, engineering and math) graduate students. This will create half a million new American jobs. Startup 3.0 allows qualified companies to apply research and development tax credits to their payroll tax liability, up to $250,000.For small startups, it also makes permanent the 100 per cent capital gains tax exemption on investments that are held for more than 5 years, in addition to the 28 per cent exemption on qualified small business stock. These provisions will unlock over $7.5 billion in new investments which will result in more innovation and jobs. Finally, the bill helps cut red tape, by requiring a cost-benefit analysis of any significant rule being proposed by a federal or independent agency. According to the authors of the bill, research has demonstrated the positive impact of immigrants on American job creation: more than 40 per cent of all Fortune 500 companies were founded by an immigrant or the child of an immigrant. Research shows that startups create three million jobs per year, on average.

North Korea on 12 February 2013 announced success of its underground Nuclear Test. The country cleared that the miniaturized nuclear device was detonated successfully and it announced that the test was an act of self-defence from the US Hostility and threatened stronger steps in future. This was the third test conducted by the country since 2006 that had defied the UN regulations in existence. The test is reported to have conducted in the North Hamgyeong Province nearby the Punggye-ri nuclear complex, the place where the tests of 2006 and 2009 were conducted. Due to the past two nuclear tests of 2006 and 2009, North Korea is already facing many sanctions over it imposed by the United Nations Security Council. This is the first test conducted in North Korea under the leadership of Kim Jong-un. The Western Nations termed this act to be highly provocative act of North Korea and claimed it to be a threat to the stability of the region. Whereas Asian countries like, China, Japan and Russia criticized the test and announced it to be a threat beyond tolerance. The international bodies like UN and NATO claimed this test as irresponsible and threat to the world peace.

About 1200 people were injured when a meteorite shot across the sky in central Russia on 15 February, sending fireballs crashing to Earth, smashing windows and setting off car alarms. Residents on their way to work inChelyabinsk heard what sounded like an explosion, saw a bright light and then felt a shockwave, according to a media correspondent in the industrial city 1,500 km (950 miles) east of Moscow . The meteorite raced across the horizon, leaving a long white trail in its wake which could be seen as far as 200 km (125 miles) away in Yekaterinburg. Car alarms went off, windows shattered and mobile phones worked only intermittently. Chelyabinsk city authorities said about 1200 people sought medical help, mainly for light injuries caused by flying glass. The Emergencies Ministry described the event as a "meteor shower in the form of fireballs" and said background radiation levels were normal. It urged residents not to panic. Chelyabinsk city authorities urged people to stay indoors unless they needed to pick up their children from schools and kindergartens. They said a blast had been heard at an altitude of 10,000 metres (32,800 feet), apparently signaling it occurred when the meteorite entered Earth's atmosphere.

Giuseppe Orsi, head of an Italian defence and aerospace giant Finmeccanica was arrested in Milan on 11 February 2013 on the charges of his alleged involvement in the bribery activity to secure an Indian defence helicopter deal of 3600 crore rupees . He was arrested in relation to the probe of the international corruption. The contract signed with Italian defence giant Finmeccanica in February 2010 involved supply of 12 VVIP three-engine

AW-101 choppers from AgustaWestland for the Indian Air Forces elite Communication Sqadron. By now, three choppers have already been delivered to India. As per the reports on the bribe scam, its expected that about 362 crore rupees that is equivalent to about 10 percent of the final deal was given back to help the Italian firm in winning the contract. The Finmeccanica is an Italian defence Giant company that entered into a deal to supply 12 three-engine AW-101 helicopters to India in February 2010. Giuseppe Orsi, now the CEO of Finmeccanica and the then head of its Helicopter Unit was arrested on the charges of the bribe scandal that surfaced. Pope Benedict XVI announced on 11 February 2013 that he would resign at the end of the month. He reasoned that he was too infirm to carry on. He is the first pontiff to do so in nearly 600 years. The decision set the stage for the election of a new Pope before the end of March 2013.Pope Benedict XVI is 85 years old. He had become the Pope in 2005. The last Pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII, who took this step in 1415 to put an end to the Great Western Split among competing papal claimants. The Indian government has permitted former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed to stay in Indian Mission in Male. Nasheed entered into Indian High Commission on 13 February soon after an arrest warrant was issued against him by a Maldivian court. The 45year-old leader turned up at the single-storey Indian mission around noon to evade arrest warrant issued by a court in a case concerning the detention of Chief Judge of the Criminal Court during his Presidency in January last year. Later in the day, as his application for stay on the arrest was rejected by the Maldivian High Court, Nasheed stayed put in the Indian mission. "Following the arrest warrant issued against him by the Hulhumale Magistrate Court, Nasheed, who is a candidate for the Presidential elections in Maldives scheduled for September 2013, is in the Indian High Commission and has sought India's assistance. "We are in touch with the relevant Maldivian authorities to resolve the situation," official spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs said in New Delhi. India has expressed concern over the ongoing political instability in Maldives and called upon the Government and all political parties to adhere strictly to democratic principles and the rule of law, thereby paving the way for free, fair, credible and inclusive elections. Nasheed became the first democratically elected president of the Indian Ocean archipelago in 2008. He resigned a year ago after weeks of public protests against the judge's arrest. His deputy, Mohammed Waheed, succeeded him. Immediately after his resignation,

Nasheed claimed that he was ousted in a coup; a claim was dismissed by an inquiry commission last year. India will host the next meeting of BASIC Environment Ministers. The meeting will be held in Chennai on February 15-16, 2013. This was stated by Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan, Minister for Environment & Forests while briefing the media in New Delhi on 5 February. Smt. Natarajan said that BASIC Group is a platform of the four countries for coordination on issues related to climate change. BASIC has emerged as an important grouping in the climate change negotiations, and has acted as a key voice of developing countries. BASIC countries meet four times in a year and once a year in each of the four countries by rotation. Typically, the first meeting of the year takes place in India. At the Chennai meeting, the BASIC Ministers are expected to review the decisions taken at Doha and plan the future steps for taking the global process for an ambitious and equitable agreement under Durban Platform, she added. The important issues that will engage the attention of the BASIC Ministers are principles under the Durban Platform, the role and relevance of independent international initiatives including sectoral actions in promotion and achievement of global ambition, and the steps needed to ensure means of implementation to parties for enhancing their efforts. Smt. Natarajan further stated that in line with the BASIC Plus approach; representatives of other important members of G-77 and China have also been invited. Bhutan (SAARC and Mountain), Mali (LDC and Africa), Argentina (Latin America), Fiji (G-77 Chair), Nauru (SIDS) and Qatar (CoP-18 Presidency) have been invited. India is a member of like minded developing countries who are meeting in Geneva on 27-28 February, 2013 to review the decisions at Doha and plan the future steps. The deliberations in the BASIC meeting will help India and other BASIC countries in formulating their approach to the future issues in the negotiations and plan help build ambitious and equitable architecture for post 2020 arrangements. The United States of America on 5 February 2013 filed a civil lawsuit against Standard and Poor's (S&P) the credit rating agency alleging that the agency lied about the nations objectivity and independence by the way it rated the mortgage bonds. The lawsuit have claimed that as a result of the ratings issued by the S&P, which misrepresented the securities true credit risks the investors, even those who were federally insured financial institution lost billions of dollars on collateralized Debt Obligations.

Pakistan and Afghanistan on 4 February, pledged to have a peace deal in place within six months following talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron in London aimed at ensuring regional stability after the withdrawal of western troops from Afghanistan next year. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai promised to take all necessary measures to achieve peace in the region. Mr. Cameron said the two sides agreed to an unprecedented level of cooperation. The talks centred on the Afghan-led peace process and strengthening of cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Mr. Zardari said that Pakistan wanted to help Kabul in peace talks with the Taliban. It was the third round of trilateral talks in less than a year but it was the first time that military leaders and intelligence chiefs of the two countries were also present.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became on 5 February, the first Iranian head of state since the 1979 revolution to pay an official visit to Egypt , a step which could become a game changer in defining the regions power hierarchy.Irans Press reported, quoting an official from the Presidential office that Mr. Ahmadinejad was participating in the OIC meeting as the current chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) a grouping of more than hundred countries.Significantly, the Iranian President is slated to meet the Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayeb. Analysts view this meeting as part of an effort by Iran and Egypt to heal the rift between the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam, exacerbated by the crises in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.Before his plane touched down in Cairo, Mr. Ahmadinejad advocated unity among Sunnis and Shias. In an interview with Lebanese satellite channel al- Mayadeen, Mr. Ahmadinejad slammed the Sunni-Shia rift as a colonial plot. He also pledged to provide security cover to Egypt and Saudi Arabia against any attack, similar to the support that Tehran has provided to Afghanistan and Iraq.According to Iranian media reports, Mr. Ahmadinejad could hold talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during his three-day stay. Ahead of his arrival, the Iranian President said that Iran and Egypt should work together to liberate Palestine entirely. Mojtaba Amani, head of Irans interest sec tion in Egypt said that Tehran is willing to hold consultations with Cairo for reaching a political settlement of the Syrian crisis.

February 2013 National Affairs ::.


Rajya Sabha on 25 February 2013 approved the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill. The Bill was passed by Lok

Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament in September 2012.The bill seeks protection for women in all type of organized, unorganized as well as Private Sectors, including the sexual harassment of domestic help as well as agricultural workers. The bill had made it mandatory for every organization with 10 or more employees to form an internal complaint committee to deal with the complaints of sexual offences . The committees should be disposed of within 90 days and organizations that fails to follow the guidelines, would be penalized with 50000 rupees. Organizations that repeatedly violate the provisions of the bill would be penalized to a greater level and the offence may lead to the cancellation of the licenses or registration of the business conduct. Under its list of offences, the bill covers sexual remarks, sexual favour demands, any act of unwelcome touch and physical advance and showing pornography. In the backdrop of incidences of violence against women which challenges liberal and progressive credentials of our country, the Finance Minister P. Chidambaram pledged to do everything possible to empower women and to keep them safe and secure. Presenting the Budget 2013-14 in the Lok Sabha on 28 February, the Finance Minister proposed to set-up Nirbhaya Fund. Citing the multifarious role a woman plays as a child, a young student, sportswoman, homemaker, working woman and the mother who needs their support, the Minister announced that the Government will contribute Rs. 1,000/- crores in this Fund.Chidambaram said that Ministry of Women and Child Development and other ministries concerned will work out the details of the structure, scope and the application of the Fund. The Government of India on 27 February 2013 announced constitution of Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe into the allegations in the VVIP helicopter deal from Agusta Westland and to identify the role of the middlemen in the purchase of the 12 helicopters. The motion was moved by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath. The proposed JPC will constitute of 20 members from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha and submit the report of its findings within three months from the day of its constitution. Joint Parliamentary Committee is an ad hoc Parliamentary Committee that is constituted by the Indian parliament. The JPC is constituted only after a motion is adopted in one house of the Parliament and accepted by the other house. The strength of JPC can be different every time it is constituted but the number of members from the Lok Sabha is always double to the members from Rajya Sabha in the committee formed.

Delhi

Became

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First

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in

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to

Ban

the

Manual

Scavenging

Delhi became the first state in India to ban the manual scavenging. The Chief Minister of Delhi on 26 February 2013 banned deployment of the cleaning staff for the purpose of manual sewer cleaning. At the Swabhiman Diwas celebrations on 26 February 2013, the CM announced that the Delhi government was facilitating the amenities to the cleaning staff according to the service rules. The Delhi government was also taking initiatives for modernising the working mechanism for them and facilitating appropriate training to them. In the meanwhile, it was also declared that all the civic bodies of Delhi would be asked to regularise services of the cleaning staff that was working for several years on contractual basis. The Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs Mullapally Ramachandran in Lok Sabha on 26 February gave the information that the Government has approved a Scheme to create National Population Register (NPR) and issue Resident Identity Cards to all usual residents of age 18 years and above in 3331 coastal villages in 13 maritime States/ Union Territories namely, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry as one of the measures for strengthening coastal security. All the towns in Andaman and Nicobar Islands have also been covered. An amount of Rs. 216.31 crore has been approved by the government for creation of NPR in these coastal villages and issue of resident identity cards. The data collection has already been completed in these areas. The demographic data has been collected for 1.2 crore people and biometrics (photograph and ten finger-prints) for 67.3 lakh people. The Resident Identity Cards have been dispatched directly to the residents by Department of Post through a secure Speed Post. As on date, more than 48.06 lakh cards have been dispatched. The Government in order to give the Community Radio movement a fresh impetus would be providing Rs.100 crores in the XII Plan. During the Plan period, it was proposed to set up 500 new Community Radio Stations (CRS) also . This was stated by Manish Tewari, Minister for Information & Broadcasting, while delivering the valedictory address at the 3rd National Community Radio Sammelan in New Delhi on 11 february. Tewari further stated that the Ministry had identified key benchmarks for the Plan period whereby a roadmap would be prepared to provide assistance for operating Community Radio Stations. Elaborating on the proposal of the Plan fund, the minister said Rs.90 crores had been proposed for providing

financial support, while Rs.10 crore was being proposed for training, capacity building and awareness activities of Community Radio Stations. The two-day International Conference on Traditional Medicine for South-East Asian Countries concluded with the Adoption of Delhi Declaration in New Delhi on 13 February. The Health Ministers of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Minister of Indigenous Medicine of Sri Lanka, Regional Director General of WHO SEARO, representatives from SEAR countries, experts from different parts of the world including officers of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare attended the valedictory function. In his concluding remark, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare acknowledged the collaboration and assistance of WHO - South East Asia Regional Office and WHO for the conference. He said we have a useful set of recommendations from the four panel groups on the strategic themes now. All member countries of South East Asia will remain committed to steer the implementation of the identified activities henceforth. We have made a joint Declaration from the historical city of Delhi to strengthen the future of traditional medicine for the welfare of human health. The spirit behind Delhi Declaration is to foster development of traditional medicine across the region. Regarding the institutional mechanisms for information sharing and capacity building in traditional medicine, Azad said the Delhi Declaration has indicated the need to examine the setting up of regional centres. He offered hosting a Regional Traditional Medicine Centre in India with everyones cooperation and collaboration. We will be able to nurture the Centre and develop it as a Centre of Excellence in the days to come, he added. The Ministry of Defence has initiated action for cancellation of contract for procurement of 12 AW101 helicopters for the use of VVIPs. MoD on 15 February, issued a formal show cause notice to the AgustaWestland of UKseeking cancellation of contract and taking other actions as per the terms of the contract and the Integrity Pact. MoD had already put on hold further payments to the company on 13 February. With the show cause notice, the operation of the contract has been put on hold. The company has been asked to reply to the notice in seven days. The Supreme Court (SC) of India on 15 February 2013 directed the telecom companies that failed to win bidding in the fresh 2G Spectrum Auction or didnt participated into it to cease their operations immediately. The fresh auction took place after the licenses issued earlier were scrapped by the Court.

The Supreme Court also cleared that the Court would soon order the companies, which were successful in winning their biddings in the actions those were held on 12 November and 14 November 2012 to start operations in their respective circles immediately. The Supreme Court bench of two Judges that comprised justices G S Singhvi and K S Radhakrishnan directed the telecom companies whose licenses were scrapped on 2 February 2012 but allowed to function were supposed to pay back the reserved price fixed for the licenses during the first round of November 2012 auction.

Stampede took place at the Allahabad railway station on 10 February 2013. On 11 February 2013, the death toll reached to 36 people. The death toll is likely to increase. The injured were being treated at SRN hospital in Allahabad and railway hospitals. The stampede took place at Platform number 5 and 6 where a number of passengers, most of which were Maha Kumbh devotees, were returning after they took dip in the Holy Sangam on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya. The government of Uttar Pradesh ordered inquiry into this matter. The government also asked Railways to sanction ex- gratia of 5 lakh Rupees to families of deceased. Following the stampede that tolled 36 lives, Mohammad Azam Khan, the UP minister resigned as an in- charge of ongoing Kumbh Mela, owing to the moral responsibility.

'Operation Three Star' was the code name of the entire top secret plan in which Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist Afzal Guru was hanged in the high- security Tihar Jail on 10 February morning. The operation had started on February 4, a day after President Pranab Mukherjee rejected the mercy petition of the Parliament attack convict paving the way for his execution. Government sources said that a handful of top officials in the Home Ministry and Tihar prison were aware of the operation which was kept top secret considering its sensitive nature. Guru, a medical college dropout and resident of Sopore in north Kashmir, was executed at 8 am on 10 february and buried on the prison premises. 'X' was the code name of the operation in which Ajmal Kasab, the lone Pakistani gunman caught alive after the Mumbai terror attack, was hanged to death at Pune's Yerwada Central Jail on November 21.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on 11 February 2013 removed the public prosecutor AK Singh from the 2G Spectrum Case. The decision of removal came after the alleged public prosecutor was caught discussing the strategy of prosecution with one of the prime accused of the 2G Spectrum Allocation Case in a taped conversation. The 2G Spectrum Case is

under trial in a Court of Special Judge at New Delhi and the court was informed about the alleged involvement if the Public Prosecutor by the CBI. AK Singh was the part of the 2G scam legal team of the CBI that was headed by the senior lawyer UU Lalit (the special public prosecutor in the case).The 2G Spectrum Scam of India is a scam that involved Government Officials, Political Leaders and Industrialists within its circumference. The Government officials and politicians were accused for their alleged involvement in undercharging the frequency allocation licenses to the mobile telephony companies, resulting in a total loss of about 176,645 crore rupees as valued by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). The Government in order to give the Community Radio movement a fresh impetus would be providing Rs.100 crores in the XII Plan. During the Plan period, it was proposed to set up 500 new Community Radio Stations (CRS) also . This was stated by Manish Tewari, Minister for Information & Broadcasting, while delivering the valedictory address at the 3rd National Community Radio Sammelan in New Delhi on 11 february. Tewari further stated that the Ministry had identified key benchmarks for the Plan period whereby a roadmap would be prepared to provide assistance for operating Community Radio Stations. Elaborating on the proposal of the Plan fund, the minister said Rs.90 crores had been proposed for providing financial support, while Rs.10 crore was being proposed for training, capacity building and awareness activities of Community Radio Stations. The two-day International Conference on Traditional Medicine for South-East Asian Countries concluded with the Adoption of Delhi Declaration in New Delhi on 13 February. The Health Ministers of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Minister of Indigenous Medicine of Sri Lanka, Regional Director General of WHO SEARO, representatives from SEAR countries, experts from different parts of the world including officers of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare attended the valedictory function. In his concluding remark, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare acknowledged the collaboration and assistance of WHO - South East Asia Regional Office and WHO for the conference. He said we have a useful set of recommendations from the four panel groups on the strategic themes now. All member countries of South East Asia will remain committed to steer the implementation of the identified activities henceforth. We have made a joint Declaration from the historical city of Delhi to strengthen the future of traditional medicine for the welfare of human health. The spirit behind Delhi Declaration is to foster development of traditional medicine across the region. Regarding the institutional mechanisms for information sharing and capacity building in traditional

medicine, Azad said the Delhi Declaration has indicated the need to examine the setting up of regional centres. He offered hosting a Regional Traditional Medicine Centre in India with everyones cooperation and collaboration. We will be able to nurture the Centre and develop it as a Centre of Excellence in the days to come, he added. The Ministry of Defence has initiated action for cancellation of contract for procurement of 12 AW101 helicopters for the use of VVIPs. MoD on 15 February, issued a formal show cause notice to the AgustaWestland of UKseeking cancellation of contract and taking other actions as per the terms of the contract and the Integrity Pact. MoD had already put on hold further payments to the company on 13 February. With the show cause notice, the operation of the contract has been put on hold. The company has been asked to reply to the notice in seven days. The Supreme Court (SC) of India on 15 February 2013 directed the telecom companies that failed to win bidding in the fresh 2G Spectrum Auction or didnt participated into it to cease their operations immediately. The fresh auction took place after the licenses issued earlier were scrapped by the Court. The Supreme Court also cleared that the Court would soon order the companies, which were successful in winning their biddings in the actions those were held on 12 November and 14 November 2012 to start operations in their respective circles immediately. The Supreme Court bench of two Judges that comprised justices G S Singhvi and K S Radhakrishnan directed the telecom companies whose licenses were scrapped on 2 February 2012 but allowed to function were supposed to pay back the reserved price fixed for the licenses during the first round of November 2012 auction. Stampede took place at the Allahabad railway station on 10 February 2013. On 11 February 2013, the death toll reached to 36 people. The death toll is likely to increase. The injured were being treated at SRN hospital in Allahabad and railway hospitals. The stampede took place at Platform number 5 and 6 where a number of passengers, most of which were Maha Kumbh devotees, were returning after they took dip in the Holy Sangam on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya. The government of Uttar Pradesh ordered inquiry into this matter. The government also asked Railways to sanction ex- gratia of 5 lakh Rupees to families of deceased.

Following the stampede that tolled 36 lives, Mohammad Azam Khan, the UP minister resigned as an in- charge of ongoing Kumbh Mela, owing to the moral responsibility. 'Operation Three Star' was the code name of the entire top secret plan in which Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist Afzal Guru was hanged in the high- security Tihar Jail on 10 February morning. The operation had started on February 4, a day after President Pranab Mukherjee rejected the mercy petition of the Parliament attack convict paving the way for his execution. Government sources said that a handful of top officials in the Home Ministry and Tihar prison were aware of the operation which was kept top secret considering its sensitive nature. Guru, a medical college dropout and resident of Sopore in north Kashmir, was executed at 8 am on 10 february and buried on the prison premises. 'X' was the code name of the operation in which Ajmal Kasab, the lone Pakistani gunman caught alive after the Mumbai terror attack, was hanged to death at Pune's Yerwada Central Jail on November 21. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on 11 February 2013 removed the public prosecutor AK Singh from the 2G Spectrum Case. The decision of removal came after the alleged public prosecutor was caught discussing the strategy of prosecution with one of the prime accused of the 2G Spectrum Allocation Case in a taped conversation. The 2G Spectrum Case is under trial in a Court of Special Judge at New Delhi and the court was informed about the alleged involvement if the Public Prosecutor by the CBI. AK Singh was the part of the 2G scam legal team of the CBI that was headed by the senior lawyer UU Lalit (the special public prosecutor in the case).The 2G Spectrum Scam of India is a scam that involved Government Officials, Political Leaders and Industrialists within its circumference. The Government officials and politicians were accused for their alleged involvement in undercharging the frequency allocation licenses to the mobile telephony companies, resulting in a total loss of about 176,645 crore rupees as valued by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). Government on 5 February, has approved multi-connectivity in naxal affected districts under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, PMGSY. Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh told that States can prepare Detailed Project Reports, DPRs in two stages. The Centre will also consider including insurance premium for personnel of contractors on a 75:25 cost sharing basis with State governments. Out of the 52,000 habitations in the 82 naxal

affected districts, 30,000 have been sanctioned, but only 19,000 habitations have been connected so far. HRD Minister Dr. M.M. Pallam Raju on 6 February opened in New Delhi, the international conference on community colleges. In his speech the Minister said that 200 community colleges will be started from the next academic session 2013. He said his ministry realizes the role of education in capacity building of youth. Pointing decline in quality of education, he said out of 30 lakh people are added every year only 1/4th of them worth giving jobs as per the industry requirement. He said there is shortage of skill people in critically areas including IT, because of mismatch between the outdated syllabus and the changing need of the industry. Stressing for more skill based education, Dr. Raju appealed to the educational institutions to make tailor made courses for industry. He advocated for flexibility to the education programmes. The Minister said industry, including business and service sector, would be associated at all levels viz., development of curriculum, training of trainers/teachers, supply of guest faculty, development/maintenance of laboratories workshops for hands on practical training and evaluation so as to ensure employment of the learner. These Community Colleges would have short duration credit-based modules leveraging on the National Vocational Education Qualifications Framework (NVEQF) to facilitate mobility of learners into the employment sector and banking (accumulation) of credit leading to certificates, diplomas, etc. The US under secretary for public affairs Ms. Tara Sonenshine offered her countrys idea and experience in promotion of community schools. Pointing similarity of challenges between the developing countries and the developed nations in promoting education, she said they are global in nature. Ms. Sonenshine said that community colleges provide education and skill to half of the students in USA at under graduate level. The secretary for higher education Ashok Thakur said that 60 countries are participating in two days conference and as per the govt. priority vocational education will get top priority. There are about 100 foreign participants coming from USA, UK, Canada, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. A new health initiative Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram was launched by Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson, UPA from Palghar, a Tribal Block in Thane district, Maharashtra on 6 February. The initiative is to provide comprehensive healthcare and improve the quality of life of children through early detection of birth defects, diseases, deficiencies, development delays including disability. Launching the programme, Smt. Gandhi

said UPA Government is committed to achieve the objective of Health for All through accessible, affordable and equitable healthcare services. Government introduced Janani Suraksha Yojana in 2005 to encourage institutional deliveries by giving cash assistance to pregnant women as incentives. Building on the success of the JSY scheme, Janani Shishu Suraksha karyakram was launched in 2011 to eliminate out-of-pocket expenses for both pregnant women and sick neonates. Under this scheme, every pregnant woman is entitled to absolutely free delivery, including caesarean section, in public health institutions now. Besides the free ante-natal and post-natal check-ups, the scheme provides for free diagnostics, free medicines, free consumables, free food during hospital stay, free caesarean section and free blood, if required and free transport to health facility and drop back home. In a top secret operation on 9 February morning, the 2001 Parliament attack case convict Mohammed Afzal Guru was hanged and buried inside the Tihar jail complex. With this ended the decade-long uncertainty over the execution of the surrendered militant from Sopore, Kashmir, as his mercy petition got caught up in a political slugfest between the Congress-led UPA government and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. The Ministry of Home Affairs had rejected Gurus petition in 2011 and forwarded it to Pratibha Patil, who was President at the time. Ms. Patil chose not to act, but when Mr. Mukherjee took over as President last year, he returned all pending mercy petitions, including that of Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab the Mumbai terror attack case convict for reconsideration after Mr. Shinde took over as Home Minister in August 2012. But before the Centre gave a go-ahead for the hanging, security across the country, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir, was beefed up to avert any backlash. The MHA also issued an advisory to all State governments to remain on high alert. Afzal Guru was convicted of playing a central role in the entire conspiracy leading to the attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001. He had been on death row for the past 10 years since he was first convicted and sentenced by a special court in December 2002, while his death penalty was upheld by the Supreme Court on August 4, 2005. In a major initiative to reach out to the people in the Social Media Space, the I&B Minister, Manish Tewari on 7 February, launched the MyIndia Initiative-A Digital Volunteer Programme. The initiative aims at disseminating the development messages across the Social Media platforms by registering citizens as volunteers in an effort to contribute positively towards nation building. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Tewari said that this initiative was a milestone as it would enable the Government to disseminate information to citizens specially the youth of the

country. It was a programme rooted in the principles of participative governance leading to real time engagement through the Social Media tools. The Minister called upon the youth to be part of the Digital Volunteer Family that would enable the Government to have a personalised interaction with the citizens. Registration for the programme is now open at Ministrys Blog inbministry.blospot.in. In yet another initiative to reach out to the people of India in shortest possible time, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has planned for the first time, a Live Twitter Conference on the eve of 3rd Community Radio Sammelan, on 8th February, 2013 . This will be the first ever such conference by any Ministry of Government of India. Mani Majra a small town within the Union Territory of Chandigarh was known mainly for being a prosperous suburb. After the release of the international film Zero Dark Thirty, which was shot in Mani Majra, it has acquired the potential to attract international tourists keen to see where the film was shot. The film has received Five Oscar nominations. The Ministry of Tourism has launched an effort to popularise the town and inform potential visitors about how to get there. The Incredible India website has not only embedded a You Tube video that shows the majestic mediaeval Mani Majra Fort, but also shows glimpses of the town and shows the exact locations where the film was shot. The website also has a detailed map that shows how to reach Mani Majra by air, rail and road from Chandigarh as well as from the four major international airports of India. This is part of the Ministrys efforts launched under K. Chiranjeevi, Minister of Tourism to promote every part of India that has any potential to attract international tourists.It may be recalled that the Ministry had recently launched a campaign to promote Puducherry and Munnar (Kerala) where the international film Life of Pi was shot and also hosted a major Tourism Mart at Guwahatiin January, to promote North-Eastern India for international tourism. The first success of the North-Eastern campaign has been the attention received in 14 international media outlets (print and electronic) by the hitherto little-knownPobitora Rhinoceros sanctuary near Guwahati. The Hydro Projects worth 2500 MW across various states have been accorded clearance on 8 February, by the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of M/o Environment & Forest. The projects include Tawang-II H.E. Project (800 MW) in Arunachal Pradesh, Teesta-IV H.E. Project (520 MW) in Sikkim to be executed by NHPC Limited and Luhri H.E. Project (775 MW) in Himachal Pradesh to be executed by Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) Limited. The National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) has accorded

wild life clearance to Vishnugad Pipalkoti H.E. Project (444 MW) in Uttarakhand to be executed by THDC India Limited subject to clearance by the State Board of Wild Life. The clearance has been pending for a long time. The way is straight clear in tapping the hydro potential of the country to meet the countrys power needs. The Centre on 25 January, has constituted three new High Courts in the northeast Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura taking the total number of High Courts in the country from 21 to 24. According to Law Ministry sources, the strength of judges in each High Court will be as follows: Tripura 4 (including the Chief Justice), and Meghalaya and Manipur: three each (including the Chief Justice). As per the recommendations of the Supreme Court collegium, Justice T. Meenakumari, judge of the Patna High Court, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, is being elevated as Chief Justice of Meghalaya . Justice Deepak Gupta, who hails from Himachal Pradesh, is being elevated as Chief Justice of Tripura, and Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, judge of the Chhattisgarh High Court, is being appointed CJ of Manipur. President of India Pranab Mukherjee Gave Assent to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013

The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee on 3 February 2013 agreed to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 for sharpening the laws against sexual assault. The President mandated harsher punishment such as death penalty for the offenders in such cases where the victim either dies or lands into the vegetative state. The amended law would come into force almost immediately. India accounts to 86 percent Oral Cancer Figure across the World

Experts of National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW) in first week of February released a report on the harmful effects of gutka. It reported that 86 percent of the total oral cancer figure across the world accounted to India. A total of 75000 to 80000 new cases of cancer were diagnosed in India itself. In case of India the maximum number of cancer was a result of tobacco chewing, because Indians chew tobacco more than smoking. India consists of 14 percent smoking tobacco users and 26 percent chewing tobacco users. As per the report tobacco is responsible for creating 1.5 lakh cancer patients, 4.2 million heart diseases and 3.7 million lung diseases in India every year, making India an oral cancer capital. The statistics released by the Health Ministry 65 percent cancers in India are caused due to the use of tobacco. Other data released reveled that a third of the annual 5.6 million cancer deaths in India occurs due to the

excessive use of tobacco. The rate of oral cancer reported in India is about twice the global average. In 2008 cancer was the cause of 7.6 million deaths worldwide. In case of men from South-East Asia Region, oral and lung cancers are the most prevalent ones and breast and cervical cancers are mainly found in women. The Government of India invests a sum of 300 billion rupees per year approximately on treatment of tobacco related illness via both private and public spending. It accounts to one-fourth of the total spending on health issues in the country. About 2500 persons die every day in India due to diseases related to tobacco. Panel to Examine issues of Certification under Cinematograph Act 1952 Constituted The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on 4 February 2013 constituted a panel for examining the issues of certification under Cinematographer Act 1952. Shri Mukul Mudgal, the retired Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court have been appointed the Chairman of the Panel. The Committee would be referring following terms i. The committee would be responsible for reviewing the mandate and functioning of CBFC and recommend measures that includes constitutional changes for enabling CBFC to deal with contemporary requirements of certification with increased transparency/efficiency. The issues, inter alia, may include: a. The process of certification under the Act and Rules, including the mechanism followed by Examining and Revising Committees b. Categories of certification, existing and proposed, under the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2013 c. Requirement of special categories of certification for the purposes of broadcasting on television channels and radio stations ii. It will be responsible for reviewing the mandate and functioning of Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) in order to make it a more efficacious appellate body iii. It will be responsible towards examining the role of Central Government regarding sanctioning of cinematograph films for exhibition under Entry 60, List I of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India with reference to Entry 33, List II of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India iv. The Committee will also be responsible for suggesting measures for carrying on more effective legal remedies and penal provisions in the Act, particularly with reference to

making of the unlawful copies, camcording in cinema halls, interpolation/insertion of clips after certification and such similar issues v. It will be responsible for the issues that the Committee may find fit to deliberate upon

: February 2013 Bilateral Affairs ::.


Mr.Maxime Bernier, Minister of Tourism, Canada called on Union Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi in New Delhi on 26 February. Both sides resolved to strengthen cooperation in tourism sector. It was also decided that both the countries will identify areas for working together and explore new opportunities in tourism sector especially in the field of human resource development, exchange of tour operators, investment in the tourism sector and exchange of information related to tourism sector. The possibility of signing an agreement/MoU between India and Canada was also discussed. It was also agreed that Tour Operators and Travel Agents of both the countries will interact with each other in order to promote two way tourism between India and Canada. The possibilities of promoting more package tours in either of the countries could also be explored by the travel trade of two countries. Both sides also explored the possibilities of promoting joint venture investment in the field of hotel industry and tourism infrastructural sector. Now that Hotels and Tourism sector has been opened for Foreign direct investment up to 100% on automatic routes, Canadian investment in tourism infrastructure in India could be one of the major areas of cooperation. Canada is one of Indias primary source markets. Foreign tourist arrivals from Canada to India have increased considerably over the past few years. The Union Minister of Steel, Beni Prasad Verma recently led a delegation to Brazil to strengthen cooperation between the two nations in steel & mining. During the visit, a Letter of Intent (LoI) was signed by the Secretary, Ministry of Steel on behalf of Government of India and by the Executive Secretary (Mines & Energy) on behalf of the Government of Brazil on 7th February. The LoI inter-alia aims to promote and expand bilateral relations between the two countries in the mineral sector with focus on strengthening the supply chain for the growth of the steel industry in both the countries. The Letter of Intent aims to encourage investment opportunities in iron & steel related businesses by the Indian and the Brazilian companies in India and Brazil, facilitate exchange of technical know-how in developing the iron and steel production and other steel

related raw materials, including pelletisation plants and other associated industries. Both the Governments would jointly work for developing the steel industry and to exchange technically qualified manpower for sustainable growth of the iron & steel industry. The possibility of signing a Memorandum of Understanding during the forthcoming visit of the President of Brazil to India is also being explored. Both India and Brazil have been showing robust growth in the consumption of steel and are globally viewed as the two large emerging markets after China in terms of their growth potential. The Health Ministers of India and Bangladesh signed an MoU on Health in New Delhi on 12 February. While GhulamNabi Azad, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare signed on behalf of Government of India, Dr. A. F. M. RuhalHaque, Health Minister signed on behalf of Government of Bangladesh.The salient features of the MoU between India and Bangladesh are as follows: The main areas of cooperation between the two Governments will include the following: 1. Exchange of medical doctors, other health professionals and experts:

2. Development of human resources. 3. Exchange of information on health. 4. Medical and health research development. 5. Regulations of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and cosmetics.

6. Health promotion and disease prevention. 7. Fostering cooperation for the development of culturally sensitive and effective public and professional awareness campaign including clinical are practices and best practices guidelines for healthcare providers and caretakers to benefit individuals and families touched by Autism Spectrum Disorders and Developmental Disabilities 8. Any other area of cooperation as may be mutually decided upon.

India and Japan have resolved to strengthen cooperation in tourism sector. This was decided at a meeting between the visiting Japanese Senior Vice-Minister of Tourism, Mr. Hiroshi Kajiyama and Union Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi in New Delhi on 12 February. It was also decided that both the countries will identify areas for working together and explore new opportunities in tourism sector especially in the field of human resource development, exchange of tour operators, investment in the tourism sector and exchange of information related to

tourism sector. The possibility of signing an agreement/MoU between India and Japan was also discussed.India and Japan are important tourism markets to each other. Japan is one of the top ten tourist generating markets for India as for as inbound tourism is concerned. There is a strong interest of Japanese Tourists in places connected with Buddhism in India. JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) has extended loan of 7331 million Japanese Yen (Rs.299 Crore) for Development of Ajanta Ellora Conservation and Development Programme Phase II). Ministry of Tourism will be holding road shows in Tokyo on 18th and Osaka on 20th of this month A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in New Delhi on 14 February, between the Ministry of Railways, Government of India and the Socit Nationale des Chemins de Fer Franais (SNCF), the French National Railways, for Technical cooperation in the field of Railways. The MoU was signed by Vinay Mittal, Chairman, Railway Board, from Indian side and Mr G.Pepy, Chairman and CEO SNCF from the French side. The MoU was signed in the presence of H.E. Francois Hollande, the President of France.Four areas of cooperation have been identified in the MoU. These are: 1. High speed and semi-high speed rail; 2. Station renovation and operations; 3. Modernisation of current operations and infrastructure; 4. Suburban trains. Under the High Speed Cooperation Programme, the Parties have decided to carry out jointly an operations and development feasibility project on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail. This project will be funded by SNCF with a support from the French Ministry of Finance. The MoU is valid for a period of 5 years and is extendable by 1 year with mutual consent. Specific cooperation projects would be undertaken under the MoU as agreed by both the parties. India and France on 14 February 2013 agreed to strengthen counter terrorism and intelligence cooperation between the two countriesduring the visit of French President Francois Holllande to India. Both nations exchanged views on a number of bi-lateral, regional and multilateral issues. India and France also reviewed progress on the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project and reiterated our commitment to its early

implementation as soon as the commercial and technical negotiations, which have made good progress, are completed. Both the nations also concluded negotiations on the short range surface to Air missile to be co-produced in India. They also agreed on the need to reinvigorate economic engagement between the two countries. Moreover, they had in-depth discussion on the defence cooperation issue including submarines and missiles.

Other Important India-France Agreements 1. Both the nations agreed to strengthen cooperation in the fields of the modernisation of the railway, high speed corridors and network upgradation of railway stations. 2. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and France's CNES under the space cooperation programme, jointly identified the means to pursue further cooperation. 3. A pact was changed to increase exchanges between the sportspersons, artists, architects, researchers, teachers, students to improve people- to- people contacts. 4. The cooperation between various Indian and French educational institutions was finalised. 5. MoU was signed between Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and France's CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) 6. CFA(Credit Facility Agreement) was signed for the Bangalore Metro Rail Project, Phase-1 between Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and the French Development Agency(AFD)

Prime Minister of Bhutan, Lyonchhen Jigmi Y. Thinley was on the home visit to India from 7 February to 9 February 2013. During his visit to India he met with President of India, Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Vice-President of India-Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister- Manmohan Singh, Minister of Finance-P Chidambaram and Foreign Secretary-Ranjan Mathai. His visit was aimed at improving India-Bhutan bilateral relationship. Thinley is the Prime Minister of the Royal Government of Bhutan from 2008, after Bhutan became a democratic country. Bhutan became the youngest democracy of the world on 6 November 2008. Lyonchhen served as the Prime Minister of Bhutan twice before introduction of Democracy in the nation and the period included July 1998 to July 1999 and August 2003 to August 2004.

A delegation led by the Union Minister of Steel, Beni Prasad Verma met with the President of Uruguay, Mr. Jose Mujica in Montevideo on 6th February, 2013. The Union Minister of Steel and the President of Uruguay discussed points to improve co-operation in the mining sector between the two countries. Also present during the meeting were the Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining, Government of Uruguay Mr. Roberto Kreimerman and other ministers. The President of Uruguay welcomed the Indian Steel Minister and thanked him for visiting Uruguay. Both expressed their strong desire to increase trade turnover in the

coming years. The Steel Minister invited the Uruguayan Trade and Industry to participate in the Indian Trade Exhibitions and conduct roadshows for more joint ventures, transfer of technology and inviting Indian investment for setting up production facilities in Uruguay for exports to other Latin American countries. The Steel Minister thanked the President of Uruguay for showing interest to collaborate with India in the mining sector. Later on the same day the Minister of Steel met with the Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining, Government of Uruguay, Mr. Roberto Kreimerman in Montevideo. The two ministers discussed various aspects of joint exploration and production of minerals in the Latin American country. Speaking on the occasion Mr. Verma said, There is a huge potential for mining of iron ore, granite, gold and diamond, which can be explored by Indian companies in Uruguay. I believe the two countries can collaborate to utilize each others strength in areas of mineral exploration. During the visit a Letter of Intent (LoI) was signed between Mr D.R.S. Chaudhary, Secretary Steel, Government of India and Mr Roberto Kreimerman, Minister, Industry, Energy & Mining, Government of Uruguay to explore and encourage investment opportunity in iron and steel sector and to facilitate exchange of technical knowhow in iron ore and steel related raw materials. The visit of the Indian delegation was successful in establishing a firm base for mineral exploration and production by Indian firms in Uruguay. India and Austria on 5 February 2013 inked a social security pact at Vienna, under which the Indian professionals working in Austria would be exempted from paying the social security contribution of the country, if such payments are already made in India. Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi and Austrian Minister for Labour and Social Security, Rudoulf Hundstorfer signed the pact. The pact of social security between the two countries would also boost cooperation of the labour market expansion in Austria, the country that is a home for more than 17000 Indian professionals. The Union Cabinet on 7 February, gave its approval for formation of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Pipeline Project and to permit GAIL India Ltd. to join the SPV. The four countries involved in the TAPI Gas pipeline project, signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement along with a Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement (GPFA). To accelerate the project, parties have formed the Minister Level Steering Committee and Technical Working Group (TWO). Suitable provisions for security & safety of the pipeline have been made in the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) and Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement (GPFA).The SPV would take up the Feasibility Study and

Design work of the TAPl pipeline to meet the agreed timelines for the project, as well as search for a consortium lead. Turkmenistan and Pakistan agreed to the formation of TAPl Ltd. considering it to be in consonance with the GPFA. Afghanistan also agreed to the formation of TAPl Ltd. so long as there was consensus amongst the Parties. TAPl Ltd. is required to have an initial contribution of USD 20 million that is USD 5 million from an identified entity from each of the four participating countries. GAIL, being a Navratna Company, is empowered to make an investment of this level for India. GAIL has agreed to make an investment up to USD 5 million in the proposed SPV that is TAPI Ltd. Based on an 'in-principle' approval of the Cabinet on 18th May, 2006, India joined the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) Project in April, 2008 and thereafter, the name of the project stood amended to Turkmenistan-AfghanistanPakistan-India (TAPl) Gas Pipeline Project.

February 2013 Economic Affairs ::.


The Minister of State for Commerce & Industry Dr. S. Jagathrakshakan in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on 27 February gives information that, as a part of Government's initiative to improve the business environment and the ease of doing business in the country, the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry launched the eBiz portal on 28.01.2013 comprising Licenses and Permits Services component that will allow business users to obtain a customized list of licenses, permits, and regulations that they require or need to comply with across all levels of government. eBiz will serve as a 24X7 online single-window system for providing efficient and convenient Government to Business (G2B) services to the business community, by reducing the complexity in obtaining information and services related to starting businesses in India, and dealing with licenses and permits across the business life-cycle. Economic Survey 2012-13

Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on 27 February presented the Economic Survey 2012-13 in the Lok Sabha of the Parliament. India's Economic Survey for 2012-13 pegs the country's growth at 6.1-6.7% and inflation at 6.2-6.6% for the next fiscal 2013-14 and made a strong call for cutting subsidies. Economic Survey is presented every year, just before the Union Budget. It is a flagship annual document of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. The economic survey 2012-13 was prepared by a

team of economists led by Chief Economic Advisor Raghuram Rajan, and pitches for speeding up economic reforms to activate a sluggish economy. It serves as an indicator of what is likely to be contained in the General Budget proposals. Following are the major Highlights of the Economic Survey 2012-13 o o o o o GDP growth seen at 6.1-6.7 percent in 2013/14 Government target for fiscal deficit is 4.8 pct of GDP in 2013/14 Government target for fiscal deficit is 3 pct of GDP in 2016/17 Headline WPI inflation may decline to 6.2-6.6 pct by March2013 Focus on curbing imports, making oil prices more market determined to reign in current account deficit o Prioritization of expenditure seen as key ingredient of credible medium-term fiscal consolidation plan o Raising tax to GDP ratio to more than 11 percent seen as critical for sustaining fiscal consolidation o India likely to meet fiscal deficit target of 5.3 pct of GDP in 2012/13, despite significant shortfall in revenues o o o Recommends curbing gold imports to reign in current account deficit Industrial output seen growing around 3 pct in 2012/13 Govt priority to fight inflation by reducing fiscal impetus to demand as well as by focusing on incentivizing food production. o o o o o o More jobs in low productivity construction sector Balance of Payments under pressure with net exports decline Service sector has shown more resilience despite global slowdown Pitches for hike in price of diesel and LPG to cut subsidy burden Railway freight grows by 5.1 per cent in 2012-13 Foreign Exchange reserves remains steady at USD 295.6 Billion at December 2012 end.

Union

Budget

2013-14

The Union finance minister on 28 February presented the Budget for the year 2013-

14. Some of the key points that were highlighted by Chidambaram in the Budget are: o o No change in slabs and rate for personal income tax. Tax credit of Rs 2000 to be provided to every person to having income of up to Rs 5 lakh, this will benefit 1.8 crore people. o 5 to 10 per cent surcharge on domestic companies whose taxable income exceeds Rs 10 crore. o Commodities transaction tax levied on non-agriculture commodities futures contracts at 0.01 per cent. o o o o Modified GAAR norms to be introduced from April 1, 2016. No change in peak rate of customs duty for non-agriculture products. Direct Taxes Code (DTC) bill to be introduced in current Parliament session. No change in basic customs duty rate of ten per cent and service tax rate of 12 per cent. o o Import duty on rice bran oilcake withdrawn. Series of concessions granted to Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) business in the aviation sector. o Import duty raised on set-top boxes from 5 to 10 per cent to safeguard interest of domestic producers. o o o 10 per cent customs duty to be levied on unprocessed illuminate. Import duty rose from 75 to 100 per cent on luxury vehicles. Duty free limit on gold rose to Rs 50,000 in case of male and Rs 100,000 in case of female. o o o No countervailing duty on ships and vessels. Specific excise duty on cigarettes and cigars raised by 18 per cent. Excise duty on SUVs to be increased to 30 per cent from 27 per cent, SUVs registered as taxis exempted. o o Vocational courses offered by state-affiliated institutes to be exempted from services tax. Duty on mobiles above Rs 2,000 rose from one to six per cent, based on their maximum retail prices. o o Service tax to be levied on all a/c restaurants. One time voluntary compliance scheme for service tax defaulters to be introduced. Interest and penalties to be waived.

o o o o

Direct tax proposals to yield Rs 13,300 crore, indirect tax proposal to give Rs 4,700 crore. Education cess to continue at 3 per cent. Contributions made to central and state government health scheme eligible to tax benefit. Eligibility conditions for life insurance policies of persons suffering disabilities to be liberalized.

o o o o o

Investor Protection Fund set up by depositories will be exempt from tax. Transactions on immovable properties usually undervalued. TDS of one per cent on value of properties above Rs 50 lakh. Agriculture land exempted. Securities Transaction Tax (STT) reduced on equity future, mutual fund. Fiscal deficit will be 5.2 per cent in current year and 4.8 per cent in the next fiscal.

Will redeem our pledge to reduce fiscal deficit to 3 per cent by 2016-17 and revenue deficit to 1.5 per cent of GDP.

Tax Administration Reform Commission to be set up to regularly review tax law applications.

In 2011-12, tax-GDP ratio was 5.5 per cent for direct taxes and 4.6 per cent for indirect taxes.

Surcharge of 10 per cent for individuals whose taxable income is over Rs 1 crore.

o o o

Plan expenditure pegged at Rs 555,322 crore. Non plan expenditure pegged at Rs 11,09,975 crore for 2013-14. Low interest rate funds to be provided from Clean Energy Fund for green projects for a period of five years.

Generation-based incentives to wind energy projects reintroduced, Rs 800 crore provided for the purpose to Ministry of New & Renewable Energy.

Constraints will not come in the way for providing additional funds for security of the nation.

Rs 2, 03,672 crore, including Rs 86,741 crore capital expenditure to Defence in 2013-14.

Grant of Rs 100 crore each to AMU (Aligarh), BHU (Varanasi) and TISS (Guwahati) and INTACH.

National Institute for Sports to train coaches to be set up at Patiala at a cost of Rs 250 crore.

o o

Rs 532 crore to make post offices part of core banking. Rs 5, 87,082 crore to be transferred to states under share of taxes and non plan grants in 2013-14.

Comprehensive social security package being evolved by convergence of several schemes run by various ministries.

Investor with stake of 10 per cent or less will be treated as FII; any stake more than 10 per cent will be treated as FDI.

o o

FIIs will be allowed to participate in exchange traded currency derivatives. Small and medium companies to be allowed to listed on MSME exchange without making a public offer.

o o

Concessional six per cent interest on loans to weavers. Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) to submit its report next month.

Govt to construct power transmission system from Srinagar to Leh at the cost of Rs 1,840 crore, Rs 226 crore provided in current Budget.

Plan expenditure in 12th Five Year Plan revised to Rs 14, 30,825 crore or 96 per cent of budgeted expenditure.

Budget expenditure is Rs 16, 65,297 crore and Plan expenditure Rs 5,55, 322 crore

The revised expenditure target is Rs 14, 30,825 crore or 96 per cent of Budget estimate for this fiscal. In 2013-14, the budget estimate is Rs 6, 65,297 crore.

One overarching goal to provide education and skills to youth for securing jobs in the 2013-14.

o o

FM allocates Rs 41,561 crore for SC sub-plan; Rs 24,598 crore for tribal sub plan. Additional sum of Rs 200 crore to Women and Child Welfare Ministry to address issues of vulnerable women.

Rs 3511 crore allocated to Minority Affairs Ministry which is 60 per cent of the revised estimates.

o o

CFM allocates Rs 41,561 crore for SC sub-plan; Rs 24,598 crore for tribal sub plan. Rs 3511 crore allocated to Minority Affairs Ministry which is 60 per cent of the revised estimates.

o o

Rs 110 crore to be allocated to the department of disability affairs. Rs 37,330 crore allocated for Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

o o o

Rs 1069 crore allocated to Department of Ayush. In the Budget Rs 65,867 crore allocated to Ministry of HRD in 2013-14. Medical colleges in six more AIIMS-like institutions to start functioning this year; Rs 1650 crore allocated for the purpose.

Rs 5,284 crore to various Ministries for scholarships for SC/ST, OBC and minority students.

o o o o o

Rs 13,215 crore to be provided for mid-day meal scheme. Rs 17,700 crore provided for Integrated Child Development Scheme. Rs 15,260 crore to be allocated to Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. Rs 17,700 crore to be allocated for Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS). Rs 80,194 crore allocation for Ministry of Rural Development in 2013-14. About Rs 33,000 crore for MGNREGA

o o

Rs 80,194 crore allocated for rural development schemes. States which have completed Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana will be eligible for PMGSY-II, others will continue with PMGSY-I.

Rs 14,873 crore for JNNURM for urban transportation in 2013-14 against Rs 7,880 crore in the current fiscal.

o o

Food grain production in 2012-13 will be over 250 million tons. Average annual growth rate of agriculture and allied services estimated at 3.6 per cent in 2012-13 when 250 MT food grains was produced.

o o

Rs 27,049 crore allocation to the Agriculture Ministry in 2013-14. Rs 7 lakh crore targets fixed for agriculture credit for 2013-14 compared to Rs 5.75 lakh crore in the current year.

Eastern Indian states to get Rs 1,000 crore allocation for improving agricultural production.

Green revolution in east India significant. Rice output increased in Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal; Rs 1,000 crore allocated for eastern states.

o o

Indian Institute of Biotechnology will be set up at Ranchi. Rs 10,000 crore set aside for incremental cost for National Food Security Bill over and above food subsidy.

Four Infrastructure debt fund have been registered.

Tax free bonds issue to be allowed up to Rs 50,000 crore in 2013-14 strictly on capacity to raise funds from the market.

Rs 5,000 crore will be made available to NABARD to finance construction of godowns and warehouses.

Government has decided to constitute a regulatory authority for the road sector.

Rajiv Gandhi Equity Scheme will be liberalised to allow first time investor to invest in Mutal Fund and equity.

First housing loan up to Rs 25 lakh would get additional deduction of interest of up to Rs 1 lakh in 2013-14.

Govt to construct power transmission system from Srinagar to Leh at the cost of Rs 1,840 crore, Rs 226 crore provided in current Budget.

Current account deficit continues to be high due to excessive dependence on oil, coal and gold imports and slowdown in exports.

DIPP and Japan's JICA preparing plan for Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial corridor.

o o

Two new major ports to be set up in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. Oil and gas exploration policy will be reviewed and moved from profit sharing to revenue sharing.

Policy on exploration of shale gas on the anvil; natural gas pricing policy will be reviewed and uncertainty removed.

o o

Govt to set up India's first women's bank as a public sector bank by October . Coal imports during Apr-Dec 2012 crossed 100 million tonnes and expected to go up to 185 million tonnes in 2016-17.

o o o

5 million tons Dabhol LNG import terminal to be operate at full capacity in 2013-14 SIDBI's re-financing facility to MSMEs to be doubled to Rs 10,000 crore. Incubators set up by companies in academic institutions will qualify for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.

Rs 500 crore would be allocated for addressing environmental issues faced by textile industry.

Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) to submit its report next month.

Standing Council of Experts in Ministry of Finance to examine transaction cost of doing business in India.

o o o o o

Rs 14,000 crore capital infusion into public sector banks in 2013-14. PSU banks to have ATMs at all their branches by March 31, 2014. Rs 6,000 crore to be allocated for rural housing fund in 2013-14. All Regional Rural Banks and cooperative banks to be e-linked by this year-end. Insurance companies will be empowered to open branches in Tier-II cities with approval of IRDA.

National Housing Bank (NHB) to set up urban housing bank fund and Rs 2,000 crore will be allocated in this regard.

Public sector general insurance companies to set up adalts to clear disputes related to claims.

Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana benefit will be extended to rickshaw pullers, auto and taxi drivers and sanitation workers.

Comprehensive social security package being evolved by convergence of several schemes run by various ministries.

Investor with stake of 10 per cent or less will be treated as FII; any stake more than 10 per cent will be treated as FDI.

o o

FIIs will be allowed to participate in exchange traded currency derivatives. Small and medium companies to be allowed to listed on MSME exchange without making a public offer.

Retirement fund body EPFO on 25 February decided to pay 8.5 per cent interest rate to its over five crore subscribers on their PF deposits for 2012-13, higher than 8.25 per cent provided in the previous fiscal. The decision was taken at the meeting of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), the highest decision making body of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). The meeting was chaired by Labour Minister. "A decision has been taken to pay 8.5 per cent interest on PF deposits ... but we have expressed our reservations as we wanted higher interest rate," said DL Sachdev, secretary All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) after the CBT meeting. Earlier, a note prepared by EPFO for consideration of the February 15 meeting of the Finance and Investment Committee (FIC) had said, "... 8.5 per cent rate of interest for the year

2012-13 is feasible." According to the EPFO's estimates, payment of 8.6 per cent interest rate would result in a deficit of Rs 240.49 crore whereas 8.5 per cent interest rate on PF deposits for current fiscal would leave a surplus of Rs 4.13 crore. In FIC meeting held on February 15, union leaders refused to discuss the issue regarding payment of interest in the current fiscal because the agenda note for the issue was not provided well in advance to them, sources said adding the note was tabled during the meeting. Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles on 12 February, accepted and unveiled a Task Group report to make India an International Trading hub for rough diamonds. The task group on diamonds was constituted by the Minister of Commerce, Industries and Textiles under the Chairmanship of Director General of Foreign Trade, Dr. Anup K. Pujari keeping in view the slump in exports of diamonds from India through the last few quarters. Some of the recommendations in report include setting up of a Special Notified Zone for import and trading of rough diamonds, permission to import cut and polished diamonds duty free up to the extent of 15% of the average of previous 3 years exports and reducing the rate of computation of profit under Benign Assessment Procedure (BAP) from 6% to 2.5%, amongst others.India is the largest diamond cutting and polishing center in the world,committed to continuing as a responsible and active member of the Kimberley Process Certification System by implementing all its regulations. This report is of great importance to the Government as India currently enjoys the status of the foremost hub for manufacturing of diamonds in the world. Diamond Exports is also a major contributor to the merchandise exports of the country. It also employs a large number of people from the underprivileged section of the society in India. Sharma appreciated the suggestions of the Task Group to help India retain its primacy as a trading hub, committed to take up the recommendations, which have been put forward with the concerned departments of the Govt. in a time bound manner so as to decrease the transaction cost of exports, simplify the compliance of the trade with taxation authorities and benefit the trade with the natural resources that is emanating out of India. Indian business aviation firm Aviator on 14 February, signed an order for supply of seven EC135 helicopters from chopper major Eurocopter to be used for emergency medical services. The firm order for an initial batch of seven Eurocopter EC135s for helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) operations was signed by the two companies in the presence of French President Francois Hollande. A second order is expected to be carried out later this year

and rapid growth is anticipated in the HEMS market as many as 50 helicopters are expected to be deployed throughout the country in the coming years, Eurocopter said in a statement. This is one of the first chopper orders placed by an Indian company for HEMS purposes. The EC135 is operated worldwide for a broad range of missions, including HEMS, law enforcement, rescue operations and business aviation. Eurocopter is part of the Franco-German-Spanish Eurocopter Group and a division of the global aerospace and defence conglomerate EADS. There are currently over 11,780 Eurocopter civil and military helicopters in service in 148 countries. Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) the stock market regulator of India on 13 February 2013 ordered freezing of bank accounts and attachment of properties of two Sahara group firms Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd., and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd. and its Chairman Subrata Roy as well as top executives Vandana Bhargava, Ravi Shanker Dubey and Ashok Roy Choudhary after it failed to refund more than 24,000 crore rupees to investors. The decision from the market regulator came after the Supreme Court of India granted it the freedom to freeze the accounts of the two companies and attach the properties of the defaulting groups. The market regulator gave 21 days time to Sahara Firms to submit the details of the investments done and not listed in an order. SEBIs orders restricts the Sahara India Estate Corporation from operating its demat accounts and redeeming the mutual fund units held by it as well as from transferring the shares controlled by it to any other body or company. The MCX-SX benchmark index SX40 went live with its equity-trading platform on both equities and equity derivatives on 11 February, Reliance Industries, Suzlon shares got spotlighted on MCX Stock Exchange launch. MCX-SX became the third full-fledged equity bourse after BSE and NSE in the country. The bourse was formally launched by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on 9 February. SX40 is a free-float based index of large-cap and liquid stocks, representing diverse sectors. The base value will be 10,000 with a base date of March 31, 2010, the exchange had said. The constituents of SX40 include ACC, ONGC, RIL, Tata Motors, TCS, Coal India, among others. The benchmark includes companies that have a minimum free float of 10 per cent and is within the top 100 liquid companies. Parle-G in February 2013 became the first Indian FMCG brand that crossed 5000 crore Rupees mark in terms of retail sales in one year. Parle Products were launched in 1939

when the British ruled India. Factually, Parle Products in 2012 sold 5010 crore rupees worth glucose biscuits at the retail price, surpassing the domestic sales of Godrej products and Dabur, while at the same time also selling thrice more products than Maggi. This means that Parle Products sold over 100 crore packets of the glucose biscuits every month, or 14600 crore biscuits in 2012. Parle-G that has less than 1 billion dollar sales in a year, but even then it has good lead over its rivals such as Hindustan Unilever's Wheel and Ghari Detergent. Parle -Gs share increased from 67 percent in 2002 to 79 percent in 2012. Comparatively, shares of Britannia's Tiger and ITC's Sun feast brand fell down The exports of India increased by 0.8 percent in the month of January 2013 to 25.58 billion US dollars. Comparatively, exports in January 2012 were 25.37 billion US dollars. Imports on the other hand, increased by 6.12 percent to 45.5 billion US dollars. During April to January 2012 -2013, the overseas shipments of India dropped by 4.86 percent to 239.6 billion US dollars. The main concern for the country is however to widen the trade deficit. As a cumulative result, the exports depicted an arrest in decreasing exports. Now, the result is -4.9 percent. Import of crude oil was growing at a faster pace. Oil imports in January 2013 increased by 6.91 percent to 15.89 billion US dollars in comparison to 14.87 billion US dollars in January 2012. American Airlines and US Airways have agreed to merge in an $11 billion deal to create the world's biggest airline. The combined carrier will be called American Airlines but run by US Airways CEO Doug Parker. The boards of the two airlines unanimously approved the 13February, and the companies announced the agreement on 14 February. The merger would reduce the number of major U.S. airlines to four: the new American, United, Delta and Southwest. The deal is a coup for smaller US Airways Group Inc., which pushed for a merger almost as soon as American parent AMR Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2011. While Parker runs the company, AMR CEO Tom Horton will serve as chairman until its first shareholder meeting, likely in mid-2014. AMR interests including creditors will own 72 percent of the new company and US Airways shareholders 28 percent. The companies said merging would create savings of more than $1 billion a year. The merger will be part of AMR's plan for exiting bankruptcy protection. The airlines said they expect $1 billion in combined savings. The new American would have more than 900 planes, 3,200 daily flights and about 95,000 employees, not counting regional affiliates. It will be slightly bigger than United Airlines by passenger traffic, not counting regional affiliate airlines.

The inflation rate of India dropped down to the three-year low in the chart to 6.62 percent in January 2013 from the 7.18 percent , measured in December 2012. The inflation was measured based upon monthly Wholesale Price Index. The official Wholesale Price Index for All Commodities (Base: 2004-05 = 100) in January, 2013 rose by 0.4 percent to 169.2 (Provisional) from 168.6 (Provisional) for the previous month. Slowing exports and decline in investments and low demand in the domestic market have been a major factor in slipping down the growth rate of India. The two factors have affected the manufacturing as well as service sectors of India. The growth forecast for the running fiscal year that would end on 31 March 2013 was lowered by the Indias Statistical Office to 5 percent. The Reserve Bank of In dia also changed its forecast from 5.8 percent to 5.5 percent. To revive a fresh air in the slowing down economic conditions of India, the Reserve Bank took a major step of lowering the key interest rate from 8 percent to 7.75 percent; this was the first step in nine months. The Policy makers have also taken afresh steps to revive the slowing economic conditions of the nation.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on 7 February, has released the advance estimates of national income at constant (2004-05) and current prices, for the financial year 201213.These advance estimates are based on anticipated level of agricultural and industrial production, analysis of budget estimates of government expenditure and performance of key sectors like, railways, transport other than railways, communication, banking and insurance, available so far. The advance estimates at current prices are derived by estimating the implicit price deflators (IPDs) at sectoral level from the relevant price indices. The salient features of these estimates are detailed below:

ADVANCE Estimates Gross

ESTIMATES at

OF

NATIONAL

INCOME, (2004-05)

2012-13 Prices Product

Constant Domestic

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at factor cost at constant (2004-05) prices in the year 2012-13 is likely to attain a level of Rs.55,03,476 crore, as against the First Revised Estimate of GDP for the year 2011-12 of Rs. 52,43,582 crore, released on 31st January 2013. The growth in GDP during 2012-13 is estimated at 5.0 per cent as compared to the growth rate of 6.2 per cent in 2011-12.

Agriculture

The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector is likely to show a growth of 1.8 per cent in its GDP during 2012-13, as against the previous years growth rate of 3.6 per cent. According to the information furnished by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2012-13, production of food grains is expected to decline by 2.8 per cent as compared to growth of 5.2 per cent in the previous agriculture year. The production of cotton and sugarcane is also expected to decline by 4.0 per cent and 6.5 per cent, respectively, in 2012-13. Among the horticultural crops, production of fruits and vegetables is expected to increase by 3.5 per cent during the year 2012-13 as against 5.1 percent in the previous year. Industry

The manufacturing sector is likely to show a growth of 1.9 per cent in GDP during 2012-13. According to the latest estimates available on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), the index of manufacturing and electricity registered growth rates of 1.0 per cent and 4.4 per cent, respectively during April-November, 2012-13, as compared to the growth rates of 4.2 per cent and 9.5 per cent in these sectors during April-November, 2011-12. The mining sector is likely to show a growth of 0.4 per cent in 2012-13 as against negative growth of 0.6 per cent during 2011-12. The construction sector is likely to show a growth rate of 5.9 per cent during 2012-13 as against growth of 5.6 per cent in the previous year. The key indicators of construction sector, namely, cement production and steel consumption have registered growth rates of 6.1 per cent and 3.9 per cent, respectively during April-December, 2012-13.

Services The estimated growth in GDP for the trade, hotels, transport and communication sectors during 2012-13 is placed at 5.2 per cent as against growth of 7.0 percent in the previous year. This is mainly on account of decline of 3.4 per cent and 4.8 per cent respectively in passengers and cargo handled in civil aviation and decline of 3.1 per cent in cargo handled at major sea ports during April-November, 2012-13. There has been an increase of 4.3 per cent in stock of telephone connections as on November 2012. The growth rate of 'community, social and personal services' during 2012-13 is estimated to be 6.8 per cent.

National

Income

The net national income (NNI) at factor cost, also known as national income, at 2004-05 prices is likely to be Rs.47,64,819 crore during 2012-13, as against the previous year's First Revised Estimate of Rs. 45,72,075 crore. In terms of growth rates, the national income registered a growth

rate of 4.2 per cent in 2012-13 as against the previous years growth rate of 6.1 per cent.

Per

Capita

Income

The per capita income in real terms (at 2004-05 prices) during 2012-13 is likely to attain a level of Rs.39,143 as compared to the First Revised Estimate for the year 2011-12 of Rs. 38,037. The growth rate in per capita income is estimated at 2.9 per cent during 2012-13, as against the previous year's estimate of 4.7 per cent.

Estimates Gross

at Domestic

Current

Prices Product

GDP at factor cost at current prices in the year 2012-13 is likely to attain a level of Rs. 94,61,979 crore, showing a growth rate of 13.3 per cent over the First Revised Estimate of GDP for the year 2011-12 of Rs. 83,53,495 crore.

National

Income

The NNI at factor cost at current prices is anticipated to be Rs. 83,68,571 crore during 2012-13, as compared to Rs. 73,99,934 crore during 2011-12, showing a rise of 13.1 per cent.

Per

Capita

Income

The per capita income at current prices during 2012-13 is estimated to be Rs. 68,747 as compared to Rs. 61,564 during 2011-12, showing a rise of 11.7 per cent. The Union Cabinet on 7 February gave its approval to the amendments to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Act 1981 The following amendments to the NABARD Act 1981 are proposed1. Raising the authorized capital of NABARD to Rs. 20,000 crore from Rs. 5,000 crore.

2. The meaning of cooperative society is proposed to be enlarged to include multistate cooperative societies registered under any Central law or any other Central or State law relating to cooperative societies. 3. Change of ownership to facilitate the transfer of the remaining share capital of NABARD from the Reserve Bank to the Central Government. 4. Increasing the scope of operations of NABARD under short term funding purposes and other changes.

The following benefits are projected by this amendment5. By increasing the authorized capital of NABARD to Rs 20,000 crore from Rs 5,000 crore, the ability of NABARD to mobilize resources from the market will be enhanced thereby new credit products, new credit linkages and new clients will be developed. 6. The amendments allow NABARD to lend to new institutions, mainly Societies covered under multistate cooperative societies act and other central laws, producer organizations or such class of financial institutions which are approved by the Central Government. This is likely to benefit a larger segment of the financially excluded farmers in the country. 7. The amendments allow combination of credit, creation of short term operations fund and swapping of debt of farmers. 8. The decision of the Government to transfer the balance one percent shares to the Govt. of India from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in NABARD shall be carried out, which will provide for increased public accountability, as the Government will acquire the equity held by RBI. 9. NABARD will combine the post of Chairman and the post of Managing Director, into one, therefore Chairman and Managing Director, under the provisions of the NABARD Act relating to these two posts. This shall ensure a distinct line of command. NABARD was established on 12 July 1982 to provide sharp focus to agriculture credit and rural development . NABARD adopted, as its mission, the promotion of sustainable and equitable development of agriculture and rural prosperity through effective credit support, related services, institution development and other innovative initiatives. Civil aviation minister, Ajit Singh on 8 February, released Shubh Yatra, an exclusive monthly bi-lingual (Hindi & English) in flight magazine of Air India; it covers travel, lifestyle, culture and entertainment in all colour and spice. This is the new name of the in flight magazine. India is likely to produce 250.14 million tones of food grains during 2012-13 (includes kharif 2012 and rabi crops in the field at present). This, despite a drop of 7 million tones in production during kharif, owing to erratic monsoons. As per the second advance estimates of crop

production released on 8 February, by the Agriculture Ministry, production of major crops except pulses is likely to be less than last year, which happened to be the year of record food grain production helped by a favourable monsoon. In the present crop year (2012-13), despite deficient and late rainfall in many parts of the country in the monsoon season, the estimated production is higher than the food grain production achieved any time before last year, showing the growing resilience of Indian agriculture. A number of initiatives have been taken in recent years to increase production of pulses, including raising MSP of main pulses crops significantly and special schemes to encourage farmers to adopt modern agronomic practices in pulses production. The assessment of production of different crops is based on the feedback received from States and validated with information available from other sources. The successful NTPC stake sale, on 7 February, fetched the government Rs.11,500 crore, the second PSU share sale in a week that was over-subscribed, helping to move closer to the Rs.30,000-crore disinvestment target. The share sale of the countrys largest power producer, NTPC, was over-subscribed 1.7 times as an offer price lower than th e scrips trading rate on stock exchanges received tremendous interest from foreign investors. Coming within a week of the share sale of Oil India, the NTPC issue was also lapped up by foreign investors in a big way, making the government say there is still a huge demand for PSU shares in the market. The total demand received for the offer was 132.84 crore shares, which is 1.7 times over the 78.32 crore shares or 9.5 per cent stake on the block. The government had fixed the floor price or the minimum offer price at Rs.145 a share. The indicative price, which is the weighted average price of all valid bids, came in at Rs.145.91 at the close of the auction. The ambitious rural road scheme received a boost on 7 February, with the government clearing projects worth an estimated Rs 38,500 crore to connect left out habitations including those in 82 Naxal-affected districts and areas of Arunachal Pradesh bordering China. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Sigh, gave "in principle" approval for connecting all habitations with a population of 100 tribals and above in 82 Naxal-hit districts with all-weather roads under the Centre's flagship programme PMGSY.In case of multi-connectivity at the block level, identified by the Union Home Ministry, it is not compulsory that tar-paved roads should be constructed in such areas where Maoists target metalled roads used by security forces. At present, the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), envisages connecting all habitations with a population of 250 persons and above in tribal areas in Naxal-affected districts. The Cabinet also gave nod to connect

unconnected small villages with population below 250 in strategically important districts of Arunachal Pradesh bordering China with all- weather roads. An amount of Rs 1200 crore is expected to be cost for providing new connectivity to the habitations in the border districts of Arunachal Pradesh. Out of the state's 17 districts, 10 districts are bordering China and Myanmar and the small habitations in these districts will be major beneficiaries. Researchers have identified the world's largest prime number yet, beating the previous record by over four million digits . The number has now shot up to 2 multiplied by itself 57,885,161 times minus 1, breaking a four-year dry spell in the search for new, ever-larger primes. Curtis Cooper from the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg made the finding as part of the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS), a distributed computing project designed to hunt for a particular kind of prime number first identified in the 17th century, the 'New Scientist' reported. All prime numbers can only be divided by themselves and 1. The rare Mersenne primes all have the form 2 multiplied by itself p times minus 1, where p is itself a prime number. The new prime, which has over 17 million digits, is only the 48th Mersenne prime ever found and the 14th discovered by GIMPS. The previous record holder, 2 multiplied by itself 43,112,609 times minus 1, which was also found by GIMPS in 2008, has just under 13 million digits. All the top 10 largest known primes are Mersenne primes discovered by GIMPS. GIMPS software runs on around a thousand university computers, one of which spent 39 days straight proving that the number was prime, which was then independently verified by other researchers NTPC signs loan pact worth $250 million with SBI

State-run NTPC on 6 February said it has signed a loan agreement worth USD 250 million with State Bank of India and Japan-based Mizuho Corporate Bank for financing its expansion plans. "NTPC has signed a term-loan agreement for USD 250 million (approximately Rs 1,327 crore) with the New York branch of State Bank of India and Singapore branch of Mizuho Corporate Bank as lead arrangers and lenders," the company informed the stock exchanges today.

: February 2013 Science & Technology ::.


National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 26 February, with Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy

Development Agency (CREDA) to explore the potential of geothermal resources and subsequently implement geothermal project at Tatapani in Chhattisgarh. The MoU was signed by Ajit Kumar, Executive Director (Business Development), NTPC and Shailendra Kumar Shukla, Director, CREDA. Tattapani Geothermal field is located approximately 100 kms northeast of Ambikapur in Surguja district of Chhattisgarh and is considered to be one of the most promising sites in India for developing geothermal based power project. Geothermal generation is the harnessing of the geothermal energy or the vast reservoir of heat energy stored in the earth's interior for generating power. To facilitate technical institutions to respond to the need of providing State of art Telecom equipment based operational Skills to engineering graduates to enhance their qualification, competence and employability by enhanced skill up-gradationAll India Council For Technical Education is signing an MoU with BSNL to use the training facilities and faculty of BSNL for the benefit of students in AICTE approved intuitions under its Employability Enhancement Training Program (EETP). The MoU was signed in the presence of Humane Resources Development Minister, Dr. M.M.Pallam Raju and Minister of State, Jitin Prasada in New Delhi on 27 February. The programs will focus on practical hands-on training in field/lab work supplemented with structured academic content that is currently being provided online and can be supplemented with appropriate theory sessions in academic institutions/colleges. Practical session shall be held in the weekends or other times in flexi-mode that shall expose the students to various states of art telecom equipment and their operation. The training will be provided through 44 training centers of BSNL, spread across the country. The students to be trained under the scheme shall be finalized by AICTE for each centre. The Project cost is approximately to be Rs. 15 Cr and is expected to train 15000 students. br /> Defense Minister AK Antony in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on 27 February informed that, Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has proposed to set up two Missile Test Ranges at the Rutland Island at Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Nagayalanka in Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh . A proposal for diversion of forest land in Andaman & Nicobar Islands has been initiated by DRDO. A request has also been made to the Government of Andhra Pradesh to spare unassigned revenue land and reserve forest land at Nagayalanka. Both the projects for setting up of Missile Test Ranges are at the initial planning stages and land acquisition process is on. These projects would be sanctioned

after the proposals are cleared by the Ministry of Environment and Forest and Revenue Authorities. ISRO's PSLV-C20 Rocket Successfully Launched SARAL and Six Other Satellites Six foreign micro and mini spacecrafts as well as the Indo-French oceanographic study satellite, SARAL (Satellite for Argos-3 and Altika) were launched successfully by ISRO's PSLV-C20 rocket on 25 February 2013 from the spaceport at Sriharikota. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) of Indian Space Research Organizations (ISRO) flew from first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre and was successfully put into the orbit. The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee witnessed this launch from mission control centre at Sriharikota.

Satellites launched by PSLV-C20 rocket: o o o o o o 410-kg SARAL with payloads - Argos and Altika Two micro-satellites UniBRITE and BRITE from Austria AAUSAT3 from Denmark STRaND from United Kingdom Micro-satellite (NEOSSat) Mini-satellite (SAPPHIRE) from Canada

These seven satellites were launched successfully by PSLV which depicted its versatility and recorded 22nd successful flight consecutive. ISRO also has plans to launch the Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle that has indigenous cryogenic engine, along with the In dias mission to Mars, both of which are scheduled for 2013. Kerala has become the first state in the country to launch an ambitious programme to generate over 10 MW of solar power through over 10000 roof-top solar power systems of I kw each to be installed at individual houses. The unique programme was formally launched by Dr Farooq Abdullah, Minister for New and Renewable Energy at Tiruvanthapuram on 11 February. Oomen Chandy, Chief Minister of Kerala was also present on the occasion. This is the biggest program sanctioned to Kerala so far with an overall expenditure of over Rs 175 crores and budgetary support of over Rs. 80 crores from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). The aggregated and complete project is expected to generate 15 Million Units of electricity annually. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Abdullah congratulated the state of Kerala for taking this initiative. He also promised his Ministrys support for the second

phase of the project aimed at reaching over 50,000 households with a subsidy support of over Rs. 200 crores. Indian Coast Guard Ship 'Rajratan, the fifth of a series of eight Inshore Patrol Vessels (IPVs) was commissioned by Director General Indian Coast Guard, Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan in Kolkata on 11 February. Indigenously built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata, the 50m long IPV displaces 300 tonnes and can achieve a maximum speed of 34 knots, with an endurance of 1500 nautical miles at an economical speed of 16 knots. Equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry and advanced communication and navigational equipment, it makes an ideal platform for undertaking multifarious close-coast missions such as surveillance, interdiction, Search and Rescue, and medical evacuation. The special features of the ship include an Integrated Bridge Management System (IBMS), Integrated Machinery Control System (IMCS) and an integrated gun mount with indigenous Fire Control system (FCS). As a part of its efforts to mainstream issues relating to HIV/AIDS, the Department of AIDS Control, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare signed the first MoU with the Ministry of Shipping on 15 February. It was signed by Lov Verma, Secretary, Department of AIDS Control, and Pradeep K Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Shipping. According to the MoU, NACO will provide HIV/AIDS/STI preventive, care support and treatment services to port workers as well as community around major ports including fishermen, seafarers, truckers, single male migrants and other vulnerable population etc. It also aims to provide stigma free environment and promote greater involvement of people living with HIV in all major port areas. Pakistan on 11 February 2013 successfully test fired short-range surface-to-surface missile Hatf IX (NASR). The test fire took place with consecutive launches of two missiles from multi-tube launcher. NASR has 60 km range with the capability of in-flight manoeuvring. It also has the capability of carrying nuclear warheads. NASR is designed specifically to defeat AntiTactical Missile Defence Systems of all kinds. Pakistan successfully tested the nuclear-capable Hatf-II ballistic missile, also known as Abdali on 15 February 2013. The test was conducted in order to evaluate the capabilities of Strategic Forces. Hatf-II ballistic missile is a short range surface-to-surface ballistic missile. Hatf-II has a range of 180 km.

NASA

Satellite

Data

Found

Freshwater

Losses

in

Middle

East

A new study using data from a pair of gravity-measuring NASA satellites found on 12 February 2013 that large parts of the arid Middle East region lost freshwater reserves rapidly during the past decade. Scientists at the University of California at Irvine found that during a seven-year period beginning in 2003, parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran along the Tigris and Euphrates river basins lost 117 million acre feet (144 cubic kilometers) of its total stored freshwater. That is almost the amount of water in the Dead Sea. The researchers attribute about 60 percent of the loss to pumping of groundwater from underground reservoirs. Since obtaining ground-based data in the area is difficult, satellite data, such as that from NASA's twin Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites, are essential. GRACE is providing a global picture of water storage trends and is invaluable when hydrologic observations are not routinely collected or shared beyond political boundaries. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 7 February, approved the proposal for the merger of National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) and National Wetlands Conservation Programme (NWCP) into a new scheme called the 'National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems' (NPCA). The merged scheme shall be operational during the XII Plan Period at an estimated cost of Rs.900 crore on 70:30 cost sharing between the Central Government and respective State Governments (90:10 for North-East States). For conservation of lakes and wetlands, the Ministry of Environment and Forests is presently, implementing two separate Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS), namely the NWCP and the NLCP. To avoid overlap, promote better synergies and to ensure conservation and management works, an integrated scheme, NPCA is proposed, with the objective of conserving aquatic ecosystems (lakes and wetlands), through implementation of sustainable conservation plans and governed with application of uniform policy and guidelines. The principal objectives of the new scheme will be holistic conservation and restoration of lakes and wetlands for achieving desired water quality enhancement, besides improvement in biodiversity and the ecosystem, through an integrated and multidisciplinary approach with a common regulatory framework, The scheme would contribute to reduction of pollution loads and improvement in goods and services provided by these water bodies to stakeholders.The new scheme will have conservation and management of lakes and wetlands in the country within its scope, to include inventory and information system on lakes and wetlands national level directive on criteria for lakes and wetlands, regulatory framework, capacity building at state government and local body levels, evaluation etc.

The Department of AYUSH, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, in collaboration with WHO-SEARO New Delhi will organize International Conference on Traditional Medicine in New Delhi on 12-14 February 2013.The conference will be participated by Health Ministers of the SEARO region, experts from WHO SEAR (South East Asia Region),WPR (Western Pacific Region) and other countries. The objective is to promote the role of traditional and complementary medicine (TM & CM) in healthcare provision in general and Primary Health Care in particular, evaluate the integration of TM & CM into National Health Systems and promotion of their use in Primary Healthcare, share research methodologies for studies on safety, efficacy and quality of TM & CM for PHC in order to identify best practices to ensure the safety, share National policies, programmes and experiences on TM &CM to promote and propagate in SEARO Region, exchange views and share evidence-based information and country experiences on TM & CM, identify priority issues and challenges in strengthening the development and appropriate integration of traditional medicine as part of the National Health system. World Health Organization (WHO) has been supporting the development of traditional and complementary medicines (TM & CM) in all member countries. The conference is expected to broaden and update the knowledge on integration, regulation and research priorities in TM & CM. It will also enhance cooperation among SEARO countriesin the field of traditional medicine.

A daylong Conference of South Asian Autism Network (SAAN) will be held at New Delhi on 11th February 2013. Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson, National Advisory Council will inaugurate the conference. Representatives from India, Bangladesh, Thailand and WHO, SEARO will participate in the daylong conference. It may be mentioned that Autism is a developmental disorder which is characterized by communication difficulties, social, behavioral challenges as well as repetitive behaviours. The diagnosis of autism is difficult due to the use of different diagnostic criteria. The WHO perspective about health, especially mental health, shows an escalation in the disease burden for autism from 10% to 14% over the period 1990 to 2011. It is expected to rise to 15% by 2020. After the adoption of Dhaka Declaration on 25 July 2011, the South Asian Autism Network (SAAN) was born to combat the devastating autism public health crises.

An Advanced Light Helicopter Mk-IV army version 'Rudra' was handed over by Dr RK Tyagi, Chairman, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to Lt Gen Narendra Singh, Deputy Chief of Army Staff (P & S), Indian Army during AERO India 2013 at Yelahanka Air Base, Bangalore on 8

February.. At the outset of the ceremony, P Soundara Rajan, Managing Director said Rudra, first armoured helicopter - is the Mk IV variant of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) designed and manufactured by HAL. This helicopter is fitted with Day and Night Targeting systems and can carry a mix of weapons (70 rockets, anti-tank missiles, air to air missiles and 20 mm turret gun), providing the required capability to search and destroy any targets. Rudra is designed indigenously at the Rotary Wing Research and Design Center (RWR & DC) to meet the mission specifications and tested extensively over varied terrains and firing ranges in India. Regional Center for Military Airworthiness has provided Initial Operational Clearance for the project facilitating delivery of helicopters to Indian Armed Forces. Rudra is all set to redefine battle tactics in modern day conflicts. Largest prime number discovered

The largest prime number has been discovered and it's 17,425,170 digits long. The new prime number crushes the last one discovered in 2008, which was a paltry 12,978,189 digits long. The discovery was made by mathematician Curtis Cooper from the University of Central Missouri. To find it, Cooper used a vast network of volunteer computers known as the "Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search" with a combined total of more than 360,000 processors. The setup is similar to the SETI@Home project which uses spare processing power on people's computers to help analyze astronomical data. "It's analogous to climbing Mount Everest," said George Woltman who invented the system. "People enjoy it for the challenge of the discovery of finding something that's never been known before." Union Cabinet approved DRDO for developing AWACS for IAF

The Union Cabinet of India on 6 February 2013 gave approval to Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for developing an indigenous Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AWACS) for IAF. AWACS allows IAF to keep a close watch on the enemy territory. The government granted an in-principal approval to the proposal for developing an indigenous AWACS. The approval was granted in the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security. DRDO officials announced that DRDO would work for finalisation of further details of the programmes as well as the number of aircrafts that IAF would need for giving overall coverage to Indias boundaries. At present, India has a fleet of three AWACS aircraft. First Complete Bionic Man of the World Unveiled at London's Science Museum First bionic man of the world called Rex was unveiled on 7 February 2013 at London's Science Museum. The bionic man was created using 1 million US dollar limbs as well as organs. Prosthetic

legs and ankle came from MIT, synthetic blood from Sheffield University, spleens, pancreas and artificial kidneys from University College London, retinas from Oxford University and artificial lungs came from Swansea. Rex has a human face with brown eyes and a height of 6.5 feet. It was designed jointly with assistance from 18 universities and companies. Rex gave a hope that it was possible to replace the body parts with the artificial alternatives, for the very first time. The internal organs of Rex such as artificial lungs, bladder and pancreas were in line of development. It is important to note that it is not possible for certain technology to function without the help of human input. For example bionic hands require signals from brain and muscles to work properly. Other parts however, such as pancreas and heart can be designed to work automatically. Rex would remain in display at London's Science Museum from 7 February 201 to 11 March 2013. C-DAC unveils Indias fastest supercomputer

Precise weather forecasting, faster tapping of natural resources in the sea and designing of customised drugs for individuals will now be possible using Param Yuva II, India's fastest supercomputer. Developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Param Yuva II was inaugurated by J Satyanarayana, secretary, department of electronics and information technology, in Pune on 8 February. The supercomputer has been upgraded to 524 teraflops, about 10 times faster than the present facility. With an investment of Rs 16 crore, it was developed in a record three months. Param Yuva II will also give a boost to research in space and bioinformatics, among others. Developing research-based applications will take lesser time than before and complex problems will be solved in a simpler way. For instance, if it takes about 18 to 20 years to discover a new drug now from designing to testing Param Yuva II will help reduce this time to 15 years. The supercomputer would also help in reducing the time-frame in weather predictions. If researchers currently collect satellite data to predict the conditions for a six-km region, the supercomputer could help cover a wider region, may be up to 10 km. About 300 people from the C-DAC team were involved in the making of the supercomputer, which also promises to be energy efficient with 35% reduction in energy consumption as compared to the earlier facility. C-DAC director general Rajat Moona said, "Although we initiated the project in June 2012, we only intended that it would upgrade the facility. However, we later realised that it could be upgraded to half-a-petaflop (524 teraflop) and we achieved this within three months." Moona said, "The list of top 500 supercomputers in the world is released twice in a year, in June and November. Had we launched Param Yuva II in November, it would have been in the 62nd position."

February 2013 Awards ::.


Indian scientist Sugata Mitra was awarded the million-dollar TED Prize on 26 February 2013 for pursuing his idea for building the schools in the Internet. TED Prize is actually awarded to the extraordinary people who have creative as well as bold ideas for global change. Sugata Mitra is a researcher who started inspiring the children across the world to arouse curiosity in them. In 1999, Sugata along with his colleagues installed the Internetconnected computer in New Delhi and left it with the hidden camera. Eventually, the slum kids started learning English as well as searched the Internet for various Science and other topics. Sugata performed these experiments for 13 years, which eventually earned him 1 million US dollars TED Prize. TED Prize was first introduced in 2005. B Surender Mohan, CMD, NLC (Neyveli Lignite Corporation) was conferred with the CEO with HR Orientation Award on 17 February 2013 at the World HRD Congress 2013 in Mumbai. Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited is a Navratna Government of India Enterprise. World HRD Congress is actually the largest meeting of the HR professionals from the world which brings together global personalities. World HRD Congress is held annually and the purpose of the meeting is to honour best CEOs who implement as well as innovate the new techniques in HR arena. The World HRD Congress 2013 was held at Hotel Taj Lands End, Mumbai. 170 HR professionals from USA, South America, India and England participated in this meeting. B Surender Mohan was chosen for this award by Jury and Council of Board Members of World HRD Congress 2013. Information Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh, P. Vijaya Babu was conferred with Narla-Deveneni puraskaram at a function held at Guntur on 28 February. With an experience of over 25 years in main stream journalism, Mr. Vijaya Babu has been chosen for the puraskaram for his contribution to the field of journalism. The award was instituted in memory of former Editor of Andhra Prabha and Andhra Jyothi Narla Venkateswara Rao and Deveneni Subba Rao. From this year, Annamaya Seva Samithi has been entrusted with the task of presenting the award. The previous recipients of the award were Turlapati Kutumba Rao, Ch. Raghavachari, Harihara Priya, Sankara Narayana and senior journalist from Tenali B.L Narayana. Bollywood actor Anupam Kher was honoured by Herb J. Wesson, Jr, President Los Angeles City Council and Tom Labonge, Council Member 4th District with a City Proclamation at Los

Angeles City Hall on February 26 in Los Angeles, Californi a.It may be known that the actors performances in films like Bend It Like Beckham and went on to do Bride & Prejudice, The Mistress of Spices, American Blend, Hope and a Little Sugar, Midnights Children and TV series ER has been appreciated and been an inspiration for other actors. Vishwaroop, CEO, NTPC SAIL Power Company (NSPCL) has been conferred with Exemplary Leader Award by World HRD Congress Global HR Excellence Awards held in Mumbai on 25 February. Vishwaroop has been honored for his contributi on to the Power Sector. NTPC SAIL Power Company (NSPCL) is the joint venture between NTPC Limited and SAIL for generating power for the steel plants in India. The 85th Academy Awards (Oscars) ceremony took place on 24 February 2013. The annual Academy Awards were presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). The Oscars 2013 ceremony was held at Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California. The main winners of the Oscars 2013 were Life of Pi, with four awards; Argo with three awards; Les Miserables with three awards. Some of the key awards are -

List of the awardees of 85th Academy Awards: o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o Best Picture: Argo Best Actor in a Leading Role: Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln Best Actress in a Leading Role: Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Anne Hathaway for Les Misrables Best Animated Feature Film: Brave Best Cinematography: Claudio Miranda for Life of Pi Best Costume Design: Anna Karenina Best Directing: Ang Lee for Life of Pi Best Documentary Feature: Searching for Sugar Man Best Documentary Short: Inocente Best Film Editing: William Goldenberg for Argo Best Foreign Language Film: Amour (Austria) Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell for Les Misrables Best Music-Original Score: Mychael Danna for Life of Pi

Best Music-Original Song: Skyfall from Skyfall (Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth)

Best Production Design: Rick Carter (Production Design); Jim Erickson (Set Decoration) for Lincoln

Best Visual Effects: Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott for Life of Pi

o o

Best Writing-Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio for Argo Best Writing-Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained

Pandit Ravi Shankar, the sitar legend was honoured with the posthumous Lifetime Achievement Grammy award. His daughter sitarist Anoushka Shankar accepted the award on his behalf on 9 February 2013 ahead of the Grammys show that took place in Los Angeles on 10 February 2013. Anoushka Shankar and Norah Jones attended the pre-Grammy ceremony at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre for accepting the honour which was given to their deceased father. Pandit Ravi Shankar died on 11 December 2012 at 92 years of age. Pandit Ravi Shankar was in the list of seven other artistes named for Lifetime Achievement Award honourees. The Indian sitar legend also won best world music album Grammy for the Living Room Sessions Part 1. Pandit Ravi Shankars daughter Anoushka Shankar was also nominated in this category for album Traveller.

The Romanian film Child's Pose has picked up the coveted Golden Bear prize for best film at the 63rd Berlin film festival . The film, directed by Calin Peter Netzer, tells the story of a wealthy mother who uses her connections to try and stop her son from going to jail. US filmmaker David Gordon Green won best director at the festival for his comic road movie Prince Avalanche, while best actress went to Chile's Paulina Garcia for her role as a Santiago divorcee in Gloria.The biggest surprise at the Berlin awards ceremony was the best actor prize going to Nazif Mujic, a Bosnian Roma who had never acted before and had to be talked into playing himself in a drama based on his real-life ordeal.

Michael Clarke, the Australian cricket captain won the fourth Allan Border Medal in Melbourne on 4 February 2013. 31-year old Clarke had won the medal earlier in 2005, 2009 and 2012. Apart from Clarke, the only other player to win this medal four times is Captain Ricky Ponting. Michael Clarke also won the Test cricketer of the year award for the second consecutive time after he scored 1080 runs in nine tests from 25 February 2012 to January 28 2013. Allan Border Medal is a prestigious award given away in the Australian cricket. It was first

awarded in 2000. The Allan Border Medal is named after the former captain of Australia, Allan Border.

February 2013 Sports ::.


Australia won the ICC Womens World Cup Trophy after defeating West Indies by 114runs on 17 February 2013 at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.Australia clinched the title for the sixth time in the history of womens cricket World Cup it last won the title in 2005. Australia scored 259 runs (this is the highest score in Womens World Cup Final) at the loss of 7 wickets in 50 overs and West Indies lost all its wickets at the score of 145. New Zealands Suzie Bates elected as player of the tournament for scoring 407 runs with three half-centuries in the series. Ranchi Rhinos beat Delhi Wave riders 2-1 to win the inaugural Hockey India League (HIL) in the match at Astroturf Hockey Stadium on 10 February 2013. Apart from winning the trophy, Ranchi Rhinos took away 2.5 crore Rupees. Mumbai Magicians player Sandeep Singh hit maximum goals (11) in the tournament.Hockey India League (HIL) was played from 14 January 2013 to 10 February 2013 in which 5 teams Delhi Waveriders, Jaypee Punjab Riders, Sahara India Uttar Pradesh Wizards, Dabur Mumbai Magicians and Patel-Union Ranchi Rhinos participated. The tournament was played at 5 places- Delhi, Jalandhar, Lucknow, Mumbai and Ranchi. Renowned hockey players of the world participated in the Hockey India League (HIL). 34 matches in all were played during the tournament. South African Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius appeared in court on 15 February, charged with the murder of his girlfriend an incident that has stunned the country. Reeva Steenkamp, a model and budding reality TV show participant, was shot and killed at Pistorius' upmarket home in an eastern suburb of the South African capital in the predawn hours of 12 February, sending the country reeling. South African media reported that Paralympic and Olympic track star Pistorius shot his girlfriend four times through a bathroom door at his Pretoria home. Police said the victim was shot four times at Pistorius' villa in a gated community. Officers found a 9 mm pistol inside the home and arrested Pistorius on a murder charge. Pistorius made history at the London Olympics last year when he became the first double-amputee track athlete to compete at any games. He didn't win a medal but did make the semifinals of

the 400 meters and the final of the 4X400 relay, propelling the world's best-known Paralympian to the level of an international track star. Zhuang Zedong(72), the table tennis legend of China, died in Beijing on 10 February 2013 fight with cancer. Zhuang Zedong is a three-time world table tennis champion. He won a range of events in 1960s. Zhuang Zedong remained a crucial figure in ping-pong diplomacy of 1971 and is popularly also called the Architect of Ping-Pong Diplomacy. Ping-pong diplomacy means exchange of the table tennis (ping-pong) players between China and US. This was done to normalise relations between these two countries. Members of the International Olympic Committee have voted to dropping wrestling from the 2020 Summer Olympics Games . The proposal came as a surprise, as wrestling is one of the oldest Olympic sports. The International Olympic Committee's (IOC) executive board voted on 12 February, to remove wrestling from the 2020 Summer Olympics Games, however the move is not yet final. The board recommended dropping wrestling as it was not a part of the 25 "core sports" list. The IOC is seeking to drop one sport in order to make way for a new event in the hopes of renewing and renovating the program for the Olympics, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. However, the vote came to many as a surprise since wrestling has been an Olympic sport since the inaugural modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. Other sports, including modern pentathlon and taekwondo were saved. Pankaj Advani made history at the BetVictor Welsh Open on 14 February, as a 4-1 victory over Graeme Dott saw him become the first Indian player to reach the quarter-finals of a world ranking event.Advani, 8-time world billiards champion playing as a newcomer on the main snooker tour this season, went 2-0 up in the second-round match in Newport with breaks of 63 and 73.The 27-year-old from Pune has now defeated two former world champions at this tournament. Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lankan all-rounder cricketer was appointed the Captain of the test and one-day cricket team of Sri Lanka on 14 February 2013 for a period of one year. Mathews replaced Mahela Jayawardene, who announced to quit captaincy after Sri Lankas tour of Australia. Dinesh Chandimal, the wicket-keeper batsman was appointed as the vicecaptain in the test and one-day format of the game and will lead the country as a captain in the T20 format of the game. Lasith Malinga was appointed as the vice-captain for the T20 team

Serena Williams became the new World number one womens tennis player . Serena Williams who is aged 31 years thrashed Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 and reached Semifinals of Qatar Open Tennis Championship in Doha. On entering the semi-finals, she achieved the top position after a period of two and a half years. Serena Williams will compete against Maria Sharapova in the Semifinals on 16 February 2013. Maria Sharapova reached semifinals after defeating Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-4.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on 8 February 2013 was slapped a penalty of 52.24 crore rupees by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for being indulged in anti-competitive practices. The CCI ordered BCCI to deposit the penalty within 90 days from the date of issue of orders. The CCI in its verdict claimed that BCCI abused its dominant position and directed it to cease its all practices of denying market access to the potential competitors. The regulator also stated that the stance of BCCI was of serious concern and quantum of penalty which should be levied that is proportional to the seriousness of violation. A complaint was filed by Surinder Singh Barmi in November 2010 against BCCI and his allegations were based on issues related to a Professional League Tournament and Indian Premier League (IPL) conducted by the BCCI. The issues were related to irregularities in granting the rights of franchise of the team ownership and award of sponsorship rights as well as media rights of the league. This complaint against BCCI was sent to the CCIs Director General in December 2010 for hearing.

The 2013 Pyeongchang Special Olympics World Winter Games finished on 5 February 2013 after a week of competition among differently-abled athletes. The games took place from 29 January 2013 to 5 February 2013. Almost 200000 spectators witnessed the games in venuesPyeongchang and Gangneung. India returned with 46 medals in 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games at Pyeong Chang, South Korea. The differently-abled athletes of India won 46 medals in all- 13 gold, 17 silver and 16 bronze from mentally-challenged 2200 athletes participating from more than 120 nations in the games. The medal tally of India doubled from World Winter Games 2009. These games were completed in eight categories of sportsalpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, figure skating, short track speed skating, floor hockey and floor ball.

International Cricket Council, ICC rankings for test cricket was released on 4 February 2013 in Dubai. South Africa emerged as the world number one team in the

category and is followed by England, Australia, Pakistan and India. In the latest rankings released by the ICC Hashim Amla, the South African batsman has emerged as the best batsman in the category and with this he became the first batsman to hold the number one dice in both Test and One-day format of the game since 2007, before this Ricky Pointing was the cricketer to hold this position. Michael Clarke, the Australian batsman was racked at second position in the ranking. Dale Steyn, the South African bowler holds the top position in the bowling ranking and is followed by his teammate, Vernan Philander. South African, Jacques Kallis has retained his position as the number one test all-rounder with versatile performance. Pragyan Ojha is the only Indian to feature among the top ten bowlers in the test rankings released. Britain-based Rebecca Adlington, the Olympic champion announced retirement from all forms of competitive swimming on 4 February 2013. Adlington, 23 is from Mansfield. She won ,2008 - Olympic Games 400m gold,2008 - Olympic Games 800m gold,2009 - World Championship 400m bronze,2011 - World Championship 400m silver,2011 - World Championship 800m gold,2012 - Olympic Games 400m bronze,2012 - Olympic Games 800m bronze. Sachin Tendulkar on 8 February 2013 equaled the record of Sunil Gavaskar of 81 first class hundreds in first class cricket at Mumbai . He managed to equal Gavaskars record after scoring an unbeaten 140 runs in Irani Trophy against Rest of India in the first innings of the tournament of Mumbai team.

February 2013 Persons ::.


Vice Admiral Anurag G Thapliyal --on 28 February 2013 he took over as the twentieth Director General of the Indian Coast Guard. He is the successor of the outgoing Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan. He was commissioned on Indian Navy on 1 July 1977 and since then held different sea and operational appointments. He is a Navigation and Aircraft Direction specialist Park Geun-hye (61)-Park Geun-hye sworn-in as the first woman President of South Korea on 25 February 2013. After swearing-in, she vowed for zero tolerance against

nuclearised North Korea as well as economic prosperity of the country. Park Geun-hye took charge of the office of the President of South Korea just a little over 50 years after Park Chunghee, her father had taken over the office in 1961. Park Geun-hye was elected as the first female President of South Korea on 19 December 2012. She belongs to the conservative Saenuri party. Former President of South Korea was Lee Myung-bak. Rajeev Shahare Rajiv Shahare was appointed as the new High Commissioner to Maldives on 28 February 2013, replacing D M Mulay .At present, Shahare is a Joint Secretary in the West Asia North Africa division of Ministry of External Affairs. D M Mulay, on the other hand, has now been appointed as the Indias Consu l General in New York. He would take up office in March 2013. The appointment of Rajeev Shahare came at a time when bilateral relations between India and Maldives are suffering because of termination of contract to GMR for Male International Airport modernization. A Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor Being Planned The Finance Minister, P Chidambaram in his Budget speech in Lok Sabha on 28 February, said that the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project has made rapid progress. Plans for seven new cities have been finalized and work on two new smart industrial cities at Dholera, Gujarat and Shendra Bidkin, Maharashtra will start during 2013-14. We acknowledge the support of the Government of Japan. In order to dispel any doubt about funding, The Government will provide, if required, additional funds during 2013-14 within the share of the Government of India in the overall outlay for the project. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) are currently preparing a comprehensive plan for the Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor. The corridor will be developed in collaboration with the Governments of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The next corridor will be the Bengaluru Mumbai Industrial Corridor on which preparatory work has stared. Kalyan kumar Chakravarty - The President of India on 12 February has appointed Kalyan Kumar Chakravarty, as Chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi . Kalyan Kumar Chakravarty is a 1970 batch Indian Administrative Service Officer and retired in the rank of Secretary to Government of India. He acted as the vice chancellor, National Museum Institute. Chakravarty will hold office till the end of the calendar year in which he completes 70 years of age i.e. upto 31.12.2017.

Subodh Kumar Agrawal- A fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) with 24 years of standing has taken over as the new President of the Institute w. e. f. 12 February. Agrawal has been serving as Central Council member of the Institute for two terms since 2007. He has specialization in the area of internal and statutory audit of private and public sector entities viz. banks and insurance companies. He has been actively involved with the functioning of the Central Council of the Institute in various capacities, viz. as Vice President and Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Member of its various Committees.

C.R. Krishnaswamy Rao(86) - Former Cabinet Secretary C.R. Krishnaswamy Rao Sahib, who was a distinguished IAS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre, passed away at Chennai on 13 February. Rao Sahib had the distinction of working with three Prime Ministers as he was Principal Secretary to Charan Singh and Cabinet Secretary during 1981-85 in the Governments of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. He also served as secretary to then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jalagam Vengal Rao while serving in the State.A dedicated and able administrator, Rao Sahib was honoured with the second highest civilian award of Padma Vibhushan in 2006 in recognition of his yeoman services, over 20 years after his retirement. He was also conferred with the Great Maratha Award in 2009. He was a visionary and played a stellar role in the making of the Integrated Guided Missile Programme of the country during the 1980s.

Mohan Parasaran- The Additional Solicitor General was on 13 February 2013 appointed as the Solicitor General of India after senior advocate Rohinton Nariman resigned from his designation. Mohan Parasaran will serve as the Solicitor General of India for a term of three years. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) cleared his name for Solicitor General of India. Rohinton Nariman resigned from his post in Early February 2013. Mohan Parasaran is a senior advocate of the Supreme Court. He was appointed by first UPA Government as Additional Solicitor General (ASG) in July 2004.The Solicitor General of India is the second highest law officer of India and a subordinate to the Attorney General for India, who is the Indian government's chief legal advisor.

Ashok Kumar Mukerji - A.K. Mukheji was appointed as the next Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations on 13 February 2013. Mukerji replaced Hardeep Singh Puri who retired in February 2013 after the tenure of two years. Ashok Kumar Mukerji was chosen by the Ministry of External Affairs of the Union Government of India. At

present, Mukerji is Special Secretary in the External Affairs Ministry. He also served as the Consul General in Dubai as well as the Deputy High Commissioner in London. Y. Bhaskar Rao(75) - The former Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court, sworn in as the Lokayukta on 14 February 2013. The post of Lokayukta was lying vacant since September 2011. Y. Bhaskar Rao will succeed Justice (Retd) Shivaraj Patil who resigned as the Lokayukta in September 2011 after allegations about illegal possession of government site. Y Bhaskar Rao served as the member of National Human Rights Commission. Rao was sworn- in by the Governor HR Bhardwaj at Raj Bhavan. Lt Gen K Surendranath took over as Chief of Staff of Southern Army Command on 11 February. He was commissioned into 71 Armoured Regiment in 1975 and later went on to Command the same Regiment, a Defence Ministry release said in Chennai. Lt Gen Surendranath has held number of challenging Command appointments in Western, Northern and Eastern theatres that include command of an Independent Armoured Brigade, an Infantry Division in Counter Insurgency environment and a Corps deployed along the International Border opposite Tibet Administrative Region. He has also been awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Bar to Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Sena Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal for his meritorious service. The officer has headed the operations branch of Southern Command in 2010-11, where he oversaw the operationalisation of Exercise Sudarshan Shakti, aimed at starting the transformation of the forces into a modern, lean, and agile fighting combination capable of leveraging new-age technologies. Lt Gen Surendranath is an alumnus of Bishop Cotton School, Bangalore, the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasala and a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. A post graduate in Global Security from Cranfield University, UK, he is an acknowledged expert in strategic affairs. Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) appointed K. Raghu as its new VicePresident on 12 February 2013. K. Raghu is specialized in areas of business, taxation and technology consultation. He served as the member of the central council of ICAI from 2007 to 2010 and during this period he served ICAI as the Chairman of Information Technology Committee and brought forward the e-learning and web-casting initiatives of the organization Governor ESL Narasimhan on 13 February appointed noted soil scientist A Padma Raju as vice-chancellor of Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University for a term of three

Years. The University had been without a head for the last two years with Telangana protagonists insisting that the post should go to a Telangana professor this time. In October last year the board of management of the university had finalised the name of Padma Raju for appointment as vice-chancellor. But the government, in pursuance of the decision of the board, forwarded Rajus name to the governor who, in his capacity as chancellor of the university, issued the notification appointing him as the vice-chancellor. The appointment is for three years from the date of assumption of office by him.. Anita B Pfaff- Daughter of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose presented the first copy of the book Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Germany to the President of India Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on February 6, 2013. The book is brought out by Federation of Indo-German Societies in India and Prof. Anita B. Pfaff. The Federation of Indo-German Societies in India was established in 1971 to strengthen the existing friendly relations between India and the Federal Republic of Germany. Ayesha Haroon(46)- The renowned Pakistani journalist died on 2 February 2013 in New York following 4-year long fight with cancer. Ayesha Haroon is a highly respected journalistic figure in Pakistan. She was former Lahore Resident Editor for The News International. She played an important role in setting up as well as launching Waqt TV channel under The Nation group. She bagged various awards for working as the leading journalist

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