National:

Gandhijis items sell for 1,50,000 Mahatma Gandhis last will and testament, a set of his prayer beads, a pair of leather sandals, and a fragment of his blood on a microscope slide were among 50 rare items sold at an auction fetching a total of more than 1,50,000. A rare British Parliament paper declaring Gandhiji a terrorist fetched 260. The paper, dated 1932, discusses the Civil Disobedience Movement, describing it as a terrorist movement. Its contents include correspondence between Gandhiji and the British authorities. Jessica Lal case: perjury charge slapped on actor, ballistic expert In a path-breaking judgment, the Delhi High Court ordered prosecution of two witnesses, Bollywood actor Shayan Munshi and ballistic expert P.S. Manocha, for perjury for allegedly resiling from their earlier stands as prosecution witnesses in the sensational Jessica Lal murder case of 1999. A Division Bench ordered their prosecution on a suo motu petition. Sculptor Hooja passes away Renowned sculptor Usha Rani Hooja, known for her artistic skills in sculpting the statues installed at several public places died at Jaipur following a prolonged illness. She was 90. Ananthamurthy loses Booker to American Well known Kannada author U. R. Ananthamurthy, the only Indian to be shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize 2013, lost the prestigious award to American writer Lydia Davis. The New York based writer-translator Davis bagged the 60,000 pound prize for her innovative and influential writing, which includes works such as The End of the Story and Varieties of Disturbance. BARC, Mangalore varsity to conduct study at Challakere Mangalore University and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) will conduct a collaborative research on the amount of radioactivity in and around Dodda Ullarti near Challakere in Chitradurga district, where the BARC is building a new campus on 1,810 acres. The special material facility is meant to upgrade nuclear fuel, which will be used for power production and strategic purposes. The University Science Instrumentation Centre at Mangalagangotri and the BARC have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the purpose. UN award for Chandys mass contact programme Chief Minister Oommen Chandys mass contact programme has won the United Nations Public Service Award for the Asia-Pacific zone this year. The UN recognises such initiatives in five separate zones that also include Europe-North America, Middle East, Africa and Latin America-Caribbean. UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon is slated to distribute the awards on June 27 in Bahrain, where programmes connected with the UN Public Service Day, observed on June 23, are being held this time.

International:
Soldier beheaded in London attack A quiet London suburb was the scene of a suspected low-key terror attack in which a man believed to be a serving solider was hacked to death by two armed men who reportedly asked shocked passers-by to take their photographs as they beheaded their victim with a machete-style knife. The attackers, said to be in their 20s and in a disturbed state of mind, were shot by the police and taken to separate hospitals where they were being treated for gunshot wounds. New Zimbabwe Constitution signed into law President Robert Mugabe signed Zimbabwes new Constitution into law clearing the path to crucial elections later this year. Mr. Mugabe (89), who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, signed the document two months after it was overwhelmingly approved by Zimbabweans at a referendum.

Page 1 of 2 23rd May 2013

Facebook joins Web freedom group Facebook became a full member of the Global Network Initiative, a non-governmental organisation promoting Internet freedom and privacy rights. The announcement came one year after the worlds biggest social network gained observer status at GNI, whose corporate members include Microsoft, Yahoo! and Google.

Business and Economy:

Google slashes business app rates for Indian SMBs Google India has reduced the prices of its online business applications for small and medium businesses (SMBs), even as it looks to stem growing competition from players such as Zoho Corp, potentially sparking a price war between Google, Salesforce and other players. The Internet search giant has effected a 45 per cent price reduction in its Google Apps for Business, which include solutions such as Google Drive, Docs, Sheets and Slides. This move comes a few months after the company killed its free version of the software suite for organisations with up to 10 employees. Immigration bill retains clause banning client site placement of H1-B workers The killer provision of ban on client site placement for H1-B workers, which may prove to be detrimental to the interests of major Indian IT companies, remains in place despite a last-minute deal reached between key Senators on certain provisions of the immigration bill. Continued presence of such a problematic provision in the bill, which was passed by a key Senate panel industry sources said, would not only badly hit Indian IT companies, but also disrupt operational capabilities of a large number of key American companies as well. FinMin to release Rs.1 lakh cr oil subsidy Following the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Finance Ministry has been pushed to release nearly Rs.1 lakh crore in petroleum subsidy for 2012-13 for the three oil marketing companies (OMCs) with a caveat that the Petroleum Ministry would shift to export parity price (EPP) for pricing of petroleum products. This move is likely to save Rs.18,000 crore in subsidy outgo. Gold import tariff value cut further Taking cognizance of the high volatility in gold prices with a downward bias in global markets, the government reduced the import tariff value of the yellow metal to $440 per 10 grams from $ 466 per 10 grams fixed a week ago.

Science and Tech:

BrahMos supersonic cruise missile test-fired India successfully test-fired the 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the Navys latest guided missile frigate INS Tarkash off the Goa coast. The missile performed the high-level C manoeuvre in the pre-determined flight path and successfully hit the target.

Sports:
Sony Six bags rights for Euro 2016 Sony Six has bagged the broadcast rights for the UEFA Euro 2016 across the Indian subcontinent and will telecast live all the 51 matches of the tournament. For the first time in the tournaments history, it will be a 24team tournament, having been expanded from the 16team format that had been used since 1996. Indian basketball coach Subramanian passes away A seasoned coach of Indian basketball, Dr. S. Subramanian, passed away in Patiala after being hospitalised for about two weeks following heart ailment. He was 75.

Page 2 of 2 23rd May 2013