National Issues

1. Centre launched mother-child health care scheme Concerned over the high maternal and infant mortality rate in the country, the Centre launched an ambitious programme to provide free services to pregnant women for deliveries and neo-natal care, if needed, up to a month after birth. The facility will be available to all women in government health institutions in both rural and urban settings, and is expected to benefit over one crore women annually. Janani-Shishu Suraksha Karyakram, a scheme sponsored by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare was launched from Mewat, a predominantly Muslim area by Sonia Gandhi, chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance . Other benefits include free drugs and consumables, diagnostics, special diet during stay in the health institution, free provision of blood, exemption from user charges of all kinds, transport to and back from health facility after 48 hours and transport between facilities in case of referral. A child will also be entitled to free treatment and transportation up to a month after birth. 2. Govt launched fisheries insurance policy Bihar became the only state in the country to launch Fisheries Insurance Policy for the fish farmers. The Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Resources minister Giriraj Singh launched the policy in the presence of officials of Oriental Insurance Company Limited. The state government has planned to make radical changes in the agriculture-animal husbandry sector. The consumption of fish in the state is more than production. Describing the insurance policy as a unique one, Minister urged the officials of Oriental Insurance Company Limited to work transparently. He also handed over a cheque of Rs 5 lakh to the chief regional manager of the company on the occasion. 3. Green loos in Lakshadweep Setting a precedent, the tiny island of Lakshadweep is all set to become the first town in the country to install nearly 12,000 ecofriendly toilets in its local buildings and those owned by the Government by March next year. The move is aimed to save the fragile ecosystem of the island, which is under severe threat due to acute sewage disposal problem caused by increasing local population and tourist flow. Lakshadweep has very porous soil so the discharge from the soak pits and the present conventional septic tanks is contaminating groundwater. Moreover, septic tanks constructed in private houses are not scientific. 4. Youth on cycle tour to spread awareness about eye donation With a mission to spread awareness about eye donation, a 22-year-old science graduate from Kolkata is on a bicycle tour of the country. Chayan Mondal plans to tour the country in 500 days to spread the message 'Vision-The most priceless gift'. With the message that "your eyes can add light to someone else's life", Mondal plans to complete the tour on April 7, 2012. Mondal covers 60 to 80 kilometres per day, addressing students in schools, colleges and people in social clubs and convinces them about the need to donate their eyes. 5. Centre revised guidelines for MPLADS As part of an effort to ensure timely and effective implementation of works proposed under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme [MPLADS], the Centre has decided to substantially raise the amount to be released in the first instalment. The MPLADS allows MPs to suggest works to the Head of District to be taken up in their constituency. Projects implemented by government agencies would now be provided 75 per cent of the project cost as the first instalment, while those implemented by nongovernmental agencies would be provided 60 per cent. Likewise, the purchase of Microsoft Office software along with the training of two teachers per school would be now allowed as part of an effort to promote computer literacy in the country. In addition, MPs would be allowed to spend up to Rs.10 lakh a year on projects in any State or Union Territory other than the one from where they were elected. The aim is to promote national unity and fraternity among the people at the grassroots level. 6. Odisha's Koraput district has highest child vulnerability index Nearly 100 districts across the country have been listed as child-vulnerable areas wherein children are at a high risk of losing parental care and getting exposed to difficult circumstances, according to a new survey conducted by SOS Children's Villages of India, a non-government organisation that helps orphaned children. Koraput district in Orissa has the highest child vulnerability index followed by Balaghat district in Madhya Pradesh and Godda, Giridih and Pakur in Jharkhand. Sixty-two of the listed districts fall in the East Zone consisting Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal. The districts in the North Zone do not figure in the list.

Vulnerable children are defined as ones most likely to lose parental care and support due to reasons like poverty, social unrest, HIV/AIDS and disability.

7. Now, PDS licence only for groups in Bihar In a significant move to check corruption and malpractices in the distribution of ration through public distribution shops, the Bihar Government has decided to give licences for PDS shops only to groups of people and not to an individual. Through the PDS, the State Government distributes kerosene and foodgrains to families living below poverty line. There are 42,000 such shops in the State. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had earlier launched a coupon system to BPL families to check malpractice and encourage better service at ration shops. Bihar is the first State to introduce this scheme. 8. Iron Age burial site found near Tiruvannamalai An Iron Age megalithic burial site, dotted with cairn-circles, has been discovered near Veeranam village, at the foot of a chain of hills, in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvannamalai district. This sprawling site, spread over about three km in Tandaramapattu taluk, can be dated to 1,000 BCE-300 CE. What is interesting about the discovery is that many of the cairn-circles have dolmenoid cists on the surface within the circles. Cairncircles are rough stones arranged in a circle, and dolmenoid cists are box-like structures made of granite slabs. The cairn-circles indicate burial chambers below, with urns containing bones and pottery with paddy, beads, knives, swords and other artefacts. 9. CABE endorses education qualification framework The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), the highest advisory body to the Central and State Governments in the field of education, has unanimously endorsed the need for establishing a National Vocational Education Qualification Framework (NVEQF), providing for a nationally recognised document with vertical and horizontal mobility for youth to move between general and vocational education streams. This was one of the resolutions adopted by the CABE at its 58th meeting in New Delhi, chaired by Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal. 10. Mother to be considered head of family under Food Bill The Government has decided to make mothers the heads of the family in the implementation of the Food Security Bill. Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution told that his Ministry was in the process of making its draft on the Food Security Bill, after taking both the NACs draft and Prime Ministers Economy Advisory Councils recommendations into account. 11. Honoraria for anganwadi workers doubled The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved doubling the honoraria for anganwadi workers from Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000 per month and for anganwadi helpers and workers of mini-AWCs from Rs 750 to Rs 1,500 per month under the ICDS Scheme. This doubling of honoraria would result in additional financial burden of Rs 3479.83 crore per annum of which the Centre will contribute 90 percent or an estimated Rs 3131.85 crore. The decision will benefit 11.71 lakh AWWs, including Workers of Mini-AWCs and 10.97 lakh AWHs. It will be effective from April 1, 2011 in all States and UTs. 12. NAI, C-DAC to undertake digital preservation of govt records In an important futuristic project, aimed at preserving electronic public records generated through egovernance initiatives of the Central government, the Pune-based Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), has signed a MoU with the National Archives of India (NAI), New Delhi, for development of applicable software for the purpose. This MoU has been signed as part of the project of Centre of Excellence for Digital Preservation sanctioned by the Department of Information Technology, MCIT, and Government of India. This project will be handled by Human-Centred Design and Computing (HCDC) Group of C-DAC, which specialises in digital preservation and archival, according to Dinesh Katre, Associate director, HCDC group. 13. No faith in govt, SC appoints special team to trail blackmoney The Supreme Court appointed a high-level Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by former apex court judge B P Jeevan Reddy to monitor the investigation and the steps being taken to bring back blackmoney stashed in foreign banks. Besides Justice Reddy, who would be the chairman of the SIT, the apex court also appointed its former judge, Justice M B Shah as the vice-chairman of the panel.

14. Nashik DRDO lab to focus on propellants The newly set-up DRDO laboratory in Nashik Advanced Centre for Energetic Materials (ACEM) is expected to benefit future missile developments. ACEM, set up with inputs from city based High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) will focus on the development of propellents for the missiles, which in turn can result in miniaturisation of the missile systems. 15. Green Tribunal got into action The National Green Tribunal (NGT), a judicial body aimed at expediting environment-related cases, began functioning. India is the third country in the world after Australia and New Zealand to have a dedicated court to decide on green cases. The bench will hear cases transferred from the National Environment Appellate Authority and from various courts including the Supreme Court. With the launch of the NGT, the appellate authority has ceased to exist. The NGT is an independent body which was launched in October last with the initial support of the Ministry. The Tribunal is headed by former Supreme Court judge LS Panta. It also comprises retired High Court judges, A Suryanarayana Naidu and CV Ramulu assisted by environmental experts. With its headquarters in Delhi, the NGT will have four circuit branches in the four regions of the country. While the eastern bench will be at Kolkata, the western at Pune, the central unit will be at Bhopal and the southern at Chennai. The Delhi bench would eventually function as the principal bench. 16. Lafarge got nod to mine in Meghalaya The Supreme Court allowed French cement giant Lafarge to mine limestone in the forests of the East Khasi hills in Meghalaya. A special forest bench headed by the Chief Justice S H Kapadia allowed the plea of Lafarge to mine in the forests of Meghalaya. The apex court also upheld the revised environmental clearances given to Lafarge by the Ministry of Environment and Forest and said, "We are satisfied with the MOEF as it has taken a due diligence exercise." 17. E-way to have Indias second longest road tunnel The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) planned the countrys second longest tunnel on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway as part of its augmentation plans for the Expressway and National Highway 4 after a series of fatal accidents recently. The tunnel, expected to be around six to eight km, will link Khopoli and Lonavala, bypassing the dangerous ghat section, MSRDC officials said. This will be the countrys second longest tunnel. It will also surpass Jammu and Kashmirs Jawahar tunnel, the longest now at 2.5 km, said a senior MSRDC official. 18. Maternal mortality rate came down Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) came down in Northern India by 67 points from 375 to 308 during 2004-09. MMR measures number of women aged 15-49 years dying due to maternal causes per 1,00,000 live births. Among the Southern States, the decline has been from 149 to 127 during 2004-09. The Other States reported decline from 174 to 149. Empowered Action Group (EAG) States comprise Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and Assam. The highest decline in MMR was observed in Assam (90 points) followed by Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand (81 points), Rajasthan (70 points), Madhya Pradesh/Chhattisgarh (66 points), Bihar/Jharkhand (51 points) and Odisha (45 points). In southerm states Kerala recorded MMR of 81 per lakh live births while Tamil Nadu recorded 97 per lakh live births, the RGI Bulletin said adding that Maharashtra recorded 104 per lakh live births. Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat and Haryana are in closer proximity to achieving the MDG target of 109. According to the RGI, Bihar has reported the highest TFR (3.9) while Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the lowest (1.7). 19. Phase III of FM radios got nod The Government cleared guidelines of the much-delayed FM Radio Phase III expansion that will allow private radio channels to broadcast news of All India Radio and enable revenue generation of Rs 1,733 crore from the auction of license for services in 227 cities. A meeting of the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also approved hiking of foreign investment limit on private FM radio broadcasting company to 26 per cent from the current 20 per cent. The FM Phase-III policy extends FM radio services to about 227 new cities, in addition to the present 86 cities with a total of 839 new FM radio channels. The Phase I and Phase II policies have resulted in a total revenue accrual of about Rs 1,733 crore up to May 31, 2011 by way of one time entry fee, migration fee and annual fee among others.

20. RTI Act, 2005. The bench, comprising justice RV Raveendran and justice AK Patnaik, upheld a February 5, 2009 ruling of the Calcutta high court that examination conducting agencies were not exempted under the transparency law from disclosing the answer-sheets. The verdict will benefit lakhs of students appearing for various examinations, including those conducted by the UPSC, as it gives a student the right to inspect answersheets by just applying to the relevant university, council, board or commission. 21. 70% Indians live in rural areas: Census Nearly 70 per cent of India's 121-crore population lives in rural areas where, for the first time since Independence, the overall growth rate of population has sharply declined, according to the latest Census figures. 22. Manmohan launched a portal on rice management Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched an exclusive, Rice Knowledge Management Portal (RKMP), developed at the city-based Directorate of Rice Research, at the ICAR foundation day celebrations at New Delhi. The rice portal has been developed with eight partners covering 15 major rice growing States under World Bank funded National Agricultural Innovation Project. It is expected to serve as an information highway for sharing rice knowledge through the latest ICT tools including mobile telephony. The portal will help agricultural departments' on-going activities in reaching out to the farmers through extension advisory services in most effective way, said B. C. Viraktamath, project director of the institute. A striking feature is providing content in local language. 23. Navy's oldest ship decommissioned The oldest commissioned ship of the Indian Navy, Sharabh,' a landing ship tanker, was given a fond farewell after 35 years of service, with a guard of honour and the naval band playing the Last Post. The National Flag, the Naval Ensign and the Decommissioning Pennant were hauled down for the last time at sunset, symbolising the end of her service to the country. The decommissioning ceremony was held at the Naval Jetty by Rear Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of Staff, Andaman and Nicobar Command. 24. Patrol vessel of Coast Guard launched The Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) launched patrol vessel Rani Rashmoni for the Coast Guard, the fifth and last in the series. Union Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallamraju said the HSL had performed worthily after the Defence Ministry acquired it. All efforts would be made to give more orders to the shipyard, but the productivity should be improved. HSL chairman and managing director Rear Admiral K.C. Sekhar said the HSL had so far launched 118 vessels from its slipways, including Rani Rashmoni, and constructed 164 vessels of various types, including 11 well-head platforms. Its turnover last year was Rs.662 crore and the profit after tax Rs.56 crore, which enabled it to start the new fiscal with a clean slate. 25. EGoM for cash transfer, food coupons in food security Bill Notwithstanding objections by many National Advisory Council (NAC) members to cash transfer-based food subsidy, the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) approved to provide for cash transfers and food coupons, among other options, in the proposed food security Bill. 26. Cabinet approved 50% reservation for women in Panchayats The Cabinet approved the proposal for enhancing reservation for women in Panchayats from the present 33 per cent to 50 per cent with the provision being applicable to all seats filled through direct election, office of chairpersons and of offices reserved for SC/ST. The Cabinet approved the proposal for moving an official amendment to the Constitution (One Hundred and Tenth Amendment) Bill, 2009 for enhancing reservation for women in Panchayats at all tiers from 1/3 to at least 50 per cent, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told. The Amendment Bill, which was introduced in Lok Sabha on November 26, 2009, will incorporate one change suggested by the Standing Committee on Rural Development that the word "rural" be added before the word population wherever it occurs in the draft legislation. 27. Cabinet approved changes in Customs Act The Cabinet approved the amendment to Customs Act, 1962, that would help the exchequer safeguard its revenues. The amendment would allow specifically recognised customs officers to assess import duty. The recognition to customs officials would be from retrospective effect, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said. The amendment bill, to be introduced in the forthcoming session of Parliament, will help the government to recover customs duty worth several thousands of crores, Soni added. Officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) will alone have issued notices involving customs duty to the tune

of over Rs 7,500 crore. Also tax evaders will not get benefited at the expense of exchequer on a mere technical ground, she said. 28. Surat fourth fastest growing city in world The diamond city's glitter was noticed by the world. Surat ranks fourth in a global study of fastest developing cities conducted by The City Mayors Foundation, an international think tank on urban affairs. Ghaziabad was at number two after Beihai in Southern China, which had the stupendous average annual growth rate of 10.58 per cent for 2006 to 2020. Ghaziabad's growth rate was given as 5.20 per cent. The City Mayors Foundation went by assumed annual growth rates for cities and urban areas between 2006 and 2020 based on past growth/decline and forecasts by international and national statistics organizations. The third fastest developing city in the list was Sana'a in Yemen (5.00 per cent) while the fifth spot went to Kabul (4.47 per cent). New Delhi figured at spot no 22 (3.48), Faridabad at no 8 (4.44 per cent) and Agra at 53 (2.93 per cent). Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai did not figure in the top 100. 29. IGNOU's Nagpur centre developed vocational courses for prisoners The world's largest open university, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), started vocational courses for prisoners to give them employable skills upon their release. The four certificate courses was developed and designed by IGNOU 's Nagpur regional centre. The course material was finally developed in collaboration with the Central Jail and two other IGNOU community colleges. 30. New audit advisory board for CAG Comptroller and Auditor-General of India Vinod Rai constituted a new 15-member audit advisory board for a two-year term. With the CAG as its ex-officio Chairman, the board will advise the government auditor in matters of audit and suggest improvements in the performance and focus of audit within the framework of the Constitution and statutory mandate of the CAG. The board members, who will function in an honorary capacity are, ICICI Bank non-executive Chairman K.V. Kamath, JP Morgan India CEO Kalpana Morparia, Centre for Policy Research President Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Centre for Science and Environment DirectorGeneral Sunita Narain, Arghyam Chairperson Rohini Nilekani, UNICEF Advisor A.K. Shiva Kumar, social activist Shabana Azmi, the former Delhi Chief Secretary Shailaja Chandra, and public finance consultant T. Sethumadhavan. 31. NSC panel for umbrella legislation The committee constituted by the National Statistical Commission headed by N.R. Madhava Menon is actively considering whether there is a need for any umbrella legislation to make administrative statistics more effective. The panel has also been mandated to review of implementation of statistical laws at the Centre and in the States to suggest further improvements. These are among the various issues being taken up by the committee constituted by the NSC to study the legislative measures in statistical matters including a bill to provide statutory status to the commission. 32. Rani Lakshmibai in Time's list of daredevil wives The young and fiery 19th century queen Lakshmibai of Jhansi, who fought the British valiantly in the 1857 war, was listed by the Time magazine with the likes of Michelle Obama and Sarah Palin among 10 wives who were resolute even in troubled times. The magazine compiled its list of 10 such women following the much-talked about charge by Rupert Murdochs wife Wendi Dang against the man who tried to throw a pie at her husbands face. Among others who find their names mentioned in the list are US first lady Michelle, Republican leader Sarah Palin who was John McCains running mate in the 2008 Presidential election in the US, ancient Egyptian queen Cleopatra and Tiger Woods former wife Elin Nordegren. 33. Now, info on Govt schemes through SMSes Delhiites may soon get information about various Delhi Government schemes and services through SMSes. The Government was considering flow of important information to the people through SMSes as part of its egovernance scheme. Addressing a function Mrs. Sheila Dikshit said use of information technology has resulted in increased accountability, responsiveness and transparency and Government was working on expanding its use in various areas. Highlighting Governments efforts to improve service delivery, she pointed towards Delhi Citizen Service Delivery Act, which guarantees certain services to the citizens in a time-bound manner.

34. Railways got Govt offer for publicising Bharat Nirman plan Government saw a partnership with Indian Railways in publicising its Bharat Nirman Programme, which includes its flagship schemes for rural areas. The Government is learnt to have requested countrys largest transporter to roll out special trains that could cover the length and breadth of the country, publicising its schemes, before the next parliamentary elections. The Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity, a propaganda arm of the central government, has placed before the Railway Ministry an order for four new rakes (train) that could be rolled out as Bharat Nirman Express. Loaded with printed, audio and video campaign materials, these trains would touch every nook and corner of the country highlighting UPA's achievement under its Bharat Nirman programme, which includes several flagships programmes of the government. 35. Week-long Minjar fair inaugurated The international Minjar fair of Chamba got off to a colourful start. Local MLA Bal Krishan Chauhan inaugurated the fair by hoisting the "Minjar flag" amid singing of Kunjari Malhaar" (seasonal folk songs of this alpine region), at Chowgan in Chamba. The festival is celebrated with fervour as it signals the harvest of staple crop of the area, corn. The weeklong festivities witnessed age-old culture of this 1000-year-old city at display. 36. Compensation scheme sanctioned in Bihar For the first time in Bihar, compensation will be paid for loss of life, rape and serious injury even if the perpetrators were not identified, the Cabinet decided. The Cabinet sanctioned the proposal for setting up the Bihar Victims Compensation Scheme 2011 under CrPC, 1973, Cabinet Departments Principal Secretary Ravikant told. It would provide compensation of Rs one lakh for loss of life, Rs 50,000 in the case of rape, Rs 25,000 for grievous hurt, Rs 25,000 for acid hurt, and Rs 25,000 for mental torture. Compensation would be given in the event of non-identification of the perpetrators, which was the first in Bihar, the Principal Secretary said. 37. Govt notified ammonium nitrate as 'explosive' Concerned over the increased use of ammonium nitrate by terror groups in making bombs, the government finally declared the chemical as an "explosive". But given the widespread use of the mixture as fertilizer, the government notification came with a rider that its possession and use would invoke penal action only if the composition had 45% or more ammonium nitrate content. "The central government hereby declares that ammonium nitrate or any combination containing more than 45% of ammonium nitrate by weight including emulsions, suspensions, melts or gels shall be deemed to be an explosive," the commerce and industry ministry said in a notification issued. 38. Civil aviation security got a national policy In a major overhaul of the countrys aviation security, the government proposed rules that empower the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) to detain an aircraft, institute investigations into security mishaps, and clear security manuals of stakeholders at airports across the country. The rules permit the BCAS chief to suspend or cancel the security clearance of an airport upon violation and bring the airports operations to a halt. The draft rules which come almost 24 years after the organisation was set up allow BCAS to frame a national civil aviation security programme. In line with this programme, BCAS will clear security manuals of all aviation stakeholders and develop training courses for them. It will be responsible for establishing security committees at aerodromes used for civil purposes and designate an authority to coordinate implementation of security manual. 39. SC respite for GIB sactuary The recent Supreme Court order on the drastic reduction of the size of the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) sanctuary in Maharashtra came as a big relief for the conservationists and bird experts across the country. The apex court reduced the size of the sanctuary by 7274 sq kms. This was for the first time that the Supreme Court ordered such a big reduction of size of any protected area. The present area of the sanctuary reduced to 1222 sq kms was as per the recommendations of rationalisation committee headed by VB Sawarkar former director Wildlife Institute of India (WII). Further, it could promote healthy growth of other grassland species too as lesser floricans, black buck, Indian fox, wolves etc.

40. J&K got anti-graft panel In a bid to tackle growing concerns of corruption in Jammu and Kashmir, the State Government appointed two former High Court judges to revive the State Accountability Commission (SAC). The nine-year-old commission had remained headless for five years following resignation of its founder chairman Justice (retired) RP Sethi who was fed up with indifference of the authorities towards the commission and its recommendations. A panel including Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Leader of Opposition Mehbooba Mufti selected Justice (retd) Yashpaul Nargotra as the Chairman of the SAC while Justice (retd) Hakim Imtiyaz Hussain was appointed as Member. Interestingly, three former Chief Justices Bilal Nazki, Bashir Ahmad Khan and VK Gupta were in the panel but the Chief Minister preferred Nargotra to head the antigraft commission. 41. President released postage stamp on Rashtrapati Bhavan President Pratibha Devisingh Patil released a commemorative postage stamp on Rashtrapati Bhavan. The postage stamp marks the 80th Anniversary of the commissioning of the building, when the then Governor General of India, Lord Irwin became its first occupant. This year also marks the 100th Anniversary of New Delhi. Also the President of India recently completed four years in office. 42. Answer-sheets can be accessed under RTI: SC In a landmark ruling, a Supreme Court bench said students had the right to access their answer-sheets under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The court held that evaluated answer-sheets were covered under the definition of information under the Right to Information. 43. Soon, SAT-like common entrance test in India The human resource development (MoHRD) is all set to revolutionise the way students get admitted to various engineering and undergraduate level courses in colleges across the country. Borrowing a leaf out of the American education systems Scholar Aptitude Test (SAT), the MoHRD is planning a similar single entrance examination, which will rank students across the country and enable them to get admission according to their rankings. By 2013, there would not be any joint entrance examination for the coveted IITs and other engineering courses. Students need to just sit for the single National Aptitude Test (NAT) and get admitted according to their positions. A similar examination was being planned for all the BSc, BCom and BA undergraduate programmes. This would mean students could stop losing sleep over the crazy cut-off percentage system for admissions and instead try and get good rankings in the new aptitude test. However, their Std 12 marks would continue to cast a shadow on deciding admissions. 44. The Union ministry announced 600-crore Central package for Gorkhaland . The Center will provide a Rs.600-crore economic package over the next three years to the proposed Gorkhaland Territorial Administration in Darjeeling for development activities. The funds will be released in three years Rs.200 crore each beginning this fiscal as part of a tripartite agreement to be signed on July 18, official sources said. The agreement was signed by representatives of the West Bengal Government and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in the presence of Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. 45. Navy captured hijacked vessel, detains crew The Indian Navy apprehended a hijacked cargo vessel, m.v. Nafis-1, off the Mumbai coast, and detained nine crew members, all foreigners, and recovered automatic weapons and arms on August 14. The 500tonne vessel, drifting for 20 days after its machinery broke down at sea, was apprehended approximately 170 nautical miles northwest of Mumbai, an official release said. Authorities suspect the vessel might have been employed for smuggling contraband. Nafis-1 is being towed to Porbandar, where the crew five Yemenis, two Tanzanians, one Kenyan and one Somali and the ship will be handed over to the local police and other investigating agencies. The Indian Naval Maritime Reconnaissance aircraft IL 38 SD first spotted Nafis-1 on August 12 at a distance of 250 nautical miles during a surveillance mission in the East Arabian Sea. The vessel had been under continuous surveillance since then. 46. At the age of 156, she is no mere showpiece At the age of 156, the world's oldest steam locomotive showed heritage buffs in Chennai why she is no mere showpiece. The EIR 21 coal-and-steam-powered loco hit the rails once more to turn the clock back to a bygone era during a heritage run organised by Southern Railway to mark Independence Day.

47. Justice Soumitra Sen resigned The Rajya Sabha approved the impeachment motion against Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court for corruption. Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari called for a voice vote cast the die against Justice Sen and electronic voting confirmed that 189 members were in favour of the motion moved by Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury, with just 17 holding the contrarian view. This is the second time in Parliament's history that a judge has been arraigned for impropriety and the first time that he has been held culpable of the charges against him. But after the Rajya Sabha voted in favour of his impeachment, Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court resigned, marking the end of years of defiance after his conduct had come under a cloud. The resignation, sent to the President with a copy to the Lok Sabha Speaker. 48. EC issues new norms to tackle paid news' The Election Commission has asked the Chief Electoral Officers of States and Union Territories to obtain the standard advertisement rate cards of television and radio channels and the print media six months before the Lok Sabha/Assembly elections so as to check paid news' and the misuse of the media by political parties. The Commission said this was to ensure uniformity while dealing with paid news,' even when no consideration of cash and kind was involved in giving the candidates publicity. The new guideline would deal with advertisements taken out by candidates on television and cable channels owned by political parties or their functionaries and office-bearers. 49. Push to open 42 anti-smoking centres in 21 states The Union health ministry has put in place 19 tobacco cessation centres. Similar centres are expected to come up in 42 district hospitals in 21 states. The ministry has developed a training manual to train doctors on tobacco cessation, including nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). India is yet to introduce NRT - chewing gums meant to help chain-smokers kick the butt - in these cessation centers. 50. Maha Govt plans tree credits, village forests to improve green cover The Maharashtra government will soon introduce the concepts of 'tree credit' and 'village forests' to improve green cover in the state. Both initiatives will be implemented by the social forestry department (SFD). Elaborating on both concepts, Nitin Raut, minister for EGS and water conservation, said that Maharashtra would be the first state to introduce them. These concepts aim to improve the green cover of the state. 51. 12th Plan: focus on energy conservation Inaugurating the National Energy Efficiency Summit-2011, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Ajay Mathur, Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) said the Centre had suggested to all States to fully implement energy conservation measures to bridge the gap between demand and supply to some extent. He said that it would be a big challenge for power utilities in the next five years to meet the ever-increasing demand in various sectors. The Union government is contemplating to lay special focus on energy efficiency and conservation in the 12th five-year plan. 52. Jharkhand women scaled peak in Karakoram Range Binita Soren and Sheelarani Mahato, who hail from Jharkhand, became the first women mountaineers to climb Mt. Saser Kangri IV in the Eastern Karakoram Range of Himalayas in Ladakh. The expedition, sponsored by the Tata Steel Foundation between July 10 and August 21, is considered to be one of the toughest in India. 53. Triumph for Anna as Parliament backed key demands In a historic gesture, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha unanimously resolved to endorse three key ideas that social activist Anna Hazare had insisted be included in the draft Lokpal Bill, now being considered by Parliament. The House agrees in principle on the issues of: (a) Citizens Charter, (b) Lower bureaucracy also to be under Lokpal through appropriate mechanism and,(c) Establishment of a Lokayukta in the States. After this, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare broke his 12-day fast on the Lokpal issue, declaring that he had only suspended his movement and not ended it. The 74-year-old activist ended his fast by sipping of tender coconut water and honey, which were offered to him by two little girls Simran (a Dalit) and Ikrah (a Muslim).

54. Pratibha Patil mooted global tourism at Ashtamudi Lake President Pratibha Devisingh Patil has called for developing Ashtamudi Lake as an international tourism destination incorporating all principles of sustainable and responsible tourism. She was launching the maiden President's Trophy Boat Race on Ashtamudi Lake. The President said Ashtamudi Lake was one of the largest wetland ecosystems that had been included on the list of wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. This makes the lake an important global heritage spot and for the people of Kollam it means that they have a responsibility to give full attention to its conservation, protection, and sustainable utilisation. 55. Nuclear regulator will check radiation safety and n-theft The government has decided to empower the Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority (NSRA), which is being formed to regulate safety from nuclear radiation, with wide-ranging powers to conduct investigations, inspect, search and seize documents and objects from the sources of such radiation. The NSRA Bill 2011, gives the authority sweeping powers to carry out inspection or inquiry as may be necessary, and enter any building or place where the inquiry may lead to. The decision to form a powerful NSRA with a chairperson, two fulltime members and four part-timers was taken by the union cabinet. The authority will replace the existing Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and is in line with the governments commitment to create an independent regulator in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. 56. Tripartite agreement signed with ULFA In the first step towards finding ways for ushering in permanent peace in Assam, a tripartite agreement for Suspension of Operations (SoO) was signed among the Centre, the Assam government and the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). The ULFA had earlier agreed to abjure violence and find a solution to the problems as perceived by the outfit through peaceful negotiations with the Union government and the Assam government. The meeting deliberated in detail on various aspects of the ground rules of the SoO and how to maintain peace in Assam. Members of the rebel group will be put in special camps which will be called nabanirman kendras. 57. Green Bihar campaign Chief Minister Nitish Kumar hands over a cheque, equal to a month's salary, to JD(U) State president B.N. Singh for the Green Bihar campaign launched in Patna. The JD(U) plans to enrol 50 lakh new members to plant an equal number of trees across the State. 58. Total literacy by 2013 The State Government of Andhra Pradesh will formulate an action plan to achieve total literacy by 2013 in addition to the Sakshara Bharathi scheme launched by the Centre to improve the literacy rate in the State. 59. Bengaluru to host World Water Summit in February Leading water innovators, policy makers, academics, researchers, investors, thinkers, catalysts, technocrats and entrepreneurs from across the globe will congregate in Bengaluru for three days in February to discuss the future of innovation in the water sector. They will participate in the first Bangalore World Water Summit' organised jointly by the Centre for Sustainable Development (CSD), the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWS&DB) and the Indian Water Works Association (IWWA) from February 1 to 3. 60. Centre has drafted Bill to regulate higher education' Director of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), H.A. Ranganath said that the Centre has drafted the National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill, 2010. To maintain academic quality, the Bill seeks to make it mandatory for every higher educational institution to be accredited by an independent accreditation agency. The Bill is now before Parliament. Prof. Ranganath said that at present, 162 universities and 5,000 colleges in the country had been accredited by the NAAC, an autonomous institution of the University Grants Commission. 61. Centre to consider Kakodkar panel suggestions on IITs: PM Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the government would consider recommendations of the Anil Kakodkar committee on the functioning of IITs after a council of the premier institutes looks into them.

62. Premature deaths by non-communicable disease high in India: WHO India ranks very high among the nations struck by the rising wave of premature deaths caused by noncommunicable diseases, mainly heart and blood ailments, the WHO said in its latest report. The report said that cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory problems, blood pressure and diabetes are an offshoot of growing affluence of the middle classes as well as worsening health conditions among people below poverty line. 63. Information under RTI on phone Seeking information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act is all set to get easier. Adding a smart layer to the process of applying for information, the Karnataka Government has decided to set up a business process outsourcing centre to handle all applications, enquiries, and even billing. Streamlining the entire process through a website and a call centre, this project, which is pending Cabinet approval, will simplify the current application process where people are required to visit individual departments to procure information. The contract for the project, which will be executed through a public-private partnership, has been awarded to CMC Ltd., an IT solutions firm, which is a subsidiary of Tata Consultancy Services. Karnataka will be the second State to implement such an initiative, following Bihar which introduced Jankaari' in 2007. The project, which, in 2008-09, won the national e-governance award for outstanding performance in citizen service delivery, has been moderately successful and has managed to simplify the process of applying. 64. Quake rocked northeast A powerful earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale rocked Sikkim and other parts of north and east India. The epicentre was at Mangan and Sakyong areas, over 60 km from Gangtok near the Sikkim-Nepal border, and located about 10 km below the surface. The Sikkim government's preliminary assessment of the loss and damage suffered in the September 18 earthquake near the State's border with Nepal suggested that the figure would not be less than Rs. 1 lakh crore, Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling said in Gangtok adding that the State would ask the Centre for a special package once the assessment was finalised. The earthquake has caused massive damage to some structures at two of the five project sites of the 1,200-megawatt hydro-power project in the upper reaches of the Teesta river. 65. Green signal for rail coach factory The hurdles to the setting up of a rail coach factory (RCF) announced for Palakkad four years ago in the Union Railway Budget have been cleared. The State of Tamilnadu wanted the proposed RCF to remain as a PSU and agreed to the salient features of the project subject to the condition that land value would be treated as equity of the State government if the unit was converted into a joint venture in future. On the coach and wagon component factory at Cherthala announced in the 2007 Railway Budget, the Railway Minister said RITES that had been asked to look into the product-mix and suggest an alternative business plan for manufacturing components for LHB coaches and other new generation rolling stock was expected to submit its report by October 15. 66. Justice Katju retired after an eventful innings Justice Markandey Katju retired as Judge of the Supreme Court on his attaining the age of superannuation. He was appointed Supreme Court judge in April 2006 and during his tenure spanning a little over 5 years, he has rendered several landmark judgments on various branches of law, in particular criminal jurisprudence, constitutional, and human rights issues. With his smiling face, he endeared himself to members of the Bar and the Bench. Justice Katju was a judge of the Allahabad High Court, the Chief Justice of the Madras and Delhi High Courts, before being elevated to the Supreme Court. 67. Making cities, towns more socially and environmentally sustainable The panel, formed to work out the parameters for the urban transport segment under the recently launched National Mission on Sustainable Habitat, set up by the Ministry for Urban development, has come out with a strong call to increase the excise duty and registration costs on diesel-powered private vehicles, ban hoardings on pedestrian walkways and cut down the taxes on buses and other public transport vehicles as part of measures to make cities and towns more socially and environmentally sustainable. 68. EC wanted to ban govt ads 6 months prior to polls In its continuing efforts to ensure a level playing field for political parties, the Election Commission intended to ban publication or broadcast of government advertisements from six months prior to the expiry of Parliament or legislative assemblies. Such a ban currently comes into force with the announcement of elections, which also brings in the code of conduct.

69. J&K became first State to launch my stamp Jammu and Kashmir became the first State to formally launch the My Stamp concept on September 26 at a four-day-long Philatelic Exhibition. The Department of Posts is coming up with some novel ideas to reestablish connection with the people, which has suffered during the 21 years of turmoil. This scheme is a novel method to emotionally connect with people, as the customer's picture will appear on the stamp he chooses to buy. 70. Lagaan on all-time best sports films' list Lagaan, which won an Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film category, finds a place in the all-time 25 best sports movies list of Time. It is in the 14th spot. 71. Ratan Tata, Sonia among 50 most influential UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and industrialist Ratan Tata were among the worlds 50 most influential people, along with German chancellor Angela Merkel, who was ranked No 1, according to a survey by UKbased New Statesman. Tata, dubbed as Metal Head, was hailed as a symbol of Indias emergence as an international powerhouse. 72. Cabinet approved Bill to share mining profits The Union Cabinet has approved the landmark the Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation (MMDR) Bill, 2011 that provides for mining companies to keep aside 26 per cent of their net profits for a Mineral Development Fund to be used for development and rehabilitation of project-affected people in the tribal areas of the country. For the non-coal companies, the amount will be equivalent to the royalty they pay. The Cabinet, under the leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, also approved measures to tackle illegal mining and appointed a regulatory body for overseeing the functioning of the mining sector. The Bill is likely to be introduced in the winter session of Parliament. The MMDR Bill will replace a 54-year-old legislation governing the sector. 73. Job scheme: Tamil Nadu topped the list Tamil Nadu topped the list of States that provided jobs to rural households for 100 days as per the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) at the end of the second quarter of the financial year 2011-12. More than 11.02 lakh households benefited from the scheme in Tamil Nadu. 74. National science film fete in January The second Rastriya Vigyan Chalachitra Mela and competition will be held at KIIT, Bhubaneswar in the Indian Science Congress from January 3 to 7. It will coincide with organization of the 99th session of Indian Science Congress in the capital city. Vigyan Prasar, a national institute under the Department of Science and Technology, conducted the first Rastriya Vigyan Chalachitra Mela and Competition during 98th session of Indian Science Congress held at SRM University Chennai in January 2011. 75. CIC shield to protect RTI crusaders Central Information Commission (CIC) came out with a landmark resolution to combat unending assaults on right to information (RTI) activists. According to the resolution, if the commission receives a complaint regarding an assault on or murder of an information-seeker, it will examine pending RTI applications of the victim and order the departments to publish the requested information suo motu on their websites. The resolution was mooted by information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi at a meeting of the CIC in midSeptember and its minutes were made public. 76. India uranium enrichment activity revealed by Google Earth A DC-based think tank has used evidence of construction activity visible on freely available Google Earth satellite images to argue that India's uranium enrichment programme is being expanding. Releasing satellite imagery of the Rare Materials Plant (RMP) near Mysore, the Institute for Science and International Security said an image that it noticed from February 28, 2011 suggests the new facility under construction is roughly 210 meters by 150 meters. A report in Nuclear Intelligence Weekly earlier this month additionally noted that Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Director R.K. Sinha had admitted that India was building a new uranium enrichment facility but it was unclear whether Mr. Sinha was referencing the RMP site or a planned new enrichment facility near the town of Chitradurga, according to ISIS.

77. Delhi Government finally admitted to Superbug For the first time, the Delhi Government has admitted to the presence of deadly superbug NDM1 in several leading local hospitals but downplayed concerns over the infection, saying the situation was not alarming. Amid rising concerns over prevalence of the virus, a high-level meeting was called by Delhi Health Minister A .K. Walia who directed all government-run hospitals to take effective measures to contain the spread of the virus and rationalize use of antibiotics. NDM1 virus develops immunity in a patient to use of antibiotics. 78. Lab of the Big Bang experiment left Pratibha Patil mesmerised President Pratibha Patil visited the lab of the prestigious France-based European Organisation for Nuclear Research, commonly known as CERN, where she patted Indian scientists for their contributions to cutting edge-research work. Ms. Patil, who was on a State visit to Switzerland, drove to the CERN lab that is situated just minutes away from the Swiss border. An inquisitive Ms. Patil, who was mesmerised by the lab known for its cutting-edge research work in physics, left CERN's Director General Rolf-Dieter Heuer pondering for answers on many occasions. Ms. Patil took a round of the centre and went 70 metres underground to get a first-hand look at the 27-km-long tunnel, where the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiment was conducted recently. 79. Cabinet approved ordinance to phase out analogue cable TV by 2014 Analogue cable television would become obsolete in India in three years time, with the government deciding to promulgate an ordinance to make the digitalization of cable services mandatory by 2014. The Union Cabinet approved the Information and Broadcasting Ministry's proposal to promulgate the Digitalization of Analogue Cable Systems Ordinance. The ordinance aims at complete digitalization of cable television in the four metros by March 31, 2012. The next target will be cities with over 10 lakh population. By the end of 2014, the entire country is expected to have phased out analogue cable TV. India is thus becoming part of a global transition towards digitalization. While the U.S. completed its shift in 2009, China has given itself a deadline of 2015 to phase out analogue transmission.

International issues
1. Lanka-India ferry services restarted Passenger ferry services restarted between Sri Lanka and India after a gap of 28 years, snapped due to ethnic conflict on the island. Scotia Prince a 1,044 capacity ferry with nine decks docked into Colombo harbour signalling the resumption of sea travel between the two nations, which was disrupted by insurgency. The first ferry carrying some 200 passengers steamed into the port to mark an official ceremony on the occasion, the ferry would initially operate twice a week with the journey taking about 10 hours each way. Ferry services operated between Rameswaram in India to Mannar, the northeastern town until 1983 when they came to an abrupt halt due to threats from the LTTE. 2. China-Russia energy tied sans gas deal Russia and China have agreed to increase bilateral trade to $200 billion by 2020 and vowed to build strategic ties in energy even as they continue to wrangle over the price of Russian gas. The two countries will strive to boost two-way trade to $100 billion by 2015 and to $200 billion by 2020, said a joint statement signed by Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Hu Jintao to commemorate the 10th anniversary of a friendship treaty. The Chinese leader is paying a two-day visit to Russia after attending a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Kazakhstan. China is already Russia's biggest trading partner, with bilateral trade soaring 50 per cent last year, to $59 billion. By comparison, India's trade with Russia stood at $8.5 billion in 2010 and is projected to grow to $20 billion by 2015. 3. Germany eased norms to aid India's N-plants Germany announced easing of export control laws to allow India access to dual use items, marking a major development that will benefit the expanding nuclear energy sector. India has been removed from the list of countries subject to national export control restrictions. Now, India will be treated by Germany just like any other EU country. 4. Australia unveiled new migration model Looking to tap the best of minds and skilled workforce from India and other countries, Australia announced a new migration programme based on 'expression of interest' model and revisions in skilled migration point system. While the new model will filter applicants fulfilling the country's requirement, it will also reduce processing time and facilitate fast movement of skilled workers down south. A cap on the number of migrants will be put in each occupation under the programme, kicking off on July 1, 2012. The expression of interest (EOI) will be an online process for skilled migration to Australia. Prospective applicants will provide basic biographical and other information such as occupation, details of work experience and level of English language ability on the online form. 5. Nepal hosted Asias first public lesbian wedding A lawyer and a college professor from the United States celebrated Nepals first public lesbian wedding ceremony in the Himalayan nation that recently began recognising gay rights and drafting laws to end sexual discrimination. 6. Lithuania compensated Jews for Nazi, Soviet era losses. Lithuania's parliament passed a long-awaited bill to compensate the Jewish community for communal property taken during the Nazi and Soviet occupations of the country. The United States and world Jewish organizations have long called on the Lithuanian government to reach a settlement, though some property has already been returned. Under the bill, which still has to be signed into the law by the president, the government would pay 125 million litas ($51.93 million) between 2013 and 2023 to a special fund. 7. Sri Lanka partnered with Russia, China Sri Lanka invited Russia and China to partner in a slew of new development projects, as it seeks to transform itself into an economic powerhouse over the next decade. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has invited one of the largest energy companies in the world, the Russia-based Gazprom, to partner in achieving self-sufficiency in petroleum products. Gazprom was very positive. They will be here soon for discussions, said Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga. Sri Lanka wants Gazprom to prospect in the Gulf of Mannar, sell LNG to Sri Lanka and set up a refinery so that Sri Lanka can conserve precious foreign exchange. China will begin work on the second phase of the Hambantota Port soon. China

is working on many infrastructure projects, including roads, railways and ports. China would also take up work on the nearly 130-km southern railway track from Matara to the pilgrimage town of Katargama. 8. Obama announced Afghan troop withdrawal U.S. President Barack Obama declared that the United States had largely achieved its goals in Afghanistan, setting in motion a substantial withdrawal of U.S. troops in an acknowledgment of the shifting threat in the region and the fast-changing political and economic landscape in a war-weary America. Asserting that the country that served as a base for the September 11, 2001 attacks no longer represented a terrorist threat to the United States, Mr. Obama declared the tide of war is receding. Mr. Obama announced plans to withdraw 10,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year. The remaining 20,000 troops from the 2009 surge of forces would leave by next summer, amounting to about a third of the 100,000 troops now in the country. He said the drawdown would continue at a steady pace, until the United States handed over security to the Afghan authorities in 2014. 9. India, Pakistan to take steps to reduce trust deficit Incrementally inching towards dismantling six decades of trust deficit, India and Pakistan agreed to build a constituency for peace at home through cessation of hostile propaganda and strengthening cooperation on counter-terrorism, besides narrowing divergences and building convergences on Jammu and Kashmir. Mindful of the historical baggage and the internal political dynamics of both countries, all aspects of mutual concern from Jammu and Kashmir to the Mumbai terror attack and the Samjhauta Express blasts were discussed at the two-day engagement between the Foreign Secretaries. 10. India eased visa norms for Russian businessmen, tourists India has unilaterally eased the visa regime for Russian businessmen and tourists in an effort to promote exchanges between the two countries. The Indian Embassy in Moscow, as well as Indian Consulates in St. Petersburg and Vladivostok, have started issuing one-year instead of six-month business visas and sixmonth instead of three-month tourist visas, the embassy said in its press release. Business visas now allow for triple or multiple entries instead of single or double entry earlier and tourist visas provide for triple or multiple entries instead of single or double entry. 11. Singapore to host South Asian Diaspora Convention The South Asian Diaspora Convention, programmed from July 21 to 23, will be the first of its kind anywhere in the world. According to Gopinath Pillai, Chairman of the Singapore-based Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), the project was an exercise in translating into reality a proposal by the City-State's President, S.R. Nathan, for linking the Diaspora of the sub-continent for meaningful interactions. 12. US cleared sale of anti-submarine torpedoes to Indian Navy The United States has cleared the potential sale of anti-submarine torpedoes Mk-54 for the eight P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft of the Indian Navy. 13. China conducted test-run of bullet train China conducted a test-run of its ambitious bullet train between Beijing and Shanghai, amid controversies over its high speed and high cost. It is a 1,318-kilometer long rail and would take about five hours, or half the time of conventional rail. 14. U.K. to back India's membership of export control regimes Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao was assured British support for India's bid for full membership of the four multilateral export control regimes. India wants to join the Nuclear Suppliers' Group, the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Australia Group and the Wassenaar Group and had received public backing from several countries, including America, Russia and France. 15. China opened world's longest sea bridge China has opened the worlds longest sea bridge, a 26.4 mile-long structure that could easily span the English Channel. Stretching across the wide blue waters of Jiaozhou bay, the vast Y-shaped bridge connects the booming Northern port city of Qingdao with an airport built on a nearby island and the industrial suburb of Huangdao. The first motorists to roll onto the bridges six-lane, 110ft-wide, highway halved their journey time to the other side of the bay to just 30 minutes. While the bridge will eventually charge cars 50 yuan (4.80) for the crossing, for a month the drive will be free.

16. Australia enforced new, tighter immigration rules Australia's new immigration rules that focus on higher qualification and advance English language skills as requirements for those wanting to migrate to this country, came into effect. The new rules, according to Australian officials, aim to pick up the best and the brightest from the pool of applicants, and have been criticised by Indian groups. The Australian government announced changes to its independent skilled migration points test, introducing the new immigration point system to put more emphasis on work experience and high-level educational qualification with higher English language proficiency. 17. Germany voted on nuclear exit, Merkel mocked for Waterloo Germany's parliament looked set to approve an exit from nuclear energy by 2022, a U-turn by Chancellor Angela Merkel driven by Japan's Fukushima crisis and described by anti-nuclear opponents as a victory. Calling it Merkel's Waterloo, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens said the nuclear phase-out vindicated three decades of bitter opposition to nuclear power in Germany 18. Landslide victory for Thaksins sister The sister of exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra swept to victory in fractious Thailands elections, heralding an extraordinary political turnaround five tumultuous years after her fugitive billionaire brother was toppled in an army coup. The vote paves the way for 44-year-old Yingluck Shinawatra, who has never held office, to become this Southeast Asian kingdoms first female prime minister. A large mandate to govern could help the new government navigate a way out of out of the crisis that has plagued Thailand since Thaksins 2006 overthrow. But the question remains whether the nations elite power brokers, including the monarchy and the army, would accept the result. 19. Saudi banned domestic workers from Indonesia, Philippines Saudi Arabia announced that it would stop granting work permits to domestic workers from Indonesia and the Philippines, following hiring conditions imposed by the Asian countries. The ministry of labour said it would stop issuing work visas to bring domestic workers from Indonesia and the Philippines, due to the terms of recruitment announced by the two countries, according to a statement carried by state news agency SPA. 20. Israel got ready for immigration of Jews from north-east India Israel is again ready to welcome Jews from north-eastern India, commonly referred to as Bnei Menashe, after a ministerial committee on immigrant absorption decided in principle to let them in to undo the historical injustice suffered by them. Some 1,700 Bnei Menashe have already immigrated to Israel, but the process was halted in 2007 after questions were raised on their Jewishness. However, Israels Ministerial Committee on Immigrant Absorption, led by foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, recently decided to appoint an inter-ministerial team of director-generals to prepare an operative plan of action to bring all Bnei Menashe members, living in parts of Manipur and Mizoram, to Israel, Ynetnews reported. It has reached an in principle decision to resume the process and the plan is likely to be brought to the governments approval this month. 21. China making armed drones; eyes Pak, Arab states for sales China has ramped up its research in drone technology and is in the process of building armed, jet-propelled unmanned planes, which it plans to sell to countries like Pakistan. Though much of this work remains secret, the large number of drones at recent exhibitions underlines not only China's determination to catch up in that sector, by building equivalents to the leading US combat and surveillance models, the Predator and the Global Hawk, but also that its desire to sell this technology abroad. 22. Amid joy, hope, a new nation is born President Omar al-Bashir gracefully ceded control over Sudans southern part, heralding the birth of a new country, the Republic of South Sudan. India, like several other nations including the US, has recognised the worlds 196th and Africas 54th country. General Salva Kiir Mayardit, a top leader of Sudan Peoples Liberation Army, which has spearheaded the independence movement since 1983, took oath as the first president in capital Juba in a ceremony attended by tens of thousands of citizens and scores of dignitaries from across the world. India became one of the first nations to accord diplomatic recognition to South Sudan, the worlds youngest country which split away from Khartoum-ruled north after decades of brutal war that claimed nearly two million lives. The recognition was accorded through a letter by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to South Sudans new President General Salva Kiir Mayardit, shortly after he assumed power at the Independence Day function.

23. British Navy to let women serve on submarines for first time It has emerged that British women will soon be allowed to serve on the countrys Royal Navy submarines for the first time. The Navy has deployed women on surface ships for over 20 years, but they remain banned from submarines for health reasons. A leaked memo, however, revealed that military bosses have dismissed these concerns and are planning to lift the ban. 24. Luanda world's most expensive city: Study Angola's capital Luanda retained the unenviable title of the world's most expensive city for expatriates, narrowly edging out Tokyo, according to a survey published. At the other end of the scale, the Mercer group's study named the Pakistani port Karachi as the least expensive city, with living around three times cheaper than in Luanda. Oil-rich Angola is a magnet for foreign workers who push up already high prices inflated by a reliance on imports. The southern African nation's domestic production lags behind its neighbours due to the effects of a 27-year-long civil war on its infrastructure. Another African city, the Chadian capital N'Djamena, was placed third with Moscow fourth and Geneva fifth. Paris dropped 10 places to 27th while London dropped one place to 18th. New York at 32nd was named as the most expensive metropolis in the United States. 25. Israeli lawmakers passed West Bank settlement boycott law The Israeli parliament passed a controversial law that will punish any Israeli individual or organisation boycotting West Bank settlements. Rights groups say the legislation stifles freedom of speech and compromises Israeli democracy. After failed attempts to delay debate, it was voted through 47-36. It follows several Israeli calls to boycott institutions or individuals linked to Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian land. The settlements are deemed illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this. Recent peace talks with the Palestinians were derailed over the issue of continued building in settlements. The Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future state.

26. India, China to hold defence dialogue soon India and China are all set to resume their defence secretary-level dialogue, which had suffered a setback a year ago after Beijing denied visa to a Jammu and Kashmir-based Army commander. We are in the process of finalising dates for the Annual Defence Dialogue, which will be held this year, Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar said. After the visa row erupted, defence exchanges between the two sides were suspended but they resumed recently when an Army delegation under a Kashmir-based Major General went to China. India had called off defence exchanges in July 2010 after China refused visa to Lt Gen BS Jaswal, who was Northern Army commander, on the ground that he came from the sensitive Jammu and Kashmir. 27. Former Rwandan Minister is first woman guilty of genocide A former Rwandan Minister for women's empowerment became the first woman to be found guilty of genocide and incitement to rape by an international tribunal. Judges at the U.N. court for Rwanda sentenced Pauline Nyiramasuhuko to life in prison for genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and rape. Nyiramasuhuko was found guilty on seven of the 11 genocide charges she faced for atrocities committed in Rwanda's southern Butare region in 1994. 28. India amended tax treaty with Singapore India and Singapore amended their Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) to enable more effective mutual exchange of banking and tax related information. Under the DTAA amendment protocol, which was signed by Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Prakash Chandra and Singapore's High Commissioner to India Karen Anne Tan Ping Ming on behalf of the two countries, the two nations have adopted the internationally agreed standard for exchange of information in tax matters. 29. Japan walked out at IWC stalls whaling sanctuary Japan and 20 other pro-whaling nations staged a walk-out at the International Whaling Commission, blocking a proposal to vote on a whaling sanctuary in the southern Atlantic and forcing the issue to be put off until next year. The walkout en masse on the final day of this years IWC annual meeting was likely the first of its kind, a Japanese Fisheries Agency official said. With less than the required majority of member nations present, the vote was not held. After a ninehour adjournment, the IWC decided to put off the issue for discussion at the start of next years meeting to be held in Panama. The proposal would likely have been rejected even if the vote had been held. Nevertheless, Japan voiced its intention to walk out of the talks before the meeting gave the green light for the voting, saying the move hurts the momentum of dialogue between pro- and anti-whaling members. 30. World's largest tricolour unfurled in US The worlds largest Indian flag weighing 250 kg was unfurled at the Vibrant India Festival, which began recently in USA, showcasing the rich heritage and history of Gujarat and Rajasthan. The 153-feet long tricolour, made by a tailor from Porbandar, Chhotalal S Shingdia, found place in Limca Book of Records this year. Indian-American Monty Saiyed, the organiser of the India festival, unfurled the flag in the festival at majestic Sears Center Arena to showcase the cultural richness of India and as a symbol of peace and harmony. During the two-day festival, there would be Rajasthani folk dance, Gujarat garba, raas and performances by Bollywood actors and singers. After the event, the flag will be flown back to Navsari in Gujarat and would be used in other events in different States. 31. British police chief quit amid phone-hacking scandal Britains senior-most police officer, Sir Paul Stephenson, resigned as a result of allegations over Scotland Yards links to the Rupert Murdoch newspaper at the centre of the phone-hacking scandal. Earlier Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International, was arrested by police investigating allegations of phone hacking at the now-defunct News of the World, two days after she resigned as chief executive of the British arm of Murdochs News International.

32. US recognised Libyan rebels as legitimate Govt The Obama Administration formally recognised Libyas Transitional National Council (TNC) as the countrys legitimate Government, giving foes of Muammar Gaddafi a major financial and credibility boost. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that Washington accepts the Transitional National Council as the legitimate governing authority of the Libyan people. The diplomatic recognition of the council means that the US will be able to fund the opposition with some of the more than $30 billion in Gaddafi-regime assets that are frozen in American banks. 33. Hina Rabbani Khar sworn in as first Pak woman foreign minister Pakistan appointed its first woman and youngest foreign minister within weeks of important talks with India. Hina Rabbani Khar, 34, is expected to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting in Indonesia in her new role, the ministry said. She will then travel to India to meet Indian counterpart S M Krishna for talks under a formal peace dialogue. 34. Hurricane Dora reached Category 4 off Mexico Hurricane Dora rapidly grew into a Category 4 storm off Mexicos Pacific coast while keeping out to sea and threatening coastal areas only with rain and tropical storm-strength winds. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said that the storms top sustained winds had reached 135 mph (215 kph). It said Doras center was about 220 miles (355 kilometers) south-southwest of Lazaro Cardenas and moving west-northwest at 15 mph (24 kph). 35. Russia built missile shield Russia built a missile defence shield covering two-thirds of the country. The new system will provide protection against missile attacks on Moscow and central Russia, where most of the industry is located. The missile defence system, which features S-300 and S-400 long-range antimissiles, is undergoing tests and will become operational by December 1. The S-400 system boasts more advanced jamming resistance features, more target engagement channels and enhanced capabilities to hit high-speed targets than its predecessor, S-300, according to specialists. By 2015 the air-and-space command will begin inducting a new missile system, S500. It is a fifth-generation surface-to-air missile capable of intercepting hypersonic ballistic targets flying in near space at a speed of 5 km per second. 36. India, South Korea inked civil nuclear deal India signed a historic civil nuclear cooperation agreement with South Korea, paving the way for the possibility of Seoul exporting its atomic power plants. The agreement, signed after summit talks between President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and her South Korean counterpart Lee Myungbak, provides legal ground for South Koreas participation in atomic power plant construction projects in India. South Korea has now become the ninth country, which had signed nuclear agreement with India after it got the waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in 2008. The other countries are the US, France, Russia, Canada, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Argentina and Namibia. 37. Solar-powered boat visited Philippines, promotes renewable energy The worlds largest solar-powered boat visited the Philippines, the first stop in Asia in its 50,000kilometre expedition around the world to promote the use of renewable energy resources. The German-built MS Turanor PlanetSolar was welcomed in Manila by Vice President Jejomar Binay, who hailed the voyage for raising awareness about the benefits of renewable energy and the need for more investment and research into the sector. 38. IAF to match top guns in Nevada IAF may have ejected US fighters from its $10.4-billion project to acquire 126 jets, but is eager for its fighter pilots to match their combat skills with American top guns. The air force took the initiative to take part in the "mother" of all air combat exercises, the Red Flag, held at Nellis US Air Force base in Nevada. The only time IAF had participated in Red Flag was in 2008, with eight

frontline Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, two IL-78 mid-air refuellers, an IL-76 heavy-lift aircraft, 91 officers and 156 other ranks. 39. Kashmir-centric CBMs highlight of ministerial talks India and Pakistan eschewed rhetoric while opting for a gradual approach to take forward the broad-based dialogue process aimed at improving ties. Speaking to journalists after Foreign Ministers S.M. Krishna and Hina Rabbani Khar met at the Hyderabad House, Foreign Secretaries Nirupama Rao and Salman Bashir said the intention behind this interaction was to demonstrate the political will to craft a new relationship that became unhinged after the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The Ministers announced the enhancement of confidence-building measures (CBMs) to improve trade and movement of people across the two Kashmirs. They agreed to hold separate expertlevel meetings in Islamabad after a few months to finalise conventional and nuclear CBMs. The Ministers plan to meet in Islamabad in the first half of next year to review the progress of the dialogue process after the second round of post-Mumbai line Ministry talks. While finalising the CBMs for cross-Line of Control (LoC) travel and trade, they decided to adopt the IT mode for considering application forms and put a processing time limit of 45 days. 40. Ex-Tunisian president Ben Ali given 16 years for corruption A court sentenced Tunisia's exiled former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to 16 years in prison for corruption and property fraud, in the latest sentence handed to the ex-President. Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia last January after a popular revolt against his 23-year regime, has already been sentenced in his absence to a total of more than 50 years in two separate trials. 41. Bangladesh, India inked border deal Bangladesh and India signed an important border management agreement to reduce incidents of killings and crime along the common frontier. The border guards of the two countries would exchange information on vulnerable areas to ensure joint patrolling in a coordinated manner, the agreement said, adding, none of the troops would cross the border during patrol. The Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP) was signed in the presence of Home Minister P. Chidambaram and his Bangladesh counterpart Shahara Khatoon, with the hope that this would further enhance the quality of border management. The deal was signed by Maj. Gen. Anwar Hussain, Director General of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Raman Srivastava, Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF). 42. Maritime Week to be celebrated India will organise Maritime Week' in January next year that will bring together national and international business leaders, policymakers, entrepreneurs, investors, strategists, advisors and users to one platform to discuss the current market scenario and find solutions, said Union Shipping Secretary K. Mohandas unveiling the logo of the event. The event is being jointly organised by the Shipping Ministry, Maritime Gateway, KPMG and Krishnapatnam Port. 43. China got first-ever chance to enter Indian Ocean for exploration China is stepping into the Indian Ocean for the first time, something it has been unsuccessfully seeking through alliances with Myanmar and Sri Lanka. It is doing it for mineral exploration. But the move is bound to draw close scrutiny from India, which is worried about China's military goals in the area. The China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association announced the country has obtained approval to explore a 10,000-square-km polymetallic sulphide ore deposit in an international seabed region of the southwest Indian Ocean. Its application for prospecting the region was recently approved by the International Seabed Authority, the association said. 44. Italian MPs panel approved burqa ban An Italian parliamentary commission approved a draft law banning women from wearing veils that cover their faces in public. The draft passed by the constitutional affairs commission would prohibit women from wearing a burqa, naqib or any other garb that covers the face in such

circumstances. Italy is the latest European country to act against the burqa. France and Belgium have banned the wearing of burqa in public. 45. Tajikistan banned Muslim youths from praying in mosques Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon banned youths from praying in mosques and churches, prompting a local Muslim leader to call the move a gruesome gift for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Rakhmon, in power since 1992, signed the bill on parental responsibility. He said tough measures are needed to stop the spread of religious fundamentalism in his country of 7.5 million people, 98 per cent of whom are Muslim. All people under 18, except those studying at religious schools, are banned from worshipping in the Central Asian nation's mosques, churches or other religious sites, said the law which came into force recently. 46. China's Zhejiang province evacuated 200,000 for Typhoon Muifa China's eastern Zhejiang province evacuated more than 200,000 residents as it braced itself for a powerful typhoon that could be the worst in the area in years, the provincial government said. Typhoon Muifa was due to hit China's eastern seaboard with winds up to 45 metres a second (100 mph). News of the typhoon prompted the suspension of operations at several oil, dry bulk and container ports in the area. Typhoon Muifa is expected to land in Zhejiang late evening. 47. New Zealand banned synthetic cannabis products A 12-month ban of synthetic cannabis products came into effect in New Zealand. The government says the 43 artificial cannabis products can harm health, including causing heart problems. But consumers of the products say the ban will force them to buy recreational drugs on the black market. Among the prohibited substances is a popular brand known as Kronic, which has been a legal alternative to marijuana for several years. 48. India, Japan to firm up strategic ties despite nuclear stalemate Despite stalemated talks on a civil nuclear agreement and political uncertainty surrounding the continuation of Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, New Delhi and Tokyo chalked up a series of high-level engagements to firm up their strategic ties, especially in the security and economic spheres. In what could be a disappointment for South Block, India's quest for a nuclear pact with Japan found no mention in a detailed Japanese government response to a question by the Opposition Liberal Democratic Party. In a statement, the Japanese government requested the Diet to approve civil nuclear accords with Jordan, Russia, South Korea and Vietnam, according to diplomatic sources. Even though its name found no mention, India, whose civil nuclear talks with Japan have not resumed since November last year, could find some cheer in Tokyo's affirmation to continue exporting nuclear power plants despite the crisis at the tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear plant. 49. Woman to command warship for first time in UK Naval history A British woman will command a front line warship for the first time in the 500-year history of the countrys Royal Navy. Thirty-nine-year-old Lieutenant Commander Sarah West will take control of the Type 23 frigate HMS Portland, and a mostly male crew of 185. 50. Nepal banned smoking in public places Nepal, one of the countries having high tobacco consumption rate, banned smoking in public places in an attempt to reduce its harmful effects on health of public. The Tobacco Control and Regulation Act-2068 came into effect. After this Act coming into effect, those people who smoke, sell and distribute tobacco-related products at public places may have to pay Rs100 to Rs 1,00,000 as a fine. The public places include the government bodies, offices, corporations, educational institutions, libraries, airports, hotels, restaurants and eateries. The introduction of the Act is a huge stride towards curbing smoking in public places and controlling unscrupulous sales of tobacco products, according to observers. They, however, question effective implementation of the law in absence of necessary mechanism.

51. Sri Lanka to abolish emergency laws Sri Lankan Government said it would soon lift the draconian emergency laws in force in the country for most of the past 30 years. Prime Minister D M Jayaratne said the proposals would be presented to the parliament shortly. The emergency laws allow suspects to be detained indefinitely and without any charge. The Prime Minister said since the end of the war against the LTTE in May 2009, most of the clauses in the Public Security Ordinance have been abolished. The last phase of emergency laws were reintroduced and remained in force continually since 2005 after the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels. 52. Myanmarese Nobel laureate supports Haryana's Save Stupa campaign Haryana's "Save Stupa" campaign, launched by a Yamunanagar-based documentary maker, has gone global with Myanmarese Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi agreeing to be a patron of the organization running the campaign. Suu Kyi met documentary maker Sidhhartha Gauri when the latter visited her in Yangon in July, following her release from prison after almost a decade-long incarceration by the military junta government. 53. China poised to launch first satellite for Pakistan For the first time, China will be launching a communication satellite for close ally Pakistan, a move that will mark a new beginning in bilateral space collaboration. The satellite named PAKSAT-1R will be launched at an appropriate time in the coming days, State-run Xinhua news agency quoted an unnamed official as saying. The satellite, which was made in China, would provide a variety of benefits, including high-power communication and weather monitoring facilities, besides strategic defence applications. Both the satellite and rocket are currently in good condition, the official said. The satellite would be launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest Sichuan Province by Chinas space work horse, the Long March-3B carrier rocket, he said. The new satellite was expected to replace PAKSAT-1, which was acquired by Pakistan in 2002 from the US-based Hughes Space and Communications Company after Indonesia had given it up due to power problems. 54. China Began Sea Trials of Its First Aircraft Carrier Chinas first aircraft carrier began sea trials, the state-run Xinhua news service reported, a highly symbolic step in what is certain to be an effort of many years to create a carrier presence in the Pacific waters off its coast. The Chinese carrier, in April, under construction in Dalian. The carrier, once known as the Varyag, left Dalian, its northeast China port, for what analysts said would be a test of its rudder, propulsion system and other basics. The Chinese Defense Ministry said that the carrier would be used largely for scientific research and training. Foreign military analysts say it could be a decade or more before the Chinese can deploy and operate a true fleet of carriers, the most costly and complex weapons systems in any nations arsenal. 55. Short-selling banned in 4 European countries France, Italy, Spain and Belgium banned short-selling on select stocks amid efforts to calm market turmoil that has sent bank shares gyrating wildly and aggravated worries about Europe's huge debts. The European Union's markets supervisor, the ESMA, announced the move after boosting surveillance of stormy markets earlier in the day. The move capped two days of whipsaw trading that saw French banks' market value fall and rise by billions of euros. In a short sale, a trader hopes to make a profit by betting on the decline in the price of a share. The practice has been blamed for contributing to market volatility. 56. Rick Perry announced his 2012 White House bid Texas Governor Rick Perry plunged headlong into the 2012 White House race, pledging to get Americans working again and slamming Barack Obama as a failed President who has heaped economic disaster on America. In his announcement first online and then minutes later in a speech before hundreds of supporters and conservative conference attendees in South Carolina

 Mr. Perry said he would issue a pink slip to the present occupiers of the White House, who have "prolonged our national misery, not alleviated it. 57. A JNU scholar becomes Nepal's Prime Minister Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal resigned on August 14, 2011, in accordance with the five-point agreement signed among the top political parties in May. Mr. Khanal submitted the resignation to the President, and is expected to explain his position in Parliament. He was in office for a little more than seven months. After this Nepal's legislature-parliament elected, a 57-year-old scholar who has done his doctorate in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Baburam Bhattarai, Vice-Chairman of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), new Prime Minister. The Maoists were supported by the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF), an alliance of five Madhesi parties. In the House of 594 MPs, 575 members participated in the election and around 340 voted for Dr. Bhattarai, helping him secure a simple majority. The other candidate, Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party leader Ram Chandra Poudel, got 235 votes. The NC was supported by the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist). 58. Palestinians plan U.N. statehood bid Palestinian leaders have said they will formally request recognition of their state and full membership of the U.N., despite strong U.S. opposition amid warnings that such a move would jeopardise peace talks. Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian President, will personally present the application to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon before the U.N. General Assembly opens on September 20. The U.N. has the moral, legal, political and historical responsibility to recognise Palestine and to put an end to the Israeli occupation, said Ryad Malki, Palestinian Foreign Minister. Mr. Abbas is to travel to Lebanon to discuss the plan 59. China to upgrade Colombo terminal Sri Lanka has preferred to sign up with a Chinese company for a $500-million upgrade of its second container terminal in Colombo Port. It has entered into a BOT agreement with China Merchants Holdings (International) Company, one of the largest port operators in the region, for a terminal that comprises a total quay length of 1,200 metres and a depot land area of 58 hectares, with water depth of 18 metres. The project is expected to take two phases, with Phase I to be ready for operation by early 2013. The entire facility will be ready in five years, said the Sri Lankan government. 60. Chavez to nationalise Venezuela gold industry Hugo Chavez has announced that he will nationalise Venezuela's gold industry to boost the country's reserves. "The area is run by the mafia," he said. "We're going to nationalise gold. We can't keep allowing them to take it away." The biggest gold miner is Rusoro, a Canadian-listed company controlled by the Russian Agapov family. The move comes after Rusoro and others complained that Caracas prevents them from selling enough gold abroad. 61. India, Bangladesh sign comprehensive agreement The signing of the agreement was followed by a protocol on land boundary, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on renewable energy, an addendum to facilitate overland transit to Nepal, a MoU on conservation of the Sundarbans and a MoU on conservation of Royal Bengal Tigers". Bangladesh and India signed joint border maps, finalising the 4,156 km-long frontiers between the neighbours. The signing was seen as a historic event. In 1952, then the Pakistan government initiated the preparation of the map and the effort continued till 1960. In 1967, a joint IndiaPakistan survey was conducted, but without much progress. After Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971, an effort was made in 1986. This also did not work. The final success was seen after two countries undertook a joint move recently. 62. Lumbini project: An initiative of china A Chinese foundation's plans to build a $3-billion special development zone to transform the town of Lumbini into a Buddhist Mecca have been cast in further doubt after a United Nations agency, thought to be backing the project, stressed it had no involvement in the plan.

63. Austrian is first woman to scale 14 peaks without oxygen Austrian climber Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner became the first woman to conquer all 14 8,000-metre summits without artificial oxygen today, when she reached the top of the K2, her team announced. "Summit reached!! At 6:18 pm local time, Gerlinde reached the summit of K2," Kaltenbrunner's husband and frequent climbing partner Ralf Dujmovits said in an update on her website. Kaltenbrunner, 40, is the third woman only to climb all 14 highest summits but the first to do so without artificial oxygen. 64. India inked tax treaty with Georgia India and Georgia signed a double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) for exchange of banking information and to prevent tax evasion. The DTAA with Georgia, a former Soviet Republic located south of Russia, provides for taxing business profits in the source state if the activities of an enterprise constitute a permanent establishment (PE) there. It also provides for sharing information with other agencies with the consent of the supplying state. The agreement incorporates provisions for effective exchange of information between tax authorities of the two countries in line with best international standards, including exchange of banking information and supplying of information without recourse to domestic interest, a Finance Ministry statement said. 65. Yoshihiko Noda has become Japan's PM Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced that he was resigning after almost 15 months in office amid plunging approval ratings over his governments handling of the tsunami disaster and nuclear crisis. Mr. Kan said he was stepping down as chief of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, effectively ending his tenure as leader of the country. The decision was widely expected because in June, Mr. Kan had promised to quit once lawmakers passed three key pieces of legislation. The final two bills cleared the parliament. Now, Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, a fiscal hawk, has become Japan's sixth Prime Minister in five years after winning a ruling party vote, an outcome likely to please investors worried about a bulging public debt. Noda, 54, who defeated Trade Minister Banri Kaieda in a run-off vote, must cope with a resurgent yen that threatens exports, forge a new energy policy while ending the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl, and find funds to rebuild from the March 11 tsunami at a time when huge public debt has already triggered a credit downgrade. 66. Iran unveiled new cruise missiles, claims U.S. bases in range Iran unveiled a new cruise missile which it said has the capability to strike at warships at a range of 200 km, including U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf region. The missile designed for sea targets was put on display at a defence marine show inaugurated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian TV reported. The missile called Qader (Able) is built indigenously by Iranian scientists and has a high destructive ability against coastal targets and warships, the state run TV said. It said, that Mr. Ahmadinejad also made public a new torpedo system called Valfair, fired from submarine. Both the weapon systems were tested successfully. 67. Tony Tan elected Singapore President Seasoned politician Tony Tan, of the ruling People's Action Party, was elected Singapore's President. The 71-year-old banker took just over 35 per cent of the vote, well below the 60 per cent garnered by the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) in general elections in May, when the party had its worst showing of 52 years in power. 68. Nanmadol hit Taiwan & China Typhoon Nanmadol headed to southeastern China after dumping more than 20 inches, or 0.5 meter, of rain in southern Taiwan, where wide swaths of agricultural land were flooded and some 8,000 people evacuated. The storm skirted Taiwan's southwest, remaining over the island for only a few hours. Its intensity had already diminished after pummeling the Philippines, where at least 16 people died and eight were missing. In Taiwan, there were no immediate reports of casualties. However, disruption to everyday life was extensive.

69. An India-China naval encounter on high seas A Chinese warship confronted an Indian navy vessel shortly after it left Vietnamese waters in late July, in the first such reported encounter between the two navies in the South China Sea. The unidentified Chinese warship demanded that the INS Airavat, an amphibious assault vessel, identify itself and explain its presence in international waters shortly after it completed a scheduled port call in Vietnam. Vietnams foreign ministry acknowledged that the INS Airavat visited the country from July 19-22, but said it had no information about the incident. 70. Pak-China discuss rail line to connect PoK with Xinjiang Pakistan and China have started discussion on building a cross-border railway linking northern areas of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (POK) with Kashgar, an old Chinese Silk road town in the restive northwestern Xinjiang province. 71. After Irene, storm Lee lashed US Tropical Storm Lee crawled onto southern Louisiana's coast as New Orleans prepared for one of the biggest tests of its flood defences since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005. The National Hurricane Center said Lee's center was about 200 km west-southwest of New Orleans, with maximum sustained winds of 72 kph. 72. Typhoon Talas left fatalities and destruction in Japan Typhoon Talas, which was later downgraded to a tropical storm, lashed coastal areas with destructive winds and rain before moving offshore into the Sea of Japan. The typhoon was believed to be the worst to hit Japan since 2004. It caused most damage on the Kii peninsula in central Japan, south-west of Tokyo and hundreds of miles from the north-eastern coast, which bore the brunt of the effects of the earthquake and tsunami. 73. Mandarin to be mandatory in Sindh schools from 2013 Pakistan's Sindh province has decided to make Mandarin (a Chinese language) a compulsory subject from Class VI in all schools from 2013. The decision is part of the various socio-cultural and people-to-people initiatives being undertaken to mark the 60th year of bilateral relations, which both countries, Pakistan and China, are calling the Year of Friendship. 74. Russia pumped technical gas into undersea pipeline Russia pumped the first technical gas into a new undersea pipeline to Germany that will increase Europe's dependence on Russian natural gas and drastically cut Moscow's reliance on transit countries. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pressed the start button to launch the filling of the Nord Stream pipeline at a ceremony in Vyborg, near St. Petersburg, the starting point of the $12.5 billion 1,220-kilometre pipeline built across the Baltic Sea to Germany. Nord Stream is the first Russian export pipeline that bypasses transit countries. The pipeline will greatly reduce Russia's dependence on Ukraine, which currently carries 80 per cent of Russian gas to Europe through Soviet-era pipelines. 75. Crash wiped out Russia ice hockey team A Russian passenger jet carrying a top ice hockey team crashed during takeoff in western Russia, killing 43 people and leaving two critically injured. The Yak-42 plane crashed immediately after taking off from an airport near the city of Yaroslavl, on the Volga River about 240 km northeast of Moscow. The plane was carrying the Lokomotiv ice hockey team from Yaroslavl to Minsk, Belarus, for the opening game of the season. Lokomotiv is one of Russia's best hockey team, which placed third last year in the championship of the Continental Hockey League (KHL) of former Soviet states. This is the fifth air crash in Russia this year. 76. Turkey to approach The Hague Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan vowed to carry his country's spat with Israel over last year's killing of Turkish nationals aboard Gaza flotilla ship the Mavi Marmara to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

77. Iran to give $100 mn aid to Pakistan Iran will donate USD 100 million to Pakistan to help rehabilitate its flood affected people in the country's Sindh province. Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najar made the announcement during a meeting with visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. 78. IAEA states adopted nuclear safety action plan The U.N. atomic agency's 35-nation board adopted an action plan to strengthen global nuclear safety in the wake of Japan's Fukushima accident, despite criticism from several states that the proposals had been watered down. The governing board approved by consensus the document put forward by Director General Yukiya Amano of the International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA), setting out a series of measures aimed at enhancing standards worldwide. 79. France faced a blast in nuclear plant France went into damage-limitation mode following a blast at a nuclear re-processing plant, which killed one person and injured four. France is one of the world's leading exporters of nuclear technology and authorities were quick to minimise the seriousness of the explosion. 80. Sikh social worker to head inquiry into London riots A well-known Sikh social worker Darra Singh is to head a four-member panel appointed to inquire into the riots that shook London and other British cities causing several deaths and damage to property worth millions of pounds. Bradford-born Mr. Darra Singh, currently chief executive of the government employment agency JobCentre Plus. The riots, which were sparked by the death of an Afro-Caribbean youth in a police shoot-out in the north London suburb of Tottenham, quickly spread to other areas London and then to several cities. 81. Lords to have first turbaned Sikh peer A leader of Britain's Sikh community is to become the first turbaned member of the House of Lords. Indarjit Singh, director of the Network of Sikh Organisations, who will sit as Independent, made it clear that he did not intend to be a token Sikh. Dr. Singh, 79, who is also vice-chairman of the Inter Faith Network UK that promotes inter-faith understanding, became the first Sikh to address a major conference at the Vatican in 2008. He was given the UK Templeton Award for promoting religious understanding in 1989. 82. Pak sought Indian assistance in procuring dengue medicines Pakistan formally sought Indias assistance in procuring dengue medicines from across the border at the earliest to help deal with the growing incidence of the fever across the country particularly in Punjab. 83. China secured projects in Libya, recognising rebels China became the last of the United Nations Security Councils five permanent members to officially recognise the Libyan National Transitional Council as the countrys ruling authority. Chinese officials said that the rebel-led transitional authority had assured Beijing that its $18 billion worth of contracts in the country, signed with the ousted Qadhafi regime, would be honoured. With Russia and China deserting the BRICS grouping in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), India decided to extend support to the Libyan rebels' Transitional National Council (TNC) led by Mustafa Abdel Jalil. 84. IAEA members approved controversial nuclear safety plan An action plan to increase nuclear safety in the wake of the Fukushima disaster was adopted at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, amid criticism from several countries that the actions are only voluntary. The plan was based on a first analysis of the nuclear accident at Japans Fukushima Daiichi power station, which was not prepared for the massive tsunami and earthquake that hit in March. The 35 countries represented on the IAEA board governors unanimously adopted the document after what one diplomat called a tough debate. It asks countries to improve nuclear safety by conducting stress tests, taking into account massive natural disasters like those in Japan, and by updating international safety benchmarks. It also

aims to increase the number of IAEA inspections and to improve transparency about accidents and safety problems. 85. Sri Lanka, India joined hands to teach English in schools Sri Lanka and India came together in a major initiative to expand teaching English in schools in this country. Though launched in 2009 after President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared English as a Life Skill,' the joint initiative, which has reached out to about 23,000 teachers, will be expanded in a major way with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding. 86. Russia upgraded ties with N. Korea Russia moved to upgrade its relations with North Korea, announcing plans to revive defence ties between the two countries and to write off Pyongyangs multibillion-dollar debt. The Russia and North Korean military will hold their first joint drill next year. 87. Pro-Russian party won in Latvia An ethnic Russian party won parliamentary elections in Latvia for the first time in the post-Soviet history of the Baltic state dominated by anti-Russian politicians. The Harmony Centre, a party committed to upholding the rights of the discriminated Russian minority in Latvia, received 28.5 per cent of the vote in the snap parliamentary poll about eight per cent more than the next best contestant. 88. Britain mulled making its passports gender-free Britain could introduce a third gender category to British passports allowing citizens of indeterminate sex to opt out of standard male and female identification. Under the proposals, those of indeterminate sex may be able to use an "X" to denote their gender on passports, rather than "M" or "F". An Identity and Passport Service (IPS) is considering the gender options available to customers in the British passport. 89. Deadly Typhoon Roke moved across Japan The storm, which caused winds of 162km/h (100mph), passed near the capital Tokyo and the damaged nuclear power plant at Fukushima. Roke, the second typhoon to hit Japan this month, made landfall in Hamamatsu. 90. Imran Khan's book recalled in India for errors in map Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's new book became the latest publication to trip over the cartographic tangle of the India-Pakistan border. Publisher Random House recalled all advance copies of the book in India and delayed its release due to errors in a map of the two countries at the time of the Partition, which wrongly showed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir shaded in the same colour as that of Pakistan. 91. India, S Africa to strengthen ties in MSME sector India and South Africa agreed to strengthen cooperation in the medium, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector through joint ventures, technology collaborations and marketing tieups. The trade between the two countries was $10.6 billion in 2010-11. 92. India, Sri Lanka conducted naval exercises The Indian Navy gained from the Sri Lankan experience with low intensity conflict, while the Sri Lankan Navy learnt to operate more effectively in a multi-force environment on the conclusion of the biggest-ever exercise between the two Navies. The exercise SLINEX II, which was aimed at enhancing interoperability. 93. Permanent works on Kishenganga dam stayed In a setback to India in its dispute with Pakistan over the Kishenganga project in Jammu and Kashmir, the Court of Arbitration restrained New Delhi from undertaking any permanent dam works on or above the river bed that might inhibit the flow of the river. Pakistan, which had taken

the matter to the court, had sought full moratorium on the entire 330 MW Kishenganga project under construction in Baramulla district. 94. Saudi women got voting right Saudi King Abdullah announced that the nation's women would gain the right to vote and run as candidates in local elections to be held in 2015 in a major advancement for the rights of women in the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom. 95. India, Myanmar to double bilateral trade to $3 billion Seeking to expand their economic cooperation and broad-base their trade basket, India and Myanmar agreed to set a $3 billion trade target to be achieved by 2015 from the existing $1.5 billion. This was decided at fourth meeting of Joint Trade Commission which was attended by the Union Commerce Minister, Anand Sharma, and the Myanmar's Minister of Commerce, U. Win Myint. Mr. Sharma said construction of the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project comprising a waterway component and a roadway component by 2013 would completely transform the trade between North-East India and the rest of the world. The cost of the project is $120 million and it envisages a direct trade corridor between Indian ports on the Eastern seaboard and Sittwe Port in Myanmar and then through river transport and by road to Mizoram, providing an alternative route for transportation of goods to North-East India. 96. Ophelia caused flooding on Dominica, moved away Tropical Storm Ophelia caused flooding and cut off several communities on this eastern Caribbean island but the storm stayed in the open Atlantic and moved away from the Leeward Islands. Ophelia had maximum sustained winds of about 60 mph (95 kph). 97. Typhoon death toll hit 23 in Philippines The death toll in Typhoon Nesats onslaught in the Philippines rose to 23 as the country began to clean up the destruction left behind by the powerful cyclone. Thirty-five people, most of them fishermen, were missing. Nesat slammed into the north-eastern Philippines with maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometres per hour (kph) and gusts of up to 170 kph. With a diameter of 600 kilometres, the typhoons effect was felt in the entire northern region of Luzon and some parts of the eastern region of Bicol. 98. India, U.S. agreed to enhance maritime security cooperation India and the U.S. agreed to enhance their maritime security cooperation, asserting safety of sea lanes of communication across the Indian Ocean is crucial for the economic growth for the entire region. One-fifth of the worlds energy supplies now travel across the Indian Ocean. The safety of the sea lanes of communication which criss-cross the Indian Ocean is crucial for the economic growth not just for India and the U.S. but for the entire region. Maritime trade routes in the Indian Ocean are vital for international commerce and global energy security and both have a shared interest in combating threats such as piracy. Therefore both agreed to enhance their maritime security cooperation. 99. China launched space lab module China successfully launched its first space laboratory module, a key first step in its objective of becoming only the third country, after Russia and the United States, to assemble its own space station by 2020. The unmanned module, launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in north-western China, will dock with a spacecraft, Shenzhou-8 after orbiting the earth for about a month. The 8.5-tonne Tiangong-1, or Heavenly Palace, laboratory module has a 15 cubic metre space where two or three astronauts can work and live. 100. Pakistan keen to grant MFN status to India With Pakistan favourably inclined to give the most favoured nation (MFN) status to India, both countries agreed to work out modalities to open trade in the petroleum sector, energy and commodities as well as opening up of the banking sector and cross-border investments. Speaking at the India-Pakistan Business conclave organised by FICCI. Union Commerce and

Industry Minister Anand Sharma said he had accepted the invitation extended by Pakistan's Trade Minister Makhdoom Muhammed Amin Fahim and a high-level business delegation led by him would be visiting Pakistan in November this year to give a fillip to the economic relations and cooperation. 101. Nobel Committee not to name substitute winner Within a few hours of the announcement by the Nobel Prize Committee that Canadian scientist Ralph Steinman would share the prize in Physiology / Medicine with Bruce A Beutler and Jules Hoffmann, it became known that Mr. Steinman had passed away three days ago. His demise has put the Nobel Committee in a fix because the prize cannot be awarded posthumously, unless death has occurred after the announcement of the prize. 102. India to train Afghan forces In a major development, India agreed to mentor the Afghan security forces as they gear up to deal with the drawdown of foreign forces by 2014. The proposal has been on the drawing board for six years since Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai first suggested it, but was not implemented as Pakistan was uncomfortable with the idea of India-trained forces on both its flanks. The proposal to train the Afghan National Security Forces was included in the first-ever Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) signed by Mr. Karzai and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during their third extensive meeting this year. India has started stepping up its exposure to the security scenario in Afghanistan by operationalising an airbase in Tajikistan, which has since been used to strike at the top leadership of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. It has also sought permission to reopen a hospital at Farkhor on the Afghan border. 103. India and Indonesia launched CECA negotiations India and Indonesia formally launched the negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) that would cover economic cooperation, trade in goods and services and investment. Speaking at the Indonesia-India Biennial Trade Ministers' Forum (BTMF) in Jakarta, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, said: we have launched our bilateral CECA negotiations. Indonesia continues to impose ban on import of Indian buffalo meat citing that India is not free from Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). India's contention is that we have FMD-free zones. At present India exports buffalo meat to more than 60 countries, including Malaysia, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Germany, the UAE, Russia and Jordan. 104. Nepal Telecom's deal with Chinese firms worried India The Indian security establishment is watching with unease Nepal Telecom's decision to award the contract for the next generation telecom network in the Himalayan country to two Chinese firms. There is apprehension about the step, given its long term security implications. One official argued that the decision could mean a virtual free run for Chinese companies that have links to the Chinese establishment on the communication network of Nepal. Nepal Telecom, the government-controlled telecom monopoly, awarded the contract for installing the Next Generation Network (NGN) in August to two Chinese telecom firms, ZTE Corporation and Huawei. ZTE would install the equipment for NGN in Kathmandu Valley while Huawei would do so in the rest of Nepal. According to details, the two companies would complete the project, estimated at $19 million, in six months time. 105. US organised cultural event in Kashmir after 22 years The United States government on October 5, 2011 organised a cultural event in Kashmir after a gap of nearly 22 years to promote people-to-people exchanges. The US government had issued travel advisories for Jammu and Kashmir and limited its activities in the state in early1990s after eruption of militancy. The reappearance of the US cultural activity in Kashmir was marked by interaction of US astronaut and two-time space traveller, Marry Ellen Weber, with students at the Kothibagh girls' higher secondary school where she shared her experiences about the space travel with the students.

106. New rules to stop Indian workers settling in UK The UK announced that Indian and other non-EU professionals would have to return to their countries of origin after their work visa expires instead of being allowed to settle in UK after working for five years. Currently, immigration rules allow non-EU professionals to settle in Britain indefinitely after working for five years. This provision is likely to be soon scrapped under the David Cameron governments plans to cut immigration. Setting out several measures, the Cameron government had taken since assuming office in 2010. 107. India studying NATO offer on joining missile programme The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's (NATO) invitation to India in the first week of September to be a partner in its ballistic missile defence (BMD) programme is being analyzed, according to V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to the Defense Minister. We are analysing the report. It is under consideration, he said after the successful launch of the Agni-II ballistic missile from the Wheeler Island on the Orissa coast. India has so far conducted six interceptor missile tests as part of its quest to establish a credible shield against ballistic missiles launched from adversarial countries. Of these, five interceptor tests, including the first three in a row, were successful. The first interceptor missile test took place in November 2006. 108. India, Iran agreed on payment mechanism for trade In a significant development indicating a breakthrough in resolving the India-Iran payment crisis for import of oil as well as exports, both countries agreed to set up a payment mechanism to facilitate bilateral trade. According to the Finance Ministry, both sides agreed on the mechanism to be put in place for the purpose, including for the payment to Indian exporters and project exporters. Although the statement did not indicate but this would also include payments made by India for buying Iranian crude oil. The issue of payment for oil had been hanging in fire for the last nine months with the Indian side grappling for a solution on the issue. Although Iran has continued to supply crude oil to India , it had threatened to stop supplies if a mechanism to pay for imports is not found quickly. Iran is second only to Saudi Arabia as an oil supplier to India, while India is Iran's second-biggest crude buyer after China, accounting for about 20 per cent of its exports. Iran supplies 12 per cent of total oil needs of India. 109. India and Bangladesh launched joint exercise Indian and Bangladeshi forces launched a joint exercise in the northeastern Sylhet as part of efforts to deepen military ties and cooperation in counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations. 110. China planned new economic zones near western border China unveiled new plans to speed up the construction of two economic development zones in far-western Xinjiang, pledging greater investment, fiscal subsidies and measures to accelerate connecting the border region to Pakistan through railway lines and air routes. The State Council, or Chinese cabinet, outlined the measures in a policy document released, which, for the first time, detailed Beijing's already announced ambitious plans to set up two economic development zones in the frontier cities of Kashgar and Korgas, respectively located near China's borders with disputed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Kazakhstan.

Business & Economy

1. Reserve Bank nodded must for NBFCs to open subsidiaries abroad With an aim to regulate the credit system to the advantage of the country, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) cannot open subsidiaries or enter into joint ventures abroad without its permission. No NBFC shall open subsidiaries/joint ventures/ representative office abroad or shall make investment in any foreign entities without obtaining prior approval in writing from the Reserve Bank of India, the central bank said in a notification. It said investments will be permitted only in those entities having their core activity regulated by a financial sector regulator in the host jurisdiction or country. Besides, the aggregate overseas investment by NBFCs should not exceed 100 per cent of their net owned funds (NOF). 2. Landmark ILO treaty to protect domestic workers The International Labour Organisation passed a landmark treaty giving protection to an estimated 52.6 million domestic workers across the world. The new convention would ensure domestic workers enjoyed conditions not less favourable than other workers, and require governments to ensure they understood their rights, preferably through written contracts. The document also offers domestic workers a full rest day every week, and prevents them being compelled to remain with an employer's household during their annual leave or rest days. 3. Centre planned five power transmission lines The Central Government is planning to set up five new power transmission lines with private sector participation at an estimated cost of Rs.6,485 crore (worth over $1.40 billion). These planned transmission lines would help power evacuation from the proposed coastal generation projects in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The total cost for setting up these lines would be Rs.6,485 crore. These projects, which would be awarded through the tariff-based competitive bidding process, are expected to be completed in the XII Plan (2012-17). These lines would help in evacuating power from projects in Nagapattanam and Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu as well as from gas-based generation projects in Vemagiri and Rajamundry areas in Andhra Pradesh. 4. Foreign individuals may be allowed to invest $10 bn in MFs India is likely to allow foreign individuals to invest in mutual funds but with a cumulative cap of $10 billion. The detailed guidelines are being worked out jointly by the finance ministry, RBI and Sebi. It was aimed at broad-basing the flow of foreign investment in the Indian stock market, so that dependence on FIIs funds, considered as hot money, is reduced. This will increase corpus in MF holdings, which means MFs will purchase more equity and other schemes as a result of which it will help in fighting volatility, which takes place due to FII outflows. At present, only FIIs and sub-accounts registered with the market regulator Sebi and NRIs are allowed to invest in mutual fund schemes in the country. For allowing foreigners in the segments, the government is looking to introduce a completely new class of investors, called Qualified Foreign Investors (QFIs). QFIs registered with depository participants can invest in the mutual funds directly and also through a mechanism -- Unit Confirmation Receipt (UCR) system. Under the proposed UCR approach, a foreign investor can go to depositories in his home country and place orders on custodian banks in India. The custodian banks will look into the MFs and issue UCRs against the underlying MFs. 5. Power to get 35% of $1 trillion infra investment in 12th plan Power sector will be get major share of investment in infrastructure during the 12th five year plan period (2012-2017). Union Minister of state for planning Ashwini Kumar told that over the five years, " the Government is planning to invest $1 trillion in physical infrastructure sector and around 35 per cent of this would be infused into power sector." The plan panel had an internal

meeting to give final shape to Approach Paper to the 12th plan. Plan panel is targeting to add 100,000 Mw to India's power-generation capacity during the 12th plan. Power has been a major concern as the sector is way behind in achieving its 11th plan targets. Plan panel had targeted to add 78,577 MW capacity in the 11th plan. But due to shortage of fuel linkages (coal and gas) and environmental clearance issues, in the mid-term review the panel had reduced the target to 62,000 MW. 6. Infy, Tata emerged as top brands in India IT giant Infosys and salt-to-software conglomerate Tata emerged as the Top 2 brands in India, beating global majors like Google, Nokia and Facebook, in a new index. According to TLG's Index of emerging market 'Thought Leaders', seven out of the top ten brands in India were indigenous firms. The list of top 20 firms was peppered with Indian brands including Larsen & Toubro (5th), State Bank of India (7th), Life Insurance Corporation of India (12th), Bharti Airtel (13th), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (14th), Aditya Birla Group (15th), The Oberoi Group (16th), HDFC Bank (17th), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (18th) and Ranbaxy Laboratories (19th). 7. Direct tax collections crossed Rs 1 lakh crore in Q1 Belying fears of moderation in economic activities, the direct tax collection (personal income tax and corporate tax) grew by 23 per cent to Rs 101,600 crore in the first quarter of current financial year. The collection was Rs 82,300 crore in the same period last fiscal and Rs 77,500 crore in April-June 2009, showing consistent increase in revenue generation. According to a senior revenue official in the Ministry of Finance, total corporate tax collections increased by 23 per cent in the first quarter of the fiscal to Rs 67,100 crore from Rs 54,600 crore in the same period a year ago. It was Rs 49,200 crore in the comparative period of 2009-10. 8. IRDA issued draft guidelines for life insurers' IPO Insurance companies which have completed 10 years of operations are now eligible to go for initial public offer (IPO). Prior to filing of the draft document for issue of share capital or making public offer with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the insurance company should take a formal approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). For approval, the insurer should have maintained a satisfactory regulatory record in the draft guidelines on Issues of Capital and Disclosure Requirements (ICDR) for life insurance companies announced. The objective of the public issue could be to augment solvency requirement and general corporate purposes. 9. Dematerialise promoters' shareholding fully The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) stipulated that all companies should achieve 100 per cent dematerialisation in promoters and promoter group's shareholding by the quarter ended September 2011. Presently securities of companies are to be traded in normal segment, if and only if, the company has achieved at least 50 per cent non-promoter shareholding in dematerialised form and maintained the same on a continuous basis. In all cases, wherein the companies do not satisfy this criteria, trading in securities of such companies shall take place in trade for trade segment. 10. Salaried class with income up to Rs. 5 lakh exempted from IT return In a move that stands to benefit about 85 lakh salaried taxpayers, the Central Government launched a scheme under which assesses having annual income up to Rs.5 lakh through salary and bank interest will not be required to file income-tax returns for assessment year 2011-12. The scheme is aimed at avoiding duplication of available information in such cases where there are no other sources of income. According to Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Prakash Chandra, the scheme would cover those salaried taxpayers whose interest income per annum is up to Rs.10,000.

11. CCI penalised NSE for abusing dominant market position In the long-running tussle between the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and its younger rival MCX-SX, the Competition Commission is believed to have penalised NSE for abusing its dominant market position. As a penalty, NSE has been asked to pay five per cent of its average annual turnover and also "cease and desist" of unfair trade practices in the currency derivative trading, sources said. According to the order, NSE has to stop subsidising its currency derivatives operations and refrain from pursuing any anti-competitive practices. 12. Paying a heavy price for ignoring the manufacturing sector India's growth is slowing down while inflation is going up. All blamed it on higher prices of commodities and a generalised inflation where demand outstrips supply. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to control the demand side pressures by tightening liquidity in the system. However, the present economic situation is an end-result of a wrong fiscal policy adopted over the years. RBI Deputy Governor K. C. Chakrabarty reportedly said after the recent rate hike by the central bank that Instead of saying that RBI should bring down inflation, we must increase productivity and bring down the cost of services and that will only bring down inflation. Otherwise, it will not come down. This also points to ineffectiveness or failure of fiscal measures in containing inflation. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia had stated: Manufacturing growth in India is much below than what it should be. If we can't achieve 12 per cent growth, then we would not be able to create large employment. The share of manufacturing sector in real gross domestic product (GDP) has risen over the years. However, this increase has not matched the expectations for two main reasons. 13. NTPC commissioned 660 MW supercritical unit The first supercritical 660 mw unit of NTPC has been commissioned at Sipat, Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh. With this NTPC's installed capacity has risen to 34,854 MW and total operational capacity of NTPC Sipat to 1,660 MW. 14. India is Dubai's largest trading partner India remained Dubai's largest direct trade partner , with bilateral transactions between the two sides amounting to over USD 44.3 billion ,accounting for 34% of Dubai's total direct trade with the world. 15. With riders for Vedanta, Govt cleared Cairn stake sale The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the Cairn-Vedanta deal on the condition that Vedanta agree to participate in paying royalty and cess on crude oil from the Rajasthan block by including it as block expense. This is in line with the Group of Ministers recommendation that the share transfer be allowed only if Cairn or its successor agrees to bear royalty and cess equal to their participating interest in the Rajasthan block. Oil and Natural Gas Corp, which holds 30 percent in the field, currently pays the entire royalty. 16. HDFC to buy 12% stake in nations first e-hospital HDFC has invested around Rs 2.4 crore for acquiring approximately 12 per cent stake in the first e-hospital MediAngels in the country. The Navi Mumbai-based e-hospital has kicked off operations through the site www.mediangels.com and already provided services to around 1,500 patients who have received expert opinion from specialists based in the United States, Europe and many other locations. 17. Qatar ranked above India, China in innovation index Qatar has been ranked 26th in the Global Innovation Index, securing the highest position in the Middle East ahead of even the world's two largest emerging economies China (29) and India (62). The report, prepared jointly by business school INSEAD and few other institutions, said that Qatar improved its world ranking by nine places vis-a-vis its 2010 position.

18. Oil Ministry referred Reliance-BP deal to CCEA More then four months after UKs BP Plc agreed to buy a 30 per cent stake in Reliance Industries oil and gas blocks, the Oil Ministry has referred the $7.2 billion deal to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for approval. Although the Oil Ministry has the authority to decide on Reliance selling 30 per cent interest to BP in 23 exploration blocks, including the prize eastern offshore KG-D6 gas fields, the ministry decided to refer the deal to the CCEA, sources privy to the development said. The $7.2 billion deal is the single largest foreign direct investment in the country and Reliance had on February 25 made a formal application to the Oil Ministry for approval of the transfer of stake to Europes second biggest oil company. 19. Boeing 787 to join Air India fleet by fouth quarter The wait for Boeing 787, also named as `Dreamliner', seems to be getting over gradually. Finally, after a delay of nearly three years, State-owned Air India, battling financial hardships, is all set to receive the first ultra long haul passenger jetliner in the fourth quarter of 2011. However, the Dreamliner is scheduled to land at the IGI Airport in the capital on a test flight next week and Air India pilots would start getting trained to fly this latest plane from August. It was disclosed by Boeing India President Dinesh Keskar. While Air India has ordered 27 B 787-8s, private carrier Jet Airways has placed orders for ten of these planes. 20. Govt proposed margin, rate cap for microlenders The government proposed to restrict the annual percentage rate, including interest rate and fee, charged by micro-finance institutions as well as their margins under a new law. The proposed legislation follows furore in various parts of the country, and particularly in Andhra Pradesh , over the high rates charged by MFIs that cater largely to the needs of the unbanked population. These entities have also been accused of following unfair recovery practices and granting loans which are for consumption needs of the poor as opposed to their productive needs. To begin with, the bill has proposed that all entities involved in micro-finance activity register with the Reserve Bank of India, which will be the common regulator for the business. RBI will specify net worth and other norms, such as those for creation of reserves , in addition to those related to fund-raising tools. 21. EGoM on LPG An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to consider limiting supply of subsidised domestic LPG cylinders to 4-6 per household in a year. The EGoM meeting is slated to consider recommendation of the Task Force on Direct Transfer of Subsidies on Kerosene, LPG and Fertiliser. The limited supply of subsidised LPG would be for those who own a car, two-wheeler, house or figure in the income-tax list. Each 14.2kg bottle of LPG normally lasts a household 45-60 days and based on this calculation a maximum of six cylinders are considered enough to see a family through the year. Currently, records of LPG distributors of public sector companies shows that a vast number of households are taking as many as 20 to 30 cylinders per household each year. This suggests that large scale diversion of subsidised cooking gas is taking place for use in commercial establishments, such as restaurants and dhabas and as auto fuel. The EGoM may approve launch of pilot projects to test direct transfer of cash subsidy to the targeted populations in few states. Seven states -- Tamil Nadu, Assam, Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Orissa -- have been identified for launch of the pilot projects from October, according to the road map suggested by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). 22. India third largest investor and generate more jobs in UK India was the third largest investor in Britain during 2010-11 with 97 new projects, generating several jobs in a country facing recession and major job losses. "Among the high growth markets, India and China are still the two principal sources of inward investment by project numbers," an official report titled by 'UK Inward Investment Report 2010-2011' released by the UK Trade and Investment said. An example of India's growing investment in Britain is Tata Steel and Australia's Dyesol's recently announced expansion of their 11 million pounds collaborative R&D project in Flintshire to develop the world's first continuously manufactured dye-sensitised photovoltaic product on steel, for building applications.

23. RBI suggested ED probe into DE Shaw deal Reserve Bank of India has asked the Government to consider a probe by Enforcement Directorate into alleged violations of foreign exchange regulations by global private equity major DE Shaw in a Rs 117-crore deal. The matter relates to an 18 per cent stake purchase by DE Shaw in Amar Ujala in 2007, but the Indian print media company later accused the US-based company of indulging in fraudulent practices in this deal. After looking into the complaints of alleged violation of foreign investment norms in the deal, RBI has written to the Finance Ministry that the matter can be referred to ED, which possesses investigation and adjudication powers under FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act), sources said. 24. SBI, four others shortlisted to manage EPFO corpus EPFO's advisory body FIC today shortlisted five entities ICICI Securities, Reliance Capital, HSBC Asset Management Company (AMC), SBI and ICICI Prudential for managing its corpus of Rs 3.5 lakh crore. The recommendation of the EPFO's Financial Advisory Committee (FIC) will be placed before the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) for final approval later in the day. The suggestions of the FIC is usually accepted by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation's (EPFO) highest decision making body CBT which is headed by Labour Minister. 25. Record foodgrain output, but need to produce more: PM Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a record foodgrain production of 241 million tonnes (MT) in 2010-11. However, he suggested that growth in foodgrain production alone will not be sufficient to contain food inflation without sufficient growth in the agriculture sector comprising horticulture, animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries. In this context, Prime Minister differentiated the improvement in the production of food grains (cereals and pulses) from the growth in the agriculture sector as a whole and blamed below-target agriculture sector growth in the 11th plan period for unacceptable levels of food price inflation in recent years. 26. Govt lifted ban on wheat export Reeling under storage space crunch, the government lifted the ban on wheat export that had been in place since early 2007. Yes, there is no ban. Wheat exports are allowed, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told on the sidelines of an ICAR function. Pawar, however, expressed apprehensions over viability of wheat exports citing the prevailing low global wheat prices.

27. Centre plans 25 new integrated textile parks The Central Government has drawn up plans to set up 25 new textile parks across the country. Mr. Anand Sharma, who holds additional charge of the Textiles Ministry, said 25 new SITPs would be constituted with each unit costing Rs.40 crore. Four integrated textile parks would be inaugurated in Maharashtra and Gujarat shortly, he added. Seeking to revive the National Textiles Corporation (NTC), Mr. Sharma said three new mills of NTC would be opened soon in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka. Mr. Sharma also announced that the government planned to introduce the Cotton Development Bill in the winter session of Parliament to establish a Directorate General of Textile Intelligence and to give a new thrust to the cotton sector. 28. Swiss banks owe Indian holders over $2bn: Swiss Central Bank The Swiss Central Bank estimated the total liabilities of Swiss banks toward Indian account holders at about $2.5 billion in 2010 as against the $1.5 trillion figure projected by some political parties and non-governmental organisations. In the aftermath of the financial crisis that engulfed the West after the collapse of Lehman Bank in the United States in 2008, Swiss private banks, particularly their largest bank UBS, had suffered huge losses. Subsequently, there were substantial withdrawals of funds from Swiss banks. 29. BSNL launched Voice & Video Telephony over Internet Protocol in India Indias largest integrated telecom service provider BSNL along with Sai Infosystem (India) Ltd. (SIS), launched the first of its kind Voice & Video Telephony (VVOIP) over internet protocol

services in India. The VVOIP technology uses the packet switching technology and makes communication possible over IP networks such as Internet. The main highlight of this service is that any customer can make audio and video calls at will on any landline, mobile or IP phone anywhere in the world, provided that both the ends have requisite video phone equipment. 30. MEL merges with SAIL Maharashtra Elektrosmelt Ltd (MEL), the 99.12 per cent subsidiary of SAIL, was merged with SAIL. The process of merger of MEL with SAIL was started in April 2006 and culminated with the receipt of the final order from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on June 14, 2011. 31. BHEL commissioned Indias first 525 MW set at Maithon BHEL commissioned Indias first thermal set of 525 MW rating at Maithon Right Bank Thermal Power Project in Jharkhand, reinforcing BHELs leadership status in the execution of thermal power projects involving supply of state-of-the-art equipment, suited to Indian coal and Indian conditions. It had won the order for the 2x525 MW greenfield power project outbidding a leading Chinese equipment supplier under International Competitive Bidding (ICB), from Maithon Power Limited (MPL), a joint venture company of Tata Power & DVC. 32. Cabinet cleared merger of SBICI and SBI The government approved merger of State Bank of India Commercial and International Bank Ltd (SBICI) with its parent bank SBI. SBICI, with two branches, is a wholly owned subsidiary of State Bank of India (SBI) and functions as a private sector bank offering an array of financial products and services. The proposed merger will help in maintaining the administrative structure of SBICI as both its branches in Mumbai will be easily absorbed in the operations of the parent entity, she said. While no present beneficiary of its parent SBI would be affected, the number of clients of SBICI will have access to the bigger network of SBI, she said. SBICI was set up in 1994 after taking over the Indian operations of the erstwhile Bank of Credit & Commerce International Ltd (BCCI), which went into liquidation in 1991. 33. Govt lowered FY'12 GDP forecast to 8.6% Government lowered its GDP forecast for 2011-12 to 8.6 per cent from the earlier estimate of about 9 per cent in view of a likely moderation in industrial output. Growth is estimated to be marginally higher at 8.6 per cent this year over 2010-11 levels of 8.5 per cent, the Finance Ministry said. The ministry added that as first quarter growth figures for the current fiscal are still to be released, the outlook for 2011-12 has to be inferred from movements of past data, as well as higher frequency proxy economic indicators. While annual indicators of real GDP growth remained positive in 2010-11, there was a perceptible slowdown in terms of quarterly growth rates in the last two quarters. 34. Panel for 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail The Union government took yet step another towards the opening of multi-brand retail, with the Committee of Secretaries recommending that 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) be allowed in the sector, provided the investment is not less than $100 million. The committee, headed by Cabinet Secretary A.K. Seth, recommended that the global retailers should ensure that at least half the amount invested by them goes in the back-end supply chain. If cleared by the Union Cabinet, India could see global retail giants such as WalMart, Carrefour, Tesco and Metro AG entering the high-potential retail market, which is valued at $600 billion. Notably, the current rules allow 51 per cent FDI in the single-brand retail, while 100 per cent is allowed in the cash-and-carry format that is for small shop-owners and enterprises and not for retail customers. 35. Exim Bank extended $168 mn LOC to Congo India would be financing the construction of a hydro-electric project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Export-Import Bank of India extended a Line of Credit (LOC) of $168 million to the DR Congo for financing Ketende Hydro-electric Project in the African country. This is the fourth Line of Credit extended by Exim Bank to Congo at the behest of Government of India, taking the total value of LOCs extended to $ 268.50 million. The LOCs have supported export of items like

setting up a cement plant, acquisition of buses and acquisition of equipment for Societ Miniere de Bakwanga (MIBA), installation of hand pumps and submersible pumps, execution of Kakobola Hydroelectric Power Project in Congo. 36. DIPP mulled to further revise WPI base year Amid concerns expressed by the RBI over wide variation in provisional and final data, the Industry Ministry is looking at revising base year to 2010-11 for computation of inflation index with a view to present more realistic picture of the price situation. The Government, in September 2010, changed the base year for calculating Wholesale Price Index (WPI) from 1993-94 to 200405 to give a better indication of changes in prices of commodities. The move to revise WPI data would help in narrowing the gap between the provisional and final data and provide more updated inputs necessary for formulation of policies. The new index, with 2010-11, is expected to have new items, which would provide a more realistic picture of price rise and its impact on people, the official said, adding most of the additions could be in the manufactured products category. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), an arm of industry ministry brings out the inflation data. Currently, the WPI measures a total of 676 items against 435 earlier. The new items added include readymade food, computer stationary, refrigerators, dish antennas, VCDs, crude petroleum and computers. In the primary article group, few products were being added. 37. James Murdoch confirmed as BSkyB chairman James Murdoch was unanimously confirmed as chairman by BSkyB's board, winning a reprieve from a phone-hacking scandal that threatens to draw him into multiple investigations. Meeting of the BSkyB board was its first since the crisis forced News Corp to close the News of the World newspaper, drop a $12 billion bid for BSkyB and offer up James and his father Rupert to answer questions in the UK parliament. 38. SEBI announced steps to attract retail investors to mkt In order to attract more retail investors to the market, regulator Sebi announced a host of steps, including simpler IPO forms and greater disclosures by companies, besides modifying takeover norms. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), in its board meeting, has also decided to impose a transaction fee of Rs 100-150 on investments of Rs 10,000 in Mutual Fund to incentivise them to sell MF schemes to investors. The regulator also announced the guidelines for Infrastructure Debt Fund (IDF) and simplified the Know Your Customer (KYC) registration process for investors in different segments of the financial market. The investor form for the Initial Public Offer (IPO) henceforth be short and simple, Sebi chairman UK Sinha said, adding, the number of pages in the form will now come down by 50 per cent. 39. PMs economic council sent out SOS: Govt has lost momentum, must act fast The Prime Ministers Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) blamed the government for having lost time in getting its act together despite the combined momentum of stability after the May 2009 general election and the successful navigation through the global crisis. Presenting the Economic Outlook for 2011-12, the C Rangarajan-chaired council said overconfidence in both the government and business, disinclination to roll back fiscal and monetary stimulus quickly, corruption-related controversies in the last one year and loss of focus on policy initiatives marred the countrys return to the path of high rate of asset creation and economic growth. 40. 98% of villages have public phones: TRAI New data released by telecom regulator Trai shows that 98.5 per cent of the inhabited villages in the country had village public telephone (VPT) connections as of the end of the quarter ended March 31, 2011. There are 5,93,731 inhabited villages in India as per the Census 2001. At the end of March, 2011, 98.5 per cent of the total inhabited villages in India were connected to phone networks through VPTs, as per the Trai report. The number of VPTs increased from 5.81 lakh in December, 2010, to 5.85 lakh as of the quarter ended March, 2011. Himachal Pradesh has the highest rural teledensity of 70.23 (connections per 100 people), followed by Punjab (56.92), Kerala (53.25), Haryana (51.23) and Tamil Nadu (48.92, including Chennai). Bihar continues to have the lowest rural teledensity of 21.86, followed by Madhya Pradesh (22.92).

41. China got first-ever chance to enter Indian Ocean for exploration China is stepping into the Indian Ocean for the first time, something it has been unsuccessfully seeking through alliances with Myanmar and Sri Lanka. It is doing it for mineral exploration. But the move is bound to draw close scrutiny from India, which is worried about China's military goals in the area. The China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association announced the country has obtained approval to explore a 10,000-square-km polymetallic sulphide ore deposit in an international seabed region of the southwest Indian Ocean. Its application for prospecting the region was recently approved by the International Seabed Authority, the association said. 42. RBI panel mooted customer-centric approach by banks The Reserve Bank of India panel recommended an increased deposit insurance cover of Rs.5 lakh so as to encourage individuals to keep all their deposits in banks. A possibility may be explored to enable full insurance cover for bank deposits by making necessary amendments in the relevant Acts, said the report on Customer Service in Banks chaired by M. Damodaran, former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). In case of sick banks, where the accounts are frozen, a possibility to enable customers to immediately avail themselves of a part of their insured deposits before the final fate of sick banks is decided may be explored, it added. 43. S&P striped US off top-grade credit rating Raising concerns over the creditworthiness of the worlds largest economy, Standard and Poors downgraded sovereign rating of the US from the top-most AAA level for the first time in history a move that could make the debt-ridden nations borrowings costlier. Announcing the unprecedented move of downgrading the long-term sovereign credit rating of the US a notch lower from AAA to AA+, the rating agency major said it considers the efforts being made by the administration to tackle soaring debt levels as inadequate. 44. India plans own 90-seater aircraft series by 2017 In a move that is seen as more strategic than just commercial, India plans to rope in a private sector player to manufacture 90-seater passenger aircraft over the next five years. Having received an in-principle approval from the Planning Commission, the Department of Science and Technology will soon move a Cabinet note proposing series production of the aircraft at a total cost of Rs 7,555 crore. The overall configuration of the aircraft has been finalised and specifications of the three major sub-systems engine, avionics and control systems drawn up. While the commercial viability of the project has been confirmed, the design and development phase estimated to cost Rs 4,500 crore over three years beginning January 2012 is proposed to be fully funded by the government,. 45. India faced Rs 1.83 lakh crore exposure to US debt As one of the 15-largest foreign creditors to the US, India's exposure to the United States' ballooning debts is estimated at $ 41 billion -- higher than the money America owes to countries like France and Australia. The overall national debt of the US is moving nearer to $ 15 trillion, out of which it owes over $ 4.5 trillion to foreign countries holding the US government debt securities. While China is the single-largest holder of the US treasury securities with $ 1.15 trillion, India stands at 14th position with $ 41 billion (about Rs 1.83 lakh crore), as per the US Treasury Department. 46. SEBI to upgrade manipulator-detecting system The capital market watchdog Sebi is planning a major upgradation of its key surveillance system through which it monitors data from stock exchange and depositories for identifying the manipulation activities. The move would help the regulator in its efforts towards a better, continuous monitoring of manipulation attempts in the stock market and analysis of daily transaction data. SEBI, which has been using the Integrated Market Surveillance System (IMSS)

since December 2006 for market surveillance purposes and identifying the suspicious transactions, has now decided to further upgrade the IT infrastructure of the system. 47. FDI in India shoot up 310% Reinstating investors confidence in the Indian economy, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) witnessed the highest monthly inflow in last 11 financial years to a whopping 310 per cent increase in June to $5.65 billion. In June, 2010, FDI inflows into the country amounted to $1.38 billion. FDI flows were also very high in May, 2011, with the country receiving foreign investment worth $4.66 billion, a jump of 111 per cent vis-a-vis the same period last year. In the April-June period of the current fiscal, FDI went up by a massive 133 per cent to $13.44 billion from $5.77 billion in the corresponding period last year. During the first six months of the 2011 calendar year, FDI increased by 57 per cent year-on-year to $16.83 billion, it said. 48. Planning Commission lowered 5-year GDP forecast by 100 bps A worsening global economic situation has forced the Planning Commission to tone down its growth projections for India by almost 100 basis points. GDP will now grow between 8.5-8.7% in the 12th Plan period (2012-17) against an earlier 9.5%, the commission predicted. We had projected 9.5% growth for the 12th Plan and then scaled it down to 9%. But it would be difficult to achieve that. I think we will grow at 8.5-8.7%, said Ashwani Kumar, the minister of state for planning. 49. Apple became world's No.1 company From a start-up launched with borrowed money to becoming the world's most valuable company, Apple has come a long way. The Cupertino-based technology giant surpassed the global leader Exxon Mobile Corp. to take this title. Exxon has held the top spot since 2005. At the close of markets, Apple had market capitalization of $337 billion ahead of Exxon's $337 billion.Started in 1976 with borrowed money from an Intel executive by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Apple's steep rise to the top began with the return of Jobs to the Cupertino-based company in 1997. Jobs borrowed $150 million from Bill Gates to turn around the loss-making Apple with a series of overhauls. 50. Google to acquire Motorola Mobility business for $12.5 b In a bid to strengthen its mobile business, Google announced that it would acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings, the cell phone business that was split from Motorola, for $40 a share in cash, or $12.5 billion. The offer by far Google's largest ever for an acquisition is 63 per cent above the closing price of Motorola Mobility shares last. Motorola manufactures phones that run on Google's Android software. Android has become an increasingly important platform for Google, as global smartphone adoption accelerates. The platform, launched in 2007, is now used in more than 150 million devices, with 39 manufacturers. The acquisition would turn Google, which makes the Android mobile operating system, into a full-fledged cell phone manufacturer, in direct competition with Apple. 51. Govts debt crossed $41 trillion globally in 2010 The total amount of debt incurred by governments across the world jumped to a staggering $41.10 trillion last year, accounting for 69 per cent of the global GDP, because of stimulus packages and anaemic economic growth, says a report. Many governments, especially in the developed world, have resorted to massive stimulus measures to bolster their economies since the 2008 global financial meltdown. Public debt outstanding (measured as marketable government debt securities) stood at $41.10 trillion at the end of 2010, an increase of nearly $25 trillion since 2000. This was the equivalent of 69 per cent of global GDP, 23 percentage points higher than in 2000. In just the past two years, public debt has grown by $9.4 trillion or 13 percentage points of GDP, global consultancy McKinsey said.

52. Most valued company: Coal India beats RIL State-run Coal India toppled Reliance Industries as the country's most valued company, ending billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led corporate giant's over four-year rein at the top of the market valuation charts. With an over two per cent gain in its share price, the public sector coal giant achieved a market value of Rs 2,51,296 crore, which was over Rs 4,000 crore more than that of private sector energy giant Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). 53. Consortium for Afghanistan mine in trouble, Tatas pulled out Barely days after state-owned companies SAIL, NMDC and RINL stitched together a consortium with private sector biggies Tata Steel, Sajjan Jindal-promoted JSW Steel and Navin Jindals Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) to bid for the Hajigak mines in Afghanistan, the Tatas have pulled out. 54. Apple CEO Steve Jobs resigned, Tim Cook took over Silicon Valley legend Steve Jobs resigned as chief executive of Apple Inc in a stunning move that ended his 14-year reign at the technology giant he co-founded in a garage. Apple shares dived as much as 7 percent in after-hours trade after the pancreatic cancer survivor and industry icon, who has been on medical leave for an undisclosed condition since Jan. 17, announced he will be replaced by COO and longtime heir apparent Tim Cook. 55. RBI agreed to dip into forex for energy fund Keen to ensure energy security as it strives for double-digit growth, the government finally decided to take forward its long pending plan to set up a sovereign wealth fund. The fund is likely to have a corpus of $10 billion, though government sources indicated that its size could be reviewed in view of the soaring global crude oil prices. A sovereign wealth fund (SWF) is a stateowned vehicle which is used to invest in assets abroad and have been set up by a number of countries including China, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Norway, Kuwait and Russia. 56. RBI favoured splitting post of chairmen and MD in PSU banks Reserve Bank of India Governor D. Subbarao favoured bifurcation of the posts of chairman and managing director in state-run banks, saying the experience of such a split in the private sector had been satisfactory. Stating that the central bank was in discussion with the government to split the posts of chairmen and managing directors of state-run banks, the governor said, Given our own positive experience, as well as the global endorsement for this position (of separation of these posts)... we will discuss this issue with the government. 57. SEBI allowed infra finance firms to float long-term bonds The Securities and Exchange Board of India allowed infrastructure finance companies to raise funds overseas through long-term corporate bonds. It has been decided that non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) categorised as infrastructure finance companies (IFCs) by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) shall also now be considered eligible issuers for the purposes of FII investment under the corporate debt long-term infra category. This fund raising tool was so far limited to companies in the infrastructure sector. 58. RBI panel proposed tough guidelines for NBFCs Recommending a tough regulatory environment for non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), a Reserve Bank of India panel has proposed a host of tough measures such as asset classification and provisioning norms similar to banks, and a hike in Tier-I capital adequacy ratio in a phased manner. The proposals, if implemented, will reduce the gap between NBFCs and banks and curb the regulatory arbitrage between them. 59. Corporates got entry into banking with riders The Reserve Bank of India has allowed private sector groups to seek banking licences through a wholly-owned non-operative holding company (NOHC) to be registered with the RBI as a nonbanking finance company. In its draft guidelines for licencing of new banks in the private sector unveiled recently, the RBI has pegged the minimum capital requirement for a new bank at Rs 500

crore. Significantly, the RBIs draft norms have not specifically barred industry houses from promoting new banks, but it listed several conditions. 60. Cabinet approved 5 % stake sale in BHEL The Union Government approved disinvestment of 5 per cent of its stake in power equipment maker BHEL that could fetch it about Rs. 4,320 crore. The government will disinvest 5 per cent equity in the company, out of its share holding of 67.72 per cent through book building process in the domestic market, an official release said. Disinvestments of stake in power equipment major BHEL was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). 61. SIDBI to launch two new products Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), the apex financial institution for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), will launch two schemes: Growth Capital and Equity assistance for MSMEs (GEMs), to provide equity / quasi-equity to MSMEs and Flexible Assistance for Capital Expenditure (FACE) with multiple repayment schedules. 62. Panel for assured returns on new pension system A parliamentary panel has recommended that subscribers to the New Pension System (NPS) should get an assured return on their investments, that is, at least equal to the interest rate given by the Employees' Provident Fund Scheme. The Standing Committee on Finance headed by Yashwant Sinha has also suggested imposing a 26 per cent cap on foreign direct investment (FDI) in pension programmes. The committee notes that foreign investment in the pension sector may be capped at 26 per cent. the panel said in its recommendations on the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill, 2011. 63. Indian cos in Forbes Asia's 'Best Under a Billion' list Thirty-five Indian companies are ranked among the top 200 Asia-Pacific corporations in Forbes Asia's 'Best Under a Billion' list for this year. The number of Indian companies was second only to the 65 firms from both China and Hong Kong that found a place in the list. Pakistan has two companies on the list, namely Millat Tractors, which builds agricultural tractors, and software company Netsol Technologies. Sri Lanka has four companies on the list -- Asian Alliance Insurance, Ceylon Investment, Renuka Holdings and chicken processing company Bairaha Farm. 64. SAIL initiative to increase presence in rural areas In a bid to penetrate into the rural pockets and increase its presence in the rural parts of India, state-owned Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has announced that it would soon appoint 1,000 new dealers. In order to create mass awareness about its rural presence, it will offer incentives to these dealerships irrespective of the quantities sold. As per the present data, the per capita steel consumption in rural India is estimated at only 9.78 kg as compared to around 140 kg in urban areas. The steel major has decided to extend attractive financial terms and conditions and incentives to popularise its newly launched rural dealership scheme. 65. NTPC, CEB to set up power plant in Sri Lanka The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and NTPC signed a joint venture and shareholder agreement to set up a 500-MW (2 x 250 MW) coal-based power plant at Sampur in East Sri Lanka at an investment of $700 million. This will be NTPC's first overseas venture. The agreement was signed by NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Arup Roy Choudhury and CEB Chairman Wimaladharama Abeywickreme in the presence of Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ashok K. Kantha. A joint venture company will be incorporated in Sri Lanka with equal equity (50:50) contributions by NTPC and CEB for implementation of the project. 66. BSE launched market making scheme for derivatives The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has launched a market making scheme to generate more investor interest in derivatives, based on its benchmark Sensex and the underlying 30 stocks. The exchange has earmarked a total of Rs 107 crore for the scheme that will be in force for six months. Market making liquidity enhancement scheme, in regulatory parlance, is essentially a

way in which an exchange can reward entities that generate a certain amount of volume in a segment. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), in June, allowed bourses to introduce such schemes for equity derivatives and any new instruments to be launched. 67. G7 finance ministers meet to discuss debt crisis, global growth The finance ministers and central bank chiefs of the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized countries were set to discuss ways of preserving the tenuous global recovery at a meeting in the French city of Marseille. The debt crises in the eurozone and United States and concerns about the health of European banks were also expected to dominate the meeting. In further development, The financial leaders of the worlds most developed economies ignored calls for a stronger unified response to Europes debt crisis, insisting that each country should tread its own path back to growth amid concerns of a global slowdown. The G7 economies US, Canada, Japan, Britain, France, Italy and Germany are facing a similar challenge. 68. Centre to divest 10 % in HAL Defence public sector undertaking Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) would begin the process of disinvesting with the government deciding to offload 10 per cent of its holding in the next five years.

69. IDRBT and ISACA signed MoU for benifit of Indianbanking and Financial Sector The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), the premier Institute of Banking Technology in India, established by Reserve Bank of India, and ISACA (formerly the Information Systems Audit and Control Association), the international body that promotes and cultivates expertise in the area of Information Systems Control, Audit, Security and Governance, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), to carry out joint activities that will benefit the Indian Banking and Financial Sector. 70. Foreign tourist arrivals up by 5.3% in a year Continuing with the growth trajectory, the Incredible India' campaign has attracted more than four lakh foreign tourists last month, marking an increase of 5.3 per cent over the same period in 2010. A total of 38.19 lakh foreign tourists visited the country during January-August 2011 with a growth of 10.2 per cent, compared to 34.67 lakh during January-August 2010 . 71. Cabinet note moved on $90 billion DMIC project The Commerce and Industry Ministry has moved the Cabinet note for the $90 billion DelhiMumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project for the approval of Union Council of Ministers. The project, being implemented in collaboration with Japan, was conceived some five years ago and envisages setting up of industrial corridor along the Delhi-Mumbai stretch. It will comprise seven new cities, nine industrial parks, three ports, six airports and a 1,483 km high-speed rail and road line will be developed as a trading hub. The project, spanning six States, will seek to create a business model out of urbanisation. The States covered by the project include Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The project aims to create a strong economic base with a globally competitive environment and state-of-the-art infrastructure to activate local commerce, enhance foreign investment, create employment opportunities, enhance exports and attain sustainable development. The government has 49 per cent stake in the DMIC project, while Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services has 41 per cent and Infrastructure Development Finance Company 10 per cent. 74. Sahara India Power, Korean firm to set up 6,000 MW power plants Sahara India Power Corp said the company along with South Korean entity Korea East-West Power Co would set up power plants with a total capacity of 6,000 MW in the country. Sahara India Power is part of the diversified Sahara group. Both Sahara India Power and Korea EastWest Power have entered into a pact for developing power plants, with a total capacity of 6,000 MW. The proposed 6,000-MW plants would include setting up of a 1,320 MW power Plant in

Titlagarh, Orissa. This plant, based on supercritical technology, would be developed with an investment of about `8,000 crore, Sahara Power India said in a statement. 75. TERI signed MoU with HUDCO The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) to encourage energy conservation in urban areas/cities. There is a growing concern over the likely adverse impact of climate change and recognition of the fact that effective steps are needed to be taken for reduction of green house gas emission. Buildings are responsible for at least 40 per cent of energy use in most countries and are major contributors to global emissions. 76. John Mack to step down as Morgan Stanley's chairman Morgan Stanley Chairman John J. Mack is stepping down from his role at the end of the year, the company said. Mack will retire from his full-time role and become a senior advisor to the firm. He is currently working on a book about leaders and his years on Wall Street, which is scheduled to be published next September, the New York Times said. Morgan Stanley's board voted James P. Gorman, who is currently the banks chief executive officer, will take over as chairman on Jan. 1, 2012. Mack is Morgan Stanleys former chief executive officer. 77. Three institutions signed MoU for Takeout Finance scheme A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between IIFCL, LIC and IDFC in the presence of Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherje to provide Takeout Finance for infrastructure projects. The MoU between IIFCL and LIC and IDFC will provide for takeout up to 50 per cent of the total project cost in the ratio of 20:20:10 by these institutions respectively. 78. Future Group to promote Brand Himachal' The Future Group joined hands with the Himachal Pradesh Government for a strategic partnership to promote Brand Himachal', aimed at developing various source-to-market initiatives and facilitate for creating livelihood for over 25,000 families in the State. The partnership was launched in New Delhi by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani in shape of HimachalYatra'. This will provide a national platform to showcase and market outreach to the State's produce and services through Big Bazaar stores across the country. 79. IMF projects 7.5-7.75 % growth for India The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that India would have a year-on-year projected growth rate of 7.8 per cent in 2011 and 7.5 per cent in 2012, even as it warned of overall slowing global activity, renewed financial instability and an uneven post-recession expansion. Releasing its semi-annual World Economic Outlook report in Washington. 80. New PPP policy ruled out state MoUs with private sector The finance ministry prepared a detailed Private-Public Partnership Policy that will define PPPs for all formal use and will lay down principles for implementation and monitoring of projects. This move is in line with the Budget 2011-12 announcement, which stressed upon the need for developing a comprehensive policy that can be used by the Centre and the state governments in further developing Public-Private Partnerships. The PPP Policy, 2012, will also prescribe the modes of bidding projects for the Centre and states, and will not permit any agreement or memorandum of understanding (MoU) arrangements between the incumbents and private players. 81. Ojhar airport commenced cargo services HALCON, a joint venture working group between Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) and Container Corporation of India (Concor) along with terminal operator Clarion Solutions, announced the commencement of air cargo services at the Ojhar airport in Nashik in Maharashtra. The airport is owned by HAL, which has invested around Rs.70 crore in developing the infrastructure. This will now be used for export and import activities by facilitating air cargo

services from Nashik. While the airport, runway and air traffic control (ATC) will be managed by HAL, the cargo complex is managed by Clarion Solutions, which is assigned terminal operator, ground handling operator and regulated agent. 82. RBI relaxed forex facilities for individuals The Reserve Bank of India further liberalised the foreign exchange facilities for individuals under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, (FEMA), 1999. Individual residents in India are now permitted to include non-resident close relative(s) as joint holder(s) in their resident bank accounts, namely, savings (SB), Exporter Earners' Foreign Currency (EEFC) and Residents' Foreign Currency (RFC) accounts, on former or survivor' basis. 83. NMDC to buy stake in Legacy Iron Ore Marking its first ever PSU acquisition, state-run NMDC announced the 50 per cent stake purchase in Australia-based Legacy Iron Ore as cornerstone investor for nearly 19 million Australian dollar. 84. NABARD loan for Indira Jala Prabha' The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) sanctioned Rs. 399.22 crore to the State government under RIDF-XVII for Indira Jala Prabha' project. The project is being implemented with a cost of Rs. 875 crore in 22 districts and the remaining amount is met from MGNREGS. Chief General Manager of NABARD P. Mohanaiah stated that the RIDF loan was sanctioned to provide irrigation facility to 4,90,029 acres land in 16,472 villages. 85. RBI okayed hike in ECB limit The Reserve Bank of India okayed the proposal to further liberalise the external commercial borrowing (ECB) policy. The limit for eligible borrowers to avail of ECB under the automatic route per financial year was enhanced for corporates in real sector, industrial sector and infrastructure sector to $750 million or equivalent against the present limit of $500 million. 86. Delhi Metro got UN certification The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was certified by the United Nations as the first metro rail and rail-based system in the world to get carbon credits for reducing green house gas emissions and helping in reducing pollution levels in the city by 6.3 lakh tonne every year. With this certification, the Delhi Metro has earned carbon credits worth about Rs.47 crore annually for the next seven years. 87. New BlackBerry from RIM Research In Motion (RIM) introduced new BlackBerry handset and tied up with Bharti Airtel to exclusively market it in India. Priced at Rs.19,990, Blackberry Curve 9360 smartphone is powered by the new BlackBerry 7' operating system and runs on an 800 Mhz single core processor. BlackBerry Curve 9360 with a 2.44 inch touch screen is equipped with 512 MB of RAM, 4 GB internal memory with expandable memory up to 32 GB and a 5MP camera with flash and video recording. 88. According to BP chief gas output from KG-D6 is to rise by 2014 Britain based BP said the output from the KG-D6 gas fields, in which it has a 30 per cent stake, could rise only in 2014 after the new fields in the area were brought into production, echoing the similar views expressed by Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL). On his first visit to India after the approval of the $7.2-billion BP-RIL deal. BP hoped to combine its sub-surface exploration skills with project management capability of RIL to get reverse the sagging output. There were more fields around the currently producing Dhirubhai-1 and 3 (D1 and D3) fields in block KG-DWN-98/3, or KG-D6, which needed to be brought to production. RIL has submitted a plan to invest over $1.5 billion in developing four satellite fields around D1 and D3 to produce up to 10 mscmd of gas by 2016. D1 and D3 have seen output drop to 36.5 mscmd from 54 mscmd in March last year instead of rising to 61.88 mscmd as planned for the current year.

89. GAIL made first acquisition in the U.S GAIL (India) announced its decision to buy 20 per cent stake in a shale gas area operated by Carrizo Oil and Gas Inc in the U.S. for $95 million. Under the deal, GAIL will pay $63.7 million in cash to Carrizo and bear $31.3 million of the Houston-based firm's future costs to develop the area in the Eagle Ford deposits in Texas, The gas utility, through its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary GAIL Global (USA) Inc, will invest $300 million over the next five years in the lucrative Eagle Ford shale assets. The subsidiary company has executed definitive agreements with Carrizo, a NASDAQ-listed company based in Houston, Texas, to enter into an unincorporated joint venture. The joint venture will have 20,200 gross acres, out of which the GAIL subsidiary will have 4,040 net acres spread over four counties in Texas. According to GAIL Chairman and Managing Director B. C. Tripathi, GAIL will consider expanding its business portfolio in the North American market by pursuing various upstream and midstream opportunities, including LNG exports to India. 90. Bharti, Nokia Siemens tied up to expand African operations Bharti Airtel has said it had entered into an agreement with Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) to expand its 2G (GSM/EDGE) networks and deploy 3G networks in seven African countries. Under the agreement, NSN will manage end-to-end network operations, including planning, designing and implementing the 2G and 3G networks for Airtel. The vendor will provide its energy-efficient base stations to expand network coverage to under-served areas, including smaller towns and villages in the seven countries. 91. India Post tied up with MoneyGram The Department of Posts (DoP) tied up with U.S.-based MoneyGram International to offer money transfer solutions to Indians living abroad. Initially, the service will be available in 100 post offices in Delhi, Punjab and Tamil Nadu circles offering instant inward money transfer services and by 2014 it would be extended to 5,000 post offices across India. India Post, which is world's largest postal network, will help crores of Indians living abroad to swiftly transfer money back home. The partnership between India Post and MoneyGram will increase transactions from key remitter countries, including the U.S., UAE, the U.K., Canada, Australia and Saudi Arabia. 92. Future Group, NSDC formed venture Kishore Biyani promoted Future Group announced joining hands with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to achieve the aim of training seven million Indians in varied industries in the services sector during the next ten years. The two partners have earmarked Rs.58 crore for the next ten years for the joint venture, to be named Future Sharp. While Future Learning, the training and learning arm of Future Group, will hold 73 per cent stake in the joint venture, NSDC will hold the remaining 27 per cent stake. 93. ITC bought out Russell's stake in Wimco ITC has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that it acquired the entire shareholding of Russell Credit Ltd. (wholly-owned subsidiary of the company) in Wimco. Consequently, Wimco became a direct subsidiary of the company with effect from September 29. 94. Cairn Lanka struck gas in Mannar basin Cairn Lanka struck gas in the first well in the Mannar basin in Sri Lanka. The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cairn India Limited, notified the Sri Lankan government of the gas discovery, the first hydrocarbon find in the country. The CLPL-Dorado-91H/1z well, drilled in early August in a depth of 1354 metres, is located in the block SL 2007-01-001, where Cairn Lanka has a 100 per cent participating interest. A gross 25m hydrocarbon column in sandstone between the depths of 3043.8 and 3068.7m MD was interpreted from log and MDT data to be predominantly gasbearing with some additional liquid hydrocarbon potential. Further drilling would be required to establish the commerciality of the discovery. 95. NIIT, NSDC formed joint venture NIIT entered into a public-private partnership with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to enhance skills and employability for youth across India. The emphasis would be to

offer job oriented training in semi-urban and rural areas to applicants mainly from low and middle income households. 96. NABARD's loan disbursement crossed Rs.1 lakh crore marks Loans disbursed to State Governments by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for creating rural infrastructure crossed the Rs.1 lakh crore marks. Of that Rs.6, 523 crore had been disbursed in Tamil Nadu. This is the fourth among the States that have availed of substantial financial support from NABARD. The other three are Andhra Pradesh (Rs.9,711 cr.), Uttar Pradesh (Rs.7984 cr.), Gujarat (Rs.7,324 cr.), According to a NABARD release, its disbursements stood at Rs.1, 02,844 crore as on September 30 this year. 97. Draft IT policy targets $200 b exports by 2020 Communications and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal has unveiled the draft National Policy on Information Technology 2011 that envisages taking the overall revenue from the sector from $89 billion as of today to $300 billion by 2020, besides creating additional one-crore jobs. He also hinted that once the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) was in place, the Centre might extend tax holiday under the Software Technology Park of India (SPTI) scheme, which expired in March this year, besides giving incentives to small and medium enterprises engaged in the IT sector. 98. AMFI to launch MF Utility' H. N. Sinor, Chief Executive, at the 16th annual meeting of The Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) said a separate group was working on creating a front-end portal called MF Utility' to facilitate efficient and cost-effective transaction processing. This facility will help customers, distributors and financial advisors to transact mutual fund schemes across all AMCs, at one place. MF Utility' is planned to commence operations by first week of April 2012, subject to clearances from SEBI. 99. Steel ministry demanded total ban on chrome ore exports Concerned over the depleting reserves of chrome ore, the steel ministry demanded a complete ban on its exports. The ministry warned that the country may soon run out of the costly steelmaking input if it failed to plug exports. Since India has barely 1 per cent of the worlds total medium and high grade chrome ore reserves, it cannot afford to lose the mineral, the ministry said. 100. OVL to take 25 % stake in Kazakh oil block ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, signed an agreement to take a 25 per cent stake in Kazakhstan's Satpayev offshore exploration block. While OVL had on April 16 signed a joint operating agreement and participation share agreement/assignment agreement with Kazakhstan's KazMunaiGas Exploration Production to buy a quarter of the Satpayev block, this agreement makes the Kazakh government to formally become a part of the concession. The agreement papers were inked in the presence of Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural gas, R. P. N. Singh and S. Mynbaev, Minister of Oil and Gas of Kazakhstan at Astana. OVL paid $13 million as a signing amount to Kazakhstan.

Science & Technology

1. Scientists develop world's first 'living laser' Scientists have created what they say is the world's first "living laser" capable of producing a laser beam, which could one day be used to activate drugs inside the human body. Researchers at the Wellman Centre for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in the US used a cell from a human kidney and genetically engineered it to produce light in the same way as a jellyfish and flooded it with blue light. This caused a green laser to be beamed out of the other end that was visible to the human eye. According to the researchers, in future, these living lasers could be produced inside live animals, which would give unprecedented detail on scanners. 2. Ten new planets discovered An international team, including scientists from the University of Oxford, has discovered 10 new planets. Amongst them is one orbiting a star perhaps only a few tens of million years old, twin Neptune-sized planets, and a rare Saturn-like world. The planets were detected using the CoRoT (Convection, Rotation and Transits) space telescope, operated by the French space agency CNES. Out of the ten new exoplanets (CoRoT-16b through to 24b and c), seven are hot Jupiters some of which are unusually dense and/or on unusually elongated orbits, and one is in orbit around an unusually young star. The announcement also includes a planet slightly smaller than Saturn, and two Neptune-sized planets orbiting the same star. 3. Country witnessed century's longest and darkest lunar eclipse Moon's bright white glow turned crimson brick red when it delved into the dark centre of the Earth's shadow during the century's longest and darkest lunar eclipse. The awesome spectacle of the moon being eclipsed was visible all over the country, including the national capital. The full moon appeared much dimmer than usual, but sunlight passing through the Earth's atmosphere gave the lunar surface a deep reddish hue. This was the century's longest and darkest total lunar eclipse as the Moon immersed deeply inside the umbral (darker) shadow of the Earth. The total phase of the eclipse lasted 100 minutes. The last eclipse to exceed this duration was in July 2000. The next such eclipse will only take place in 2141. The penumbral lunar eclipse began at 22:54:34 IST and will end at 04:30:45 IST. 4. Population of black bucks rising at Katarnia range The population of a rare species of black buck is increasing at Katarnia forest range under Katarniaghat wildlife sanctuary. They have grown in numbers considerably in the past two years with more males than females. Most of them inhabit in the forest areas of Bichhiya, Girjapuri and Gairwa river blocks. The counting of black bucks was carried out between May 16, 2011 and May 23, 2011 which was quite astonishing. Under three blocks of the rang Bichhiya, Girjapuri and Gairwa the population of black bucks was found to be 73. 5. Mechanism of proposed Western Ghats serial sites to be enhanced The proposed Western Ghats Natural Heritage Conservation Authority (WGNHCA) will likely strengthen the management of the serial sites nominated for the Unesco's World Heritage List. The country has been campaigning for the status for 39 sites of the Ghats and the Paris session of the World Heritage Committee will decide on the list. Earlier, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which assessed the sites, had observed that there was no overarching management plan for the nominated property. The technical evaluation team of the IUCN had reported on the species richness and diversity of the Ghats. The whole region included some 5,000 vascular plant species, 228 freshwater fish, 179 amphibians, 157 reptiles, 508 birds, and 139 mammals. A large number of them were endemic too. The Ghats also represents two Global 200 priority eco-regions not represented in the World Heritage List.

6. Wildlife hale & hearty, Manas off danger list Manas Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam has been removed from the Endangered List of World Heritage Sites, wherein it was enlisted in 1992. This removal follows significant improvement in wildlife conservation, particularly increasing the population of key species, including tigers, Indian elephants and Great One-Horned Rhino. An independent review on the status was done by the IUCN to apprise the World Heritage Committee on the present situation in Manas. Other threats such as illegal logging and wildlife poaching in the Pambari Range have declined significantly and the park infrastructure has improved. The sanctuary was inscribed with the World Heritage Site status in 1985. The World Heritage Committee, presently holding its 35th session in Paris, noted that the outstanding universal value for which the property was inscribed on the World Heritage list was recovering from damages sustained during ethnic unrest in the site. 7. Sukhna sanctuarys first ever census revealed 9 mammal, 63 bird species The first ever census of the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary revealed that the sanctuary is one of the important wildlife and biodiversity conservation areas, given the fact that nine species of mammals and 63 species of birds have been found during the survey period from the sanctuary. Interestingly, two species are in Schedule I, two in Schedule II, three in Schedule III and one in the Schedule IV category. The nine species of mammals include leopard, sambar, chital, wild boar, Indian Porcupine, Indian Pangolian, Blacknaped hare, Golden Jackal and Grey Langur. The census report, which was released recently, stated that the presence of predators such as the leopard, which requires enough prey for its sustenance, suggests the importance of Sukhna and its rich biodiversity. 8. The lost emperor penguin has been sighted A young Emperor penguin took a rare wrong turn from the Antarctic and ended up stranded on a New Zealand beach, the first time in 44 years the aquatic bird has been sighted in the wild in the South Pacific country. Conservation experts say the penguin is about 10 months old and stands about 80 cm high. Colin Miskelly, a curator at Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand, said the bird was likely born during the last Antarctic winter. It may have been searching for squid and krill when it took a wrong turn and landed about 3,200 km from the Antarctic coast. Emperor penguins are the tallest and largest species of penguin and can grow up to 122 cm high and weigh more than 34 kg. 9. Coming soon: Winged helicopter and electric plane Eurocopter is set to debut the aerial prowess of its X3 rotocraft at the upcoming Paris Air Show. The aircraft is essentially a helicopter with wings that has already clocked speeds of 232 knots (266.98 mph) in test flights. The X3 has the vertical take-off and manueverability of a copter but the high-speed capabilities of a plane. Although not as fast as the U.S.-made Sikorsky, which has reached 250 knots, the X3 could be more cost-effective. EADS, which owns Eurocopter, has also recently proposed another futuristic aircraft that is still in the conceptual stages. The Voltair is an all-electric, lightweight craft powered by lithium air batteries. Current design calls for liquid nitrogen tanks that would be used to cool a superconducting, rear-mounted engine. The plane is designed to make short trips carrying just 50 to 70 passengers 10. Western Ghats to be inscribed in world heritage list next year The serial sites of Western Ghats will be inscribed in the World Heritage List next year. The 36th session of the World Heritage Committee of Unesco in Bangkok will make the announcement, V.B. Mathur, Dean of the Wildlife Institute of India. Though the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) wanted the inscription to be postponed for three years at the current session being held in Paris, the Committee decided to inscribe the 39 serial sites of the Ghats next year, said Dr. Mathur, who is part of the Indian delegation canvassing for the heritage status. Incidentally, the committee removed Assam's Manas Wildlife Sanctuary from the world heritage in danger' list after taking into account the significant improvements made for its preservation. The sanctuary was inscribed on the danger list in 1992, seven years after Unesco declared it a world heritage site.

11. Endosulfan listed under Rotterdam Convention The Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention, meeting in Geneva, decided to list endosulfan under annex III to the Convention. This makes prior informed consent of importing countries necessary for export of the pesticide. India, an exporter, did not object to listing of the pesticide. India exports half of its annual produ

refine Chinese coal boilers will cause temperatures to rise significantly. But sceptics of man-made climate change said the researchers tweak an out-of-date climate computer model and cherrypick the outcome to get their desired result. 18. NASA's last space shuttle blasted into history Atlantis and four astronauts rocketed into orbit on NASA's last space shuttle voyage, dodging bad weather and delighting hundreds of thousands of spectators on hand to witness the end of an era. It will be at least three years possibly five or more before astronauts launch again from US soil, and so this final journey of the shuttle era packed in crowds and roused emotions on a scale not seen since the Apollo moon shots. After days of gloomy forecasts full of rain and heavy cloud cover, the spaceship lifted off, thundering away on the 135th shuttle mission 30 years and three months after the very first flight 19. Whales 'at risk' from oil surveys Oil and gas exploration in the Russian Far East continues to threaten whales, delegates at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting have warned. The critically endangered western population of gray whales spends its summer feeding around Sakhalin island. Companies using seismic guns to find oil and gas in the area do take steps to reduce the impact; but scientists with the IWC say they need to do more. Surprising new evidence has also emerged on the whales' migration. 20. Tiny snails survive digestion by birds Snails are able to survive intact after being eaten by birds, according to scientists. Japanese white-eyes on the island of Hahajima, Japan feast on tiny land snails. Researchers found that 15% of the snails eaten survived digestion and were found alive in the birds' droppings. This evidence suggests that bird predation could be a key factor in how snail populations spread. 21. NASAs Dawn spacecraft to enter asteroids orbit For the first time ever, NASAs Dawn spacecraft is set to enter an asteroids orbit on July 15. It will begin a prolonged encounter with the asteroid Vesta, making the mission the first to enter orbit around a main-belt asteroid. The main asteroid belt lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Dawn will study Vesta for one year, and observations will help scientists understand the earliest chapter of our solar systems history. 22. Now, simple eye test may give clues to Alzheimers Scientists in Australia are reporting encouraging early results from a simple eye test they hope will give a noninvasive way to detect signs of Alzheimers disease. Although it has been tried on just a small number of people, the experimental test has a solid basis: Alzheimers is known to cause changes in the eyes, not just the brain. Other scientists in the US also are working on an eye test for detecting the disease. A separate study found that falls might be an early warning sign of Alzheimers. People who seemed to have healthy minds but who were discovered to have hidden plaques clogging their brains were five times more likely to fall during the study than those without these brain deposits, which are a hallmark of Alzheimers. 23. 'Neanderthals interbred with early humans' Scientists claim to have found new evidence which confirms that early modern humans, who left Africa some 300,000 to 750,000 years after Neanderthals, probably interbred with the physically stronger hominids. An international team, which compared the genomes of more than 6,000 modern humans with that of the hominids, found that a small part of the human X chromosome, which originates from Neanderthals, is present in about nine per cent of people from outside of Africa.

24. Humans walked upright 'far earlier than previously thought' Humans walked upright on two legs far earlier than previously thought, says a new study. Until now it was believed that the ability to walk upright on two legs evolved around 1.9 million years ago. But researchers have discovered human-like footprints dating back almost 3.7 million years. The 11 prints, preserved in rock sediment in Laetoli, Tanzania, display a gait more like that of modern humans than the awkward upright walking posture adopted by chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas. The footprints are thought to have been left by Australopithecus afarensis, a primitive early human that may be a direct ancestor of everyone living today 25. GSAT-12 communication satellite placed in geosynchronous orbit The GSAT-12 communication satellite, launched onboard PSLV-C17, has been successfully placed in geosynchronous orbit with a perigee of 35,684 km, apogee of 35,715 km and an orbital inclination of 0.17 deg with respect to the equatorial plane. On July 15, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C17) injected GSAT-12 into an elliptical transfer orbit of 281 km perigee (closest point to Earth) and 21,027 km apogee (farthest point to earth), and orbital inclination of 17.9 deg. Critical manoeuvres to raise GSAT-12 Satellite into geosynchronous orbit were performed by firing the 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) of the spacecraft for about 80 minutes in five spells during July 16-20. 26. Largest distant water reservoir in universe discovered Astronomers have discovered what they claim is the largest and farthest reservoir of water ever detected in the universe. Looking from a distance of 30 billion trillion miles away into a quasar, a team at California Institute of Technology has found a mass of water vapour thats at least 140 trillion times that of all the water in the worlds oceans combined, and 100,000 times more massive than the sun. Quasar is one of the brightest and most violent objects in the cosmos. 27. How cows may be key to sustainable, renewable fuel Edinburgh scientists have revealed that the stomach of a cow could hold the key to creating more environmentally friendly versions of petrol and diesel. They are investigating how enzymes found in the stomachs of cattle and other ruminants, animals which chew cud, could be used industrially to break down the tough structures of plant and tree matter. The discovery and application of the enzymes could release untapped energy in waste plant products to make fuel. The study is being carried out by ARK-Genomics at Edinburghs Roslin Institute, life sciences company Ingenza and Professor John Wallace from the Rowett Institute in Aberdeen. 28. Guwahati institute to assist Indonesian rhino project Aaranyak, a wildlife research and bio-diversity conservation organisation based in Guwahati will assist Indonesian authorities to undertake non-invasive genetics research on two critically endangered species the Javan and the Sumatran rhinos in Indonesia. The Aaranyak under its Wildlife Genetics Programme will work with an Indonesian counterpart to initiate non-invasive DNA-based research to estimate the population size, male-female-calf ratio, rhino density and also study the issue of genetic bottleneck and inbreeding of the rhinos. The global population of the Javan rhino is less than 50 and found only in Ujung Kulon National Park (NP) cum World Heritage Site in West Java. 29. First Lufthansa commercial biofuel flight took off Lufthansa became the first airline to use biofuels on regular commercial flights in a six month trial that it estimates will reduce CO2 emissions by up to 1,500 tonnes during the period. European airlines are pressing ahead with biofuel plans in order to cut use of regular jet fuel. A pact signed last month with biofuel producers and the EU Commission aims to produce 2 million tonnes of biofuel for aviation by 2020. Lufthansa is using a mix of regular fuel and biofuel made by Neste Oil from jatropha and camelina crops and animal fats, in one engine of an Airbus plane on daily flights between Frankfurt and Hamburg.

30. Google+ became fastest site to 25 mn visitors: comScore Google Inc's new social network has attracted 25 million users, making it the fastest website to reach that audience size, according to data released by comScore. Google+ is fastest site to reach 25 mln visitors. Facebook, Twitter took much longer to reach that size. 31. Earth's two moons- It's not lunacy, but new theory In a spectacle that might have beguiled poets, lovers and songwriters if only they had been around to see it, Earth once had two moons, astronomers now think. But the smaller one smashed into the other in what is being called the ``big splat.'' The result: Our planet was left with a single bulked-up and ever-so-slightly lopsided moon. The astronomers came up with the scenario to explain why the moon's far side is so much more hilly than the one that is always facing Earth. The theory, outlined Wednesday in the journal Nature, comes complete with computer model runs showing how it might have happened and an illustration that looks like the bigger moon getting a pie in the face. 32. French town makes Mediterranean beach smoke free A small town in Provence is attracting more holidaying families by turning a stretch of sundrenched Mediterranean seafront into what it calls the first non-smoking beach in France. The smoking ban came into effect earlier this summer, and compliance among the public at the packed beach has surprised even the city official who came up with the idea, deputy mayor for the environment, Noel Collura. Similar limits on smoking in French cafs, bars and restaurants are gradually undoing what was once a notoriously laissez-faire attitude to smoking. Beachcombers who arrive at the "Plage Lumiere" beach pass under a large sign reminding them that smoking is off limits, and two cigarette-shaped ashtrays attached to the sign invite them to stub out their butts before they put on the sun cream. 33. Miniature spy helicopter used to hunt pirates A remote-controlled mini-helicopter, which can fire tasers, grenades and shotgun shells, is being used to track pirates off the Horn of Africa and enforce law on the streets in the US. Able to reach speeds of 70mph and to record and broadcast footage in real time, the discreet Shadowhawk UAV is proving an effective crime-fighting solution for both police forces and private companies. American company Vanguard Defense Industries spent three years developing the spy craft. It was awarded a multi-million dollar contract in April to conduct anti-piracy operations off the coast of East Africa for from an oil and gas exploration company. 34. NASA reports first evidence of flowing water on Mars NASA scientists announced that they had found the first evidence of flowing water on Mars. If confirmed, the evidence gathered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter would be the first discovery of active liquid water in the ground on the red planet. The US space agency said the orbiter circling Mars since 2006 had monitored numerous instances of what appeared to be water flows occuring in several locations during the Martian spring and summer. Time-sequence imagery of the Newton crater in the southern mid-latitude region showed finger-like markings spreading along several steep slopes and then fading again once colder temperatures move in. 35. Juno: Nasa's $1.1bn probe to Jupiter to 'unlock solar system secrets It is one of the space agencys most ambitious missions and will attempt to discover the secrets behind the largest planet in the solar system. The unprecedented $1.1 billion (674m) Juno mission is set to blast off from Cape Canaveral, in Florida, on a five-year mission to the heart of the King of the Planets. Scientists said the spacecraft, which will arrive at Jupiter in 2016, will study the planet's core, atmosphere, powerful magnetic field and auroras. Once it reaches its target it will be the furthest-travelled solar-powered probe and the fastest man-made object in history after travelling at 160,000mph. Nasa said the aim of the 1.7 billion-mile pioneering voyage, was to learn more about how the solar system was created and unlock many of it secrets that have remained a mystery until now.

36. Gagarin microsatellite launched from ISS on second try Russian cosmonauts carried out a fraught six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk, releasing a student satellite commemorating Yuri Gagarin's first manned mission to space. The Kedr satellite will send greetings to radio enthusiasts in 15 languages, as well as photos and pressure data. Its release was delayed when cosmonauts saw it was missing one of two antennas. The cosmonauts intended also to move a crane, but that was postponed to the next scheduled spacewalk in February. 37. Anti-matter around Earth 'discovered' Planetary scientists claim to have for the first time spotted a thin band of anti-matter particles, called anti-protons, enveloping the Earth. The find, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, confirms theoretical work that predicted the Earths magnetic field could trap antimatter, according to a team led by the University of Bari. The astronomers say that a small number of anti-protons lie between the Van Allen belts of trapped normal matter. The anti-protons were spotted by the Pamela satellite launched in 2006 to study the nature of high-energy particles from the Sun and from beyond our Solar System so-called cosmic rays 38. King cobra bred in captivity at Karnataka biological park For the first time in the country, an endangered king cobra was bred in captivity at the Shivaram Karanth Biological Park at the Pilikula Nisarga Dhama in coastal town of Mangalore in Karnataka. Forty-five eggs have hatched so far, while many more are likely to do so in the coming days. The park, the only one in the country which has a project on captive breeding of the king cobra since 2008, has now succeeded with two-day old juveniles creeping around. The captive breeding of the king cobra is a proud moment for the conservation efforts of the park. The park, with permission from the Central Zoo Authority, has created an artificial atmosphere at the breeding area. 39. Climate change impact is visible in the Arctic Arctic scientists are working for evolving models for future sustainable management of the Arctic ecosystems. The efforts attain significance in the wake of glaring signals of melting of glaciers and climate change in the Arctic region, said Bijoy Nandan, Associate Professor (Marine Biology), Cochin University of Science and Technology, who was member of a recent Indian contingent to Arctic. The team came back last week after a summer expedition to the region. 40. New Pacific eel is a 'living fossil', scientists say A new type of eel that inhabits an undersea cave in the Pacific Ocean has been dubbed a "living fossil" because of its primitive features. It is so distinct, scientists created a new taxonomic family to describe its relationship to other eels. The US-Palauan-Japanese team say the eel's features suggest it has a long and independent evolutionary history stretching back 200m years. Details appear in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The animal used as the basis for the new study was an 18cm-long female, collected by one of the researchers during a dive at a 35mdeep cave in the Republic of Palau. 41. Darkest exoplanet spotted by astronomers A dark alien world, blacker than coal, has been spotted by astronomers. The Jupiter-sized planet is orbiting its star at a distance of just five million km, and is likely to be at a temperature of some 1200C. The planet may be too hot to support reflective clouds like those we see in our own Solar System, but even that would not explain why it is so dark. The research will be published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The planet, called TrES-2b, is so named because it was first spotted by the Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey in 2006. It is about 750 light-years away, in the Draco constellation.

42. Sukhoi PAK FA(T-50) has been shown in Mascow Air-show The Sukhoi fifth-generation stealth fighter, which Russia is jointly developing with India, made its public debut at a Moscow airshow.It is India's biggest-ever defence project and it is largest

defence deal with Russia India and Russia are jointly designing two versions of the plane a single-seater for the Russian Air Force and a two-seat version for the IAF. India will contribute about 30 per cent of the total design in the project, including composite components with the stealth function and some avionics, electronic warfare systems and cockpit displays. The total cost of the project is estimated at $10 billion. 43. LHC slowly closing in on existence of 'God particle' Scientists are hoping that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will finally nail Higgs boson the God particle which theoretically endowed every other particle with mass, but has proved elusive to date. The discovery of Higgs boson is one of the chief goals of the LHC, the most powerful particle accelerator on Earth and perhaps the most complex scientific endeavour ever attempted. 44. Benefits of radiation outweigh risks Pushparaja, a scientist and former head of the Radiation Hazards Control Section, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, said that the benefits of the use of radiation and radioactive material under controlled conditions greatly outweighed the risks. He said that radiation had been a part of the natural environment. The effects of radiation were better known and the regulations and safety measures adopted to protect people were now advanced. The use of radioisotopes was regulated. People used cooking gas and electricity, whose usage carried an element of risk. But people used them because the advantages were far more than the disadvantages. The Indian Association for Radiation Protection, founded in 1969, had been conducting programmes for making the public aware of the hazards of radiation. 45. TCS targeted SMBs through iON' Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) introduced iON', its integrated information technology solution for small and medium businesses (SMBs) that works on pay-per-use model, in Delhi and its surrounding cities. TCS Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director N. Chandrasekaran, who is also Chief Architect of iON, told that iON provides best-in-class, on-demand business solutions using the latest in scalable cloud computing technology. It removes the need for SMBs to invest in IT assets or retain scarce IT talent. 46. Technology to improve bio-safety of GM crops Eucalyptus gall disease spreads in Punjab A research group in the Madurai Kamaraj University here has successfully developed a technology to improve the bio-safety of Genetically Modified (GM) crops. The novel technology was first developed in rice plants and it can be readily applied for all other crops also so that it would have enormous impact' in improving the bio-safety value. The university's research group has, through its research initiatives, now developed Selectable Marker Elimination' technology and it was successful in coming out with marker-free GM rice with sheath blight disease resistance. 47. Eucalyptus gall disease spreads in Punjab Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun, is for the past one year, trying to find a way to control the gall disease that has affected almost 50 per cent of the eucalyptus trees being grown in the Norths forest region as well as those grown by private persons. More than three lakh trees in Kandi area of Punjab alone are under the attack of Leptocybe Invasa, a gall insect, which causes swelling in the veins of the leaves of young trees and hampers their growth. 48. Earth 'home to 8.7 million species' Earth is a home to 8.7 million species, but 90 per cent of them are yet to be discovered, according to new estimates. Previous guesses had put the total number of different types of plant and animal on earth at anywhere between three million and 100 million. Now, a new calculation, based on the way in which life forms are classified, puts the estimate at 8.7 million. 49. River found 13,000 ft beneath the Amazon Scientists led by an Indian-origin researcher have discovered a huge underground river which, they believe, is flowing some 13,000 feet beneath the mighty Amazon River in Brazil. The

researchers at Brazil's National Observatory (BNO) believe the subterranean river is about 6,000km long, about the same length as the Amazon on the surface. The finding came from studying temperature variations at 241 inactive oil wells drilled in the 1970s by Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras. The researchers have named the river Hamza', after team supervisor Valiya Hamza, an Indian-origin scientist who has been studying the region for over four decades. 50. Worlds Smallest Electric Motor Is 1 Nanometer Across Tufts University researchers have developed worlds smallest electric motor. Guinness book lists a 200 nm wide motor as the worlds smallest, but now the new molecular electric motor will replace it. 51. Rudra' to join Army soon The Army's aerial firepower capabilities will get a boost, with the induction soon of the attack version of indigenously built Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Rudra. The Rudra' is the first weaponised chopper built in the country and will be inducted into the Army Aviation Corps in the current financial year. Rudra' is an armed variant of ALH Dhruva chopper. 52. The lion-tailed macaque faces habitat destruction Nelliampathy, the second biggest abode of the most endangered lion-tailed macaque after the famous Silent Valley National Park, is facing destruction of its habitat due to unregulated plantation activities, fragmentation and conversion of forest land. A recent study on ecology and behaviour of the arboreal mammals of Nelliampathy found a total of 13 lion-tailed macaque troops with 200 individuals in the area. Thus it is the second biggest population of one of the most endangered primates. The Silent Valley has 250 members of the species 53. First black child diagnosed with ageing disease The elfin child with the big personality and bright smile calls herself the first lady. Doctors say 12-year-old Ontlametse Phalatse has only another couple of years to live. Ontlametse is the first black child diagnosed with progeria, a rare, fatal genetic condition that accelerates the aging process, the Progeria Research Foundation said. 54. Pipavav to build warships with Mazagon Dock In the first public-private participation in the defence sector, Nikhil Gandhi-owned Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company, (earlier Pipavav Shipyard) has entered into a joint venture with Mazagon Dock to build warships for the Indian Navy. 55. Two new species of fish found in Arunachal Scientists at the GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development have discovered two new species of fish in rivers of Arunachal Pradesh. The discovery of two new species of catfish - Erethistoides Senkhiensis and Glyptothorax Dikrongensis was made by the institute's staffers Lakpa Tamang and Shivaji Chaudhry at Senkhi stream and Dikrong River in Papum Pare district. 56. Vultures flourish in Sathyamangalam forest There is good news for bird lovers and environmentalists. While the country has lost more than 90 per cent of its vultures, the small population of these scavenger birds in Moyar river valley in Sathyamangalam forest remains healthy and stable. Recent studies and field observation made by the Forest Department reveal that the white-rumped and long-billed vulture birds are seen in Moyar River in Thengumarada and Bhavanisagar forest areas. 57. Manali to get modern monal breeding centre Former state bird of Himachal, monal (impeyan pheasant), an endangered species, will soon get an advanced breeding centre in Manali. The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has approved the proposal for it and design for the centre been finalized. At present, the Manali centre has 5 pairs of monal while Himachal has about 5,000.

58. NASA unveiled design for new giant rocket The design for NASAs newest behemoth of a rocket harkens back to the giant workhorse liquid rockets that propelled men to the moon. But this time the destinations will be much farther and the rocket even more powerful. The size, shape and heavier reliance on liquid fuel as opposed to solid rocket boosters is much closer to Apollo than the recently retired space shuttles, which were winged, reusable ships that sat on top of a giant liquid fuel tank, with twin solid rocket boosters providing most of the power. Its also a shift in emphasis from the moon-based, solid-rocketoriented plans proposed by the George W. Bush administration. 59. Sriharikota to be an assembling hub The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is drawing up plans to develop the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota into a centre for assembling satellites and rockets in the near future. 60. BrahMos airborne launcher prototype undergoing tests The BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Limited (BATL) had been contracted to build five prototype airborne launchers of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with its first flight test on a Su-30 MKI aircraft slated to take place by the end of 2012. Designed by BrahMos engineers and approved by the Sukhoi Design Bureau, original makers of Sukhoi, the launcher was indigenously developed by BATL. Fabricated using high strength aluminium, the 6-metre-long airborne launcher the largest in the world weighs 350 kg. 61. Frog with blue eyes found in Arunachal A new frog species with blue eyes was discovered in the Eagle Nest Wildlife Sanctuary at Sessa in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh. Dehra Dun-based naturalist Sanjay Sondhi, during a survey conducted as part of the Eagle Nest Biodiversity Project with the support of the State Forest Department, discovered the amphibian species early this year. The frog, named Bompu after the locality in the sanctuary where it was found, is native to the forest streams at an altitude of 2,000 metres and lives under leaf litter and rotting logs. 62. Nagpur to get international wildlife park Spread over 28.37 hectare, the Gondwana forest near Nagpur will soon be transformed into an international wild life park, on the lines of the Singapore zoo. The decision, taken in the state cabinet meeting, looks at this park as an initiative to boost state tourism, since Nagpur is the state tiger capital. The state forest department decided to set aside Rs720 crore for the project. It appointed Bernard Harrison and Friends Ltd, the company that conceptualised the Singapore zoological gardens and maintained them from 1983 to 2002. 63. China to launch lunar probe around 2013 National authorities said that China would launch the Chang'e-3 around 2013, marking the first time for a Chinese spacecraft to land on the surface of an extraterrestrial body. The mission will also mark the first step of the second stage of China's ambitious three-phase lunar exploration program, although a timetable for a manned moon landing has yet to be announced. 64. Delhi Metro got UN certification The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was certified by the United Nations as the first metro rail and rail-based system in the world to get carbon credits for reducing green house gas emissions and helping in reducing pollution levels in the city by 6.3 lakh tonne every year. With this certification, the Delhi Metro earned carbon credits worth about Rs.47 crore annually for the next seven years. 65. Swarna Sub1: flood resistant rice variety The Swarna Sub 1 variety is similar to Swarna rice variety grown in eastern parts of the country in all characteristic features except submergence tolerance. Popularization of Swarna Sub1 cum seed distribution campaigns were organized during July 2011 through the Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) of Thanjavur (Needamangalam) and Namakkal (Sikkal) districts. Seeds of Swarna Sub1

were distributed to around 100 farmers who cultivate rice in flood prone conditions. It has the high rate of the submerged tolerance. 66. Agni-II soared in success The launch of Agni-II was a big success, with the missile traversing 2000 km across the sky in nine minutes of flawless mission. The missile rose from a launcher on a railway track from the Wheeler Island on the Orissa coast, raced to a height of 220 km, cut an arc of 2000 km, reentered the earth's atmosphere and impacted on the targeted area in the Bay of Bengal with an accuracy of some metres. The missile, which can carry a one-tonne nuclear warhead, performed a manoeuvre as it plunged into the atmosphere amidst a searing temperature of 3,000 degrees' Celsius. The two-stages of the surface-to-surface missile worked with precision. The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the armed forces, which handles nuclear-weapons delivery systems, conducted the launch. The missile weighs 17 tonnes and is 20 metres long. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) designed and developed Agni-II. It calls the missile the pride of India's strategic arsenal. This was the third successful missile launch in seven days for the DRDO. The Agni-II triumph caps the successful missions of Shourya and Prithvi-II from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, Orissa. 67. World's cheapest tablet PC launched The world's cheapest tablet PC, costing Rs.2, 276, was launched and it would be available at around half this price to students as part of the government's programme to expand education through information technology. The tablet PC, named Aakash, will cost the government Rs.2,276. It will be given to students after subsidizing the price by up to 50 per cent, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said while unveiling the 7-inch touch screen device. The price includes taxes and cost of transportation. An initial order of one lakh devices has been placed with device maker Datawind. 68. A new Indian OS on cloud A system crash one year ago forced Deepak John, a second-year engineering student, to devise a portable operating system on cloud, which can solve many problems of travelling professionals, who seek access to secure computers. The MICROS (Mobile In-Curred Revolutionised Operating System), which has won laurels in nationwide tech fests, boots from a pen drive, to the RAM which then dynamically expands. The size is limited to 100MB that makes the distribution of the package easier. Deepak John calls it a live OS that does not require installation but allows you to access the files stored in the system and perform various file management functions. 69. Russian miracle dressing cures without drugs Russian scientists have developed a drug-free method of healing wounds that may prove as revolutionary as the discovery of penicillin. The miracle nano-dressing, VitaVallis, created by researchers in Tomsk, Siberia, helps clean up wounds of all known types of toxic bacteria. It does not get stuck to the wound and heals burns, cuts and any septic and infected wounds two to three times faster than traditional methods do. The dressing stops bleeding, ends inflammation, eliminates swellings and stimulates skin regeneration. It also helps kill pain and remove foul wound odour. The most remarkable thing about VitaVallis is that it contains no antibiotics and is therefore effective against drug-resistant bacteria, the gnawing problem of clinical medicine.

Sports
1. Indian women beat Ukraine, win bronze The Indian women's team of Laishram Bombayla Devi, Deepika Kumari and Chekrovolu Swuro won a bronze medal in the recurve team event of the Archery World Cup Stage II in Antalya, Turkey. The Indian trio defeated Ukraine's Victoriya Koval, Nina Mylchenko and Lidia Sichenikova 206-197 in the bronze medal play-off. For Commonwealth Games double gold medallist Deepika, this was the second medal of the tournament, having won silver in the mixed pair event along with Jayanta Talukdar. With this performance, India finished fourth, having won a silver and bronze. USA (5 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze), Korea (2, 2, 2) and Iran (1, 2, 0) took the top three spots. 2. Bindra qualified for Olympics World and Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra qualified for the London Olympics as he won one of the three quota places on offer in the men's air rifle in a strong field of 128 in the shooting World Cup in Munich. Though Bindra finished eighth eventually, he had to go through a tricky shoot-off for three spots in the final in a group of nine on being tied at 596 after qualification. With Bindra's qualification, India has taken its tally to eight quota places in shooting for London Olympics. 3. India won qualifier for polo WC Samir Suhag hammered in five goals to help India defeat Pakistan 12-9 in the final of the Zonal play-off for the World Cup polo at the Royal Selangor Polo Club, in Malaysia. Samir was adjudged the most valuable player for his consistent performance through the tournament that saw him score 23 goals. The World Cup polo will be staged in Argentina in October 2011. 4. India-Mauritius DTAA review not to impact FDI inflow Review of Indias three-decade old double tax avoidance agreement (DTAA) with Mauritius will not impact foreign direct investment inflows to the country in the long run, according to government. Nearly 42 per cent of FDI into India is routed through Mauritius. Likewise about 40 per cent of the FII fund flow into the country is believed to be routed through the island nation. A large majority of them are third country investors, who use the DTAA for saving capital gains tax. According to the DTAA, capital gains from sale of shares by residents of Mauritius in India would be liable to tax only in that country. As Mauritius does not have capital gain tax, there is no burden on investors routing money to India through circuitous route. 5. Saina slipped to world No 6 A series of inconsistent performance has taken a toll on Saina Nehwal's ranking as the Indian badminton ace slipped to number six from four in the latest rankings. Saina, who failed to defend her Singapore and Indonesia Super Series title this month, currently has 63246.5778 points in her kitty. Half-way through the year, the 21-year-old has just one title Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold and two runner-up finish to her name. In the last six months, Saina's defeats against lowerranked players have brought to the fore the inadequacies in her game. 6. Kvitova, a dream maiden Petra Kvitova won her first Grand Slam title by beating Maria Sharapova 6-3 6-4 in the Wimbledon final, finishing with an ace and dropping to her knees in disbelief. Kvitova was playing in her first major final, but it was three-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova that showed her nerves. The 2004 Wimbledon winner double-faulted six times, including twice to get broken to 4-2 in the first set. 7. Djokovic on Top of the World Novak Djokovic carried all before him , becoming the first Serb to win the Wimbledon singles title, endorsing his position as the new world No. 1 and enjoying what has to be the best six months of tennis by anyone, anywhere, at any time. The 24-year-old, who learned the game on the slopes

near his parents' pizza restaurant in Belgradethey wanted him to become a skierdefeated Rafael Nadal, the defending champion and the player he has usurped at the top of the ATP Tour ranking list, 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. The force is with him. 8. Bhupathi lost Final Indian tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi failed to notch up his third Wimbledon mixed doubles title as he and his partner Elena Vesnina were outplayed by Jurgen Melzer and Iveta Benesova in straight sets in the final. The fourth seeded Indo-Russian pair lost 3-6 2-6 to their ninth seeded opponents in a 51-minute summit clash at the center court. Austrian Melzer and Czech Republic's Benesova, who have not lost a single set on their way to the title, were the dominant pair for most part of the final match with better serve and returns. 9. Doping scandal: Sports Ministry fired athletics coach Indias Ukrainian track and field coach has been fired after eight prominent athletes were suspended within a week for failing doping tests. Sports minister Ajay Maken announced that Yuri Ogorodonik had been dismissed. Mr. Maken says he advised the national athletics federation to remove any other foreign coaches suspected of encouraging the use of performance-enhancing substances. Mr. Ogorodonik coached six of the eight athletes who tested positive, all of them womens 400-meter runners. 10. Women archers made it to 2012 Olympics, men lose Indian recurve womens team of Laishram Bombayla Devi, Deepika Kumari and Chekrovolu Swuro today earned three Olympic quota places by beating France 216-213 in the first round of the team event of the World Archery Championship at Turin, Italy. Unfortunately, Indian mens team comprising of Rahul Banerjee, Tarundeep Rai and Jayanta Talukdar lost by just a point, 215-216 against the Chinese team. In normal course, Indian men would have been out of contention for Olympic berths but as luck would have it, Olympic Games host Great Britain also qualified defeating Chinese Taipei. 11. Talukdar earned Olympic berth Jayanta Talukdar earned an Olympic quota place from the men's individual recurve event of the Archery World Championship at Turin, in Italy. Seeded fifth in the elimination round, Talukdar got a bye to reach round three where he beat 28th ranked Antti Tekoniemi (Finland) 6-4, thus booking a London 2012 berth. Talukdar was one of the eight individuals to win a quota place in the men's section, according to information received here. The Indian women's trio of Deepika Kumari, Laishram Bombayla Devi and Chekrovolu Swuro have already earned three quota places, thus a total of four berths have already been confirmed for the archers. 12. SLPL postponed to 2012 In troubled waters ever since Indian players were denied permission by the BCCI to participate in it, the inaugural edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League has been postponed to August 2012. Sri Lanka will have a domestic Twenty20 league in its place featuring five teams, but that will not involve any foreign players. The decision to postpone the league, which was scheduled to start on July 19, was taken at a meeting between the Cricket Sri Lanka's new committee and the league's organisers, Somerset Entertainment Ventures. A four-week window in August next year has been identified as the best time to host the event, reported ESPNcricinfo'. 13. Deepika & Co go down fighting The Indian trio of Deepika Kumari, Laishram Bombayla Devi and Chekrovolu Swuro settled for a silver medal after losing the recurve event final to their Italian opponents in the Archery World Championship at Turin. It was heartbreak for the Indian trio, playing their first final at this level, as they had a one-point lead at halfway stage but eventually lost 207-210. The former world champions took charge as the Indians succumbed to the pressure. The presence of Deepika, the reigning world cadet individual champion, did not inspire the Indians as they shot a very poor third end for a score of 50 points out of 60. The Italians turned the table on their rivals with a fine round of 55 that gave them four-point cushion that stood the team well. The Indians had the best round

of 54 in the final end yet the team fell short by three points as the Italians celebrated the world title. 14. Sachin, Sehwag nominated for ICC's all-time greatest Test team Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar and opener Virender Sehwag are among the list of players nominated for an online poll to select the greatest team of all-time on the occasion of Test cricket's 2,000th match. The historic match will take place between India and England at Lord's from July 21 to 25, and the ICC has called on supporters from across the globe to select the greatest team of all-time. While Sehwag has found a place in the list of openers, which also has the likes of former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar, Tendulkar has been short-listed for the middleorder batsman's slot. However, no Indian player has found a place in the shortlist for the slot of wicketkeepers and fast bowlers, while the 1983 World Cup winning Indian team captain Kapil Dev is in the reckoning as an all-rounder. Legendary Bishan Singh Bedi and Anil Kumble have been shortlisted for the spinner's role in the dream team. 15. Man named most valuable sports team in the world Manchester United was named the most valuable sports team in the world. The Red Devils are worth a mind-boggling 1.165 billion pounds eclipsing giant American franchises like the Dallas Cowboys and New York Yankees. The assessment of United's worth takes in the value of the team, stadium, income and sponsorship deals it attracts. 16. Randhir Singh re-elected Randhir Singh was re-elected Secretary-General of the Olympic Council of Asia for the sixth consecutive term at the General Assembly meeting of the OCA held in Tokyo. Randhir is also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Secretary-General of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has hailed Randhir Singh's election as the Secretary-General of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) 17. India beat Brazil in the Snooker World Cup India rounded off their league engagements in Snooker World Cup by registering a 4-1 victory over Brazil in the last group 'C' match at Bangkok Convention Centre in Thailand. However, despite the win, India failed to qualify for the quarterfinals, finishing third in the group with nine points ahead of Belgium (8) and Brazil (6). 18. Ambika won Canadian Junior World tennis championship Ambika Pande became the first Indian ever to win the Canadian U-18 ITF Junior World Ranking Championship when she defeated local challenger Gloria Liang in the final of the event in Vancouver. The 15-year-old fourth seed Ambika overcame stiff challenge from third seed Liang to emerge 6-4 4-6 7-6(5) winner. Ambika had earlier defeated local girl Tracy Dong 7-6(5) 6-4 in the semifinals while she blew away the challenge of another local challenger Laurence Guevremont 6-4 6-0 in the last-eight stage. This is the first win ever by an Indian junior player at this prestigious tournament. 19. Women's World Cup final broke record The culmination of the Womens World Cup final between Japan and the United States set a new record for tweets per second, eclipsing recent news events such as the wedding of Prince William and Kate and the death of Osama bin Laden. Japan twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with the US after extra time before winning a penalty shootout in Frankfurt, Germany, and lifting the trophy for the first time. The exciting climax drew 7,196 tweets per second, according to Twitter. Paraguays penalty shootout win over Brazil in a Copa America quarterfinal later the same day came close to beating it with 7,166 and is now second on the list. The previous record of 6,939 was set just after midnight in Japan on New Years Day. Other spikes include bin Ladens death (5,106 per second) and the Super Bowl in February (4,064).

20. Autonomy for NIS Patiala Sports Minister Ajay Maken announced the decision to demerge National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala, from the Sports Authority of India (SAI). The institute has been at the centre of the controversy since the doping scandal broke out. Maken said that the NIS Patiala will now be made an autonomous Institution of National Importance with the aim of producing world class and qualified coaches for various sporting disciplines and reducing the dependence on foreign experts like the Ukrainian Yuri Ogorodnik, who coached six out of eight Indian athletes caught in the doping scandal. Announcing the decision that could be a right step ahead in producing good Indian coaches, Maken said, The primary role for NIS would be producing world class and qualified coaches for various sporting disciplines rather than the currently prevalent, dominant role of holding training camps for athletes. 21. Harika realised one of her dreams Dronavalli Harika reached another significant milestone in her chess career by becoming only the second woman chess player from India to win the Grandmaster title in men's category when she drew with Anna Zatonskih of the United States in the Women's Grandmasters tournament in China. The Indian girl drew her final round game to finish second overall with 5.5 points, but more importantly crossed the crucial Elo 2600-mark to earn the coveted GM title in the men's section. Koneru Humpy is the only other Indian to have achieved this. 22. Dravid surpassed Ponting Rahul Dravid went past Australian Ricky Ponting to become the second highest run getter in Test cricket during the historic first Test between India and England at Lord's. The 38-year-old Dravid, who had 12,314 runs from 153 Tests at an average of 52.40 before coming into the match, surpassed Ponting who has scored 12,363 runs in 152 games. Dravid achieved the milestone when he flicked Graeme Swann through midwicket for a boundary in the fourth ball of the 49th over. The former India skipper, who interestingly made his Test debut against the same opponents at the same venue in 1996, has 32 hundreds and 60 fifties before this match. Now two Indians are at the top of the most prolific Test batsmen's chart. Dravid's team-mate Sachin Tendulkar is the highest run scorer, having scored 14,692 runs in177 Tests before this match. 23. Snubbed" for Arjuna Award, lifter Renubala returned CWG gold Double Commonwealth Games gold medallist Renubala Chanu announced that she was giving back her medals after being ignored for this year's Arjuna awards. Renubala, who won India's first gold medal in weightlifting at the Delhi Games, said the committee overlooked all her achievements. 24. Pele named honorary ambassador for 2014 World Cup Football legend Pele accepted an invitation from Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to act as an honorary ambassador for the 2014 World Cup. The 70-year-old Brazilian said it was an honour that he could not turn down. From the first World Cup that I played (in 1958) I've been doing this, I defend and promote Brazil. It's a very big responsibility and I could not turn down the invitation, said Pele. 25. 'Go for Gold' campaign launched Rower Bajrang Lal Takhar, boxer Vikas Krishan, paddlers Sharath Kamal and Madhurika Patkar launched the Go for Gold' campaign across the nation by Percept. The initiative is in tune with the countdown for the London Games 2012 exactly a year away and is aimed at creating an awareness across India about the multi-sport event. Other plans include a torch run from Kanyakumari to Kashmir featuring Indian sports achievers, fashion shows involving athletes, music and cultural events and farewell dinner for Indian contingent. 26. Spain topped FIFA rankings, Uruguay up to No. 5 World and European champion Spain stayed top in the latest FIFA rankings and Copa America winner Uruguay rose to its highest place in fifth spot. The latest monthly standings will be used to help decide seeding in World Cup qualifying draw. Spain, the Netherlands and Germany lead the

way, with Brazil rising one place to fourth despite only reaching the Copa America quarterfinals. Sixth-place England and No. 8 Italy both fall two places but are assured of top seeding in their qualifying groups. 27. Olympic countdown clock unveiled by Abhinav Bindra and Mary Kom Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra was uncharacteristically excited about the prospect of competing in London, a multi-cultural city, very special with its spirit and fantastic energy,'' as he unveiled the count-down clock, along with five-time World champion Mary Kom, to mark the celebration of one year to go' for Olympics, at the British High Commissioner's residence. The World champion who went on to become the first individual Olympic champion for India at the Beijing Games in 2008, Bindra recalled his 'unbelievable' last shot 10.8 that clinched him the gold, in a short video clip that captured his training base back home. Giving an insight into the sport of shooting, Bindra said that the difference between the gold, and finishing 20th, could be a matter of two millimetres. 28. Ryan Lochte set world record in 200m IM at worlds American Ryan Lochte set the first world record since high-tech body suits were banned in swimming, breaking his own mark in winning the 200-meter individual medley at the world championships. Lochte finished in 54.00 seconds, improving by a tenth of a second on the mark he set at Rome two years ago when the high-tech suits were still allowed. They were banned at the start of 2010. 29. Chennai set for World junior championship For the first time in seven years, the World junior chess championship will be held in India. The golden jubilee edition has been given to the home of World champion Viswanathan Anand Chennai. It will be sponsored by the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu and the Ramco Group. The venue is Hotel Vijay Park, Arumbakkam and the games will be played from August 215 with a free day on August 8. 30. Vettori honoured Daniel Vettori has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to cricket on the occasion of Queen's Birthday. 31. Pankaj Advani won national billiards title World champion Pankaj Advani (PSPB) won his fifth national billiards title with a commanding 5-1 win over Balachandra Bhaskar of Bangalore. Bhaskar, who has been in the national scene for over 15 years and on his maiden national final, remained a spectator from his chair for larger period of the match as 26-year-old Advani had his measure of comfort after losing the first frame. 32. Yang broke oldest swimming world record The swimming world championships ended with a bang day when emerging Chinese standout Sun Yang broke the oldest world record in the sport Australian great Grant Hacketts 10-yearold mark in the 1,500 meters. Sun was more than two seconds off Hacketts pace with four laps to go, but accelerated on the final two laps to finish in 14 minutes, 34.14 seconds, improving on Hacketts mark of 14:34.56 set at the 2001 worlds in Fukuoka, Japan. 33. Ronjan chased London goal Ronjan Sodhi became the worlds No. 1 double trap shooter as per the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) rankings released. Sodhi, who is now training at Italys Marcello Dradi range under Serafino Carlini, is the only Indian to be placed among top five shooters in any event in the latest rankings. Three others Gagan Narang (10m air rifle), Sanjeev Rathore (50m 3 position) and Vijay Kumar (20m rapid fire pistol) are all ranked ninth in their respective disciplines. Sodhi, who did not get a place in the Indian team in the Beijing Olympics despite being in blazing form those days, said he was now preparing to win a medal in the London Olympics next year.

34. Queensland to host 2012 U19 World Cup The Australian state of Queensland will host cricket's Under-19 World Cup in 2012, with Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and Townsville hosting teams. It will be the second time the event has been held in Australia, after the inaugural tournament in 1988. "The ICC U19 Cricket World Cup is the showcase event for best young cricketers in the world and is where the next Cameron White or Yuvraj Singh gets their first real taste of top-level cricket," Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland said. 35. Krishna Poonia won discus title Commonwealth Games gold medallist Krishna Poonia won the discus title in the Portland annual athletics meet in Portland, U.S., with a season best 58.88 metres. She had registered her previous season best of 56.23m while finishing fourth in the Asian championships in Kobe, Japan, last month. Poonia is training in Portland under the guidance of former Olympic champion Mac Wilkins. The qualification' standard is 59.50m, a mark that Poonia and the other leading discus thrower in the country, Harwant Kaur, should be capable of achieving. 36. New records in World athletics championship, 2011 An eight-member Indian team have participated in the World athletics championships, held in Daegu, Korea, from August 27 to September 4. In this meet Jamaica's Yohan Blake won the World championships 100m final after red hot favourite and defending champ1. K ion Usain Bolt was sensationally disqualified after a false start and Oscar Pistorius' history-making participation at the world championships is at an end after the South African double amputee failed to make the 4x400m relay team for final. The controversial 'Blade Runner', who runs with carbon fibre prosthetic running blades and was the first amputee to compete at the worlds, finished last in his semifinal heat in the individual 400m. But Bolt has got his chance in 200m sprint. The 25-year-old Jamaican defending champion and World record-holder crushed the field in the 200m, winning in the fourth fastest time ever run 19.40 seconds at the world championships in Daegu. And he also brought the World athletics championships to a thrilling climax as his Jamaican team smashed the 4x100m relay World record in Daegu. It was Bolt's second gold of the World championships after winning the 200m crown. 37. India won team medal at Nomura Cup after 18 years A brilliant performance by teenager Khalin Joshi helped the Indian golf team to end a 18-year long medal drought with a bronze in the team championships of the Asia-Pacific Golf championships for Nomura Cup at Denarau, Fiji. Australia won the Nomura Cup for a record ninth time. 38. Manika Batra: the new hope of the nation Manika Batra is a name emerging fast in the sphere of women's table tennis, which in recent times has been struggling to find good talents. The expectations about Manika's abilities have been on the ascendance ever since she downed top seed and World No. 4 in the under-21 category, Kasumi Ishikawa of Japan, to reach the title round in Chile late last week. The International Table Tennis Federation's website dubbed her win against Ishikawa as the one of biggest upsets of the year. Manika won a host of international junior titles to become the only Indian in the top 100 of the world junior (u-18) and youth (u-21) sections. 39. India's worst defeat in England since 1959 India's horror run in the Test series against England came to a tame end at The Oval as England completed a 4-0 whitewash by taking seven wickets in the post-Lunch session on day five to beat the visitors by an innings and eight runs. The Indian cricket side's performance in England this summer ranks as their worst in England after the 5-0 whitewash in 1959 - which included three innings defeats and others by 171 runs and eight wickets. 40. NBA: Rodman, Mullin enshrined in Hall of Fame Dennis Rodman, Chris Mullin and Tex Winter were enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame as part of a 10-strong intake. Rodman, who once wore a wedding dress to one of his book

signings, was well known for his antics off the court but he did find time to win several National Basketball Association championships on Michael Jordan-led teams. Rodman was raised by his single-parent mother while growing up in a poverty-plagued and crime-ridden American inner city neighbourhood. Mullin becomes the 11th member of the famed 1992 US Olympic Team to be enshrined on their own merit. 41. Lionel Messi won UEFA Best Player in Europe award Lionel Messi has won the inaugural UEFA Best Player in Europe award for the 2010-11 season. Messi beat his Barcelona teammate Xavi Hernandez and Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid in a poll of journalists from across Europe. Argentina forward Messi scored 53 goals as he and Xavi led Barcelona to the Champions League and Spanish titles. 42. Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan in ICC Test Team of the Year Indian cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan earned a place in the ICC Test Team of the Year, chosen by a specially appointed selection panel headed by West Indian legend Clive Lloyd. ICC Test Team of the Year: Alastair Cook (Eng), Hashim Amla (SA), Jonathan Trott (Eng), Sachin Tendulkar (Ind), K. Sangakkara (SL, wicketkeeper/captain), A.B. de Villiers (SA), Jacques Kallis (SA), Stuart Broad (Eng), Graeme Swann (Eng), Dale Steyn (SA), James Anderson (Eng). 12th man: Zaheer Khan (Ind). Tendulkar made the side for the third year in a row, having appeared in the ICC World Test Team of the Year in 2009 and 2010. 43. Deepika won gold India's Deepika Kumari won the junior recurve individual women's gold medal getting the better of South Korean top seed Kim Minjung 6-2 in the final at Legnica in Poland. This is for the first time an Indian archer is winning a back-to-back world title. Deepika, 17, had won the cadet recurve individual crown in 2009 at Ogden (US). 44. Argentina piped a fighting Venezuela The world's best striker Lionel Messi accomplished his responsibility as the captain helping Argentina down its Latin American cousin Venezuela by a solitary goal in a FIFA international friendly in the giant Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata. 45. Ponting celebrated 100 Test wins Ricky Ponting became the first cricketer to play in 100 Test wins after Australia defeated Sri Lanka by 125 runs in the first Test in Galle .The former skipper was already Test cricket's most successful captain with 48 wins. 46. Indian women won gold The Indian women's recurve archery team took sweet revenge over World champion Italy with a 215-204 victory in the final of the World Cup (Stage IV) meet at Shanghai 47. India beat Pakistan, takes trophy in inaugural Asian Champions Hockey Tournament India defeated Pakistan 4-2 in the penalty shootout in a nerve-wrecking final to clinch the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament in Ordos (China). Rajpal Singh, Danish Mujtaba, Yuvraj Walmiki and Sarvanjit Singh scored for India in the penalty shootout while Muhammad Rizwan and Waseem Ahmed sounded the board for Pakistan after both the sides were locked goalless in the regular and extra time. 48. Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal to win US Open Top-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia beat defending champion and second seed Rafael Nadal of Spain 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1 to win the US Open men's final at Flushing Meadows. 49. Dhoni got Spirit of Cricket Award & Trott is cricketer of the year The Indian skipper M.S. Dhoni won the Spirit of Cricket Award' at the annual International Cricket Council (ICC) awards function in London. Jonathan Trott, the England batsman, has been named the Cricketer of the Year for 2011, the ICC's top accolade. He received the Sir Garfield Sobers

trophy at the annual ceremony in London, after his team-mate Alastair Cook had won the Test Cricketer of the Year award. 50. Four more inducted into Hall of Fame The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced its latest inductees into its Hall of Fame. Alan Davidson, Belinda Clark, Curtly Ambrose and the late Frederick Spofforth joined the earlier list of 64, finalised over the years. 51. Japan took its place in the World India had kept alive its hopes of staying in the elite Davis Cup World Group as Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna scored a hard-fought 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) win over Yuichi Sugita and Tatsuma Ito in the marathon doubles rubber in the play-off tie against Japan. But finally Japan took its place in the World. Vishnu Vardhan made an impressive Davis Cup debut but failed to win as an injury-hit India was relegated to the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I after losing the World Group play-off tie 1-4 to Japan. 52. Sushil failed to defend World Wrestling Championship crown India finished its campaign in the World wrestling championships in Istanbul, Turkey, on a disappointing note with none of its wrestlers being able to earn either a medal or an Olympic qualification berth. The biggest shock for the country was the failure of Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, who was also defending his World title in 66kg. Sushil, was shocked 5:3 by Ukraine's Andriy Stadnik. 53. In letter to ICC, Sachin suggested for split-innings ODIs In a letter to ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat, Sachin Tendulkar had suggested radical changes to the ODI format, with thetwo 50-over innings split into four alternating 25-over blocks. The Indian batting icon, on the verge of his 100th international century, had spoken about this concept in television interviews in the past. Tendulkars letter also proposed that powerplays be made mandatory, and that each 25-over block contain only two powerplays at the behest of the batting side. Tendulkar also suggested that four bowlers should be allowed up to 12 overs each. 54. Sandeep, Sardara got lifeline as Hockey India lifts ban on duo Ace drag-flicker Sandeep Singh and star midfielder Sardara Singh were handed a lifeline after Hockey India decided to lift the two-year ban imposed on them for indiscipline, saying the two players were given "a last chance" to make amends for their mistakes. 55. SAFF Cup in Delhi The SAFF Cup football tournament will be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium from December 2 to 12, this year. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) took the decision at its executive committee meeting. 56. Indian women won series Indian women won the three-match football series against Bahrain 2-1 in Bahrain. India won the third and deciding game 3-1 after the teams shared the honours in the first two games. Indian goal-scorers were Kamala Devi (25th minute), Pinky Bompal Magar (28th) and Parmeshori Devi (42nd). India had defeated Bahrain 2-1 in the opening match, but went down 0-2 in the second. 57. Makau set new World record, Gebrselassie disappoints Kenya's Patrick Makau set a new World record in the Berlin Marathon in an official time of 2hr 03min 38sec. The 26-year-old defending champion smashed the old mark of 2hr 03:59 set by Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie in the same race in 2008. 58. Bedi's biography released Divinity ordained that he be blessed with a nice, clean bowling action. Divinity that coincided with Tiger Pataudi's leadership ensured that Bishan Singh Bedi would play for India and end up as one of its finest spin bowlers of all time. That was how the man himself described his classic

bowling action and his Test baptism in Calcutta, under Pataudi, back in 1966-67against the West Indies, as he released his biography, written by journalist Suresh Menon, at the Kovalam Literary Festival at the India International Centre. In Bishan, Portrait of a Cricketer, Menon brings to life one of the most colourful personalities of Indian cricket, but Bedi described the attempt as bringing out an Egyptian mummy alive. 59. Record prize money for Australian Open Next year's Australian Open will be the richest tournament in Grand Slam tennis history, with the winners of both the men's and women's singles to pocket $2.3 million (USD 2.2 million). Organisers announced that a total of $26 million will be paid out in next January's event. 60. Ronjan Sodhi created history, defended his World title Shotgun shooter Ronjan Sodhi did what no Indian had done before him - he successfully defended his prestigious World Cup Final title. The Delhi-based double trap marksman held his nerve in a "roller-coaster" of a final to clinch the gold in Al Ain (UAE) to cap a fine year during which he touched the pinnacle in world ranking. After qualifying for the final in the second position with 142 points in the preliminaries, Sodhi came up with a score of 45 in the thrilling final for a total of 187 which put him at par with Chinese Binyuan Hu. The Indian won in the tiebreaker to claim the "most prestigious competition" for a shooter in a non-Olympic year. With a total of 185, Russia's Vitaly Fokeev won the bronze. 61. Ukraine boxers claimed four gold medals Ukrainian boxers captured four gold medals in the World boxing championships which concluded at Baku, Azerbaijan. Cuban pugilists gathered two titles, while boxers from China, Russia, Brazil and Azerbaijan claimed gold each. India managed a bronze medal through Vikas Krishan (69kg). But Manoj Kumar (64kg), L. Devendro Singh (49kg), Jai Bhagwan (60kg) and Vikas Krishan (69kg) ensured their berths in the London Olympics by entering the quarterfinals of the World boxing championships at Baku, Azerbaijan. 62. Come-and-Play scheme launched With the launch of the nationwide Come and Play scheme, over 80 facilities under the Sports Authority of India (SAI) became accessible for use by school children, students and other sports enthusiasts. The scheme launched by Union Sports Minister Ajay Maken and Union Minister for Social Justices and Empowerment Mukul Wasnik also offered free use of the facilities to those below the poverty line and at one-third of the rates to the students from Government schools. 63. Indians bagged 15 medals India bagged 15 medals, including six golds, to begin its campaign on an impressive note in the Commonwealth Weightlifting championships in Cape Town, South Africa. Commonwealth Games silver medallist Soniya Chanu fetched a gold each in snatch, clean and jerk, and total lift in the senior women's 48kg category. She lifted a total of 174kg. In the junior women's 48kg category, Sanjitha Chanu won three silvers, one each in snatch, clean and jerk, and total lift. She lifted 165kg in total. Minati Das won three golds in the 44kg youth competition with a total lift of 100kg. In the 48kg youth competition, Joti Mal and Purnima Chanu won three silvers and three bronzes respectively.

Awards
1. Indian magician got top honour from US society Climbing a rope suspended in air or conjuring up a tree out of his hat is mere child's play for ace magician Gopinath Muthukad who has won this year's International Merlin Award, or the magicians' Oscar. The master illusionist and stunt performer is the second Indian to be chosen to receive the Merlin Award for outstanding contributions to magic in 2011 conferred by the USbased International Magicians Society. Previously, P C Sorkar Jr had received the award. The Kerala-based magician heads a Magic Academy in Thiruvanthapuram, which runs certificate courses recognised by the University of Kerala and boasts of high-profile students like superstar Mohanlal among others. 2. Dabangg, My Name is Khan won awards Dabangg and My Name is Khan won top honours at the 12th International Indian Film Academy awards, with the Salman Khan starrer Dabangg scooping up six trophies in the popular category, while the best actor and director awards went to Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar for My Name is Khan. Dabangg, which was the highest grosser last year, was adjudged the best film of 2010. Anushka Sharma won her maiden best actress award for Band Baja Baraat. Sonakshi Sinha won the best debut female award for her performance in Dabangg, while Sonu Sood grabbed the best negative role trophy. Sajid-Wajid, along with Lalit Pandit, bagged the best music direction award for their chartbusting numbers in the film, while Abhinav Kashyap and Dilip Shukla bagged the best screenplay award. 3. World Food Prize for Brazil's da Silva, Ghana's Kufuor While the rest of the world has spent the last few years worrying about double-dip recessions and West Asia, the borderless nation of the hungry has continued to suffer in silence. The award has, since it was instituted in 1987, always gone to agricultural scientists such as M.S. Swaminathan winner of the first WFP award, and to social entrepreneurs such as Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh's Grameen Bank. The Foundation chose the former President of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor, and the former President of Brazil, Luiz Incio Lula da Silva, for their personal commitment and visionary leadership while serving as the presidents of Ghana and of Brazil, respectively, in creating and implementing government policies to alleviate hunger and poverty in their countries. The two leaders were picked for the prize, instituted by Nobel Peace Prize winner and Green Revolution champion Norman Borlaug, for leading a drastic reduction of hunger and poverty in their respective countries. 4. India honoured doyen of modern Sinhala music The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka organised an evening with musician and Magsaysay award winner Pandit Amaradeva at India House to celebrate his six decades of excellence in music and to underline the deep cultural and civilisational links the two countries share. Pandit Amaradeva (earlier known as Albert Perera) was awarded the Padma Shri in 2002. He composed the melody for the Maldivian national anthem along with Ananda Samarakoon (author of the Sri Lankan national anthem) and composer-musician Sunil Santha. They are regarded as the founding fathers of the modern Sinhala music. 5. Afghanistan veteran Leroy Petry given US Medal of Honor A US Army ranger has been awarded the Medal of Honor, America's highest military medal, for his actions in a firefight in Afghanistan. In a 2008 battle in Paktia province, Staff Sgt Leroy Petry of New Mexico was shot in both legs and lost a hand while trying to toss away an enemy grenade. The award recognises his "gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty". Sgt Petry is just the second active US military member to receive the award. The first recipient, Staff Sgt Salvatore Giunta, received his award in November 2010.

President Barack Obama placed the medal around Sgt Petry's neck at a ceremony at the WhiteHouse. 6. Zimbabwe's NoViolet Bulawayo won Caine writing prize Zimbabwean writer NoViolet Bulawayo won this year's Caine Prize for African Writing, regarded as Africa's leading literary award. The 10,000 ($16,000) prize was given for her story Hitting Budapest about hungry children from a shantytown who steal guavas from an upmarket suburb. The chair of judges said the gang of "poor and violated" children were "reminiscent of Clockwork Orange". 7. Husk won international award for clean energy Husk Power Systems have won this year's International Ashden award for sustainable energy. The prestigious award was given at an official ceremony in London. Husk Power Systems (HPS) is a rural electrification company in Bihar which generates electricity through the gasification of rice husk, an abundant agricultural waste product found throughout India's rice belt. The company competed with seven other finalists from Africa, India and Pakistan for a prize money of over 120,000 as Ashden continued its 10 years old tradition of stealing the spotlight on the most effective innovations in sustainable energy across the world. 8. Mercy Ravi award was given away to Sheila Dikshit Minister for Defence A.K. Antony presented the first Mercy Ravi Award for Woman of Substance to Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Antony said it was a rare occasion when an award in the name of a woman who had made her mark in every area she had touched was being presented to another woman who had conquered the minds of million of people, especially women. According to him, Ms. Dikshit has made Delhi one of the best cities in the world, not only with regard to the infrastructure development, but also to the quality of life provided for the most backward among society. 9. Sangeet Natak Akademi fellowship for Girija Devi, T.K. Murthy, Dagar Vice-President Hamid Ansari presented the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi fellowships and awards for the year 2010 to four eminent personalities and 38 artistes and scholars from the disciplines of music, dance and theatre at a ceremony in the presence of Union Culture Minister Kumari Selja. The highest honour of Akademi fellowship, Akademi Ratna Sadasyata, was conferred on distinguished vocalist Girija Devi, renowned dance guru Nataraja Ramakrishna, Dhrupad maestro Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar and mridangam exponent T.K. Murthy. They received a cash award of Rs. 3 lakh each besides an angavastram and a tamrapatra . The fellowship of the Akademi is a rare honour bestowed on a limited number of artists and scholars at a given time. The eminent representatives of music, dance and theatre honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 2010 received cash awards of Rs.1 lakh each, an angavastram and tamrapatra. 10. Prem Bhatia award for TOI scribe Mid-Day crime editor Jyotirmoy Dey, who was gunned down by alleged underworld goons in Mumbai, and Times of India's Josy Joseph were the joint winners of the Prem Bhatia Award for excellence in political reporting. This was the first time since its inception 15 years ago that the Prem Bhatia Award for excellence in political reporting and analysis as well as brilliance in environmental reporting are being shared by two journalists. Joseph was chosen for his consistent scoops exposing the scandals in the 2-G case and the Commonwealth Games and Adarsh Housing Society scams. Dey shares the award, posthumously, for his work in exposing Mumbai's underworld and corruption in police and bureaucracy. 11. e-governance award for NIC Rajasthan The National Informatics Centre (NIC), Rajasthan, bagged an award for its e-district initiative and e-governance in rural areas at the e-World Forum 2011 organised in New Delhi by the Centre for Science Development and Media Studies (CSDMS). Union Information Technology Secretary R. Chandrashekhar gave away the award to NIC-Rajasthan's Senior Technical Director and State

Informatics Officer Indu Gupta at a function in the national Capital. An official release quoted Ms. Gupta as saying that the e-World Forum 2011 had selected the NIC-Rajasthan for the award on the basis of the single window software developed for all the 33 districts and 247 tehsil headquarters as well as the rural connectivity project evolved by it. 12. Indian consul general awarded Knight Grand Commander in Liberia Sardar Upjit Singh Sachdeva, the present honorary consul general of India in Liberia, was conferred with the Knight Grand Commander, Liberia's highest award during the 164th Independence Day celebrations in northern city of Voinjama, Lofa County, around 400 kilometers from Liberia's national capital Monrovia. Sachdeva, who became the first Indian in African history to have been awarded the highest award by a sitting Liberian President since Liberia declared her independence 164 years ago on July 26, 1847, belongs to Punjab's Jalandhar town. The award was presented to him by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of the Republic of Liberia, for his outstanding contribution to the cause of the socio-economic development , recovery and reconstruction of Liberia after civil war which ravaged the entire nation. 13. UK student won Microsoft Excel World Championship UK student Rebecca Rickwood won a global competition to find the best user of Microsoft's spreadsheet software, Excel 2007. Rebecca, who is 15, was one of 228,000 competitors from 57 countries. She beat 78 students in the final round. Competitors were required to perform timed tests to demonstrate their skill at making spreadsheets. 14. Express Travel World Awards celebrated innovators of the industry The late Lalit Suri, a pioneering hotelier who, even at the height of militancy in Kashmir, dared to operate the only five-star property in Srinagar, won yet another accolade the GMR Express TravelWorld Awards 2010-2011 for Lifetime Achievement for his vision and commitment to the hospitality industry. As his wife, Jyotsna Suri, and their son received the statuette, stalwarts of the Indian travel and hospitality sector who had packed the Taj Palace Hotel for the ceremony gave a standing ovation. 15. Khel Ratna for Gagan Narang Double world record holder, rifle shooter Gagan Narang, loaded with the World championship bronze medal apart from a clutch of Commonwealth Games gold medals and the Asian Games silver, won the race for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, as the Union Sports Ministry convened meetings of eminent sportspersons to decide the Arjuna and Dronacharya awards for the year 2010. Narang, the 28-year-old Hyderabad lad, was left disappointed last year after his strong case for the Khel Ratna was overlooked. He has won the World Cup gold twice as well as the gold in the World Cup Finals, a season-ending competition for top performers. 16. Five win children's literature awards Five writers have been chosen for the 2011 Kendra Sahitya Akademi's Bala Sahitya Puraskar for lifetime contribution to children's literature: Sailen Ghosh (Bengali), Shyam Dutt Parag (Dogri), Ramesh Parekh (Gujarati), Harikrishna Devsare (Hindi) and Maheswar Mohanty (Oriya). The winners of the awards for poetry include Gh. Nabi Aatash (Kashmiri), Snehalata Rai (Nepali), Darshan Singh Asht (Punjabi), Abhiraj Rajendra Mishra (Sanskrit), Nuhum Hembram (Santali), M.L. Thangappa (Tamil) and Aasil Aseer Dehlavi (Urdu). The short-story writers selected are Maheswar Narzary (Bodo), Mayanath Jha (Maithili), Dileep Prabhavalkar (Marathi), Harish B. Sharma (Rajasthani) and M. Bhoopal Reddy (Telugu). Novelists selected for the awards are Bandita Phukan (Assamese), Siddhartha Sarma (English), Hundraj Balwani (Sindhi), N. D'souza (Kannada), Gajanan Jog (Konkani) and K. Pappootty (Malayalam). Shantibala Devi (Manipuri) has been chosen for her book of folk tales and plays. The awards, each comprising a prize purse of Rs. 50,000 and a copper plaque, will be presented in November.

17. Sahitya award for Kashmiri author Noted Kashmiri writer and poet Gulam Nabi Aatish's book Nov Kehtsha Mentsha has bagged the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in the children's literature category.The award comprises a cash prize of Rs.51,000, a citation and a robe of honour. 18. Govinde Gowda honoured Chief Minister of Karnataka D.V. Sadananda Gowda conferred the D. Devaraj Urs Award on the former Primary and Secondary Education Minister H.G. Govinde Gowda for his contribution in various fields. The award was given to Mr. Govinde Gowda, also known as Malnad Gandhi, on the occasion of the 96th birth anniversary of the late Chief Minister. The award comprises a purse of Rs. 1 lakh and a citation. 19. Lifetime award for Shahryar Eminent Urdu poet, academician and Hindi film lyricist A. M. K. Shahryar has been honoured with the Sir Syed Lifetime Achievement Award by the Aligarh Alumni Association, New York Tristate, US, for his outstanding contribution to Urdu language and literature 20. Southern sweep at the National Film Award K. Balachander, doyen of Tamil cinema, was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award by President Pratibha Patil at the 58th edition of National Film Awards 2010 function at Vigyan Bhawan. It was a southern sweep as Malayalam film Adaminte Makan Abu bagged the Swarna Kalam for the best feature film. For the same film, versatile Malayalam actor Salim Kumar collected the Rajat Kamal. 21. TBGRI scientists won Sethi award A team of researchers from the Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (TBGRI) have won the Dr. P.D. Sethi Award-2010 for their analysis of herbs using high-performance thin-layer chromatography. The work has been done on an Indian medicinal plant, Centella asiatica, commonly known as Indian Pennywort (Kodangan in Malayalam). The study has helped detect elite types from 60 varieties of the plant collected from South India and the Andaman islands. 22. Top China honour for Indian China has conferred its highest literary award on Prof B R Deepak for his translation of classical Chinese poems into Hindi. Deepak, who is from Centre of Chinese and Southeast Asian Studies, JNU, is the first Indian to receive the Special Book Award for his contribution to Chinese studies and culture. 23. CII institutes emerging entrepreneur award The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) southern region has announced the launch of the Emerging Entrepreneurs Award. The award has been instituted to showcase the region's emerging entrepreneurs and their innovative business concepts and the event is being organised in association with The Hindu Business Line. Enterprises in southern States with a minimum turnover of Rs. 30 crore that registered a compounded annual growth rate of 30 per cent in the last three years are eligible to participate in the competition. 24. Appan Menon award for EPW journalist This years Appan Menon Award for young journalists covering international affairs was given to Srinivasan Ramani, senior assistant editor of the Economic and Political Weekly for his coverage of the emergence of a new constitutional republic in Nepal and Indias role in that process. The Appan Menon Memorial Trust presents the award, which carries a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh. 25. Jnanpith for Amar Kant, Shrilal Shukla, Kambar Eminent Hindi authors Amar Kant and Shrilal Shukla were chosen for India's highest literary honour Jnanpith Award for the year 2009 while renowned Kannada litterateur Chandrasekhar Kambar won it for the year 2010. The selection board chaired by noted writer and Jnanpith

award winner Dr Sitakant Mahapatra made the selections for the 45th and 46th Jnanpith awards. Kant, 86, is a leading author whose famous novel 'Inhin Hathiyaron Se' earned him Sahitya Akademi Award in 2007. His short stories like 'Hatiyare', 'Dopahar ka Bhojan' and 'Diptee Kalaktari' have found place in the syllabi of several universities. 26. Web journal announced literary awards Indian Ruminations, literary web journal for Indian English writing, has announced its awards for best poetry and prose in English and Malayalam. The award-winning works are: Evil is evil, good is good (English fiction) by Amit Upadhyay (Delhi), Scent of Grangipani (English poetry) by Nanathara, Kerala, Unmathathakalude Crash Landingukal (Malayalam poetry) by Rajesh Chithira and Fernhill by Sulfikkar, and Angineyoru maampazhakkaalam by Ajoy Kumar M.S. (Malayalam non-fiction). 27. NDPL won award North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL) has won Power Utility of the Year-2011 award at the Asian Power Awards ceremony held at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. The Asian Power Awards are aimed at recognising the broad spectrum of Asia's power supply industry and acknowledging the vital input from all elements of the industry. 28. Chanda Kochhar first woman got ET Biz Leader Award The list of recipients of India's biggest, most anticipated business awards --- The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence 2011 -- was out. Chanda Kochhar, managing director of ICICI Bank, the country's largest private sector lender, was named Business Leader of the Year. The Emerging Company of the Year Award was gone to Shree Renuka Sugars, whose managing director, Narendra Murkhumbi, won the Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2010. The new Entrepreneur of the Year was Rahul Bhatia, Group Managing Director, InterGlobe Enterprises, best known as the owner of IndiGo, an airline that managed to maintain its upward trajectory even in the roughest of weather. ET's Global Indian Award was gone Vikram Pandit, CEO of Citigroup Inc, who has successfully steered his organization back from the brink after the crises that hit the American financial sector. 29. Tomas Transtromer won literature Nobel Tomas Transtromer, the Swedish poet whose sometimes bleak but powerful work explores themes of nature, isolation and identity, won the 2011 Nobel Prize in literature. Mr. Transtromer, 80, has written more than 15 collections of poetry, many of which have been translated into English and 60 other languages. Neil Astley, the editor of Bloodaxe Books in Britain, called Mr. Transtromer a metaphysical visionary poet. Since 1901, 103 Nobel Prizes in Literature was awarded. 30. Chemistry Nobel for Dan Shechtman An Israeli scientist won this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering quasicrystals, a material in which atoms were packed together in a well-defined pattern that never repeats. Recent Nobel prizes have generally split credit for scientific advances among two or three people, but this year's chemistry prize and the accompanying 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.4 million) went to a single scientist: Dan Shechtman (70), a professor of materials science at TechnionIsrael Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel. 31. Nobel for promoting peace, democracy and gender equality The Nobel Peace Prize for 2011 was awarded to three campaigning women from Africa and the Arab world in acknowledgment of their non-violent role in promoting peace, democracy and gender equality. The winners were Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Africa's first elected woman President her compatriot, peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman of Yemen, a pro-democracy campaigner. They were the first women to win the prize since Kenya's Wangari Maathai, who died last month, was named as the laureate in 2004. Most of the recipients in the award's 110-year history have been men, and decision seemed designed to give impetus to the cause for women's rights around the world.

32. Kalidas Samman for Anupam Kher Veteran actor Aupam Kher is to be honoured with the Kalidas Samman for his contribution in the field of theatre. Kher, 56, began his career with theatre after graduating from the National School of Drama and later also became the Chairperson of the institute. The Kalidas Samman is a prestigious award presented annually by the government of Madhya Pradesh. The award is named after Kalidasthe renowned classical Sanskrit writer of ancient India widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language with his Meghadutam ' and Abhigyan Shakuntalam'. 33. Indira Gandhi award for Mohan Dharia Environmentalist, lawyer and former Union Minister, Mohan Dharia, was selected as the winner of the 26th Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration. The 86-year-old Padma Vibhushan awardee, which currently runs the Vanrai NGO in Pune, was selected for the 2010 award, which carries a citation and cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh. 34. Rajiv Gandhi prize for Azim Premji Foundation Indira Gandhi National Open University will confer the Rajiv Gandhi International Prize for Technology in Education on Azim Premji Foundation. The award will be presented by Union Communications and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal to Azim Premji, the founder of the Foundation. The award is given to an individual or an institution that has made significant contributions to education. The prize comprises a cash component of Rs.5 lakh and a citation. 35. Bhatnagar Prize for monk, 10 others A monk was among the 11 scientists who had been selected for the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research's (CSIR) prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize this year. Mahan Maharaj got the award for his outstanding contribution in the area of mathematical sciences. An expert in the highly specialised field of geometric topology, he heads the School of Mathematical Sciences at the Ramakrishna Mission's Vivekananda University located at the famous Belur Math near Kolkata. The other winners were Palash Sarkar of the Indian Statistical Institute; Shiraz Minwalla of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research; K.N. Balaji and U. Ramamurthy of the Indian Institute of Science; Shirshendu De of IIT-Kharagpur; A.P. Sharma of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology; R. Shankaranarayan of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology; G.N. Sastry of the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology and B. Sundaram of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research. The winners were announced at a function to mark the foundation day of CSIR. The prize is named after the founder-Director of CSIR and carries a cash component of Rs. 5 lakh. It is given annually to young scientists below the age of 45 who have made outstanding contributions in any field of science and technology. 36. Nobel winners swept away cosy view of Universe Three astronomers earned the Nobel Physics Prize. Saul Perlmutter and Adam Riess of the United States and U.S-Australian Brian Schmidt won the paramount award for using ancient stars that flare in dramatic death throes to measure distance on a cosmic scale. These so-called type 1a supernovae were used by their teams as standard candles whose distance could be measured, like beacons in the night. Working in competing groups, the Supernova Cosmology Project and High-z Supernova Search Team looked at the redshift from these ultra-bright stars. Redshift is a measurement of a star's redness in the light spectrum. The farther the distance, the more the wavelength stretches deeper into the red zone, becoming a yardstick of how far light has traveled. The technique entailed looking at the sky just after the new Moon and again three weeks later, before moonlight obliterates the faint light of stars. The two images are then compared in the hope of spotting a new dot of light that could be the flare of a distant supernova. 37. Indira Gandhi award for Mohan Dharia Environmentalist, lawyer and former Union Minister, Mohan Dharia, was selected as the winner of the 26th Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration. The 86-year-old Padma Vibhushan

awardee, which currently runs the Vanrai NGO in Pune, was selected for the 2010 award, which carries a citation and cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh. It will be presented by award committee chair and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on October 31, the anniversary of Indira Gandhi's death. 38. Honour for Jaipur-based paediatrician Jaipur-based paediatrician Dr. Ashok Gupta invited to join a three-member jury to judge the best research awards at the ninth International Congress of Tropical Paediatrics being held in Bangkok in Thailand. 39. Kawaljeet, Rama Rao got Dilip Bose award Coach Kawaljeet Singh who had trained the 16-year-old Sunil Kumar to win the National men's tennis title in 1999 was presented the Dilip Bose lifetime achievement award' by the All India Tennis Association during the sixth National coaches workshop in Goa. Kawaljeet had helped numerous players realise their potential, during his stints in Assam, Delhi and Chandigarh. Coach Rama Rao of Mumbai was also selected for the award. He has been training juniors at his Practennis Academy for many years, and Karan Rastogi was one of the notable trainees. Dilip Bose award was instituted by AITA in 2002. Akhtar Ali, Nandan Bal, Krishna Bhupathi, T. Chandrasekaran, Enrico Piperno and Aditya Sachdeva, were the awardees till the last edition of the coaches workshop. 40. Olympia Tech Park bagged awards Olympia Technology Park was conferred two awards, one being the most innovative and futuristically designed building in India and the other for being one of the best environmental friendly developments (runners-up), says a release. The awards were the initiative of Zee Business and Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. 41. Adaminte Makan Abu for Oscar Adaminte Makan Abu , national award-winning Malayalam film, has been nominated as India's official entry for the Oscar Academy Awards. The film had bagged three other national awards for best actor, best cinematographer and best background score.

Appointment
1. Roop Mahajan named Lewis Hester Chair in Engineering Indian American Roop Mahajan, an internationally known researcher with expertise ranging from nanotechnology to bio-micro-electro-mechanical systems, has been named the Lewis Hester Chair in Engineering by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. With Master degrees from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, and PhD from Cornell University, Mahajan is professor of mechanical engineering and engineering science and mechanics in the College of Engineering and director of the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science at Virginia Tech. The Lewis Hester Chair in Engineering was established in 1989 to recognise excellence in the field of engineering. The professorship is for a five-year period. 2. IIT alumnus named head of MIT's top lab The prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has named Indian academician Anant Agarwal as director of its Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), the institute's largest interdisciplinary lab. A professor in the department of electrical engineering and computer science, Agarwal succeeds Victor Zue, who served four years as CSAIL's director. The key appointment comes days after MIT named another Indian-origin professor Anantha Chandrakasan to lead the department of electrical engineering and computer science, the largest academic department in the institute. 3. Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar is new CVC Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar was unanimously chosen the next Central Vigilance Commissioner, four months after the Supreme Court had quashed the appointment of P.J. Thomas to the post. Though no official announcement has been made yet, sources said Mr. Pradeep Kumar, who retires as Defence Secretary on July 31, was chosen by consensus by a panel comprising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj. 4. Ban appointed as UN chief for 2nd term The UN General Assembly has re-appointed Ban Ki-Moon as the UN Secretary-General for a second five-year term, starting next year. The 192-member General Assembly made the appointment after the UN Security Council recommended Ban for a second term. No other candidates were running against the 67-year-old former South Korean foreign minister, who succeeded Kofi Annan four years ago. 5. Senate approved Panetta as US Defence Secretary The US Senate unanimously confirmed President Barack Obama nomination of CIA director Leon Panetta to succeed Robert Gates as the next Defence Secretary. The 72-year-old Panetta, a former Congressman and White House Chief of Staff under Bill Clinton, will be succeeded at the CIA by the US top commander in Afghanistan General David Petraeus. The Senate approval of Panetta nomination came on the eve of Obama plan to announce the start of a phased withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. According to the latest indications, Obama was expected to restrict the pullout to 10,000 troops this year and another 20,000 by the end of 2012. 6. Brazil's Graziano elected FAO chief Jose Graziano da Silva of Brazil has been elected Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the U.N. agency tasked with reducing world hunger at a time of record high food prices. Mr. Graziano, currently FAO's regional representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, won on the second ballot with 92 of the 180 votes of FAO member states. He beat out Miguel Angel Moratinos of Spain and four other candidates to replace Jacques Diouf of Senegal, whose 18-year tenure prompted a change in the agency's rules to set term limits. The Romebased FAO is the largest U.N. agency with an annual budget of about $1 billion. It has faced longstanding calls from top donors like the United States for reform and budget cuts.

7. IMF named first Chinese deputy managing director China secured its first top-level post at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in recognition of its growing power in the global economy. New IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde appointed Zhu Min to a newly created deputy managing director post. Last week, Ms Lagarde said she would go ahead with reforms to give emerging markets greater sway at the lender. She also said White House aide David Lipton would succeed John Lipsky as her top deputy at the end of August. Mr Zhu is a former deputy governor of the People's Bank of China and has been a special adviser to the IMF. 8. Nirupma Roa appointed as US Ambassador Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao was officially named as the next envoy of India to the United States. She is expected to take up her assignment shortly, a release by MEA said. Rao will be India's second woman ambassador to America after Meera Shankar. Rao's appointment to succeed Shankar was cleared by the Government a few weeks ago. Her tenure as Foreign Secretary ends on July 31. A 1973 batch Indian Foreign service topper, Rao in July 2009 became the second woman after Chokila Iyer to hold the post of Indian Foreign Secretary. 9. Rohinton Nariman appointed as new solicitor general Senior advocate Rohinton Nariman was appointed as the new solicitor-general. His appointement follows the resignation of Gopal Subramaniam. Ironically, Gopal Subramaniam had resigned to protest the move by Kapil Sibal to field Nariman to represent him in the Supreme Court in the 2Gspectrum allocation case. The apex court threw out Nariman successfully argued the case and the application at the admission stage. 10. Justice Shivaraj Patil appointed new Karnataka Lokayukta Former Supreme Court judge, Justice Shivaraj V Patil, was appointed the new Lokayukta of Karnataka to succeed Santosh Hegde. Governor H R Bhardwaj cleared the name of Patil, who had earlier served as Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court as well as Acting Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission. 71-year-old Patil, who hails from Karnataka, replaces Hegde, a former Supreme Court judge who completes his term on August 2. 11.Troubled Air India got a new Chief Air India got a new Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD), with the government, formally notifying the appointment of Rohit Nandan, an Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer of 1982 batch, to the post. Mr. Nandan, a joint secretary in the Civil Aviation Ministry, replaced senior IAS officer Arvind Jadhav, who was given the marching orders and repatriated to his parent cadre in Karnataka. Mr. Jadhav's three-year term was to end in May 2012, but his failure on all parameters and lacklustre performance only hurried his exit from the airline, which finds itself deep in huge financial losses. 12. Petraeus handed over Afghan command US General David Petraeus, Washingtons new intelligence chief, handed over command of US and NATO-led troops in Afghanistan, a day after a tentative start was made to a gradual process of transferring security to Afghan forces. Petraeus, credited with reversing a spiral towards civil war in Iraq, took over in Afghanistan on July 4, 2010, and is to now take over as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. 13. D J Narain took over as FTII director Dharmendra Jai Narain, popularly known as D J Narain, took over as the director of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). A 1990 Indian Information Services officer, Narain follows Pankaj Rag in the post. TV section dean Iftekar Ahmed was the interim director. 14. Indian-origin activist on British media panel Shami Chakrabarti, a prominent Indian-origin human rights activist was named by British Prime Minister David Cameron among six independent experts who will form a panel to examine British

media practices in the wake of the raging phone-hacking scandal. Chakrabarti, 42, is a barrister and director of the London-based human rights group Liberty. The panel of independent experts will help Lord Justice Leveson examine media practices in the wake of the phone hacking scandal and is expected to report within 12 months. 15. Rakesh Sood new envoy to France India's Ambassador to Nepal Rakesh Sood was appointed Ambassador to France. 16. Browne to take over as IAF Chief Air Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne, who logged 3,100 hours of flying a slew of fighter aircraft, will take over as Chief of the Indian Air Force from Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik. 17. Shinawatra confirmed as Thailand's first female PM Yingluck Shinawatra became politically turbulent Thailand's first female prime minister after parliament endorsed her crushing election victory. A political novice, Yingluck -- the sister of ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra -- gained support from 296 members of the lower house out of a potential 500 reflecting the majority enjoyed by her party and its allies. Yingluck's Puea Thai party and its partners command a three-fifths parliamentary majority after a resounding victory in the July 3 election over the pro-establishment Democrats. The country's 28th prime minister can expect royal endorsement within days to formalise her position. 18. Lobsang Sangay to be sworn in The central courtyard of Tsuglakhang temple, opposite the office of the Dalai Lama, remained abuzz with hectic activity, with just a day to go for the swearing-in ceremony of the new Kalon Tripa (prime minister). Lobsang Sangay, who was elected to office earlier this year, formally took oath as the prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile before Ngawang Phelgyal, the chief justice commissioner, in the presence of the Dalai Lama at McLeodganj, which earned the sobriquet of 'Mini Lhasa'. He took the oath exactly at 9 minutes and 9 seconds after 9 am. 19. Randhir Singh re-elected Randhir Singh was re-elected Secretary-General of the Olympic Council of Asia for the sixth consecutive term at the General Assembly meeting of the OCA held in Tokyo. Randhir is also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Secretary-General of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has hailed Randhir Singh's election as the Secretary-General of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). 20. D Subbarao got 2-yr extension as RBI governor Reserve Bank of India governor D Subbarao was given a two-year extension at a time when the government and the central bank are trying to limit the impact of the US rating downgrade and the slowdown in debt-ridden European economies. Breaking from tradition, the Prime Minister's Office put out a statement announcing that Subbarao, a former finance secretary would now retire on September 4, 2013. The decision comes barely a month before his original three-year term was to end on September 5. 21. Prahlada took over as DIAT Vice-Chancellor The Chief Controller of Aero Programmes, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Prahlada, has taken over as Vice-Chancellor of the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT), a deemed-to-be university situated at Pune. The DIAT is an autonomous organisation fully funded by the DRDO, Ministry of Defence. On the basis of accreditation by the All-India Council of Technical Education, Pune University had recognised in 1980 eight courses in M.E. offered by the DIAT. The Institute became a deemed-to-be university in 2000. Its areas of academic studies and research cover aerospace, computer science, mechanical engineering, electronics engineering, applied physics, chemistry, mathematics and material science.

22. Four new Governors appointed The Union government formally announced the appointment of the former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, K. Rosaiah, as the Tamil Nadu Governor. He is among four new Governors, whose appointments were announced by the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Ram Naresh Yadav (83), was appointed the Madhya Pradesh Governor and the former Kerala Assembly Speaker, Vakkom Purushothaman, has been named as the Governor of Mizoram. Syed Ahmed, a former Maharashtra Minister, has been appointed Jharkhand Governor. 23. Allahabad High Court got 9 new judges Nine judicial officers, mostly from the district courts, have been promoted as judges to the Allahabad High Court. They will take oath following which the total number of judges in the high court will go up to 71. The high court, including the Lucknow bench, has a sanctioned strength of 160 judges, but has been working with a depleted staff. 24. Supreme Court judges sworn in President Pratibha Patil has appointed the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court, S.J. Mukhopadhaya; the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, J.S. Khehar; and Justice Ranjana Desai of the Bombay High Court as Supreme Court Judges. Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia swore them in on September 13 in his court hall. Justice Desai is the second woman Judge in the Supreme Court. In its sanctioned strength of 31 judges, Justice Gyan Sudha Misra is the only woman judge now. 25. Khanduri replaced Pokhriyal as Uttarakhand Chief Minister Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has been asked by the Bharatiya Janata Party high command to put in his papers. The State legislature party is to meet in Dehradun to elect B.C. Khanduri to replace Mr. Pokhriyal as Chief Minister of the hill State. 26. Ashish Bagga, new INS president Ashish Bagga of India Today had elected president of The Indian Newspaper Society for the year 2011-12 at its 72nd annual general meeting. He succeeds Kundan R Vyas of the Janmabhoomi Group. K.N. Tilak Kumar ( Prajavani ) has elected deputy president, Ravindra Kumar ( The Statesman ) vice-president and Rakesh Sharma ( Aaj Samaj ) honorary treasurer. V. Shankaran is the secretary-general of the Society. 27. Supreme Court got two new judges President Pratibha Patil has appointed the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Dipak Misra, and the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, Jasti Chelameswar, as Supreme Court judges. Mr. Justice Misra, who will complete 58 years of age this month, represents Orissa. He was appointed the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court in December 2009 and transferred to the Delhi High Court as Chief Justice in May 2010. He will have tenure of about seven years, and an opportunity to become the Chief Justice of India (CJI). In that event, he will be the third judge from Orissa to adorn the highest judicial office, after Rangnath Misra and G.B. Patnaik. Justice Chelameswar, 58, representing Andhra Pradesh, will fill the place of Justice B. Sudershan Reddy, who retired in July. He was appointed the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court in May 2007 and then shifted as the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court in March 2010. He will also have tenure of about seven years in the Supreme Court. 28. New Police Chief for Uttar Pradesh Special Director General of Police (Law & Order) Brij Lal, an Indian Police Service officer of the 1977 batch took over as the new Director General of Police of Uttar Pradesh. 29. Shanti Tigga became first woman jawan Another barrier was broken in the Army with a mother of two becoming the first woman jawan. Outperforming her male counterparts in the physical tests, 35-year-old Sapper Shanti Tigga joined the 969 Railway Engineer Regiment of Territorial Army (TA). According to a senior army

officer, women are allowed to join the armed forces only as officers in the non-combat units. But Tigga has earned the unique distinction of being the first lady jawan in the 1.3 million strong defence forces. She performed exceedingly well in all the physical tests. President Pratibha Patil honored her, a member of the Territorial Army, at Rashtrapati Bhavan . 30. Pulok Chatterjee took over as Principal Secretary to Manmohan Senior IAS officer Pulok Chatterjee, took charge as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister. A 1974 Uttar Pradesh cadre officer, Mr. Chatterjee replaces T.K.A. Nair, who has been associated with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh since 2004. 31. Dipak Mishra, Chelameswar sworn in Supreme Court judges Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court Dipak Mishra and Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court Jasti Chelameswar were sworn in as judges of the Supreme Court. Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia administered them the oath of office at a brief function held in his court hall. With the swearing-in of these judges, the total strength of the Supreme Court has gone up to 28 as against the sanctioned strength of 31. 32. Sudhir Vasudeva new CMD of ONGC Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cleared the appointment of Sudhir Vasudeva as the Chairman and Managing Director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). Mr. Vasudeva, 57, is now Director (Offshore) in ONGC. The formal orders for appointment of Mr. Vasudeva, who was selected by government appointed Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) in interviews on October 19 last year, were issued by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry, officials in the Ministry said. Mr. Vasudeva will head ONGC till his retirement on January 31, 2014. The Prime Minister gave his approval to Mr. Vasudeva's appointment after the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) gave final clearance on all complaints received against him. 33. Dutch honour for Bedi Former IPS officer and activist Kiran Bedi was selected for the Avicenna Leadership Award, constituted by a Dutch institute, for her innate ability to inspire others towards leadership. She had been selected for the award for leading Indian women, as well as her contributions to the Tihar Jail as its head.

Obituary
1. Suresh Tendulkar, eminent economist, passed away With the demise of Suresh Tendulkar at the age of 72 following a cardiac arrest in Pune the country has lost yet another eminent economist who played a significant part in moulding the government's economic policy making. Prof. Tendulkar's pioneering contribution was his extensive work on poverty and estimation of people below poverty line (BPL). In his report submitted in November 2009 as Chairman of an expert group on the methodology for estimation of poverty constituted by the Planning Commission, he estimated that every third Indian is living in poverty and the number of the poor has shot up by nearly 10 per cent to over 37 per cent. 2. Indian filmmaker Mani Kaul died after long illness Leading Indian filmmaker Mani Kaul died in the capital, Delhi, aged 66. Mr Kaul, one of the pioneers of arthouse Indian cinema, was ailing for some time. He died at home after he was discharged from hospital. He began his career in 1969, and went on to make a number of films, winning a national award for a documentary, Siddheshwari, in 1989. 3. Ex-US first lady Betty Ford, a profile in courage, died Betty Ford, the outspoken and much-admired wife of President Gerald R. Ford who overcame alcoholism and an addiction to pills and helped found one of the best-known rehabilitation centers in the nation, died in Palm Springs, California. She was 93. Her death was confirmed by Chris Chase, her biographer. The news of her death brought statements of condolence from President Obama, former Presidents George Bush, George W Bush and Jimmy Carter, and Nancy Reagan, the former first lady. 4. Brady Bunch writer Sherwood Schwartz died Sherwood Schwartz, creator of popular US television shows Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch, died, aged 94. The two shows, while panned by critics, are seen as an iconic and enduring part of American popular culture. Gilligan's Island, which ran from 1964 to 1967, was about seven travellers marooned on a Pacific island. The Brady Bunch (1969 to 1974) was about a clean-cut, attractive family formed by the marriage of a widow and widower and their six children. 5. Cy Twombly died at 83 Famed American painter Cy Twombly, who first found the limelight with his calligraphic paintings in the late 1950s, has died in Rome aged 83. The US artist was widely known for abstract works that used oil paint, pencil and crayon to create repetitive lines and scribbles on canvas. Mr Twombly also painted a ceiling in the Louvre museum in Paris in 2010. 6. Lucian Freud was one of the greatest realist painters of the post-war era The original, unnerving, sustained artistic achievement of Lucian Freud, who died on July 20, 2011, aged 88, had at its heart a willful, restless personality, fired by his intelligence and attentiveness and his suspicion of method, never wanting to risk doing the same thing twice. The sexually loaded, penetrating gaze was part of his weaponry, but his art addressed the lives of individuals, whether life models or royalty, with delicacy and disturbing corporeality. 7. Saxophonist Frank Foster died; played with Basie Frank Foster, a jazz saxophonist who played with the Count Basie Orchestra and composed the bands hit, Shiny Stockings, died recently. He was 82. Mr. Foster died at his home in Chesapeake, Virginia, of complications from kidney failure, according to Cecilia Foster, his wife, 45 years. Mr. Foster was recognized in 2002 by the National Endowment for the Arts as a Jazz Master, the nations highest jazz honour. In a statement expressing sadness at Mr. Fosters death, NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman called him an extraordinary saxophonist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and educator.

8. Bernadine P. Healy Died at 67; Pioneer at National Institutes of Health Dr. Bernadine P. Healy, the first woman to lead the National Institutes of Health and the first physician to lead the American Red Cross until she was forced out in a storm of criticism over flawed responses to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, died at her home in Gates Mills, Ohio. She was 67. The cause was recurring brain cancer, which she had battled for 13 years, her husband, Dr. Floyd D. Loop, said. 9. Grease actress Annette Charles died at 63 Actress Annette Charles, who played Cha Cha DiGregorio, in the hit film Grease, has died at the age of 63. The actress, who also starred in TV series Gunsmoke and The Bionic Woman, was suffering from cancer. As Cha Cha, she memorably stole the limelight dancing the hand jive with Danny (John Travolta) at the school dance competition. She continued acting into the late eighties, but latterly moved into teaching near her home in California. According to reports, she had only recently been diagnosed with cancer - and died from complications linked to the disease. 10. Veteran trade unionist, CPI(M) leader M.K. Pandhe passed away In the passing away of veteran trade unionist and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Madhukar Kashinath Pandhe, 86, the party has lost one of its foremost leaders who worked for the welfare of the working class for more than seven decades. One of the central themes of his work was to bring about unity among various trade unions and among other Left organisations. A measure of success came recently when the Congress-backed Indian National Trade Union Congress joined hands with other organisations to pressure the government to secure the rights of workers and highlight common issues like price rise. 11. Historian R.S. Sharma passed away Eminent Marxist historian and Indologist Ram Sharan Sharma, known for his trenchant observations on institutions in ancient Indian society and his report on the Bihar-Bengal boundary dispute, passed away . He was 92. Dr. Sharma was the founding Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research in 1972 and he served as President of the Indian History Congress in 1975. 12. Jehangir Sabavala passed away Well-known painter Jehangir Sabavala, 89, passed away. He had been suffering from lung cancer for the past two years. 13. Harischandra Prasad dead Mullapudi Harischandra Prasad (91), a doyen of industry in Andhra Pradesh, passed away. A first generation entrepreneur, Harischandra Prasad was born in an agricultural family in 1921. A leading light in the State's industrial history, named as Andhra Birla' of yesteryears, Prasad ventured into the sugar industry by setting Andhra Sugars in 1947 in Tanuku to help sugarcane growers. 14. Economist D.U. Sastry passed away D.U. Sastry, eminent industrial economist, passed away. He was 81. Professor Sastry's career started with a short stint at the Indian Institute of Economics in Hyderabad. He then moved to the Institute of Economic Growth in Delhi, then headed by V.K.R.V. Rao, in 1961. 15. Ganapati Sthapati dead V. Ganapati Sthapati, the architect of modern-day wonders such as the 133-foot Thiruvalluvar statue in Kanyakumari, Valluvar Kottam in Chennai and the Kannagi and Madhavi statue in Poompuhar, died. He was 84. He was a winner of various awards including the Padma Bhushan. A documentary The Living Tradition - Shilpi Speaks was made on the shilpaic tradition as enunciated by him and won the President's Award for the best documentary in 1992.

16. Syed Habib passed away Syed Habib, former India cue sports player, passed away after a brief illness. The 71-year-old was India No.2 in snooker for three years from 1980. Syed reached the semifinals of the National billiards championships twice in 1987 and 88. 17. Kara Kennedy dead Kara Kennedy, the oldest child of the late Senator Edward Kennedy, died at a Washington health club, her brother said, she was 51. 18. Scholarly musician Govinda Rao passed away Veteran Carnatic musician, musicologist and revered guru T.K. Govinda Rao passed away after a brief illness. A highly regarded musician, Mr. Govinda Rao received his initial training under Chembai Vaidhyanatha Bhagavathar, and much of his advanced music training under the legendary Musiri Subramania Iyer. In 1949, he joined the Central College of Music, Chennai, and was guided by great musicians such as T. Brinda. 19. Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi passed away Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi passed away after battling a lung infection for the last few months. The 70-year-old cricketer, one of India's early superstars and who was known as Tiger' in the cricket fraternity, was suffering from interstitial lung disease. Pataudi was the youngest Test captain, a record that stood until 2004. He led India in 40 Tests and had a successful career despite impaired vision in the right eye, which was damaged in a car accident. He also captained Sussex and Oxford University. He scored 2,793 runs in 46 Tests at an average of just under 35 and made six centuries, the biggest of which was an unbeaten 203 against England in Delhi in 1964. 20. Bhagwat Jha Azad passed away The former Bihar Chief Minister and six-time Lok Sabha member, Bhagwat Jha Azad, 89, passed away after a prolonged illness. A veteran Congressman, Mr. Azad was Chief Minister from February 14, 1988 to March 10, 1989. He joined the BJP recently but was hardly active due to ill health. Mr. Azad's son, former cricketer Kirti Azad is a BJP MP from Darbhanga. 21. Former Afghan President Rabbani killed in suicide bomb attack Burhanuddin Rabbani, former President of Afghanistan and Chairman of the High Peace Council leading the year-old Afghan effort to negotiate with the Taliban was killed in a bomb blast at his residence in the centre of Kabul's high-security diplomatic district. 22. Private funeral held for Steve Jobs A private funeral for Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died after a seven-year battle with pancreatic cancer, was held, according to a media report. Apple has said no public services have been planned as yet for Jobs. In a letter to Apple's employees, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said the company was planning a celebration of Steve's extraordinary life for staff. The 56-yearold iconic technocrat was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004 and underwent a liver transplant in 2009.