 APRIL 2009

 The Union Cabinet imposed President’s Rule in Meghalaya.

 • The facility to maintain and train pilots for the MiG 29 K frontline
fighter aircraft was inaugurated at the INS Hansa naval base in Goa by Vice-
Admiral J.J. Bedi, Commander-in-Chief, Western Naval command.

 • The Energy and Resources Institute and the Indian Mountaineering

Foundation signed a memorandum of understanding to study, preserve and
safeguard the Himalayan glaciers under the National Mission of Sustaining
the Himalayan Eco-system.

 • The Government of India observed April 21 as Civil Service Day,

presenting an occasion for civil servants to rededicate themselves to the
cause of citizens and renew their commitment to public service and
excellence.

 MAY 2009
 UPA won the General Elections. It secured 263 seats out of 543. Congress
secured 206 seats, Trinamool congress-19, DMK-18, NCP-9, National
Conference -3, JMM-2 and AIMIM-1 among UPA.

 Naveen Patnaik sworn as the CM of Orissa for the 3rd time as Biju
Janata Dal (BJD) secured a clear majority in the elections.
 The President of Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), Pawan Kumar Chamling
sworn as the CM of Sikkim for the 4th time.
 Meghalaya chief minister DD Lapang heading the Congress-led coalition
United Meghalaya Alliance won the trust vote.

 Cyclone Aila has hit West Bengal and Orissa which brought heavy
rains and nearly 60 people were dead.

 Sabitha Indra Reddy sworn as India’s 1st woman Home Minister of

Andhra Pradesh.
 JUNE

 Prof Yashpal and his committee members submitted final report to

the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). They have suggested
the scrapping of all higher education regulatory/monitoring bodies and
creation of a super regulator: a seven-member Commission for Higher
Education and Research (CHER).
 They also recommended that the deemed university status be abandoned and
that all deserving deemed varsities be either converted full-fledged
universities or scrapped and a GRE like test be evolved for university
education.

 Ramesh Pokhariyal is the new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.

 Centre bans CPI (Maoist) : The Centre banned the Communist Party
of India (Maoist), terming it a terrorist organization. It invoked Section 41 of
the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against the extremist outfit.

The CPI (Maoist) came into existence following the merger of the Communist
Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), the People’s War Group (PWG) and the
Maoist Communist Centre (MCC).

 Liberhan Commission submitted report to the Prime Minister :

The Justice Liberhan Commission, which probed the sequence of events that
led to the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992,
submitted its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

 Inflation turns negative for first time since 1977-78 :

The annual rate of inflation (wholesale price index) turned negative and stood
at -1.61 % for the week ended 6 June 2009.

 AP Govt. handed over Environment Protection Training & Research Institute

(EPTRI) to the Centre.

 HRD Minister Kapil Sibal launched anti ragging helpline in New

Delhi. The toll free number of this helpline is 1800-180-5522, and the e-mail
is helpline@antiragging.net. The other toll-free number 155222 is under
implementation.

 Sukhoi 30 inducted into Air Force at Tezpur :

Super fast Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft has been inducted in the Tezpur Air
Force Station of Assam. Initially, four aircrafts were introduced in the Air
Force Station at a simple function.

 JULY
 Actress Nandita Das has been appointed chairperson of the Children’s Film
Society of India (CFSI).
 Nandan Nilakeni took over as the head of Unique Identification
Authority of India (UIAI). Ramsevak Sarma took over as CEO of UIAI.
 The solar eclipse of 22 July 2009 was the longest total solar eclipse during the
21st century. This will take place again in 2132.Totality lasted for up to 6
minutes and 39 seconds, with the maximum eclipse occurring in the Pacific
ocean at 02:35:21 about 100 km south of the Bonin Islands, southeast of
Japan. In Gujarat, it lasted for 6 min and 30 seconds.
 Mohanlal, an actor was conferred the honorary title of Lieutenant Colonel in
the Territorial Army (TA), a citizen's force of the Indian army.
 The deepest sea port at Ganagvaram was opened which is 20meters deep
1km from the sea coast.
 Two NSG centers were started at Mumbai and Hyderabad.

 AUGUST

 The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has set to make the
Class X board examination optional for students who will continue in the same
school for the senior secondary level.

 Cabinet has approved 50% reservation for women in Panchayat

Raj Institutions. The center shall amend Article 243(d) to implement the
reservation.

 India’s largest ICT event e-India 2009 was held at Hyderabad

International Convention Center.

 AP Assembly has adopted a resolution urging the center to give SC

status to Dalit Christians.

 Oil production was started in Cairn India’s on-land Mangala oilfield,

Barmer, Rajasthan. This is the country’s biggest oil find.

 Law Commissions chairperson Justice AR Lakshmanan submitted

234th report to law minister Veerappa Moily.
o The Law Commission has framed a set of drastic recommendations to
deal with rash and negligent driving, including increasing punishment
from two years in jail to 10 as well as making the offence non-bailable.
o The Commission has suggested to amend Section 304A of the Indian
Penal Code.
o It recommended inserting a provision in the Motor Vehicles Act for
confiscation of vehicles fitted with LPG cylinders meant for home
kitchen and arrest and prosecution of owners/drivers of such vehicles.
 A special cell to deal with the issues of women married to non resident
Indians (NRI) will be formally established on August 27. The Commission
chairperson Girija Vyas told that the NRI cell will function under the National
Commission for Women (NCW).

 The Center has banned the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC).
A new council will be formed in place of DGHC.

 AP Govt. has extended the ban on Maoists for a year from August 17 th,
2009 to August 16th, 2010.

 227thLaw Commission Report:

The Law Commission has recommended amendments to the Hindu Marriage
Act (HMA) and other personal laws to the effect that a person whose marriage
is governed by such legislation cannot marry again even after changing
religion unless the first marriage is dissolved or declared null and void. The
Commission was headed by Justice A.R. Lakshmanan. It also suggested that
amendments be made in the Criminal Procedure Code to make bigamy a
cognizable offence.

 Parliament has cleared ‘The Right of Children to Free and

Compulsory Education Bill, 2009’ which envisages free and compulsory
education to children in the 6-14 age group with the Lok Sabha approving it
by voice vote.
 Thiruvavalluvar’s statue was unveiled in Bangalore by Tamil Nadu Chief
Minister Karunanidhi after a period of 18 years it was put on.

 President Pratibha Patil inaugurated Armed Forces Tribunal

An exclusive court for members of the Army, Navy and Air Force, Armed
Forces Tribunal, was established by the President.

The keenly awaited AFT will provide a judicial forum for redressal of
grievances among the 1.5 million military personnel and over 2 million ex-
servicemen.
 SEP

 The Cabinet has decided to release an additional installment of DA to

Central government employees and dearness relief to pensioners...
representing an increase of 5 per cent over the existing rate of 22 per cent of
the basic pay/pension to compensate for price rise.

On the International Literacy day (September 8th), the Prime Minister

launched National Mission for Female Literacy (Sakshar Bharat Mission).
The mission’s aim is to make 70 million people ( 60 million of them women )
functionally literate by 2012 and reduce the gender gap .The center and state
governments will contribute in the ratio of 75:25 respectively for this
programme.
 Venkateswara Ayurveda Nilayam Limited secured a patent for its
anti-diabetic herbo mineral composition VK4 DIACON and the process of
preparing it, for a period of 20 years with effect from December 12, 2005 in
accordance with Patents Act, 1970. It’s chairman is D V Sriramamurthy.

 Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy died in a

chopper accident on September 2nd and Rosaish sworn as the new Chief
Minister.

 The Executive Board of UNESCO has approved India's proposal to set

up a Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable
Development as UNESCO Category I Institute at Delhi. This would be the
first Category-I Institute of Unesco to be established in the Asia Pacific region.

 The Tirupati Tirumala Devastanam’s Laddu got its Geographical

Indication patent rights.

 Operation Green Hunt was started in South Bastar of Chhattisgarh

from September 17th. State Police and Commando Battalion for Resolute
Action (COBRA) participated in the operation.
 OCT

 According to Registrar General of India, Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)

for the year 2008 was 53 per 1000 infants which were 57 per 1000 in 2006.
The least IMR was in Kerala – 16 per 1000.
 The highest broad-gauge railway line from Anantnag to Kajigund in Kashmir
was started by the Prime Minister. It was built on an altitude of 1772m.

 The Election Commission has recognised Raj Thackeray’s

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena as a State party in Maharashtra and will
allot a permanent election symbol of the party’s choice.

 India has declared itself free from the Avian Influenza (H5N1). The
notification was issued to the OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) on
October 22. A country can declare itself free from birdflu, if there is no
outbreak for three months. With the declaration, the country can hope to
revive its poultry trade.

India notified the outbreak of Avian Influenza (H5N1) in Assam (18

epicentres), West Bengal (11) and Sikkim (1) between November 2008 and
May 2009.
 Indian Pilgrims were advised not to visit Pakistan as the country is witnessing
terror attacks regularly.
 Pranab Mukherjee started National Skill Development Corporation
in New Delhi. It’s a public private partnership organization which aims to
develop skills for 30% people by 2022.

 Congress and NCP alliance has won in the general assembly elections
of Maharashtra. Asok Chavan was elected as the Chief Minister. Congress
won 82 seats, NCP -62 and BJP and Sivasena – 90 out of 268 seats.

In Haryana, Congress won 40 seats, Indian National Lokda(INLD) – 31 and

BJP – 4. Bhupinder Singh Hooda was re-elected as the CM.

In Arunachal Pradesh too Congress stood out as the single major party.
Dorjee Khandu was re-elected as the CM.

 Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Union Ministry for
Environment and Forests (MoEF) would jointly initiate “National Institute
for Research on Climate and Environment” in Bangalore. The institute
would use space-based and ground-based observation systems to create an
indigenous “nucleus” for research into all issues relating to climate, including
the impact of climate change on aspects of the economy such as agriculture
and water.
 Two satellites would be launched between 2010 and 2011 to measure and
monitor greenhouse gases. While a micro-satellite would be launched in 2010
to study aerosols, another dedicated satellite in 2011 would monitor
greenhouse gases such as methane and trace gases.

 Vice-President Mohammed Hamid Ansari released a book,

'Unleashing India, Water: Elixir of Life' authored by Union Law Minister
Veerappa Moily, which makes a strong case for a changeover from the
existing conventional method of flow or flood irrigation to total coverage
under drip and sprinkler methods. Mr Moily dedicated the book to former
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy.

 2010 was declared as the year of Tigers. ‘The Year of the Tiger’ will
start on February 14th at Corbett National Park.

 The Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) has appointed Abdul

Rahman as special Ambassador to Kashmir.

 On the eve of 50th anniversary of Panchayat Raj system, 2009-10 was

declared as the year of “Gramasabha”. The NREG Act was renamed as
Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
 Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were affected with severe floods.
 The Centre has declared dolphins a national aquatic animal in order to save
the rare freshwater species from disappearing from the country's aqua map.
 NOV

 The Union Public Service Commission has recommended to the

government that a Civil Services Aptitude test replace the existing Civil Services
(Preliminary) examination.

 Cyclone Phyan has hit Maharashtra and caused massive damage to the
coastal districts.

 The Shipping Ministry has decided to set up a broad-based committee,

comprising various agencies, for sharing information on traffic, port and issues
related to ship and coastal security. The Committee will comprise the Ministry of
Shipping, the Navy, Coast Guard, State police, Customs, members of State
maritime boards and the maritime State concerned.

 The Union Cabinet has directed the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry
to make it mandatory for all oil marketing companies to sell petrol mixed with 5
per cent of ethanol.
 India announced that issuance of paper visas stapled to passports by the Embassy
of China and its consulates in India would not be considered valid for travel out of
the country.

 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released a report

revealing that telephone users reached 50.93crore by the end of September 30th.
Broadband users reached 7.7million, telephone users were 43.50% and Mobile
phone users were 40.31%.
 Home Ministry banned the use of prepaid mobile connections in Jammu and
Kashmir on security grounds.

 India has 25lakh cancer patients and one million new cases are
diagnosed across the country every year. In Andhra Pradesh alone, nearly 3 lakh
people suffer from the many forms of the disease. These figures were disclosed at
a programme to mark National Cancer Awareness Day.

 The government will introduce Hib (Haemophilus influenza type b)

pentavalent (five-in-one) vaccine in the routine immunisation programme from
next year. It will replace the DPT and Hepatitis ‘B’ vaccines. The Hib vaccine
will initially be introduced in 10 States that have an immunisation coverage of
more than 80 per cent
 A special postage stamp in recognition of the contribution of Apollo
Hospitals towards Indian healthcare was released by Union Minister of
Communications and Information Technology A. Raja.

 Twenty-one judges of the Supreme Court, including Chief Justice of

India K.G. Balakrishnan, have declared their assets, giving details of movable
and immovable property owned by them and their spouses in the Supreme Court
website.

 Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been appointed first Goodwill

Ambassador of the ‘Smile Train,’ an international charity that provides free cleft
lip and palate surgery to children in need.

 62nd World Newspaper Congress and other annual events of the World
Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) have started in
Hyderabad. Apart from the Congress, the 16th World Editors’ Forum and Info
Services Expo-2009 are being organised at the Hyderabad International
Convention Centre.
 Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) conference has been hosted in
Chennai.

 The President, Pratibha Patil took off in Sukhoy-30 at an altitude of

8000m from Pune for half an hour.

 Unit 5 of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project, a 220 MW pressurized

heavy water reactor (PHWR), started power generation at Rawatbhata in
Rajasthan. With this, number of reactors in India are 18. The total atomic power
capacity has reached 4330MW.

 South Indian Telugu film Sankarabharanam and Malayalam film

Bhoothakkannady were screened at International Film Festival of India (IFFI)
that was started in Goa.

 Acting on the letter written by the Central Empowered Committee of

the Supreme Court, the AP State government decided to suspend mining
operations, including transportation of already mined material, in six iron ore
mines in Anantapur district.

 According Liberhan Commission report, the demolition of the Babri

Masjid was planned, systematic, and was the intended outcome of a climate of
communal intolerance deliberately created by the Sangh Parivar and its sister
 affiliates, including the Bharatiya Janata Party. Report has indicted Advani, Joshi
and Vajpayee.

 The Centre on Monday launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar

Mission. It is one of the eight key missions of the National Action Plan on
Climate Change and aimed at ensuring long-term energy security as well as
ecological security.
 The mission recommends implementation in three stages leading up to an
installed capacity of 20,000 MW by the end of the 13th Plan in 2022.

 16th International Children’s Film Festival started at Hyderabad on

November 14th. 70 movies from different countries were screened at the film
festival.

 DEC

 A high-level task force for the information technology (IT) industry has
recommended constitution of ‘National Electronic Mission’, a nodal agency for
the electronics industry within the Department of Information Technology (DIT)
with direct interface to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
 The report envisions a $140-billion electronics and $105-billion software and
services industry by 2014. It is headed by Chairman and CEO of HCL
infosystems.

 India has announced that it would reduce carbon emission intensity by

20-25% by 2020 on the 2005 levels through a number of policy measures that
will include mandatory fuel efficiency standards for all vehicles by 2011, a model
building code recommending to states and municipalities to shift to green
buildings, amending the Energy Conservation Act to introduce the concept of an
energy certificate for incentivizing energy efficiency in industry, regular reporting
to Parliament on state of forests, and ensuring 50% of new thermal capacity are
based on clean coal.

 Gujarat Government moved the controversial "The Gujarat Local

Authorities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2009", the State Assembly which will
make voting compulsory in all local body elections of the state. Women
Reservation was also raised to 50% from 33%.

 Government said it will examine the report of Rangnath Mishra

Commission that recommended 10 per cent reservation for Muslims and five per
cent for other minorities.
 The Rajya Sabha approved the Competition (Amendment) Bill 2009
which was passed by the Lok Sabha. The Bill repeals and replaces the
Competition (Amendment) Ordinance, 2009. The Bill provides for transfer of
anti-competition cases pending before the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade
Practices Commission (MRTPC) to an appellate tribunal. With this, the
commission would cease to exist, two years ahead of its scheduled closure.

 The Rajya Sabha approved re-naming the National Rural Employment

Guarantee Act (NREGA) as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act (MGREGA).

 Indian National Congress established in 28 December 1885 in The

Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit Mahavidyalays at Mumbai. Mr. VyomeshChandra
Bannerji was 1st President of Indian national Congress and Mr. Allen Hume was
the secretary. Now Indian Congress completed its 125 year of establishment.

 Shibu Soren will be sworn in as the CM of Jharkhand on December 30.

Supporting Soren were 18 of his own party MLAs, 18 of BJP, two of JDU, five of
AJSU and one of Jharkhand Janadhikar Manch (JMM).

 President Pratibha Patil sailed in INS Viraat in Mumbai for 3 hours.

 92nd annual conference of the Indian Economic Association was held at

Bhubaneswar.
 JAN 2010

 There were atleast 199,132 farmer suicides between 1997-2008,

according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

The share of the Big 5 states or 'suicide belt' in 2008- Maharashtra, Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh remained very high at
10,797 or 66.6 percent of the total farm suicides in the country. Maharashtra
remains the worst state in the nation for farm suicides.

 The brightest and biggest full moon of 2010 will be seen on Saturday. It
will be around 15 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter than other full moons
during the year.
 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the National
Tobacco Control Programme to facilitate the implementation of tobacco control
laws and to bring about greater awareness of tobacco's harmful effects. The
programme will be implemented in the remaining years of XI plan in 42 districts
of the 21 states within the National Rural Health Mission framework with
financial outlay of Rs. 182 crore, from 2010 - 2011.

 The 16th Edition of the Partnership Summit 2010 was held in Chennai,
organised by the confederation of Indian Industry.

 The Environment Ministers meeting of the BASIC Countries (Brazil,

South Africa, India and China) was held in New Delhi.

 A currency issued by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's Bank of

Independence has been made public in Bhopal on the eve of his 103rd birth
anniversary.

 The Andhra Pradesh government signed three agreements with the

world bank to receive loan assistance of Rs 3, 720 crore to fund three projects
taken up at a cost of Rs 5699 crore to develop roads, provide safe drinking water
and improve infrastructure in urban areas. This is the largest loan amount availed
of from the bank in recent times, as the bank's share for the Rs. 4,444 - Crore
Nagarjuna Sagar modernization project is only Rs. 2,500 crore.

 Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari Constituted a three - member

committee headed by supreme court judge V.S. Sirpurkar, that will investigate
the grounds for impeachment of karnataka chief - Justice P.D.Dinakaran
whose removal from office has been sought jointly by 75 Opposition members in
the Rajya Sabha on corruption and land - grabbing charges. Justice A.R.Dave,
cheif Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High court and eminent Jurist P.P.Rao are the
other members of the panel.

 President Pratibha Patil released a commemorative postage stamp at a

function to mark the platinum jubilee celebration of the Reserve Bank of India.

 The Andhra Pradesh Government unveiled a Rs. 10 crore plan to develop

Kondaveedu fort as a major tourist destination in Guntur district.

 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched ''Jawaharlal Nehru National

Solar Mission (JNNSM) at the Solar Energy Conclave 2010, New Delhi.
 The Key high lights of JNNSM:
To create an enabling policy frame work for the deployment of 20,000MW of
Solar power by 2022.
To create favourable conditions for solar manufacturing capability for indigenous
production and market leadership.
To promote programmes for off grid applications, reaching 1000 MW by 2017
and 2000 MW by 2022.
To achieve 15 million sq-meters solar thermal collector area by 2017 and 20
million by 2022.
To deploy 20 million solar lighting systems for rural areas by 2022.

 A boatload of sky watchers set sail from Kochi for the Maldives on board
the MV Aquamarine, the country’s first eclipse cruise, to chase the Ring of Fire or
the millennium’s longest annular solar eclipse.

 Union Environment and Forests minister Jairam Ramesh announced a Rs.

200 crore grant for the Sunderbans, the world’s largest mangrove biosphere as
part of the World Bank's Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project.

 The govt. announced that the state-run oil firms will start supplying Euro-
IV grade petrol and diesel in 13 big cities from April 1st, 2010.

 A Bench of the Delhi High Court, comprising Chief Justice A.P. Shah and
Justices Vikramjit Sen and S.Muralidhar held that the office of the Chief Justice
of India (CJI) is a "public authority" and comes within the ambit of the Right to
Information (RTI) Act and it is bound to provide information about the
declaration of asset details by Supreme Court judges.

 Kite fliers from across 34 countries are expected to participate during the
International Kite Festival in Ahmedabad.

 President Pratibha Patil delivering the valedictory address at the Pravasi

Bhartiya Diwas (Jan, 9) on the day Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in 1915,
pointed out that: Overseas Indian's estimated at over 250 lakhs had come to be
recognised as the "Knowledge Diaspora". India's remittances from Overseas
Indians estimated at over $ 50 billion last year are the highest in the world.Of
these about $ 20 billion comes from Overseas Indian workers in the Gulf
consisting of temporary contracted skilled and semi-skilled workers.
 FEB

 Women Entrepreneurs 2010, a platform to promote Indian heritage

weavers and women entrepreneurs was held in Delhi.
 The Department of posts released a commemorative stamp in honour of
P.C. Sorcar (Senior), the Man who "took the magic of India to the rest of the
world.

 The Union Cabinet approved the Women's Reservation Bill, 2008 that
seeks to reserve 33 percent seats for women in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.

The 108th Constitutional Amendment Bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha in 2008
and was subsequently referred to the Parliamentary standing committee on Law,
Justice and Personnel, which in its report submitted in December last year had
recommended its early passage in the present form.

 Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram laid the foundation for the

Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari on the India-Pakistan Border, one of the
13 planned for eight states at a cost of Rs. 635 crore along various land routes to
Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar.

 Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh presented a Rs. 1.13 lakh crore

budget for 2010-11. This is the 16th budget presented by him and 1st one as a
chief minister. The budget outlay is Rs. 8,516 crore higher than that of the current
fiscal (Rs.1.05 lakh crore). The plan outlay is Rs. 40,313 crore and non plan
outlay is Rs. 73,347 crore.

There was the revival of the Constituency Development Fund with allotment of
Rs. one crore each to members of the Assembly and the Legislative Council.

 The Full Court, comprising 27 judges and headed by Chief Justice of India
K.G. Balakrishnan rejected the Law Commission's suggestion that the Supreme
Court be split into Constitution Bench in Delhi and Cassation Benches in the four
regions.

 Perambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala was declared the country's

38th tiger reserve.

 Seethampeta, located in the north - western part of Srikakulam district in

Andhra Pradesh and home to the Konda Savaras has now become part of the Food
and Agricultural Organisation's (FAO) Globally Important Agricultural
Heritage Systems (GIAHS). GIAHS has begun identifying and then
documenting unique agricultural systems across the world to create 'agricultural
heritage'.
 The Cabinet Committee on security has approved the opening of an
Officers Training Academy at Gaya in Bihar in addition to the one in Chennai.

 A five-judge constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held that "The

Supreme Court and the High Courts have the power to order a CBI probe
without a state's consent into a cognizable offence allegedly committed within the
state's territory".

 Palakkad district in kerala is the first fully electrified district in the

country.

 The Union Minister for Environment and Forests JaiRam Ramesh had
allocated all Rs. 12 crore of his MPLADS share from 2004 on "Giripragathi'', a
programme for sustainable development of tribals in remote /hilly areas in Andhra
Pradesh.
Giripragathi covers eight mandals, three each in Adilabad and khammam and two
in warangal districts. Its total allocation over six years is Rs. 88 Crore.

 The World Bank has agreed in principle to extend Rs.1, 000 crore
assistance to self-help groups under the third phase of Poverty Alleviation
Programme in Andhra Pradesh.

 Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal took the decision to

notify the Right of children to free and compulsory education Act, 2009. The
date for it is fixed for April 1, 2010. From that date children in the 6 -14 age
group will finally get their right to education.

 The Union Government announced the seven - point terms of reference of

the five - member B.N.Srikrishna committee on the telangana issue.

 The 58th meeting of the North Eastern Council (NEC) was held in
Gauwhati.

 The two - member committee comprising former Director of Special

Protection Group (SPG) M.R.Reddy and former Director General of Civil
Aviation H.S.Khola Submitted a 110 - page report to the Government of Andhra
Pradesh on the cause of the Bell helicopter crash that killed former Chief Minister
of Andhra Pradesh Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy and four others.
 For the first time, the Union Government has agreed to formulate a
general amnesty plan for kashmiri youth undergoing training in terrorist camps
in Pakistan - Occupied Kashmir (POK)

 The Indian Navy's Multilateral Milan 2010 exercise was held in Port
Blair.

 The conference of the Chief Ministers on internal Security was held in

Delhi.

 The West Bengal government announced a 10 per cent quota in jobs for
the weaker sections among Muslims under the OBC category.

 The Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down the four per cent
reservation provided by the State government to selected sections of Muslims in
education and public employment.

 The Sustainable Development Summit, organised by the Energy and

Research Institute was held in Delhi. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed

 All the judges of the Delhi High Court led by Chief Justice A.P. Shah
made their assets and investments public by uploading the details on the court's
website.

 Chhattisgarh is supporting the proposal for introduction of a new course

for Bachelor of Rural Medicine and Surgery (BRMS). The Chhattisgarh
Government’s three-year diploma course for Practitioner in Modern and Holistic
Medicine was launched in 2000 to cater to the rural and inaccessible tribal
population areas where health indicators were extremely poor. However, the
scheme had to be discontinued in 2004 for lack of employment opportunities. But
now with opportunities available under the National Rural Health Mission, the
government is supporting to start this degree.

 The Ministries of Health and Family Welfare and Railways signed a

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for developing health care infrastructure
along the railway network across the country.

 The Government of India constituted a five - member committee headed

by the former Supreme Court Judge, Justice B.N. Sri Krishna to hold wide
ranging consultations with all sections of the people and all political parties and
groups in Andhra Pradesh. The other members of the committee are: Professor
 (Dr.) Ranbir Singh, Vice.Chancellor, National Law University, Delhi; Dr.
Abusaleh Shariff, Senior Research fellow, International Food Policy research
institute, Delhi; Dr (Ms.) Ravinder kaur, Professor, Departmentof Humanities and
social sciences. IIT Delhi; and Vinod K.Duggal, former home secretary.

 The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme,

MNREGS Sammelan 2010 was held in New Delhi.
 Defence Minister A.K.Antony announced that

o The Indian Air Force has decided to procure 750 Akash missile systems
from Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) at a cost of about Rs 4,000
crore.

o The cabinet committee on security had cleared a proposal to sanction Rs.

8,000 crore for further development of the indigenously built Light
Combat Aircraft (LCA)

 MAR

 Census 2011, the 15th census since 1872, billed as the largest census ever
attempted in the history of mankind, is set to take off on April 1st, 2010. It will
also involve the task of preparing, for the first time, the National Population
Register (NPR).

 The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) approved the

establishment of National Knowledge Network (NKN), which seeks to inter-
connect all knowledge institutions in the country through high speed data
communication network, at an outlay of Rs 5,990 crore to be implemented by
NIC over a period of 10 years.

 A three-judge bench of Chief Justice of Supreme Court K.G. Balakrishnan

and Justices J.M. Panchal and B.S. Chauhan lifted the stay on the Andhra Pradesh
government's decision to provide four per cent reservation in jobs and
education for backward members of the Muslim community. As many as 14
Muslim groups, identified as socially and educationally backward sections by the
State Backward Commission, will now be eligible for the benefit. But the
Supreme Court referred to a special bench the issue of its constitutional validity.

 The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal of the Labour Ministry to

amend the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948, to provide medical facilities to
unorganised workers in ESIC hospitals and recognised private hospitals under the
Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY), a cashless health insurance scheme.
 Planning Commission in its mid-term review has reduced the power
generation capacity addition target by over 20 percent to 62,374 mw for the 11th
plan (2007-12) from the original 78,577 mw.

 The Union cabinet cleared the Prohibition of Unfair practices in

technical, medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill, 2010 that
seeks to make capitation fee a cognizable offence. Two other Bills - The National
Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutional Bill
2010, proposing to setup an independent regulatory body which will register,
monitor and audit accreditation agencies and the Educational Tribunals Bill, 2010
providing an adjudicatory forum for speedy resolution of all issues that arise in
the higher Education sector - were also cleared.

 The Union Government has officially confirmed its earlier decision to

accord classical language status to Telugu. It has addressed a communication to
the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) Mysore, and the University
Grants Commission (UGC) to take steps immediately to give the status to Telugu.
This decision was the outcome of efforts by the late Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy
culminating in the adoption of a unanimous resolution in the Assembly on
February 22, 2006.

 A commemorative stamp on former Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara

Reddy is being issued by the Postal Department on September 2 to coincide with
his first death anniversary.

 The Supreme Court appointed Central Vigilance Committee (CVC),

headed by Justice D.P. Wadhwa, while submitting its report to a Bench of Justices
Dalveer Bhandari and K.S. Radha Krishnan slammed the Public Distribution
System as one of the most corrupt sectors, saying the root cause of its failure in
several states is political interference.

 As announced by Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, A

seven-member core committee of vice-chancellors has been set up to focus on
central universities lagging behind in bench marks in academic and research
performance.

 For the first time in 20 years, Jammu and Kashmir will have direct
trunk dialing facility with Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK).

 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the world's first green

legislature building, the Tamilnadu Legislative Assembly Secretariat Complex.
 The Union Cabinet cleared the Foreign Educational Institutions
(Regulation of Entry and Operation) Bill, 2010, for introduction in parliament.
The bill seeks to allow foreign education providers to set up campuses in the
country and offer degrees.

 The government of Andhra Pradesh has decided to waive the loans taken
by weavers' societies in the state from cooperative banks of APCOB and
commercial banks. This waiver which will place an additional burden of Rs. 312
crore on the ex chequer, will indirectly benefit a large number of individual
weavers.

 Under the Indian Important Bird Areas (IBA) Programme, 12 more

Important Bird Areas (IBA) were identified in Kerala, which made it's total gone
up to 36. The Indian IBA programme is funded by the Royal Society for the
protection of Birds.

 India's first open jail for women was inaugurated at the Yerawada
Central Prison in Pune by Maharashtra Home Minister R.R.Patil. The Open jail
would be made to agricultural work on the 17 acres of land adjoining the prison.
This would improve their physical and mental well being. They would also be
eligible for remission in their punishment, for every one year served in the open
jail, a year of their sentence would be reduced.

 The Government of Andhra Pradesh is set to bring Information

Technology and IT Enabled Services (ITES) sectors under the Essential Services
Maintenance Act. A bill to amend ESMA would be introduced in the Current
Assembly session. The amendment, the Government felt necessary to spare the IT
industry from disruption to their mission critical applications during agitations.

 The Union government has set up an independent eight - member expert

committee under the chairmanship of Deepak Parekh to review the draft
guidelines of Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY), a housing scheme for slum dwellers
and urban poor.

 The historic Women's Reservation Bill, formally known as 108th

constitutional amendment was passed in the Rajya Sabha with the House recorded
its vote of 186 for and 1 against. Now the bill must be passed by the Lok Sabha
and ratified by at least half the states for becoming effective.

 The Secretary - General of the Supreme Court has challenged the Delhi
High Court Judgement that the office of the Chief Justice of India is a public
 authority that comes urthin the ambit of the Right to Information Act. This can
termed as Supreme Court appealing to Supreme Court of its case.

 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with Lok Sabha speaker Meira
Kumar inaugurated the Women's Leadership Summit 2010 on Inclusive Growth
and Empowering Women of Rural India in New Delhi.

 The Sam Pitroda led high - level committee formed to suggest the
restructuring of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has submitted a report
to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

 The first of the new generation Airbus A320 joined the Air India fleet. It
has a host of latest facilities, including advanced weather Radar System,
Enhanced Ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) and an LCD cockpit
display system.

 National Socialist Council of Nagalim (ISak - Muivah) general Secretary

Thuingaleng Muivah met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Singalling the
Seriousness of his organisation to final a solution to the six - decade old Nagaland
issue.

 Bilateral

 APRIL

 • The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

announces to provide about Rs.800 crore more for the Hogenekkal Water
Supply and Fluorosis Mitigation Project.

 • United States based Satellier - Scream point International a

leading digital city solutions provider globally, brings its latest “5D Digital
City” solutions and technology services to India.

 • Under a multimillion dollar long-term nuclear fuel supply deal

between Moscow and New Delhi, Russia delivers the first batch of 30
tonnes of uranium pellets to India.

 • Tata Communications has announced its participations in the

$600 million new West African Cable System (WACS) – the submarine
 fibre optic cable that will link countries in Southern Africa, Western Africa and
Europe, with at least 3.84 terabits a second of international bandwidth.

 • India and Spain sign a trade agreement expected to boost

bilateral ties in six crucial sectors of infrastructure development, renewable
energy, agriculture, research and development, tourism, and cooperation in
Latin America, where Spain has a sphere of influence.

 MAY

 India-U.S.-Japan Planned Malabar-2009 Naval Exercises

Japan has joined India and the United States in trilateral naval exercises from
April 26 to May 3. The exercise, named Malabar 2009, was conducted east of
Okinawa islands.
 The professional objective was to “deepen mutual understanding and trust”
among the navies of the three countries. The political aim was to “enhance
friendly ties.”

 India-Poland pacts on healthcare and tourism

India and the European country Poland signed two agreements: one on
cooperation in healthcare and medicine, and the other on tourism. This
bilateral trade is $1 billion.

 Iran and Pakistan signed an agreement for the construction of gas

pipeline which will carry natural gas from Asalouyeh and stretch over 1100
kilometres through Iran. In Pakistan, it will pass through Baluchistan and Sind
which stretches 1000km. In India it runs around 600km. 150 million Cubic
meters natural gas would be transported through this pipeline per day.

 India became the first country in South Asia to own an AWACS,

Airborne Early Warning and Control System, called 'an eye in the sky', with
the Israeli-made Phalcon. It arrived at the Jamnagar airbase on the country's
western coast.
 The Phalcons will be inducted into the Indian Air Force on May 28 by Defense
Minister A K Antony at the Palam airbase in New Delhi.

 JUN

 India and the United States signed a Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU) for cooperation in production and marketing of bio
fuels in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner and in accordance
with national priorities and socio economic development goals.
 India to set up IT lab in Indonesia
India will help set up an Information Technology Lab at Indonesia’s Military
Academy and participate in a defence exercise, “Garuda Shield”, for United
Nations peace support operations.

 India-ASEAN summit cancelled: The India-ASEAN summit has been

delayed following anti-government demonstrations in Thailand.

 JUL
 G8, G5 leaders met in L’Aquila, Italy on economic issues and climate change .

 India, U.S. Sign Space-defense Deals

The new Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) will cover launches
involving satellites owned by U.S. government or academic institutions or by
third country space agencies and universities which have U.S. equipment on
board. Since the components and satellites will have to be integrated with
Indian Space Research Organization's launch vehicles, the TSA will provide for
monitoring by the U.S. side to ensure against diversion or misuse of
equipment.

 A second agreement was signed on a framework for "robust result-

oriented cooperation" in science and technology for "collaborative research
and its commercialization."
 The signing of the end-use monitoring shall enable India to procure
sophisticated U.S. defense technology and equipment.

 AUG

 The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has signed a memorandum

of cooperation with the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) to
implement Avahan, an initiative of the foundation to check the spread of
HIV/AIDS in India. Avahan funds targeted HIV-prevention programmes in six
Indian States and along the national trucking routes.

 Mauritius to use AP e-procurement tech

The Government of Mauritius has signed a formal memorandum of agreement
with the Andhra Pradesh Government to source e-procurement solutions. The
Mauritius Government would use the Andhra Pradesh Government’s e-
procurement platform in order to aggregate demand from various
Government departments and ensure reduced inventory costs. Also, this
would result in lower cost of procurement, transparency and help achieve
effective tendering process. Andhra Pradesh, one of the front runners in
 implementing the e-governance initiatives, had so far concluded 61,534
tenders worth Rs 1.08 lakh crore, involving 206 departments and agencies.

 India has signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that will include tariff cuts on an
estimated 4,000 products. The FTA is expected to boost trade between the
two to US$50 billion by next year. The agreement will be implemented
beginning January 1, 2010 and will take out duties on about 3,200 products
by December 2013, while duties on the remaining 800 products will be
brought down to zero or near zero levels by December 2016.

 India, China to set up hotline

India and China have decided to set up a hotline between Prime Ministers
Manmohan Singh and Wen Jiabao as a confidence building measure. The
decision was taken during the 13th Round of India-China Special
Representatives talks on the boundary question.

 India-Singapore Joint Venture For Tourism Promotion

According to the plan, the tourists who visit Singapore will be given an option
to include a four-five day trip to India in their itinerary.

 India, South Korea signed bilateral trade agreement

South Korea and India signed a bilateral trade agreement to cut duties on
goods as auto parts and electronics and to boost cooperation between the two
Asian economic powerhouses.
Both sides started negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic
Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in March, 2006, committing them to
drastically lower import tariffs on cars and other manufactured items.
The CEPA is similar to the free trade agreements (FTA) South Korea has
signed with the U.S. and other trading partners, but phases out tariffs more
slowly.
 SEP

  During the visit of Indian President, India and Tajikistan decide

to cooperate in the fields of energy, food and regional security. India invested
$20 million in the reconstruction of the Ayni Air Base near Dushanbe in 2008
and has made significant investments in other Tajik projects, including the
reconstruction of the Varzob hydropower plant.

  India and Russia agreed to raise the volume of the trade between
them to USD ten billion by 2010. Russia and India would cooperate in energy,
metallurgy, mechanical engineering, knowledge-intensive industries, ongoing
construction of Kudankulam nuclear power plant and ONGC's participation in
the Sakhalin-I project.
 OCT
 India and the U.S. agreed on enhancing and deepening trade and
investment engagement, and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) cooperation
agreement and an agreement for putting in place traditional knowledge digital
library.

The two countries also issued a joint statement at the end of the Sixth
Ministerial Level meeting of the India-U.S. Trade Policy Forum (TPF) to
continue focus on agriculture, innovation and creativity, investment, services
and tariff and non-tariff barriers.

 India has taken initiative with China and Bhutan for saving
Himalayan eco-system.
 India and Nepal on Tuesday signed a new treaty to control unauthorised trade
across the border and redefine their trade and commercial relations. India
and Nepal also signed a new treaty making it easier for Nepalese products to
enter the Indian market without duty.

The revised “India-Nepal treaty of Trade and Agreement of Cooperation to

Control Unauthorised Trade” was signed by Commerce and Industry Minister
Anand Sharma and Nepalese Minister for Commerce and Supplies Rajinder
Mahto.

 The Finance Ministers of Russia, China and India met in Bangalore.

During the meeting on the sidelines of the trilateral Russia India China
(RIC) dialogue, the Ministers of China and India favoured more frequent
high-level exchanges, media, cultural and people-to-people interaction and
even more defence exchanges.

 India and China have agreed to use official mechanisms to discuss

outstanding issues and agreed not to amplify the differences when both the
Prime Ministers met in Thailand.

 India and China signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to

establish a partnership in the area for strengthening dialogue and practical
cooperation.
They agreed to set up an India-China Working Group on Climate Change
that will hold annual meetings alternately in China and India to exchange
views on important issues concerning international negotiations and domestic
policies and measures.

 India – US defense cooperation Yudh Abhyas 2009 has started on

October 12th at Babina in UP. 17 US Stryker vehicles shall participate in the
operation.
 India signed an agreement in civilian nuclear cooperation with
Argentina. This is the seventh pact it has signed after coming out of isolation
in the civilian nuclear field. India had signed civilian nuclear pacts with the
United States, France, Russia, Kazakhstan, Namibia and Mongolia.

India and Argentina also signed pacts on business visas, cooperation in

science and technology and outer space besides Memoranda of Understanding
in hydrocarbon sector, sports, trade and geological research.
 NOV

 India and the 27-member European Union signed an agreement on a

nuclear energy project and decided to conclude a free-trade pact within a year.
They also signed an agreement in the field of fusion energy research.

 India and Japan renewed their commitment to “develop an Action Plan

to advance security cooperation.
 India and Finland on Thursday signed three agreements to boost cooperation in
science and technology. Both the countries also decided to set up a Joint Business
Council and address climate change. The agreements were signed during the
India-Finland Technology Partnership Forum meeting

 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his visit to Washington invited it to

explore the public-private partnership projects in infrastructure that are being
set up in India. He also welcomed to invest in other areas such as agriculture-
based businesses, including cold chains, agricultural marketing and food
processing, manufacturing and mining. India would sign a Memorandum of
Understanding on Energy Security, Clean Energy and Climate Change.

 DEC

 12th Ministerial meet of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral

Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) nations was held in Nay Pyi
Taw, the capital city of Myanmar. The External Affairs Ministers of the member
countries, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Thailand and Nepal
participated in this meet.

 India and Russia signed a path-breaking broad-based agreement in civil

nuclear field that will ensure transfer of technology and uninterrupted
uranium fuel supplies to its nuclear reactors and inked three pacts in the
defence sector. Russia could build up to 20 civil nuclear reactors in India under
atomic agreement.
 India and Russia signed six agreements in Moscow. They agreed on a cultural
exchange programme over the next two years and a credit line for facilitating
bilateral trade. It was decided to triple the modest bilateral trade of $7 billion to
$20 billion in the next five years. They signed three pacts in the military sphere.

 India extended a $425-million credit to Sri Lanka for three rail projects
to be executed by IRCON International in the Northern Province.

 India and Bhutan to sign four MoUs for hydel power projects. The two
sides will also sign a pact on setting up a super-specialty hospital on the lines of
the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences. The MoUs will be signed on initiating
detailed project reports (DPRs) for the Amochhu (620 MW), Kuvi-Gongi (1800
MW), Kholongchhu (486 MW) and Chamkarchu-I (670 MW) projects.

 The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has been

given assent by the government to take up an offer of French firm Snecma to
‘partner’ with the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) for jointly
developing the Kaveri aero engine.

 India, Japan had deepened economic ties to finish Comprehensive

Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) by 2010.

 Economy
 April
 10 Economy



 The Central Government said that ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank could
not be called Indian-owned banks. According to Department of Industrial
Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Secretary R. P. Singh,”At best, the two can be called
Indian-controlled banks.” ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have over 74 per cent
foreign holding, including that of foreign banks and overseas institutional
investors.

 According to the 13th Finance Commission report, the Transmission &

Distribution losses were about Rs.40,000 crore in 2009-10 which would
swell to Rs.68,000 in the current fiscal. The Planning Commission was trying to
set up an expert committee to find out the causes for such losses and to know
the financial status of the distribution companies.

 Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and NTPC

entered into a joint venture agreement (JVA) to set up nuclear power projects in
the country.

 The Planning Commission announced the setting up of an 18-member

expert committee headed by Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council
Chairman C. Rangarajan to recommend measures for efficient management of
public expenditure.

 The Union Cabinet approved a capital infusion of Rs.15,000 crore in

Tier I capital instruments of the public sector banks (PSBs) during the
current fiscal to facilitate an increase in their lending capacity by about Rs.1.85
lakh crore.
 NTPC announced that it was exploring the possibility of setting up two coal-based
thermal power plants in Kazakhstan,which has huge coal reserves of about 33
billion tonnes. NTPC's total coal requirement for the current financial year (2010-
11) is about 145-150 million tonnes, of which the company is planning to import
14 million tonnes.

 The government would earn up to Rs. 45,000 crore from the auction of
3G and broadband spectrum.
 As said by Communications and Information Technology Minister A. Raja, the
Telecom Commission, the policy-making arm of the Department of
Telecommunications, will soon take up the issue of disinvestment in the Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Limited. The Sam Pitroda Committee had recommended 30 per
cent disinvestment in BSNL, besides offering voluntary retirement scheme to 1
lakh employees, to improve the financial health of the organisation.
 The Reserve Bank of India hiked the short-term indicative borrowing and lending
rates — repo and reverse repo and the mandatory Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of
banks by 25 basis points each.
 The Government has accepted the Tendulkar Committee Report to adopt a new
poverty line to identify poor. The new standards of the Planning Commission
would consider more parameters than only the sufficient food basket for
assessing poverty. Earlier a family was called poor if did not have the required
income to buy sufficient food containing a minimum number of calories (2100 for
urban areas and 2400 for rural areas) per day. Now, the minimum income
required to rise above the poverty line, apart from food, would also depend on
expenditure on education and health. The new poverty estimate would not
change the urban poverty figure but for rural India, the number of poor would
increase from 28.3 per cent to 41.8 per cent. As many as 372 million Indians will
be categorized as poor.

 BGR Energy Systems has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU)

with the Orissa Government for setting up a 1,320 MW (2 × 660) power plant
at Bhapur in Nayagarh district, Orissa, at an investment of about Rs. 6,287
crore.

 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved financial support of

Rs. 282.25 crore to the Indian Maritime University (IMU), Chennai, to meet
capital expenditure and recurring deficit.

 Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) banned Foreign Direct

Investment (FDI) in cigarette manufacturing.

 The UN Agency UNFC & CC (UNFCCC) issued the first set of certified
emission reduction (CER) to the ONGC from its first registered CDM (clean
development mechanism) project,the waste heat recovery project at Mumbai
High. With this, ONGC is to earn green revenue from CDM projects.

 Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma released the final
document of FDI Policy Framework that would comprise the single document
on FDI policy and mark the inception of a whole new chapter on FDI policy.

 The government of India is drawing up ambitious plans to set up a

‘Sovereign Fund' that would help its state-run companies pursue acquisition of
oil, gas, coal, LNG and other raw material in other countries in order to compete
with China which has $2.4 trillion of reserves and a $300-billion sovereign fund.
It has outpaced India in the global quest for resources. Chinese companies spent
a record $32 billion last year buying oil, coal and metal assets abroad, while a
$2.1-billion investment by OVL was India's sole energy acquisition.

 Four major public sector undertaking (PSU) companies — Indian Oil

Corporation (IOC), NTPC, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and Oil and
Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) — are aiming for the ‘Maharatna' status and
have made presentations before the inter-ministerial committee (IMC) making a
claim for the status seeking more autonomy in decision-making and financial
investments.

 The government of India indicated that it would soon put in place the
Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) to plug the regulatory
gaps and loopholes generated recently by the controversy surrounding the
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Insurance Regulatory and
 Development Authority of India (IRDA) over administration of unit linked
insurance plans (ULIPs).

 March

 AP’s per capita income for the financial year 2009-10 was Rs. 43,
556. It is 6.49% more when compared to 2008-09 (Rs. 40, 902.). The GSDP was
7.76% for the financial year 2009-10.

 Vizag steel plant was given Navaratna stature by the central

government. The company authorities need not take permission from the
government up to Rs. 1000 crore investment.

 The Seed processing plant under the Seed Business Incubation (SBI)
initiative run by the farmers in partnership with International Crops Research
Station for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and Aakruthi Agricultural Associates of
India (AAAI) is launched at Uravakonda in Anantapur district. This is first-of-
its-kind in the country where ICRIST and a private organisation came forward for
establishing an innovative Public Private Partnership-based seed system.

 Coal India Ltd (CIL) is keen to join a consortium of companies

comprising GAIL (India) and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) to launch
a coal gasification project at the now closed Talcher unit of the Fertilizer
Corporation of India (FCI), which will enable CIL to source one-third of its
requirement of an explosive it now has to procure from outside. A mine with a
reserve of 5.5 million tonnes has been earmarked for this venture. The output of
this mine would yield 3.7 million tonnes of coal annually which would have 30 per
cent less ash content and could be gasified.

 Having set an export target of $200 billion in 2008-09, India ended the
fiscal year with $185 billion on account of the shrinking markets following the
global meltdown.

 The Planning Commission scaled down the 11th Plan growth target to
8.1 per cent from an average annual growth of 9 per cent pegged earlier.

 Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said,

investment in the infrastructure sector in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-
12) would be very close to the target of $500 billion, primarily due to better
show by the telecom sector. On growth prospects during the Eleventh Plan, he
said it was likely to be 8.5% in the 2010-11 fiscal and 9% during 2011-12.

 State Bank of India (SBI) opened the 1,000th branch and 10,000th
ATM in Mumbai. With this, SBI now has 12,448 branches and over 21,000
ATMs.

 The Reserve Bank of India has raised the repo and reverse repo rates
(short - term rates at which the RBI lends and borrows from banks) by 25 basis
points to 5 percent and 3.5 percent respectively.

 Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S & P) pegged India's overall
growth rate at 8 percent for 2011 - 12. S&P raised India's sovereign rating
outlook to 'stable' from 'negative' even as it cautioned that the high rate of
inflation at nearly 10 percent could upset the country's stable macro economic
and interest rate environment.

 The Central Government will set up a Central Food Security Fund to

compensate the Below poverty Line (BPL) beneficiaries of the Targeted Public
Distribution system (TPDS) who fail to get the proposed mandatory 25 kg of
wheat or rice per family a month at a subsidised rate of Rs. 3 a kg.

 National Fertilizers Ltd (NFL) has signed a Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU) with the Department of Fertilizers where the company has
set a production target of 32.31 lakh tonnes of urea for 2010-11.

 The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and the Chicago

Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group entered into a memorandum of
understanding with respect to cross-listing arrangements, development and
distribution of financial products and services.

 Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee moved the State Bank of India

(Amendment) Bill, 2010 in the Lok Sabha which reduces Centre's shareholding
in State Bank of India (SBI) from 55 percent to 51 percent and allows the bank to
raise more capital from the market through preference shares.

 Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee with RBI Governor D. Subba

Rao unveiled a plaque at RBI head quarters to mark the Central Bank's
Platinum Jubilee celebrations in Mumbai.

 The Reserve Bank of India deferred the implementation of the Base

Rate regime by three months to July 1 and also exempted three categories of
loans from the new system. The RBI decided to replace the current benchmark
prime lending rate system with the Base Rate to increase transparency in lending
at much lower rates than their benchmark lending rates to new customers.

 Italian helicopter manufacturer Agusta Westland and Tata Motors

which recently signed joint venture for setting up a final assembly unit of AW 119
have finalised Hyderabad as location for the proposed unit.

 Kobelco Group of Japan is setting up an equipment machinery facility

at the multi - product Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of Sri City at Tada in
Andhra Pradesh.

 Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan launched the 3G mobile services of Bharat

Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) covering 29 cities and towns in Andhra Pradesh.
  Eurocopter, world's leading helicopter manufactures announced that it
would form ventures with Pawan Hans Helicopters for maintenance repair and
overhaul (MRO) and training facilities either in Mumbai or Delhi. The MOUs for the
two proposals would be signed during the three - day, 'India Aviation - 2010'
beginning at the Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad.

 Feb

 Highlightsof2010/11 budget
Need to review stimulus
Challenge to return to 9% growth, then double-digit
Final FY10 GDP figure maybe higher than estimate of 7.2%
Need to move towards fiscal consolidation
Fiscal deficit seen at 6.9 pct of GDP in 2009/10
Fiscal deficit seen at 5.5 pct of GDP in 2010/11 (Reuters poll 5.6 pct)
Fiscal deficit seen at 4.8 pct of GDP in 2011/12; 4.1 pct in 2012/13
Total expenditure in 2010/11 11.87 trillion rupees (USD 256.75 billion)
2009/10 revised estimate for tax collection 7.47 trillion rupees (USD 161.58 billion)
Need to review public spending
Roadmap within six months to cut public debt
Government will be in a position to implement direct tax code from April 2011
Aims to introduce GST in April 2011
Since December have been signs food prices pressures transmitting to non-food items.
Government to simplify FDI policy
 In one of the biggest recalls recorded in the Indian automobile industry, leading car
maker Maruti Suzuki India announced that it had recalled nearly one lakh 'A - Star'
cars, the company's flagship export model, to replace a faulty fuel pump gasket.

 The recommendations of the Thirteenth Finance Commission, headed

by Vijay Kelkar are:
Asked the government to extend specific grants such as Rs. 24,000 crore for
elementary education and 15,000 crore for environment.
Suggested the government earmark 87,000 crore exclusively for local bodies.
Targeted the fiscal deficit at 3 percent by 2013 - 14 for the current level of 6.8 percent
and the elimination of revenue deficit b y 2013 - 14 from the current level of 4.8
percent this fiscal.
The States would get 32 percent of its tax revenue along with Rs 3.19 lakh crore as
grant for the next five fiscal years (2010 - 15)

 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cleared a proposal made by the state
Government of Andhra Pradesh to give loans upto Rs 1 crore to SC/ST entrepreneurs
with out collateral security to encourage them as industrialists.

 13th Finance commission recommendations for the state of Andhra

Pradesh:
The State was likely to get Rs 1 lakh crore as its share in Central taxes and another
Rs. 13,802 crore as grants - in - aid over the next five year period.
The divisible pool of Central taxes had been increased from 30.5 percent to 32 percent
of which the state's share was 6.93 percent.
 Economic survey 2009-10 tabled by Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha: -

 Projection of GDP  - 8.75 Percent growth in

expansion 2010–11
 - 9 Percent growth in 2011-

11
  2008-09  2009-10
 GDP Growth  6.7*  7.2**
 Industrial
 2.6  8.6*
Growth
 Forex Reserves  $ 252 billion  $ 283.5 billion
 Food grains  
 230.8 Million  233.9* Million
 Production
tonnes tonnes
 Gross Fiscal  
 5.9* percent of  6.58 percent
 Deficit
GDP GDP
 * - Quick estimates ** - Advance Estimates


 Andhra Pradesh was the first state to get the centre's approval for setting up
the Petroleum, Chemicals and Petro Chemicals Investment Region (PCPIR)
proposed between Visakhapatnam and Kakinada, as said by the Chief Minister of
Andhra Pradesh.

 Economic Advisory council to the Prime Minister under the Chairmanship of C.

Rangarajan released the ''Review of the Economy 2009-10''. It suggested that the
Government have to initiate fiscal consolidation in the coming fiscal year (2010 - 11)
to ensure fiscal sustainability, enable greater flexibility in monetary policy calibration,
contain interest in payments and to avoid upward pressure on interest rates and to
curtail the expansion of the base of service tax in Government's expenditure.

 A World Class Seed Vault has been established on the Siachen Glacier to
preserve India's biological wealth for future generations. The vault, which has a
natural temperature between –20 and –40 Celsius, will hold samples of rice, pulses,
peas and beans and can be used for building food programmes across the nation.

 Tata Sons and Italian defence major Agusta Westland signed an

agreement for formation of a joint venture company, which will establish a final
assembly line for AW-119 helicopters for the Indian army and the global market. The
AW-119 has been offered to India by Agusta for army's requirement for 197 choppers
to replace its ageing fleet of Cheetah and Chetak light helicopters.

 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a notification introducing a new

category of Non - Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) as "Infrastructure Finance
Companies (IFCs)'' with a view to encouraging larger flow of funds to infrastructure.
The existing categories of NBFCs are Asset Finance Companies (AFCs), Loan
Companies (LCs) and Investment Companies (ICs)

 India's IT - BPO market (including exports) could touch $285 billion in

2020, said the report prepared by KPMG and ASOCIO (Asian Oceanian Computing
Industry Organisation).

 The Union Cabinet liberalised the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy
further by allowing the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to clear proposals
from overseas entities worth up to Rs.1,200 Crore, against the existing limit of
Rs.600Crore.

 World's largest manufacturer and marketer of fertilizers in the cooperative

sector, Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative (IFFCO) announced a strategic alliance
with Canadian Company Grow Max Agri Corp to make its foray into Potash Project
and Oil and gas exploration.

 East India company, the trading company with a 400 - year history will
soon open outlets to sell tea, coffee, spices and fabrics. It was bought in 2004 by
Indian - Origin businessman Sanjiv Mehta.

 The Central Statistical Organisation in its advance estimates pegged economic

growth at 7.2 percent in 2009-10. It was higher than 6.7 percent recorded a year
ago.

 The Securities and exchange board of India (SEBI) has constituted a

committee headed by former Reserve Bank of India Governor Bimal Jalan to review
the structures of the stock exchanges as their role as self - regulatory bodies and
functions as profit entities are sometimes conflicting in nature. The committee may
also look into the listing-related matters of the stock exchanges.

 GAIL (India) has been shortlisted as one of the 15 companies having

qualified for the ambitions $30 billion National Gas Master Development Plan and
its implementation in Nigeria.

 The National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency would soon be

launched to unlock the $15 - billion energy efficiency market. The initiate would
reduce carbon emissions by almost 99 million tonnes.

 A Report of the Export Group on "A Viable and sustainble system of pricing of
petroleum products'' headed by Kirit.S.Parikh was submitted. The recommendations
of the committee are
 o Complete decontrol of the petrol and diesel prices.
o Hike of Rs. 100 per domestic LPG cylinder and an increase of Rs. 6 for liter
kerosene
 Jan

 Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh received the report of the task force on

micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) headed by T.K.A.Nair.

Recommendations of the task force are:

o Changes in polices to help growth of the sector

o Roadmap for the development and promotion of the sector

o In setting up of appropriate legal and regulatory structures to create a

conducive environment for entrepreneurship and growth of MSMEs.

 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) —

the portion of deposits that commercial banks are required to keep with the central

bank — by 75 basis points from 5 per cent to 5.75 per cent.

The CRR increase would be in two stages: the first stage of increase of 50 basis points

will be effective the fortnight beginning February 13, 2010 followed by the next stage

of increase of 25 basis points effective the fortnight beginning February 27, 2010.

 National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) announced its plan to setup

mines and refinery project in visakhapatnam, AndhraPradesh at a cost of $1.2

billion and the smelter and a captive power plant with a cost of 16,350 crore in

Brajrajnagar in Tharsiguda district, Orissa.

 Country's largest iron ore miner NMDC and the world's premier diamond

producer De Beers found traces of diamond deposits in kalahandi, Nawaranpur,

Nuapada and Bolangir dists of Orissa and in kurnool, Prakasam and Anantpur districts

of Andhrapradesh.

 The Union Cabinet approved ONGC Videsh Limited's (OVL) proposal to

invest $359 million (Rs. 1,651 crore) for oil exploration in two deep-sea blocks in

Nigeria over the next five years. OVL is the over seas investment arm of state-run Oil

and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

 The Union Finance Ministry agreed to release over 12,000 crore in cash to

loss making state-run oil companies to cover for losses in the current fiscal. The

projected loss of IOC, BPCL and HPCL on the sale of domestic LPG and kerosene below

cost is Rs. 29,405 crore. Another 12,000 crore loss is projected on petrol and diesel.

 National Textile Corporation Limited (NTC) inaugurated three "revival-

cum-modernisation" textile mills, Tata Mills, Podar mills and the India United Mill no.5

with a capital outlay of Rs. 130 crore.

 The Asian development Bank (ADB) had Sanctioned $150 million aid for the

Khadi and village Industries commission (KVIC).

 ONGC petro - Additions, a joint venture firm promoted by ONGC, plans to set

up a grassroots Integrated Petro Chemical Complex at a cost of Rs 13,000 crore at

Dahej in Gujarat.

 Bharti Airtel, India's leading telecom services provider said it had agreed to

acquire a 70% stake in Warid Telecom, Bangladesh, currently a wholly-owned

subsidiary of the Dhabi Group and will make a fresh investment of $ 300 million to

expand the operations of Warid Telecom.

 The Union Cabinet approved the proposal of the U.S-based soft drinks
 major, Pepsico Holdings Pvt. Ltd to inject additional equity of $ 200 million (around

Rs. 930 crore) into its Indian arm within three years. With this Pepsico's total FDI into

the country reaches $ 655 million.

 Dec

 The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has notified the new rules, called

the ‘Income-tax (13th Amendment) Rules, 2009’ will come into force on April 1,

2009 which shall replace the already abolished Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT). Apart from

conventional perks such as accommodation and conveyance, other benefits such as

holiday/vacation travelling, free food and non-alcoholic beverages provided by the

employer, gift or vouchers received by the employee on ceremonial occasions,

reimbursements for club membership and tour allowances would also come under the

ambit of the new income tax valuation norms.

 The Harvard Business Review recently ranked CEOs of large public traded

companies in a study conducted over 2000 CEOs worldwide. Mukesh Ambani, who

heads Reliance Industries Limited, is the only Indian to be ranked among the 100 best

performing CEOs in the world. He was ranked 5 in the world. Apple Inc’s CEO Steve

Jobs was ranked 1 and Yun Jong-Yong, CEO, Samsung was ranked 2nd. Mukesh was

ranked 2nd top Emerging Market CEO in the world and K.V. Kamath of ICICI Bank was

ranked 9th Emerging Market CEOs.

 The Board of Approval for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) gave formal

approvals to six new SEZs: a solar PV (photovoltaic) SEZ of Lanco Solar Pvt. Ltd. at

Ramdaspur in Cuttack district (Orissa); three information technology (IT) SEZs by the

Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation at Baprola village

(Delhi); the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society Limited at Nellikode village

in Kozhikode (Kerala) and Empire Industries at Ambernath in Thane district

(Maharashtra). Similarly, a bio-tech SEZ by Veritas Infrastructure Development at

Alibaug in Raigad district (Maharashtra), and a gems and jewellery SEZ by the Delhi

State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation at Baprola village in Delhi

were approved.

 The Central Government is implementing the generation-based incentive

(GBI) scheme for grid-interactive wind power producers and gives incentives worth

Rs.380 crore to promote wind power generation. The government has launched a

special programme to generate more wind power and attract investments,

domestically as well as globally, to give boost to cleaner and renewable energy sector.

The scheme would be scaled up after a review of its performance in the remaining

period of the XI Plan (2007-12).

 Of 18 Navaratna mega public sector undertakings, ONGC, SAIL and NTPC

got greater financial and operational autonomy after the government accorded the

Maharatna status to these firms to help them emerge as global giants. The company

has to get a three-year track record of annual net profit of over Rs 5,000 crore, net

worth of Rs 15,000 crore and turnover of Rs 25,000 crore to get Maharatna status.

 Vijay Kelkar, Chairman of the 13th Finance Commission submitted its

report to President Pratibha Patil on sharing of Central taxes between the Union and

State governments.
