THE HEADLINES

• PM blames Maran for pricing policy issues which started the 2G scam; says present situation is a move by the opposition to destabilise the Govt;
• As ties with US sours, Pakistan gets closer to China and Saudi Arabia;
• TRAI will exempt certain categories of service providers from the 100 SMS limit; may levy a 5 paise termination charge.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Portuguese High Court orders termination of Abu Salem's extradiction treaty and return of Salem
  • Salem was extradited in 2005 after India gave Portugal an 'executive assurance' that he would not be given the death penalty or charged with any provision of law which entailed jail for for than 25 years;
  • Salem who is being tried in 8 criminal cases including the 1993 Mumbai blasts is also booked under Maharashtra's MCOCA for extortion. The issue arises as the Supreme Court permitted the TADA courts to frame additional charges against Salem which, if proved, could mean a death sentence;
  • Salem's lawyers challenged this in the Portuguese High Court and got the current order. The Indian Govt is now considering challenging the High Court's order in the Portuguese Supreme Court.
• JPC questions the finance ministry for not disclosing the infamous note on the 2G scam
  • The JPC which is probing telecom policies from 1998 to 2009 was informed that it was furnished with all relevant documents;
  • The Committee summoned Finance secretary R.S.Gujral to explain why the 2G note was not part of the material provided to it and also also issued a direction to all Govt agencies to legally confirm that all relevant papers have been provided.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• India & China to have systems to check intrusions soon
  • The countries are proposing a mechanism to tackle issues along the Line of Actual Control. This comes after discussions between the Indian PM and the Chinese President at their meeting in March during the BRICS summit at Sanya, China;
  • From India's side the mechanism will be constituted by its military and paramilitary forces (i.e. the army and the ITBP, etc) and be coordinated by the External Affairs Ministry;
• Internal power swap in Russia
  • Dmitry Medvedev, the extant Russian president is backing the extant PM, Vladimir Putin's bid for presidency, while indicating that he may take up the job of PM (currently held by Putin);
  • Putin's return to the top position has left many wondering if he will put an end to political opposition like he did when he held the position in earlier years. Also many are questioning that this move means for democracy.
• UN review of response in Eelam war IV
  • Ban ki moon has initiated a review of UN’s actions regarding the implementation of the humanitarian and protection mandates in the Eelam war (i.e. the conduct of the UN and its personnel on ground). Thoraya Obaid, former head of the UN population fund will head the review.
• Cambodia & Thailand move to restore ties
  • Cambodia's leader, Hun Sen has welcomed the exiled former Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, for talks in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, as the two governments move to restore relations. Thaksin had been removed in a coup in 2006 and had fled Thailand for Dubai in 2008;
  • Hun said on Monday that the purpose of Thaksin's visit was not to talk about the countries' border dispute around the Preah Vihear temple, competing claims to offshore oil reserves in the Gulf of Thailand or the possibility for an early release of a pair of Thai nationalist activists serving jail terms in Cambodia for spying;
  • Current PM of Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra, has lead a pro-Thaksin party to power in Thailand visited Cambodia as well and both leaders discussed steps to ease tensions around the Preah Vihear temple region.
• Iraq makes its first payment to the US for F-16s
  • Iraq paid the first installment for 18 F-16s ordered from US for a total value of USD 3 billion. 10 Iraqi pilots are being trained in the US and they will be ready by the time the planes are delivered in late 2012 or early 2013.
• Typhoon Nesat hits Philippines and leaves 19 dead and several injured
• Fighting in Libya rages with rebel forces pushing into Sirte, Gaddafi's hometown
• Collision of subway trains in Shanghai, China leaves more than 200 injured

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this article on the Palestinian bid for recognition in the U.N and the efforts of president, Abbas.
• India is a signatory to the Nagoya Protocol, which forms part of the UN Convention on Biodiversity which applies to traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources and its sharing. 19 more parties have recently signed the Nagoya protocol. Read this discussion on the role that India can play as the host of the next UN biodiversity summit in 2012.
• Here is a good discussion on the Pakistan- China relationship and nuclear collaborations.
• Here is an article on how Vijayawada has grown by including the farmers directly while acquiring land.
• Here is an interesting view on the recent Jan Lokpal Movement that India witnessed.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS NEWS

• New policy proposed for public private partnership projects
  • The Govt's proposal is to put in place an incentive and penalty based structure for PPP projects;
  • This is further to the announcement by the Finance Minister during the budget in relation to PPP projects, and part of the National Public Private Partnership Policy which is prepared by the Dept of Economic Affairs, Finance Ministry;
• Holding period for some loans relaxed
  • The minimum holding period for all lenders, i.e. banks and NBFCs, currently is 12 months for all loans. However in the RBI's draft guidelines on securitisation states that lenders would need to hold the loans on their books for a minimum of 6 months provided that the loan tenure is more than 24 months;
  • For loans that have a quarterly disbursement, the minimum holding period remains 12 months;
  • Securitisation is the process of pooling assets (i.e. the loans) and the subsequent sale of the cash flows (i.e. the repayment amoutn under the loans) from these asset pools to investors as security receipts. The reason for such a transaction is usually to redistribute the credit risk over a large area.
• Germany hits out at US over the debt crisis
  • The German finance minister has told the US that it is easy to give advice that to decide for oneself, and that the US should stop pointing fingers at the EU regions for its own debt crisis;
  • This comes in the light of Greece's efforts to avert a financial meltdown that could result in bringing down the euro project.