HEADLINES

• Jairam Ramesh accuses the UP Govt of directly abetting embezzlement of NREGA funds; CBI proble likely
• Gaddafi, his son and others buried at secret location to avoid the grave becoming a shrine
• 2G judge rejects Raja's argument that not auctioning spectrum made mobile calls cheaper and says it is not an excuse to subvert law

NATIONAL NEWS

• China welcomes Manmohan's statement on border issue
  • Dr.Singh had earlier this week said that he was convinced that the Chinese leadership wanted a peaceful resolution on all problems including the long standing border issue;
  • Reacting to Dr.Singh's statement, Beijing said that it was ready to work with New Delhi to address pending problems and enhance the strategic partnership;
  • The two countries are scheduled to hold their 15th round of talks on the border issue later this year but officials are yet to agree on the dates. After the last round of talks in Beijing there has been little progress as the talks are deadlocked for lack of agreement on a framework for discussion. The final stage of these talks will actually involve delineating the borders in maps and on the ground.
• India says that Commonwealth lacks money to set up rights monitor
  • India is unhappy with a recommendation to set up a mechanism to monitor the human rights records of Commonwealth countries. India is arguing that the 54 nation group does not have the finances to take on such a task which is already being done by other groups, including the UN;
  • India is one of the largest members and contributors to the Commonwealth budget. This recommendation for human rights monitoring comes at a time when the group is facing a budgetary difficulty and the proposal it to raise the funds through a re-allocation of resources. India is likely to oppose this move at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meet in Australia this week.
• INS Kadmatt launched
  • India launches its home-built anti-submarine warfare corvette, INS Kadmatt. This is the second in the line of four and the first one was called INS Kamorta. At present they are undergoing trials and the Kamorta is expected to be delivered in 2012 and the Kadmatt in 2013;
  • The ship's main role is to protect other ships in a convoy or at a sea port against submarine attacks and to neutralise enemy submarines. It is named after an island in Lakswadeep.
• India is among the top 5 nations with high deaths due to rotavirus infection. Read this article on the issue
• Distinguished Kannada writer and Jnanpith award recipient UR Ananthamurthy shortlisted for the Asian literature prize for his novel 'Bharathipura'. Last year's prize went to Pakistani author H.M Naqvi for his novel 'Home Boy'.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• U.N tells US to lift the embargo on Cuba by way of a resolution. US has several laws that which are against Cuba and the U.N has passed a resolution asking US to repeal or invalidate the same
• NATO rules out joint shield with Russia
  • A senior NATO official has ruled out a joint NATO Russia anti missile shield in Europe and suggested instead that the sides share information regarding missile threats;
  • NATO has said that it cannot outsource its collective defence obligations and therefore cannot accept the proposal. This comes at a time when Russia suspects US and in the process NATO of developing the anti-missile shield against Russia. US has said that they are willing to give a wirrten assurance that the anti missile system was not against Russia.
• US disassembles B53 nuclear bomb, the last of its most power nuclear weapons which was built during the height of the cold war. It is 600 times more powerful that the bomb used on Hiroshima.
• German satellite ROSAT crashes in the Bay of Bengal. It was launched in 1990 for the research of black holes and neutron stars and was retired in 1999.
• Javan Rhino, a critically endangered species has been poached to extinction in Vietnam for its horn, according the the WWF and the International Rhino Foundation.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Here is a lead on the National Mission to reduce judicial delays which received in-principle approval of the Govt recently.
• Read this article on India's female infanticide problem

ECONOMY & BUSINESS NEWS

• RBI increases the repo rate; deregulates savings bank interest rates
  • To deal with inflation, the RBI increased the repo rate (rate at which banks borrow from RBI) by 25 basis points or 0.25% to make the repo rate 8.5% now. This will make loans more costlier. This is the 13th hike since March 2010;
  • The RBI has also opened up savings bank account interest rates with immediate effect. However all banks are mandated to offer a uniform rate upto Rs.1 lakh after which they are free to provide differential rates to their customers.
• GDP growth rate projection for 2011-12 has been revised downward to 7.6% from the earlier 8%
• Cabinet approvaes scheme for National Optical Fibre Network
  • The Cabinet approved the scheme to set up National Optical Fibre Network which will be used to provide broadband connectivity to village-level panchayats, other bodies. The project will be carried out by a special purpose vehicle company that is set up by BSNL and other large PSUs. Private players may be permitted later;
  • The project is being funded from the Universal Service Obligation Fund which is collected from all telecom operators over the past few years.
• Govt clears manufacturing policy
  • The Cabinet also cleared the National Manufacturing Policy which aims to create 100 million jobs and increase the share of manufacturing in the GDP by 25% by 2022;
  • The policy will set up National Investment and Manufacturing Zones with a minimum land area of 5000 hectares. The policy will also contain a host of fiscal incentives particularly to the SME segment. It will also focus on green manufacturing to reduce energy consumption;
  • The policy was finalised after almost 2 years of intensive discussions with stakeholders.