Saturday, December 31, 2011

HEADLINES

• Cyclone Thane claims 33 lives; thousands in relief camps in North east TN and Puducherry
• Army Chief's plea on age to be calculated as per records showing 1951 and not 1950 was rejected by the defence ministry
• Jayalalithaa tells AIADMK that the party will play a key role in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and she asked the party to prepare for the same

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• Pakistan gets its due share of the Indus water
  • Pakistan's water and power minister has confirmed that the Indus treaty alloted waters of the eastern rivers – Sutlej, Beas & Ravi to India, and the western rivers – Indus, Jhelum & Chenab to Pakistan, except for certain specified uses;
  • The Pakistan minister has confirmed that it receives its due share. In the past, Pakistan had said its share was being diverted by dams in J&K, though India has denied this charge.
• US sells jets to Saudi Arabia
  • Fortifying one of its key allies in the Persian Gulf, US announced a weapons deal with Saudi Arabia where it has agreed to sell F-15 fighter jets valued at nearly USD30 billion to the Royal Saudi Air Force. Under the terms of the deal Saudi will get 84 new F-15SA jets and upgrades for 70 F-15s already with the Saudi fleet with new munition and spare parts;
  • The US is also in discussions for a USD11 billion deal with Iraq. Although, the US thats its announcements are not due to Iran's threat of blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the announcements come at a time when US-Iran tensions have deepened.
• Russia hands over nuclear submarine to India
  • Russia has given its nuclear-powered attack submarine Nerpa to India on a 10 year lease. It is an Akula-II class vessel that had recently finished sea trials. It will be rechristened INS Chakra in India;
  • This will make India only the 6th operator of nuclear submarines in the world. The delivery of the submarine was originally scheduled for 2008 but an accident during sea trials which killed 20 Russian sailors delayed the deal. The Submarine is equipped with 28 nuclear-capable missiles with a striking range of 3000 km;
  • India had funded the completion of this submarine at the Amur Shipyard before the collapsed of the Soviet Union in 1991.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this editorial on the issues with the recent lokpal bill introduced in Parliament

ECONOMY & BUSINESS NEWS

• Basel III norms will kick-start from January 1, 2013
  • The RBI has indicated that the implementation of the Basel III norms will start from January 1, 2013 and will be fully implemented by March 31, 2017;
  • The RBI has said that the common equity Tier-I capital must be at least 5.5% of the risk-weighted assets (RWAs). While stating that the Tier-I capital must be at least 7% it has recommended that the total capital be at least 9% of the RWAs. Under the Basel-III norms, Tier-I capital should predominantly consist of common equity. The objective of these norms is to improve the quality of capital of banks;
  • The RBI said that banks in India were comfortably placed to implement these Basel-III regulations but some banks may need additional capital.
• New Coal pricing norms
  • The Central Govt said that coal would be priced on internationally-accepted gross calorific value based mechanism from next month. However, the new system will not lead to any major change in existing pricing. It is migrating with effect from January 1, 2012 to meet international practices. The new system will incentivise improved quality of coal and therefore result in revenue realisation for coal firms.