Wednesday, 11th April, 2012

HEADLINES

• SIT gives clean chit to Modi; Files closure report; Court orders SIT to give copy of report to Zakia.
• Nepal army takes charge of the Maoists combatants
• Kapil Sibal launched country's first 4G services by Bharthi Airtel in Kolkata

NATIONAL NEWS

• China backs trilateral talks with India and US
  • China is open to the idea of a trilateral dialogue mechanism with India and the United States to build trust between the countries, in remarks that have been seen as reflecting a larger, subtle shift in Chinese foreign policy away from a traditional “zero-sum” view of its relations.
    
    
• Another trial of Anti tank Nag missile conducted
  • The third generation missile with “top attack and fire and forget” capabilities was expected to be inducted last year after it was tested for various ranges in July 2010, it was delayed with the Army seeking modifications in NAMICA. Each NAMICA can carry 12 missiles, eight of them in ready-to-fire mode.
  • Nag missile, which has a range of four km, would be tested for its full range, two km and a minimum of 500 metres.
  • This time DRDO scientists would demonstrate the lock-on-before launch capability of the missile for a four-km range with an upgraded imaging infrared seeker.
  • In lock-on-before-launch mode, the missile keeps acquiring the image of the target every 30 milliseconds right from the launch till the impact on target.
  • The missile would be fired to destroy both moving and stationary targets during the trials.
  • The shorter the range, the more difficult it would be for the missile to attack a moving target.
  • There is no other anti-tank missile in the world with a lock-on-before launch system for a four-km range. The U.S. Javelin and the Israeli Spike had lock-on-before launch systems but the range was only 2.5 km.
  • In recent field trials, the lock-on-after-launch capability of the Helina missile (airborne version of Nag) was proved.
    
    
• It is time water is optimally priced : PM
  • The time has come for optimal pricing of water and power to prevent an unlimited pumping of groundwater and aid better coordination amongst competing demands for the scarce resource, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said
  • Mindful of water being on the concurrent list, the Prime Minister called for a “broad overarching national legal framework of general principles to pave the way for essential legislation on water governance in each State
  • Amongst the participants is Afghan Water Resources Minister Mohammad Ismail, who sought, during the plenary session, “more assistance” for integrated development of water resources in his country.
  • Dr. Singh, inaugurated the India Water Week on the theme of “Water, Energy and Food Security — Call for Solutions”, in New Delhi.
    
    
• RIC, foreign ministers to discuss hot spots
  • The Foreign Ministers of India, Russia and China (RIC) will primarily discuss hotspots in Asia.
  • the agenda would basically remain the same as that of their 10th meeting in China's Wuhan city, there would be enhanced focus on the situation in Syria, the post-2014 Afghan scenario, the Iranian nuclear programme and the situation on the Korean peninsula
  • However, the three Foreign Ministers are unlikely to discuss the South China Sea dispute. China has not taken kindly to Indian and Russian companies signing oil and gas exploration contracts with Vietnam
  • The three Ministers will also hold talks on ensuring greater political coordination among the three nations and BRICS.
    
    
• Centre to credit payments above 25000/- in to bank accounts
  • In a unique move to usher in green banking and enhance transparency and accountability in public dealings of the Centre, all payments above Rs. 25,000 will be credited directly to the bank accounts of payees from this fiscal.
  • The green banking facility is also being extended to payments to government servants, including for settlement of retirement and terminal benefits.
  • The Finance Ministry has amended rules to enable all ministries and departments to credit payments directly to the bank accounts of payees as part of the government's commitment to good governance and elimination of corruption.
  • Even as government servants will continue to have the option of receiving their salaries by cash or cheque, they could also opt for direct bank transfer
  • However, all other payments above Rs.25,000, as also towards settlement of retirement/terminal benefits shall be directly credited to their bank accounts
  • A ‘Government e-payment gateway', set up by the CGA and inaugurated by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee recently, will be used by the PAOs (Pay & Accounts Officers) of various civil ministries and departments, to start with.

INTERNATIONAL

• Mali interim leader takes charge
  • Mali's Parliament Speaker on Tuesday prepared to take office as interim head of state, a step that would end a brief period of military rule in a country where Tuareg and Islamist rebels control half the territory.
  • Before speaker Dioncounda Traore can take power from the military junta that toppled the democratically elected government on March 22, a top court must first officially register that the presidency is vacant
  • President Amadou Toumani Toure, ousted in the coup, resigned at the weekend, but the Constitutional Court has not yet acknowledged his departure, which must take place at a public session
  • If the legalistic hurdles are overcome and the junta steps down, it would mark a key achievement for a transition deal hammered out by mediators from the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).

• Extradition of Abu Hazma to US ordered
  • The contentious British-U.S. extradition treaty that critics say is heavily loaded in favour of America got a big boost on Tuesday after the European Court of Human Rights ordered the extradition of the radical cleric Abu Hamza, serving a seven-year sentence in a high-security British jail for inciting racial hatred, and four others to America to stand trial on terror charges.
  • All five had argued that the prospects of being held in solitary confinement in a “supermax” jail with the possibility of a life imprisonment would breach their human rights.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS AND COLUMNS

• An nice article on the recent developments in Myanmar

ECONOMICS

• Pakistan to double tea imports from India by 2015
  • Pakistan is targeting to double its tea imports from India by 2015 — from 24 million kg in 2011 to 50 million kg. A memorandum of understanding to this effect was signed between the Indian Tea Association and the Pakistan Tea Association (PTA)
  • Pakistan is one of the top three tea importing nations with a consumption of 220 million kg and an official import of 120 million kg. Its main supplier is Kenya.
    
    
• FII can invest up to 23 percent in commodity exchanges sans approval
  • The Industry Ministry, came out with a consolidated foreign direct investment (FDI) document incorporating significant changes in the FDI norms by permitting foreign institutional investors (FIIs) to invest up to 23 per cent in commodity exchanges without prior approval and withdrawing facility of giving equity in lieu of import of second-hand equipment in order to discourage import of sub-standard machinery.
  • The government also issued a clarification on non-banking finance companies (NBFC) stating that the activity of ‘leasing and finance,' which is one among the 18 NBFC activities, where induction of FDI is permitted, covers only financial leases and not operating leases.
  • However, FDI will continue to need the approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). At present, foreign investment, within a composite (FDI and FII) cap of 49 per cent, under the government approval route is permitted in commodity exchanges.

• India – pakistan to ink liberal visa regime
  • Asserting that India-Pakistan relations were going through one of the best phases in the history of the two countries, Pakistan High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik, on Tuesday, said both countries were close to putting in place a new liberal visa agreement, especially for businessmen.
  • The two countries have decided to do away with the 1974 visa agreement and make it more liberal to allow business and the common man more access to easy visa facility.
  • Pakistan would continue to do away with the negative list in future also but it had some issues on non-tariff barriers and the same had been conveyed to the Indian side.
  • “There could be a provision to give one-year multiple-entry visa to those businessmen whose credentials are certified by the chambers on the both sides

• Panel set up on corporate governance
  • To improve corporate governance, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has constituted a high-level committee, headed by Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej.
  • The committee, comprising representatives from the corporate world, industry bodies and government departments, will suggest a comprehensive policy framework to enable corporate governance of highest quality in all classes of companies without impinging on their internal autonomy to order their affairs in their best judgment.