Thursday, May 3, 2012

NATIONAL NEWS

• Chidambaram defends UPA stand of Telangana issue
  • Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday defended the UPA government's stand on the sensitive Telangana issue, asserting that the Centre would not hesitate in taking a final decision once all eight political parties made their views known to it;
  • He said the situation had changed “dramatically” after the UPA government announced that it would form the State and insisted that the Centre was still awaiting consensus to emerge among all stakeholder-parties;
  • Mr. Chidambaram said that recommendations of the Srikrishna Committee would be considered in deciding the roadmap.
• Fill only 75% seats, schools told
  • Even as managements of unaided schools want the implementation of the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) put off by a year, the Department of Public Instruction has issued a circular asking them to notify only 75% seats for admissions to standard 1 for the current academic year. As per the RTE, 25% seats have to be reserved for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Court allows Italian ship to leave India
  • In a conditional relief to Italy, whose merchant ship was seized following the shooting to death of two Kerala fishermen by two marines on board, the Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the vessel to leave India, along with the crew and the remaining marines, provided that they would make themselve available whenever required by the police in the investigation of the case.
• Army Chief reviews conduct of 'Shoor Veer' on Western Border
  • Chief of the Army Staff General V.K. Singh on Wednesday reviewed the conduct of “Shoor Veer,” the war games and military training exercise under way in the border district of Hanumangarh in Rajasthan;
  • Gen. Singh, the main proponent of the ‘Integrated Theatre Battle Concept,' developed after the transformation studies carried out recently, witnessed the exercise that entails launch of theatre offensive by Sapta Shakti (South Western Command) spearheaded by 1 Corps and Chetak Corps;
  • Exercise “Shoor Veer,” termed the biggest-ever war games in the Thar Desert, is being conducted against the backdrop of studies on transformation of the Army. The exercise displayed synergy of the Army and the Air Force in launching air-land battle and the capability to orchestrate battle in a network-centric environment with integration of reconnaissance, surveillance and electronic warfare and communication assets to provide commanders real-time battle situational awareness.
• India-Myanmar transport project hits roadblock
  • A few weeks ahead of PM Manmohan Singh's maiden visit to Myanmar, India's showpiece joint venture that will provide an alternative route to the northeastern States is in trouble;
  • Finalised after years of tough negotiations, during which the then External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, ensured a breakthrough, the Kaladan multimodal transport project — which has already suffered cost overruns and delays — has landed in fresh problems because government departments have been working at cross purposes;
  • The project has been hailed as strategically significant because it will take the pressure off the sole route connecting the Indian mainland with the northeast via the Siliguri corridor. It was conceived at a time when New Delhi's ties with Dhaka were frosty and its signing in 2008 was stated to convey a strong message to Bangladesh that its withholding transit would not mean India did not have an alternative;
  • But now the Kaladan project is facing problems such as underestimation of the road length in Myanmar. Added to that South Block has come up against a bigger roadblock because the Power Ministry did not share with it information about plans to construct hydro-electric projects — Chhimtuipui and Lungleng — on two tributaries of the Kaladan river followed by another project downstream. That the first two projects are being built by one public sector undertaking and the third is being constructed by another PSU has also led to coordination issues;
  • The projects are located on the tributaries of the Kaladan on the international boundary between the two countries and involve some submergence within Myanmar territory. The Power Ministry has now asked the External Affairs Ministry to take up the issue with Myanmar;
  • This request not only displeased South Block but also led it to enquire about the impact of these projects on the Kaladan multimodal transport project. The External Affairs Ministry was informed that these two projects were conceived under the Prime Minister's Hydro Power Initiative and that there was a third project as well — Kolodyne-II, downstream;
  • Cleared late last year, Kolodyne-II must release about 80 cumecs (cubic metre per second) in the river to maintain the necessary depth of water for movement of ships in downstream reaches since navigation is an integral part of the Kaladan project.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this editorial on the issue of chronic hunger in India
• Read this article about India's fishing industry and how the rules are being exploited

ECONOMY & BUSINESS NEWS

• RBI to implement Basel III from January 1, 2013
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on Wednesday, issued the final guidelines for implementation of Basel III capital regulation in India, which would be effective from January 1, 2013, in a phased manner. The Basel III capital ratios will be fully implemented on March 31, 2018;
  • Banks have to maintain Tier I capital, or core capital, of at least 7 per cent of their risk weighted assets on an ongoing basis. Under the existing capital adequacy guidelines based on the Basel II framework, banks are required to maintain Tier I capital of at least 6 per cent of their risk weighted assets;
  • The total capital ratio, including Tier I and Tier II, must be at least 9 per cent, unchanged from the current requirement, the RBI said in a statement, compared with the Basel III minimum requirement of 8 per cent;
  • For the financial year ending March 31, 2013, banks will have to disclose the capital ratios computed under the existing guidelines (Basel II) on capital adequacy as well as those computed under the Basel III capital adequacy framework;
  • The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) issued a comprehensive reform package entitled ‘Basel III: A global regulatory framework for more resilient banks and banking systems' in December 2010, with the objective to improve the banking sector's ability to absorb shocks arising from financial and economic stress.