Tuesday, June 19, 2012

HEADLINES

• Former president Kalam decides not to stand for presidential elections leaving the NDA and TMC in the lurch
• Centre has extended the limit of market borrowing for the debt-stressed State of West Bengal by Rs.2,750 crore beyond the limit prescribed by the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, 2003
• On a global scale, India made the maximum number of requests to Google through executive and police agencies to remove content from the company's online services

NATIONAL NEWS

• Major information & communication technology projects planned for the North-East
  • Giving a major boost to ICT infrastructure in the North-East, Union Minister of State for Communication & IT Sachin Pilot on Monday announced projects worth Rs.567 crore for Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. The money would be spent on setting up 10 new ICT training centres, building newer capacities for BSNL and modernising post offices;
  • Mr. Pilot said the project would be implemented through the National Institute of e-Learning & Information Technology (NIELIT) by upgrading the six existing NIELIT centres located at Imphal, Aizawl, Guwahati, Shillong, Gangtok, Itanagar; setting up of 10 new extension centres at Senapati and Churachandpur in Manipur; Dibrugarh, Silchar, Jorhat and Kokrajhar in Assam; Lunglei in Mizoram; Tura in Meghalaya; Tezu and Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh; and upgrading the two existing extension centres located at Chuchuyimlang in Nagaland and Tezpur in Assam;
  • After reviewing the implementation of his Ministry’s flagship scheme – the National e-Governance Plan – he directed all agencies to resolve the pending issues. He also announced that 50 more post offices in the region would be taken up for modernisation under Project Arrow this year, while over 7,000 have already been upgraded.
• Returning officer for Vice-Presidential elections appointed
  • The Election Commission has issued a notification, appointing Lok Sabha Secretary-General T. K. Viswanathan as the Returning Officer for the 14th Vice-Presidential election;
  • The term of Vice-President Hamid Ansari ends on August 10. The election is to be held in August first week. In the Vice-Presidential poll, each nomination has to be subscribed by at least 20 electors as proposers, and an equal number as seconders. An elector can put his/her signature on only one nomination paper, either as proposer or seconder.
• Two new major ports to come up in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal
  • The Shipping Ministry will establish new major ports in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal as part of a maritime agenda that includes a ramp up of port infrastructure by 2020, G.K. Vasan, Union Shipping Minister, said on Monday;
  • The ports form part of the set of projects for creation of 244 million tonnes of capacity spread across 42 projects at an estimated cost of Rs.14,500 crore in 2012-13 under a target set by a recent Prime Ministerial review of the infrastructure sector, he said;
  • The Ministry has also come out with new guidelines to streamline processing of security clearance proposals expeditiously without compromising on security aspects. The move sought to address a situation where the award and implementation of projects to create additional capacity at Indian ports were been affected by factors such as security clearance of bidders, environment clearance, land acquisition and litigation. Efforts are on to get Cabinet clearance for the Shipping Trade Practices Bill, which seeks to bring transparency and uniformity in maritime logistical trade practices.
• ICMR Guidelines for cervical cancer treatment
  • As part of an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) initiative, new guidelines for the screening, diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer based on Indian socio-economic factors and disease pattern, are likely to be finalised on June 20;
  • Oncologists in the country generally follow guidelines issued by the US-based National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), an alliance of 21 of world’s leading cancer centres, for treatment of various cancers. However, the socio-economic factors, availability of investigation facilities and other disease-related aspects obtaining in India were different as compared to the United States;
  • The ICMR, therefore, wanted the guidelines for treatment of various cancers to be suitable for Indian requirements and constituted a sub-committee for each of them;
  • While the prevalence of cervical cancer was quite low in the United States, it continued to be the leading disease among women in India, even as breast cancer was overtaking it in urban areas. He said there was a need to take up studies to determine the influence of human papilloma virus (HPV) on cervical cancer in India.
• The Madras High Court on Monday asked the Additional Solicitor-General (ASG) to furnish a copy of the Indo-Russian treaty on the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) and also the expert committee reports after being petitioned on various issues

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• Conflicting views on Iran talks in Moscow
  • Iran and the P5+1 (UNSC Members+Germany) group began a crucial round of talks here on Monday, with diplomats offering conflicting views on the atmosphere and progress;
  • Press reports said a compromise plan on the table in Moscow involved Iran’s consent to scale down its uranium enrichment at the Natanz nuclear facility from 20% to 3.5 or 5%; close or halt production at the Fordo plant; and allow international inspection of the Parchin military site. In exchange, Iran may be offered a gradual lifting of sanctions as soon as it fulfils one of the demands. It will also be granted permission to go ahead with the production of fuel rods for the medical research reaction in Tehran using its existing stock of higher-enriched uranium;
  • In excerpts of an interview published on Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran may accept a compromise on enrichment if Europe provides Iran with 20% enriched fuel. However, EU has refused to freeze its oil embargo which comes into effect from July 1.
• Morsy is President, says Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood
  • Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has claimed victory for its presidential candidate Mohamed Morsy who had been pitted against Ahmad Shafiq in a bitterly contested runoff;
  • Despite the conclusion of its first presidential election, Egypt’s fledgling democracy suffered a grave setback on Sunday when the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), a military clique that has been in charge of the country’s post-Mubarak political transition, issued a decree that severely curtailed presidential powers. With Parliament already dissolved last Thursday, SCAF would now be in charge of making laws and controlling the budget. The President has also been denied powers to declare war, unless the decision has the approval of SCAF — a move that implied that the military would not function under pervasive civilian control.
• Way cleared for Hollande's agenda in France
  • France's Socialists won control of Parliament in a run-off vote on Sunday, handing President Francois Hollande the convincing majority needed to push through his tax-and-spend agenda, estimates said;
  • Mr. Hollande, who defeated right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy in a May presidential election, had urged voters to give him the MPs he needs to steer France through the eurozone crisis, rising unemployment and a faltering economy.
• Greece elections results averts an exit from the Eurozone
  • The Conversative New Democracy party in Greece has beaten radical left Syriza party by a slim margin. Syriza's had made it clear that it was anti-austerity and may have resulted in the exit of Greece from the Eurozone. The New Democracy party would need to seek support from other pro-bailout parties to form a Government in Greece now as it does not have enough to govern alone as per the laws in Greece. Coalition talks are underway;
  • A Greek exit from the 17-nation eurozone would have potentially catastrophic consequences for other ailing European nations and hurt the U.S. and the entire global economy as well.

EMINENT PERSONS IN THE NEWS

• Dipankar Mukherjee passes away
  • Renowned trade union leader Dipankar Mukherjee (69), who passed away on Monday morning, was a brilliant parliamentarian with versatile capabilities. Elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 1994 from West Bengal as a Communist Party of India (Marxist) member, Mr. Mukherjee played an important role in intervening in all crucial economic and industrial policy-related issues during his 12-year-long parliamentary stint till 2006;
  • Born in June 1943 in Kolkata, Mr. Mukherjee had a bright educational career. He graduated in electrical engineering from Banaras Hindu University and started his career in BHEL in Bhopal. He worked in a high position in Hindustan Fertiliser Corporation at the Ramagundam plant, in Andhra Pradesh. He quit as Additional Chief Engineer of Haldia Fertilisers and joined as a full-timer the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) in 1991. He was its national secretary until his demise. He also represented CITU in the Central Board of Trustees of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation;
  • Having extensive knowledge in industrial engineering and industrial economics across industries, particularly in power, fertilizers, and petroleum, he made useful contributions for the revival of industries and PSUs. He campaigned against the anti-PSU policies of successive governments;
  • Mr. Mukherjee's noted intervention was, of course, in the area of petrol-pricing. He was a major contributor to a Parliamentary Standing Committee Report on the Pricing of Petroleum Products in 2005, which brought the issue of high indirect taxes on petrol products to the fore, and criticised the concept of “under-recoveries,” which was based on “import-party pricing,”than actually incurred costs.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this article which has certain interesting facts to note about presidential elections in India
• Read this article on the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill, 2012 which has been passed by the Parliament and is awaiting presidential assent before it comes into force
• Read this article about the political situation in Peru

ECONOMY & BUSINESS NEWS

• Representatives of industry expressed their dismay at the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) failure on Monday to offer any stimulus to counter the faltering industrial growth;
• Responding to the monetary policy announcement of the central bank, which kept both the Cash Reserve Ratio as well as the repo rate (the rate at which the RBI lends to banks) unchanged. Read this article which discusses the rationale behind the move by the RBI.