Saturday, 29th June, 2013

NATIONAL NEWS

• India has to repay $172 bn debt by march 2013
  • The U.S. Federal Reserve’s hint that it could roll back its cumulative easy money policy seems to have suddenly increased India’s vulnerability to slowing capital flows in the near future.
  • In this context, India’s short-term debt maturing within a year would seem to be a matter of concern against the current backdrop of the declining rupee and the U.S. Fed’s possible change of stance on easy liquidity in future
  • Short-term debt maturing within a year is considered by experts as a real index of a country’s vulnerability on the debt-servicing front. It is the sum of actual short-term debt with one-year maturity and longer-term debt maturing within the same year.

• India bans testing of cosmetics on animals
  • India is the first country in South Asia to ban the testing of cosmetics and its ingredients on animals
  • The decision was taken at a meeting of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Cosmetics Sectional Committee, chaired by the Drugs Controller General of India and is in line with the European Union's stand.
  • Any cosmetic product which carries out animal testing will face action as per provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and the Animal Cruelty Act. Violation of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act by any person or corporate manager or owner is liable for punishment for a term which may extend from 3-10 years and shall also be liable to fine which could be Rs.500 to Rs.10,000, or with both.
  • A sales ban will prevent companies from outsourcing testing and importing animal-tested beauty products back into India for sale.

• Govt goes in to PPP to award massive infra structure projects
  • In an attempt to boost the sagging economy and turn around the negative investor sentiment, the Manmohan Singh government on Friday set a target to unlock and put on offer infrastructure projects worth Rs.1.14 lakh crore in the next six months in the rail, power, ports and aviation sectors.
  • The proposals that will be given a firm shape in the next six months under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode include the Mumbai elevated rail corridor (Rs.30,000 crore), two international airports in Bhubaneswar and Imphal (Rs.20,000 crore) and power and transmission projects (Rs.40,000 crore). The Prime Minister was of the view that there was an urgent need to ramp up investment in infrastructure to revive investor sentiment
  • Two new international airports — Bhubaneswar and Imphal — would be awarded and 50 new low-cost small airports would be set up by the Airports Authority of India for implementation

• New clinical trial rules for efficacy of drugs
  • The recent changes in the regulatory framework for conducting clinical trials were aimed at ensuring safety and efficacy of drugs on humans,
  • Under the new rules, the sponsor of the clinical trials would have to pay compensation in case of an accidental injury or death within 30 days of the orders issued by Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).
  • In the case of a Serious Adverse Event (SAE), the investigator, sponsor and ethics committee would have to submit an analysis report within 10 days to DCGI anomalies.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• EU agrees to open membership talks with serbia
  • European Union leaders on Friday agreed to open membership talks with Serbia by January at the latest, in recognition of its efforts to improve relations with breakaway Kosovo
  • Presidents and Prime Ministers from the 27 EU nations also welcomed Croatia’s upcoming accession as the bloc’s 28th member
  • For Serbia and Kosovo, the vital breakthrough came on April 19, when the neighbours reached a historic agreement to normalise relations and end years of acrimony.
  • Kosovo, a former province of Serbia, declared independence in 2008. Over the years, Belgrade has said it would never recognise the sovereignty of Kosovo, which is considered by Serbia’s nationalists to be the cradle of the country’s medieval statehood and religion.

OPINION/EDITORIALS

• Article on indentured Indian labourers abroad
• Article on Indonesian politics and its similarity to India
• Article on muslim children and their problems
• Article on bureaucracy on public service day
• Editorial on the rengarajan formula
• Editorial on India – US strategic dialogue

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

• India pakistan JBC to meet today
  • The first meeting of the Indo-Pakistan Joint Business Council to be held in Islamabad on June 29 will have on its agenda discussions relating to grant of MFN (most favoured nation) status to India, import of petrochemicals and petroleum products, the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) pipeline project, and co-operation in infrastructure and information technology (IT)
  • In the backdrop of the establishment of a new democratic government in Pakistan, which has sent positive signals for improving relations with India, issues such as enhanced air and rail connectivity, a relaxed visa regime, and the creation of banking channels would also figure in the discussions.