SEBI cautions bourses on fund flow from Iran, N Korea

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has cautioned the country's bourses against dealing with funds and entities from Iran and North Korea in view of the possible risk of black money flow and terror financing.In a circular to all members of the bourse, the investigation department of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday said that SEBI had informed it in a letter dated May 5 that Iran and North Korea did not have appropriate norms on ‘anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT)'

Access to Sensitive Personal Information under New IT Rules Only with Checks and Balances: Clarifies DIT

The attention of Government has been drawn to news items appearing in a section of media which have commented on some aspects of the Rules framed under section 43A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications & IT has clarified the position in this regard that these Rules do not provide free access to sensitive personal information. The nature and applicability of these Rules have been clearly specified. The Intent of Rules is to protect sensitive personal information and does not give any undue powers to Government agencies for free access of sensitive personal information. Wide public consultations were held before finalizing the Rules and the Rules have been duly endorsed by the Industry Association.

Government of India Signs Loan Agreement Worth $150 Million for e-Delivery of Public Services Development Policy Loan

The Government of India and the World Bank today signed a Loan Agreement of $150 million for the e-Delivery of Public Services Development Policy Loan under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), a flagship e-governance initiative of the Government of India aimed at transforming the service delivery system across the country.

Coal Ministry to Review Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy for Acquisition of Mining Land

Coal Minister, Shri Sriprakash Jaiswal has directed Coal India Limited (CIL) to review rehabilitation and resettlement policy for acquisition of land for coal mining. He has said that adequate compensation and proper employment should be provided to affected persons. The policy should meet the aspirations of land losers and should provide welfare measures for long term. Taking a review meeting of Government coal companies here today, the Minister said delay in the acquisition of mining land is a major constraint in the coal production. To overcome this, rehabilitation and resettlement policy should be more attractive and stakeholders friendly.

India- New Zealand FTA to be Concluded in Next Ten Month: Anand Sharma- New Zealand to Provide a Growing Market for India’s Service Sector

The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Anand Sharma and Trade Minister of New Zealand Tim Groser, concluded successful two day talks on the roadmap to propel forward the trade and economic relationship between India and New Zealand. Shri Sharma during interaction with his counterpart noted that, “New Zealand is an important trade partner of India in the energy sector. There are also important trade complementarities in the agricultural sector. What is important is also to deepen the relationship in the services trade, and bilateral investment, and build on the possibilities of cooperation in innovation and technology transfer”. He indicated that, the Services sector constituted a major portion of India’s GDP as well as exports and consequently India hoped that New Zealand would provide a growing market for India’s IT enabled Service sector. Financial services,t ourism and education were also identified as very promising areas of bilateral cooperation. Mr. Sharma called for a more liberalised regime to be put in place to allow greater inter-firm mobility for professionals, and to promote dialogueon mutual recognition arrangements and social security arrangements. He called for a working holiday scheme to be put in place between India and New Zealand.

Valley elects first Kashmiri Pandit woman panchayat leader

In a first for Kashmir, a 52-year-old Kashmiri Pandit housewife has been voted as a panch by a predominantly Muslim village.Wussan, a small village on way to the famous Gulmarg tourist resort, has come into spotlight after it voted for Asha Ji, the lone Kashmiri Pandit candidate for the post of Panch, against her opponent, a member of the Muslim community which forms nearly 90 per cent of the electorate in her constituency.

Prof. K.V. Thomas to Represent India in Swearing in of Ugandan President

Prof. K.V.Thomas, Union Minister of State (Independent charge) for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution will participate in the swearing-in ceremony of President of Uganda Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI, as envoy to the Prime Minister of India. Prof. Thomas will represent the country at the swearing-in-cum inauguration ceremonies to be held on the 12th May, 2011 at Kampala. Ministerial level participation of India will signal India’s continued support and solidarity with Uganda. It will be President Museveni’s fifth swearing in ceremony as President and the second in a multi party dispensation.The Indian community in Uganda is one of the most important expatriate communities in the country. There are around 17,000 Indians residing in Uganda out of that 12,000 are Indian Passport holders. Indians play a leading role in the Ugandan economy providing employment and are amongst the biggest tax payers in that country. They are the largest foreign investors in Uganda with planned investment of more than $377 million. 

Courtesy : PIB

Find out solution as to how Surface Water could be utilized in a more Systematic Manner -Vilasrao Deshmukh

Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh has underlined the need to ensure the sustainability of water resources in rural areas of the country. Addressing the 1st meeting of National Drinking Water and Sanitation council (NDWSC) Vigyan Bhawan here today, the Minister called upon the Council members to explore how to make optimal use of available water sources and ensure best possible means for recycling of water so that the dependence on groundwater is reduced. Mr. Deshmukh also said that there is urgent need to improve the availability of domestic water supply in view of an increase in population and number of habitations and at the same time to cope up with the increasing demand of sectors like agriculture and industry.

Swapnali tops women’s event at Lake Argyle Swim

Swapnali Yadav won the women’s category and grabbed second spot in the Open category at the first Kimberley National Lake Argyle Swim, held in Western Australia. She clocked seven minutes, seven minutes and 24 seconds in completing the 20km open event. The Indian swimmer competed as a special invitee at the event organised by the Lake Argyle Swim Inc, under the auspices of Association of Swimming Australia.

India working on shale gas policy framework

India will soon launch its first-ever bid round for exploration of shale gas, oil regulator DGH Director General S.K. Srivastava said on Tuesday.“As per the available data and studies undertaken, India has huge shale gas potential. Six basins, namely Cambay, Assam-Arakan, Gondawana, KG onshore, Cauvery onshore and Indo Gangatic basins, have been identified,” he said while addressing the 14th Energy Summit organised by Assocham here on Tuesday.

Petrol prices may go up this week; diesel, LPG rates may follow

The government may hike diesel and domestic LPG rates next week while an increase in petrol prices may happen later this week.“The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee (on fuel price hike) was to meet tomorrow evening. It has been put off,” Oil Minister S. Jaipal Reddy told reporters in New Delhi.The EGoM was to meet on Wednesday to consider raising the diesel price by Rs. 3-4 a litre and domestic LPG rates by Rs. 20-25 per cylinder.

Reliance to partner with more global players in financial business: Ambani

Aiming to cash in on the rapid growth of country’s financial services sector, Reliance Industries will seek partnerships with leading global players in this pursuit, the company’s billionaire chief Mukesh Ambani has said.The group has already been approached by several global financial services companies for possible partnerships, Mr. Ambani said in his annual communication to shareholders.

Tata Motors launches Magic IRIS, Ace Zip

Tata Motors on Tuesday launched a new four-wheel, small passenger carrier, Magic IRIS, and 600-kg smart micro truck, Ace Zip, priced at Rs 1.95 lakh and Rs 1.90 lakh (ex-showroom Thane), respectively.The company’s Magic IRIS is a three seater, small passenger carrier and is projected as a better substitute for passenger-carrying three-wheelers.

Climate renewables can power the world - IPCC study

Renewable energy could account for almost 80% of the world’s energy supply within four decades — but only if governments pursue the policies needed to promote green power, according to a landmark report published on Monday.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the body of the world’s leading climate scientists convened by the United Nations, said that if the full range of renewable technologies were deployed, the world could keep greenhouse gas concentrations to less than 450 parts per million, the level scientists have predicted will be the limit of safety beyond which climate change becomes catastrophic and irreversible.

Northrop Grumman unveils new intel airplane

Northrop Grumman Corp. on Monday unveiled a new type of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft that can be flown either robotically or with a pilot aboard.The defence contractor said the Firebird aircraft would allow the military to simultaneously gather real-time high-definition video, view infrared imagery, use radar and eavesdrop on communications.

Microsoft to buy Skype: report

Microsoft is on the verge of a deal to buy Skype, in a multi-billion-dollar acquisition that would be its biggest ever, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.The software company would reportedly pay between $7-8 billion for the internet telephone company, the report said.The price appears to be part of a bidding war — Skype has reportedly also been in talks with Google and Facebook.

Joshi accuses Govt of dividing PAC on party lines

UPA government is trying to make the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) a “puppet” in its hands and divide it on party lines when the mandate of the panel is to be bipartisan, Murli Manohar Joshi, chairperson of the parliamentary committee that examined the 2G spectrum scam, on Tuesday said.“It is shocking that four ministers were sitting in the Parliament office of the Congress and sending chits and giving directions to their members in the PAC to do this or do that. In a way they are making PAC a captive committee,” Mr. Joshi told reporters here.

Resourcesat-2 sends images of Delhi, Surat, Bareilly and Dubai

Bareilly

Dubai

Delhi

Surat

High quality images of the Indian landmass and other countries beamed by India’s remote-sensing satellite, Resourcesat-2, were presented to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Monday, by the top-brass of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).The images covered New Delhi, Surat, Bareilly and Dubai. The three cameras aboard Resourcesat-2 were being operated from April 28 and several hundreds of images covering India and many parts of the globe have been acquired from the satellite.

Storm moves away from Philippines, leaves 22 dead

Tropical Storm Aere blew away from the northern Philippines on Tuesday, leaving at least 22 people dead but largely sparing vast agricultural regions where farmers welcomed the rain, officials said.Disaster officials had feared the storm would barrel through provinces during planting season and set off flash floods and landslides. After slamming Catanduanes province on Sunday, it began to weaken and just grazed the country’s northeastern seaboard, bringing rain to farmland scorched by the summer heat.

Supreme Court clears deck for prosecution of Reliance executives

Three top executives of the undivided Reliance Group — A. N. Sethuraman, Shankar Adawal and V. Balasubramanium — will face criminal proceedings on charges of possessing confidential government documents after the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to give them any relief.The apex court dismissed their petitions challenging the Delhi High Court order saying “these petitions do not contain any merits”.

Pollution Control Board orders closure of Hindustan Insecticides

Kerala State Pollution Control Board on Tuesday ordered the Hindustan Insecticides Limited (HIL), Kochi, manufacturing endosulfan and other pesticides, to close down its operations on charges of polluting the environment.The order asks the public sector company to close down “all operations and process in the industry with immediate effect”. However, it will have seven days time to report compliance as some processes would need time for total shut down.

EC asks poll authorities to ready counting halls by today

Gearing up for the counting of votes in the Assembly polls in five states on 13th May, the Election Commission has directed authorities to ensure that the counting halls are ready by Tuesday.A three-tier cordoning system should also be put in place to guard the counting premises to ensure a trouble-free exercise, which will decide the fate of several political heavyweights in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry, the Commission said.

Lengthy listening to MP3 players damages hearing

Not only can listening to loud music through your MP3 player damage your hearing, but even lengthy listening at a moderate sound volume can be harmful. That warning came from experts at the Medcare Hospital in Dubai as part of International Noise Awareness Day.An individual’s hearing can be permanently impaired when they listen to music at a moderate level over a period of hours. Listening to music at 90 decibels for eight hours will cause definite hearing loss, said audiologists in Dubai. Ninety decibels is the equivalent of a lawnmower or traffic on a busy highway.

Oil falls to near $101

Oil prices fell to near $101 a barrel on Tuesday in Asia as traders anticipated a further rise in weekly U.S. crude inventories in a sign of weakening demand.Benchmark crude for June delivery was down $1.65 to $100.90 a barrel at midday Kuala Lumpur time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $5.37, or 5.5 per cent, to settle at $102.55 on Monday.In London, Brent crude for June delivery was down $1.53 to $114.37 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

NATO bombs Tripoli

Rebels battled Muammar Qadhafi’s forces on a deadlocked front line in eastern Libya, and NATO warplanes struck Tripoli early Tuesday in the heaviest bombing of the Libyan capital in weeks.Overnight, NATO warplanes struck at least four sites in Tripoli, setting off crackling explosions that thundered through the Libyan capital.

India, New Zealand concerned over spiralling oil prices

Condemning the global level terror, India and New Zealand on Tuesday expressed ``serious concern’’ over the spiralling crude oil prices which they said would fuel inflation and negatively impact the economies around the world posing threat to the food and energy security issue.

Syrian authorities detain hundreds in fresh raids

Syrian security forces arrested hundreds of activists and anti-government protesters in house-to-house raids across the country Monday, part of an escalating government crackdown aimed at stamping out a revolt engulfing the country.The government’s punishing response triggered new international sanctions Monday, as the European Union imposed an arms embargo. The measure, which followed U.S. sanctions, also prohibits 13 Syrian government officials from travelling anywhere in the 27-nation EU and freezes their assets.

Meetings focus on boosting India-U.S. commercial ties

Even as United States President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke on Monday about the next round of the bilateral Strategic Dialogue, Indian organisations in the U.S. and Indian-Americans have been pushing for even stronger commercial ties between the two countries.Earlier this year the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) unveiled an insightful and wide-ranging survey showing evidence that India-based companies with U.S. operations saved, through their acquisition of U.S. firms, 2585 jobs from being eliminated during the global economic downturn.

Threat from chronic diseases - Opinion

Cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, and chronic respiratory diseases account for 63 per cent (36 million) of all deaths globally. This is the finding of the World Health Organisation's global status report on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) for 2008, and the situation is unlikely to be very different today. The picture also runs counter to the general perception that such deaths are largely restricted to developed countries. In truth, nearly 80 per cent of deaths from NCDs occur in low- and middle-income countries (if Africa is kept out of the picture). Of the four chronic diseases, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes are responsible for 80 per cent of all deaths. High blood pressure turns out to be the biggest risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. It caused an estimated 7.5 million deaths round the world. In India, according to estimates by the Public Health Foundation of India, about two million people die every year from cardiovascular diseases caused directly by high blood pressure. The rate of prevalence of high blood pressure is 24-30 per cent in urban areas and 12-14 per cent in rural areas. But the percentage of people aware of their condition is only 30 per cent in cities/towns and 10-12 per cent in villages. Shockingly, just about 10-12 per cent of those who have high blood pressure in urban areas and a mere 4-5 per cent in rural areas have it adequately controlled for their risks.

The Prime Minister and the CBI - Opinion

“… It [the CBI] has always to do what is right and correct. For an investigating agency, there can be only one guiding beacon, only one gold standard, and that is the law of the land. Whoever transgresses it, however mighty, has to be brought to book.”

 

Those were bold words indeed from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who also said on April 30, after inaugurating the new building housing the headquarters of the Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) in New Delhi, that the CBI should act without fear or favour. The premier criminal investigation agency needed more physical space to work in and a more congenial work environment for its 5,000-plus staff members. It has now got this reward after decades of hard and sustained labour under trying circumstances.

Speeding up government - The Electronic Service Delivery Bill - 2011

The Electronic Service Delivery Bill, 2011, which aims at delivering all public services to citizens in the electronic mode, is a welcome piece of legislation. By eliminating paperwork on a massive scale, the new measure can cut the red tape and corruption that notoriously plague governance in the country. The draft Bill published by the Ministry of Information Technology at its website is similar to the Right to Information Act, 2005 in that it incorporates a complaints mechanism and prescribes penalties for failure to comply with the provisions. Importantly, it sets a five-year deadline for all public services to make the online transition, with a further concession of three years in some cases. What people can expect in the new dispensation is electronic submission of forms and applications, issue or grant of any licence, permit, certificate, sanction or approval, and receipt or payment of money. No time must be lost in enacting the law, given India's poor record of delivery of citizen services. Moreover, services now facing severe bottlenecks, such as passports, should be prioritised for electronic processing. The draft provisions make it incumbent on the central and State governments to publish a list within six months of the date of enactment, and they would do well to pick the worst-performing departments for inclusion first.

India favours increased role of neighbourhood countries in Afghanistan

India favours an increased role of neighbourhood countries to bring peace, prosperity and stability in Afghanistan. The external affiars sources said in New Delhi that in post-Osama scenario, there is an ardent need to bring together international community on terror related issues in the region.India has made it clear that it is committed to the traditional friendship with Afghanistan. 

Courtesy : AIR

Taiwan deploys supersonic anti-ship missiles

Taiwan has deployed a new supersonic missile on its warships in the latest response to China's rapid naval expansion, a lawmaker said today.Military authorities are also mulling deploying the Hsiung Feng III -the first locally developed supersonic anti-ship missile on mobile launchers, Lin Yu-fang, of the Kuomintang party, said in a statement quoting Vice Admiral Lee Hao.

How HIV-related virus evades human antibody 'discovered'

In what could be called a major breakthrough in the fight against AIDS, scientists claim to have discovered the exact way of how an HIV-related virus keeps evading human antibody.An international team says that the latest insights into immunity to HIV could help develop a vaccine to build antibodies' defences against AIDS.

Govt issues export release orders for 91,685 tonnes of sugar

The Food Ministry has issued export orders for nearly 92,000 tonnes of sugar to mills till last week out of the total quantity of five lakh tonnes that the government has allowed for outbound shipment.Sugar mills cannot export their produce without a release order from the Food Ministry.On 22^nd March, an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Food headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had allowed mills to export 5 lakh tonnes of sugar under an Open General Licence (OGL), which do not entail any restrictions.

China to boost emergency safety standards for its nuke plants

Looking to go ahead with its massive expansion plans of nuclear power, China will upgrade emergency safety procedures like installing mobile power generators at nuclear plants to deal with multiple disasters, two months after an earthquake and tsunami in Japan triggered an atomic crisis.Emergency procedures will be upgraded to ensure nuclear safety in China following the Japan crisis, Liu Hua, head of the nuclear safety and radioactive safety management department under the Ministry of Environmental Protection, told 'China Daily'.

A departure from conventional approach

The Annual Policy 2011-12 was substantially different from all other recent monetary policies announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). While it stressed more on the current as well as future inflationary pressures and the ways and means to mitigate its horrors, the RBI decided to sacrifice the prevailing growth rate and cut that to 8 per cent for 2011-12 from the last year's 8.6 per cent.A subdued RBI Governor D. Subbarao was at pains to explain how inflation would affect growth. He has also admitted that RBI failed to judge or foresee the inflationary pressures early, which even affected the credibility of the RBI.

US files second chargesheet in Mumbai terror attack case

The US government has filed a second chargesheet in a Chicago court in the 26/11 terror strike in Mumbai naming five people as accused in the case.The chargesheet filed in the US court, according to media reports on Monday, named the five accused as-Sajid Majeed, Abu Qahafa, Mazhar Iqbal, Major Iqbal and a Lashkar-e-Toiba member.The accused were named in the Tahawwur Rana case.Rana is a Pakistani Canadian and like Pakistani American David Coleman Headley is involved in the Mumbai attack.

‘No quick fix solution for lowering inflation'

Reserve Bank of India Governor D. Subbarao on Monday said it was unrealistic to expect the central bank to deliver on an inflation target in the short-term.“In an emerging economy like ours it is not practical for the central bank to focus exclusively on inflation oblivious of the larger development context. The RBI cannot escape from the difficult challenge of weighing the growth-inflation trade off in determining its monetary policy stance,” said Dr. Subbarao while addressing the meeting of Central bank governance group in Basel.

U.S.-China talks under way

Top officials of the United States and China kicked off the bilateral Strategic and Economic Dialogue here on Monday, a series of annual broad-agenda policy discussions focusing on everything from trade and economic issues to human rights.The third joint meeting of the U.S.-China S&ED is hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner.

“Congress has failed to provide leadership to UPA”

Accusing the faction-ridden Congress of failing to provide leadership to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley has apprehended that the drift which has gripped the politico-economic sphere could prove fatal if not stemmed urgently.Attributing all the ills of the UPA government to internal political struggle within the Congress, bickering among ministers, and a failure to build consensus on crucial issues, Mr. Jaitley said the global impact of all this was that India was no longer considered the best place to do business.

Russia displays military might

Russia marked victory in World War II with the biggest yet display of military might in the traditional Red Square parade outside the Kremlin on Monday.Twenty thousand elite troops dressed in new sleek designer uniforms strode across the historical square in precision formations to the rousing sounds of wartime marches, followed by more than 100 pieces of Russia's most modern hardware, from airdropped armoured personnel carriers to long-range mobile ballistic missiles Topol-M.

Medha favours dialogue

Social activist Medha Patkar on Monday expressed her support for the farmers' agitation against land acquisition in Uttar Pradesh, saying that the serving of “private purposes in the name of public purpose” was the trigger for the unrest.Indicating that she would join the movement in Noida, Ms. Patkar said the agitating farmers must be called for dialogue that should be decisive. “Till then, there should be a moratorium on the construction of the Yamuna Expressway,” she said.