Ban Ki- moon announces official bid for a second term as UN chief

UN Secretary General Ban Ki- moon has announced his official bid for a second term as the UN chief. The secretary general made the announcement at a press conference at the UN Headquarters in New York on Monday following his meeting with the Asian Group of nations at the United Nations. He said, if supported by the member- states, he would be deeply honored to serve once more. Diplomats said, Mr. Ban sent a letter to both the 192-member UN General Assembly and the president of the 15-nation UN Security Council, the UN ambassador of Gabon who holds the rotating Council presidency for June, formally asking for the support to his candidacy for a second five-year term as the UN Secretary General. Ban's current mandate ends on December 31, and he has no declared rival for the post. The 66-year-old former South Korean foreign minister succeeded Kofi Annan in January 2007.

Russia officially agrees on disposal of excess weapon-grade plutonium

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ratified the US-Russia agreement on the disposal of excess weapon-grade plutonium. The Kremlin press service today said that Russia intends to spend up to 3.5 billion U.S. dollars on the programme, which is seen as a continuation of the new Russian-U.S. Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) that slashes arsenals of each country to 1,550 strategic warheads. The report also said the United States is expected to spend some 400 million dollars on the programme. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed in April 2010, a final agreement on eliminating excess weapon-grade plutonium from defense programs. Under the agreement, each side will dispose of 34 metric tons of excess plutonium, which is enough to create several thousand nuclear weapons. The programme is to be launched before 2018. The agreement was passed by the Russian State lower house of parliament on May 20 and upheld by the upper house on May 25, 2011. 

Courtesy : AIR

Boxing Tournament : India wins silver & bronze medals

In the 'Giraldo Córdova Cardin' Memorial Boxing Tournament at Havana, Cuba, the Indian team has settled for one silver and five bronze medals. The lone silver medal was won by Manpreet Singh in the 91kg category.The bronze medals winners were Nanao Singh (49kg), Suranjoy Singh (52kg), Santosh Harijan (52kg), Kuldeep Singh (75kg) and Paramjeet Samota in the 91kg division.

Courtesy : AIR

Rafael Nadal wins Men's Singles title of French Open

World number one Rafael Nadal won the Men's Singles title of the French Open Tennis Championships beating Roger Federer 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1 in Paris on Sunday. It was his 10th Grand Slam crown and he also equaled Bjorn Borg's record of six French Open titles. Top seed Nadal, who was also champion in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010, took his overall Paris record to 45 wins against just one defeat. The victory also meant he hangs on to his world number one spot. 

Courtesy : AIR

Foreign Secy level talks between India and B’desh begin

Foreign Secretary level talks between India and Bangladesh began in Dhaka on Tuesday, issues related to cooperation in counter terrorism, sharing of waters, transit facilities are high on agenda.Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao is leading the Indian delegation while Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes is leading his country's side.

Govt serious about fighting corruption; Police action at Ramlila Maidan was unfortunate

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the Govt is very serious about fighting corruption but there is no magic wand and further reiterated that police action at Ramlila Maidan was very unfortunate and there was no alternative.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Mondy gave away KC Kulish International Award for excellence in Media and journalism instituted by the Hindi daily.Singh further said that the issue of paid news is a serious concern.

Shri Kapil Sibal Addresses 58th Meeting of CABE; Proposes Extension of RTE up to Secondary Level Moots Bill to Control Malpractices in School Education

The world of the 21st century will be driven by the power of ideas. Knowledge capital generation will lead to wealth creation and removal of poverty. The youth of the country would have to be at the forefront for leading the nation to social and economic progress. This can be done by empowering the youth and children through education to harness the demographic dividend. This was stated by Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Human Resource Development in his address at the inaugural session of the 58th meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE).

Shri Harish Rawat Calls for Improving Municipal Slaughterhouses in Semi-Urban and Rural Areas National Conference of Mayors Inaugurated

With the largest livestock population in the world India can meet the world protein demand very easily. This will improve upon the economic levels of animal breeders,meat workers, processors and exporters. This was stated by Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries, Shri Harish Rawat at the inaugural session of National Conference for Mayors here today. Shri Rawat informed that production of meat and meat products has been steadily growing at the rate of 4% per annum while meat exports have been growing at close to 30% per annum in terms of quantity. He said, exports of value added meat products are insignificant.

Evaporation from land only modifies rainfall frequency

A team of researchers has found that evaporation from the land only modifies the frequency of summertime rainfall, and not its quantity.“This is a major shift in our understanding of the coupling between the land surface and the atmosphere, and fundamental for our understanding of the prolongation of hydrological extremes like floods and droughts,” said Pierre Gentine, assistant professor of Applied Mathematics at The Fu Foundation School for Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University.

‘Domestic cloud computing estimated to grow at 53 pc’

The domestic cloud computing industry is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 53 per cent to be a Rs 2,434 crore market by 2014, a study conducted by CyberMedia Research India said.“The public cloud computing market in India is estimated to touch Rs 2,434 crore in 2014 after growing at a CAGR of 53 per cent between 2010-2014,” a company statement said.

No intention to quit Lokpal panel, say civil society members

A day after boycotting the meeting of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee, Anna Hazare-led team on Tuesday made it clear that they had no intention to quit the joint panel and hit out at Union Minister Kapil Sibal for attacking them.Activist Arvind Kejriwal said civil society members will attend the next meeting and contended that if they leave the ten-member committee, it will have “no credibility” as it will only remain a government panel with five ministers.“Kapil Sibal has said that whether we come or not, they will go ahead (with the drafting of the Lokpal Bill). Why did that question arise? We had written to (Finance Minister) Pranab Mukherjee that we will not be attending today’s (June 6) meeting”.

FM to Inaugurate Annual Conference of Chief Commissioners and Directors General of Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax Tomorrow; Revenue Mobilisation, GST and Managing Innovations Efficiently to Dominate the Two Days Conference

The All India Annual Conference of the Chief Commissioners and Directors General of Customs , Central Excise and Service Tax will be held at Vigyan Bhawan , New Delhi on 8th and 9th June, 2011. The Union Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate the Conference on 8th June, 2011 while Minister of State for Finance Shri S.S. Palanimanickam will preside over the valedictory function on 9th June, 2011.