Agence Francaise de Developpement National Aerospace Laboratories gk

Agence Francaise de Developpement

Former IB chief Rajiv Mathur took over as the new Chief Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission.

A milestone has been achieved in the field of aviation safety when CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL), Bangalore and India Meteorological Department (IMD) signed a partnership agreement for joint production of Drishti system.

As many as nine Indian firms have made it to the Forbes World's 100 most innovative growth companies list, which has been topped by New Zealand software accounting firm Xero.

The 2014 edition of the ‘SIMBEX 2014’ series of annual bilateral naval exercises between the Indian Navy (IN) and the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), is being conducted in the Andaman Sea from 22 May to 28 May 2014.

The Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) is extending a Line of Credit (LoC) of Euro 100 million to M/s Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) to be utilized for financing Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency projects in India.

Foreign direct investment into India grew 8 per cent year-on-year to $24.3 billion in 2013-14, according to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) data.

Moving closer towards doing away with banking secrecy practices, Switzerland has started ground work for implementation of automatic exchange of information on tax matters.

India's steel production grew by 5.3 per cent in April outpacing the world's average growth of 1.7 per cent, World Steel Association (WSA) opinion.

Marking the biggest consolidation in e-commerce space in India, homegrown e-retailer Flipkart has acquired online fashion retailer Myntra in estimated Rs 2,000 crore deal.

current affairs 14 september 2012

Information panels should be manned by judicial people: SC

The Supreme Court held that the Central Information Commission and state information commissions are forums performing quasi judicial functions and thus these should be manned by people with judicial background. The court said that one of the two members hearing a plea challenging the denial of information has to be from judicial background. Justice A.K. Patnaik and Justice Swatanter Kumar suggested to parliament to either rework or amend the provisions of the Right to Information Act, 2005, dealing with the criteria and appointment of the central and state level commission members. The appointment of the judicial members of the CIC would be done in consultation with the Chief Justice of India, and similarly for the state information commissions in consultation with the chief justices of the respective high courts. Lawyers with 20 years of experience could also be considered for appointment to central and state level commissions. The court order came on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking quashing of Clause five of Section 12 and Clauses 5 and six of Section 15 of the RTI Act, prescribing qualifications for the people who are eligible for appointment to central and state information commissions.

Four coal blocks de-allocated; 3 firms to lose bank guarantee

The Coal Ministry accepted the recommendations of the Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) and notified de-allocation of four blocks and deduction of bank guarantee in the case of three companies. The IMG took into consideration various factors before making the recommendations, including approval of the mining plan, grant of environment clearance and the status of forest clearance, land acquisition and setting up of end-use project by the concerned private company concerned. The Ministry said the IMG had recommended de-allocation of four blocks the Bramhadih Block in Jharkhand allocated to Castron Mining Ltd. in 1996; the Chinora and Warora (Southern part) blocks in Maharashtra given to Field Mining and Ispat Ltd. in 2003; the Lalgarh (North) block in West Bokaro, Jharkhand, allotted to Domco Smokeless Fuels Pvt. Ltd. In 2005. In addition, the IMG, headed by Additional Secretary Zohra Chatterjee, had also recommended deduction of bank guarantee in the case of Marki Mangli-II, III and IV blocks in Maharashtra allocated to Shri Virangana Steels Ltd.

Tilak Kumar elected INS president

K.N. Tilak Kumar, Joint Managing Director of The Printers (Mysore) Ltd. and Editor of Deccan Herald , was elected president of The Indian Newspaper Society for 2012-13, at its 73rd annual meeting held in Bengaluru. He succeeds Ashish Bagga of India Today . The 45 members of the executive committee include K. Balaji, Director, The Hindu ; Akila Urankar of Business Standard ; M. Venkatesh of Hindustan Times ; Manoj Kumar Sonthalia of The New Indian Express ; Maheshwer Peri of Outlook ; Jayant Mammen Mathew of Malayala Manorama ; R. Lakshmipathi of Dinamalar ; and Shailesh Gupta of Mid-Day. The INS has on its panel of members over 1,000 dailies, bi-weeklies, weeklies, fortnightlies and monthlies, published in 18 languages from all over the country. It was set up to give the newspaper industry direction, cohesion, and foster mutual co-ordination

Muslims object to illustrations in NCERT history textbook

Even as the controversy over political cartoons in school textbooks is yet to subside, the Muslim community has objected to two illustrations and the text of a chapter in the Class XI history book published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training under the National Curriculum Framework-2007. Shahi Imam of the Fatehpuri mosque Mohammad Mukarram Ahmed has written to HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, demanding immediate withdrawal of the textbook and an apology from the NCERT. The controversy relates to a chapter on ‘The Central Islamic Lands’ that has two illustrations. One of them on page 79 depicts a medieval painting of Archangel Gabriel (Jibril) who brought messages to Muhammad. The caption reads: “The first word he spoke was ‘recite’ (iqra) from which has come the word Quran. In Islamic cosmology, angels are one of the three intelligent forms of life in the universe. The other two are human and jinn.” The other illustration, on page 80, depicts pilgrims at the Kaba taken from a 15th century manuscript. It reads: “A pilgrim touches the black stone (hajr al-aswad) while angels watch.” Page 2 of 3 14th September 2012

Ranganath Misra passes away

The former Chief Justice of India, Ranganath Misra, died on September 13 following prolonged illness.

FICCI award for Fortis Escorts

Jaipur-based Fortis Escorts Hospital has bagged the prestigious FICCI Healthcare Excellence Award-2012 for operational excellence in the category of private hospitals with super speciality having more than 100 beds. The hospital’s track record in patient care, efficiency of staff and excellence in functioning were taken into account for its selection. The award, instituted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, aims at felicitating institutions and individuals for their contribution to the industry through innovations in health care delivery and increasing efficiency of the medical and para-medical staff. Fortis hospital was the first in Rajasthan to get the coveted national award. Fortis was selected from among 270 hospitals across the country which had applied for the award. Director Prateem Tamboli received the award at a ceremony organised by FICCI in New Delhi recently, where President Pranab Mukherjee was the chief guest.

Himachal power project inaugurated

The 192 MW Allain Duhangan hydro-electric project in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh was inaugurated and dedicated to the nation by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal. The Allain Duhangan Hydro Project Limited (ADHPL) is a subsidiary of Malana Power Company Limited, a joint venture between Bhilwara Energy Limited and Norway’s SN Power. The project is a run-of-the-river project on Allain and Duhangan rivers in Manali and would generate 820 million units of power annually. With this, the total installed capacity of the Bhilwara Group in hydro power has gone up to 300 MW. Malana Power Company has an operational 86 MW project at Kullu which was commissioned in 2001. This project also includes construction of 175 km high voltage line for transmission of power to the national grid connection point located at Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh. The project has been approved by UN Framework Convention on Climate Change for Clean Development Mechanism,

Qaida posts online video of two 9/11 hijackers

Al-Qaida posted an online video of two plane hijackers of the September 11, 2001 suicide attacks, which they said were part of a war to drive US forces out of the Arabian Peninsula. Salim al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdar, two of the 19 extremists who hijacked the four airliners, appeared reading their wills, in the video titled 'The Emerging Sun of Victory Over the Victorious Ummah and the Vanquished Crusades' produced by As-Sahab media arm of al-Qaida and provided by the US-based SITE Monitoring Services. Mihdar, dressed in a military jacket and white turban, with a machinegun to his left, said he was reading his will on 21 Safar 1422, on the Islamic calendar, which was April 26, 2001. Mihdar is believed to have landed in the US in January 2000. "Arab leaders... have gone far in betraying their nation and have permitted Christian Americans into the land of the two holy sites" of Mecca and Medina, he said. The operation was "part of jihad campaign against the US and its supporters," said Hazmi.

COMPAT serves notice on CCI

The Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT), has served notices on the Competition Commission and the Builders’ Association of India, on whose complaint the fair trade regulator had imposed a penalty of Rs. 6,307 crore on 11 cement firms on charges of cartelisation. In their petitions, the cement firms have requested the tribunal to quash the entire CCI order. They have also requested the COMPAT to grant an interim stay on the CCI’s penalty till the tribunal decides on their petitions. Industry body Cement Manufacturers’Association (CMA) has also challenged CCI’s findings along with the producers. 

Essar Oil can pay sales tax dues in phases: SC

Ending the Gujarat sales tax case involving Essar Oil, the Supreme Court, which passed the judgment, has directed Essar Oil to pay the balance sales tax dues of Rs.5,165 crore in eight quarterly instalments spread over two years beginning January 2, 2013. The Gujarat Government’s demand for Rs.1,800 crore as interest for the period up to January 17, 2012, has been dismissed by the Supreme Court.

‘Touch Screen’ watch from Sonata

Sonata, the watch brand from Titan Industries, has announced the launch of the first ever touch screen watch in the country. The touch screen watch is a multi-function sports watch with a high water resistance and comes packed with features such as light, stop-watch, multiple time display, day, date, alarm, and is available in three vibrant colours. Like all other Sonata super fibre watches, this watch is made with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and polyurethane. It is available in over 8,000 outlets across the country at an introductory price point of Rs.1,499.

Lamborghini recalls 1,500 cars due to risk of fire

Italian sports car maker Lamborghini is recalling some Gallardo models because power steering fluid can leak and catch fire. The recall affects about 1,500 Gallardo Coupe and Spyder autos, from model years 2004 to 2006. Lamborghini says in documents sent to the U.S. safety regulators that pipes can corrode near the power steering pump. In rare cases, fluid can leak onto the hot engine and cause a fire.

‘India's potash imports expected at 3.5-4 MT’

World's second largest potash producer Uralkali has pegged India's potash imports at 3.5-4 million tonnes (MT) in 2012 due a cut in subsidy on phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers by the Government. India imports 100 per cent of its domestic requirement of muriate of potash (MoP), a key fertiliser. It had imported 2.7 million tonnes in 2011-12 fiscal and 4.5 million tonnes in 2010-11 fiscal.

Govt likely to approve stake sale in 5 PSUs, IPO of RITES

Hard pressed to achieve disinvestment target of Rs 30,000 crore in the current fiscal, the government will consider the proposal of stake sale in five state-owned companies including Hindustan Copper, Oil India and Nalco stake sale, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), will also consider initial public offering (IPO) in the Rail India Technical and Economical Services (RITES). The agenda of the CCEA, also include stake sale in Neyveli Lignite and MMTC. The Department of Disinvestment (DoD), has proposed 10 per cent stake sale proposal of Oil India and another 9.59 per cent disinvestment of Hindustan Copper.

National championship from Oct. 8

The 18th Fenesta National tennis championship, offering Rs. 1.5 lakh for the men’s champion and Rs. 1 lakh for the women’s champion, will be held at the DLTA Complex from October 8 to 13. The qualifying event will be held from October 6.