Speaker of the Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan World Bank Economic update

Speaker of the Lok Sabha
nior BJP leader Sumitra Mahajan has been chosen as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha unanimously.

Capital market regulator Sebi has widened its probe into suspected investment scams through mobile SMS and WhatsApp messages, wherein investors are lured into promise of huge returns after initial payments.

Kathleen Stephens, the new US interim Ambassador, took charge of the American Embassy.

An American lawmaker from the southernmost US state of Connecticut has been selected for the 'Friend of India' award for his contribution in strengthening Indo-US relationship.

The Chinese economy will grow at 7.6 per cent this year, a notch lower than last year's 7.7 per cent, and the trend is likely to continue next year as well, a World Bank Economic update.

Delhi Commonwealth Games gold medallist K Ravi Kumar will be spearheading the eight-strong Indian men's weightlifting challenge at the upcoming edition of the quadrennial event, to be held in Glasgow from July 23 to August 3.

India's annual defence budget is just one-third of that of China despite the tensions that remain along their shared border, according to a Pentagon report.

Scientists have found new evidence to support the theory that Moon was created by a gigantic collision between Earth and a mysterious planet-sized object some 4.5 billion years ago.

Current affairs 18 October 2012

Delhi, Mumbai rank low on ‘most prosperous’ list

New Delhi and Mumbai figure low on the list of prosperous cities across the globe, but have the potential to

make it to the top rung, says a United Nation’s report. Released, the State of the World’s Cities report by the

U.N. Habitat ranks New Delhi at 58 and while Mumbai has been placed at 52 among 95 cities. The reasons

for Indian cities being ranked low is the poor status of development indicators like infrastructure,

environmental conditions and avenues for employment. Commenting on India’s ranking in the global list,

Eduardo Lopez Moreno, chief author of the report, said New Delhi and Mumbai can be described as cities

with “medium” performance. The report classifies cities into groups, based on their performance, while India

is in Group IV, countries in Europe and North America are in Group I, which has countries demonstrating

better integrity of all dimensions (productivity, quality of life, adequate infrastructure, equity and

environmental sustainability) and high volume of good services and economic fundamentals. New Delhi and

Mumbai, it does mention the achievements in the IT sector in cities such as Bangalore, and Hyderabad’s

position as the pharmaceutical capital of India. Austrian Capital Vienna tops the list of 95 cities, followed by

New York, Toronto, London and Stockholm.

PTR bags U.N.-India biodiversity award

The Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) has won the coveted U.N.-India Biodiversity Governance award instituted

by the Government of India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for the best managed

protected area of the country. The award was announced at the Conference of Parties to Convention on

Biological Diversity in Hyderabad. The award carries a purse of Rs.50,000 and a citation. The PTR and the

Kanha Tiger Reserve of Madhya Pradesh were the finalists for the prize instituted by the Ministry of

Environment and Forests and the UNDP. The PTR, first tiger reserve in the State, is home to 35 tigers. The

reserve, which is spread over an area of 925 sq km, is also one of the best known eco-tourism centres of the

country which is visited by around seven lakh people annually. The park supports a wide range of wildlife,

including tigers and elephants. It is also one of the elephant reserves of the country.

New UNEP Goodwill Ambassador calls for green accounting

Environmental economist Pavan Sukhdev, who stresses eco-friendly agriculture, solar power and protection

of biodiversity and ecosystem services as free sources of income for the poor, is the new Goodwill

Ambassador of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). An advocate of ‘GDP of the poor’ and

biodiversity benefits going to millions of India’s less affluent citizens, Mr. Sukhdev has formally inducted by

Achim Steiner, Executive Director, UNEP, to join such predecessors as Brazilian supermodel Gisele

Bundchen, French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand and American actor Don Cheadle. He says 40 million

homes in China use solar thermal technology to heat water, which covers one-tenth of the population and

promotes the health of the elderly who suffer from arthritis.

‘Track Child’ project to be implemented across the country

With the country registering a sharp rise in the number of missing children, the Union Women & Child

Development Ministry has decided to implement the “Track Child” project all over the country simultaneously

instead of on a pilot basis. WCD Secretary Prem Narain noted that a large number of children go missing

each year in the country due to various reasons including trafficking for labour, sexual exploitation and

begging. “The Ministry is aware of the growing numbers of these children and keeping this in view we have

decided to go in for a simultaneous country-wide programme.” The track child scheme envisages putting in

place a child tracking system which is aimed at maintaining real time data of all children availing

rehabilitation services under the Integrated Child Protection Scheme.

Pak bravery award for Malala Yousufzai

Sitara-e-Shujaat, one of Pakistan's highest civilian awards for bravery, will be given to 14-year-old Malala

Yousufzai, who was shot by the Taliban for speaking out against the militants, interior minister Rehman Malik

said. Taliban, meanwhile, said Malala deserved to die because she had spoken out against the group and

praised US President Obama. Calling her a "spy of the West", it said, "Islam orders killing of those who are

spying for enemies."

French team probing Yasser Arafat’s death quizzes widow

French investigators probing the death of Yasser Arafat questioned his widow Suha, who claims the veteran

Palestinian leader may have been poisoned. France opened a murder enquiry in late August after Arafat’s

family launched legal action following reports he may have died from radioactive polonium near Paris in

2004. Suha, a resident of Malta, had met with investigators in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, where the

family’s complaint was filed. No other details were disclosed. French investigators are due to arrive on

November 26 in Ramallah, where the former Palestinian leader is entombed, as part of a probe they are

conducting with experts from a Swiss radiation institute.Arafat’s family has agreed to the exhuming of his

remains for testing in the investigation. Polonium is a highly toxic substance rarely found outside military and

scientific circles. It was used to kill former Russian spy turned Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko, who died

in 2006 in London shortly after drinking tea laced with the poison.

Tea Board, ETC join hands to protect Darjeeling tea

A joint communiqué has been signed between the Tea Board of India and the European Tea Committee

(ETC), supporting the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) registration granted to Darjeeling tea within

the European Union (EU).The Tea Board was represented by M. G. V. K. Bhanu, Chairman, while the

Hamburg-based European Tea Committee was represented by William Gorman, President. ETC is the

Central European Federation of national associations involved in tea. Its activities focus on quality control

and food laws mainly.

Refarm entire spectrum in 900 MHz band: Telecom Commission

Telecom Commission, the highest decision making body of Department of Telecom (DoT), has

recommended that existing operators surrender the entire spectrum in 900 Mhz band at the time of their

licence renewal in 2014. Telecom Secretary R Chandrashekhar said that three different options were put

before the commission which included refarming (or redistribution of airwaves held by existing players) of all

airwaves held by incumbents, or allowing the operators to retain either 2.5 Mhz or 5 Mhz of airwaves

frequencies in 900 Mhz band. But the commission decided that entire spectrum will be refarmed which

means above 0 Mhz. The recommendations of the commission will now be put before the empowered group

of ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram for a final decision. The Government had

allocated spectrum in 900 Mhz band to companies from 2001 for Rs1,658 crore for pan-India services. GSM

operators have been against refarming, saying it may result in call rates going up by as much as 64 paise a

minute.

M&M launches premium SUV Rexton

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), has launched its premium sports utility vehicle (SUV), the Rexton, in India.

This is the first product launched by M&M from the portfolio of Korean subsidiary Ssangyong. M&M bought a

70 per cent stake in the ailing Ssangyong of South Korea for $463 million (around Rs.2,100 crore) in March

2011. Rexton is sold in 70 countries. Rexton, the first product from the Ssangyong stable to be launched in

India, will compete with models like Toyota's Fortuner, Ford's Endeavour and Chevrolet Captiva.

IOC signs MoU with Korea Gas

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC),has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Korea Gas

Corporation (Kogas) for jointly exploring opportunities in exploration of oil and gas and LNG business. IOC

and Kogas signed an MoU for joint participation in exploration and production of gas and oil at the global

level, and developing natural gas infrastructure projects and LNG sourcing.

Polaris inks pact with Pyxis

Polaris Financial Technology, has announced that it had entered into a business purchase agreement with

Pyxis to strengthen its consulting capabilities. Pyxis, which is a specialised player in technologies for global

markets, would help Polaris with its market solutions.

US-based Fossil Inc to invest $4.5 million in India

US-based accessories manufacturer Fossil Inc has proposed to invest Rs 20 crore (about $4.5 million) in

India in a fully owned single brand retail venture. This is the third single brand retail proposal that has been

cleared by the department, marking a significant progress in the government's attempts to attract foreign

direct investment (FDI). The UK-based footwear company Pavers England and Swedish furniture retailer

Ikea have put in a formal proposal after the government raised the FDI limit for single brand retail to 100%

from 51% subject to conditions.

Boost ties up with McLaren for Indian Grand Prix

Boost, India's health food drink, has announced partnership with the F1 side McLaren for the upcoming

Indian Grand Prix. As part of the association, the Boost brand logo will run on Lewis Hamilton and Jenson

Button's race cars during the race and the chocolate flavoured health drink will be available for the team

throughout the race.

Nike cuts ties with Armstrong

Lance Armstrong stepped down as chairman of his Livestrong cancer charity as Nike broke all ties with the

disgraced cycling star over “seemingly insurmountable evidence” of doping.

Bhupathi-Bopanna move up to No. 6 in ATP rankings

The all-Indian pairing of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, who made the final of the Shanghai Rolex

Masters 1000, climbed two places in the ATP rankings. Bhupathi and Bopanna, who are in a hot chase to

make the ATP World Tour Finals in London, were up to number six. The top-eight teams will fight it out in the

season-ending championships. In the individual doubles ranking Paes stayed at number five, while Bopanna

climbed four places to return to the top-10 and Bhupathi was at number 16.