Government News October 2013 Current News October 2013
Ranjan Mathai Appointed as India's High Commissioner to United Kingdom
Former Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai appointed as India's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
He will succeed noted economist and veteran diplomat Dr Jaimini Bhagwati.
Ranjan Mathai joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1974 and has served in Indian embassies in Vienna, Colombo, Washington, Tehran and Brussels.
Ranjan Mathai served as Foreign Secretary for a period of two years and handed over the charge to his successor Sujatha Singh in July 2013.
Ravi Shankar Narsimhan was presented with Friendship Award
A senior Indian journalist, Ravi Shankar Narsimhan, on 29 September 2013 was presented with Friendship award by China-the highest honor given to foreigners.
Narsimhan is the executive editor in the overseas edition of the Beijing based China Daily. Ravi Shankar hails from Andhra Pradesh.
Narsimhan has worked with China Daily for 11 years. He was given the award for helping China better tell its stories to the outside world. He is one among the 50 foreign experts from 20 countries and diverse fields, who have been rewarded.
The Friendship Award is an annual award given by the Chinese government to honour outstanding foreign experts in China.
India-Mozambique trade could double by 2016: Anand Sharma
Trade between India and Mozambique could double to $3 billion by 2016 from the current level of $1.28 billion.
This was stated by Commerce Minister Anand Sharma during his meeting with Mozambique's Industry and Trade Minister Armando Inroga in the Mozambique capital Maputo,
Sharma was on a two-day visit to that country September 27-28 during which he also met Prime Minister Alberto Vaquina of Mozambique.
Bilateral trade has doubled from $631.76 million in 2011-12 to $1.28 billion in 2012-13, surpassing the one billion US dollars bilateral trade target set during Mozambique President Armando Guebuza's visit to India in 2010.
India has extended Lines of Credit (LoC) worth $640 million to Mozambique. Three LoCs worth $216.4 million for development work in Mozambique were signed during the visit of Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur in July.
India is the 8th largest foreign investor in Mozambique with total investments estimated at more than $500 million.
Armando EmÃlio Guebuza is a Mozambican politician and the President of Mozambique since 2005.
Alberto Vaquina is the Prime Minister of Mozambique.
Capital of Mozambique - Maputo
Currency of Mozambique - Mozambican metical
India’s first 5500 HP engine rolled out
Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW), Varanasi, has rolled out the country’s most powerful engine of 5500 HP.
It is considered to be the largest locomotive to be used on a 22-axle load in the world, though several countries have engines more powerful carrying load on higher axle loads.
The WDG5 prototype, introduced in the North Central Railway as a pilot project, has the capacity to attain a speed of 100 km-per-hour, promising better throughput.
Cabinet approves Rs 37,230 crore refinery project in Rajasthan
Cabinet approves Rs 37,230 crore refinery project in poll-bound Rajasthan as second biggest project in Rajasthan after the Indira Gandhi canal and it will brighten prospects of the incumbent, Ashok Gehlot government in the polls.
The proposed refinery will be a subsidiary of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd with its equity of 74% to be held by HPCL and 26% to be held by the government of Rajasthan," an oil ministry statement said.
The Rajasthan government has been pursuing the central government to have a refinery in the state after Cairn India discovered the country's biggest on-land oilfield. It intensified its efforts since 2009 when the first oil was produced from the Barmer block.
The 9 million tonne refinery-cum-petrochemical project is expected to be commissioned by 2017 and it will process a mix of crude oil produced from Cairn India's Barmer oilfields, and imported Arab mix.
The new engine comes with advanced technologies pertaining to electronic fuel injection for higher fuel efficiency and emission norms.
RBI to infuse Rs10,000 cr to ease market liquidity
The Reserve Bank of India will infuse 10 thousand crore rupees by purchasing government securities on 7 October, to ease liquidity in the market.
In a release issued yesterday, RBI stated that based on the assessment of prevailing and evolving market conditions, it has decided to conduct open market operations by purchasing government securities for an aggregate amount of 10 thousand crore rupees.
Open market operations refer to the sale or purchase of government securities with the objective of adjusting rupee liquidity conditions in the market.
World's first carbon nanotube computer built
Scientists, led by an Indian-origin researcher, have developed the world's first computer built entirely with carbon nanotubes, opening the door to a new generation of faster-running digital devices.
Carbon nanotubes (CNT) - a semiconductor material - has the potential to launch a
new generation of electronic devices that run faster, while using less energy, than those made from silicon chips, researchers said.
Karen Russell, Donald Antrim among MacArthur Fellowships
Novelist and professor Donald Antrim and Pulitzer nominee Karen Russell are among the 24 MacArthur Fellows elected for 2013.
Antrim, whose work can be found in The New Yorker, is known for three works of fiction: "Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World," published 1993, "The
Hundred Brothers" in 1998, and "The Verificationist" in 2000, the middle of which was recognized by the PEN/Faulkner Award panel.
The MacArthur Fellows Program, colloquially known as the Genius Grant, awards $625,000 to each recepient over five years, given to US citizens that show "exceptional creativity in their work and the prospect for still more in the future."
SBI hikes base rate by 10 bps to 9.80%
State Bank of India (SBI) has hiked lending rates wherein new borrowers will have to pay more as compared to existing borrowers. SBI hiked base rate by 10 basis points to 9.80% a day before the Reserve Bank of India's new governor, Raghuram Rajan is slated to announce his first mid quarter policy statement.
New home loan borrowers of SBI will have to pay 10.05% for home loans for loans upto Rs 30 lakhs while the existing home loan customers will be charged 10%. For home loans between Rs 30 lakhs to Rs 75 lakhs, new customers will be charged 10.30% while existing customers will be charged 10.20%.
SBI is the first government owned bank to raise rates after RBI started tightening liquidity to protect the rupee from weakening in mid July. Following this, SBI and HDFC Bank offers lowest lending rate at 9.80%
SBI has also raised spreads on base rate for corporate loans. Officials from the bank who did not want to be named said that mark-up on base rate for top rated corporate is raised by 15 bps to 105 bps.
BlackBerry’s apps BBM coming to Android, iPhone by this week
BlackBerry's popular instant chat service BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) will start running on rival mobile devices powered by Google's Android and Apple's iOS software later this week in line with the Canadian smartphone maker's plans to open up the service to hold on to market share.
BlackBerry's decision to throw open its proprietary messaging platform is yet another attempt by the struggling firm to remain relevant and arrest falling market share amid news reports that it may cut 40% of its global workforce soon.
A one time pioneer of the global smartphone turf, BlackBerry has lately been trying to survive in a market where rivals like Samsung Electronics and Apple have left it far behind in terms of market share.
instant chat service, in its new versions, will continue using the BBM PIN to maintain privacy.
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