Today Current News 12 October 2013

Today Current News 12 October 2013

Gujarat government plans exclusive zone for Japanese companies

Gujarat government is planning a dedicated industrial zone for Japanese companies coming to the state.

Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC), the nodal agency for the planned industrial development in the state, has initiated the process of developing the dedicated zone to facilitate setting up of medium and large size units.

GIDC plans to acquire around 500 hectares of land for the proposed zone on the model of Japan Industrial Zone developed by Rajasthan government in Neemrana in Alwar district. 

We are planning it on a bigger scale. We expect at least 25 companies to invest Rs 100 crore to Rs 500 crore each.

The company is planning to invest around Rs 4,000 crore for the unit with 1 million car annual capacity. Total direct or indirect employment generated is expected to be 1.5 lakh. 

The state government has given 'mega and innovative project' status to the venture.

Global chemical watchdog OPCW wins Nobel Peace Prize 

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons won this year's Nobel Peace Prize today "for its extensive efforts" to rid the world of such arsenals, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said. 

The conventions and the work of the OPCW have defined the use of chemical weapons as a taboo under international law," the committee said. 

The organisation is overseeing the destruction of stockpiles of chemical weapons in Syria. 

Based in The Hague, Netherlands, the OPCW was formed in 1997 to enforce the Chemical Weapons Convention, the first international treaty to outlaw an entire class of weapons. 

The organisation has 189 member states and today's award comes just days before Syria officially joins and even as OPCW inspectors are on a highly risky United Nations-backed disarmament mission based in Damascus to verify and destroy President Bashar Assad's arsenal of poison gas and nerve agents amid a raging civil war. 

The peace prize was the last of the original Nobel Prizes to be announced for this year. 

The winners of the economics award, added in 1968, will be announced on Monday.

The 2012 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the European Union (EU) 

GAIL CMD BC Tripathi gets 5 year extension

Government has extended GAIL India Chairman & Managing Director BC Tripathi's tenure by another five years, nine months before he would complete his tenure, oil ministry officials said. 

Tripathi is the first chairman of state oil major to get an extension in about a decade.

According to a recent government order, Tripathi, 53, will head the state gas utility till July 31, 2019, officials said. 

Chairmen and managing directors in a state-run company are normally appointed for a five-year term, which can be extended until the incumbent attains the superannuation age of 60 years. 

Tripathi had also applied for the posts of ONGC and IOC chairmen but decided not to appear before the selection board after top oil ministry officials advised him to concentrate in the current job, officials said.

Subir Raha, former chairman of ONGC, Prashanto Banerjee of GAIL, Sarthak Behuria of IOC and Ashok Sinha of Bharat Petroleum were denied an extension.

India Signed MoUs with Seven Countries for Nalanda University Project

Government of India on 10 October 2013 signed agreements with seven countries, who pledged their commitment to the Nalanda University project in Bihar.

The Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed with Australia, Cambodia, Singapore, Brunei, New Zealand, Lao PDR and Myanmar in the sidelines of East Asia Summit in Brunei.

These MoUs are important to India's plans to establish Nalanda University in Bihar as an institution of international repute.

Nalanda University will be constructed at Rajgir, which is situated around 100 km away from Patna, Bihar. 

The construction of the University will take place on 446-acre plot, which is situated 12 km away from the ruins of ancient seat of learning.

China has already committed 1 million Dollars for the project, Singapore has pledged 5-6 million Dollars and Australia about 1 million Australian dollars and all these funds have been committed on voluntary basis.

The East Asia Summit (EAS) is a forum for cooperation between various countries of this region with ASEAN and includes Australia, China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the US, in addition to the ten ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) countries.

World Bank to cut costs, bureaucracy

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim on Friday announced Bank would seek to reduce annual costs by $400 million a year, restructuring to reduce compartmentalization and cut bureaucracy, to better deliver bank services in its fight against poverty and underdevelopment

A program to slash costs and reduce bureaucracy at the huge development organization that is expected to result in significant layoffs.

He also said the Bank would "strategically review our staffing," seeming to confirm recent rumors within the bank that he plans to make sharp cuts to its staff.

"Under our new organizational model, when you ask us for help, we'll look across our entire institution and offer the most up-to-date, state-of-the-art global knowledge and experience, with a deep bench of experts who know what has worked and what hasn't in all regions of the world."

China and EU Signed a Bilateral Currency Swap Agreement

China on 10 October 2013 signed a 350 Billion Yuan (45 billion Euro) currency swap agreement with the European Union, marking a major step in internationalising its currency.

The agreement signed between the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and the European Central Bank (ECB). The pact aimed to support bilateral trade and protect financial stability.

The agreement lasts three years and can be extended if both parties agree.

So far China has signed currency swap deals totaling 2.2 trillion Yuan (358 billion US Dollars) with 22 countries and regions to push the international use of its Yuan.

Chemical weapons watchdog (OPCW) wins Nobel Peace Prize for Syrian mission

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) won the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday., a relatively small organisation with a modest budget, dispatched experts to Syria after a sarin gas attack killed more than 1,400 people nr Damascus in August

Their deployment, supported by the United Nations, helped avert a U.S. strike against President Bashar al-Assad.

Nobel Peace Prize committee head Thorbjoern Jagland said the award was a reminder to nations such as the United States and Russia to eliminate their own large stockpiles, "especially because they are demanding that others do the same, like Syria".