Mumbai won its 40th Ranji Trophy after defeating Saurashtra in Final

Mumbai won its 40th Ranji trophy at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on 28 Jan 2013. Mumbai won the final match against Saurashtra by an inning and 125 runs on the third day of Ranji Trophy final. The Mumbai team so far has played in 44 finals of Ranji Trophy.

Mumbai in their first inning scored 355 runs while Saurashtra in reply could manage only 148. In its second inning Saurashtra was bundled out for merely 82. Mumbai pacers Ajit Agarkar (4-15) and Dhawal Kulkarni (5-32 & 9-56) did an excellent job. Wasim Jaffar was declared Man of the Match. Ajit Agarkar was the captain of the winning team.

Public Distribution System and other Sources of Household Consumption (NSS 66th Round)- Highlights

TRENDS IN SHARE OF PDS IN CONSUMPTION OF SPECIFIC ITEMS

·         The share of PDS purchase in rice consumption in 2009-10 was about 23.5% in the rural sector (1.41 kg out of 6.00 kg per person) and about 18% in the urban (0.81 kg out of 4.52 kg per person). In 2004-05, the PDS share in rice consumption had been about 13% in the rural sector and 11% in the urban.

·         The share of PDS in wheat/atta consumption in 2009-10 was about 14.6% (0.62 kg out of 4.25 kg per person) in the rural sector, double what it was in 2004-05 (7.3%), and about 9% in the urban sector, compared to only 3.8% in 2004-05. 

·         PDS purchase accounted for 14.7% of consumption of sugar in 2009-10 compared to 9.6% in 2004-05 in the rural sector. The corresponding percentages for the urban sector were 10.3 and 6.6, respectively.

·         For kerosene, the contribution of PDS purchase in 2009-10 was 86.3% in the rural and 63.6% in the urban sector, higher than the 2004-05 percentages by about 9 and 7 percentage points respectively.

RISE IN INCIDENCE OF PURCHASE FROM PDS BETWEEN 2004-05 AND 2009-10

·         The percentage of households reporting consumption of rice from PDS during a 30-day period rose sharply from 24.4% to 39% in rural India and from 13% to 20.5% in urban India between 2004-05 and 2009-10.

·         The increase in the percentage of households reporting consumption from PDS was even sharper for wheat/atta: from 11% to 27.6% in rural India and from 5.8% to 17.6% in urban India.

·         For sugar too, there was a sharp rise in the percentage of reporting households from under 16% to nearly 28% in rural India and from 11.5% to 18.7% in urban India.

·         For kerosene, whereas for rural India the percentage of households reporting consumption from PDS increased by 9 percentage points from 73% to 82% between 2004-05 and 2009-10, the corresponding percentage for urban Indiaremained unchanged at 33%. Only 18% of rural households and 15% of urban households reported consumption of kerosene from other sources.

RICE: UTILISATION OF PDS ACROSS STATES

·         The major States with relatively high incidence of  PDS purchase of rice in the rural sector were Tamil Nadu(91% households), Andhra Pradesh (84%), Karnataka (75%), and Chhattisgarh (67%), followed by Kerala and Odisha (51-54%), and Maharashtra (47%).

·         In the urban sector, Tamil Nadu (67% households) again had the highest proportion of households reporting purchase during a 30-day period, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Kerala (about 43%), Chhattisgarh (35%) and Karnataka (25%).

·         In quite a few States where rice is the main cereal item, very low proportions of households reported PDS purchase of rice. Examples are Bihar (rural: 12%, urban: 4%), West Bengal (rural: 26%, urban: 7%), and Jharkhand (rural: 26%, urban: 9%).

·         The contribution of PDS purchases to total rice consumption was highest in Tamil Nadu (rural: 53%, urban: 41%), followed by Karnataka (rural: 45%, urban: 18%), Chhattisgarh (rural: 41%, urban: 26%), Maharashtra (rural: 34%, urban: 7.5%), Andhra Pradesh (rural: 33%, urban: 21%), and Kerala (rural: 28%, urban: 24%).

·         Among States where rice is the main cereal item, the share of PDS purchases in consumption was low in Bihar (rural: 5%, urban: 2%), West Bengal (rural: 6%, urban: 3%), Assam (rural: 11%, urban: 5%), and Jharkhand (rural: 14%, urban: 7%).

·         In Tamil Nadu, the ratio of unit values (unit cost of rice from non-PDS sources to PDS unit cost) was 19.7 in the rural sector and 25.6 in the urban sector. In Kerala and rural Maharashtra, participation in PDS was high though the cost advantage of PDS was not very great. In West Bengal, on the other hand, the share of PDS in quantity of rice consumed was very low although the cost advantage of PDS was above average.

WHEAT/ATTA: UTILISATION OF PDS ACROSS STATES

·         For the rural sector, among the major States for which wheat is the major item of cereal consumption, Madhya Pradesh had the highest incidence of consumption of PDS wheat/atta (46% households), followed by Maharashtra(44%) and Gujarat (35%). For Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, for which rice is the major cereal item, the corresponding incidences of consumption of PDS wheat/atta were 69% and 57%, respectively. 

·         In the urban sector, Tamil Nadu had the highest incidence of consumption of PDS wheat/atta (51% households), followed by Kerala (29%), Chhattisgarh (25%), Madhya Pradesh (24%) and then Karnataka (23%).

·         The proportion of households reporting PDS purchase of wheat/atta was quite low for the urban sector ofHaryana (9%), Punjab (10%) and Rajasthan (12%), where wheat is the main item of cereal consumption. The proportion was also quite low for urban Bihar (5%), for which wheat forms a large part of total cereal consumption. The corresponding incidences for the rural sector of these States were also below the all-India average. 

·         The share of PDS purchases of wheat/atta in consumption was largest for Tamil Nadu (rural: 86%, urban: 65%). This share was also large for Karnataka, West Bengal, Kerala and Chhattisgarh, all States for which rice and not wheat is the main cereal item.

·         Among States for which wheat is an important cereal item, PDS share in consumption was relatively high inMaharashtra (rural: 33%, urban: 9%) and Madhya Pradesh (rural: 22%, urban: 13%), but elsewhere, below the all-India average of 14.6% for the rural sector and 9% for the urban sector. It was noticeably low in Bihar (rural: 5%, urban: 2%), rural Uttar Pradesh (7%), urban Gujarat (5%), and urban Rajasthan (6%).

·         The ratio of unit cost of wheat/atta obtained from other sources to unit cost of wheat/atta obtained through PDS varied from 1.7 in Assam to 7 in urban Odisha. Tamil Nadu and rural Chhattisgarh, with a large share of PDS in wheat/atta consumption, showed a strong cost advantage for PDS. But there were a number of States where high or low incidence of PDS purchase was not in tune with the cost advantage of PDS.

SUGAR: UTILISATION OF PDS ACROSS STATES

·         The proportion of households reporting consumption of PDS sugar was highest in Tamil Nadu (rural: 86%, urban: 78%), followed by Andhra Pradesh (rural: 57%, urban: 32%), Chhattisgarh (rural: 54%, urban: 31%), Assam (rural: 53%, urban: 27%) and rural Karnataka (47%). 

·         The incidence of PDS purchase was very low in both rural and urban areas of Punjab, Bihar and Rajasthan, and in urban Jharkhand (0-2% households), and also in both rural and urban Haryana, rural Jharkhand and urban areas of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal (3-6%). 

·         Among the major States, by far the largest share of PDS purchases in consumption was seen in Tamil Nadu(rural: 73%, urban: 63%). This was followed by Assam (rural: 53%, urban: 31%), Chhattisgarh (rural: 29%, urban: 11%), and Andhra Pradesh (rural: 24.5%, urban: 12%). The share of PDS was as low as 0-2% in Punjab, Rajasthan, Bihar,Haryana, and urban areas of Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.

KEROSENE: UTILISATION OF PDS ACROSS STATES

·         In all major States except Punjab and Haryana, the proportion of households reporting consumption of kerosene from PDS purchase ranged from 72% to 94% in the rural sector and from 18% to 62% in the urban sector.

·         In urban India, use of kerosene from PDS was most widespread in West Bengal (61.5% households), Kerala(59%), Bihar (53%), and Uttar Pradesh (49%).

·         In the rural sector, the contribution of PDS purchases to total kerosene consumption was 80% or more in all but two major States: Jharkhand and Assam. In the urban sector, the share of PDS purchases varied much more: from 23.5% in Punjab to 90% in Kerala.

CONSUMPTION FROM HOME-GROWN STOCK IN RURAL INDIA

·         About 30.4% of total cereal consumption and 10.6% of total pulse consumption in rural India in 2009-10 came from home-grown stock.

·         For rice, the share of home produce in quantity of consumption fell from 30% to 25%, and for wheat/atta, from 40% to 37% between 2004-05 and 2009-10.

·         The share of home produce in total consumption dropped quite sharply for most of the pulse varieties: by about 3-5 percentage points (from 13-18% in 2004-05) for arhar, split gram, moong and urd.

·         For milk, the share of home produce has dropped by  about 3 percentage points since 2004-05 to about 59%, though the percentage of households reporting home consumption of milk among those reporting any milk consumption is only a little more than 33%.

·         The contribution of home produce to quantity of rice consumed was highest (among the major States) in Assam(52%), followed by Uttar Pradesh (40%), while it was 34% in Odisha and 30-32% in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar. In case of wheat, the contribution of home produce was nearly 52% in Uttar Pradesh, 44% in Madhya Pradesh, and 43% inHaryana.

·         For all cereals taken together, the percentage coming from home produce was highest in Assam (49%), followed by Uttar Pradesh (47%), Madhya Pradesh (42%), Haryana (41%), and Rajasthan (39%). The percentage coming from home produce was extremely low in Kerala (1.6%), Tamil Nadu (5%), and Andhra Pradesh (9%). It may be recalled that in these three States, especially Kerala, a very large share of rice consumption came from PDS.

·         For milk, the share of home produce in consumption was 20% in Andhra Pradesh, 12-14% in Tamil Nadu andKerala, and over 34% in all other States, including States where per capita consumption is very low, such asChhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

·         Households reporting consumption of rice from home-grown stock alone – which formed 21% of all rural rice-consuming households in India as a whole – made up 46% of such households in Assam, 45% in Chhattisgarh, 38% inOdisha, 36% in Uttar Pradesh, and 31% in Jharkhand.

·         Households reporting consumption of wheat from home-grown stock alone – accounting for 26% of all rural wheat-consuming households in the country – formed nearly 49% of such households in Uttar Pradesh, 43% in Madhya Pradesh, 38% in Haryana, and about 34% in Rajasthan.

·         The percentage of rural households consuming milk from home produce alone (33% of all rural milk-consuming households at the all-India level) was 8-9% in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, 12% in Andhra Pradesh, and 19-46% in all other major States except Rajasthan (62%) and Assam (59%).

Milos Zeman won the Czech Republic Presidential Election 2013

As per the Czech Republic Presidential election results declared on 25 January 2013, Milos Zeman won and thus became the country’s first elected President through direct elections. He won 55 percent as compared with 45 percent of Karel Schwarzenberg. Milos Zeman is the former Prime Minister of Czech Republic and head of the Citizens’ Rights Party while Karel Schwarzenberg is foreign minister in the present centre-right coalition government. Zeman succeeds Vaclav Klaus. The main issues in the election were anti-corruption measures, national security, and accession to the euro zone, appointment of judges and Presidential pardons of convicts. While the Czech presidency is largely ceremonial, the President influences foreign policy, makes central bank appointments and approves judges. Until 2012, the Parliament elected the President for a five-year term. After years of debate on the topic, followed by allegations of corruption in the voting process, the constitution was amended in 2012 to provide for direct Presidential elections.

Taiwanese Business Magnate Launches Asias Nobel-Type Prizes

A business tycoon from Taiwan with interests mainly in China declared on 28 January 2013 that he was funding the Asia's Nobel Prizes for outstanding achievements in natural and social sciences.

Samuel Yin, the head of Ruentex Group announced that he would establish Tang Prize Foundation which would have an initial donation of 103 million dollar. Tang Prize Foundation, which uses the name of Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), is valued by the Chinese for cultural as well as scientific achievements. It was decided that the prizes under the Tang Prize Foundation will be awarded every alternate year to the international leaders in sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, and the rule of law as well as the study of China. Samuel Yin declared that these categories were kept in the new awards because the Nobels, which are 118 years old, did not include these fields. He also opined that these categories had high importance for the humanity. The prizes under the Tang Prize Foundation will commence from 2014. The winners of the prize would be entitled to receive 1.7 million US dollar. Nobel prizes award 1.2 million US dollar to the awardees.  The winners of the Tang Prize will be nominated as well as screened by the special committees which in turn would be established by the Academia Sinica, the highly prestigious research organisation of Taiwan.

Brazil to do a biodiversity study of the Amazon

The Brazilian government says it's undertaking a four-year, $33 million study of its vast Amazon rainforest to compile a detailed inventory of the plants, animals and people that live there.

Environment minister Isabella Teixeira signed an accord with the country's national development bank, which is funding the study. The government says the inventory will help in formulating environmental policies aimed at preserving the forest and preventing deforestation.

Last year, Brazil lost 4,656 square kilometers (1,797 square miles) of Amazon to deforestation. That's the smallest amount on record. More than 60 percent of the Amazon's 6.1 million square kilometers are located in Brazil. The government's last study of the region dates back to 1983.

Union Commerce Ministry claimed that India has crossed One Billion Mark in Tea Production

The Union Commerce Ministry of India in the third week of January 2013 released figures and it mentioned that tea-industry in India had passed the one billion kilogram mark production. This target has been crossed by the participation of the small tea-growers.

To bring into net and check out the production of tea in the nation the industry regulator, Tea Board of India launched a major exercise in which it tried to rope producers from both organised and unorganized sectors of India, these producers also included those who never reported the crop statistics at their end.

The exercise was taken up in 2012 and it helped in bringing up the fact that India was able to produce 75 million kilogram more tea than the 988 million kilogram, estimated earlier in a year from January 2011 to December 2011. By November 2012, it was reported that 1023.9 million kilogram of tea crop was crossed following the figures of the field level data.

India celebrated its 64th Republic Day; Showcased Military Prowess and Cultural Heritage

India celebrated its 64th Republic Day on 26 January 2013. Unfurling of National flag, the rich cultural heritage, and nation's achievements in various fields were the highlights of Republic Day Parade at Rajpath in Delhi. The well-turned out and synchronised military and police formations led by General Officer Commanding (Delhi) Lt General Subroto Mitra marched proudly to the tunes of bands through the Rajpath where President Pranab Mukherjee, the Supreme Commander of Armed Forces, took salute for the first time after assuming office in July 2012. The impressive march-past was watched by Chief Guest, King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk.
The Army showcased its impressive weaponry which included main battle tank- ARJUN, Super Sonic Cruise Missile Brahmos Weapon System and Multi Barrel Rocket System -Pinaka. Display of above 5000 kilometer range Agni-V missile, Mobile Integrated Network Terminal and mini version of INS Vikramaditya also remained the centre of attraction during the function. 19 tableaux from various States and Central Ministries also mesmerized the spectators. Tornadoes, the motorcycle display by the Army Service Corps spellbound the viewers spectators with their attractive stunts at Rajpath. At the final leg of the parade, a spectacular flypast was showcased by the Indian Air Force.
The air show commenced with 'Chakra' formation comprising MI-35 Helicopters. Arrowhead formation by five Jaguars and Trishul formation by three Su-30 MKI mesmerized the spectators. The ceremony culminated with the National Anthem and the release of colorful balloons.

Mizoram GDP higher than national average

Mizoram Governor Vakkom B Purushothaman said that the gross domestic product (GDP) of the state has grown by 9.57 per cent during 2011-2012 against the national economic growth rate of 8.8 per cent.

In his customary gubernatorial address after unfurling the tri-colour at the function to celebrate Republic Day at Assam Rifles ground here, Purushothaman said that the per capita income has also increased from Rs 30,488 in 2007-08 to Rs 50,021 in 2011-2012.

Attributing the improvement in the state economy to the flagship programme — New Land Use Police or NLUP, he said that the implementation of the programme, aimed at transforming the economy from environmentally practice of jhumming to a more sustainable system, was on the right track.

“Out of the five-year target of 1.2 lakh beneficiary families, 90,139 families have been covered,” he said, adding that the remaining 29,861 families were also currently being selected under the NLUP.

He also said that there has been 16 per cent increase in the estimated production of rice during 2012—2013 and the area under jhum cultivation has declined by 17 per cent during the same period.

Briefly highlighting the achievements and programmes of the Government, Purushothaman said that the state made good progress in power, roads, buildings, bridges, health, education and sports sectors.

He congratulated the law enforcement agencies, NGOs, churches, media and the general public for maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the state.

NASA testing vintage engine from Apollo 11 rocket

A vintage rocket engine built to blast the first US lunar mission into Earth’s orbit more than 40 years ago is again rumbling across the Southern landscape.

The engine, known to NASA engineers as No. F-6049, was supposed to help propel Apollo 11 into orbit in 1969, when NASA sent Neil Armstrong and two other astronauts to the moon for the first time.

The flight went off without a hitch, but no thanks to the engine it was grounded because of a glitch during a test in Mississippi and later sent to the Smithsonian Institution, where it sat for years.

Now, young engineers who weren’t even born when Armstrong took his one small step are using the bell—shaped motor in tests to determine if technology from Apollo’s reliable Saturn V design can be improved for the next generation of US missions back to the moon and beyond by the 2020s.

Nick Case, 27, and other engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center on Thursday completed a series of 11 test-firings of the F-6049’s gas generator, a jet-like rocket which produces 30,000 pounds (13,600 kg) of thrust and was used as a starter for the engine. They are trying to see whether a second—generation version of the Apollo engine could produce even more thrust and be operated with a throttle for deep—space exploration.

There are no plans to send the old engine into space, but it could become a template for a new generation of motors incorporating parts of its design.

NASA Super-TIGER balloon shatters flight record

Flying high over Antarctica, NASA’s long duration balloon has broken the record for longest flight by a balloon of its size.

The record-breaking balloon, carrying the Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (Super-TIGER) experiment, has been afloat for 46 days and is on its third orbit around the South Pole, NASA said.

The Super-TIGER flight shattered the previous record of 41 days and 22 hours, previously set in 2005. The Super-TIGER team plans to fly for another 8-10 days to have it fly closer to McMurdo Station before terminating the flight and recovering the experiment. 

Super-TIGER launched on December 8, 2012, from the long duration balloon site near McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The massive 39-million cubic foot scientific balloon carries the 6,000 pound Super-TIGER payload — equivalent to a large sports utility vehicle — at a float altitude of 127,000 feet, more than four times the altitude of most commercial airliners.

Size-wise, more than 200 blimps could fit inside the balloon.

Aquaria India 2013 at Vijayawada

Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) will be hosting the Aquaria India 2013 - one of the largest Aquaculture and Aquarium shows in Asia at Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh from February 8-10.

The three-day event comprises technical sessions by renowned national and international experts in aquaculture and ornamental fisheries.

At least 100 stalls have been exclusively reserved for aquaculture sector and 50 for ornamental fisheries.

About 500 farmers from various states engaged in fish farming particularly vannamei shrimps, ornamental fish are expected to participate.

Japan launches 2 intelligence satellites

Japan has launched two intelligence satellites into orbit. Officials say the launch of the domestically produced HII-A rocket on January 27 went smoothly and the satellites, an operational radar satellite and an experimental optical probe, appear to have reached orbit. 

Radar satellite, optical probe

The radar satellite is intended to augment a network of several probes that Japan uses to collect intelligence on hotspots around the world, while the optical probe will be used to test future technology.

Japan began the intelligence satellite programme after North Korea fired a long-range missile over Japan’s main island in 1998.

North Korea had conducted a launch last month that it says carried a satellite into orbit but has been condemned by the US and others as a cover for its development of missile technology.

India successfully test-fires underwater missile

India on January 27 successfully test-fired the underwater ballistic missile, K-15 (code-named B05), off the Visakhapatnam coast, marking en end to a series of developmental trials.

In its twelfth flight trial, the 10-metre tall Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) lifted off from a pontoon, rose to an altitude of 20 km and reached a distance of about 700 km as it splashed down in the waters of the Bay of Bengal near the pre-designated target point.

According to scientific advisor to the Defence Minister V.K. Saraswat, the missile was tested for its full range of 700 km and the mission met all its objectives. He said the impact accuracy of the medium range strategic missile was in single digit.

With the completion of developmental trials, the process of integrating K-15 missile with INS Arihant, the indigenously-built nuclear submarine, will begin soon. As many as 12 nuclear-tipped missiles, each weighing six tonnes will be integrated with Arihant, which will be powered by an 80 MWt (thermal) reactor that uses enriched uranium as fuel and light water as coolant and moderator.

India is only the fifth country to have such a missile -- the other four are the United States, Russia, France and China.

Meanwhile the reactor has been integrated with the submarine and it was expected to go critical in May/ June 2013. Once that was done, the harbour trials will begin.

Besides Arihant, three other nuclear-powered submarines were being constructed -- one at Visakhapatnam and two at Vadodara. India is also developing K-4 missile with a range of 3,000 km.

Chidambaram to launch RGESS in Mumbai

Aiming to attract first-time stock market investors, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will launch the much-awaited Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme (RGESS) in Mumbai on February 9.

The RGESS, which was announced in the Budget for 2012-13, seeks to provide tax benefits to first-time investors in stock markets.

Under the scheme, an individual with an income of less than Rs 10 lakh would get tax incentives for investing up to Rs 50,000 in the stock market.

As per the notification issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on the RGESS, there would be a lock—in period of one year on investments made under the scheme.

For transactions undertaken by investors through their RGESS designated Demat account, depositories would be required to seek necessary transactional details from stock exchanges for enforcing lock-in.

The mutual fund houses have already started lining up mutual fund schemes focused on the RGESS. Two state-owned fund houses SBI and IDBI and one private fund house DSP Blackrock have filed draft offer documents for such schemes with the market regulator SEBI, while others may soon follow suit.

The scheme was notified by the Department of Revenue, Finance Ministry on November 23 last year.

Reserve Bank eases rules for FII investment in debt market

The Reserve Bank of India has made it easier for foreign institutional investors (FIIs) to invest in the domestic equity and debt markets.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has notified the enhanced limit of investing in government securities (G-Secs) by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and long-term investors by $5 billion to $25 billion from $20 billion. Long-term investors include SEBI-registered sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), multilateral agencies, endowment funds, insurance funds, pension funds and foreign central banks. The RBI has also relaxed some investment rules by removing the maturity restrictions for first time foreign investors on dated G-Secs. Earlier it was mandated that the first time foreign investors of G-Secs must buy securities with at least three-year residual maturity. But such investments will not be allowed in short-term paper like Treasury Bills.

It has also hiked the investment limit in corporate bonds by these entities by $5 billion $50 billion from $45 billion. FIIs can now approach any Category-I dealer bank, authorized to deal in foreign exchange, for hedging their currency risk on the market value of their entire investment in equity and/or debt.

As a measure of further relaxation, in the total corporate debt limit of $50 billion, the RBI stipulated a sub-limit of $25 billion each for infrastructure and other than infrastructure sector bonds. In addition, qualified foreign investors (QFIs) would continue to be eligible to invest in corporate debt securities (without any lock-in or residual maturity clause) and mutual fund debt schemes, subject to a total overall ceiling of $1 billion.

Government opens up northeast to foreign tourists

The home ministry has relaxed a morethan-50-year-old rule to permit free movement of foreign tourists in the northeast states of Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland; with the exception of nationals from Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and Myanmar. The significant decision aimed at boosting tourism and opening up the northeast region which is rich in natural diversity and adventure tourism. The government and states are eyeing a substantial market with about 58,000 foreign tourists visiting the region last year, up by 18% from 2011. Estimates are that tourist arrivals can increase by 25% within a year following relaxation of rules.

While travel in these north-eastern states will become easier, tourists will still have to register themselves with the Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO) of the district within 24 hours of arrival. The permit regime is being dismantled for a year.

Under the Foreigners (Protected Areas) Order 1958, all areas in the states of Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim and parts of Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand are declared "protected areas" and foreign nationals need permission to visit these areas. 

This has long been a bone of contention for the travel industry, which feels the permits discourage tourist traffic to north-eastern destinations while states have taken the view that the red tape does not serve any significant purpose. Citizens of Myanmar visiting Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland beyond 16 km from the Indo-Myanmar border would continue to require prior approval of the MHA.

Azarenka secures back-to-back Australian titles

Victoria Azarenka has won back-to-back Australian Open titles, beating Li Na 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a dramatic final that contained a break for fireworks and two medical timeouts.

Li tumbled twice to the court after twisting her left ankle. She had her left ankle taped after falling in the fifth game of the second set.

On the first point after a 10-minute pause in the third set while fireworks crackled overhead from nearby Australia Day celebrations, Li fell over again and slammed the back of her head into the court. The 2011 French Open champion was treated immediately and had another time out before being allowed to resume the match.

Azarenka won five of the next six games to claim her second major title and retain the No. 1 ranking.

Gajdosova-Ebden take Australian Open mixed doubles title

Wildcard entrants Jarmila Gajdosova and Matthew Ebden combined to win the Australian Open mixed doubles title with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Czech pair Lucie Hradecka and Frantisek Cermak.

The Australian pair ousted second-seeded Elena Vesnina and Leander Paes in the second round and fifth-seeded Nadia Petrova and Mahesh Bhupathi in the quarterfinals. 

Bryans win record 13th Grand Slam doubles title

Mike and Bob Bryan have captured their record 13th Grand Slam doubles title, defeating the Dutch team of Robin Haase and Igor Sijsling in the Australian Open final 6-3, 6-4.

The Americans had been level with the Australian legends John Newcombe and Tony Roche with 12 major titles.

The Bryans now have six Australian Open titles to go along with four at the U.S. Open, two at Wimbledon and one at the French Open.

The brothers, top seeds at Melbourne Park, have also finished eight of the last 10 years as the No. 1 ranked doubles team, including last year.

State Bank of India set to open second branch in China

State Bank of India’s second branch in China is set to open at the port city of Tianjin, close to Beijing.

The new branch, with capital of about 300 million yuan (about $50 million), would open towards the end of February.

SBI, which opened its first branch in Shanghai in 2006, has a representative office in Tianjin, a well developed port city located about 140 km from Beijing, from where the bulk of trade from China to the rest of the world is handled.

A host of Indian banks are present in different parts of the country and most of them have benefited from the burgeoning India-China trade.

SBI handled about $2 billion worth of trade finance, which included letters of credit for Indian and Chinese business firms, Sharma said.

The Indian banks based in China mainly banked in trade finance as bilateral trade has increased in recent years.

India-China trade touched a high of $74.9 billion in 2011, but declined to $66.47 billion last year registering a 10 per cent drop. India’s deficit also mounted to $28.87 billion. 

A host of Indian banks functioned in China in contrast to China’s lone branch of the Industrial Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) based in Mumbai.

The Bank of India has a branch in Shenzhen city with a representative office in Beijing. Its officials say it is looking forward to upgrading its representative office in the capital.

Securities and Exchange Board of India revised the Mechanism of Offer for Sale

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 25 January 2013 revised the mechanism of the Offer for Sale (OFS). The board took the decision of revising the norms because the deadline for the promoters of the listed companies to offload their stake for meeting the minimum public shareholding norm of 25 percent by June 2013 is approaching.
These revisions would make the norms much more efficient, transparent and economical. The quantity for cumulative bidding would be made available online for the market across the trading session at different intervals to take care of the orders that carries 100 percent upfront margin and also of the orders which have been placed without the upfront margin. The indicative price of the market would be disclosed for the market across the trading session and is calculated on the basis of bids and orders.

China successfully tests jumbo air-freighter

China on January 26 said it has successfully conducted the test flight of its first country made jumbo air-freighter, capable of handling various air transportation tasks.

The Yun—20, or Transport—20, is a huge, multi—function air-freighter which can perform various long—distance air transportation tasks targeting cargo and passengers, state—run Xinhua news agency reported.

The successful maiden flight of Yun—20 is significant in promoting China’s economic and national defence buildup as well as bettering its emergency handling such as disaster relief and humanitarian aid, it said.

The giant aircraft will continue to undergo experiments and test flights as scheduled, the report said.

World’s first cloned buffalo gives birth to calf in Karnal

The cloned buffalo Garima II  gave birth to a calf at the Karnal-based National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) on January 25.

The calf, named Mahima, was born through ‘hand-guided cloning technique’.It weighs 32 kg and is reported to be normal and healthy.

The newborn “Mahima” is keeping good health and started suckling of milk within 30 minutes of birth, said A.K. Srivastava, Director, National Dairy Research Institute. 

The NDRI is known across the globe and came into the limelight for production of world’s first buffalo cloned calf Garima. 

Russia to ban smoking in public places

Russia will ban smoking in public places, hike tobacco taxes and restrict the sale of cigarettes from mid-2014 in an effort to cut the alarmingly high rate of deaths from smoking-related diseases.

A law approved by the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, on January 25 in the second of three readings calls for an immediate ban on all tobacco advertising and kiosk sales and the phasing out of smoking in all bars and restaurants, in medical, sports, educations and cultural institutions by January 1, 2015.

It will be against the law to smoke at children’s playgrounds, in the halls and stairways of apartment houses and at public transport stops. Violators will be fined from $50 to $100.

The Health Ministry wants the excise tax on cigarettes to keep growing at the current rate of 20 to 30 per cent a year till it reaches the minimum European Union rate of $1.7 per a pack of cigarettes, that is increases 3.7 times.

Cigarette producers warn that a steep rise in the price of tobacco will lead to massive smuggling of counterfeit cigarettes from neighbouring China, which accounts for 80 per cent of all global trade in illicit cigarettes.

According to the World Health Organisation, 39 per cent of Russians smoke, which makes Russia one of the heaviest smoking nations. About 400,000 Russians, or 0.3 percent of the population die every year from diseases caused by smoking.

The smoking rate in Russia sharply rose after the fall of the Soviet Union, when international tobacco giants were allowed to capture the Russian market of cigarettes. Today Philip Morris, British American Tobacco (BAT), Japan Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco Group control more than 90 per cent of the $19 billion Russian tobacco market.

3 new High Courts for North East States

 The Centre has constituted three new High Courts in the northeast — Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura — taking the total number of High Courts in the country from 21 to 24.

According to Law Ministry sources, the strength of judges in each High Court will be as follows: Tripura 4 (including the Chief Justice), and Meghalaya and Manipur: three each (including the Chief Justice).

As per the recommendations of the Supreme Court collegium, Justice T. Meenakumari, judge of the Patna High Court, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, is being elevated as Chief Justice of Meghalaya. Justice Deepak Gupta, who hails from Himachal Pradesh, is being elevated as Chief Justice of Tripura, and Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, judge of the Chhattisgarh High Court, is being appointed CJ of Manipur.

The sources said recommendations had been received for the transfer of Justice Rajesh Kumar Agrawal, judge of the Allahabad High Court to the Madras High Court. Once transferred, he would become acting Chief Justice by virtue of his seniority, said the sources. Justice S. Nagappan, judge of the Madras High Court, is being elevated as Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court and Justice D.H. Waghela, judge of the Gujarat High Court, is being appointed Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court. 

Urban household with cars, laptops, PCs not poor: Expert panel

Urban households having car, air conditioners or computer/laptop with internet should be automatically excluded from the poverty list, suggested a Planning Commission-appointed expert group.

According to the expert group headed by renowned economist S R Hashim to suggest methodology for identifying urban poor, households having three of the four items like refrigerator, motorised two-wheelers, landline telephone or washing machines should not be treated as poor.
The panel has suggested that the government should use three-stage approach -- automatic exclusion, automatic inclusion and scoring index -- to identify urban poor.
Planning Commission had constituted the expert group to recommend the detailed methodology for the identification of families living below poverty line in the urban areas on May 13, 2010.
The automatic exclusion would imply that households possessing specified assets should be removed from the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list. Under the automatic inclusion step, homeless families facing social and occupation deprivations should be included in the BPL list.
The report said that families living in houses with roof and wall made of plastic or polythene or the household having only one room or less with the material of wall being grass, thatch, bamboo, mud, un-burnt brick or wood and the material of roof being grass, thatch, bamboo, wood or mud be treated as poor.
Under occupational vulnerability, the household having no income from any source should be included automatically.
As per the report, a family be defined as poor if any of its member (including children) is a beggar or rag picker, domestic worker and sweeper or sanitation worker or mali. The family would also be poor if all its earning adult members are either daily wagers or workers with irregular wagers.
In the third and final stage, the remaining households should be assigned scores from 0 to 12 based on various indicators of residential, social and occupational vulnerabilities.
Those households with scores from 1 to 12 should be considered eligible for inclusion in the BPL list in the increasing order of the intensity of their deprivations meaning thereby that those with higher scores are more deprived, the report suggested.
The expert group recommends that the set of households qualified for automatic inclusion in the set of BPL households should be taken as hard core poor.
The expert group felt that the identification of urban poor should be a participatory exercise involving general public with an appropriate grievance redressal mechanism ensuring greater transparency and accountability in the process.

Rajnath Singh is new BJP President

Rajnath Singh was  unanimously elected the new president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), succeeding Nitin Gadkari who decided against a second term till he was cleared of alleged corruption charges.

Rajnath Singh will serve his term from 2013 to 2015, and lead the party in the 2014 general elections.

A resolution supporting Rajnath Singh as the BJP chief was unanimously adopted by the parliamentary board of the party, after which he filed his nomination papers. The returning officer announced that 17 other nominations were also filed in Rajnath Singh's favour.

Rajnath Singh has previously been the president of the party from 2005 to 2009. He first became the party president in December 2005, following the resignation of L.K. Advani. 

He was re-elected in November 2006 unanimously and was succeeded by Nitin Gadkari in 2009.

He also served as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh from October 2000 to March 2002.

World's biggest nuke plant may shut: Japan report

The largest nuclear power plant in the world may be forced to shut down under tightened rules proposed by Japan's new nuclear watchdog aimed at safeguarding against earthquakes, a report said on January 25.
  
Fukushima operator Tokyo Electric Power's vast Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in central Japan could be on the chopping block if the Nuclear Regulation Authority expands the definition of an active fault.
  
The movement of a fault -- a crack in the earth's crust -- can generate massive earthquakes like the one that sparked a tsunami that slammed into the Fukushima Daiichi plant in March 2011, setting off the worst atomic crisis in a generation.
  
The watchdog is planning to define an active fault as one that moved any time within the past 400,000 years, rather than the current 120,000 to 130,000-year limit, an official told AFP, which could spell the end of the TEPCO plant.
  
"The new guidelines will be put into effect in July, and then we will re-evaluate the safety of each of Japan's nuclear plants," said the NRA official, adding no decisions would be made until the new rules were in place.
  
Other Japanese media have carried similar reports. A company spokesman said TEPCO was conducting more tests on the faults underneath the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, the world's biggest by generating capacity.
  
The NRA is conducting or planning to conduct investigations into six other nuclear plants in Japan.
  
At present only two of the country's 50 reactors are operational, after the entire stable was shuttered over several months for scheduled safety checks. Public resistance has meant the government has been reluctant to give the go-ahead for their re-starting.
  
The two reactors that are working are both being investigated by seismologists.
  
In 2007, the government ordered the temporary closure of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake destroyed hundreds of homes in the area and jolted the sprawling plant, which was close to the quake's epicentre, leading to a small radiation leak.

padma awards 2013

President has approved the conferment of  108 Padma Awards. These comprise 04 Padma Vibhushan, 24 Padma Bhushan and   80 Padma Shri Awards. 24 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 11 persons in the category of Foreigners, NRIs, PIOs and  Posthumous awardees.

Padma Awards, the country’s highest civilian awards, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in various disciplines/ fields of activities, viz- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year. The awards are conferred by the President of India at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhawan sometime around March/ April.

                                                                       Padma Vibhushan

Sl No.	Name	Discipline	State/ Domicile
1.	Shri Raghunath Mohapatra	Art	Orissa
2.	Shri S. Haider Raza	Art	Delhi
3.	Prof. Yash Pal	Science and Engineering	Uttar Pradesh
4.	Prof. Roddam Narasimha	Science and Engineering	Karnataka

Padma Bhushan

Sl No.	Name	Discipline	State/ Domicile
	Dr. Ramanaidu Daggubati	Art	Andhra Pradesh
	Smt. Sreeramamurthy Janaki	Art	Tamil Nadu
	Dr. (Smt.) Kanak Rele	Art	Maharashtra
	Smt. Sharmila Tagore	Art	Delhi
	Dr. (Smt.) Saroja Vaidyanathan	Art	Delhi
	Shri Abdul Rashid Khan	Art	West Bengal
	Late Rajesh Khanna	Art	Maharashtra #
	Late Jaspal Singh Bhatti	Art	Punjab #
	Shri Shivajirao Girdhar Patil	Public Affairs	Maharashtra
	Dr. Apathukatha Sivathanu Pillai	Science and Engineering	Delhi
	Dr. Vijay Kumar Saraswat	Science and Engineering	Delhi
	Dr. Ashoke Sen	Science and Engineering	Uttar Pradesh
	Dr. B.N. Suresh	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
	Prof. Satya N. Atluri	Science and Engineering	USA *
	Prof. Jogesh Chandra Pati	Science and Engineering	USA *
	Shri Ramamurthy Thyagarajan	Trade and Industry	Tamil Nadu
	Shri Adi Burjor Godrej	Trade and Industry	Maharashtra
	Dr. Nandkishore Shamrao Laud	Medicine	Maharashtra
	Shri Mangesh Padgaonkar	Literature & Education	Maharashtra
	Prof. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak	Literature & Education	USA*
	Shri Hemendra Singh Panwar	Civil Service	Madhya Pradesh
	Dr. Maharaj Kishan Bhan	Civil Service	Delhi
	Shri Rahul Dravid	Sports	Karnataka
	Ms. H. Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom	Sports	Manipur

Padma Shri

Sl No.	Name	Discipline	State/ Domicile
	Shri Gajam Anjaiah	Art	Andhra Pradesh
	Swami G.C.D. Bharti alias Bharati Bandhu	Art	Chhattisgarh
	Ms. B. Jayashree	Art	Karnataka
	Smt. Sridevi Kapoor	Art	Maharashtra
	Shri Kailash Chandra Meher	Art	Orissa
	Shri Brahmdeo Ram Pandit	Art	Maharashtra
	Shri Vishwanath Dinkar Patekar alias Nana Patekar	Art	Maharashtra
	Shri Rekandar Nageswara Rao alias Surabhi Babji	Art	Andhra Pradesh
	Shri Lakshmi Narayana Sathiraju	Art	Tamil Nadu
	Smt. Jaymala Shiledar	Art	Maharashtra
	Shri Suresh Dattatray Talwalkar	Art	Maharashtra
	Shri P. Madhavan Nair alias Madhu	Art	Kerala
	Shri Apurba Kishore Bir	Art	Maharashtra
	Shri Ghanakanta Bora Borbayan	Art	Assam
	Smt. Hilda Mit Lepcha	Art	Sikkim
	Smt. Sudha Malhotra	Art	Maharashtra
	Shri Ghulam Mohammad Saznawaz	Art	Jammu and Kashmir
	Shri Ramesh Gopaldas Sippy	Art	Maharashtra
	Ms. Mahrukh Tarapor	Art	Maharashtra
	Shri Balwant Thakur	Art	Jammu & Kashmir
	Shri Puran Das Baul	Art	West Bengal
	Shri Rajendra Tikku	Art	Jammu & Kashmir
	Shri Pablo Bartholomew	Art	Delhi
	Shri S. Shakir Ali	Art	Rajasthan
	Sh. S.K.M Maeilanandhan	Social Work	Tamil Nadu
	Ms. Nileema Mishra	Social Work	Maharashtra
	Ms. Reema Nanavati	Social Work	Gujarat
	Ms. Jharna Dhara Chowdhury	Social Work	Bangladesh *
	Late Dr. Ram Krishan	Social Work	Uttar Pradesh #
	Late Manju Bharat Ram	Social Work	Delhi #
	Prof. Mustansir Barma	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
	Shri Avinash Chander	Science and Engineering	Delhi
	Prof. Sanjay Govind Dhande	Science and Engineering	Uttar Pradesh
	Prof. (Dr.) Sankar Kumar Pal	Science and Engineering	West Bengal
	Prof. Deepak B. Phatak	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
	Dr. Mudundi Ramakrishna Raju	Science and Engineering	Andhra Pradesh
	Prof. Ajay K. Sood	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
	Prof. Krishnaswamy Vijayraghavan	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
	Dr. Manindra Agrawal	Science and Engineering	Uttar Pradesh
	Dr. Jayaraman Gowrishankar	Science and Engineering	Andhra Pradesh
	Prof. Sharad Pandurang Kale	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
	Smt. Vandana Luthra	Trade and Industry	Delhi
	Ms. Rajshree Pathy	Trade and Industry	Tamil Nadu
	Shri Hemendra Prasad Barooah	Trade and Industry	Assam
	Shri Milind Kamble	Trade and Industry	Maharashtra
	Ms. Kalpana Saroj	Trade and Industry	Maharashtra
	Dr. Sudarshan K. Aggarwal	Medicine	Delhi
	Dr. C. Venkata S. Ram alias Chitta Venkata Sundara Ram	Medicine	Andhra Pradesh
	Dr. Rajendra Achyut Badwe	Medicine	Maharashtra
	Dr. Taraprasad Das	Medicine	Orissa
	Prof. (Dr.) T.V. Devarajan	Medicine	Tamil Nadu
	Prof. (Dr.) Saroj Chooramani Gopal	Medicine	Uttar Pradesh
	Dr. Pramod Kumar Julka	Medicine	Delhi
	Dr. Gulshan Rai Khatri	Medicine	Delhi
	Dr. Ganesh Kumar Mani	Medicine	Delhi
	Dr. Amit Prabhakar Maydeo	Medicine	Maharashtra
	Dr. Sundaram Natarajan	Medicine	Maharashtra
	Prof. Krishna Chandra Chunekar	Medicine	Uttar Pradesh
	Dr. Vishwa Kumar Gupta	Medicine	Delhi
	Prof. (Capt.) Dr. Mohammad Sharaf-e-Alam	Literature & Education	Bihar
	Dr. Radhika Herzberger	Literature & Education	Andhra Pradesh
	Shri J. Malsawma	Literature & Education	Mizoram
	Shri Devendra Patel	Literature & Education	Gujarat
	Dr. Rama Kant Shukla	Literature & Education	Delhi
	Prof. Akhtarul Wasey	Literature & Education	Delhi
	Prof. Anvita Abbi	Literature & Education	Delhi
	Shri Nida Fazli	Literature & Education	Madhya Pradesh
	Shri Surender Kumar Sharma	Literature & Education	Delhi
	Dr. Jagdish Prasad Singh	Literature & Education	Bihar
	Late Shaukat Riaz Kapoor Alias Salik Lakhnawi	Literature & Education	West Bengal #
	Prof. Noboru Karashima	Literature & Education	Japan *
	Shri Christopher Pinney	Literature & Education	UK *
	Smt. Premlata Agrawal	Sports	Jharkhand
	Shri Yogeshwar Dutt	Sports	Haryana
	Shri Hosanagara Nagarajegowda Girisha	Sports	Karnataka
	Subedar Major Vijay Kumar	Sports	Himachal Pradesh
	Shri Ngangom Dingko Singh	Sports	Maharashtra
	Naib Subedar Bajrang Lal Takhar	Sports	Rajasthan
	Ms. Ritu Kumar	Fashion Designing	Delhi
	Dr. Ravindra Singh Bisht	Archaeology	Uttar Pradesh

Note: * indicates awardees in the category of Foreigners / NRIs/ PIOs.

                # indicates awardees in the posthumous category.