Sep 2011 Economy

The finance ministry on 27 September 2011 released the draft national public-private partnership (PPP) policy aimed at creating a framework for implementing infrastructure projects across sectors. The draft of PPP policy was released in pursuance of government's commitment to improve the level and quality of economic and social infrastructure service. The policy addresses the issues concerning definition of various terms and processes so that stakeholders, including centre, states and private investors, can adopt a clear and consistent position. The policy was designed to ensure that a value-for-money rationale is adopted with optimal risk allocation in project structuring with life cycle approach. It aims to develop governance structures to facilitate competitiveness, fairness and transparency in procurement and attaining appropriate public oversight and monitoring of PPP projects. The government aims to bring more transparency in the PPP projects that are mainly undertaken to provide public service by private players. The government is envisaging an investment of USD 1 trillion in infrastructure sector during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17), up from USD 500 million in the current Plan.

The Union government on 30 September 2011 increased the foreign direct investment limit for FM radio from 20 per cent to 26 per cent. The government also exempted the education sector and old age homes from the conditions imposed in the construction sector.The FDI limit in terrestrial broadcasting and the Cabinet approved FM radio in July 2011. TRAI in 2010 had made necessary recommendations arguing that increasing the limit will help the third-phase for FM radio, which will see 806 FM stations across 217 cities.

Asia’s oldest stock exchange , Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on 28 September 2011 got an approval to set up an exchange for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The permission from SEBI is likely to boost BSE’s efforts in offering multiple asset classes to Indian investors. The permission to set up SME will enable BSE to contribute towards the governmental agenda of greater financial inclusion and allowing promising enterprises of the future to access retail capital. The new exchange set up by BSE will allow small-unlisted domestic companies, with less than Rs 10 crore capital base, to raise money from the primary market.

The Union Government on 26 September 2011 announced the reconstitution of the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) under the chair of V. Krishnamurthy. The NMCC was restructured vide a Government Gazette Notification dated 17 August 2011.The council is to energise and sustain the growth of manufacturing industries and help in the implementation of strategies by the government.

Twenty-Second World Mining Congress and Expo was held at Istanbul, Turkey between 11-16 September 2011. World Mining Congress & Expo is a unique opportunity for companies and manufactures to display their latest achievements and equipment technologies to a wide audience especially to those officials and specialists from all over the world.

In a move to contain persisting inflationary pressure, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked the short-term policy rate (repo rate) by 25 basis points from 8 per cent to 8.25 per cent on 16 September 2011. The reverse repo rate as a result got automatically adjusted to 7.25 per cent and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate to 9.25 per cent. Repo rate is the rate at which banks borrow from the central bank and reverse repo is the rate at which banks park their funds with the RBI. The central bank raised rates for the 12th time since March 2010.

The Union Government on 15 September 2011 approved the Approach Paper for the 12th Plan (2012-17) which seeks to attain second generation economic reforms, improving governance and raise annual economic growth rate to 9 per cent during impending five-year period. The Paper would be placed before the National Development Council (NDC) for its final approval in October 2011. The theme of the Approach Paper to the 12th Five Year Plan is faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth. Health, education and skill development, environment and natural resources and infrastructure development was pointed to be focusing areas in the next Plan. The paper lay emphasis on inclusive growth. For the first time in the history of the Five Year Plans the Approach Paper has a chapter on governance and corruption. The paper suggests terms measures to be taken to set up new institutions like the Lokpal and Lokayukta.

UNCTAD's Trade and Development Report 2011 was launched in New Delhi on 6 September 2011. The report mentioned that global economy would witness a slow down to 3.1 per cent in 2011 from 4 per cent in 2010. The slow down would impact developing economies which would get affected by recession in the developed world.The South Asia region was likely to be among the best performers globally, with a growth of seven per cent in 2011. On the other hand, growth in the U.S. was to remain low because of low domestic demand, stagnating wages. The European debt crisis is expected to act as a drag on the global growth. UNCTAD projected an economic growth of 8.1 per cent for India, the fastest rate of expansion in the world after China.

The five-day 71st International Congress of FIP (International Pharmaceutical Federation) was inaugurated by President Pratibha Patil on 4 September 2011 in Hyderabad. The World Health Organisation and the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) signed a joint-statement on the role of pharmacists in tuberculosis care and control on the inaugural day of the conference.

During the conference, the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) urged the Union government not to permit the opening of new colleges in the country, except in the northeast, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. The PCI pointed out that the mushrooming of pharmacy colleges in India created an imbalance. The vast number of institutions in the country posed a major challenge to the foremost challenge in pharmacy education. Currently India has 700 pharmacy degree colleges. Andhra Pradesh has 300 pharmaceutical colleges- the highest number in the country.

NTPC and Ceylon Electricity Board have sealed a deal for jointly setting up a coal-fired power plant in Sri Lanka at an investment of up to 700 million dollars. NTPC chairman Arup Roy Choudhury and CEB chief Wimaladharma Abeywickreme signed the final agreement in Colombo on 6 September 2011 for setting up the 500 mw power plant at Sampur in Trincomalee.The project will be a major milestone in bilateral relations and further cement the economic bonds between India and Sri lanka. It will also mark NTPC’s overseas debut.

Oct 2011 Economy

Union Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Textiles sanctioned 21 new Textiles Parks under the Scheme for Integrated Textiles Parks with a project cost of 2100 crores rupees to be implemented over a period of 36 months. The approval came in the 4th week of October 2011. Among these 21 new Textiles Parks, 6 were sanctioned in Maharashtra, 4 in Rajasthan, 2 each in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, 1 each in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir and West Bengal. The Scheme for Integrated Textiles Parks seeks green field investments in textiles sector on a public private partnership basis with the objective of setting up excellent infrastructure for Textiles industry.

The Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on 13 October 2011 announced introduction of a new Niryat Bandhu scheme for international business mentoring for young turks in international business enterprises. Under the scheme, officers of DGFT will be investing time and knowledge to mentor the interested individuals who want to conduct the business in a legal way. The DGFT also announced that it became India's first digital signature enabled department. According to the new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) unveiled, a higher level of encrypted 2048-bit Digital Signature has been introduced. Digital certificate provides a high level of security for online communication such that only intended recipient can read it.

Nov 2011 Economy

The Union cabinet on 24 November 2011 approved 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. The Cabinet also decided to raise the cap on foreign investment in single-brand retailing to 100 per cent from 51 per cent. An estimated Rs 30-lakh-crore retail sector was thus opened to foreign investors by clearing a bill that allows 51 per cent investment in multi-brand retail. India currently allows 51 percent foreign investment in single-brand retailers and 100 percent for wholesale operations but no FDI in multi-brand retail.

The Union Cabinet agreed to partially allow foreign direct investment (FDI) to enter the pension sector to the extent of 26 per cent. The cabinet however refused to mention any sectoral cap in the proposed legislation. In its approval to amendments in the PFRDA Bill, 2011, the Cabinet turned down the Parliamentary Standing Committee's suggestion of providing a guarantee on assured returns on pension fund schemes. Though the government is of the view that the FDI cap in the pension (sector) should be at 26 per cent, on a par with the insurance sector, it would like to retain the flexibility of changing the cap of FDI as and when required.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 4 November 2011 announced that transfer of shares between Indians and non-resident Indians (NRIs) would not require its permission in several key areas such as financial services. RBI initiated measures to ease foreign direct investment (FDI) procedures with an objective to woo global investors. The central bank Amended the Foreign Exchange Management Regulations. It mentioned that prior permission would not be necessary where the company whose shares were being transferred was engaged in any financial service. The RBI permission had also been done away with for transfer of shares between residents and non-residents in cases where the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) had already given its clearances and the SEBI guidelines were met.

Joint study by industry association FICCI and Ernst & Young predicted Indian mobile devices market to reach 350 million a year by 2020. The handset companies currently sell about 150 million mobile phones annually in India. According to this study, rural market will provide the next phase of growth for handset players. The study also stated that about 500 million handsets will be manufactured in India by 2020. However, this will be possible only if the country were to create a manufacturing ecosystem to produce handsets. India is the world's second-largest telecom market after China, with the total wireless subscriber base crossing 850 million at the end of June, 2011.

Global ratings firm Moody's on 9 November 2011 downgraded the entire Indian banking system's rating outlook from stable to negative indicating a deterioration in asset quality in the months ahead. In September 2011, Standard & Poor's (S&P) downgraded the country's largest lender, the State Bank of India, by one notch. The Moody's decision was announced at a time when the Eurozone financial system is in turmoil and a large number of European banks are in a crisis. The government rejected it claiming that the country's lending institutions are much healthier than their global counterparts. Indian bankers termed the move unwarranted and premature at this point of time.

Dec 2011 Economy

The government waived about Rs 3521 crore loan of handloom weavers in India to help revive the sector. Minister of State for Textiles Panabaka Lakshmi declared that the loan waiver is one of the components of the scheme of Revival, Reform and Restructuring Package for Handloom Sector. The government’s initiative is likely to benefit 15000-handloom weaver's cooperative societies and approximately 3 lakh individual handloom weavers across India. Kerala topped the list with Rs 557.16 crore loan waiver, followed by Tamil Nadu with Rs 548.35 crore, Andhra Pradesh Rs 506.64 crore and West Bengal Rs 420.66 crore.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has inaugurated a three-day global conference on ‘Tax and Inequality', in Chennai. Over 250 foreign delegates from over 100 countries participated in the conference being hosted by India as the 4th International Tax Dialogue (ITD). “The ITD conference will provide a unique and timely opportunity to address an important question facing each country, that is, to what extent taxation can be seen as part of the solution to growing inequalities in income and wealth,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

Container Corporation of India has started second biggest domestic railway container terminal at Nagulapally near Pathancheru in Hyderabad. The biggest container was in Ahmadabad.

The Reserve Bank of India's intervention put a hold to the all time low of rupee at 54.3 against the US dollar in the foreign exchange market.

According to the Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) report, India emerged as the third largest purchaser of US arms with contracts worth $4.5 billion in the year ended 30 September 2011 as US weapons sales rose to $34.8 billion in fiscal 2011. American arms sales to India include Naval Reconnaissance planes, giant transporters, sea-skimming missiles and other weapon systems. Afghanistan, Taiwan, India, Australia and Saudi Arabia emerged the top buyers of US arms.

The first state-of-the-art ATDC-SMART (Skill for Manufacturing Apparels through Research and Training) was inaugurated in Egmore, Chennai and the Integrated Skill Development Scheme (ISDC) for the textile and apparel sector was launched by the Ministry of Textiles. The Ministry launched the project in association with the Apparel Training & Design Centre (ATDC), which was selected as a nodal agency for the project. The project aims to impart training to a workforce of about 256000 in the next two years. The ATDC-SMART project worth Rs 23 billion focuses on the core workforce requirements of the garment industry located across India. The importance of the Scheme can be judged from the fact that the apparel industry is the second largest employment provider in the country after agriculture.

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) announced two significant oil discoveries. ONGC discovered oil in North Kadi area of Gujarat’s Mehsana district, which is the company’s major production centre. ONGC also made another strike in the Panna area, 40 km from its Mumbai offshore field.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the creation of a separate category of non-banking financial companies for the microfinance institution (MFI) sector. The central bank also specified that such institutions need to have a minimum net owned fund of Rs 5 crore. An RBI-appointed panel headed by YH Malegam had earlier recommended setting up of a special category of NBFCs operating in the micro finance sector. The panel had suggested a minimum net worth of 15 crore for an entity to qualify as an NBFC-MFI. The RBI highlighted that the NBFC-MFIs should have a minimum net worth of Rs 5 crore. However, for those operating in the Northeastern states, the slab was kept at Rs 2 crore.

Oct 2011 Sports

Churchill Brothers won the 2011 Durand Cup at the Ambedkar Stadium with a 5-4 tiebreak wins over Prayag United on 15 October 2011 by defeating Prayag United.

Five-time world champion MC Mary Kom won gold in the 51kg category by defeating Pinki Jangra in the summit clash on the final day of the 12th Senior Women's National Boxing Championships in Bhopal on 16 October 2011. In the featherweight division, bronze medalist at the Women's Youth World Championship, Pwilao Basumatary of Assam settled for a silver medal after losing to Mandakini Chann of AIP who won gold. Haryana bagged the overall title with three gold medals, two silver and two bronze. Manipur came second with two gold medals, silver and a bronze while Railways finished third with two gold and three bronze medals.

Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on 9 October 2011 launched the nationwide Come and Play scheme in New Delhi. Through this scheme, the ministry aims at opening SAI’s sporting infrastructure for the youth across India. The scheme is targeted at the 8-17 age groups. The main objective of the scheme is to provide coaching primarily to sportspersons of young age. Under the Come and Play Scheme, competitions related to various age categories would be conducted twice a year and the top three position holders in the relevant age group would be permitted for admission to boarding scheme in SAI (Sports Authority of India) training centers.

McLaren’s Jenson Button won the Japanese Grand Prix in his adopted homeland, Japan on 9 October 2011. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel who stood third in the Formula 1 race became the youngest double world champion with four races to spare. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel made his way to the record books as Formula One’s youngest double world champion after finishing third in a Japanese Grand Prix. Ferrari’s Fernando Alons had become the previous youngest double world champion when he had won for Renault aged 25 in 2006.

The ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports on 1 October 2011 announced the decision to set up the National Institute of Sports Science and Medicine (NISSM). NISSM will have its premises at the Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium in New Delhi. The institute will aim at fostering disciplines like Physiology, Nutrition, Psychology, Anthropometry, Nutrition, Biochemistry and Sports medicine. NISSM is modeled on the lines of China Institute of Sports Sciences (CISS). The decision to set up the institute was taken during the visit of Indian President to China on 27 May 2010.NISSM will function under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

Sep 2011 Sports

Russian grandmaster Peter Svidler won the Chess World Cup title on 20 September after winning over Alexander Grischuk. Russia hosted this event. Russia holds the No.1 spot on the World Chess Federation's top-10 list, followed by Ukraine.

Salgaocar defeated East Bengal 3-1 in the final of the 33rd Federation Cup at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on 29 September 2011. Salgaocar became the first non-Kolkata club to win the premier domestic cup competition in Indian football since Mahindra United in 2005.

The Indian kabaddi team lifted its first-ever Circle Style Asian kabaddi title by defeating arch-rivals Pakistan 53-38 at Tabriz in Iran on 27 September 2011.It is for the first time that the championship was played outside India. Eight nations participated in the championship.

India’s Deepika Kumari got silver after being defeated by China’s Cheng Ming 5-6 in the tie-breaker of the women’s individual recurve summit clash at the World Cup archery finals in Istanbul on 25 September 2011.

Novak Djokovic defeated the 10-time Grand Slam champion Nadal and won his first career US Open crown and fourth Grand Slam title.

Australia’s Samantha Stosur defeated Serena Williams to win the US Open crown and her first grand slam singles title. Stosur became the first Australian woman in 38 years to win the title when she beat Williams 6-2 6-3.

India defeated Pakistan in the penalty shoot-out in the final to clinch the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament on 11 September 2011. Goalkeeper S. Sreejesh played a crucial role in securing victory as he managed two crucial saves for India. Indian hockey team is coached by Michael Nobbs. Malaysia bagged bronze by defeating Japan.

Durgesh Kumar Pal of Army Sports Institute (ASI), Pune won the gold medal in the 400m hurdles in the Commonwealth Youth Games at Isle of Man on 12 September 2011.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Olympic gold medalist shooter Abhinav Bindra were conferred with the rank of honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army by President Pratibha Patil. The honour was bestowed on Dhoni and Bindra for their outstanding contribution in the field of cricket and shooting respectively, and their commitment to the Army on various occasions. Bindra and Dhoni joined the ranks of senior cricketers Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar who have been conferred with honorary ranks in the armed forces. Kapil Dev is an Honorary Lt Col in the Territorial Army, while Tendulkar is an honorary Group Captain in the Indian Air Force.

Sai Praneeth defeated Saurabh Varma 21-13, 10-21, 21-16 to win the men's singles crown in the IFCI all-India ranking senior badminton championship on 5 September 2011. Sai Praneeth also won the men's doubles collaborating Nanda Gopal (AAI). They defeated top seeds Pranav Chopra (PSPB) and Akshay Dewalkar (AI). In the women's singles, Sayali Gokhale won over Tanvi Lad .In the mixed doubles category, Pranav Chopra and Prajakta Sawant clinched the mixed doubles title by defeating Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan.

Star Indian boxer Vijender Singh won gold and also bagged the Best Boxer award at the World Police and Fire Games in New York. Indian pugilists finished off a reasonably successful campaign with two golds, two silvers and a bronze at the World Police and Fire Games in New York. Both Vijender (75kg), an Olympic and World championship bronze medallist and Dinesh Kumar (81kg) won gold.

Jamaica's Usain Bolt won the Men's 4x100 Relay final and set a world record at the World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea on 4 September 2011.

Nov 2011 Sports

Swiss tennis star Roger Federer defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in their singles final tennis match at the Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals, in in London on 27 November 2011. The victory earned him a record sixth ATP World Tour Finals title. Federer has won 70 trophies in his career and has also equalled Lendl's record of 39 match wins in the end-of-season event.

Karnataka emerged the overall champion of the five-day 65th National aquatics meet that concluded on 20 November 2011 in Ranchi. Karnataka won men’s team championship (swimming) and the women’s team championship. Karnataka swimmers won a whopping 23 gold, 11 silver and nine bronze medals. Aaron D'Souza and Richa Mishra of Police were crowned the best swimmers of the meet. Both won five individual gold medals and broke three records. Karnataka emerged the overall champion by collecting 327 points. Maharashtra ended second with 176 points and Railways (143) third.

Hyderabad wicketkeeper Ibrahim Khaleel created a record for the most dismissals in a first-class cricket match during his side's victory over Assam in a Ranji Trophy Plate Group ‘B' contest. The 29-year-old Khaleel took seven catches in Assam's second innings to finish with 14 victims (11 catches, 3 stumping) in the match. The previous mark of 13 dismissals was set by Zimbabwe's Wayne James, who claimed 11 catches and effected two stumpings when playing for Matabeleland against Mashonaland in 1995-96.

India wins the title for both men and women in kabaddi world championship held in Bhatinda. Indian men’s team defeated Canada easily by 59-25 while women team beat U.K. The prize money for men was 20 million. The CM Punjab has announced government jobs for Indian women team for winning the trophy.

Jamaican sprint icon Usain Bolt and Australian hurdler Sally Pearson won ’Athlete of the Year' awards in Monaco. They were named athletes of the year by athletics' governing body, the IAAF.

Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was voted WTA's Player of the Year. In 2011, she claimed her debut grand slam title. In the 2011 season, she steered the Czech Republic to Fed Cup glory. Kvitova also bagged the Most Improved Player award and the fair play prize, while fans voted her the Breakthrough Player of the Year.

Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi won their first ever ATP Masters tournament by beating Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut 6-2, 6-4 in the final of Paris Masters on 13 November 2011.Bopanna and Qureshi had earlier won the Gerry Weber Open at Halle and the Stockholm Open.

McLaren Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain won the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix at Yas Marina circuit in Abu. The victory at Abu Dhabi marked Hamilton’s third win of 2011 and 17th of his career.

Richa Mishra became the first woman to clock the best Indian time in 800m freestyle. On 17 November 2011, she won three gold medals at the 65th National aquatic championships (meet) at the Veer Budhu Bhagat Stadium. She became the first to win three gold medals of the meet and set two senior championship marks (800m & 200m freestyle).

Ace shooter and silver medal winner at Asiad-2010, Gagan Narang, inaugurated the annual sports and games meet of Hyderabad police at Shiv Kumar Lal police stadium.

Sachin Tendulkar became the first batsman to cross the 15000 run mark in test cricket when he reached 28 during his unbeaten 33 run knock on the third day of the first test match against West Indies at Feroz Shah Kotla. Tendulkar was playing his 300th innings in his 182nd Test match.

Three Pakistan cricketers and an agent were sentenced imprisonment in Britain for their involvement in one of the biggest fixing scandals. Former captain Salman Butt received two and a half years, Mohammad Asif was sentenced to 1 year, while 19-year-old Mohammad Amir will serve six months. Agent Mazhar Majeed was sentenced to 2 years, 8 months. Butt, Asif and Majeed are expected to begin their sentences at Wandsworth prison in south London, Amir is due to be sent to Feltham young offenders' institute in west London. The players were found guilty of conspiring with Majeed to bowl deliberate no-balls as part of a betting scam during the test match against England at Lord's in August 2010.The scandal is being described as the biggest fixing scandal in cricket since South Africa captain Hansie Cronje was banned for life in 2000 for taking bribes from bookmakers.

India's Rohan Bopanna and Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi won the Stockholm Open men's doubles title by defeating Brazilians Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares 6-1, 6-3 on 23 October 2011. The Stockholm Open was top-seeded India-Pakistan pair's second ATP World Tour title of 2011. They had earlier won on grass at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle in June 2011.

Mary Ann Gomes of Airports Authority of India(AAI) emerged winner of the Velammal Educational Trust National Premier women's chess championship on 9 November 2011. Mary became the 17th player to win this event. She received a trophy and Rs.75000 from D.V. Sundar, vice-president, FIDE (World Chess Federation).Eesha Karavade finished second after defeating Padmini Rout.

Malaysian squash superstar Nicol David won a record sixth women's World Open title on 6 November 2011 by defeating England's Jenny Duncalf at Luxor Theatre, Rotterdam. With this victory, David surpassed Sarah Fitz-gerald's record five world titles. She won her first world title in Hong Kong in 2005.

Cricket personality M.S. Dhoni and Shooting personality Abhinav Bindra were commissioned as Honorary Lieutenant Colonels in the Territorial Army on 1 November 2011.The honour was bestowed upon Dhoni and Bindra for their outstanding contribution to sports and their commitment to the Indian Army on various occasions. They were pipped-in by Army chief General V K Singh. Dhoni was chosen to represent the Parachute Regiment of the Indian Army while Bindra joined a TA battalion of the Sikh Regiment.

Dec 2011 Sports

China won the gold medal in the World Women's Team Chess Championship at Mardin, Turkey. The Russians claimed the silver while Georgia got the bronze.

Indonesia’s shuttler, Taufik Hidayat, won the Syed Modi India Open Grand Prix Gold badminton championship by defeating Sourabh Verma of India. The women's singles was won by Inthanon Ratchanok of Thailand.

Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer overtook former teammate Amol Muzumdar (8237 runs) as the highest run-getter in Ranji Trophy. He scored 8242 runs a against Muzumdar’s 8237 runs.

India striker Sunil Chhetri was on 20 December 2011 voted Player of the Year by the All India Football Federation. He will receive a cash award of Rs 2 lakh and a silver plaque.The criteria of selection were Performance for India and general conduct on and off the field. Chhetri scored 13 goals in 17 internationals in 2011, which was the highest the by an Indian. He has also been awarded the prestigious Arjuna Award in the past. I.M.Vijayan was the first recipient of the award in 1992. In 2010 the award was bestowed on Gouramangi Singh

Indian ace badminton player and World No. 4 Saina Nehwal of India was defeated by World No. 1 Wang Yihan 18-21, 21-13, 21-13 in the women’s singles final of the $500000 BWF World Super Series badminton championship in China on 18 December 2011. Saina Nehwal had created history by becoming the first ever Indian to enter the singles final of the World Super Series. . In 2011, Saina won only the Swiss Open Super Series title.

Indian Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta won the London Chess Classic's open section, with a victory over Grandmaster Keith Arkell of England. Abhijeet, a former world junior champion and reigning national champion, scored eight points in all.

Iran's teenage sensation Hossein Vafaei Ayouri won the IBSF World Snooker Championship for the first time beating Wales star Lee Walker 10-9 in the best of 19 frames final held in Bangalore.

Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal, the two highest-ranked Indians in the world, won the senior National squash championships at the Indian Squash Academy, Chennai. Saurav defeated Harinder Pal Sandhu, while Dipika defeated Anaka Alankamony.

The defending champion India retained the SAFF football championship against Afghanistan during the final match played in New Delhi. This is the sixth time for India to won the SAFF football championship.

Legendary weightlifter Karnam Malleswari resigned as vice-president of the national body, Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF) on 1 December 2011 citing unconstitutional functioning of the body as the reason for her resignation. Malleswari was appointed vice-president in December 2009.

Spain won its fifth Davis Cup title after Rafael Nadal defeated Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro. Nadal with the victory stretched his record on clay to 16-0. Nadal earned his 20th straight victory since debuting in the competition in 2004.Argentina remained the only nation to play in four Davis Cup finals and never win one.

India won its 6th SAFF Championship title against Afghanistan on 11 December 2011. India's star striker Sunil Chhetri won all the individual awards in the tournament. India was a five-time SAFF champion before it won the 2011 SAFF. The other participating nations in the 2011 South Asian Football Federation Championship (SAFF) were Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan.

Belgium defeated India 4-3 in the final of the Champions Challenge hockey tournament in Johannesburg, South Africa on 4 December 2011. Sandeep Singh finished the tournament with seven goals, all through penalty corners, and won the Player of the Tournament award.

India's opening batsman Virender Sehwag made a world-record 219 runs out of 149 balls against West Indies in their 4th One Day International being played at Indore. Virender Sehwag is the second batsman to do double century in ODIs after Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 200 against South Africa in Gwaliar in 2010.

Punjab National Bank Recruitment 2012

Management Trainees – JMG Scale I
No of Posts  775
Opening Date for Online Registration              30-01-2012
Closing Date for Online Registration               13-02-2012
Interview  Period                        APRIL-MAY(2012)

IBPS Marks:

GEN MIN 138/250 And 24 Marks in each Subject
OBC MIN 125/250 And 21  Marks in each Subject
SC/ST/PWD   113/250 And 21  Marks in each Subject

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Canara Bank Po Recruitment 2012

 

 

Canara Bank is going to issue notification for recruitment of 2000 Probationary Officers . As per information provided by the bank, recruitment notification shall be made available on Bank’s website on 28/01/2012. Further details are as under :

Date of issue of advertisement : 28.01.2012

Name of Post : Probationary Officers

No. of Posts : 2000 Posts (Provisional)

Payment of Application Fees :  30/01/2012  to  15/02/2012

Opening Date for Online Application ;  30/01/2012

Closing Date for online application : 15/02/2012

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Sep 2011 Awards

Eminent Hindi authors Amar Kant and Shrilal Shukla was chosen for India's highest literary honour Jnanpith Award for 2009, while renowned Kannada litterateur Chandrasekhar Kambar won it for 2010. Octogenarian Amar Kant is a leading author whose famous novel Inhin Hathiyaron Se earned him the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2007. Shukla is an eminent novelist and a satirist, whose works threw light on the falling moral values of the Indian society in the post-Independence era. His noted works include Raag Darbari, Makaan. In 2008, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to Indian literature and culture.Chandrasekhar Kambar who won the Jnanpith Award for is a novelist and playwright. His noted works include Takararinavaru, Saavirada Neralu. He is also recipient of the Sangeet Nataka Academy Award and the Sahitya Academy Award.

ONGC, Coal India (CIL) and NMDC were awarded by the government for best performance in different categories on 20 September. The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) Secretary, Bhaskar Chatterjee gave away the awards. Best financial performance award in Maharatna and Navaratna category was given to ONGC. In Miniratna category, the best financial performance award award has been given to Goa Shipyard. Good Corporate Governance award in Maharatna and Navaratna category was also given to ONGC. The company of the year award in Maharatna category was given to CIL. The same awards for the Navaratna category were given to NMDC and Oil India.

The 44th Jnanpith Award for 2008 was presented to renowned Urdu poet Professor Akhlaq Mohammad Khan Shahryar for his distinguished contribution in enriching Indian literature. He was presented the award by actor Amitabh Bachhan in a glittering ceremony organised by the Bharatiya Jnanpith in New Delhi on 18 September 2011.

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) on 28 September 2011 conferred the Rajiv Gandhi International Prize for Technology in Education and Development on the Azim Premji Foundation. The award instituted by the university in its silver jubilee year was presented to Azim Premji by Communications and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal. According to IGNOU, the award comprising of Rs. five lakh cash and a citation is given to individual or institution that contributed significantly in education, particularly educational technology, for development in developing countries across the world.

Legendary playback singer Lata Mangeshkar was honoured with the first Hridaynath award for her contribution to Indian music on 28 September 2011. She was presented a cheque of Rs one lakh, a trophy by Amitabh Bachchan. The award has been instituted by Hridayesh Art, a Mumbai- based socio-cultural organisation in honour of Lata Mangeshkar’s brother, Hridaynath Mangeshkar.

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on 26 September 2011 honoured 11 scientists with the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for the year 2011.
The list of the awardees in the different categories are as follows:
Biological Sciences-Dr Amit Prakash Sharma (International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi) & Dr Rajan Sankaranarayanan (CSIR Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology, Hyderabad).
Chemical Sciences-Dr Balasubramanian Sundaram (Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore) & Dr Garikapati Narahari Sastry (CSIR Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad are some of them.

Three distinguished Indian Americans, 2 inventors and a researcher were named by US President Barack Obama on 27 September 2011 as recipients of National Medal of Science, and for Technology and Innovation. New York University’s Srinivasa SR Vardhan, Purdue University’s Rakesh Agarwal, and North Carolina State University’s B Jayant Baliga were the three Indians selected dozen to receive the National Medal of Science, and for Technology and Innovation, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on scientists, engineers as well as inventors.

Oct 2011 Awards

Tehelka and the Week were jointly chosen for the International Press Institute (IPI) – India award for excellence in journalism, 2011for their outstanding journalistic work in 2010. The award was declared by the Indian chapter of the International Press Institute (IPI). The award comprises of a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, a trophy and a citation.Led by Tarun J Tejpal weekly Tehelka was selected for its expose of the rent a riot tactics of the Sree Rama Sene in Karnataka, which admitted taking money to organise attacks on innocent persons and institutions. The Week was selected for its sustained investigative reporting on sham medical and dental colleges which had no doctors, no patients and no facilities and yet were permitted to award medical and dental degrees to thousands of students.

Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata was honoured with the Swiss Ambassador's award for exceptional leadership and his contribution to strengthening bilateral ties between India and Switzerland on 16 October 2011. Switzerland's Ambassador to India Philippe Welti conferred the award to Tata at a ceremony at the Swiss embassy in New Delhi. The first Swiss Ambassador's award, founded in 2010, was conferred on film-maker Yash Chopra for his contribution to strengthening Indo-Swiss people-to-people relations through his movies.

Dr M K Mani, pioneer of nephrology in India and currently chief nephrologist at the Apollo Hospital was on 20 October 2011 declared the winner of the 40th Dhanvantari Award. Mani pioneered innovative techniques and new regimen in management of kidney disorders. He is the recipient of many awards including Padma Bhushan and the Ravindranath Tagore award and has over 125 publications to his credit. The prestigious award, which recognises contribution in medical science, is being awarded annually since 1972.

British novelist Julian Barnes was on 18 October 2011 declared the unanimous winner of the 2011 £50,000 Man Booker prize for his novella, The Sense of an Ending. The novel is about a 60-something man forced to confront buried truths about his past after the unexpected arrival of a letter.

The Hindu's Chhattisgarh correspondent, Aman Sethi on 19 October 2011 was awarded the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) award for the best Indian print media article on humanitarian issues at the India Islamic Cultural Centre. His article on three Chhattisgarh villages ruthlessly torched by police commandos in March 2011 was selected as the best of nearly 80 entries from across the country. About 300 homes and granaries were burnt in the five-day police operation that left three men dead, and three women sexually assaulted. Sethi's coverage initiated the local administration to probe the incident and send aid to the affected villages. The awards are instituted by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Press Institute of India (PII) for articles published in an Indian national or regional newspaper or magazine in English or any of the Indian languages.

Actor/director Amol Gupte's son, Partho Gupte who gave an excellent performance as the quick-witted Stanley in his father's Stanley Ka Dabba won the best actor award at the Schlingel International Film Festival that concluded in Chmnitz, Germany on 16 October 2011.Schlingel is the only film festival in the world devoted to films for and about children. It is a much evolved film festival. There were over 130 films in the competition.

Environmentalist, lawyer and former Union Minister, Mohan Dharia was selected as the winner of the 26th Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration in October 2011. Mohan Dharia was selected for the prestigious award for his yeoman's service in promoting and preserving spirit of national integration. The 86-year-old Padma Vibhushan awardee currently runs the Vanrai NGO in Pune. He was elected to Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha and has been Union Minister and Deputy Chairperson of Planning Commission from December 1990 to June 1991. Congress constituted the award in its centenary year to give recognition to outstanding contribution to the cause by an individual or institution. It carries a citation and cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh. Committee chair and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will present the award on 31 October 2011, the anniversary of Indira Gandhi's death.

The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman of Yemen for their work on women’s rights. The Norwegian Nobel Committee honoured the three women “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.” Johnson Sirleaf, 72, is a Harvard-trained economist who became Africa’s first democratically elected female President in 2005. She was seen as a reformer and peacemaker in Liberia when she took office. Liberia was ravaged by civil wars for years until 2003. Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, organised a group of Christian and Muslim women to challenge Liberia’s warlords. Tawakul Karman, 32, headed the Women Journalists without Chains, a human rights group for journalists. She had been a leading figure in organising the protests in Yemen that opposed the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and which kicked off in late January.

Three scientists , American Bruce Beutler , French scientist Jules Hoffmann and Canadian-born Ralph Steinman (recently died), won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Medicine for discoveries about the immune system that opened new avenues for the treatment and prevention of infectious illnesses and cancer. Mr. Beutler and Mr. Hoffmann were cited for their discoveries in the 1990s of receptor proteins that can recognise bacteria and other microorganisms as they enter the body, and activate the first line of defence in the immune system, known as innate immunity. Mr. Steinman, 70, was honoured for the discovery two decades earlier of dendritic cells, which help regulate adaptive immunity, the next stage of the immune system’s response, when the invading microorganisms are purged from the body. Mr. Beutler is professor of genetics and immunology at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. Mr. Hoffmann headed a research laboratory in Strasbourg, France, between 1974 and 2009 and Mr. Steinman has been affiliated with Rockefeller University in New York since 1970, and heads its Center for Immunology and Immune Diseases.

Researchers Saul Perlmutter and Adam Riess of the United States and US-Australian Brian Schmidt won the 2011 Nobel Physics Prize for their research on supernovae. Nobel committee said, "They have studied several dozen exploding stars, called supernovae, and discovered that the universe is expanding at an ever-accelerating rate,” adding that their discovery had changed mankind's understanding of the universe. The award went to observations of ancient stars that flare in their death throes into becoming supernovae. Perlmutter, born in 1959, won half of the 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.48 million, 1.08 million euros) Nobel Prize, while Schmidt and Riess, born in 1969, were to share the other half, the Nobel jury said.

Daniel Shechtman of Israel won the 2011 Nobel Chemistry Prize for discovering and revealing the secrets of quasi crystals, which has revolutionised the notion of solid matter. Quasicrystals, described by the Nobel jury as 'a remarkable mosaic of atoms', are patterns that are highly ordered and symmetrical but which do not repeat themselves. Quasicrystals have been found in the lab and some have been discovered to occur naturally in minerals. Shechtman, born in 1941, is currently a professor at Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.

The 2011 Nobel Prize in literature was awarded to Tomas Transtromer, a Swedish poet whose surrealistic works about the mysteries of the human mind won him acclaim as one of the most important Scandinavian writers since World War II. The academy said it awarded the 80-year-old poet “because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality.” Mr. Transtromer’s most famous works include the 1966 “Windows and Stones,” in which he depicts themes from his many travels and “Baltics” from 1974. His works have been translated into more than 50 languages and influenced poets around the globe, particularly in North America.

US researchers Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims won the 2011 Nobel Economics Prize for their work on macroeconomics and government economic policymaking. The jury said, This year's laureates "have developed methods for answering ... questions regarding the causal relationship between economic policy and different macro-economic variables, such as GDP, inflation, employment and investments”.

This 2011 Right Lively Hood Awards have been given to Huang Ming (China) for his outstanding success in the development and mass-deployment of cutting-edge technologies for harnessing solar energy. Jacqueline Moudeina (Chad) "for her tireless efforts at great personal risk to win justice for the victims of the former dictatorship in Chad and to increase awareness and observance of human rights in Africa” . GRAIN (International) “for their worldwide work to protect the livelihoods and rights of farming communities and to expose the massive purchases of farmland in developing countries by foreign financial interests”. Ina May Gaskin (USA) “for her whole-life’s work teaching and advocating safe, woman-centered childbirth methods that best promote the physical and mental health of mother and child“. The Right Livelihood Award s was established in 1980 to honour and support those "offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today". It has become widely known as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize' .Presented annually in Stockholm at a ceremony in the Swedish Parliament.

The Dalai Lama will receive the Mahatma Gandhi peace prize, the legendary Indian leader's granddaughter Ela Gandhi announced at Johannesburg on 2 October, Gandhi Jayanti and asked the South African government to grant a visa to the Tibetan spiritual leader to visit the country. The Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Peace and Reconciliation will be conferred on the 76-year-old Dalai Lama at the annual Satyagraha Awards to be held at the Durban City.

Veteran actor-director Dev Anand will be honoured with the national Kishore Kumar Samman for the year 2010-11 by the Madhya Pradesh government. Similarly, noted music director, Rajesh Roshan will be bestowed with the national Lata Mangeshkar award.

Nov 2011 Awards

Former India cricket captain Ajit Wadekar was selected for the Col C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement award. The award is to comprise a trophy, citation and cheque for Rs. 15 lakhs.

Veteran batsman Rahul Dravid was selected for the Polly Umrigar Award for India's best cricketer of 2010-11 season. India women's team captain Jhulan Goswami is also to be honoured at the annual awards. This pacer will be awarded the M A Chidambaram Best Woman Cricketer of 2010-11 trophy for claiming 21 wickets in eight matches.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on 23 November 2011 conferred Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military) upon General Hou Shusen, deputy chief of general staff of Chinese Peoples Liberation Army, at a special investiture ceremony in Islamabad. Pakistan awarded a top Chinese General with Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military) for promoting friendship and strengthening bi-lateral ties between the two countries. The Nishan-i-Imtiaz is one of the state organized civil decorations of State of Pakistan. It is the highest honour along with the highest award Nishan-e-Pakistan given to any civilian in Pakistan.

Leading NRI politician in the UK, Lord Navnit Dholakia, won Garavi Gujarat Hammer Award at the GG2 Leadership Awards 2011 for his outstanding achievements on 23 November 2011. Britain's Attorney General Dominic Grieve presented the award to Lord Dholakia. Dholakia is a British Liberal Democrat politician and the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords. Lord Dholakia is one of the most senior Asian politicians in Britain.

Renowned scientist C N R Rao was conferred with the Ernesto Illy Trieste Science Prize for 2011 for his contribution to materials research. The honour was presented to Rao, who is the Chairman of Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, at a function in Trieste, Italy. The Prize, instituted by the Academy of Sciences of the Developing World, carries a cash component of 100,000 dollars, a medal and a citation. The Trieste Town Council and the Trieste International Foundation for Scientific Progress and Freedom are collaborating in this effort. Rao, 77, is the founder of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) in Bangalore. He has 1,500 research papers and is an author of 45 books. Rao also received the Firodia Lifetime Achievement Award a few days ago.

India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru joined the elite club of Singapore christened Friends to our Shore on 20 November 2011. Only four other world personalities are members of the coveted club. The club is in memory of their contribution to shaping the contemporary world history and their strong connection to Singapore. The measure was initiated by the Singapore National Heritage Board. The other four members in the list are- Polish-English writer Joseph Conrad (2004), Father of modern Vietnam Ho Chi Minh (2008), Filipino revolutionary leader Jose Rizal (2008) and Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (2010).The statue of Nehru was unveiled on the banks of the Singapore river by the Indian PM Man Mohan Singh who visited Singapore for a bi-lateral discussions. Nehru visited Singapore thrice and the first was in May 1937 as part of his pan-Malayan tour.

Eminent Kannada author S. L. Bhyrappa was presented with 20th Saraswati Samman in literature for 2010 for his epic novel Mandra. The Saraswati Samman is awarded by the K. K. Birla Foundation to a work published in the last 10 years, selected from among works published in 25 Indian languages. The award carries a prize of Rs.7.5 lakh.

The Simhadri super thermal power station in the State has won Swarn Shakti award in the area of productivity (coal project) category. The award was presented by CMD of NTPC Arup Roy at a function in new Delhi on Wednesday.

Vinoba Sewa Ashram founders Ramesh Bhaiya and Vimla Bahan, and social activists Anupam Mishra, Shobhana Ranade and Agus Indra Udayana were awarded 2011 Jamnalal Bajaj Awards on 7 November 2011. Anupam Mishra was chosen for Application of Science and Technology for Rural Development, while Ranade was selected for her work in Development and Welfare of Women and Children. Indra Udayana received the award for promoting Gandhian Values outside India and Ramesh Bhaiya and Vimla Bahan were chosen for the Award for Constructive Work. Each award comprised a citation, a trophy and Rs five lakh in cash. The awards were presented by spiritual leader Morari Bapu.

A traditional tribal institution of Meghalaya on 4 November 2011 announced Former South African President Nelson Mandela the winner of People's Parliament Global Award.Grand Council of Chiefs of Meghalaya (GCCM) chairman John F. Kharshiing declared that Mandela was chosen for the award because of his sacrifice for the struggle against apartheid. Besides, three journalists — Aroon Purie, Rajdeep Sardesai and Arnab Goswami would also be given the People's Parliament National Awards for their unbiased, ethical and investigative reporting. These awards, instituted by GCCM, would be conferred at a function to be held at Asananggre near Tura in West Garo Hills District on 14 November 2011.Earlier, former United States Vice-President Al Gore was conferred the People's Parliament Global Award for promoting awareness on climate change.

India won two prestigious awards- Best Destination and Best Marketing Campaign as the World's Leading Destination at the World Travel Awards 2011 on 8 November 2011. Union Tourism Minister, Subodh Kant Sahai received the awards from Graham Cooke, Chairman, World Travel Awards in London. The awards will boost the government of India’s efforts to brand India as a global tourist destination. India will hold its first Global Travel Mart on 12 December 2012 to reinforce India’s commitment to become a major player in world tourism.

Dec 2011 Awards

World renowned architect and Goa’s Charles Correa was bestowed with Goa's highest civilian honour, the Gomant Vibhushan, on the eve of the Golden Jubiliee of Goa's Liberation. The award was presented to him by Goa governor K Shankaranarayanan. Correa is the second recipient of the Gomant Vibhushan, the first being eminent nuclear scientist Anil Kakodkar, who was awarded the Gomant Vibhushan in 2010. Correa has earlier been conferred with India's Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan.

Twenty-two writers were selected for the prestigious Sahitya Akademi awards for2011. Eight books of poetry, seven novels, three essays and one each short story, narrative history; biography and play were selected for the awards. Writers in 23 languages are recongised every year by the Akademi. The awards that are given every year and contain an engraved cooper plaque, a shawl and a cheque of Rs 1 lakh. Tamil novelist Su Venkatesan's , debut novel Kaval Kottam earned him the coveted Sahitya Akademi Award in Tamil section. The book is about the 600-year old history of the city of Madurai and a security system that prevailed there. Hindi novelist, Kashinath singh was also selected. Lalit Magotra (Dogri), Grace (Marathi) and Samala Sadasiva (Telugu) received the award for their books on essays. Historian Ramachandra Guha was chosen for the award for his book of narrative history - India after Gandhi.

The Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences on 21 December 2011 chose Apple co-founder Steve Jobs to be posthumously honoured with a Grammy award for his contribution to music technology. Jobs is to be honoured as a creative visionary. He is one of 11 people who will be honoured with special awards. Jobs, who died on 5 October 2011 of pancreatic cancer, will receive a Trustees Award on 13 February 2012 for helping create products that transformed the way music, TV, movies and books are consumed.

Hema Malini, Veteran Bollywood actress, was named the person of the year by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). PETA named her the Person of the Year for raising her voice to oppose cruelty to animals and her staunch commitment to a vegetarian diet.The Dream Girl on behalf of PETA had recently appealed to the minister of Environment and Forests to take immediate steps to end the cruel tradition of jallikattu. Jallikattu is a sport event in Tamil Nadu in which terrified bulls are kicked, punched, jumped on, dragged to the ground and otherwise tormented.

Jamil Ahmad was declared the winner of the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize for his book The Wandering Falcon at the British Council in New Delhi on 21 December 2011. The Wandering Falcon, is a narrative about the lives of tribal people along the borders of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. The book contained personal sights, sounds, actual faces and conversations. The book that has won critical acclaim worldwide was written decades ago . He started writing the book in 1971, it was completed by 1973 .Born in Jalandhar in 1933, Jamil Ahmad is a Pakistani national. The prize is set up in memory of writer and editor Shakti Bhatt.

Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Hamid Ansari released two books Expression of Thoughts (English) and Izhar-e-Khayal (Urdu) authored by K.Rahman Khan, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha in New Delhi on 19 December 2011.The books in English and Urdu are compilation of his selected speeches on various subjects like Parliament, democracy and governance, economy and business, besides issues of equity, justice and secularism, women empowerment and development.

The Forbes' 30 under 30 list was prepared by selecting young turks from 12 diverse fields including energy, finance, media, law, entertainment, science, design and technology. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, human rights activist Ronan Farrow and pop stars Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber are also included in Forbes magazine's list of top-achieving people under age 30.The list released in December 2011 included 10 people of Indian origin.Some of the the Indian-origin people on the list is 17 year old Param Jaggi, a student and inventor at Austin College. Jaggi created algae-filled device that fits over a car's tailpipe and turns carbon dioxide into oxygen. Vivek Nair, Chief Executive of Damascus Fortune, who is developing a technology that transforms industrial carbon emissions into carbon nanotubes was also named in the list. Manvir Nijhar, Co-Head of European Equity Derivatives Sales at Citigroup was named as well. Kunal Shah, the youngest Managing Director at Goldman Sachs was also included in the list.

Lord Swraj Paul, leading NRI industrialist was conferred with the Life Time Achievement award for his outstanding contributions in various fields. The award, instituted by an Indian company Powerbrands, was presented to Lord Paul on 12 December 2011 by Subrata Roy, chief of the Sahara Group. Paul was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 1983. He was elevated to the British Peerage in 1996.Raghupati Singhania of J K Tyres was earlier given the Powerbrands Hall of Fame Award.

S.R. Nathan, former President of the Republic of Singapore presented the Sangita Kalanidhi M.S. Subbulakshmi Award to Trichy Sankaran at the inauguration of the 85th annual conference of the Music Academy in Chennai on 15 December 2011. Trichy Sankaran is the mridangam maestro.

Siddhartha Mukherjee, the Indian origin American physician who won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, has added another literary accolade by winning the Guardian First Book Award for his “biography” of cancer. Mukherjee is assistant professor of Medicine at Columbia University.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh presented the K. Karunakaran Foundation Best Administrator of India Award- 2011 to Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee at a function in New Delhi. Pranab Mukherjee has been selected as the first person to receive this award.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presented the National Energy Conservation Awards 2011 in New Delhi. Prominent winners from Andhra Pradesh are GMR Hyderabad International Airport, KCP Cement and South Central Railway, Secunderabad received awards.

18-year old Jyoti Amge from Nagpur, Maharashtra received Guinness World Record as the shortest women in the world with the height of 62.8 cm

Akkineni International Foundation announced ANR National Award 2011 for Bollywood actress Hemamalini. The award will carry Rs.5 lakh cash prize. ANR Award was first awarded to Devanand in 2005

Former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam presented the Justice P.N. Bhagwati Award to O.P. Jindal Global University chancellor and managing director of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, Naveen Jindal on 6 December 2011. The award was conferred upon Jindal for his outstanding contribution to legal education and corporate philanthropy. Justice P.N. Bhagwati Award has been instituted by the Capital Foundation. The Bhagwati Award was also given to Arun Mohan, a senior advocate in the Supreme Court, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to access to justice.

The 42nd edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) was held in Panaji, Goa from 23 November to 3 December 2011. Film star Shah Rukh Khan inaugurated the 42nd edition of IFFI. The inaugural ceremony was marked by presentation of Life Time Achievement award to french filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier by Shah Rukh Khan.

The Golden Peacock Award for the Best Film was given to a Columbian Film Porfirio.

The Silver Peacock Award for Best Actor (Female) category was given to the actor Nadezhda Markina for her role in the Russian film Elena. Whereas, the Silver Peacock Award for Best Actor (Male) category was won by Sasson Gabey for his role in an Israeli film Restoration.

The Special Jury Award was presented to Salim Ahamed for directing Malayalam film Adaminte Makan Abu meaning Abu, Son of Adam.

Three girls, Sangeeta Bauri, Bina Kalindi and Mukti Majhi from Purilia village in West Bengal were honoured by President of India Pratibha Patil with Rs.10,000 cash prize each for opposing the forcible marriage arranged by parents.

The Karnataka State government on 1 December 2011 announced its decision to confer the prestigious Basava Sri Award for the year 2010 on noted environment activist Medha Patkar. Social activist and Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar was chosen for the Basava award for the year 2010 for excellence in service in the social sector.

Sep 2011 National

A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck the Sikkim-Nepal border on 18 September 2011 and sent shockwaves across north and east India and Bangladesh. The quake’s epi centre lay in an area in Sikkim 64 km from the capital, Gangtok. Six persons were reported to have been killed and 50 injured in the quake. In Nepal, five persons were killed and 44 injured. The West Bengal districts of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri were also badly affected.

Election Commission of India (ECI) for the first time decided to deploy volunteers of National Service Scheme (NSS) and cadets of National Cadet Corps (NCC) for election duty in Uttar Pradesh and other states going for Assembly polls in 2012. ECI has planned to deploy the volunteers at polling stations with more than 1,000 voters and where there are more than two booths in the same place.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on 30 September 2011 was appointed as external auditor of two major UN organizations, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). It is for the first time that a supreme audit institution from outside Europe has been appointed to these prestigious positions in these two organisations. These appointments were made in the face of competition from other developed countries like the U.K., Spain and Norway. The tenure of these audits could extend up to six years.

According to data released by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on 23 September 2011, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana are the top three states from where maximum cases of bonded labour have been reported in the past 18 years.As per the report 1300 cases of human rights violations pertaining to bonded labour were reported from Uttar Pradesh followed by Punjab (465) and Haryana (425). Delhi stood at the ninth position with 45 such cases.

The Gujarat Legislative Assembly on 27 September 2011 passed the Gujarat Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill 2011. The bill seeks seven-year jail term for cow slaughter or even transporting the animal for that purpose. The Maldharis(Pastoral People) in Gujarat had been demanding stricter laws against cow slaughter and trade of beef for a long time.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh unveiled the new policy which aims at dealing with Naxalism through a five year integrated plan while addressing the concluding session of the day long national workshop on development strategies in naxal affected districts in New Delhi on 13 September 2011. This programme is aimed at bridging the development deficit in the extremely backward areas that are affected left wing extremism. The Government is contemplating to bring 20 more naxal affected districts under the Integrated Action Plan. A specialised battalion is being raised to ensure security and development in these districts.

The Supreme Court of India ruled that farmers, whose land is being acquired by the government, should be compensated not only for their land but also for the plantation on it. A bench comprising Justices V Raveendran, H L Gokhale and Gyan Sudha Misra, set aside the order of the Bombay High Court which had held that once the compensation is awarded for the land, there cannot be additional or separate compensation for the trees. The Apex Court ruled, if the land value has been determined with reference to the sale statistics or compensation awarded for a nearby vacant land, then trees will have to be valued separately.

The Land Acquistion, Relief and Rehabilitation Bill, 2011, was approved by the Union Cabinet on 5 September 2011. It aims to put in place a transparent and legal framework for land acquisition. According to the proposed Bill, consent of at least 80 per cent of people will be mandatory to acquire land except where it is acquired for a public purpose. The Bill defines public purpose as land use for strategic purposes, infrastructure and industry. The Bill calls for different land acquisition norms for rural and urban areas. Under the new Bill, the states will be free to have their own land acquisition laws. The proposed law seeks to replace the 117-year-old Land Acquisition Bill, 1894 and for the first time integrates both land acquisition and R&R package.

Main features of land draft bill

• For land acquired in rural areas, the compensation will be four times the market value. The compensation package for urban area however remains two times the market value.
• Linear projects like Railways and Power lines will not be covered under the Bill.
  Irrigated multi crop land can be acquired upto five percent. However, an equal area of wasteland within the district will have to be developed.
• In case the acquired land is not used for the stated purpose the land will not be returned to the original owner but will go to state.
• States are free to have their own land acquisition law.
• Public purpose has been defined as land use for strategic purpose, infrastructure and industry.
• Consent of 80 percent people would be mandatory in case the land is acquired for private project. Consent not mandatory when land is acquired by the government for its own use.
• Urgency clause to be used in rarest of rarest case, such as emergencies or national calamity.
• Compensation should be completed within three months of acquisition. Re settlement and rehab monetary part should be completed within 6 months.
• Persons who have been dependent on the said land for at least three years will be eligible for compensation.

A tripartite agreement for Suspension of Operations (against ULFA) was signed between the Centre, the Assam state government and the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) in New Delhi on 3 September 2011 with the objective of bringing permanent peace in Assam. ULFA had earlier agreed to abjure violence and to find a solution to the problems as perceived by the outfit through peaceful negotiations with the Union Government and the Assam Government.

The Supreme Court of India held that rule of law is an integral part of the basic structure of the constitution and cannot be abrogated by Parliament of India which is bound by it.

The bench opined that any law which deprives a person of his private property for private interest, will be unlawful and unfair and undermines the rule of law and can be subjected to judicial review. In Kesavananda Bharati’s case, this Court enunciated rule of law as one of the most important aspects of the doctrine of basic structure. Rule of law affirms Parliament’s supremacy while at the same time denying it sovereignty over the Constitution. A five-judge constitutional bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia gave the judgmentThe bench, which also included Justices Mukundakam Sharma, K S Radhakrishnan, Swatanter Kumar and Anil R Dave passed the judgment while upholding the Roerich and Devika Rani Roerich Estate Acquisition Act, 1996, enacted by the Karnataka legislature to protect the 465-acre estate of the famous Russian painter Svetoslav and his wife, in Bangalore.

Asian Development Bank, ADB has approved 500 million dollar loan to help India improve rail services. The bank has approved a multi-tranche financing facility for the Railway Sector Investment Program, RSIP. The RSIP is being carried out by the Ministry of Railways and will end by December 2018.Asian Development Bank loan will be used to develop freight and passenger routes in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, including the critical Golden Quadrilateral corridor that connects Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi. The loan will be utilised for laying down additional lines and the electrification of hundreds of kilometers of existing track, along with installing new signaling.

Telugu is all set to become a world language, a great effort by the information and technology department to 'technicalise' the language so that it could be uploaded online easily like English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese and Russian. The IT department of Andhra Pradesh is now embarking on standardization of Telugu language so that many of the complex words can be translated into Unicode so that there would be no trouble in uploading the Telugu text. "Telugu is the language of more than 10 crore people.

In Assam, the process to set up the first integrated tea park of the North East region has been initiated. Sources in the tea industry said that the proposed park would come up at Chaygaon on the outskirts of Guwahati. The tea park would provide infrastructure of international standard and the state of the art facilities. It will create world-class facilities for processing, warehousing, auction centre, blending and packaging, and generate employment. North East contributes 55 percent of the country’s total tea production. After completion of the park, the tea export is likely to be increased largely.

Oct 2011 National

The Union government of India prepared a blueprint to provide jobs to three-lakh youths in 60 naxal-affected districts in India. The government will start a programme for placement-linked jobs for unemployed youth in these districts by the end of 2016. They will be trained and provided jobs. The government also decided to start major developmental initiatives in these districts in a bid to tackle the Naxal menace. These initiatives include Indira Awas Yojana housing for people whose homes were destroyed and construction of concrete roads. The Rural Development Ministry also planned a Public Private Partnership initiative for value addition in non-timber forest produce in six districts of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh as a pilot project.

The Indian Railways on 19 October 2011 launched a real-time train information system (RTIS) for 12 important trains through which passengers can access the accurate train running information. Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi launched the facility at the Economic Editors' Conference. The Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO), Lucknow and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur to overcome the limitations of the existing Train Running Information System, jointly developed the GPS-based train tracking system. Passengers will be provided with the information about the location of the train, its running position — on time or late, next stop, nearest approaching/crossed station and the speed.

Union Ministry of Rural Development cleared the proposal to construct one playground in each village, falling under the 60 Integrated Action Plan (IAP) districts under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGS works. The playground would be used for games like football, volleyball, hockey and kabbadi. The Ministry of Rural Development decided to revive sports for the tribal boys and girls in the 60 left-wing extremist-affected districts where the Integrated Action Plan (IAP) has been implemented. The idea was not just to spread the scope of sports and games to cover all the tribals but also to wean them away from being tapped by the Naxalite outfits in these districts.

The Union Government of India finalised a developmental action plan called Saranda Action plan for Naxal Affected districts in Naxal affected districts particularly in eastern India. The Saranda Action Plan was prepared by Rural Development Ministry. It will be implemented firstly in Jharkhand's Naxal-hit Saranda district. According to the plan, immediate priority is to distribute solar lanterns and bicycles, construction of prefab houses for BPL families under the Indira Awas Yojana and bridges with the help of Army and special water supply - hand pump schemes.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has become the world's first Metro mode of transport to be certified by the United Nation (UN) for earning carbon credits by cutting down on pollution and emission of green house gases as part of its fight against climate change.

Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi Saturday flagged off the country's first double-decker superfast train from Howrah in West Bengal to Dhanbad in Jharkhand."It has much more comfort level than other trains. It is India's first double-decker train," said a senior Eastern Railway official.

In a big achievement for the first time, a 35-year-old woman joined the combat unit of the Indian Army outperforming her male counterparts in the physical tests. Sapper Shanti Tigga joined the 969 Railway Engineer Regiment of the Territorial Army. She is the first woman jawan in the Indian Army, where women are only allowed to join as officers in non- combat units.

The Supreme Court of India directed the States and Union territories to appoint child welfare officers in every police station for monitoring and extending better treatment to juveniles by the police. The apex court, which is monitoring the implementation of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, also directed that state and national legal services authorities issue appropriate guidelines for training and orientation of police officers, who could be designated as child welfare officers. A bench of justices R V Raveendran and A K Patnaik said that the training and orientation should be done over a period of six months to one year in every state and Union territory.

The Election Commission of India raised the cap of minimum votes a political party must secure in election to get the status of a State party or maintain it further. The new minimum limit is 8 per cent of total valid votes polled in State Assembly or Lok Sabha polls. Earlier, the limit was 6 per cent. In addition, the party must have returned at least two members to the Legislative Assembly in case of Assembly polls or at least one member in Parliament from the State in case of Lok Sabha elections.

The Union Cabinet of India on 13 October 2011 approved the proposal of Information and Broadcasting Ministry to publicize the Digitalisation of Analogue Cable Systems Ordinance. The objective of the ordinance is the complete digitalisation of cable television in the four metros by 31 March 2012. By the end of 2014, all parts of India are expected to have phased out analogue cable TV. India has started the process of a global transition towards digitalisation. USA completed the process in 2009; China has set the deadline of 2015 to phase out analogue transmission. The approval of the ordinance means that all customers must have a set top box whether they want to receive free-to-air or pay channels. They could watch high quality channels of their choice and will get access to internet and telephone through the same digital cable. Broadcasters will generate more revenue directly from subscribers, and it could reduce their dependence on TRPs and advertisers.

Nov 2011 Natonal

The United Naga Council (UNC) decided to lift the economic blockade from Manipur following assurance from Union home affairs minister P Chidambaram. The UNC was spearheading the blockade on the two national highways since 21Aug 2011 to counter the economic blockade launched by the Sadar Hills District Demand Committee (SHDDC) on Aug 1. SHDDC is demanding conversion of the Kuki tribal majority Sadar Hills area into a district. The SHDDC lifted the blockade on two highways; Imphal–Dimapur-Guwahati (NH39) and Imphal-Jiribam-Silchar (NH53) on the 92nd day after the Manipur state government agreed to their demand of creating a district. The Nagas are against this move.

The Supreme Court ruled on 28 November 2011 that awards passed by the Lok Adalat either in criminal or civil matters are bound to be implemented through a court decree if parties after reaching a compromise fail to stick to it. The court added that any award passed by the Lok Adalat is deemed a decree and will be executed by a court if either parties to the dispute retracts on the agreement reached before the Lok adalats.

The train travelling the longest distance in India, the Dibrugarh-Kanyakumari Vivek Express, was flagged off at Dibrugarh by Union Minister of Development of North Eastern Region Paban Singh Ghatowar on November 19. The new train that connects Assam with the southernmost tip of Tamil Nadu brings with it good tidings for the tourism industry. On its way, it covered 4,286 km in 82.30 hours. Vivek Express replaces Himsagar Express (Jammu Tawi to Kanyakumari) as India's longest train service.

The UNAIDS HIV AIDS report 2011 released on 21 November 2011 revealed a dramatic decrease of 56 per cent between 1996 and 2010 in the number of new HIV infections in India. India overshot treatment targets for 2012 with 4.48 lakh HIV positive patients on the lifesaving anti-retroviral therapy at present, against the target of 3.4 lakh. Worldwide, with 2.7 million new HIV infections in 2010, the number of new infections went down by 21 per cent compared to 1997.According to the new estimates, 47% (6.6 million) of the estimated 14.2 million people eligible for treatment in low- and middle-income countries were accessing ART in 2010, an increase of 1.35 million since 2009.The year 2010 saw 2.7 million new HIV infections while 1.8 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses. A massive scale up in access to HIV treatment had a dramatic effect on the lives of people everywhere.

The Indian government signed a path-breaking tripartite peace agreement with a prominent insurgent group of Assam, United People’s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) on 25 November 2011 after two-year-long peace negotiations. As per the terms of the Memorandum of Settlement (MoS), the Karbi Anglong hill will get more power and a Rs 350-crore special financial package spread over five years. The UPDS had spearheaded a violent insurgent movement in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district since its formation in 1999 till 23 May 2002 when it entered into a ceasefire agreement with the government.

Tamil Nadu government on 24 November 2011 banned the screening of Hollywood film Dam 999 with immediate effect. The movie directed by Sohan Roy is believed to be based on disputed Mullaperiyar Dam between Tamilnadu and Kerala. Tamil Nadu government imposed a ban citing that it may cause animosity between Kerala and TN people as the film was dealing with the subject of the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam on the Kerala-TN border. The film centres on a dam and how it collapses and ravages the surrounding areas. The English film, released by Warner Bros was scheduled for release on 25 November.

To commemorate Children's Day celebrations the Department of Post released two special postage stamps on cloth designed by school children on the theme ‘Save the Tiger’ on 14 November 2011. The two stamps were priced at Rs 5 and Rs 20, respectively. India Post held design a stamp contest on ‘Save the Tiger’ theme at Indipex 2011, to spread awareness on tigers; and on 14 November 2011, the stamps were released. This was the first time the Department of Post brought out a stamp on cloth.

17th Kolkata Film Festival inaugural function was held at Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata November 9. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Film stars Sha Rukh Khan and Sharmila Tagore attended the Festival.

The second annual Pushkar international balloon festival was held from 7 to 9 November 2011 in Pushkar near Ajmer, Rajasthan. Participants from ten countries displayed their ballooning skills during the event. Colourful hot air balloons with beautiful motifs presented a spectacular view to tourists and participants. Over five lakh people visited Pushkar, some 15 km from Ajmer to attend the festival. Pushkar Balloon Festival is held in the backdrop of world famous Pushkar Fair.

A UN study ranked India at 134 out of 187 countries in terms of Human Development Index. The study however observed that life expectancy at birth in India has increased by 10.1 per cent a year over the last two decades. In the 2010 Human Development Report, prepared by UNDP, India had been ranked at 119 out of 169 countries. However, according to the new report for 2011, it is misleading to compare values and rankings with those of previously published reports as the underlying data and methods have changed, as well as the number of countries included in the Human Development Index. The report highlighted India's Human Development Index (HDI) value for 2011 was 0.547 positioning the country in the medium human development category. Between 1980 and 2011, India's HDI value increased from 0.344 to 0.547, an increase of 59 per cent or an average annual increase of about 1.5 per cent.

The state government of Goa gave its approval to 60 non-operational mines in the Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary under the Regional Plan 2021. The sanctuary is located 60 kms from Panaji. The Sanctuary is one of the five sanctuaries, which are located in Goa. It is home to animals like slender loris, deer, Black Panther and leopard. The environmentalists expressed their concern over the state government’s decision as the mining activities can have harmful effects on the animals in the sanctuary.

A report on child rights, India's Child Rights Index, a first-of-its-kind report was released on 9 November 2011 by the HAQ-Centre for Child Rights. Kerala topped the national child rights index, followed by Karnataka. Arunachal Pradesh was found to be the worst performer in protecting the rights of children. The rankings of few other states are as follows: Maharashtra (3), Tamil Nadu (4) and Andhra Pradesh (5), Gujarat (6), Rajasthan (7). Like the Human Development Index, education index, hunger index and health index now, the Child Rights Index attempts assess how different states and union territories fare in providing child friendly policies and where they stand in terms of securing the rights of children. In the Child Rights Index, the states have been ranked on 10 major indicators- birth registration, sex ratio, early childhood care, child marriage, child labour, education, health, incidence of crime against children, victims of crime against children and crimes by children. The index looked into all aspects of child wellbeing in all sectors and indicators for realisation of child rights as a whole.

Union Rural Development Ministry announced on 4 November 2011 that Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG) will audit performance of all schemes under the Ministries of Rural Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation. CAG is to conduct an audit on expenditure incurred over a period spanning the past five years in 12 States. In the first phase, the CAG will audit the expenditures under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched anti-measles vaccination drive, Measles Catch-up Campaign. The vaccination programme was launched in collaboration with the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) to target children aged up to 10 years, particularly in 14 States where the routine immunisation coverage is less than 80 per cent. More than 13 crore children are expected to be covered under the Measles Catch-up Campaign, irrespective of their previous measles vaccination status. The State Education Departments in the states are to set up a State Steering Committee for implementing the campaign. A nodal officer will collaborate with the principals and guardians of private and government schools for implementing the campaign. They will provide a list of the schools and of students enrolled in these schools. For each school, the vaccination programme will be completed in one day with the least disruption to academic routine.