Daily News Notes (AIR)

Mr. Ahluwalia said one of the key issues in the Approach Paper will be the effective implementation of various government programmes with transparency and accountability. He said agriculture sector had performed better in 11th plan, however 4 percent of growth rate in this sector could not be achieved. He said target for agriculture sector in 12th plan is again 4 percent.Mr. Ahluwalia added that water will be one of the main issues, besides other important sectors like energy and employment generation. Mr. Ahluwalia added that water will be one of the main issues, besides other important sectors like energy and employment generation.
Government has signed a tax information exchange agreement with Switzerland to gain access to banking data in that country. Such agreements have been renegotiated with 21 countries and signed with 18 other countries.
The Government today made it clear that it will not use the money from disinvestment to fill its revenue gap.Mr. Mukherjee added that a National Investment Fund has been created to accumulate the money earned from disinvestment of CPSEs.
Fifty two thousand mega watt of additional power will be generated by the end of current five year plan.
The Lok Sabha has passed the Indian Medical Council Amendment Bill 2011. Government is committed to adding fifteen thousand Medical Post Graduation seats in the span of five years. The Health Minister also noted that government has formulated policies to give incentives to private sector to set up Medical colleges.
Lok Sabha is now discussing a bill which seeks to amend the law to make the five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, IISERs statutory bodies and enable them to award degrees to students . National Institutes of Technology Amendment Bill seeks to bring the five IISERs under the NIT Act and declare them to be institutions of national importance and will strengthen the networking of NITs and IISERs.
The government today said there is no insurance cover for railway passengers and property at present. The insurance cover for rail passengers has been discontinued from September 2008
The government today assured the Rajya Sabha that a system to stop unsolicited Short Messages (SMS) on mobile phones will be in place within next six weeks.
Transporters in Mumbai called a strike since midnight, along with truckers across Maharashtra and from the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry to protest non-redressal of their long pending demands. The Bombay Goods Transport Association said their main demand is reduction of toll at checkpoints, bridges and highways. They are also demanding reduction in fuel charges, tyre prices, toll tax and insurance.
Syria has dismissed calls by the United States and its allies for President Bashar al-Assad to step down as pitiful and illegitimate.Earlier, the leaders of the United States, France, Germany and Britain had demanded that President Assad of Syria leave office following the violent suppression of street protests against his leadership
In Afghanistan, at least eight people have been killed in suicide bomb attacks in Kabul this morning. The attacks have taken place on the day when Afghanistan is celebrating its Independence Day.