Daily News Notes:

· The new manufacturing policy approved by the Cabinet today aims to create hundred million jobs in next 10 years paves the way for building industrial zones (which will give fillip to the export sector) and beef up manufacturing with world class infrastructure and softer labor laws which will lift the share of manufacturing sector in the GDP from 16% to 25% in the next decade thus the Asia's third largest economy will also be able to compete with China.
· The Cabinet decided to implement the wage board recommendations (with some modifications) for journalists and non journalists providing a quantum jump in their salaries.
· The Union Cabinet approved the proposal under 1% interest (subsidy) on housing loan scheme liberalizing the limit of housing loan up to 15 lakhs where the cost of the house doesn't exceed 25 lakh.
· Government also decided to raise its quota in the International Monetary Fund, IMF organization from 2.44 to 2.75 percent.
· The cabinet decided to extend broadband facility to all the Gram Panchayats (to be implemented in two years’ time) and approved a scheme for creation of National Optical Fiber Network (project cost of nearly 20000 cr rupees) for providing broadband connectivity to all panchayats.
· The Reserve Bank of India continued with its tight monetary stance, raised interest rates by 25 bases points (13th time since March, 2010) in its mid-year monetary policy and deregulated savings bank deposit rates. Repo Rate (from 8.25 to 8.5 %) is the rate at which RBI lends money to commercial banks and Reverse Repo Rate (from 7.25 to 7.5 %) is the rate at which the RBI borrows money from commercial banks and both comes under Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF). The apex bank has lowered the growth target to 7.6 per cent from 8 per cent earlier, for the current fiscal. It said inflation will start cooling by December this year and is likely to come down to 7 per cent by March, 2012.
· India(9.5% for 2013, 9% for 2014) is expected to clock higher GDP growth than China(9%,8.6%) in 2013-14, report by Ernst and Young. Current GDP growth rates: India(7.2%), China(8.2%). High savings and investment rates have also proved helpful for India.
· Government is finalizing the blue print for a scheme (targets those earning less than 10000 rupees in a month) to enable the urban poor to own a house. The Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry has proposed to stand in as guarantor for home loans up to 5 lakh rupees.
· A Committee headed by prominent technocrat Kiran Karnik has been set up to prepare a comprehensive policy to deal with corrupt practices (menace of bribe taking) in the private sector and will treat bribery in the private sector as a criminal offence.
· In Andhra Pradesh, the Employees (4 lakh 20 thousand, right from Panchayath level to state secretariat) in Telangana region joined their duties after a gap of 42 days. The state Government has agreed to the 9 demands which include paying one month salary advance, withdrawing certain cases against employees and not evoking the Essential Services Maintenance Act for the strike period.
· Government will hold talks with ULFA leaders (led by Arabinda Rajkhowa) this afternoon aiming to find a lasting solution to the insurgency problem in Assam. ULFA entered into formal peace talks with the government and signed the suspension of operation pact with the Centre on the 3rd of last month.
· The UN Security Council today unanimously adopted an India-co-sponsored resolution (the issue of prosecution of convicted pirates not only for acts of piracy but also for hostage taking) on piracy in Somalia.
· Britain's parliament has soundly rejected a motion to hold a referendum on whether it should stay in the European Union as referendum would create more economic uncertainty, but British Prime Minister David Cameron urged the parliamentarians to vote 'no’ as E.U is in a debt crisis and the British economy is shaky. 80 Conservatives ignored Mr. Cameron and his threat of disciplinary action and joined those voting for a referendum.
· Archaeologists say they have discovered the wreck of a ship (20-metre-long wooden ship, carrying 1 lakh 40,000 soldiers, was found off the southern island of Kyushu) which was part of a fleet sent to invade Japan by Mongol ruler Kublai Khan more than 700 years ago (in 1281). Most of the fleet is believed to have sunk when it was hit by bad weather - dubbed a kamikaze, or divine wind, by the Japanese.
· Death toll in Sunday’s killer earthquake in eastern provinces of Turkey has gone up to 366
· In Uttar Pradesh, at least 10 people have been killed and several others injured today in an explosion in a firecracker factory at Rampur village in Maharajganj district. Yesterday, in a similar incident in Chennai, at least 30 people were killed.
· In Kashmir valley, militants today hurled two grenades at two security pickets (Kaman post: no one injured; Akhada post: three CRPF personnel injured) in Srinagar city.
· In Bihar, seven hardcore Maoists (was involved in the murder of Bikramganj Deputy Superintendent of Police Akhileshwar Prasad Singh on 2nd April, 2006 and Tarari Station House Officer Raj Kishore Sah on September 11, 2006) have been arrested from different places in Rohtas district during the last 24 hours.
· The US National Hurricane Centre said Hurricane Rina has formed in the western Caribbean, threatening to bring heavy rain and powerful winds to southern Mexico and Central America. Much of Central America is already waterlogged after intense downpours that killed around 100 people.