Political and Social Issues

The Union Cabinet approved a new policy for acquisition of overseas raw material assets which would be applicable to CPSEs in agriculture, mining, manufacturing and power sectors with a three year track record of making net profits.
Maharatna and Navratna entities have been vested with enhanced power to acquire raw material assets worth Rs.5,000 crore and Rs.3,000 crore respectively from Rs.1,000 crore without having to consult the government,
The government maintained that it would consider constituting a dedicated Sovereign Wealth Fund to go with the new policy to protect the long-term economic interests of the country.

For more than 30 years, the Booker Prize (renamed Man Booker after its takeover by the Man Group) has enjoyed near cult status in much of the English-speaking world
a group of prominent British writers, literary agents and critics announced a “rival'' prize, “The Literature Prize'', amid a growing and ill-tempered row over the quality of this year's Booker shortlist which has been criticised for favouring “readability'' over literary merit.
The prize, to be launched next year, promises to recognise “the best novel'' written in the English language and published in the U.K. in a given year regardless of the nationality of the writer — unlike the Booker which is restricted to writers from the Commonwealth countries.

The Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on Thursday announced that it had become India's first digital signature enabled department.
It also announced introduction of a new ‘Niryat Bandhu' scheme for international business mentoring for young turks in international business enterprises.
the new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) unveiled here, the DGFT said it had introduced a higher level of encrypted 2048 bit Digital Signature.
Digital certificate provides a high level of security for online communication such that only intended recipient can read it. It provides authentication, privacy, non-repudiation and integrity in the virtual world.
The officer (Niryat Bandhu) would function in the mentoring' arena and would be a ‘handholding' experiment for the young turks in international business enterprises.
import of radioimmunoassay kits was classified in the ‘restricted category' as per ITC HS-Import Schedule.
For sale/transfer of imported firearms prior permission from DGFT is not required after 10 years of import.
Local police licensing authorities or District Magistrates can give permission of sale/ transfer directly.