Daily News Notes

· Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh left this morning for Bali to participate in the 9th India-ASEAN Summit and 6th East Asia Summit. Dr. Singh said that he will review the implementation of ambitious India-ASEAN plan of action for 2010 to 2015 with the ASEAN leaders. There are concerns among the countries of the region relating to disaster management, maritime security, terrorism and other non-traditional threats to security. Dr. Singh said as a founder member, India is part of several initiatives taken by the East Asia summit to create an Economic Community in the region such as the Comprehensive Economic Partnerhsip in East Asia, CEPEA.
· The Government says it is working to put in place a legal framework to control misleading advertisements and thus such mechanism needs to be constantly evolved according to the changing aspirations of consumers. It also urged Advertising Standards Council of India, ASCI to reduce the time taken in addressing consumer complaints against misleading advertisements.
· Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee who is the head of the Empowered Group of Ministers, EGoM on Food has given his final clearance to the revised draft of the National Food Security Bill and will be put before the cabinet soon. The Finance Ministry has agreed to remove the condition of extending the benefits of the proposed food security law only to general households in states where the Public Distribution System is modernized and now the benefit will be extended to all states. The two other major changes include keeping an option open for supplying more than three kilogram of subsidised foodgrains (subsidised foodgrains to 75 per cent of the country's rural population and 50 per cent of urban India.) to general households and widening its reach to include lactating women, destitute and aged people and providing nutritious food to children.
· The Bihar government has issued an alert following the detection of the first ever outbreak of Chikangunia (mosquito-borne viral fever) in the state and apart from it the number of cases of Dengu are also rising in the state.
· The government is of the view that the foreign investment in pension sector may be kept on par with it is what there in the insurance sector under the general regulation Framed under Foreign exchange management act. Foreign investment ceiling for pension sector may not be specified in the Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority Bill 2011 because the insurance which will provide the insurance product on the strength of its own balance sheet the pension fund management company provides only fund managed services.
· The Antonio Borges, the Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) European Department, has resigned citing personal reasons, amidst the deepening European economic crisis. Reza Moghadam, currently Director of the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department, has been appointed as Borges successor. Moghadam is being succeeded by Siddharth Tiwari, who is currently the IMF Secretary.
· In Afghanistan two rockets landed close to the Loya Jirga compound (500 meters away from the Loya Jirga compound as the tribal elders were gathering to discuss the issue of long term strategic partnership with the United States) in Kabul this morning, wounding at least one person. Meanwhile, at least 27 insurgents were killed in six joint operations conducted by the NATO and Afghan forces and Six others were arrested by the Afghan National Police.