Daily News Notes

· Addressing the 7th North East Business Summit, Home Minister said that most of the north-east region is conflict free (confined to Manipur, some parts of Assam and Nagaland) and nearly all separatist groups (like ULFA) in the region are in talks with the government. Now, the government is making huge investment in the north east region to support small and medium businesses to boost the economy.
· Addressing a conference of Indian and Canadian industrialists, Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises invited Canada to invest in MSM enterprises of the country including Pharmaceuticals, Automobile Components, Services and Energy sector as this sectors have been the growth engine of the country amidst global economic crisis and are expected to grow at the rate of 9 per cent per year during the 12th five year plan.
· Year 2012 is expected to be warmer by 0.5^oC above the global average of 14^oC than the previous year in India due to the weather phenomenon La Nina. It will be one of the top 10 hottest years globally since 1850. La Nina has positive impact on monsoon in India and the country is likely to experience another good monsoon season this year which will help in better food grain production.
· In Madhya Pradesh, the state Cabinet has sanctioned construction of buildings of 650 sub-health centres using pre-fabricated technique as to tackle difficulties that are faced in mobilizing building material like cement, bricks, soil as well as skilled laborers for construction of buildings in inaccessible and remote areas of the state.
· The President of India has approved the conferment of Jeevan Raksha Padak Awards – 2011. Under Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak , Shri C. Lalduhawma of Mizoram and Shri Om Prakash of Uttar Pradesh were awarded. Jeevan Raksha Padak series of awards are given to a person for meritorious act of human nature in saving the life of a person. The award is given in three categories, namely, Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak, and Jeevan Raksha Padak.
· Planning commission has constituted a Small Group of Experts under the Chairmanship of Justice A.P.Shah, Former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court to identify the privacy issues and prepare a paper to facilitate authoring the Privacy Bill. The group will study the Privacy laws and related bills promulgated by various countries and make an in-depth analysis of various programmes being implemented by Gol from the point of view of their impact on Privacy. The group shall submit its report by 31st March 2012
· Total import of sensitive items shown an increase of 41.8%. Thus import of sensitive items constitutes 4.2% and 4.6% of the gross imports during last year and current year respectively. It consists of milk & milk products, edible oil, automobiles, fruits & vegetables (including nuts), pulses, rubber, cotton & silk, products of SSI, spices, marble & granite, alcoholic beverages and tea & coffee.
· Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan takes over as the Director General, Indian Coast Guard
· 12 of the 22 Indian diamond traders, detained in China for nearly 2 years on charges of smuggling, reached Mumbai after Chinese Intermediate People's Court found them innocent and ordered their deportation. Rests are in jail for varied period.
· The Palestinians and the Israelis will start (from next monday) a fresh round of direct talks on the Middle East peace process in Amman, capital of Jordan which is considered to be the first such kind of talks between them in more than 1.5 year.
· During Myanmar visit, the British Foreign Secretary said that the momentum for change in Myanmar is real, but he acknowledged the risks of engaging with the government still tainted by history of abuse and repression. Recently Hillary Clinton was also visited Myanmar and applauses its political change.
· In Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez is an avowed supporter of Tehran's nuclear ambitions, Iran has opened bank branches and transportation companies that US officials say enable Iran to circumvent sanctions. Relations between Iran and Latin America began to warm soon after Mr Ahmadinejad's election in 2005, when he made the region a diplomatic priority
· Hosts Australia today defeated India by an innings and 68 runs in the second cricket test at Sydney, taking a 2-0 lead in the 4-match series.
· In the BWF Korea Open Badminton tournament at Seoul, India's Shuttle and World Number 4 Queen Saina Nehwal has crashed out of the Women’s Singles event, as she lost her quarter-final match to a lower ranked Yanjiao Jiang of China.