Daily News Notes: 21st Feb, 2012

· Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orisha, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh will take part in the meeting convened by the Home Ministry for in-depth deliberations on the security situation in the Maoist belt. The meeting will review the development programmes being carried out in Naxal-affected districts and ways to speed them up to reach the maximum number of people.
· Education Ministers of states will meet in New Delhi tomorrow to decide on the Centre's move to hold a single entrance test for admissions to under graduate science and engineering programmes across the country. Till now only 11 education boards in the country have unanimously supported the move. The main issue in this is to bringing about equalization of the Class XII marks across the boards which has been sorted out by a formula designed by the Indian Statistical Institute that would give more representation to states in the IIT system.
· Inflation based on the all India Consumer Price Index (on base 2010=100) stood at 7.65 per cent in January, as per the first nationwide retail inflation data released by the government today. Overall retail inflation in rural and urban areas stood at 7.38 per cent and 8.25 per cent respectively in the same month. The all India CPI will be in addition to the three retail price indices -- for agricultural laborers, rural laborers and industrial workers -- prepared by the Ministry of Labor. The new nationwide CPI is being prepared by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) and is eventually expected to replace the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) as the benchmark inflation. Price data are collected from selected towns by the Field Operations Division of NSSO and from selected villages by the Department of Posts. Price data are received through web portals being maintained by the National Informatics Centre.
· The Union Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles, Shri Anand Sharma held the consultations with states of North Eastern region and special category states of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and UT of Andaman Nicobar Island and Lakshdweep on review of Transport Subsidy Scheme (TSS), North East Investment Promotion Programme and Special Packages and textiles. The Transport Subsidy Scheme was introduced way back in the early 70s to offset the high transportation cost because of poor infrastructure and geographical inaccessibility in these States. The Meeting discussed the proposed definition of ‘Manufacturing’, amendment to the negative list of TSS, expansion of existing list of designated railheads. The meeting also explored the ways of incentivizing transportation of raw material/finished goods by inland water transport and Additional incentives to MSME sector. Under the Special Package provided to these States, Central Government have been providing subsidy of 15% to 30% on plant and machinery as capital investment subsidy. Apart from this, the government has been providing working capital loans for a period up to 10 years.
· According to the Finance ministry, deposits in banks located outside the country may attract wealth tax, as part of government's drive to unearth black money. The proposal is part of the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) bill. The Bill also proposes a reporting requirement making it obligatory on the part of resident assesses to furnish details of their investment and interest in any entity outside India. The Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha in August 2010, has the objective to overhaul the over 50 years old Income Tax Act.
· Delhi government has decided to make the national capital slum free in the next three years. The government is implementing Rajiv Ratan Awas Yojna to provide housing to the weaker sections of society. This year the focus is towards making the city one of the cleanest cities of the country. [They’re joking!!]
· Indo Sweden MoU on Health Issues Completes Three Years of Successful Cooperation: India has been supporting Swedish initiatives in the areas of maternal and child health, adolescent health, public health, alcohol policy, medical and pharmaceutical products, public health research and infectious disease control and anti-microbial resistance. The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare noted that Sweden is pioneering policies in the field of Anti-Microbial Resistance and Elderly Care. Thus, the midwifery model of maternal health, in which Sweden is a pioneer, has potential for replication in India. Sweden has succeeded in reducing maternal and infant mortality and now has the lowest MMR and IMR. For the XIIth Plan, the Minister said India is eager to learn from Sweden’s Policy for Health, particularly to ensure Universal Health Coverage at affordable prices so that the population has equal access to health care services.
· In Yemen, voting has begun to formally elect Mansur Haadi as the new President of the country. The Southern Movement, which is pushing for the separation of southern Yemen and terror outfits linked to Al Qaeda in Yemen have given a call to boycott elections. The elections are being supervised by independent international monitors by European Union.
· The instances of piracy off the coast of Somalia have been a constant source of concern for the Government. So far, 242 Indian crew members on board merchant vessels of various flags have been hijacked by the Somali pirates. While, 220 of them have been released and all efforts are being made to secure the release of the remaining 22 personnel too. The Union Shipping Minister stated that India can explore the possibility of working together to counter the menace of piracy on the basis of the 2006 Indo-U.S. Framework for Maritime Security Cooperation which provides for expanding cooperation in areas such as counter-piracy and littoral security.