| 
tune in with UPSC: Daily News Notes: 8th Feb, 2012
- · Three ministers in Karnataka, caught on camera watching porn on mobile phone during assembly proceedings, resigned. BJP said it has set an example of high moral standards and probity in public life by asking the ministers to resign.
- · The Reserve Bank of India, RBI has asked banks to locate and refund unclaimed deposits estimated at over 1,700 crore rupees. RBI instructed banks to play a more pro-active role in finding the whereabouts of the account holders of unclaimed deposits or inoperative accounts in public interest. Expressing concern over the increase in the amount of the unclaimed deposits with banks year after year and the inherent risk associated with such deposits the RBI said the lists to be displayed on web sites should contain only the names of the account holder and his or her address.
- · The Railways have decided to increase the advance railway reservation period from 90 days to 120 days from March 10th, to cope with the demand for tickets.
- · The Culture and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister inaugurated an exhaustive retrospective of Ramkinkar Baij (iconic sculptor, painter and graphic artist), one of the most seminal artists of modern India. The retrospective has been insightfully curated at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA). Ramkinkar Baij (1906-1980) was born in Bankura, West Bengal. Both in his paintings and sculptures, he pushed the limits of experimentation and ventured into the use of new materials. For instance, his use of unconventional material, for the time, such as cement concrete for his monumental public sculptures set a new precedent for art practices. The use of cement, laterite and mortar to model the figures, and the use of a personal style in which modern western and Indian pre-classical sculptural values were brought together was equally radical. This is the ninth retrospective exhibition organized by the NGMA as part of an endeavor to showcase the lifetime achievements of artists whose contributions in the field of art are outstanding.
- · Madhya Pradesh stands fourth in the country in the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA). Several novel schemes of community development like Meenakshi, Kapildhara, Nandan Falodhan have also been launched in the state's rural areas through MNREGA. Scheme's better implementation and constant monitoring have not only given a new dimension to economic development of rural areas, but have also checked migration of rural labourers.
- · The Assam Government has decided to set up 450 New Born Care Corners, NBCC, in the next financial year. NBCC is a space within the delivery room in any health facility where immediate care is provided to newborn babies after birth. The proposed health care facility aims to reduce Infant Mortality Rate, IMR, and Under-Five Mortality Rate to 30 and 38 per thousand live births. Experts said that Asphyxia, Prematurity and Sepsis are the prime factors of neo-natal death.
- · Central Water Commission is monitoring storage position of 82 important reservoirs spread all over the country, of which as many as 37 reservoirs are having significant hydro-power benefits with installed capacities of more than 60 MW each. The combined live storage in these 81 reservoirs at the beginning of monsoon i.e. 1.6.2011 was 24 per cent of their designed capacity and stood at 55 per cent of designed capacity as on 25.01.2012. Basin wise storage position as on 25.01.12 is as follows: Ganga > Indus > Narmada > Tapi > Mahi > Sabarmati > Rivers of Kutch, Cauvery and neighbouring EFRs > Mahanadi and neighbouring EFRs > West Flowing Rivers of south basins.
- · The Defence Minister was given a glimpse of the expansive scope and scale of the Indian Navy’s annual Theatre Level Readiness and Operational Exercise (TROPEX 12). New platforms, weapons sensors, communication systems and tactics were being tested and tried to optimize the net combat power of the fleets. Over forty surface combatants of various classes, submarines and a large number of aircraft including UAVs are participating in the exercise. ‘No Limits’, the motto of INS Shivalik where the Defence Minister first landed, best described the scale of the Indian Naval operational exercise, and the quick integration of new ships was a reflection of the Indian Navy’s high standards of professionalism in operations and training. A critical part of Anti-Missile Defence being Surface to Air Missiles (SAM), the Defence Minister witnessed the successful interception of a fast, low flying, Surface to Surface missile by a SAM. The Defence Minister witnessed a successful and impressive launch of the Brahmos, supersonic long range anti shipping missile, from a recently up-graded Ranvir class destroyer. Whilst on board INS Viraat, Shri Antony was also shown the reputed professionalism of the MARCOS (previously named as Marine Commando Force (MCF)) as they carried out a precision landing on the flight deck in the middle of the sea using Combat Free Fall technique.
- · The visiting State Minister of Culture and Tourism of Ethiopia have sought India’s assistance in promoting tourism in her country. He referred to the age-old historical and cultural ties between the two countries and said India and Ethiopia enjoy warm and cordial relations in political, commercial, cultural and other areas. India Tourism office located in Sourth Africa is responsible for promoting India as a tourist destination in Ethiopia.
- · The Prime Minister of India has assured the new President of Maldives Dr. Mohamed Waheed of continued support to the Maldivian people and cooperation with the Government of Maldives.
- · India has announced a new economic package of a 250 million dollar line of credit and a 20 million dollars grant for Mauritius during bilateral talks between the Prime Ministers. Five agreements were signed after the talks in the fields of education, textiles, sports and youth affairs, science and technology and culture. Dr. Singh said in a statement that the two sides reviewed their double taxation avoidance convention (or DTAA), insisting that both nations have an interest in ensuring that it is not misused. He said defence and security cooperation is one of the key pillars of the India-Mauritius bilateral relationship and that the two nations have common security interests. Dr.Singh added that India will continue to support Mauritius in ensuring the security and sovereignty of its land and maritime territory.
- · The First meeting of the Joint Committee set up under the Memorandum of Understanding between India and Botswana for cooperation in the field of MSMEs was held here today. Considerable interest has also been shown by Indian as well as Botswanian enterprises especially by MSMEs for cooperation in the field of agro processing industry, dairy, manufacturing, information technology & communications etc. The possible areas of cooperation that can be looked into: (1)• Cooperation in capacity building and skill development of manpower in the MSME sector; (2)• Cooperation in Policy and institutional framework development in MSME sector through sharing of experiences; (3)• Cooperation through encouraging technology transfers, Joint ventures and other forms of business alliances; (4)• Indian MSMEs are very competitive in R&D as well as production in sectors like Auto components, drugs and pharmaceuticals, IT, bio-technology, Agro & Food Processing, and thus investment based collaborations can be facilitated between MSMEs of both the countries in these sectors. First Joint Committee Meeting between the two Governments will pave the way for learning from each other’s’ experiences and form the basis for a solid foundation to realize the objectives of the MOU.
