Daily News Notes: 9th March, 2012

· In Goa, Senior BJP leader Manohar Parrikar will be sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Goa. For 56 year old Manohar Parriker, an IIT graduate in metallurgy, it will be the third stint as Chief Minister of Goa. He is the first IIT graduate to become the Chief Minister of any Indian State.
· President gave away the 6th National Grassroots innovations awards to rural people for their creative and intelligent inventions and solutions for Agriculture and farming activities. Amrutbhai Agarwat of Gujarat who developed many technical improvisations was honoured by President with the Lifetime achievement Award. Gurmeel Singh Dhonsi from Rajastan, Mehtar Hussain & Mushtaq Ahmed from Assam and Balwan Singh of Haryana who developed improved Onion variety were honoured with the National First Awards for thier achievements.
· India’s exports for the months of April 2011 - February 2012 have registered a growth of 21.4%, at US $ 267.4 billion. During the same period the imports were US $ 434.2 billion with a growth of 29.4% and a Balance of Trade stood at US $ (-)166.8 billion. During April-February 2012, the following sectors have done well with regard to exports: (1.) engineering, (US $ 54.5 billion) which registered the growth of 20.9%; (2.) petroleum & oil products, 46% (US $ 53 billion); (3.) Gems & Jewellery registered the growth of 28.8% (US $ 40.6 billion); (4.) Drugs and pharmaceuticals 11.4% (US $ 11.4 billion); (5.) leather 20.4% (US $ 4.1 billion); (6.) Cotton yarn and fabric made-up 18.5% (US $ 6.1 billion); (7.) electronics, 3.5% (US $ 8 billion); (8.) Readymade garments, 19% ( US $ 12.1 billion). As regards to imports during April-February 2012, the growth estimates on the following sectors are: (1.) POL, 41% (US $ 132.6 billion); (2.) Gold and silver 38.5% (US$ 54.5 billion); (3.) machinery, 27% (US $ 32.2 billion); (4.) electronics, 21.8% (US $ 30.1 billion); (5.) coal 72% (US $ 15.5 billion US $).
· National Highways Authority of India ( NHAI) has been requested to install Weighing Machines and other necessary equipments near key Toll Plaza’s on a pilot basis to curb the practice of overloading. Overloading badly damages the precious road infrastructure, incurring huge expenses on the exchequer to maintain the roads and is one of the major causes for increasing number of road accidents as per reports. As per Section 114 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, in case a vehicle is found to be overloaded, the excess load needs to be off-loaded at the cost of the driver/owner of the vehicle in addition to penalty and compounding fee before allowing the vehicle to proceed further. Road transport being a State subject, the responsibility for curbing the overloading of vehicles primarily rests with the State Governments.
· Maharashtra Chief Minister visited the victims of color poisoning, during Holi celebrations. Chavan said that a six member committee has been formed to probe the matter and also to suggest ways to curb similar incidents in the future. Over 190 people, mostly children in the age group of 9-10 years, are being treated in hospital.
· In Assam, the production of betel leafs (pan) has increased in the year 2010-11. Pan and Tamul or raw areca nut, are considered as an essential part of the Assamese society. It is a tradition to offer pan -tamul to guests after tea or meals in a brass plate known as Bota. Pan is used in most of the religious festivals. During marriage ceremony; it is being used as a fertility symbol. Pan and tamul are also used to invite guests to wedding receptions in a few places of Upper Assam. Apart from it, pan has also health benefit qualities. It can be used to heal wounds. Betel leaf juice is credited with diuretic properties. It is also being applied to relieve intense headache.
· UN Special Envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan will visit the Syrian Capital Damascus. He will hold talks with the top Syrian Government leaders to put an end to the ongoing violence in the country. Meanwhile, In Syria, the opposition has called for massive protests across the country against calls by the UN special envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, for dialogue with the Syrian Government.
· According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington a solar storm of charged particles which erupted on Tuesday, hit the Earth yesterday, but did not cause any of the geomagnetic disruptions that scientists feared. The storm, which scientists claimed to be the largest in five years, was triggered by a pair of solar flares and is growing like a giant soap bubble. The solar outburst struck Earth's magnetic field, cutting some radio communications at the poles, but it didn't upset electronics and communications elsewhere. Several NASA spacecrafts caught videos of the solar flare as it hurled a wave of solar plasma and charged particles, called a coronal mass ejection into space. A bigger ejection could disrupt satellite operations.
· In a paper published in the International Journal of Obesity, researchers looked at what impact the method of weight loss had on attitudes. They found people who lost weight through diet and exercise were seen more favorably than those who had gastric banding surgery. It said it is well-known that, as well as suffering adverse health, overweight and obese people are often stereotyped as lazy, incompetent and lacking self-control.
· A Microsoft-commissioned study, conducted by IDC, predicts that cloud computing will generate over two million jobs in India and nearly 14 million new jobs worldwide by 2015. More than 50 per cent of these jobs will be generated in the small and medium businesses. Further, more than two million jobs each will be generated in the communications and media and manufacturing sectors, followed by banking at over 1.4 million. Pointing to the strong linkage between cloud, innovation and entrepreneurship, the study estimates that revenues from cloud innovation could reach $1.1 trillion a year by 2015.
· Indian Cricketer Rahul Dravid has announced retirement from international & domestic first class Cricket. Dravid is behind only Tendulkar who is the highest scorer with 15,470 runs in 188 tests. The 39-year-old Dravid, a former India captain, became the first of the three ageing greats of Indian cricket, besides Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, to retire from International Cricket.