Daily News Notes

· Bihar government today began releasing water to Uttar Pradesh through the Gandak Canal System following a directive to this effect from the Central Water Commission to provide irrigation for Rabi crop. The decision to stop release of water from the Gandak barrage till June this year was taken after approval of the central government in consultation with Nepal and Uttar Pradesh for its renovation and construction of the canal under the Nepal benefit scheme.
· Kerala govt. (in collaboration of National skill Development Corporation and Entrepreneurial Development Institute of India) will be launching a unique programme next week to provide employment opportunities to educated youth of the state by providing them special training for skill development. The self-employment mission will provide direct employment to 1 lakh youth over a period of five years and benefit nearly 9 lakh indirectly. On completion of skill training twenty lakh rupees will be provided to young entrepreneurs as interest free loan to set up small scale units.
· On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Commerce and Industry Minister said that India is a rule-governed Republic and it has all the mechanism in place to tackle with issues of corruption or any such kind of problems. He said, at a time when the developed countries are facing problems and Eurozone crisis has become the main focus of participants at the World Economic Forum's showcase event, India is all set to clock a growth of about 7-7.5 per cent in fiscal 2011-12.
· India's NTPC signed an agreement with Bangladesh Power Development Board, BPDP, for setting up a joint venture 1320 MW coal-based thermal power plant. It is one of the projects which is part of Bangladesh's efforts to diversify its energy production process. The project is the first joint venture power plant in Bangladesh and would be completed by 2016.
· A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between India and US in which India will provide a 1.5 million dollar grant to the prestigious University of Chicago to establish a Vivekananda Chair for Indian studies. The grant is a part of initiatives to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the 19th century luminary.
· A high level six member IAEA team of UN nuclear inspectors has arrived in Teheran to hold talks with the Iranian authorities in Teheran on issues related to Iran’s nuclear program. One of the key areas where the IAEA nuclear inspectors will focus is the PMDs or the possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear program. United States and its allies want Iran to halt making nuclear fuel, which could be used in the nuclear weapons. Teheran denies the charges saying its nuclear program is meant for peaceful civilian purposes.
· Representatives of the African Union are starting a two-day summit in the brand new African Union headquarters (gifted by Chinese government) in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa with the election of a new Commission head in their agenda.
· Greece has rejected a German proposal to appoint a European Union commissioner with the power to veto Greek budgets by saying that only Greece should have control over tax and spending. Greece is failing to meet targets set by international creditors in return for bailout money. The proposal emerged ahead of a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels tomorrow and focused on a new fiscal pact.
· In Australian Open Tennis, Leander Paes (with his Czech partner Radek Stepanek) wrote his name in the history books, as he became the first Indian player to complete a Grand Slam event by winning the Men’s Doubles title.