Daily News Notes

· The Eight core industries have a combined weight of 37.90 % in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). The combined Index was 147.30 in December 2011 with a growth rate of 3.1% compared to their 6.3% Growth in December 2010. Coal production (weight: 4.38%) registered a growth of 5.6% in December 2011, while Crude Oil production (weight: 5.22%) registered a growth of (-) 5.6%; Natural Gas production (weight: 1.71%) registered a growth of (-) 10.8%; Petroleum refinery production (weight: 5.94%) had a growth of 0.8%; Fertilizer production (weight: 1.25%) registered a growth of 0.8%; Steel production (weight: 6.68%) had a growth rate of 2.2%; Cement production (weight: 2.41%) registered a growth of 13.3%; Electricity generation (weight: 10.32%) had a 8.0%. [weightage of all 8 core industries are imp.]
· The nation today fondly remembered Mahatma Gandhi on his 64th death anniversary. Gujarat is paying rich tribute to the on Martyrdom Day. A two day All India Gandhian’s Summit has been organized at Guwahati to mark the occasion by the Assam government and the Gandhi Global Family.
· Anti-Leprosy Day is also observed today to create awareness among people that Leprosy is completely curable.
· Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has said, the Army has achieved remarkable success in bringing stability to the insurgency-hit North-East. He said, a large number of cadres from various insurgent groups of the region have come back to the mainstream due to the continued effort of the Army during the last three months.
· The pilot project “Youth to the Edge” was launched. The project is aimed to promote adventure activities in the remote areas of North East Region (NER). The volunteers from National Service Scheme (NSS) and Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) under Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports will participate in the adventure activities under the project. The states in the North Eastern Region offer tremendous potential for various adventure / outdoor activities viz. Mountaineering, Trekking & camping, Rock climbing & Rappelling, Jeep Safaris, Cultural Tours, Village / Home stay, community tourism, Bird watching, Angling, water skiing, White Water Rafting / Canoeing / kayaking, etc. The pilot scheme is being launched with the Motto “Adventure to the Paradise Unexplored”. Adventure Camps will channelize Youth Energy in positive direction, develop overall personality, enhance self confidence, endurance and team spirit, improve leadership qualities and promote National Integration.
· The Government has taken various measures to augment growth of hotel accommodation in the country. Hotel and Tourism related industry has been declared as high priority industry and Foreign Direct Investment upto 100%, under the automatic route is permitted in ‘Hotels & Tourism Sector’, subject to applicable laws/regulations, security and other conditionalties. To encourage the growth of hotels, on the request of Ministry of Tourism, a five Year Tax Holiday (April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2013) was announced in the Budget of 2008-09 for two, three & four star hotels that are established in specified districts which have UNESCO declared ‘World Heritage Sites’ except the revenue districts of Mumbai and Delhi. The Government has also announced the extension of Investment Linked Tax incentive. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also issued revised Guidelines on Classification of exposures as Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Exposures. Thus, RBI has classified exposures to hotels outside the CRE Exposure.
· The Central Government provides funds to the State Governments under the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) to redress regional imbalances in development of 250 backward districts in the country. The strategy aims at promoting the performance and capacity of Panchayats, in planning, decision, making, implementation and monitoring. In addition to the BRGF, the following schemes for empowerment of Panchayats are being implemented: (1)• Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Yojana: Funds are released to States for training and capacity building of Panchayati Raj Institutions in districts uncovered by the BRGF; (2)• Rural Business Hubs: This Scheme aims to assist the Panchayats to empower rural labour productivity by providing forward backward linkages with technical assistance in Public-Private-Partnership; (3)• Panchayat Manila`Evam Yuva Shakti Abhiyan: It aims to enable women and youth Panchayat leaders to come together to articulate their problems as women Panchayat Leaders; (4)• E-Panchayat: For computerizing the databases, accounts and other functions of the Gram Panchayats for accountability and transparency; (5)• Panchayat Empowerment & Accountability Incentive Scheme: To recognize and incentivize the efforts of Panchayats with respect to transparency, accountability and efficiency and of States with respect to devolution of funds, functions and functionaries to Panchayats.
· The Union Government has prepared a policy/action plan for construction of roads/National Highways passing through naxal-hit/left wing extremism (LWE) affected areas/States. It provides financial assistance for improving road connectivity into such areas/States. It has approved a programme for development of 5477 km roads in 34 Left Wing Extremism affected district in 8 States (AP, BR, CG, JH, MP, MH, OR, UP). So far work in 730 km length has been completed. There has been poor response from contractors for works in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Odisha.
· India has become the latest signatory to the multilateral convention on mutual administrative assistance in Tax Matters as it signed an international tax treaty for getting information on black money stashed abroad. The multilateral instrument is the single legal basis for multi-country cooperation, as against other treaties including the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, which are bilateral. The convention not only facilitates the exchange of information, but also provides for assistance in the recovery of taxes. The convention allows tax officials to enter into the territory of the other country to interview individuals and examine records. Out of the 31 signatories, 12 have ratified the convention so far. The signatories to the convention include Brazil, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, Turkey, the UK and the US. The instrument was earlier available only for members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Council of Europe. It was amended in 2010 and thrown open to all countries from last June.
· The Japanese Government has approved the second phase of the Rajasthan forestry and Bio-diversity project in desert districts of the state. Massive plantation will be done under the ambitious project in the next 8 years.
· Grandmaster and Asian champion P Harikrishna became the second Indian after world champion Vishwanathan Anand to enter the 'A' group of Tata Steel Chess Tournament.