{Current Affairs} Daily News Notes: 2nd Nov, 2013

• ·         Maharashtra leads in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow. From 2000 to 2012, out of the total FDI flow into the country, a whopping 33%, amounting to $61 billion, reached Maharashtra, as per the data provided by the state industries department. In comparison, Delhi, NCR, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana together accounted for FDI worth $35.4 billion in the same period. Most of the FDI was in the services, telecommunication, metallurgy, power and computer hardware and software sectors. The maximum FDI of $70.9 billion came in from Mauritius, followed by Singapore ($18.4 billion), the UK ($17 billion), Japan ($13.83 billion) and the US ($10.8 billion). State industries department officials say Gujarat saw a drop of 43% in the quantum of FDI inflow in 2012-13. Also, it ranked sixth among states in attracting overseas investments in 2012-13. Gujarat is said to lag behind Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in terms of FDI inflow. The state has also seen development of second-tier towns — Nashik, Aurangabad, Nagpur and Kolhapur — as industrial centres. These are apart from Mumbai, Thane and Pune, which are already established industrial centres.
• ·         Union minister for rural development Jairam Ramesh declared Kannur (KL) as the first zero landless district in the country. Ramesh, who made the declaration on ‘Kerala Piravi’ day and inaugurated the title deed distribution, said it is a great achievement for the state to be able to give three cents of land each to nearly 2.5 lakh landless people in two years. “I would urge all other states to follow the lead set by Kerala today,” he said, adding that there are around 1.5 crore landless people in rural India. He urged all those who have received three cent plot to try for financial aid to construct a house under the Indira Awaas Yojana.
• ·         The Kerala agriculture department launched a massive coconut sapling planting drive on Novemnber 1. The initiative, called Kera Samrudhi, will see 15 lakh saplings being planted across the state in three years. “A wide variety of high yielding coconut saplings like TxD, Malabar Dwarf and Chavakad Dwarf will be planted in coconut farms, residential and school compounds and fallow land, as part of the initiative.” The department estimates that state can earn around Rs 6,000 crore in revenue by producing 600 crore coconuts annually. There are 50 lakh coconut farmers, doing farming in around 8 lakh hectares, across the state. But the total area of coconut cultivation has decreased by 16% in the last 10 and the state has been trying hard to rejuvenate coconut production in a big way.
• ·         Mamata Banerjee picked up a fight against the Centre — this time on behalf of the millions of Bengal residents who may be deprived of LPG subsidy because they don’t yet have an Aadhaar number under direct benefit transfer linkage programme. Mamata called for the Prime Minister’s intervention and threatened to gherao the Indian Oil Corporation office in Dhakuria, south Kolkata, unless the Centre agrees to continue with the subsidy till Aadhaar rollout is complete in Bengal.
• ·         Kirit Parikh committee on Pricing Methodology for Diesel, Domestic LPG and PDS Kerosene (set up in June 2013) has recommended a price increase of Rs 5 / litre in diesel, Rs 4/ litre in kerosene, and Rs 250 in LPG cylinder with immediate effect. At present, oil marketing firms sell diesel at a discount of Rs 10.52 per litre, kerosene at Rs 38.32 Rupees and LPG at Rs 532.86 rupees per cylinder.
• ·         DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organization) has developed a new tactical surface-to-surface missile “Pragati” for the Army which has a range between 60-170 km.  India will offer the missile to friendly nations. The missile was the main exhibit of the DRDO which is showcasing an array of indigenous weapons at the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition (ADEX 2013).
• ·         The two major political parties the Congress and the BJP have filed affidavits claiming that a political donation is allowed if the majority shareholding in the foreign company registered abroad is of an Indian. The affidavits have been filed before the Delhi high court in response to a PIL filed by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and retired civil servant EAS Sarma. The PIL alleged that Congress and BJP have been receiving tens of crores of donations from foreign firms through their Indian subsidiaries. Indian law prohibits a “foreign company” from making any donation to political parties even if it has an Indian subsidiary.
• ·         The country’s highly anticipated Mars Orbiter Mission will take off as planned on Tuesday, November 5 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (located in Sriharikota, AP, 80 km north of Chennai). The green signal comes a day after ISRO completed a dry run or rehearsal to test the launch readiness of its mission control staff and centres. The 1,350-kg spacecraft carrying five experiments is slated to be flown on a PSLV vehicle from the Sriharikota launchpad. After a 53-minute cruise it will be ejected into space somewhere over the South Pacific, after which it will follow a special path or trajectory initially around Earth over the next 25 days. On November 30, the spacecraft will be thrust out of the Earth’s pull and on to its path towards Mars. That is a journey of 300 days. The orbiter is slated to reach the Martian sphere of influence on September 24, 2014, and then go around the Earth’s neighbour for at least six months.
• ·         India moved a step closer to sourcing uranium from Australia, the world’s biggest exporter of the radioactive mineral, with the Foreign Ministers of both countries agreeing to hold the third round of talks on a bilateral civil nuclear agreement towards the end of this month. The two Ministers also discussed energy security and the possibility of a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) to strengthen ties. Both sides have laid stress on the security of sea lanes as India and Australia have supplemented their coal-based energy ties with a multibillion dollar contract for sourcing Australian gas. Australia also welcomed plans to hold a major conference of persons of Indian origin, the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, in the country in November. India is now Australia’s largest source of skilled migrants and the second largest source of international students. 
• ·         The Abu Dhabi International Film Festival has come to a close on a high note with the celebrations of 100 years of Indian Cinema and the best actress award for Tilottama Shome in the New Horizons Film Category. Her performance as a girl who is raised as a boy in the movie Qissa won wide acclaim by the critics and movie goers.
• ·         President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari have greeted the nation on the joyous occasion of Diwali. Also, US President Barack Obama greeted Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists across the globe on the occasion of Diwali, saying the flame of the diya reminds that light will ultimately triumph over darkness. Obama said, he was proud that this year Democrats and Republicans in Congress joined together for the first-ever celebration of Diwali on Capitol Hill early this week. Further, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa today greeted the Hindu community on the occasion of Deepawali.
• ·         Defence Research and Development Organisation Chief Avinash Chander told that India is looking to attract potential foreign buyers for its defence industry products as the indigenous manufacturers can offer weapons at a better price and in a shorter period of time. DRDO along with its production partners is presently displaying indigenously-developed weapons systems, platforms and equipment at the International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition in Seoul.
• ·         Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Hakimullah Mehsud, who was killed in a CIA-operated drone strike in the country's restive North Waziristan, was buried at an unknown location today. However, there was no official word on the killing of Hakimullah.
• ·         UN Special envoy on Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi has said that the proposed Geneva II peace conference to find a comprehensive political solution to the crisis in Syria can’t be held without the participation of the Syrian opposition. Mr. Brahimi, who  met President Bashar Al Assad on Wednesday, said the Syrian government has agreed to participate in Geneva conference. He also told if the opposition does not participate there will be no Geneva conference. The statement is significant since the Syrian opposition has said it won’t join the talks till President Assad resigns which has been ruled out by the Syrian regime. Brahimi will be meeting Russian and US delegations in Geneva on 5th November to  prepare for the conference and set up a date for the upcoming conference.
• ·         William C Lowe (72), who pioneered the conception and manufacturing of IBM’s first personal computer, passed away in Lake Forest, Illinois. Lowe joined IBM in 1962, when he finished college with a physics degree. In 1980, William C Lowe, who was a lab director at that time, proposed the idea that IBM should develop a personal computer that could be mass marketed. In 1981, the IBM 5150 personal computer was launched, several years after Apple had brought its first computer to market. He left the company in 1988 to work for Xerox, and later became president of Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.