April 1, 2010

April 1, 2010

ü       26/11 Verdict - Marking the end of the year-long 26/11 trial, the special sessions court here on Wednesday announced May 3, 2010, as “the day of judgment.” Judge M.L. Tahaliyani gave the date after the lawyer for the third and last accused, Sabahuddin Ahmed, concluded his final arguments.

ü       Right to Education - On Thursday — April 1 — India will join a group of few countries in the world, with a historic law making education a fundamental right of every child coming into force.

·         Do download the article on the right side about Right to Education to know more about it.

·         Making elementary education an entitlement for children in the 6-14 age group, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 will directly benefit close to one crore children who do not go to school at present.

ü       India’s Sovereign Fund - In an indication of India turning aggressive in its hunt for energy assets abroad, the government is drawing up ambitious plans to set up a ‘Sovereign Fund' that would help its state-run companies pursue acquisition of oil, gas, coal, LNG and other raw material in other countries in order to compete with China.

·         The proposed fund is being aimed at providing financial backing for acquiring assets in various shapes that will include all the raw material that India imports. It will not be limited to energy assets.

·         Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Videsh Limited (OVL) had been told to pursue at least one major oil and gas asset every year.

·         But what is a sovereign fund?

o    A sovereign wealth fund (SWF) is a state-owned investment fund composed of financial assets such as stocks, bonds, property, precious metals or other financial instruments.

o    Sovereign wealth funds invest globally. Some of them have grabbed attention making bad investments in several Wall Street financial firms.

o    Some sovereign wealth funds are held solely by a central bank, which accumulates the funds in the course of its management of a nation's banking system; this type of fund is usually of major economic and fiscal importance. Other sovereign wealth funds are simply the state savings which are invested by various entities for the purposes of investment return, and which may not have significant role in fiscal management.

o    The accumulated funds may have their origin in, or may represent foreign currency deposits, gold, SDRs and International Monetary Fund reserve positions held by central banks and monetary authorities, along with other national assets such as pension investments, oil funds, or other industrial and financial holdings.

o    SWFs are typically created when governments have budgetary surpluses and have little or no international debt.

o    SWFs may be created to reduce the volatility of government revenues, to counter the boom-bust cycles' adverse effect on government spending and the national economy, or to build up savings for future generations.

o    But, SWFs are not always rosy.

o    There are possible concerns of having a large scale impact on various asset markets, fear of other countries gaining political mileage, inadequate transparency and non-homogeneity.

o    The 3 largest sovereign fund holders are U.A.E ($ 627b), Norway ($ 445b), Saudi Arabia ($ 431 b). All these 3 nations got their SWFs from oil trade.

ü       General Vijay Kumar Singh on Wednesday took charge as the Chief of Army Staff from General Deepak Kapoor, who retired from service.

ü       A new legal agreement committing nations around the world to curb greenhouse gas emissions is unlikely to be completed before the end of 2011, two years later than originally envisioned, the top U.N. climate official said on Wednesday.

·         Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the U.N. climate change secretariat, said countries need to restore confidence in U.N. negotiations following the dismal results of the Copenhagen summit in December, which ended in a vague agreement of principles and a pledge of finances for poor countries most threatened by climate change.

·         The next annual conference in Cancun, Mexico, beginning in November should get negotiations “back on track” among the 194 participating nations, with the aim of agreeing on the main elements that could be enshrined in a binding agreement a year later in South Africa.

ü       A towering steel sculpture, taller than the Statue of Liberty and designed by the internationally renowned Mumbai-born artist Anish Kapoor , will form the backdrop to the London 2012 Olympic Games stadium in East London.

·         Unveiling the design of the £19.1m project — a massive web of spiralling steel in the form of five Olympic rings — the Mayor of London Boris Johnson hailed it as an “inspired work of art'' that would change the East London landscape forever and come to be internationally recognised as an “iconic cultural legacy'' of the Games.

·         The 115-metre tall ArcelorMittal Orbit, named after Lakshmi Mittal's steel company which is partially funding the project, will be 22 metres higher than the Statue of Liberty providing what is promised to be a panaromic view of London.

·         It will be placed in the Olympic Park.

ü       In a major boost to the ailing export sector, the Centre on Wednesday announced Rs.625-crore incentives to some industries like electronics, garments, jute and carpet, even as exports registered 34.8 per cent growth at $16.09 billion in February.

·         Over Rs.400-crore worth of incentives will go for exports of about 300 garment items to the U.S. and Europe, while the balance will be given for exports of 200 engineering, electronics and agro chemical items to 15 countries, including China and Japan.

·         Exports to these nations would be covered under the Market Linked Focus Product (MLFP) under which exporters can claim 2 per cent of their merchandise value for one year. The incentives would be given for six months from April 1.

·         Meanwhile, revival in some segments like tea, coffee, plastics, chemicals and man-made yarns and fabrics, saw exports picking up fast. In February exports registered 34.8 per cent growth for the fourth straight month, but due to dismal performance up to November 2009, cumulative exports during the April-February period declined by 11 per cent to $153 billion.