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THE HINDU: TOP NEWS SUMMARY SEPTEMBER 2012Contributed by: Mr. Sumit Yadav, Sr. GK Faculty, Bank POwer

1. The Reserve Bank of India cut the Cash ReserveRatio by 0.25%age point to 4.50%, pumping in

Rs.17,000 crore into the banking system. Repo rate

unchanged at 8% and Reverse repo rate at 7%.

2. Government allowed 51% foreign directinvestment (FDI) in multi-brand retail with certain

condition.

a. Foreign company will have to take approvalfrom Foreign Investment Promotion Board

(FIPB)

b. Foreign investor should make a minimuminvestment of $100 millionc. 50% of which should be invested in back-end

infrastructure within three years of the

induction of FDI.

d. 30% of the products must be procured fromsmall-scale industries.

e. Retail chains will be allowed only in cities (51cities) with a population of more than 10 lakh as

per 2011 Census.

f. Retail outlets may be set up in those Stateswhich have agreed or will agree in future toallow FDI in multi-brand retail under this policy.

3. Government allowed 100% foreign directinvestment (FDI) in single-brand retail sector.

4. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved49% foreign direct investment (FDI) in the aviation

sector, allowing foreign carriers to pick up stake in

domestic airlines.

5. Government has raised the foreign investment capfor modernising cable networks, Direct to Home

(DTH) and mobile television service providers to

74% from 49%. It will not bring any changes tobroadcast content companies such as TV news

channels and FM radio channels where the foreign

investment cap remains at 26%.

6. The expert committee on GAAR (the General Anti-Avoidance Rules), headed by Parthasarathi Shome

to address the concerns of foreign and domestic

investors, has recommended postponement of the

controversial tax provision by three years.

7. The senior most Supreme Court judge, AltamasKabir, will become the 39th Chief Justice of India

from September 29. Present Chief Justice of India,S.H. Kapadia will retire on September 28.

8. Summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) held at Vladivostok in Russia.

9. Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference held atSri Lanka in Colombo. Speaker of Indias Lower

House of Parliament, Meira Kumar and Chairman

of Indias Upper House of Parliament, Hamid Ansari

attended this conference.

10.The Supreme Court ordered Sahara company torefund over Rs. 24,400 crore collected from 2.21

crore depositors through the optimally fully

convertible debentures (OFCDs) by way of bondswith 15% interest to the Securities and Exchange

Board of India (SEBI) within three months.

11.Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi took charge as theNavy chief, succeeding Admiral Nirmal Verma.

12.Verghese Kurien who is called father of WhiteRevolution, died. He started cooperative dairy

movement from Anand in Gujarat.

13.Power Ministry has decided to take up the work ofconnecting the southern grid with the national grid

on a war footing, a task that is likely to be achieved

by 2014.14.Gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 5.5% in

the first quarter (April-June) of 2012-13 marked a

show of persistent sluggishness from a robust 8%

expansion in the same period last fiscal.

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15.Stricter radiation emission norms for mobiletowers been brought into effect with a view to

reducing emission by 90% to one-tenth of the

present levels. Failure to stick to the prescribed

levels will attract a penalty of Rs 5 lakh per tower.

16.Government has asked telecom service providersnot to provide mobile connection for more than

three months to any foreign tourist visiting India.17.The Union Cabinet approved a Bill to amend the

Constitution to provide reservation to members of

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in

government job promotions.

18.India and Pakistan have concluded their argumentsin the dispute over the 330-MW hydro-electric

project on Kishenganga, a tributary of the Jhelum

in Jammu & Kashmir.

19.Student of Kazakhstan's Turan University FaridaMalik a girl of Indian Kazakh origin won the title of

Miss Almaty 2012.20.Hassan Sheikh Mohamud won the presidential

elections of Somalia.

21.Union Minister of state for Telecommunication andInformation Technology Sachin Pilot is

commissioned to be a Lieutenant in Territorial

Army.

22.According to a report by the Internet and MobileAssociation of India, Indias Internet subscriber

base is expected to reach 150 million with a growth

of 16% by the end of this year.

23.Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Frenchcompany Thales have announced a joint venture to

manufacture civilian and defence radars. Thales

will hold 26 % equity the maximum allowed

holding by any foreign company in the defence

sector.

24.East Godavari district is the first district of India tolink public distribution system with Aadhar, Unique

Identity number (UID). 50 district of Andhra

Pradesh have been chosen for this trial.

25.Air India took delivery of the first Boeing 787Dreamliner in its fleet. Air India placed orders for27 of these aircraft six years ago.

26.President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas will be on aState Visit to India on September 11.

27.The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India hasasked telecom companies to de-activate the

international calling facility in pre-paid numbers

and restore it only after a subscriber gives his

consent to avail himself of the service.

28.Aseem Trivedi (25) was arrested on charges ofsedition, cyber crime, and insulting the national

flag, Parliament and the Constitution through hiswork in Cartoons Against Corruption website.

29.External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna visitedPakistan and signed a liberalised visa regime.

30.The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited(NPCIL) has begun loading enriched uranium fuel

rods in the first reactor of the Kudankulam Nuclear

Power Project (KKNPP) in Tamil Nadu following a

green signal from the Atomic Energy Regulatory

Board (AERB).

31.Peoples Movement Against Nuclear Energyprotested against Kudankulam Nuclear PowerProject (Tamil Nadu) site to protest the fuel-

loading in the reactor.

32.National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)said the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil

Nadu was safe and there was no need for people

living in its surrounding areas to protest.

33.Public protested against Omkareshwar Dam in theform of jal satyagraha. Madhya Pradesh

government accepted all their demands and

constituted a ministerial committee to look into

their grievances.34.The first meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia joint

committee on defence cooperation was held in

Delhi.

35.China warned Japan that it would take necessarymeasures to protect its interests after Japan

announced it had purchased disputed East China

Sea islands Diaoyu or Senkaku.

36.The Indian Space Research Organisation hasstarted working on a plan to hand over production

of launch vehicles and communication satellites to

private industry.37.Customers can now book their railway tickets

online through IMPS (Interbank Mobile Payment

System). The charge for using the IMPS facility has

been pegged at Rs. 5 for a transaction of up to Rs.

5000 and Rs. 10 thereafter.

38.Public of Muslim countries are protesting againstan American movie Innocence of Muslims.

Nakoula Basseley directed this movie.

39.Japan has announced plans to end its reliance onnuclear power within 30 years.

40.The WPI (wholesale price index)-based headlineinflation has crept up to 7.55% in August from6.87% in July.

41.Planning Commission chaired by Prime MinisterManmohan Singh approved the 12th Plan (2012-

17) draft document endorsing the scaling-down of

the annual average economic growth target to

8.2% from the 9% envisaged earlier.

42.Finance Minister P. Chidambaram pitched for thesetting up of a National Investment Board (NIB)

headed by the Prime Minister for according speedy

approvals to mega project of more than 1000 croreInvestment.

43.9th World Hindi Conference held in Johannesburg,South Africa.

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44.The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways hasformulated a scheme to provide immediate

cashless treatment to victims of road accidents on

national highways. Pilot project will be funded by

an insurance company. As per the proposal, the

Ministry will take care of the victim for the first 48

hours, and can spend a maximum of Rs. 30,000 in

that period.45.The Apollo Hospitals Group has bagged the Asian

Hospital Management Awards 2012 in four

categories. It received awards for customer service,

corporate social responsibility, cost reduction and

patient safety.

46.Aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov has failed seatrials and its delivery to Indian Navy may be

delayed again. It will be included in Navy with the

name of INS Vikramaditya.

47.Pakistan tested its Babur (Hatf-VII) missile with arange of 700 km.

48.Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams hastaken over command of the International Space

Station (ISS).

49.Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjeeannounced that her party would withdraw support

to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)

government at the Centre due to diesel and LPG

price hike.

50.India successfully flight-tested the surface-to-surface Agni-IV missile for its full range of 4,000

km. from a road-mobile launch pad on WheelerIsland off the Odisha coast.

51.Prime Minister of Pakistan Raja Parvez Ashrafinformed the Supreme Court that it would

withdraw the 2007 letter to Swiss authorities

asking for closure of graft cases against President

Asif Ali Zardari.

52.Government had for the first time agreed to allowan International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team

to conduct safety review of two atomic power

plants Rawatbhatta located in Rajasthan. IAEAs

Operational Safety Review Team [OSART] will visitRajasthan in November.

53.USA presented Congress highest civilian honour toMyanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. She

was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in

2008 while under a 15-year house arrest for her

peaceful struggle against military rule.

54.Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has retained hisposition as the richest person in America for the

19th year in a row this year, according to Forbes

annual ranking of the nations 400 super rich

people.55.Government had raised the price of diesel by over

Rs. 5 a litre and capped supply of subsidised

cooking gas to six cylinders per household in a full

year. Any additional requirement beyond the

subsidised six refills per family was to be purchased

at the market price of about Rs. 895 per 14.2 kg

cylinder. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram

announced the abolition of five% import duty and

eight% excise duty on non-subsidised domestic LPG

cylinders. However, non-subsidised commercial

LPG cylinders would continue to attract both theCentral levies.

56.Walmart expects to open its stores in India withinthe next 12 to 18 months and is reaching out to

States which are ready to allow FDI in multi-brand

retail.

57.Strategic Forces Command successfully test-firedsurface-to-surface nuclear capable ballistic Agni-III

missile with its full range of 3,000 km from the

Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast. This was the

fourth success of Agni-III.

58.Finance Minister P. Chidambaram approved theoperational features of the Rajiv Gandhi Equity

Savings Scheme (RGESS) to attract first time

investors to the stock market through a tax saving

mechanism. The RGESS would provide a 50% tax

deduction on investments up to Rs 50,000 to

investors whose annual taxable income is below

Rs.10 lakh. Under the scheme, stocks listed under

the BSE 100 or CNX 100, or those of public sector

undertakings (PSUs) which are Navratnas,

Maharatnas and Miniratnas would be eligible for

the tax benefit.59.The Ranbir Kapoor starrer Barfi has been

nominated as Indias entry to the Oscars next year

in the foreign film category.

60.Standard and Poors (S&P) has lowered the growthforecast for India to 5.5% for this fiscal, from 6.5%

projected earlier. Earlier this month, Morgan

Stanley had also lowered Indias growth forecast to

5.1% for the current fiscal

61.India has been ranked 66 in the list of 105countries in the 2012 Global Food Security Index

released by the American chemical companyDuPont. India's food security level is lower than

China (ranked 39) and Sri Lanka (62), it is much

better than Pakistan (75) and Bangladesh (81).

62.All foreign investors will have to produce taxresidency certificates (TRC) of their base nation to

claim benefits under the double taxation avoidance

treaty from April 1, 2013.

63.Chief Economic Adviser Raghuram Rajan today saidthe government should focus on Foreign Direct

Investment (FDI) and open more sectors to such

inflows against over- dependence on FIIs.64.India ranks very low at 111th position in 144

countries in terms of economic freedom, behind

countries like China, Nepal and Bangladesh. The

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annual ranking, titled 'Economic Freedom of the

World: 2012', is topped by Hong Kong, followed by

Singapore, New Zealand and Switzerland.

65.India's annual consumer price inflation (ConsumerPrice Index) picked up in August to 10.03%.

66.The subsidy bill in the current financial year isexpected to rise to 2.4% of the GDP from 1.9%

estimated in the Budget, Finance Minister PChidambaram said.

67.Delhi and Mumbai have been ranked among theleast expensive cities around the world by a survey

of Swiss banking major UBS. On the other hand

Oslo, Zurich and Tokyo are ranked among the top

three most expensive places in the world.

68.India's wholesale price index (WPI) rose to ahigher-than-expected 7.55% in August from a year

earlier.

69.Centre urged state governments to create landbanks for setting up manufacturing zones. Underthe National Manufacturing Policy (NMP), the

government has proposed to set up National

Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs). The

government has notified nine NIMZs - one each in

Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya

Pradesh; two in Rajasthan and three in

Maharashtra.

70.Country's external debt rose to USD 345.8 billion atthe end of March 2012 on account of higher

commercial borrowings and rise in non-resident

Indian deposit.71.India received over USD 66.13 billion in

remittances in the year 2011-12 as compared to

USD 55.62 billion in the previous, a hike of 19%.

72.India's ranking declined by three places to 59thposition in the Global Competitiveness Index 2012-

2013 of the World Economic Forum (WEF)

73.Payments solutions provider Oxigen launched amini ATM cum point of sale device that will enable

the people living in rural areas to withdraw money

from their account without visiting the bank or

locate an ATM.74.Reserve Bank permitted Indians to invest in

Pakistan.

75.HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank and 11 companiesfrom India are listed in the 2012 edition of Forbes

Asia's Fab 50.

76.The Reserve Bank directed all banks to issuecheques with uniform features conforming to

Cheque Truncation System (CTS) 2010 standard by

end of this month. To ensure the time-bound

migration to CTS-2010 standard cheque formats,

all banks are advised to arrange only "multi-city or

payable at par CTS-2010 standard cheques not

later than September 30, 2012.

77.The Finance Ministry is considering a proposal tofurther consolidate the number of Regional Rural

Banks (RRBs) to 55 for improving their efficiency

and to better serve the rural economy. There are

82 RRBs sponsored by various public sector banksacross the country.

78.Centre announced the shifting of the GlobalPartnership Summit 2013 from Kolkata to Agra in

Uttar Pradesh. The summit is scheduled to be held

in January next by the Commerce and Industry

Ministry in partnership with the Confederation of

Indian Industry.

79.Service tax will be levied on high-end passengerclasses, freight and auxiliary services rendered at

railway stations from October 1.

80.Google turned 14 on 27 September and celebratedits birthday with a doodle of a rich chocolate cake.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in

September 1998.

81.Indias first National Security Adviser BrajeshMishra died.

82.Vijay kelkar committee submitted its report onFiscal consolidation.

83.From 3 October 2,000 Km Nirmal Bharat Yatrawill begin from Wardha to promote proper

sanitation in rural areas. Actor Vidya Balan will be

brand ambassador of the Ministrys campaign forimproving sanitation.

84.Passport application fee will go up in both Ordinaryand Tatkal categories from October 1. The

application fee is being increased by Rs. 500 to

Rs.1,500 for normal applications and by Rs. 1,000

to Rs. 3,500 for the Tatkal category.

85.Ratings firm Fitch lowered Indias growthprojection for the current fiscal to 6% from 6.5%.

86.GSAT-10, the countrys newest and heaviestsatellite, was launched on European Ariane 5

rocket from the Kourou launch pad in FrenchGuiana in South America. The GSAT-10 carries 30

communication transponders.

87.Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission,headed by former justice B N Srikrishna proposed a

super regulator for the financial sector which

would subsume the functions of key agencies like

SEBI, IRDA, PFRDA and Forward Markets

Commission (FMC). National Ministerial Committee

headed by the Prime Minister will work on it.

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