Highlights of Economic Survey 2012-13

Chief Economic Advisor Raghuram Rajan's first ever Economic Survey for the current fiscal was be tabled in Parliament. According to the Survey, WPI inflation is seen declining to 6.2-6.6 percent by March which could create more room for rate cuts going ahead. It pegs growth at 6.1- 6.6 percent in FY14.

Following are the highlights of Economic Survey for 2012-13:

GROWTH, INFLATION:

• Indian economy likely to grow 6.1-6.7 percent in FY14
• WPI inflation may decline to 6.2-6.6 percent in Mar
• Growth downturn more or less over, economy looking up
• WPI inflation is expected to continue the moderating trend
• Inflation expectation seen anchored around current target
• Diesel price hike to put upward pressure on inflation
• Rise in onion prices to put upward pressure on inflation
• Food inflation mainly driven by cereal prices this year
• Rate cuts in advanced nations may pose risk to inflation
• WPI inflation has remained muted in FY13
• Apr-Dec WPI average inflation 7.55 percent
• Non-food non-manufacturing inflation remains high
• Core inflation down on RBI action and fall in global prices
• Lower interest rates to give fillip to investments
• Industry growth still vulnerable to local, global factors
• Revival of investment in industry, infra key challenge
• Lower industrial growth due to sluggish investments

FISCAL HEALTH:

• FY13 fisc situation shows sharp improvement over FY12
• Need to stay on path of indicated fiscal consolidation
• FY13 tax mop-up growth significantly lower than Budget aim
• Medium term fiscal consolidation plan credible
• Fiscal consolidation key to higher growth, lower inflation
• Oil subsidy key fiscal risk; need to address it
• Need to up diesel, LPG prices in line with global rates
• Need to accord priority to food subsidy
• Concerns that food security bill may push up subsidy
• Tax mop-up slippage can be lowered with additional efforts
• Controlling subsidy expenditure crucial
• Need to cut subsidy via better targeting, reducing leakage
• Direct cash transfer to cut leakage in subsidies

REFORMS:

• Econ slowdown a "wake up call" for stepping up reforms
• Recent government policy steps buoyed business sentiment
• Recent government steps to help improve Indian econ outlook FY14

EXTERNAL SECTOR:

• Widening trade, current account gaps matter of concern
• Current acct gap reduction must focus on curbing imports
• Need to curb gold imports to cut current acct deficit
• Room to increase exports limited in short-run
• Must monitor overseas borrow to limit unhedged FX exposure

MISCELLANEOUS:

• FDI in retail to pave way for investment in technology.

Highlights of Budget 2013-14

Amid high expectations of reversing the sharp slowdown in the country's economic growth, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram started presenting India's 82nd budget in the Lok Sabha today.

He began his speech by seeking the support of all parties and stakeholders to help navigate the Indian economy through the current crisis. He said getting back to the growth rates of over 8-9 per cent seen some years ago was the main challenge.

"We have done it before, and we can do it again," Chidambaram said, in what is his 8th national budget for the country. "Whatever may be the final outcome, growth is below potential. But there is no need for gloom."

Highlights of Budget 2013-14:

* No revision of personal income tax slabs; relief in first bracket through tax credit of Rs.2,000 for earnings up to Rs.500,000 (approx $9,000)

* Ten per cent surcharge on income exceeding Rs.1 crore (Rs.10 million/$180,000) a year; only 42,800 people have declared such income

* Collective responsibility to ensure dignity and safety of women; recent incidents have cast a dark shadow; stand in solidarity with our girl children and women; will keep them safe and secure

* Rs.1,000 crore allocated for establishing Nirbhaya Fund

* Rs.97,000 crore (Rs.970 billion/$18 billion) for women's development

* Defence allocated Rs.203,672 crore (Rs.2.03 trillion/$37 billion), an increase of five per cent

* Import duty on high-end vehicles raised from 75 per cent to 100 per cent

* Excise duty on cigarettes to be increased 18 per cent

* No change in service tax of 12 per cent

* No service tax on vocational courses run by institutes affiliated to state governments

* Service tax on all air conditioned restaurants regardless of whether or not they serve alcohol

* No service tax on agricultural testing procedures

* Rs.9,000 crore allocated for compensating state for differential in central sales tax and GST

* Concessions for encouraging MRO (maintenance repair overhaul) sector

* No change in customs duty on non-agricultural products

* Modified law to prevent tax avoidance to come into effect April 1, 2016

* 100 per cent tax deduction for contributions to National Children's Fund

* Education cess to continue at 3 per cent

* 11 lakh people have benefited from direct cash transfers; scheme to be rolled out across the country during UPA-2 term (May 2014)

* Property transactions skewered; TDS of one per cent where transaction exceeds Rs.50 lakh

* Tax on mutual fund redemptions reduced from .25 per cent to .001 per cent

* Tax Administrative Reforms Commission to be set up

* Cities to be encouraged to promote waste to energy projects

* Low interest funds to be provided for promoting clean energy

* Rs.800 crore provided to promoting wind energy

* Two new ports to be set up in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh to add 100 million tonnes handling capacity

* Gas handling terminal at Dabhol in Maharashtra to be fully operational during 2013-14

* State governments urged to sign restructuring plans with electricity discoms

* Tax-free infrastructure bonds of Rs.50,000 crore to be issued

* Textile ministry allocated Rs.50 crore for establishing apparel parks

* Handloom sector allocated Rs.96 crore to benefit 150,000 weavers

* Infrastructure debt funds to be encouraged

* Regulator to be appointed for road projects; 3,000 km of road projects to be awarded in first six months of 2013-14

* Incentive allowance of 15 per cent over and above permitted depreciation to those investing over Rs.100 crore in infrastructure projects

* Rajiv Gandhi Equity Scheme to be liberalised

* Seven new cities identified along Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor

* Preliminary work begun on Bangalore-Mumbai Industrial corridor

* Foodgrain production during 2013-13 estimated at 250 million tonnes

* Rs.500 crore allocated for promoting crop diversification

* Rs.200 crore allocated for promoting nutrient-rich crops

* Rs.50 crore allocated for farmer-producer organisations

* National Livestock Mission to be launched with allocation of Rs.307 crore

* Hope parliament will pass food security bill; Rs.10,000 crore allocated for initial expenditure on implementation

* Human resource development ministry to get Rs.65,867 crore

* Rs.13,250 crore allocated for midday meals scheme

* Rs.17,700 crore allocated for Integrated Child Development Scheme

* Drinking water and sanitation ministry allocated Rs.15,260 crore

* Allocation of rural development ministry allocation raised by 46 per cent to Rs.80,294 crore; Rs.33,000 crore for rural jobs scheme

* Budget expenditure for 2013-14 at Rs.16 lakh 65,297 crore; plan expenditure at Rs.5 lakh 55,224 crore

* Rs.41,000 crore for Scheduled Caste plan

* Rs.110 crore for department of disabilities

* Rs.37,330 crore for health ministry

* Average growth during UPA-1 was 8 per cent; high growth not a novelty

* Current account deficit a worry because of high oil and gold imports

* Will need $75 billion to finance current account deficit

* Need to encourage FDI in consonance with economic priorities

* WPI inflation down to 7 per cent; food inflation worrying.

February 11-20 2013 Current Affairs

• PC manufacturer Dell is ready to go private in a $24.4-billionbuyout. The company will be sold to a group of investors that includes investment firm Silver Lake. Once this is done, DELL will stop trading on the NASDAQ.
• India has developed its own propulsion engine for future UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). The 55-hp engine named “Wankel” is developed by three national research agencies –National Aerospace Labs, Aeronautical Development Establishment, and the Vehicle Research and Development Establishment at the cost of Rs 20 crore. Wankel will be used to power the home-grown UAVs Nishant, Lakshya and Rustom-1 and 2 versions used to observe and survey border areas.
• Late sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Grammy award, which was jointly accepted by his musically gifted daughters Anoushka Shankar and Norah Jones.
• Ranchi Rhinos has won the maiden Hockey India League (HIL). They defeated Delhi Waveriders in the final match of the tournament.
• Sachin Tendulkar has equalled Sunil Gavaskar’s record of most first-class hundreds by smashing an unbeaten century against Rest of India in the Irani Cup.
• India bagged 46 Medals in 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Pyeongchang (South Korea). They are the world’s largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to more than 4 million athletes in 170 countries.Special Olympics World Games are held alternatively between summer and winter games. Special Olympics World Games are held every two years.
• Zhuang Zedong (72), Chinese ‘ping-pong diplomacy’ playerpassed away recently. Zhuang won several championships in the 1960s and remained World Table Tennis Champion thrice.
• Researchers have built the world’s first complete bionic man named “Rex”. Rex, which is on display in UK, has the face of a man, prosthetic limbs, a functional artificial blood circulatory system and artificial organs, including a pancreas, kidney, spleen and trachea.
• India signed a Social Security pact with Austria. As per the pact, the Indian professionals working in Austria would be exempted from paying the social security contribution of the country, if such payments are already made in India.
• The Ministry of Civil Aviation launched Shubh Yatra, an exclusive monthly bi-lingual (Hindi & English) in-flight magazine of Air India.
•  Kalyan Kumar Chakravarty , a 1970 batch retired IAS officer has been appointed as the new chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi.
• ‘Operation Three Star’ was the code name of the top secret execution plan in which Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was sent to gallows in the high-security Tihar Jail on February 9, 2013.
• The1939 started Parle-G glucose biscuit brand of Parle Products has become the first Indian FMCG brand to cross the Rs 5,000-crore mark in retail sales in a year.
• India’s new stock exchange MCX-SX has started trading in equities, competing against the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE).MCX-SX is the third national equity market trading platform. MCX-SX started trading in the shares of 1,116 listed companies.India’s oldest stock exchange BSE has 5,191 firms on its list.There are 1,665 companies listed on the National Stock Exchange that started trading in 1994 and has now emerged as the largest stock exchange in the country.The benchmark index for the MCX-SX is called SX-40, just like BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty. 
• Newly discovered asteroid 2012 DA14 flew by closest to Earth. DA14 is the largest known object of its size which passed this close without making any impact.
• Mohan Parasaran has been appointed as the new Solicitor General of India following the resignation of senior advocate Rohinton Nariman from the post.
• India’s trade deficit surged to a three-month high of $20 billion despite some stingy improvement by 0.82% growth at $25.58 billion in January.
• Asoke Kumar Mukerji, currently Special Secretary at headquarters, has been appointed as the next Ambassador/Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations at New York.
• In the women’s cricket World Cup tournament, Australia beat West Indies by 114 runs in the final match played in Mumbai to win the title.
• As per an analysis of Zoological Society of London along with IUCN species survival commission:19% of turtles, lizards, snakes, crocodiles and other reptiles were facing severe threat of extinction.One out of every five out of 10000 species of reptiles in the world, many of which are from India, is facing a threat of extinction. Out of the endangered species are the King cobra, Indian crocodile (mugger), South Andaman krait and four kinds of turtles namely, Red-crowned Roofed Turtle, Bengal Roof Turtle, Jaggedshelled turtle and Hawksbill turtle. These species were identified to be extinct forever.

February 1-10 2013 Current Affairs

• Mali’s cultural heritage got a shock when militants set ablaze a building that housed priceless ancient manuscripts in  country’s fabled desert city of Timbuktu, where the French-led troops are making a speedy advance towards north. Timbuktu Manuscripts is a collective term for thousands of manuscripts been preserved by private households in Timbuktu, Mali.
•  An Expert Committee has been set up by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting with the task of reviewing the institutional frame work of Prasar Bharati including its relationship with Government, its continuing role as a public broadcaster and steps needed to ensure technical up-gradation of the organization. The panel will be chaired by Sam Pitroda (Advisor to the Prime Minister of India on Public Information Infrastructure & Innovations).
• A global research team led by the International Crop Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), have succeeded in decoding the genome sequence of the CDC Frontier chickpea variety and genome sequence of 90 cultivated and wild genotypes from 10 different countries. Chickpea is Second largest cultivated grain food legume in the world and India is the largest producer of chickpea.
• SpiceJet has become the only private Indian airline to offer flights to China. The low cost carrier will launch four weekly flights from New Delhi to Guangzhou.  
• Democratic Senator from Massachusetts and former presidential candidate John Kerry chosen as the new U.S. Secretary of State replacing Hillary Clinton.
•  China gave green light for the construction of three new hydropower dams on the middle reaches of the Brahmaputra River, ending a two-year halt in approving new projects on the river amid concerns from India and environmental groups.
• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has allowed the erstwhile Hyderabad Stock Exchange (now Hyderabad Securities and Enterprises Limited (HSEL)) to exit as a stock exchange.
•  India has stumbled nine places to 140th position in the list of 179 countries in the latest World Press Freedom Index 2013. India’s show is worst since 2002. The decline is attributed to increasing impunity for violence against journalists and because internet censorship continues to grow.
•  The first triangular India-US-Africa partnership in agricultural training was inaugurated by India and the US at the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad.
• Pakistan has handed over the operations responsibility of its strategically located Gwadar port to China’s Overseas Port Holdings.
• P.R. Vasudeva Rao has been appointed as the new director of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR).
•  Indian American scientist Rangaswamy Srinivasan has been honored with the prestigious 2011 National Medal of Technology and Innovation by U.S. President Barack Obama.
• India handed over a Dornier 228 surveillance aircraft to Seychelles. The maritime surveillance aircraft will be used to guard the extensive coastline of the island nation in the Indian Ocean.The Dornier 228 or DO-228 is manufactured by the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL).  
• Two PSUs BHEL and GAIL have been conferred with the Maharatna status by the government. A Maharatna firm can take investment decision of up to Rs 5,000 crore without going to the government. For Navratna firms, this limit is Rs 1,000 crore. As per Department of Public Enterprises the Key qualifications for Maharatna status:The Company should have an average annual turnover of more  than Rs 25,000 crore in the last 3 years.The PSU must have a net worth of over Rs 15,000 crore and net profit of more than Rs 5,000 crore during the last 3 years.
• Rare migratory bird Whooper Swan was spotted in Pong Dam lake of Kangra valley in Himachal Pradesh after 113 years.Whooper Swans, which migrate from Central Asia and Europe and are rare migrants to India, were last seen in the country in 1900 near river Beas.
• As per a latest study, a hole in the Antarctic ozone layer has changed the way waters in the southern oceans mix, which researchers say could impact global climate change. As per scientists this phenomenon has the potential to alter the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. It has been found that subtropical intermediate waters in the southern oceans have become "younger" as the upwelling, circumpolar waters have gotten "older" – changes that are consistent with the fact that surface winds have strengthened as the ozone layer has thinned.
• Movie star Jackie Chan and the 2012 winner of Nobel prize for literature Mo Yan has been selected as members of one of the houses of Chinese parliament, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
• The Solicitor General of India, senior advocate Rohinton F Nariman has resigned from the post amid speculation that the decision came over his differences with the Law ministry.
• 30 Indian software product companies have decided to form a new association called the Indian Software Product Industry Round Table, or “iSpirt” splitting away from NASSCOM as it focusses more on IT services companies like TCS, Infosys, Wipro etc. 
• Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became the first Iranian leader to visit Egypt after Tehran’s 1979 Islamic revolution. He visited Egypt capital Cairo for attending the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)

January 21 -31 2013 Current Affairs

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has planned to launch SARAL (Satellite with Argos and Altika) on February 14, 2013. Along with Indo-French SARAL, the Polar Satellite Launch
  Vehicle (PSLV) will put into orbit six small experimental satellites built by western universities for a fee.
• Iran gave only partial access to IAEA delegation which visited country’s military facility in Parchin. It is suspected by the IAEA that that Parchin facility may have been used for high explosives testing that can be used to trigger a nuclear explosion, based on satellite imagery of the base.
•  Union Government gave nod to Reliance Industries’ plans of de-notifying more than 40 % of its multi-product Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Jamnagar subject to refund of all tax benefits it got for developing the area.
•  S S Mundra has been appointed by the Government of India as the Chairman and Managing Director  (CMD) of India’s second largest lender- Bank of Baroda.
•   As per the latest ruling of the apex court, not only an MLA but any interested person has the right to inform the Speaker of the fact that a member has incurred disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution (anti-defection law) and the presiding officer is bound to take action on the complaint.  
•  The International Olympics association has requested the discredited cyclist Lance Armstrong to return the Olympic bronze medal he won at the 2000 Sydney Olympics Games.
•   Restructuring of RRBs by merging geographically contiguous RRBs sponsored by different banks within a state is in progress in order to consolidate RRBs segment. During the first 9 months of the current fiscal 25 such banks have been merged into 10. Now the number of RRBs stands at 67 till the first week of Jan 2013.
•   Virat Kohli became the fastest Indian to score 4000 runs in One Day Internationals (ODIs). Virat Kohli played 96 ODI matches and 93 innings to reach this milestone.
• Indian scientists will render significant contribution in developing key components of the world’s largest optical telescope to be set up by a 5-nation consortium including India.The Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT), also known as the world’s most advanced ground-based observatory, will be built at the summit of Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii at a cost of $1.2 billion.
  Who are the partner countries?
  There are five nations collaborating in the project:
  India, China, Japan, Canada, United States
•  Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck was the chief guest at India’s 64th Republic Day parade on Jan 26, 2013.
• The apex court banned all tourist movements in the habitat of extremely endangered Jarawa tribe in Andaman and Nicobar. The court banned the movement of all tourist vehicles through the 46-km Andaman Trunk Road that links North Andaman to its southern part passing through the tribe’s habitat till February 26, 2013.
• As per Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO), India would test fire sub-sonic, medium range cruise missile Nirbhay in Feb 2013. The missile is being developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a DRDO lab.Nirbhay: All-weather low-cost medium-range cruise missile with stealth and high accuracy.Range of 1,000 km.It will carry a ring laser gyroscope forhigh-accuracy navigation and a radio altimeter for the height determination.Capable of being launched from multiple platforms on land, sea and air and shall be inducted into Indian Navy, Army, and Air Force.
  Capable of carrying nuclear warheads.Capable of flying at different altitudes ranging from 500 m to 4
  km above the ground.Good loitering capability, control and guidance with high degree of accuracy for maximum impact.Nirbhay will supplement the Brahmos cruise missile by carrying warheads beyond the 300-km range.
•  Belarus’ tennis star Victoria Azarenka vanquished Chinese opponent Li Na to clinch the 2013 title of Australian Open for the second successive time.
•   The Serbian professional tennis player Novak Djokovic became the first man to win three successive Australian Open titles in the professional era when he beat Andy Murray in the finals of men’s singles at Australian Open 2013.
•  The Pakistani military conducted a combat exercise “Saffron Bandit” involving fighter jets and ground troops. The exercise is being conducted against the backdrop of a elevated tensions with India following a string of ceasefire violations along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
•  India’s capital New Delhi has got rid of Leprosy as a public health problem, as the incidence rate of leprosy has declined from 4.5 cases per 10,000 of population in 2001 to 0.8 cases at present.

January 11-20 2013 Current Affairs

• The duty on Indian cotton yarn imports imposed by Turkey came to an end when the country decided to remove it with effect from December 31, 2012.Turkey, which is a major cotton producer, had imposed the duty as safeguard measure in 2008 for 3 years, which was later extended for another 3 years in 2011.
•  India successfully test-fired a highly manoeuvrable version of the 290-km range supersonic cruise missile BrahMos from a naval warship off the coast of Vishakhapatnam in Bay of Bengal. This was the 34th launch of BrahMos.
• Air Marshal Kulwant Singh Gill took charge as the new commandant of the National Defence Academy (NDA) at Khadakwasla, Pune.
• France honored Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by the Taliban for campaigning for girls’ education, with Simone de Beauvoir Prize for Women’s Freedom.
• Lionel Messi, who plays for FC Barcelona, added yet another feather in his cap as he won an unprecedented fourth consecutive Ballon d’Or at a FIFA gala in Zurich. The awards makes Messi’s status as the greatest football player of his generation after he left behing Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona teammate Andres Iniesta for the prize.
•  As per the latest decrees of Saudi King Abdullah, Saudi Arabian women will have a 20% quota in the all-male consultative Shura Council. The King appointed 30 women to the 150 member Council marking a historic first as he pushes reforms in the ultra-conservative kingdom.
•  India reported no new case of Polio for the second year in row. If India manages to repeat this success for one more year it will yield the country the status of polio free nation, in 2014. India introduced a Pulse Polio Immunization Program in 1995 with the aim to eliminate the disease from the country.
• After the Parliament of Sri Lanka passed the impeachment motion with two-third majority against Chief Justice Shirani Bandarnayake, President Mahinda Rajapaksa dismissed her from the office. She is the first to be impeached in the country’s history.
•  The Kumbh festival began at Prayag (Allahadab) and will conclude on March 10. The next Kumbh will be held at Ujjain in 2016 on the banks of Kshipra river.
•  Internet activist and co-founder of Reditt, Aaron Swartz (26), committed suicide. He was computer genius was the developer of the early version of the RSS (Rich Site Summary) – web feed system. He was facing federal charges in cases of a controversial fraud and hacking allegations.
• The United Nations has backed France for providing military aid to Mali to push back Islamists which are advancing their control to other parts of the country including northern and western regions. Mali is a former French colony.
•   India has decided to put negotiations to finalize a trade liberalization pact with Mauritius on hold. It has said that the talks will not be resumed till the island nation amends its Double-Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with India.
•   R.K. Dubey has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director of Canara Bank.
• The Basel Committee has extended the deadline given to banks around the world to comply with Basel-III norms has been deferred for 4 more years to January 2019 against the previous deadline of January 2015.
• Retired umpire Simon Taufel of Australia will become the first umpire to deliver the esteemed MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture.
• President Pranab Mukherjee honored 8 states with ‘Krishi Karman Awards’ in recognition to their special achievements in foodgrain production in 2011-12. The Awardees with their respective achievement category: 1.Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Manipur and Nagaland awarded for their special contribution to total foodgrains production.2. Bihar received the award for contribution to production and productivity of rice 3..Haryana awarded for wheat.Jharkhand for pulses.4.Uttar Pradesh for coarse cereals.
•  Halimah Yacob, a politician of Indian-origin, will be the first woman Speaker of Singapore’s Parliament when she replaces Michael Palmer, who was forced to resign over his extra-marital affair.
•  PM Manmohan Singh has selected urban development and parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath to lead the Indian delegation in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual summit in Davos, Switzerland.
• RBI has introduced a dollar-rupee swap facility to increase the flow of credit to the export sector to support incremental Pre-shipment export Credit in Foreign Currency (PCFC) by banks.
• With an aim to raise Rs.8,886 crore, Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ltd (IRFC) will launch a tax-free bond issue. This would enhance IRFC resources for buying rolling stock for the Indian railways.
• As per the suggestions made by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Food and Consumer Affairs headed by Vilas Muttemwar: Food entitlements under the National Food Security Act should be made available to 67 % of the population, excluding the 33% who pay taxes, have a pucca house etc.The ‘priority’ (Below Poverty Line) and ‘general’ (Above Poverty Line) categories should be done away with and should be replaced with “inclusion” and “exclusion” categories.The identification of beneficiaries for subsidised rice and wheat under the Public Distribution System will be done by State governments.The panel has calculated the total requirements of foodgrains at 62 million tonnes per annum with a subsidy bill of over Rs. 1.15 lakh crore.
•  Air India has grounded its entire six Boeing 787 Dreamliners aircrafts. The move came following the decision of Europe, the U.S. and Japan to put Boeing 787 Dreamliners out of action. The aircraft will not be allowed to fly until a formal clearance is given by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the air-worthiness of the Dreamliner. Issue facing the Dreamliners is the thermal runaway problem in the Lithium-Ion batteries.
• ‘Red October’ (or ‘Rocra’ for short) = A Russia-based Cyber spying campaign (a cyber-espionage network) launched in 2007 by unidentified criminals that have been secretly stealing important data from many computer systems used by government agencies, military, nuclear, gas and oil industries, aerospace, private companies, etc. in many countries since2007. India is among the victims of this espionage network.
•  Patiala House court complex, one of the six district courts in Delhi switched to e-stamping facility completely.With this the court became the first district court to fully switch over to the e-stamping process and eliminate stamp papers.
•  Facebook has unveiled a new friends-based search tool “graph search” which will help its users search for people and places within the social network.
• Acclaimed Marathi writer Jyotsna Deodhar (86) passed away. She also worked as an All India Radio (AIR) programme producer, Deodhar authored over 40 books which included novels and short stories that won her critical applaud. 
• Zhao Jiang or Kalaimakal has become first Chinese author to write a book in Tamil. She has authored a book titled “ China’s Travel Attractions” which introduces the reader with the history and culture of Beijing, Shanghai and Tibet.
•  India’s largest public sector bank, State Bank of India (SBI), along with its associates, plans to set up ‘by-invitation-only’ branches under the ‘Kohinoor’ brand in 20 cities to serve uber-rich customers and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)

January 1 -10 2013 Current Affairs

• Collins dictionary has named “Gangnam Style”, as one of the top 12 words of the year, one word from each month. The Gangnam Style video also entered Guiness World Records for being most watched YouTube video starring Korean singer ‘Psy’.
• Russian business major, Sistema, has decided to continue trade ties with India as its subsidiary Glonass signed new pacts in the field of satellite navigation
• Former England captain and cricket commentator Anthony William "Tony" Greig (66) passed away.
•  Pratibha Ray who is a famous Oriya novelist has been chosen for the prestigious Jnanpith award for the year 2011 in recognition to her contribution to the field of Indian literature. She will be the fourth Oriya author to get the award.
• The underwater missile K-15 (K-15 Sagarika missile) developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was successfully launched off the Visakhapatnam coast. After
  one more flight, the two-stage missile will be integrated with Arihant, India’s nuclear-powered submarine.
•  US President Barack Obama nominated John Kerry to replace
  Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.
• The retired US General Norman Schwarzkopf who led the U.S. Forces for a victory in the first Gulf War in Operation Desert Strom in 1991 died. I
• India achieved a third consecutive success in the launch of anti-aircraft air-to-air Astra missile, which was fired from a static launcher on the ground at Chandipur, Odisha. Astra destroyed  Lakshya, a pilotless target aircraft, successfully.
•   For the first time in history of space endeavors, a celestial  object would be moved by humans.
  NASA scientists are planning to capture a 500,000 kg asteroid,  relocate it and turn it into a space station for astronauts to refuel at on their way to Mars.
• As per latest figures of Commerce and Industry Ministry, Germany, with around $23.8 billion or 18.3 billion euro turnover is India’s top trading partner within European Union (EU) during 2011-12.
•  China launched Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), a kind of global positioning system, in the Asia-Pacific from its Beidou satellite network with an aim to gain up to 20 % of global market share by 2015.
•  22-year old Bhakti Sharma from India is the youngest in the world to have crossed seven seas, including four oceans. Besides, she is only the third person in the world to have swum across the Arctic Ocean, and is now targeting the Antarctic Ocean to become the youngest to swim in all five oceans.
• Vanitha Narayanan has been appointed as managing director of IBM India by the company. She replaced Shanker Annaswamy.
•  The constitution of the 14th Finance Commission has been announced by the government. The Commission will have 5 members which will be headed by former RBI Governor Y.V.
  Reddy. The panel is to submit its report by October 31, 2014.
  Members of the Panel:
  1 Chairman: Dr. Y.V. Reddy
  2 Former Finance Secretary Sushma Nath
  3 NIPFP Director M. Govinda Rao
  4 Planning Commission Member Abhijit Sen
  5  Former Acting Chairman of National Statistical Commission Sudipto Mundle.
  6  Urjit Patel succeeded Subir Gokarn to become new deputy governor at the Reserve Bank of India.
•  In what is being seen as a setback to Gujarat CM Narendra Modi government, the apex court upheld the appointment of Justice R.A. Mehta as Lokayukta by the Governor as it was done in consultation with the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court.
•  Syed Asif Ibrahim. A 1977 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IPS officer. Took charge as director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB). Ibrahim is the first Muslim to hold the top post in IB.
• Social activist Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan who was shot at by a Taliban gunman in 2012, will be awarded with Ireland’s esteemed Tipperary International Peace Prize for 2012 in recognition to her courage and determination to speak out in support of equal access to education for every child.
• Indian origin scientist Venkatesh Mannar who is President of Micronutrient Initiative, Canada, has been conferred with Canada’s ‘highest’ civilian award – the Order of Canada.
•  The Haryana Government will implement a new initiative known as ‘Kanyadan’ from April 1, 2013 under which an incentive of Rs 11,000 per girl will be given to each of the beneficiary brides during the mass marriage ceremony to be organized by Red Cross Societies or any registered NGO in the state.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced a ban on journalistic activities by foreign tourists in India.
• Tulsi Gabbard- American politician and the Congresswoman for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district. She has become the first Hindu American ever to be sworn in as a member of the US
  House of Representatives.
• Government owned company National Aluminium Co Ltd (NALCO) has commissioned its first 50 MW wind power project at Gandikota in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh built with the cooperation of Suzlon at the cost of Rs 275 crore.