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1st October 2011

Cabinet approves Bill to share mining profits
The Union Cabinet has approved the landmark the Mines and Mineral Development and
Regulation (MMDR) Bill, 2011 that provides for mining companies to keep aside 26 per cent of
their net profits for a Mineral Development Fund to be used for development and rehabilitation of
project-affected people in the tribal areas of the country. For the non-coal companies, the amount
will be equivalent to the royalty they pay. The Cabinet, under the leadership of Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh, also approved measures to tackle illegal mining and appointed a regulatory
body for overseeing the functioning of the mining sector. The Bill is likely to be introduced in the
winter session of Parliament. The MMDR Bill will replace a 54-year-old legislation governing the
sector. The Bill seeks a complete and holistic reform in the mining sector with provisions to
address issues relating to sustainable mining and local area development, especially families
impacted by mining operations.

India-Bhutan relationship is of mutual cooperation
The relationship between India and Bhutan has moved from one of donor-beneficiary to that of
mutual cooperation, said Bhutan's Prime Minister J igmy Y. Thinley. He also said that the
relationship between the two countries was an example for all countries with a common border.
Talking to reporters at a press conference after addressing the annual general meeting of the
Mahabodhi Society of India, he said that in the beginning it was a relationship as between a
donor and a beneficiary, but with Bhutan reaching a good level of development, the nature of
relation has moved to one of mutual benefits. Citing an example, he said that India needed
electricity badly and Bhutan was generating hydel-power. Pointing out that Bhutan now aims to
become a green and sustainable service economy, he said that his country invites Indian
investment in the areas of education, health, tourism and IT sector.

Ride on Namma Metro from October 20
Bangaloreans' long wait for a date with Namma Metro is finally over with Union Urban
Development Minister Kamal Nath agreeing to launch the commercial services on Reach 1
between Byappanahalli and M.G. Road on October 20. Mr. Kamal Nath gave his assent to Chief
Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, who met him in New Delhi. Mr. Gowda will also invite Railway
Minister Dinesh Trivedi as both the Urban Development and Railway Ministries are associated
with the project. Mr. Kamal Nath is understood to have asked the State Government to go ahead
with Namma Metro Phase II, reassuring him of generous funding from the Union Government.
Phase 1 of Namma Metro comprises two corridors East-West (Byappanahalli and Mysore
Road Terminal, 18.1 km) and North-South (Hessaraghatta Cross and Puttenahalli Cross, 24.2
km), of which 8.8 km stretch is underground. These two corridors crisscross underground at
Majestic where a two-level underground station will be constructed.

Agni-II soars in success
The launch of Agni-II was a big success, with the missile traversing 2000 km across the sky in
nine minutes of flawless mission. The missile rose from a launcher on a railway track from the
Wheeler Island on the Orissa coast, raced to a height of 220 km, cut an arc of 2000 km, re-
entered the earth's atmosphere and impacted on the targeted area in the Bay of Bengal with an
accuracy of some metres. The missile, which can carry a one-tonne nuclear warhead, performed
a manoeuvre as it plunged into the atmosphere amidst a searing temperature of 3,000 degrees'
Celsius. The two-stages of the surface-to-surface missile worked with precision. The Strategic
Forces Command (SFC) of the armed forces, which handles nuclear-weapons delivery systems,
conducted the launch. The missile weighs 17 tonnes and is 20 metres long. The Defence
Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) designed and developed Agni-II. It calls the
missile the pride of India's strategic arsenal. This was the third successful missile launch in
seven days for the DRDO. The Agni-II triumph caps the successful missions of Shourya and
Prithvi-II from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, Orissa.




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1st October 2011

Doubts over launch of Indira Jala Prabha in Telangana
A question mark hangs over the launching of Indira J ala Prabha (IJ P) in Telangana region as
planned by the government in view of the on-going general strike. Under the scheme, 10 lakh
acres of fallow land belonging Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will be developed and
brought under the plough in two years.

Ashish Bagga, new INS president
Ashish Bagga of India Today has elected president of The Indian Newspaper Society for the year
2011-12 at its 72nd annual general meeting. He succeeds Kundan R Vyas of the J anmabhoomi
Group. K.N. Tilak Kumar ( Prajavani ) has elected deputy president, Ravindra Kumar ( The
Statesman ) vice-president and Rakesh Sharma ( Aaj Samaj ) honorary treasurer. V. Shankaran
is the secretary-general of the Society.

Joint women's forum for peace in Kashmir
The two-day Intra-Kashmir Women's conference that concluded in Gulmarg sought an end to
protracted conflict in the State and decided to set up a joint forum for peace comprising women
from both sides of the Line of Control (LoC). The participants said that they, the women of entire
J ammu and Kashmir, from both sides of the LoC desire peace, security, and economic stability to
prevail throughout the region and an immediate end to the protracted conflict. They demanded
the inclusion of women in all peace-building and peace negotiations/dialogue on Kashmir. They
urged India and Pakistan to simplify procedures in trade, communication and travel across the
LoC and open other trade and travel routes, like Kargil-Skardu, Chamb-Bhimbar, and Leh-
Khaplu; respect the ceasefire with immediate halt to violations and address land mine issues;
immediately release stray crossers; initiate phased de-militarisation in all civilian areas, and
repeal draconian' Acts such as the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) and the Public
Safety Act (PSA).

Genocide: jail for Ex-Ministers
Two former Rwandan Ministers were jailed for 30 years by the International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda for involvement in the central African country's 1994 genocide. The Tanzania-based
tribunal acquitted two Ministers due to lack of evidence. The sentencing came 12 years since
they were arrested. All the ex-Ministers, who denied the charges, were accused of calling for the
massacre of Tutsis during several meetings they held across Rwanda and in public speeches,
some of which were aired on radio. The ICTR, based in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha,
was established in late 1994 to try the key perpetrators of the 1994 massacre which claimed
some 800,000 lives, mainly minority Tutsis, in a span of 100 days.

Future Group, NSDC form venture
Kishore Biyani promoted Future Group has announced joining hands with the National Skill
Development Corporation (NSDC) to achieve the aim of training seven million Indians in varied
industries in the services sector during the next ten years. The two partners have earmarked
Rs.58 crore for the next ten years for the joint venture, to be named Future Sharp. While Future
Learning, the training and learning arm of Future Group, will hold 73 per cent stake in the joint
venture, NSDC will hold the remaining 27 per cent stake.

CAG appointed external auditor of IAEA and WIPO
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has been appointed as external auditor of
two major UN organizations, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and
the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Having traditionally been the
stronghold of the developed world, it is for the first time that a supreme audit institution from
outside Europe has been appointed to these prestigious positions in these two
organizations. These appointments were made in the face of competition from other developed
countries like the U.K., Spain and Norway. The tenure of these audits could extend up to six
years.


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1st October 2011


Off-road vehicles come to Chennai
Polaris India Pvt. Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of $1.99-billion Polaris Industries of the
U.S., a major in off-road and multi-terrain vehicles has entered the Chennai market. The company
has tied-up with MPL Adventure Sports Vehicles Pvt. Ltd. for marketing these vehicles in Tamil
Nadu. Prices of these vehicles range from Rs.2.84 lakh to Rs.25 lakh depending on the nature
and size of the vehicle. Addressing a press conference, Pankaj Dubey, Managing Director,
Polaris India, said the company was launching its flagship products, including ATVs, Polaris
Ranger RZR side-by-side vehicles and snowmobiles in India. He hoped that there would be more
demand for these vehicles in Tamil Nadu for various activities such as farming, sports, lifeguard
in the beaches, in factories, in construction sites and tourism. Mr. Dubey said the vehicles were
being imported from the U.S. as a CBU (completely built unit). In India, the company had tied-up
with L&T for the vehicle's technical and engineering aspect and with TCS for information systems.

Cabinet nod for HCL's Malanjkhand mine project
The Centre has approved Hindustan Copper's proposal to develop an underground copper ore
mine at Malanjkhand in Madhya Pradesh with an investment of Rs.1,856 crore. According to an
official statement The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the
investment proposal of Hindustan Copper Ltd. (HCL) for Rs.1, 856.36 crore to develop an
underground copper ore mine of five million tones per annum capacity. The fund required for the
project would be met by HCL and no budgetary support would be taken from the government, the
statement said. The project has 141-million tone extractable copper reserves, which is more than
70 per cent of the known reserves in the country.

RPower gets RBI nod for raising $2.2 billion
Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Power has announced that it had received the approval of the
Reserve Bank of India for raising $2.2 billion from the U.S. and Chinese banks for the 3,960-MW
Sasan ultra mega power project in Madhya Pradesh. Of the total amount, $1.1 billion would be
extended by Chinese banks, including Bank of China, China Development Bank and Export
Import Bank of China, The funding from Chinese banks represents the first-ever project financing
done by Chinese banks. The Export Import Bank of United States has also approved funding of
$917 million for the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP).

Centre to set up six pharma national institutes
The Union Cabinet has approved setting up of six new National Institutes of Pharmaceutical
Education and Research (NIPERs) to meet the shortage of skilled manpower in the
pharmaceutical sector. The new institutes will come up at Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Kolkata,
Hajipur, Guwahati and Rae Bareli.

Now, health insurance portability
If you are not satisfied with the services of existing health insurer, you can change the company
without losing policy benefits as the long-awaited portability comes into force. The health
insurance portability facility which was earlier scheduled to become operational from J uly 1, was
postponed because of delay in preparation of software architecture. The health insurance
portability will come into effect from October 1 according to D.R. Kaarthikeyan, Director of Star
Health Insurance, said. The facility, Damien Marmion, CEO of Max Bupa Health Insurance
expects to bring in new benchmarks in delivery mechanisms and product innovation in the
industry. He further said that with the implementation of portability the insurers will need to
enhance their service capabilities and engage in constant innovation to service their existing and
potential customers. In February 2011, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority
(IRDA) had issued necessary orders.





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1st October 2011

Gateway Hotel Gir Forest launched
The Gateway Hotels and Resorts has announced the launch of The Gateway Hotel Gir Forest.
This will be the fourth Gateway branded hotel in Gujarat, in addition to the existing hotels in
Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara. The Gateway Hotels and Resorts, from the Taj Group of
Hotels, caters to the upscale segment and have expanded its footprint in Gujarat with this launch.
With the opening of this hotel, The Gateway Hotels & Resorts now has 21 hotels in its portfolio.

Irani Cup: Rest of India takes on Rajasthan
Irani Cup, a one-off cricket contest heralding the new season, always used to attract the best on
the circuit. A call-up to represent the Rest of India against the Ranji Trophy champion was
considered a step short of representing India. Times have changed, and the much-awaited fixture
now appears more of a formality as Rest of India and Rajasthan meet in the five-day match
starting at the SMS Stadium. For many, the Irani Cup holds unforgettable memories. Would you
believe the inaugural match, played over three days at the Railway Stadium in Delhi in March,
1960, witnessed a unique happening 12th man batting in both the innings. The privileged
12th man happened to be Prem Bhatia, a former Delhi captain. Now 71, Bhatia remembers the
match vividly.

Yuki-Rohan duo in final
The pair of Yuki Bhambri and Rohan Gajjar defeated Kirati Siributwong and Perakiat
Siriluethaiwattana of Thailand 6-2, 5-7, 10-4 in the doubles semifinals of the $15000 ITF men's
Futures tennis in J akarta. The other Indian pair of Vijayant Malik and Kaza Vinayak Sharma,
however, lost 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-10 to second seeds Li Zhe and Yi Chu Huan of China in the other
semifinal. In singles, fifth seed Yuki went down 3-6, 5-7 to Alexander Sadecky of Switzerland in
the quarterfinals. Vishnu Vardhan was even at one set each against the fourth-seeded J unn
Mitsuhashi of J apan when played was abandoned for the day in another quarterfinal.

Bedi's biography released
Divinity ordained that he be blessed with a nice, clean bowling action. Divinity that coincided
with Tiger Pataudi's leadership ensured that Bishan Singh Bedi would play for India and end up
as one of its finest spin bowlers of all time. That was how the man himself described his classic
bowling action and his Test baptism in Calcutta, under Pataudi, back in 1966-67against the West
Indies, as he released his biography, written by journalist Suresh Menon, at the Kovalam Literary
Festival at the India International Centre. In Bishan, Portrait of a Cricketer, Menon brings to life
one of the most colourful personalities of Indian cricket, but Bedi described the attempt as
bringing out an Egyptian mummy alive.