1.

ICRISAT to take up new project

The ICRISAT, in association with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will soon take up the second phase of an agricultural research for development project to improve livelihood of poor farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The three-year US $ 21 million project known as Tropical Legumes II (TL II) is part of a 10year plan which seeks to improve the livelihoods of 60 million smallholder farmers in 15 countries.

2. 4.5% quota for minorities in IITs from this year

There is good news for IIT aspirants from the minority community. The IIT-JEE Admission Committee has decided to implement 4.5 per cent reservation for them within the 27 per cent seats meant for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from year 2012. Those minority candidates who had submitted the application forms online and have not mentioned their status can do so on the IIT-JEE website http://jee.iitd.ac.in/obcminority.php by giving an undertaking that they have a minority status and would submit the certificate before the exam on April 8. The undertaking has to be given to the respective zonal offices before March 20. IIT-JEE Chairman G.B. Reddy said the application forms did not carry this information as this development was recent. He asked the students to submit the undertaking first and later submit the certificate to claim reservation.

3. New Aakash tablet at old price

An upgraded version of world's cheapest computing device Aakash will be available at the same price to students. To be procured at the existing price of Rs. 2,276, it will be distributed among students for Rs. 1,100 after subsidy. This (Aakash 2) will be launched in April at the same price, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal told. Senior Ministry official N.K. Sinha said initially around 500 to 600 tablets were distributed among students but the feedback received was that the battery drained, the device was freezing and there was difficulty in operating it.

4. War against polio far from over

On January 13, 2012 India achieved a milestone in the history of polio eradication a 12-month period without any case of polio being recorded. It marked the unprecedented progress and was an endorsement of the effectiveness of the polio eradication strategies and their implementation in India. The last polio case was reported from Howrah in West Bengal on January 13 last. In 2010, there were 42 cases, while as many as 1,50,000 cases were reported in 1985. The last positive case from monthly environmental sewage sampling (conducted in Delhi, Mumbai and Patna) was reported from Mumbai in 2010. Since the launch of Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, the incidence of wild poliovirus has reduced by 99 per cent from 3,50,000 children paralysed or killed annually in 125 countries in 1988 to 649 cases in 17 countries in 2011. In 2006, the number of polio-endemic countries (countries that have never stopped indigenous wild poliovirus transmission) was reduced to four India, Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. One of the three types of wild poliovirus wild poliovirus type 2 (WPV2) has been eradicated globally. The last case of WPV 2 was reported from Aligarh in October 1999. The two polio-endemic States of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have not reported any case of polio since April 2010 and September 2010 respectively. The transmission of the most dangerous WPV1, which caused 95 per cent of polio in India until 2006, dropped to record low levels in 2010. Uttar Pradesh, the epicentre of most polio outbreaks in the country, has not reported any WPV1 case since November 2009.

5. HRD Ministry launches virtual labs

In an effort to provide easy access to education in the rural areas, the Human Resource Development Ministry has launched Virtual Labs a collection of 91 online laboratories containing hundreds of experiments in nine disciplines of science and engineering. It is part of the government's National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT), focusing on providing graduate and undergraduate students the facility to perform experiments, using the World Wide Web, a standard computer, and an Internet connection. The facility allows students to practise and learn the science and engineering behind the experiments they are required to perform. It enables sharing of costly equipment across the Page 1 of 1 24th February 2012

country, and in the rural areas, students will be able to perform experiments that they would otherwise not be able to access. Nearly 300 department heads, faculty, and staff representing 152 institutions have been trained across India. Over 20 nodal centres have been created in the institutions which have expressed their interest in championing Virtual Labs within their organisations and geographical areas.

6. Three more nuclear fuel complexes to be set up

The Department of Atomic Energy plans to set up three more nuclear fuel complexes in the wake of a massive plan to increase the capacity of nuclear power plants to 63,000 MW by 2032, from the current level of 4,780 MW. At present, only Hyderabad has such complex. It produces fuel bundles and other components for all the 20 reactors that are in operation in the country. The first of the three additional plants would come up at Kota in Rajasthan and would be used to supply fuel to the four 700 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors being built at neighbouring Rawatbhata and Kakrapar in Gujarat. Disclosing this, Chief Executive Officer of Nuclear Fuel Complex in Hyderabad R.N. Jayaraj said the Kota complex would be ready by 201516. It would have a capacity to supply up to 500 tonnes of fuel a year. It would also have a zirconium fabrication facility with a capacity of 65 tonnes a year. Of the other two new facilities, one would supply fuel to 10 700 MW PHWR reactors being planned in Haryana, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, while the other would be used to meet the fuel requirements of the light water reactors planned to be built with foreign collaboration.

7. Use of enriched uranium in PHWRs proposed

The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) plan to use slightly enriched uranium (SEU) in the future 700 MWe Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) instead of the current technology of using natural uranium as the fuel in all the PHWRs of Indian nuclear programme until now. This was stated was by R. N. Jayaraj, Chief Executive Officer of the Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) in Hyderabad, in India International Nuclear Symposium (IINS), organised by the Londonbased World Nuclear Association (WNA). Natural uranium contains only 0.7 per cent of the fissile isotope Uranium-235, the rest being the fertile isotope Uranium-238, which gets converted to Plutonium-239 in the reactor by neutron absorption. The SEU, which is being proposed to be used in future 700 MWe PHWRs, will contain 1.1 per cent of U-235. The Light Water Reactors (LWRs) of the type being built at Kudankulam and the types that are likely to be supplied by other foreign vendors use low enriched uranium (LEU), which has 3 to 5 per cent U-235 enrichment. Use of SEU in Indian PHWRs was tested in one of the Indian reactors, according to reliable sources in the NPCIL. The physics and energy production characteristics have been extensively studied by introducing few elements of SEU in some fuel bundles in the reactor core. The 700 MWe contains 4704 fuel bundles, each containing 37 fuel elements each. NFC has already drawn up plans to produce SEU fuel bundles from the year 2018. It has projected a requirement of about 10,000 bundles of SEU in the beginning, which could grow up to 55,000 bundles by 2030.

8. NSG gets fourth and final regional hub in Mumbai

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram announced that the Centre has allotted Rs. 1200 crore for the modernisation and development of the National Security Guard during the 12th Five Year plan. He inaugurated the fourth and final regional hub of the NSG at Marol in Mumbai. The regional hubs at Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai have been set up to reduce the response time and reach the area of operation as quickly as possible. Rajan Medhekar is Director General of the regional hub. Mr. Chidambaram lauded the NSG as one of the best commando forces in the world. It is our premier frontline fighting force against hijacking and terror. He urged the NSG to work closely with the commando forces of Russia, France and Israel to keep itself abreast of the latest counter-terror techniques.

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9. Centre orders probe into broken Farakka barrage gates

The Centre has ordered a probe into the causes behind the breaches in the gates of Farakka barrage on the Ganga. The broken gates resulted in unregulated water flows of about 47,000 cusecs of which, about 15,000 cusecs was additional discharge into neighbouring Bangladesh. Union Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal will visit the site on March 2 for spot assessment. The Chairman of the Central Water Commission (CWC) will conduct the inquiry and submit a report within 15 days. The inquiry would be into the reasons for the breakage of the two gates and the delay in repairs. The CWC chairman would fix responsibility and suggest steps to ensure that there was no repeat of the incident. Gate number 13 broke in June, while gate number 16 broke in December. Now, all the 109 gates of the barrage that regulate flow of the Ganga and the level of water into the feeder canal will be changed. The Farakka Barrage is about 37 years old and is maintained by the Union Ministry of Water Resources. Under the Indo-Bangla Ganga Water Sharing Treaty, the water flows are regulated during the lean season from January to May. Because of the broken gates, the flows have been not been regulated during January and February.

10. Call for urgent action on Somalia

Leading nations, including India, agreed that the international community must respond urgently to the crisis in Somalia, described by Prime Minister David Cameron as the world's worst failed state, blighted by two decades of civil war and famine and caught up in a vortex of terrorism, piracy and famine. The call, coupled with the warning that a delay in helping Somalia would have catastrophic consequences, came at the end of a day-long international conference here attended by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, several heads of states, Foreign Ministers, and senior representatives of 50 countries. India was represented by Union Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed who called for a comprehensive strategy to end conflict and instability in Somalia. Somalia's President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed wanted an end to the arms embargo. Mr. Cameron warned that the world would pay a heavy price if it ignored the crisis in Somalia.

11. Cherie Blair sues Murdoch group

Cherie Blair, wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, became the latest in a long list of high-profile figures to sue Rupert Murdoch's media group, News International, claiming that her phone was hacked by the 'News of the World' . She is also suing Glenn Mulcaire, a private detective jailed in 2007 for intercepting voicemails of members of the royal family for NoW . The move will embarrass Mr. Murdoch given his close relations with the Blairs in the past. Mr. Blair, who cultivated Mr. Murdoch heavily to win his newspapers' support, is godfather to Mr. Murdoch's youngest daughter, Chloe.

12. China wants to partner India in piracy fight

China has said it wants to work with India and other countries to boost maritime cooperation, particularly with regard to coordinating naval escorts in the Indian Ocean to fight piracy. Chinese officials said they were particularly keen to increase coordination with the Indian navy, as naval officials from 20 countries met in the eastern port city of Nanjing at the start of a first-of-its-kind two-day international initiative on ocean escorts, hosted by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). Geng Yangsheng, singled out India and Japan as two countries with which China wanted to increase exchanges and strengthen coordination of escort missions. The PLAN has become increasingly active in escort missions in the Gulf of Aden, protecting Chinese vessels on a crucial shipping route on which China's energy imports depend. The PLAN also carried out a first of its kind operation year 2012 in evacuating Chinese citizens out of Libya, underscoring its increasing willingness, and capability, to engage in operations beyond China's frontiers, although the country has a long-standing policy of not sending its military overseas. Since December 2008, the PLAN had deployed 10 navy flotillas, including 25 warships, 22 helicopters and over 8,400 officers and soldiers to the Gulf of Aden on escort missions.

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13. Citi to exit HDFC for $2.1 billion

Citigroup Inc plans to raise up to $2.1 billion by selling its entire stake in Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) as part of its efforts to shore up its capital base. The transaction is the largest share sale this year and comes close on the heels of investors such as Carlyle paring their stakes in Indian companies after a sharp surge in the domestic markets in 2012. Citi, which is the largest shareholder in HDFC, sold a 1.5 per cent holding in the lender in June last year in a deal that the bank said would give it a pre-tax profit of $160 million. The third-largest U.S. bank by assets bought just under 10 per cent of HDFC in 2006 for about Rs.2,900 crore ($589 million) and subsequently added to its stake, to become the lender's top shareholder with a 11.37 per cent holding.

14. Adani Group to invest $ 6 b by 2015

The Adani Group has announced plans to invest $ 6 billion by 2015 to develop its three core clusters of resources, logistics and energy. The investment will be funded by a mix of internal accruals, equity and debt. It will largely go to its new Australian coal mining operation. The group is the largest importer and supplier of coal and owns mining and development rights for 130-million tonne coal mining in India. It also owns coal mining rights in Indonesia and Australia. It expects to manage 200 million tonnes of coal by 2020. The Gautam Adani-owned company has commenced coal mining exploration in the Galilee Basin in Queensland, Australia. Its investment there marks the single largest investment by an Indian company in Australia. The project also involves construction of a 400-500 km railway track and redevelopment of a port.

15. BMW to lease cars

BMW said it had started its leasing business that would allow individuals and corporate customers to drive a BMW of their choice for a fixed period in return for a pre-decided lease rental. To be operated by BMW India Financial Services India, BMW Lease will initially be offered in Delhi, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra and soon offered across other BMW dealerships in the country.

16. Samsung launches Ultra' notebooks

Samsung has introduced its new range of Ultra' notebooks, which are thin, lightweight and powerful computing device loaded with latest processor and multimedia capabilities. The new Series 5 Ultra' notebooks are available in 13 inch and 14 inch screen sizes, priced at Rs.48,990 and Rs.54,390, respectively. The notebooks come with features such as instant starts using FastStart' and the innovative ExpressCache storage. Designed with consumer feedback in mind, the 14 inch model is also one of the firsts in the market to feature a built-in DVD drive and SD card slot, giving users the ability to easily access software, movies, photos and more.

17. High-end bikes from Hero MotoCorp

Hero MotoCorp Ltd (HMCL) said it has entered into a strategic tie-up with the U.S.-based Erik Buell Racing that would help the company introduce high-end bikes in India and overseas markets.

18. CNG version of Dost soon

Ashok Leyland has sold over 5,000 units of Dost', its new light commercial vehicle (LCV) launched in October last, and will soon unveil the CNG (compressed natural gas) version of the vehicle.

19. Lifetime award for Deepak Parekh

Rahul Bhatia, Group Managing Director, InterGlobe Enterprises, is named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2011. Mr. Bhatia will now represent the country at the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Deepak Parekh, Chairman of HDFC, has been named for the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the emergence of financial services. The winners in other Page 4 of 4 24th February 2012

categories are: Business transformation: Deep Kalra, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Makemytrip (India); Consumer products: Anand Burman, Chairman of Dabur India; Lifesciences and healthcare: Desh Bandhu Gupta, Founder of Lupin; Manager: Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Tata Consultancy; Manufacturing: Vivek Chaand Sehgal, Founder of Samvardhana Motherson Group; Services: Analjit Singh, Founder & Chairman of Max India Group; and Start-up: B. S. Ajaikumar, Founder & Chairman of Healthcare Global Enterprises.

20. Satyanarayana wins gold

Andhra Pradesh's G. Satyanarayana Rao won the men's 85 plus 5km walk event even as Manipur dominated proceedings in 33rd National Masters athletics championships in Bengaluru.

21. Women's kabaddi WC

The inaugural World Cup women's kabaddi championship will be held in Patna, to mark the Bihar Sthapana Divas, from March 1 to 4, according to Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India secretary K. Jagadishwar Yadav. The championship will be held under floodlights on synthetic mat at Patna Indoor Stadium. Teams from USA, Malaysia, Mexico, Chinese Taipei, Italy, Sri Lanka, Canada, Nepal, Japan, Iran, Korea, Bangladesh, Indonesia, England, Thailand and India will participate.

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