1st September, 2006 – 20th September, 2006

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1^st September, 2006 – 20^th September, 2006

1. The 17^th Law commission headed by Justice M. Jagannadh Rao has suggested comprehensive 'Witness Identity Protection' ( WIP) and 'Witness Protection' (WP) programmes to prevent witnesses from turning hostile under threat from the accused and to ensure that criminal trials do not end in acquittals. It also suggested to the State governments that they enact a law to compel hospitals and doctors to attend to accident victims, those requiring emergency medical treatment and women in labour.
2. The Indian Aviation Contingent-I comprising of 243 air warriors has been sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which has been in a state of turmoil since attaining freedom in 1960.
3. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the largest Housing project for women workers in Asia in Sholapur, Maharashtra. The project comprises 10,000 houses to be built for the bidi workers.
4. The Forbes magazine has listed Germany's first woman chancellor Angela Merkel as the world's most powerful woman. She has overtaken US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
5. The Ministry of Agriculture, has launched FASAL - a programme for Forecasting Agriculture output using Space, Agro-Meteorology and Land-based observations for better accuracy in crop production. Initially the programme will cover two commodities - wheat and rice. Later it will be extended to all major crops. Crop output forecasts will be made one month before harvest, taking into account drought, floods, frost and such weather situations. The FASAL project will take into account rain, heat and humidity influences on crop.
6. A Joint Parliamentary committee comprising 10 MP's from the Lok Sabha and 5 from the Rajya Sabha has been appointed to suggest a comprehensive definition of 'office of profit'. It shall make a report to the House by the first day of the last week of the next session of Parliament.
7. The Union Panchayati Raj Ministry has come out with a proposal to synergise the activities of the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan with panchayats across the country for promoting sports and games called Panchayati Yuva Khel Abhiyan, the initiative aims at propelling the country and increasing medals tally that plays an important part in boosting national self esteem and securing international recognition.
8. A meteorite fell at Kanvarpura village near Rawatbhata, where the Rajasthan Atomic power plant is situated on August 29. It weights 6.8 kg and is of a rare type as it consists of 90 per cent iron.

9. The Supreme Court has ruled that voluntary retirement of an employee under a scheme cannot be sought as a matter of right and it is not mandatory for the employer to accept all applications received under the scheme.

10. The country observed the centenary of the national song "Vande Mataram" composed 130 years ago by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.

11. The Government abolished the five per cent import duty on wheat for private traders. The decision has brought the private traders on a par with the state Trading Corporation, which is already importing wheat at zero duty. The Zero duty on import of wheat will remain in force till December 31.

12. The World Peace Gong – a symbol of brotherhood, peace and nature was inaugurated on September 11 at the Gandhi Smriti centre to commemorate the Centenary of Gandhiji first Satyagraha launched in South Africa on September 11, 1906. Presented by the multi-cultural society of Indonesia, the large Gong bears the national flags of all united nations member countries and symbols of prominent religious of the world.

13. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. It is the first visit of an Indian Prime Minister to Brazil in 38 years. The two countries decided to start a bilateral strategic dialogue on regional and global issues such as energy security and the international security situation including terrorism. They agreed to work in closer coordination in international forums. The other major area of cooperation would be in the reform of the UN in particular the expansion of the security council.

Indian and Brazil are both claimants for permanent membership of the security council and decided to work together in the framework of the G4 along with Japan and Germany.

14. India -Brazil-South Africa forum - which met on September 13^th at the summit level for the first time -came out with a joint declaration. According to it -

• The leaders agreed to explore approaches to cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy under appropriate safeguards.

This support from Brazil and South Africa is crucial as the two countries are members of the Nuclear suppliers group, whose approval would be necessary for the deal with the US to come into operation and Brazil currently chairs the group secondly, the two countries had given up the option of building nuclear weapons despite possessing the technological capability. India's deal with the U.S. had been criticised as being unfair to countries such as Brazil and South Africa, and gaining their support would remove much of the force behind the argument.

• They also decided to establish a working group to focus on the modalities of a trilateral free trade agreement among India, Mercosur ( the South American group comprising Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina) and the Southern African Customs Union.

15. The Government notifies the new Environmental Impact Assessment ( EIA) norms, relaxing the rules for obtaining environmental clearance from the centre. According to the new notification projects will now receive environmental clearance at the Centre and State level depending on the built-up area instead of the cost of the project. Developmental projects with a built-up area of between 20,000 to 1,00,000 square meters will be given environmental clearance by the State Pollution Control Boards and those with a built-up area of over a lakh square metres will have to approach the Union Environment and Forests Ministry for EIA clearance. While the new notification gives concessions to the building and construction sector, several sectors, including automobile and biomedical industry, will now be cleared at the State level.

16.Yaws, a chronic infectious disease, has been eliminated from India. However, it will be another two years before the disease is eradicated. ( Elimination means no case has been reported for the past three years. If there is no incidence for two more years, then it will mean the disease is eradicated ). India eliminated leprosy in 2005. Kala-azar would be eliminated in 2008.

Yaws is a tropical infection of the skin, bones and joints prevalent among children in the age group 6-15 in remote tribal areas. The disease was noticed in the 49 tribal districts of 10 States, particularly Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Chhatisgarh. India took up the Yaws Eradication Programme ( YEP) in 1996-97. The project was first taken up in Koraput district of Orissa in 1996-97 and extended to all endemic districts in 1999. Yaws can be eradicated by administering a single pencillin injection to the infected persons, their family members, neighbours and school contacts.

17. A non-governmental organisation, Toxics Link has found alarming levels of lead and cadmium in soft Polyvinylchloride (PVC) toys. Lead and cadmium are proven poisons, being neurotoxins and nephrotoxins respectively, Neurotoxins are agents that harm the nervous system while nephrotoxins affect the kidneys. Even the tiniest amounts can have long-term and measurable effects on children while displaying no distinctive symptoms. Lead is absorbed into the blood stream- some of it is filtered out and excreted, but the rest is deposited in the liver, brain, kidney and bones.

18. The Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) committee, headed by S.S.Tarapore, on Fuller Capital Account Convertibility has recommended the implementation of the scheme in a five year period in three phases and a comprehensive review at the end of the five year period ending in 2010-11 to chalk out the future plan of action.

19. The Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund ( IMF) has endorsed a package of organisational governance reform by a landslide 90.6 per cent of total voting power. Under the IMF - approved first stage of reforms, China, South Korea, Mexico, Turkey have been given varying measures of adhoc increases in their voting powers. With this increase, China's voting power surges to 3.72 per cent from 2.98. Beijing's quota which stands at 6,369.2 million Special Drawing Rights (SDR) at present will jump to 8,090.1 million SDRs. India's voting power will slide to 1.91 per cent from 1.95, while its quota will remain stable at 4,158.2 million SDRs. India was joined by Brazil, Argentina and Egypt in its campaign against the reform plan. Their main argument was that the "non-linear" plan was likely to bring about new imbalances within the IMFs power structure.

20. The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation ( ONGC) plans to invest over Rs. 35,000 crore in a new 15 million tonnes refinery, petrochemical plant and power and LNG plants at the Mangalore Special Economic Zone. This will be first Petroleum, Chemicals, Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) of the country.

21. Europe's first spacecraft to the moon ended its three year mission with a planned crash on the lunar surface. The impact took place in a volcanic plain called the 'Lake of Excellence'.

22. Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has recorded an increase of almost 50% present from 2005. Afghanistan produces more than 90% of word's opium and heroin supply.

23. Sudan has asked African Union (A.U.) peacekeepers to leave Darfur by the end of the month. The Sudanese government has already rejected a UN security council resolution calling for deployment of more than 20,000 UN peace keepers to take over from the embattled 7000 strong A.U. force. the combined effect of war and famine has left up to 3,00,000 people dead in Darfur and displaced 2.5 million in three and a half years of civil war hitting the Sudanese government and allied militias against ethnic minority rebels.

A peace agreement was signed in Abuja on May 5^th by the government and the main Darfur rebel faction.

24. Women constitute almost half of all global migrants world wide - 95 million or 49.6 percent. While the United State received the highest number of migrants in 2005, India stood eighth in rank, according to the state of world population 2006 report - 'A passage to hope: women and international migration', released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

25. The European Union has expressed its support to Vietnam's bid for swift accession to the World Trade Organization. ( E.U. Trade Commissioner - Peter Mandelson )

26. A bronze bust of Kalidasa was unveiled in the Shanghai Theatre Academy. Kalidasa's is the first and the only exhibit of an Asian figure.

27. Delegates of the 26^th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union ( IAU) decided to remove Pluto from the list of nine planets. From now on the inner polar system - Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars and the gas giants of the outer system - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune will comprise the planets in our solar system, while Pluto, Xena and Ceres (the largest rocky body orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter) are to be called 'dwarf planets'. Smaller objects orbiting the Sun such as asteroids and comets will be called 'small solar system bodies'.

The IAU has also put forward a new definition for planets. To be considered a planet under the new nomenclature, the heavenly body must be big enough to have been pulled into a round shape by its own gravity. Planets must also dominate their neighbourhood, effectively clearing out other rubble in their path.

28. China's first seed breeding satellite "Shijiom-8", launched on September 9 has started sending back one high- definition digital image of sprouting Chinese cabbage every two hours since September, 10.

29. The two day NAM summit adopted the Havana declaration and the Final Document. It -

• Urged countries to refrain from extending, political, diplomatic, moral and material support to terrorism.
• Condemned unilateralism and attempts to exercise hegemonic domination in international relations.
• Opposed categorisation of countries as good or evil based on unilateral and unjustified criteria and the adoption of a doctrine of pre-emptive attack, including by nuclear weapons.
• Called for efforts to make United Nations Security Councils more democratic, more representative, more accountable and more effective.

It also adopted a declaration on Palestine and called on four countries involved in mediation to remain actively engaged in the Palestinian and Israeli side to bring about resumption of direct and substantial negotiations. On Iran's Nuclear issue the conference said diplomacy and dialogue through peaceful means must continue to find a long -term solutions.

30. Moldova's breakaway province of Trans- Dniester has overwhelmingly voted to become part of Russia. The Russian speaking region of 550,000 broke away from Moldova following a bloody war in 1992. The 16-year dispute is one of several "frozen conflicts" among former Soviet States which left thousands dead in the 1990's and threaten to erupt again.

FROZEN CONFLICTS - THREATEN TO REIGNITE Chechnya : Breakaway Russian republic has been in state of conflict since 1994, with violence sporadically spreading to neighbouring republics. South Ossetia : Conflict in early 1990s drove out 1,00,000 people and growing nationalism could reignite violence. Independence referendum scheduled for Novemer,12. Trans-Dniestr : Split from Moldova in 1990, fought war in 1992. 60% ethnic Russian or Ukrainian. Moldova's main industrial region. Abkhazia: Fought with Georgia in 1992-93, winning de facto independence. Close ties to Russia include passports and pensions. Nagorno-Karabakh : Controlled by Armenian military since three-year war ended in 1994.

31. Michael Schumacher, the most successful Formula one driver of all time announces his retirement from the sport at the end of the 2006 world championship. The German is a seven times world champion.

32. Joshana Chinappa and Saurav Ghosal emerged as the winners of women's and men's singles titles in the 54^th National Squash championship.

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS

Name Reason(s) for being in the News 1. Shivshankar Menon Appointed Foreign Secretary 2. Fali Nariman His book India's Legal System : Can it be saved ? was released by the President. 3. Justice B.N. Srikrishna Appointed Chairman of the Sixth Pay Commission 4. Shobhana Bhartia Vice-Chairperson and Editorial Director, Hindustan Times Media. Elected Chairperson of the Audit Bureau of Circulation for 2006-07. 5. Shabhana Azmi – Film Star and Social Activist Recipient of the Gandhi International Peace Prize. 6. Javed Aktar - Script Writer and Lyricist Recipient of the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration. 7. Usha Narayanan Assumes charge as Executive Director of SEBI. 8. Lucy Tate - Student Has become Britain's youngest Magistrate at the age of 19.

DISCLAIMER The information presented above has been collected from a variety of sources. Brain Tree exercises due care and caution in collecting the data before publication. Inspite of this, if any omission, inaccuracy or printing errors occur with regard to the data, Brain Tree will not be held responsible or liable.

1^st November, 2006 to 25^th November, 2006

1. The nuclear envoys of U.S.A. and N.Korea met in Beijing on 31.10.06 N.Korea agreed to return to the six-party talks on its nuclear programme. The 6- party talks to persuade N. Korea to give up its nuclear weapon programme include U.S., Russia, China, Japan and the two Koreas.

BACKGROUNDER Following the Korean War between 1950-53, an Armstice agreement was signed in 1953 which provided for a demilitarized zone along the 38th parallel, (the boundary between the two Koreas). Since this was only a ceasefire agreement, the two Koreas are technically still at war. Communist N.Korea perceives a military threat from U.S., since U.S., has a mutual defense agreement with S.Korea. Hence N.Korea began its nuclear weapon programme. An agreement was signed in 1994 by Japan, S.Korea and U.S., to replace graphite moderated reactors of N.Korea with light water reactors so that N.Korea gives up its nuclear weapon programme. N. Korea always insisted on a non-aggression pact with US first before it renounced its nuclear weapon programme as it considers S.Korea to be U.S. puppet. Citing delay in the construction of light water reactors, N.Korea pulled out of the NPT in January 2003. N. Korea agreed to 6-party talks in return for energy and security guarantees from the U.S. It pulled out of the 6-party talks in November 2005 on the ground that U.S. should install the light water reactors first.

2. Bajaur Agency in North West Frontier Province of Pakistan saw unrest to protest against the attacks on a Madrasa by the Pakistani army on 30^th October 2006 that killed 80 people. The protests were led by the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal.

3. The R.B.I. presented its Mid-term Review of the Annual Credit Policy 2006-07. The chief points in the mid-term review are 1) The Repo rate was increased to 7.25 from 7% 2) The reverse repo rate, the bank rate and the C.R.R. were kept unchanged. 3) Resident individuals can remit 50,000 U.S. dollars overseas every year as against the existing limit of 25,000 U.S. dollars.

REPO RATE: The interest rate at which a central bank will lend against the security of its government's paper. REVERSE REPO RATE: It is the interest rate that a bank earns for lending money to the Reserve Bank of India in exchange for government securities. CASH RESERVE RATIO: The portion (expressed as a percent) of depositors' balances banks must have on hand as cash. This is a requirement determined by the country's central bank. The reserve ratio affects the money supply in a country.

4. India's trade deficit of 24.6 billion U.S. dollars in April-September 2006 was wiped out by October due to net capital inflows and receipt of invisibles.

5. Burj Dubai in Dubai will be the tallest building in the world. It will be 700 M tall with 160 storeys. It is to be completed by end of 2008 at a cost of one billion US dollars.

6. A 470 crore Global Automotive Research Centre is to be set up at Orgadam, near Chennai.

7. Iran began missile tests on November 2^nd code named Great Prophet-2. The tests included the test firing of Shahab-3, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead with a range of 2000 km. The other missiles that were fired included Nor, Koswar and Nasr.

8. The Supreme Court approved the bids of GMR and GVK while dismissing the petition of Reliance Aerospace. GVK and GMR successfully bid for the modernization of Mumbai and Delhi airports.

9. The Union government cleared the Foreign Contributions Regulatory Bill-2006 to repeal the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act -1976. The new bill prohibits acceptance and utilization of foreign contributions or foreign hospitality for any activity detrimental to national interest.

10. The Union government cleared the Judges Inquiry Bill-2006 which amends the Judges Inquiry Act -1968. The bill proposes a National Judicial Council made up of the CJI, two senior most judges of the supreme court and two senior most chief justices of high courts. The NJC will look into complaints against both High Court and Supreme Court judges.

11. The Maoists and the Seven Party Alliance signed a draft agreement on November 8^th. The agreement paves the way for the Maoists to enter mainstream politics from December 2006. The agreement declares that all powers will be taken away from the king and that the Constituent Assembly of Nepal would determine the fate of the monarchy.

12. The Democrats captured the U.S. Congress after 12 years in the US congressional elections in November. The share of Republicans in the House of Representatives came down from 232 in 2004 to 196 after the November elections. Similarly, their number in the U.S. senate came down from 55 in 2004 to 49 after the elections. Democrats now hold 230 seats in the House and 51 seats in the Senate. Democrats also took 20 of the 36 governor posts in the elections. Nancy Pelosi, a democrat from California, became the first woman speaker of the House of Representatives. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a democrat, won re-election to the senate from New York. Donald Rumsfeld, the U.S. Defence Secretary resigned following the congressional elections. The most important factor leading to the rout of the Republicans is said to be the US war on Iraq and the Bush government's handling of the Iraqi situation.

13. Eighteen countries including China and Russia signed an agreement to develop a trans-Asian rail network at a meet in Busan, S.Korea. The rail route will have a total length of 81,000 km and will pass through 28 countries.

14. An Iraqi tribunal sentenced Saddam Hussein to death, for killing 184 people in the Shia village of Dujail in 1982. It also awarded death penalty to Hamad-al-Bandar, former head of Iraqi's Revolutionary Court and Barzan Ibrahim, the half brother of Saddam and former Iraqi intelligence chief.

15. The Berlin based Transparency International ranked India 70 in a list of 183 countries on its Corruption Perception Index. The ranking of India improved from 3.3 in 2005 to 2.9 in 2006 on the 0-10 scale of the Corruption Perception Index.

16. India upgraded its quality standards for food items to meet the standards of Codex Alimentarius Commission. As per the upgradation, the government has revised the permissible limits for pesticide and pharma residues in food items.

17. Gujarat became the first state in India to provide 24 hours power supply to all its villages under Jyotigram Yojana.

18. President Putin signed into law the Indo Russian Space Cooperation Agreement signed by India and Russia during his visit to India in December 2004. The agreement provides for joint space exploration and transfer of space technology to India.

19. Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was allowed to meet U.N. Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari. This is the second meet of Gambari with Suu Kyi after his first in May 2006. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest since May 2003.

20. The Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan began their talks on terrorism and Siachen in New Delhi. This marks the resumption of the composite dialogue. The two day talks which began on 14^th November led to an agreement on instituting a joint terror mechanism to monitor cross border terrorism.

21. The sub-group of the Planning Commission on education of minorities submitted its report to the convenor of the Working Group on the Empowerment of the Minorities for the 11^th 5-year plan. The report declares that 12% of the Muslim children in the age group of 6-13 do not attend school at all and that 50% and 1/3 of the Muslim children in the rural areas and in the urban areas respectively remain literate.

22. South Ossetia, a rebel province of Georgia, voted for independence in a referendum. South Ossetia is seeking to join Russia. Around 99% of the voters voted for independence of South Ossetia.

23. Ms. Sonia Gandhi was conferred the Order of the Leopold, Belgium's second highest civilian award.

24. Golfer Yang Yong Eun of S.Korea won the HSBC Champions Tournament in Shanghai. He held off the challenge of world No.1, Tiger Woods. Jyoti Randhawa of India finished 9^th while Jeev Milkha Singh finished 17^th.

25. The country first manned space mission is scheduled for 2014 and the first Lunar Mission for 2020. This was disclosed by Shri. B.N. Suresh, Director Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.

26. Former Indian Cricket Captain Polly Umrigar passed away. He was the first Indian to hit a test double century. Also, he is one of the only two Indian cricketers ( Vinoo Mankad being the other) to score a century and take five wickets in an innings.

27. Indian golfer Jeev Milkha Singh won the Volvo Masters in Spain. After the win, he has moved into the top 100 in world golf rankings and to 16^th in the European Order of Merit.

28. Mercury had a brief transit between the Earth and the Sun. This transit which occurs about 13 times in a century, last occurred in 2003 and scheduled to occur in 2016. Transits of Mercury are more frequent than Venus. The next transit of Venus is in 2012.

29. Lyricist Javed Akhtar was awarded the 21^st Indira Award for National Integration.

30. Lakshman Singh Rathore, a senior scientist of the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, has been elected as the vice-president of the World Meteorological Organisation Commission for Agricultural Meteorology. The 14^th session of the commission was held in Delhi.

31. Former revolutionary leader, Daniel Ortega of the Sanidinista National Liberation Front won the presidential election in Nicaragua.

32. Amitabh Bachchan, Sheila Dikshit, cartoonist R.K.Laxman and scientist C.N.R. Rao were conferred honorary doctorates by the Delhi University.

33. American writer Jonathan Littell won the top literary award of France - the Goncourt prize for has novel "Les Bienveillantes" ( The Kindly Ones).

34. The Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), maternal death per lakh live births, in the country has substantially come down to 301 between 1997-2003 as against 407 in the early 90s. However, nearly two-thirds of the maternal deaths occur in the Empowered Action Group (EAG) States including Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and Assam, according to the latest figures released by the Registrar General of India and the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry. Infant Mortality Rate also has shown a decline to 58 per lakh live births from 80 per lakh live births in 1991. The Union Health and Family Welfare Secretary P.K.Hota announced several incentives to promote institutional deliveries and family planning procedures.

The Empowered Action Group (EAG) constituted by Order dated 20th March, 2001 is an administrative mechanism that was established for the purpose of closely monitoring the implementation of Family Welfare Programmes in the EAG States to facilitate the preparation of area specific programmes to address unmet needs. The EAG is chaired by the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare and consists of Secretaries of various related Departments, Advisor, Planning Commission, NGOs and experts. UP, MP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Orissa, Uttaranchal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand and Assam have been identified as EAG States.

35. The legislature of China has passed an amendment requiring all death sentences to be approved by the Supreme People's Court. The revised law will come into effect from January.

36. Air India (AI), which is "on the verge of a merger" with Indian to "become one of the 20 largest airlines in the world," has, at the same time, "finalised plans for joining a global alliance." AI Chairman and Managing Director V. Thulasidas told in Singapore that "a seamless merger" would help chart the new entity's flight-path into the future.

37. The "most significant conservation disaster ever" may be about to repeat itself around the world, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The Vulture population has declined by 95% in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Combodia, and Myanmar, in the recent past. It is believed that the consumption of Diclofenac an anti inflammatory drug is responsible for the death of Vultures. This drug is reported to be at lethal levels in the carcasses of some animals which are consumed by the Vultures.

WHY IS THE LOSS OF VULTURES A CAUSE FOR ALARM ? Vultures are large size birds. They feed on dead and decaying animals. They are nature's scavengers. They clear the cities and villages of carcasses. A dramatic fall in their population levels could pose serious problems such as that of carcasses disposal and the consequent rapid increase in the canine related diseases like Anthrax, T.B., etc. Rotting carcasses could also lead to the spread of several other diseases.

38. British scientists have built the world's first artificial stomach: a shiny, high-tech box that physically simulates human digestion. Constructed from sophisticated plastics and metals able to withstand the corrosive acids and enzymes found in the human gut. It may ultimately help in the development of super-nutrients, such as obesity-fighting foods that could fool the stomach into thinking it is full.

39. Pakistan conferred the Nishan-e-Pakistan, its highest civil award, on President Hu Jintao for his "visionary leadership and splendid contribution in charting the course of China-Pakistan relations in the 21st century".

40. Killings and suicides by Army personnel due to stress is believed to be on the increase in Jammu and Kashmir. In October 2006 alone, there were six incidents of shooting and suicides in J&K. Most of these personnel belong to the counter-insurgency Raashtriya Rifles.

DISCLAIMER The information presented above has been collected from a variety of sources. Brain Tree exercises due care and caution in collecting the data before publication. Inspite of this, if any omission, inaccuracy or printing errors occur with regard to the data, Brain Tree will not be held responsible or liable.

26^th November, 2006 to 31^st December, 2006

1. The Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee, appointed by the Prime Minister to evaluate the social, economic and educational status of Muslims, has submitted its report. The Committee finds that the Muslim Community in India is 'deprived' and 'neglected' and has made far reaching recommendations. This is the first systematic study of the Muslim Community in Independent India.

THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE SACHAR REPORT þ Set up an Equal Opportunity Commission to address concerns of deprived minority groups. o Create a national data bank on various socio-religious categories. þ Designate Arzal Muslims as S.C.s or Most Backward Cates and evolve affirmative action measures. o Institute a nomination procedure for participation of minorities in public bodies. o Initiate steps to increase the employment share of Muslims. o Provide legal mechanisms to address complaints of discrimination. o Establish a delimitation procedure that rules out reserving constituencies with high minority population for S.C.s o Promote religious tolerance by initiating a process to evaluate textbooks for appropriate social values. o Evaluate the extent of development benefits for different socio- religious categories. o Evolve a University Grants Commission and link financial allocation to diversity in student population. o Evolve criteria a facilitate admissions to the most backward socio-religious categories in universities. o Provide financial and other support to initiatives built around occupations where Muslims are concentrated and that have growth potential. o Work out mechanisms to link madrassas to higher secondary schools and recognize madrassa degrees for eligibility in defence, civil and banking examinations. o Devise teacher-training components that highlight diversity and sensitise teachers to the aspirations of Muslims. o Set up a national Wakf Development Corporation with a revolving corpus fund of Rs. 500 crores.

After the submission of the report, the government has setup a 13 member high level committee under the Chairmanship of, Minister of State for Human Resource Development, M.A.A. Fatmi. to examine the education related recommendations made by the Sachar Committee.

2. In a significant judgment with far-reaching consequences, the Supreme Court held that no prior sanction from the competent authority was required to prosecute a public servant, including present and former ministers, in corruption cases.

3. India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are exploring ways of establishing joint ventures in third countries, as part of their growing economic partnership. Union Minister Mr. Kamal Nath pointed out that India and the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) were in the process of anchoring a Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement by 2007. The GCC comprises Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Oman.

4. Sunita Williams became the second woman of Indian origin after Kalpana Chawla to venture into space in the U.S. shuttle Discovery. The shuttle left on December 9^th 2006 and returned to earth on December 22^nd, 2006. It was on a repair machine to the International Space Station.

5. The India-Japan Friendship Year 2007 was jointly launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe.Dr. Singh said the friendship year had been launched to mark the 50th anniversary of the cultural agreement between the two countries. Dedicated rail freight corridors with computerised control from New Delhi to Mumbai and to Kolkata were among the projects announced by PM Manmohan Singh and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

6. The Turkish film `Angel's Fall' directed by Semih Kaplanoglu and the Bangladeshi film `Forever Flows' by Abu Sayeed shared the prestigious Golden Crow Pheasant Award (Suvarna Chakoram) in the 11th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK).

7. The Lok Sabha unanimously passed the bill to extend 27 per cent reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Central Higher education institutions, barring minority establishments and those located in designated tribal areas. The bill is termed as `The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Bill, 2006'. Besides minority educational institutions, the new policy will not be applicable to Central educational institutions established in tribal areas referred to in the sixth schedule of the Constitution, Institutions of Excellence besides those involved in Research and are of strategic importance and specialized programmes including at the post-doctoral level.

8. India is putting in place, a superior monitoring system to track ships plying near its coast. It is named as national Automatic Identification System (AIS). The transmission of information will be through VSAT (satellite dishes) links instead of very ultra high frequency transmission used by the present INSPIRES (Indian Ship Position Reporting System) that has been functional for the past 10 years.

9. According to a report by the International Labour Office (of the International Labour Organization), advance of HIV/AIDS is significantly reducing economic and employment growth. As per the report, 39.5 million people were now living with HIV/AIDS with a vast majority in sub-Saharan Africa. 43 countries in the world were badly hit with HIV infected people.

10. Chairman of the Railway Board J.P. Batra has been elected Chairman of the International Union of Railways (UIC), a Paris-based world organisation for international cooperation among railways and promotion of rail transport mode.

11. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is being "actively evaluated" by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) for `navratna' status. For HAL, which is already a category I "miniratna", a "navratna" status would mean less Government controls and more financial autonomy. The present "navratnas" are: Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Gas Authority of India Limited, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, National Thermal Power Corporation Limited, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited and Steel Authority of India Limited.

12. Indian companies Strand Life Sciences and Drishtee are among 47 `visionary' firms worldwide selected by the World Economic Forum as `Technology Pioneers 2007' for their life-changing innovations. This was announced by the Managing Director of the World Economic Forum, Peter Torreele. The Technology Pioneers are nominated by the world's leading venture capital and technology companies and are recognised for their innovations that have the potential for long-term impact on business and society.

13. For the first time in the History of the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Sensex crossed the 14000 mark.

BACKGROUNDER First compiled in 1986, the Sensitive Index, in short, SENSEX is a basket of 30 constituent stocks (30 points) representing a sample of large, liquid and representative companies. These companies have the largest and most actively traded stocks and are representative of various sectors, on the Exchange. They account for around one-fifth of the market capitalization of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The base year of SENSEX is 1978-79 and the base value is 100. The index is widely reported in both domestic and international markets through print as well as electronic media. The Sensex is generally regarded as the most popular and precise barometer of the Indian stock markets. Incorporated in 1992, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) is one of the largest and most advanced stock markets in India. The NSE is the world's third largest stock exchange in terms of transactions. There are a total of 23 stock exchanges in India, but the BSE and NSE comprise 83% of the volumes. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), established in 1992, regulates the stock markets and other securities markets of the country.

14. Infosys has become the first ever Indian firm to enter the prestigious Nasdaq-100 Index, joining the elite group like Google, Yahoo and Oracle, following its resounding success in its third sponsored American Depository Share offering.

15. Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani has been named `Businessman of the Year' for 2006 by Forbes Asia for his `nimble' stewardship in keeping the company ahead of peers in the global outsourcing phenomenon.

16. Hutchison Essar entered into a strategic alliance with Japan-based NTT DoCoMo to provide mobile Internet services to its customers. DoCoMo will license its patented technology `i-mode' to Hutch for offering mobile Internet on GSM (Global System for Mobile communication), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) networks.

17. The Union Government introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha to amend the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956, in a bid to develop the country's securitisation market for facilitating listing and trading of securitised certificates or instruments. Introduced by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, the Bill provides for vesting the powers of regulation with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Securitisation is the process of conversion of existing assets or future cash flows into marketable securities. Assets that can be securitised include car loans, housing loans, credit card payments and receivables like rentals.

18. According to an International Collaborative study Air pollution is threatening the quality of life in Asia: According to the report about 6,00,000 Asians die prematurely each year due to air pollution.

19. The Information Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2006, to check cyber crimes was introduced in the Lok Sabha. The crimes covered included publication of sexually explicit material, video voyeurism, breach of confidentiality, leakage of data by intermediaries, e-commerce frauds identity and video voyeurism. The new forms of crime that have emerged in the wake of Internet revolution have necessitated the amendment of the Information Technology Act of 2000. The Bill seeks to amend the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Evidence Act and the Code of Criminal Procedure to address the crimes.

20. The four-day Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Housing and Human Settlements had set the mechanism and agenda for future regional cooperation. It adopted the `Delhi Declaration' calling for the transformation of urban areas into better-managed, more inclusive and sustainable towns and cities.

21. The Lok Sabha passed the Scheduled Tribes and other traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights ) Bill, 2005, seeking to recognize the vest the forest rights and occupation in forest land of forest-dwelling scheduled tribes and other traditional forest-dwellers. The Bill which was originally tabled in 2005, has been redrafted and includes other traditional forest dwellers also instead of the only the Scheduled Tribes. The dwellers would have to be residing in forest land for three generations (one generation is defined as 25 years by the bill) or 75 years for entitlement to land rights and the rights to collect and market the forest products to the dwellers. Now, each family would be entitled to four hectares of forest land as against 2.5 hectares envisaged in the previous bill.

22. The Prime Minister released the India Rural Infrastructure Report. The report sponsored by the Ratan Tata Trust.

FINDINGS OF THE REPORT Rural India — is a home to 70 per cent of the country's population — would require Rs.92,690 crore (at 2002-03 prices) for providing telecom connectivity, Rs.55,243 crore would be necessary for power supply, Rs.5,892 crore for roads and transport and Rs.4,488 crore for water and sanitation. According to the report Rural infrastructure development requires an estimated sum of Rs.1,58,313 crore. The report advocated greater decentralization of regulation and ownership, greater reliance on user fees to recover cost and provide for sustainable operation and maintenance, and greater use of micro finance to build demand for services.

Releasing the report, the Prime Minister outlined five major challenges: ¢Revitalization of the rural economy ¢ Improved delivery of essential public services ¢ Improved management of urban areas ¢ Financial system for greater inclusion and increased global integration ¢ A regulatory culture to facilitate cost-effective private investment in infrastructure.

23. Reliance creates `Zapak', India's largest gaming portal .Zapak is the creation of the Reliance ADA Group, and it aims to become India's hottest games portal — it is the largest with over 150 games, many of them well-known international titles like "Heli Attack" and "Four Wheel Fury", but quite a few are original made-in-India content.

24. United States President George W. Bush, signed the historic legislation allowing civilian nuclear trade with India. It ends India's 30-year nuclear isolation. It paves the way for India to stop spread of nuclear weapons. India's energy requirements will double by 2015.

25. Eminent space scientist, former Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation and Rajya Sabha member. Dr.Kasturirangan has been appointed by Pope Benedict XV1 as an Academician of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. It is considered the most prestigious academy in the world. He is the fourth Indian scientist to get the honour after C. V. Raman, M. G. K. Menon and C. N. R. Rao.

26. The Union Government disclosed the much-awaited policy on setting up city gas distribution projects that allows companies to have monopoly for a certain period in selling natural gas to households and automobiles. City Gas Distribution (CGD) projects will have marketing exclusivity.

27. Scientists have discovered at least 52 new species of animals and plants on the southeast Asian island of Borneo. WWF International said that the new discoveries, made between July 2005 and September 2006, include 30 fish species, two tree frogs and plant species. One of the fish species is a miniature, the world's second-smallest vertebrate.

Among the creatures that were new to science were six Siamese fighting fish, and a catfish. The catfish, which can be identified by its colour pattern, is named Glyptothorax. While these species were spotted in Indonesian waters, the 8.8 mm-long Paedocypris micromegethes was discovered in Malaysia's backwater streams and peat swamp forests.

28. Eradicating Polio is proving to be a tough task in India. 1,763 people contracted Polio in the year 2006, in India. Moradabad district in western Uttar Pradesh has registered the highest number of Polio cases of any district in the country. 190 countries of the world are Polio free, due to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative of the WHO, Rotary International, UNICEF and a few other International Organisations. The disease remains endemic in India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria.

29. Justice K.G. Balakrishnan has been appointed as the 37th Chief Justice of India. He succeeds Justice Y.K. Sabharwal.

30. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in infrastructure companies in the securities market — stock exchanges, depositories and clearing corporations — with a separate FDI cap of 26 per cent and FII (Foreign Institutional Investment) cap of 23 per cent. This will be in compliance with the SEBI regulations.

31. The United Nations Security Council unanimously voted to impose non-military sanctions on Iran for its failure to end its nuclear enrichment programme.

32. India has the largest number of people living with Diabetes, according to the Diabetes Atlas released by the International Diabetes Federation's. India has 40.9 million people with diabetes, followed by China at 39.8 million.

BACKGROUNDER Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease in which the body either does not produce or does not fully utilise insulin. As result, it cannot properly metabolise carbohydrates and to a lesser extent, protein and fat. Glucose ( sugar ) builds up in the blood; to rid the body of the excess, the kidneys begin to excrete it in the urine. Although excessive glucose is circulating, the brain and other tissues that need it for fuel are unable to use it. The body begins to break down fat and protein in an attempt to provide an alternate source of fuel, resulting in serious biochemical imbalances. In the meantime, the high levels of glucose are damaging structures throughout the body, increasing the risk of complications such as heart attack, blindness, kidney failure, stroke and painful nerve problems. Despite effective treatments, diabetes is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. There are two major forms of diabetes: Type I, in which the body stops making insulin completely, and Type II in which the body produces inadequate insulin or is unable to use it fully. There is no cure for either type of diabetes, but the disease can be controlled with a combination of therapies.

33. Professor Terence Tao of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), was awarded the 2006 SASTRA's Ramanujan Prize at the International Conference on Number Theory and Combinatorics at the Srinivasa Ramanujan Centre, SASTRA University, Kumbakonam for revolutionary contributions to several areas of mathematics.

The Green-Tao theorem resolves an important special case of the Erdös-Turan conjecture. One of the most famous unsolved problems in mathematics is the Prime Twins Conjecture, which asserts that there are infinitely many prime pairs that differ by 2. Professor Tao and Professor Green proved in 2003 that there are arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions of primes.

34. June 29 will be observed as "National Statistical Day" across the country. The day marks the birth anniversary of Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, the doyen of Indian statistics and founder of the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata.

35. Indian naval landing ship, INS Shardul, to be based on western seaboard for the first time. INS Shardul can carry 11 main battle tanks, 10 army vehicles, 500 troops. It Will be the first landing ship based on India's western seaboard. It was built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata. INS Shardul will be the first ship to be commissioned from INS Kadamba, the Navy's most modern and state-of-the-art operational base at Karwar (on India's west coast)

36. The Centre plans to declare 2007 as "Water Year — Year of More Crop and Income Per Drop of Water". This is based on the recommendations of the Advisory Council on artificial recharge of groundwater chaired by Shri. Saifuddin Soz.

37. North Korea has declared itself as a nuclear power. This declaration was made by North Korea's representative Kim Kye Gwan during the plenary session of the six party talks in Beijing.

LIST OF COUNTRIES WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Country	Warheads Active / Total	Year of the First Test
1. United States	5,735 / 9,960	1945
2. Russia	5,830 / 16,000	1949
3. United Kingdom	200	1952
4. France	350	1960
5. China	130	1964
6. India	40-50	1974
7. Pakistan	30-52	1998
8. North Korea	1-10	2006

38. The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and Sri Lanka Government signed an agreement for setting up of a 500 MW coal-based thermal plant in Trincomalee district. The project, involving an investment of $500 million, would be implemented by a joint venture company to be formed with a stake of 50 per cent each by NTPC and CEB, and would be funded with a debt equity ratio of 70:30.

39. The former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was executed on 30^th December, 2006, bringing to an end an era which has left a powerful imprint on West Asia. Mr. Hussein's two co-defendants, the former military intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim-al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed-al-Bandar, a former chief judge, would be executed at a later date. An Iraqi court sentenced all the three to death on November 5 following a controversial year long trial over the 1982 killings of 148 Shias in the town of Dujail.

40. The West Bengal Assembly passed the Calcutta Hackney Carriage (Amendment ) Bill abolishing the hand-pull rickshaw.

41. Parliament has given its nod for the bill to accord Central University status to the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad.

42. The UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan demits office on the 31^st December, 2006.

DISCLAIMER The information presented above has been collected from a variety of sources. Brain Tree exercises due care and caution in collecting the data before publication. Inspite of this, if any omission, inaccuracy or printing errors occur with regard to the data, Brain Tree will not be held responsible or liable.

1^st January, 2007 to 15^th January, 2007

1. The former Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein (69 years ) was buried in his home town, Awja village, near Tikrit in Iraq. Saddam belonged to the Albu Nasir Tribe.

2. The 94^th Session of the Indian Science Congress held in Tamil Nadu had its focal theme as Planet Earth. The discussion related to climate change, natural disasters, monsoon, sustainable development etc. The 95^th Indian Science Congress will be held in the Andhra University in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) in the first week of January, 2008.

3. A World Bank report entitled Global Economic Prospects for 2007 : Managing the next wave of globalization focuses on the economies of India and China. The salient features of the report are : o India and China would contribute more to the global economic growth than the rich countries. o By 2030 India along with many other countries will see a sharp rise in the number of people graduate into the global middle class.

4. The SS Tarapore committee of the Reserve Bank of India has pointed out that medium term budgeting is imperative for proper fiscal planning and management of budget deficit.

BACKGROUNDER The present governmental budgets cover a one year period. Medium term budgeting normally denotes a period of 3-5 years. According to the committee, a proper strategy to achieve fiscal balance and management of budget deficit is facilitated by medium term budgeting. Medium term budgeting was earlier resorted to in 1985 when V.P. Singh was the Finance Minister in the Rajiv Gandhi government. However, it was concerned with taxation alone. The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act 2003 sets targets for reduction / elimination of Budget deficits in a medium term framework of five years (i.e.) elimination of revenue deficit by the year 2008-09. According to the committee, meeting additional Expenditure / additional Resource towards budget are not taken care of by the annual central budget ( or) by the FRBM Act 2003. FRBM Act and rules prescribe Fiscal Targets and a medium term Fiscal Policy Format ( Medium-Term Budgeting), however the act does not provide sound means to achieve these targets. Tarapore Committee fells that FRBM Act 2003 has not been fully utilized in its full exercise of genuine medium-term budgeting. Hence, the committee insists on Medium-budgeting to attain fuller convertibility of a rupee.

5. The Sunday Times has declared Laxmi Mittal as the Business person of the year 2006. Mittal embodies the new breed of Indian Entrepreneur. After the take over of Arcelor, Arcelor Mittal is now the world's largest steel production company ( 10% of the world production). Japan's Nippon Steel and Korea's Posco, Tata Corus stand second, third and fifth respectively.

6. A team of Japanese and American Scientists claim to have engineered the World's first cattle that is immune to mad cow disease. Mad Cow disease, or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), is caused by Prions ( a vital Protein) getting damaged and Spreading to animal's brain tissue. It causes the Collapse of Cow's nervous system.

7. The National Knowledge Commission has made the following observations : ¨ India requires 1,500 universities to attain a gross enrolment ratio of atleast 15 per cent by 2015. o Only 7% of the population in the 18-24 age group has access to higher Education. o NKC has suggested creation of an Independent Regulatory Authority for higher Education. o India not only need a larger number of universities but also smaller universities which are responsive to change and easier to manage. o NKC contends that government support for higher education should increase to at least 1.5 per cent of the GDP.

8. The Shangai port is the world's largest port in terms of Cargo handling. In the year 2006, it handled 537 metric tones of Cargo and 90 million tones more than the Singapore port which ranks second.

9. Brazil became the first developing country to guarantee free AIDS treatment to every citizen.

10. The Sensex has been buoyant after it had touched the 14000 mark in December, 2006. The reasons for the buoyancy are : ¨ Indian stocks have been performing very well even by global standards, against which they are being increasingly benchmarked. ¨ Foreign Institutional Investors have continued to favour Indian bourses. ¨ A spurt in foreign direct investment as well, strongly suggesting that the Indian economic growth story has gone down well with many other types of investors. ¨ Corporate results have been consistently impressive.

WHY HAVE THERE BEEN MAJOR FLUCTUATIONS IN THE SENSEX? There have been wide swings in the market in the recent past. This is attributed to the following reasons: ¨ Lack of a proper debt market for attracting long term investors. ¨ Absence of a large number retail investors in the buoyant market. ¨ No significant increase in the number of Demat accounts over a decade. ¨ The dominance of foreign institutional investors and mutual funds.

11. The transitional government of Somalia to control of the capital Mogadishu on December 29^th, 2006. The first task of the new government headed by Prime Minister Ali Mohammad Gedi will be to re-establish an administrative structure.

BACKGROUNDER Somalia is a patch work of tribes, clans and sub-clans that have fought one and other for 15 years. From the ouster of the dictator Mohammad Siad Barre in 1991, until the Islamists captured Mogadishu in June, 2006, there was no centralized authority.

12. The Gangtok ( Sikkim) – Nathula road is to be widened. This road has acquired importance after the recent opening of trade with China through the Nathula Pass the July 2006. This road is to be '2 lane' to facilitate plying of heavy commercial vehicles. The 61 km long work is to be under taken by Border Roads Organisation ( BRO).

13. Democrats regained control of U.S. Congress. Nancy Pelosi was sworn in as the first woman's Speaker of the House of Representatives in USA. The democratic party has a majority in the Senate ( Upper House) as well as the House of Representatives (Lower House). Steny Hoyer is the majority leader of the House in the House of Representatives and Harry Reid is the majority leader in the Senate. In another first, Keith Ellison of Minnesota became the first Muslim to serve in Congress, taking his office on a Koran that once belonged to former President Thomas Jefferson.

14. A Journal of the American Medical Association reports that more than 2 lakh woman die from cervical cancer annually across the world. India accounts for a quarter of the world's affliction with this form of cancer and a third of the deaths. Efforts are on for developing a vaccine.

15. The Royal government of Cambodia has awarded the Sahametrei Medal to M.S. Swaminathan, agricultural scientist in recognition of his contributions to the revival of rice research and development in Cambodia in 1980s. His work also led to the establishment and strengthening of the Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute.

16. The Central Sales Tax is to be phased out and has to give way to VAT. Currently, states collect and retain the entire proceeds of the cost. CST is the tax on inter-state goods. The CST phase begins from April, 2007.

17. The year 2007 has been declared as the Year of the Dolphin by the UN convention on migratory species. The year of the Dolphin will be part of the U.N. decade on education for sustainable development.

BACKGROUNDER The Dolphins are aquatic animals believed to have evolved more than 10 millions years ago. They are carnivores, eating mainly fish and Squid. They are considered to be the most intelligent of all animals and are friendly to humans. Breeding appears to have seasonal peaks in spring and autumn. Major threats to their survival include entanglement in fishing nets, marine pollution, prey depletion and hunting.

18. The National Thermal Power Corporation has signed a memorandum of agreement with the government of Sri Lanka and Ceylon Electricity Board for a Coal based power project.

BACKGROUNDER NTPC is the largest power generation company in India. It has a total installed capacity of 26, 404 mw with 14 coal based, 7 gas based and 4 joint venture projects, it is 6th largest company in terms of power generation.

19. Myzopoda Schliemani, a new bat species has been discovered in Madagascar. The previously known rare species is 'Myzopoda aurita'.

20. The book "Mohandas- A true story of a man, his people and an empire" authored by Rajmohan Gandhi ( Mahatma Gandhi's grandson) was released by Mrs. Sonia Gandhi.

21. Indians around the world have been making an impact on Public life beyond Business life. Some of them are :

Indian-Origin Leaders	Country	Political Status
Bobby Jindal	U.S.A.	Representative from Louisiana State to House of Representatives.
Kashmir Singh Gill & Tej Mann	U.S.A. ( California)	Elected to City Council.
Satveer Chaudhary	USA (Minnesota)	State Legislature Representative.
Lord Karan Bilimoria	U.K.	Members of House of Lord.
Parmjit Danda	U.K. ( Glouster)	Parliamentary Under secretary of state for Children.
Harinder Takhar	Canada ( Ontario)	First Minister of Small Business & Entrepreneurship.
Ruby Dhallfa	Canada	Member of Parliament from Brampton Springdace.

22. Hutchinson Telecommunications International Ltd. ( HTIL) has announced its intention to exit from the Indian Telecom scene. The U.K. based VODAFONE is the world's largest mobile company.

23. Foreign Investment upto 49 per cent has been allowed in the Indian Stock Exchanges ( Foreign Direct Investment 26% and Foreign Institutional Investors 23%).

24. A Special Purpose Tea Fund is to be established in June, 2007 to rejuvenate the Tea sector. The Fund will cover 1600 gardens spread over 2 lakh hectares under 800 owners.

25. The US government's move to withdraw India's Jewellery sector from the duty free access to the American market from 2007 is likely to have an adverse impact on the Gems and Jewellery Industry.

BACKGROUNDER GENERAL SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES OF PROGRAMME The GSP programme is a US programme designed to promote economic growth in the developing world. It provides preferential duty free entry for more than 4650 products from 144 designed beneficiary country and territories.

26. Recognizing the supremacy of Parliament to expel a member for misconduct, the Supreme Court upheld the termination of the membership of 11 MPs in December 2005 for their involvement in the cash-for-query scam. The court said that the powers and privileges of Parliament under Article 105 included the power of expulsion, and Parliament could use its power for protective purpose not only for acts done within the house but also upon anything that lowers the dignity of the house. The Supreme Court has also held that the actions of Parliament were subject to judicial review and no absolute immunity can be claimed to usurp the jurisdiction of the court. It also held that representing people of particular constituency was not an absolute right and their could be certain limitations.

27. The Supreme Court has declared that there cannot be any blanket immunity from judicial review of laws inserted in the IX Schedule of the Constitution.

BACKGROUNDER The IX Schedule ( Article 31-B) was introduced into the Constitution by the former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, to keep certain laws particularly those on land reforms beyond the scope of Judicial Review. Any law included in the IX Schedule was not subject to judicial review to date. Now, according to the judgment of the Supreme Court, all laws included in the IX Schedule after April 24, 1973 would be tested individually for violation of Fundamental Rights or the Doctrine of basic structure. About 30 laws out of the 284 in the IX Schedule are under challenge now. Included is the Tamil Nadu Reservation Act providing for 69% quota in jobs and in education institutions. The Fundamental Rights which form a part of the basic structure of the Constitution are Article 14, 15, 19 and 21. The other features which form a part of the basic structure are Federation, Separation of powers, Secularism and Judicial review. The immediate fall out of the Supreme Court judgment would be in the area of reservation where Article 14 is often invoked on one hand and affirmative actions for the socially disadvantaged on the other.

28. Fakhruddin Ahmed, an economist was sworn in as the new head of the non-party care taker government in Bangladesh. He is the former Governor of the Bangladesh bank.

29. The Justice Malimath committee recommendations are to be implemented, stage by stage to bring about reforms in the Criminal Justice System.

DISCLAIMER The information presented above has been collected from a variety of sources. Brain Tree exercises due care and caution in collecting the data before publication. Inspite of this, if any omission, inaccuracy or printing errors occur with regard to the data, Brain Tree will not be held responsible or liable.

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