03.01.2007

• NBA activists protest against increase in damn height
• Narmada Bachao Andolan activists led by Medha Patkar have protested against the Gujarat government’s move to raise the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam to 122 meters.
• The Supreme Court has directed that the dam height be increased only if there is proper rehabilitation of the affected people.
• The NBA claims that the dam displaces over 300 million people, a figure which is contested by the state government.
• The $2.2 billion dam is expected to irrigate 1.8 million hectares of farmland, provide drinking water to 20 million people in Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP and Maharashtra, help in flood control, while its two power plants are expected to generate 1,450 MW of peak power.
• While the choices are not easy, development always comes with a cost, both to those immediately displaced and to the environment. But the answer is not to shelve development. It is rather to manage it with compassion and efficiency.
• Nithari killings
• This village near Noida in Uttar Pradesh was the place from where in the past 21 months, thirty-eight children were reported missing, mostly girls in the age group of 3-11 years.
• The children were allegedly abused and killed by Mohinder Singh Pandher, a factory owner and his domestic servant Surender aka Satish.
• The incident came to light when skeletons were discovered in the drains around the house. Digging in the house revealed more skeletons buried in the house.
• A big racket in human organs also is not being ruled out as yet.
• Online travel business statistics
• There are about 21.4 million urban Indians who are using the internet.
• Only about 6% of the Indians are covered by organized retailers.
• Indian telephone penetration
• It is estimated that even today only about 15% is the penetration level of telephones in India, as compared with 35% of China.
• Some interesting statistics about Indian stock markets
• Market capitalization (the overall value of a company's stock) of all of India’s listed companies is approximately about $796 billion (Rs. 36 lakh crores). This is a little more than India’s GDP.
• India is the 14^th largest market in the world, in terms of market cap.
• Less than 1% of India’s population invests in equities.
• Indian capital markets trade at a P/E (Price/Equity) multiple of 18 to 20.
• Corporate profits are in the region of Rs. 2 lakh crores. This is about 5.5% of the current GDP.
• In the developed markets such as the US, corporate profits constitute as much as 12% of the GDP.
• SEZ (Special Economic Zone) minutiae
• According to rule 53 under the SEZ Act, a developer within the SEZ has to have a positive net foreign exchange calculated cumulatively for 5 years from the date of production.
• FDI limit hike in insurance favoured
• The government is planning to hike the FDI limit exclusively up to 49%. At present, there is a 26% composite cap for FDI and FIIs. The government is of the view that the increase in foreign holding to 49% from 26% should be exclusively for FDI.
• Relevance of commodity boards
• Various commodity boards were established ever since India became independent. Some of the well known commodity boards in the country include the Coffee Board, the Tea Board, Tobacco Board, Spices Board, Rubber Board etc.
• In view of the predominance of the small and marginal farmers in the country, these Boards are an indispensable for providing assistance to the farmers in marketing their produce.
• But there is also a feeling that the Boards have not been able to measure up to their expectations and there calls for redrawing their mandates.
• 32^nd Annual list of meaningless, overused and misused words and phrases
• Michigan’s Lake Superior State University has come out with its 32^nd edition.
• Some of the words that are often seen even in our English dailies that I found were banned include: Brangelina, TomKat, metrosexual etc.