26.01.2007

• Today is our Republic Day. Happy celebrations to all of you. Today is also the International Customs Day.
• India’s GDP currently stands at $729 bn. This translates to about Rs. 34,26,300 crores.
• About 33^rd National Games at Guwahati
• The Assam Olympic Association’s General Secretary Mr. Mukut Medhi, who raised doubt over Assam’s security situation in the wake of the Ulfa offensive, has been divested of his powers in organizing the National Games.
• Lebanon
• PM is Fuad Siniora
• Israel’s President gets suspended
• President Moshe Katsav, who has been facing charges of rape, molestation and sexual harassment from several of his former employees, has requested the Israeli Parliament, Knesset to permit him to avail leave of absence, after prosecutors drafted criminal charges against him for alleged rape and sexual misconduct.
• Ms. Dalia Itzik will look after the President’s functions during this suspension.
• AP government enters into an MOU with Odyssey consortium
• The MOU is for setting up of a Science City in Ananthapur District.
• Estimated to be having a initial investment of $3 bn in the first three years, the project is slated to see investments of up to $25 bn eventually.
• Money transfer through mobiles
• Under an initiative called ‘banking for the unbanked’, Bharti Telesoft has developed platform, through which a person is supposed to have two cards – a prepaid SIM card and a stored wallet cash card. Any person wishing to remit money can go to a retail outlet and deposit the amount. The amount will be sent via SMS to an authorized outlet, from where it can be collected by the recipient.
• Indo-Russian agreements
• The Russian President Vladmir Putin is currently on a visit to India as the Chief Guest for our Republic Day parade.
• India and Russia have entered into a number of agreements. Russia has agreed to build more nuclear reactors for India, in addition to giving 4 more reactors for the Kudankulam plant.
• Both the countries have also agreed to jointly launch a satellite called the ‘YouthSat’.
• FDI figures
• Overseas FDI has bested FDI inflows in growth rates during the period March 2005 to June 2006.
• Total overseas FDI was $13.63 bn (30%) and the inbound FDI was at $51.46 bn (16%).
• This is according to the data on International Investment Position (IIP), which was released by the RBI in conformance with the IMF’s standards on data dissemination.
• Commodity price volatility and futures markets
• The solution to price volatility in the futures markets is to pre-empt speculation by deepening the market and not to ban trading altogether. Futures markets only tell us what is in store. They are needed for more informed agricultural production and hedging.
• The high inflation witnessed recently is a combination of supply side constraints and the rapid growth in the money supply. Blaming futures markets for this is not correct.
• Indian agriculture
• As per the National Sample Survey, a majority of our kisans own less than four acres of land each, but virtually no other asset.
• Our country gets an average rainfall of 1,000 mm but most of it literally goes down the drain.
• Indian TV homes
• There are about 110 mn households owning a TV in India.
• Of these about 65 to 70 mn are cable connected.
• Pay channels do not go beyond 30 to 40 mn households.
• Ultra-thin models in fashion industry
• Spain barred models below a certain body mass from Madrid fashion shows in September 2006. This was done as such models are encouraging eating disorders among girls and young women.
• New York issued guidelines to tackle the problem; though it did not ban them.
• Italy’s government and its fashion chiefs have signed a pact aimed at keeping models appearing sickly thin, off the catwalk by requiring them to prove that they are in good health.
• About trans-fats
• Artificial trans-fats are formed when food manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil to make it solidify, in a process called hydrogenation.
• Partially hydrogenated oil boosts the stability of a food’s flavour, as well as its shelf life, and the oil has long been a key ingredient in baked and fried foods.
• Cholesterol is two types – bad LDL and good HDL types.
• India’s first private sector managed airports.
• Cochin is the first.
• Now Delhi and Mumbai also are being run by private players.
• Global employment scene
• Global working population is pegged at 2.9 bn people.
• Global unemployed are at 195.2 mn and the global unemployment rate was at 6.3% in 2006.
• In 2007, the global economy is expected to grow by 4.9%.