28.02.2007

Hi friends,

Because of my busy schedule today also, I couldn't cover anything about the Economic Survey at all. Here go the rest of the notings for today:

• Election results in Northern states
• Punjab went the SAD (Shiromani Akali Dal) way, Uttarkhand is clinched by BJP and Manipur is bagged by Congress.
• Unemployment
• It has risen from 2.8% in 1999-2000 to 3.1% in 2004-05.
• Demographic dividend
• The phenomenon of a rise in the share of working age population and resultant rise in savings and growth.
• What happened to Union Carbide?
• We all heard of the Bhopal tragedy know? What happened to the company Union Carbide that was responsible for the gas leak?
• The Dow Chemical Company purchased Union Carbide in 2001 for $10.3 billion in stock and debt. Dow has publicly stated several times that the Union Carbide settlement payments have already fulfilled Dow's financial responsibility for the disaster.
• The union government demanded Dow for a payment of Rs. 100 crores. It refused to pay the amount.
• The Bhopal Disaster took place in the early hours of the morning of December 3, 1984, in the heart of the city of Bhopal. It was caused by the accidental release of 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas from a Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide.
• The BBC gives the death toll as nearly 3,000 people dead initially, and at least 15,000 from related illnesses since. Greenpeace cites 20,000 total deaths as its conservative estimate. Bhopal is frequently cited as the world's worst industrial disaster. It is the subject of controversy to this day.
• Do we or do we not have an extradition treaty with Argentina?
• An internal document of the CBI (of 1981 vintage) lists Argentina as a country with which we have extradition treaty.
• But the communication received by India through diplomatic channels on February 16, says that we do not have such a treaty with them and that India should therefore ask for Quattrocchi’s detention under Argentinean law and tat India would have to give an offer of reciprocity for seeking extradition.
• The CBI finally sent the extradition request to the Ministry of External Affairs on February 24.
• Government clears air on DD signal encryption
• The government is set to mandate the encryption of DD terrestrial signals during international cricket matches. This will address concerns of private broadcasters that sharing of live feed of sporting events with DD would lead to privacy of the latter’s signals in the overseas markets, thus leading to revenue losses.
• There are two modes of encryption: basic mode and professional CA system. It is yet to decide on the mode of encryption.
• The result of the NREGP (National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme)
• NREGP is a variant of the Employment Assurance Scheme introduced by Narasimha Rao government in 1994. That scheme guaranteed 100 days of employment for agricultural workers in backward districts.
• It helped increase the rural employment from 87.5 crore (875 mn) man-days in 1990-91 to 123 crore (1,232 mn) man-days in 1995-96.
• Quote from Aristotle
• “Democracy is a government in the hands of men of low birth, no property and vulgar employments.”