Indian Current Affairs: 30.03.2007

Wheat production dropped to 593 mn tonnes in 2006-07 from a peak of 629 mn tonnes in 2004-05.
This at a time, when India is looking at possible imports of wheat!

Production of pulses is expected to be about 14.5 mn tonnes in 2007-08, which is the same as last year.
To ensure continued availability, PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings) such as STC, PEC, Nafed and MMTC may be asked to import pulses in the coming months.

As much as 55% of rural household’s income goes towards food. In the case of urban households it is about 45%.
What does this suggest to you? When a large share of your income goes towards the basic necessities, you will have less ability to spare your energies for higher pursuits. These ‘higher’ pursuits may be related to leisure or intellect. When your energies are directed at higher intellectual pursuits, the country witnesses geometric progression on scientific and economic spheres. When the same are directed at leisure related activities, it will surely see cultural progress. But some will see signs of ‘red’ in this ‘cultural progress’.

With the Supreme Court ruling that OBC quota in elite institutions is stayed, it is that time of the life for all to indulge in quota politics.
In this context some observations worth our notice are:

The Constitution provides for a special dispensation for socially and economically backward classes and the court is not inclined to accept the government’s thesis of equating caste with class.
The court wants both social and economic factors to be given due weight in identifying the beneficiaries of reservations and has urged the government to proceed to do so on the basis of actual data.
Reservation has come to mean that castes are ‘entitled’ to government jobs in proportion to their numbers in the population. Obviously this meaning has no basis in the Constitution and runs counter to any commonly understood meaning of meritocracy.

“Reservations” is a very hot topic. After continued listening to both sides of the argument, one is sure to be left perplexed. If we go by a search of the root causes, it proves very illusory. Dr. Ambedkar let a genie out of the bottle; nobody seems to be having the guts to even think of talking about putting the genie back in the bottle and capping it up.

Scientists in Britain have come up with a process called bronchial thermoplasty in which tiny probes emitting radio waves on wires placed inside the lungs burn away the lung tissue blocking the airways.

Seen Mr. Bean, the TV comic? Mr. Atkinson who plays the character of Mr. Bean is going to bid goodbye to playing that character.

Come June, the Indian origin female astronaut is set to break the longest space stay record.

We have been covering about the DEPB (Duty Entitlement Passbook Scheme, an export incentive measure of the Government of India) scheme for quite some time. Let’s look at some more to understand where it falls foul of the WTO regime.
WTO norms lay down that reimbursement should be made on actuals, but in the case of DEPB an exporter can get benefits from the scheme even if he does not import anything. The problem with reimbursing exporters on the basis of actual input taxes paid by them is the fact that there are a plethora of taxes existing at thestate level and the rates differ from state to state. Moreover, the Centre doesn’t have the authority to reimburse state taxes.

We can say Japanese culture is about Sake, Sushi and Sakura. All starting with the letter ‘S’ you see!!
Sake (pronounced "SAH-KEH" in Japanese, but often "SAH-ki" by English speakers) is a Japanese alcoholic beverage, brewed from rice.
In Japanese cuisine, sushi is a food made of vinegared rice combined with a topping or filling of fish, seafood, vegetables, or egg. The topping may be raw, cooked, or marinated; and may be served scattered in a bowl of rice, rolled in a strip of seaweed, laid onto hand-formed clumps of rice, or stuffed in a small tofu pouch.
Sakura is cherry blossoms. They bloom during the March-April period for a fortnight. This is when usually Japan picnics.
Can you notice something similar in India? Remember Neela Kurinji flowers of Kerala? They blossom once in 12 years and it is a rare treat to the eyes. When they blossom, it is a hectic tourist season for the Kerala state.

While there are more than 700 IT companies in India, the top three (TCS, Infosys & Wipro) account for more than 40% of total IT services export revenue in the current fiscal. Just two years ago this figure was 26%.
Satyam, Cognizant and HCL are also in the billion dollar league but are straddling the space that puts them in the middle of the top three and the rest of the industry. They may go either way in course of time.
Some of the severe challenges that the smaller IT firms face include:

Diminishing brands that fail to attract the best talent. Smaller firms cannot get the best slots in hiring season; they have to be content with less fancied slots. Thus they get a pool of people who are next to best.
A dispersed client base that inhibits smaller firms from building up domain skills. As smaller firms tend to do any job that comes their way, they tend to spread their assets too thin. They will not be able to invest enough in building domain expertise.
A hand to mouth business situation that blocks future strategy development. Slow growth, reduced operating margins and an inability to add new accounts characterize this troubled segment.

Hiring people either for a short duration or on a project basis rather than taking them on as full time employees.

Russia denounced the US plans to deploy missile interceptors in Polan and a radar system in the Czech Republic as a threat to its security and ridiculed the US explanations that the shield was needed to guard against missile attacks from Iran and North Korea.
Russia’s protests against the missile defence have caused a split among the Washington’s NATO allies, with Polish and Czech leaders welcoming the US plans, and Germany and France urging consultations with Russia.
Finally US agreed to hold talks with Russia on the issue.

Lasith Malinga of Sri Lanka achieved the rare distinction of taking four wickets in four consecutive balls of his over.
Sri Lanka played against South Africa and lost the match.

Indian Current Affairs