Indian Current Affairs: 09.05.2007

In today’s Discover It blog, I gave some notes from a very good article written by Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar in today’s ET. Take a look at it here. It takes a diametrically opposite view on the impact of the strengthening of the Indian rupee against the US dollar and debunks the notion that such an appreciation will have adverse impact on our trade competitiveness.
India strikes oil & gas in Persian Gulf

A consortium of Indian oil companies led by ONGC (OVL) and having IOC and OIL as members has struck it rich in Farsi block Persian Gulf.
It is estimated that the strike has 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and about 1 bn barrels of oil.
This is sure to have wide ranging geo-political ramifications for India and the world. All of a sudden India will find that it has tremendous economic interests in the security and stability of the Persian Gulf. Secondly, in negotiating the Indo-US nuclear deal, the US has been insisting that India distance itself from Iran. India will find it even more difficult to do so now with this find.

Though no time frame is mentioned, such an institute is likely to come up, according to the Secretary, Ministry of Company Affairs.
It will be an autonomous institute with a single window system to unveil necessary laws for corporate governance.

A team of Isreali archeologists has reportedly found the tomb of the legendary builder of ancient Jerusalem and the Holy Land – King Herod.
Researchers found pieces of a limestone sarcophagus believed to be belonging to the ancient king.
By the way what is a sarcophagus? A sarcophagus is a stone container for a coffin or body. The word comes from Greek "sarx" meaning flesh, and "Phagos" meaning to eat, so sarkophagos which means "eater of flesh". Herodotus (the father of History) believed, erroneously, that sarcophagi (the Latin plural) were carved from a special kind of rock that consumed the flesh of the corpse inside.

Government is planning to disinvest its 49% stake in Biecco Lawrie (erstwhile British India Electric Construction Co) as an option to revitalize it. The PSU has been making profit only the last two years; but still has negative net worth due to accumulated losses.
It is located in Kolkata and was one of the British companies during pre-independence era. It was involved in manufacturing of electrical equipment.

It envisages creation of a navigable canal linking the Bay of Bengal with the Arabian Sea through the Gulf of Mannar, off the southern coast of India. At present, neither the Gulf of Mannar nor the Palk Straits, separating India from Sri Lanka, is broad enough or deep enough to allow large cargo vessels to sail through. Consequently ships wishing to reach the east coast of India from the Arabian Sea have to go right round Sri Lanka, an extra distance of 465 to 835 kms, incurring huge additional cost. This project will make all this history.

It is given for excellence in political reporting and analysis (journalism).
It was awarded to Pallavi Aiyar, The Hindu’s Special Correspondent in Beijing.
It was given by the Chairman of the Prem Bhatia Memorial Trust, Air Chief Marshal (Retd.) O.P. Mehra.

After nearly 5 years of direct rule from London, Northern Ireland returned to democratic self-governance. Direct Rule was imposed in October 2002 after the Assembly was dissolved amid allegations of spying against IRA (Irish Republican Army).
Setting aside their long history of mutual hostility, the two major political groupings in the Northern Ireland – DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) of the Protestants and the Sinn Fein of the Catholics, have come together to share power.
Northern Ireland now has Mr. Ian Paisley as the First Minister and Mr. Martin McGuiness as the Deputy First Minister.

The Government’s policy on Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Regions was released by Ram Vilas Paswan, the Union Minister of Chemicals, Fertilizers and Steel.
A PCPIR would be a specifically delineated investment region with an area of around 250 sq. km. planned for the establishment of manufacturing facilities for domestic and export led production in petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals along with the associated services and infrastructure. The minimum processing area for the PCPIR would be about 40% of the total designated area. It may include one or more SEZs, Industrial Parks, Free Trade and Warehousing Zones, or Growth Centres, duly notified under the relevant Central or State legislation or policy.

Scotland’s John Higgins beat Mark Selby to clinch his second World Snooker title.

Cricket regulations by ICC say that a bat’s handle could be made from any material. Exploiting this regulation, Melbourne’s RMIT University has developed a bat that is patented as the world’s first bat with active vibration control. Such a system is already in use in baseball bats and tennis racquets.
It uses electro-mechanical sensors and actuators to convert shock waves into heat and dampen vibration by generating waves in the opposite direction.
This technology increases the ‘sweet spot’ of the bat (the area in which the batsman experiences least impact when hitting the ball hard) and reduces injuries experienced by top level batsmen.

Indian Current Affairs