Indian Current Affairs: 16.05.2007

Today there is a very good article on this topic in the ET. I made notes from this and posted in the Discover It blog. Take a look at it here.

Followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect and Sikh activists staged protest rallies and clashed with the Police.
The trouble arose in Bhatinda when the Dera chief was shown in the attire of Guru Gobind Singh, the 10^th Sikh Guru in some newspaper advertisements.

There is a bilateral agreement with Russia last year, to allow designated carriers to fly over their territories on the promulgated air traffic service route. But Russian authorities suddenly informed India that Air India and Jet Airways flights will not be allowed to fly in the Russian airspace. When India stood firm and made it clear to them that there would be retaliatory steps from India against their Aeroflot and Tranaero flights, Russia backed down and the issue was resolved.
DGCA (Director General Civil Aviation) has sent a similar missive to the Malaysian authorities as they have refused permission for Air India Express and Air Sahara to operate to Kaula Lumpur. This is yet to be settled.

Remember the famous General MacAurthur? He was an American General who was heading the Allied war campaign in Philippines and the Far East during World War II. MacArthur oversaw the occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1951 and is credited for making far-ranging democratic changes in that country.
Japan’s constitution that was drafted during this time is called the ‘pacifist’ constitution. It was imposed on Japan by the US and has not been revised so far.
Now the Japanese upper house of the Diet (its Parliament) has passed a bill to facilitate referendum on some changes to be made to the constitution. They are looking for abrogating or revision of Article 9 that restrains Japan from resorting to war as an option in emergencies and imposes restrictions on the country’s military profile. The argument being advanced against this Article is that it prevents Japan from properly aiding its military ally, the US and from participating fully in the UN mandated peace-keeping operations.

The government is thinking of bringing about amendments to the SBI Act to pave the way for the subsidiary banks of the SBI to list on stock exchanges, make private placements of equity, and appoint separate Chairmen.

Do you remember the ban of some TV channels and/or programs that the government imposed recently? I remember the FTV and the AXN bans.
Now the government has come up with a body called the EMMC (Electronic Media Monitoring Centre) to monitor the content dished out by satellite TV channels in the country.
What is your take on this? I am for one against such ‘moral’ policing. When the people are expected to vote a responsible government by exercising their judgment, are they not capable of exercising a similar ‘responsible’ judgment, when it comes to either viewing or not viewing certain channels? They are equally capable of exercising a similar judgment on either allowing or not allowing their children view some content.

India has no representation in this festival. There are only 6 movies from Asia that are making it to the competition.
The last time an Indian film was selected for this competition was in 1994 – Shaji N Karun’s ‘Swaham’.

We have noted on a couple of occasions earlier something about the Yen carry trade. Today’s article in ET “Demystifying carry trade matrix” gives you a low down on this carry trade. Take a look at it here.
Carry trade is a simple process where one borrows in currencies that have low interest rates and converts the local currency into another currency and invests or lends the same in a higher yielding instrument in the converted currency. The gain made could be substantial, and the system works on the premise that exchange rates remain stable.

Indian Current Affairs