21.05.2007

• Prince Harry will now be deployed in Afghanistan
• Some earlier we noted in our blog that Prince Harry will be doing military duty in Iraq. As there were public threats from the militants operating in Iraq that he would be targeted specifically, UK decided not to deploy him in Iraq. Instead he would now be going to Afghanistan.
• One interesting aspect of this deployment is that there is a way in which the British Government can censor news about his deployment anywhere. They have a thing known as d-notice, through which the British Government can request the paper editors not to publish items on certain subjects on grounds of national security.
• Commonwealth Secretary General election
• The post is coming up for election in November this year, when the present incumbent Don McKinnon of New Zealand finishes his term.
• As per the convention, now is Asia’s turn to hold the post.
• Names that are being heard as having entered the fray include:
• Foreign Minister of Malta, Michael Frendo
• From India
• Mani Shankar Aiyar
• Kamlesh Sharma, High Commissioner of India to UK
• Mohan Kaul, an NRI settled in UK
• Social security net to be extended to the self-employed
• Aam Admi Smajik Surakhsa Yojana is the name given to it.
• It envisages giving self employed professionals like doctors, designers, small shop-owners and freelance journalists old-age pension, life and disability insurance cover and health benefits like any other government or corporate sector employee.
• Warehouse receipts and negotiable instruments
• There is a big deal about recognizing warehouse receipts as negotiable instruments.
• As a negotiable instrument, it can protect a lender’s (banker’s) interest. Under normal circumstances a banker is not liable to the drawer, if he were to accept a negotiable instrument in good faith despite the title of such an instrument being defective.
• A bit about MSS – Market Stabilization Scheme of the RBI
• MSS is a program of issuing interest bearing bonds, with the sole purpose of impounding surplus liquidity.
• Until a couple of years ago, RBI would mop up liquidity by selling government bonds that it had subscribed to. After RBI ran out of its stock of government bonds, it had to look for a new instrument. It, therefore, came out with MSS, which involves issue of bonds with a tenor ranging from three months to one year.
• Deepening corporate bond market
• Do you remember the notes we have been making about this? The RH Patil Committee recommendations on this?
• Now the government was able to implement one of the recommendations of the Committee. It has made the state governments agree to a single rate of stamp duty at 0.25%.
• India’s oldest person is 138 now
• Habib Miyan of Jaipur.
• Naxalbari revolt
• Now it is 40 years since the Naxalbari movement happened. So, on this occasion, some recap about that movement.
• Naxalbari is a village in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, barely 5 kms from Nepal. It was a centre of peasant mobilization by the Communists since 1950’s. It witnessed a massive peasant uprising in 1967. On May 24 of that year, peasants armed with bows and arrows killed a police inspector. The next day a large police contingent gunned down 11 activists, including 6 women and 2 children.
• The Communist movement originated from this incident. Charu Mazumdar and Kanu Sanyal were the lead organizers. Jangal Santhal mobilized the adivasis. By 1969, this group split up from CPI(M) and formed the CPI( ML).
• The result of this movement was that in West Bengal, land redistribution and formation of CPI(ML) were the major outcomes. And for the rest of the country, it is the birth of Naxal movement.
• Nadal beaten by Federer on clay!!!
• Roger Federer beat Rafael Nadal in the final of the ATP Masters Series tournament in Hamburg, Germany.
• This is one of those rare occasions when the master of clay, Nadal was beaten by anybody (Federer included) on clay court.