Indian Current Affairs: 22.08.2007

Japanese Prime Minister arrived on a three day visit.
Agenda includes civil nuclear cooperation, defence ties and strategic partnership.

In a novel experiment of its kind in India, the AP Government is about to introduce forced community service in old age homes and hospitals for convicts who are serving a one year jail term or less.
This is a move to tackle the overcrowding of the jails. The state’s jails are now having about 12,196 inmates, which is almost double the capacity.

Government policy stipulates that companies engaged in fuel retailing business should have a minimum of 11% of their total outlets in remote and low-service areas.

Most of the countries worldwide are adopting what are called the IFRS – International Financial Reporting Standards. The ICAI – Institute of Chartered Accountant of India has also decided to make India’s accounting standards fully in line with the IFRS from 2011.
This is expected to enhance Indian entities’ ability raise and attract foreign capital at low cost.

Why is Europe not that badly affected as the US in the unfolding sub-prime mortgage vortex?

European lenders tend not to resell mortgages with the same abandon as Americans. The volume of mortgage backed securities and other vehicles for offloading loans in Europe is about $1.1 trillion, which is just about 10% of the volume in the US.
Instead, when they want to raise funds for mortgage lending, European banks often sell so-called ‘covered bonds’, a $2.5 trillion market. These resemble mortgage backed securities, but with the crucial distinction that issuing banks must repay investors even if homeowners default. Keeping risk in-house gives lenders a strong incentive to pay close attention to the quality of borrowers. By contrast, with mortgage backed securities, investors assume the risk.

“Looking beyond ballot-box democracy” is an excellent centre-page article that appeared in today’s Hindu. For all political science students, it is a must read.

It explains the process of democratic trap with excellent examples from Ireland, Palestine, Turkey, Iran and last but not least, India. Take a look at this excerpt:

Commentators are warning of a creeping “democratic trap” whereby mass-based, and often sectarian, parties are using elections to gain political respectability. Take Northern Ireland where the governing coalition is made up of two extremist parties, Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party. Yet they fancy themselves, and are seen, as democratic parties because they have electoral sanction. Then there is Hamas, a political force with huge popular support as shown by its impressive triumph in last year’s polls. But progressive? Notwithstanding the west’s rank hypocrisy in not recognising its democratic mandate, Hamas’ brand of politics is closer to revolutionary militancy than liberal democracy. Similarly, the reformist mood in Turkey’s governing AKP (Justice and Development Party), which just pulled off a massive election victory, is inspired less by a conversion to a secular and liberal ethos and owes more to political compulsions arising out of its ambition to join the European Union. Iran has a version of democracy but it remains a theocratic state with severe restrictions on individual freedoms, especially for non-Muslims. Even in India where democracy is alive and well, the ballot box has been used by thinly disguised reactionary groups to claim a democratic mandate for their policies.

Because they are barred by the Bar Council of India Rules. Rule 36 of the BCI rules forbids them to advertise their services.
The logic behind this embargo is that legal profession is not a trade or business. Further lawyers are treated as officers of the court.
The Supreme Court is hearing a case and has to decide on the issue.

She is a renowned Urdu writer and Jnanpith winner.
“Aag ki Darya” (River of Fire), a historical tale that moves from the 4^th century to the modern India and Pakistan, is considered her magnum opus.
She was awarded the Jnanpith in 1989 for her novel “Aakhir-e-Shab ke Hamsafar” (Travelers Unto the Night).

It will carry with it INSAT-4CR. This has transponders which will be used for direct-to-home (DTH) television service, video picture transmission and telecasting news events on a real-time basis, using OBVs (Outside Broadcasting Vans).

Indian Current Affairs