Indian Current Affairs: 01.12.2007

For the second quarter is at 8.9%. A sluggish manufacturing sector pulled down economic growth. The rate recorded during the corresponding period of previous year was 10.2%.

Apart from being the head of the Economic Advisory Council to the PM, he is also the Chairman of a pan-Asian commission studying the impact of HIV/AIDS in the Asian region.
The commission’s study has been sponsored by UNAIDS, the joint UN programme for HIV/AIDS.
The commission is due to submit its report in the month of January 2008.

The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) organized a rally on November 25, seeking the support of Queen Elizabeth II for a class action suit filed in the UK against the exploitation of Indians who were brought to Malaysia as indentured labour.
The top leaders of the activists of the rally were reportedly charged with sedition. Though the court has ‘discharged’ them from the sedition charges, the issue at heart appears to be not so simple. Malaysia enforced the exclusionary Bhumiputra policy – which discriminates against citizens of other ethnic vintage, vis-à-vis native Malays, in distribution of social goods and even economic opportunities. Active Islamisation of the public sphere by the Malaysian state also appears to be at the heart of the social strife.
This organization (Hindraf) is headed by one Mr. P. Waythamoorthy.

Bowing to the extremist view that certain paragraphs in her book “Dwikhondito” have hurt the sentiments of some people, she decided to delete them from the book.
This book was an autobiographical book written in 2002 in memory of Bangladesh in the 1980’s when military was ruling the country.
It was banned by the Bengal government on November 23, 2003 but the Kolkata High Court lifted the ban after 22 months.
Following her decision, Jamait Ulema-e-Hind said that the author was free to return to West Bengal.

The Planning Commission has made a strong case to make a few years of public service compulsory for all graduates from government medical colleges. This is with a view to improve government’s health care services to the public.

Shouldn’t miss today’s article in ET titled “The Carbon Gold-diggers.”
Some excerpts follow:
The Kyoto Protocol was ratified by 41 countries. They agreed to use market-based methods to make an effort to reduce the GHG emissions. The idea is that companies that cannot reduce emissions, buy carbon credits from someone who has set a plantation or created an industrial process that reduces carbon emissions. The trading unit for carbon credits is the CER (Certified Emission Reductions), which helps reduce the emission of 1 metric tone equivalent of carbon dioxide. Eventually, the ‘polluters’ get tired of parting with their money and reform their production process. On the face of it, this should have worked, but this market mechanism got embroiled in a few controversies.
The ensuing meeting at Bali is expected to tackle four major problem areas with this protocol. Look at the full article to understand the issues involved.

The world of Finance CEOs looks very charming from the outside for mortals like us. But look at the kind of pressure they take and how they fall by the wayside in just a moment!!! The finance people (especially the IIM types amongst you) should brace up for this kind of life. Looks like CEOs are ephemeral; why think of immortality?
The subprime crisis has the following high-profile casualties:

The latest to join the club is Morgan Stanley’s Zoe Cruz. She was known as the ‘Cruz Missile’ in the Wall Street!
E-Trade Financial’s CEO Mitch Caplan would be stepping down.
Bearn Stern’s head James Cayne will be forced to retire early. He forced President Warren Spector to leave after two hedge funds the firm controlled collapsed from links to subprime mortgages.
Look at the others that we noted earlier on this subject.

Today’s report says that about $890 bn of subprime US mortgages will have their rates reset next year, peaking in March. That’s close to a tenth of the US GDP!!!

It is making an investment of about $61 bn to become the world’s top nuclear power producer by 2020.
It plans to build about 30 new reactors.

CBI derives its powers from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946. Section 6 of the Act lays down that the CBI shall take up investigation of conventional crimes such as murder, kidnapping and rape, either on reference from the state governments or when directed by the Supreme Court/high courts.

It was so named because many retailers only become profitable for the year after that day’s revenue.
Don’t ask me what is Black Friday. We noted something about this already. Look here.

Indian Current Affairs