Current Affairs March 29, 2010

Appointments:
Chairperson: National Advisory Council : Sonia Gandhi
National Advisory Council of India is an advisory body. It was set up in 2004 to monitor the implementation of the UPA government's manifesto, the Common Minimum Programme. On 23 March 2006, Sonia Gandhi had announced her resignation from the Lok Sabha and also as chairperson of the National Advisory Council under the office-of-profit controversy. After 4 years, she is again named chairperson of the National Advisory Council. She will hold the rank and status of union cabinet minister.

Pakistan Hockey Chief Selector: Hanif Khan
Olympian Hanif Khan is the new chief selector of Pakistan Hockey. This was announced by Qasim Zia, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) president. Pakistan was on pathetic 12th position in the recent Hockey World Cup.

New Chairman for Colgate Palmolive India : Derrick Samuel
Derrick Samuel is appointed as non-retiring Director and Chairman on the Board of Colgate Palmolive (India) Ltd effective April 1, 2010.

CitiGroup: New head of its Indian operations: Pramit Jhaveri,
Pramit Jhaveri is the new head of Citigroup's Indian operations. Jhaveri will manage all of the Citigroup’s businesses in India including consumer banking, institutional clients and wealth management.

Awards:
Kul Hind Bahadur Shah Zafar Award - Masood Husain
Kul Hind Bahadur Shah Zafar Award is the highest honour of Delhi Urdu Academy. Eminent linguist Prof Masood Husain Khan has been conferred with Kul Hind Bahadur Shah Zafar Award.

Events, Happenings & Observances:
47th National Maritime Week : 2010
April 5 of every year is celebrated as National Maritime Day in India.
Read Here

National Updates:
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST)
Vice-Chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, Maurice Kujur along with members Shri T.Samphel and Shri Oris Syiem Myriaws presented Third Report of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes for the year 2007-08 to the President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil at Rashtrapati Bhawan on March 2010.
A Short Backgrounder is Here

Tamilnadu : Nalini's Plea Rejected
Nalini Sriharan is an Indian who was in the squad ordered by LTTE to kill former prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. She is in jail for last two decades as she is serving life sentence. He plea for release is turned down by the Tamil Nadu Government.

Andhra Pradesh: What is Pavala Vaddi Scheme?
Pavala Vaddi is an Interest Subsidy scheme of Government of Andhra Pradesh. It was launched in 2005 with an an objective to provide interest subsidy on the Bank loans taken by the Self Help Groups in Andhra Pradesh to reduce the financial burden on them. In 2008-9 Rs. 60 Crore were released as advances in the scheme. The state opposition claims that the scheme is not being implemnted effectively.

Tripura: On Solar City Agartala
Union ministry of non-conventional and renewable energy had decided to make sixty cities across India 'solar cities' during the next few years. These 60 cities includes all northeast state capitals. In this context the Tripura government decides to make solar energy tapping provision mandatory in every building both government and private and all commercial buildings for reducing dependency on conventional energy. The implementation is due after a survey and DPR (Detailed Project Report) next month.

Maharastra: Re opening of Ballroom of Taj Mahal
Ballroom is the Heritage Wing of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai. It was closed since November 2008 atacks in Mumbai and reopens on Tuesday, March 29, 2010.

Finance, Business & Economy:
Japan : Rs. 10,535 Crore Assistance to India
India's Finance Ministry Officials sign an agreement with Japanese Ambassador to India Hideaki Domichi. As per this agreement Japan commits to provide 215 Billion Yen (Rs. 10535 Crore) to 6 infrastructure projects in India. With This agreement, the total official financial assistance will reach 3,116.81 billion Yen (Rs 1,55,840 crore). With this, India would become Highest recipient of such assistance from the Far East country. The projects being funded include the second phase of the Mass Rapid Transport System in Delhi. The money is expected to start coming in during the fiscal year starting April.

Prediction over Monsoon:
Tokyo-based Research Institute for Global Change predicts normal monsoon rains in India for the current year. Last week , Agriculture secretary Prabeer Kumar Basu had also made a statement that the monsoon rains for the year will be normal.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issues a monsoon forecast, generally in the second half of April after considering weather observations in different parts of the world and extrapolating statistical data.

On Government's Borrowing Programme:
The full year borrowing target of the Union Government for 2010-11 is Rs 4.57 lakh crore. As per a statement of Ashok Chawla, Finance Secretary, government will borrow Rs 2.87 lakh crore ($63.8 billion) by September 30 which is 63% of the total year target.
Government plans to sell more of short-term and medium-term bonds. The debt programme of the government is managed by Reserve bank of India.

Infrastructure Growth Output:
Latest economic data shows infrastructure sector output grew 4.5% in February from a year earlier, lower than an upwardly revised annual growth of 9.5% in January. During April-February, the first 11 months of the 2009/10 fiscal year, output rose 5.3% from 2.9% a year ago. The infrastructure sector accounts for 26.7% of India’s industrial output.

China : Stock Futures
China's top two exchanges will launch the trading of stock futures on 16 April 2010. The China Securities Regulatory Commission announced its approval for the long-awaited index futures on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges.

On Bank Credits:
For the first time, annual growth in bank credit has exceeded the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) estimate of 16% for 2009-10. As per the latest data from RBI, loan disbursement by scheduled commercial banks, including regional rural banks, recorded 16.04% growth at the end of 12 March 2010, on a year-on-year basis. This is above RBI’s projection of 16% credit growth in this financial year.

Credit Suisse : Approval to Open Branch
Credit Suisse has got approval to set up a bank branch in Mumbai. The proposed branch will accept deposits, use its balance sheet to offer financing and trade domestic fixed income products. Please note that , ANZ Bank had announced earlier in March 2010 that it got approval to open a branch in Mumbai.

SKS Microfinance : Towards new chapter in financial inclusion
SKS Microfinance is India's largest Microfinance Institution. It has recently sought regulatory approval for an initial public offering. This approval has the potential of changing the scene of microfinance.
How?
Read This article on Live Mint