World Bank scheme to benefit seven low-income States

To reduce poverty and increasing prosperity world bank will lend to the 7 poorest state’s in India.

Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh will be benefited by the world bank programme.

It is a part of country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for India (2013-17), which proposes a lending programme of $3 billion-5 billion every year over the next four years

The Bank’s objective is to bring down poverty levels in the seven low-income States to just 5.5 per cent in 2030 from 29.8 per cent in 2010.

60 per cent of the financing will go to State government-backed projects and 30 per cent will go to low-income or special category States where public services face high delivery costs.

Under the Bank’s previous support strategy plan, 18 per cent of its lending went to these States.

Infosys results worries IT sector

The second-largest IT services company in India Ltd., suffered a loss of Rs. 36,000 crore for the company in market capitalization and saw a sharp decline in share prices.

G8 accord to end sexual violence in conflict zones

Foreign Ministers of the world’s eight most advanced countries (G8) adopted a “historic” declaration committing the international community to tackle sexual violence in conflict zones.

The agreement, reached on the sidelines of discussions on North Korea and Syria ahead of the summit of G8 leaders in June, was hailed by Foreign Secretary William Hague as a “turning point” in the campaign against “war zone rape”.

Benod Behari Choudhury,Chittagong uprising hero passed away

The last of the revolutionaries who took part in the Chittagong armed uprising, Benod Behari Choudhury, died at the city hospital after a multi-organ failure late on Wednesday evening. He was 102.

The revolutionary used to live in Chittagong in Bangladesh and was brought here in January for treatment as he was suffering from respiratory problems.

India, Bangladesh to produce mega film on 1971 War of Liberation

India and Bangladesh agreed to work on a proposal for jointly producing a mega film depicting Bangladesh’s struggle for independence which will also highlight the sacrifices made by Indian soldiers.

India and Bangladesh also agreed to explore the possibility of setting up of a Joint Working Group on the critical sectors of the Information and Broadcasting domain.

Dada Saheb Phalke Award for Pran

Pran has been awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award (2012), the nation’s highest cinema honour.

Pran Krishan Sikand better known by his mononym, Pran, is a multiple Filmfare and BFJA award-winning Indian actor, known as a movie villain and character actor in Hindi cinema from the 1940s to the 1990s. He acted as a hero from 1940–47 and as a villain from 1942–1991 and played supporting and character roles from 1948–2007.

Death can’t be commuted on ground of delay on mercy plea: SC

Supreme Court held that long delay by the President or the Governor in disposing of mercy petitions of persons convicted under anti-terror laws like TADA or similar statutes cannot be a ground for commutation of the death sentence. A two-judge bench gave this ruling while rejecting the plea of Khalistani terrorist and death-row convict Devinderpal Singh Bhullar in a judgment that paves the way for his execution and may have a bearing on the fate of over 20 convicts facing execution.

Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce to defer signing of India-EU FTA

Parliamentary Standing Committee during its meeting suggested Prime Minister to put off signing of the India-EU free trade agreement (FTA) till the committee deliberates on the issues raised before it.

The Chairman of the committe, Mr. Shanta Kumar stated that, in view of many issues and concerns raised by the various States, NGOs and stakeholders, it would be appropriate to defer signing of the India-EU FTA.

The negotiations have hit a roadblock after EU demanded that India provide free access to the automobile industry of Europe, especially Germany, hike the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in insurance to 49 per cent, open up the financial sector through more reforms and lower taxes on wines and spirits.

Amitabh presented NTR National Film Award

Film star Amitabh Bachchan was presented the NTR National Film Award for 2011 at a glittering by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, producer D. Rama Naidu and senior personalities of Tollywood.

The award carried Rs.5 lakh cash prize, a citation and a memento.

Margaret Thatcher dead

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Britain’s first woman Prime Minister, died following a stroke.

She was 87 and was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was a British politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and the Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century and is the only woman to have held the office. A Soviet journalist called her the "Iron Lady", a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism

Serbia rejects E.U. brokered Kosovo deal

Serbia has rejected EU-brokered plan to tackle the ethnic partition of its former province Kosovo.

It is believed that it would jeopardise Serbia’s hopes of starting membership talks with the EU.

Serbia said the plan is unacceptable because it does not give more autonomy to minority ethnic Serbs in Kosovo who together with Serbia reject Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence.

While some 90 countries including the United States and most EU nations have recognized Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence, it has been rejected by Serbia and its Slavic ally Russia.

The stumbling block in the talks was a Serbian demand that ethnic Serbs, who represent about 10 per cent of Kosovo’s 2 million people, have their own judiciary and police force. But Kosovo officials have rejected that, saying it would be tantamount to a division of Kosovo into two separate entities.

Five Indian soldiers killed in South Sudan

Five Indian soldiers, including a Lt-Colonel, were killed and another five injured when the UN convoy they were escorting as part of their peace-keeping operations in strife-torn South Sudan came under heavy fire from armed rebels.

The deceased were identified as Lt-Col Mahipal Singh, Naik Subedar Shiv Kumar Pal, Havildars Hira Lal and Bharat Sasmal and sepoy Nand Kishore. Their next of kin will each get $70,000 as grant from the UN, apart from the "higher compensation amounts" paid by the Indian government for "battle casualties"

South Sudan ended decades of civil war with Sudan in 2005 and peacefully formed its own country in 2011. But the south is still plagued by internal violence and shaky relations with Sudan. Leaders in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, deny that they are arming Yau Yau.

Donors countries meet in Doha to raise money for Darfur

Hundreds of delegates are meeting in Doha for a donor conference to raise support for a mulit-billion dollar project to rebuild Sudan’s Darfur region after a decade-long conflict.

The two-day conference beginning on 07/04/13 was agreed under a July 2011 peace deal that Khartoum signed in the Qatari capital with an alliance of rebel splinter groups.

It seeks support for a development strategy needing $7.2 billion for a six-year effort to move Darfur away from food handouts and other emergency aid, laying the foundation for lasting development through improved water facilities, roads and other infrastructure.

Supreme Court stays execution of eight death row convicts

The Supreme Court on Saturday night stayed the execution of eight death row convicts whose mercy petitions were rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee earlier this week.

A Bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and M.Y. Eqbal stayed the execution after hearing senior counsel Colin Gonsalves appearing for the convicts, who filed writ petitions challenging the rejection of their mercy petitions.

The convicts are: Suresh, Ramji and Gurmeet Singh in Naini Central Prison, Allahabad; Praveen Kumar in Belgaum prison in Karnataka; Sonia, daughter of the former Haryana MLA, Ralu Ram Punia, and her husband Sanjeev in Ambala Central Prison in Haryana; Sundar Singh in Nainital, Uttaranchal and Jaffer Ali serving the sentence in a jail in Uttar Pradesh.

Saudi Arabia defers Nitaqat enforcement by three months.

In order to reduce the unemployment rate among the Saudi citizens, the Saudi government issued a new system for the localization of jobs in Saudi Arabia under the name of “Nitaqat”. The new system replaces the system applied since 1994 under the name of “The Saudization”. Nitaqat adopts several principles, which will have impacts on non-Saudis working in the Kingdom.

Riyadh has informed New Delhi that the enforcement has been deferred by three month

Megadeltas vulnerable to rising sea level

R.K. Pachauri, chairperson of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said here on Saturday that cities such as Kolkata, Shanghai and Dhaka, which were located in the coastal areas, were most vulnerable to the rising sea levels due to climate change.

Rajendra Kumar Pachauri has been serving as the chairperson of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since 2002, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 during his tenure.

Agni-II launch successful

The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Army successfully test-fired Agni-II ballistic missile at 10.25 a.m. on Sunday. It lifted off from a mobile launcher on Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast, and travelled its entire range of 2,000 km before splashing into the targeted area in the Bay of Bengal, with an accuracy of a few metres. It was a perfect mission which saw no “holds” and the entire flight lasted more than 10 minutes.

Agni-II, which is capable of carrying nuclear warheads, is 20 meters long and weighs 17 tonnes. Its two stages are propelled by solid fuel. It can carry a payload weighing one tonne. The missile has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Delhi Police to probe Google’s Mapathon 2013

Delhi Police have launched an inquiry into the mapping contest held in February-March this year by Google, following a formal complaint by the Survey of India.

Mapathon 2013 violates national security interest and violates the National Map Policy.

As per the National Map Policy, 2005, “The responsibility for producing, maintaining and disseminating the topographic map database of the whole country, which is the foundation of all spatial data vests with the Survey of India.”

Mapathon 2013 asked Indians to map their neighbourhoods and send their maps so that they can be uploaded in the search engine’s sites.

Justice Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar is appointed as Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh

Shri Justice Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar, Judge of the High Court of Bombay is appointed as the Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh by the President of India in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of article 217 of the Constitution of India.

India Signs Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with Azerbaijan

A Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters was signed between India and Azerbaijan

India and Azerbaijan signed a Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters on 4th April, 2013 in New Delhi.

The Treaty was signed by Shri Sushilkumar Shinde, Home Minister, on behalf of the Republic of India and by Mr.Fikrat Mammadov, Minister of Justice, on behalf of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty is one of the significant legal instruments to improve and facilitate effectiveness of the contracting states in investigation and prosecution of transnational crime including terrorism by providing the necessary legal framework for rendering/receiving legal assistance in criminal matters