Current Affairs :National -February 2013

National

• Criminal Law books brought out in Diglot form
  Imaan Media and Publishing House Pvt. Ltd. (IMPH) has brought out the authentic Urdu version in Persian Script as well as in Devnagri Script of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 known as Taziraat-e-Hind & QanoonShahadat-e-Hind in Diglot form.
  'These expositions of law have stood the test of time for over a century and half, but surprisingly there was no authentic translation of the key laws governing criminal jurisprudence in India', says Muhammad IrshadHanif, Advocate-on-Record, Supreme Court of India, under whose able stewardship IMPH has brought out these magnum opus.
  
• No IPL in Tamil Nadu if Sri Lankans participate: Jayalalithaa
  Tamil Nadu will permit IPL matches only if the organisers promise that no Sri Lankan players, umpires, officials or support staff will participate, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday.
  Jayalalithaa said in a letter to the prime minister: "In view of the popular antipathy and anger in Tamil Nadu against the actions of the government of Sri Lanka, the government of Tamil Nadu is of the view that IPL matches involving Sri Lankan players, umpires and other officials should not be played in Tamil Nadu."


• Italy marines return to face India charges
  India has claimed a diplomatic victory after Italy overturned its earlier refusal to return two marines charged with the murder of two fishermen they mistook for pirates off the country's Malabar Coast last year.The two marines, Massimilano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, have been bailed to the Italian embassy in New Delhi since the incident in February last year, but successfully applied to the India's Supreme Court to be allowed to return briefly to Italy to vote in the country's general election and to see their families over Easter.
  
• Italian foreign minister quits protesting marines' return
  Italy's Foreign Minister GiulioTerzi Tuesday resigned out of disagreement with his government's decision to return two Italian marines back to India where they face trial for killing two fishermen.
  "My reservations had no impact and the decision was not mine. My voice went unheard," Terzi told the Italian parliament, reported Xinhua."I waited to hand in my resignations here in this parliament to express publicly my position that I cannot be part of this government anymore," he said.
  

Business and Economy Current Affairs

• P.Chidambaram announces more reforms to boost growth
  Announcing further liberalisation of FII investment norms, finance minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said the government is "steadily and surely" working on next generation of reforms to put the economy back on high-growth path.
  Addressing the National Editors Conference, he said that with liberalisation of FDI and other measures, the government has traversed considerable lengths to ensure fiscal consolidation with reforms.
  In a further liberalisation of norms for investment by FIIs in government securities and corporate bonds, he announced that the norms have been rationalised. "There were a number of sub divisions and in order to rationalise, it is proposed to merge the existing sub limits and create only two broad categories," he said.
  
• FIPB Cleared Investment Proposal of Air Asia to Enter India's Aviation Sector
  The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on 6 March 2013 cleared the investment proposal of Air Asia, the Malaysian budget carrier to launch the new airline along with Tata Group and Arun Bhatia's TelestraTradeplace.
  Crucial points to note:
  Air Asia has plans to own 49 percent in newly formed airline through its investment company Air Asia Investment Ltd (AAIL). Rest of the stake would be held by two Indian firms.
  After the deal, Air Asia will become the first foreign carrier that will enter the aviation sector of India after the Government altered rules in September 2012 to allow foreign carriers to have 49 percent stake in the domestic airlines. 

Science and Technology

• Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Sanctioned Remote Village Electrification for 6033 Villages
  Remote Village Electrification (RVE) for a total of 6033 villages as well as hamlets was sanctioned during 11th Plan by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Additionally, work on 5211 villages as well as hamlets, was in its completion stage in various states such as Odisha and Tamil Nadu.
  Two proposals of 61 hamlets as well as 161 hamlets of UP along with one proposal of 14 villages of Rajasthan and one proposal of 24 villages and 274 hamlets of Jammu & Kashmir, were in all received and were under initial stage of appraisal. It is important to note that the Remote Village Electrification (RVE) programme as well as projects is usually sanctioned on the case-to-case basis after these proposals are submitted by the state notified implementing agencies according to the guidelines of this scheme.


• Indian-origin science writer wins British Physics journalism prize
  Washington, Mar 1 (IANS) Anil Ananthaswamy, a London based Indian origin writer, has won the inaugural Physics Journalism Prize sponsored by the Institute of Physics (IOP) and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).
  The prize is designed to inspire the next generation of physicists by encouraging journalists to grapple with often complex topics and help spread excitement about the subject, according to an IOP release forwarded by the American Astronomical Society.

Environment

• Rhino census in Kaziranga amid rampant poaching
  JORHAT: Kaziranga National Park authorities launched a rhino census for a headcount. The two-day exercise will be conducted in all the five ranges of the park — Kohora, Bagori, Burapahar, Agoratoli and Biswanathghat.
  More than 250 personnel from the state forest department, NGOs and media groups have been engaged in the operation. Park director Sanjiv Kumar Bora said the census operation is a scheduled one. "The headcount of rhinos in Kaziranga is a regular practice and is conducted to implement a fruitful conservation method. It is important to assess the number of the one-horned rhinos in the park at regular intervals,'' he said.


• World Forestry Day for Raising Awareness about Value of Forests Observed Across the World
  21 March 2013 is observed as the World Forestry Day across the globe. This day is celebrated for rising as well as promoting awareness about the value of forests. Importance of ecosystem and the forests is stressed upon on this day.
  Various events are held in the world on this day in order to highlight contribution of forests. It is important to note that forests house 80 percent of the terrestrial biodiversity. India State of Forest Report 2011 revealed that Forest and Tree cover of India encompasses 78.29 million ha or 23.81 percent of geographical area of India.

Neighbors

• India joins hand with Pak, Lanka on sustainable development
  Joining hands with its South Asian neighbours Sri Lanka and Pakistan, India has appealed to the United Nations to ensure that economic prosperity, social cohesion and environmental protection remain in the core of its efforts in achieving sustainable development targets.
  Taking part in the UN General Assembly's debate on sustainable development goals (SDGs), Manjeev Singh Puri, the Acting India Permanent Representative to the UN stressed that issues like poverty eradication must be the overriding priority towards achieving the targets of sustainable growth.


• Five Writers honoured with SAARC Literature Award 2013
  SAARC Literature Award was presented to five writers at Agra during the two days SAARC Festival of Literature on 10 March 2013. A poet-diplomat from India Abhay K was among the five writers to be honoured with the prestigious Literature Award.
  Other writers to be honoured with this award were FarheenChaudhary (Pakistan), Abdul Khaliq Rashid (Afghanistan), SumanPokhrel (Nepal) and novelist DayaDissanayake (Sri Lanka).

Indian Defense

• Raghuraj Pratap Singh resigned from the State Cabinet in wake of DSP Killing
  Pratapgarh district. He submitted his resignation to the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav at Lucknow and Governor of the state, B.L. Joshi accepted his resignation.
  Issue that led to Resignation DSP Zia-ul-Haq was killed by a mob in Pratapgarh on 2 March 2013 when he rushed there after a village head was shot dead over a land dispute. Raja Bhaiya was accused for the attack on the DSP by his slain wife. The complaint was filed against Raja Bhaiya at the Kunda Police Station, where DSP Zia-ul-Haq was posted.
  
• MukeshAmbani Became Richest Person of India for Sixth Consecutive Year
  MukeshAmbani retained his title as the richest person of India for the sixth consecutive year with the net worth of 21.5 million US Dollars, according to the annual rankings published by Forbes on 4 March 2013. The richest man in the world for fourth time in a row was Mexican business tycoon Carlos Slim with the net worth of 73 billion US Dollars.
  In the overall list of the billionaires of the world, MukeshAmbani was ranked at number 22. Lakshmi Mittal, on the other hand was ranked at 41st position with the net worth of 16.5 billion US Dollars.
  The first in the list was Carlos Slim, followed by Bill Gates with the net worth of 67 billion US Dollars, Spain's Amancio Ortega with net worth of 57 billion US Dollars, Warren Buffett with the net worth of 53.5 billion US Dollars and Larry Ellison with the net worth of 43 billion US Dollars. A total of 55 billionaires from India appeared on the list of 1426 people from the world who have a minimum net worth of 1 billion US Dollars.