1. BRICS Finance Ministers agree on Bank
i.The BRICS Summit (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), with about 12 African leaders and all the continent’s eight regional economic communities attending as interested parties, will announce the setting of an exclusive bank for themselves and the developing world.
ii. BRICS officials say the bank will start functioning in two years after details such as capitalization, location and holding percentages are worked out.
iii. The proposal for a bank, with a collective foreign exchange reserve and a fund for financing developmental projects, was mooted to counter the influence of other global institutions like the World Bank, which are more tuned to pursuing policies set by the West.
iv. South Africa has injected an atmosphere of greater vibrancy by roping in the entire African continent to the fifth top-level gathering of the world’s five major emerging powers that starts in Durban from Wednesday.
NOTE: The five-member bloc collectively accounts for about 40 percent of the world's population, 30 percentof the world's land mass, 20 percentof the gross domestic product in real terms and 26 percent of purchasing power.
2. Arab league Summit starts in Doha
i.The five-member bloc collectively accounts for about 40 percent of the world's population, 30 percent of the world's land mass, 20 percent of the gross domestic product in real terms and 26 percent of purchasing power.
ii. In his inaugural speech, Qatar's Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said, the Security Council should stop the oppression of the Syrian people and halt the bloodshed in the country.
iii. Addressing the gathering for the first time, the Head of the Syrian National Coalition, Moaz Al Khatib said the United States should use Patriot surface to air missiles to protect rebel-held areas from the Syrian air power.
iv. He told that the insurgents have few weapons to counter Syrian helicopter gunships and warplanes.
v. The Emir of Qatar called for a Mini Arab Summit in Cairo to supervise directly the Palestine national reconciliation. He said the proposed summit would remain in session until an agreement is reached.
NOTE: i. Over the next two day, the Arab Heads of States would discuss a host of issues including Syria, Palestine, the Greater Arab Free trade zone and Arab Human rights court among others.
ii. According to UN estimates, over 70,000 people have been killed and more than a million Syrian refugees have taken shelter in the neighbouring countries like Jordan,Lebanon,Turkey,Iraq and other North African countries.
3. Train tickets to cost more from April 1
i. Passengers travelling in trains will have to pay more from Monday as the hike in reservation fee and superfast charges comes into effect from April 1.
ii. Though railways have not increased basic passenger fares, it has proposed to increase the reservation fee, superfast and Tatkal charges in the Rail Budget.
iii. Cancellation and clerkage charges will also be hiked from that date.
iv. Superfast charges have been increased by Rs 10 for sleeper and second class fare.
v. For AC classes, the hike is between Rs 15 and Rs 25.
vi. Tatkal fee has been increased by 10 per cent of the basic fare for second class and 30 per cent for all other AC classes.
vii. While cancellation charges have been increased by Rs 10 to Rs 50 per ticket for confirmed tickets, clerkage charge for cancellation of waiting list and RAC tickets will be dearer by Rs 5 for sleeper class and Rs 10 for AC class.
4. SEBI summons Subrata Roy in investor refund case
i.Sebi on Tuesday summoned Sahara group chief Subrata Roy and three other top executives on April 10, to finalise the list of assets to be sold for refund of an estimated Rs 24,000 crore to about three crore investors.
ii. Ahead of their personal appearance, Roy and others would need to submit details of all their assets, bank accounts and tax returns by April 8, the market regulator said in an eight-page order.
iii. Sebi made it clear that it would go ahead with finalising the terms of the proclamation of sale ex parte, if Subrata Roy, Ashok Roy Choudhary, Ravi Shankar Dubey and Vandana Bhargava fail to appear on April 10.
iv. The regulator also sought details of assets, bank accounts and other financial information of the two Sahara firms, Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corp Ltd (SHICL).
v. Details have been sought by Sebi, so that it can proceed with the attachment orders involving sale of assets of the two firms and their top executives to recover money for refund.
NOTE: i.The Supreme Court on August 31, 2012 ordered refund of an estimated Rs 24,000 crore to bond holders of the two firms. Sebi has been asked by the apex court to facilitate the refund.
ii. Sahara has so far paid Rs 5,120 crore to Sebi towards the refund and claims that this amount itself is higher than the total outstanding dues of the two firms' bondholders.
5. Bosnia and Herzegovina seeks Economic cooperation with India
i.Bosnia and Herzegovina has sought greater economic cooperation with India in the form of larger investments in the manufacturing, energy and IT sectors.
ii.Speaking at the signing of an MoU between the CII and Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Foreign Minister of Bosnia, Zlatko Lagumdzija said, his country shares a very warm relations with India and pledge to take it to the next level.
iii. He also took specific complaints from Indian businessmen who wanted to invest in Bosnia, and assured full support. Mr. Zlatko Lagumdzija, accompanied by a business delegation, is on a five-day official visit to India.
6. Prahlad Joshi appointed Karnataka BJP President
i. Lok Sabha member Prahlad Joshi appointed state ruling BJP chief by national President Rajnath Singh to lead the 5 May 2013 Assembly polls.
ii. The appointment of Joshi, representing Dharwad, was announced by Karnataka BJP just a day prior, after the Election Commission declared the poll schedule.
NOTE: A second time Lok Sabha member from Dharwad, from where Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar also hails, 50-year-old Joshi, eclipsed former Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, Mangalore Lok Sabha member Nalin Kumar Kateel and Minister Govind M Karjol who were also in the race.
7. Competition Commission of India (CCI) Nominated for GCR Awards 2013
i.The Competition Commission of India (CCI) was nominated for the Global Competition Review (GCR) Awards 2013 in the category Agency of the Year-Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa in the last week of March 2013
ii. This is the first time that CCI was nominated for internationally acclaimed award.
iii. Other agencies that were nominated in Agency of the Year-Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa category include Pakistan’s Competition Commission, Turkey’s Competition Authority and Japan’s Fair Trade Commission.
About Competition Commission of India (CCI)
i.The Competition Commission of India (CCI) was established by the Government of India with effect from 14 October 2003.
ii. It includes a Chairperson as well as the members who are appointed by the Government of India.
iii. The primary aim of Competition Commission of India (CCI) is to eliminate the practices which have adverse effect on competition. Its aim is to protect the consumers’ interests and make sure that there is freedom of trade in Indian markets.
iv. The purpose of CCI is to give opinion on competition issues, create public awareness as well as impart training on the competition issues.
About Global Competition Review (GCR) Awards
i.Global Competition Review (GCR) is the leading antitrust and competition law journal and news service of the world.
ii. Every year Global Competition Review (GCR) Awards are given away with an aim of recognising achievements of competition authorities, economic consultancies, private practice firms, academic organisations and corporate legal departments in the previous year.
8. Guwahati Express on runaway without engine: Railway Probe ordered
i.The Railways have ordered an inquiry into the incident in which coaches of Guwahati Express with passengers on board had rolled back up to 14 km on tracks from Barmer station without the engine being attached to it.
ii. The Guwahati Express, which was scheduled to leave from Barmer station yesterday at 11.00 PM, had started rolling backwards before the locomotive could have been attached to the train for taking the coaches on platform.
iii. The Jodhpur Division Railway sources said the coaches kept on rolling due to slope on the track. The coaches rolled up to 14 km without locomotive and stopped after crossing a couple of stations.
iv. The North Western Railway has constituted a committee which will look into the reasons that led to the incident.
9. Pulitzer Prize-winner Anthony Lewis passed away
i. Two-time Pulitzer winner Anthony Lewis, whose New York Times column championed liberal causes for three decades, died on 25 March 2013 in Boston.
ii. He died from due to complications of heart and renal failure. He was 85 years old.
iii. He had won his first Pulitzer in 1955 for defending a Navy civilian falsely accused of being a communist sympathizer, and he won again in 1963 for reporting on the Supreme Court.
iv. Lewis was also known for his skill at interpreting and writing clearly about the decisions of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Earl Warren in the 1950s and ‘60s.
v. Anthony Lewis was a New York Times columnist for 32 years. He has defended causes such as free speech and human rights.
About Pulitzer Award
i.The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award which is given to Journalists for their achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition.
ii. The award was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of American (Hungarian-born) publisher Joseph Pulitzer, and is administered by Columbia University in New York City.
iii. The Pulitzer Prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories. In twenty of these, each winner receives a certificate and a 10000 US Dollars cash award.
iv. The winner in the public service category of the journalism competition is awarded with a gold medal.
10. Three NRIs Honoured by Indian High Commission on World Hindi Day 2013
i. Three NRIs as well as a Nottingham-based organisation were honoured by Indian High Commission at the India House in London for working towards promotion of Hindi language in UK.
ii. The awardees were- Mahendra Kishore Verma of York University,
iii. Kavita Vachaknavi who is an internationally acclaimed blogger.
iv. Krishna Kumar who is the Chairman of Gitanjali Multilingual Literary Circle in Birmingham and the organisation called Kavya Rang, a Global Association of Poets, Writers, Nottingham, UK.
v. They received shields, shawls as well as citations from High Commissioner Jaimini Bhagwati on the occasion of World Hindi Day 2013.
11. India maintain ODI top spot
i.Team India maintained their top position in the latest ICC ODI ranking list with 119 points followed by England and Australia
ii. According to the fresh list issued in Dubai on Monday, India is closely followed by England on 117 points and Australia are third on 116 points.
iii. Since India top the table as per cut-off date, they will receive the shield and will collect a cheque of USD 175,000, while England will receive USD 75,000 for finishing second.
iv. Rising star Virat Kohli and India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni maintained their third and fourth rank in the list with 812 and 784 points respectively.
12. IPL withdraws Lankan players from Chennai matches
i.Top Sri Lankan players were on Tuesday withdrawn from the Chennai matches of the IPL after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa refused to host them in view of the prevailing anti-Sri Lanka sentiments in the State.
ii. Ms. Jayalalithaa wrote a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh making it clear that IPL matches would be permitted in the State only if there were no Sri Lankan players, umpires, officials or support staff in these matches beginning April 3.
iii. A few hours later, the IPL Governing Council met to discuss the issue and decided that Sri Lankan players will not participate in IPL League matches in Chennai.
iv. Altogether 13 Sri Lankan players, two of whom are captains of their respective teams, are taking part in the sixth edition of the league which will start from April 3.
v. Chennai, the home for Chennai Super Kings, will stage 10 matches in all, including two eliminators, and will continue to remain a venue.
vi. Sri Lankan Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said that the Lankan players will be told not to take part in Chennai matches if the BCCI or the Indian government were not able to provide security to them.
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