News : 1-7 Sep 2013

• Google said the next version of Android will be called ‘KitKat’ in keeping with its penchant for giving tasty names to its software for powering mobile devices.
• India’s advanced multi-band communication satellite GSAT-7, launched from French Guiana by European space consortium Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket on August 30, has been successfully placed in the geosynchronous orbit with an altitude of about 36,000 km above earth surface.
• After Ymail and Flicker revamp, Yahoo Inc. now unveils new logo.Yahoo’s $1.1 billion purchase of Tumblr, an Internet blogging service.
• A rhino gave birth to a male calf in the Assam State Zoo here . This is the first calf born under the ex-situ conservation programme of the Asian rhino.
• India and the UK have formed a green energy forum to enhance and acclerate activities in clean energy.
• The Forward Markets Commission (FMC), chief regulator of forwards and futures commodity markets in India, will, henceforth, be overseen by the Ministry of Finance instead of the Department of Consumer Affairs under the Ministry of Food.The FMC is a statutory body set up under the Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1952. Till March 2009, it had regulated Rs. 52 trillion worth of commodity trade.
• Reserve Bank of India  allowed them to carry Indian currency of up to Rs.10,000 per person from 7,500.
• Moody’s Investors Service on Thursday downgraded subordinated debt ratings of 11 Indian banks, including SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank.
• The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday allowed banks to swap funds mobilised through foreign currency deposits to attract overseas funds.More.
• Raghuram Rajan takes over as RBI Governor.
• British telecom giant BT has called off its dial-up Internet access service as the vast majority of its 6.8 million broadband customers have switched to much faster connections.
• The Cabinet approved the India-Abu Dhabi bilateral air services agreement enabling their airlines to fly 50,000 seats each week, up from the current level of 13,700.
• Nokia sell its main handset division to Microsoft for 5.44 billion euro($7.2 billion).
• Danish pharmaceutical major Novo Nordisk  said it would soon launch its insulin injection Tresiba (insulin degludec) in India.
• Parliamentary Standing Committee’s report on the “Alleged Irregularities in the Conduct of Studies Using Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Vaccine by PATH in India.In the trials, Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), with the support of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), approval from the Western Institutional Review Board (WIRB) [all three private international parties], donations from Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) and Glaxo SmithKline (GSK), in partnership with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and along with the governments of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, through the national vaccination programme, delivered and administered HPV vaccines to 10-14-year-old girls in Khammam (A.P.) and Vadodara (Gujarat) districts.
• Pakistan RTI draft promises to hold defence department accountable
• U.S. President Barack Obama has sought congressional approval for limited military intervention in Syria to win more support for his plan to punish the Bashar al-Assad regime for its alleged use of chemical weapons.US is having support of France.
• U.S. President Barack Obama has sought congressional approval for limited military intervention in Syria to win more support for his plan to punish the Bashar al-Assad regime for its alleged use of chemical weapons.
• Bhutan has assured India that the security of the two countries is entwined and during its Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay’s first overseas visit after wining the elections, reiterated Thimphu’s desire to continue with the cooperation
• As its current account deficit widens and the value of the rupee dwindles, India plans to increase crude oil imports from Iran so as to save $8.5 billion in foreign exchange.It will save foreign reserve as India would be paying in Rupees.
• Sir David Frost, the journalist and broadcaster died.Frost, who was knighted in 1993, helped to establish London Weekend Television and TV-am.
• Uzhavan Express (Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways and runs between Chennai Egmore and Thanjavur Jn) that was flagged off from here on September 1, qualifies to be called a ‘green express’ as bio-toilets have been fitted into 34 of its 36 coaches.The first bio-toilet-fitted train, Gwalior-Varanasi Bundelkhand Express, has been running since January 2011.
• The Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is in for more trouble as the Comptroller and Auditor-General has questioned the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry over the recent gas price increase and wanted to know the steps taken to ensure that the operator (RIL-BP) delivers gas at $4.2 mbtu as per the approved production plan.
• Reprieve for RTI as bill to insulate parties is deferred.The government has decided to refer the RTI [Amendment] Bill, 2013, to the standing committee of Parliament because the order passed by the Central Information Commission bringing political parties within the purview of ‘public authority’ under the RTI Act needs elaborate study.The Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 13, seeks to insert an explanation in Section 2 of the RTI Act regarding public authority. It states, “Authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted by any law made by Parliament shall not include any association or body of individuals registered or recognised as a political party under the Representation of the People Act, 1951.”The Bill has a new Section 31 in the principal Act which says the amendment will apply “notwithstanding anything contained in any judgment, decree or order of any court or commission..,” and will prevail over “any other law for the time being in force.”
• Deepak Sandhu, who has been an information commissioner for the last four years, on Thursday became the first woman Chief Information Commissioner of the country.
• Negating a Supreme Court order, Parliament on Friday passed a bill that maintains the right of those in jail to contest polls.SC accepted to review the ruling to banned person from contesting election if in custodyThe Representation of the People (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2013 was rushed through in the Lok Sabha and passed .The Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha on August 27. The Amendment Bill seeks to add a proviso to sub-section (2) of section 62 of the RP Act to state that a person cannot cease to be a voter while in detention as his or her right is only temporarily suspended.One of the amendments states that as the name of the jailed person continues to be on the electoral rolls, he or she also continues to be an elector and can file nomination for an election.
• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would address the United Nations General assembly on September 28, according to the latest provisional list of speakers released by the U.N.
•  The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group made progress in the creation of a $100-billion Currency Reserve Fund (CRF) by announcing individual contribution.China will contribute $41 billion, while Brazil, Russia and India will chip in with $18 billion each. South Africa, the smallest economy, will commit only $5 billion to the CRF.
• President Pranab Mukherjee confers the the Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony to Zubin Mehta, western classical music conductor of Indian-Parsi origin
• The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill, 2011, was passed in the Rajya Sabha and now passed by Lok Sabha.
• The Rajya Sabha  passed a Constitution 120 th amendment Bill to create a Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) which will replace the collegium system of appointing judges to higher courts.

Pakistan

1. The Punjab government has allocated millions of rupees to Jamaat-ud-Dawah, a front of the banned LeT, for various development initiatives.
2. Secured a massive $11 billion economic bailout package from international donor agencies including the IMF, to revive the ailing national economy.In addition to the IMF assistance, Pakistan will also get a $5.6 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank as well as countries like Japan, U.S. and U.K..
3. Nawaz Sharif visit to China on July 2013 : Both sides were planning a series of special economic zones, a rail link and a pipeline running from the Arabian Sea port of Gwadar to the old Silk Road town of Kashgar in Xinjiang’s western border.
4. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari was given a ceremonial guard of honour on his last day as he became the first democratically elected head of state to complete a full five-year term.
5. India-born Mamnoon Hussain, a close aide of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,  sworn in as the President of Pakistan in sep 2013.Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry administered the oath at a ceremony