2 August 2013 ( Friday) 1) Union Govt. relaxed the norms for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the multi-brand retail on 1 August 2013 with a view to attract more investments and transparency in the sector. Following are the major norms which were relaxed? – (i) Multi-brand retailers like Walmart are now required to source 30% of their products from the small and medium enterprises of India only at the time of starting the business (ii) Now state governments will have the right to grant permission to open a multi-brand retail store in cities of their states (Earlier 53 urban centers with a minimum population of 1 million were made eligible for opening-up of multi-brand retail stores) (iii) Now the norm of 50% investment in the back-end infrastructure for the retailers will be applicable, only during the first tranche of investments (within three years) of up to 100 million dollars 2) Union Health Ministry on 1 August 2013 revoked its earlier suspension on a drug named Pioglitazone used to treat diabetes. The main reason for revoking this suspension within a month is that Doctors said that this drug was best suited for Indian patients (The suspension had caught doctors, patients and drug companies by surprise, following which there were hi-decibel protests and submissions to the Ministry. Pioglitazone was banned as researches have confirmed that its usage could lead to cancer of the urinary bladder. But the ban has been revoked with several riders – including a box warning in bold red letters to caution patients) 3) Tykerb , a breast cancer drug of the British drug major GlaxoSmithKline Pharma, patent for which was revoked by the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) of India. (However, the Board upheld the patent for Lapatinib compound, which is the active ingredient in Tykerb, citing innovative merit. Tykerb is the salt form of Lapatinib compound that is sold in India. This ruling was delivered on 27 July 2013 by Justice Prabha Sridevan, Chairperson of the Chennai Bench of the patent appeals agency which functions under the Commerce Ministry) 4) D(ate 11 September 2013) , is announced on 2 August 2013 for resumption of regular prayers at Kedarnath shrine, which have been suspended since the June calamity in Uttarakhand. (This date was finalized at a meeting held by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna with the Rawal (head priest) of the Himalayan shrine, representatives of Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati, officials engaged in the clean-up exercise at Kedarnath and senior ministers) 5) United States expressed its disappointment over Russia’s decision to give temporary asylum to Edward Snowden, the ex-CIA contractor who had leaked National Security Agency’s secret telephone and Internet surveillance programme. the duration of the temporary asylum offered to Snowden by Russia is 1 year. 6) Samantha Power will be the new US ambassador to the United Nations (UN), after the appointment was confirmed by the United States Senate on 1 August 2013. (The Senate confirmed her nomination by 87-10 votes. Power replaces Susan Rice who is now the National Security Adviser) 7) Andrei Mikhnevich , former world champion shot putter from Belarus who was stripped of his 4 World Championship medals by International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) for doping. (Mikhnevich, who was world champion in 2003, was banned for life by the Belarus Athletics Federation in June after testing positive in retests of his doping sample from the 2005 world championships in Helsinki, where he finished sixth. IAAF removed Mikhnevich’s silver medals from the 2006 and 2010 world indoor championships as well as his bronze medals from the 2007 and 2011 outdoor World Championships) 8) The Union Cabinet has approved introduction of a Bill in the coming session of the Parliament to amend the Right to Information Act, 2005, to exclude the political parties from the definition of Public authority for the purpose of the Act. This move will nullify the directive of the Central Information Commission (CIC) to bring them under the transparency law. The Cabinet decision came nearly two months after the Central Information Commission’s order of bringing six national political parties–Congress, BJP, NCP, CPI-M, CPI and BSP–under the RTI Act. 9) The executive committee of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) has approved a proposal to increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from current 26% to 49% in print media. The INS will recommend of 49% FDI in print through the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) route to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. The government will now need the nod of the Press Council of India to give its go-ahead. 10) The Government has formally announced the appointment of noted theatre person, Waman Kendre, as the new Director of National School of Drama yesterday. His appointment is for a period of five years w.e.f. the date of assumption of charge of the post. He replaced the outgoing Director of NSD, Anuradha Kapur’s term had ended in July 2012. 11) India, the Netherlands, Argentina and England are the four semi-finalists in the Women’s Hockey Junior World Cup held in Monchengladbach, Germany. Today’s semi-finals will see the Netherlands taking on India (8.30 pm) and Argentina facing England (6 pm) this evening. Earlier, India celebrated a 4-2 win over Spain to reach the semi-finals for the first time in Women’s Junior World Cup history. This was India’s best performance so far in this tournament, the previous best being ninth in 2001 and 2009.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Aug 2013 04:35:11 +0000
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