List of Government Programs & Schemes of India
SOCIO ECONOMY AT A GLANCE: List of Government Programs & Schemes of India: 1952: Community Development Programme (CDP) overall development of rural areas and people’s participation. 1960-61: Intensive Agric...
Eminent Tamil novelist Kamala Sadagopan dead
Tamil writer and novelist Kamala Sadagopan died here on Wednesday, her family said. She was 77.
She is survived by her husband Sadagopan alias screen playwright Chitralaya Gopu and four sons, including T.A. Narasimhan, Deputy Editor at The Hindu .
Kamala worked in Jaganmohini, a journal run by novelist Vai Mu Kothainayaki Ammal.
She attended the Avadi session of the All India Congress Committee as a delegate in 1955 and shot to fame with her novel Kadhavu , which secured the Narayanasamy Iyer Award fromKalaimagal magazine.
Another of her novels, Padigal, won the State Government’s prize and was honoured by the then Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran in 1981. She worked as a deputy editor of women’s magazine Mangayar Malar and her novels were made into films and TV serials.
‘Car rally will take India, ASEAN ties to new heights’
Envoys of six states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — Thailand, Malayasia, Singapore, Laos, Brunei and Vietnam — on Thursday joined Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in expressing confidence that the ASEAN-India car rally 2012 would demonstrate enormous possibilities for people-to-people contact and promotion of trade and commerce between the north-east and ASEAN countries.
The Ambassadors and High Commissioners are here on a two-day visit to the State to take stock of preparations for the flag down ceremony of the rally to be hosted by Assam on December 17. Addressing a press conference jointly with them, Mr. Gogoi said the northeast had a lot of affinity with the ASEAN countries in cultural practices and food habits, besides historical links. It looked forward to enhancing trade, tourism and people-to-people links with these nations. Thailand Ambassador Pisan Manawapat said the car rally would demonstrate that it was indeed possible to travel by road from India to ASEAN through Myanmar and in the return direction through the gateway of north-east. Deputy Chief of Protocol at the External Affairs Ministry Sumit Seth said ASEAN was the focus of India’s Look East Policy. The ASEAN-India rally would be a marker of taking the relationship between India and ASEAN to new heights.
Assam Chief Secretary N.K. Das said the State was all set to host the flag down ceremony of the rally, which was being organised to demonstrate the geographical proximity of India and, more particularly, of the north-east with ASEAN countries, and renew and strengthen the age-old relationship. The India-ASEAN car rally was flagged off from Guwahati by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on November 22, 2004. The 2012 rally, to begin in Indonesia on November 26, will enter this State on December 16 via the Assam-Nagaland border and reach Guwahati on December 17. Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma and ASEAN Trade Ministers are expected to attend the flag down ceremony here, to be followed by a conclave the same day. Confederation of Indian Industry, north-east, chairman Abhijit Barooah said that as both India and ASEAN were growing economies, it was the right opportunity to do business across the border. The CII has been providing technical support in organising the car rally.
The ASEAN envoys, who included Ambassador of Laos Thongphanh Syackhaphom, High Commissioner of Malaysia Dato’ Tan Seng Sung, Deputy High Commissioner, Singapore, Jonathan Tow, Ambassador of Vietnam Nguyen Thanh Tan and High Commissioner of Brunei Darussalam Dato Paduka Sidek Bin Ali, later visited the Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary in central Assam.
U.N. agency report contradicts Colombo’s denial
Sri Lankan denial that U.N. staffers were not asked to go out of the war zone, as the Eelam War IV progressed, is inconsistent with reporting by NGOs of that period.
Ceylon Today newspaper quoted Plantations Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe as saying he was not aware of any agency being asked to leave the conflict zone.
“I have not heard anyone say that we asked them to go out.”
But Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), a news and features service of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in a story dated September 10, 2008, said the U.N. and agencies were forced to relocate following a government order. It said: “Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order has advised in his letter dated 05/09/2008 and numbered SMOD/320/DEM/GEN(45), to inform all the NGOs registered in this office that no expatriate/employee or any other person employed by an NGO and working in the Vanni will be permitted to travel beyond the Omanthai checkpoint, in consideration of prevailing security situation,” said the NGO secretariat of the government in a letter to humanitarian agencies.
The letter could not be accessed through the hyperlink provided; it has been taken off since. “The letter also instructed agencies working in the Vanni to “withdraw/remove all the assets (vehicles, machinery and equipment) and all employees who are not permanent residents in Vanni, with immediate effect,” IRIN had said.
Following the directive, the U.N. began pulling back. In a statement on September 9, 2008, the U.N. said — according to IRIN — that “the U.N. is now evaluating its operations in the area with a view to relocating humanitarian staff. A precise timetable for the complete withdrawal of all staff has yet to be determined, but relocations will begin this week”.
System failed: Ban
Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday: “The Panel, headed by Charles Petrie, has now completed its eight-month study. This morning, Mr. Petrie briefed me on the report’s findings and recommendations. The report…concludes that the United Nations system failed to meet its responsibilities, highlighting, in particular, the roles played by the Secretariat, the agencies and programmes of the United Nations country team, and the members of the Security Council and Human Rights Council.”
“As transparency and accountability are critical to the legitimacy and credibility of the United Nations, I also decided some days ago to make the report public,” he said
Xi Jinping to head both Party and military
Xi Jinping, the 59-year-old “princeling” son of a former Politburo member, was on Thursday pronounced the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the head of the party’s Central Military Commission, marking an end to a once-in-a-decade
leadership transition process.
Mr. Xi and six other leaders, to constitute the Party’s highest body — the Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) — were presented as the faces of the next generation of leaders, as outgoing leader Hu Jintao relinquished his posts as Head of the CPC and Chairman of the military.
The Party has reduced the size of its elite inner circle from nine to seven, underscoring long-discussed moves, analysts said, to make the top body more efficient and nimble, and less riven by competing factional interests seen as stalling reform moves.
Mr. Xi was flanked by second-ranked Li Keqiang (57), who will take over as Premier when Wen Jiabao steps down at the March Parliament session.
The other members, in order of rank, were announced as: Zhang Dejiang (66), Chongqing Party Secretary; Yu Zhengsheng (67), Shanghai Party Secretary; Liu Yunshan (65), a senior propaganda official; Wang Qishan (64), a Vice Premier in charge of economic affairs and Zhang Gaoli (66), Party Secretary in Tianjin.
Berdych, Tipsarevic for Chennai Open
Two of the world’s ten best players, Tomas Berdych and Janko Tipsarevic, will compete in the Aircel Chennai Open, scheduled to be held at the SDAT Tennis Stadium from December 31, 2012, to January 6, 2013.
It will be World No. 6 Berdych’s second and World No. 9 Tipsarevic’s fifth visit to the city, which hosts South Asia’s only ATP World Tour tournament. Berdych’s best performance this year was at the US Open, where he beat Roger Federer en route to the semifinals. Tipsarevic has to his credit a victory over World No.1 Novak Djokovic in a Masters 1000 tournament.
“Tomas Berdych had a huge fan following in India after he reached the semifinals in 2011. He has had a great year thus far and we are sure he will continue his winning streak in Chennai,” said M.A. Alagappan, President of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association.
“Tipsarevic is a regular to Chennai and loves to play here. He did well in 2012 and I am sure his presence will ensure that fans will get to see some fantastic matches. We are extremely grateful to the Government of Tamil Nadu and all the other sponsors who have supported the event,” he added.
The 2013 edition will have a new tournament director — Tom Annear.
Centre is ready to handhold stressed sectors, says FM
If the economy improves and growth improves, the sectors (which are not doing well) will recover. But, in the meanwhile, we will have to do some handholding and try to help these sectors recover”, he said while addressing a press conference after meeting the heads of public sector banks here. The government would have to look at rising non-performing assets (NPAs) sector-wise and find ways and means to help them, he said, adding the “NPA was reflection of the slowdown in the economy”.
The NPAs of the public sector banking group had increased by 0.98 per cent in the one-year period ending September 2012 mainly on account of the stress being faced in sectors such as infrastructure, steel, construction, textile, food process and telecom infrastructure, the Minister said.
On the positive side, Mr. Chidambaram said housing and automobile sectors had been doing well on back of decline in EMIs.
Non-performing assets
On the issue of NPAs in the banking sector, Mr. Chidambaram said the RBI guidelines permitted restructuring of loans.
“Just because an account has become an NPA, it does not mean that it cannot be restructured. In fact, it (RBI guidelines) allows for restructuring of an account. I think all the chairpersons are sensitive to this matter, and am sure we will see through this difficult period (till) the economy recovers and the accounts become standard accounts”, he added.
The banking sector, Mr. Chidambaram said, needed to play its role in giving a push to the economy by helping those sectors which had been facing the heat of slowdown.
There had been a sharp uptick in credit in housing and automobile sectors with increase in number of units sold, he said, adding the same had not happened as far as consumer durables and consumer non-durables were concerned.
“While the reduction in interest rates and the reduction in EMIs have indeed helped the housing sector and the automobile sector, it is not so evident in the consumer goods sector”, he said, adding banks could not reduce interest rates further in the absence of rate cut by the Reserve Bank.
On reluctance of the RBI to cut interest rates, Mr. Chidambaram said, “It’s a matter of judgment. The RBI has made its judgment”.
Europe slips into recession again
Europe slipped into recession for the second time in three years against a backdrop of large and often violent demonstrations against austerity measures adopted by several European governments aimed at restructuring their ailing, debt-ridden economies.
There were violent demonstrations in Spain, Italy and Greece where millions of workers struck work and several hundred were arrested following clashes with police.
“There is a social emergency in the south,” said Bernadette Segol, the secretary general of the European Trade Union Confederation. “All recognise that the policies carried out now are unfair and not working.”
The Eurozone’s economic output further fell by 0.1 per cent in the third quarter. These economies had already registered a 0.2 per cent drop in the second quarter. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) predicted more gloom and doom ahead. The Christmas season has started on a note of despondence and the New Year is unlikely to bring cheer.
The two successive dips in economic output formally placed the Eurozone economies in recession with Greece registering its fourth straight year of recession. Its economy has shrunk steadily by between 4 per cent and 6 per cent each year for the past four years. The Greek government pushed its latest austerity package earlier this week to get the next tranche of the EU and IMF’s bailout money.
reat volatility
The EU has come a long way since the Greek crisis a year ago and fears of a Eurozone break-up have receded. However, consumer confidence has taken a hit as have stocks and there continues to be tremendous volatility in the markets. There has been a spate of suicides in Greece and Spain, especially by older citizens who have lost their homes and seen their pensions shrink. These individual tragedies might stay the hands of governments in administering more bitter medicine in the short-term.
Greece has been thrown a two-year lifeline. Spain continues to demand that the cuts demanded by the EU take into account the fact that most southern economies are deeply mired in recession with little or no immediate prospects for growth.
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