GENERAL NEWS INDIA – APRIL 2009

Thursday, April 02nd 2009
PM to meet Obama for the first time at G20 summit
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama who are in London for the G20 summit have scheduled to meet officially for the first time since Mr. Obama became president. The meeting is expected to be a crucial one as issues other than the economic crisis, such as that of terror and the new Afghanistan-Pakistan policy is expected to dominate the discussion. Discussions on the growing Indo-US relations will also be a highlight of the meeting.

Friday, April 03rd 2009
India to be a member of FSF and BCBS
After the G20 summit concluded on Thursday Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated in the media that India would now be a member of two key standard setting bodies, the Financial Stability Forum (FSF) and the Basel Committee on banking supervision.

Monday, April 06th 2009
UAV Nishant a success
The successful flight of the Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) Nishant on Sunday has ensured a milestone achievement for defense research in this country. The drone is powered by a Wankel rotary engine jointly designed and developed by National Aerospace Laboratories(NAL), a CSIR laboratory, Vehicles Research & Development Establishment (VRDE), Ahmednagar and Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bangalore. The engine is a first of its kind totally designed and developed in India. The UAV took off from an abandoned runway 8 Km from Kolar.

Tuesday, April 07th 2009
Terror blasts in Assam kills 9
Ahead of PM Manmohan Singh's visit to the state and about ten days before it goes to the polls, the state of Assam was rocked by four explosions which have left around 9 people dead and 60 injured. The blasts took place at a busy bus stop at Maligaon on the outskirts of Guwahati. The United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) is said to be behind the blasts. According to media reports, the Prime Minister will nevertheless go ahead with his visit and address the rally in Dispur on April 7 .

Thursday, April 09th 2009
Jammu on high alert
With Indian Intelligence getting information about infiltration by large batches of militants into Jammu & Kashmir, the state has been put on high alert. The city of Jammu is on high alert after intelligence inputs that Taliban militants could carry out some big attacks before the polls. The police are now searching vehicles and people are being frisked at all important entry points to ensure security. The army and the paramilitary forces have issued a red alert all along the western border with Pakistan.

Tuesday, April 14th 2009
22 CISF men fight off Maoists
About 150 lives were saved due to the courageous efforts by 22 jawans of the CISF in the ten hour battle that went on between the CISF men and the 200 heavily armed Maoists in Damanjodi, Orissa near the bauxite mines. 150 Nalco staff who were held hostage by the guerrillas since Sunday night have all been freed. 

Thursday, April 16th 2009
First phase of the Lok Sabha elections begin
The first round of polling for 124 Lok Sabha seats will be held today. Around 143 million of the total 700 million voters of the country will cast their votes for the 15th Lok Sabha elections. The first round will also cover 154 of the 297 seats of Andhra Pradesh (118 in the Telengana region) and 70 of 147 seats of Orissa assemblies. The polling will be held in 17 states and 124 of the 543 seats in Parliament will be decided in it.

Friday, April 17th 2009
Trial of Mumbai Terror suspect begins
The trial of the 26/11 Mumbai terror accused Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab began today in a high-security Mumbai prison. The trial had so far seen high drama with defense lawyer Anjali Waghmare being appointed and removed. Now with a new lawyer in place, the trial has finally started. According to media reports Special Public Prosecutor Ujwal Nikam opened the arguments against Qasab, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed for their alleged involvement in the 26/11 attack case.

Tuesday, April 21st 2009
Navin Chawla is the new CEC
Navin Chawla took over as the new Chief Election Commissioner succeeding N Gopalaswami. Mr Gopalaswami had earlier recommended Mr. Chawla's removal from Nirvachan Sadan causing a huge political controversy. The new 64 year old CEC will remain in office till June 29th 2010. The CEC , a constitutional post enjoys a term of six years or till the age of 65 years which ever is earlier.

Wednesday, April 22nd 2009
Naxal attacks before second phase of polls
Bihar and Jharkhand witnessed four Naxal attacks late on Tuesday night a day before the nation went to polls in the second phase. Three of the attacks were in Bihar, Gaya, Aurangabad and Motihari. Naxals have also taken over a polling station in the Aadapur block of Motihari district. 

Wednesday, April 22nd 2009
Key rates cut by RBI
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday cut key rates like the repo rate and the reverse repo rate by 25 basis points each. Banks have been asked to follow suit. The result of the cut would mean a drop on the EMIs and that one would receive less interest on bank deposits. RBI governor D Subbarao said that on considering the low inflation rate there is a need to reduce interest rates. ICICI bank immediately responded by cutting its floating reference rate and benchmark prime lending rate by 50 basis points each to 13.25% and 16.25% respectively.

Thursday, April 23rd 2009
Phase 2 polls across 13 states today
The Phase two of the 15th Lok Sabha elections will tale place across 13 states today while Karnataka will have its first phase of elections. Orissa and Andhra Pradesh will finally know their fate at the assembly elections at the end of the second phase. The Maoist mayhem however continued on the eve of the second phase in Jharkhand and Bihar. Nearly 80,000 security personnel have been deployed to protect polling booths in these areas. 

Wednesday, April 29th 2009
India begins screening for H1N1 flu
The World Health Organization (WHO)declared on Tuesday that the H1N1 swine flu virus has spread far and wide and can no longer be contained. Following this admission India has initiated a massive containment exercise. International passengers coming from the US, Canada and Mexico are being screened for influenza symptoms. On a scale of six the WHO has raised the flu alert from Phase three to four which is one short in being declared as a global pandemic.

Thursday, April 30th 2009
Third phase of polls begin
The 15th Lok Sabha elections have entered the third phase of polling. Th fate of 107 seats in nine states and two union territories will be decided today. The states going to polls are Gujarat (25 seats), Madhya Pradesh(16 seats), Uttar Pradesh(15 seats), West Bengal(14 seats), Bihar(11 seats), Karnataka(11 seats), Maharashtra(10 seats) and Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (One seat in each). As polling begins, a land mine blast has been reported from Purulia in West Bengal. Maoists are suspected to have been behind the blast.