Major News and Events of 10 November 2014

New Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhu, during his speech at India Global Forum, reminded international community that achieving two per cent growth may be difficult. Global growth in 2013 was 3.3 per cent. However, its growth projection for 2014 is 3.3 per cent and 3.8 per cent in 2015. He also stressed that growth should be coupled with creation of employment, which has not really happened in the recent past.

Sanofi Pasteur has discovered vaccine for dengue. This drug will be available in the market during 1st half of 2014. WHO reports show that there are around 100 million dengue infections per year globally. Around 6 million cases are reported every year from India only. This opens up a business possibility of getting access to $1 Billion market in India for the French drug manufacturer.

When it comes to revenue earning by companies operating in the Consumer Goods and Services (Non-Financial) segment, Bharati Airtel tops the chart with Rs. 49,919 crores of revenue earning, followed by Maruti Suzuki with Rs. 43,701 crores revenue during 2013-14. The other companies in the top 8 list are Samsung, Vodafone India, ITC, HUL, Idea Cellular, and Hyundai (India).

O P Saini, Special CBI judge, had fixed November 10 to hear final arguments on 2G spectrum allocation scam. This high octane scam case involves high profile persons like DMK Chief’s daughter and Member of Parliament Kanimozhi, the then telecommunication minister A Raja, and fifteen others. On September 10, 2014 defence evidence recordings were completed. 153 witnesses were examined by CBI.       

A meeting is called in the ongoing week by Cabinet secretariat for reviewing the MoUs done with different countries, especially those which are more than 5 years old but have hardly progressed. This meeting will be attended by top rung officials belonging to overseas Indian affairs, legal affairs, telecom, IT, posts, justice, and defence. Official data shows that from 2005 till date 212 MoUs have been signed by India with different countries. The meeting will decide whether the MoUs will be converted to concrete agreements or be done away with.

With Narendra Modi all set to transform India into a manufacturing hub, India is going to need more steel. Steel industry in India is capable of meeting current domestic need of steel. However, India’s importing large consignments  of steel from abroad, especially China. From April to September, import of steel has increased twice from last year due to availability of cheap steel from China. Steel manufacturers have now asked government to raise import duty to stall flooding of Indian market with cheap steel from China.

Narendra Modi did his first cabinet restructuring as well as expansion on November 9, 2014. 21 new ministers took oath at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Former Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar became Defence Minister, relieving over burdened Arun Jaitley. Railway ministry was given to Suresh Prabhu. However, this appointment has further widened gap between Shiv Sena and BJP because Prabhu quit Shiv Sena and joined BJP, hours before the swearing in ceremony. 

Dr. Subramanian Swamy, who nailed J Jayalalithaa, has now said that Indians have opened 1 million bank accounts across seventy countries. He has expressed his optimism that his government will be able to bring black money from abroad within a year’s time. He also claimed that the amount of black money submitted in various foreign bank accounts abroad is around Rs. 120 lakh crore.

O P Kohli, the new Governor of Gujarat, has signed Gujarat Local Authorities Laws Bill, according to which every registered voter of the state has to exercise his or her franchise during local body elections. The bill prescribes penalty and punishment for those who don’t cast vote. Former governor of Gujarat Dr Kamla didn't sign the bill because she opined that compulsory voting clause violates constitution’s Article 21.

India wants to kick start an ambitious project for studying atmospheric neutrinos’ properties. The project will be done from an underground laboratory in Tamil Nadu’s Theni district. Total cost of the project is estimated at Rs. 1500 crore, which has been placed at Prime Minister's office for final approval.

Key losers are former railway minister DV Sadananda Gowda (becomes law minister), former health minister Harsh Vardhan (becomes science & technology minister), former tourism minister Shripad Yesso Naik (gets Ayush), Prakash Javedekar (lost I&B), and Sarbananda Sonowal (lost skill development). Key gainers are Hansraj Ahir from Maharashtra (coal scam whistleblower), Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (Muslim face), Jagat Prakash Nadda (master strategist), Jayant Sinha (son of Yashwant Sinha and erstwhile fund manager), Bandaru Dattatreya from Telangana, Babul Supriyo (singer and giant slayer from West Bengal), Birendra Singh from Haryana, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (former shooter), and Suresh Prabhu (gets Railway).

12 game match between India’s Viswanathan Anand and Norway’s Magnus Carlsen has already started at World Chess Championship, organised in Sochi. Carlsen took an early lead by defeating Anand in the second game itself. He broke Anand’s defence with elan on November 9. While Magnus has accumulated 1.5 points, Viswanathan Anand is trailing with just 0.5 points.