Updated Current Affairs

v1. Mahindra & Mahindra Tie Up with Corporation Bank
2.India Winning the Series in New Zealand
3. India has 23rd least Friendly Tax climate
4. LIC contract to ElectraCard Services
5. Swapanali Yadav
6. DRDO Nishant
7. Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal to Ratan Tata
8. Kalpen Suresh Modi
9. Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim) and ICICI Bank
10. Japan now top M&A market in Asia-Pacific
11. PowerGrid

1. Mahindra & Mahindra Tie Up with Corporation Bank
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M) and its joint venture company, Mahindra Navistar Automotives Ltd. (MNAL), has signed two MoUs with Corporation Bank for vehicle finance. Corporation Bank will be a preferred financier for the entire range of M&M and MNAL vehicles, encompassing utility vehicles, pick ups, three wheelers, passenger cars and Commercial Vehicles.
Note: Mahindra Navistar Automotives Ltd. (MNAL) is a 51:49 Joint Venture between Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M) and Navistar Inc. USA. MNAL manufactures the entire spectrum of commercial vehicles ranging from 3.5 - 49 tons GVW/GCW. These products are developed to suit Indian conditions and will set new levels of reliability, efficiency and customer experience in the commercial vehicle industry. Apart from a joint venture to manufacture trucks and buses, in November 2007, Navistar signed a second joint venture agreement with Mahindra & Mahindra, Ltd., this one focused on producing diesel engines for Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles in India.

2.India Winning the Series in New Zealand
After a long wait of 41-years, the Men in Blue finally claimed a test series in New Zealand. Indian opener Gautam Ghamhir was declared man of the match. After vistory in New Zealand, India has achieved 3rd Position in ICC ODI rankings.

3. India has 23rd least Friendly Tax climate
While India still maintains a relatively low rank of 23rd least friendly tax climate in this year's Tax Misery Index, topped by France with harshest taxes across the world, it is ranked at top in terms of increase in its tax misery score, a collective measure of maximum corporate, personal, social security and sales tax rates. The index assesses whether a jurisdiction's tax policy attracts or repels capital and talent by calculating its Misery score. Jurisdictions at the top of the index with high scores impose the harshest taxes, while the most tax friendly are at the bottom.

The index, an annual global ranking compiled by the Asian edition of US business magazine Forbes, ranks the countries in terms of their tax climate harshness.

India was ranked 35th least tax friendly jurisdiction in the 2008 list.

France, China and Belgium have been named as having top three harshest tax climates.

Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong have trumped other economies to retain the friendliest tax climate, as per the 2009 Tax Misery & Reform Index.

4. LIC contract to ElectraCard Services
ElectraCard Services (ECS), India's leading electronic payment solutions provider, has been awarded the contract for end to end processing of LIC Credit Cards, by Corporation Bank. The bank will issue white label credit cards on behalf of LIC Cards Services Limited, a company owned by LIC of India as per agreement entered into and the cards will be launched soon, stated a press release. LIC of India, one of the biggest insurance companies in the world, plans to leverage its ready database of 235 million policyholders to issue these cards in the first phase of rollout. It also plans to launch a facility to pay LIC premiums using the credit card. ECS will handle complete processing of the credit cards right from applications, card and accounts, transactions, billing, statements, payments, dispute resolution, and general ledger. ECS will also provide additional services in the form of a 24x7 help line to assist LIC card holders, as well as generate SMS and email alerts. ECS will provide the entire infrastructure and manpower required for such operations and will manage all relationships with 3rd party service providers that are engaged within this line of processing services.

5. Swapanali Yadav
Swapnali Yadav, the 8 year old from Mumbai participated and successfully completed the 19th International Swim across the Gulf Of Mesiniakos from Koroni-Kalamata, a distance of 30km, in 11 hours 10 minutes. The next youngest competitor was 22yrs old. Her next target is to become the youngest to swim across the legendary English Channel. The record books indicate that the youngest swimmer to cross the channel is Thomas Gregory at the age of 11yrs and 330days. Mihir Sen, a long distance swimming legend, was the first Indian to swim across the channel in 1958.

6. DRDO Nishant
The DRDO Nishant is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) developed by India's ADE (Aeronautical Development Establishment) a branch of DRDO for the Indian Armed Forces. The Nishant UAV is primarily tasked with intelligence gathering over enemy territory and also for recce, surveillance, target designation, artillery fire correction, damage assessment, ELINT and SIGINT. The UAV has an Endurance of 4 hrs & 30min. Nishant has completed development Phase and User Trials.
The 380 kg Nishant UAV requires rail-launching from a hydro-pneumatic launcher and recovered by a Parachute System. Launches at a velocity of 45 m/s are carried out in 0.6 seconds with 100 kW power and subsequent launches can be carried out in intervals of 20 minutes. The Mobile Hydro-Pneumatic Launcher (MHPL) system mounted on a Tatra truck weighs 14,000 kg and boasts of a life cycle of 1000 launches before requiring overhaul. Nishant is one of the few UAVs in the world in its weight-class capable of being catapult-launched and recovered by using parachute, thus eliminating the need for a runway as in case of conventional take-off and landing with wheels.
source : wikipedia
7. Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal to Ratan Tata
The prestigious Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Industrial & Social Peace was conferred on Mr. Ratan N. Tata, Chairman, the Tata Group of Companies. The Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal was instituted by XLRI in 1966. Previous recipients of the Medal include respected names from diverse fields such as J. R. D. Tata, Arvind Mafatlal, Holck-Larsen, Rajmohan Gandhi, P. N. Bhagwati, V. Kurien and M. S. Banga. Mr. Ratan Tata has already been conferred with the XLRI Honorary Fellow Award.
A legend Called Ratan Tata: Some Other awards and Honours

1. On the occasion of India's 58th Republic Day on 26 January 2000, Ratan Tata was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest decoration that may be awarded to a civilian.

2. On 26 January 2008, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian decoration.

3. He was one of the recipients of the NASSCOM Global Leadership Awards 2008 given away at a ceremony on February 14, 2008 in Mumbai. Ratan Tata accepted the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2007 on behalf of the Tata Family.

4. In March 2006, Tata was honoured by Cornell University as the 26th Robert S. Hatfield Fellow in Economic Education, considered the highest honor the university awards to distinguished individuals from the corporate sector.

5. He recently received an honorary doctorate from the London School of Economics and Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

6. He was listed among the 25 most powerful people in business named by Fortune Magazine in November 2007.

7. In May 2008, Mr. Tata made it to the Time Magazine's 2008 list of the World's 100 Most Influential People. Tata was hailed for unveiling his tiny Rs. One lakh car 'Nano'.

8. On 29th August 2008, the Government of Singapore conferred Honorary Citizenship on Ratan Tata, in recognition of his abiding business relationship with the island nation and his contribution to the growth of high-tech sectors in Singapore. Ratan Tata is the first Indian to receive this honour.

8. Kalpen Suresh Modi
Kalpen Suresh Modi (born April 23, 1977), best-known by his professional name, Kal Penn, is an American film and television actor, and is the incoming Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison in the Barack Obama administration. On April 8, 2009 Penn announced that he would join the Obama White House as Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison. This necessitated that his character Lawrence Kutner was written out of the TV series House.

9. Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim) and ICICI Bank
The Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim) and ICICI Bank Limited acting through its Hong Kong Branch (ICICI Bank) signed a loan agreement for USD 98 million under the Two- step Buyer Credit (Export Credit) arrangement. ICICI Bank is the first Indian Bank to have entered into this arrangement with China Exim. The agreement was signed by Mr.Zhu Xinqiang, Assistant President, China Exim and Mr.Sudhir Dole, Senior General Manager & Regional Head- Asia, ICICI Bank. This agreement was signed in Beijing on March 19, 2009.

Source: icicibank.com

10. Japan now top M&A market in Asia-Pacific
Mergermarket says Japan now top M&A market in Asia-Pacific. Japan Has Overtaken China This Quarter as the Most Active Country in Asia-Pacific in the first quarter of 2009 as the most active country in the Asia-Pacific region for the first time in five years. Japanese M&A accounts for 28% of the number of Asia-Pacific deals, while Chinese activity makes up 25%, according to "mergermarket", the independent M&A intelligence provider.

11. PowerGrid
India’s central transmission utility PowerGrid Corporation has tied up 75% of the Rs 55,000-crore capex for laying inter-regional transmission capacity of 37,800 mw by 2012. Moreover, the company has received the Centre’s approval for raising an additional $1 billion from multilateral organisations such as World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB), the notification for which was issued recently. Of the Rs 55,000 crore, nearly Rs 16,000 crore will come from internal accruals and Rs 39,000 crore through domestic and international borrowings and also through suppliers’ credit. Besides, the state-run firm has proposed a capex of Rs 12,000 crore for 2009-10 against Rs 8,095 crore in 2008-09.

Politics
Lapang becomes Meghalaya CM
Donwa Dethwelson Lapang was yesterday sworn-in as the chief minister of Meghalaya where President's rule was lifted on Friday.Governor R S Mooshahary administered the oath of office and secrecy to Lapang at a programme in Raj Bhavan. Lapang is head of the Meghalaya United Alliance, which is comprising Congress and a regional party, United Democratic Party (UDP). The alliance has 37 MLAs -- 26 from the Congress, nine from UDP and two Independents -- in the 60-member house which now has an effective strength of 55 following resignation of one UDP MLA and disqualification of four others.
About President Rule in Meghalaya : President Rule in Meghalaya was imposed on march 18, 2009 after the government survived narrowly with the trust vote of speaker.

Runu Ghosh Convicted
Runu Ghosh, former deputy director general in the telecom ministry who has been convicted for corruption, will be pronounced Friday by a Delhi Court.

About Runu Ghosh :
She was a former Indian Audit and Accounts Service officer, and was held guilty by the court of amassing disproportionate assets of around Rs.2.27 million and can face imprisonment up to seven years. According to the prosecution, she acquired the wealth between 1992 and 1996 while working as deputy director general (licence and finance) in the Telecom Department during the tenure of then telecommunications minister Sukhram.

Hung parliament is what Exit polls say :
India's month-long general election ended Wednesday, with exit polls forecasting the Congress-led coalition to be leading the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. Neither group will win a parliamentary majority. They will now be battling for new allies to form a new government.

Abroad

Army Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal is the new commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. He is a a veteran counterinsurgency expert. He will take charge as the administration begins to implement its new strategy for the worsening conflict in Afghanistan and a growing insurgency in neighboring nuclear-armed Pakistan by allies of al Qaida and the Afghan Taliban. He is successor of Army Gen. David McKiernan

About US forces in Afganistan: There are more than 75,000 U.S.-led NATO troops in Afghanistan. Another 21,000 American soldiers are due to deploy this year, including 17,000 destined for southern Afghanistan, the Taliban heartland and opium production center.

Last Nazi War Crime Trail in Germany:
Germany is preparing for its last Nazi war crimes trial and a courtroom duel between two old survivors: John Demjanjuk, accused of being a concentration camp guard in the killing fields of Eastern Europe, and Thomas Blatt, a former teenage inmate in one of the Third Reich’s most brutal outposts. In a charge sheet to be read to him with the help of an interpreter, Mr Demjanjuk will be accused of helping to kill 29,000 Jews.

UN warns a humanitarian crisis in Pakistan:
Fighting between government forces and Taliban in northern Pakistan has created a rapidly escalating humanitarian crisis, say the heads of a Pakistan relief agency visiting New Zealand.Shama Mall, a deputy director of Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan, says the situation at home for the 200,000 people forced to flee in the last two days is worsening. “It’s very worrying at present. These people are under the open sky in a very insecure and unstable
environment. People have been forced to leave at short notice and their immediate needs are not being met. Many have never had to leave their communities before and are afraid to do so.

Business & Economy

India's Industrial Output contract by 2.3%
The country's Industrial output contracted by 2.3 per cent in March, the sharpest fall in 16 years, raising fears of a sustained industrial slowdown. The manufacturing sector, which accounts for 80 per cent of the index of industrial production (IIP), plunged by 3.3 per cent in March compared to last year's 5.7 per cent growth, latest official data released on Tuesday showed. Overall industrial output grew by a 2.4 per cent during 2008-09, down from last year's 8.5 per cent. click for Official Data


Microsoft launched First Bond Issue:
Microsoft has launched its first bond issue in hopes of raising 3.75 billion dollars, sparking rumors the US software giant was contemplating a takeover bid. Microsoft, in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said that it would use the money from the bond issue launched Monday for "general corporate purposes" and planned to offer five-year, 10-year and 30-year notes. The software giant "intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include funding for working capital, capital expenditures, repurchases of stock and acquisitions.


China's Exports Plunged 22.6% in April :
China's exports plunged 22.6 percent in April from the year before in the sixth straight monthly decline while a torrent in bank lending meant to ward off the economic downturn pushed up spending on factories, real estate and other fixed assets. China's economy is the world's third-largest after the U.S. and Japan - relies heavily on exports for growth.

Special Duty on nylon tyre cord fabrics from China
The Central Board of Excise and Customs has in a notification extended the special duty imposed on imports of nylon tyre cord fabrics from China for a period of another five years.

ICICI ties up with VISA for US Cards

ICICI India's second-largest Bank and India's largest credit card issuer, and Visa Inc.have announced a strategic relationship that will enable ICICI's New York Branch to issue Visa Debit cards in the U.S., extending the convenience and worldwide acceptance of Visa Debit cards to the bank's increasingly global customer base. The bank will offer Visa Debit cards to its Global Indian Account and other checking account customers at its New York branch. The Global Indian Account service addresses the banking needs of Indians moving overseas who require access to local banking facilities in the United States.

About ICICI Bank Ltd:

ICICI Bank Ltd is India's largest private sector bank and the second largest bank in the country with consolidated total assets of over $95 billion as of March 31, 2009. ICICI Bank's subsidiaries include India's leading private sector insurance companies and among its largest securities brokerage firms, mutual funds and private equity firms. ICICI Bank's presence currently spans 19 countries, including India.

About Visa Inc.:

Visa Inc. operates the world's largest retail electronic payments network providing processing services and payment product platforms. This includes consumer credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments, which are offered under the Visa, Visa Electron, Interlink and PLUS brands. Visa enjoys unsurpassed acceptance around the world, and Visa/PLUS is one of the world's largest global ATM networks, offering cash access in local currency in more than 170 countries.

TCS Contract with Volkswagen

India’s largest information technology (IT) firm, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has signed a five-year contract with UK-based automobile maker Volkswagen Group to deliver IT transformation and support services.TCS will support Volkswagen in its business transformation programme to meet its aim to “sell more cars, sell more parts, drive down costs”.

SBI cuts deposit rates :

The State Bank of India has cut its fixed deposit (FD) rates across maturities by up to 50 basis points (100 basis points = 1%), effective from May 18. This is the second time in this month, and sixth time in 2009 that SBI has cut its deposit rates. Earlier this month, it reduced rates by 0.25 percentage points.

National Issues

PM wants to eradicate small schemes:
Prime Minister has directed all ministries and departments to suggest ways to downsize existing programmes. At present, there are only 50 central and centrally sponsored schemes, which had an allocation of more than Rs 500 crore for this year. This implies that for creation of any meaningful space, a large number of ongoing programmes will have to be deferred. Politically, this will be an uphill task as the government had introduced zero budgeting system three years ago and the then finance minister P Chidambaram had publicly expressed concern that proliferation of small schemes was hampering meaningful implementation.

In the Budget for this year, there are 908 Central schemes with a total allocation of Rs 77,973.6 crore of which only 24 schemes have an allocation of more than Rs 500 crore. These 24 schemes account for 42 per cent of all centrally funded schemes. The balance 58 per cent schemes have a total allocation of Rs 12,0876 crore.

Read Some Government of India Development Programs

Defence
India gets Akula-II by end of this year:

India gets its first new generation Akula-II class nuclear attack submarine by the year-end, bolstering its Navy’s undersea capability manifold. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has ordered delivery of the submarine to the Indian Navy and has sanctioned $300 million for speedy completion of the project.

What is Akula?

Akula means Shark in Russian .

India is paying two billion dollars for the completion of two Akula-II class submarines. The first submarine will be named INS Chakra.Whereas the Russian Navy's Akula-II submarine is equipped with 28 nuclear-capable cruise missiles with a striking range of 3,000 kilometers, the Indian version expected to be armed with the 300 km range 3M-54 Klub nuclear-capable missiles. Missiles with ranges greater than 300 kilometers cannot be exported due to arms control restrictions, since Russia is a signatory to the MTCR treaty.
Ceremonies

National Technology Day celebrated on May 11:
National Technology Day marks 11th anniversary of Pokhran-II nuke test. May 11, was a significant day in the history of India and it represented scientific contribution in hi-technology for country’s development and pride.
Both 1974 and 1998 nuke tests were conducted on Buddha Purnima day
About Pokharan II:
Pokharan-II refers to test explosions of five nuclear devices, three on 11 May and two on 13 May 1998, conducted by India at the Pokhran test range. The test was conducted when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was in power with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as Prime Minister. These nuclear tests resulted in a variety of sanctions against India by a number of major states. On 18 May 1974 India exploded its first nuclear device code named Smiling Buddha. After about a quarter century, on Buddha Jayanti, 11 May 1998, Operation Shakti was carried out. Shakti was the codename for Pokhran-II.

About India's Nuclear Warhead Program:
The Indian nuclear weapons program was started in the year 1964. The 1962 Sino-Indian war was an unforgettable lesson to the Indian establishment. It underscored the need to have a strong military with a comprehensive capability to deter enemy forces. The Chinese Nuclear Test at Lop Nur in 1964 goaded the Indian government into action to kickstart India's indigenous program to develop nuclear weapons. Preliminary studies were carried out at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and plans were developed to produce plutonium and other bomb components. The program was shelved after Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru's death. It was revived in the year 1968 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The program culminated in the nuclear test of 1974 at Pokhran codenamed Smiling Buddha.

After the 1974 test India decided to stop testing as a temporary measure. Various political parties, especially the right wing Jana Sangh pushed for further testing and weaponisation. Successive governments in India decided to observe this temporary moratorium for fear of inviting international criticism. In 1995, Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao decided to carry out further tests. But the plans were halted after American satellites picked up signs of preparations for testing at Pokhran. The Americans under President Bill Clinton exerted enormous pressure on Rao to stop the preparations.

People :

Suresh Kalmadi is president of Indian Olympic Association
Indian Olympic Association
The Indian Olympic Association is the body responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Olympic Games and other international athletic meets and for managing the Indian teams at the events. It also acts as the Indian Commonwealth Games Association, responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Commonwealth Games. The Indian Olympic Association was formed in 1927 with Sir Dorabji Tata as its first president and since that year has been the body officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee as India's national Olympic organisation He was replaced by Maharaja Bhupindra Singh of Patiala in 1928 who stayed on till 1938.

Appointed:

Air Marshal PK Barbora is air officer commanding-in-chief, Western Air Command : Air Marshal PK Barbora, VSM, has taken over as the air officer commanding-in-chief, Western Air Command. Air Marshal Barbora, born in December 1950 in Shillong, was commissioned as a fighter pilot in June 1970. A very experienced flier, he has flown over 3500 hours. Air Marshal Barbora also took part in the 1971 war with Pakistan.

Died
Former Navy chief Admiral Sardari Mathradas Nanda dies: Former Navy chief Admiral Sardari Mathradas Nanda, who became popular as "the man who bombed Karachi'' during the 1971 war but later got enmeshed in controversy after his son was accused in defence kickback scandals, died late on Monday. He was 94.

Appointed the Navy chief in February 1970, Nanda is credited with formulating the daring strategy under which Indian warships bombed Pakistani oil tankers and enforced the blockade of Karachi port during the 1971 war. He will always be remembered in the most glowing terms for his leadership during the 1971 Indo-Pak conflict, in which the Indian Navy carved its name in golden letters in the annals of history by its sterling offensive actions.
After retiring in 1973, Nanda also served as the chairman of the Shipping Corporation of India and was awarded the Padma Vibhushan.