- Indian officials have urged China to improve market access for Indian companies in the face of persisting problems in a number of sectors, ranging from agro-processing to information technology, and a fast-widening trade deficit.
- RBI Governor D. Subbarao maintained that the current soft monetary policy approach adopted as a measure to combat the fall-out of the global financial crisis would continue until the economy is securely on the growth track.
- ONGC Videsh Ltd and its partners Indian Oil Corporation and Oil India Ltd have dropped plans to develop an oil field in Iran after the discovery was found to be commercially nonviable.The joint venture of OVL, Indian Oil Corp and Oil India (OIL) had in 2006 made an oil discovery in the Farsi offshore block which was, in the initial estimates, thought to contain one billion barrels of reserves.The discovery, which was subsequently named Farzad-B gas field, has inplace reserves of up to 21.68 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), of which recoverable reserves may be 12.8 Tcf.OVL holds 40 per cent interest in the Farsi offshore block located in the eastern part of the Persian Gulf off the coast of Iran near the Saudi Arabian border and covers an area of 3,500 square kilometres.
- India will require $1.7 trillion in financing over the next decade to meet its infrastructure needs, Goldman Sachs said in a note. The figure is higher than Goldman's earlier estimate of $620 billion, while the government's projections for the 11th Five-Year Plan for 2007-2012 envisages $500 billion in infrastructure spending.
INDIA
- Karnataka High Court Chief Justice PD Dinakaran's assets are under scrutiny and the Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan has asked him to respond to allegations that he has amassed assets disproportionate to his income.The CJI had summoned Karnataka's Chief Justice to Delhi on Saturday to answer allegations made by senior jurists Fali Nariman and Shanti Bhushan on the basis of complaints based in Chennai that he has acquired huge assets.
- Since the days of the Shakti series of Pokharan-II underground nuclear tests, conducted jointly by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) more than 11 years ago, controversy over the yields of the devices tested, in particular that of the thermonuclear device, or hydrogen bomb (S1), has refused to go away. The devices of May 11, 1998 – S1, S2 and S3 – were exploded simultaneously as the shafts S1 and S2 were just one kilometer apart and there was the danger of the shock wave from the first large explosion damaging the neighboring shaft and the equipment therein. Similarly, the sub-kiloton devices of May 13, too, were exploded simultaneously, apparently for reasons of “convenience and speed”. The thermonuclear design yield was limited to 45 kt to avoid any damage to Khetolai village, located 5 km away, the DAE had stated. In a paper published in 2008 in the journal Atoms for Peace, R. Chidambaram, former Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the leader of the POK2 tests, claimed that thermonuclear weapons of yields up to 200 kt could be confidently designed on the basis of the S1 test.
- A landmark verdict that was delivered by Justice S. Ravindra Bhat in the Delhi High Court on September 2. The Supreme Court, for the first time, was a petitioner before the Delhi High Court, the first appellate court which is itself subject to the Supreme Court’s superior appellate jurisdiction. The issue pertained to a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking information from the Chief Justice of India (CJI) whether his brother judges in the Supreme Court have been disclosing their assets to him in accordance with a 1997 resolution adopted by the Supreme Court.
WORLD
- U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell has met Israel's prime minister in an effort to secure a freeze in Israeli settlement building in areas the Palestinians want for a state. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has ruled out a total freeze, saying Israel may agree only to reduce construction in the West Bank settlements for a limited period. He has said East Jerusalem is not a settlement and building there will continue.
- Yukio Hatoyama, who led his Democratic Party to a landmark victory in elections last month, took office as prime minister on Wednesday, ending a half-century of virtually uninterrupted one-party rule in Japan. Mr. Hatoyama has promised to reverse Japan’s long economic decline by boosting social benefits and aligning policies more closely with public needs, rather than those of big business. He has also spoken of redefining Japan’s relationship with the United States, its closest ally.
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