February 18, 2010

1.V.K.Duggal, Srikrishna Panel’s Member Secretary rules out any changes in the ToR.
2.A national symposium on ‘climate change and rain-fed agriculture’ was organized by ICRISAT at Hyderabad on Feb. 18. ESL Narasimhan, Governor of AP and William Dar, Director General, ICRISAT participated. JC Katyal, former Vice Chancellor, CCS, Haryana Agricultural University was felicitated along with other scientists JS Kanwar, HP Singh, YS Ramakrishna, J Venkateswarlu and SM Virmani.
3.Indian Geo-technical Conference-2009 was held at RVR & JC College of Engineering, Guntur on Feb.18.
4.OP Bhatt is the Chairman of SBI. SBI has two MDs – SK Bhattacharya and R.Sridharan.
5.Amlan Datta, a noted economist passed away at Kolkata on Feb. 18. He authored many books like - Religion, Education and Development (1968),The Third Movement (1987, Ananda Publishers),A New Radicalism and Other Essays (1989, Minarva – Calcutta),For A Quiet Revolution (1997, Papyrus – Calcutta),On The Edge of A Century (1999, Subarnarekha – Calcutta),Towards The Good Life (Subarnarekha – Calcutta),Socialism, Democracy and Industrialization (Allen & Unwin),Perspectives of Economic Development (Macmillan),Beyond Socialism (Popular Prakashan),The Gandhian Way (North Eastern Hill University) and Transitional Puzzles (Sage Publication).
6.Roshan Giri, General Secretary Gorkha Janmukthi Morcha (GJM). GJM’s student wing GJ Vidyarthi Morcha (GJVM)was on strike on February 18 to protest against the refusal of the authorities to allow its supporters to hold a pro-Gorkhaland rally at Siliguri and other parts.
7.ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL/8.35%) and GAIL (India/4.17%) to pick-up 12.5% stake in China pipeline project being constructed by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) in Myanmar.
8.Food inflation at 17.97% for the week-ended February 6 (earlier week 17.94%).
9.Newby Teas , UK-based tea company entered India on February 18.
10.VRS Natarajan, CMD, BEML said BEML and OBRUM (Ośrodek Badawczo - Rozwojowy Urządzeń Mechanicznych "OBRUM), a Polish company signed a MoU at DEFEXPO-2010, New Delhi, to associate in design and development of products and services in the defence field.
11.Commonwealth Shooting Championships inaugurated at New Delhi on Feb. 18.
12.ICC Test Cricket rankings:1.India 2.South Africa 3.Australia 4.Sri Lanka 5.England 6.Pakistan 7.New Zealand 8.West Indies 9.Bangladesh.
13.A low-flying small plane crashed into a 7-storey building at Austin, Texas, USA on Feb.18. The building houses an office Federal Tax Agency and Internal Revenue Services.
14.Dieter Zetche, CEO of Daimler AG
15.SK Roongta, Chairman SAIL
16.ONGC, IOC,SAIL and NTPC qualify for “Maharatna status” to be conferred for the first time by the Government of India. The status would mean power to take independent decision on investments upto Rs.5000 cr.(as against a limit of Rs.1000 cr. for Navratnas).
Criteria for Maharatna status:
Size of the balance sheet; Consistent financial performance for the past three years i.e. a turn-over of Rs.25000 cr. and above; a net-worth of Rs.15000 cr. and Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs.5000 cr.The other important qualification is that the entity has to be ‘listed’.
17.The CDAC has launched the Teraflop Grid Computing Facility at its campus at Hyderabad as part of the nation-wide Computational Grid called GARUDA.
18.According to Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPHC), handicrafts exports are likely to double to $3.4 billion by 2011-12 from the projected $1.8 billion in 2009-10. Asia’s biggest gifts and handicrafts fair – Indian Handicrafts & Gifts Fair (IHGF) to begin at Greater Noida from February 20, 2010.
19.Dhanalakshmi Bank would be ‘clearer’ bank for BSE. Amitabh Chaturvedi, MD & CEO of the Bank, GN Bajpai, Chairman of the Bank and Madhu Kannan, M & CEO of BSE signed an agreement in this regard at Mumbai on February 18, 2010.
20.India and Latvia signed a Bilateral Investment Promotion & Protection Agreement on February 18 to boost bilateral investment and technology inflows between the two countries. Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce and Latvian Economics Minister, Artis Kampars signed an agreement in New Delhi on February 18, 2010.