Milestone of India - India, US sign Nuclear Reprocessing Deal.

WASHINGTON: India and the United States have signed an agreement on the nuclear fuel reprocessing arrangements under the India-US civil nuclear deal completing another key step in implementing the landmark accord.

The agreement signed by Indian ambassador to the US Meera Shankar and the US Secretary of State at the State Department Friday will enable reprocessing by India of US-obligated nuclear material at a new national reprocessing facility.

The new facility dedicated to the reprocessing of safeguarded nuclear material would be established by India under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.

In turn, it will facilitate participation by US firms in India’s expanding civil nuclear energy sector.

Milestone of India - Shooter Narang becomes First Indian to qualify for London Olympics.

NEW DELHI: A day after he was overlooked for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, shooter Gagan Narang won the bronze in the 10 metre air rifle event at the World Championship in Munich and became the first Indian to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.

World No.2 Narang shot 597 in the qualifying and 102 in the final round for a total of 699 to win the bronze.

National coach Sunny Thomas feels that the bronze was a fitting reply to the awards selection committee, headed by P.T. Usha.

"Even before the start Narang told me that he was sad after being left out. I told him just to go and bag a medal and show the whole world that he deserves the Khel Ratna," Thomas told IANS from Munich.

Narang, who is now seen as India's best bet in the Commonwealth Games, shot the bronze in his pet 10m air rifle event at the Beijing World Cup and qualified for the World Championships.

Milestone of India - PSU Syndicate Bank Q1 Net Profit Up.

MUMBAI: Public sector lender Syndicate Bank today reported first quarter net profit at Rs 265.4 crore, up 1.5 per cent from Rs 261.6 crore in the year-ago quarter.

The bank, however, saw a decline in total income to Rs 2,819.7 crore, down 5.2 per cent from Rs 2,974.9 crore, in the April-June quarter, according to a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The total interest earned by the bank during the first three months of the current fiscal was up at Rs 2,604.4 crore from Rs 2,538.0 crore last year.

However, gross non-performing assets (NPA) of the Manipal-based bank rose 37 per cent during the quarter to Rs 2,174.8 crore from Rs 1,588.3 crore last year.

In percentage terms, the gross NPA in the June quarter stood at 2.31 per cent of its total outstanding advances, as against 1.91 per cent in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

Milestone of India - PSU Bank of India net profit Zooms.

MUMBAI: Public sector lender Bank of India today reported a 24 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 725.13 crore for the first quarter ended June 30.

Total income of the bank rose to Rs 5407.62 crore in the April-June quarter, from Rs 5,023 crore in the corresponding period a year ago, BoI said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The bank's interest income rose over 10 per cent to Rs 4,821.72 crore, while the interest expenditure went up marginally to Rs 3,081.26 crore.

Milestone of India - Ahmedabad enters Guinness. (Gujarat - India.)

AHMEDABAD: Green Ahmedabad campaign is becoming a prestige issue for the state forest department, especially now that Guinness Book of World Records and Limca Book of Records have acknowledged the claims of the department of a massive tree plantation in a single day through public participation.

Jagdish Prasad, chief conservator of forest, Ahmedabad, said the forest department has staked claim for setting up a new record of planting over 7 lakh trees in a single day and that too by public partnership.

He said that earlier the department was aiming at breaking the record of Rajasthan in planting 6.11 lakh trees in a single area with 300 volunteers. "Our endeavour did not fit the parameters in this case and hence we decided to apply a second time staking claim to our attempt as a separate entry. This was accepted by the authorities of the two books," said Prasad.

He further said the authorities of the two books have accepted the claims and have sent their guidelines for documentation. He said that apart from media coverage, the attempt would have to be photographed. "We need to prepare a list of volunteers at the specific location and also the trees planted. These have to be substantiated with some photographs," he said.

Once these photographs and documents are sent to them they would evaluate the attempt.

Meanwhile, Gujarat University has asked all its staff members and 10,000 students to remain present at the function where chief minister Narendra Modi would inaugurate the campaign. This is a show of strength for GU vice-chancellor Parimal Trivedi who has ensured that 60,000 students are deployed to take care of these trees which are planted on its campus. Trivedi said that these 60,000 students have decided to devote their 100 hours to taking care of these trees.

Milestone of India - Milestone in Indo - UK ties.

NEW DELHI: India and the United Kingdom decided to give an impetus to their trade and security ties during high level talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his counterpart, David Cameron, here on Thursday.

Following a detailed discussion on global security challenges, the Prime Ministers decided to step up their cooperation in counter-terrorism and welcomed the development of broad-based cooperation in the defence sector. They noted the joint army exercises that took place in India in June, the joint naval exercises now under way and looked forward to the joint air exercises scheduled for October.

In a joint press statement, the two leaders felt a civil nuclear cooperation declaration signed earlier this year had created opportunities for wide ranging cooperation, especially with regard to exchanges between scientific institutions.

India and the U.K. decided to constitute a joint CEOs Forum to be co-chaired by Peter Sands and Ratan Tata and an India-U.K. Infrastructure Group in order to double bilateral trade in the next five years. Building upon past experience, the two sides also agreed to launch a new phase of the U.K.-India Education and Research Initiative.

The Infrastructure Group will address India's particular interest in attracting international as well as domestic investment in infrastructure over the next decade and how best the two governments can enable and encourage this.

“With Prime Minister David Cameron's visit we have set in place a new momentum to drive our strategic partnership forward. I have no doubt that this will be good for both our countries, and it responds to the wishes and aspiration of both our peoples,” observed Dr. Singh.

In order to give a fillip to bilateral ties with the help of existing mechanisms, India and the U.K. also agreed to review the mandate, composition and structure of existing bilateral bodies in trade, investment and economic cooperation.

Discussions were also held on a Memorandum of Understanding between the government of India and the U.K. Trade and Investment to enhance investment in the roads sector, and the two sides looked forward to its early finalisation. Both sides also agreed to explore initiatives that will create resources and incentives to help businesses deploy renewable energy, particularly for the poor.

The lone agreement signed between the two countries pertained to culture. It was hoped that the India-U.K. Memorandum of Understanding on Cultural Co-operation will provide a framework for a significant expansion of the rich cultural exchange between the two countries.

Milestone of India - PSU Bank of Maharashtra Net Profit Zooms.

MUMBAI: Bank of Maharashtra reported a growth of 16.34 per cent in net profit of Rs 118.43 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2010, over the same period last year.

Total income rose to Rs 1,412.98 crore in the April-June quarter, from Rs 1,282.96 crore in the same period last year, Bank of Maharashtra said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Milestone of India - Public sector lender Oriental Bank of Commerce Net Profit Zooms.

NEW DELHI: Public sector lender, Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), has reported a 41.14% jump in its net profit at Rs 363.31 crore for the quarter ended June 30.

The company’s scrip increased by 5.95% on the Bombay Stock Exchange while the Bankex, the index for banking stocks, increased by 0.92%. The bank had posted a net profit of Rs 257.41 crore for the first quarter of the previous fiscal.

OBC reported an increase of 8.92% in total income to Rs 3,045.54 crore for the first quarter against Rs 2,796.10 crore in the year-ago period. The public sector bank said it will review its deposit rates on Saturday, following the Reserve Bank’s move to increase short-term policy rates earlier this week.

“We will take a view on the deposit rates in our ALCO (Asset Liability Committee) meeting on Saturday,” OBC chairman and managing director TY Prabhu said after announcing the first quarter results.

Mr Prabhu said lending rates are likely to remain stable till September this year and long-end lending rates would go up, depending on credit growth. “There is pressure on short-term deposit rates in light of the existing liquidity situation and expected credit growth in the coming months,” he said.

OBC reported a revenue of Rs 1,805.78 crore from its corporate banking segment during the first quarter of this fiscal, up 17.20% over the figure of Rs 1,540.79 crore for the same period of 2009-10.

The capital adequacy ratio of the bank stood at 12.44% for the quarter ended June 30, 2010. Credit pipeline seems very strong, said Mr Prabhu.

“There are around Rs 8,000-10,000 crore loan sanctions at various stages, mostly related to the infrastructure sector,” he said, adding that once the credit demand picks up, disbursal would start taking place.

The bank’s revenue from the retail banking segment went up by 35.55% during the quarter ended June 30 to Rs 939.90 crore against Rs 693.42 crore in the corresponding period last year

Milestone of India - PSU Central Bank of India Net Profit Zooms.

MUMBAI: Central Bank of India has posted a net profit of Rs 337 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2010, an increase of 26.22% compared with Rs 267 crore in the previous quarter.

Announcing the results, CMD S Sridhar said the bank had raised Rs 250 crore by issuing fresh equity shares to the government as well as Rs 1,000 crore by way of Tier-II Capital. The bank’s capital adequacy ratio stood at 12.80% as on June 30, 2010, compared with 13.55% in the year-ago period.

Mr Sridhar said during the quarter, 780 branches of the bank had migrated to its core banking solution, bringing the total number of CBS branches to 2,362, which is 65.5% of the bank’s total number of branches, comprising 83.3% of its business.

Aggregate deposits of the bank have increased to Rs 1,54,559 crore in the June quarter in comparison with Rs 136,669 crore in the previous quarter, registering a growth of 13.09% on a YoY basis. Of this, the low-cost current and savings account (CASA) deposits grew by 22.23% from Rs 43,197 crore as on June 30, 2009, to Rs 52,803 crore as on June 30, 2010. CASA deposits constituted 34.16% of total deposits as on June 30, 2010.

Gross Advances increased 23.12% to Rs 107,561 crore in the June quarter from Rs 87,360 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Capital adequacy ratio of the bank dipped to 11.67% from 11.87% a year ago as computed under Basel I guidelines. As per Basel II, the CRAR stood at 12.80% as on June 30, 2010. It was 13.35% in the same period last year.

Net NPAs stood at Rs 815 crore from Rs 603 crore, improved by 35.16% on a YoY basis. The percentage of net NPAs is 0.77% of the total advances against 0.70 %. Gross NPAs as a percentage of gross loans and advances was 2.43% compared 2.55%. The bank has achieved an NPA provision coverage of 68.75%

Milestone of India - SCI Net Profit Zooms.

NEW DELHI: State run Shipping Corporation of India today reported a net profit of Rs 191 crore for the quarter ended June 2010, against a profit of Rs 120 crore in the same period last year.

Total income of the company went up to Rs 907 crore in the April-June quarter from Rs 883 crore during the corresponding quarter last year.

Shipping Corporation (SCI) is among those public sector companies, which are part of the government's plans to raise up to Rs 40,000 crore through disinvestment this fiscal.

The proposal is to sell 10 per cent stake in the SCI through a follow-on public offer in the current financial year. However, the quantum of fresh equity to be raised by the company is yet to be decided and the Shipping Ministry is in the process of finalising the cabinet note for the FPO.

The Centre currently holds an 80.12 per cent stake in SCI, while over 10 per cent is held by LIC. The remaining 3.15 per cent is with the public.

At present, SCI owns 76 ships of 5.1 million DWT (deadweight tonnage) and has interests in all segments of shipping trade. In addition, it mans and manages 60 vessels of 0.2 million tonnes DWT, which is the total weight of the ship including the cargo, crew and fuel.

Milestone of India - Asia records First custom-fit Knee Surgery. (Karnataka - India.)

BANGALORE: Asia's first custom-fit knee replacement surgery was performed at Fortis Hospital in Bangalore.

Recently, two patients with a degenerative disease of the knee were treated with custom-fit replacement surgery. The new technology ensures less pain and tissue damage and faster mobilization.

Fortis hospitals, CEO, Vishal Bali said on Wednesday: "The custom-fit knee replacement surgery is currently done only in US and Australia. Now, India is the first country in Asia to perform this surgery."

"Progress in modern science and advance in technology has improved patient care with short hospital stay and early recovery," added Bali.

With the increase in population and life span in India, by the next decade 20% of the population will be over 65 years and arthritis will be the leading ailment.

"In the USA, 5 lakh knee replacement surgery are performed annually. In India, we perform around 45,000 knee replacement surgery every year and its increasing by 25% each year," said, Dr Srinivas J V, orthopedic surgeon.

Orthopedic surgeon, Sanjay Pai, said: "It's a labour-intensive technology and reduces the surgery time by 20 minutes. The main advantage is it improves alignment and sizing by using computer-generated images of the patient anatomy to determine bone cuts and implant positioning preoperatively."

Case study:

* After suffering for more than a decade with knee pain, 56-year-old Sujatha Venkatesh, said she is relieved after the surgery. Just two weeks after undergoing a complex knee replacement surgery, Sujatha is back to her routine life. "I am feeling better. It's been just two weeks and I am back on my feet," said, Sujatha.

* Similarly, 59-year-old Rukmini Thimmaiah who was suffering from a knee problem for the past seven years and was almost bedridden in the last two years also expressed her relief from pain after the surgery.

However, the custom-knee replacement surgery is more expensive than conventional surgeries. "The regular surgery cost around Rs 1 lakh, this advance technology increases the treatment cost by Rs 30,000 more," said Dr Sanjay Pai.

Milestone of India - PSU Bank of Baroda June quaerter net up.

MUMBAI: Public sector Bank of Baroda today reported a 25 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 859.16 crore for the first quarter ended June 30.

Total income of the bank increased to Rs 5,344.2 crore during the April-June quarter, from Rs 4,735.15 crore in the corresponding period a year ago, BOB said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The bank's interest income rose 17 per cent to Rs 4,727 crore, while the interest expenditure was up 1.5 per cent at Rs 2,869 crore during the said quarter.

Milestone of India - State-owned Neyveli Lignite Corporation posted jump in its net profit.

NEW DELHI: State-owned Neyveli Lignite Corporation today posted 19 per cent jump in its net profit at Rs 342.10 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2010.

The company reported a net profit of Rs 287.64 crore in the same period last fiscal (2009-10), an official statement said.

Net sales of the company rose to Rs 1,145.43 crore from Rs 884.30 crore in the same period last year, it said.

Neyveli Lignite Corp is a lignite power producer and has an installed capacity of 2,490 MW.

The company recently commissioned a 125 MW lignite-based power plant at Barsingar, Rajasthan. It plans to further take up its capacity to 250 MW. The company plans to set up two more projects of 250 MW capacity each in the state.

The company's projects under execution include a 1,000 MW project in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, a 500 MW extension of the Neyveli plant, and a 50 MW wind power project.

Milestone of India - PSU Andhra Bank Q1 net up.

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad-headquartered Andhra Bank has registered a net profit of Rs 320.41 crore for the first quarter of the 2010-11 fiscal, with total business touching Rs 1,31,844 crore, Chairman and Managing Director R S Reddy said today.

Net profit surged by 25.05 per cent, while the business grew by 24.59 per cent vis-a-vis the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, R S Reddy said at a press conference here to announce the lender's Q1 results today.

Total income of the PSU lender rose to Rs 2,073.23 crore during the April-June quarter, from Rs 1,742.70 crore in the same period previous fiscal.

Operating profit for Q1 stood at Rs 510.40 crore, up from Rs 348 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

"The core operating, excluding the profit on securities, increased by 111 per cent to touch Rs 462.76 crore. Our deposits reached Rs 74,700 crore, with a year-on-year growth of 22.64 per cent from Rs 60,911 crore in June, 2009," the CMD said.

Similarly, the bank's advances rose to Rs 57,144 crore in April-June, 2010, from Rs 44,911 crore in the same period last year.

"Andhra Bank's credit-deposit ratio improved to 76.86 per cent in June, 2010, as against 74.04 per cent last year," Reddy added.

"We are above the industry level in all parameters of growth," the CMD said.

Milestone of India - Auto driver gets Reward for his Honesty at Nagpur. (Maharashtra - India.)

NAGPUR: The moment Manoj Rathi, who was going to Mathura with his family by train, saw autorickshaw driver Shaikh Imran rush towards station without carrying him, he noted down the autorickshaw number and rushed to the police.

"I realised it only on reaching the railway station. There was nobody inside. Only the bag was kept in front of the seat. I immediately returned to the place where the passenger had met me. There were two cops whom I narrated the incident. They knew about the matter," said Imran.

Rathi too had been trying to find out the autorickshaw driver after giving the vehicle number to the cops and was grateful to get his bag back though he missed the train.

Rathi gave Imran Rs 300 reward. A pat on his back and another Rs 200 reward came from zonal deputy commissioner of police Kailash Kanse, who also gave him a certificate.

"We are a spiritual family and pray five times a day. My dad taught me to go penniless or even remain hungry but never do anything immoral," said Imran, youngest of seven siblings.

A school dropout, he said he is happy to earn Rs 250-300 than get rich in a wrong way.

"I did not even touch the bag. It was only the cops who informed me there was money in it. All I wanted was to give the bag to it's owner," he said.

Milestone of India - Kerala in Thirteenth Position in Milk Production.

KOCHI: Kerala occupies the 13 {+t} {+h} position among the milk-producing States, according to 2009-10 figures, Union Minister of State for Agriculture K.V. Thomas said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday in reply to a question by K.P. Dhanapalan, MP.

The State produced 2.483 million tonnes of milk during the year. It was 2.253 million tonnes in 2007-08 and 2.441 million tonnes in 2008-09.

Uttar Pradesh, with 20.103 million tonnes, topped the list. Andhra Pradesh stood second with 10.430 million tonnes. Gujarat was in the fifth place with 8.843 million tonnes. Tamil Nadu (5.778 million tonnes), Karnataka (4.822 million tonnes) and West Bengal (4.279 million tonnes) occupied the 10th, 11th and 12 {+t} {+h} positions respectively. The figures indicated an overall increase in the production of milk in the country. The total production in 2009-10 exceeded 112 million tonnes, while it was over 104 million tonnes in 2007-08 and in excess of 108 million tonnes in 2008-09, Prof. Thomas said.

To a question whether dairy farming was becoming unprofitable, the Minister replied in the negative. He said the government had taken several measures to augment the availability of milk and to stabilise its price in the domestic market.

The National Dairy Development Board had been given permission to import 30,000 million tonnes of milk powder and 15,000 million tonnes of anhydrous milk fat (AMF), with no import duty, for use by milk federations and metro dairies during lean months. All the State governments had been requested to exempt or reduce VAT on molasses and other ingredients of cattle feed with a view to reducing its cost, the Minister said.

Milestone of India - ISO certificate for green Rashtrapati Bhavan.

NEW DELHI: On a day when President Pratibha Devisingh Patil was celebrating the completion of her third year as the first citizen of the country, Rashtrapati Bhavan became the first urban habitat in the country to get ISO 14001:2004 certification. Under the flagship project Roshni, the estate has adopted several green and energy-efficient measures which include solar lighting, vermicomposting, waste segregation and rainwater harvesting.

The certification implied that all standards set by the International Organisation of Standards (ISO) for environmental management systems are in place at the 340-acre President's Estate.

Data released by Rashtrapati Bhavan revealed that it had saved more than Rs 90 lakh in power bills in the first half of 2010 as compared to the corresponding period the year before. "Between January and June 2009, 78.95 lakh units of power were consumed. In the same period this year, consumption had come down to 64.03 lakh. This is due to the several energy-efficient measures that have been adopted here, including large scale use of solar power,'' said officials.

For efficient energy management, bulbs have been replaced with CFLs. Street and security lights have been synchronised with sunrise and sunset so that they come on only when it is sufficiently dark. Occupancy sensors have also been installed in some rooms where lights now come on only when someone enters the room and turn off as soon as the room is vacated. Solar water heating systems are also being used in 398 quarters.

Solid waste management has also been taken up in a big way. Waste segregation is taking place at the household level from where biodegradable waste is taken for composting. According to officials, 400kg of waste per day is being composted to produce organic manure that is used in the President's garden. The women self-help groups working inside the estate have also prepared 320 quintals of vermicompost since October 2009.

A bio-gas plant with a capacity of 25 cubic metres and which uses 600 kg of cattle dung each day to provide cooking gas for 70-80 persons has also been set up. Piped natural gas is also being provided to each household and is also used in the Rashtrapati Bhavan kitchen, departmental canteen and the laundry.

Eight rainwater harvesting structures cover the entire area of the estate because of which the level of groundwater rose by .88 metres between June and October 2009.

President Patil asked union minister for urban development Jaipal Reddy, who was also present on the occasion, to plan all upcoming habitats on a similar model to ensure that they were energy efficient from the start.

Milestone of India - Rare knee surgery: Man walks after Five Years in Jaipur. (Rajasthan - India.)

JAIPUR: Happiness knew no bounds for Mahadev Singh, a resident of Jaipur, who could finally walk on his feet after five years.

The 60-year-old underwent a rare' knee replacement surgery two weeks ago at the Fortis Escorts Hospital on JLN Marg. After being kept under observation for a certain time period, Singh interacted with the media on Monday.

His knees were replaced in a "complex surgery" by a team of orthopaedics using latest medical equipments including computer navigation system. Dr Anoop Jhurani, who headed the surgery said, "Both knees were deformed, and had bent by 90 degrees, which made it a complex operation to remove the old implants and fix a new one."

After a series of discussions, the team decided on how to unlock the curved knee joints without affecting the blood circulation, while considering patient's age. "Our biggest challenge was to complete the surgery without affecting the tissues which run through the knee," added Jhurani.

During the surgery, doctors had used the computer navigation system to align the transplant at the right position. Though Singh is currently using a walker, Jhurani is optimistic that he could walk without any help after three months of medication and regular exercises.

The hospital claimed the surgery is one of the rarest, where the deformity has been corrected, besides relieving the patient of knee pain for at least 10-15 years.

Singh, who has got a fresh lease of life, recounted his dark days when he had often contemplated about ending his life to get rid of the unbearable pain. "I was not able stretch my legs. I could hardly do any work," he said.

Dr Rajeev Bhargava, Joint Replacement surgeon informed that early diagnosis, balanced diet, proper medication and regular exercise can reduce the decay of bones for patients suffering from arthritis.

Milestone of india - Myanmar Military ruler Donates $11282 to Mahabodhi Temple. (Bihar - India.)

GAYA: Myanmar military ruler General Than Shwe on Monday donated $11,282 and Rs 6,000 to Mahabodhi Temple fund for the shrine's maintenance and development.

The general, who heads the State Peace and Development Council of the Union of Myanmar, made the donation after offering prayers in two separate sessions on Monday morning.

General Shwe, heading a 77-member Myanmarese delegation, was on a two-day pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya, the seat of Buddha's enlightenment.

During his stay in Bodh Gaya, General Shwe also visited his country's monastery, one of the oldest monasteries of Bodh Gaya located on the western side of Falgu river.

According to Rai Madan Kishor, the designated protocol officer for the visiting head of state, the Myanmar ruler left for Varanasi by a special plane on Monday afternoon.

Milestone of India - Rajarhat to be first zero-energy town. (West Bengal - India.)

KOLKATA: Rajarhat is set to become India’s first near-zero energy satellite town (ZEST), thanks to efforts by the US department of energy (DOE) and the renowned Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL).

The BNL and DOE have initiated a special project that involves turning Indian and Chinese cities into energy-efficient hubs. A team led by Vatsal Bhatt, research engineer and energy policy analyst, BNL, was in the city on Friday to launch the project, which will be replicated in townships across India. Rajarhat is expected to house around one million people in the near future.

According to BNL, cities are responsible for nearly 75% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Katie Bolcar of the DOE explained the concepts of a near-zero energy community and the importance of creating ZESTs at a meeting of the Union urban development ministry in New Delhi on May 31. Debashis Sen, principal secretary, state urban development department, attended the meeting.

Bolcar told the participants that BNL wished to work with a satellite town to showcase the concept and set up a model of a zero-energy town in India. Rajarhat was picked as a pilot project.

Milestone of india - Devotee donates to Tirumala Temple. (Andhrapradesh - India.)

Devotee donates Rs. 1.11 crore to Tirumala temple.

TIRUMALA: In a munificent offering, a devotee on Sunday night donated Rs.1.11 crore to the Lord Venkateswara temple here. The devotee, who wished to remain anonymous, handed over a demand draft for the amount to the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams Chairman D.K. Adikesavulu.

Milestone of India - India's Initial phase of Ballistic Missile Defence shield.

In the picture on top, (from second left) Head of the Defence Research

and Development Organisation V.K. Saraswat, Air Marshal P.K. Barbora,

and Director of the Advanced Systems Laboratory Avinash Chander,

among others, celebrate after the successful launch of the AAD missile on Monday.

Wheeler Island (Orissa): India's plans to put in place the initial phase of a robust Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) shield by 2012 received a big thrust on Monday, with a supersonic interceptor missile, Advanced Air Defence (AAD), bringing down an incoming “enemy” ballistic missile (a modified Prithvi) of 2,000 km range, at an altitude of 15 km over the Bay of Bengal.

The proposed twin-layered BMD system envisages interception and destruction of incoming enemy missiles in exo-atmosphere (altitude of 50-80 km) and endo-atmosphere (altitude up to 30 km).

While the first phase seeks to protect vital assets against enemy ballistic missiles of up to 2,000 km range, the second phase is intended to engage missiles of up to 5,000 km range.

Conducted by scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Monday's test validated endo-atmospheric layer of interception, when the AAD achieved a kill of the Prithvi during the latter's terminal phase.

Five minutes after the lift-off of the target missile (Prithvi) from Chandipur, the interceptor blasted off from the Wheeler Island, 70 km away from Chandipur. The Long Range Tracking Radars located at Konark and the Multi-Functional Fire Control Radar at Paradip tracked the target missile and passed on the information to the Mission Control Centre, which classified the target, predicted the impact point and assigned the AAD battery to launch the interceptor.

Talking to The Hindu soon after the event, Dr. Saraswat congratulated the scientists. He said the BMD technologies were fast reaching maturity levels in terms of reliability and robustness. Many new technologies, including P-charge warhead, electro-mechanical actuators and ring-based gyro navigation system, were used to make the AAD more accurate and robust.

The first phase of the BMD shield would be operational in 2012 and the second phase in 2016, he added.

Equipping AAD with a directional warhead would enable the interceptor to engage and destroy an enemy missile from any direction, according to V.L. Narasimha Rao, programme director, Air Defence.

He said another interceptor missile test would be conducted in endo-atmosphere in three months.

Air Marshal Barbora, said the mission proved that the nation was at the doorstep of having a BMD umbrella, “which is required considering the environment.” He was extremely proud that the system would be operational in a short duration.

Milestone of India - Rajasthan bans Plastic Carry-Bags.

JAIPUR: In a major step for environment protection, the Rajasthan government on Monday announced a complete ban on the use of plastic carry-bags all over the State from August 1. A notification declared the entire State a “plastic carry-bag-free zone.”

The ban will also apply to manufacture, storage, import, sale and transport of plastic carry-bags.

Violation of the order will attract prosecution under Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act, which prescribes jail for five years or a fine of up to Rs.1 lakh or both. Recurrence of the offence may lead to penalty of Rs.5,000 a day.

Milestone of India - India's First civil Defence Studies Varsity Inaugurated. (Gujarat - India.)

AHMEDABAD: The third super-speciality university in state after Gujarat National Law University and Gujarat Forensic Sciences University Raksha Shakti University, was inaugurated in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

The university has commenced the first batch with a six-month diploma course from academic year 2010-11. The university was in pipeline for last two years after announcement by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. The varsity, being projected as a launching pad for getting into police forces, armed forces and private security agencies, has taken 160 students in its first batch.

Speaking at the inaugural function, Modi said that the university was part of forward planning towards meeting the need of specialised training. "In the time of ever-growing threat in form of naxalism, terrorism, cyber and new-age crimes and volatile internal security situation, we need to think in terms of future. I am sure that the university will work as a perfect platform for the aspirants for uniformed jobs in years to come," he said in his speech.

University officials stated that the new campus has been finalised near Gandhinagar, where construction work will commence by the year-end. Meghaninagar campus has started with diploma courses and will eventually offer courses in graduation and post-graduation.

The ceremony was attended by a number of IPS officers, government and AMC officials and students of the university and various schools.

Milestone of India - Communal harmony and Hindu - Mulsim Unity. (Gujarat - India.)

RAJKOT: For over three and a half centuries, locals of this remote village of Kutch, as part of annual ritual, walk along the periphery of the village leaving a trail of a white thread, milk and flags. At Hajapar-Harudi near Bhuj in Kutch district these symbols mark the binding of Hindus and Muslims, who live as one community.

Ayar Maheshbhai, a village elder, says, "This tradition is known as Dharavahi. It has been going on in our village since last 350 years, and now, we are passing on the tradition to our children. We make it a point that every child of the village attends this procession." The ritual takes place on the auspicious day of Ashadi Bij, when Kutch celebrates its new year, and the rest of the country celebrates rath yatra.

Amid the beating of the drums, sounds of shehnai and other music, Muslim youths carrying a green flag lead the procession followed by the Hindus who carry the ball of white thread. Milk is poured along the way as just as at a a temple. "

Apart from communal harmony, this ritual also helps our village fight all diseases and evil of any kind," says another old-timer Dhanjibhai. Some others believe the ritual invites the rain gods to bless them.

While the beginning of the ritual is symbolic, the end is marked by all community members breaking bread together at dinner. While roti is made by Hindu households, jaggery is collected from Muslim houses. "It's not an elaborate meal, but it symbolises sweetness and unity," says a villager.

There are two dargahs of Piranpeer Dastagir and Ashabapeer and a Hindu temple of Lord Krishna. All the religious places are visited by most of the villagers without any hesitation. Most significantly, when one talks to villagers here, no one can distinguish between a Hindu and a Muslim.

Milestone of India - Mumbai Airport 4th in World in handling Air Traffic. (Maharastra - India.)

MUMBAI: City’s Chatrapati Shivaji International airport has been ranked fourth among airports in the world that handle more than 15 million passengers per annum. Overall, it was ranked 23rd among 146 airports.

The quarterly Airports Quality Survey survey was conducted by the Airports Council International, an autonomous body, to measure passengers’ perception and response to quality of facilities at airports, connectivity within airports, service delivery standards and airport service efficiency.

Mumbai scored above Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport to be the best in the country. Globally, it was ranked below Gimpo Airport (Seoul) and the airports at Vancouver and Taipei. It ranked better than Shenzhen (China) and San Francisco and Zurich. About 1,500 passengers from Mumbai airport participated in the survey.

Milestone of India - PSU Dena Bank logs 20% rise in Q1 net profit at 139 cr.

MUMBAI: Riding on its net interest income growth, Dena Bank has posted a 20% rise in net profit at 139 crore for the first quarter ended June 30 against 115 crore reported in the corresponding quarter of last year. The net interest income — the difference between the income earned on loans and investments and the interest paid on deposits and borrowings — rose 44% at 360 crore against 250.5 crore in the comparable period last year.

Speaking to media , bank CMD DL Rawal said the bank has asked for a 1,300-crore capital infusion from the government, of which 600 crore is in the form of equity. “In the first phase, we expected to receive 600 crore which will increase government holding from the current level of 51% to 61%,” said Mr Rawal. The capital infusion in the bank will be in over three years and it will take care of a 24% credit growth. The bank’s capital adequacy ratio stood at 11.8%. Net interest margin (NIM) improved to 2.82% from 2.42% a year ago. The bank is aiming at a NIM of 2.81% for 2010-11 .

Non-interest income, however, slipped 31%, mainly because of fall in profit from treasury operations. Due to hardening of yields in the first quarter compared to the corresponding period, profit from sale of securities was down 87% to 9.85 crore against 80 crore in the corresponding period. Profit of fee income also rose 29% to 79 crore and recovery from written-off account stood at 18 crore, up 25%.

Year-on-year advances rose 34% to 37,884 crore while deposits rose 25% to 53,311 crore. On an incremental basis (from April to June 10), advances rose 6% and deposits rose 4.2%. The share of low-cost deposits (current account and savings account) was 36.8% to 19,026 crore as on June 10. For the full year, Mr Rawal said the bank is looking at a 22% growth in credit, 20% growth in deposits and a 23% rise in low-cost deposits.

Milestone of India - ICAR Award for Dharwad Farm Scientist.

DHARWAD: Nemichandra G. Hanamaratti, who is working as a Senior Rice Breeder at the Agricultural Research Station, Mugad, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, has received the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Award given by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi.

According to a press release issued here, Union Minister of Agriculture Sharad Pawar presented the award to Mr. Hanamaratti during the foundation day celebrations of the ICAR in New Delhi recently.

While agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan was the guest of honour, Union Minister of State for Agriculture K.V. Thomas presided over the function.

Mr. Hanamaratti was chosen for the award for his work in identifying the QTLs (quantitative trait loci) responsible for drought tolerance in rice and development of MGD-101 rice variety. These findings are part of the research he took up under the guidance of P.M. Salimath, Director of Research, UAS, Dharwad.

A native of Mugad village in Dharwad taluk, Mr. Hanamaratti has been working on rice improvement with farmers' participation.

Milestone of India - Vaikuntam Second Queue complex at Tirumala being Air-conditioned. (Andhrapradesh - India.)

TIRUMALA: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams have decided to air-condition the entire Vaikuntam second queue complex.

Eight compartments have been added to the 23-compartment complex, each equipped to house 750 pilgrims in a single sitting. Now the new compartments will also be air-conditioned. TTD Executive Officer I.Y.R. Rao has instructed officials to extend the ‘access' card system to devotees of all compartments. At present, the facility is available only for devotees of 14 compartments.

MAY LORD VENKATESWARA WITH SRIDEVI AND BHOODEVI BLESS THIS ENTIRE WORLD.

Milestone of India - PSU SBH Net Profit Doubles.

HYDERABAD: State Bank of Hyderabad registered a 83 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs. 201.24 crore during the first quarter of 2010-11, against Rs. 110.24 crore in the corresponding period in the previous year. Total interest income improved by 18.16 per cent to Rs. 1,816.06 crore from Rs. 1,536.92.

The bank's total business reached Rs. 1,34,127 crore as on June, 2010, against Rs. 1,06,876 crore, a year-on-year growth of 26 per cent.

Total deposits stood at Rs. 79,633 crore against Rs. 64,079, recording a year-on-year growth of 24 per cent, while advances were of the order of Rs. 54,493 crore against Rs. 42,797, a year-on-year growth of 27 per cent.

Milestone of India - PSU United Bank Net Profit rises.

KOLKATA: United Bank of India reported a 53.5 per cent jump in its net profit which touched Rs. 107.86 crore in the quarter ending June 2010 with a 2.98 per cent increase in net interest margin as compared to the 1.9 per cent increase clocked in June 2009.

The bank, which made an initial public offering sometime back, ended the quarter with a total business of Rs. 1,11,317 crore. Bhaskar Sen, Chairman and Managing Director, said that the first annual general meeting of the bank was held earlier this month and a dividend of Rs. 2 per share of Rs. 10 was announced.

Financial inclusion

The bank has also taken steps towards financial inclusion, including adopting a village in Murshidabad district in West Bengal for all round development and engaging farmers club to act as business facilitators in Paschim Medinipur, one of the three districts in West Bengal which is affected by left-wing extremism (LWE).

All the 1,558 branches of the bank are on the CBS platform.

Milestone of India - PSU Indian Bank net up.

CHENNAI: Indian Bank could report a 33 per cent rise in its operating profit at Rs. 837.82 crore in the first three months ended June 30,2010, against Rs. 630.49 crore in the year-ago period with a significant contribution to profits from treasury operations, corporate and retail banking.

Addressing presspersons here on Saturday T. M. Bhasin, Chairman and Managing Director, said the core operating profit, excluding trading profit, registered a rise of 48 per cent to Rs. 781 crore from Rs. 527 crore. The net profit has grown only by 11 per cent to Rs. 368.15 crore from Rs. 331.66 crore due to an increase in provisions and contingencies of Rs. 343.90 crore (Rs. 120.86 crore).

Mr. Bhasin said the bank has registered an allround improvement in its performance with a surge in net interest income, net interest margin and in respect of deposits and advances. Besides, a control in interest and operating expenses helped the bank to report a good performance.

Total business of the bank rose by 24 per cent to Rs. 159,027 crore from Rs. 128,700. Deposits registered a growth of 18.6 per cent to Rs. 91,000 crore from Rs. 76,716 crore while advances grew by 30.9 per cent to Rs. 68,027 crore from Rs. 51,984 crore as on June 30, 2009.

Priority sector advances grew by more than 25 per cent to reach Rs. 23,662 crore.

With a view to providing banking services to all the unbanked masses the bank has launched the financial inclusion plan 2010-13. A total of 12.16 lakh households are proposed to be covered under the three year plan by opening 17.64 lakh no-frill accounts, Mr. Bhasin said. The education loan portfolio recorded a growth of 33.1 per cent and the total loan portfolio stood at Rs. 2,463 crore as on June 30, 2010.

Milestone of India - Delicate Heart Surgery performed. (Andhrapradesh - India.)

VISAKHAPATNAM: Cardiac surgery was performed on a 15 days old baby boy at a corporate hospital here, correcting a disease called “transposition of great arteries”, through the process of arterial switch operation.

This was for the first time that such a surgery was performed in the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, while one or two centres in Hyderabad performed the same, chief cardio-thoracic surgeon of Apollo Hospitals here P.V. Naresh Kumar informed at a press conference here on Saturday.

The baby boy, Jakku Babu, son of Krishna, an autorickshaw driver of Nedagallu village in Seethanagaram mandal of Vizianagaram district was a “blue baby” when he was brought to the hospital.

Explaining about the problem and the surgery performed, Dr. Naresh Kumar said that the connections of the aorta from left ventricle of the heart supplying oxygenated blood to the whole body and the pulmonary artery taking blood with less oxygen from the right ventricle to the lungs to get it oxygenated, got interchanged leading to only blood not being oxygenated supplied to the body.

The arterial switch was performed by disconnecting both the arteries from their interchanged position and connecting them to the proper chambers of the heart.

Coronary arteries were also reconnected to the aorta. In this case the baby has a major associated defect of having only single coronary artery, needing additional effort during surgery, he said.

“The baby just weighed two to three kg and its coronary arteries are just one to two millimetres thick which needed very meticulous surgery” said Dr. Naresh Kumar describing how complicated the surgery was.

The condition in which the baby was, required a corrective surgery within 15 days or three weeks of birth and the heart, he said.

The post-operative care was equally important in such babies as the dosage of medicines and nutrients must be precise.

“Even a few millilitres in excess or less would lead to a lot of problems”, said chief anaesthesiologist V. Ramesh Kumar, who has supervised the care of the baby.

Arogyasri

The surgery was performed under the Arogyasri health insurance programme.

It would cost from Rs. 2 lakhs to Rs. 3 lakhs, said the doctors.

Others who participated in the five-hour surgery were paediatrician R. Atchumnaidu, consultant cardiologist D.M.R. Jagannadha Rao, cardio-thoracic surgeon Prabhakar Reddy, cardiac anaesthetist Ram Mohan, interventionist B.M.S. Patrudu, anaesthetist Kanna and perfusionists Eswar and Nooruddin.

Milestone of India - TTD cuts ‘ Anga Pradakshinam' number to 500. (Andhrapradesh - India.)

Tirumala: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams management on Saturday slapped restrictions on the number of devotees being allowed to perform ‘ Anga Pradakshinam' in the Venkateswara temple here. The number has been brought down from 750 to 500.

The decision comes in the wake of complaints from devotees that temple staff were not allowing them to perform full ‘ pradakshinam' around the ‘prakaras'

The temple staff argued that they were rather forced to act under pressure to facilitate the smooth conduct of pre-dawn rituals like Thomala and Archana, which followed ‘ Anga Pradakshinam.'

Milestone of India - IDBI Bank net Profit rises.

CHENNAI: IDBI Bank reported a 46 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs. 251 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2010 against Rs. 172 crore in the year-ago period. Net interest income nearly trebled to Rs. 851 crore from Rs.315 crore. As of June 30, 2010, total business stood at Rs. 292,533 crore against Rs. 213,526 crore as of June 30, 2009, says a release.

Milestone of India - SBI raises $1 b from U.S. market.

NEW DELHI: Despite tough global economic scenario, State Bank of India has raised $1 billion (about Rs.4,700 crore) through bonds from the U.S. market. The bond issue was oversubscribed 4.8 times.

The U.S.-based investors received 55 per cent of the allocation while Asian investors got 28 per cent and the balance 17 per cent was accounted for by European investors.

Asset and fund managers subscribed for 63 per cent of the deal, commercial and investment banks 9 per cent, private banks 15 per cent and insurance/pension funds 4 per cent.

Milestone of India - Three Indians to address Global Summit.

Coimbatore: Three Indian education experts are among the elite list to address a global education summit in Bahrain this October.

A release from Shaikh Mohammed Bin Essa Al Khalifa, Chief Executive of the Economic Development Board (EDB), said the event was initiated by Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince of Bahrain and Chairman of EDB. The event is from October 8 to 10.

Kailash Satyarthi, president of the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), Kiran Bir Sethi, Founder of the Riverside School in Ahmedabad and Sudhir Ghodke, Director of Educational Initiatives (EI) will join the speakers from Harvard University, the European Commission, 10 Downing Street and Microsoft at the Education Project 2010. Entry is by invitation only. For details, visit: www. educationprojectbahrain.org

Milestone of India - Interceptor missile test at Balasore. (Orissa - Tamilnadu.)

HYDERABAD: In a bid to establish the reliability of India's fledgling Ballistic Missile Defence shield, an interceptor missile test will take place at Balasore, Orissa, on July 26.

Missile scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will launch an Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile from the Wheeler Island to destroy an incoming missile, a modified Prithvi, at an altitude of 15-18 km in the endo-atmosphere (up to an altitude of 30 km).

India's two-tier shield envisages interception of enemy missiles in the exo (at altitudes between 50 and 80 km) and endo-atmospheres.

In a war scenario, the AAD will be launched for endo-atmospheric interception in case the enemy missile eludes the interceptor during an exo-atmospheric hit.

In the upcoming event, the single stage, solid-propelled AAD will be launched a few minutes after the target missile takes off from the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur, 65 km from the testing facility on the Wheeler Island.

Hurtling at the supersonic speed of more than 4 Mach and equipped with a directional warhead, the AAD will seek to intercept the incoming ‘hostile' missile during its terminal flight and smash it to smithereens.

Radars to track launch

As the Prithvi takes off, ground-based radars will capture the launch, track the vehicle and pass on the information to the launch control computer.

Based on the computations of the interceptor's guidance and launch computers, the missile will be launched to waylay the incoming projectile.

Since November 27, 2006, the DRDO has successfully conducted three missile intercept tests, two in the exo-atmosphere at altitudes of 48 and 80 km and one in the endo-atmosphere at a height of 15 km.

Milestone of India - India, U.S. sign Counter-terrorism initiative.

NEW DELHI: India and the U.S. on Friday signed the Counter Terrorism Initiative (CCI) to forge close and effective cooperation in counter-terrorism, information-sharing and capacity-building.

“Today, with the formal signing of the initiative, we take several significant steps forward against terrorism,” said U.S. Ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer, who signed the Memorandum of Understanding with Home Secretary G.K. Pillai.

Describing the MoU as symbolic of the “indispensable partnership” against terrorism, Mr. Roemer said both countries would work closely in such matters as intelligence-sharing and bomb blast investigations.

“In the coming days and months, there will be even closer information-sharing and collaborative efforts in issues ranging from bomb blast probe and major event security to mega-city policing, cyber and border security. The strength of our bilateral relationship continues to grow, and the CCI will further enhance this unprecedented partnership,” Mr. Roemer said.

During Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Washington in November 2009, he and President Barrack Obama had agreed on the Counterterrorism Cooperation Initiative. The CCI is aimed at giving both the U.S. and India additional opportunities to work together across a broad spectrum, including transport security, money-laundering, counterfeit currency and terrorist financing, maritime, port and border security, cyber security and mega-city policing.

Common threat

“President Obama and Prime Minister Dr. Singh have acknowledged the common threat that international terrorism poses to all people,” Mr. Roemer said.

Exchanging experience of and expertise in port and border security; enhancing liaison and training between counter-terrorism units, including the National Security Guard, are part of the agreement.

“Terrorism has brutally attacked the U.S. on 9/11, terrorism has attacked the people of India, particularly on 26/11 in Mumbai, where six Americans were killed. So this effort, I think, symbolises Prime Minister Singh's and President Obama's efforts to create this indispensable partnership for the 21 century,” he said.

“The MoU provides the two countries with a legal authority and framework and an institutionalised mechanism for close cooperation in counter-terrorism and exchange of crucial information and databases,” Mr. Pillai said.

Milestone of India - Kukke Shree Subramanya temple at Karnataka. (India.)

BANGALORE: The vagaries of inflation don't affect the gods in Karnataka. Their riches never dwindle, but only increase by the year. And, Kukke Shree Subramanya is the richest, followed by Sri Durga Parameshwari of Kateelu and Sri Manjunatha at Kadri.

In the three-year period from 2007 to 2010, the Kukke temple has grossed a massive Rs 91.75 crore, way ahead of Sri Durga Parameshwari of Kateelu (Rs 22.07 crore) and Sri Manjunatha at Kadri (Rs 5.63 crore).

The sharp increase in revenue is remarkable. For instance, Sri Subramanya's income, which was Rs 24.3 crore during 2007-08, reached Rs 35.75 crore during 2009-10. Nestling in Nature's beauty in Sulia taluk, it draws people who perform the Sarpa Samskara/ Sarpa Dosha pooja. Among its several high-profile devotees is Sachin Tendulkar.

Interestingly, of the 30 most revenue-earning temples, the top eight are in the Dakshina Kannada region. Of the top 30, 13 are from Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.

The famous Sri Chamundeshwari temple in Mysore is at No. 10 position, while Bangalore's own Sri Banashankari is at No. 13.

Every year, the government provides money for the development of major temples. The Karnataka government gives Rs 3 lakh grant annually to Tirumala temple in Tirupati for pooja materials and naivedya.

Milestone of India - A first for women in Wagah Border.

Firm footed: Women constables of the Border Security Force take part in the ‘Beating Retreat Ceremony' at the India-Pakistan Attari-Wagah border near Amritsar on Thursday evening. For the first time in over four decades women BSF personnel have been made part of the routine ceremony. Women constables were appointed last year to perform duty on the International Border, but their role was confined to routine patrolling and managing crowds.

MAY THE LORD VENKATESWARA WITH HIS SREE DEVI and BHOODEVI

MAKE THE BORDER ALWAYS FREE FROM TOUBLE.

Milestone of India - India will be 3rd largest FDI recipient.

NEW DELHI: The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on Thursday said India would emerge as the third largest recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) for the three-year period ending 2012.

“If the situation continues to improve, India is likely to be among the most promising investor-home countries in 2010-12 as well as the third highest economy for FDI in 2010-12,” UNCTAD says in its World Investment Report 2010.

India remained in the list of top ten countries in 2009 to have the highest FDIs in the world. In 2009, the country received FDI worth $34.6 billion, while the outward FDI was $14.9 billion, the report, released on Thursday, says.

The UNCTAD report says the global FDI flows began to bottom out in the later half of 2009 and has shown a modest recovery in the first half of 2010 with South Asia being the first to bounce back from the recent downturn.

“FDI flows worldwide are expected to recover slightly this year... FDI flows to South Asia have experienced their largest decline since 2001, but they were the first to bottom out from the current downturn,” the report says.

Increasing intra-regional FDI has become an effective vehicle for industrial upgrading in the South Asia region, providing opportunities to countries at different stages of development, UNCTAD said and noted that “inflows from developed countries contracted the most, while intraregional FDI gained ground.”

Further, the report says the outward flow of FDI from the region, which had declined, is likely to recover riding on cross border mergers and acquisitions (M&As). “FDI outflows are expected to rebound in 2010, sustained by M&A opportunities associated with Indian and Chinese firms' persistent pursuit of natural resources and markets,” it says. Besides, UNCTAD said recent forecasts suggest that the global economy has exited recession and returned to growth. “The world economy is expected to grow by 3 per cent in 2010,” according to the report.

It also forecasts that central banks are expected to maintain low interest rates till the end of 2010 and commodity price increases are likely to remain modest.

The report also focuses on climate change and in particular the role of transnational corporations in supporting the transition of developing countries to a low-carbon economy. Low-carbon FDI is significant and its potential huge, says UNCTAD. In three key low-carbon business areas alone, FDI flows are estimated to have been $90 billion in 2009. “A quarter of the greenfield investments in alternative or renewable power generation were in the developing economies including India and Pakistan,” the report says. — PTI