Western Ghats: Nod for farming activities by Ministry of Environment & Forests
The Environment Ministry, following the ‘in principle’ acceptance of the Kasturirangan panel report, issued a fresh order on easing norms on activities related to plantations and agriculture in Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESA).
The Ministry elucidated that the recommendations made by the Kasturirangan panel, neither put any fresh restrictions on land use in the ESA nor do they in any way impact the continued occupation of land in possession of the local people and affect their day to day activities or normal livelihood.
The new order cleared that the boundary of the ESA and the regulatory regime — an emotive issue in some of the affected states — would be finalized after the draft notification for the same is placed in the public domain and comments on it from all stakeholders including state governments are received.
What are the recommendations made by the Kasturirangan panel?
The key suggestions made by the K. Kasturirangan panel:
Promotion of Ecotourism; economically empower the local population, Incentives green growth in the Western Ghats, etc.
Ban on mining, quarrying, sand mining, thermal power plants, building and construction projects on areas that are 20,000 sq m or more, township and area development projects with an area of 50ha and above and red category of industries in ESA.
Defined 37% of the Western Ghats landscape as ecologically sensitive.
Russia frees former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an oil tycoon and political opponent of Vladimir Putin, released from prison after being pardoned by the Russian President. He left for Germany where his mother is being treated for cancer He spent ten years in jail for tax fraud, embezzlements and money laundering.
President Putin signed a decree pardoning his former political opponent on humanitarian grounds.
Who is Mikhail Khodorkovsky?
He is a Russian businessman, an oligarch, a philanthropist, a public figure and an author. He was once Russia’s richest man as head of oil giant Yukos, spent 10 years in custody for tax evasion and theft after funding opposition parties.
RBI: Inflation linked bonds for sale from December 23, 2013
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will issue Inflation Indexed National Savings Securities Cumulative (IINSS-C) bonds (or inflation linked bonds) for retail investors by opening the subscription on December 23, 2013 and close it on December 31, 2013.
Objective: The move will help to protect retail investors from price rise.
The IINSS-C bonds will offer investors a return i.e. 1.5% more than inflation based on the consumer price index. Interest will be compounded half yearly, enhancing effective yield on investments.
Inflation linked bonds
The limit for investment per applicant per annum: Rs 5,000 – Rs 5 lakh.
Eligibility for subscription: Individuals, Hindu Undivided Family, charitable institutions and universities.
The interest rate on these bonds would be linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The interest rate would comprise two parts — a fixed rate of 1.5% per annum and inflation rate based on CPI with a lag of three months. It would be compounded on the principal on half-yearly basis and paid at the time of maturity.
For senior citizens (65 years and above of age), early repurchase will be allowed after one year from date of issue and other investors can redeem them after three years but with penalty of 50 per cent of the last coupon paid.
RBI will act as a central depository, as these securities will be issued in the form of Bonds Ledger Account (BLA) and held with RBI.
Distribution or sale of bonds would be through banks: SBI, nationalized banks and three private banks HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank and Stock Holding Corporation of India.
Kirobo: World’s first robot astronaut
Kirobo, the world’s first robot astronaut talks about Christmas in its first chat with the Japanese commander of the International Space Station.
About the world’s first robot astronaut Kirobo
Kirobo is Japan’s first humanoid robot astronaut, developed by Tomotaka Takahashi, to accompany Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese commander of the International Space Station.
Objective: To see how well robots and humans can interact.
A pint-sized android equipped with artificial intelligence and capable of learning how to respond appropriately to humans.
Created jointly by advertising firm Dentsu, the University of Tokyo, robot developer Robo Garage and Toyota.
The robot’s capabilities include voice and speech recognition, natural language processing, speech synthesis and telecommunications, as well as facial recognition and video recording. Kirobo is specially designed to navigate zero-gravity environments and will assist Commander Wakata in various experiments.
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