India: Last Week

National Summary:
Politics:
UPA government wants to restore caste-based census but in the criticism from opposition force it to wait for consensus of all parties in parliament. Opposition does not want to change the decision of the framers of the Constitution and the first Cabinet after Independence which had leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, B R Ambedkar and Maulana Azad. They decided to do away with caste-based census which was seen as divisive. Caste-based census is considered logical as it would be helpful to implement Mandal commission recommendations for OBCs and minorities.
Insurgency Movements:
Maoists trigger at least three blasts at a government-run residential school for tribal girls at Dhepaguda in the district on Saturday while damaged rail track and set ablaze two buses to enforce their 48-hour north Bihar Bandh, which began on Thursday.
Economy:
The CII Business Outlook Survey based on response from 458 companies said that India Inc expects the economy to grow by 7.5 to 8.5 per cent during the current fiscal fuelled mainly by rising capital investment and expanding exports. The industry optimism was also expressed in the Business Confidence Index that rose to 67.6 points for April-September 2010-11, compared to 66.1 points during the second half of 2009-10, according to the survey.
The government said that the value of India's exports for 2009-10 may fall short of the previous year's figures on account of the global economic downturn, but will cross the USD 170 billion mark. The country's exports in 2008-09 had amounted to USD 185 billion.
India and EU are expected to sign FTA this October. Both are working to eliminate differences through negotiations. EU has concerns on Indian policy of market access liberalisation and environment.
Geostrategic/Foreign Relations:
India is most likely to get access to American Lashkar terrorist David Coleman Headley this month with the United States indicating that it will communicate the exact date latest by next week. But officials keeping a track on the probe do not seem to be optimistic about any favourable outcome of his questioning.
The number of Pakistanis coming to India in 2009 decreased by almost 50%. The total number of visas issued to Pakistanis by India in 2009 was 51,946, a sudden and sharp fall from the 95,112 issued in 2008. Sources attribute the decline to more stringent norms for issuance of visas to Pakistanis in the aftermath of 26/11.
Indian Ocuupied Kashmir:
Hurriyat leader, Syed Ali Gilani was not allowed to lead a march to the United Nations office and authorities kept him under house arrest. However, the day saw youth taking to the streets and clashing with the police, closure of shops and disruption of traffic. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the moderate Hurriyat faction, and senior leaders of the conglomerate were also placed under house arrest to prevent them from going to Anantnag district for a rally. Mr. Gilani had called a march to the office of the United Nations Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan to submit a memorandum, seeking U.N. intervention to grant the people of Kashmir the right to self-determination.
Dr. Shah Faisal becomes the first from Kashmir to top the Union Public Service Commission 2009 examinations. Dr. Faisal chose Public Administration.
Social Issues:
The radiation-related death of a scrap metal worker has raised concerns over nuclear safety in India, at a time when the Asian power is wooing foreign players to its $150 billion civilian nuclear market. Authorities have launched a probe into the unauthorised disposal of a disused machine from the chemistry department of Delhi University, which contained the radioactive material cobalt-60 and ended up in a scrap metal hub in the capital. A man died in hospital from exposure last week, in a case a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was quoted as saying was the most serious worldwide since 2006. Safety standards are a sensitive issue in India, where a gas leak in a Union Carbide factory killed thousands a quarter of a century ago in one of the world's worst industrial accidents.
According to noted economist Nancy Birdsall’s (president of the Center for Global Development) new definition of the middle class for developing countries, the middle class in the developing world to include people with an income above $10 day. By this definition, India even urban India alone has no middle class; everyone at over $10 a day is in the top 5% of the country. This is a combination both of the depth of India's poverty and its inequality. Birdsall defines middle class in monetary terms, the broader concept of what a middle class really is, as opposed to merely counting the middle third of a country.
The Special Sessions Court on Thursday sentenced to death Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Kasab was given the death penalty on five counts: murder, abetment to murder, waging war, criminal conspiracy and committing terrorist acts. He was also awarded life imprisonment on five counts: attempt to murder in furtherance of a common intention, kidnapping and abducting in order to murder, conspiracy to wage war, collecting arms with the intention of waging war and causing explosion thus endangering life and property.
Regional Summary:
Central India/Hindi Heartland:
The BJP on Saturday agreed to pleas made by JMM leaders and let Shibu Soren continue as Chief Minister of Jharkhand for some more time, putting on hold a decision on the transfer of power for now. After a marathon meeting of BJP leaders Nitin Gadkari, former president Rajnath Singh and party general secretary Ananth Kumar, with Soren’s son Hemant and other JMM leaders as well as allies like JD(U) and AJSU, it was decided that the “consultation process, amongst the allies, would continue”.
Eastern States:
Alleging that the Congress is “providing oxygen to a dying Communist Party of India (Marxist)” by breaking the electoral alliance for the coming civic polls in the State, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said on Sunday that “there is no alliance in West Bengal.” “We were in favour of an alliance…but they [the Congress] did not want it,” She also ruled out the possibility of “friendly contests” with the Congress, as there was no such thing in politics. She determines to contest election with full force against CPM.
Holding the Congress responsible for the break-up of its alliance with the Trinamool Congress for the upcoming polls to civic bodies across the State including the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, Subrata Mukherjee, one of the working presidents of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC), is all set to re-join the Trinamool Congress.
Western States:
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan, on Monday signed an MoU to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for two river interlinking projects to facilitate inter-basin transfer of water to benefit both the states. Union Water Resources Minister Pawan Bansal on Monday signed the tripartite MoU between the Government of India, Maharashtra and Gujarat in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the preparation of DPRs of Damanganga-Pinjal and Par-Tapi-Narmada link projects.
A new census in Gir forests has revealed that the population of the Asiatic lion has risen by 52 to reach the figure of 411.