1 JUNE 2016

Ø   Sixteen men, including two Army officers, were killed in a massive fire at the Army’s Central Ammunition Depot (CAD) in Pulgaon town of Maharashtra’s Wardha district early on Tuesday morning. CAD is the most crucial ammunition depot of the Army and among the largest in the world. “Two Army officers, one jawan and 13 men of the firefighting staff sacrificed their lives to stop the fire from spreading,” Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told reporters after visiting the spot. Seventeen people were injured. Six of them are in the ICU and one is critical, the Minister said. Since 2000 there have been at least six major fires in ammunition dumps killing scores.

Ø  The government has formed a search-cum-selection panel headed by Cabinet Secretary, Pradeep Kumar Sinha, to choose a deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India – a departure from the past when such a panel was headed by the central bank governor. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan will be a member in the panel. The search panel will include a representative from the Prime Minister’s Office, one from the Finance Ministry, an economist and a professor from Gujarat National Law University, sources with direct knowledge of the development said.

Ø  The Commerce Ministry has cautioned the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) against ceding to demands that India offer binding concessions to secure an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) membership. The 21 members of the APEC forum, which comprises countries bordering the Pacific Ocean including the U.S., China and Japan, account for about half the world’s trade and almost 60 per cent of global GDP. Among APEC’s objectives is ensuring that goods, services, investment and people move easily across borders in the Asia-Pacific region.