29 JANUARY 2014

Ø  Legendary folk singer Pete Seeger, “a living archive of America’s music and conscience” who inspired the likes of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, has died at the age of 94

Ø  A long-time resident of Rameswaram and former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam inaugurated the centenary celebrations of the Pamban railway bridge — India’s first cantilever bridge, connecting the pilgrim-island of Rameswaram with the mainland. Mr. Kalam unveiled a plaque and released a book Marvels of South Indian Railway , marking the inauguration of the nearly month-long celebrations.

Ø  A memorandum of understanding was signed between the National Rural Livelihoods Mission and Digital Green — a Microsoft Research Project

Ø  The United Nations’ highest court drew a new maritime boundary between Peru and Chile on Monday, awarding Peru parts of the Pacific Ocean but keeping rich coastal fishing grounds in Chilean hands. The line drawn by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ended decades of debate about how to carve up some 38,000 sq. km of fish rich waters.

Ø  The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution allowing European troops to use force in the Central African Republic and threatening sanctions against those blamed for the country’s strife. The European Union is to send up to 600 troops to help African and French forces already in the country trying to end clashes between rival Christian and Muslim militias.

Ø  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on Tuesday, increased the indicative policy rate (repo) by 25 basis points to 8 per cent to tame inflation. 

Ø  External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will embark on a week-long trip on Thursday to Morocco, Tunisia and Sudan. India has substantial economic interests in all the three countries linked to its food and energy security. The visit to the region comes after Indian participation in the Geneva II Conference on Syria and follows the recent visits of Prime Minister of Kuwait, foreign ministers of Egypt and the UAE and the Secretary General of the Arab League to New Delhi. Morocco is an importance source of phosphate imports to India. OCP (office Cherifen des Phosphates) has a phosphate related joint venture with Tata Chemicals and Chambal Chemicals & Fertilisers. It produces four lakh tonnes of phosphoric acid for exports to India. The visit to Tunisia will be the first bilateral visit ever by an Indian Foreign Minister. Return visits have also been rare — two by Tunisian foreign ministers in 1991 and 2000. Besides touching base with an important source for fertilizers, this visit will be an interesting contact between the largest democracies with a new democracy struggling to achieve durability, said official sources in the MEA. Tunisia has been a reliable source for phosphates to India for over five decades, and India is the largest buyer of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and phosphoric acid. Tunisia-India Fertiliser SA is a $450 million Tunisia-India project, which produces 3.6 lakh tonnes of phosphoric acid annually to be shipped to Indian companies. Mr. Khurshid will meet his counterpart Othman Jerandi and other political leaders. In Sudan, the trade relationship cuts both ways — India is the second largest exporter to Sudan, and this year exports could cross the $1-billion mark. In addition, there is active engagement in the field of energy with several Indian companies now active in Sudan, including ONGC-Videsh Ltd., BHEL, TCIL, Progressive Construction Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto. Mr. Khurshid will meet his counterpart Ali Ahmed Karti apart from attending some events.