19 FEBRUARY 2014

Ø  Lok Sabha passes Telangana Bill closed door. Union Ministers – M. M. Pallam Raju and D. Purandeswari put in their papers decrying bifurcation. Soon after the Bill was passed, State Ministers – Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Erasu Pratap Reddy, T. G. Venkatesh, S. Sailajanath, K. Parthasarathy, Galla Aruna and Kasu Venkatakrishna Reddy forwarded their resignation letters to the Governor. They were followed by nine MLAs, who too quit the party and membership of the Assembly. Lok Sabha Television went blank one minute into the afternoon’s proceedings in the House on Tuesday, which was blamed on a technical glitch.

Ø  Supreme court commutes death sentence of Rajiv killers – Santhan, Murugan, Perarivalan.

Ø  Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling will publish her second crime novel in June, it was revealed on Monday, under the pen name of Robert Galbraith. The Silkworm , to be published on June 19, will be a follow-up to The Cuckoo’s Calling , which Ms. Rowling wrote using the Galbraith pseudonym.

Ø  The Union Ministry of Tourism has declared Sikkim the best State in the implementation of rural tourism projects. Union Minister for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor presented the National Tourism Award 2012-13 to Sikkim’s Tourism Minister Bhim Dhungel at a function at Vigyan BhawanJ&K Tourism Minister Ghulam Ahmad Mir (left) receiving the National Tourism Award for the Best State-Comprehensive Development of Tourism from Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor at a function in New Delhi.

Ø  China emerged as the largest buyer of gold in the world in 2013 having bought 1,066 tonnes. In doing so, it surpassed India as the largest gold consumer. According to a report released by World Gold Council (WGC) – Gold Demand Trends, in 2013, Indian gold demand grew to 974.8 tonnes; up 13 per cent vis-à-vis China’s demand which rose 32 per cent in 2013 to 1,066 tonnes.

Ø  Social networking site Worldfloat, on Tuesday, said it had introduced e-commerce feature, taking on major players such as OLX, Flipkart and Snapdeal in discount deals markets. According to Worldfloat founder Pushkar Mahatta, the new feature, called Citydeals, would allow users to sell and buy products locally. Initially the service will be available in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore. Mr. Mahatta said the new feature was like Facebook feeds, and would allow users to sell and buy products such as cars, bikes, mobiles, real estate and a lot more.