1 MARCH 2014

Ø  Just days ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, the Union Cabinet on Friday increased the dearness allowance (DA) of Union government employees and dearness relief (DR) of pensioners by 10 per cent of the basic pay, taking the rate to 100 per cent.

Ø  Eminent Gandhian and environmentalist Chandi Prasad Bhatt has been selected for the 2013 Gandhi Peace Prize. 

Ø  The prestigious heavy weight torpedo, Varunastra, designed and developed by the Naval Science and Technology Laboratory here is all set to undergo user evaluation trials (UET) by the Navy by mid-year. The 1500 kg torpedo would be manufactured at the Bharat Dynamics Ltd.

Ø  Uunion Cabinet on Friday increased the number of workdays under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) from 100 to 150 for those who have received land rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, provided they have no other private land and have already completed 100 days of work under the scheme in that financial year: the decision will come into effect from April 2014.

Ø  The government, on Friday, cleared disinvestment in two blue-chip state-owned companies Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), which would fetch over Rs.7,300 crore to the exchequer in the current fiscal. The decision to go ahead with the stake sale of 10 per cent in IOC and 5 per cent in BHEL was taken by the Empowered Group of Ministers on disinvestment. The government will be selling 10 per cent stake in IOC to state-run ONGC and Oil India Ltd (OIL) at a discount of 10 per cent, which would fetch about Rs.5,300 crore to the exchequer.