23 JUNE 2014: Rani Ki Vav gets World Heritage Site Status...!

Ø  India has decided to enhance transparency of its nuclear infrastructure by ratifying an Additional Protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) — a step that in a single stroke can be leveraged to boost energy security and lift international confidence. The ratification, concluded last week, also appears well timed with the meeting on Monday in Buenos Aires of the Nuclear Suppliers Group — the elite 45-country club India aspires to join, which controls the global flows of nuclear wherewithal. The safeguards agreement with the IAEA covered 20 facilities that include the Nuclear Fuel Complex in Hyderabad, Tarapur atomic power plant, Rajasthan Atomic Power Station, both units at Kudankulam, and the Kakrapar Atomic Power Station.

Ø  Justice M.B. Shah, chairman of the 11-member Special Investigation Team on black money, said the Switzerland government’s move to share with India a list of its citizens who are suspected to have stashed away untaxed wealth in Swiss banks will come as a major breakthrough in its ongoing investigation.

Ø  Rani-ki-Vav, a 11th century stepwell in the Patan area of Gujarat, was approved for inscription on the World Heritage list by UNESCO at the meeting of its World Heritage Committee in Doha. As per the UNESCO’s announcement, “the Queen’s Stepwell” was designed as an inverted temple highlighting the sanctity of water. Located on the banks of the Saraswati and built as a memorial to King Bhimdev I of the Solanki dynasty, Rani-ki-Vav is divided into seven levels of stairs with sculptural panels. Three other sites that were inscribed are: Namhansaneong in South Korea, the Grand Canal running from Beijing to Zhejiang province in Southern China, and the Silk Roads network of Chang’an-Tianshan Corridor.

Ø  India has moved up to 58th rank in terms of foreign money lying with Swiss banks, but it accounts for a meagre 0.15 per cent of an estimated $1.6 trillion total global wealth held in Switzerland’s banking system. The U.K. has retained its top position with highest share of close to 20 per cent of global wealth in Swiss banking system, followed by the U.S., West Indies, Germany and Guernsey in the top-five in terms of exposure to banks in Switzerland. Amid much hue and cry over huge amounts of illicit wealth stashed by Indians in Swiss banks, the latest official data released by Switzerland’s central banking authority SNB shows that Indian money in Swiss banks rose by 43 per cent during 2013 to close to Rs. 14,000 crore (2.03 billion Swiss francs), pushing its global ranking up from 70th at the end of 2012.