11 MARCH 2015

Ø  The controversial Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill was approved by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, but not before the Modi government reached out to unhappy NDA allies and unattached parties such as the BJD and the AIADMK to seek their support for this crucial legislation.

Ø  A Delhi court on Tuesday discharged bomb expert and Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Syed Abdul Karim alias Tunda in a two-decade old case of allegedly making plans to carry out explosions in trains in different States on the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992.

Ø  The centrepiece of a two-day visit by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to the United Kingdom on March 13 and 14 will be the unveiling of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square. Mr. Jaitley — who is visiting the U.K. officially for the first time as Finance Minister — will also have separate meetings with Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne; and address foreign institutional investors for the first time since the Indian budget was announced. The ceremony to unveil the statue will take place on March 14. The first of an Indian, and the only one in the square of a public figure who has not been in office, the statue has been inspired by the photographs of Gandhi when he visited 10 Downing Street in 1931. With British Ministers and government officials, and with institutional investors, Mr. Jaitley will discuss the climate for British businesses in India after the February Budget, as well as the Make in India campaign. Further, the Bengaluru-Mumbai Economic Corridor will be discussed.

Ø  British singer Sarah Brightman said on Tuesday she was planning a duet when she becomes the first soprano to board the International Space Station later this year after paying a $52-million ticket. The singer, who has been learning Russian and survival skills for her trip, said that she was working with ex-husband Andrew Lloyd Webber on the song to be performed with a singer on Earth.

Ø  Solar Impulse 2 (Si2), the world’s first solar flight circumventing the globe without a drop of fuel, landed here on Tuesday night after a delay of two days. The Swiss aircraft touched down at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 11.24 p.m. Gujarat Chief Secretary D.J. Pandian received pilot Bertrand Piccard at the airport and presented him with a Gujarati shawl. “I am happy to be in India,” said Mr. Piccard. This is the airplane’s second stop. Solar Impulse 2 began its journey from Abu Dhabi on Monday and made a stopover at the Muscat International Airport in Oman on Tuesday morning. From Oman, it headed for Ahmedabad, covering a distance of 1,465 km in 16 hours. It will be stationed here for two days for the pilots to hold meetings with government officials, stakeholders and civil society members. The Aditya Birla Group is the India host for Solar Impulse 2. Mr. Piccard and Andre Boschberg, co-pilots and co-founders of the experimental aircraft, are taking turns to fly the single-seater, 2,300-kg aircraft in a journey around the world, spread over 25 flight days of five months and covering 35,000 km. The Oman-Ahmedabad trip was piloted by Mr. Piccard, one of the first balloonists to circle the earth.

Ø  India’s current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to $8.2 billion, which is 1.6 per cent of GDP, during October-December 2014, compared to $10.1 billion (2 per cent of GDP) in the previous three months. It, however, doubled compared to $4.2 billion or 0.9 per cent of GDP a year earlier. On the balance of payments basis there was a surplus of $13.2 billion in foreign exchange reserves during October-December 2014 — the fifth consecutive quarter of surplus. It was also almost double the $6.9 billion surplus in the previous quarter.