1.

New privacy Bill: Data Protection Authority, jail term for offence Rattled by leakage of authorised and non-authorised phone taps, the UPA government is planning to set up a three-member Data Protection Authority of India, whose main functions would include monitoring and enforcing compliance of the proposed data protection laws and to investigate any data security breach. The authority is just one of the many measures aimed at safeguarding the security interests of all affected individuals in the personal data that has or is likely to have been compromised by such a breach under the Right to Privacy Bill, 2011. The Act proposes a maximum punishment of five years and/or fine of Rs 7 lakh for the first offence and Rs 10 lakh for every subsequent offence. 2. Panel to probe Tawang helicopter crash The government has appointed a Committee of Inquiry to probe the circumstances of the Pawan Hans helicopter crash at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh in April 19 that claimed the lives of 17 people. The committee, headed by Air Marshal (Retd.) P.P. Rajkumar, will have Air Commodore (Retd.) Rai Krishan and Wing Commander (Retd.) Rabinder Singh as members. M.J. Singh, Deputy Director of Air Safety, will be the secretary. It will submit its report to the Central government within three months. 3. Plan to set up naturopathy, yoga development board Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot inaugurated a Naturopathy and Yoga Development Board with an initial grant of Rs.1 crore for it. He also called for information technology applications to promote the two fields of health care. The Board would have eminent experts as its members and would work for restoration of traditional systems of medicine through research and public awareness. The Gandhi Smarak Prakratik Chikitsa Samiti, New Delhi, and Mahatma Gandhi Prakratik Chikitsa Evum Yoga Mahavidyalaya, Jaipur, are jointly organising the conference. Experts attending the event highlighted the potential of the two streams for treatment of various diseases. 4. U.S. has left Pakistan base Pakistan has stopped U.S. forces from using an airbase in Balochistan from where unmanned Predator drones were operating, in fresh signs of growing rift over the CIA operated strikes. The base also called the Bandari, is a small airfield and air station located about 200 miles southwest of Quetta, along the Afghan border. The operation of the base not acknowledged by the U.S. has always been presumed to have occurred with tacit Pakistani military consent. Portugal is looking to boost its trade relations with India and is particularly keen on improving trade ties with Goa. The trade between India and Portugal is expected to be around 500 million Euros, bulk of which is accounted for by exports from India. The Five Star hotels in Goa have wine from all over the world but not from Portugal, although tourism in the state benefits from symbol of Portugal and its history. 6. Indian Bank to raise $1 bn via overseas bonds State-owned Indian Bank plans to raise $1 billion (about Rs 4,500 crore) through overseas bonds to fund business growth. The banks board has approved $1 billion Medium Term Note programme to raise funds from overseas market during the current fiscal. Besides, the bank is also planning to raise capital through follow on public offer (FPO). The bank reported 7 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 438.86 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31,

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2011. Total income of the bank grew by 23.65 per cent to Rs 2,865.8 crore in the JanuaryMarch quarter from Rs 2,317.73 crore in the same quarter a year-ago.

7. India to up quota on duty free textiles from Bangladesh To check rising trade deficit of neighboring Bangladesh, India will increase the duty-free quota for exporting textiles by 25 per cent while removing duty on jute imports. This is going to help Bangladesh in bridging the ballooning trade deficit to some extent. This will also help Bangladesh increase its textile export to India. 8. Corporate, retail banking help boost Indian Bank's profit Indian Bank continued its creditable performance during the year ended March 31, 2011 in all the key parameters. The directors have proposed a dividend of Rs. 7.50 per share of Rs. 10. It paid a dividend of Rs. 6.50 in the previous year. The bank registered a growth of 19.8 per cent in its operating profit at Rs. 3,292 crore against Rs. 2,747 crore in the previous year on a healthy growth in net interest income at Rs. 9,361 crore against Rs. 7,714 crore. Total income improved by 16.8 per cent to Rs. 10,543 crore from Rs. 9,031 crore. Total expenditure, excluding provisions and contingencies, stood at Rs. 7,251.23 crore against Rs. 6,283.42 crore with interest expenditure accounting for Rs. 5,324.92 crore (Rs. 4,553.18 crore). The bank has provided a sum Rs.92 crore towards transitional liability on a proportionate basis on employee benefits, Rs. 33.20 crore towards part of the additional gratuity fund requirement and a net sum of Rs. 153.06 crore towards additional pension fund liability. 9. From alternative media' to YouTube partner, NewsClick's story of success NewsClick, touted as an alternative to corporate media, has completed two years in existence. Founded in 2009 by a group of senior journalists to address issues that matter head-on, NewsClick has grown in stature to witness its viewer base increase five-fold in the last year. Recently, it entered into a partnership with YouTube, becoming the only such news channel that is not a TV station. To host a wider repertoire of written and audio-visual content, it has now launched a new-look, sleek website at NewsClick.in. 10. Vishnu Vardhan clinches title Vishnu Vardhan asserted his growing stature with a breathtaking 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(13) victory over Kim Young-Jun of Korea in the final of the $10,000 ITF men's Futures tennis tournament at the Noida Sports Complex, Sector-21. It was the second successive title for the 23-year-old Hyderabad lad following his triumph last week in Chandigarh. He has won three titles from eight finals so far, and one of those losses in the final was to Kim himself in 2009. The two had enjoyed a 1-1 win-loss record earlier.

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