1.

Government removes curbs on women in Kolhapur temple Kolhapur Collector Laxmikant Deshmukh and Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Satej Patil announced that women would henceforth be allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the Sri Mahalakshmi temple. It was decided to allow special puja by women at a specified time. The meeting also decided to fix specific hours for women to enter the sanctum sanctorum. The issue of restriction of women entry in temple was first raised by Ram Kadam, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) MLA, in the Assembly asking why women were prohibited. After this triggered a debate in the media, Neeta Kelkar, women's wing leader of the BJP from Sangli, along with others forcibly entered the sanctum sanctorum on Wednesday. The priests could not stop them from defying the ban. 2. New initiative to impart teaching skills to doctors The historical lack of formal teacher training for doctors may yet be reversed by recent trends offering degree and diploma courses for medical educators across the globe. Teaching is a skill, and recent teacher training programmes that have emerged try to bring modern techniques into education, with a special focus on the intricacies that medicine demands. This is precisely what the WGO attempts to do with its Train the Trainers' programme correct the deficit of a formal training as educators. The first session of the WGO's TTT was held for the first time in Chennai, between April 10 and 14, for about 50 gastroenterologists. Some of the aspects that were d ealt with during the session, conducted in association with the Indian Society of Gastroenterology, included modules on adult education, teaching techniques, how to conduct high quality research, and evidence-based medicine. 3. Social crisis ahead: World Bank, IMF Even as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual Spring Meetings kicked into top gear, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn made a strong case for reducing global inequality if economic growth was to be sustained. The ongoing meetings of the Bretton Woods institutions also coincided with the release of several key policy reports such as the Global Financial Stability Report, 2011, which argued that despite the transfer of risks from the private to the public sector during the crisis, confidence in the banking systems of many advanced economies had not been restored and continues to interact adversely with the sovereign risks in the euro area. Further in the United States, a lacklustre housing market, legacy mortgage problems, and a backlog of foreclosures continued to put pressure on the banking system, limiting credit creation and a return to a fully functioning, mortgage market, the GFSR 2011 argued. 4. Russian copters for Afghanistan Russia has finalised a deal with NATO to supply two dozen combat helicopters to Afghanistan and train local pilots. Russia and NATO will set up a trust fund for the supply and maintenance of Mi-17 and Mi-35 helicopters, said a top Russian diplomat. Earlier reports said Russia would sell 21 helicopters for the Afghan military at a cost of $367.5 million and supply three more aircraft gratis. The U.S. agreed to foot the bill after Moscow turned down a NATO request to supply the helicopters for free. Once the new aircraft are delivered, the Afghan army will have close to 100 Russian-built helicopters.

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5. Trade with other BRICS nations at $60 bn in Q1 As the leaders of BRICS nations concluded their summit to enhance trade ties, Chinas trade with India and other three members of the bloc surged by 45.8 per cent to reach $59.9 billion in the first quarter of this year. The first-quarter foreign trade growth between China and the other four nations of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), was 16.3 percentage points higher than Chinas average foreign trade growth during the period. During the first three months, Chinas imports from the other BRICS countries reached $33.05 billion, up 57.2 per cent year on year. Exports to those countries hit $26.85 billion Yuan, up 33.8 per ce nt. 6. Mohandas Pai steps down In a surprise development, T. V. Mohandas Pai resigned from Infosys and its board of directors, ending a 17-year association with the company. Mr. Pai has decided to relinquish the position of member of the board and has requested the board to relieve him of the responsibilities after the company's annual general meeting on June 11. Mr. Pai is the second top executive in Infosys to leave the organisation in two years after Nandan Nilekani, one of its founders, quit to join the government. 7. Nestle elevates Nandkishore as Executive VP Swiss FMCG giant Nestle has appointed India-born Nandu Nandkishore as the Executive VicePresident for Asia, Oceania, Africa and the Middle East (ME) with effect from October 1. He will succeed Frits van Dijk, who is retiring in September after a long and distinguished career of 41 years with Nestle. Mr. Nandkishore, 52, now Deputy Executive Vice-President and responsible for Nestlutrition, acquired extensive practical business experience in a g lobal context over his past 22 years with the group. 8. Shivakumar sets new record S.B. Shivakumar of BVB College of Engineering and Technology (Hubli) set a new meet record in the men's 10,000m on the penultimate day of the VTU inter-collegiate athletics meet. Shivakumar clocked 36:29.7s to obliterate K.M. Saravana's mark of 37:26.80 from 1999. 9. Alok Kumar wins Asian billiards title Alok Kumar outwitted former world champion Praput Chaithanasukan of Thailand 6-0 to clinch the Asian billiards championship title at the Olympic Stadium in Kish Island, Iran. Alok, who had also beaten former World champions Pankaj Advani (4-3 in the quarterfinals) and Peter Gilchrist (5-2 in the semis), gave a clinical performance to get the better of Chaithanasukan 101 (93)-2, 101 (84)-2, 100 (85)-6, 100 (40)-72, 101 (73)-18, 101 (76)-57 in the best-of-11 final game. The 43 year-old became the first player ever to achieve a rare feat of winning the Asian billiards and snooker titles. He had bagged the Asian snooker crown in 2004 in Jordan.

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