1.

Eurofighter, Rafale asked to extend bids The Ministry of Defence asked European consortium's Eurofighter and French Dassault's Rafale to extend the commercial bids for the 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft. The move could be interpreted as down selection' from six competitors in the Rs. 45,000-crore deal that is expected to be finalised this fiscal. The Ministry despatched the letter, based on the Technical Evaluation Committee's report. The commercial bids, which were re-submitted last year by the competitors, need to be extended. Once the bids are opened, the cost negotiation committee would start work. 2. UP, Bihar excel in polio eradication Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have registered a turn around in polio incidence, with not a single Wild Polio Virus Type III case reported in the last one year. Uttar Pradesh has also not reported any case of Wild Polio Virus Type I for the past 15 months. Bihar has not reported any case of Wild Polio Virus Type III for the last 15 months, and of Type I since September 2010. 3. Lobsang Sangay chosen for political work Harvard scholar Lobsang Sangay was elected prime minister of the so-called Tibetan government-in-exile and would take over the political duties relinquished by the religious leader Dalai Lama. A research fellow at the Harvard Law School, Mr. Sangay, aged 43, polled 55 per cent votes out of 49,189, defeating his nearest rival Tethong Tenzin Namgyal by 8,646 votes. Fifty-nine per cent votes were cast by the electoral college comprising more than 83,000 Tibetans living in exile in India, the U.S., the European countries, Bhutan, Nepal, Russia and Japan, among others. Voting was not allowed by the authorities in Nepal and Bhutan. The Dalai Lama, 75, announced last month that he would step down as political head, but would remain as religious leader and continue to advocate meaningful autonomy for Tibet. 4. US ambassador Timothy Roemer resigns US ambassador Timothy Roemer, the US ambassador to India resigned after India told the US companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin that their fighter aircraft were out of the reckoning for India's MMRCA bid. 54-year-old Roemer, a political appointee, said he has accomplished all of the strategic objectives set two years ago and he wants to go back home to look after his family. Roemer, who was nominated by US President Barack Obama in May 2009, is expected to leave by June. 5. US storms kill 72 across Southern America A wave of tornado-spawning storms strafed the South splintering buildings across hard-hit Alabama and killing 72 people in four states. At least 58 people died in Alabama alone, including 15 or more when a massive tornado devastated Tuscaloosa. The city's mayor states sections of the city that's home to the University of Alabama have been destroyed and the city's infrastructure is devastated. Eleven deaths were reported in Mississippi, two in Georgia and one in Tennessee.

6. Indian photographer wins 2011 Sony World Photography Awards Indian photographer Amit Madheshiya has been named 'Arts and Culture Photographer of the Year' at the prestigious Sony World Photography Awards 2011. Mumbai-based Madheshiya was one of 13 professional category winners presented with an award held at the ceremony at the Odeon in Leicester Square. His winning series of photographs, entitled People Watching Cinema at the Nomadic Talkies, was shot in the remote of Maharashtra. It Page 1 of 2 28th April 2011

documents people attending nighttime film screenings held by a travelling cinema. The nomadic cinemas travel to the villages, which are located far from fixed-site theatres, once a year and show an eclectic mix of films. The Sony World Photography Awards is the world's largest and most comprehensive photography competition. 7. ONGC strikes oil, gas in Gujarat Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) announced two new oil and gas discoveries in Gujarat. It struck oil and gas in a well drilled in block CB-ONN-2004/2. It has 50 per cent interest in the block that it had won along with the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (40 per cent) and Sunterra (10 per cent) in the seventh round of bidding under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP). Exploratory well Vadtal-3 produced oil at a rate of 22.5 cubic metre a day and gas at a rate of 3758 cubic metre. 8. RPower puts Samalkot project on fast track In a development that could cheer up the power starved southern region, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani owned Reliance Power has put the 2,400 MW Samalkot power project in Andhra Pradesh on fast track with the delivery of first batch of gas turbines being despatched by U.S.-based General Electric (GE) ahead of schedule. The development is likely to allow Reliance Power to commission the first phase of the project this year itself. GE had already despatched two gas turbines of 260 MW each from its South Carolina facility. The advanced class 9FA fuel efficient machines for the project are expected to reach Samalkot in the latter half of May. 9. OIL signs Mo In a unique initiative and partnership, state-run Oil India Limited (OIL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) for research and collaboration in petroleum biotechnology and new and renewable energy sources. Biotechnology is an emerging field of study for its immense beneficial capability in providing solutions for a sustainable way to conserve energy resources and control environmental degradation. The mutual collaboration will focus on significant areas of R&D such as microbial enhancement of oil recovery, removal of paraffin from oil well and oil tubings, reduction of viscocity in heady crude, mitigation of pollution problems, increase efficiency of waste water and concentrate on areas of new and renewable energy. 10. Sunderbans absorbs more than 4 cr tonnes of carbon dioxide daily Protecting the world from the adverse effects of climate change, the Sunderbans forests play a crucial ecological role by acting as a carbon sink and absorbing more than four crore tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. With 2118 sq km of total mangrove forest cover, the Indian Sunderbans have soaked in 4.15 crore tonnes of carbon dioxide, valued at around USD 79 billion in the international market.

Page 2 of 2 28th April 2011