1-Ajit Seth is next Cabinet Secretary

Ajit Kumar Seth, a 1974 IAS officer from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, will be the next
Cabinet Secretary. Mr. Seth, currently Secretary, Public Grievances and
Coordination in the Cabinet Secretariat, will succeed K.M. Chandrashekhar, a
1970 batch Kerala cadre IAS officer, who retires in June 2011 after four years in
the post — this included two extensions. The 59-year-old Seth will serve as an
Officer on Special Duty in the Cabinet Secretariat till June 13 and assume charge
the next day. He will have fixed two-year tenure.

2-Tokyo summit raises n-safety concerns

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has begun a fact-finding mission
to unravel the causes of Japan's ongoing radiation crisis that was triggered by
the March 11 earthquake and tsunami at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power
station. The Mission, from May 24 to June 2, would assess the “safety issues” at
the actual plant site.

3-Ash cloud from Iceland volcano causes travel chaos

Thousands of travellers were stranded at airports across the United Kingdom
after flights were cancelled because of threat from drifting ash following a
volcanic eruption in Iceland. Nearly all flights to and from Scotland were
cancelled amid fears the disruption could spread to other regions, reviving
nightmarish memories of the crisis last year when, for days, European air space
was shut down after a volcano erupted in Iceland.

4-India offers $5 billion line of credit to Africa over 3 years

In what reflects India’s urgency to make up for the ground lost to rival China in
getting a foothold in resource-rich Africa, India announced a $5-billion line of
credit (LoC) for development projects in African countries over the next three
years, another $700 million towards building educational facilities and a business
council of CEOs from both sides to encourage private sector exchanges. India
will continue to support efforts at infrastructure development, regional integration,
capacity building and human re source development in Africa. New Delhi reckons
that Africa will be the new growth pole of the world in the coming decades and is
keen to partake in the business opportunities that a fast-growing economy will
present.

5-IOC to automate retail outlets

Indian Oil Company will automate its retail outlets in the country to serve its
customers with delight. Lube Oil Base Stock (LOBS) facility at Tondiarpet has
been started and IOC had about 19,000 retail outlets. In the first phase, the
company would automate about 4,500 retail outlets that sell about 200 kilo litres
of fuel every month and the second phase would cover retail outlets that sell
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about 100 kilo litres of fuel. The LOBS facility would receive all grades of base oil
from Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd's Manali Refinery through a dedicated
pipeline. All pipeline operations are fully automated and monitored from a central
control room that would ensure total reliability, utmost safety and zero spillage.

6-Taxpayers with income below Rs.5 lakh need not file returns
Salaried taxpayers with income below Rs.5 lakh a year and without any other
source of income will be exempted from filing tax returns. The new rule would
apply for the 2011-12 assessment year for the income earned in 2010-11, and a
notification would be issued soon.

7. FIIs, MFs allowed to hedge risk in corporate bonds

The Reserve Bank of India came out with a credit default swap (CDS) guidelines
that would allow corporate entities, including insurers, FIIs and mutual funds, to
hedge risk against default in corporate bonds to which they subscribe. The
guidelines, which were finalised by the RBI after receiving views from
stakeholders, will come into effect from October 24.The CDS is a risk
management product which helps entities guard against possibility of defaults in
repayment of corporate bonds. According to the guidelines, foreign institutional
investors (FIIs), banks, insurers, NBFCs, listed companies, housing finance
companies, provident funds and primary dealers can buy credit protection under
the scheme.

8-Global money transfer service from Bharti

Bharti Wal-mart and Bharti Retail, in association with Thomas Cook India, have
announced the launch of MoneyGram International's global money transfer
service in their stores across India. The service will be available in over 12-
easyday and 10 easyday market and six best price modern wholesale stores.

9-Fitch sees stable outlook for Indian infrastructure sector

According to Fitch Ratings’s outlook Indian infrastructure sector is stable for
2011. A stable outlook for Indian infrastructure debt ratings in 2011 covers the
spectrum of rated projects across the energy (thermal and biomass),
transportation (roads, rail and airport) and urban infrastructure (solid waste
management, desalination) sectors. Fitch has rated several mega projects, which
includes expansion of Mumbai airport, Kutch Rail for Mundra Port and water
desalination plant in Chennai.Among the power projects, Fitch has rated Mundra
Ultra Power Project, Moserbaer and Jindal Steel and Power.

10-G'Five to launch tablet PCs below Rs.10,000

Chinese company G'Five would launch Google's Android and Microsoft's
Windows software based tablet computers below the price range of Rs.10,000 by
the end of June. G'Five plans to launch its range of tablet computing devices in
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the Indian market by the end of June 2011. Kingtech Electronics is fully-owned
Indian subsidiary of G'Five International. The company has plans to launch two
seven-inches and 10-inches in size Android-based tablet PC. The Windows
model will be 10-inches in size. These shall be WiFi and 3G-powered and the
price range will be below Rs.10,000, shattering the price barrier once again.

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