Under the contract, EADS-Astrium is the prime contractor in charge of overall programme management and would build the communications payload, while Antrix/ISRO would build the satellite with a lift-off mass of around 2.5 tonnes and power of 3.2 KW.

Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) and global weapon system manufacturer BAE Systems have signed an agreement to create a joint venture defence company in India to focus on land-based systems. The company will work on projects including Axe, the high mobility vehicle as well as up-armoured and bullet-proof Scorpios, Boleros, Rakshak, Rapid Intervention Vehicles and the Marksman light armoured vehicle.

Gregory Roberts - Journalism

“Energy Security and Climate Change” a book written by R.V. Shahi, former Secretary in the Ministry of Power was released recently. His earlier works include “Indian Power Sector - Challenge and Response (2005)” and “Towards Powering India: Policy Initiatives and Implementation Strategy (2007)”.

London auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb (DNW) have decided not to auction the George Cross medal of Naik Kirpa Ram, reported stolen from his widow Brahmi Devi. The seller Ashok Nath withdrew the medal from the auction. Nath asserted that he had acquired the medal from S L Jain, a Delhi-based coin and metal dealer much before an FIR relating to its theft was lodged by the widow with the Himachal Pradesh police. The bravery medal was awarded to Kirpa Ram by the British in 1946.

Defence Minister AK Antony presented the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA) Foundation Day Awards in New Delhi on November 11, 2009. The Dr. K Subrahmanyam Award was conferred on Dr. Harsh V Pant of King's College, London. Air Commodore Arjun Subramaniam bagged the Special Mention Award for studies in Defence and Security Issues.

The proposed six new National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPERS) are coming up at Ahmedabad, Hajipur, Hyderabad, Calcutta, Rai Bareilly and Guwahati.

Eastern Naval Command is based at Vishakhapatnam while Southern Naval Command is based at Kochi.

INS (Indian Naval Ship) Kadamba, will be the first operational base with a port controlled exclusively by the Navy, allowing it to position and manoeuvre its operational fleet without worrying about the movement of merchant vessels. Indian Navy's existing bases, including its two operational ones in Mumbai and Vishakhapatnam, are located in enclaves within commercial ports, making for an unsuitable situation especially in times of war. The Rs.35,000-crore fully integrated INS Kadamba is expected to be the biggest naval base this side of the Suez Canal.

Reliance Industries (RIL) has become the largest natural gas producer in the country with its over 50 million standard cubic metres per day (mscmd) output surpassing that of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp's (ONGC). RIL's gas production from its D6 fields in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin touched 50.15 mscmd on November 29, 2009, surpassing ONGC's 49.6 mscmd output for the first time. KG D-6's output has also helped the nation cross 100 mscmd of domestic gas production. Besides RIL and ONGC, about 16 mscmd is produced by BG Group-operated Panna/Mukta and Tapti fields. ONGC's majority of gas production comes from its Bassein and Mumbai High fields.

As on September 30, 2009, the government holds 59.4 per cent stake in SBI, the country's largest bank. The stake sale would bring government holding in SBI at par with other nationalised banks.

Reliance Industries owned Reliance Exploration and Production DMCC (REP) has entered into an agreement with Colombian government owned Ecopetrol SA for exploration and production of oil & gas in two deep water blocks - Borojo North Block 42 and the Borojo South Block 43 recently.

After the purchase, the RBI has 557.7 tonnes

The Court of Inquiry (Col) into the Darjeeling land scam case has revealed that a Siliguri real estate developer and one of the seniormost generals in the Army were in constant touch while a dubious Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was being drafted to clinch the land deal. The Col has established through phone records that real estate developer Dilip Agarwal, who inked the MoU to obtain No Objection Certificates from the Army for 71 acres near the 33 Corps HQ in Sukna Cantonment, was in constant touch with Lt Gen Avadhesh Prakash, Military Secretary (MS) at Army HQ, New Delhi while the deal was being sealed. Lt Gen Prakash did not have a direct role in granting the NOCs but the Col says that he used his influence as one of the seniormost officers in the Army to ensure that the deal went through. The case unravelled after it came to light that a massive land deal in Sukna was cleared by the Army against norms.

The Red Ribbon Express project was flagged off on World AIDS Day (December 1, 2009). The project is being implemented by the National AIDS Control Organization in collaboration with the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, the National rural Health Mission, the Ministry of Railways, UNICEF and other stakeholders. This year the theme of the World AIDS Day is 'Universal Access And Human Rights'. The eight coach train will stop at 152 stations covering 22 states in its year long journey.

Georgia is shifting its Parliament from its capital Tbilisi to its second largest city Kutaisi.

The committee, headed by noted economist Suresh Tendulkar, has estimated that a little over one-third of Karnataka's population lived below the poverty line in 2004-05.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS), along with Sanctuary Asia magazine, announced the Earth Heroes 2009 on December 2, 2009. This is the 10th year of Sanctuary-RBS Wildlife Awards, which honour those who have dedicated their lives to India's rich natural heritage.

The new company will be called General Motors SAIC Investment Ltd (GMSIL) and will be based in Hong Kong.

Gujarat government's ambitious programme to reduce child and maternal mortality rate seems to have caught the fancy of other states in the country. As many as 8 states in India have decided to adopt Gujarat government's “Chiranjeevi Yojna”. States to adopt Chiranjeevi Yojna of Gujarat government include names such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Kerala. The maternal mortality rate (per lakh live births) in Gujarat was 389 in 1989, which has declined to 136 in 2007-08.

India has produced five Miss Worlds with Reita Faria winning the title in 1966, followed by Aishwarya Rai in 1994, Diana Hayden in 1997 and Yukta Mookhey 1999, apart from Priyanka Chopra in 2004. Venezuela and India have produced the maximum number of Miss Worlds — five each.

The first “National RTI Awards-2009” organised by Public Cause Research Foundation and NDTV were given by Vice-President Hamid Ansari in New Delhi on December 1, 2009. The best RTI Citizen category award was given to social activist from Assam Akhil Gogoi. Lalit Narayan Mishra from Etawah was presented the award for the Best Public Information Officer. Arunachal Pradesh Information Commission was awarded in the Best Information Commissioner category.

The project for drawing up a concept plan for Mumbai for the next four decades was awarded to Singapore-based firm Surbana International recently. The Mumbai Transformation Support Unit (MTSU), which is commissioning the project, has selected Surbana from among four shortlisted international firms. The concept plan will outline a detailed development programme that will shape the growth of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region until 2052. The concept plan will determine factors like FSI that govern the vertical limit of construction. It will also narrow in on three select locations each in the city, suburbs and the region outside Mumbai district and chart out a masterplan.

Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation, which is the designated agency for the formation of the bank, will have 11 per cent stake in the proposed banking company. It will be registered as a non-banking finance company in the beginning and later get transformed into a full-fledged Shariah compliant bank. The NBFC will become operational in 2010.

Category B city - population greater than 1 million but less than 4 million

Norway-based firm Telenor has become the latest telecom operator offering mobile services in the Indian wireless market. The company, which has a joint venture with Unitech Group, would initially launch its services under the brand name Uninor in seven circles — Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, UP (East), UP (West) and Bihar.

Sports Ministry issued revised guidelines for awarding Maulana Azad trophy recently.

The previous two committees on this issue were chaired by Dr C Rangarajan and B K Chaturvedi. The Kirit Parikh committee is looking into the large-scale misuse of fuel subsidies on petrol, diesel, kerosene and cooking gas, amounting to more than Rs 1, 03,000 crore in 2008-09.

“Jabulani” means rejoice in Zulu

The Government of Rajasthan has embarked upon Bhamashah Financial Empowerment Scheme, (BFES) whereby the Government deposits Rs.1500/- into the savings accounts of 50 lakh rural families belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL), Small & Marginal Farmers and identified SC/ST families.

Teams in the football event at the 2012 London Olympic Games must use players under 23 years old with the exception of three over-age players. Iraq was suspended from all international soccer because of government interference in the running of the sport