The government is planning to bring the bill to increase the FDI in Insurance sector from 26% to 49%. Earlier, such an amendment was strongly opposed by the opposition parties and the government had to withdraw it due to pressure from Left parties at the time of UPA I government, when the latter depended upon the Left for majority. Now that the situation has changed and the government wants this opportunity to be utilised. The Parliamentary Standing Committee has also opposed the increase in FDI. Let us see what the move of the government is.  The working class will certainly oppose it.

India today took a major leap in its strategic  capability by successfully test-firing its nuclear capable, 5000  km-range Agni-V missile, bringing China under its cover and achieving the capacity of building ICBMs. With this, India joined an elite missile club of the US, Russia, France and China, which produce Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs). The surface-to-surface Agni-V is capable of striking a target more than  5,000 km away. It is about 17-metres-long and two-metres-wide with  launch weight of around 50 tonnes. The sophisticated missile can carry a  nuclear warhead of more than one tonne.

Congratulations for the success!

Unprecedented Latin American opposition to U.S. sanctions on Cuba left President Barack Obama isolated at a summit on Sunday and illustrated Washington’s declining influence in a region being aggressively courted by China. Unlike the rock-star status he enjoyed at the 2009 Summit of the Americas after taking office, Obama has had a bruising time at the two-day meeting in Colombia of some 30 heads of state. Sixteen U.S. security personnel were caught in an embarrassing prostitution scandal before Obama arrived, Brazil and others have bashed Obama over U.S. monetary policy and he has been on the defensive over Cuba and calls to legalize drugs. Due to the hostile U.S. and Canadian line on communist-run Cuba, the heads of state failed to produce a final declaration as the summit fizzled out on Sunday afternoon. “There was no declaration because there was no consensus,” said Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. He bristled at suggestions the summit had been a failure, however, saying the exchange of different views was a sign of democratic health. For the first time, conservative-led U.S. allies like Mexico and Colombia are throwing their weight behind the traditional demand of leftist governments that Cuba be invited to the next Summit of the Americas. Cuba was kicked out of the Organization of American States (OAS) a few years after Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution and has been kept out of its summits due mainly to U.S. opposition. But Latin American leaders are increasingly militant in opposing both Cuba’s exclusion and the 50-year-old U.S. trade embargo on the Caribbean island. “The isolation, the embargo, the indifference, looking the other way, have been ineffective,” Santos said. “I hope Cuba is at the next summit in three years.” Santos, a major U.S. ally in the region who has relied on Washington for financial and military help to fight guerrillas and drug traffickers, has become vocal about Cuba’s inclusion even though he also advocates for democratic reform by Havana. The leftist ALBA bloc of nations – including Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua and some Caribbean nations – said they will not attend future summits without Cuba’s presence. “It’s not a favor anyone would be doing to Cuba. It’s a right they’ve had taken away from them,” Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said from Managua. Although there were widespread hopes for a rapprochement with Cuba under Obama when he took office, Washington has done little beyond ease some travel restrictions. It insists Cuba must first make changes, including the release of political prisoners. Obama told a news conference after the summit he was “puzzled” that nations that had themselves emerged from authoritarian rule would overlook that in Cuba. ” The divisive end to the summit added to strain on the U.S.-dominated system of hemispheric diplomacy that was built around the OAS but is struggling to adapt to changes in the region. “I’m not sure the next summit will even be possible,” said Carlos Gaviria, a Colombian politician and former presidential candidate. Perceived U.S. neglect of Latin America has allowed China to move strongly into the region and become the leading trade partner of Brazil and various other nations. Regional economic powerhouse Brazil has led criticism at the summit of U.S. and other rich nations’ expansionist monetary policy that is sending a flood of funds into developing nations, forcing up local currencies and hurting competitiveness. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff called it a “monetary tsunami” that Latin American nations had the right to defend themselves from.

It seems that the government is all set up to increase the price for gas, diesel etc. Certain reports indicate that the price of cooking gas may be increased by Rs.100 which will increase the present price to about Rs. 440. The reports also indicate that if all the subsidies are stopped the cooking gas cylinder price will be increased to Rs. 730.

The government is withdrawing the subsidy to the petroleum products year after year. While last year an amount of Rs. 68,481 crore, it has been reduced to Rs. 24,901 this year, which clearly show that the government is backing out of subsidies. This will adversely affect the common people and their budget.

Just now, Delhi was shook by  earth quake. It is reported that no casualties have been reported so far. Latest news are available  in the visual media.