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1. Onion exports suspended to check price rise The government announced suspension of
onion exports till January 15 in a last-minute effort to cool prices of the poor man's essential
vegetable from the prevailing high of Rs. 60-70 a kg. In a twin strategy, while the farm
cooperative major and regulating agency Nafed (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing
Federation) and 12 other agencies have been directed to halt issuance of export clearance, the
MEP (minimum export price) for onions has also been raised more than double from $ 525 a
tonne to $1,200 with immediate effect.

2. Days after Wen visit, India notices 24 new projects on Brahmaputra Within days of
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabaos visit to India, intelligence agencies have reported 24 new
projects (believed to be hydro-power projects) along the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries
on the Chinese side. Intelligence indicates that the 24 projects now discovered are relatively
small compared to the Zangmu project, the biggest identified so far by India on the
Brahmaputra on the Chinese side. However, with limited means of verification, Indian officials
can only hope that these are small run-of-the-river projects for local populations.

3. India, Mongolia hold joint military exercises The troops of India and Mongolia engaged
in joint exercises, with the latest two-week drill in counter-insurgency ending in Belgaum.
Nearly 30 officers and personnel of the Mongolian armed forces participated in the workout
called Nomadic Elephant along with 50 officers and personnel of the Indian Army in counter-
terrorism environment.

4. Central Bank celebrates 100 yrs The Central Bank of India, which is marking its
centenary celebrations, is planning to open branches oversees and achieve core banking
solution (CBS) in all its existing branches, a top company official has said. The bank is planning
to open branches in Hongkong, Bhutan, Tanzania and Mozambique.

5. 1st Test: Sachin, weather gods can't save India from crushing innings defeat South
Africa took a little less than six overs on the final day of the first cricket Test to wrap up the
last two Indian wickets and clinch the high profile series opener with a resounding innings and
25 runs victory here today. But more than South Africa's convincing victory against the number
one ranked side in the world to take a 1-0 lead, the match at the SuperSport Park will go down
in history books as the one which witnessed Sachin Tendulkar reach the coveted landmark of
scoring 50 centuries in Test cricket.

6. After long negotiations, Russia agrees to give visa-free transit Finally, after six years
of negotiations, Russia has agreed to provide Indians visa-free transit through Russia and
mandatory multiple-entry visas to second timers. The new agreement aims to enhance
bilateral relations between the two countries by encouraging contact between businessmen,
cultural, scientific and educational institutions, and to promote tourism.

7. Polio numbers hit record low In what is being hailed as an extraordinary achievement,
polio cases in India are down to 41 this year against 650 reported in 2009. Only 19 of these
cases are from the key reservoir areas of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Together, the two states
had accounted for 600 cases last year. Nigeria, which was the second worst-hit country last
year after India, with about 400 cases, has also reported a drastic fall, with only 13 polio cases
this year.

8. Russia, India aim for $20b trade by 2015 Russia and India have set an ambitious trade
target of $20 billion by 2015, around four times the current bilateral trade level. Towards this,
Russian and Indian companies inked nine trade and investment agreements/MoUs in sectors
such as outer space, pharmaceuticals and life sciences, polymers, IT and telecom. The other
sectors for cooperation include oil and gas, defence, mining, banking and finance, chemicals
and fertilisers, agriculture and animal products. Both sides agreed that the trade level of $4.54
billion in 2009-10 was substantially below the potential. To boost trade and investment, a
Protocol was signed by the Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in the
Commerce, Mr R.P. Singh, and the Industry Ministry and Russia's Deputy Minister of Economic
Development, Mr S.S. Voskresensky.


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9. Chennai to host international light fair Indian Society of Lighting Engineers (ISLE) is
organising an international light fair at Chennai Trade Centre from March 4 to 7, 2011.
According to a release, the exhibition will showcase products covering residential, commercial
and retail lighting. Mainly a B2B (business to business) event, the fair will provide the
exhibitors an opportunity to explore investment opportunities and locate partners for joint
ventures and tie-ups

10. Wipro Lighting wins award Wipro Lighting has won the Design for Asia merit
recognition Award 2010' in the product design category from Hong Kong Design Centre for the
most influential good design in Asia. The award was won for Wipro's designer LED streetlight,
Orio. The light is designed for illuminating secondary roads for large software campuses,
IT/ITeS facilities, industrial parks, educational campuses, commercial buildings and residential
townships

11. Lukashenko leads Belarus polls Mr. Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for the past 16
years, gained 79.7 per cent of the vote in the polls contested by 10 candidates, according to
the Central Election Commission. The turnout was just over 90 per cent. Western observers
and governments accused Mr. Lukashenko, described as Europe's last dictator, of using fraud
and violence to win a fourth straight term in office. However, Russia's President Dmitry
Medvedev refused to pass a judgement. He called to wait for official results and described the
Belarus vote as an internal affair.

12. After 372 years, winter solstice coincides with lunar eclipse After 372 years, sky
gazers are in for a special celestial treat as a winter solstice coincides with total lunar eclipse
on 21st dec. The eclipse cannot be seen in the country as it occurs during daytime.The last
time the two astronomical events coincided was on December 21, 1638.

13. Veerendra Kumar, Nanjil Nadan among Sahitya Akademi winners The former Union
Minister, M.P. Veerendra Kumar is among the 22 who have won this year's Sahitya Akademi
awards for the best works in literature. Mr. Kumar has won the award for his travelogue
Haimavathabhuvil' in Malayalam. The other winners include eight poets, four novelists and
three short story writers.

14. Don't Ask, Don't Tell law repealed The United States Senate took a historic step
forward over the weekend as Congress passed a bill to repeal the controversial Don't Ask,
Don't Tell (DADT) law, a ban on openly gay persons serving in the U.S. Military.

15. IndiGo is third largest passenger carrier Indias largest low-cost carrier, IndiGo, has
replaced the state carrier, Air India (domestic), to become the countrys third largest carrier in
terms of passengers carried.The overall passenger number for November grew by 25 per cent
this year, compared with the corresponding month last year. The passenger figures for the
month, released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), show Jet Airways leading
with 26.2 per cent followed by Kingfisher at 19.1 per cent. IndiGo is third with 17.3 per cent of
the total passengers, followed closely by Air India (domestic) at 17.1 per cent. SpiceJet and
GoAir were on the fifth and sixth position, respectively, with 13.3 per cent and 6.9 per cent