News : 3 July 2013

1. Ed Husic became Australia’s first ever Muslim Minister in Australia, he was flooded with online racial abuse for taking oath of office on the Koran.


2. The Egyptian army has invited opposition leader Mohammed ElBaradei, the top Sunni sheikh and the Coptic pope for “consultations” on a future roadmap to end the crisis


3.  Several Southeast Asian countries have begun scaling down the subsidies they are providing to key sectors of their economies.Last month, the Thai government confirmed that it will soon decrease the rice price subsidy it gives to farmers. In Indonesia, the parliament approved a revised budget that lowered the fuel subsidy. Meanwhile, in the Philippines' Transportation and Communications chief advised Metro Manila train commuters to prepare for a fare hike since the government will reduce the subsidy for the mass transit service.


4. India has ranked 66th in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2013, an index that is published by Cornell University, INSEAD, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as a knowledge partner.The study ranked 142 economies across the world on their innovation capacity and efficiency.India ranked 1st in the Central and South Asia region followed by Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka, and 11th overall in innovation efficiency ratio. (Innovation efficiency reflects the innovation output per unit of innovation input in the economy).India ranked poor in areas such as political stability (rank 123), ease of starting business (rank 128) knowledge absorption (rank 122) among others.


5. India’s ONGC has lost the giant Kashagan oilfield to the Chinese after Kazakhstan blocked its USD 5 billion deal to buy US energy major ConocoPhillips’ stake in the Caspian Sea oilfield.ONGC Videsh, the overseas investment arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), had in November last year struck a deal to buy ConocoPhillips’ 8.4 per cent stake in Kazakhstan’s biggest oilfield, Kashagan for USD 5 billion.“Based on the communication received through ConocoPhillips, the Government of Kazakhstan has announced that in accordance with the Republic of Kazakhstan Law (ROK) on Subsurface and Subsurface Use, ROK has exercised its priority right and pre-empted the bid by OVL to acquire the 8.4 per cent stake of ConocoPhillips,” OVL said in a statement.