BODOLAND

Bodoland is an area in the north bank of Brahmaputra river in the State of Assam in the north-east region of India, by the foothills of Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh and inhabited predominantly by Bodo language speaking ethnic group. 

Currently the map of Bodoland includes the Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD) administered by an autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) which was established on February 10, 2003. 

Area of Bodoland overlaps with the districts of Kokrajhar, Baksa, Chirang and 

Udalguri in the State of Assam. 

Kokrajhar town serves as the headquarter or Capital of Bodoland. 

Since Independence, there have been regular demand for seperate Bodoland by several organisations in which some demanded seperate Statehood within the Indian Union while other demand soverein Bodoland for the Bodo People in Assam. The National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) was one such organisation. 

All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) un-der the leadership of Upendranath Brahma started a movement for an independent State of Bodoland in 1987.

Bodo Liberation Tiger Force (BLTF) was a militant organisation, founded under Hagrama Mohilary in the early years of 90’s decade for the demand of a seperate State of Bodoland.

Bodoland Territorial Council under the Sixth Schedule of the constitution was established on February 10, 2003 after the conclusion of Memo-randum of Settlement with Bodo Liberation Tiger Force (BLTF), which laid down their weapons on December 6, 2003 and its chief Hagrama Mohilary was sworn in as the Chief Executive Member of the Interim BTC on December 7, 2003.

At present Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) is a 46-member body. The area under the BTC Jurisidiction is called Bodo Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD), the council enjoys autonomy and control over certain specified matters.

The Bodo Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD) is spread over the area of 27,100 Km2, which is 35% of Assam.

Extension of Sixth Schedule provision to Bodoland was the first instance of covering non-hilly tribal area under it.

What is IORARC?

IORARC is Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IORARC) is an association of 20 member countries. The group came into being in March 1995 in Mauritius. Through it pass some of the most important energy transport routes from Middle-East to South-East and East Asian, and securing these routes has become a global priority.

Who are the 20 members?

The IORARC, which is the only pan-Indian ocean grouping, has 20 members namely, Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, The UAE, and Yemen.

And there are six dialogue partners, namely China, Egypt, France, Japan, Britain and US, and two observers, namely The Indian Ocean Research Group and Indian Ocean Tourism Organisation.

Objectives of IORARC:

1. To promote sustainable growth and balanced development of the region and Member States
2. To focus on those areas of economic cooperation which provide maximum opportunities for development, shared interest and mutual benefits
3. To promote leberalisation, remove impediments and lower barriers towards a freer and enhanced flow of goods, services, investment and technology within the Indian Ocean Rim.

Indian-Americans can play key role in India-US ties: Biden

 Indian-Americans can play a valuable role in the India-US relationship as they bring unique perspective on issues of common concerns like business and trade, climate change and energy, US Vice President Joe Biden has said.

Biden made the remarks in a meeting with a group of Indian-Americans at the White House yesterday during which he discussed his upcoming trip to India. 

"The Vice President emphasised the Administration's ongoing commitment to the Asia-Pacific region and the importance of our bilateral relationship with India," a White House official said. 

"He (Biden) also highlighted the valuable role that Indian-Americans can play in enhancing the US-India relationship and the unique perspective they bring to issues of concern to both Indian-Americans and Indians, such as business and trade, education, climate change and energy, and empowering women and girls," the official said on condition of anonymity. 

The meeting with Biden was closed to the press. 

Among the Indian-Americans who attended the meeting at the invitation of Biden were Maya Ajmera, founder, The Global Fund for Children; Ajay Banga, chairman, US India Business Council and President & CEO, MasterCard Worldwide; Manish Bapna, executive vice president and managing director, World Resources Institute; Dinyar Devitre, Chairman-Elect, Pratham USA and Mallika Dutt, president and CEO, Breakthrough. 

Biden is scheduled to leave for India and Singapore tomorrow. 

He would travel to New Delhi and Mumbai during which he is expected to meet the top Indian leaderships, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. 

Biden's trip to India comes immediately after the visit of Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma to Washington last week during which they met top officials of the Obama Administration, corporate executives and lawmakers. 

In June, Secretary of State John Kerry had travelled to India for the India-US Strategic Dialogue. 

Prime Minister Singh is likely to visit Washington late September or early October at the invitation of US President Barack Obama. 

PTI

RESERVE BANK OF INDIA

Overview

• The Reserve Bank of India is the central bank of India
  
• It was established in 1935 and nationalised in 1949. Its headquarters was initially Calcutta, but moved to Bombay in 1937. It is currently headquartered in Mumbai.
  
• The first Governor of the RBI was Sir Osborne Smith. The current Governor of the RBI is Dr. Duvvuri Subbarao
  
• The RBI functions under the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act 1934
  

Objectives

• Maintain price stability
• Ensure adequate flow of credit
• Protect depositor’s interests
• Provide cost-effective banking services to the public
• Facilitate external trade and payment
• Promote development of foreign exchange market in India
• Provide supplies of currency notes and coins in the country

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Functions

• Formulates, implements and monitors monetary policies
• Regulates operations of banking and financial services sector in the country
• Manages the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999
• Issues, exchanges and destroys currency notes and coins
• Perform promotional functions to support national objectives
• Acts as banker to banks by maintaining accounts of all scheduled banks
• Acts as banker to the Central and state governments