Amnesty International appoints its first Indian Secretary General: Salil Shetty will take over as the new Secretary General of Amnesty International in June 2010. Shetty has served as the Director of the UN’s Millenium Campaign for the past six years. According to Peter Pack, the chair of Amnesty International’s Executive Committee, “As we approach our 50th anniversary, we have ambitious plans to expand our work, especially in the global south, and Salil has a solid track record in mobilising people, civil society, governments and international organizations in the fight for people’s rights and dignity. He’s absolutely the right person to take Amnesty International into the next stage of our work.”
German President on a week-long visit to India: German President Horst Koehler is visiting India with a high-level business delegation, and will discuss economic and security cooperation. During his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the two leaders discussed a framework agreement on trade and economic cooperation to the tune of $500 million. A proposed security pact would potentially include legal framework for German specialists to train Indian anti-terrorism personnel. President Koehler also called upon India to help fight protectionism by some countries that adversely affects development of international trade.
RBI Governor talks to 400 economist and analysts in an effort to improve transparency: The Governor of the Reserve bank of India, D Subbarao, held a teleconference with around 400 economists and analysts from across the globe on Monday. This was part of the Governor’s efforts to bring in greater transparency into the working of the RBI by communicating at the technical and non-technical levels. According to Niranjan Rajadhyaksha, “The Monday teleconference seems to be one attempt to bridge the information gap between the central bank, on the one hand, and the financial markets and society at large, on the other.” The RBI has previously come under criticism for lack of transparency by the IMF and some eminent economists.
Britain suspends visa operations in three north Indian centers: Three UK visa application centers ( Chandighar, Jalandar and New Delhi) have suspended student visa applications due to a sudden increase in visa application for the period of October to December 2009. A ten fold increase in student visa applications had raised red flags and the authorities have suspended visa processing until the situation is satisfactorily scrutinized. In December 2009, Britain had also tightened visa rules for Indian IT professionals seeking inter-company transfers.
