PEN Open Book award

Indian author Siddhartha Deb won PEN Open Book Award for “The Beautiful and the Damned: A Portrait of the New India”. This book is on India’s journey on the bumpy road to stardom as globalisation impacts the lives of its ordinary people. Siddhartha Deb is from Shillong, Meghalaya. This is his second novel while his first novel is “The Point of Return.” This US literary prize includes $5,000 cash award also. 

Sahara have to return Rs.17,400 crore to investors

Supreme Court of India asked Sahara group to return Rs.17,400 crore to investors in group's two companies Sahara India Real Estate Corporation and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation with 15 per cent interest. The court gave permission to SEBI, the investment regulator to attach properties and freeze bank accounts of the two companies if they did not comply with its order. 

GDP growth slows in first quarter

Economy grew by 5.5 per cent in the first(April-June) quarter, thanks to poor performance of manufacturing, mining and farm sectors. The gross domestic product (GDP) growth was 8 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2011-12. The previous quarter(January- March) saw the slowest growth in nine years. The higher inflation also creates problems for our economy, it prevents RBI from reducing the rates.