News Wrap: S&P lowers India's rating; Bofors back in the news

- Standard & Poor cut India’s credit rating outlook to negative from stable today. Experts have said that the downgrade could be a reflection of the toll that hefty fiscal and current account deficits and political crisis are exacting on the economy.  For the moment, however, the agency retained the sovereign rating at BBB-, which is just about investment grade. We have Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s reaction in the bulletin.

- The Bofors deal is still creating waves in Indian politics! The BJP today called for the UPA to apologize for the dubious role played by government investigators who probed the deal. The demand came in the wake of fresh allegations that then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi may have softened the probe to protect Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi-  which means he turned a blind eye to massive financial kickbacks his Ministers received from Bofors AB for winning a bid to supply India’s 155 mm field howitzer.

- As Parliament reopened for the Budget session, strong rumours about Congress restructuring have surfaced. There were reports that four key Union ministers had offered to resign and take up organizational assignments, a report that has been dismissed by top party leaders. The four ministers identified were Union Minister for Health Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid, Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh and Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi.

- From the well loved Dropbox to Apple’s iCloud to Microsoft’s SkyDrive and now Google’s newly launched Drive, everyone is getting on the cloud. Google Drive, which was launched today, gives users the option of uploading and accessing all their files, such as videos and photos on the cloud, which saves space on personal computers. A Free account of Google Drivewill give users 5GB of space. Google’s Drive is not yet live for all users and if you go to  drive.google.com , you might receive a message, saying your drive is not yet ready.

- Russia said today that the reactors at the Kudankulam Nuclear Plant are the best in the world and expressed hope that the plant would start generating power soon. Russian Ambassador to India Alexander M Kadakin said once the Kudankulam Plant starts generating electricity, it would help reduce the energy deficit in southern parts of the country. The first plant is expected to generate 2,000 MW of electricity out of which 1,000 MW will be given to Tamil Nadu, where the plant is located.

- In sport, and massive upset last night as Chelsea pipped Barcelona to reach the Champions League semi-final. The Blues took a one goal lead to Spain and the 2-2 result gives them a 3-2 aggregate win. Lionel Messi struck the woodwork twice: once from a penalty…but Ramire’s well executed chipped finish and Fernando Torres’ goal sealed a memorable win for them. They will either face Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the final on May 19th.

- Which husband asks her wife to be a maid to him, not expect any intimacy from him, and stop talking to him when he doesn’t feel like speaking? Albert Einstein…oh yes! Find the full list on our website’s Life section.