Daily News Notes

· The government today approved investment of 26 percent of Pension Fund in insurance sector at par with FDI in other sectors. It also decided to make the withdrawal of individual fund account more flexible so that withdrawal are minimised and returns are maximised to the individual.
· Cabinet approved the official amendments to the Prohibition of Unfair practices in Technical Educational Insititutions, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill, 2010 to curb unfair practices in admission and other areas in higher educational institutions.
· While denying MNS's allegation that the Marathi films are being certified by non-Marathi knowing persons, Information and Broadcasting Ministry has condemned the act of hooliganism and vandalism by MNS supporters who allegedly ransacked the Central Board of Film Certification, office in Mumbai and said such methods of protest have no place in a democratic and civilized society, thus has been assured of strong and deterrent, preventive and punitive action by Maharashtra govt.
· The Kerala High Court has issued notices to the Central and State Governments on a public interest writ petition seeking a directive to take immediate steps to save farmers in Wynad district from debt trap and prevent them from committing suicide.
· The Centre is working on a strategy to implement a housing-cum-sanitation programme with the provision of drinking water for all the villages in the maoist affected areas while such models have already been implemented in nine hundred villages in Orissa with assistance of a Non Government Organization.
· The Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh will leave for Bali, Indonesia tomorrow to participate in the ninth India-ASEAN Summit and sixth East Asia Summit. The Leaders from 10 ASEAN member countries will begin their deliberations, thereafter the forum will be opened for Dialogue partners India, Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand. The United States and Russia have also been invited to participate in the Summit this year. India after Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN countries trade has increased manifold and will reach 70 billion dollars by next year.
· US drones today fired a salvo of missiles at a compound in the restive South Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan, killing at least 13 suspected Taliban militants. Yesterday, in North Waziristan, 6 militant were killed in drone attack.
· The President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev dissolved the parliament and have called for early elections in January that is likely to pave the way for a multi-party legislature and said the election should be brought forward to avoid the campaigning season coinciding with an anticipated global economic downturn.
· With the assistance of WHO, Assam government has launched a pilot project to vaccinate girls (300 girls in the age group of 13 to 26 years would be vaccinated at the 1st phase) against Human Papiloma Virus-HPV causing cervical cancer. HPV vaccine has been found to have 100 percent effectiveness to prevent the disease which is likely to extend to the other parts of the state later on.
· The Elite Special Forces of the three Services carried out military exercise in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The tri-services Special Forces camp includes 40 troops from Army's elite Para (Special Forces), 32 Marine Commandos (MARCOS) and 18 Garuds from the Indian Air Force. India has planned to increase its aerial assets, extend the length of its airstrips for the operation of all kinds of aircraft in Andaman and Nicobar islands.
· Defence Secretary and Security Advisor to Defence Minister Dr. V K Sarswat, while talking after successful launch of strategic missile Agni 4, disclosed that India's next generation-Agni 5 missiles will be test fired by February next year. He also made it clear that India is not in the race with China or Pakistan and it has developed Agni 4 missile for defence purpose only. He also said that Agni 4 missile system is equipped with modern and compact Avionics with Redundancy to provide a high level of reliability.
· The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs also approved the implementation of the North East Rural Livelihood Project which comprises a soft loan from the World Bank of 614.8 crore and central government fund of 68.4 crore rupees over a period of five years. The project will cover nearly three lakh households in 1624 villages of 4 states. The objective of the project is to improve rural livelihoods especially that of women, unemployed youth and the most disadvantaged.
· India's first Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang, Anjali Bhagwat, and Tejaswini Sawan are some of the prominent players participatting in the 55th National shooting championship compettions, which began today at Shiv Chatrapati Sports complex in Pune.
· Visitors from business category are pouring in large numbers in the ongoing India International Trade Fair (Theme ' Indian Handicrafts- the magic of gifted hands') at Pragati Maidan in the national capital. Varoius Ministries have set up their stalls at their pavilions to showcase their products which include bamboos, jute, leather, stone, pearls etc. Free Diabetes test, eye test and counselling on avoiding mental strees are also being provided by the health experts. Income Tax Department has also set up stalls to facilitate pan card service and other services to the people.