Political and Social Issues:

Warning that delayed forest clearance for captive mines could adversely impact development and financing of a large number of power projects, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said India risks missing the 1,00,000-MW capacity addition target for the 12{+t}{+h}Plan.
In his assessment report submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said many thermal plants currently under implementation, including the ambitious ultra mega power projects, were dependent on allotted captive coal mines, which have yet to get forest clearance.
Dr. Ahluwalia has listed eight issues which require action by different Ministries.
He said the matter was currently under the consideration of the Empowered Group of Ministers headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, and decisions needed to be expedited.
Interestingly, in a related report to the Prime Minister, Planning Commission member (Energy) B.K. Chaturvedi has recommended doing away with the contentious “Go-No-Go” concept. (The Go-No-Go system limits mining for coal, with activity in areas of dense forest banned entirely.)

Painter M. F. Husain's documentary Through The Eyes of the Painter, a film on his own journey through Rajasthan, will finally be screened at the 42nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa 2011.
While postponing the screening, the organisers told a delegation, including filmmakers, that they were trying to sort out some technical and legal issues involved in the matter.
This was the second time the organisers postponed the screening of the documentary under threats

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary, returnable with a report in six weeks, on allegation that 40 labourers were not traceable after heavy cranes collapsed at an under-construction cement factory in Narsingarh village in Damoh district.
The NHRC was acting based on media reports. The reports said that about 300 labourers, mostly from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, were working at the construction site at the time of the mishap
The complainant had demanded compensation for the families of the deceased and medical treatment of the injured.

Eminent litterateur, Jnanpith laureate, peacemaker between the insurgent United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the Centre and India's first Principal Prince Claus Laureate Indira Goswami, popularly known as Mamoni Raisom Goswami, passed away
Dr. Goswami, an author of several best seller Assamese novels and short story collections, won the Sahitya Akademi Award for her powerful novel Mamare Dhara Tarowal Aru Dukhan Upanyasa in 1982 and the Jnanpith Award in 2000.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed its displeasure on the Tamil Nadu government's decision to sack 15,000 Makkal Nala Paniyalargal (People Welfare Workers), observing that there should be “some rule of law in the State.”
Justice Jain told the ASG, “Every five years you [State] appoint them. Thereafter, you remove them, again appoint them.
The associations told the court that this was happening every time there was change of government.

Passengers on Air India flights of less than 90 minutes duration may not be offered full meals.
The decision, if implemented, on such flights, will result in the cash-strapped national carrier saving Rs.20 crore annually
the troubled national carrier also decided to opt for sale and lease back mechanism for the yet-to-be delivered Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. As part of its expansion plan, Air India had ordered 27 Dreamliners
After Air India-Indian Airlines merger, the national carrier has slipped into deep financial crisis, raising question mark on its ability to handle the additional capacity and service the debts with which it has burdened itself.
The board reviewed the progress on the implementation of the Turn Around Project (TAP) and the Financial Restructuring Plan (FRP).
Last week, the Reserve Bank of India approved extension of its loan tenures from 10 to 15 years, giving the much-needed relief to the cash-strapped national carrier.