Daily News Notes

· The Government has decided to set up a village water and sanitation standing committee under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme in each Gram Panchayat, village and ward for planning, monitoring, implementation and maintenance of water supply schemes and which will ensure safe drinking water to all.
· President has laid the foundation stone for the Missile Workshop, under Bharat Dynamics Limited, being established at Amravati district.
· Inaugurating the Diamond Jubilee Conference of Indian Sociological Society, the Vice President has said that gender, class, caste, tribe, linguistic, cultural and the rural-urban divide still persist in the country even after 61 years when our founding fathers focused on this reality and brought to bear a unique and insightful sociological bearing into the framing of the Constitution. Thus, there are urgent needs to rectify these symbols.
· In Assam, Army and Police arrested eight militants belonging to United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam (MULTA) along with some gun and cash in Dollar.
· The Indore Division of Postal Department has offers rural-friendly financial schemes under which it has opened more than 81,000 new accounts of all kinds through its branches in the villages. Thus in the environment where postal department might be a least preferred medium for ‘written’ means of communication these days, it has succeeded in making saving a habit among the people.
· The political and cultural seat of many empires over the centuries, Delhi will add another chapter to its glorious history tomorrow, marking 100 years of its re-emergence as India's capital. It was on December 12, 1911, that then Emperor of India George V proclaimed Delhi as the capital of the British Raj, shifting from Kolkata, thereby returning to the city its lost glory.
· In Assam, National Rural Health Mission in association with GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute has taken special initiative by providing free ambulance services to pregnant women for safe hospital deliveries. Such initiative has already done by the government of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh under “108-Emergency-Service”.
· As per the agreement reached at the 194-party UN Climate Conference, the countries agreed to start negotiations on a new pact that would put all nations under the same legal regime that would end by 2015 and come in force by 2020. Meanwhile, the European Union will place its current emission-cutting pledges inside legally-binding Kyoto Protocol and all major emitters will be forced to act against global warming.
· Pakistani security forces have taken control of a strategically important airbase in Balochistan province after most of the U.S. military personnel have vacated the airfield following the ultimatum given to NATO after their strike on November 26 killing 24 Pakistani soldiers. U.S. had reportedly been using the airbase since late 2001 for military operations in Afghanistan and for drone strikes in Pakistan tribal regions.
· A major 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck Mexico in which 2 deaths have officially declared. But, much more relief came when the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said that no destructive Pacific-wide tsunami was expected. Much of Mexico lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where most of the world's earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.
· A moderate 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit Japan's, but there was no tsunami warning or immediate reports of damage.
· North Korea today warned South Korea of unexpected consequences if Seoul displays Christmas lights on a steel tower atop a military-controlled hill near the tense border. The North's official website called the plan a mean attempt for psychological warfare against the communist state. The two Koreas in 2004 reached a deal to halt official-level cross-border propaganda and the South stopped its annual Christmas illumination ceremony. But Seoul resumed the ceremony last December.
· In her speech after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, the renowned Yemenese activist, Tawakkol Karman said the international community has not provided enough support for the uprising in Yemen. While calling for more support for the Arab Spring uprisings, Karman made it clear that she was opposed to the use of military force to address the issue.
Defending champions India will take on Afghanistan in the final of the South Asian Football Federation Championship in New Delhi.