Daily News Notes: 13th Feb, 2012

· The Supreme Court today directed the Central Government to respond within a month on action taken by it or intended to be taken on the allegation that the ex-Chief Justice of India and NHRC chief K G Balakrishnan amassed properties worth 40 crore rupees in his relatives names between 2004 to 2009 and amassing assets disproportionate to his income. [example of Judicial corruption]
· The Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways has urged upon all the State Governments to arrive at a consensus to rationalise Motor Vehicle Taxes and harmonise the rates to facilitate easy movement of vehicles across the country. At present, there are significant variations across the States in respect of rate, base and methodology of collection of tax. With the advancement of information technology, it has now become imperative that seemless movement of vehicles across the States which facilitated so that the transaction costs that are involved in movement of goods nationally gets reduced and this benefit is passed on to the citizens. With this objective in mind, there is a need to rationalise the existing motor vehicle taxation system in order to reap benefits of technology. Very soon, a meeting of National Road Safety Council will be convened and the State Governments are requested to come up with concrete Action Plans in mitigating the road accidents in the country including identification of accident prone spots and identification of reasons for accidents at those spots and taking up measures to mitigate factors at these spots. The National Register and National Transport Portal was launched in July, 2011. The objective of 100% connectivity and computerization of data base of all RTOs in all States / Union Territories has been achieved. Inter-state check posts in the country during the XII Five Year Plan will move towards border-less and paper-less movement of goods across State borders reducing transaction costs and logistic costs to the economy has also been planned to set up.
· In Gujarat, country's first highly sophisticated vessel traffic service has been dedicated to the nation. The very sensitive and strategically most important, the Gulf of Kutch, is now more safe, with the dedication of ultra-modern vessel management service at Kandla. It is the first and the largest radar surveillance system on Indian coast.
· Defence Minister A K Antony said that the Government has full confidence in the present Army Chief General V K Singh and it has been conveyed to the Supreme Court also. He also said that it had come to an end with the Supreme Court judgement. Calling age controversy as unfortunate, he urged to forget and bury this in the interest of the national security.
· Defence Minister A.K. Antony has left on a two day visit to Saudi Arabia. This is the first ever visit by an Indian Defence Minister to the Saudi Kingdom. Defence cooperation between the two countries includes training exchanges, ship visits and high-level visits by senior officials. Saudi Arabia is one of the largest suppliers of oil to India, which is one of the top trading partners and investor there. The visit is expected to give a boost to the defence ties and mutual understanding between the two countries.
· Minister of State for Personnel inaugurated CBI's first training exercise for its investigators on ways to recover black money stashed abroad as part of Interpol's Global Programme on anti-corruption and asset recovery for prosecutors. The main objective of this global programme is to enhance the knowledge and skills of investigators and prosecutors in tracking assets of mass corruption, and making effective use of legal assistance in international and trans-border investigations. Over 30 police officers from Australia, Afghanistan, China, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Fiji, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore and Philippines are participating in the training programme. World Bank estimates the cross border flow of money from criminal activities including corruption and tax evasion to be around 1.5 trillion US dollars annually. India had become a member of the United Nation Convention against corruption in 2011 May.
· The 2nd World Meteorological Organization (WMO) International Conference on Indian Ocean Tropical Cyclone and Climate Change will begin in New Delhi tomorrow. The first International conference on Indian Ocean Tropical Cyclone & Climate Change was held in Muscat, Oman during 8-11 March 2009. Tropical cyclones are one of the most devastating natural disasters having taken more than half a million lives all over the world in the last five decades. More than 75% of total tropical cyclones over the globe have occurred over the north Indian Ocean during past 300 years. This high vulnerability may be attributed to various factors including geographical conditions and limitations of observations, prediction systems, understanding of physical processes, early warning systems and disaster management processes, apart from the socio-economic conditions of the region. The purpose of the Conference is to advance the science of climate change impacts on tropical cyclones, particularly for nations surrounding the Indian Ocean. It is envisioned that findings and recommendations from the Conference will inform the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), due in 2014.
· On the social networking site Twitter, Dr. Singh said economic growth is essential for the people, but growth can not be allowed to be pursued in a manner which damages the environment. The Environment Ministers of the BASIC countries Brazil, South Africa, India and China are meeting again in New Delhi, after the December climate change meet in Durban. The meeting will be focused on working out a common and concerted strategy on the proposed new global climate change regime. Since the Copenhagen round of talks in 2009, the BASIC has emerged as a key component for a successful outcome in climate talks.
· The First World Radio Day is being observed today. The observance of the day on February 13 also marks the anniversary of UN Radio, which was launched in 1946. In her massage, UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova said, Radio is the mass medium that reaches the widest audience, especially the most marginalized parts of our societies. UNESCO stressed the importance of radio as a vital source of information during natural disasters, and as a central instrument in community life with the potential of mobilising social change.
· The Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has been charged with contempt by the Supreme Court in Islamabad. He pleaded not guilty. Mr. Gilani is accused of failing to re-open corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. If convicted, he faces six months of jail and diaqualification from office. Mr. Gilani insists that the President has full immunity as head of state, and says that the charges are politically motivated. Mr. Gilani is the first Prime Minister of Pakistan who has been indicted.
· Syria has rejected the Arab League proposal for deployment of a Joint UN-Arab Peacekeeping mission by the UN Security Council to monitor the situation in the country, describing it as a hostile act that targets Syria's stability and security.