Daily News Notes: 24th March, 2012

· As no concrete solution has emerged from the ongoing talk between the government and Maoist in Odisha, fresh abduction of a sitting MLA in the wee hours today has further complicated the crisis. Maoist has left some pamphlets and leaflets written in Odisa demanding to stop operation of green hunt, release of their cadres lodge in different jails. They have also demanded to implement the agreement reached between the Maoist and the government during the abduction of the then collector of Malkangiri Sri R Vineel Krishna.On the other hand the third phase of discussion to secured release of two abducted Italians is going on.
· The Union Cabinet on Friday gave the green signal for the setting up of a credit risk guarantee fund trust to give a push to housing for low-income groups in the country. The trust will be set up under the Indian Trust Act and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation will be its settler. It would be managed and administered by a Board of Trustees with cross-sectoral composition. It would be serviced by the National Housing Bank. The key principle of the scheme is that the lender shall secure loans to construct and upgrade low-income housing purely on the assets financed, without any other collateral. A government spokesperson noted that the scheme assumes importance as urban affordable housing deficit is estimated at about Rs. 26 million and that the total housing loan outstanding was about Rs. 3.06 lakh crore, of which 24 per cent are for loans up to Rs. 5 lakh. Even for these loans, only a part was estimated to be flowing to EWS (economically weaker section)/LIG (low income group) sections of society. The lending institutions covered under the scheme would include commercial banks, regional rural banks, housing finance companies, and cooperative housing finance societies. Initial corpus of Rs. 1,200 crore would be made up of a contribution of Rs. 1,000 crore from the Central government and the balance of Rs. 200 crore from State governments. The fund is part of the Rajiv Awas Yojana scheme for providing housing for the urban poor.
· Making marriage laws more women-friendly, the Union Cabinet approved a Bill seeking to give a woman a share in her husband's property after divorce. While a wife can oppose a husband's plea for divorce under the new “irretrievable breakdown of marriage” clause, the husband will have no such rights to oppose if the wife moves the court on the same grounds, it says. Apart from giving women the right to their husband's property, the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010, also aims at giving rights to adopted children on a par with biological off-springs in case the parents go for a divorce.
· The sound of marching boots of Student Police Cadets on the Parade Ground of the Kerala Police Academy, Thrissur, will reverberate across the nation soon. A successful model of the Student Police Cadet (SPC) project is being discussed and analysed at the national level. A resolution was passed at the 41{+s}{+t}All India Police Science Congress at Dehra Dun last year, where it was recommended that all States should adopt the SPC project. The model has the potential for being married to the concept of ‘education for peace' mooted by the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT), as both are aimed at promoting the concept of peace and enabling children to handle conflict situations. The SPC project was conceived in 2008, as an attempt to inculcate better civic sense among students and to mould them as responsible youth who will react positively to demands of society.[http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01016/23kiand01_SPC_1016814f.jpg]
· The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) held a day long Workshop on Objective Type Multiple Choice Questions in Statistics in New Delhi. Chairman SSC, Shri N.K. Raghupathy, in his remarks said, in 2011-12 it had received 91.00 lakh applications as on 22.3.2012. In order to deal with the huge numbers, the Commission has mooted a proposal for A single Common Screening Test for different levels. He further said that despite the large volume, the time taken by SSC to complete recruitment process is 12-13 months, compared to European nations’ 18-20 months. He also detailed the various measures/initiatives taken by SSC in the recent years: [1.] Restructuring of all examinations and regrouping of posts based on the recommendations of the 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission; [2.] Placing of answer keys of objective type examinations on the website, inviting objections, consideration of objection of the candidates with the assistance of experts and initiating corrective measures; [3.] Administration of skill tests on computer with no cost to the candidates and introduction of Computer Proficiency Test for certain posts. It is estimated that almost 75% of candidates selected by the Commission in 2010-11 have proficiency or working knowledge of computers; [4.] Introduction of Quality Management Systems in Regional Offices with a view to effect continual improvement in the processes and to improve customer satisfaction levels. All nine Regional Offices of the Commission have obtained ISO 9001 : 2008 Certification for their Quality Management System. Western Regional Office at Mumbai is the last region to obtain the certification in March, 2012.
· The Kerala High Court orally observed that the alleged acts of the two Italian marines amounted to terrorism as they had allegedly shot dead two fishermen without any provocation.
· The Union Finance Minister chaired the meeting of the National Implementation Committee (NIC) in order to review the progress of the programmes and activities already undertaken and those to be taken-up in the year ahead for the commemoration of the 150^th Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekanand. The National Committee (NC) under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister was constituted on 27^th April, 2010 to consider policies and lay down guidelines for the commemoration of the 150^th birth anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. Thereafter, a National Implementation Committee (NIC) was constituted under the Chairmanship of the Union Finance Minister for chalking-out the programmes and activities for implementing the decisions of the National Committee. After the meeting of the NIC, the Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee released the following publications: [1.] Rabindranath Tagore 150^th Birth Anniversary : Documentation of National Commemoration - By Eicher Goodearth Publications; [2.] Translations of Tagore Songs And Audio CD Set - By Random House India; [3.] RABINDRA CHITRAVALI (paintings of Rabindranath Tagore); [4.] Facsimile Edition of the Original Manuscript of Gitanjali (for which Tagore was awarded Noble Prize in 1913).
· Tamil Nadu Chief minister has unveiled a 11-year roadmap, which pitches Tamil Nadu as a global investment destination with potential for projects worth Rs 15 lakh crore. The ‘Vision 2023’ document stresses on high levels of private participation in sectors ranging from roads and ports to agriculture and manufacturing in a bid to boost economic output and ensure that the state tops the human development index in the country. “Attaining one among the top three positions in Asia would be tantamount to benchmarking Tamil Nadu with countries such as South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia, which are ranked 8, 17 and 18 in the world by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in its study on ‘Ease of Doing Business’,” the CM said. “Vision 2023” Highlights: [1.] TN as a global investment destination with potential for projects worth 15 lakh crore; [2.] An economic boom that will raise the GSDP growth rate to 11% Increasing the annual per capita income by six times to 4.5 lakh; [3.] 20,000MW of additional power generation capacity; [4.] Training 20 million people for job skills, building cold chains and grain storage complexes, setting up medical hubs, and eight-laning of roads.
· Tuberculosis, TB is a silent killer disease. World Tuberculosis Day is being observed today across the globe to raise awareness about the devastating effects of the disease and efforts being made to prevent it. This year the theme is 'Stop TB in My Lifetime'. Tubercluosis is a completely curable disease. It was in the year 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch detected the cause of Tubercluosis, the TB bacillus. This was the first time towards dygnosing and curing it. Within 6 to 8 month of treatment under Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS) ,TB can be fully cured. Over 6.4 lakh DOT providers provide DOTS to TB patients across the country free of cost. Besides high quality drugs are provided free of cost to all TB patients. Doctors say patients who have cough for more than two weeks should visit their nearest designated microscopy centres for sputum examination.
· The US soldier (Staff Sergeant Robert Bales) accused of killing 17 innocent Afghan civilians Panjwai district of southern Kandhar of Afghanistan early this month has been formally charged under US military laws. Robert Bales is alleged to have walked out of his military base and gunned down nine children and eight adults in two neighbouring villages. Relatives of the victims have demanded Bales’ trial in Afghanistan. Afghan Parliamentarians have also demanded his public trial in Afghanistan.
· Faced with dwindling international enrollments, Australian government has announced a slew of changes to its student visa regime (regardless of country of origin) including the doubling of working hours limit and to submit less evidence in support of their visa application.
· An estimated 2.4 lakh Indian immigrants are living illegally in the United States without proper immigration documents, according to the latest report by the US Department of Homeland Security. The flow of Indians coming clandestinely to the US has doubled between 2000 and 2011, the report said. India with 240,000 illegal immigrants ranks 7th in the list which is topped by Mexico with 6.8 million followed by El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. China is placed 5th in the list, but tops among the Asian countries, followed by Philippines which is ranked overall 6th.
· The African Union is setting up a 5000-strong regional force to hunt down the fugitive Ugandan warlord, Joseph Kony. An AU official said the rebel leader has three choices-to surrender, to be captured or as he put it to be neutralised.
· The World Bank says, three candidates will compete to the institution's new President. The Korean-born American academic Jim Yong Kim was nominated by President Obama. The two other candidates are Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the Colombian academic Jose Antonio Ocampo. They were nominated by developing countries. A US citizen has led the Bank since its inception in 1944, but developing nations say it is time for change.