Daily News Notes: 3rd April, 2012

· In Uttar Pradesh biennial elections to the 13 seats of the Legislative Council will be held on April 26. The term of 13 MLCs is expiring on the 5th of next month. Also, in Bihar biennial elections for 11 legislative council seats will be held on April 26.
· With 99.3 per cent of Sakala applications disposed of within the stipulated time in four taluks where the scheme was introduced on a pilot basis, Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda has exuded confidence that the ambitious project will bring down corruption in officialdom by “at least 75 per cent.” State-wide launch of Karnataka Guarantee of Services to Citizens Act (Sakala), which assures delivery of 151 services within a stipulated time, Mr. Gowda said that it was a “milestone” in the political history of Karnataka. The call centre at Bangalore (080-44554455) would also help people track applications.
· A new passage to Srinagar now under construction will not only bring the regions of Jammu and Kashmir closer but will also end the isolation of the valley from the rest of the country. A number of state-of-the-art tunnels are being dug through the Pir Panjal ranges, among others, for easy roadways and a pioneering railway line both of which will give easy access to the valley. The 288-km distance between Jammu and Srinagar will be reduced to 238 km but more importantly the 10-hour journey will be covered in just about five hours, avoiding perilous points such as Khooni Nala (bloody path) where shooting stones slide at the speed of a bullet taking a heavy toll of life. The Chenani-Nashri Tunnel which is being blasted through the Mury formation range of the Shivalik range — derived from Mury village in Pakistan from where it starts — at an elevation of 1.2 km is 9 km long and will be the longest tunnel in the country when completed in 2016, the deadline for the entire project estimated to cost Rs. 10,600 crore.
· The 1,200-MW Rosa Thermal Power Project of Reliance Power in Shahjahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh has become fully operational with the final unit of 300 MW being commissioned on March 31. The mega power project has achieved this benchmark four months ahead of schedule — it was to be commissioned in July. Rosa is the first thermal power plant to be set up in Uttar Pradesh in 20 years and marks the largest ever private sector investment of over Rs.600 crore in the State. The power plant is operating above 95 per cent plant load factor (PLF).
· The Gujarat government strongly opposed any move to shift the Asiatic lions from the Gir forest to Kuno Palpur in Madhya Pradesh. It contended that the lions would not be safe there. State Senior Counsel argued that the Centre's fear (epidemic in the Gir forest might wipe out the entire species of the Asiatic lions) was not supported by scientific proof. The Kuno reserve forest was not suitable for lions because it was meant for tigers and its weather and environment were not conducive for the survival of the Asiatic lions. He said there were 25 tigers in Kuno Palpur once, but the population was zero now due to poaching and systemic failure, and the Madhya Pradesh government had failed to put in place a system to protect tigers too. Initially, the Kuno region was meant to be used for a cheetah project and it was suggested that cheetahs should first be allowed to acclimatise themselves in the reserve forest and then steps taken for the translocation of the Asiatic lions, he noted. If the lions were translocated first, they might not allow cheetahs to establish themselves.
· Madhya Pradesh has become the first State to ban all Gutka products containing tobacco or nicotine under a new law to govern food safety standards.
· Further intensifying the price war in the fast-growing tablet PC market, HCL Infosystems launched ‘MyEdu Tab' focussing on the education sector. The ‘MyEdu Tab K12' (kindergarten to class XII) version, priced at Rs.11,499, is an innovative educational tablet packaged with curriculum-mapped digital content and educational applications, while ‘MyEdu Tab — Higher Education' version comes with a price tag of Rs.9,999 and is an edutainment platform that brings together world-class rich multimedia content on technical and professional skills, assessments and applications. The tablet market in India is expected to grow to over 20-lakh units by 2013 from 3.5-lakh units in 2011. HCL now enjoys 15 per cent market share in the tablet PC business. The company also plans to export its tablet PCs to Africa, Gulf nations and other developing nations.
· India today welcomed the US reward of 10 million dollars on Pakistan-based Jamaat-Ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of Mumbai terror attack in November. It sends a strong message to Lashkar-e-Toiba that the International Community remains united in combating terrorism. Hafiz Saeed is the founder of terrorist outfit LeT and is on India's most 'Wanted List'. US maintains both LeT and Jamaat-ul-Dawa as foreign terrorist organisations and has also individually designated Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and Abdul Rahman Makki for terrorist activities under its law. India and the US have strengthened their counter-terrorism cooperation through the Joint Working Group on Counter-terrorism, Counter-terrorism Cooperation Initiative, the Homeland Security Dialogue and regular exchanges between intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
· The United States, Britain and France are working on a U.N. Security Council statement to formally declare 10th April as the deadline for Syria to withdraw troops and heavy weapons from conflict cities. The statement would again warn President Bashar al-Assad of possible further measures if he reneges on the promise to implement six point peace plan to end the violence in the country. Syria had accepted Annan’s peace plan and promised to pull out troops and heavy weapons by 10th April. The move would be followed by end of hostilities by the Syrian Government and armed opposition 48 hours after verification of such a withdrawal by Kofi Annan.
· The Japanese government has decided today to extend the sanctions against North Korea for one year. The sanctions, expiring 13th of this month, ban all imports from and exports to North Korea. Japan has been imposing punitive measures to North Korea since July 2006 following Pyongyang's missile test. The decision by the Japanese government came at a time when Pyongyang confirmed that it would not give up its planned satellite launch.
· The last ten police and military hostages held by Colombia's FARC rebels have been released in an operation supervised by the International Red Cross. They were welcomed by their relatives after more than a decade in captivity and given medical checks before being flown on to the capital, Bogota. The Farc are still thought to be holding hundreds of civilians. President Juan Manuel Santos welcomed the releases but said the gesture by the Farc was not enough.
· Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister has asked Qatar to hand over its Vice President Tareq Al Hashemi who is facing terror charges in the country. He added that the Qatar is playing host to fugitive Al-Hashemi and it is unacceptable. However, Al-Hashemi has rebuffed Baghdad’s demand and said he enjoys constitutional immunity and has not been convicted.
· At least five people are dead after a week of heavy rains and severe flooding swamped the Pacific island nation of Fiji. As many as 11,000 people in Fiji's main island of Viti Levu were forced from their homes into evacuation shelters to escape the impact of Tropical Cyclone Daphne as it passed by the island. Roads and bridges are washed out and thousands of residents are without power. Airlines canceled flights in and out of Fiji, leaving thousands of tourists temporarily stranded.
· Palestinian group Hamas has slammed Israel responsible for its failure to deliver fuel and power to Gaza which have paralyzed the life in Gaza strip. They also appealed to Egypt and the Arab countries support Gazans by ensuring the delivery of the fuel to Gaza. Egypt has raised questions over the high subsidy on fuel supplies to Gaza which is based on agreement by the ousted Mubarak regime with Israel. The current crisis has been the worst with blackouts of up to 18 hours in the city and hospitals have been the worst sufferers. Meanwhile International Red cross has begun transferring emergency supply of fuel to run the medical services in the Gaza strip.
· China will provide Nepal with technology and assistance to build a border land port (“dry port” near the border with Tibet) that will boost trade and serve as a transit point on a proposed railway line (connecting Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region, TAR). In a reflection of how both countries are pushing relations forward, a senior Chinese leader is also expected to visit Nepal this summer as part of plans to mark 2012 as a year of friendship. Last year, China also opened a port of entry at Gyirong in TAR to make it a major passage for land trade with Nepal. China plans to make Gyirong a 44.5-sq.km. “cross-border free trade zone” with Nepal. Trade between China and Nepal grew by 61 per cent last year to $1.2 billion. Chinese officials say they see potential for supporting infrastructure and hydropower projects in Nepal with the country facing deficits in both areas.
· Britain and Argentina observed the 30th anniversary of the Falklands war amid renewed diplomatic tensions between the two countries over their rival territorial claims. Both claim sovereignty over the islands, controlled by Britain since 1833, and fought a 74-day war in 1982 that Argentina lost, leading to the collapse of its ruling military dictatorship while giving a huge political boost to the then British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. Argentina has protested to the United Nations accusing Britain of “militarising” the region by deploying one of its most modern Navy ships, HMS Dauntless, to the South Atlantic, off the Falklands. It has also banned Falklands-flagged ships from docking in its ports and threatened to legal action against companies involved in oil exploration in the region. Argentina, which calls the islands Las Malvinas, says it inherited them from Spain. It has the backing of its regional allies including Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.