{Current Affairs} Daily News Notes: 1st Dec, 2013

• ·         Duration of relation, shared household and pooling of resources are some of the guidelines (out of 8) the Supreme Court has framed for bringing live-in relationship within the expression 'relationship in the nature of marriage' for protection of women under Domestic Violence (DV) Act. Bench said that pooling of financial and domestic arrangements, entrusting the responsibility, sexual relationship, bearing children, socialization in public and intention and conduct of the parties are some of the other criteria to be considered for determining the nature of relations between parties.
• ·         A record was created at the national lok adalat held in all the 51 districts in Madhya Pradesh yesterday when over 19 lakh cases pending in various courts were settled. Awards and decree amounting to over 601 crore rupees were passed. A parallel state level mega Lok Adalat was also conducted at local bodies and government departments where over 28 lakh applications under various welfare schemes and pending grievances were disposed of and award and assistance of over 285 crore rupees were passed.
• ·         The unemployment rate in the country during 2012-13 was estimated to be 13.3 per cent for the age group 15-29.The Labour Ministry report on 'Youth employment-unemployment scenario, 2012-13 further revealed that unemployment rate among the persons who cannot read and write any language or are considered illiterate was the lowest with 3.7 per cent without work in the 15-29 age group. In rural areas, the unemployment rate for graduates and above for the age group 15-29 years was estimated to be at 36.6 per cent. In urban areas, the same was 26.5 per cent.
• ·         Months ahead of the national elections, the government has doled out an internet bonanza for rural India as it cleared a proposal to provide three internet connections and one wi-fi hotspot in each of the 2.5 lakh gram panchayats spread across the country. The project, which is expected to be completed by March 2016, will ride on the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) being developed by the government and provide internet connectivity across the rural belt of the country, linking crores of villagers to the worldwide web. The total cost of the broadband project has been pegged at Rs.3,750 crore, a source said, adding that this will be funded by the Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund. The government had cleared the Rs.20,000 crore NOFN project in October 2011 to provide connectivity to the gram panchayat level. At present, optical fibre cable connectivity is available in all state capitals, districts, HQs and up to the Block level. The idea of the NOFN project was to connect the blocks to the gram panchayats.
• ·         The Tata Group called off plans to set up a bank and withdrew its licence application, implying that the Reserve Bank of India’s conditions were restrictive and conforming with them would affect its other businesses besides having to ensure that more than 1,000 units were compliant with requirements. This follows the finance arm of another big industrial group, Mahindra & Mahindra, having dropped its plans for a licence even before the application deadline. Of India’s biggest corporate houses, only the Aditya Birla Group and the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group now remain in the reckoning. Finance Minister P Chidambaram and RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan have indicated that they are looking to the new banks to drive financial inclusion across the country rather than focusing on the urban markets that are catered to by existing institutions. {InfoGraphic}
• ·         Japan’s emperor Akihito and empress Michiko (who have no administrative or government related power) landed in India on Saturday on a six-day visit that could mark a watershed in relations between the two countries which are seeking to build a strategic partnership on a strong economic foundation. According to Japan, such visits by the emperor are held on the advice received by the cabinet. There’s already a parallel being drawn with emperor Akihito’s historic visit to China in 1992 which cemented ties between the two countries. The resultant bonhomie —which also included a sharp increase in aid to China — lasted until the recent conflict between the two countries over Senkaku islands. Japanese sources though described any comparison with the 1992 China visit as a “bit overstretched”. “The visit has nothing to do with China but we do hope it will be a blessing for the warm relations the two countries already have and that it will upgrade the status of India in the Japanese psyche,” said an official.
• ·         At least five people were killed and dozens injured in clashes between pro- and anti-government protesters in Bangkok. Thai police fired tear gas and water cannon to prevent demonstrators from storming the Government House to overthrow Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The protests turned violent yesterday, with five people being killed inside Ramkhamhaeng University in clashes that continued till this morning.
• ·         Health Organisations and charities around the world are marking the 25th annual World AIDS DAY (1st Dec) to promote greater awareness of the disease. There has been a reduction of 57 per cent in the cases of HIV-AIDS in India in the last decade. The main reason for the decline can be attributed to Centre’s pivotal role in spreading awareness among the masses. Nearly 21 lakh people are living with HIV infection across India. 1.5 lakh lives have been saved due to scale up of free Anti-Retroviral Therapy services since 2004.
• ·         India's badminton star PV Sindhu has won the Women's Singles title at the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold Tournament by defeating world No. 30 Li Michelle of Canada. With the victory Sindhu has bagged yet another Tier-III title this season, after her triumph at the Malaysia Open Grand Prix in May.