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tune in with UPSC: Daily News Notes: 5th Feb, 2012
- · Milad-un-Nabi, the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammad, is being celeberated today with religious fervour. People have decorated their homes and mosques with festive banners and buntings. They are also sending Milad-un-Nabi e-cards to their kith and kin.
- · The desert festival began at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan today. Various cultural and folk events are being organised during the 3 day event.
- · Former ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair and three senior scientists have been indicted by a Committee (headed by Pratyush Sinha, former CVC) appointed by the space body, for allegations of revenue losses in the allocation of space spectrum using S-band between the Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO’s commercial arm Antrix Corporation and a private company Devas. They have been found responsible for the acts of omissions by not paying enough attention to details and not ensuring that the various notes that were put up for decision to the competent authorities, included all necessary details and had undergone various necessary consultative processes.
- · While inaugurating the 4th meeting of South Asian Forum for Health Research (SAFHeR, theme: “Empowering through Sharing – Working towards Implementation of Regional Health Priorities”, hosted by the Indian Council of Medical Research), the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister has urged the SAFHeR to explore ways for strengthening collaboration by sharing innovative methods for tackling the problems faced by our countries. This regional meeting is discussing a wide range of subject areas like Vector borne diseases; cholera and other diarrhoeal diseases; drug resistance; influenza, health problems due to heavy content of arsenic & fluorides; continued challenge of malnutrition and high maternal and child morbidity & morality; non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer and for finding the determinants that may be common and affordable solutions. SAFHeR was established in 2003 as a mechanism for enhancing regional cooperation and partnership in Health Research among South Asian countries. Indian Council of Medical Research, the apex research body in India, completed its 100 years of existence in Nov, 2011 and has now accepted to host the SAFHeR Secretariat for the period 2012-2014.
- · India and France stressed on the need to build on the existing good bilateral cooperation in the area of Science and Technology (S&T). India stated that cooperation in new areas where France has expertise like geological mapping, water resource management, sub soil management, health, bio technology, nano material, Information Communication Technology, cloud computing and supercomputing can be explored, and thus there is need for commercializing technology and translating research into the well-being of the society. It also extended an invitation to the France for the launching of the 25th Anniversary celebrations of Indo French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (CEFIPRA). France too stressed on the need to develop cooperation in higher education and scientific research.
- · The Syrian embassy in Canberra has become one of several Syrian consulates to be attacked around the world. The attack on the embassy comes as Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stand down. Syrian embassies in London, Berlin, Cairo and Kuwait are among others which have come under attack from protesters in recent days.
- · In Egypt, saboteurs blew up a pipeline that supplies gas to Israel by planting explosives under the pipeline. This is the 12th such attack in a year.
- · Tokyo and Washington have agreed to move 4,700 Marines from the Japanese island of Okinawa to Guam in a bid to revive a stalled plan for the realignment of US forces in Japan. The two countries in 2006 agreed to the transfer of around 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to the US territory of Guam and the relocation of an air base on Okinawa but the move has been delayed as Tokyo struggles to convince Okinawans to accept the deal. The US Defense Department is now considering shifting the remaining 3,300 Marines to elsewhere in the Pacific, such as Hawaii, Australia and the Philippines.
