Daily News Notes: 21st & 22nd April, 2012

· In Chhattisgarh, police are still clueless about Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon, a day after he was abducted from a forested area at gun-point by Maoists. Around 90 Maoists reached the spot where the collector was in a meeting with a group of villagers for a government outreach programme and shot dead two personal security officers of the collector before taking him into the nearby forest. A 2006 batch IAS officer, Mr. Menon, who hails from Tamil Nadu, was taken hostage from a forested area Manjhiparain the first ever abduction of any IAS officer in the mineral-rich state since Maoist insurgency broke out in the late 1980s.
· Things are getting set for the launch of India's Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1) from the spaceport at Sriharikota. The four stages of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL) is being used to put RISAT-1 in polar orbit at an altitude of 480 km. The satellite's propulsion system will then be used to take it to the final orbit at an altitude of 536. The RISAT-1, which has been ten years in the making, is essentially a remote-sensing satellite and will be the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) first radar-imaging satellite. The rocket is called PSLV-XL (XL stands for extra-large) because it uses six more powerful strap-on motors than those used in the standard PSLV version. If the normal PSLV version's six strap-on motors each use nine tonnes of solid propellants, each of them in the PSLV-XL use 12 tonnes of propellants. This is the third time the ISRO is using a PSLV-XL version. It was first used in October 2008 to put Chandrayaan-1 in orbit and again in July 2011 to during the GSAT-12 launch. Although this is the first time the ISRO is launching its own RISAT, it has twice launched Israel's RISATs (Tecsar and RISAT-2) in orbit using the PSLVs from Sriharikota.
· The Indian Navy will take charge of the much-awaited aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya (Admiral Gorshkov, final price tag of $2.34 billion), by December 4 this year, but it will be early 2013 by the time the warship reaches home. The induction of the Kiev-class aircraft carrier will allow the Navy to have two such platforms for a while; a third indigenous aircraft carrier is under construction at the Kochi shipyard. Once it joins, the Navy will take a view on decommissioning INS Viraat, its lone aircraft carrier since its internal hull is suffering wear and tear.
· In a move that will increase the number of FM radio channels in the country, content variety and business viability, Trai has recommended that the minimum channel spacing between FM radio frequencies can be halved to 400 KHz within a licence service area, buttressing its point by the fact that a minimum channel spacing of 400 KHz (or even less in some cases) is the benchmark in many countries including the UK, Singapore, US, etc. When implemented, it will immediately double the number of FM channels in each major market in the country and naturally the variety of content. With more channels available for auctions, the government will also be in a position to make more licence fees through auctions. Industry sources said the recommendation ought to be implemented in Phase III policy rollout — which plans to extend FM radio’s reach to 294 cities, thereby meeting the government’s target of covering 85% of the country — so as to enable its success. The move is especially necessary to enable the release of more frequencies in A+ and A category cities, they added. Earlier, radio operators had pointed out to Trai that reducing channel spacing was long overdue because significant technological developments had taken place since 2008 when the current 800 KHz norm was made. With more than 100% mobile phone penetration in the urban markets, it is technologically possible to receive FM stations separated by just 400 Khz.
· In the Third Session of G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting in Washington D.C., Indian Finance Minister said that India welcomes the initiatives taken by Mexico on “Green Growth” and G20 can contribute in this area through the identification of best practices for sustainable development, provide researched inputs, sharing of technology and suggesting ways of raising resources to go forward. “Our deliberations on the issue must therefore strike a balance between all the three pillars of sustainable development i.e. economic development, social development and environmental sustainability, on which there is consensus.” Also, in his address on ‘India and the World - Short and Medium Term Prospects’, he said that India’s engagement with the world has increased considerably over the past two decades not just in the economic arena but in various walks of life like art and culture, literature and including cuisine, the popularity of which can be gauged from the crowds that throng Indian restaurants in many parts of the world. On world economic cries (2007-2012) he said that “there is a structural change ongoing in the world, namely the rise of emerging economies all over the world, but especially in Asia. The huge resource of human capital in countries like China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and other nations which earlier could not join the global work-force are now a part of the world, because of new technology. Whether a skilled person happens to be in New Delhi, Bangkok or Manila, by use of modern technology a person’s skill can be put to use in New York, London or Tokyo. Thus, to gain from this change, the advanced countries have to work harder in trading their skill and knowledge base with Asia and the emerging economies.” He said roughly fifteen years ago emerging and developing economies accounted for 35.5% of the total world output, and now it account for almost 50% . [imp for essay, to read full: Click Here]
· The National Green Tribunal (NGT) set aside the Environmental Clearance granted to the 4 MTPA Coal Mining Project of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd and 4 MTPA Coal Washery at Gare in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh. NGT was established in 2010 for the effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. It is a judicial body exclusively to deal with environmental laws and to provide citizens a right to environment. New Delhi is the Principal Place of Sitting of the Tribunal and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai shall be the other four place of sitting of the Tribunal. It deal’s with all environmental laws on air and water pollution, the Environment Protection Act, the Forest Conservation Act and the Biodiversity Act. With this effort, India had join Australia and New Zealand, which have such specialized environment tribunals. With this, the erstwhile National Environment Appellate Authority had seized to exist and all its the functions were transferred to NGT. Justice Lokeshwar Singh Panta took charge as 1^st Chairman of National Green Tribunal on October 19, 2010 with 10 expert members.
· Spread over 160 hectares, the Cairn Hill reserved forest (Ooty, Tamil Nadu), a prized possession of the Nilgiris South Division just beyond Fernhill here is set to become the most popular eco-tourism spot as it set in motion a bird watching facility.
· Assam Government will launch Infant and Young Child Nutrition programme, under Chief Ministers Vision for Women and Children 2016 programme, to reduce malnutrition and anemia. National Rural Health Mission, Social Welfare, Education Department and UNICEF will jointly implement the programme. The objective of the programme is to achieve Continuum of Care for children under two along with improve nutritional status and reduce anemia among adolescents and pregnant women. Continuum of care includes the care covering for stages starting form adolescents, pregnant and lactating mothers and children less than 5 years of age. Assam has recorded 35 percent underweight birth and 72 percent pregnant women as anemic. Another objective of the programme is to achieve 100 percent exclusive breast feeding which is presently 63 percent.
· Two years ago, Fathima Beevi (age:92yrs), a native of Kerala’s Alappuzha district, enrolled as a student and attended school for six months. She became one of the oldest school students in Kerala. Beevi had attended school as a child but an orthodox community spoiled her dreams of literacy. This year, Beevi passed away while preparing for her seventh standard equivalent exam. She has been an inspiration for others as well as a boost for the state’s initiative.
· Following directions of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Punjab Government has banned the manufacture, import and use of carcinogenic pesticides, which according to reports, caused cancer among the small farmers in the Malwa region.
· Planning Commission Deputy Chairman said that tea would be declared a national drink by April 17 next year to coincide with the 212th birth anniversary of the first Assamese tea planter and Sepoy Mutiny leader Maniram Dewan. The other important reason is that half of the labour in the tea industry comprises women and it is the largest employer in the organised sector. Mr. Ahluwalia said India was the largest producer and consumer of black tea in the world. According to ORG-India Tea Consumption Study, 83 per cent households in India consume tea and is the cheapest beverage in the world after water. He also urged tea planters and producers to emulate coffee planters and produce more varieties as there are more than 20 varieties of coffee in the market but there are only two varieties of tea.
· The Meghalaya government denied a report that fish in the State's Ranikor river were dying due to exploratory drilling for uranium ore and claimed the water had turned toxic from substances used by local people for fishing. Thousands of dead fish have been found floating in the Ranikor since April 13, prompting the government to conduct an inquiry. Also, the Atomic Minerals Directorate (AMD) has found an estimated 9,500 tonnes of uranium oxide reserves in Meghalaya. The proposed open-cast uranium mining project in West Khasi Hills district has been hanging fire since 1992 after several groups cited the ill-effects of radiation on human health and environment.
· India and Nepal have accorded to speed up work on the proposed Jayanagar-Baridabas rail link which will lead to easier and faster connectivity b/w the two nations. These projects are under Phase-I of the cross- border rail link.
· The recent meeting of the 35-member Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) in Cape Town, South Africa, have decided to work to address immediate and emerging challenges in the form of Piracy, Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR). They have also decided to farm out the task of preparing concept papers for three countries — Australia on anti-piracy, Singapore on MDA and India on HADR. Australia was selected to prepare the paper on piracy as it is part of the international coalition that operates in the Gulf of Aden region.
· Bangalore-based biologist Krishnaswamy VijayRaghavan and Professor Tejinder Singh Virdee of Imperial College, London, who was associated with the design and construction of the Large Hadron Collider, are among six internationally-renowned scientists of Indian origin elected to the prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Society, Britain's premier science academy. They join the ranks of some of the world's most famous names, including Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking.
· Today is World Earth Day. Our environment faces many issues like deforestation, Global warming, soil erosion, floods and droughts which are quite detrimental to nature and in consequence to humans. Thus, the Earth Day promotes environmental awareness about the growing problem of air, water and soil pollution and calls for protection of the planet. Let's take a pledge and get involved in planting More Trees, Reduce Waste, Use Recycled Products, Go Organic, Conserve Electricity, Use Fluorescent Light Bulb and prevent Pollution.
· In an ambitious move, the Central Vigilance Commission has proposed to lead a global task force to promote international cooperation in enforcement and prevention of corruption offences. The objectives of the proposed task force would be to facilitate exchange of information about the anti-corruption organisations, systems, procedures, practices, and experiences among anti corruption authorities and other stakeholders. Thus, it would promote international cooperation in enforcement and prevention, define best practices and develop benchmarks and new approaches to tackle corruption in its various manifestations and assist in the capacity building of anti-corruption authorities. The proposal was discussed during the recent executive committee meeting of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities in Tanzania. It was attended by chiefs of anti-corruption watchdogs from various nations including Central Vigilance Commissioner Pradeep Kumar.
· Minutes after the Security Council approved a resolution expanding the number of UN cease-fire observers, Syria said it was ready to facilitate the UN monitors. But it stressed that a majority of them should be from neutral countries like BRICS, that also includes India. “The Security Council resolution said the deployment of the 300 strong U.N Supervisory Mission in Syria ( UNSMIS) for three months will depend on the assessment on the compliance of six point Annan peace plan. It calls on Syrian government and opposition to halt fighting. The resolution said Government and opposition have not yet ended the violence completely and warned about further steps in case of non compliance. It also urged Syria to agree with the United Nations on the observers' use of appropriate mode of air transport, which Damascus is yet to accept. After the Vote, US Ambassador to UN, Susan Rice said the United States would not support the renewal of the mandate after three months if the Syrian government failed to implement Annan's six-point peace plan and would push for further sanctions.”
· The Group of Twenty (G-20) advanced and emerging market economies, along with the broader IMF membership, agreed on pledges to boost the institution’s lending capacity by more than $430 billion. The move is to effectively double IMF’s lending capacity and protect the global economy from the euro zone’s debt crisis. Although the global lender would be able to use its increased firepower to help any country or region in need, Europe’s crisis was the driving force behind the push for more funding.
· ESPN Star Sports, a leading sports broadcaster, has set up an independent event management division to manage sporting events in India. Its event management group manages and promotes premier sporting events around Asia. It specialises in creating, managing, promoting, consulting, producing and syndicating leading sporting events. As a part of the deal, ESPN Star Sports is also producing and showcasing the Pepsi T20 Football tournament in a special eight-episode series.
· In Bahrain, the Formula-One Grand Prix motor racing event gets underway today amidst a backdrop of violent protests in and around the capital Manama. In the Qualifying rounds, Red Bull‘s Sebastian Vettel got into pole position for the 31st time in his Formula One career after grabbing top spot on the grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Other than Force India team joining the race, five members of India's Formula One medical team have been placed as observers at the Bahrain Grand Prix.