Daily News Notes: 16th to 19th August, 2012

· Union Rural Development, Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister, Jairam Ramesh has announced (on launch of Convergence Projects of National Mission for Empowerment of Women) that his ministry will allocate 1% of their budget for the welfare of Women. The budget of Rural Development ministry is 99,000 crore rupees. He said that naxal affected areas should be given priority for empowering the women.
· The President of India greets Parsi Community on the occasion of the Parsi New Year (Navroz), which was celebrated on 18th August, 2012.
· The Supreme Court has refused to quash the trial in the 1975 murder case of the then Railway Minister L N Mishra. The Court said, proceedings cannot be terminated merely because they have not been concluded in the past 37 years. On July 25, this year, the apex court had commenced hearing the petition filed for quashing of the trial in the case on the ground of extraordinary delay. The CBI had opposed his plea and had said that since the trial was at the stage of conclusion, it should be allowed to continue to its logical end.
· The Comptroller and Auditor General has said the government extended windfall gains of Rs 1.86 lakh crore to private players by distributing 57 coal mines blocks without auction between 2005 and 2009. The CAG’s draft report saying private and public sector companies made gains of Rs 10.67 lakh crore by getting coal blocks without auction. Even so, the final estimate of Rs 1.86 lakh crore surpasses the CAG’s estimate of loss from the 2G scam. The CAG’s report was tabled in Parliament on Friday along with the auditor’s findings on similar undue benefits for the promoters of Delhi International Airport Ltd and the Sasan ultra-mega power project in Madhya Pradesh. The Coalgate report dwarfed the other two both because of the scale of money involved and the fact that it covers allocations during the period when the PM was in charge of the coal ministry. [Click Here for Graphics: 1, 2]
· HRD Minister has informed that the number of out of school children in the country is estimated at 29.34 lakh in 2012-13. Further he said that Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) has provided support to alternate schooling facilities under its Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) and Alternative Innovative Education (AIE) component, however, with the Right to Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 mandating every child be admitted to a class appropriate to his/her age, to bring out of school children at par with the class in which they are admitted, Special Training facilities are now being provided under the SSA. On the standard of education, the Minister said that the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 further, provides for laying down of minimum norms and standards for recognition of private schools and the development of curricula and evaluation procedure by academic authorities. The National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) has laid down minimum eligibility qualifications for teacher recruitment in elementary schools including passing a Teacher Eligibility Test (TET). The Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) scheme for improving secondary education provides for inter alia schools infrastructure, additional class rooms, school laboratories, school libraries, and appointment of additional teachers for better pupil teacher ratio, subject teaching of science, Maths and English subjects, in-service training of teachers, ICT enabled education, curriculum reforms etc.
· The Minister of Road Transport & Highways has informed that a need was felt for seamless maintenance of the stretches developed with support of public funds predominantly during the development of Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) and North-South–East-West (NSEW) corridor. Thus it was contemplated to create a scheme for tapping the private sector’s efficiencies in operation, fee collection and maintenance, as service life of high-valued road infrastructure asset depends on timely maintenance before the performance level sinks below the minimum threshold standards. Presently, maintenance of stretches implemented through public funds is being done separately through short term Operation and Maintenance Contracts funded from budgetary resources. User fee is being collected through different agencies (wherever applicable) on annual contract basis and deposited into the Consolidated Fund. Further he said that a Model Concession Agreement (MCA) for operation and maintenance of highways through Private Parties on Operate, Maintain and Transfer (OMT) basis has already been approved. The basic principles of OMT are similar to Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) with construction, operation and maintenance of highway reduced to merely operation and maintenance of highways.
· Minister of Law & Justice has informed that the primary responsibility of infrastructure development for subordinate judiciary and High Courts rests with the respective State Government. The Government of India has been augmenting the resources of the State Governments in this regard through a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for infrastructure development of Judiciary since 1993-94. Further, the cost of infrastructure facilities for Supreme Court is being met through non-Plan budgetary provisions under the Ministry of Urban Development.
· Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Vayalar Ravi) has informed that the contribution of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) to GDP and total industrial production was estimated to be 8.72% and 44.86% respectively during the year 2008-09 (latest available). Further, the estimated contribution of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in total exports of the country for the year 2007-08 (latest available) was 30.80%.
· Ministry of Railways has informed that action has been taken by Indian Railways to develop Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) as an improvement over Anti-Collision Device (ACD). Development of Global Positioning System (GPS) based Anti-Collision Device (ACD) was taken up by Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) as a pilot project on non electrified Broad Gauge section of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) and it has been in service trials since 2006.
· Health Minister has informed that the Government of India under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) is working towards reducing maternal morbidity and mortality and improving maternal survival in women. Highlights of the key steps taken during the Eleventh Five Year Plan period are : [1.] 264 high focus districts in the country have been identified and are being given special incentives and funding to improve their health infrastructure, manpower etc; [2.] Promotion of Institutional Delivery through Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) and Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK): Promoting Institutional delivery to ensure skilled birth attendance is key to reducing both maternal and neo-natal mortality. JSY incentivizes pregnant women to opt for institutional delivery and provides for cash assistance. JSSK has been launched in the year 2011, which entitles all pregnant women delivering in public health institutions to absolutely free and no expense delivery including Caesarean section. The initiative stipulates free drugs, diagnostics, blood and diet, besides free transport from home to institution, between facilities in case of a referral and drop back home; [3.] Operationalisation of sub-centres, Primary Health Centres, Community Health Centres and District Hospitals for providing 24x7 basic and comprehensive obstetric services is a focus area; [4.] Mother and Child Protection Card in collaboration with the Ministry of Women and Child Development to monitor service delivery for mothers and children has been introduced; [5.] Name Based web enabled tracking of Pregnant Women to ensure antenatal, intranatal and postnatal care has been initiated; [6.] 8.66 lakhs Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) have been engaged to generate demand and facilitate accessing of health care services by the community; [7.] Capacity building of health care providers: Various trainings are being conducted under NRHM to build and upgrade the skills of doctors, nurses and ANM for early diagnosis and case management of common ailments of children and care of newborn at time of birth and also the sick newborn. These trainings include Integrated Management of Neo-natal and Childhood Illness(IMINCI), Facility based IMNCI, Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram (NSSK) and Facility based newborn care training.; [8.] Strengthening Facility based newborn care: Newborn care corners (NBCC) are being set up at all health facilities where deliveries take place to provide essential newborn care at birth to all new born babies. Special New Born Care Units (SNCUs) at District Hospitals and New Born Stabilization Units (NBSUs) at FRUs are being set up for the care of sick newborn.
· Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare has informed that the Food Safety and Standards Act, (FSSA) 2006 was passed by the Parliament on July 2006, establishing the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to lay down science based standards for the articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import, and to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption. This Act has replaced the erstwhile the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 and multiple food orders regulations.
· Union Power Minister has informed that power generation targets (in Million Units) are fixed on an annual basis and not for a Five Year Plan period. Further he informed that the power generation capacity added in the Eleventh Plan is 54964 MW as against the total capacity addition of 56618 MW in the 8th, 9th and 10th Plans taken together. The capacity added during the Eleventh Plan is about 260% of the total capacity added during the Tenth Plan. In the year 2011-12, capacity addition of 20502 MW exceeded the target of 17601 MW, which is the highest ever annual capacity addition and is nearly equal to capacity added in the Tenth Plan. The Minister also said that, as per the report of this Working Group, capacity addition requirement during the 12th Plan is 75,785 MW. On the issue of “non achievment of the capacity addition targets in some sector”, the Minister informed that the major reasons for this include delay in the placement of orders for main plant equipment, delay and non-sequential supply of material for main plant and Balance of Plant, slow progress of civil works, contractual disputes between project developer and contractor and their sub-vendors / sub-contractors, poor geology, flash flood, delay in land acquisition, environmental concern, shortage of manpower, law and order problems and difficult climate conditions.
· The Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy (Dr Farooq Abdullah) informed that the salient features of the Integrated Rural Energy Programme were implementation of programme in cluster of villages mode, preparation of energy plans at micro & macro levels, demonstration of renewable energy & energy conservation devices / systems and organizing awareness & training programmes. The Minister further said that while drawing up proposals for the 11th Plan, the Integrated Rural Energy Programme was reviewed and a decision was taken to discontinue the programme, as it had already demonstrated its objectives and most of the components of this programme had been covered in the other programmes/ schemes of the Ministry and being implemented through State Nodal Agencies. The Minister further informed that the Government has constituted an Offshore Wind Energy Steering Committee under the chairmanship of Secretary, MNRE to steer the wind energy development in the country in a directed and focused manner.
· The Ministry of Law & Justice has informed that the provisions of the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill do not in any way Infringe on the Independence of the Judiciary. The Minister clarified that the Bill has three parts: [1.] It lays down Judicial Standards which are derived from the Restatement of Values in Judicial Life, 1997 and have the acceptance and approval of the Full Court of Supreme Court; [2.] It makes it mandatory for the judges to declare their assets and liabilities; [3.] It makes provisions for filing of complaints by the citizens and the mechanism for their scrutiny and subsequent action for investigation or otherwise. For this, there are provisions for constituting Complaints Scrutiny Panel (CSP) which will scrutinize the complaints. They will be referred to National Judicial Oversight Committee (NJOC) for enquiry and action, only if there is a substance in them. All the bodies namely, CSP & NJOC comprise of persons who will be from judiciary.
· Union Minister of Shipping (G.K. Vasan) has informed that the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system from Allahabad to Haldia for a length of 1620 km in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal has been declared as National Waterway (NW-1) in 1986. This waterway is an alluvial river which has typical characteristics of large variation in water flow during monsoon and summer months, along with braiding & meandering of its course and heavy sediment load. Therefore while the waterway has enough depth during monsoon months on its entire length for mechanized navigation, the depth during summer months becomes significantly less at certain locations especially in its upper reaches. To keep the waterway navigable all year round, it is necessary to develop and maintain optimum depth in various stretches of the waterway according to its hydro/morphological characteristics. The Minister further said that Inland Waterway Authority of India (IWAI) undertakes river conservancy measures every year to develop and maintain targeted depth in different reaches. These include erection and maintenance of bandals and/ or dredging in shallow areas, regular hydrographic surveys, navigational aids for day and night navigation etc. to facilitate navigation by inland vessels. Besides, IWAI has also established fixed and floating terminals at many locations to facilitate berthing and loading/ unloading of vessels.
· Agriculture Minister has informed that Government is promoting Organic Farming through various schemes viz. National Project on Organic Farming (NPOF), National Horticulture Mission (NHM), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) and Macro Management of Agriculture (MMA) for increasing of percentage of such land. Such schemes will help to reduce the burden on Chemical Fertilizers, to ensure effective utilization of farm resources and to cater domestic and international growing Organic Food Market. Further, National Project on Organic Farming was launched during 10th Plan merging earlier similar scheme like National Project on Development and Use of Biofertilizers. The main objective of the scheme includes: [1.] Capacity Building through Service Providers; [2.] Financial and Technical support for setting up of organic input production unit such as Fruits and Vegetable market waste compost, Biofertilizers and biopesticides and Vermiculture hatcheries; [3.] Human resource development through training and demonstration; [4.] Awareness creation and market development; [5.] Quality Control of Organic Inputs.
· Minister for Women and Child Development has informed that the Ministry has revised the adoption guidelines and notified ‘Guidelines Governing Adoption of Children 2011’ on June 2011. These guidelines were based on the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 and Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption of which India is a signatory. To ensure the best interest of the child, these Guidelines provide that an orphaned, abandoned or surrendered child has to be declared legally free for adoption by a Child Welfare Committee before the child is proposed for adoption. Further, before placing the child with a family, a detailed Home Study Report is prepared to assess the suitability of parents to adopt. The final adoption order is passed by the Competent Court. To safeguard the interest of the adopted child, the adoption guidelines provide for post-adoption follow-up by adoption agencies for period of two years after adoption.
· Minister for Women and Child Development has informed that many welfare schemes for women are implemented by Government of India, State Governments and Union Territory Administrations. The details of major schemes under implementation are as: [1.] RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL CRECHE SCHEME FOR THE CHILDREN OF WORKING MOTHERS (RGNCS) provides day care facilities to the children in the age group 0-6 years from families with monthly income of less than 12000/-. In addition to being a safe space for the children, the crèches provide services such as supplementary nutrition, pre-school education and emergency health care, etc; [2.] CENTRAL SOCIAL WELFARE BOARD: The main women welfare related schemes and programmes being implemented by CSWB are family counselling centres, awareness generation programme and condensed courses of education for women; [3.] NATIONAL MISSION FOR EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN (NMEW) is an initiative of the Government of India for empowering women holistically. It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme sanctioned in April 2011 and acts as an umbrella Mission with a mandate to strengthen inter-sectoral convergence; [4.] WORKING WOMEN’S HOSTEL (WWH) Scheme envisages provision of safe and affordable hostel accommodation to working women, single working women, women working at places away from their home-towns and for women being trained for employmen; [5.] SUPPORT TO TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMME (STEP) for Women was launched as a Central Sector Scheme during 1986-87. It aims at making a significant impact on women by upgrading skills for self and wage employment. The target group includes the marginalized assetless rural women and urban poor; [6.] RASHTRIYA MAHILA KOSH (RMK) with a corpus of Rs.100 crore extends micro-finance services to bring about the socio-economic upliftment of poor women; [7.] INDIRA GANDHI MATRITVA SAHYOG YOJANA (IGMSY) is a Conditional Cash Transfer scheme for pregnant and lactating (P&L) women introduced in the October 2010 to contribute to better enabling environment by providing cash incentives for improved health and nutrition to pregnant and nursing mothers; [8.] SWADHAR SCHEME: The Ministry of Women and Child Development had been administering Swadhar scheme since 2001 for Women in difficult circumstances. Under the Scheme, temporary accommodation, maintenance and rehabilitative services are provided to women and girls rendered homeless due to family discord, crime, violence, mental stress, social ostracism. Another scheme with similar objectives/target groups namely Short Stay Home (SSH) is being implemented by Central Social Welfare Board; [9.] UJJAWALA is a comprehensive scheme for prevention of trafficking and rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.
· The Centre has issued new framework on Public Private Partnership for Integrated Agricultural Development (PPPIAD) permitting states to tie up with private firms for big projects under its flagship programme Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). In a major reform to boost farm sector growth, the Centre has kept a target of four per cent agriculture growth rate for the 12th Five Year plan (2012-17).
· The Central Vigilance Commission has given an approval for setting up a National Association of Central and State level anti-corruption bodies to suggest the best ways to check corruption in the country.The proposed body will be closed on the lines of International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA), the global body on anti-corruption which facilitates implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
· Releasing 'The Economic Outlook for 2012-13', Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Chairman C Rangarajan have pegged GDP growth for the current financial year at 6.7 per cent, painting a better picture of the economy than that by other think-tanks. Some Highlights: [1.] Expanding fiscal imbalance continues to be a major area of policy concern as the consolidated fiscal deficit of the Centre and the State governments for 2011/12 (RE) was 8.2 per cent of GDP. The consolidate deficit based on Budget Estimates for 2012/13 is estimated to be 7.2 per cent. The containment of the fiscal imbalance at the Centre rests on our management of the subsidy bill, especially that on refined petroleum products and by increasing the Tax-GDP ratio. Thus, introduction of the General Sales Tax on Goods & Services (GST) would be a very important milestone in the path of tax reform; [2.] Deficient SW monsoon likely to have an adverse impact on the prices of primary food items, especially on those where the ability of government stocks to play a moderating role is not there. Inflation rate expected to be within the range of 6.5 to 7.0 per cent at the end of 2012-13; [3.] Current Account Deficit was $78.2 billion (4.2% of GDP) in 2011/12 and projected at 67.1 billion (3.6% of GDP) in 2012/13;[4.] Gross Domestic Fixed Capital Formation as a proportion of GDP has fallen from its highest level of 32.9% in 2007/08 to 30.4 % in 2010/11 and to 29.5 per cent in 2011/12. Projected to be 30.0% in 2012/13; [5.] There is a dark mood in the advanced economies; especially in Europe. The slower growth in the US and in the EU will have an adverse impact on the expansion of these markets for India’s exports, both of goods and services; [6.] Reforms in Agriculture sectorneed focused attention on liberalizing tenancy arrangements, reforming domestic markets for agricultural produce and, reducing input subsidies; [7.] PMEAC has recommended to focus further on the following issues: [1.] Policy predictability: There is need to specifically focus and address the apprehensions that have been occasioned by perceptions of arbitrary actions on tax and other fronts; [2.] Clearing payments: Outstanding payments for infrastructure projects need to be cleared on time; [3.] Promoting savings: Given the declining trend in domestic saving rate, we need to make financial products more attractive; [4.] Containing inflation: Taming inflation is critical for sustained growth. Need to take steps to contain high inflation in primary food which is mostly linked to the antiquated system of marketing and absence of modern handling and storage facilities for perishable products; [5.] Improving the CAD: To contain the import of gold, an improvement in the return as well as the regulatory regime in which mutual funds and life insurance products are sold areof utmost importance. Also, some amelioration through price reform in case of diesel could serve to contain demand. [Click Here for Graphics: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
· Pakistani troops have fired at Indian posts across the LoC and the international border in Jammu nine times over the last 10 days. It is a blatant violation of the 2003 ceasefire accord, and India has lodged its protest. The Army says, the Pakistan troops are giving fire cover to more terrorists crossing over into India in which more than 35 terrorist crossed over to the Indian side.
· The country's fourth LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) Terminal is getting ready for commissioning on a 40 hectare site at the Puthuvype Special Economic Zone in Kochi by this year end. Petronet has secured LNG from Australia's Gorgon gas project for a period of 20 years for the Kochi terminal. However, for the time being, it is learnt that the Kochi facility will start operations with gas sourced from Qatar. Gas Authority of India Ltd is in the process of laying gas trunk lines on the Kochi-Mangalore and Kochi-Bangalore routes connecting the Kochi LNG plant, thus providing a Natural Gas Infrastructure for Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
· The humble House Sparrow was declared as 'state bird' of Delhi by Chief Minister. The Chief Minister announced the decision after launching a campaign "Rise for the Sparrows" aimed at conserving the species.
· Speaking at the closing function celebrating the 150 years of the Bombay High Court, Prime Minister said that the government have launched the National Mission for Justice Delivery in 2011 with the twin objectives of increasing access by reducing delays and arrears and enhancing accountability. He said a group under the chairman of Law Commission is looking at the improvements that are required in court procedure and processes for a better criminal justice system.
· The Central Government has said that rumours that triggered panic among people of northeastern states in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra were sourced from Pakistan. Pakistan is the source for doctored pictures that sparked violence in Mumbai and led to the exodus Mass departure from Bangalore. Union Home Minister (Sushil Kumar Shinde) has expressed concern to his Pakistani counterpart over the issue of social media-networking sites being misused by elements based in Pakistan to circulate false pictures and stories so as to whip up communal sentiments in India and has sought Pakistan’s full cooperation in checking and neutralizing such elements. In Karnataka, efforts are continuing to infuse confidence and defuse fear among the people of the North East region, living in the state. Seven person have already been arrested in the state for sending threatening text messages to the people of the North-East region. The Government has already banned SMS and MMS for 15 days to check the spread of rumours. Fleeing of people from other states has also come down to a larger extent. The State Chief Ministers of the concerned states have assured Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to ensure full security and safety of the people of North-East. Meanwhile, Assam Government says, people who have returned home from Bangalore and Hyderabad will be reinstated to their jobs once they return. Disclosing this, the State Home Secretary said, around 7 thousand people have arrived in Assam in the last 24 hours.
· The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam have decided to revive the Theft Informer Scheme, under which a person giving information of theft of electricity and the employees who detect the theft, , being committed anywhere in the State, would be given 20 per cent of the realized amount of the penalty as a reward.
· Minister of Culture (Kumari Selja) reached Colombo with the sacred Kapilavastu relics for its exposition to commemorate the ongoing celebrations on the occasion of the 2600 years of the Sambuddhatva Jayanthi. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa today walked barefoot, along with the Venerable Maha Sangha and other dignitaries to receive the sacred Kapilvastu Relics at the Bandarnaike International Airport. The sacred Relics were brought to Sri Lanka in a special Indian Air Force aircraft. The relics will be on public display at the Viharaya for the next three days.
· Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne has said that the initial version of a Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA), being jointly developed by India and Russia and claimed to be one of the most-advanced in the world, will be unveiled in India in 2014 after which it will undergo extensive trials at the Ojhar air base in Maharashtra and the aircraft would be ready for induction in the Indian Air Force by 2022. The two countries are close to signing a key contract expected to be worth over 11 billion dollar for research and development phase of the project. Russia has already developed three prototypes of the aircraft which are being used for carrying out test-flights.
· Ministry Of External Affairs has informed that during the last three years 23,653 Bangladesh nationals have been deported from India. Further it informed that there are 83,484 Bangladesh nationals living in India who claim to be refugees. Caste wise break-up of Bangladesh nationals who claim to be refugees residing in the country is not maintained by the Government. Also, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has been mandated to generate and issue a 12 digit unique identification numbers (Aadhaar) to all residents of India. Aadhaar is not a citizen identity card. It does not confer citizenship nor does it, by itself, confer right of citizenship. Further, the Ministry has also issued a list of country-wise details of foreign nationals (67945) who were found to be overstaying as on 31.12.2011. Bangladesh Nationals topped the list with 21274 followed by Afganistan (13744), Pakistan (8037), USA (2168), UK (1094) etc. [Click Here for the list]
· Pandit Nardevji Vedalankar, widely regarded as the Father of Hindi in South Africa, will be honored by India at the World Hindi Conference in Johannesburg next month by unveiling his bronze statue. Pandit Vedalankar pioneered the promotion of Hindi from the time he came to South Africa from India in 1947.
· With several hundred Pakistani Hindus arriving in India following alleged persecution, the government said they will get long-term visas to stay in the country, if they apply under stipulated rules. Union Home Secretary has also said that till now no one has applied for long-term visa. Most of these people have come on a month-long visa ostensibly for pilgrimage and many of them have reportedly expressed their desire not to go back to Pakistan. Almost all Pakistani Hindus, before leaving that country, had to give an undertaking to the authorities there that they would not seek asylum from the Indian government and that they would return to Pakistan within 30 days.
· The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said that OIC has suspended Syria from its membership. The move by the OIC, which represents 1.5 million Muslims worldwide, is aimed at further isolating Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's embattled regime, but its effect is seen as being largely symbolic. Syria was suspended from the Arab League last year. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council meets today to formally end the UN observer mission in Syria amid entrenched divisions between the major powers over the conflict-stricken country. Further, Russia has said that UN observers in Syria should continue their work there, as a withdrawal of the mission would cause extremely negative consequences. It has underlined the need to extend the mandate of UN observer’s mission in Syria which expires on August 20. Also, an Organization of Islamic Cooperation communiqué referring to Jammu & Kashmir as a country drew a sharp reaction from India which described it as wrong and unacceptable. Despite opposition from India, OIC continues to refer to the state as occupied territory or a separate country.
· Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has approved the deportation of 14 pro-China activists who sailed to disputed islands. The group sailed from Hong Kong and were arrested on one of the islands known as Senkaku. China has repeatedly demanded for the activists' immediate and unconditional release since their detention.
· In a landmark court ruling, the Germany's Constitutional Court ruled that armed soldiers can be deployed on the country's streets for the first time since World War II, but only in exceptional cases. The decision overturns severe restrictions put in place following the Nazi era, requiring soldiers to be confined to training and parade grounds in Germany. The decision brings Germany broadly in line with European allies including Italy, France and Britain.
· Myanmar President Thein Sein, who earlier rejected UN calls for an independent inquiry, has set up a commission to investigate the recent violence between Buddhists and Muslims in the west of the country. Dozens of people died in violence. The UN welcomed the inquiry, saying it could make "important contributions" to restoring peace.
· Russia has warned Britain against violating fundamental diplomatic principles after London suggested it could arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as he leaves the Embassy in London who sought refuge two months ago. Meanwhile, representative of more than 30 countries across the American Continent have called a meeting of Foreign Ministers next Friday to discuss the diplomatic stand off between Britain and Ecuador. Nearly all members of the Organisation of American states, apart from the US, agreed to discuss the crisis triggered by Ecuador's decision to grant asylum to Mr. Assange.
· Heavily-armed terrorists wearing suicide vests had stormed a key Pakistan Air Force base (Kamra airbase, just 40 kms from the capital) believed to house nuclear weapons, setting off a fierce gunbattle with the security forces. Terrorists, some of whom were wearing military uniforms, infiltrated into the base, breaching three barriers as they attempted to target fighters including F-16 and Chinese made JF-17 aircraft. The attackers armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons. They engaged the security forces for over eight hours until dawn. According to a PAF spokesman 7 terrorists were gunned down by commandos and 1 security personnel was also killed. The attack came just a day after US Defence Secretary expressed fears of danger of Pakistan's nuclear weapons falling into the terrorists' hands. The base in the Attock district of Punjab, is believed to be one of the locations where Pakistan's nuclear stockpiles, estimated to include at least 100 warheads, is stored.
· The American Space Agency, NASA, has unveiled its programme for Curiosity, the one tonne mobile laboratory that landed on Mars, twelve days ago on a mission to look for signs of micro biological life. Its next task is to test its laser on a rock dislodged by the descent. As the laser vaporizes its surface, scientists will observe the colours to work out what the rock is made of.
· A study says tobacco use is massively entrenched in developing countries, where one of the biggest worries is the rise of smoking among women. The data trawl covered a survey of tobacco habits among people aged over 15 in 16 countries that are home to three billion people from 2008 to 2010.
· The winners of the “Rajiv Gandhi Manav Seva Award for Service to Children” for 2011 have been announced by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. These are: Shri R. Ravi Kumar, Swami Japananda and Shri N. Thungdemo Kikon. Rajiv Gandhi Manav Seva Award is conferred on three individuals who make outstanding contribution in the field of Child Protection, Child Development or Child Welfare for over ten years. The selection for the award is made each year by a National Selection Committee and is chaired by the Minister for Women and Child Development. The Award was instituted on 20th August, 1994, the 50th Birth Anniversary of the late Prime Minister, Shri Rajiv Gandhi who had deep love and concern for children.
· The Selection Committee (headed by Col Rajya Vardhan Singh Rathore) has announced the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (for 2 sportsperson) and Arjuna Awards (for 25 sportsperson) for the year 2012. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award - 2012: Shri Vijay Kumar (Shooting) and Shri Yogeshwar Dutt (Wrestling). Normally only one award of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna is given every year to an individual sportsperson. However, the Scheme provides that this condition can be relaxed in exceptional circumstances viz., winning of an Olympic medal. Like wise for the Arjuna Awards, normally not more than 15 awards are to be given in any calendar year. However, the Scheme of Arjuna Awards also provides that keeping in view the performance of Indian sportspersons in the Commonwealth, Asian Games and Olympic Games during a particular year.
· China's Yu Wenxia has won this year's Miss World Competition in a glittering ceremony in the mining city of Ordos, China. The 23-year-old aspiring music teacher is China's second Miss World winner. Miss Wales Sophie Moulds came in second, while Australia's Ms Jessica Kahawaty finished third. India’s contender for the much-coveted Miss World 2012 title, Vanya Mishra was amongst the top seven finalists at the global beauty pageant.
· India sealed a comfortable victory against Papua New Guinea in the Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Townsville city of Australia and secured a quarterfinals berth. India will now clash with Pakistan in a quarterfinal.