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·
The Centre may have to defer till November
5 implementation of its decision allowing FDI in retail trading with the
Supreme Court pointing to a technical glitch. The SCI said that the decisions
relating to 51% FDI in multi-brand
retail trading and 49% FDI in civil
aviation sector and power exchanges were not in consonance with the Foreign
Exchange Management (Transfer of Issues of Security by a Person Resident
Outside India) Regulations, 2000. Thus, the Apex
Court asked RBI to amend FEMA
regulations within two weeks to allow implementation of FDI in this
sector.
·
The Land
Acquisition Draft Bill, 2012 was finalized by the group of ministers headed
by Sharad Pawar. The government will have to secure the nod of two-thirds of
landowners to acquire a patch of land for private / PPP projects while
acquisition in tribal areas would be possible only with the approval of local
institutions of self-governance. The consent clause has been a sore point in
the Manmohan Singh Cabinet, with a chunk of ministers feeling the restrictive
clause could hamper acquisition and impede industrialization. There was also
resentment against the provision of Social Impact Assessment and Environmental
Impact Assessment before acquisitions but they have been retained in the final
draft. The conditions for acquisition in ‘scheduled areas’ may help discourage
takeover of land for private projects in tribal areas as has been the demand
from civil society for a long time. The draft bill says acquisition in
scheduled areas should be avoided but if necessary, it should follow the
consent of local systems of governance like autonomous councils.
·
Railways have decided to introduce onboard shopping facility
for a range of luxury product in Shatabdi
Express trains. These product includes perfumes, skin care products,
handbags, watches and exquisite jewellery. For chocolate lovers, trolleys
showcasing luxury items will have a fabulous range of delicious chocolates.
·
Headline
inflation accelerated to a 10-month high in
September, dampening hopes of a rate cut by the central bank this month. The
annual rate of inflation, as measured by the wholesale price index, rose to 7.8% from 7.6% in August on
the back of a steep rise in fuel inflation to 11.9% from 8.3% in the previous
month. Some experts say that if the RBI does ease monetary policy, it would be largely because of the recent
measures taken by the government, which include raising of diesel prices,
easing of FDI rules for many sectors and an attempt to address tax-related
concerns.
·
The President of India felicitated Major Dr. Surendra Poonia, VSM for winning 7
medals (two Gold Medals and five Silver Medals) at 33rd World Medical and Health Games held in Antalya, Turkey
in July this year. Major Surendra Poonia is serving as the Medical Officer of
President’s Bodyguard. This is the third time that Major Poonia has won medals
at this international Championship. This year Major Poonia was awarded by ‘Vishisht Seva Medal’ by the
President of India for his outstanding performance in sports for year 2011.
·
India is finally giving its Jaguar ‘strike’ fighters some
much-needed new teeth with advanced missiles, engines and avionics. Apart from
having a maritime strike role as well, the Jaguars have long been identified by
IAF as the jets capable of delivering nuclear weapons if required. Concurrently,
IAF is all set for the first test-flight of a Jagaur fighter upgraded to ‘Darin-III’ standards by defence PSU
Hindustan Aeronautics, with new-generation avionics including a glass cockpit
and autopilot, next month. IAF already has upgrade projects underway for 51 Mirage-2000s for Rs 17,547 crore and 63
MiG-29s for $964 million, even as it inducts 272 Sukhoi-30MKIs at a cost upwards of $12 billion. Then, it plans to
induct 126 French Rafale fighters in
the almost $20 billion MMRCA (medium
multi-role combat aircraft) project. For futuristic requirements, IAF
is looking at inducting over 200 stealth fifth-generation
fighter aircraft from 2022 onwards, after joint development and
production with Russia, at an overall cost that will eventually touch $35
billion.
·
The government is set to step up its push
for cash transfer of subsidies
(as mentioned in Subsidy Bill)
with two pilot projects validating the assumption that it would lead to
significant savings for the government while enhancing benefits for users. A
pilot project for cooking gas in Mysore run by state-run oil companies saw the
number of connections dropping 40% from 35,000 to around 20,000. A similar
experiment for kerosene in Rajasthan’s Alwar district resulted in consumption
sliding by 80% from 80 kilolitres a month to around 14 kilolitres. In the
kerosene pilot project, registered users were provided cash equivalent of the market
price for their entitlement from ration shops. With kerosene selling in the
open market at Rs 45 a litre, Rs 135 is transferred to the bank accounts of
beneficiaries who are entitled to 3 litres a month. Bolstered by cash transfer
pilot projects for public distribution system, fertilizer and cooking gas
showing positive results, the government is hoping to press ahead with a phased
rollout that will see Aadhar’s unique
identity numbers playing a key role in linking beneficiaries and bank
accounts. Aadhar numbers are intended to ensure correct identification of
beneficiaries and reduce duplication of records and leakages that mar delivery
of subsidies like fertilizer, oil and food, that together account for around Rs
2.5 lakh crore.
·
The Centre has asked the states to take
action on several ‘measures’ related to over four dozen ‘functional areas’ of
policing which may help in improving ‘law and order’. Though a number of
suggestions had attracted public attention after Supreme Court delivered its
judgment in response to a PIL on police
reforms six years ago, most of them have been gathering dust in the
state secretariats. Some of the ‘measures’ which are supposed to be implemented
by states include : [1.] Abolish orderly system:
although the orderly system (posting
attendants at the residence of police officers) has been abolished in some
states, most still practice it illegally by attaching constables for screening
visitors, attending telephone calls delivering urgent messages. The
Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) had in June 2007 recommended abolishing
it completely which it found humiliating for constables; [2.] Introduce
a system of ‘District Attorney’ to
guide investigation of crimes; [3.] Metropolitan Police Authorities in all
cities, with over 1 m population, to oversee community policing and improve
police-citizen interface; [4.] Independent
inspectorate of police for performance
audit of police stations; [5.] Give
‘masked’ identity to informants who help in intelligence gathering; [6.] Increase
representation of women in police at all levels (minimum 33%); [7.] Registration
of FIRs using citizen-friendly technology (exploring call centers
option); [8.] A re-classification of
offences to reduce burden of work for courts and police; [9.] Administration
must make facts available to media at the earliest about any major development; [10.] Introduce
municipal police service in
metropolitan cities to deal with offences prescribed under municipal laws; [11.] Function
of traffic control may be transferred to local govts in all big cities.
·
The West Bengal Government has decided to introduce ‘single window’ system in the agriculture
sector for the benefit of farmers. This will be set up on the line of
industrial sector where farmers will get all necessary helps and information
under one umbrella. Under the plan all seven departments related to agriculture like
agricultural marketing, horticulture, food processing, water resources,
fisheries, animal resource development and irrigation will come under one
umbrella to meet the farmer’s need. The ‘single window’ system
will be housed in the proposed Kisan Bazar where offcials of various
agriculture related departments, banks, insurance companies and representatives
of farmers will converged to meet farmer’s quarries. The system will also
provide necessary information and inputs to the beneficiaries on various
centrally and state sponsored schemes, financial credit, crop insurance, animal
and plant diseases and their prevention, fertilizer, soil health, agriculture
related infrastructure and marketing of farmers produce.
·
In Madhya Pradesh, noted film writer Saleem Khan was awarded with
the National Kishore Kumar Award.
During the funtion, Cultural Minister (Laxmikant Sharma) has said that the
National Kishore Kumar Award will also be given for playback singing from the
next year. So far, it is given for film direction, acting, and lyrics writing.
·
The Judicial Commission probing the
multi-crore Adarsh Housing Scam in
Mumbai, has been given a three month extension by the state government, for
submitting its report. The Commission headed by retired Justice JA Patil and retired Chief Secretary, P Subramanyam, has
been probing the case for more than a year. The panel is expected to work till
the end of this year before submitting its report to the state government. It
has already submitted an interim report on the ownership of the land in the
Adarsh Housing Society scam.
·
Preserving the ethos of storytelling and folklore from Bengal, classic tales from 'Thakurmar Jhuli' (Grandmother's Bag)
have now been translated into English from the vernacular language. These
folk and fairy stories were passed down orally to children for centuries
through generations in the villages of Bengal till Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar collected and published them
in Bengali in 1907. Published by Oxford University Press, it opens a new window
to grandmother's story-telling with the book trying to revive the
fast-disappearing heritage of fairy tales that were once an oral legacy of
every child in India.
·
Poachers chopped off a rhino horn at Agortali range at Kaziranga National parkin Assam. Forest personnel engaged in a gun battle with
poachers after the incident. After the battle, police recovered
three weapons including one AK-56 rifle and 45 rounds of ammunition. The
poachers are also suspected to be the linkmen of insurgent group, Karbi Peoples
Liberation Tigers. With this, altogether 18 poachers and horn traders have been
arrested during the last 7 days from different parts of the state. Insurgent
groups and anti-social elements have shown keen interest in smuggling of horns
due to the soaring prices in the international market. Assam Chief Minister
Tarun Gogoi has reiterated that his government is formulating a comprehensive
plan to stop poaching. Forest guards are being given sophisticated arms to
protect the animals. 15 rhinos were killed by poachers this year while 27 died
due to the flood.
·
The consultations among
member countries on issues related to bio-diversity picked up momentum at the
ongoing Bio-Diversity conference (COP11) in
Hyderabad. UN spokesperson has told
that the member countries adopted documents on bio-fuels, global strategy on
plant conservation, incentive measures and global taxonomy issues on last
Friday. He said the contact groups also met over the last weekend and discussed
resource mobilisation, geo-engineering among other issues. He said the two
working groups will review the progress on deliberations held among countries
last week from today. UN spokesperson added that the first working group will
discuss bio-diversity in islands and the second working on Nagoya Protocol.
Further, the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh addressed the plenary session
(the last and deciding session). Ministers and Heads of State from over 30
countries are attending this session. The high level Ministerial session will
take decisions during its deliberations over the bio-diversity issues including
the fund mobilisation for implementing the UN bio-diversity strategic plan and
its targets to be achieved by 2020. Indian PM had also announced to develop a
Bio-diversity Park having about 400 rare and endangered species and a
Bio-diversity Museum in a 15-acre area in
the country. Also, on the issue of pledging the funds for
conservation of Bio Diversity by different countries, India’s
Environment Minister has informed that that India is not looking
at the numbers but at a political message and political commitment from the
developed world. As far as India is concerned the Government is spending over 2
billion US dollars under different components of various ministries for bio
diversity conservation. Referring to the Prime Minister’s announcement made
ealier on India ratifying the Nagoya
protocol and launching the
“Hyderabad Pledge” she said that India has now become the 7th country to
ratify this protocol.
·
On 15th Oct, 2012 the beginning of Devi Paksha (Durga Pooja or Mahalaya, the greatest festival of Bengalees) was held across
India. Mahalaya marks the end of Pitra Paksha and beginning of Devi Paksha. It
is believed that Maa Durga begins her journey to the earth on Devi Paksha. On
this day, people offer prayers betterly known as Tarpan to their ancestors.
·
SEBI has decided to empower
depositories to take penal action against companies that do not properly
reconcile their demat and
physical shares and thus expose the equity
market and investors to possible frauds. A senior official said the
depositories have the mandate to help the companies convert their physical
shares into de-materialised or demat form and thereafter maintain those shares,
while the companies are required to reconcile their total share capital,
including physical and demat shares, in a proper manner. However, discrepancies
have come to light in the share capital reconciliation of hundreds of
companies. SEBI is of the view that certain regulations need to be amended to
empower the depositories to take penal actions in such cases. A proposal to
this effect has been approved by SEBI board and the necessary amendments would
be made soon to SEBI (Depositories and Participants) Regulations.
·
In Madhya Pradesh, forest land rights
claims of more than 1.75 lakh tribals have been accepted under the Forest
Rights Act so far. Forest Land Rights
documents have been distributed is being carried out under a special campaign in about
25 thousand villages of the state. Besides members of scheduled tribes, forest
land pattas are also being given to other traditional forest dwellers under the
Forest Rights Act. Committees have been constituted at the Gram Panchayat
development, development block and district levels for disposal of claims.
·
Delhi government has formulated a
Islanding Scheme to ensure uninterrupted
electricity supply for essential services (such as VVIP
load, Delhi
Metro, water treatment plant, Indian Railways and hospitals) in the national
capital during Grid failure. The
proposed Scheme will isolate Delhi's power system from the regional grid and
after isolation,emergency loads of essential services will be provided
uninterrupted power supply. Keeping in view the complexity of the
Delhi Power network, creation and survival of the Islands, some additional
features like development of intelligent system for centralized decision
making, augmentation of generation within Delhi, maintaining dual source of
supply to essential loads, training of system operators, etc. are proposed to
be taken up under this scheme. Union Power Minister said that Delhi
is the first state to formulate such scheme to overcome grid disturbance
problem. He said, following two incidents of grid failure in the last week of
July this year, all states had been asked to adopt Islanding schemes in consultation with Central Electricity
Authority and Powergrid. The other states who have approached the
Ministry of Power for similar arrangement are Punjab, Haryana, Utter Pradesh
and Jammu & Kashmir.
·
The Karnataka High Court has granted
bail to Pascal Mazurier, the
Consular Attaché to the Consulate General of France, on the conditions that he
should surrender his Passport and give an undertaking that he will not leave
the Country till the case is disposed. He is accused by his wife of raping their 3.5-year-old daughter. Earlier,
the Fast Track Court I, Bangalore, had rejected his plea for bail.
·
Defence Minister visited Indonesia to participate in the 1st ministerial-level defence dialogue
between the two countries. The defence dialogue mechanism at the highest level
was agreed upon during the visit of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono to India in January last year. Defence ties
between India and Indonesia have been progressing steadily ever
since the two sides signed the Agreement on Defence Cooperation in 2001.
·
The President of Mauritius, Shri Rajkeshwur Purryag will be the
Chief Guest of the 11th Pravasi
Bharatiya Divas (PBD) convention, which will be held from 7 to 9
January, 2013 in Kochi. Kerala has been chosen as the host for the convention
since Keralites constitute one of the largest expatriate communities of India. Minister
of Overseas Indian Affairs said that since the centenary of the Gadar Movement is being
celebrated in 2013, the PBD Oration will be on the Gadar Movement and an
exhibition on this will also be organized during PBD-2013. In the forthcoming
PBD, there will be pre-PBD seminars
related to development issues such as skill development, pure sciences,
tourism, youth and NRIs in the Gulf and plenary sessions on ‘India’s growth:
greater opportunities’, ‘Overseas Indians: safe environment’, ‘Engaging young
overseas Indians’ and ‘Investment opportunities in States. Further, the
Minister said that the purpose of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is to have a
meaningful interaction with overseas Indians that would address their issues
and concerns. Also, overseas Indians
have contributed to transforming the economies, participating in political
process and added value to thought and innovation of their destination
countries. They also serve to build bridges between their present homeland and
the land of their ancestors, he added.
·
In a bilateral meeting between India and Europe, the Minister
for Commerce, Industry & Textiles of India has highlighted the need for an
early conclusion of ambitious and balanced Bilateral
Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) between India and EU. He stressed
the agreement needs to be balanced and should address areas of core interest to
India such as services through Mode 1 and Mode 4, agricultural market access
and disciplining of Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary (SPS) and Technical Barriers to
Trade (TBT) for translating concessions into effective market access. The
Minister emphasised that in mode-1, India would need to be declared as data secure in order to provide access as
almost all the major Fortune -500 companies have already trusted India with
their critical data. With a number of recent
reform measures in India, which includes, opening of multi-brand retail
trading sector to foreign investors; introducing flexibility in conditions for
FDI in single brand product retail trading; allowing FDI in power exchanges;
increasing the limit of FDI in Broadcasting sector; allowing FDI through
foreign airlines in Civil Aviation sector, Mr. Anand Sharma emphasised India’s
attractiveness as investment destination in a whole range of sectors from
infrastructure to food processing, renewable energy, clean technology,
bio-technology, health care, among others. The cumulative FDI inflows from EU
to India are around USD 44.31 billion (April 2000 to July 2012), while on the other
hand, the Indian direct investments in EU are of the order of about USD 20
billion (April 2004 –October 2009). Shri Sharma also expressed happiness at the
growing bilateral relations with the European Union, which is bound by common values based on a commitment to
democracy, individual rights and sustainable development.
·
India
and New Zealand have signed the “Arrangement for
Cooperation on Civil Aviation”. Under the Arrangement the two countries will
promote and support the development of training and technical cooperation in
the field of Civil Aviation. The type of cooperative activities will include
civil aviation programmes; sending and receiving experts or instructors for
training purposes; acceptance of licenses; acceptance of aeronautical products
including but not limited to aircraft, engines, propellers and parts, and
aviation services; organization of seminars; exchanging information on
activities, policies, practices and laws and regulations concerning civil
aviation, including but not limited to safety and environmental matters; and
visits and exchanges of technical personnel or other experts. Also, the
designated airlines of both sides are entitled to 7 services per week in each
direction, however, neither side is operating at present.
·
Australia is expected to carry out a major,
and much awaited, course correction in its foreign policy by offering to negotiate sale of uranium to India
during prime minister Julia Gillard’s three-day visit to the country. The
uranium agreement with Australia, apart from ensuring a steady supply of the yellowcake, will also have great
symbolic significance for India as it will mark yet another international
‘acceptance’ of its nuclear weapons programme.
·
A major component of the US’ Afghanistan reconstruction plan
has hit a bump, with international companies refusing to take up the job of
laying the $9-billion pipeline for wheeling gas from Turkmenistan to India
(under TAPI Project) unless
they were given stake in the gas fields that would feed the energy lifeline. Turkmenistan
is unrelenting on giving stake in its fields to a foreign firm since it does
not follow an open-door policy, putting a question mark over the construction
of the pipeline.
·
India jointly with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD), organises the 4th OECD World Forum on Statistics, Knowledge and Policy
under the theme “Measuring Well-Being for Development and Policy Making”. Building
on the Better Life Initiative, the main objectives of the Forum are to further
the discussions on the different aspects that make for a good life today and in
the future in different countries of the world, and to promote the development
and use of new measures of well-being for effective and accountable policy
making. Thus, an important expected outcome of the Forum is to contribute to
the post-2015 development agenda.
·
India
and Bulgaria will explore the possibilities of
cooperation in Tourism Sector,
especially in the field of Hospitality Training, Promotion, Marketing,
Development and management of Tourist destinations. It was also agreed that
increased tourist traffic between the two countries could strengthen the bilateral relations at people to people
level. Earlier, India allows 100%
FDI in Hotel sector on automated basis. It was also agreed to explore
the possibilities of enhancing air-connectivity between both the countries as
lack of direct air connectivity between India and Bulgaria is one of the major
reasons for small number of tourists traveling between the two countries.
Bulgaria with its beautiful mountains, the Black-Sea coast boasting of cities
like Varna has become an attractive destination for Indian film Industry.
·
The International
Telecom Union World-2012 Conference got underway in Dubai. The conference is being attended by
the ICT Ministers, Regulatory bodies, international organizations, think tanks,
service providers, manufacturers, operators, academia and the global media. The digital
revolution has transformed the world around us and thrown new opportunities and
challenges. Cyber security, Smart Applications, Innovations, the Big Data and
the communication tomorrow were high on the agenda during the conference. The
Telecom and ICT Minister Kapil Sibal was one of the speakers at the High level
Presidential sessionand was also one of the panelists at the debate on the
challenges in the area of Cyber Security.
·
The Asia Co-operation Dialogue Summit began in the Kuwait capital. In
his opening remarks, the Emir of Kuwait, Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah gave a
call to set two billion dollars fund to fight poverty and improve standard of
living in Asia.
The 32 member Asia Co-operation Dialogue was founded in 2002 to promote
co-operation among the various regional groups in Asia. Its members include
Gulf Co-operation Council, GCC, Association of South East Asian
Nations, ASEAN and South Asia Association of Regional
Co-operation, SAARC. The summit will discuss issues such as
energy supply, food security, financing of projects, investments, IT and
development of human resources.
·
US
exports to Iran rose by nearly a third this year,
chiefly because of grain sales despite the tightening of US financial
sanctions. The jump in export, according to Census Bureau data, is a surprising
given Western efforts to isolate Iran economically. The increase marks a drop
in the export of some humanitarian goods such as medicines, a decline US
exporters blame largely on the difficulty of getting paid by Iranian importers
because of new US financial sanctions. But it also shows that goods such as
milk products and medical equipment - whose sale to Iran is allowed with a
Treasury Department export license - continue to flow despite the sanctions and
the payment difficulties. The United States, its European allies and other
nations have imposed the sanctions to force Iran to suspend its uranium
enrichment programme. Iran denies it is seeking nuclear arms and says its
atomic programme is solely for peaceful purposes.
·
Cuba has announced that it is removing
the need for its citizens to obtain exit
permits before travelling abroad. Cubans, currently, have to go through a
lengthy and expensive process to obtain a permit and dissidents are often
denied them. The move is the latest in a series of reforms under President Raul
Castro.
·
Israel’s Parliament (Knesset) had voted to dissolve itself.
The move has cleared the decks for fresh parliamentary elections on the 22 of
January next year. The election laws come into immediate effect and the
campaigning begins now.
·
In Syria, the 12th century Umayyad’s
Mosque, one of the UNESCO’ world
heritage sites in Aleppo has been burned and extensively damaged. Government
troops had been holed up in the mosque for months before rebels launched a push
to drive them out.
·
In Nepal, "Ghatasthapana", the first
day of Dashain festival for the Hindu community, is being observed across
the country on 16th Oct, 2012. The day marks the biggest and longest auspicious
festival of the Nepali calendar year. As houses are cleaned and amidst chanting
of vedic rituals at an auspicious time, seeds of maize, barley, rice and corn
are planted in jars with cowdung for germination at home and temples. The
germination of the plants referred to as jamara is kept as a blessing of
Goddess Durga and offered as tika by elders on the tenth day.
·
International Day of Rural Women was
observed on 15th Oct, 2012 across the
globe. Rural
women play a critical role in the rural economies of both developed and
developing countries. In most parts of the developing world they participate in
crop production and livestock care, provide food, water and fuel for their
families. In addition, they carry out vital functions in caring for children,
older persons and the sick. In India, the Govt. had initiated several schemes
for the empowerment of rural women including Sanchar Shakti Scheme
for rural women. The scheme is an attempt to bridge the digital divide, it
provides useful information to women about health, social issues and government
schemes over their mobile phones.
·
World
Food Day was observed on 16th Oct, 2012. The
day is celebrated every year around the world in honour of the date of the
finding of the Food and Agriculture
Organisation of the United
Nations in 1945, and to create awareness and strengthen solidarity in
the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty. This year's theme “Agricultural cooperatives - key to feeding
the world”, has been chosen to highlight the role of cooperatives in improving
food security and contributing to the eradication of hunger. In India, the
Govt. proposes to enact a new law, the National
Food Security Act to provide a statutory basis for a framework which
assures food security for all. For this, a draft National Security Bill was
prepared and presented in Parliament on 22nd Dec, 2011.
·
International
Day for the Eradication of Poverty is being observed
across the world on 17th Oct, 2012. It has been observed every year since 1993.
The theme for this year is "Ending the Violence of Extreme Poverty:
Promoting Empowerment and Building Peace". At the 2002 millenium summit of the
united nation, world leaders committed themselves to cutting in half poverty by
the year 2050. According, to the Planning Commission of India,
the total numbers of poor in the country were estimated at 34.47 crore in
2009-10, as against 40.72 crore in 2004-05. Rural poverty has declined faster
then urban poverty.
·
The US health authorities say, 15 people have
now died from an outbreak of fungal
meningitis linked to steroid injections to treat back pain. In all,
nearly 200 people in 13 US states have been affected. Meningitis
is an inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.
Symptoms include severe headache, nausea and fever as well as slurred speech
and difficulty in walking.
·
A new
planet (called PH1 and
located 5,000 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus) whose skies are
illuminated by four stars, has been discovered by an international team of
amateur researchers. The planet which is six times the size of earth, orbits
one pair of stars, and in turn has a second pair of stars revolving around it,
which is like four suns illuminating its skies. The new discovered planet is
the seventh to be found orbiting binary stars, and the first to have four
stars.
·
A study has claimed Cows’ milk can be
potentially developed into affordable creams that can help protect humans
against HIV. Scientist from
University of Melbourne has found that when pregnant cows were vaccinated with
an HIV protein, the first milk produced by the cow after giving birth, called colostrum, produced high antibodies to
protect its newborn against disease. Researchers were now planning to test the
effectiveness and safety of the milk before turning it into a cream which will
hopefully allow women to protect themselves against contracting the virus
during sex, without relying on men. The researchers were able to inhibit the
virus from infecting cells when combing the virus cells with milk.
·
American economists Alvin E Roth and
Lloyd S Shapley were awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic
Sciences (Nobel prize for Economics-2012) for their theory: "the
theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design". They won
the prize for their research on how to match different economic agents such as
students for schools or even organ donors with patients.
·
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard
has announced that Sachin Tendulkar
will be conferred the membership of the
Order of Australia, an honour "rarely" awarded to
non-Australians. Sachin will become only the second Indian after former Attorney
General Soli Sorabjee to get the honour. Sorabjee was made an Honorary Member
of the Order of Australia for service to Australia-India bilateral legal
relations, in 2006. Earlier, West Indies legend Brian Lara was also made an
honorary member. Another West Indies legend, Clive Lloyd, is an Honorary
Officer in the Order of Australia, having been conferred the award way back in
1985.
·
Austrian extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner landed on
Earthy after a 24-mile (38.6-kilometer) jump from the stratosphere in a dramatic, record-breaking feat that
officials said made him the first skydiver to fall faster than the speed of
sound. Figures show Baumgartner reached a maximum speed of 833.9
mph (1,342 kph). That amounts to Mach
1.24, which is faster than the speed of sound. No one has ever
reached that speed wearing only a high-tech suit. The altitude he leapt from
also marked the highest-ever for a skydiver — more than three times the height
of the average cruising altitude for a jetliner.
·
Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel won the Korean Grand Prix and
move ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso in the Formula One championship. He finished 8.2 seconds ahead of
Mark Webber. Alonso was third 13.9 seconds off the pace. Vettel, who also won
the previous races in Singapore and Japan, is moving within sight of a
third straight title - something only previously achieved by Juan-Manuel Fangio
and Michael Schumacher.
