{Current Affairs} Daily News Notes: 25th to 28th Jan, 2013

Union Minister of Shipping presented a cheque of Rs.5 lakhs to Selvi Prema, daughter of Jayakumar, a Mumbai based Auto Driver from Villupuram District, Tamil Nadu, who has topped in the recently held All India Chartered Accountancy Exam.
The Union Minister for Commerce & Industry launched an eBiz portal (under National eGovernance Plan) at the CII Partnership Summit in Agra. The portal is India’s Government-to-Business (G2B) portal developed by Infosys in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model. The Minister said that the “project aims to create a business and investor friendly ecosystem in India by making all business and investment related regulatory services across Central, State and local governments available on a single portal (online single window), thereby obviating the need for an investor or a business to visit multiple offices or a plethora of websites.” “eBiz will create a 24x7 facility for information and services and will also offer joined-up services where a single application submitted by a customer, for a number of permissions, clearances, approvals and registrations, will be routed automatically across multiple governmental agencies in a logical manner.” “An inbuilt payment gateway will also add value by allowing all payments to be collected at one point and then apportioned, split and routed to the respective heads of account of Central / State / Para-statal agencies along with generation of challans and MIS reports. This payment gateway is the first of its kind designed in India and can become a universal payment gateway for all eGovernance applications.” The Department of Industrial Promotion & Policy, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, is the Nodal Government Agency responsible for the implementation of the eBiz Project. Infosys Technologies Ltd. has been selected as the Concessionaire/ Project Implementation Partner and is responsible for the design, development, implementation and maintenance of the eBiz Solution. The first phase of the project, which was being launched today, provides an interactive tool that helps investors assess the Licenses and Permits requirements while setting up and operating a business in India.
In a resolution adopted by the apex body of 4,000-strong IRS (I-T) officers on Sunday, they condemned the use of “intemperate language” by former BJP chief Nitin Gadkari and demanded an “unconditional apology” over his alleged remark that neither Chidambaram (FM) nor Sonia Gandhi (Congress president) would save I-T officials when BJP comes to power. Also, it demanded Maharastra police should take suo-motu cognisance of Gadkari’s remarks as it is clearly meant to “obstruct a Government Servant from discharging his duty”. Gadkari later denied he had threatened the taxmen even though his January 24 speech at Nagpur was televised by national news channels. Gadkari fumed because I-T sleuths chose to raid his Purti group of companies on the very day his name as the BJP president was to be finalized. Gadkari was denied the party president’s post, and Rajnath Singh was elevated instead.
The home ministry has relaxed a more than-50-year-old rule to permit free movement of foreign tourists in the northeast states of Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland; with the exception of nationals from Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and Myanmar. The significant decision aimed at boosting tourism and opening up the northeast region which is rich in natural diversity and adventure tourism. The government and states are eyeing a substantial market with about 58,000 foreign tourists visiting the region last year, up by 18% from 2011. Estimates are that tourist arrivals can increase by 25% within a year following relaxation of rules. However, citizens of Myanmar visiting Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland beyond 16 km from the Indo-Myanmar border would continue to require prior approval of the MHA. Background: Under the Foreigners (Protected Areas) Order 1958, all areas in the states of Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim and parts of Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand are declared "protected areas" and foreign nationals need permission to visit these areas.
The Reserve Bank of India has made it easier for foreign institutional investors (FIIs) to invest up to $25 billion (earlier it was $20 B) in the domestic equity and debt markets including government securities (G-Secs). Long-term investors include SEBI-registered sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), multilateral agencies, endowment funds, insurance funds, pension funds and foreign central banks. It has also hiked the investment limit in corporate bonds by these entities by $5 billion $50 billion from $45 billion. FIIs can now approach any Category-I dealer bank, authorized to deal in foreign exchange, for hedging their currency risk on the market value of their entire investment in equity and/or debt.
Aiming to attract first-time stock market investors, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will launch the much-awaited Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme (RGESS) in Mumbai on February 9.
The RGESS, which was announced in the Budget for 2012-13, seeks to provide tax benefits to first-time investors in stock markets. Under the scheme, an individual with an income of less than Rs 10 lakh would get tax incentives for investing up to Rs 50,000 in the stock market with the lock-in periodof 1 year.
Mizoram Governor Vakkom B Purushothaman said that the gross domestic product (GDP) of the state has grown by 9.57 per cent during 2011-2012 against the national economic growth rate of 8.8 per cent. He also said that the per capita income of the State has also increased from Rs 30,488 in 2007-08 to Rs 50,021 in 2011-2012. Attributing the improvement in the state economy to the flagship programme — New Land Use Policy or NLUP, he said that the implementation of the programme, aimed at transforming the economy from environmentally practice of jhuming (system of shifting cultivation practised in the hill forests) to a more sustainable system, was on the right track. Out of the five-year target of 1.2 lakh beneficiary families, 90,139 families have been covered.
India would flight test a sub-sonic, medium range cruise missile Nirbhay next month. Nirbhay is being developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a DRDO lab based here, V K Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister, said on Friday. He said Nirbhay has good loitering capability, good control and guidance, high degree of accuracy in terms of impact and very good stealth features.
India on Sunday successfully test-fired the underwater ballistic missile, K-15 (code-named B05), off the Visakhapatnam coast, marking en end to a series of developmental trials. In its twelfth flight trial, the 10-metre tall Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) lifted off from a pontoon, rose to an altitude of 20 km and reached a distance of about 700 km (full range) as it splashed down in the waters of the Bay of Bengal near the pre-designated target point (accuracy was in single digit). India is only the fifth country to have such a missile -- the other four are the United States, Russia, France and China. With the completion of developmental trials, the process of integrating K-15 missile with INS Arihant, the indigenously-built nuclear submarine, will begin soon. As many as 12 nuclear-tipped missiles, each weighing 6 tonnes will be integrated with Arihant, which will be powered by an 80 MWt (thermal) reactor that uses enriched uranium as fuel and light water as coolant and moderator. Besides Arihant, three other nuclear-powered submarines were being constructed -- one at Visakhapatnam and two at Vadodara. India is also developing K-4 missile with a range of 3,000 km. Also, after the induction of nuclear-powered submarines, India’s triad of nuclear deterrence capability will be completed. Further, the hypersonic Shourya missile is the land version of the K-15 missile and the trials of the system have been completed. Shourya can be launched from canister too and the Army is thinking of placing orders for the missile. [InfoGraphic]
64-year-old principal research scientist of Indian Institute of Science's High Voltage Laboratory, Dr Subba Reddy B, has been awarded the prestigious National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) Meritorious Societal Invention National Award by the Union Ministry of Science & Technology, which he is to receive next month. He won the award for his work on insulators used in high voltage transmission line. “His work helped enhance the pollution/contamination flashover strength of ceramic/porcelain insulators used in high voltage transmission lines. Many form of contamination spreads on the surface of insulators because of various reasons. For instance if the insulators are near sea there's a gradual accumulation of salt, if near an industrial area, pollution is a big deterrent and so is water as a result of rains and fog. This results in the reduction of properties of insulators, leading to blackouts. The gadget developed by Subba Reddy, to replace porcelain/ceramic insulators, most commonly used in high voltage transmission line in India, eliminates the flashover and thus reduces the blackouts to minimum. It is made out of zinc and aluminum (composite type) for experimental purposes. But, the metal of choice could be changed for industrial purposes.” There are three types of transmission lines currently used in India - porcelain/ceramic, glass and composite. The latter is a newly introduced phenomenon in the country though it's hugely popular in the West. Currently, some of the big companies which deal insulators have approached IISC,, which holds the patent for the gadget since 2009.
The RBI had asked the government to cut subsidies and help fiscal consolidation but coalition politics made the decision-making difficult for the government for some time. Now a determined government, since the change of guard at the Finance Ministry, has taken some bold decisions. The government expects that the measures announced by it and the central bank will stimulate the economy and reduce fiscal and current account deficits (CAD). Further, inflation rate, especially the wholesale price index (WPI), is not in the comfortable level of 5-5.5 per cent which the central bank was anticipating for a long time. This is at present hovering around a “stubbornly high” level of 7-7.5 per cent. Retail inflation (based on consumer price index) is above 10 per cent.
The Supreme Court on Thursday made it clear to the Centre that it had no power to allocate coal blocks to private companies (under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957) and sought legal explanation from Attorney-General G.E. Vahanvati for making the allotments. It was vested only with the States. The Bench was hearing a petition filed by a group of prominent citizens and Common Cause, a non-governmental organisation, seeking cancellation of the allocation of captive coal blocks made from 1993 and a probe by a special investigation team. The petitioners included T.S.R. Subramanian, former Cabinet Secretary; N Gopalaswami, former Chief Election Commissioner; Ramaswamy R. Iyer, former Secretary; Sushil Tripathi, former Secretary; Admiral (retd.) R.H. Tahiliani; and Admiral (retd.) L. Ramdas. They said that according to the CAG’s conservative estimates, the allocation between 2004 and 2010 caused a windfall gain of Rs. 1.86 lakh crore to private companies, making it a bigger scandal than the ‘2G scam’. The Bench wanted to know from the AG whether the Centre derived any power to allocate coal blocks to private companies under the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act. The Bench posted further hearing to March 12.
In a letter to Reliance Industries promoter Mukesh Ambani which was made public on Thursday, Mr. Kejriwal asked why defamation notices have been issued to TV channels which broadcast his allegations of corruption against the industrialist last year, while no action has been taken against the original sources of those allegations — Mr. Kejriwal himself and his party colleague Prashant Bhushan. “It is evident that your sole purpose of sending this notice was to steamroll the TV channels into subservience.” Interestingly, notices were also sent to CNN-IBN and other channels of the Network 18 group, in which the Reliance group holds an indirect shareholding. In his letter, Mr. Kejriwal warned Mr. Ambani against trying to “intimidate” the media and said “the majority of mediapersons keep the interest of the country at heart even today... History is witness that whenever the judiciary, bureaucracy and legislature crumbled, it is the honest fourth pillar, comprising such media-persons, that kept democracy alive.”Background: Last October and November, Mr. Kejriwal held two press conferences where he and Mr. Bhushan alleged that Mr. Ambani held black money in Swiss bank accounts and that Reliance Industries had artificially lowered production in its KG gas wells in order to blackmail the government on gas pricing. Reliance had immediately denied that there was any truth in the “irresponsible allegations made at the behest of vested interests.”
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), whose funding of corporate warehousing projects on terms far softer than those offered to poor and often suicidal farmers, has withdrawn its controversial scheme with retrospective effect under pressure from the Reserve Bank of India. RBI had advised the NABARD in Sep, 2012 to refund the amount refinanced to banks in the year 2011-12 with interest at applicable rates under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) to contributing banks “in proportion to their contribution to the warehousing fund, alleging violation of RBI Interest Rate Directives and also that funds under RIDF could not be used for providing refinance to banks.” Source
Commerce and Industry Minister warned that global economic growth remained extremely fragile and faced a heightened risk of going into double-dip recession. He said latest projections indicated that this year the global economic growth would be around 3.5 per cent, almost at the same level as last year (3.2 per cent). The situation in Eurozone remains grim, even though there have been interventions by the European Central Bank. The U.S. is staring at a ‘fiscal cliff’ and the BRICS economies, which had emerged as pillars of stability and engines of economic growth even at the peak of the crisis, are now experiencing a slowdown. China has slowed down to 7.8 per cent in 2012 while India last year grew by 5.5 per cent. Brazil has dropped from a peak of 5.7 per cent in 2010 to just 1 per cent in 2012. Thus, the most worrisome is the slowdown in growth of developing economies, which grew at 5.1 per cent last year, registering perhaps the slowest growth in the last decade. The Minister said there was a continued volatility of capital flows, especially to emerging and developing economies. Last year, the net private capital flows to emerging markets were down by 10 per cent at $1 trillion even as the emerging market economies invested over $1.3 trillion abroad. Further he said a major area of serious concern had been the rising food prices, which jumped to a record high in July last year though there was a softening towards the latter part of the year. Apart from the deteriorating economic situation, there was a massive social dimension to the problem as the world was faced with an unprecedented crisis of unemployment. Today, out of the global labour force of 3.3 billion, 200 million people were unemployed and over 900 million people were living on below $2 a day. Over the next decade, 400 million new entrants would enter the labour market and we were faced with a challenge of creating 600 million jobs globally. “Countries like India will see 250 million additional job-seekers in the next 15 years as they shift from the rural economy towards urban industrial activity,” he added. He said the G-20 had emerged as the pre-eminent global body for economic stabilisation in this time of crisis. “It is to the credit of G-20 leaders who demonstrated statesmanship in coordinating their efforts for infusing a $4-trillion stimulus in the global economy. However, we are still not out of the woods,” he said.
India will launch this year the first of its series of navigation satellites required to provide regional navigation service “IRNSS”, independent of the U.S.-controlled GPS (Global Positioning System), said S. Ramakrishnan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). Europe (Galileo), Russia (GLONASS) and China (Compass) were either having or evolving their own navigation services independent of the GPS. The Indian Space Research Organisation too was planning to evolve indigenous navigation service to provide enhanced and more precise navigation. To provide this service, to be christened ‘Gagan,’ India needed to launch a number of satellites and the first of this series, the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), would be launched by the PSLV C-22 rocket, probably in the second half of this year. After all the required satellites were launched, India would be in a position to provide navigation service through “GAGAN” (GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation) probably in 2014, Dr. Ramakrishnan added. He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an international conference on “Bio energy, Environment and Sustainable Technologies” (BEST 2013).
The following is the list of Padma Awardees announced by the Central government on January 25, 2013: [1.] Padma Vibhushan: Raghunath Mohapatra, Art, Orissa; S. Haider Raza, Art, Delhi; Prof. Yash Pal, Science and Engineering, Uttar Pradesh; Prof. Roddam Narasimha, Science and Engineering, Karnataka; [2.] Padma Bhushan: Dr. Ramanaidu Daggubati, Art, Andhra Pradesh; Sreeramamurthy Janaki, Art, Tamil Nadu; Dr. (Smt.) Kanak Rele, Art, Maharashtra; Sharmila Tagore, Art, Delhi; Dr. (Smt) Saroja Vaidyanathan, Art, Delhi; Abdul Rashid Khan, Art, West Bengal; Late Rajesh Khanna, Art, Maharashtra; Late Jaspal Singh Bhatti, Art, Punjab; Shivajirao Girdhar Patil, Public Affairs, Maharashtra; Dr. Apathukatha Sivathanu Pillai, Science, Engineering Delhi; Dr. Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Science and Engineering, Delhi; Dr. Ashoke Sen Science and Engineering Uttar Pradesh; N. Suresh, Science and Engineering, Karnataka; Prof. Satya N. Atluri, Science and Engineering, USA; Prof. Jogesh Chandra Pati, Science and Engineering, USA.; [3.] Padma Shri (only the major ones): B. Jayashree, Art, from Karnataka, film director Ramesh Sippy, noted photo journalist Pablo Bartholomew, the late Manju Bharat Ram (social work), Vandana Luthra (trade and commerce) and fashion designer Ritu Kumar; theatre artists from Jammu and Kashmir Balwant Thakur and Rajendra Tikku and Ghulam Mohammed Saznawaz; noted oncologist Pramod Kumar Julka; eminent entrepreneur from Coimbatore Rajshree Pathy; noted Urdu poet Nida Fazli; anthropologist and art historian Christopher Pinney; Urdu poet, the late Salik Lakhnawi; Chairperson of the Centre for Linguistics of JNU Anvita Abbi; Sanskrit writer Rama Kant Shukla; Mustansir Barma of the Department of Theoretical Physics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the Indo-Pak peace bus service, which was suspended due to tension between the two nations resumed today with civilians crossing the border along the Line of Control in Poonch district. About 84 stranded passengers from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir returned to their native places in two buses while 68 Indian citizens, who went across to meet their relatives and stuck up due to the ongoing tension along the border, are also returning to their homes later today.
The All Bodo Students Union, ABSU President Promod Boro has appealed to the government to resolve the Bodoland issue on the basis of legitimacy, geographical and administrative convenience, comprising the 32 tribal belts and blocks in the northern part of the Brahmaputra River. The ABSU has organised a 12-hour hunger strike across the state in support of its demand.
As a step to extend the Direct Cash Transfer Scheme, DCTS to all State welfare programmes, the Puducherry Government has set up a Unique Identification Implementation Cell in the Union Territory. The Unique Identification Implementation Cell in the Union Territory will function under the Department of Planning and Research and will co-ordinate with the nodal officers of various departments and agencies, implementing welfare programmes, in carrying out the Aadhar Enabled Payment Services.
A string of previously laggard states are poised to overtake Punjab and Haryana, India’s traditional grain bowl, as the new powerhouses of food production, driven largely by — surprise — state support. While privatisation is often thought desirable for key sectors of the economy, second-generation “green revolutions” across several states demonstrate that government initiatives can still turn things around. India had raised the annual funding for a "green revolution in eastern India" from Rs.400 crore to Rs.1,000 crore for 2012-13. The results are showing. With the gradual weakening of the 60s green revolution, which had transformed India into a nation that could feed itself, planners knew it was time to turn the foot-dragging eastern part into the next food bowl. Northeast, with its fertile soil and abundant rainfall, could be the country's next agricultural powerhouse, trends show. Further, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Bihar have posted over 10 million tonnes of food output for the first time, with Madhya Pradesh picking a top central award recently. Under individual crop category for rice, Bihar outperformed even big states. In wheat, pulses and coarse cereals, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh have nearly matched Haryana’s production.
Union Minister for Home Affair has reached Dhaka on a two day visit to hold discussions with the Bangladesh Home Minister, which are likely to be focussed on further strengthening co-operation between the two countries in the areas of security, border management, border infrastructure, training and capacity building, people-to-people exchanges, curbing of the smuggling of fake Indian Currency notes, drug abuses and human trafficking. The two sides are expected to sign an extradition treaty and a revised travel agreement. Extradition Treaty will further strengthen the existing co-operation in security matters between India and Bangladesh, while the Revised Travel Agreement is expected to liberalise the visa rules for businesspersons, senior citizens and medical treatment cases.
India and Sri Lanka are close to clinching an agreement on drawing a fishing boundary in the Palk Strait that would put an end to recurring attacks on fishermen from Tamil Nadu allegedly by the island navy, Minister of State in PMO said on Sunday. Chief Minister of TN has taken up with the Centre the issue of frequent attacks on the state fishermen and even demanded retrieval of Katchatheevu, an islet ceded by India to Sri Lanka in the 1970s. Sri Lankan has been accusing Tamil Nadu fishermen of poaching by crossing into their territory near Katchatheevu, known for its rich fish wealth.
Six years after opening its first branch in China (in Shanghai), the State Bank of India will open its second – in Tianjin, the port city 140 km away from Beijing – in February. A huge chunk of China’s international trade to the rest of the world – and a large portion to India, is originated in Tianjin. SBI plans to set up a third branch in Guangzhou, another huge trade hub, next. Other public sector banks also have started setting up beachheads in China as trade between the two countries balloons. UCO Bank has opened a representative office in Beijing, as has Bank of India, which also has a branch in Shenzhen. Canara Bank, on the other hand, has a branch in Shanghai, as has Allahabad Bank. The largest private sector lender, ICICI Bank, is in the process of setting up one. According to the rules of engagement, Indian banks have to first set up a representative office and only later are they allowed to upgrade it into a full-fledged bank, based on bilaterals. Bilateral trade between India and China has soared in recent years, touching $75 billion in 2011, but then declined a tenth in 2012.
Japan has launched two domestically produced intelligence satellites (HII-A) into orbit on Sunday amid growing concerns that North Korea is planning to test more rockets of its own and possibly conduct a nuclear test. HII-A rocket went smoothly and the satellites — an operational radar satellite and an experimental optical probe — appear to have reached orbit. The radar satellite, which can provide intelligence through cloud cover and at night, is intended to augment a network of several probes that Japan already has in orbit. The optical probe will be used to test future technology and improvements that would allow Japan to strengthen its surveillance capabilities. However, Japan still relies on the United States for much of its intelligence. Japan began its intelligence satellite program after North Korea fired a long-range missile over Japan's main island in 1998. North Korea conducted a launch last month that it says carried a satellite into orbit but has been condemned by the U.S. and others as a cover for its development of missile technology. Japan, which hosts about 50,000 U.S. troops, is especially concerned about North Korea because its main islands are already within range of the North's missiles. Along with developing its own network of spy satellites, Japan has cooperated with Washington in establishing an elaborate missile defense shield. North Korea's powerful National Defense Commission declared last week that the country would carry out a nuclear test and launch more rockets in defiance of the U.N. Security Council's announcement that it would punish Pyongyang for its long-range rocket test in December with more sanctions, calling it a violation of a ban on nuclear and missile activity.
China today said it has successfully conducted the test flight of its first country made jumbo air-freighter (Yun-20, or Transport-20), capable of handling various air transportation tasks targeting cargo and passengers. The successful maiden flight of Yun-20 is significant in promoting China's economic and national defence buildup as well as bettering its emergency handling such as disaster relief and humanitarian aid.
A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that President Barack Obama violated the US Constitution when he used recess appointments to fill a labour board, in a sweeping decision that could limit presidential power to push through federal nominees. The court found that the Senate was not truly in recess, for the purpose of a recess appointment. In US, Presidents have often used these intra-session recess appointments. Ronald Reagan, for example, made 36 such appointments, and Bill Clinton made 39, according to data from the congressional research service.
Pakistan may have its own BJP. ‘Bahawalpur Janobi Punjab’ is the new name being proposed for the southernmost region of Pakistan's Punjab province. Ironically, if translated into English, it will still share its abbreviation with another Indian political party — the BSP or Bahawalpur South Punjab. A constitutional amendment seeking creation of the province was finalised on Saturday and is likely to be tabled in Parliament this week. A highly contentious issue, the bifurcation of Punjab is an electoral plank of the country’s ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) as it has been a long standing demand of the people from the Seraiki-speaking southern parts of Pakistan’s largest and most populous province. The bifurcation of Punjab will not be easy as the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) — which rules the province — has been boycotting the parliamentary committee proceedings on the premise that the PPP was resorting to strong-arm tactics to gain political advantage. And, even among the members who attended the proceedings, there is no consensus on the capital of the new province.
A former left-leaning Prime Minister staged a big return to power by winning the Czech Republic’s first directly elected presidential vote. With all the votes counted, Milos Zeman (68 yrs) won 54.8 per cent of the vote for the largely ceremonial post, the Czech Statistics Office reported. Mr. Zeman is considered more favourable toward the 27-nation European Union, to which the country belongs. Since Czechoslovakia split into Slovakia and the Czech Republic in 1993, the Czech Republic has had two Presidents elected by Parliament — Vaclav Havel and Vaclav Klaus.
An Egyptian court sentenced 21 people to death on Saturday on charges related to the February 1, 2012 football violence in Port Said that killed 74 fans of the Cairo-based al-Ahly team. The judge said in his statement read live on state TV that he would announce the verdict for the remaining 52 defendants on March 9. Immediately after the verdict, two police were shot dead outside Port Said’s main prison when angry relatives tried to storm the facility to free the defendants. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets, as well as live rounds, at the crowd outside the prison, killing 14, security officials said. Hundreds were wounded.
The United States-led economic sanctions on Iran, imposed over the latter’s alleged weapons’ related uranium enrichment programme, have resulted in a severe shortage of essential and life-saving medicines in the country. The shortage of medicines is apparently across the spectrum of prevalent diseases, particularly for life-threatening ones such as cancer and cardiac disorders. And on occasions when they are available, the prices are prohibitive and beyond the affordability of ordinary Iranians. According to Mr. Mohammadi, Iran was currently negotiating with India for the supply of 28 types of drugs.
In a major breakthrough, a global research team, in close collaboration with Indian agricultural scientists, has successfully completed sequencing of genomes of chickpea, known as kabuli chana. The breakthrough promises improved grain yields and quality, and greater drought tolerance and disease resistance. Chickpea is the second largest cultivated pulse crop in the world, grown in about 115 lakh hectares mostly by poor farmers in the semi-arid tropics. It is crucial for India in view of its food security measures to provide nutritious food to people. Around 80 lakh hectares are under chickpea cultivation in India, especially in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
A secret plant at Aldermaston (a village in Berkshire, South-East England) which enriches uranium for Britain’s nuclear warheads has been shut down over safety fears after a vital “structural steelwork’’ was found to have suffered corrosion, according to media reports citing information published in a newsletter of the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).
When somebody watches YouTube on a mobile and ends up [with a] big bill, he curses under his breath at telecom operators. But YouTube is consuming a massive amount of resources on our network. Somebody’s got to pay for that. Thus, Sunil Mittal, CEO, Bharti Airtel suggested at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last year, and is gaining rapid popularity with service providers around the world, was an “inter-connect charge”, an effective Internet tax that would force companies such as Google and Facebook to pay network operators a levy similar to the termination fee that networks pay one another to complete a voice call. This growing clamour for an Internet tax was obliquely backed by the Government at a U.N conference, held last month. The advantages for both telecom operators such as Airtel, and the Government (which too might look to levy a similar tax) are immediate and obvious. If this is put into practice, service providers would be able to essentially prioritize certain types of traffic, and the “sending party”—Facebook, YouTube— would have to pay Airtel and BSNL for the privilege of reaching consumers. It’s glaringly obvious to see where this idea, where the “sending party must pay”, originates from however. “Data inter-connections in the phone world work this way— where if Rajesh in America, a customer of AT&T, wanted to call Lata in India, a customer of Airtel, Rajesh would first pay AT&T. AT&T would then pay Airtel a little for their efforts in connecting the call. The principle of allowing the ‘sending party’ to pay is a good, and natural fit for the way phone networks work.” This will not work on the Internet though, for the simple reason that 99.5 per cent (OECD statistics) of the exchange of traffic between Internet networks typically happens for free. This method, which is known as the ‘peering system’, has benefited both content providers and telcos. Source. [InfoGraphic: 1, 2]
A bird blessed with immense patience and perseverance in the world of bird brain — a definition with which human beings tend to delight in describing other creatures. Taking this into cognisance, recently the Environment Ministry declined a proposal to set up a RADAR installation on a secluded Island in the Andamans — thus saving the remaining 300 wild Narcondam Hornbills from extinction. While most hornbills inhabit thick jungles of the north-east and south-west India, Indian Grey Hornbill, the smallest, is sighted even in Allahabad, Chandigarh and Delhi due to availability of tree canopy. Unfortunately, most of the 10 hornbill species in the subcontinent are now endangered due to fragmentation of forests, vanishing woodlands and mushrooming concrete jungles. In December last year, a Hornbill Festival was held in Nagaland to enhance the understanding of hornbills through tourism and a variety of cultural activities. Scientists at the San Diego Safari Park, USA, explain that hornbills are the only birds in which the first two neck vertebrae (the axis and atlas) are fused together. This probably provides a stable platform for carrying big beaks with ample agility even while airborne. The most exceptional aspect of all hornbills is that they nest in naturally ‘prefabricated’ cavity of large trees that are refurbished with love and care. A peculiar characteristic of this bird during nesting is that the female stays inside the nest and is literally imprisoned. The male, assisted by the female from inside, seals the nest entrance leaving only a small opening for feeding the female. By this clever modus operandi, the eggs and hatchlings are protected from possible predators and vagaries of nature as well. The entire process takes about three to four months depending upon specific species.
India will be sending 58 'special' athletes -- its highest ever for the Special Olympics world winter games (SOWWG) scheduled to take place in Pyeongchang, South Korea from January 29. SOWWG held every two years alternating between summer and winter games. India who won 15 medals, including seven golds in the last winter games in 2009, is eyeing more medals this time as they are competing in six sports, namely alpine skiing, snow-boarding, snow shoeing, short track speed skating, figure skating and floor hockey out of the eight-Olympic-type sport to be held there.
India has regained the No. 1 ranking in One Day International Cricket from England after beating the visiting team 3-2 in the ODI series. India claimed the top spot for the first time in three years by finishing 0.20 rating points ahead of England. Australia is now third at the table while South Africa occupies the fourth spot.
Australians Open 2013: [1.] Men's Singles: Djokovic (Serbia) won over Murray (UK); [2.] Women's Singles: Azarenka (Belarus) won over Li (China); [3.] Men's Doubles: B. Bryan / M. Bryan (USA) won over R. Haase / I. Sijsling (Russia); [4.] Women's Doubles: S. Errani / R. Vinci (Italy) won over A. Barty / C. Dellacqua (Australia).