{News Notes} Daily News Notes: 15th to 24th Jan, 2013

VOICEE has greeted the nation on the occasion of Milad-un-Nabi, the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammad.
National Girl Child Day is being observed today to show empathy towards girl child so that she can lead a valued and dignified life in society. Integrated Child Development Services Scheme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Integrated Child Protection Scheme, Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Dhanalakhsmi are among major initiatives aimed at welfare and development of children, especially girls. Besides, legal protection under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000, Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 the government is also addressing the challenge of declining child sex ratio in the country. Legal remedies also exist to curb the ever increasing menace of sexual crimes against children, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
President today presented Krishi Karman Awards to eight States for their achievements in foodgrains production in 2011-12. Ten States were given commendation awards. Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Manipur and Nagaland received the awards for special contribution to totalfoodgrains production. Bihar received the award for contribution to production and productivity of rice, Haryana for wheat, Jharkhand for pulses and Uttar Pradesh for coarse cereals. Punjab, Uttarakhand, Assam, West Bengal, Tripura, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh received commendation awards. For the first time one female and one male farmer from the eight award winning States were also given awards for their outstanding performance.
The Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF) in its endeavor to promote Non Timber Forest based Handicrafts, Herbal/Health/Cosmetic Medicinal & Food items (Forest/Argo/Biodiversity food) is organising 15 Days program “GREEN HAAT” with primary objective of “Connecting nature with our lives”. Green Haat is an initiative to raise awareness on the rich forest and bio diverse heritage of the country among the growing urban population often living far off from the forests. The first Green Haat was organized on the eve of World Environment Day 2011 (5th June) where India played as a Global Host. Encouraged by the response received a decision was taken to make it an annual event.
The Apparel Training & Design Centre (ATDC) is going to set up India’s first ‘Technology Innovation Research Centre’ at the ATDC-Training of Trainers’ Academy, Gurgaon. The ATDC-JUKI TECH Innovation Centre is an important initiative to strengthen the Apparel Industry, especially the SMEs, to adopt new technologies for increasing productivity, efficiency and quality for better price realisation and better global competitiveness.
Seeking to set at rest the concerns expressed by worried investors at home and abroad, the government on Monday announced the postponement of the implementation of the controversial GAAR (General Anti Avoidance Rules) by two years to April 1, 2016. The postponement and other modifications in GAAR provisions marks the acceptance of the recommendations of the Parthasarathi Shome Committee, which was set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh following concerns expressed by investors on the Budget provision in this regard and the subsequent withdrawal of portfolio investment by foreign investors. [InfoGraphic]
Mediapersons, legal experts and civil society have suggested the setting up of a constitutionally mandated regulator to check "misuse and abuse" of the media in the country.
Ahead of a pre-Budget discussion with finance minister P Chidambaram, India Inc on Wednesday hit out at the proposal to tax higher income groups at differential rates. At a meeting with Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council chairman C Rangarajan, industry chambers (CII, FICCI etc.) opposed a plan to levy an inheritance tax or taxing the super rich at a higher rate, saying that it would be counterproductive. Industry chambers also sought policies for completion of large infrastructure projects in time and stressed that the government must announce further measures to boost business confidence that is essential for reviving growth.
In order to address the concerns over acquisition of shares by employee welfare trusts from the secondary market, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has amended its Employee Stock Option Scheme (ESOS) and Employee Stock Purchase Scheme (ESPS) Guidelines, 1999, by prohibiting companies from dealing in their own shares in the secondary market under these schemes, with immediate effect.
Aimed at taking the disinvestment exercise forward at a faster clip, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), on Thursday, authorised the National Investment Fund (NIF) to buy shares of public sector undertakings (PSUs), including banks and insurance companies. NIF will be used to recapitalise public sector banks (PSBs) and state-owned insurance companies. According to an official release here, the disinvestment proceeds with effect from the fiscal year 2013-14 will be credited to the existing ‘public account’ under the head National Investment Fund (NIF), and they would remain there until withdrawn/invested for the approved purposes. Set up in 2005, the NIF is being hitherto managed by three fund managers — UTI Asset Management Company, SBI Funds Management Company and LIC Mutual Fund Asset Management Company. Essentially, while about 75 per cent of the income from NIF is being used to fund select social sector programmes, the balance amount is utilised to meet the capital investment requirements of profitable PSUs and revival of sick state-owned units. However, following the global meltdown and its impact on the domestic economy, the government, in November, 2009, decided to utilise the disinvestment proceeds only for social sector spending.
Following the decision of Europe, the U.S. and Japan to put Boeing 787 Dreamliner out of action, Air India on Thursday announced grounding of all six sophisticated aircraft, operating inside and outside the country. Japan on Wednesday grounded the Dreamliners following complaints of over-heating of the battery. U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an emergency airworthiness directive to address the problem requiring all operators to temporarily cease operations. Before further flight, operators of the U.S.-registered Boeing 787 aircraft must demonstrate to the FAA that the batteries are safe.
Sounding a strong warning, including severe shortage of coal for thermal power plants, the Coal Ministry has predicted serious implications for the southern States of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and many northern and western States if important railway lines connecting coal fields in Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh are not completed in the next three years. The rail lines include the Tori-Shivpur-Kathotia (Hazaribagh) BG triple line for the North Karanpura coalfield (CCL Jharkhand) likely to carry 167 million tonnes of coal per annum; the Jharsuguda-Barpali BG double line for IB Valley coalfield (MCL, Orissa) and Bhupdeopur-Korichapar/Broaud-Dharamjaygarh up to Korba (East Corridor 180 km) and Gevra Road to Pendra Road (West Corridor 122 km) in Mand Raigarh coalfield; and double line BG for Mand-Raigarh coalfield (SECL, Chhattisgarh). Railways will be able to generate about Rs. 10,000 crore per annum as freight revenue from the incremental coal produced from these coalfields and the State governments would get additional revenue to the tune of Rs. 2,000 crore per annum in the form of royalty and VAT.
A Delhi Court today sentenced former Chief Minister of Haryana and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Om Prakash Chautala and his MLA son Ajay Chautala to 10 years in prison for their involvement in the Junior Basic Trained (JBT) teachers' recruitment scam. Two IAS officers Sanjiv Kumar, the then Director in the Directorate of Primary Education and Chautala's former Officer on Special Duty Vidya Dhar have also been sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment. Sher Singh Badshami, MLA, political adviser to the then Haryana CM,has also been sentenced to 10 years' in jail. Earlier on January 16th, Chautala, his son and 53 others (including 16 women) were convicted by a special CBI court here on Wednesday for illegal selection of over 3,000 junior basic trained (JBT) teachers by replacing the original selection list compiled from 18 districts with fake ones. The recruitment was initiated in 1999 to solve the acute shortage of teachers in Haryana and 3,206 vacancies were advertised in 18 districts. The lid was blown off the scam when Sanjiv Kumar, who was the Director of Primary Education (DPE), when the award lists were swapped, approached the Supreme Court in 2003 with a writ petition alleging that he was pressured by Mr. O.P. Chautala to replace the original lists with fake ones. However, Mr. Kumar’s claim to be a whistleblower was exposed by the CBI which found that he was also complicit in the conspiracy to swap the award lists.
President on Friday imposed President’s rule in Jharkhand under Article 356(1) of the Constitution, following its approval by the Union Cabinet on Thursday. Jharkhand has been placed under President's rule as the Arjun Munda government fell after being reduced to a minority following the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s withdrawal of support. The former Union Home Secretary, Madhukar Gupta, and the former Central Reserve Police Force Director General, K. Vijay Kumar, have been appointed advisers to Jharkhand Governor Syed Ahmed. While Mr. Gupta, who retired as the Union Home Secretary in June 2009, is a former Uttarakhand cadre IAS officer, Mr. Kumar, an IPS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, was recently appointed adviser in the Ministry of Home Affairs to deal with Naxal and internal security issues. He retired as the CRPF chief last year.
National Bravery Awards for 22: [1.] Akanksha Gaute: 16-year-old Akanksha, trained in martial arts for nine years, fights back to the eve teasers; [2.] Sameep Anil Pandit: 14-year-old Sameep ran into his school’s burning cattle shed to free buffaloes; [3.] Tarang Mistry: He is this year’s winner of the Bharat Award. He dive into the water again and again to save people from drowning; [4.] Koroungamba Kumam: One night he woke up to find his house on fire and his sister in danger. He swiftly got his sister to safety and continued fighting the fire with quilts. He is the youngest award winner of the age of seven; [5.] Suhail: 13-year-old Suhail jumped right in the river and rescued his friend who accidently fell into the river. The fact that Suhail knew little swimming did not seem to matter, made him for the NBA; [6.] Vishnu: He was waiting for a train in his home State of Kerala when he saw two stranger girls crossing the railway tracks. One of them lost a step and fell face down; suddenly they heard the whistle of the train and try as she might the girl couldn’t get up. The train started approaching nearer and Vishnu, heart thudding ran and pulled up the girl; [7.] Ramdinthara: Fifteen-year-old Ramdinthara from Mizoram, who sacrificed his life while trying to save his friend from drowning, is the only child to get the award posthumously.
The government’s decision to allow oil companies to increase pump prices of diesel in small increments will help address many problems in one go. Ministers and bureaucrats may not want to call it deregulation given the political implications but the fact is it is indeed that, for oil companies can now charge market prices to bulk consumers of diesel. A hike of nearly Rs. 10 a litre for the bulk diesel consumers that includes the railways, transport undertakings and the defence, cement, mines and power sectors will trigger an all-round hike in public road transport costs, rail fares, costs of cement and other infrastructure related activity across the country. The oil marketing companies (OMCs) have also quietly raised the price of the domestic 14.2 kg non-subsidised LPG cylinder by Rs. 46.50, a move likely to impact those consuming over nine cylinders a year. These steps are likely to result in an annual subsidy saving of ~Rs. 15000 crore for the OMCs. [InfoGraphic]
Some of the far-sighted visions that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had for post-independent India were realised but those of literacy and prosperity evaded the country, his daughter Anita Pfaff said on Sunday. Professor Pfaff, who participated at an event on the eve of Netaji’s 116th birth anniversary celebrations, said Partition and the tragic consequences that followed, including the war between India and Pakistan, were major disappointments to his vision. The money squandered by India and Pakistan on armaments could have been utilised for improving education and healthcare. Drawing a comparison between the two countries, she said while Pakistan was dealing with several problems, India has had fewer problems and was a “stable nation.” “In the early 1950s and 1960s there was great concern that the country might drift apart due to the cultural differences that existed within. But India has managed remarkably well in containing the cultural odds,” she said.
The Central Railway which manages Matheran’s 22 km ride has decided to illuminate the Matheran Light Railway (MLR) track with the latest LED (light emitting diode) lamps to add a new dimension to this tourist spot of heritage importance, though convincing UNESCO to grant recognition has become an uphill task. For smooth operation of the LED, a windmill energy system will be put in place. It will keep the track illuminated and provide power to the stations en route and the sleepy township located 800 metres above sea level, set in the forest at the top, as the name suggests — Matheran. The windmill will be another step towards protecting the ecology of this region. Vehicles are not allowed beyond Aman Lodge station from where one has either to trek or go horse-back or by train alone. Hand-drawn rickshaws are available for local movement. The revenue for the Railways is just about Rs. 60 lakh while they spend Rs. 6 crore to operate the two-hour journey that curls through dozens of exhilarating slopes and sets up the challenge of the “one kiss tunnel” to its romantically inclined passengers — that is steal one if you can. The night running of trains is part of the programme to make the section more viable, stressed Central Railway general manager Subodh Jain, and push the earnings to Rs. 4 crore annually. The track has now been prepared to be used even during the monsoon, unlike in the past, to encourage round-the-year tourism.
Finally, India seems to have woken up to the urgency of having a single emergency response number on the lines of America’s 911. This number may be called for any emergency — police, fire or ambulance. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is planning to bring a consultation paper in this connection soon to kick-start the process of having a single emergency helpline where a call centre will receive all distress calls and then accordingly alert departments or agencies concerned depending upon the type of emergency. Today, various states have separate emergency response numbers and in some states even police helpline 100 does not work properly. The Ministry of Home Affairs has also been pushing for a single helpline number in its bid to prepare better for police, fire, medical and other kind of emergencies.
With a single stroke, the government has made over 3.5 crore existing post office accounts ready for its new Aadhaar-linked cash transfer scheme. The accounts, which belong to MGNREGA workers over the country, were originally to be used only for receiving wages under the rural employment guarantee scheme. However, the government has now woken up to the potential of using the ready-made network of accounts to directly transfer benefits such as pensions, scholarships and social welfare payments. Of the 8.26 crore MGNREGA accounts in the country, 43 per cent — or 3.5 crore — are post office accounts, while the remainder are bank accounts. States like Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat and Maharashtra have an especially high percentage of MGNREGA workers using post office accounts, and are likely to benefit from this move once the cash transfer scheme comes into full swing.
The Supreme Court on Monday banned tourists from taking the Andaman Nicobar Trunk Road that passes through the area where the Jarawas live. The road is used to reach the Limestone Cave. The court has already banned all commercial and tourism activities within a five-km radius of the Jarawa Tribal Reserve on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The Union Government on Monday hiked the import duty on gold and platinum from 4% to 6% with immediate effect in an urgent bid to curb imports of the precious metals and contain the widening current account deficit (CAD). Government also announced its decision to link the Gold ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) with Gold Deposit schemes as a measure to increase the supply of physical gold in the market without resorting to imports. [InfoGraphic: Click Here]
The government on Thursday, imposed 2.5 per cent import duty on crude edible oil to protect the interest of palm growers, particularly from Andhra Pradesh, but kept duties unchanged on refined cooking oil fearing a hike in retail prices. At present, crude edible oil attracts no import duty but there is 7.5 per cent duty on refined edible oil. India imports about half of total domestic requirement of cooking oil. Agriculture Ministry wanted to an import duty crude edible oil to be 7.5 per cent, 15 per cent on refined oil. But during the inter-ministerial meeting, the finance ministry felt such a sharp rise would lead to rise in inflation.
Villagers in Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu are an overjoyed lot and they cannot wait anymore to honour their saviours. The saviours are National Highways Authority of India officers, who, heeding the protests of locals, have decided not to demolish the 1,300-year-old Siva temple in the village to make way for widening the Vikkiravandi-Thanjavur National Highway (NH) 45C. The NHAI has now decided “to restrict the proposed ROW [right of way] width to avoid acquisition of the ancient temple near Panaiyapuram village by restricting the extent of land acquisition up to the existing compound wall of the temple on the LHS [left hand side] of the temple portion only.”
The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Centre and Delhi government on a PIL seeking amendment in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 to make an exception for non-applicability of the Act for minor accused if they are involved in grave offences. It gives licence to all matured, cruel type of persons under the age of 18 years to live with full impunity and commit any crime of any level and walk scot free only on the basis of their age being less than 18 years and being covered under the Act, petitioner said in his petition. The Bench also issued notice to the Centre and Delhi government on another petition filed by novelist and computer engineer Shilpa Arora Sharma seeking appointment of a criminal psychologist to determine through clinical and medical examination if the juvenile accused in the case would be a threat to society.
The Supreme Court has directed the Centre and all state governments to post one special juvenile police officer in every police station to deal with juveniles arrested for an alleged offence. The SC also directed that police must register FIR in every case of missing child reported to it.
The Supreme Court has banned construction of statues or any other structure at public places which obstructs traffic movement. The apex court restrained all the state governments and union territories from granting permission for any structure at public places. The bench clarified that "this would not apply for installation of traffic utility structures like street lights etc."
Cochin International Airport is set to become the first airport in the country to use solar power for running its utility grid system. A Kolkata-based solar module manufacturing company, Vikram Solar, would be installing a 100 kWp solar power facility at the airport. The proposed energy production would be at an estimated 148 MWh per year with a capacity of 100 kilowatts-peak (kWp). The energy capacity of each PV module would reach up to 240-250 Wp. The company is also installing a 30 KW solar power facility at the famous Jagannath temple in Puri in Odisha.
The Indian navy on Monday commissioned its largest off shore patrol vessel INS Saryu for maritime surveillance of India’s exclusive economic zone around Andaman and Nicobar islands. Built at Goa Shipyard Limited, the 105-meter vessel is the first of the four new class naval off shore patrol vessels (NOPVs) that would be commissioned by the Indian Navy over next one-and-half year.
The Finance Ministry today cleared the name of 58-year-old Union Bank Executive Director S S Mundra as the new Chairman and Managing Director of Bank of Baroda. Prior to joining Union Bank, Mundra was the chief executive for BoB's European operations based in London. Mundra, who joined BoB as a directly recruited officer in 1977, has held various posts within the bank, right from branch manager to heading treasury operations. A Master's in Commerce, Mundra is also a certified associate of Indian Institute of Banking and Finance and fond of reading on leadership and banking.
The Justice J.S. Verma Committee, set up after gangrape and death of the para-medical student in Delhi last month to suggest amendments to laws relating to crimes against women, has recommended review of the continuance of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) and AFSPA-like legal protocols in the context of extending legal protection to women in conflict areas. In its report submitted to the Union Home Ministry on Wednesday, committee member Gopal Subramaniam said going by the testimonies of the people from Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and the North-East, it was evident that there was a pressing need to try armed forces personnel guilty of sexual offences in conflict areas under the ordinary criminal law. It cited the Supreme Court’s recent observation that security forces should not be able to take cover under the AFSPA in cases of rape and sexual assault. Stressing that women in conflict areas were entitled to all the security and dignity that was afforded to citizens in any other part of the country, the committee recommended bringing sexual violence against women by members of the armed forces or uniformed personnel under the purview of ordinary criminal law; taking special care to ensure the safety of women who are complainants and witnesses in cases of sexual assault by the armed forced; and setting up special commissioners for women’s safety and security in all areas of conflict in the country. It also recommended strict adherence to laws related to detention of women during specified hours of the day. Further, the committee ruled against recommending death penalty even in the rarest of the rare rape cases, and also did not favour lowering the age of a juvenile from 18 to 16. The committee however said the minimum sentence for a rapist should be enhanced from 7 years to 10 and that life imprisonment must always mean jail for ‘the entire natural life of the convict’. It has also recommended increase in quantum of punishment in cases related to crime against women and children, besides asking the government to consider forming a new constitutional authority like the CAG for dealing with issues related to education and non-discrimination of women and children.
The Supreme Court will examine whether a Muslim policeman can sport a beard in violation of service rules. A Bench of Justices of SCI issued notice to the Maharashtra government on a special leave petition (SLP) filed by Zahiroddin and staying the disciplinary proceedings against him, upheld by the Bombay High Court. In his SLP, Mr. Zahiroddin raised important questions of law: can Sikhs in the force be allowed to have a beard and wear a turban, features which distinguish them from followers of other religions and did the Commandant’s order violate Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution? Did the order cancelling permission violate his right under Article 25 (right to profess, practise and propagate one’s religion)? Has the High Court failed to appreciate that keeping a beard is obligatory for every man following Islam and that it is sinful not to do so as the Koran ordains him to sport a beard?
The Bharatiya Janata Party dumped its scam-tainted president Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday, turning to the safe choice of veteran Rajnath Singh and underlining rifts within the party ahead of a crucial 18 months of state and national elections. The night before he was due to be nominated for a second term, Gadkari quit after income tax raids on companies connected to the Purti group left his position untenable and cost him the crucial support of the BJP's ideological patron, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). The return of political heavyweight Rajnath — who was BJP president from 2006 to 2009 — complicates the choice of the BJP's prime ministerial candidate in 2014, because Rajnath has in the past shared an uneasy relationship with Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, currently a favourite for the mantle.
Newly appointed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has made an impassioned pitch for change in India’s Grand Old Party, positioning himself as both a proud inheritor as well as a forward-looking leader seeking to address the electorate’s aspirations ahead of the next general election. [InfoGraphic]
The government said it will auction spectrum in 700 mhz band, which is used for offering high-speed internet services through 4th generation technologies, in 2014. The 700 mhz spectrum band ranges from 698 mhz to 806 mhz and has been identified by the International Telecommunication Union for telecom services. Without offering a clear road map, Rahul Gandhi promised decentralisation of power within the Congress party.
In the next four decades, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region could be transformed into the largest megapolis in the world – which would simultaneously be a business, entertainment and residential hub. A year and a half after Singaporean firm Surbana submitted an ambitious concept plan for MMR, detailing the urban growth strategy for 2032 and 2052, the plan is now ready to be submitted to the state for approval. [InfoGraphic]
GJ’s Surat (the diamond city) has pipped Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata to become the first city in the country to have a real-time closed circuit video surveillance system. Chief minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the project on Friday, which will help police to monitor the entire city. In the first phase, 23 locations like entry-exit points, diamond and textile business districts, communally sensitive areas and major traffic junctions will be under surveillance through 104 (95 fixed and nine 360 degree movable point tilt and zoom) cameras. A state-of-the-art command and control centre (CCC) with a video wall measuring 280 sq ft where live video footage can be monitored has been set up by police. At least 80 police personnel have been trained for it.
The Supreme Court (while hearing a PIL that sought protection of young couples marrying inter-caste or within the same gotra from khaps) said it was an offence to order women not to use mobile phones or to dress in a particular manner and warned that no one can run a parallel matrimony court. Further, Sarv Khap Panchayat, a conglomerate of 67 khaps in Haryana’s Rohtak district, told the court that family members of girls and boys marrying outside their caste or within same gotra were behind the lynchings and regulating khaps would not reduce honour killings. Also, the police said khaps sometimes adopt socially retrograde resolutions but there was no instance of khap members’ hand in honour killings. They, too, blamed families. However, the bench wondered why the UP and Haryana cops were “so anxious to give a good conduct certificate” to the khaps.
The Annual Status of Education Report, ASER 2012 was released in New Delhi by HRD Minister. The report says that the enrollment level for the 6-14 age group continue to be very high in rural areas. In 2012, 96.5% of all the children in this age group in rural areas were enrolled in schools. The proportion of the children in the age group of 6-14 who are not enrolled in schools has gone up slightly from 3.3% in 2011 to 3.5% in 2012. The increase is largest in Rajasthan and UP. The report also says that learning outcomes were low but steady in the years leading to 2010. But across the country, children’s ability to read simple text and do basic arithmetic has declined since then. Nationally, private schools enrollment has increased (6-14 age group). In next five years, the country may have half of the children attending private schools even in the rural areas. Speaking on the occasion of releasing the report, the HRD Minister said that the focus of the current 12th Five Year Plan is on quality of education imparted in schools. He said that the quality of the teachers in schools has to be improved and infrastructure needs to be strengthened.
Noted Indian scientist Dr C N R Rao has been conferred with China’s top science award for his important contributions in boosting Sino-India scientific cooperation. Chinese Academy of Sciences on Wednesday gave its 2012 Award for International Scientific Cooperation to three scientists from India, Germany, and Russia. The prize was instituted in 2007.
Indian diplomats are well trained in craft of diplomacy, but what’s about their intellectual capabilities? On the occasion of the conferment of SK Singh Award for 2011, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh emphasized on “constant intellectual renewal” for Indian Foreign Service officers. Also, Prime Minister specially thanked IFS officers’ wives (‘spouses’ would have been more appropriate) because “serving abroad and frequent relocation also require great support and sacrifices from the families, who often do not get the requisite acknowledgement.” Tanmaya Lal, a 1991 batch IFS officer, won the SK Singh Award for 2011.
Debate in the U.N. Security Council on the United Nations’ peacekeeping operations in India & Pakistan: [IND] India’s Permanent Representative to the U.N. Hardeep Puri on Tuesday sought to bury the ghost of third party intervention in Jammu & Kashmir by suggesting that the U.N. Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (Unmogip) be wound up as it had been “overtaken” by the Simla Agreement of 1972. [PAK] Responding to Mr. Puri’s observations, his Pakistani counterpart Masood Khan said no bilateral agreement between India and Pakistan had overtaken or affected the role and legality of Unmogip. “Unmogip continues to monitor the ceasefire in accordance with the U.N. Security Council resolution; its mandate is, therefore, fully valid, relevant, and operative,” he said. [IND] At this, Indian diplomat Manish Gupta said that the Unmogip’s role was to supervise the ceasefire line, which was established in Jammu and Kashmir as a result of the Karachi Agreement of 1949. This line no longer existed and a new line came into existence on December 17, 1971. Following the Simla Agreement, the two countries resolved to settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations. The Line of Control was delineated in Jammu and Kashmir with the approval of both governments. “Thus, the Unmogip’s role has been overtaken by these developments,” Mr. Gupta contended. [InfoGraphic]
Pakistani-American LeT terrorist David Headley was on Thursday sentenced to 35 years in jail by a US court on 12 counts including his 'unquestionable' role in the massacre of 166 people in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. He had videographed a number of targets in India including the iconic Taj hotel in Mumbai which was attacked by 10 LeT terrorists. Headley had even changed his name from Daood Gilani in 2006 to easily move in and out of India without raising suspicision. A week back, US District Judge had sentenced 52-year-old Headley's school time friend, Tahawwur Rana, for 14 years of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release for providing material support to LeT and planning terrorist attack against a Danish newspaper in Copenhagen. Both Headley and Rana were arrested in 2009. Headley was small-time narcotics dealer turned US's Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) informer who went rogue.
Unfazed by the grounding of the B-787 Dreamliners in India and abroad, Boeing on Wednesday announced it had delivered on schedule the first of 10 C-17 Globemaster III airlifters to the Indian Air Force (IAF). Boeing is on track to deliver four more C-17s to the IAF this year and five in 2014. “The C-17’s ability to operate in extremely hot and cold climates, transport large payloads across vast ranges, and land on short, austere runways makes it ideal for India’s airlift needs.” India signed an agreement with the U.S. on June 15, 2011, to acquire 10 C-17 airlifters, making India the largest C-17 customer outside the U.S. Boeing has delivered 250 C-17s worldwide, including 218 to the U.S. Air Force’s active duty, Guard and Reserve units. A total of 32 C-17s have been delivered to Australia, Canada, India, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the U.K. and the 12-member Strategic Airlift Capability initiative of NATO and Partnership for Peace nations. [InfoGraphic]
Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is to be the chief guest at this year's Republic Day parade. King and Queen of Bhutan will pay a State visit to India from 23rd to 30th of this month. They have been invited by the President of India. The Bhutan King is also to be the chief guest at the Confederation of Indian Industry Partnership Summit-2013 to be held at Agra from 27th to 29th of this month. King's visit will contribute to further strengthening and expanding the close bilateral relations between the two countries. The unique and special relations between the two neighbouring countries are characterized by everlasting friendship, deep understanding and mutual trust.
India and Sri Lanka today signed two agreements including one on combating International Terrorism and Illegal Drug and Human Trafficking. An agreement on Avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion was also signed by visiting Sri Lankan foreign minister. He said both the countries also agreed to extend human treatment to the fishermen of both countries.
Taking a cue from China, the Planning Commission (PC) is working on a scheme to get top Indian scientists working abroad spend some time doing teaching and research in scientific and technical research institutions in the country. A top official in the Ministry of Science and Technology said that a salient feature of the proposed scheme was that instead of being offered a job through the normal recruitment routes, scientists would be selected by an expert committee consisting of top Indian and international scientists and invited by the government to work here for short periods. The selected scientists would be paid directly by the government through a special window and not by the institutions, where they would work. The remuneration is likely to be at least Rs. 55 lakh ($1,00,000). In addition, they would be offered fully furnished accommodation plus some relocation expenses and a certain amount as research grant. The scientists would also have the flexibility to choose as to when they want to take up the proposal and also the length of time they want to spend here. Further, PC pointed out that China was able to attract over 1,000 of its scientists working abroad to return to their homeland for varying periods of time for taking up teaching and research assignments. Australia too recently came out with a similar scheme that provided positions at three times the normal remuneration for top class Australian scientists working abroad.
The Finance Minister reiterated the commitment of the Government of India to a stable tax regime, moderate tax rates, non- adversarial tax administration and a fair mechanism for dispute resolution. He added that India has been modernizing its tax administration in a way that will minimize transaction costs and maximize taxpayer convenience, without compromising the deterrence factor. The Finance Minister Shri Chidambaram was addressing the participants after inaugurating the meeting of the Heads of the Revenue Departments of five BRICS countries, i.e., Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. This two day meeting, the first of its kind, aims at enhancing the co-operation among tax administrations of BRICS countries.
With Australia and India realising that they cannot have a full-fledged strategic partnership without enhanced cooperation in critical sectors, both sides have decided to hold the first-ever talks on a civil nuclear partnership agreement here on March 19. While India has expressed its readiness to negotiate a civil nuclear agreement, it has made clear its unwillingness to go beyond the formats of previous pacts signed with countries such as the U.S., Russia and France. The immediate focus is on sourcing uranium from the world’s largest producer, but officials said the cooperation agreement will have a broad scope, covering all areas of civil nuclear cooperation including issues relating to global non-proliferation. Wide-ranging talks that also include disarmament and non-proliferation, it is hoped, will lead to the positive consideration of India’s membership of the Australia Group, one of the four major export control bodies for dual use items. Despite its best efforts, India has been unable to join the Australia Group as well as the other three — the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group, the Wasenaar Arrangement and the Missile Technology Control Regime.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that despite recent successes in developing a stable financial system, India’s financial sector still confronts long-standing impediments to its ability to support growth as well as new challenges to stability. “The prominent role of the state in the financial sector — through ownership of large financial institutions, captive government financing, directed credit to priority sectors, tight controls over the range of allowable activities, and restrictions on the availability of foreign capital — contributes to a build-up of fiscal contingent liabilities and creates a risk of capital misallocation that may constrain economic growth,” IMF said in its ‘India: financial system stability assessment update’. This report is part of IMF’s Financial Stability Assessment Programme (FSAP) for members with systemically important financial sectors. The IMF also is concerned with the multiple roles of RBI which create the potential for conflicting goals. “RBI officers are nominated as directors on the boards of public sector banks while, at the same time, RBI serves as the prudential supervisor of these banks. It would be preferable for the government to focus on policies that ensure the appointment of well qualified, independent board members that are not from the RBI. And while there may be some synergies, RBI’s role as monetary authority, bank regulator, and government debt manager may have led it to require banks to hold larger holdings of government debt than might be needed on prudential grounds.”
Two of the world’s biggest bureaucracies — India and China — have begun an effort to share their experiences of carrying out administrative reforms (other than corruption restriction) and to jointly train their civil servants, following talks between the two governments here this week. China has offered to host Indian civil servants at the Chinese Academy of Personnel Sciences for training, while India will similarly choose an institution to host young Chinese bureaucrats. China’s vast bureaucracy — a source of increasing criticism from some quarters here on account of its opacity — is more than three times the size of India’s, employing 3.7 crore officials in the Centre and provinces. India has 1.2 crore Central and State employees.
Despite international criticism and protest by lawyers over the dismissal of former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, Sri Lanka’s former Attorney-General Mohan Peiris, who has never been on the Bench, has been appointed the Chief Justice. Mr. Peiris joined the Department of the Attorney-General in 1981 as a state counsel and served as a senior state counsel for approximately 15 years. He was appointed the 25th Attorney-General in December of 2008. Last Friday, Parliament had voted to impeach the country’s first woman Chief Justice Ms. Bandaranayake by a two-thirds majority, despite Court of Appeal quashing the basis of the impeachment motion — a report of a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC). Ms. Bandaranayake, the youngest judge when appointed to the Supreme Court, had never been part of the Bar before becoming a judge.
An unmanned spacecraft to the moon in 2015 from a new launch pad in the country’s Far East will be sent, the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) has said.
In an unmistakable echo of the uphill struggle he faced to pass game-changing healthcare reform policies in his first term, U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday unveiled preliminary proposals for what might be his second term’s most important policy initiative — stricter gun control legislation. Presenting his agenda at the White House to an audience that included relatives of the 20 school children killed by a gunman on December 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Mr. Obama outlined his plan consisting of: criminal background check requirement for all gun sales; reinstatement and strengthening of the assault weapons ban that lapsed in the U.S. Congress in 2004; restoration of the ten-round limit on ammunition magazines; and rolling back of the freeze on gun violence research.
Algiers said on Monday that 37 foreigners of eight different nationalities, as well as an Algerian, were killed by hostage-takers in the gas plant attack — the world’s deadliest hostage crisis in almost a decade. A group called al-Mulathameen, a group affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), is believed to have held the hostages captive in the Algerian gas plant jointly operated by Norway’s Statoil, Britain’s BP and Algerian state-owned Sonatrach. The state media have reported that 650 hostages have been freed, of which 573 are Algerians. “More than half” of 132 foreigners have also been freed, according to state media reports. The Algerian government has strictly monitored all information regarding the crisis, though the militants have indicated that the kidnap was a response to the recent French intervention in neighbouring Mali. Since early 2012, the Malian government has lost nearly two-thirds of its territory to a multi-dimensional insurgency in the North. Last week, France rushed troops, helicopters, and jets to Mali and a West African force is on its way. While Algeria has declined to provide troops to an African mission for Mali, it has opened its airspace to French military aircraft.
China’s economy has shown signs of a rebound by registering 7.9 per cent growth in the last quarter of the year, suggesting the worst of the downturn was over for the world’s second-largest economy. China’s overall 7.8 per cent growth in 2012 was, however, the lowest recorded by the country in 13 years, and the first instance of growth staying below 8 per cent in this time. China’s economy grew 10.4 per cent in 2010 and 9.3 per cent in 2011. The government has set an annual 7.5 per cent target in the next five years, with officials stressing that rebalancing the economy with more sustainable, consumption-driven growth, rather than merely achieving a high growth rate, was now the priority. Further, figures released on Friday also underscored the challenge the Chinese government faces in tackling income inequality. China’s Gini coefficient — an index that reflects the rich-poor gap — was 0.474 in 2012. A Gini coefficient of 0.4 is widely seen as a warning level. The Gini coefficient had peaked at 0.491 in 2008.
The Russian Navy has begun its biggest war games (defence exercise) in decades (since the collapse of the Soviet Union) in the Mediterranean and Black seas that will include manoeuvres off the shores of Syria. The purpose is to improve coordination among different naval groups during missions in “far-away sea zones”. Experts suggested the exercises would serve to project Russia’s naval power to a highly explosive region and render moral support for the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. This part of the world ocean has key geopolitical interest for Russia, considering that the Russian Navy has a maintenance and supply facility in Syria.
Pakistan is circumventing matters of legality and geopolitical complexities in the procurement process for nuclear components. This may well be the conclusion reached in the case of Qiang Hu, a Chinese national who has been charged in Massachusetts with “conspiracy for violating U.S. export controls by allegedly selling thousands of pressure transducers to unnamed customers through his position of sales manager at MKS Instruments Shanghai Ltd. in China”. Among the list of nations that use pressure transducers to measure the gas pressure inside centrifuge cascades in nuclear plants is Pakistan. The list reportedly includes Iran and possibly North Korea, but Pakistan, according to experts at the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, is among those nations that “use a considerable quantity of the equipment in their centrifuge plants and have regularly sought them through surreptitious means as used in this alleged scheme.”
China said it was "strongly dissatisfied" Sunday after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a veiled warning to Beijing not to challenge Tokyo's control of disputed Diaoyu islands (potentially gas-rich area) at the centre of a bitter territorial row. China also called for Washington to be "careful in words, cautious in actions" and to take "realistic actions to protect the peace and stability of the region and Chinese-US relations". The maritime dispute, which has simmered off and on for years, intensified last year when the Japanese government nationalised islands in the small chain it did not already own, triggering angry responses in China. China has since increased maritime and air patrols near the East China Sea territory, and in further escalations in recent weeks both Beijing and Tokyo have scrambled fighter jets, though there have been no clashes. Complicating the issue is a security treaty that obliges the US -- which keeps military bases in Japan -- to aid the country in the event it is attacked. Last week, state media said China will carry out a geographical survey of the islands and also reported that China's armed forces have been instructed to raise their fighting ability in 2013 with "the objective of being able to fight and win a battle".
Britain’s leading financial services giant Barclays is planning to move hundreds of back-office jobs to India as part of cost-cutting measures. With around 2,000 jobs on the line at its troubled investment banking unit here, Barclays is believed to have dispatched a team to recruit and train new staff in India to replace workers in London and New York. Barclays is reviewing its operations in the light of recent scandals over the alleged fixing of inter-bank lending rate (Libor rates) and mis-selling payment protection insurance (PPI) in the U.K. In July, the bank was fined 290 million pound by the U.S. and U.K. regulators for attempting to manipulate the Libor rate. Further, Barclays employs around 9,000 people at its investment banking division in the U.K. News of further offshoring and job losses could generate fresh controversy, particularly among workers’ unions, given that the roles slated to move to India will be primarily relatively modestly paid ones.
Faced with mounting pressure from hardline euro-sceptic Tories, Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday pledged an “in-out” referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union (EU) if his party won the next general election in 2015. A referendum would be held latest by 2017. In a much-awaited speech, Mr. Cameron said he wanted Britain to stay in Europe but on its own conditions. Though he did not spell out the areas, these are known to include immigration, employment and banking.
With global growth stalling five years after the financial crisis upended much of the world economy, the number of jobless is expected to rise by 5.1 million this year, to more than 202 million, the International Labor Organization (U.N. agency) said in a special report. And it predicted there would be a further three million newly jobless people next year. High unemployment rates in the developed world — 7.8 per cent in the United States, 11.8 per cent in the eurozone — weigh on demand and hold back economic growth. The ILO also spotlighted the problem of youth unemployment, noting that there were 73.8 million young people unemployed worldwide. It estimated that an additional half million would join the ranks of the jobless this year. The youth unemployment rate, currently at 12.6 percent, will probably rise to 12.9 per cent by 2017, the agency said. Further, Global gross domestic product will probably expand about 3.6 per cent this year, the International Monetary Fund said in October, below its previous forecast.
Make a shopping list and buy “funny fruit”, it will cut food waste and help “shape a sustainable future”, the United Nations Environment Programme and Food and Agriculture Organisation said on Tuesday. They unveiled a campaign dubbed “Think-Eat-Save Reduce Your Foodprint” to change practices that result in the loss of 1.3 billion tonnes of food each year. That is more food than is produced in sub-Saharan Africa, and is enough to feed the estimated 830 million people who now go hungry worldwide, he added. The programme is aimed primarily at consumers, food retailers and the hotel and restaurant industry, and is based on three recommended actions - think, eat, and save. “In a world of seven billion people, set to grow to nine billion by 2050, wasting food makes no sense economically, environmentally and ethically.” The programme estimates the overall cost of wasted food at about $1 trillion per year, with most losses occurring in production stages such as harvesting, processing and distribution.
The gender imbalance in China has remained at an alarmingly high ratio of 117 newborn boys for 100 girls in 2012, officials said on Tuesday. The National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC) said the ratio declined slightly — by 0.08 — last year. It described the figure as “still higher than the warning level”. This has prompted renewed promises from the government to crack down on illegal selective abortions. In 2011, the government had punished 13,000 people following a campaign to monitor selective abortions. The government has announced a target to bring down the imbalance to 115, from the current 117, by 2015. Further, the widening gender imbalance, coupled with concerns over China’s ageing labour force, has renewed calls for the government to relax family planning policies. Enforced in the early 1980s, and known widely as the ‘one-child policy’ although the rules are more complex, the measures have been seen as a major reason behind the fast-widening gender imbalance. The number of working-age people in China fell for the first time in its recent history, by 3.45 million, to 937.27 million.
“One of the things that was common amongst the community that created the Internet, was that we were fairly homogenous, and that in order to obtain information – we would share it. Not buy it,” said Vint Cerf (Father of the Internet & co-creater of the TCP/IP protocol in the early 1980’s), referring to the recent suicide of computer activist Aaron Swartz. Swartz was an activist who was recently facing a 35-year prison sentence and up to $1 million in fines for allegedly stealing 4.8 million articles from the academic literature repository JSTOR, aiming to make them public. What this should focus on, Mr. Cerf pointed out, is that the problems that intellectual property faces when it goes onto the World Wide Web. When you see people pirating things, he continued, it is just that they are trying to push things into the public domain. “Creative Commons for example is perfect in that it really gels with the scope of what the Internet really can do. In the meantime, this was a terrible outcome — and highlights the need for us to realize how to adapt in a cyber environment.”
Several Indian companies are gearing up to play a major role in the construction of the $1.2-billion Thirty-Meter Telescope, which will be the world’s most advanced ground-based observatory and operate in optical and mid-infrared wavelengths. The telescope is being constructed in Pasadena, California, by a consortium consisting of the United States, China, Japan, Canada and India. India is making a contribution of 10 per cent — 70 per cent of it in kind and the rest in cash. The Indian companies will be supplying high-end components such as edge sensors, actuators, segment support assemblies, software to control the operations of the telescope, the mirror, and telescope dome, and provide services such as polishing of the mirror segments.
British scientists seeking to tap more efficient forms of solar power are exploring how to mimic the way plants transform sunlight into energy and produce hydrogen to fuel vehicles. The research will use synthetic biology to replicate the process by which plants concentrate solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, which is then released into the atmosphere. Hydrogen is a zero-emission fuel which can power vehicles or be transformed into electricity.
Prof U R Rao, former Chairman, ISRO and Secretary, Department of Space is being honoured by the Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) by inducting him as a Member of the highly prestigious “Satellite Hall of Fame”, Washington. Since 1987, the SSPI Hall of Fame has been recognising the invaluable contribution of the visionaries who have transformed life on planet earth for the better through satellite technology. Members of the Hall of Fame are recognised pioneers in communications, satellite related aerospace scientific research or development and delivery of applications for business, institutions and government via satellite. The induction of Prof Rao into the Satellite Hall of Fame is scheduled to take place on March 19, 2013 at a gala function to be held in Washington, D.C. USA.
In a major advance in laser communication, NASA scientists have beamed a picture of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, Mona Lisa, to a powerful spacecraft orbiting the Moon. The first laser signal carrying the iconic image, fired from an installation in Maryland, beamed the Mona Lisa to the Moon to be received 384,400 km away by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which has been orbiting the Moon since 2009. The success of the laser transmission was verified by returning the image to Earth using the spacecraft's radio telemetry system. Typically, satellites that go beyond Earth orbit use radio waves for tracking and communication. LRO is the only satellite in orbit around a body other than Earth to be tracked by laser as well.
New astonishing pictures by the European Space Agency have revealed a 1500 km long and 7 kilometre wide “Reull Vallis” river that once ran across Mars. Reull Vallis, is believed to have formed when running water flowed in the distant martian past, cutting a steep-sided channel through the Promethei Terra Highlands before running on towards the floor of the vast Hellas basin. The morphology of Reull Vallis suggests it has experienced a diverse and complex history, with analogies seen in glacial activity on Earth.
More than a century after it went missing, the fossil of what has been regarded as India's first recorded dinosaur (Titanosaurus Indicus or the Indian Tital reptile) has been rediscovered in Kolkata, according to a top scientific journal. The fossil was originally discovered by WH Sleeman in the Jabalpur area of central India in 1828. However, it was only half a century later - in 1877 - that its importance came to light as a new genus and species of sauropod dinosaur known as Taitanosaurus Indicus, first identified by Richard Lydekker. At that time, the world had identified only 115 dinosaur species or less than 10 percent of the 1,401 species known by 2004.
A new lizard species has been discovered in the dry north-western forests of Madagascar and named "Moby Dick". Because of its life underground, the animal's skin has lost pigmentation and its eyes have almost disappeared. And although the lizard has retained forelimbs, its hindlimbs have completely disappeared. The scientist called it an "morphological organisation" reminiscent of cetaceans, the carnivorous marine mammals such as whales and dolphins.
The U.S. space agency NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration jointly issued two reports on 2012 world temperatures. NASA ranked last year the ninth-warmest since record-keeping began in 1880, while NOAA found last year (2012) was the tenth-warmest. The 2012 global surface temperature, including land and water, was 1 degree F (.56 degree C) warmer than the 1951-1980 average. Last year was also the 36th consecutive year with a global temperature hotter than the 20th century average, scientists from the two agencies told a media briefing. The two agencies also issued their report on global snow and ice cover, finding that the Northern Hemisphere had its 14th largest winter snow cover in 47 years of record-keeping. By spring, though, Northern Hemisphere snow cover shrank to the sixth-smallest size on record, NOAA said. Arctic sea ice - an important global weather-maker - shrank to its smallest size ever in 2012, 49 percent below the average and 293,400 square miles (760,000 square km) below the previous record smallest, set in 2007. By contrast, Antarctic sea ice was above average for most of 2012.
Delegations from some 140 countries agreed on Saturday (in Geneva, Switzerland) to adopt a ground-breaking treaty limiting the use and emission of health-hazardous mercury, also known as quicksilver, which poses risks to human health and the environment. The treaty has been named the Minamata Convention on Mercury, in honour of the Japanese town where inhabitants for decades have suffered the consequences of serious mercury contamination. The text will be signed in Minamata in October and will take effect once it has been ratified by 50 countries — something organisers expect will take three to four years. Mercury is found in products ranging from electrical switches, thermometers and light-bulbs, to amalgam dental fillings and even facial creams. Large amounts of the heavy metal are released from small-scale gold mining, coal-burning power plants, metal smelters and cement production. It also accumulates in the food chain through fish. Serious mercury poisoning affects the body’s immune system and development of the brain and nervous system, posing the greatest risk to foetuses and infants. The treaty sets a phase out date of 2020 for a long line of products, including mercury thermometers, blood pressure measuring devices, most batteries, switches, some kinds of fluorescent lamps and soaps and cosmetics. It, however, provides exceptions for some large medical measuring devices where no mercury-free alternatives exist. In a controversial move, it also excluded vaccines that use mercury as a preservative, since the risk from these vaccines is considered low and for many developing nations removing them would entail losing access to vaccines altogether. However, Non-governmental groups at the talks meanwhile lamented that the treaty fell short in addressing the greatest sources of mercury in the environment: small-scale gold mining, which directly threatens the health of the some 10-15 million people working in this field and contaminates water and air; and emissions from coal-burning power plants.
A Bench of Supreme Court has directed the special court, which will be set up to try the Italian marines, to dispose off the matter in accordance with the provisions of the Maritime Zones Act, 1976, the Indian Penal Code, the Cr.P.C. and most importantly, the provisions of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982, where “there is no conflict between the domestic law and UNCLOS 1982.” The incident of firing from the Italian vessel on the Indian shipping vessel having occurred within the Contiguous Zone (within 24 nautical miles), the Union of India is entitled to prosecute the two Italian marines under the criminal justice system prevalent in the country. However, the same is subject to the provisions of Article 100 of UNCLOS 1982.
The recently released BioInitiative Report 2012 (BIR-2012) on standards for electromagnetic radiation is a perfect clone of a similar report published in 2007. According to many responsible agencies it is biased and unscientific. BIR-2012 claimed that the evidence for risks to health from wireless technologies and electromagnetic fields (EMFs) has substantially increased since 2007. The studies alleged a link between cell phone radiation and brain tumours. Agencies such as the World Health Organization, UK Health Protection Agency and the International Commission on Non Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) do not support the conclusions. The European Initiative EMF-NET noted that the ‘Summary for the public’ is written in an alarmist and emotive language and its arguments have no scientific support from well-conducted EMF research.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has slated its first launch of the year — ocean study spacecraft SARAL — for February 14. Along with the 450-kg Indo-French SARAL, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will put into orbit six small experimental satellites built by western universities for a fee. SARAL is short for S atellite with ARgos and ALtiKa, the two main devices on it which have been provided by French space agency CNES. SARAL would be one of the very few such ocean-centric satellites and a vital cog in studying sea surface heights and other aspects, the official said. It would be similar to ISRO’s Oceansat-2, but with an altimeter (named ‘Argos’ here) to measure heights. In October 2012, NASA relied on Oceansat-2 to get finer details of Hurricane ‘Sandy’ that wreaked havoc on the eastern U.S. Further, around April this year, ISRO expects to resume flying the GSLV rocket. The GSLV-D5 will lift the communications satellite GSAT-14 into orbit. ISRO had put the GSLV programme on hold after it suffered two successive failures in April and December 2010.
The simmering tension between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the killing of two Indian soldiers along the Line of Control (LoC) took its toll on the two-day-old Hockey India League (HIL) on Tuesday as national federations in both the countries paved the way for the franchisees to find replacements for the nine Pakistani recruits. The worst-affected team was Mumbai Magicians featuring four Pakistani players.
The US government can take Lance Armstrong to court once the fallen cycling hero publicly admits to doping, experts and people familiar with the matter say. Until now Armstrong, 41, had strenuously denied doping allegations for several years, even after a 1,000-page report by the US Anti-Doping Agency put him at the heart of the greatest doping scandal in the annals of cycling.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal of India was dumped out of the women's singles semifinal at the Malaysian Open Super Series by sixth seed Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei here in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. The Indian ace failed to win even a single clear winner in the entire match.