Current Affairs JUNE 1

[Prabhu nath singh]

CURRENT AFFAIRS                           31 May - 06 June 2010

WORLD NEWS

MULTILATERAL

 

India joined several other governments around the world in condemning Israel for its use of disproportionate force leading to the death of 20 passengers on a flotilla carrying relief supplies to Gaza. The Israeli Navy opened fire while forcibly boarding the ships for inspection. The flotilla was trying to reach Gaza, which faces an Israeli naval blockade. Scores of governments have protested the killings, while at least half-a-dozen summoned Israeli envoys to record their condemnation in person.

Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo in a bid to come up with a unified response to an Israeli raid on an aid convoy bound for the Gaza Strip that left nine people dead. Turkey flies Gaza aid activists home after deadly Israeli raid. Hundreds of activists from the Gaza-bound aid flotilla seized by Israeli commandos arrived in Turkey, as Israel's prime minister denounced some of them as 'violent supporters of terrorism'

The United States and South Korea “will respond” to any continued provocation from North Korea, said South Korean President Lee Myung-bak at the ninth Asia Security Summit in Singapore. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao called for efforts to gradually ease tensions in the Korea over the March sinking of a South Korean warship.

A report prepared for the Council of Europe has said WHO wasted large sums of public money by raising unjustified fears of ‘‘a pandemic that never really was’’ and expressed concern over the influence of the pharmaceutical industry on the decisions taken by it regarding the H1N1 virus outbreak.

For the first time ever, the World Health Assembly passed a resolution focused on the prevention and treatment of pneumonia, the world's leading killer of children, with India being one of the worst hit. Every four minutes, one child dies of pneumonia-causing diseases in India before even reaching his fifth birthday. The pneumococcal disease kills 1.4 lakh Indian children every year.

China tightens control on rare earth elements. Rare earths are a select group of 17 elements that are crucial to many of the world's most advanced technologies. They also happen to be found widely in China, which is estimated to account for more than 95 per cent of their global supply. The future of India's, and the world's, green technologies depends on them. So do mobile phones, MP3 players and even missiles. The Chinese government is now considering tightening its control over the production and export of the valuable minerals, by restricting private companies' access to their mines and their license to trade. World Trade Organisation (WTO) said restrictions on the export of some raw materials were illegal.

 

BILATERAL

Russia criticized the United States' deployment of Patriot missiles in Poland, saying the move jeopardized bilateral relations and security in the region.

Running battles between Jamaican authorities and drug gang members turned part of Kingston into a warzone, with the death toll rising to at least three as gunmen fired on security forces hunting Christopher Dudus Coke, an alleged drug kingpin. Christopher Dudus Coke is accused of leading since the 1990s an international gang known as "The Shower Posse," which US prosecutors say sells marijuana and crack cocaine in the New York area and elsewhere.

The US has indicated it would not oppose a Sino-Pak civilian nuclear deal but wants it to be in compliance with NSG rules.

China struck a conciliatory note by promising to spur its domestic demand at the opening of Sino-US talks, but it avoided specific commitments, including on whether to allow its currency to appreciate.

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and his Japanese counterpart Yukio Hatoyama agreed to “activate a civilian hotline” to address sensitive issues between the two countries.

China involves Pakistan in cross-border trade to internationalize Yuan: China is entering into a new and powerful relationship with Pakistan. It has decided to allow Pakistan to take part in trade with the Yuan as the base currency in dealing with the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

The Palestinians are ready to swap some land with Israel, although differences remain over the amount of territory to be traded, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said.

Australia said it would expel an official from the Israeli embassy, after finding the Jewish state was behind fake Australian passports linked to the killing of a Hamas operative.

Australia has launched legal action at the International Court of Justice to stop Japan's whaling programme, Japanese officials called the move "extremely regrettable".

 

REGIONAL NEWS

Europe: Britain's two-week old ruling coalition suffered its first political crisis when David Laws, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, a high-profile Liberal Democrat Cabinet Minister was forced to resign over allegations of abuse of parliamentary expenses rules in an echo of the MPs' claims scandal that rocked the previous Parliament.

Swiss banks have offered to tax the money deposited with them by Indians and other foreigners and "immediately deliver the cash" to governments of respective countries, rather than sharing the details of their clients.

Poland has published cockpit conversations of the final minutes before the April plane crash that killed President Lech Kaczynski, revealing that pilots decided to land in heavy fog despite warnings from air traffic controllers.

Ukraine has officially taken NATO membership off its agenda in a volte face on policy ardently pursued by the previous President, Viktor Yushchenko. The Ukrainian Parliament approved in first reading a Bill that amends a 2003 national security law to exclude the goal of “integration into Euro-Atlantic security and membership in NATO”. The Bill submitted by President Viktor Yanukovych commits Ukraine to “a non-bloc policy which means non-participation in military-political alliances”.

Africa: West Africa drought feared. A severe drought is causing increasing hunger across the Eastern Sahel in West Africa, affecting 10 million people in four countries. In Niger, the worst-affected country, 7.1 million are hungry, with nearly half considered highly food insecure because of the loss of livestock and crops coupled with a surge in prices. In Chad, two million require food aid. The eastern parts of Mali and northern Cameroon have also been badly affected by the failed rains.

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the sole sitting head of state wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, was sworn in after his re-election in voting marred by boycotts.

A gay couple in Malawi sentenced to 14 years in prison for “unnatural acts” was pardoned shortly after United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met that Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika. The two men, Tiwonge Chimbalanga (33) and Steven Monjeza (26), were arrested on December 28, two days after holding an engagement party in Blantyre, the Malawi's largest city. Lilongwe is the capital of Malawi.

West Asia: Iraq's Supreme Court ratified the results of the March general election, clearing the way for a faster pace to government formation talks which remain in limbo. The ruling confirms initial results released in late March that put the former Premier, Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya bloc in the lead, followed closely by Prime Minister Nuri al—Maliki's State of Law alliance. Iraqiya won 91 seats in the Iraq's 325—member Parliament, followed by State of Law with 89.

South East Asia: A Thai court approved an arrest warrant for fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra on terrorism charges in connection with recent deadly street protests.

India’s Neighbour:

The news that China plans to put in place a sophisticated global satellite navigation system akin to the American NAVSTAR GPS should definitely prompt our authorities to think along the same lines.

China has kick-started a key process to frame its first immigration law to better manage immigrants as the world's fastest economy seeks to attract more foreigners to boost its development.

China is building an advanced combat jet that may rival within eight years Lockheed Martin Corp's F-22 Raptor, the premier US fighter.

China's new target: Tibet photocopiers. The authorities have identified a new threat to political stability in the restive region of Tibet: photocopiers.

In China, string of legal failures prompts reform.

Pakistan's election commission intends to launch sweeping reforms for the first time to promote democracy and ease political turmoil.

A Pakistani court directed authorities to restore access to Facebook two weeks after blocking the popular social networking website for hosting a page with blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Mohammed.

Two explosions rocked the Afghanistan capital as President Hamid Karzai opened a "jirga" or peace assembly.

Pro-Taliban militants blew up a girls' primary school and a health centre in the restive Mohmand tribal region in northwest Pakistan.

Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission on the ethnic conflict (truth panel) met in Colombo for the first time with the President Mahindra Rajapaksa on the chair.

Sri Lanka will hold nationwide census in 2011 after a gap of three decades. On the basis of projections, the estimated population is 21 million. The last nationwide population count was taken in 1981. With militancy rearing its head, it had since not been possible to hold census in the northern and eastern provinces. Lack of accurate data on population, particularly in the Northern Province, has been a hindrance in planning developmental and other projects.

Bangladesh has blocked social networking website Facebook over caricatures of Prophet Mohammed and “obnoxious” images of the Muslim-majority country's leaders that include Bangladesh’s father of the nation, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and the leader of the Opposition.

 

MISCELLANEOUS

Gene silencing may help in fight against cancer. In a major breakthrough, scientists now know exactly which part of a protein inside the human body interacts with the RNA to control the normal expression of genes including those that are active in cancer.Dr. Bhushan Nagar in collaboration with Dr Nahum Sonenberg at McGill's new Life Sciences Complex, used structural biology to unravel how a small segment in the Argonaute proteins, the key molecules of RNA interference, can select the correct micro RNAs. RNAs are the direct products of genes, and these small RNAs can bind to specific others and either increase or decrease their activity, for example by preventing a messenger RNA from producing a protein. RNA interference has an important role in defending cells against parasitic gene's viruses as well as gene expression in general.

 

 

SPORTS

 

WORLD

France were named as hosts of Euro 2016 by UEFA, the French bid beating off strong opposition from the two other candidates - Turkey and Italy.

Diego Milito scored both goals as Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Champions League final at the Santiago Bernabeu.

India surpassed Australia in playing the most number of One-day Internationals when it crushed Sri Lanka in the tri-nation cricket series at Bulawayo in its 742nd match.

Indian men squandered the early lead and went down to Serbia 2-3, while their women counterparts snatched a hard-fought 3-2 win over Israel in the second round of the World Table Tennis Team Championships in Moscow.

Saurav Ghosal became the highest ranked Indian squash player in the world rankings (PSA or WISPA) at 26, surpassing former women's national champion Misha Grewal who achieved her best ranking of 27 in 1995.

Seventh-seeded Rishika beat Chinese Zhaoxuan Yang 6-2, 7-5 and was the only Indian girl to enter the quarterfinals of the Asian Junior Tennis Championships.

A court has rejected the World Anti-Doping Agency's appeal to extend American swimmer Jessica Hardy's doping ban. The Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne (Switzerland) dismissed WADA's appeal to lengthen the ban from one to two years, but offered no ruling on whether Hardy should be allowed to compete at the 2012 London Olympics.

Irfan Qadir, the PCB arbitrator has lifted a one-year ban on former captain Shoaib Malik that was imposed for ill-discipline during Pakistan's tour of Australia.

Samantha Stosur of Australia wrecked the Grand Slam hopes of Serena Williams, outplaying the world number one in a thrilling French Open quarterfinal.

Defending champion and world number one Roger Federer was knocked out of the French Open suffering a staggering quarterfinal defeat to Robin Soderling.

Maria Sharapova has beaten the likes of Ana Ivanovic, Elena Dementieva and Daniela Hantuchova to be named the sexiest female tennis player on the circuit.

 

INDIA

TIMES VIEW: Send two teams for two events. The Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) decision not to send a cricket team representing India to the 2010 Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou, China, in November needs to be reviewed. Though the BCCI has cited clashing international commitments such as New Zealand's tour of India to justify its decision, in the interest of sporting spirit there is a case for a more balanced approach.

IOC has invited sports minister for a meeting on June 18 to discuss tenure limitation guidelines while insisting that regulations should not be implemented till then.

Throwing its weight behind the sports administrators, the Olympic Council of Asia warned the Sports Ministry against interfering in the autonomy of the federations and criticised it for launching a "personal attack" on OCA Secretary General Randhir Singh.

National Anti-Doping Agency lashed out at BCCI for its "non-cooperation" and asked the cricket board to make sure that players fall in line with WADA code.

Price ranging from a modest Rs 50 to a whopping Rs 50,000, tickets for this year's Commonwealth Games went on sale.

FPAI president and Indian football icon Bhaichung Bhutia said that the Football Players Association (FPA) of India has planned to get experts from abroad to help Indian coaches learn the latest techniques and ideas of the game.

Relay for The Queen's Baton the Commonwealth Games will arrive in the city next month but legendary runner, "Flying Sikh" Milkha Singh may give the ceremony a miss.

More than a year after parting ways with the Deccan Chargers, the IPL franchise's former CEO Tim Wright has filed a 10 million pound lawsuit against it, alleging breach of contract.

A. Claudius, referred to as the ‘Father of hockey' in Coimbatore, passed away.

Nearly 600 budding animators have developed India's first-ever 3D animation movie on cricket called 'Cric X'. Students from Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) worked through nine months and developed the 80-minute feature film under the Institute's Mentorship Series 'Creative Shop'.

Uttar Pradesh-born US baseball league players Rinku and Dinesh as they met US President Barack Obama and Ronaldinho.

Somdev Devvarman rose a rung to career-best 108 while Yuki Bhambri returned to top-400 after a seven place jump to 397th spot in the latest ATP rankings.

The 20-year-old Sailen Tudu was spotted playing rugby barefoot on wasteland in Kolkata and has won a scholarship to a college in Gloucestershire.

Chandigarh's Jahangir claimed the top honour in the 107th Open amateur golf championship of Southern India at the Ootacamund Gymkhana Club.

 

MARKS BOOSTER

FMS is foreign military sales. In these non-tender purchases, the US government procures the equipment on behalf of the Indian government from its military companies, and takes a commission for the services rendered through Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). The purchase of AN/TPQ-37 firefinder weapon-locating radars for the Army in 2002 was the first major deal that India did with the US under FMS in several decades. India has been using the non-tender, FMS route to buy big-ticket defence items from the US since 2002, when the radars became the first items to be bought under the scheme in recent memory. Over the past eight years, the military has carried out a host of acquisitions through the route. Among them were the $2.21 billion purchase of eight Boeing P-8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft, $962 million deal for six C-130J Hercules transport aircraft for IAF and $88 million for USS Trenton and accompanying helicopters for the Navy. The IAF is currently in the final stages of negotiations for purchase of $2.2 billion worth 10 C-17 aircraft and the Army is finalizing the purchase of ultra light howitzers .

The Sahel, a largely arid belt of land that stretches across Senegal to Sudan and separates the Sahara desert in the north from the savannah regions further south, is one of the poorest regions in the world.

The concept of a world-class university was initiated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the 13th SAARC summit at Dhaka in 2005, with a formal agreement for establishing the institute signed in April 2007 during the 14th summit in New Delhi. The foundation stone of the South Asian University (SAU) campus, at a 100-acre plot in Maidan Garhi (New Delhi), was laid in 2008. The initial investment for the university is being made by the Indian government. All SAARC member countries will contribute towards operational costs, and the university will also raise money from international financial institutions, educational foundations and donors. The SAU will focus on research and postgraduate level programmes, and will ultimately have 12 postgraduate science and non-science faculties, as well as a small faculty of undergraduate studies. At full strength, the university will have 7,000 students and 700 teachers. A flagship Institute of South Asian Studies will also be established.

2010 French Open:

Ö 2010 Men's Singles: Rafael Nadal (Spain) defeated Robin Söderling (Sweden)

Ö 2010 Women's Singles: Francesca Schiavone (Italy) defeated Samantha Stosur (Australia)

Ö 2010 Men's Doubles : Daniel Nestor (Canada) & Nenad Zimonjić (Serbia) defeated Lukáš Dlouhý (Czech Republic ) & Leander Paes (India)

Ö 2010 Women's Doubles: Serena Williams (United States) & Venus Williams (United States) defeated Květa Peschke (Czech Republic) & Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia)

Ö 2010 Mixed Doubles: Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia) & Nenad Zimonjić (Serbia) defeated Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) & Julian Knowle (Austria)

World No Tobacco Day is observed around the world every year on May 31. It is meant to encourage a 24-hour period of abstinence from all forms of tobacco consumption across the globe. The member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) created World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) in 1987.

Year: Theme of World No Tobacco Day (May 31)

2010 Gender and tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to women

2009 Tobacco health warnings

2008 Tobacco-free youth

2007 Smoke free inside

2006 Tobacco: deadly in any form or disguise

2005 Health professionals against tobacco

2004 Tobacco and poverty, a vicious circle

2003 Tobacco free film, tobacco free fashion

2002 Tobacco free sports

2001 Second-hand smoke kills

2000 Tobacco kills, don't be duped

1999 Leave the pack behind

1998 Growing up without tobacco

1997 United for a tobacco free world

1996 Sport and art without tobacco: play it tobacco free

1995 Tobacco costs more than you think

1994 Media and tobacco: get the message across

1993 Health services: our windows to a tobacco free world

1992 Tobacco free workplaces: safer and healthier

1991 Public places and transport: better be tobacco free

1990 Childhood and youth without tobacco: growing up without tobacco

1989 Women and tobacco: the female smoker: at added risk

1988 Tobacco or Health: choose health

 

NRI & PIO NEWS

NRI & PIO NEWS

 

Trinidad and Tobago swore in its first female Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar completing a new chapter for this energy rich Caribbean nation.

President Obama announced his intention to nominate Indian-American engineering scholar Subra Suresh as Director of the U.S National Science Foundation (NSF) even as his administration cranked up its engagement with India on the science, technology, and education front.

Indian-American Kshemendra Paul has been has appointed to a key IT position by Obama administration , making him head of an agency that facilitates the sharing and access of terrorism-related information within various wings of the US government.

Rajat Gupta, a former director at Goldman Sachs, quit the supervisory board at Sberbank, Russia's biggest lender, but remains a strategic adviser to the board.

Two Indians among Malaysia's 40 richest. Indian origin Ananda Krishnan with a net worth of $8.1 billion retained his second place after Malaysian Chinese Robert Kuok. Self-made building contractor A K Nathan, 54, is placed 24th with a net worth of $250 million.

Nikki Haley, the Indian-American woman running for South Carolina's governor seat, was attacked with racial slur by Republican state Senator Jake Knotts , who called her a "raghead".

Indian-origin aid worker on ship attacked by Israel. Hours before the troops moved in Ismail Adam Patel, an optician based in Leicester, posted a video on YouTube describing how they were surrounded by Israeli navy forces.

Former model and celebrity chef Padma Lakshmi has publicly confessed her feelings for US billionaire Teddy Forstmann after declaring him "the person that I love."

Murat Kilinc, 22, an Australian, who viciously assaulted an Indian taxi driver because he hated Indians, was sentenced to a prison term by a court in Melbourne.

P Chitrakala, an ethnic Indian woman executive, who has been charged with cheating more than Rs four crore, has said she will defend herself in court over her passport tussle with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

A two-year-long custody battle between an estranged NRI couple has ended with the father wrestling control of the boy and taking him to the US after the CBI tracked down the mother and the child to an art school in Chennai, the CBI informed the Supreme Court of India. V Ravichandran, had accused his estranged wife Vijayshree Voora of kidnapping seven-year-old Aditya from the US and bringing him to India in breach of US court orders.

V Reddy Kancharla, president of Testwell Laboratories, an Indian-American, convicted of faking important construction tests on hundreds of city buildings, has been sentenced to seven to 21 years in prison and ordered to pay $225,000 in reparations by the Manhattan Supreme Court.

Silinder Singh Sidhu, 46, an Indian-origin Briton has been jailed for three years for his role in a contract rigging ring involving training and skills education through the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in Shropshire, north-west England.

 

PLACES IN NEWS

WORLD

 

Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, will host the Presidents Cup in 2013, when the biennial competition returns to the United States, the PGA announced.

INDIA

 

In a shocking incident, the Malegaon Sharia panchayat summarily "ex-communicated" five Muslims for allegedly being "apostates and infidels". Islamic scholars and liberal thinkers insist that such a unilateral decision has no standing, especially as Islam doesn't recognise priesthood and the practice of ex-communication is non-existent, unlike in Christianity.

The Army ordered a high-level inquiry into the ‘fake encounter' in the Machil sector of Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir on April 30, in which three youths from Rafiabad were killed.

The first set of small cars Nano, manufactured by Tata Motors at its new location in Sanand, near Ahmedabad in Gujarat has rolled out.

Bryant Park is in Kodaikanal.

Bhubanananda Orissa School of Engineering (BOSE), the first government engineering school of Orissa was set up in Cuttack in 1923. Cuttack is the erstwhile capital of Orissa & a millennium city.

Continuing heatwave across swathes of Rajasthan has forced hundreds of cattle-rearers from Jaisalmer and Barmer to migrate to neighbouring states in search of meadows for their livestock.

A strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit off Andaman Islands, seismologists said, but no widespread tsunami was expected.

A major fire broke out in Valmiki Nagar tiger reserve at Madanpur range near Indo-Nepal border in Bihar, destroyed about ten hectares of forest.

 

BOOKS & AUTHORS

BOOKS & AUTHORS

 

Spanish writer Javier Moro's book 'The Red Saree', a fictionalised account of Sonia Gandhi's life, has stirred a storm with Congress chief's lawyers describing it as containing untruths and defamatory statements.

Harold A Gould , a visiting professor at the Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Virginia, has been writing on India since he first visited the country in 1954. The South Asia Story: The first 60 years of US relations with India and Pakistan is his latest work where he analyses how US presidents since World War II have perceived and shaped America's relationship with the subcontinent.

 

 

NATIONAL PERSONALITIES

NATIONAL PERSONALITIES

 

Judicial, Political and Administrative: Union communications minister A Raja has said he was ready to face any investigation into the alleged scandal in allocation of 2G spectrum.

Vivek Sahai took over as Chairman of the Railway Board following the superannuation of S.S. Khurana.

S. Ramakrishnan, Director (Projects), Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, has been appointed Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

IX 812 pilot was rapped for hard landing. The commander of the ill-fated Air India Express flight, Capt Zlatco Glusica, had been called for a counselling session and admonished by the airline's air safety department in March for a hard landing in Thiruvananthapuram.

Socio-Cultural: Noted Malayalam novelist Kovilan died at a private hospital at Kunnamkulam.

C.V. Krishnamurthy, 89, retired Railway official and noted journalist, died after a prolonged illness in Bangalore.

'We'll expose irregularities in NREGA for better implementation of law': Paulomee Mistry, general secretary of NREGWUG. Various ways and means of checking irregularities in the implementation of rural employment guarantee scheme have been discussed. One suggestion is that workers employed under this scheme ought to be organised. The first step in this direction was the formation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Workers' Union - Gujarat , which was followed by other similar efforts in Rajasthan, parts of Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere.

Noted writer and Naxal sympathiser Arundhati Roy clarified that she never termed Maoists as 'Gandhians with guns'.

Others: Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has announced a cash award of Rs 21 lakh for mountaineer Mamta Sodha who had scaled the Mount Everest recently.

Anjan Daimary, the terror mastermind and leader of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), was sent to 14 days in police remand by a court for a bomb blast that killed half-a-dozen security personnel 15 years ago.

The file on the mercy petition of Afzal Guru — the Parliament attack case convict who was sentenced to death — has been sent back by Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna to the Union Home Ministry.

Man arrested for supplying explosives to Maoists in UP. Ashok Kumar was arrested from Langdra area with several detonators, gelatin rods and widely used commercial explosive ammonium nitrate.

 

 

ENVIRONMENT

WORLD NEWS

 

India has demanded that the UN prevent any green protectionism by developed countries and include an explicit statement in the opening charter of any new deal to block carbon-based taxes being imposed on exports from developing countries such as India.

'Sulabh toilets can help reduce global warming'. Bindeshwar Pathak, an Indian innovator who plans to promote cheap toilet technology in 50 developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East region says his technologies could also help developed nations reduce global warming.

Oxfam warns of climate debt for poor nations : Climate activists say poor countries must receive grants instead of loans from industrialized nations to help curb global warming.

Oil giant BP pledged up to 500 million dollars (405 million euros) to study the impact of the Deepwater Horizon rig spill on the Gulf of Mexico environment.

US approves new Gulf of Mexico oil well. Federal regulators approved the first new Gulf of Mexico oil well since Barack Obama lifted a brief ban on drilling in shallow water, even while deepwater projects remain frozen after the massive BP spill. The Minerals Management Service granted a new drilling permit sought by Bandon Oil and Gas for a site about 50 miles (80 kilometers) off the coast of Louisiana and 115 feet (35 meters) below the ocean's surface. It is south of Rockefeller State Wildlife Refuge and Game Preserve, far to the west of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that triggered the BP spill.

A trial for an anti-whaling activist opened at a Tokyo court over his alleged attacks on a Japanese whaling vessel, as Japan strikes back at conservationists' escalating disruptions on its Antarctic whale hunts. New Zealander Peter Bethune is an activist with the U.S.-based Sea Shepherd group, which sets out to disrupt Japan's whale hunts each year, accusing it of conducting banned commercial whaling under the guise of scientific research. Japan accuses the conservationists of endangering lives of whalers and is also seeking to arrest Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson over his role in the Bethune case.

Scientists have claimed that a huge carbon "burp" from deep ocean kick-started global warming at end of the last Ice Age some 18,000 years ago. According to the scientists, the carbon dioxide was actually locked away in the deep ocean "repository" and as the Earth warmed, it was released into the atmosphere causing the global warming and ending the last Ice Age.

Head of Russia's 54th Antarctic expedition Viktor Venderovich told Itar-Tass that allegations about global warming processes in the Antarctic have nothing to do with real facts.

Central America reeled after the first eastern Pacific tropical storm of the season, Agatha, hammered the region with heavy rains that killed 179 people and washed away thousands of homes. The hardest hit was Guatemala. Guatemala City's response, meanwhile, was hampered by a separate emergency: the eruption of the nearby Pacaya volcano, whose ash has closed the capital's Aurora international airport. The World Bank said it was finalising with Guatemala an $85-million loan to help it cope with the two disasters.

The US Geological Survey says a magnitude 6.2 earthquake has rattled the South Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea.

Cyclone Phet churns Arabian Sea, to move towards Gujarat, Karachi.

 

INDIA NEWS

The hold-outs against the Jairam Ramesh line on climate change have been dropped from the team of climate negotiators decided for the UN negotiations in Bonn. Jairam Ramesh wanted dilution in India’s stand.The team for Bonn was led by environment secretary Vijai Sharma.

According to WHO estimates, roughly 0.1 million premature deaths annually can be attributed to air pollution. Exposure to air pollution causes both short-term and long-term health effects, from eye irritation and headaches to reduced lung capacity and lung cancer, with vehicular pollution being particularly harmful. The poor are the worst off, facing higher exposure and being unable to afford high healthcare costs. A 2005 World Bank report estimated that 13,000 lives and $1279 million were saved annually between 1993 and 2002 in five cities Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad — as a result of measures taken to improve air quality.

Clean Ganga by 2020, says Prime Minister. “Under ‘Mission Clean Ganga', it would be ensured that by 2020 no untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluents flow into the Ganga. The Prime Minister said an empowered steering committee has been constituted for appraisal and sanction of projects on a fast track basis. Projects for approximately Rs. 1,390 crore have been approved so far. The Centre had recently set up a Ganga River Basin Authority to monitor the implementation of the clean-up project and other development schemes. Dr. Singh said discussions had been initiated for long-term support of the World Bank and a project preparation facility from the international body has been approved.

For the first time, 7 IITs will prepare a comprehensive river basin management plan for Ganga. The plan will outline measures for restoration of the Ganga, with regard to the issue of competing water uses in the basin.

The Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change approved the National Water Mission focusing on making water conservation a peoples' movement in the country.

More than half of 130 Indian cities being monitored for air pollution are at critically polluted levels. Air pollution in Indian cities has been proved to be reversible, with improvements in public transport or changing over to greener fuels, reducing pollution levels. With industries being relocated to the peripheries of cities, growing urbanization and poor scrutiny outside big cities, small towns are emerging as India’s pollution hotspots. A look at data for 2008 recorded by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) shows that Indian cities are choked. Of the 130 cities monitored, 70 have hit levels defined as critical for the presence of PM10, tiny particles of less than 10 microns in size regarded as the most dangerous pollutant as they can go deep into the lungs. However, the top five cities are Ludhiana, Khanna (both in Punjab), Ghaziabad, Khurja and Firozabad (all in UP). Delhi, the city where judicial activism for cleaner air has led to the ejection of polluting industries, comes in at sixth place. In 1998, only five cities exceeded the national standards for presence of NO2. In 2008, 15 cities showed violations, most of them in eastern India: Howrah, Asansol, Durgapur and Kolkata have India’s highest NO2 levels. Increasing numbers of diesel cars, particularly in Delhi, is also a major cause of rising NO2 levels, according to the CSE.

Left-wing extremism and insurgency are being cited as the major reason for rising number of tiger deaths reported across various reserves in the country. An assessment made by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a nodal body set up by the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), reveals that tiger density has decreased in as many as six reserves struggling with insurgency problems. According to the NTCA report, tiger density has fallen in reserves such as Palamu (Jharkhand), Valmiki (Bihar), Simlipal (Orissa), Nagarjunsagar (Andhra Pradesh), Indaravati (Chattisgarh) and Nampdapha (Arunachal Pradesh).

A first: Wetlands watchdog soon. The Centre is planning to set up a legally enforceable regulatory mechanism for the conservation of these ecologically sensitive areas as called for in the National Environmental Policy of 2006.

Addressing a national seminar on International Biodiversity Day in New Delhi, Jairam Ramesh said, "We need to bring about convergence between biodiversity and climate change as each affects the other; it's a two-way relationship."

Vapi: Caught in a toxic chokehold. Vapi in south Gujarat is considered a hellhole. A thick layer of black is permanently settled on the road shoulders near industrial estates, the air is thick with coal dust and a pungent bitter-almond smell. Recently, environment minister Jairam Ramesh called Vapi the most polluted town in the country. Forbes and Time magazines have listed it among the 10 most polluted towns in the world. Its three life streams — Damanganga, Kolak and Balitha — no longer resemble a water body. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has in fact categorized both the Damanganga and Kolak rivers unfit to support life. The pollution has affected 71,000 residents living in 12 villages.

The birth of four cubs in Madhya Pradesh's Panna National Park under the government's tiger revival project has brought the Sariska sanctuary in Rajasthan in focus where "sibling factor" is said to have hit the breeding programme initiated two years ago.

An elephant and its one-year-old calf were rescued from a 20-foot deep well in an Estate at Kothagiri in Nilgiris district.

AWARDS

AWARDS

Coimbatore-based Isha Foundation was honoured for tree-planting in record numbers. In 2004, it started ‘Project Green Hands' to carry out mass tree plantation in Tamil Nadu, earning a Guinness record by planting more than 8.5 lakh trees on a single day in October 2006. Its founder Sadhguru J. Vasudev was presented with the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar by the former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Vikramaditya Motwane's Udaan has been selected to the Un Certain Regard section, the first Indian film in official selection at the prestigious film festival in seven years after Malayalam director Murali Nair's Arimpara in 2003.

 

 

PERSON IN NEWS

INTERNATIONAL PERSONALITIES

 

Political & Administrative: Japanese Premier resigns over Okinawa. Japan's centre-left Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama resigned on citing his failure to stay attuned to the people's wishes. Mr. Hatoyama said that exit of the Social Democratic Party from his coalition, over the U.S.-bases issue, was a key factor behind his latest move. Citing the newly-evolving security environment in Japan's neighbourhood, he said the U.S. was now allowed to relocate its Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa itself.

Naoto Kan, famous for his lack of political lineage, was elected Japan's Prime Minister. He succeeds Yukio Hatoyama, who resigned, citing his failure to stay in step with the people's wishes.

German President Horst Koehler resigned. He is a former managing director of the International Monetary Fund. He was elected to the post of Federal President in 2004 and re-elected in 2009. He resigned after being criticised of his recent comments that he made about the Germany's mission in Afghanistan. He said that an export-reliant country like Germany occasionally needed to defend its economic interests by preventing regional instabilities like that in Afghanistan. Germany has 4,500 troops in a NATO-led force tackling a Taliban-led insurgency. Berlin wants to begin bringing its soldiers home in 2011, an aim shared by Washington, but has not fixed a date for withdrawal.

Former US Vice-President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, have decided to separate after 40 years of marriage.

South African President Jacob Zuma arrived in Mumbai to begin his three-day state visit, accompanied by a delegation of 200 prominent businessmen.

Business & Corporate: Microsoft is less optimistic about China than India or Indonesia, due to the country's lack of progress, in stamping out software piracy , CEO Steve Ballmer said.

HSBC chairman Stephen Green will step down from his role later this year and is set to be replaced by John Thornton, a former senior executive of US banking giant Goldman Sachs.

When they arrested Kenneth I Starr federal prosecutors described him as something else: a mini-Madoff who diverted $30 million of his clients money to buy himself a sprawling Upper East Side condo complete with an indoor swimming pool and a 1,500-square-foot garden. Bernard L Madoff is serving a 150-year sentence for bilking tens of billions of dollars from his closely knit network of clients.

Socio-Cultural: “A Disappearing Number,” a highly acclaimed play created and produced by the British theatre company, Complicite, which takes as its starting point the story of the grand collaboration between the Indian mathematical genius, Srinivasa Ramanujan, and the Cambridge University's renowned mathematician, Godfrey Harold Hardy, is coming to India. The play got premiered in the U.K. in 2007 has been conceived and directed by Simon McBurney.

After serving in the BBC World Service for over 30 years, Nigel Chapman joined Plan International, one of the world's biggest charities, as its CEO. Started in 1937 as a group for arranging foster care for orphans from the Spanish civil war, Plan International has no religious or political affiliations and works with children and communities in 66 countries.

French-born artist Louise Bourgeois, whose sculptures exploring women's deepest feelings on birth, sexuality and death were highly influential on younger artists, died.

Legendary theatre personality Uzra Butt, sister of Indian actress Zohra Sehgal, has died in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore at the age of 93.

Others: Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, the third highest ranking Al-Qaeda commander, outfit's banker and the man who threatened India with more Mumbai-style attacks, was killed along with his entire family in an American missile strike in Pakistan's tribal areas.

Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-American Times Square bombing suspect, is being labelled as a "hybrid terrorist", someone who acted alone in the US but drew inspiration from outside extremist forces like the Taliban.

 

 

 

WORLD AND INDIAN ECONOMY

WORLD NEWS

 

The OECD said that the global economy is heading for 4.75% growth this year and next, thanks largely to emerging markets, and beating growth rates before the global downturn.

India more attractive now as FDI market: E&Y. According to global consultancy firm Ernst & Young's 2010 European Attractiveness Survey, China (39%) edged past Western Europe (38%) as the most attractive foreign direct investment destination for this year. These two top FDI magnets are followed by Central and Eastern Europe (24%) at third place, while India shares fourth position with North America (22% each), the survey of 814 leading global investors showed. Going forward, E&Y sees a clear shift in the world's economic weight eastwards, as they rank China (66%), India (61%) and Central & Eastern Europe (59%) as the most attractive regions for FDI projects in the next three years.

US sees 78 bank failures in 2010: With five more US banks biting the dust this week, a whopping 78 entities have folded up their businesses so far this year.

US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner played down the talk of differences with Europe on spending cuts but stressed that US consumers could no longer support the global economy alone.

Britain's entire wireless network has been mapped by Google's street view car fitted with radio aerials in order to use the database for commercial purposes through its internet search engine.

China warned that Europe's struggle to contain ballooning debt posed a risk to global economic growth, raising the spectre of a double-dip recession.

BP shares plunge as US opens criminal probe on spill: Faced a grim future as its failure to stop a Gulf of Mexico oil spill prompted a plunge in the energy giant's shares and the Obama administration opened a criminal investigation.

The world's largest retailer Wal-Mart has solicited support from the US government for entering the multi-billion dollar Indian retail market, where foreign investment norms are posing hurdles to its entry.

Prudential Plc's bid for rival AIG's Asian unit was close to collapse after the British insurer failed to secure a price cut, triggering talk it might itself become a takeover target.

IBM is buying AT&T’s Sterling Commerce unit, which makes software that helps businesses buy and sell to each other, for $1.4 billion .The deal would be IBM’s largest acquisition since it bought business software maker Cognos in 2008.

Ford and Mazda are recalling more than 230,000 vehicles made by their China joint venture to fix a software problem blamed for bouts of engine failure.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffet says few could have predicted the depth of the housing crisis and that CEOs of rating agencies shouldn't be fired for missing the warning signs.

INDIAN POLICIES, AGENCIES & BODIES

 

The government has initiated a probe into the alleged dumping of certain stainless steel products consumed by auto-component, building and fabrication industries, by the EU, Korea, South Africa, Taiwan and USA.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the economy is expected to grow by 8.5% this fiscal and the country was capable of achieving 10 per cent expansion in the medium term.

ONGC, OIL free to price natural gas at market rate. In what could be indicative of the introduction of the free pricing regime, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry has given freedom to the state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Limited (OIL) to price the natural gas produced by them at market rates. So far gas produced from blocks was priced at government-controlled rates. Fresh fields in nominated blocks fall under the new policy. Group of Ministers will take up free pricing of petrol and diesel on June 7.

The government has assured the Ambani brothers of support if their companies arrive at a gas-supply arrangement without challenging sovereign control over natural resources.

IGL and MGL, natural gas suppliers for automotive and piped cooking fuels, will raise price of CNG by Rs 5.60 per kg and PNG by Re 1 a unit from June 8 after the Centre notified last month's Cabinet decision to more than double the price of natural gas produced by state-run explorers from fields given to them without auctioning. In Delhi, CNG will cost Rs 27.50 per kg and piped cooking gas Rs 16.85 per unit.

Nine telecom players, including BSNL, MTNL, Bharti, Vodafone and RCom, paid Rs 67,719 crore to the government towards 3G spectrum that was auctioned recently.

SEBI has said that mutual fund distributors and agents will need a National Institute of Securities Market (NISM) certificate to sell policies.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) said that it had shortlisted three IT companies, Mahindra Satyam, Sparse and Vcustomer for providing call centre services to handle grievances. The service would be available for 12 hours from Monday to Saturday in multiple languages. To start with, the call centre would address complaints in English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada and Gujarati.

DGCA prepares draft to stop fictitious low fares: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had found last year that airlines and travel portals often indulge in fictitious booking of first few low fare seats so that the rest are sold at higher price slabs. It could not act then as there was no rule that prohibited them from doing so.

Aviation regulator DGCA has issued a fresh directive to all airlines re-defining "correct landing" procedures and to ensure that a senior cabin crew is present in the cockpit in case one of the pilots has to go out.

Bank customers can soon withdraw up to Rs one lakh in a single day from ATM machines, and can shop for even an higher amount of Rs 1.25 lakh with their debit cards.

 

CORPORATE NEWS

ONGC said no personnel on board rigs or the vessel Sagar Vijay has either fallen into the sea or is missing.

Corporate India is betting big on US greenbacks . As euro continuous to slide, a large number of companies having export exposure to the Eurozone, are changing their contracts from euro to dollar terms.

Ten years ago, Biocon was a manufacturer of organic catalysts known as enzymes that were used in a variety of industries, most notably the textile industry. Today, Biocon has come a long way from being an industrial biotech company to emerge as a bio-pharma with revenues of topping $500 million. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is founder and CMD of Biocon.

The Hinduja Group is planning to raise up to $1 billion through the maiden public offering of the Saudi Arabia-based lubricants maker Petromin.

FMCG major Godrej Consumer Products said it has acquired another Argentinian hair care company Argencos, making it the company's second buyout in Latin America in less than two weeks. The company on May 23 had announced buying 100% stake in Latin America's Issue Group, a market leader in hair-colour in Argentina, Peru, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Diversified conglomerate Essar group announced acquisition of AGC Networks (formerly Avaya Globalconnect) from Avaya, a global leader in enterprise communications systems.

Fortis buys 3.5 lakh shares of Parkway: The battle for the control of Parkway Holdings, Singapore's largest private healthcare provider, is set to get fiercer with India's Fortis Healthcare increasing its stake in the company through open market operations.

GM to develop electric car inhouse. General Motors (India) announced that it has decided to postpone the launch of its electric car, "Chevorlet Volt”, an extended vehicle (EV), which uses an internal combustion engine to recharge the battery. Recently Maini Motors, the largest Indian manufacturer of electric cars was taken over, by Mahindra and Mahindra.

Leading software firm Infosys, living up to its reputation of being a dream employer, got over four lakh job applications last fiscal and had to reject a whopping 94 per cent of them.

French tyre major Michelin said it will hire about 200 people in India this year as it gears up to start production from its Chennai plant in the next two years.

 

 

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

LEGISLATIONS, POLICIES & EXECUTIVE ORDERS

 

Foreigners or NRIs coming to India to rent a womb will soon have to submit two documents — one confirming that their country of residence recognizes surrogacy as legal and secondly that it will give citizenship to the child born through agreement from an Indian mother.

In a landmark decision, the UPA government has resolved to amend the Constitution to enable states to have the same powers as the Centre in administering the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Noting that it was committed to extending social security cover to all sections, the Government said it had decided to set up a National Social Security Fund for workers in the unorganised sector. The National Social Security Fund for workers in the unorganised sector would cover weavers, toddy tappers, rickshaw pullers and bidi workers with an initial allocation of Rs. 1000 crore. UPA government's Report to the People 2009-10 released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the Plantations Labour Act, 1951 had been amended for providing safety and occupational health care to plantation workers. Workmen Compensation Act, 1923 amendment has also enhanced the benefits to the workers. Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 had also been amended to raise the limit of maximum gratuity payable from Rs. 3.5 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh. The benefit will not attract any interest rate. The report card said comprehensive amendments had also been made in the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 to improve the quality of delivery of health care and other benefits provided to the insured persons in the organised sector. The amendment would also enable ESI infrastructure to be used to provide health care to workers in the unorganised sector. As the industrial training institutes across the country were being upgraded to train more than five crore people within the next five years.

The 15-point programme for ensuring targeted development to minorities and the government's thrust on improving their education status find mention in the UPA government's Report to the People 2009-10. The report listed wakf reforms and special development plans for the 90 minority concentrated districts (MCDs) as major steps in this regard. It also referred to opening of schools and Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) in blocks and districts having a substantial minority population. Dr. Manmohan Singh said 17.29 lakh scholarships were given to children belonging to the minority communities for their pre-matriculation studies; 48 per cent of these are pre-matric scholarships on which an amount of Rs. 202.94 crore was spent. Under the post-matric scholarship scheme, 3.88 lakh scholarships were awarded at a cost of Rs. 148.74 crore. Minorities were provided over Rs. 96,000 crore of bank credit, while 502 public sector bank branches were opened in districts with a substantial minority population. The report card said 60 ITIs, located in minority concentration districts would be upgraded as part of the Prime Minister's New 15-point programme.

To overcome the shortage of qualified doctors, the Central government has increased the ceiling on MBBS seats in a government medical college from 150 to 250, provided the hospital has a bed capacity of 1,000 or more. Intake in 37 colleges will go up by 3,700 seats a year. Private colleges can increase the seats in next academic session.

Draft bill puts sexual assault on a par with rape. Drastic changes proposed to strengthen rape and sexual assault laws, so that women have more protection, will almost blur the difference between the two crimes. Under the draft bill, if a man forcibly even puts his finger into a woman's mouth —or lets his tongue enter her mouth during a kiss — he could end up in jail for sexual assault with the sentence being no less than the punishment for rape, which is seven years to life. The draft bill also seeks a stricter age of consent, raising it from 16 to 18. Presently, any sexual misdemeanour less than rape, or forced sexual intercourse, is dealt with under the lesser category of molestation and the guilty face a maximum term of two years. Legal experts have complained for years that Indian laws on sexual assault are extremely weak. The Union government then set up a high-powered committee to review existing rape and sexual assault laws. In March 2010, the committee finalised a draft bill for the complete overhaul of Sections 375 and 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which presently deal with rape. The ministry invited comments from the general public on the draft bill till May 15. The bill mainly replaces the term ‘rape' with ‘sexual assault', which means that the current penalty for rape — seven years — would apply to a broader category of sexual offences. Bringing sexual assault and rape under a single umbrella, the draft bill describes sexual assault as an act in which a man "penetrates" the vagina, anus, urethra or mouth of a woman with "any part of his body" or "any object manipulated by him". The draft bill excludes penetrations by objects carried out for hygienic or medical reasons.

Draft bill proposes only 2 yrs jail for molestation, 7 for eve-teasing. While the maximum sentence for eve-teasing under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code ("insulting the modesty of a woman") is sought to be enhanced from one year to seven years, the corresponding punishment for molestation under Section 354 IPC ("outraging the modesty of a woman") remains two years.

Admitting to "leakages" in funds meant for various development programmes, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the government was working to rectify the problems.

Torture bill gives cops scope to get off hook. Under the guise of making its law conform to the UN convention against torture, India has actually increased scope for impunity by imposing a special six-month limit on the time that can be taken to complain against a public servant for committing such an offence.

We will fight terror ‘root and branch': Manmohan. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised the nation that his government would not flinch from frontally battling Maoist violence, communalism and terrorism.

Government plans high-level panel on security. The government is contemplating setting up under PMO a coordination committee on all matters concerning security and intelligence. Sources disclosed this committee will initially comprise the NSA, Cabinet secretary and the Union home secretary. According to sources, the initial idea behind the proposal for setting up such a committee was to have a viable stop-gap arrangement till the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) comes up by the end of this year. In fact, the NCTC deadline is likely to get delayed purely because of the enormity of the task. It took the US more than three years to set up its own NCTC after 9/11. Till the time NCTC comes up, this committee, which will function under the PMO, will be responsible for proper coordination among all national intelligence and security agencies. It will also look after the coordination work among agencies involved in dealing with Naxal violence.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ruled out curbs on civil society outfits supporting Maoists so long as they did not propagate violence.

The government has declared the Indian Mujahideen (IM), suspected to be a shadow outfit of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terrorist outfit. The IM is allegedly involved in the serial bomb blasts in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bangalore and Mumbai. It has been added to the list of terror groups under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The IM came to light after the February 23, 2005 blast in Varanasi.

The government is veering around to expanding the role of the armed forces in the ongoing anti-Naxal operations, with a hard look even being taken at whether they should be "directly deployed" in the fight against the Maoists.

Concerned over Naxals getting their hands on explosives for the second time in recent months, the government has decided to take stringent action against the transport company transporting ammonium nitrate.

 

COMMISSIONS & COMMITTEES

The Prime Minister's Office finalised the names of 11 members of the National Advisory Council, the consultative body chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi that is intended to serve as an interface between the government and civil society and as the laboratory for inclusive economic and social legislation and policy initiatives.

The government announced the appointment of the former Chief Justice of India, Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, as the sixth chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

Taking cognizance of the killing of an 18-year-old Dalit girl and her 70-year-old father at Mirchpur village in Hissar district of Haryana in April, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has set up a committee to enquire into the incident. The incident reportedly took place on April 21. A mob, reportedly belonging to a dominant community, torched several Dalit households, forcing families to flee. As many as 35 houses were destroyed and 50 ransacked and 25 people injured in the violence. The committee is headed by NCW member Wansuk Syiem. Taking a serious view of the forceful eviction of 150 Dalit families from Mirchpur after the incident, the Supreme Court has also issued a stern notice to the Haryana government for its response to a petition highlighting their plight. It has asked the State to come out with a plan for rehabilitation of these families, many of which are camping at a temple here.

The Centre appointed a court of inquiry into the May 22 crash of an Air India Express aircraft at the Mangalore airport, in which 158 people, including a six-member crew, were killed. Air Marshal (Retd.) Bhushan Nilkanth Gokhale will hold the investigation.

Chief Election Commissioner Navin B. Chawla said the Election Commission was 100 per cent satisfied with Electronic Voting Machines and the huge administrative procedures related to their use.

The new University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines, which bar the presidents of sponsoring organisations from chancellorship of the deemed-to-be universities established by them, have drawn flak from educational trusts and societies. As per the new UGC (Institutions Deemed-to-be Universities) Regulations 2010, notified on May 21, the chancellor of a deemed university, appointed by the sponsoring society or trust, will have to be an eminent educationalist or a distinguished public figure other than the president of the sponsoring society or his/her relative. The chancellor can be a member of neither the society nor the trust. The new guidelines were issued with a view to plugging deficiencies detected in the recent review of deemed universities, which indicated that such institutions functioned as family ‘fiefdoms.' These institutions will not be granted the deemed university status under the fresh guidelines, while the position of pro-chancellors has been abolished. The proposed deemed-to-be university will have to be registered either as a non-profit society under the Societies Registration Act or as a non-profit trust under the Public Trust Act. The new guidelines also make it mandatory for an institution to be in existence for at least 15 years before seeking deemed university status, against the earlier 10 years, except under the category of ‘De-novo Institutions' or Innovative Universities. To discourage single discipline colleges seeking deemed university status in order to escape regulatory councils, the diversity of programmes has been insisted upon. There is also emphasis on the quality of research activity, publications and scholarly works of a high standard as evidenced by inclusions in an internationally recognised database.

The Board of Governors of the Medical Council of India (MCI) has extended, from June 15 to July 15, the date for consideration of giving the Letter of Permission for new colleges and renewal of permission for colleges already approved under Section 10A of the MCI Act 1956.

The term of the Wage Board for Working Journalists and Non-Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees has been extended till December 31. The board's term, under the chairmanship of Justice G.R. Majithia, ended on May 23. Justice Majithia had sought an extension up to December 31 to submit his report.

PCI Committee on treating paid news as a menace. The drafting committee under the chairmanship of H.N. Cama of Bombay Samachar decided that the phenomenon of paid news needs to be treated as a menace that brought a bad name to the industry. Carrying forward the debate for a greater role for the PCI, members were of the view that the report should stress that the Council should be empowered to deal with complaints relating to the broadcast media too. Currently, the PCI mandate is to preserve the freedom of the press, and maintain and improve the standards of newspapers and news agencies in the country.

 

STATE & UTs NEWS

Central India: President's rule was imposed in Jharkhand after the JMM chief Shibu Soren resigned as chief minister and none of the three major political parties - Cong, BJP and JVM-P - could form an alternate government.

Eastern India: Darjeeling hills of West Bengal is set for a change with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leadership announcing that the name of the separate State that it is pressing for will no longer be Gorkhaland, but Gorkha-Adivasi Pradesh.

Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress inflicted a crushing blow to the ruling Left Front in the West Bengal civic polls, capturing the prestigious Kolkata Municipal Corporation and bagging 36 other municipalities. The Trinamool, which had lost the KMC to the Left Front in 2005, swept the 141-ward city corporation, winning 95 with the CPI(M) following far behind at 33, Congress securing 10 and BJP three. Among the 81 civic bodies spread across 16 of 19 districts for which elections were held on May 30, the Trinamool Congress won 36, the Left Front 18 and the Congress six.

Civic poll results permitting, the CPM is reportedly willing to do anything it takes to prevent a Trinamool Congress man becoming the next Kolkata mayor — including offering its support to a Congress candidate.

North-Eastern: The Centre told the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) that integration of Naga-inhabited areas would need consensus among the States concerned, as boundaries would have to be altered. The NSCN (IM) reiterated that integration of Naga-inhabited areas was a “natural aspiration of the Naga people” and hoped New Delhi would solve this issue in due course. New Delhi's position was explained by the Centre's interlocutor on the peace talks, R.S. Pandey, during peace talks with the NSCN (IM) in Nagaland's capital Kohima. Both sides expressed their commitment to finding an early negotiated settlement to the Naga problem. Assam, Nagaland and Manipur have been strongly opposing inclusion of any Naga-inhabited areas in the States in the proposed Nagalim — the single administrative entity to be created by integrating all Naga inhabited areas, which the NSCN (IM) has been proposing. This is the first time that Naga peace talks were held in Nagaland since the NSCN (IM) signed a ceasefire agreement with the Centre in 1997. The economic blockade enforced by the All-Naga Student's Association (Manipur) on NH 39 and NH 53 in protest against holding of Autonomous District Council polls in the hill districts of Manipur were intensified after the Manipur government banned the entry of NSCN (IM) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah to his birthplace Somdal in Ukhrul district of Manipur.

Centre has approved 32 projects related to water conservation at a cost of Rs 126.94 crore in Meghalaya this year.

Superstition keeps Mizos off census. Some cults and sects believe the head count exercise, especially the introduction of identity (smart) cards and unique identification numbers, would be ominous. They referred to "relevant verses" in the chapter on Revelation in the Bible to support their qualms. Revelation Chapter 13 deals with the end of the world which says before the end comes the number and symbol of the Beast or Satan would be distributed to mankind and everybody would be counted by the Prince of Darkness.

Northern India: Now, Muslim boy faces khap ire for same-gotra marriage. Haryana's khap menace is crossing religious lines and spreading to the formally casteless Muslim community. An eight-time national wrestling champion, Ikhlash, 22, is facing the wrath of a khap of 360 villages of Meo Muslims for getting married within the same gotra.

After khaps, it is the Arya Samaj that has shocked couples in Haryana. A section of the sect has decided to ban marriages without consent of parents and villagers.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the government was ready for dialogue on Jammu and Kashmir if separatists shed violence.

Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq ruled out resumption of talks with the Centre, saying "genocide of Kashmiris and dialogue can't go together".

'Just 2% of the respondents on the Indian side favour joining Pakistan and most such views were confined to Srinagar and Budgam districts. The first-ever survey carried out across J&K and PoK claims that over 58% of respondents were prepared to accept the LoC as a permanent border if it could be liberalized for greater contact and trade. In six of the districts surveyed late last year by researchers from the London-based think-tank Chatham House, not a single person favoured annexation with Pakistan, a notion that remains the bedrock for the hardline separate campaign in Kashmir. However, the study by Robert Bradrock, a scholar from London's Kings College, that involved interviewing 3,774 people in both parts of Kashmir in September-October 2009 showed that 44% of people on the Pakistani side favoured independence, compared to 43% in Indian Kashmir.

Southern India: Turmeric turns gold, AP farmers snap up cars.

Andhra couple stoned to death for 'honour'. Swapna Reddy and her Dalit husband Srinivas were stoned to death in Nizamabad village. Six people, including Swapna's parents, were arrested and charged with murder.

Karnataka Governor H.R. Bhardwaj referred to the Election Commission (EC) the petition filed by K.C. Kondaiah, MLC, seeking disqualification of Karnataka Ministers G. Janardhana Reddy, G. Karunakara Reddy and B. Sriramulu. In his order, the Governor said “… it's a fit case for reference to the Election Commission for their opinion under Article 192 (2) of the Constitution.” The Governor said he would take the opinion of the Election Commission and take further action. Mr. Kondaiah had submitted to the Governor about the involvement of the three ministers in massive businesses in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh by getting concessions from the respective State governments. He has accused the three ministers of being directly or indirectly involved in illegal mining in Bellary and Chitradurga districts. Mr. Kondaiah alleged that the three ministers had incurred disqualification as legislators for having licence and lease with Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh governments through companies which were in their control.

The Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board has some happy tidings for the people of Kavudamapalayam Municipality and Vadavalli Town Panchayat, suburbs north and west of the Coimbatore. The supply of drinking water under the Bhavani Combined Water Supply Scheme will begin by June 15, bringing to an end a 10-year wait for the project's implementation. The existing supply of Siruvani and Pilloor water to these two local bodies would be stopped and would be given to the Coimbatore Corporation areas to augment supply within the city.

Western India: Refuting allegations that the appointment of D Sivanandan as new Maharashtra DGP was influenced by a certain lobby, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said the selection was done on the basis of merit.

Major rebel faction of Gujjars in Rajasthan warned of fresh agitation from June 16 if the state government fails to meet their demand of five per cent reservation. The faction led by Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Chief Patron of All India Gujjar Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti, rejected the one per cent additional quota extended by the state government to the community recently. He said five per cent reservation in government jobs, withdrawal of cases registered against the community members during the agitation led by Kirori Singh Bainsla and pension to those injured in the protest are among the demands. The community had called off its month-long stir on May 5 after the government agreed to accord one per cent more quota to it in addition to the existing four per cent given to them under the OBC category. As per the agreement arrived between the state government and Bainsla, since the community is already getting 21 per cent reservation under the OBC category, they would get one per cent more quota till the High Court completes formalities on their demand, and remaining four per cent reservation would be accorded after the court's verdict under the Special Backward Class category.

 

MISCELLANEOUS

President Pratibha Patil was made to wait at the Beijing airport for over 20 minutes as Rashtriya Janata Dal Member of Parliament Raghuvansh Prasad, a member of her delegation broke out of the tightly controlled schedule and did not arrive for the flight along with the entourage. Protocol rules specify that the President is the last one to board a flight.

The Central Government has given permission to celebrate the 336th coronation ceremony of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Raigad Fort. Despite being surrounded by Mughals from all corners, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj coronation ceremony was held at Raigad Fort on June 6, 1674.

DMK revives ties with PMK after 2-year gap. The ruling DMK accepted the PMK back into its alliance, but refused to fulfill PMK founder S Ramadoss's immediate demand for a Rajya Sabha seat for his son and former Union minister Anbumani Ramadoss.

The government has decided that the CBI will probe the derailing of the Jnaneswari Express in which 148 people were killed. Railway minister Mamata Banerjee said investigation will help truth come out.

The government sees a big role for the corporate sector in the recently-launched Green India Mission, according to Director-General of Forests P.J. Dilip Kumar.

Law graduates passing out from this year and intending to take up legal practice will have to pass an all-India Bar examination to be conducted by the Bar Council of India on December 5. Every graduate after enrolment as lawyer in the respective State Bar Council will have to clear this examination, which will test skills and basic knowledge critical for a new entrant to the profession. The examination would be held once in six months and anyone failing in the first test could re-appear. A legal consultancy firm, Rainmaker, will assist the BCI in conducting and managing the test in nine languages and in preparing the material for the test, for which it would collect Rs. 1,300 from each candidate. The Indian legal profession consists of approximately 11 lakh registered advocates, around 1,000 law schools and approximately 5 lakh law students. Every year, approximately 60,000 law graduates join the legal profession. BCI Chairman and Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam said that BCI is a statutory body, and is not dependent for any approval from HRD Ministry. On entry of foreign lawyers, He said that the BCI was opposed to it. Unlike in other countries, in India there was a standard of practice maintained by lawyers and they were not governed by earning money alone. He said the legal profession was governed by the Advocates Act and no Bill would be possible without amending the Act.

Central Bureau of Investigation Director Ashwani Kumar said that the mandate of the investigating agency (CBI) does not extend to dealing with corruption at the highest level and calls for the creation of an institution that could deal with political corruption. He suggested that Parliament be persuaded to allow non-intrusive tests such as polygraph test and brain mapping, but not narco analysis.

$5 million grant for tobacco control programme. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has granted $5 million to the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) to strengthen the National Tobacco Control Programme in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, over a three-year period (2009-2012). The grant provided for the project on Strengthening of Tobacco Control Efforts Through Innovative Partnerships and Strategies (STEPS) will provide the much-needed district-specific strategic response to the rapidly escalating global tobacco epidemic. Project STEPS will work in the following districts: Prakasam, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, Mahboodnagar, Karim Nagar and Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh) and Kheda, Rajkot, Banaskantha, Anand and Surat (Gujarat).

 

JUDICIAL PRONOUNCEMENTS

Though normally punishment should be proportionate to the gravity of misconduct of an employee, for corruption/misappropriation the only deserts are dismissal, the Supreme Court has held. It is not the amount embezzled but the mens rea (criminal intention) to misappropriate public money that is enough justification to dismiss the delinquent employee, said a Vacation Bench of Justices B.S. Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar.

The Supreme Court has cautioned the lower courts against entertaining claims of employees for correcting their dates of birth long after they entered service. This necessarily implies that an application made by a government servant for correction of age after two years of his entry into service cannot be entertained by the competent authority. However, the competent authority can, at any time, correct the age recorded in the service book or in the history service of a gazetted government employee if it is satisfied that the age has been so recorded with a view to giving undue benefit to the employee like continuance in service beyond the age of superannuation. In the instant case, on an application from the respondent Megh Raj Garg, who joined the service as a sub-judge in Punjab, the trial court ordered his date of birth to be corrected from March 27, 1936, to March 27, 1938, and this was confirmed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The present appeal by the High Court is directed against this order. The appellant submitted that the respondent had sought correction of the date of birth 10 years after he joined the service, and this was not permissible under the rules.

A landlord is the best judge of his requirement while seeking to evict a tenant from his premises and courts cannot dictate to him how and in what manner he should live, the Supreme Court has held.

Industrialist Ashok Todi moved the Supreme Court challenging the Calcutta High Court's order directing the CBI to conduct a fresh probe into the mysterious death of computer graphics teacher Rizwanur Rahman after registering a murder case.

The SC stayed the death sentence awarded to underworld don Aftab Ahmed Ansari for the attack on the American Center in Kolkata in 2002.

In a rare case, the Gauhati High Court has turned an email complaint about violation of National Council of Teacher Education norms into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL).

The Gujarat HC upheld the POTA court verdict awarding death sentence to three convicts for the 2002 Akshardham terror attack, which claimed 32 lives. Three persons, Adam Ajmeri, Shan Miya alias Chand Khan from Bareilly and Mufti Abdul Qyyum Mansuri were awarded death sentence by POTA court in July 2006.

Maharishi Valmiki was never a dacoit: Punjab & Haryana HC. Justice Rajive Bhalla of Punjab & Haryana High Court recently said that though actual facts appeared to be lost in the mists of antiquity, he was basing his views on a research by a Punjabi University, Patiala, scholar. He quoted the research done by the head of the Maharishi Valmiki Chair of the Punjabi University, Patiala, Manjula Sehdev, on the origin and authenticity of the belief that Valmiki was a dacoit.

The Punjab and Haryana HC reserved its decision on the bail plea by former Haryana police chief SPS Rathore, who has been convicted and sent to jail for molesting teenager Ruchika Girhotra.

The 26/11 special court has come down heavily on the prosecution and investigating agency for submitting 'doubtful' and 'fragile' evidence against accused Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed that led to their acquittal.

Trial judge examines S-6 coach in which 59 people, mostly karsevaks, were killed on February 27, 2002. Judge P R Patel, conducting the trial in the 2002 Godhra train burning incident, visited the site of offense at the railway station at Panchmahal.

A Delhi court absolved self-styled godman Chandraswami of FERA violation charges relating to the deposit of L6,000 in a U.K. court in a defamation suit nearly 24 years ago.

A Delhi Court issued notice to the CBI on a petition challenging an order of a lower court accepting the closure report in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case against former Union Minister Jagdish Tytler.

A UP court has asked police to probe charges levelled by a village head against superstar Amitabh Bachchan and five others over delay in setting up a college named after his daughter-in-law Aishwarya. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Fast Track) Shiv Chand directed the Mohamadpur Khala police to look into the complaint filed by Daulatpur village head Raj Kumari, and submit a report on June 10. The police in Barabanki, UP, have been directed to probe a complaint against Amitabh Bachchan for allegedly acquiring a piece of land for a girl's college by "fooling villagers" and gifting it to a trust run by actor Jaya Prada.

 

DEFENCE, SPACE, NUCLEAR, SCIENCE etc.

The first flight of Tejas Aircraft LSP-4 (Limited Series Production aircraft) took to the skies going supersonic touching a 1.1 Mach speed.

The US Congress has cleared the sale of C-17 Globemaster III strategic aircraft for India, ahead of the crucial Cabinet-level Strategic Dialogue between the two countries.

Under attack for delays in projects, DRDO said the onus of self-reliance cannot be put on it alone and targeted the defence services for their "overwhelming" temptation to opt for imported weapon systems.

India unveiled its first indigenous vaccine against the dreaded swine flu which claimed over 18,000 lives globally and more than 1,000 in the country.

 

 

 

 

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