HEADLINES

• Controversial 2G memo was a inter-ministerial background paper; cannot be evidence in a court of law;
• CBI to file FIR against Maran in the Aircel case soon;
• Disagreements between Western nations and Russia stalls the UNSC resolution on sanctions against Syria.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011 upheld by the Calcutta High Court
  • After a 3 month hearing in a case where the constitutional validity of the Singur Act was questioned, the Court has delivered a judgement against Tata Motors and upheld the validity of the Act stating that there was 'sufficient public purpose' in doing so;
  • The Act which provides for the WB Govt to take over the 997 acres of land leased out to Tata Motors for the Nano project and return it to the owners who had refused compensation when acquired;
  • The Court however held that certain compensation provisions of the Singur Act were vague and uncertain and that provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 should be incorporated in the Act.
• Supreme Court asks Government to explain reasons for delay in Bhullar's mercy petition
  • The Court has asked the centre why it took the president 8 years to reject of the mercy petition for commutation of death sentence to life imprisonment filed by Devendra Singh Bhullar;
  • The petitions before the Court argue that such a prolonged delay was a dehumanising act and amounted to depriving a person of his right to life in an unjust, unfair and unreasonable way, thus, violating Article 21 of the Constitution;
  • Bhullar, a member of the Khalistan Liberation Front, was extradited from Germany and convicted by a TADA Court for detonating a car bomb outside the Youth congress offices in Delhi in 1993 which killed 9 persons.
• Post offices to go for a technological make over
  • The postal traffic sharply fell from handling 420 crore pieces in 2001 to 169 crore in 2011;
  • Post offices are now going to press ahead with their advantages – “Still incomparable reach” and “being the repository of the savings” of millions of people;
  • All 1,44,000 post offices in the country to have an ATM facility to avail of their savings in the next 5 years. With a proposal for all payments to be credited to the workers accounts directly, this might eventually be the solution to the problems faced by the central government schemes.
• Uproar in the J&K assembly over the passing of a resolution to seek clemency for Afzal Guru

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• U.S pressure on India to let IAEA adjudicate on the Nuclear Liability Bill
  • US once again made clear its intention to pressure India to get the International Atomic Energy Agency to adjudicate on whether our Nuclear Liability Bill was consistent with the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC);
  • The International Atomic Energy Agency was set up in 1957 as an independant autonomous body to act as a watchdog in the use of nuclear technology and power worldwide;
  • The CSC is an international convention which sets out operator liability limits and certain other principles which was adopted in 1997 at a diplomatic conference of the IAEA. The conventions which were applicable earlier were the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage, 1963 and the Paris Convention of third Party Liability in the field of Nuclear Energy, 1960;
  • India has committed to to ratify the CSC later this year.
• China's space module to launch today
  • China's manned space module, Taingong-1 is ready to be launched by the new Long March-2FT1 carrier rocket (which improved and replaced the Long March-2C which failed in August this year);
  • The Long March series is less powerful than carrier rockets of the U.S and Russia and is meant for a low earth orbit. China's manned space programme is in furtherance of its ambition to set up a space station in the long term and a more powerful carrier will need to be built for that.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this article on the constitutional debate as to whether public programmes can be given to beneficiaries based on religion.
• Here is a nice article by Sushma Swaraj on India's look east policy.
• An interesting view on Germany's role to lead Europe out of the debt crisis.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS NEWS

• Kingfisher to exit low cost segment, Kingfisher Red and to merge all its aircrafts into one class
• Trading in Renewable Energy Certificates turn brisk this month
  • Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) are a policy mechanism to promote renewable energy based power geenration in India. Technologies such as wind, solar PV, solar thermal, biomass and hydro are eligible to earn RECs. Such schemes exist successfully in several parts of the world such as Europe, USA and Australia;
  • Trading of RECs was started in India from March 2011 and it takes place between 1p.m and 3 p.m on the last wednesday of every month. The trading happens on two power exchanges – Indian Energy Exchange Ltd and Power Exchange of India Ltd;
  • Here is a simple explanation on how the REC process works.