HEADLINES

• Pakistan's Army Chief says that USA should think 10 times before attacking Pakistan which is a nuclear power
• Jayalalithaa's plea to exempt personal appearance in Bangalore trial court was rejected by the Supreme Court; appears in Bangalore court today amidst tight security
• Indian growth to be less than the expected 9% this year. Likely to be 8%

NATIONAL NEWS

• Big States yet to notify the rules under the Right to Education Act
  • Expressing concern over the fact that many big states have not yet implemented the RTE rules the HRD Minister, Kapil Sibal said that the state governments need to play a pivotal role in implementation;
  • Though the Central Govt had notified the RTE Act in April 2010 only 20 states have adopted it till date. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and West Bengal have not implemented it yet.
• Southern States fare badly in the Multisectoral Development Programme (MsDP)
  • The MsDP is a special area development programme being implemented since 2008 in 90 minority concentrated districts which are selected based on minority population and backwardness;
  • Karnataka and Kerala, the two southern states in the MsDP have only spent 24% and 7% of the allocation respectively. The average expenditure of all states is 49.97% with J&K utilizing the most at 74.39% inspite of having only one minority concentrated district.
• Real-time info system for trains launched by Indian Railways
  • The Indian Railways launched a real-time train information system for a few important trains so that passengers can access the accurate train running information. The information is accessible on www.simran.in and through the standard railway enquiry procedure;
  • The Indian Railways intends to provide this facility in all passenger and freight trains by December 2012;
  • The project is developed by IIT Kanpur.
• Pranab Mukherjee says that the CAG had not overstepped its brief as its job was to identify financial irregularities
• The MEA has warned Indian students from pursuing courses in Russia and other central asian countries because of the fragile law and order condition as well as non-recognition of educational degrees

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• British Author, Julian Barnes wins the Man Booker Prize for his book The Sense of an Ending
  • The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The prize was originally known as the Booker-McConnell Prize started in 1968;
  • The Sense of an Ending is the story of an ordinary man who revisits his past and discovers that his memories are flawed. Barnes had lost out in the 1984, 1998 and 2005 selections and this is his first Booker Prize.
• European Court of Justice outlaws patenting of embryonic stem cell techniques
  • The court outlawed the patenting of these techniques as it involves destruction of embryos. The science community feel this move will hamper research and stifle commercial investments;
  • The unique ability of the embryonic stem cells to grow to almost any tissue in the body has led scientists to investigate whether they can regenerate damaged and diseased organs and treat serious conditions.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Here is a good article by the Prime Minister of Nepal on the path for Indo-Nepal relations
• India's role in TB eradication is discussed in this article
• Here is a discussion on the much anticipated malaria vaccine
• Here is a good article on the reality in India on GM crops

EMINENT PERSONS IN THE NEWS

• Malayalam writer Kakkanadan passes away. Read more about him in this article

ECONOMY & BUSINESS NEWS

• Finance ministry says no to SBI right's issue this fiscal; likely to be a preferential allotment of shares
• IBSA round up
  • Indian, Brazil and South African trade ministers decided to hold annual trilateral meetings to enhance trade between the countries. First meeting will be in Delhi in March 2012. Inter-IBSA is already close to USD 20 billion. The initial target of USD 25 billion by 2015 is expected to be crossed earlier.
  • Discussions progressed for a trilateral free trade agreement between India, South African Customs Union (SACU) and Mercosur (latin american trading bloc of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay)
  • India and South Africa decided to enter into long term agreements for purchase of raw materials.