HEADLINES

• Pipe bomb found near Madurai on Advani's Yatra route
• Team Anna core committee meeting today; many key members absent and revamp expected
• Girls to get equal rights to British throne – announcement at the Commonwealth heads of Govt meeting

NATIONAL NEWS

• Centre argues that there is no time frame for President to dispose of mercy pleas
  • Further to the interim injunction granted on the execution of the three convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi murder due to delay in disposal of their mercy petitions, the Central Govt told the High Court that no time frame can be stipulated for the President to dispose of mercy petitions and delay does not entail the death convicts to demand quashing of the sentence or commuting the sentence to life imprisonment.
  • The delay in this case is just over 11 years. The court has adjourned the matter till November 29th.
• Here is good summary of the Mullaperiyar dam issue. Very important to read
• Govt signs loan agreement with World Bank for eastern freight corridor
  • The government on Thursday signed a 975 million US dollar loan agreement with the World Bank for execution of the plan in the eastern corridor. This will give a boost to Railway's ambitious Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) project. The financing for the project will cover 1,130 km of the 1839 km corridor which will connect Ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni in West Bengal;
  • The DFC proposes to help faster and more efficient movement of raw materials and finished goods between the Northern and Eastern parts of India. The corridor will also allow Indian Railways to free up capacity from the existing train corridor and better-serve the large passenger market in this densely-populated region;
  • The western corridor linking Tughlakabad to Mumbai is being developed with Japanese participation.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• First of its kind weather satellite launched
  • On October 28th, NASA launched the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite on a Delta II rocket. The NPP will send back data on weather and climate to help forecasters predict major storms and other changes in the environment;
  • The NPP will circulate the earth at a height at a height of 820km in a polar orbit. It will help fill the gaps left by the European weather observatories. Visit this link for more general information on weather satellites.
• Australia to host global piracy talks next year
  • After recent notice on the issue of piracy including from the UNSC, Australia has announced it will host talks on the issue. The global conference to be held in Perth in 2012 will bring together officials and representatives from wider piracy-affected areas to explore ways to help Somalia and other countries address the drivers of piracy. Piracy is now spreading from Somalia to other parts of Africa's coast.
• Moderate Islamists win in Tunisia; will write a new constitution, appoint an interim Govt and prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections within a year
• Saudi Arabia names Prince Nayef, the current interior minister, as the Crown Prince go succeed King Abdullah. This move comes after the earlier Crown Prince Sultan died last week.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this debate on whether over-population is a crisis for the world
• Here is a discussion on the removal of the AFSPA in J&K
• Here is an article on the risk's arising from Asia's water stress
• Here is a discussion on the issues relating to higher education in India

ECONOMY & BUSINESS NEWS

• Group of Ministers suggest that Air India could get Rs.23,000cr equity infusion over 10 years; final decision on the capital infusion and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner order by the Cabinet
• Read this article on the recent move of the RBI to deregulate savings bank deposit rates