HEADLINES

• Sebastian Vettel wins the F1 held at India's Buddh International Circuit
• Niira Radia quits PR business citing personal reasons
• Team Anna to frame a constitution for the movement and then reconstitute the core committee
• Today, October 31 is Indira Gandhi's death anniversary and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's birth anniversary

NATIONAL NEWS

• Gorkha Janamukti Morcha
  • You may remember that the West Bengal Govt and the GJM entered into an arrangement on July 18 for the establishment of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). However, the Terai and Dooars regions were not included within the scope of the GTA;
  • Similarly, the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad (ABAVP) has been demanding for an Adivasi Territorial Administration for the Terai and Dooars regions;
  • The GJM and the ABAVP have now together made a demand for a Gorkha and Adivasi Territorial Administration to be created for the joint administration of their regions. While this could be viewed as a rejected of the agreement reached in July for the GTA, the GJM has taken the stand that it is the same as the GTA with an extended area to include the Terai and Dooars regions.
• Secure e-payment portal in the offing
  • The Finance Minister is inaugurating a fully secure Govt e-payment system that will enable the centre to directly transfer amounts due to the accounts of beneficiaries. It will be known as the Government e-Payment Gateway (GePG);
  • the GePG was developed by the Controller General of Accounts and will act as middleware between the payment applications of the Pay & Accounts offices (which is the authority which makes all payments on behalf of the Govt and also from the Consolidated Fund of India, etc) and the core banking solution of the RBI or other agency banks.
• Kamalesh Sharma re-appointed as the Commonwealth Secretary General for 4 more years
  • Mr.Sharma was first appointed to the post in 2007 when he took over from Sir Don Mckinnon of New Zealand. Before that he was India's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
• Defence Minister, A.K. Antony's visit to Japan this week is likely to give a push to defence ties between the countries

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• BASIC countries to frame common position on Kyoto Protocol
  • The Environment ministers of Brazil, South Africa, India and China will frame a common position for the crucual Durban climate conference in November 2011, at the 9th meeting of BASIC to be held in Beijing today;
  • The Kyoto Protocol, which will be discussed at Durban, favours legally binding agreements for emission cuts on rich countries and voluntary cuts on developing countries. India is against any legally binding emission cuts by developing countries.
• Al-Shabaab mounts attacks in Mogadishu
  • Mogadishu or Xamar is the largest city in Somalia and the capital. Until recently it was under the control of the Al-Shabaab, the Somalian Islamist militants who have taken over almost half of Somalia. It was recently retaken by the troops of the African Union peacekeeping force and Somalia;
  • The Al-Shabaab took over many areas in Somalia in 2006 and implements a harsh version of Islamic Law. However, recently they are losing power and support now.
• Syria's Assad warns the west that any foreign intervention will cause an 'earthquake' in the region and create 'tens of Afghanistans'
• Commonwealth Nationas Embark on Reform Drive
  • The 54 nation commonwealth group which was set up 62 years ago finished the meeting of its heads of Govt in Perth, Australia on October 30. The heads of Govt agreed to set a charter of common values which will be crucial in directing the organisation in the coming years;
  • More power has been given to the Commonwealth to pressure its members to deal with human rights violations or drifting away from democracy. Further, all the members passed the resolution permitting daughters to have ewual rights to the throne;
  • However, they could not agree on the establishment of a human rights commissioner in each country and to bring an end to homophobic laws that exist in 41 of its member nations.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Look at this article which explains Gross National Happiness
• Here is a good analysis of the demographic divide which is faced by many countries around the world
• Here is an analysis on India's nuclear reactors and the problem being faced today
• Here is an analysis on the short falls of the Right to Education Act

ECONOMY & BUSINESS NEWS

• Read this article on the background to the new Pharma policy being proposed