HEADLINES

• Yeddyurappa arrested in land de-notification case under the Prevention of Corruption Act
• Rail roko throws train services haywire in Telangana region

NATIONAL NEWS

• Every eighth urban child in India lives in a slum – Govt Report
  • A report titled 'Slums in India – A statistical compendium 2011' published by the Govt states that every eighth urban child in the age group of 0-6 years stays in slums;
  • About 7.6 million children are living in slums in India and this constitutes 13% of the total child population of the urban areas in states and union territories;
  • According to the report Chandigarh which has 20% of the children in slums has the highest proportion of slum child population. Maharashtra has the highest slum child population (1.7 million), and the rest following are Uttar Pradesh (0.97 mil), Andhra Pradesh (0.83 mil), Madhya Pradesh (0.6 mil), West Bengal (0.53 mil) and Tamil Nadu (0.51 mil).
• Delhi Beijing hotline held up at the Indian side
  • The hotline between India and China which was agreed between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese President Hu Jintao on the margins of the 2009 BRIC summit and was agreed to be set up within a month. However the technical negotiations carried on till the external affairs ministers of both countries signed a treaty in April 2010;
  • There will be two separate lines set up by each country and will be used depending on the country initiating the call and would be encrypted by each country according to their standards. The Chinese side has already finished setting up their side and delivered the equipment for decryption to the Indian side. India is having problems with coming up with a good encryption and DRDO is testing one for this;
  • China has hotlines with several countries whereas India has only one which is with Russia and runs on technology which is over a decade old.
• India and Pakistan discuss liberalizing Visa norms; visa-on-arrival facilities for certain categories

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• 2011 World Food Prize awarded
  • The World Food prize (WFP) was instituted in 1987 by Norman Borlaug, father of the Green revolution and the a Nobel Peace Prize winner;
  • The 2011 WFP was awarded to the former presidents of Brazil (Mr.Lula) and Ghana (Mr.Kufuor) for the successful implementation of policies to remove chronic hunger. The achievements of these countries have exceeded, if not kept them on track for the achievement of the Millenium Development Goals.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this article about women in the construction industry
• Read this editorial on the growing relations between India and Myanmar and Vietnam
• Here is Shashi Taroor's opinion on India-Australia relations in light of recent issues
• If you have time give this article on urban and regional planning a read

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• Read this report by Indian researcher's which counters the Big Bang Theory

ECONOMY & BUSINESS NEWS

• G-20 mounts pressure on Euro zone to fix debt crisis
  • The G-20 finance chief's meeting has sent out a message to Europe to sort out its debt crisis. Efforts by some countries to increase the IMF's financial involvement in the recovery efforts were met with resistance from the U.S and others and for now the onus is firmly back on Europe to set things right.
• Long discussed India – U.S bilateral investment treaty may come soon; The treaty is for protection of investments and development of international standards, etc.