HEADLINES

• Special Court convicts 31 to life imprisonment for the Sardarpura massacre during the 2002 Gujarat riots which resulted in the killing of 33 muslims
• Moody's downgrades the entire Indian banking system from stable to negative
• CAG rebuts PM's claim on crossing the line on questioning policy issues
• IAEA confirms Iran is conducting secret tests for the development of nuclear arms

NATIONAL NEWS

• Kerala tops child rights index
  • As in most social sector indicators, Kerala also tops the national child rights index, followed by Karnataka. Arunachal Pradesh is the worst in protecting the rights of the child;
  • The four southern states have fared among the top while the worst performers are Sikkim, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh followed by Tripura, Assam and Mizoram. This may be on account of the early child marriages in this area as well as the lack of education and medical access for children.
• Lavasa given conditional permission to continue by the MoEF; activists feel the conditions are weak
• Read this article on how safe the kudankulam nuclear reactors are
• Second BrahMos cruise missile regiment is handed over by the Govt to the Army ahead of time. The missile has a range of 290 km and a supersonic speed of 2.8 Mach
• Home Ministry objects to duplication of work of UID and population reigstry. Union cabinet to look into the matter

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• Giant asteroid zips past Earth
  • A 400 metre wide rock called 2005 YU55 came withing a distance of 3,24,600km from earth (which is closer than the moon is to earth) on Tuesday. No asteroid has come so close to earth since 1976 and another such rock will not be seen till 2028.
• China-Pakistan military exercises not directed at India – China
  • China's Ministry of National Defence said that the annual joint military exercises with Pakistan were not targeted at any third nation and that the drills were focused on combating terrorism. The annual exercise started in 2004 will take place this year near Islamabad.
• Pakistan wants more observers in SAARC
  • Ahead of the SAARC Summit which starts today, India and Pakistan have come out with different positions on inducting more observers at SAARC. Pakistan wants the moratorium on memberships lifted and for Turkey and China's request for partnership etc;
  • But India believes that the organisation's internal processes and institutions must be stabilised than adding more observers. At present the 8 member SAARC has 9 observers;
  • Given the SAARC's tradition of taking all decisions though consensus, the issue of including more observers etc would be on the table for discussion. However, it is unlikely that all parties will be able to agree on removing the three year moratorium earlier agreed.
• Russian Mission to Mars moon stuck in Earth's orbit
  • The Russian ission to Mars, Probos – Grunt got stuck after its engines failed to fire and it is now stuck in earth's orbit. Russia says that it may still be able to rectify it;
  • The unmanned mission which was to collect soil from Mars' moon Probos is considered very ambitious and also is carrying a Chinese satellite to study Mars for two years and also carries different forms of life to see if life migrated between the two planets

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Here is a good article on the role of banks in poverty alleviation and financial inclusion
• Here is an article on India's low score on the UNDP Human Development Report 2011