HEADLINES

• TMC, the second largest ally in the UPA, threatens to withdraw support from the Govt if does not review the hike in petrol prices; separately, the Kerala HC also condemns petrol price hike and asks oil companies to submit balance sheets to the HC
• Anna Hazare warns of anti-Congress campaign if the Lokpal bill is not passed in the upcoming session
• Satyam's Ramalinga Raju and two others get bail

NATIONAL NEWS

• CAG to audit all rural, portable water schemes
  • The CAG will now scrutinize all schemes of the Rural Development Ministry and the Ministry of Sanitation. The two ministries spend approx. Rs.88000 cr annually. This is the single largest expenditure by the Govt after that of the defence ministry;
  • The ministries have now announced that all CAG can audit all their schemes including MGNREGA according the the CAG's availability. The account generals of each state will be empowered to carry out the audits;
  • The CAG will conduct performance audits in addition to the financial and compliance audits. The ministries are preparing a common accounting format with the help of the CAG.
• Tiger Census to Start this month
  • In keeping with the new policy to conduct tiger audits annually, the National Tiger Conservation Authority will start the exercise in the two tiger reserves of Arunachal Pradesh along with 37 others in the country this month.
• Bio-toilets by North East Frontier Railways
  • The North East Frontier Railways has inducted zero discharge bio-toilets or green toilets in 16 coaches of the Guwahati-Chennai Express. The toilets have been designed jointly by the Indian Railways and the DRDO to ensure clean environment on the railway tracks and platforms.
• Irom Sharmila's fast enters its twelfth year
• Meghalaya Tribal award for Mandela and three others
  • Former South African President Nelson Mandela would be conferred the People's Parliament Global Award, a traditional tribal institution of Meghalaya announced. Al Gore received the award lat year;
  • Aroon Purie, Rajdeep Sardesai and Arnab Goswami would be given the People's Parliament National Awards for their reporting.
  • The award was instituted by the Grand Council of Chiefs of Meghalaya.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• France dents Palestinian UN hopes
  • France has confirmed that it will abstain in a Security Council vote on full Palestinian membership in the United Nations. Britain and Colombia have also conveyed the same message to the UNSC.
• Greek Premier faces survival confidence vote - wins; decides not to hold a referendum on the EU bail out
• Confusion on the MFN status by Pakistan to India – Pakistan now says status not yet granted
• 520 day mock mission simulates flight to Mars in a Moscow facility

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this editorial on the India-Japan Navy exercises and why we should modernise our navy
• Although there is uncertainty on the status of the MFN granted to India by Pakistan, here is a good article on what the MFN means and the next steps
• Read this article which discusses the rising global carbon dioxide levels
• Here is an article which discusses the issue of Bulgaria locking up asylum seekers against the directives of the EU

ECONOMY & BUSINESS NEWS

• India signs tax info treaty with Jersey
  • Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. Jersey and Guernsey are often referred to as 'the Channel Islands' but they are not a constitutional or political unit.
  • The three Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man each has a separate relationship to the British Crown. They are not part of the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is constitutionally responsible for the defence of Jersey.
  • Jersey is not a part of the European Union but has a special relationship with it, being treated as part of the European Community for the purposes of free trade in goods. They have very favourable tax rates and therefore are considered havens for black money.
  • Last year India identified 22 jurisdictions with which it hoped to reach information exchange agreements and has also started renegotiating existing double taxation avoidance treaties with number of countries. As part of this process India has signed information exchange agreements with Liberia, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Virgin Islands, Isle of Man, and the Cayman Islands and has concluded negotiations with 16 other countries and will soon sign similar agreements.
  • On November 4, India signed a tax information exchange agreement with Jersey – now the seventh one signed so far by India in the recent past. These are part of the steps being taken by India to avoid tax evasion.
  • Experts say that the agreement with Jersey may not be effective as it requires India to have information to present in a Jersey Court before it can seek further tax information from the authorities in Jersey.