HEADLINES
- No vote on Lokpal, Rajya Sabha adjourns abruptly at midnight
- Food inflation falls to 0.42%; lowest since April 2006
- Cyclone Thane to hit coastal Tamilnadu soon; Cyclone Thane named as per the 2004 convention which provides a namelist contributed by Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Thailand & Sri Lanka; Thane named by Myanmar
NATIONAL NEWS
- Three-layer system for Western Ghats protection mooted
- The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel has proposed a three-layer system – comprising the Western Ghats Ecology Authority (WGEA), the state authorities and the district ecology committees, to address the environmental challenges of the Western Ghats;
- The panel has proposed the 24 member WGEA deal with the myriad environmental implications in the Western Ghats. Either a retired judge of the Supreme Court, preferably from the Western Ghats region, with proven integrity and sympathetic to the cause of conservation, or an eminent ecologist / conservation biologist of the region who has made substantial contribution to conservation for the past 25 years;
- Also a conservation biologist, an environmental lawyer, an agricultural scientist, a landscape ecologist, a representative of the tribal community on rotation;
- The WGEA shall be a statutory authority whose recommendations would be binding and it would be the final authority for approving the ecologically sensitive zones in the states. The panel also suggested the revival of Paryavaran Vahinis– committees of concerned citizens to serve as environmental watchdogs to undertake monitoring in districts.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
- Kim Jong-un officially declared the supreme leader of North Korea
- India asks Pakistan to join Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) talks
- While empahsising restraint and responsibility in the management of nuclear weapons, India has expressed the hope that Pakistan would begin talks on joining the FMCT at the next Conference of Disarmament (CD) session expected to state in January 3rd week;
- The CD is a forum which was formed in 1979 to negotiate disarmament agreements and other treaties. Currently there are 65 members. Pakistan is the only country holding out from the discussions although it is a member;
- The issue was discussed between India and Pakistan at the recently concluded 6th round of conventional confidence-building measures held in Islamabad.
EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS
EMINENT PERSONS IN THE NEWS
- Here is a list and brief write-up of a few eminent Indian personalities who left us in 2011. The list does not seem to be exhaustive but is a good starting point
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