HEADLINES

• Bomb blast in Manipur ahead of the PM's visit
• A pakistani and 5 Indian Mujahideen members held for various bomb blasts in India in 2010
• PM seeks allies, DMK and TMC assistance for a vote on the adjournment motion on FDI in retail. DMK to back govt; TMC holds out
• Dam 999 producer moves the SC against the ban on the film in Tamilnadu
• Economic growth slips to 6.9% for the second quarter of the fiscal year
• Today is World AIDS day

NATIONAL NEWS

• Practice launch of Agni-I today
  • Agni-I missile will be fired from the Wheeler Island off the Odisha coast today in a practice launch to test the Army's readiness to use it. The Agni-I can carry a 1 tonne nuclear warhead. Agni I, II and III are currently deployed with the army;
  • The DRDO developed Agni I with a range of 700 km to bridge the gap between Prithvi which has a range of 250km and the Agni II which has a 2500km range. The Agni I is pakistan specific capable of covering the entire western range. It was first launched in January 2002. It is a single stage missile and powered by solid propellants. It is a scaled down version of the Agni II of which the first stage was re-configured to become Agni – I.
• Trails completed for IAF's aerial refuelling
  • The IAF has completed field trials to buy 6 mid-air refuelling aircrafts. The trials were conducted 2 weeks ago and the evaluation report will be submitted to the defence ministry in the 3rd week of december;
  • Russian Illushin IL-78 and European EADS' A330 MRTT are in the fray for the deal worth USD1 billion. The trials were conducted in Gwalior by refuelling Sukhoi Su-30MKI and Mirage 2000 fighter jets. The IAF which is annoyed with the poor maintenance and high-life cycle cost of the Russian aircrafts has favoured the A330 MRTT;
  • The earlier bid was canceled by the defence ministry and the same bidders bid again for the trials. The deal for these 6 tankers will take around 2 years to complete.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• India attacks UNSC functioning
  • India along wth other non-aligned countries, launched a scathing attack on the functioning of the UNSC at an open debate at the UN headquarters;
  • The Indian representative, Hardeep Puri said that the debate took place despite opposition from the permanent members of the UNSC who stated that the functioning of the UNSC could only be discussed by them;
  • The UNSC composition was rooted in the political situation in 1945 and is divorced from contemporary international relations. There is discontent with the UNSC and its 5 permanent members being reluctant to harness the capabilities of the other members of UN. Further, the UNSC is often eager to encroach upon the mandate of other UN bodies;
  • Suggestions to amend the procedures of the UNSC were provided to deal with the issues of items remaining on its agenda permanently, consideration of issues to be rationalised with countries with interest in the particular issue, etc.
• Britain expels Iranian diplomats after the attack on the British embassy in Iran
• Islamists gain in the Egypt elections
• Pakistan shows easing of position on attending the Bonn meet to discuss Afghanistan; had earlier said it would not attend due to the NATO attack on its base

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this good article on the recently notified Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Rules, 2011
• Read this article on the WHO strategy to combat AIDS
• Here is a well researched editorial on reforms required in the functioning of the agriculture sector in India

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• Read this article about the instruments on the Curiosity, the Mars science lab recently launched
• Read this article about the energy internet of the future