Tuesday, December 27

HEADLINES

• Anna Hazare starts his third fast at MMRDA grounds in Mumbai; Debate on the Lokpal Bill to start in parliament today
• Manmohan Singh inaugurates yearlong celebrations to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Indian mathematician, Srinivasa Ramanujan; declares December 22, the birthday, as National Mathematics Day and 2012 as the National Mathematics Year
• Former Karnataka CM, Bangarappa, passes away after a brief illness

NATIONAL NEWS

• Entire Western Ghats ecologically sensitive
  • The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) has designated the entire hill range (i.e. the 44 districts/142 taluks which spans over 6 states which constitute the Westerns Ghats) as an ecologically sensitive area;
  • The WGEEP recommended that no new dams based on large-scale storage be permitted in this ecologically sensitive zone. Since both the Athirappilly of Kerala and the Gundia of Karnataka hydel projects fall within this zone it said that it should not be accorded environmental clearance;
  • For Goa the WGEEP has suggested an indefinite moratorium on new environmental clearances for mining in the zone and phasing out of mining in the zone 1 by 2016 and maintaining strict regulation for the rest. Similar suggestions were made for the mining and related activities in coastal areas of Ratnagiri & Sindhudurg in Maharashtra;
  • The Panel also suggested the formation of a Western Ghats Ecology Authority which would enjoy statutory powers under the Environment (Protection) Act which would function in a networked fashion with similar ecology authorities formed in the 6 states.
• Kapil Sibal, HRD minister says that the current examination system for schools will go soon

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• China's super speed test train launched
  • China has launched the first test train that is capable of reaching 500kmph from the present 300 kmph, a feat if accomplished would be a big leap forward in high speed train technology. It was launched by China's largest rail vehicle maker CSR Corp Ltd.
• India says it wants Sri Lanka to probe rights abuse charges

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Here is a good editorial on the recently concluded eighth ministerial meeting of the WTO
• Read this editorial on the legal framework under which the CBI operates and the issues that it faces
• Here is another criticism of the Govts decision and reasoning to permit FDI in retail. Read it if you have time
• Read this comparison which provides a quick overview of the three versions of the Lokpal Bill which are being discussed

ECONOMY & BUSINESS NEWS

• Tighter norms for non-banking finance companies (NBFCs)
  • The RBI has tightened the rules for the NBFCs. It has made it clear that NBFCs can only participate in credit default swap market as a user and not as a party providing the protection from the defaults. Further, the RBI has also tightened the capital adequacy norms for all NBFCs to prevent large off-balance sheet items such as hedging currency options and futures and interest rate futures.