January 5, 2012

HEADLINES

• Indian traders freed after days of detention in Yiwu; MEA India thanks China for the swift action
• Govt to fill up Central Govt vacancies in SC, ST quota
• Judicial commission investigating memogate issues notice to Zardari for hearing on January 9
• Govt says interest rate on post office savings except PPF will remain fixed throughout their terms (not floating rates)

NATIONAL NEWS

• Communication network for Govt use soon
  • India's vulnerability to spying in this internet era has forced the Govt to develop a Rs.450 cr plan for a pan-India secure network and network based services (email; internet telephony) as many services are currently provided by foreign providers;
  • This will provide a foolproof infrastructure for telecom and internet communication exclusively for Govt use. This issue was also recommended by the working group for telecom for the 12^th five year plan;
  • The Govt wants all official communications to be routed through the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), a Govt sponsored not for profit organisation which facilitates exchange of domestic Internet traffic;
  • DRDO already operates its documentation centre DESIDOC, through Indian run networks, ERNET (education & research network; the first network for Indian internet operations) and NICNET (network run by National Informatics Centre).
• Vulture census in Panna reserve
  • The Panna reserve will initiate a 3 day 'vulture estimation' exercise in the reserve from January 21. Vultures are protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972;
  • Nine species of vultures are found in India:
    • Oriental white-backed vulture
    • Long-billed Vulture
    • Egyption Vulture
    • Himalayan Griffon vulture
    • Cinereous vulture
    • Slender-billed vulture
    • Red-headed vulture
    • Bearded vulture (known as – Lammergeier)
  • Of the above list, the first 6 are found in Panna Tiger Reserve including the endangered oriental whitebacked and the long-billed vultures;
  • Apart from vultures the estimate will also look at the peregrine falcon which feeds on vulture chicks in the panna region;
  • Panna has a good vulture population as it has a huge carnivore population and 3 parallel cliffs along with a good number of shelves for shelter;
  • However, use of diclofinac on cattle by the local people is causing renal failure in the vultures when they eat the carcasses. This is a problem for vultures around the world;
  • The estimation at panna is open to participants who can apply to join the process.
• Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) nod for missile deal for mirages
  • The CCS has approved a USD1.2 billion deal for a new weapon compliment for Mirage-2000 that will give it capability to hit enemy beyong visual range also;
  • This is the 2^nd largest deal with France after the six scorpene submarines being jointly built at the mazgaon docks in India.
• Trinidad & Tobago PM, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, in India as chief guest for the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas conclave in Jaipur from Januuary 7 to 9

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Give this article on the Election Commission of India a quick read

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• Read this article on the recent discovery of species of marine life found deep in the ocean
• Read this informative article on agricultural methods of the tribals of Koraput which were recently declared as the eleventh “Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System” (GIAHS) by the FAO-UNDP-GEF group