Monday, February 20th, 2012

HEADLINES

• Two Italian marines arrested of the cargo ship Enrico Lexie
• Cash rich bcci owes Rs.371 crores as income tax as it has been removed from the list of charitable organisations and put under the head 'business income'.

NATIONAL NEWS

• The state expert panel on Kudankulam nuclear power project to submit report soon
  • The State expert panel on the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) that studied the safety arrangements in nuclear reactors is expected to submit its report to the government shortly after going through the documents and recording the apprehensions of the local community living around the project site
  • The State expert team, which was given the twin tasks of ascertaining the safety features of the 2 X 1,000 MWe VVER reactors and understanding the apprehensions of the local community living close to the KKNPP site, inspected the “first-of-its kind safety measures” incorporated in the nuclear reactors.
  • Since the entire complex including the reactor building and the diesel generator building and the control unit had been firmly located at a reasonable height from the shoreline, it would not be affected by tsunami or earthquake with the magnitude of even 6.50 on Richter scale.
  • The Passive Heat Removal system would ensure the cooling of the reactor even during absolute blackout in the reactor.
  • The state-of-the-art safety features incorporated in the KKNPP reactors had made it a ‘Third Generation Plus' reactor.
    
    
• State rejects Western ghats panel report
  • The Kerala government has rejected the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) proposals and urged the Union government to “do away with the Western Ghats Ecology Authority (WGEA).
  • The panel, appointed by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests under Madhav Gadgil, had classified the ghats into three ecologically sensitive zones (ESZones) based on their ecological significance.
  • It had prescribed the structure, functions, and responsibilities of the authority for regulating activities in the zones.
  • “The proposed zoning uniformly applicable for all the six Western Ghats States is detrimental to the interests of the State. Though the exact boundaries of each zone have not been fixed by the panel, the tentative recommendations would make development or even human activities unable in certain areas where the width of the land is less,” according to the state
    
    
• Supreme court urged to revoke suspension of 117 mining leases
  • The Karnataka Government has requested the Supreme Court to revoke the suspension of 117 mining leases listed under categories A and B by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC).
  • The Supreme Court-appointed CEC has recommended cancellation of 49 mining leases listed under Category C, where iron ore was being mined illegally. It has recommended resumption of operations in 45 mining leases listed under Category A, subject to fulfilment of stipulated conditions. It has also recommended that mining be allowed in 72 leases listed under Category B, after asking the concerned leases to comply with prerequisites, including payment of penalty.
  • The Government also took exception to the recommendation of the Indian Council for Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) to the Supreme Court on permitting mining in the Western Ghats. The Government has expressed its opposition to mining in the Western Ghats.
    
    
• Hyderabadi achieves breakthrough in 3D printing technology.
  • the development of a new technology in the form of a camera that uses a 3D Sweep Panorama function to capture, generate images from a single sensor/lens digital camera has created a ripple.
  • The 3D image is then sent to a printing machine that recreates the photographed object just as it is, using polymer plastic dispensed through a tiny tube and works layer by layer to come up with an exact copy.
  • This technology is said to have been developed by a California-based Hyderabadi Balaji Tammabattula
    
    
• EPFO may fix minimum pension at Rs. 1000 per month
  • The EPFO's apex decision-making body the CBT could fix minimum pension at Rs.1,000 per month for its subscribers
  • the CBT would also discuss the proposal to issue contribution cards similar to bank passbooks to its over 4.72 crore subscribers, which would be updated on a monthly basis
  • According to EPFO data, as of March 31, 2010, there were 35 lakh pensioners subscribed to the retirement fund body, of which 14 lakh persons get a monthly pension of less than Rs. 500.
  • The number of EPFO pensioners getting a monthly pension of Rs.1,000 is 7 lakh. The data reveals there are cases where pensioners are getting a monthly pension as low as Rs. 12 and Rs. 38.
  • As per estimates, the proposal to hike the minimum pension to Rs.1,000 per month will require an additional contribution of 0.63 per cent of subscribers' basic pay and dearness allowance to the pension account.
  • The hike in contribution will be over and above the 8.33 per cent contributed by employers toward the pension account of employees, as well as the 1.16 per cent provided by the government under the scheme

INTERNATIONAL

• Italian documentary “Caesar must die” directed by Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani wins golden bear award; The silver bear went to Hungarian director BEnce Fliegauf for "Just the wind".

• Latvians script their own future, votes against having Russian as their second language

• Somali deal for government structure
  • Somalia's disparate leaders have agreed on the basic structure of a new Parliament and government to replace the fragile transitional body that has failed to bring peace to the war-torn country.
  • Constant infighting, rampant corruption and bloody attacks by Islamist al-Shebaab insurgents undermined the unelected Transitional Federal Government (TFG), whose Western-backed mandate ends in August.
  • Somalia's President, the Presidents of the breakaway Puntland and Galmudug regions, and the commander of the powerful anti-Shebaab militia Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa signed the deal under U.N. auspices
  • The accord proposes a parliamentary system for anarchic Somalia, with both Puntland and Galmudug recognised as states within a federal system.
  • A 225-member Lower House — at least 30 per cent women — will be nominated by “traditional elders assisted by prominent civil society members,”
  • An Upper House of 54 members will also be nominated, drawn from the different regions and clans of the fragmented country.
  • Al-Qaeda allied Shebaab fighters, who control large parts of central and southern Somalia where they are battling African Union-backed government forces as well as Kenyan and Ethiopian troops, condemned the deal.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS AND COLUMNS

• An article on the environmental problems created by the CFLs
• I you have lot of time and want to know the intricacies of the Syrian problem go through this
• Editorial on the problems faced by National Counter Terrorism Centre
• Editorial on the Gorkhaland problem