Tuesday, February 21, 2012

HEADLINES

• Nitish Kumar, Bihar CM also writes to the PM asking for the NCTC to be modified before coming into force; so far 11 CMs have written to the PM
• IT Department freezes Kingfisher Airlines bank accounts; Govt rules out bailout
• Italian killer marines remanded to judicial custody for 14 days; Italy says that there are considerable legal differences between India and Italy on the issue

NATIONAL NEWS

• Bangladesh, Nepal, India discuss water sharing
  • Bangladesh, Nepal and India are discussing collaboration in river water sharing, which could result in a arrangement for common basin management. The broader idea is to rope in Bhutan as well, where public opinion has not been as vocal as in these three countries over hydel projects and sharing waters of common rivers;
  • Bangladesh has been the most enthusiastic about a sub-regional water sharing arrangement and India, lukewarm. The move is aimed at keeping in step with the other linkages developing among these countries in the form of rail, road and maritime connectivity as also in the power sector;
  • The sources said the tri-nation initiative on a common basin management of rivers could in future be expanded to include other countries, especially China, which is the source to the Brahmaputra, the mightiest river in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent.
• Wide acceptance for India's stance on Maldives
  • The Indian stand on the Maldives — allow the internal process to sort out the issues that has thrown up by the transfer of power from the former President, Mohamed Nasheed, to the new President Waheed Hassan Manik, and secondly, agree on an election date — has found wide acceptance among countries that have a strong interest in the Maldives;
  • The US is fully behind the Indian line. Sri Lanka also has agreed that the internal process should be allowed to continue. In fact, Sri Lanka and India have been on the same page from the day Mr. Nasheed resigned. Senior officials here described the line taken by India and Sri Lanka as one that only close allies can take on such an important regional issue. Bangladesh is also said to have arrived at the same conclusion;
  • Bangladesh has about 80,000 workers in the Maldives, compared to 30,000 from India and about 10,000 from Sri Lanka. The three south Asian countries provide the bulk of the labour force for the Maldives, especially to keep its tourism industry up and running.
• Kerala says that recommendations of the Western Ghats Panel are draconian
  • Kerala has termed some recommendations of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) draconian. In its response to the suggestions of the panel, the State came down heavily on the proposal to decommission dams older than 50 years and said that such a move would leave the state without any power in a few years;
  • Kerala also replied the the Panels suggestion of zoning the area by saying that only 30% of Kerala is currently outside the zoned regions and zoning as per the new norms would impact the state where unemployment was already rising from the 10% mark of the past;
  • Criticising the recommendation for formation of the Western Ghats Ecology Authority, Kerala contended that the proposed WGEA was almost on the lines of the Environment Impact Assessment Authority. The State Government proposed to form the Vembanad Eco Development Authority, and there was provision to form the State river and wetland authority and river basin boards. It said that many of these authorities would have overlapping purposes;
  • The State said the zonation of ghats was carried out without any basis. The panel had also admitted that the zonation adopted was without full set of data as per the criteria adopted for demarcating ecologically sensitive zones, nor had it been able to cover all the criteria owing to lack of time.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• US warns Israel against strikes on Iran
• Kyrgyzstan tells US to pull out from its soil by 2014. US has been supporting its Afghanistan operations from Kyrgyzstan. Recent agreement between members of the CSTO (led by Russia) is that a member state needs approval of all other states before hosting a base for a foreign country

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this editorial on the funding requirements of the Indian Railways
• Read this article about the role for India in Sudan
• Sociology students should read this article on the role of caste in India today
• Read this article on the need for India to study the agriculture sector in light of climate change

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• Read this article on scientists efforts to grow ancient flowering plants ( Silene stenophylla ) from deposits which are around 32000 years old

EMINENT PERSONS IN THE NEWS

• Renowned Rabindra Sangeet exponent Maya Sen died in Kolkata on February 20. A disciple of Sailajaranjan Majumder at Santiniketan, Maya Sen was also trained in classical music by V. V. Wajhalwar. In Kolkata, she started her career as Professor of Rabindra Sangeet at Tagore's ancestral home in Jorasanko and later taught at Rabindra Bharati University where she became head of the department of Rabindra Sangeet.
• Read this article about renown indologist, Frits Staal, who passed away recently. He is world known for his study of the Vedas. Staal is remembered for organising Athirathram, an ancient Vedic ritual involving ‘homas' and chanting in Kerala and documented it through grants and donations from institutions such as Harvard University, Smithsonian Institution, and the Rock Foundation in 1975.