HEADLINES
- Scientists cannot remain Idle at Kudankulam warns russian Ambassador
- Kamal Chauhan accepts that he planted the bomb in the Samjhauta express which killed 68 people.
- Air India loses exclusive privilege over all bilateral air traffic rights with foreign countries as the government has decided to allow all Indian carriers to use these rights
NATIONAL
NEWS
- Air India SATS Airport services (AISATS) Bangalore has won the Air cargo terminal operator of the year at this years Indian supply chain and logistics summit and excellence awards.
- The award, instituted by the Indian Chamber of Commerce, was given to AISATS Bangalore for cargo terminal capacity utilisation, level of mechanisation, range of specialised and value added services, IT and electronic data interchange (EDI) system, customer satisfaction and responsiveness, security management, energy conservation and innovation.
- Jairam clears massive outlay for Bihar's rural infrastructure
- “Bihar is a top priority for us with Rs. 8,000 crore being allotted from the Central funds for rural works this year,”
- The amount is a significant jump from the previous year, which saw the State getting barely over Rs. 800 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
- A core network constitutes the network of rural roads in a State necessary to provide basic access to all habitations. While the PMGSY concept is pivoted on the ‘habitation' model, Bihar till now based its core network on a ‘revenue village' approach, which effectively left out sparsely populated habitats in the remote hinterland.
- Scouting for sites to store nuclear – waste : AEC chief
- In a first-of-its-kind initiative, India has begun scouting for deep underground sites that can store nuclear waste generated from its burgeoning atomic power programme for several decades.
- As a first step, the Department of Atomic Energy will set up an underground laboratory at one of its uranium mines to study qualities of the rock at the mine bottom to decide whether it can be used to store nuclear waste.
- The site should not have experienced any fissile event in recorded history and should have a cooling mechanism using air draft, as the nuclear waste would generate decay heat which has to be removed.
- As the Indian atomic programme is committed to following the closed fuel cycle, the final nuclear waste may not have a long half life as is the case with certain other countries.
- The Solid Storage Surveillance Facility at Tarapur, near Mumbai, is used to store the high-level waste after it is immobilised in glass matrix by a process called vitrification.“The facility at Tarapur has an area equivalent to one-fourth of a football ground. This is sufficient to store vitrified waste from two 540 MWe reactors during their full life of 40 years,”
- The low and intermediate level of radioactive waste generated during a nuclear fuel cycle is treated in an eco-friendly way.
- This waste will remain in the facility for 30 years, after which it would be transferred to the deep geological repository.
- The repository will have radiation monitors for timely detection of any radioactive leak in the region.
- Fresh bid to end impasse over Pancheshwar dam
- In a major step forward to break the deadlock over construction of the multipurpose 6000-MW Pancheshwar dam on the Sarada river (Mahakali in Nepal) on the border, New Delhi and Kathmandu will discuss the logistics of setting up a Pancheshwar Development Authority at the first meeting of the Joint Ministerial Commission on Water Resources.
- The Authority is proposed to oversee the implementation of the Rs. 30,000-crore mega project, which has not moved beyond the formulation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR)
- The Pancheshwar project, envisaged on the Uttarakhand-Nepal border, will bring irrigation and flood control benefits to Uttarakhand and Bihar and power to the northern grid.
- For India, maintenance and strengthening of the embankment of the flood-prone Gandak and Kosi rivers are also important and the issue would be discussed at the meeting.
- Jindal prize for Kalam and Santosh Hegde
- Kalam gets the award for his contributions in science and technology, Justice N. Santosh Hegde will be bestowed the prize for his exemplary service in social development.
- “The sole objective of instituting the S.R. Jindal Prizes for individuals and organisations that are beacons of selfless service is to motivate others to come forward and engage in such acts of welfare for Indian citizens.”
INTERNATIONAL
- New UK restrictions to work after study
- Foreign students from non-European Union countries will be required to have a firm job offer of a minimum £20,000 a year from a government-approved employer if they wish to stay on in Britain after completing their studies.
- student entrepreneurs with at least “£50,000 to invest in their business” will also be allowed to stay on and work after their studies.
- Under a new “Graduate Entrepreneur” scheme, up to 1,000 university places will be available for students “working on world-class innovative ideas who want to stay and develop them but do not meet the requirements of the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) route”.
- Amartya Sen receives US award
- India-born Nobel laureate Amartya Sen was felicitated with the prestigious National Medals of Arts and Humanities award by U.S. President Barack Obama for his efforts to increase the understanding of fighting hunger and poverty.
EDITORIALS,
OPINIONS AND COLUMNS
BUSINESS/ECONOMICS
- Pakistan defers plan for negative list
- Pakistan's Cabinet deferred a decision on switching to a negative list approach for trade with India from the present restrictive positive list as they failed to take all stakeholders on board.
- The three MOUs to be signed between India and Pakistan are Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters Agreement, Bilateral Cooperation Agreement on Mutual Recognition between Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority and Bureau of Indian Standards, and Agreement on Redressal of Trade Grievances between Pakistan and India.
- India and Pakistan will also talk about openomg another border trading point at Mona Bao-Khorapar in Rajasthan, which opens up into Sindh province in Pakistan.
- India also indicated that it was ready to put in place a liberal multiple visa regime in place if Pakistan reciprocated on the issue.
- Negotiations are being held between both countries regarding reopening of banking channels on both sides of the border.
- Non banks can set up ATMs: RBI
- “Such ATMs will be in the nature of white label ATMs (WLA) and would provide ATM services to customers of all banks,”
- The non-bank entities, proposing to set up WLAs, have a minimum net worth of Rs.100 crore at the time of making the application and on a continuing basis after issue of the requisite authorisation.
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