Thursday, March 29th, 2012

HEADLINES

• Army chief's leaked letter to PM puts centre in a fix.
• Centre stays execution of Rajaona
• US to increase HIB visa fees
• New version of BrahMos(Supersonic cruise missile) tested. It was a textbook launch.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Cancer killed 5.56 lakhs in India in 2010
  • The 30-69 age group accounted for 71 per cent (3,95,400) of the deaths.
  • cancer alone accounted for 8 per cent of the 2.5 million total male deaths and 12 per cent of the 16 million total female deaths in this age group.
  • At nearly 23 per cent, oral cancer caused the most deaths among men. It was followed by stomach cancer (12.6 per cent) and lung cancer (11.4 per cent). In the case of women, cervical cancer was the leading cause (about 17 per cent), followed by breast cancer (10.2 per cent).
• US simplifies Visa rules to woo Indian tourists
  • Seeking to tap India's massive outbound tourism potential, the United States has launched the Indian Chapter of Visit U.S. Committee (VUSACOM), providing for simplification of visas for tourists.
  • This newly formed chapter is supported by and will function under the guidance of the U.S. Commerce Department, which comprises leading travel companies in India.

INTERNATIONAL

• Ruling on execution drugs will have an echo in India
  • A U.S. judge has ordered the Food and Drug Administration regulator to immediately notify state correctional departments across the country that the use of foreign-manufactured sodium thiopental, a drug used in executions, is prohibited by law and that, any vials of the drug that they possessed must be returned at once to the FDA.
  • This week's judgment will also echo in India, where some firms were tapped as potential suppliers of the drug.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS AND COLUMNS

• A local solution to the problem of hunger

ECONOMICS

• BRICS for collective action to deal with EU debt crisis
  • Expressing concern over the continued debt crisis in the European Union zone and its fallout on the world economic order, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), on Wednesday, called for a collective action to deal with the situation.
  • The BRICS members also raised concerns over the impact of rising crude oil prices in the wake of sanctions being imposed by Europe and the U.S. on Iran.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• Strength of Aerogel
  • A pound of aerogel, an amazing, ultra lightweight material, is enough to build a boat capable of carrying half tonne loads, says a study.
  • Aerogel, a buoyant material, is among the lightest solid substances on earth. Composed of tiny nano-fibrils, it is derived from plant cellulose and mimics the water strider, an insect which can walk on water on long, thin feet