Friday, 20th April, 2012

HEADLINES

• Agni V propels India in to elite ICBM club
• No change in our stand on Siachen, says Pakistan
• Crude, gold imports widen trade deficit

NATIONAL NEWS

• Agni V propels India in to elite ICBm club
  • India propelled itself into an elite club of nations with Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) technology by successfully test-firing nuclear-capable Agni-V, which covered a range of more than 5,000 km.
  • India joins the U.S., Russia, France and China, which have ICBM capability.
  • With India's policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons, Agni-V will provide the country with depth in deterrence.
    
    
• Concern over delay in floating buoys
  • Undue delay over floating of buoys along prohibited islands of the Gulf of Mannar has caused concern among environmentalists.
  • Demarcation of boundary along the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park (GMMNP) was among the top priorities behind the implementation of a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Global Environmental Facility (GEF)-funded project. The visible demarcation plan was aimed at identifying the prohibited areas — so as to ask the fishermen to keep off from them — where a number of highly endangered marine species, particularly dugong dugons (sea cows), corals, sea cucumbers flourish.
  • The responsibilities of purchasing buoys and floating them along the prohibited areas were shared by the UNDP and the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park, respectively.
    
    
• Centre to instal solar panels in individual houses
  • In an ambitious clean technology initiative, the Centre is planning to install solar panels in individual households. The power generated will be supplied to the house and excess energy directly transmitted to the grid
  • The individual household would be financially rewarded for the quantum of power it contributed to the grid.
  • The new system will be launched initially in Puducherry and extended in a phased manner to other States
    
    
• First Koodankulam reactor may be commissioned by June
  • Expressing satisfaction over the progress in preparing the first reactor of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project for commissioning, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) Chairman and Managing Director S.K. Jain has said the KKNPP was waiting for the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board's clearance for the opening of the reactor pressure vessel for inspecting the internal components' performance and subsequent loading of enriched uranium fuel rods. 20 reactors that are in operation in the country.

INTERNATIONAL

• Clear sense of war weariness at Brussels meet
  • The U.S. and its allies in NATO have finalised agreements to wind down the war in Afghanistan, paving the way for President Barack Obama to announce at a NATO summit meeting in Chicago next month that the nearly 11-year-old conflict is close to an end.
  • The allies had formalised three crucial commitments: to increasingly move the Afghans into a lead combat role; to keep some international troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014, the year all U.S. forces are supposed to be home; and to pay billions of dollars a year to support the Afghan security forces.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS AND COLUMNS

• An article on RTE by the former director of NCERT
• Editorial on Agni V
• Editorial on the mess surrounding Air India