Saturday, April 14, 2012

HEADLINES

• India to open FDI age to Pakistan, rules in the making; RBI and State Bank of Pakistan agree to permit bank branches to be opened
• A Kolkata Professor is arrested for circulating a caricature of Mamata Banerjee by email
• Lokayukta court rejects closure report in the Yeddyurappa land grab case

NATIONAL NEWS

• Supreme Court says implement reclamation, rehabilitation plans for mines
  • The Supreme Court accepted a report of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) and directed the implementation of reclamation and rehabilitation plans for all three categories of mines in the districts of Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur in Karnataka;
  • The court said that mining in category 'A' will be decided next week after the issue is examined by the CEC and the implementation plan is in place. When the court heard the argument that such a move would bring economic loss, it said that restoration of environment was top priority.
• Prime Minister says that we must promote endangered folk arts
  • Manmohan Singh exhorted the seven Cultural Zonal Centres in the country to “update their functioning and programmes” in view of the emergence of new facilities and technologies in the world of art, culture and entertainment. Zonal Cultural Centres were set up during Rajvi Gandhi's tenure;
  • He said that the Union Ministry of Culture was studying the report of the committee headed by former Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar which had suggested several changes in the working of these Centres so that they promote those folk arts whose “existence was endangered.” The PM also exhorted these institutions to be more active in rural areas and small towns so that the rich cultural heritage could reach the masses living there;
  • He added that the Aiyar report had highlighted that these Centres were more focused on the urban areas which needed to be corrected. It had also suggested that these Centres should spend at least 70 per cent of their budget on programmes in villages and towns.
• Interlocuters say that Defence Ministry must respond positively to amend the AFSPA
  • The Defence Ministry needs to consider how to respond positively, “rather than negatively,” to proposals for repeal of and amendments to the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, the Group of Interlocutors on Jammu and Kashmir has said in their final report;
  • While stating that the group's impression was that the AFSPA was more the symbol of a problem than its cause, the report went on to add: “But symbols are important for peace processes, and thus the Ministry of Defence needs to consider how to respond positively to this issue rather than negatively”;
  • The Prime Minister's Working Group on Confidence-Building Measures had also recommended reviewing the Disturbed Areas Act and AFSPA, and if possible lifting the former and revoking the AFSPA;
  • The Jeevan Reddy Commission had proposed the repeal of the AFSPA and the incorporation of some of its provisions into a new national law, to be called the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The Ministry of Home Affairs had also recommended several amendments to the AFSPA, which will bring it in line with the Criminal Procedure Code while allowing for the protections for the armed forces that exist in every democratic country. The interlocuters said that rhese proposals should be reviewed by the Ministry of Defence, and a decision taken at the earliest.
• New Liberal Visa regime with Pakistan in the offing, says Home Minister
  • Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday said New Delhi and Islamabad could soon sign a more liberal bilateral visa regime after the Pakistan Cabinet cleared it. He appealed for expeditious dismantling of all trade barriers;
  • Talking to journalists later, Mr. Chidambaram said though details could not be revealed now, the new visa regime would facilitate the movement of businessmen, the elderly, children and spouses. India had already agreed to the new regime, and was awaiting an appropriate decision from the Pakistan Cabinet.
• Additional funds for pension scheme
  • The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved an additional funding of Rs. 2,065 crore for the ‘Swavalamban' scheme and also extended financial assistance to subscribers of the pension programme for another two years. The step is expected to benefit about 70 lakh workers in the unorganised sector till 2016-17;
  • Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said the approval pertained to extending funding for the scheme under the New Pension System (NPS) from three years at present to five years for all subscribers who enrolled during 2010-11 and 2011-12 and those who would do so in 2012-13;
  • Alongside, the exit norms of the scheme have also been eased. A subscriber can exit at the age of 50 instead of 60 years, or a minimum tenure of 20 years, whichever is later;
  • The scheme is a co-contributory pension programme, under which the Union government contributes a sum of Rs 1,000 each year in each NPS account that has a saving of Rs 1,000 to Rs 12,000 per annum. The scheme is aimed to benefit anganwadi and construction workers and occupational classes such as weavers, fishermen, farmers and dairy workers.
• Bifurcation of coast guard may pave way for more focussed operations
  • The proposed bifurcation of the Coast Guard Region (East) which will create a new regional headquarters at Kolkata is expected to pave the way for more focussed operations along eastern coastline;
  • The proposed bifurcation of the Coast Guard Region (East) which will create a new regional headquarters at Kolkata is expected to pave the way for more focussed operations along eastern coastline;
  • With the West Bengal government allotting five acres in Kolkata to establish the new regional headquarters, the proposed North-East region is likely to become operational by May this year.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• China looks to Indian success story to save its mangroves
  • Chinese environmentalists want to learn from India's experience in protecting mangrove forests even as they face an uphill struggle to save their country's wetlands from increasing developmental pressures;
  • In the tropical southern Chinese island province of Hainan, which boasts one of China's most pristine mangrove forest wetland reserves, environmentalists are fighting off a tourism push and new development plans to protect the island's rich and unique ecosystem;
  • At Dongzhaigang Bay, China's first mangrove nature reserve which lies on the outskirts of the bustling provincial capital of Haikou on Hainan island's northern coast, acres of pristine mangrove forests sit beside quiet fishing villages. The 3,300 hectare wetlands here are home to 25 mangrove species besides 194 species of birds, including rare and nationally protected Chinese egrets and black-faced spoonbills;
  • Dongzhaigang was China's first mangrove nature reserve, established in January 1980. But by then, many of China's wetlands had faced significant destruction. However locals are not protecting this mangrove. The reserve, which sits on Hainan's northern edge, was put on the list of Ramsar convention sites — over a thousand wetlands designated by an international convention on wetlands — in 1992, and is now one of 37 protected wetlands in China;
  • According to the Mangrove Action Project (MAP), China's biggest reserve, the 31,000-acre Zhanjiang national nature reserve in Guangdong, was also facing a threat from “the recent rapid expansion of shrimp aquaculture” driven by a boom in the lucrative shrimp production industry.
• Indian Foreign Minister says that India will strengthen SCO by becoming a full member
  • Foreign Minister, S.M Krishna said that India will lend more weight to the Shanghai regional group when it joins it as a full member. “India has something substantial to offer to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in terms of strengthening the group,” he said at a joint press conference with his Russian and Chinese counterparts after the 11th trilateral meeting in RIC;
  • Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow supported granting full membership to India, as well as to Pakistan, which has also sent in its application;
  • Mr. Lavrov said the Shanghai group was now finalising the legal, organisational and financial aspects of admitting new members. He hoped that all formalities would be completed in a short time and we can take the decision to admit India and Pakistan.
• US Bill against outsourcing of call centre jobs get 106 co-sponsors
  • A US Congressional Bill that bars U.S. companies outsourcing call centre jobs from receiving federal grants and loans now has over 100 co-sponsors. The U.S. Call Centre and Consumer Protection Act (HR 3596), introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Tim Bishop, now has as many as 106 lawmakers as its co-sponsors;
  • The U.S Call Centre and Consumer Protection Act, if passed by the Congress and signed into law, would require the U.S. Department of Labour to track firms that move call centre jobs overseas; the firms would then become ineligible for any direct or indirect federal loans or loan guarantees for five years;
  • The Bill also requires overseas call centre employees to disclose their location to U.S. consumers and gives customers the right to be transferred to a U.S.-based call centre upon request.
• North Korea's heralded long-range rocket test ended in failure on Friday, disintegrating in mid-air soon after blastoff and plunging into the sea in a major embarrassment
• Russia, India and China voiced “regret” over North Korea's rocket launch on Friday but opposed new sanctions against Pyongyang and called for restraint from neighbouring countries and the U.N. Security Council
• British Prime Minister David Cameron said that he would support suspending the European Union's economic sanctions on Myanmar, which are to be reviewed by the end of the month

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this article on how to achieve universal health care
• Just glance through this article on the changes taking place in Chinese Govt