Saturday, April 28, 2012

HEADLINES

• Ex-BJP Chief, Bangaru Laxman convicted of taking bribe in 2001 Tehelka sting operation
• Justice Dalveer Bhandari is elected as a judge of the International Court of Justice
• Pakistani Prime Minister Gilani says he won't quit over his conviction

NATIONAL NEWS

• Navy inducts Stealth frigate INS Teg
  • The Indian Navy added more teeth to its war fighting capabilities with the induction of guided missile stealth frigate INS Teg to its inventory, an advanced version of the Talwar-class frigates which are already in service with it;
  • The weapons suite of the 125-metre, 4,000-tonne frigate includes the BrahMos surface-to-surface missile system, a surface-to-air missile system, 100 mm medium-range gun, close-in weapon system (CIWS), torpedo tubes, and anti-submarine rockets. Teg has incorporated innovative stealth technologies to reduce its radar cross-section, infrared and magnetic signatures, as well as radiated underwater noise;
  • Powered by an advanced gas turbine propulsion plant with state-of-the-art controls to attain speeds in excess of 30 knots, Teg has been equipped with complex automated systems for nuclear, biological and chemical defence, damage control and fire-fighting that can be operated centrally from sheltered posts to minimise casualties and achieve rapid restoration of combat effectiveness;
  • Teg was built in Russia. Commanded by Captain Rakesh Kumar Dahiya, a communications and electronic warfare specialist, Teg has a complement of 250 personnel, including as many as 25 officers. While Teg is slated to reach Indian shores by the latter half of June, the Indian Navy is slated to take delivery of the remaining ships of the Teg-class — Tarkash and Trikand — by September 2012 and mid-2013.
• SMS, IVRS facility for LPG refill to cover entire country
  • The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry has decided to extend the facility to book and refill LPG cylinders through short messaging service (SMS) and interactive voice response system (IVRS) to cover all dealerships throughout the country. The facility has been introduced to reduce irregularities and provide better services to customers;
  • According to Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas R.P.N. Singh, the OMCs — Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) — had introduced the facility of refill booking through SMS and IVRS in 18 States — Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry — and Union Territory of Chandigarh, covering 2,965 LPG distributorships and about 4.36 crore LPG customers;
  • The OMCs had asked LPG distributors to deliver the refill cylinder ordinarily within two working days of booking. However, due to factors such as supply constraints, strikes, road breaches, unplanned shutdown, natural calamities along with huge demand, it was seen that the distributors took more time to deliver the refill.
• Supreme Court sets up panel on norms for issuing SIM cards
  • The Supreme Court on Friday set up an expert panel to recommend within three months the procedure for telecom firms for properly identifying customers before issuing SIM cards to them so that they are not misused by anti-social elements;
  • In the wake of divergent views of the government and telecom regulator TRAI on many issues, including on maintaining database of the subscribers, a Bench headed by Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia set up their joint committee headed by the Telecom Secretary to resolve the issue so that the Department of Telecom can issue the instructions within 15 weeks;
  • The Bench, however, refused to pass any guidelines saying that it has to be decided by the expert committee as the judiciary has no technical knowhow on the issue.
• Bill extends quota for SC/ST, OBCs in Central Institutions
  • The Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed a crucial Bill that extends the time limit from three to six years for providing reservation to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes in the Central education institutions;
  • The Bill also seeks to add a proviso that if there are Central educational institutions in a tribal area, the State seats in those institutions shall have reservation for the SCs, the STs and the OBCs. The State seats refer to seats allocated for eligible students of the State in which the Central educational institution is situated;
  • The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Amendment Bill, 2010, was adopted by voice vote after Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal assured members that the 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs would be fully implemented in the Central institutions well within the three years' extended time period. Besides, 27 per cent for the OBCs, the national policy provides for reservation of 15 per cent seats for the SCs and 7.5 per cent seats for the STs;
  • The Bill says that if the total number of reserved seats exceeds 50 per cent then there shall be no reservation for the OBCs and the total percentage of reserved seats shall be reduced to 50 per cent in all areas except the specified north-east region. The implementation of the Act, took effect from 2008 calendar year, says the amended Bill and thus, the time frame has been extended till 2014 as some institutions found the 3 year deadline difficult.
• Roll back interest on RIDF rates says Jayalalithaa
  • Expressing shock over the Reserve Bank of India's recent revision of interest rate for Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) loans to eight per cent, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Friday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to restore the rate at 6.5 per cent;
  • The rate hike has been made applicable for amounts after April 1 and even for projects which were sanctions in previous financial years;
  • The State governments had been using the RIDF of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) as a cost-effective financing option for taking up various essential infrastructure activities in rural areas.
• Meningitis needs timely intervention, says paediatricians
  • Meningitis is the inflammation of membranes surrounding the spinal cord and brain caused by viral or bacterial infection. Bacterial meningitis and tuberculosis meningitis have the potential to get acute in the absence of timely attention and children under the age of five were more at risk, says a release issued on the occasion of World Meningitis Day (April 24) by Indian academy of Paediatrics (IAP).
  • Sudden onset of fever, head ache, stiff-neck, dislike of bright light, nausea, vomiting and drowsiness are the initial symptoms of bacterial meningitis. Vaccination is a must.
• Light Combat Aircraft: naval prototype undertakes maiden flight
  • The first naval prototype (NP-1) of the indigenously-developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) undertook its maiden test flight on Friday. The Initial Operational Clearance is expected by 2014. This is the naval version of the Tejas, but is expected to differ substantially due to the different work environments they will operate in.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• Bid to restore peace in Mali, Guinea-Bissau
  • West African leaders have decided to send troops to coup-hit Mali and Guinea-Bissau to support their return to civilian rule and demanded coup leaders “return to barracks” in both countries. At an extraordinary summit in Ivory Coast, the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) also said the two countries must prepare for legislative and presidential elections within a year. Growth of terrorism in these regions are also a fear.
• US to pull 9000 marines from Japan
  • The United States said on Friday it would pull 9,000 Marines out of Japan as it seeks to ease a long-running standoff over the future of its huge military presence in one of its top Asian allies. The redeployment will see the troops sent to Guam, Hawaii and Australia;
  • Withdrawing troops was originally part of plans to move a busy U.S. airbase on Okinawa to another area of the southern island chain but U.S. officials decided to separate the two issues due to ongoing opposition to the base relocation. Locals want the airbase moved.
• Space Shuttle Enterprise arrives in New York
  • New York City was abuzz as the space shuttle Enterprise arrived on Friday, flying low over high-profile locations, including the Statue of Liberty, while perched on the back of a 747 jet;
  • NASA is wrapping up the shuttle programme, and Enterprise will become part of New York's Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Enterprise was never used in an actual space mission but was a full-scale test vehicle in the air and on the ground. The shuttle flew from Washington on Friday morning.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this editorial on the issues between Sudan and South Sudan
• Read this article on the renewal of sanctions on Ivory Coast
• Give this article on the Sri Lankan issue

ECONOMY & BUSINESS NEWS

• Cabinet approves signing of new visa pact with Pakistan
  • With India and Pakistan already talking of working out a deal to allow almost all commodities in the positive list to be traded through the land route on the Wagah border, the Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing a new liberal visa regime with Pakistan paving way for easing travel restrictions and increasing people-to-people exchange;
  • With the trade ties leading the way for political decisions on “sensitive issues”, the Cabinet, at its meeting on Thursday, held under the leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is learnt to have given its nod to ease travel restrictions for certain category of people between India and Pakistan. This nod will pave way for signing of a new visa agreement between the two nations and putting into history the 1974 agreement;
  • Officials said the Cabinet had given its approval to signing of the agreement that would allow common people from either country to visit at least three earmarked cities. The businessmen are likely to be issued multi-entry non-police reporting visas and giving access to at least five cities instead of three at present. They will however need to have their credentials verified by the trade chambers on either side. Similarly, it is being proposed, under the new visa regime, that senior citizens would be exempt from police reporting on both sides;
  • The Cabinet nod for a new visa agreement comes ahead of the meeting of the Home Secretaries of the two countries likely to be held in the last week of May or early June. India had already asked Islamabad to propose new dates for the meeting sometime in the last week of May as the Parliament session will end on May 24. The meeting of Home Secretaries is likely to be held in Islamabad.
• NTPC has successfully completed the automation package for the Simhadri Stage-II 2 X 500 MW super thermal power project located near Visakhapatnam. It is NTPC's first coastal-based coal-fired thermal power project
• Five telecom operators, including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone, have written to Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, saying the high cost of airwaves, as recommended by The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), can raise mobile tariffs by up to 30 per cent