Saturday, April 7, 2012

HEADLINES

• Rahul Gandhi defends his ministers who made controversial statements during the UP elections, and says he wants division of UP for better management
• Maoists reject Odisha Govts offer of swap of 23 maoist prisoners for the 2 hostagesl; insist of halting of operation greenhunt and withdrawl of central forces from tribal regions of the state
• The Centre has accepted the proposal to name Bengaluru International Airport after Kempe Gowda, the founder of Bangalore
• National Maritime Day celebrated on April 6

NATIONAL NEWS

• India will see highest urban population rise in 40 years
  • India will witness the largest increase in urban population in the next four decades followed by China, a United Nations report has said.
  • India will add another 497 million to its urban population between 2010 and 2050, while China will see 341 million people shifting into cities, followed by Nigeria (200 million), the United States (103 million) and Indonesia (92 million), according to the U.N.'s ‘2011 Revision of the World Urbanisation Prospects' report released on Friday.
  • In 2025, Tokyo is projected to remain the world's most populous urban agglomeration, with almost 39 million inhabitants, although the population will scarcely increase. It will be followed by Delhi with 33 million inhabitants and Shanghai in China with 28.4 million inhabitants. Mumbai would come next, with almost 27 million inhabitants. All three cities are expecting important population gains.
  • In addition, the megacities in India (Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai) and in China (Shenzhen, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai) plus Manila are expected to grow considerably faster than those in Egypt or Turkey.
• National Rural Livehood Mission to link one woman from every poor family to SHGs
  • The National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) would connect at least one woman from every poor household across the country with self-help groups (SHGs) in five years, Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh said.
  • The objective of the programme is to ensure that in a five-year period one woman from every poor household becomes a member of SHG.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• ICC halts Israeli war crimes investigation
  • The International Criminal Court (ICC) has controversially stalled the bid by the Palestinian Authority (PA) for an investigation into Israel's conduct during the Gaza war of 2008 because Palestine does not have the required legal status of an internationally recognised independent State.
  • The heavy Israeli incursion apparently to curb cross-border rocket fire from Gaza, began at the end of December 2008 and ended 22 days later. It is estimated that the conflict, infamous for the alleged use of phosphorus bombs in populated areas, killed at least 1,166 Palestinians. The Palestinian Authority in January 2009 had approached Mr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo to launch a war crimes investigation against Israel following the Gaza war.
  • In a statement, the ICC prosecutor noted that over 130 countries and some U.N. bodies did recognise Palestine as a State. However, Palestine enjoyed only an observer status in the U.N. General Assembly. The ICC said in the future, it could consider allegations of war crimes committed in the Palestine, provided the Security Council arrived at a decision to recognise Palestine as an independent State.
• Germany strikes deal to tax secret Swiss bank accounts
  • Switzerland has agreed to a revised tax deal with Germany, with Switzerland to pay billions of dollars on funds hidden in its banks by German tax dodgers. The deal was the latest step in an international charm offensive that is meant to salvage at least some of Switzerland's famous banking secrecy.
• Mali rebels declare independence of the north
  • Mali's Tuareg rebels, who have seized control of the country's distant north in the chaotic aftermath of a military coup in the capital, declared independence Friday of their Azawad nation.
  • The traditionally nomadic Tuareg people have been fighting for independence for the northern half of Mali since at least 1958, when Tuareg elders wrote a letter addressed to the French President asking their colonial rulers to carve out a separate homeland called “Azawad” in their language. Instead the north, where the lighter-skinned Tuareg people live, was made part of the same country as the south, where the dark-skinned ethnic groups controlled the capital and the nation's finances.
  • The military chiefs of 13 of Mali's neighbours met on Thursday in Ivory Coast to hash out plans for a military intervention to push back the rebels in the north, as well as to restore constitutional rule after disgruntled soldiers last month stormed the presidential palace and sent the democratically elected leader into hiding. The confusion in the capital created an opening for the rebels in the north, who have been attempting to claim independence for more than 50 years.
• Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika died early on Friday. He was a former world bank economist as well. His Vice-President, Joyce Banda, is next in line to run the country, according to the Constitution.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this article on the reaons why India was forced to vote against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC
• Read this editorial on the elections in Myanmar