Saturday, May 26, 2012

HEADLINES

• Jaipal Reddy, Petroleum Minister, rules out rollback of petrol hike for now. Says the Govt will watch crude oil prices for a while

NATIONAL NEWS

• Bird's paradise to harvest rainwater now
  • The world famous bird haven Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan's Bharatpur district may finally overcome its nagging water woes with preparations to harvest flood waters this monsoon season reaching the final stages. The park, a World Heritage site, has been under severe strain during the past few years after curtailment of its share from the Panchna dam and lack of rain in the east Rajasthan region;
  • The Govardhan Drain Project, work on which started in March 2011, is nearing completion and by the time the monsoon clouds hit Rajasthan some time in the last week of June, the 17.10km long pipeline would be ready to flush water into the marshes of the 29 sq km park;
  • The park, abandoned of late by a variety of breeding birds and migrants due to paucity of water and feed, had started receiving a share of the Chambal waters – brought to Bharatpur town for drinking purposes last year;
  • The Govardhan drain, which originates in Haryana, enters Rajasthan and then winds its way to Uttar Pradesh to return to the State near Santrook village. During the monsoon season an estimated 570 MCFT (million cubic feet) water passes through the canal to drain out to Uttar Pradesh. This is when the Keoladeo Park, which is the breeding ground for a variety of birds in monsoon, would be in excellent shape if it gets 550 MCFT water annually.
• Pakistan not ready to sign liberalised visa agreement
  • India and Pakistan have failed to sign the widely expected agreement on a relaxed visa regime but have decided to explore the feasibility of establishing a hotline between the Home/Interior Secretaries and begin discussing a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT);
  • Though India came here prepared for signing the agreement that provides for group tourism visa and visa-on-arrival for the elderly and children, besides easier business visas, Pakistan from the first day of talks, on Thursday, indicated that while it agreed with all that had jointly been decided at earlier meetings, it needed more time.
• Falling sex ratio impinges on women's rights: NAC
  • The declining sex ratio is not a problem restricted narrowly to the issue of decreasing birth of girl children but is central to women's rights, gender equity and gender justice, the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council believes;
  • A day after the United Progressive Alliance's eighth anniversary celebrations, the NAC met here to consider a draft policy that can address the serious implications of gender imbalance in society, revealed in the provisional 2011 Census report. Council sources told The Hindu that Ms. Gandhi would forward the final version of this policy to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh next week and urge him to draft a national policy on the subject, based on the NAC's recommendations;
  • Topping its recommendations are strengthening the legal regime to prevent misuse of medical technology for sex selection and developing a legislative framework to take into account newer technologies. In this context, the NAC wants the government to consider the implications of fresh legislation such as the Draft Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill, 2010 from the perspective of sex selection as well as to ensure effective implementation of the Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (prohibition of sex selection) Act, 1994 (PC&PNDT Act);
  • The government needs to review the existing conditional cash and other incentive schemes for girl children to see whether they have made any dent, says the NAC draft policy. The sources pointed out that there was a growing realisation that the crime of sex selection was not confined to the poor who might be dissuaded by such schemes from killing girl babies;
  • The draft policy also suggests a national communication and advocacy strategy targeted at behaviour change with a shared core message content, identified target audiences and multiple platforms so that women are projected as useful members of society, rather than as liabilities. It calls for a review of gender-related laws and policies including the dowry prohibition law, amendments to laws related to rape and connected provisions (currently under review by the government), in order to propose amendments or ways for strengthening their implementation. Students and professionals (particularly those pursuing law and medicine), public officials, elected representatives, frontline health and other workers all need to be sensitised through the introduction and development of appropriate course curricula and providing training in gender-sensitive counselling.
• Manmohan Singh to visit Bahadur Shah's grave
  • Some 150 years after the last Moghul king Bahadur Shah Zafar died unlamented in an Englishman's car garage, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will present a chadar at his grave in Yangon, which has been brought especially from the Ajmer Sharif dargah of Sufi Saint Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisti;
  • Denied a pen and paper, the exiled and imprisoned Bahadur Shah Zafar had used a burnt stick to write his epitaph on the walls of the garage in which he gave vent to his loneliness in death — “ Padhne faatehaa koi aaye kyon, koi chaar phool chadhane aaye kyon; koi aake shama jalaye kyon, main vo bekasi kaa mazaar huun” (Why should someone come to pray on my behalf? Or bring me a bunch of flowers? Why should anyone light a candle for me? I am nothing but a gloomy tomb);
  • The tomb is also significant in the context of the freedom struggle. After giving his famous Dilli Chalo (March towards Delhi) call from Rangoon, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had visited the mausoleum to seek inspiration from the last indigenous ruler, even if his territory didn't extend beyond the ramparts of the Red Fort;
  • And there is a colonial link of exile with Myanmar's anti-British King Thibaw, who was despatched to Maharashtra, where he died. It is felt that both shrines are part of a shared historic and cultural legacy, and should be maintained at their present locations.
• 60 fish species counted in Vembanad
  • The fifth edition of the annual Vembanad Fish Count held on May 23 and 24 revealed 60 species of fishes, including seven new to the region. The count organised by Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) attributes the increase in fish wealth to strong summer rains and resultant strong flow of water. The situation could have been much better had the Thanneermukkom barrage was opened in March itself, they said;
  • One of the finds was Horadandia Attukorali (Glow-light carplet), among the smallest fishes in the country. Other finds included Ophisternon Bengalese (Bengal eel), Aplocheilus dayi (Ceylon killi fish), Puntus Madhusudhani (a new species found recently in the Manimala river) and Eleotris fusca (dusky sleeper).
• Western Ghats expert's panel report out in the public domain
  • Recommending scrapping of two controversial hydro-power projects in Karnataka and Kerala that had run into difficulty due to opposition from environmentalists, the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) has suggested appointment of a statutory authority to protect the Ghats;
  • The report of the panel, headed by Madhav Gadgil, formerly with the Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore, has called for cancellation of Karnataka's Gundia and Kerala's Athirapally hydro-projects, and gradual phasing out of mining activities in ecologically highly-sensitive areas of Goa by 2016;
  • The report has been put up on the website of the Union Ministry of Environment & Forests, following directions from the Central Information Commission and a court directive, for comments, with a disclaimer that it hasn't been formally accepted by the Ministry, and was being analysed and considered by the Ministry;
  • The expert panel set up in 2010 suggests the constitution of a Western Ghats Ecology Authority (WGEA) as a statutory authority appointed by the Ministry of Environment & Forests, with the powers under Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The Western Ghats have been identified as an extensive region, spanning more than six states, 44 districts, and 142 talukas;
  • Once created, the 24-member body will have ecologists, scientists, representatives of civil society, as well as tribal groups, officials from the Union Environment Ministry, Planning Commission, National Biodiversity Authority, Central Pollution Control Board, and representatives of the state government as its members.
• The first look of Indian film-maker and actor Kamal Haasan's bi-lingual spy thriller Vishwaroop will be unveiled at the 13th edition of IIFA Weekend in Singapore on June 8. The film is special as the veteran Tamil and Hindi film actor is not only playing the lead but has also directed and co-produced this expensive venture

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• A two-day joint India-Bangladesh programme to celebrate the 113th birth anniversary of Bangladesh's national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, and the 90th anniversary of the publication of his much acclaimed poem Bidrohi (Rebel) was inaugurated in Dhaka
• SpaceX's Dragon makes historic space station dock
  • SpaceX on Friday became the first commercial outfit to dock its own cargo capsule at the International Space Station, marking a new era for private spaceflight. The California-based SpaceX is owned by Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk;
  • The unmanned capsule is delivering about a half tonne of supplies and science experiments for the ISS, and aims to return a slightly larger load of gear to the Earth on May 31.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this article which rounds-up the current status of the revolutions in West Asia and North Africa
• Read this editorial on the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act which was recently passed by both Houses of Parliament
• If you have time, give this article on the Land Acquisition Act a read

ECONOMY & BUSINESS NEWS

• SEBI tightens consent norms for Insider Trading cases
  • Taking a tough stand on insider trading and other serious offences, market regulator SEBI, on Friday, decided to exclude these violations from the consent order, a window available for settling disputes on payment of a fee;
  • SEBI introduced the consent settlement system in April, 2007, with a view to cutting down on its costs, time and efforts in taking up the enforcement actions. So far, the regulator has passed more than 1,000 consent orders;
  • The modified guidelines, issued by the SEBI, also said that this window would only apply for offences committed two years prior to submission of application to SEBI for a consent order;
  • “Certain defaults, including insider trading, front running, failure to make an open offer, redress investor grievances and respond to the summons issued by SEBI, are excluded from the consent process,” SEBI said;
  • Besides, serious fraudulent and unfair trade practices, which have caused substantial losses to the investors, will also be kept out of the consent order;
  • According to the new guidelines, if an applicant has obtained more than two consent orders, he will not be eligible to file consent application for three years from the date of the last order.