Sunday, May 27, 2012

HEADLINES

• Team Anna accuses PM and 14 Cabinet Ministers of corruption and demands setting up of Special Investigation Team of ex-judges of Supreme Court by July 25, failing which they will go on hunger strike

NATIONAL NEWS

• Green tribunal rejects plea challenging nod for Jaitapur plant
  • The National Green Tribunal has rejected a petition challenging the environment clearance granted to the 9,900 MW Jaitapur Nuclear Power Park in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district on the ground that the plea was time barred;
  • The Tribunal dismissed the plea of Janahit Seva Samiti, a non-governmental organisation, challenging the November 26, 2010 Environmental Clearance granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to the project, saying the petition was filed after a delay of 294 days on September 17, 2011 and hence was “grossly barred by time”;
  • As per the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Act, a plea can be filed within 30 days of passing an order sought to be challenged and the Tribunal, to its satisfaction, can condone a further delay of 60 days (under Section 16 of the NGT Act).
• Call to amend rules to increase morphine manufacture
  • Concerned over strict regulation of morphine under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and lengthy bureaucratic procedures that discourage its manufacturing in the country and limits its availability at medical institutions that care for cancer patients, the Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPC) has called for urgent amendments to the NDPS Act;
  • Morphine is a commonly used opioid to treat severe, acute and chronic pain. Oral morphine is traditionally the strong opioid of choice for its established role in cancer pain management. In patients with advanced cancer, there is heavy burden of symptoms and among them pain is the most common;
  • There are two levels of narcotic control laws that govern opioids for medical purposes — the Central law and the State Rules. These laws lay down many requirements for possessing and transporting morphine. Each State has its own rules and procedures to approve possession licences and quotas, export and import permits, transport permits, and inspection of shipments. The current policies were written before cancer pain relief was a priority and before the medical need for opioids was recognised in the country.
• Indo-German project to conserve traditional rice landraces
  • Kerala's Wayanad district has large areas of paddy fields, with many rice landraces cultivated by indigenous tribes, who constitute a large part of the population. Here, the BioDIVA project, jointly undertaken by German and Indian researchers, is seeking to promote agro-biodiversity, enabling small and marginal communities to preserve their traditional knowledge, make a living, and protect the environment;
  • The conservation of traditional rice landraces — local varieties developed largely by natural processes of adapting to the environment — is an area in which indigenous communities have accumulated agro-ecological knowledge. In Kerala, however, traditional rice cultivation is being replaced by banana monocultures. As a result, soils are degrading. Rare varieties of rice are disappearing and knowledge of paddy cultivation is dwindling. Women are the big losers. They have traditionally been central players in rice cultivation, have the knowledge and experience and contribute an essential share to family income. Cultivating and harvesting bananas on large plantations, however, is hard physical labour – a job for men;
  • The BioDIVA project aims to generate knowledge and instruments for a progressive approach in agriculture that strengthens the position of women. The findings will be compiled into an agro biodiversity handbook that will serve as a tool kit for experts elsewhere in the world.
• IAF fighter jets to get advanced oxygen generating system soon
  • The onboard oxygen generation system (OBOGS), a piece of advanced technology that produces oxygen within fighter aircraft undertaking high-altitude, risky, long-duration combat sorties, will be shortly integrated into Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter aircraft;
  • The equipment would enhance the combat quality of airborne pilots and payload of aircraft. This autonomous generation system generates oxygen directly and in unlimited quantity on board fighter aircraft, which carry oxygen cylinders as extra luggage today. Further, it ensures unlimited cruising time since oxygen is no longer a limiting factor, reducing the frequency of ground operations and limiting fire hazards.
• Gates Foundation to support India's safe sanitation campaign
  • Bill Gates will meet Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh to lend support to the cause the Centre hopes to accomplish over a 10-year-period and make sure that all villages are made nirmal grams (clean villages);
  • The Foundation is funding innovation of low-cost toilets and aims at supporting efforts that seek to put an end to open defecation by giving these people access to affordable sanitation solutions. In a bid to address this problem, the Centre has raised the annual allocation to Rs. 24,000 crore.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• Amid strains, India and China look to push trade ties
  • Even as Indian and Chinese officials were engaged in intense consultations to secure the release of Danish Qureshi, a Mumbai trader kidnapped by Chinese suppliers in Yiwu earlier this week, 120 Chinese businessmen gathered several hundred kilometres away at a business event on Friday with a common objective: finding out how to invest in India;
  • At the event, Indian officials courted investment from executives from some of China's biggest corporations, including telecom giants Huawei and ZTE and large infrastructure companies such as the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC);
  • Bilateral trade reached $ 73.9 billion last year, with China once again becoming India's biggest trade partner. While trade between both countries has grown rapidly up from a few billion dollars a decade ago, India's trade deficit with China has also ballooned, reaching a record $ 27.1 billion;
  • The rising imbalance has prompted an increasing number of anti-dumping investigations filed by India, and has also, according to officials, strained the one aspect of the bilateral relationship that has been a strong driver of ties amid persisting political mistrust on many issues. To bring the relationship back on track, both countries have decided that boosting mutual investments can play a key role in deepening ties.
• Buddhist enclyclopedia released in Russia
  • The first encyclopaedia of Buddhist philosophy has been brought out in Russia where Buddhism has seen a revival after the collapse of Communism. The encyclopaedia analyses the philosophical aspects of Buddhism in the context of different civilisations, cultures and religions, including Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. Releasing the book at the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ambassador Ajai Malhotra said the philosophy of Lord Buddha was as relevant today as ever and would continue to inspire generations across the world;
  • Buddhism has been on the upsurge in Russia in recent years, along with Christianity and Islam. Dozens of temples have come up in predominantly Buddhist regions of Buryatia, Kalmykia and Tuva. Buddha's birthday has been made a national holiday in Kalmykia this year and a 15-metre statue of Buddha, the biggest in Russia, is being set up in Tuva.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this article and this article on India-Myanmar relations