Friday, 22nd june, 2012

HEADLINES

• AITA decides on two team formula; Paes to partner Vishnu vardhan
• IIT delhi decides to conduct own test next year
• When the race gets over BJP gets Sangma on board

NATIONAL NEWS

• Story from Rio; little to smile about
  • “India disappointed with the weak political will in developed countries to provide enhanced means of implementation to developing countries.
  • But the bilateral meeting with chinese premier went on fine, with chinese infrastructure in India being discussed
  • In the end, the six-day trip by Dr. Singh — two at the G20, two at the Rio+20, 45,000 miles and 50 hours in the air — have perhaps yielded just that, a lot of hot air. Eurozone, said an official, would have been saved even without the G20. And Rio+20, Ms. Natarajan’s warm glow notwithstanding, has left the world exactly where it was before.
    
    
• 6.6 million tonnes of wheat under open skies facing rain fury
  • Faced with a problem of plenty, the Food Ministry wants to limit grain procurement to the needs of the public distribution system. It also wants Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh to include construction of medium-capacity godowns in the national rural employment guarantee scheme to augment the grains storage capacity.
  • For now, the government has stocks to the tune of 82.3 million tonnes, against a storage capacity of 64 million tonnes. Of the 50 million tonnes of wheat, 27 million tonnes are kept in the open under the Covered and Plinth (CAP) method, of which 6.6 million tonnes are stored in an “unscientific way.’’
  • As a contingent measure, the FCI has been directed to raise the stack size in case of both wheat and rice. “This way, the FCI would be able to accommodate 5-10 lakh tonnes more stock
  • As part of an Action Plan drawn up by the Food Ministry, the FCI had been directed to hire private storage space, including those of cooperative sugar mills, and the States directed to go in for creating intermediate storage capacity with funds from the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund.
    
    
• Founding NIA chief Radha Vinod Raju passes away

INTERNATIONAL

• Equador considering Assagne assylum
  • Ecuador’s Ambassador in London on Thursday said that her government would take into account her country’s “long and well-established tradition in supporting human rights” while deciding WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s request for political asylum.
  • Mr. Assange, confined to the small Ecuadorian embassy for the second day, was reported be in “good spirits” as Ambassador Anna Alban held talks with British officials amid reports that a decision was expected “soon”.
  • Mr. Assange sought asylum after Britain’s Supreme Court dismissed his appeal against extradition to Sweden over allegations of sexual assault. He fears that Sweden would hand him over to U.S. authorities who have threatened to prosecute him for leaking confidential state documents.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS AND COLUMNS

• An opinion on the health risks that stalk the Indian youth
• A nice article on the fears of foreign hand in Indian politics
• Struggle against posco
• Justice markandey Katju on why he thinks pakistan's recent court order is a case of judicial overreach
• An important article for sociology students on gender bias