Monday, 25th June, 2012

HEADLINES

• Suspense ends; Morsy wins presidency in Egypt
• Jawans lose battle; Little Mahi is dead

NATIONAL NEWS

• bapu's bio toilets set to be the new frontier in rural sanitation
  • Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday announced that his Ministry would soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Defence for installation of bio-toilets in 1000 gram panchayats across the country
  • The project will be implemented in coordination with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at a cost of Rs. 400 crore, which will be provided by the Union Rural Development Ministry
    
    
• G20 talent award for apollo medicare initiative
  • The Apollo Hospitals Group initiative to provide quality tertiary healthcare in semi-urban and rural areas has won the ‘G20 Challenge on Inclusive Business Innovation’
  • The award was presented at the recently-held G20 Summit at Los Cabos, Mexico
    
    
• Defence ministry approves proposals worth 20000 crores
  • As part of its efforts to expedite acquisitions, the Defence Ministry on Friday cleared several proposals worth around Rs. 20,000 crore, including 14 Dornier aircraft for the Air Force, 30 mm guns for the Navy, and regiments of Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missiles for the Army.
    
    
• Service tax on rail first class and AC travelers
  • The Railways have decided to impose service tax on First Class, AC Classes and freight rates
  • With the Finance Ministry not having included the Railways in the exemption list issued on Wednesday, the Railway Board is preparing to levy a 12 percent service tax that was proposed in the General Budget for 2012-13, but was deferred for three months till June 30.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS AND COLUMNS

• Opinion on China's latest spaceflight programme
• A nice article on the idealogical struggle going on in Pakistan's army
• Editorial on RIO +20
• Editorial on egyptian elections
• Opinion on Kashmir issue