Monday, July 30, 2012

HEADLINES

• Anna Hazare joins the indefinite fast being observed by his team members at Jantar Mantar from Sunday; demands effective Lokpal
• Drought imminent in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Rajasthan

NATIONAL NEWS

• Paleo-river found near Narmada, claim researchers
  • A group of researchers in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh has claimed to have found traces of a paleo-river. A paleo-channel or paleo-river is an inactive river or water stream buried under sediment;
  • Due to geological activities, the nearly 65 million year-old river might have got covered under basaltic lava, said Vishal Verma of the Mangal Panchayatam Parishad. The Parishad is engaged in exploration of the Narmada Valley;
  • The researchers are trying to find out whether the ancient stream has anything to do with the Narmada. It flowed in the same direction — East to West — as the Narmada. The current course of the Narmada is about 10 km from the site of the paleo-river, parallel to it. Further exploration may throw light on the origin of the Narmada.
• First ever Gorkhaland Territorial Administration elections held
  • The results of the first-ever elections to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration may have been a foregone conclusion, but 74 per cent of the electorate turned up to cast their vote in the 17 constituencies where polls were held on Sunday;
  • The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has already stormed its way to taking control of the regional autonomous body with the party’s candidates in 28 constituencies winning unopposed;
  • The Trinamool Congress, the only other party in the contest after all the candidates of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) withdrew their nominations, had also surrendered with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announcing that her party was withdrawing from the race, though the announcement came too late for her party’s candidates to officially pull out;
  • Elections to the GTA’s predecessor the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) (which was set up in 1988) were last held in 1999.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• Basescu's fate hangs in the balance
  • Romanian President Traian Basescu — whose political future hangs in the balance with Sunday’s impeachment vote — is an ex-sea captain portraying himself as a reform fighter but labelled a tyrant by opponents. He was elected in 2004 and steered the country from the former communist regime into a member of the EU. Romania had the fastest economic growth in the EU until the housing and credit bubble burst in 2008;
  • Re-elected for another five-year term in 2009 in a surprise run-off victory, he pledged to “modernise Romanian society” while acknowledging that his planned reforms of the state would run into stiff opposition. He was the one who secured a Euro 20 billion package for Romania;
  • Once considered one of Romania’s most popular politicians, Mr. Basescu has seen his ratings plummet amid austerity cuts imposed in 2010. He slashed wages by 25%, pension by 15% and increased sales tax from 19 to 24% . This resulted in mass protests in Romania. Opinion polls show that two out of three Romanians would now vote for his ouster;
  • The centre-right Mr. Basescu was suspended early July pending a referendum on his impeachment amid one of Romania’s worst crises since the fall of communism in 1989. Mr. Basescu and Prime Minister Victor Ponta, his centre-left rival, have been locked for three weeks in a fight to the finish that raises questions about Romania’s democratic credentials. Ponta came into power without an election when the previous Govt collapsed. Since 2009 he has issued more than 40 emergencies and replaced the speakers of the house and other top officials in the Govt;
  • Mr. Basescu says that as President he has pushed justice reforms demanded by EU, including judicial independence. Foreign diplomats mostly applauded his commitment to fight corruption. For his second term, he pledged to continue to reform the state, even at the expense of the political class, which he never failed to criticise for its desire to hang on to its privileges. But critics have accused Mr. Basescu of doing as he pleases and of polarising society at a time when Romania — a democracy for just over two decades — needs stability. Some intellectuals who supported him in 2004 have backed out — disappointed by the feuds he sparked;
  • The referendum results will be out soon and if Basescu is impeached then fresh elections for president will be held in 3 months.

EMINENT PERSONS IN THE NEWS

• Vempati Chinna Satyam
  • Kuchipudi exponent Vempati Chinna Satyam, who played a crucial role in taking the art form from a tiny village in Andhra Pradesh to the international stage, passed away in Chennai on Sunday. He was 82;
  • Vempati Chinna Satyam made Chennai his home when he was barely 18, and set up the Kuchipudi Art Academy in the city in 1963. The move from Kuchipudi — his native village in Andhra Pradesh — to Chennai marked the beginning of his remarkable journey in the field of dance. His conviction to pursue the art form in Chennai, considered the Mecca of traditional dance, brought him all the way here;
  • In addition to performance and choreography, much of his time was devoted to training Kuchipudi aspirants. Several leading artistes of today were once trained by him, including actors Manju Bhargavi and Hema Malini;
  • Vempati Chinna Satyam received several honours and titles, including a Padma Bhushan as well as Kalaimamani from the government of Tamil Nadu.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this article about synthetic biology
• Read this editorial on the Barclays rate fixing scandal
• If you have time, read this column by Aamir Khan on the change that each person can make in society

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• Ultra high-definition TV
  • The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has finalised standards that promise to revolutionise television viewing with ‘ultra high-definition’ pictures of stupendous clarity and size in the coming years;
  • Even as high-definition (HD) TV has been gaining ground over the years, displacing, to some extent, the standard definition TV, the ITU has come up with the latest ultra high-definition TV (UHDTV) standards that will push picture resolution manifold;
  • The resolution of a picture depends on the number of dot-like pixels squeezed into a given area and ‘standard definition’ TV, which has been in use for long, usually delivers pictures of a resolution of 704 or 720 of these pixels across 480 scanning lines. High-definition TV, or HDTV, which has been replacing standard definition TV comes in two formats — 1280 x 720 pixels and 1920 x 1080 pixels, the latter being often called ‘full HD’;
  • The ‘founding father’ of UHDTV was the Japanese broadcaster NHK. This technology is likely to take years to come into play as manufacturers are still shifting to HDTV technology.