Saturday, July 7, 2012

HEADLINES

• Court crushes FIR in the Mayawati disproportionate assets case
• Team Anna refused permission to hold protest at Jantar Mantar; Police however say they will reconsider if a new venue is selected
• A computer virus called DNSChanger which becomes active on July 9 may cut access to over 3 lakh computers worldwide

NATIONAL NEWS

• Saving the MGNREGS will head National Advisory Council's agenda
  • Saving the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) — the centrepiece of UPA-I’s achievements in the social welfare sector — from its many critics in government and the media who view it as a drain on the exchequer will head the Sonia Gandhi-led NAC’s agenda in the coming months;
  • At a meeting of the reconstituted NAC on Friday, its members discussed the role a re-energised MGNREGS could play in alleviating the condition of the very poor, currently facing the threat of a failed monsoon and an impending drought: in this context, it was felt that there was a critical need for public works may arise in many States;
  • The NAC Working Group on Transparency, Accountability and Governance, headed by Aruna Roy, has, therefore, been mandated to hold consultations in co-ordination with the Ministry of Rural Development and the State governments “to measure the impact of the Act so far, monitor implementation of the scheme and suggest effective institutional measures”;
  • Ms. Roy submitted a letter to Ms. Gandhi, pointing out that after an initial period of enthusiasm and significant progress, the MGNREGS was facing several challenges in basic implementation. Simultaneously, despite its seminal achievements, it was at the receiving end of a series of hostile critiques, not based on rigorous evaluation. She said it was crucial to interface with workers on issues such as work on demand; wages and timely payments; expanding the scope of works, ensuring better quality assets; transparency, accountability and social audit.
• Remains of 17th century mosque discovered near Delhi Metro
  • A day after the archaeological remains of a structure, supposed to be the 17th Century ‘Akbarabadi Masjid’, were found at Subhas Park in the Capital, it still remained unclear if this development was going to affect the Jama Masjid metro railway station which is scheduled to come up at the park as part of expansion of the third phase of Delhi Metro;
  • Delhi Metro Rail Corporation officials are yet to receive any communication from the Archaeological Survey of India and the National Monument Authority with regard to the remains of the ‘mosque’ that have been discovered very close to the alignment of Delhi Metro’s Central Secretariat-ITO-Delhi Gate-Kashmere Gate corridor;
  • A few months ago it was decided that a small team comprising officials from the National Monuments Authority, the ASI and the DMRC would examine various monuments lining the “heritage corridor” of the Delhi Metro.
• India, Mauritius to fast-track preferential trade agreement
  • Realising that time had come to diversify commercial exchanges and exploit the full potential of trade and economic partnership, India and Mauritius have decided to fast-track the negotiations for sealing a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA);
  • India said huge opportunities existed for co-operation in sectors such as agro-processing, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, seafood, automobile parts, tourism and IT. Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $1.39 billion in 2011;
  • Besides petroleum products, India exports cotton, pharmaceuticals, cereals, carpets, electrical machinery and apparel to the island nation. India is also a major supplier of cotton to Mauritius’ textile industry. Imports include iron and steel, optical, photographic and precision instruments and aluminium articles;
  • Mauritius is the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India. The FDI inflows from Mauritius stood at 464.80 billion. Indian investment in Mauritius amount to about $14.332 billion.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• Nice to be right, says Higgs
  • Professor Peter Higgs, the British scientist who gave his name to the Higgs boson particle, has said it is “nice to be right sometimes” but shrugged off suggestions that he could be in line for a Nobel Prize as a result of the discovery of the “God particle”;
  • Leading scientists, including Stephen Hawking, have suggested that he should get the Nobel Prize for his achievement, but the 83-year-old scientist played down the idea joking that he didn’t have friends on the Nobel committee.
• Argentina jails ex-dictators for baby theft
  • Former Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla was convicted and sentenced to 50 years on Thursday for a systematic programme to steal babies from prisoners who were kidnapped, tortured and killed during the military junta’s war on Leftist dissidents three decades ago;
  • Argentina’s last dictator, Reynaldo Bignone, also was convicted and got 15 years. Both men already were in prison for other human rights abuses;
  • The baby thefts set Argentina’s 1976-1983 regime apart from all the other juntas that ruled in Latin America at the time. Videla and other military and police officials were determined to remove any trace of the Leftist guerilla movement they said threatened the country’s future. Many were raised by military officials or their allies, who falsified their birth names, trying to remove any hint of their Leftist origins.
• Pakistan plans a new law to save Premier
  • Ahead of the next hearing of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case by the Supreme Court next week, the government hopes to put in place a contempt law that will provide immunity to senior government functionaries for their executive actions and save Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf from meeting the same fate as his predecessor;
  • Since the draft legislation — cleared by the Cabinet on Wednesday — requires only a simple majority for it to be passed by both Houses of Parliament, the government is hoping to have it in place before the next hearing of the NRO case on July 12. Parliament has been convened for the purpose amid fears that the bill may open another avenue for confrontation between the executive and the judiciary.

EMINENT PERSONS IN THE NEWS

• Read this article about the reknown diplomat, Gopalaswami Parthasarathi

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this editorial about Saudi's decision to finally send women to the Olympics
• Read this editorial on the Japanese report which highlights that the Fukushima disaster was man-made
• Read this simple explanation on the discovery of the Higgs Boson
• Read this article on territorial conflicts in the south China sea