Tuesday, July 17, 2012

HEADLINES

• Voice for Rahul Gandhi to play a larger role in the Congress party and the Govt grows stronger
• Union Urban Development Ministry to set up committee to look into the faults that have lead to the problems with the Delhi Airport metro express that was being operated by Reliance Infra

NATIONAL NEWS

• Truant monsoon may impact Kharif crop, says Pawar
  • While insisting that there was no drought-like situation in the country yet, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar hinted on Monday that the truant southwest monsoon would have an impact on the kharif crop this year. He said it would be a challenge to maintain the excellent performance of the last two years;
  • Food grains production was a record 252.56 million tonnes last year and 244.78 million tonnes the previous year. The Minister admitted that the present situation did not look good. The Minister, however, asserted that there was no drought-like situation in the country yet;
  • Monsoon is said to be 23-per-cent deficient so far, impacting the sowing of crops like paddy, coarse cereals, pulses and oilseeds in parts of the country.
• GAGAN to be launched next year
  • The Airports Authority of India and the Indian Space Research Organisation on Monday started a two-day final system acceptance test of the Rs. 780 crore GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN), which will help smooth transition to satellite based navigation and seamless air traffic management;
  • GAGAN is expected to be launched in June next year, following which India will be the fourth after the U.S., Japan and a consortium of European countries to have Satellite based Augmentation System;
  • Besides Indian Territory, it will cover Africa and Australia and it is interoperable with other systems such as WAAS of the U.S., EGNOSS of Europe and MSAT of Japan.
• The Italian Government and the two mariners arrested in connection with the February 15 killing of two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast moved the Supreme Court on Monday challenging a Kerala High Court order that the two could be tried under the Indian law as they were not entitled to sovereign immunity

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• First woman to head African Union Commission
  • African leaders were divided on Monday over a historic vote that saw the first woman elected to head the African Union Commission, with some hailing the decision as others criticised powerhouse South Africa’s tactics;
  • Many participants in the African Union summit appeared relieved that the six-month impasse over the continental body’s top job had finally been broken on Sunday night when South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma won a tightly fought vote to become the new A.U. Commission head;
  • Ms. Dlamini-Zuma, South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister, beat the incumbent, Jean Ping of Gabon, in a close election. Ms.Dlamini-Zuma (63) is a veteran of the fight against apartheid. A doctor by training, she has also served as Health and Foreign Minister. She is also one of the wives of President Zuma.
• Convicted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was on Monday ordered back to prison by authorities who cited an “improvement” in his health
• North Korea’s influential Army chief has been removed from all of his posts because of “illness”, State media reported in an announcement seen by many analysts as a rare signal of political change taking place under its young new leader, Kim Jong-Un
• Russia backs Syria as fighting escalates; says Western powers is blackmailing Syria

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this editorial on the destruction being carried out in Timbuktu, Mali. You can read more about the problems in Mali in this article
• Read this article about the Naresh Chandra report on defence reforms
• Read this article on the deepening relations between China and Seychelles