Friday, August 3, 2012

HEADLINES

• Team Anna decides to call off fast and give people a political alternative
• The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha swept all 45 seats in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. It won 28 seats uncontested and results for the remaining seats that went to the polls were declared yesterday
• The crucial south-west monsoon rains will be deficient this year, the India Meteorological Department said on Thursday, amid the first indications of a drought-like situation in three years

NATIONAL NEWS

• Questions raised in relation to the Kudankulam project
  • As the much-delayed Kudankulam atomic power project in Tamil Nadu moves towards commissioning, questions have arisen over the applicability of the nuclear liability law on the subsequent units at the same site;
  • The agreement to set up nuclear plants at Kudankulam was signed with Russia over a decade ago when the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act was not enacted;
  • It is learnt that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has sought the views of the Law and the External Affairs Ministries on the applicability of the liability law to units 3 and 4, for which Russia has agreed to give India a soft loan of $ 3.5 billion;
  • Sources said the government wanted clarity on the applicability of the law before taking a final decision to ensure unambiguity in the future while dealing with the issue with other countries. The agreements with Russia were signed over a decade ago when the liability law was not in place. Now a decision has to be taken as India and Russia move ahead with units 3 and 4;
  • India had signed agreements with France and the US for setting up nuclear plants in the country. An offer made by South Korea to set up plants in India was also under examination;
  • The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill was passed by Parliament in 2010 which gives the nuclear operator a right to demand compensation from a supplier in case faulty equipment leads to a mishap at the plant;
  • Sources say that the Prime Minister asked the DAE how the provisions of the 2010 Act could be overruled and suggested the matter be referred to the Ministries of Law and Justice and External Affairs. In his notings, he also expressed the fear that other supplier nations would demand that NPCIL grant them a similar exemption from those provisions of the law that they did not like.
• India-Israel sign MoU on research programme
  • India and Israel entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for launching a programme that would promote collaborative research across a wide range of disciplines from medical and information technology to social sciences, humanities and arts;
  • The programme, which will run for five years, will provide support up to $1,00,000 a research project for three years. The MoU was signed by Professor Geiger of the Israel Science Foundation and Chairman of University Grants Commission Ved Prakash;
  • The programme was initiated during a recent visit of Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal to Israel.
• If you distort policy it is not First-Come-First-Served (FCFS) says Chief Justice of India
  • The Supreme Court, hearing the Presidential Reference on ‘2G judgment’, has said the FCFS policy for allotment of spectrum was fine but its implementation was flawed. Chief Justice of India Kapadia, heading a five-judge Constitution Bench, made this observation while seeking a clarification from Attorney General Vahanvati on the distinction between the 2001 telecom policy and the 2007 policy, on the basis of which spectrum was allocated;
  • The AG said the FCFS policy had been there from 2001 but there were not many telecom players then. The applicant who fulfilled the eligibility criterion would be given a Letter of Intent. Thereafter he would have to pay the licence fee within a prescribed period. The objective of the 2001 policy was to attract more players so that people would get the benefit of lower charges. Under the 2007 policy, an applicant would have to pay an entry fee of Rs.1,600 with his application, which was not the case earlier. The AG also explained how the cut-off date for receipt of applications was changed in 2007;
  • The CJI, referring to a finding in the 2G judgment that the FCFS policy was per se violative of Article 14, told the AG: “The moment you change the criterion and distort the policy, it ceases to be FCFS policy. If you insist on making payment at the last minute after changing the cut-off date, then it is not FCFS, it is an out-of-turn policy. If you [Government] are obliterating the FCFS queue and insist on those who make the payment first, then the FCFS policy is distorted. You have not only changed the modality but also the criterion. The FCFS policy can’t be faulted if you had not insisted on making payment first.”
• Research in Motion says Blackberry encryption key cannot be shared with India
  • After a lull, the tussle between the Centre and BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) has resumed, and now seems to be heading for a showdown. While a recent government note states that the Canadian firm is developing a platform for Indian law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to monitor all types of BlackBerry services, RIM has claimed that its encrypted BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) cannot be accessed as only customers possess its keys;
  • Pointing to the security requirements of Indian LEAs including the Intelligence Bureau, a Department of Telecommunications (DoT) note says the issue of encryption is being dealt with on a larger platform covering almost all possible services including BlackBerry Messenger Service and BES;
  • Another internal note says RIM has asked cyber-intelligence solutions provider Verint to develop a monitoring platform for Indian LEAs, which will be tested by the DoT’s security wing and LEAs. Due to security reasons, this facility will be under the control of Indian LEAs, as demanded by the Ministry of Home Affairs, which will monitor traffic flowing through BlackBerry devices;
  • RIM will also provide separate logs of administrative operations and maintenance of the system, which the DoT may audit on request. RIM has also agreed to disconnect the Internet-based remote (offshore) maintenance system, while it has already given LEAs access to its consumer services including BBM in January, 2011;
  • However, RIM has denied that it was giving Indian LEAs any access to secure, encrypted BES stating that the encryption keys for the same are only in the hands of the customer.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• The widespread power blackout across India earlier this week holds lessons for China which is beginning to grapple with its own “development bottlenecks”, said a Chinese State-run newspaper on Thursday

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this article about the recent power problems in North India and India's power scarcity
• Read this article on global healthcare in light of the Rio+20
• Read this editorial on the problems in Ghana after the death of its president
• Read this article about the Singapore Cherry Tree which is recognised as a key in the reforestation drive world-wide as it can grow in poor situations as well
• If you have time, read this article on the NCERT cartoon controversy