Tuesday, August 28, 2012

HEADLINES

• Prime Minister Singh says the CAG report on coal block allocation is flawed and questionable on several technical points
• Arvind Kejriwal and his five associates have been named in the cases registered by the Delhi Police in connection with the protests organised against the alleged scandal in coal block allocations
• The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Centre to complete the 2G spectrum auction by January 11, 2013. It said it would initiate contempt proceedings if the government failed to do so before the new deadline
• The BCCI has decided to recommend the former cricket captain, Rahul Dravid, and opener Gautam Gambhir for the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri awards respectively

NATIONAL NEWS

• Mobile base station radiation limit will be cut from September 1
  • The Centre has told Parliament that the exposure limit for radio frequency fields (base station emissions) will be brought down to 1/10th of the existing level from Sept 1. This direction was to have been implemented from April 1. However, on an examination of the impact of the revised Electric and Magnetic Field (EMF) exposure limit on area coverage and exclusion zone, self-certification compliance with the new norms has been extended;
  • The Govt’s commitment came in response to petitions in High Courts and the Supreme Court on fears of health hazards from mobile towers. There is a common perception that there is radiation from mobile towers. In reality, radiation is emitted from base stations atop mobile towers and is called radio frequency field (base station emissions);
  • The issue of mobile tower radiations causing cancer has been a cause for concern to people across the country. In the past few months, members of civil society and resident welfare associations across the nation have been opposing the installation of new towers in their localities and questioning the continuance of the existing ones. The government’s move might help to allay some of their fears;
  • The Govt got support to its position the World Health Organisation (WHO) in its report on Electromagnetic Fields and Public Health (Base Stations and Wireless Technologies), which concludes: “Considering the very low exposure levels and research results collected to date, there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak RF signals from base stations and wireless networks caused adverse health effects.”
• Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill cleared
  • The Bill has been cleared by the Cabinet and is to be tabled in Parliament in the ongoing Parliament session, envisages a hefty penalty for employing people for this inhuman practice and in the hazardous job of cleaning septic tanks and sewers;
  • Under the law, every insanitary latrine will have to be demolished or converted into sanitary toilets within nine months of the notification of the law. It prohibits any agency or individual from employing manual scavengers and those already in this job will have to be discharged irrespective of any contract, agreement, custom or traditional commitment;
  • An insanitary latrine is defined as a toilet where excreta is cleaned or manually handled before complete decomposition either in situ or in an open drain or a pit. Employing or hiring people for cleaning septic tanks and sewers within one year of the notification of the Act can attract imprisonment up to two years and a fine of Rs. 2 lakh for the first violation. Subsequent instances will attract imprisonment up to five years and a fine of Rs. 5 lakh;
  • No civil court will have jurisdiction in respect of any matter to which any provision of this law applies, and no injunction shall be granted by any civil court in respect of anything, which is done or intended to be done by or under the law;
  • As per the draft of the Bill, the governments or local agencies will help in conversion of insanitary latrines within nine months of the notification of the Act. But non-receipt of assistance will be no reason for continuation of insanitary toilets, which the local authorities will demolish and the occupier will have to bear the cost;
  • The National Commission for Safai Karmacharis will monitor the implementation of the law, while district magistrates will be responsible for implementing it and ensuring that there are no insanitary latrines in their jurisdiction. Monitoring will be done by vigilance committees at the district and subdivisional levels, and state panels will report to the central monitoring committee periodically;
  • Once identified as a manual scavenger, the individual will be given a photo identity card with details of dependent family members; there will be an initial one-time financial assistance and scholarships for his/her children under government schemes;
  • The Govt will provide him/her a residential plot and financial assistance to construct a house or provide a built house under the scheme run by the Centre or the State government or local authorities. Sanitary workers or one family member will be imparted training in skill development and will also be eligible for subsidy and concessional loans to start their own alternative occupation on a sustainable basis.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• Non-Aligned Movement and Pacific Summits crucial for India
  • If the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit taking place in Tehran later this week is the perfect platform for India to position itself as one of the leaders of the developing world, India will also push for permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council at a meeting with 16 members of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) around the same time;
  • The Pacific Island countries (PICs) are small islands, located far away from India, having limited economic resources and small populations. India's interaction with them so far has been limited. They have been supportive of India's initiatives at the U.N. and on other multilateral fora, including the bid for the Permanent seat at the UNSC. India's interaction with PICs may be seen in the context of an extension of the Look East Policy, and our growing role in international affairs;
  • While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will head the Indian delegation in Tehran with the unstated objective of showcasing India as a mature participant in world affairs, Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed will be on the Cook Islands to attend a follow-up meet after the PIF summit;
  • The members of the PIF are- Australia, Cook Islands, Micronesia, Niue, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Samoa, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Marshall Islands, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu. Fiji's membership was suspended in 2009 on account of the military coup in the country. New Caledonia and French Polynesia which are independent territories of France in the region, are also associate members of the PIF.
• Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf survived his first date with the Supreme Court with it accepting his plea for more time till Sept 18 on the famous case over asking Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Zardari
• A strong 7.3 quake shook an area in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of El Salvador early on Monday, triggering a brief tsunami alert for Central America and Mexico

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this editorial on the USADA-Lance Armstrong face-off