Tuesday, August 14, 2012

HEADLINES

• Baba Ramdev fiasco ends in Delhi with NDA support; calls for 'all-out war' against the Congress and black money
• Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission exam cancelled following a paper leak

NATIONAL NEWS

• Siachen integral part of India says Defence Minister Anthony
  • Emphasising that the Siachen Glacier is an integral part of India, Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Monday said the issue that remained to be resolved in Jammu and Kashmir was Pakistan vacating the area under its illegal occupation;
  • Mr. Antony reiterated in the Lok Sabha India’s commitment to resolve all outstanding issues bilaterally and peacefully in accordance with the Shimla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration;
  • He said that the Siachen Glacier was a part of the territory of the State is under the illegal and forcible occupation of Pakistan. The issue that remains to be resolved in Jammu and Kashmir is vacation by Pakistan of that area.
• Aadhaar Phase II to cover 45 lakh in Delhi
  • The unique identification Aadhaar project is back on track in Delhi with the State Government’s Revenue Department launching Phase II of the initiative. It aims to cover nearly 45 lakh people who had been left out in the first phase of the enrolment drive;
  • The only difference from Phase I is that is Phase II the provision of residential address proof has been made mandatory.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• Iran, Saudi Arabia in direct talks
  • Arch rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia would hold direct talks in Mecca to address the crisis in Syria and cool the region’s growing sectarian divide.
  • President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is leading the Iranian delegation which arrived in Medina on Monday — a day ahead of the two-day conference in Mecca of the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The Iranian President is visiting the Kingdom at the personal invitation of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz — in itself a strong signal of the urgency that Riyadh attaches to this meeting;
  • Syria is expected to top the agenda of the talks, where forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad — backed by Iran — appear to have rooted out opposition fighters — backed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey — from the embattled city of Aleppo;
  • Saudi Arabia and Iran have been at loggerheads over the human rights situation in Bahrain, following the intervention of Saudi troops to quell pro-democracy protests. Saudi Arabia, on its part, has been suggesting that Iran is supporting the unrest in its oil-rich eastern province;
  • As the country with the largest reserves of oil, the Saudis are also concerned about Iran’s threats to block the Strait of Hormuz — one of the key arteries through which world oil supplies transit;
  • an’s recent spurt of diplomatic activism includes the hosting of a conference last week in Tehran on Syria in which 29 countries participated. At the month-end, Tehran will also play host to a summit of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM), during which the situation in Syria is likely to feature strongly.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this article on the detrimental aspects of the recent amendment to the Right to Education Act on the disabled
• Read this editorial on India's achievements at the Olympics
• Read this editorial on the issue of the Govt over-managing the Public Sector Banks

EMINENT PERSONS IN THE NEWS

• Read this article about Prof. Krishnamurthi, a renown linguist and a former vice-chancellor of the Hyderabad Central University