Friday, September 7, 2012

HEADLINES

• BJP continues to stall Parliament; Constitution Amendment Bill to provide reservation in job promotions for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes does not move anywhere

NATIONAL NEWS

• Good news for single women in the 12th plan
  • The Planning Commission is pushing for special dispensation for single women, particularly those who are single by choice, under various Govt schemes in the 12th Five Year Plan. In addition to reserving a certain percentage of jobs for single women under Centrally sponsored schemes, the Plan panel has proposed promoting and strengthening federations of single women at the block and district levels;
  • So far the recognised categories of single women are widows and divorcees. But there are a large number of women who have remained single by choice. The Plan will now provide provision for them independently in such schemes and not clubbed with their families;
  • While the Union Ministry of Women & Child Development has been taken on board on this, other Ministries and States will be asked to add “gender” component in their scheme if the 12th Plan Approach Paper proposals are approved by the full Planning Commission this month and the National Development Council some time next month;
  • The Planning Commission has proposed that schemes like the Indira Awas Yojana and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme should earmark a percentage for single women.
• Air India all set to fly Dreamliner at last
  • After a four-year delay, Air India (AI) on Thursday took delivery of the first long-haul Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Boeing in US. It will take off on Friday and land in Delhi on Saturday;
  • AI, which placed orders for 27 of these aircraft six years ago, will get delivery of two more airplanes within the next few weeks. The first batch was supposed to be delivered in September 2008 but design and production issues at Boeing caused delay;
  • The Union Cabinet recently cleared the compensation package between AI and Boeing for the delayed delivery of aircraft. AI intends getting 14 of them by March next and plans to launch flights in long-haul international sectors, including new services to Australia;
  • The Dreamliner has the range and capability to allow AI to deploy the Dreamliner on many routes including the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Australia. The plane is made of carbon composite material, which makes it lightweight and therefore fuel efficient. Boeing claims it consumes 20 per cent less fuel than similar-sized B-767s. The airplane has 18 business class seats and 238 in the economy class.
• Environment Ministry bats for endangered island bird
  • The Environment Ministry has taken the side of conservationists fighting for the survival of 300-odd Narcondam hornbills, threatened by a Coast Guard plan to set up a radar surveillance system on the tiny island in the Andamans where the birds make their home;
  • Conservationists had raised a red flag after the Coast Guard asked for the diversion of a little more than half-a-hectare of forestland, to set up a static radar sensor unit as part of a chain of similar units all along the coast for remote monitoring;
  • On August 31, the Ministry of Environment and Forests issued an order rejecting the proposal, suggesting that the Coast Guard explore other options, “like installation of off-shore structures and several other viable options…which can spare the unique habitat of Narcondam Island from disturbance,” pointing out that “there is no such option available for the hornbill whose survival may get seriously threatened if the establishment of proposed radar is allowed on the Narcondam Island”;
  • The island in question spans less than seven square kilometres, and its mixed tropical forests are the only place in the world where these colourful birds are found. During the time of egg-laying and chick-rearing, the female birds shed their flight feathers, rendering them as vulnerable as the now-extinct — and similarly flightless — dodo;
  • The Coast Guard has now been asked to set up an expert committee to “study and explore other alternatives like aerial, satellite, off-shore, ship-based or land-based surveillance systems at other islands, for ensuring the defence and economic security of the country.”
• UNDP plans sustainable development programme for Kerala
  • The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is working on a detailed project report for a Rs.100-crore programme aimed at promoting sustainable development and addressing the challenges of climate change in Munnar;
  • Named Sustainable Multiple Use Management of Mountain Landscapes in Kerala, the programme is to be implemented as a joint initiative of the UNDP and the Global Environment Fund (GEF), through the Environment Ministry and the State government;
  • the programme was aimed at creating a common platform for all agencies working at the landscape level and enabling them to build a knowledge base for sound decision making. It seeks to mainstream biodiversity conservation into the production sector and ensure livelihood support for local communities. It will also prepare the communities for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
• Indicating that it is upbeat on India, US aircraft manufacturer Boeing has announced that India will have the highest passenger traffic growth in the world and will need 1,450 new planes worth $175 billion by 2031

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• Airstrikes on Libya violate UNSC resolution, says India
  • India told a United Nations meeting on the “responsibility to protect” (R2P) concept that the western airstrikes on Libya were a complete violation of the U.N. Security Council’s resolution number 1973;
  • While this concept grew out of genocide and ethnic cleansing in Rwanda and Srebrenica in the 1990s, it was perhaps because of the lack of oil there that the important members of the international community decided not to act in both the places, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Hardeep Singh Puri said at an interactive dialogue on the report of the U.N. Secretary-General on the “Responsibility to Protect: Timely and decisive action”;
  • He outlined three fundamental aspects of the concept as India sees them: (i) R2P cannot be used to address all social evils, including violations of human rights and humanitarian law. Rather it must only be confined to the four identified crimes, i.e., genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity; (ii) the default response of the international community cannot be coercive measures under Chapter VII of the UN Charter; and (iii) in reality R2P cannot be seen as a pretext for humanitarian intervention, “a concept riddled with inconsistencies and driven by selfish motives on the part of the developed nations’’;
  • He said R2P also cannot turn out to be a tool legitimising big power intervention on the pretext of protecting populations from the violations of human rights and humanitarian law. It cannot be seen as codifying a system of coercion, providing a tool in the hands of powerful governments to judge weaker states, and encourage regime change primarily on political considerations.
• China says its defence minister's visit to India a success; is silent on cash gift to pilots
  • China on Thursday termed the five-day visit of General Liang Guanglie to India a success, but declined to comment on the Defence Minister’s decision to hand over cash gifts to two Indian Air Force pilots;
  • General Liang handed over two envelopes containing Rs.50,000 each to show his appreciation to the two IAF pilots who had flown him from Mumbai to New Delhi earlier this week. He concluded his visit to India on Thursday, flying to Laos, where he will hold talks before returning to Beijing;
  • While it is a normal custom for visiting dignitaries to present mementos as a token of appreciation, cash gifts are rarely offered. Officials suggested that the visiting Minister was probably not briefed on protocol followed in India. Cash gifts are common in China;
  • Both sides agreed to push forward China-India relations, step up military-to-military exchanges and work jointly to maintain the momentum of China-India relations.
• Six years after Nepal’s Maoists entered open politics and signed a peace treaty, the United States has finally lifted its “terrorist” tag for the country’s ruling party

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this article on fuel price deregulation in India and why it is required
• Read this editorial on the new prevention of sexual harassment bill recently passed by the Lok Sabha
• Read this article on how Bangladesh is doing better than India on several social indicators

ECONOMY & BUSINESS NEWS

• Supreme Court ruling on arbitration brings cheer to foreign investors
  • In a judgment which is expected to boost foreign investment, the Supreme Court, on Thursday, held that Indian courts have no jurisdiction to pass interim orders in foreign arbitration awards between an Indian company and a foreign company under the provisions of the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996;
  • Note: Part I of the Arbitration Act deals with arbitrations conducted in India, and Part II deals with arbitrations conducted outside India;
  • The Court said “if the arbitration agreement is found or held to provide for a seat/place of arbitration outside India, then the provision that the Arbitration Act, 1996, would govern the arbitration proceedings would not make Part I (relating to domestic arbitration) of the Arbitration Act, 1996, applicable or enable Indian courts to exercise supervisory jurisdiction over the arbitration or the award”;
  • In the Bhatia International case, the Supreme Court, in 2002, had held that Part I of the Arbitration Act, dealing with the power of a court to grant interim relief, could be applied to arbitration disputes with a foreign seat unless the parties specifically opted out of such an arrangement. As a result, various High Courts had entertained appeals and were passing interim orders against such awards. The present Constitution Bench judgment overrules the 2002 ruling;
  • The Court said “We are of the considered opinion that Part I of the Arbitration Act, 1996, would have no application to International Commercial Arbitration held outside India. Therefore, such awards would only be subject to the jurisdiction of the Indian courts when the same are sought to be enforced in India in accordance with the provisions contained in Part II of the Arbitration Act, 1996.”
• The Govt may allow foreign firms to bid for spectrum and form their Indian ventures later, as against the present rule that they set up joint ventures before entering auction. At the time of the 3G auction, this was allowed

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• Read this article on some of the findings of the human genome project