Sunday, November 18, 2012

HEADLINES

• Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray breathed his last around 3.30 p.m. on Saturday in Mumbai after days of uncertainty over his health condition. He was 86

NATIONAL NEWS

• Election Commission (EC) forwards complaint against Rahul Gandhi to U.P poll chief
  • The EC has forwarded a complaint, made by Subramanian Swamy against Congress general secretary and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi, to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for instructing the Amethi Returning Officer (RO) to take appropriate action;
  • Dr. Swamy alleged that Mr. Gandhi had given false information that he had no shares and debentures in companies. Dr.Swamy alleges this was a “blatant lie” for, he owned shares in the Associated Journals which ran the now-defunct National Herald newspaper. Filing a false declaration was an electoral offence, Dr.Swamy pointed out and sought action against Mr. Gandhi;
  • The Commission, in its letter dated November 15, recalled the instructions it had given in June 2004 mentioning that the RO concerned was the appropriate authority to look into such complaints (against the candidates). The Commission asked the CEO to keep it informed of the action taken on the matter. The Commission also enclosed the original complaint of Dr. Swamy to the CEO so as to be forwarded to the RO.
• BJP to disrupt Parliament till FDI in retail is withdrawn
  • Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Murli Manohar Joshi has announced his party’s resolve to disrupt the proceedings of the coming session of Parliament till the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government withdraws its decision to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail.
• Chinese film wins award at Kolkata festival
  • The Chinese film 11 Flowers , a period film set in the backdrop of the Cultural Revolution, won the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Award at the 18th Kolkata International Film Festival here on Saturday, the concluding day of the week-long festival;
  • Announcing the award, filmmaker Goutam Ghose said: “Telling an intense human story in the highest cinematic level, the film makes us witnesses of a historical change at the time of the Cultural Revolution in China and reminds us of empathy and human dignity.” Since none from the cast or crew was present to receive the award, it was handed to festival director Jadav Mandal;
  • Directed by Wang Xiaoshuai, 11 Flowers is set in the Ghizhou province in China in the last days of the Cultural Revolution. The narrative unfolds from the perspective of an 11-year-old child.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• Israel strikes Hamas' power centres
  • Stopping short of ordering a ground invasion, Israel has responded ferociously to the Palestinian rocket attacks on Jerusalem and Tel Aviv by demolishing the Hamas headquarters and other government buildings in Gaza with a barrage of air strikes;
  • The Israeli government has so far stayed away from a ground invasion, but more worrying signs have appeared suggesting Israeli troops and tanks may soon roll into Gaza. The Israeli military has blocked three major routes into the coastal strip, suggesting that military corridors were being cleared for the movement of forces and equipment.
• UN meet on Congo
  • The United Nations (U.N.) Security Council was scheduled to meet in an emergency session on Saturday after its attack helicopters launched missions against rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), diplomats said;
  • France’s U.N. mission announced on its Twitter account that it had called for a meeting of the 15-nation body on the offensive launched by M23 rebels;
  • The U.N. Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Monusco) said in a statement that M23 rebels had launched an offensive with “heavy weapons” early on Saturday and that it had put peacekeepers into action as part of its mandate to “protect civilians”. The attack helicopters, provided by Ukraine, were put on standby on Friday after M23, former troops who launched a mutiny in March, launched a surprise attack.
• US lifts Myanmar import ban ahead of Obama's visit
  • Moving to encourage reform in Myanmar ahead of a landmark trip by President Barack Obama, the United States has scrapped a nearly decade-old ban on most imports from the long-isolated nation. The world’s largest economy will open up to products from the country with the exception of gems, a sector seen as a major driver of corruption and violence;
  • Mr. Obama on Monday will become the first sitting U.S. President to visit Myanmar, making a trip that just years ago would have been considered unthinkable. The administration issued a waiver on the import ban, which was imposed by Congress in 2003, and the law remains in place if officials decide to resume the sanctions. The U.S. move could bring major growth to Myanmar’s garment industry, as the United States was once the main buyer of clothes made in the low-cost nation;
  • The Obama administration earlier gave the green light for U.S. companies to invest in oil and gas in Myanmar, despite Aung San Suu Kyi’s warnings that the sector is rife with abuse, although the opposition leader later played down the rift;
  • The U.S. steps follow the European Union, Canada and Australia, which have suspended virtually all sanctions on Myanmar. Japan has forgiven $3.8 billion of Myanmar’s debt.