Tuesday, 18th June, 2013

HEADLINES

• Couples who have pre marital sex are considered to be married : HC
• China logs on to the world's fastest super computer

NATIONAL NEWS

• China logs on to world's fastest super computer
  • According to a survey results announced Tianhe-2, a supercomputer developed by China’s National University of Defense Technology, achieved processing speeds of 33.86 petaflops (1000 trillion calculations) per second on a benchmarking test.
  • Its main rival, the U.S.-designed Titan, had achieved a performance of 17.59 petaflops per second, the survey said. Five of the world’s 10 fastest computers are installed in the U.S., the survey said, with the two in China, two in Germany and one in Japan.

• Parties cannot issue whips to MLA's in rajya shabha polls
  • Election Commission sources said even if some MLAs cross vote action would not attract disqualification under the 10{+t}{+h}Schedule of the Constitution of India (Article 102 (2) and 191 (2).
  • “As such, political parties cannot issue any whip, like they do in the Legislative Assembly, asking their MLAs to vote for a particular candidate. They can issue instructions but it is left to political organisations to take action as they deem fit if an MLA defies the party‘s order,

• Article on the controversy between planning commission and I&B ministry on the expenses in the social media project

• Kerala tops in crime graph, says NCRB figures
  • Crime rate statistics in terms of offences coming under the ambit of the Indian Penal Code during 2012 have put Kerala on top with 455.8 cases for every 1,00,000 persons. National Crime Records Bureau figures put Madhya Pradesh, with a rate of 298.8, second, and Tamil Nadu, with a rate of 294.8, third.
  • In terms of absolute numbers, Madhya Pradesh is the topper with 2,20,335 offences. Maharasthra follows with 2,02,700 cases registered. Tamil Nadu comes third with 2,00,474 cases. Here Kerala is in the seventh position with 1,58,989 cases.
  • Among the cities, Kochi is on top with a rate of 817.9. Indore follows with 762.6. Gwalior comes third with a figure of 709.3. Kollam comes fourth with a rate of 637.3.
  • State-wise, the highest rate of violent crimes is reported from Assam (54.2), followed by Manipur (44.6), Kerala (42.7) and Delhi (34.7).

• Crisis looms as country faces TB drugs stock out
• CMS to plug loop holes in phone tapping
  • The Centre is all set to roll out the Central Monitoring System (CMS) that will allow law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to tap phones from under one roof. Set up by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the new facility will give LEAs direct access to all service providers , but only after getting permission from authorities concerned

OPINION/EDITORIALS

• Article on the ishrat jahan encounter
• Article on the Srilankan tamil issue
• Article on what Rouhani's election means to the US
• Article on Consitutional amendments required to tackle Naxalism
• Editorial on monetary policy and rupee volatility