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National Events

Bill coming to set up regulatory body for medical education

Putting to rest uncertainty over the fate of the proposed National Council for Human

Resources in Health (NCHRH), a separate regulatory body for medical education, Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh said a bill to set up the council would be introduced in

Parliament soon.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, after extensive consultations, has prepared a

draft Bill for setting up the council. The Bill will seek to create an enabling environment

that will address issues of quality, quantity and equitable distribution of medical

education resources, Dr. Singh said at the convocation of the All-India Institute of

Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

The Ministry has been demanding a separate regulatory body for medical education,

while a task force, set up by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, has also

prepared a draft Bill for a National Commission on Higher Education and Research

(NCHER) that seeks to bring medical education and legal education under its purview.

The Ministries have been involved in the turf war for several months now. While all this

was on, the Union Law Ministry also drafted a Bill for establishing a separate regulatory

body for legal education.

Announcing the government's vision of making the AIIMS one of the 10 best medical

universities in the world by 2020, Dr. Singh said though not an easy job, the government

would support all endeavours in this direction.

Describing as a good document the Valiathan Committee Report set up following the

agitation against Other Backward Classes reservation to revamp the premier institution

the Prime Minister said the government would consider the recommendations

expeditiously and do what was best in the interest of the Institute.

Sharad Pawar urges northeast to raise food production

Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar urged the north-eastern States to produce more

to ensure food security. His Ministry had taken the initiative, in consultation with the

governments of the region, to design plans for each State keeping in view their distinctphysiography, topography, climatic and soil conditions, he said.

Mr. Pawar underscored need to wean away farmers in the hills from jhum cultivation. He

asked them to adopt agriculture practices that did not cause any harm to the soil and

environment. Special programmes would be initiated by the Ministry in this regard. It

would meet every six months to assess the agriculture scenario in the region and initiate

corrective steps to step up production.

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Sanskriti Express to offer glimpses of Tagore's life

Indian Railway's tableau on wheels featuring the life and times of one of India's most

famous cultural icons, Rabindranath Tagore, is all set to roll into on Gandhi Jayanthi day.

The Sanskriti Express', flagged off from Howrah on May 9 to mark the 150 th birth

anniversary fete of Tagore, is scheduled to reach Chennai Central .The five-coach

exhibition will offer glimpses into the various facets of Tagore as poet, philosopher,painter and musician.

The coaches have names that evoke association with the Nobel Laureate.

Antony launches e-governance projects

Stressing on the need for a quick and timely payment of pension to those who retire from

the armed forces, Defence Minister A.K. Anonty urged the department to use technology

for the purpose.

Launching three e-governance projects of the Defence Accounts Department on itsfoundation day, the Minister hoped this would ensure quick and accurate disbursement of

pension. The three web-enabled online automation projects are: titled Suvigya,'

Aashraya,' and Sankalan'.

Judge visits Gulberg Society

B. U. Joshi, judge of the Special Court hearing the Gulberg Society massacre case of the

2002 communal riots in Gujarat, visited the site for a spot survey.

At least 69 people, including the former Congress member of the Lok Sabha, EhsanJaffrey, were killed in the massacre in the Chamanpura locality of old Ahmedabad city on

February 28, 2002.

.EC rejects Press Council's proposal on paid news

Asserting that the Election Commission (EC) will have to work within the Constitutional

provisions, relevant acts and electoral laws, it rejected the view of the Press Council of

India that its recommendations on paid news should be binding on the EC.

It turned down another proposal of the PCI for deputing journalists/senior citizens as

election observers to monitor paid news. There was no need for this as the EC, through its

circular on June 8, 2010, already directed the setting up of district-level committees and

State-level committees to monitor such news during the polls.

Mr. Quraishi said expenditure observers would be suitably briefed about the issue to

exercise vigilance and coordinate with the district-level committees.

He wanted the PCI to forward a district-wise list of independent journalists/citizens for

inclusion in the committee to scrutinise paid news.


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Opioid substitution therapy being promoted in Manipur to check drug abuse After blockades and bandhs, the most-talked-about subject in the insurgency-hit Manipur,

perhaps, is drug abuse in its latest avatar' of Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST), said to

be a medically-safe drug administered in a safer mode under medical supervision.

The OST, also known as the oral substitution therapy, is proven to have reduced possible

harm like opioid abuse and overdose, the spread of HIV, and other blood borne viruses

like hepatitis-C and infections like abscesses for the drug users.

NACO's support:-

Initiated by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), the

OST programme was made operational in Manipur in March 2006 on a pilot basis. In

January 2008, the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) supported the

programme by funding it partly and integrating it into the existing target intervention

programmes as a component of harm reduction. Heroin and spasmo proxyvon (locally

know as No 4 and SP respectively) are the commonly used drugs in the State.

Water released from Vaigai Dam

Water was released from the Vaigai Dam for irrigation of 1.50 lakh acres of agriculture

lands in Madurai, Dindigul and Sivaganga districts.

Minister for Adi Dravida Welfare A. Tamilarasi released the water.

A total of 1,50,043 acres of land 1,42,008 acres in Madurai district, 1,996 acres in

Dindigul district and 6,039 acres in Sivaganga district would be benefited.

Universal PDS alone will be successful: Jayati Ghosh

All successful programmes of public distribution across societies have been those which

provide universal or near-universal access, economist and columnist Jayati Ghosh said.

This provides economies of scale; it reduces transaction costs and administrative hassles

involved in ascertaining the target groups and making sure it reaches them; it allows for

better public provision because even the better-off groups with more political voice have

a stake in making sure it works well; it generates greater stability in government plans for

ensuring food production and requirement. Dr. Ghosh was delivering the sixth

Brajamohan Sarma memorial annual lecture ..

Among the States of India those that have a better record of public food distribution are

those that have gone in for near-universal access. Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra

Pradesh defined Below the Poverty Line (BPL) in such an inclusive way that the vast

majority of the population was included. This made their schemes close to universal..

Dr. Ghosh argued that the notion that a universal scheme that provided subsidised food to

all households was too expensive was not tenable. If all households in the country were

provided 35 kg of foodgrains, that would come to around 90 million tonnes and at current

levels of subsidy the cost would be Rs. 1,20,000 crore. This may seem like a lot, but the

current food subsidy already amounts to around Rs. 50,000 crore, so this is an additional


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Rs.70,000 crore-or around 1.5 per cent of the GDP. Surely this is not too much to allocate

to ensure that no one goes hungry in what should be a civilised society. In any case,

compared to nearly 3,00,000 crore given away as tax benefits and other concessions to

the corporate sector over the past year, this Rs. 70,000 crore becomes a trivial amount.

Meira to lead team for IPU meet

A delegation of Parliamentarians to the 123rd assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union(IPU) is being led by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.The assembly will be held in

Geneva from October 4 to 8..

DVC gives 200 MW for the Games

The Commonwealth Games, which kicks off, has already started getting 200 MW of power

supply.

Stating that the DVC (DAMODAR VALY CORPORATION) had achieved production of 2,500

MW power since its setting up, he said the public sector has set a target to take it to 10,000 MW

at the end of the 12th Five Year Plan.

The Steel Authority of India and the DVC would go for a joint venture to set up a 500 MW power

plant in Bokaro and an agreement to this effect would be done soon..

UNESCO team to visit Visva-Bharati varsity

A United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) team will

be visiting the Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, this week to consider the

possibility of declaring it a world heritage site.

The Ministry of Culture, through the Archaeological Survey of India, sent a dossier to theUNESCO earlier this year nominating Santiniketan as India's official entry for World

Heritage Sites.

Santiniketan was nominated as the official entry in 2010 keeping in mind that the country

is celebrating the 150 th Birth Anniversary of the National Poet this year.

If the nomination is accepted Santiniketan will become the 30 th site in India to be

declared so and the third in West Bengal. The Sunderbans National Park and the

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, popularly known as the toy-train were declared World

Heritage sites in 1987 and 1999 respectively.

What began as a school in 1901, started by Rabindranath Tagore transformed into a

unique experiment in education. After he won the Nobel Prize in 1913, the school was

expanded into a university. It was renamed Visva-Bharati defining the poet's vision as a

place where the world makes a home in a nest.

Cabinet nod for judicial accountability bill

The Union Cabinet approved a bill providing for a mechanism to deal with complaints against

judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court.


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The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill sets judicial standards and makes judges

accountable for their lapses. It will also mandate the judges of the High Courts and the Supreme

Court to declare their assets and liabilities, including those of their spouses and dependents.

The bill to replace the Judges Inquiry Act retains its basic features, contemplates setting up of a

national oversight committee with which the public can lodge complaints against erring judges,

including the Chief Justice of India and the Chief Justices of the High Courts.

At present, there is no legal mechanism for dealing with complaints against judges, who aregoverned by Restatement of Values of Judicial Life,' adopted by the judiciary as a code of

conduct without any statutory sanction.

The five-member committee will be headed by a retired Chief Justice of India, appointed by the

President, and have a serving Judge of the Supreme Court and a serving High Court Judge, both

nominated by the Chief Justice of India; the Attorney-General; and an eminent person nominated

by the President. This marks a change from the earlier proposal, in which the committee was to

be headed by the Vice-President and to have the Chief Justice of India, a High Court judge and

two distinguished jurists not involved in regular practice of law.

On receiving a complaint, the committee will forward it to a system of scrutiny panels. In the caseof a complaint against a Supreme Court Judge, the scrutiny panel will consist of a former Chief

Justice of India and two sitting Supreme Court judges, and in the case of a complaint against a

High Court judge, the panel will have a former Chief Justice of the High Court and two of its

sitting judges. The members of the Supreme Court panel will be nominated by the Chief Justice

of India, and that of the High Court panels by the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned.

The scrutiny panels will have the powers of a civil court. For instance, they can call for witnesses

and evidences. They will be required to give their report within three months to the oversight

committee. In the case of a complaint against a Chief Justice, the oversight committee itself will

conduct the scrutiny.

On receiving the report from the scrutiny panels, the oversight committee will set up a committee

to further investigate the case. Like the scrutiny panels, the investigation committee will have the

powers of a civil court; it will have the power to frame definite charges.

If the charges are not proved, the investigation committee can dismiss the case. Otherwise, it will

give a report to the oversight committee, which can issue an advisory or warning if the charges

are not too serious. If the charges are serious, the committee can request the judge concerned to

resign. If the judge does not do so, the oversight committee will forward the case to the President

with an advisory for his removal.

In such an event, copies of all relevant documents will be laid in Parliament and an impeachmentmotion moved. In the Lok Sabha, not less than 100 members will be required to move the motion,

and in the Rajya Sabha not less than 50 members will be needed.

Official sources said that besides declaring their assets, judges would be required to file an annual

return of assets and liabilities. All the details would be put up on the websites of the Supreme

Court and the High Courts.

The bill will also require the judges not to have close association with any member of the Bar,

especially those who practise in the same court.


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President calls for movement against dowry

President Pratibha Patil urged women to stand up against inhuman, backward and

retrogressive practices such as male-child preference, female foeticide and dowry. She

called for a movement to protect the girl-child and trees to ensure social as well as

ecological equilibrium.

Addressing the National Conference on Women Empowerment and Save the Girl Child'

organised by Harsimrat Kaur Badal, MP and chairperson of the Nanhi Chhaan PunjabPublic Charitable Trust, Ms. Patil recalled the sacrifices made by women during the

Independence movement.

ED issues Blue Notice against Lalit Modi

The Enforcement Directorate has issued a Blue Notice an international alert to law

enforcement agencies against the former Indian Premier League chairman, Lalit Modi, in its

probe into the finances of the T20 cricket tournament.

The Blue Notice alert, which will be executed by Interpol, has been issued to gather further

information about Mr. Modi's whereabouts and his activities which are not known to the ED as heis in a foreign land, sources said.

The objective of a Blue Notice, according to Interpol, is to collect additional information about a

person's identity or activities in relation to a crime.

Can SC/ST benefits in one State be carried over to others?

Is a person belonging to a Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe in a State entitled or not to benefits

or concessions allowed to SC/ST candidates in employment in another State? The Supreme Court

referred this question to a larger Bench.

A Bench of Justices B. Sudershan Reddy and S.S. Nijjar, in its order, said: A very important

question of law as to the interpretation of Articles 16(4), 341 and 342 arises for consideration in

this appeal: whether the Presidential Order issued under Article 341(1) or 342(1) of the

Constitution has any bearing on the State's action in making provision for reservation of

appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens, which, in the opinion of the

State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State? The extent and nature of

interplay and interaction among Articles 16(4), 341(1) and 342(1) is required to be resolved.

Pranab pushes claim for Security Council seat

With an eye on the approaching India visit of U.S. President Barack Obama, FinanceMinister Pranab Mukherjee expressed the hope that India would be made a permanent

member of the United Nations Security Council, and that despite the global economic

slowdown the Indian government would neither curb foreign investment flows nor allow

itself to slip into an inflationary crisis.

He said trade between India and the U.S. had more than doubled between 2004 and 2008

and as Indian companies sought to position themselves better in the global market place,

they have invested over $25 billion between 2004 and 2009 in the U.S., creating jobs

and prosperity.


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Monsanto against mandatory labelling of GMO product

Monsanto, the biotechnology major, holds the view that mandatory labelling of products made

from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in India would make no sense. It favours options

such as companies voluntarily labelling products as not containing GMOs, and individuals

making a personal decision not to consume food containing GM ingredients.

During an interview with The Hindu group of publications, Gyanendra Shukla, Director

(Corporate Affairs) of Monsanto India Ltd, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

had determined that GM crops did not differ from non-GM crops, and that products containing

GMOs need not be labelled.

Genetic engineering techniques:-

Genetic engineering techniques use DNA molecules from different sources that are combined into

one molecule to create a new set of genes. This DNA is then transferred into an organism, giving

it modified or novel genes. Demand for labelling GMO products has cropped up in view of fears

raised over their safety as food and feed.

New version:-

Having introduced Bt ( Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton, known as Bollgard I, in 2002, Monsanto is

now testing a version of GM cotton that incorporates the properties of Bollgard II and Roundup

Ready Flex cotton. Currently, 250 companies in India sell Bt cotton seeds, most of them deriving

their technology from Monsanto.

Kejriwal seeks more powers for Gram Sabhas

Right to Information activist Arvind Kejriwal has suggested a series of powers to

strengthen the Gram Sabhas including decision making powers about village affairs and a

right to recall Sarpanch for failing to function according to decisions of the Gram Sabha.

The Magsaysay award winner activist suggested creating of an institution of Lokpal for

monitoring effectiveness of Gram Sabhas.

What anti-defection law says

The 10th Schedule to the Constitution, popularly referred to as the Anti-Defection Law,'

was inserted by the 52nd Amendment in 1985.

The grounds of disqualification are specified in Paragraph 2 of the 10th Schedule.

A member would incur a disqualification under paragraph 2 (1) (a) when he voluntarilygives up his membership of a party and under 2 (1) (b) when he/she votes (or abstains

from voting) contrary to the directive issued by the party.

Two important questions arise in this regard: what would constitute the member

voluntarily' giving up of membership of a party? And, what is the full import of 2 (1) (b),

wherein voting/abstention from voting against the party is mentioned?

The Supreme Court, in the Ravi Naik vs. Union of India case, has interpreted the phrase

voluntarily gives up his membership.' It says: The words voluntarily gives up his

membership' are not synonymous with resignation' and have a wider connotation. A


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person may voluntarily give up his membership of a political party even though he has

not tendered his resignation from the membership of that party.

Even in the absence of a formal resignation from membership, an inference can be

drawn from the conduct of a member that he has voluntarily given up his membership of

the political party to which he belongs.

In another judgment in the case of Rajendra Singh Rana vs. Swami Prasad Maurya and

Others, the Supreme Court held that the act of giving a letter requesting the Governor to

call upon the leader of the other side to form a Government itself would amount to an act

of voluntarily giving up membership of the party on whose ticket the said members had

got elected.

India elected to U.N. Security Council

India was elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council

with an overwhelming number of countries endorsing its sole candidature from the Asian

group.

In polling for 10 seats that took place at the U.N. headquarters in New York, India

received the highest number of votes 187 out of 192 among all countries in the

fray.

BlackBerry: fresh deadline

The Centre asked Research In Motion (RIM) to provide the final solution to its

BlackBerry encrypted email and messenger services for interception by the Indian law

enforcement agencies by December 31, 2010. The government had earlier extended the

August 31 deadline to October 31, 2010.

The Ministry of Home Affairs decided to further extend the deadline till this year-end

after meeting representatives of RIM and Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

RIM has sought more time in view of technical discussions on the BlackBerry Messenger

Service (BMS) and BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) with the security agencies.

Working towards permanent seat in expanded UNSC: Krishna

Thanking the member states of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that elected India as

a non-permanent member of the organisation, Union External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said

diplomats working around the clock had ensured that India won well over the two-thirds requiredto record a win or endorsements from at least 128 members out of the total strength of 192.

India had no competitor from Asia group after the withdrawal of Kazakhstan earlier this year.

The last time India was part of the UNSC was in 1991-92. It suffered a shock defeat in 1996

when it lost to Japan despite banking on solidarity among developed countries. India will take

over as a UNSC non-permanent member from Japan on January 1, 2011, for the seventh time.

The UNSC has five permanent members the United States, Russia, China, France and the

United Kingdom who have veto rights. There are also 10 rotating members who have the right

to vote, but cannot veto a resolution.


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However, on the issue of a permanent seat in an expanded UNSC, Mr. Krishna said the five

permanent members were not as enthusiastic as developing nations and felt they were delaying

the process. On the other hand, the Group of Four (G-4) India, Brazil and Germany and Japan

(with South Africa kept in the loop) have been trying to hasten the process of reforms.

Padgaonkar, M.M. Ansari, Radha Kumar named J&K interlocutors

The Centre named three interlocutors to hold a sustained dialogue with all sections of

people in Jammu and Kashmir.

Noted journalist Dilip Padgaonkar, Information Commissioner M. M. Ansari, and Delhi

Policy Group trustee Radha Kumar have been entrusted with undertaking a sustained

dialogue to understand their problems and chart a course for the future, an official

release said.

It said all three interlocutors had done credible work in public life and brought with them

a significant understanding of political and economic issues, specially in the context of

Jammu and Kashmir. The government hopes that after interacting with all shades of

political opinion they will suggest a way forward that truly reflects the aspirations of the

people of Jammu and Kashmir, specially youth.

India tops Commonwealth countries in underweight children: report

In a new report, Commonwealth or Common Hunger, Save the Children, an NGO, claims that

64 per cent of the world's underweight children live in the 54 Commonwealth countries, and India

has both the highest number and the highest proportion of underweight children.

The 54 countries are home to a third of the world's children but two-thirds of the children under

five are under-nourished. More than two-thirds of the children who are stunted (88.5 million or

68.6 per cent) and nearly half of those who are underweight (95 million or 48.7 per cent) live in

just seven Commonwealth countries.

With 43 per cent of India's children underweight and seven million under five severely

malnourished, the possibility of the country shining in future sporting events like the

Commonwealth Games appears bleak, said Save the Children CEO Thomas Chandy.

The critical period, when malnutrition can have the most irrevocable impact, is during the first 33

months from conception to a child's second birthday. After this period, it is much harder to

reverse the effects of chronic malnutrition and the effects are life-long or life-threatening.

In 2000, 198 countries including India committed themselves to halving hunger andmalnutrition by 2015. India is one of the seven Commonwealth countries which are not showing

adequate progress on what is the first Millennium Development Goal. In fact, India has achieved

just 0.9 per cent progress, which is nowhere near achieving the target by 2015, says Mr. Chandy.

Commonwealth Games comes to a colorful end

With 38 golds, India took the second place in the medal table for the first time. Badminton ace

Saina Nehwal clinched a crucial gold in women's singles as India edged past England. The Indian

competitors breached the formidable hundred barrier, bagging 101 medals in all. Australia

finished on top with 74 golds.They sang and danced well into the curtains came down on the 12-


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day Commonwealth Games that ended in an unprecedented medal haul and number two position

for India in the medals tally.

India eventually more than doubled its medals tally of the previous Games, in Melbourne, by

taking 101 medals including 38 gold medals.

The country had finished fourth in 2002 and 2006.

Centre orders probe into CWG issues

The Centre appointed a high-level committee headed by the former Comptroller and Auditor-

General, V.K. Shungloo, to look into all aspects of organising and conducting the

Commonwealth Games.

According to the Prime Minister's Office, the committee will give its report to Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh in three months. The terms of reference will be announced shortly.

Panel to inspect Mullaperiyar dam in December

The five-member Empowered Committee constituted to go into the safety of the Mullaperiyar

dam decided to make an on-the-spot inspection of the dam from December 17 to 19.

This was decided by the committee at its third meeting after hearing counsel for the States of

Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The committee comprises former Chief Justice of India Justice A.S. Anand; Justice K.T. Thomas,

retired Supreme Court Judge representing Kerala; Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, retired Supreme

Court Judge representing Tamil Nadu; former Secretary to the Ministry of Water Resources C.D.

Thatte and retired Chief Engineer, Central Water Commission, D.K. Mehta.

He said the committee would inspect the dam on December 17, initially from the Tamil Nadu side

and then from the Kerala side.

Adult HIV prevalence on the decline in the country: NACO report

The estimated adult HIV prevalence in the country has declined from 0.45 per cent in

2002 to 0.29 per cent in 2008, the latest official data has shown.

Similarly, the estimated number of people living with HIV also declined from 2.73

million to 2.27 million over the same period. However, there is a significant variation in

the trends with the data showing that the HIV epidemic has stabilised in the four high-

prevalence States of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

In a report by the National AIDS Control Programme (NACO) on its Response to the

HIV Epidemic in India, it was suggested that an overall decline in HIV prevalence

among ante-natal care (ANC) clinic attendees had been noted at all-India level and in the

high prevalence States of south and northeast. Barring Andhra Pradesh with a HIV

prevalence of one per cent, all States had shown less than one per cent median among the

ANC clinic attendees.


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Keep minister, MPs out of AIIMS governance: IIM

Recommending major changes in the governance system to make the All India Institute

of Medical Sciences here a world-class institution, the Indian Institute of Management,

Ahmedabad, has said there should be no political interference in the functioning and

management of the AIIMS. It has also suggested opening up the AIIMS to international

faculty.

Ideally, the Union Health Minister should not be the chairperson of the AIIMS the

highest decision-making body and president of the Governing Body, the IIM said in a

presentation.

The Ministry asked the IIM to draw up a governance plan to make the AIIMS more

efficient and restore its glory.

Too centralised:-

Describing decision-making at the AIIMS as too centralised, the IIM recommend that

larger faculty teams be involved by including faculty representatives in the Institute Body

as well as in faculty recruitment and selection. Three of them may be included in the

Body, in the place of MPs, with a fixed three-year tenure.

Mobile phone can be a livelihood tool: UNCTAD

Mobile phones and other forms of communication technology can be used to reduce

poverty and improve livelihoods in developing countries, says the latest United Nations

Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report.

Better access to information and better chances of communicating through information

and communication technologies (ICTs) can help poor people raise their incomes

significantly, says the UNCTAD Information Economy Report 2010 titled ICTs,

Enterprises and Poverty Alleviation'.

After Lancet's superbug blow, praise for India's rural doctors scheme

The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry might still be awaiting formal

clearance for its much debated Bachelor of Rural Health Care course that aims to create a

cadre of healthcare workers for the rural areas, but the Centre has received globalappreciation for trying to find an innovative solution to a deeply entrenched problem

which is not unique to India.

Currently, the shortage of doctors in rural India stems from the unwillingness of most

doctors, who were born and trained in urban areas, to move to rural areas. The rural

MBBS scheme aims to train people from rural areas in those rural areas, in the belief that

they will stay, which offers some hope of providing medical care to large parts of rural

India that currently lack it.


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Court rejects plea to make property a fundamental right

The Supreme Court has dismissed a public interest litigation petition seeking a direction

to make right to property' a fundamental right under the Constitution.

Though the right to property' was deleted by the 44th Constitution Amendment in 1978, it

was challenged only in 2007 in the context of acquisition of large extents of land for

Special Economic Zones, and the court issued notice to the Center.

TRAI curbs coming on unsolicited calls

Harassed mobile subscribers may soon get much-needed relief from unsolicited

telemarketing calls and SMS as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is

planning to come out with a set of regulations to curb this menace.

TRAI recently released a consultation paper on Review of Telecom Unsolicited

Commercial Communications Regulations' seeking views from various stakeholders on

how to tackle the issue. Now it is formalising its recommendations, which will be sent to

the government for further action.

Though the Department of Telecommunications set up a National Do Not Call Registry'

in 2007 for subscribers to avoid unsolicited calls, it failed to produce the desired results.

Cabinet nod for new Enemy Property Bill

The Union Cabinet approved yet another version of the controversial Enemy Property

Bill to replace the ordinance that lapsed on September 6. It is based on a fresh proposal of

the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Second Bill, 2010, will now be

introduced in the winter session of Parliament.

The four-decade-old Enemy Property Act bars Indian legal heirs from inheriting the

properties of relatives who migrated to Pakistan after Partition. The Custodian of Enemy

Property for India, a government department, is empowered to appropriate the property.

Posco paid for study on Posco

Claims about the benefits of Posco's $12 billion integrated steel project to Orissa's

economy and job market come from a study by an independent research organisation

but was paid for by Posco itself.

New Oxford centre for study of Asian heritage

Oxford University is to launch a new centre to study the archaeological and cultural

heritage of Asia.

It is claimed to be the only centre of its kind in Europe.

The university said that although Asia had some of the world's richest archaeological and

artistic forms of heritage, little was known or taught about this period in Britain.


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MSP for wheat, pulses up

The Centre announced a modest hike of Rs. 20 per quintal in the Minimum Support Price (MSP)

of wheat to be procured from farmers for the Targeted Public Distribution System. The hike in

pulses, however, is substantial.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,

approved the Agriculture Ministry's proposal for raising the MSP of wheat to Rs. 1,120 per

quintal for the 2010-11 rabi season from Rs 1,100 per quintal last year.

The MSP of gram has been hiked to Rs. 2,100 from Rs. 1,760 per quintal, while the MSP of

masur dal has been raised to Rs. 2,250 from Rs. 1,870 per quintal last year.

Announcing the decisions, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said the MSP of

mustard/rapeseed was hiked by Rs. 20 to Rs. 1,850 per quintal, while the MSP of safflower was

up to Rs. 1,800 per quintal from Rs. 1,680 per quintal last year.

The MSP of barley was fixed at Rs. 780 per quintal against Rs. 750 per quintal last year.

The hike in the MSP of pulses points to the government's efforts to raise the total production of

pulses to at least 16.5 million tonnes from an average of 14.5 million tonnes.

The country imports about 3 to 4 million tonnes of pulses annually to bridge the gap between

demand and supply. The shortfall has already resulted in a sharp escalation in the price of pulses

in the last two years.

Higher support price for pulses in the kharif crop season this year resulted in a sharp increase in

the cultivation of pulses with the seasonal production estimated to rise to 6 million tonnes this

year as against an output of 4.3 million tonnes last year.

Cabinet nod for amendments to Seeds Bill

The Union Cabinet approved additional amendments to the Seeds Bill. 2004.

The amendments however did not include the clause on price regulation of seeds that is being

demanded by members of Parliament .

On the demand of the MPs and civil society groups, the government has approved an amendment

to raise the maximum penalty for misrepresentation/ or suppression of facts, procedural violation

or non-performance of the seeds without intention to one year and Rs. 5 lakh. There was a

provision for cancellation of registration as well,

The additional amendments also provide for nomination on the proposed National Seed

Committee of the chairpersons of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority

and the National Bio-diversity Authority.

The amended Seeds Bill, 2010, seeks to regulate the quality of seeds and planting material, to

curb the sale of spurious and poor quality seeds, increase private participation in seed production

and distribution and liberalise import of seeds and planting materials.

The Bill that seeks to repeal and replace the existing Seeds Act, 1966, also has a provision that no

transgenic variety of seed would be registered unless cleared under the provisions of the

Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Such seeds would have to be labelled and conform to

specific standards.


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NIMHANS to be declared institute of national importance

The Union Cabinet approved the proposal to declare the National Institute of Mental

Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, as an institute of national

importance.

With the Cabinet also approving the introduction of the National Institute of MentalHealth and Neuro Sciences Bangalore Bill, 2009 in Parliament, the NIMHANS will be

counted in the league of premier institutes such as the All India Institute of Medical

Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi; the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and

Research (PGI), Chandigarh, and the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical

Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry.

This will facilitate the NIMHANS to develop patterns of teaching, with the flexibility to

devise new courses, constantly evolving syllabi.

The institute will be able to take up new courses that are required and are not currently

part of the Medical Council of India-approved courses.

Indian Statistical Institute celebrates first World Statistical Day

Number crunchers at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) here joined the world in celebrating the

first World Statistics Day. A day that noted an interesting play of numbers on the calendar, with

the date registered as 20.10.2010.

The decision to declare October 20 as World Statistics Day was taken by the United Nations

General Assembly earlier this year. The ISI has been observing the birth anniversary of its

founder, P. C. Mahalanobis, which was declared as the National Statistics Day by Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh in 2006.

Conditional maternity benefit scheme launched

To improve maternal and child health, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the

Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY) a monetary scheme for pregnant women and

lactating mothers on a pilot basis in 52 districts in this Five-Year Plan.

Each pregnant and lactating woman will receive Rs. 4,000 in three instalments between the

second trimester of pregnancy until the child is six months old.

Each beneficiary has to open an individual account (if she does not have one already) in thenearest bank or the post office for cash transfer, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram told

journalists after the Cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The scheme, to be implemented through the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)

Scheme infrastructure and personnel, will cost Rs. 1,000 crore. Some personnel will be hired on a

contractual basis.

The scheme will be fully funded by the Centre and Rs. 390 crore and Rs. 610 crore have been

allocated for 2010-11 and 2011-12 respectively.


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Under the scheme, cash transfers will be made to all pregnant and lactating women as incentives

based on fulfilment of specific conditions relating to mother and child health and nutrition.

However, government employees and Central and State Public Sector employees have been

excluded from the scheme as they are entitled to paid maternity leave.

It is expected that in the initial years, about 13.8 lakh pregnant and lactating women in 52 districts

could avail themselves of the benefit.

The beneficiaries will be pregnant women of 19 years and above and for the first two live births(benefits for still births will be as per the norms of the scheme).

Since the IGMSY will be implemented by the States through the existing ICDS system and

supported by additional contractual staff, anganwadi workers and helpers will receive an

incentive of Rs. 200 and Rs. 100 respectively a pregnant and lactating woman after all the due

cash transfers are made.

There will be steering and monitoring committees at all levels to oversee the scheme. A special

cell to monitor the scheme will be set up within the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

Naxalism is the greatest threat: Manmohan

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh suggested that the country modernise its defence

doctrines to respond to new and non-traditional security threats, while underscoring

India's resolve to defeat terrorism.

Besides these challenges, Dr. Singh said cyber warfare was another emerging area of

concern, while Naxalism and left-wing extremism posed the greatest threat to national

security.

NAC's compromise proposes wider food security coverage

The National Advisory Council (NAC) which has been working hard over the last month to try

and narrow down its differences with the Planning Commission and the government on the

contentious issue of food security is meeting to look at an amended proposal. The NAC's food

hardliners have finally accepted, after several informal interactions with the Commission and

government representatives, that universalisation of food security will not be possible.

Sources told The Hindu that the compromise now being worked out is that legal guarantees for

subsidised food grains should not be restricted only to those below the poverty line (BPL). We

are going to propose a much larger coverage of legal entitlements than those defined by the

government's poverty figures, the sources explained.

At the last meeting on September 24 which was attended by Planning Commission Deputy

chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia and a slew of secretaries from the ministries of Food,

Women and Child Development and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation a consensus had

emerged on pegging the BPL figure at higher than the 42 per cent suggested by the Suresh

Tendulkar panel. The figure, sources said, could now be well over 60 per cent. The attempt is also

to ensure that virtually everyone in the rural areas and the poor in the urban areas are covered by

legally mandated entitlements.

Commission and government representatives had also made it clear at the September 24 meeting

that it would not be possible to provide legal guarantees for either food entitlements to those

living above the poverty line (APL) or for the proposed eight entitlements to meet the nutritional


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requirements of those at the bottom of the economic ladder apart from an inclusive and

enhanced Public Distribution System (PDS). The NAC, pushing the envelope on this as well,

points out, for instance, that schemes such as Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)

one of the eight entitlements are ongoing programmes, and so should not be that difficult to

provide a legal guarantee for.

At an earlier stage of the discussions, the NAC had presented two options to the government. One

was a system of entitlements for the majority of the population whereby 80 per cent of those

living in rural areas and 33 per cent of those in urban India would be entitled to a monthly 35 kg

of food grains at Rs.3 a kg (per family). The second option was a differentiated system of

entitlements through which those living below the poverty line (pegged at 42 per cent) would get

the same. In both scenarios, those who did not fall into the circle of the most vulnerable would be

entitled to 25 kg of food grains every month.

WHO questions methodology of Lancet study on malaria mortality Expressing serious doubts over the high estimates of 200,000 malaria deaths in India as

reported in the latest edition of The Lancet, the World Health Organisation (WHO)

questioned the methodology adopted by the authors of the study.

The Lancet uses verbal autopsy method which is suitable only for diseases with

distinctive symptoms and not for malaria. Malaria has symptoms similar to many other

diseases, and cannot be correctly identified by the local population.

The use of verbal autopsy for malaria may result in many false positives. In this method,

deaths due to fever from any cause are likely to be misinterpreted as malaria in areas with

high incidence. In areas with low malaria incidence, the symptoms are difficult to

distinguish, and would result in overestimates of malaria deaths, a statement issued by the

WHO.

Malaria is endemic in many States of India. Maximum cases are reported from the North

Eastern States, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and a few districts of Maharashtra,

Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Approximately 50 per cent of malaria cases

reported in the country are due to Plasmodium Falciparum (a type of malaria which

causes death), the statement said.

Elephant declared a heritage animal

The Center declared elephant a national heritage animal to step up measures for their

protection.

10 years on, Iron Lady' refuses to end her fast

On November 2, Irom Sharmila will complete 10 years of her fast demanding repeal of the

Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, in Manipur.

The protest started on November 2, 2000. Upset at an encounter at Mallom here, in which 10

innocent persons including a middle-aged woman were mowed down by 8 Assam Rifles

personnel, Ms. Sharmila began her fast. Two days later, she was arrested on the charge of trying

to commit suicide.


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The law allows authorities to detain her for one year in one-go. At the end of every year she is

released. However, instead of going home, she continues fast, and the police to re-arrest her

within 48 hours.

Ms. Sharmila was honoured by South Korea with the country's highest human rights award.

Recently she was given the Rabindranath Tagore award, carrying Rs. 51 lakh in cash and a

citation. Despite appeals by many, she has refused to break her fast.

The Manipur government withdrew the AFSPA from seven Assembly segments on August 12,

2004. However, this gesture failed to satisfy Ms. Sharmila. She wants says she will continue her

fast until the Act is repealed completely in all areas. But the government feels that if the Act is

repealed, rebels may feel emboldened.

Population stabilisation target date pushed back to 2070

With the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) continuing at 2.8 per cent, the Union Health and Family

Welfare Ministry has pushed back the target date for achieving population stabilisation to 2070

from 2045, stipulated in the National Population Policy (NPP) 2000.

The NPP 2000 laid down meeting the unmet need for family planning and health care

infrastructure as an immediate objective; its mid-term objective was to achieve a TFR of 2.1 percent by 2010 and the long-term goal was to attain population stabilisation by 2045.

It is estimated that nearly half the population growth will be from just seven States and 22 per

cent from Uttar Pradesh alone. This is against the combined contribution of 13 per cent from the

southern States of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Airport licensing mandatory from July 2011

No airport in the country will be able to undertake any air transport service from July

next if it is not licensed by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) by June-

end, according to a notification issued by the government.

The DGCA makes safety audit of airports to grant licence to operators, including the

Airports Authority of India (AAI).

The licensing procedure has been initiated in keeping with the standards notified by the

International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

There were 63 airports that needed to be licensed. These include 53 operated by the AAI.

The rest of them, including those in Delhi, Mumbai, Cochin, Bangalore and Hyderabad,

were owned either by the private sector or joint ventures, he said. While the DGCA hadissued Initial Licences to 15 airports, it had inspected 14.

Besides, there were 22 defence airports with civil enclaves where civil aviation

operations took place. The issue of their licensing had been taken up with the Defence

Ministry

Modi working group moots price stabilisation fund

In its first and final meeting, the Working Group on Consumer Affairs, set up by Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh in April, reached a near-agreement on a draft Action Plan that

recommends setting up of Special Courts under the Essential Commodities Act to try offences


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and to constitute a price stabilisation fund for government intervention when prices become

unreasonably high.

The plan suggests delisting essential commodities like rice, pulses and edible oils from the Future

Markets, to contain inflation.

It recommends raising the detention period to one year from six months for black marketing

under the Prevention of Black Marketing and Maintenance of Supply of Essential Commodities

Act, 1980.

NAC consensus on food security

After months of hard bargaining with the Planning Commission and the government, the

Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) appeared to have got a consensus

on a universal food security system with legal guarantees, even though with differential

entitlements.

However, the NAC has expanded the concept of below the poverty line (BPL)-PDS

beneficiaries, virtually doubling their number to 75 per cent of the population,

designating them as priority households and making them eligible to receive 35 kg of

subsidised foodgrains (Re. 1 per kg for millets, Rs. 2 for wheat and Rs. 3 for rice) every

month. The remaining 25 per cent described as general households will be entitled

to 20 kg of foodgrains per household at a price pegged at 50 per cent of the Minimum

Support Price (MSP).

The NAC-cleared food security framework, which will form the basis of the Bill to be

drafted over the next month, also envisages legal guarantees for additional entitlements,

beyond the PDS to address the nutritional requirements of the most vulnerable sections of

society. Simultaneously, it has recommended a total overhaul of the PDS system.

Chennai to get nowcast soon

Now cast to predict the weather a few hours ahead in specific localities will be introduced in all

metros, said Ajit Tyagi, Director-General of Meteorology, IMD.

Inaugurating a satellite facility at the aerodrome meteorological office, he said the nowcast model

was used successfully in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games to predict weather over

each stadium.

Geographic info system

Tata Consultancy Services will take up the project to develop a Geographic Information System

(GIS) for the city.

The GIS database will have applications in urban planning and civic services, including

monitoring property tax assessment and collection, the drinking water supply and drainage

networks.

Accordingly the entire city's infrastructure such as buildings, roads, water distribution network,

hospitals, educational institutions, bus stands, transport routes, parks and playgrounds would be

mapped.


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The project has been taken up under the World Bank-funded Tamil Nadu Urban Development

Project-III.

Centre banks on horticulture to usher in golden revolution'

The Central government is pinning its hopes on the strengthened National Horticulture Mission

(NHM) to usher in a golden revolution in the sector.

Although the Mission had achieved results, as was evident from an improved utilisation of funds,

a need was felt to fine-tune the operational guidelines for holistic development of the sector andfor sustainable results. This would be implementable from the current financial year.

With financial assistance from the Centre, an additional area of 16.57 lakh hectares has been

bought for horticultural crops in the last five years under the NHM. About 2.78 lakh hectares of

senile orchards have been rejuvenated and 2,192 nurseries established. Not only this, scientific

infrastructure facilities, disease forecasting units, bio-control laboratories and plant health clinics

have been set up with the involvement of the Indian Council of Scientific Research, State

agriculture universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendras.

Under post-harvest management too, packing houses, cold storage units, controlled atmosphere

storage units, refrigerated vans and mobile/primary processing units have been set up. Besides,wholesale and rural markets have been established. Mr. Pawar saw in these developments the

setting-in-motion of a self-perpetuating cycle based on increased productivity and improved

quality leading to higher incomes for farmers.

The guidelines for the new Hub-and-Spoke Terminal Markets in Public Private Partnership (PPP)

mode had been revised recently to make it more attractive for private investment, the Minister

informed members.

Implement food security scheme in two phases: NAC

The framework for food security, cleared by the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council, ifimplemented, will entail an additional expenditure of Rs.15,137 crore annually in the first phase.

It is slated to kick off next year and will cost Rs. 23,231 crore annually when the entire

population is covered by March 2014.

Assuming an offtake of 85-90 per cent, the procurement will have to go up from 55 million

tonnes of foodgrains to 57-58 million tonnes in the first phase, and to 63-64 million tonnes in the

second phase.

(At an earlier stage of the discussions, the NAC was talking of the need to procure 85 million

tonnes while pushing for a universal system of entitlements, with all citizens eligible to receive

the same amount of foodgrains at the same price.)

According to the NAC's new definition, 46 per cent rural households and 28 per cent urban

households will qualify as priority households; 44 per cent rural households and 22 per cent urban

households will be designated as general households. Rural coverage will be adjusted State-wise,

based on the Planning Commission's 2004-05 poverty estimates.

The NAC wants the food security programme implemented in two phases in the first phase, it

should be extended to 85 per cent of the rural population and 40 per cent of the urban population.

Nutrition programmes:-


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It has also recommended legal entitlements for child and maternal nutrition (including nutrition

programmes for pre-school children, pregnant and nursing mothers, maternity benefits and

midday meals for school children) as well as for community kitchens, and programmes for

feeding destitute and vulnerable groups. For the new components, programmes will need to be

developed.

Gujjars, Bakerwals demand separate region in J&K

Demanding a separate Pir Panchal region or area and a Tribal Hill Council in Jammu and

Kashmir, the Gujjars and Bakerwals, both Scheduled Tribe communities in the State,

urged for strong recommendations from the three-member team of interlocutors on

Jammu and Kashmir in their report to be submitted to Prime Minister of India for

an irreversible provision along with constitutional guarantees to reserved categories while

deciding the Kashmir issue.

Sardar Sarovar: 40,000 families still to be resettled

Calling for a review of resettlement sites for the people affected by the Sardar Sarovar dam and of

the irrigation project itself, Medha Patkar, leader of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) said,

there were as many as 40,000 families still in the submergence area, waiting to be resettled.

The NBA recently celebrated 25 years of struggle by organising meetings and rallies in

Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Narmada Bachao Andolan completes 25 years

In the Narmada valley/The fight is still on thus sang the people of Bhadal in Madhya Pradesh,

where Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar was heading a prayer meeting as

part of the activities marking the completion of 25 years of the people's movement.

Shunglu panel gets broader mandate

The high-level committee set up by the Centre to look into the conduct of the

Commonwealth Games would have a much broader mandate, going beyond allegations

of corruption and misappropriation of funds.

Even while focussing on alleged misappropriation, irregularities, wasteful expenditure

and wrongdoings in the conduct of the Games, the terms of reference of the panel

approved, It include examination of weaknesses in management and issues relating to

coordination among various agencies involved in the development of infrastructure and

conduct of the Games.

The panel, headed by the former Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, V.K.

Shunglu, would look at planning and execution of development projects and contracts for

service delivery, with reference to time, cost and quality and the role of advisers,

consultants and officials of the Organising Committee.

NAC to monitor abolition of manual scavenging

The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) urged the Centre to coordinate

with all State and local governments and also Central government departments, including


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the Railways, to ensure that the pernicious practice of manual scavenging is fully

abolished the latest by the end of the 11th Plan period.

This, it said, would require a new survey in every State and Union Territory, with wide

public involvement, of the remaining dry latrines and manual scavengers, demolition of

all dry latrines, psycho-social and livelihood rehabilitation in modern marketable skills of

all manual scavengers and their families, and special programmes for education including

higher education and computer education of all children of manual scavengers.

The NAC has asked the Ministry of Social Justice to formulate 100 per cent Centrally-

sponsored schemes to support the rehabilitation initiatives.

10,000 villages to get power from renewable energy sources

Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah announced that 10,000

remote villages across the country would be electrified with renewable energy sources by

March 2012 under an innovative initiative that will also generate employment.

India drops to 87th rank in Integrity Index

India has fallen three places to 87th in Transparency International's latest Corruption Perceptions

Index, in which 178 countries were surveyed.

India's integrity score has fallen to 3.3 out of 10 in 2010 while it was 3.5 in 2007 and 3.4 in 2008

and 2009. Transparency International India chairman P.S. Bawa said the recent damaging

revelations in the Commonwealth Games contracts seems to have increased the perception about

corruption and caused the country to further drop in the CPI ranking.

India's score of 3.3 places it slightly above its 91st ranked neighbor Sri Lanka, and below China

which is ranked 78th with a score of 3.5. Among the countries that make up the bottom of the

table are war-torn Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Myanmar, all of whom have scored between 1.1and 1.5. The countries in the South Asian region have performed miserably with Bangladesh at

134, Pakistan at 143 and Nepal at 146. Bhutan is the sole exception, scoring a creditable 5.7 and

ranked 36th in the world.

Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore have the highest Integrity Index of 9.3..

India signs nuclear liability treat

India signed the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage

(CSC), thereby delivering on the last of its commitments stemming from the landmark

2005 nuclear agreement with the United States.

The international covenant which provides a framework for channelling liability and

providing speedy compensation in the event of a nuclear accident was signed at the

International Atomic Energy Agency offices in Vienna by Dinkar Khullar, India's

Ambassador to Austria. The IAEA is the depository of the CSC, which has so far been

signed by 14 countries and ratified by four, including the U.S.

The CSC will enter into force only when at least five countries with a minimum of

4,00,000 units of installed nuclear capacity ratify the treaty. Even if India ratifies it

and Indian officials say this is unlikely to happen soon the CSC will not enter into


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force unless at least one or two countries with a large civilian nuclear programme also do

so.

With India signing the CSC and the Obama administration issuing the requisite Part 810'

licensing certifications, the stage is now set for the Nuclear Power Corporation of India

Ltd. to begin full-fledged commercial negotiations with General Electric and

Westinghouse for supply of two 1,000-MWe reactors. Three rounds of discussions have

already been held, Indian officials say, but these have largely been exploratory in nature.

India promised the U.S. in 2008 that it would sign the CSC, a treaty that requires

signatories to pass a domestic liability law in conformity with a model text. Washington's

aim was to ensure that its companies were legally exempted from any liability burden in

the event of an accident occurring in an American-supplied nuclear reactor.

Though India passed its liability law last month, the U.S. has objected to Sections 17(b)

and 46 of the Act which open the door for legal action against nuclear suppliers if an

accident is caused by faulty or defective equipment. Washington says these provisions

violate the CSC, a charge New Delhi rejects.

With GE and Westinghouse lobbyists up in arms, the U.S. side initially suggested that the

Manmohan Singh government find a way to delete or negate the two offending sections.

When the impossibility of this was pointed out, they suggested that NPCIL be asked

contractually to accept the entire liability burden of its suppliers in the event of an

accident. This suggestion has also been vetoed.

Leaving aside the explosive political implications of a public sector company granting a

free pass to an American supplier, legal advisers have pointed out that neither NPCIL nor

the government can sign away the provisions for tortious and criminal liability that havebeen embedded in the new law.

The CSC provides no forum for signatories to challenge each other's national laws.

Article XVI allows for arbitration as well as adjudication by the International Court of

Justice, in the event of a dispute. But the U.S. entered a reservation while ratifying the

Convention in 2008 declaring that it does not consider itself bound by [these] dispute

settlement procedures. When it eventually ratifies the treaty, India is likely to make a

similar declaration.

That would leave the Supreme Court of India as the only forum competent to rule on thecompatibility of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Act, 2010 with India's

international obligations stemming from its accession to the CSC.

Adopt realistic approach to finding solution acceptable to all, including PoK:

Padgaonkar

All people should adopt a realistic approach to finding a solution to the Kashmir problem, and the

solution should be acceptable to all parts of the State, including those under Pakistan's


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We are not tilting in any direction: Manmohan

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attempted to dispel the impression that India,

traditionally seen and looked up to as a champion of non-alignment, was tilting towards

the U.S. and the West.

We are not tilting in any one direction. The foreign policy of India is an expression of

our enlightened national interests. Therefore, we seek good relations with all major

superpowers the U.S., Russia, China, Japan. In our continent, the Association of

Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries have assumed great importance for the orderly

management of increased interdependence with Southeast Asia. We, therefore, look to the

Asean countries to promote trade, investment and multifaceted cooperation, he said.

Protesters block NH 17 in Mangalore

Traffic on the busy National Highway No. 17 came to a standstill for over five hours as

members of various organisations marched from the Nanthoor junction to Talapady in

protest against the pathetic condition of the road.

Shunglu gets Supreme Court judge status

V.K. Shunglu, who heads the two-member high-level committee set up to probe the

alleged financial irregularities in the Commonwealth Games (CWG), has been given the

status of a Supreme Court judge. The government notification, issued by the Cabinet

Secretary, has invested Mr. Shunglu, a former Comptroller and Auditor General, with

greater authority, and will provide him with greater resources in the form of secretarial

and other support staff.

UID numbers soon for schoolchildren

All schoolchildren will soon have unique identification numbers (UID), which will help

in tracking their movement in educational institutions and academic records.

The system will help in tracking students' mobility by creating an electronic registry, right

from the primary level through secondary and higher education, as also between the

institutions. Imprinting of the UID number on the performance records of students,

including mark-sheets, merit certificates and migration certificates, will be helpful to

prospective employers and educational institutions.

The UID number will also help in dealing with problems such as fake degrees. It could be

utilised while dematting of academic certificates, as also education loans and scholarship

schemes.

Iris scanning would be done for children aged between 5 and 15, while finger print marks

would be added subsequently. Infants and children below the age of five will get the

number, but their biometric identification will be done only after the age of five.


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GAIL to lay sub-sea pipeline GAIL (India) Limited, a government of India undertaking under the Ministry of Petroleum and

Natural Gas, will lay sub-sea pipelines from the gas terminal of Petronet LNG Limited (PLL) at

Vypeen in Kochi to National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Kayamkulam, for

transportation of re-gasified LNG (liquefied natural gas).

Out of the 120 km pipeline, 117 km will be offshore while 1.5 km each will be on-shore at

Vypeen and also Kayamkulam.

A feasibility study was conducted earlier by EIL, an engineering consultancy company, for the

project to supply LNG by means of pipelines to be laid on the Kochi-Bangalore-Mangalore and

Kochi-Kayamkulam routes.

The PLL terminal is to be commissioned in the last quarter of the financial year 2011-12,

according to the company.

IIM-Kozhikode, IIT-Kanpur to partner with Yale

The Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur and the Indian Institute of Management-

Kozhikhode entered into a partnership with the Yale University for academic leadershipdevelopment programmes. Under the programme, vice- chancellors and deans will be

introduced to best practices of institutional management in the United States.

Superbug study authors blame poor sanitation for bacteria

After creating a huge controversy by claiming that foreign patients who were treated in

India developed antibiotic resistance, authors of the superbug New Delhi metallo-B-

lactamase-1 (NDM-1) bacteria study published in the United Kingdom-based medical

journal The Lancet now say that poor sanitation and unregulated antibiotic use presented

an immense challenge and should be of great concern to the Indian health authorities andthe World Health Organisation.

Proposed rail link passes through elephant corridor

Concerns have been voiced about one of the three proposed railway lines in the project to

provide railway connectivity to Bhutan, as it would pass through an important elephant

corridor in north Bengal.

The project, announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Bhutan in

May 2008, is keenly awaited by the people of the country because it will be the first time

that rail network will come to Bhutan, said Tshering Wangda, the Consul General,

The two other links are proposed to connect Pathsala and Rangia in Assam to Nganglam

and Samdrup Jongkhar in Bhutan respectively, he added.

However, if the Hasimara-Phuentsholing link is constructed according to the current

proposal, it will cause disruption in an elephant corridor in a region where the elephant is

already suffering the onslaught of the Railways.

Not an inch of the proposed line will be constructed on the land of the Forest

department, but it will pass trough Dalsingpara, which is very close to the Jaigaon forest


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area and a vital elephant corridor, said R. P. Saini, field director of the Buxa Tiger

Reserve.

NAC favours statutory minimum wages for MNREGS workers

Going against the view of the United Progressive Alliance government, the Sonia Gandhi-led

National Advisory Council (NAC) has favoured the payment of statutory minimum wages to

workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS).

The NAC's line is in conflict with the January 1, 2009 notification issued by the Union Ministry

of Rural Development, delinking the MNREGS wages from The Minimum Wages Act, 1948, and

freezing the former at Rs.100.

The notification, issued under Section 6(1) of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment

Guarantee Act, led to a situation where MNREGS workers in several States were paid less than

the prevailing minimum wages.

In its defence, the Ministry quoted Section 6(1): Notwithstanding anything contained in the

Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the Central government may, by notification, specify the wage rate

for the purpose of the Act.

The NAC's contrarian position follows a recommendation made by the Aruna Roy-headed

working group on Transparency, Accountability and Governance.' A posting on the NAC website

said: There was general agreement on the recommendations of the working group. There was

general agreement that workers should be paid minimum wages as notified under the Minimum

Wages Act, 1948.

India to get its first AC double-decker train

India's first air-conditioned double-decker train is expected to be launched on the Howrah-

Dhanbad sector before the Diwali celebrations.

While a few old double-decker coaches are still operational on the Mumbai-Surat route currently,

the new coaches that are built with a crashworthy design will also have state-of-the-art facilities

for passenger comfort.

Developed at the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala, eight double-decker coaches were recently

brought to Howrah for conducting trial runs before the official flagging-off ceremony.

The new coaches built according to Eurofoma design will accommodate 128 passengers each

and can run at a maximum speed of 160 kmph due to the presence of air-springs' in their under-

carriages.

NCDC to become apex institute

The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)formerly known as the National

Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) is all set to become the apex institute for

communicable diseases on a par with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

(CDC), Atlanta, U.S.

Established in 1909 as Central Bureau of Malaria at Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh, the

institute was renamed Malaria Survey of India in 1927. It was shifted to Delhi in 1938

and renamed as the NICD in 1963 and in July 2009 as NCDC.


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.Stephen Schwebel to head Kishanganga arbitration court

Judge Stephen M. Schwebel, former President of the International Court of Justice, will

head the Court of Arbitration being constituted to resolve the Kishanganga hydroelectric

project dispute between India and Pakistan. Judge Schwebel is an expert on international

law and dispute settlement.

The Rector of the Imperial College London will appoint an engineer and the Lord Chief

Justice of England and Wales will appoint a legal member as the sixth and seventh

members of the court, he said.

As per the provisions under the Indus Waters Treaty, signed between India and Pakistan

in 1960 under the aegis of the World Bank, the arbitration court has to have seven

members, including the chairman. Already India and Pakistan have named two

international experts each to represent them.

The dispute is over India's 330 Mw hydroelectric project on Kishanganga, a tributary of

the Jhelum in Jammu and Kashmir. According to India, the treaty allows it to divert

Kishanganga waters to the Bonar Madmati Nallah, another tributary of the Jhelum, which

falls into the Wullar lake before joining the Jhelum again. Pakistan has objected to this

saying India's plans to divert waters will obstruct the flow of the river affecting its

Neelam-Jhelum project downstream.

The matter could not be resolved during the Permanent Indus Water Commission-level

bilateral talks and Pakistan decided to take the issue to a court of arbitration.


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