- R. Ramanujam, secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, has got a three-month extension till September 2014.
- Militants captured Iraq's largest oil refinery Baiji refinery. The Baiji refinery is located in Salaheddin province, north of Baghdad in Iraq. Militants attacked refinery with machine gun fire and mortars.
- Chhattisgarh Governor Shekhar Dutt has stepped down from his post
- India-born plant scientist Sanjaya Rajaram has been named the winner of the USD 250,000 World Food Prize for his breakthrough achievement in increasing global wheat production by more than 200 million tonnes following the Green Revolution.
- Spain's new King Felipe VI swore to serve the crisis-stricken nation as he launched his reign on Thursday, sparking celebrations by flag-waving revellers in the streets.
- India has made dramatic improvement in an annual Asian universities ranking, with 10 educational institutions figuring in the top 100 list.
- Car market leader Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has commissioned a solar power plant at its Manesar facility to harness renewable energy source in line with its policy of adopting Eco-friendly technologies.
- Mumbai boy Siddhanth Lohia won the bronze medal at the Ultimate World Schools Rapid Chess Championships that concluded in Kavala, Greece.
- Vice Admiral Surinder Pal Singh Cheema assumed charge of the Southern Naval Command as its Commander-in-chief.
- Goa Cabinet has approved the state Investment Policy that expects to generate 50,000 jobs and attract Rs 25,000 crore investment in next five years.
- Pharma major Cipla announced a collaboration with Hetero Drugs to launch a medication under the Actorise brand for treatment of anaemia caused due to chronic kidney disease.
- Former President Bill Clinton has been selected to receive a distinguished service award from the PGA of America.
- Wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy has been given a go-ahead by the power generation firm CLP India to start manufacturing equipment for the latter's project in Rajasthan.
World news 17 november 2012
National:
Remove ‘anti-Nadar chapter’ from CBSE book: Jaya to PM
Chief Minister J
Jayalalithaa has wrote to Prime Minister asking him to instruct the
concerned
authorities to remove a chapter from the social studies textbook prescribed for
the IXth standard
students under the CBSE syllabus. The chapter ‘Caste Conflict and
Dress Change’
authored by Janaki Nair of Jawaharlal Nehru University, contains
“derogatory and
misleading statements” about the Nadar community in Tamil Nadu. The
author has
mentioned in the article that the Nadars were descendants of ‘Shanars’ who
migrated to
southern Tamil Nadu from Kerala as the farm land workers of the Nair land
lords. Chief
Minister said some portions of the Social Studies book published by the
National Council
of Educational Research and Training had many derogatory statements
referring to the
Nadar community. Contrary to the information given in the text, the Nadars
were original
inhabitants of Kanyakumari district and did not belong to a lower caste.
International:
Japan, India sign rare earths pact
India-Japan have
signed an agreement which will allow Tokyo to import rare earth minerals
important for
Japan's high-tech industry from India. Under the signed agreement, Japan
will import over
4,000 tonnes of rare earth minerals a year from India. This is Japan's
second deal this
month to diversify supply from China for the metals used in mobile
phones and hybrid
cars to missile guidance systems. Japan is hoping that the deal with
India will help
reduce its reliance on China for rare earth minerals at a time when it is
involved in a
conflict with Beijing over the Senkaku islands.
Iran-made Fajr-5 missile may have targeted Tel Aviv
The firing of an
Iran-made Fajr-5 missile by a Gaza based Palestinian group was
apparently
responsible for triggering warning sirens in Tel Aviv, which were last heard
during the first
Gulf war 20 years ago. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for firing the
Fajr missile
towards Tel Aviv. The group said that it had “widened the range of the battle
to
reach Tel Aviv
and what is coming will be greater”. The targeting of Tel Aviv by Palestinian
groups marks a
sharp escalation in the fighting between Israel and Gaza based militant
groups, of which
Hamas is the most prominent.
Croat generals’ conviction overturned
The Yugoslav war
crimes tribunal overturned the convictions of two Croat generals for
murdering and
illegally expelling Serb civilians in a 1995 military blitz. The decision, by a
3-
2 majority in the
U.N. court’s five-judge appeals chamber, is one of the most significant
reversals in the
court’s 18-year history and overturns a verdict that dealt a blow to
Croatia’s
self-image as a victim of atrocities, rather than a perpetrator, during the
Balkan
wars in the
1990s. Mr. Gotovina and Mr. Markac were sentenced to 24 and 18 years
respectively in
2011 for crimes, including murder and deportation. Judges ruled both men
were part of a
criminal conspiracy led by former Croat President Franjo Tudjman to expel
Serbs. Croatian
Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic called the ruling “an important moment for
Croatia.”
NRI's energy drink under scanner for 13 deaths in US
A popular energy
drink, produced by a company founded by an Indian-American
billionaire, has
come under the scanner in the US after reports of 13 deaths possibly linked
to the energy
shots. The popular energy drink '5-Hour Energy' is being investigated by the
US Food and Drug
Administration (USFDA) after 13 deaths over the last four years were
reported, citing
the drink as probable cause. 5-Hour Energy has been mentioned in about
90 complaints
filed with the FDA, including more than 30 that involved serious or
lifethreatening
injuries like
heart attacks, convulsions and even a spontaneous abortion. CEO
of '5-Hour
Energy', Manoj Bhargava dismissed the allegations against his firm as
"false"
and
"ridiculous".
Technology:
Scientists discover most distant galaxy in Universe
In a breakthough,
astronomers have discovered the most distant galaxy ever seen in the
universe. By
combining the power of NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes and
one of nature's
own natural "zoom lenses" in space, astronomers have discovered the
farthest galaxy,
which appears as a diminutive blob that is only a tiny fraction of the size of
our Milky Way
galaxy. The galaxy offers a peek back into a time when the universe was 3
per cent of its
present age of 13.7 billion years. Named MACS0647-JD, the galaxy was
observed 420
million years after the big bang, the theorised beginning of the universe. Its
light has
traveled 13.3 billion years to reach Earth. Along the way, 8 billion years into
its
journey, light
from MACS0647-JD took a detour along multiple paths around the massive
galaxy cluster
MACS J0647+7015. Without the cluster's magnification powers,
astronomers would
not have seen this remote galaxy.
Kolkata, Mumbai in top 10 climate change risk cities
Bangladeshi
capital Dhaka has topped a global list of cities facing the highest climate
change risks in the
coming decades, while Indian metropolis Kolkata is ranked seventh,
Mumbai eighth and
Delhi at 20th. Manila, the capital city of The Philippines, was ranked
second in the
British risk consultancy Maplecroft's fifth annual 'Climate Change and
Environmental
Risk Atlas 2013', while Bangkok, Yangon, Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City
came third,
fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. Chicago, London, St Petersburg, Paris and
Madrid are the
only five cities classified as "low risk". Dhaka came top in the
ranking of 50
cities by
Maplecroft, specialising in risk analysis, as the changing temperatures and
weather systems
are forecast to take hold in the country in the coming decades.
Maplecroft's
Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) classifies seven cities as "extreme
risk," out
of a list of 50 that were chosen for their current and future importance in
global
business, Daily
Star newspaper reported
Business & Economy:
Ministry notifies rules on eligibility for LNG terminals
The Petroleum and
Natural Gas Ministry, has notified the rules on eligibility conditions for
registration of
liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals with the objective of promoting setting
up of LNG
terminals in an environment of equitable access and commercial transparency
so as to foster
higher availability of imported LNG in the country. Features of the new rules
include- (i)
offer at all times, after registration, 20 per cent of its short term (less
than 5-
year contract)
uncommitted re-gasification capacity or 5 lakh tonnes per annum, whichever
is higher, as
common carrier capacity; (ii) adhere to the technical standards and
specifications
including safety standards in activities relating to petroleum, petroleum
products and
natural gas, as prescribed by the Board by regulations, which are in force,
including those
prescribed by the Oil Industry Safety Directorate;(iii) furnish a bank
guarantee for an
amount equal to one per cent of the estimated project cost of the
liquefied natural
gas terminal or Rs.25 crore, whichever is less
CAG hits back at RIL, British Gas
Upset at the
failure of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) to submit for audit records and
information
relating to the Krishna Godavari D6 block, the Comptroller and Auditor-General
has asked the Petroleum
Ministry to withhold all approvals to the Mukesh Ambani-owned
company, except
in emergency situations. The government auditor has also asked the
Ministry not to
clear the plans of British Gas (BG) for exploration projects as it had also
failed to submit
information and records relating to the Panna-Mukta-Tapti gasfields. In a
letter to
Petroleum Secretary G.C. Chaturvedi on October 26, the CAG said the conditions
were
unacceptable, and the CAG’s (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act,
1971,
gave it
unfettered right and would override all conditions sought to be imposed on the
audit
process. The CAG
said it reserved the right to undertake an independent audit of the entire
process of award
of hydrocarbon blocks by the Ministry under Section 16 of the CAG’s Act “as
profit petroleum
is a non-tax revenue credited to the Consolidated Fund of India, and this would
involve
examination of all records (including those of the operator) that are relevant
to our audit.
NALCO finalises 300,000 T alumina export contract
India's state-run
National Aluminium Co Ltd (NALCO) has finalised a long-term export
contract for
300,000 tonnes of alumina for deliveries in 2013 at 16.56 percent of the LME
aluminium price
on a free on board (FOB) basis. NALCO, whose tenders serve as a global
benchmark, sold
330,000 tonnes of alumina for deliveries in 2013 to a Singapore-based
buyer at 16.07
percent of the LME aluminium price on an FOB basis.
Biocon picks BMS as oral insulin partner
Biocon Ltd, said
it had signed an ‘option’ agreement with U.S. drug major Bristol-Myers
Squibb Company to
develop and later market its ambitious oral insulin candidate drug.
Bristol-Myers
Squibb (BMS) would now fund the development of the drug, codenamed IN-
105, through
Phase II trials. Biocon would retain exclusive rights to IN-105 within the
country. Phase II
trials may take up to two years. The drug is expected to help diabetics
relieve the pain
of their daily insulin injections.
Amul loses TRIX to U.S. giant
The Gujarat High
Court has refused to set aside an order which cancelled Amul’s
registration of
its trademark ‘TRIX’, on which a U.S. firm has claimed its right. In July 2012,
the Intellectual
Property Appellate Board had directed Registrar of Trademarks to cancel
Amul’s
registration of TRIX trademark. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Bhaskar
Bhattacharya and
Justice J. B. Pardiwala, in a recent judgment, dismissed the petition filed
by Kaira District
Co-operative Milk Producers Union Ltd., owner of Amul, seeking
cancellation of
trademark ‘TRIX’ registered in favour of U.S. food giant General Mills. Amul,
35 years after
registering the trademark and after General Mills’ entry into Indian market as
late as in 1995,
had questioned the U.S. firm’s right over TRIX. Gujarat Co-operative Milk
Marketing
Federation (GCMMFL), which markets milk and milk products under Amul brand
under a licence
from the petitioner, registered TRIX (coined from the word TRICKS from
the concept of
appearing and disappearing tricks as in magic show) as a trademark in
1977. However,
Amul stopped using TRIX in 1987.
Tata Tele takes Vodafone to TDSAT over SMS dispute
Tata Teleservices
has approached telecom tribunal TDSAT against Vodafone’s notice
threatening to
disconnect termination of SMSes on its network over a dispute on certain
fees. Vodafone
had issued termination notice to Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) asking it to
pay Rs.188 crore
as SMS termination fee by November 17, failing which it would
disconnect the
Tata group firm SMSes from its network. Vodafone is demanding
termination fee
from TTSL at the rate of 10 paise per SMS from April 2011. Termination
charges are paid
by an operator from whose network calls or SMSes originate to the one
on whose network
these communications end. These charges impact tariffs.
Sport:
CAS finds IWF’s four-year ban untenable
The International
Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has been forced to revert to the two-year
ban for
first-time dope offenders following a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for
Sport
(CAS) in an
appeal related to a four-year suspension of a Chinese weightlifter. The IWF
had brought in
the four-year suspension rule for first-time dope offenders in March, 2008
before the
Beijing Olympics, apparently in an effort to protect the sport’s image amidst
mounting numbers
of ‘dopers’ and its eagerness to retain its status as an Olympic sport.
The World Anti
Doping Code prescribes a two-year suspension for first-time offenders, with
an extended ban
running up to four years for ‘aggravating circumstances’. All the
international
federations and National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADOs) follow this rule.
The change from
the four-year ban to two years that came into effect in September 2011
have benefited
more than 100 weightlifters around the world not counting those who cases
could be under
hearing process including three Indian lifters. They are: Harbhajan Singh,
Bijiya Devi and
Sunita Rani, all of whom were suspended for four years in September
2009 following an
IWF swoop on a training camp in Pune and subsequent ‘positive’ tests
for steroids.
Saina retains third rank
London Olympics
bronze medallist, Saina Nehwal has retained her third place in the latest
world badminton
rankings announced. P.V. Sindhu retained her 25th position. Among men,
London Olympics
quarterfinalist P. Kashyap held on to his 23rd position. Mumbai’s Ajay
Jayaram also remained on 27th.
No comments:
Post a Comment