NEWSLINE 1st February, 2010

NATIONAL NEWS

SC upholds quota exceeding 50% for tribals

The Supreme Court held as valid the law enabling 100% reservations of seats of chairpersons for panchayats at all levels in the tribal areas for the Scheduled Tribes. The verdict also upheld the constitutional validity of the Jharkhand Panchayati Raj Act, 2001 which provided for 80% reservations for tribals in the scheduled areas and paved the way for holding the much awaited village body elections.

School to PG, all certificates to go online from 2011

As part of the ongoing exercise to clean up higher education, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said the ministry was planning to create a national database of academic qualifications in electronic format which would authenticate and reissue certificates. The Ministry is planning to bring a bill for creation of a depository which would store certificates issued by school boards and universities in an electronic format for any future use. As per the plan, school boards, universities and certificate issuing institutions can have direct linkages to the depository. The certificates could be stored in electronic format. As per the plan, anybody who has passed out before 2011 can also update his certificates in that depository.

Astra tested, but no induction yet

The long-delayed 'Astra' air-to-air missile was tested twice from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Orissa but the fact remains that the much-touted missile is still far from becoming operational, it will take another couple of years and 20-40 tests for Astra-I, with a 45-Km strike range, to be dubbed fully-operational. The 80-Km range Astra II will only follow thereafter.

Haryana jumps 3 places, is 4 th in education index

The Union territory of Puducherry maintained its number one spot in the Educational Development Index for primary and upper primary schools in the country. Lakshadweep and Kerala were in the second and third positions, respectively, in the EDI for 2008-09. Last year, Kerala was in the second place followed by Lakshadweep. In 2008-09, Haryana occupies the fourth position. In the composite ranking of primary and upper primary, the bottom five places from 31 to 35 are occupied by Meghalaya, Bihar, Manipur, Jharkhand and Assam in case of computers in schools with 14% having them.

Phalke Award

Renowned cinematographer VK Murthy? best known for his work in "Chaudvin Ka Chand" and "Pakeezah"? has been chosen for the Dada Saheb Phalke Award for the year 2008. This is the first time that a cinematographer has been selected for this award. Incidentally, Dada Saheb Phalke himself was a cinematographer who had photographed his pioneering feature film "Raja Harishchandra". The award is conferred annually by the government for outstanding contribution to films, based on the recommendations of a committee of eminent persons.

Government gives courts 6 months to free 1.25 lakh undertrials

The UPA government is setting a six-month deadline, starting January 26, for the release of 1.25 lakh of the 1.7 lakh undertrials languishing in jail, booked for petty offences and having served a major part of the prescribed maximum sentence.

IPCC retracts 2035 alarm on glacier melt

For the first time in its history, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) ? a panel of 2,500 of the best climate scientists in the world? accepted that it had made a huge goof-up in its fourth assessment report on climate change and withdrew its assertion that the Himalayan glaciers ran the risk of being wiped out by 2035. It admitted that proper "procedures" were not followed while reaching the conclusion which not only created a massive scare, particularly in India, but also placed New Delhi often on the backfoot in climate debates leading up to the Copenhagen summit.

Law Ministry looking at SCs in four metros

The UPA Government is closely examining a recommendation of the Law Commission five months ago to set up four Supreme Courts in Metros and a Federal Court in Delhi exclusively for constitutional issues, as a way to reduce the huge backlog of cases.

National Film Awards 2008

• Feature Film - Antaheen (Bengali)
• Popular Film - Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!
• Director - Bala (Naan Kadauul, Tamil)
• Actor - Upendra Limaye (Jogva, Marathi)
• Actress - Priyanka Chopra (Fashion)
• Supporting Actor - Arjun Rampal (Rock On!!)
• Supporting Actress - Kangana Ranaut (Fashion)

Shiv Shankar Menon to be next NSA

Former Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon will succeed MK Narayanan as the new National Security Advisor. Menon, who has served as ambassador to China, Pakistan, Israel and Sri Lanka, had played a crucial role, alongwith Narayanan, in accomplishing the India-US nuclear deal.

New Governors

National security advisor MK Narayanan has been appointed the Governor of West Bengal. ESL Narasimhan who is the Governor of Chhattisgarh, will shift to the Hyderabad Raj Bhavan. Prabhu Rau , at present Governor of Himachal Pradesh, will shift to Rajasthan to fill the vacancy caused by the death of SK Singh. Congress leader from Madhya Pradesh Urmila Singh will be the new Governor of Shimla. MOH Farook , former chief minister of Puducherry, has been appointed Governor of Jharkhand in place of Shankar Narayan who has been shifted to the Mumbai Raj Bhavan. Former Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil will be the new Governor of Punjab and the administrator of Chandigarh. The former defence secretary Mr. Shekhar Dutt was appointed Governor of Chattisgarh.

On literacy front, Himachal next only to Kerala, Mizoram

Himachal Pradesh, which has made impressive strides in promoting primary education, is fast catching up with Kerala? the most literate state in the country. Himachal had achieved almost 83% literacy rate and claimed that if it retains its annual growth it could well overtake Kerala by 2011 end. Kerala has a literacy rate of 91%, followed by Mizoram (89%).

A Medal and Glory for 21 Bravehearts

21 courageous children were given the National Bravery Award, 2009, by the Prime Minister in the capital this year. They also participated in the Republic Day parade. The recipients include eight girls and 13 boys from remote villages of the country. Two of the awards were given posthumously. Gaurav Singh Saini, who rescued more than 50 people, received the Bharat Award. Karan Nishad will receive the Sanjay Chopra award.

'Citizens need not be cowards'

At a time when terrorism and mafia pose a grave security threat to India, the Supreme Court has given a pro-active meaning to the `right to self-defence' and said the law does not require a law-abiding citizen to behave like a coward when confronted with an imminent unlawful aggression. A Bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and A K Ganguly laid down a 10-point guideline on right to self-defence, under which a person cannot be accused of committing a crime even if he inflicted mortal wounds on the aggressor. But, it warned against using it as a tool to settle scores or enmity. It also did not approve the use of force in excess of what was warranted to avert imminent danger to the life and property of the person exercising the self defence.

No burqa on voter ID, says SC

The Supreme Court has said that burqa-clad women cannot be issued voter identity cards, rejecting the argument that religion prohibits them from lifting their veils. The order came at a time when a controversy triggered by the ban on full-length burqas has rolied France, triggering vehement protests from clerics.

International

Haiti earthquake the second largest in History

Haiti earthquake is the second largest in history after the temblor that killed 860,000 people in Shanxi, China in 1556, killing close to 2 lakh people. President Barack Obama named US AID's newly sworn in administrator Rajiv Shah as the coordinator for relief while offering $100 million and every element of US powers to help Haitians. New Delhi gave $1 million, the UN announced $10 million aid and the World Bank a $100 million grant. Hollywood star couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, too, chipped in with $1 million.

Top Honours at Golden Globes

The ground-breaking epic from "Titanic" director James Cameron -- on course to become the highest-grossing film in history -- was the big winner on a night when honors were largely spread across several films. The Golden Globes are seen as a key staging post in the sprint towards the ultimate prize of the Oscars, which take place on March 7 this year.

• Best Motion Picture - Drama "Avatar"
• Best Director - James Cameron "Avatar"
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama Jeff Bridges "Crazy Heart"
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama Sandra Bullock "The Blind Side"
• Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy "The Hangover"
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Meryl Streep "Julie & Julia"
• Motion Picture- Musical or Comedy
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Robert Downey Jr "Sherlock Holmes"
• Picture -- Musical or Comedy
• Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Christoph Waltz "Inglourious Basterds"
• Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Mo'Nique "Precious"
• Best Foreign Language film "The White Ribbon"

Taken off life support she dies after 200 days

A 77-year-old brain dead South Korean woman died more than 200 days after being taken off life support, in the country's first case of legal euthanasia. Her case had stoked huge public debate over a person's right to "die with dignity" in South Korea.

'Hurt Locker' is toast of critics

' The Hurt Locker', a low- budget movie about an American bomb-disposal unit in Iraq, was named best picture at the Critics' Choice Awards an event that has an uncanny knack of foreshadowing Oscar success. 'Avatar', which scored nine nominations, was named best action movie, and picked up five other awards in newly established technical categories.

• Best Movie Hurt Locker
• Best Action Movie Avatar
• Best Director Kathryn Bigelow (Hurt Locker)
• Best Actor Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
• Best Actress Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia) & Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
• Best Original Screenplay Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
• Best Ensemble Inglourious Basterds

US backs Google against China

Google's threat to quit China over censorship and hacking intensified Sino-American friction as Washington said it had serious concerns and demanded an explanation from Beijing. China has not made any significant comment since Google, the world's top search engine, said it will not abide by censorship and may shut its Chinese languagegoogle.cn website because of attacks from China on human rights activists using its Gmail service and on dozens of companies, including Abode systems. Friction over the Internet now seems sure to stoke tensions between the US and China, adding to the strain over climate change, trade, human rights and military ambition.

Sports

Dementieva wins 15 th title

Russia's Elena Dementiva defeated a hobbling Serena Williams 6-3,6-2 at the Olympic tennis centre to win the Sydney International for the second year in a row. Dementieva, the defending champion, completely outplayed the American World No. 1 to win her 15 th WTA title.

Mumbai Marathon

Winners

• Overall (Men's) - Denis Ndiso
• Women's - Bizunesh Mohammed
• Indian Men - Binning Lyngkhoi
• Women - Shastri Devi
• Half-Marathon(Men) - Sandeep Kumar
• Women - Jayshree Shivhankar Boarge

News and Views

• Iceland President Olafur Ragnar Grimson was given the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding by President Pratibha Patil in New Delhi on January 14, 2010.
• The Government formally announced that Lt-Gen Vijay Kumar Singh, currently Eastern Army Command Chief at Kolkata, will take over as the new Army Chief from General Deepak Kapoor on March 31.
• Kuldip Singh, Director, Technical, of Telecom PSU, MTNL, has been appointed the new CMD with immediate effect.
• Jyoti Basu, the 95-year-old CPM patriarch died, 17 days after he was admitted to hospital with pneumonia.
• Ram Niwas Mirdha, veteran politician form Rajasthan, died on 29 th January, 2010. Mr Mirdha had held key ministerial portfolios and was also the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha from 1977 to 1980.

Science and Technology

Cold to H1N1, super lozenge can fix all flus

In a breakthrough, Australian scientists have developed a drug that prepares the immune system to effectively fight all cold and flu infections, including swine flu virus. The Veldona lozenge, which tastes like a sweet and dissolves in the mouth, prepares the immune system to attack every cold and flu virus.

Longest Solar Eclipse

The first solar eclipse of the current year occurred on January 15 and was visible partially in major parts of the country. People in South India were the first to see the eclipse as the path of the eclipse traversed across India before entering Bangladesh and Myanmar. It was the longest of the third millennium, that is between 2001 and 3000.