NEWSLINE 16th August, 2009

National News

India , Asean ink free trade deal

In a major success in its 'Look East' policy India signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nation (Asean) bloc that would eventually eliminate duty on 80% of the goods traded at present by 2016. The two sides have set an ambitious target of achieving an increase of $10 billion worth of trade in the first year after the agreement comes into force from January 2010. India 's current bilateral trade with the Asean bloc is worth $40 billion. Considered as a major breakthrough, the pact comes after six years of intense negotiations. The FTA would bring down tariffs on electronics, chemicals, machinery and textile goods. Asean comprises Brunei , Cambodia , Indonesia , Laos , Malaysia , Myanmar , Philippines , Singapore , Thailand and Vietnam .

New Direct Taxes Proposals

Finance Minister Pranab Mukerjee unveiled a roadmap for reforms in direct taxes that promises to drastically cut the tax liability of most individuals by considerably raising tax slabs. The new direct taxes code, proposed to be implemented from April 2011, aims to moderate effective tax rates in the hope that this will encourage more people to pay up. The most significant changes proposed are in personal income tax, which could lead to tax savings. The 10% tax rate, now on incomes between Rs. 1.6 lakh and Rs. 3 lakh, will apply to incomes of Rs. 1.6 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh. The next slab of 20% would be applicable for incomes between Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 25 lakh instead of between Rs. 3 lakh and Rs. 5 lakh as at present. The 30% slab would be for incomes exceeding Rs. 25 lakh, which now kicks in at Rs. 5 lakh.

Corporate Tax Rates have been proposed to be brought down to 25% from the present 30%. The tax holidays available to firms in many sectors like power, petroleum and other infrastructure sectors, will also undergo a major change alongwith area-based tax exemptions.

New Scheme for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

The Government has launched 'Lean Manufacturing Scheme' for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to enhance the manufacturing competitiveness of the sector. The scheme aims at enhancing the manufacturing competitiveness of MSMEs by applying Lean techniques to identify and eliminate waste in the manufacturing process. The scheme would be implemented initially in 100MSME clusters on a pilot basis in the next 12 months.

' No new Shrines in Public Places' : SC

Treading a cautious path on places of worship springing up unauthorisedly in public places including roads, the Supreme Court ruled that while existing structures may remain, the government must prevent such encroachment in future.

Rajya Sabha passes Constitution (109 th Amendment) Bill, 2009

The Rajya Sabha has passed the Constitution (109 th Amendment) Bill, 2009 that seeks extension of reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for another 10 years.

SC: Living together for long time is like Marriage

The Supreme Court has ruled that if a man and a woman are residing together for a long time and have been accepted by the society as husband and wife, a presumption of a valid marriage can be drawn. A Bench of Justices S B Sinha and Cyriac Joseph said "A long cohabitation and acceptance of society of a man and woman as husband and wife goes a long way in establishing a valid marriage."

Another tech feat: IIT Kanpur develops 10kg nanosatellite

Taking a big leap in its technological quest, IIT Kanpur has developed a nanosatellite which is expected to provide real-time data on drought, flood, vegetation and forestation. The satellite, designed and developed by a group of students of the institute, will be handed over to ISRO, which is expected to launch it by the end of the year. The nanosatellite which will be named 'Jugnu', will have a mass of less than 10kg. It will piggyback on larger launches, avoiding the need for a dedicated launch.

Magistrate cannot interfere in Police Investigations: Delhi HC

A Magistrate cannot interfere in police investigations till the stage of filing the chargesheet, Delhi High Court said. Pulling up a metropolitan magistrate, who issued an order to the commissioner of police stating that the police could not consult the prosecutor in a case before filing the chargesheet, Justice Mool Chand asked the trial court judge not to "devise a procedure other than the one provided under the code".

Fake drug makers to get life term

In a landmark move to combat the menance of fake or spurious life-saving medicines, the government has now made the offence cognizable and non-bailable. Peddlers of spurious drugs will face life imprisonment and/or fine of Rs. 10 lakh or three times the value of the drugs confiscated, whichever is more. On the other hand, scientists violating and conducting unsafe and unethical clinical trials will face imprisonment of five years and a fine of Rs. 20 lakh. Interestingly, the fines realized in such cases will be paid to the relative of the deceased.

Schools need govt. nod to hike fee: SC

In a major victory for parents resisting 'arbitrary' fee hikes by private unaided schools in the capital and a partial relief for the schools, the Supreme Court allowed school managements to increase fee but only with the prior approval of Delhi administration's Director of Education. The apex court said it wanted to protect parents from being fleeced in the name of capitation charges by greedy managements.

3 rd Base at Antarctica- India to join elite club

Twenty-five years after it established Dakshin Gangotri, the first permanent research station in the South Polar Region, India is all set to build the third such centre in Antarctica to take up cutting-edge research in various fields. The new station, tentatively named Bharti, is scheduled to be operational by 2012, making India a member of an elite group of nine nations that have multiple stations in the region. Dakshin Gangotri, set up in 1984, was buried in ice and had to be abandoned in 1990, a year after India set up Maitri, the second station. The National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa will set up the new station on Larsmann Hill, 3000 Km from Schirmacher Oasis, where Maitri stands. While Maitri was more than 100 Km from the Antarctic Sea , Bharti will be on a promontory by the sea.

India ranks 171 out of 175 in public health spending, says WHO study

India ranks 171 out of the 175 countries in the world in public health spending. For a country of one billion, India spends 5.2% of the GDP on healthcare. While 4.3% is spent by the private sector, the government continues to spend only 0.9% on public health. Developed Nations like U.S. and Sweden spend 16% and 13% of their respective GDPs on health.

International News

Ahmadinejad for second term as president

Iran 's Supreme Leader formally endorsed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a second term as president in a ceremony that sought to portray unity among the leadership.

Former Philippines President no More

Philippines - Former President Corazon Aquino, who swept away a dictator with a "people power" revolt and then sustained democracy by fighting off seven coup attempts in six years, died at the age of 76.

Ramon Magsaysay Award

2009 Ramon Magsaysay Award winners are Ka Hsaw Wa of Myanmar, co-founder of EarthRights International recognised for "dauntlessly pursuing non-violent yet effective channels of redress, exposure and education for the defence of human rights, Yu Xiaogang of China for raising concerns about dams in his country and advocating social impact assessments in all such mega-infrastructure projects, Ma Jun also of China for publicising environmental issues in China, Antonio Oposa Jr., a Filipino environmental activist and lawyer, for helping protest abuse of marine eco-systems including organizing sea patrols to raid boat operators engaged in illegal dynamite fishing, Krisana Kraisintu of Thailand for her work in producing generic drugs for HIV/AIDS, Deep Joshi Indian activist for development of rural communities.

British Council to outsource more than 100 jobs to India

The British Council has decided to outsource more than 100 jobs to India as part of a series of cost- cutting measures, provoking a furious response from the staff and the Unions. No decision has been taken yet on which jobs will be outsourced to India .

Lords no longer UK top Court

The House of Lords will cease to be UK 's highest court of appeal as the law lords move across the street in Westminster to a new Supreme Court, ending more than six centuries of tradition. The 12 law lords, who constituted the highest court of appeal, will now function as Justices of the Supreme Court.

Sports Snippets

Sri Lanka victory over Pakistan

Mahela Jayawardene led Sri Lanka to a 3-2 win in their one-day series against Pakistan .

Filho Snatch Gold in World Swimming Championship

Brazil 's Cesar Cielo Filho smashed the World record to snatch gold in the Men's 100 metres freestyle final at the World Swimming Championships.

Juan Martin del Potro outlasts Roddick in Tennis

Juan Martin del Potro became the first man since Andre Agassi in 1999 to win back-to-back titles at the ATP Washington Classic, rallying to defeat Andy Roddick 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(8) in final on 9 th August, 2009.

InCarson, Flavia Pennetta took advantage of an error-prone Samantha Stosur for a 6-4, 6-3 victory in the LA Women's tennis championship, giving the Italian her second title of the year.

Rehan and Sandeep Sajwal set records

India 's Rehan Pocha and Sandeep Sejwal notched up National records at the FINA World Swimming Championships in Rome . Poncha set a national mark in the 200m backstroke at 2min 6.92s bettering the existing record of 2.08.15s and Sejwal has entered the FINA top 100 rankings in the event.

India wins Emerging Players Tournament

Emerging Players Tournament India coached by Pravin Amre and led by S Badrinath, emerged champions in the tournament by beating South Africa by 17 runs in the final. Virat Kohli played a stellar role in the summit clash and was named man of the series.

M.R. Lalith Babu wins again

International Master M.R. Lalith Babu drowned local talent Ali Bitalzadeh in the eighth and penultimate round of Dutch Open Chess tournament at Dieren, Holand. A fourth victory for the tort raised Lalith's tally to six points. He shares the fourth spot with two others, including the World's youngest Grandmaster at present, Anish Giri of the Netherlands .

Federer completes Top Eight List

Roger Federer beat Olympic doubles partner Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3 7-6 at the Montreal Masters ensuring the world's top eight players will compete in the quarter-finals of an ATP event for the first time. Joining Federer and Roddick are world number two Rafael Nadal of Spain, Briton Andy Murray (3), Serbia's Novak Djokovic (4), Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro (6), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France (7) and Russian Nikolai Davydenko (8).

Women's Boxing included in Olympics

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the inclusion of women's boxing in the 2012 London Games, a move which will give a boost to India 's prospects, given that the country has been churning out world champions in the sport for years. It also ends a long-standing bias in the world of sport -boxing is the only discipline in which women were not allowed to compete so far in the Olympics.

News & Views

• Raman Srivastava has taken over as the new BSF Director General.
• Justice Barkat Ali Zaidi, a retired Allahabad High Court Judge appointed as the President of Delhi State Consumer Disputes Commission.
• Justice Jagdish Bhalla was sworn in as the new Chief Justice of the Rajashtan High Court on 10 th August, 2009.
• Chennai based eminent gastroenterologist N. Rangabashyam has been nominated to the Wall of Honour of the Royal Society of Medicine, U.K.
• Lieutenant General Naresh Kumar has taken over as the new Commandant of the Army (Research and Referral) Hospital, Delhi .
• Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah inaugurated the world's largest solar system installed at Sri Sai Baba place, Shirdi to cook food for the devotees. This solar system enables the sansthan to cook food for 20,000 people a day resulting in a considerable annual saving of 1 lakh kg of LPG or nearly Rs. 20 lakh.
• Ergo, the free tabloid brought out by the publishers of the Hindu will end its print run this month and become an online- only offering. Ergo will continue on its www.goergo.in platform and will be available at the Hindu's newly designed website.
• Former queen Mother, Gayatri Devi, and the last queen of India , died in Jaipur at the age of 90. She was listed by Vogue as among the ten most beautiful women in the world.
• Infosys Technologies Ltd. became the first private company to get protection from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). The force protects public sector undertakings and government-owned industrial establishments.
• The second KCK International Award for Excellence in Print Journalism for this year goes to Harinder Baweja and her team that investigated the 26/11 Mumbai attack.
• The training institute of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has received an ISO 9001: 2008 certification, a validation from the International Organisation for Standardisation for maintaining standards in Quality Management System in training.
• Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit added a 'mobile maintenance unit' to the Public Work Department's (PWD) portfolio and said this team will be on its toes to repair any damage to roads in the Capital.
• Critically acclaimed film actor Nandita Das was appointed Chairperson of Children's Film Society of India (CFSI). Das replaces Nafisa Ali.
• Mahabharata, the ancient epic about princes, demigods and a cataclysmic war is getting a makeover on Twitter - 140 characters at a time. Chindu Sreedharan, a U.K.-based lecturer, is retelling the Mahabharata using the micro-blogging service, hoping to lure readers with creative snippets posted in chronological order.
• Gul-e-Surkhab , Jammu and Kashmir 's ace martial arts champion, has won two bronze medals in the first Asian Martial Arts Games held in Bangkok .
• India would build four 700-megawatt nuclear power units shortly, to cope with a projected increase in demand for energy

Science and Technology

Electrons Split into two

Scientists have shown that electrons, which are indivisible in isolation, can divide into two particles called spinons and holons when crowded into a narrow wire. The researchers from the universities of Cambridge and Brimingham explained that while single electrons seem to be impossible to break apart, this does not seem to be the case when electrons are brought together.

Two much of fructose can impair memory 

According to a new study diets high in fructose, a type of sugar found in most processed foods and beverages, impairs memory. Amy Ross, associate professor at Georgia State University Neuroscience Institute, fed a group of rats a diet where fructose represented 60% calories ingested during the day. She found that though the fructose diet doesn't affect the rats' ability to learn, their memory seems to ha ve been impaired.