NEWSLINE 1st DECEMBER, 2009

NATIONAL NEWS

4 new Supreme Court judges sworn in

Chief Justices of four High Courts were sworn-in Judges of the Supreme Court on November 16, 2009. The new Judges are: Justice Ananga Kumar Patnaik, Justice Tirath Singh Thakur, Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice Surinder Singh Nijjar. The strength of the judges in the Court has gone up to 26.

Mukesh Ambani tops India's rich list

The head of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani, is once again the wealthiest person in India. His net worth is put at 32 billion dollars, an increase of 54 per cent from nearly 21 billion dollars last year, according to the latest Forbes' India Rich List. Trailing behind him are Lakshmi Mittal with a net worth of 30 billion dollars, up 46 per cent from 20.5 billion dollars, and Mukesh's estranged brother, Anil, whose net worth of 17.5 billion dollars, 40 per cent, higher than before, put him in the third place.

Three Andhra medicos get jail term for ragging juniors

In a landmark, first-of-its-kind judgment in Andhra Pradesh, a Vijayawada court sentenced three MBBS students to one-year imprisonment for ragging a junior student. The police had investigated the matter and filed a chargesheet under AP Prevention of Ragging Act, 1997.

Eunuchs can vote, contest as 'others'

A welcome sign of freeing sexual identity from age-old biases and stereotypes, the Election Commission gave transsexuals and eunuchs a distinct identity. Instead of having to put down their gender as male or female, they can now identify themselves in electoral rolls as 'Others'. Further, they can contest elections with 'others' identity.

A church in Mother Teresa's name

A Roman Catholic cathedral has been co-dedicated to Mother Teresa at Baruipur in Bengal's South-24 Parganas district ahead of her centenary next year. The Cathedral of Immaculate Heart of Mary and Blessed Teresa were inaugurated by the Missionaries of Charity's superior-general Sister Prema.

IPS Officers can't hold post of Director of Prosecution: Court

The Madras High Court said that Indian Police Service Officers could not occupy the post of Director of Prosecution. A Division Bench of Justices D. Murugesan and S. Nagamuthu pointed out that as per Section 25A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, only a person holding a Law Degree and practicing as a Lawyer for 10 years could be appointed to the post.

HC: Foreigner can't claim right to a visa

In a landmark judgment, Bombay High Court has ruled that a foreign national has no fundamental right to a visa to stay in India. "No foreigner, whose request for a visa or its renewal has been rejected, has a right to be heard," said the judges, adding, "Once application for extension of business visa has been rejected, the inevitable result is that he has to leave this country and he does not have any vested right for extension of his visa."

Masters in law may soon be a one-year affair

The HRD ministry's round table on legal education has decided to look at the possibility of turning the two-year LL.M. course into a one-year programme. There was near-unanimity that LL.M. should be brought at par with international level. Post-graduation in law is a one-year course world over. The round table also decided to look into the feasibility of introducing law as a subject at the undergraduate level as well as having one-year diploma course in law so that a large pool of para-legal personnel was created.

Indian Students in US cross 100,000 mark

The number of students from India enrolled in US universities and colleges crossed 100,000 for the first time ever this year even as international enrolments in America registered the largest percentage rise since 1980, defying broad economic trends, according to the Open Doors report, published annually by the Institute of International Education in collaboration with the US government.

International News

Karzai sworn-in for second term

Hamid Karzai was on November 19, 2009 sworn in as the Afghan President for a second five-year term. 51-year-old Karzai was administered oath of office by the head of the Supreme Court, Abdul Salam Azmi, at a grand ceremony at the heavily-fortified Presidential Palace in the presence of 800 guests, including External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

NASA has signed an agreement with ISRO to use data from Indian satellite

US space agency NASA has signed an agreement with ISRO to use data from Indian satellite Oceansat-2, for various American agencies for research activities, including weather forecasting. Launched on September 23, 2009 using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from Sriharikota, Oceansat-2 is designed to provide service continuity for operational users of the Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) instrument on Oceansat-1. The agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation will lead to the use of data from Oceansat-2 for various US agencies for research, education and other activities of public good including weather forecasting.

'Unfriend' is word of the year

'Unfriend' has been named the word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary, chosen from a list of finalists with a tech-savvy bent. Unfriend was defined as a verb that means to remove someone as a 'friend' on a social networking site like Face-book. Other words deemed finalists for 2009 by the dictionary's publisher, UK's Oxford University Press, came from other technological trends, the economy and political and current affairs. In technology there was "hastang", the hash sign added to a word or phrase that lets Twitter users search for tweets similarly tagged; "intexticated" for when people are distracted by texting while driving, and "sexting" explicit SMSes and pictures by cellphone. Finalists from the economy included "freemium", a business model in which some basic services are provided for free, and "funemployed", in the political and current affairs section. Finalists included "birther", meaning conspiracy theorists challenging president Barack Obama's US birth certificate, and "choice mom" a person who chooses to be a single mother.

Saudi Women may soon practice Law

Women Lawyers may soon be allowed to represent female clients in courtrooms, close on the heels of the kingdom opening its first co-educational university. Under a proposal floated by the Saudi Ministry of Justice, Women Lawyers will be issued a restrictive form of license which will give them access to certain areas of courts and in cases in which they represent female clients only.

Tobacco giant to pay $300m in damages

A Florida jury ordered cigarette maker Philip Morris USA to pay $300 million in damages to a 61-year old ex-smoker named Cindy Naugle who is wheelchair-bound by emphysema. The verdict is the largest of the so-called Engle progeny cases tried so far. Naugle's lawsuit was among about 8,000 cases filed in the wake of a 2006 Florida Supreme Court decision that tossed out a massive class action against the tobacco companies. The case, known as Engle v. RJ Reynolds , resulted in the largest verdict in US history at a trial of $145 billion.

Belgian PM chosen EU's first prez

European Union leaders named Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as the bloc's first president and appointed Briton Catherine Ashton as its foreign affair chief. A consensus was reached at a summit in Brussels after Britain dropped its insistence that former British PM Tony Blair should become president, ending weeks of deadlock and opening the way to agreement on Van Rompuy. The appointments are intended to bolster the EU's standing and help it match the rise of emerging powers such as China following the global economic crisis.

Top words of decade: Global Warming, 9/11 and Obama

Concerns over the environment have not only affected how people lived in the past decade but also their language, with "global warming" and "9/11" topping a list of the most used words of the 2000s. "Obama" was listed third, "Bailout" listed fourth after the bank bailout was one of the first acts of the financial crisis, "evacuee" fifth in the wake of Hurricane Katrina devasting New Orleans, and "derivative" feature fifth, "Google," "surge," "Chinglish" meaning a hybrid of Chinese and English and "tsunami," after the 2004 Asian disaster that left 230,000 people dead or missing followed. The top phrase of the decade was "climate change" followed by "financial tsunami" and "Ground Zero".

Sports News

India wins 12 medals, finishes 3 rd in China

In Asian Athletics Championships in Ghangzhou (China), India ended the five-day competition with 12 medals (one gold, 4 silver, 7 bronze). China (18 gold, 19 silver, 10 bronze) and Japan (12 gold, 5 silver, 5 bronze) finished first and second respectively.

Novak Djokovic wins Masters Trophy

Serbia's Novak Djokovic shrugged off a brave challenge from crowd favourite Gael Monfils to claim the Paris Masters title with a 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 win on November 15, 2009. The win was the first for Djokovic in the Masters Series this year following four runner-up finishes.

Les Bleus steal a Berth

Superstar Thierry Henry was at the centre of a sensational World Cup cheating storm as France reached the 2010 finals in South Africa . France drew 1-1 with Ireland at the Stade de France in Paris in the second leg of their play-off for a 2-1 aggregate win. But the extra-time triumph came in controversial circumstances when French skipper Henry appeared to control the ball with his hand before his angled pass allowed William Gallas to head in the crucial 103 rd minute goal. Ireland, protested desperately, but in vain.

30,000 and Counting

Sachin Tendulkar became the first player in international cricket to cross 30,000 runs. Ricky Ponting of Australia and Brian Lara of West Indies follow with 24,000 and 22,000 runs respectively.

Bolt, Richards Top Chart

Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt and Jamacian-born United States 400 meters runner Sanya Richards were named athletes of the year at Monte Carlo. At the World Athletics in Berlin Bolt took the 100 and 200 metres individual titles in world record times and was part of the Jamacian 4X100 metres winning team. Those titles were added to the Olympic triple he won in Beijing last year. American Richards was majestic in Berlin putting Great Britain's Olympic championship Christine Ohuruogu in her place as she won the title and then added a second gold in the 4X400 metres relay. Richards had previously been named World Athlete of the Year in 2006.

News and Views

• Orissa Congress veteran JB Patnaik will be Governor of Assam replacing Syed Sibtey Razi whose term ends in December. DY Patil, educationist from Maharashtra, would be the new Governor of Tripura replacing Kamala who has been shifted to the Gujarat Raj Bhavan. Maharashtra Governor Jamir was holding additional charge of Gujarat.
• The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will set up the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) "within the next one year". The Category-1 institute, the first of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region, was approved by UNESCO's General Conference held in Paris.
• Sub-Lieutenants Ambica Hooda and Seema Rani Sharma, both 22 will become the first women airborne tacticians of the Navy, which has taken the lead in according equal opportunities by starting entry for women in the Observer Cadre as Short Commissioned Officers.
• Indian Economist Siddharth Tiwari has been named as the secretary of the IMF by its managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Tiwari, currently director of the office of Budget and Planning, is set to assume the position, which was held by Shailendra Anjaria before his retirement from the IMF earlier this year.
• The International Open University of Colombo has conferred an honorary D. Lit. degree on Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank for excellence in Literature and creative writing.
• A videogame named "Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 2" blasted past $300 million in sales on its opening day, blowing away even Hollywood films to become the highest-grossing entertainment launch ever.
• The Central Zoo Authority has notified that all elephants in zoos all over the country should be sent to national parks, sanctuaries and tiger reserves as soon as possible.
• From April 1, 2010, Delhi will become the first city in the country to switch completely to ultra low sulphur diesel (ULSD) in which the sulphur content is one-seventh of what it is in diesel at present.

Science and Technology

Latest Discovery makes the Satellite a viable Site for Astronaut Outpost

Scientists have confirmed that the debris contained water, 25 gallons of it, making lunar exploration exciting again. Having an abundance of water would make it easier to set up a base camp for astronauts, supplying drinking water and a key ingredient for rocket fuel.

Now, Web surfers can explore Mars

NASA and Microsoft launched an interactive website that allows web surfers to become Mars explorers. The "Be a Martian" website invites members of the public to help scientists perform such research tasks as improving maps of the red planet, the US space agency and US software giant said. The website features a "virtual town hall" where users can have questions answered by Mars experts and offers prizes to software developers who create tools that provide access to Mars images for online, classroom and Mars mission team use.