NEWSLINE 16th DECEMBER 2009

National News

India vows 20-25% carbon intensity cuts

India acquired the tag of a "responsible" global power in climate mitigation when it announced that it would reduce its carbon intensity levels by 20-25% on its 2005 levels over the next 11 years. But in the process, it has possibly taken a step that could restrict its economic options in the future.

No death, but life term gets longer than 14 years

Life sentences to murder accused can no longer mean the usual 14 years in prison, as popularly understood till now. The Supreme Court, which recently began a trend of quantifying prison term much in excess of 14 years while commuting death sentence of condemned prisoners, awarded 25 years and 20 years in jail to two condemned prisoners while commuting their death sentences to life term.

India, Russia signed Civil Nuclear Agreement during PM visit to Moscow

India and Russia have sealed a breakthrough long-term pact for expanding civil nuclear cooperation that is free from any restriction on India and guarantees it against any curb in the future. Under the agreement signed on December 7, 2009 during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Moscow, Russia will set more nuclear reactors in India, transfer the full range of nuclear energy technologies and energy uninterrupted supply of fuel. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev made it clear Russia will not accept any foreign-imposed restrictions on its nuclear cooperation with India.

Kalam is green Ambassador

The Ministry of Environment and Forests announced the name of the first "Paryavaran" Ambassador of India. Part of a campaign by the MoEF started last year, around 2 lakh school children from all over the country chose Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, former President of India as the Ambassador.

More posts of Judges in Karnataka High Court

With a view to increasing the ratio of judges to cases and tackling the pendency of cases, the Centre has sanctioned nine more posts of Judges in Karnataka High Court. The strength of the judges in the High Court is 41 now. Of them, 37 posts have been filled and the High Court has recommended the names of two advocates and two district judges for elevation as Judges of High Court. Of the 50 posts 33 will be permanent and 17 additional judges.

Infosys Prize 2009 for five eminent researchers

The Infosys Science Foundation, a non-profit-trust set up by Infosys Technologies, on November 30, 2009 announced the Infosys Prize 2009 for five eminent researchers in four categories for their outstanding contributions in Research. The annual award which carries a cash prize of Rs. 50 lakh for each category is being given from this year to promote world-class research in the fields of natural and social sciences in India. The winners will receive the award from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi on January 4, 2010. The winners are: Thanu Padmanabhan of the InterUniversity Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune (Physical Sciences), Ashoke Sen of the Harish Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad (Mathematical Sciences), K. Vijay Raghavan of the National Centre of Biological Sciences, Bangalore (Life Sciences), and Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Upinder Singh of the University of Delhi (the award is shared in the Social Sciences and Economics category).

UNIDO is all set to launch a major initiative costing $ 7 million to promote Energy Efficiency

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is all set to launch a major initiative costing $7 million to promote energy efficiency in selected energy intensive micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) clusters across India. The objective is to enhance energy efficiency and increase the share of renewable energy in these sectors. The clusters selected included Khurja, Thangarh and Morbi (ceramics), Jalandhar, Nagaur, Tumkur (hand tools), Belgaum, Coimbatore and Indore (foundaries), Jagadhri and Kamnagar (brass clusters) and dairy in Gujarat. The project, to be spread over a period of four years, is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and is part of the country programme of cooperation between India and UNIDO.

Reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs not mandatory in PG Courses: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has ruled that providing reservation benefits to SC, ST and OBC candidates in postgraduate courses is the sole discretion of the government and a student cannot claim it as a matter of fundamental right. Three Judge Bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justice P Sathasivam and Justice J M Panchal said though a preferential treatment can be given to the candidates belonging to the reserved and underprivileged communities, yet, there is no Constitutional obligation for the Government to fulfil the same.

5 Nations cleared for visa-on-arrival in India

In a major boost for Commonwealth Games 2010, t he government has decided to offer visa-on-arrival facility to citizens of a select group of five countries - Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, Luxembourg and Finland.

Narrow margin of defeat no ground for recounting: SC

The courts have been granting recounting of ballots, where the defeat in an election is by a narrow margin, more particularly in single digit. Supreme Court in a significant ruling has reversed this trend by refusing relief to a contestant who lost the election to the post of sarpanch by two votes. It said the small margin of defeat alone was not a ground for recounting of votes.

Coming, a law which gives directors film copyright

The Copyright Act, 1957 only recognizes a Producer's ownership, but the HRD ministry has come up with a bill which confers copyright of a film not just upon the producer, but also on the director. For films made after the proposed law comes into force, the producer and director will be "treated jointly as the first owner of copyright".

Handsets without unique IDs go dead

After the government banned the use of handsets without unique identity numbers for security reasons, around 17 to 25 million mobile subscribers owning such phones had services discontinued by operators. The International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number is a 15-digit code that appears on the operators' network whenever a call is made and enables security agencies to trace calls made from or received on such handsets.

India's forest cover rises to over 21%

Continuing the commendable trend of the past decade, India's forest cover increased by 728 sq km during 2005-07 - a marginal rise of 0.03%. Overall, 21.02% of the country's geographical area is now under green cover. In the past 10 years, forest cover has increased by 3.31 million hectares, showing an average 0.46% increase every year.

SC moves SC against CIC order on Judges

An appeal from the Supreme Court to itself may sound odd but its unease with CIC's orders has pushed the Apex Court to exercise this unusual option. The SC moved the SC with appeals against orders of the CIC to divulge details relating to appointment of judges and also correspondence between the Chief Justice of India and Justice R Regupathy of Madras HC on alleged interference of a Union Minister in a case.

PG medical quota not binding on States: SC

In a ruling having a major ramification for medical education, the Supreme Court held that the Centre's decision to provide quota for SCs and STs in post-graduate medical courses did not automatically bind the State Governments to follow suit and implement it in their medical colleges. It took note of the fact that the Centre has provided for reservation to SC and ST candidates in the All India Entrance Examination for MD/MS/PG Diploma and MDS courses and also in the All-India quota PG seats, but firmly handed down the ruling that "the same cannot automatically be applied in other sections where State Governments have power to regulate."

Rahman, Amjad Ali get Grammy nominations

Music maestros AR Rahman and Amjad Ali Khan are in the race to win Grammy awards this year. While Rahman has been nominated in two Grammy categories for his music in Slumdog Millionaire, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan has received a nomination for his album, Ancient Sounds, in the traditional world music album category. Rahman had earlier won two Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire and the Best Original Score award at the 2009 Golden Globe Award.

Green stoves to replace Chullahs

The Government has declared its intent to take yet another substantial climate change action, with the announcement of an improved biomass cooked stove initiative. Once completely rolled out, the full-scale programme would target 135-140 million households nationwide that still depend on burning wood, twigs, leaves and agriculture residues for heating and cooking needs.

40 th International Film Festival of India (IFFI)

The 40 th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), the 11 day film festival ended on December 3, 2009 with the screening of Spanish Film "Broken Wings" by Pedro Almodovar. The Taiwanese film "I Can't Live Without You" (No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti) directed by Leon Dai and produced by Rita Chuang bagged the prestigious Golden Peacock and cash prize of Rs. 40 lakh. The Silver Peacock along with cash prize of Rs. 15 lakh for Best Director was bagged by French-South Korean filmmaker Ounie Lecomte for her film "A Brand New Life" (Yeo Haeng Ja). The Special Jury award which consists of a Silver Peacock and Rs. 15 lakh cash, went to George Ovashvili for his powerful but unsentimental story-telling in his film "The Other Bank" (Gangma Napiri).

Settle NRI custody fights abroad: SC

Faced with the prospect of litigating a marital dispute or child custody case in foreign courts, NRI mothers mostly prefer to return home and seek legal protection from sympathetic domestic courts. Virtually closing the door on this practice, the Supreme Court has ruled that Indian Courts cannot settle disputes of NRI couples pending in foreign courts.

International News

Copenhagen Climate Summit

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) is an international environmental treaty produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) or Earth Summit. The objective of the treaty is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. At the Climate conference in Copenhagen 2009 the parties of the UNFCC met. Governmental representatives from 170 countries were there in Copenhagen from December 7 to December 18, 2009.

Obama's India-born adviser wins Louisville Grawemeyer Award

India-born Eboo Patel, founder of a group focused on global interfaith youth movement and member of President Barack Obama's faith advisory council, has won the 2010 Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Religion, touted as the world's most prestigious prize in the field. Patel, founder and executive director of city-based Interfaith Youth Core, won the $200,000 prize for his 2007 autobiography 'Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation '.

India votes against Iran at IAEA

India stuck to its opposition of Iran's nuclear weapons by voting for a resolution in the IAEA rapping Tehran for building a secret enrichment plant. The resolution, co-sponsored by Iran's two biggest champions Russia and China, sailed through (25-3) the 35-member board of governors, helped along by India's vote which was believed to be crucial. Countries like Brazil, South Africa, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt and Turkey abstained and Cuba, Venezuela and Malaysia opposed the resolution.

Sports

CEAT Cricket Rating (CCR) Awards

Tyre Major CEAT Limited organised 'CEAT Cricket Rating (CCR) International Awards 2009' at a glittering ceremony in Mumbai on November 29, 2009.

Complete list of award winners:

• CEAT International Team of the Year Award - Australia
• CEAT International Cricketer of the Year - Gautam Gambhir (India)
• CEAT International Test Batsman of the year - Gautam Gambhir (India)
• CEAT International ODI Batsman of the Year - Virender Sehwag (India)
• CEAT International Test Bowler of the year - Mitchell Johnson (Australia)
• CEAT International ODI Bowler of the year - Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka)
• CEAT International Spirit of Cricket Award - Thilan Samaraweera (Sri Lanka)
• CEAT International 300 Wickets Felicitation Award - Harbhajan Singh (India)

Ballon d'Or: Messi Beats Ronaldo

Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi was awarded the 2009 Balon d'Or. The 22-year-old finished ahead of last year's winner Cristiano Ronaldo by a record 240-point margin, with his Barcelona teammate Xavi in third. Messi becomes the first Argentine to win the Ballon d'Or. Earlier the award was known as European Footballer of the Year Award.

Davydenko won the ATP World Tour Finals

Russia's Nikolay Davydenko won the ATP World Tour Finals title with a straight sets victory over Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro at London's O2 Arena. Davydenko became the first Russian to win the season-ending tournament. Davydenko downed the Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal, French Open and Wimbledon title holder Roger Federer and US Open champion Del Potro en route to claiming the title.

Brothers win it for Italy

Brothers Francesco and Edoadrdo Molinari edged a dramatic three-way final round tussle with Sweden and Ireland to claim the first World Cup of Golf for Italy. The two became the first siblings to lift the John Jay Hopkins Trophy in the 55 versions of the event. Ireland's Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell shared second spot with defending champion Swedes Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson.

Federer tops ATP rankings

Roger Federer has topped the ATP end-of-year world rankings for the fifth time during his career having ceded the position last year to Rafael Nadal. The 28-year-old Swiss star, who won the French Open and Wimbledon during the summer was world No. 1 previously from 2004 to 2007 and he is now level with Jimmy Connors and one behind the alltime best set by Pete Sampras from 1993 to 1998. ATP World Rankings : 1. Roger Federer 10,550 points, 2. Rafael Nadal 9205 points, 3. Novak Djokovic 8310 points.

India becomes No. 1 in ICC Test Ranking

Indian cricket touched an unprecedented high as Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men became the number one Test side for the first time, dislodging South Africa in the ICC Rankings issued on December 6, 2009. The innings and 24-run win over Sri Lanka in the third Test in Mumbai gave India a 2-0 series triumph and five rating points from the rubber, taking their overall tally to 124.

Suranjoy is first Indian Boxer to Bag Top Honour at an AIBA-Organised Event

Suranjoy Singh's flyweight (51 kg) final of the Inter-Continental President's Cup in Baku, the Navyman gold medal, is the first-ever by an Indian in an Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) organized event.

Spain wins Davis Cup 2009

Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer completed Spain's Davis Cup whitewash over the Czech Republic. Defending champions Spain sealed their fourth Davis Cup title when the doubles pair of Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez demolished their Czech opponents to give the hosts an unassailable 3-0 lead. World number two Nadal and Ferrer completed the job by beating Jan Hajek and Lukas Dlouhy respectively for a final 5-0 scoreline for the hosts. Spain becomes the first country since Sweden in 1998 to retain the Davis Cup, after triumphing last year in Argentina.

News and Views

• Indian President Pratibha Patil on November 25, 2009 became the World's First Woman Head of State to fly in a warplane, taking off in a frontline Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet from the Lohegaon Air Force Base, Pune. The feat also made the 74-year-old Patil the World's oldest woman to fly in a combat jet.
• Dilip Rao Saheb Deshmukh has been appointed the new Chief of the Company Law Board.
• Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar, the 'Nightingale of India', was conferred France's highest civilian award, the Insignia of 'Officier de la Legione d'Honneur (Officer of the Legion of Honour). The award was presented to the 81-year-old renowned singer by French Ambassador to India Gerome Bonnfont. The award has earlier been conferred on Oscar winning Director Satyajit Ray and Megastar Amitabh Bachchan.
• India-origin Tony Fernandes has been named as the Airline CEO of the Year 2009, by Jane's Transport Finance magazine, for successfully leading AirAsia to one of the world's best low-cost airline.
• Vice-Admiral Robin Dhowan took over as the new deputy Chief of the Navy, even as Vice-Admiral NN Kumar assumed charge as the new Controller Warship Production and Acquisition.
• Legendary actor Bina Rai, who charmed Indian audiences with her performances in 'Anarkali' and 'TajMahal' and trumped Madhubala (in 'Mughal-e-Azam') for a Filmfare award for 'Ghoonghat', died of a heart attack on December 6, 2009 at the age of 78.
• Bajaj Auto is set to stop making scooters. Bajaj Auto Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj announced that the company was all set to bid adieu to the segment as it concentrates on motorcycles, in line with its ambitions of emerging as the world's biggest bikemaker ahead of Honda.
• Mahindra Satyam has announced the appointment of Vineet Nayyar as the company's Chairman. Nayyar was so far heading the company as Vice-Chairman.
• Kaushik Basu was appointed Chief Economic Advisor in the Finance Ministry in place of Arvind Virmani who has joined the International Monetary Fund as an Executive Director.
• Michael Jackson is to be posthumously awarded a lifetime achievement Grammy, the US Recording Academy announced.
• Justice J S Khehar on November 29, 2009 took oath as the new Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court.

Science and Technology

New map hints that Mars was wet and humid

A new detailed map of Mars shows what was likely a vast ocean in the north and valleys around the equator, suggesting that the planet once had a humid, rainy climate, researchers reported. The computer-generated map, based on topographic data from NASA satellites, also shows that the network of valleys on the red planet is at least twice as extensive as previously estimated.