UILS NEWSLINE - OCTOBER 1st, 2011

National News

Khanduri back as Uttarakhand CM

BJP sacked Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal and decided to replace him with B C Khanduri. The former Union Highways Minister whom Pokhriyal succeeded two years ago.

Draft Spectrum Bill

The outcry over the 2G spectrum scam has prompted the government to prepare a draft Spectrum Act, which could well become India's first ever legislation to govern management, pricing and allocation of a scarce national resource. The draft, which is divided into 12 chapters, has been prepared by a committee chaired by Justice Shivraj Patil.

10% disinvestment in HAL

The Defence Ministry has cleared the offloading of 10% equity of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), the country's only military aircraft manufacturer, making it the third defence PSU after BEL and BEML to be headed for disinvestment.

Common Entrance Test for IITs, NITs

The Joint Council of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) decided to hold a common entrance test for admissions to the IITs and National Institutes of Technology (NITs) by scrapping the joint entrance examination (JEE) and ‘in principle' agreed to hike the fee for IIT students, but with some riders. The common entrance test has been devised for all engineering colleges, but would be extended to others after the concurrence of the States

National Awards

President Pratibha Patil presented the Dadasaheb Phalke Award to K Balachander at the 58th National Film Awards in New Delhi . The best actor award went to Dhanush for Aadukalam (Tamil) and Salim Kumar for Adaminte Makan Abu (Malayalam). Mitalee Jagtap Varadkar for Baboo Band Baaja (Marathi) and Saranya Ponvannam for Thenmerkku Paruvakkatru (Tamil) received the best actress award. Salman Khan-starrer Dabangg bagged the award for the best popular film.

Time Bound Delivery of Services

The Delhi (Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services) Act, 2011 has become law. Delhiites can now get compensation for delays in 28 services, rendered by 32 departments and agencies (multiple agencies provide the same service in some cases). These agencies, which include the Delhi government, MCD, NDMC, power discoms and police, have entered into service-level agreements specifying the time frame for delivery of each service provided by them.

Quake rocks northeast

The northern and eastern parts of the country were jolted on 18 th September, 2011 after a powerful earthquake hit the Sikkim-Nepal border with a magnitude of 6.8 causing extensive damage to life and property.

Urdu poetry Shahryar presented with Jnanpith Award

For his distinguished contribution in enriching Indian literature, the 44th Jnanpith Award for 2008 was presented to renowned Urdu poet Professor Akhlaq Mohammad Khan Shahryar on September 18.

Three Supreme Court judges sworn in

Three new judges — Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court S.J. Mukhopadhaya, Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court J.S. Khehar and Justice Ranjana Desai of the Bombay High Court — were sworn in as Judges of the Supreme Court. With the swearing-in of Justice Desai, the number of woman judges in the Supreme Court has gone up to two and the total strength to 29.

Mahindra's test-fly Plane

In what is being described as a milestone for both the country's indigenous civil aviation and the public-private partnership programmes, the software-to-transportation Mahindra group in collaboration with CSIR National Aerospace Laboratories has successfully test-flown a five-seater aircraft. The aircraft could take six months or more before it gets the FAR 23 certification, which guarantees the highest standards of safety. Once ready, each aircraft is expected to cost around $400,000 (about Rs 2 crore) and would also be the first such commercial aircraft in the world which offers a five seat configuration.

TOI Impact Awards

The inaugural TOI Impact Awards aim to recognize unsung heroes who have transformed millions of lives. The jury comprised of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, Nandan Nilekani Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (earlier CEO of Infosys Technologies), HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh, Aruna Roy and Sunita Narain.

The awardees are

Lifetime contribution - Baba Adhav
Global contribution to India - Association for India 's Development

Education

NGOs - Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre

Livelihoods

Corporates - Indian Farms Forestry Development Cooperative
NGOs -Shroffs Foundation Trust

Advocacy & Empowerment

Corporates - Srinivasan Services Trust
NGOs -Dhas Gramini Vikas Kendra

Health

Govt (Joint Winners)- Collector Office ( Kolhapur )
District Administration - Bahraich
NGOs- Comprehensive Rural Health Project

Environment

Govt- 135 th Infantry Battalion Territorial Army Ecological Assam
NGOs -BAIF Development Research Foundation.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Denmark picks first woman PM

Thorning-Schmidt the left-leaning leader is slated to become Denmark 's first female prime minister returning the Social Democrats to power following 10 years in opposition. Thorning-Schmidt had been a lawmaker in the European Parliament in Brussels for five years when she was elected Social Democratic leader in 2005.

1,000 times faster PCs by 2013

Computer maker IBM is developing "skyscraper" computers and smart phones that are up to 1,000 times faster than the systems in use today using huge sandwiches of silicon chips by sticking layer after layer of chips covered with tiny components together. The process, for which IBM has roped in glue maker 3M, and are expected to be available in market by 2013.

IM a terror entity

The United States designated Indian Mujahideen, which has claimed responsibility for many terrorist attacks inside India , including the most recent bombings in Mumbai and New Delhi , as a global terrorist organization with links to Pakistan .

Switzerland tops in competitiveness

While Switzerland continues to hold its numero uno position in world competitiveness, United States has slipped to 5th position, according to Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) 2011. Singapore emerges the 2nd most competitive country. India however slid 5 places to 56. China is ranked 26th, improving its score and rank since 2005.

Angolan crowned Miss Universe

Miss Angolan Leila Lopes, a business student from Benguela, emerged victor at the 60 th Miss Universe pagent at Sao Paulo ( Brazil ). Miss Ukraine Olesia Stefanko was declared runner-up.

Former Afghan President Rabbani killed

Burhanuddin Rabbani, former President of Afghanistan and Chairman of the High Peace Council — leading the year-old Afghan effort to negotiate with the Taliban — was killed in a bomb blast at his residence in the centre of Kabul's high-security diplomatic district.

Japan turns grey as no. of centenarians tops 47,000

Quickly graying Japan has a record 47,756 people aged 100 or older — most of them women. Japan , with 128 million people, is one of the world's most rapidly aging societies. It has one of the lowest birth rates and one of the longest life expectancies.

‘Modern Family' sweeps Emmy

‘Modern Family' stole the show with four wins at the 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. It earned Best Supporting Actor and Actress in a Comedy honours for stars Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen, and Best Direction and Best Writing of a Comedy .

SPORTS

US Open

In Women's Singles final Samantha Stosur defeated Serena Williams, for her first major championship. The ninth-seeded Stosur became the first Australian women to win a major championship.

Men's Singles Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in the men's final. With the four-set victory, the 24-year-old Serb captured his third Grand Slam title of 2011.

ICC Awards, 2011

ICC Cricketer of the Year : Jonathan Trott (England), Test Cricketer of the Year : Alastair Cook (England), ODI Cricketer of the Year : Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka), Sprit of Cricket Award : MS Dhoni (India), Umpire of the Year: Aleen Dar (Pakistan), ICC ODI Team of Year : Ms Dhoni (Capt. & wk, India) Tilakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka) Virender Sehwag (India), Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka), AB De Villers (South Africa), Shane Watson (Australia), Yuvraj Singh (India), Graeme Swann (England) Umar Gul (Pakistan) Dale Steyn (South Africa) Zaheer Khan (India), Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka 12 th man),

ICC Test Team of the year : Alastair Cook, Hashim Amla, Jonathan Trott, Sachin Tendulkar, Kumar Sangakkara (capt/wk), AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Dale Steyn, James Anderson; Zaheer Khan (12 th Man)

India pip Pakistan to title

India registered a sensational 4-2 victory over arch-rivals Pakistan via the tie-breaker to lift the first edition of the men's hockey Asian Champion Trophy.

India relegated to the Asia/Oceania Zone

India was relegated to the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I after losing the World Group play-off tie 1-4 to Japan here. Japan was thus promoted to the elite 16-nation World Group after a gap of 26 years.

Sanjay Jagdale is new BCCI secretary

Batting legend Mohinder Amarnath, is all set to join the national selection panel as its North Zone representative. The BCCI is also likely to retain current selection committee chairman K Srikkanth. The Board decided to bring in current joint secretary from the Central Zone, Sanjay Jagdale, as the new Honorary Secretary of BCCI. Jagdale will take over from N Srinivasan who will be the new President.

NEWS & VIEWS 

• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur pledged to donate their eyes on the occasion of National Eye Donation Day.
• Bollywood actor Imran Khan filed public interest litigation petition against Maharashtra Government's decision to raise the legal age for consuming alcoholic drinks to 25 years.
• Karnataka Lokayukta Shivraj V. Patil resigned in the wake of a media expose that showed irregularities in the allotment of two residential plots to him and his wife.
• Justice Markandeya Katju of the Supreme Court, known for his incisive observation, retired from service after serving on the Bench for nearly five and a half years.
• Terrorists struck at Delhi High Court on 7 th September, 2011 and detonated a sophisticated Improvised Explosive Device (IED) killing 15 people and injuring scores more.
• HIV positive (AIDS) patients will not be denied insurance cover for other diseases they have. Insurance cover will not be given for HIV disease but for other ailments, which are not directly related to that disease.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

12 night frog varieties found in the Western Ghats

A team of scientists from Delhi University , Bombay Natural History, Zoological Survey of India and Brussels' Vrije University has discovered 12 new frog species in the Western Ghats.The 12 species of frogs belong to the genus or scientific classification 'Nyctibatrachus' — 'Nycti' from the Greek word for night and 'batrachus', the Greek word for frog. The findings included the rediscovery of three frog species which were not seen for more than 75 years.

NASA discovers planet that has two sunsets

A team of astronomers using NASA's Kepler planet –hunting spacecraft announced the discovery of a planet that is seen orbiting two stars at once.The planet has a double sunrise and a double sunset. Sometimes the orange sun rises first. Sometimes it is the red one, although they are never far apart in the sky. Kepler, Launched in 2009, is on a mission to determine the fraction of stars in the galaxy that have Earth-like planet. It scrutinises a patch of some 1,55,000 stars. The official name of the new planet is Kepler 16b.