UILS NEWSLINE - SEPTEMBER 16th, 2011

National News

Anna wins it for the people

History was made in Parliament when the two Houses bowed to Anna Hazare's campaign, powered by a groundswell of popular support, for a strong and independent Lokpal. The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha unanimously resolved that the Standing Committee would consider Anna's three demands including the lower bureaucracy in the Lokpal's purview, a Central law for creating Lokayuktas in States and a citizen's charter for government departments providing public service.

Justice Sen quits ahead of LS test

Humiliated by the adoption of an impeachment motion in Rajya Sabha and facing another in the lower house, Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court sent to President Pratibha Patil his resignation letter. Had he been impeached, Sen's would have been the first such case in India.

Nine CMMs for speedy justice

Delhi city will now be divided into nine metropolitan areas, with each having its own Chief Metropolitan Magistrate and sessions court for speedy disposal of cases. To make this possible, the Delhi Assembly passed the Code of Criminal Procedure (Delhi Amendment) Bill, 2011. Currently, Delhi has six district courts. But as the capital is considered to be a single metropolitan area, there is only one Chief Metropolitan Magistrate.

Execution stayed in Rajiv case

The three condemned prisoners in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case got a reprieve, with the Madras High Court staying their execution. A Division Bench, comprising Justices C. Nagappan and M. Sathyanarayanan, passed the interim order on petitions by Perarivalan, Santhan and Murugan. The petitioners' main contention was that the delay in disposal of the mercy petitions by 11 years and four months made the execution of the death sentence “unduly harsh and excessive,” amounting to violation of their right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Cabinet clears Land Acquisition Bill

The Union Cabinet cleared the Land Acquisition Bill which proposes to give a much better deal, including higher compensation, to landowners, and sets the stage for a radical overhaul of the 1894 Act.

New Governors appointed

The Union Government formally announced the appointment of the former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, K. Rosaiah, as the Tamil Nadu Governor. Jharkhand Governor M.O.H. Farook has been transferred to Kerala for the remainder of his term. Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayanan was asked to discharge the functions of the Governor of Goa for the remainder of his term in addition to his own duties. The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Ram Naresh Yadav, was appointed the Madhya Pradesh Governor and the former Kerala Assembly Speaker, Vakkom Purushothaman, has been named as the Governor of Mizoram. Syed Ahmed, a former Maharashtra Minister, has been appointed Jharkhand Governor.

Border row with Bangladesh resolved but water gap remains

India and Bangladesh have succeeded in demarcating their land borders. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Bangladesh counterpart, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, presided over the signing of a new land border agreement. The two leaders also signed a vision statement laying out a long-term roadmap for transforming the often-troubled relationship between India and Bangladesh . In addition, India agreed to allow duty-free imports of 46 lines of ready-made textiles from Bangladesh , which is expected to address its skewed balance of trade.

Amar Singh held, sent to jail in cash-for-vote case

The former Samajwadi Party leader, Amar Singh, was arrested and sent to the Tihar Central Jail after a special court rejected his interim bail application in the cash-for-vote scam case. He allegedly hatched a criminal conspiracy to deliver Rs.1 crore in advance payment to three BJP Lok Sabha members to vote in favour of a trust motion moved by the UPA Government in July 2008.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Japan downgraded

Moody's Investor Services downgraded Japan 's government debt by one notch to ‘Aa3' to bring it on a par with the rating by its two main rivals, Standard & Poor's and Fitch. Now, Japan is on same level as China , which surpassed it last year to become the world's second largest economy.

6,000km-long river found 13,000ft below the Amazon

Scientists led by an Indian-origin researcher have discovered a huge underground river which they believe is flowing some 13,000 feet beneath the mighty Amazon River in Brazil . The researchers believe the subterranean river is about 6,000km long, about the same length as the Amazon on the surface. The researchers have named the river 'Hamza', after team supervisor Dr Valiya Hamza, an Indian-origin scientist who has been studying the region for over four decades. The flow of the underground river which follows a similar contour to the Amazon has been estimated at 3,000 cubic meters per second.

Steve Jobs, iConic Apple head, resigns

Steve Jobs, the iConic leader of Apple, has logged out. The unrivalled maestro of sleek technology, the creator of the iPod, iPhone and iPad, who redefined the look and feel of computing and media, giving it beauty, form, and functional elegance, stepped down as CEO of his storied firm Apple.

Sri Lanka ends emergency

Emergency laws in Sri Lanka lapsed on September 8. Emergency had to be extended by Parliament each month, according to the provisions of the Constitution. Emergency laws had been in operation in one form or the other for over 30 years.

Yoshihiko Noda Japan 's new Prime Minister

Yoshihiko Noda became Japan 's sixth Prime Minister in five years, inheriting an in-tray groaning with disaster recovery, nuclear crisis and economic gloom in the ageing, debt-choked nation. The outgoing Finance Minister takes the place of Naoto Kan , who resigned after just 15 months in office with rock-bottom poll ratings, perpetuating the country's chronic revolving-door leadership at a time of national crisis.

SPORTS NEWS

World Athletics Championship

Jamaica 's Yohan Blake won the World championships 100m final after red hot favourite and defending champion Usain Bolt was sensationally disqualified after a false start. Usain Bolt retained the 200m title at the world athletic championship in Daegu , South Korea . American Trey Hardee retained his world decathlon title. China 's Li Yanfeng won the women's discus title. Ethiopia 's Ibrahim Jeilan produced an amazing home-stretch sprint to trump British favourite Mo Farah at the line of an enthralling men's 10,000m. Oscar Pistorius made history at the World championships by becoming the first amputee athlete to compete in the event's history. Jamaica created a new world record of 37.04 seconds in the 4 x100 men's relay with Usain Bolt in the home stretch. World-record holder David Rudisha of Kenya won a gun-to-tape victory to take the world 800m crown. Grenada teenager Kirani James snatched the world 400m gold from defending champion LaShawn Merritt. Russian Tatyana Chernova plucked the women's world heptathlon crown from Jessica Ennis.

Messi is Europe 's best

Lionel Messi has won the inaugural UEFA Best Player in Europe award for the 2010-11 season. Messi beat his Barcelona teammate Xavi Hernandez and Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid in a poll of journalists from across Europe .

NEWS & VIEWS

• A hat-trick by Oscar lifted Brazil to a 3-2 extra-time triumph over Portugal in the final of the under-20 Football World Cup played at Bogota.
• Tim Cook, has taken over as the Chief Executive of the world's largest technology company Apple.
• Vice Admiral RK Dhowan took over as the new Vice-Chief of Naval Staff. He took over from Vice Admiral DK Dewan who retired recently.
• Vishwanathan Anand reigned supreme and added Botvinnik Rapid Title to his collection.
• The world's best striker Lionel Messi accomplished his responsibility as the captain helping Argentina down its Latin American cousin Venezuela by a solitary goal in a FIFA international friendly match played at Kolkata .
• Ranjit Sinha, a Bihar cadre IPS officer of the 1974 batch will be the next Director-General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, a paramilitary force that guards the borders with China .
• Diminutive, bespectacled 57-year-old scholar Baburam Bhattarai became Nepal 's 35th PM. He is the second Maoist PM after Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda in 2008-2009.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Astronomers discover planet made of diamonds

In what could be called a gem of a discovery, astronomers claim to have found a planet entirely made of diamonds. An international team of scientists said, they have unearthed a once-massive star in the Milky Way that has been transformed into a small planet made of the precious rock.

1.76-mn year-old stone tools are world's oldest

A rare haul of picks, flakes and hand axes recovered from ancient sediments in Kenya are the oldest remains of advanced stone tools yet discovered. Archaeologists unearthed the implements on the shores of Lake Turkana in the remote north-west of the country. Researchers dated the sediments where the tools were found to 1.76 million years old. Until now, the earliest stone tools of this kind were estimated to be 1.4m years old and came from a haul in Konso , Ethiopia . The latest collection of stone tools from Kenya belong to a second, more advanced generation of toolmaking.