Record $7.2 bn funding for renewables in India
25 Oct 2011
 

Investment in clean-energy projects in India reached a record $7.2 billion in the first three quarters, despite debt woes in Europe that threaten to derail more established solar and wind markets.

The total value of project finance, money raised on public markets, and new investments from private equity and venture capital in the nine months to September already exceeds the $5.7 billion raised in 2010, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said.

India has awarded permits to build about 1,100 megawatts of solar photovoltaic capacity by next year, more than what any other country outside of Europe installed in 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Solar investments surged to $2.4 billion by the end of the third quarter compared with $543 million in 2010.

India’s solar industry is seeking about $3.2 billion in funds when rupee borrowing costs are the highest in Asia. Renewable power projects tend to be more sensitive to rates than conventional projects because most their costs are incurred upfront to set up though they have no long-term fuel costs.

India’s wind industry, the world’s third-largest for new capacity, drew the biggest chunk of investment, or $3.7 billion so far. By the year’s end, it should surpass last year’s record wind investment of $4.1 billion.

India had 46 megawatts of solar capacity and 14,989 megawatts of wind as of Aug. 31, according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

To read more, visit: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-25/india-s-record-7-2-billion-funding-for-renewables-ignores-european-woes.html

Vatican demands 'supernational' authority on economy
25 Oct 2011
 

The Vatican has called for the establishment of a “global public authority” and a “central world bank” to rule over financial institutions that have become outdated and often ineffective in dealing fairly with crises. The document from the Vatican’s Justice and Peace department should please the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrators and similar movements around the world who have protested against the economic downturn.

“Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of a Global Public Authority,” was called for taxation measures on financial transactions. “The economic and financial crisis which the world is going through calls everyone, individuals and peoples, to examine in depth the principles and the cultural and moral values at the basis of social coexistence,” it said.

It condemned what it called “the idolatry of the market” as well as a “neo-liberal thinking” that it said looked exclusively at technical solutions to economic problems. “In fact, the crisis has revealed behaviours like selfishness, collective greed and hoarding of goods on a great scale,” it said, adding that world economics needed an “ethic of solidarity” among rich and poor nations.

“If no solutions are found to the various forms of injustice, the negative effects that will follow on the social, political and economic level will be destined to create a climate of growing hostility and even violence, and ultimately undermine the very foundations of democratic institutions, even the ones considered most solid,” it said.

It called for the establishment of “a supranational authority” with worldwide scope and “universal jurisdiction” to guide economic policies and decisions.

To read more, visit: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/24/idUS264245887020111024

Aid commitments must be met: Gates to G20
25 Oct 2011
 

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates said it was critical that rich donors continue to fund health and agriculture projects in developing countries despite budget cuts in the United States and Europe.

In an interview with Reuters, Gates said he would tell G20 leaders at a summit in France next month not to turn their backs on funding development projects in poor countries despite tough times at home. He said there was ample evidence that agricultural and health programs in developing countries made a big difference in the livelihoods of the poor and boosted economic stability. “One thing with agriculture is once you get a boot strap it is a capitalistic market,” Gates said. “If you help a farmer with productivity and show them these new tools have positive returns, then it is something you can leave and you don’t have to keep funding them.”

A global food price crisis in 2008 highlighted years of chronic underinvestment in agriculture in developing countries. Costlier food and more price volatility have further weighed on the poor, increasing malnutrition and hunger. Despite 2009 promises by the world’s rich nations to increase funding for agriculture in developing countries, Gates said just half of the promised funds had been received. A sovereign debt crisis gripping Europe and cut in overseas spending in the United States to address budget shortfalls have raised concerns of major scaling back of assistance to the world’s poorest countries.

Gates and Howard Buffett, the farmer-conservationist son of investor Warren Buffett, were honored on Monday by the UN’s World Food Program for their efforts in helping farmer overcome hunger and poverty. Their Purchase for Progress program has helped small-scale farmers supply UN food programs in Africa and also sell crops to private companies. The Gates Foundation has also funded initiatives to develop drought-resistant maize and new flood-tolerant rice varieties in India.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy asked Gates earlier this year to look into innovative financing that could be used to fund aid to poor countries. Gates will submit the final report to the G20 meeting in Cannes, France, on 2-3 November. He said while rising economic powers such as China and Brazil were playing a greater role in helping poorer countries and sharing knowledge on agriculture, traditional aid remained critical in funding development programs.

An early draft of Gates’ report obtained by Reuters in September proposed taxing financial transactions, tobacco, and shipping and aviation fuels to raise development aid. Countries such as Canada, Britain, the United States, Australia and China oppose the so-called “Tobin Tax” on financial transactions because it puts an additional financial burden on their banks.

To read more, visit: http://www.firstpost.com/fwire/aid-commitments-must-be-met-gates-to-g20-116396.html

UN Watch urges Ban Ki-moon, others to clear doubts
25 Oct 2011
 

A letter discovered by UN Watch in a Wikileaks cable reveals that Kofi Annan was urged by the World Food Program in 2002 to remove the UN Human Rights Council's hunger expert because he was engaging in "profoundly immoral" and "inflammatory" politics that had a "negative impact on the lives of the hungry.” 

In reaction, UN Watch today urged Ban Ki-moon and UN rights chief Navi Pillay to investigate why nothing was ever done to stop Jean Ziegler, the UNHRC's former "Special Rapporteur on the right to food," and to call on Ziegler to resign from his continuing council mandates on hunger. As a member of the UNHRC's Advisory Committee, Ziegler continues to participate on right-to-food drafting groups, and has been mandated to work on related reports, background papers and studies for the council.

Earlier this year, Swiss TV confirmed UN Watch's findings that Ziegler has been covering up his key role as founder of the “Muammar Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights.” A coalition of 45 NGOs led by UN Watch have called on Ziegler to resign.

UN Watch also called on Olivier De Schutter, the council's current special rapporteur, who addressed the UN General Assembly today, to repudiate Ziegler's politicized path. De Schutter has refused to answer questions submitted by UN Watch as to why he is now planning a country visit next May to Canada, of all places, instead of spotlighting food emergency countries like Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan.

To read more, visit: http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1285603&ct=11303901¬oc=1

Jairam plans development of naxal affected areas
25 Oct 2011
 

Apart from ensuring the immediate appointment of 18,000 panchayat development officers and as many junior engineers, the Centre has drawn up a blueprint to provide jobs to three-lakh youth in the 60 left wing extremist affected districts in the country.

Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh, in his consolidated note for the approval of the Empowered Group of Secretaries for the Integrated Action Plan (IAP) under Planning Commission member Sudha Pillai, dovetails a number of rural development schemes for better impact in the Naxalite-affected districts.

For better implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS), Mr. Ramesh has ordered that each panchayat appoint one panchayat development officer and a junior engineer for a period of 10 years from within the district. Non-residents would not be considered for these posts. According to the proposal, the cost be shared in the ratio of 75:25 between the Centre and States, Mr. Ramesh's decision will ensure the appointment of about 18,000 graduates as development officers and as many junior level engineers. All these districts would be covered under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) by March 2013 with the objective of training and providing jobs to three lakh youths over the next five years.

To ensure a better return to the tribals, a public-private partnership (PPP) pilot project in non-timber forest produce will be launched in one district each of Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Private companies will add value by training women self-help groups (SHGs) and marketing the non-timber produce. The tribals were not getting the real value of their produce, Mr. Ramesh said and hoped that the current arrangement would help them realise the full value of their produce. He said he was holding talks with companies such as ITC, Ballarpur, Dabur, Wipro and Emami.

Aiming to identify the destitute, Mr. Ramesh has ordered that the district administration construct houses under the Indira Aawas Yojana (IAY) for the disabled, widowed and old age pensioners as mere financial help did not serve the purpose as they were unable to handle the job. Mr. Ramesh also decided to extend support to those who have been at the receiving end of the Naxalite movement. Irrespective of their socio-economic standing, the government would provide a house under the IAY to those whose house had been damaged in a Naxalite attack.

To ensure availability of potable water, Mr. Ramesh has earmarked 10 per cent of the Ministry's annual budget under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) which amounts to Rs.935 crore for these 60 districts. The States would have to bear 15 per cent of the project cost with the Centre footing the rest.

He has also increased the provision under the Integrated Watershed Management Programme from Rs.12,000 per hectare to Rs.15,000 per hectare and approved construction of cement concrete roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana doing away the compulsion of blacktop roads. The cost of construction of such roads is at least 50 per cent more and the Centre will bear 90 per cent of it.

To read more, visit: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2568123.ece

Don't encourage govt, civil society discord - Khurshid
25 Oct 2011
 

Amid sparring between Team Anna and Congress on the Lokpal issue, Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Tuesday said there should be no encouragement for discord between civil society and government.

"Things will be said and people would think that they should say something. I don't think we should engage in a dialogue of this kind through the media," Khurshid said. "Please don't try to create greater difference between civil society and the government. Whoever tries to create difference between civil society and the government is not working in the interest of the society," he said.

Noting that the two sides have enough channels for direct communication, he said, "I am sure we have a lot of channels by which we can talk directly. I don't think we should encourage discord and distance between civil society and government."

AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh had yesterday ridiculed Kiran Bedi's statement that money she had overcharged from NGOs and other hosts would be returned, saying that by this yardstick if corrupt people give back money, they too should be absolved of their crimes.

To read more, visit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/govt-civil-society-discord-not-to-be-encouraged_738373.html

Rescue workers trying to find Turkish quake survivors
25 Oct 2011
 

Rescue workers dug deeper into collapsed buildings today in a battle against time to find survivors from an earthquake in southeast Turkey that killed hundreds and made tens of thousands homeless.

More dead bodies were pulled from under the rubble of dozens of collapsed homes overnight while people slept around small fires in towns rattled by aftershocks across Van province, near the Iranian border.

The death toll from Sunday's quake stood at 279 and hundreds more were missing. Casualties were concentrated so far in Ercis and the provincial capital Van, with officials checking outlying areas. The Disaster and Emergency Administration said 1,301 people had been injured and 2,262 buildings had collapsed. Rescue teams concentrated efforts in Ercis, a town of 100,000 that was worst hit by the 7.2 magnitude tremor.

As grieving families prepared to bury their dead, others kept vigil by the mounds of concrete rubble and masonry, praying rescue teams would find missing loved ones alive.

The Turkish Red Crescent distributed up to 13,000 tents, and was preparing to provide temporary shelter for about 40,000 people, although there were no reliable estimates of the number of people left destitute.

To read more, visit: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/25/us-turkey-quake-idUSTRE79M10Z20111025

WikiLeaks says its future in doubt
25 Oct 2011
 

WikiLeaks will have to stop publishing secret cables and devote itself to fund-raising if it is unable to end a financial "blockade" by U.S. firms such as Visa and MasterCard by the end of the year, founder Julian Assange has declared.

After releasing tens of thousands of confidential U.S. government cables, WikiLeaks needs $3.5 million over the next year to continue operating, Assange said. Visa and MasterCard stopped processing donations for WikiLeaks in December 2010 after the United States criticized the organization's release of thousands of sensitive U.S. diplomatic cables from its embassies all over the world.

In the 24 hours before credit card donations were blocked, the organization said it had received $135,000. Now, it is receiving on average about 7,000 euros ($9,700) a month. Assange said there were no lawful grounds for the blockade by Bank of America Corp, Visa Inc, MasterCard Inc, eBay Inc unit PayPal and Western Union Co, which he said had cost Wikileaks 95 percent of its revenue."If WikiLeaks does not find a way to remove this blockade, given our current levels of expenditure, we will simply not be able to continue by the turn of the year," Assange told a news conference.

In July, WikiLeaks filed a complaint to the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission, saying Visa and MasterCard had breached antitrust provisions set out by the EU Treaty.

To read more, visit: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/24/us-britain-wikileaks-idUSTRE79N46K20111024

UNSC adopts India backed resolution on piracy
25 Oct 2011
 

At India's initiative, the UN Security Council has for the first time adopted a resolution seeking prosecution not only for acts of piracy off the coast of Somalia but also for hostage taking.

India, which has been taking the lead in addressing the problems of piracy as well as hostage taking, along with 10 other members, co-sponsored the resolution. The resolution 2015 recognizes the increasing scope of piracy beyond the coast of Somalia, which affects not only the states in the region but also those far beyond. The resolution calls for international cooperation in sharing information for the purpose of law enforcement and for effective prosecution. It also urges States and international organizations to share evidence in this regard.

India, actively supported by other partners, incorporated in the resolution provisions dealing with persons who intentionally facilitate piracy operations, including key figures of criminal networks involved in piracy. The resolution also calls for prosecution of those who illicitly plan, organize, facilitate, or finance and profit from such attacks.

Earlier this year, the Security Council adopted Resolution 1976 which, for the first time, addressed the problem of hostage taking and called upon States to cooperate on this serious problem in the overall context of counter-piracy efforts.

To read more, visit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/unsc-adopts-india-backed-resolution-on-piracy_738339.html

Biofuels will worsen CO2 emissions: Study
25 Oct 2011
 

Emphasis on biofuels as an alternative to conventional fuels would increase carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from forests by 14 percent, researchers said. The findings challenge the assumptions, based on previous studies, that biofuels from forested sources would be carbon-neutral or even reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The largest and most comprehensive study yet on the effect of biofuel production from forests was undertaken by the College of Forestry at Oregon State University (OSU) and other institutions in Germany and France.

During the past four years, the study examined 80 forest types in 19 eco-regions in Oregon, Washington and California, ranging from temperate rainforests to semi-arid woodlands, according to an OSU statement, the journal Nature Climate Change reports. "On the West Coast, we found that projected forest biomass removal and use for bioenergy in any form will release more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than current forest management practices," said Tara Hudiburg, doctoral candidate at Oregon, who led the study.

"Until now, there have been a lot of misconceptions about impacts of forest thinning, fire prevention and biofuels production as it relates to carbon emissions from forests," said Beverly Law, a professor in the OSU Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society and co-author of this study. "If our ultimate goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, producing bioenergy from forests will be counterproductive," said Law. "Some of these forest management practices may also have negative impacts on soils, biodiversity and habitat. These issues have not been thought out very fully," added Law.

Forests capture a large portion of the carbon emitted worldwide, and some of this carbon is stored in pools such as wood and soil that can last hundreds to thousands of years, the scientists said.

To read more, visit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/eco-news/biofuels-will-worsen-co2-emissions-study_738237.html

Subsidised grains only to 'really needy': Pawar
20 Oct 2011
 

Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today favoured that highly subsidised foodgrains under the proposed food security law should be given only to the 'really needy people' and sought to suggest that the government have a relook at prices of ration supplies.

Pawar also said the government should ensure that subsidised foodgrains are not misused as procurement prices are much higher than the rates at which grains are supplied through ration shops.

"Many have shared apprehensions with me on providing cereals at Re 1 per kg (under the Act)...If the government buys jowar at Rs 30 and sell cereals at Re 1 per kg, I think it will affect the country''s economy," Pawar told reporters at the Economic Editors' Conference here.

Rice, wheat and coarse cereals should be supplied at Rs 3/kg, Rs 2/kg and Rs 1 per kg, respectively to the "the really needy section...but it should not be generalised," he said.
Asked whether he favours an increase in prices of ration supplies, he said the government has been raising the minimum support price to farmers every year but the selling price of ration supplies has not been hiked in last 8-10 years.

"Sometime, one has to apply mind and see the repercussions. My suggestion is that you should go in for that (hike in price of ration supplies) and assess the repercussions. I don''t want the Soviet Russia to happen in this country," he added.

Last month, the Food Ministry had circulated the draft Food Security Bill for public comments. Under the proposed Bill, 68 per cent of the country's population would be covered under two categories -- the priority and the general.

To read more, visit: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/wire-news/subsidised-grains-should-be-only-to-%60%60really-needy%60%60-pawar_602405.html

India and Iran to cooperate in water management
20 Oct 2011
 

The Minister of Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal stressed that India and Iran have a strong cultural affinity embedded deep in our history and there is great potential for cooperation in irrigation and water resources sector also.

The Minister represented India at the 21st ICID Congress on the theme ‘Water Productivity towards Food Security’ and 8th Micro Irrigation Congress on the theme ‘Innovation in Technology and Management of Micro-irrigation for Crop Production Enhancement’ in Teheran, Iran.

Bansal said that the theme of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) Congress, ‘Water Productivity towards Food Security’ has immense relevance in the current scenario, as the issue of poverty and hunger has become the most serious challenge facing the world today. In order to meet the increased food requirements of the global population, it is necessary to economise the use of water for irrigation by adopting improved technologies and improving water use efficiencies. Water productivity alone can be the answer to the challenge of water scarcity and for ensuring food security, he said.

He further said that in view of dwindling per capita availability of water and to meet the rising multi-sectoral demands, due emphasis is also being given in India to demand side management. While tapping of available water resource through accelerated development of new projects is continuing, India has taken several steps for ensuring optimal utilization of the created facilities. Indian government has planned to undertake various measures to improve the efficiency of the surface water irrigation system by 20% in five years under the Nation Water Mission targets, Bansal said.

Bansal emphasised that Micro-irrigation is more than just a water saving tool. Over the years it has emerged as an important technological intervention in crop productivity enhancement. It has now been fully recognized that users’ participation in the development and management of water resources is essential to achieve the objectives of efficiency and equity in the use of available water resources and maximization of productivity. Water resources development and management cannot and should not remain a governmental concern, he reminded. Water-related issues need to be addressed with the full involvement of the local communities and taking into account specific local conditions and concerns. Water Users Associations are also being increasingly set up to involve the farmers in best water use practices.

To read more, visit: http://www.indiainfoline.com/Markets/News/India-and-Iran-to-cooperate-in-food-security/5270675102

Average wealth of an Indian triples amidst poverty
20 Oct 2011
 

The average wealth of an Indian has nearly tripled in the last 10 years to $5,500 (nearly Rs 2.70 lakh), making the country the sixth largest contributer to overall global wealth, a study said today. Still, the average wealth for Indians was way below the global average of $51,000 and just about one per cent of the world's highest per-adult wealth of $5,40,010 recorded in Switzerland, found a global wealth study by investment banking major Credit Suisse.

The wealth per adult in India has increased from $2,000 in the year 2000 to $5,500 currently, but the wealth distribution remains very disproportionate and poverty was still rampant in the country, Credit Suisse said in its report. "While wealth has been rising strongly in India, and the ranks of the middle class and wealthy have been swelling, not everyone has shared in this growth and there is still a great deal of poverty," the report said.

As per the study, 43 per cent of adults' wealth in India is below $1,000, as against the world average of 27 per cent. Also, a very small proportion of the Indian population (just 0.4 per cent) has net worth of over $100,000.

The report said that the global wealth has grown by 14 per cent since January 2010 to $231 trillion as on June 2011, driven by strong contribution from emerging economies including India. India was the sixth largest contributor to the global wealth accumulation, while the US was the largest wealth generator in the world over the 18 month-period, adding $4.6 trillion to global wealth. Asia Pacific was the main contributor to the rise in global wealth during the period, with China, Japan, Australia and India among the top six contributors to global wealth accumulation.

Based on Credit Suisse's June 2011 estimates, there are 84,700 ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) with net assets exceeding $50 million each globally. The USA is at the top of the ladder with 35,400 UHNWIs, followed by China with 5,400 UHNWIs, Germany (4,135), Switzerland (3,820) and Japan (3,400), Russia (1,970), India (1,840), and Brazil (1,520).

In the year 2011 alone, India has acquired 34,000 new millionaires, however, a larger share of these wealthy individuals "may be more properly regarded as residents of other countries" the report said.

To read more, visit: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/average-wealth-of-an-indian-triples-to-rs-2-70-lakh-below-global-average-credit-suisse/articleshow/10415399.cms

15-member expert panel to assuage Koodankulam apprehensions
20 Oct 2011
 

Concerned by the rising opposition to the Koodankulam nuclear plant, the Centre has announced a 15-member group of experts to clear "misconceptions" about the ambitious project hit by agitation. The group comprises specialists in various areas including environmental science, radiation safety, reactor design and safety, regulatory aspects, waste management, oncology, oceanography, fisheries, thermal ecology, seismology.

"This Expert Group will explain the factual position on various aspects of the project and will also dispel apprehensions of some sections of the local people," a Department of Atomic Energy statement said. The Tamil Nadu government will be requested to provide an appropriate platform where the Expert Group can meet the senior state government officials, spokespersons of the neighbourhoods identified and deliberate on issues raised in the recent times, the DAE said.

The Koodankulam project, where two 1,000 MW nuclear plants built with Russian collaboration are in advanced stages of completion, ran into a rash of protests as it approached final stages of commissioning. A section of the locals had expressed concern over the environmental and safety aspects of the projects leading to protests, which later acquired political colour.

The Prime Minister had met representatives of the locals and that of the Tamil Nadu government on October 7 and assured them that a panel of experts would be set up to address their "legitimate concerns".

To read more, visit: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/15member-expert-panel-to-assuage-koodankulam-apprehensions/862564/0

Half of tribal deaths in MP due to malaria: WHO
20 Oct 2011
 

The World Health Organisation (WHO), hopes that a quarter of the countries would be able to eliminate malaria in about a decade but, it will continue as an endemic disease in Madhya Pradesh and some other parts of India.

The WHO study suggests that in Madhya Pradesh, Malaria spreads primarily because of vast tracts of forest with tribal settlement. With over 30 per cent of malaria cases in India having an estimated 84 million tribal population, 50 per cent of deaths are caused due to malaria making it the world's third deadliest killer after AIDS and tuberculosis," said Regional Medical Research Centre's (RMRC) National Institute of Malaria Research (Jabalpur) Director Neeru Singh.

"Despite taking several measures for prevention and control of malaria, falciparum malaria remains uncontrolled and deaths due to malaria have increased," said Singh. She added that India needs support from WHO for extensive use of the anti-malaria medicine, Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT) that is being widely used in African countries.

According to WHO, nearly a third of all countries affected by malaria are on course to eliminate the mosquito-borne disease over the next 10 years. Joint director public health Dr KK Thassu refuted the claim by WHO saying, "malaria could be eliminated but I don't want to comment until I read the report released by the Roll Back Malaria partnership, authored by WHO experts. As per the records there were more deaths due to malaria in the year 2010 as compared to 2009 in Madhya Pradesh.

To read more, visit: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/indore/WHO-says-50pc-tribal-deaths-in-state-due-to-malaria/articleshow/10424503.cms

Not much done to curb poverty: Montek
20 Oct 2011
 

Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia has defended the new economic policy and poverty alleviation schemes of the Eleventh Plan saying it was too early to state that the policy had failed.

“We have to look at the data of recent years before we declare that the performance of the XI plan’s poverty alleviation schemes failed. The data will be available only two years later,” said Ahluwalia while delivering the V Sankar Aiyar Memorial Lecture in Chennai yesterday.

Ahluwalia, however, added that not enough had been done to reduce poverty in the country. Defending the market economy, which was undergoing a churn as growth had collapsed in western economies, he said, while there was a growing protest against market economy in the globe, in the emerging nations such as India it was paying dividends as it allowed us to show how competitive the country was.

Stating the serious dangers of crony capitalism in market economy, he said a strong economy should not encourage crony capitalism and government should be more transparent so that nobody went away with undeserved gains. He also highlighted the need for a greater flexibility on labour laws to boost industrial growth saying that it should be done only with the consenus of labour unions with a promise of strong social security.

Interestingly, the lecture also highlighted a difference of opinion and exchanges in a lighter vein between Ahluwalia and Rajya Sabha MP Mani Shankar Aiyar, who is also the elder son of V Sankar Aiyar.

To read more, visit: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/not-much-done-to-curb-poverty-montek/194610-60-120.html

Big cities have worst sex ratios in country
20 Oct 2011
 

Contrary to general perception, India's towns are worse than its villages when it comes to the child sex ratio (CSR), but its biggest cities are even worse. Against an overall ratio of 914 girls for 1,000 boys in the age group of 0-6 years, the urban ratio is 902 but the combined figure for cities with a population of a million or more is just 898.

In several northern states, the all-India pattern is repeated - the CSR quite clearly going from bad to worse as you go from overall population to urban population to the million-plus cities. In Gujarat, the CSR for the million-plus cities, which include Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot, falls to 836, a good 50 points lower than the state's average. In Karnataka and West Bengal, while the same pattern held, the decline in the ratios in the big cities was much smaller.

The opposite of this trend is witnessed in states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, where the CSR actually is better in the biggest cities than in the state as a whole or in the urban areas. In the case of Kerala, there really isn't much of a difference between the three figures.

Interestingly, in Punjab and in Haryana too, the figure for million-plus cities is better than for urban areas as a whole or for the entire state. However, with just two such large cities in Punjab (Ludhiana and Amritsar) and one in Haryana (Faridabad), it is not clear how much can be read into this pattern.

Delhi and Chandigarh from among the million-plus cities were not included in this comparison since in their cases the three figures would obviously be the same.

Among the urban agglomerations, Surat had the worst CSR of 814 and Thiruvananthapuram the best with 971. Among the metros, Delhi with 868 was the worst followed by Greater Mumbai with 900. In comparison, Bangalore with 939, Hyderabad with 943, Kolkata with 946 and Chennai with 962 were significantly better.

To read more, visit: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Big-cities-have-worst-sex-ratios-in-country/articleshow/10422558.cms

RBI warns of another global financial crisis
20 Oct 2011
 

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has warned of another financial crisis brewing, as global liquidity becomes a concern amidst central banks pegging their lending rates at near zero levels, leaving scope for another asset bubble to take down the global financial system.

"There is, thus, incontrovertible evidence that there is yet again a huge under-pricing of risks in the financial system and, therefore, it is not a question of if, but when, the generic asset bubble caused by manifold increases in balance sheets of central banks will burst," said RBI, executive director, VK Sharma in his address in Singapore on 'Identifying Systemic Risks in the Global Markets - Lessons Learnt from the Crisis'. He spoke about what has been done by Asian central bankers in detecting and mitigating risks of future crises similar to the one in 2008-09.

One of the major worries this time around, which did not exist back then, is global liquidity, Sharma said. Balance sheets of major banks have grown by almost three times from pre-2007 levels, while near-zero policy rates have added $4 trillion in incremental central bank liquidity. Sharma mentioned that the US has been keeping excess reserves of about $1.5 trillion with the Federal Reserve rather than lending it to small businesses and households.

"Alongside, non-financial corporations in the US are reportedly sitting on cash and liquid assets worth $2 trillion which they do not know what to do with it. In this background of huge deluge of global liquidity, there are unmistakable signs of asset bubble inflating again in almost a replay of the last global financial crisis." Sharma said.

"In India, we have had remarkable financial stability, not fortuitously, but thanks to pre-emptively and pro-actively delivered prudential measures like increase in risk weights for exposures to commercial real estate, capital market, venture capital funds and systemically important non-deposit accepting NBFCs.

To read more, visit: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/reserve-bank-of-india-warns-of-another-global-financial-crisis/articleshow/10420924.cms

Delhi becomes most populous city
20 Oct 2011
 

The urban agglomeration (UA) of Delhi has for the first time overtaken that of Mumbai, shows an analysis by Times of India newspaper. Close to 22 million people now live in Delhi's extended urban sprawl, while Mumbai's sprawl is home to just under 21 million.

The census defines a UA as "a continuous urban spread constituting a town and its adjoining outgrowths". However, while the census office uses data across districts to designate an urban agglomeration, it does not go across state lines, leading to a misleading situation in which the Delhi UA does not include several major satellites.

Times of India added Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Faridabad to the Delhi UA population to arrive at a figure of 21.7 million people in the capital's UA. It is these satellites, in fact, which tell the real story because some of them more than doubled their numbers in the past decade, driving Delhi's explosion.

Mumbai UA's population in 2011 stands at 18.4 million, according to the latest census data, and even if satellite areas that are not included-like Vasai-Virar, Panvel, Bhiwandi and Navi Mumbai-Panvel-Raigad-are counted, the financial capital's UA still adds up to 20.7 million people.

If relatively the same satellites are added to 2001 data, the Delhi UA was still smaller than Mumbai a decade ago-15.5 million to Mumbai's 16.6 million-showing that the change has taken place in the last 10 years. Kolkata was listed by the census in 2001 to be the second biggest Indian UA with 13.2 million people; in fact it was the third biggest city both then and now. The Kolkata UA now has 14.1 million people.

The big three-known as " megacities" since they have populations of over 10 million-remain a long way ahead of the rest of India's big cities. About 15% of India's total urban population lives in these three cities alone. But along with the rest of the country, population growth is slowing down in these cities too, more so for Kolkata and Mumbai. Delhi is also slowing down, but it still added over 5 million people-a third of its 2001 size-in the past 10 years.

The Chennai UA, which remains the fourth biggest, is less than half the size of Mumbai or Delhi. The Bangalore UA has knocked Hyderabad off the fifth position and is now almost as large as Chennai; 8.5 million to Chennai's 8.7 million, closing a gap of almost a million that existed in the last census.

Overall, there are now 53 cities of million-plus people as compared to 35 in 2001 and 43% of India's urban population lives in them. Among the new cities on this list is Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir's first million-plus city. Rapidly urbanizing Kerala has added six new million-plus cities to Kochi, its only such city in 2001, and Jharkhand now has three where it had none. Orissa, on the other hand, has not a single million-plus city, like the entire north-east.

More than a quarter of a billion people live in just 468 Indian cities known as Class I cities, each having a population greater than 1 lakh.

To read more, visit: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Delhi-topples-Mumbai-as-maximum-city/articleshow/10420667.cms

Millions face environment hazards
20 Oct 2011
 

Millions of people will be "trapped" in areas at increasing risk from environmental hazards, such as flooding, around the world, a report into future migration warned today. And millions will move into places which are more vulnerable to the impacts of environmental changes brought on by global warming and pressure on resources, such as low-lying cities, the study by 300 experts from 30 countries said.

The Foresight report into environmental change and migration over the next 50 years said the focus had previously been on those who would leave areas affected by floods, droughts and extreme weather - often termed 'climate refugees'. But the experts behind the report said the future would also see people migrating into areas which are more at risk from a range of environmental problems, with 192 million extra people predicted to be living in urban coastal floodplains in Africa and Asia by 2060.

And they warned that millions of people, particularly the poorest, would struggle to move out of areas which were at risk, raising the spectre of humanitarian disasters in the face of severe environmental shocks such as floods. They also issued a warning against policies which attempted to prevent or constrain migration, which they said could be part of the solution to coping with environmental changes as well as part of the problem.

For example, money sent home from migrants working abroad in 2009 totalled $US300 billion, three times the total overseas development aid provided by governments that year, with cash helping people pay for education, improve their lives and protect themselves against environmental disasters.

The report calls for international policies on development and adapting to problems such as climate change to recognise the role of migration, and to acknowledge that it can sometimes be part of the solution, and for long term urban planning to address critical issues such as water availability in cities.

To read more, visit: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/millions-face-environment-hazards-20111020-1m9ge.html

Unknown viruses causing encephalitis in 50% cases
19 Oct 2011
 

In simple terms, the dreaded encephalitis is inflammation of the brain caused by microbial agents such as bacteria and viruses. The actual killer in eastern districts of UP is a virus found in 98% of the cases. Researches have shown that the cause of encephalitis in 50% of the cases is not known. About 44% of children take ill due to strains of entero virus.

To note, in heath department records, all encephalitis cases are entered as Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES). Technically however, the disease is called viral encephalitis and admitting a patient under the head AES is just the beginning of treatment. "We conduct specific tests (Elisa) to find out that if the disease causing virus is of Japanese encephalitis (JE) or not. Once JE is ruled out, the search for entero virus or the second probable cause begins. Viruses in the remaining number of children are yet to be isolated," said Prof KP Kushwaha of BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur said.

National Institute of Virology's regional testing lab at the medical college is in agreement with Dr Kushwaha. "We have isolated several strains of entero virus in small sample sizes here," said Director, Milind Gore. "Our findings confirm that entero virus is causing encephalitis in at least 3% of the children beyond doubt. Similar indications have been reported in a significant majority (he did not quantify)," added Dr Gore.

To read more, visit: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Unknown-viruses-causing-encephalitis-in-50-cases/articleshow/10395972.cms

CAG has only done its job: Pranab
19 Oct 2011
 

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has backed the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in the context of reports on various scams, saying the government auditor has not exceeded his jurisdiction.

“I am making it clear that I do not think the CAG is exceeding its jurisdiction because the basic responsibility of the CAG is to identify, if there is any, lapse,” he said during a question-answer session at the Economic Editors conference in New Delhi. The statement is significant in view of attacks from some quarters in the government, criticising the CAG for exceeding its mandate. CAG's reports on the 2G spectrum allocation and Commonwealth Games had evoked sharp reaction from the government functionaries.

“The CAG has a constitutional role. As far as my knowledge about the functioning of the CAG is concerned, the job of CAG is only to find out financial irregularities... in context of rules, laws and regulations as laid down by the government,” Mukherjee said.

He further said, “If in 98 cases out of 100 the government has done the right things, they will ignore it. They pick up only those two where irregularities have taken place.” However, he added it is for the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to examine whether the “actual losses had taken place or whether it was a notional loss”.

A CAG report, Mukherjee said, “is not automatically accepted by Parliament. PAC examines it; they submit a report; and then if the report is accepted by Parliament, action is taken”.

To read more, visit: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/cag-has-not-exceeded-limits-has-done-its-job-pranab/862116/

Big States yet to embrace RTE: Sibal
19 Oct 2011
 

Voicing concern over big States dithering on Right to Education provisions, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said that it will be a “historic failure” if the Act is not implemented across the country. Mr. Sibal was addressing the State education ministers about ways to promote and create awareness across the country about the benefits of the RTE Act.

The legislation was enacted last year and so far, 20 States have notified RTE rules. However, big States such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and West Bengal have not implemented them.

A nation-wide campaign would be launched from Nuh, Mewat in Haryana from November 11 for promoting RTE across schools. A message by Prime Minister about RTE to every head teacher of the school will be read out at the school assembly. The campaign would be taken up in all 13 lakh schools across the country, the Minister said.

The states who have implemented RTE get central assistance for opening neighbourhood schools and other supporting infrastructure.

To read more, visit: http://www.thehindu.com/education/school/article2551538.ece

Probe on into black money deals: FM
19 Oct 2011
 

The Finance Minister said govt has started investigations into transactions by Indians involving black money based on 9,900 pieces of information received from different parts of the world. “Over 9,900 pieces of information obtained regarding suspicious transactions by Indian citizens from several countries have been obtained which are now under different stages of processing and investigation,” Pranab Mukherjee said at the Economic Editors conference in New Delhi.

He said after the government’s sustained efforts to deal with the menace of black money in the last two years, India has been “successful” in creating an environment where a regular flow of banking information has started.

“Under the EOI Article of DTAA with France, India has received some information regarding Indians having bank accounts. In 69 cases, the tax payers have admitted to the unaccounted income of Rs 397.17 crore,” he said, adding that taxes of Rs 30.07 crore have also been recovered.

He further said that Indian authorities have made specific requests in 333 cases for obtaining information from foreign jurisdictions. Mr. Mukherjee said the revised tax treaty with Switzerland “is expected to improve the inflow of banking information to India substantially”. The Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) will allow India obtain information from the European nation in specific cases from April 2011.

To read more, visit: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2551810.ece

TV hampers development in infants, warn doctors
19 Oct 2011
 

Watching television or videos should be discouraged for babies under age two because studies suggest it could harm their development, a US paediatricians' group has said.

Instead of allowing infants to watch videos or screens, parents should talk to them and encourage independent play, said the first guidelines issued in more than a decade by the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP). The advice was issued in 1999 by United States' largest association of pediatricians, but this time it also warns parents of how their own screen-watching habits may delay their children's ability to talk.

"This updated policy statement provides further evidence that media - both foreground and background - have potentially negative effects and no known positive effects for children younger than two years," it said. "Thus the AAP reaffirms its recommendation to discourage media use in this age group." The latest guidelines do not refer to interactive play such as video games on smart-phones or other devices, but to media watched passively on any kind of screen -- be it phone, computer, television or other.

Paediatrician Ari Brown said the update was needed because of the explosion of baby DVDs targeting the 0-2 age group, and 90% of parents acknowledge that their infants watch some sort of electronic media. The AAP urges paediatricians to discuss media use with new parents, and says adults should be aware of how distracted they become when the television is on.

To read more, visit: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/TV-hampers-development-in-infants-warn-doctors/articleshow/10409405.cms

Army roped in for development of Naxal regions
19 Oct 2011
 

The Rural Development Ministry has been impressed with the Army’s development initiatives in villages around its newly established training facility in Chattisgarh’s Narayanpur district. The 71 Infantry Brigade, the first Army formation to be sent to Naxal-affected Narayanpur, has helped set up bridges, improve school buildings and bring electricity to villages. At a meeting in Delhi last week, Central Army Commander Lt Gen V K Ahluwalia briefed Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on these initiatives.

The Army will contribute not resources but expertise. The ministry is particularly keen to use the Army’s skills in establishing prefabricated structures. The Army regularly uses such structures to construct bridges, buildings and other infrastructure during the movement and relocation of troops. Two critical projects identified by the ministry are bridges and houses under the Indira Awas Yogna, for instance, can be built faster with prefabricated parts.

Sources said Lt Gen Ahluwalia explained how the Army helped ramp up school infrastructure, set up computer literacy camps, desilt ponds and improve roads. The Army carries out such initiatives regularly wherever it is deployed but this is the first time this has happened in Naxal-hit Narayanpurt. The 71 Brigade, which has completed its training and moved out of the camp, also set up a free medical aid camp and veterinary clinic, bored hand-pumps and tubewells for villagers, and held a special camp to guide local youth on employment in the armed forces.

Sources said that the projects were initially carried out in seven villages but will spread to other areas as the next brigade moves in for training. “Development work will continue with each successive brigade that goes there for training. This is a practice that the Army follows wherever it is deployed,” an officer said.

To read more, visit: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/army-roped-in-for-development-of-naxal-regions/861910/0

Centre to develop foodgrain storages in J&K
19 Oct 2011
 

The Centre will develop storage facilities for foodgrains in Jammu and Kashmir under the public-private partnership mode, Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution K V Thomas has said.

The Union CAPD ministry is initiating a Private Entrepreneurs Guarantee Scheme (PEGS) in the state to develop storage capacity in the private sector in the public-private partnership (PPP) mode, Thomas told Chief Minister Omar Abdullah during a meeting.

Thomas said the PEGS would help establish storage capacity for 3.60 lakh tonnes of foodgrains. He assured the full support of his ministry to the state for upgrading and improving public distribution affairs.

To read more, visit: http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/centre-to-development-foodgrain-storages-in-jk-in-ppp-mode/866989.html

Clashes amid general strike in Greece
19 Oct 2011
 

During nationwide strike by workers in Greece, clashes between riot police and protesters broke out in Athens. Greek riot police fired tear gas and fought running battles with protesters, amid a 48-hour general strike that has paralysed the country.

Many Greeks are furious at govt plans to cut thousands of jobs and raise taxes. The government says the measures are needed to keep the economy afloat. Greece is struggling to reduce a huge government deficit amid fears it may default and set off a eurozone crisis. The EU and IMF have demanded tough cuts in return for two bailouts. The government has so far introduced one round of austerity measures.

The pace of protests in Greece has been increasing for several weeks, with lightning strikes across virtually every sector of the economy. The latest strike was accompanied by huge rallies across the country organised by trade unions, who say the demonstrations are the largest this year. More than 70,000 people gathered in Syntagma Square in central Athens, and thousands more in cities across the country.

The strike was called by the two big unions that cover public and private sector workers. Government departments, businesses, offices and shops have all shut, with small business owners and shopkeepers taking part in strike action for the first time. Flights, trains, buses, taxis and lorries are not operating.

Legislators are considering Bills which include measures for higher taxes, further cuts to pensions and salaries and the suspension of collective labour agreements. They will also suspend 30,000 public servants on reduced pay and introduce a new civil service salary system.

Greece finds itself with rising unemployment and a stalled economy, with a government debt that is 162% of its gross domestic product. With fears the problems besetting Athens might spread to other highly indebted eurozone countries such as Spain and Italy, EU leaders are scrambling to forge a plan that will protect the region from a Greek default.

To read more, visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15362678

Drought-tolerant crops answer to hunger: ICRISAT
18 Oct 2011
 

The best way to defeat poverty and hunger is to promote drought-tolerant crops on a large scale, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has said.

“To fight poverty and the world food crisis, we need to promote drought-tolerant crops on a large scale, convince farmers that these are their best bets for higher income, and enable them to set up strategic food reserves to cope with future crises in food,” Dr William D. Dar, Director-General of ICRISAT, said here in a statement to mark the World Food Day (Sunday) and International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (Monday).

“We take a serious look at our mission to reducing poverty, hunger, malnutrition and environmental degradation in the dryland tropics. This we would like to achieve through partnership-based international agricultural research-for-development on five highly nutritious, drought-tolerant crops – chickpea, pigeonpea, pearl millet, sorghum and groundnut,” he said.

Most of the world's poor and malnourished were small farmers, particularly in the dryland tropics of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. “The dryland tropics are characterised by very low yields, degraded soils and poor social and physical infrastructure. We have shown that average yields of its nutritious and climate-resilient crops can be increased two to three-folds,” he said.

In the last 39 years, ICRISAT developed over 735 improved crop varieties in 78 countries. In India, it released 197 improved varieties, including 35 in sorghum, 80 in pearl millet, 37 in chickpea and 26 in groundnut.

To read more, visit: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/agri-biz/article2548656.ece

Right to reject more manageable: Khurshid
18 Oct 2011
 

Law Minister Salman Khurshid said the 'Right to Reject' candidates during election was a "more manageable idea" than the 'Right to Recall' an elected lawmaker which was a "difficult" proposition.

Referring to Team Anna's proposals on the two issues, Khurshid said some feel that before introducing the "Right to Recall" managing the "Right to Elect" would be more helpful. "I think the Right to Reject is a smaller and more manageable idea but not entirely without problems. But the Right to Recall is a larger and more difficult idea," Khurshid told reporters.

A cynic will perhaps say that the right to elect should be perfected before the Right to Recall was talked about, he said while noting that the voting percentages were still low and many people were not able to vote due to various factors. He said the Law Ministry has looked at various models of the Right to Recall and the idea will be put before an all-party meeting on electoral reforms to be held either this month or in November.

To read more, visit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/right-to-reject-more-manageable-khurshid_737286.html

Reject hardline Wahabis: Sufi clerics
18 Oct 2011
 

As the terrorists continue to tarnish the image of Muslims in India and across the world, a prominent Sunni clerics’ organization, All India Ulama and Mashaikh Board (AIUMB) has urged Muslims to reject the hardline Wahabi cult of Islam.

The clerics also called for limiting the influence of Saudi Arabia, at a Mahapanchayat held at Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, as it was interfering in the affairs of Indian Muslims unnecessarily by pumping in its money.

Addressing the Mahapanchayat, AIUMB general secretary Syed Mohammed Ashraf Kachochavi said, “About 100 years ago, Sunni Muslims in India had rejected the Wahabis. After Independence, however, the Wahabis expanded their influence through political backing. While we remained away from government and politics, Wahabis gained control over institutions dealing with minority affairs, including the Wakf board and the Muslim Personal Law Board."

Also present there was AIUMB spokesperson Syed Babar Ashraf who said that Wahabis only have the support of just 14% of the community as compared to the Sunni Sufi which is being followed by nearly 80% of the total population of the community.

Ashraf alleged that prominent Muslim organizations like Deoband, Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind and Ahl-e-Hadees are funded by petro-dollars and aim to grab political power and were importing a "foreign ideology" into India.

At the Mahapanchayat, the AIUMB urged the Centre to set up a central madrasa board to audit and check the influx of Saudi petro-dollars funding of madrasas. The AIUMB also plans to hold mahapanchayats and Sunni conferences to spread their message every six months.

To read more, visit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/reject-hardline-wahabis-sufi-clerics_737225.html

EC to crackdown on black money during polls
18 Oct 2011
 

The Election Commission will crackdown heavily on use of black money during the upcoming assembly polls in five states and has put in place stronger measures to monitor illegal cash movement, said Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi. He was speaking to media after inaugurating a day-long workshop for political parties on election expenditure monitoring.

A total of 58 representatives of both national and state- level political parties from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur participated in the workshop.

The CEC said that political parties should educate their cadres at all levels regarding the guidelines framed by the EC in this regard so that violations are "minimised". He said political parties should exercise self restraint on election expenditure and strictly adhere to the new set of instructions issued by the EC in this regard recently.

Quraishi, who was was accompanied by two other Election Commissioners V S Sampath and H S Brahma, said during the all-party meeting held at its headquarters in October last year, party leaders had themselves asked Commission to check use of excess money and menace of paid news in elections.

To read more, visit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/ec-to-crackdown-on-black-money-during-polls_737216.html

Experts back India at climate change talks
17 Oct 2011
 

With India proposing the inclusion of some of neglected issues in the agenda of the UN climate change negotiations in Durban later this year, experts feel the country has taken a U-turn from its stand in Mexico 2010 and is following a better line.

The environment ministry, in a communique to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) earlier this week, pitched for taking into account concerns of developing nations that were "neglected and not properly addressed" during the Cancun, Mexico talks last year.

India wants to include three contentious issues -- on unilateral trade measures, intellectual property rights (IPR) and equitable access to sustainable development -- in the provisional agenda of the 17th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP 17) to be held in Durban, South Africa, Nov 29-Dec 10.

According to the ministry, India is also likely to take up these issues at the BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, Indian and China) meeting scheduled in Beijing Oct 30-Nov 1.

Calling upon India to take a tough stand at the Durban talks, Prodipto Ghosh, former environment secretary, asks why the talks must always be driven by developed countries.

"The three important points raised by India were very much part of the text of the climate declarations during the talks in Bali, Copenhagen and Cancun, but they never figured as agenda during the past negotiations," India's former key negotiator told IANS.

Ghosh says issues of doing away with IPR for transfer of technology to developing countries and equal access to global atmospheric space are central to India's concern.

"This is the time when developing countries should make a strong pitch and pursue them vigorously. India should not, and I think, will not agree to adopt same measures as developed countries," said the senior fellow at The Energy Research Institute (TERI).

According to Ghosh, India, under the leadership of former environment minister Jairam Ramesh, had weakened its stand and that led the European Union (UK) to seek an outcome at Durban that is legally binding for all -- developed and developing nations.

Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan has been talking tough ahead of the Durban talks, apparently giving a signal to developed countries.

"Countries should avoid using environment concerns to further their economic interests. One should not pass on green protectionism (deliberate use of environmental policy to discriminate against foreign commercial interests) in the name of green economy," she said.

The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) -- which last year criticised Ramesh's stand that all countries must take binding commitments under appropriate legal form to control their emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) -- said India is taking a better line now.

"India is now taking a completely different stand from last year and, believe me, it is a better one. India, along with other developing countries, should be pushing for technology transfer, funding and a second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol (only legal agreement that ensures emission cuts by developed countries)," Aditya Ghosh, senior coordinator (climate change) at CSE, told IANS. 

Industrialised or developed countries have a historical responsibility to cut emissions, since they have been emitting for several years. The developing world, on the other hand, needs the right to develop. This is the key premise that differentiates the two blocs from each other.

To read more, visit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/eco-news/experts-back-india-at-climate-change-talks_736894.html

Climate change downsizing fauna, flora: Study
17 Oct 2011
 

Climate change is reducing the body size of many animal and plant species, including some which supply vital nutrition for more than a billion people already living near hunger's threshold, according to a study released today.

From micro-organisms to top predators, nearly 45 percent of species for which data was reviewed grew smaller over multiple generations due to climate change, researchers found. The impact of rapidly climbing temperatures and shifts in rainfall patterns on body size could have unpredictable and possible severe consequences, they warned.

Previous work established that recent climate change has led to sharp shifts in habitat and the timing of reproductive cycles. But impact on the size of plants and animals has received far less attention. Jennifer Sheridan and David Bickford at the National University of Singapore looked at scientific literature on climate-change episodes in the distant past and at experiments and observations in recent history.

Fossil records, they found, were unambiguous: past periods of rising temperatures had led both marine and land organisms to became progressively smaller. During a warming event 55 million years ago -- often seen as an analogue for current climate change -- beetles, bees, spiders, wasps and ants shrank by 50 to 75 percent over a period of several thousand years.

Mammals such as squirrels and woodrats also diminished in size, by about 40 percent. The pace of current warming, though, is far greater than during this so-called Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). It, too, has begun to shrink dozens of species, the study found. Among 85 examples cited, 45 per cent were unaffected. But of those remaining, four out of five had gotten smaller, while a fifth got bigger. Some of the shrinkage came as a surprise. "Plants were expected to get larger with increased atmospheric carbon dioxide," but many wound up stunted due to changes in temperature, humidity and nutrients available, the researchers said.

To read more, visit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/eco-news/climate-change-downsizing-fauna-flora-study_736988.html

Indian wins award for water producing 'leaf'
17 Oct 2011
 

Inspired by a natural leaf, a Pune-based student's design for a self-generating water source powered by the sun and capable of producing 20 litres of drinking water every day has bagged an international design award.

"Leaf" an 18-feet tall solar powered water condensation unit designed by Anurag Sarda has won first place out of entries submitted by top design schools across the world for the "Time to Care Sustainable Design Award".

"For me availability of water is a key problem. I wanted to create a sustainable design and chose to do the 'Leaf' after I saw dewdrops on the seat of my bike and thought about converting into a product, " says Sarda,  a student of MIT Institute of Design (MITID) who is currently pursuing an internship in Germany.
 
Similar to a natural leaf, water is artificially generated through condensation. The water gets purified through an attached sand-filtration and later collected into an earthen pot.

Sarda's project is currently in the conceptual stage and according to him can be be practically implemented in humid regions in Asia, North America, South America, Africa and Australia. Sarda's project pipped the waterless toilet and Safety net which bagged second and third places respectively

Traditional toilets use roughly 30 per cent of the total water used in a household up to 13 litres of water per flush. A young team of Mexican designers has found a way to eliminate the use of water, and turn waste into pathogen-free organic compost through their waterless toilet.

Also, throwing unwanted "by-catch" fish overboard threatens the health of the world's oceans and the livelihood of fishermen. The SafetyNet's inspired design incorporates "escape rings" into a trawling net system, giving juvenile and endangered fish a much-needed second chance.

To read more, visit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/eco-news/indian-wins-award-for-water-producing-leaf_737059.html

China says it won't divert Brahmaputra
15 Oct 2011
 

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna has welcomed China's decision not to divert the Brahmaputra River, which had been a long-standing row between the two neighbours.

China has ruled out any move to divert water from its side of the Brahmaputra River, citing "possible impact on state-to-state relations". Hailing the decision, Krishna asserted that the Chinese clarification on the simmering dispute had come as a relief for the Indian Government.

"We are very pleased with the purported decision of the Chinese Government that they will not divert the Brahmaputra River. Well, we have taken it up at the bilateral level with China, and I am very happy that things are moving in the most positive direction," Krishna told mediapersons.

India has been wary of Chinese hydropower projects on its side of the river. India's concerns increased as China formally started construction of the Zangmu hydropower dam on the Brahmaputra in November last year.

To read more, visit: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_china-decides-not-to-divert-brahmaputra-india-relieved_1598898

PM calls meet on coal crisis at month-end
15 Oct 2011
 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has convened a high-level meeting later this month to find a solution to the coal supply disruption being faced by power generating companies.

The coal stocks with the companies have plummeted to worrisome levels, raising the risks of a nationwide power crisis. About 40 power plants have coal stocks sufficient for not even a week. "But the power ministry is in touch with the coal and railway ministries to make coal supplies steady," power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said.

The Prime Minister's meeting with Planning Commission deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia and the ministers for coal and power will also discuss the impacts of the floods, strikes and political unrest in Andhra Pradesh on Coal India Ltd's mines.

To read more, visit: http://www.hindustantimes.com/PM-calls-meet-on-coal-crisis-at-month-end/Article1-757378.aspx

India for global info-sharing to combat black money
15 Oct 2011
 

Concerned over reluctance of some countries to share banking data, Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that such information should be made available on demand to combat menace of black money and terror funding.

"For (fighting) black money and terror funding information is most important... Essential ingredient of fighting this menace is availability and access of information. Information should be provided fast. Information should be given on demand and there should be no restrictions," he told reporters in Paris.

Mukherjee is in Paris to attend the two-day meeting of the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. The meeting will also discuss the issues concerning tax evasion and terror funding.

The Minister further said that after the Pittsburgh declaration many of the countries have extended cooperation for sharing information related to banking but "it should be made faster and it should not only be restricted to prospective effect." He said some information relating to past transactions is also needed, particularly from Switzerland and certain other countries where large amount of money are being deposited from different nations of the world.

To read more, visit: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/india-for-global-infosharing-to-combat-black-money/859975/?google_editors_picks=true

MoEF refuses green clearance for Lavasa project
15 Oct 2011
 

In a fresh blow to Lavasa, the Environment Ministry has refused to grant green clearance to the first phase of the ambitious hill city project near Pune contending that all the pre-conditions were not met. Lavasa Corporation rejected the contention of the Environment Ministry, dubbing its order as "highly dicriminatory and unjust" and its Chairman Ajit Gulabchand wanted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene.

The Ministry in its order said that the Maharashtra Government was yet to take credible action against Lavasa for violation of the Environment Protection Act and clearance for the first phase of the 2,000 hectare project cannot be granted. "As the pre-condition on the credible action on violation of EIA Notification, 2006 has not been complied with, the Ministry is unable to issue the Environmental Clearance to the first phase of Hill City project (2000 ha) of M/s LCL," the Ministry said.

The ministry had laid down five pre-conditions, as suggested by the Expert Appraisal Committee, for Lavasa to comply with before grant of environment clearance.

These conditions include demarcation of land usage which includes open spaces, diverting five per cent of its expenses for Corporate Social Responsibility, creation of an Environment Restoration Fund, which in turn will be monitored by a Verification and Monitoring Committee and a submission by the company that violations would not be repeated.

To read more, visit: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_environment-ministry-refuses-green-clearance-for-lavasa-hill-city-project_1598823

PM signals RTI review, may curb disclosure
15 Oct 2011
 

Prime Minister (PM) Manmohan Singh has signalled the government’s intent to review the Right to Information (RTI) Act, which could put curbs on the information that can be accessed through it.

“Even as we recognize and celebrate the efficacy and the effectiveness of the Right to Information Act, we must take a critical look at it. There are concerns that need to be discussed and addressed honestly,” Singh said while addressing the annual convention of the Central Information Commission (CIC).

Activists and politicians opposed the move, saying this would defeat the purpose of the legislation. The PM’s remarks came amid fears among RTI activists that the government may dilute the legislation. At least two cabinet ministers have recently expressed their concerns.

While emphasizing that the government wanted to make the Act an “even more effective instrument for ensuring transparency and accountability in administration”, the PM also highlighted fears of misuse. “Another concern that has been raised is that the Right to Information could end up discouraging honest, well-meaning public servants from giving full expression to their views... The Right to Information should not adversely affect the deliberative processes in the government.”

Singh also referred to the exemption clauses under the Act. “We must also take a critical look at the exemption clauses in the Right to Information Act to determine whether they serve the larger good and whether a change is needed in them,” he said.

RTI activists are opposed to increasing the list under section 24 of the RTI Act, which excludes intelligence- and security-based organizations from the Act’s purview.

To read more, visit: http://www.livemint.com/2011/10/14222401/PM-signals-RTI-review-may-cur.html?atype=tp

Prominent citizens move SC to stop work on all N-plants
15 Oct 2011
 

Members of civil society, including former bureaucrats, scientists, a former Navy chief and NGOs, have approached the Supreme Court seeking its direction to stay construction of all proposed nuclear power plants.

They have filed a joint PIL pleading that the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, be declared as unconstitutional and appoint an expert independent body to conduct a thorough safety reassessment of all existing and proposed nuclear facilities in the country.

“Issue an appropriate writ cancelling clearances given to proposed nuclear power plants and staying all proposed nuclear power plants till requisite safety assessment studies, thorough comparative cost-benefit analysis and meaningful public hearings are carried out by or under the supervision of an independent expert body,” the petition said.

The petitioners, who include former Cabinet Secretary T S R Subramanian, former Chief of Naval Staff L Ramdas, former Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami, former Secretary to the Prime Minister K R Venugopal and nuclear scientist P M Bhargava, pleaded an expert nuclear regulator independent of the government be set up to do a comparative cost-benefit analysis vis-à-vis other sources of energy.

They submitted the apex court should rule that in the case of a nuclear accident, all nuclear operators and suppliers would be jointly and severally and absolutely liable for civil damages and their financial liability would be unlimited.

They have also pleaded the court to quash all agreements signed between the government and private companies, for supply of nuclear reactors and equipment, based on private negotiations, without any competitive process and safety evaluation.

To read more, visit: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/prominent-citizens-scientists-move-sc-to-stop-work-on-all-nplants/859988/

Power situation will improve by Diwali: Shinde
15 Oct 2011
 

Claiming that the grim power situation across the country would ease by Diwali, Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said on Friday that directions had been issued to generation companies with surplus coal to supply them to feedstock-starved units.

The Power Ministry is taking all steps to resolve the crisis and was in constant touch with the Ministry of Coal and the Railways in this regard, Mr. Shinde told journalists. The situation was improving and it was hoped that by Diwali things it would be almost back to normal. “Diwali will be celebrated with light. The power situation is expected to improve in the next one week.

“We have transferred some coal from one unit or plant to another, wherever required. There are problems of supply of coal and we are in touch with the Coal Ministry. Since the mines in Orissa are flooded, coal could not be supplied to the power plants. Now, the situation is improving.”

The Coal Ministry has assured the Power Ministry that it would make efforts to supply more coal through the electronic auction route to the country's largest power producer NTPC, whose generation had been hit due to an acute shortage of the dry fuel. “E-auction is not the solution to the problem,'' he said. Five NTPC plants had coal for just a day or two. The NTPC's 13-day coal reserves of 5.3 tonnes were depleted and supply from the Coal India Limited (CIL) for power plants was down to just 20 per cent.

To read more, visit: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2537976.ece

Delhi to have teachers for physically challenged students
11 Oct 2011
 

Soon all government schools in Delhi will have two special teachers for physically challenged students. The recruitment guidelines are to be formulated by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The UPSC has informed the Delhi High Court that the draft recruitment rules have been approved and sent to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

The court further has asked MCD to take the lead and meet the requirements with its orders and submit a compliance report before the next date of hearing on January 23, 2012. The directions for appointing special teachers were given to the Delhi Government and the civic agency by Delhi High Court in 2009.

The Delhi Government as well as the MCD told the court that the recruitment process has already been started. The Board has fixed October 24 as the date for start of receiving applications and November 17 as last date for filing them,” the counsel appearing for Delhi Government told the court.

To read more, visit: http://www.dailypioneer.com/city/12323-teachers-for-physically-challenged-students-soon.html

India wants discussion on the ignored issues at COP17
11 Oct 2011
 

The Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) has requested the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to include three debatable issues in the agenda of the Conference of Parties (COP 17) meet. These three debatable issues are, unilateral trade measures, intellectual property rights, and equitable access to sustainable development.

While forwarding the proposal to UNFCCC, the Ministry stated that these issues have not been adequately addressed in the 2010 Cancun decision on the outcome of the Ad-hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (decision 1/CP 16) despite being raised by India and a large number of developing countries prior to and in Cancun.

The proposal amongst other issues suggests that under the agenda item ‘Development and transfer of technologies’, a sub-item on ‘Mitigation and adaptation actions and technology-related Intellectual Property Rights’ should be considered. Unilateral Trade Measures (UTMs) include tariff, non-tariff, and other fiscal and non-fiscal border trade measures that may be taken by developed country Parties, against goods and services from developing country Parties.

The COP 17 meet is scheduled to be held in Durban next month.

To read more, visit: http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/12344-india-for-debate-on-neglected-environment-issues-in-durban.html

Child Rights panel demands reports on Encephalitis deaths
11 Oct 2011
 

In the wake of large number of  deaths of children due to Japanese Encephalitis in Uttar Pradesh, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked the State Government to submit an action taken report on these deaths within 15 days.

As per the Commission, the deadly encephalitis, a water or mosquito borne viral disease, has been striking with alarming regularity mostly in the eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh and 500 children have died due to it in the last two months. The disease has claimed more than 50,000 in the last three decades as the public health system seems to have collapsed in one of the poorest regions of the nation.

The Commission has asked for data on the total number of cases of encephalitis reported so far this year and in the previous year and also the number of deaths of children in each year.

The situation needs to be addressed immediately as the disease has already started taking a toll on the lives of young ones. The child rights panel has sought to know from the Government regarding the measures taken for improvising the deteriorating situation.

To read more, visit: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article2527111.ece

HIV infections reducing in India: The Lancet
11 Oct 2011
 

As per a recent study in 'The Lancet' journal more than 100,000 fresh HIV cases have been prevented over the last five years among the general population in India which has some 2.4 million people living with the virus.

The report puts the onus on a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation -funded US dollars 338 million project, called Avahan. The project was launched in six Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur and Nagaland in 2003. The prime reason why Avahan was launched is to reduce the spread of HIV in India and developing a model prevention system to encourage others worldwide to adapt and adopt it.

The project was initiated keeping in mind the groups that are most vulnerable to HIV infection, including sex workers, their clients, high-risk men who have sex with men, and injecting drug users in the six Indian states with an estimated population of 300 million.

Lead author Prof Lalit Dandona at the Public Health Foundation of India, says that HIV mainly spreads in India through sexual intercourse. Avahan led to the reduction of infections in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra.

To read more, visit: http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/hiv-project-averted-100000-infections-in-india-the-lancet/852900.html

Hayrana plans protection home for runaway couples
10 Oct 2011
 

Facing flak from media and the Supreme Court for failing to prevent honour killings, Haryana government has decided to set up protection homes in each district to provide free stay for first ten days for runaway couples.

The state govt has filed an affidavit in the supreme Court detailing an ‘action plan to combat honour killings’. Protection of runaway couples is one of the several steps provided in the Action Plan.

According to the plan, the police would be duty-bound to ensure the protection of runaway couples, who marry against the wishes of their families and communities, and refer them to ‘Protection Homes’ for temporary stay soon as the police receive intimation about such couples facing threat to their lives and liberty. Every district of the State will have such a protection home to tackle similar complaints.

To read more, visit: http://www.dailypioneer.com/pioneer-news/todays-newspaper/12144-haryana-mulls-homes-to-protect-runaway-couples.html

Poor response for MNREGA implementation award
10 Oct 2011
 

The national level awards proposed by the centre for successful implementation of the MGNREGA  has only a few takers. Though the UPA’s flagship is being implemented across the nation, only 13 States have applied for the national awards so far.

Concerned by the poor response, the Union Rural Development Ministry has extended the last date of submitting proposal to October 31 for a wider participation in the award scheme; however the initial date for submitting the application for the award was September 15. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Tripura, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have sent their proposal so far.

Incidentally, Sikkim which became the only state in 2009-10 to bag national award in all three categories - gram panchayats, district MGNREGA teams and NGOs - for exemplary work done under the scheme has preferred not to submit any proposal for the award this year.

Best performing gram panchayats, district MGNREGA teams and NGOs are given awards every year by the Union Rural Development Ministry.

To read more, visit: http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/12074-a-few-takers-for-award-on-mgnregas-effective-functioning.html

HIV affected blame NACO for risky medicine
10 Oct 2011
 

An anti-HIV medicine that the World Health Organisation (WHO) wants phased out because of its severe side-effects, including possible disfigurement, continues to be dispensed by the Indian government, a network of HIV-positive people has said.

WHO had two years ago called on countries to phase out stavudine because of its long-term, irreversible side-effects. But it remains among the first-line drugs provided to HIV-infected persons in India who seek free anti-viral therapy from the government.

The Delhi Network of Positive People (DNP+) has said a technical resource group (TRG) set up by the National AIDS Control Organisation (Naco) last year to revise national guidelines for anti-viral therapy has ignored the toxicity associated with stavudine.

A note prepared by the DNP+ has said Naco’s own observations presented to the technical resource group suggest that 7 per cent patients on stavudine suffer from painful peripheral neuropathy. The Naco data suggest that about 5 per cent patients show lipodystrophy, a condition in which patients either lose or accumulate abnormal levels of body fat, which can cause disfigurement.

To read more, visit: http://telegraphindia.com/1111010/jsp/frontpage/story_14605278.jsp

Telugu joins Unicode consortium as full member
10 Oct 2011
 

Telugu has become an official full member of the US-based Unicode Consortium, paving the way for standardised, user-friendly fonts and scripts for the language on computers.

Telugu is the first Indian language to join the consortium as a full permanent member although two other Indian languages - Hindi and Tamil - are already institutional members, said Andhra Pradesh Minister for Information Technology and Communications Ponnala Lakshmaiah.

Unicode develops Unicode Standard Unicode Locales (CLDR) and other standards and these specifications form the foundation for software internationalisation in all major operating systems, search engines and applications.

To read more, visit: http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/andhra-pradesh/article2525231.ece

Rural development can defeat Naxals: Jairam
10 Oct 2011
 

After a visit to some Naxal-hit areas in Jharkand, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh said Naxals can be defeated ideologically if programmes meant for rural development are successfully implemented. The Rural Development Minister however said the police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have their special roles in dealing with Naxals.

"The police and the CRPF have their special places (in dealing with Naxalism). But I believe the ideological battle can be won through rural development, which has got a special importance," he told reporters in Ranchi. "If the rural works are taken up properly, we will be successful in dealing with Naxalism in the next five or six years," Ramesh said.

Pointing out that 14 out of the 60 Naxal-infested districts in the country are from Jharkhand, Ramesh said he would visit the state every three months to monitor the development programmes in these districts.

To read more, visit: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/rural-development-can-defeat-naxals-ramesh/191515-37-64.html

Food prices affect fight against hunger, warns UN report
10 Oct 2011
 

Food crises are jeopardising efforts to achieve the millennium development goal of halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by 2015, United Nations food experts warned today.

In an annual report on world hunger, UN food agencies said food price volatility is likely to continue and possibly increase, making poor farmers, consumers and countries more vulnerable to poverty and food insecurity.

"Demand from consumers in rapidly growing economies will increase, the population continues to grow, and further growth in biofuels will place additional demands on the food system," the report said, adding that food price volatility may increase over the next decade due to stronger links between agricultural and energy markets and more frequent extreme weather events.

Small, import-dependent countries, particularly in Africa, are especially at risk, with many of them still facing severe problems following the world food and economic crises of 2006-2008, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (Ifad) and the World Food Programme (WFP) said in their joint report.

"Even if the MDG were achieved by 2015, some 600 million people in developing countries would still be undernourished," said UN experts.

The report emphasised that investment in agriculture remains critical to sustainable, long-term food security and called for money to be put into irrigation, improved land-management practices and better seeds developed through agricultural research.

Amid growing concern about land grabs, where small farmers are evicted to make way for corporate interests, the report stressed: "It is important that all investment considers and respects the rights of all existing users of land and related natural resources, benefits local communities, promotes food security and environmental sustainability, and contributes to adaptation to and mitigation of climate change impacts."

With the global population expected to increase from 6.9 billion to 9 billion by 2050, the problem of feeding the world is increasing preoccupying governments. Food security was put on the G20 agenda this year under the group's French presidency.

NGOs point out, however, that developed countries have yet to live up to their pledge to invest $22bn in agriculture development. The money was promised at L'Aquila, Italy in 2009, following food crises that triggered riots in 30 countries across three continents.

The report said predictable policies and openness to trade were more effective strategies for governments than export bans and other restrictive policies, which risk increasing volatility and high prices on international markets.

To read more, visit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2011/oct/10/food-crises-fight-world-hunger?newsfeed=true

Limit children’s exposure to the marketing of unhealthy food: Study
10 Oct 2011
 

Globally parents want their children to eat healthy foods and get benefits related to heart health, reduced risk of disease, brain development and immunity. This is the latest finding from a worldwide study conducted by leading global market research company, Ipsos.

Parents from 24 countries surveyed were given a list of benefits their children may receive from eating healthy foods and asked to rank which benefits were most important. On a global basis, healthy heart (23%) was ranked highest in importance, followed closely by reduced risk of disease later in life, better brain development and better immunity(18% each). Meanwhile Indian parents want better brain development (24%), followed by better Immunity (20%), healthy heart and reduced risk of disease later in life (both 13%) from healthy foods for kids.

Differences in priorities were found to exist across countries. Parents from China, Hungary, Japan, Poland, Saudi Arabia and South Korea rank “Better Immunity” as being important. In another example, a healthy heart was most important to parents in Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Russia, and Great Britain. Reduced risk of disease was most important to parents in France, Italy, Sweden and Germany.

According to Sonia Pall, CEO, Ipsos in India, “It is not surprising that parents in different countries have different motivations for feeding their children healthy foods. They are influenced by their unique value systems, the availability of different foods and medicines in their countries, and the messages they receive from their local media and governments. Interestingly, governments not only influence consumers, but also exert an increasing influence on food manufacturers.”

Increasingly, parents are finding more support from their local governments as new regulations may force sweeping changes about how packaged foods are marketed to children. Legislation already exists in several countries that restrict food advertising to children, including Sweden, Norway, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Korea and France. Most recently, the U.S. is proposing that foods advertised to children must meet certain criteria in terms of the healthy ingredients they contain. The World Health Organization is getting involved as well – by making recommendations to its Member States to limit children’s exposure to the marketing of less healthy food options.

These are the findings from a study conducted by Ipsos Marketing, Consumer Goods via the Ipsos Global advisor Monthly Syndicate, an online survey of citizens around the world. Interviews were carried out between February 2nd and June 13th 2011. For this survey an international sample of 18,680 adults aged 16-64 were interviewed in a total of 24 countries. Among the total sample, 6,654 parents with children under the age of 18 were identified. The countries included Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States of America.

To read more, visit: http://www.indiainfoline.com/Markets/News/Better-brain-development-is-top-most-expectation-by-Indian-Parents-Ipsos/5262003747

Rural development work to be under CAG ambit: Jairam
10 Oct 2011
 

All expenditure on Rural Development work would soon be counted under the domain of Controller and Auditor General, said Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh.

The Minister said there would be a special Accountant General for every state which would audit the expenditure being incurred on rural development works. "This will put pressure on us and the state governments as well (to implement the projects properly and transparently)," said the Minister in a query about the alleged leakage of funds meant for MG-NREGA and rural road works.

Stating that his department's concern was to put in place a foolproof mechanism like audit and enforcing guidelines in the rural development works, Ramesh, however, said it was the state government which had to implement programmes through transparency, accountability and quality control.

To read more, visit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/rural-devt-works-to-come-in-cag-ambit-ramesh_735731.html

World’s only Sanskrit newspaper struggling for survival
10 Oct 2011
 

World’s only Sanskrit newspaper, Sudharma’ is in dire need of financial support. The two-sheet, six-days a week paper is published from Mysore and is struggling for survival. The newspaper was started with an intention to keep alive Sanskrit language which is the root of Indian cultural history.

Editor of the daily KV Sampath Kumar said that he was facing difficult times and was on the verge of closing the unique daily. It was founded in July 1970.

He said more than Rs 60,000 per month is required to run the paper which has a global circulation of over 3,000. In the absence of advertisements and paid circulation, it is becoming difficult for the paper to survive. The paper is seeking support from the govt advertisers to take the lead and help paper come out of the difficult situation.

The newspaper today serves as a link between the past and the present, giving publicity to matters ranging from Hindu scriptures to yoga. Apart from the editor, the paper is supported by two honorary editors and a few Sanskrit scholars who devote time every day to fine tune the copies and set the pages. All of them work for free.

To read more, visit: http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/12042-sudharma-on-brink-of-extinction.html

Kudankulam villagers resume stir against nuke plant
10 Oct 2011
 

The Kudankulam protesters have resumed their stir against the construction of the nuclear plant, which was suspended last month after the Tamil Nadu cabinet passed a resolution asking the Central government to stop works at the plant till the villagers' safety concerns are addressed. The People's Movement Against Nuclear Power on Sunday launched a three-day fast protesting against the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that the government intended to go ahead with the nuclear power plant project in Kudankulam in Tirunelveli district.

The members of the anti-nuclear group as well as thousands of villagers began the fast near the Lourdes church in Idinthakarai in the vicinity of the power plant. Lambasting the "anti-people" stand of the Central government, they threatened to launch a full-fledged protest of greater dimensions if their demands are not heeded to by Tuesday.

To read more, visit: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/Kudankulam-villagers-resume-anti-nuke-fast/articleshow/10298977.cms

"Quality education vital for country’s growth"
10 Oct 2011
 

The Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee expressed hope that the reforms initiated in the higher education sector would increase the gross enrolment ratio from 12.4 per cent to 15 per cent by the end of the 11th Five Year Plan and 21 per cent by the 12th Plan.

Stressing on the quality of education in India, Mr Mukherjee said that kind of education we impart will to a great extent determine nation’s overall growth.

At the 28th convocation ceremony of Banasthali Vidyapith in Rajasthan, Mr. Mukherjee said a “viable financing model” with a mix of public and private participation would be essential for higher education which needs large investments. “Mobilisation of requisite funds is a major challenge. The private sector is being progressively involved for this”, he said.

The Minister also said that the universities were being asked to channelise themselves to meet the changing requirements of skills and knowledge in the job market. The Finance Minister called upon the students to keep an “open mind” to imbibe the flow of ideas, information and skills.

To read more, visit: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/article2524448.ece

Global teacher shortage threatens progress on education
07 Oct 2011
 

The world urgently needs to recruit more than 8 million extra teachers, according to UN estimates, warning that a looming shortage of primary school teachers threatens to undermine global efforts to ensure universal access to primary education by 2015. At least 2m new teaching positions will need to be created by 2015, the UN said in a report published this week. An additional 6.2 million teachers will need to be recruited to maintain current workforces and replace those expected to retire or leave classrooms due to career changes, illnesses, or death.

Burkina Faso, Eritrea, and Central African Republic (CAR) top the list of countries that will need to mount aggressive recruitment campaigns over the next four years. Burkina Faso will need to increase its teaching workforce by almost 14% each year until 2015 to plug the country's shortage of teachers, while workforces in Eritrea and CAR will have to grow by 18% and 21% respectively.

"An acute shortage of primary teachers represents one of the biggest hurdles to achieving the goal of universal primary education," said the report, which stressed: "Policies that effectively address teacher training and retention should be at the core of national education policies."

The estimated figures, prepared by Unesco's Montreal-based Institute for Statistics, aim to help countries identify recruitment challenges and adjust their budgets accordingly. Unesco's projections are based on estimates of the numbers of teachers needed to maintain current pupil-teacher ratios and try to account for "attrition" by estimating that 5% of teachers leave each year.

According to Unesco's projections, the greatest challenges lie in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 1m teaching posts will need to be created by 2015 to meet the needs of a growing number of primary students. Population growth and the push to get all children into school by 2015 has led enrolment rates to soar in many countries, but quality of education will remain a prime concern if countries fail to get enough teachers into classrooms.

Unesco called for a focus on women and greater gender balance among staff in the drive to hire more teachers. Between 1990 and 2009, the global proportion of female primary school teachers grew from 56% to 62%. But most of this growth happened in Asia, where proportions of female teachers rose from 32% to 45% in south and west Asia and from 48% to 61% in east Asia and the pacific. In sub-Saharan Africa, which already had the lowest proportion of female teachers, growth was minimal – from 40% to 42%.

To read more, visit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/datablog/2011/oct/07/un-estimate-teachers-shortage-worldwide?intcmp=122

Nobel Peace Prize for three women activists
07 Oct 2011
 

The Nobel Peace Prize, 2011 has been awarded to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman of Yemen for their work on women's rights. The three women were honoured for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work.

Karman heads the human rights group Women Journalists without Chains. She has been a leading figure in organizing protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh that kicked off in late January as part of a wave of anti-authoritarian revolts that have convulsed the Arab world.

Johnson Sirleaf, 72, is a Harvard-trained economist who became Africa's first democratically elected female president in 2005. She was seen as a reformer and peacemaker in Liberia when she took office.

Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, organized a group of Christian and Muslim women to challenge Liberia's warlords. In 2009 she won a Profile in Courage Award, an honour named for a 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book written by John F. Kennedy, for her work in emboldening women in Liberia.

To read more, visit: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Nobel-Peace-Prize-awarded-to-two-Liberian-and-one-Yemeni-women/articleshow/10266281.cms

Four in 10 disabled young living in poverty in Britain
07 Oct 2011
 

Four in 10 disabled young people in England are living in poverty, amounting to a "staggering" 320,000 children. And the figure will rise because of government cuts to welfare payments, according to a report by The Children's Society.

The charity's analysis looks for the first time at the additional costs of caring for a child who might be paraplegic, infirm or seriously physically incapacitated, and concludes that the official poverty rates understate the number of disabled children in penury by a total of 32,000. Counting on the basis of a disabled child living in a household with a disabled adult, the figure for those existing in poverty rose to 49%.

The Children's Society says that benefit changes in the controversial welfare reform bill, now being considered in the House of Lords, will cause the disability component of child tax-credit to drop from £54 to £27 a week. This change, which will cost the families of 100,000 disabled children £1,500 a year each, could begin when the government replaces the present benefits system with its universal credit scheme in 2013.

The Children's Society said the statistics had been calculated by removing the disability living allowance (DLA) paid to families, to reflect the additional costs of bringing up children with disabilities. Once this allowance was taken into account, child poverty rates among disabled children increased from 36% to 40% – 10 percentage points above the rate for all children.

The findings, which mean that poverty rates among disabled children are higher than government statistics have stated, have alarmed disability groups and sparked calls for a rethink of the planned reforms.

To read more, visit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/oct/07/disability-poverty-welfare-cuts?newsfeed=true

Centre suspects Maoists plan to cripple Indian economy
07 Oct 2011
 

The Centre has warned all Naxal affected states to be alert against a plan by the Maoists to cripple India’s economy.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sent a letter to the Chief Secretaries and DGP's of 11 states warning them of the new strategy of CPI (Maoists) - infiltrate various infrastructure related ministries, departments and projects with cadre and sympathisers. The letter, dated Oct 3, was sent to West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttarakhand.

Based on analysis of intelligence data collected by central intelligence agencies, the letter said that the CPI (Maoist), as part of the new strategy, is planning to target the surface transport and highways, shipping, railways, civil aviation, telecom and rural development. While educated sympathisers will be used to take up office work or jobs with such ministries and departments, the uneducated cadre will be pumped into various ongoing infrastructure projects across the country. This strategy is being adopted by the CPI (Maoist) as they want to fill critical infrastructure areas with their cadres so that when the need arises they can stall work and cripple the Indian economy.

The MHA has advised all concerned states to conduct extensive verification drives to check background of all employees working with such crucial ministries/departments, besides ensuring that stringent mandatory checks are put in place for new appointments. Moreover, all states have been asked to prepare a detailed list of suspicious persons to be sent to Multi Agency Centre (MACs) for further perusal.

To read more, visit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/maoists-new-plan-to-cripple-indian-economy_735365.html

Varanasi’s ghat among 67 threatened heritage sites
07 Oct 2011
 

A recent study by the World Monuments Fund (WMF) has found that the 18th century Balaji Ghat, situated along the river Ganges in Varanasi, is among the over 60 endangered cultural heritage sites in the world that are in dire need of preservation.

WMF announced the '2012 World Monuments Watch', a list of 67 cultural heritage sites in 41 countries that need immediate assistance and Balaji Ghat is one of it. Other than that, the sites include the Nasca lines and Geoglyphs in Peru, palace and garden of China's Nanyue Kingdom, England's Coventry Cathedral and the floating fishing villages in Vietnam.

WMF said, Balaji ghat is an "important example of the buildings constructed along the Ganges to serve pilgrims worshipping at the holy river" in Varanasi, one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Inclusion in the watch will support a plan to restore the building for use as a cultural centre and help to continue an ancient tradition of pilgrimage and enlightenment." Inadequate conservation, maintenance as well as poor heritage protection, are blamed for dilapidated condition of the Blaji ghat.  

The 67 sites "vividly illustrate the ever-more pressing need to create a balance between heritage concerns and the social, economic and environmental interests of communities around the world," WMF said in a statement.

To read more, visit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/uttar-pradesh/varanasi-ghat-among-threatened-heritage-sites_735217.html

Rs 120 crore to strengthen police in naxal areas
07 Oct 2011
 

The central government has sanctioned Rs 120 crore to strengthen 400 police stations located in Naxal affected areas across the nation. As per the official sources the first instalment of Rs 30 lakh to each of the 400 police stations has been sanctioned to construct new buildings, residential complex, bunkers and to procure arms and communication equipment.

A part of the Home Ministry's project, the move is an effort to provide assistance in terms of extending logistics and deploying paramilitary forces to the states to fight Maoists. The Central government has lent its share of responsibility in dealing with the Maoists and has deployed 71 battalions (around 71,000 personnel) of paramilitary forces.

The budget allocation under Security Related Expenditure scheme has been increased to Rs 337 crore in 2011-12 as against only Rs 80 crore in 2008-09. The Centre has also placed Rs 3,300 crore with the District Administration of 60 districts under the Integrated Action Plan (IAP) and 67,175 works are under implementation. Eighteen more districts will be added under IAP in 2012-13.

Upto August, there have been around 850 incidents (1,025 last year), resulting in around 300 deaths (473 last year).

To read more, visit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/govt-gives-rs-120-cr-to-cops-in-naxal-areas_735220.html

Govt toughens entry of new TV channels
07 Oct 2011
 

In order to deter non-serious applicants from "crowding the electronic media landscape", the government on Friday decided to increase the net worth criteria for those seeking permission to run TV channels in the country.

The union cabinet cleared an I&B Ministry proposal as per which the net worth criteria for uplinking of 'Non-News and current affairs' channels and downlinking of foreign channels has been revised from Rs 1.5 crores to Rs 5 crores for the first channel. Companies will have to show an additional net worth of Rs 2.5 crores for each additional channel, an official release said.

For uplinking of 'News and Current Affairs' channels the net worth has been increased from Rs 3 crores to Rs 20 crores for the first channel and Rs 5 crores for each additional channel. Companies would henceforth be required to operationalise new TV channels within a time frame of one year from the date of permission, the release said.

In the event of non-operationalisation of the permitted channel within a year, the Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG) will be forfeited and permission cancelled. For non-news and current affairs channels, companies will have to sign a PBG of Rs 1 crore whereas news and current affairs channels will have to pledge a PBG for Rs 2 crores.

Aspiring companies should also have at least one person occupying a top management position like Chairperson, CEO or COO with a minimum 3 years media experience to seek permission for a new channel.

The period of uplinking or downlinking of channels will be uniform at 10 years, after which renewal would be considered, the release said. For teleports, the net worth criteria would be uniform irrespective of channel capacity. The net worth criteria would remain Rs 3 crores for the first teleport and Rs 1 crore for every additional teleport.

Permission fee for uplinking or downlinking of TV channels and setting up of teleports would be Rs 2 lakhs per channel or teleport per annum. The permission fee for downlinking of TV channels uplinked from India would be Rs 5 lakhs per channel per annum. Permission fee for downlinking of TV channels uplinked from abroad would be Rs 15 lakhs per channel per annum.

Currently, the I & B Ministry has granted permission to 745 private satellite TV channels, out of which 366 TV channels fall in the category of news and current affairs and 379 in the category of non-news and current affairs.

To read more, visit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/govt-toughens-entry-of-new-tv-channels_735462.html

Smoking can kill 40 million more people
06 Oct 2011
 

A new research says that smoking could cause 40 million excess deaths among smokers, who also suffer from tuberculosis (TB), by 2050.

Once smokers develop the disease, they are more likely to have a consequence that can be fatal. It means that smoking can single-handedly undermine the goal to reduce TB mortality by half between 1990 and 2015, says the research.

The study, led by Sanjay Basu from the University of California, San Francisco, used a maths model to determine the effect of smoking on future TB rates, the BMJ (British Medical Journal) reports. It shows that from 2010 to 2050 smoking could lead to 40 million excess TB deaths worldwide - from 61 to 101 million.

They also conclude that if current smoking trends continue, the number of excess TB cases could rise from 256 to 274 million - 18 million new cases in total.

Nearly one-fifth of the world`s population smokes and that most cigarettes are smoked in countries with high TB prevalence. Given this, the authors wanted to predict how much impact smoking will have on future TB rates.

To read more, visit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/health/health-news/smoking-can-kill-40-mn-more-people_14046.html

‘Stop ore extraction in violation of Forest Acts’
06 Oct 2011
 

The Manohar Parrikar-led Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on illegal mining in Goa has recommended to immediately stop extraction and transportation of ore, carried out in violation of the Forest Clearance Act (FCA) and the Wildlife Act in the state. The PAC, it is learnt, has pointed out that there has been extensive ore extraction by violating these Acts.

The report has indicted forest department officials for not acting despite having information about these illegalities by mine owners. Also, the forest officials were in the know of the FCA and the Wildlife Act but refused to act against the unlawful activities, it said.

"There is a direct reference to forest officials and it has been suggested that they also should be investigated," high-level sources said. "Detailed enquiries need to be carried out to know how the lapses have occurred and how responsibility is to be fixed on erring officials of the forest department," the report said.

Sources said the PAC has recommended punitive action of exemplary nature against defaulting extractors. The PAC report, which was submitted to the Legislative Assembly Speaker has run into controversy after Congress legislators refused to sign it.

To read more, visit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/goa/stop-ore-extraction-in-violation-of-forest-acts_735254.html

Beti Bachao Abhiyan to begin in Madhya Pradesh
05 Oct 2011
 

'Beti Bachao Abhiyan' will soon be launched in Madhya Pradesh. An oath will be taken in all districts of the State for saving daughters.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that Beti Bachao Abhiyan will be turned into a mass movement. It will be attended by representatives of various religions, castes and social, cultural and business organisations apart from social and political workers. All preparations pertaining to the launch of the campaign have been completed at CM House.

In his message, the CM expressed the utmost need to change the mindset of people towards preference of having boys over girls. The Chief Minister warned that if the mindset did not change, the situation may become ugly in future.

Chouhan said it was sad to note that the sex ratio was dismal among the rich, the urban dwellers and the educated while it was good among the poor, rural dwellers and the uneducated.

To read more, visit: http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/11210-mp-cm-to-conduct-beti-bachao-vow.html

Ban junk food in educational institutes: Delhi HC
05 Oct 2011
 

Concerned by the rising health problems among youngsters due to faulty food preferences, the Delhi High Court has asked the central government to ensure the complete ban of carbonated beverages and junk food from school and college canteens.

Giving clear instructions to the govt, the court said that serious and effective steps should be taken to ensure that the sale and supply of junk food is completely banned near the educational institutions.

Earlier, in an affidavit before a division bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna, the health ministry had mentioned that they wrote to all states and union territories to consider issuing instructions for withdrawing carbonated beverages and junk food from school and college canteens as it is badly affecting the heath of children consuming it. But the court was not satisfied with that and asked the govt to file an action taken report by November 2. It also asked the central government about ways to create awareness among the young generation about the ill effects of consuming junk food.

The court is hearing a petition filed by an NGO Uday Foundation seeking a ban on the sale of junk food and carbonated drinks within a 1,500 feet radius of schools.

To read more, visit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/health/healthy-eating/ban-junk-food-from-school-college-canteens-court_14050.html

Uttarakhand lab sealed over animal experiments
05 Oct 2011
 

A lab in the Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Uttarakhand, was sealed by the state’s forest department and an action was taken against the head of department after 28 snakes, three scorpions and a bat were found dead in the lab.

A 14-feet-long king cobra, weighing around 8 kgs, was recently killed and stored in the lab among other dead snakes that included species like the cobras, saw scaled and Russell’s viper, common kraits and some non-venomous ones.

The forest department acted following information provided by People for Animals (PFA) Uttarakhand which has exposed major violations of rules in the animal experimentation carried out at the institute lab in the past. According to PFA's Uttarakhand state secretary, Gauri Maulekhi, the reptiles were discovered in the lab of the Forensics and Toxicology department at HIMS following a tip off received from sources in the institute. However the institute authorities claimed that they took the reptiles from a villager who brought the creatures to them. This action is a clear violation of Wildlife Protection Act Section 9 for which the head of the department should be charged. The institute did not maintain any records of the purchases.

In the past as well, PFA has documented mistreatment of animals and blatant violations of rules in the HIMS’ animal housing facility that resulted in a Government Order being sent to the institute to suspend all animal experiments.

To read more, visit: http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/11211-uttarakhand-lab-in-dock-over-animal-experiments.html

Maharashtra govt issues ration card to sex workers
04 Oct 2011
 

Ration cards were distributed among 50 sex workers from Mumbai’s red light area by Maharashtra govt, which probably will kick start the drive in the whole state.

The cards will have the name of the woman concerned and her children. However the profession would not be listed on the ration card. The orange cards would entitle women to 10 kg of wheat at Rs.7.60, 5 kg of rice at Rs.9.20, one liter of palm oil and around two to three liters of kerosene.

Referring to the recent Supreme Court order to provide ration cards to sex workers, Maharashtra had decided to implement it even before the apex court's directions, said Food and Civil Supplies Minister Anil Deshmukh. He said that all the anomalies would be removed and every commercial sex worker would get a ration card.

Ration card would certainly help these women in procuring other important identity cards and will enable them to have bank accounts, which earlier was denied due to absence of an authentic identity proof. Ration officials have relaxed norms for sex workers and they will be visiting their places of stay to verify if they are staying and cooking there. On that basis they would be allotted ration cards.

To read more, visit: http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article2509794.ece

India’s first sign language training centre by IGNOU
04 Oct 2011
 

India’s first sign language centre is to be started by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). The Indian Sign Language Research and Training Center (ISLRTC) was inaugurated at its main campus in Delhi. The centre has been set up with the help of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

The centre will be a great relief for the hearing impaired community in India as the school is first to be initiated in the nation. It is an exclusive education project for teaching, learning, training and capacity building for the vast deaf population. It will be a full time teaching and training centre for the Indian sign language combined with distance teaching/ learning opportunities.

"This research centre is the first of its kind in India with centers attached to IGNOU,” said Prof. PR Ramanujam, Pro VC, of IGNOU before adding that research and documentation will back up the intensive training being imparted at the centers.

To read more, visit: http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/10944-ignou-sets-up-countrys-first-sign-language-training-centre.html

MNREGA execution 'patchy': Jairam
03 Oct 2011
 

Terming the implementation of UPA's flagship programme MNREGA as "patchy", Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has expressed concern at leakage of funds meant for the scheme but hoped that the proposed 'NREGA 2.0' will deal with the problems in the coming times. He said while he is a strong supporter of MNREGA, "we also recognise that there are very serious issues in its implementation which is detracting from its effectiveness which needs to be addressed sooner rather than later."

"Quality of the community assets (which the scheme seeks to create) leaves a lot to be desired. There are of course the usual stories we read about in the Indian press about leakages of funds," he said at a programme organised by the Public Diplomacy Division of the MEA. He said in some states "The money that was meant for NREGA has been diverted for purchase of Boleros and Pajeros." He said the recently unveiled NREGA 2.0 could remove the shortcomings of NREGA 1.0 in the coming days when it is implemented in parts.

But Ramesh insisted that the programme was not faulty but needed greater planning at the grass-roots level. The Minister said 'NREGA 1.0' has captured people's imaginatiopn in different parts of the country and it has increased agricultural wage rates and it has reduced migration. He said the programme has also created "community assets" in the form of water bodies.

He said the recently unveiled NREGA 2.0 could remove the shortcomings of NREGA 1.0 in the coming days when it is implemented in parts. But he stressed that no legislative amendments required its implementations and a series of executive orders from Centre and states was all it needed.

To read more, visit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/ramesh-calls-mnrega-execution-patchy_734681.html

Israel 'increasingly isolated' in Middle East: US
03 Oct 2011
 

The Arab Spring has left Israel "increasingly isolated," the US defence secretary said as he arrived in Tel Aviv on Monday, warning military might could not make up for a weakened diplomatic position.

Speaking to reporters on his plane before landing in Israel on a Middle East tour, Leon Panetta said it was key for Israel to shore up its ties with Egypt and other regional nations that had proved valuable partners in the past. "There's not much question in my mind that they maintain that (military) edge. But the question you have to ask is is it enough to maintain a military edge, if you're isolating yourself in the diplomatic arena?" Panetta said. "At this dramatic time in the Middle East, when there have been so many changes, it's not a good situation for Israel to become increasingly isolated. And that's what's happening," he said.

Panetta, who is due to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Monday before heading to Egypt and a NATO session in Brussels this week, said Israel needed to repair diplomatic ties with countries such as Egypt and Turkey and that Washington was ready to help. "I think for the security of that region, it's really important that we do everything possible to try help them re-establish relations with countries like Turkey and with Egypt," said Panetta. With the end of Hosni Mubarak's rule in Egypt and popular unrest elsewhere casting doubt on the premises underlying Israel's security, Panetta said Israeli leaders were fully aware of the difficult challenge they faced.

To read more, visit: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jcerR3-DML1hS8IEDDcybl7843BQ?docId=CNG.c5032e99f12554c27d6870277cc274ab.291

Biotech bill against the spirit of Gandhi: Swaminathan
03 Oct 2011
 

On the 142nd birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, noted agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan told The Times of India that the proposed Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) bill is against the spirit of Gandhi and decentralised governance.

"The bill has a single-window clearance for the release of genetically modified crops. Unlike the National Biodiversity Act, the BRAI bill does not consult with people at the panchayat level," said Swaminathan who proposed in 2003 the idea of an autonomous and professionally led body for assessing the safety of genetically modified crops.

The Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India bill that is to be tabled at the winter session of the Parliament this year will approve research and commercial release of genetically modified crops. The body will be a regulatory regime for modern technology in the field of agriculture, environment and pharmaceuticals. Though based originally on M S Swaminathan's idea, the bill was reworked in 2008.

Speaking at a meeting organised by the National Biodiversity Authority in Chennai on Sunday, Swaminathan said Gandhi is unexpectedly gaining relevance in today's society "Gandhi believed that 'poorna swaraj' can be achieved only with 'gram swaraj,'" he said. "We have 1.5 lakh varieties of rice and this is because of the knowledge that our farmers, tribals and adivasis have. We need to protect them. We should see ourselves as trustees of nature, the wealth we are born with," he said.

And this, according to Balakrishnan Pisupati, the chairman of National Biodiversity Authority, is the essence of the Biological Diversity Act. "The act is about managing resources at the panchayat level making it sustainable and also securing rural lives," he said. Pisupati said that preparations for next year's Conference of Parties to the Convention on Bio Diversity in Hyderabad is in full swing. Following the conference in Nagoya, Japan last year, 193 countries, representatives from various UN agencies, NGOs and environmentalists will attend the conference to be held between October 1 and 19, 2012.

To read more, visit: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/-Biotech-bill-against-the-spirit-of-Gandhi-M-S-Swaminathan/articleshow/10213483.cms

Gold mine town Raichur has maximum malnutrition deaths
03 Oct 2011
 

Malnutrition has killed almost 2,700 children under the age of six since 2009 and as many 4,531 children are underfed in Raichur district of Karnataka, says the Women and Child welfare department. The irony of the situation is that Raichur is home to India's only active gold mine - Hutti mines and still penury is killing thousands in the district.

Malnutrition has reached epidemic proportions in villages of Deodurg and Manvi taluks in the Raichur district. According to the govt data, 2,689 children have died since 2009 due to malnutrition, of which 811 died in 2009 while the number went up to 1,233 in 2010. As many as 645 such deaths have been recorded till August 2011. Malnourishment is so acute in Raichur that the district is at the bottom of the 30 districts of the state in terms of human development index. Deaths due to hunger have become common to every household in Raichur. The Data also shows that 78,366 children are malnourished in the district, of which 639 are severely malnourished.

Villagers have no access to clean drinking water, public distribution system or government job schemes in the area. Acute poverty, unemployment, poor income and lack of health services coupled with government's indifference and non implementation of NREGA have turned Raichur into a mini Somalia.

To read more, visit: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/malnutrition-death-in-karnataka-kids-die/1/153489.html

SC issues notice on framing Master Plan for Haridwar
03 Oct 2011
 

The Supreme Court has sought the response of Uttarakhand government on framing comprehensive rules for development of basic infrastructure in Haridwar in view of alleged lack of planning.

A bench headed by Justice Dalveer Bhandari issued notice to the State government and other authorities seeking their response on why they have not framed a new Master Plan for the city after the last one lapsed in 2001.

The court passed the order on a petition filed by a Haridwar resident Upendra Dutt Sharma pleading that there is a complete mess in the city due to lack of proper planning, influx of new vehicles and increased population in the pilgrim town. He pleaded that that Master Plan for the year 1985 to 2001 for the city of Haridwar came to an end and after that no Master Plan has been formulated for the city of Haridwar.

“Infrastructure of Haridwar has totally collapsed with the sharp rise in the population and number of vehicles plying in the city and there is apathy of the State government and the development authorities in providing a solution by means of planned development of the city to address the difficulties of the residents,” the petition said.

To read more, visit: http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article2508953.ece

Multi-user smart ID cards by 2013
03 Oct 2011
 

Govt is working to issue multi-purpose smart identity cards to all adult citizens by the end of 2013, and claims that the move could result in cost savings for the exchequer.

As per the Registrar General and Census Commissioner (RGCC) officials, proposal has been made under Citizenship Act amendment made in 2003. The Registrar General of India has proposed to issue smart identity cards to all citizens of the country above 18 years, which is under consideration by the Department of Expenditure.

Advantage of the card is that it can be used in the place of ration, toll and election cards, among others, resulting in lower costs for the government, as one card could serve various purposes rather than separate ones for each service.

As per the records, adults constitute approximately 65 per cent of the country's population and the government estimates that each smart card will cost about Rs 50.

Among other things, the proposed smart identity cards will carry Aadhar numbers issued by the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI), photographs, biometric data like finger prints and an iris scan of the card holder on an electronic chip.

To read more, visit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/govt-planning-multi-use-smart-id-cards-by-2013_734621.html

Minority panel blames Rajasthan govt for Bharatpur riots
02 Oct 2011
 

A new report by National Minority Commission has held Rajasthan government responsible for the Bharatpur riots.

In its report, the minority panel has said that the police and local administration were guilty of inaction and use of excessive force during the recent communal clashes in Bharatpur. An internal report of the congress party had also blamed the Rajasthan government for the Bharatpur riots that left 10 dead and 22 injured.

It said that police should have taken immediate action when a religious leader, a Maulvi, was first assaulted by the Gujjar community, which eventually led to the riots. The report also blamed the police for being partisan in dealing with the situation and criticised them for using excess force and firing at protesting crowds.

The Chief Minister's office, however, refused to comment on the report and their stand remains that they've suspended top officials and ordered a judicial probe. But authorities from the National Commission of Minorities feel it's more important to take confidence building measures.

To read more, visit: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/rajasthan-govt-to-be-blamed-for-bharatpur-riots/189553-3.html

Montek meets PM on poverty line issue
02 Oct 2011
 

Amid a raging controversy over the Rs. 32 per capita per day poverty line definition, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today and will clarify the panel’s stand on the issue tomorrow on Monday.

Mr Ahluwali, who returned from a 10-day foreign visit yesterday, met the Prime Minister today for the first time since the controversy erupted after an affidavit filed by the Plan panel in the Supreme Court.

Mr. Ahluwalia is believed to have discussed the fallout of the controversy relating to the affidavit, which said that persons consuming items worth more than Rs. 32 per day in urban areas (Rs. 26 in rural areas) are not poor, with the Prime Minister.

As per the affidavit, a family of five spending less than Rs. 4,824 (at June, 2011, prices) in urban areas will fall in the BPL (Below Poverty Line) category. The expenditure limit for a family in rural areas has been fixed at Rs. 3,905. The number of poor entitled to BPL benefits, as per the affidavit, has been estimated at 40.74 crore, as against 37.2 crore estimated at the time of accepting the Tendulkar Committee report.

Officials in the Planning Commission have said that providing benefits to more persons would defeat the purpose of the anti-poverty programme. Mr. Ahluwalia is also scheduled to meet Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday to discuss the issue.

To read more, visit: http://www.thehindu.com/news/article2506327.ece

Rivers in India are sewers: Jairam
02 Oct 2011
 

With India accounting for 58 per cent of all open defecations in the world, the government today sought active involvement of all parties concerned including women panchayat representatives to sensitise the people in creating awareness about public hygiene.

"On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, I would like to mention one such case which is a shame on all of us. No other country in the world where about 60 per cent women have to go to the field for open defecation," Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said in a function organised by the Hunger Project.

Terming the prevailing open defecation in many parts of the country as a "blot on India", Ramesh said this is an issue of public hygiene. "These women do not have access to hygiene. This is actually a very sad commentary on our society. We seem to be not doing much about it," the minister rued.

Referring to the Mahatma, he said Gandhiji had strived for transforming villages into 'nirmal grams' (village free from open defecation). "There are some states like Harayana, Sikkim, Maharashtra, Kerala where hygiene conditions exist but in other states it is not visible," Ramesh noted.

Terming the situation as "paradox", he said, "We prefer to remain clean and dump filth outside. This is a paradox -- individual hygiene and public filth. This is something that we should take up as a challenge. It is a challenge for political parties, the government and society also."

Describing the prevailing condition of rivers, he said, "Rivers are not rivers in India. Rivers have become sewers. The 500-km stretch of Ganga between Kannuaj and Varanasi is just sewer."

To read more, visit: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_rivers-in-india-are-sewers-jairam-ramesh_1594304

Higher education data from UGC surpass govt stats
02 Oct 2011
 

Though official figures show only a small percentage of Indians receiving higher education, the University Grants Commission (UGC) feels the numbers are much higher, closer to China’s.

So, while the ministry of human resource development estimates gross enrolment ratio (GER) at 15% by the end of the 11th Five-Year Plan, the UGC has measured it close to 20%. GER is an indicator of the actual number of students enrolled vis-a-vis the number of potential students.

“Our estimates show GER may have already touched 20%. The National Sample Survey Organisation data too show we are very close to this number. We have overachieved our target and at the current pace of expansion, we might hit 30% much before 2020, thanks to increased participation by the private sector,” UGC chairman Ved Prakash said. This means instead of trailing China (which has a GER of 22%) by a wide margin, India is close and catching up fast. Moreover, if higher education continues to expand at the current pace, the 30% target may be reached in five years, instead of 2020 as projected by the ministry. The UGC has cited NSSO’s 2007-08 survey which found GER crossed 17% to support its estimates.

To read more, visit: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Higher-education-data-from-UGC-surpass-govt-stats--near-China-s/854278/

Don't want to hold any post: Anna Hazare
02 Oct 2011
 

Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare has clarified he does not have desire to hold any post as it would not be possible for him to continue with the work he is doing at present. "I don't desire to be the President. Whatever work is being done by me today won't be possible if I hold that post," Hazare said in an interview.

"Several people tried to persuade me to become an MLA or an MP or minister but I am not interested in these posts either. Whatever I can do today, I won't be able to do so after becoming a minister," he said.

Meanwhile, Hazare reiterated his decision to begin a hunger-strike on the last day of the winter session of Maharashtra Legislature if the Congress-led state government failed to bring in a legislation for a strong and effective Lokayukta in the state.

Maintaining that he was influenced by the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekanand, Hazare said he was carrying out his work based on ideologies of these two great persons.

To read more, visit: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/dont-want-to-hold-any-post-anna-hazare/189558-3.html

Dalai Lama to receive Mahatma Gandhi peace prize
02 Oct 2011
 

The Dalai Lama will receive the Mahatma Gandhi peace prize, the legendary Indian leader's granddaughter Ela Gandhi announced on Sunday on Gandhi Jayanti and asked the South African government to grant a visa to the Tibetan spiritual leader to visit the country.

The Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Peace and Reconciliation will be conferred on the 76-year-old Dalai Lama at the annual Satyagraha Awards to be held at the Durban City Hall next Sunday.

The event is one of several public invitations that the Dalai Lama has accepted during a proposed South African visit this week, amid concern that the South African government may not grant him a visa under Chinese pressure. The visit was prompted by an invitation from fellow Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu for the Dalai Lama to join him for his 80th birthday celebrations on Friday.

Denying that the visa was being delayed due to a visit to South Africa's biggest trading partner China by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe last week, South African authorities said the visa was still "under consideration" on Friday, less than a week before the start of his visit. The Dalai Lama had previously been refused a visa in 2009.

Expressing the hope that the visa would be issued in time, Ela Gandhi said the award would be given to a representative of the Dalai Lama in case of his absence. "Since he is a spiritual head and not a political one, there should be no problem issuing the Dalai Lama with a visa," she said.

To read more, visit: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/dalai-lama-to-receive-mahatma-gandhi-peace-prize/189529-2.html

Delhi govt puts blanket ban on plastic bags
02 Oct 2011
 

In a major environment-friendly move, the Delhi government will impose a blanket ban on usage and manufacturing of plastic bags in the next two months and those violating it could face imprisonment up to five years and fine of up to Rs 1 lakh or both.

The ban is being imposed under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 under which storage as well as sale of plastic bags will also be considered an offence.

The government has issued a draft notification seeking suggestions as well as objections, if any, to the move from the stakeholders till November 20 following which a final notification will be issued imposing the ban.

According to the draft notification, no person including shopkeepers, vendors, wholesalers, retailers and hawkers will be allowed to sell, store or use plastic carry bags for supply of any goods.

"No person shall (be allowed) to manufacture, store, import, sell or transport any kind of plastic carry bags (including that of Poly Propelene, Nonwoven fabric type carry bags) in the whole of National Capital Territory of Delhi except for export purposes," the notification said. The use of plastic cover/pouch to pack magazines, invitation cards, greeting cards will also be prohibited.

However, the ban will not be applicable for containers used for packing food material, milk and "bags that constitute or form an integral part of the packaging in which goods are sealed prior to use", said the notification.

The Delhi Cabinet had in April decided to go for the blanket ban, considering that a ban imposed on use of plastic bags in January 2009, which did not include manufacturing activities, had not given the desired results.

To read more, visit: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/the-good-earth/Blanket-ban-on-plastic-bags-violators-to-face-5-year-jail/articleshow/10205382.cms