• Gujarat has emerged as the first State in the country to make voting compulsory in the local elections following the example, as Chief Minister Narendra Modi described, of 32 countries where the pattern of exercising the adult franchise showed a remarkable improvement from 45 per cent to over 90 per cent.
• Talking to journalists after the adoption of the "Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment), 2009," the Chief Minister described the measure to make voting compulsory in the local body elections as a "historic move to strengthen democracy" and taking it from "drawing room politics to the polling booth level."
• The Bill seeks to make voting compulsory in all the seven municipal corporations, 159 municipalities, 26 district panchayats, 223 taluka panchayats and over 13,000 village panchayats in the State. It empowers an official chosen by the State Election Commission to declare an absent voter as a "defaulter" except under the circumstances of illness or being away from the state or the country on the voting day. The defaulter could be "punished" under rules to be framed by the government later after giving due notice.

• The National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities has recommended the extension of quota to all religious minorities — including Hindus where they are in a minority — while advocating an overhaul of the reservation policy to make income the lone criteria for affirmative action.
• Scheduled Caste (SC) status should be delinked from religion to make the SC net fully religion-neutral like that of the Scheduled Tribes (STs).For this, Para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950 — which originally restricted the SC net to Hindus and later opened it to Sikhs and Buddhists — should be wholly deleted by appropriate action.
• the report of the Commission headed by former Chief Justice of India Ranganath Misra .Calling for an overhaul of the entire reservation policy, the Commission, which submitted its report to the Government on May 10, 2007, has stressed the need to limit the benefits of reservation to the socially and economically backward.

• For this purpose, the Commission has suggested that the Below Poverty Line (BPL) lists prepared on the basis of social/educational and economic criteria should be used, as they are scientifically prepared and revised periodically."BPL lists should, therefore, be made eligible for grant of reservation without distinction on caste, class, group or religion basis."
• the Commission has recommended that at least 15 per cent of the seats in all non-minority educational institutions should be earmarked by law for minorities.Of the 15 per cent, the largest chunk of 10 per cent should go to Muslims — commensurate with their 73 per cent share of the total minority population in the country — and the remaining five per cent to other minorities.
• While making this recommendation, the Commission has followed the judicial decisions mandating that only 50 per cent of the seats in a minority institution can be set aside for minorities in the interest of national integration. The 15 per cent reservation for minorities in non-minority institutions is justified by the Commission "by the same analogy and for the same purpose."
• In defining religious minorities, the Commission has gone beyond the scope of the definition used by the National Commission for Minorities. According to the report, it should include all religious minorities — large or small — including the Hindus in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep and the States of Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Punjab.
• Panel recommends quota for Muslims-The Ranganath Misra Commission has recommended 10 per cent reservation for Muslims and five per cent for other minorities in government jobs and favoured the Scheduled Castes status for Dalits of all religions.

• Emphasising that reservation alone cannot be the solution for the empowerment of the minorities in the country, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said here on Friday that creation of equal opportunities for both the majority and the minorities was the key to resolve the issue.
• Reservation cannot be a fundamental solution. It has been in place since 1947 but a select layer of handful people, a large mass of the minorities' population have remained left out…creation of equal opportunities in every sector for both the majority and minority is therefore the only solution."
• the initiative must be taken in fundamental fields like education and training.

• Karnataka maintains its status as the poorest among four southern States, according to the data on poverty recently released by an expert committee set up by the Planning Commission.
• The committee, headed by noted economist Suresh Tendulkar, which has determined a new methodology for estimating the extent of poverty in India, has estimated that a little over one-third of Karnataka's population lived below the poverty line in 2004-05.
• The committee has revised rural poverty levels in India in 2004-05, from 28.3 per cent to 41.8 per cent, a significant upward revision.
• The committee established the poverty line for 2004-05 at Rs. 417.8 per capita per month for rural Karnataka and at Rs. 588.10 for urban areas of the State. The poverty line implies a minimum consumption expenditure level required by a person to procure a standardised basket of goods and services to satisfy basic needs.
• Karnataka's position is, in what would appear to be contrary to common perceptions of poverty, in fact closer to States such as Assam and Rajasthan, which are generally regarded to be poorer.

• The government on Sunday said it would examine the report of the Ranganath Misra Commission — which recommended 10 per cent reservation for Muslims and 5 per cent for other minorities — "with all sincerity," but refused to commit whether or when the recommendations would be accepted.

Abrogation or continuance of Article 370 should be left to people of J&K'

• The fifth Working Group on Centre-State relations constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday presented to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in Jammu the report ,headed by Justice (retired) Saghir Ahmad, who took a long time finalising the report. The five Working Groups were constituted by Dr. Singh on May 25, 2006, at the end of the Round Table Conference in Srinagar.

• The other groups — dealing with Confidence-building measures, cross-Line Of Control travel and trade, economy and good governance — have already submitted their reports.
• The summary said that as far as Article 370 of the Constitution of India was concerned, "it is for the people of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to decide how long to continue Article 370 in its present form and when to make it permanent of abrogate. The matter, being 60 years old, should be settled once for all."
• On the demand of autonomy by the National Conference, the summary said that it could be examined in the light of the Kashmir Accord or in some other manner, or on the basis of some other formula as the present Prime Minister may deem fit and appropriate so as to restore autonomy to the extent possible.
• The Working Group said the question of the appointment of Governor and dismissal of the popular government by the Governor may be considered and resolved.
• On the People's Democratic Party's (PDP) demand of 'Self Rule,' the summary said that on behalf of the party, Muzaffar Hussain Baig orally explained the concept of 'Self Rule,' but the 'Self Rule' as proposed by the PDP could not be considered in all its detail as the document containing the various aspects of 'Self Rule' were not provided to the Working Group as promised by PDP during the course of the proceedings.
• On the term of the State's Legislative Assembly, the summary said any change in the term of the Assembly would require political consensus among the parties in the State and can be effected only through a Constitutional Amendment.
• The Working Group has also suggested that Representational Reservation for Scheduled Tribes and Women in the Assembly may be guided by the national pattern subject to political consensus. It has, however, opposed the demand for the abolition of the State Legislative Council, saying that the present position may be maintained.
• On the increase in the number of Assembly seats and the De-limitation Commission, the summary said: "Since the Constitutional provisions do not allow any change up to the year 2026, the present position may be maintained till then."
• About human rights, the Working Group said violations must not be tolerated and that the State government should take steps to strengthen the institutions that are involved in safeguarding human rights, including the State Human Rights Commission. "Additional staff as recommended in the body of the report should be sanctioned, which will work under the direct control of the Commission," the report said.
• In contrast to recommendations from other groups, the summary said that regarding the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, "a group of Central government and State government officers and people's representatives may be constituted, which will review the application of the Act to various parts of the State regularly to explore the possibility whether the Act can be withdrawn from any part of the State."
• The Working Group has also made suggestions on issues related to migrants, daily wagers, regional councils, industrial units, refugees from Pakistan, and promotion of the IT industry.

• The white paper, reportedly prepared by a consultant under the supervision of the Railway Board, asserts that the accumulated surplus of Rs.90,000 crore claimed for the peri od 2004-09 was the result of a change in the accounting system.
• The real surplus, after allowances are made for the new system and the outgo due to the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission report, was only Rs.39,500 crore. Strangely, the Railways has decided to continue with the same system of accounting which, the report says, exaggerated the surplus.
• Whatever the quantum of surplus, there can be no denying that Mr. Lalu Prasad and his team did turn the Railways into an efficient enterprise. It is widely acknowledged that he, while insisting on his priorities, gave the administration enough space to shuffle around and tone up the operational efficiency.
• The facts speak for themselves. Despite the serious competition from road transport, more revenue was generated through innovative measures, even while keeping the basic passenger fare untouched. Freight tariff was restructured. Loading as well as originating passenger traffic rose significantly during the five years. Ms Banerjee will do well to concentrate on consolidating the gains and finding ways of raising the Rs.14 lakh crore investments the Railways needs, keeping petty politics out of the sound and successful public sector undertaking.

• The Committee on Judicial Accountability (CJA) has expressed concern at the government returning the recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium for elevation of Allahabad High Court Chief Justice C.K. Prasad to the Supreme Court on the ground that it was made without proper verification.
• This is the second time it has returned the file, the first being the case of Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P.D. Dinakaran, whose elevation has been kept in abeyance, the CIA pointed out in a statement signed by senior lawyers Ram Jethmalani, Shanti Bhushan, Fali Nariman, Anil Divan, Kamini Jaiswal and Prashant Bhushan.The statement said: "In Justice Dinakaran's case, some of the allegations against him have subsequently been confirmed by the District Magistrate [of Tiruvallur in Tamil Nadu], leading to an impeachment motion against him which has been admitted by the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. We are disturbed that [in the case of Justice Prasad also] recommendations have been made without any transparency and without proper verification of the antecedents and reputation of those recommended."
• The CJA said: "The committee strongly feels that responsible members of the Bar of the concerned High Courts should be consulted before the collegium makes any recommendation. Pending the constitution of a full-time National Judicial Appointments Commission, we urge the collegium to fashion after a public debate, an open, accountable and participatory procedure for making recommendations for judicial appointments; and not to recommend persons until the names have been made public, and members of the Bar and the public are enabled to share the relevant information that they might have about the proposed appointees with the collegium."

Poets dominate 2009 Sahitya Akademi Awards

• Poets dominated this year's Sahitya Akademi award winners with eight of their books chosen for the honours in 24 categories of literature.

• The poets honoured were: Praduman Singh Jindrahia (Dogri), Kailash Vajpeyi (Hindi), Jess Fernandes (Konkani), Raghu Leishangthem (Manipuri), Vasant Abaji Dahake (Marathi), Phani Mohanty (Oriya), Damayanti Beshra (Santhali) and Puviarasu (Tamil).
• Those who won the awards for their collection of short stories include Vaidehi (Kannada), the late Manmohan Jha (Maithili), Samiran Chhetri 'Priyadarshi' (Nepali), Major Ratan Jangid (Rajasthani), Prashasya Mitra Shastri (Sanskrit) and Anand Khemani (Sindhi).
• The Akademi had decided to honour authors of children's literature from this year. "The details are being worked out whether to award the book or the overall contribution of the author. But we will hand out 24 awards every year," Mr. Murthy said.

Bifurcate Home Ministry, says Chidambaram

• Proposing a bold, thorough and radical restructuring of the security architecture at the national level.

• subjects not directly related to internal security should be dealt with by a separate Ministry or brought under a separate department in the Home Ministry itself and handled by a Minister independently.
• The Home Minister should devote the whole of his/her time and energy to matters relating to security.
• To counter, prevent and contain a terrorist attack and respond to it should one take place, India must set up the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) by the end of 2010.

• Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck arrived here on his first state visit to a country after his formal coronation as the fifth King of Bhutan last year.
• India and Bhutan intend cementing their ties further by signing a dozen pacts including four memoranda of understanding for hydel projects.
• The two sides will also ink a pact on setting up a super-specialty hospital on the lines of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences.
• However, an agreement on laying of a rail line that would have provided Bhutan a more enduring and economical trade link with countries in the region is not on the cards owing to land acquisition issues in some tea gardens on the Indian side, diplomatic sources here said.The MoUs on initiating the detailed project reports (DPRs) on the hydel projects will be inked under the 60-year umbrella agreement signed in 2006.Originally, India planned to import 5,000 MW from Bhutan by 2020 but this has been doubled under an accelerated hydel power development agreement.
• According to Indian sources, over 60 per cent of Bhutan's gross domestic product accrues from sale of surplus power from three hydro power stations — Kurichu, Chukha and Tala — and the generation will rise exponentially once work on four more — Punatsangchu, Wangchu, Bunakha and Sankosh — is over.
• During the King's visit, the MoUs will be signed on initiating DPRs for the Amochhu (620 MW), Kuvi-Gongi (1800 MW), Kholongchhu (486 MW) and Chamkarchu-I (670 MW) projects.

Germany keen on closer defence, civil nuclear ties

• Germany intends to step up its engagements in a wide range of fields from solar energy to intelligence sharing and even civil nuclear cooperation with several high-level bilateral engagements lined up in the coming months.
• In order to sweeten the offer of 126 fighter planes by a European consortium, Germany, which heads it, is thinking of pushing for civil nuclear cooperation in areas of interest to India.
• While the multi-billion dollar contract for fighters is the cynosure of Berlin's attention, it is also keen on promoting the prospects of Europe-based companies on other tenders for military hardware.
• professed interest in promoting the German company HDW for the coming order for submarines. It will be easier since germany shelved the deal with Pakistan.
• The visit early next year by German President Hoerst Koehler would focus on issues such as a proposal to set up a massive solar plant in the Thar Desert on the lines of the Sahara desert project by a consortium of German companies. "We are putting up a huge solar field in northern Africa over an area of 40,000 sq. km., which would meet all the energy needs of the European Union by 2050. We can do that in the Thar Desert.

Russia to help India build manned spaceship

• Russia will help India build a manned spaceship and send an Indian astronaut to space under a 10-year cooperation programme.

• New Delhi had asked Moscow to share with it the technologies to build a manned spacecraft and take an Indian astronaut aboard a Soyuz, chief of the Piloted Programmes of Roskosmos Alexei Krasnov told reporters on Wednesday.
• The spaceship would be modelled after the Soyuz craft, but it would be smaller to match the lighter Indian boosters. India's first astronaut Rakesh Sharma travelled to space aboard a Soyuz in 1984.
• He spent eight days on the Salyut-7 orbital station and did various scientific experiments. Subsequent plans to send two Indian astronauts to space on a U.S. shuttle were scrapped after the Challenger disaster in 1986.

Prachanda seeks clarification on Army Chief's remarks

• Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Thursday sought New Delhi's stand on the remarks made by Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor who expressed reservation on the en masse integration of the Maoists' People's Liberation Army into the Nepal Army.

• Mr. Dahal said Gen. Kapoor's remarks were against the peace process and it meant a clear interference in Nepal's politics.

Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Editors Guild

• Shocked by the "pernicious practice" of publishing "paid news" by some newspapers and television channels – particularly during the recent elections – the Editors Guild of India has strongly condemned this practice, "which whittles down the foundations of Indian journalism."

• Guild said: "Both the media organisations and editors who indulge in it, and the customers who offer payment for such 'paid news' are guilty of undermining the free and fair press, for which every citizen of India is entitled to."

• The issue was raised by Editor-in-Chief of Business Standard, T. N. Ninan, and Guild president Rajdeep Sardesai made out a strong case for dedicating 2010 to a campaign against "paid news."

• Besides setting up a four-member Ethics Committee, which will be headed by Mr. Ninan, the Guild also decided to approach the Election Commission to suggest reforms in the election laws, as "paid news" was being used by political parties to circumvent the strict limits on poll expenditure.

• Concerned at a major infiltration bid, the Centre on Tuesday sought a report from the Border Security Force on the situation along the border in Jammu and Kashmir, where the Pakistan Rangers resorted to unprovoked firing since Monday night.
• sources said. The firing was a cover for militants to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir.However, the attempt did not work as the entire area was protected by a barbed fence, and the BSF found no trace of damage to the fence, the sources said.
• Twenty-eight incidents of such ceasefire violations by Pakistan were reported till November 25 along the Line of Control. In the past four years, there have been 129 incidents of ceasefire violations and 43 incidents of air space violations by Pakistan. 

• State-owned oil companies will pay Rs. 27 a litre, or 25 per cent higher from the existing level, for buying ethanol from sugar mills for blending with petrol, it is learnt.
• Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said an agreement had been reached between the oil marketing companies and millers on the price of ethanol. At present, oil marketing companies — Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat petroleum — pay Rs.21.50 to buy a litre of ethanol while the sugar millers were seeking a price up to Rs.31 a litre.

• The engine of a stricken India-flagged cargo freighter was repaired by the onboard engineers early on Tuesday and the vessel with all the 28 crew members is now heading towards its destination Portland.
• Earlier, the crew of the ship in distress APJ Suryavir, had planned to abandon the ship in stormy seas and fierce winds.
• On Sunday, the master of the ship APJ Suryavir had sought emergency help from the U.S. Coast Guard as the ship went adrift off the coast of Alaska in a stormy North Pacific.

• The 24-hour drill organised in coastal Tamil Nadu to test the efficiency of security forces against infiltration of 'terrorists' saw some real-time action involving various law enforcing agencies.
• Operation Rakshak', a meticulously planned mock drill, was a challenge between the 'Red Force' (commandos posing as terrorists) and the 'Blue Force' (police/defence personnel). The mission of the 'Red Force' was to enter the land from sea and reach their targets that included harbours, railway stations, malls and government offices.

• The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar.

• Two one-horned rhinos were killed by poachers in the Kaziranga National Park, officials said on Monday.
• With this, the number of this endangered species killed at the park in Assam this year rose to 14. The carcasses of the rhinos, a full grown male and a female, were recovered, with their horns missing, in the Agartoli range. The poachers had entered the park posing as visitors and killed the female rhino on Sunday night.

• The two-member committee, headed by the former Governor and Union Home Secretary R.D. Pradhan, appointed by the Maharashtra government to go into the November 26, 2008 terror strikes, found serious lapses on the part of former Police Commissioner, Hasan Gafoor in handling the "war-like" multi-pronged attack.
• However, it did not find any serious lapse on the part of officers and police men of the Mumbai police. In fact, it praised the courage of officers and men — some may consider thoughtless — to launch themselves into situations that were hopeless and knowing that they might be killed.

• A political consensus that is required but not there at the moment as well as other aspects of the Gorkhaland issue were discussed at the fourth round of talks among the Centre, the West Bengal government and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) in Darjeeling on Monday.
• There was no agreement on the issue of a separate State as "there is no political consensus as of today for the formation of Gorkhaland. The legal provisions and political requirements which needed to be put in place before the process of State formation could be initiated were discussed.
• In a fiery speech at a public rally shortly after the talks, GJM president Bimal Gurung, who stayed away from the meeting, said the movement for Gorkhaland would continue until statehood was achieved.

• Thousands of young Indians, mainly from Punjab, are entering Britain on falsely obtained student visas, a media report claimed on Sunday.
• Undercover reporters found foreign agents offering would-be students £10,500 loans so they can convince the U.K. Border Agency in their visa applications that they have enough money in their bank account to pay fees and support themselves in Britain.The money is handed back to the lender as soon as it has appeared on bank statements for a month, said the Sunday Times report.The cost to the student is a 7 per cent interest charge and £200 processing fee, which amounts to about £935.

• Scientists who claim the 1998 test of a thermonuclear device by India was a failure have urged the government to resist American pressure to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). They want the government to set up a high-level, independent, broad-based panel of experts to "monitor the implementation, on a continuing basis, of an effective course of action in the realm of thermonuclear weapons."
• Pointing out that renewed pressure from U.S. President Barack Obama on India to sign the CTBT was causing the issue to be raised again, they urged the government to remain firm in its opposition."Mr. Obama has actually gone further than trying to secure universal adherence to the CTBT, and secured a U.N. Security Council resolution urging such adherence to the NPT also," they noted.
• "Not signing the highly discriminatory NPT has been an article of faith of all our governments — irrespective of hues — since the Treaty was drawn up in 1968. The present government, we strongly urge again, should continue that policy steadfastly, despite whatever threats and blandishments are applied to it. Even the slightest succumbing would convert our 'voluntary moratorium' into an involuntary, permanent, cessation of nuclear weapon testing and so forever deny us our legitimate place in the great powers' league," they said.
• The scientists are the former Atomic Energy Commission Chairman, P.K. Iyengar, the former Scientific adviser to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Ashok Parthasarathi, the former Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Director, A.N. Prasad, and the former Atomic Energy Regulatory Board Chairman, A. Gopalakrishnan.

• Haryana Chief Minister announced to institute awards for promotion of 'energy conservation buildings' and setting up of green energy and energy conservation fund.

• In its 'Mid-Year Review' of the economy tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the government said: "The Economic Survey 2008-09, presented in July 2009, had indicated that growth in real GDP this financial year could be around 7.0 (+/- 0.75) per cent. With the latest GDP data on the second quarter of 2009-10 being higher at 7.9 per cent, the growth outlook for the next two quarters and for the whole year is likely to be 7.9 per cent during the July-September quarter which signalled a swift turnaround from the impact of the global meltdown which had led the economy to slip from nine per cent to 6.7 per cent in 2008-09.
• the Review noted that the stimulus given to the industry, including the easy money policy, to tide over the meltdown impact should not be withdrawn till the economic recovery is sustained.
• As for the negative factors that still need to be tackled, the Review — prepared by the Finance Ministry's Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) — expressed serious concern over food inflation soaring to a ten-year high of nearly 20 per cent and stressed the need for effective steps immediately.
• Alongside, however, the Review pointed out that while the supply shortages in certain commodities could be met through imports, the option would have limitations as items such as pulses were available only in limited quantities in the international market.
• As for concerns over surge in capital flows into the country, the Review said: "Inflows could be managed without significant costs or trade-offs in policy setting." It, however, argued for continuing the policy of gradual, sequenced and calibrated capital account convertibility of Indian rupee.

FDI surges 60 % in November

• foreign direct investment (FDI) into India had surged by 60 per cent in November to $1.74 billion as compared to the corresponding month last year,

• Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Thursday released the first draft consolidation of all the aspects of FDI policy and framework.
• A draft consolidation would ensure the availability of all information on FDI policy at one place and is expected to lead to simplification of the policy and greater clarity of understanding of foreign investment rules among foreign investors and sectoral regulators.
• A single policy platform would also ease the regulatory burden for the Government.
• The document would be open for comments until January 31, 2010, and all comments received until that date would be considered before the final document was prepared.
• the World Investment Report 2009- the top-five most attractive locations for FDI for 2009-11 are: China, the U.S., India, Brazil and Russia.
• The 2009 survey of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, conducted among Japanese investors, continues to rank India as the second most promising country for overseas business operations after China.

• The Government has proposed that all special economic zones (SEZs) should meet at least 25 per cent of their lighting needs through solar energy, a move aimed at making optimum use of green energy in such labour and power intensive zones.
• Officials in the Commerce Ministry said that draft guidelines for the Green Special Economic Zones had been formulated and would be circulated for debate before they are put into action. The guidelines state that at least 25 per cent of the installed external lighting load should be solar powered.
• The Government had recently approved the ambitious Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission with an aim of setting up 20,000 MW grid solar power and 2,000 MW off-grid solar power by 2022.
• The mission also aims to develop solar technologies for making solar power competitive to conventional grid power and install 20 million sq. m. solar thermal collective area by 2022. Officials said the Government was also of the view that at least half of the requirement for the huge bill boards used for advertising or display be sourced by solar power. The draft proposals intend to make all new and existing SEZs green as the government wants existing SEZs to go in for green certification.

• Mukesh Ambani owned Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) on Tuesday announced a third successive gas discovery in the D3 deep-sea block in the Krishna-Godavari basin, off the east coast. RIL found three gas reservoirs in the KGV-D3-R1 well drilled on the block KG-DWN-2003/1 (or D3), a company statement said here.

• Japan Tobacco International Limited (JTIL) is the third-largest manufacturer of cigarettes in the world and the owner of brands such as Camel, Winston, Gold Coast and Salem. It had sought the Foreign Investment Promotion Board's (FIPB) permission to raise its stake (from 50% to 74%) in its Indian unit — JTI India — in July and October last year and again in January this year.
• India's branded cigarette market is worth around Rs 17,000 crore annually and growing at 8-10% a year.
• At present the government does not allow creation of fresh cigarette manufacture capacity. But the current policy lacked clarity on whether FDI is allowed in this sector.

• The Centre announced setting up of a high level committee of State industry ministers .The committee, consisting of seven State industry ministers including those of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, has been asked to simplify and rationalise the licensing and clearance procedures required to start a business.
• The committee has been mandated to prepare guidelines for creation of industrial land banks consisting of waste and fallow lands.
• The panel would also formulate a framework for preparation of State specific investment promotion strategies. It would also draw an outline for preparation of State level skill development plan, it said. Ministers from Assam, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan are the members of the committee.
• Several big ticket projects had failed to take off primarily due to problems in acquiring land.

• The government has, in an unprecedented move, posted two senior Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers to Singapore and Mauritius, intensifying its efforts to crack down on money laundering amid growing concerns of links between tax evasion and terror funding.
• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has appointed additional commissioners GT Venkateswara Rao and M Sampath as first secretaries at the country's missions in Singapore and Port Louis for three years.
• CBDT is not alone in posting officers abroad. The Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC) has officials permanently posted in Washington and Singapore for the same purpose. The Enforcement Directorate, too, has an official posted in Dubai to check on transactions that can have Indian connections.
• The posting is to maintain effective co-ordination between the Indian tax authorities and the tax authorities of Singapore and Mauritius.
• The posting assume significance in the light of the fact that PNs (Participatory Notes), account for about 17% of the $15-billion fund inflow into Indian stocks this year. PNS, by the way are derivative instruments sold by registered brokers here to investors overseas with Indian stocks as base.
  
• Short-term loans to housing finance cos not a priority sector lending: RBI
  • The Reserve Bank has said short-term loans granted by banks to housing finance companies (HFCs) for further lending to end borrowers will not be treated as priority sector lending.
  • The apex bank said certain scheduled commercial banks are extending short-term loans of tenure ranging from six months to one year to HFCs, and classifying the same as priority sector advances.
  SBI-State Bank of Saurashtra merger gets Parliament nod
  • Parliament on Friday post-facto approved the merger of State Bank of Saurashtra (SBS) with State Bank of India (SBI) with Rajya Sabha passing it by voice vote amid opposition from Left parties.

  On tax to GDP ratio in our country

  • India has a tax-to-GDP ratio of 11% at the central government level and about 16% including state and municipal taxes. This is well below the average 35.8% for OECD countries in 2007.

  • Tax reforms are aimed at increasing compliance and widening the tax base by lowering rates and removing exemptions. The government is hoping to redraft the new code quickly so that it can be placed in Parliament in the Budget session itself.

  International

  Russia to resume gas imports from Turkmenistan: gas politics
  • Russia has agreed to resume gas imports from Turkmenistan after an eight-month halt over a price dispute. The deal may ruin Western hopes of breaking Russia's monopoly on gas exports to Europe.
  • Under a long-term agreement signed on Tuesday during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Turkmenistan, Russia's Gazprom monopoly agreed to import up to 30 billion cubic metres (bcm) of Turkmen gas. The two countries also agreed to co-operate in building a pipeline.
  • The sides would not disclose the price of Turkmen gas for Russia, but said it would be based for the first time on the European price formula tied to oil prices. Last year, Russia offered to import gas from Turkmenistan at a fixed European-level price minus transportation costs, but when demand tumbled due to the global crisis Russia stopped buying Turkmen gas after Ashgabat refused to reduce the price.
  • The newly agreed volumes of Turkmen gas exports to Russia are below the 50 bcm that Gazprom was buying annually before the dispute. But they are still high enough to bury the U.S.-pushed Nabucco pipeline project that would take Central Asian and Caspian gas to Europe bypassing Russia.
  • Earlier this month, Turkmenistan opened a gas pipeline to China with capacity to pump 40 bcm by 2012-2013. Turkmenistan also plans to supply 13 bcm to 20 bcm to Iran via another newly-built pipeline. Interestingly, Russia said it supported the Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-China gas pipeline pointing out that the Turkmen section of the pipeline had been built by a Russian company.
  Opposition's presence visible during Montazeri's funeral
  • The funeral procession in Qom for dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Husayn Ali Montazeri, which was joined by tens of thousands of Iranians, acquired overtones of a protest gathering as many in the crowd showed their opposition to the Iranian establishment.
  • Opposition leaders Mir-Husain Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi were present at the funeral, along with their "green" supporters who had gathered in conspicuous numbers.
  • Ayatollah Montazeri had heavily criticised the results of Iran's disputed presidential elections held on June 12. Footage posted on the Internet showed crowds beating their chests as Ayatollah Montazeri's body was taken around the city's main shrine. It was later buried in a nearby cemetery alongside his son, who had died soon after the revolution.
  • Ayatollah Montazeri, a one-time ally of late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and designated as his successor, fell out with the founder of the 1979 Islamic revolution in the mid-eighties. In later years, he became a formidable critic of the establishment and of the current Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
  Brittany Murphy dies at 32
  • Hollywood actress Brittany Murphy, noted for her roles in movies like The White Hotel and Clueless, died at the age of 32 after suffering a cardiac arrest, leaving the film fraternity in a state of shock and despair.
  Orangutan habitat narrows ,Indonesia
  • A survey by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Indonesia in 2009 showed that orangutan habitat in West Kalimantan province is narrowing due to damaging forests they live in,
  • The national news agency Antara quoted .
  • There are two sub species of orangutan in the province, namely Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii and Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus.
  Lift forecast as U.S. census bureau hires for 2010
  • The 1.2 million census-taking jobs may be temporary, but they pay well, and economists say they will provide a significant lift.
  • The jobs will amount to a $2.3 billion injection into the economy at a critical juncture, a bridge between the moment when many economists believe the private sector will finally stop shedding jobs and when it ultimately begins to add them.
  • It's a form of stimulus. It's like infrastructure spending, or WPA in the Depression. It effectively does the same thing. It's not on the same scale, but it is large enough, and it will make a difference."
  • The Census Bureau began adding temporary offices across the country in the fall and has recently been holding open houses to encourage people to sign up for a half-hour test that is the first step to a job. It has also set up a Web site with information for job-seekers. About 13,000 workers were hired this month.
  The NATO
  • NATO chief's aircraft gets stuck in Moscow's sub-zero temperatures.
  • NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen became prisoner of Russia's Father Frost as his plane froze stiff on the Moscow tarmac on Thursday.
  • The NATO Secretary-General had to return to the hotel for another night in Moscow when the Belgian Air Force plane that brought him to Moscow two days earlier failed to start engines in the severe cold that descended on Moscow.
  • Mr. Rasmussen had come to Russia to unfreeze relations that turned to ice after Russia thumped NATO ally Georgia in a five-day war last year.
  • The NATO chief was finally able to fly back to Brussels on Friday as frosts eased from -25 to -15°Centigrade.
  UN budget approved

  • The General Assembly has adopted a two-year budget of $5.16 billion to cover the United Nations' regular operations in 2010-2011. The budget is $300 million higher than the revised budget for 2008-2009 of $4.86 billion, which was approved last December.

  • The UN's regular budget is funded by the 192 member states based on their income.

  • UN peacekeeping operations are funded separately.

  World's fastest rail journey starts operations

  • The Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway with the world's fastest train journey with a 350 km-per-hour average speed, started operation on Saturday.

  • Two passenger trains rolled out the Wuhan Railway Station and Guangzhou North Railway Station, cutting the 1,068.6 km journey to three hours from the previous 10 and a half hours.

  China jails dissident Liu Xiaobo to 11 years

  • China's most prominent dissident, Liu Xiaobo, was jailed on Friday for 11 years for campaigning for political freedoms, with the stiff sentence on a subversion charge swiftly condemned by rights groups and Washington.

  • Liu, who turns 54 on Monday, helped organise the "Charter 08" petition which called for sweeping political reforms, and before that was prominent in the 1989 prodemocracy protests centred on Tiananmen Square that were crushed by armed troops.

  • Liu has been among the most combative critics of China's one-Party rule. His case attracted an outcry from Western government and rights activists at home and abroad. The unusually harsh sentence drew a fresh outcry that is likely to grow.

  • Liu has been a thorn in the government's side since joining a hunger strike backing Tiananmen student protesters. He had been jailed for 20 months after 1989, spent three years at a labour camp in the 1990s and months under virtual house arrest.

  China set to overtake Japan as the second largest economy

  • China raised its 2008 growth estimate to 9.6% from 9% and said this year's quarterly figures will increase, narrowing the gap with Japan, the world's second-biggest economy.

  • Gross domestic product was 31.405 trillion yuan ($4.6 trillion) last year. In comparison, Japan's GDP is estimated to be $4.9 trillion. China's expansion will be more than 8% in 2009, according to government officials, and the nation is poised to overtake Japan next year, International Monetary Fund projections show.

  A US-brokered deal with four emerging economies,, India, South Africa, China and Brazil ,which is titled"Copenhagen Accord".  Main point-
  • LONG-TERM GOALS -"Deep cuts in global emissions are required according to science...with a view to reduce global emissions so as to hold the increase in global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius." 
  • LEGALLY BINDING DEAL -A proposal attached to the accord calls for a legally binding treaty to be pinned down by the end of next year. 
  • FINANCING FOR POOR NATIONS -The text says: "Developed countries shall provide adequate, predictable and sustainable financial resources, technology and capacity-building to support the implementation of adaptation action in developing countries." It mentions as particularly vulnerable and in need of help are the least developed countries, small island developing states and countries in Africa. "Developed countries set a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion a year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries. The funds will come from a wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral." An annex carries the following short-term financing pledges from developed countries for 2010-2012: EU — $10.6 billion Japan — $11 billion United States — $3.6 billion in other words it provides USD 100 billion for long-term funding for developing countries and USD 30 billion for short-term, which would go to the poorest and most vulnerable.
  • EMISSIONS REDUCTION -Details of mitigation plans are included in two separate annexes, one for developed country targets and one for the voluntary pledges of major developing countries. These are not binding, and describe the current status of pledges — ranging from "under consideration" for the United States to "Adopted by legislation" for the European Union. 
  • VERIFICATION -A sticking point for a deal, largely because China refused to accept international controls, the section on monitoring of developing nation pledges is one of the longest in the accord. It says emerging economies must monitor their efforts and report the results to the United Nations every two years, with some international checks to meet Western transparency concerns but "to ensure that national sovereignty is respected". In other words for the contentious area of Monitoring, Verification and Reporting (MVR), it provides that unsupported actions could be subject to assessment only by domestic institutions but adds a new provision for international consultations and analysis without impinging on national sovereignty.
  • FOREST PROTECTION -The accord "recognises the importance of reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation and the need to enhance removals or greenhouse gas emission by forests", and agrees to provide "positive incentives" to fund such action with financial resources from the developed world. 
  • CARBON MARKETS -Mentioned, but not in detail. The accord says: "We decide to pursue various approaches, including opportunities to use markets to enhance the cost-effectiveness of and to promote mitigations actions.
  Weaknesses
  • it places no legally-binding emission cuts on developed countries ran into rough weather with a majority of poor countries rejecting it, saying that it was one-sided.
  • The deal between the US and BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) bloc is apparently a gain for develop countries which are required under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to take legally binding emission cuts.The Protocol expires on 2012 and the 194-nation Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations here has apparently failed to get a word on its extension.
  • Angry delegates of many countries like Tuvalu, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Venezuela and Cuba slammed the US-BASIC deal for showing them great "disrespect" by leaving them out of the drafting process and imposing their document on vast majority.the draft was a "gross violation principle of sovereign equality."
  End of Copenhagen summit Analysis
  • The outcome of the Copenhagen climate summit falls far short of what the nations of the world, particularly the industrialised countries, absolutely need to do to combat global warming.
  • The Copenhagen Accord, the product of personal negotiations between President Obama and the political leaders of China, India, Brazil, and South Africa, marked the end-run of a concerted U.S. strategy to corner the major developing economies in the climate negotiations.
  • The terms suggest that the BASIC Four have successfully resisted, for now.
  • The core strategy of the developed nations to set aside the Kyoto Protocol in its entirety and to alter the architecture of the UNFCCC worked out.
  • the last-minute submission of a draft accord in the summit plenary allowed a few determined nations to ensure that the Accord has less than full formal recognition. It remains an accord between interested parties and "operationally commits" only those that declare their adherence.
  • the developing countries have made some significant concessions in the accord. The Accord postpones any global quantitative commitment to climate mitigation, particularly any commitment to drastic emissions reduction by the developed nations. The most serious import of these concessions is evident from the UNFCCC assessment that the current global mitigation effort allows for a significant probability that global temperature rise will reach 3 degrees Celsius.The report further observes that in the mitigation commitments currently made, the contribution of developing countries is greater than that of the developed countries. The cry of many small developing countries, led by tiny Tuvalu, that the promise of $100 billion in annual climate finance by 2020 amounts to asking them to trade their future "for thirty pieces of silver today," is a call to conscience that must not be ignored.
  • It is arguable that in the state of play at Copenhagen, the developing nations had little room to ensure drastic emissions reductions by developed countries without risking the total collapse of the summit.
  • The U.S. came with no offer of enhanced commitments nor were the others willing to bring this issue to the fore.
  • American high-handedness, typified by Mr. Obama's take-it-or-leave-it speech wherein he mangled the well-known UNFCCC principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" into a new formulation of "common but differentiated responses."
  Conclusion
  • The later lament of the European Union that the Copenhagen Accord missed out on ambitious emission reduction targets need not be taken seriously.
  • The political challenge before the BASIC Four, especially India and China, is to redefine the task of drastic emissions reduction globally, led by the developed nations, in a manner that refuses to counterpose the global public good to the development imperative.
  • The Copenhagen Accord may not be everything everyone had hoped for, but this decision... is an important beginning," said U.N. Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon. He is among those who believe that it is operational immediately and must be transformed into a "legally binding treaty" within a year. On the other hand, a senior Indian negotiator said, it is viewed as "a reference document," a political declaration which was not a decision under the U.N. framework.
  • The confusion over the nature of the agreement arises from the fact that it was not "adopted by consensus," due to strong objections by some countries.
  • The accord promises a mobilisation of $100 billion in annual funding for developing countries to meet the challenges of climate change from 2020 and also pledges about $30 billion by 2012. It sets a target limiting temperature increases to a maximum of two degrees celsius, but fails to specify the greenhouse gas emission cuts that nations need to commit themselves to in order to meet that goal.
  • For India-There is no deadline for global emissions to peak, which pleases India, but left many scientists, activists and vulnerable countries disappointed. The Indian team is also happy about the focus on equity, but admitted that it had relaxed its position on monitoring and verification of domestic mitigation actions.
  A form of words: Stiglitz
  • Economics Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz has denounced the "unconscionable" failure of the rich nations to proactively "save the planet."
  • Stiglitz said: "[When] we can give a trillion, trillions of dollars to our banks [in bailout], why can't we give a little bit of money to help save the world — planet?

  U.S.: we can review implementation

  • Even though the Copenhagen Accord is not legally binding, the U.S. would not only "review" its implementation by India and China, but also would "challenge" them if they do not meet the goals set, the White House said.
  • "Now, China, India have set goals. We are going to be able to review what they are doing. We are going to be able to challenge them if they do not meet those goals," David Axelrod, Senior White House Adviser, told the CNN on Sunday.
  • "Because this was noted and accepted by the entire conference, the UN now has the ability to move forward on these things and to implement them,

  Birth of BASIC signals decline of G77?

  • Together, they have more than 40 per cent of the world's population and are responsible for 10 per cent of the world's economy. Now, they are finally leveraging their considerable power on the world stage by presenting a united front on climate change.
  • The BASIC group — made up of Brazil, South Africa, India and China — was born in the run-up to the U.N. climate talks at Copenhagen, when Beijing invited Environment Ministers from the three other nations to draft a common platform earlier this month. This fortnight, they have strengthened their relationship with a show of joint strength.
  • The birth of BASIC may however signal the decline of another once-powerful entity, at least in the climate change arena. The G77 — a behemoth of more than 130 nations — is showing deep rifts here.
  • Originally founded in 1964 as a group of 77 developing countries who joined hands to negotiate trade talks together, G77 includes such diverse nations as wealthy oil-producer Saudi Arabia and the tiny island nation of Tuvalu, an imminent victim of rising sea levels.
  • The 40-odd nations of AOSIS – Association of Small Island States – are fighting for their survival and demanding ambitious emission cuts from everyone. They are often joined by the LDCs – least developed countries who have few resources to face the brunt of the floods, droughts and rising sea levels resulting from climate change.
  FIFA Player of the Year
  • Presented in Zurich
  • By FIFA President Joseph Sepp Blatter
  • Lionel Messi claimed the World Player-of-the-Year Award on Monday to nearly complete his collection of football's greatest honours.
  • the last two winners — Cristiano Ronaldo and .
  • The women's award went to Brazil's Marta for the fourth year in a row.
  • The late England player and manager Bobby Robson received FIFA's Fair Play Award.
  • the Presidential Award for contributions to football and society went to Jordan's Queen Rania.
  • Ronaldo was honoured at the gala for scoring the best goal of 2009.
  • FIFA World XI: Goalkeeper:Iker Casillas (Real Madrid);Defenders:Dani Alves (Barcelona), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), John Terry (Chelsea), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United);Midfielders:Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona) Andres Iniesta (Barcelona);Forwards:Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
    --
    with warm regards
    
    Harish Sati
    Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)
    Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110068
    
    (M) + 91 - 9990646343 | (E-mail) Harish.sati@gmail.com