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6
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November 2012


National:

Durgabai Deshmukh awards presented
President Pranab Mukherjee has presented Dr. Durgabai Deshmukh Awards for Womens Development
presented for the years 2005, 2006 and 2007 at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The eighth award for 2005 was jointly
given to Mizoram Hmeithai (Widows) Association and Bhubaneswar-based Peoples Forum. The Mizoram
Hmeithai Association has been working to bring relief to thousands of widows and destitute women and
hundreds of abandoned orphan children. The Peoples Forum was awarded for its landmark services in the
rescue and rehabilitation of hundreds of mentally ill women and for its exemplary work with women in
distress. The ninth award for the year 2006 was awarded to Sumangali Seva Ashram of Bangalore.
Snehalaya at Ahmednagar in Maharashtra was awarded the 10 award for the year 2007 for its landmark
work in the rehabilitation of women of red light areas and other destitute women.

UNESCO nod for world heritage status to five hill forts
UNESCO World Heritage Committee has agreed to revisit India's proposal seeking nomination of five hill
forts -Ranthambore Fort, Gagron Fort, J halawar Fort, Chittorgarh Fort, Amber Fort and Kumbhalgarh Fort in
Rajasthan - for according world heritage status. A new team from International Convention of Monuments
and Sites (ICOMOS), an advisor to the UNESCO would evaluate the condition of the forts from November
23-26 and submit a report to the world heritage body to take a final decision in the matter. The World
Heritage Committee had also observed that the proposal lacked the complete narrative about the universal
value of the sites. All the forts, which are situated on the Aravalli range of mountains, showcase India's
history as well architecture of different era.

Put prohibitory orders in place against Khap panchayats: SC
The Supreme Court has suggested its amicus curiae to devise a strict legal regime to contain honour killings,
wherein the focus should be on enforcing prohibitory orders against khap panchayats rather than on securing
the arrest of its members that often leads to law and order problems. The bench of J ustices Aftab Alam and
Ranjana Desai, however, felt the amicus curiae's suggestion may be "impractical" considering the huge
influence wielded by khaps in certain pockets of north India. The amicus report called for a set of preventive
measures to be adopted by the state machinery and district police to ensure such khap meetings do not take
place in the first place.

Assam gets $320m from World Bank to improve roads
World Bank has signed an agreement with the central and Assam governments to provide $320 million,
around Rs 1,760 crore, for improving secondary road network in the north-eastern state.
The project will support improvement of priority sections of secondary roads, implementation of Assam's
'Road Sector Modernization Programme' and development of a multi-sector road safety strategy. As per the
agreement, the project will be implemented over a period of six years. This is the second big financial
allocation, though from an external agency, for Assam after the road transport and highways ministry gave
around Rs 6,000 crore to improve the national highways across the state. Assam has the maximum share of
a special road development programme designed for the north-eastern states.

International:

UN imposes sanctions against Pak-based Haqqani network
The UN Security Council, has imposed global sanctions against the dreaded Pakistan-based Haqqani
militant network and the group's chief of suicide operations. The Council's Afghanistan/Taliban Sanctions
Committee added the Haqqani group and Qari Zakir to its list of entities which face an assets freeze, travel
ban and arms embargo. US State Department designated Zakir as a "global terrorist" and imposed financial
sanctions against him. The UN committee said the Haqqani network, which has been responsible for suicide
attacks and targeted assassination as well as kidnappings in Kabul, is linked to al-Qaeda, Tehrik-e Taliban
Pakistan and J aish-I-Mohammed.




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November 2012


UK plans to cut 280 mn a year aid to India from 2015
The British government is planning to cut its 280 million per year programme of aid to India from 2015. The
UK would continue to provide India with expertise and technical assistance, it is understood. Instead, it
recommended that money should be diverted to poorer countries such as Kenya and Somalia.

Gadar movement's centennial celebrations launched in US
Gadar movement's year-long centenary celebrations have been launched in the US by a group of eminent
Indian-Americans, remembering the 1913 rebellion in history as a testimony of the deep love the immigrants
had for their motherland. The year-long Gadar Centennial celebrations were formally launched in the
presence of Ambassadors to the US from four countries, India, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
Gadar was a newspaper published for the Hindustani Association of the Pacific Coast, founded at Portland in
1912. The Gadar Party was formed in 1913 in the United States under the leadership of Har Dayal, with
Sohan Singh Bhakna as its president.

Pak Hindus throng renovated holy pond at centuries-old temple
Scores of Hindus participated in a special ceremony held at the historic Katasraj Temple in Pakistan's Punjab
province following the restoration of its holy pond, which had begun drying up due to excessive use of
groundwater by a nearby cement factory. A total of 115 Hindus from cities across Pakistan visited the temple
in Chakwal. Shri Amar Kund, the sacred pond, was showered with rose petals and pilgrims drank its water
and filled bottles to take home. After attending the ceremony at the pond, Hindus worshipped at Lord Shiva's
lingam.

Rare skeleton of a 'vampire' discovered in Britain
A 1400-year-old 'vampire' skeleton with metal spikes through its shoulders, heart and ankles, has been
discovered in Britain. The skeleton dating from 550-700 AD found buried in the ancient minster town of
Southwell, Nottinghamshire has shed light on rare 'vampire' burials in Britain. The skeleton was found by
archaeologist Charles Daniels during the original investigation of the site in Church Street, which revealed
Roman remains.

Britain 'invaded 90 per cent' of world's countries: study
Britain, had invaded almost 90 per cent of the world's countries in its history, barring only 22 nations, a new
study has found. An analysis of the histories of almost 200 nations found that only 22 countries, including far
off Luxembourg, Guatemala, Tajikistan and the Marshall Islands in the Pacific have never experienced a
British assault. Author of the book 'All the Countries We've Ever Invaded: And the Few We Never Got Round
To' Stuart Laycock worked his way around the countries on the globe alphabetically to see if British forces
had ever strayed into each territory.

Business & Economy:

G20 presses Europe, US to fix fiscal woes
The world's leading economies have pressed the US and Europe to swiftly resolve their fiscal challenges,
warning that they threaten to harm global growth. Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of
20 leading developed and emerging nations vowed to do "everything necessary" to strengthen the world
economy, reduce financial market volatility and generate jobs.

Rs 6,000-cr fine on Tata Steel for illegal mining
The Odisha government has slapped a fine of about Rs 6,000 crore on Tata Steel for its alleged involvement
in "illegal and excess mining" at its captive mines.

Oman says no to eggs from India
The Sultanate of Oman became the first country to ban poultry products from India since avian influenza
commonly known as bird flu was reported a week ago from Bangalore. This is the second time in 2012 that
Oman has banned import of eggs from India. The west Asian country accounts for 33% of eggs exported
from India. He said at least 4.70 lakh eggs are exported from India daily to Oman, most of which goes from
farms located in Namakkal, a small town near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. On an average, at least one
container with 4.72 lakh eggs leaves from Indian ports, mainly Kochi, daily for Oman.


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6
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November 2012



SBI to accept cheques conforming to new standards from Jan 1
State Bank of India (SBI) it will from J anuary 1,2013 accept only those cheques which conform to new
standards. The step has been taken as per the direction of the Reserve Bank of India. SBI has asked all its
branches to issue only with uniform features conforming to CTS 2010 standard cheques to their customers.
All other banks including private sector and foreign banks have also started the process of phasing out of
non-CTS cheques for migration to this system.

Technology:

UK architect develops bricks from animal blood
A London-based architect has developed bricks from animal blood and claims his controversial building
material could replace mud bricks used in less-developed countries. J ack Munroe, uses approximately 30
litres of fresh cattle blood collected from an abattoir in Sussex for each 'Blood Brick'. He mixes the blood with
a preservative and sand to solidify it before popping it in an oven where the mixture is baked for an hour at
70 degree Celsius to produce a stable and waterproof material.

Curiosity ingests Mars air and finds clues of lost atmosphere
NASAs Mars rover, Curiosity, has provided clues to changes in Martian atmosphere. Learning what
happened to the Martian atmosphere will help scientists assess whether the planet ever was habitable. The
present atmosphere of Mars is 100 times thinner than Earths. A set of instruments aboard the rover has
ingested and analysed samples of the atmosphere collected near the Rocknest site in Gale Crater where
the rover is stopped for research. Findings from the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instruments suggest that
loss of a fraction of the atmosphere, resulting from a physical process favouring retention of heavier isotopes
of certain elements, has been a significant factor in the evolution of the planet. Isotopes are variants of the
same element with different atomic weights.

Cosmic 'fog' produced by ancient starlight measured
Astronomers have made the most accurate measurement of starlight in the universe and used it to establish
the total amount of light from all of the stars that have ever shone.
Using NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, scientists determined how many gamma rays should be
emitted at different energies. More distant blazars show fewer gamma rays at higher energies - especially
above 25 GeV - thanks to absorption by the cosmic fog. Researchers then determined the average gamma-
ray attenuation across three distance ranges between 9.6 billion years ago and today. From this
measurement, the scientists were able to estimate the fog's thickness. The average stellar density in the
cosmos is about 1.4 stars per 100 billion cubic light-years, which means the average distance between stars
in the universe is about 4,150 light-years.

Sport:

Khatri to lose Asian Games bronze
After a record-breaking hearing process lasting more than 25 months, the National Anti-Doping Disciplinary
panel (NADDP) has ordered that all the 11 athletes who tested positive for methylhexaneamine (MHA) in the
run-up to the last Commonwealth Games here be suspended for two years from decision date. The panel
ordered that all their results obtained from the date of sample collection be disqualified, with all resulting
consequences, including forfeiture of medals, points and prizes.Under Article 10.8 of the National Anti-
Doping Agency (NADA) rules and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code, hitherto not applied in Indian
disciplinary hearing procedures, will mean that wrestler Mausam Khatri will lose his bronze medal in the 96kg
freestyle category in the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.