National:

Enrolment of SC, ST students in schools continues to be low

The percentage of enrolment of students from the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in
primary and upper primary schools continues to be unacceptably low in the country, a Right To Education
(RTE) status report by the Union Ministry of Human Development Resource, reveals. It also points out that
20 per cent of the teachers in India do not have professional qualifications, as per the revised National
Council of Teacher Education (NCTC) guidelines. In West Bengal, the enrolment percentage at the primary
school level for SCs was 27 and seven per cent for STs in the past two years. The all-India figure was even
worse in the case of enrolment percentage of SC students which was 19 in 2010-11.
K C Pant passes away
Former Union Minister Krishan Chandra Pant, who had served under late Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and
Rajiv Gandhi and switched to BJP in the late 1990s, died. He was 81. The son of Govind Ballabh Pant, a
former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Union Minister under late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
India ranks lower down in pictorial health warnings on tobacco packs
India ranks low in a report Cigarette Package Health Warnings: International Status Report that lists
countries according to how successfully they have managed to introduce pictorial health warnings on
tobacco packets a proven strategy that deters people from smoking or chewing tobacco. India ranks 123
among 198 countries surveyed on warning size and fulfilment of requirements for picture-based warnings on
cigarette packets. According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) India report 2009-10, among the
34.6 per cent current adult (15 plus age group) are tobacco users, 25.9 per cent use smokeless form of
tobacco (206 million users). Out of this, 30.7 per cent are rural and 15.0 per cent are urban users. Among the
20.3 per cent of female tobacco users, 18.4 per cent use smokeless forms of tobacco.
Dying declaration not sole criteria for conviction: HC
The Bombay High Court has observed that a dying declaration cannot be the sole criteria for conviction and
in case of two contrasting views, the one favourable to the accused should be adopted. A division Bench of
Justices Pratap Hardas and Ashok Bhangale said, "The criminal court has to bear in mind that if two views
are possible upon the evidence led one pointing towards guilt of the accused while the other towards his
innocence then the one favourable to the accused should be adopted to prevent miscarriage of justice
which can result by conviction of an innocent."
Eminent Tamil novelist Kamala Sadagopan dead
Tamil writer and novelist Kamala Sadagopan died. She was 77. She attended the Avadi session of the All
India Congress Committee as a delegate in 1955 and shot to fame with her novel 'Kadhavu' , which secured
the Narayanasamy Iyer Award from Kalaimagal magazine. Another of her novels, 'Padigal', won the State
Governments prize and was honoured by the then Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran in 1981.
Sexual act with child below 18 punishable offence
The Ministry of Women and Child Development has notified rules under the Protection of Children from
Sexual Offences Act, 2012. The Act has done away with the age of consent clause and classified any sexual
act with a child below 18 as a punishable offence. The rules emphasise the need to communicate with a
child in a language he/ she is comfortable with and in the presence of a person known to the child. The rules
make it the duty of the local police or child protection unit to ensure not just action on the childs complaint
but also that the victim gets adequate medical attention within 24 hours of coming to know about the crime.

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16th November 2012

Karnataka told to release 4.8 tmc of water to Tamil Nadu

The Cauvery Monitoring Committee directed Karnataka to release 4.8 tmc of water to Tamil Nadu. The CMC,
headed by Secretary Water Resources, said Karnataka will have to release 4.8 thousand million cubic feet of
water between November 16 and 30. Tamil Nadu had demanded that its shortfall of 52.5 tmc during the justconcluded South-West monsoon season be settled by the panel.

International:
Xi Jinping is new leader of China's Communist Party
Chinas Vice President Xi Jinping was appointed as the new General Secretary of the ruling Communist
Party, succeeding President Hu Jintao who retired as the head of the Party and the powerful military after a
10- year stint. As per the constitution of the party, the top leadership retires every ten years and a new set of
leaders are unveiled to lead China, the worlds second largest economy. While the new leader would take
charge of the Party now he would formally take over the government from March 2013, when the national
legislature called the National Peoples Congress (NPC) holds it annual session. Until then Hu and other
leaders would continue in their Government posts.
Ireland to clarify abortion rules after Indian woman's death
Ireland's government pledged to clarify its abortion laws after an Indian woman who was refused a
termination died from blood poisoning in an Irish hospital. Activists in the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic
country, which has some of the world's most restrictive laws on abortion, say the refusal by doctors to
terminate the pregnancy earlier may have contributed to her death. Irish law does not specify under what
circumstances the threat to the life or health of the mother is high enough to justify a termination, leaving
doctors to decide. Critics say this means doctors' personal beliefs can play a role.
Ami Bera wins US Congressional elections: report
Ami Bera won the Congressional election from California, creating history by becoming only the third IndianAmerican ever to have been elected for the US House of Representatives. Bera has defeated incumbent
Republican Dan Lungren for the election to California's Seventh Congressional District held on November 6.
Bera would be only the third Indian-American to have ever been elected to the House of Representatives
after Dalip Singh Saund in the 1950s, and Bobby Jindal in 2005 and 2008, who is now the Governor of
Louisiana.
In a first, Army to recruit Tamil women soldiers
The Army at present entirely Sinhalese is set to recruit Tamil women. At a special ceremony arranged by the
Army in the former LTTE capital, Kilinochchi, about 100 women in the age group of 18-22 will be selected to
undergo training. Asked if some of the former LTTE women wing members would also be recruited, the
official said anyone can take part in the selection process. The selection is into the soldier (other rank)
th
category and the recruitment will be held at the headquarters of the 6 Volunteer Battalion, Sri Lanka
Womens Corps near Kilinochchi. Sri Lanka began recruiting Tamils to the police force in 2011. About 1,000
persons were trained and deployed.

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16th November 2012

Business & Economy:

Chanda Kochhar is top businesswoman
ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar has been named as the most powerful women in business in
India for the second consecutive year by Fortune Magazine. Mallika Srinivasan of TAFE and Aruna Jayanthi
of Capgemini India follow Kochhar in the second and third place, respectively. In the Fortune list of 50 most
powerful businesswomen, there are six new entrants. While 19 have moved up their places, 17 have
witnessed a decline in their rankings. The other women who figure in the top 10 of the Fortune India's 50
most powerful women in business are - Shikha Sharma, MD & CEO, Axis Bank; Vinita Bali, Managing
Director, Britannia Industries; Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson, HT Media; Preetha Reddy, Managing Director,
Apollo Hospital Enterprises; Zia Mody, Co-founder, AZB Partners; Chitra Ramkrishna, Joint Managing
Director, NSE; and Roopa Kudva, Managing Director & CEO, CRISIL.
ArcelorMittal to sell 50% in Kalagadi Mang for $447m
The world's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal said it has reached a pact to sell its 50 per cent stake in South
African miner Kalagadi Manganese for $447 million to chairperson of joint venture partner Kalahari
Resources.
US to take steps to fill FHA capital hole
The Obama administration said it planned to take steps to fill a capital hole at the Federal Housing
Administration to lessen the need for a taxpayer bailout. The Department of Housing and Urban
Development said an independent actuary had found that the mortgage insurance agency's capital reserve
ratio - a gauge of its buffer against loan losses - had fallen into negative territory and represented a negative
economic value of $16.3 billion.

Technology:
Lonely 'homeless' planet found for the first time
Astronomers for the first time have discovered a young "homeless planet", up to seven times the size of
Jupiter and with no gravitational ties. The lonely planet, called CFBDSIR2149 at the moment does not orbit a
star. It is the first isolated planet of its kind ever to be discovered by scientists, after more than a decade of
searching in a process described as looking for a single needle in amongst thousands of haystacks. Freefloating planets are planetary-mass objects that have no gravitational link to a star. The planet is in fact called
CFBDSIR2149 and appears to be part of a group of very young stars known as the AB Doradus Moving
Group.

Sport:
International news agencies boycott series
International news agencies have decided to boycott the Test series between India and England to protest
against the restrictions imposed by the BCCI on some photo agencies covering the tour. International
agencies Thomson Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Associated Press decided to suspend reports from
the tour as well as pictures.

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16th November 2012

Detroit's Miguel Cabrera wins Ameircan League's MVP award

Detroit's Miguel Cabrera won the American League's Most Valuable Player award after becoming major
league baseball's first Triple Crown winner in 45 years, and San Francisco's Buster Posey was voted the
National League honour. Cabrera received 22 of 28 first-place votes and 362 points from the AL panel of
Baseball Writers' Association of America to easily beat out Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout, who
had six firsts and 281 points.

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16th November 2012