IAEA Report: Iran carried out Nuclear Weapons-Related Activities
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in its report stated that it has credible information about Iran’s clandestine nuclear activities. IAEA report was released on 8 November 2011 in Vienna.
The IAEA report says Iran appears to have carried out nuclear weapons-related activities as part of a structured program prior to 2003. The IAEA report is based on intelligence forwarded by some member states and material collected by the agency itself. Iran insists that its nuclear prgramme is aimed at the peaceful generation of energy.
The U.N. Security Council has imposed four rounds of sanctions on Iran for failing to suspend sensitive nuclear activities that have both peaceful and military uses.
Indo-Pak Express, Bopanna- Qureshi won the Stockholm Open men's Doubles Title
India's Rohan Bopanna and Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi won the Stockholm Open men's doubles title by defeating Brazilians Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares 6-1, 6-3 on 23 October 2011. the Stockholm Open was top-seeded India-Pakistan pair's second ATP World Tour title of 2011. They had earlier won on grass at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle in June 2011. The victory got them their third title as a team. They had also sealed victory as a team in Johannesburg in 2010.
Bopanna and Qureshi who are ranked seventh in the ATP doubles team rankings, added 250 points after their win.
The top-seeded pair defeated Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares 6-1, 6-4 in just 57 minutes in the 600,00-Euros hard court event.
Bopanna and Qureshi swiftly took the first set, breaking Melo and Soares' serve twice. They then broke in the seventh and ninth game of the second set to seal the victory in less than an hour.
Overall, it is Bopanna's fourth ATP doubles title as he had won a title in 2008 with American Eric Butorac at Los Angeles.
Wheat Crops in India facing Threat from Ug99 Stem Rust
Ug99: It is a race of black stem rust and it is virulent to the majority of wheat crops.
Wheat crops in India is facing threat from a virulent strain of stem rust called UG99. The scientists asked the farmers to sow Ug99 resistant wheat varieties as a precautionary measure. The US-based Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) works on a global campaign for combating Ug99. The scientists at Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) recently developed several varieties of wheat crops that are immune to Ug99. It is important to note that Wheat and Rice are the two crops that majorly fulfill the food demand in India.
What is Ug99
Ug99 was first discovered in Uganda in 1999.The fungus is incredibly deadly and at present there is no complete cure for it.The strain was named after the country where it was identified (Uganda) and the year of its discovery (1999).
Mehsana court awarded Life Imprisonment to 31 Convicted in a 2002 Post-Godhra Riot Case
It should be noted that this is the first post-Godhara riot case, probed by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT), on which the verdict has been pronounced. The 31 convicted have been charged with murder, attempt to murder, rioting and other Sections of IPC, while charges of criminal conspiracy against them were dropped by the court.
The Foundation Stone of Rishikesh-Karnprayag Railway Line was laid in Uttarakhand
Defence Minister A K Antony on 9 November 2011 laid the foundation stone of the ambitious Rishikesh-Karnprayag railway line at Gauchar in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.The Project aims to connect the remote Garhwal is expected to be commissioned in five year time after the final land acquisition work is done. At present, the distance of 176 kilometer from Rishikesh to Karnprayag is covered from 7 to 8 hours, but after commissioning the proposed new rail line it would get reduced to 125 Km and would be covered in about four hours. The total cost of this project is packed at around four thousand five hundred crores. The project would connect 13 stations including Srinagar and Rudraprayag.
With the commissioning of this important rail line, a large number of tourists and pilgrims that flock to Char dhams and other temples located on and around the proposed alignment would get easier access.
Sri Lankan Court Stayed the Land Circular Number 2011/04
A court in Sri Lanka on 9 November 2011 stayed the Land Circular number 2011/04. This circular deals with land in the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka. The court of Appeal was presided over by Justice WLR Silva, which heard the petition filed by TNA National List MP and lawyer MA Sumanthiran. The petition sought an interim order restraining the land commissioner general from implementing the Land Circular No.2011/04.Under the circular, all landowners of the North and East, including private land owners such as the petitioner, have to provide details to the relevant Divisional Secretary or Assistant Government Agent, through the Grama Niladari, within two months.
The Land Settlement Department issued a public notice requiring all landowners in the Northern and Eastern provinces to tender their details on or before 20 November 20 2011.
Indian Army received Second Regiment of Brahmos Supersonic Cruise Missiles
The Indian Army received the second regiment of indigenously produced Brahmos supersonic cruise missiles on 9 november 2011. BrahMos was handed to Lt. Gen. Vinod Nayanar, Director General, Artillery by Union Minister of State for Defence, M. M. Pallam Raju.
The second BrahMos cruise missile regiment of ground systems comes with mobile launchers, command post, replenishment systems, fire-control systems with sophisticated electronic hardware and software and multiple communication systems.
The Army already had guns for near- range and Smerch rockets for range of 75 km. BrahMos was the only system that gave tremendous fire power capability to the armed forces for targets beyond 75 km and as deep as 300 km.
The BrahMos has supersonic speed (Mach 2.8) all through its 290-km range, precision of near-zero circular error probability and devastating power — nine times more kinetic energy than sub-sonic cruise missiles. BrahMos world leader in cruise missile technology and the preferred first strike weapon of the armed forces.
These missiles is to be deployed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) facing China in the next two to three years thereby adding muscle to Army’s operational preparedness.
One regiment has four to six mobile launchers with self-contained computerised command posts and one launcher has a battery of four to five Brahmos missiles having a speed of Mach 2.8 and can hit a target at a range of 300 km. The Army operationalised the first regiment in 2007.
Jointly designed by India and Russia, BrahMos is the first venture of its kind between the two countries in the field of highly sophisticated defence industry. This supersonic missile, developed by from Brahmos Aerospace, is rated as one of the best in the world and can be used for precision hits without causing collateral damage.
The formation of a missile industry complex with a network of public and private sector industries who tirelessly work for producing BrahMos missiles for meeting the demand of all the three services is of utmost importance.
Kerala topped the National Child Rights Index released by HAQ-Centre for Child Rights
A report on child rights, India's Child Rights Index, a first-of-its-kind report was released on 9 November 2011 by the HAQ-Centre for Child Rights.Kerala topped the national child rights index, followed by Karnataka. Arunachal Pradesh was found to be the worst performer in protecting the rights of children. The rankings of few other states are as follows:
Maharashtra (3), Tamil Nadu (4) and Andhra Pradesh (5), Gujarat (6), Rajasthan (7). Madhya Pradesh ranked 11, Bihar (16), Uttar Pradesh (18) and Chhattisgarh (19). child rights issues such as sex ratio, early childhood care, child marriage, child labour, education, health, crime against and by children were taken into consideration while preparing the report.
Details of State Performance
Though Kerala topped the list, its child marriage indicator is the lowest, and the State's performance is far from satisfactory in early childhood care and crimes against children.
The report pointed out that economic growth did not necessarily improve the wellbeing of children. Kerala, which ranked first in the national child rights, stands ninth in its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) status, whereas Maharashtra, which ranks first in the GDP, stands third in child rights. Maharashtra does badly in sex ratio and child marriage. Arunachal Pradesh performed fairly well in sex ratio, child marriage and early childhood care.
With the second highest GDP in the country, Uttar Pradesh ranked 18th in child rights and 27th in the provision of health care, next only to Jharkhand. Mizoram performed badly in controlling child labour, while crimes against children were found to be the highest in Nagaland (in proportion to the number of children), and Manipur is the worst performer in crimes by children and Bihar is the best.
Jharkhand was found to be the only State whose economic status matched its child rights rank — both standing at 17.
Four of the five best performing States — Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh are from the southern region. Maharashtra alone is from the west. On the other hand, all the worst performing States are in the Northeast- Sikkim, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. In fact, of the five States falling in the not-so-well performing States category, Tripura, Assam and Mizoram are also from the Northeast.
The Child Rights Index stated that although in absolute numbers, most of the child victims of select crimes are in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, the ratio of child victims to overall child population is higher in the northeastern states of Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. The worst performers - Nagaland, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Manipur - also have the lowest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the country.
The index revealed that the states that have higher incidences of crimes being committed by children also are among the worst performers when it comes to child labour. Mizoram, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Nagaland - all have very high percentages of children working as labourers. Mizoram is the worst performer being at the bottom of the list at 29.
Performance of the National Capital
New Delhi ranked 12 in the country when it comes to ensuring well-being of children. Delhi's lead in providing education to children is offset by its poor pupil-teacher ratio of 1:100. As far as the incidence of crime against children and crimes by children is concerned, Delhi again ranked 19th. It ranked 17 on the index which takes into account the victims of crimes. Delhi ranks second in the index on child labour. While the index showed Delhi on the top of the list in two indicators, namely education and birth registrations, it tumbles to the bottom of the list with a rank of 27 when it comes to early childhood care. The city fares poorly ranking 24 in the index for sex ratio.
About India's Child Rights Index
Like the Human Development Index, education index, hunger index and health index now, the Child Rights Index attempts assess how different states and union territories fare in providing child friendly policies and where they stand in terms of securing the rights of children.
In the Child Rights Index, the states have been ranked on 10 major indicators- birth registration, sex ratio, early childhood care, child marriage, child labour, education, health, incidence of crime against children, victims of crime against children and crimes by children. The index looked into all aspects of child wellbeing in all sectors and indicators for realisation of child rights as a whole.
The ranking of states was not done on the basis of absolute numbers, but in proportion to the number of children in the states. So, though a state may perform well in absolute numbers, it figured low on the index.
The index showed that the so-called world-class city needed to do much more to secure the rights of its children.
The index pointed out the states that lag behind in child rights' indicators. It will help ascertain areas of intervention, issues as well as geographical regions that need attention in the coming five-year plan.
India won Two Prestigious Awards as the World's Leading Destination at the World Travel Awards
India won two prestigious awards- Best Destination and Best Marketing Campaign as the World's Leading Destination at the World Travel Awards 2011 on 8 November 2011. Union Tourism Minister, Subodh Kant Sahai received the awards from Graham Cooke, Chairman, World Travel Awards in London.
The awards will boost the government of India’s efforts to brand India as a global tourist destination. The Tourism Minister on the occassion announced the ministry’s plans to double number of tourists visiting India by 2016. the number of visitors to India increased by 10% between January and October 2011. India is to execute grander plans to ensure that 1% of all global tourists are in India by the end of 2016.
The increase in tourism is expected to create an additional 25 million jobs in the country – focusing on developing human resources, travel and hospitality and education.
India will hold its first Global Travel Mart on 12 December 2012 to reinforce India’s commitment to become a major player in world tourism.
Sahai met the Tourism Minister of Israel, Stas Meseznikov at the Travel Mart organised in London. The leaders discussed visa issues, connectivity and agreed on the formation of a joint working group (JWG). The first meeting of JWG is scheduled to be held in Tel Aviv in February 2012.
source: http://www.jagranjosh.com
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