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01/01/2010:

Reena Kaushal on Thursday became the first Indian woman to ski to the South Pole.

Ms. Kaushal, 38, settled in Delhi, made the historic ski-run as part of an eight-woman

Commonwealth team that crossed a 900 km Antarctic ice trek to reach the South Pole to mark

the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Commonwealth.

LONDON: Mota Singh, the U.K.s first Sikh and Asian judge, has been knighted by the Queen

for his services to the administration of justice, community relations and the voluntary sector.

NEW DELHI: Recognising the plight of citizens in getting potable water, the Supreme Court held

that right to water was part of the right to life guaranteed under Article 21. On the political front,

the court came down heavily on the Mayawati government for defying its order. Acting suo motu

on media reports, especially The Hindus report, it ordered the Mayawati government to stop

construction activities at the Kanshi Ram Memorial Sthal and other sites in Lucknow.

The court banned unauthorised construction of any temple, church, mosque or gurdwara on

public streets/spaces with immediate effect. It directed all the States and the Union Territories to

ensure that no unauthorised construction of any religious institution shall be permitted on public

street/space. For the existing unauthorised constructions, it asked the States to come out with

a comprehensive scheme to be considered by the court for further directions.

CHENNAI: The launch of the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3), scheduled

for December 2009 from Sriharikota, has been postponed to March. The GSLV-D3 will be

powered by an indigenous cryogenic stage built for the first time by the Indian Space Research

Organisation. It will put in orbit a communication satellite, GSAT-4, which is not ready either.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), planned to be launched prior to the GSLV-D3 flight,

has also been postponed. It will now take off in March to put in orbit Cartosat-2B; Alsat, a small

satellite from Algeria; two nano-satellites from the University of Toronto, and another nano-satellite, Studsat (Students satellite), built by several Indian universities. The Cartosat-2B, to be

built by the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore, is also not ready. When Oceansat-2 was

successfully launched on September 23, 2009, ISRO officials claimed that the GSLV-D3would

lift off in December and the PSLV flight would take place ahead of it.

When Oceansat-2 was successfully launched on September 23, 2009, ISRO officials claimed

that the GSLV-D3would lift off in December and the PSLV flight would take place ahead of it

NEW DELHI: The first meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) to consider two bills on

educational reforms will be held on January 6.The GoM, chaired by Agriculture Minister Sharad

Pawar, will consider the bills one to provide for establishment of educational tribunals and

another to provide for prohibition and punishment for adoption of unfair practices in technicaleducational institutions and universities. The bills were to be introduced during the winter

session of Parliament.

Guwahati: Popular Assamese storyteller, novelist, lyricist and playwright, Imran Shah, has been

chosen for the 20th Assam Valley Literary Award for the year 2009 for his literary excellence.

The Award was instituted in the year 1990 by Williamson Magor Trust to honour outstanding

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creative writers who have enhanced the richness of Assamese literature. Mr. Shah would

formally be presented the award on March 27, Ms. Rashmi Baruah of Williamson Magor said in

a release here.

MOSCOW: Russia will consider building a spacecraft to push an asteroid away from a collision

course with the Earth. The Russian space agency will soon call a meeting of scientists andexperts to devise ways of preventing Apophis, a massive asteroid, from smashing into our

planet, said Roskosmos head Anatoly Perminov. Discovered in 2004, the 270-metre Apophis

will fly within 30,000 km of the Earth in 2029, and has a remote chance of hitting us on

subsequent encounters. Russian experts have proposed sending a space tow that would

gradually deflect a dangerous asteroid by circling around it. A more fantastic idea being

discussed is to place engines on an asteroid to change its orbit.

MUMBAI: Come Saturday, the Bombay Stock Exchange sensitive index, Sensex, the barometer

of domestic stock market, is all set to enter its Silver Jubilee year. The 30-scrip Sensex was

launched by the BSE, the oldest bourse in the entire Asian continent, on January 2, 1986, with

1978-79 as the base year. It had closed that day at 549.43. The Sensex which will be entering

the 25th year on January 2, 2010, has come a long way and so are the market and the

economy. The composition of the index has undergone changes many times. Only 11 of the

original 30 companies continue to be part of the Sensex today. The companies that were part of

the Sensex on January 2, 1986 were: ACC, Ballarpur Industries, Century Spinning, Bombay

Dyeing, Reliance Industries, Gwalior Rayon (Grasim), Indian Rayon, Great Eastern Shipping,

Siemens, Peico Electronics (Philips), Tata Power, Tata Steel, Hindustan Aluminium, Tata

Engineering (Tata Motors), L&T, Kirloskar Cummins, Premier Automobiles, Hindustan Motors,

M&M, Mukand Iron, Zenith, Gujarat State Fertlisers, Indian Organic, HLL (HUL), Glaxo, Food

Specialities (Nestle), Ceat Tyres, Voltas, Indian Hotels and ITC. PTI

NEW DELHI: India will liberalise its trade with South Korea and three key ASEAN countries

Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia from Friday by slashing duties on several products like

seafood, chemicals and apparel among others. The countrys market-opening pacts with three

of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and South Korea

will be operational from January 1. Indian exports to Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia

accounting for over 90 per cent of the India-ASEAN $44-billion trade, would also be given easy

access on about 4,000 tariff items. Under the Indo-Korean Comprehensive Economic

Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which includes services, Indian professionals from as many as

163 sectors, including IT, English teaching, consultancy and engineering, would be eligible for

temporary visas up to one year in Korea. Under this agreement, customs duties will also be

reduced or eliminated on as many as 93 per cent of Koreas tariff lines which include tyres,electrical goods, vehicle parts and petroleum products.

MUMBAI: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Thursday allowed State Bank

of India, ICICI Bank and 14 other banks to accept application supported blocked amount

(ASBAs) to enable better participation by corporate investors and high networth individuals

(HINs) in initial public offerings or rights issues. The ASBA facility means that money is not

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released from the applicants account till the shares are allotted to her/him while applying for the

IPOs or rights issue. Earlier this month, Sebi extended the ASBA facility to corporate investors

and high net worth individuals (HNIs), which was earlier available only to retail investors.

However, qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) are not eligible to apply for public or rights issues

using the ASBA facility

02/01/2010

NEW DELHI: The Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) Act, 2008, which provides for

sweeping changes in the criminal justice delivery system, came into effect from December 31,

2009. It incorporates the recommendations of the Law Commission, the Justice Malimath

Committees report and the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court to prevent overcrowding of

jails with undertrials. With the permission of court, a rape victim can engage an advocate to help

the prosecution. Any victims statement will have to be recorded at the victims home or in a safe

place or a place of her choice. As far as practicable, the statement should be recorded by a

woman police officer in the presence of the victims parents or guardian or near relatives or

social worker of the locality. Under the new law, statements can be recorded through

audio/video or other electronic means. Investigation of rape/child sex abuse must be completed

in three months from the date when information was recorded by the officer in charge of the

police station. e law provides for in camera trials and protection of the victims identity,

maintaining the confidentiality of the name and address of the parties and conduct of trials by a

woman magistrate. It will enable the victim to go on appeal against any order passed by the

court acquitting the accused or convicting him of a lesser offence, or awarding inadequate

compensation. Such appeal shall be made in the court where an appeal is ordinarily made

against the order of conviction. If the trial court is satisfied that the compensation awarded under

Section 357 of the Cr. PC is not adequate, or the cases end in acquittal or discharge or the

victim has to be rehabilitated, it may recommend compensation. In coordination with the Centre,every State should prepare a scheme for providing funds for compensation to the victim or

his/her dependants who suffered loss or injury as a result of the crime and who require

rehabilitation.

It was Gyanadnandini Devi, Tagores sister-in-law, who during her travels to Bombay chanced

upon the Parsi style of draping a sari. Alterations to the Bombai Dastur style by the women of

the household led to the creation of the Thakurbarir sari, which became the archetype for the

Bengali way of wearing it. And the men in the family were not to be outdone. China coats,

achkans, elaborate headdresses and jobbas became part of their distinctive style.

NEW DELHI: India on Friday ushered in a new feature in providing visas on arrival to touristsfrom five countries Japan, Singapore, Finland, New Zealand and Luxembourg. The facility,

launched on an experimental basis for a year, is aimed at facilitating bona fide foreign tourists

who plan their visits at short notice, said the Ministry of External Affairs. The Ministry said

tourists from these countries could also procure their visas from the diplomatic missions/posts in

the normal course. The Tourist visa-on-arrival, with a maximum validity of 30 days with single-

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entry facility to begin with, will be granted by the Immigration Officers at the airports in Delhi,

Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha, which adjourned sine die on December 22, 2009, was

prorogued by the President on December 27, an official release said here on Friday.

MUMBAI: State Bank of India on Friday revised its interest rates on foreign currency non-resident (B) account deposits and non-resident external term deposits with immediate effect.

MUMBAI: State Bank of India on Friday revised its interest rates on foreign currency non-

resident (B) account deposits and non-resident external term deposits with immediate effect.

03/01/2010

CHENNAI: The Public Utilities Board (PUB) of Singapore, the water agency of the Southeast

Asian country, has agreed to cooperate with the State government in preparing a

comprehensive conceptual master plan for the restoration of the Cooum river. The plan would

cover issues such as the identification and development of the appropriate engineering solution

to the problem of the formation of sandbar at the mouth of the river, says an official.

BANGALORE: The Law Ministry has finalised the draft bill for setting up special courts to try

sexual offences. It has also prepared a note for placing the Bill on Judges Standard and

Accountability before the Cabinet for further discussion. Once these special courts come into

existence, they are expected to hear and dispose of cases within a stipulated time frame. Called

the Sexual Offences (Special Courts) Bill, 2010, the courts specially designated sessions

courts or fast track courts would try such cases within six months. This is the first time that

such a bill is being passed in the country. Apart from making sexual offences a cognizable

offence, it incorporates many recommendations and suggestions of the Supreme Court in

different judgments. The bill will also incorporate some changes in Section 53 and Section 146of the Indian Evidence Act. A new section, 53 A, will also be added to the statute providing

protection to women victims during the course of trial.

04/01/2010

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on Sunday said that though very

limited progress was made at the recent climate change summit at Copenhagen and none was

fully satisfied with the outcome, the fact remained that the world had to move to a low

greenhouse gas emissions and energy-efficient development path. India should not lag behind

in developing science and technology related to both the aspects of mitigation and adaptation.

Inaugurating the 97th annual session of the Indian Science Congress, Dr. Singh said: It

[climate change] is a problem that is challenging the knowledge and wisdom of humankind.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Indian Science Award declared in connection with the 97th

Indian Science Congress has gone to C.R. Rao, statistician.

Only two weeks have passed after the Copenhagen climate summit ended with a compromise

agreement, but officials are already laying the groundwork for the next round of negotiations. A

top Chinese official has called for a meeting of China, India, Brazil and South Africa the

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BASIC group this month to once again coordinate their positions as talks between the

developing countries and the industrialised world continue in 2010.