Rohit News Item

7/31/2019 Rohit News Item

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September 1, 2011

1. National boxing coach I. Venkateswara Rao, who received the Dronacharya award,dedicated the award to his mentor, coach and elder brother I. Uma Maheswara Rao.

2. Palliative care aims at improving the quality of life of patients suffering fromcancer, HIV/AIDS, paralysis, chronic kidney, heart and liver diseases throughtreatment of pain and other symptoms. It adopts a holistic approach and seeks toprovide emotional, social and spiritual support to the patients and their families.

3. Vice-Admiral R.K. Dhowan has assumed charge as Vice-Chief of the Naval Staffat the Integrated Headquarters succeeding Vice-Admiral D.K. Dewan, a Navyspokesman said here on Wednesday

4. The weaker children are identified by anganwadi workers or Accredited SocialHealth Activists (ASHA) under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM]

6. Olympic champion Olga Kaniskina powered to an unprecedented third consecutiveWorld women's 20km walk title on Wednesday in punishing humidity in downtownDaegu.

7. Tamil Nadu Government has sanctioned Rs. 1.5 crore to set up a kumki elephant(tamed/trained) camp at Chadivayal at the foothills of Siruvani.

8. The Central Government's Plastic Waste Management Rules2009 banned plasticbags with thickness less than 40 microns.

9. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told journalists here on Fridaythat the President had received the letter just by fax, which is not a validresignation.Article 217 clause 1(a) of the Constitution states a judge may resign bywriting under his hand addressed to the President. Reports from Kolkata say JusticeSen signed the resignation letter and it was being sent by courier to the President aswell as Speaker Meira Kumar.The Lok Sabha can, however, can take cognisance ofonly a message from the President that the resignation has been received andaccepted.

10. Veteran journalist Kalyan K. Chaudhuri passed away here on Friday after a brief

illness. He was 73.

11. Jehangir Sabavala, an artist whose career spanned over 60 years, passed away onFriday morning

12. But despite the advances in technology there is a technological limit to thebandwidth in the existing spectrum. This upper bound is determined by Shannon'stheorem which provides the theoretical limits to the capacity of a channel for sendingor receiving data.

13. A team of researchers from the Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute

(TBGRI) at Palode here have won the Dr. P.D. Sethi Award-2010 for their analysis ofherbs using high-performance thin-layer chromatography.


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The work has been done on an Indian medicinal plant, Centella asiatica , commonlyknown as Indian Pennywort (Kodangan in Malayalam). The study has helped detectelite types from 60 varieties of the plant collected from South India and the Andamanislands.The study has shown that out of the 60 types, there are seven elite varieties that

contain more than one per cent of asiaticoside, the most important bioactivecompound of the plant that promotes growth of blood capillaries. These can becultivated for use in traditional medicine and in pharmaceutical and cosmeceuticalindustries.

Daegu, September 4, 2011

14. Sprint star Usain Bolt rebounded from his 100m disqualification to scorch to200m gold on Saturday, while Asbel Kiprop won a first-ever men's 1500m title forKenya.

The results:

Men: 200m: 1. Usain Bolt (Jam) 19.40s; 2. Walter Dix (USA) 19.70; 3. ChristopheLemaitre (Fra) 19.80.

1500m: 1. Asbel Kiprop (Ken) 3:35.69; 2. Silas Kiplagat (Ken) 3:35.92; 3. MatthewCentrowitz (USA) 3:36.08.

50km: 1. Sergey Bakulin (Rus) 3:41:24; 2. Denis Nizhegorodov (Rus) 3:42:45; 3.Jared Tallent (Aus) 3:43:36.

Javelin throw: 1. Matthias de Zordo (Ger) 86.27 metres; 2. Andreas Thorkildsen (Nor)84.79; 3. Guillermo Martinez (Cub) 84.30.

Women: 4x400m relay: 1. USA 3:18.09; 2. Jamaica 3:18.71; 3. Russia 3:19.36.

100m hurdles: 1. Sally Pearson (Aus) 12.28; 2. Danielle Carruthers (USA) 12.47; 3.Dawn Harper (USA) 12.47.

High jump: 1. Anna Chicherova (Rus) 2.03; 2. Blanka Vlasic (Cro) 2.03; 3.Antonietta di Martino (Ita) 2.00 .Agencies

15. Star Indian boxer Vijender Singh struck gold and also bagged the Best Boxer'award as Indian pugilists rounded off a reasonably successful campaign with twogolds, two silvers and a bronze at the World Police and Fire Games in New York.

Vijender (75kg), an Olympic and World championship bronze medallist, was not thelone boxing gold medallist for India at the Games as Dinesh Kumar (81kg) alsofinished on top


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16. Ricky Ponting became the first cricketer to play in 100 Test wins after Australiadefeated Sri Lanka by 125 runs in the first Test in Galle on Saturday.

5th

September

17. The Army's aerial firepower capabilities will get a boost, with the induction soonof the attack version of indigenously-built Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH)Rudra.'The Rudra' is the first weaponised chopper built in the country and will be

inducted into the Army Aviation Corps in the current financial year, Army officialstold PTI here.Armed with an array of guns, rocket pods, air-to-air and anti-tankguided missiles, the fleet of the weaponised helicopters, the heavily-loaded ALH,was approved for induction as part of modernisation and capability developmentefforts by the government, they said.Integration of the weaponised aerial platform intothe Army would provide the field commanders the ability to apply decisive combat

power at critical times anywhere in the battle field.Rudra' is an armed variant ofALH Dhruva chopper and necessary changes have been made in the airframe of thechopper to give it agility and speed to make it a suitable support weapon for theground troops. - PTIThe wayward emperor penguin known as Happy Feet wasback home in Antarctic waters after an extended sojourn spent capturing hearts inNew Zealand

18. A typhoon that pummelled western Japan left at least 20 people dead and morethan 50 missing, said reports on Sunday, after swollen rivers swept away buildingsand landslips crushed houses.One of the victims drowned after flood waters gushedinto his car and streets were submerged in scenes that rekindled memories of theMarch 11 tsunami disaster. Thousands of people were left stranded.Typhoon Talas,which made landfall on Saturday and is one of the deadliest in recent years, packedgusts of up to 108 kmph as it cut across the island of Shikoku and the main island ofHonshu.

19. The BRICS nations Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will notlet the Libya scenario repeat in Syria, said Russian Foreign Minister SergeiLavrov.The Libya scenario will not be repeated there [in Syria], if BRICS have their

way, he said at a joint press conference with visiting Brazilian Foreign Minister

Antonio Patriota in Moscow on Sunday.The Russian Foreign Minister unveiled a

BRICS initiative on Syria.

20. The Netherlands is one country likely to veto the entry of Bulgaria and Romaniainto the free-travel zone, known as the Schengen zone.

6th September

21. Relief from pesky calls- Phone subscribers, who have registered themselves withthe National Customer Preference Registry, will finally get relief from unwanted callsand SMS from September 27.


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22. The lion-tailed macaque faces habitat destruction

Nelliampathy, the second biggest abode of the most endangered lion-tailed macaqueafter the famous Silent Valley National Park, is facing destruction of its habitat due tounregulated plantation activities, fragmentation and conversion of forest land.

23. The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Mumbai

24. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee staying away from Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh's delegation to Bangladesh will not only jeopardise

the agreement on the sharing of Teesta waters but also cast its shadow on the

pact on the Feni river if Dhaka links the signing of the Teesta pact with the Feni.

Till late night on Monday efforts were on to work on the Teesta treaty, which

came undone after Ms. Banerjee, who had reservations about the proposed

water-sharing formula, decided not to accompany the Prime Minister. The pacts

on sharing the waters of the Teesta and the Feni are to be 15-year interimagreements for lean periods between October and April, until firmed up data is

collected through joint hydrological observation. The setting up of observation

stations is also part of the pacts.

Being a lower riparian, Bangladesh is keen on sharing waters of common rivers

and, after the Ganga Water Treaty of 1996, accorded the highest priority to the

sharing of Teesta waters. The other rivers earmarked for sharing in the first

phase are the Manu, the Khowai, the Gumti, the Muhuri, the Jaldhaka (Dharia)

and the Torsa (Dudhkumar). The Feni was included in 2005 at the 36 {+t} {+h}

meeting of the Joint River Commission in Dhaka..

The Teesta originates in Sikkim near the Panhunri glaciers and, after traversing

about 150 km in the hills, it debouches into the plains of West Bengal. Flowing a

further 120 km in West Bengal, it crosses the international boundary into

Bangladesh and finally meets the Brahmaputra at Teestamukh, the confluence

point.

The river drains 12,729 sq.km up to its confluence with the Brahmaputra, of

which 83 per cent of the catchment lies in the Indian side and 17 per cent is in

Bangladesh. India has constructed a barrage at Gazaldoba for feeding its canals.

Bangladesh has built a barrage at Dalia for diverting waters to its canals forirrigation. While there is no dearth of water during monsoon, there is shortage

during the lean period for which an agreement on sharing is being worked out.

The agreement has to take into account minor irrigation and drinking water

needs of Sikkim and West Bengal, while Bangladesh has sought a lean-period

flow for purposes of drinking water, irrigation, industrial use, navigation and

environment.

In July, 1983, both sides reached an understanding on an ad hoc sharing of the

Teesta flows during the lean period with an allocation of 36 per cent for

Bangladesh and 39 per cent for India, leaving 25 per cent to be decided later.


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However, this has remained unimplemented for differences over the data of

water flows.

Both sides are now striving to arrive at an agreement on catchment area flows in

the lean season, after taking into account changes due to climate, as well an

understanding on water flow data.

The Feni originates in Tripura and makes a common border of 87 km with

Bangladesh. After traversing 90 km in Tripura, it flows into Bangladesh. Being a

border river with one side of the banks in India and the other in Bangladesh, no

activity is allowed in 150 yards from the centre of the river.

Both sides want to lift waters of the Feni for irrigation and are said to have

agreed on sharing in equal quantities in the pact that has been worked out.

Both countries also agreed at the Secretary-level talks in 2010 on bank

protection at 50 sites of common smaller rivers on their respective sides with atime frame of three years.

25. A victory for Novartis could spell death for millions

Priscilla Jebaraj

A case being heard in the Supreme Court on Tuesday could signal a death

sentence for Loon Gangte.

Mr. Gangte is not accused of any crime. But he and thousands of other HIVpositive people will be avidly following the Supreme court's hearing of theNovartis vs Union of India, Cancer Patients Aid Association & others, because if theSwiss pharmaceutical giant wins its case, the drugs that keep Mr. Gangte alive couldbecome too expensive for him.

For us, it's about life and death, Mr. Gangte said on the eve of the hearing. We

can't let them win.

In the latest battle of a six-year long war, Novartis has taken the Indian government tocourt, challenging the legal interpretation of a critical public health safeguard in the

nation's patent law Section 3(d) that limits the patenting of new forms of oldmedicines. If Novartis wins, much of the Indian generic drug industry which actsas the pharmacy for the entire developing worldcould be in trouble.

The Swiss company is fighting for a patent on a new crystalline salt form of the anti-cancer drug imatinib mesylate, which it sells under the brand name Gleevec'. Sincethe original molecule is out of patent in India, generic drug companies produce andsell Gleevec to chronic myeloid leukemia patients for about Rs.8,000 per month,while Novartis sells the drug for about Rs.1.2 lakh per month. A patent on the newform could give Novartis a 20-year monopoly on the drug, thus ever-greening thepatent.


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In 2006, the Indian patent office ruled that the new salt form did not deserve a newpatent, since it did not meet the provision of increased efficacy required under Sec.

3(d). Novartis argued that the salt form would have higher levels of availability in thebody of the patient, but the Madras High Court clarified that efficacy means

therapeutic efficacy in healing a disease. Having lost its case in the lower court,

Novartis is now asking the Supreme Court to interpret efficacy in a way that willallow its patent.

So why does a case about an anti-cancer drug matter to an HIV positive person likeMr. Gangte?

This is the first such case to reach the Supreme Court, and it's being viewed as a testcase by the industry, says Amit Sen Gupta of the People's Health Movement. It

would open a Pandora's Box.

Patent applications for a number of other drugs, including treatments for HIV/AIDS

and tuberculosis, have been withdrawn or denied on the basis of Sec 3(d). If theprovision is diluted, the cost for these treatments could shoot up by up to 40 times,making them unaffordable for the majority of patients.

I was diagnosed in 1997, but I could not afford treatment at all until the Indiangeneric drugs started becoming available four years later, says Mr. Gangte, who is

secretary of the Delhi Network of Positive People. The government started its own

free HIV treatment programme in 2004, once cheaper generics were freely available.

It is not just Indian patients who are worried. About 80 per cent of anti-AIDS drugsand 92 per cent of drugs to treat children with AIDS across the developing worldcomes from the Indian generic manufacturers, says Leena Menghaney of MedecinsSans Frontieres (translated from French as Doctors Without Borders). India is

literally the lifeline of patients in the developing world, especially in the poorest partsof AfricaIf Sec. 3(d) is overturned, it means any meaningful effort to make thesevital medicines available will be put in jeopardy.

When I look through my photo albums from the early years, I can see that almost all

those friends are now dead, says Mr. Gangte. I hope the Supreme Court does not

condemn us all.

26. EC signs MoU with Janaagraha

EC was talking to presspersons after the signing of a memorandum of understanding(MoU) between the Election Commission of India and Janaagraha Centre forCitizenship and Democracy. The MoU will enable the NGO to work for setting up amodel framework for managing urban electoral process in the Shantinagar Assemblyconstituency for another three years.

27. B. Prasada Rao, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Heavy ElectricalsLimited (BHEL),

28. Other States evince interest in Parishkaram'


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The concept developed and implemented by the district administration in

association with UNICEF has been attracting other States.

So far three States have requested the district administration to share the

functioning style of Parishkaram,' which addresses the problems being faced by

people. The district authorities have shared their experience at a programmeheld in Mussorrie. This made those present at the meeting to experiment with

the new idea. Three districts Tonk (Rajasthan), Purulia (West Bengal) and

Koraput (Odisha) have evinced interest and communicated with the district

administration in this regard. Kuldeep Singh Tanwar, a UNICEF official from

Tonk, wrote to the Medak district authorities seeking information about the

concept so that they could try the mechanism at Tonk in local conditions.

The Medak district authorities have already sent the information to them and

are awaiting reply. Parishkaram', which is one-year young, had so far

addressed about 900 issues out of the 1,470 complaints received from the public.

While 200 of them are pending another 280 are being verified.

29. D.U. Sastry, eminent industrial economist, passed away here on Monday. He was81.

30. Alamatti dam across the Krishna was at 2.87 lakh cusecs and the outflow was at 3lakh cusecs.

release of water from the Ujani reservoir into the Bhima at over one lakh cusecs.

31. In the midst of an anticipated global slowdown to 3 per cent in 2011, the UnitedNations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has highlighted India asa shining star, projecting an economic growth of 8.1 per cent the fastest rate ofexpansion in the world after China.

32. The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and NTPC on Tuesday signed a joint ventureand shareholder agreement here to set up a 500-MW (2 x 250 MW) coal-based powerplant at Sampur in East Sri Lanka at an investment of $700 million. This will beNTPC's first overseas venture

33. The Swiss company is fighting for a patent on a new crystalline salt form of theanti-cancer drug imatinib mesylate, which it sells under the brand name Gleevec'.Since the original molecule is out of patent in India, generic drug companies produceand sell Gleevec to chronic myeloid leukemia patients for about Rs.8,000 per month,while Novartis sells the drug for about Rs.1.2 lakh per month. A patent on the newform could give Novartis a 20-year monopoly on the drug, thus ever-greening thepatent.

In 2006, the Indian patent office ruled that the new salt form did not deserve a newpatent, since it did not meet the provision of increased efficacy required under Sec.

3(d). Novartis argued that the salt form would have higher levels of availability in the

body of the patient, but the Madras High Court clarified that efficacy meanstherapeutic efficacy in healing a disease. Having lost its case in the lower court,


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Novartis is now asking the Supreme Court to interpret efficacy in a way that willallow its patent.

34. Attendance of teachers in Haryana will soon be recorded by their thumbimpressions as bio-metric machines are being installed in all government schools, said

School Education director Vijayendra Kumar on Wednesday.

35. Focus on female literacy: President

Calling for a holistic and development-linked approach to literacy, President PratibhaPatil on Thursday said education was critical for achieving growth in a knowledge-based society.

Inaugurating a three-day international conference on Women's Literacy for Inclusiveand Sustainable Development organised by UNESCO and the Ministry of Human

Resource Development, Ms. Patil said that without literacy, people were excluded

from access to circuits of knowledge and even from the most basic information theymay need for daily life.

She said increasing female literacy had the potential of becoming a force multiplier inpushing forward the socio-economic development of the nation. If we make womenliterate they will be self-reliant and the beneficial impact on society will be manifold.It has been observed that where women are literate, the rate of infant mortality comesdown and the quality of life improves. According to her, literate women were more

aware about diseases and their treatment; with better capability to deal with sickness,they in turn would begin to send their girl child to school, breaking the pattern ofsocial gender discrimination, a strong barrier to girl's education.

Imparting education to women and girls is important for bringing about socialchange and for the full development of societies. Efforts must be made to createawareness about literacy. All forms of media, both print and electronic media, should

be harnessed for this purpose.

On the occasion the President gave away the UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize,the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy and the Saakshar Bharat Literacy Awards.The Saakshar Bharat Literacy Awards include the Satyen Maitra Memorial LiteracyAwards, NLMUNESCO Awards, and the Decadal Literacy Awards.

Besides India, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Egypt, Nigeria, Mexico, Pakistan,Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan and Nepal are participating inthe conference.

The conference has sessions on subjects such as Centrality of Women's Literacy toInclusive and Participative Development, Emerging International Perspective onAdult Education and Lifelong Learning, Innovations in Design & Delivery of India'sAdult Literacy Programme and International Cooperation for Promoting AdultEducation.

36. A magic bullet for secure file-sharing


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The beauty of innovation in the information technology (IT) industry is that a little-known company could spring a surprise by delivering a product that is a magic bulletto well-known problems.

Take the case of file-sharing. It is well-known that computer users in organisations

worry about what eventually happens to the data they pass around to colleagues orcollaborators.

Attachments

The single most important way in which information gets passed around is throughemail file attachments. But what happens to data reports drawn from voluminousbank records, sales data or any data for that matter is very difficult to predictbecause there is virtually no protection for the file that was passed around as anattachment.

Pawaa Software, a small Bangalore-based company, that has been in stealth mode'since it was launched in 2007, has developed a file format that wraps itself around theattached file.

The company, with about 30 employees, has designed the Pawaa file format, whichenables the original sender or author of the email attachment to control what therecipient is able to do with the file he/she receives, in a way that was hitherto notpossible.

Control over data

The sender of a Pawaa file could set a time limit within which the recipient can accessthe file, whether the recipient can print or make changes or make copies of the file.

Indeed, the original sender can not only do all this, but change his mind at any pointwhen he decides to extend or extinguish any or all these rights of a recipient. Evenmore attractive is the way the sender of a file can monitor on a real-time basis whatthe recipient has actually done with the file that he has received.

Key manager

Pawwa's key innovation', says Prakash Baskaran, its Chief Executive Officer, lies inthe fact that it does not need a key manager. This avoids the complexities and

vulnerabilities associated with the use of a key manager, he explains. By separating

the process of encryption from authentication, the technique offers ease of use, headds.

The problem with the traditional technique of using a key manager rests on the

assumption that we know who we are sharing the information with at all times, says

Mr. Baskaran. He points out that this is virtually impossible to ascertain in adynamic situation.

Moreover, the storage of keys can itself generate vulnerability. The practice of usinga key manager, thus, is known to have limitations and complexities, he says. Instead,


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Pawaa's security characteristics are embedded at the content level of the particularfile that is being attached.

Mr. Baskaran says securing files is not a new thing, but the problem is that existingtechniques are mostly proprietary, resulting in security features and techniques being

platform-specific.

Microsoft's security features, for example, are specific to its stack or platform, he

notes.

Integrated

Pawaa has now been integrated with several other key platforms such as BusinessObjects (SAP), SugarCRM (the open source Customer Relationship Manager tool),LifeRay (the enterprise portal that is written in Java), IBM's Cognos (which is aBusiness Intelligence tool) and Oracle.

For Gmail users

But Mr. Baskaran is most excited about PawaaDOCS, the Google Apps integration.Gmail users can use Pawaa to send attachments, but protect the information for life,

even after the original mail is gone, he says.

He explains that the integration with Gmail can give Pawaa an opportunity to gathersignificant critical mass because the user base, which is currently 40 million, isgrowing by 60,000 every day.

Modest beginning

Mr. Baskaran, who started several series of telecom and services companies in theU.S., recalls that Pawaa started as a pure DLP (data loss prevention) co mpany, butquickly realised that the company had to do much more.

We were forced to innovate, otherwise we would have been dead by now, he says.

His immediate objective is to set the Pawaa file format as the standard for fileencryption, but recognises that it would first have to gain popularity.

Seeking venture capitalists

Having already filed for three patents, this completely self-funded company is nowlooking to attract venture capitalists on board, he says. With a chuckle he adds, The

leaks from Wikileaks would not happened if they had used Pawaa.

37. K. Balachander, doyen of Tamil cinema, was honoured with the DadasahebPhalke Award by President Pratibha Patil at the 58{+t}{+h}edition of National FilmAwards 2010 function at Vigyan Bhawan here on Friday.

A frail but spirited looking Balachander, who walked up to the podium to collect the

highest award in cinema, received a standing ovation from the gathering.


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Describing Mr. Balachander as a film-maker of distinction, Ms. Patil said he hadmade mainstream films with an artistic sensibility that had touched upon social,

political and middle class issues. He has made films in not one language but in many

Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi.

Twenty-three films were awarded in the feature film category.

It was a southern sweep as Malayalam filmAdaminte Makan Abu bagged the SwarnaKalam for the best feature film. For the same film, versatile Malayalam actor SalimKumar collected the Rajat Kamal for an evocative, restrained performance as asimple man with an unshakeable humanist faith in his quest for salvation. In all, the

film won four awards.

It was a proud moment for director Vetri Maaran as Tamil film Aadukalam baggedsix awards. Set against the backdrop of cockfighting, Aadukalam is a gritty tale oflove, jealousy and betrayal in the midst of blood-sport and violence.

Mr. Maaran came on stage to collect the award for the Best Director amid loudapplause.

Other Tamil films that won awards included Rajnikanth starrerEnthiran (Best SpecialEffects for Srinivas Mohan and Best Production Design for Sabu Cyril), ThenmerkkuParuvakkatru (Best Actress for Saranya Ponvannan, Best Lyrics for Vairamuthu, andBest Tamil Film), Namma Gramam (Best Supporting Actress for Sukumari andCostume Design for Indrans Jayan) andMynaa (Best Supporting Actor for J. ThambiRamaiah).

The Best Actress award was shared by Saranya and Mitali Jagtap Vardkar (forMarathi filmBabu Band Baja ).

Film-maker Ananth Mahadevan's Marathi film Mee Sindhutai Sapkal bagged fourawards. Apart from other things, the film has been recognised for retaining theconcerns and humanistic values of a biographical account.

In Hindi cinema, the best was reserved for film-maker Vishal Bhardwaj who baggedthe Best Music Direction (songs), while his wife Rekha Bhardwaj, who sang a songfrom her filmIshqiya , was presented the best female playback singer. The film was

also honoured with two awards for Best Audiography.

In his capacity as producer, actor Arbaaz Khan collected the Swarna Kamal forDabangg , the Best Popular Film providing wholesome entertainment. The film gotanother Swarna Kamal that was collected Abhinav Kashyap.

ForI am Kalam , child artiste Harsh Mayar got the Rajat Kamal for performing withrazor-sharp spirit of a survivor.

This year, 19 non-feature films were awarded in the Non-Feature Film category.Germ ,A Pestering Journey , Shyaam Raat Seherand Pistulya won two awards each.

Nonagenarian Vijaya Mulay's research project about three directors got the National


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Award for Best Book on Cinema titled From Rajahs and Yogis To Gandhi andBeyond.

Apart from Best Make-Up Artist award, Bengali film Moner Manush bagged theNargis Dutt award for best feature film on national integration. Marathi film

Champions received Best Film on social issues, apart from Best Child Artiste.

38. An analysis of 2 million-year-old bones found in South Africa offers the mostpowerful case so far in identifying the transitional figure that came before modernhumans, findings some are calling a potential game-changer in understandingevolution.

The bones are from Australopithecus sediba. The research places that pre-humanbranch of the evolutionary tree as the best candidate to be the ancestor of the humanline, said Lee R Berger of the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa.

The bones, found in 2008 in the fossil-rich cave region of Malapa near Johannesburg,show a head-to-foot combination of features of Australopithecus and the humangenus, Homo.

It's as if evolution is caught in one vital moment, a stop-action snapshot of evolutionin action, said Richard Potts, of the Smithsonian Institution. Scientists have long

considered the Australopithecus family, which includes the famous fossil Lucy, to bea primitive candidate for a human ancestor. The new research establishes a creaturethat combines features of both groups. Mr. Berger said the brain, hand and foot havecharacteristics of both modern and early pre-human forms that show a transitionunder way. It represents a bona fide model that could lead to the genus Homo, he said.the brain of A sediba is small, like that of a chimpanzee, but with a configurationmore human, particularly

with an expansion behind and above the eyes.PTI

39. The Kapilavastu relics (fragments of Buddha's bones) will travel to Sri Lanka nextJanuary, Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ashok K. Kantha, said here onSaturday.

This is the first time in recent history that the relics will travel out of India. Allprotocol extended to a head of state will be given to the relics. An Indian delegationarrived in Colombo recently to work out of the modalities, he said.

The move follows a request by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh during his India visit in June last. Thousands of Buddhistsin Sri Lanka are expected to have a glimpse of the relics.

The relics were excavated in the 19th century by Alexander Cunningham, the firstdirector of the Archaeological Survey of India. The place of excavation, now called

Piprahwa in Bihar, was known as Kapilavastu earlier.


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Indian and Sri Lankan officials on Saturday unveiled a 16-foot tall idol of LordBuddha in the Sarnath style from the Gupta period, installed at the entrance to theInternational Buddhist Museum complex in Sri Dalada Maligawa here amid chantingof Buddhist hymns.

The Sarnath idol is an exquisite sculpture based on the famous 5th century Guptaperiod idol from Sarnath, where Buddha preached his first sermon after attainingenlightenment. The idol in the Dharmachakra pravartana mudra (turning the wheel oflaw) and its pedestal have been carved out of a single piece of beige-coloured Chunarsandstone.

Mr. Kantha, Governor of Central Province Tikri Kobbekanda, and Chief Minister ofCentral Provincial Council Sarath Ekanayake and Diyawadana Nilame, unveiled theidol in the presence of Most Venerable Mahanayake Asigiriya, Most VenerableAnunayake Malawatte and teachers of Mahasangh.

40. Indian Railways is planning to launch a special Buddhist train Damba DiwaVandana from Chennai catering to Sri Lankan pilgrims from November this year.

The train will touch more than a dozen Buddhist centres, including Bodhgaya,Sarnath, Kapilavastu, Sanchi and Kushi Nagar. Special provision will be made inthese trains for Sri Lankan food.

The Indian government would also work out details of linking up the ferry servicebetween Colombo and Tuticorin with the pilgrimage train. India was also working onthe setting up of an Indian gallery at the International Buddhist Museum in Kandy.

41. An expert team, led by M.K. Parameswaran Nair, Chairman of the MullaperiyarSpecial Cell, visited the Mullaperiyar dam on Sunday.

The visit assumes significance in the wake of a Supreme Court directive to study andreport how the old dam should be demolished in the event of a decision being taken tobuild a new dam, as has been demanded by Kerala.


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42. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will launch a State-level comprehensive welfareproject for primitive' tribespeople at Panamaram in Wayanad district on Friday,Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Tribes P.K. Jayalakshmi has said.

Talking to The Hindu here on Sunday, Ms. Jayalakshmi said the project was aimed at

the all-round development of five primitive tribal communities, namely, Koraga,Kurumba, Kadar, Kattunayaka, and Cholanayakka.

The project envisaged providing land for constructing houses, basic education,medical facilities, drinking water, and nutritious food to all hamlets. Electrification ofhouses had also been planned, she said.

The 13th Finance Commission had earmarked Rs.148 crore for the project and itwould be implemented in the State in five years. The project headquarters would be inKozhikode and it would be coordinated by the Director, Scheduled TribesDepartment.

43. UNESCO to commemorate Tagore anniversary

A documentary film that depicts the life and times of Rabindranath Tagore, andrecital of his poems in Hindi and Bengali by the likes of Aparna Sen will enthralaudience in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) headquarters in Paris on Monday at an event to commemorate the Nobellaureate's 150th birth anniversary.

Remembering Tagore' - the cultural programme hosted by India at the UnitedNations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation - will also include violinrecitation of Tagore's poems and Bengali rendition by renowned artists fromBangladesh.PTI

44. Ropeway for Kondapalli fort

The Vijayanagara emperor, Sri Krishnadevaraya (1509 to 1529), had won all the 14wars he waged over a span of 11 years against his enemies, the Gajapathis, Ummaturchiefs, Bahmanis, Adil Shahis and the Golconda kings, breaking all medieval recordsin warfare.

Yet, in 1516 when he was hardly 45, he took three months to conquer the Kondappallihill-fort near Vijayawada. As a powerful mahapatra, Prahareswara Patrudu, offeredstiff resistance from within the fort backed by Prataparudra Gajapathi. It appeared asthough Krishnadevaraya was losing the battle. A ploy used by Thimmarusu (Appaji)at this stage, however, turned the situation to his advantage suddenly, ensuring victoryto him.

While the Rs 12-crore national museum planned on the hill of one such fort ofKrishnadevaraya at Penukonda to mark the quincentenary celebrations of hiscoronation, is still awaiting Central clearance, a ropeway is being constructed with Rs7.5 crore here at the fort of Kondapalli. Being implemented through PPP mode by

Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Limited (MEIL), the ropeway will be 1 km longfrom the foothills.


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Sri Krishnadevaraya'a statue will be installed downhill the ropeway which is to betaken up under Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) projectlaunched by the Centre in 2003 to cover seven clusters of panchayats in the country,including two in the State.

45. Civil society moves to improve maternal healthcare in Orissa

Rogi Kalyan Samiti has taken up several initiatives to provide better facilities topatients

Moving forward on the contention that reproductive right is a human right too, civilsociety organisations in this backward district are contributing in their own little wayto improve reproductive and child health care.

The Rogi Kalyan Samiti (RKS), as mandated under the National Rural HealthMission (NRHM), has taken up several initiatives to provide better facilities to

patients, particularly pregnant women, of the District Hospital here. In addition toproviding awareness among the masses, we organise capacity building exercises andhave added to the infrastructure at the hospital in whatever small manner we could,said Rabi Rajan, chairman of the National Peace Unison (India), part of the WhiteRibbon Alliance-India (WRA).

The untied funds provided to the RKS under the NRHM have been used to augmentthe number of beds in the hospital, from 161 to 260, the approval for which would betaken subsequently. A 24x7 helpline and a subsidised canteen will be started nextmonth to benefit those coming from remote areas. The helpline will help the patientsknow about their entitlements under various schemes, Mr. Ranjan said.

It was the initiative of the civil society organisations that mother and child health istaken up as an important part of the Zilla Parishad meetings. At every meeting, I takeup the issue of maternal mortality, says Bhanumati Raut, president of the Balangir

Zilla Parishad. However, she said, bureaucrats often dominated the meetings and feltthat elected representatives should have more powers as far as monitoring andaccountability processes were concerned.

While maternal deaths can largely be prevented by adhering to some basic healthinterventions, the WRA uses various tools for creating accountability at various levels

in addressing the issue, such as public hearings, and using a checklist for electedrepresentatives and civil society organisations to enable systematic tracking of theimplementation of national policies and programmes at the district level. Checklistswere developed for a social assessment of the progress made in policies under theNational Reproductive and Child Health Programme. It specifically references healthfacilities at all levels, provision for services of health workers and implementation ofthe national schemes.

Verbal autopsy

Another key tool for generating accountability for maternal death is through verbal

autopsy', in which the root cause of the death is reached by interviewing respondentsabout signs and symptoms exhibited by the deceased before death. These are


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conducted by a group of experts comprising WRA-India, the media, doctors,government officials and elected members. The information is then shared with thegovernment.

Following a series of public hearings organised by the WRA-India as part of the

Maternal and Perinatal Death Inquiry and Response (MAPEDIR) between 2005 and2009, the issues highlighted werethe lack of adequate health providers, the needfor improvement in quality of care in service provision, and issues of accountability,including irregularities in Janani Suraksha Yojana benefits. Other issues brought outwere the practice of Caesarean-section being recommended so as to charge moremoney and an apathetic attitude on the part of service providers across all levels andthe large number of instances of referral.

The first report of the MAPEDIR had recommended developing a comprehensivematernal survival package of services for implementation under the NRHM andinitiation of new intervention.

Importantly, the MAPEDIR results point to the interplay of perceptions, roles andactions at different levels. Maternal death is not a result of medical causes alone.Socio-cultural factors have determining impacts, as shown by verbal autopsies.

White Ribbon Alliance-India assessing progress made in implementation of

national policiesMother and child health is taken up as an important part of Zilla Parishad

meetings

46. Breaking ban on diclofenac hits vulture population

Over a third of the Indian pharmacies continue to sell to livestock farmers the bannedkiller drug, diclofenac, responsible for the dramatic fall in vulture population in thecountry.

A study published in the Oryx , a leading international scientific journal ofconservation, and reported by BirdLife International, has found that the widely-available diclofenac was being purchased by farmers illegally in conveniently largebottles to treat their cattle. On the other hand, the drug formulated for veterinary use

too continues to be manufactured after a ban was declared in 2006 owing to itstoxicity to critically endangered vultures.

Diclofenac is responsible for bringing three South Asian species ofGyps vultures tothe brink of extinction. The population crash was first noted in the late 1990s.

Nepal and Pakistan also banned the drug in 2006. Further measures in India, in 2008,placed additional restrictions on diclofenac for animal use, with contraventionpunishable with imprisonment.

The research was conducted in over 250 veterinary and general pharmacy shops in 11

Indian States from November 2007 to June 2010 and the report was published in thejournal recently. The surveyors asked if they could buy non-steroidal anti-


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inflammatory drugs for treating cattle. Diclofenac was recorded in 36 per cent ofshops, the study noted.

Lead author and principal conservation scientist at the Royal Society for theProtection of Birds (BirdLife in the United Kingdom), Richard Cuthbert said: The

ban is still quite easy to avoid because human formulations are for sale in large vials,which are clearly not intended for human use. Preventing misuse of human diclofenacremains the main challenge in halting the decline of threatened vultures.

Encouragingly, the research also shows an increase in meloxicam (in 70 per cent ofpharmacies), a drug with very similar therapeutic effects to diclofenac on cattle, butwhich has been proven to be safe for vultures.

Ketoprofen, an alternative that has been tested and shown to be deadly to vultures, hasstill not been banned.

It was on sale for veterinary use in 29 per cent of the pharmacies.

The report's co-author, Vibhu Prakash of the Bombay Natural History Society(BNHS), partner of BirdLife, said: While the increase in meloxicam brands and

availability is encouraging, firm action at the government level againstpharmaceutical companies and pharmacies that are breaking the law bymanufacturing and selling diclofenac for veterinary use is urgently needed if we are tosave vultures from extinction.

Drug responsible for bringing 3 species of Gyps vultures to brink of extinction

Ketoprofen, shown to be deadly to vultures, still not banned

47. Phase-I prime-boost AIDS vaccine trial shows modest immune response

The final results of the Phase I prime-boost AIDS (Acquired Immune DeficiencySyndrome) vaccine trial started in February 2009 and conducted at the two sites Tuberculosis Research Centre (TRC), Chennai, and the National AIDS ResearchInstitute (NARI), Punehas shown that the vaccines are safe and their ability toelicit immune response are modest.

The TRC is now called the National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis. TheInternational AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), a non-profit organisation headquarteredin New York, was a research partner.

The results will be presented at the AIDS Vaccine 2011 conference in Bangkok fromSeptember 12 to 14.

Much like the interim results presented last year in Atlanta, the final results show onlya modest immune response in both the groups. Group A received ADVAX, a DNA-based vaccine, as prime and Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) as boost. Group B

received the MVA as a prime and boost.


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Group B was marginally superior than Group A in terms of immunological

responses, said Dr. V.D. Ramanathan, the principal investigator of the Chennai trial.

We found no added advantage of DNA priming though we expected betterresponse, said Dr. Sanjay M. Mehendale, the principal investigator of the Pune trial.

All the 12 volunteers in Group A showed 100 per cent immunological response evenafter the third injection, and remained so after the fourth and final injection. However,in the case of Group B, the responses reached only 91.7 per cent even after the thirdand final injection.

Number of volunteers showing a response alone does not mean better response, Dr.

Mehendale clarified, the magnitude, persistence and breadth of responses alsomatter.

Persistence (or duration of immunological response) was slightly better in the case ofGroup B (MVA prime and boost). But overall, the persistence was long lasting at the

end of one year from the date of the last injection in both the groups.

In the case of magnitude (quantity of response), the response was modest andcomparable in both the groups. Similarly, in the case of breadth of response (to howmany antigens the body responded), both groups showed comparable results.

Both the groups also showed modest neutralising antibody response.

If the number of volunteers who showed immune response never reached cent percent even after the last injection, and both the groups showed comparable results onall the parameters, how right is it to say Group B is slightly superior than Group A?Both the groups showed comparable results despite the volunteers in Group B

receiving one injection less [only three injections in Group B compared to four in thecase of Group A], Dr. Ramanathan explained.

Despite the vaccines being safe and the immunological responses being modest, thereis no plan to undertake further trials using TBC-M4 gene insert. In studies thatsimulated large-scale manufacturing of TBC-M4 gene insert, the MVA vector wasidentified as genetically unstable, explained Dr. Rajat Goyal, country director of

IAVI, New Delhi. Similar observations have been reported from several groups

working on pox-based vector in the field. Several efforts for several strategies have

not been successful in stabilising the vector.

YRG Care, Chennai, recruited volunteers for the TRC arm of the trial. Dr. SunitiSolomon, Director of YRG Care, said last year that recruiting volunteers was easierfor the prime-boost trial compared with the first trial in TRC. This, she said, was dueto more literacy in the community that the YRG was working with and the experienceof the earlier trial at TRC.

48. 19th World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in Istanbul, Turkey, onSunday,

49. Director of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) H.A.Ranganath said here on Monday that the Centre has drafted the National


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Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill, 2010. Tomaintain academic quality, the Bill seeks to make it mandatory for every highereducational institution to be accredited by an independent accreditation agency. TheBill is now before Parliament, he added.

50. U.N. Security Council 1973 established a no-fly zone over Libya, but NATO usedit as a mandate to launch military intervention in the conflict.

51. A Bill passed by the Assembly on Wednesday included DTH services and IPLcricket matches within the definition of the term entertainment to levy tax underTamil Nadu Entertainments Act, 1939

52. Foreign tourist arrivals up by 5.3% in a year

Continuing with the growth trajectory, the Incredible India' campaign has attracted

more than four lakh foreign tourists last month, marking an increase of 5.3 per cent

over the same period in 2010.

Foreign tourist arrivals during August 2011 were to the tune of 4.02 lakh compared to3.82 lakh during August 2010 and 3.70 lakh in August 2009, according to the figuresgiven by the Tourism Ministry. A growth of 3.3 per cent was registered in August2010 over the figure for August 2009.

Currently, foreign tourist arrivals are about 0.5 per cent of world tourist arrivals andthe Ministry has set an objective of increasing the share to one per cent by the end ofthe 12th Five-Year Plan.

The Ministry has launched an aggressive Incredible India campaign abroad. We have

undertaken a series of road-shows showcasing our unique products, includingwellness tourism, Buddhist circuit, yoga, rural tourism sites and serene sea beaches,

a Tourism Ministry official said.

A total of 38.19 lakh foreign tourists visited the country during January-August 2011with a growth of 10.2 per cent, compared to 34.67 lakh during January-August 2010.

53. Legislature alone can abolish death penalty: Supreme Court

Bench says courts will award the ultimate sentence as long as it exists in statute

It is only the legislature which can abolish the death penalty and not the courts. As

long as the death penalty exists in the statute book, it has to be imposed in some cases,otherwise it will tantamount to repeal of the death penalty by the judiciary, the

Supreme Court said on Tuesday while confirming the death sentence on an accusedfor burning to death his wife and three children.

A Bench of Justices Markandey Katju and C.K. Prasad said: It is not for the judiciaryto repeal or amend the law, as that is in the domain of the legislature. The very factthat it has been held that death penalty should be given only in the rarest of the rare

cases means that in some cases it should be given and not that it should never begiven.


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Section 302

Writing the judgment, Mr. Justice Katju said: Section 302 IPC provides the

punishment for murder. It stipulates a punishment of death or imprisonment for lifeand fine. Once an offender is found by the court to be guilty of the offence of murder

under Section 302, then it has to sentence the offender to either death or forimprisonment for life. The court has no power to impose any lesser sentence.

The Bench said: There is a wide divergence in various countries in the worldwhether to permit or not permit the death penalty. According to AmnestyInternational, 96 countries have legally abolished the death penalty, 34 countries havenot used it for a considerable period of time while 58 countries have still retained it.Most European countries have abolished the death penalty. China executes morepeople than all the rest of the world put together. In African and Latin Americancountries, some permit death penalty while others do not. Most Asian and Arabcountries permit death penalty. As regards the United States of America, some States

permit it while others do not.

The U.N. General Assembly in 2007-08 passed a non-binding resolution calling for aglobal moratorium of execution with a view to eventual abolition. However, 65 percent of the world population live in countries like China, India, Indonesia and the U.S.which continue to apply death penalty, although both India and Indonesia only use itrarely. Each of these four nations voted against the U.N. General Assemblyresolution. Of the 194 independent States in the world that are members of the UnitedNations or have U.N. observer status, 42 [22 per cent] maintain the death penalty bothin law and practice, 95 [49 per cent] have abolished it, 8 [4 per cent] retain it forcrimes committed in exceptional circumstances such as in time of war and 49 [25 percent] permit its use for ordinary crimes, but have not used it for at least 10 years andhave a policy or established practice of not carrying out an execution or it is under amoratorium.

In the instant case, the appellant Ajitsingh Harnamsingh Gujral was awarded deathsentence by a trial court in Maharashtra. The Bombay High Court confirmed the deathsentence and the present appeal is directed against this judgment.

Rejecting the appeal, the Bench said: This Court has held that death sentence should

only be given in the rarest of rare cases. In our opinion this is one of such cases.

Burning living persons to death is a horrible act which causes excruciating pain to thevictim, and this could not have been unknown to the appellant.

54. Formulate norms on removal of unauthorised religious structures'

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked those States and Union Territories that had notyet formulated a comprehensive policy on the removal, relocation and regularisationof unauthorised religious constructions to do so within three weeks and file anaffidavit.

A Bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma noted that pursuant to its

December 7, 2009 order asking the States to prevent the unauthorised construction oftemples, churches, mosques or gurdwaras in streets, parks or other public places,


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many States had not filed affidavits formulating the required policy guidelines.Therefore, the Bench granted three weeks and directed the Chief Secretaries to file anaffidavit in this regard.

Among the States which did identify the unauthorised religious structures include

Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Tripura,Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Delhi.

Tamil Nadu had the most number of unauthorised religious structures in publicplaces, at 77,453, followed by Rajasthan with 58,253 and Madhya Pradesh with51,624. Other States were Maharashtra with 17,385, Gujarat with 15,000, Karnatakawith 2,814 and Delhi with 52.

In its response, Tamil Nadu said: Of the 77,453 unauthorised structures,

encroachments by temples [are] 73,599; churches, 2,002; mosques, 856; gurdwaras 1and others 995. It said the State had evolved a strategy for removing unauthorised

structures at public places without hurting people's sentiments. This includes theprocess of identification to relocate the said structure.

Public interest

A well-focussed policy was framed, particularly for the eviction of encroachments onpublic lands. It is aimed at identifying and removing/relocating/regularising theencroachmentsby way of religious structuresin the interest of free movementof the public; protection of public interest; maintenance of public order and use ofland for public purposes.

A high-level committee was constituted under the chairmanship of Revenue Ministerto deal with eviction as well as to monitor the progress of eviction proceedings. Thecourt's orders were communicated to all District Collectors.

55. Gautam Rajadhyaksha, who passed away in Mumbai on Tuesday, was anaccidental photographer. For a man who started his career as a lecturer in chemistry,and then went on to become one of the most celebrated photographers of our time,Gautam's love affair with the camera could well be described as a guilty passion.

56. With 58 reactors for a population of 65 million, France is the world's most

nuclearised state per capita and nuclear reactors are a major export industry forFrench firms like Areva or EDF. Areva hopes to sell six EPR reactors to India, eachof which has a 1650MW capacity, each for an estimated 7 billion Euros.

On Monday, six months to the day following the Fukushima disaster, the head of theVienna-based IAEA called on countries not to lower their guard on nuclear safety.We should not lose our sense of urgency, Yukiya Amano, told an IAEA governing

council meeting. He said visible and speedy improvements in nuclear safety andnot just good intentionswere required to restore confidence in nuclear energy.The incident in France is such an example which reminds us we have to move

forward quickly, Mr Amano said during a press conference. He said he had asked

France to provide more detailed information on Monday's explosion in France.


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57. As part of expanding its global reach, theNew York Timeshas launched IndiaInk', an English-language website offering news and analysis about Indian politics,culture, business, sports and lifestyle.

The site, which is The New York Times ' first-ever country-specific site for news and

information, provides a distinct perspective on news and events that matter most toIndians and those who follow news about India, both on the subcontinent and abroad,said the paper.

India is a vibrant country with a wealth of urgent news and compelling stories. IndiaInk is an exciting expansion ofThe Times's global reach, said The New York Timesexecutive editor Jill Abramson said.

Expanded coverage of India is a natural fit forThe New York Times and its GlobalEdition, theInternational Herald Tribune, said Stephen DunbarJohnson,publisher of theInternational Herald Tribune .

We are delighted to better serve our readers and advertisers in India and abroad who

care deeply about news in the region.

India Ink is edited by The New York Times in India and theInternational HeraldTribune in Hong Kong, led by lead writer Heather Timmons, who has coveredbusiness in India for The New York Times for the last four years. It would featurecontributions fromNew York Times journalists as well as from top writers in Indiaand the Indian diaspora.

58. The Union Ministry of Commerce has hiked the duty of excise (cess) on rubber toRs. 2 a kg. As per the notification dated August 29, 2011, the hike would take effectfrom September 1. The rubber cess had earlier been Rs.1.50 a kg.Staff Reporter

59. t is clear policy of the RBI that we address volatility and not the level unless it isgrave and adverse situation, RBI Deputy Governor Anand Sinha told reporters when

asked if the RBI would intervene to check volatility in the currency market.


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