National:

Pranab opens centenary fete of Nobel for Tagore On the threshold of the centenary of the award of Asias first Nobel Prize to Rabindranath Tagore in 1913, President Pranab Mukherjee said that Tagore had realised the special role of Asia in the pattern of vibrations between the self and the world. Mr. Mukherjee inaugurated the centenary celebrations of the award of the Nobel Prize to Tagore with an international seminar at Visva-Bharati University, which was jointly organised by the university and the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi. This seminar will not merely celebrate the award of a Nobel Prize to an individual; it will celebrate the potential of the idea of exchange, cooperation and multiculturalism, Mr. Mukherjee said. Forest area declines in 14 states of India The forest cover in the country has decreased by 367 sq kms with the green area decreasing in 14 states. According to India State of Forest Report-2011, forest cover has decreased in 14 states including Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Assam, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Meghalaya and Tripura. However, the forest cover has increased in Bihar, Goa, Haryana, Jammu-Kashmir, Karnataka and Andaman-Nicobar. Three states - Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Sikkim have maintained their forest cover. Madhya Pradesh is still on top in the country with total 77,700 sq kms forest cover followed by Arunachal Pradesh with 67,410 sq kms. Chhattisgarh with 55,674 sq kms, followed by Maharashtra with 50,646 sq kms and Odisha with 48,903 sq kms of forest cover. In terms of percentage, seven per cent of the total forest cover is extremely dense, 36 per cent dense, 39 per cent moderately dense and 18 per cent open area. Ajay Chadha named ITBP chief Ajay Chadha, special secretary (internal security) in the home ministry, has been appointed chief of the IndoTibetan Border Police (ITBP). He took charge from additional DG Mahboob Alam, who held additional charge of the force after former ITBP DG Ranjit Sinha's transfer as CBI chief. Now Goondas Act will be invoked to curb cyber crime Cyber crimes that are grave in nature will now attract detention under the Goondas Act. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced that suitable amendments would be made to include cyber crime under the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug Offenders, Forest Offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders, Sand Offenders, Slum Grabbers and Video Pirates Act, 1982. A single offence which has the propensity to disturb public order is enough for detention under the provisions of the Act. Any repeated cyber crime that involves harassment, intimidation or cheating of innocent people in large scale could be considered as a serious offence. Tamil Nadu has been witness to major cyber frauds such as the Nigerian Scam where a group of foreign nationals, mainly from Nigeria, colluded with some local people and relieved many innocent people of their hard-earned money after luring them through false email/SMS messages. War games with Sri Lanka in Himachal The Special Forces of India and Sri Lanka are now involved in war games at Nahan in Himachal Pradesh. The exercises started on December 3 and are likely to last till December 24 at the Special Forces Training Centre. The two countries are expected to share their experience in counter-terrorism operations in the past two decades. The exercises were scheduled to be held somewhere in the South, but they were shifted to Nahan. Political parties in Tamil Nadu disapprove of defence ties with Sri Lanka. The Navy plans to hold SLINEX exercises with Sri Lanka, but these would be held away from the coastline of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Navy gets first of 8 P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft The Navy has received the first of the eight P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft it is to get from Boeing. India had signed a deal worth over $2.1 billion with the American firm in January 2009 for procuring the long-range surveillance aircraft, which are equipped with anti-submarine weaponry. The first plane was handed over to Indian personnel by the company in Seattle. It will be used for training the crew there. This aircraft, along with two more will arrive in India in May 2013. P-8I is a derivative of Boeing 737-800 long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft and anti-submarine warfare aircraft. It is expected to replace the Navys Russian Tupolev Tu-142M maritime surveillance turboprop. The plane is an Indian variant of the P-8A Poseidon that Boeing is developing for the U.S. Navy. Page 1 of 4 20th December 2012

Clicking his way to Limca records Leen Thobias, one of the pioneers of panorama photography in Kerala, has entered the Limca Book of Records for taking the largest photographic image in the country. His gigapixel image of the gopuram of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram taken on February 22, 2012, is officially the largest photographic image. To create that image of 19 GB, 1,600 high-resolution images of the temple were used. The world record for the largest photographic image rests with the 111 GB images of Seville city, Spain, and Paris, France. While the image of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple has earned the distinction of being the largest photographic image, it only holds true for images taken before June 30, 2012. This is the second entry for Mr. Thobias in the Limca Book of Records. His photo-biography on K.J. Yesudas had won him his first entry into the book of records.

International:
Park elected South Korean President South Korea elected its first woman President, handing a slim but historic victory to conservative ruling party candidate Park Geun-hye, daughter of the former military ruler. As leader of Asias fourth-largest economy, Ms. Park (60) will face numerous challenges: handling a belligerent North Korea; a slowing economy; and soaring welfare costs in one of the worlds most rapidly ageing societies. With 85 per cent of the national vote counted, Ms. Park had an insurmountable lead of 51.6 per cent to 48 per cent over her liberal rival, Moon Jae-in of the main opposition party. Barack Obama named TIME's 'Person of the Year' US President Barack Obama was named TIME's Person of the Year for 2012, citing his historic re-election last month as symbolic of the nation's changing demographics amid the backdrop of high unemployment and other challenges. TIME editor Rick Stengel announced the choice on NBC's program. Obama edged out Malala Yousufzai, a Pakistani girl shot in the head by the Taliban for advocating girls' education. Other finalists included Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and scientist Fabiola Gianotti. Rita Singh elected Federation of Indian Associations president Rita Singh, an Indian American businesswoman from Bihar with close connections to Bollywood, has been elected the first woman president of Chicago-based Federation of Indian Associations (FIA). Other elected office bearers were: Monty Saiyed, executive vice president; J. V. Singha, Bharti Desai, Dhitendra Bhagwakar, Rita Shah and Syed Eraj Ahmed, vice presidents; Shanu Sinha, treasurer; Shahid Razvi, general secretary; Benazir Abidi, joint secretary and Mohd Fareeduddin Sabiri, joint treasurer. Latin Americans rank as happiest people on planet The world's happiest people aren't in Qatar, the richest country by most measures. They aren't in Japan, the nation with the highest life expectancy. Canada, with its chart-topping percentage of college graduates, doesn't make the top 10. A poll released of nearly 150,000 people around the world says seven of the world's 10 countries with the most upbeat attitudes are in Latin America. Many of the seven do poorly in traditional measures of well-being, like Guatemala, a country torn by decades of civil war followed by waves of gangdriven criminality that give it one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Guatemala sits just above Iraq on the United Nations' Human Development Index, a composite of life expectancy, education and per capita income. But it ranks seventh in positive emotions. In Panama and Paraguay, 85 percent of those polled said yes to all five, putting those countries at the top of the list. They were followed closely by El Salvador, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand, Guatemala, the Philippines, Ecuador and Costa Rica.

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Technology:
Scientists find five new planets close to Earth Scientists using an intra-galactic speed gun have detected five new planets, relatively close to Earth, and one of them is orbiting a stars habitable zone, where conditions are suitable for life. It would take only 12 years to reach the planets when travelling at the speed of light. Scientists analysing about 6000 measurements of the star Tau Ceti's velocity, believe that slight inconsistencies in its speed and direction are being caused by the gravitational pull of other celestial bodies. An international team of researchers from Australia, Chile, the United Kingdom and the United States believe one of the five planets orbiting Tau Ceti is within the star's habitable zone, where conditions are suitable for life. The planet in the habitable zone has a mass about five times that of Earth, making it the smallest known planet orbiting in the "Goldilocks" zone where conditions are just right - of any Sun-like star.

Business & Economy:

Basic minimum capital deposit for stock brokers up The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has increased the basic minimum capital (BMC) deposit for stock broker and trading members to up to Rs.50 lakh from the earlier maximum of Rs.10 lakh. It would be implemented by the stock exchanges by March 31, 2013. The BMC deposit requirement was prescribed to be commensurate with the risks, other than market risk, that the broker may bring to the system. The SEBI fixed the BMC at Rs.10 lakh for only proprietary trading without algorithmic trading (Algo), Rs.15 lakh for trading only on behalf of client (without proprietary trading) and without Algo, Rs.25 lakh for proprietary trading and trading on behalf of client without Algo and Rs.50 lakh for all trading members and brokers with Algo. Indirect tax collections up 17 per cent in April-Nov Indirect tax collections grew at a moderate rate of 16.8 per cent to Rs.2.92 lakh crore in the April-November period as against the annual growth target of 27 per cent. In the first eight months of the previous financial year, collections of indirect taxes comprising excise, Customs and services tax, were Rs.2.50 lakh crore. While excise duty has yielded Rs.1.08 lakh crore during April-November, 2012, collections from Customs and services tax worked out to be about Rs.1.05 lakh crore and Rs.78,774 crore, respectively. Rs 29,151cr allocated under schemes for BPL families in FY13 The government has allocated Rs 29,151.89 crore in 2012-13 under various schemes for benefit of families living Below Poverty Line (BPL), the Minister of State for Planning Rajeev Shukla said. For the year 2012-13, government allocated Rs 11,075 crore under the Indira Awaas Yojana for the benefit of BPL families. Under Swaranjayanti Swarozgar Yojana/ National Rural Livelihood Mission Rs 3,915 crore was allocated, Rs 8,447.30 crore under the National Social Assistance Programme, Rs 814.59 crore under the Swaran Jayanti Sahari Rozgar Yojana and Rs 4,900 crore under Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana. Under Annapurna Scheme, 10kg of foodgrains (rice or wheat) per month are provided free of cost to the destitute who are at least 65 years of age, though eligible but remained uncovered under National Old Age Pension Scheme since April 1, 2000. India lags several nations in per capita income India is lagging behind several countries in per capita income due to different levels of development and various other factors, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Planning Rajeev Shukla told Lok Sabha in a written reply. Per capita of income is a measure of the amount of money that is being earned per person. India's per capita GDP on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) basis was USD 3,403 in 2010 and is estimated at USD 3,662.69 in 2011 and USD 3,851.31 in 2012,The per capita net national income rose by 5.2 per cent while wholesale price index based inflation was at 8.9 per cent in 2011-12. In 2010-11, per capita net national income grew by 6.4 per cent against a WPI inflation rise of 9.6 per cent. In 2009-10, it was 6.6 per cent and 3.8 per cent respectively.

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Sport:
Neymar wins award Football star Neymar won the prestigious Brazilian Golden Boot for the second time in his short career with 43 goals in 2012.

Page 4 of 4 20th December 2012