1.

User -friendly driving licence will have unique number Some user-friendly changes have been mooted by the S. Sundar Committee in a bid to streamline the Motor Vehicles Act 1988. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways set up the committee under the chairmanship of the retired IAS officer, in the light of the recommendations by a parliamentary panel to comprehensively review the Act and incorporate the practices followed in China and Japan. The committee suggested that a unique number be issued to every licensee. The scheme will enable the linking of the driving licence with the Unique Identification Number to be issued by the UIDAI. To ensure better driving and road safety, there will be different categories of licences. The committee has redefined the categories of vehicles and the classes of vehicles against each category, and suggested the need for a specific authorisation to use a vehicle for a specific purpose. A two-stage procedure has been suggested for grant of the licence and subsequent authorisation where necessary. The committee has suggested portability of registration numbers allowing the original registration number to remain valid throughout the country instead of changing it with a shift in residence or place of business from one State to another. The implementation of this provision will start with non-transport vehicles. 2. Infant mortality rate shows decline The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in India has come down to 50 (deaths per 1,000 live births) from 53, showing a reduction of three points as compared to 2008, and eight points since 2005, when the national average was 58. The latest data released by the Registrar -General of India (RGI) in its Sample Registration System for the calendar year of 2009 shows a nine-point decline in rural IMR during 2005-2009 compared to six points in cities and towns. The IMR is the lowest in Goa at 11, though it was 10 in 2008, followed by Kerala at 12. The worst performers are Madhya Pradesh at 67, Orissa at 65, Uttar Pradesh at 63, and Assam at 61. In Tamil Nadu, the IMR has come down from 31 in 2008 to 28 in 2009. 3. Centre plans reward for whistle-blowers The business of adulteration of food and edible commodities in the country will soon be under the scanner of the whistle-blower with the Union Health Ministry mulling to launch a reward scheme for them for informing such cases to the Government. Though the whistle-blower scheme for information on counterfeit drugs launched from December 2009 has not elicited desired results, the Ministry has decide d to extend it to cases of food adulteration too hoping for effective implementation of the provisions of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. 4. Kerosene marker will be back, penalty system to be revamped The Petroleum Ministry is working on restructuring the system of penalties in Marketing Discipline Guidelines, a major deterrent of malpractices at retail outlets, even as the Minister set a June deadline for re introducing a chemical marker in kerosene to check its diversion for adulteration. It was also suggested that states shift to GPS-based vehicular tracking system, as is used for transporting petrol and diesel, to track its movement. Jaipal Reddy announced an ex gratia of Rs 25 lakh for the family of Yashwant Sonawane, who was set on fire by the o il mafia in Manmad on January 24 while allegedly attempting to crack down on diversion of kerosene, and said that there was a need to respond to the adulteration problem in systematic terms. 5. Ramesh again favours M.P. as second home' for Asiatic lions Despite the repeated refusals by the Gujarat government, Union Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh re-opened the controversy over providing a second home for the Asiatic lions. Mr. Ramesh, who visited the Gir forest, the only abode of the Asiatic lions in the Saurashtra region, told that he was in favour of a second home for the threatened species in Madhya Pradesh. According to Mr. Ramesh, they were already a threatened species and in case of any outbreak of an epidemic, the entire population could be wiped out. 6. G.R. Sufi chosen J&K's first CIC Jammu and Kashmir is all set to get its first Information Commission after a high-power committee cleared the name of a senior Indian Revenue Service Officer for the post of Chief Information Commissioner. The committee, headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah with Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand and Leader of the Opposition Mehbooba Mufti as members, cleared the name of G.R. Sufi, Chief Commissioner Income Tax, Amritsar, as the first CIC of the State.

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7. AP CM participates in ''Rachabanda'' programme in Telangana Defying protests by TRSactivists, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddyheld his government''s ambitious mass-contact programme''Rachabanda'' in Telangana region. Reddy participated in the ''Rachabanda'' (villagejunction) programme at Singaipally village of Kodair mandal inMahbubanagar district in Telangana, where TRS workersand others held protests. Reddy interacted with women over the implementation ofvarious governme nt schemes and told the officials that every rupee being spent should reach the targeted beneficiaries. 8. UAE: India wont pay blood money The government has decided not to pay the blood money to the family of the victim, as New Delhi fights the case to exonerate 17 Indians on death row for killing a Pakistani national in United Arab Emirates. The 17 Indians, 16 from Punjab and one from Haryana, were awarded death sentence in March 2010 by a Sharjah court. The court found them guilty of murdering Misri Nazir Khan, a Pakistani national, near a Sharjah labour camp over a bootlegging dispute in January 2009. Blood money or diya, as it is referred to in local parlance is paid to the next of kin of a murder victim as fine. This was a compromise formula proposed at the last court hearing in December. 9. Full-scale uprising in Egypt The anti-government protests in Egypt have now snowballed into a full-scale uprising, as Egyptians prepare for the long-haul to bring down the 30-year-old dictatorship of President Hosni Mubarak. Young Egyptians fought sporadically with police, extending the spate of clashes . 10. Flood levy in Australia criticised Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced a one-off levy to fund, partially, the reconstruction of roads, bridges, and ports which were heavily damaged in the recent floods across the country. Opposition Liberal leader Tony Abbott criticised this unnecessary new flood tax but supported the urgent spending on reconstruction from out of the budgetary resources. 11. Pakistan Seeks U.S. Security for Gas Pipeline Pakistan has sought U.S. help to ensure security for a proposed 1,680-kilometer -long pipeline that will transport natural gas from Central Asia to South Asia through war -ravaged Afghanistan. Pakistan's finance ministry said in a statement it informed a U.S. delegation led by David Lipton, senior adviser on economy to the U.S. president, of its concerns about the security of the proposed Turkmenistan -Afghanistan-Pakistan India pipeline. About 735 kilometers of the pipeline will pass through Afghanistan, including the violent Kandahar province that has high Taliban presence, and 800 kilometers will pass through Pakistan, including its tribal areas, posing a big security challenge to the project. 12. India to create 3.75 cr jobs: Report Indian economy is likely to grow by 8.7 per cent annually and generate 3.75 crore jobs by 2020 on the back of investments in skills and infrastructure, a report said. Accenture, a global consulting firm, in its report released at the World Economic Forum added that four major economies -- India, Germany, US and UK -together account for nearly two-fifths of the world economy. 13. No access to BlackBerry Emails: RIM BlackBerry phone maker Research In Motion (RIM) has started flexing its muscles again, just two days before the second ultimatum given by the Central Government expires. The Canadian company said it was not possible to provide solution for accessing its premium service Enterprise Mail to Indian security agencies. But Government officials maintained providing access is a must, if they want to operate in India. According to highly placed Government officials, RIM had already provided access mechanism to Messenger Service but the solutions to Enterprise Mail have not yet worked out. 14. Google lets users move numbers to Voice Google's Voice calling application is adding a long-promised feature: the ability to move a phone number from a cell phone to Google's service. Previously, Google Voice assigned each user a new number. That made it more difficult to take advantage of its features, which include cheaper international calls and the ability to answer calls on several different phones and computers. Google Inc. announced that users can request "porting " of existing numbers to Google Voice. The transfer costs $20. Service would be terminated for the cell phone the number comes from, unless the user requests a new number for the line from the phone company.

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15. Tools Suggest Earlier Human Exit From Africa The present view, based on both archaeological and genetic evidence, holds that modern humans, although they first emerged in Africa some 200,000 years ago, were hemmed in by deserts and other human species like Neanderthals and did not escape to the rest of the world until some 50,000 years ago. An archaeological team led by Hans -Peter Uerpmann of the University of Tbingen in Germany now reports the discovery of stone tools 127,000 years old from a site called Jebel Faya in what is now the United Arab Emirates, just south of the entrance to the Persian Gulf. If the new tools were made by modern humans, as the researchers assert, then modern humans got out of Africa much earlier than believed.

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