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30th November 2012

National:

Indian government unveils guidelines to prevent misuse of IT Act
Yielding to public protests on the recent controversial arrest of some persons for their Facebook posts,
government came out with guidelines where a police officer no less than the rank of DCP can sanction
prosecution. Only officers of Inspector General of Police (IGP) ranks will be allowed to permit registration of a
case for offences under the Information Technlogy (IT) Act relating to spreading hatred through electronic
messages in a bid to prevent the misuse of the legislation. Currently, a police station in-charge or an
inspector can register a case under the said provision. Guidelines in this regard are being issued against the
backdrop of the arrest of two girls by police in Mumbai under Section 66 (A) of Information Technology (IT)
Act that deals with spreading hatred through electronic messages. Section 66A says: Any person who
sends by means of a computer resource or a communication device any information that is grossly offensive
or has menacing character; or any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing
annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, or ill-will,
persistently makes by making use of such computer resource or a communication device, any electronic mail
or electronic mail message for the purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience or to deceive or to
mislead the addressee or recipient about the origin of such messages shall be punishable with imprisonment
for a term which may extend to three years and with fine.

Kerala alerted on Bandipur monkey fever scare
The Karnataka Forest and Health authorities have alerted their counterparts in Kerala on a suspected
outbreak of Kyasanoor Forest Disease (KFD), commonly known as monkey fever, in the Bandipur Tiger
Reserve lying contiguous to the Wayanad Wild Life Sanctuary (WWLS) in northern Wayanad district of the
State. With the Karnataka Forest Department confirming the death of eight Bonnet Macaques and two
Common Langurs in the Bandipur forests due to suspected monkey fever. The animals were found dead in
the Bandipur Tiger Reserve close to the Kerala border beside National Highway 212 running through the
reserve from Kozhikode in Kerala to Mysore. The viral disease was reported for the first time from the forests
of Kyasanoor in Shimoga, Karnataka in 1957 and hence the name Kyasanoor Forest Disease. High fever,
frontal headaches and hemorrhagic symptoms are the main symptoms of the disease. Morbidity rate is put at
two to ten percent and between 100 and 500 people are said to be getting affected annually. The virus is
spread mainly through air or directly through ticks. It is known to have a wide range of natural hosts like
monkeys, rats, mice and reptiles. Humans contract monkey fever from bites of infected ticks.

International:

Palestine wins de facto UN recognition of sovereign state
The 193-nation UN General Assembly has overwhelmingly approved the de facto recognition of the
sovereign state of Palestine after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the world body to issue its
long overdue "birth certificate." The UN victory for the Palestinians was a diplomatic setback for the United
States and Israel, which were joined by only a handful of countries in voting against the move to upgrade the
Palestinian Authority's observer status at the United Nations to "non-member state" from "entity," like the
Vatican. India was among the 138 nations in the 193-member body that voted in favour while nine countries
opposed the resolution that sought upgrading the status of Palestinian Authority from 'entity' to 'non-member
observer state. Forty-one countries abstained from the voting. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said "an
important vote" has taken place in the General Assembly. The symbolic vote signified the huge international
backing for Palestine and came as a stinging defeat for Israel and the US. The vote could enable Palestine
to access bodies like the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which prosecutes people for genocide,
war crimes and major human rights violations.





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30th November 2012


Origin of European gypsy population traced to north-western India
Scientists at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) have said that they have cracked the
mystery surrounding the origin and migration of the Roma (gypsy) population. A team of international
scientists led by CCMBs Kumarasamy Thangaraj concluded that the aboriginal scheduled tribe and
scheduled caste population of north-western India, traditionally referred as Doma and also as Dalits, are the
most likely ancestral population of modern European Roma. Though linguistic and genetic studies of the
European Roma have been traced to Eurasia, the exact parental population group and time of dispersal
remained disputed in the absence of archaeological evidence and scanty historical documentation of the
Roma. The study found that the exile time of the Roma founders from India could be approximately put at
1,405 years ago. The conclusion was arrived at after an exhaustive study involving screening of about
10,000 males around the world, including 7,000 hailing from 205 ethnic population of India to discern a more
precise ancestral source of Romani (gypsy) population. Based on the genetic signature that exists on the Y
chromosome, every male could be assigned to a specific group (haplogroup), enabling tracing of parental
lineage using these signatures. It was shown that the European Roma possessed the Y chromosome
haplogroup Hlala. The most recent common ancestor of European Roma was not identified because of the
absence of similar data from their putative homeland, India.

India, Australia join hands with Indonesia to counter China
India, Indonesia and Australia will form the first "troika" to confer on the Indian Ocean, a first step towards a
trilateral grouping in Asia. This new engagement is believed to be significant as all three countries seek to
hedge against possible Chinese expansionism. Peter Varghese, Australian high commissioner and new
foreign secretary, said Canberra would be taking charge of the Indian Ocean regional grouping in 2013, and
an India-Australia-Indonesia trilateral would be one of the early deliverables. This will be a good window to
do things, to push practical agenda for IORARC. The Indian Ocean is proving to be an important strategic
outreach for India, as well as Australia, which now focuses more on what it calls the "Indo-Pacific" rather than
East Asia. It has created convergences between India and countries like Australia.

Tribunal acquits Kosovo ex-Premier of war crimes
A U.N. war crimes court has cleared Kosovos ex-Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj of murder and torture
during the 1990s war of independence, enraging Belgrade with the second such acquittal. Mr. Haradinaj (44)
and Idriz Balaj (41) were being retried on six war crime charges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for allegedly murdering and torturing Serbs and non-Albanians during the 1998-99
conflict, after initially being acquitted.
Serbia angrily accused the tribunal in The Hague of bias against Serbs after the verdict, which came after it
acquitted Croatian General Ante Gotovina of war crimes against Serbs.

Pak panel calls for ban on ads with Indian models
A Pakistani parliamentary panel has called for a ban on advertisements featuring Indian models and
suggested that it should be mandatory for female anchors on news channels to cover their heads with a
dupatta. The suggestion was made by the Standing Committee for Information and Broadcasting of the
National Assembly or lower house of parliament by Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira. Chief J ustice
himself had reportedly objected to an advertisement for a hair removing cream featuring Bollywood star
Katrina Kaif, saying it could not be watched by families.

Indian spiritual leader Amritanandamayi Devi addresses UN convention
"Efforts at coexistence fail when we claim we are all one, but we disrespect each other's ancient customs
and traditions," Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, popularly known as Amma, said while addressing the United
Nations Alliance of Civilisations' (UNAOC) Regional Consultations for Asia-South Pacific in Shanghai. The
59-year-old spiritual leader from Kerala, known for humanitarian activities, was the only spiritual leader
among more than 150 delegates from throughout Asia and the South Pacific invited to the conference.









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30th November 2012


Technology:

Supermassive black hole with record-setting X-ray jet found
A supermassive black hole emitting a record setting X-ray jet some 12.4 billion light years from Earth has
been discovered by NASA. This is the most distant X-ray jet ever observed by NASA's Chandra X-ray
Observatory and gives astronomers a glimpse into the explosive activity associated with the growth of
supermassive black holes in the early universe. The jet was produced by a quasar named GB 1428+4217.
Giant black holes at the centers of galaxies can pull in matter at a rapid rate producing the quasar
phenomenon. The energy released as particles fall toward the black hole generates intense radiation and
powerful beams of high-energy particles that blast away from the black hole at nearly the speed of light.
These particle beams can interact with magnetic fields or ambient photons to produce jets of radiation. As
the electrons in the jet fly away from the quasar, they move through a sea of background photons left behind
after the Big Bang. When a fast-moving electron collides with one of these so-called cosmic microwave
background photons, it can boost the photon's energy into the X-ray band.

Business & Economy:

UP, Bihar and Maharashtra home to highest number of poor: Govt
Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of poor population at 7.37 crore, followed by Bihar and Maharashtra in
2009-10. Bihar and Maharashtra had poor population of 5.43 crore and 2.7 crore respectively in the year
2009-10 based on poverty line fixed using Tendulakar Committee formula, as per data provided by the
Planning Commission in a written reply to Rajya Sabha. According to the Tendulkar Committee formula,
besides traditional method of fixing poverty line on the basis of calorie intake, the expenditure on health and
education is also factored in. In 2009-10, the Commission estimated the number of poor in Madhya Pradesh
at 2.61 crore, West Bengal 2.4 crore, Andhra Pradesh 1.76 crore, Rajasthan 1.67 crore, Orissa 1.53 crore,
Karnataka 1.42 crore, Gujarat 1.36 crore and J harkhand 1.26 crore in the year 2009-10 as per the formula.
Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh had poor population of 1.21 crore each followed by Assam at 1.16 crore and
Haryana at 49.96 lakh.

Bihar's economic growth best among major states in 11th Plan
Bihar has been the top performer among the major states in terms of economic growth during the 11th Five
Year Plan which ended on March 31, 2012. According to a Planning Commission report on state finances,
only Sikkim and Goa, which are much smaller in size than Bihar, have performed better than the state. The
report reveals that the nominal gross state domestic product (GSDP) growth rate of Bihar was 21.9 per cent
during the 11th Plan spread over 2007 to 12. Among all the states and union territories, Sikkim recorded
highest GSDP growth rate of 31.6 per cent during the five year period followed by Goa at 22.9 per cent. The
worst performers include J harkhand which recorded GSDP growth rate of 9.2 per cent followed by the
Puducherry, Nagaland and Manipur (all below 11 per cent). Haryana clocked the GSDP growth rate of 19.5
per cent followed by Rajasthan at 18 per cent, Kerala at 16.9 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 16.8 per cent,
Andhra Pradesh at 16.7 per cent and West Bengal at 16.4 per cent. Gujarat grew at 16 per cent followed by
Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh at 15.3 per cent each.

StanChart India gets CCI approval for buying Barclays' assets
Fair trade regulator Competition Commission has approved Standard Chartered Bank's proposed buyout of
certain loan assets of Barclays, saying the deal would not adversely impact competition. Standard Chartered
Bank, India had approached the Competition Commission of India (CCI) regarding its proposed acquisition of
certain loan portfolios of Barclays. The entity is to buyout the "performing loan portfolios of personal
instalment loans, loans against property and home loan finance of Barclays Bank Plc, India branch and the
performing loan portfolios of personal instalment loans and loans against property of Barclays Investments
and Loans (India) Ltd (BILIL)".





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30th November 2012


Sport:

Serena Williams named WTA Player of the Year
Serena Williams has been named WTA Tour Player of the Year for the fourth time after winning Wimbledon.
Williams was previously honoured with the WTA award in 2002, 2008 and 2009. In the 36-year history of the
Player Of The Year award, Williams is one of only three players to win it more than twice, alongside eight-
time winner Steffi Graf and seven-time winner Martina Navratilova. Four players have won the award twice -
Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport, J ustine Henin and Kim Clijsters