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India's longest rail bridge in Kerala The scenic Kerala backwaters can now boast of an engineering marvel the longest rail bridge in the country at 4.62km. The bridge is part of a 8.6-km railway link connecting Idapalli to Vallarpadam in Kochi, where the shipping ministry has constructed the International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT). Built by the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd at Rs 200 crore, the bridge came up in a record 28 months. The rail link between Idapalli railway station and ICTT can also boast green technology to address environmental concerns. The alignment cuts through densely populated habitations and backwaters. Government agrees to set up JPC on 2G After resisting the Opposition demand for over three months, the government has finally agreed to constitute a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the 2G spectrum allocation issue. The decision, which was clinched following a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, comes just in time for the budget session of Parliament, which begins on February 21. The Opposition disrupted the entire winter session last year over the JPC issue and threatened to do the same again if its demand was not met. Naval divers set new record A group of naval divers on board INS Nireekshak, the Navy's only diving support and submarine rescue vessel, set a new national record by diving to a depth of 233 metres in the seas off Kochi coast, bettering a record of 218 metres attained by N avy divers in March 2007. While Lieutenant Commander Abhijit Sangle and Chief Petty Officers (CPO) K.K. Singh and Shriom Singh locked out' in the submersible diving capsule the bell in diving parlance to execute the deepest dive on February 7, Leading Seamen Clearance Divers M.K. Prusty and Narender Kumar partnered in the mission by exposing themselves to the depth conditions in the ship's Deck Decompression Chambers (DDC), an essential instrument of saturation diving. Demand for motorcycle will come within dowry ambit: Supreme Court Any demand for money, property or valuable security made from the bride or her parents or other relatives by the bridegroom or his parents or other relatives or vice versa in connection with the marriage will fall within the mischief of dowry' under the Dowry Prohibition Act, the Supreme Court has held. A Bench of Justices Aftab Alam and R.M. Lodha said The mere demand for dowry' before marriage, at the time of marriage or any time after the marriage is an offence. The 1961 Act has been amended by Parliament on more than one occasion and by the Dowry Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 1986, Parliament brought in stringent provisions and provided for offence relating to dowry death. Five frog species rediscovered Scientists of the University of Delhi, in a collaborative programme involving researchers from other leading institutions in the country, have rediscovered five species of frogs believed extinct long ago. The five species rediscovered are: Chalazodes Bubble-nest Frog ( Raorchestes chalazodes) Anamalai Dot-frog ( Ramanella anamalaiensis), last reported 74 years ago; Dehradun Stream frog ( Amolops chakrataensis), last seen 26 years ago; Silent Valley tropical frog ( Micrixalus thampii), last seen 31 years ago; and Elegant tropical frog ( Micrixalus elegans), last seen 74 years ago. Green ban on eight industrial clusters lifted The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has lifted its moratorium on new investment in eight industrial clusters including Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. These are among the 43 clusters identified as critically polluted in a 2009 study. Interestingly, none of the eight are coalfields despite Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal's reported claim that he had convinced Jairam Ramesh, his count erpart in the Environment Ministry, to lift the moratorium on 16 coalfields by easing the pollution norms. Govt lifts onion export ban The govt has lifted a ban on exports of onion and set a floor price at $600 per tonne. The country had banned the overseas sale of the vegetable in December to rein in high food inflation.

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No sale of tobacco products in plastic pouches from March: SC The Supreme Court refused to relax its order banning sale of tobacco products like gutka and pan masala in plastic sachets beyond March 1 after taking note of the government's submission that 90 per cent of oral cancer cases in the country are on account of chewing tobacco. A Bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly declined to relax the deadline imposed by it on December 7, while taking on record an expert panel's findings, submitted to it by the Centre on the harmful impact of various tobacco products on human health UML-Maoists clarify 7-point agreement Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal and Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda' have reached a fresh agreement to abide by the spirit of the seven-point agreement signed before Mr. Khanal's election, while clarifying its controversial aspects. The Maoists, who had earlier said they would not join the government, have now revised their decision, and would share major portfolios with the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist). Galle-Matara railway service inaugurated As the Chinese-built train on the Galle-Matara Railway line hit the 100 kmph mark, it marked a first for the Sri Lankan Railway. Never in the past has a Sri Lankan train run close to the 100 kmph mark. This was possible after a major track up-gradation by the Indian public sector entity, IRCON. The modernised track was inaugurated, ushering in a new era in speed for Sri Lankan Railways. A line of credit of $167.4 million was extended by India for the rehabilitation of the Colombo-Matara rail link. Japan for joint effort in developing rare earth minerals Japan proposed joint exploration with India for the development of rare earth minerals. Tokyo would like to make progress in this domain. Tokyo also affirmed its commitment to the steady implementation of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and the related Dedicated Freight Corridor. Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara signed the bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in Tokyo. India proposed a two-way trade target of $25 billion by 2014, a doubling of the pre-CEPA level. The economic pact will come into force after the completion of national procedures. VFPCK, Nokia join hands to help farmers The Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam (VFPCK) and Nokia India Limited will launch a weather and prices information and advisory service for farmers on the SMS format using Nokia's Life Tools services. The service will be launched at Bharanikkavu in Kollam district. The services would initially be on a pilot basis for a period of o year and that 300 handsets with BSNL ne subscriber identification module cards were being distributed to farmers' self-help groups under the council. Exporters can now avail sops worth Rs 500 cr Exporters can start availing sops worth an estimated Rs 500 crore that were announced by the government under the Market Linked Focus Product Scheme (MLFPS) and Focus Product Scheme (FPS). The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has issued a notification in this regard, stating that exporters can avail the benefits on their shipments with effect from January 1, 2011. Under the MLFPS, exporters get duty credit of 3 per cent on the value of their consignments, while under the FPS, the exporters avail duty credit of 5 per cent. RCom launches nexgen mobile portal Reliance Communications (RCom) plans to rollout next generation mobile portal (R World) to deliver mobile internet and data services to its 125 million customers. Reliance will use Motricity's m-Core platform to deliver these advanced capabilities to offer services on its 3G, GSM and CDMA mobile platforms.

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Honda Siel to recall 57,853 'City' sedans Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) said it is recalling over 57,800 units of its City sedan to replace faulty engine parts. In a statement, the company said it would carry out preventive part replacement of the lost motion spring in the valve train for 57,853 third-generation City models that were manufactured between November, 2008, and December, 2009. Google's One Pass to rival Apple's digital subscription Google Inc launched a service to make it easy for publishers to sell digital versions of newspapers and magazines, undercutting a similar plan launched by Apple Inc, as both tech titans battle to dominate smartphones and tablet computers. Google said its new service, dubbed One Pass, allows publishers to sell content that consumers can view on websites as well as in specialised apps designed for smartphones and tablet PCs. Publishers can charge for content in a variety of ways, including subscriptions, metered access and sales of single articles. Another big win for India The Indian batsmen, led by M.S. Dhoni's unbeaten 108, inflicted a 117-run defeat on New Zealand in their second and final warm-up match at the M.A. Chidambaram stadium. Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir (89), Virat Kohli (59) and Suresh Raina (50) cashed in on a flat track and some average Kiwi bowling to post 360. However, for the second match running, the Indian pacemen proved ineffective during the chase.

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