National:
Obama to be chief guest at Republic
Day celebrations
In a major sign of the deepening ties between India and the
U.S., Prime Minister Modi has invited President Obama to be the chief guest at
the Republic Day ceremony in year 2015. Invitation was delivered by Prime
Minister Modi during his visit to Myanmar and Australia, when he met with
President Obama at the East Asia summit and the G-20 meeting of world leaders.
Anointment of Naib Imam has no legal
sanctity
While observing that the ‘dastarbandi’ ceremony scheduled in
Jama Masjid would not amount to anointment of Shahi Imam Syed Bukhari’s
youngest son as the Naib Imam, the Delhi High Court said the Delhi Waqf Board
had not accorded legal sanctity to the ceremony. A Division Bench comprising
Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw, hearing a bunch of public
interest petitions challenging the ‘dastarbandi’, said Mr. Bukhari had no right
in law or otherwise to anoint his son as his deputy. The Court noted that the
Waqf Act, 1995, provides only for the appointment of a ‘mutawalli’ (caretaker)
and contains no provision for appointment of Imam of Waqf properties, even if
it is a mosque.
Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance
system introduced
The Centre government has introduced Aadhaar-enabled
biometric attendance system in its offices across the country. The system will
be installed at all the offices in Delhi by December 31. At other places it may
be installed by the Republic Day, January 26, 2015. The manual system of
attendance would be phased out accordingly. The equipment will be procured by
the Ministries/departments as per specifications of the Department of
Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) on the Directorate-General of Supplies
and Disposals rate contract from authorised vendors. The DeitY will provide
technical guidance for installing the system. The equipment already procured by
DeitY have a built-in Annual Maintenance Contract of three years.
International:
Mangalyaan on Time’s list
India’s Mars mission Mangalyaan, developed by the Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has been listed among the 25 best
innovations of 2014 by the Time magazine. “Nobody gets Mars right on the first
try. The U.S. didn’t, Russia didn’t, the Europeans didn’t. But on September 24,
India did,” the magazine said. It pointed out that building the spacecraft cost
India just $74 million, which was less than the budget for the Hollywood film
Gravity.
250,000 Indians to benefit from
Obama plan
U.S. President Barack Obama has announced his intention to
carry out a “lawful” executive action to fix the country’s “broken” immigration
system, a measure that would offer, from early next year, three-year deferment
of deportation proceedings and the right to work legally to nearly four million
undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents, and
undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country before the age of 16. Among
the four million immigrants who stand to gain from this policy action will be a
number undocumented Indian citizens in the U.S., whose total population the
Department of Homeland Security estimates to be 250,000.
Muslim pageant challenges Western
beauty contests
An eclectic mix of women from around the world will compete
in the finale of a pageant exclusively for Muslims in Indonesia, seen as a
riposte to Western beauty contests. The women, who include a doctor and a
computer scientist, are set to parade in glittering dresses against the
backdrop of world-renowned ancient temples for the contest in the world’s most
populous Muslim-majority country. However the 18 finalists are required to wear
the Muslim headscarf and will be judged not only on their appearance, but also
on how well they recite verses from the Koran and their views on Islam in the
modern world. The World Muslimah Award first drew global attention in 2013 when
organisers presented it as a peaceful protest to Miss World, which was taking
place around the same time on the resort island of Bali.
Waltz set for Walk of Fame honour
Austrian actor Christoph Waltz will receive the 2,536th star
on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The 58-year-old Oscar winner’s friend Quentin
Tarantino will be among the speakers inducting Waltz prior to the unveiling,
reported Hollywood Life. Two of Waltz’s films next films are Horrible Bosses 2
and Tim Burton’s drama Big Eyes.
Sci. & Tech:
3-million-year-old canyon discovered
under the Brahmaputra in Tibet
A huge 3-million-year-old canyon, thousands of feet deep in
places, has been discovered buried under a major river in Tibet. The canyon
buried along the Yarlung Tsangpo (called the Brahmaputra in India) in south
Tibet was discovered by a team of researchers from California Institute of
Technology (Caltech) and the China Earthquake Administration. The geologists
say that the ancient canyon — thousands of feet deep in places — effectively
rules out a popular model used to explain how the massive and picturesque
gorges of the Himalayas became so steep, so fast. In 2013 civil engineers from
the China Earthquake Administration collected cores by drilling into the valley
floor at five locations along the Yarlung Tsangpo.
‘Horses and rhinos originated in
India’
Horses and rhinos likely originated in the Indian
subcontinent, over 54 million years ago, according to a new study. Working at
the edge of a coal mine in India, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University
and colleagues have filled in a major gap in science’s understanding of the
evolution of a group of animals that includes horses and rhinos. The group
likely originated on the subcontinent when it was still an island headed
swiftly for collision with Asia. Modern horses, rhinos and tapirs belong to a
biological group, or order, called Perissodactyla. Also known as “odd-toed
ungulates”, animals in the order have, as their name implies, an uneven number
of toes on their hind feet. Though paleontologists had found remains of
Perissodactyla from as far back as the beginnings of the Eocene epoch, about 56
million years ago, their earlier evolution remained a mystery. In 2001, Prof.
Rose and Indian colleagues began exploring Eocene sediments in western India.
In an open-pit coal mine northeast of Mumbai, they uncovered a rich vein of
ancient bones. The mine yielded what Prof. Rose said was a treasure trove of
teeth and bones. More than 200 fossils turned out to belong to an animal dubbed
Cambaytherium thewissi , about which little was known. Cambaytherium is the
first concrete evidence to support that idea.
Business & Economy:
SEBI bans Transgene for diverting
GDR proceeds
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) banned K.
Koteswara Rao, Chairman-cum-Managing Director and other promoters of Transgene
Biotek from accessing the capital market till further orders as the regulator
found that the company transferred its GDR proceeds through its subsidiary for
undisclosed and ulterior purposes. On February 22, 2011, Transgene had first
issued 25 lakh GDRs at $9.2 per GDR and again on October 3, 2011, it had issued
25 lakh GDRs at $7 per GDR. Thus, total 50 lakh GDRs were issued in the GDR
issues of Transgene. It had raised $23 million through first issue and $17.5
million through the second issue of GDRs. Thus, total $40.5 million were raised
by Transgene through the GDR issues and were deposited in the bank account of
Transgene held in Investec Bank, Switzerland.
Forex reserves up $419.4 m
Forex reserves rose by $419.4 million to $315.551 billion in
the week to November 14, driven by a rise in foreign currency assets. According
to data released by the Reserve Bank, reserves had dipped by $778.4 million to
$315.131 billion in the previous week.
Banks under lens for uniform savings
rates
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) will look at
whether there is any cartelisation among banks, especially public sector
lenders, in keeping the interest rate on savings accounts at the uniform level
of four per cent. The trend has come to the attention of the fair trade
watchdog since the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decontrolled the interest
rates and each bank is free to fix its own rate.
APGenco bags SKOCH award
Pradesh Power Generation Corporation Limited (APGenco) has
bagged the SKOCH Award 2014 in best project category in the country. The award
was given at the 38th Skoch Summit on ‘Resurgent India- Competitive India’ held
in New Delhi. APGenco Executive Director Atluri Rama Rao received the award
from Union Minister for Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu.
Sports:
Ashour wins his third World Open
title
Ramy Ashour clinched his third World Open squash title when
he saved a match point in a marathon 13-11, 7-11, 5-11, 11-5, 14-12 triumph
over Egyptian compatriot Mohamed El Shorbagy. Shorbagy, who became world No. 1
for the first time only this month, proved a hero himself, saving five match
points in a row from 5-10 down in the final game, and six altogether.
