1 December 2014
National:
Four states in south make up 50% of HIV cases
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka
account for 3.6 lakh HIV cases, about 50% of the patients in the country. The
southern states are also among the top four in the country, with Tamil Nadu
alone having 80,685 HIV affected people of the total 7.7 lakh as on May
2014.Andhra Pradesh (including Telengana) tops the list with 1.7 lakh HIV
affected people, followed by Maharashtra with 1.43 lakh people. Karnataka has
just over one lakh people with HIV, according to the Union ministry of health
and family welfare. These are the only states with more than one lakh people
with HIV. After Tamil Nadu's 80,000-odd cases, Gujarat is listed with 40,121
cases. States such as Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, which are
larger both in area and population, have not recorded many cases.
Solar energy to light up border posts and fencing
in Rajasthan
Hundreds of floodlights along the border fencing
and posts manned by BSF at the India-Pakistan border will soon get lighted with
solar energy. Union home ministry as pilot project has approved to set up solar
power house of five mega watt capacity at Tala area at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.
If this solar power project is successful then at all the international borders
of the country will have solar-powered lighting, implemented in phases. The
government would save crores of rupees using solar power and also save on
diesel used for generators.
AG moots new arbitration law
In a legal opinion to the Law Ministry, Attorney
General Mukul Rohatgi has recommended the repeal of an 18-year-old law on
arbitration procedures in tune with the government’s larger push to provide a
business-friendly environment for foreign investors. The country’s top law
officer, whose opinion was sought by the Ministry on the Arbitration and
Conciliation Act 1996, advised replacement of the present law with a new one
stressing timely settlement of business disputes and fixing greater onus on
arbitrators against delay.
PMO refuses to share Netaji files
Toeing the UPA line, the NDA government has refused
to make the files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose public, saying the revelations
would “prejudicially affect” relations with foreign countries. The Prime
Minister’s Office has shared only a list of 41 such files. The PMO has shared a
list of files created from 1953 to 2000, the last two “Top Secret” files being
on Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry report. The other two top secret
papers are on correspondences with and about Netaji’s widow and daughter (last
amended in 1971) and the transfer of his ashes to India (created in 1998).
International:
India, South Korea to operationalize nuclear deal
With Japan continuing to stall a nuclear deal with
India, New Delhi is getting ready to operationalise a three-year-old nuclear
pact with South Korea. The two countries will hold their first nuclear talks.
India and Korea signed a nuclear agreement in July 2011 but did not take the
next steps to operationalise it. This was partly due to India concentrating its
energies on a Japan nuclear agreement, and respecting sensitivities in Japan
regarding the Korean Peninsula. But Japan is yet to evolve its nuclear position
vis-a-vis India, and it's not going to happen anytime soon, certainly not until
India and the US have resolved their nuclear differences. The India-Japan
impasse affects any progress in negotiations with France and the US, because
both countries use critical Japanese components for their reactors. But India
needs to get its nuclear power sector going, particularly as it addresses the twin
aims of energy security and lowering emissions.
Tabare Vazquez wins Uruguay presidential election
Ruling party candidate Tabare Vazquez easily won
Uruguay's presidential election, returning to power a left-leaning coalition
that has legalized gay marriage and moved to create the world's first state-run
marijuana marketplace. The runoff vote had drawn international attention
because Vazquez's rival, center-right candidate Luis Lacalle Pou, had promised
to undo much of the plan to put the government in charge of regulating the
production and sale of marijuana on a nationwide scale.
Donald Tusk taking charge of European Council
Donald Tusk becomes the second full-time president
of the European Council. Tusk, who was democratic Poland's longest-serving prime
minister before resigning in September just short of seven years in office,
will be in charge of chairing European Union's summits and brokering
behind-the-scenes deals. He will be the first EU president to come from a
former communist bloc state.
Sharif inaugurates China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
project
China and Pakistan have kicked off their
multi-billion dollar ‘Economic Corridor’ project that passes through
Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) by laying the foundation of a fenced four-lane
motorway, setting in motion a mammoth project connecting the two countries.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif performed the groundbreaking of a section
of the motorway in the country’s northwest signalling the implementation of the
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) agreement. The 60-km-long, 4-lane
fenced Hazara Motorway in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province will cost $297 million
and will take two years to complete. During his China visit earlier this month,
Mr. Sharif signed deals worth $45.6 billion that included projects connected
with the Corridor, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. India has expressed
its reservations to China over the project as it is laid through the PoK. But,
China defended the project saying it will help regional development. Sceptics in
both the countries, however, point to the rising tide of extremism in Pakistan
which makes its construction extremely difficult.
Sarkozy wins party leadership
Former President Nicolas Sarkozy didn’t quite get
the warm embrace from his party that many French had expected in his return to
public life. He won a race for leader of France’s
main conservative party, the UMP, but with a margin of victory that was smaller
than many had predicted. Sarkozy’s victory as chief of the Union for a Popular
Movement, or UMP, was a crucial first step on his road to a far bigger prize.
He hopes to return to the Elysee Palace in the 2017 presidential election five
years after he failed in his re-election bid against socialist Francois
Hollande.
Business & Economy:
Kisan Vikas Patra: a re-launch with very few
justifications
Despite some criticism and misgivings in certain
quarters, the government has decided to re-introduce the Kisan Vikas Patra
(KVP), a savings instrument that was discontinued three years ago. Positioned
as a savings instrument in line with other continuing ‘small savings schemes’
such as the Public Provident Fund (PPF) and the National Savings Certificates
(NSCs), the new KVP, like its predecessor, has certain advantages as well as
disadvantages over these.
Sports:
Sindhu clinches Macau GP series title again
Two-time World Championship bronze medallist P. V.
Sindhu lifted her first title of the season by successfully defending the
$1,20,000 Macau Grand Prix Gold Trophy after seeing off Kim Hyo Min of Korea in
the women’s singles final.
