NATIONAL NOVEMBER 2009

NATIONAL NOVEMBER 2009

• The Union Public Service Commission has recommended to the government that a Civil Services Aptitude test replace the existing Civil Services (Preliminary) examination.
  
• Cyclone Phyan has hit Maharashtra and caused massive damage to the coastal districts.
  
• The Shipping Ministry has decided to set up a broad-based committee, comprising various agencies, for sharing information on traffic, port and issues related to ship and coastal security. The Committee will comprise the Ministry of Shipping, the Navy, Coast Guard, State police, Customs, members of State maritime boards and the maritime State concerned.
  
• The Union Cabinet has directed the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry to make it mandatory for all oil marketing companies to sell petrol mixed with 5 per cent of ethanol.
  
• India announced that issuance of paper visas stapled to passports by the Embassy of China and its consulates in India would not be considered valid for travel out of the country.
  
• Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released a report revealing that telephone users reached 50.93crore by the end of September 30th. Broadband users reached 7.7million, telephone users were 43.50% and Mobile phone users were 40.31%.
  
• Home Ministry banned the use of prepaid mobile connections in Jammu and Kashmir on security grounds.
  
• India has 25lakh cancer patients and one million new cases are diagnosed across the country every year. In Andhra Pradesh alone, nearly 3 lakh people suffer from the many forms of the disease. These figures were disclosed at a programme to mark National Cancer Awareness Day.
  
• The government will introduce Hib (Haemophilus influenza type b) pentavalent (five-in-one) vaccine in the routine immunisation programme from next year. It will replace the DPT and Hepatitis ‘B’ vaccines. The Hib vaccine will initially be introduced in 10 States that have an immunisation coverage of more than 80 per cent
  
• A special postage stamp in recognition of the contribution of Apollo Hospitals towards Indian healthcare was released by Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology A. Raja.
  
• Twenty-one judges of the Supreme Court, including Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan, have declared their assets, giving details of movable and immovable property owned by them and their spouses in the Supreme Court website.
  
• Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been appointed first Goodwill Ambassador of the ‘Smile Train,’ an international charity that provides free cleft lip and palate surgery to children in need. 
  
• 62nd World Newspaper Congress and other annual events of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) have started in Hyderabad. Apart from the Congress, the 16th World Editors’ Forum and Info Services Expo-2009 are being organised at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre.
  
• Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) conference has been hosted in Chennai. 
  
• The President, Pratibha Patil took off in Sukhoy-30 at an altitude of 8000m from Pune for half an hour. 
  
• Unit 5 of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project, a 220 MW pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR), started power generation at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan. With this, number of reactors in India are 18. The total atomic power capacity has reached 4330MW. 
  
• South Indian Telugu film Sankarabharanam and Malayalam film Bhoothakkannady were screened at International Film Festival of India (IFFI) that was started in Goa. 
  
• Acting on the letter written by the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court, the AP State government decided to suspend mining operations, including transportation of already mined material, in six iron ore mines in Anantapur district. 
  
• According Liberhan Commission report, the demolition of the Babri Masjid was planned, systematic, and was the intended outcome of a climate of communal intolerance deliberately created by the Sangh Parivar and its sister affiliates, including the Bharatiya Janata Party. Report has indicted Advani, Joshi and Vajpayee. 
  
• The Centre on Monday launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. It is one of the eight key missions of the National Action Plan on Climate Change and aimed at ensuring long-term energy security as well as ecological security. 
  
• The mission recommends implementation in three stages leading up to an installed capacity of 20,000 MW by the end of the 13th Plan in 2022. 
  
• 16th International Children’s Film Festival started at Hyderabad on November 14th. 70 movies from different countries were screened at the film festival.