NATIONAL NOVEMBER 2012

NATIONAL NOVEMBER 2012

• The Government on 27 November approved a Scheme under 12th Five Year Plan for carrying out an Anti Piracy Initiative in the audio-visual sector. This new scheme of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has an outlay of Rs2.0 crores for the Plan period 2012-17. Piracy continues to be a key challenge for the Indian film sector and has been a prime reason for decline of Home Video market in India. It is estimated by the FICCI-KPMG report for 2011 that the piracy market accounts for 600-700 million unit sales of DVDs each year with more than 10000 vendors operating in illegitimate DVD market. With increased competition within this sector, prices of pirated DVDs are declining as compared to previous years. Another new emerging threat to legitimate exhibition of films is illegal download of films available on websites.
  
• Some of the major activities planned are as follows: 
  (a) Campaign on piracy through audio-visual, internet and print media; (b) A dedicated web portal; 
  (c) Training programmes and workshops to sensitize police, judicial, administrative officials, multiplex and cinema hall owners about the Copyright Act. (d) Conduct research on effects of piracy and develop public-private strategies to combat piracy; (e) Efforts at inclusion of anti-piracy awareness material in the curriculum of the schools and colleges; 
  The planned activities will be implemented in collaboration with Business Chambers and NGOs, wherever possible. 
  
• The Minister for Environment and Forests, Jayanthi Natarajan has released the National Bear Conservation and Welfare Action Plan on 27 November. India is home to four of the eight species of bears found worldwide – making it one of the only two countries with this diversity, the other being China. The Indian bears include the sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), the Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus), the Himalayan brown bear (Ursus arctos) and the Malayan sun bear (Helarctos malayanus). Sloth bears are endemic to the Indian sub-continent and have gone extinct fairly recently from Pakistan and Bangladesh, underscoring the threats to the species of habitat loss and increasing human interface. The black bears and brown bears inhabit the Himalayan and sub-Himalayan regions, while the sun bears are found in very small numbers along the northeast Indian border. The bears have an almost pan-India distribution, being found in 26 of the 28 Indian states. The national plan summarises the threats faced by bears in India, and outlines management actions to be undertaken by the bear range states for their conservation and welfare. It was an outcome of over a year of collaborative work by the MoEF, WII, state Forest Departments and NGOs including WTI, WSPA and IFAW. 
  
• The Minister of State (IC) for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Prof. K.V.Thomas in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on 27 November, informed that, the Installation of Global Positioning System (GPS) sets had been taken up for implementation in 11th Five Year Plan on pilot basis in States of Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh for tracking the movement of vehicles transporting Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) commodities. The Minister also said that State Government of Tamil Nadu, who have implemented the scheme in two districts, have reported that it has helped in the quantities of food grains allotted from Food Corporation of India (FCI) to the intended godowns reaching without diversion; created moral fear among those involved in transportation of PDS items; enabled tracking the movement of vehicles carrying PDS items at short notice and avoided delays in transportation. State Government of Chhattisgarh has intimated that after installation of GPS sets in trucks transporting TPDS commodities, they are reaching their destination properly and no irregularities have since been found. Prof. Thomas also said that in view of the feedback received from these State Governments, it has been decided to extend this scheme to all the States/UTs. 
  
• The minister of state (independent charge) for power , Jyotiraditya scindia informed Rajya Sabha on 27 November that Planning Commission constituted an expert group under the Chairmanship of B.K. Chaturvedi, Member (Energy), Planning Commission to look into the issues of State Discoms and to suggest measures to improve the financial health of the Distribution Utilities. Minister also said ,In pursuance of the recommendations of this committee, Government of India has approved the scheme for Financial Restructuring of State owned Distribution Companies for financial turnaround by restructuring their debt with support through a Transitional Finance Mechanism by Central Government. The scheme for Financial Restructuring has been formulated keeping in view of poor financial health of State owned Discoms.
  
• The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee on 29 November, released a commemorative postage stamp on Silver Jubilee of Consumer Protection Act, 1986 at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan. Speaking on the occasion, Prof K.V. Thomas, Union Minister of State (I/C) for Consumers Affairs, Food and Public Distribution described the Consumer Protection Act as a ‘Magna Carta’ legislation aimed at protecting the interests of consumers so that they do not fall victim to the unfair trade practices and sub-standard services in the market place. He said that India’s 1.2 billion consumers are the lifeblood of our economy and a vibrant economy depends on effective demand from consumers for affordable quality products and services. The Indian consumers are looking forward to services of international standard in all sectors such as health, banking, insurance, tourism, hospitality, transportation and education, he said. He stated that among the consumers, the disadvantaged groups need our special attention.
  
• As part of the celebration marking the centenary of Indian Cinema, the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata , have announced institution of the first National Students' Film Awards and the Students Film Festival of India . Addressing the media in Goa on 29 November, D J Narain, Director, FTII, Pune said that it is the first initiative of its kind in the country and added that with this initiative they hope to encourage the young minds passionate about film making. The event will be jointly organized by the FTII, Pune along with SRFTI, Kolkata and the Directorate of Film Festivals under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, New Delhi. These Awards will be held alternatively at FTII Pune and SRFTI Kolkata each year. Talking about the awards Narain said that the awards will be given in three categories viz, Fiction, Non-Fiction and Animation. 
  
• President of India Pranab Mukherjee on 30 November, participated in the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly . He also laid the foundation stone for a Hostel for former Legislators and released a Diamond Jubilee Souvenir. The President urged the Legislators to take a solemn pledge on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations to restore the glory and grandeur of our Legislative Bodies. The President said that the Constitution of India places the Legislative Assembly at the centre of governance in a State and conceives of it as the primary instrument for socio-economic change. The primary responsibility of State Legislature is to enact laws required for good governance and administration of the State. List-2 of the Seventh Schedule of our Constitution lists 66 items for State administration and legislation. He reminded the members that being a representative of the people is a matter of privilege and a great honour. This privilege however carries with it great responsibility. Elected representatives have many roles to play and there are competing demands – from one’s Party, from the Assembly and from the constituency. The job of a legislator is a 24/7 responsibility. The legislator have to be sensitive and responsive to the problems and concerns of the people, give voice to their grievances, hardships and problems by raising them on the floor of the Legislature and act as the link between the people and the Government.
  
• The Union Minister for Tourism Dr. K. Chiranjeevi replied for a question in the Lok Sabha on 30 November, that The Ministry of Tourism has launched a Scheme titled ‘Earn While You Learn’ with a view to inculcate appropriate tourism travel traits and knowledge amongst trainees to enable them to work as ‘student volunteers’. The salient features of the Scheme are: i) College-going students pursuing graduation courses or graduates in the age group of 18 to 25 years will be eligible for the training programme. ii) The candidates are selected by following a transparent procedure. iii) The duration of each programme is 21 working days. iv) The course contents is finalized by the Ministry of Tourism/ implementing Institutes in consultation with stakeholders. The Indian Institute of Tourism & Travel Management (IITTM), had been authorized to conduct the training programmes at its Centres in Gwalior, Delhi and Bhubaneshwar and one in the city of Hyderabad. Besides, the Jamia Milia Islamia University was also authorized to conduct a training programme at its campus in Delhi. So far a total number of 3806 candidates have been trained under the scheme. 
  
• Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy inaugurated the first phase of the Ananta Venkat Reddy Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi project (AVRHNSS) near Malyala in Karnool district on 18 November. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that although the project's foundation stone was laid by late Chief Minister N T Rama Rao, the detailed project report was prepared during Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy's regime. He said that again it was the Congress Government that completed the first phase by making sufficient budgetary allocations. He said that the project would irrigate water to six lakh acres and drinking water to 33 lakh people. Considered as one of the biggest lift irrigation scheme in the country, he said that even his constituency Pileru would get water from this project. During the first phase, 3 TMC of water will be lifted from Srisailam Reservoir near Malyala through eight lifts into the 216 km length main canal, which takes the water to a reservoir at Jeedipalle in Kalyanadurgam of Anantapur district. It will help irrigate around 1.98 lakh acres including 80,000 acres in Kurnool and 1.18 lakh acres in Anantapur districts apart from providing drinking water to 10 lakh people in 144 villages.Balancing reservoirs were also built at Krishnagiri (0.161 TMC), Pattikonda (1.126 TMC) in Kurnool district and Jeedipalle (1.694 TMC) in Anantapur district. The project has been divided into the two phases and once completed; it would draw 40 TMC feet of Krishna water from Srisailam reservoir and lift it in stages to a height of 800 ft into 8 balancing reservoirs through a total length of 565 km. 
  
• BJP suspended Rajya Sabha Member Ram Jethmalani from the Party 
  The BJP (Bhartiya Janta Party) on 25 November 2012 suspended senior leader and Rajya Sabha member Ram Jethmalani from the party for gross indiscipline. Ram Jethmalani recently, openly attacked the party for criticizing the appointment of the new CBI chief. He had also challenged the party to take action against him on the issue. The party had also taken strong exception Ram Jethmalani’s public outburst against senior party leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley who had written to Prime Minister expressing their reservations over the appointment of Ranjit Sinha as the new Director of the CBI. 
  
• Weightage for Telugu medium students in govt jobs likely 
  Andhra Pradesh State government is taking all the necessary steps in reinstating the rule of providing five per cent weightage in government jobs to all the candidates who completed their education in Telugu medium announced Minister for Primary Education S Sailajanath. Addressing the media on 26 November, Sailajanath said the high rank officials of primary, secondary and higher education departments and chairman of Official Language Commission Mandali Buddha Prasad reviewed the comprehensive implementation of mother tongue in all schools and colleges of the State. He said that they had elaborate discussion on making Telugu subject, Telugu culture, music, literature and traditions compulsory in all categories from class one to degree. They came to the conclusion to change the guidelines to write Sanskrit paper in intermediate in Telugu script, which is Devanagari script. 
  
• National Crime Record Bureau Report Revealed Delhi Tops List of Theft Cases
  A recent National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) report released in the fourth week of November 2012 revealed that Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi are not safe anymore to live or work at. In terms of theft cases, while Mumbai maintained the 3rd position, Delhi topped this list followed by the IT city- Bangalore. Between 2007 and 2011, Maharashtra was leading in theft cases over other Indian states. Maharashtra topped the charts of theft cases across the residential areas, railways, commercial establishments as well as banks. In the highway robberies, UP took the lead. The report revealed that Delhi was leading in the theft cases with 32240 cases registered between 2007 and 2011 while the victims lost their valuables worth 290 crore Rupees. On the other hand, Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad had 21332, 15650 and 11419 theft cases over this time period. 
  
• Nuclear Waste Would Not Be Dumped At Kolar Gold Mine: Govt. To SC 
  The Union Government of India on 28 November 2012 cleared its intention in front of the Supreme Court about dumping the Uranium waste in useless gold mines at the Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) in Karnataka from Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) in its supplementary affidavit made clear before the court that there was nothing mentioned in earlier affidavit which indicated that the union government identified Kolar Gold Mine as the storage for nuclear waste. In the early affidavit which was dated 7 November 2012, NPCIL had stated that the underground chamber in Kolar gold mines was developed for underground research laboratory (URL). This affidavit was filed in context of the complaint of apex court in which it ordered the Centre to explain how the nuclear waste of the Kudankulam Nuclear Plant would be disposed. Protests against the action of centre were organised following the call of bandh by political parties. 
  
• India ranks 78th in guaranteeing access to civil justice 
  India ranks 78th among 97 countries in guaranteeing access to all civil justice, a latest report released on 28 November said, while its neighbouring country Sri Lanka leads the South Asian nations in most dimensions of the rule of law. The 'Rule of Law Index 2012' report by World Justice Project's provides country-by-country scores and rankings for eight areas of the rule of law. India, the report said, has a robust system of checks and balances (ranked thirty-seventh worldwide and second among lower middle income countries), an independent judiciary, strong protections for freedom of speech, and a relatively open government (ranking fiftieth globally and fourth among lower-middle income countries). "Administrative agencies do not perform well (ranking 79th) and the civil court system ranks poorly (ranking 78) mainly because of deficiencies in the areas of court congestion, enforcement, and delays in processing cases," the report said. "Corruption is a significant problem (ranking 83rd), and police discrimination and abuses are not unusual. Order and security including crime, civil conflict, and political violence is a serious concern (ranked second lowest in the world)," the report observed. According to the report, Sri Lanka outperforms its regional peers in all but two dimensions of the rule of law. "The country also outpaces most lower-middle income countries in several areas, ranking second in criminal justice, and third in the dimensions of open government, effective regulatory enforcement, and absence of corruption," it said. "On the other hand, violence and human rights violations related to the legacy of a protracted civil conflict are serious problems," the report said. Pakistan shows weaknesses in most dimensions when compared to its regional and income group peers, the report said. 
  
• After Facebook controversies, govt modifies Sec 66(A) of IT Act 
  Following the uproar over arrests made under Section 66 (A) of the IT Act, the government on Thursday issued guidelines that state approval from an officer of DCP level at rural areas and IG level in metros will have to be sought before registering complaints under the controversial section. Last week two girls were arrested over a Facebook post criticising the bandh like situation in Mumbai after Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray's death while another boy was arrested on Wednesday for posting "vulgar" comments against MNS chief Raj Thackeray and the people of Maharashtra on the social networking site. "... the concerned police officer or police station may not register any complaints unless he has obtained prior approval at the level of an officer not below the DCP rank in urban and rural areas and IG level in metros," sources said. The government is confident that once these regulations are put in place, such instances will not be repeated, the sources added. "There are procedural difficulties faced..., we are going to circulate to all state governments' as guidelines with regard to registering any complaints under Section 66 (A)," sources said. Section 66 A, which is a bailable offence provides for a jail term of up to three years. 
  
• Supreme Court to hear PIL to amend IT Act 
  Voicing concern over recent incidents of people being arrested for posting alleged offensive messages on websites, the Supreme Court on 29 November, agreed to hear a PIL seeking amendment to the Information Technology Act. A bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir said that it was considering to take suo motu cognisance of recent incidents and wondered why nobody had so far challenged the particular provision of the IT Act. 
  
• Supreme Court issues guidelines to curb eve-teasing at public places 
  The Supreme Court has slammed the government on 30 November for failing to curb sexual harassment of women and said undercover female police should be stationed in public places. The top court urged action to stop what is commonly known in India as eve-teasing, which refers to a wide variety of harassment such as molestation or flashing."We notice that there is no uniform law in this country to curb Eve-teasing effectively," judges KS Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra said. The court directed the state governments to put female police officers in all public spaces including markets, parks, beaches and public transport. It warned that if no steps were taken to combat the problem the consequences could be "disastrous".Numerous cases have come to light where young girls are harassed, with some suffering serious psychological trauma and even committing suicide. Last year a survey by the International Centre for Research on Women of 1,000 teenage boys in Mumbai showed that the overwhelming majority viewed the harassment of women as harmless and inoffensive.There have long been complaints that police in India are dismissive of sexual harassment as a serious crime and many argue that this mentality is reinforced by the idea that victims are only being "teased". Many incidents go unreported, activists say, because women believe they will simply be courting ridicule and even further harassment. 
  
• AP to become first state to give statutory status to SC, ST Sub-Plan 
  The landmark SC, ST Sub-Plan Bill which was introduced by Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy in the state Assembly on 30 November amid apprehensions among the political leaders on whether the funds were non -lapsable or not and several other such issues. Though several amendments were proposed the members were unanimous on the proposed Bill named Planning, Allocation and Utilisation of Finanacial Resources Bill 2012. With all the political parties extending support to the government move, the Bill is likely to be passed without any hurdles. This will make Andhra Pradesh the first state in the country to give statutory status to the SC, ST sub-plan. Moving the Bill, the Chief Ministyer highlighted the objectives of the Bill after which the House was adjourned till Saturday. The Bill will be discussed for two days and the Legislative Council will take up debate on it during the winter session beginning on December 10. Kiran Kumar Reddy said that the Sub -Plan would be implemented from the next financial year. Explaining the aims and objectives, the Chief Minister stated that the Deputy CM chaired Cabinet Sub-Committee prepared this report after taking the opinion of the state legislators, parliamentarians and all the concerned stakeholders. The decision to constitute this committee was taken after the budget session of the Assembly concluded in March and the final report was submitted in August, he said. Reddy observed that the funds meant for SCs and STs were diverted for other purposes by various governments all these years. Sub-Plan funds were utilised for cleaning of the Hussain Sagar Lake or for laying and beautification of the Necklace Road etc. and no one could deny this fact, he said.
• The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee released a commemorative postage stamp on late Ramgopal Ji Maheshwari, on the eve of the start of his birth centenary year (November 20, 2011 to November 20, 2012) at a function on 20.11.2012 at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Ramgopal Ji Maheshwari was a freedom fighter, doyen of journalism, a committed social worker and a person who left no stone unturned for the cause of promotion of Hindi language. He started biweekly paper ‘Nava Bharat’ from Nagpur. He successfully directed the publication of Nava Bharat as Chief Editor and was known as “Bhishma Pitamaha” of journalism in Central and Western India. Besides being involved in the freedom movement, Ramgopal Maheshwari also made great efforts to eradicate conservative customs from the Maheshwari Samaj and make it more progressive. 
  
• The Minister of State for Railways, Kotla Surya Prakash Reddy in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on 23 November, informed that Indian Railways is establishing its first coal based captive power plant of 1000 Mega Watt (MW) capacity at Nabinagar in Bihar in Joint Venture (JV) with National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) which is under construction. Indian Railways has further planned to set up two more captive power plants in Railway land, one 1320 MW capacity coal based power plant at Adra in Purulia district of West Bengal is Joint Venture with National Thermal Power Corporation and another 700 MW gas power plant at ThakurIi near Kalyan in Maharashtra. Fuel linkage and environmental clearance for both these plants are is process.
  
• Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Gulam Nabi Azad on 24 November, announced that National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Cardio Care Centre (NCCC) would be set up at the second campus of All India Institute of Medical Sciences(AIIMS) at Badsa in Jhajjar district of Haryana. Accompanied by Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the union minister also inaugurated the Outreach OPD of the AIIMS-2 at Badsa village, 47 km from the AIIMS- Delhi on Gurgaon-Badli Road in Haryana. Azad also announced that AIIMS-2 would be developed as a world class institution and Expression of Interest has already been invited for drafting its master plan through international bidding.AIIMS-2 Campus is being setup over an area of 300 acres, which has been provided free of cost by the Haryana Government. The union minister also launched the free medicine facility at AIIMS-2, as per which generic medicines would be provided free of cost to all the patients getting treatment at the OOPD. "With 600 beds, the NCI will be biggest Cancer Institute in the country and bigger than even the Tata Cancer Institute, Mumbai. It will be a comprehensive cancer centre having all the facilities to deal with various types of cancers including research and development", he stated. The National Cardiac Care Centre is also proposed to be established at the same campus. 
  
• Arvind Kejriwal on 24 November 2012 announced the name of his newly formed Political Party as Aam Admi Party. The Party on the same day also adopted its Constitution that foresee establishment of Swaraj in the country. All this happened in presence of about 320 people. The name would be publicly accepted on 26 November at Jantar Mantar.The party would work with an aim of providing more say in law making to Gram Sabhas and would also work to make Judiciary accessible to Common Man. The newly formed party also cleared its stand that it would start its electoral fight from Delhi, where the Assembly elections were due by the end of 2013. The Party had also filed an application with the Election Commission to allot a symbol to the party. 
  
• Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Tariq Anwar on 23 November, in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha informed that, the agriculture credit flow during the year 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 was Rs. 3,84,514 crore, Rs.4,68,291 crore and Rs. 5,11,029 crore respectively. During this period credit flow to small and marginal farmers was Rs. 1,22,654 crore, Rs. 1,67,739 crore and Rs. 2,27,835 crore respectively which is 32%, 36% and 45% of the total loan disbursed to the farmers during these years. The Government has taken several measures to improve credit flow to small and marginal farmers. These measures includes fixation of annual targets for improving agricultural credit flow, provision of crop loans upto Rs. 3.00 lakh @ 4% per annum to such farmers who repay their loan as per the repayment schedule fixed by the banks, extention of benefit of interest subvention scheme to small & marginal farmers having Kisan Credit Card for a further period upto six months for storing their produce in warehouses against negotiable warehouse receipts, collateral free loan upto Rs. 1.00 lakh, implementation of revival package for short term cooperative credit structure in the country etc.
  
• The Minister of Panchayati Raj V. Kishore Chandra Deo in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on 22 November, informed that the Ministry of Panchayati Raj is implementing e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project (MMP) that addresses core aspects of Panchayats’ functioning viz. Planning, Monitoring, Implementation, Budgeting, Accounting, Social Audit etc., with the aim to make their functioning more efficient, accountable and transparent. Imparting computer education at rural level is not sought to be achieved through this Mission Mode Project. 
  
• An agreement for World Bank assistance of US$ 70 million for the “Additional Financing of Karnataka Health Systems Development and Reform Project” was signed on 22 November in New Delhi. The said agreement was signed by Prabodh Saxena, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government of India and Mr. Michael Haney, Operations Advisor, World Bank (India) on behalf of the World Bank and Dr. Vishal R., Project Administrator on behalf of the Government of Karnataka. The main objective is to improve the health services delivery, public-private collaboration and financing particularly for the benefit of underserved and vulnerable groups in Karnataka. The additional financing of the Project will be implemented until March, 2016
  
• Tripura government announced that it is going set up two elephant reserves for preservation of the species whose numbers had vastly depleted due to large-scale hunting and migration to neighbouring country of Bangladesh. As per State Forest Minister Jitendra Chowdhury two reserves is going to be a part of elephant conservation projects and land for one at Gandhari in Amarpur sub-division of Gomati district. The latest census by the State Board for Wildlife shows that the population of elephants in the state has increased to 59 from 38 in 2002 supporting the fact that just about 40 years ago the animals were often seen even on the streets of the capital town of Agartala. According to British surveyor John Hunter's report, there was a time during the British rule when elephants outnumbered humans in the state and it was the reason why the colonisers did not consider taking administrative control. With the time, there Number went down by the cutting of forests for construction of a hydel power project on Gomati River. So, with losing their habitat the elephants started migrating from Gomati reserve forest area to the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh where forests were in abundant. Due to the ever-dwindling forests and loss of habitat, the elephants have now taken to invading human habitation often killing people, damaging crops and razing houses. 
  
• A draft report recommending that the Prime Minister should be brought under the purview of the Lokpal Bill has been adopted by a Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha on 19 November. The Select Committee has sought that the Prime Minister be brought under the ambit of the Lokpal, barring departments like Intelligence, Atomic Energy which is RTI exempted. 
  
• Government will launch the pay-out of direct cash subsidy to people through the Aadhaar-based system in 51 districts of the country from January 1, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on 24 November. He said the government intends to complete roll out of the direct cash transfer through the Aadhaar system in the entire country by the end of 2013. The Finance Minister noted that the government spends “thousands and thousands of crores of rupees” on pension and various subsidies.“We are going to launch the ambitious programme of pay-out of direct cash subsidy to people through the Aadhaar system in 51 districts across 15 States”, he said. Mr Chidambaram said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will take a meeting of the cash transfer committee on Monday in the run up to the implementation of the scheme from the beginning of next year. Stating that the economy is in a slowdown mode, he said the economic growth is expected to be 5.5 per cent in the second quarter. “For us 8 per cent growth is not an aspiration. We must aspire for over 8 per cent growth”, he said.
  
• Commission of Small Savings, which was famous in Telugu as ‘Chinna Mothaala Podupu Samstha’ and has been collecting small deposits from rural areas since 1981 will be no more. The Cabinet meeting took a decision on annulling the organization and sending the staff working in it to their parent departments. The government has been using the organization as a window to get loans from public through small savings. All the amounts are being used by the government as loan amounts for the last 32 years. Speaking to the press on 23 November, Minister for Information and Public Relations D K Aruna said that the government took the decision basing on the report submitted by Syamala Gopinath committee appointed by Government of India. She said that the amounts that were collected earlier by the Commission would be paid by the state government after completion of the time period
  
• A coastal chain of static sensors positioned along the coast of Andhra Pradesh was inaugurated by Ministry of Defence in a ceremony held at Coast Guard District Headquarters in Visakhapatnam on 23 November 2012. The event signified the operationalisation of the network on the East coast.A complete surveillance mechanism along the coast was needed post 26/11 incident. A chain of static sensors were planned to monitor the high sensitive traffic density areas along the coast of India. The coastal surveillance network will provide an integrated picture of all the vessels traversing along the coast. As part of this project, a chain of radar stations along the coast line of Andhra Pradesh were installed by the Ministry of Defence. The Chain of Static Sensors project being steered by the Indian Coast Guard, envisages fitment of high end surveillance gadgets on lighthouses and masts at various locations.
  
• Smt. Krishna Tirath, Minister of State (I/C), Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) inaugurated the Vatsalya Mela on at Dilli Haat on 14 November. Speaking at the occasion, Smt. Tirath said that the Vatsalya Mela is celebrated every year since the last six years to sensitise the people and spread awareness and information about the various schemes of the Ministry taken up for the development of women and children. The 6 day Vatslya Mela, Smt. Tirath said is inaugurated to mark the birth anniversary of Pandit Nehru, 14th November, which is also celebrated as Children’s Day. Its closing ceremony on 19th November which marks the birth anniversary of the first woman Prime Minister of the country, Smt. Indira Gandhi shall be celebrated as ‘Shakti Diwas’ , the Minister noted. The Minister also stated that a Women’s Helpline on the lines of Childline is on the anvil.The twin theme for this year’s Mela is ‘Child Rights’ and ‘Safety & Protection of Women’.
  
• Tripura government will set up two elephant reserves for preservation of the species whose numbers have vastly depleted due to large-scale poaching and migration to neighbouring Bangladesh. State Forest Minister Jitendra Chowdhury said the two reserves would be part of elephant conservation projects.
  
• A rare 76 carat diamond named after the Austrian owner Archduke Joseph August that was mined from the erstwhile Golconda Kingdom was auctioned on 14 November 2012 at a record price of Euros16.9 million or approximately 118 crore rupees at the auction, which was held at Geneva. The auction was held at Christie’s. sources said that this was the world record for the Golconda diamond and also the world record amount per carat for any colourless diamond. Archduke Joseph diamond has same heredity like the two other renowned diamonds- Hope and Koh-i-noor. These three diamonds have been mined from Kollur and Golconda mines. 
  
• The Oxford English Dictionary has chosen “Omnishambles” as the UK Word of the Year 2012. The word exactly is defined as the situation that has been mismanaged comprehensively and is characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations. This word was coined by the writer Tony Roche, and was used for the first time at the end of the first episode of the The Thick of It, BBCs political satire’s third series that was broadcasted in 2009. 
  
• The water resources ministry will observe Nov 19, the birth anniversary of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, as Water Conservation Day to create awareness about the need to conserve water. According to an official spokesman, Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat will chair a function in the capital Nov 19, which will include a technical presentation by the Central Water Commission, the Central Ground Water Board and Delhi Jal Board on water conservation. Indira Gandhi's birth anniversary is also observed as National Integration Day. The ministry has prepared draft of new water policy which is awaiting approval from National Water Resources Council (NWRC).
  
• The Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) on 12 November withdrew its support to the UPA at the Centre and the state government, accusing the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh of giving a free run to Sangh activists. MIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi took exception to RSS activists allegedly being allowed to erect a tarpaulin on a religious structure at Charminar yesterday, which, he said, was a violation of the state High Court order to maintain status quo.
  
• The Assam State Election Commission announced 50 per cent reservation of seats in the panchayat election for women in a bid to socially and politically empower women. This decision will come into effect from the forthcoming panchayat election which is likely to be held in February -March 2013. In last panchayat poll, one -third seats were reserved for women. The state has over two thousand two hundred gram panchayats, 188 anchalik panchayats and 20 zilla parishads. The Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) women would also enjoy the 50 per cent seat reservation for women in the forthcoming panchayats. In last panchayat poll, one -third seats were reserved for women. The state has over two thousand two hundred gram panchayats, 188 anchalik panchayats and 20 zilla parishads.
  
• Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy announced that three more competitive exam coaching centres for minority students would be opened at Nizamabad, Cuddapah and Chittoor, soon. There are four centres already functioning at Hyderabad, Guntur, Visakhapatnam and Kurnool. The Chief Minister also sanctioned Rs 15 crore for the repairs of mosques and churches in the State. Budget for minorities in the state was Rs 30 crore during 2004-05, which was enhanced to Rs 489 crore, and 17,000 students were being given scholarships during 2004-05 amounting to Rs.2 crore, now enhanced to Rs.230 crore for scholarships to 1.5 lakh students during 2011-12. As the State Government introduced 4 per cent reservations for minorities during 2004, 30,239 engineers and more than 1000 doctors got benefitted and these reservations were extended for another ten years.
  
• The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 came into force on 14 November 2012. The Act was passed in the Indian Parliament in May 2012. The Act under its ambit defines child as a person below the age-group of 18 and is gender neutral and have a clear definition for all types of sexual abuses like sexual harassment, penetrative or non-penetrative sexual abuse, and pornography. The Act also has defined the punishments following the kind and harshness of the offence that includes life time imprisonment for heinous crimes of sexual assaults and abuses. The Act under its ambit has tried to set up the standards of International Child Protection rights and has made it mandatory to report the sexual offences against any child. Punishment against the person trying the allegedly defame any person that also includes a child via false information is mentioned in this Act. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 has defined the ways to provide a child friendly process of offence reporting to evidence recording, trial and investigations. Section 45 of the Act allows the Union Government to make the necessary changes in the Act, whenever and wherever applicable. The Act has also defined the facts like qualification and experience of the translators, interpreters, special educators, experts, arrangement for protection and care at times of emergencies and emergency treatment of child as well as the Compensation amount that is payable to any victim of sexual abuse. This Act has also cleared that the provisions of this Act would be monitored by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, periodically. All the rules have been structured and framed relying upon the Juvenile Act, 2000 for making arrangements in regards to the care and protection of the child, the devised rules of the act also would pay attention to the fact that the child is not re-victimised at time of investigation as well as trial. The Act has also made it clear that under situations in which the child who is being taken for the medical facility on an emergency factor no documentation or magisterial requisition would be demanded before the treatment. The Rules laid down in the Act also had defined the criterion of awarding the compensations by the special court that includes loss of educational and employment opportunities along with disability, disease or pregnancy suffered by the subject as the consequence of the abuse. This compensation would be awarded at the interim stage as well as after the trial ends.
  
• The Andhra Pradesh government’s decentralised rice procurement scheme will be commencing from November 16 from Jammikunta village in Karimnagar district. The scheme is aimed at reducing transport cost, supplying quality rice to the ration card holders and paying remunerative price to the farmers. Civil Supplies Minister D Sridhar Babu said that the government selected seven districts including Warangal, Karimnagar, Nalgonda, Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore and Chittoor for levy rice procurement. “We decided to procure 11 lakh tonne of rice from millers and farmers in these seven districts with a cost of Rs 2,530 crore. The government would save not only transport charges but storage problems will also be addressed. The levy rice would be milled and used for the public distribution system in the same districts”, he said. Saying that the state needs 40 lakh tonne of rice for its PDS in a year, he said that the government decided to achieve the procurement target through civil supplies corporation. He said that a cell headed by concerned district collector for procuring fine rice would monitor the quality of the rice to be procured from the millers. 
  
• After a gap of 14 years, a full-fledged youth festival –YUVA TARANG- is being hosted at the University, in which nearly 1000 students from across 75 universities in the Central Zone are expected to showcase their talent. All the universities in the country have been divided into five zones viz East, West, North, South and Central. Osmania along with other universities in Telengana region and also from six states-UP, MP, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, Orissa have been placed in Central zone. University officials confirmed participation from all the 75 universities in the zone. The Festival was last held in OU in 1998 when Prof Ramakrishnaiah was the Vice Chancellor. 
  
• India tops in global pneumonia deaths of children under five years of age with 3.97 lakh reported in 2010, says a UNICEF study. The third annual International Vaccine Access Center's (IVAC) Pneumonia Progress Report 2012 says that almost 1,088 children under 5 years of age die everyday in India, an increase of 6.7 per cent from 2008 IVAC data which pegged the deaths at 3.71 lakh annually. Recent estimates from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) show that pneumonia continues to be the number one killer of children around the world - causing 18 per cent of all child mortality, an estimated 1.3 million child deaths in 2011 alone.
  
• A Dalit enclave in a village in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district was named after Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to mark her visit on 17 November. Honouring the visiting dignitary, the local authorities grandiosely re-named the segregated Scheduled Caste (SC) enclave in Papasanipalli village as Aung San Suu Kyi Colony. A huge banner with the new name of the colony greeted the Noble laureate during her visit to the village. Thanking the villagers for this gesture, Suu Kyi said this had given her a special link to the village. "My name means broad collection of strange victories and I hope you will have bright and unusual victories," she told the villagers. "Victory doesn't come by itself. You have to work hard for it," she said. Andhra Pradesh's Revenue Minister N. Raghuveera Reddy, who translated Suu Kyi's remarks in Telugu, advised villagers to take inspiration from her life. "She spent 25 years in jail for the sake of democracy," the minister told the gathering.
  
• India Tourism has launched two new campaigns : an International Campaign called ‘Find What You Seek’ and a Domestic Campaign called ‘Go Beyond’. These campaigns where launched at the recently concluded “World Travel Market-2012”, which was held at London. The Union Tourism Minister Chiranjeevi who attended WTM- 2012 told media persons in New Delhi on 9 November, that the launch of these campaigns reflects a very important paradigm shift in our strategy to promote India within the country and abroad. The ‘Go Beyond’ campaign focuses on promoting lesser known destinations to domestic as well as international tourists. He said “Till now, we had been promoting India internationally from the point of view of the destinations. The Incredible India campaigns which we launched in 2002 has been extremely successful. In our ‘Take II’ of the Incredible India campaign, we are going to focus on the consumer”. The Tourism Minister said the second phase of Incredible India campaign is “Find What You Seek”. Chiranjeevi also announced that during WTM 2012, India was conferred with three awards by the World Travel Awards organization. These awards were, Asia’s leading destination, Asia’s leading tourist attraction – Taj Mahal and Asia’s leading tourist Board. The Union Tourism Minister said that India would be hosting the next meeting of the UNWTO Regional Commission for South Asia and Far East & Pacific in April – May next year in Hyderabad. India is currently the chairperson of the UNWTO Regional Commission for South Asia. Chiranjeevi said India’s position was 38th in the world in terms of World Tourist Arrivals and 17th in terms of World Tourism Receipts. Expressing conern over this fact he said our endeavor is to increase India’s share to 1% in the World Tourist Arrivals by 2016. The Tourism Minister said he is aware of hygiene and sanitation concerns. To improve these standards, Tourism Ministry has launched ‘Campaign Clean India’. 
  
• The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee dedicated to the nation a new Integrated Terminal Building of Swami Vivekananda Airport at Raipur on 7 November . Speaking on the occasion, he wished the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airports Authority of India all success in their endeavours for building state-of-the-art infrastructure in the country. He expressed the hope that the terminal would not only support growth and prosperity of Chhattisgarh but also that of the country as a whole. 
  The President said that it is of critical importance that airports are built across India that conform to international standards and are safe, efficient, comfortable as well as convenient to passengers. 
• The first ever National Conference on Ageing was held by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment in New Delhi on 6 November. Inaugurating the two day conference the Minister, Kumari Selja said -It gives me immense pleasure to be here at the National Conference on Ageing. During the course of this Conference, we will deliberate on important issues relating to senior citizens for further strengthening our efforts to strive for an inclusive society - a society that embraces all ages.It is a well-known fact that the 21st century is witnessing a gradual transition to an ageing society all over the world. Ageing poses twin challenges. First, we need to ensure care and protection of the elderly so that they can lead a healthy, dignified and productive life. Second, the older people must be looked upon as partners in progress rather than as a burden on the society, which is the case if their existence is seen from the prism of contribution to the GDP. As per the 2001 census, the total population of the Senior Citizens (60+) was 7.7 crore. This was composed of 3.8 crore males and 3.9 crore females. The population of the senior citizens thus constituted 7.5% of the total population in 2001. The final figures of the 2011 census on this subject are not out yet. However, as per the Report of the Technical Group on Population Projections, constituted by the National Commission on Population in May 2006,and published by the Office of the Registrar General of India, this figure is projected to go up to 12.40% of the population by 2026. The social implications of this demographic shift will be profound. The existing National Policy on Older Persons (NPOP) was announced in 1999. This envisages State support for the elderly to ensure financial and food security, health care, shelter, protection against abuse and exploitation, and training of human resources for their care and support etc. An important element of the policy is that it recognizes the need for special attention to vulnerable older persons, particularly the older women, and the need for expansion of social and community services for the older persons. An institutional mechanism has been put in place to monitor the implementation of the policy and to advise the Government in the formulation and implementation of programmes for the aged through a body called the National Council for Older Persons. This body has now been renamed as the National Council of Senior Citizens. More than twelve years have elapsed since the announcement of the National Policy on Older Persons, 1999. Keeping in view the changing demographics, socio-economic pattern and technological advances, the Government is considering a revision of this Policy. A draft of the new Policy has been prepared and is under discussion with the stakeholders to ensure the widest possible consultation. Giving legislative backing to the Policy, the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act was enacted in 2007. This is a landmark legislation in our response to the challenges of ageing. 
  
• In an endeavor to create a roadmap for the next five years for innovative technologies and policies for biofuels development in India, the Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India along with The Energy and Resources Institute(TERI) launched a two day International Summit on ‘Bioenergy: Algae Biofuel & Synthetic Biology 2012’ in New Delhi on 5 November. Minister of Science and Technology & Earth Sciences Jaipal Reddy inaugurated the Summit. The Minister also released “The Bioenergy Road-Map – Vision 2020” of Department of Biotechnology.The summit is witnessing the participation from renowned scientists from over 7 countries, including India, USA, France, Belgium, Malaysia, and South Africa along with 10 eminent international speakers. 
  
• Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor has inaugurated the E9 Ministerial Review Meeting on 9 November in NewDelhi. He said in the meeting that , the universal goal of 'Education for All' will not be achieved globally if it was not achieved in the E9 countries. The E-9 Initiative was launched in 1993 in New Delhi at the 'Education For All' Summit of the Nine High-Population Countries. The 'E' stands for education and the '9' represents the nine highly populated countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan.Dr Tharoor noted that some countries might face greater challenges than others in meeting the EFA goals by the 2015 target date, and that the quality problem was more acute in the developing world, in parts due to the rapid expansion of access.Prof. Ms. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa'I, outgoing chair of the E9 and Minister of Education of Nigeria and Ms. Irina Bokova, DG of UNESCO also addressed the meeting. India today assumed the chair of the E-9 Secretariat from 2012-2014. India, in cooperation with UNESCO, is hosting the ninth E-9 Ministerial Review Meeting in New Delhi from 9- 10 November, 2012.This year’s theme of the meeting, on ‘Inclusive, Relevant and Quality Education for All’, looks at similar challenges that the E-9 countries are facing, country-specific developments in education since the last E-9 meeting in 2010 with ongoing monitoring till 2015. 
  Based on the discussions, the E9 countries will chalk out a plan of action to further relevant quality education in the respective countries which will be followed up over the next two years. Their focus will be on the challenges of improving education quality and how those challenges can be addressed collectively and cooperatively by E-9 Countries. 
  
• Two Judges Appointed to the High Court of Andhra Pradesh in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of article 217 of the Constitution of India, the President has appointed Justice Gurijala Krishna Mohan Reddy and Justice Kolla Surya Appa Rao, Additional Judges of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, as Judges of that High Court, in that order of seniority, with effect from the date they assume charge of their office. 
• Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Minister, Sharad Pawar is to inaugurate a world-class institution in food processing sector – called NIFTEM - at kundli, Haryana, on 7th November. NIFTEM or the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management has been conferred Deemed University status. The institute has begun its first academic session this summer. It will confer B. Tech. (Food Technology and Management), M. Tech. and Ph. D. in the area of Food Technology and Management. One important aspect of its functioning is that it has ‘theme centres’ on different sectors such as dairying, cereal-based products, animal protein, beverages, confectionery, and fruit and vegetable based foods. NIFTEM would work actively in setting food standards, businesses incubation and information sharing. It would be an apex institution in the field of food technology and management and would coordinate its various activities with other institutions in this area. NIFTEM would actively collaborate with the world’s best institutions to promote development of path-breaking technologies, which are globally relevant. This will help NIFTEM become an international centre of excellence. 
  
• Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad Chairs the Opening Session of International Conference on Population and Development at Dhaka on 10 November. Partners in Population and Development (PPD) is an intergovernmental initiative created specifically for the purpose of expanding and improving South-to-South collaboration in the fields of reproductive health, population, and development. PPD was launched at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), when ten developing countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America formed an intergovernmental alliance to help implement the Cairo Program of Action (POA). PPD has presently 25 members countries committed to the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action, willing to provide political, technical and financial support to South-South Cooperation. PPD is currently chaired by Ghulam Nabi Azad, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, who has been unanimously elected to the post in the 16th Annual Board Meeting of PPD held in Pretoria, South Africa in 2011.Ghulam Nabi Azad, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, who is currently on an official tour to Bangladesh capital Dhaka, on 10 november, participated in the opening session of the two-day International Conference on “Evidence for Action: South-South Collaboration for ICPD beyond 2014”, organized jointly by Partners in Population and Development (PPD) and the Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh.
• The National Innovation Council (NInC) has presented its second annual ‘Report to the People’, 2012, to president of India, Pranab Mukherjee, at Rahstrapati Bhavan at the second Global Innovation Roundtable (GIR), held on November 1 and 2 in New Delhi, India. The NInC report outlined its activities and initiatives undertaken to strengthen the innovation ecosystem in the country in the past year. The NInC, chaired by Sam Pitroda, adviser to the prime minister, hosted the second GIR, which sets the agenda for global cooperation in innovation. At the concluding session on ‘Collaboration on innovation’, numerous experiences, insights and ideas were shared by the participants. One of the discussions was on how existing educational content could be aggregated, filtered and indexed under the guidance of global domain experts and made available on mobile devices like Aakash. The roundtable saw participation from heads of innovation policy from 20 governments across the world as well as leading global innovation experts. Ministerial level representatives from countries like Europe, the US, United Kingdom, Africa, innovation experts from organisations such as Nesta, Innovation Norway, United Nations, the World Bank, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation etc, private enterprises, ministers and policy makers from the Indian government and members of the National Innovation Council, participated. Pitroda highlighted the Council’s commitment towards innovation in the education system. He informed that the government has created the National Knowledge Network, a high bandwidth network to connect all the educational and research institutions in India, a project that provides an unprecedented platform for leveraging ICT to launch innovation in diverse sectors. Pitroda also informed that the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) will be launching 1,000 scholarships under the national innovation scholarship scheme from 2013. He further added that the MHRD in consultation with NIC and the Planning Commission has identified institutes where five new design innovation centres will be co-located and become functional in the year 2012-13. The prime minister constituted the NInC in September 2010, which began its work in the same year in November and presented its first year ‘Report to the People’ in November 2011. 
  
• SushilKumar Shinde, Union Home Minister is participating in the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO)-Interpol Ministerial Meeting to be held at Rome, Italy on November 5, 2012, along with an Indian Delegation. The Home Minister would be addressing the General Assembly on Terrorist violence. 
  
• The government has decided to extend ex-servicemen benefits to retired central paramilitary personnel. The move will please 17 lakh serving and retired personnel from the forces, who were treated like any other government employee. The Cabinet on 1 November, passed a proposal moved by the home ministry to declare retired personnel from Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) as "ex-central police personnel" and extend them several benefits that ex-servicemen from the armed forces get. 
• Weavers from India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka will participate at the week-long “Wheel of Life” Expo/Workshop exhibition, where handloom products from their respective countries will be on display and on sale. The “Wheel of Life” Expo/Workshop will be inaugurated and declared open by the Secretary to the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, Smt. Sangita Gairola on 1st November 2012. The event is organized by the SAARC Cultural Centre, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, and Development Commissioner for Handlooms, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. 
  
• The objectives of the event is to execute and display the skills of the weavers, as well as bring them to one platform for interaction, and help them find new markets and new market trend. Most importantly, it is to educate visitors, both domestic and foreigners about the unique and fascinating technique involved in weaving and to highlight the traditional handloom of the region. 
  
• Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the Indian Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations and Chairman, National Innovation Council will host the first global press conference on Twitter to discuss ‘Global Innovation Roundtable’. The Global Twitter Press Conference will be conducted on 2 November, the concluding day of the Global Innovation Roundtable hosted by the National Innovation Council, Government of India. The National Innovation Council is organizing the Second Global Innovation Roundtable on the 1st and 2nd November 2012 in New Delhi, India. The Roundtable will see participation of leaders of Innovation from more than 15 countries, participating in 10 sessions spread over two days. The roundtable will offer a forum for sharing ideas and experiences among all the participating countries to identify mechanisms to collaborate on inclusive innovation that meets global needs of inclusion, access and equity. The National Innovation Council, Government of India, hosted the first Global Innovation Roundtable in November 2011 in New Delhi, India. 
  
• The National Innovation Council was set up by the Prime Minister of India, Dr.Manmohan Singh, in 2010. The Council helps implement strategies for Inclusive Innovation in India and is preparing a Roadmap for Innovation for 2010-2020. The Council will present its second annual ‘Report to the People’ 2012 to the Hon’ble President of India on 2nd November 2012. The Twitter press conference will talk about the deliberations and outcomes of the Global Innovation Roundtable and will take up questions from Indian and international media. Sam Pitroda will host the conference from his Twitter handle @pitrodasam and will invite other Global Innovation Roundtable participants to join in. 
  
• President Pranab Mukherjee said at the inaugural function of the two-day 11th All India Lokayuktas Conference 2012, held in New Delhi that with the enormous financial expansion in the country from the first five year plan till now, it is important that an ombudsman like Lokayukta takes charge to be to oversee that the resources are used effectively for sustainable growth. The President said till now only 19 states have appointed Lokayuktas, other states should follow the example to have an effective ombudsman to check corruption in public spending. Mr Mukherjee said Lokayuktas should not only do their duty to indict public functionaries when they are guilty but also protect them when nothing is found wrong with their conduct and to correct wrong perceptions about them with equal force and earnestness. 
  
• The Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh laid the foundation of the Redevelopment Project of Lady Hardinge Medical College in Delhi on 3 November. In this occasion, the Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said, more medical students, both at MBBS and PG level, would pass out from the Lady Hardinge Medical College in the national capital once re-development of the hospital is completed, he said re-development of the Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) and its associated hospitals is a part of the initiative launched by the Ministry to augment healthcare services. Ever since UPA II came to power at the Centre, the availability of MBBS seats has gone up by about 37 per cent and the number of PG seats in the country has increased by 73 per cent. 
  
• The Union Cabinet on 1 November decided to withdraw controversial draft amendments to the Right to Information Act that had sought to restrict disclosure of file notings only to social and developmental issues. After this, all file notings can be made public except those explicitly exempted, such as the ones related to national security, privacy and protection of commercial interest.“The Cabinet has decided to withdraw the amendments,” said a source privy to the deliberations at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.In 2006, the Cabinet had approved the amendments but they did not make it to the Parliament because of stiff opposition. 
  
• Discovery Communications on 1 November formally launched its kids channel Discovery Kids in Andhra Pradesh, targeting children below the age of 11 years. The channel, which is Discovery Communications’ eighth channel in India, was rolled out last month in three languages — English, Hindi and Tamil. Discovery is today amongst the 10 most-viewed channels in India, with 140 million viewers clicking on to it every year. 
  
• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 3 November said the 12th Five-Year Plan will enhance spending on health up to three times and that more medical and nursing colleges were needed to overcome a shortage of trained human resources in the sector. Speaking at the foundation stone laying of the Lady Hardinge Medical College project here, the prime minister also said that health indicators reflected a country's overall well-being. He said the government was paying more attention to medical education. In the last three years, the number of MBBS seats in medical colleges rose by over 30 percent and the seats for post-graduate programmes by 51 percent. The prime minister said that nutrition, drinking water, sanitation, housing and education, particularly of the girl child, were increasingly being underlined as the social determinants of health. He added that generic drugs would be made available free in all public hospitals across the country to help the poor reduce their out of pocket expenditure on health.