Page 1 of 4 2nd November 2012

National: Isro's centre in Ahmedabad helped track Hurricane Sandy

Indian Space Research Organization (Isro)'s Oscat radio scatterometer on board its 960kg Oceansat-2 remote sensing satellite had tracked ocean surface winds of Hurricane Sandy that wrought havoc in eastern US. Nasa had sought Isro's help as its QuikSat satellite stopped operating in November 2009. QuikSat resembles the Oscat radio scatterometer. Isro, Nasa and US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (USNOAA) have an agreement regarding sharing Oceansat-2's data. The satellite was launched from four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on September 23, 2009 and operates at an altitude of 720km in the sun-synchronous orbit. Oceansat-2 is the Isro's sixth remote sensing satellite.

ID proof must for reserved train travel from December

The Railways have made it mandatory for even those travelling in sleeper class and second class reserved coaches, economy class and first class to carry identity proof from December 1, in an attempt to prevent the touts from getting the tickets and selling them at a premium. This requirement has already been enforced for those travelling in air-conditioned coaches. Those travelling on Tatkal and e-tickets are also required to carry their Ids. To the approved present set of IDs issued by government organisations, voter photo identity card, driving licence, PAN card, Aadhaar number, the Railways have added senior citizen card, BPL card, ESI card and student IDs as valid proof. Travelling without any of these prescribed IDs will be treated as travelling without ticket and invite penalty.

First woman Financial Commissioner of Railways dead

Vijayalakshmi Viswanathan, the first woman Financial Commissioner of Indian Railways, died after a brief illness. She was 66. Joining the service in 1967, Ms Viswanthan held various positions in the Railways. She retired from service in November 2005.

Rakesh Misra takes over as CPWD chief

Rakesh Misra, a 1974 batch officer belonging to Central Engineering Service (Civil), has taken over as Director-General of the Central Public Works Department, Ministry of Urban Development. Mr. Misra has also been Engineer-in-Chief in the Public Works Department of the Delhi Government.

Sultan of Oman to be chief guest at Republic Day

Sultan Qaboos Said bin Said, ruler of Oman, will be the chief guest at the Republic Day in 2013, putting a seal on a bilateral relationship that is almost unique in the region. Sultan Qaboos, who has been partly educated in India, was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru award for international understanding in 2004, though he has not yet received the honour. Oman is arguably India's closest partner in the region, and is home to one of the biggest fertilizer projects between India and any other country.

Ex-servicemen status for retd paramilitary troops

The Cabinet has 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. The policy decision will bring cheer to over seven lakh retired paramilitary personnel across the country apart from nine lakh serving in various forces such as CRPF, BSF, SSB, ITBP and CISF. Like former servicemen, now the retired paramilitary forces personnel will get quota in jobs, higher education for their wards and attendant medical benefits. However, they won't be eligible for certain Central government benefits such as preferential allotment of petrol pumps and gas agency as the Centre has put financial burden of the development entirely on states.

Page 2 of 4 2nd November 2012

‘Muslim men have no unrestricted power for talaq’

The Jammu and Kashmir high court has held that a Muslim man's power to divorce his wife is not "unrestricted or unqualified". Justice Hasnain Masoodi in his 23-page judgment extensively went into details of the Shariah law and Quranic injunctions to hold that a "husband cannot have unrestricted or unqualified power to pronounce the Talaaq." The court delved into the fundamental sources of Shariah law to explain the concept of marriage in Islam, the rights of the parties to the marriage contract and the mode and manner the contract is dissolved. It maintained that in Islam divorce or Talaaq by the husband may take three forms including Talaaq-e-Ahsan which is single pronouncement of divorce made during a 'Tuhr' (period between menstruations) followed by abstinence from physical relationship for the period of Iddat (waiting period). The second form is Talaaq-e-Hasan which is three pronouncements of divorce made during successive Tuhrs, without any physical relationship during any of the three Tuhrs. The third is Talaaq-e-Bidhi which is three pronouncements of divorce made during a single Tuhr either in one sentence or in three sentences or in any other form like in writing, indicating intention of the husband to irrevocably dissolve the marriage.

International:Sunita Williams sets new record, embarks on 7th space walk

Indian-American Sunita Williams along with a fellow astronaut today ventured out of the International Space Station, adding to her record-setting space walking sojourns, to find an ammonia leak in the vital radiator system. During the spacewalk, Expedition Commander Williams and Flight Engineer Aki Hoshide were venturing out to the port side of the station's truss to configure the 2B solar array power channel's photovoltaic thermal control system (PVTCS) to support ground-based troubleshooting of an ammonia leak. The spacewalking duo will isolate the photovoltaic radiator on the P6 truss from the PVTCS, shutting off the flow of ammonia in and out of it and re-routing the ammonia flow through a spare radiator so the PVTCS can continue operation. This is the seventh spacewalk for Williams who holds the record for spacewalking time for female astronauts with over 44 hours during six previous excursions.

Dead Sea hurtling towards death at record rate

The Dead Sea is shrinking at a record rate, prompting calls for Israel and Jordan to stop fertilizer makers from siphoning water whose restorative powers have attracted visitors since ancient times. The Hydrological Service of Israel said that the salty inland lake bordering the nations dropped a record 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) over the last 12 months because of industry use and evaporation. According to the report, the makers of potash, a raw material for fertilizer, are competing for water with a centuries-old tourism industry on the Dead Sea. Dead Sea Works, owned by Israel Chemicals, denied any increased pumping, saying it has used 150 million to 170 million cubic meters a year from the sea for two decades. According to the report, about one-third of the Dead Sea’s surface area has disappeared and sinkholes are increasingly common as the waters shrink amid drought, agricultural diversion, largely from the Jordan River, and pumping to extract minerals for fertilizers.

Sri Lankan CJ faces impeachment

Sri Lankan Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, identified with the ruling party for long, is now facing its wrath. The papers of an impeachment motion against her have been handed over to Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa by four Members of Parliament. There were six charges of improper conduct against the Chief Justice. Chamal Rajapaksa, brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, will have to decide if the charges deserve a probe and then set a date for a debate. The motion has to be passed by a simple majority in the 225-member unicameral Parliament, where the government commands a two-thirds majority. Duration of the process would depend on the route the government decides to take. An obvious route is the Parliamentary Select Committee, which will then place its findings for a debate (if the Speaker decides that there is a prima facie case).

Page 3 of 4 2nd November 2012

Greek journalist in Swiss data trial

A Greek investigative journalist went on trial after publishing names from an alleged list of Swiss bank accounts that the government is accused of failing to investigate. Costas Vaxevanis, a 46-year-old veteran television journalist who now publishes a magazine. Costas Vaxevanis’ 'Hot Doc magazine' published the names of more than 2,000 Greeks, allegedly from a controversial list of HSBC account holders that was originally leaked by a bank employee and passed to Greece in 2010 by France’s then Finance Minister Christine Lagarde. Among those named are prominent businessmen, ship owners, lawyers, doctors, journalists and a former Minister, as well as companies and “housewives”.

Haiti, the worst hit by Sandy in the Caribbean

Hurricane Sandy destroyed 70 per cent of the crops in southern Haiti and caused heavy deaths of livestock, while in neighbouring Jamaica it left at least $16.5 million worth of damage in its wake. Sandy’s rain-heavy outer bands dumped more than 20 inches of rain on October 24-25 on the southern coastal town of Les Cayes in Haiti and the surrounding countryside, causing rivers to overflow. Haiti has reported 54 deaths. Roughly 370,000 people are still living in flimsy shelters as a result of the devastating 2010 earthquake. In Jamaica, where Sandy’s centre made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane and killed one man, the economic toll of the storm was at least $16.5 million, said Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller. In Cuba, Sandy killed 11 people, ripped rooftops from homes and toppled power lines. Much of the damage was in Santiago, the second-largest city.

Business & Economy: India inks protocol with U.K. to amend tax pact

India has signed a protocol with the U.K. for amending the convention between the two countries for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and capital gains. The protocol signed in London by India’s High Commissioner to the U.K., Jaimini Bhagwati, and U.K.’s Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, on behalf of the two countries amends the earlier Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) that was inked here on January 25, 1993. The protocol incorporates in the DTAC provisions for effective exchange of information between the tax authorities of India and the U.K. in line with the latest international standards, including exchange of banking information and supplying of information irrespective of domestic interest. DTAC will provide tax stability to residents of India and the U.K

New guidelines issued for rehabilitation of sick MSEs

Revising the definition of sickness in micro and small enterprises (MSEs), the Reserve Bank of India, has asked banks for timely and adequate assistance to them as soon as signs of sickness were detected. As per the new guidelines, a MSE would be considered sick if any of the borrowal account of the enterprise remains non-performing assets (NPA) for three months or more. Earlier, a unit was considered sick if its borrowal account remained sub-standard for more than six months. However, the RBI asked banks not to classify units as sick if they reach such a situation on account of “wilful mismanagement, wilful default, unauthorised diversion of funds, disputes among partners.” The new guidelines should be applicable for the year ending March, 2013.

Existing players can hold 2.5 Mhz in prime band spectrum

The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), has allowed the existing players to retain a maximum of 2.5 MHz in prime band spectrum when their current licences expired, provided they paid a price which would be determined later through auction. The EGoM also decided that companies would have to pay a market price if they merged or acquired another company which was allocated spectrum at the old price of Rs.1,658 crore. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended that the existing operators give up all their spectrum holdings in prime 900 Mhz band when their permits come up for renewal starting November, 2014. The EGoM, headed by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, took the decision based on the recommendations of the Department of Telecommunications.

Page 4 of 4 2nd November 2012

NSE world No. 1 in equity trades

India's National Stock Exchange (NSE) has emerged as the world's largest bourse in terms of the number of trades in equity segment. As per the latest data compiled by the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), a total of 11.64 crore trades took place in the equity segment of NSE in September 2012, making it the world's largest exchange on this category. NSE was followed by Korea Exchange and NYSE Euronext (US) at the second and the third positions respectively. Another major Indian bourse, BSE became the world's seventh largest bourse, recording a total of 2.77 crore trades during the month in its equity segment. Other bourses that made their place in the top 10 were Nasdaq OMX (4th), Shenzhen SE (5th), Shanghai SE (6th), Tokyo SE Group (8th), TMX Group (9th) and London SE Group (10th).

Reforms boost investments via P-Notes

Foreign investments in domestic markets through ‘Participatory Notes’, a preferred route for overseas HNIs (high networth individuals) and hedge funds, rose to a six-month high of Rs.1.47 lakh crore (about $27 billion) in September, as various reform measures helped boost investor sentiment. As per the latest data released by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the total value of P-Note investments in the domestic markets (equity, debt and derivatives) at the end of September is the highest since March, when the cumulative value of such investments stood at Rs.1.66 lakh crore. In August 2012, P-Note investments in domestic markets were at Rs.1.42 lakh crore (around $26 billion). The P-Notes are mostly used by overseas HNIs, hedge funds and other foreign institutions.

Govt makes standard packs mandatory for 19 items

Manufacturers of 19 commodities, mostly food items like biscuit and bread, will have to package their products in standard sizes from today- a move aimed at protecting consumers from unfair trade practice by companies of reducing weight without changing the retail price. The government has made mandatory standardised packaging of 19 items and non-compliance would invite penal action. The Ministry has comes out with a list of standard sizes for 19 commodities including tea, coffee and salt. The items to be covered under the new packaging order includes non-food products such as cement, paint and soaps. The other items are – cereals and pulses; edible oils, vanaspati, ghee, and butter oil; rice (powdered), flour, atta, rawa and suji; baby food; weaning food; un-canned packages of butter and margarine; milk powder; aerated soft drinks and non-alcoholic beverages; mineral water and drinking water; cement in bags; paint varnish; soaps; non-soapy detergents (powder); materials which may be constituted or reconstituted as beverages.

Sports:BBC Radio settles dispute with BCCI

BBC Radio’s Test Match Special programme will broadcast live action from England’s tour of India after it settled its dispute with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). There was speculation that Test Match Special faced a “lockout” from an England tour for the first time in nearly 40 years because of a deadlock over additional payments. Meanwhile, Sky Sports, which holds the UK rights for live television coverage of England’s Tests at home and abroad, is set to have commentators at its headquarters near London’s Heathrow airport.

Sania to team up with Bryan in Aus Open

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza said she was looking forward to team up with American Bob Bryan in the mixed doubles event of the 2013 Australian open. In the women's doubles, American Bethanie Mattek would be her partner.