"Never give up on what you really want to do. The

person with big dreams is more powerful than one

with all the facts." - Albert Einstein

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*.

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India, Pak. NSAs met 4 times, are keeping phone links live: officials

*Indian and Pakistani National Security Advisors Ajit Doval and Gen. (Retd) Naseer Janjua have been meeting and speaking on the telephone more regularly than they have officially confirmed.

*They held at least three meetings in Bangkok, and one in Russia, sources in Delhi and Islamabad told The Hindu.

*According to the sources, the NSA’s have been meeting in Bangkok, as it is a convenient hub for flights from both countries, and speaking “regularly” over the phone.

*“terror and talks cannot go together but talks on terror can definitely go ahead.”

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Bar Association wants judges to sort out rift

*The Supreme Court Bar Association’s executive committee on Saturday

passed a resolution asking the four sitting judges of the highest court,

Justices J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph,

who aired their differences with Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra at a

press conference on Friday, to sort out the rift among themselves.

*A Full Bench of the Supreme Court, all current 25 judges of the court,

should sit and resolve the issues, the resolution said.

*Government sources continued to maintain that the Centre would not

intervene in the fracas, and that the judges of the Supreme Court would

have to resolve the matter themselves.

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No hearing on Loya PIL petitions tomorrow

*The Supreme Court Bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Mohan M.

Shantanagoudar will not hear the public interest litigation (PIL) pleas

seeking an investigation into the death of B.H. Loya, the CBI judge who

was presiding over the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter trial, on Monday.

*A notice issued on Saturday by the Supreme Court said the Bench was not

sitting as Justice Shantanagoudar would not be available. The notice said

the case posted on January 15 would be taken up the next day.

*The four judges had accused the Chief Justice of selective allocation of

certain cases of “national importance” to preferred Benches.

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Helicopter with ONGC officers crashes off

Mumbai, five dead

*A Pawan Hans helicopter with five deputy

general managers of Oil and Natural Gas

Corporation (ONGC) and two crew members

was lost to the sea on Saturday while on a

routine sortie between Juhu heliport and the

offshore rigs.

*The Coast Guard and Indian Navy, who on

intimation immediately launched a Search

and Rescue (SAR) operation, confirmed that

the helicopter had crashed into the Arabian

Sea.

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3 students dead as boat capsizes at sea off Dahanu

*A joyride at sea turned into a tragedy after a boat carrying students of a

college in Dahanu in Palghar district of Maharashtra, capsized in the

Arabian Sea on Saturday morning, claiming the lives of three teenagers.

*According to the police, a group of 34 students from Ponda College in

Dahanu set out around 11 a.m. for the ride aboard a boat named ‘Dahanu

Queen’.

*Later, the police registered a case of causing death due to negligence

against the pilot and the helper and arrested them.

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*.

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Karnataka refuses Cauvery water to T.N. citing scarcity

*Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s letter on Saturday to his Karnataka counterpart Siddaramaiah seeking release of 15 tmcft water tosave the standing crop did not elicit a favourable response with the latter saying Karnataka was itself facing scarcity.

*As per the 2007 order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, Tamil Nadu should receive 192 tmcft every year as its share from the Cauvery river.

*He noted that though samba cultivation had begun and the rainfall due to the northeast monsoon was helpful in the beginning, its intensity became destructive by the end of October.

*The Supreme Court is expected to pronounce its verdict in the water dispute next month

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*.

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India-Israel

*Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New Delhi on a six-day visit

to India.

*External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met him.

*The MEA, in a release said, Mr Netanyahu will hold delegation-level talks

with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.

*The two leaders are expected to discuss the entire gamut of bilateral

relations. After the talks, the two countries will sign MoUs in different

areas.

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Ice cliffs on Mars

*Researchers using data from two

satellites to examine eight locations

on Mars found the existence of several

cliffs in which ice stretched from just

below the surface to depths of about

100 metres.

*The ice, which was sublimating from

the surface, was found to be in layers

which could be a record of Martian

climate.

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SpaceX's Dragon cargo craft

begins journey back to Earth

*The SpaceX Dragon cargo

spacecraft, carrying supplies and

scientific materials, was

successfully released from the

International Space Station on

Saturday.

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Harvest Festivals

*Harvest festivals are being celebrated in various parts of the country

with traditional enthusiam.

*Lohri is being celebrated in North India, especially in Punjab, Haryana,

Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.

*It also marks the end of long nights of winter and welcomes longer days

of summer, as the Sun begins its journey to the Northern Hemisphere.

*Uruka is being celebrated on the eve of Bhogali bihu, the post-harvest

festival.

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*In Tamil Nadu and several other parts of South India, Bhogi festival is

being celebrated.

*It marks the last day of the month Maargazhi (मार्गलि) in the Tamil

calendar, when unusable materials are disposed.

*Bhogi is a prelude to the grand Pongal festivities in the state. As Pongalfalls on the first day of the Tamil month Thai (थै), people just a day prior

to it dispose off obsolete and unusable materials by putting them on fire.

*The ages old tradition is aimed at preparing their houses for the harvest

festival.

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1) What is/are the main reason/s behind current turmoil in Supreme

Court? Do analyze.

2) Why poles have 6 months of day and 6 months of night?

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