International Affairs 2012

Myanmar passes foreign investment law: Myanmars Parliament adopted a much anticipated foreign direct investment law that is crucial to the governments ambitious plans for economic expansion in one of Asias poorest countries. The law drops several provisions in the original draft that had raised fears it could deter investors. The law was seen as one of Parliaments most urgent tasks and was passed on the last day of its current session. One proposal dropped from the law would have required a $5 million minimum initial investment outlay. The final version also allows foreign parties to hold a 50 per cent stake in joint ventures rather than limiting them to a proposed 49 per cent. Elected President Thein Sein launched economic and political reforms when he took office last year after almost five decades of military rule, foreign sanctions and restrictive laws that kept the economy stagnant. Myanmar has an inefficient agricultural sector and small industrial base, and most of its export earnings come from extractive industries, especially natural gas. Western nations, earlier this year, eased economic sanctions instituted against the former military regime, lifting another barrier to foreign investment. Reforms to the financial system, especially the jettisoning of an onerous dual exchange rate system, were also made to encourage investors. Another progressive aspect of the new law allows foreign investors to lease land for an initial period of 50 years with an option to renew, compared to 35 years under old rules.

October
A 3-day 8th International Conference on Public Administration (ICPA) New Frontiers in Public Administration: Practice and Theory was held in Hyderabad from 29 October. It was hosted by the Department of Public Administration, Osmania University in collaboration with the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and the American Society for Public Administration. 120 papers were presented at the conference. Later, a symposium on the Status of Public Administration as an Academic Discipline was held and world renowned scholars like Prof. Donald C Menzel, Prof. Allan Rosenbaum, Prof. V.S. Prasad, Prof. G. Haragopal and Prof. Riant Nugroho make keynote presentations.At the valedictory, T. N. Chaturvedi, former Comptroller and Auditor General and former Governor, was the chief guest. Hurricane Sandy grew stronger before dawn of 29 October as it churned northward through the Atlantic Ocean en route to what forecasters agreed would be a devastating landfall, possibly within 100 miles of New York City. As the storm bore down on some of the nation's most densely populated areas, city and state officials went into emergency mode. The New York City subway system and all of the region's commuter trains and buses were shut down. The major stock exchanges called off all trading. Forecasters said the hurricane was a strikingly powerful storm that could reach inland. United Nations-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi appealed to both sides in Syrias conflict to cease fire for the Muslim holiday this week after meeting President Bashar al-Assad, even as a deadly blast rocked Damascus. Lebanons opposition, meanwhile, called for a huge demonstration against the Syrian regime at the funeral later on 21 October, of a top police intelligence chief killed in a Beirut car bombing which it has blamed on Damascus. In Damascus, a bomb exploded outside a police station in a Christian quarter of the Old City, killing seven people and wounding many others, said officials and state media. The bombing came as Mr. Brahimi, after holding talks with Mr. Assad, called for unilateral ceasefires by the regime and the rebels for the Id al-Adha holidays. Icelanders have backed proposals for a new basic law, drafted by a citizens constitutional council that sought the publics help on websites like Twitter, referendum results released early on 22 October. Voters were asked in the non-binding referendum on 20 October, whether they wanted the proposals of 25 ordinary citizens to form the basis of a new constitution. According to the results, two-thirds of those voting wanted the constitutional councils proposals to be the foundation for a Parliament bill on a new constitution. A proposal to keep the countrys national church got the support of 57.5 per cent of voters. Icelands financial collapse in 2008 prompted allegations of crony capitalism and renewed longstanding calls for a revised constitution, which dates back to the

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countrys independence from Denmark. Any changes to Icelands basic law must be approved twice by Parliament, with a general election held between the votes. At least 56 people have been killed and nearly 2,000 homes destroyed in the latest outbreak of ethnic violence in Myanmar on 25 October. Twenty five men and 31 women were reported dead in four Rakhine state townships in violence between the Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya communities that re-erupted on 23 October. In June, ethnic violence in the western state left at least 90 people dead and destroyed more than 3,000 homes. Tens of thousands of people remain in refugee camps. The unrest is one of the worst reported in the region since June, after clashes were set off by the alleged rape and murder of a Buddhist woman by three Muslim men in May.Tensions still simmer in part because the government has failed to find any long-term solution to the crisis other than segregating the two communities in some areas. The crisis in Myanmars west goes back decades and is rooted in a dispute over where the regions Muslims are really from. Though many Rohingyas have lived in Myanmar for generations, they are denigrated here as foreigners who came from Bangladesh. Mali was readmitted into the African Union (A.U.) after a meeting of the A.U. Peace and Security Council [AUPSC] on 24 October. The A.U. had suspended the West African nation after a coup in March this year saw a military junta seize power even as two thirds of Mali slipped into the control of a coalition of armed groups and organised gangs. The soldiers behind the coup had claimed that the existing dispensation was unable to tackle the insurgents in the north. Since then, the junta has given way to a transitional all-party government and has asked for pan-African assistance to regain control of its territory. Northern Mali has steadily slipped into chaos since late 2011, when entrenched gangs involved in smuggling and drug trafficking struck up alliances with a variety of armed groups , ranging from the self-proclaimed secular Tuareg combatants, some of them from Libyan Army of the Qadhafi regime to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a north African group associated with al-Qaeda. The A.U. estimates that the conflict has resulted in 160,000 Internally Displaced Persons, and another 202,000 Malians are living as refugees in the neighbouring countries of Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger. A court in Italy has convicted the former Premier, Silvio Berlusconi, of tax fraud and sentenced him to four years in prison. The conviction on 26 October was the 76-year-old media moguls first in a long series of trials, but it did not mean he was going to prison right away. Cases in Italy must pass two levels of appeal before the verdicts are final. Berlusconi, along with others convicted in the case, must deposit $13 million into a fund as appeals, which could take years, proceed. The trial began in July 2006, but was put on hold by an immunity law that shielded Berlusconi from prosecution while he was Premier until it was watered down by the constitutional court. Switzerland has reinforced its opposition to unilateral sanctions imposed on Iran outside the framework of the United Nations. The assertion comes in defiance of such unilateral sanctions imposed by Israel, the United States (U.S.) and the European Union (EU). Not being a member of the European Union (EU), Switzerland is not bound by the decisions of the 27-nation grouping, which has recently imposed fresh curbs, including a ban on Iranian gas imports. Last month, Swiss President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf slammed unilateral Western sanctions against Iran by calling them unacceptable. She stressed that Switzerland would continue its economic engagement with Iran within the framework of U.N. decisions. Switzerland is a major global centre for oil trading, and is host to an office of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). Despite months of protracted negotiations, mediated by the African Union (A.U.), Sudan and South Sudan appear no closer to a comprehensive resolution on issues left unresolved after the south seceded from the North last year. A primary issue is the status of Abyei a 10,000 sq km oil-rich territory claimed by both sides. On 24 october, the A.U. High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) submitted a report to the A.U. Peace and Security Council, urging that the council give the Sudans two weeks to implement existing agreements on establishing a transitional administration for the disputed territory, and to arrive at a final solution in six weeks. With Australia and India agreeing to launch negotiations for a civil nuclear pact, Queensland Premier Campbell Newman on 22 October lifted the ban on the state's uranium mining. Uranium has not been mined in Queensland since the closure of the Mary Kathleen mine in 1982.

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Pakistan has sought extradition of Mullah Fazlullah, a militant commander who planned the attack on teenager Malala Yousafzai and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan. Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has demanded Fazlullah's extradition during her meeting with US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Mark Grossman. Malala came to prominence in 2009 at the age of 11, when she started writing a diary for BBC Urdu about life under the Taliban. Under the pen-name Gul Makai, she described the problems caused by militants who had taken control of the Swat Valley. More than 24,000 Pakistanis on 22 October formed the world's largest "human national flag" in the eastern city of Lahore, smashing a five-year-old record set in Hong Kong, officials said. A total of 24,200 people stood up in the national hockey stadium to make the green and white Pakistani standard, smashing the 2007 record set by 21,726 people in Hong Kong. "It's an amazing, amazing display of unity of 24,200 people here in LahoreGuinness World Records adjudicator Gareth Deaves said on Monday to a cheering crowd. "Every single one of you holds this record," he said, handing over the certificate to Punjab provincial government representative Hamza Shahbaz Sharif. 42,813 people in the national hockey stadium sang the national anthem together, smashing the previous best of 15,243 held by India Georgia's Parliament on 25 October approved a billionaire, Bidzina Ivanishvili as the country's new Prime Minister and endorsed his government. When Saakashvili's second and final term ends in October 2013, a constitutional reform will transfer many of the President's powers to the Prime Minister. Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia, has stressed the need to restore relations with Moscow that have been severed since the two countries fought a brief war in August 2008. He said after his approval that Georgia will rely on international assistance to try to start a dialogue with Russia "with a goal of developing a strategy for overcoming a crisis in bilateral ties. At the same time he vowed to continue Saakashvili's course to integrate more closely with the West. "Georgia will aspire to join the European Union, maintain its Euro-Atlantic orientation and integrate with NATO," he told reporters. Ivanishvili emphasised that "the United States remains Georgia's main ally. Archaeologists believe they have discovered the largest ancient Hindu temple ever found in the Indonesian island of Bali. Construction workers were digging a new drainage basin near a Hindu learning center on Jalan Trengguli, in East Denpasar, when their tools struck a large stone structure one metre underground. The crew then excavated a large stone plate, the first of many discovered at the site. The Denpasar Archeology Agency took over the excavation and uncovered an 11-metre-long structure. The island is home to most of the Hindus in Indonesia. The UN General Assembly on 18 October 2012 elected five new non-permanent members to the Security Council. South Korea, Luxembourg, Argentina, Australia and Rwanda are the new members. The newly elected member countries are going to serve a two-year term in the UNSC that will begin on 1 January 2013. The five new members are going to replace Colombia, Germany, India, Portugal and South Africa, whose term ends on 31 December 2012.Under the UN Charter, the 15-member Security Council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. To be elected to the UN Security Council, a country must win support from two thirds of the General Assembly members, or 129 votes. Colombian leftist rebels and the Colombian government have formally launched talks to end nearly 50 years of armed conflict, with each side laying out its vision of how the talks will develop and the type of peace that the country can hope for if a deal is reached. Negotiating teams from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) and the Colombian government issued a joint statement in the Norwegian town of Hurdal, marking the start of the talks that will continue next month in Cuba. Ivan Marquez is the rebels' chief negotiator. The official launch of the talks was the first time the two sides have met publicly since peace negotiations broke down in 2002, unleashing an intense military campaign by the government of lvaro Uribe against the Farc, which funds itself through kidnapping, extortion, drugs and illegal gold mining. The Farc negotiators reiterated their insistence that the rebel leader Simon Trinidad, who is serving a 60-year sentence in a US prison after being convicted of kidnapping three Americans, be allowed to participate as a negotiator. Mrquez appealed to the US government to make "a great contribution" to Colombia by allowing Trinidad to be involved.

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Pakistan's Supreme Court on 19 October, ordered the government to take legal action against former army chief Gen Mirza Aslam Beg and former ISI chief Asad Durrani for distributing millions of rupees among politicians to rig the 1990 general election. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry also said that any "political cell" operating in the presidency, ISI, Military Intelligence or Intelligence Bureau should be shut down immediately as such an institution is unconstitutional. In an international testimony to the fact that security situation in Jammu and Kashmir has remarkably improved, Japan on 20 October, has relaxed its travel restrictions to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Japan is the second country among the G8 nations to take this step. Germany had relaxed travel restrictions to the state for its nationals in July 2011. Japans move to ease restrictions is valid for Srinagar and adjoining areas like Gulmarg. The decision was arrived at after the Japanese embassy officials met the J&K government, and made site visits. With two of the G-8 countries easing the travel restrictions to Kashmir, many other embassies of developed countries are expected to follow suit. Sources said Australians, Canadians, British and some more countries are also making enquiries about the situation in Kashmir. The foreign tourist arrivals in J&K have steadily increased from 52,750 tourists to about 72,000 in 2011. British Government and Scotland signed on 15 October, a historic deal that will allow Scotland to hold a referendum in 2014 on whether it wants to remain part of the United Kingdom or secede from the 300-yearold political union. For this referendum, voting age will be 16 years. Agreement was signed by Prime Minister David Cameron and Scotlands First Minister and the leader of the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) Alex Salmond in Edinburgh. If Scotland does break away, it will end more than 300 years of political union with England. Libya's 200-member General National Congress on 14 October 2012 elected Ali Zidan as the new Prime Minister. Ali Zidan, an independent, won 93 votes.He beat a candidate favoured by the Justice and Construction party which is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. Announcing his victory, President of the National Assembly asked Mr Zidan to propose a cabinet within two weeks. Ali Zidan is a human rights lawyer. The previous Prime Minister, Mustafa Abu Shagur, was dismissed a week ago after failing to form a government. Bangladesh has been named the fifth in the list of 173 countries that are most prone to natural disasters, according to a report. The "World Risk Report 2012" examines which countries are more at risk from natural disasters than others, what contributes to this risk and what can be done about it, the Daily Star said. Island nations Vanuatu, over 3,600 km from Australia in the Pacific Ocean, and Tonga, at a distance of 5,200 km from Australia, have the highest disaster risk. Malta and Qatar face the lowest risk worldwide, said the report. It said environmental degradation is a significant factor that reduces the capacity of societies to deal with disaster risk in many countries around the world. The report was published in Brussels by the German Alliance for Development Works, UN University Institute for Environment and Human Security, and The Nature Conservancy. "This report illustrates the powerful role that nature can play in reducing risks to people and property from coastal hazards like storms, erosion and floods," Michael Beck, lead marine scientist at The Nature Conservancy, was quoted as saying. The top 15 most "at-risk" countries are all tropical and coastal. There, coastal habitats like reefs and mangroves are incredibly important for people's lives and livelihoods. The Philippines government 15 October struck a historic peace deal with the biggest Muslim rebel group, raising hopes of an end to four decades of insurgency in the south through a Malaysian-brokered roadmap towards greater autonomy. The peace accord signed between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is a major step towards achieving a settlement plan that proposes the establishment of a new autonomous Muslimadministered region. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma waved an African Union flag, tapped a wooden gavel and became the first woman to take office as the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) at the A.U. headquarters in Addis Ababa on 15 October. Upon taking office, Dr. Dlamini-Zuma shall be confronted by simmering conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea Bissau; chronic instability in Somalia; and an insurgency in northern

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Mali where fighters affiliated with al-Qaeda have taken control of large swathes of land. She supported military intervention in Mali if it did not worsen an already fraught situation. She also pledged support for continued negotiations between Sudan and South Sudan as they seek to demarcate international boundaries under the aegis of the A.U. High Level Implementation Panel. India has been ranked at a poor 115 by a global survey which looked into the level of economical empowerment of women in 128 countries. The list was topped by Australia and followed by three Scandinavian countries Norway, Sweden and Finland. At the bottom of the list were Yemen, Pakistan, Sudan and Chad. The research done by an international consulting and management firm Booz & Company ranked India at 115 and noted that with the second-largest population in the world, India generates 14 per cent of the global talent pool, among which are the 5.5 million women entering India's workforce each year, all overwhelmingly driven to succeed. It added that although the knowledge economy has created enormous opportunities in India, too many women are still prevented from reaching their full potential by a combination of cultural restrictions, gender discrimination, and lack of resources. It underlined that if India is to sustain its rate of growth, it will have to break down these sizable barriers to women's empowerment. The report is based on the country's performance in terms of primary, secondary and tertiary education, equal pay for equal work, non-discrimination policies, access to childcare, property ownership rights and ability to access credit. It also looks at whether wages are equal, the number of women in work compared with men, and whether there is equality in the number of female managers, senior business leaders and politicians. Israel's parliament voted overnight to dissolve itself and hold early elections on January 22, officials said on Tuesday. The dissolution of the Knesset was approved by 100 votes to none in a third reading after a lengthy session in the 120-seat chamber. Osman Ali Khan the last Nizam of Hyderabad was named in list of the 25 richest people across the world who ever lived by US website Celebrity Networth. Osman Ali Khan, the Nizam, who ruled Hyderabad between 1886-1967, was ranked sixth in world and the richest in India with $236 billion. He died in 1967 at age of 80. The list declared by US website Celebrity Networth was compiled after adjusting the fortunes of people across history for inflation. For example, $100 million in 1913 is equivalent to $2299.63 billion in 2012. As per the report, The 25 richest who ever lived had a combined fortune of $4.317 trillion, of which 14 are American. Russian President Vladimir Putin has categorically opposed wearing 'hijabs' (head scarves) in country's schools and welcomed the idea of returning to school uniforms. "We need to see how our neighbours in European countries are tackling this problem of wearing hijabs. Then, everything will become clear," Mr Putin said on 18 October at a meeting with representatives of the Russian People's Front. The Philippine government and the countrys biggest Muslim rebel group announced on that they had agreed on a plan to end a decades-long separatist insurgency that has killed more than 1,50,000 people. The agreement would see the establishment of a new semi-autonomous Muslim area in the resource-rich southern Philippine region of Mindanao, which the 12,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) regards as its ancestral homeland. In this regard, Philippines President Benigno Aquino told this framework agreement would pave the way for a final and enduring peace in Mindanao. The two sides said they were aiming for a final peace deal to be achieved before the Presidents term ends in the middle of 2016. Mr. Aquino said a final agreement would have to be approved by a plebiscite. Such approval is not certain in the mainly Catholic country. A planned peace deal during the term of previous President Gloria Arroyo crumbled in 2008 at the final moment amid intense domestic opposition. There are roughly four million Muslims in Mindanao. They see it as their ancestral homeland dating back to Islamic sultanates established before Spanish Christians arrived in the 1500s.Muslim rebel groups have been fighting for independence or autonomy in Mindanao since the early 1970s.The rebellion has claimed more than 150,000 lives, most in the 1970s when all-out war raged, and left large parts of Mindanao in deep poverty. The MILF is the biggest and most important remaining rebel group, after the Moro National Liberation Front signed a peace pact with the government in 1996.Mindanao is home to vast untapped reserves of gold, copper and other minerals, as well as being one of the countrys most important farming regions.

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A court in the Maldives on, ordered the arrest of the countrys first democratically elected President, Mohamed Nasheed, who has challenged the legality of a criminal trial against him. The court issued the arrest warrant after Mr. Nasheed failed for a second time to show up before a special three-judge bench set up to try him for abuse of power when he was in office. Earlier in the day, Mr. Nasheed said he was challenging the legality of the judicial process against him The Pakistani army has said that the Pakistani girl Malala Yousafzai(14) who shot in the head by Taliban gunmen on 9 October, is being sent to the UK for medical treatment. The girl has until now been at a military hospital in Rawalpindi, with doctors saying her progress over the next few days would be "critical". The girl wrote a diary about suffering under the Taliban and was accused by them of "promoting secularism. The Pakistani army said Ms Yousafzai's trip was being sponsored by the United Arab Emirates. The teenager - who has been campaigning for education for girls was attacked on 9 October as she was returning home from school in Mingora in north-western Swat. The Taliban has warned they will target Malala Yousafzai again. Kuwaits ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah on 6 October, dissolved parliament, a step toward ending months of political mess and calling the second elections this year that could again swing in favour of opposition groups led by Islamist factions. The move by Kuwaits Western-allied emir, announced on state-run media, followed a failed attempt last month by the government to overturn a voting district law that appeared to favour the opposition. New elections must now be held within 60 days. Incumbent Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has won the presidential election with 54.42 percent of the vote. With 90 percent of the votes counted, Chavez, who will serve a third six-year term starting from January 2013, defeated opposition challenger Henrique Capriles, who represents the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) coalition and gained 44.97 percent of votes. Arabic on 10 October 2012 made its official debut among one of the Languages at Pope Benedicts weekly general audiences. This is an exercise and attempt of Vatican to expand its reach to Christians and Muslims in Middle East. Speaking Arabic during the audiences that is broadcasted across the world on radio and television may bring down the fear of Christians in Middle East comforting them to stay back on the land that is a home for many of the holy places for Christians. It is likely that this act of Popes address to the world in Arabic language would help in improving the strained relations with the Muslim world. The relations between the Christians and the Muslim world turned sour after Popes speech at Regensburg in 2006, which made the Muslim world feel that his message was an attack on Islam. On occasion of the 50th anniversary of the second Vatican Council, Pope for the first time addressed people in Arabic. Libyan premier Mustafa Abu Shagur was dismissed on 8 October, after the General National Congress rejected his proposed "crisis" cabinet of just 10 ministers, days after his first line-up was also turned down. The embattled Abu Shagur, who had been given 72 hours to come up with a new cabinet, was relieved of his duties and the GNC will have to elect a new prime minister within the next three to four weeks. Before he had even put forward his second cabinet list in just four days, a motion of no confidence in Abu Shagur was signed by 126 assembly members. That was rejected by the GNC president. But when his pared-down list was put to the vote, 125 members of the 186 members present in the 200-seat GNC did not express "confidence" in his choices, against 44 members for and 17 abstentions. Under GNC rules, the assembly will now elect a new premier. Election Commission of India and the United Nations Development Programme UNDP on 11 October signed an MOU for cooperation in election management, particularly for supporting elections and democratic process in other countries. The MOU was signed by Shri Akshay Rout, Director General from the Commission and Ms. Lise Grande, UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident Coordinator from UNDPs side in the presence of Chief Election Commissioner of India, Shri V S Sampath, Election Commissioners, Shri H S Brahma and Dr Nasim Zaidi and UNDP Under Secretary General and UNDP Associate Administrator, Ms. Rebeca Grynspan. Chief Election Commissioner Shri Sampath observed that transparency and strict enforcement have been the strength of ECI, which have lent total credibility to Indian elections. He underlined the Commissions

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commitment to work along South-South cooperation and extend support to electoral process wherever there is a need.ECI and UNDP have been working jointly in recent months to harness ECIs competence in election management to the benefit of several countries. The collaboration is specially built around Commissions one-yearold India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management, IIIDEM, which offers courses for international election practitioners. Election Commission has signed MOUs with fourteen countries for sharing electoral practices and extending electoral assistance. Wealth of China's super rich declines: As the Chinese economy slowed down due to steady fall in exports, the wealth of some of the country's richest people registered a decline in the past year. According to the Hurun Rich List, China has 251 people worth $1 billion or more, 20 fewer than last year. However, the number of Chinese billionaire has increased many folds compared with 2006, when there were only fifteen. It is the first time in seven years that the number of billionaires in China has fallen. The Chinese economy has slowed in recent months with growth falling to a three-year low of 7.6 per cent, compared with the previous year. Of the 1,000 richest people tracked by Hurun, nearly half saw their wealth shrink in the past year, BBC reported. Topping the list this year is Zong Qinghou, from the beverage company Wahaha, who is worth $12.6 bn. Aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov will be handed over towards the end of next year, Russia said on10 October as India conveyed its "serious concern" over the prolonged delay and asked it to adopt a "wartime approach" for ensuring its early delivery. The issue came up at a meeting here between Defence Minister AK Antony and his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov during which Moscow said the 45,000-tonne aircraft carrier had suffered a "big malfunction" in its engine and could be handed over only in "fourth quarter of 2013". India had signed the contract for buying the second-hand warship, now rechristened INS Vikramaditya, in 2004 and it was supposed to be delivered in 2009. Due to recurring escalation in price, it was rescheduled to be delivered in December this year but the present problem has pushed it back by almost one more year. "We have handed over the revised overhaul and transfer schedule to the Indian side and we believe that transfer of the ship will take place in the 4th quarter of the 2013," Serdyukov told reporters at the joint press conference after the meeting of the IndiaRussia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation (IR-IGMTC). Global Hunger Report 2012: India ranked at 65th position: The report on Global Hunger Index for seventh year was released on 11 October 2012 by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe, and Concern Worldwide. The basic theme of the report for the 2012 Global Hunger Index -- The Challenge of Hunger: Ensuring Sustainable Food Security under Land, Water, and Energy Stresses. IFPRI that calculated the global hunger Index analysed the measures based upon multidimensional angles. The published report have shown a proportional growth in hunger reduction of people worldwide but recorded the progress speed was tragically slow and alarming. The report in its findings recorded twenty countries across the world mainly from South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa to be highly alarming and have highest level of hunger, and showcased the sufferings of millions of poor. As per the report, the nations that had showcased an absolute progress between 1990 Global Hunger Index to 2012 Global Hunger Index were Bangladesh, Angola, Malawi, Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Niger, and Vietnam. Whereas there are 15 countries that have managed to reduce it by 50 percent or more. As per the report, India instead of its fast paced economic growth in past two decades has lagged behind in improving its record in Global Hunger Index chart. In the list of 79 countries in the global Hunger Index, India was ranked 65th behind China that was placed at 2nd place position, Pakistan at 57th and Sri Lanka at 37th position. The report also points out the three countries Bangladesh, India and Timor-Leste constitutes to the highest occurrence of underweight children under the age group of five years, which records to more than 40 percent in each country. India was ranked second with 43.5 percent of the children less than five underweight in the list of the 129 countries compared for underweight child, after Timor-Leste. Countries like Ethiopia, Niger, Nepal and Bangladesh followed the chart. Radical preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri and four other terror suspects were extradited on 5 October from the UK after Britain's high court ruled they had no more grounds for appeal in their years long battles to avoid

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facing charges in the United States. Scotland Yard said the suspects had been brought to an air force base in eastern England from Long Lartin Prison, where two planes provided by US authorities were waiting to fly them to America.

At least 46 students were killed and several others injured when unidentified gunmen wearing military uniform attacked a hostel in northern Nigeria on 3 october. The massacre has taken place on Nigeria's 52nd Independence celebration. police sources said gunmen invaded the hostel of Mubi Polytechnic in northern state of Adamawa, killing 46 students. A lecturer said that the gunmen wore military attire and told the students to identify themselves by name. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili conceded defeat on 1 October, in parliamentary polls that handed a victory to an opposition coalition led by billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili.Although Saakashvili remains president, the defeat of his United National Movement to Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream coalition in the elections spells the end of his nine years of largely unchallenged dominance over Georgia.

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Help Age International report said India's population is likely to increase by 60 per cent between 2000 and 2050 but the number of elders, who have attained 60 years of age will go up by 360 per cent and the government should start framing policies. The report says,"India has around 100 million elderly at present and the number is expected to increase to 323 million, constituting 20 per cent of the total population, by 2050" .The UNFPA in its study in India, which was conducted in seven states, found that around one-fifth of the elderly live alone or with spouses only in both rural and urban areas. According to the report, by 2050, India and China will have about 80 per cent of the world's elderly living there, and India is likely to pip China in the number of centenarians.

Six years after the formal end of the civil war, Nepals peace process has concluded with the integration of a little over 1,450 former Maoist fighters into the Nepal Army (NA). The cantonments where the former combatants of the Maoist Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) resided have closed down, Maoist weapons are under state control, and the PLA has ceased to exist ending the state of one country, two Armies. Over the past five years, there has been a gradual reduction in the number of combatants in the cantonments. About 32,000 individuals had initially registered in the camps in early 2007. But the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) verified only 19,602 of those as combatants and disqualified over 4,000 persons for being under-age or joining the Maoist Army after the ceasefire began. The disqualified were discharged from the cantonments in early 2010. In November 2011, a seven-point agreement was signed between the parties, which stipulated that a maximum of 6,500 former combatants could be integrated in a specially created general directorate under the NA. In April 2012, the Nepal Army had also taken charge of the cantonments as well as containers that included over 3,000 Maoist weapons.

The Indian Union Cabinet on 3 October, approved the ratification of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing signed by India. The Nagoya Protocol has been signed by 92 countries. Five countries have also ratified the Protocol. India signed the Nagoya Protocol on May 11, 2011. The country is hosting the eleventh CoP to the CBD in Hyderabad this month. India is one of the identified mega diverse countries rich in biodiversity. With only 2.4 per cent of the earth's land area, it accounts for 7-8 per cent of the recorded species of the world. It is also rich in associated traditional knowledge, which is both coded as in ancient texts of Indian systems of medicines such as Ayurveda, Unani and Sidha, and also non-coded, as it exists in oral undocumented traditions. The genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge can be used to develop a wide range of products and services for human benefit, such as medicines, agricultural practices, and cosmetics. India is a Party to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which is one of the agreements adopted during the Rio Earth Summit held in 1992. One of the three objectives of the CBD relates to Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS), which refers to the way in which

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genetic resources may be accessed, and benefits resulting from their use shared by users with countries that provide them. The CBD prescribes that access to genetic resources is subject to national legislation. Accordingly, India after extensive consultative process had enacted the Biological Diversity Act in 2002 for giving effect to the provisions of the CBD, including those relating to CBD. However, in the near absence of user country measures, once the resource leaves the country providing the resources, there is no way to ensure compliance of ABS provisions in the country where it is used. Towards this, a protocol on access and benefit sharing has been negotiated under the aegis of CBD, and adopted by the Tenth Conference of Parties (CoP-10) held in Nagoya, Japan in October 2010.India has participated actively and contributed meaningfully in the ABS negotiations which formally started about six years back. The objective of the Nagoya Protocol on ABS is fair and equitable sharing of benefits, arising from the use of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies. Japan PM reshuffles cabinet, names new finance minister: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda reshuffled his cabinet on 1 October, naming Koriki Jojima, a senior member of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), as new finance minister. Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba was among heavyweight names keeping their posts in the reshuffle as Noda looks to move past a damaging row with China and boost his flagging popularity. The reshuffle came, as the prime minister's poll numbers remain dreary after a costly battle over legislation to double sales tax. Noda elevated Makiko Tanaka to the cabinet as new education minister, a woman with pro-Beijing credentials reflecting her father's status as the prime minister who normalised ties with China in 1972. Bhagat Singh road in Pakistan: Pakistani authorities have renamed a road crossing in Lahore after freedom fighter Bhagat Singh to acknowledge his revolutionary spirit and his role in the movement against the erstwhile British rulers of the subcontinent. The Shadman Chowk of Lahore will now be known as Bhagat Singh Chowk. Bhagat Singh was hanged in March 1931 in the Lahore Jail, which stood at the spot where the roundabout was built later. While authorities have changed the Hindu names of several places in the old quarters of Lahore over the years, the decision to rename a busy roundabout after Bhagat Singh has been appreciated by some local residents as a bold move. Global biodiversity meet begins: The mega 19-day, global biodiversity event -- the 11th Conference of Parties (COP) to Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) -- kick- started on 1 October with the inauguration of a meeting on the implementation of Cartagena Protocol on Bio-safety by Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan. While 9,000 delegates from 193 countries participated in the deliberations, the five-day sixth meeting relating to Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Bio-safety (COP MOP), saw the presence of around 2,000 delegates from 150 countries. At COP MOP, a host of issues will be discussed and decisions adopted for ensuring the safe transfer, handling and use of Living Modified Organisms(LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology. Besides providing further guidance on operation of Bio-safety Clearing House (BCH), it will also adopt means of mobilising additional financial resources for implementation of the Protocol, a framework and action plan for capacity building and encourage parties to expedite domestic ratification to the Supplementary Protocol on liability and redress, among others. At COP-11 beginning October 8, delegates will review the progress of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and address ways to strengthen its implementation. Consensus reached on setting up BRICS Bank: Think tanks of five member--Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa- BRICS bloc, representing the emerging economies, reached consensus on creating a BRICS development bank to complement existing global financial institutions like World Bank India India on 2 Destruction Convention calls for total elimination of Chemical Weapons, WMDs: October stressed the importance of total elimination of chemical weapons and Weapons of Mass (WMDs) and called for universal adherence to international legal norms and Chemical Weapons (CWC). Speaking at a special meeting of the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

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(OPCW) in New York to mark 15 years of the CWC, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said India viewed the Convention as a unique, multilaterally negotiated and non-discriminatory disarmament instrument, which served as a model for elimination of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction. The Minister told the meeting that the international legal norms against the use of chemical weapons anywhere must not be breached. Russia rejects Pak plea for Kashmir mediation: Russia on 4 October ruled out playing a role in resolving the Kashmir problem, saying India and Pakistan were capable of settling their outstanding issues themselves. Pak SC gives govt more time to amend Swiss draft: Pakistan Supreme Court 5 October objected to contents of a fresh draft of a letter to be sent to Swiss authorities over graft charges against President Asif Ali Zardari and gave government time until October 10 to finalise it in accordance with its order that sought revival of the cases.

November
The constituent assembly tasked with drafting Egypt's post-revolution constitution has passed the document on 30 November, as the country continues to reel from a decree that gave extraordinary powers to the president, the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi. The assembly, hit by walkouts from minority groups and liberal voices.The draft had been criticised for its ambiguous language on human rights, minority rights and freedom of expression, as well as its concentration on enshrining sharia law as the basis for legislature. It also protects army privileges that revolutionary forces want rescinded, including the ability to try civilians in military courts.The draft must now be put to a nationwide referendum within 30 days. Morsi said the vote would be held "soon".The Islamist-dominated assembly that has been working on the constitution for months raced to pass it, voting article by article on the draft's more than 230 articles for more than 16 hours. Of the 85 members in attendance, there was not a single Christian and only four women. Egypt has been plunged into a constitutional crisis since a self-issued decree by Morsi gave him sweeping powers and immunity from judicial challenges. The decree also granted the constituent assembly immunity from legal challenges, which were already under way and expected to be decided in December. Morsi's extraordinary powers will remain in effect until a constitution is passed and a parliament is elected, and while the decree gave the assembly a two-month extension on its work, the decision to finalise and vote on the document within two days has led to criticism that the job is being rushed to temper the outcry. The Apex Governing Body of the Global Water Partnership (GP) on 27 November met in New Delhi to promote a Water Secure World for future. The meet was chaired by Member Planning Commission of India, Abhijit Sen. G.Mohan Kumar, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Water Resources represented the Indian side. The meting began with a call to ensure that the water flows required for the environment are maintained. During the three day long deliberations the Global Steering Committee will not only experience the significant progress made in India with relation to water resources management, but also conduct deliberations to review GWP progress globally and set the strategy for the important and crucial work of the Partnership in helping countries achieve a water secure world. The Global Water Partnership (GWP) aims for a water secure world. It is an international network organisation with HQ at Stockholm, Sweden. GWP has been founded by the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The objective is to foster the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM); the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources by maximizing economic and social welfare without compromising the sustainability of ecosystems & environment. Through a network of 2,700 partners, in 161 countries and 83 country water partnerships in 13 regions, the GWP is a key ally in a nations quest to manage its water resources in an integrated, sustainable and an equitable way for its development activities. By engaging from the very local level to the global level, the GWP serves to connect the needs of a mother seeking clean water for her family, to a government formulating a national water policy.

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At least 137 people were killed and many injured on 27 November, when a major fire caught a multistorey garment factory on the outskirts of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka and an under-construction flyover collapsed in the southeastern port city of Chittagong.In one of the worst fire tragedies in the country, a blaze broke out at Tazrin Fashion factory in suburban Ashulia Savar, 30km from Dhaka and quickly spread to the ground and first floors of the six-storey building.The cause was not immediately known but such fires are usually blamed on short circuits.In another incident, an under-construction flyover collapsed in Chittagong, leaving 13 people dead and over 50 injured.A 5-member probe panel has been formed to investigate the incident. It was asked to submit its report within three days.President Zillur Rahman expressed his deep shock and sorrow at loss of lives in the two tragic incidents.The President asked the concerned authorities to put in their highest efforts for ensuring proper treatment of the injured people. Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra survives no-confidence vote Thailands Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra comfortably survived a no-confidence vote in Parliament on 28 November following a heated debate on the governments rice-pledging scheme and flood management budget. The vote came after a three-day censure debate, and four days after a demonstration by thousands of protesters who called for the overthrow of the government, citing corruption as one of the reasons. The opposition was outnumbered in Parliament, however, and lawmakers voted 308 to 159 to keep Yingluck in power. One deputy premier and other two ministers also comfortably survived no-confidence votes. Yingluck won a landslide election victory last year, and has led Thailand through one of its longest peaceful periods in recent years. The country has suffered bouts of political instability since a 2006 coup ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Yinglucks brother UN (United Nations) Panel passed N Korea Resolution by Consensus The Social, Humanitarian Cultural Affairs Committee (Commonly referred as third committee of the UN General assembly) of United Nations on 27 November 2012, overseeing human rights issues, unanimously passed a resolution on North Korea. The committee asked North Korea to solve the abduction issue and address human rights abuses. The resolution came before the Third Committee of the General Assembly for the eighth year in a row, but the first time no vote was taken. Pak polls in May Pakistan's next general election will be held in May, Paakistan Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said on 28 November, offering for the first time a specific timeframe for the landmark polls. The Pakistan People's Party-led government will ensure free and fair polls under an independent interim caretaker set-up and the Election Commission, he said. The caretaker prime minister will be a consensus candidate of the government and the opposition. Palestine wins historical vote to upgrade UN status Palestine overwhelmingly won a historical UN General Assembly vote which will upgrade its status to nonmember observer state at the world body, despite intense opposition from the US and Israel. India was among the 138 nations in the 193-member body that voted in favour while nine countries opposed the resolution that sought upgrading the status of Palestinian Authority from entity to non-member observer state. Forty-one countries abstained from the voting which took place on 29 November. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said an important vote has taken place in the General Assembly. Todays vote underscores the urgency of a resumption of meaningful negotiations. We must give new impetus to our collective efforts to ensure that an independent, sovereign, democratic, contiguous and viable State of Palestine lives side by side with a secure State of Israel, Mr. Ban said in his remarks after the votes were cast.The symbolic vote signified the huge international backing for Palestine and came as a stinging defeat for Israel and the US. The volcano named Mount Tongariro of New Zealand on 21 November, erupted with a brief blast of dark ash that causes canceling flights but causing no significant damage. The eruption of Mount Tongariro, its second in less than four months, sent a dark ash plume about 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) into the sky. Authorities issued a no-fly alert above the mountain located in the sparsely populated area of central North Island.Tongariro

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National Park has three active volcanoes, is a popular tourist destination and was the backdrop for many scenes in "The Lord of the Rings" movies. Civil defense authorities were advising people in the region to remain indoors and shut their windows to avoid the ash, which could be a health hazard.New Zealand lies on the Pacific Ocean's "Ring of Fire" and has frequent geothermal and seismic activity. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in its annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin on 21 November that the atmospheric volumes of greenhouse gases which causes for climate change, hit a new record in 2011. The survey said that the volume of carbon dioxide , the primary greenhouse gas, grew at a similar rate to the previous decade and reached 390.9 parts per million (ppm), 40% above preindustrial level. It has increased by an average of 2 ppm for the past 10 years. Fossil fuels are the primary source of about 375 billion tonnes of carbon that has been released into the atmosphere since the industrial era began in 1750, the WMO said. WMO secretary-general Michel Jarraud said the billions of tonnes of extra carbon dioxide would stay in the atmosphere for centuries, causing the planet to warm further. Levels of methane, another long-lived greenhouse gas, have risen steadily for the past three years after levelling off for about seven years. The reasons for that evening out are unclear. Growth in volumes of a third gas, nitrous oxide, quickened in 2011. It has a long-term climate impact that is 298 times greater than carbon dioxide. The 10th ASEAN-India Summit that was held at Peace Palace, Phnom Penh, Cambodia concluded on 19 November 2012. The summit was chaired by the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia- Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo HUN Sen and attended by the leaders of the ten Member states of ASEAN and the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. During the summit the discussions were held on identifying the future course of action on the ASEAN-India relations. Success was achieved in deciding the convening of the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit scheduled to be held on 20 December to 21 December 2012 at New Delhi, India, the summit will be held to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the ASEAN-India. During the 10th Anniversary of the ASEAN-India summit, 20th Anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations was also observed at the same venue in Phnom Penh. The ASEAN-India Summit for the first time was observed in the year 2002 at Phnom Penh. In the sidelines of this summit- The meeting between Heads of Space Agencies, Ministerial level meetings in tourism, environment, agriculture, new and renewable energy were also held. It is also decided that, the sending of the Sail Training Ship Sudarshini on an expedition to ASEAN countries.Some other commemorative activities on which discussions were held included 2nd ASEAN-India Business Fair and Business Conclave, and the ASEAN-India Car Rally, these would be held during the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit. Decisions were also made on implementing the Plan of Action and the ASEAN-India Partnership for Progress, Peace and shared Prosperity (2010-2015). The trade between the ASEAN and India grew by 43 percent in the year 2011 that amounted to 74.9 billion US dollar that also surpassed the bilateral trade target of 70 billion US dollar. Target for achieving the 100 billion US dollar mark by 2015 for ASEAN-India trade was also identified and set at the summit. Foreign Ministers of all the member nations and India would be working ahead to settle down thing and conclude the ASEAN-India Trade in Services and Investment Agreements before the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in December in India. Before this the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh in April 2012 welcomed the adoption of the Declaration on Drug- Free ASEAN 2015 by the ASEAN Leaders at the 20th ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh. India made a commitment of supporting the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) and connectivity with the wider East Asia Region for establishment of the linkage between the ASEAN and South Asia. The announcement also cleared that India-Myanmar-Thailand highway that is backed by the U.S., which would be operational by 2016 and would act as the Gateway for North East India to South-East Asia. Both the parties, ASEAN and India looked forward for better connectivity of the region via highways and made decisions on early construction of new India-Myanmar-Laos-Viet Nam-Cambodia Highway. It also decided about the extension of the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway to Laos and Cambodia.Both the parties during the Tenth ASEAN-India Summit agreed to work together to respond to the issues of climate change and its impact. They also agreed on strengthening steps to respond to natural disasters that has always remained a issue of concern in the region, like fllod and earth quakes.

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21st ASEAN Summit has concluded with leaders approving the Human Rights Declaration, the first ever important political document on human rights cooperation in the region. At the summit on 19 November, in Phnom Penh, they also adopted an action plan to implement the Bali Declaration on the ASEAN Community in a Global Community of Nations and officially launch the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation. Earlier, ASEAN leaders held a closed meeting to discuss the blocs key issues. Regarding the regions external relations, ASEAN leaders agreed on the need to further expand cooperation with its partners while bringing to full play its key role in promoting regional cooperation frameworks and progress, such as ASEAN + 1, ASEAN + 3, the East Asia Summit (EAS), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+). On this occasion, ASEAN leaders officially launched the start of negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). They affirmed continued support for the Myanmar governments national reconciliation and the peaceful and non-nuclear Korean peninsula. On the East Sea issue, the leaders affirmed the importance of peace, stability and maritime security. They also laid stress on the peaceful resolution of disputes, and the observance of international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, including the full implementation of the Declaration on the Conducts of Parties (DOC) in the East Sea, the ASEAN Six-point Principle on the East Sea and the early formation of the Code of Conducts of Parties in the East Sea. The 7th East Asia Summit (EAS) was held at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The summit wrapped up with the adopting of the Declaration of the 7th East Asia Summit on Regional Responses to Malaria Control and Addressing Resistance to Antimalarial Medicines and the Phnom Penh Declaration of the East Asia Summit Development Initiative. The summit also made progress in economic integration, announcing the launch of negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Ten countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and six more including Korea, China, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and India will participate in the RCEP.Led by ASEAN, the RCEP is expected to create the worlds largest economic bloc, with a GDP of USD 19 trillion and population of 3.4 billion. Separately, Koreas Trade Minister Park Tae-ho, Chinas Minister of Commerce Chen Deming, and Japans Minister of Economy Yukio Edano held a trade ministers meeting. Korea, China, and Japan officially declared the opening of negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) among the three countries on the same day. President Lee Myung-bak said that North Koreas nuclear issue was a priority assignment to resolve. However, the human rights and freedom of over 20 million of North Korean citizens might be more urgent and important issues.He urged North Korea to comply with international treaties and work with the international community to improve human rights in North Korea. On the same day at the EAS, President Obama appealed to the countries directly involved in a sovereignty dispute over the South China Sea to make progress with a code of conduct (COC) supporting the argument of ASEAN. India was among the 39 countries that voted against a UN General Assembly draft resolution which called for abolishing the death penalty, saying every nation had the "sovereign right" to determine its own legal system. The non-binding resolution called for a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.It was adopted on 19 November, at the General Assembly's Third Committee, which deals with social and humanitarian issues, after 110 nations voted in favour of the resolution while 36 abstained. The draft resolution expresses its "deep concern about the continued application of the death penalty and calls on states to establish a moratorium on executions, with a view to abolishing the practice". It calls on nations to progressively restrict the death penalty's use and not impose capital punishment for offences committed by persons under age 18 or pregnant women. Speaking in explanation of the vote, India said each state had the sovereign right to determine its own legal system.Among the nations voting against the resolution were Bangladesh, China, Korea, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kuwait, Libya, Pakistan and the US. Sierra Leone's incumbent president, Ernest Bai Koroma easily won re-election and was sworn in, by the country's chief justice. Ernest Bai Koroma won 58.7 percent of the vote. His closest rival, opposition leader and retired Brig Gen Julius Maada Bio, came in second with 37.4 percent, according to results, by the National Electoral Commission chairwoman Christiana Thorpe. The 59-year-old president was first elected in 2007.

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A rebel group named M 23, believed to be backed by Rwanda seized the strategic, provincial capital of Goma in eastern Congo on 20 November. It is the home to more than 1 million people as well as an international airport in a development that threatens to spark a new, regional war. Explosions and machine-gun fire rocked the lakeside city as the M23 rebels pushed forward on two fronts: toward the city center and along the road that leads to Bukavu, another provincial capital which lies to the south. Thousands of residents fled across the border to Rwanda, the much-smaller nation to the east which is accused of funneling arms and recruits to the M23 rebels. The senior commanders of the rebel group, who the United Nations has accused of grave crimes including recruiting child soldiers, summary executions and rape, paraded around the town in allterrain vehicles, waving to the thousands of people who left their barricaded houses to see them. The United Nations peacekeepers, known by their acronym MONUSCO, were not helping the government forces during this battle, because they do not have a mandate to engage the rebels.On 21 november, the Security Council will review the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo. A resolution adopted by the Security Council asks the U.N. secretary-general to recommend possible redeployment, and possible "additional force multipliers."The resolution approved unanimously by the council imposes targeted sanctions, including a travel ban and assets freeze on the M23 rebel group leadership. But it did not name two countries accused by Congo of supporting the rebels: Rwanda and Uganda. The council demanded that the M23 rebels withdraw from Goma, disarm and disband, and insisted on the restoration of the crumbing Congolese government authority in the country's turbulent East. The resolution also calls for an immediate end to external support to the rebels and asks the U.N. secretary-general to report on the allegations of foreign support while expressing its readiness to act appropriately. The Church of England's governing body on 21 November narrowly blocked a move to permit women to serve as bishops, leaving the church facing more years of contentious debate. Following a day-long debate opponents mustered enough support to deny the necessary two-thirds majority among lay members of the General Synod. The defeat was a setback for Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who retires at the end of December, and his successor, Bishop Justin Welby. Passage of legislation to allow women to serve as bishops must be approved by two-thirds majorities in the synod's three houses: bishops, priests and laity. The vote was 132 in favor and 74 against. Sister churches of the Anglican Communion in Australia, New Zealand and the United States already have women serving as bishops. Southern Africa joined that group on Sunday with the consecration of Ellinah Wamukoya as the Anglican bishop of Swaziland. The leaders of eight of the world's richest countries (G8) will meet in Northern Ireland for their annual summit in June 2013, British Prime Minister David Cameron said. Lough Erne golf resort will be the main venue for the G8 summit, scheduled for June. "I think this will be a brilliant advertisement for Northern Ireland. I want the world to see just what a fantastic place Northern Ireland is, a great place for business, a great place for investment, a place with an incredibly educated and trained workforce ready to work for international business," Cameron said. Britain last received the leaders of the US, Canada, Russia, Germany, Italy, France and Japan in 2005 in Gleneagles, Scotland. The Communist Party of China (CPC) on 15 November 2012 declared Xi Jinping as the new General Secretary of the Partys seven-member Politburo standing committee. The 59 years old, Xi Jinping is the son of the former politburo and vice premier. Xis selection as the new leader, the Communist Party of China has marked the end of Hu Jintaos ten year term as the General Secretary of the Party, but he will continue as the President till March 2013, the month when the Chinese Parliament would meet. Li Keqiang, the secondranked member of the Politburo standing committee would take over as Premier in March 2013 after Wen Jiabao will step down from his position. The size of the inner circle of elites has been reduced from nine to seven by the Communist Party of China. This step of reducing the members in the elite circle was done to ensure efficiency in policy and decision making by the top body of the nation. The other five members of the elite circle are Zhang Dejiang as the Chongqing Party Secretary, Yu Zhengsheng as the Shanghai Party Secretary, Liu Yunshan as a senior propaganda official, Wang Qishan as the Vice Premier in charge of economic affairs and Zhang Gaoli as the Party Secretary in Tianjin.The once in a five year meet of the partys National Congress concluded at the Great Hall of the People on 14th November 2012. A total of 2300 delegates

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casted there secret ballots to choose the members of the 18th Central Committee, the 376 member policy making body. Nine weeks ahead of elections, Israel has launched a wave of air strikes in Gaza a move that could consolidate domestic opinion behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but also risk worsening ties with Egypt and a wider conflict in the region. Israel has followed up the assassination of Ahmed al-Jabari, a top Hamas commander, with more strikes on 13 November, after the Gaza-based group counterattacked with rockets. The Israelis claim their bombardment has eliminated Hamas long-range rockets in sizeable numbers. Hamas has already announced that the Israeli attack amounted to a declaration of war. Yoav Mordechai, the Israeli military spokesman has asserted that the operation, named Pillar of Defence would continue and grow. Japans Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda dissolved the Lower House of Parliament on 16 November, paving the way for elections. Elections were set for December 16. If Mr. Nodas centre-left party loses, the economically sputtering country will get its seventh Prime Minister in as many years.The opposition Liberal Democratic Party, which led Japan for most of the postWorld War II era, is in the best position to take over. The timing of the election likely pre-empts moves by more conservative challengers, including former Tokyo Mayor Shintaro Ishihara, to build up electoral support.Campaigning is set to begin Dec. 4, but leaders were already switching into campaign mode. U.S. government has asked a court in New York to slap a maximum penalty of $15 million on India-born fallen Wall Street titan Rajat Gupta and permanently bar him from serving as director of any publiclytraded firm for his terrible breach of trust by indulging in insider trading.Weeks after the former Goldman Sachs Director was handed down a two-year jail term and fined $5 million by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said he should be ordered to pay a maximum civil penalty of $15 million, which would be thrice the $5million in gains and losses avoided as a result of his illegal conduct.Gupta (63), who is set to begin his prison term in January, has filed an appeal against his conviction in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. France recognized the new Syrian Opposition coalition on 13 November 2012. France has become the first major nation to recognise the newly formed Syrian National Coalition of opposition and Revolutionaries as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people. Arab League has granted Observer status to the bloc while the six nation Gulf Co-operation Council has already recognized it. Britain and European Union have stopped short of recognizing the bloc. Britain stated that it wants to see more evidence that the opposition grouping has strong support inside Syria. Meanwhile, Syrian opposition activist groups reported that 31 people were killed across Syria as airstrikes continued along the country's northeastern border with Turkey. The Indian Union Cabinet on 8 November, approved the third phase of the Small Development Projects in Afghanistan. The outlay for the third Phase of the Small Developmental Projects is US$ 100 Million (approximately Rs.500 crore). The Small Development Projects directly impact local communities and support social-economic development, provide livelihood, help conserve environmental and cultural heritage, empower women etc.,Local communities of Afghanistan would directly benefit from the Small Development Projects. This will cover all 34 provinces of Afghanistan. The Small Development Projects were earlier implemented in two phases: the first in July 2006 comprising 50 projects worth US$ 11,216,179; and the second in June 2008 comprising 51 projects worth US$ 8,579,537. Most of the projects in the two phases have been completed.The projects will be implemented over a period of four years through local Afghan Government Bodies, Community Organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations, Charitable Trusts and Education and Vocational Institutions. The expenditure on the projects will be met from the Non-Plan head of 'Aid to Afghanistan budget of the Ministry of External Affairs. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced that November 10 will be observed as Malala Day the world over, honouring her struggle for the cause of girls education. He said that this would build on the

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momentum of UNs Education First initiative. The Day is being observed across the globe to show solidarity with the brave daughter of Pakistan who stood up for education of girls and refused to bow down despite the threats of militants. While in Pakistan, UNs Special Envoy on Education and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown met President Asif Ali Zardari and asked to lead governmental changes in policy to ensure girls education in Pakistan. Barack Obama on 7 Nov has won a historic election to get a second term as US President, overcoming a stiff challenge from Republican Mitt Romney defying concerns over his handling of economy and anxiety over the future. A votary of strong ties with India, 51-year-old Obama, the first black American to occupy the White House, scored what turned out to be a comfortable victory over Romney after a bitter and costly campaign running over months with his rivals attacking him on issues of unemployment and recession. Disproving predictions of a narrow victory in a very tight race, the incumbent won the election in crucial battleground states after a neck-and-neck race in the initial stages, getting 303 electoral votes against 206 of Romney in a college of 535 votes. Notwithstanding doubts over his ability to revive economy from the effects of the crisis, the worst after the Great Depression of 1930s, voters appeared to have chosen status quo leaving Democrats with control of the Senate and Republicans the House of Representatives. What tilted the race in Obama's favour was the massive swing he got from the victory in California, which has the largest number of 55 electoral votes, and Ohio with 18. Obama also won in the states of Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Michigan. Obama, born to a white American mother and Kenya-born Harvard-educated economist father on August 4,1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii, becomes only the second Democrat after Bill Clinton to secure two White House terms since the World War-II. CIA director David Petraeus resigned as head of the leading US spy agency on 9 November, saying he had engaged in an extramarital affair and acknowledging he 'showed extremely poor judgment.'Obama, who was reelected to a second term said in a statement he had accepted Petraeus' resignation, praising him for his work at the Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) and for leading US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.The woman with whom the former CIA director had the affair is Paula Broadwell, according to a person familiar with the matter. She is an author who wrote a biography of Petraeus titled 'All In.' Indian-origin CEO of Datawind, the maker of India's low-cost tablet Aakash, Suneet Singh Tuli and Massachusettes Institute of Technology professor Anant Agarwal have been named on 10 november, by Forbes magazine among the 15 "classroom revolutionaries" who are using innovative technologies to reinvent education for students and teachers globally. Cash-strapped Britain on 9 November, announced it will stop all its aid to India in 2015 and make further cuts in the annual 280 million-pound assistance to the country for the remaining three years, citing the booming Asian giant's rising stature on the world stage. "India is successfully developing and our own bilateral relationship has to keep up with 21st century India. It's time to recognise India's changing place in the world," International Development Secretary Justine Greening said, announcing the UK's decision to end all aid to India in 2015. British aid to India was cut last year but still it committed the UK to spending 280 million pounds annually until 2015. Greening said programmes already under way would continue but nothing new would be approved. The 18th Communist party congress is being held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 8 November. During the congress, China's departing president, Hu Jintao, will give up his role as party chief to his anointed successor the vice-president, Xi Jinping. The congress is held every 5 years.During the congress, seven out of the country's nine top leaders will step down, including president Hu Jintao and prime minister Wen Jiabao. All but two of the Politburo standing committee, the country's top political body, will step down. About two-thirds of positions in the other key leadership organs and the Central Committee will change hands.

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A 7.4-magnitude earthquake on 8 November, has shaked Guatemala, killing at least 48 people in two provinces as it causes heavy physical damages.One hundred people were missing, and hundreds were injured. President Otto Perez Molina said that 40 people died in the province of San Marcos and eight more were killed in the neighbouring province of Quetzaltenango. Nepal was elected on 8 November 2012 as a board member of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for a three year term starting from January 2013. Nepal along with seventeen other countries was elected as board members. Nepal was elected with 131 votes out of the total 194 in the UN General Assembly.The fifty-four member ESOSOC is one of the principal organs of the UN which coordinates the economic, social and related work of the UN and its specialized agencies and institutions. BBC Director General George Entwistle on 10 November 2012 resigned from the job after the broadcaster put out a program which was denounced by the corporation's chairman as shoddy journalism as a British politician was depicted in child sex abuse.George Entwistle in a statement asserted that he had decided that the honourable thing to do is to step down as director general after just eight weeks in the job. George Entwistle was facing widespread criticism since a rival broadcaster carried charges in October 2012 that a former BBC star, the late Jimmy Savile, was one of Britain's most prolific sex offenders and had sexually abused hundreds of children over four decades.Thereafter the BBC's flagship news program Newsnight aired a mistaken allegation that an ex-politician sexually abused children. The programme did not identify the politician in the report, but he was widely named on the Internet as former Tory party treasurer Alistair McAlpine.Tim Davie, who is currently the BBC's director of audio and music, is going to take over as acting director general. The Pakistan cabinet ratified the India-pakistan visa regime agreement that was inked between the then Indian External Affairs Minister, S.M.Krishna and Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik. The ratification was given the go-ahead at the pakistans federal cabinet meeting on 1 November in Islamabad presided by Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf.Pakistan and India had signed the new liberalised visa regime giving more concessions and simplifying the procedure to grant visa to promote people-to-people contacts and enhance trade and business activities between the two neighbouring countries. According to the new visa regime, more concessions have been given to the businessmen from both the countries granting them multiple entry one year visa with the exemption from the Police Report and with increasing the number of cities. The development is part of Pakistan and Indias historic agreement to change visa regimes seeking to do away with decades-old strict travel restrictions on cross-border movement between the people of two countries, signed in September during the visit of the then Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna to Pakistan. A bronze bust of Noor Inayat Khan, hailed as a heroine of the World War II for her role in a dangerous secret mission against the Nazis, will be unveiled in London by Princess Anne. The Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust raised 60,000 from public for the memorial.The bust, sculpted by London-based artist Karen Newman, will be situated in the northeast corner of Gordon Square, near the house where Noor lived. She often spent her off-days reading on a bench in the square. Noor Inayat Khan was a secret agent in the Second World War. She was the first woman radio operator to be infiltrated into occupied France and did crucial work for the Allies.She was eventually betrayed, captured and killed in the Dachau Concentration Camp. Her last word was Liberte . She was posthumously awarded the George Cross by Britain and France awarded her the Croix de Guerre.Born in Moscow to an Indian father, Hazrat Inayat Khan and an American mother, Ora Ray Baker, Noor was a descendant of Tipu Sultan, the eighteenth century ruler of Mysore. The family lived in London and moved to Paris when Noor was six.In 1940 as Paris fell to occupation, Noor returned to London to volunteer for the war effort. She joined the Womens Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) and was eventually recruited by the Special Operations Executive (SOE).

December
Egypts controversial new constitution has been signed into law by President Mohammed Morsi, on 26 December, after he announced it had been approved by a large majority in a referendum that his opponents claim was marked by widespread irregularities. Critics say the new constitution, which was hurriedly drafted

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by Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and its allies, is undemocratic and too Islamist, and that it could allow clerics to intervene in the lawmaking process and leave minority groups without proper legal protection. Although the new legal framework was supposed to be the cornerstone of the country's transition to democracy, its drafting has been deeply divisive. A number of key groups, including Coptic Christians and secular liberals, withdrew from the drafting process, saying it had been hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies. Pakistan government on 24 December, decided to recognise the Republic of Kosovo. The decision was made in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Kosovo. The government of Pakistan has also decided to concurrently accredit its ambassador to the Republic of Turkey in Ankara as ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the Republic of Kosovo. Pakistan is the 98th sovereign state recognizing Kosovo. Kosovo declared "full independence" in September this year after the western powers overseeing Kosovo announced the end of their supervision of this Balkan nation. Shinzo Abe took office as Japans seventh prime minister in six years on 27 December and vowed to overcome the deep-rooted economic and diplomatic crises facing his country. Abe was elected as Japans leader, bringing back to power the conservative, pro-business Liberal Democratic Party that governed for most of the post-World War II era. It replaces the liberal-leaning government of the Democratic Party of Japan that lasted three years. Earlier he had resigned in 2006-07 citing health reasons. Abe promised to launch bold economic measures to pull Japan out of deflation. He also vowed to step up an alliance with the United States to stabilise Japans diplomacy shaken by increasing territorial threats from its neighbors. US President Barack Obama has nominated Senator John Kerry to succeed Hillary Clinton as his next secretary of state. Mr. Kerry ran as Democratic presidential candidate in 2004 and is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His nomination comes after the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, withdrew from consideration last week. Mr. Kerry, 69, becomes Mr. Obama's first new cabinet nomination since he won a second term in November.Mr Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, lost a close presidential election to George W Bush in 2004 and had been a contender for the state department in 2008, before Mrs. Clinton was chosen. ADB approves $245 mn loan for Pakistan The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $245-million loan to help improve Pakistan's power distribution system. The money will be used in projects, which will help reduce power losses and increase reliability of the power distribution system, Xinhua reported on 24 December. The loan is part of the $810 power distribution enhancement programme agreed in 2008. The ADB has already provided financial assistance for up gradation work at 250 grid stations across Pakistan. "Energy sector Pakistan is suffering due to shortages in generation and bottlenecks at distribution and transmission level," ADB country director Werner E. Liepach said. Putin OKs law to bar US adoption of Russian kids Russian President Vladimir Putin on 28 December signed into law controversial parliamentary legislation banning the adoption of Russian children by American families, the Kremlin said. The law - retaliation for a United States law punishing Russian officials implicated in the 2009 prison death of the whistle-blowing attorney Sergei Magnitsky - will come into force on January 1, it said. The highly contentious law is seen as the toughest piece of anti-US legislation during Putin's 13-year rule and has prompted objections not just from activists but even some cabinet ministers. A particular subject of concern are the dozens of Russian children who are now in an agonizing limbo after being prepared for US adoption but who now are effectively banned from leaving for their new lives. The Kremlin children's rights envoy Pavel Astakhov said 52 Russian children who had been prepared for US adoption should now go to Russian parents specially selected by regional governors. "I believe they should be adopted in Russia," Astakhov, a key backer of the legislation, said. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti on 21 December 2012 resigned after 13 months in office with handing over his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano after parliament gave final approval to the 2013 budget law.With the resignation of Mario Monti the President is expected to call early national elections within 70 days

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of the parliament dissolution, possibly on 24 February 2013.Mario Monti is an economist and former European commissioner and was appointed by the President Napolitano to fill former premier Silvio Berlusconi's place after he resigned in 2011 under pressure for failing to control Italy's debt and a series of scandals.Monti's term was originally set to expire in mid-2013, but his earlier departure is expected to bring elections forward. Former Prime Minister Berlusconi had announced that he intends to run for re-election in the New Year. US President Barack Obama was named TIME's Person of the Year for 2012, because of his historic win over the re-election in November 2012 which is being considered as symbol of the nation's changing demographics amid the backdrop of high unemployment and other challenges.It is the second time Barack Obama is being accorded with this honour. He had also received the honour in 2008, when he was first elected as president.Time's Person of the Year is the person or thing that has most influenced the culture and the news during the past year for good or for ill. In 2010, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg received the honour.Last year in 2011 Time honoured "The Protester," citing dissent across the Middle East that spread to Europe and the United States, saying the protesters reshaped global politics. In a study entitled The Global Religious Landscape which was issued by Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life on 18 December 2012, it was found that people under the affiliation of no religion accounted for 3rd largest global group only after Christians and Muslims. No Religion group stood just before the Hindus.The study is based on the data for 2010. It indicated that Hinduism and Islam are two religions that are likely to grow larger in future, while the weakest growth opportunities were that of Jews. The most consistently spreading religion was Christianity which is said to be present in almost all regions of world. Hinduism, on the other hand, has its concentration in one country, India with around 94 percent population following the religion. According to the study, Christianity was largest faith with 31.5 percent world population following the religion. Roman Catholic Church accounts for 50 percent of the total. The Muslim population was 1.6 billion or 23 percent of the population of the world. 87-90 percent Muslims are Sunnis and around 10-13 percent are Shia. Hindu population is found mainly in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. 50 percent of the Buddhists of the world live in China, followed by Thailand and Japan. US (United States) House of Representatives on 20 December 2012 passed the Defence Authorization Act of 2013. The bill was passed with a 315-107 vote amid chaos over the fiscal cliff negotiations and the threat of drastic defense spending cuts.The Defence Authorization Act of 2013 covers the cost of ships, aircraft, weapons and military personnel as well as the war effort in Afghanistan. It consists of 528 billion dollars for the Defense Department's base budget, 17 billion dollars for defense and nuclear programmes in the Energy Department and 88 billion dollars for the war in Afghanistan.The bill tightens sanctions on Iran and increases security for U.S. diplomatic missions after the attack on U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. It also requests the Pentagon to report to Congress regarding the conflict in Syria on possible military options. Rigorous new sanctions against Irans banking, shipping and industrial sectors took effect on 22 december, as part of the European Unions effort to force Tehran to scale back its nuclear program.The sanctions, agreed in October, entered EU law with their publication in the European Unions Official Journal on 22 december.The toughest EU measures yet, they include bans on financial transactions, sales to Iran of shipping equipment and steel, and imports of Iranian natural gas, adding to earlier bans, including on the OPEC producers oil. In a statement, Britain's foreign office said there was a clear need for an urgent solution. Irans leaders know that sanctions are having a significant impact, Britain's Minister for the Middle East and North Africa Alistair Burt said.The new sanctions mark a significant change of policy for the 27member E.U, which previously sought mainly to target specific people and companies with economic restrictions. It has lagged the United States in imposing blanket industry bans because it is anxious to avoid penalizing ordinary Iranian citizens, while punishing the Tehran government. Ireland is to legalise abortions when the mother's life is at risk, including when she is suicidal, following the death of a Indian woman who was refused the procedure while undergoing a miscarriage. Ireland's cabinet took the decision on 18 december, after a public outcry over the death of Savita Halappanavar, 31. She died after her repeated requests for an abortion were refused by doctors who reportedly told her: "This is a

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Catholic country."The government has decided to repeal the legislation that criminalises abortion and to introduce regulations setting out when doctors can perform the procedure. This will be when a woman's life is regarded as being at risk, including the threat of suicide.The Irish health minister, Dr James Reilly, said the government was aware of the controversy surrounding the issue, but the safety of pregnant women had to be "strengthened".The Prime Minister, Enda Kenny, said draft legislation would be published in the new year with a view to having the legislation ready by Easter.Under current Irish law, abortion is a criminal act unless it occurs as the result of a medical intervention performed to save the life of the mother. However, until now the government has not enacted legislation to give certainty to doctors as to when terminations can be carried out and under what circumstances.The new moves are intended to bring legal clarity to the issue. Park Geun-hye(60), whose father ruled South Korea for 18 years, became the country's first female president on 19 december, narrowly beating her opponent in one of the most divisive elections for years.With more than 70% of the votes counted, Park led with 51.6%, while her only rival, Moon Jae-in, was on 48%, according to the national election commission.Moon, a leftwing former human rights lawyer from the Democratic United party, conceded defeat and congratulated Park on her victory.Park, 60, had to overcome resentment towards her privileged background and accusations that her Saenuri party was too close to the powerful chaebol conglomerates that dominate the South Korean economy. While her gender was a frequent talking point among pundits, it did not appear to have been a major influence on voters. Miss USA, Olivia Culpo has been crowned as Miss Universe 2012 at a gala event in Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada,U.S. Olivia Culpo defeated stunning divas from across 89 states to win the crown. As many as 89 beauty queens from around the world descended to compete for the title of Miss Universe.The first and the second runners up are Janine Tugonon from Philippines and Irene Esser from Venezuela.Miss Universe 2011, Leila Lopes of Angola, crowned the successor amidst a round of loud applause.Miss India, Shilpa Singh could not go beyond the 16th round. Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant run by the Miss Universe Organization. Next to with its rival contest - Miss World - this pageant is the most publicized beauty contest in the world. Time Capsule on Democracy Buried in Mexico An electoral court has buried a time capsule containing more than 80 documents and other items that will not be opened until 2087 in an effort to give future citizens an understanding of today's democracy. "It seeks to give coming generations an idea of how the jurisdictional body became a guarantor of Mexican democracy; as well as putting original documents on the work done within reach of future researchers," said a statement. The time capsule was buried in the esplanade of the Upper Hall of the electoral tribunal at the base of a statue of the republican eagle. The hermetically sealed stainless steel box has a neoprene interior to keep moisture, dust and microbes out so the contents will stay intact for a long time. The time capsule contains 26 messages, 31 photographs, two reports, four books, four artifacts, nine regulations, four newspapers and four documents in sealed envelopes. A plaque at the base of the statue instructs future generations not to open the capsule until Sep 15, 2087, the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Mexico's electoral justice body. The time capsule was registered with the International Time Capsule Society, or ITCS, at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia Apparently neglecting U.S and UN warnings, North Korea has fired sucessfully its latest long-range rocket Unha-3 on 12 December, just days prior to the South Korean presidential elections on Dec. 19. South Korea's Yonhap news agency citing military officials said the Unha-3 long-range missile, fired from a west coast launch pad, appears to have successfully launched a satellite into orbit.The latest rocket launch into space violates UN Security Council resolutions and contravenes North Korea's international obligations, said the White House, going on to call the launch as 'a highly provocative act that threatens regional security. The US National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor in a statement called the missile firing yet another case of North Korea's pattern of irresponsible behavior.'He also said the US will work with other nations and the UN Security Council to pursue appropriate action against North Korea.North Korea's closest ally China too expressed 'regret' about the launch.Even Russia expressed its 'deep regret' over the rocket launch.It may be noted North Korea is under heavy UN sanctions for its nuclear weapons program and has been ordered not to conduct any launch using ballistic missile technology. It is, however, understood to be quietly developing a long-range

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ballistic missile ranging up to 6,700 km (4,200 miles).This is allegedly aimed at hitting the continental United States and a serious threat to neighboring South Korea. However, the last two rocket launches failed, the last one in April flew just a few minutes covering a little over 100 km (60 miles) before crashing into the sea between South Korea and China.Many analysts believe Pyongyang has a handful of elementary nuclear bombs. However, it is not yet believed to be capable of producing warheads small enough to mount on a missile that could threaten the US. For decades North Korea has been attempting making a perfect multistage, longrange rocket. The United Nations Panel of External Auditors which comprises Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) engaged in auditing United Nations, its specialised agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency, held its 53rd meeting which concluded on 11 December at the UN Headquarters in New York. Vinod Rai, the CAG of India, who is current Chairman of the panel, met the Secretary General, Mr Ban Ki Moon along with the Heads of the participating SAIs and briefed him on the decisions of the Panel's meeting regarding conduct of audit of the United Nations and related organisations. The Secretary General appreciated the Panel of External Auditors and the yeoman service rendered by the external auditors in improving governance in the United Nations system. The Panel headed by Shri Vinod Rai also discussed the major business transformations currently underway in the United Nations with the Secretary General. Vinod Rai, the C&AG of India, has been re-elected Chair of the Panel for the year 2013.Mr Amyas Morse, the C&AG of the United Kingdom has been re-elected the vice-chair of the Panel. The Panel of External Auditors plays an important role in promoting accountability and strengthening governance mechanisms in the UN organisations. The Panel meets annually to discuss emergent issues in the audit of UN organisations. Incumbent President John Dramani Mahama on 10 december, was declared the winner of Ghanas presidential election.His closest rival, Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has claimed widespread voter fraud and has refused to accept the result.Initially scheduled for December 7, voting had to be extended for another day due to technical glitches in the nation-wide biometric voter identification system. Ghanian officials have denied opposition claims of fraud, and international observers from organisations like the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have said the elections were transparent and credible. Pakistans President Asif Ali Zardari on 10 December, announced a $10-million donation for a global war chest to educate all girls by 2015 set up in the name of Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by the Taliban for campaigning for girls education.The Malala Fund for Girls Right to Education aims at raising billions of dollars to ensure that all girls go to school by 2015 in line with U.N. Millennium goals.Pakistan Education Minister Waqas Akram signed the agreement with the UNESCO head Irina Bokova.The ceremony drew French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, former British Premier Gordon Brown, U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education, and the former Presidents of Finland and Chile.Ziauddin Yousafzai, Ms. Yousafzais father, a former teacher and headmaster has been appointed special adviser for education, UNESCO, to help in what Mr. Brown has dubbed a new Malala Plan to get all girls into school around the world by the end of 2015. The U.N. estimates 61 million children do not go to school and girls account for twothirds of this number. Soldiers arrested Malis Prime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra, and ordered him to resign, showing that the military is still the real power in the capital of this large West African country even though soldiers made a show of returning control back to civilian leaders several months after launching a coup in March.Prime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra on 11 december announced his resignation. He was reportedly back in his house under military guard, brought there from a military base.For several weeks, tension has been mounting between the officers who led the coup and Mr. Diarra, the civilian Prime Minister whom they were forced to appoint when they handed back power to a transitional government. The Maldives took control of Male international airport from Indias GMR Infrastructure Ltd. (GMRI) on 7 December, after a court allowed the island-nation to take over the facility following the cancellation of a contract. Mohamed Ibrahim, managing director of Maldives Airport said that the state-owned Maldives Airport

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Co. had taken over the operations of the Ibrahim Nassir International Airport and the transfer process had gone smoothly, The airport operator will separately fight compensation claims made by GMR in a Singapore court, the designated arbitrator, Ibrahim said. Losing control of the Male facility is a set back for billionaire G.M. Rao whose foray into airport business about six years ago helped boost his companys sales eight-fold. Maldives Airports is liable to pay GMR and its lenders more than $700 million in compensation, A Singapore court on 6 December, allowed Maldives to take over the airport after a contract with GMR was cancelled on Nov. 27. Maldives may have to compensate GMR in accordance with the agreement between them, according to a decision handed out by three judges led by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon. The Maldives, a group of 1,190 coral islands with a population of about 400,000 people, is located southwest of India. About 198 of the islands are inhabited. A new index prepared by an Australian think tank says that India, Pakistan and Afghanistan were among the nations most impacted by terrorism in 2011. The Global Terrorism Index (GTI), which was released on 3 December, by the Australia-based Institute for Economics & Peace, ranked countries based on data from the Global Terrorism Database run by a consortium based at the University of Maryland. The GTI revealed that Pakistan, India and Afghanistan accounted for 12 per cent, 11 per cent and 10 per cent of global terrorist incidents respectively from 2002 to 2009. In 2011, the Middle East, India, Pakistan and Russia were the areas most impacted by terrorism. India's GTI rank was 4 out of the 159 countries surveyed. While Iraq stood at number 1, Pakistan at number 2, Afghanistan at number 3 and Yemen was number 5.Overall, there were 7,473 fatalities in 2011 due to terrorism, which is 25 per cent less than in 2007. The index shows that global terrorism only started to increase after the escalation of the Iraq war. This was subsequently followed by further increasing waves of terrorism in Afghanistan and then in Pakistan 18 months later. Only 31 of the 159 countries ranked have not experienced a terrorist attack since 2001. Typhoon Bopha, the strongest ever tropical cyclone hit the Philippines. With the central winds at a speed of 120 kmph and gusts of around 150 kmph Typhoon Bopha swept away the coast of Palawan Island on 5 December 2012.The worst hit area by Typhoon Bopha was southern island of Mindanao. Bopha had made a landfall here on 4 December 2012. This led to floods as well as landslides along the coast. Typhoon Bopha has left 379 missing and almost 325 dead. Typhoon Bopha is also known as Pablo in Philippines and it arrived on 4 December 2012.Typhoon Bopha is considered two times deadlier than Hurricane Sandy, the storm which had affected Caribbean and eastern US six weeks ago. Sri Lankas first woman Chief Justice faced the threat of dismissal from office after a parliamentary panel on 8 december, found her guilty of three accusations of professional misconduct.The charges against Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake have raised international concerns that the government is trying to control the judiciary.The panel said it had found Ms. Bandaranayake guilty of three out of five charges of financial and professional misconduct brought by the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance.The charges on which she was found guilty include failing to declare nine bank accounts and interfering in a case involving a company from which her sister had bought an apartment.If the Chief Justice is found guilty of even one charge, and a majority of the 225-member house votes for her removal, the President can dismiss her within a month. Ireland relaxes abortion laws Amid the row over the death of an Indian dentist in Ireland, the Irish government told the Council of Europe that any seriously ill woman who is pregnant and her request for a termination is refused, is entitled to a second medical opinion. The woman would also have the right to apply to the High Court for orders directing the necessary treatment to be provided. Savita Halappanavar, 31, died on October 28 at Galway University Hospital. She had been 17-week pregnant and was found to be miscarrying. The interim scenarios which apply pending full implementation of the ABC judgment of the European Court of Human Rights are laid out in an action plan submitted by the Government to the council last Friday.(30-11-12) The A,B and C cases are a landmark cases of the European Court of Human Rights on the right to privacy. It held there is no right for women to an abortion, although it found that Ireland had violated the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to provide an accessible and effective procedure by which a woman can have established whether she qualifies for a legal abortion under current Irish law.

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Pak to ban ads with Indian models A Pakistani parliamentary panel called for a ban on advertisements featuring Indian models and suggested that it should be mandatory for female anchors on news channels to cover their heads with a dupatta. The suggestion was made by the Standing Committee for Information and Broadcasting of the National Assembly or lower house of parliament during a meeting attended by Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira Reacting to the panel's call to ban advertisements featuring Indian models, Kaira said the issue was in court and it would be better to wait for the judiciary's decision. He agreed with the panel's members that local culture should be promoted. Indian stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Kajol, Shilpa Shetty and Kareena Kapoor appear in advertisements for various products beamed on Pakistani channels. UN not to curb Internet freedom Internet freedom will not be curbed or controlled, the head of the UN telecommunications body, Hamadoun Toure, said as a meeting to review the 24-year-old telecom regulations kicked off on 3 December. Such claims are "completely (unfounded)," Toure, secretary general of the International Telecommunication Union, told. "I find it a very cheap way of attacking" the conference, he said, as the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12) set off in Dubai to review regulations reached in 1988. Earlier, Toure told participants at the conference that the Internet freedom of expression will not be touched during the discussions at the meeting. "Nothing can stop the freedom of expression in the world today, and nothing in this conference will be about it," he said. "I have not mentioned anything about controlling the Internet." Strong quake hits off Japan near Fukushima disaster zone A strong quake centred off northeastern Japan shook buildings as far away as Tokyo on 7 December and triggered a one-metre tsunami in an area devastated by last year's Fukushima disaster, but there were no reports of deaths or serious damage. The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.3, the U.S. Geological Survey said, and thousands of coastal residents were ordered to evacuate to higher ground, but the tsunami warning was lifted two hours after the tremor struck. Workers at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant were ordered to move to safety after the quake. Tokyo Electric Power Co, the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant, reported no irregularities at its nuclear plants. Zardari enjoys immunity, says Lahore High Court A Pakistan high court on 7 December expressed its inability to convict President Asif Ali Zardari for contempt of court despite his defying its order in a case related to his holding of dual offices, citing the presidential immunity he enjoys. During the hearing of the contempt of court petition over the president's holding of dual office, Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said although the court could convict anyone for committing contempt of court, the fact remained that the president enjoyed immunity under Article 248(2) of the Constitution. The LHC was hearing a contempt of court petition against President Zardari for not relinquishing political office in the light of a judgment passed by the LHC last year. The petitioner's counsel, A.K. Dogar, said that the high court and the Supreme Court could convict an offender for committing contempt of court. The counsel questioned the concept of presidential immunity, asking what might have happened if the president was to murder someone. The petitioner said that if the president was not convicted and sentenced for committing contempt of court, the concept of an independent judiciary would cease to exist. On this, the court bench stated that although the head of state was not answerable to anyone, the president was still bound to respect and follow judicial orders. On Sep 5, the bench had issued a fresh notice to President Zardari and sought a reply to the petition pleading contempt proceedings against him for not abiding the court's order to relinquish his political office.

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National Affairs 2012

January
The Indian Coast Guard ship ICGS Rani Abbakka, the 1st of a series of five inshore patrol vessels (IPV) built at Hindustan Shipyard Ltd, was commissioned at Visakhapatnam on 20 january. The ship, incidentally, is named after Abbakka Mahadevi, the legendary queen of Tulunadu, Karnataka who fought the Portuguese in the latter half of the 16th Century. The International Conference on Nanoscience and Technology (ICONSAT - 2012) will be held from January 20 to 23, 2012 at Hyderabad, India. The conference is being organized by International Advanced Research Center for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad. The Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India is the official sponsor of this conference and the above event is a regular biennial feature under its Nano Mission initiative. The first batch of RICs (Resident Identity Cards) was launched by the home ministry at Porthrapur village in Andaman and Nicobar Islands on 21 January 2012. The RIC cards were distributed to all persons above the age of 18 residing in the nine coastal states and four union territories under the National Population Register (NPR) scheme. The NPR scheme is aimed to provide valid identity to all people in these areas to strengthen the security along the country's coastline. The Government of India and the World Bank on 20 January 2012 signed an IDA credit of 130 million US dollars to finance the project NERLP (North East Rural Livelihoods Project), to empower rural communities in the North East region to improve their livelihood opportunities.The NERLP will enhance the livelihoods of the rural poor, especially women, unemployed youth of the four participating states of Mizoram, Nagaland,Sikkim and Tripura. The 15th World Sanskrit conference was held from 5 to 10 January 2012 in New Delhi. It was organized by Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan and International Association of Sanskrit Studies. Scholars and delegates attended the six-day event from 32 countries. The 14th World Sanskrit conference was held in Kyoto, Japan. The Cabinet Committee on Security approved the setting up of a National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) to counter terrorism effectively. The Ministry of Home Affairs proposed the NCTC. It will be a single window organisation that will gather and disseminate intelligence to central and state security organisations. The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh inaugurated the 10th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas event that was held on 7-9 January 2012 in Jaipur. The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad Bissessar was the Chief Guest of the event. The Global Indian: Inclusive Growth was the theme of the event. Prime Minister announced a new Pension and Life Insurance Fund for overseas Indian workers in this event. Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs announced that next Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas-2012 will be held in Dubai for the Gulf region.

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A United Nations Resource Centre for the North-East was set up at Guwahati, Assam on 2 January 2012. The centre happens to be the first of its kind in the country. The centre was formally inaugurated by the State Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. India announced that it became free from bird flu, H5N1 virus. The government made a declaration to this effect on 4 January 2012.

February
In the new version of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, MGNREGA, Government included more than 25 agriculture and allied activities from 1 April 2012. The new version of act was prepared after receiving a report on revised Operational Guidelines for MGNREGA. The Report was prepared by a committee headed by Planning Commission Member Mihir Shah. Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram inaugurated the fourth and final regional hub of the National Security Guard (NSG) in Marol, Mumbai on 23 February 2012. The regional hubs at Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai were set up to reduce the response time and reach the area of operation as quickly as possible. The state-of-the-art training facility at Ibrahimpatnam, Hyderabad will train commandos for southern and western States. President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil on 9 February 2012 released a special commemorative stamp to mark the Golden Jubilee of the India International Centre (IIC) in New Delhi. This centre plays a major role in promoting awareness and creating public opinion.The Stamp priced at five rupees promotes the nations image and depicts the rich diverse culture of the country. The Union government decided to operationalise the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) from 1 March 2012. The NCTC is to be located in the Intelligence Bureau and headed by a Director who will be an officer in the rank of Additional Director, IB. It is having three units, gathering intelligence, analysis of intelligence and carrying out operations. Union cabinet of India on 9 February 2012 approved the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP-2012) to facilitate access to central government owned shareable data and information. The NDSAP policy is designed to promote data sharing and enable access to central government owned data for national planning and development.

March
Vanya Mishra of Chandigarh crowned as the Pantaloons Femina Miss India World 2012 in the grand finale of the 49th edition of the beauty pageant on 30 March 2012 in Mumbai. Prachi Mishra, 24 of Pune won the Miss India Earth title while Chennai girl Rochelle Maria Rao was crowned as the Miss India International. 19-yearold Vanya will represent India at the Miss World 2012 Pageant. Prachi and Rochelle are to represent the country at Miss Earth 2012 Pageant and Miss International 2012 Pageant, respectively. Femina will not send the beauties to the Miss Universe pageant as it had decided in 2010 to abstain from the event. The Union Cabinet of India on 23 March 2012 approved the redrafted Marriage laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010. The bill seeks to give a woman share in her husbands property in case of a divorce but the quantum of share will be decided by the courts on case by case basis. It also aims at giving rights to adopted children on par with biological off-springs. According to the redrafted bill, adopted children will have rights on par with biological off-springs of a couple in case the parents go for a divorce. It is important to note that all these changes in the bill were based on the recommendations made by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice and Personnel.

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Union Minister Mukul Roy was on 20 March 2012, sworn in as the Union cabinet Minister by President Pratibha Patil in New Delhi. He is to head to Union Railway Ministry following the resignation of his predecessor Dinesh Trivedi. He replaced Dinesh Trivedi, who was forced to resign after he raised rail passenger fares in Union rail Budget 2012-13 and thus angered Trinamool Congress particularly Mamata Banerjee. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was opposed to his proposal to increase fares in the railway budget. According to comptroller and auditor generals draft report titled Performance Audit Of Coal Block Allocations, the government lost Rs 10.67 lakh crore by not auctioning coal blocks between 2004 and 2009.155 coal blocks were given to commercial entities without auction between 2004 and 2009 thereby causing the exchequer a loss of Rs 10.67 lakh crore at 31 March 2011 prices . The estimated loss is six times higher than the loss figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore suffered for the 2G scam. The beneficiaries include some 100 private companies, as well as some public sector units, in industries such as power, steel and cement. Union Government of India on 3 February 2012 notified the setting up of the anti-terror body called National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC).NCTC will have the power to carry out operations including arrest, search and seizure. It will draw its functional power of search and seizures under the provisions of the UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. It will work as an integral part of Intelligence bureau. Union Rail Minister Dinesh Trivedi, tendered his resignation on 18 March 2012 to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Trivadi was instructed to resign by his party Trinmool Congress as the decision of increasing the rail fares did not go well with the party. Trinmool Congress chief, Mamta Banarjee had vociferously demanded the rollback of fare hikes.Trivedi proposed a hike in passenger fares ranging between 2 paise to 30 paise per kilometre. The decision was taken to improve the ailing condition of Indian Railways. Trivedi, a Loksabha MP from Barrackpore in West Bengal, took over as the Union Rail Minister on 13 July 2011. Trivedi was slated to be the Union Rail Minister by his party Trinmool Congress, after Mamta Banarjee quit the job. It is for the first time in the history of independent India that a Railways Minister has been made to resign just after five days of presenting the budget in the parliament. Kotala Gram panchayat of Chandragiri mandal ,Chittoor dist of A.P, has won the central governments Gram Ratna Award. It has won the award for showing the best results in the development of panchayat. As per UNICEFs State of the Worlds Children Report 2012, some dark facts are revealed. 18 per cent of those below 15 years and 47 per cent of those below 18 years are married in India. Thirty percent of Indian girls aged between 15 and 19 are married.

April
United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki Moon visited India from 26 April to 29 April 2012. The UN Secretary General was accompanied by a high-level delegation. During his three-day visit, Ban held talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other senior leaders. The two leaders discussed global and regional issues. The UN Secretary General also lauded Indias economic progress and noted that India, given its larger outlook, required to play even more significant role in the betterment of the world economy. Ban in the course of his visit also met business and social leaders to discuss ways and means to achieve the health-related UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).67-year -old Ban also received an honorary Doctor of Letters from Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi. A South Korean by nationality, Ban Ki Moon started his diplomatic career from India in 1972. It was Bans third visit to India ever since he assume the charge of UN Secretary General in 2010. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and his Maharashtra counterpart, Prithviraj Chavan, on 5 May signed an agreement in New Delhi to set up an inter-State board for speedy execution of the Rs.40,300-crore Pranahita-Chevella irrigation project that will serve both States. The agreement was signed in the presence of Union Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal. The Dr. B.R. Ambedkar PranahitaChevella Sujala Sravanthi project, which Andhra Pradesh wants to be declared as a national project, envisages diversion of 160 tmc of water by constructing a barrage across the Pranahita river, which is a major tributary of the Godavari. It further utilises 20 tmc of water from the Godavari at the Sripada Yellampally project. This project will

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irrigate 16,40,000 acres in drought-prone Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Medak, Warangal, Rangareddy and Nalgonda districts of the Telangana region. As per the agreement, a joint inter-State committee will be formed to ensure efficient, speedy and economical investigation and execution of the project. To prevent any differences between A.P. and Maharashtra over the project, the joint committee will decide on the location of the barrage and the share of the expenditure involved for the two States. The Supreme Court of India on 8 May 2012 directed the Union Government to eliminate the Haj subsidy completely by reducing it gradually over the next ten years. The court further ruled that the amount of Haj subsidy should be used for the uplift of the community.A Supreme Court bench of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai observed that the Haj subsidy is provided by the government is continuously increasing given the rising air fare and pilgrims. Though agree to the fact that subsidy is constitutionally valid, the court did not find any rationalization in charging the pilgrims a much lesser price. The Apex Court also instructed the government to end the practice of sending a goodwill Haj delegation. Two boats carrying nearly 350 people capsized in the Brahmaputra River in Assam's Dhubri and Jaleswar district on 30 April 2012. More than 100 people were killed in this tragedy. The bodies of 103 victims, including women and children, were recovered by the BSF and the NDRF personnel near Jaleswar. As many as 120 people are missing and believed to have drowned. The Supreme Court of India on 27 April 2012 held that Farmers whose land is acquired for a public purpose are entitled to the highest market value as compensation. The Supreme Courts ruling came following a case of land acquisition in Punjabs Faridkot district where the land owner was awarded a compensation of 1 lakh rupees per acre despite the land was located in commercially important area. 50 leaders from different political parties took the oath as the Rajya Sabha members on 24 April 2012. Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley, BSP head Mayawati, Union ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh and Rajeev Shukla, and Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi and actor Jaya Bachchan were among the leaders who took oath in the Rajya Sabha. Former Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha K Rahman Khan, former Union minister Renuka Chaudhary, Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy and BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu also took the oath. Maoists released Orissa MLA Jhina Hikaka on 26 April 2012, after keeping him in captivity for more than 30 days. Hikaka, who was abducted by the Maoists on 24 March 2012 was handed over to lawyer Nihar Ranjan Patnaik at Balipeta village in Narayanpatna forests. The decision about the release of the legislator was taken in a people's court. The MLA was released after the state government conceded to the Maoists demand to liberate more than two dozen Maoist cadres and sympathisers. Hikaka was abducted by the Andhra Orissa Border Special Zonal Committee of CPI(Maoist).The Maoists had also abducted two Italian tourists Paolo Bosusco and Claudio Colangelo who were released subsequently by them following a talk between the Maoist leaders and the government appointed interlocutors. Colangelo was released on 25 March 2012 while Bosusco was freed on 12 April 2012. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been named among the 100 most influential people in the world by the prestigious Time magazine in its 2012 list. The list also includes US President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and billionaire investor Warren Buffet. Apart from Mamatha Banerjee, advocate Anjali Gopalan, who works for the rights of gays and the transgendered in India, is the only other Indian in the list released by the magazine. The 2012 list is topped by American basketball sensation Jeremy Lin. President Pratibha Patil on 18 April 2012 released a commemorative postage stamp to mark the birth centenary of President R. Venkataraman at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. The release of the stamp marked the end of year-long centenary celebrations organised from December 2010 onward to celebrate the life of India's eighth President, R. Venkataraman. The Union Cabinet on 12 April 2012 gave its approval to the introduction of a Bill seeking an amendment in the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 to include registration of marriages as well, so that the existing administrative mechanisms will be able to carry out such registration of marriages in accordance with the specified procedures and be able to maintain necessary records and statistics for registration of marriages also.

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The Supreme Court of India on 12 April 2012 upheld the constitutional validity of the Right to Education Act, 2009, which mandates 25 per cent free seats to the poor in government and private unaided schools uniformly across the country. The apex court clarified that its judgment will come into force from 12 April 2012. However, the act will apply uniformly to government and unaided private schools except unaided private minority schools. A three-judge bench of Chief Justice S H Kapadia and justices K S Radhakrishnan and Swantanter Kumar gave the ruling. Indias Atomic Energy Regulatory Board was admitted as the 11th member of MDEP (Multinational Design Evaluation Programme) on 4 April 2012. The other members of this body are China, Finland, Japan, Korea, South Africa, USA, UK, Canada, France and Russia. MDEP is a multinational initiative taken by national safety authorities to develop innovative approaches to leverage the resources and knowledge of the national regulatory authorities who are currently tasked with the review of new reactor power plant designs. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of the United States and the French Nuclear Safety Authority launched it in 2006.

May
The Andhra Pradesh High Court on 28 May 2012 quashed the 4.5 per cent sub-quota for minorities carved out of the 27 per cent reservation for OBCs by the Union government. A high court division bench of Chief Justice Madan Lokur and Justice P V Sanjay Kumar observed that the Union governments move was based on religious lines and not any other consideration. The court was hearing to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by backward classes leader R Krishnaiah against the sub-quota. The Union Government will move to the Supreme Court against the high court verdict. The Union Government of India on 1 June 2012 announced to constitute an implementation panel to look into the ways of implementing the Dharmadhikari committee report on Air India and Indian Airlines merger. The implementation panel will also suggest the issues including pay, allowances and career progression structure. The four-member Dharmadhikari committee constituted in January 2012, on integration of nearly 29000 employees of Air India and Indian Airlines.

June
The Union Ministry of Defence (MoD) on 22 June 2012 approved defence proposals worth over 20000 crore rupees for the procurement of defence eqipments for the Indian army. The proposals were accepted by the government in a meeting chaired by Defence Minister AK Antony. The government in the meeting cleared an IAF proposals worth over 8500 crore rupees for procuring 14 Dornier aircraft and setting up a nationwide communication network and guns for navy and the coast guard ships. Besides, the proposal for procuring eight regiments of QR-SAMs worth over 10000 crore rupees was also approved by the defence ministry. The decision to accelerate the defence procurements came following the former Army Chief Gen VK Singhs letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in which he had raised serious questions over the preparedness of Indias defence system. The Calcutta High Court on 22 June 2012, held the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011 as unconstitutional and void. The legislation enabled the government to recover the disputed Singur land from Tata Motors, who was leased 997 acre of land at Singur in Hooghly district by previous left front government in the state. The Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act was passed by the West Bengal state assembly in 2011 when Mamata Banrjee led Trinamool Congress swept to power in May 2011. The legislation that justified the state governments land re-acquisition drive empowered the government to recover 1000 acres of land at the abandoned Tata Nano factory site in Singur. The Supreme Court of India on 11 June 2012 refused to entertain the Union Governments petition seeking a stay on an Andhra Pradesh high court order that quashed a 4.5 per cent sub-quota for minorities in educational institutions and government jobs in the existing OBC quota. The two-judge Supreme Court

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bench of Justices K.S.Radhakrishnan and J.S.Khehar refused to stay the Andhra Pradesh High Court order as it observed the government did not present any material to show how it had arrived at a figure of 4.5 percent reservation. As per the bench's directions the reports by the Union Government are to be produced on 13 June 2012. India's first "talking" Automated Teller Machine (ATM) for visually impaired was inaugurated in Ahmedabad on 6 june. The ATM by the Union Bank of India is first-of-its-kind for the visually challenged and 4000th in the countrywide network of the state-run bank. Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar sworn in as the member of the Rajya Sabha on 4 June 2012. Sachin along with hindi film actress Rekha and business woman Anu Aga was nominated by the President of India as Rajya Sabha MP on 27 April 2012.Since Parliament is not in session, Sachin was administered the oath in the chamber of the Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari. The Vice President administered him the oath. Sachin, 39, is the first active cricketer who has been nominated to Rajya Sabha for 6year term. The President of India under article 80 of the Indian constitution nominates 12 members belonging from the various fields like art, literature, business, sports to the 250-member Rajya Sabha. The Union Government of India on 1 June 2012 announced to constitute an implementation panel to look into the ways of implementing the Dharmadhikari committee report on Air India and Indian Airlines merger. The implementation panel will also suggest the issues including pay, allowances and career progression structure. The four-member Dharmadhikari committee constituted in January 2012, on integration of nearly 29000 employees of Air India and Indian Airlines.

July
The northern grid crashed early on 30 July, in one of the worst outages in more than a decade, dragging eight States into darkness, affecting inter-State train operations and health services and impacting millions of lives. The 400-kV Bina-Gwalior line, feeding the Agra-Bareilly transmission section, tripped at 2.35 a.m. and wreaked havoc on the generation and transmission systems, shutting down all major plants, including hydropower stations, in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, all wired to the northern grid. The immediate impact was shortage of around 32,000 MW.The shutdown had a crippling effect on inter-State passenger and goods trains that came to a halt. A majority of the hospitals claimed to have alternative arrangements, yet health services were affected at several places. Meanwhile, the Power Ministry on 30 July, announced the constitution of a three-member panel to probe the grid collapse. The panel, headed by Central electricity Authority (CEA) Chairman A.S. Singh, will submit its report in 15 days. The northern grid, which caters for about 28 per cent of the country's population, covers the regions of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, J&K and Chandigarh. P. Chidambaram took charge of the Finance Ministry on 31 July, after three and a half years spent presiding over the Home Ministry. In a minor reshuffle, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave the Home portfolio to Sushil Kumar Shinde, who was Power Minister. Simultaneously, Union Corporate Affairs Minister M. Veerappa Moily has been given additional charge of Power. The changes were announced on 31 july through a press communiqu issued by Rahstrapati Bhavan. An overstrained power generation and transmission structure spreading across 21 States of the North, East and North-East regions collapsed on 31 July, plunging half of the country into darkness. The second massive breakdown in as many days was caused by the continuing grid indiscipline on the part of the State Electricity Boards (SEBs) and power utilities that overdrew power from an already overstretched generation system. On 30 July, the northern grid collapsed and it was restored after 15 hours. The Eastern and NorthEastern transmission lines too failed on 31 July afternoon. The railway network was the worst hit with trains across major parts of the country stopping midway. This is possibly the first time that all three grids have

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collapsed simultaneously. Till late in the evening, around 25000 MW of the total 50,000 MW had been restored. About 13,000 MW has been restored in the Northern region and about 4,000 MW in the Eastern region. Supply to the affected regions is being extended from western and southern Grids. Thirty-two persons, including six women and three children, were burnt to death when flames engulfed the S11 coach of the Chennai-bound Tamil Nadu Express, close to the Nellore railway station in Andhra Pradesh in the early hours of 30 July. Twenty-seven passengers suffered burns and two of them are stated to be critical. Most of the deceased and the injured belong to Vijayawada, Warangal and Jaipur. Some were working as software professionals in Chennai. All other coaches were intact. The cause of the fire is yet to be established. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy launched of the afforestation drive on 63rd Vana Mahotsavam in Tummaluru village in Maheshwaram mandal of Ranga Reddy district on 31 July. The afforestation drive is majorly aimed at planting 20 lakh saplings across the State on a single day, and distribution of over 30 crore seedlings grown by different agencies under various government schemes.Eight crore of teak and red sanders saplings grown in rural nurseries under the MGNREGS will be distributed free of cost to farmers as part of the drive. Pranab Mukherjee elected 13th President of India: Pranab Mukherjee was elected as the 13th President of India on 22 July 2012. Pranab Mukherjee defeated his rival PA Sangma with a huge margin as he secured nearly 69 percent of total valid votes. In an electoral college of 10.5 lakh, Pranab Mukherjee secured a vote value of 713763, while, PA Sangma managed to get only a vote value 315987. Out of the total 748 MPs, Pranab got the support of 527 while his rival, PA Sangma got 206 votes in his favour. Fifteen votes including that of Samjwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav were invalid. Of these, nine were to be in favour of Mukherjee while six for Sangma. Each MP has a vote value of 708. There are a total of 776 voters in both the Houses of Parliament. The Electoral College also consisted of 4120 MLAs in the states. Elections were held on 19 July 2012. No tourism in core areas of tiger reserves: SC Stepping in to conserve the Tiger, the Supreme Court today directed that there should be no tourism activity in any of the core zones of tiger reserves across the country. A bench of justices Swatanter Kumar and Ibrahim Kalifulla also warned of contempt proceedings and imposition of exemplary costs on states which failed to notify the buffer zones in their respective tiger reserves. The apex court was also furious that several states despite its earlier directions of April 4 and July 10 had failed to notify the buffer zones in their respective reserves and warned that if they failed to comply within three weeks the defaulting states shall be saddled with a cost of Rs 50,000 each, recoverable from the Principal Secretary, Forest of the state concerned. The apex court also imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 each on Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Maharashtra and Jharkhand for not complying with its directions. Registration charges hiked: Andhra Pradesh Government on 25 July issued GOs hiking registration charges across various services. While the marriage registration charges were enhanced to Rs 200, society registration charges were modified to Rs 500. The services like getting a duplicate copy for certificate of registration would be Rs 300. Encumbrance Certificates would also become dearer from here on and these decisions would come into effect from July 27. Obtaining EC of less than 13 years would be charged as Rs 200, for more than 13 years up to 30 years Rs 500 and Rs 1000 above 30 years Physical education made compulsory in schools: The government Andhra Pradesh on 26th July, issued orders making physical education compulsory in schools across the State. In tune with Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddys direction, the government issued the GO 63 that carried the school academic calendar prescribing the number of periods in a day, school timings, subjects to be covered and other activities. The Chief Minister has said that State government was encouraging sports, games and athletics in order to inculcate dedication, discipline, concentration and mental ability in the younger generation. According to the timetable, the number of classes for physical education and health would range from three to six in a week. Coast Guard Station Karaikal Commissioned on the Puducherry- Tamil Nadu Coastline: Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan, Director General Indian Coast Guard at Karaikal on 25 July 2012, commissioned Coast

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