Supreme Court upholds death sentence for Kasab Observing that the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks had shocked the collective conscience of Indian people, the Supreme Court has confirmed the death sentence awarded to the prime accused, Ajmal Kasab, by the trial court and affirmed by the Bombay High Court, for waging war against India. In its 398-page judgment, a Bench of Justices Aftab Alam and C.K. Prasad said: “This case has the element of conspiracy as no other case. The appellant was part of a conspiracy hatched across the border to wage war against the government of India, and lethal arms and explosives were collected with the intention of waging war against the government of India.
Uranium deposits found in Rajasthan In a major boost to the quest for deposits of uranium ore in the country, the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has come across another site with a large deposit of the mineral in Rajasthan. The deposit found at Rohil in Rajasthan’s Sikar district is estimated at 5,185 tonnes, which makes it the fourth largest in the country after Tummalapalle, Chitrial and Peddagattu extension in Andhra Pradesh. The new site is close to the Rohil North region, which has already been found to have a deposit of about 381 tonnes. Atomic Energy Commission Chairman R.K. Sinha said that it was still only an initial find and there was need for more extensive surveys to ascertain the actual width and depth of the field. The DAE was investing heavily in exploration of uranium and as of June, the Department’s Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research established a total deposit of 1.84 lakh tonnes of the uranium ore resources in different parts of the country.
New wheat, barley varieties released at scientists’ meet Four new varieties of seeds, two each in wheat and barley, developed by the Agriculture Research Station (ARS) at Durgapura in Jaipur, have been approved for country-wide introduction. The All-India Wheat & Barley Improvement Research Worker’s meet, approved a total of 10 varieties developed by various research stations after rejecting 22 others taken up for consideration. Wheat varieties Raj. 4229 and Raj.4238, developed by ARS, passed the muster this time while two of its barley varieties RD 2786 and RD 2794 were selected for the current season. Raj.4229 was suitable for North-East plains, while Raj.4238 was suitable for the central agro climatic zone. Between the chosen barley varieties, RD 2786 is ideal for the central zone, while RD 2794 is meant for saline soil. ARS Durgapura is credited with developing an improved variety of Lal Bahadur , which was instrumental in high wheat production during the Green Revolution. Wheat varieties which received approval this time include HP 349, WH 1105 and WHD 948. A front runner in barley research, the ARS Durgapura is credited with varieties including dwarf barley (RDB-1), saline resistant barley (BL-2), nematode resistant barley (Rajkiran and RD 2032), and high yielding, (RD 2552), malt quality (RD 2503 and RD 2668), dual purpose (for grain & green fodder) RD 2715.
ISRO to reach its century on September 9 On September 9, the Indian Space Research Organisation will launch its hundredth mission. Over a period of 49 years, the space agency has sent up 63 satellites and 37 launchers, made indigenously. PSLV-C21 will not carry an Indian satellite. The PSLV-C21 will put in orbit a 712-kg French remote sensing satellite, SPOT- 6, and a 15-kg Japanese microsatellite. They will be placed in polar slots (where the satellites move from pole to pole) at a distance of 655 km from the Earth’s surface. SPOT-6 will be released first, followed by Proiteres, the experimental Japanese spacecraft. The workhorse PSLV rocket can take up a weight of around 2,000 kg for a polar launch. At over 700 kg, SPOT-6 will be the ISRO’s heaviest since it started doing paid launches in late 1990s. The 27 foreign satellites it has launched so far weighed between 1 and 320 kg. Italy’s Agile has been the first heavier spacecraft to date and was placed in orbit in April 2007.
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Delhi offers Dhaka stake in Tipaimukh project India has offered Bangladesh a stake in the Rs.15,000-crore Tipaimukh hydroelectric project on the Barak river in Manipur. Located about 210 km upstream of Bangladesh, the project has become controversial ever since Dhaka raised issues about lean period water discharges and impact on downstream agriculture, fisheries and environment. The multipurpose project is meant to regulate flood waters in the lower Barak Valley and downstream through controlled releases and generate electricity for peak-hour distribution through the northern grid. The Barak originates in Assam and, after traversing through Manipur, joins the Brahmaputra in Bangladesh. No details have been worked out, but so far Bangladesh has not responded to the offer of taking a stake in the project as well as buying power. The project does not have any irrigation component. It will be constructed by NHPC, which entered into an agreement with Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam and the Manipur government for the project in 2011.
Indian-origin judge named next chief justice of Singapore An Indian-origin judge has been named as the new chief justice of Singapore, making him the first from the community to head the courts. Sundaresh Menon, presently Singapore's judge of appeal, will assume the office of the chief justice from November 6. He would take over from Justice Chan Sek Keong, who retires at the age of 75, the appointment announced by President Tony Tan. Menon, 50, obtained his Master of Laws from Harvard University, after graduating with First Class Honours in Law from the National University of Singapore. Justice Menon has been a leading lawyer and later became Singapore's Attorney General before he was appointed to the position of judge of appeal on August 1, 2012. Chief Justice Chan has served in the public service for 26 years, including six years as chief justice.
IAEA sets up special Iran Task Force The U.N. nuclear agency has created a special Iran Task Force of nuclear weapons experts, intelligence analysts and other specialists focused on probing allegations that Tehran has been or is secretly working on developing atomic arms. The IAEA announcement says the elite squad started work August 10, it says the unit will concentrate on implementing its agreements with Iran allowing it to monitor its nuclear activities as mandated by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. But the force will have no more power regarding inspections of Iran’s known or suspected nuclear sites than previous IAEA inspectors did. The IAEA announcement said the squad would be headed by Massimo Aparo. A nuclear engineer, Mr. Aparo is an IAEA veteran who has held numerous senior positions linked to non-proliferation. The agency said he would be reporting to IAEA Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts, head of the agency’s nuclear inspectors on Iran.
France opens Arafat assassination enquiry French prosecutors have opened a murder enquiry into Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s 2004 death near Paris. The probe comes after Arafat’s family launched legal action in France last month over claims the veteran Palestinian leader died of radioactive polonium poisoning. Arafat’s widow Suha and his daughter Zawra lodged a murder complaint on July 31 in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. Polonium is a highly toxic substance which is rarely found outside military and scientific circles, and was used to kill former Russian- spy-turned-Kremlin-critic Alexander Litvinenko, who died in 2006 shortly after drinking tea laced with the poison. A Swiss radiology lab at the Lausanne University Hospital Centre said it has received Suha Arafat’s go-ahead to test his remains for poisoning by polonium.
Orchid Chem to sell Aurangabad API facility to Hospira Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals is set to sell its penicillin and penem API (active pharmaceutical ingredients) businesses and API facility at Aurangabad in Maharashtra along with an associated process R&D facility in Chennai to Hospira, a leading provider of injectable drugs and infusion technologies. The sale consideration is estimated at around $200 million. The boards of both the companies have already approved the business transfer deal. It will, however, have to be approved by Orchid’s shareholders and other regulatory agencies. Around 830 Orchid employees would also be moved to Hospira as part of the business transfer agreement. Orchid at present has a workforce of around 4,400 people.
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Indian drug companies break into world's fastest growing list In yet another instance of India Inc occupying a larger seat in the global league tables, three out of the top 10 fastest-growing generic companies globally are now from India. On the list is Glenmark Pharmaceuticals which, with a growth of 37%, is the fifth fastest-growing generic company globally, followed by Dr Reddy's which grew 34% in FY 2011-12, according to global pharmaceutical research firm, EvaluatePharma. The third domestic company on the list, Sun Pharma witnessed a growth of 29%, occupying the eighth rank, right below its subsidiary Taro which had a 33% growth. The club of the fastest growing generic companies in the world is dominated by US companies, led by US-based Sagent Pharma, which witnessed a huge growth of 106% during the period. Perrigo, another US company, is the world's second fastest-growing company with an 80% growth. Nichi-Iko Pharmaceutical of Japan is on the third slot, posting a growth of 79%, while Watson Pharma of US grew 46% during the period.
Raghuram Rajan takes over as Chief Economic Advisor Raghuram G. Rajan, former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), assumed charge as the Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) in the Ministry of Finance. which has been lying vacant since his predecessor Kaushik Basu left on July 31. Dr. Rajan’s appointment as CEA was cleared by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) on August 10. In November 2008, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appointed Dr. Rajan as honorary economic advisor.
National Sports Awards 2012 B.I. Fernandez, the boxing coach from Cuba who has been working with the Indian boxers for the last 22 years, was thrilled to get the Dronacharya award. Each Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand awardee gets a statuette, a certificate, ceremonial dress and a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh. For the second consecutive year, the Union Sports Ministry was unable to select the winner for the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy in time. List of awardees : Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award : Vijay Kumar (shooting), Yogeshwar Dutt (wrestling). Arjuna award : Deepika Kumari, Laishram Bombayla Devi (all archery), Sudha Singh, Kavita Raut (athletics), Ashwini Ponnappa, Parupalli Kashyap (badminton), Aditya Mehta (billiards and snooker), Vikas Krishan (boxing), Yuvraj Singh (cricket), Sardar Singh (hockey), Yashpal Solanki (judo), Anup Kumar (kabaddi), Samir Suhag (polo), Annu Raj Singh, Omkar Singh and Joydeep Karmakar (all shooting), Deepika Pallikal (squash), Sandeep Sejwal (swimming), Ng. Sonia Chanu (weightlifting), Narsingh Yadav, Rajinder Kumar and Geeta Phogat (all wrestling), M. Bimoljit Singh (wushu), Deepa Mallick, Ramkaran Singh (Paralympics-athletics). Dronacharya award : Virender Poonia (athletics), Sunil Dabas (kabaddi-women), Yashvir Singh (wrestling), Harendra Singh (hockey), B.I. Fernandez (boxing), Dr. Satyapal Singh (Parasports-athletics); Life-time Achievement : J.S. Bhatia (athletics), Bhawani Mukherjee (table tennis). Dhyan Chand award : Jagraj Singh Mann (athletics), Gundeep Kumar (hockey), Vinod Kumar (wrestling), Sukhbir Singh Tokas (Parasports). Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar : Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL), Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) and Air India Sports Promotion Board (AISPB).
Dravid wins Test player of the year award The Castrol awards for cricketing excellence honoured men as diverse as Ajit Wadekar, who bagged the lifetime achievement award, and Unmukt Chand, who topped the ‘Junior cricketer’ category. Strangely, the biggest award winner Indian cricketer of the year M.S. Dhoni, was conspicuous by his absence. Another absentee was special awardee Yuvraj Singh. Rahul Dravid walked away with the Test-cricketer-of-the-year award, while the limited-over category honours went to Suresh Raina and Sachin Tendulkar took the batsman-of-the-year trophy. There was also a warm passing of the baton moment as the great E.A.S. Prasanna handed over the best bowler award to R. Ashwin. Other awards: Performance in the World Cup: Yuvraj Singh; 100th hundred: Tendulkar; Extraordinary double century in ODIs: Virender Sehwag;
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Performance under pressure: Gautam Gambhir (World Cup final); Stand-out performance under pressure: Virat Kohli.
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