National:

India ranks 78th in guaranteeing access to civil justice ranks 78th among 97 countries in guaranteeing access to all civil justice while its neighbouring country Sri Lanka leads the South Asian nations in most dimensions of the rule of law. The 'Rule of Law Index 2012' report by World Justice Project's provides country-by-country scores and rankings for eight areas of the rule of law. India, the report said, has a robust system of checks and balances (ranked thirty-seventh worldwide and second among lower middle income countries), an independent judiciary, strong protections for freedom of speech, and a relatively open government (ranking fiftieth globally and fourth among lower-middle income countries).

Father of Kargil hero moves SC for direction to Centre to move ICJ The father of a hero Capt Saurabh Kalia, who was captured by the in 1999 and subjected to brutal torture, has moved the Supreme Court seeking its direction to the Government to raise his son's case at the International Court of Justice at the Hague. N K Kalia has alleged that his son Capt Sourav Kalia was captured as a prisoner of war but was killed in a gruesome manner in violation of the Geneva Convention. Capt Kalia, who was with the 4 (Infantry) and five other soldiers of his patrolling team were captured alive on May 15, 1999 and kept in captivity where they were tortured and their bodies mutilated. Kalia along with five soldiers -- Sepoys Arjun Ram, Bhanwar Lal Bagaria, Bhika Ram, Moola Ram and Naresh Singh of the regiment had gone for a routine patrol of the Bajrang Post in the Kaksar sector in .

Chitrabhanu Namboodiripad passes away Popular science writer M.C. Namboodiripad (Muthiringottu Chitrabhanu Namboodiripad), One of the founder members of the Kerala Sasthra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP), has died. He was 93. Mr. Namboodiripad was instrumental in popularising science writing in Malayalam. He had authored nearly 20 books and numerous articles on popular science. A skilful translator, he had translated many science books from English to Malayalam. The translation of J.D. Bernal’s 'Science in History' into Malayalam won him the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for translation in 2002. At the age of 93, he translated J.D. Bernal’s another work 'The Social Function of Science' , published by the KSSP in 2012.

Single window system for tourism in Goa The Goa government has decided to introduce a system of single window clearance for tourism projects in a bid to facilitate the ease of doing business in the state. The move is significant from the point of view that with the mining industry now temporarily shut, tourism is the only other major industry that is sustaining the state’s coffers.

International:

China launches first Lankan satellite Sri Lanka’s first satellite was launched into space from western China. SupremeSAT, a private company which has an agreement with the Chinese government-run Great Wall Industry Corporation , carried out the launch at the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in western Sichuan province.

Pakistan tests n-capable Hatf V missile Pakistan has announced the successful training launch of the Medium Range Ballistic Missile, Hatf V (Ghauri) which can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads to a distance of 1,300 km. The launch of the liquid fuel missile was conducted by a Strategic Missile Group of the Army Strategic Force Command.

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UN passes first resolution on female genital mutilation The UN General Assembly passed its first resolution condemning female genital mutilation, which opponents say more than 140 million women worldwide have had to endure. Though outlawed in most nations, the measure represents the first time the traditional practice in African and Middle East nations has been denounced at such a high level in the United Nations. More than 110 countries, including more than 50 African nations, co-sponsored the resolution in the General Assembly's rights committee, which called on states to "complement punitive measures with awareness-raising and educational activities" to eliminate female genital mutilation. About three million women and girls each year are said to be forced to undergo the procedure.

Former Oxford Dictionary editor secretly deleted Indian words: book An eminent former editor of the Oxford English Dictionary attempted to rewrite it by deleting thousands of words with foreign roots, including those of Indian-origin, a new book claims. Robert Burchfield deleted words like 'balisaur', a badger-like animal from India, 'Danchi', a Bengali plant and 'boviander', the name in British Guyana for a person of mixed race living on the river banks. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is now re-examining words removed by Burchfield who edited the world respected dictionary during the 70s and 80s and who died in 2004 aged 81. Sarah Ogilvie, also a former OED editor, in her new book 'Words of the World' reveals how Burchfield started a rumour that his earlier editors were inward-looking anglocentrics, when in fact the opposite was true. After investigating Burchfield's rumours she discovered they were unfounded and that he was actually responsible for the deletion of words such as 'shape', meaning a Tibetan councillor and 'wake-up', a golden-winged woodpecker.

HIV epidemic is showing signs of reversal: WHO With the HIV/AIDS epidemic showing signs of reversal globally, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and countries are now working towards zero new HIV infections, zero deaths from AIDS-related illnesses and zero discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS. To achieve this goal, the WHO has emphasised the need for people to learn about their HIV status, and for greater effort to reach and support young people and men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who inject drugs, migrants and others who are most vulnerable to the disease. December 1 is observed as World AIDS Day annually the world over. The WHO launched the updated treatment guidelines for adults, children and pregnant women in 2010. The HIV epidemic is now clearly reversing. In 2011, 2.2 million people across the world were infected with HIV and 1.7 million died, half a million fewer new infections than 10 years ago, and 6,00,000 fewer deaths than 2005. In all 11 countries of the WHO’s South-East Asia Region, there was a 35 per cent reduction in new infections, from 3,20,000 in 2001 to 2,08,500 in 2011, according to the WHO.

Technology:

NASA scientist to attempt longest spaceflight ever by American A veteran NASA space commander is set to make an out-of-this-world record by spending the most consecutive days in space by any American in a single mission. Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko will launch aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in spring 2015 and will land in Kazakhstan in spring 2016. This mission will include collecting scientific data important to future human exploration of our solar system. Kelly was a backup crew member for the station's Expedition 23/24 crews, where Kornienko served as a flight engineer. The goal of their yearlong expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory is to understand better how the human body reacts and adapts to the harsh environment of space.

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Business & Economy:

Kamal Nath, Anand Mahindra honoured with Asian business awards Minister of Urban Development Kamal Nath and leading Indian industrialist Anand Mahindra were among a host of business leaders and policy makers from the Asian continent honoured by a business leadership forum for Asia in the UAE. Business and government leaders, and policy makers from the UAE, Oman, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia attended the Asian Business Leadership Forum Awards, that honoured 17 outstanding achievers in the sectors of industry, infrastructure and energy in Abu Dhabi. While Nath was awarded the ABLF Statesman Award, the Chairman and Managing Director of Mahindra Group was honoured with the ABLF Business Courage Award. Among other Indian winners were Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman and CEO of TAFE who was awarded the ABLF Woman of Power Award; the Jaypee Group for the ABLF Business Excellence Award; and Baba Kalyani for the ABLF Lifetime Achievement Award.

Rolex award for Enterprise: 2 Indians in top 5 An Indian engineer working on developing Braille smartphone and an environmentalist trying to restore a Chennai lake were among five persons selected for an international award for excellence in enterprise. The two Indians were among the five persons selected for the Rolex Award for Enterprise, which were announced. Environmentalist Arun Krishnamurthy (25), who also owns a public relations firm, is awarded for his efforts to restore the Lake Kilkattalai, the longest in Chennai, with the help of more than 900 school children. Sumit Dagar (29), an engineer who left a job and started his own company, is working on developing Braille based smart phone for visually challenged. Krishnamurthy said his project would be completed by February 2014.

Sport:

DDCA to honour Sehwag Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) will honour Virender Sehwag with a 100 gold coin gift for his achievement of playing 100 Test matches. He achieved the milestone in the recently concluded Test at Mumbai.

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