Council on Declining Child Sex Ratio Formed
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Council on declining child sex ratio formed Alarmed over the declining child sex ratio across the country, the Union government has set up a Sectoral Innovation Council to look into the entire gamut of issues connected with the sharp drop in the number of girls per thousand boys in the ages of 0-6. The council will identify interventions that have worked and those which did not and also suggest innovative strategies, approaches and methods of interference to address the problem in a time-bound and effective manner. The Census 2011 has shown a sharp decline in the child sex ratio, compared to the previous census. It has declined to 914 in 2011 from 927 in 2001 and has been continuing unabated since 1961 despite improvements in other social indicators such as literacy, gender gap in effective literacy rate, and the overall sex ratio. The decline in the child sex ratio has spread to 22 States and 5 Union Territories, with the highest decline in Jammu and Kashmir. Ramanujan mathematics centre to be set up in Chennai The Ramanujan Mathematical Society (RMS) will hold a series of activities in 2012 (National Mathematical Year) to mark the 125th birth anniversary of mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. RMS president and chair of the organising committee M.S. Raghunathan said a mathematics centre named after Ramanujan would be set up in Chennai. It would have a host of facilities, including a museum. Efforts were on to bring out the biography of Ramanujan by Robert Kanigel in regional languages. A documentary, tracing the history of mathematics in India, would also be made. The year-long celebrations of Ramanujan birth anniversary would culminate in an international conference of mathematicians in New Delhi in December next. In recognition of his contribution to mathematics, the Central government had decided to celebrate Ramajuan's birthday as the National Mathematics Day every year and declared 2012 as the National Mathematical Year. Entire Western Ghats ecologically sensitive The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) has designated the entire hill range as an Ecologically Sensitive Area. The panel, in its report, has classified the 142 taluks in the Western Ghats boundary into Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZ) 1, 2 and 3. It recommended that “no new dams based on large-scale storage be permitted in Ecologically Sensitive Zone 1. Since both the Athirappilly of Kerala and Gundia of Karnataka hydel project sites fall in Ecologically Sensitive Zone 1, these projects should not be accorded environmental clearance,” it said. For Goa, the committee headed by eminent ecologist Madhav Gadgil, suggested an “indefinite moratorium on new environmental clearances for mining in ESZ 1 and 2, phasing out of mining in ESZ 1 by 2016 and continuation of existing mining in ESZ 2 under strict regulation with an effective system of social audit.” New tech for Metro Phase III: Sreedharan Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Managing Director E. Sreedharan says that magnetic levitation (maglev) technology, which will be introduced in Phase III of the project in the city, has “tremendous scope”. Speaking about the successful high-speed maglev projects in China, South Korea and Japan, Mr. Sreedharan said: “The main advantage of the technology is that the trains are very silent and there is no vibration because there are no wheels. The train floats on a magnetic field…and it can take very sharp radius, and elevations also that can be easily managed.” The operation and maintenance cost, he added, is 30 per cent less than a metro, with capital cost being more or less same as a conventional metro. Phase III will also provide better carrying capacity with eight-coach trains being introduced. Heavy footfall corridors in Phase-II will also get eight coach trains, which will begin “from next June onward” Akankhya Kabi crowned Little Miss India Odisha's brilliant chess player, gifted child actor and winner of the National Award for exceptional children for 2009 Akankhya Kabi was crowned as the Little Miss India title at the concluding day of the Nanhipari-2011, the annual national talent search contest for the girl children, here on Monday. Akankhya received a cash award of Rs.1,10,000 besides the crown and the memento while Yuthika Nanda of Chhattisgarh was declared as the first runners up followed by Syeda Tanaz Neha of Assam as the second runners up. Yuthika received the cash award of Rs.30,000 and Syeda Rs.20,000 apart from the crown and memento. Eighteen more participants were also awarded on the occasion in various categories of the contest on the occasion that has participation of contestants from 13 states. Page 1 of 3 27th December 2011 Zardari not to file response in memogate President Asif Ali Zardari will not file a response in the Supreme Court to petitions seeking a probe into the memo scandal, said a presidential aide, a move that could put him in direct confrontation with the apex court which had said he cannot presume immunity. “The President will not file a reply in the memo case as he enjoys immunity under Article 248 of the Constitution,” Fauzia Wahab, the President's assistant political secretary, told. A nine-judge bench led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry is hearing several petitions seeking a probe into the Memogate scandal. The alleged memo was made public by Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz. Kim Jong-un gets important title North Korea has added an important title to the fast-growing credentials of its untested new ruler, referring to the youngest son of late leader Kim Jong-Il as head of a key ruling party body. In a move that experts said shows the successor is on track to take full control of the secretive nation, the ruling party newspaper hailed him as head of its Central Committee. Mr. Kim, in his late 20s, has already been touted as “great successor” and “supreme commander” of the military since his father died on December 17 of a heart attack at the age of 69. Usually the head of the Central Committee a top decision-making body is also its general secretary, a position previously held by Kim Jong-Il. Mr. Kim's current highest post is vice-chairman of the party's Central Military Commission. China's super-speed test train launched China has launched its first test train that is said to be capable of reaching 500 kmph from the present 300 kmph, a feat if accomplished would be a big leap forward in high speed train technology. China's largest rail vehicle maker, CSR Corp Ltd, over the weekend launched the train. The six-car train with a fair shaped head is the newest in the CRH series. It has a maximum tractive power of 22,800 kilowatts, compared with 9,600 kilowatts for the CRH380 trains in service on the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, which holds the world speed record of 300 kmph. A free call for Nano owners Tata Motors has asked all its old Nano car owners to get its starter motor replaced free of cost. Denying that it was any kind of recall for the world's cheapest car, the company said it has undertaken the replacement exercise covering around 1.4-lakh Nanos, the biggest-ever in India's automobile history, to put in new starter motor that was “better” and more “efficient” than the old one. The company had already replaced starter motor for around 50,000 Nano cars. The entire exercise is likely to cost the company Rs.110 crore. Mahesh Gawli retires from international football Defender Mahesh Gawli has announced his retirement from international football. Gawli, who would turn 31 next month, made his international debut in the pre-Olympic qualifier against Thailand in 1999. He captained the Indian team in one match (against Malaysia last month) and scored one goal (against Bhutan in SAFF Cup in 2005). He was part of the Indian teams which won SAFF Cup (2005), Nehru Cup (2007 and 2009), AFC Challenge Cup (2008) apart from the recent SAFF championship. Indian women get past Greece to stay in contention Grandmaster D. Harika scored the only win of the day for the side as India edged past Greece 2.5-1.5 in the seventh round to stay in medal contention in the World women's team chess championship in Turkey. Harika defeated Marina Makropoulou while Koneru Humpy, Tania Sachdev and Padmini Rout all settled for draws. On the top board for India, Grandmaster Humpy, in fact, stood slightly worse against top Greek Yelina Dembo and on the other boards too the Indians were found wanting as both Tania and Padmini failed to make the most of their positions against the lower-ranked opponent. Rutuja in Fed Cup team National champion and Asian junior champion Rutuja Bhosale has been drafted into the Indian team for the Asia-Oceania group ‘II' Fed Cup tennis tournament to be held in Shenzen, China, from January 30 to February 4. Former National champion Isha Lakhani who made the final of the last National championship recently in Delhi, when she returned from retirement, gets back into the Indian team. Prerna Bhambri has also won a place in the team spearheaded by Sania Mirza. Rushmi Chakravarthi, Poojashree Venkatesha and Ashvarya Shrivastava make way for the fresh set of players from the team that was relegated from group ‘I' last year. Page 2 of 3 27th December 2011 National School Games from Dec. 28 he 57th National School Games will be organised in New Delhi by the Directorate of Education, Government of Delhi, from December 28 to Jan.