1. comes out with 6 options The Justice Srikrishna Committee, which held wide consultations in the last 11 months on demands for a separate State of as well as for keeping united, has offered half-a-dozen options on which the government may take a call in about six weeks.The suggestions include keeping Andhra Pradesh in the present form, forming a separate Telangana, and making a Union Territory, the sources said. An extensive examination of the socio-economic factors in all regions of the State led the committee to conclude that there was no material basis for treating only the Telangana districts as “backward,” the sources noted.

2. Ordinance will cover PM, Ministers An ordinance that draws heavily on the long pending Lok Pal Bill is on the anvil, with the United Progressive Alliance government keen on countering the Opposition's no-holds-barred campaign against it in the wake of the public outrage over a slew of scams, apparently involving ministers and party men. The ordinance, which will create a mechanism to deal with corruption involving public personalities including the Prime Minister, Ministers and MPs, is part of the government's strategy to demonstrate that it is serious about ending graft.

3. Minority institutions' right to select staff upheld The right of minority institutions under Article 30 is an absolute right being the basic structure of the Constitution. Therefore, any regulation interfering with the right of administration would not be applicable to minority institutions, being violative of the Constitution, the Madras High Court has said. In its 122- page judgment, allowing a batch of writ petitions, a Division Bench comprising Justices D.Murugesan and Vinod K.Sharma said the contention that the right to administer did not include right to maladminister also could not be accepted as minority institutions would be bound by qualification laid down for appointment of teachers and would be bound to follow other statutory laws necessary for running their institutions to maintain educational standards. The only restriction placed was with regard to right to interfere in the selection of staff of minority institutions.

3. Jaganmohan Reddy names new party 'YSR Party' Former Kadapa MP Jaganmohan Reddy submitted an application to register his own party to be called 'YSR Party'. Jagan's uncle YV Subba Reddy handed over the application to the Election Commission on his behalf. Jaganmohan had resigned from the party after the Congress expressed anger over the episodes telecast on Sakshi television channel owned by him, which criticized the party leadership.

4. HPSC accused of unfair selection of class I officers The questions are being raised over the functioning of Public Service Commission (HPSC), as around 10 candidates selected for different class I services in the State Government belonged to the families of the high and mighty. The Opposition party — INLD had alleged that these candidates would be surely selected for the services getting benefits of their associations with the influential people in Haryana including HPSC and SSC officials, important Congress politicians and some bureaucrats enjoying goodwill of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

5. Rohtak admn sets up e-Patwar KendraWith an objective to train patwaris and kannugos in maintaining land records and thereby reducing processing time for the people, district administration of Rohtak has initiated a new concept of e-Patwar Kendra. The concept is first of its kind in Haryana and has been set up for Sampla tehsil. The e-Patwar Kendera will have a computer laboratory to train computer illiterate revenue officials.

6. Karnataka farmers to get Cuban organic farming experience After sending groups of farmers to China and Israel, the Karnataka Government is all set to send organic farmers to Cuba to learn organic farming techniques. The Government is sending 1,000 organic farmer couples to Cuba in March. The Government, which is expected to spend around two lakh rupees per couple on this trip, promises to be a learning experience for the State’s organic farmers in Cuba. The trip is to get a peek into the organic farming revolution in Cuba.

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7. Consider DNA profiling of unidentified bodies, apex court tells Government With unidentified dead bodies being disposed without preserving a trace of their identity, the Supreme Court asked the Government to consider if DNA profiling of such bodies could be mandated by Magistrates who conduct inquiry into every unnatural death. The issue was brought to the fore by a Haryana-based doctor Shamsher Malik in a PIL which claimed that every year nearly 35,000 bodies are disposed as “unidentified”. Since no DNA sample of the deceased was preserved, it became difficult for the kith and kin of the deceased to verify identities of their near and dear ones who were missing.

8. Artificial downpours in UAE deserts Scientists claim to have achieved a breakthrough by generating a series of downpours in the deserts of the United Arab Emirates using a new technology which is designed to control the weather. A team, employed by the ruler of Abu Dhabi and President of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has created some 50 rainstorms last year in the emirate's eastern Al Ain region -- most of the storms were at the height of the summer in July and August.

9. China rolls out its first stealth fighter aircraft China's first radar-evading stealth fighter staged a runway test at an airbase in central China and could make its first flight. The US magazine Aviation Week & Space Technology first reported on tests of the new plane, designated the J-20, in an article released. Military analysts say that photographs of the new jet on the tarmac at an airfield near Chengdu, have been appearing on blogs since mid- December.

10. China records a milestone in offshore oil, gas output China has joined the world's elite club of offshore oil producers after China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) announced that its oil and natural gas output surpassed 60 million metric tonnes in 2010. The country's largest offshore oil explorer's oil and gas production last year totalled 64.13 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent, of which 50 million was produced domestically, said its president Fu Chengyu. “It marks a milestone that China has become one of the world's largest offshore oil producers after the United States, the United Kingdom, and Norway ... And the marine petrochemical industry will boost the country's energy supply,” said Mr. Fu.

11. Chavez proposes envoy names to U.S. After weeks of diplomatic standoff between Venezuela and the United States, during which both countries rejected the appointment of the other's Ambassador, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez showed a way out of the stalemate by proposing that the U.S. appoint either former President Bill Clinton, a Hollywood celebrity such as Sean Penn or Oliver Stone, or liberal intellectual Noam Chomsky as Venezuelan Ambassador.

12. Al-Sadr returns to Iraq Anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who led several Shia uprisings against American forces in Iraq before travelling to neighbouring Iran at least three years ago, has returned to Iraq, officials said. Mr. Al-Sadr's return caps another dramatic rise to prominence for him and his followers after they were routed by Iraqi and U.S. forces and appeared to fade from power just a few years ago. The strong showing by his bloc in last year's parliamentary elections and his key support for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki paved the way for the return.

13. Centre puts on hold decontrol of urea prices Reeling under the impact of high inflation and outcry against price rise, the UPA Government decided to put on hold the ‘decontrol of urea' prices and instead decided to assign the job of freeing the ‘sensitive fertilizer' to a Committee of Secretaries (CoS) to work out the issue. Interestingly, the Union Chemical and Fertiliser Minister M. K. Alagiri, who has voiced his concern over the decontrol of urea prices in the past, did not turn up for the meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) chaired by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

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14. Tata Motors launches Prima Construck tippers Tata Motors on Wednesday launched a new range of high-end tippers under the brand name of Prima Construck in the price range of Rs.33-40 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The Prima Construck range comprises Prima 3128K and Prima 2528K. The Prima range comprises about 10 variants of multi-axle trucks, tractor- trailers, tippers, mixers and special application vehicles.

15. World Bank issues first yuan-denominated bond The World Bank has issued its first yuan-denominated bond in a move that will help China as it tries to increase the use of its currency in global markets. The Washington-based lender said it would raise 500 million yuan (76 million dollars) from the two-year bond issue on Hong Kong's yuan-denominated bond market. The move will "further deepen the market and permit investors to diversify their currency holdings and expand renminbi exposure", the World Bank said in a statement, using the official name for the Chinese unit.

16. Cabinet view on implementation of IFRS likely soon, says Khurshid The Cabinet will soon decide on implementation of new accounting norms, the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), that seek to bring about convergence in the way corporate accounts are prepared world- wide, Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said. Calling for restraint in brushing every aberration as a systemic failure, he, quoting the Prime Minister, said while there is a need for the government to trust the industry, there is an equal need for the industry to trust the government as well. Khurshid had said the April 2011 deadline for the transition of domestic accounting standards to international norm will be met and all issues, especially those related to tax implications, have been resolved.

17. Merchant banks can't refer clients to non-market investment: Sebi Merchant bankers can not refer clients for alternative investments beyond securities market, such as corporate deposits and real estate, regulator Sebi has said while rejecting a plea by Barclays Securities. Merchant bankers act as intermediaries between entities seeking to raise capital through sale of securities and the purchasers of these securities. Referring clients to entities providing alternative investment services beyond securities market do not fall under the permitted businesses for merchant bankers, Sebi has said.

18. Sachin, Sehwag in all-time ODI team Sachin Tendulkar was named along with his opening partner Virender Sehwag in ICC’s all-time greatest ODI team, picked through an online poll by fans from across the world to mark the 40th anniversary of one-day internationals. 1983 World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev has been included in the team as the lone all-rounder, but the retired Sourav Ganguly failed to make the grade.

19. Jumbo jets out of IPL Former Indian captain Anil Kumble pulled out of the Indian Premier League's players’ auction. The Royal Challengers Bangalore player cited business commitments, and revealed that he will now be seen in the role of chief mentor of the team. Kumble's pull-out came barely three days ahead of the auction, scheduled in Bangalore. Kumble, who had already retired from Test and one-day cricket, said he took the decision because of business commitments, his association with cricket administration and wildlife in various capacities.

20. Michael Bevan to coach Kings XI Punjab in IPL-IV Kings XI Punjab appointed former Australian ODI specialist Michael Bevan as the coach for the upcoming IPL season IV. With Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab being cleared to take part in the January 8-9 Indian Premier League players' auction in Bangalore by the Bombay High Court, the fourth season of the cash-rich Twenty20 league in April-May will be a 10-team event.

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