Dam 999 ban: asked to its file response in ten days The Supreme Court sought Tamil Nadu's response to a writ petition filed by producer and director of Sohan Roy that challenged the ban imposed for six months on the film in the State. A Bench of Justices A.K. Ganguly and J.S. Khehar was initially inclined to stay the order but Additional Advocate-General Guru Krishna Kumar, appearing for Tamil Nadu, insisted that the State must be allowed to put in its response before any order was passed as the film was an emotive issue relating to involving Tamil Nadu and . Earlier, counsel Deepak Prakash, appearing for the petitioner, strongly opposed the ban. He said the film was selected for Oscar and there was no reference anywhere in the film about the Mullaperiyar dam. Additional Solicitor-General Mohan Jain submitted that once the Censor Board certified a film for screening all over the country, the States had no power to suspend its screening. The Supreme Court, in the judgment in the case of Aarakshan , which was banned in Uttar Pradesh, rejected the ground of possible breach of law and order.

Second nuclear submarine headed for year-end launch The construction of a second Arihant-class nuclear submarine, to be named INS Aridaman, is moving fast at the Shipbuilding Centre (SBC) in Visakhapatnam.“The boat, under outfitting now, is headed for a year-end launch. Meanwhile, hull fabrication is on for the third Arihant-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine,”. “Unlike surface vessels, submarines are fully outfitted before launch, which makes it a prerequisite for its weapons to be tested and ready well in advance.” The first submarine of the class, INS Arihant, launched in July 2009, has just completed its harbour acceptance trials and is set to undergo the crucial sea acceptance trials in February. “This will be followed by weapon trials before the submarine is formally inducted into the Navy, hopefully in 2013, when the country will attain the much-desired nuclear triad,”. Concurrently, nuclear-powered submarine INS Chakra, borrowed on a 10-year lease from Russia mainly for training purposes, will be inducted in the latter half of 2012. Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Verma said last year that once commissioned, INS Arihant would be deployed on ‘deterrent (combat) patrol. The missiles are developed under the Sagarika programme.

Cameron distances himself from BBC's “offensive'' show on India Prime Minister David Cameron distanced himself from the BBC's controversial programme on India with his aides saying that he “did not like the programme at all” and that he had “the utmost respect for the people of India.” The comments came amid concern that the controversy could damage British-Indian relations after the Indian High Commission here formally complained to the BBC that the programme broadcast over Christmas was “replete with cheap jibes, tasteless humour and lacked the cultural sensitivity that we expect from the BBC.” Top Gear , a popular motoring programme, is presented by Jeremy Clarkson one of the BBC's “star” presenters and a close friend of Mr. Cameron's.

MoEF panel inspects mini-hydel project sites An expert panel from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has inspected the sites of mini- hydel projects in Kaginahare and Kenchanakumari reserve forests in the Western Ghats region. Maruti Power-Gen (India) Pvt. Ltd., which is implementing the two projects, has been accused of violating norms. The Karnataka High Court, which was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition in this regard, issued an order on January 6 directing the MoEF to inspect the sites and file a report. Following this, Chief Conservator of Forests Vijay Kumar Gogi, Conservator of Forests Somashekhar and Deputy Conservator of Forests Murali visited the forest areas. The company is implementing two power projects one with the capacity of 18.9 MW and another 19 MW.

Kalam writes to Manmohan on Kudankulam issue In a bid to resolve the Kudankulam crisis, former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to roll out a special economic package to facilitate an integrated development of Tamil Nadu. Expressing hope that the intervention of Dr. Singh would bring about a win-win settlement at the earliest and enable operationalisation of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, he said the issue had to be dealt with strategically as well as politically so that the country realised the goal of ‘Energy Independence' by 2030. Dr. Kalam said it was essential to take up with the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu the matter of reviving operations in the KKNPP with full support of the State Government.

Page 1 of 3 14th January 2012

German Order of Merit for educationist German Embassy Chargé d' Affaires Cord Meier-Klodt handed over the prestigious Bundesverdienstkreuz (Germany's Order of Merit) to educationist Ummu Salma Bava at a ceremony held in New Delhi. The award acknowledges her commitment and contribution towards strengthening Indo-German relations during the past decades. Prof. Bava is currently Chairperson and Professor of European Studies at the Centre for European Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, in New Delhi. Describing Prof. Bava as an ambassador of Germany in India, Mr. Meier-Klodt said: “This Order of Merit is recognition of her immense contribution to Indo-German relations.

Myanmar frees political prisoners Myanmar pardoned a number of prominent dissidents, journalists and a former Premier under a major prisoner amnesty, intensifying a surprising series of reforms by the Aarmy-backed regime. The release included members of the “88 Generation Students” group, which is synonymous with the democratic struggle in the country formerly known as Burma and was at the forefront of a failed 1988 uprising in which thousands died. The amnesty, which looked set to be the most significant yet under the nominally civilian government which took office last year, was hailed by democracy leader Aung San Suu-Kyi's opposition party as a “positive sign”.

Russia escalates war of words with U.S. In an escalating war of words with the United States Russia has accused Washington of working to change the regimes in Iran and Syria. “Additional sanctions against Iran, as well as potentially any military strikes against it, will unquestionably be perceived by the international community as an attempt at changing the regime in Iran,” Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Gannady Gatilov said. Mr. Gatilov also said the West's goal in Syria was to remove President Bashar al-Assad. Russian comments came as Washington penalised companies from China, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates for their failure to comply with U.S. unilateral sanctions against Iran. The European governments last week agreed on an oil embargo against the Islamic republic.

EU likely to delay Iran oil embargo Simmering tensions between Iran and the West hovering around the possible disruption of international oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz appeared to stall, with strong signals emerging from Europe that a proposed embargo of Iranian oil was not imminent. A complete boycott of Iranian oil, which the 27-nation European Union (EU) bloc is slated to consider on January 23, is likely to be delayed by six months, Bloomberg reported on its website. The decision to allow Iranian energy exports to flow into Europe till summer this year is to let countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain the main importers of Iranian crude to find alternative suppliers. Iran exports nearly 68.5 per cent of its E.U.-bound oil to these three countries.

Apple stops sale of iPhone 4S in China after crowd trouble The usually spotless shop windows of the sprawling Apple flagship store in the heart of Beijing were left covered in egg yolk, after Apple halted sales of its new iPhone 4S in the Chinese capital citing security fears triggered by the turnout of a huge and unruly crowd. Apple restricted sales of the phone to two per customer in Beijing and Shanghai, but scalpers have turned out in large groups in both cities to circumvent the restrictions.

Jet Airways confirms buy order for 17 Boeing 737s Jet Airways has converted its options to buy Boeing 737 mid-range from the U.S. aircraft manufacturer into a purchase agreement. “Jet Airways of India has placed order for 17 Boeing 737 aircraft,” The new Boeing 737-800s, for which additional orders have been placed, have significantly quieter cabin and are fitted with a decor called Sky Interior which has inspired shape, colour and texture.

Page 2 of 3 14th January 2012

Glenmark gets interim relief in row with Napo The American Arbitration Association has issued an interim order directing Napo Pharmaceuticals of the U.S. to comply with its collaboration agreement with Mumbai-based Glenmark Pharmaceuticals during the pendency of an arbitration process. The order prohibits Napo from terminating the collaboration agreement or from treating the agreement as terminated unless and until the panel amends the order. Glenmark, along with Napo and Salix Pharmaceuticals USA had developed Crofelemer, a molecule initially discovered by Napo and used in treatment of diarrhoea in HIV patients. Glenmark tied up with Napo in July, 2005, to synthesise Crofelemer and successfully extracted and stabilised the compound. However, Napo terminated the agreement on November 10, 2011.

Abhinav Bindra on target in air rifle at Asian Championship Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra asserted his class as he beat the reigning Asian Games champion Zhu Qinan by 0.3 points for the gold in the air rifle event in the 12th Asian shooting championship in Doha, Qatar. For one who had won the World championship gold in 2006, it was the first individual gold at the Asian level for the 29-year-old Bindra. He had recently won the silver in the Asian Air Gun championship in Kuala Lumpur.

Azarenka dethrones Li Na Victoria Azarenka ended Li Na's unbeaten two-year run at the APIA Sydney International with a fighting 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 victory in the final. French Open champion Li was on a nine-match winning run in Sydney after beating Kim Clijsters in last year's final, but was edged out by Azarenka, who ranks third in the world behind Caroline Wozniacki and Petra Kvitova.

Page 3 of 3 14th January 2012