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Bring in National Grievance Redress Bill in current session, says NCPRI Problems such as absence of toilets for girls in schools cannot be tackled by a Lokpal; they need to be addressed by an independent, decentralised grievance redress mechanism, which is possible under the National Grievance Redress Bill, asserted members of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) in New delhi. Demanding that the National Grievance Redress Bill be tabled and after appropriate discussion and debate passed by Parliament in the current session, the NCPRI said the government should consider concurrently putting in place a series of anti-corruption and grievance redress measures. NHRC orders relief to kin of convict beaten to death in jail The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed the Punjab Government to pay a relief of Rs.5 lakh to the family of murder convict Sukhchain Singh who died of injuries sustained due to beating by a warder of Amritsar jail on July 2, 2009. He had been lodged in the prison since September 22, 2004. The NHRC intervened upon intimation from jail authorities and called for reports from the Punjab Chief Secretary. Lokpal alone cannot check graft, says U.P. Lokayukta Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta Justice N. K. Mehrotra on Saturday said the institution of Lokpal alone cannot check graft. Rooting for a strong Lokayukta in Uttar Pradesh on the lines of Karnataka, he alleged that there was corruption in the field of education besides there was massive misuse of funds in the name of development of rural areas and so higher education, gram pradhans and aided schools should also be brought under the Lokayukta. MCA, DoT failed to nail Essar on violation: CBI In its third charge sheet in the 2G spectrum scam case indicting two promoters of Essar Group for using Loop Telecom as a front company to apply for more UAS licences even when Essar held 33 per cent equity in Vodafone-Essar, the CBI has taken a dim view of officials of the Ministry of Company Affairs (MCA) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) choosing not to act despite being made aware of violations of Clause 8 of the UAS licence guidelines by Loop Telecom. Animals also entitled to accident compensation, says Supreme Court Observing that animals, including elephants, are entitled to compensation in road accidents, the Supreme Court has upheld an award of Rs. 13.48 lakh for the death of a temple elephant after it was hit by a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus. A Bench of Justices B.S. Chauhan and T.S. Thakur did not agree with the contention of the KSRTC — in its appeal against the Kerala High Court verdict, which upheld the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal's award — that the Motor Vehicles Act would apply only to human beings and not to animals. Interestingly, this compensation to an elephant is more than what was awarded by the Supreme Court recently to the victims in the Uphaar cinema tragedy. In that case, the compensation awarded by the High Court was reduced from Rs. 20 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh. The 27-year-old elephant, Gangadharan, was owned by the Thiruppallavur Devaswom at Palakkad and was hit by the bus on November 23, 1996. The animal sustained injuries and later died. The temple claimed compensation before the Tribunal, stating the elephant brought a revenue of Rs. 2 lakh per year. Kalam launches Sasthrayaan project Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has called for adopting an interactive learning approach backed by research to make science education a meaningful experience for schoolchildren in the country. Addressing the students during the formal launch of the science education project, ‘Sasthrayaan,' at Government Boys High School, North Paravur, in Kerala on December 18. Sasthrayaan is an activity-based learning programme aimed at improving the quality of science education. New NSG hub near Chennai The Rs. 54-crore permanent infrastructure of the National Security Guard (NSG) regional hub built over an extent of around 69 acres in Nedunkundram, about 30 km south of Chennai, was inaugurated . This regional hub is one of the four that have been set up in different parts of the country Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad following the terrorist attack in Mumbai in November 2008. Four hubs with a total strength of 1,086 personnel 241 commandos for each hub and 122 personnel for administrative support were established in about six months from the occurrence of the Mumbai attack. R. K. Medhekar is Director General of the NSG. Page 1 of 3 18th December 2011 New Microsoft centre in Bangalore Microsoft announced the expansion of its global consulting and enterprise services operations out of India: a new state-of-the-art Global Delivery centre, situated in the heart of Bengaluru's business district. The Bengaluru team will, in addition to the team in Hyderabad, support Microsoft services in powering business- critical and mission-critical applications for some of the world's largest corporations in over 65 countries, a press release from the company stated. Microsoft's Global Delivery first began operations in Hyderabad in 2005. Obama daughters off Facebook U.S. President Barack Obama who relied heavily on the social media to boost his presidential campaign in 2008, has banned his daughters from using Facebook. The ‘First Social Media President' said it “does not make much sense” to put the most private details of his family life on public view. He doesn't want “strangers knowing” their family business. Ex-Freddie, Fannie chiefs charged with fraud In a move that marked one of the U.S. government's first major legal action against company executives for their role in causing the 2008 financial meltdown, the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday charged six former bosses of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) with securities fraud. Britannia hopes to improve margins further Britannia has hiked prices of its products across various categories by about 6 per cent over the last nine months. While the hike has been steeper to the tune of 8-10 per cent on premium category biscuits, it has been 4-5 per cent in the staple line. Britannia holds about 33 per cent share in the total biscuits market in the country pegged at Rs.15,000 crore. PSUs to get more financial powers The Union Government is looking at giving more financial powers to Maharatna public sector undertakings (PSUs) by allowing them make investments up to Rs.5,000 crore without taking approval from the Cabinet or their respective administrative ministries. At present, these PSUs need to take clearance from the government before making any investment decision. India inks revised tax treaty with Australia India and Australia has inked a protocol, amending the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) of 1991 to enable effective mutual exchange of information on tax matters for tracking black money and tax evasion. Saina Nehwal enters Super Series final Saina Nehwal has created history by becoming the first Indian singles player to reach the summit clash of the BWF Super Series badminton Finals after defeating Tine Baun of Denmark in the semifinals at Liuzhou in China. World No. 4 Saina defeated No. 5 Baun 21-17, 21-18 in 34 minutes to set up a summit clash with World No. 1 Yihan Wang of China, who defeated compatriot and World No. 3 Xin Wang in the other semifinal. The pair of Jwala Gutta and V. Diju is the only other Indians to have achieved the feat when the mixed doubles pair reached the Super Series Finals in the 2009 edition of the tournament before losing to Christinna Pedersen and Joaquim Nielsen. Picasso for Indian 2000 Guineas Picasso, who is in great heart according to his mock race and track performances, should score in the Casino Royale Indian 2000 Guineas (Gr. I), the stellar attraction of the races to be held in Mumbai on December 18. Ayew gets BBC award Ghana midfielder Andre Ayew has been voted BBC African Football of the Year. The success completes a family double as father Abedi ‘Pele' Ayew won the award 20 years ago when it was called the BBC African Sports Star of the Year. ‘Pele' presented the trophy to his son — the fifth Ghanaian winner after his father, Samuel Kuffour, Michael Essien and Asamoah Gyan. BBC world service listeners voted Ayew tops ahead of Ivorians Yaya Toure and Gervinho, Cameroonian Samuel Eto'o and Malian Seydou Keita. Page 2 of 3 18th December 2011 Morocco to host Club WC Morocco will become the first African country to host the annual Club World Cup of continental winners, FIFA President Sepp Blatter announced . The north African country would host the 2013 and 2014 editions of the tournament, Blatter said after a meeting in Tokyo of the world football body's executive committee. The 2011 Club World Cup concludes in Yokohama, next to Tokyo, , when European champion Barcelona take on Santos of Brazil. The United Arab Emirates is the other country to have held the showpiece, and it was hosted by Brazil in 2000 when it was called the Club World Championship. Page 3 of 3 18th December 2011 .

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