Indian, Pakistani channels to produce singing show Two television channels from India and Pakistan have come together to produce a show of singing competition.It will have Atif Aslam and Himesh Reshammiya leading their countries' teams. The show, named 'Sur Kshetra', is being produced by Pakistan's Geo TV and Sahara TV. Judges for the competition include Asha Bhosle, Runa Laila of Bangladesh and Abida Parveen of Pakistan. Shooting for the musical competition will begin soon in Dubai after auditions. Geo TV has started beaming promos for the show. Indian students fare poorly in international evaluation test Only 53 per cent students from Himachal Pradesh and 63 per cent from Tamil Nadu were able to answer correctly during the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 plus exams held last year by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) where India participated for the first time as an additional participant. Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are among the best performing States in the country but even then very few 15-year-olds could fully understand these two simple paragraphs. This was an example of a simple reading item administered in PISA 2009 where girls significantly outperformed boys. This was in line with the results where Indian students remained at the bottom with only Kyrgyztan performing worse. Girls not only tended to attain higher reading scores than boys, they were also more aware of strategies for understanding, remembering and summarising information,” according to Professor Geoff Masters, CEO of ACER. The OECD-PISA is an international comparative survey of 15-year-olds' knowledge and skills in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy. PISA seeks to measure how well young adults have acquired the knowledge and skills that are required to function as successful members of society. A major goal of PISA is to untangle the factors that are associated with educational outcomes and to guide governments in constructing policies that improve these outcomes. UAE looks to boost investments in India The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is set to look for fresh investment opportunities in India, building on the booming trade between the two countries, which has zoomed to $ 67 billion last year. Head of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will arrive in New Delhi on a five-day visit to India, which will also take him to Mumbai and Bangalore. The ADIA said the Government of Abu Dhabi, has invested globally in several categories, including “quoted equities, fixed income, real estate, private equity, alternatives and infrastructure.” UAE was among the top 10 investing countries in India with an estimated investment of more than $8 billion. Andaman police seek NTRO help in Jarawas case The Andaman and Nicobar police have approached the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), which deals with cyber intelligence, for detecting the computer from where the controversial footage showing semi-naked Jarawa tribal women originated. With directions from the Union Home Ministry to nail the culprits, the police sought the NTRO's help in establishing the source computer. Under the Protection of Aboriginal Tribes (PAT) Act, taking pictures or video-shooting of tribals are banned. The police were also trying to identify the voice of a purported travel agent whose telephone conversation with a British journalist has been uploaded. More couples adopting family planning measures The total number of family planning acceptors in the country has increased by 3.5 per cent between 2010 and 2011. Latest official statistics have shown that condom is the most preferred method of family planning while sterilisations the least adopted means. The comparative figures between April and September 2010 and 2011 put the number of couples adopting some method for family planning, including spacing methods, is close to 24 million, with at least 15 million preferring condoms to any other means. Only about 2 million people have undergone sterilisation. Of the total sterilisations conducted, vasectomy (male sterilisation) comprised only 4.2 per cent. Only Sikkim had 35 per cent men undergoing vasectomy. Bihar has shown an unbelievable jump of 92 per cent between 2010 and 2011 in sterilisations, 61 per cent in IUD users, 49 per cent in condom users and 71 per cent in oral pill users. Densely populated Uttar Pradesh has indicated a 3.7 per cent increase in sterilisation figures, 12.7 per cent jump in IUD insertions, 17 and 18 per cent hike in condom use and oral pill use respectively. Tamil Nadu has shown the best performance at 1,834 sterilisations followed by Karnataka (1,197), Kerala (1,101), Maharashtra (857), Gujarat (510), Punjab (501), Haryana (4170) and Madhya Pradesh (342). The achievement in all States is lower than the all India average of 315 sterilisations per 10,000 unsterilised couples. Page 1 of 4 16th January 2012 Norwegian Minister impressed by election system in India Norway is impressed by the election system in India and wants to learn a few things from it. Liv Signe Navarsete, Norwegian Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, who is also in charge of elections in her country, said India had a robust and independent election system. “It would be interesting to learn things from the world's largest democracy and influence its election system. Ms. Navarsete was in New Delhi to follow up a partnership agreement between Norway and India on local administration and democracy, signed in 2010. During her visit she went to Andhra Pradesh, where her government is funding a project for training and empowerment of women at the grass roots. Customs' signature tune launched Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee launched the Indian Customs' signature tune ‘ Pragati ki dhadkan… The tune has been composed by music director Adesh Srivastava and will be played alongside the tableau of the Central Board of Excise and Customs during the Republic Day parade. Automatic metro card re-charge facility soon Metro commuters will soon have the option of automatically recharging their smart cards at the automatic fare collection gates, with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation procuring new technology AFC gates that allow smart card top-up through electronic clearance system linked to the card holders' bank accounts. The new proposed system is part of the DMRC's attempt to reduce cash transactions at ticket counters and also help commuters avoid long queues for recharging their smart cards. The DMRC is also procuring add value machines for recharging smart cards at the stations through net banking, credit cards and debit cards. More than 61 lakh smart cards are in circulation in the Delhi Metro network at present, and about 12,000 smart cards and 6.5 lakh tokens are sold each day. Convicts' names to be posted on Bihar Government website The Bihar Government has posted the names of convicts in the State on a website in an attempt to deter people from committing crimes, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said. After launching ‘Civil Consequences of Crime', a new section of the State Home Department's website where the name, father's name, address and details of the convict are posted, Mr. Kumar said this was yet another step to check crime in Bihar. Convicted persons would have to bear the civil consequences of their crimes, the Chief Minster said, adding that posting details of the convicted persons on the Internet would deter other people from taking to a life of crime and help improve the overall law and order situation in the State. 17 still missing in cruise ship disaster Two bodies were found on an Italian cruise ship grounded off a Tuscan island, taking the death toll in the disaster to five. Divers found the bodies in the rear of the submerged part of the ship which keeled over after hitting underwater rocks on January 13. Authorities reduced to 17 from 40 the number of people still unaccounted for, with an Italian who worked in cabin service pulled from the wreckage of the Costa Concordia off the tiny Tuscan island of Grigio. The huge cruise ship carrying more than 4,200 people ran aground on January 13 night, forcing a chaotic and frightening evacuation. There are now six crew members and 11 passengers who haven't been located, Tuscany's regional president Enrico Rossi said. Gilani rejects Army demand, says he is only answerable to parliament Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has rejected the Army's demand that he retract his criticism of the military, a day ahead of the crucial Supreme Court hearing relating to graft cases that could have a decisive bearing on the current crisis gripping the nation. Article 91 of the Constitution states the Prime Minister, ministers and ministers of state are answerable to parliament. A 17-member bench of the apex court will resume hearing of a case on reopening of corruption cases that were closed under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), a graft amnesty issued by the former military ruler, Gen. (retd.) Pervez Musharraf, in 2007. A judicial commission appointed by the Supreme Court to investigate the mysterious memo that sought the United States. Page 2 of 4 16th January 2012 Syrian protesters offered amnesty Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has offered an amnesty to citizens who have taken up arms against his rule in a 10-month revolt that has dragged the country to the point of outright war. The offer is the second by the embattled leader since a reformist uprising erupted in March last year. However, it is the first made since forces loyal to Mr. Assad lost control of parts of Syria's towns and cities. The first amnesty last May did not lead to a release of detainees and was roundly condemned as a bid to deflect attention as the regime's iron- clad grip on Syria began to slip.