1. Environment Ministry revises wildlife habitat guidelines In its preamble to the guidelines, the Ministry emphasised that it “is in no way intended to cause or force resettlement or relocation of Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers from National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries,” in a bid to ease the concerns of activists. The new guidelines envisage a bigger role for the gram sabha, whose free informed consent must be given before any relocation is carried out. It also seems to ensure that forest rights are settled under the FRA before a CWH can be declared in an area. An expert committee, which includes members of the gram sabha, an ecologist, a tribal welfare NGO and a social scientist apart from the Forest Department's officers will now take the main responsibility for determining the habitats. Under the earlier guidelines, the process was to be initiated by the park manager, with a token committee only involved in consultations with forest rights holders. The new guidelines also provide for a National Steering Committee to take a final call on the notification of such habitats. 2. Endangered Pig-nosed Turtles falling easy prey to poachers Every time the three irrigation canals of Prakasam Barrage, which pass through the city, are closed for the summer, the endangered species of Pig-nosed Turtles become easy prey. Though they are well-camouflaged in the slush and mud of the canal bed, poachers know where to look for them. Armed with a stick or rod, they keep poking until they hit the turtle's hard shell. The Pig- nosed Turtle, which was added to the ‘Vulnerable' category in the Red List in 1996, is unlike any other freshwater turtle in the world. Herpetologists say it is the turtle best adapted to an aquatic lifestyle, with the exception of marine turtles. They grow to about 70 cm in shell-length and weigh over 20 kg. 3. Gamlin is Arunachal CM Arunachal Pradesh Power Minister Jarbom Gamlin was sworn in as Chief Minister. Mr. Gamlin was president of the All Arunachal Pradesh Students' Union from 1981 to 1983. He was appointed Home and Parliamentary Affairs Minister in 2004 in the Gegong Apang Cabinet. From 1999 to 2004 he was an MP. Now he represents the Liromoba Assembly constituency in West Siang district. 4. Sri Lanka to release stamp on Tagore The Government of Sri Lanka will release a postal stamp and first day cover on Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, on the occasion of his 150th birth anniversary celebrations. The stamp, priced at LKR 5, will be released by Minister for Postal Services Jewan Kumaranathunga at a function presided over by Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ashok K. Kantha, said the Indian Deputy High Commissioner, Vikram Misri. Tagore visited Sri Lanka thrice 1922, 1930 and 1934 and was instrumental in the renaissance of its culture. He wrote the national anthem for two countries, India and Bangladesh, and influenced the anthem in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan national anthem was written by Ananda Samarakoon, most probably in 1939-40, while he was Tagore's disciple at Visva-Bharati University. Samarakoon's first Shantiniketan stint ended after six months but he heralded a new brand of Sinhalese music influenced by Rabindra sangeeth. 5. U.K. referendum Britain's coalition government was set for a collision between its two partners the Tories and the Liberal Democrats as people voted in a referendum to decide whether to retain the first-past-the- post voting system or switch to Alternative Vote (AV) in which voters rank candidates in order of preference. Opinion polls gave the “no” camp, backed by the Tories, an almost unassailable lead over “yes” campaigners led by the Lib Dems. Elections were also held for the Scottish Parliament, devolved assemblies in Northern Ireland and Wales, and hundreds of local bodies across England. Both Tories and the Lib Dems were expected to be routed in these elections. 6. Legislation introduced in US to freeze financial aid to Pak A legislation has been introduced in the US House of Representatives which if passed would cut aid to Pakistan unless the state department can certify that Islamabad was not harbouring slain Page 1 of 3 6th May 2011 al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden. Osama bin Laden has met his maker, and we appreciate the Navy SEALs for arranging the meeting, but Pakistan gives us some concern. It seems like Pakistan might be playing both sides, and they have a lot of explaining to do. Senator Poe said he has introduced a bill that would require Congress and the American people to get a full understanding of what Pakistan knew about bin Laden's whereabouts and when they knew it, before US give them anymore American money. Congress has already appropriated $3 billion in aid to Pakistan for this year, and unless Pakistan can prove that they were not providing sanctuary for America's number one enemy, they should not receive any American aid. 7. Nepal cabinet reshuffle draws UN fire He came under fire last month after a Buddhist monk he appointed as the state finance minister was reported to hold an Indian passport as well as an identity card describing him as a Tibetan refugee. Now Nepal's Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal is under fire again, within 24 hours of reshuffling and expanding his cabinet, with the UN rights agency taking him to task this time. The UN Human Rights Office in Nepal (OHCHR) issued a strong objection by saying it was concerned over the appointment of Maoist lawmaker Agni Prasad Sapkota as the new information and communications minister. Sapkota has remained under a cloud since April 2005, when a 48-year- old school teacher, Arjun Bahadur Lama, was abducted by Maoists from Kavra district and eventually killed. According to Lama's wife Purni Maya, her husband was produced before Sapkota, then a powerful central committee member of the underground party, who ordered his death. 8. FM takes cue from RBI, says GDP may slip to 8% Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee projected India’s economic growth at 8 per cent for the current fiscal, lower than the budgetary estimate of 9 per cent, due to measures taken to rein in high inflation. If oil prices continue to rise, it would be difficult to achieve higher GDP. GDP may come down to 8 per cent from (the projected) 9 per cent. The government’s (India) primary concern now is to manage inflation while sustaining high growth rate. Hardening of global commodity prices, particularly oil prices has accelerated inflation, he said adding “our projection is 7.5-8 per cent inflation during the year”. Reserve Bank of India too had lowered economic growth projection to 8 per cent due to measures taken to tackle high inflation especially food prices. 9. Giant asteroid 'heading close to Earth' A giant asteroid, weighing 55 million tonnes, is heading close to Earth. But for those fearing Armageddon, there's no need to panic as it will just miss our planet later this year. In fact, the rock, which is quarter of a mile across, and pass between Earth and the moon in November and will be visible with small telescopes. If it were to hit the earth, the asteroid, named YU55, would have an impact equivalent to 65,000 atom bombs and would leave a crater more than six miles wide and 2,000ft deep. Passing by at a distance of just 201,000 miles, the aste roid will be the largest object ever to approach the Earth so close. 10. Sehwag unplugged Perhaps unfairly, Virender Sehwag could only look from the dug out as Yogesh Nagar swung a six that gave Delhi Daredevils a much needed win over the Deccan Chargers in their do-or-die encounter. Unfair, because in a chase of 176, Sehwag's 119 was as close to a one-man show as any this IPL season has seen. At the start of IPL IV, key players of the Daredevils squad moved away to other franchises. In the new look squad that resulted, under his captaincy, Delhi struggled to replicate the form that had seen them reach the semi-final in two of their three appearances. Page 2 of 3 6th May 2011 Page 3 of 3 6th May 2011 .