The Competition Master

CEC Quraishi sees elections as “biggest source of corruption”

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div id="5762" style="display: block;">                                          <ul><li style="text-align: justify;">Elections are the biggest source of  corruption in the country. When a candidate spends Rs. 5 crore to Rs.10  crore for getting elected, the first thing he does is call officials and  ask them how they're going to help him recover his expenditure.This was  stated by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) S.Y. Quraishi. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Mr. Quraishi was speaking at a special meeting called to ask for the media's help to boost voter awareness. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The Election Commission had made significant progress in making the  electoral process more transparent, but only a vigilant electorate could  stamp out corruption, he noted. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Mr. Quraishi said low voter turnout had emerged as a fundamental  threat to the country's democracy. “If 30 per cent of people vote and  one of them wins with 12 per cent of that, both the quality of the  representation and the legitimacy of governance will suffer.” </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>To boost voter participation, the Commission had taken slew of  measures such as appointment of community-based booth liaison officers,  hand-delivery of voter slips prior to the election day and running of  awareness campaigns in the media, he said. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>These measures had helped bring about a record voter turnout of 84  per cent in Tamil Nadu and ensured a steady improvement in electoral  participation across the last seven elections. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>However, Mr. Quraishi pointed out that voters in most cities other  than Kolkata and Chennai remained apathetic. “People in urban areas  incessantly complain about how corrupt their politicians are, but won't  queue up to vote and choose better ones,” he added. </li>
</ul></div></div>

CEC Quraishi sees elections as “biggest source of corruption”

Elections are the biggest source of corruption in the country. When a candidate spends Rs. 5 cror...

+ Read more »

Angad Cheema wins All India Amateur Golf title

Angad Cheema wins All India Amateur Golf title

Angad Cheema from Chandigarh got one of his best birthday presents as he picked up the biggest title of his career, winning the All India ...

+ Read more »

1695 militants lay down arms in Assam

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div id="5764" style="display: block;">                                          <ul><li style="text-align: justify;">In Assam, altogether 1695 militant  cadres belonging to nine ethnic tribal ultra groups today surrendered  before the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and the state Chief  Minister Tarun Gogoi at an arms laying down ceremony held at Guwahati  this morning. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The militants deposited about 200 arms at the function.  </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Addressing the function, Mr. Chidambaram said that today was a  historic day for peace and reconciliation in Assam. He said that all  differences can be settled through peaceful negotiations. The Home  minister stressed that there is no hurdles that can not be solved  through peaceful talks.  </li>
</ul><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that  only through democratic process, the militancy problems can be solved.  He said the centre and the state government are keen to settle the  problem of the militants. He also appealed to the Paresh Barua led ULFA  group to come forward for negotiations.</li>
</ul></div></div>

1695 militants lay down arms in Assam

In Assam, altogether 1695 militant cadres belonging to nine ethnic tribal ultra groups today surr...

+ Read more »

Govt to create new reservoir to meet water needs of Chennai

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div id="5765" style="display: block; text-align: justify;">                                          <ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>With a view to meet the growing drinking water requirements of  Chennai and its suburbs, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa  announced creating a reservoir in the nearby Tiruvallur district at a  cost of Rs 330 crore besides announcing a slew of other water schemes. </li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>She has directed that Kannankottai and Thervoykandigai lakes in the  neighbouring district be linked and a reservoir created to store one tmc  ft of water, a government release said. </li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The project was necessitated in the wake of expanding boundaries of  Chennai and the drinking water requirements within, the release said. </li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Chennai’s drinking water requirement is met from reservoirs at Poondi, Cholavaram, Redhills and Chembarambakkam. </li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Ms. Jayalalithaa also sanctioned a sum of Rs 11.49 crore towards  various groundwater rejuvenation schemes and projects across the State.</li>
</ul></div></div>

Govt to create new reservoir to meet water needs of Chennai

With a view to meet the growing drinking water requirements of Chennai and its suburbs, Tamil Nad...

+ Read more »

Child labour (prohibition and prevention) act soon to be introduced in Parliament

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div id="5766" style="display: block; text-align: justify;">                                          <ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The Union Government has decided to end all forms of child labour,  and a comprehensive amendment to the Child Labour (Prohibition and  Regulation) Act banning the employment of children aged less than 14  will soon be introduced in Parliament. </li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The National Advisory Council (NAC), headed by UPA Chairperson Sonia  Gandhi, had asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure a total ban  on child labour irrespective of whether it was in hazardous or  non-hazardous industries and that all children aged less than 14 were  enrolled in schools. </li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Union Minister for Labour and Employment M. Mallikarjun Kharge has  said that the draft amendment to the Child Labour Prohibition and  Abolition Act was being prepared. “We will try to move the amendment in  the next Parliament session,” he said. </li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Mr. Kharge said that at present child labour was banned in 18  hazardous occupations and 65 processes. The Government now wanted to end  child labour in all industries, whether hazardous or otherwise. On  Friday, the Child Labour Advisory Committee, headed by Mr. Kharge, met  in New Delhi and extended support to the move to ban all forms of child  labour.  </li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Both the committee and NAC were of the opinion that parents of child  labourers should not be punished. Only those who employed children  should be targeted for penal action. Banning child labour would help  bring down the number of children who were out of school. </li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>He said that according to the latest survey by the National Sample  Survey Organisation (NSSO), there are 49 lakh children under 14 employed  in different occupations. </li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Mr. Kharge told a questioner that programmes launched by the  Government such as the midday meal scheme in schools, subsidised  foodgrain distribution through the public distribution system, 100 days  guaranteed employment under the MGNREGA, the anganwadi scheme and the  Right to Education Act had helped in bringing down the number of child  labourers. </li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The number of child labourers had come down from 1.25 crore in 2001-02 to 90 lakh in 2004-05. </li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>According to unofficial statistics available with the Government,  the number of children in the 5 to 13 age group is more than 18 crore.  Of them, 17 crore are in school. Only around 1.3 crore are out of school  for various reasons, including child labour.</li>
</ul></div></div>

Child labour (prohibition and prevention) act soon to be introduced in Parliament

The Union Government has decided to end all forms of child labour, and a comprehensive amendment ...

+ Read more »

India 6th Nation to Have Nuclear Submarine

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">India's hunt for a nuclear submarine is  finally over. The country became the world's sixth country after the  US, Russia, France, the UK and China to operate nuclear-powered  submarines.<strong> Russian Akula-II class submarine `K-152 Nerpa' is commissioned into Indian Navy and renamed as INS Chakra.</strong> It is given to India on a 10 year lease under a secretive almost $1-billion contract inked in 2004. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The INS Chakra with a displacement of 8,140/12,770 tones and maximum  speed of 30 knots, is armed with four 533mm torpedo tubes and four  650mm torpedo tubes. However, the INS Charka is not armed with  long-range nuclear missiles due to international non-proliferation  treaties like the Missile Technology Control Regime. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>In a ceremony attended by top Indian and Russian officials, INS  Chakra commissioned at the Primorye region in far south-eastern Russia  would soon set sail for India, said Defense Ministry sources. It will be  based at Visakhapatnam, next to where INS Arihant is listed to begin  extensive sea trials in February-March after the ongoing  harbor-acceptance trials. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Nuclear-powered submarines are furtive since they can operate  underwater at long ranges for months unlike diesel-electric submarines  that need to surface every few days to get oxygen to recharge their  batteries and they have limited endurance due to fuel requirements. INS  Chakra will be armed with the 300 km range Klub-S land-attack cruise  missiles, which India deploys on its Kilo-class conventional submarines  as well as other missiles and advanced torpedoes.</li>
</ul></div>

India 6th Nation to Have Nuclear Submarine

India's hunt for a nuclear submarine is finally over. The country became the world's sixth country after the US, Russia, France, t...

+ Read more »

Magnitude-6.3 quake hits Pacific; no tsunami alert

Magnitude-6.3 quake hits Pacific; no tsunami alert

A magnitude-6.3 earthquake has shaken the Pacific region south of the Fiji islands. There were no...

+ Read more »

RBI asks govt to free diesel prices

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">The Reserve Bank on Tuesday said the  government should deregulate diesel prices in order to contain the trade  deficit, which is expected to widen to $ 160 billion during the current  fiscal. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>While petrol prices are market-linked, the government decides the  rates of LPG, kerosene and diesel, which usually results in a large  budgetary expenditure on subsidies. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The central bank further said the current levels of domestic prices of petroleum products do not reflect international prices. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>According to the financial stability report (or FSR) of the RBI  released earlier, the December trade deficit gap for the year would  broaden from $155 billion to $160 billion, a significant rise from  $104.4 billion in the previous year. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>It is estimated that the higher expenditure on petroleum subsidy  could drive up the fiscal deficit by around 0.8 percentage points of the  GDP for 2011-12.</li>
</ul></div>

RBI asks govt to free diesel prices

The Reserve Bank on Tuesday said the government should deregulate diesel prices in order to contain the trade deficit, which is expected t...

+ Read more »

Big quake could hit Tokyo within years

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">The group at the university’s  earthquake research institute said the number of moderate quakes in the  capital region measuring magnitude 3 or bigger surged to 343 in the  six-month period after the March quake, up from 47 in the previous six  months. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Based on a theory that the probability of bigger earthquakes rises  in proportion to an increase in smaller quakes, the team calculated a 98  per cent likelihood of a magnitude 6.7 to 7.2 earthquake striking Tokyo  over the next 30 years. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>A separate government study estimates that the chance of a magnitude  7 quake striking Tokyo is 70 per cent over the next 30 years. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Sakai said the two studies use different methods to calculate  earthquake likelihood. While the university study factored in the recent  increase in moderate seismic activity, the government estimate only  looked the pattern of magnitude 6.7-7.2 quakes over the past 150 years.  Since no quake that big has occurred in the Tokyo area since March,  there is no change in the government estimate, Sakai said. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Japan is one of the most  earthquake-prone countries in the world. Tokyo’s last major quake was  the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake that killed 140,000 people.</li>
</ul></div>

Big quake could hit Tokyo within years

The group at the university’s earthquake research institute said the number of moderate quakes in the capital region measuring magnitude 3...

+ Read more »

Telecom chiefs meet Sibal; discuss spectrum pricing, allocation

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">For the second time in as many months,  Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal met chiefs of leading operators, including  Sunil Bharti Mittal, Anil Ambani and Vodafone’s Marten Pieters, to  discuss contentious issues such as spectrum pricing, allocation and  one-time fee. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The issues concerning the operators include one-time fee for  spectrum beyond 4.4 MHz for GSM operators and 2.5 MHz for CDMA players,  besides allocation of radio waves through auction-only route. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Last year, the Telecom Commission, the highest decision making body  of the Department of Telecom (DoT), had decided to levy a one-time  charge for extra spectrum beyond contracted limit of 4.4 MHz (GSM) and  2.5 MHz (CDMA) held by the players, which put a burden of approximately  Rs 17,000 crore in their bottom line. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Operators have been contending this decision saying there was no  such clause in the licence guidelines under which a one-time charge can  be imposed. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Sources said the Commissions suggestions on these contentious issues  are likely to be moved before the Cabinet. They have also claimed that  allotment of spectrum to them was as per the existing policy. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>On spectrum allocation front, telcom companies support an auction  route to determine the one-time fee for spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The Telecom Commission had decided to charge a uniform licence fee of 8 per cent as against current rate of 6-10 per cent. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The telecom industry has demanding a lower licence fee of 6 per cent  of adjusted gross revenues (AGR) while TRAI had recommended 8 per cent  of AGR.</li>
</ul></div>

Telecom chiefs meet Sibal; discuss spectrum pricing, allocation

For the second time in as many months, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal met chiefs of leading operators, including Sunil Bharti Mittal, Anil A...

+ Read more »