April 3, 2010
Courtesy: The Hindu
ü The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan has advised Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P.D. Dinakaran to go on leave.
· Since December last, Justice Dinakaran has not been performing judicial work.
· In his place, the acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Justice Madan B. Lokur, is being appointed Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court.
ü Design shortcomings in the reactor the U.S.' biggest nuclear supplier, Westinghouse Electric, intends to sell to India are likely to delay the conclusion of a commercial agreement by at least a year.
· The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is examining the modified reactor design submitted by Westinghouse after an assessment in October last.
· The NRC was not convinced that three aspects of the design shield would withstand earthquakes and tsunamis of a certain magnitude.
· It has held several public and closed-door meetings on the design changes to be introduced in the shield building (SB) of the AP1000 reactor.
ü Henry Edward Roberts, a developer of an early personal computer that inspired Bill Gates to found Microsoft, died on Thursday in Georgia. He was 68.
· Mr. Roberts, whose build-it-yourself kit concentrated thousands of dollars worth of computer capability in an affordable package, inspired Bill Gates and his childhood friend Paul Allen to come up with Microsoft in 1975, after they saw an article about the MITS Altair 8800 in Popular Electronics.
ü The Press Council of India (PCI) may finalise a report on the “paid news” controversy at a meeting on April 26 and then forward it to the Election Commission.
· It will also bring out a White Paper on “paid news.”
· The Council, at a meeting early this week in Indore, considered a report prepared by a sub-committee on the issue, but could not come to a conclusion.
ü The upcoming steel hub in Orissa's Jajpur district appeared to be a war zone on Friday, with policemen surrounding hundreds of tribals, who were opposing the construction of a common corridor road to give access to Tata Steel's six million tonne proposed steel mill.
· Three days after police opened fire at the villagers, injuring about 50 men and women, fear has gripped all those living in the tribal hamlets.
· The local police have arrested at least 29 men from the villages where people have been spearheading an anti-displacement agitation since January 2, 2006, when 14 persons were killed in police firing while opposing work on the project.
· On March 28, the Jajpur Collector held a discussion with the villagers and the office-bearers of the Bisthapan Birodhi Janamanch, the organisation leading the agitation. But the authorities started work on the common corridor road the next day.
· On the second day of construction work the villagers staged a protest. Police opened fire, lathi-charged the protesters and damaged their houses. The villagers ran for their life and hid in the nearby forests.
ü The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), the union that represents 560 Air India (AI) pilots has threatened legal action if the management of India's national carrier goes ahead with plans to recruit 40 trainee pilots for the airline's international operations.
· In a letter dated March 31 and addressed to the Chairman and Managing Director of AI, the ICPA has stated that as per the Memorandum of Settlement signed in July 2006 between the union and the management, it was agreed that their pilots “would fly up to 90 hours per month and 240 hours in a quarter.”
· However, the ICPA says that at present, the base average for pilots of the National Aviation Company of India (Indian Airlines) — the holding company of the erstwhile Indian Airlines — had “dropped to about 60 hours per month and in some cases as low as 40 hours.”
· This, the ICPA says, is a clear indication that pilots belonging to the erstwhile Indian Airlines but who now fly under the AI banner after the merger of the two airlines, “were under-utilised.”
ü Wheat procurement has commenced with a higher purchase compared to the corresponding period last year from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
· The total procurement so far is to the tune of about 5.3 lakh tonnes compared to 2.05 lakh tonnes last year, with Madhya Pradesh contributing 5.29 lakh tonnes.
· Procurement in Punjab and Haryana will begin after Baisakhi.
ü New standards for carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles have been announced by the Obama administration, even as President Barack Obama came in for criticism from environmental groups for authorising a major offshore oil-and-gas drilling expansion.
· According to a statement by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transport, the new emission standards could “potentially save the average buyer of a 2016 model year car $3,000 over the life of the vehicle and, nationally, will conserve about 1.8 billion barrels of oil and reduce nearly a billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the lives of the vehicles covered.”
· The new rules aim to boost the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE). The current economy limit is 40 km per gallon.
· Combined with the mandated greenhouse gas requirements, the new rules would raise mileage standards closer to 56 kmpg more quickly than a 2007 law that would achieve this level only by 2020.
· According to reports, mileage standards for model year 2011 vehicles are 42 kmpg; however the new vehicle emissions standards will be phased in starting with the 2012 model year.
ü Major steel producers Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), JSW and Essar on Friday increased prices of their products by up to Rs. 2,500 a tonne due to rising input costs in a move that could make automobiles and consumer durables costlier.
· World's sixth largest steel producer Tata Steel, however, said it has not yet taken a decision on raising prices.
ü Unemployment remained at near-peak levels in March, with 15 million people, or 9.7 per cent of the labour force, out of work during the month, figures released by the Bureau of Labour Statistics on Friday showed.
· However the BLS report also said that non-farm payroll employment increased by 162,000 — a large part of the addition to jobs coming from temporary help services (40,000 jobs) and health care (27,000 jobs).
· Employment in federal government also registered an increase, reflecting the hiring of temporary workers for the decennial Census 2010 (48,000 jobs).
· The report however said “Employment continued to decline in financial activities and in information.”
