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National:
Government panel to set poverty mark for rural schemesThe Centre
has set up an expert committee to determine the poverty mark to
identify beneficiaries of ruraldevelopment ministry's programmes.
The committee, to be headed by Planning Commission member
Abhijit
Sen, will examine the figures of the socio-economic caste survey
to decide who is below the poverty line interms of deserving the
rural welfare schemes focused on poor like Indira Awas Yojana,
old-age pension andnational rural livelihood mission. The
committee, which is to give its report by March-end, includes
KiritParikh, Mahendra Dev, Nikhil Dey, Dr Himanshu and P P
Mitra.
A historic rail link to Kashmir ValleyNorthern Railway made
history as the first train chugged through Indias longest railway
tunnel in the PirPanjal mountain range, connecting Kashmir Valley
to Banihal town on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway.The train
services between Banihal and Kashmir Valley will start in February
or March 2013 while the entirerailway project connecting the Valley
with the rest of the country will be completed by 2017. While
theBaramulla-Srinagar-Qazigund link has been functional for the
past four years, this was the first time that atrain has crossed
the mighty Pir Panjal Mountain range. The highlight of the
Qazigund-Banihal link is the11.21-km tunnel, the longest railway
tunnel in India, which has reduced the distance between the two
townsby half. The tunnel, which was constructed by Hindustan
Construction Corporation (HCC), will reduce the
travel distance between Qazigund and Banihal from 35 kilometres
(by road) to just 17.5 kilometres (by train).The Pir Panjal tunnel,
which is the second longest in Asia. The tunnel is 8.40 metres wide
with a height of7.39 metres. There is a provision of a
three-metre-wide road along the length of the tunnel for the
purpose ofmaintenance and emergency relief.
Israel Grants Scholarships to 66 Outstanding Indian
ResearchersFor the first programme of its kind time, almost 66
Indian Post-Doctoral Scholars will travel to Israel, topursue
research at top universities. The researchers will benefit from
three-year scholarships granted by thegovernment of that
country.
Panel submits probe report on Vadra's land dealA Haryana
Government-appointed committee, that probed the orders of senior
IAS officer Ashok Khemkacancelling the sale of over 3 acre of land
to realty major DLF in a deal with Robert Vadra, son-in-law
ofCongress President Sonia Gandhi. The three-member committee,
headed by Additional Chief Secretary
(Revenue) Krishan Mohan, submitted its report to Haryana Chief
Secretary PK Chaudhary. Khemka, as thethen Director General
Consolidation of Holdings and Land Records-cum-Inspector General of
Registration,had ordered cancellation of the land deals.
International:
China opens its first subway crossing Asia's longest riverAfter
launching the world's longest high-speed rail line, China has
opened its subway line across the mightyYangtze River to connect
the two sides of Wuhan, the most populous city in Central China.
The metro linkpasses through a 27-km tunnel linking Wuchang and
Hanku, two major urban areas in Wuhan city, thecapital of Hubei
Province. The two stations are separated by the Yangtze River,
China's longest waterway.The trains will only take three minutes to
run under the Asia's longest Yangtze River. Yangtze is the
world's
third longest river.
Putin OKs law to bar US adoption of Russian kidsRussian
President Vladimir Putin has signed into law controversial
parliamentary legislation banning theadoption of Russian children
by American families. The law - a retaliation for a United States
law punishingRussian officials implicated in the 2009 prison death
of the whistle-blowing attorney Sergei Magnitsky - willcome into
force on January 1,2013.
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Business & Economy:
Raman takes over as whole-time member of SEBIThe Securities and
Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has appointed S. Raman as its
whole-time member forfive years. Before his appointment as
whole-time member, Mr. Raman served as Chairman and
ManagingDirector of Canara Bank from September, 2010, to September,
2012.
Three DTH players pull the plug on ESPN, Star Cricket HD
channelsThree of the countrys six direct-to-home (DTH) service
providers have stopped showing high definitionchannels Star Cricket
and ESPN ahead of the much anticipated India-Pakistan series.
Airtel Digital TV, SunDirect and Dish TV have stopped these
channels on their platforms alleging hike in prices. Airtel Digital
TV,the DTH service arm of Bharti Airtel, has also stopped showing
the standard versions of ESPN, Star Cricketand Star Sports on its
platform for some of its customers.
Sport:
India is runner-upIndia lost 4-5 to Pakistan in a high-scoring
final of the second Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament.
