•Police say 2,000 people have been evacuated after a huge, unexploded World War II bomb was found in the centre of the southwest Polish city of Wroclaw. According to authorities the bomb weighs 1 ton.
•Unexploded bombs from World War II are still found frequently in Poland more than 60 years after the conflict ended.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Sweden cleanest, Saudi dirtiest: UN Index
•Sweden does the maximum to tackle greenhouse emissions while Saudi Arabia does the least, according to a barometer published on Wednesday by watchdogs at the UN climate talks here.
•But the annual "Climate Change Performance Index" placed Sweden only fourth on its list, for no prizes were allotted for the top three places.
•The benchmark is derived from 12 national indicators, based on the emissions level, emissions trend and climate policy.
•Sweden's fourth place was followed by Germany, France, India, Brazil, Britain and Denmark.
•The bottom 10 were listed in descending order as Greece, Malaysia, Cyprus, Russia, Australia, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, the United States, Canada and Saudi Arabia.
•The Climate Change Performance Index compares 57 states that together emit more than 90 percent of the world's annual output of carbon dioxide (CO2), the principal greenhouse gas.
•The benchmark is derived from 12 national indicators, based on the emissions level, emissions trend and climate policy.
•But the annual "Climate Change Performance Index" placed Sweden only fourth on its list, for no prizes were allotted for the top three places.
•The benchmark is derived from 12 national indicators, based on the emissions level, emissions trend and climate policy.
•Sweden's fourth place was followed by Germany, France, India, Brazil, Britain and Denmark.
•The bottom 10 were listed in descending order as Greece, Malaysia, Cyprus, Russia, Australia, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, the United States, Canada and Saudi Arabia.
•The Climate Change Performance Index compares 57 states that together emit more than 90 percent of the world's annual output of carbon dioxide (CO2), the principal greenhouse gas.
•The benchmark is derived from 12 national indicators, based on the emissions level, emissions trend and climate policy.
40% of Delhi MLAs aren't graduates
•Of the 67 MLAs whose educational records are available, 27 don't have a bachelor's degree.
•The academic credentials of the new-look Delhi Assembly may appear low by modern standards, but these are better than the city's own educational profile. According to an NSSO report of 2004-05, only 20.8% of Delhiites are graduates.
•Sixteen of the new MLAs 23% of them have a postgraduate or higher degree. And education is one area where BJP seems to have defeated Congress hands down. Of the 23 MLAs from the party, 14 (60% of them) are graduates.
•In fact by far the most educated of the lot is Ghonda MLA Sahab Singh Chauhan, former chief whip of BJP who has two masters' degrees one each in English and Hindi as well as a BEd and an LLB to boot.
•Despite senior leaders of both parties stressing that "commitment to the people and not education'' is what it takes to become a people's representative, the conviction is often absent in the candidates' own affidavits. There have been numerous attempts to use words such as BA, BSc, BCom in cases where the final examination had not been cleared to create an illusion of having obtained the degree. Shoaib Iqbal, Lok Janshakti Party MLA from Matia Mahal, is a "BA (second year)'' from Zakir Husain College. Chandni Chowk's Congress MLA, Prahlad Singh Sawhney, wrote he had done "BA (second year)'' from Gwalior University while Delhi Cantonment's BJP MLA Karan Singh Tanwar's educational qualification columns reads "BSc (hons) second year in Maths from Delhi University.''
•The academic credentials of the new-look Delhi Assembly may appear low by modern standards, but these are better than the city's own educational profile. According to an NSSO report of 2004-05, only 20.8% of Delhiites are graduates.
•Sixteen of the new MLAs 23% of them have a postgraduate or higher degree. And education is one area where BJP seems to have defeated Congress hands down. Of the 23 MLAs from the party, 14 (60% of them) are graduates.
•In fact by far the most educated of the lot is Ghonda MLA Sahab Singh Chauhan, former chief whip of BJP who has two masters' degrees one each in English and Hindi as well as a BEd and an LLB to boot.
•Despite senior leaders of both parties stressing that "commitment to the people and not education'' is what it takes to become a people's representative, the conviction is often absent in the candidates' own affidavits. There have been numerous attempts to use words such as BA, BSc, BCom in cases where the final examination had not been cleared to create an illusion of having obtained the degree. Shoaib Iqbal, Lok Janshakti Party MLA from Matia Mahal, is a "BA (second year)'' from Zakir Husain College. Chandni Chowk's Congress MLA, Prahlad Singh Sawhney, wrote he had done "BA (second year)'' from Gwalior University while Delhi Cantonment's BJP MLA Karan Singh Tanwar's educational qualification columns reads "BSc (hons) second year in Maths from Delhi University.''
Essar Oil to open its petrol pumps next month
•The company would reopen all its 1,250 retail outlets by January. We have already made operational 830 petrol pumps so far,” an Essar Oil spokesperson said.
•The company started shutting down its outlets in March after a sharp rise in global crude prices. Now that the margins on petrol and diesel have turned positive after steep fall in crude prices, the company has started opening its retail outlets.
•However, the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has no such plans for reopening its 1,432 petrol pumps. The company had shut its all retail outlets around March this year after crude price went northwards.
•The company started shutting down its outlets in March after a sharp rise in global crude prices. Now that the margins on petrol and diesel have turned positive after steep fall in crude prices, the company has started opening its retail outlets.
•However, the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has no such plans for reopening its 1,432 petrol pumps. The company had shut its all retail outlets around March this year after crude price went northwards.
Declare Jamaat-ud-Dawa a terrorist outfit: India to UN
•India on Tuesday urged the UN Security Council to declare Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a front of the Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT), as a terrorist outfit.
•Jamaat-ud-Dawa is the public name of LeT, which was banned in 2002. India and the US have said that the LeT and its leaders were involved in the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
•Referring to the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, which India tabled in 1996, the Indian minister of state for external affairs E Ahamed said this needs to be adopted immediately to provide a framework of international law against terrorism
•Jamaat-ud-Dawa is the public name of LeT, which was banned in 2002. India and the US have said that the LeT and its leaders were involved in the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
•Referring to the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, which India tabled in 1996, the Indian minister of state for external affairs E Ahamed said this needs to be adopted immediately to provide a framework of international law against terrorism
Paul Krugman -"........world of zero interest rates ..."
Paul Krugman (Noble Prize winner for Economics)- "The scenario I fear is that we'll see for the whole world the equivalent of Japan's lost decade in the 1990s, that we'll see a world of zero interest rates and inflation and no sign of recovery and it will just go on for a very, very extended period,".(8th Dec 08)
Amsterdam to close many brothels, marijuana cafes.
- Prostitution was legalized in the Netherlands in 2000, formalizing a long-standing tolerance policy.
- Marijuana is technically illegal in the Netherlands, but prosecutors won't press charges for possession of small amounts. Coffee shops are able to sell it openly.
- The measures announced Saturday would affect about 36 coffee shops in the centre itself —a little less than 20 percent of the city total
Removal of India from Google Earth
The PIL, filed by Mumbai-based lawyer Amit Karkhanis, has demanded removal of images of the country from Google Earth.
Google making the internet costlier for others and costing taxpayers about $7 billion a year.
• Google has been charged with using 21 times more bandwidth than what it pays for, thus making the internet costlier for others and costing taxpayers about $7 billion a year.
• Google in defence says that the report has been authored by someone being paid by phone and cable companies like AT&T, Verizon and Time Warner to be "a full time Google critic."
• The study estimated that Google has used 16.5 per cent of all US consumer internet traffic this year and it is estimated to grow to 25 per cent in 2009 and 37 per cent in 2010.
• However, the company's payment to fund the US consumer broadband internet segment is estimated at $344 million for 2008, which is just 0.8 per cent of the US consumer's flat-rate monthly internet accesscosts of $44 billion.
• "Thus, Google's 16.5 per cent share of all 2008 US consumer bandwidth usage is about 21 times greater than Google's 0.8 per cent share of US consumer bandwidth costs -- on an implicit about 6.9 billion dollar subsidy of Google by US consumers," Cleland wrote in the study.
• Google in defence says that the report has been authored by someone being paid by phone and cable companies like AT&T, Verizon and Time Warner to be "a full time Google critic."
• The study estimated that Google has used 16.5 per cent of all US consumer internet traffic this year and it is estimated to grow to 25 per cent in 2009 and 37 per cent in 2010.
• However, the company's payment to fund the US consumer broadband internet segment is estimated at $344 million for 2008, which is just 0.8 per cent of the US consumer's flat-rate monthly internet accesscosts of $44 billion.
• "Thus, Google's 16.5 per cent share of all 2008 US consumer bandwidth usage is about 21 times greater than Google's 0.8 per cent share of US consumer bandwidth costs -- on an implicit about 6.9 billion dollar subsidy of Google by US consumers," Cleland wrote in the study.
India ranks third in rape cases
• According to the data, 18,359 rape cases were registered in India in the first three quarters of this year while in the US, 93,934 and in South Africa 54,926 rape cases were registered respectively.
• The lowest number of rape cases were registered in Jordan (78), Latvia (260), Bulgaria (403) and Finland (596).
• Altogether 44,159 cases of different sex offences were registered across India in the said period. In such cases too, India stands third after England and Germany where 62,100 and 47,070 cases were registered respectively.
• Four other countries where the numbers of sex offences were high include Canada (26,044), Australia (17,516), Sweden (7,924) and Argentina (3,473).
• According to the data, the incidence of various crime per one lakh population in India are -- murder (3), sex offences (4), rape (1.7), serious assault (24.6) robbery and violent theft (2.1), breaking and entering (8.2) and theft of motor cars (7.8).
• The lowest number of rape cases were registered in Jordan (78), Latvia (260), Bulgaria (403) and Finland (596).
• Altogether 44,159 cases of different sex offences were registered across India in the said period. In such cases too, India stands third after England and Germany where 62,100 and 47,070 cases were registered respectively.
• Four other countries where the numbers of sex offences were high include Canada (26,044), Australia (17,516), Sweden (7,924) and Argentina (3,473).
• According to the data, the incidence of various crime per one lakh population in India are -- murder (3), sex offences (4), rape (1.7), serious assault (24.6) robbery and violent theft (2.1), breaking and entering (8.2) and theft of motor cars (7.8).
Musharraf figures in the "Ten Worst Dictators" in the world for the first time
• Musharraf ranks seventh in the list issued by Parade magazine, preceded by Kim Jong Il of North Korea, Omar al-Bashmir of Sudan, Than Shwe of Burma and Hu Jintao of China, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi of Libya. He is followed by Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea.
• President Fidel Castro of Cuba and King Mswati III of Switzerland had been among the ten worst dictators in the world last year but they are considered better than the 10 Worst this year.
• President Fidel Castro of Cuba and King Mswati III of Switzerland had been among the ten worst dictators in the world last year but they are considered better than the 10 Worst this year.
A British report says that following the attack, India has slipped to a list of the 20 most dangerous places to visit on Earth.
- India has been listed along side countries like Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Mexico, Thailand and South Africa in this list.
- Chechnya, Jamaica, Sudan, Colombia, Haiti, Eritrea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Burundi, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Lebanon have also been named among the 20 most dangerous places to visit on Earth.
MARCOS - “Fight a militant like a militant”.
- In April 1986, the Indian Navy mooted a plan for a special force, which would be able to conduct reconnaissance, raids and even counter-terrorist operations in a maritime environment. Three naval officers were sent for training with the US Navy SEALS and further training was conducted with British Special Forces. These three naval officers formed the nucleus of the Indian Marine Special Force (IMSF) that was formally raised in February 1987.
- The strength of the unit is a closely guarded secret. However, sources say the number could be close to 2,000 personnel. Currently, there are three main groups attached to the three naval commands - Mumbai (West), Cochin (South) and Vizag (East).
- Officially known as the Indian Marine Special Force, the unit was raised in 1987 out of the naval divers to lead amphibious operations. The personnel volunteering for the force have to undergo a rigorous two-year training, by the end of which only 10-25 percent of the enrolled commandos remain.
- Marcos have gained a fearsome reputation among terrorists who refer to them as the 'Dadiwali Fauj' (Bearded Army) since they are the only non-Sikh personnel allowed to grow beards, 'Jal Murgi' (Water Hens) for the speed in which they carry out assault from the water and 'Magarmachh' (Crocodiles) for their amphibious capability.
- The govt. spends Rs.8 crore per MARCO.
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