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Britain's Supreme court  approves the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to Sweden over alleged sex crimes.The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld lower court rulings, calling Swedish authorities' extradition request lawful.Julian Assange of  WikiLeaks  is accused of sexual misconduct against two women in Sweden. He was arrested in Britain in December 2010. Julian Assange  had always denied the accusations during lower court hearings. He said his arrest was made for political reasons because his whistle-blowing website disclosed thousands of sensitive US diplomatic documents. Hence Assange was released on conditional bail and is staying at a friend's house in Britain, wearing an electronic monitor so authorities can track his whereabouts.

China Leads Growth in Global Wind Power Capacity nksagar_1@yahoo.com Having trouble viewing this email? Click here PRESS RELEASE Wednesday, May 30, 2012 Contact:  Supriya Kumar, skumar@worldwatch.org , (+1) 202-452-1992, ext. 510 For more information:  http://www.worldwatch.org/china-leads-growth-global-wind-power-capacity     China Leads Growth in Global Wind Power Capacity        New Worldwatch Institute report discusses worldwide developments in wind power Washington, D.C . ---- Global installed wind power capacity continued to grow in 2011, albeit at a slightly lower rate than in 2009 and 2010, according to new research conducted by the Worldwatch Institute ( www.worldwatch.org ) for its Vital Signs Online service. The world now has approximately four times the install...

North and east of Italy rocked by earthquake Italy at least eight people have been killed today when a strong earthquake rocked northeastern part of the country.According to the Geographical Institute of Modena the 5.8 magnitude quake struck about 60 kilometres east of the city of Parma, and sent panicked residents rushing into the streets. The Police told the ANSA news agency that three were killed in San Felice del Panaro when a factory collapsed, two others died in the town of Mirandola, one each in Concordia , Finale and Rovereto di Novi town . Today's quake was felt throughout northern and eastern part of Italy, causing the the collapse of several structures already weakened by the quake earlier this month.

State asks Centre to allot special fund for drinking water supply in tribal areas under special scheme                                                                                    Welcoming the Centre’s decision to set up a Fluoride Mitigation Centre in Gujarat, the State Government urged for financial assistance from the Central Government to meet increased demand for drinking water supply in the tribal areas under the group water supply scheme. Gujarat Water Supply Minister Shri Nitinbhai Patel expressed gratitude to Union Minister Shri Jairam Ramesh who anno...

No immediate rollback: S Jaipal reddy By sagarmedia on May 27, 2012 | Edit Government has their reasons not to roll back oil price hike which is too exorbitant but their failure to bring in alternate fuel management adopted in Brazil and to find alternate source of investment  and revenue for the oil companies have put the nation in state of limbo. Ruling out any immediate rollback in the steep Rs 7.54 a litre hike in petrol prices, the govt on Friday said it will watch international oil prices and rupee-dollar rate for a few days before taking any decision on cutting rates. Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy on Friday came out to defend the third price increase in a year and the first in almost seven months, saying the oil companies had exhausted all options.   Breaking his silence over the hike announced by oil companies on Wednesday, Reddy said: “All political parties including my own...

No EU Deal with Ukraine   European Union is not considering an association agreement with Ukraine over what it regards as political persecution in the country, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said on Thursday. “The human rights situation in Ukraine, in particular political trials, arouses serious concern within the EU. Clearly, the signing of an EU-Ukraine association agreement is not being considered in this situation,” he said. The bilateral deal aims to establish political association and economic integration between the EU and Ukraine, but European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said in December the agreement is unlikely to be signed before Ukrainian parliamentary elections due in October. The trial and subsequent seven-year jail term of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, which Europe sees as politically motivated, also became a hurdle.Tymoshenko was jailed for pushing through a 2009 gas deal with Russia tha...

"Emerging trends, Challenges and the way ahead” The seminar on “Emerging trends, Challenges and the way ahead” will bring together government officials, academia and stakeholders of transport sector to discus and deliberate. State’s urban development department in partnership with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has organized a seminar on “Emerging trends, Challenges and the way ahead” on Saturday, May 26, 2012 at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar. Urban Development minister Nitin Patel will be the Chief Guest of the seminar. It is noteworthy that the State has seen rapid urbanization along with the unprecedented economic growth. According to the latest Census-2011, Gujarat is 42.58% urbanized besides the State having one of the highest rates of urbanization among all States in the country. In such scenario, it is of utmost important to chart out a roadmap for infrastructure development and policy i...

Butola:If government orders us for rollback we will Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) today said that the decision to hike the petrol prices was tough but there was no option left to tackle the impact of rising crude prices. Chairman IOC RS Butola further said,"If government orders us for rollback we will certainly do that but had not received any intimation to roll back The petrol price hike needed as we had exhausted all options. Oil price might cool down in the near future. Oil marketing companies has lost 2400 crore in the last two months or so. Oil companies are losing Rs 50 crores daily for keeping the prices low," he said.

Another term to Gadkari as Party President. Modi has his way as Joshi quits ahead of BJP national meet Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday had his way forcing the resignation of his bete noire Sanjay Joshi from the BJP National Executive after which he decided to attend the two-day meeting which he had earlier planned to boycott. Party chief Nitin Gadkari, who had brought Joshi back into the executive, announced the end of a "small controversy" and declared that he and the Gujarat strongman will work together to strengthen the party, setting the stage for deliberations in the executive. Modi announced in Udaipur that he will go to Mumbai in the afternoon for the meeting of the executive, which will...

Akash missile test fired successfully Surface-to-air Akash missile test fired successfully Boosting its air defence shield and re-validating operational efficacy, India on Thursday test fired successfully its indigenously-developed surface-to- air Akash missile from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, about 15 km from Balasore, Odisha. "The user-specific trial, which formed part of the country's routine air defence exercises, was successful," said a Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) official associated with the Akash missile project. To re-validate the technology...

BNHS today release its new book “Threatened Birds of India – Their Conservation Requirements” authors Director, Dr Asad R Rahmani. Reference book, is a comprehensive detail on birds in India, was today released by Smt Jayanthi Natarajan, Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Government of India, viz on 22nd May 2012 at WWF conference hall in New Delhi. This book is a tribute to avian biodiversity, celebrating its beauty as well as campaigning for the plight of the many fantastic species teetering on the brink of extinction. It is the product of the commitment and dedication of its author, the rigorous science and action orientated approach of BNHS and the collective work of numerous contributing researchers, birdwatchers and photographers. The BirdLife International global partnership of conservation organisations in over 100 countries and territories worldwide, of which BNHS is the Indian Partner, has also played an important role. It is based on the mo...

NDA opposes petrol price hike, calls for bandh Opposing the steep hike in petrol prices and spiralling prices of commodities, NDA has called for a nation-wide bandh on May 31. NDA convenor and JDU President Sharad Yadav said that all the partners of the opposition alliance have been consulted in this regard. The alliance will also be talking to other parties for their support to the Bharat bandh. Rejecting Government's argument that the hike in petrol prices has been done by petroleum companies as the pricing of petrol stands deregulated, Yadav said, "This is an eyewash... We (NDA) are going to observe a Bharat bandh on May 31." He asked why the hike in petrol prices was not announced when Parliament was in session and why oil companies did so the very next day after the session got over. "Government...

Leaders reaction to Petrol price hiked By sagarmedia on May 23, 2012 | Edit Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minsiter Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, Congress party president,released UPA report card on the government’s completion of three years in office, in New Delhi May 22, 2012. UPA II completed three year rule and the both house of parliament completed budget session on Tuesday.On Wednesday government announcement of the steepest ever hike, petrol price is increased on Wednesday by Rs 7.50 a litre with effect from midnight tonight.Mamata Chief of TMC is against this hike. West Bengal Chief Minister and chief of UPA ally Trinamool Congress, Mamata Banerjee, reacted sharply to government’s decision to hike petrol prices, terming it as ‘unacceptable.’Won’t topple govt on petrol price hike: BJP spokesperson Parkash Javadekar said “We condemn the petrol price hike and seek its roll back. We will not allow it to happen. A strong ...

PFC's PAT increased by 16 % Power Finance Corporation Ltd. (PFC) announced its Audited Annual Financial Results and Q4 results for Financial Year 2011-12 (FY12) on 22.05.2012 Profit After Tax: PFC's PAT has increased to ` 3,032croresfor FY12 as compared to PAT of ` 2,620 croresfor FY11, thereby registering an increase of 16 % on YoY basis. Total Income: Total Income for the FY12 has increased to ` 13,037 croresan increase of 28 % as compared to previous financial year FY11. Disbursements: PFC's disbursement during FY12 increased to ` 41,418 croresan increase of 21% over corresponding figures of FY11. Loan Assets : Loan Assets at the end of FY12 increased to ` 1,30,072croresan increase of 31% over the Loan Assets at the end of FY11. Networth : Networth at the end of FY12 increased to ` 19,493 croresan increase of 37 % over the Networth at the end of FY11. Recovery Rate : PFC was able to maintain Recove...

EU leaders set Greece growth plan By sagarmedia   European Union leaders agreed on a initiative to help Greece achieve economic growth, but continue to insist the country carry out austerity measures.EU leaders met for 6 hours in an extraordinary summit held in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday.They confirmed they want Greece to stay in the eurozone but called on it to carry out austerity and respect its commitments for receiving an EU bailout.The leaders agreed for the first time on measures to help Greece achieve economic growth and job creation.They agreed to use EU subsidies designed to narrow inequalities among members.Summit comes as Greece prepares to hold fresh elections June 17th after attempts to form a coalition failed.  European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said continuing vital reforms is the best guarantee for a more prosperous future in the euro area. He said EU leaders expect the next Greek government to make that c...

License Norms under Food Safety Act made easy The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which is widely being oppossed by the trading community across the Country for its several obnoxious and irrelevent provisions has gained the attention of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FS&SAI) which has given many relaxations in obtaining License from the Authorities by Food Business Operators. This follows a meeting between Trade Leaders of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) with Shri K. Chandramouli, Chairman of the FS&SAI and other Authority members. The meeting was held at New Delhi on 9th May, 2012. CAIT National President Mr. B.C. Bhartia and Secretary General Mr. Praveen Khandelwal today informed that in pursuance of the issues raised by the CAIT, the FS&SAI has relaxed norms for obtaining license by issuing advisory according to which the blue print / layout plan, name and list of equipment and machine...

Tuesday, May 22, 2012     Rapid Biodiversity Loss Continues in Absence of Political Action and Accurate Assessments of Ecosystem Values       On World Biodiversity Day, Worldwatch Institute emphasizes that protecting biodiversity and ecosystem services is central to sustainable prosperity   Washington, D.C . ---- Finding ways to value ecosystem health economically and to engage the world's indigenous peoples in the process is key to saving biological diversity, a Worldwatch author suggests in the Institute's most recent book.  Such efforts are all the more urgent because the addition of more plant and animal species to lists of those threatened or endangered shows no signs of slowing down, despite rising public awareness of the importance of biodiversity   This World Biodiversity Day (May 22), Worldwatch Institut...

Hon'ble Prime Minister Government of India New Delhi ༯p> Subject-Environment Ministry Subservient to Commerce Ministry, permits traders to import hazardous wastes Sir, This is with reference to the contention of the Smt Jayanthi Natarajan, Union Minister of Environment and Forests in the Lok Sabha on May 21, 2012 wherein she said   "Import of such (hazardous) wastes for disposal is not permitted. Import is permitted only for recycling or recovery or reuse with the permission of the Ministry of Environment and Forests and/or Directorate General of Foreign Trade," of Union Commerce Ministry. Her reply that defines hazardous waste as recyclable material appears to be an exercise in sophistry. The reply is attached . ࠠ I wish to dispute this reply. If this reply of Union Minister of Environment and Forests is read with the attached 'Statement of Hazardous Goods Lying at Ports' given to the Parliament by Union Minister of Shipping, the true...