National:

Justice Swatanter Kumar to be appointed as first NGT chief Justice Swatanter Kumar, a judge of the Supreme Court, is all set to become the new chairperson of the National Green Tribunal. Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir has conveyed to the Centre his concurrence with predecessor S H Kapadia's recommendation made in mid-August for appointment of Justice Kumar as the NGT chief. During the hearing before a bench of Justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya, additional solicitor general A S Chandiok placed the file relating to appointment of NGT chairperson before the court and informed the bench that the government had received the CJI's recommendation. UPSC suggests changes in Civil Services exams The Union Public Service Commission has suggested changes in the prestigious Civil Services examination to make it more relevant in the present day scenario. "The UPSC have submitted a proposal to the central government, suggesting certain changes in the existing scheme of civil services (main) examination to make it more relevant with the present day, global as well as internal scenario on the basis of the report of a committee," Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions V Narayanasamy told. The committee was constituted under the chairmanship of Prof Arun S Nigavekar, former chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC). Indians win in Wiki mega photo contest Two photographs sent by Indians have won the first and sixth places in what Guinness World Records has called the largest photo competition. Called Wiki Loves Monuments 2012! (WLM), the online competition was organised by Wikipedians all over the world. Pranav Singhs photo of Safdarjungs tomb in New Delhi secured the first place internationally while Narender Kumars photo of the Taj Mahal got the sixth place. The two photos had been rated ninth and first respectively in the competition held at the India level. There is no free-to-use image of more than 99 per cent of monuments in India listed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Around 30 per cent affected by allergic diseases: WAO Around 20-30 per cent of Indias population was affected with one or more allergic diseases which were increasing, according to White Book on Allergy brought out by the World Allergy Organisation (WAO). It mentioned that asthma and rhinitis were reported to be 1-10 per cent respectively in 1964 in India, but recent reports suggest asthma varying from 3-14 per cent and rhinitis as more than 20 per cent. While listing major (indoor/outdoor) environmental pollutants that are implicated in the development or exacerbation of allergic diseases, it said : In India woods and cows dung are still used in rural areas as fuel and cause heavy smoke leading to triggers of allergy and asthma. Other pollutants such as SO2 and NO2 are reported to be aggravating factors. Major allergens involved in allergic diseases, including pollens, were also mentioned. Four more Scheduled Tribes The government has decided to add four tribes to the list of Scheduled Tribes. The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, decided to add Abuj Maria, Korba, Hill Korba and Kodaku tribes in the list. These tribes are located in Chhattisgarh and Kerala.

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International:
Pak, Gambia pip India in child care ranking In a damning indictment of India's commitment to maternal and child care, a report ranks the nation as 31st among 51 countries when it comes to infant feeding practices, exclusive breastfeeding, baby-friendly hospitals and policies, maternity protection and community outreach. Worse, India has not only been beaten hollow by countries like China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka but also Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Saudi Arabia. According to the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) report, only 34 million (of the 83 million children born in these countries every year) were exclusively breastfed during the first six months as recommended by the WHO and Unicef. Similarly, Unicef's 2012 report says that of the 136 million babies born each year globally, 78 million could not follow WHO's recommendation to begin breastfeeding within one hour of life and 92 million babies are deprived of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. While Sri Lanka tops the charts, Bangladesh and Afghanistan rank 6th and 12th. Nepal and China jointly occupy the 24th slot. India has been beaten by poorer nations like Guatemala and Gambia. Bangladeshi war crimes tribunal issues notice to The Economist A special Bangladeshi tribunal trying 1971 "war criminals" issued a notice to the London-based 'The Economist' for "interference" in trial process and "privacy" of a judge. "This cannot be allowed in anyway," chairman of the three-judge International Crimes Tribunal-1 Justice Nizamul Huq said as the court issued the notice to the weekly newspaper's chief editor Rob Gifford and its South Asia bureau chief Adam Roberts. The high-powered court, which is currently hearing cases related to 10 high profile Bangladeshis accused of masterminding or carrying atrocities siding with Pakistani troops during Bangladesh's 1971 Liberation War.

Technology:
Gravity map shows Moon is battered, NASA probes show Twin NASA probes orbiting the Moon have generated the highest-ever resolution gravity field map of any celestial body, showing a record of billions of years of battering of the lunar surface. The gravity field map reveals an abundance of features never before seen in detail, such as tectonic structures, volcanic landforms, basin rings, crater central peaks, and numerous simple, bowl-shaped craters. Data also show the Moon's gravity field is unlike that of any terrestrial planet in our solar system. The new map, created by the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, is allowing scientists to learn about the Moon's internal structure and composition in unprecedented detail. The average thickness of the moon's crust is between 21 and 27 miles (34 and 43 kilometres), which is about 6 to 12 miles (10 to 20 kilometres) thinner than previously thought." said GRAIL. The probes revealed the bulk density of the Moon's highland crust is substantially lower than generally assumed.

Business & Economy:

Banks advised to increase the pace of NPA recovery Worried over the slowdown of the economy and the rising non-performing assets (NPAs) of public sector banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks to put a loan recovery policy in place while the government has asked them to take new initiatives to increase the pace of recovery and management of NPAs. NPAs of public sector banks rose close to one percentage point from 3.17 per cent to 4.01 per cent in six months to September 2012, according to the Finance Ministry. Shome appointed adviser to FM The Centre, has appointed tax expert Parthasarathi Shome as adviser to Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. Dr. Shome has been appointed as adviser to the Finance Minister, in the rank of Minister of State, coterminus with the period of office of the Finance Minister. In July 2012, Dr. Shome was appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the Chairman of the Committee on General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR). Page 2 of 3 7th December 2012

International credit rating agency to be set up An international credit rating agency is proposed to be set up soon by rating organisations from five countries, including Indias Credit Analysis and Research Limited. CARE Ratings Chief General Manager P. N. Satheesh Kumar said that a non-binding MoU was signed by CARE Ratings with four rating agencies one each from Brazil, South Africa, Portugal and Malaysia for the proposed international body. Prior approval must for CICs to invest in overseas JVs: RBI The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said core investment companies (CICs) would require prior approval from the RBI for investing in joint ventures/subsidiaries or offices overseas in the financial sector. CICs are those companies that invest primarily in group companies in different sectors of the economy.

Sport:
Indian boxing federation suspended by international body Close on the heels of the suspension of the Indian Olympic Association, Indias boxing body and its former president Abhay Singh Chautala were handed a knock down when the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) provisionally suspended the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) at Lausanne, Switzerland. 2013 will see the Asian Boxing Championships, the venue and dates for which are yet to be decided and the World Championships in October 2013 to be held in Kazakhstan. Malhotra to head IOA panel The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has constituted a five-member panel to be headed by Vijay Kumar Malhotra to take important decisions in its day-to-day functioning. The panel will have the newly-elected principal office-bearers, Abhay Singh Cahutala, Lalit Bhanot, Virendra Nanavati, and N. Ramachandran, as its members. The IOA also constituted an Athletes Commission. It will be headed by Olympian hurdler Gurbachan Singh Randhawa. The other members of the commission, being formed for the first time, are: Wilson Cherian (swimming), Karnam Malleswari (weightlifting), Manjeet Dua (table tennis), Jatinder Singh (boxing), Aparna Popat (badminton) and Anuj Kumar (wrestling). Prasad, Sandeep settle for bronze Lalitha Prasad (49kg) and Sandeep Sharma (75kg) had to settle for bronze after losing their semifinal bouts at the AIBA Youth world boxing championships in Armenia.

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