Current Affairs: August 2010

Current Affairs: August 2010

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

Foreign Contribution Regulation Bill

Organisations of political nature and those involved in religious conversions will henceforth be barred from accepting foreign funds. Also, persons holding political positions like MPs and MLAs can no longer enjoy foreign hospitality and must intimate the government of their visits abroad, personal or official.

After letting private organisations bring in unaccounted foreign remittances for 34 years, the government has brought to the Lok Sabha the Foreign Contribution Regulation Bill, 2010, to regulate the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution of hospitality by certain individuals or associations and to prohibit such acceptances for activities detrimental to national interest. The Lower House passed the Bill, which the Rajya Sabha had already cleared.

At the root of the law is the concern that out of 40,173 NGOs (in 1993 there were just 1,500) accepting foreign funding, only 18,796 have submitted their audited accounts. For the rest, the government doesn't know the source of funding.

So far, Rs 12,000 crore has "officially" come through the foreign route, of which 60 per cent has come from religious organisations, some from countries as small in population as Canada, Mauritius and Luxembourg.

The government's data shows that in 2005 and 2006, there were over 32,144 organisations taking foreign funds in India. Only 18,000 declared their funding. In 2005-2006, of the Rs 7,000 crore that came from foreign sources, Rs 3,075 crore came for religious organisations. This explains why the new law (which replaces the 1976 legislation) bans foreign funds for conversion purposes.

Significant amounts (to the tune of Rs 7,229 crore) have also come in for education, with no monitoring. In the run-up to the new FCR Bill 2010, the government banned 41 outfits from taking foreign remittances; sealed accounts of 11 and asked 45 to take permission first.

With the new law, the government has also capped administrative expenses at 50 per cent of all inflows to NGOs (India has about 20 lakh).

Nuclear Liability Bill

On August 25, 2001, the UPA government successfully shepherded the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010, through the Lok Sabha, with active support from the BJP and strategic absence of some fence-sitters such as the Samajwadi Party.

Quashing opposition from the Left Bloc and other critics, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh denied that the Bill was railroaded through the House to serve US interests. "This Bill is a completion of a journey to end the nuclear apartheid, which the world had imposed on India in the year 1974," he said."

The government managed to bring the BJP on board in return for accepting amendments to the controversial Clause 17(b) and dropping the word "intent". The new formulation of 17(b), now states that suppliers would be liable where "the accident has resulted as a consequence of an act of a supplier or his employees, done to cause nuclear damage, and such act includes supply of equipment or material with patent or latent defects or sub-standard services".

While his government achieved what appeared even a few months ago to be an impossible task—getting the Lok Sabha to pass the Bill— Manmohan Singh announced that the government would give safety issues top priority. "Concern about nuclear safety is one, which I fully share. I assure (you) we will do everything to strengthen the Nuclear Regulatory Board to ensure that safety concerns receive the attention that they must, if we are to use nuclear power as a major source for generating and meeting India's need for energy," he said.

The key points of the Bill are:

—Controversial Clause 17(b) amended by dropping the word 'intent'.

—Compensation cap to be paid by the operator at Rs 1500 crore provided in the Bill is not the 'limit'.

—Compensation will be decided by the Claims Commissioner and the operator will have to pay.

—Government assumes full liability for even a plant not operated by it.

—The Bill is necessary for full implementation of civil nuclear deal signed with the USA in 2006.

Bill to provide women equal guardianship rights

A Bill paving way for the women to get equal rights in guardianship and adoption of children has been passed by the Rajya Sabha.

The Personal Laws Amendment Bill seeks to amend the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956. It also seeks to allow the mother, along with the father, to be appointed as a guardian, making the process gender-neutral.

Besides, it aims at removing hurdles in the way of a married woman to adopt. She can give a son or daughter for adoption.

For adoption and guardianship, under the existing Act, only the father is considered to be the natural guardian of the child in a Hindu family and only unmarried, divorced women and widows are allowed to adopt a child. Women separated from their husbands and engaged in lengthy divorce battles cannot adopt a child.

Annual Supplement to Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14

The government has extended sops worth Rs 1,052 crore to exporters, particularly for the labour-intensive textile, handicrafts and leather sectors, to help them see through the fragile economic recovery globally. The revenue implication of these measures would be Rs 1,052 crore. The government also made it clear that the popular Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) scheme, which has been in vogue for over a decade, is being extended for the last time.

Experts said drawing the curtains on the DEPB scheme was inevitable as it was considered incompatible with the global trade rules under WTO.

A number of additional products from sectors like engineering, leather, textiles and jute have also been added to the existing two per cent interest subvention scheme. Handloom, handicrafts, carpet and the SMEs have been getting this facility, which will now be available till March 31, 2011.

The government also extended the zero-duty Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme by one year to March 31, 2012. The scheme, which was announced in August 2009, was to expire on March 31, 2011. Steps to reduce transaction cost of exports too were announced in the policy.

India-Japan Strategic Dialogue

On August 21, 2010, visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada held the fourth round of strategic dialogue with External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna. The two sides discussed the nuclear pact, comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), other bilateral and international issues, including UN reforms and the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

However, the focus was clearly on the nuke deal, the discussions on which the two countries propose to conclude as quickly as possible without setting any time-line.

Addressing a joint press conference with Krishna after the three-hour talks between the two sides, Okada candidly admitted that initiating negotiations with India on the nuclear pact was the toughest decision he had taken during his stewardship of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, given the fact that India was not a signatory to the NPT. He also acknowledged that the proposal for a nuclear agreement with India was facing sharp criticism back home, since Japan is the only country to have experienced a nuclear attack.

He also told the Indian side that the philosophy of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation must be incorporated in the proposed accord on nuclear cooperation.

Asked if Japan had advised India against detonating another nuclear device, Okada said: "I don't think we can suggest to India to refrain from conducting a test…but if such a thing were to happen, we shall have no option but to suspend our cooperation with India (in the field)."

The two countries will continue and enhance consultations within the G-4 process for reforms of the UN, including the Security Council. They also welcomed the inclusion of the US and Russia in the East Asia Summit (EAS).

National Innovation Council

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved the setting up of a National Innovation Council to prepare a road map for the 'Decade of Innovation 2011-2020'. Sam Pitroda, adviser to the Prime Minister on public information infrastructure and innovations, will head the National Innovation Council.

The Council has been given the mandate to evolve an Indian model of innovation focussing on inclusive growth and creating an appropriate eco-system conducive to fostering inclusive innovation.

It will delineate appropriate policy initiatives within the government required to spur innovation. It will also promote the setting up of sectoral innovation councils and state innovation councils.

While encouraging all important sectors of the economy to innovate, the NIC will take special efforts to facilitate innovation by micro, small and medium enterprises.

Innovation in public services delivery and encouraging multi-disciplinary and globally competitive approaches for innovations would be focused on by the council.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

China overtakes Japan as second-largest economy

After three decades of spectacular growth, China has passed Japan in the second quarter of 2010 to become the world's second-largest economy behind the United States. The milestone, though anticipated for some time, is the most striking evidence yet that China's ascendancy is for real and that the rest of the world will have to reckon with a new economic superpower.

The recognition came on August 16, 2010, when Tokyo said that Japan's economy was valued at about $1.28 trillion in the second quarter, slightly below China's $1.33 trillion. Japan's economy grew 0.4 percent in the quarter, substantially less than forecast. That weakness suggests that China's economy will race past Japan's for the full year.

Experts say unseating Japan—and in recent years passing Germany, France and Great Britain—underscores China's growing clout and bolsters forecasts that China will pass the United States as the world's biggest economy as early as 2030.

For Japan, whose economy has been stagnating for more than a decade, the figures reflect a decline in economic and political power. Japan has had the world's second-largest economy for much of the last four decades, according to the World Bank. And during the 1980s, there was even talk about Japan's economy someday overtaking that of the United States. But, while Japan's economy is mature and its population quickly aging, China is in the throes of urbanization and is far from developed, meaning it has a much lower standard of living, as well as a lot more room to grow.

China is already a major driver of global growth. The country's leaders have grown more confident on the international stage and have begun to assert greater influence in Asia, Africa and Latin America, with things like special trade agreements and multi-billion dollar resource deals. Beijing is also beginning to shape global dialogues on a range of issues; for instance, in 2009 it asserted that the dollar must be phased out as the world's primary reserve currency.

While the United States and the European Union are struggling to grow in the wake of the worst economic crisis in decades, China has continued to climb up the economic league tables by investing heavily in infrastructure and backing a $586 billion stimulus plan.

There are huge challenges ahead, though. Economists say that China's economy is too heavily dependent on exports and investment and that it needs to encourage greater domestic consumption—something China has struggled to do. The country's largely state-run banks have recently been criticized for lending far too aggressively in 2009, while shifting some loans off their balance sheet to disguise lending and evade rules meant to curtail lending growth.

China is also locked in a fierce debate over its currency policy, with the United States, European Union and others accusing Beijing of keeping the Chinese currency, the renminbi, artificially low to bolster exports—leading to huge trade surpluses for China but major bilateral trade deficits for the United States and the European Union. China says that its currency is not substantially undervalued and that it is moving ahead with currency reform.

Regardless, China's rapid growth suggests that it will continue to compete fiercely with the United States and Europe for natural resources but also offer big opportunities for companies eager to tap its market.

US ends combat mission in Iraq

On August 31, 2010, US President Barack Obama announced an end to the US combat mission in Iraq, not with a declaration of victory but rather a sombre admission that the US had paid a "huge price."

Announcing an end to Operation Iraqi Freedom in a nationally televised speech from the White House, the President said the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country.

But as US troops roll out of Iraq, the country continues to be locked in a political stalemate with disagreement over who will lead it, after elections failed to throw up a clear winner.

Obama urged Iraq's leaders to "move forward with a sense of urgency to form an inclusive government that is just, representative, and accountable to the Iraqi people." "And when that government is in place, there should be no doubt: The Iraqi people will have a strong partner in the United States. Our combat mission is ending, but our commitment to Iraq's future is not," he added.

Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said while US troops may have withdrawn, the Iraq war is not over, it is not "won," and any form of stable end state in Iraq is probably impossible before 2020.

A transitional US force will remain in Iraq with a mission of advising and assisting Iraq's security forces, supporting Iraqi troops in targeted counter-terrorism missions, and protecting US civilians.

Mid-East Summit

US President Barack Obama waded into a new round of Middle East diplomacy September 1, 2010, seeking momentum for revived peace talks clouded by a flare-up of West Bank violence and a deadlock over Jewish settlements.

Obama met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he launched a series of one-on-one meetings with Middle East leaders attending a US-led peace summit that culminated with the first direct Israeli-Palestinian talks in 20 months.

With Obama's peace bid facing broad skepticism and the clock ticking toward the September 26, 2010 expiration of an Israeli settlement construction freeze, Israel's defence minister sounded a conciliatory note about the prospects for sharing Jerusalem, an issue at the heart of the decades-old conflict. But big obstacles remain to Obama's quest for a peace deal that eluded so many of his predecessors.

Hamas militants declared war on the talks even before they began, killing four Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, vowing more attacks and underscoring the threat hard-liners pose to the fragile peace process.

The summit marked Obama's riskiest plunge into Middle East diplomacy, not least because he wants the two sides to forge a deal within 12 months, a target many analysts call a long shot.

Cricket shamed again

Yet another match-fixing scandal rocked Pakistan cricket on August 29, 2010, engulfing its captain Salman Butt, brilliant pace duo of Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir and four other players, leading to the arrest of a bookie in London and questioning of the players by the Scotland Yard after a tabloid sting.

The 'News of the World' tabloid alleged that a Pakistani man Mazhar Majeed had paid bribes to the players to bowl no-balls in the series and the Lord's Test. The video evidence that the tabloid has presented also shows Majeed talking about his links with Indian bookies.

The two Pakistanis who bowled no-balls allegedly on directions from Majeed were Asif and Aamir. Both bowlers delivered three no-balls during the Lord's Test.

DO YOU KNOW

"A Journey" is a memoir written by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The N.C. Saxena Committee was set up by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. It details the manner in which laws were flagrantly flouted to facilitate the Vedanta Alumina Ltd project in Orissa. The project is aggressively opposed by the local tribal groups.

India remained the largest recipient of World Bank loans in 2009-10. The World Bank, through its lending arms IBRD and IDA, committed $9.3 billion in financial assistance to India in 2009-10, more than the aid committed by the US and European Union. Next in line were South Africa ($3.8 billion), Brazil ($3.7 billion) and Turkey ($3.0 billion).

The Indian Parliament has hiked the salary of Members of Parliament to Rs 50,000 per month. Two key allowances (constituency and office expenses) have also been increased to Rs 45,000 each.

Airtel has bagged the title sponsorship rights for the India cricket team's home games for two-and-half years, at a cost of Rs 3.33 crore per match.

Rajiv Gandhi Akshay Urja Diwas is observed on August 24.

The 2010 Academic Ranking of World Universities has ranked Harvard University as the top University of the world for the eighth year in the annual ranking. Harvard is followed by University of Cambridge, Yale University, University College London (UCL), Imperial College London, University of Oxford, University of Chicago, Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and California Institute of Technology (CALTECH).

"Oh yaaron, India ne bula liya", composed by A.R. Rahman, is the theme song of Commonwealth Games, 2010. It has been directed by Shyam Benegal and produced by Bharat Bala.

With his Independence Day speech on August 15, 2010—the seventh—Manmohan Singh edged past Atal Behari Vajpayee to become the Prime Minister of India who has addressed the nation on Independence Day the third-highest number of times. Jawaharlal Nehru addressed the nation 17 times and Mrs Indira Gandhi 16 times.

On September 1, 2010, South-East Asia's first Sports Injury Centre was opened on the campus of Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, in partnership between the government and six private players.

An elephant, named Stumpy, is the official mascot of the 2010 Cricket World Cup.

UNESCO has granted the World Heritage status to Jantar Mantar in Jaipur which is a celebrated astronomical observatory built in 18th century. This is India's 28th and Rajasthan's second site (after Keoladev National Park) to be given the World Heritage status.

ABBREVIATIONS

MNP: Mobile Number Portability

AWARDS

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy for Sports

The Punjabi University and Guru Nanak Dev University have been awarded the trophy for academic session 2008-09 and 2009-10, respectively.

Gallantry Awards, 2010

Ashok Chakra: Major Laishram Jyotin Singh, an unarmed army doctor serving in Kabul, who took on a suicide bomber and killed him, has been awarded Ashok Chakra (posthumously), the highest peacetime gallantry award.

Kirti Chakra: Captain Davinder Singh Juss of the Parachute Regiment and Vinod Kumar Choubey, SP, Chhattisgarh, have been awarded India's second highest peace time gallantry award. Juss killed a foreign terrorist in February 2010 during an encounter in J&K and Choubey fought against more than 300 naxalites.

OIL

India emerges as shale gas hub

India could soon turn into a potential shale gas destination. Even though the work has just begun in India, initial studies by state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India (ONGC) on reserve estimation of shale gas in some of the country's sedimentary basins such as Damodar and Cambay basin have revealed a resource potential of about 35 and 90 trillion cubic feet of gas.

This, when compared with the existing gas resources in India, such as the one from the country's largest gas field of Reliance Industries in the KG basin—estimated to hold some 10 tcf of gas—is indeed a massive reserve of gas.

ONGC, which took the initiative some five years back to explore shale gas, said shale sequences in well explored basins are found to be promising in Damodar, Cambay, Krishna Godavari and Cauvery basins.

In the US, shale gas contributes nearly 14 per cent of the total gas production.

Shale gas is natural gas trapped under rocks. Its extraction involves tapping natural gas trapped between layers of shale rock, similar to the extraction of gas from between coal seems in India.

US has the largest shale gas resource and China comes second. India is estimated to be one of the biggest holders of shale gas. Large deposits are located in the Gangetic plain, Assam, Rajasthan and the country's extensive coastline.

Experts are of the view that shale gas promises to transform the energy landscape by making available clean gas to supplement other energy sources.

RESEARCH

Wheat genome code cracked

British scientists have decoded the genome of wheat, in a breakthrough research that will prove valuable to crop breeders in countries like India, in increasing the yield of the staple food crop. Wheat production worldwide is under threat from climate change at a time when there is an increase in demand from a growing human population.

Scientists at the University of Liverpool, in collaboration with the University of Bristol and the John Innes Centre, have sequenced the entire wheat genome and will make the DNA data available to crop breeders to help them select key agricultural traits for breeding.

Scientists have analysed the wheat genome, which is five times larger than the human genome and is the largest genome to be sequenced till date.

SPACE RESEARCH

Scientists discover richest planetary system yet

Astronomers have discovered a planetary system containing at least five planets and which orbit a Sun-like star, HD 10180. They said there was evidence of two more planets in the same system, which would make it similar to our solar system in terms of the number of planets and their arrangement.

The planets and their sun-like star are about 127 light years from Earth, astronomers with the European Southern Observatory said. The system is one of only 15 known to have more than three worlds.

The five planets circle their parent star in a regular pattern like the planets of our solar system, only in a more compact arrangement, the researchers said. The confirmation of the extra planets would make it the highest tally of alien worlds ever spotted around a single star.

Of the two potential additional planets that may be present, one may have a mass that is the closest to Earth's, if it is confirmed, they added.

The planet would be rocky, like Earth, but probably far too hot to sustain life. With at least five Neptune-sized planets circling inside an orbit equivalent to that of Mars, the HD 10180 system has a more populated inner region than our solar system.

The five strongest signals correspond to planets with Neptune-like masses—between 13 and 25 Earth masses—which orbit the star with periods ranging from about 6 to 600 days. These planets are located between 0.06 and 1.4 times the Earth-Sun distance from their central star.

Among the other two planets that could exist, one would be a Saturn-like planet (with a minimum mass of 65 Earth masses) orbiting in 2200 days. The other would be the least massive exo-planet ever discovered, with a mass of about 1.4 times that of Earth.

So far, astronomers know of 15 systems with at least three planets. The last record-holder was 55 Cancri, which contains five planets, two of them being giant planets.

It took astronomers six years to study it using a planet-finding instrument called the HARPS spectrograph, attached to ESO's 3.6 metre telescope at La Silla, Chile.

MISCELLANEOUS

Census of the seas

First global count of marine life logs 230,000 species—but scientists warns of mass extinctions. It has been the biggest and most comprehensive attempt ever to answer that age-old question—how many fish are there in the sea? A 10-year study of the diversity, distribution and abundance of life in the world's oceans attempts just that.

The Census of Marine Life estimates there are over 230,000 species in our oceans.

A team of over 360 scientists around the world surveyed 25 regions, from the Antarctic through the temperate and tropical seas to the Arctic.

Over fishing, degraded habitats, pollution and the arrival of invasive species are major threats to the marine life. But more problems are around the corner: rising water temperatures and acidification thanks to climate change and the growth in areas of the ocean that are low in oxygen and, therefore, unable to support life.

Among the major findings are:

—A fifth of the world's marine species are crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters, krill and barnacles. Add in molluscs (squid and octopus) and fish and that accounts for nearly half the species in world's seas.

—Species often used in conservation campaigning—whales, sea lions, turtles and sea birds—account for less than 2% of the species in the oceans.

—Enclosed seas such as the Mediterranean, Gulf of Mexico, China's shelves, Baltic, and the Caribbean are having the most threatened biodiversity.

—The most diverse regions are around Australia and south-east Asia.

—Australian and Japanese waters contain more than 30,000 species each and are among the most biologically diverse in the world.

—The manylight viperfish (Chauliodus sloani) is the most "cosmopolitan" marine creature with a presence in around a quarter of the world's seas.

—The number of marine fish species known to science stood at 16,764, and was growing at around 100 a year. There are believed to be 22,000 fish species in the world.

Sports News in Brief: August 2010

ATHLETICS

National Athletic Meet, 50th

Kerala, Punjab and Haryana stood overall first, second and third, respectively, in the National Athletic Senior Championship held at NIS Patiala.

CRICKET

Sri Lanka-New Zealand-India One-Day Tri-series

Sri Lanka rode on Tillakaratne Dilshan's century to clinch the tri-series title with an emphatic 74-run win over India, ending M.S. Dhoni's sequence of four consecutive series triumphs on Sri Lanka soil.

England-Pakistan Test series

England crushed Pakistan by an innings and 225 runs to win the fourth and final Test at Lord's, London. England ended up winning the series 3-1.

Pakistan overcame a late batting collapse to beat England by four wickets in the third Test.

England batsmen Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad set a world record eighth wicket partnership when they extended their stand to 332 on the third day of fourth Test. The record was earlier held by Pakistan's Wasim Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq.

Earlier, in the first Test, James Anderson took ten wickets in a Test for the first time to help England crush Pakistan by 354 runs. In their second innings, Pakistan were bundled out for just 80 runs, their lowest total against England, replacing the 87 they made at Lord's in 1954.

Sri Lanka-India Test Series

Veteran V.V.S. Laxman cracked a fighting unbeaten 103 as India pulled off a five-wicket win in the third Test to level the three-Test series 1-1. Laxman was adjudged the man of the match while Virender Sehwag was adjudged man of the series.

Tendulkar becomes most-capped player

Iconic Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar has become the most-capped Test cricketer (169 Test matches). This feat was achieved in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka, played in August 2010. Steve Waugh (168 Test matches) of Australia had held the record earlier.

FOOTBALL

Santosh Trophy, 2010

Kerala lad Denson Devdas struck twice as Bengal made a spectacular comeback to beat Punjab 2-1, ending their 11 years title drought in the National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy.

GAMES

Youth Olympic Games

Singapore hosted the first Youth Olympics from August 14 to 26, 2010. A total of 3,531 athletes between 14 and 18 years of age from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 201 events in 26 sports.

The opening ceremony of the Games was held on 14 August at The Float@Marina Bay, a floating stage near downtown Singapore. Approximately 27,000 spectators attended the event, which took place against a backdrop of the city's skyline.

Lyo and Merly were the official mascots. The duo ere made up of a red male lion and a blue female Merlion. A contest held to name the two mascots was won by two Singaporeans. It took designers from Cubix International about six months to complete designing the mascots.

China topped the medals tally with 30 gold medals, followed by Russia (18) and South Korea (11). India was ranked 58 with 6 silver medals and 2 bronze medals in its kitty.

It was during the 119th session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Guatemala City on the July 5, 2007 when the IOC decided to create Youth Olympic Games (YOG). The vision of the innovative concept for the new sport event is to inspire young people all around the world to participate in sport and adopt and live by the Olympic values (excellence, friendship, respect).

Innsbruck and Seefeld will host the first Winter Youth Olympic Games from January 13-22, 2012.

GOLF

Atwal first Indian to win US PGA title

Arjun Atwal has become the first Indian ever to win a US PGA title when he won the Wyndham Golf Championship.

HOCKEY

Champions Trophy, 2010

Australia won their third successive Champions Trophy, and 11th in all, with a comprehensive 4-0 win over England. Netherlands secured the third place. The championship was held at Monchengladbach, Germany.

SHOOTING

Tejaswini becomes first Indian woman to win gold at World Championships

Tejaswani Sawant scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman shooter to clinch a gold medal at the World Championships, with a world-record equalling score in 50m Rifle Prone event in Munich, Germany.

DISTINGUISHED VISITORS

Katsuya Okada: Foreign Minister of Japan.

Zalmay Rassoul: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Afghanistan.

Admiral Julio Soares De Mours Neto: Chief of Brazilian Navy.

DIED

K.M. Mathew: Chief Editor of Malayala Manorama. He was 93.

EVENTS

AUGUST

6—More than 200 people are killed in flash floods in Leh, J&K.

22—Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurates the country's first domestically built unmanned bomber aircraft, calling it an "ambassador of death" to Iran's enemies. The 4-metre-long drone aircraft can carry up to four cruise missiles and will have a range of 1,000 km.

31—US President Barak Obama announces an end to the US combat mission (Operation Iraqi Freedom) in Iraq.

MILESTONES

Leo Hunter: This six-year-old has bagged a multi-book publishing deal after he penned a mini-novel about his pet dog. He wrote "Me and My Firend" to tell the story of his alliance with pet Asatian "Kuger".

Mukesh Ambani: Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director, he has been elected as Member to the Board of World Economic Forum (WEF). Others elected to the Board are: Alcatel-Lucent's CEO Ben J. Verwaayen and Zhu Min, Special Adviser, IMF. Klaus Schwab is the founder and Executive Chairman of WEF.

Sachin Tendulkar: He has been conferred the rank of honorary Group Captain by the Indian Air Force, a post equivalent to a Colonel of Indian Army.

Sudarsan Pattnaik: Orissa-based renowned sand artict, he has won the people's choice award at the 8th International Sand Sculpture Festival in Berlin, for his creation on global warming.

Jimena Navarrete: Miss Mexico, she has been crowned Miss Universe, 2010. The pageant ceremony was held in Las Vegas, USA. Miss Jamaica Yendi Philipps was first runner-up and Miss Australia Jenista Campbell was the second runner-up. Miss India Ushoshi Sengupta failed ot make it to top 15.