National:

UAE Cabinet nod can benefit 1,200 Indian prisoners India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have moved a step forward in enforcing an extradition agreement that would allow around 1,200 convicted Indians jailed in the country to return home to complete their prison terms. The UAE Cabinet formally approved the mutual agreement signed last year. The decision follows another ruling from the UAE government that allows expatriates, who have overstayed their visas, to either regularise their documents after paying a fine or to leave the country without any penalty. One Billion Rising campaign launched in Rajasthan The One Billion Rising campaign was launched in Rajasthan on December 10, the International Human Rights Day. The campaign is a global movement launched to stop violence against women. According to the data released by the United Nations showed that globally one out of every three women was beaten up or raped or both. Statistically, that meant more than a billion women were victims of violence, sexual or otherwise. Yatra against manual scavenging reaches Patna Maila Mukti Yatra (National Peoples March for Eradication of Manual Scavenging in India) was began in Madhya Pradesh in November, 2012 has reached Patna. Many of the former manual scavengers are now working as conservancy workers still earning a paltry sum that can range from a few tenners a day or a few hundred rupees a month. There are a few newer forms of scavenging, such as workers employed in the Indian Railways or those who clean up after a religious event at a pilgrimage site. The yatra will continue to Jharkhand. It is slated to end in New Delhi on January 31, 2013. SC refuses to go into validity of CMC order The Supreme Court refused to go into the validity or otherwise of the order passed by the Cauvery Monitoring Committee on December 7, 2012, and left it open to the States of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to seek appropriate remedy before the Cauvery River Authority, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. India, Ukraine ink defence cooperation pact A broad defence cooperation agreement was among five pacts signed following delegation-level talks between the visiting Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. With Ukraine having consolidated its military enterprises into bodies under governmental control, on the lines of what Russia did to its military-industrial complex a decade ago, New Delhi feels the path has been smoothened for a more intimate defence relationship. Instead of dealing with a number of defence enterprises scattered over Ukraine, India will find it easier to conduct focussed negotiations, which could help it get a better deal. Sudeep Sen to address Nobel Laureate Week Delhi-based poet Sudeep Sen has been invited to address the Nobel Laureate Week being held in Saint Lucia, a sovereign island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea, in January, 2013. Mr. Sen is the first Indian, and the only one thus far from the Asian, Australasian-Pacific, African, South American region, to be chosen for the honour. He will deliver the Derek Walcott Lecture and present his own poetry. Saint Lucia is home to Nobel Laureate and noted playwright Derek Walcott.

International:
Zardari announces grant for girls education worldwide Pakistans President Asif Ali Zardari announced a $10-million donation for a global war chest to educate all girls by 2015 set up in the name of Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by the Taliban for campaigning for girls education. The Malala Fund for Girls Right to Education aims at raising billions of dollars to ensure that all girls go to school by 2015 in line with U.N. Millennium goals.

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Nobel prize money will benefit war-hit children, says EU The Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee honoured the European Union with Peace Prize for 2012 in the presence of EU heads of state and government in Oslo. The Committee said the organisation had been given the award for transforming Europe from a continent plagued by war to a continent of peace. The prize was collected on behalf of the EU by Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council; Martin Schulz, President of Parliament; and Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission. The prize money of 930,000 will be given to projects that help children struggling in war zones, with the recipients to be announced shortly. The EU has said it will add 1.07 million along with it to donate a total of 2 million to the selected aid projects.

Business and economy:

Barclays Capital buys 11.6 lakh shares of Karnataka Bank Barclays Capital Mauritius acquired 11.60 lakh shares of Karnataka Bank for Rs.22.54 crore as per bulk data available with the stock exchanges. The shares were purchased at Rs.194.31 apiece. Credo buys shares in IndusInd Bank for Rs.119 cr Credo India Thematic Fund hiked its stake in IndusInd Bank by picking up 28.6 lakh shares in the private sector lender for about Rs.119 crore. Credo, which held 1.53 crore shares or 3.28 per cent stake in IndusInd Bank at the end of the September quarter, bought 28.6 lakh shares in the private sector lender (amounting to 0.6 per cent holding).

Science and technology:

BEL, Israels IAI ink MoU on naval missiles A MoU signed between Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has set the stage for joint development and indigenous production of a set of Long Range Surface-to-Air Missiles (LR-SAMs) to defend Indian warships from enemy attack. BEL will be the lead integrator of this set of missiles and produce some of the major sub-systems. LR-SAMs, along with MR-SAMs (Medium Range SAMs) for the IAF, is among the major pursuits of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which is said to be developing some of them, also in a tie-up with IAI, at a cost of over around Rs. 2,500 crore. It is based on Israels Barak missile system and will give the country an advanced, seeker-based missile capability. Indian missiles are guided and the country does not have the seeker technology that enables a missile to home in on the target. The LR-SAM would track and engage multiple targets simultaneously over a 70-km range, defence sources said. Russia delivers 3 upgraded MiG-29s to India Russia has delivered the first three of the upgraded MiG-29 fighters to India, more than two years behind schedule. The modernisation has added punch and versatility to the potent platform. Originally designed as an air superiority fighter, the upgraded planes have been equipped with air-to-surface missiles to engage ground targets. The MiG-29s have been equipped with new avionics, weapons, radar, glass cockpit, helmetmounted displays and an inflight refuelling system. As per the contract, the planes service life has been extended to 3,500 flight hours and 40 years. Under the contract signed in 2008, Russia is to upgrade the IAFs fleet of 63 MiG-29s. The first six planes are to be overhauled in Russia and the rest in India.

Sports:
Bindra for National championship The best of shooters, including Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra, will be competing in the Sahara 56th National shooting championship to be held at the Dr. Karni Singh Range in Tughlakabad from December 20 to 30, 2012.

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