Infant Mortality Rate is Declining

Infant mortality rate (IMR) has shown a 3 point decline, dropping from 50 deaths per 1,000 live births to 47 and moving a step closer to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) target of 30. However, IMR increased by one point in Kerala, Mizoram and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. According to the latest Sample Registration System (SRS), conducted by the Registrar- General of India, the two worst performing States — Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh — have shown an impressive 5 point decline. In the former, the figure dropped from 67 in 2009 to 62 in 2010 and in the latter, it was from 45 to 40 . While the IMR national average is 47, it stands at 51 in the rural areas and 31 in the urban regions. However, neo-natal deaths continue to be a challenge where 34 babies are still
dying for every 1,000 born. Union Health and Family Welfare Secretary P. K. Pradhan said Bihar, Gujarat, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Tripura had shown a four-point decline in the IMR. Andhra Pradesh,  Assam, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi, Nagaland, Uttarakhand and Chandigarh have shown a threepoint decline. Similarly, in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur and Andaman
and Nicobar Islands, the IMR came down by two points while it remained static in Lakshdweep and Puducherry. A one point decline was reported from Arunachal Pradesh, Goa and Daman and Diu. Importantly, the government intended to set up facilities such as Special New Born Care Units, New Born Stabilisation Units and New Born Baby Corners at different levels with at least one at the district level. The mother and child tracking system had evoked a huge response, with 1.32 crore women and 82.6 lakh children already registered.

50 % of HIV Patients in Asia live in India

India has half of Asia's HIV patients and is way ahead of China in disease burden. It also finds a place in the list of 22 countries prioritised for preventing mother to child transmission infection, according to the latest UNAIDS report, drafted jointly with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health
Organisation (WHO). About 48 lakh people were living with HIV in Asia in 2010 and nearly half of them – 49 per cent to be precise – are in India, says the report released on the eve of World AIDS Day. The percentage of pregnant women who tested positive for HIV infection in India also rose from 2 per cent in 2005 t0 23
per cent in 2010. Seven Asian countries report an estimated 100,000 or more people living with HIV in 2009, collectively accounting for more than 90 per cent
of people with HIV in the region. India tops the list followed by China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam, though the highest prevalence rate, one per cent, was observed only in Thailand. In Asia, the rate of HIV transmission  appears to be slowing down. The estimated 3,60,000 people who were newly infected with HIV in Asia in 2010 were considerably fewer than the 4,50,000 estimated for 2001.

Ex-Im Bank of India Amendment Bill, 2011

Rajya Sabha approved the Export- Import Bank of India Amendment Bill, 2011, on 27 December 2011. It aims at promoting international trade by raising the capital funds of overseas trading from two thousand crore rupees to ten thousand crore rupees. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha earlier.

Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011

The Lok Sabha on 27 December 2011, approved the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011 with the government making it clear that setting up of Lokayuktas by the states would not be mandatory. However, the Constitutional Amendment Bill, designed to confer constitutional status on the anti-corruption watchdog, fell
through, as the government failed to get two-thirds support for it. The Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011 was approved after the government moved a few other key amendments, including keeping the Defence Forces and Coast Guard personnel out of the purview of the antigraft ombudsman and increasing the exemption time of former MPs from five to seven years. A number of amendments moved by the Opposition, including Corporates, Media and NGOs receiving donations, were defeated. The government rejected the opposition's demand to bring CBI under Lokpal.

Regulation of Factor (Assignments Receivable) bill, 2011 Approved

Rajya Sabha approved the Regulation of Factor (Assignments Receivable Bill, 2011) on 27 December 2011 to help micro, small and medium enterprises.The bill aims at regulating assignment of receivables by making provision for registration of the rights and obligations of parties to contract. It applies to all types of industry whether it is small, medium or big. It will help mitigate the payment problem of the MSME units. Factors will be regulated by the Reserve Bank of India. The Lok Sabha had already passed the bill.

A bill to Add More Scheduled Tribes to List passed

Rajya Sabha of Indian Parliament on  22 December 2011 passed the bill the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2011 to amend the list of Scheduled Tribes and add more tribes from North-Eastern India. The bill includes  six more tribes namely Thangal, Zeme, Mate, Inpui, Liangmai, Rongmei from Manipur and substitutes Galo in place of Galong in the list of Scheduled tribes in Arunachal Pradesh. At present, 26 communities exist in the list of Scheduled
Tribes in Arunachal Pradesh, which includes Galong as well. The Lok Sabha had passed the Bill on 19 December 2011.

Indian Army Blinded by Controversial Equipment

The Indian Army's imagery interpretation capabilities, critical to providing information on the locations of enemy troops and their military assets, have been compromised by flawed contracts placed with a company that has failed to provide critical  software upgrades, an investigation by The Hindu has found. Documentsobtained by The Hindu from the Ministry of Defence show that the firm responsible for supplying  and integrating software used in critical image intelligence analysis was relieved of its responsibility to  provide free upgrades in 2008 — and is now on the verge of receiving a Rs.165-crore contract for the supply of software it may no longer have licensing rights for. MI17 — the super- secret military intelligence department that analyses data provided by India's spy satellites — relies on software provided by global software giants Intergraph, Oracle,  and Bentley. Rolta, an Indian company, supplied photogrammetry and geographical information system software licensed  from these firms to the Army in 1996, integrating them into a single package to meet MI17's specific needs. From then to 2008, things went well — when a new contract for 14 photogrammetry and geographical information system  packages came up to be signed. The
earlier contract bound Rolta to provide software “updates and upgrades” free of cost, as part of a maintenance contract. In 2008, though, the phrasing was changed
to just “updates”— freeing Rolta of the obligation to provide the most recent software released by the original equipment manufacturer. Rolta was paid Rs.506.45 crore for equipment purchased between 1998 and 2008. In addition, it received annual maintenance contracts for equipment purchased during this period; as of December 2008, their cumulative value was Rs. 40.66 crore per annum. But by early this year, highly-placed military sources said, MI17's imageprocessing
speeds had fallen to just a seventh of those being obtained  by the National Technical Research Organisation, which also analyses the same data using similar software with the latest upgrades, Intergraph-  Erdas. The records of the contract negotiation committee, or CNC, show a series of questionable decihttp sions led to this outcome. In the fourth meeting of the CNC, one member noted that an odd change had been made to the name of the software being supplied to MI17:
“the vendor,” he observed, “had added [the] company name ‘Rolta' in all the software being provided by him.” The change of name implied that the equipment being supplied was not the same as was purchased in 1996, which would have necessitated fresh acquisition procedures to be initiated.

Free Medicare For Poors in Maharashtra

Maharashtra government will spend Rs. 800 crore on the first phase of a health scheme for the poor, which  is slated to benefit nearly 50 lakh families from eight districts, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said at a function. Under the ‘Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya Yojana,' any family earning below Rs. 1 lakh per annum can get free medical treatment and care worth Rs. 1.5 lakh a year. Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that no other State had  implemented such a scheme on such a wide level. He,along with the Deputy Chief Minister and State Health Minister Suresh Shetty distributed identity cards to needy families from the city at the function here.

4.5 Percent Quota For Minorities

The Union cabinet of India on 22 December 2011 approved 4.5 percent share for minorities within the 27% OBC quota in jobs and university seats. The approval will come in force from 1 January, 2012. It suggests that minorities can get 4.5 jobs out of every 100 government jobs and university seats. As per the data released by the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities,  the OBC population was 52 percent of India’s population, of which minorities constitute 8.4 percent. Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee Report-released in November 2006- had found the minority community under-represented in all spheres of professional and public life.

Notices for 187 Amendments in Rajya Sabha

Notice had been given for as many as 187 amendments to the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011 including from the Trinamool Congress for deletion of the entire Part III of the Bill regarding establishment of the Lokayuktas. The Biju Janata Dal and the Shiromani Akali Dal too had given  similar notices. By afternoon, the  Rajya Sabha had received 173 amendment notices. The number swelled to 187 by evening as announced  by the Minister of State for  Personnel V. Narayanasamy. Normally notices are taken 24 hours in advance but on Thursday, notices  were accepted till late evening, while the government took the stand in the House that there were too many  amendments which “needed consideration.” Among major amendments were the ones given by the Bharatiya Janata Party for deletion of words “not less than” 50 per cent of members of  Lokpal belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled tribes, Other Backward Classes, Minorities and
Women in Clause 3. They also asked for deletion of the word ‘Minorities' in Clause 3 and inclusion of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha on Selection Committee in Clause 4. They also wanted Lokpal to appoint his secretary and not select from a panel given by the government. The Communist Party of India  (Marxist) gave amendment for replacement of eminent jurist on the Selection Committee with “an eminent person to be nominated by the Chief Election Commissioner, Comptroller and Auditor General and Union Public Service Commission. They also wanted the Inquiry Wing under the Lokpal to be replaced by “Investigation Wing” with the Central government  providing officers and staff under exclusive jurisdiction of the Lokpal as decided in consultation with the Lokpal. The Party gave another amendment for inclusion under the Lokpal of “any corporate body, its promoters, its officers including Director against whom there is a complaint of corruption in relation to grant of government licence, lease, contract, agreement or any other action to influence government policy through corrupt means.” They wanted Lokpal to take suo motu action in a compliant of corruption.

Courts Can Interfere in the Case of Contractual Job

The Supreme Court of India on 20 December 2011 ruled that courts can interfere in the case of contractual job if the decision taken by the management is arbitrary. A bench of the apex court, however, said that scope of such judicial review is not all per http vasive. It said a writ Court is entitled to judicially review of the action and determine whether there was any illegality, perversity, unreasonableness, unfairness or irrationality that would vitiate the action. The court passed the order on a petition filed by Grid Corporation of Orissa Ltd challenging the Orissa High Court's order. In its order Orissa high court asked the grid corporation to reinstate one of its employee whose contractual job was terminated.

National Food Security Bill approved

The Union Cabinet of India on 18 December 2011 approved a draft National Food Security Bill that seeks to give legal entitlement of cheaper food-grains to 62.5 per cent of the country's population. The total financial liability to implement the law would be 3.5 lakh crore rupees, as funds will be required to raise agriculture production, create storage space and publicity among others. The bill aims to provide Indian citizens access to nutritional food at affordable prices. This bill proposes to give a legal entitlement to food to 75 percent of our rural population and 50 percent of our urban population. The bill also provides for 7 kg of rice,
wheat and coarse grains per person per month to priority households at 3 Rupees, 2 rupees and 1 rupee per kg respectively.

Ancient numbers in the land of Ramanujan

Literary sources in Tamil mention numbers only in words. However, we do have ancient literary references specifically mentioning eN (‘numeral') as distinguished from ezhuttu (‘letter of the alphabet,' for example, Tolkappiyam 655.4, Tirukkural 392). But as palm leaf manuscripts decay with time and hardly last for more than 200 years, we have to turn to durable stone or pottery inscriptions to know what the ancient Tamil numerals looked like. We illustrate two of them here, one from each class (Figs. 1 & 2). The oldest stone inscription featuring a numeral is the Tamil-Brahmi cave inscription from Tondur, near Gingee, in Villupuram district, assigned to about the 3rd century C.E. (Fig. 1). The numeral 3 engraved at the end of a short two-line inscription in the cave is represented by
three horizontal parallel lines. The inscription records that the village of Agalur gifted three stone beds in the cave chiselled by Mosi. The gift was made to the Jaina monks resident in the cave. The village still exists with the same name Agalur, near Tondur, both of which still have sizeable Jaina populations. The numeral 3 has the same form as in contemporary Prakrit inscriptions in the Brahmi script in North India. A well-preserved pottery inscription from Alagankulam near Rameswaram has only the numeral incised in fairly large size (Fig. 2). The inscription is dated to the 1st or 2nd century C.E. The number is read 408, from right to left, following the
ancient convention of reading the digits from the right (ankaanaam vaamato gatih). The first digit at right looking like the cross is the symbol for 4. It is followed by the symbol for 100 (resembling the Brahmi  letter sa) and the last symbol at leftis 8, incised in reversed direction. As there is no accompanying text,
we do not know the significance of the number. The find is still interesting for the absence of the placevalue system. The convention of using symbols for 10, 100, and 1000 in expressing the higher numerals was current in Tamil Nadu until the advent  of printing and the adoption of the international form of Indian numerals
with place-value system. The pottery inscription is also good evidence for widespread literacy, including numeracy, in the ancient Tamil country.

Animals also Entitled to Accident Compensation

A bench of the Supreme Court including Justices BS Chauhan and TS Thakur on 16 December 2011 ruled that even animals are entitled to accident compensation. The court upheld an award of 13.48 lakh rupees for the death of a temple elephant. The animal was hit by a KSRTC (Kerala State Transport Corporation) bus. The court refused to accept the contention that the Motor Vehicles Act would be applicable to human beings and not to animals. It clarified that the definition of property in the Motor Vehicles Act is very inclusive and wide. Therefore, animal should be included under this act. The court added that the elephant was owned by the temple and it was God’s property.

5 Girls Gailed as ‘icons' by President

The girls, with little education and almost no support, turned down marriage proposals and faced the anger of their families and the community. Their stories of courage impressed the President so much that she got them invited to the Rashtrapati Bhavan. They earned praise from the President, who described them as “icons” and asked them to share their stories and encourage girls to say no to under-age  marriages. For Afsana and Sunita, it was their second meeting with the
President who encouraged them to campaign against child marriage among their peers. While education opens up new avenues for the girl child, an early marriage brings with it a cycle of misery, poor health and poverty, she said. A young mother with children often become victim of poor health and mortality. She urged the  district authorities to create more awareness of what the girls have done by taking them on a tour of their district during their school holidays to inspire others.

10 % of the Group B Posts in Paramilitary Forces to Ex-Servicemen

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs agreed to fill 10% of the Group ‘B’ posts in Central Paramilitary Forces from among Ex-Servicemen. Presently, the scheme caters to 38 lakh beneficiaries including 12 lakhEx- Servicemen and over 26 lakh dependents. This scheme is currently being implemented through 247 polyclinics. Initially, 227 polyclinics had been approved by the Union Cabinet of India. Later, in 2008 another 199 polyclinics were sanctioned, out of which 20 are functional
and 179 polyclinics are in various stages of implementation. During the year 2010-11, a total of 89 lakh patients attended the polyclinics. With the commissioning of all the sanctioned polyclinics, the entire fraternity of Ex-Servicemen would be covered comprehensively.

Cable Television Networks Regulation Act amended

The Lok Sabha on 13 December 2011 unanimously passed a Bill to further amend theCable Television Networks Regulation Act, 1995. It replaces a Presidential Ordinance of 25 October, 2011. As per the amendments, there will be a check on objectionable contents. Doordarshan will be able to provide more free-on-air channels in the DTH mode to audiences across the country. Cable TV operators violating the provisions of the Bill will face penalty. The legislation will reduce  dependence on the television rating points, TRP. By 2014, the entire cable network will be digitized. Those Cable operators who will violate the Cable Television Network Regulation Act,1995 Government will have the right to consider about the continuity of the Licence of those cable operators. Till date, this kind of provision was not in existence in the form of Act.

Kalam Favours Linking of Rivers

Former President of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam advocated interlinking rivers and dams to form a smart national water grid management scheme as India cannot afford civil war or conflict over water. He said rivers, waterways and water resources must  be nationalised on the lines of roads and power sectors. “Water is now
in the control of States. It has to be linked by forming a national water grid management just like National Highways and power grid,” he said. Inaugurating ‘Agricon 2011', a conference on agriculture R&D trends 2020, organised by CII, he said, “Water cannot be a [source of] conflict in India. India cannot afford to have
a civil war on water when we have to work unitedly for development. Nation is bigger than the individual parties (political parties) and States. Indian rivers have to be operated by the Army, Navy or the armed forces for equitable distribution of water to double food production.” About 170 million hectare arable land will be reduced to 100 million hectare due to increasing population growth and afforestation and environmental preservation activities, Dr Kalam said and urged agricultural scientists and technologists to work with organisations such as IFFCO to enhance average productivity per hectare from 1.1 tonnes to 3.4 tonnes of the available land for cultivation with less need of water. Referring to precision farming project of the State, he said by doing the right thing, in the right place at the right time, Tamil Nadu had created a great awareness among the farmers which gave higher productivity,  market access and made farmers as entrepreneurs. When the entire nation was struggling to achieve even two per cent growth in agriculture, Gujarat posted seven to nine per cent over the past six years. The Gujarat government
was able to do it by implementing mission mode action. Dr. Kalam also cited Bihar's experience in doubling the productivity and said “these experiences clearly show that ‘we can do it', but what we need is a mission mode approach across the nation with respect to agriculture; and we need a creative leadership who has a vision for leading the second green revolution for the next 10 years.”

Mullaperiyar Dam’s Water Level Should Not Exceed 136 Feet

The Supreme Court of India directed Tamil Nadu to ensure that the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam do es not exceed 136 feet but declined to entertain Kerala’s plea for reducing the level to 120 feet. A five-Judge Constitution Bench, headed by Justice DK Jain gave the order. The Supreme Court asked Tamil Nadu and Kerala to maintain restraint on their statements on the Mullaperiyar dam row. Urging for sanity and sensitivity, the court lamented that they were adding fuel to the fire instead of dousing it. The Bench also asked the Centre to clarify its position on Tamil Nadu's plea for deployment of Central Industrial Security Force to protect
the dam from possible vandalism.

Karnataka Now Third in Sugar Production

Karnataka has now emerged as one of the top sugar producing States in the country, after Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. The State's sugar production has shot up to 37.14 lakh tonnes, an increase of 12.25 lakh tonnes in just under a year, according to reports received in the State headquarters about a fortnight ago. The sugar year commences in October and ends in September. Even sugar recovery has improved dramatically, and Karnataka now stands second, after Maharashtra. Sugar recovery is the yield of sugar for every tonne of sugarcane crushed in factories. The average recovery in the State is now 10.95 per cent. It is 11.50 per cent in Maharashtra and 9.7 per cent in Uttar Pradesh. It was a happy augury that Karnataka had emerged as the third largest sugar producer in the nation. It was only
some years ago that the State overtook Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. It now has almost 60 sugar factories, a quantum jump over the past decade. Sugarcane  production in the State has increased from 228 lakh tonnes to 339.03 lakh tonnes in just about a year although the  area under sugarcane has only marginally increased. Amendments to the Petroleum and Minerals Pipeline Act The Lok Sabha on 12 December 2011 passed the amendments to the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act, 1962. The Bill aims to make provisions for sufficient deterrence to criminals from committing the offence of pilferage or sabotage. The existing sub-section (2) of section 15 provides that whoever willfully removes, displaces, damages or destroys any pipeline, shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment of a term which shall not be less than one year, but which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine. Section 16 provides that offence under sub-section 15 shall be  deemed to be cognizable under the Cod of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The proposed amendments provide for higher quantum of punishment in terms of imprisonment and provision for death penalty in rare cases where the Act of sabotage is dangerous and is likely to
cause death of any other person. The Bill further proposes to amend section 16 of the aforesaid Act to make the offences under sub-section (2), (3) of section 15 of the said Act to be cognizable and non-bailable. The amendment to the act was necessary to prevent pilferage of petroleum by organized gangs and saboteurs.

Supreme Court direction for Night Shelters for Homeless People

The Supreme Court directed state governments to build adequate number of night shelter to ensure that no homeless person has to sleep under sky this winter. A bench of justices Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Dipak Misra asked the governments to file their detailed report by 3 January 2012 on the status of night shelters, which are operating in their states. The bench, which passed separate orders for different states, asked the Chief Secretaries to ensure construction of sufficient number of shelters for the homeless and poor people.

NCT of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Bill of 2011

The Lok Sabha on 12 December 2011 unanimously passed the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Bill of 2011, which granted a three-year term extension to the Master Plan of Delhi (MPD). It is meant to ensure continued implementation of all the ongoing schemes for its betterment. The revised
master plan of Delhi will have a long-term vision of 25 years to address the problems specially faced by the weaker sections of the society. The government intends to implement the second phase of the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission after its current phase is over. The objective of the bill is to prevent sealing and demolition of unauthorised structures in Delhi till 31 December, 2014. It seeks to maintain the status quo regarding unauthorised colonies, which includes storages, warehouses, and godowns for farm produce, village abadis (settlements)and their extensions.Commercial establishments in rural areas and urbanised villages of Delhi are expected to get a reprieve after the proposed bill is enacted.

Village Water and Sanitation Committee in Each Gram Panchayat

The Government decided to set up a village water and sanitation committee in each Gram Panchayat, village and ward to ensure safe drinking water supply. The committee will be set up as a standing committee in each Gram Panchayat for planning, monitoring, implementation and maintenance of water supply schemes in the area with active participation of the villagers. The membership of the committee will consist of 6 to 12 persons comprising elected Panchayat members and at
least 50 percent women with due representation to Scheduled castes and Tribes. The committee will be an integral part of the village panchayat. This initiative has been taken under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme to decentralize power and responsibilities and to give greater focus on water and sanitation issues.

Constitutional Amendment to Set up NJC Suggested

The Parliamentary panel on law and  justice, headed by Abhishek Singhvi stated that the Constitution should be amended to set up a National Judicial Commission with powers to initiate criminal prosecution and sacking of corrupt judges. The concluded that judiciary cannot be left unpoliced in matters of corruption. The report prepared by the Parliamentary panel recommended setting up of a National Judicial Commission (NJC) to create a broadbased and comprehensive model of
judges appointments. If necessary it should include amendments in the Constitution in the process of comprehensive model of judges appointment. Recommendations of the Parliamentary Panel

• The NJC has to be entrusted with powers of both transfer and criminal prosecution of judges for corruption.

• The panel stated that Judicial Accountability Bill is meant to strengthen the existing in-house procedure of the judiciary to deal with wrong behaviour of judges.

• The panel also recommended that the former judges working as chairpersons  and members of tribunals should also be brought under the NJC.

• It may also be given the power for dismissal or removal of judges by relevant amendments in the constitution.

Tamper-Free High Security Number Plates for Vehicles

Supreme Court of India on 8 December 2011 directed all states to ensure vehicles carry tamper-free high security number plates within four weeks. Giving last opportunity to state governments to implement the scheme, a bench of the apex court ruled that contempt proceedings will be initiated against the state authorities
in case of non-compliance of the scheme within the time limit fixed by it. The bench added that no further time will be granted to put in force the scheme and directed the state authorities to file their affidavits on compliance of its order within four weeks. The court passed the order on a PIL seeking its direction to introduce amper-proof number plates and licences for vehicles.

Inspection of Mullaperiyar Dam by Empowered Committee

The Empowered Committee in its meeting on 5 December 2011 decided to send two technical members to inspect the Mullaperiyar dam before finalising its report following apprehensions raised by Kerala about the safety of the dam after mild tremors occurred in the area. The Empowered Committee is headed by former Chief Justice of India, A.S. Anand. The committee had conducted a spot inspection of the dam in December 2010. During its meeting on 5 December, the committee considered the reports of the studies and investigations conducted by various agencies it constituted to study the dam's safety. It also discussed the applications filed respectively by Kerala and Tamil Nadu and took note of their submissions. The committee, according to Kerala ought not to have relied on the Supreme Court's order as it was not barred from receiving evidence in respect of seismic threat to the dam. Following Kerala’s argument the committee agreed to hear the State's arguments on this count. Since Kerala filed an application for bringing on record the recent tremors and sought an oral hearing, the committee decided to send two of its members to conduct a spot inspection of the dam. Kerala's plea for oral hearing was also accepted. The committee directed Tamil Nadu
and Kerala to make submissions on 2 January 2012. On 3 January the committee will consider the modalities for finalising its report to the Supreme Court. During the months of July-November 2011, 25 earthquakes were reported in the Mullaperiyar dam region . Some of the earthquakes on 26 July and 18 and 26 November were more than magnitude 3 on the Richter Scale. The highest magnitude 3.8 was recorded on 26 July 2011. The frequent earthquakes caused panic among 50 lakh people in the downstream region of the Periyar dam. The fear was further heightened by the incessant rain in the catchments  of Mullaperiyar shooting the storage above 136 feet mandated by the provisions of the Amendment Act of 2006. If the Mullaperiyar dam breaks due to flood or earthquake, a mass disaster would follow, wherein not only the life and property of 50 lakh people will be affected in Kerala, but lakhs of farmers of Tamil Nadu will also lose irrigation of about 2.5 lakh acres. Kerala therefore feels that Tamil Nadu should agree for the construction of a new dam offered by Kerala as a precautionary measure.

Adultery Law Biased against Men

The Supreme Court of India on 1 December 2011 stated that section 497 of the Indian penal Code is biased against men. The section punishes a man alone for adultery for having consensual sex with a married woman. As per the observation of the court, the provision of section 497 reduces a married woman to a property of the husband and it punishes man only despite the fact that the woman with whom he had consensual sex was an equal partner in the alleged crime. The court added that the provision is under criticism from certain sections for showing a strong gender bias. A bench of the Supreme Court including Justices Aftab Alam and R M Lodha made the above observation. Section 497 of IPC: Section 497 of  IPC states that whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence
of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. In such case, the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor.

21 Anti-Retroviral Treatment Plus Centres

The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) decided to roll out 21 Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) Plus centres to meet the increasing demand of providing second line drugs to HIV patients who failed to respond to treatment provided previously. The NACO’s ART programme is headed by Dr B B Rewari. 21 more ART Plus centres will be rolled out exclusively for such HIV positive people who require second  line drug therapy. 2600 people are currently on second line drugs
for HIV as they were critical despite taking medication. Presently a total of 4.48 lakh people are availing free of cost drugs at 324 ART centres. Centres were proposed in Surat, Patna, Guwahati, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, and Jaipur. The government earmarked Rs 350 crore for the entire project of providing free of cost drugs at all ART centres. Of these 21 centres, seven are already functional. 10 centres had also been set up to provide the facility for second line drugs and seven paediatric HIV centres in the country. In addition to the 324 ART centres and other second line ones, there are 678 link centres and 259 community care centres.
NACO streeses on strengthening the link between the ART centres and more than 5000 Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres where people are initially  identified and detected with the virus. As per the National Family Health Survey-3, there are 2.47 million HIV infected people in India of which 3.8 per cent are children. Nearly 40 per cent of the people are unaware of their HIV status. According to NACO, there are around 30000 patients availing of medication in the private sector. The World AIDS Day theme was getting to zero, but for the NACO it was also providing 100 per cent access to anti-retroviral drugs.