PM sets tone for G-20 meet: World economy is in deep trouble

Setting the tone for the crucial G-20 Summit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said the world economy is in "deep trouble" and hoped the grouping of developed and developing countries will come up with constructive proposals to pull the world out of this crisis. With anxiety over the global economic woes being reflected at the seventh summit of the four-year-old grouping, Singh's suggestion that the G-20 should focus on the need on investment in infrastructure as a means of stimulating global growth was significantly well received at the deliberations. "The world is in deep trouble, I hope the G-20 will come up with constructive proposals to get the world out of this crisis," Singh told newsmen ahead of the summit at this Mexican coastal resort town, meeting against the backdrop of a faltering global economy and the burgeoning Eurozone crisis.

Law and the age of innocence

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill, 2012, currently awaiting Presidential assent is a welcome step for many reasons.The penal code does not take into account the reality of many different acts of sexual violence committed on children and the range of sexual contexts according to the extent of coercion, injury, age and incapacitation of the child. The concept of relationship with the child, crucial in such cases, is completely absent in the existing law; there are no separate provisions to address sexual violence committed by family members, friends or those in positions of authority. The Indian Penal Code also does not specifically address sexual violence against the boy child except under Section 377 that criminalises homosexual behaviour. The new Bill addresses these concerns and defines various categories of sexual acts that are offences when perpetuated against children. It is gender neutral, which is progressive. But in its definition of a child as below 18 years of age, it gives cause for concern.

World powers begin talks with Iran over Teheran’s nuclear program

Six major world powers- USA, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany began the crucial third round of talks with Iran in Moscow over Teheran’s controversial nuclear program. Iran's 20 percent uranium enrichment is the priority issue in the Moscow round of talks. Ahead of the talks, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad said that Teheran is ready to suspend its enrichment of uranium to 20 percent if Europe guarantees delivery of nuclear fuel for its reactors. The statement was posted on his official website.

‘Desertification is nearly as critical as climate change’ - Interview with Dr. Mansour N'Diaye, Chef De Cabinet of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification secretariat

The sands across the world are crawling, turning vast stretches of land into desert each year. Their relentless march, invading villages, farmlands and water bodies, has made millions of people ecological refugees across the world. Desertification is not just an ecological issue but also one of shrinking food and water supplies, a loss of jobs and mass migration. June 17 is annually observed as World Day to Combat Desertification. Dr. Mansour N'Diaye, Chef De Cabinet of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) secretariat, spoke to K.P.M. Basheer onthe need for setting a sustainable development goal of “zero net land degradation by 2030” at the Rio+20 meet. The interview took place during a visit organised by the UNCCD to Chifeng, a city in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. A large part of Inner Mongolia's territory is desert. The desert storms emerging from there reach up to Beijing. Excerpts:

The quest for ingenious ideas

Engineering is meant to be a field that offers unlimited scope for innovation and creativity. But to what extent this is true in our engineering colleges is debatable.When aspiring engineers watched the movie ‘3 Idiots’, they fully identified themselves with the clash of intentions — the faculty members emphasising on examination scores while the students would rather apply skills they picked up during the course to create fascinating possibilities to aid the future generations. 

India is committed to increasing share of renewable enrgy, says Dr. Farooq Abdullah at IIEA, Dublin

Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah has said that India is committed to increasing the share of renewable power in the electricity mix to 15 per cent by the year 2020. He said an action plan has already been developed that aims at accelerating the deployment of renewable energy with a target of around 30 GW of renewable power by 2017. Dr. Abdullah was addressing a distinguished gathering at the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) in Dublin in Ireland yesterday.

China launches woman into space

China on Saturday sent its first woman into space, successfully carrying out the much-anticipated launch of the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft, which will perform the first manned docking mission and lay the ground work for plans to build a space station.The three astronauts on board Shenzhou-9, including 33-year-old mother of one Liu Yang, were given a grand send off by top Chinese officials that was broadcast live on national television.