Not appropriate to give views on Lokpal at this stage: BJP to Pranab

Civil society members on the drafting committee for the Lokpal are “not decision makers but suggestion givers” and at this stage the Bharatiya Janata Party did not think it would be appropriate for it to give its views on the proposed Bill for setting up an independent Lokpal, BJP president Nitin Gadkari has said in a letter to chairman of the drafting committee Pranab Mukherkjee.

E.coli outbreak: Spain to seek compensation

Spain's Prime Minister hit out at the European Commission and Germany on June 2 for singling out the country's produce as a possible source of a deadly bacterial outbreak in Europe, and said the government would demand explanations and reparations.Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the EU commission “was slow because from the moment the minister in Hamburg had ruled it (E.coli outbreak) was not caused by Spanish cucumbers it should have reacted more decisively and faster.”

Facebook attracts 700 million users globally

The number of Facebook users reached around 700 million worldwide in the month of May, with the developing countries contributing the most, according to the data of statistics site, Social Bakers.“Facebook is still on the rise. Number of its total users is closing in to 700 million users,” Social Bakers said.Five countries- Brazil, Indonesia, the Philippines, Mexico and Argentina, each contributed more than 1 million new users to social networking site Facebook, in May.At the sixth position is India, with the addition of 918,140 new users last month, taking the total users to 25.77 million in the country.

UNDP brings Gulf of Mannar coral reef out of danger

Thanks to the United Nations Development Programme initiative, coral reef cover along the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve has increased from 37 percent to 43 percent between 2005 and 2009.Coral mining has stopped and joint patrolling initiatives by forest department, fisheries, coast guards and local youth have ensured stronger enforcement. Seaweed collection out of the Gulf of Mannar National Park has been regularized, and a two-and-a-half month ban imposed each year helps ensure the coast is not touched during crucial regeneration and breeding months.

No need to panic over WHO report on mobiles: ICMR

A day after the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned of the possibility of mobile phone handsets causing cancer, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said on Thursday that there was “no reason to panic” as a study conducted in the Western countries could not be extrapolated on the Indian population.

UNAIDS calls for more investments in HIV prevention

Faced with an acute crunch of resources for investment in HIV/AIDS prevention, a latest U.N. report has said this was a matter of worry as “if the world did not invest now, we will have to pay several times more in the future.”According to a new report, AIDS at 30: Nations at the crossroads, released by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) investments in the HIV response in low- and middle-income countries rose nearly 10-fold between 2001 and 2009, from US$ 1.6 billion to US$ 15.9 billion. However, in 2010, international resources for HIV declined. Many low-income countries remain heavily dependent on external financing. In 56 countries, international donors account for at least 70 per cent of HIV resources.

High Level Committee Chaired by PM to Discuss on Manufacturing Policy on 9th June 2011: Anand Sharma Lays Foundation Stone of NMTC & Aeamt at CMTI Bengaluru

The Union Commerce & Industry Minister, Shri Anand Sharma laid foundation stone of Nano-Manufacturing Technology Centre (NMTC) and Academy of Excellence for Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AEAMT) at Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI) in Bengaluru today. Speaking on the occasion Shri Sharma said that for pursuing “the key policy thrust for our Ministry which has been engaged in providing a greater push to the growth of manufacturing. We have prepared a draft policy document which will be discussed in the High-Level Committee on Manufacturing, to be chaired by Prime Minister on 9th June 2011. The objective of this policy will be to identify key instrumentalities by which we can augment the share of manufacturing in our GDP from 15% to 25% by 2025. This will entail a growth in manufacturing at the rate of 12-14% p.a., which will be able to sustain the momentum of economic growth in the range of 9% and enable the creation of 100 million jobs in domestic industry by 2025”.

Recent Census Kindles Hope for Endangered Hangul

Hope has kindled for the survival of the nearly extinct Kashmir antelope ‘Hangul’.  The preliminary findings of the census of Hangul conducted in Kashmir in March 2011 have shown an increase in their numbers.  The state Forest Minister Mian Altaf Ahmad while reviewing the conservation of Hangul in Srinagar recently revealed that census report of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has put the number of Hanguls at 218 in Dachigam and adjoining areas.