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IN FOCUS |
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Nepal transition from monarchy to republic
Priyadarshi Kar
Nepal scripted a new chapter in its turbulent history on May 28, 2008, when the country’s Constituent Assembly (CA) overwhelmingly voted to abolish its 240-year-old monarchy. The Assembly passed a resolution at the Birendra International Convention Centre in Kathmandu proclaiming Nepal as a “secular, federal, democratic republic” |
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In Remembrance ... |
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Vijay Tendulkar (1928-2008)
One of the greatest playwrights of modern India, Vijay Tendulkar passed away on May 19, 2008 in Pune bringing the curtains down on his prolific career. He was 80.
Writing his first story at the age of six and making his tryst with the stage—as writer, director and actor—five years later,
Vijay Tendulkar swore never to write (at the age of 22) when his play Grihast was heckled off the stage.
Staging a comeback, he went on to write over 30 full-length plays, several one-act plays, collection of short stories and film scripts; many of which brought him awards. |
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PERSPECTIVE |
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Kalpana Rajaram
Monarchy or Republic, it is governance that matters now
The immediate problem is, who is to be the president—even if that is a ceremonial post? There seems to be an ominous divergence of views on the matter. If the Maoists want the posts of president and prime minister, will Koirala and his Nepali Congress (the second largest group in the Assembly) accept things quietly? Finding a presidential candidate acceptable to all is a difficult challenge. Even if Prachanda seeks to be moderate, will his supporters agree to acquiese? There are factions within the Maoists which even now prefer violent action to get their goals, and seldom are they ready to compromise. There are fringe elements among the conservative Hindus who are not quite happy about losing the only ‘Hindu rashtra’ status, and may create trouble. |
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WORLD |
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UN Report on World Economic Prospects
Nepal Declares May 29 as Mount Everest Day
WWF Report on Wildlife
Myanmar’s Junta Approves Constitution
Lebanon Elects New President
Agreement to ban cluster bombs
China-Taiwan Landmark Talks
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MEDIASCAPE |
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Top Media Award for Sir Anthony
Pak Media Judiciary
Standoff Continues
Newspapers to be free in Future: Survey
ndian Players Launch GPS-based Navigation Products
New Web Tools Break Language Barriers:
Thanks to some innovative product launches in May 2008, from the world’s search leader Google and India’s widest language portal, Webdunia, the gap could soon be reduced: Google has created an instantaneous Hindi-English-Hindi translation tool that brings up Hindi equivalents in Devanagiri, from text entered in English—and vice versa—‘on the fly.’
The tool, available at http: //www.google.com/ translate_t can also be used to conduct Google search in Hindi or to translate entire web pages into the Indian language.
Star India Launches Comic book series
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NATION |
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a two-day visit to Bhutan on May 16-17, 2008. It was the first visit by an Indian prime minister in 15 years which reaffirmed the warmth that marks the bilateral relationship.
Dr Singh met his Bhutanese counterpart Jigmiy Thinley and pledged to extend the Indian rail network into Bhutan, underlining New Delhi’s close economic and strategic ties with Thimphu.
Yeddyurappa Sworn in Chief Minister:
On May 30, 2008, BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the 19th chief minister of Karnataka. He was administered the oath of office by Governor Rameshwar Thakur. Among the 29 other ministers
Air Force Base Opens after 43 Years:
On May 31, 2008, the Indian Air Force (IAF) operationalised the Daulatbeg Oldi (DBO) airbase in the Ladakh region after a gap of more than four decades.
The base is located at an altitude of 4,960 metres near the base of the Karakoram Pass, still held by India on the old silk trading route to Yarkand in China. The IAF plans to revive airfields at Chushul and Fukche in
eastern Ladakh, also along the Chinese border.
Set up during the conflict of 1962, the base was operated with America- supplied Fairchild Packets. It was closed down in 1966 when an earthquake caused loosening of the surface soil, making the area unsuitable for fixed wing aircraft.
Prithvi-II test-fired
Delimitation Commission to hold 2011 census Panchayat-wise
NASSCOM’s List For New IIITs.
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ANALYSIS |
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SC Verdict on OBC Quota
Vidya Bhaskar
The court unanimously upheld the validity of the Constitution (93rd Amendment) Act 2005 which had empowered the centre to come up with the law for OBC reservation in educational institutions of high learning. There was lack of unanimity on the constitutional validity of the 93rd amendment in relation with private unaided institutions, with only one judge viewing the imposing of reservation on unaided institutions as violative of the basic structure of the Constitution as it stripped citizens of their fundamental right under Article 19(1)(g) to carry on an occupation. The other four judges left the issue open. The ruling of the SC was delivered in the Ashoka Kumar Thakur vs. Union of India case.
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