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1. SC favours larger bench's hearing on quota to Dalit Christians The Supreme Courttermed as 'sensitive' and 'important' the issue of granting Scheduled Caste status to DalitChristians for extending benefits of reservation to them and said it might refer the matter for

examination by a larger bench, if required. The apex court said it would also examine themeaning of 'caste' in terms of Articles 16(4) and 15(4) of the Constitution which deal withreservations in state jobs and empowerment of socially and educationally backward classes

and ensure that none of the interested groups is left out from being heard.

2. HC quashes UP govt order related to SC,ST quota in promotions In a setback to UttarPradesh government, the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court quashed its order providingreservation in promotions to state employees belonging to scheduled castes and scheduledtribes. A bench comprising justices Pradip Kant and Rituraj Awasthi pronounced the judgement

while disposing of 50 writ petitions challenging the 'UP government servants seniority rules(3rd) amendment 2007' whereby the state government had inserted Rule 8A. The courtquashed all seniority lists prepared by the various departments under the provision whichprovided for consequential seniority along with promotion for the SC/ST employees.

3. NREGA provided employment to nearly 4 cr in 2010 Nearing the four crore mark in

providing jobs under MGNREGA, re-launching the Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areasscheme and reinforcing social audit in programmes on complaints of irregularities were theforemost tasks of the rural development ministry in 2010. While 3.9 crore households were

provided employment, the share of women beneficiaries under the Mahatma Gandhi NationalRural Employment Guarantee Act went up to 51 per cent, with over 69.14 crore beneficiaries.

4. CBI ignores ITAT indictment of 'Q' to push for closure The CBI sought the withdrawalof the case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi in the Bofors payoff scam, sayingit didn't have enough evidence against him and there was no fresh word from the governmenteven after an Income Tax tribunal sensationally ruled that nearly Rs.15-billion gun deal was

paid illegally as commission.

5. ISRO to launch Singapore's first satellite in orbit in Feb The Indian Space ResearchOrganisation (ISRO) is expected to launch Singapore's first satellite in orbit next month after along delay and a four-fold cost overrun. The launch of the satellite, dubbed X-Sat, has beendelayed since 2007. Experts estimated that the delay has raised the cost of satellite four-foldto more than 40 million Singaporean dollar from earlier estimates of 10 million, according to a

report in 'The Straits Times' today.

6. Indian, US Navy salvage exercise begins Indian Navy deep sea divers, who are amongthe four navies of the world having expertise in operating at depths of more than 300 metresunderwater, will carry out various drills with their US counterparts in an eight-day exercisestarting off Port Blair, Andaman. Indian divers, who figure along side with those of the US,France and Italy in deep sea diving or technically termed saturation diving, will take part in a

joint salvage exercise with the US Navy. The Salvage Exercises (SALVEX) are conducted everyyear since 2005 and the last episode took place in Hawaii. INS Nireekshak, the diving tender of

the Indian Navy and USS Safeguard, a specialised salvage ship are the ships participating inthe exercise.Satish said INS Nireekshak is the Indian Navys specialist diving support ship withthe capacity to support dives up to 300 metres depth. USS Safeguard is a Safeguard classauxiliary rescue and salvage ship.

7. Guv refuses to appear before SIC, seeks immunity Goa Governor SS Sidhu has refusedto appear before the State Information Commission, which had summoned him in connection

with a Right to Information (RTI) Act appeal case. He sought immunity under Article 361 of theIndian Constitution. Governors counsel Carlos Fereira told reporters waiting outside the SIC

that the Governor enjoys privilege extended to him under Article 361 of the Constitution. Thesummons had asked the Governor to personally remain present for the hearing.

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8. SC to mull over quota for Dalit Christians, Muslims The Supreme Court made it clearthat it would test the demand for extending reservation benefits to Dalit Christians andMuslims within the limits of constitutional framework without being influenced by

recommendations of either the Justice Ranganath Misra Commission on Linguistic Minoritiesand National Commission for Scheduled Castes, which favoured the suggestion.

9. PSUs to pay for Iran crude oil in Euros Faced with the UAEs banking restrictions onbusiness with Iran and New Delhis uncertainty over Japans reaction to US sanctions on Iran,the National Iranian Oil Co asked Indian refiners to pay for January crude oil imports in eurosthrough a German bank. The NIOC has asked us to transfer euros in Hamburg-basedEuropisch-Iranische Handelsbank AG (EIH Bank) to ensure that there are no supplydisruptions in January, said an official of the Indian Oil Corp.

10. Puri elected Chairman of UNSC counter-terrorism committee Indian Ambassador tothe United Nations Hardeep Singh Puri has been elected Chairman of the all important SecurityCouncil Committee on counter-terrorism and two other key committees of this 15-memberedbody. Elected for a two-year term, Mr. Puri would chair the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee. He replaces Ertugrul Apakan, Ambassador and Permanent

Representative of Turkey, whose term expired on December 31, 2010.

11. India builds naval research centre India launched a new naval research centre for

warships, part of efforts by the South Asian giant to build its sea defences and counter theperceived threat of China in the Indian Ocean.Defence Minister A.K. Antony laid the foundationstone for the National Institute for Research and Development in Shipbuilding (NIRDESH) inthe southern state of Kerala, which will be built at a cost of six billion rupees (133 milliondollars). The facility, which will be up and running in two years, will help develop technologyfor "drawing board to delivery" of warships for India, a naval official said.

12. Pak Governor is killed for defying hardliners Salmaan Taseer, governor of PakistansPunjab province, was shot dead by one of his own guards, who later told interrogators that he

was angry about the politicians stance against the countrys blasphemy law. The killing ofTaseer, 66, is the most high-profile assassination of a political figure in Pakistan since formerPrime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December 2007, and adds to concernsabout inroads by Islamist extremists and fundamentalists into Pakistans securityestablishment. Taseer, who was a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and close to

President Asif Ali Zardari, was very vocal in his opposition to the blasphemy law that ordersdeath for insulting Islam.

13. Kyrgyzstan to name mountain peak after Putin Kyrgyz Prime Minister AlmazbekAtambayev has issued orders to name a 4500 meter high mountain "Vladimir Putin Peak". Sofar, the mountain peak in the basin of Ak-Suu river of Chui District was unnamed.

14. Iran excludes U.S. from N-invite The Tehran government confirmed that it has invitedworld powers and its allies in the Arab and developing world but apparently not chief critic

the United States to tour Iranian nuclear sites before a high-profile meeting late January onits disputed nuclear programme.

15. Training in India for Nepal MoFA officers sparks row A training programme for seniorofficers of Nepals Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the New Delhi-based Foreign Service Instituteof India has sparked a row, forcing a top Parliamentary panel to direct the Government tocancel the 10-day intensive course. The Parliamentary Committee on International Relations

and Human Rights directed Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) not to implement its decision tosend 28 newly-appointed officers for training in India. Lawmakers in the House panel raised

serious concern over Indias intention in providing training to Foreign Ministrys new officersin a group consisting of Nepali officials only.

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16. Belated UK honour likely for Tipus descendent for war valour A campaign has beenlaunched to recognise the valour of the great great great grand-daughter of the Tiger ofMysore, Tipu Sultan, who risked her life to serve as a British agent in occupied France during

the Second World War. She is Noor-un-Niza Inayat Khan, the daughter of Hazrat Inayat Khan,a Sufi preacher and musician. During the war she was code named Madeleine and was the firstfemale radio operator to be sent to France as an agent of the Special Operations Executive

(SOE) the famous sabotage force set up by the war-time British Prime Minister, WinstonChurchill. The Nazis eventually captured her after a betrayal, tortured her and finally executedher at the infamous concentration camp of Dachau in 1944, but failed to learn any of hersecrets. Her last act was to shout liberte, as she was shot. She has been immortalised in warhistory, but unlike in France, where there are two memorials and a ceremony held each year tomark her death, she has been forgotten in the UK.

17. IIT-Madras plans centre for VLSI design, microchip making IIT-Madras plans to setup a centre of excellence for VLSI (very-large-scale integration) design and microchip making.A blue print on this will be ready in the next six months, according to Kamakoti Veezhinathan,Professor at Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT-Madras.

18. SC to waive Rs 25 crore fee on Vodafone's deposit The Supreme Court said it wouldwaive the 1 per cent court fee on the Income Tax Department, on the Rs 2,500 crore depositedby the Vodafone International Holdings, if the government gives an undertaking that it would

not make claim of "unjust enrichments".

19. IAQ elects Lucas-TVS CEO as Academician N. Ravichandran has been elected to therank of Academician by the International Academy for Quality (IAQ). Mr. Ravichandran, ChiefExecutive Officer of Lucas-TVS, is the second Indian and 58th in the world to be elected for thisposition, says a release.

20. Sops for lagging export sectors likely With some labour-intensive export sectorslagging behind in the international markets, the Commerce and Industry Ministry is working

out an incentive package for such sectors including tea, handicrafts and readymadegarments to put them back on fast track growth.

21. RIM offers interception using Cloud Computing With the approaching deadline tooffer complete solution for monitoring of its contents by January 31, BlackBerry maker

Research in Motion (RIM) has offered lawful interception in its security architecture throughcloud computing from Indian operators. Cloud computing is Internet-based service, whereby

shared servers provide software and data to computers and other devices on demand.

22. Citibank fraud: FIR against CEO Vikram Pandit, others The local policy registered anFIR naming Indian-born global CEO of the bank Vikram Pandit and 10 other officials in the Rs300-crore Citibank fraud case. The fraud at the bank's Gurgaon branch, involving diversion ofdepositors money into the stock market, was uncovered last week. Besides Pandit, the FIRfiled by a high networth individual (HNI) Sanjiv Agarwal with the Gurgaon police also names

Citibank chairman William R Rhodes along with other senior officials based in India.

23. Uninor move telecom tribunal against DoT on roll-out damages Uninor, a JVbetween Unitech and Norway's Telenor, moved telecom tribunal TDSAT against the Departmentof Telecom's (DoT) seeking damages from the company for not meeting its roll-out obligations.While the company has paid, under protest, Liquidated Damages (LD) for missing roll-outdeadlines for four circles, it is yet to pay for 6 other circles, for which it has been served

notices. Uninor is one of the new operators which was allotted 2G spectrum, or radio waves, byformer telecom minister A Raja and is under scanner on eligibility criteria.