8th SEPTEMBER 2014

R.K. Sinha, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, on Saturday ruled out India signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT ) since India is a “strong supporter of the non-discriminatory [nuclear] regime.”

The flood situation in Jammu and Kashmir was declared a “national-level disaster” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday even as the Army alone evacuated 15,000 people from inundated areas across the State.

Asserting people’s right to linguistic freedom, the Supreme Court has held that there is no bar against a State Legislature declaring a language used in the State as an official language for the convenience of its citizens.

R.K. Sinha, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), on Saturday ruled out India signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) since India is a “strong supporter of the non-discriminatory [nuclear] regime.

With the Andhra Pradesh government announcing its capital city, all eyes are now on the Vijayawada, Guntur, Tenali and Mangalagiri (VGTM) region. Singapore builders are thronging the area to forge tie-ups with local firms to erect pre-cast green buildings for fast-paced development. Some firms have given presentations to a select group of builders.

The Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) is all geared up to participate along with 23 countries in a major two-day Indian Ocean-wide mock drill which will simulate tsunamis generated by two large undersea earthquakes on September 9 and 10 to test the emergency response services in the region. ITEWC will participate in the drill as National Tsunami Warning Centre (NTWC) and also Regional Tsunami Advisory Service Provider (RTSP) for the Indian Ocean region, and would issue bulletins to all the 23 participating countries. Besides ITEWC, the national tsunami warning centres of Australia and Indonesia would act as RTSPs.

BRICS Bank not aimed at challenging IMF, WB. BRICS Bank is meant to provide patient money and not to challenge the existing multilateral financial institutions like the IMF and the World Bank, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has said.

Researchers have flight-tested new mini robots that will protect the International Space Station (ISS) from space junk and help repair defunct satellites. The space laboratory regularly changes orbit to avoid colliding with derelict satellites, rocket stages and other objects whizzing around Earth at huge xspeeds. These robots may fly out to assess the danger presented by the vast array of objects not already tracked by radar, New Scientist reported.

Indian writer-director Chaitanya Tamhane’s debut feature Court won the Lion of the Future award at the recently concluded Venice Film Festival. The multilingual courtroom drama won the trophy for its striking narrative style and also bagged the Orizzonti Award for Best Film. The top prize, the Golden Lion, was bagged by a surreal Swedish film, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch While Reflecting on Existence . It is directed by Roy Andersson (in picture). In his acceptance speech, Andersson paid tribute to Italian neo-realist master Vittorio De Sica, and in particular to his film Bicycle Thieves