News Roundup - 01 November 2014

1. Second meeting of Education Ministers of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) at New Delhi = Representatives of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka issued a joint statement titled “The New Delhi Declaration on Education.” The priority areas of action decided upon include enhancing the learning and development readiness of pre-school children, ensuring education for all, expanding skill development, facilitating mutual recognition of qualifications and mobility of students and teachers and expanding alternative ways of learning such as open and distance education. They also agreed to collaborate on increased use of information technology and improving the quality of education.
2. ‘Maitri’ - A meeting of Indian and Chinese artists at Jaipur to exchange views on art and architecture.
3. Myanmar President Thein Sein opened unprecedented talks with army top brass and political rivals, including Aung San Suu Kyi, here on Friday with crucial elections next year.
4. Israel reopened a contested Jerusalem holy site and deployed more than 1,000 security personnel following clashes the previous day between Palestinians and Israeli riot police that had ratcheted up already heightened tensions in the city. The site is known to Jews as the ‘Temple Mount’ and to Muslims as the ‘Noble Sanctuary’ under leaden gray skies and pouring rain. The Jerusalem holy site has been a flashpoint between devotees of the two faiths for decades, underscoring the incendiary nature of the religious component in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A visit there by then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon in 2000 set off the last Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule. It remains a potent symbol for the two peoples’ competing territorial claims. Israeli authorities had said they were limiting access to the site on Friday to Muslim men over 50 in an attempt to dampen the prospects for violence triggered by Thursday’s killing of a Palestinian man suspected of attempting to assassinate a hard-line Jewish activist.
5. Growth of the eight core industries dropped to 1.9 per cent in September from 9 per cent in the same month last year due to fall in output of crude oil, natural gas, refinery products and fertilizer. The growth stood at 5.8 per cent in August. Crude oil, natural gas, refinery products and fertilizer output registered a drop of 1.1 per cent, 6.2 per cent, 2.5 per cent and 11.6 per cent, respectively, in the month under review, according to the data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry.  Expansion in other four sectors — coal, cement, steel and electricity — stood at 7.2 per cent, 3.2 per cent, 4 per cent and 3.8 per cent, respectively, against a rise of 13.6 per cent, 12.1 per cent, 10.7 per cent and 12.9 per cent rise, respective, in September, 2013. During the April-September period, the eight sectors grew by 4 per cent against 5 per cent in the same period a year-ago.
6. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the ‘Run for Unity’ from Rajpath on 31^st October morning to commemorate independent India's first Home Minister and his hero Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s 139^th birth anniversary. The event, which saw the participation of a large number of people including school children, was celebrated as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas or national unity day.
7. The change of name of the city from Mangalore to Mangaluru — effective from Saturday — is expected to be a smooth affair.

Credits: The Hindu, Google.