Week in Review: June 7-13

Sonia Gandhi, in a red sari.

The New Delhi-based Council of Scientific and Industrial Research has prepared patents for nearly 900 yoga asanas to prevent Europeans and American fitness companies from claiming them as their own. Spanish author Javier Moro, who has written The Red Saree, a fictional account of Sonia Gandhi’s life, threatened to sue Gandhi’s lawyer and Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi, who accused the book of containing “untruths, half truths, falsehoods and defamatory statements”. In the book, Moro describes Gandhi as “one of those tragic heroines from an Indian blockbuster movie”. The Union environment ministry has identified eight areas as highly polluted, where industrial development will be discontinued. These include Chembur and Tarapur in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Dombivali, Aurangabad, Pimpri Chinchwad, and Chandrapur.

Seven of the nine Union Carbide employees accused in the Bhopal gas disaster of 1984 were sentenced to two years imprisonment, but were released two hours later after posting bail of Rs25,000 each. A CIA report pointed to the Rajiv Gandhi government’s involvement in the release of Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson from police custody. Arjun Singh, who was the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh at the time, confessed that releasing Anderson on bail was his “personal decision”.

According to a new report, the Indian economy is recovering faster than expected, and is slated to grow by 8.5 per cent this year and by 9 per cent in 2011-12. India tumbled seven places in the Global Peace Index, owing to the increase in the number of deaths from organised conflict, ranking 128 out of 149 nations. From autumn, individuals will have to pass compulsory English language tests if they want to marry British citizens and emigrate to the UK.

The BMC has identified Elphinstone Road, Byculla, Dadar, Parel, Mahim, Prabhadevi, Matunga, Mankhurd and Kurla as chronic malaria spots. There has been a 20 to 25 per cent rise in malaria cases compared to last year, mainly due to increased construction activity. Thirty doctors employed at state-run hospitals are suffering from Hepatitis E, a liver inflammation caused by contaminated water. JJ hospital, where the water cooler hasn’t been cleaned in over a year, has the highest number of cases. On account of the dwindling tiger population, poachers are on the prowl for leopards. Two-hundred and ninety were killed in 2009, while more than 70 leopards have been killed as of March this year.

Only 25 per cent of the initiatives taken up by the BMC after the catastrophic flooding on July 26, 2005 have been completed. Pending projects involve the cleaning of storm water drains, the widening of drains and completion of the storm water drain project. In a candid interview, exiled artist MF Hussain took pot shots at Bollywood’s A-list celebrities, calling actor Kareena Kapoor a “matchstick” who has “come to destroy Saif Ali Khan”. An NGO has hired private detectives to tail school and college teachers giving private tuitions, which are illegal according to the Right to Education Act.