31 JANUARY 2014

Ø  A special court in Chittagong on Thursday awarded the death penalty to Paresh Barua, chief of the breakaway United Liberation Front of Asom faction, and 13 others, including two former Bangladesh Ministers, in connection with an arms haul in 2004.  The police had seized 10 trucks carrying weapons and ammunition from the state-owned Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd. jetty while the arms were being offloaded from two fishing trawlers.

Ø  Dutch Health Minister Edith Schippers on Thursday took a cycling tour around the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here to promote the Netherlands as a nation of bicycles and showcase cycling as a healthy and nature-friendly mode of transport. The Netherlands had won the first edition of the Hero Hockey World League Final in the same stadium last week. Cycling accounts for 27 per cent of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide in the Netherlands, and up to 59 per cent of all trips in its cities.

Ø  India’s first monorail will be thrown open to the public, eight years after it was first proposed. With the Maharashtra government now keen on unveiling key projects before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the monorail will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Saturday.  With this, India will join countries like the U.S., Germany, China, Japan, Australia and Malaysia that run monorails.  This is the first phase of operation in which the train will run between the central suburb of Wadala and the eastern suburb of Chembur. A distance of 8.93 km will be covered in 15 minutes.  A monorail train of four coaches can carry 560 passengers.

Ø  In the biggest initiative of its kind, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) will establish a Centre for Brain Research, having received a grant of Rs. 225 crore for the project from Pratiksha Trust for 10 years.

Ø  Cadila Healthcare, on Thursday, said it had received the final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to market Etodolac extended release tablets in strengths of 400 mg, 500 mg and 600 mg, the company said in a filing to the BSE. The drug is prescribed for treatment of juvenile arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.