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1. India's longest rail bridge in KeralaThe scenic Kerala backwaters can now boast of an engineering marvel the longest rail bridge inthe country at 4.62km. The bridge is part of a 8.6-km railway link connecting Idapalli to Vallarpadamin Kochi, where the shipping ministry has constructed the International Container TranshipmentTerminal (ICTT). Built by the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd at Rs 200 crore, the bridge came up in a record28 months. The rail link between Idapalli railway station and ICTT can also boast green technologyto address environmental concerns. The alignment cuts through densely populated habitations andbackwaters.

2. Government agrees to set up JPC on 2GAfter resisting the Opposition demand for over three months, the government has finally agreed toconstitute a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the 2G spectrum allocation issue. Thedecision, which was clinched following a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh andBharatiya Janata Party leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, comes just in time for the budgetsession of Parliament, which begins on February 21. The Opposition disrupted the entire wintersession last year over the JPC issue and threatened to do the same again if its demand was notmet.

3. Naval divers set new recordA group of naval divers on board INS Nireekshak, the Navy's only diving support and submarinerescue vessel, set a new national record by diving to a depth of 233 metres in the seas off Kochicoast, bettering a record of 218 metres attained by Navy divers in March 2007. While LieutenantCommander Abhijit Sangle and Chief Petty Officers (CPO) K.K. Singh and Shriom Singh lockedout' in the submersible diving capsule the bell in diving parlance to execute the deepest diveon February 7, Leading Seamen Clearance Divers M.K. Prusty and Narender Kumar partnered inthe mission by exposing themselves to the depth conditions in the ship's Deck DecompressionChambers (DDC), an essential instrument of saturation diving.

4. Demand for motorcycle will come within dowry ambit: Supreme Court

Any demand for money, property or valuable security made from the bride or her parents or other

relatives by the bridegroom or his parents or other relatives or vice versa in connection with themarriage will fall within the mischief of dowry' under the Dowry Prohibition Act, the Supreme Courthas held. A Bench of Justices Aftab Alam and R.M. Lodha said The mere demand for dowry'before marriage, at the time of marriage or any time after the marriage is an offence. The 1961 Acthas been amended by Parliament on more than one occasion and by the Dowry Prohibition(Amendment) Act, 1986, Parliament brought in stringent provisions and provided for offence relatingto dowry death.

5. Five frog species rediscoveredScientists of the University of Delhi, in a collaborative programme involving researchers from otherleading institutions in the country, have rediscovered five species of frogs believed extinct long ago.The five species rediscovered are: Chalazodes Bubble-nest Frog ( Raorchestes chalazodes)Anamalai Dot-frog ( Ramanella anamalaiensis), last reported 74 years ago; Dehradun Stream frog (

Amolops chakrataensis), last seen 26 years ago; Silent Valley tropical frog ( Micrixalus thampii), lastseen 31 years ago; and Elegant tropical frog ( Micrixalus elegans), last seen 74 years ago.

6. Green ban on eight industrial clusters lifted

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has lifted its moratorium on new investment in eightindustrial clusters including Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. These are among the 43 clusters identified ascritically polluted in a 2009 study. Interestingly, none of the eight are coalfields despite Coal MinisterSriprakash Jaiswal's reported claim that he had convinced Jairam Ramesh, his count erpart in theEnvironment Ministry, to lift the moratorium on 16 coalfields by easing the pollution norms.

7. Govt lifts onion export banThe govt has lifted a ban on exports of onion and set a floor price at $600 per tonne. The countryhad banned the overseas sale of the vegetable in December to rein in high food inflation.

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8. No sale of tobacco products in plastic pouches from March: SC

The Supreme Court refused to relax its order banning sale of tobacco products like gutka and panmasala in plastic sachets beyond March 1 after taking note of the government's submission that 90per cent of oral cancer cases in the country are on account of chewing tobacco. A Bench of justicesG S Singhvi and A K Ganguly declined to relax the deadline imposed by it on December 7, whiletaking on record an expert panel's findings, submitted to it by the Centre on the harmful impact ofvarious tobacco products on human health

9. UML-Maoists clarify 7-point agreementPrime Minister Jhalanath Khanal and Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda' havereached a fresh agreement to abide by the spirit of the seven-point agreement signed before Mr.Khanal's election, while clarifying its controversial aspects. The Maoists, who had earlier said theywould not join the government, have now revised their decision, and would share major portfolioswith the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist).

10. Galle-Matara railway service inaugurated

As the Chinese-built train on the Galle-Matara Railway line hit the 100 kmph mark, it marked a firstfor the Sri Lankan Railway. Never in the past has a Sri Lankan train run close to the 100 kmphmark. This was possible after a major track up-gradation by the Indian public sector entity, IRCON.The modernised track was inaugurated, ushering in a new era in speed for Sri Lankan Railways. Aline of credit of $167.4 million was extended by India for the rehabilitation of the Colombo-Matararail link.

11. Japan for joint effort in developing rare earth mineralsJapan proposed joint exploration with India for the development of rare earth minerals. Tokyowould like to make progress in this domain. Tokyo also affirmed its commitment to the steadyimplementation of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and the related Dedicated FreightCorridor. Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and Japanese Foreign Minister SeijiMaehara signed the bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in Tokyo.

India proposed a two-way trade target of $25 billion by 2014, a doubling of the pre-CEPA level. Theeconomic pact will come into force after the completion of national procedures.

12. VFPCK, Nokia join hands to help farmersThe Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam (VFPCK) and Nokia India Limited will launch aweather and prices information and advisory service for farmers on the SMS format using Nokia'sLife Tools services. The service will be launched at Bharanikkavu in Kollam district. The serviceswould initially be on a pilot basis for a period of one year and that 300 handsets with BSNLsubscriber identification module cards were being distributed to farmers' self-help groups under thecouncil.

13. Exporters can now avail sops worth Rs 500 crExporters can start availing sops worth an estimated Rs 500 crore that were announced by the

government under the Market Linked Focus Product Scheme (MLFPS) and Focus Product Scheme(FPS). The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has issued a notification in this regard,stating that exporters can avail the benefits on their shipments with effect from January 1, 2011.Under the MLFPS, exporters get duty credit of 3 per cent on the value of their consignments, whileunder the FPS, the exporters avail duty credit of 5 per cent.

14. RCom launches nexgen mobile portalReliance Communications (RCom) plans to rollout next generation mobile portal (R World) todeliver mobile internet and data services to its 125 million customers. Reliance will use Motricity'sm-Core platform to deliver these advanced capabilities to offer services on its 3G, GSM and CDMAmobile platforms.

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15. Honda Siel to recall 57,853 'City' sedansHonda Siel Cars India (HSCI) said it is recalling over 57,800 units of its City sedan to replace faultyengine parts. In a statement, the company said it would carry out preventive part replacement of thelost motion spring in the valve train for 57,853 third-generation City models that were manufacturedbetween November, 2008, and December, 2009.

16. Google's One Pass to rival Apple's digital subscriptionGoogle Inc launched a service to make it easy for publishers to sell digital versions of newspapersand magazines, undercutting a similar plan launched by Apple Inc, as both tech titans battle todominate smartphones and tablet computers. Google said its new service, dubbed One Pass,allows publishers to sell content that consumers can view on websites as well as in specialisedapps designed for smartphones and tablet PCs. Publishers can charge for content in a variety ofways, including subscriptions, metered access and sales of single articles.

17. Another big win for IndiaThe Indian batsmen, led by M.S. Dhoni's unbeaten 108, inflicted a 117-run defeat on New Zealandin their second and final warm-up match at the M.A. Chidambaram stadium. Dhoni, Gautam

Gambhir (89), Virat Kohli (59) and Suresh Raina (50) cashed in on a flat track and some averageKiwi bowling to post 360. However, for the second match running, the Indian pacemen provedineffective during the chase.