In Pakistan, a 14-year-old schoolgirl who spoke out against the atrocities of militants in their former stronghold of Swat has been shot at by the Taliban.

Malala Yousufzai, the first recipient of Pakistan's National Peace Award for Youth, was hit by two bullets when militants fired at her inside a school bus at Mingora, the main town of Swat Valley. One bullet hit her in the head.

She has been airlifted to a military hospital in Peshawar. Two other girls were also injured.

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The US has strongly condemned the incident.

 The international Literacy Day is being observed today. The objective of this day is to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies. This year the theme of this day is Literacy and Peace.

Literacy contributes to peace as it brings people closer to attaining individual freedoms and better understanding the world as well as preventing or resolving conflict.

AIR correspondent reports that a series of functions have been oraganised across the country to highlight the importance of literacy among the people. Various programmes, including Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and Saakshar Bharat, are being implemented by the Centre to enhance the literacy rate in the country.

Since the inception of Saakshar Bharat in 2009, over 1.44 crore adults have been assessed and certified for their competency in literacy. The programme mainly focuses on women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Minorities in rural areas.

After he took oath, Mukherjee was offered a 21-gun salute marking the assumption of office of the highest Constitutional post in the country. In his address, Mukherjee asserted that for the real development of the country, the poorest of the land must feel that they are part of the narrative of the rising India and poverty is erased from the dictionary of modern India. He said the trickle-down theories did not address legitimate aspirations of the poor and those at the bottom must be lifted up for a better life.  Terming terrorism as the fourth world war that the international community is facing, Mukherjee said India had been on the frontlines of this war long before many others could recognise its consequences. He sounded firm in his opinion that those, who instigate violence and perpetuate hatred(cause to continue or prevail) need to understand the truth that few minutes of peace would achieve far more than many years of war. The new President reiterated that India would not be deflected in its mission by noxious practitioners of terror.  Calling corruption an evil that can depress the nation's mood and sap9अशक्त या दुर्बल होना0 its progress, Mukherjee affirmed that the greed of a few could not be allowed to hijack the progress of the nation.  He said the country had achieved much in the field of agriculture, industry and social infrastructure, but it was nothing compared to what India, led by the coming generations, would create in the decades ahead. Highlighting the importance of non-violence in nation building, Mukherjee said violence was external to human nature. Quoting Swami Vivekananda, he said India would rise not with the power of flesh but with the power of spirit.

In Assam, the death toll has gone up to 12 in Kokrajhar district with the recovery of 3 bodies on Sunday. Two bodies were recovered from the Railway Bridge of Gaurang River while another from Kathalbari. District administration has re- imposed night curfew from 6 PM to 6 AM as a precautionary measures. Curfew was also clamped in the district last night (from 6 PM TO 6 AM) following stray incidences of violence in the wake of killing of 4 youths on Friday night.

The Deputy Commissioner of Kokrajhar Donald Gilfellon said that 13 relief camps have been set up at Gossaigaon and Kokrajhar. Around 10 thousand people affected in the aftermath of violence. Army has been called in and additional security forces have also been deployed at 31 sensitive areas of the district today.

He said that prohibitory orders under section 144 have also been issued in the district. State Tourism minister Chandan Brahma said the situation is sensitive but under control. Assam government already announced an ex-gratia of 3 lakh rupees to the next to the kin of deceased and 50 thousand rupees to the injured.

In another incident, unidentified miscreants killed two people at Mangolian Bazar area in Chirang district. Security forces rushed to the spot. District administration urged the people to maintain peace and harmony.

The UN Supervisory Mission in Syria has suspended its activities and patrols because of escalating violence in the country. The Head of the UN observer Mission General Robert Mood said that rising bloodshed over the past 10 days was creating significant risks for the 300 unarmed observers in the country.

General Mood said the lack of willingness by the parties for a peaceful transition was hindering the ability of UN Observers to monitor the ceasefire in the country.

The BRICS countries signed two agreements to initiate trade in their local currencies . Following the fourth BRICS Summit in New Delhi on Thursday, the five emerging economies also agreed on a joint working group to set up a development bank that will extend credit facilities to member countries in local currencies.

The master agreement is aimed at reducing the demand for fully convertible currencies like dollar, euro and pound etc for transactions among BRICS nations. This will help reduce the transaction costs of intra-BRICS trade. The joint working group will be required to submit a report on the initiative by the next Summit.

In a joint media statement, the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said the agreements would boost trade among the BRICS countries. At the same time, he pressed for easing of business visas to facilitate increase in intra-grouping trade and investment.

Summing up the sense of the meeting, Dr. Singh said all the five countries were affected by the global economic slowdown, volatility in food and energy prices, political uncertainty in West Asia and the rise of terrorism and extremism.

Earlier, addressing the BRICS Summit, Dr. Singh advocated from improvement in global governance. He said BRICS should speak in one voice on important issues like UN Security Council reforms. He also sought international cooperation on issues like energy, food and water security.

At their Summit meeting , Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and South African President Jacob Zuma pitched for close coordination among the five leading economies to meet the challenges being witnessed in the global scenario.

In a Joint Delhi Declaration adopted after the summit the leaders underlined that dialogue was the only way to resolve issues related to Iran and Syria. Expressing deep concern over the situation in Syria, the leaders called for an immediate end to all violence and violations of human rights .

On Iran, the BRICS leaders voiced concern over the situation emerging around its nuclear programme and said it cannot be allowed to escalate into conflict as it could have disastrous consequences which will be in no one's interest.

The Delhi declaration recognized that stability, peace and security of West Asia and North Africa hold vital importance for all member nations and also for the international community .

The declaration said, the immediate priority at hand is to restore market confidence and get global growth back on track. It also called for a more representative international financial architecture .

The BRICS nations also agreed to continue efforts for the successful conclusion of the Doha round.

AIR correspondent reports, the Delhi Declaration issued at the end of the summit reflects the shared perception of the BRICS countries, which account for 40 percent of global GDP and nearly half the world's

European Union leadersvoiced grave concern at North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons programmes and called on it to scrap a long-range rocket launch scheduled for next month. European Council Presidenthe was deeply worried by the North's plan to launch a satellite. Van Rompuy urged the impoverished but nuclear-armed state to divert more resources to feed its people instead of developing costly weapons programmes.

  Numerous leaders including US President Barack Obama called on the North to scrap the launch, intended to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of founding president Kim Il-Sung.
Pyongyang on Tuesday said it would go ahead with the test, reiterating its position that the launch is a peaceful scientific project.

West African leaders and heads of state are meeting in Ivory Coast today to discuss political crisis in Mali following last week's military coup there. The emergency meeting of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is likely to consider suspending Mali's membership from the 15-member sub-regional bloc. 

ECOWAS Vice President Toga Gayewea McIntosh said his group is concerned with preserving peace, stability and democracy in the country. The United States said yesterday that it will suspend some aid to Mali's in protest. Earlier, the United Nations Security Council strongly condemned the forcible seizure of power from Mali's democratically elected government.