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President, PM greet nation on New Year eve

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 31 Desember 2013 | 22.44

NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday greeted the nation on the eve of New Year, saying it was time to make a new beginning and set fresh goals to build a strong, united and prosperous India.

The Prime Minister said the New Year is a time for each one of us to reflect upon the year gone by, the successes and achievements as well as the lapses and shortcomings.

"It provides an opportunity to reassess ourselves and to plan for the year ahead, taking corrective action and setting new goals. It is a time of hope, a time to make a new beginning with resolve and confidence to achieve these goals," Singh said.

As a nation, it is an occasion to unite and brace ourselves for the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead, Manmohan Singh said.

"I wish 2014 brings peace, security, joy and prosperity to all", Singh added.

In his message, the President has asked the countrymen to work towards the collective goal of inclusive development and growth.

"On the joyous occasion of New Year, I convey my warmest greetings and good wishes to all my fellow citizens in India and abroad," he said.

"May the dawn of New Year, inspire all of us to strive for the creation of an enlightened society where knowledge is converted into social good and economic wealth. May the spirit of innovation ignite the young minds of our nation," Mukherjee said.

"Let us resolve to make it a year in which the people of the country in all their rich diversity unite to work towards the collective goal of inclusive development and growth. May the New Year ring out violence, exploitation and suffering and ring in peace, equity and goodwill," the President said.

Vice President Ansari said that may the coming year "shower us with peace, harmony and optimism in our midst".

He called upon people to resolve to work together towards building a strong, united and prosperous India.

"As we celebrate the end of one year and beginning of another, let us resolve to work together towards building a strong, united and prosperous India," Ansari said.


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Sri Lanka, India to exchange detained fishermen

COLOMBO: An exchange of 18 fishermen detained by Sri Lanka and India will take place soon, the Sri Lankan Navy said on Tuesday.

Six Indian fishermen and two trawlers will be handed over to authorities off the coast of Kankesanturai in the north, naval spokesman Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya said.

Twelve Sri Lankan fishermen and their two trawlers would be released by India, he said.

An Indian Coast Guard vessel will bring the Sri Lankan fishermen, Warnakulasuriya said.

It could not immediately be ascertained when the exchange would be made.

The Tamil Nadu government has been mounting pressure on the centre to take strong action against Sri Lanka for detaining fishermen.

Sri Lanka claims that the Indians repeatedly cross the International Maritime Boundary and indulge in "poaching" in its territorial waters despite warnings from the navy.

The Lankan Navy arrested a total of 40 fishermen in the last two days while they were fishing in the Palk Strait.

The families of Sri Lankan fishermen held in India accuse the government here of failing to take swift action to secure their release.


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Cold wave sweeps across Rajasthan

JAIPUR: Severe cold wave conditions continued in Rajasthan on Tuesday, affecting normal life in many cities. The minimum temperature was recorded at minus 0.5 degree in Mount Abu, officials said.

Jaipur was extremely chilly on Monday night at 10 degrees Celsius and it continued into Tuesday morning. The maximum day temperature was five degrees below average at 18 degrees Celsius.

The hill station of Mount Abu was the coldest at minus 0.5 degrees Celsius, while Churu recorded a minimum temperature of 2.2 degrees Celsius.

Extreme cold conditions hit the tourist inflow to Mount Abu.

Pilani and Ganganagar were also chilly at 2.8 and 3.2 degrees Celsius, respectively.

The state government has put up tents and "raen baseras" (night shelters) for pavement dwellers in Jaipur.

"We have made arrangements in over half a dozen places in Jaipur alone where we are providing free food and shelter," a municipality official said.


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AAP to contest Lok Sabha polls from Mysore

MYSORE: Buoyed by the party's success in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party's Mysore unit is looking to broad base its activities even as it announced to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls from Mysore.

The party has contacted social activist R Balasubramaniam to contest the polls on its ticket, the AAP said but clarified that his candidature is not finalized. "We've asked him to consider contesting the Lok Sabha polls. He has not responded," the party's Mysore coordinator Vinod M S told reporters when asked whether Balasubramaniam will be their candidate. "He is actively involved in anti-corruption movement and led the agitation in Mysore when Gandhian Anna Hazare launched the movement. He set up India against Corruption to continue his struggle and is not actively involved in the AAP's affairs. But we've approached him to contest the polls," he said on Tuesday.
According to him, the party broached the issue with him a year back and requested him several times to contest the parliamentary polls on the AAP.

When contacted, Balasubramaniam said: "They have (AAP) asked me to contest the polls. I'm thinking about it seriously." The social activist is likely to make known his decision by January-end, after he returns from the US.
The AAP said it has discussed its plans with other persons who are involved in social service but declined to name them. The activists from Mysore have conveyed their decision to the national executive, which, Vinod said, is yet to give a green signal. Ahead of their contest, the AAP activists are seeking to enlist the support of Mysoreans, which holds the key to the results given that it forms 40 per cent of the voters in the eight constituencies in the parliamentary segment. It is seeking to gain a foothold in Hunsur, Madikeri, Periyapatna and Virajpet, all of which are in the Mysore parliamentary constituency.

This comes after the AAP's limited foray into electoral politics in Mysore. Ahead of polls to the Mysore City Corporation in February-March the AAP held voter education targeting corruption asking voters not to sell their votes.

Though the AAP desisted from contesting the polls, it made it a point to kick in their campaign. This came just weeks after the AAP's Political Affairs Committee member Yogendra Yadav inaugurated the party unit Mysore on January 9.

After the electoral success at Delhi, people are joining the party taking primary membership. The Mysore unit has 1,000 members, up by 400 in some three weeks. According to the party activists, they are approached by the youths in rural areas seeking membership.

The party is now extending its activities holding ward sahbas wherein they are pooling the civic complaints of local residents and working out strategies to address them. The party activist R Vidyaranya, a septuagenarian, said they held two ward sahbas in Hanumanthnagar (ward 45) and Bogadhi (ward 25). This will be a weekly affair now and we'll hold ward sabhas Sundays, he stated.


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Last Muzaffarnagar camp vacated, 483 families move out

MUZAFFARNAGAR: Hounded by biting cold and urgings by senior district officials, as many as 483 riot-hit families camping in Loi village on Tuesday left for "safer places".

There are no more relief camps left in Muzaffarnagar district, while neighbouring Shamli has four camps.

According to district magistrate Koshal Raj Sharma, who was camping in Loi village since morning, "420 families were shifted during the day while remaining 63 left in evening to safer places".

Principal secretary of UP health department, Paveen Kumar also visited the camp today. Kumar also went to the four camps in Shamli to check the arrangement of medical facilities in camps.

The departing families were provided with ration for ten days and they will also be given medical facilities and security, the DM said.

There were more than 510 families living in the Loi camp after the riots broke out in August.

According to a high-level committee constituted by UP government, at least 34 children below the age of 12 years had perished in the relief camps in the Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts.

The Union home ministry has asked the state government about the number of children who have died so far at the relief camps in western Uttar Pradesh, the reasons for the deaths and the steps taken to prevent further casualties.

Over 60 people were killed and thousands left homeless during the riots in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas in September.


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General Bikram Singh takes over as most senior military chief

Written By Unknown on Senin, 30 Desember 2013 | 22.44

NEW DELHI: Army chief General Bikram Singh on Monday took over as the new chairman of the chiefs of staff committee (CoSC) from Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne, who hangs his boots on Tuesday. Air Marshal Arup Raha, in turn, will replace ACM Browne as the next IAF chief.

As the CoSC chairman, ACM Browne pushed several tri-Service initiatives including the critical one for creation of three new joint commands for space, cyber and special forces. He also asked the government to give "full representation" to the military on the 7th Central Pay Commission as well as resolve pending issues like rank pay.

Gen Singh, in his new role as the CoSC chairman, will also have to ensure synergy among the three Services which often pull in different directions on doctrinal, planning, policy and operational issues. Of the particular significance will be the three new commands, considered crucial for deploying capabilities for conventional as well asymmetric warfare in a unified manner, which are now awaiting the final government nod.

India as of now has only two unified commands, the Andaman and Nicobar Island regional command and the Strategic Forces Command to handle nuclear weapons, as also an integrated defence staff set-up.

Successive governments have also dragged their feet in creating the post of a General No. 1, a tri-Service military chief, either in the shape of a chief of defence staff (CDS) or a permanent chairman of the CoSC.

The existing CoSC comprises the Army, Navy and IAF chiefs, with the senior-most of them acting as the "rotational" chairman till he retires. A permanent chairman, with a fixed two-year tenure, would mean a fourth four-star general in the CoSC as the "first among equals".

Despite being strongly recommended by the GoM report on `Reforming the national security system' in 2001 after the Kargil conflict, the CDS post has been kept in cold storage. Similarly, the government has not moved towards appointing a permanent CoSC chairman, which was recommended by the 14-member Naresh Chandra Taskforce in its report submitted to PM Manmohan Singh in May 2012, and later endorsed by the three Services.

The defence ministry has also rejected the need for "cross-staffing", or the posting of military officers to MoD to bridge the civil-military disconnect, holding that there were institutional mechanisms in place to ensure "joint consultations" as well as provide "integrated advise" to the defence minister.


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Karnataka to regulate foreign junkets by legislators

BANGALORE: The Karnataka government will not dump foreign junkets by legislators but plans to regulate them in future. This comes after a proposed South American study tour by 30 MLAs of the state led to controversy.

Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa is said to have convened a meeting of legislative assembly secretariat officials on January 2 to discuss the future course of action on foreign tours.

Both Thimmappa and legislative council chairman DH Shankaramurthy have maintained that foreign tours undertaken by the legislators cannot be stopped immediately, but some kind of regulations need to be brought in place.

A senior secretariat official said submission of study report will be made mandatory for the touring committee. "Besides being a privilege, the foreign tour programme was charted out scrapping the all-India tour scheme. Each legislator through their legislative committee was entitled to go an all-India tour thrice with flight and good facilities. This was scrapped and converted into one foreign tour in their term," he said.

"In future, there will be less scope for jolly trips and more onus on study and purpose of the tour," he added.
During the meeting later this week, Speaker is likely to constitute a team or assign a task to reputed universities or educational institutions to submit a report on ways and means of making legislators' foreign junkets effective in terms of constituency development or benefits to the state.

While chief minister Siddaramaiah reiterated that neither he nor the government can intervene in the functioning of the legislative committees, KPCC president G Parameshwara backed the junkets. Parameshwara said there was nothing wrong in legislators undertaking foreign tours, but added that the timing should be appropriate. Siddaramaiah said he will hold talks.


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UP riots: Akhilesh govt fails to reply Centre's letters

NEW DELHI: Even as a fact-finding committee set up by the Uttar Pradesh government recently admitted to the death of 34 children at relief camps housing Muzaffarnagar riot victims, repeated letters from the Union home ministry seeking similar information have failed to elicit a direct response from the state administration.

The MHA had first written to the Akhilesh Yadav government soon after media reports claimed that nearly 40 children had died due to extreme cold in relief camps across Muzaffarnagar and Shamli. Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde had, at his monthly press conference on December 10, confirmed that details had been sought from the state government in this regard.

These details included the number of children who had died at the relief camps in western Uttar Pradesh, the reasons for the deaths and the steps taken to prevent further casualties.

"We have sent four letters (to the state), beginning December 8. The latest one was sent on Monday (December 30). However, UP government has ignored all our queries," agencies on Monday quoted a senior government official as saying.

Though the UP government initially denied any death of children in the riot relief camps, sustained pressure from the NGOs and media led it to appoint a panel on December 13 under the Meerut divisional commissioner Manjit Singh to authenticate the "deaths" and look into the "specifics".

The district magistrates and chief medical officers of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli were nominated as members of the panel. The committee initially confirmed the death of 11 children, but, more recently, revised the number to 34 children.

The state of relief camps in Uttar Pradesh has been a subject of hot political debate, with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, during a recent visit to these camps, slamming the state government for the poor living conditions. Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Yadav, however, retorted saying that there were no riot victims in the camps but "only conspirators and political activists planted by the BJP and the Congress".

On top of all this was the controversial remark by the UP principal secretary (home) Anil Gupta that children in the camps may have died of pneumonia, not cold. "Nobody can die of cold. If people died of cold, nobody would have been alive in Siberia," Gupta had said, forcing a miffed J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah to suggest through Twitter that the bureaucrat be sent out in less clothes himself. " ... let's see if he isn't singing a different tune pretty damn quick," he had tweeted.


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Congress likely to field Nandan Nilekani from Bangalore south in 2014 polls

BANGALORE: IT czar and Unique Identification Authority of India ( UIDAI) chief Nandan Nilekani inched closer to getting a ticket from Bangalore south Lok Sabha segment with KPCC president G Parameshwara saying his party is serious about the intent expressed by Nilekani to contest polls on Congress ticket.

On the sidelines of Congress meeting on Monday, Parameshwar said that Nilekani had met him and expressed his intent to contest for Lok Sabha. "The party has taken it very seriously because people like Nilekani expressing his intent for becoming a Congress candidate is something which we really feel happy about," he said.

On a query that Nilekani would be taking on seasoned politican like H N Ananth Kumar, who has won five time from the segment, the KPCC chief said that the party will talk to the cadre and local leaders in that particular constituency and see what best can be done.

To a question whether Nilekani is being considered going against party's basic guidelines for candidature, Parameshwara said the party constitution gives authority to its national president to take final decision on any matter. "On this issue the decision will be from Congress president as he (Nilekani) does not comply with any of our criteria, his will be an exceptional case," he said.

On KPCC's preparations for 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he said "The process is on; we are actually examining the entire 28 constituencies. Out of 28, we want to win all 28 constituencies, that is our intention at the moment."


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Yeddyurappa's return will sully BJP's image: Siddaramaiah

BANGALORE: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said the return of BS Yeddyurappa to BJP would not have any impact in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in the state but would only sully the image of saffron party further.

"The joining of Yeddyurappa in BJP will not make any impact in Karnataka. On the other hand, the BJP's image will be further damaged," he told reporters here after the inauguration of Traffic Management Centre.

Yeddyurappa's return would only benefit Congress, Siddaramaiah said.

"The BJP was saying it had removed Yeddyurappa after he was imprisoned, but now is inviting him. So what will happen to the party," he said.

Ending months of speculation, Yeddyurappa on Monday said he would return to the BJP, which he had deserted to form his own outfit more than a year ago.

On Nandan Nilekani contesting the Lok Sabha seat from Bangalore South constituency, Siddaramaiah said the UIDAI chairman has expressed his intentions to contest and he told him he would discuss the issue with the Congress high command.

Earlier speaking at the function, Siddaramaiah asked the police to create an environment where people can lead a fearless life. "If people abide by the laws, then most of the problems will be solved automatically," he said.

Siddaramaiah said the government has spent Rs 23 crore for setting up the traffic management centre.


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BJP's strategy meet to coincide with Cong session

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 29 Desember 2013 | 22.44

NEW DELHI: With battle lines between Congress and BJP for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls firmly drawn, the principal opposition party has decided to hold its strategy meet on January 17, the day when AICC is holding a session on the issue.

While Congress' day-long session is scheduled to be held at Talkatora Stadium, the BJP national executive will meet the same day at the NDMC Centre followed by a two-day open session of the party's national council at the Ramleela grounds on December 18 and 19.

Significant political outcomes are expected at the end of both the sessions, where the two national parties will discuss and formalize their election strategy for the next general elections.

Both the parties are also expected to discuss the political situation in the wake of Aam Aadmi Party's phenomenal rise.

Top BJP leaders including party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, party veteran L K Advani and both leaders of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley and party president Rajnath Singh will address the sessions.

This will be the Modi's first major strategy meet after a court in Ahmedabad recently gave a clean chit to him in the matter of his role in the 2002 riots.

A day prior to national executive meeting, the BJP will also hold a meeting of its office-bearers on January 16 to discuss the political situation.

The opposition party will also move an economic and political resolution at the National Council to highlight the current situation and "poor" economic health of the country under the UPA and give a clarion call to its workers to work for Congress' ouster.

Through the meet, the BJP hopes to further consolidate its position riding on the anti-Congress wave that led to its victory in the recent Assembly polls in four major states.


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Train mishap: Railways releases official list of passengers

HYDERABAD: The railways on Sunday evening released the official list of injured, dead and missing passengers of the air-conditioned bogie of train No. 16594 Bangalore City - Nanded Express train that caught fire killing 26 people in Anantapur district on Saturday monring.

Passengers dead and bodies identified (total 19 so far)

1. Ishwar Nagre (Male)

2. Anirudh N Kulkarni (Male)

3. Lalitha (Female)

4. Basavaraju (Male)

5. Sarvamanala (Female)

6. Padmini (Female)

7. Anil Kumar (Male)

8. Jui George (Female)

9. Kandoba Kulkarni (Male)

10. Premalatha (Female)

11. Bheemiaiah (Male)

12. Sudha (Female)

13. Leela (Female)

14. Ramanandam (Male)

15. Krishnamurthy (Male)

16. Subhash Reddy (Male)

17. Champalal Rathi (Male)

18. Sreenivas B (Male)

19. Sreelatha (Female)

Passengers with grievous injuries

1. Vjaya Ramamurthy (Female)

2. Natesh (Male)

3. Tanushree (Female)

4. Prof. Narahari Rao (Male)

Passengers discharged after treatment

1. Vijitha (Female)

2. Tanuja (Female)

3. Dalwinder (Male)

Passengers who are safe

1. Sanjeev Kolur (Male)

2. Srikanth (Male)

3. R Ramamurthy (Male)

4. Nagesh Rao (Male)

5. Anupama (Female)

6. Sharanabasava (Male)

7. Sharana Basava PH (Male)

8. Shreeya (Female)

9. Parul Singh (Female)

10. R Anil (Male)

11. R Amith (Male)

12. Sunitha (Female)

13. Chirag (Male)

14. Sakshi (Female)

15. Nagamani (Female)

16. K Oron (Male)

17. Veeresh Patil (Male)

18. Dheeraj Kumar (Male)

19. Basanagowda (Male)

20. Hanumegowda (Male)

21. Oron (Female)

22. L. Oron (Male)

23. R Prabhakaran (Male)

24. Akshaya Perar (Male)

25. Chandru Perar (Male)

26. Vishalakshi (Female)

27. Vaishnavi Rao (Female)

28. Veena Rao (Female)

29. Amaresh N Makal (Male)

30. M B Patil (Male)

31. Manjunath Patil (Male)

32. Vivek (Male)

33. Umesh (Male)

Passengers feared dead or missing

1. Kavitha Nagre (Female)

2. N Kishore Kumar (Male)

3. Rddha Krishna R A (Male)

4. Dr. Asra (Male)

5. Balbir Kaur (Female)

6. Aman Preet Kaur (Female)

7. Ibrahim Rahi (male)

8. Rahul (Male)

9. Pratap Vinay (Male)


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Train accident: Railways releases official list of passengers

HYDERABAD: The railways on Sunday evening released the official list of injured, dead and missing passengers of the air-conditioned bogie of train No. 16594 Bangalore City - Nanded Express train that caught fire killing 26 people in Anantapur district on Saturday monring.

Passengers dead and bodies identified (total 19 so far)

1. Ishwar Nagre (Male)

2. Anirudh N Kulkarni (Male)

3. Lalitha (Female)

4. Basavaraju (Male)

5. Sarvamanala (Female)

6. Padmini (Female)

7. Anil Kumar (Male)

8. Jui George (Female)

9. Kandoba Kulkarni (Male)

10. Premalatha (Female)

11. Bheemiaiah (Male)

12. Sudha (Female)

13. Leela (Female)

14. Ramanandam (Male)

15. Krishnamurthy (Male)

16. Subhash Reddy (Male)

17. Champalal Rathi (Male)

18. Sreenivas B (Male)

19. Sreelatha (Female)

Passengers with grievous injuries

1. Vjaya Ramamurthy (Female)

2. Natesh (Male)

3. Tanushree (Female)

4. Prof. Narahari Rao (Male)

Passengers discharged after treatment

1. Vijitha (Female)

2. Tanuja (Female)

3. Dalwinder (Male)

Passengers who are safe

1. Sanjeev Kolur (Male)

2. Srikanth (Male)

3. R Ramamurthy (Male)

4. Nagesh Rao (Male)

5. Anupama (Female)

6. Sharanabasava (Male)

7. Sharana Basava PH (Male)

8. Shreeya (Female)

9. Parul Singh (Female)

10. R Anil (Male)

11. R Amith (Male)

12. Sunitha (Female)

13. Chirag (Male)

14. Sakshi (Female)

15. Nagamani (Female)

16. K Oron (Male)

17. Veeresh Patil (Male)

18. Dheeraj Kumar (Male)

19. Basanagowda (Male)

20. Hanumegowda (Male)

21. Oron (Female)

22. L. Oron (Male)

23. R Prabhakaran (Male)

24. Akshaya Perar (Male)

25. Chandru Perar (Male)

26. Vishalakshi (Female)

27. Vaishnavi Rao (Female)

28. Veena Rao (Female)

29. Amaresh N Makal (Male)

30. M B Patil (Male)

31. Manjunath Patil (Male)

32. Vivek (Male)

33. Umesh (Male)

Passengers feared dead or missing

1. Kavitha Nagre (Female)

2. N Kishore Kumar (Male)

3. Rddha Krishna R A (Male)

4. Dr. Asra (Male)

5. Balbir Kaur (Female)

6. Aman Preet Kaur (Female)

7. Ibrahim Rahi (male)

8. Rahul (Male)

9. Pratap Vinay (Male)


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Actor Suchitra Sen hospitalized, in serious condition

KOLKATA: Legendary actress Suchitra Sen is in a serious condition after she was admitted to a private hospital here following a respiratory tract infection, doctors said on Sunday.

The 82-year-old actress, who lives a secluded life and stays locked up inside her apartment, was admitted to Belle Vue Clinic earlier this week after she complained of breathlessness.

The clinic has formed a five-member-committee to monitor the health of its star patient 24x7 led by cardiologist Dr Subrata Moitra.

Sources in the Belle Vue Clinic said Sen is now on oxygen and has complained of chest pain following which her chest's CT scan was also done.

She is being administered antibiotics and oxygen, they said.

Beginning her career with the Bengali film "Shesh Kothai" in 1952, Sen went on to receive a national award for her performance in the 1955 Hindi film "Devdas" and is the first Indian actress to be awarded at an international film festival — best actress award for "Saat Paake Bandha" in 1963 Moscow film festival.

But after her 1978 movie "Pronoy Pasha" with Soumitra Chatterjee flopped, she disappeared from the public eye and even allegedly refused the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2005 preferring not to make a public appearance.


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Devyani Khobragade case: India sets up special group

NEW DELHI: With India determined not to relent on its demand for the US to formally apologize on the handcuffing and strip-search of its envoy Devyani Khobragade, a special group of experts, including in international law, would be meeting on Monday to discuss the case.

The US has been quiet on the matter for the past few days on account of most senior officials going on end-of-year leave for Christmas and New Year.

The meeting of the group of experts, set up by foreign secretary Sujatha Singh, is indicative of India's firm resolve to pursue the matter to the end, said sources.

The group would comprise experts in international law, finance, human resource, and international organizations, among others. They would follow up on all Khobragade related developments.

The group would also scrutinize the information on the wages being paid by US diplomats in India to their Indian staff to see if was on par with the US standards.

Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York, was arrested for alleged visa fraud and underpaying her nanny Sangeeta Richard — charges she has denied. Khobragade was handcuffed and strip-searched, a development which has caused outrage in India.

India has demanded that the US take back charges against Khobragade and tender an apology.

While the US maintained that she was a consular official and not under diplomatic immunity, India has said Khobragade was concurrently an advisor to India's permanent mission at the UN from April this year, which gave her full diplomatic immunity.

India has sought details from the US embassy and its consulates on the number of Indian staff on their rolls and the wages paid to them.

India has already withdrawn the airport passes given to US diplomats in India and the special diplomatic identity cards issued to them as part of reciprocal measures after the arrest of the envoy.


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Farooque Sheikh dead, Bollywood mourns loss

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 28 Desember 2013 | 22.44

MUMBAI: Multi-faceted actor Farooque Sheikh's life came to an abrupt end late Friday night in Dubai following a cardiac arrest. He was 65.

The talent, who delivered impeccable performances in films like "Umrao Jaan" and "Chashme Buddoor", as well as in TV shows and on stage, will be remembered by his colleagues and confidantes for his innocent charm, uninterrupted honesty to his craft and his unmatched humility, colleagues and friends in the industry said.

He is survived by his wife and two daughters, with whom he was on a vacation in Dubai.

His body will be brought to Mumbai for the last rites once the relevant formalities are completed in Dubai, said Deepti Naval, the late actor's co-star of many films.

From his big screen debut with the widely acclaimed "Garam Hawa" in 1973 to films like "Shatranj Ke Khilari", "Bazaar", "Umrao Jaan", "Chashme Buddoor" and "Saath Saath"; TV shows like "Shrikant", "Chamatkar", "Ji Mantriji" and "Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai"; and a long-running play like "Tumhari Amrita" - Farooque's body of work was creatively rich.

Filmmaker, MS Sathyu, who launched him in films with his movie "Garam Hawa", says the actor was a great discovery.

"He was a very respectful and a good gentleman. He was extremely talented and versatile. Good talent is spotted on intuition, and Farooque was indeed a great find," Sathyu told IANS.

Deepti and Shabana Azmi, with whom Farooque worked in multiple projects, were distraught at the news of his demise.

"I am in a state of shock. He was one of the finest actors in the film industry. He was the one who has always encouraged me to work," a teary Deepti told IANS.

His college friend and colleague Shabana, who has been his co-star of 21 years in their popular play "Tumhari Amrita", directed by Feroz Abbas Khan, said: "I can't believe he's gone so suddenly and so cruelly...We were close friends from before we worked together. We were in college together. I can't believe he's gone."

Born March 25, 1948 in Baroda, Sheikh started as a theatre actor and later went on to exhibit his natural flair for acting in both parallel and mainstream cinema. If he convincingly played a nawab in "Umrao Jaan", he essayed the role of a common man in "Chashme Buddoor" with equal aplomb.

He featured in just over 50 films, but it was enough for him to make an impact.

Furthermore, his finesse at creating a balance between the two worlds continued till the end - he was seen in the box office blockbuster "Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani" and the critically acclaimed "Club 60".

"Your subtle, nuanced and genius body of work will live on forever," filmmaker Karan Johar posted on his Twitter page once the news of Farooque's death came out.

Hindi films' megastar, Amitabh Bachchan described the late actor as a "true gentleman, a wonderful colleague", who had "a quiet honesty about him" and who had "an absence of any kind of pretence in his demeanour, or towards his work".

Farooque even won the 2010 National Film Award for best supporting actor for the film "Lahore".

His life was "passionately dedicated to his art", said internationally acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur about the actor, who was not just appreciated for his craft, but also for the warmth and love he exuded as a person.

There were many who vouched for his excellence as a human being.

Mahesh Bhatt tweeted: "The warmth of your smile lingers in our memory", while Divya Dutta remembers having told him: "The warmth and genuiness you exude is unparallelled".

"His smile was straight from the heart," she added.

It is that smile and the craft, captured in several movies that his fans and future generations will remember for years to come.


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Will not fight next LS polls, says Union minister Dinsha Patel

KHEDA (Gujarat): Five times Lok Sabha MP and Union mines minister Dinsha Patel on Saturday said that he would not contest in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

The minister also told reporters that he has already informed the party (Congress) leadership about the decision.

"I have conveyed to my party (Congress) that I will not fight the next elections, they should give chance to some other person from this constituency. I will help the party win the seat, whoever might be the candidate," Patel said adding that he had informed the party about the decision around six months back.

Patel's announcement comes as a blow to the Congress as despite the BJP wave sweeping the state, Patel emerged as the winner in Kheda constituency. The senior Congress leader is considered to be a strong pillar of the party in the central Gujarat region.

According to party sources, the 76-year-old leader has decided not to contest the polls due to his old age.

Before he was elected to the Lok Sabha, Patel was a five time MLA and was also a minister in Congress government between 1990 and 1995.

Patel's decision has created a flutter in the political circles here, as the the ruling BJP has set a target of winning all the 26 Lok Sabha seats of Gujarat, the home state of their prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

However, the Congress sources said that the final decision about his retirement from electoral politics will be taken by the party high command.


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Arrested Indian national to be deported by Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: Thamil Prabakaran had shot film of a military camp, a road and buildings devastated during the ethnic war.

Thamil Prabakaran, a 24-year-old Tamil Nadu resident, was handed over to immigration authorities after being quizzed by the police's terrorism investigation division, police spokesman Ajith Rohana said on Saturday.

"With his (Prabakaran) arrest, we were able to thwart a plot to carry out disinformation against the country," Rohana claimed.

The man, purportedly attached to a Tamil Nadu publication, was arrested in the former LTTE nerve center of Kilinochchi in the north on Wednesday.

He had shot film of a military camp, a road and buildings devastated during the ethnic war. Police said the man had arrived in Sri Lanka on a tourist visa and had violated visa rules.

Local media described the man as a LTTE sympathizer. Kilinochchi was the administrative center of the Tamil rebels until January 2009, when Sri Lankan forces recaptured the city.


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Mercury dips, cold wave tightens grip in Himachal

SHIMLA: The cold wave sweeping the hills and valleys of Himachal Pradesh caused further drop in mercury.

The minimum temperature hovered around freezing point at most places even as mercury plummeted to minus 9.1 degrees Celsius and minus 5.6 degrees Celsius at Keylong and Kalpa in tribal Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur districts.

Manali shivered at minus 3.2 degrees Celsius, followed by Bhuntar minus 0.4, Sundernagar and Dalhousie minus 0.1.

Mercury dropped to 2 degrees Celsius in Una, 0.4 in Solan, 1.1 in Chamba, 1.7 in Shimla, 4.7 in Nahan, 4.5 in Palampur and 5.8 in Dharamsala.

Regions in higher altitudes registered biting cold wave conditions with mercury staying between minus 12 and minus 22 degrees Celsius.

Natural sources in tribal areas have been frozen for the last one month drastically reducing the discharge of water in snowfed Sutlej, Ravi and Beas Rivers and causing sharp fall in hydropower generation.

The maximum day temperature also dropped marginally with Una recording the highest of 20.2 degrees Celsius, followed by Sundernagar 18.7, Nahan 17.6, Solan 17.5, Bhunter 17, Dharamshala 14.8, Shimla 12.5 and Kalpa 6.6 degrees Celsius, four to eight degrees below normal.

The local MeT office has predicted dry weather in the region for the next two days and rains or snow in mid and higher hills from December 30 onwards.


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Govt not taking steps to avoid rail mishaps: Jaganmohan Reddy

ANANTHPUR: YSR Congress president Jaganmohan Reddy today blamed the Central government for not taking appropriate measures to avoid railway mishaps such as the Bangalore-Nanded train fire tragedy that claimed 26 lives.

Whenever accidents take place, government constitutes a commission and grants ex-gratia to the relatives of the dead, without putting into practice suggestions made in the report, he told reporters at the Sathya Sai Prashantinilayam railway station.

"I ask this government and the railway minister (that) why ain't the commission reports coming forth? What (remedial) action has it taken," he said.

The government needs to give confidence to the passengers by taking appropriate measures to implement the technical suggestions made by the commissions, Reddy said.

"If you think bogies have to be revamped, why aren't we doing it? How many times we will say short-circuit is the reason. How many times we will say fire extinguishers were there but not working? This has to end somewhere," Reddy said.


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Yeddyurappa gets invitation to join BJP

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 27 Desember 2013 | 22.44

BANGALORE: Former CM BS Yeddyurappa got an invitation to re-enter BJP fold from none other than his bete noire and party's national general secretary HN Ananth Kumar.

Addressing the party workers at the special executive meet on Friday, Kumar said in order to get more seats from the state in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the leaders and volunteers who quit should come back to party fold. "We faced defeat in the 2013 assembly polls due to split in the party. BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi has given call to free India from corrupt Congress. If we have to achieve this, all our brothers who quit will have to come back to party fold," he said without naming Yeddyurappa.

The delegates present in the meeting also raised their hands and clapped to symbolize that executive body of the state BJP are in favour of Yeddyurappa comeback.

A senior leader in the BJP indicated that Yeddyurappa would return to the party within days. It was likely a function would be held during first week of January or after 15 of next month. Reports said a group of leaders including Kumar is likely to meet Yeddyurappa at his Dollors Colony very soon.

When asked on Yeddyurappa's return, BJP president Rajnath Singh remained non committal and said "When we take a decision on this matter, we will let you know."

Yeddyurappa quit BJP in December 2012 and formed Karnataka Janata Party, which was one of the reasons for the BJP to lose power in Karnaraka.


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Centre's intervention sought for release of Indian journalist held in Lanka

CHENNAI: Political parties in Tamil Nadu and journalist associations on Friday sought the Centre's intervention for the release of an Indian national arrested in Sri Lanka.

MDMK leader Vaiko appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure the safe return of the man hailing from Tamil Nadu, who was arrested on Thursday.

In a letter to Singh, Vaiko identified the arrested person as Prabhakaran and said he had gone there on a tourist visa on December 25.

He said Prabhakaran had accompanied Sri Lankan Tamil MP Sritharan and Pasupathi Pillai, elected Member of the Northern Provincial Council, who visited Ponnavili, a Tamil village.

"Then they have proceeded to Valaipadu village. When they were on discussion with Rev. Father of St. Antony Church, they were surrounded by the Sri Lankan army at 1.30pm and taken into custody," he said.

While Sritharan and Pillai were released in the evening, Prabhakaran was detained, he said.

Claiming that the arrested Prabhakaran was a 'journalist', Vaiko insisted that a journalist had "every right" to visit any country on a tourist visa and the "freedom to meet people."

Expressing concern over the arrest, Vaiko requested Singh to take "immediate appropriate measures" through the external affairs ministry to enable the safe return of Prabakaran to Tamil Nadu.

PMK founder S Ramadoss also flayed the arrest, alleging that it was an example of human rights violations in that country.

The Chennai Press Club and Chennai Union of Journalists wrote to the external affairs ministry, saying Prabhakaran had written a series of articles in a Tamil bi-weekly "about the plight of the Lankan Tamils", which were subsequently published as a book. The associations sought the intervention of the ministry for Prabhakaran's release.

On December 26, Sri Lankan police had said an Indian national had been arrested on charges of filming a military installation in Kilinochchi, the former LTTE stronghold.


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Shaken to the core but Modi does not offer apology

AHMEDABAD: Narendra Modi on Friday spoke of "pain" and "anguish" over the 2002 Gujarat riots, but did not proffer any apology over the killings. In a 1000-word blog containing his most detailed comments on the riots, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate said that he felt "absolute emptiness" on witnessing such "inhumanity".

A day after a magistrate's court upheld a clean chit given to him by a Supreme Court-appointed probe panel in the massacre of 68 people in Gulberg Housing Society here during the riots, Modi said he did not see the judgement as a personal victory or defeat. He began by stating that with the judiciary having spoken, "I felt it important to share my inner thoughts and feelings with the nation at large."

Modi then referred to the devastating Gujarat earthquake of 2001 causing widespread loss of life and property before he moved on to the riots the following year. He stated wrongly that the riots had happened "within a mere five months" of the earthquake. The earthquake happened on January 26, 2001 and the riots took place in March 2002. After referring to the two tragic events, Modi said, "I was shaken to the core. 'Grief, 'sadness, 'misery', 'pain' 'anguish', 'agony'— mere words could not capture the absolute emptiness one felt on witnessing such inhumanity."

Modi said on the one side was the pain of the victims of the earthquake and on the other the pain of the victims of the riots. "In decisively confronting this great turmoil, I had to single-mindedly focus all the strength given to me by the almighty on the task of peace, justice and rehabilitation; burying the pain and agony I was personally wracked with," he said in an apparent effort to reach out to the Muslims ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. "This is the first time I am sharing the harrowing ordeal I had gone through in those words at a personal level," he said in the blog.

Modi had over the last decade consistently refused to express regrets or apologize for the riots that had killed over 1,000 people, most of them Muslims. "The Gujarat government had responded to the violence more swiftly and decisively than ever done before in any previous riots in the country. "Yesterday's judgement culminated a process of unprecedented scrutiny closely monitored by the highest court of land, the Honourable Supreme Court of India. Gujarat's 12 years of trial by the fire have finally drawn to an end. I feel liberated and at peace," He said.

Thanking the people who stood by him in these "trying times" through the "facade of lies and deceit", the chief minister said "with this cloud of misinformation firmly dispelled, I will now also hope that the many others out there trying to understand and connect the real Narendra Modi would feel more empowered to do so."

Emerging from "this journey of pain and agony", Modi said he prayed to God in all humility that no bitterness seeped into his heart. "I sincerely do not see this judgement as a personal victory or defeat, and urge all - My friends and especially my opponents - to not to do so as well," he said. Modi, who has the image of a hardline Hindutva proponent and describes himself as a Hindu nationalist, said those who derive satisfaction by perpetuating pain in others will probably not stop their tirade against him. "I do not expect them to. But, I pray in all my humility, that they at least now stop irresponsibly maligning the 6 crore people of Gujarat," he said.

He said he fasted 37 days for Sadhbhavana (harmony), choosing to translate the positive judgement into constructive action, reinforcing unity and sadbhavana in society at large." "I am deeply convinced that the future of any society, state or country lies in harmony. This is the only foundation on which progress and prosperity can be built. Therefore, I urge one and all to join hands in working towards the same, ensuring smiles on each and every face," he said. "Once again," Modi said, "satyameva jayate" (truth alone triumphs).

Recalling the events of those days in the aftermath of the Godhra train burning, Modi said he fervently urged for peace and restraint to ensure lives of innocents were not put at risk. "I had repeatedly reiterated the same principles in my daily interactions with the media in those fateful days of February-March 2002 as well, publicly underlining the political will as well as moral responsibility of the government to ensure peace, deliver justice and punish all guilty of violence.

"You will also find these deep emotions in my recent words at my Sadbhavana fasts, where I had emphasized how such deplorable incidents did not behove a civilized society and had pained me deeply," he said. In fact, Modi said, his emphasis has always been on developing and emphasizing a spirit of unity with the now widely-used concept of "My 5 crore Gujarati brothers and sisters' having crystallized right at the beginning of his tenure as chief minister itself from this very space.

"However, as if all the suffering was not enough, I was also accused of the death and misery of my own loved ones, my Gujarati brothers and sisters. Can you imagine the inner turmoil and shock of being blamed for the very events that have shattered you," he said. For so many years, they incessantly kept up their attack, leaving no stone unturned. What pained even more was that in their overzealousness to hit at him for their narrow personal and political ends, they ended up maligning the entire state and the country.

"They heartlessly kept reopening the wounds that we were sincerely trying to heal. It ironically also delayed the very justice that these people claimed to be fighting for. May be they did not realise how much suffering they were adding to an already pained people," he said.


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Ajit Jogi to take year-long break from electoral politics

RAIPUR: After the recent setback for his party in the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections where it failed to dislodge the BJP government, Congress leader and former chief minister Ajit Jogi on Friday said he would be taking a one-year-long break from "electoral politics".

"I have already said I will not contest Lok Sabha election. I have decided to remain away from electoral politics for a year. I wanted to read, write, do contemplation and perform religious discourse and prayers," he said, talking to reporters here this evening.

He further said, "You can call it an exile or otherwise. I wanted to live a life different from the one I am living for the past several years. In everybody's life, a time comes when your conscience prompts you to take such a decision. Jogi said his life first as an IAS officer, and later as a politician, had been very hectic all these years.

When asked if the decision follows the son Amit's entry in the politics, he said, "Amit has nothing to do with this. As a father I discharged my duties."

Amit won from Marwahi in the recent elections. Jogi also said he would not travel for campaigning for the party in Lok Sabha polls. But he said he would be available at his home to the media.

On the Ahmedabad magistrate's decision on Zakia Jafri's plea in Modi case, Jogi said it was not a final verdict as appeal can be filed.


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UPA restructures minority welfare scheme

LUCKNOW: Instead of developing minority concentration districts, the central government is now aiming for development of minority concentration blocks. With Lok Sabha elections a few months away, the Central government has restructured one of its ambitious minority welfare scheme — the Multi Sectoral Development Programme (MSDP) - to reach out to maximum "targeted minorities".

The union ministry of minority affairs has brought 144 blocks and 18 towns of 45 districts of UP under the restructured MSDP. The scheme was initiated in Eleventh Five Year Plan all over the country. In the 12th Plan, the centre has restructured MSDP for sharper focus on monority concentration areas.

The centre has changed the `unit area of planning' to blocks/towns instead of minority concentration districts. Besides, clusters of contiguous minority concentration villages, having at least 50% minority population, would also be identified.
Since 2007-08, MSDP was covering 21 minority concentrated districts in UP. In 2012-13, 16 more districts were brought within its fold. This year, the number has been increased to 45 districts. "The programme will now be implemented at the block level," said sources in UP minority welfare department.

To run the programme till 2016-17, GoI has released Rs 946 crore (approx.). "Though the programme aims at developing minority concentration clusters, it does not bar people from other faiths to be partakers in the benefits," added sources.

MSDP is meant to develop minority concentration districts. The blocks with 25% or more of a minority population are chosen under the programme for development with respect to education, infrastructure, health and housing facilities. GoI sanctioned Rs 1015.70 crore to UP under MSDP during the eleventh five year plan for development in chosen 21 districts.

The components of MSDP include Indira Awas Yojna, installing handpumps, constructing Primary Health centres (PHCs), constructing government inter colleges and polytechnics and adding classrooms in inter collges, high school and primary schools, building `aaganwadi' centres and ITIs.

The backwardness parameters adopted for identification of backward districts are literacy rate; female literacy rate;work participation rate; and percentage of households with pucca walls; percentage of households with safe drinking water; percentage of households with electricity.


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Karnataka mulls motorcycle ambulance service in cities

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 26 Desember 2013 | 22.44

MANGALORE: The emergency health care delivery system in urban pockets of Karnataka could see a first of its kind service based on the United Kingdom model of motorcycle ambulance. And this seemingly futuristic concept, as far as Indian healthcare system is concerned, could get a look in when the union minister for health and family welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad visits Bangalore on Friday, said minister for health and family welfare UT Khader.

Azad has taken keen interest in the various initiatives launched by the state health department such as the general health insurance scheme mooted for above poverty line (APL) people, the Arogya Pushti biscuits that we have launched in select districts on trial basis, Khader told reporters here. "We will also be putting forth the idea of starting motorcycle ambulances in densely populated city areas at this meeting with the union minister," he said.

It is difficult for an ambulance to reach an accident victim on time in cities with their bustling traffic, Khader said, adding that the idea of introducing motorcycle ambulances is to cut down on response time. "The motorcycle ambulance will be modified to carry a stretcher and the trained paramedical person astride it will have the knowledge to stabilize an accident victim on the spot till such time that he can be attended to properly," Khader noted.

The health department is toying with the idea of integrating the proposed service with 108 Arogya Kavach ambulance service so that the 108 help line can direct the nearest motorcycle ambulance to the spot. "A modified motorcycle ambulance with life saving equipment can be set up for approximately Rs 3-5 lakh," the minister said, adding such a service will be deployed in city corporation areas of the state where their usefulness will be the most.


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Mamata reshuffles cabinet, curtails powers of Partha Chatterjee

KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee carried out a major reshuffle of her cabinet on Thursday, curtailing the powers of Partha Chatterjee, who was earlier number two in the ministry.

Mamata took away the industries and commerce department from Partha Chatterjee and handed it to finance minister Amit Mitra.

After the reshuffle, Partha Chatterjee has been left with departments like IT, parliamentary affairs, PSU and industrial reconstruction.

The chief minister dropped Hiten Barman, who was the forest minister, and appointed Binay Barman in his place. Barman was sworn in on Thursday.

The PWD department has been taken away from Sudarshan Ghosh Dastidar, who is sick, and has been handed to Shankar Chakraborty, who was earlier the co-operation minister.

Ghosh Dastidar who is now in the US for treatment will only have environment department and till he returns, Upen Biswas, minister for backward class department, will hold additional charge.

The new co-operation minister is Rachpal Singh, while Nure Alam Choudhury is the new planning and development minister.

Sabitri Mitra will now only be the social welfare minister, while Sashi Panja, who was sworn in on Thursday as minister of state (independent charge) will be minister for women and child.

Syamapada Mukherjee will be the new textile minister.

Swapan Debnath takes over as the new minister of state (independent charge) of animal resource and micro and small savings.

Becharam Manna, who is the minister of state of agriculture and agri-marketing departments, also gets the land department.


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Panel says 34 children died in UP riot relief camps, trashes Mulayam's 'conspiracy' theory

LUCKNOW: At least 34 children below the age of 12 years have perished in the relief camps for people displaced during the riots in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts, according to a high-level committee constituted by the UP government to look into the reported deaths.

The deaths occurred between September 7 and December 20. According to the report, 4,783 people are still living in five camps including one in Loi (Muzaffarnagar) and Madarsa Taimul Shah, Malakpur, Barnavi and Edgah (all in Shamli).

To a question on whether there are any "conspirators" in the camps, UP principal secretary (home) AK Gupta said that the committee has said that "only displaced people are living in the camps".

The president of UP's ruling Samajwadi Party, Mulayam Singh Yadav, had created controversy recently stating that "conspirators and political activists" were living in the relief camps.

"Most of the children who lost their lives are the ones who had been taken outside the camps for treatment by their parents or were referred to government hospitals for treatment," Gupta told reporters here.

He was quoting the report of high-level committee set up by the UP government to go into the factual details of the deaths of children as reported in the media.

"The cause of the death of all these children is different with about four dying because of pneumonia while some others died because of dysentery and one due to premature birth," Gupta said adding that the report was submitted to the government on Wednesday.

The official said that all the children had got medical attention and "it cannot be termed as medical negligence or incapability of the doctors".

On the conclusion of the report, Gupta said that it has been recommended that the quality and facilities in the camps should be improved, and steps should be taken for early return of the people living in the camps to their homes.


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Former cop to move court against Punjab CM

AMRITSAR: Former director general, prisons, Shashi Kant has accused Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal of sheltering ministers and MLAs allegedly involved in drug peddling.

Shashi Kant, who was in Amritsar on Thursday to participate in an anti-drug awareness campaign, said he was surprised as to why the chief minister was giving clean chit to his ministers and had even denied CBI inquiry into the drug peddling case despite a high court order to that effect.

"It amounts to contempt of court for which I will file a petition in high court demanding punishment for the chief minister," he told TOI.

He reiterated that he had submitted a list to the government about six years ago that had names of about 12 former and sitting ministers and MLAs allegedly involved in drug racket.

"Yes, I once again say that chief minister is sheltering the politicians who are selling drugs," he said.

He said he was ready to reveal the names of these people and had told the high court that he would submit an affidavit to ensure that action was taken against them, and if incidentally high court didn't take any action then he would move the Supreme Court.

Shashi Kant said he was not scared about being attacked following these revelations.

"Let any one attack me and then they will see by themselves" he said.

He rued the casual approach of the state government over his allegations.

He also alleged the use of drug money during polls in Punjab.

"If Election Commission fails to curb use of drug money in the ensuing elections, I will petition Supreme Court to abolish the Election Commission," he said.

"Election Commission has constitutional and salutary duty to conduct free and fair elections" he said.

About the recent victory of AAP in Delhi, he said he was in touch with AAP leaders but added that Delhi's society was cosmopolitan and not like Punjab.

He said a united front with the name of Insaaf Party would emerge in the state of which a retired judge of Supreme Court would be the president.


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Notes of classical music ring for a cause

Snuggling up inside a quilt with a hot mug of tea might be the most desired activity these days. But for the true connoisseurs of classical music, a chilling winter evening is just the weather to step out and walk that extra mile to listen to the masters of their craft.

That's what happened on the evening of December 24, when classical music aficionados turned up at the Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre to listen to a sarod recital by Chandrima Roy Majumdar and a vocal recital by the Khalifa of the Delhi gharana, Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan. The combination of young and old on the stage — freshness and experience from two ends of the spectrum — was indeed worth braving the Christmas-eve chill in the city.

The evening, titled Sur-Sarod, was organized by Yogdan (Young Old Generations' Deeds of Altruistic Nature), a registered society in the capital that works in the field of health, education and rural development. Rajiv Pant, honorary secretary of the society, said, " Through this kind of an event showcasing Indian classical music, we promote young artistes by providing them with a platform to perform with senior artistes and through our annual brochure, we collect funds to run our charitable works."

While Chandrima Roy Majumdar - though a seasoned sarod player herself - got to share stage with the universally respected Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan, Yogdan got an opportunity to regale its patrons with a fine evening and also to talk about its multifarious work that it carries on without any grant from the government or any private agency. Veteran musician Krishna Bisht released Yogdan's annual brochure between the two recitals.

Roy Majumdar set the evening in motion with a brilliant rendition of Raag Kamod. She was accompanied by Debojyoti Dasgupta on the tabla. Before her recital, she said, " I'm thankful to all the patrons for coming out in this chilly weather for listening to music." Pant later informed that Roy Majumdar had played an important role in helping him arrange the evening. " It's through such aware citizens of the society that we are able to carry on our work. We need many more such people to come forward and help us. For instance, we are trying to run certain training camps in Trilokpuri area where the problem is not just of absence of opportunities for the wayward young adults but also their resistance to any sort of help. It is a difficult task to get them to understand the utility of acquiring certain skills, but also a rewarding experience once it is accomplished."

The centre-piece of the evening was, of course, the vocal recital by Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan, who too thanked the audience for braving the winter chill to attend his concert. Much to the delight of the music buffs, he began the recital with Raag Malkos. He was accompanied by Akbar Latif Khan on the tabla, Karim Niyazi on the harmonium, Tanvir Nasib Ahmed on the vocals as also his students Saad Iqbal and Vivek Prajapati. As head or Khalifa of the Delhi gharana - that traces its origin to the time of Amir Khusro (the 13th century Sufi musician), Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan presented the best of this school of Hindustani classical music known for its khayal singing. He rounded off the evening with the crowd-favourite, Raag Bhairavi. The solidity of his experienced voice topped with characteristic mellifluousness of the Delhi gharana was sheer delight. It was a rare opportunity to hear one of the biggest stalwarts of classical music of our times in a serene setting that comprised only the connoisseurs.


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Millat slams Mulayam Singh Yadav over remarks on relief camps

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 25 Desember 2013 | 22.44

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh unit of All India Majlis Taamer-e-Millat on Wednesday criticized Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for claiming that no riot victim was left in Muzaffarnagar relief camps.

Stoking a controversy, Yadav had claimed that no Muzaffarnagar riot victim was left in the relief camps and only political activists of Congress and BJP were staying there as part of a conspiracy to tarnish the image of his party's government in Uttar Pradesh.

State Taameer-e-Millat secretary, Masood Ahmad Khan in a statement said here on Wednesday, "The words used by Singh not only insulted the riot victims staying in camps, but humiliated everybody."

"It showed the mentality of the party's leaders," Khan said.

He alleged that the UP government was not sincere towards solving problems faced by the riot victims.


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Devyani Khobragade case: Did US state department overplay heavy hand?

WASHINGTON: If the US state department's unnamed mandarins who tattled to a Foreign Policy blog are to be believed, Gregory Starr's impressive resume is marred by an incident in which he shot himself in the foot, literally, when drawing an unauthorized small caliber weapon out of his ankle holster. The alleged mishandling of firearms, "a big no-no in the foreign service," didn't derail Starr's confirmation earlier this year as the state department's chief of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, the agency whose sealed complaint enabled US attorney Preet Bharara to launch prosecution of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade on charges of visa fraud and misrepresentation.

However, the question being asked now is whether the state department and the bureau have shot themselves in the foot by misinterpreting or misreading information furnished by housekeeper Sangeeta Richards when she applied for the A-3 dependant visa. According to Khobragade's attorney Daniel Arshack, the special agent (Mark Smith) who drew up charges against his client made "a key error" in reading a form submitted on behalf of nanny Sangeeta, mistaking Khobragade's listed base salary of $4,500 per month for what she intended to pay her housekeeper.

Here is how the flub could have occurred. Sangeeta Richard was required to submit a form DS-160, along with her visa application [see sample here (pdf file)] and a screenshot of the actual online application here (attached). The application seeks the applicant's work/education/training information. It asks for the present employer's name and then asks for month salary in local currency. Who's month salary? The obvious answer is the visa applicant's monthly salary.

But here is where Sangeeta Richard put in her employer Devyani Khobragade's monthly salary, which is approximately $ 4500 per month, whereas she should have put in $ 1560 per month — the negotiated $ 9.95 per hour for a 40-hour work-week which works out to $ 390 per week x 4 weeks = $1560.

"It's incredibly unsexy kind of information, but it does go right to the heart of what this is about," says Khobragade's attorney Daniel Arshack, adding that it became apparent as he and others closely reviewed the forms Khobragade was required to submit to arrange for the hiring of her housekeeper that the information she had submitted had been misunderstood.

"It is clear that Mark Smith, the Diplomatic Security Services agent who handled the investigation and arrest of Dr Khobragade and who drew up and swore to the accuracy of the formal complaint in this case, simply made an error in reading the DS 160 form which supported the visa application for the domestic worker, Sangeeta Richard. He erroneously and disastrously believed that the $4,500/month salary entry on the form was Ms Richard's expected salary when, in fact, it was clearly a reporting of the base salary to be earned by the employer, Dr Khobragade, in the United States," Arshack explained in an email to ToI.

On his part, the diplomat's father Uttam Khobragade had told this correspondent very early on in the fracas that there was no way his daughter could have promised the housekeeper $4500 a month when that was approximately her own salary. The agreed amount was $9.75 per hour for a 40-hour work week (amounting to $1560 for four weeks) of which Rs 30,000 was paid in Indian rupees to her family in India and the rest to the housekeeper in New York as living expenses.

"Devyani did not submit a single document or made any statement to the US authorities for the visa of Ms Sangeeta Richard," Uttam Khobragade said in an email to this correspondent soon after the controversy erupted. "The said agreement/employment contract which is being referred to, is not a statement under oath. It is a proper contract signed between two Indian citizens in Delhi, between two parties, and any violation thereof is in domain of civil law and no criminality is involved. Moreover it is an accepted principle of the law that person who submits the document is responsible."

If the case goes to trial — and it might never come to that — then the housekeeper Sangeeta Richard herself could be under the lens for misrepresenting and claiming a $4500 per month salary, which is way beyond the $9.75 per hour for 40 weeks she contracted with the diplomat. There could also be questions about how she was paid Rs 30,000 per month in India through her family, although such arrangement is said to be common among domestic staff attached to diplomats so that they bankroll their families in India and also avoid taxes, wire transfer fees etc.

But even more, as more inconsistencies come to light, the spotlight will be on the state department, its Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and the US attorney Preet Bharara for the haste with which they initiated the arrest of the Indian diplomat.

Over the past few days, the overall narrative of the story has begun to veer towards the motive and modus operandi of the housekeeper, with the Indian diplomatic corps charging that she used her contacts in the US Embassy in Delhi to trump up false charges against Khobragade to emigrate to the US with her family.

"There is simply no case here of her being underpaid, much less mistreated," one Indian official who has studied the case closely insisted on background. "This is a domestic help who planned the move to the T by abusing the diplomat's trust and naivete." As for the housekeeper's complaint that she was overworked, the official maintained that working hours was hard to compute in a live-in situation with a diplomatic household, and many domestic staff were misrepresenting this to make a case for immigration.

"The children walk into her room at 6am to play with her. Does that constitute work? Or the family is away on vacation for a week leaving the nanny at home. Is that work?" the official asked.

Beyond all that, the Indian foreign service fraternity is still in shock and outrage at the treatment meted out to Khobragade by the US Marshals Service, and the state department's insistence that it was "normal procedure" notwithstanding secretary of state John Kerry's qualified regret.

The ham-handed manner in which the state department handled the issue, as much as the heavy-handed way the cops handled Khobragade, has soured equations between the two sides in a way that will not be easily repaired for a long time, several officials who have spoken to this correspondent in recent says have said.


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Congress betrayed Bihar on special category status: Nitish Kumar

PATNA: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday targeted the Congress for betraying the state on its demand for special category status.

"The Congress is delaying decision on the Raghuram Rajan Committee report to keep its ally happy in Bihar as part of politics ahead of the next general elections (in 2014)," Nitish Kumar told newspersons here.

The committee identified Bihar as one of the "least developed". The state is set to receive more funds for development, even if not special category status, under a new criteria to measure backwardness.

By hitting against the Congress, Nitish Kumar made it clear his party, Janata Dal (United), has no hope of alliance with the former as it was widely speculated for months after he dumped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Nitish Kumar has repeatedly declared he would support a party that would grant special category status to Bihar.

Nitish Kumar was in favour of an alliance with the Congress to counter BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi till early this month.

The chief minister also did not rule out JD(U) hobnobbing with the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) of Ram Vilas Paswan in the state.

"Politics is a game of possibility, there is open mind to join hands with any party," Nitish Kumar said in reply to possibility of JD(U)'s likely alliance with LJP.

Last week, he said the JD(U) is not worried about any likely tie-up of the Congress, the Rashtriya Janta Dal and the LJP for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.


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CBI prosecution wing now under agency director

NEW DELHI: In a major step towards allowing more autonomy to CBI, government has placed the agency's legal wing, which used to report to Law Ministry, under the command of the CBI director, making his word final in investigations.

CBI sources said that the directorate of prosecution has been now placed under the stewardship of the agency director, who will not only see to the promotions and postings but also write the annual confidential reports, as done earlier by law ministry.

The directorate of prosecution in CBI is responsible for conducting and supervising cases pending trial, appeal and revision in courts.

It supervises and monitors the conduct of prosecution in courts and gives advice to CBI officers on all legal matters of general or specific import vis-a-vis issues arising during investigation or trial.

The director of prosecution was the chief functionary of the prosecution wing of CBI and was vested with powers of direction and control over prosecuting officers. Those powers have now passed to the CBI director.

In a number of cases, the probe by the agency was overturned by the directorate of prosecution; but the new arrangement gives to the CBI director the power to a final view on investigations and, subsequently, the charge sheets.

The Lokpal Bill, which has been passed by both Houses of Parliament, also provides for the DoP headed by the director of prosecution to be placed under the CBI director.

The Lokpal Bill says that the director of prosecution will be appointed in consultation with the lokpal and CVC.


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Thousands of likes on his Facebook page made former Union minister uneasy

CHANDIGARH: In an unusual move, local MP and former Union railway minister, Pawan Kumar Bansal, made a police complaint seeking throughout probe into the sudden increase of 10,900 likes on his Facebook page on Wednesday.

The complaint was made to IG (Chandigarh) RP Upadhyay and it has been referred to cyber cell of local police. Bansal suspect someone trying to give wrong impression while increasing thousands of likes on his Facebook page in just one day.

Bansal's complaint read, "On December 24, likes on the page of Bansal were 51,600 and I find now that there is an abnormal increase to more than 62,500 likes." The complaint further states, "This is in less than just one day and it obviously shows that somebody is doing so without my knowledge and for some ulterior purpose."

MP Pawan Kumar Bansal said, "Usually 10 to 20 likes received on my Facebook page every day but thousands of likes within 24 hours is alarming. I am sure that someone with malicious intention made these likes."

IG (Chandigarh) Upadhyay said DSP Rajesh Kalia was assigned the probe and instructed for completing the investigation as soon as possible. Earlier, unknown persons had hacked Facebook page of Bansal and police probe was failed to trace any one.

Notably, likes on Facebook pages of local politicians witnessed of sudden shoot. The president of local unit of BJP, Sanjay Tandon, had been received over 11,000 likes on his Facebook page on December 18. Similarly, Satya Pal Jain has over 67,000 likes on his social networking site page.


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New Indian envoy arrives in US amid diplomatic row

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 24 Desember 2013 | 22.44

WASHINGTON: S Jaishankar has arrived here to take charge as the new Indian ambassador to the US amid a raging diplomatic row over the arrest and strip-search of senior diplomat Devyani Khobragade on visa fraud charges.

He is assuming the post at a time when both countries have intensified efforts to find an amicable resolution to the issue of Khobragade's arrest.

Jaishankar, who till recently was ambassador to China, arrived in Washington yesterday. He is expected to present his credentials to President Barack Obama at the White House after the New Year.

Known as one of the brightest diplomats of his generation and a key player during negotiations for the India-US civilian nuclear deal, Jaishankar's first task will be to prevent ties from being hit any further over the incident involving Khobragade.

She was arrested on December 12 for allegedly making false declarations in a visa application for her maid Sangeeta Richard and released on a USD 250,000 bond after being charged with visa fraud.

Khobragade has since been transferred from the Consulate in New York to India's permanent mission to the UN. The US is reviewing paperwork it received from the UN for her diplomatic accreditation, a State Department spokesperson told PTI today.

Revelations that she was strip searched and held with criminals after her arrest triggered a row between the two sides.

Born in New Delhi in 1955, Jaishankar is the son of prominent strategic affairs analyst, commentator and civil servant K Subrahmanyam and brother of historian Sanjay Subrahmanyam.

Jaishankar succeeds Nirupama Rao, who was appointed envoy to the US after she retired as Foreign Secretary. He also served as First Secretary in the Embassy in Washington during 1985-88.


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Six Maoists arrested in Vizag district, 19 surrender

VISAKHAPATNAM: Visakhapatnam district rural police on Tuesday arrested six members of a Maoist militia, while 19 members of another militia surrendered.

Talking to reporters at Narsipatnam, Superintendent of Police Vikramjeet Duggal identified the arrested militia members as A Venkata Ramana (25), G Nagaraju (26), G Sathibabu (26), M Chinabbai (28), T Sathibabu (30) and Vanthala Sibu (25), all natives of Balapam village in the district.

They were involved in the murder of Killo Rambabu, a surrendered Maoist, and his friend K Rammohan for being police informers at Johar Ghat road on November 8, 2013.

Additional Superintendent of Police A R Damodhar said these six had also carried out robberies at two places.

Meanwhile, 19 Maoist militia members surrendered before Duggal at Narsipatnam today. They hail from Korukonda, Kistavaram, Thurumamidi and Tokapadu villages in Chintapalle mandal in the district.

Duggal and Damodhar said they were disillusioned with the Maoists' way of life. All of them are tribals, between 20-30 years, and included 24-year-old R Visweswara Rao, `deputy commander' of militia.


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Exams for state civil services officers for promotion to IAS

NEW DELHI: State civil servants will now be required to clear a Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) written examination and interview to earn a promotion to the three all India services — IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service.

Until now, state services officers were being selected for IAS, IPS and IFoS on the basis of their seniority and annual confidential reports (ACRs).

As per the revised scheme for induction of state civil services/non-SCS/State police services/state forest services to IAS/IPS/IFoS, UPSC will now conduct a common examination to decide on the eligible candidates. The selection will be made through a 1,000-mark, four-stage process, including a written exam and interview.

The new norms require a state civil service officer to face the written examination comprising two papers — Paper I on aptitude test and Paper II on General Studies and state-specific/service-specific questions to test the knowledge and application of the officers in the critical areas of public administration and development-related issues. There will be a third written paper on essay, comprehension and precis type only for non-state civil services officers, in addition to the two papers,

There will also be an interview and assessment of ACR by a board for such officers.

A final merit list shall be prepared taking into account all the marks obtained in four components, i.e, 'written examination', 'length of service', 'assessment of ACR' and 'interview' by all the candidates in the zone of consideration.

The weightage of written examination would be 30 per cent, length of service 25 per cent, ACR 25 per cent and interview 20 per cent, as per the new norms.

An officer should have eight years of a 'Group A' service in a state for all categories (IAS, IPS and IFoS) and must be less than 54 years of age to qualify for the selection process. This maximum age may eventually be brought down.

The revised scheme may be reviewed after its implementation for three years.

The ministry of personnel had in May this year written to all states seeking their views regarding changes in existing rules to select officers from states for IAS, IPS and IFoS.


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South Korea to get visa-on-arrival facility early next year

NEW DELHI: South Korean nationals are likely to soon get visa-on-arrival facility, which is provided to visitors from 11 countries at present.

Tourism ministry has sought the facility to be extended to about dozen more countries including South Korea, Germany, France and Russia to boost foreign tourist arrivals in the country.

"Though we have sought the VoA scheme for many countries, it is the home ministry which decides on it after taking into account all concerned issues," sources in tourism ministry said.

South Korea has got the nod and an announcement to this effect is likely to be made early next year, they said.

Currently, there are total 11 countries which have been given the VoA facility and after the inclusion of South Korea the number will go up to 12.

As a facilitative measure to attract more foreign tourists to India, government had launched a scheme of visa-on-arrival (VoA) from January 2010 for citizens of five countries - Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore, visiting India for tourism purposes.

The scheme was extended to six more countries including Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos and Myanmar in January 2011.

There were total number of 17,594 VoAs issued during January to November this year as compared to 13,903 VoAs during the corresponding period of 2012 registering a growth of 26.5 per cent.

During the month of November 2013, a total of 1824 VoAs were issued under the scheme as compared to 1630 VoAs during November 2012, registering a growth of 11.9 per cent.


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India, Pakistan decide to maintain calm on border

NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan on Tuesday decided to strengthen border de-escalatory mechanisms, which includes the holding of flag meetings between rival brigade commanders, to ensure the maintenance of "sanctity and ceasefire" on the line of control (LoC).

Indian director general of military operations (DGMO) Lt General Vinod Bhatia and his Pakistani counterpart Major General Aamer Riaz also agreed to make the existing hotline between them "more effective and result-oriented" as well as inform each other if "innocent civilians inadvertently crossed the LoC" to ensure their "early return".

In a joint statement after the two-and-a-half hour long meeting, the two DGMOs stressed their "resolve and commitment to "continue efforts for ensuring ceasefire, peace and tranquillity" on the LoC. But while Pakistan may be hopeful of an early resumption of the stalled composite dialogue process, it's unlikely to happen with India headed for general elections in early-2014.

The statement said two flag meetings between brigade commanders would be held "in the near future" — probably in the Bimbergali and Kishnaghati sectors — to carry forward the positive spirit" of the DGMO-level meeting, the first such face-to-face one since the 1999 Kargil conflict.

The meeting, which took place on the Pakistani side of the Wagah border in Punjab, came in the backdrop of the big jump in ceasefire violations that saw the two militaries regularly exchanging fire this year. India recorded as many as 200 ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC this year, with another 50 taking place along the international border (IB).

India, of course, was also furious with the beheading of an Indian soldier and mutilation of another's body in the Mendhar sector on January 8 as well as the brutal killing of another five soldiers in Poonch sector on August 6 by Pakistani "border action teams" in cross-border raids.

The ceasefire came into force along the 778km LoC, the 198km IB in J&K and the 110km actual ground position line (AGPL) in the Siachen-Saltoro Ridge in November 2003 as a major CBM between the two countries.

But while the ceasefire by and large held in the early years, it has come under tremendous strain in recent times. There were 44 such violations recorded along the LoC in 2010, which increased to 51 in 2011 and 93 in 2012.

The violations this year hit a new high, with one Indian soldier being killed and 15 injured, apart from the Pakistani cross-border raids. Indian Army responded with "punitive fire assaults" after defence minister AK Antony declared the government has given "freedom" to the military to act tough with Pakistan forces if the situation so demanded.

Army chief General Bikram Singh, too, directed his battalion commanders deployed along the LoC to be "aggressive and offensive" in the face of provocation by Pakistani forces.

Though the decision to hold the DGMO-level meeting was taken during the Singh-Sharif in New York in September, when the hostilities were at their peak along the LoC, India was cold to the Pakistani move to include civilian diplomats in the dialogue mechanism. India felt that such a mechanism was best left to the two militaries without turning it into a diplomatic one. With Pakistan then agreeing to the Indian condition, the two DGMOs met on Tuesday.


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No proposal for revision of train fares for now: Kharge

Written By Unknown on Senin, 23 Desember 2013 | 22.44

BANGALORE: Railway minister M Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said there are no plans for revision of train fares for now.

"There is no such proposal before the railway ministry for a revision of train fares" he told reporters during his visit to the rail wheel factory here.

Kharge said the passenger fares will be adjusted according to the cost of the fuel every six months, but for now there is no proposal in this regard.

Talking about projects in Karnataka, Kharge said the railways have proposed to set up an administrative office in Gulbarga city to augment the Solapur division of the South-Central and Central Railway.

Kharge said there was also a proposal to set up a unit at Yadgir in Karnataka for manufacturing spare parts of Linke Holfmann Busch (LHB) coaches at cost of Rs 750 crore.

"The unit will cater to the spare parts needs of Rae Bareli (Uttar Pradesh), Kapurthala (Punjab) and Perambur (Tamil Nadu) coach factories," he said.

A sum of Rs 75 crore had been earmarked for the purpose in the supplementary budget, Kharge said.

He said the state government has agreed to give 150 acres for setting up Yadgir unit and all the costs will be borne by the Railways, which expects the unit to function by February.

Kharge said railways have acquired 30-acre land on which the defunct Binny Mills in Bangalore is situated. "This will nicely fit into the railways' expansion plans," he added.

Railways will develop Yelahanka as the third terminus station for Bangalore, and spend Rs 18 crore towards it.

"In the next 10 to 15 days work on it will commence," he said. Four to five new platforms will be built at Yelahanka station.

Kharge said rail connectivity to Vaishnodevi Temple had become a reality after completion of the track-laying work.

The Railways have also got clearance from the railways safety commissioner and efforts are on for inaugurating the project soon.


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Lokpal fulfils age-old aspiration: Cong

DEHRADUN: Congress on Monday claimed it had fulfilled an age-old aspiration of the people by ensuring the passage of the Lokpal Bill in Parliament.

"Both Sonia and Rahul ji have fulfilled an age-old aspiration of the people by bringing the Lokpal Bill. Even Anna Hazare had to thank them for its passage. Even in the future, it is the Congress which will fulfil the aspirations of the people of this country," AICC secretary in charge of party affairs in the state Sanjay Kapoor said, addressing a meeting of party workers here.

He said suitable appointments to all vacant posts in the party's state unit will soon be made.

PCC chief Yashpal Arya who has already resigned from his post and its spokesman Dhirendra Pratap shared the dais with the leader who was addressing workers of the party town and district units.

Accusing BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi of trying to take the country for a ride, Kapoor sounded a note of caution asking people to listen to him critically and to not accept all that he says on their face value.


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India, Pak border guarding forces to meet tomorrow in Lahore

AMRITSAR: Drug trafficking, infiltration, smuggling of arms and fake Indian currency are among the main issues India will take up with Pakistan in Lahore at a high-level meeting between the border guarding forces of the two countries from December 24-28.

"Defence constructions, border incidents and trans-border crimes like drug trafficking, infiltration, smuggling of arms/ammunition and fake Indian currency, inadvertent border crossings and other matters of mutual interest will be discussed for effective border management," said DIG Punjab Frontier, BSF, R P S Jaswal.

The Indian delegation will be crossing over to Pakistan on Tuesday.

The Indian delegation is being headed by BSF director general Subhash Joshi and Pakistan Rangers delegation will be led by major general Rizwan Akhtar, director general Pakistan Rangers of Sindh Province.

The Indian delegation also includes special DG BSF, (Western Command) Chandigarh, inspector generals from Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat Frontiers and BSF headquarters New Delhi, Jaswal said.

The Indian delegation will cross over to Pakistan through Joint Check Post, the land transit route of Attari-Wagah international border.


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Avalance warning in Kashmir Valley

SRINAGAR: As most parts of Jammu and Kashmir experienced moderate to heavy snowfall for the past couple of days, authorities today issued a warning advising people not to venture out into avalanche-prone areas.

"In view of moderate to high danger avalanche warning in Drass-Kargil sector in Ladakh and medium danger warning in several parts of north and central Kashmir, people living in these areas are advised not to move or venture out into steep slopes during the next 24 hours," an official spokesman said.

People are also advised to remove snow from their rooftops to avoid any causalty due to house collapse, he said. "In case of any eventuality people are asked to contact their respective deputy commissioners," the spokesman said.

Yesterday, two girls were killed in an avalanche in Gurez area in Bandipora district.


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We knew Adarsh report will be rejected: Justice Patil

MUMBAI: Justice (retd) JA Patil, who probed the Adarsh housing society scam, on Monday said he knew Maharashtra government would reject the report as it had indicted four former chief ministers and many bureaucrats and its findings were "unpalatable" to government.

The Democratic Front government of Congress and NCP combine rejected the probe report after tabling it before the state assembly on the last day of the winter session of state legislature on December 20, causing a furore.

"We have a clear idea in our mind of what happened (referring to the Adarsh scam). Based on that we submitted our report after recording the evidence of several witnesses and perusing relevant documents. The findings were not palatable to the government and hence it must have been rejected," Patil told PTI here.

The report names former Congress chief ministers, Ashok Chavan, Sushilkumar Shinde and late Vilasrao Deshmukh. It also indicted Shivajirao Nilangekar Patil, who served as revenue minister when the building received clearances. Patil had also served as chief minister in the 1980s.

The retired judge of the Bombay high court said the government's decision should have been in the larger public interest.

"I agree that a commission is not a judicial body and our orders are not enforceable or has any legal sanctity. We are just a fact-finding body and the government has the discretion to accept or reject our findings. But it should not be arbitrary. The decision (of the government) should be in public interest," he said.

Patil said that an amendment should be made in the Commission of Inquiry Act giving findings of a commission some legal sanctity.

The panel, headed by Patil, and comprising former bureaucrat P Subramaniam, was set up in January 2011 by the state government after allegations were levelled against bureaucrats and former chief ministers for acts of commission and omission and for flouting rules while granting permission to the high-rise in south Mumbai.


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Cong to contest all 40 LS seats in Bihar, claims BPCC chief

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 22 Desember 2013 | 22.44

PATNA: Keeping the RJD on tenterhooks about a pre-poll alliance, the Bihar Congress on Sunday said it has been directed by the party's central leadership to gear up for contesting all 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

"I am not aware on any talks between the Congress and the RJD-led parties to firm up a pre-poll alliance...as far as I am concerned, the central leadership has asked us to start preparations to contest all 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar," the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president Ashok Kumar Chaudhary told reporters here.

"As far as the Bihar Congress is concerned, we are going to abide by our party leadership's directive and prepare groundworks to contest all 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state," he said.

On the RJD leaders exuding confidence about working out a pre-poll tie with the Congress, Chaudhary said it was for the other party to explain about the basis of their claims.

Meanwhile, tyring to win the hearts of the people, Chaudhary led his party leaders and activists armed with broom sticks, on cleanliness drive on the streets of the state capital on Sunday.

He, however, denied the exercise had anything to do with politics and claimed the drive was aimed at generating awareness among the citizens.

Bemoaning that the Patna municipal corporation (PMC) was not improving infrastructure and not recruiting workers to improve cleanliness and hygiene condition, he said the initiative by his party would shame the authorities and compel them to take drastic steps to spruce up the capital.


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Modi's knowledge of history still weak, NCP says

MUMBAI: The statements made by Narendra Modi at a rally here on Sunday proved that the party's prime ministerial candidate's knowledge of history was still weak, NCP said.

"Modi's knowledge of history proves to be weak again. Since 1960, Maharashtra has had only 17 chief ministers and not 26 as claimed by Modi," NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said here on Sunday.

"Also, the local body tax (LBT), whose implementation in Maharashtra Modi opposed today, is not an exclusive feature of this state. All the states with no octroi have LBT.

"Several vehicles from Maharashtra carry goods to northern parts of India. All of these go through Gujarat. Therefore the Motor Vehicle Tax that Gujarat collects is higher. On the other hand, lesser number of vehicles come from Gujarat in Maharashtra. Modi has wrongly interpreted this fact to present Gujarat positively," he said.

"Modi's allegation about not getting permission to place the gates of Sardar Sarovar Project holds no ground. Since Madhya Pradesh has failed to rehabilitate affected people, the permission for the gates is pending. Therefore even we are deprived of electricity," Malik said.

"The donation of Rs 25 crore (which BJP state leaders made to Rajnath Singh at the rally) is given by diamond merchants. BJP has already begun the loot," he said.

Majority of the crowd for Modi's rally was from Gujarat, he said.

"Modi's slogan is 'Vote for India'. We say 'Vote for Bharat'. The forthcoming election will witness a fight between India and Bharat," Malik said.


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Will act act on suggestions on riots victims: Akhilesh Yadav

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said his government was ready to act on suggestions, if any, of the Congress or any other party on rehabilitating victims of Muzzafarnagar riots.

Reacting to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's visit to relief camps and homes of the victims in Muzaffarnagar, the chief minister said "we are ready to work on suggestions if they want to give one. If they want to play politics it is up to them."

"We will act on suggestions on rehabilition of victims, if any, of the Congress or any other political party," he told reporters here.

Asked whether Rahul's visit to meet riot-hit victims was an attempt to derive political mileage, Akhilesh said "I will not make political allegations. It is up to you (media) to analyse. You might know better."

He said the state government had given Rs 5 lakh to the vicitms for their rehabilitation, adding as their houses were burnt and near and dear ones were killed, they did not want to leave relief camps.

Earlier, at a function to feliciate him on the success of the polio eradication programme in the state, the chief minister said a political disease was spreading in the state and that needed to be checked.

"A political disease is spreading in the state. I do not know from where it has come. We need to check it," he said in an obvious reference to BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's poll campaign in the state.

"It is a challenge to thwart communal forces in the state," he said.


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US consulate told to keep away from Narendra Modi's Mumbai rally; BJP's PM candidate appeals for 'vote for India'

MUMBAI: American diplomats were conspicuous by their absence at BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's rally here on Sunday in the wake of the chill in India-US relations.

The Bharatiya Janata Party had invited around 140 consulates and other diplomatic missions in Mumbai — besides 10,000 tea vendors — for the " Mahagarjana" rally.

However, in view of the fury over the treatment meted out to Indian diplomat Devyani Khboragade in the US, the invitation to US consulate officials was taken back, BJP's Rajiv Pratap Rudy said on Saturday.

BJP national executive member Raj Purohit, however, said on Sunday that the invitation was not cancelled. "Only, there was no follow up from our side, and also on their side."

Modi's rally was attended by representatives from various consulates in Mumbai including Japan, Australia and Canada, Purohit told IANS.

The US consulate is located a stone's throw away from the rally venue at Bandra East.

'Vote For India'

In his Mumbai rally speech, Modi has appealed for "vote for India." "I want that in the next election, people should not vote for a party but for the country," he said at a huge rally here.

"The country is supreme ... So, I say, 'Vote For India' to solve our problems," he said.


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AAP referendum farcical, Jaitley says

NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley on Sunday termed as "farcical" the referendum by the Aam Aadmi Party on government formation in Delhi.

Jaitley said the AAP was trying to mask its "political opportunism" and somersaulting on its stated position of not accepting support.

In a post on Facebook, Jaitley said the AAP had stated it represents "alternative politics", but the party seems to be compromising on its commitments.

The AAP emerged as the No.2 party with 28 seats behind the Bharatiya Janata Party (31) in the Delhi assembly polls, which produced a hung verdict. The Congress with eight seats in the 70-member house has offered conditional support to the AAP.

"It (AAP) is guided by idealism. It will neither support or accept support from either the Congress or the BJP," Jaitley said.

He said if the AAP stands by its commitment, the Delhi assembly "becomes a dead-locked assembly" wherein a fresh poll has to be ordered.

"How does the AAP justify a volte face where it seems to be compromising on its commitments of alternative politics," he asked.

"It may even be strategizing on how to capture power, announce a few popular decisions and carve out a further positioning for itself.

"For any of these strategies to prevail, the AAP has to somersault from its stated position. It has to retract its public commitments of not accepting support from the Congress. It has, therefore, decided to enact a farcical referendum," Jaitley said.

He said "motley crowds" from all over the town are being asked whether AAP should form the government.

"...a statistical wonder is produced wherein less than 30 percent people voted for AAP in the election but more than 75 per cent want it to form a government," Jaitley said.

"Political opportunism is being masked with the idea of popular sanction behind it... its leaders could argue 'we are not hungry for power, we would not be taking Congress support. But we are democrats who are now bowing to the popular will of the people. It is the people who want AAP to form the government with Congress support'."

Jaitley, however, acknowledged that AAP's performance in the polls was "certainly remarkable" and its "silent and systematic" campaign produced results.


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India allowed to go ahead with J&K's Kishanganga project

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 21 Desember 2013 | 22.44

ISLAMABAD: The international court of arbitration has allowed India to go ahead with construction of the Kishanganga dam in Jammu & Kashmir, over which Pakistan has raised objections.

The court delivered its "final award" last night after India requested clarification of an order issued by it in February.

In its "partial award" in February, the court upheld India's main contention that it has the right to divert waters of western rivers, in a non-consumptive manner, for optimal generation of power.

The western rivers are allocated to Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960.

The "final award" specifies that 9 cumecs of natural flow of water must be maintained in Kishenganga river at all times to maintain the environment downstream, said a statement from the Indian high commission here.

This is much lower than the 100 cumecs of natural flow that Pakistan wanted to maintain, it said.

"We have also received the clarification we sought from the court with regard to the technique of draw-down flushing used for the de-siltation of reservoir in run of the river power projects in the western rivers of the Indus," the statement said.

The court said alternative techniques will have to be used for Kishanganga hydroelectric project and all future run of the river projects undertaken on western rivers of the Indus system.

Contrary to negative propaganda that the Indus Waters Treaty has been receiving in recent years, the international court of arbitration's award has shown the pact is a strong framework for division of river waters between India and Pakistan, the statement said.

The treaty has stood the test of time and ups and downs in India-Pakistan relations, it said. "It is hoped that the negative arguments often heard on the working of this treaty will be finally put to rest," it added.


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