2100 HRS.

14th January, 2013

THE HEADLINES

•  India lodges strong protest against ceasefire violations and killing of its jawans byPakistan along the Line of Control.
• Army Chief General Bikram Singh says, India reserves its right to retaliate againstPakistan if provoked.
•  The implementation of General Anti Avoidance Rules deferred by two years; Markets soar to two year high.
• Sensex surges 243 points to close at 19,906.
•  Khap Panchayats' diktat on dress code and mobile for women unlawful, says Supreme Court.
•  Lakhs of devotees take dip at Sangam on the opening day of Maha Kumbh.
•  India and England to play their 2nd ODI Cricket match at Kochi tomorrow.

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India today lodged a strong protest against the ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC) and made it clear to it that the Army reserves the right to retaliate if provoked. The Army's position was conveyed at a brigadier-level flag meeting between the two sides at Chakan-Da-Bagh crossing-point in Poonch sector of the Jammu region. An official release said after the meeting that it was conveyed in no uncertain terms that repetition of such acts will not be tolerated. During the 30-minute meeting that took place in the backdrop of mounting tensions over repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan and beheading of one of the two Indian soldiers last week, the Indian representative expressed grave concern over the barbaric act by Pakistani troops in the ambush in Mendhar sector. The Indian side pointed out that it was against the tenets of the Geneva Convention as also in contravention to all established norms of soldierly behaviour. The Indian side further conveyed to the Pakistan delegation that such a dastardly and cowardly act is totally unacceptable and is a premeditated attempt to undermine the ceasefire agreement of 2003, which can lead to further escalation.

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Army Chief General Bikram Singh today said India reserves its right to retaliate against Pakistan if provoked.  Talking to media persons in New Delhi, he said beheading of Indian soldiers is unacceptable. General Singh noted it is against all rules of engagement and the response fromPakistan was pre-meditated and pre-planned. He said that India will uphold the ceasefire as long as the adversary upholds it.  General Singh said that he expects his commanders on the LoC to be aggressive and they must understand that the Army hierarchy is behind them.

I expect all my commanders on the Line of Control to be aggressive and offensive in the face of provocational  firing.  They are conducting themselves in the professional manner, their response is always in retaliation to be provoked.

The Army Chief said the Armed Forces Special Powers Act should not be diluted in Jammu and Kashmir as it is an enabling Act for soldiers operating in a challenging environment.  Mr. Singh also said demilitarization in the state must be carried out only after consideration of views of all stakeholders. He said, the government is using all its channel to make the Pakistan Army  return the head of Lance Naik Hemraj who was beheaded by Pakistani troops in Poonch sector in Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, Minister of State for Defence Jitendra Singh today met the family of the martyred soldier Hemraj at Khairair in Uttar Pradesh and said that the government will provide 46 lakh rupee as compensation to the slain jawan's kin. He also promised a petrol pump. Condemning the beheading of Hemraj by Pakistani troops in strongest terms, Singh said the government demands that Pakistanshould stop violating the ceasefire.  Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has handed over a draft of 25 lakh rupees to the kin of martyr Hemraj at Mathura. He also promised a government job to one person of the family besides assuring them all possible help from the state. With this, the family called off its three day long fast and protest.

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A high level meeting was today called at the Prime Minister's office to apprise the opposition leaders of latest development on Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. 

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A Delhi court today fixed 30th of this month to consider taking cognisance of the CBI charge sheet filed against Airtel, Vodafone and others for alleged irregularities in allocation of additional spectrum to them during the NDA regime. Special CBI Judge O P Saini, who earlier had fixed January 14th to consider taking cognisance of the charge sheet filed on December 21st last year, deferred its order on the issue after the CBI submitted that they need over two weeks more to file some more documents before the court.

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The Supreme Court today extended till February 4th the January 18th deadline for existing operators of 2G spectrum to carry out operations. It also asked the Centre to spell out the price  to be charged for continuing with their service after cancellation of licences last year. The apex court had on February 2nd last year cancelled 122 licences for the 2G spectrum.

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The Supreme Court today ruled that Khap Panchayats' diktat on dress code for women and asking them not to carry mobile is unlawful. A bench of justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai said such diktates are against the fundamental right to life and asked Khap Panchayats, which are caste-based councils, to file their replies on the issue.  Leaders of various Khap Panchayats of Utter Pradesh and Haryana today appeared before the apex court in response to its invitation, extended during its last hearing to them to express their views.

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The implementation of  General Anti Avoidance Rules, GAAR  has been deferred by two years, It will  now come into force from Ist of April 2016. Earlier,  the provisions of GAAR were to be implemented from 1st of April, 2014.   Talking to media persons in New Delhi today, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said that the Government has accepted major recommendations of the Shome Committee on GAAR with some modifications.  Mr. Chidambaram said that an arrangement, the main purpose of which is to obtain a tax benefit would be considered as an impermissible avoidance arrangement. The current provision which prescribed the main purpose or one of the main purposes will be amended accordingly.  He said the assessing officer will be required to issue a  show cause notice, along with  reasons to the assesses before invoking the provisions of the rules. 

The assessing officer will be required to issue a so cause notice, containing reasons to the assesses before invoking the provisions of chapter-10 (A).  The assesses shall have an opportunity to prove the arrangement is not an impermissible avoidance arrangement.

         

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NOW NEWS FROM THE BUSINESS WORLD

The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange surged 243 points, or 1.2 percent, to close at a two-year high of 19,906, today, after the government postponed the implementation of GAAR, and after inflation declined to a three-year low. The Nifty jumped 73 points, to 6,024. Stock markets in China, Hong Kong, and South Korea rose between 0.5 percent and 3 percent.  The rupee appreciated 27 paise, to close at an over one-week high of 54.49 against the dollar. Gold fell 70 rupees, to 31,030 rupees per ten grams in Delhi. But silver gained 450 rupees, to 58,450 rupees per kilo. And Brent crude oil futures climbed above 111 dollars a barrel, while US crude rose 49 cents, to 94.05 dollars a barrel.  Pradeep Kumar, AIR News         

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The President, Mr.Pranab Mukherjee today expressed confidence that the country's economic growth will bounce back to 8-9 per cent. Presenting the CII-ITC sustainability awards 2012 in New Delhi, he said   that the country will  be successful in overcoming the challenge of reversing this short-term deceleration and bring economy back to the growth levels of 8 to 9 per cent per year. Attributing India's slow pace of economic growth to the slowdown in the global economy and other factors, Mukherjee said the GDP growth rate declined from 8.4 per cent in 2010-11 to 6.5 per cent in 2011-12, and further to 5.4 per cent in the first half of 2012-13.

          

A decisive reduction in poverty will be possible only if there is an expansion in economic opportunities for all sections of the society. “Inclusive growth” should not be a mere slogan but a fundamental driving force for sustainable development.

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Vice President Hamid Ansari today reached Hanoi on his four day visit to Vietnam. He was accorded a warm welcome at NOIBAI International Airport. This visit is commemorating 40 years of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Vietnam. Tomorrow, the Vice President will interact with the President, the Vice President and the Prime Minister of Vietnam. During on board press conference the Vice President said that India will provide all necessary assistance for capacity building in IT and other sectors to Vietnam. More from our Correspondent:

The Vice President said that there is need to develop trade and investment between Indiaand Vietnam as Vietnam has an important place in India's Look East Policy. He said that defence is also a field in which India is providing technical expertise to Vietnam.It is assumed that this visit of The Vice President will open new doors of Cooperation in the fields of Energy Generation and IT Sectors. India is providing expertise in IT and also agreed to provide a super computer to Vietnam. Education and Culture are the other fields of Cooperation between both the Countries. Anurag Vajpeyi, AIR News, Hanoi.

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Ang Lee's 'Life of Pi' took home the best original score award at the 70th Golden Globes announced today at Los Angeles, while British songstress Adele collected a trophy for her rendition of the theme tune to the James Bond blockbuster "Skyfall." 'Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez presented the Best original motion picture score trophy to Mychael Danna from the India-set drama 'Life of Pi'.

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In Uttar Pradesh, bathing on the auspicious occasion of Makar Sankranti took place at Kumbh Mela atAllahabad. More than one crore pilgrims have taken bath at Sangam, the confluence of river Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati. Massive security arrangements are in place. More from our  Correspondent:

Shahi Snan of Akharas was main attraction of today`s bathing. It was started with an impressive procession of Mahanirvani and Atal Akharas. Saints and sadhus of all Akharas from Dashnami, Bairagi and Udasin sects reached at Sangam in impressive processions and took holy dip at Sangam. The state government has sent advisories to the Centre and all states governments to avoid VIP movement for security reasons during Kumbh Mela. The Kumbh Mela has begun with today`s bathing of Makar Sankranti. Elaborate security arrangements have been done Sunil Shukla, AIR News Kumbh Mela Allahabad.

Braving early morning winter chill, hundreds of thousands of faithful also took holy dip in rivers and ponds and offered prayers in temples on the auspicious occasion of Makar Sankranti across the country.

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The News Services Division of All India Radio in its weekly “PUBLIC SPEAK” programme will bring you a discussion tonight on "Female foeticide - A social evil".  This can be heard on FM Gold Channel and additional frequencies at 9.30 p.m.

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The second One Day International Cricket match between India and England will be played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi tomorrow.   All India Radio will broadcast live commentary of the match alternately in Hindi and English.  The commentary can be heard on AIR Delhi and FM Gold channels from 11.30 A.M. onwards.  The visitors are leading the five-match series One-Nil, by winning the first encounter played at Rajkot by nine runs.