2100 HRS.

16th January, 2013

THE HEADLINES

• DGMOs of India and Pakistan agree not to allow tension along LoC to escalate.
• Former Chief Minister of Haryana, Om Prakash Chautala, his son Ajay and 53 others taken into judicial custody after being convicted by a Delhi Court for illegal recruitment of over 3000 teachers.
• Centre to outline amendments in the constitution on the goods and services tax if there is consensus among the states.
• Government calls for auditing of all energy sources to find out quantum of unproductive and wasteful energy sources.
• Sensex drops 169 points to close at 19,818.
• Saina Nehwal and 4 other Indian shuttlers storm into pre-quarterfinals of the Malaysia Open Super Series Badminton at Kuala Lumpur.
• Indo-Canadian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Daniel Nestor and the Indo-American duo of Rohan Bopanna and Rajeev Ram advance into the second round of Men's Doubles at the Australian Open Tennis atMelbourne.

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Top military commanders of India and Pakistan today agreed not to allow escalation of tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) with the Pakistan Army asking its troops to observe ceasefire strictly and exercise restraint.

The ways to defuse the tension on the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir, which was triggerred by the brutal killing of two Indian soldiers by the Pakistan Army, were discussed during a telephonic conversation between the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two sides.

The Army Spokesperson in New Delhi said the talks lasted for ten minutes starting10 AM .

The Pakistan Army DGMO conveyed that orders have been passed to troops to strictly observe the ceasefire and exercise restraint.

Meanwhile, the three Services chiefs met in the evening to discuss various issues.

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Rejecting Pakistan's allegations, Army chief Gen Bikram Singh today said Indian troops have not crossed the Line of Control (LoC) or indulged in unprovoked firing. He said,any casualty on the other side may have been due to retaliatory firing. He said this at Khairair village in Uttar Pradesh after meeting the family of Lance Naik Hemraj, who was beheaded by Pakistani soldiers in a cross-LoC attack in the Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir on the 8th of this month.

We take actions after lot of deliberations. And if any of their man has been killed, he may have been killed in cross firings. Our Jawans never cross LoC. We respect human rights.

Replying to questions, Gen. Singh said, the relationship between the two countries is got to be seen on the basis of what has been going on at the border.

He met the family of Hemraj and offered his condolence.

General Singh will also be visiting the another martyr Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh at his native village Dadhiya in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh on Friday.

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Former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, his MLA-son, Ajay Chautala and 53 others were convicted today by a Delhi court for illegal recruitment of over 3000 junior basic trained teachers. Apart from the Chautalas, Sanjiv Kumar, the then director of primary education, Chautala's former officer on special duty Vidya Dhar and Sher Singh Badshami, political adviser to the then Haryana Chief Minister were also convicted by the court in the case. Special CBI Judge Vinod Kumar held Chautala, his son and others guilty of offences under the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act. All the convicts were taken into judicial custody after the judgement was pronounced.

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Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said he would outline amendments to the Constitution on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in his Budget speech if there is consensus among states on the issue. At his pre-Budget consultations with Finance Ministers of states, he is understood to have said that it was time to wrap up lose ends on GST. The Budget 2013-14 will be presented on February the 28th.

On the issue of the states' demand of more compensation for reduction in the Central Sales Tax (CST), states were told that the Centre was open to the idea, but all would depend on the fiscal situation. The two committees - one on the CST compensation issue and the other on the design of the GST - will submit their reports to the Centre on January the 31st. Chidambaram also reiterated that the Centre was committed to sticking to the fiscal roadmap and intends to restrict the fiscal deficit to 3 per cent of GDP by 2016-17. He also asked states to give speedy clearance to projects falling in their jurisdictions to speed up investments.

After the meeting, Bihar Finance Minister and Chairman of Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers Sushil Kumar Modi said all the states demanded compensation for reduction in the CST to two per cent from the earlier four per cent.

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President Pranab Mukherjee has called for making India self-reliant in its healthcare requirements. Inaugurating a healthcare conference in New Delhi today, Mr Mukherjee said time has come for Indian healthcare system to revolutionize itself. The President said the public health system must be greatly expanded and strengthened. He stressed the need of taking health services closer to homes of families and developing effective models of healthcare for the ever increasing urban population. Mr Mukherjee informed that the government has planned a substantial increase in healthcare expenditure from 1.2 per cent of the GDP during the 11th Plan to 2.5 per cent of the GDP by 2017.

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The Government proposes to issue guidelines on new telecom licences called Unified Licence,UL, next month. Talking to reporters in New Delhi today Telecom Secretary R Chandrashekhar said , the detailed guideline and the process of issuing UL and the migration of existing licence should commence next month. The Department of Telecommunications has issued broad guidelines of UL in the Notice Inviting Applications issued in September 2012.

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Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dr M Veerappa Moily has called for auditing of all energy sources, including petroleum products in the country. Inaugurating the Oil and Gas Conservation Fortnight-2013 in New Delhi today, Dr Moily said the energy audit should have exact and precise process. It should encompass all sectors as utilization of national resources on sustainable basis need to be a top priority. He asked the Petroleum Conservation and Research Association to scale up its activities for intensifying conservation and optimum utilization of oil and gas. He also suggested energy budgeting by everyone utilizing energy. The Petroleum Minister said the government is working on a proposal to achieve self reliance by the year 2030.

We are working on a proposal to ensure that by 2020 fifty per cent of our imports should be reduced. By 2025, seventy five per cent of our import should be reduced. By 2030 , we should nearly reach out in self sufficient in petroleum products.

Dr Moily said energy auditing is needed to find out the quantum of unproductive and wasteful energy sources.

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Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari today said the convergence across media, entertainment and telecom is inevitable. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function in New Delhi today, Mr Tewari said the government is looking at the digitisation of cable sector as a process which will yield larger benefits like providing the consumer greater choice and clarity in terms of end products.

Convergence is a reality. As we speak , convergence across the media entertainment and telecom space, especially when digitisation are picking in, is inevitable. So, therefore at some point in time, there will have to be overall arching architecture , which looks at wholistically.

The Minister said one of the government's primary concerns is to ensure that set-top box manufacturing includes Indian producers. He said, the entire process is going to lead revenue expansion of about 5 billion Dollar and bulk of that revenue comes from manufacture of digital Set Top Boxes.

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The Vice President Mr.Hamid Ansari today reached Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam. He met with the Chairman of Peoples Committee of Ho Chi Minh Le Hoang Quan. Addressing the banquet given in his honour by Mr.Quan ,Mr Ansari said that India is committed to work together with the ASEAN region specially with Vietnam to enhance security,achieve greater economic prosperity and connectivity. He said that India is ready to provide all possible help to Vietnam for capacity building. Mr Ansari said that India's investment in Vietnam have exceed 800 million dollar and bilateral trade has crossed 4 billion us dollar. Our Correspondent reports that earlier the Vice President visited war museum and Vietnam History museum.

The Vice President after visiting history museum commented that this museum reminding spiritual ,Buddhist connection of Vietnam with India. He said that India is looking forward to working with Vietnam in the preservation of the Champa heritage site at My Son area of Vietnam. He visited museum where war history of Vietnam is exhibited . Vietnam faced a long era of war before unification of the country in 1976. Ho Chi Minh is a beautiful historic city and about 2000 Indians are residing here.T he Indian Business Chamber in Vietnam INCHAM is active in Ho Chi Minh and organized many business meets. Anurag Vajpeyi AIR News Ho Chi Minh City.

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At least six suicide attackers and two security guards were killed and 30 civilians injured in a powerful suicide bomb blast in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul today. The first suicide attackers detonated their explosive-laden car outside the gate of Afghan intelligence agency compound in highly secure Shar-e-Naw area of Kabul. The area also houses Afghan police headquarter and the interior ministry. Our correspondent repots that the blast was so powerful that the window panes of several nearby buildings were shattered.

Insurgent attacks on the compounds of Afghan and the international security forces are not new in Afghanistan. Today insurgents targeted high security National Directorate of Security compound in the heart of Afghan capitalKabul. But they could not inflict any major damage inside the intelligence headquarter. The most important thing is that Afghan security forces eliminated all the insurgents without the help from the international forces, which is an indicator of their growing strength. -Rajendra Upadhyay, AIR News, Kabul.

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A wave of attacks in Baghdad and northern Iraq killed at least 29 people today, the deadliest violence to take place this year. A suicide bomber killed at least 15 people and injured more than 100 by detonating a vehicle packed with explosives outside the offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Kirkuk.

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At least two persons were killed and two others injured when a helicopter crashed in central London today after colliding with a crane on top of a tower near the River Thames during rush hour. The helicopter was reported to have been carrying a pilot but no passengers. It struck the ground just 20 yards from Vauxhall station, a major commuting hub in the capital. The fate of the pilot is not known. At least two cars were hit by the debris from the crash.

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AND NOW NEWS FROM THE BUSINESS WORLD:

The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange declined 169 points, or 0.9 percent, to close at 19,818, today, on profit-booking by investors, amid fading hopes of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank, and weak global markets. The Nifty fell 55 points, to 6,002.Stock markets in Japan, China, Hong Kongand South Korea declined between 0.1 percent and 2.5 percent. The rupee weakened 8 paise, to close at 54.69 against the dollar. Gold jumped 320 rupees, to 31,325 rupees per ten grams in Delhi. Silver rose 450 rupees, to 59,450 rupees per kilo.And Brent crude oil futures rose towards 111 dollars a barrel, while US crude gained 30 cents, to 93.58 dollars a barrel. Pradeep Kumar, AIR News.

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London Olympics Bronze medalist Saina Nehwal and 4 other Indian shuttlers today stormed into their respective pre-quarterfinals of the Malaysia Open Super Series Badminton tournament at Kuala Lumpur.

In the Women's Singles opening round, top seed Saina defeated Juan Gu ofSingapore, in straight games, 21-12, 21-15.

In the Men's Singles first round, London Olympics quarterfinalist P. Kashyap defeated Takuma Ueda of Japan, 21-14, 16-21, 21-5, while Gurusaidutt beat compatriot Sourabh Verma, 21-11, 21-14.

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The Indo-Canadian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Daniel Nestor and the Indo-American duo of Rohan Bopanna and Rajeev Ram have advanced into the Men's Doubles second round of the Australian Open Tennis tournament at Melbourne