1400 HRS

18th February, 2013

THE HEADLINES

• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says, government is ready to discuss all issues, including VVIP chopper deal in the forthcoming budget session of Parliament.
• Supreme Court stays execution of death sentence of four Veerappan aides; Convicts' petition to be heard on Wednesday.
• British PM David Cameron arrives in Mumbai on a three-day India visit.
• Renowned social worker and grass-root level entrepreneur, Ela Ramesh Bhatt conferred 2011 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development.
• Uttar Pradesh government orders judicial probe, headed by retired Justice Onkareshwar Bhatt, into stampede at Allahabad.
• Sensex gains 55 points in afternoon trade; Rupee drops 11 paise to 54 rupees 33 paise against the dollar.

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Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today said, the government is ready to discuss all issues on the floor of Parliament. Dr. Singh's remarks came in the wake of opposition threat to stall Parliament proceedings in the budget session of Parliament, demanding a Supreme court monitored probe into allegations in the VVIP chopper deal. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function in New Delhi, Dr. Singh said, the government has nothing to hide. The Prime minister also said, there is scope for discussion and Parliament is the right forum for any debate.

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A Central Bureau of Investigation, CBI team is leaving for Italy today to investigate the 3,600 crore rupee VVIP chopper deal. The team will also investigate whether firms were floated in India just to route kickbacks in the deal with Italian defence company Agusta Westland. The CBI team is also expected to meet Italian prosecutors to ascertain the details of the case. The Defence Ministry has also deputed a Joint Secretary to visit Italy to gather evidence relating to the allegations of corruption in the case. Our correspondent reports, the Central Vigilance Commission has sought a report from the Defence Ministry on alleged irregularities in the controversial 3,600 crore rupee VVIP chopper deal with an Italian firm.

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The Supreme Court today stayed the execution of death sentence of four aides of sandalwood smuggler Veerappan till further orders. The convicts were awarded capital punishment in 2004 for a landmine blast in Karnataka, that left 22 police personnel dead. A bench comprising Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and justices AR Dave and Vikramajit Sen posted the matter for Wednesday. The petition on behalf of the four convicts was filed by advocate Samik Narain. Narain was given the liberty to amend and rectify the petition after objections were raised on its maintainability by Attorney General G E Vahanvati who was asked to assist the court.

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British Prime Minister David Cameron today said that he wanted his country's companies to invest in India to develop new cities and districts along a 600-mile corridor between Mumbai and Bangalore. This would generate investment projects worth up to 25 billion dollar.

"Britain is looking to take down the barriers. And one of the cases we would be making this week is, we hope that the Indian government would continue the brilliant work its doing, to open up Indian economy to take down barriers, and to make it easier to do business here in India. We want to make sure that just as we welcome Indian investment into the UK, it is easier for British firms to invest in this vibrant and fast growing economy."

Mr. Cameron is on a three-day visit to India with the largest trade delegation taken abroad by a British Prime Minister. Speaking to an audience of business people and workers at Hindustan Unilever Limited Headquarters in Mumbai, Mr. Cameron said, he wanted British firms to work with the Indian and British governments to develop nine districts to link Mumbai, India's financial capital, with Bangalore, its tech hub.

Mr. Cameron also said, Britain planned to change the visa system to allow Indian business people to get a visa in one day.

The British Prime Minister invited more Indian students to study in Britain.

"There is no limit to the number of Indian students, who come and study at British Universities, as long as they have basic English qualification, and a place at one of these Universities. And there is no limit to the number that can stay and work in graduate employment. I think it is a very straight forward offer to a new generation of extremely bright and talented Indian students to come to Britain."

On tax, the British Prime Minister said, the time has come to challenge the distinction between tax evasion, which is illegal, and tax avoidance, which is legal. David Cameron said, businesses have no excuse to avoid paying their fair share of tax in Britain, after his government cut corporation tax to a competitive 21 per cent. The British Prime Minister said, tax avoiders should face a moral obligation to pay up because of the difficulty in changing the law fast enough to keep up with new schemes.

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In Kerala, police have taken into custody Maoist leader Ajayan Mannoor this morning. He is said to have distributed pamphlets seeking support for the Maoist movement. Kerala Police are on high alert in some districts, following intelligence reports that a group of Maoists have infiltrated into the state from Karnataka.

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In Assam, three persons were injured, when a passenger train rammed into a mini truck at an unmanned level crossing in Sivsagar district today. North East Frontier Railway PRO Nripen Bhattacharya said that a mini truck was hit by the Moriyani-Dibrugarh Passenger train at Kujibali in Sivsagar district under Tinsukia division. All the injured persons was admitted in the district civil hospital by local people.

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President Pranab Mukherjee today conferred the 2011 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development to renowned Women social worker, Mrs. Ela Ramesh Bhatt at a glittering ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan this morning. Mrs. Ela Bhatt was honoured for her life time achievements in empowering women, promoting grassroot level entrepreneurship and for her contribution towards promoting equitable development and peace. Speaking on the occasion, President Pranab Mukherjee said, Ela Bhat's organisation SEVA has become synonymous today with rural inclusiveness and a vehicle of self employment and self reliance for women. The President said, Ela Bhatt worked for bringing women out of poverty and through the promotion of Self Help Groups empowered them with the freedom to choose and attain financial self- reliance.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh noted that, inspite of developments, it is a matter of shame that incidents of violence and sexual offences against women are on the increase. Dr. Singh said, to deal with this, the UPA government has adopted a mix of legislative, institutional and procedural reforms. Dr. Singh said, the Justice JS Verma committee has resulted in the promulgation of an ordinance, amending and strengthening the criminal law to deal with sexual offences against women.

Speaking on the occasion, Indira Gandhi Memorial trust Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi said, Ela ben has seen women as the true nurturer of prosperity. She put women at the centre of economic development. Mrs. Gandhi said, in the foot steps of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's vision, Ela Bhatt has touched and changed the lives of million of people, especially uplifting the vulnerable and most marginalised sections of the society.

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The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered judicial probe into the stampede at Allahabad Railway station on February 10th. The stampede claimed the lives of 38 Kumbh pilgrims and injured many. Retired Justice of Allahabad High Court Justice Onkareshwar Bhatt will conduct the probe. He has been asked to complete the probe within two months.

Earlier, the government had asked the Chairman Board of Revenue Jagan Mathuews to conduct the probe within one month. He was supposed to visit Allahabad today to initiate the probe. State Principle Secretary Home Rajendra Mohan Srivastav told our Allahabad correspondent that the government has also decided to scrap the probe by the Chairman Board of Revenue and the order about it is being issued today. Two Public Interest Litigation petitions have been filed in the Allahabad High Court and its Lucknow bench, seeking judicial probe into the incident.

Railway has also set up an inquiry committee, headed by the Additional member traffic Railway Board, to probe into the incident.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded a special audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General, CAG, into the expenses made in the name of Kumbh preparations. State BJP has also set up a committee to probe into the incident of stampede.

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The government today said that it is committed to turn the urban challenges into opportunities. Addressing an international conference in New Delhi, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Kumari Selja said that there is a need to provide housing and employment to the poor. The minister emphasised on the steps being taken by the government to make urban planning more inclusive for the poor. She said, an inclusive city encompasses positive outcome for each citizen.

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The Andhra Pradesh Government today decided to pay two lakh rupees ex-gratia each to the families of those, who died due to untimely rain in the state in the past two days. Revenue Minister Raghuveera Reddy told this to media after Chief Minister Kiran kumar Reddy reviewed the situation. A total of 18 persons died, out of which 13 died due to lightening.

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Government today said that priority will be given to setting up radio stations in remote, difficult and Border areas in the 12th five year plan. Inaugurating an FM radio station at Love dale near Ooty, Joint Secretary in Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Mrs. Supriya Sahu said, in Phase-III, 839 new FM radio stations are to be set up. On increasing the listenership of radio programmes, she said that listeners' participation will be encouraged.

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In Tripura, around 64 per cent votes have been cast so far in the re-Poll in booth number 36 of Kakrabon HS School under Kakrabon-Salgora constituency. According to official sources, out of 516 votes, around 350 votes have been cast so far. The re-poll was ordered following EVM malfunctioning during the voting process on Thursday.

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The first meeting of the India-UAE High Level Task Force Meeting on Investment has begun in Abu Dhabi today. Union Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles, Anand Sharma is co-chairing the meeting with the UAE Minister of Industries, Sheikh Hamid bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The Indian delegation comprises of representatives of major Infrastructure, financing institutions and banks along with a business delegation of FICCI. Items high on the agenda include investment from UAE into National investment manufacturing zones and Delhi Mumbai dedicated freight corridor from UAE to India.

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Thousands of protesters have gathered in Washington to urge the US President, Mr Barack Obama to take strong measures to combat climate change and global warming. Demonstrators travelled from across the country for the 'Forward on Climate' rally, which was billed as the largest climate change rally in the US. Protesters called for the President to reject the nearly 3,000 kilometer Keystone XL Pipeline that will carry oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. They also want him to order the Environmental Protection Agency to set carbon standards for power plants.

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The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange rose 33 points, 0.2 per cent, to 19,501 in opening trade, this morning, on selective buying by funds and retail investors, amid rising regional bourses. Later, the Sensex gained some more ground, and stood 55 points, or 0.3 percent in the green, at 19,524 in afternoon trade, a short while ago.

Key stock indices in Japan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwanhad gained between 0.1 percent and 2 percent, today.

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The rupee dropped by 11 paise to one-month low against the American currency at 54 rupees 33 paise in late morning trade, on sustained dollar demand from banks and importers, on the back of a firm greenback in overseas markets. The rupee resumed lower at 54 rupees 43 paise per dollar against the last weekend's level of 54 rupees 22 paise at the Interbank Foreign Exchange, Forex market and hovered in a range of 54 rupees 32 paise and 54 rupees 44 paise, before quoting at 54 rupees 33 paise per dollar at 1040 hrs.

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The News Services Division of All India Radio in its weekly, 'PUBLIC SPEAK', programme tonight will bring you a discussion on, 'Religious belief and scientific temperament'. This can be heard on FM Gold Channel and additional frequencies at9.30 p.m. Listeners can ask questions to the experts sitting in our studio on telephone number, 011- 2331-4444.