0815HRS
9th July, 2013
THE HEADLINES:
- Government fully prepared to meet obligations under Food Security Scheme; Asks states to complete identification of beneficiaries within six months; Delhi to become first state to roll out the scheme.
- Supreme Court issues notice to Centre and States for improving condition of mental hospitals.
- New Delhi and Baghdad sign agreement to enhance co-operation in energy security sector among others.
- Pakistan's Abbottabad Commission report finds incompetence and negligence of government allowed Osama Bin Laden to stay there for almost a decade.
- Sri Lanka defeat West Indies by 39 runs in ODI match of the tri-series; India to take on Sri Lanka today.
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Centre has said that it is fully prepared to meet obligations under food security ordinance, and called on states to complete identification of beneficiaries within six months. Speaking exclusively to All India Radio in its popular programme Public Speak, Secretary Food and Public Distribution Sudhir Kumar said, the states have been asked to go about the identification of beneficiaries in a transparent manner. He said, the states have also been asked to improve on the public distribution system for successful implementation of the food security law.
Implementation is a challenge. It is not something that Pradhan in the village or someone in Tehsil will decide on his own, there has to be a transparent criteria of selection. We are asking the State government to put all the list of beneficiaries on portal. There are provisions of transparency, door step deliver should be there under PDS to the shops, so that there is no leakage on the way, so that all ultimate benefit is achieved and the beneficiaries get the food grain.
Under the Food Security Bill, wheat will be distributed for two rupees per kilogram and rice at three rupees per kilogram to the poor and needy. Seventy five per cent of the population will be covered from the rural areas and fifty per cent from the urban areas.
Participating in the discussion, Member of National Advisory Council Mr. N.C. Saxena said there is enough food grain production in the country to meet the demands. Mr Saxena also asked the States to do away with private dealership and dual pricing system.
Participating in the discussion, Member of National Advisory Council Mr. N.C. Saxena said there is enough food grain production in the country to meet the demands. Mr Saxena also asked the States to do away with private dealership and dual pricing system.
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Delhi is all set to become the first state in the country to roll out the food security scheme. Delhi Government has decided to launch the ambitious food scheme on the 20th of next month, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Talking to AIR, Delhi Food and Supply Minister Harun Yusuf said that State Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit met the Union Food Minister K.V Thomas in the national capital yesterday and conveyed her decision to launch the scheme. Mr Yusuf said that his government has begun the ground work for implementation of the scheme.
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The Central Bureau of Investigation, CBI, in its report filed in the Supreme Court has said that it will abide by the Apex Court's direction and not share any details of its investigation in the coal gate scam. The agency however said that it may need to share information in cases where it needs to seek the government's sanction for prosecution. Recently the CBI had to inform the Ministry of Corporate Affairs while summoning former Coal Secretary H.C. Gupta as an accused. The Ministry refused to give sanction till they had details of evidence against Gupta. The Apex Court, during the last hearing, had said that only the investigating officers and the CBI Director should know the details.
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The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Centre and the States yesterday, seeking their response for improving the condition of mental hospitals in the country.
A Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Pinaki Chandra Ghose sought the response on a petition filed by the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC highlighting the problems faced by the mental hospitals. NHRC said, the mental health hospitals in the country are facing serious financial constraints as adequate resource allocation is not being made to meet their requirements.
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The Centre has resisted before the Supreme Court a demand to reduce the age of juvenility from 18 years and also countered that punishment for a crime committed by a minor should be determined by the gravity of the crime, and not merely by the age of the perpetrator. Centre asserted that lodging juveniles with adult criminals in jail would render them hardened criminals and was more likely to cause harm to the society. Defending the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, the Ministry of Women and Child Development said the law, defining a juvenile as less than 18 years of age, was in conformity with international standards and ensures their reformation and rehabilitation.
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Acting on a tip-off, a crime branch team picked up Rakesh Kumar Gangwal, a bookie from Jaipur and brought him to Mumbai yesterday. Police said, Gangwal had been in touch with his associates in Pakistan and Dubai while accepting bets during the recent IPL season.
Mumbai police, probing the IPL betting syndicate, had earlier arrested 17 accused in the case. They include Chennai Super Kings owner Gurunath Meiyappan, who is alsothe son-in-law of BCCI President N Srinivasan, and Bollywood actor Vindoo Dara Singh among others.
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India and Iraq are set to enhance co-operation in energy security, bilateral trade commerce and the infrastructure development among others. An agreement to this effect was signed by the Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily with his Iraqi counterpart Abdul Karim Luaibi in Baghdad at the end the India-Iraq Joint Commission on technical co-operation in Baghdad yesterday. In the energy sector, Iraq will supply more crude oil to India to meet its growing energy needs.
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Mr Moily has said that India is actively engaged in TAPI or the Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India gas pipeline project. He said,TAPI project is an important stage of development and efforts are on to attract potential investors for financing the $10 billion project. Our correspondent reports that Mr Moily will be leaving for Turkmenistan capital Asgabat today where he will hold delegation level talks on the progress of TAPI project.
India has already signed agreements on gas pricing, gas allocation and the framework for co-operation under the TAPI gas pipeline project. Gas Authority of India Limited, is the promoter on behalf of India for the TAPI Project. The gas pipeline will traverse around 2000 kilometers across the four nations and is likely to be completed by 2017. Turkmenistan will export up to 33 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year through the pipeline that will start from Turkmenistan and reach India after crossing through Afghanistan and Pakistan. Atul K Tiwary, AIR News, Dubai.
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Incompetence and negligence allowed Osama Bin Laden to live in Pakistan undetected for almost a decade, a leaked government report suggests. A version of the report, leaked to Qatar-based broadcaster, says the killing of Bin Laden by US forces was a criminal act of murder ordered by the US President. Bin Laden was killed by US forces in north-west Pakistan in Abbottabad in May 2011. Shortly after the raid, the Pakistan parliament called for an independent enquiry into the incident to establish whether the failures of the government were due to incompetency or colluding with al-Qaeda. The leaked documents fiercely criticized the Pakistani government and military, describing culpable negligence and incompetence at almost all levels of government.
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In Egypt, the interim President Adly Mansour has issued a constitutional declaration regarding the political roadmap of the country. Under the declaration, parliamentary elections and ratification of amended 2012 constitution will take place before presidential elections. Meanwhile, thousands of supporters of deposed President continued their protest against Mursi’s ouster at Cairo.
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In Assam, around 100 villages have been affected in the current wave of flood in 4 districts during the last 36 hours. However, overall flood condition has slightly improved in Upper Assam areas as the Brahmaputra river has receded in Nematighat and Dibrugarh. More from our correspondent:
Dhemaji and Lakhimpur district administration distributed relief materials in flood hit areas. Administrations have set up 7 relief camps in Dhemaji and Chirang district. Medical teams have been formed in Dhemaji and they are visiting flood affected areas and relief camps. Low lying areas of the world heritage site Kaziranga national park are reeling under flood. Vigil has been intensified in and around Kaziranga. Senior forest officials said that no casualties to wild animals have been reported from anywhere due to flood. Manas Pratim Sarma, AIR News, Guwahati.
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In Uttar Pradesh, five more persons were killed in Azamgarh district yesterday, taking the death toll due to rain related incidents to 110. An upsurge is being witnessed in almost all the major rivers of the state. Our correspondent reports that the Met department has predicted rainfall in the next 24 hours with heavy to very heavy rainfall in some place.
Rescue and relief teams have been alerted, specially in the flood prone areas of Nepal bordering districts. Most of these areas were hard hit by recent floods of Ghaghra, Sharda and Quano. These rivers, though have receded, but are still flowing above the danger mark at many places in Terai region. More than twelve thousand persons are still inundated and some are compelled to live either in flood relief camps or on the river embankments. Merajuddin, AIR NEWS, Lucknow."
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Sri Lanka beat West Indies by 39 runs in rain-marred ODI match of the Tri-series cricket Tournament at Port of Spain in Trinidad last night. Kumar Sangakkara's superb 90 run helped Sri Lanka win the match.
India will take on Sri Lanka today at Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain in the last league match of the tournament. All India Radio will broadcast live commentary of the match. It can be heard on Rajdhani and FM Gold Channels from
India need to beat Sri Lanka with a reasonable margin to make it to the final. Hosts West Indies is the other team in the Tri-Series tournament.
NEWSPAPER HEADLINES
The Hindustan Times writes that the enquiry proceedings against CBI official may get exempted from the scope of the Right to Information Act (RTI) if the government's suggestion on the working of a proposed accountability commission gets through.
Almost all papers have quoted BJP's general Secretary Ananth Kumar as saying that the BJP was ready for snap Lok Sabha poll with good governance and development as its key poll planks. The Tribune covers the story on its front page.
The 13th edition of Jagganath rath Yatra will begin from 400 year old Jagannath temple on July 10 with a start of facebok page on the deity for devotees to worship and follow the yatra through the social networking website reports the Asian Age.
In economic news the Business Line reports that India's gold imports in June have fallen 80 percent to about 32 tonnes providing some relief to the current account deficit and the weak rupee.
The Financial Express writes that the Indian economy is showing sights of recovery helped by gradual reduction of inflationary pressure even though the country's growth still remains relatively weak" according to Paris based thinktank Organization for economic Co-operation and Development-OECD.
The Times of India reports that the All India Institute of Medical Sciences will now provide telephone consultation to treating physicians on poison management.
The paper also reports that school children in the age group of 15 16 years in United Kingdom will now get to study India's struggle for Independence in detail.
Scientist have demonstrated for the first time that starfish use premature eyes at the tip of their arms to usually navigate their environment. Starfish eyes are image-forming and could be an essential stage in eye evolution reports the Hindustan Times.
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The Government has cancelled the Kailash-Manasarovar Yatra of this year for batch numbers 11 to 14, due to torrential rains and floods in Uttarakhand. An External Affairs Ministry statement said that three key bridges along the yatra route at Elagad, Tawaghat and Kanjoti are yet to be repaired and restored. The state and local administrative authorities estimate that restoration work may take up to one more month.
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