1400 HRS.
21th July, 2013
THE HEADLINES:
- More villages along Godavari River put on high alert, with water level continuously rising at Dhawaleswaram in East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh.
- In Uttar Pradesh, over 4 lakh people in eight districts reeling under floods.
- Three killed in West Bengal's Murshidabad district in pre-poll clashes between Congress and CPI(M).
- SEBI to auction government bonds worth 23,000 crore rupees for FIIs tomorrow.
- Egypt's interim Prime minister urges all the sides to put an end to the divide across the political spectrum.
- Indian duo of Purav Raja and Divij Sharan clinches its maiden ATP title, by winning the Colombia open Tennis tournament.
- And, Indian squad, led by Virat Kohli, leaves for Zimbabwe to take on the hosts in a five-game ODI Cricket series.
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In Andhra Pradesh, more villages along Godavari River have been put on a high alert, with water levels continuously increasing in Godavari River. Though the North Telangana districts got some respite from incessant rains since last evening, Godavari River is flowing at 55.8 feet at Bhadrachalam in Khammam district this morning. Water level dangerously rose to 16.9 feet at Dhawaleswaram barrage in East Godavari district due to heavy inflow from upper riparian areas. Over 17 lakh cusecs of flood water was released downstream posing threat of inundation of several island villages. More from our correspondent:
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In Tamil Nadu, flood warning has been issued in Hogenekkal due to heavy rain in Cauvery catchment areas. More from our correspondent:
"Cauvery is in spate in Hogenekkal, as 40,000 cusecs of water is being released from Kabini Dam in Karnataka. People living in the Cauvery river banks have been advised to shift to safer places. The water level in Mettur Dam has risen to 76.75 feet because of heavy rain in Cauvery catchment areas. In the past 24 hours, 11.6 mm rain was recorded. More than 17,075 cusecs of water is flowing into the dam today. More than 3,800 cusecs of water is being released from Mettur Dam for drinking purposes. K. DEVI PADMANABHAN, AIR NEWS, TIRUCHIRAPALLI."
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The 7-member Central team to study rain havoc in Kerala began its tour of the affected areas this morning. The team split themselves in two groups. One group is currently touring the Kuttanand region in Alappuzha district, the worst hit in the recent rain. Hundreds of houses and vast tracts of paddy fields in the district are still lying submerged. Several families have shifted temporarily to the houses of relatives and friends, while hundreds are staying in camps, set up by the district administration. The second group visited Thirumaradi in Ernakulam district, where heavy crop loss has been reported.
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In Madhya Pradesh, incessant rain over couple of days has claimed at least eleven lives in different parts of the state. Our correspondent reports several rivers and streams are in spate."Three people of a family drowned in Mandla, while eight causalities were reported from Shivpuri, Ashoknagar, Satna and Khandwa districts. Narmada, Tapti and several other rivers are in spate. Water has been released from Bargi, Tawa and Manikheda dams. The Met Department has predicted heavy rains in the next 24 hours in almost all parts of the state, especially in Gwalior, Sagar, Jabalpur, Bhopal and Indore divisions. Shariq Noor, Air News, Bhopal."
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In Uttar Pradesh, more than four lakh people, spread over eight districts, are reeling under the floods, as all the major rivers are in spate. In the sub Himalayan Terai region, the rivers are constantly posing threat to the huge population, land, crops and livestock. In Gonda, hundreds of villagers are compelled to take shelter on the roads, flood relief camps and river embankments as Saryu, Ghaghra and Sharda have inundated their dwellings.
AIR Lucknow correspondent quoting sources reports till now 151 people have lost their lives in the rain and flood related incidents in the state. CM Akhilesh Yadav has instructed the relief officials that there should be no paucity of any relief material for the people in distress.
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Over a month after calamity hit Uttarakhand, the state government has finally prepared a roadmap for clearing tonnes of debris left over by the destruction at Kedarnath and extricating bodies still trapped underneath the rubble at the Himalayan shrine and adjoining areas. The roadmap was worked out at a meeting of GSI experts, Engineering Projects (India) Limited (EPIL) top brass and IAF officials with Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar and DGP Satyavrat Bansal in Dehradun yesterday. It was decided that the services of EPIL will be taken to carry out the massive exercise hampered so far by bad weather and lack of heavy equipment. Mr. Subhash Kumar said, officials from the civil administration and police personnel will also assist in the exercise, which also entailsrazing to the ground 48 dilapidated structures damaged by the flash floods in Kedar valley.
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In West Bengal, three persons were killed in Murshidabad district in pre-poll clashes between Congress and CPI(M) supporters this morning. The fourth phase of Panchayat polls will take place in Murshidabad, Malda, Nadia and Birbhum districts tomorrow. Post-poll violence was also reported from different districts, in which altogether 83 people were injured. More from our Correspondent:"Ahead of the rural poll two Congress supporters and one CPI(M) activist were killed in a series of clashes at Beldanga and Bharatpur in Murshidabad district. With this, the district witnessed death of at least eight persons in pre-poll clashes. At least seven persons were killed in just concluded second and third phase of panchayat election in West Bengal. Post-poll clashes were also reported from Amdanga in North 24 Phargana and Panchala from Howraha district. The State Election Commission has ordered re-polling in 32 polling booths of North and South 24 Phargana and Howraha districts. Arijit Chakrabaroty, AIR News, Kolkata."
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Market regulator Sebi will conduct an auction tomorrow for the grant of investment limits to foreign investors in government debt securities worth more than 23,000 crore rupees. In a circular, the bourse said, the bidding will be held on a designated electronic exchange platform of the NSE between 1530hrs and 1730hrs. The auction follows robust interest shown by FIIs for the sale of government debt bond investment limits to the tune of 42,000 crore rupees last month. The encouraging response came at a time when FIIs have been pulling out of the Indian debt market.
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In Uttar Pradesh, the monitoring of Mid-day Meal, MDM distribution scheme has been intensified after MDM tragedy in Bihar. The district co-ordinators of MDM are now regularly checking the quality of food. The state government has ordered that Mid-day Meal will not be served until the headmaster or the cook of concerned school tastes the food. Our correspondent reports after visiting a few schools in the district that several irregularities have been found during preparation of Mid-day meals.
"We reached a Primary School in Bhathat. The Midday meal was already being served. We asked the teachers whether the food was tasted before serving. The answer was negative. They said, they forgot this time, but it will not be repeated again. On investigation, it was found that the potato was supplied by the Gram Pradhan himself. Moreover, Agmark spices were not being used. The food safety department has taken samples of the cooked food. On the other hand, the food was of good quality in Devipur Saraiya Primary School in Sardar Nagar block of the district where the students seemed very happy and the attendance was full. The school is serving midday meal according to the government norms. With RC Shukla, Salman Haider, AIR news, Gorakhpur."
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In Odisha, a 3-member team, comprising medical experts, is visiting state-run VSS Medical College and Hospital at Burla in Sambalpur district today, to probe into the reasons behind the death of nine newborn babies within 24 hours. Odisha Health and Family Welfare Minister, Dr Damodar Rout has said, the team will submit its preliminary report to the government by this evening, and remedial measures will be taken immediately. Sources in VSS Medical College and Hospital say, nine deaths were reported in the neonatal care centre of hospital and all the newborn babies were kept in incubators as they were premature babies.
Meanwhile, tension is prevailing in the hospital, as parents and relatives of the babies held the hospital authorities responsible. Opposition Congress and BJP have criticised the health department for its negligence towards the hospital and held agitations in different parts of Burla.
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Bhutan's Prime Minister-elect Tshering Tobgay today pledged to further strengthen the bonds with India. In an interview to PTI, the 47-year-old Bhutanese leader said, he has accepted the invitation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and would like to visit India, as soon as possible, to assure the people and government that regardless of which government comes to power in Bhutan, the relationship between the two countries will only grow from strength to strength. The Harvard-educated leader also observed that the Indian leadership and successive Kings in Bhutan have forged excellent relations between the two nations based on fraternal goodwill, mutual understanding, and shared interests.
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Egypt's interim Prime Minister has urged all the sides to put an end to the divide across the political spectrum. In a televised address to the nation, Hazem Beblawi urged the people to sort out the issues through an inclusive dialogue process. He also said that tough measures are on the cards to revive the economy. However, Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad has ruled out any dialogue and reiterated the calls to release and reinstate the deposed President Mursi who was ousted in a military coup on July 3. Mursi is under house arrest at an undisclosed location since his ouster.
Meanwhile, legal experts selected by Egypt's interim President are due to meet today to start work on amending the country's constitution. The team has 30 days to draft the amendments, which were intended to pave the way for new parliamentary and presidential elections. The previous constitution was suspended by the military, following the ousting of President Mohammed Morsi earlier this month. This had been written largely by Islamists from Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.
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"The Indian duo of Purav Raja and Divij Sharan has clinched its first ever ATP title, by winning the Colombia Open Tennis tournament in Bogota. In the Men's Doubles title clash last night, the fourth seeded Indian duo defeated the higher seeded French-Dutch combination of Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Igor Sijsling, 7-6, 7-6 to win the title.
Meanwhile, top seeded Swiss Roger Federer has made a shocking exit from the Hamburg Clay Court Tennis tournament in Germany. Federer was stunned by Argentina's World Number 114 Qualifier Federico Delbonis, 7-6, 7-6, in the semi-finals.
In cricket, a 15-member Indian squad, led by Virat Kohli, left for Zimbabwe this morning to play a 5-match one day international series, which begins on Wednesday at Harare. The squad is without Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has been given a break by the national selectors. Three pacers, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav, along with spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, have also been rested.
And in Archery, the Indian Women's trio of Deepika Kumari, Laishram Bombayla Devi and Rimil Biruly will take on the top seeded Chinese team today, in the finals of the World Cup Stage-3 being held in Medellin, Colombia. In the Compound Men's team event, the trio of Rajat Chouhan, Ratan Singh and Sandeep Kumar will fight for a bronze medal against hosts, Colombia. SAVVY HASAN KHAN, FOR AIR NEWS."
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The Centre has asked the states to ensure accreditation of nurseries so that qualitative production and supply of planting material are assured. Noted scientist and Horticulture Commissioner, Gorakh Singh, has said more attention is required for procurement of planting material of standard qualities instead of the tendering system. Addressing a day-long Horticulture Conference in New Delhi, Singh, however, regretted that only 570 nurseries have been accredited so far across the country. He said special emphasis should be laid on the establishment of mother-blocks and root-stock blocks with hi-tech nurseries and tissue culture units. Singh suggested adoption of a new technology known as High Density Planting System in potential fruit crops like mango and guava saying it will multiply the returns of the farmers.
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