1400 HRS.    

26th October, 2013

THE HEADLINES

• US dismisses Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's plea for an intervention on Kashmir issue. 

• Flood situation in Odisha continues to be grim, 25 people killed and thousands evacuated.

• Torrential rain continues to lash several parts of  Andhra Pradesh, Relief operations underway.

• Three Pakistan smugglers carrying drugs worth 120 crorerupees shot dead on Indo-Pak border by BSF.

• Brazil says, it is working with other countries on a draft resolution for UN General Assembly to guarantee people's privacy in electronic communication.

• The Cuttack One-dayer between India and Australia called off due to rain.

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The US has dismissed Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's plea for an intervention on Kashmir issue. State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said during her maiden Twitter briefing yesterday that Washington's position on this matter has not changed and would encourage New Delhi and Islamabad for a dialogue. Psaki was responding to a question on the statements made by Sharif during his trip to Washington this week, during which he repeatedly urged the Obama Administration to use its growing influence over India to resolve the Kashmir issue.

Ahead of Sharif's trip, the Obama Administration had said its position on Kashmir has not changed even an iota and that it considers Kashmir a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan.

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UN chief Ban Ki-moon has encouraged India and Pakistan to resolve the escalating tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) through dialogue and in a peaceful manner. Ban's spokesperson Martin Nesirky said the UN Chief is aware of the reports of tension along the LoC and would encourage the two nations to resolve their disputes through dialogue, on the lines of talks initiated during the bilateral meeting of the Prime Ministers.   

Pakistani troops had opened fire and shelled several border outposts along the International Border in Jammu and Samba this week. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had told reporters accompanying him on his two-nation tour to Russia and China this month that he is disappointed with Sharif and asked him even at this late hour to recognize that what was happening on the LoC and International Border is not good for the two nations.

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Three Pakistani smugglers, carrying 24 kg of heroin worth 120 crorerupees in the international market, were shot dead by BSF on the Indo-Pak border as they were trying to sneak into Indian territory. BSF officials said in Attari today that the Pakistani intruders were shot dead at Mullapur village during the cross firing with night patrolling party of BSF. A search operation was launched this morning during which bodies of the slain intruders were found, besides, 24 kg of heroin. Some arms and ammunition were also recovered from the spot. A senior official said that the search operation is still in progress. He said, more recovery of drugs and arms is expected after completion of search operation. More from our correspondent:

"With the killing of these three Pakistani smugglers, total number of those killed while sending contrabands from across the border into Indian territory this year has reached five, whereas the number of Pakistani smugglers killed in the year 2012 were seven. BSF have also recovered 15 weapons. Total heroin recovered this year till now is about 284 kilogram worth crores of rupees as compared to over 288 kilogram last year. BSF Punjab frontier Inspector General Ajay Kumar Tomar says, that this out come is a result of enhanced vigil by troops on the Punjab border with Pakistan. RAJESH BALI/ AIR NEWS/ JALANDHAR."

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In Odisha, the flood situation continues to be grim in some parts of the state with at least 25 people having lost their lives and thousands evacuated in the last four days. After Cyclone Phailin, now a cyclonic storm that turned into a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal has caused incessant rain, inundated hundreds of villages and damaged houses and crops. More from our correspondent:

"Ganjam district of Odisha is the worst affected in the recent flash flood. Over 50,000 people are cut off while nearly 85,000 have been rescued. Out of the 22 blocks in the district, 17 are the worst affected. Three Air Force helicopters are carrying out sorties for relief and rescue in the state, dropping food items nearby areas of Gopalpur. The Odisha government has ordered closure of all schools and colleges in the flood-hit districts till Monday. The east coast railway has also cancelled 13 trains and diversified a number of long routed trains. The latest report of Bhubaneswar Meteorological office has said that the well marked low pressure area over Telengana and adjoining Rayalseema and Coastal Andhra Pradesh now lies as a low pressure area over Telengana and neighbourhood.PRAKASH DASH FOR AIR NEWS BHUBANESWAR".

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In Andhra Pradesh, relief operations are underway on war footing even as torrential rain continued to lash several parts of the state for the past five days. Normal life remained paralyzed as about 4 lakh people in 16 districts are affected due to heavy rains. Over three thousand villages are marooned. Thousands of colonies are water logged. Over four hundred irrigation tanks were breached obstructing rail and road transport especially in Srikakulam and Nalgonda districts. Over thousand kilometers of  roads including high ways were washed away cutting off several villages from the rest of the world. Normal life has been thrown out of gear especially in Srikakulam, Prakasam, Guntur , Nellore in Coastal region and Mahaboobnagar and Nalgonda Districts in Telangana region.

Meanwhile, all the major rivers and rivulets are in spate while 3.6 lakh cusecs of water is being released down stream from Prakasam barrage in Vijayawada and Dhawaleswaram barrage at Rajahmundry. Many places in Nalgonda, Mahaboobnagar, Prakasam, West Godavary and Visakhapatnam recorded rainfall measuring up to 26 centimeters. State authorities said a total 20 people have died due to rain related incidents while about six thousand houses were damaged.

Farmers suffered huge losses as crops like paddy, maize, cotton and soybean in about 6 lakh 50 thousand hectare were inundated. Many places in Nalgonda, Mahaboobnagar, Prakasam, West Godavary and Visakhapatnam recorded rainfall measuring up to 26 centimeters.

State authorities said a total 31 people have died due to rain related incidents while about six thousand houses were damaged. Farmers suffered huge losses as crops like paddy, maize, cotton and soybean in about 6 lakh 50 thousand hectares were inundated.  More from our correspondent.

"People in island villages have been advised to be alert as they are facing inundation threat. Thousand of villages and colonies in urban areas remained marooned. Road and rail transport remained affected cutting off several habitations with the rest of world. Over 6 thousand houses were damaged rendering thousands of people home less while 73 thousand people are taking shelter in over 170 relief camps. Meanwhile, met officials have warned of heavy rains for next two days."M.S LAKSHMI/ AIRNEWS/ HYDERABAD.

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Normal life has been affected in Kolkata due to continuous rain since last night. Many low lying areas in the metropolis and adjoining districts have been waterlogged. Our Kolkata correspondent reports, pumps have been pressed into service to drain out water. The South-Eastern railways has cancelled a number of trains due to inundation of rail track. Trains are also running late at Howrah and Sealdah division. The met department has predicted light to heavy rain in gangetic West Bengal in next twenty four hours.

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The CBI court of Jaipur has sent former  Rajasthan Minister Babulal Nagar for 3 days to police custody in a sexual assault case. CBI arrested Nagar after  6 hours of questioning yesterday.  Babulal Nagar is accused of raping and assaulting a 35-year-old woman. The CBI took over the probe from the Rajasthan Police on the 9th of this month.

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BJP national executive member and former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s niece Karuna Shukla has resigned from the primary membership of BJP. Her resignation came at a time when the ruling BJP in Chhattisgarh is in the midst of the assembly elections.

Announcing her resignation in Raipur, former BJP  Mahila Morcha president said she felt that she had been ignored by the party for long.

Karuna shukla worked for the party for the  32 years and she was elected to the 14th Lok Sabha from Janjgir. However, she had lost the polls in 2009 elections from Korba Lok Sabha constituency.

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In Chhattisgarh, the Election Commission is acting tough to stop flow of liquor to lure voters in next month’s assembly polls. Polling is scheduled to be held in two phases on November 11 and 19 in the state.  Sale of liquor will be stopped 48 hours before polling while other special arrangements are being made to check its supply by poll aspirants to voters. A report from our Correspondent-

"On the directions of election commission, an IAS officer Santosh Kumar Mishra has been posted as Additional Excise Commissioner to act as a special observer during the elections. CCTV cameras have been installed in distilleries, bottling plants and godowns and police personnel have been deployed there. Official statistics indicate that on an average daily liquor sale in Chhattisgarh is about Rs 10 crore and commission’s efforts are to ensure that there is no significant increase in sales during the polls. Director General of state police Ramniwas has written a letter to superintendents of police to ensure strict action in cases of sale and transportation of illicit liquor." VIKALP SHUKLA/ AIR NEWS/ RAIPUR.

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NAFED Chairman Bijender Singh today expressed the hope that the onion prices are expected to come down within two to three days. Talking to AIR, he attributed the short supply to heavy rain in Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu and Karnataka.                                            

"I am very hopeful that we need not order for supply of Onion from abroad. This is my conclusion, within 3-4 days the Onion issue will disappear."

Bijender Singh said, NAFED will float global tenders on 29th of this month. Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit met the Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Food Minister Prof. K V Thomas requesting them to ensure the supply of onion.

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Vice President Mohammed Hamid Ansari says, the United Nations formed decades ago, is inadequate to resolve emerging political situations of the modern world. Mr. Ansari said, the emergent political situations in the world are a testimony to this fact and India has consistently pursued its agenda for reform of global governance institutions especially the United Nations and global financial institutions. Interacting with mediapersons en route to Frankfurt on board his Special Aircraft, the Vice President said, New Delhi will continue to work with Latin American countries and other like-minded nations to further strengthen consensus for restructuring of the United Nations. Mr. Ansari has left for Peru this morning after an overnight stay in Frankfurt on the first leg of his tri-nation tour of Peru, Cuba and Britain.

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Former Director of News Services Division, All India Radio, Mr. R. N. Mahadevan passed away in Delhi yesterday evening, after a brief illness. He was 84.

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The 18-party BNP led Opposition Alliance has called for a 60-hour hartal beginning tomorrow if the government fails to initiate talks over formation of election-time government.  Addressing a mammoth rally in Suhrawardy Udhyan in Dhaka last evening, for which the police had  given conditional permission, BNP leader  Khaleda Zia said a tougher agitation will be staged if the opposition demand for a non-partisan polls-time government is not met by Tuesday. Here is more from our correspondent:

The Awami League led 14 party ruling alliance is facing an ultimatum from the BNP led 18-party Opposition to initiate talks by this evening failing which a 60-hour nationwide hartal will go into effect from tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, 5 people were killed and over 300 injured in country wide clashes yesterday between opposition and ruling party activists and the police. This morning in capital Dhaka crude bombs were hurled in front of the residence of the Supreme Court division judge as well as outside the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police. Reacting to the Opposition demand, ruling Awami League has urged the Opposition leaders to withdraw the hartal call and start preparing  for elections." MELINDA DIAS/AIR NEWS/ DHAKA.

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Brazil has said it is working with other countries to draft a UN General Assembly resolution that would guarantee people's privacy in electronic communications. This follows a series of reports of alleged US eavesdropping on foreign leaders and others that has surprised and angered allies.

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The BCCI has issued a 30-day termination notice to Sahara Adventure Sports Ltd, a subsidiary of Sahara Pariwar, owners of IPL franchise Pune Warriors, for defaulting payment for the next IPL edition. The decision was taken today at the working committee meeting in Chennai.

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The 5th ODI between India and Australia scheduled to be played in Cuttack today has been called off. The decision was taken after the match referee Roshan Mahanama inspected the rain drenched field in the Barabati Stadium this morning.