2100 HRS.

25-10-2013

NEWS AT NINE.

THE HEADLINES

• Relief operations underway in rain-hit areas of Andhra Pradesh, as death toll mounts to 18; Six die in floods in Odisha.
• CBI arrests former Rajasthan Minister Babulal Nagar in a sexual assault case.
• Supreme Court issues notice to the Centre and state government on Tamil Nadu fishermen's arrests by Sri Lankan Navy.
• Political campaigning on social media comes under Election Commission's ambit in five poll bound states.
• 225 candidates in fray for the first phase of polls in Chhattisgarh; Filing of nominations for the second phase begins.
• In cricket ;Uncertainty hovers over tomorrow's Cuttack One Dayer between India and Australia due to continuous rain.

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In Andhra Pradesh, relief operations are underway on a war footing in the rain-hit areas even as torrential rains continued to lash several parts especially the coastal districts. Normal life has been badly hit due to very heavy rains for the past four days.

Meanwhile, the death toll rose to 18 due to rain related incidents and two more persons were washed away in flood water.

" Massive rescue and relief operations are underway in the coastal districts, especially in worst affected Srikakulam, Guntur, Visakhapatnam, Praksam and East Godavari. Thousands of people from the low laying areas have been shifted to relief camps as thousands of villages and residential areas were marooned due to torrential rains. Over 45 thousand people have been evacuated to 72 relief camps in the worst hit Srikakulam district while 11 thousand people taken to 36 camps in Guntur district. Major rivers including Godavari, Krishna and Vamsadhara are in spate due to heavy inflows. People living in lower riparian areas have been asked to go to safer locations as two lakhcusecs of flood water released from Prakasam barrage across River Krishna in Vijayawada and Dhavaleswaram barrage across river Godavari at Rajhamundry into the sea. Road and rail transport systems have been badly hit in the coastal districts while over irrigation tanks and several roads were breached. The South Central Railways and East Coast Railways have cancelled several trains and rescheduled several others on the Howrah-Chennai route due to heavy rains"Lakshmi, AIR News, Hyderabad.

In Odisha, the death toll in the recent flash flood mounted to six with four more deaths reported. Incessant rain induced by low pressure triggered floods in cyclone-hit Ganjam and other coastal districts.

Our correspondent quotes the Collector of Ganjam as saying that many places have now become inaccessible. The state government has announced the closure of schools and colleges in the coastal districts in view of the flood.

"The twin calamity of phailin followed by heavy downpour and the resultant flood in Odisha has left thousands of people homeless and hearthless. In addition, standing crops in many districts including Ganjam, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Gajapati, Bhadrak have been extensively engulfed by flood waters. The incessant rains for the last three days have also disrupted normal road communication in different parts of the state. Due to the present spell of natural vegary, relief and post-phailin restoration work too have been badly hit. Efforts are on to evacuate thousands of marooned villagers in the worst-hit Ganjam district, where all the major rivers like the Rusikulya are in spate. All eyes are now up at the overcast sky to clear off, so that normalcy may soon return to the cyclone and flood ravaged people of the state.".G.C. Das, AIR News, Cuttack.

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Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde has said, the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Telangana will submit its report to the Cabinet before the winter session of Parliament. Mr Shinde  said this while talking to reporters in New Delhi today. He heads the seven member GoM on Telangana.

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The CBI today arrested former Rajasthan minister Babulal Nagar, for allegedly raping and assaulting a 35-year-old woman. The CBI sleuths probing the case questioned him and  recorded his statement at Circuit House in Jaipur, officials said.

While entering the Circuit House, Nagar told reporters that he had given his views and statements related to the case in writing to the agency.

First FIR against Babulal Nagar was lodged by Jaipur police on 17th September. About three weeks ago, the state government requested CBI to investigate this matter.  A women registered a case against Nagar alleging sexual assault  on first. Nagar is continuously denying charges against him. CBI had lodged the case against Nagar on 9th October and today after questioning for about six hours arrested him. Earlier CBI recorded statement of the victim twice during the last few days. CBI will present Nagar before Magistrate tomorrow. Anurag Vajpayee, AIR News, Jaipur.

The Sodala Police station had booked Nagar for allegedly raping and beating up the woman on September 11th, after calling her to his official bungalow in Jaipur on the pretext of giving her a job.The CBI on October 9th took over the probe from the Rajasthan Police.

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Voicing concern over Tamil Nadu fishermen being caught by the Sri Lankan Navy, the Supreme Court today issued notice to the Centre and state government on petitions filed by DMK and AIADMK MPs for release of those languishing in jails.

A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam sought to know from the governments on how to resolve the issue through diplomatic and political channels, while expressing happiness that both the rival political parties are united on the issue.

The court directed the Centre and the State Government to file their response on two separate petitions one by a DMK MP and the other by AIADMK MPs, seeking direction to the government to protect the fishermen from being attacked by the Sri Lankan Navy.

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The Inter-Ministerial Group on coal blocks today reviewed the progress of 14 mines allotted to firms like Jaiprakash Associates, Monnet Ispat and Energy and Jindal Steel and Power Ltd . Official sources however  said,  no decision was taken on these blocks.

The Panel had also reviewed the performance of 16 mines allotted to firms including NTPC, SAIL and Tata Power yesterday. Some of the companies gave reasons like lack of environmental clearances and regulatory hurdles for delays in development of the mines.

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The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah today visited the border areas of Jammu and Samba districts which are facing brunt of heavy firing and mortar shelling from across the border. During his visit Mr. Abdullah listened to the grievances of the people. He praised the border area population for showing the highest degree of bravery and safeguarding the borders.

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All content posted by political parties and election candidates on the internet and social media websites like Facebook and twitter will now come under the scanner of the Election Commission. The Commission today  issued detailed instructions to the Chief Electoral Officers of all states and various political parties in the country in this regard. The move aims at maintaining transparency and provide a level playing field  to political parties in the forthcoming assembly elections in five states.

The Poll body has  asked the parties and candidates contesting the upcoming Assembly polls to provide details of their internet or  social media accounts along with a statement of expenditure incurred for creating them.

It has also directed all political parties and candidates to get their advertisements pre-certified by it before issuing them on social media websites. The certificate will be issued by the media certification and monitoring committees at district and state level.

However, with regard  to content posted by persons or entities other than candidates and political parties, the EC said it was considering the matter in consultation with the government to find a practical way out. Our correspondent reports, the  order comes after the poll panel was made aware of the use of social media for election campaigning and violations of electoral law on the web.

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In Chhattisgarh, a total 225 nominations have been filed in 18 constituencies going to poll in the first phase on November 11th. On the last day a total of 111 nominations were filed. Today was the last day for filing nominations in these constituencies.

"Contest in 18 constituencies in the Maoist affected region is set to be bi-polar as picture became clear on the last day of filing of nominations for the first phase of elections. The most keenly watched contest will be in Rajnandgaon, where Chief Minister Raman Singh is pitted against Mrs. Alka Mudaliyar, wife of a former legislator who was killed in the May 25 Maoist attack in Bastar. The nomination process is completed peacefully in these 18 seats, however, Security forces are facing a serious challenge for ensuring peaceful polling in tribal Bastar region where Maoist has a significant presence". Vikalp Shukla, AIR News, Raipur.

Meanwhile, Notification was issued today for the second phase of elections in the state, marking the beginning of the filing of nominations in 72 constituencies. For the second phase, nomination papers can be filed till November 1st.

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The BJP has complained to the Election Commission seeking action against Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct in his speech in Rajasthan. Citing the provisions of the model code, the BJP in its complaint said portions of the impassioned speeches seem to be clearly violative of it.

The Congress has however rejected the BJP allegations saying that Rahul Gandhi's statement is a call for the people to be careful towards those who want to divide society.

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A Delhi government team has reached Maharashtra to purchase onions from the Nashik market in a bid to lower prices of the kitchen staple which has surged to  90-100 Rupees in the national capital region.

Food Minister K V Thomas today reiterated in Delhi that the onion prices will come down in the next 10 days with the fresh arrival of domestic and imported stock.

The West Bengal government has also made arrangements to sell onions at 36 rupees per KG through 40 stores.

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NEWS FROM THE BUSINESS WORLD

"Falling for the fourth straight session, the Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange declined 42 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 20,684, on profit-booking by investors, amid falling Asian markets, today. The Nifty fell 19 points, to 6,145. Stock markets in Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore lost between 0.4 percent and 2.8 percent. The rupee ended unchanged, at 61.46 against the dollar. Snapping two days of gains, gold fell 10 rupees, to 32,400 rupees per ten grams in Delhi. Silver dropped 750 rupees, to 49,450 rupees per kilo. And Brent crude oil futures dropped below 107 dollars a barrel, but US crude climbed 37 cents, to 97.48 dollars a barrel. Pradeep Kumar, AIR News".

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Market regulator Sebi has ordered the attachment of over 50 bank accounts of West Bengal-based MPS Greenery Developers Ltd for the recovery of 1,520 crore rupees, along with applicable returns, collected from investors through illegal collective investment schemes. This order issued by Sebi today is the first direct attachment order issued in a case involving an unauthorised CIS scheme, which has emerged as a major route for illegally raising public funds.

Sebi has also asked banks to provide all details of all accounts, including lockers held by MPS Greenery, a copy of account statements of the past one year and confirmation of attachment of the said accounts.

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Vice President Mohammed Hamid Ansari reached Frankfurt this evening on way to Peru on his the first leg of his visit. Mr. Ansari left New Delhi this morning on the tri-nation visit. He will also visit the United Kingdom to deliver a lecture at the Oxford Centre for Islamic studies. The Vice President will hold high level talks with leaders of Peru and Cuba to further enhance bilateral, trade and cultural exchanges and cooperation in diverse areas.

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A local government official has been killed as violence flared up during the presidential election in Madagascar. The official died in an attack on a polling station in the town southwest of the island. People have been voting to elect a president for the first time since Marc Ravalomanana was ousted by his successor Andry Rajoelina in 2009.

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With rain still lashing parts of Odisha including Cuttack, the venue of the 5th ODI between India and Australia, the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) today said the chances of drying up the waterlogged Barabati Stadium were extremely remote.The association regretted the development caused due to inclement weather.

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The Delhi High Court today declined to grant a stay on the ongoing inquiry proceedings by a Committee against ace shuttler Jwala Gutta for alleged indiscipline. The Committee has been set up by the Badminton Association of India. Gutta had approached the High Court, challenging the show cause notice by the Committee on the October 14th and also sought a stay on its proceedings against her.