2100 HRS
09-03-2013

THE HEADLINES 

• President appoints new Governors for Tripura, Bihar, Odisha, Nagaland and Kerala.
• Somali pirates release 28 Indian sailors after a year.
• Coast guards arrest 21 Pakistani fishermen off Gujarat coast.
• Central team to visit four districts of Madhya Pradesh to probe corruption in implementation of MNREGA.
• Two separate suicide attacks claim 18 lives in Afghanistan.
• Indian duo of Divij Sharan and Purav Raja win their first Japan ATP Challenger Tennis title.
• India lose to world champions Australia in their opening match of Sultan Azlan Shah Cup men's hockey tournament.                                                                     <><><>

President  Pranab mukherjee has appointed new governors for Tripura, Bihar , Odisha, Nagaland and Kerala. A Rashtrapati Bhawan Communique said that   S C Jamir has been appointed as the Governor of Odisha in place of M.C Bhandare. The governor of Tripura, Dr D.Y Patil has been appointed as the new Governor of Bihar for his remaining term. Dr. D Y Patil  replaces Devanad Konwar who has been appointed the new Governor of Tripura for the remaining period of his term. The President also shifted Nagaland Governor Nikhil Kumar for his remaining term  as the Governor of Kerala.  Dr Ashwani Kumar will take the charge of new Governor of Nagaland.      
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The CBI today grilled former Karnataka Minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy and two of his associates in the iron ore export scam case. CBI sources said Reddy and Mehfuz Ali Khan and Karapudi Mahesh were questioned separately for a few hours.This comes a day after a CBI court directed the agency to interrogate them for their alleged role in illegal export of around 5.1 million tonnes of iron ore from Belekeri port from January 2009 to May 2010. The illegal export from Belekeri port was exposed by former Karnataka Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde who had, in his report, said 7.74 million tonnes of iron ore were illegally exported between 2006-2007 and 2010-2011.
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Somalian pirates have released 28 Indian sailors a year after their abduction. Making the announcement in Chennai today Shipping Minister G K Vasan said the government secured the release of the sailors on board the two vessels yesterday.  Of the two vessels - MV Royal Grace was hijacked in March 2012 and MT Smrini in May 2012.  17 sailors were on board MV Royal Grace and 11 on  MT Smrini. Vasan pointed out that nine Indian sailors are still being held captive by Somalian pirates and the government will continue its efforts for ensuring their safe return.  Official sources in New Delhi said the ship and crew of MV Royal Grace are expected to reach Oman. The Indian Embassy there will assist them and  and ensure their return to India. 

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Indian Coast Guard has arrested 21 Pakistani fishermen off Jakhau coast in Gujarat for illegally intruding into Indian waters. Our correspondent reports that they also seized three fishing trawlers. Pakistani fishermen have been arrested with their 3 fishing boats Al Haram, Al Ali, and Al Gaus. Indian Coast Guard patrolling ship- Meera intercepted these Pakistani fishing boats for illegal intrusion in Indian water. All Pakistani fishermen have been handed over to the Okha port police, where they will be interrogated by various security agencies. Yogesh Pandya, AIR News, Ahmedabad
    
In separate operations last month, 37 Pakistani fishermen were arrested and their four boats seized by the BSF and Coast Guard near Padala creek off Kutch district and off Mitha Port for crossing the Indian maritime boundary.

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A central team will soon visit four districts of Madhya Pradesh to look into the complaints of corruption in implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act - MGNREGA. Disclosing this at a public meeting in Jhabua,  Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said the team will visit Jhabua, Alirajpur, Barwani and Dhar districts. It will examine all the works carried out under MGNREGA and submit a report. Ramesh said after getting the report, he will ask the state government to take necessary action. He said although MGNREGA was meant to provide employment for 100 days in a year, most states have been able to make provision for only 50 days. He said it was the responsibility of the state governments to ensure that funds given to them under MGNREGA and other Central schemes are not misused.    In reply to a query regarding the below poverty line lists, he said the list in all states had bogus names. Referring to the cash transfer scheme, he said it has  been launched to ensure that the beneficiaries directly get the benefit of Central welfare schemes.  Later, he told reporters that 119 families affected with silicosis disease in the district will be given 70,000 rupees each for housing under the Indira Awas Yojana and also a monthly pension of 300 rupees.

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The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has expressed his deepest condolences at the passing away of former Parliamentarian Viren Shah.  Expressing his sadness at the loss of a close friend and former West Bengal Governor, Dr. Singh said, Viren Shah was a distinguished Parliamentarian, who also rendered invaluable service in the field of  industry and commerce. He said the country had lost a public figure of great distinction.
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Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi today met the family of slain DSP Zia-ul-Haq at native village Deoria in Uttar Pradesh. He assured the widow of the slain officer that the guilty will be brought to book. Only Justice is being demanded here.  It is everybody's right.  This lady is not alone she will get justice and those who have done this job action will be taken against them.   After meeting the family at their home in Jaffuar tola, Mr. Gandhi paid tributes to the slain police officer at the burial ground. 

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Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf today offered a Chadar at the shrine of Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chishti at Ajmer. Talking to reporters, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said it was a private visit and a pilgrimage for Ashraf. In reply to a query Khurshid said this was not the occasion or appropriate time for any discussion and he was not authorised to discuss  issues like terrorism with him and there were no official talks. Since it was a personal visit, this was not an occasion to hold formal talks on  official matter or any other matter. Khurshid said, New Delhi had taken up such issues with Pakistan earlier and will do so in future. Raja Parvez Ashraf has since returned to Pakistan.

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The Indian Navy Chetak helicopter which had gone missing on Tuesday, has been located at a depth of 60 meters off the coast of Visakhapatnam in Bay of Bengal. The bodies of two crew members have also been traced.The bodies of Lt. Pranav Likithi and GS Sen have been found in the wreckage. Out of four crew members, two were rescued on the day of the mishap. The wreckage and the bodies of the crew members were recovered in the early hours of today with the help of a multipurpose off-shore chartered vessel Olympic Canyon  deployed with its Remote Operating Vehicle for the salvaging operation.

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15 fresh cases  of swine flu or H1NI influenja have been reported from various parts of the national capital. With this the total number of people affected with this disease has gone up to 1267 so far since January this year. A Delhi government health official said that 16 people have also succumbed to this disease so far. He said, the Delhi government is closely monitoring the situation and all arrangements are in place in the designated hospitals of the city for the treatment of the disease.

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Nearly seven years after he jumped bail while serving a seven-year sentence for raping a German national in Rajasthan, absconder Bitti Mohanty from Odisha was today arrested by Kerala police and remanded to judicial custody. Police said that Bitti, son of former Odisha DGP B B Mohanty, had been working as a Probationary Officer in a public sector bank in Kannur for the last three years impersonating as "Raghav Raja" from Andhra Pradesh.  Bitti was produced before the First Class Judicial Magistrate at nearby Payyannur and he remanded him to 14 days judicial custody. He landed in trouble after employees of the bank branch at Pazhayangadi grew suspicious of the true identity of their colleague on seeing his photo on television channels in the wake of the Delhi gangrape incident. He was picked up from his local residence last week and revealed his true identity during questioning.

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At least 18 people, including eight children were killed and many more injured in two separate suicide attacks in Afghanistan today. In the first incident in Afghan capital Kabul, a suicide attacker blew his explosive laden vehicle near the gate of high security Afghan Defense Ministry building killing at least nine civilians and injuring 14 others. The terror outfit Taliban has claimed responsibility for the blast. The blast took place at a time when US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is in Kabul on his first visit to Afghanistan after assuming the charge of the office recently. In the second attack in eastern Khost province, at least eight children and a policemen were killed. The suicide attacker detonated his explosives in a police patrol passing in the area.  No group has so far claimed responsibility for this attack.  

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The Indian duo of Divij Sharan and Purav Raja today won their first ATP Challenger title of the season. In the final of the Shimadzu All Japan Tennis Championships in Kyoto today, the duo overcame the Australian pair of Chris Guccione and Matt Reid in straight sets 6-4, 7-5. The win earned both of the Indians 80 points each.

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At Ipoh, Malaysia today, a young Indian side put up a spirited fight before going down 3-4 to six-time champions Australia in their opening encounter of the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey tournament.  Australia,  who are also the world champions,  led 1-0 at the break. India will meet Korea tomorrow in their second encounter. In the other encounters today, Pakistan edged out defending champions New Zealand 4-3 and hosts Malaysia beat Korea 3-2 .

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Star Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal suffered a straight-game defeat to Intanon Ratchanok of Thailand in the semifinals of the women’s singles in the All England Championships today. At the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham,  the world number three Indian went down 15-21 19-21 against the World Number Eight Thai player in 40 minutes. This is the third time Saina has lost to the 18-year old Intanon. She was beaten at the Sudirman Cup in 2011 and also at the Super Series Final last year