2100 HRS.
02-03-2013

THE HEADLINES

• Non-subsidised cooking gas price slashed by 37 rupees 50 paise per cylinder; Bulk consumers of diesel to pay 1 rupee more per litre.
• Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio stakes claim to form the new Government in Nagaland
• A local court in Kerala rejects fresh investigation into Suryanelli gangrape case.
• President Obama orders 85 billion dollars steep spending cuts; Warns of adverse impact on US economy.
• Mahesh Bhupathi and his French companion Michael Llodra win Men's Doubles title of the ATP Dubai Open Tennis.
• Australia declares 237 for nine in the first knock in the Hyderabad Test.

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Cooking gas has become cheaper but diesel price for bulk consumers is to cost more by over one rupee a litre. There is no change in the retail prices of diesel sold through petrol pumps nor in the rates of 9 subsidized LPG cylinders sold to consumers.Oil companies have announced a cut in the price of non subsidized LPG cylinders by 37 rupees and 50 paise per cylinder. It will now cost 904 rupees 50 paise per cylinder of 14.2 Kilogram as against 942 rupees. The subsidized cylinder costs 410 rupees 10 paise per cylinder in Delhi.Industry sources said the oil firms yesterday hiked the price of diesel for the bulk consumers like Railways, defense and State Transport Corporations by 94 paisa, excluding local sales tax or VAT. The actual increase for bulk consumers will be up to 1 rupee 25 paise per litre. Oil companies were selling diesel to bulk consumers at a rate of 58 rupees 58 paise per litre as compared to the retail price of 48 rupees and 16 paise per litre sold at petrol pumps in Delhi.The hike in bulk diesel price was necessitated by the firming up of international oil rates. Sources said oil firms continue to incur a loss of 439 rupees on sale of every subsidized LPG cylinder. On kerosene, they lose 33 rupees 43 paise per litre and will end the fiscal with a loss of 1 lakh 63 thousand 500 crore rupees on fuel sales.

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The BJP today demanded roll back of hike in rail fares and fuel prices and removing cap on cooking gas cylinders. The economic resolution adopted at the BJP National Council meeting in New Delhi today, also urges loan waiver for drought hit farmers, cut in fertilizer prices and hike in Minimum Support Prices of various crops as per the report of the Swaminathan Committee. Raising concerns over inflation, the party also called for policy revamp to check prices of essential commodities.

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Nagaland Chief Minister and Leader of the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio met the State Governor Nikhil Kumar at Raj Bhavan in Kohima today to stake claim to form the next government in the State. Rio also submitted his and his Council of Ministers resignation from the 11th Nagaland Assembly. More from our correspondent:

Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio met Governor Nikhil Kumar to formally stake claim to form the government. With the unanimous re-election of the NPF Legislators’ Party leader, Rio will take over as the 19th Chief Minister of Nagaland. In a letter, Mr Rio requested the State Governor to invite him to form the DAN-III Government once the constitutional formalities are completed. With Subharanjan Buragohain, this is Anenla Jamir, AIR News Kohima.

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In Kerela, a magistrate's court in Peerumedu in Idukki district today rejected a plea by the victim in the Suryanelli gangrape case for a fresh investigation into the alleged involvement of the Congress leader and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien. The court held that there is no new ground for a fresh probe.The victim had filed a petition for a fresh probe in the light of the recent claim by Dharmarajan, one of the accused in the 1996 gangrape case and the only person to be convicted.Dharmarajan suddenly appeared last month on a Malayalam television channel after absconding for several years and levelled the charge against Kurien. He was later tracked down and arrested by Kerala police in Karnataka.

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In Himachal Pradesh , the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau will probe into the alleged mass phones tapping during the previous Dhumal led BJP government’s tenure. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said this while talking to the media at a function in Shimla today.

He said , government was very much serious about the issue and strict action will be initiated against those involved in the violation of the Indian Telegraph Act.

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Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation has set a new record in e - ticket bookings. It booked more than five lakh rail e-tickets yesterday, surpassing the earlier one-day sales record set in July last year. The earlier record was 4.96 lakh e-tickets.

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In Kerala, five persons were killed in a fire at a fire works unit today. The incident happened at Cherpulassery in Palakkad district. Police said, two persons were killed on the spot and the rest died on the way to hospitals. The district administration has ordered an enquiry in to the accident.

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US President Barack Obama has ordered 85 billion dollars in budget cuts that could slow the US economy and slash jobs. He blamed Republicans for refusing to stop what he called the dumb spending cuts. Obama complied with his legal obligations and initiated the automatic, across-the-board cuts in domestic, known as the sequester, and defence spending, following the failure of efforts to clinch a deal with Republicans on cutting the deficit. The package of cuts was drawn up two years ago. It had been designed to jolt US politicians into finding better ways to balance the books.Obama had earlier blamed the austerity time bomb on Republicans, who refused to close tax loopholes used by the rich and corporations combined with more targeted spending cuts. New Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has warned that the sequester could endanger the military's capacity to conduct its missions. Under the sequester, 800 thousand civilian employees of the Defence Department will go on a mandatory furlough one day a week and the navy will trim voyages. Defence contractors may be forced to lay off workers and some federal health spending could be hit.Although the cuts trim significant amounts from domestic and defence spending, they do not touch entitlements such as social programs like Medicare health care for the elderly and pension schemes. The next point of leverage is likely a bill to fund government operations, which Congress must pass by March 27, or see the government shut down. Both sides have indicated that they would seek to avoid that scenario, meaning that the sequester cuts may remain in place -- unless a way can be found to make equal spending reductions that are less punitive.We spoke to Maithili Bhushnurmath, economic expert on the issue:

If the US slows down because President Obama orders cut because he is not able to reach any understanding with the Republican dominated Congress, then it will certainly impact India. The only silver lining in all this is that US periodically goes through this. It was not so long that end December, there was talk of fiscal cliff. The whole world was worried about what would happen. Finally a compromise was reached. So this time also I am hopeful that a compromise will be reached. And in that case we will not be impacted in medium to long term. In short term and immediate term, certainly there will, the whole world economy will shake a bit will rattle a bit. And we will also be impacted by that.

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US President Barack Obama spoke to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on phone today and the two leaders have highlighted the need of fresh initiatives to end the crisis in Syria. In a statement White House said that President Obama also emphasized the need to continue the engagements of the new U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to resolve the conflict in Syria.The telephonic conversation between the two leaders comes close on the heels of statement by the Joint U.N. and Arab League Special Envoy on Syria , Lakhdar Brahimi a day ago that hope for a solution to the crisis lies in the hands of Russia and the United States.

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President Pranab Mukherjee leaves New Delhi tomorrow on a three-day state visit to Bangladesh. This will be his first visit abroad since his assumption of office seven months ago.

Briefing media in New Delhi, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said that during his visit, Mukherjee will convey to the top Bangladesh leadership India's commitment to take bilateral relations to a higher level. He said, the President will receive the Bangladesh Liberation War Honour Award for his contribution to the independence struggle of that country in 1971.

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Tension continues in Bangladesh with activists of the Jamaat-E-Islami indulging in violent protests, arson and vandalism in some districts. Two people are reported to be killed in a police firing during a violent clash between the police and the activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir at Keranihat in Satkania upazila of Chittagong district today.

Bangladesh is set for a three day shutdown from Sunday with the Jamaat-E-Islami calling for a two day strike to be followed by a strike on Tuesday by its ally and the main opposition party the BNP. The Jamaat-E-Islami has been staging protests following the International Crimes Tribunal-1 awarding death sentence to party senior leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee in the 1971 war crimes case while the BNP is protesting against the police firing on Jamaat-E-Islami protestors. Dhaka city witnessed some violent clashes this afternoon between police and supporters of the two opposition parties who vandalised and burnt a few vehicles and business establishments in some parts of the city. The 14 party ruling Grand alliance led by the Awami League and organisers of the Shah Bagh square demonstrations have urged the people to reject the strike. Senthil Rajan, air news, DHAKA.

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Pakistan's Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Khursheed Shah has said that there would be caretaker government on March 16. He was talking to media after addressing a ceremony in Karachi today. Meanwhile, Pakistan's Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf met President Asif Ali Zardari in Lahore and discussed the caretaker setup.

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Indo-French pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Michael Llodra have won the ATP Dubai Open Tennis Doubles title. In the finals today, they defeated Serbian-Swedish duo of Nenad Zimonjic and Robert Lindstedt 7-6,7-6 in straight sets.World Number one Novak Djokovic plays Tomas Berdych in the Singles final tonight.

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India were five without loss in their first innings in reply to Australia's 237 for nine declared on the opening day of the second cricket Test in Hyderabad today.Earlier, Australia declared their first innings at 237 for nine. James Pattinson on 1 and Xavier Doherty yet to score were at the crease when Australian skipper Michael Clarke took the interesting decision of declaring the innings. India is leading the 4 match series by 1-0 by winning the opening Test by eight wickets in Chennai.