0815 HRS

03rd April, 2013

THE HEADLINES:

• Centre approves 373 crore rupee package for creating special infrastructure scheme in Naxal affected States; Also approves four laning of the Jabalpur-Bhopal section of National Highway-12 in Madhya Pradesh

• Finance Minister favours further cut in interest rate to promote economic growth.

• NABARD sanctions 500 crore rupees for Assam to carry out infrastructural development works.

• Gujarat Assembly passes new Lokayukta bill, Curtailing powers of Governor and Chief Justice in appointment.

• UN General Assembly approves the first ever global arms trade treaty to regulate the trade of conventional arms.

• Kolkata Knight Riders to clash with Delhi Daredevils in the opening match in Kolkata.

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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA, approved the continuation of the Scheme for Special Infrastructure in Left Wing Extremism affected states during the 12th Plan period. Of the total cost of 373 crore rupees, 280 crore rupees is the Central Government share and 93 crore rupees the state government. The proposal includes an added objective of upgradation and critical gap filling of training infrastructure, residential infrastructure, weaponry, vehicles and other related items pertaining to the Special Forces of the affected states.

The CCEA also approved the four laning of the Jabalpur-Bhopal section of National Highway-12 in Madhya Predesh under the National Highways Development Project. It has also given its approval for the four laning of the Numaligarh-Jorhat section, Jorhat-Demow section and Demow-Bogibil junction section of National Highway-37 in Assam under the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme in the North Eastern Region.

The CCEA has also approved the Minimum Support Price of raw jute at 2300 rupees per quintal for the 2013-14 season. This is a 100 rupees per quintal higher over the MSP of the last season. The increase is expected to encourage farmers to step up investment in jute cultivation, production and productivity.

The project related to the extension of the existing container terminal atVisakhapatnam port for 30 years at an estimated cost of over 633 crore rupees was also approved by the CCEA. The project will be completed within 24 months from the date of award of the concession.

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The government has deferred a decision on hiking Dearness Allowance or DA of central government employees to 80 per cent from 72 per cent at present. The Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari told reporters after a Cabinet meeting in New Delhi yesterday that the proposal on DA was deferred as the Finance Minister P Chidambaram was not present. Mr Chidambaram is on an official visit to Japan. An increase in DA would have benefited about 50 lakh employees and 30 lakh pensioners.

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Finance Minister P Chidambaram has favoured a further cut in interest rate by the Reserve Bank of India, RBI. In an interview to a TV channel, he said the government will continue to argue for an interest rate cut by the RBI which is slated to announce its monetary policy for 2013-14 on the 3rd of next month. Mr Chidambaram said, headline inflation has softened and there is a need to push growth to the potential level of 8 per cent.

Mr Chidambaram, who is in Tokyo, said India's growth potential is 8 per cent and the country can grow at this rate for the next 20-25 years. He said, the government has been addressing various concerns being raised by the industry in the past couple of years and is working to make India a more attractive destination for foreign investment.

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The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, NABARD, has sanctioned 500 crore rupees for Assam to carry out development works during the current financial year. NABARD Chairman Prakash Bakshi conveyed this to the Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi yesterday. Official sources said in Guwahati that the money will be given under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund, RIDF. More from our correspondent:

The bank has identified various areas where works are required to be carried out to boost up rural infrastructure. Assam government will utilize the 500 crore rupees in rural road networks, cold storage and irrigations. RIDF was instituted in NABARD with the sole objective of giving low cost fund support to state government and State owned corporations. A wide range of 31 activities of rural areas are being funded under the Fund. MANAS PRATIM SARMA, AIR NEWS, GUWAHATI.

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Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has launched a Wi-Fi service as a pilot project on the Howrah Rajdhani Express which will help passengers to access the internet on the train. With this facility, it becomes the country’s first Wi-Fi-enabled train to offer connectivity to passengers free of cost. The Railways plan to extend the service on other Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto Express trains based on customer feedback. The passengers will be required to register themselves by providing their PNR number and other details after which they will be given a login ID and password through an SMS. The ID and Password will be valid for the entire journey on the train.

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The Gujarat Assembly has passed a new Lokayukta bill which curtails the primacy of the Governor and Chief Justice of the High Court in appointment of the anti-corruption ombudsman. The Gujarat Lokayukta Aayog Bill 2013 was passed by a majority vote after the Congress MLAs walked out of the House. The Congress described the new bill as a ploy by the Narendra Modi government to keep corruption under wraps. More from our correspondent:

Bill proposes a seven-member selection panel headed by the Chief Minister, which will recommend a candidate for the Lokayukta post, and the Governor’s role would only be to ratify the candidate. The other members will be a minister hand-picked by Chief Minister, the Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, a High Court judge nominated by the Chief Justice and the State Vigilance Commissioner. The proposed law comes in the wake of Governor appointed retired judge R.A.Mehta as a Lokayukta in August 2011 and the State Government had lost the legal battle on the issue in Supreme Court also. Yogesh Pandya, AIR News, Ahmedabad.

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About one-fourth of 1.6 crore households missed the deadline of 31st March fordigitisation in 38 cities, but they may get a short transition period for switching over to Set Top Boxes depending on local conditions. Information & Broadcasting Secretary Uday Kumar Varma said the government is giving a transition time of 10 to 15 days to avoid inconvenience to people. However, the government insisted that the deadline for digitisation will not be extended and the transition period will vary from city to city.

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The Calcutta High Court has adjourned the hearing till Thursday on the West Bengal Election Commission's petition challenging the Panchayat poll schedule announced by the state government. During the hearing yesterday, the State Election Commission told the court that Central forces are needed to conduct panchayat polls in the state in a peaceful manner. The EC Counsel Samaraditya Pal said, thenumber of personnel available in the state forces are not enough to conduct the polls peacefully.

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The UN General Assembly has approved the first ever global arms trade treaty to regulate global trade worth 70 billion dollars in conventional arms ranging from light weapons to battle tanks and warships. Iran, Syria and North Korea opposed the treaty which prevented a consensus and hence the vote. More from our West AsiaCorrespondent:

The Global arms trade treaty is aimed at keeping the illicit weapons out of the hands of terrorists, insurgent fighters and organized crime. It covers battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, large-caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile components, and small arms and light weapons. It will not be applicable to the domestic use of weapons in any country. However, the treaty makes it mandatory for all the nations to establish national regulations to control the transfer of conventional arms, parts and components and to regulate the brokers in arms trade. ATUL TIWARY, AIR News.

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The United States has warned North Korea against going ahead with plans to restart the dormant nuclear reactor. Speaking at a news conference in Washington, the US Secretary of State, John Kerry called the North Korean announcement to restart the Yongbyon reactor as provocative, dangerous and reckless. He reiterated, the United States will do what is necessary to defend itself and its allies in the region - South Korea and Japan.

Earlier, North Korea announced that it would restart its Yongbyon nuclear reactor which can generate weapons grade plutonium to tackle its electricity shortage and boost its nuclear forces.

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In the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League Twenty-20 cricket tournament today, Kolkata Knight Riders will clash with Delhi Daredevils in the opening fixture at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. While defending champions Kolkata will be led by Gautam Gambhir, Delhi will be captained by Sri Lanka's former Skipper Mahela Jayawardene.

The tournament kicked off last evening, with a glittering opening ceremony at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. A total of 9 teams are taking part in the competition.

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NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES

Most of the papers on the front page lead with the story on the Power sharing arrangement between party Chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh being seen as a model for future governance. "Two power centres ideal model for future - says Congress, writes the Statesman while the Pioneer opines "Cong aims to confuse all on PM choice".

“SC deals a blow to polluting industries - fines Sterlite 100 cr rupees for loss of Tuticorn's coastal environment", says the Pioneer.

The Times of India writes that Monday's Supreme Court Judgement denying patent protection to Novartis on a cancer drug has made headlines across the world. The paper adds that Dr. Brian Druker, one of the Co-developers of the drug has himself welcomed the Supreme Court ruling but with a caveat; that the price of medicine should not be restricted to the extent that it inhibits future investment in new drugs.

"Optic fibre connects Ambani Brothers" writes the Hindu. Papers have reported extensively on Mukesh and Anil Ambani sealing a 1200 cr rupee telecom deal, their first collaboration, 8 years after a bitter split in 2006.

The Hindustan Times writes that with the prepaid auto and taxi facility to NCR towns coming in soon, passengers in Delhi, requiring these from the railway stations and airport can look forward to an easy and economic ride home.

And finally, taking a look into the future, the Times of India writes that the poorly designed Y Chromosome that makes men, is degrading rapidly and may disappear in 5 million years even if men are still around. According to evolutionary geneticist Jenny Graves, new sex determining genes and chromosomes will evolve, leading to the evolution of a new hominid species.