0815 HRS

17th April, 2013

THE HEADLINES;

• A 7.8 magnitude earthquake claims 35 lives in Pakistan.

• CBI tells a Ghaziabad court that teenager Aarushi Talwar was murderedby her parents.

• Filing of nominations for Karnataka Assembly elections ends today.

• United States launches a worldwide investigation into Boston Marathonbombings.

• Punjab Police rejects NADA's clean chit to Olympian Boxer Vijender Singh; To conduct its own test.

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A 7.8 magnitude earthquake has claimed 35 lives in Pakistan. The quake also struck areas of Iran bordering Pakistan. Tremors were also felt in Northern and Western India and West Asia.

In Pakistan, all deaths were recorded in the remote Panjgur and Kharan districts of Balochistan. The Mashkel area was hit hardest by the quake and hundreds of homes were destroyed or damaged in the affected regions. Urban centres like Karachi,Hyderabad, Quetta, Abbottabad, Islamabad and Lahore were also jolted. Our West Asia correspondent reports that emergency has been declared in Sistan and Balochistan provinces of Iran after the quake:

Rescue helicopters have been pressed into service in the quake hit areas with the medical staff, tents, medicine and other relief items. Iran has declared a state of emergency in provinces of Sistan and Balochistan. Quake hit areas in south east Iran have been cut off from the rest of the world making it difficult to assess the severity of damage. Iranian Red Crescentsaid that it was facing a complicated emergency situation in the quake hit areas. Iran's nuclear chief Fereidoun Abbasi said there was no damage to the Bushehr reactor and invited UN inspectors to visit the site. It was the second earthquake in Iran in less than a week and the most powerful in the gulf region over the past 40 years. Strong tremors were felt in Dubai, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and parts of Saudi Arabia. Atul K Tiwary,AIR News,Dubai

The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has conveyed his deepest condolence for the loss of life, injury and destruction of property in the earthquake that hit Iranand Pakistan. Dr. Singh said India's thoughts and prayers are with the people who have lost their dear ones and suffered in this tragedy.

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The fourth Clean Energy Ministerial, CEM4, begins in New Delhi this morning to accelerate the global transition to a clean energy economy. Energy ministers and high-level delegates from more than 20 of the world’s leading economies will hold discussions to identify tangible steps each government can take towards achieving green objectives. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will address the international meet on India's clean energy initiatives and the road map ahead. More from our correspondent:

The Delhi Clean Energy ministerial will deliberate on evolving ways to reduce the costs of solar photovoltaics panels, adoption of clean vehicle technologies, power markets in emerging economies and also financing and policy measures on generating renewable energy. Role of Women in Clean Energy Innovations also find prominence in the discussions. MADAN KUMAR, AIR NEWS, DELHI.

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The Supreme Court will today hear actor Sanjay Dutt's plea seeking six more months to surrender to undergo a three-and-a-half-year jail term in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. Dutt has been convicted for possessing firearms. A bench of justices P Sathasivam and M.Y. Eqbal, before whom the matter was mentioned yesterday, said Dutt's plea should be heard by the same bench which had passed the judgement in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case. Dutt, 53, who was directed to surrender by April the 18th, urged the apex court to allow him to surrender after the completion of his pending films which will take at least 196 days.

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The CBI told a Ghaziabad court that teenager Aarushi Talwar's sensational murder five years back was carried out by her own dentist parents Rajesh and Nupur Talwar. The investigating agency said, no outsider was present at the time of the crime. In his deposition before Additional Judge S Lal, CBI investigating officer AGL Kaul, who headed the CBI probe in the case, told the court that their investigations revealed that there was no evidence of any third person's entry in the house.

Appearing as a prosecution witness in the court, where the Aarushi murder trial is going on, the officer said, the CBI probe showed that only Rajesh and Nupur were present in the house when Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj were killed onthe intervening night of May 15-16, 2008.

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The Eastern Zonal Council, comprising of the States of West Bengal, Odisha, Biharand Jharkhand meets in Kolkata today. Home Minister Sushil kumar Shinde will preside over the deliberations. Safety on the national highways, internal security, communal harmony, allotment of land for CRPF to establish battalion camping sites are high on its agenda. Matters related to police administration, border area development programme, strengthening of the vigilance establishment in the states to deal with corruption and issues relating to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will also figure during the discussions.

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Filing of nominations for the Karnataka Assembly elections ends today. The state will go to the polls on the 5th of next month to elect a new assembly. More from our correspondent:

Among those who will file nominations today are Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar from Hubli-Dharwad Central, Home Minister R Ashoka from Padmanabhanagar, former Home Minister R Roshan Baig of Congress from Shivaji Nagar and senior Congress leader DR. B L Shankar from Dasarahalli among others. The scrutiny of the nominations will take place tomorrow and the last day to withdraw nomination is April 20th. Sudhindra AIR NewsBangalore.

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The proposed indefinite strike by Madhya Pradesh government employees from today has been postponed. This follows talks between employees unions and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Bhopal last night. The representatives of the employees unions have claimed that the Chief Minister has given them an assurance that their justified demands will be fulfilled at the earliest. Employee organizations are pressing for their 51-point demands. The demands include a hike in grade pay, payment of arrears, regularization of daily-wage employees, and implementation of a fixed career promotion plan apart from many other related demands.

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The US has launched a worldwide investigation into the Boston marathon bombings. Two bombs, said to be pressure cookers packed with explosives and ball bearings, exploded near the finish line at around 12.20 am India time yesterday. Officials said, the devices were similar to those used against American troops in Iraq andAfghanistan and put the number of wounded at 176, many with critical injuries. President Barack Obama said, FBI is investigating it as an act of terrorism and it was not known if it was committed by an individual, a malevolent individual or an organisation, foreign or domestic. Chief FBI investigator Richard DesLauriers said at a briefing that this will be a worldwide investigation and the agency will go to the ends of the earth to bring the culprits to justice. Authorities searched the home of a Saudi national who is being treated at a Boston hospital for injuries suffered at the blast site. He has also been questioned. But police commissioner Ed Davis said the Saudi is not a suspect.

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Setting aside the clean chit given by National Anti Doping Agency to the Olympian Boxer Vijender Singh in his dope test, the Punjab Police says, it will follow the legal procedure to conduct the tests on its own. Vijender’s name had cropped up in multi-crore Punjab drug haul case. Fatehgarh Police Chief, Hardyal Singh Mann told our Jalandhar Correspondent that the police is waiting for the legal report and would follow the law to conduct hair or nail tests on the pugilist. More from our correspondent:

Punjab Police is maintaining that Vijender had sniffed heroin 12 times after procuring it from Canada based alleged drug smuggler Anoop Singh Kahlon and his out-of-competition dope test has no relevance. Meanwhile, police have arrested Devinder Singh, an international drug smuggler and close aide of the kingpin Jagdish Singh Bhola from Bhatinda yesterday. This is 17th arrest in this case. 8.5 kg ephedrine, a chemical used for preparing heroin had also been recovered from his car. The cost of the ephedrine is worth 8 crore fifty lakh rupees. Fatehgarh Sahib Police Chief said Devinder has confessed that he was close to Kahlon and Bhola. RAJESH BALI, AIR NEWS, JALANDHAR

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In a thrilling IPL cricket match played in Bangalore last night, Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Delhi Daredevils by four runs in the Super Over. Earlier, both teams were tied at the score of 152 in the match played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Sent in to bat first, the Daredevils made 152 for five in their twenty overs. Chasing 153 for a win, Royal Challengers Bangalore managed to only equal the score by making 152 for 7.

In the Super Over, the Bangalore team made 15 runs. In reply, Delhi could manage only 11 runs for the loss of two wickets.

In the other IPL fixture played at Mohali, Kings Eleven Punjab beat Kolkata Knight Riders by four runs. Set to score 158 runs for a win, Kolkata Knight Riders finished with 153 for nine in their twenty overs. Two IPL matches are scheduled for today. In the first game at Pune, Pune Warriors will meet Sunrisers Hyderabad at 4 PM. In the second encounter at Jaipur, Rajasthan Royals will take on Mumbai Indians at 8 PM.

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NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that has reportedly claimed dozens of lives in Iranand Pakistan and which was also felt in parts of India dominates the front pages of all the papers.

Speculation about who triggered the twin explosions at the Boston marathon in theUnited States get intense attention on the front pages. While the Pioneer says "Home grown terror under lens", The Tribune reports "Residence of Saudi Arabian student searched".

The Center's decision to consider Punjab chief minster Prakash Singh Badal's clemency demand for death row convict Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar is widely noticed. The Asian Age and the Tribune report that the Home Ministry is examining the possibility of setting up a medical board to examine Bhullar's mental healh condition. A person of unsound mental health cannot be hanged.

The CBI's submission in the Supreme Court regarding the delay by it in appealing against the Allahabad High Court's order dropping conspiracy charges against L K Advani and others in the Babri Masjid demolition case is highlighted in many papers."Condone appeal delay lest demolition offenders get away, CBI urges Supreme Court", reports the Hindu.

In a front page story, the Indian Express reports the CBI as saying that there was no pressure on them in the investigations into the alleged illegalities in the allocation of coal blocks.

Most papers highlight the Supreme Court stay on its own earlier order on who can head the Central and State Information Commissions. "SC stays own order on reserving information posts for judges" reports the Pioneer.

The Indian Express highlights the Gujarat government's decision to appeal for capital punishment for former minister in the Narendra Modi government Maya Kodnani, Bajrang Dal leader Babu Patel and others convicted in the Naroda Patiya massacre case.

In a special front page story, the Times of India writes that in a significant move towards transparency, the government has said all public authorities should proactively disclose details of Public-Private partnership projects on their websites.

And finally the Asian Age writes that the secrets of 'dark matter' which is supposed to hold the cosmos together may begin to get revealed. The paper reports that scientists, including an Indian origin physicist have for the first time observed concrete hints of a particle behind the elusive dark matter.