0815 HRS

10th April, 2013

THE HEADLINES:

• UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon condemns the killing of five Indian Army personnel of UN mission in South Sudan; calls it a war crime.

• Prime Minister leaves for Berlin today on a three day visit; India-European Union Free Trade Agreement likely to be signed.

• Supreme Court upholds life sentence to four in 1984 Sikh riot case.

• Delhi High Court asks Centre to put in place a statutory Regulatory body for controlling electronic media.

• In Tamilnadu, 4 killed in a train accident near Arakkonam.

• 37 killed in Iran as a 6.3 magnitude earthquake hits Bushehr province.

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UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has strongly condemned the killing of five Indian Army personnel in an attack on a convoy of a UN mission in South Sudan, saying that such an act is a war crime. Five Indian Army personnel, including a Lt Colonel were killed yesterday and four injured during the UN peacekeeping mission when their 32-member convoy was attacked in Gumuruk in the volatile state of Jonglei.

In the statement, Ban said, killing of peacekeepers is a war crime that falls under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and the South Sudanese government should bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice. He also expressed his deepest condolences to the Indian government and to the families of the peacekeepers, staff members and contractors killed in the attack.

There are around 2,200 Indian Army personnel comprising two battalions, one based in Jonglei and the other in Malakkal, Upper Nile, on the border with Sudan.

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The Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is leaving today for Berlin on a three day state visit. During his visit, India and Germany will sign agreements in several key areas including education, science and technology and clean energy. Our Correspondent covering the visit, reports that cooperation in the field of trade and commerce, science and technology, education, particularly vocational education and culture will be high on the agenda during bilateral discussions between the two sides.

In his departure statement before leaving for Berlin, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said, he will seek German Chancellor Angela Merkel's support for an early conclusion of a balanced India-EU broad based trade and investment agreements. He said, India intends to seek greater trade and investment ties with Germany asIndia continues to take steps to boost domestic investment, attract foreign investors and spur the economy back to its long term growth potential of 8 percent.

The Prime Minister is accompanied by the External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, Minister for Science and Technology, Jaipal Reddy, New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah and Human Resource Development Minister Pallam Raju. Dr Singh will chair the second round of inter-governmental consultations during the visit.

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The Prime Minister's Office has asked the Secretaries of the concerned Ministries and Departments to gear up for the roll out of the second phase of the Direct Benefits Transfer, DBT, scheme. In a letter written to the Secretaries, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Pulok Chatterji apprised of the decisions taken in the review meeting held on the 5th of this month. He urged that the digitization of databases should begin in all districts in the country irrespective of the roll out of the scheme. Mr Chatterji stated that as decided in the meeting, three pension schemes managed by Ministry of Rural Development will also be brought under the DBT in all 121 districts under Phase I and II. He added that direct benefits transfer of LPG subsidy will be introduced in twenty districts from the 15th of May this year.

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Nearly 30 years after the violence against Sikhs in the Capital in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's assassination, the Supreme Court has approved the award of life sentence to four persons accused of burning two persons alive. The apex court ruled that the Delhi High Court rightly reversed the trial court's decision to acquit them.

The trial court had acquitted Lal Bahadur, Surender Singh, Ram Lal and Virender Singh on the ground of delay in registration of FIR, non-recovery of the bodies and recording of statements of witnesses. Upholding the HC's decision, the bench of Justices P Sathasivam and M Y Eqbal said, non-recovery of the bodies and minor discrepancies in statement of witnesses, were no ground to disbelieve the evidence about the gruesome incident.

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A day after a temporary relief in a graft case , Essar Group promoter Ravi Ruia has moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Special CBI Court's order summoning him to appear on 11th April as an accused, in the case related to allocation of additional 2G spectrum in 2002. An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir on Monday postponed the proceedings till April 16, while hearing a plea filed by Sunil Mittal, CMD of Bharti Cellular Ltd. Though, Ruia's name was not mentioned as an accused in CBI's FIR and chargesheet,Special CBI Judge O P Saini, asked Ruia, Mittal and Asim Ghosh to appear before it.

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Delhi High Court on Tuesday has recommended to the Centre to put in place a statutory regulatory body for controlling the electronic media. Quoting from a speech of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair who compared the media to a "feral beast", the Bench led by Justice Pradeep Nandarajog rejected the idea of "self-regulation" by the broadcasters. The court ruled that on the contrary, to promote a media environment characterised by pluralism and diversity, State intervention is necessary.

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In Tamil Nadu, four passengers were killed and 29 injured in a train accident at Chitheri near Arakkonam, early this morning. Nine bogies of the Karnataka bound Bihar Express derailed near Arrakkonam. 19 people who were injured in the accident, were taken to Arakonnam hospital and 10 were admitted to the Government hospital in Chitheri. Railway officials have rushed to the spot to assist in relief operations. All trains passing through Arakkonam have been diverted.

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In Iran, the rescue and relief operations in quake hit Bushehr province have been launched on a war footing to rescue those trapped inside the rubble. The Governor of the province of Bushehr Firrudin Hasanvend said, 37 people died while more than 850 were injured. The 1000 Megawatt Busheher nuclear plant was not affected by the quake. More from our West Asia Correspondent:

The devastating quake measuring 6.1 on Richter scale struck south western Iran around 4.22 pm local time yesterday. The epicenter was at Kaki in south west Iran in the Bushehr province. It was followed by several aftershocks of intensity higher than five on Richter scale. The quake caused extensive damage as it destroyed 80 percent of the villages in Shonbeh and Tasudzh. 23 villages have been affected and around one lakh people live in the those areas. Electricity and water supply has been cut off in the region. The aftershocks were also felt in gulf countries United Arab Emirates, Bahrain andQatar. Atul K Tiwary, AIR News,.

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Market regulator Sebi has unearthed a phony investment syndicate in the national capital, wherein a large number of people could have been defrauded in the name of investments made by their deceased family members. Acting on an individual complaint, Sebi probed a case of an investor getting phone calls for impressive returns on the mutual fund products purchased by his deceased son.

The preliminary investigation by Sebi, with the assistance of the Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police, showed that there was an organised attempt by several people to defraud the gullible investors.

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In West Bengal, Trinamool Congress supporters staged road blockades at various parts of the state yesterday protesting the heckling of State Finance Minister Amit Mitra by activists of Students' Federation of India in New Delhi.

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In Maharashtra, two engineers of Thane Municipal Corporation were arrested late yesterday in connection with last week's building collapse at Shil Phata area, taking the number of those taken into custody, to 13. The seven-storey illegal building at Shil-Phata in Mumbra town came crashing down last Thursday killing 74. More from our correspondent:

As more people are arrested in connection with Thane building collapse, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has decided to pull down 57 unauthorised structure in the district including in Mumbra-Kausa area in the first phase of the demolition drive, which began yesterday. A decision in this regard was taken at a civic body meeting at the corporation headquarters. The review meeting, presided by Thane Municipal Commissioner chalked out an action plan for illegal buildings, which are likely to be demolished before monsoon. LUBNA YUSUF MOOSA, AIR NEWS, MUMBAI.

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In Assam, security forces foiled a major terror plot in Guwahati city by recovering huge quantity of explosives last night. This is the second incident of arms recovery in Guwahati city within a week. More from our correspondent:

Security forces have recently intensified vigil against insurgent groups and arms dealers in Guwahati. Last night police recovered huge explosives including 122 detonators, 100 grams gelatine, 11 fuse wire sticks, 133 meters wire specially used in explosion and one eliminator. Police found the explosives in a house of Boragaon Mikirgholi area. Official sources said that police picked up the house owner for questioning .Further investigations are on. Manas Pratim Sarma, AIR News, Guwahati.

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In IPL today, Kings Eleven Punjab will play their first home game against Chennai Super Kings at Mohali . Earlier, Mumbai Indians beat Delhi Daredevils by 44 runs in Mumbai last night.

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NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES

Most papers today have reported on Mamata Banerjee's wrath. The Statesman, the Tribune and the Indian Express have a picture of SFI activists attacking West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, outside the Planning Commission's office in Delhi, over Sudipto's death . 'Miffed didi raps Montek', writes the Pioneer.

Deepak Bhardwaj's younger son Nitesh arrested for his father's murder features prominently in most papers. The sensational story involves a huge fortune, a killer son, a lover whom both the father and the son shared and an ungodly godman' reports Hindustan Times. The Times of India lists the chain of events and writes, 'Police look for evidence of wife's complicity'.

'Eye on 2014, Congress and BJP go all out to woo didi' is a headline in Hindustan Times. 'In Bengal, Modi on mission Mamata' writes the Asian Age, and adds that the Gujarat Chief Minister attacked the Left.

Asian Development Bank lowering its India growth projection for 2013-14 from 6.5 per cent to 6 per cent is featured in the Hindu.

The Electronic Voting Machines which will keep a paper record of each vote cast will be ready by next month, report Hindustan Times, the Times of India and the Hindu.

The Times of India and the Hindu report that scientists in Massachusetts are very close to developing a dengue vaccine, which will be a major breakthrough in saving lives.

The Supreme Court saying that fake encounters will continue if security forces are deployed in an area for too long is reported by the Indian Express and the Times of India.

Official apathy in our country can bring dreams crashing down. The Times of India reports of a 15-year old, who after making India proud by winning two bronze medals at the 2011 Athens Special Olympics, now helps her mother sell gol gappas. Is anybody listening?