2100 HRS

02nd April, 2013

THE HEADLINES

• Centre approves 373 crore rupee package for creating critical infrastructure for security forces in left wing extremism affected areas; Minimum Support Price for raw jute increased by 100 rupees per quintal. 

• Defence Acquisition Council approves 2820 crore rupee proposal to provide night vision devices to army.

• India and the Asian Development Bank sign a 252-million Dollar loan agreement to improve rural roads in five states. 

• Government increases the tariff value of gold to prevent under invoicing. 

• Sensex climbs 176 points to close at 19,041. 

• Indian women beat Bangladesh eves by 49 runs in the first Twenty20 cricket international in Vadodara.

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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA, today approved 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 Special Forces of the affected states.

The CCEA has also approved the Minimum Support Price of raw jute at 2300 rupees per quintal for 2013-14 season. This is 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 of jute in the country.

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The Defence Ministry today approved a 2,820 crore rupee proposal to provide night-vision devices to the Army to enable its tanks and infantry combat vehicles to have the capability to fight in both day and night conditions. A meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister A K Antony also approved proposals to upgrade the 130 mm artillery guns of the Army. According to Defence Ministry sources, the amendments in procurement procedure to boost indigenisation in defence production were also taken up during the DAC meeting which remained inconclusive. The next round of meeting in this connection will be held on 20th of this month.

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India and the Asian Development Bank, ADB, today signed a 252-million Dollar loan agreement to improve rural roads in five states. The loan is the first installment of 800-million Dollar financing facility to construct more than three-thousand kilometre roads in Assam, Chattishgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal. The agreement was signed by Joint Secretary in the Finance Ministry Nilaya Mitash and Country Director of ADB Hun Kim.

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The government has increased the tariff value of gold to 521 dollar per 10 grams, making import of gold in any form costlier. According to an official release however, the tariff value for silver has been lowered to 920 dollar per kilogram. The base price on which the customs duty is determined to prevent under invoicing and released every fortnight for gold stood at 516 dollar per 10 grams and for silver at 930 dollar a kilogram. We spoke to Economic Expert Paranjoy Guha Thakurta to understand its impact.

The reason why the government has increased the tariff value of gold making the import of gold in any form costlier. There are two reasons why the government has done this. One is it is to check under invoicing. The base price on which customs duty is determined has now gone up. So if people were under invoicing to pay a lower customs duty, the whole intent has now been to curb that . The second reason is to make imported gold more expensive. The government is officially not increasing the customs duty on gold because it believes that if if does so, it might encourage smuggling. But effectively what has happened is by increasing the tariff value of the gold, the base price that is the base price at which customs duty is determined. The price of imported gold will in fact go up and this will eventually have an impact on domestic price of the gold.

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The Finance Minister today said that the government will continue to argue for lowering of interest rates by the Reserve Bank of India, in view of softening headline inflation and the need to promote economic growth. In an interview to a television channel in Tokyo, P. Chidambaram, maintained that the apex bank has to weigh the fact that although both headline inflation and core inflation have come down, consumer price inflation remains very sticky. He said the apex bank also has to consider the Current Account Deficit before it lowers the policy interest rate.

The RBI is scheduled to announce its monetary policy for the current financial year on the 3rd of next month, during which it will take a call on interest rates.

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The Supreme Court today vacated its order restraining Italy's Ambassador Daniele Mancini from leaving India as the two Italian marines, accused of killing two Indian fishermen, had returned to India to face the proceedings of the court.A bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir vacated its March 14th order by which it had restrained the Ambassador from leaving the country after the Italian government had refused to send back the marines.

The two marines, who were allowed by the apex court on February 22nd to go toItaly for four weeks to cast their vote in the general elections there, had returned to India on March 22nd .

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Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal today launched Wi-Fi service as a pilot project on Howrah Rajdhani Express which will help passengers access the internet on the train. Talking to reports after launching the facility, Mr. Bansal said that the Railway plans to extend the service on other Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto Express trains based on customer feedback.

When we are moving towards modernity everyone has laptops and want to utilise their time during the travel. This facility is being provided to such travellers. Later we will introduce this facility on some more trains.

The passengers will be required to register themselves by providing their PNR number and other details after which they will be given 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 Congress today rejected party leader Digvijay Singh's remarks that the model of two power centres in the UPA has not worked well. The party asserted that a unique relationship exists between party chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. Congress General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters that the relationship between the two leaders is something which has never been seen before and perhaps should be the ideal model for the future also. Mr Dwivedi said at present party Vice President Rahul Gandhi's priority is to strengthen the organisation. He added that Dr Singh is the Prime minister of the country and enjoys good relationship with all.

Today Dr. Manmohan Singh is Prime Minister. He is unanimously elected leader and he has good relations with everyone.

Digvijay Singh had recently dubbed the experiment of two power centres in UPA as a failure and suggested that Rahul Gandhi should not opt to nominate a Prime Minister if the party gets a majority in the next Lok Sabha polls.

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Today is World Autism Awareness Day. Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication . The intention of this day is to bring the world’s attention to this disorder that affects tens of millions of individuals globally. Psychiatrist at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr. Rajesh Sagar, told AIR that autism patients need comprehensive assistance.

Autism is a disorder of brain and behavioral disorder. If any such symptom is there, the problem of communication or problem of social interaction, they should take the child to a near by hospital or pediatrician or any Psychiatrist or Psychologists for a complete evaluation and assessment. And if the child has autism then there are some kind of a therapy is available. As far autism there is no definite drug treatment.

In his message on the occasion, the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon said, this international attention is essential to address stigma, lack of awareness and inadequate support structures.

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The Andhra Pradesh High Court today stayed for two weeks the deadline fixed by the Central Government for installation of television set-top-boxes as part of digitization in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam were notified in the second phase for which the deadline ended on March 31^st. The High Court directed that the telecast of channels should continue for two more weeks for the benefit of those who have not installed set top boxes. The Court also issued notices to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Commissioners of Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam and State Chief Secretary.

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Actors and other representatives of the Tamil film industry today observed a day-long fast demanding the rehabilitation of Sri Lankan Tamils and an international probe into the alleged war crimes.  A report from our Correspondent:

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NOW NEWS FROM THE BUSINESS WORLD

Rising for the fourth day in a row, the Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange climbed 176 points, or 0.9 percent, to close above the 19,000 level after two weeks, at 19,041, today, after the government said it will continue to argue for lowering of interest rates by the Reserve Bank. The Nifty gained 44 points, to 5,748. Stock markets in Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea andSingapore ended mixed. The rupee gained 3 paise to close at 54.26 against the dollar.Gold fell 100 rupees, to 30,100 rupees per ten grams in Delhi. Silver lost 300 rupees, to 53,200 rupees per kilo. And Brent crude oil futures climbed toward 112 dollars a barrel, while US crude rose 4 cents, to 97.11 dollars a barrel. Pradeep Kumar, AIR News

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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) was today allowed by a Delhi court to interrogate suspected Hizbul militant Sayyed Liyaqat Shah in the prison itself till April 30th. Shah is presently lodged in Tihar Jail under judicial custody. Shah has been booked for waging war against the country by Delhi Police which claimed he was planning to carry out terror attacks in the national capital. With Shah's arrest generating conflicting versions from Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir police, the Centre recently ordered the probe in the case by NIA.

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The Centre has asked Assam Government to implement the Multi-Sectoral Development Programme, MSDP and Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme for the benefit of the minorities of the state. An Official release said that Union Minister for Minority Affairs Dr. K Rahman Khan today reviewed the implementation of various schemes with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and his ministerial colleagues in Guwahati.Dr.Khan said that with the conversion of MSDP from district centric to block base, there will be 118 blocks and 1 town of 13 minority dominated districts are being covered under it.The Union minister underscored the need for skill development among unemployed youths through ITIs and polytechnics.

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Indian women beat Bangladesh eves by 49 runs in the first Twenty20 cricket international in Vadodara today. With this win, India lead the three match series 1-0. Asked to bat first, India were 143 for three in the stipulated 20 overs with Poonam Raut scoring 75 and Thirush Kamini 56. In response, Bangladesh could manage to score 94 for the loss of seven wickets.

The second T20 will also be played at Vadodara on Thursday