2100 HRS.

21th July, 2013

THE HEADLINES:

• First phase of elections to gram panchayats in rain affected areas of Andhra Pradesh due on Tuesday, postponed as flood situation in the state continues to be grim.
• Flood warnings issued in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh and Hogenekkal, Tamil Nadu.
• In Kashmir, situation remains peaceful after lifting of curfew from all areas of the valley.
• Exit polls predict majority for Japan's ruling coalition in the elections for Upper House.
• Indian paddlers claim all four team gold medals in the South Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships in New Delhi.
• India clinches bronze medal in compound men's team event in the Archery World Cup Stage 3 at Medellin, Colombia.

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Flood situation in Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh continues to be grim. In Andhra Pradesh, 250 villages in eight districts, continue to be marooned as the Godavari river is flowing above danger mark at Bhadrachalam in Khammam district and Dhawaleswaram in East Godavari. Our correspondent reports that the State Administration has intensified relief work.

"Though some parts of the Telangana region got some respite from rain, villages in downstream Godavari are facing threat of flooding. Water levels in Godavari crossed dangerous mark of 59 feet at Bhadrachalam while it is alarmingly crossed 15 feet at Dhawaleswaram Barrage. People from several island villages have been evacuated in East and West Godavari districts . Road transport and communications remained affected to several marooned villages due to swollen rivulets and streams. About 20 thousand people are taking shelter in 93 relief camps set up at different places. Food and drinking water is being air dropped in marooned villages. Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has directed the district authorities to be highly vigilant and monitor the bands round the clock. M S Lakshmi,AIR NEWS,Hyderabad."

The first phase of elections to Gram Panchayats which is due to be held on Tuesday, have been postponed in the rain affected villages. Election in these areas comprising 29 Revenue Divisions in six districts, will now be held on the 31st of this month along with the third phase.

In Uttar Pradesh, more than four lakh people in eight districts are reeling under floods. 200 hutment clusters have been marooned as Ghagra and Saryu rivers flow above danger marks.

In Ayodhya, Saryu was rising half a centimeter every hour as water was released from Banbasa barrage. The State Government has pressed scores of boats including motor boats to ferry flood affected people to safety. Our correspondent reports that an intensive sanitization drive and immunization of live stock have been undertaken.

"The district administration has put a high alert seeing the speed with which Ghaghra is eroding away its embankment of Revli Adampur in Bahraich. The boulders and iron net is being spread on a war footing on the site to mitigate the erosion. Meanwhile, an unrest has gripped the people who are living in the vicinity of Ghaghra which is continuously rising at alarming pace at Barabanki, Ayodhya, Faizabad and Gorakhpur. But the administration is all alert to face any situation in view of the danger of flood looming large in these areas. Merajuddin, AIR NEWS, Lucknow.

In Tamil Nadu, flood warning has been issued in Hogenekkal due to heavy rain in Cauvery catchment areas. People living in the Cauvery river banks have been advised to shift to safer places. The water level in Mettur dam has risen to 76.75 feet.

In Madhya Pradesh, incessant rain has claimed at least eleven lives in different parts of the state. The Met Department has predicted widespread and heavy rain in the state.

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In Kashmir valley, situation today remained by and large peaceful, barring some minor incidents of stone pelting. Our Sriangar Correspondent reports that curfew was lifted from Srinagar and other main towns in the valley this morning. However, shops and business establishments remained closed due to a protest bandh. The curfew was imposed in Sriangar city and all other major towns in the valley on Friday morning, following the killing of four persons in alleged firing by BSF in Ramban district. Meanwhile, the Amarnath yatra which resumed last evening from Jammu, is going on smoothly and till yesterday, 2,90,000 yatris had darshan at the holy cave.

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In Uttar Pradesh, the monitoring of Mid Day Meal distribution scheme has been intensified after the tragedy in Bihar. The district coordinators of Mid Day Meal scheme are now regularly checking the quality of food. The state government has ordered that Midday Meal will not be served until the headmaster or the cook of concerned school tastes the food.

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Information & Broadcasting Minister, Manish Tewari has said that the UPA Government is fully committed to the development and strengthening of infrastructure in the country. He said that as part of the commitment, more than 20,100 kilometers of all weather roads have been constructed or upgraded with an expenditure of over 645 crore rupees during the last fiscal. Addressing a public meeting at a village in Ludhiana district today after laying the foundation stone of a road under Prime Minister Gramin Sadak Yojna, PMGSY he said that equal attention is being given to the rural infrastructure. He said that the allocation for PMGSY has been increased to 1,24,013 crore rupees for the 12th Five Year Plan to further improve rural connectivity. Mr. Tewari hoped that the National Food Security Bill will get the nod of the Parliament during the upcoming Monsoon session.<><>

In Bihar, the state BJP has suspended party MLA, Amarnath Gami for anti-party activities. Mr. Gami, MLA from Haya Ghat constituency of Darbhanga district, had questioned the functioning of state party leaders, especially, former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi. BJP President Mangal Pande suspended Mr. Gami today and sought his explanation.

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In West Bengal, the fourth phase of Panchayat elections will take place at Nadia, Birbhum, Malda and Murshidabad districts tomorrow. The Secretary of the State Election Commission, Tapas Roy told AIR that all arrangements have been made to ensure free and fair voting. The polling personnel have already reached their destinations.

Our Kolkata Correspondent reports that over one crore voters in four districts are eligible to cast their votes. Meanwhile, poll related violence claimed three lives in Murshidabad district today. A report:

"Ahead of another round of rural polls three persons were killed in a series of political clashes at Beldanga and Bharatpur in Murshidabad District. Sporadic incidents of clashes, hurling of bombs and ransacking of houses were also reported from Basanti, Raidighi of South 24 Paragana, Kadambagachhi in North 24 Paragana, Panchla in Howrah and Kaliachak in Malda Districts. The State Election Commission expressed concern over the rising trend of political clashes during panchayat polls. The Chief Minister Miss Mamata Banerjee has appealed to the people to vote peacefully in the remaining two phases of polls. Arijit Chakraborty,AIR NEWS, Kolkata"

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Market regulator SEBI will conduct an auction tomorrow for the grant of investment limits to foreign investors in government debt securities worth more than 23,000 crore rupees. In a circular, the bourse said, the bidding will be held on a designated electronic exchange platform of the NSE between 1530hrs and 1730hrs. The auction follows robust interest shown by FIIs for the sale of government debt bond investment limits to the tune of 42,000 crore rupees last month. The encouraging response came at a time when FIIs have been pulling out of the Indian debt market.

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The two-day media conclave of Congress will begin in New Delhi tomorrow. The aim of the programme is to tone up party's communication strategy in states. The party Vice President Rahul Gandhi will inaugurate the conclave.

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In Assam, two cadres of National Democratic Front of Bodoland, NDFB (Sangbijit faction), have laid down arms today in Sivsagar district. Both of them joined NDFB in 2008. They have also deposited two pistols in front of the senior army officials.

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Odisha stands to benefit in a big way from the food security law, once it is implemented in the state. This was revealed by the Union Food Minister Prof. K.V. Thomas during his recent one day visit to the state. Interacting with the media in Bhubaneswar, he said that more than 79 percent of the rural population of Odisha will be covered under the Food Security Law as against the national average of 75 per cent. More from our Correspondent

"This revelation by none other than the Union Food Minister himself speaks volumes about the significant share Odisha is set to enjoy in the food-pie enacted by the Union Government. Odisha is one of the states which nourishes some reservation on the provisions of the Food Security Ordinance, promulgated recently. Prof Thomas also allayed the apprehension expressed by the state that once the food security law is implemented, its monthly quota of rice from the Centre would decline by about 12 thousand tonnes down to one lakh seventy thousand tonnes. On the contrary, Prof Thomas lamented the poor record of food grains off take by the state government under the Targeted Public Distribution System. He further stated that the present food grain storage capacity of 3 lakh 42 thousand tonnes in the state would be increased by about 55 thousand tonnes within the next two years, giving a boost to the implementation of the Union Food Law in the state.

Girish Chandra Dash,AIR NEWS,Cuttack"

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The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi has launched a first ever SMS facility to check the name in the voters' list. The voters will have to writeEPIC<Space>Voter ID card No. in the SMS box and will have to send it 9211728082 to check their name in the voter list. Through this service, they will also be able to check their polling booth address and other such details. People can also apply online on the web site-www.ceodelhi.nic.in.

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Japan's ruling coalition, the Liberal Democratic Party, LDP and the New Komeito Party has won the majority seats in the House of Councillors, according to Japan's broadcaster NHK. The broadcaster said in its exit poll that the ruling bloc has secured 71 seats in today's upper house election as the LDP and the New Komeito Party has secured 61 seats and 10 seats respectively in the 121 seats contested as of now. Vote-counting is still under way and the ruling bloc may get more seats.

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The Election Commission of Sri Lanka has announced that South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation, SAARC, Commonwealth, and the Association of South-East Asian Nations, ASEAN, are the three organizations that will be invited to monitor the polls for Northern, Central and North Western provincial councils.

Details of deployment for monitoring for the three Provincial Council elections will be decided later.

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The US Vice President, Joseph R. Biden will embark on a visit to India tomorrow. During his four day visit, Biden is expected to focus on key issues of economic and trade ties, energy and climate change, defence co-operation and a wide range of regional cooperation. During his stay in New Delhi, Mr Biden will hold meetings with top leadership including President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

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Indian paddlers claimed all the four team gold medals on the second day of the South Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi today. Sri Lanka finished with four silver medals while the bronze medals were shared by Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. The women's team in both the Junior and Cadet sections finished on top of the group to win the titles.

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India clinched a bronze medal in the compound men's team event to open their account in the Archery World Cup Stage 3 being held in Medellin, Colombia. Rajat Chouhan, Sandeep Kumar and Ratan Singh Khuraijam overcame stiff resistance from the hosts to win 215 - 210 en route to the bronze medal yesterday. India has another medal chance in the recurve mixed team bronze play-off where Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari will fight it out against the Mexicans. Meanwhile, in the women's recurve team summit clash against the top seeded Chinese later today, the Indian trio of Deepika Kumari, Laishram Bombayla Devi and Rimil Biruly will aim for a gold. In any case, a silver medal is assured for India in this category. <><>

A 15-member India cricket squad, led by Virat Kohli, has left for Zimbabwe to take on the hosts in a five-game One-Day International series commencing on July 24. The squad is without captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has been given a break by the national selectors