1400 HRS.

6th  August, 2013

THE HEADLINES :

• Five soldiers killed in an attack by Pak troops on Indian post along LoC in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.

• Both Houses of the Parliament adjourned till 2 PM due to uproar over firing incident by Pak troops.

• In Andhra Pradesh, ten districts put on high alert following forecast of heavy rains during next three days.

• The Situation improves in violence hit Karbi Anglong district of Assam; Curfew relaxed.

• Sensex loses over 250 points to slip below the 19,000 mark in afternoon trade; The Rupee drops to an all-time low of 61 rupees 51 paise per dollar.

• Six Indian shuttlers including Saina Nehwal advance to the second round of World Badminton Championships in China.

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Five Indian soldiers have been killed in an attack by Pakistani troops on Indian post along the Line of Control, LoC in Poonch sector in Jammu and Kashmir late last night. Those killed include one Junior Commissioned Officer and four soldiers. One jawan was also injured in the attack. Defence sources today said the Pakistani soldiers intruded into the Indian territory past midnight and ambushed the Sarla post on the Indian side of the LoC. Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh is taking stock of the situation. The attack comes in the backdrop of recent initiatives to resume Indo-Pak dialogue process. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted that such incidents do not help efforts to normalise or improve relations with Pakistan and questioned the Pak Government's recent overtures. We spoke to former diplomat G Parthasarthy on the latest ceasefire violation.

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Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari has described the attack as reprehensible and unfortunate. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function in New Delhi today, Mr Tewari appealed to all political parties not to play partisan politics on the issues of national security. He added that the UPA government has always been more than forthcoming on such issues.

"Whenever there is an abbreviations, we have dealt with it in a firmly and strongly manner. Our track record bears testimony to it. It is imperative a incumbent when incident of this nature takes place. The Ministry of Defence and the Minister of Defence should be allowed to react appropriately. But, in the meanwhile, it would serve everybody's cause if people do not play partisan politics."

The Minister of State for Home RPN Singh said that if Pakistan wants to improve relations with India, the killing of Indian soldiers by its troops is not the way.

"It is an extremely unfortunate incident. If Pakistan wants to have better relations with India, I think this is not the way that we are going to have better relations. The Defence Minister and the Foreign Minister will be making a statement."

Union Minister Farooq Abdullah said the incident will affect the process of normalising relations between India and Pakistan. He told the media outside Parliament that such attacks and infiltration bids should be stopped but talks must continue.

"I would say obviously it will affect. People in India would not want that soldiers keep on time and we keep on talking on friendship. Both things cannot go at the same time. If they really want to free themselves from terrorism they will have to hold Indian hand, otherwise Pakistan never save itself from terrorists."

BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad expressed grave concern over the matter.

"Terrorists from across the border are killing them with impunity with alarming regularity. What kind of message are we giving to them. This is indeed very important. But, I am very sorry to say that the way in which are brave soldiers are being killed, it is a gross failure of India's management of foreign policy and also the management and mismanagement of India's security imperatives."

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Both the Houses of Parliament have been adjourned till 2 pm. They witnessed adjournments with several members asking the government to make a statement on today’s firing by Pakistani troops in the Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir. As soon as the Lok Sabha met for the day, several members of the Samajwadi Party rushed to the well of the House in support of their demand. They were supported by BJP members. Some Congress members also trooped into the well raising slogans in favour of United Andhra Pradesh.

In the Rajya Sabha, opposition members demanded an immediate response from the government on the firing incident. Raising the issue, Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley said the incident has very serious implications for the country’s defence and foreign policies. He said firing from across Pakistan has become very common. Mr Jaitley said China has also been making frequent incursions and the government is silent. Responding to Chairman Mohammed Hamid Ansari’s directive, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla said he will convey the feelings of the members to the Defence Minister.

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Both the Houses have resumed at 2 pm but Lok Sabha was again adjourned till3 pm.

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The Lok Sabha is to discuss the Pakistani firing incident this afternoon. Speaker Meira Kumar announced this before adjourning the House till 2 P.M amidst noisy scenes. The issue was raised by the Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav during the zero hour. He said India cannot trust Pakistan or China because both have regularly been violating ceasefire. He called for a bold and decisive stand by New Delhi to counter the challenges from the two countries. Mr. Yadav was supported by BJP leader Mr. Yashwant Sinha who also demanded a firm action against ceasefire violations by Islamabad and Beijing.

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Defence Minister A K Antony has said Indian Armed Forces made an invaluable contribution in the search and rescue operations in Uttarakhand, which was devastated by heavy rainfall, cloudbursts and floods in June. Making a statement in the Lok Sabha today on the Centre’s response to the calamity, he said the Air Force rescued 23,775 persons by deploying over 45 helicopters and carried out about 3500 sorties. The Army rescued 38,750 persons by deploying 8,000 personnel, 150 Special Forces and 12 helicopters.

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Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari today said that officers like Durga Shakti Nagpal, who expose illegal activities should be saluted rather than suspended. He said this on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi.

"Officers who deal with aberrations, who check illegality, should be saluted and should not be suspended. We wish we had a few officers like Durga Shakti Nagpal in Punjab, a lot of illegal mining which has been going on over all these years, we would have have able to put it to a stop."

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A special CBI court in Ahmedabad has rejected the anticipatory bail application of ADGP PP Pandey in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case. Special CBI judge Gita Gopi rejected the anticipatory bail application of Pandey, who had gone underground for a few months after his name surfaced in the encounter case. The court had declared him proclaimed absconder then.

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In Andhra Pradesh, 10 districts on the banks of the major rivers in the state have been put on high alert with met officials warning heavy rains at several places during next three days. Though the levels of flood water began receding in the Godavari River , hundreds of villages remained marooned. Nearly 48 thousand people from low laying areas are presently taking shelter in 193 relief camps.

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In Kerala, army personnel and members of the National Disaster Response Force are searching for possible survivors at Cheeyappara in Idukki district where a landslide claimed three lives yesterday. Our correspondent reports that search is on for survivors, possibly trapped under the vehicles swept away in the landslide.

"Search is on for possible survivors at Cheeyampara in Idukki district, where a landslide claimed three lives yesterday. Members of the Army and the National Disaster Response Force are conducting the search operations in the valley nearby, where the landslide swept away a few vehicles parked on the Neriyamangalam-Adimali road. Except for the recovery of a motorbike swept away in the landslide, the search has not so far yielded any result. At least three more vehicles are believed to have been swept away and are lying buried in the mud. State Chief Minister Oommen Chandy visited Cheeyappara area this morning. " Raj Mohan/ AIR News/ Kochi

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In Assam, the situation has considerably improved in violence hit Karbi Anglong district. Karbi Anglong Deputy Commissioner P K Buragohain said that curfew has been relaxed at Diphu for nine hours from 8 am. Shops are open and vehicles are also plying on the roads. The Deputy Commissioner further said that petrol and diesel laden trucks were escorted to Diphu yesterday to avoid any crisis.

Meanwhile, normal life has been affected on the second day of the 48 hour bandh called by the All Bodo Students Union over their for a separate Bodoland state.

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The Home Secretary of West Bengal, Basudeb Banerjee, is reaching Darjeeling today to take stock of the situation following the indefinite bandh called by Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha in Darjeeling district. The bandh entered its fourth day today. Meanwhile, situation in Darjeeling is peaceful and security has been further beefed up in Kurseong and Kalimpong Tehsils. Thirteen persons have been arrested so far in various cases of violation of law.

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Supreme Court has reserved its order on RJD chief Lalu Prasad's plea seeking transfer of trial court judge hearing case against him in fodder scam in Jharkhand. Prasad had alleged that the trial judge's wife was a distant relative of a minister in political rival Nitish Kumar's government and said that had made him harbour an apprehension that he would not get a fair trial.

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The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange had lost 256 points, or 1.3 percent, to slip below the 19,000-mark, at 18,926 in afternoon trade, a short while ago, as selling pressure intensified. Earlier in the morning, the Sensex had opened with a loss of 106 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 19,076. The Sensex fell on fresh selling by funds, amid a falling rupee, and weakness in the regional bourses.

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The Indian rupee dropped to an all-time record low of 61 rupees 51 paise per dollar in the late morning session today on fresh dollar demand from banks and importers amid weakness of dollar in the overseas market and fall in the equity market. The rupee resumed lower at 61 rupees 5 paise per dollar as against the last closing level of 60 rupees 88 paise per dollar . We spoke to senior business journalist Anshuman Tiwari over the decline in the value of rupee.

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London Olympics Bronze medalist Saina Nehwal and 5 other Indian shuttlers have advanced to the second round of the BWF World Badminton Championships in Guangzhou, China. In the Women's Singles, World Number 3 Saina and rising Indian shuttler PV Sindhu booked a place in the second round, after they got a bye in the opener. In the Men's Singles first round, P. Kashyap and Ajay Jayaram defeated their opponents to book a place in the second round. In the Men's Doubles, the duo of Tarun Kona and Arun Vishnu also got a walk-over in the opening round.