1400 HRS

09-09-2013

THE HEADLINES:

• Commissioner and DIG of Saharanpur range transferred following group clashes in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh; Death toll rises to 28.

• Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari launches All India Radio's Free News SMS service and the Bharat Nirman web portal.

• US Congress to debate today President Barack Obama's proposal of a military strike against Syria.

• World number one Novak Djokovic to clash with Rafael Nadal in the men's singles final of the US Open Tennis tournament.

• Defending Champion India to take on Maldives in the semi final of the SAFF Football Championship in Kathmandu.

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In Uttar Pradesh, the death toll in the violent clashes of Muzaffarnagar has reached 28 while scores of others are injured. ADG, law and order, Arun Kumar told reporters in Muzaffarnagar that the state government has shifted the Commissioner of Saharanpur, Sudhir Srivastav and DIG, Saharanpur range, D.D Mishra, in the wake of Muzaffarnagar communal conflicts. Mr. Ashok Mutha Jain has replaced Mr. Mishra. The police inspector of Fugana thana, Omvir Singhvi has been suspended with immediate effect for not being able to contain the violence and dereliction of duty. The ADG said ninety persons have been arrested in relation with the ongoing turbulence in Muzaffarnagar.

The SHO( Incharge) of Fugana has been placed under suspension and a new SHO has been placed there. The total number of casualties has risen from 26 to 28 because two new bodies have been found out regarding the incident of yesterday. During the arrest, and the search and the seizure, so far, one pistol, one revolver, two country made pistol, 20 swords and knives have been recovered by the police.

The ADG said that FIRs have been lodged against 40 persons in different police station areas and the raids are going on to nab the culprits.

Meanwhile, 15 areas in Meerut have been identified as very sensitive and ITBP jawans along with five companies of PAC have have been deployed to avert any untoward situation. ADG police, Bhavesh Kumar has also been sent to Saharanpur division to assist the local administration in Muzaffarnagar and other neighbouring districts to contain the clashes. 

"FIRs have been lodged against four BJP MLAs including BJP legislative party leader and MLA Hukum Singh, Bijnore MLA Bhartendar Singh, Sardhana MLA Sangeet Som and MLA Suresh Rana on the allegations to incite communal passion on the occasion of Mahapanchayat. Besides, Bhartiya Kisan Union president Naresh Tikait and its spokesman Rakesh Tikait have also been named in the FIR. Raids are being carried out to arrest them. Meanwhile CM Akhilesh Yadav seems in no mood to tolerate the violence as he has clearly asked his officers to deliver the results and control the communal passions immediately. Merajuddin, AIR NEWS, Lucknow."

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Talking to media persons in New Delhi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said, the Uttar Pradesh government must take action against those responsible for communal violence in Muzaffarnagar district. He said the state government should make efforts to restore normalcy in the affected areas and ensure that peace and tranquillity is maintained. He said, the UPA government has zero tolerance towards incidents of communal violence.

The BSP has demanded President's rule in Uttar Pradesh and dismissal of the state government in view of communal violence in Muzaffarnagar. Addressing a news conference in New Delhi this afternoon, BSP supremo Mayawati said, the law and order machinery had collapsed in the state.

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The Centre today offered to provide additional paramilitary forces to Uttar Pradesh to assist the local administration in dealing with the situation. Minister of State for Home, RPN Singh told reporters in New Delhi that 5,000 paramilitary force personnel have already been sent to violence-hit areas of the state in addition to Army personnel.

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Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari today launched All India Radio's Free News SMS service at a function in New Delhi. He also launched a web portal on Bharat Nirman Campaign.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Tewari said, All India Radio has an extremely diverse Correspondent base which is able to gather news stories from the extremely remote corners of the country and bring them to mainstream in real time. He expressed hope that the data base of SMS subscribers will go up from the current two lakh to five lakh by the end of this month.In order to ensure that a event which take place in the North East or in North West or in other remote parts of the country, they get mainstreamed into the discord, we have decided that concurrently with what AIR does, they will also be doing it through SMS service. We have been running this the SMS service now for about 6 months on a pilot basis and the feedback that we got was overwhelmingly positive. And therefore, it has been decided to now expand it and to allow every person who wants to access it, to have advantage of it.

Our Correspondent reports, under the free SMS service, registered listeners will be provided news headlines free of cost on their mobile phones. For registering, a listener has to subscribe to the service by typing AIRNWS, Space, then his or her name, on the mobile and send the SMS to 08082080820 or give a missed call to the same number.

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Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today released a postage stamp in the memory of late freedom fighter and former Member of Parliament, Lala Jagat Narayan in New Delhi. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Singh said that Jagat Narayan, a journalist, was a great son of the nation who laid down his life opposing terror forces in the country. The Prime Minister said, Narayan's message is of special importance to journalists in the present times. He said, Narayan's life teaches how a journalist has to practice his profession honestly, boldly and without favour in these tough times.

Lala Jagat Narayan's life teaches us, what role the media should play and how, even in difficult situation, a journalist should be honest,fearless and objective in his profession.

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As the US Congress gets ready to discuss President Obama’s plans for military strikes on Syria today, lobbying by pro and anti-war groups has reached its crescendo in print, electronic and the social media. President Obama will appear in an interview on six of the America's largest news networks to try and sell his military plan of action in Syria. He is scheduled to make a nationwide address from the White House tomorrow. Syrian President Bashar Al Assad in an interview to a US TV Channel is said to have denied that his regime had anything to do with the chemical weapon attack against his own people.

Those in favour of US led military strikes say that the Syrian regime must be punished for the use of chemical weapons which led to death of more than 1400 civilians on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21. They point out that there are substantial evidences to prove that Assad regime was behind the attack. Besides the credibility of US will be at stake if no such strike is launched after so much of hype about it. The anti-war lobby says no military action can be authorized without the permission of UN Security Council. Hence US must wait for the UN inspector’s report who are analyzing the samples collected from the chemical weapons attack sites in Syria. Analysts point out that the UN inspectors can only tell whether the chemical weapons were used in Syria but not who used them. Atul Tiwary, AIR News,

Meanwhile, Reports from Syria say, the mood is heavy and people are bracing themselves up for military strikes any time.

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The high powered delegation of Indian Election Observers in Maldives, has expressed appreciation of the work done by the local Election Commission to conduct free and fair Presidential Elections on September 7. Issuing a statement on behalf of the Indian observers, former Election Commissioner of India, J M Lyngdoh said that the polling was orderly and unblemished by any incident.

Six teams of Indian observers were deployed for the first phase on the invitation of Maldives government. Earlier, speaking to All India Radio, Election Commissioner of Maldives, Fuwad Towfeek said that the observers lent added credibility to the election process.

I am really thankful to the International observers and monitors for your devoted work, your contribution to our election, your presence and your observation of our elections have given more credibility to our people as well as people of the entire world. We appreciate all the work that you have done during a very hectic day.

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In Assam, security forces have arrested three cadres of National Democratic Front of Bodoland in Karbi Anglong district today. The SP of Karbi Anglong said that security personnel arrested them from Khatkhati area of the district and the investigation is on.

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Ganesh Chaturthi is being celebrated with pomp and religious fervour across the country today. In Andhra Pradesh, special pandals have been erected at many places in Hyderabad as people come together to celebrate the ten-day festival.

Though the global recession showing its impact on the business community, the number of Ganesh pandals set up in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad has remained more or less the same as earlier. However, the awareness among people about the need for environment friendly practices in observance of the festivities increased multi-fold this year. In an effort to minimize damage to water bodies on account of immersion, the authorities have distributed and sold for nominal price thousands of clay idols of Lord Ganesha. People are taking part in the mass prayers and poojas on the eve of Vinayaka Chavithi in seemandhra regions where normal life has been severely hit due to non availability of public transport due to the ongoing agitation in favour of the united Andhra Pradesh. Lakshmi, AIR News, Hyderabad.

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Ganesh Utsav is being celebrated in Mumbai with religious enthusiasm. In view of intelligence inputs, Mumbai Police has drawn an extensive security plan for a strict vigil at various important public spots in the city.

Mumbai woke up to the chanting of Ganpatibappa Moraya as Idols of Lord Ganesha were brought home and at Pandals by enthusiastic devotees. Ganesh idols were installed at the auspicious hour as per the Hindu calendar and the 'pran pratishthapana' puja was performed. The soaring inflationary trends and rains have not dampened the enthusiasm for the city’s biggest public festival. There is a spectacular display of decorations and art work at Ganesh Pandals at various locations in the city. Devotees are also flocking to Lalbaug to get a first glimpse of Mumbai's most celebrated Ganesh idol, 'Lalbaug Cha Raja'. the first sarvajanik Ganeshotsav of Mumbai was Instituted by Lokmanya Tilak way back in 1893. Lubna Yusuf Moosa, AIR News, Mumbai.

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The News Services Division of All India Radio, in its weekly Public Speakprogramme, will bring you a discussion tonight on National Food Security Programme.

This can be heard on FM Gold Channel and additional frequencies at 9.30 PM. Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit and National Advisory Council Member N C Saxena will be present in our Studio to answer your questions. Listeners can call the studio. The phone number is 011-2331-4444. This programme is also available on Doordarshan DTH.

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World Number One Novak Djokovic will clash with Spain's Rafael Nadal in the men's singles final of the US Open Tennis tournament, the fourth and final Grand Slam of the season, at New York today. Djokovic and Nadal will meet for the third time in four years at the Flushing Meadows, with Nadal having won in 2010 and holding a 21-15 record in their all-time meetings. Briton Andy Murray was the winner last year.

India's Leander Paes and his Czech teammate Radek Stepanek have clinched the men's doubles title. In the title clash late last night, the fourth seeded Indo-Czech pair defeated the second seeded Austrian-Brazilian pair of Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares, in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3.

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Defending Champion India will take on Maldives in the second semi final today in the SAFF Football Championship in Kathmandu this evening. The Indians who had made it through to Group A, will be missing their Skipper and striker Sunil Chettri due to two yellow cards received in the earlier matches.