1400 HRS

29^th September, 2013

THE HEADLINES :

•  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh makes a strong case for urgent reform of UN Security Council to reflect current political realities; pitches for inclusion of more developing countries as both permanent and non-permanent members.

• In Pakistan, at least 31 people killed and over 70 injured in a car bomb blast in Peshawar.

• Syrian opposition coalition says, it is ready to join UN led efforts to find a comprehensive political solution to the crisis.

• N. Srinivasan elected unopposed as BCCI President for a third year.

• India take on hosts Malaysia in the final of the Sultan of Johar Cup under-21 hockey tournament this evening at Johor Bahru.

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has made a strong case for urgent reform ofthe UN Security Council to reflect current political realities by including more developing countries as both permanent and non-permanent members. Addressing the UN General Assembly, he also said multilateral financial institutions should give developing countries an enhanced voice in their decision-making structures. He said, multilateral efforts must guide the quest for peace and security wherever they are threatened and the centrality and contribution of the UN system to development must be restored.

The UN Security Council must be reformed and restructured to reflect current political realities. More developing countries should be included as both permanent and non permanent members. Multi lateral financial institutions should also enable an enhanced voice for developing countries in their decision making structure.

Turning to Pakistan, the Prime Minister made  it clear that there can never, ever be a compromise on the territorial integrity of India of which Jammu andKashmir is an integral part. In a hard-hitting speech, Dr. Singh asked Pakistan to shut down terrorist machinery on its soil. He reiterated that terrorism remains a grave threat to security and stability everywhere and extracts a heavy toll of innocent lives around the world. 

Indian is committed sincerely to dissolving all issues with Pakistan including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. Through bilateral dialogue on the basis of the Shimla agreement. However, for progress to be made, it is imperative that the territory of Pakistan and the areas under its control are not utilised for aiding and abetting terrorism directed against India.

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The 68th Session of UN General Assembly is being presided over by John .W. Ashe , former Ambassador  of Antigua and Barbuda to the UN, and is based on the theme  “Post -2015  Development Agenda”. Addressing the delegatesthe Prime Minister pointed out  that this  theme  is especially important as we deal with a lingering global economic slowdown and continuing volatility in financial markets. He pointed out that the problems of over a billion people living in abject poverty around the world need to be attacked more directly. 

Expressing concern over the disturbances in West Asia, particularly in Syria , the Prime Minister said the increasingly lethal conflict in that country is not only a tragedy for the people of Syria, but also threatens stability and security in the region and beyond.  

Dr. Manmohan Singh will hold his first meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today where he is likely to ask him to rein in terror elements operating from Pakistan's soil and unleashing violence in India.  More from our correspondent:

While 68th session of United Nations general Assembly is going on in New York, but attention of the while would is focussed on the meeting between Manmohan Singh and his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif. After becoming Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif has been talking of meeting Dr. Manmohan Singh and improving relations with India. But the fact remains that soon after his taking over, there has been frequent ceasefire violations, attack on Indian forward posts, spurt in cross border terror activities, latest in the series being militant attacks in Samba. It remains to be seen in such a situation whether this much awaited meeting between leaders of two countries will break the ice and pave the way for resumption of full fledged dialogue. With Veena Jain, R K Raina, for Air News, New York.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said that rural youth should come forward to start industries. Inaugurating the 3,044th branch of Syndicate Bank in Pudukottai district in Tamil Nadu, he said that like urban youth who have utilized bank loans to start industries, rural youth should start industries and better their livelihood. He said that the UPA government is giving importance in starting new bank branches in remote and rural areas.

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Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has charged the UPA government with failure to provide good governance. Addressing a rally in Delhi this afternoon, Mr. Modi alleged that the Centre also failed to provide employment to the youth of the country. He claimed that the NDA government, during its six-year rule, had provided employment to six crore youth compared to 27 lakh jobs created by the UPA between 2004 and 2009. Mr Modi also criticised the Delhi State government for its failure to maintain law and order. He said the state government is not ready to take any responsibility to ensure infrastructure development.

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In Maharashtra, a helicopter belonging to a private company crashed near Malshej ghat in Thane district adjacent to Mumbai this morning. According to initial police reports five persons are feared killed in the mishap. The chopper, carrying at least five passengers took off from Juhu airport around 7.45 and was scheduled to reach Aurangabad at 9.30. Search operation is being organized to trace the chopper in the remote and inaccessible hills near Malshej where it crashed.

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In Mumbai, rescue operation was called off this morning, nearly two days after the collapse of the five-storey building, owned by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, BMC in dockyard area. According to BMC disaster Management control room officials 61 persons have died in the mishap and 32 persons were injured.

Officials informed that out of 32 injured persons, condition of 3 is stated to be serious. They said, eight deceased have been identified including Yogesh Pawar, a journalist with Marathi daily. The officials said, cranes and other heavy machinery have been pressed into service to lift large slabs of concrete and mangled steel from the site.

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In Uttar Pradesh, thousands of participants have reportedly reached in the 'Sarwadaliya Mahapanchayat' in Kheda village of Sardhana in Meerut defying the state government ban. The call for the Mahapanchayat was given by some political leaders who are protesting the arrest of Sardhana MLA Sangeet Singh Som in connection with his alleged role of inciting conflicts in the recent Muzaffanagar violence.

Our correspondent quoting sources, reports that DM, SSP  and divisional Commissioner of Meerut are present at the venue to control the situation. The administration is making all efforts to peacefully disperse the people gathered in Kheda. 32 companies of paramilitary forces and heavy posse of police and the PAC have been deployed in the district to avert any untoward incident.

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In Uttar Pradesh, the death toll due to encephalitis has gone up to 319 as 10 more children have succumbed to the disease during past two days in Gorakhpur and Basti divisions. More than 170 patients are undergoing treatment in different government hospitals. Meanwhile a total of 647 dengue patients have also been detected across the state during the current monsoon. A report -
 

“Encephalitis and Dengue fever is caused by mosquito bite. The density of different species of mosquitoes has increased manifold in Himalayan foothills of eastern region. On an average 15 to 20 patients of encephalitis and dengue are coming to government hospitals. The BRD Medical College hospital is the main hub where encephalitis patients are being treated. Around 50 patients of dengue fever have been admitted to Gorakhnath trust hospital here. Salman Haider/AIRnews/ Gorakhpur.”

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At least 31 people were killed and over 70 injured in a car bomb blast in Peshawar in Pakistan's restive northwest today. The blast occurred in Qissa Khawani bazaar near a police station. Media reports say, the blast took place in a car, parked near the police station. They said the explosion was detonated with a remote device. A fire erupted soon after the explosion and at least eight shops were damaged.

Rescue officials have reached the blast site and taken the injured to a near by Hospital where an emergency was declared. Many of the injured are in critical condition.  

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The Syrian opposition coalition has said that it is ready to join the UN led efforts to hold an international conference in Geneva to find a comprehensive political solution to the crisis in Syria. The move follows a meeting of the UN secretary General Ban Ki Moon with the Chief of the Syrian Opposition national coalition, Ahmed-al Jarba in New York yesterday. More from our West Asia Correspondent:

The Syrian National opposition coalition led by Ahmed Jaraba is the latest group to join the Geneva-II peace conference. Ban Ki Moon has told the opposition Coalition to reach out to other groups and agree on a representative and united delegation. He said there is an urgent need to start a serious dialogue as soon as possible and also underlined the need to ensure accountability for war crimes. The UN Secretary General has proposed to hold Geneva-II peace conference in Mid-November with representatives of the Syrian regime and the opposition to find a comprehensive political solution to the two and a half year long crisis in Syria. It will be a follow up to the Geneva agreement in 2012 where the major world powers had agreed to form a transitional Government in the country. Atul K Tiwary, AIR News,

Meanwhile, Syria’s Prime minister Wael Al Halqi has said that his country will fully cooperate with UN inspectors on dismantling Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal.

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N. Srinivasan was today unanimously elected as BCCI President for a third year. The New set of office bearers were elected at the Board’s Annual General Meeting which was held in Chennai today. Sanjay Patel was elected as Secretary while Anirudh Chaudhary was elected as Treasurer.

The vice presidents of the board include Ravi Savant (West) and Rajiv Shukla (Central) , S.V.Bansal(North) Shivlal Yadav (South) and Chithrak Mitra (EAST).

Ranjib Biswal of Odisa has been elected as IPL Chairman.

Our correspondent reports that Mr Srinivasan can chair meetings of the cricket body only after the  Supreme Court gives its final verdict on the case filed against his candidature by the Cricket Association of Bihar secretary Aditya Verma.

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India and hosts Malaysia will clash in the final of the Sultan of Johar Cup under-21 hockey tournament this evening at Johor Bahru in Malaysia. Their last league match ended in a draw yesterday. Both the teams scored three goals each.

Germany had won the tournament last year, edging out India 3-2 in the finals.

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India takes on Qatar in their opening match of the 17th Asian Senior Men's Volleyball championship at Sheikh Hamadan Sports Complex in Dubai today. If India wins, it will make it to the quarter finals of the tournament.

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In Andhra Pradesh, a state-of-the-art advanced integration centre for the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory under DRDO has been inaugurated in Visakhapatnam. Our correspondent reports that with this facility torpedoes developed by this lab would be of world class in the days to come.

Named as Talvar, the Electrical Heavy Weight Torpedoes (EHWT) testing lab would also serve the needs of the prestigious heavy weight torpedo ‘Varunastra’ project and the future such projects to be undertaken. The centre was equipped with all the technical facilities required for carrying out sub-system level assembly, functional checks, system checks, preparation, balancing, pressure tests and full torpedo evaluation and would speed up the process of making of the torpedoes. The new facility was built to meet international standards at a cost of around Rs.7.2 crore in an area of 7,500 sq. mts. for testing and integration of torpedoes. Henry/Air News/Visakhapatnam

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The Punjab government has decided to set up cinema halls in villages to provide entertainment facilities to rural people. It has also decided to institute annual film awards to the tune of  1 crore rupees in various categories.