0815 HRS

MORNING NEWS.

30.11.2013

THE HEADLINES

• Former Supreme Court Judge A K Ganguly named by law intern in sexual harassment case; Justice Ganguly strongly denies the charge.

• Tarun Tejpal questioned by Goa crime branch in sexual assault case; gets interim relief against his arrest till 10 AM today.

• Krishna Water Tribunal allots four thousand million cubic meter water from Karnataka's share to Andhra Pradesh.

• The United States exempts India and China from sanctions for reducing oil imports from Iran.

• The 4th World Cup Kabaddi tournament to begin at Bhatinda in Punjab today.

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The Supreme court appointed panel probing into alleged sexual harassment charges leveled by the law intern against a former SC judge has submitted its report to the Chief Justice of India. The report was submitted after recording the statement of  Former Supreme Court judge, Justice A K Ganguly, who is believed to have been accused by the law intern of sexual harassment. The three-judge committee is headed by Justice R M Lodha. Justice Ganguly, however, strongly denied the charge.

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 Tarun Tejpal accused of sexually assaulting a woman reporter in Tehelka magazine, was questioned by the Crime Branch of Goa Police in Panji last night. He was given a minor relief by a local court yesterday from arrest in the assault case till 10am today. The judge, who had issued non-bailable warrants for his arrest earlier in the morning, later stayed his arrest till 2.30 PM on an anticipatory bail application moved by Tejpal's lawyers and later extended the relief period to 10 am today as arguments in the case were not complete. During the arguments,Tejpal's advocate twice took the name of the victim to which the public prosecutor took strong exception. The judge sternly told the lawyer that it was not right on her part to name the victim. The public prosecutor will present the prosecution arguments when the court resumes hearing today.

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In Rajasthan, polling will take place tomorrow at over 47,200 polling stations to elect a new Assembly. The Election campaign ended for 199 out of 200 Assembly seats yesterday. Polling in Churu constituency will take place on the 13th of December due to death of the BSP candidate. Prominent candidates in the fray are Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Leader of opposition Vasundhara Raje, Chairperson of National Women’s Commission Mamta Sharma, Kirodi Lal Meena and Athlete Krishna Poonia. 

"Election Commission has made all security arrangements to ensure free and fair poling. 10793 polling stations have been identified as critical and large number of them are in eastern part of the State. Till noon all polling parties will reach their destination polling stations. More than 119000 security personnel have been deployed in the state. Ruling Congress and main opposition party BJP are contesting on all seats while BSP is contesting on 195 and CPM on 38 seats. 666 candidates of other parties and 758 independent candidates are also in the fray. Total 2087 candidates 167 women candidates are contesting the election. Anurag Vajpeyi AIR News Jaipur."

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With just two days left for campaigning, electioneering for the 70 seat Delhi Assembly has reached a feverish pitch with senior leaders from all major political parties addressing election rallies in the national capital. Congress leaders  Salman Khurshid, Ajay Maken, J P Agrawal and Sanjay Nirupam participated in the campaign. BJP Party leaders including Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari, Ananth Kumar and Harsh Vardhan also held a number of rallies in various parts of the city. The Party's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is scheduled to address three rallies in Delhi today. BSP Chief Mayawati, Samajwadi party leader Ramgopal Yadav and Aam Aadmi party leaders  Arvind Kejriwal and Yogendra Yadav were also busy trying to convince the voters. 

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In Tamil Nadu, the voting in the Yercaud Assembly constituency bypoll to be held on December 4 will be monitored online. Salem district collector and district electoral officer Makarabhushanam said that 269 polling booths will be monitored online and it has been linked with computer in the control room in Salem Collectorate.

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The Krishna Water Tribunal has given its final award allotting four thousand million cubic water from Karnataka's share to Andhra Pradesh and allowing Karnataka to increase the storage inAlmatti dam to 524.256 meters. The final award came almost three years after the interim award was announced. The tribunal has sought to maintain a balance by giving four TMC water to Andhra Pradesh and at the same time recognizing Karnataka's right to claim the remaining water.  

"Eight of the irrigation projects in Krishna river basin and its tributaries that remains incomplete due to the dispute between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh over sharing of krishna water since last decade . The ruling of tribunal yesterday has given new hope to the farmers of North Karnataka who depended on rain water for cultivation. Karnataka share of water has now been fixed 907 TMC, Maharashtra share has been fixed at 660 TMC and Andhra Pradesh at 1005 TMC. The Legislative Assembly that will commence once again on Monday in Belgaum has scheduled discussions on the matter. Sudhindra, AIR News, Belgaum."

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India has asserted that it will not compromise its stand on food security to the poor and support to marginal farmers even if subsidy limits are breached. Talking to reporters in New Delhi, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said, the G-33, a group of developing countries has supported India's stand on food subsidies. He said, India demands that poor countries be exempt from the 10 percent subsidy cap under the WTO agreement on agriculture. Mr. Sharma will lead the Indian delegation to the next week's WTO meeting in Bali, Indonesia. He said, New Delhi will strive for permanent immunity from actions against breach of farm subsidy. 

"India has been seriously and sincerely engaged in the negotiations, as we consider that the balanced and positive outcome of Bali Ministerial will send the correct message when it comes to the global economy and also reassures  all the developing countries, poor countries and LDC'S that their legitimate concerns have been registered and have been addressed especially in backdrop of the on going negotiations and continuing stalemate in the Doha developing round of WTO negotiations."

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Indian economy grew by 4.8 per cent in the second quarter this fiscal due to improved performance of farm, manufacturing, construction and services sectors. The growth in domestic product ,GDP was 4.4 per cent in the April-June quarter of this fiscal and 5.2 per cent in July-September quarter last fiscal. Commenting on the official data released in New Delhi, Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram said that growth will come back slowly in third and fourth quarter.

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The United States has exempted some countries, including India and China, from the tough Iranian sanctions for reducing their dependence on Iranian oil. Secretary of State, John Kerry said in a statement in Washington that other countries which have significantly reduced the purchases of Iranian crude oil are the Republic of Korea, Turkey, and Taiwan and these have qualified for an exception to sanctions under the National Defence Authorisation Act.

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In Bangladesh, the BNP-led 18 party Opposition combine is beginning a 72-hour nationwide rail-road-waterways blockade from this morning, just 25 hours after its previous spell of blockade ended which left 21 people dead and hundreds injured.  Our correspondent report that the opposition is demanding elections to be postponed till an agreement is reached on the issue of election-time government.                       

 "The Blockcade has come  hours after 14 top BNP leaders were sued in a case filed in connection with an arson attack on a moving passenger bus at Shahbhag on Friday. Violence  started ahead of Blockcade the with miscreants setting fire to a state-owned bus in Mirpur in the capital yesterday. A student was killed in clashes between two groups of bangladesh Chatra League in Dhaka college last night. Another person was killed  and 30- injured in Cox Bazar in chittagong, in clashes between the ruling Awami League and Opposition BNP.  Railway security has been tightened, and police have arrested hordes of activists. Melinda dias for AIR News Dhaka.

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India and Sri Lanka have agreed to join forces to enhance maritime security cooperation in the Indian Ocean region for checking piracy. This was announced in Colombo by the office of President Mahinda Rajapaksa after a meeting of Navy Chief Admiral D.K. Joshi with the President. The Indian Navy offered to train Sri Lankan Navy officers through a four-year Bachelor of Technology course.

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To attract more dollar inflows, the Reserve Bank has extended the deregulated interest rate scheme for NRE deposits till January 31 next year. The RBI said in a notification that banks will continue to get exemption provided on such deposits from CRR and SLR requirements during this period. The RBI also extended the interest rate ceiling on FCNR-B deposits of one to three year maturity and three to five year maturity to January 31.

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The Union Petroleum Minister, Veerappa Moily yesterday inaugurated the first "Synthetic Rubber Plant" of the country at Panipat in Haryana. The plant is set up with the help of Japan and Taiwan at a cost of over 958 crore rupees. Mr. Moily said, it would bring new revolution in the rubber industry.

The country's first synthetic rubber plant commissioned at Panipat in Haryana by Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural gas Minister Veerappa Moily would give a boost to the domestic rubber industry especially the automatic sector in a big way. The plant have 120 kilo tonnes annual production capacity. According to Mr. Moily capacity of the plant would be increased to 220 kilo tonnes in next 2 years. Ashwani Kumar Sharma, Air News, Chandigarh.

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Punjab is all set for the inauguration of the 4th World Cup Kabaddi tournament at Bhatinda today. Punjab Kabaddi Association, President Sikandar Singh Maluka said at Bhatinda, 20 teams from India, Pakistan, Argentina, the United States, England, Canada, Sierra Leone, Iran, Denmark, Kenya, Spain and Scotland would vie for the men's title.  The Women's section would have the teams from India, Pakistan, Mexico, New Zealand, Kenya, the US, England and Denmark.  

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Hollywood actress Michelle Yeoh will attend the closing ceremony of the 44th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI)   today at Panaji in Goa. “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom “directed by Justin Chandwick and written by William Nicholsan will be the closing Film at the festival.

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NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES           

• Stories of sexual harassment of women in the workplace continue to dominate headlines in the newspapers today. "Justice is shamed" exclaims the Mail Today, adding "Fact finding committee names retired Supreme Court Judge Ashok Ganguly in sexual harassment scandal". The Economic Times enquires "Justice Ganguly named. But will there be justice?"The Hindu reports that the former Supreme Court judge says "he is shocked and shattered".

• In a related story the Times of India reports "Day long drama as Tejpal finally surfaces, flies to Goa". The Pioneer adds "What Tejpal did falls within legal definition of rape, says victim". According to the Indian Express headline "Rape law too harsh: his defence." In another related case the Times of India reports "Nirbhaya's parents move Supreme Court, seeking criminal trial for juvenile" in the Nirbhaya rape case.

• In significant news for the economy the Economic Times remarks "On Friday, GDP at 4.8 percent delivers a small hit" The Hindustan Times adds "Marginal growth in economy, factory output still a worry".

• In international news the Hindustan Times reports that China had launched two fighter jets to investigate flights by a dozen US and Japanese reconnaissance and military planes in its new air defence zone over the East China Sea.

• The Hindu SAYS that the Indian Navy has offered to train Sri Lankan Navy officers, through the four year Bachelor of Technology course, now being offered to Indian Navy officers, following a meeting between the Chief of the Naval staff, Admiral D.K.Joshi, and Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa.

• In a front page story "Omar woos Pandits back with compensation" The Pioneer reports, that the J&K government has announced a spate of measures to facilitate the return of Kashmiri Pandits to the valley.

• The Indian Express reports on timely action taken by constable Kumardatta Shendge and senior inspector Sujata Patil in taking former cricketer Vinod Kambli immediately to the hospital as he suffered a heart-attack.