1400 HRS.    

18^th   November, 2013

THE HEADLINES:

• Supreme Court issues notices to Centre and Uttar Pradesh government on whether to transfer Muzaffarnagar clashes probe to independent agency.

• Andhra Chief Minister, Kiran Kumar Reddy and three Union Ministers discuss the issue of State bifurcation with GoM.

• Elaborate arrangements in place for second phase of Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh tomorrow; Scrutiny of nomination papers for Delhi Assembly elections is underway.

• Apex Court agrees to hear a PIL challenging commutation of death sentence of five condemned prisoners by the then President Pratibha Patil.

• In Bangladesh, Jatiya Party of General Ershad pulls out of Awami League led ruling alliance.

• Sensex gains over 340 points in afternoon trade; Rupee strengthens 31 paise, to 62.80 against the dollar.

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The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Centre and Uttar Pradesh Government on a plea seeking transfer of probe into Muzaffarnagar clashes from state police to an independent agency. A Bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam asked the government to file its response and posted the case for hearing on the 21st of this month.

The court passed the order on a PIL filed by Jat Mahasabha of Meerut to transfer the probe questioning the investigation done by UP police. The Bench said it will hear the plea along with other petitions filed on Muzaffarnagar clashes. The Supreme Court is hearing various petitions relating to communal clashes that had broken out in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas of western UP on September 7th that killed 61 persons.

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Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting on Telangana chaired by Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde today held discussions with Union Ministers from Andhra Pradesh. The GoM deliberated separately on bifurcation of the state with Union Ministers from Telangana and Seemandhra regions.  Union Ministers Jaipal Reddy, Pallam Raju, Porika Balram Naik and Sarve Satyanarayana were among those who attended the meetings. Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Kiran Kumar Reddy also held discussions with the GoM on Telangana. 

Speaking to newsmen, Mr. Jaipal Reddy said, it has been agreed that Hyderabad will remain the common capital of the two states for a period of ten years. He also said, it is the last meeting of the GoM on Telangana. Mr. Reddy also desired that Bhadrachalam temple situated along the border in Khammam district, should remain in Telangana. He expressed hope that all political parties will cooperate in the process of creating a new Telangana state.

The demand for Telangana state has been considered by the Congress Party only after consensus had been arrived at among all national regional parties. I do not want at this stage to make any comments on National parties, we seek their cooperation. I'm sure they'll all cooperate in the process of creation of a new Telangana State.

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In Chhattisgarh, elaborate arrangements are in place for the second phase of elections in 72 Assembly constituencies going to polls tomorrow. The electoral fate of 842 candidates, including 75 women, will be decided tomorrow. Polling parties are being sent to their respective polling stations while polling teams deputed to the Maoist affected areas, have already reached their base camps under tight security.  Nearly 20,000 polling parties, comprising 80,000 polling personnel, are engaged for the smooth conduct of polling. A report:       

The highest number of candidates in the fray is in Raipur (South) constituency while the lowest is in Saraipali where five candidates are testing their fortunes. More than one crore 39 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise. Out of this, 68 lakh are female voters. One polling station at Seradand village in Koriya district only has two voters. Nearly a dozen polling staff, including security personnel, have to walk through the forest for about five kilometres to conduct polling at Seradand polling station. In almost all the previous elections, this polling booth recorded cent per cent voting. Vikalp Shukla, AIR News, Raipur

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Scrutiny of nomination papers for Assembly elections in Delhi is underway. About 1178 candidates of different political parties including independents have filed their nominations for the 70-member Assembly polls. The prominent candidates include Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, BJP Chief Ministerial candidate Dr. Harsh Vardhan and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal. Congress, Aam Aadmi party and BSP have filed nominations from all the seats while BJP is contesting from 66 seats and its ally Akali Dal from four seats. Samajwadi party candidates have filed nominations from 30 constituencies and NCP from 13. Candidates can withdraw their nomination papers by Wednesday. 

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In Madhya Pradesh, the star campaigners of BJP, Congress, SP and JD(U) are addressing election rallies in favour of their party candidates. BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is addressing election rallies in Chhattarpur, Sagar, Guna and Bhopal today. BJP President Rajnath Singh will also attend several meetings. Film star Raj Babar, Union Ministers Kamalnath and Jyotiraditya Scindia are campaigning for Congress. For Samajwadi Party, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav addressed election rallies in Vindhya region yesterday.  Our Bhopal Correspondent reports that the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer is taking several steps under voters’ awareness and education campaign-SVEEP to increase the poll percentage in the upcoming state legislative elections.  More from our Correspondent:-

Mobile numbers of more than 92 lakh 23 thousand voters have been collected so far for sending SMS for election-related information. SMS facility has been provided to voters to help them detect their status in electoral rolls. A call centre is also being run for voters’ facilitation at the CEO office from where voters can obtain information regarding their polling booths. Under the SWEEP programme mobile users of different companies will receive voters’ awareness messages through caller tunes. SHARIQ NOOR,AIR NEWS, BHOPAL

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In Rajasthan the Election campaign is gearing up in the state. Star campaigners of both BJP and Congress will address election rallies from tomorrow. Meanwhile congress has released its manifesto yesterday while BJP will release the election manifesto on 20th November. 2096 candidates are in the fray for Assembly election in the state.       

In this election people of villages and small towns of Rajasthan will see Private planes and helicopters which will be used for election tours of various leaders. At Jaipur Airport many charted planes and choppers could be seen on runway. Congress President Mrs Sonia Gandhi,Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister and senior congress leader Dr.Man Mohan Singh will address election rallies of Congress candidates while  Narendra Modi ,L K Advani and BJP President Rajnath Singh will campaign in favour of BJP candidates  in various parts of the state P A Sangma will also address some election meetings in support of NPP candidates  in the eastern parts of the state.  Anurag Vajpeyi AIR News Jaipur

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The News Services Division of All India Radio in its weekly Live Phone-in programme “PUBLIC SPEAK” today will bring you a discussion on the“Problem of unauthorized constructions in urban areas." This can be heard on FM Gold Channel and on additional frequencies from 9.30 to 10.05 p.m.  Listeners can pose questions to the experts sitting in our Studio on telephone number: 011: 2331-4444. This programme  is also available on Doordarshan DTH. 

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Former President Pratibha Patil's decision to commute death sentence of five condemned prisoners in child rape cases today came under judicial scrutiny with the Supreme Court issuing notice to the Centre on a plea seeking to set aside the commutation. A Bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam agreed to hear a PIL questioning the then President's decision to commute death penalty in the cases of extreme brutality. The petitioner Pinki Virani, a journalist, contended that out of 35 cases in which death sentence was commuted by Mrs. Patil, five cases are pertaining to brutal child rape and submitted that the relief should not have been granted by the President in those cases.

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In another case today, the  apex Court today issued a notice to the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) seeking its response as to how to block websites with pornographic content in the country, particularly those featuring child pornography. A Bench headed by Justice BS Chauhan asked the Union Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, of which DoT is a part, to file its response within three weeks.

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Gujarat High Court today dismissed the quashing petition moved by controversial self-styled godman Asaram and his son Narayan Sai after they withdrew it. The counsels had sought quashing of FIRs of sexual assault lodged against them by two Surat-based sisters. 

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Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Manish Tewari today criticized the BJP over the Gujarat snooping row. Mr. Tewari asked why no Personal Security Officer was provided if the woman in question was being protected at her father's behest.

If a threat assessment was carried out, then the legal and the dignified way of doing it would have been to provide personal security officers, which is the norm. Why did the Bhartiya Janta Party court the ignominy of becoming the stalking sahebzada.

Two investigative portals, Cobrapost and Gulail had claimed last week that Amit Shah, former Home Minister of Gujarat and Chief Minister Narendra Modi's close aide, had ordered illegal surveillance of a woman at the behest of one "Saheb". Congress women leaders had yesterday demanded an inquiry into the issue by a Supreme Court Judge. 

In Bangladesh, Jatiya Party of General Ershad has pulled out of Awami League led ruling alliance. Meanwhile, President Abdul Hamid is scheduled to administer the oath of office to new Ministers at Bangababan, as the formation of an all-party interim Cabinet to oversee the polls was announced after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina met the President last night. Opposition BNP has ruled out joining the new dispensation, and renewed the demand for a non-partisan caretaker government. As per the Constitution, elections must be completed within the last 90 days of the Parliament which falls before January 24, 2014. Our Dhaka Correspondent has filed this report:

Ahead of the swearing in of new Ministers of all-party interim cabinet this evening, former President and Jatiya Party President HM Ershad announced the severing of links with Awami-League led Grand Alliance, amidst talk of formation of a new Alliance to contest the polls.  At a press conference in Dhaka this morning, the former President urged BNP to come for dialogue to solve the political impasse.  Official sources say Jatiya Party members will be included in the new cabinet.  Besides Awami League, two other components of the ruling  Grand Alliance - the Workers Party and Jatiya Samajtantrik Party will join the cabinet. Melinda Dias for AIR News, Dhaka

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The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange surged 341 points, or 1.7 percent, to 20,741, in the afternoon trade, a short while ago, on sustained buying by funds, amid firm Asian markets. The Sensex jumped following the Federal Reserve chief nominee, Janet Yellen's testimony on Thursday, which suggested that the Fed's accommodative policies would continue as long as the economy remains fragile.  The Nifty at the National Stock exchange shot up 100 points, or 1.6 percent, to 6,156.

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The rupee maintained its firm trend for the third day in a row in late morning trade by gaining 31 paise, to 62.80 per dollar. It follows on persistent selling by exporters and banks on the back of a weak dollar overseas amidst strong equity market. Sustained foreign capital inflows into equity market also boosted the rupee value against the dollar, a forex dealer said. 

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The seventh game of the World Chess Championship between defending champion Viswanathan Anand and Norwegian Magnus Carlsen will be played in Chennai today. Carlsen is leading 4-2, after two consecutive wins in the fifth and sixth games. The first four games ended in a draw. 

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The 58th Senior National Wrestling Championships concluded at the Kshudiram Anushilan Kendra in Kolkata yesterday. Haryana Women clinched the championship with 70 points, while Uttar Pradesh finished second with 51 points. Delhi came third with 46 points.