1400 HRS.

29^th November, 2013

THE HEADLINES:

• Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council predicts 5.3 per cent GDP growth for current fiscal; Says Current Account Deficit to come down below 3 per cent of the GDP.

• Goa court grants interim bail to Tehelka Editor Tarun Tejpal till 2.30 PM today in sexual assault case.

• Supreme Court issues notice to Centre and Press Council of India on a PIL seeking an independent mechanism to regulate content of television channels.

• Campaigning for Assembly elections in Rajasthan ends today.

• Nepali Congress begins consultations for the formation of a consensus government.

• Sensex gains over 240 points in afternoon trade; Rupee strengthens by 10 paise against the dollar.

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The Chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, Dr C Rangarajan today exuded confidence that the Indian economy will grow at 5.3 per cent in 2013-14. Speaking at a function in New Delhi, Dr. Rangarajan said, despite the economy passing through phase of low growth, the growth in the current fiscal will be better than last year's five per cent. He said, pick up in the economy will be seen in the second half of the year.

Dr Rangarajan said, Current Account Deficit, CAD, is likely to come down below 3 per cent of GDP in the current fiscal on the back of measures taken by the government. The measures include hike in the gold import duty to 10 per cent and restrictions on import of gold bars.

Our correspondent reports, the CAD which is the difference between inflow and outflow of foreign exchange, touched a record high of 88.2 billion dollars or 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2012-13.

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Tehelka Editor Tarun Tejpal got interim bail till 2.30 PM today from the Sessions Court in Panaji which will pronounce its final order later in the afternoon. He is accused of sexual assault on a woman colleague. Sessions Judge Anuja Prabhudesai gave Tejpal interim protection from arrest on a bail application moved by his lawyers. Tejpal's lawyers moved the court for bail after a joint team of Goa and Delhi police went to his residence in Delhi to arrest him this morning but did not find him there. Later they carried out searches at various other places, including those of his relatives.

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The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Centre and Press Council of Indiaon a plea for setting up an independent mechanism to regulate content of television channels. A bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justice Ranjan Gogoi sought a response from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and Law Ministry on a PIL alleging that misleading and superstitious contents were being broadcast by the channels and there is no regulatory body to oversee it.

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The Supreme Court also agreed to hear the bail plea of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, and sought a response from the CBI. He is undergoing a five-year jail term after being convicted in a fodder scam case. A bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justice Ranjan Gogoi directed the CBI, which is the prosecuting agency in the fodder scam case, to file its response within two weeks and posted the case for hearing to the 13th of next month.

Senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, appearing for Prasad, submitted that the RJD chief was one among the 44 accused convicted in the case but he is the only person whose bail plea was rejected by the trial court and the high court. He contended that so far 37 convicts have been granted bail in the case and no one's bail plea has been rejected. He also submitted that it will take a long time for the Jharkhand High Court to dispose of his appeal against conviction.

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Campaigning for Assembly elections in Rajasthan will end today. The state will go to polls on Sunday to elect a new assembly. Voting will take place for 199 seats in the 200 member Assembly. Polling in Churu has been postponed due to the death of BSP candidate. A total of 2,086 candidates including 166 women are in the fray.Chief Electoral Officer Ashok Jain said that campaigning through SMS or social media will also not be allowed after 5 PM.

About 15 days long election campaign will end in few hours’ . After 5 pm candidates will start door to door contact with voters. Senior leaders of both Congress and BJP are addressing election meetings in different parts of the state. For Congress candidates Chief Ministers of Uttarakhand and Haryana Vijay Bahuguna and Bhupinder Singh Hudda and For BJP Chief Minister of Gujrat Narendra Modi and senior party leader Shahnawaj Hussain are addressing election meetings. Candidates of newly formed National Peoples Party and Zamindara Party are also active in election campaign. Anurag Vajpeyi AIR News Jaipur

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President Pranab Mukherjee today said, a proficiently managed public service is the key to ensuring good governance and efficient delivery of services to the people. Delivering the 4th Lecture on on the occasion of the foundation day of the Union Public Service Commission, President Mukherjee said, the civil services play the vital role of enforcing democratic values and assisting the government to serve the nation. He said the primary commitment of civil servants who serve for more than three decades is to the people.

Indian civil servants, they not only built up the architecture of the modern civil services in India but they also led not only the Indian members but also the foreign members of the services. They led very powerful movement of national reconstruction and rediscovering the oldest civilization in India.

Mr. Mukherjee said, the job of civil servants is to give correct advise to the political leadership. He underlined the importance of an impartial and non political bureaucracy for making realistic assessments for informed decision making. He said Transparency, accountability are the basic pillars of good governance.

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The Uttar Pradesh government has asked sugar mills to start crushing sugar cane by the 7th of December or face legal action. The State government also rejected the private millers’ demand to fix the State Advised Price, SAP of sugar cane at 225 rupees per quintal for the current crushing season terming it unreasonable. The state government has fixed the SAP for the current season between 275 and 290 rupees per quintal.

The deadlock between government and private millers has ensured suspension of crushing operations by 99 private mills, which crush over 80 per cent of the total sugarcane in the state. The delay in crushing operations caused consternation amongst the 32 lakh sugarcane farmers’ family and about 2 lakh sugar mill workers. The farmers have been agitating for early start of crushing. In some parts of the state the cane farmers are even burning their canes to lodge their protest. Rejecting the offer of the private mills to run their units, the government has said that a fresh deadline has been given as talks were underway with the mill owners. The Allahabad High Court has directed the state government for taking steps to start sugar cane crushing with immediate effect in all cooperative and private mills. Sunil Shukla, AIR News, Allahabad.

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All preparations have been made for the tripartite talk to be held in Guwahati today between the Centre and the Assam government with the Ranjan Daimary faction of National Democratic Front of Bodoland. Senior officials said that the Suspension of Operation treaty is likely to be signed today after the discussion of clauses of ground rules. Senior officials of the Union Home ministry and the Assam government will attend the talk. On the other hand, a 5 members team of the outfit arrived in Guwahati to take part in the discussion. With the signing of the treaty, the much anticipated peace process will begin with the banned outfit. 

State IGP (Law and Order) S N Singh said that more than 400 cadres of the outfit will have to stay in 2 designated camps. The Government will provide the leaders and cadres identity cards, a monthly stipend and ensure their security. It may be recalled that the Center’s interlocutor P C Halder initiated peace process with Ranjan Daimary, the leader of the outfit after he was arrested in 2010.

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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) to be held tomorrow at Panaji in Goa. The 50-year-old Malaysian actress's documentary film 'Pad Yatra: A Green Odyssey' in which she was an executive producer, is being screened at the festival today.

The film directed by Wendy J N Lee, chronicles an arduous 450-mile journey across the Himalayas undertaken by Buddhist monks led by his holiness Gyalwang Drukpa to spread the message of environmentalism. His holiness will also accompany Yeoh to the film festival. Michelle Yeoh will be the chief guest at the closing ceremony.

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The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange remained firm in afternoon trade, and stood 242 points, or 1.2 percent in positive territory, at 20,777 a short while ago. Earlier in morning deals, the Sensex had rallied 245 points, or 1.2 percent, to 20,780, on fresh buying by funds, ahead of second quarter GDP growth data.

Stock markets in Japan, China, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan were trading mixed.

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The rupee trimmed its initial gains but was quoted still higher by 10 paise to 62 rupees 31 paise against the American currency on fresh selling of dollars by exporters and banks in view of strong equity market. The domestic currency resumed higher at 62 rupees 30 paise per dollar as against the last closing level of 62 rupees 41 paise and firmed up further to 62 rupees 20 paise a dollar. However, it trimmed its initial gains and was quoted at 62 rupees 31 paise per dollar.

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The Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala has begun formal discussions to form a consensus government in the Himalayan state. He is deliberating with the leaders of other political parties over the issue. The Party has emerged as the single largest group in the 601 seats Constituent assembly by winning 105 direct seats. It is likely to get 91 seats in the proportional representation based on vote share. CPN-UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal has said the Nepali Congress should lead the next government. The party has also agreed that new government should include as many political parties as possible.

The CPN-UML which won 91 direct seats is likely to get 84 in the proportional representation. The UCPN (Maoist ) with 26 direct seats may get 54 proportionate seats. The Election Commission will allocate proportionate seats to the parties according to the percentage of votes received once the threshold limit is decided.

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At least three suspected militants were killed when two missiles fired by a US drone hit a house in Pakistan's North Waziristan Agency. Several people were also reported injured in the strike at Angar Kalli village near Miramshah Tehsil of the area. The identity of those killed or injured could not be ascertained. The attack comes at a time when the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has taken an increasingly anti-drone stance with regular sit-ins being organised to stop NATO supply lines.

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai has strongly condemned a NATO drone strike in the southern Helmand province of Afghanistan in which a child was killed and two women injured yesterday. A press release issued by the President's office in Kabul last night said a US plane without a pilot attacked a village in Garm Shir district of the province yesterday forenoon causing the casualties of innocent civilians. Condemning the attack in the strongest terms the press release adds that the incident shows the US forces' careless attitude towards the lives and security of the Afghan people and disrespect for the decision of the Loya Jirga or the Grand Council of tribal elders which concluded in Kabul recently.

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India's rising shuttler PV Sindhu will play her quarterfinal match of the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton tournament today. For a place in the semifinals, Sindhu, who has been given a top billing in the tournament, will clash with Hong Kong's fifth seed, Tsz Ka Chan. Sindhu is the lone Indian left in this event. Yesterday, Sayali Gokhale and PC Thulasi bowed out of the competition, after losing in the Women's Singles pre-quarterfinals.