2100 HRS

27^th November, 2013

THE HEADLINES:

• Delhi High Court reserves order on  Tarun Tejpal's anticipatory bail petition till Friday in  the sexual assault case; Goa police summons Tejpal to appear before it tomorrow.
• All accused including  Kanchi  Seers Jayendra Saraswathi and Vijeyendra Saraswathi  acquitted in Sankararaman murder case.
• All  coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh on high alert  as severe cyclonic storm 'Lehar' to make landfall by tomorrow afternoon.
• Raheel Sharif appointed as Pakistan's new Army Chief.
• Rupee appreciates 36 paise  to 62.14   against the dollar.
• IN CRICKET:India beat West Indies by five wickets in  3rd and final ODI at Kanpur; Clinch the series, 2-1.

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The Delhi High Court today reserved its order for Friday on the anticipatory bail petition of Tehelka Editor Tarun Tejpal in the woman journalist's sexual assault case. The Court however rejected Tejpal's plea for a four-week interim protection against his arrest.  Justice Sunita Gupta will pronounce the order on Friday on his anticipatory bail plea which was strongly opposed by the Goa police.

The Goa Police today issued summons to Tejpal in the case. Disclosing this at a press conference at Police Headquarters at Panaji in Goa, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Dr. O P Mishra said, Tejpal is being summoned to  appear before the investigating Officer  tomorrow at 3 pm. Our Correspondent reports, the statement of the victim girl is being recorded under section 164 in a local court in Panaji.

Earlier, addressing a Press Conference at the Secretariat at Porvorim near Panaji, Chief Minister said that his government is committed to give justice to the victim girl  in the sexual harassment case and that he will not succumb to any pressures from any corner. The Chief Minister said, the Police are patiently collecting the evidence for speedy disposal of the case and that the law will take its own course.

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Congress leader and Law Minister Kapil Sibal has rejected  allegations levelled by BJP leader Sushma Swaraj that he is shielding Editor-in-Chief of Tehelka, Tarun Tejpal. Talking to reporters in New Delhi today, Mr Sibal said that he is in no way connected with the news magazine. He also said that Tejpal is not related to him and he does not have any  shares in the magazine.

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The Press Council of India, PCI, has asked all media organisations to set up internal committees to prevent and redress cases of sexual harassment of women at workplace. The direction came in the backdrop of sexual harassment charges against Tehelka Editor, Tarun Tejpal.

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In the sensational Sankararaman murder case, all the accused including the seers of Kanchipuram Sankara Mutt, Jayendra Saraswathi and Vijeyendra Saraswathi were acquitted today. Pronouncing the judgement, Puducherry District and Sessions Judge CS Murugan said the witnesses failed to substantiate the prosecution case.

Kanchi Sankaracharyas Jayendra Saraswathi and Vijayendra Saraswathi were the prime accused in the case.  Sankararaman, Manager of Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kanchipuram, was murdered in 2004.  The case was transferred to Pondicherry by the Supreme Court in 2005.

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The Group of Ministers (GoM) set up to look into bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, discussed the format of draft report in New Delhi today. Highly placed sources said that the meeting had detailed discussion on the issues like water, finance and  law and Order. Sources also said that  the Department of Personnel presented a report to the GoM on division of IAS and IPS cadres of the state.  The sources indicated that the ministerial panel may hold another meeting to finalize its recommendations.  Union Ministers A.K Antony, P. Chidambaram, M.Veerappa Moily and  Jairam Ramesh are among those who attended the meeting chaired by Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde.

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In Rajasthan, election campaign is continuing.  Congress President Sonia Gandhi addressed an election meeting in Sikar today. She said that Congress believes in empowering poor and backward classes by giving them rights. Mrs Gandhi said that BJP wants to come to power at any cost and for this purpose, its leaders are misleading the people. BJP President Rajnath Singh also addressed four election meetings in Rajasthan. He said that congress has no solution for internal and external challenges.  Our Correspondent reports that about 30 star campaigners of different parties today addressed election meetings in the state.

Chief Ministers of Gujrat,and Madhya Pradesh Narendra Modi and Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Chief Minister of Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hudda addressed election rallies in the state.BJP is now focusing its election campaign in southern tribal dominated Udaipur division while congress is concentrating on northern parts of the state.Colours of bollywood could also be seen in various election meetings.Hema Malini,Shatrughna Sinha and Raj Babbar are campaigning in various parts of the state.In rural areas candidates are using folk songs for election campaign.now when only 2 days are remaining for election campaign more election meetings will be organized in next days.")Anurag Vajpeyi AIR News Jaipur

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With the Delhi Assembly elections inching closer, electioneering is in full swing. Congress leaders Krishna Tirath, Shakil Ahmed and J.P Agarwal and Shiela Dikshit addressed  rallies today. On the other hand, Senior BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari, Harsh Vardhan and Vijay Goel  held their rallies in favour of their candidates.

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Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal today replied to the Election Commission notice, denying violation of model code of conduct. The Commission had last week sent a notice to Mr Kejriwal after he distributed pamphlets asking Muslims to vote for Aam Aadmi Party.

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The Congress today said, the Inquiry Commission set up by the Gujarat government to look into the snooping of a woman in the state, is an eyewash and an attempt to save Narendra Modi. Party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters in New Delhi that the two members of the panel may give a clean chit to Modi and Amit Shah. He alleged that they cannot be impartial in conducting the inquiry in view of their association with Modi-led government.

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The BJP today said that Pakistan government does not want a fair trial in the 26/11 terror attack as it will expose the complicity of elements of the Pakistani establishment in the attack. Briefing reporters in New Delhi, party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said, inaction against terrorist, infiltration at LoC and dialogue process cannot go together. Mr. Prasad said, New Delhi has given enough evidence to Islamabad against the terrorists and also allowed their judicial commission to come to India but Pakistan does not want to proceed because the conspiracy was patronised by Islamabad.

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The very severe cyclonic storm ‘Lehar’ over west-central and adjoining south Bay of Bengal moved west-northwestward and lay centred at about 570 kms east-southeast of Machilipatnam and 510 kms southeast of Kakinada. All the nine coastal districts are on high alert as the system would move west-northwestwards and cross Andhra Pradesh coast near Machilipatnam around tomorrow afternoon. Our correspondent has filed this report.

The State Chief Secretary, P.K. Mohanty who reviewed the preparedness of the coastal district administrations today, said around two lakh people from the seven districts of Guntur, Krishna, West and East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam would be shifted to relief camps. A DIG rank officer of National Disaster Response Force from Delhi has been deputed to the State to supervise and monitor the deployment of NDRF teams. About 33 NDRF teams were being deployed in the coastal districts besides four columns of Army and 450 members of State Disaster Response Force.The very severe cyclonic storm ‘Lehar’ changed its course and is currently heading towards Machilipatnam in Krishna district like its predecessor ‘Helen’ which too had its landfall near south of Machilipatnam on Friday last.The State government is deploying additional rescue teams to Guntur, Krishna, West and East Godavari districts in the changed senario.Henry, AIR New, Visakhapatnam

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Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has selected two senior army officers as Chief of Army Staff and Chairman, Joint Chief of Staff Committee. Career infantry officer Lt Gen Raheel Sharif has been appointed as the new Chief of Army Staff, while Lt Gen Rashad Mahmood has been appointed the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.

According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Defence in Islamabad, Lt Gen Raheel Sharif and Lt Gen Rashad Mahmood have been promoted to the rank of four-star general with effect from tomorrow. Both generals would take up their new posts from Friday, the day the current Army chief Kayani retires.

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In Bangladesh, even as six more lives were lost  on the second day of the nationwide rail-road and waterways blockade, the 18 party BNP-led Opposition has extended it by 12 more  hours till tomorrow evening. The Opposition is demanding that the elections scheduled to be held on 5th January, 2014, be postponed till an agreement has been reached on the election-time government. Nine people were killed, and over a hundred injured in violence and arson since Monday night when Chief Election Commissioner announced the election schedule.

Violence and arson continues unabaited across the country, while major rail, road and water links remained  affected on the second day today.  Over and above the blockade, Opposition enforced a hartal in 4 districts protesting deaths of their activists.  Police fought pitched battles with blockade supporters in seveal areas including Barisal &  Sathkira,   In Sirajganj, 2 BNP activists died in clashes between the police and Awami league supporters.  In Ghazipur a local Awami league leader was killed, while in Satkhira, a Jamaat activist was  shot when police opened fire as thousands of pickets attacked them. The  port city of Chittagong became mayhem as police battled with pickets. .   Pickets torched  several  police motorcycles and a police van, while 2 passengers were severely burnt when  they  set fire to an autorickshaw. On the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway, 3 police personnel were severely injured in crude bomb explosions. In capital Dhaka, crude bombs exploded in several places including Sonargaon, Gulshan, and outside the EC office. Melinda  Dias for AIR News, Dhaka.

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BUSINESS WORLD

The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange closed with a marginal loss of 5 points, at 20,420, today, ahead of the monthly expiry in the derivatives segment. The Nifty fell 2 points, to 6,057.Stock markets in Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore ended mixed.The rupee appreciated 36 paise, to close at 62.14 against the dollar.  Gold fell 200 rupees, to 31,425 rupees per ten grams in Delhi. Silver lost 510 rupees, to 45,280 rupees per kilo. And Brent crude oil futures climbed above 111 dollars a barrel, while US crude dropped 40 cents, to 93.28 dollars a barrel. AIR News

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Afghanistan has sought India’s  support to develop Film industry in their country. Interacting with Media at the ongoing 44th International Film festival at Panaji in Goa today Director of Afghan Film ‘A Man’s Desire for A Fifth Wife’, Sediq Abedi said that India should help to develop film sector in Afghanistan he said that Afghan people love India and its film. 

Dari language film ‘A Man’s Desire for A Fifth Wife’is the first feature film in the last 66 years  filmed in Afghanistan itself to show the reality of that country.The crew and the technical team which went  from India and Tajikistan for two months long shooting in Afghanistan  had taken the filming as a challenge.The filmmakers of the film A man’s desire for the fifth wife have tried to establish the cultural and social realities of the country and has plans to release this film in India in Urdu and English subtitles.The film ‘A Man’s Desire for A Fifth Wife tells the story of violence against women. Balaji Prabhugaonker, AIR New, Panaji

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India beat West Indies by five wickets in the 3rd and final ODI today at Kanpur's Green Park Stadium to clinch the series, 2-1.

Team India achieved the moderate total of 263 runs at the loss of five wickets with 23 balls to spare against West Indies. This was a professional performance by the Indian batsmen. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli fell cheaply but Dhawan was in sublime form. Yuvraj Singh was an able foil, he wasn't at his best, but managed to fight along with a half century. The pair took the match out of the visitor's hands. Dhawan completed his 5th ODI hundred, Yuvraj went past fifty after a long time. Raina played a sweet little cameo while Dhoni was there to play the winning shot. For West Indies, Ravi Rampaul and Sunil Narine were exceptional with the ball, but they got no support from the rest of the bowling attack. India win the series 2-1 and will now go to South Africa in an exuberant mood.THIS  MEEQAT HASHMY FOR AIR NEWS.