400 HRS.

10^th November, 2013

THE HEADLINES:-

• The Prime Minister writes to Srilankan President Rajapaksa over his decision to skip CHOGM.

• Stage is set for the first phase of Assembly elections in 18 constituencies of Chhattisgarh tomorrow.

• RBI allows the option of third party payments for exports and imports transactions.

• Maldives Supreme Court orders suspension of today's second round of Presidential re-vote till next Saturday.

• Six major world powers and Iran decide to resume talks over Teheran’s nuclear program in Geneva on the 20th of this month.

• Defending champion Viswanathan Anand and World's number one, Magnus Carlsen to battle in the second round of FIDE World Championship in Chennai this afternoon.

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External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will head the Indian delegation at the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting-(CHOGM) at Colombo in Sri Lanka this month. Talking to AIR, MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said that Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has written a letter to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa regarding his decision of not attending the summit. Our Correspondent reports that the political parties and various groups in Tamil Nadu are strongly opposed to India's participation in CHOGM summit.

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The stage is set for the first phase of Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh tomorrow. 18 constituencies, mostly in the Maoist infested areas, will go to polls in this phase. Polling in 13 Maoist infested constituencies will be held from 7 am to 3 pm, while in other constituencies, it will be held from 8 am to 5 pm. Our Correspondent has filed this report:

In the first phase of Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, as many as 143 candidates are in the fray. Both Rajnandgaon and Jagdalpur constituencies are having the maximum 14 candidates each; whereas, in the Maoist-affected Konta seat only 4 contestants are in the race. 4042 polling booths have been set up. Out of these, 1517 have been identified as sensitive, while 1311 are hyper sensitive. To ensure free and fair elections, the Election Commission will carry out videography in more than 2000 polling centers. In addition to this, more than 1000 Micro Observes have also been deployed. Vikalp Shukla, AIR News, Raipur

In Delhi, filing of nominations which started yesterday, will continue till the 16th of this month. Our Correspondent reports, nomination centres have been set up in all districts headquarters in the national capital to deal with the rush of nomination filing. The Chief Electoral Office has deployed General observers in all constituencies besides 18 expenditure Observers to keep a close watch on the violators of the Model Code of Conduct to ensure free and fair elections. The political parties are now busy finalising the list of their candidates with the beginning of nomination process.

In Mizoram, nominations of all the 142 candidates have been cleared in the scrutiny held yesterday. The ruling congress party is contesting in all 40 constituencies, the opposition three party combine Mizoram Democartic Alliance(MDA) is fielding its 40 candidates. There are 4 Independent candidates also in the fray.

In Rajasthan, 548 candidates have filed their nominations so far for 200 Assembly seats. Tuesday is the last date for filing nomination papers. Our Correspondent reports that many prominent candidates yesterday filed nomination papers from various constituencies.

In Madhya Pradesh, tomorrow is the last day for withdrawal of nominations. Our Bhopal Correspondent reports that 608 nominations were rejected during scrutiny yesterday.

The ruling BJP and Congress are trying their best to pacify the dissidents and to motivate rebels to withdraw their nominations. Both the parties have warned rebels of expulsion from the party. BJP will begin its election campaign on 13th of this month at all the district headquarters. Senior party leaders will address the election rallies on this occasion. Meanwhile Congress is going to present a charge sheet against the state government in six divisional headquarters of the state this evening. Shariq Noor/AIR News/ Bhopal.

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Congress has approached the Election Commission against the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi's remarks on party's election symbol in a rally at Dongargarh in Chhattisgarh last Thursday. In its communication to Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath, the party accused Mr. Modi ofmaking malicious and defamatory remarks by referring to the Party symbol. It said that the words used by him as deplorable and the party demanded action against the BJP leader. Secretary of AICC legal department K C Mittal said in the communication that the language used by Mr. Modi shows that he has intentionally used the words.

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The Election Commission has banned the publication and dissemination of exit polls of any kind in the five poll bound states from 11th November to 4th December. The Commission sent the orders to Chief Electoral Officers of the poll-bound states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Delhi. The exit polls will be banned from 7 am tomorrow when polling for the first phase in Chhattisgarh starts, till 5:30 pm on December 4 when the Delhi Assembly polls end. Channels are also prohibited from telecasting interviews of voters after they cast their votes. The Commission has also banned the publication of results of any opinion polls, 48 hours before polling in a state.

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In Assam, a mishap was averted in Goalpara district when security forces recovered a bomb today. Goalpara Deputy Commissioner Preetom Saikia said that the crude bomb was recovered at Dudhnoi while miscreants also damaged public properties last night in other places. Recently, 4 IEDs were recovered at railway track in Goalpara district. Meanwhile, security has been tightened at Rabha Hasong areas in the wake of night road blockade from tonight and Janata Curfew from tomorrow called by non-Rabha organizations.

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed the option of third-party payments for export and import transactions. In a statement, it said, the aim is to further liberalise the procedure relating to payments for exports and imports. Banks are allowed payments for export of goods or software to be received from a third-party. The RBI said, they are also permitted to make payments to a third-party for import of goods. However, banks would have to follow certain conditions. Third-party refers to an entity other than the buyer or the seller. The apex bank said the procedure has been liberalised taking into account evolving international trade practices. Third-party transaction should take place through the banking channel and with a Financial Action Task Force-compliant country, RBI added.

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Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde today inaugurated 'RAF Academy of Public Order' in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. This academy will train personnel of Rapid Action Force along with selected members of other paramilitary forces and civil police. Public administration, riot control, crowd management, disaster management, human rights, media management and first aid to the victims are some of the core issues on which focussed training will be provided to troupes. Besides, security persons moving on to peace missions under the United Nations, will also be provided necessary training in the Academy.

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The government has allocated 5,071 crore rupees for upgrading facilities in 39 medical institutions and colleges across the country under the Prime Minister's health programme with an aim to boosting medicare infrastructure. The upgrade under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana phase-III will be undertaken within 43 months across 20 states. With this decision, the total number of medical institutions and colleges to be upgraded under the programme goes up to 58.

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Maldives Supreme Court has ordered the suspension of the run-off Presidential re-vote scheduled for today. This comes a day after former President Mohammed Nasheed led the first round but failed to clinch an outright majority. The court said, holding the run-off the very next day to the first round, could undermine the Constitutional rights of many people. It ordered all state institutions to hold the second round on November 16. The order was issued after a defeated candidate asked the Supreme Court to postpone the run-off. Earlier, in the morning, the Election Commission had announced holding of second round today itself to meet the constitutional deadline of electing the next President by midnight today.

The United States and Commonwealth have expressed apprehensions of political instability if the democratic aspirations of the people are not fulfilled. We have a report from our Correspondent:

It was for the third time in as many months that the Supreme Court overruled the Election Commission. In a surprise early morning decision, the court put a stop to the Election Commission’s preparations for holding the runoff between yesterday’s winner Mohamed Nasheed and the runner-up Abdulla Yameen. Nasheed has expressed fears that the process may be postponed indefinitely and has asked the international community to exert its influence to ensure that the election process is completed. ABHISHEKH DAYAL/AIR NEWS/ COLOMBO.

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Iran and the six major world powers, the US, the UK, France, Russia, China and Germany have decided to resume the talks over Teheran’s controversial nuclear program in Geneva on November 20. They are working on a plan to curtail Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for a limited relief from sanctions. More from our West Asia Correspondent:

The Foreign Ministers from US, UK, France, Russia, China, Germany and Iran met for almost seven hours last night in Geneva but couldn't reach an agreement. Later at a joint press conference with the Iranian foreign Minister, the Chief nuclear coordinator for six powers, Catherine Marie Ashton said that a lot of progress had been achieved but differences still remain. The Iranian Foreign Minister said he hoped an agreement would be reached in the next round, and said it is natural that when dealing with the details, there will be differences. The U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stated that differences were significantly narrowed down as he reiterated the goal of the Obama administration to prevent a nuclear Iran. French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said that the major stumbling blocks in the talks are the Arak reactor closure and the 20 percent enriched uranium stock. Atul K Tiwary, AIR News, Dubai

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The head of Syria’s opposition National Coalition , Ahmed Jaraba has said that he will attend the Geneva-II peace conference if the western nations can ensure access to humanitarian aid for the rebels besieged in Syria. In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Jaraba said that he was willing to take part in the talks that would include representatives of the Syrian regime. However he emphasized that the Friends of Syria had not yet fulfilled its promise to ensure that humanitarian corridors were opened so that aid can reach rebel-held areas currently blockaded by the Syrian regime.

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In Bangladesh, explosions and clashes in Capital Dhaka and elsewhere marked a violent start to another long-spell nationwide hartal being enforced by the BNP-led opposition. The aim is to compel the government to concede to their demand for a non-party polls-time government. Three top BNP leaders and 2 Advisors to Opposition leader Khaleda Zia were remanded to judicial custody yesterday evening, after their arrests on Friday night on charges of provoking violence and vandalism. Our correspondent has filed this report:

Following the pre-hartal violence last night in which 9 vehicles were torched, there has been thin movement of private and public vehicular movement in the capital since this morning. Several country-made bombs were exploded today in various places like Mirpur, Hatirjheel and Azimpur in which 2 TV journalists were injured. Police detained 50 BNP-Shibir activists and sued them for explosions and vandalism. Trains between Dhaka and northern Bangladesh were sabotaged for over six hours before the police gained control of the situation. Tight security with intensified street patrolling is seen in strategic points in the capital. Melinda Dias for AIR News Dhaka.

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been listed as the world's most powerful, influential and contemporary Sikh. According to the first edition of the annual 'Sikh 100' published in London, 81-year-old Dr. Singh is highly acclaimed as a thinker and a scholar. A brief profile of Dr. Manmohan Singh read, he is well regarded for his diligence and his academic approach to work, as well as his accessibility and his unassuming demeanour.

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek SinghAhluwalia, 69, ranks as the second most powerful Sikh on the list.

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Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Manish Tewary launched AIR FM Gold Studio and local variation programme at Ludhiana today. This will enable to create local programmes keeping in view the needs of the district. The channel will broadcast a variety of local programmes daily for two hours from 9 to 10 a.m. and later in the evening from 6 to 7 pm. A cultural programme was also organised on this occasion.

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Tamil Nadu has excelled in implementing Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. In this fiscal, 42 crore, 85 lakh man-days were targeted with labour expenditure of 6341 crore, 80 lakh rupees.

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Defending champion Viswanathan Anand and his Norwegian challenger, world no. one, Magnus Carlsen will resume their battle in the second round of the FIDE World Chess Championship in Chennai this afternoon. Anand who opened the campaign for his sixth world title, is playing with Black pieces. Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen have settled for a draw in the opening Game yesterday. Both the players gained half-a-point each from their 16 move draw.