0815 HRS.

3rd December,2013

THE HEADLINES:

• Lokpal and Women Reservation Bills are Government's priority in winter session of Parliament beginning on Thursday.
• Current account deficit falls to 5.2 billion dollars in the second quarter of current fiscal.
• Women and Child Development Ministry proposes that juveniles above 16 years of age involved in heinous crimes should be tried as adults.
• India not to compromise on Food Security at WTO Ministerial Conference beginning in Bali today.
• International Day of People with Disability being observed today.
• 29th Junior National Athletics Championships to kick off at Bangalore.

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        The Government is determined to pass important pending Bills during the ensuing short winter session of Parliament. Talking to  reporters after an all party meeting in New Delhi yesterday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said that the most important are Lokpal Bill and Women Reservation Bill which the government wants to pass during the coming Parliament session. It was decided in the all party meeting that the session will continue for extended hours to expedite the pending works. Mr. Kamal Nath said that he got assurance for smooth running of Parliament from leaders of all political parties.

 All parties have assured that the session will run smoothly.  They have informed about their priorities on the bills they want to discuss.  We will strive to pass as many bills possible in this session.

Earlier, talking to reporters, opposition leader Sushma Swaraj demanded passage of Telangana Bill in the coming session. She also urged that important Bills like Lokpal Bill should be cleared in the session. She said that women reservation, atrocities against women, inflation and unemployment issues should be discussed in the session. CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury also demanded the passage of pending Bills related to public welfare.

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The Group of Ministers, GoM, set up to look into the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh is meeting in New Delhi today to finalise the Cabinet note. Wide consultations continued yesterday on fine-tuning the contours of creating a new State out of Andhra Pradesh. Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh held consultations with Secretaries who assisted the GoM. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde also attended a meeting that went into the finer details. The GoM will send its final report to the Union Cabinet for consideration and approval of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill.

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India's current account gap narrowed sharply to 5.2 billion dollars in the July-September quarter of 2013-14 on the back of turnaround in exports and decline in gold imports. The Reserve Bank of India said in a statement in Mumbai that the current account deficit, the difference between outflow and inflow of foreign exchange, was 21 billion dollars, in the second quarter of the last fiscal.  

Both the government and RBI are expecting the current account deficit to be below 56 billion dollars in the current fiscal compared to the record high of 88.2 billion dollars during the last fiscal.

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Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has said, the country will clock a growth rate of 5 per cent in the current fiscal notwithstanding the current stress. Briefing reporters in New Delhi yesterday, Mr. Chidambarm said, the second quarter GDP growth rate indicates that the economy is recovering and on a growth trajectory again. He said that the economy can be expected to show further improvement following recent improvement in manufacturing, better performance of exports and  measures taken by the government.

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The Women and Child Development Ministry has proposed that juveniles above 16 years of age involved in heinous crimes like murder or gangrape should be tried as adults under the Indian Penal Code. The proposal is part of a draft note being prepared by the  ministry and is expected to be finalised in next few days. The proposal is significant given that the juvenile involved in the December 16 gangrape got away with very light punishment despite the victim declaring him as most gruesome among all the perpetrators. Besides, the December 16 gangrape case, juveniles were found involved in the Mumbai Shakti Mills gangrape and in a recent gang rape in Guwahati.

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The Jharkhand High Court has rejected the bail plea of fodder scam convict Jagdish Sharma on the ground that the charges against him were very serious.  Sharma was convicted in the case by a special CBI court on September 30th and was sentenced to four years in prison on October 3. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and 43 others had also been convicted and sentenced to varying prison terms in the same case, pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of 37.7 crore rupees from Chaibasa Treasury in the 1990s. Lalu Prasad and former JD(U) MP Jagdish Sharma were disqualified from the Lok Sabha following their conviction in the scam.

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Campaigning for Delhi Assembly polls came to an end yesterday. 810 candidates are fighting for the 70-Member Assembly which goes to polls tomorrow. The Election Commission has made all arrangements to ensure free and fair polls in the city. So far 413 FIRs have been registered for violation of model code of conduct and 3024 non-bailable warrants  have been issued. A total of 11,763 polling stations have been set up in the city, out of which 630 are critical and highly sensitive. Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung has declared December 4 as a public holiday in view of the assembly polls in the national capital.

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Bhopal is observing the 29th anniversary of the gas leak tragedy today. On the intervening night of 2nd and 3rd December in 1984, several hundred people were killed and scores of people were maimed for life when the Methyl Isocyanate, MIC gas was leaked from the pesticide plant of Union Carbide. Our  correspondent reports that several programmes are being organized to mark the occasion.

       

An all religion prayer meeting will be held in Bhopal’s Barkatullah Bhawan to pay homage to the victims of one of the worst industrial disaster. Non governmental organizations will take out rallies to bolster their struggle for justice to gas victims. Several organizations took out torch rallies and renewed pledge to continue fighting for justice last night. Social workers have alleged that despite tall claims of the authorities, not much has been done for the gas victims.Shariq Noor, AIR News, Bhopal.

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The 9th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization is beginning in Bali today. India has said that the interim solution on food security as currently designed, is not acceptable to it and the country will not compromise its farmers' interests or succumb to mercantilist ambitions of rich nations. In a statement at a meeting of the G-33 in Bali on the eve of the Ministerial Conference of the WTO, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said that the Bali Ministerial Meeting is an opportunity for the developing countries to stay united in resolve to demonstrate the centrality of agriculture in trade talks. Developed countries have proposed an interim solution of four-year 'peace clause' during which, India would not attract penalty even if the 10 per cent cap is broken. As per the existing Agreement on Agriculture of the Geneva-headquartered WTO, farm subsidy has to be capped at 10 per cent of the total value of the farm production. India has raised issues regarding the way the cap value is benchmarked to the base price.

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In Bangladesh,filing of nominations ended yesterday amidst an Opposition enforced  nationwide blockade.  Awami League, Jatiya Party and others filed nominations, while BNP and its 18 allies who have rejected the polls schedule did not submit any nominations. Meanwhile 3 more people were killed in yesterday's violence and arson taking the death toll in two spells of nationwide blockade to 31. 

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ISRO's Mars Orbiter spacecraft, which was placed in inter-Mars trajectory in the early hours on Sunday, has crossed Moon's orbit of around 3.85 lakh km and is travelling beyond Earth's natural satellite. ISRO sources said this is the first time an Indian-made object is being sent into deep space.     ISRO's Mars Orbiter mission had ventured out of Earth's sphere of influence, beginning its 300-day journey to the Red planet.

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Today is the 129th birth anniversary of India's first President, Dr Rajendra Prasad. He was born in 1884 in the Siwan district of Bihar. Dr Prasad was the only leader who served two terms as the president of India. He was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1962.

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Today is  International Day of People with Disability. This day is observed annually to focus on issues that affect people with disabilities worldwide. Our correspondent reports that this year the theme is “Break Barriers, Open Doors: for an inclusive society and development for all”. 

On the occasion of International Day of People with Disability, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his message said that more than 1 billion people are living with disabilities across the world.  He called on governments, members of the UN system, businesses and civil society to break barriers and open doors of opportunity for all persons with disability.

The President Mr. Pranab Mukherjee will present the National Awards for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities today at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. The awards, instituted by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, are given to outstanding achievers among persons with disabilities, as well as to individuals and institutions which do outstanding work for the empowerment of such persons.Suparna Saikia, AIR News.

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29th Junior National Athletics Championships will kick off at Bangalore today.  Around 2,000 athletes from across the country are expected to take part in the championships.  The five-day meet, will have 125 events in eight age-group competitions, four for boys and an equal number for the girls. Athletes who excel in the meet will be selected for the national junior camps and thereafter for next year's Asian Junior Championships in Chinese Taipei and World Junior Championships at Eugene, United States.  The Championships were originally scheduled to be held from October 15 to 19 but had to be postponed due to elections for Karnataka Athletics Association.Meeqat Hashmi for Sports Desk.

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 NEWSPAPER HEADLINES

• Delhi going to the polls tomorrow makes front page news in most papers. The Times of India headline reads "Last lap - AAP upbeat, BJP hopeful Sheila soldiers on". The Indian Express has a picture of a giant screen at India Gate in Delhi, showing the countdown to the Delhi assembly elections, and urging people to vote. The Express newsline informs that Delhi metro services will begin at 4 AM and that schools and colleges will remain closed.

• Narendra Modi's call for a debate on article 370 triggering a political row, is covered prominently by the press. Quoting Arun Jaitley, Mail Today writes "We will always be opposed to article 370". "Nitish, Omar, PDP, Congress, Left start slanging match" says the Pioneer.

• The Hindu has taken the Telangana issue as its lead story. "On eve of GoM meet, Minister says bill on Telangana is ready" no clear picture yet on Rayala - Telangana proposal writes the paper.

• The Supreme Court writing to the government on juvenile law plea is mentioned on the front page of the Hindustan Times. "Who'll define heinous crimes for above 16?" asks the Pioneer.

• The Times of India writes on its front page that women lawyers have sought swift action in the law intern case involving the retired  judge Justice Ganguly.

• The Asian Age has a picture of Thai anti - government protestors clashing with the police, during a rally in Bangkok. 'Thai PM rejects calls to quit as clashes rock Bangkok' says the paper.

• And finally, the Times of India reports of an eagle, which snatched a video camera that was recording crocodiles in Australia and captured fascinating footage of its 110 KM journey across the country's remote landscape.

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Lebanon's government has told the army to take control of security in the city of Tripoli after 10 people died in two days of fighting.  Prime Minister Najib Mikati's office said that the army will be in control for six months.  The weekend's clashes were sparked by difference of opinion over the conflict in Syria.  The city's Sunni Muslims largely support Syria's opposition while the Alawite population tend to favour President Bashar al-Assad.  The clashes also left 49 people wounded including 11 soldiers.