0815 HRS.

5th December,2013

THE HEADLINES:

• Winter session of Parliament begins today; 38 bills slated for passage.
• Delhi records its highest ever polling of over 66 percent in assembly elections.
• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says there is no possibility of Pakistan winning any war against India.
• Union Cabinet to meet today to discuss recommendations of Group of Ministers on Telangana for bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
• In Bangladesh, ruling Awami League Central Working Committee to go for polls as planned even as Jatiya Party decides to quit the interim government.
•  First one dayer of 3-match series between India and South Africa to be played in Johannesburg today.

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The Winter session of Parliament begins today. 38 bills, including the Lokpal, Women's Reservation, Telangana and the Street-Vendors Bills, are slated for passage during the session which will conclude on the 20th of this month.

Ahead of the session, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar had convened an all-party meeting on Tuesday. The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had sought co-operation from all political parties for the smooth functioning of Parliament. He also said that financial business will get priority.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said that the bills, which have already been passed in one House but are pending in the other, are likely to be passed in this session.

"It will be the government's endeavour to pass the Telangana Bill as soon as possible along with other legislations which are very important."

Our correspondent reports that the ensuing session is likely to be stormy, as the main Opposition BJP would raise issues like the coal scam and alleged misuse of investigative and intelligence agencies. The party has also demanded to extend the session.

Briefing reporters after the NDA floor meeting in New Delhi last evening, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the National Democratic Alliance, NDA will press for bringing the Telangana Bill in this session.

"This will be the last session for legislative work. Thats why we want this session to function smoothly and NDA will fully cooperate towards this. We wish for the Lokpal Bill to be passed. And we want discussions on issues like inflation, and women security."

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Delhi recorded its highest ever voter turnout of over 66 per cent in the elections to the 70-member Assembly yesterday. Talking to reporters last evening, Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi, Vijay Dev said that the polling was peaceful and incident-free. He said that the final figures are being compiled.

"These figures are against that of 2008 elections which was 57.58 per cent. The people, particularly the youth of Delhi have broken the stereotypes and participated in the voting in a big way."

Polling, which was extended in some constituencies beyond the scheduled polling hour, started on a dull note, but picked up later to finish with heavy polling. About 1.2 crore voters, including over 4 lakh first timers, were eligible to exercise their franchise at 11,763 polling booths. Our correspondent has filed this report:

"Record voter turnout is attributable to constant efforts made by Delhi Chief Electoral Officer. None of the Above Option or NOTA on voting machines may also have contributed to increased percentage of votes. The Election Commission arranged webcasting in 630 hyper sensitive polling booths to conduct free and fair elections. Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail, which enables voters to verify if their vote has been recorded correctly, was introduced for the first time on a pilot basis in New Delhi constituency. Aam Aadmi Party seems to have emerged as a major force in the election in the National Capital which used to be a political battleground for two major political parties - Congress and BJP. With Anand Kumar, Zakir Malik, AIR News, Delhi."

Counting of votes for Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and the Rajasthan Assembly polls will be held on Sunday, while for Mizoram it will take place on Monday.

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In Madhya Pradesh, re-polling is underway in three polling booths of three Assembly segments. Re-polling is taking place in the Kalibavdi polling booth of Manawar segment, booth number 61 of Bhopal South-West and booth number 93 of the Bhopal Madhya segment. Repolling will continue till 5 pm. Polling in the state was held on the 25th of last month.

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In Tamil Nadu, 90 per cent polling was recorded for the Yercaud Assembly by-election yesterday. Salem District electoral Officer and Collector Makarabhushanam said that the polling was peaceful. Eleven candidates, including the ruling AIADMK’s Saroja, DMK’s Maran and nine independents contested the election. The Counting of votes will take place on the 8th of this month.

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The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has said there is no possibility of Pakistan winning any war against India in his lifetime. He said this during a brief interaction with reporters at a Navy Day reception in New Delhi yesterday. Dr. Singh was reacting to a reported statement of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a daily newspaper that Kashmir is a flash point which can trigger a fourth war with India. The statement published in a daily of Pakistan, has since been denied.

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The Group of Ministers, GoM, set up to look into the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, has finalized its recommendations and the Cabinet note. Emerging from an hour-long meeting last night, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde told reporters that the GoM has completed the process and that the Cabinet will discuss the recommendations today.

 "The Cabinet had given directions to the Group of Ministers on 3rd October. GOM has completed the process and the recommendations will be discussed in the Cabinet."

The GoM, in its meeting, fine-tuned issues related to distribution of assets, sharing of water, demarcation of boundaries and divisions of officers' cadre.

Our correspondent reports that the panel had held a series of meetings with leaders of political parties, central ministers from Andhra Pradesh and Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and officials in the past one month.

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In Andhra Pradesh, a bandh is being observed across Telangana region today against the proposal to create Rayal Telangana. All political parties and Telanagana employees unions and students are extending support to the bandh call given by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, TRS. Demanding that the Telangana state be formed with 10 districts and in line with the Congress Working Committee's decision as announced on July the 30th. The Rayal Telangana proposal provides for inclusion of Ananthapur and Kurnool districts in the proposed Telangana state. More from our correspondent:

 "All political parties including the Ruling Congress in Telangana are opposing Rayala Telangana proposal tooth and nail. Demanding that Telangana state be formed with just 10 districts as announced by the CWC, the protagonists of Telangana are demanding that the Rayala Telangana decision be withdrawn. Today’s bandh call received support from TDP, BJP, CPI parties and also from Telangana employees associations and students. Meanwhile, state police Director General B Prasada Rao reviewed law and order situation last evening and sounded alert in Telangana districts. He directed senior police officers to watch the situation and take all steps to prevent any untoward incident. Suprasanthi for AIR News, Hyderabad."

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In Bangladesh, the Ruling Awami League Central Working Committee has decided that polls will be held as planned, on 5th January, next year, with Sheikh Hasina as Prime Minister. In a meeting last night, the committee rejected the Opposition's demand for the Premier to step down and to install a non-partisan caretaker government. The decision came even as Jatiya Party Chairman General Ershad decided to back out of the polls, and ordered all his party Ministers to quit the interim government. The BNP reacting to the decision said that a tougher movement will be waged after the current six-day nationwide blockade ends this evening. Six people were killed on the 5th day of the blockade yesterday.

Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh, on her first visit to Dhaka, met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Opposition leader Khaleda Zia and Jatiya Party chairman General HM Ershad yesterday, and said that India hopes that fair and free election acceptable to the people of Bangladesh will take place.

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The External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid held bilateral talks with his Egyptian counterpart Nabil Fahmy in New Delhi yesterday and discussed ways to expand co-operation on regional and international issues. Sources said, the focus of the 2-hour long deliberations was to sustain the momentum in India-Egypt bilateral relations and to expand interactions to wider areas of regional and international issues of interest.

The two leaders exchanged views on the Middle East Peace Process and the situation in Syria.

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The winter session of the Uttar Pradesh assembly, beginning from today, is expected to be stormy. The BJP has questioned the government's motive behind the short notice on which the winter session has been announced. The issue of sugarcane farmers and delay in starting the crushing season might also rock the house. Scheduled to run the business only for five working days, the house is likely to pass some supplementary budget demands besides the introduction of some bills.

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US Vice President Joe Biden expressed Washington's concerns over China's new Air Defence Identification Zone during talks in Beijing yesterday with President Xi Jinping. US officials said, the Vice-President indicated that the US does not recognise the zone and is looking to China to take steps to reduce tensions. They said, President Xi explained the Chinese view on the Zone and on territorial disputes in the region.In a briefing before the meeting, President Xi spoke about the need for the United States and China to co-operate and address a growing range of complex challenges.

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International Volunteer Day is being observed today. The day gives an opportunity for volunteer organizations and individual volunteers to promote their contributions to development at the local, national and international levels. The day is marked by many programmes of non-governmental organizations, including the Red Cross, and scouts and is also supported by United Nations Volunteers.

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The first one dayer of the 3-match cricket series between India and South Africa will be played in Johannesburg today. The match will be played at 5 PM Indian Time. Our correspondent reports that both teams will play 2 Test matches after this ODI series.

"The Indian young brigade, which is in an extraordinary form, will be put through a litmus test, when the Men in Blue take on the Proteas in the first one dayer at the Wanderers today. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have been flawless recently. They first tore through the Aussies, before thrashing the Caribbean to all parts of the park. But, those series were on the Indian soil. This time, Team India is up against the dangerous pack of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Jacques Kallis, who are quite hard to read, especially in their own domain. In the bowling department, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma must pull up their socks, as the hosts, led by AB de Villiers, will try to make amends after their recent loss to Pakistan. SAVVY HASAN KHAN, FOR AIR NEWS."

All India Radio will broadcast a live commentary on the match which can be heard on the FM Gold network from 4.30 PM onwards.

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NEWSPAPER HEADLINES

Sunday's voting in the National Capital bags prominent headlines and front page photographs in the Press. "Young voters push Delhi polling to a record 65%" - headlines The Hindu, The Times of India writes "Over 67% turnout". The paper reports that "Exit polls are 'hung' on Delhi results" and that if President's rule is imposed, Lt. Gov Najeeb Jung will have to head the govt.

Papers are also awash with exit polls in the other states that went to the polls recently - Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Rajasthan. The paper writes that in Delhi - the Aam Aadmi Party is looking at making an impressive debut.

The Statesman writes of the Draft Telangana Bill, which is to be discussed by the Union Cabinet today. Among other issues, the Draft is believed to have recommended merger of two districts of Rayalseema - Kurnool and Anantpur, with the proposed Telangana. Both districts have a proximity with Hyderabad.

The Tribune writes that "Punjab is positioning it self as the next big IT destination in the country". The Punjab government is aggressively wooing the IT sector and rolling out the red carpet. This will perhaps be the giant leap for Punjab from being an agrarian economy to a knowledge and IT industry based economy, adds the paper.

And finally, Scientists in the University of Adelaide have found the first evidence that nerves in the stomach act as a circadian clock, limiting food in-take to specific times of the day, and signal to our brains about when we're full and when to keep eating.