1400 HRS.

13^th December, 2013

THE HEADLINES :

• Rajya Sabha takes up Lok pal and Lokayukta bill for discussion.

• Both the Houses of Parliament adjourned on various issues including Telananga and price rise; Lok Sabha for the day and Rajya Sabha till 2.30 pm.

• Supreme Court grants bail to RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in fodder scam case.

• BJP leader Vasundhara Raje takes over as Chief Minister of Rajasthan.

• Bangladesh witnesses widespread violence and arson in the aftermath of Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah's execution last night.

• Sensex drops 180 points in afternoon trade; Rupee loses 33 paise to 62.16 against the dollar.

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The Rajya Sabha has taken up the Lok pal and Lokayukta bill for discussion. The report of the Rajya Sabha select committee on the bill was laid by Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy in the House. Piloting the bill, Minister of State for Personnel, V Narayanasamy said the present bill has incorporated the recommendations made by the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha. The Union Cabinet had accepted 14 of the 16 recommendations made by the Rajya Sabha Select Committee, which was set up in May last year amid sharp differences among political parties because of which the legislation remained stuck in the Upper House since December 2011. Earlier, the Lokpal Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha. As noisy scenes continued by Samajwadi Party members on the price rise issue, Deputy Chairman P J Kurien adjourned the House till 2.30 PM.

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The Lok Sabha has been adjourned for the day following noisy scenes over various issues. As soon as the House met after the second adjournment at 1 PM it again witnessed noisy scenes with members from the TDP and YSR Congress rushing to the well in support of their demand for a United Andhra Pradesh. Samajwadi Party and RJD members also trooped into the well on different issues. Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the house amidst the din. Earlier, Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, gave a notice for suspension of question hour to take up the allegations against retired Justice A K Ganguly. She demanded the sacking of Justice Ganguly as Chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission. She was supported by the Trinamool Congress. JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav referred to the alleged discrimination against candidates opting for Indian languages in the UPSC examinations.

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Meanwhile, The Proceedings of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly have been stalled by members of various parties today over Telengana issue. The members of both ruling and opposition parties virtually split into two and supporters of separate Telengana state demanded a discussion on the state reorganisation draft bill, while the rest of members sought a resolution be passed seeking a united Andhra Pradesh.

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Both the Houses of Parliament today paid glowing tributes to the martyrs who laid down their lives in the dastardly attack on Parliament House on this day in 2001. Vice President Mohammed Hamid Ansari led the nation in paying tributes at the memorial erected in honour of the martyrs within the Parliament House Complex.

"We once again reiterate our firm resolve to fight terrorism with determination and re-dedicate ourselves to protect the sovereignty and integrity of our nation."

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Leader of the Opposition in the two houses of parliament, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley also paid floral tributes before the plaque where the names of the Parliament Attack martyrs are etched in stone.

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Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari has alleged that lobbying by MPs for a foreign company should be taken up by the Ethics Committee of Parliament. Mr Tewari was responding to a media query that some MPs were willing to write recommendation letters for a fake foreign oil company for money. The revelations come from news portal Cobrapost which claims that some of the MPs offered to lobby for the company's proposed exploration contracts in the country.

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Vasundhara Raje has taken over as Chief Minister of Rajasthan. Governor Margret Alva administered the oath of office and secrecy in Jaipur today. Raje took the oath alone. Many BJP leaders including L.K. Advani, Party President Rajnath Singh, Chief Minister of Gujrat Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Raman Singh attended the function.

"This is the second term of Mrs Vasundhara Raje earlier she led BJP government in the state since 2003 to 2008. Oath ceremony was organized as a grand function at Janpath in Jaipur. Main function was held in the Assembly premises while thousands of common people and public representatives were present at Janpath to witness the event. Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot was also present in the function, he congratulated Mrs Raje. In the recent assembly election BJP won 162 out of 199 seats which is a record in states election history. Polling for one assembly constituency Churu is going on today. In Churu polling was postponed due to death of BSP candidate. Anurag Vajpeyi AIR News Jaipur."

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Delhi is moving towards imposition of President's Rule with no party ready to stake claim to form a government for want of numbers. A day after BJP Legislative Party leader Dr Harsh Vardhan conveyed to Lt Governor Najeeb Jung the party's inability to form the government as it lacks a majority in the Assembly, it is now Aam Aadmi party's turn to discuss government formation with the Lt Governor. Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal is likely to meet Najeeb Jung tomorrow amid speculation that he too will decline the offer. Our correspondent reports, senior Aam Aadmi party leaders are meeting today to discuss the future course of action. BJP, which got 31 and Aam Aadmi Party 28 seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly, are unable to reach the magic figure of 36 required for government formation.

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In Madhya Pradesh, the newly elected MLA’s of BJP will meet this evening in capital Bhopal to formally elect Shivraj Singh Chouhan as their leader. Our Bhopal correspondent reports that leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and In-Charge of state BJP Anant Kumar will be present on this occasion.

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The Supreme Court grants bail to Rashtriya Janata Dal Chief chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam case. Lalu was convicted in the fodder scam case and sentenced to five years. A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam granted bail after noting that several other similarly placed convicts have already been granted bail in the case. The bench also comprising Justice Ranjan Gogoi, however, left it to the trial court CBI, to decide the bail bonds, sureties and other conditions to be imposed on Lalu Prasad Yadav. CBI, which is the prosecuting agency in the case, did not oppose Prasad's bail plea. Lalu Prasad Yadav has already spent 12 months behind bars, including two months of his five-year sentence. The RJD chief, another former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra and 43 others were on September 30th convicted by a special CBI court in the fodder scam case involving fraudulent withdrawal of 37.7 crore rupees from Chaibasa Treasury in Bihar during Lalu Yadav's regime.

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The Delhi Police has arrested a suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba operative Mohammed Shahid from Mewat in Haryana. Deputy Commissioner of Delhi Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav told a news agency that Shahid was planning to attack prominent market places in the national capital. His other associates are on the run. Mr Yadav said the terror module of Shahid was spread across Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan. Meanwhile, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde has said the suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba operative was being trailed for the last one week. Talking to reporters in New Delhi today, Mr Shinde applaued the police for their silent work that led to the arrest of the LeT operative.

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Visiting Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai held talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi today. The two leaders discussed the entire gamut of bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual concern. Mr. Karzai's visit comes at a time, when Kabul seeks to enhance economic engagements and security cooperation with New Delhi. The NATO troops are set to completely pull out from Afghanistan by next year. Speaking to a private TV channel, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, urged the Indian business community to come forward and seize the opportunity in the ongoing political and economic transition in his country. 

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India and the UAE have signed the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, BIPPA. paving the way for further investments in infrastructure sector projects in India and enhancing trade co-operation between the two countries. An agreement to this effect was signed between the visiting UAE foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid in New Delhi. Business leaders from UAE have welcomed the agreement and said it will spur further investments in India. More from our West Asia Correspondent:

"India is the largest trading partner with UAE and the bilateral trade crossed $75 billion in 2012-13. The investments made by Indians in the UAE are estimated to be more than $55 billion. UAE is the tenth largest investor in India with the total investments around $3 billion. However in the recent past, investments by some UAE companies in India ran into rough weather with court cases and disputes. UAE promised $2 billion worth investments in the infrastructure sector projects in India in February this year but without much forward movement. Now it is expected that the agreement will give a push to the flow of investments from UAE into the infrastructure sector projects in India. Atul K Tiwary, AIR News, Dubai."

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At least four people were killed today during clashes between angry Jamaat-e-Islami activists and Awami League supporters across Bangladesh, as executed Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah was buried at his hometown. Widespread violence and arson rages across the country. The Dhaka-Chittagong Highway with activists of Jamaat and its students' wing, Islami Chattra Shibir vandalising and torching vehicles. Meanwhile, US has urged all political parties to exercise restraint in the backdrop of the execution. More from our Correspondent

"While there is violence and arson in some parts of the country, there is celebration by activists of Ganojagran Mancha in Dhaka, and families of victims of war crimes.. Security has been highly tightened in the capital and across the country with regular law enforcing agencies and the Bangladesh Border Guards put on highest alert. Dhaka-Chittagong Highway witnessed violence and arson. The Jamaat e Islami has announced a day-long nationwide general strike on Sunday in protest against the execution. Melinda dias for AIR News, Dhaka."

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Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senaratne has said that Sri Lanka will not stop arresting Indian fishermen and will not release Indian fishermen now in custody till India releases Sri Lankan fishermen and stops arresting them. Speaking to the media, Rajitha said that arrangements are in place to take stern legal action against Indian fishermen violating the International Maritime Boundary Line. He added that the number of fishermen who have violated Sri Lanka's maritime boundary is much higher than the number of Sri Lankan fishermen crossing over to the Indian side.

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India's Deputy Consul General in New York, Devyani Khobragade was arrested by law enforcement authorities on visa fraud charges and released on a 2 lakh 50 thousand dollars bond after she pleaded not guilty in a court. Devyani, was taken into custody yesterday after US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara announced charges of visa fraud against her.

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The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange remained weak in afternoon deals, and had lost 180 points, to 20,746 a short while ago. Earlier, in the morning, the Sensex had declined 163 points, on sustained selling by funds and retail investors, after disappointing domestic economic data, and poor global cues. The 30-share Sensex had fallen over 400 points in the previous three trading sessions.

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The rupee dropped another 33 paise to 62 rupees 16 paise per dollar in late morning deals today. The Rupee continued its slide for the third day on sustained demand for the American currency from importers. The rupee opened lower at 62 rupees 10 paise per dollar as against the previous closing level of 61 rupees 83 paise.

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President Pranab Mukherjee today said level playing field and greater autonomy for public sector units will encourage them to get listed in the stock market and improve their performance. Speaking at the Global Public Sector Enterprises, PSEs, Summit in New Delhi, Mr Mukherjee said the listing would allow millions of small and large shareholders to participate in the ownership of state-run firms to stimulate the PSEs to better their performance.