2100 HRS.

09-12-2013

THE HEADLINES:

• BJP elects Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan, Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh and Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh as leaders of legislative party; No party stake claim to form government in Delhi.
• Congress retains power in Mizoram.
• Both House of Parliament adjourned over Telangana and Muzaffarnagar violence and 2G spectrum issues.
• Ten MPs from Andhra Pradesh give notices to Lok Sabha Speaker for moving no-confidence motion against UPA government over Telengana.
• Government approves a bilateral investment protection treaty with UAE to attract investment from the Gulf region.
• Bomb explosions in different parts of Iraq kill 18 people.
• Sensex gains 330 points to 21,326; Rupee appreciates 28 paisa to 61.13 against dollar

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With the results of four state assembly elections out, political parties are taking stock of the post poll scenario. BJP has elected Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan and Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh as leaders of legislative parties; while the BJP will take decision on electing Shivraj Singh Chouhan as leader of the legislative party on Friday.

Our correspondent reports that Vasundhara Raje will take oath as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan on 13th December.  Governor Margret Alva today dissolved the 13th State Assembly.

For the BJP leaders & workers in Rajasthan, it was the day for jubiliations over the historic victory of the party in the assembly elections. Prior to attending the meeting of legilative party, Vasundhara Raje was busy in exchanging greetings with her partymen. Bureaucrats and common man also turned up in big number at her residence to greet her.  Now stage is all set or Vasundhara Raje to take the responsibility of Chief Minister of Rajasthan for the second time after a gap of five years. With Prem Bharti this is Anurag Vajpeyi, AIR News, Jaipur.

Dr. Raman Singh has been unanimously chosen as leader of the Chhattisgarh legislative assembly during the BJP party meeting which was attended by senior party leaders including Venkaiah Naidu. He will take the oath of Chief Minister during a function on December 12 in Raipur. This will be his third term as the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh.

Bhartiya Janta Party has got busy in forming the government for the third consecutive time under the leadership of Dr. Raman Singh. Preparations have started for the oath taking ceremony of Dr. Singh scheduled on December 12 at Police Parade Ground at state capital Raipur. BJP’s top leadership is expected to attend the ceremony. His other ministerial colleagues would take the oath on some other day.Meanwhile, Congress has also said that it would choose the leader of its legislators soon and as per public verdict would perform the role of constructive opposition.With Vikalp Shukla and Diwakar this is Rajesh Bali, AIR News, Raipur.

In Madhya Pradesh, BJP’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan will take oath as Chief Minister of the state on Saturday. Our correspondent reports that the state BJP legislature party will meet on Friday to elect Shivraj Singh Chouhan as its leader.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan would take oath as chief minister for the third consecutive term that will be a record in the state. The state BJP legislature party will meet on Friday to elect Shivraj Singh Chouhan as its leader. Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan met Governor Ramnaresh Yadav in Bhopal this morning and tendered his and his cabinet’s resignation. The Governor has asked him to work till the formation of next government. SHARIQ NOOR, AIR NEWS,BHOPAL.

Though the BJP has emerged as the single largest party in Delhi no group is in a position to form the government. BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate in Delhi, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has said, he will not stake claim to form the government  and will prefer to sit in opposition as his party is short of majority.

The stunning performance of Aam Aadmi Party, AAP securing 28 seats has made it difficult for the BJP as AAP maintained that it will neither stake a claim to form the government nor extend support to any other party for forming the government.

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Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today said the Lieutenant Governor will explore all options of forming a new government in Delhi before making any recommendation  to centre  for imposition of President's rule. He told reporters in New Delhi, at present the Home Ministry has no role in it. Mr. Shinde was responding to a question on the possibility of imposition of President's rule in Delhi after the results of the Assembly elections where no party got an absolute majority.

Sources said the Governor is expected to call the single largest party BJP, which along with its partner Akali Dal's one seat has 32 MLAs, to know whether it is ready to form a new government. If the BJP declines the offer, the Governor may ask the second largest party - the Aam Admi Party which bagged 28 seats -- whether it is in a position to form the new government.

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today congratulated BJP leaders Vasundhara Raje, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Raman Singh for the victory in Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.  PMO sources said, Dr Singh called up Raje, who is set to become Chief Minister of Rajasthan, and wished her well. The sources said, the Prime Minister also called up Chouhan and Raman Singh to wish them well for their success in elections.

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28 Aam Aadmi Party legislators unanimously elected Arvind Kejriwal as their leader in the Delhi Assembly. A decision in this regard was taken at the party's meetingin  New Delhi this evening. Talking to reporters after the meeting, party leader Sanjay Singh said that  party will neither support BJP or Congress nor will seek their  support.

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The Congress   President  Mrs  Sonia Gandhi and Vice President  Rahul Gandhi have met with senior leaders to carry out a post-mortem of  recently concluded poll results in the four states.

AICC General Secretaries in-charges and observers of all five states of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram submitted their reports to the leadership, expressing surprise and disappointment at the results.

Mizoram is the only state where the Congress emerged winner.

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The Congress has retained power in Mizoram. The party has secured 28 seats in the 40 member Assembly. Results from 8 constituencies are still awaited. Mizoram Democratic Alliance has won four seats.

In a major set back for the biggest opposition Mizoram Democratic Alliance, the MNF President and former Chief Minister Mr Zoramthanga has lost West Tuipui Constituency by over 700 votes to Congress Candidate T Sangkunga.

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The News Services Division of All India Radio will broadcast a special live bilingual Radio Bridge programme tonight on the verdict of the Assembly Elections in five States of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Mizoram. Experts and correspondents in Delhi Studio will interact and analyze the election results of all the five States with experts and Correspondents in Bhopal, Jaipur, Raipur and Aizwal Studios of All India Radio. This special broadcast can be heard on FM Gold and Rajdhani Channels from 9.30 PM to 10.30 PM.

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The BSP today forced adjournment of both Houses of Parliament for the day amidst noisy scenes on the issue of Muzaffarnagar violence. Members from Andhra Pradesh also trooped into the well of the two Houses on the Telangana issue. Earlier, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha witnessed two adjournments in the pre-lunch session on the same issues.

In the Lok Sabha, BSP members trooped into the well of the House after it re-assembled at 2 pm, demanding the dismissal of the Samajwadi Party-led government in Uttar Pradesh. Members from Andhra Pradesh also rushed to the well, protesting the bifurcation of the state. Some members also raised slogans against the tabling of the JPC Report on the 2G Spectrum. Deputy Speaker Karia Munda adjourned the House amidst noisy scenes.

Similar scenes were witnessed in the Rajya Sabha. Amidst the din, Deputy Chairman P J Kurien adjourned the House for the day.

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Ten MPs from Andhra Pradesh, opposed to the creation of Telangana, have given two separate notices to the Lok Sabha Speaker for moving no-confidence motion against the UPA government. Six of the MPs belong to Congress and four are from Telugu Desam party.

In their letters to Meira Kumar, the MPs have sought permission to move a no-confidence motion against the Congress-led UPA government.

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Delhi may be known as a modern metropolitan city, but it comes last among the four newly elected state assemblies in terms of qualification of their MLAs. The top honours is claimed by Madhya Pradesh.

67 per cent legislators are graduate in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, followed by Rajasthan with 63 per cent, Chhattisgarh with 59 per cent and Delhi 51 per cent in terms of percentage of MLAs with at least a bachelor's degree.

Delhi, which has the youngest assembly among these four states in terms of average age of legislators, has only 36 MLAs who are graduate or above.

Interestingly, the chief ministerial candidates in all the four state elections are highly qualified.

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Government today approved a bilateral investment protection treaty with the United Arab Emirates (UAE)  to attract investment from the Gulf region. Sources said, the decision to this effect was taken at a Cabinet meeting this evening in New Delhi. The decision to approve India-UAE Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement comes within weeks of the government approving the Jet-Etihad Airways deal. Under the agreement, UAE-based Etihad Airways would be investing about  379 million dollars to pick up 24 per cent stake in the domestic carrier.

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The Supreme Court today asked the Sahara Group Chief Subrata Roy why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him for allegedly interfering in 2G scam probe. Issuing notice to Subrata Roy on a contempt petition by an Investigating Officer of Enforcement Directorate, the apex court held that the plea was maintainable.

A bench of justices G S Singhvi and K S Radhakrishnan issued notices also to two journalists working with Sahara Group for allegedly threatening and blackmailing the officer.

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The Supreme Court today granted eight more weeks time to CBI to provide details about all registered NGOs in the country and whether they file balance sheets before the concerned authority. A bench headed by Justice H L Dattu refused to grant six more months time as pleaded by the agency and directed it to complete the task within two months. The apex court  had asked the CBI to provide details about such registered organisations and their financial statements on a PIL seeking probe into alleged embezzling of funds.

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NEWS FROM THE BUSINESS WORLD

Rising for the third straight session, the Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange surged 330 points, or 1.6 percent, to an all-time closing high of 21,326 on sustained foreign fund inflows, amid rising regional bourses, today. The Nifty jumped 104 points, to 6,364. The rupee appreciated 28 paise, to a two-month closing high of 61.13 against the dollar.  Gold rose 255 rupees, to 30,755 rupees per ten grams in Delhi. But silver fell for the sixth straight session, losing 30 rupees, to 43,470 rupees per kilo.

And Brent crude oil futures slipped toward 111 dollars a barrel. Pradeep Kumar, AIR News.

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The government today reviewed actions being taken by various regulators and enforcement agencies in the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) payment crisis. This was stated by Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram while talking to reporters in New Delhi. NSEL is facing problem of settling 5,600 crore rupees dues to 13,000 investors after it suspended trade on July 31 on government directions.

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The Union Cabinet today approved finalization of the reserve price for auction of spectrum in 1800 Megahertz band for all service areas in the country. It  has also approved reserve price for auction  for 900 MHz band in Metro service areas of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. According to  an official release, the Cabinet approved the reserve price for 1800 MHz band of  1765 crore rupees per MHz Pan India.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has abolished the country's state-owned news agency RIA Novosti. Mr. Putin announced it would be replaced by a news agency called Russia Today.

The Head of the Kremlin administration, Mr. Sergey Ivanov has said the news agency is being restructured in order to make it more economical whilst increasing its reach.

The state-owned Voice of Russia radio station has also been closed. The decree was effective immediately.

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China's high-resolution remote-sensing satellite Ziyuan I-03 failed to enter orbit after its launch earlier today.   According to military sources, the rocket malfunctioned during the flight  and the satellite failed to enter orbit. The satellite has been jointly developed by China and Brazil.