2100 HRS.

3^rd December, 2013

THE HEADLINES:

• Seven policemen killed in a Maoist attack in Aurangabad district of Bihar.

• Prime Minister appeals to all political parties for smooth functioning of winter session of parliament beginning Thursday.

• Polling for Delhi Assembly elections to decide the Political fate of over 800 candidates tomorrow.

• India demands amendments in WTO draft on Agriculture to ensure that its food security programme does not attract penalty.

• Defending Champions Kerala dominate in Athletics events on the opening day of the National Junior championship at Bangalore.

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In Bihar, at least seven policemen were killed in a landmine blast triggered by Maoists near Chandragarh village in Aurangabad district this evening. Bihar Additional Director General (law and order) Ravindra Kumar said the slain police personal included officer in charge of Tandwa police station Ajay Kumar. They were killed on the spot in the blast. Our correspondent reports that a combing operation has been started to nab the naxals.

ADG Ravindra Kumar said that the Naxals triggered the blast when the police team was returning after attending meeting. In this incident one SHO, five Special Auxiliary Police force, SAP and one driver have been killed. Police has been instructed to remain alert in naxal affected areas. One third districts of the state have been declared as naxal affected. Bihar Cabinet has today declared a new Surrender and Rehabilitation policies for naxals. Diwakar Kumar, AIR News Patna

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Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has appealed to all political parties to try to make optimal use of the brief Parliament Session. Talking to reporters after an all-party meeting convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar in New Delhi today, Dr Singh said the government will ensure smooth functioning of the session beginning Thursday.

On behalf of the government, we will do everything in our power to ensure that both the Houses run smoothly and in this matter, we seek the cooperation of all segments of the two houses.

On a separate Telangana, the Prime Minister said the government is committed to its formation.

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj demanded that the Telangana and Lok Pal bills be brought in this session of parliament.

Telangana Bill must be brought in this session of Parliament. We will request the Parliamentary Affairs Minister to bring the amended Lokpal Bill in the Lok Sabha after its passage by the Rajya Sabha because this will become an act only after it is passed by the Lok Sabha again.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said all parties agreed on tabling the Telangana Bill in Parliament. Mr Nath said the government will talk to Rajya Sabha leaders after Lok Sabha leaders suggested extending the Winter Session of Parliament in today's meeting.

All political parties have agreed with the government on the Telangana Bill. So it will be government's endeavour to have the Telangana Bill as soon as possible along with other legislation which is very important.

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The meeting of the Group of Ministers, GoM, set up to look into the bifurcation ofAndhra Pradesh today remained inconclusive. The GoM headed by Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde met in New Delhi this evening to finalize the Cabinet note. Official sources said the Ministerial Panel will meet again tomorrow to take a final call on the Cabinet note. Some Union ministers from Andhra Pradesh were also invited for the meeting.

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The stage is set for polling in Delhi where over 1.19 crore voters will exercise their franchise tomorrow to elect a 70 member Assembly. Over four lakh voters will cast their votes for the first time. 810 candidates, including 70 females are in the fray. Voting will begin at eight in the morning and close at five in the evening. The Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements to ensure free and fair polls in the national capital.

Intense vigil is being maintained to keep an eye on the misuse of money and muscle power in vulnerable areas, such as slum clusters and unauthorized colonies . Out of 11,753 polling booths, 630 have been declared sensitive. Webcasting has been introduced for the first time in all sensitive booths for live monitoring of proceedings. 64,000 police personnel and 107 companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed for smooth conduct of polls. Congress, BJP and Aam Aadmi Party are the main parties vying for power. With Sant Bahadur, Zakir Malik for AIR News Delhi.

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The Supreme Court has directed all state governments and Union Territories to frame rules for regulating sale of acid by March 31, next year. A bench headed byJustice R M Lodha said every time there is a case of an acid attack, a parallel inquiry should be conducted by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate to find out from where the acid was procured. The apex court also sought response for them to provide free treatment to acid victims including the cost of plastic surgery.

Earlier, in July, the Supreme Court had passed an interim order on regulating the sale of acid at retail outlets in markets across the country.

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The Supreme Court today dismissed Congress leader Sajjan Kumar's plea for quashing of charges against him in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. A bench, headed by Justice A K Patnaik, refused to grant relief to the former MP, who had approached the apex court challenging the trial court and Delhi High Court orders turning down his plea for quashing of charges against him. The bench also dismissed similar pleas of other accused, Ved Prakash Pial and Brahmanand Gupta in the case.

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The National Investigation Agency, NIA, today filed a charge-sheet in a court in New Delhi against Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin and nine other members of the banned outfit for allegedly receiving funds to the tune of 80 crore rupees from Pakistan for carrying out terror activities across India. The chargesheet alleges that active Hizbul Mujahideen caders received monthly funds on a regular basis. The court has fixed the matter for further hearing on December 7.

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The Central Customs Department has recovered a consignment of 22 kilogram of Heroin worth crores of rupees in the international market from the Samajhauta Express arrived from Pakistan at Amritsar, last night. The consignment kept in a bag was found when the train was checked today morning in the yard.

Deputy Commissioner, Rail Cargo, Vijay Bahadur told AIR that the bag was sealed by the Pakistan customs department. The customs department is now investigating to whom this consignment was to be delivered.

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Trade Ministers and officials from 159 countries have begun formal negotiations at the WTO ministerial meeting at Bali, in Indonesia, in a bid to reach consensus on issues such as food security and trade facilitation.

India, which is an important member of the G-33 grouping, is demanding amendments in the WTO draft on agriculture to ensure its food security programme doesn't attract penalties, if subsidy limits are breached. India yesterday made it clear that it would not compromise on the food security issue.

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New Delhi is following developments in Thailand which is witnessing anti-government protests. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs today said India is in constant touch with its Embassy in Bangkok. It said the Embassy is also providing updated information, including through its website, on the current situation to Indian travellers and residents.

The protesters, led by former deputy premier Suthep Thaugsuban, are demanding that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra quit and hand over power to a People's Council.

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Seven people were killed in violence on the 4th day today of the bandh called by Opposition parties across Bangladesh. Capital Dhaka witnessed sporadic crude and petrol bomb explosions in several areas. Meanwhile Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin has pushed for talks between the government and opposition political parties to ensure conduct of elections before 24th January, 2014, the constitutional deadline.

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President Pranab Mukherjee presented National Awards for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities on the occasion of International Day of Disabled Persons today in New Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion Mr Mukherjee said the government is committed to full empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.

This important day gives us an opportunity to reflect on our collective endeavours to create an inclusive society in which all members including the differently abled enjoy equal opportunities and have the right to realise their full developmental potentiality.

The President presented 43 awards for the empowerment of Persons with Disabilities to outstanding persons with disabilities and individuals and organizations working for the welfare of disabled persons.

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Today is the 29th anniversary of Bhopal gas leak tragedy. It was one of the worst industrial disaster of the world. 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 Bhopal correspondent reports that an all religion prayer meeting was held this morning in Bhopal’s Barkatullah Bhawan to pay the homage to the victims of gas tragedy.

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India today successfully test fired its surface to surface ballistic missile Prithvi-ll from Chandipur Test Range in the Balasore district of Odisha. With a striking range of 350 km the nuclear tipped missile can carry a payload of 1000 kg. It had last been tested on October 7th this year.

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The Special Session of the West Bengal Assembly to celebrate closing ceremony of its Platinum Jubilee will begin in Kolkata tomorrow. The three day long special session will start with the address of State Governor Mr. M.K. Narayanan. The Lok Sabha Speaker Smt. Meira Kumar will inaugurate a discussion on ‘challenges before Parliamentary Democracy’ in the house tomorrow. The President Mr. Pranab Mukherjee will address the members on last day of the special session on 6th of this month.

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In Assam, one person was killed and three others injured in police firing in Kokrajhar district today. Official sources in Guwahati said the incident occurred at Kajigaon police station area when an irate mob tried to attack four youth’s alleging that they were involved in kidnapping cases. Security has been tightened in that locality. In another incident, people lynched a National Democratic Front of Bodoland cadre in Goalpara district.

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The Centre is giving final touches to a draft bill to establish the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, IIMC, as an institute of national importance. Addressing the 46th convocation of IIMC, Information and Broadcasting Secretary Bimal Julka today said in New Delhi that the institute is to award degrees. Currently the media institute awards the post-graduate diploma.

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THE BUSINESS WORLD

Snapping three days of gains, the Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange dropped 43 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 20,855, on profit-booking by investors, amid falling European markets, today. The Nifty fell 16 points, to 6,202. Stock markets in Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore again ended mixed. The rupee weakened 5 paise, to close at 62.36 against the dollar. Gold lost 215 rupees, to 30,800 rupees per ten grams in Delhi. Silver dropped 800 rupees, to 44,000 rupees per kilo. And Brent crude oil futures rose towards 112 dollars a barrel, while US crude gained 30 cents, to 94.10 cents a barrel. Pradeep Kumar, AIR News.

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Defending champions Kerala dominated the opening day's proceedings in the 29th National Junior Athletics championships which got underway at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore today. Two meet marks were obliterated today, both by Kerala athletes.

P U Chitra, clocked 4 minutes 33.82 seconds in junior women's (under-20) 1500m that erased Sunita Rani's 17-year-old meet mark of 4:35.0.

13-year-old Gayathry Sivakumar made an easy sail over 1.55m in the girls' under-14 high jump for the first meet mark of the day.

At the end of the opening day, Kerala were on top of table with 58 points, followed by Haryana (52) and Tamil Nadu (46).

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A first ever global survey on violence against women working in the news media, reveals that about two-thirds of women journalists have experienced abuse, harassment or threats at work.

The survey by the Washington-based International Women's Media Foundation and the London-based International News Safety Institute, included 822 women media workers interviewed between July and late November this year.

The study found that the majority of threats, intimidation and abuse directed towards women media workers occurred in the work place and were committed by male bosses, supervisors and co-workers. The survey found that the majority of women who are harassed do not report what has happened to them.