| NEWS AT NINE |
2100 HRS.
13-01-2013
THE HEADLINES
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Delhi Government today scrapped the idea of holding Janata Darbar to address grievances of Delhiites. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told reporters that the government will open new channels where people can report their grievances online, via post and through calls. He added that he will meet people once in a week, for a duration of three hours, for which day is yet to be fixed.
The first Janata Darbar of Delhi government had a chaotic start after thousands thronged the venue, forcing the Ministers to leave the Delhi Secretariat.
Delhi government also launched a helpline today for parents to register their grievances related to nursery admissions. Admissions are set to begin on Wednesday. The helpline number is 011-2735 2525.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also launched a web application, www.edudel.nic.in, which will facilitate pre-primary admissions in private schools. The application will let parents find nearby schools and check the availability of seats and fee structures.
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Arvind Kejriwal Government today withdrew the approval given by the previous government to FDI in multi-brand retail in the national capital. Delhi's Industry Secretary Amit Yadav told AIR, that the city government has written a letter to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion at the Centre withdrawing the consent given in July, 2012 on allowing multi-brand retail trade. The previous Sheila Dikshit government had taken a number of steps to remove bottlenecks in attracting FDI in retail trade. The Indian Industry says that Delhi government's removal of multi-brand retail FDI will hit investments. Assocham termed the decision as anti-investment while FICCI said this direct negation without demonstrating a search for a viable alternative would hamper investment sentiment. Last year, the central government permitted 51 per cent FDI in the multi-brand retail trading.
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Social activist Medha Patkar today extended support to Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party. Patkar told reporters in Mumbai that she will announce the future course of action about her role in AAP, after holding discussions with senior party leaders later this week. The 59-year-old social activist is known for her efforts during the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
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Congress has appointed new State Presidents in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Union Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot will be the new state Chief in Rajashtan replacing Chandrabhan. Lok Sabha MP Arun Yadav will take charge of Madhya Pradesh PCC chief in place of party leader Kantilal Bhuria. The announcement was made by party General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi in New Delhi today.
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The CBI today filed a status report giving details of its probe into the irregularities in coal block allocations. The status report has been filed in a sealed envelope. The Supreme Court might go through it On Wednesday when a bench headed by Justice R M Lodha will hear a bunch of PILs on coalgate. The CBI has filed 16 FIRs against various companies and all these are rooted in three preliminary enquiries related to coal block allocation--between 2006 and 2009, 1993 and 2004, and projects given under the government dispensation scheme. There are two other preliminary enquiries which are related to missing files.
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The Supreme Court today stayed the Madras High Court order to maintain status quo on the process of appointing 12 judges, saying that is a serious matter which will be reviewed by it. The Apex court has directed the Union Law Ministry to maintain status quo in respect of the list of 12 names forwarded by the Madras High Court. A bench comprising justices B S Chauhan and J Chelameswar also took exception to the conduct of a judge of the Madras High Court who on January 9 had walked in as a special bench was hearing a PIL against the proposed appointment of new judges and said the choice of probable was not fair.
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A former law intern who has made sexual harassment allegations against Justice Swatanter Kumar, today moved the Supreme Court seeking inquiry against the retired judge. A Bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam, before whom the matter was mentioned for urgent hearing, agreed to take up the case on Wednesday. The intern, in the petition, challenged the apex court's December 5, 2013 full court resolution in which it was decided that no complaint against its retired judges will be entertained. The petitioner also submitted that a proper forum be constituted to conduct inquiry in to such cases and her complaint be also looked into by the apex court like it was done in the case of sexual harassment allegations against Justice (retd) A.K. Ganguly. The intern has made Justice Kumar, Secretary General of Supreme Court and the Union of India, parties in the case.
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In Kashmir valley, three militants were killed in an encounter with security forces. In a joint operation, police and army killed the three militants in Doru area of Sopore in north Kashmir. The search operation was on when reports last came in.
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said that the UPA government laid a lot of emphasis on power sector. He said that the power generation capacity enhanced in the last ten years is higher than what was achieved in the previous 55 years since Independence. The Prime Minister was addressing a rally at Gorakhpur in Fatehabad district of Haryana after laying the foundation stone of a nuclear power plant. The Prime Minister said that India is among those select countries which have gained the technique of establishing nuclear power plants.
Nuclear power is one of the most reliable and clean sources of electricity. India is among the select few countries in the world which have got the technology to establish Nuclear Power Projects. Today our country has an established capability of producing 4800 MW of Nuclear Power. We hope that in the Next 10 years, our country will successfully acquire the capability of creating more than 27000 MW of nuclear power.
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Retail inflation moderated to 9.87 percent in December 2013, from 11.16 percent in November. Retail inflation in rural areas moderated to 10.49 percent, and in urban areas to 9.11 percent in December 2013.
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BUSINESS WORLD
The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange surged 376 points--its biggest single-day gain in seven weeks--to close above the 21,000-level, at 21,134, today, on hopes that the Reserve Bank will keep interest rates unchanged, and that the US central bank will not further trim its monetary stimulus anytime soon. The Nifty jumped 101 points, to 6,273.Stock markets in China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore ended mixed. The rupee strengthened 38 paise, to end at a one-month high of 61.52 against the dollar. Gold declined 15 rupees, to 30,200 rupees per ten grams in Delhi. Silver closed unchanged, at 44,800 rupees per kilo. And Brent crude oil futures dropped below 107 dollars a barrel, while U.S. crude slipped 62 cents, to 92.10 dollars a barrel. Pradeep Kumar, AIR News.
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Unique Identification Authority of India, UIDAI, plans to cover over 60 crore residents with Aadhaar numbers this year. Announcing this UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani claimed that Aadhaar will be the biggest anti-corruption platform in the world. He was talking to reporters after launching Aadhaar linked disbursal of salary by a corporate group to its employees leveraging Aadhaar Payment Bridge.
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India and Sri Lanka today released 52 fishermen each as a goodwill measure. The External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said in New Delhi that the release is part of a process and understanding reached between the two governments. He said out of 52 Indian fishermen, 20 were released from Mallakam and 32 from Trincomali and all are from Tamil Nadu. Mr. Akbaruddin said New Delhi attaches the highest importance to the safety, security and welfare of Indian fishermen and it has worked assiduously to secure their release. The release of fishermen is significant as it comes ahead of Sri Lankan Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senaratne's meetings with Indian leaders during his visit starting from tomorrow.
Foreign Ministers of India and Sri Lanka today arrived at a decision to begin the release of each other’s fishermen who are in their custody in the two countries. In a telephonic discussion at the Foreign Ministers’ level today, it was emphasized that the problem is a humanitarian one and long periods of imprisonment of the fishermen has affected the livelihood of their family members. The decision has been taken to coincide with the festival of Pongal tomorrow and also as a confidence building measure for the crucial meeting on the issue in New Delhi later this week. The two delegations for this meeting will be led by Sri Lankan Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senaratne and Indian Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar respectively. Ahishek Dayal, AIR NEWS,Colombo.
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India and the United States officials today held bi-annual intelligence discussion over a wide range of security issues in New Delhi. Official sources said a team of the US officials from the office of the Director of National Intelligence and a team of Joint Intelligence Committee from Indian side discussed a range of security-related issues. The Indian side gave its intelligence assessment of the country's neighbourhood whereas the US shared the global perspective.
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The festival of Lohri is being celebrated across the Northern region including Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh and at some places in Himachal also.
Lohri, is the time to celebrate the festival by lighting the bonfire and dancing around it. People sitting in groups across the states of Punjab and Haryana are making merry especially those who are celebrating their first Lohri after wedding or have been blessed with a new born. Special importance is being given to the birth of girl child to change the trend from celebrating Lohri of only a new born boy. RAJESH BALI , AIR NEWS ,JALANDHAR
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In Uttar Pradesh Makar Sankranti will be celebrated tomorrow across the state. It will be first important bathing festival of about one and a half month long Magh Mela being held on the banks of Sangam, the confluence of rivers Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati at Allahabad. Large numbers of pilgrims have started reaching on the Banks Sangam to take holy dip on the occasion. President and Vice President have greeted the nation on the eve of Milad-un-Nabi, the birthday of Prophet Mohammed.
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Venus Williams of America lost 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, to Russian Ekaterina Makarova in Women Single's on the first day of the Australian Open Tennis at Melbourne today. The 33-year-old Williams, the second-oldest player in the tournament and seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, has struggled with injuries and illness in recent seasons but reached the final of the WTA event at Auckland, New Zealand, to open the year. Makarova will meet another American in the second round after qualifier Irina Falconi beat Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain, 6-3, 6-1.
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India and Olympic Champions and World Number One Germany were level Two-Two in their third league match of the on-going Hockey World League finals in New Delhi, a short while ago. At half time, India led 2-1. India had earlier suffered defeats in their first two Pool A matches against higher ranked England and New Zealand.
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14 January 2014
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