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Parliament schedule changes due to Munde's death
Oath-taking of new members cannot take place tomorrow 

New Delhi, Jun 3 (PTI) With the death of Union Minister Gopinath Munde, the schedule of the first session of the Lok Sabha, beginning tomorrow, has undergone some changes.

The opening day of the six-day session will be adjourned for the day after Secretary General P Sreedharan reads out the notification constituting the 16th Lok Sabha and the House pays tributes to Munde.

Munde, who was a member of the last Lok Sabha as well as the new House, died in a road mishap today.

As the House will be adjourned after obituary reference, the oath-taking of new members cannot take place tomorrow. As per the original schedule, new members were to take oath tomorrow and day after.

According to the revised schedule, new members will now take oath on June 5 till late in night and half day of June 6, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters.

During the second half of June 6, the election of the Speaker will be taken up.

Till then senior Congress MP Kamal Nath, who has been made the Protem Speaker, will preside over the proceedings.

Nath will be administered oath by President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan before the Lok Sabha assembles for the day.

On June 9, President Mukherjee will address the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament, which will outline the Narendra Modi government's roadmap.

The discussion on the Motion of Thanks will be taken up as per the original schedule on June 10 and 11 before the session is adjourned sine die.

The Rajya Sabha has been convened from June 9 and will adjourn along with the Lok Sabha. PTI

Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde dies

NEW DELHI:Rural Development Minister and the OBC face of BJP in Maharashtra Gopinath Munde died apparently of shock and cardiac arrest suffered during a road accident early this morning.

64-year-old Munde, who made his entry into the Union Cabinet for the first time after the Lok Sabha poll, was on his way to airport when his car was hit by another vehicle at Prithviraj-Tughlak road roundabout in the heart of the Capital, said Union Minster Nitin Gadkari.

"Munde was brought to the emergency department of Jai Prakash Narain Apex Trauma Centre, AIIMS at 6:30 am by his personal assistant and driver. Munde was sitting in the backseat of his car which was hit by another car or any other vehicle at around 6:20 am from the side he was sitting," Dr Amit Gupta of the Trauma Centre told reporters.

"On his arrival at the Trauma Centre, there was no spontaneous breathing, no blood pressure, no pulse, no cardiac activity. So immediately Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) was started and continued for the next 15 minutes. Despite resuscitative measures, Munde could not be revived and was declared dead at 7:20 AM," he said.

The doctor said, "Munde was hypertensive and a sugar patient. He was already taking medicines. Right now there are no major external injuries on his body. We cannot say anything but clinically we might say that he had a sudden cardiac death".

The body has been shifted to the mortuary for postmortem.

A board has been formulated by the head of forensics to conduct the postmortem.

As it is a medico-legal cause the reason for the death can only be ascertained after postmortem, the doctor said.

Munde's secretary S Nair said the Union Minister received a huge shock after the accident and apparently suffered a massive heart attack.

A senior police official said the offending vehicle was an Indica car which jumped the traffic signal at Aurobindo Chowk and collided with the Maruti Suzuki SX 4 in which Munde was travelling towards Safdarjung road from Prithviraj road.

The Indica was coming towards Tughlaq road, a little over a km from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official residence, and hit Munde's car toward's the passenger side where Munde was sitting, he said, adding Munde fell on the seat immediately after the car was hit.

The driver of the Indica car was detained from the spot and later arrested by police.

Police said Munde had some minor aberrations on his nose.

After the accident, Munde sought water and asked his driver to take him to the hospital, police said.

Munde had only last night attended a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers called by the Prime Minister and was proceeding to Mumbai for work when the accident occurred.

He is survived by his wife and three daughters, one of whom is an MLA from Parli in Maharashtra's Beed district.

A brother-in-law of slain BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, Munde hailed from a poor family in the backward Marathwada region and was brought into politics by the late BJP leader Vasantrao Bhagwat, who also groomed several other leaders including Pramod Mahajan.

He played a crucial role in cobbling alliance of the RPI, Swabhimani Shetkari Paksh and Rashtriya Samaj Paksh with the Shiv Sena-BJP in the state.

Munde was recently caught in a row over his educational qualifications with Congress alleging that he "graduated" in 1976 from a college established in 1978.

Condoling his death, Prime Minister Modi said he was extremely saddened and shocked by demise of "my friend" Munde.

As a mark of respect to Munde, the national flag is being flown at half mast in Delhi, state capitals and Union Territories today.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who was the first to reach AIIMS, said doctors tried their best to revive him.

Union Highways and Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, who was also there at the hospital, said Munde will be cremated in his native village in Beed in Maharashtra tomorrow.

His body will be kept at the BJP headquarters between 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM before being shifted to Latur.- — PTI 

President, PM condole Munde's death

NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday condoled the untimely demise of Union Minister Gopinath Munde and said the country has lost a veteran leader who always worked for the common man.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was extremely saddened by the demise of his “friend” and cabinet colleague Gopinath Munde, whom he hailed as a “true mass leader.“

“My tributes to a dynamic leader whose premature demise leaves a void hard to fill,” Modi tweeted soon after Munde’s death following a road accident here.

“Extremely saddened & shocked by the demise of my friend & colleague Gopinath Mundeji. His demise is a major loss for the nation & the government. Gopinath Mundeji was a true mass leader. Hailing from backward sections of society, he rose to great heights & tirelessly served people,” Modi said.

The party and government, he said, stands by the bereaved family members of the 64-year-old leader.

The President, expressing his shock, grief and sorrow over the death of Munde, said that his passing away is a huge loss for the people of Maharashtra and India.

“In his death, we have lost a veteran leader who always worked for the common man,” he said.

Munde, the Rural Development Minister and the OBC face of BJP in Maharashtra, died apparently of shock and cardiac arrest suffered during a road accident early on Tuesday.

Munde, who made his entry into the Union Cabinet for the first time after the Lok Sabha polls, was on his way to the airport when his car was hit by another vehicle.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh described Gopinath Munde as a “grassroots” leader known for his concern for the poor people and the farmers and expressed shock over his death.

“Deeply shocked to know of Shri Gopinath Munde’s demise. He was a grassroots leader and known for his concern for poor people and farmers,” tweeted Rajnath Singh, who is also the BJP president.

“Mundeji’s death is an irreparable loss to the BJP and he has left a big void in Mahrashtra’s political and social life,” he said.

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar tweeted "Deeply saddened by the untimely demise of Gopinath Mundeji, whose close association and guidance to BJP Goa will be missed by all". - PTI

Rahul visits BJP office, pays tribute to Munde

NEW DELHI: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday visited the BJP central office in New Delhi to pay tribute to Gopinath Munde, the Rural Development Minister, who passed away early Tuesday morning following a road accident in central Delhi.

Gandhi, who was accompanied by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat, folded his hands in respect to pay tribute to Munde.

Gandhi also talked briefly to Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu who was standing near Munde’s body, which has been kept at the Bharatiya Janata Party’s office for leaders and workers to pay their tributes.— IANS

RBI keeps rates unchanged, unlocks Rs 40,000 cr of bank funds

MUMBAI: Committed to keep inflation under check, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan today left key rates unchanged and unlocked about Rs 40,000 crore of funds by reducing the amount of deposits banks are required to park in government securities.

This is the second time in a row that interest rates have been left unchanged amid demands for moderation to spur growth.

The repo rate, at which the Reserve Bank of India lends to banks, has been retained at 8 per cent, while the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) for banks has been cut by 0.5 per cent to 22.5 per cent with effect from June 14.

The cash reserve ratio for banks has been kept unchanged at 4 per cent.

"At this juncture, it is appropriate to leave the policy rate unchanged, and to allow the disinflationary effects of rate increases undertaken during September 2013-January 2014 to mitigate inflationary pressures in the economy," Rajan said while unveiling the Second Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2014-15.

Consumer price index (CPI) inflation, excluding food and fuel, has moderated gradually since September 2013 although it is still elevated, he said.

Rajan, who has increased the repo rate thrice since September, said no more tightening would be warranted if the economy stays on a disinflationary course. He added that the RBI may also consider a cut if the disinflation process is faster than anticipated.

Rajan reiterated the RBI's commitment to its target of getting CPI inflation, which accelerated to 8.59 per cent in April, down to 8 per cent by January 2015 and 6 per cent by the year after.

On growth, Rajan maintained the RBI's median estimate of GDP expansion coming in at 5.5 per cent for this financial year. 
The stance to be adopted by the Reserve Bank was keenly awaited, especially after the formation of a government perceived to be pro-growth at the Centre.

The RBI Governor met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley the day he took charge at North Block and also called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the release of data that showed the economy expanded 4.7 per cent in FY14 compared with 4.5 per cent in FY13.

However, the persistence of inflation, especially on the food front, was one of the factors considered detrimental for the RBI in being accommodative in its stance.

Fears of inadequate monsoon rains due to the El Nino factor may only add to price pressures in the future.

Rajan also announced a reduction in liquidity provided under the export credit refinance facility to 32 per cent of eligible export credit outstanding from 50 per cent earlier.

However, it introduced a special term repo facility of 0.25 per cent of net demand and time liabilities to compensate fully for the reduction in access to liquidity under export credit refinance with immediate effect. — PTI

Badaun gangrape case: HC seeks copies of post-mortem reports

LUCKNOW: The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday directed a petitioner to produce the copies of post-mortem reports and FIR filed by the families of victims of the Badaun gangrape and murder case by June 9.

The Lucknow Bench also asked the Uttar Pradesh Government to produce the written order of recommendation of a CBI inquiry into the incident on the same date.

A Vacation Division Bench comprising Justice Imtiyaz Murtaza and Justice Shashi Kant passed the order on a PIL filed by NGO ‘We the People’ through its general secretary Prince Lenin.

The petitioner sought direction for a CBI probe into the Badaun incident as well as action against the erring police officers concerned, besides providing adequate security to the family members of the victims.

The petitioner argued before the court that the state government was not seriously acting in this incident.

The CBI probe recommendation order of the state government could not be produced before the court on which the Bench directed the government to produce the same order before it on June 9, Lenin said.

On behalf of the government, Additional Advocate General Bulbul Godiyal informed the court that the CBI inquiry had already been recommended, but due to reshuffle of top officials she has not got the written order as of now.

Godiyal also informed the court that the government was seriously taking the issue and action has been taken against the top officials.

The court also directed the petitioner Lenin to produce the copies of FIR and post-mortem reports on June 9. — PTI

Assault case: Yashwant Sinha remanded in judicial custody

Hazaribagh (Jharkhand): Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha and 54 others were remanded in judicial custody by a local court on Tuesday after they refused to seek bail in a case of alleged assault of a Jharkhand State Electricity Board official.

Judicial Magistrate R B Pal sent them to judicial custody for 14 days after Sinha and others refused to take bail.

Sinha and others were arrested on Monday after JSEB’s Hazaribagh branch General Manager Dhanesh Jha filed an FIR, accusing them of tying him up during a demonstration on electricity crisis by the BJP’s district unit here.

Sinha had admitted before the media on Monday that he had “instructed” the party’s women activists to tie up Jha using a rope.

“Yes, I asked them to tie the hands of the GM as women are the worst sufferers for not getting power. Their children’s education is also suffering,” Sinha had told reporters.

The Dy SP had rescued Jha from the women.

Jha had said that the incident was “humiliating and insulting.” — PTI