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Heavy rains in Mumbai; Three dead in building collapse
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66 lions killed in Gir in a year
More tax relief as economy revives: Jaitley
Involve us in Roerich Memorial Trust affairs, Russia tells India
Budget focuses on revival of growth, says govt
Modi is BJP Parliamentary Party leader; Rajnath his deputy in LS
Aim at rehab of convicts, welfare of victims: SC to trial courts
More Indians returning on fake passports from Gulf countries
Cell phones behind rapes: Karnataka panel
Telangana shuts down against Andhra Reorganisation Bill
Vardhan checks children’s hospital in Delhi
Govt to give cashless care worth Rs 30,000 to mishap victim
Curfew in Assam's Bodo areas after four abducted
Hunger strike did not help me, says Kejriwal
HSGPC political drama by Congress: Badal
Hooda: Respect Haryana Sikhs’ sentiments
CPM asks Centre to allocate funds for sub-plan for SC
Ministers to occupy bungalows by July-end
Mars orbiter spacecraft to reach target in 75 days
7 injured in Manipur blast
37 fishermen return from Sri Lanka
Give funds for SC sub-plan: CPM to Centre
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Heavy rains in Mumbai; Three dead in building collapse
Mumbai, July 12 Elsewhere in the city heavy overnight rains caused water logging in many low-lying areas of the city. The disaster management cell of the state government warned that heavy rains coinciding with high tides could cause flooding in several low-lying areas. However with the rains weakening in the afternoon, most parts of the city were spared major flooding today. “We are expecting heavy rains for the next two days in Mumbai, Konkan and coastal Maharashtra,” VK Rajeev Director, Meteorological Department, said. On Friday night, there was severe flooding in low-lying areas like Dadar, Parel, Sion, Kurla, Ghatkopar and the Western Express Highway. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said it had deployed 128 pumps to drain out water from flooded areas. Though local train services were not disrupted today, there were fewer people commuting to work because of the weekend holiday.
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66 lions killed in Gir in a year
Vasava told the state Assembly in a written reply to a question by a Congress member that despite preventive measures being taken by the state government at least 11 big cats were killed in accidents during the period. This included three lions, including two pregnant lionesses, killed recently when they were run over by a goods train going to the Pipavav port through the sanctuary area. Among the lion cubs perished during the year, all of them were below the age of two years and most of them died during fights within a pride on claims over territories or were devoured by the lions from other prides. By and large the survival rate of the lion cubs below the age of three years was never more than 55 per cent due to the continuous territorial fights between the rival prides, a forest department official explained. The minister admitted that 66 deaths was one of the heaviest casualties in a year but pointed out that 55 of them died due to natural causes including aging. He said for the protection of the lions and other animals from being killed in accidents, the government was constructing fencing along the railway tracks and had created innumerable speed-breakers on the roads passing through the forest area. The railway staff operating on the tracks passing through the forest sanctuary had also often been sensitized about the safety of the ions besides involving the local population for the protection of the Asiatic lions, Vasava said. In the last census, the number of lions counted in the Gir forest was 411, up from 341 in the previous census. The next lion census in Gir was due in May, next year.
Perishing big cats
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More tax relief as economy revives: Jaitley
New Delhi, July 12 “I think there was never a Union Budget since 1947, which gave relief up to Rs 50,000 across all three classes of tax payers — right from lower to the middle and higher income brackets,” he told to a national new channel. The Finance Minister said had the government more money in its coffers, he would have given more reliefs. “May be, if the government has more money tomorrow, I will raise (reliefs),” he said. He expected tax payers to spend more, save more which would lead to higher economic growth and give a boost to the manufacturing sector that had seen a negative growth in the last two years. Jaitley defended the government’s decision to allow 49 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in defence sector saying he would prefer companies headed by Indians with 49 per cent FDI manufacturing defence equipments in India rather than opting for imports. “As far as I know, it was Soniaji (Congress President) who had been opposing 49 per cent FDI in defence and was preferring imports of defence equipments,” he said. Jaitley, who also holds the Defence portfolio, pointed out that 26 per cent FDI in defence was permitted during the NDA regime under Atal Bihari Vajpayee. “We are the largest importer of defence equipment in the world. For the last one and half months, most of the foreign leaders who came to meet us were pitching for sale of their defence equipments,” he said.
— PTI
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Involve us in Roerich Memorial Trust affairs, Russia tells India
New Delhi, July 12 Kadakin was speaking at a function here last evening at which he was awarded the International Nicholas Roerich Award for ‘Roerich Heritage Saving’ from St Petersburg. He spoke about the accomplishments of the IRMT ever since it was established. “A lot has been done but even more remains to be done in future. Unfortunately, due to various circumstances beyond our control, there have been no meetings of the IRMT executive committee as well as the board of trustees during the last few years. Certainly, quite a number of tasks requiring urgent consideration and immediate solutions have accumulated.” He said Russia was planning to organise in October in Naggar and Kullu a befitting large-scale international cultural festival dedicated to two important events—the 140th birth anniversary of Prof Nicholas Roerich and the 110th birth anniversary of Svyatoslav Roerich.
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Budget focuses on revival of growth, says govt
New Delhi, July 12 He said the government would shortly decide on whether controversial tax law GAAR should be implemented from the scheduled date of April, 2015. “It should not be interpreted that GAAR is going to be brought in from April 2015,” he added.
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Modi is BJP Parliamentary Party leader; Rajnath his deputy in LS
New Delhi, July 12 Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be the deputy leader of the party in the Lower House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will hold the post in the Upper House. The announcements are also indicative of the new hierarchy set-up in the ruling party. Rajnath has emerged as number two in the ruling party along with Jaitley, effectively also setting the tone for the pecking order in the government. In the last Lok Sabha, veteran leader LK Advani was the chairperson of the Parliamentary Party - a post specifically created after Sushma Swaraj and Jaitley were appointed as leaders of opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, respectively. The position was designed for the BJP veteran on the lines of the post held by Sonia Gandhi (UPA chairperson) keeping in mind his stature. Advani and Swaraj have not been included in the newly-constituted BJP Parliamentary Party Executive Committee. The party named Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu as the government's Chief Whip in Parliament, besides the chief whips of the government and the party in both the Houses. Avinash Rai Khanna - a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab - is the Chief Whip of the party in the Upper House, while Minister of state for Parliamentary Affairs Prakash Javadekar will be the government's deputy Chief Whip. Khanna, who was also the party whip in the Lok Sabha between 2004 and 2009 and in the Rajya Sabha in 2010. Ministers of State for Parliamentary Affairs Santosh Gangwar will be the government's deputy Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha while member from Rajasthan Arjun Ram Meghwal will serve as the party's Chief Whip in
the House. The BJP also named Ganesh Singh, a member from Madhya Pradesh, as party Secretary in the Lok Sabha and Bhupendra Yadav from Rajasthan in the Rajya Sabha and PC Mohan from Karnataka as the new treasurer of BJP Parliamentary Party. Besides, BJP also named 13 party whips for the Lok Sabha and three in the Rajya Sabha. Party leaders say effort has been made to give representation to all the states.
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Aim at rehab of convicts, welfare of victims: SC to trial courts
New Delhi, July 12 “This shift may be necessary in today’s social context (though no opinion is expressed), but given the legislative mandate of Sections 360 and 361 of CrPC and the Probation of Offenders Act, what is imperative for the judge is to strike a fine balance between releasing a convict after admonition or on probation or putting such a convict in jail.” All the three legal provisions cited by the Bench deal with the need for rehabilitating the convicts, particularly the first time offenders and the youth. The court also pointed out the 2006 amendments to the CrPC to include a chapter on plea bargaining to actively engage the victims of crime. Acknowledging that this could be ensured only on a case-to-case basis, the Bench said “but the principle of rehabilitation and the humanising mission must not be forgotten.” Reminding the trial courts that it was their duty to utilise all the tools given by Parliament for ensuring a fair and just termination of criminal cases, the SC formulated the following five principles. First, the trial judge must consider the provisions of the Probation of Offenders Act and the probation provisions in the CrPC. Second, the trial judge must record his or her reasons for not releasing a convict on probation. Third, grant of compensation to the victim of a crime is equally a part of just sentencing. Fourth, when it is not possible to grant compensation to the victim, the trial judge must record his or her reasons. Lastly, the trial judge must always be alive to alternative methods of a mutually satisfactory disposal of a case.
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More Indians returning on fake passports from Gulf countries
New Delhi, July 12 Employers in Gulf countries confiscate passports of Indian workers and force them to work for longer hours and also pay less salaries to them. The employers also threaten to lodge false police complaints against them if they approach the Indian embassy. Even if the victim goes to the embassy, he does not easily get an emergency certificate, which is a single journey document. Then the victim buys a passport from the grey market. In a similar case, 26-year-old Shadab Ahmed was arrested at the airport on July 7 for allegedly carrying a fake passport. Ahmed’s elder brother Rizwan Ullah Khan, a head constable in Uttar Pradesh, said Ahmed had gone to Saudi Arabia after completing his computer course in Lucknow and got the job of a computer operator with a company. After sometime, Ahmed found that his employment documents allegedly showed him a labourer, said Khan. “In the beginning, they made him work for eight hours and then increased the work timings from 12 to 14 hours and paid the salary of a labourer and that too for eight hours,” Khan said. Ahmed went to the Indian Embassy to get a new passport but he was asked to bring an authority letter from the employer. “Fearing that the employer would implicate him in a false case,” Khan said. Ahmed then approached a travel agent who took Rs 4.5 lakh and gave him a passport with his photograph on it. “When my brother reached Delhi on July 7, the authorities informed him that the passport belonged to someone else,” Khan said, adding that his brother had been booked for forgery and cheating. External Affairs, VK Singh said upon receiving a complaint, the Ministry asked the Indian Mission concerned to look into the matter.
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Cell phones behind rapes: Karnataka panel
Bangalore, July 12 “The Karnataka Government should direct the Education Department to impose a compulsory ban on students in schools and colleges bringing mobile phones," the Legislature Committee on Women and Child Welfare said. The single point recommendation in the report of the 23-member committee headed by Shakuntala
Shetty, tabled in both the Houses of Karnataka legislature yesterday, is contained under a chapter under the title, "rape/missing cases of women". The report refers to the rising incidents of rape across the country and cites, the 2012 Delhi gang rape and fatal assault of a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern as also the recent gang rape and murder of a Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh, which have made "Indians hang their heads in shame before the entire world." "We have found during our interactions that mobile is the reason behind kidnap and rape among school and college-going girls," Shetty said, defending the panel's controversial findings and recommendations. She said: "When I did go through two or three rape cases of minor girls, what they told me was that they had got a missed call and out of curiosity they wanted to find out about it and it started from there...." "As we found several such incidents, we in the committee decided to recommend a ban on mobiles; ...it is not necessary for students, so we have mentioned that it should be banned." In another recommendation, the committee has suggested that seminars and awareness programmes should be conducted in schools and colleges periodically as a measure to stop atrocities against women. Other recommendations made by the committee include- installation of CCTV cameras at police stations to bring transparency in their functioning, deputing 20 per cent women police staff in each stations, setting up of additional women police stations, and separate toilet facility for women at police stations. The committee has suggested that all police stations in the state should be made women friendly and women who approach police or those brought on some charges should be treated with dignity.
— PTI
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Telangana shuts down against Andhra Reorganisation Bill
Hyderabad, July 12 Normal life in most parts of the state was affected by the bandh called by the Left parties and the Telangana Joint Action Committee (which spearheaded the separate statehood movement), supported by TRS and Congress parties. "We have not received any reports of untoward incidents. Nobody was arrested or taken into custody," Inspector General (North Zone), Ravi Gupta said. Most educational institutions in capital Hyderabad and other important cities of the state remained
closed. T-JAC representatives and political party workers burnt an effigy of the Central Government at RTC Cross roads in the city.
T-JAC chairman Prof Kodandaram said Centre was trying to suppress the rights of tribal people by passing the Bill. Reports indicated that Khammam district, where the seven mandals are located, observed complete bandh with representatives of all parties coming on to the roads in the morning to enforce the
bandh. A South Central Railway spokesperson said there was no disturbance to rail services in the region, including the Multi-Modal Transport System
(MMTS) in Hyderabad. A spokesperson of State Road Transport Corporation said the total bus services in the state was affected by 20 per cent. Bandh was total in Waranagal with the closure of petrol bunks, banks and other establishments.
Dharnas, rasta roko and protest rallies were held in different parts of the state demanding the Centre Government to revise its decision. Bandh was peaceful in Karimnagar district said, V
Shivakumar, SP of the district. Criticising the passage of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill in Lok Sabha yesterday, CPI (M) Telangana Secretary Thamineni Veerabhadram alleged that interests of big investors was being served in the name of protecting farmers of Andhra Pradesh.
— PTI
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Vardhan checks children’s hospital in Delhi
New Delhi, July 12 During his visit, the Health Minister spotted inconsistencies in prescriptions signed by junior doctors. He asked senior doctors to train residents in rational prescription of medicines. The Health Minister also conducted a spot check of toilets at the hospital and communicated his displeasure with lack of hygiene to hospital in charge. Vardhan was visiting the Kalawati Saran Hospital which has served as a tertiary care centre for children since 1956. On the occasion, Vardhan also told doctors of the need to work harder to reduce number of maternal and child deaths in accordance with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). He asked practitioners to be zero tolerant to inefficiencies. The Health Minister said MDG deadline is September 2015 and India is still a long way off adding that there are many things doctors can do to reduce infant mortality of which India bears the highest
burden. Vardhan spent two hours inspecting every ward and department of the hospital. This was the first time a Union Health Minister was conducting spot checks of tertiary level child care institution. More will follow, Health Ministry said.
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Govt to give cashless care worth Rs 30,000 to mishap victim
New Delhi, July 12 "Under the pilot project on the busy Gurgaon-Jaipur NH-8 stretch, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways had provided financial assistance of Rs 30,000 for the victim of road accidents for medical treatment," Road Secretary Vijay Chibber said. He was speaking at a seminar organised jointly by the ministry and International Road Federation (IRF) here. He said that the government had earmarked Rs 20 crore for the first pilot project, but that the cost in the first year did not exceed Rs 5 crore "Seeing the success and data compiled by IIT, Delhi, the Ministry has extended it to two new corridors," Chibber said. After completion of the two new projects on Mumbai-Baroda Highway and Ranchi-Jamshedpur Highway, it is proposed to be extended to the entire stretch of National Highways in the country at an annual cost of Rs 500-600 crore, he added. This will work as insurance for using highways for the road users, he said while calling on the health and motor vehicle insurance companies to come out with packages for the new projects. Chibber said these insurance companies served as important key stakeholders for road safety.
— PTI
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Curfew in Assam's Bodo areas after four abducted
Guwahati, July 12 The four victims, part of a group of lemon traders, went to Labdanguri market in Salbari sub-division from Barpeta district yesterday evening but did not return. "It is suspected that they have been kidnapped by the NDFB-S (National Democratic Front of Bodoland-Songbijit) militants," a senior home department official said here. Following the incident, curfew was clamped in the area for an indefinite period to prevent any untoward incidents. The police and CRPF jawans were pressed into a search operation. The Army has also been called in and kept on standby to maintain a strict vigil in the communally sensitive Baksa district. The four missing persons were as Bakar Ali (13), Saddam Ali (13), Ataur Rahman (27) and Rahul Amin (45). Two districts of the BTC area - Baksa and Kokrajhar -- witnessed a spell of communal violence in which 50 persons were killed in May this year.
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Hunger strike did not help me, says Kejriwal
New Delhi, July 12 A group of teachers from All Guest Teachers Association teaching in different government schools and paid on daily basis, have been sitting on a dharna for around three weeks. They have been demanding renewal of the services of around 10,200 teachers, increase the age limit to be eligible for selection under the scheme and fix a permanent salary for the group. A small group among them have called fast unto death
unless their demands are met. Kejriwal met them and persuaded them to end the fast. When the protesting teachers asked what the former Delhi Chief Minister could do for them, he said he could join them on dharna, but this would not help achieve any purpose. "Hunger strike wont help you. Don't trouble your body. I used to do this for 15 days and then I finally decided to enter politics," Kejriwal told the protesting teachers at Jantar Mantar here. "It looks like by sitting here you wont get any respite by the BJP government. You should meet the Lt Governor or the
Minister." — PTI
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HSGPC political drama by Congress: Badal
Chandigarh/Mohali, July 12 By dividing the SGPC, Badal said the Congress would have to pay dearly for ‘playing dirty politics’ and interfering in the affairs of the Sikhs. Talking to The Tribune on the sidelines of a function here, Badal said: “This is the third attack on the Sikhs by the Congress, after the Operation Bluestar and anti-Sikh riots in 1984. What are they (Congress) trying to do? They are reversing all reforms that were introduced in gurdwaras in the early 1920s. Our ancestors gave their lives to wrest control of the gurdwaras from the British. The Congress is unnecessarily meddling in the Sikh religious affairs, which is not acceptable,” he said. Badal said the Congress would not be able to convert it into votes and lose badly in Haryana. “The protagonists of the movement had been rejected by Haryana Sikhs in the last General Elections. The Bill will never become an Act. It is totally unconstitutional,” he said. Denying legal recourse, the Chief Minister said: “There is no need. It is a Central Act and cannot be amended by the state government.” While inaugurating a new building of the Punjab Mandi Board in Mohali, he said: “The so-called secularism of the party (Congress) has been exposed.” He said the help of the Centre would be sought as the Bill needed to be approved by the President.
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Hooda: Respect Haryana Sikhs’ sentiments
Chandigarh, July 12 Reacting to Badal’s statement raising questions about the legal validity of separate SGPC for Haryana, Hooda said: “I have nothing to do what Badal has said and added that separate Sikh body is being constituted under legal framework. The Haryana Vidhan Sabha has power to pass a Bill for a separate SGPC.” When asked to comment when the HSGPC would become functional in the state, Hooda said the Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras Management Bill, 2014, would become an Act after getting nod from the Governor and thereafter further
process (for its formation) would be initiated.
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CPM asks Centre to allocate funds for sub-plan for SC
New Delhi, July 12 Stating that the Census 2011 had pegged the population of Scheduled Castes at 16.6 per cent of the total population of the country, CPM Politburo member K Varadharajan, in a letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, said 16.6 per cent of the plan outlay should be allocated for SCSP. Varadharajan said the Sub Plan mandates setting apart a proportion of total Plan outlay of the Centre and state governments equivalent to the population proportion of SCs at the respective levels for their development. "The actual allocation in this budget is Rs. 50,548 crores and Rs. 32,387 crores for SCs and STs respectively. The total plan allocation also declined in real terms roughly by 4 per cent," he added. Alleging that there have been several cases of diversion of SCSP funds for purposes such as construction of flyovers, Commonwealth Games, Varadharajan stressed on the need for a legislation to provide statutory backing to the provisions of the SCSP. He also asked the government to ensure that the allocated funds are spent for the development of Dalits, are not diverted for other purposes and also to "see that they do not lapse".
— PTI
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Ministers to occupy bungalows by July-end
New Delhi, July 12 "Some 25 bungalows occupied by UPA ministers have been vacated and handed over to us. It will take about two-three weeks to complete the ongoing repair work including white-wash and then these will be ready for new allottees to occupy," CPWD Director General VK Gupta said today. The Directorate of Estate has allotted Type VIII and Type VII bungalows to 35 ministers, out of which nine would continue to stay in their old addresses as these have been regularised. Almost all senior ministers including Home Minister Rajnath Singh, FM Arun Jaitley, Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and Civial Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju have been allotted houses.
— PTI
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Mars orbiter spacecraft to reach target in 75 days
Bangalore, July 12 MOM's Mars Orbit Insertion is planned exactly 75 days from today, ISRO said in a post on the mission's Facebook page. In the last crucial milestone on June 11, ISRO performed the second Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre (TCM-2) on the orbiter as a mid-course correction to keep the spacecraft on course. The ambitious Mars mission under a Rs. 450 crore project was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on November 5th with an aim to reach the red planet's atmosphere by
September 24. — PTI
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7 injured in Manipur blast
Imphal, July 12 “Unidentified militants triggered a blast in front of the Manipur University in Imphal around 9.30 am in the morning (Saturday) injuring seven people, including a six-year-old boy,” Manipur Police spokesman L. Momon told IANS. None of the injured are critical. The blast took place at Langthanbal, 10 km from Imphal. Senior officials have rushed to the spot but no arrests have been made yet. The entire area has been cordoned-off and is being searched for the militants. No militant outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the blast.
— IANS
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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today promised more concessions in income tax when the economy improves.
“We do not want a high taxation regime. It was because of the high taxation regime of the previous government that inflation rose.
“I think there was never a Union Budget since 1947, which gave relief up to Rs 50,000 across all three classes of tax payers — right from lower to the middle and higher income brackets,” he told to a national new channel. The Finance Minister said had the government more money in its coffers, he would have given more reliefs. “May be, if the government has more money tomorrow, I will raise (reliefs),” he said.
A day-long Telangana bandh called today in protest against the passage in the Lok Sabha of a Bill to transfer some mandals of the newly created state to Andhra Pradesh to aid the construction of the Polavaram project, went off peacefully, police said today.
New Delhi, July 12
Chandigarh/Mohali, July 12
Chandigarh, July 12
Gandhinagar, July 12
Giriraj records statement: