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27 die in U’khand rain, cloudbursts
Navy’s largest warship lacks missile punch
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PM concerned over stalled SEZ projects
Modi’s I-Day speech pedestrian: Oppn
‘If planning panel goes, who’ll monitor 12th Plan’
Need to change high inflation, low growth scenario: Jaitley
Bypoll on Sept 13 to seats vacated by Modi, Mulayam
Civil services exam
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27 die in U’khand rain, cloudbursts Dehradun, August 16 Twelve persons died in Pauri Garhwal district, while seven persons were killed in Dehradun. One person died in Pithoragarh district. Nearly four cloudbursts occurred in Pauri over the past two days. Three persons died at Diyuli and Dhamanda villages in Yamkeshwar tehsil of Pauri district, while two others died at Dibogi village. Two houses were flattened. Two persons died at Naudi village in Kaljikhal block, while two more lost their lives at Parsoli village in Dwarikhal block of Pauri. Another four died in Simli Kuti. A landslide triggered by heavy rain killed seven persons, including four women, in Dehradun when three houses were buried in the mud and rocks on Saturday.
Flood situation grim in Assam
Flood situation in Assam today turned grim claiming the life of a child as the Brahmaputra and its tributaries inundated vast tracts of land in Upper Assam and in the Kaziranga National Park following incessant rainfall in the catchment areas. The situation turned critical in Lakhimpur, Dhemaji and Sonitpur districts with a minor boy being washed away in Naoboicha area of Lakhimpur. In neighbouring Meghalaya, the North Eastern Space Application Centre (NESAC) sounded flood alerts in low lying areas of Meghalaya’s West Garo Hills district after incessant rains lashed the region in the past 48 hours. In Arunachal Pradesh, two children of a family were killed and another boy injured when a retention wall of BSNL fell over their dwelling at C Sector area of Itanagar during a landslide, the police said.
Flood warning in UP
With River Raptie in Uttar Pradesh flowing above the danger level, the Centre today issued a warning of “high flood situation”. “River Raptie in Balrampur district of UP is now flowing in high flood situation. At 8 am today, it was flowing at 104.79 metre with a rising trend,” said a statement issued by the Ministry of Water Resources.
Evacuation on in Bihar
Aid for Odisha victims
Expressing grief over the loss of lives in the recent floods in Odisha, PM Narendra Modi today announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased. (With agencies inputs)
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Navy’s largest warship lacks missile punch
Mumbai, New Delhi, August 16 This is the first of three destroyers which have been designed by the Naval Design Bureau and built at Mazgaon Docks Ltd, Mumbai. The Kolkata Class Destroyers, as they will be known, will weigh 6,000 tonnes and have an operating range of 15,000 km. The other ships in the series will be called INS Kochi and INS Chennai. However, INS Kolkata lacks a potent long-range missile – a primary weapon for such class of warships — that will strike down incoming airborne targets. Chinese Navy’s equivalent warships– Type 52D class destroyers, of which the first one, Kunming, commissioned this year — have the capacity to carry 64 long-range surface-to-air-missiles (LR-SAMs). Indian Navy’s LR-SAM, jointly built by India and Israel, is slated for a ‘hot test’ in September. This missile will be installed on board several Indian naval warships, including the newly acquired seaborne aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya and the Kolkata class of warships. “INS Kolkata, entirely built in India, is a symbol of our self-reliance in the field of defence. It is a worthy example of the country’s technical abilities and will send a strong message around the world,” Modi said at the event where the ship was commissioned. The Prime Minister hoped that the construction of INS Kolkata would be the first step towards indigenous defence building. “We have a vision to make India self-reliant so that we import now, but will be able to export in future,” Modi said. Sounding conciliatory towards India’s neighbours, Modi said India was not looking for war with anyone. “But we have to be alert and prepared — INS Kolkata will ensure safety of the people of this country,” Modi said. The Navy has fitted INS Kolkatta with Israel-made MF STAR, an advanced active array radar that can track incoming missiles and aircraft as far as 250 km away. The radar will guide the LR-SAM missiles when they are fitted. The delay in LR-SAM is due to upward revision of performance requirements mid-way during the development of the missile that included new technologies. However, the Kolkata class will carry 16 long-range BrahMos anti-ship missiles capable of striking targets 300 km away. However, it will be some time before the main air defense weapon of INS Kolkata becomes available for deployment.
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PM concerned over stalled SEZ projects
Mumbai, August 16 Modi, who laid the foundation stone of the port-led SEZ at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Navi Mumbai, said the government was concerned about the stalled projects. “We have set up a high-level committee to look into the problems faced by those setting up SEZs,” Modi said at the function. Regarding the importance of port-based SEZs across India’s coastal states Modi said the government has set up the ‘Sagarmala’ project. “It won’t be merely the development of ports but port-led development which would include ports, SEZs, rail, road, waterway and air connectivity to the hinterland,” Modi said. He further added that the port-led SEZs would have cold storage and warehousing facilities as well. The PM noted that two-thirds of all global trade and 50 per cent container trade happen through the Indian Ocean. “Ports can become gateways to India’s prosperity,” Modi said. The port-led SEZ at JNPT spread over 277 hectares is estimated to cost Rs 6,000 crore. According to JNPT, the project being developed via a special purpose vehicle over the next three years will create more than 1.5 direct and indirect jobs. Speaking on the need to grow exports, Modi said both the Centre and the states should focus on export promotion.
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Modi’s I-Day speech pedestrian: Oppn
New Delhi, August 16 The Congress itself spoke in two voices on the speech, which highlighted the challenges faced by the country in a simple way – something NCP’s leader DP Tripathi appreciated saying: “The PM spoke of the problems in a practical way. He didn’t make tall claims but suggested a feasible agenda laced with humility, modesty and national concerns. His fundamentals were in place.” While the NCP praised the PM, the Congress officially denounced the speech as visionless and ignorant of the challenges being faced by the marginalised sections – the minorities, SCs, STs and OBCs. — TNS
PM breaks tradition
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‘If planning panel goes, who’ll monitor 12th Plan’
New Delhi, August 16 Sucha Singh Gill, Director General, Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh, said he was not in favour of doing away with the Planning Commission. He said the existing structure of the body could be used by the new government to implement whatever new ideas it had and also put suitable people to carry out the mandate. Gill pointed out that it is not clear as to who will monitor the 12th Five Year Plan approved for
2012-17 if the Planning Commission is abolished. The 12th Plan has already been approved by the National Development Council (NDC) and the allotments for states and ministries have been done. Gill added that the decision has been taken in haste and the existing body could have carried out the mandate of the government. While the industry has broadly welcomed the announcement of a new body, it has pointed out that it should not be old wine in new bottle. DS Rawat, Secretary General, Assocham said the new institution to replace the Planning Commission should certainly not be old wine in a new bottle but a new paradigm with fresh thinking. Rawat said the chamber agreed with the Prime Minister’s game plan to replace with an institution which is more contemporary in chalking out a vision that reflects aspirations of today’s youth whether it is in education, health or employment. It is also true that the involvement of the states in working out the national priorities and goals is of paramount importance, given the fact that it is at that level implementation takes place, he added. Sidharth Birla, President, Ficci said: “We further hope that the new structure that replaces Planning Commission will provide a concrete direction towards broad-based development and its monitoring”, he added.
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Need to change high inflation, low growth scenario: Jaitley
Mumbai, August 16 Addressing office-bearers of the BJP here, Jaitley said high subsidies and populist measures by the previous UPA government were responsible for the poor economic growth. “If inflation is high then you begin at a point where growth is low. We need to change this situation. And, I believe that unless we find out the reasons which have led us to such a situation, it is difficult to solve it,” Jaitley said. He said the GDP growth had slowed down considerably. It grew at 4.5% and 4.7%, respectively in 2012-13 and 2013-14. “The manufacturing sector for one year was flat and another year it was negative. When manufacturing growth becomes negative, the customs and excise duties come down, government revenue also comes down, forcing it to borrow more,” Jaitley said. Releasing the vision document of the BJP ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections, Jaitley said there were 82 crore people in the country who did not need subsidies. He said doling out subsidies did not help the UPA government to return to power. As for accelerating growth, he said India must grow at over 8% annually. “When Chinese grew, they grew in double digits and their manufacturing growth took a curve at 12% and 14% per annum and jobs are created in the manufacturing sector…We only doled out funds, but didn’t create jobs or assets,” Jaitley said. The FM also called for providing incentives to mobilise savings and grow the ‘investment-starved’ insurance sector.
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Bypoll on Sept 13 to seats vacated by Modi, Mulayam
New Delhi, August 16 PM Modi, who won from Varanasi and Vadodara, resigned from the latter, while Yadav preferred to retain Azamgarh and vacating Mainpuri. Rao, who won the Medak seat resigned to become the first CM of the newly-created Telangana. Along with these, the EC also announced bypolls to 33 Assembly seats where vacancies have occurred. These include in the states of Andhra Pradesh (1), Assam (3), Chhattisgarh (1), Gujarat (9) Rajasthan (4), Sikkim (1), Tripura (1), UP (11) and WB (2). The schedule announced said the filing of nominations will begin on August 20 and close on August 27. — TNS
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Aspirants can skip English questions: Govt
New Delhi, August 16 “The Union Government has decided that for the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2014 to be held on August 24, this section on English Language Comprehension Skills (Class X level) will not count for gradation or merit,” it said in a release. Candidates must, therefore, note that they do not have to answer these questions. The maximum marks for paper II would be “200 minus the marks earmarked for the English Language Comprehension Skills”. — PTI
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Panaji New Delhi
Chaibasa (Jharkhand)
Kolkata
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Twenty-seven persons were killed and three others injured in incidents of cloudburst and heavy rain that lashed Uttarakhand over the past two days.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today commissioned India’s biggest indigenously built warship INS Kolkata into the Navy.
Thousands of people in Darbhanga, West Champaran and Nalanda districts of Bihar have been affected by floods after rivers flowing through these districts breached their embankments. Floods occurred in Darbhanga and West Champaran districts after breaches developed in the embankments of Kamla Balan and Gandak rivers, respectively, while in Nalanda it was due to the overflowing of Panchane River.
