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Modi, Abe set to take defence ties to new
high
Black money pursuit |
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AAP says Shah taking decisions for Delhi LG
Bhutan police’s first dog squad trains at ITBP centre
Shah in Kerala as BJP struggles to find foothold in state
A dancer who fought odds and made his mark
Posting of choice for award-winning CRPF
non-gazetted officers
Capital concern for Andhra as panel against focus on one city
BJP committee to help govt roll out social schemes
Adopt measures to boost air links, Centre tells states
Patil pens memoirs, makes no mention of 26/11
UP Cong says won’t go for Bihar-like ‘maha’ alliance
Cong-NCP fissures
surface in Maharashtra
Time for change: New toilets for poor, crime-hit UP village
Gujarat zoos to boost breeding
Coal scam
Lt Gen Mathews new GOC of 12 Corps Jodhpur
2G scam: Crucial hearing in SC
tomorrow
DMK chief against move to celebrate ‘Guru Utsav’
Many feared trapped in Kolkata stair collapse
RGV booked for tweets on Lord Ganesh
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Modi, Abe set to take defence ties to new
high
Tokyo, August 31 Modi flew to Tokyo this evening after an overnight stay in the historic city of Kyoto where he visited two ancient Buddhist temples with Abe accompanying him in a significant gesture. During his hectic schedule in Kyoto on the second day of his five-day visit to Japan, Modi also sought Japanese help to fight the deadly sickle cell anemia commonly found among tribals in India when he went to the stem cell research facility of Kyoto University and got a positive response. Modi (63) and Abe (59), who share cordial relations and hit it off well in Kyoto, will have a substantive summit agenda. Setting the tone for their formal Summit tomorrow, Modi and Abe last night met at a dinner hosted by the latter and spoke about a "strong and robust future" for the bilateral ties. A new chapter is expected to be opened in India-Japan ties when the two leaders will focus on enhancing cooperation in the fields of defence and infrastructure, besides boosting trade and investment. The two sides are expected to agree to launch a security consultative framework involving their foreign and defence ministers and sign an agreement to jointly produce rare earths that could be exported to Japan, while discussing ways to elevate the strategic and global partnership to a new level. Japan already has a security consultative framework with the US, Australia, Russia and France. "In the field of defence and security, I feel time has come for us to upgrade our relations. I see in the recent changes in Japan's defence export policies and regulations a possibility to engage in a new era of cooperation in high-end defence technology and equipment," Modi had said in an interview to Japanese media ahead of the visit. On the economic front, Abe is expected to push for use of Japan's shinkansen bullet train technology as India plans to build a train network between Mumbai and Ahmadabad. Discussions are also expected to focus on civil nuclear cooperation and help by Japan in improving India's infrastructure, particularly the railways, and cleaning of river Ganga. On the second day of his visit, Modi, clad in all-white kurta pyjama, sleeveless jacket and white sandals, offered prayers at the two prominent Buddhist temples in Kyoto - Toji and Kinkakuji. He first went to Toji Temple, which is inspired by the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh of Hindu philosophy and is a World Heritage site. Modi was at the temple complex for about half-an-hour during which he enquired about the history of the eighth-century Buddhist pagoda. While leaving the complex, Modi thanked Abe for accompanying him to the temple and spending time with him. Abe, on his part, told Modi that this was only the second time that he had visited Toji temple, the last being during his student days. Abe had specially come to Kyoto from Tokyo to meet Modi and be with him. The Japanese Prime Minister rarely greets a foreign leader outside the national capital. In Kinkakuji, Modi mingled with tourists, pulled ears of a child and posed for photographs with people.
— PTI Japan to push for bullet train tech
Modi as pilgrim at Toji
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Foreign clients move Rs 25 lakh crore
away from Swiss banks
Zurich/New Delhi, August 31 While there are no specific data for money that could be of Indians, this includes outflows to the tune of 100 billion Swiss francs that are related to fine payments in the context of declaration of untaxed money, as per a new study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The study, conducted by the Swiss unit of global consultancy giant PwC, has analysed annual reports of 90 private banking institutions in Switzerland, as also the other public data, including that of Swiss National Bank (SNB). “We estimate that around 350 billion Swiss francs in net assets under management from foreign-domiciled private clients have left Switzerland in the last six years,” PwC said. “Overall, we estimate that up to 100 billion Swiss francs net new money outflows are related to fine payments in the context of the declaration of untaxed money,” it said. This leaves outflows to the tune of 250 billion Swiss francs from accounts of clients that have ultimately terminated their relationship with banks in Switzerland and transferred their money back to their home countries or to another financial centre, the study found. Switzerland has been facing intense pressure from various countries, including India, in the recent years amid a global crackdown on the famed secrecy walls of Swiss banks which are perceived to have made them safe haven for black money. The Alpine nation has been forced to revise its tax treaties with India and many other jurisdictions to enhance its information exchange framework, resulting in a major outflow of client money from Swiss banks. As per the latest data from the Swiss central banking authority SNB, foreign clients’ money in Swiss banks declined to a record low of 1.32 trillion Swiss francs (over Rs 90 lakh crore) in 2013. However, Indian clients; money in Swiss banks rose by over 40% during the year to nearly Rs 14,000 crore after decline for past few years. The quantum of Indian funds in Swiss banks stood at a record high level of 6.5 billion Swiss francs at the end of 2006, but it declined by more than 4 billion Swiss francs after four straight years of fall till 2010. SNB's official figures, however, does not include the money that Indians or others might have in Swiss banks in the names of entities from different countries. India has also constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe cases of alleged black money of Indians, including funds stashed abroad in places like Switzerland. — PTI Findings of PwC study
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AAP says Shah taking decisions for Delhi LG
New Delhi, August 31 The reaction comes in the wake of the LG's view that elections in Delhi would hamper the work and other developmental activities that would come to a halt for two months. In this context, party leader Manish Sisodia took on the LG and reportedly said, "Amit Shah is taking decisions for LG." According to him, an elected government is solution-oriented, whereas the current executive administration is functioning from a closed room and there is no room for public of Delhi to participate. It is not people-oriented and suffers from its own limitations, he said, while noting that when AAP was in power people of Delhi were allowed to meet the representatives of the government and they had a say. The AAP has impressed upon the LG several times for holding fresh elections but the LG has not taken any decision on dissolution of the Legislative Assembly, said the party. Even the BJP has not come out clear on its stand on dissolution of Delhi Assembly knowing well that winning the number of seats it did last time during the Assembly polls would not be easy. The party had also been accusing the BJP of horse-trading with the latest being allegations levelled by AAP leader Kumar Vishwas that he was offered the Delhi Chief Ministerial post by one of the newly elected MPs of the BJP in Delhi. To which the BJP had countered saying that the AAP leader's allegations were mere publicity stunts. "People are with the AAP now and they have seen the difference between dreams that the BJP had sold and the reality. Survey has pointed that even people are favouring fresh elections in the national Capital but the BJP is scared of losing and so it is not taking a call on fresh polls," the party said. Delhi had been under President's rule after AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal resigned as the CM.
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Bhutan police’s first dog squad trains at ITBP centre
Chandigarh, August 31 This is for the first time that any Indian police dog training centre is training canines for a foreign police force. The move is being undertaken as a goodwill gesture without involving any costs, after the Bhutan Government made a request to India for training their dogs in specific counter-narcotics and anti-sabotage tasks. Bhutan Police team’s senior member Sonam Chogay said all five dogs were Labradors that had been procured from dog-breeding centres in India. Two of the dogs recently returned to Bhutan after completing their training while the others were expected to stay on for about two more months. NCTD, which trains dogs for the ITBP as well as other paramilitary organisations and state police forces, is being upgraded with additional infrastructure and training aids. Twenty new kennels at the centre were inaugurated by the Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju today, taking the total number to 60. Each kennel is a “two-room set” with an open enclosed area and an adjoining room with a cot. Besides training conventional police dog breeds like Labrador, German Shepherd and Doberman, NCTD has also introduced the Belgian Shepherd, which is used by allied forces in Afghanistan and was part of the SEAL team that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. The first batch of 15 Belgian Shepherds has been deployed by the ITBP in anti-naxal operations and another 15 such dogs, in addition to other breeds, are undergoing training at the centre. The training curriculum at NCTD is six months for sniffer dogs and nine months for trackers. Dogs trained here have been deployed on security duties for high profile events like Independence Day and Republic Day as well as the swearing in ceremony for the Prime Minister at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
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Shah in Kerala as BJP struggles to find foothold in state
Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 31 Shah will attend a meet of state office-bearers tomorrow morning and address a larger convention of over 6,000 party functionaries, party sources said. He is expected to discuss strategy to help the BJP expand support base and make electoral gains with special emphasis on the need for strengthening the party at village level. Shah will seek the blessings of Lord Sree Padmanabhaswamy of the famed temple here tomorrow before holding the meeting of the party’s state executive at Vazhuthacad Guest House and addressing the meet of village panchayat pramukhs, sources close to him said. The party is looking with new hope at the southern state, where the Left
and the Congress have alternatively been in power all along, hoping to sell
the development model of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Significantly, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has been in Kerala for the last few days, mostly interacting with senior state functionaries of the outfit. Shah’s visit also assumes significance against the backdrop of factional tussles in the state and the internal debate over luring allies in Kerala, whose polity has been dominated by rival coalitions led by the Congress and the CPM. According to political observers, though the BJP has grown in membership and support base in the state over the years, it still finds it difficult to attract smaller parties as allies. This is especially so since the Muslims and Christian minorities are key factors in deciding the electoral outcome in most constituencies and the two fronts have been successful in wooing them. Though certain sections in the BJP in the state are not averse to reaching out to a party like Christian-dominated Kerala Congress (M) seizing on the “goodwill” created by Modi Government at the Centre, this suggestion has met with cold response from a dominant section in the state leadership.
— PTI
Looking South
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A dancer who fought odds and made his mark
Hyderabad, August 31 Breaking cultural stereotypes Now, Khan is on a mission to popularize the traditional dance form of Andhra Pradesh. The moment he makes an appearance on the stage, in a traditional woman’s attire and make-up, the artiste in him takes over him completely. “For me it is a passion, the very essence of my life. However, it did not come without a cost. There were several hurdles - from family, community and friends, but I realized that to achieve something, there had to be sacrifices,” he says. Khan, whose family originally hails from Ongole in coastal Andhra Pradesh, is now working on a documentary on Kuchipudi to bridge the gap between the traditional dance form and the present generation interests of the youth. “There is a sense of disconnect between classical arts and people. I want to bring people closer to the dance form through my performance and the documentary. The youth should be made more culturally aware. Documenting Kuchipudi and art forms in general is necessary. I would be profiling artistes who are preserving the legacy of dance,” he said. Khan has just returned from a whirlwind 50-day, six-state tour of the United States where he staged 10 performances for various cultural organizations, including the American Telugu Association (ATA) and also conducted 20-odd workshops on the intricacies of Kuchipudi, a classical dance that orginated in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh. So, how did the unlikely journey begin for this devout Muslim? “I was a restless kid, like any other child, during my school days till a friend told me when I was in my first year of Intermediate that I could learn classical dance from a lady teacher. She wouldn’t take me in because I was an adult. But I was relentless in my pursuit and she finally gave in but it did not last long. Later, I was introduced to K V Subrahmanyam Garu in Guntur who became my guru,” the HR consultant-turned-full time dancer reminisced. Reflecting on the hurdles he faced along the way to becoming an exponent of Kuchipudi, Khan said he faced more downs than ups in the form of resistance, including from his parents and community. “I did not tell my parents that I was learning Kuchipudi since it would not have gone down well with them. In fact, they were totally unaware of my passion for seven years. I even changed my name to ‘Hari’ while giving performances,” he said, adding that he has even given dance performances in temples during festivals. “I finally realised that I could not hide my passion with my parents for long, and sent some media persons to my house. My parents, however, denied that I was into Kuchipudi. I then decided to call them up and reveal the truth and tell them about my achievements. They were surprised but they continued to persuade me to give up dancing,” Khan, who has performed in Malaysia, Singapore and Pakistan, said. “To be fair to my parents, they never said it was ‘Haraam’ but wanted me to give up Kuchipudi since they were spiritual. But my passion for the classical dance art form would not allow me to give it up,” says Khan, who describes himself as a faithful and a ‘Namaazi’ who has not done anything wrong or harmed or hurt anyone with his love for Kuchipudi. “I believe in Islam but I cannot disrespect dance,” says Khan, who has over 800 solo and group performances under his belt. Khan, who has won several national awards, has also choreographed several shows, including ‘Yaad-e-Maazee,’ (dances choreographed to the poetry of Abul Hasan Tana Shah, Mohd Quli Qutb Shah with ghazals and shairis presented in a novel way), and ‘Rhyme & Rhythm,’ (English poetry blending with Indian dance with works of English poets like Keats.
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Posting of choice for award-winning CRPF
non-gazetted officers
New Delhi, August 31 Seventyone gallantry medals were conferred on the CRPF personnel, four of them posthumously, for their acts of bravery in India’s Left Wing Extremism-affected areas and counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast. On the sidelines of the event, Trivedi said the Ministry of Home Affairs would increase the reward on the information leading to the arrest, capture or death in an encounter of the most wanted Maoist leaders to Rs 1 crore and above for each leader across the Maoist-affected states. He said this would help in gaining intelligence from the locals. The matter was discussed at a meeting he attended with the Home Secretary and senior police officers of the Chhattisgarh. Each of the 64 awardees and the wife of late Constable Sunny Salathiya, who was decorated with the Police Medal for Gallantry posthumously, was presented a plaque and a letter of appreciation. “It is a commitment, training and discipline that push them to perform such tasks,” he said. Trivedi said the welfare measures for the family of the CRPF men killed in action include a financial package. The next of the kin will be given 80 per cent of the amount, while the parents will be given 20 per cent. The wife of the awardee will also be given employment in the CRPF, depending on the financial conditions of his family. Trivedi said the non-gazetted officers, who have been conferred gallantry medals, deserve another incentive. “After they receive their medals at a formal parade, their next posting will be as per their choice,” he said.
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Capital concern for Andhra as panel against focus on one city
Hyderabad, August 31 Development of a capital city has become an emotional issue of sorts in Seemandhra as the region was first separated from the composite Madras state (after Independence) and, now, post the formation of the separate Telangana state, AP has been rendered without a capital of its own. The ruling TDP has promised to build a capital city of world class standards, which would be accessible from all the regions of the state. The report of the Centre-appointed committee, headed by former Union Urban Development Secretary KC Sivaramakrishnan, was submitted to the Union Home Ministry a couple of days back and made public last night. The committee was appointed on March 28 this year (at the time of the formation of separate Telangana) and had been asked to submit its report by today. The report is expected to be discussed soon by the state Cabinet. Media reports, meanwhile, claimed that the report has disappointed the TDP government as it had favoured the Vijayawada region for being developed as the AP capital. The decision in this regard is to be made by the state government. The committee took note of the speculation that the capital could come up in the Vijayawada region because of its centrality. It, however, found no merit in the argument of centrality. “That is mainly due to the common perception that the area is geographically central, lying between the Uttarandhra (north Andhra) coast and Rayalaseema, and well-connected. “This connectivity, centrality and proximity are attractive concepts, but need not be the only ones for guiding development. In other states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra or West Bengal this geographical centrality does not exist,” the report said.
— PTI What committee says
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BJP committee to help govt roll out social schemes
New Delhi, August 31 The move, BJP sources said, was a conscious strategy to ensure that benefits of welfare programmes being launched by the government reach everyone and the party wants to avoid the repeat of the previous NDA regime when many welfare programmes could not help the poor as they were not publicised well. BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi while describing the new coordination initiative said, “The unprecedented success of the just launched Jan Dhan scheme is also due to party’s active participation in creating awareness about the initiative.” “As against the original target of bank accounts, we managed to open double the numbers on the launch of the scheme because we had already spread a word around about the launch of the initiative,” he said. The committee formed to ensure that government programmes reach grassroots comprises Union Ministers Ananth Kumar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goel and Smriti Irani on the government side and BJP leaders Naqvi, JP Nadda, Ram Lal and Bhupendra Yadav. The mandate of the committee is to achieve better coordination between the party and the government in publicising new schemes and to get the best possible results, Naqvi said. The BJP leader also said that the publicity of government schemes would be on the lines of party’s campaign to seek votes. “Just as we go to people to ask for their votes during elections, we will go to them seeking their participation in government schemes and programmes,” said Naqvi. He said the BJP is taking no chances this time considering the during the previous NDA regime under Atal Behari Vajpayee, schemes initiated by the government could not reach the grassroots due to slackened government machinery. The BJP’s move comes at a time when the principal opposition Congress is blaming poor marketing of its UPA Government’s programmes as the single largest factor behind the party dismal Lok Sabha performance.
— PTI
Will ensure better coordination
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Adopt measures to boost air links, Centre tells states
New Delhi, August 31 It also wants the state governments to waive electricity and municipal charges such as house and property taxes for five years for airport infrastructure. The Civil Aviation Ministry has also identified 87 regional “incentive destinations” and made it mandatory for scheduled airlines to mount capacity “which is at least equal to the capacity deployed on trunk routes” by October 2015. The scheduled airlines would have to deploy at least 6% of their capacity on trunk routes connecting newly identified destinations such as Srinagar, Leh and Jammu. A draft policy to promote regional and remote area connectivity says the development of airport in strategic and remote areas by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) would be guided by “the support provided by state governments”. In order to promote air connectivity across the country as a priority, the ministry has proposed a major shift in the route dispersal policy, promising airlines which fly to these regions exemption from various charges and other incentives. The new policy aims at encouraging airlines to operate to airports in remote and strategic areas where infrastructure has been developed for operations but have remained unserved or were under-served. The government plans to offer the airlines concessions and incentives or provide viability gap funding for such operations and making it obligatory for the carriers to fly to such destinations.
— PTI
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Patil pens memoirs, makes no mention of 26/11
New Delhi, August 31 In a pedantic account “Odyssey of My Life”, Patil provides a recount of his journey in politics besides his views on issues such as education, marriage laws, energy conservation and technology. In the chapter titled “Home Minister”, he describes the functions of the Home Ministry and its powers, Centre-state relations, state police forces, terrorism and Naxalism. On terror attacks in the country, he merely writes, “On one pretext or the other, some forces from inside and outside the country tried to disturb some areas of the country. But they could be tackled and dealt with by using persuasion, political sagacity and the skill and might of the armed forces.” He makes no mention of the Mumbai attacks that cost him his job. However, he is a little expansive while writing on the Kandahar plane hijack incident of 1999 during the NDA government’s rule. Patil says, “A terrorist was released from jail and sent to Kabul in a government aircraft, escorted by the Foreign Minister (Jaswant Singh). It was done to save the lives of the passengers on a plane hijacked by a terrorist group.” He says it was not difficult for the Congress to understand the dilemma in which the government had found itself but it could not understand why it was necessary for the Minister to escort him, so the government was criticised for what it did.
— PTI
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UP Cong says won’t go for Bihar-like ‘maha’ alliance
Lucknow, August 31 “The situation of the party was not so bad even after 1989 when it lost power in Uttar Pradesh. It was only after the alliance with the BSP in 1996 that the Congress decline set in” claimed Khatri. Khatri said he had written a letter to the Election Commission drawing its attention to the Samajwadi Party government in the state “misusing” the official machinery for its advantage during the by polls. “Three to four ruling party ministers are camping in every constituency going for polls putting pressure on the pradhans and the quotedaars (ration shop owners) to muster support for the party”, Khatri alleged. Responding to a question on why Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi were not campaigning in UP, Khatri claimed that they never campaign in bypolls. Khatri announced the Congress’ programme to take out ‘protest marches’ in every district headquarters on September 2 to draw attention to the NDA government’s reported failure to deliver on
its poll promises.
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Cong-NCP fissures
surface in Maharashtra
Mumbai, August 31 “The Congress has called candidates for interviews,” a party source said. On Saturday, Maharashtra Congress president Manikrao Thakre said the party had interviewed candidates for 174 seats which it had contested in the last Assembly elections. The NCP is demanding more number of seats on the ground that it had performed better than the Congress in the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections. Senior Congress leaders such as Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan are, however, keen on working out a compromise by yielding a few more seats for its regional ally. Chavan had recently said that the Congress was unlikely to give more than 121 seats to the NCP. He had also said the NCP
was not a trustworthy ally and often backed rebel candidates in seats where the Congress fielded candidates. Leaders of both parties say they are under pressure from their allies to go it alone in the elections. Meanwhile, the central leadership of both parties is expected to meet in New Delhi to finalise seat-sharing arrangements. “The meeting is expected soon after the dates for elections are announced,” a source said. Congress interviews candidates for polls
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Time for change: New toilets for poor, crime-hit UP village
Katra Shahadatganj, August 31 Sanitation charity Sulabh International handed over the brightly coloured structures to cheering villagers in Uttar Pradesh state, just weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced every household should have a toilet within four years. Defecating in the open is a major social and health issue in India, particularly for millions of women who face harassment and assault when venturing after dark into village fields to squat. “The toilets will give our lives a new meaning,” said Premwati Devi, a 45-year-old mother of five, at the unveiling ceremony in Katra Shahadatganj village. “We now won’t have to wait until dark to relieve ourselves. We can use the toilet as and when we want to,” she told AFP, standing proudly next to the blue and pink painted facility outside her thatched-roof hut. More than 500 million Indians defecate outdoors, according to the World Bank, particularly in poor, rural areas such as Badaun district in Uttar Pradesh, leaving them exposed to diseases. The village of Katra Shahadatganj in Badaun was thrown into the spotlight in May when two teenage girls were found hanging from a tree after they were thought to have gone outside to relieve themselves. The police are investigating whether the cousins, aged 14 and 12, were gang-raped before they were lynched, sparking uproar that echoed the fatal gang-rape of a student on a New Delhi bus in December 2012. The CBI has not yet laid formal charges against anyone in the case. In his Independence Day speech earlier this month, Modi spoke of the indignity facing women who still have to wait until the cover of darkness to go outside and defecate. “Can you imagine the number of problems they have to face because of this?” he said. Spurred on by Modi’s comments, Sulabh donated the toilets — which cost about 45,000 rupees ($700) each to build — to homes in the village with plans for more. “After a survey we have found some 400 households in adjoining villages don’t have a toilet. We will cover these households in the next stage,” said Bindeshwar Pathak, who founded Sulabh.
— PTI Gets 100 toilets in 1st lot
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Gujarat zoos to boost breeding
Ahmedabad, August 31 The Ahmedabad zoo has sought the permission of the central zoo authority for the “breeding loan exchange” programme for which initially it wanted to exchange animals and birds among Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat zoos for diversified breeding. According to a spokesman of the Ahmedabad zoo, the proposal has been made after noticing that “in-breeding” within the same families often reduced the immunity power among the second-generation breeds and exposed them to various diseases. In captivity, the second generation of the males and females among the birds and animals mated their own blood relations and the products from such mating often become susceptible to diseases. The Ahmedabad zoo has proposed that during the mating seasons, a set of birds and animals from Ahmedabad zoo would be sent to the Surat zoo under the programme. Each of the birds and animals under the exchanged programme would be marked clearly and sent back to the original zoos after the mating season. The products born out of such exchange of mating would be shared between the two zoos. This would ensure that each generation and each time the birds and animals would have the opportunity of mating with a different breed and improve the productivity. To begin with, the Ahmedabad zoo has proposed to start the programme with some pairs of foxes and a few pairs of parrots on an experimental basis. Centre’s nod sought
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Coal scam
New Delhi, August 31
According to sources in the agency, the counsel had been briefed about its stand which includes informing the apex court about "certain moles" in the probe agency who were providing documents to people outside. The leaked papers were twisted by vested interests to suit their alleged motive of delaying the trial, the sources said and made it clear that the CBI was in no way trying to put any impediment in the judicial process. The agency is also likely to inform the Supreme Court about the progress made in the Tata-Unitech deal, in which the agency has registered a Preliminary Enquiry and also sought a report of Serious Fraud Investigating Office under Ministry of Corporate Affairs which had claimed that Unitech was a front company for the Tata group in securing 2G spectrum licence. The CBI counsel may also inform the apex court about the alleged failure on part of the agency's probe team in not probing the case, the sources said. On the directions of the Supreme Court, the CBI has already handed over all relevant documents and records to senior counsel K K Venugopal about an opinion given by CBI Director Ranjit Sinha in response to a plea filed by Reliance Telecom Ltd (RTL) seeking quashing of case against it. The CBI Director opined that the agency had not taken an opinion of Law and Justice Ministry which had claimed that there was no case made out against RTL as the company had quit Swan Telecom before it was allocated the spectrum.
— PTI Facts manipulated: The CBI is likely to inform the court about the alleged manipulation of facts by vested interests to delay the ongoing trial in the 2G scam.
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Lt Gen Mathews new GOC of 12 Corps Jodhpur
As a Major General, he commanded a division in Sikkim and was responsible for coordinating relief and reconstruction work after the 2011 September earthquake. He had the privilege of serving in the Army’s training institutions — twice at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, as a Captain and later as a Major General; as the Deputy Commandant and as a Lieutenant Colonel at the Infantry School, Mhow; as a Colonel at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, and later at Officers Training Academy,
Chennai.
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2G scam: Crucial hearing in SC tomorrow New Delhi, August 31 According to sources in the agency, the counsel had been briefed about its stand which includes informing the apex court about "certain moles" in the probe agency who were providing documents to people outside. The leaked papers were twisted by vested interests to suit their alleged motive of delaying the trial, the sources said and made it clear that the CBI was in no way trying to put any impediment in the judicial process. The agency is also likely to inform the Supreme Court about the progress made in the Tata-Unitech deal, in which the agency has registered a Preliminary Enquiry and also sought a report of Serious Fraud Investigating Office under Ministry of Corporate Affairs which had claimed that Unitech was a front company for the Tata group in securing 2G spectrum licence.
— PTI
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DMK chief against move to celebrate ‘Guru Utsav’
Chennai, August
31 “This morning I read a newspaper report that the Central Government has issued a circular to celebrate Teacher’s Day (September 5) as Guru Utsav hereafter. We have been celebrating Teacher’s Day for several years. This is an apt example of hatching a conspiracy to downgrade Tamil language and those who made sacrifices for it’s welfare”, he said. The DMK patriarch, who attended the marriage of the daughter of former Assembly secretary M Selvaraj here, noted that the ceremony was held as per Tamil culture and requested everyone to work for the welfare of Tamil and the cause of Tamil society.
— PTI
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Many feared trapped in Kolkata stair collapse
Kolkata, August 31 However, there was no news of any casualty or injury in the incident, a senior police officer said. Fire Brigade officers said three fire tenders have already rushed to the area near Prem Chand Baral street along with a team of the Disaster Management Department of the state government and Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to rescue the persons trapped inside the building. "Even as some people have been rescued with the help of a ladder by the Fire Brigade and Disaster Management Personnel, but several others are feared trapped," Fire Brigade officers said. The area has been cordoned off to conduct the rescue operation safely, the police officers said.
— PTI
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Tokyo, August 31
Describing state governments as major stakeholders in improving air connectivity in the hinterland, the Centre wants them to take certain financial measures such as slashing VAT on jet fuel uplifted by airlines and underwriting of some seats to encourage aviation growth.
Katra Shahadatganj, August 31
New Delhi, August 31