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Capsule
K.V. Chowdary sworn
in as new CVC
New Delhi : K.V. Chowdary,
a former head of the Central
Board of Direct Taxes, was on
Wednesday sworn in as the
new Central Vigilance Commissioner by President Pranab
Mukherjee. Vijai Sharma, the
senior most information commissioner, was also sworn in
as the Chief Information Commissioner by the president.
Both Chowdary and Sharma
took the oath of office in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
KMC emerges as
national model for
e-services
Kolkata : The union urban development ministry has hailed
the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) for emerging as a
national role model in providing
e-services to citizens, city mayor Sovon Chatterjee said on
Wednesday. "Today (Wednesday), we received a letter from
the union urban development
ministry congratulating us for
our e-services. Our e-services
have emerged as a role model
for the entire country," Chatterjee said.
Mobile banking
goes to rural India
Bengaluru : State-run Canara
Bank's two sponsored regional
rural banks (RRBs) in Kerala
and Karnataka on Wednesday
launched an immediate payment service through the National Payments Corporation of
India (NPCI). "The innovative
facility will enable customers
of Kerala Gramin Bank and
Pragathi Krishna Gramin Bank
to send and receive payments
from their mobile handset
round-the-clock and throughout the year," NPCI chairman
M. Balachandran told reporters
here.
Iran supports Geneva peace talks
on Yemen
Tehran : Iran supports peace
talks among the conflicting
sides in Yemen to end the
bloodshed in the country, foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said on
Wednesday. "We hope that
the upcoming Geneva talks on
Yemen (on June 14) to be held
with the participation of all the
(Yemeni) sides," Afkham said,
adding that Iran supported the
talks without preconditions.
Indian woman
killed by compatriot, court told
Sydney : An Indian woman who
was killed in Australia in 2013
was strangled and stabbed by
her fiance's ex-lover, a court in
Australia was told on Wednesday. Hours after Manisha Patel, her fiance's ex-lover came
to her apartment, Purvi Joshi
was found dead with bruising
on her neck, a swollen face
and a knife sticking out of her
abdomen, the Sydney Morning
Herald reported.
'Maiden civil aviation policy soon'
New Delhi : The government
on Wednesday said that it
is giving final touches to the
country's maiden civil aviation
policy and other key guidelines
for the sector. According to a
senior civil aviation ministry
official, the maiden policy and
the subsequent revision or
scrapping of the 5/20 compliance rule for airlines are in the
final stages of completion.
ISSUE - 392 PRICE - Rs. 2/-
'More aggressive anti-terror
operations likely in future'
New Delhi : As the well-planned
and surgical strike against terror
camps across the India-Myanamar border sent a clear message
that New Delhi will not tolerate
the scourge, highly placed sources said on Wednesday that more
such operations could be mounted
in future if the situation warrants.
"More such attacks may take place
if there are intelligence inputs of a
threat (of the kind of attack June 4
in Manipur that claimed the lives
of 18 Indian Army soldiers and
injured many more). The forces
are always ready for such operations," a senior officer told IANS
on condition of anonymity as he
was not authorised to speak to the
media. The army got on to collecting intelligence soon after the
ambush on June 4. According to
sources, clearance for the operations came from the "highest level" and Army Chief Gen Daalbir
Singh postponed a visit to Britain
while National Security Adviser Ajit Doval cancelled plans to
go to Bangladesh with the prime
minister. According to sources,
Cabinet nod to India
joining convention
on oil spill damages
New Delhi : The union cabinet on
Wednesday approved the Ministry
of Shipping's proposal for India
to join the Bunker Convention to
ensure compensation for damages
caused by spills of oil when carried
as fuel in ship bunker. The decision
was taken at the cabinet meeting
chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The union cabinet today
(Wednesday) approved the Ministry of Shipping's proposal for India's accession to the International
Convention on Civil Liability for
Bunker Oil Pollution Damage,
2001, (Bunker Convention) of the
International Maritime Organisation [IMO]," an official release said.
It said that the cabinet also decided
to ament the Merchant Shipping
Act, 1958, to give effect to the Bunker Convention, Nairobi Convention and Salvage Convention. "The
Bunker Convention ensures adequate, prompt, and effective compensation for damage caused by
spills of oil, when carried as fuel in
ships' bunkers. The territorial jurisdiction for damage compensation
extends to territorial sea and exclusive economic zones. It applies
to an Indian vessel, wherever it is
situated, and to a vessel carrying
foreign flag while it is within Indian
jurisdiction," the release said.
Registered owner of every vessel
has to maintain compulsory insurance cover which allows claim for
compensation for pollution damage. Adopted in March 2001, the
Bunker Convention is in force internationally since November 2008
and maritime nations accounting
for 91 percent of world's shipping
tonnage are parties to the agreement. If India did not become a
party to Bunker Convention, ships
with the Indian flag visiting foreign ports would have to continue
with the present dispensation of
approaching foreign countries for
bunker insurance compliance certificates, the release pointed out.
The proposed amendments to the
Merchant Shipping Act of 1958
shall also give effect to the Nairobi
Wreck Removal Convention and
the Salvage Convention of the IMO
to which India is already a party.
It would facilitate more purposeful approach towards removal of
wrecks and salvage, protect Indian
waters from wreck hazards and introduce internationally recognised
and approved rules for removal of
wrecks, the release said.
elements of 21 Para (SF) of the
Parachute Regiment that carried
out the strike on Tuesday did not
suffer any losses but caused "significant casualties" among the ter-
Tibetan government-inexile's polls in
March, 2016
Dharamsala : Polls to elect a new
Tibetan government-in-exile will
be held in March 2016, it was announced here on Wednesday. "The
preliminary election for the Sikyong (political leader) and members
of the 16th Tibetan parliament will
be held on October 18. The final
election would be held on March
20,2016," chief election commissioner Sonam Choephel Shosur
told reporters here. He urged the
candidates to refrain from excessive campaigning in sensitive areas such as Nepal where the local
people are still recovering from a
severe natural tragedy. The general
election will elect the fourth political leader (earlier known as prime
minister) and the 16th Tibetan
parliament-in-exile, comprising 45
members. The 46-year-old Harvard educated Lobsang Sangay is
currently the political leader. He is
also the political successor of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
Ever since assuming power in August 2011, granting more autonomy
in Tibet "within the Chinese constitution", creating awareness on Tibet and educating the exiled youth
are among the other crucial issues
before Sangay.
No 'hot pursuit' in
Myanmar: Minister
New Delhi : There was no "hot
pursuit" in the military operation
against militants along the India-Myanmar border and it was
done with the consent of Myanmar
authorities, Minister of State for
Defence Rao Inderjit Singh said
on Wednesday. "We did not use
hot pursuit. We contacted Burma
(Myanmar) authorities before the
attack," Rao Inderjit said here.
The comment comes a day after
his colleague Rajyavardhan Singh
Rathore said Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered the "hot pursuit". Rathore on Tuesday said:
"Our prime minister ordered hot
pursuit in which two camps were
completely annihilated. While
the army carried out the strike,
helicopters were on stand by." Nitin Gadkari, a key minister in the
Modi cabinet, refused to comment
on the matter at a press conference
following a meeting of the union
cabinet. "It is clear we have zero
tolerance towards terror and terror
groups. The official spokesperson
of the military has given detailed
information about the action that
our military has done," Gadkari
said. "I do not have anything to say
beyond it." The army launched two
attacks at different points along
the Myanmar border and killed
several militants. The exact number has not been revealed. The
attack launched on Tuesday was
a response to the June 4 militant
ambush that killed 18 soldiers of
6 Dogra regiment. According to
informed sources, the militant
camps were situated a few kilometres inside Myanmar, something
which the Indian Army or the
defence ministry has not officially
confirmed. Minister of State for
Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, meanwhile, said the issue should not be
discussed in detail. "We must salute the work the army did... When
something is done in national interest, we must support it and not
discuss it in detail," he said.
rorists. Officially, the army has not
released figures for militants killed
in the attack but these are estimated to be between 15 and 25.
Sources said the camps that were
attacked were a few kilometers
inside Myanmar border, but refused to name the exact location.
"The camps were a few kilometers
inside the Myanmar border," the
sources told IANS. The paratroopers were flown to the target in the
indigenous Dhruv advanced light
helicopters. Additional Director
General of Military Operations
Maj. Gen. Ranbir Singh had said
on Tuesday that the Myanmarese
authorities were taken into confidence ahead of the attack. The
operation, done with surgical precision, lasted around 30 minutes
each, say sources and took place
between 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. on Tuesday while the surgical strike was
completed within 30 minutes.
THURSDAY 11 JUNE 2015
India's Q4 current
account deficit
plunges to $1.3 bn
Mumbai : India's current account
deficit narrowed sharply to $1.3 billion, or just 0.2 percent of GDP, on
the back of a fall in trade deficit in the
fourth quarter ended March, as compared to $8.2 billion in the previous
quarter ended December, it was announced on Wednesday.
The CAD was at a marginally higher
than $1.2 billion in the corresponding period in the previous year, the
Reserve Bank of India said. "The reduction in the CAD in Q4 2014-15
was primarily on account of lower
trade deficit as net earnings through
services and primary income (profit,
dividend and interest) witnessed a
decline in q-o-q (quarter-on-quarter) terms albeit secondary income
recorded a marginal increase of 0.4
percent," RBI said. The merchandise
trade deficit ($31.7 billion during
Q4 2014-15) fell sharply on a quarter-on-quarter basis on account of a
larger decline in imports (13.4 percent) than in exports (10.4 percent).
The balance of payments, at a surplus
of $$30.1 billion during the quarter in
question, was more than double the
$13.2 billion surplus in the previous
quarter, on the back of a sizeable increase in net financial flows. "During
Q4 of 2014-15, on a BoP basis, there
was highest ever net accretion of $30.1
billion to India's foreign exchange reserves in a single quarter; it was more
than double the accretion in the preceding quarter and almost four times
of the reserves accrued in Q4 of 201314 signifying record increase in capital
inflows and dip in current account
deficit," the RBI said. The trade deficit widened marginally in the fourth
quarter as exports declined 15.4 percent in the quarter in question over
the year-ago period as compared to
a 10.4 percent decline in imports. Net
inflows under the capital and financial
account (excluding change in foreign
exchange reserves) rose to $89.5 billion during 2014-15 from $48.7 billion in the previous year.
Andhra CM meets Modi, seeks
probe into phone tapping
New Delhi : Andhra Pradesh
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday met
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
to demand a probe into alleged
tapping of his phone by the Telangana government. During an
hour-long meeting, Naidu also
demanded law and order powers for the governor in common
capital Hyderabad to ensure effective implementation of thed
Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. Naidu, whose Telugu
Desam Party (TDP) is a partner
in BJP-led NDA government
at the Centre, sought a thorough probe, party sources said.
Naidu, the TDP chief, also met
Home Minister Rajnath Singh,
Urban Development Minister
M. Venkaiah Naidu, Finance
Minister Arun Jaitely and BJP
president Amit Shah. The meetings came a day after Andhra
Pradesh cabinet passed resolutions on phone-tapping and
on implementation of Section
8 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. Meanwhile, the
chief secretary and the director general of police of Andhra
Pradesh also met union home
Collegium recommended
names despite
adverse reports:
SC told
New Delhi : The government
on Wednesday told the Supreme
Court that the collegium recommended and reiterated the appointments of people as judges
despite adverse Intelligence Bureau reports and "severe" comments by its own judges questioning their ability and integrity in
some cases.
Attorney General (AG) Mukul
Rohatgi on Wednesday submitted to the court a list of a few
names running into 10 pages with
comments from the Intelligence
Bureau, the government and the
apex court judges to drive home
the point that when the collegium
insisted on such recommendations, the government was bound
to accept them. "Sometimes, we
are forced to choose somebody"
that the collegium has recommended and reiterated despite
adverse IB reports and critical
comments by the apex court judges and the reservation of the government, Rohatgi told the court.
He said that in one instance the
President himself noted in his
own hand and returned the recommended names for fresh consideration.
secretary and submitted to0
him reports over phone-tapping
and the reorganisation act. An
audio tape of Naidu's alleged
telephonic conversation with
Telangana's nominated MLA
Elvis Stephenson in cash-forvote scam was aired on some
television channels on Sunday.
This triggered speculations
that Anti-Corruption Bureau
(ACB) may include Naidu as an
accused in the case, in which
his party's deputy leader in the
Telangana assembly A. Revanth
Reddy has already been caught
red-handed. The TDP government has alleged that the
Telangana government tapped
phones of Naidu, his cabinet
colleagues, senior officials and
party leaders. Revanth Reddy
and two others were arrested by
the ACB on May 31 while offering Rs.50 lakh to Stephenson to
make him vote for the TDP-BJP
candidate in the Telangana legislative council elections.
Foreign fund curbs on
4,470 NGOs; Organizations say no notification
New Delhi/Kolkata : The home ministry has barred 4,470 NGOs from
receiving foreign funds for not adhereing to the guidelines but many affected
organisations across the country say
they have not been formally informed
about this. After scrutinising the records of 9,000 NGOs, the home ministry has cancelled the licenses of 4,470
NGOs for non-compliance with the
Foreign Contributions (Regulation)
Act (FCRA). According to the FCRA
of 2010, which sets the guidelines
for foreign contributions received by
NGOs, any such transfer has to be be
reflected in the prescribed returns by
the transferor and the recipient. "These
NGOs have violated the FCRA and
have not been filing their returns. So,
their licenses to receive foreign funds
have been cancelled," a home ministry official said, adding that some of
the organizations have not been filing
their returns for over 10 years. According to the notification put up on the
home ministry's FCRA website, these
4,470 organizations have not filed their
returns from the financial years 20092010, 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. The
Supreme Court Bar Association was
one of the 400 organizations in Delhi
whose licenses to receive foreign funds
have been cancelled. "We have been
caught unawares on the issue. We haven't received any notification from
the Ministry of Home Affairs so far,"
said Aishwarya Bhati, Secretary of the
Supreme Court Bar Association. Similarly, 1,441 organizations from Andhra
Pradesh and Telangana have also been
seized of their foreign fund licenses.
"We have received no formal information from the officials regarding this,"
said Nageshwar Rao, an official at
Hyderabad's Osmania University. As
per the FCRA website, for West Bengal, during June 9-10, as many as 748
NGOs, art, culture, religious establishments and educational institutions figure on the aregistration cancelled' list.
Prominent among them are the Academy of Fine Arts, Indian Institute of
Technology-Kharagpur, the Meghan
David Synagogue, International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and St. Xavier's College. However, some like the Academy of Fine
Arts say they have not been formally
informed about the issue.
"The cancellation of licence will not
be a major setback because there was
no foreign funding in the last ten
years, Basab Ray, a member of the
Academy's trust committee told IANS
in Kolkata. Among others similarly
affected are Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Gujarat National Law University, Delhi Deputy
Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's Kabir
NGO, All India Human Rights Association, Consumers' Forum- Delhi,
Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi,
Osmania University and University of
Hyderabad.