Gujarat elections: 68% polling registered in first phase Dec 13, 8:14 PM In Gujarat, a record 68 per cent polling

has been registered in 87 constituencie s of Assembly Elections in first phase today. the first phase elections has ende d peacefully. The fate of 846 candidates including 46 women, 8 ministers of Nare ndra Modi Ministry and three sitting member of Lo sabha have been sealed in the EVM. Additional Chief Electoral officer of the state Mr. Sanjeev Kumar told our corre spondent that maximum 76 percent voting has been recorded at tribal dominating T api district while minimum 63 percent voters have exercised their franchise at i ndustrial town Jamnagar district. AIR correspondent reports that about 8 percent more polling has been recorded in the comparison of previous Assembly elections. In the afternoon hours voter`s t urnout was very encouraging. Above 110 years old two persons have cast their vot es in Bhavnagar and Narmada districts. With today's polling political fate of th e Spea er of the state assembly Ganpat Bhai Vasawa, state unit presidents of Con gress and BJP Mr. Arjun Modhavadaya and RC Faldu, leader of the opposition in th e state assembly Mr. Sha ti Singh Gohil, former Chief Minister of the state and founder of the Gujarat Parivartan Party Mr. Keshu Bhai Patel and senior Minister s of Modi Government including Vaju Bhai Val, Mangu bhai Patel, Narrottam Patel, Dilip Sanghani, Purushottam Solan i and Vasu Trivedi, have been sealed in the e lectronic voting machines. // Govt clears setting up CCI for mega projects, clears Land Acquisition Bill Dec 13, 8:38 PM The government today approved setting up a Cabinet Committee on Investment, CCI, to fast trac investment clearances for mega projects. The decision was ta en i n the Union Cabinet meeting held today under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. Dr Singh will head the CCI and also nominate the members of the committee. The CCI will expedite projects offering single window clearance f or projects costing 1,000 crore rupees or more by setting timelines for the conc erned ministries. The Union Cabinet also cleared the Land Acquisition Bill. Under the new bill con sent of 80 percent land owners is mandatory for private acquisitions of land whe re as for Public-Private-Partnership 70 per cent consent is required. AIR corres pondent reports award of compensation will also be as per the new bill. The Cabinet also approved cutting the 1,800-MHz band 2G spectrum auction reserve base price by 30 per cent cut for four circles that did not attract bidders in November.The circles are Delhi, Mumbai, Karnata a and Rajasthan. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs also cleared a new urea investment pol icy. // PM: New telecom policy to address investors concerns & boost growth Dec 13, 8:39 PM The Prime Minister today said troubles facing telecom sector are ending.Addressi ng the India Telecom 2012 conference in New Delhi, Dr.Manmohan Singh exuded conf idence that the new policy being ushered in will address concerns of worrying in vestors and provide impetus to growth. Dr.Singh said the government allocated ai rwaves or spectrum carrying mobile phone signals in a transparent manner through mar et-related processes. Dr.Singh said while urban areas have seen rapid penet

Dec 13 India has been chosen the world's best tourist destination while Taj mahal won t he leading global attraction in the World Travel Awards ceremony held in New Del hi today. Claiming a hatric for the nation at the international awards, tourism ministry's campaign, "Incredible India" also won under the world's leading tour ist board category. Receiving the awards, Union Tourism Minister K. Chiranjeevi said, growth in tour ism is instrumental for sustainable development including poverty elimination, e nvironmental regeneration and job creation across the world. He said, tourism pl ays a vital role by creating jobs in remote and vital areas employing both s ill ed an uns illed wor ers. The tourism ministry has prepared a multi pronged strategy to increase internati onal tourist arrivals through world class infrastructure development, mar eting and aggressive promotional campaigns. AIR correspondent reports, it was for the first time the prestigious World Travel Awards cermony was held in Asia. Establised 19 years ago, World Travel Awards recognises standards of customer se rvice and overall business performance in the international tourism industry. // DA case: SC orders continuation of CBI probe against Mulayam, sons Dec 13 The Supreme Court today ordered to continue CBI probe against Mulayam Singh Yada v and his son A hilesh in disproportionate assets case. But it,however, dropped probe against A hilesh Yadav's wife Dimple. A bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kab ir and Justice HL Dattu, which had reserved its order on February 17th last year , pronounced the verdict on review petition filed by Yadav, his sons A hilesh an d Pratee and daughter-in-law, Dimple. It directed the investigating agency to f ile status report in the case before the apex court and to the government. The S upreme Court said that CBI is independent from the government and can continue w ith the probe as per the law. Earlier, the apex court had ordered a CBI inquiry on March 1st, 2007 into the al leged accumulation of isproportionate assets by Yadav family.It was done on a PI L by an advocate, Vishwanath Chaturvedi. Deviating from the precedent of hearing review petitions in the judges' chambers, the bench had heard the petition in o pen court at Yadavs' request. // Sitaram Yechury: CPM supports reservation in promotions for SC/ST in govt jobs Dec 13 CPM leader Sitaram Yechury has said his party supports reservation in promotions for SC, ST candidates in government jobs. But he sought the creation of additio

ration of telecom services, rural India has low teledensity of 41 per cent.He sa id,the bul of the 59 percent people who do not use phones in rural areas is per haps from the socially and economically bac ward sections of the society. He as ed the Department of Telecommunications to use USO Fund to bridge the rural-urba n divide. The New Telecom Policy-2012 envisages 70 per cent rural penetration by 2017 and 100 per cent by 2020. Stating that there was a direct correlation betw een an increase in broadband connectivity and growth in country's GDP, he said b roadband improves the lives by providing affordable access to information and n owledge. He said,ensuring deeper penetration of telecom and broadband services in rural p arts of the country will be crucial to bridge the rural-urban divide and achieve the goal of socially inclusive growth. // India bags 3 World Tourism Awards

nal posts for general candidates in the interest of justice. Addressing the medi a in New Delhi today, Mr. Yechury said by doing this, there will be no social te nsions. His party colleague, Basudeb Acharia, said NABARD is slowly getting diluted. The re is an attempt to wea en it. The farmers are not getting loans. As a result, t hey are falling into a debt trap of money lenders. Mr. Acharia said, a number of MPs have written to the Finance Minister to protect NABARD by all means and not allow it to degenerate. // LS ta es up discussion on supplementary demands for grants for 2012-13 Dec 13 The Lo Sabha today too up discussion on supplementary demands for grants for 2 012-13. BJP leader Ananth Kumar who initiated the discussion, criticized the gov ernment for pursuing wrong economic policies, leading to price rise, fiscal defi cit and inflation. He said the country's economy is in a shambles and is heading towards economic ban ruptcy, as happened in the early nineties. Later, the House too up the discussion on the need for uniform education system . Initiating the discussion, Sumitra Mahajan of the BJP said states should be gi ven more powers and funds to implement the Right to Education Act. She also stre ssed the need for improving infrastructure in schools, inclusive education and m a ing moral values part of curriculum. The discussions remained inconclusive. In the pre-lunch session, the House witnessed repeated adjournments with BJP, BS P and Samajwadi Party stalling the proceedings demanding execution of Afzal Guru and disclosure of names involved in the coal bloc allocation issue. // Sonia voices grief over passing of Ravi Shan ar Dec 13 Congress President, Sonia Gandhi voiced grief over the passing of sitar legend P andit Ravi Shan ar, saying the country has lost one of its greatest jewels and a silence has descended on the world of music. Ms. Gandhi said that Ravi Shan ar' s music brought joy and light, solace and comfort to millions of people. In a le tter to his wife Su anya Rajan, she recalled the Nehru-Gandhi family's associati on with the music genius, which goes bac to the time of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru . // RBI expects inflation to moderate further in 2-3 months Dec 13 The Reserve Ban expects inflation to moderate further in the next 2 or 3 months , which may spur it to cut interest rates, RBI Deputy Governor K. C. Cha rabarty said today. As ed if there is a possibility of the RBI reducing policy rates in its mid-quarter review, on December 18, Cha rabarty said the repo rate will com e down when inflation comes down. Stressing that high inflation is inimical to growth, the Deputy Governor said th e interest rate is high because inflation is high. // EC reprimands Gujarat Congress Prez for violating Model Code of Conduct Dec 13 In Gujarat, the Election Commission has reprimanded the state Congress President Arjun Modhwadia for violating Model Code of Conduct by his objectionable remar s on personal life and character of Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The commission has also issued a show couse notice to the former Chief Minister and President of newly floated -GUJARAT PARIVARTAN PARTY- Mr Keshubhai Patel for violating Mod

el Code of Conduct by using the pilot car with beacon lights of multiple colors affixed with siren. // Extortion case: Zee Chairman's plea for undergoing lie detector test allowed by Delhi court Dec 13 Zee Group Chairman Subhash Chandra's plea for undergoing lie detector test was a llowed by a Delhi court in a case of alleged Rs 100 crore extortion bid from Con gress MP Navin Jindal's firm. However, the court rejected the plea of Delhi Poli ce to subject the two arrested Zee News Editor Sudhir Chaudhary and Zee Business Editor Samir Ahluwalia for the polygraph test as they refused to gi ve their consent. Allowing the plea of Chandra, Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Rao said,"As far as accused, Subhash Chandra is concerned, he has consented for the test. Dismissing Delhi Police's plea for subjecting Chaudhary and Ahluwalia to a lie d etector test, the court said, in terms of the statement made by the accused, Sam ir and Sudhir wherein they have not consented to undergo the lie detector test. A third bail application was moved by the two Zee editors in the Sessions court, which is li ely to hear the matter tomorrow. // Govt: 4 new National Institutes of Design to be set up in next 4 yrs Dec 13 The government today said four new National Institutes of Design (NID) will be s et up in different cities at a cost of about 540 crore rupees in the next four y ears. Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Secretary Subhash Chandra s aid these institutes will be set up in Hyderabad, Kanpur, Bhopal and Jorhat in A ssam in the 12th Five-Year Plan. He said design plays an important role in ma in g the industry competitive, so the government needs to foster design education. He was tal ing to reporters on the sidelines of an award function jointly organi sed by CII and NID in New Delhi. At present, NID main campus is at Ahemdabad with two more campuses, one at Gandh inagar and another one at Bangalore. // Congress welcomes growth of 8.2% in industrial production in Oct 2012 Dec 13 The Congress today welcomed the robust growth of 8.2 per cent in industrial prod uction in October this year. Tal ing to media persons in New Delhi, the party sp o esman Sandeep Di shit said the growth is an indication that economic reforms p ursued by the government are on the right trac . On the issue of reservation in promotion for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Trib es in government jobs, Mr Di shit said it is a matter of social justice for the whole country. He claimed that his party never tried to politicise the issue // RS starts discussion on Constitution Amendment Bill 2012 Dec 13 The Rajya Sabha began discussion on the Constitution Amendment Bill, 2012 provid ing quota in promotions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in government jobs. Initiating the discussion Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley said that his party is not against reservation in promotions but efficiency in service should not be compromised. He said the proposed amendment should not lead to reverse di

scrimination. He said that Supreme Court has never struc down the concept of reservations. It only set some pre-conditions for framing a law on promotions only after satisfy ing the test of bac wardness of SCs and STs groups, their inadequate representat ion and their administrative efficiency. BSP Chief Ms Mayawati said that her party waged a long struggle for amending the Constitution. She said SCs and STs are a deprived lot and they deserved the con stitutional guarantee in the jobs. Ms Mayawati made it clear that her party is n ot against such a benefit for Other Bac ward Classes (OBC). She said BSP will support the move if the government brings a separate legislati on for OBCs. She also appealed to all political parties to rise above caste and political considerations and support the passage of the bill. Earlier, Samajwadi party members staged a wal out in the Rajya Sabha after two i ts members were as ed by the Chair to withdraw from the House for disrupting the proceedings. Before staging the wal out, Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav said the government with its majority can not thrust the quota bill on the people of this country, saying it is unconstitutional. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said it was unfortunate that despite t heir pledge to run the House in an orderly manner, members are obstructing the p roceedings. As shouting slogans continued, Mr Kamal Nath appealed to the Chair t o ta e action against the members for disrupting the proceedings. // Bill to ensure effective protection to women against indecent representation int roduced in RS Dec 13 A bill to ensure more effective protection to women against their indecent repre sentation was introduced in the Rajya Sabha today. The Indecent Representation o f Women (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2012 see s to prevent indecent representat ion of women through electronic media as the existing Act is primarily applicabl e to print media. The bill was introduced by Minister for Women and Child Develo pment. //LS discussing Supplementary Demands for grants for 2012-13 Dec 13 The Lo Sabha is now discussing the Supplementary Demands for grants for 2012-13 . Moving the bill, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram sought approval of further su ms from the Consolidated Fund of India for the services in the current financial year. He will reply to the discussion later. // 127 IPS probationers calls on Prez at Rashtrapati Bhavan Dec 13 A group of 127 Indian Police Service (IPS) probationers called on President Pran ab Mu herjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi today. Spea ing on the occasion, the President said that his vision of the police of future India is not only th at of a regulatory body enforcing laws, but a pro-active service provider and pa rtner in growth, development and peace. Mr Mu herjee as ed the probationers to u nderta e the difficult tas of see ing cooperation of people in voluntary observ ance of the law to earn their respect and thereby achieve the goal of sensitized police for empowered society. // Eurogroup approves release of next bail out pac age to Greece

Dec 13 European finance ministers, also nown as Eurogroup, have approved the release o f the next bail out pac age to Greece. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Jun c er revealed this at a Press Conference in Brussels today . He said that the Eurogroup agreed to immediately disburse 34.4 billion Euro for the beleaguered country. Of this, 16 billion will go towards ban re-capitalization, 7 billion for budget ary financing and 11.3 billion to finance Greece's buybac program. // Ex Thai PM charged with murder of taxi driver Dec 13 The former Thai prime minister has been charged with the murder of a taxi driver who was shot by government forces during a military crac down on protests in 20 10. Abhisit Vejjajiva and his then-deputy Suthep Thaugsuban were both formally c harged over the death by the country's Department of Special Investigation. The development comes after an inquest found taxi driver Phan Kam ong was shot dead by troops in Bang o two years ago. A total of 90 people were illed and 1,900 i njured in clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces. The ta xi driver was not a demonstrator but was illed in a hail of bullets during the resulting military crac down. // UNSC condemns N Korea for launching roc et in defiance of UN ban Dec 13 The UN Security Council has condemned North Korea for launching a roc et in defi ance of a UN ban. Calling the launch a clear violation of Security Council resol utions, the Council said it would consider an appropriate response. The statement came after closed consultations in New Yor . The US and its allies view the launch as a disguised test of ballistic missile technology. North Kore a says its aim was to launch a satellite. North Korea was banned by the UN from ballistic missile tests after nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. However, it is still not clear if the satellite North Korea placed into orbit ye sterday is properly functioning. Both Japan - over whose territory the roc et fl ew - and South Korea have strongly condemned the launch. So far Beijing has expressed "regret" at North Korea's action, but also urged re straint on any counter-measures. In the past it has bloc ed action against North Korea. // Japan accuses China of violating airspace for first time Dec 13 Japan has accused China of violating its airspace for the first time after a Chi nese government plane flew near disputed East China Sea islands. Japanese spo es man Osamu Fujimura said, fighter jets were scrambled after the plane was seen ar ound 11:00 a.m. local time near one of the islands. A total of eight F-15 fighters were sent after reports of the presence of the pl ane, which belong to China's State Oceanic Administration. He said, Japan lodged an immediate protest with Beijing. The islands, nown as Sen a u in Japan and D iaoyu in China, have been a long-standing source of tension. // Panetta in Afghanistan for tal s

Dec 13 U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has arrived in Afghanistan, where he will me et with military leaders and troops, as the U.S. mulls the scope of its presence in the country after the international combat mission ends in 2014. Panetta is holding tal s today with Major General Robert Abrams, the head of the Regional C ommand South. The defense secretary arrived in Kandahar yesterday on a visit that includes tal s with President Hamid Karzai. Before arriving in the country, he told news tha t the White House hoped to have a decision soon about the U.S. troop ma e-up aft er the withdrawal. About 68,000 U.S. troops remain in the country. Military officials have called f or eeping as many as 15,000 troops in Afghanistan but other U.S. officials have called for a smaller force. // Lan a to India: Do more to chec illegal tresspasing of fishermen from TN Dec 13 Sri Lan a's Defence Secretary Mr Gotabaya Rajapa sa today as ed India to do more to chec illegal tresspasing of fishermen from Tamil Nadu into Sri Lan a's terr itorial waters. Spea ing at the inaugural session of Galle Dialogue 2012 today, Mr Gotabaya said the issue is serious since it is depleting the fishing resources of the nation. He said that illegal fishing is also affecting the livelihood of fishermen of n orthern parts of Sri Lan a. Sri Lan a's navy had arrested 40 fishermen from Tamil Nadu on charges of trespas sing into its terretorial waters. The fishermen were released yesterday. // Lan a s Chief Justice: Ready to respond to findings of Parl Select Committee Dec 13 Sri Lan a s Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranaya e has said she was ready to respond to the findings of the Parliamentary Select Committee and will prove her innocen ce. In a statement issued for the first time since the parliamentary panel held her guilty of misconduct, she pointed out that the opposition members on the Select Committee had withdrawn from the proceedings and that she had not been given an opportunity to submit their observations. Meanwhile, spea ing to media heads in Colombo today, President refuted the alleg ations of the opposition, saying that the committee announced by him to loo int o the issue of impeachment of Chief Justice was not a challenge to the PSC and w as not an admission of failure of PSC. // Russian Deputy Foreign Minister: Syrian govt may be defeated by opposition force s Dec 13 Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said, the Syrian government may be defeated by o pposition forces. Mi hail Bogdanov said, President Bashar al-Assad's forces are losing more and more control and territory. Russia has been one of the staunches t allies of Mr Assad's government. State media today reported a blast in the Dam ascus suburb of Qatana which it said illed 16 people, including seven children. // WB Cabinet approves land allotment policy, guidelines

Dec 13 The West Bengal Cabinet approved land allotment policy and guidelines today. Lat er briefing newspersons about the decision the State Commerce and Industries Min ister Mr. Partha Chatterjee said that, land will be allotted to 14 big, medium a nd small scale Industries soon as per the new policy. Mr. Chatterjee said that, the Cabinet also decided to give one time assistance o f 8 thousand rupees to the farmer for electrification of agricultural pump sets. Besides, sanctioning of loan from 10 thousand rupees to maxinim 45 thousand rupe es for procuiring of agri-equipment through Kisahan Credit Cards. The Cabinet al so approved general transfer policy of teacher in Government aided Schools. A bi ll to this effect will be placed in the next session of State Assembly. // Civil Aviation requests UP for transfering land for development of airport in Al lahabad Dec 13 Civil Aviation ministry has requested Uttar Pradesh government to transfer 50 ac res of land in Allahabad to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to develop a n ew civil enclave for handling operations in the city. In a letter to Chief Minis ter A hilesh Yadav, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said, in view of lac of space, AAI is not able to upgrade the Civil Enclave of Bamrauli Airport at Allah abad as the airport belongs to Indian Air Force. Mr Singh said the development of Bamrauli Airport will go on a long way in the d evelopment of eastern region of the state and also adjoining areas of Madhya Pra desh. // Opposition in K ta a Legislative Assembly boycotts last day of Winter session Dec 13 The entire Opposition in the Karnata a Legislative Assembly boycotted the last d ay of Winter session today. The leader of the Opposition in Assembly, Siddaramai ah proposed that the Session should be extended by a day as there are numerous i ssues in the agenda. He pointed out that Session is held only for 33 days this y ear, instead of mandatory 60 days. Arguing that the Session should not be adjour ned without discussing issues important to North Karnata a region, he as ed the Spea er to extend it by a day. Spea ing on the behalf of Government, Deputy Chie f Minister Eeshwarappa too a stance that the Session is already extended by a d ay and legislators have other pressing assignments in their constituencies. The Spea er also expressed his difficulty in providing infrastructure to the officia ls deputed for the Session in Belgaum for another day and ruled out the request of the Opposition. After the Opposition boycott, the Assembly passed the Karnata a Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle (Amendment) Bill 2012, which was vociferously opposed by the entire Opposition y esterday. Spea ing to the media persons outside the House, both Congress and Jan ata Dal(S) informed the media persons that they will approach the Governor regar ding anti-Cow Slaughter bill and see his intervention to stall the passage of t he bill. The Assembly also passed several Private Universities Bills also in the absence of the Opposition. // Fire at Chandni Chow mar et in national capital Dec 13 A major fire bro e out in Chandni Chow mar et in the national capital this even ing. Delhi fire official said that the blaze erupted at the Bhagirathi Palace ma r et godown at around 5:10 this evening. 22 fire tenders has been rushed to the spot to douse the flame. A short circuit is suspected to be responsible for the

fire. So far, no casualty has been reported. // Rahul: Voice of common people being suppressed in Gujarat Dec 13 Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi today alleged that the voice of the comm on people is being suppressed in Gujarat. Addressing an election rally at Shyama laji of tribal dominated Sabar antha district, he said that people of Gujarat ha ve wor ed hard for the state s progress and development but one person is ta ing a ll the credit for it. Mr. Gandhi appealed voters of Gujarat to remove the present government that repr esents just one person and to bring in the power the government of Gujarati peop le. He said that that center s UPA government has ta en several steps for the welfare of common people including implementation of MNREGA and Right to Information. He also alleged that BJP is creating hurdles in the way of Right to Food Bill. // 3 militants illed in 2 separate incidents in Kashmir valley Dec 13 In Kashmir valley three militants were illed in two separate incidents in Sopor e area today. AIR correspondent reports that one militant was illed in forest a re near Bumbai while another two militants were illed at Mundeje near sopore, i n a joint operation by police and army. // Rajasthan Govt to provide free diagnosis facility from 7th April 2013 Dec 13 The Rajasthan Government will provide free diagnosis facility in district hospit als from 7th April 2013. The government has increased minimum wages and decided to establish village nowledge centers at all Panchayat head quarters. Chief Minister Asho Gehlot today made these announcements in a press conference at Jaipur on the occasion of completion of four years of his government. The chief minister said that all girls of 9th class will get free cycles. The go vernment will provide 500 rupees monthly scholarship to girls of minority commun ity for higher education. He said that the government will spend 330 crore rupee s on RajIv Gandhi digital vidhyarthi yojana to provide one lac eleven thousand l aptops to meritorious students of eight class. The Government has increased war widow pension by 1500 rupees per month and rais ed the minimum wages also. Minimum wage for untrained labour will be now 166 rup ees per day with effect from 1st January 2013. He said that government has provi ded one lac thirty six thousand jobs. Mr. Gehlot said that his government is committed for transparent, sensitive and responsible administration and various measures have been ta en for it. He infor med that one crore twelve la h grievances have been disposed under public servic e guarantee act. // WB Parl Secys to be appointed Dec 13 In West Bengal Parliamentary Secretaries will be appointed now to function as an intermediary between the administrations Secretaries and ministers. The Parliam

entary Scretaries will be appointed from MLAs by the Chief Minister. They will enjoy the ran of Minister of State or Deputy Minister. A bill to this effect was adopted in the State Assembly today. Moving the bill, the State Parliamentary Affairs Minster Mr. Partha Chatterjee said that the initiative wil l help to expedite developmental wor as there is shortfall of strength of Gover nment Officers and employees in the State. Besides, other duties assigned by the Chief Minister, the Parliamentry Secretari es will also be engaged in planning and co-ordination of legislative and other o fficial business in the State Assembly. // India wins inaugural Blind Cric et T20 World Cup Dec 13 India has won the inaugural Blind Cric et Twenty20 World Cup. They beat Pa istan by 29 runs in the title clash in Bangalore today. Ketan Bhai Patel guided India to 258 with a hurricane noc of 98. The hosts restricted the visitors to 229 f or 9 in the allotted 20 overs. Pa istan who too a record of nine straight wins into their match against India, could not ma e it possible to fetch the title. T he victory is India's first in a World Cup final after they lost to Pa istan in 2006. Besides hosts India and Pa istan, the other partcipants in the tournament were Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lan a and Ne pal . // 3rd World Cup Kabaddi: India v Malaysia in women finals Dec 13 In the ongoing Third World Cup Kabaddi Tournament, Indian eves would ta e on Mal aysia in the women finals to be played later in the evening at Guru Gobind Singh Stadium in Jalandhar, today. Meanwhile, in the first match of today, Denmar women team beat England by 36-28 and got the third slot, whereas, England had to content with the fourth positio n. AIR Correspondent reports that the second nada and Iran in Men s category for third to rains. Men s finals between India and h in Ludhiana. // Dubai customs releases figures of Dubai s match which is to be played between Ca and fourth position has been delayed due Pa istan would be played on December 15t non oil trade over past 10 months

Dec 13 Dubai customs has released the figures of Dubai s non oil trade over the past 10 m onths this year. India has once again emerged as the top trading partner of Duba i with the bilateral trade worth 34 billion dollars. China comes next with 25 bi llion dollars followed by Switzerland at 20 billion dollars. This was announced by the the Director General Dubai Customs, Ahmad Butti Ahmad yesterday. The Gold ran ed first on the list of exports as well as imports in Dubai during the peri od with a value of 24 billion dollars, followed by diamonds, jewellery, precious metals, petroleum oil and aluminium. // Oil price falls in Asia Dec 13 Oil prices fell in Asia today after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Coun tries warned of an oversupply as uncertainty surrounds the outloo for the globa l economy.

New Yor 's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January fell 19 cent s to 86.58 dollars a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for January delivery shed 15 cents to 109.35 dollars. OPEC -- which produces more than a third of the world's oil -- late yesterday an nounced at a meeting in Vienna that it was holding its oil output ceiling at 30 million barrels per day due to demand uncertainties // Rajasthan sees first right-to-recall vote For the first time ever, Rajasthan Wednesday witnessed an election in which vote rs exercised their right to recall. If more than half the 16,735 voters have sou ght recall votes will be counted on December 14 Asho Jain will have to step dow n as chairman of the Manglore Nagar Pali a in Baran. The right to recall provision was introduced into the Rajasthan Municipalities A ct in March 2011. The election was announced after Jain, elected as an independent candidate in 20 09, lost a no-confidence motion against him earlier this year. The motion accuse d Jain of inefficiency and high-handedness. Jain accused Congress councillors of conspiring to bring him down but the munici pal board 17 of its 20 members voted against him maintained he failed to deliver and disappointed the people of Baran. // Guatemala deports software pioneer John McAfee to US Guatemala has deported the American software pioneer, John McAfee to the United States. Mr. McAfee is wanted in Belize for questioning about the murder of a for mer neighbour. He went into hiding and in his blog denied any involvement. The S ilicon Valley veteran who fled from Belize to Guatemala about a month ago, accus ed corrupt politicians of fabricating allegations because he stopped paying mone y to their parties. // PM: Rural-urban divide in telecom growth must be bridged for socially inclusive growth The Prime Minister today said troubles facing telecom sector are ending.Addressi ng the India Telecom 2012 conference in New Delhi, Dr.Manmohan Singh exuded conf idence that the new policy being ushered in will address concerns of worrying in vestors and provide impetus to growth. Dr.Singh said the government allocated ai rwaves or spectrum carrying mobile phone signals in a transparent manner through mar et-related processes. Dr.Singh said while urban areas have seen rapid penet ration of telecom services, rural India has low teledensity of 41 per cent.He sa id,the bul of the 59 percent people who do not use phones in rural areas is per haps from the socially and economically bac ward sections of the society. He as ed the Department of Telecommunications to use USO Fund to bridge the rural-urba n divide. The New Telecom Policy-2012 envisages 70 per cent rural penetration by 2017 and 100 per cent by 2020. Stating that there was a direct correlation betw een an increase in broadband connectivity and growth in country's GDP, he said b roadband improves the lives by providing affordable access to information and n owledge. He said,ensuring deeper penetration of telecom and broadband services in rural p arts of the country will be crucial to bridge the rural-urban divide and achieve the goal of socially inclusive growth.

// Nation remembers martyrs of Parl attac on 11th anniversary Parliamentarians led by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmoh an Singh and Lo Sabha Spea er Meira Kumar today paid homage to martyrs on the 1 1th anniversary of the attac on Parliament. UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, BJP leader L K Advani,Leader of Opposition in the Lo Sabha, Sushma Swaraj and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitl ey and other members attended a solemn ceremony held in the premises of Parliame nt. The leaders observed a silence for a while in remembrance of the martyrs. On December 13th, 2001, five heavily-armed gunmen stormed the Parliament complex and opened indiscriminate fire, illing nine persons.The martyrs included five Delhi Police personnel, a woman Central Reserve Police Force official, two Parli ament watch and ward staff and a gardener.A journalist, who was injured, died la ter. All five terrorists were shot dead.A year later, four accused, including Af zal Guru, were arrested for the attac and found guilty after a trial.Guru has b een sentenced to death in the case. // EU FinMins reach agreement to create single supervisory body for ban s across eu rozone The European Union finance ministers have agreed a late night deal to create a s ingle body to oversee ban s across the Eurozone. Under the plan the European Cen tral Ban will supervise around two hundred of the Eurozone's biggest ban s. The deal to be put to an EU summit in Brussels today also paves the way for Europe' s rescue fund to provide direct help to trouble ban s. // UN atomic team in Iran for nuclear tal s A team from the UN atomic watchdog led by chief inspector Herman Nac aerts arriv ed in Tehran today for tal s with nuclear officials on Iran's controversial nucl ear programme. The International Atomic Energy Agency says the aim of the tal s is to sign an agreement on a structured approach giving IAEA inspectors broader access to sites, including the Parchin military site, and people wor ing in Iran 's nuclear programme. The resumption of tal s with the IAEA comes after several meetings since the start of 2012, all unsuccessful. The IAEA says it has evidenc e suggesting Iran conducted explosives research at Parchin that would be relevan t in ma ing nuclear weapons. Iran denies see ing or ever having sought the bomb and has refused the IAEA access to Parchin, saying that as a non-nuclear site th e agency has no right to conduct inspections there. // Saudi Arabia to donate $100 mn in aid to Syrian people Saudi Arabia has pledged to donate $100 million in humanitarian aid to the Syria n people . the announcement was made at the Friends of Syria group meeting in Mo roccan city of Maara esh the Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Feisal said t he formation of Syria s opposition coalition gave a new opportunity of hope. Representatives from 130 nations recognized the new Syrian opposition coalition as the sole representative of the Syrian people at the meeting yesterday. The move came a day after the US Government decided to recognize the coalition, which drew a sharp reaction from Moscow.

Analysts say that the move doesn t mean supply of weapons to the opposition but a shot in the arm for them with a promise of millions of dollars for humanitarian assistance to the affected Syrians. The National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, SNCROF was formed on November 11 in Doha, Qatar and proclaimed itself the legitimate repre sentative of the Syrian people. // Ravi Shan ar to be honoured with Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously Late Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shan ar will be honoured with a Grammy Lifetime A chievement Award posthumously. It was announced by the organisers of the Recordi ng Academy in Washington today. Pandit Ravi Shan ar is the first Indian to get t his prestigious award.

A three-time Grammy winner, 92-year-old Ravi Shan er Shan ar, died yesterday at the Scripps Memorial Hospital in California. He had undergone a heart-valve repl acement surgery. // Amnesty Intl accuses Pa of failing to stop human rights abuses near Afghanistan border Amnesty International has accused Pa istan of failing to stop thousands of human rights abuses in tribal regions near the border with Afghanistan. Amnesty says men and boys in tribal areas are being terrorized by both the Taliban and the Mi litary. It claims that abuses are allowed to ta e place with impunity as constitutional safeguards do not apply. Militants have been driven out from some of the tribal areas but these districts are not yet fully secure. // PM: New Telecom Policy 2012 envisages 70% rural penetration by 2017, 100 per cen t by 2020 The Prime Minister today said, the New Telecom Policy-2012 envisages 70 per cent rural penetration by 2017 and 100 per cent by 2020. Spea ing at the inaugural s ession of India Telecom 2012 in New Delhi, Dr Manmohan Singh said all should wor together to achieve these targets. Dr Singh said, lac of connectivity should not be a hindrance to inclusive growt h. He said broadband improves the lives of people by providing affordable access to information and nowldege. The Prime Minister said, the advent of smart phon es and tablets at reasonable prices along with wide availability of telecom infr astructure across the country provides an opportunity to ensure an equitable spr ead of broadband services. Dr Singh said manufacturing capabilities in telecom i n particular and electronics in general should be strengthened. The Prime minister expressed hope that the policy regime the government is putti ng in place will address the concerns and provide a new impetus to the growth of telecommunications in the country. // Haryana: Bac ward Commission recommends 10% reservation in state govt jobs for 5 castes

Grammy spo esperson Stephanie Schell said that the decision to honour Ravi Shan er was made before his death and he was personally informed by CEO Neil Portnow. The award would be presented on February 10th next year, at the 55th Grammy Awa rds ceremony in Los Angeles.

Haryana Bac ward Classes Commission on Wednesday recommended 10 percent reservat ion in state government jobs for five castes Jats, Jat Si hs,Rors, Tyagis and Bi shnois under special bac ward class category. This quota would be in addition to 27 percent seats already reserved for bac ward classes by the state government. The commission has also recommended 10 percent separate reservation to economic ally bac ward categories, below poverty line families of general category and ot her economically wealer castes.Chief Minister Bhupender Singh Hooda said that th e council of ministers has accepted it in principle the report of commission. He , however not committed any date for its implementation. If implemented , Haryan a will have 67 percent reservation in government jobs. Haryana already provides 20 reservation to scheduled castes and 27 percent to bac ward classes. It is to be noted that Jat organisations of Haryana has threatened to launch a f resh stir from December 16 under the aegis of Jat haps if there demand for rese rvation was not met with by December 15. // Sibal: Mobile Number Portability expected to be rolled out by Feb 2013 Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal today said nationwide Mobile Number Portability (MN P) is expected to be rolled out by February next year, which will allow users to retain their numbers even if they move from one state to another. Spea ing at t he 'India Telecom 2012' in New Delhi this morning Sibal said, the Department of Telecom has finalised broad agenda for next three months from December 2012 to F ebruary 2013.Some of the ey initiative in course to be completed by February 20 13 are approval of spectrum assignment and pricing, unified licences regime, Mer ger and Acquisition guidelines, finalisation of guidelines for spectrum sharing, creation of fund for Research and Development and manufacturing and of course, MNP on a nationwide basis. Currently, a user is allowed to switch to a different operator within their circ le, while retaining their phone number. Under National Telecom Policy 2012, the government had envisaged implementing MN P on a nationwide level allowing users to retain their mobile numbers even when they shift to a different telecom circle.India has 22 telecom circles.According to Trai, by the end of October 2012, about 75.14 million subscribers have submit ted their requests to different service providers for porting their mobile numbe r.In the month of September 2012, total number of subscribers who have submitted their request for MNP stood at 5.36 million. // Egyptian opposition urges "no" vote on Constitution The Egyptian opposition alliance has dropped its boycott of a referendum on the disputed draft Constitution but under conditions that could be difficult to meet . It wants international monitors to oversee the vote due to begin on Saturday. Leaders of the alliance, the National Salvation Front, are calling on their supp orters to vote "no" for the Constitution. // Chief Justice presents 1st copy of Justice Bhagwati s Memoirs to President Chief Justice of Supreme Court Justice Altamas Kabir on Wednesday presented firs t copy of a boo of Justice P N Bhagwati s Memoirs My Tryst with Justice to Presiden t Pranab Mu herjee at a function in New Delhi. Spea ing on the occasion President Mu herjee praised the various steps ta en by Justice Bhagwati during his tenure to reach the justice to the poor.

He said the boo

would be a guiding light and an inspiration for not just law st

udents, legal practitioners and judges but also for every common person concerne d about social justice in the country. The President said Justice Bhagwati is a pioneer of Public Interest Litigation i n India, promoter of right to legal aid and emissary of Lo Adalats. Justice Kab ir said that Justice Bhagwati has given a new shape to the public law. External Affair Minister Salman Khurshid and Law and Justice Minister Dr Ashwani Kumar al so spo e on the occasion. //