all india radio news: 30th October, 2014 THE HEADLINES:- •Fifty-one countries sign an agreement to facilitate automatic sharing of financial data and to crackdown on tax evasion; India defers. •Shiv Sena to announce its decision on joining the BJP-led government in Maharashtra today. •Cyclone Nilofar weakens from very severe to severe; Lay centred about 730 kilometres from Gujarat coast. •Over one hundred feared dead in a landslide in Sri Lanka; Sixteen bodies recovered. •And in sports, Pankaj Advani enters the final of World Billiards Championship time format. {}{} Fifty-one countries have signed an agreement to share financial data and boost efforts to crackdown on tax evasion.The standard agreed upon in Berlin yesterday was developed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, in consultation with the worlds top 20 economies. The countries that signed the agreement, include most European Union nations. Other countries have indicated they will join the accord later. The United States hasnt signed but says it will share information as part of bilateral deals. India has deferred signing the agreement. The Centre had handed over yesterday to the Supreme Court a list of 627 Indians who have accounts in foreign bank and the status report of the probe conducted so far in black money cases. {}{} With just a day left for the swearing-in ceremony of BJP’s first ever Chief Minister in Maharashtra, former ally Shiv Sena will announce its decision today on whether it will be a part of the BJP-led government.A report:- After rounds of back channel discussions in the last few days, BJP and Shiv Sena have failed to arrive on a mutual acceptable solution on government formation. According to sources, BJP has decided to resume talks with Shiv Sena only after tomorrow’s swearing- in, while Shiv Sena was expecting a breakthrough before the ceremony. On the backdrop of this standoff, Shiv Sena party chief Uddhav Thackeray held discussions with senior party leaders yesterday night. Shiv Sena has also criticised the possible move of BJP taking help from NCP to run a minority government.Umesh Ujgare, Air News, Mumbai {}{} The Supreme Court will today hear a petition filed by Aam Admi Party, AAP, seeking dissolution of the Delhi Assembly and fresh polls. The apex court had on Tuesday pulled up the Centre and Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung for the delay in taking a decision regarding government formation in Delhi. {}{} The very severe cyclonic storm Nilofar has weakened into a severe cyclonic storm over west central Arabian Sea and is moving eastwards for the past six hours. Cyclone Nilofar lay centred about 730 kilometres southwest of Naliya in Gujarat. It would move northeastwards and cross north Gujarat and adjoining Pakistan coast around Naliya by tomorrow night. However, as the system comes closer to Gujarat coast, it would weaken into a depression. Under the influence of this system, moderate rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places would occur over all districts of Saurashtra and Kutch and North Gujarat region today and tomorrow. Our correspondent reports that, fishermen have been advised not to venture into sea during the next 72 hours. Met department has predicted weakening of severe cyclonic storm Nilofar at the time of landfall, but the state administration is not taking any chance in implementing all the precautionary measures. Evacuation has been started and more than 30 thousand people would be shifted to safer places by today evening. More than 200 relief shelters have been created in Kutch district alone. Every coastal district has enough stock of diesel, kerosene and other essential commodities. Railway authorities have set up control rooms for providing information to the passengers. Yogesh Pandya, AIR News, Ahmedabad. {}{} In Tamil Nadu, north east monsoon continues to be active bringing heavy rain in many parts of the state. Our correspondent reports that the death toll due to rain related incidents in the state has risen to 33. North east monsoon wreaked havoc in many parts of Tamil Nadu. Excess water release from Amaravathy Dam has flooded the Amaravathy river and flood alerts continues to be issued in Tirupur and Karur districts. Many villages in Aravakurichi taluk was marooned because of rain water. Tiruchirapalli Collector Jayasree Muraleedharan issued warnings to people not to bathe in Cauvery as 30,000 cusecs of water is being released from Amaravathy river into Cauvery.More than 100 goats were washed away in flash floods in Venganoor village of Perambalur district. Nilgiri Mountain Rail service has been cancelled for four days because of landslides. K Devi Padmanabhan, AIR News Tiruchirapalli. {}{} Navy chief Admiral R.K. Dhowan reviewed the effect of cyclone Hudhud at the naval base in Visakhapatnam yesterday. Mr Dhowan said all efforts will be made to restore its glory. Our correspondent reports that it is too early to estimate the actual extent of losses suffered due to the Cyclone Hudhud by the Indian Navy. Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command Vice Admiral Satish Soni briefed the Admiral on the relief activities and initiatives undertaken by the command since October 12. Interacting with the officers, sailors and defence civilians of the Eastern Naval Command, the Admiral complimented them for high-level preparedness prior to and during the cyclone. He lauded the efforts of the officers and personnel of Naval Air Station INS Dega for resuming air operations in less than 24 hours of the calamity. Admiral Dhowan launched tree plantation drive in the naval areas with the aim to plant one lakh trees. Henry, AIR News, Vijayawada. {}{} In Sri Lanka, rescue efforts will resume this morning at the landslide disaster site in Koslanda region of Badulla District. The Rescue work had to be halted by the army and police teams last night due to poor visibility and bad weather. Our correspondent quoting the disaster management minister said over one hundred people could be buried alive as many of the houses lie about 30 feet deep in mud and rocks. About 140 houses of tea plantation workers still remain buried under mud and rocks and over a hundred persons are reported missing. Heavy earthmoving equipment have now reached the disaster site which falls in the hilly tea plantation area of Central Sri Lanka. Over 500 military personnel have been deployed in the rescue effort besides the local police and Disaster Management Centre personnel. 16 bodies have been recovered so far from the debris. Abhishek Dayal, AIR News, Colombo. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that its humanitarian wing is on standby to help the island nation. India has also offered assistance to Sri Lanka to help hundreds of people affected by the landslide. Indian High Commissioner Y K Sinha spoke to Sri Lankan External Affairs Minister G L Peiris and offered the assistance to deal with the disaster. {}{} To receive AIR news updates free through SMS, you can register on our website . {}{} Aiming at encouraging farmers to cover more area under the crop in the current Rabi season, the government has raised the Minimum Support Price, MSP, for wheat by 50 rupees to 1,450 rupees per quintal. It also hiked the MSP of Barley by 50 rupees, Gram by 75 rupees and masur by 175 rupees per quintal. It also hiked the MSP of mustard by 50 rupees per quintal and fixed it at 3100 rupees per quintal. Decisions in this regard were taken at the meeting of Cabinet on Economic Affairs in New Delhi last evening. MSP is the rate at which the government purchases farm produce. {}{} Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram has been appointed as Secretary, Minority Affairs Ministry.The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet has canceled its earlier orders appointing Mr. Mayaram as Secretary of Tourism. Official sources said that Dr. L.K. Panwar, Secretary, Minority Affairs has been shifted to the Ministry of Tourism. {}{} Congress has released its list of candidates for 15 assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir going to polls in the first phase on 25th of next month. Prominent among them are former Minister and sitting MLA from Leh, Nawang Rigzin Jora and senior leader Ghulam Mohammed Saroori who is being once again fielded from Inderwal constituency. A press release issued by the party in New Delhi yesterday, said the deputy leader of Congress Legislature Party Mohammad Sharief Niaz will contest from his present Bhaderwah seat. {}{} Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO is planning to launch Mars-2 mission in 2018. ISRO Director S Shivakumar said the space agency plans to send a heavier and more advanced satellite with a lander and rover to conduct more experiments on the red planet. Speaking to reporters in Bangalore, Mr Shivakumar said new technologies will be developed in house for the purpose. {}{} The Islamic State militant group has released 25 Kurdish students it had kidnapped in Syrias northern province of Aleppo last May. A monitoring group said yesterday that the released school children were part of 150 Kurdish students captured by the IS fighters in the town of Manbej in Aleppo. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights spelled no details on the reasons behind the release of the kidnapped students. {}{} Pakistans Supreme Court has dismissed all petitions demanding last years general elections to be declared null and void. The court in its decision declared the petitions as non-maintainable, as election tribunals were in place to address grievances related to illegalities in the elections. The Apex Courts decision comes as a breather to the Nawaz Sharif government. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan and Cleric Tahirul Qadri had been protesting since August, demanding Sharifs resignation on the grounds that last years general elections were rigged. {}{} Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani edged past David Causier of England in the semi-final of the World Billiards Championship time format by a mere five points in Leeds yesterday. With Advani making it to the final it could have been an All-Indian title clash, but Balachandra Bhaskar went down to another Englishman, Robert Hall 978-824, in the semis. Advani had clinched the 150-up short format title last week. {}{} Sachin Tendulkar added another feather to his cap when the Indian batting legend was inducted as one of the latest honourees in the Bradman Foundation. At a gala dinner held at the historic Sydney Cricket Ground, Sachin Tendulkar was inducted along with former Australian captain Steve Waugh to the Bradman Hall of Fame. {}{} NEWSPAPER HEADLINES •Black money stashed away in foreign banks by Indians and efforts to form a government in Delhi are the stories that figure on the front pages of most prominent dailies this morning. •SC and government in full blown war on tax treaties, Tells Centre to go whole hog after black money as envelope with 627 names is handed over reads a Mail Today headline. Under the caption, SC gets black money list, names to remain secret Hindustan Times writes that the government submitted a list of 627 Indians holding accounts in HSBC Bank, Geneva, to the Supreme Court, which directed its special investigating team (SIT) to examine them and take appropriate action. •Jung to consult parties on government formation is a caption in The Hindu while The Asian Age headlines it as Najeeb to talk with all, BJP yet to take a call. •The Times of India reports that India has slipped two places to stand 142nd out of 189 countries ranked by the World Bank for `ease of doing business, underscoring the tough task that lies ahead of the Narendra Modi government which has said it wants to make India a business-friendly country . •After opposing the Congress tooth and nail in two consecutive Lok Sabha elections, Prakash Karat-led CPI(M) opened up its options for ‘cooperation’ with Sonia Gandhi’s party, reports Hindustan Times, adding that the latest development comes in the wake of the BJP’s stupendous run. •In a move that will not only save precious lives but also encourage people to help accident victims, the Supreme Court has asked the government to issue an order within three months to insulate from legal and procedural hassles those who come to the aid of road-accident victims, writes Hindustan Times. •The Asian Age reports that with PM Modi utilising the medium of radio broadcasting to connect with people, the government is planning to unveil a dedicated radio channel for news. •And finally, under the caption, Gujarat whiz-kid invents rape-prevention device, The Times of India writes that Nadiad-based Nandan Shah, a third-year computer engineering student, and his friend have invented a rape prevention device, a wrist band with sensors which get activated with change in pulse rate of the wearer and can stop the attacker by using chemicals.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 05:18:23 +0000
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