India gave befitting reply to Pakistan after beheading incident: Gen Bikram Singh

NEW DELHI: Outgoing Army chief General Bikram Singh on Thursday said that India has given a befitting reply to Pakistan after the beheading of an Indian soldier by Pakistani troops in 2013 along the Line of Control (LoC) even as he did not rule out the possibility of skirmishes on the western front in future.

Talking to reporters before demitting office, he admitted that face-offs between Indian and Chinese army soldiers take place while patrolling their 'claimed areas' along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) but they are dealt with in accordance with the existing mechanisms.

READ ALSO: Dalbir Singh Suhag takes over as new Army chief

Asked if India had given a befitting reply after the January 8, 2013 beheading incident, he said, "It has been done. Please understand that when we use force, that use is from tactical to operational to strategic levels.

"When I mention that during that incident, it was aimed at operations at the tactical level, which have been undertaken. I think this has been done by the local commander, the chiefs have nothing to do with it," Gen Singh said.

After the incident, he had said during a press conference that the Army will retaliate at a time and place of its choosing. He had given the statement six days after the incident in which Pakistani Special Forces and terrorists beheaded Lance Naik Hemraj and mutilated the body of another jawan Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh along the LoC in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

On if there was a possibility of a skirmish with China and Pakistan, he said there was no such possibility with China, saying, "I do not foresee this as we have got robust mechanisms which are in place. There is an understanding at the macro level.

"When I went to China, there was tremendous understanding between the two countries and I do not foresee any contingency of a skirmish and (there are) very comprehensive rules of engagements."

On Pakistan, he said, "On the western front, you know very well that it is the Line of Control which has traditionally been very active border and at the tactical level, there is firing always from across the border."

To a query on spurt in incidents of ceasefire violation with Pakistan along the international border and the LoC, Gen Singh said, "It (spurt in ceasefire violation) has been on for quite some time.

"Our troops are responding to them. These are incidents at the tactical level and they should be left at that level. It is an ongoing process going on for years. The soldiers are doing their job effectively," he said.

(Getty Images file photo)

Asked about transgressions on the China border, he said, "On our northern borders, even we are carrying out patrolling and the patrolling by our troops and PLA soldiers is done in an area which is disputed.

"Both have claims to that area so when patrols come in over there, there is a face-off once in a while and that is dealt with as per the rules of engagement in place and we have robust mechanisms to deal with these issues and serious situations that come up, he said.

He said units of Mountain Strike Corps to be deployed along the China border have started being raised on January 1, this year.

Gen Singh is retiring on Thursday after a tenure of 26 months as Army chief.

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Argentina heads into default as debt talks fail

NEW YORK: Talks aimed at averting Argentina's second default in 13 years ended with bitter recriminations on Wednesday as the South American country said it could not accept a deal with US hedge fund creditors it dismisses as "vultures."

Court-appointed mediator Daniel Pollack said the failure triggered an imminent default that, among other things, would hurt the Argentine economy as well as bondholders who were not part of the dispute.

"The full consequences of default are not predictable, but they are certainly not positive," Pollack said.

A US court ruling previously blocked Argentina from making $539 million in interest payments due by midnight on Wednesday to other bondholders who separately agreed to restructuring plans with the country in 2005 and 2010.

Argentine Economy Minister Axel Kicillof emerged from the meeting with creditors and the mediator with an air of defiance, saying his government could find no middle ground.

"We're not going to sign an agreement that jeopardizes the future of all Argentines," Kicillof said. "Argentines can remain calm because tomorrow will just be another day and the world will keep on spinning."

There was no immediate comment from the hedge funds, which refused to participate in the debt restructurings and won a US court judgment that they be paid the full value of their bonds plus interest - now estimated at roughly $1.5 billion.

Kicillof said the funds refused a compromise offer to settle their claim, although he gave no details of that proposal.

He said the funds also would not agree to a stay of the court order to allow Argentina to make the interest payments by Wednesday night's deadline and avert economic uncertainty for investors and citizens of the South American country, which is struggling with recession, a shortage of dollars and one of the world's highest inflation rates.

Kicillof dismissed a decision by ratings agency Standard & Poor's to downgrade Argentina's foreign currency credit rating to "selective default" because of the missed interest payments.

"Who believes in the ratings agencies? Who thinks they are impartial referees of the financial system?" he said.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez had long refused to negotiate with the hedge fund creditors, often calling them "vultures" for picking on the carcass of the country's record $100 billion default in 2001.

The holdouts, led by New York billionaire Paul Singer's NML Capital Ltd., spent more than a decade litigating for payment in full rather than agreeing to provide Argentina with debt relief. They also sent lawyers around the globe trying to force Argentina to pay its defaulted debts and were able to get a court in Ghana to temporarily seize an Argentine naval training ship. The threat of seizures forced Fernandez to stop using her presidential plane and instead fly on private jets.

Restoring Argentina's sense of pride and sovereignty after the 2001-2002 economic collapse has been a central goal of Fernandez and her predecessor and late husband, Nestor Kirchner. The couple nationalized the pension system, kept energy cheap through subsidies and dug deep into the treasury to redirect revenue to the poor through handouts.

Argentina has also made efforts to return to global credit markets that have shunned it since the default. The government paid its debt to the International Monetary Fund and agreed in May with the Paris Club of creditor nations on a plan to begin repaying $9.7 billion in debts unpaid since 2001. It also agreed to a $5 billion settlement with Grupo Repsol after seizing the Spanish company's controlling stake in Argentina's YPF oil company.

Analysts say a new default would undermine all of these efforts.

"This is unexpected; an agreement seemed imminent," said Ramiro Castineira of Buenos Aires-based consultancy Econometrica.

"Argentina would have benefited more from complying with the court order in order to get financing for Vaca Muerta," he added, referring to an Argentine region that has one of the world's largest deposits of shale oil and gas.

Only a few international companies have made commitments to help develop the fields as many fear the government's interventionist energy policies. The government has also struggled to get investors because it can't borrow on the global credit market.

Prices for Argentine bonds had surged to their highest level in more than three years on the possibility that Argentina would reach a deal with the holdout creditors. Argentina's Merval stock index also climbed more than 6.5 percent in midday trade on a likely deal.

Optimism had been buoyed by reports Wednesday that representatives of Argentina's private banks association, ADEBA, were set to offer to buy out the debt owed to the hedge funds. In return, the reports said, the U.S. court would let Argentina make the interest payments due before midnight Wednesday and avoid default.

The deal failed to materialize.

"It is an unfortunate situation which is pushing the country into another default. As defaults go, we all know when we get into one but it is very unclear when and how to get out of it," said Alberto Ramos, Latin America analyst at Goldman Sachs.

"We just added another layer of risk and uncertainty to a macro economy that was already struggling. This puts us on a path of unpredictable economic and financial consequences," Ramos said. "But nothing will last forever. At some point the parts involved will hopefully sort this out."

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Brazil evacuates embassy staff from Libya

BRASILIA: Brazil has evacuated its diplomatic staff from Libya amid growing lawlessness and unrest and after similar moves by other western nations.

Citing "deteriorating safety conditions," the foreign ministry said "the government has decided to transfer temporarily its Brazilian staff at its Tripoli embassy to Tunis," an official statement said yesterday.

It does not mean the embassy will be closed, the statement stressed.

The United States and Canada also have shuttered their embassies in Tripoli, while several countries including Britain, France, Germany and Egypt advised their nationals over the weekend to leave immediately.

Fighting between rival militias for control of Tripoli airport and between Islamists and a former general in Benghazi, cradle of the 2011 revolution that ousted dictator Moamer Kadhafi, has killed scores.

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SC asks UP govt to pay Rs 5 lakh more to kin of 2006 Meerut fire victims

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the UP government to pay Re 5 lakh more interim compensation to the kin of 65 people who were charred to death at a massive fire at a fair in Meerut in 2006.

The court also ordered the UP government to pay additional Rs 2 lakh to seriously injured and Rs 75000 to those who suffered minor injuries in the fire.

The SC appointed retired apex court judge S B Sinha as the head of inquiry commission to fix accountability for the fire. The SC has asked the commission to submit its report by January 31, 2015.

The SC asked the organizer of the fair to deposit Rs 30 lakh with the Supreme Court registry prior to determination of its liability.

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Israel calls up more reservists to boost Gaza operations

GAZA CITY: Israel mobilised 16,000 additional reservists on Thursday to bolster its forces waging military operations in the Gaza Strip that left more than 100 Palestinians dead in a day.

The call-up came after Washington announced it had agreed to restock Israel's dwindling supplies of ammunition despite its sharp condemnation of an attack on a United Nations school in Gaza blamed on Israel's army.

"The army has issued 16,000 additional mobilisation orders to allow troops on the ground to rest, which takes the total number of reservists to 86,000," an army spokeswoman said.

Israel's security cabinet, which met for five hours Wednesday, unanimously decided to pursue attacks against Hamas "terrorist targets" and other operations to destroy a network of tunnels used by the Islamist movement between Gaza and Israel, public radio said.

Public radio quoted Major General Sami Turgeman, the senior officer for the Gaza region, as saying that the destruction of militants' remaining tunnels into Israel could be complete "in a few days".

More than 100 Palestinians died in the Gaza Strip Wednesday, among them the victims of Israeli fire on a market and the UN school where Palestinians fleeing the fighting had sought refuge.

At least 17 people were killed in the strike on the market in Shejaiya, near Gaza City, as Israel observed a four-hour humanitarian lull in other parts of the crowded coastal strip.

The market strike came hours after Israeli shells slammed into a UN school in Jabalia refugee camp which was sheltering some 3,300 homeless Gazans, killing 16 and drawing a furious response from the United Nations.

"This morning a UN school sheltering thousands of Palestinian families suffered a reprehensible attack," UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday on a visit to Costa Rica.

"It is unjustifiable, and demands accountability and justice." The attack was also denounced by the White House in a carefully worded statement that avoided mentioning Israel.

"The United States condemns the shelling of a UNRWA school in Gaza, which reportedly killed and injured innocent Palestinians, including children, and UN humanitarian workers," a statement said.

The Pentagon later said it had granted an Israeli request for ammunition, including some from a stockpile stored by the US military on the ground in Israel for emergency use by the Jewish state.

Rights group Amnesty International had urged Washington to halt arms supplies to Israel.

"It is time for the US government to urgently suspend arms transfers to Israel and to push for a UN arms embargo on all parties to the conflict," it said in a petition to US secretary of state John Kerry.

Hamas said on Wednesday it fired rockets at Tel Aviv and the southern port city of Ashkelon in response to the market and school strikes.

The Israeli military said that a rocket hit open ground "in the Tel Aviv area" and another two were intercepted over Ashkelon.

It said that a total of 81 rockets fell in Israel on Wednesday, with another nine shot down by missile defences and that Israel hit 88 targets in Gaza.

Early Thursday, Israeli warplanes attacked a mosque near the same UN school in Jabalia, wounding 15 Palestinians, emergency services said.

Medics said two more Palestinians died Thursday of wounds sustained previously, bringing the death toll from 23 days of unrelenting Israeli attacks to 1,363.

In Israel, the army said another three soldiers were killed in Gaza, raising the overall number of soldiers killed to 56 since the operation began on July 8.

Despite the loss of life, there appeared to be little Israeli appetite for a truce, with a senior official telling Haaretz newspaper that the Jewish state was not even close to a ceasefire.

"When a ceasefire proposal that answers Israel's important needs is laid on the table, it will be considered," he said, warning that the military operation would expand.

"The (military) will expand attacks against Hamas and the rest of the terror organisations."

Nevertheless, a two-member Israeli delegation travelled to Cairo late Wednesday to discuss a possible ceasefire with Egyptian officials, an official at the airport told AFP, saying they were expected to leave after several hours.

Cairo, a key mediator in previous truce negotiations between Israel and Hamas, was also expected to host a Palestinian delegation later this week.

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In first address to BJP MPs, Amit Shah tell them to remain connected with voters

NEW DELHI: New BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday warned party MPs against any disconnect with voters and asked them to remain connected ahead of the forthcoming assembly elections in four states and bypolls in some other states.

Shah, who was addressing party MPs for the first time after his elevation as party chief, asked them to take the upcoming assembly elections and bypolls as a challenge and open offices in their respective constituencies to remain connected with the common people.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who chaired the meeting, earlier introduced Shah to the party MPs who accorded a warm welcome to him.

Shah said this was the first time in independent India's history that a non-Congress government got absolute majority and asked the MPs to take these elections seriously and strive hard to continue with the winning streak by ensuring the party's victory in the assembly elections and bypolls.

He said while it will be the duty of party MPs in the respective states to ensure the party's victory, MPs from those states which are not poll-bound will also be deployed for party work in the poll-bound states.

Shah also asked party MPs to utilise their MPLADs fund effectively as the public has enstrusted a responsibility on them.

The issue of the current UPSC row was also raised at the meeting, with Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh telling the MPs that the Prime Minister himself is taking the issue seriously and it be will be resolved soon.

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Central Railway train services affected due to heavy rain

MUMBAI: Long distance and suburban trains services on the Central Railway were disrupted due to heavy rain for the past two days.

Suburban trains were running late by 20 to 30 minutes early Wednesday.

Boulders fell between the towns of Kasara and Igatpuri and held up long distance services coming to Mumbai.

A CR spokesperson said, "Due to heavy rain, a boulder fell around 4km from Igatpuri resulting in an overhead breakdown on up line at 8.30am. This has resulted in delay."

He added that 12262 Howrah-Mumbai Duranto and 13201 Patna-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express were held up since 8.30am.

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No idea what Narayan Rane was promised when he joined Congress: Prithviraj Chavan

PUNE: Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has pleaded ignorance about claims made by rebel state minister Narayan Rane regarding assurance of chief ministership by Congress when he left Shiv Sena nine years ago.

Referring to the tirade launched by Rane, Chavan said, "I have no idea of what he assumed about his political future when he left Shiv Sena to join Congress.

"He is angry over this issue (being denied chief ministership). But I have no knowledge of what understanding he had that time and I cannot be held responsible for this."

Considered a political heavyweight in Konkan region of Maharashtra, Rane has alleged that Congress had gone back on its assurance to make him chief minister within six months after joining the party.

Rane, who holds the industries portfolio in Chavan's cabinet, recently resigned from the post expressing his ire over Congress high command's failure to keep the promise purportedly given to him.

He also attacked Chavan saying Maharashtra Congress was sure to lose forthcoming assembly polls under his leadership.

"I have not accepted his resignation and he continues to be a member of my cabinet. I have conveyed his expectations to the party high command. Rane has met Congress leadership in Delhi which will take a decision in this regard," Chavan told a Marathi news channel.

Asked whether he felt hurt when Rane questioned his ability to lead the party in the assembly poll, the CM said, "I felt bad because of the personal attack on me. But continued a dialogue with him in the interest of the party."

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General Motors sued over deaths, injuries linked to ignition switch

The author has posted comments on this articleReuters | Jul 30, 2014, 05.32AM IST

General Motors was hit on Tuesday with a lawsuit brought on behalf of more than 650 people allegedly injured or killed in accidents involving cars that have been recalled this year for faulty ignition switches.

The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court, where dozens of cases against GM over the switch recall have been consolidated. It names a total of 658 plaintiffs, including 29 who are bringing claims on behalf of people who died.

Since the beginning of the year, GM has recalled nearly 15 million vehicles worldwide over potentially defective ignition switches. The company has set up a program, run by lawyer Kenneth Feinberg, to compensate victims of crashes involving about 2.6 million of those cars, mostly Cobalts, Ions and other small cars that it linked to 54 crashes and 13 deaths.

Tuesday's lawsuit covers claims that would not be eligible for the program, according to Robert Hilliard, the lawyer who filed the suit. These include accidents involving cars not among the 2.6 million initially recalled for switch issues and accidents in which the car's airbags deployed, which are ineligible for the program.

Feinberg has said that airbag non-deployment is a key sign that the ignition switch may not have been properly working.

A spokesman for GM, Jim Cain, declined to comment specifically on the allegations in the suit. He said that Feinberg was in charge of setting the criteria for the program, and GM had not set a limit on how much it would pay to eligible claimants. "It's our goal to treat people fairly and with compassion throughout the process," Cain said.

The lawsuit also includes people who under the program would receive less than "fair value" for their claims, such as an injured person who stayed in the hospital for just one night, Hilliard said. Under the protocol Feinberg released for the program, claims involving hospital stays of one night would receive $20,000.

The accidents cited in the lawsuit occurred after GM exited bankruptcy in July 2009, Hilliard said.

So-called new GM, a different legal entity than the company that filed for bankruptcy, is not responsible for legal claims relating to incidents that took place before July 2009. Those claims must be brought against what remains of old, pre-bankruptcy GM. GM has asked a bankruptcy judge to rule on whether legal claims over the switches are barred.

The case is Abney v. GM, US district court for the Southern District of New York, No. 14-5810.

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At least 24 dead in Guinea rap concert stampede: Report

CONAKRY: A stampede during a rap concert on a Conakry beach on Tuesday left at least 24 people dead, Guinean hospital officials said.

The government declared a week of national mourning after what it called a "tragic drama" on the beach in the capital city's northern Ratoma suburb where the popular Guinean rap group Instinct Killers was playing.

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John Kerry presses India on WTO deal ahead of arrival

The author has posted comments on this articleReuters | Jul 30, 2014, 12.42PM IST

NEW DELHI: US secretary of state John Kerry, on his way to India for an official visit, has pressed New Delhi to drop its opposition to global trade reforms, saying it was a test of the country's commitment to advance trade and investment liberalisation.

Kerry made the call in an article in The Economic Times, penned along with US commerce secretary Penny Pritzker, hours ahead of his arrival for talks aimed at revitalising ties that have been mired in disputes over trade, intellectual property rights and climate change.

India has threatened to block a worldwide reform of custom rules, saying it must be accompanied by a parallel agreement allowing developing countries more freedom to subsidise and stockpile foodgrains.

The deadline for the deal, which economists say could save members of the World Trade Organisation more than one trillion dollars eventually, is Thursday.

Kerry said India stood to gain by setting up a level playing field instead of erecting trade barriers.

"In this regard, as we work with our trading partners around the world, India must decide where it fits in the global trading system. Its commitment to a rules-based trading order and its willingness to fulfil its obligation will be a key indication," he said in the article in The Economic Times.

India and the United States have already clashed at the WTO, with Washington saying Delhi's 11th hour resistance could kill a deal that could create 21 million jobs.

Kerry is arriving in New Delhi later on Wednesday for an annual strategic dialogue, the first engagement with the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that took power in May promising to put India back on a high growth path.

So far, the new administration has moved slowly on reforms and its hardening of stance at the WTO suggests a more nationalist response on key issues than the Congress party's centre-left government.

Kerry said India and the United States were on the cusp of an "historic transformation" in their relationship and that Washington stood behind New Delhi's rise as a political and economic power.

"We are coming to India to deliver a single message: that the US is prepared to be a full partner in this effort. We will work hand in hand with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government to promote open and liberal trade and investment, jobs training and closer strategic ties," Kerry and Pritzker wrote.

Such rhetoric, including calls to build India as a counterweight to China, have however fallen short of concrete progress in the past.

Disputes over protectionism and intellectual property rights have soured the business climate and India has remained cautious about committing to US strategic designs in the region.

The relationship took a dive last year after an Indian diplomat was arrested in New York on charges of mistreating her domestic help, an episode that provoked outrage and resentment in New Delhi.

Modi himself has yet to make clear how closely he plans to work with Washington.

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Govt declines to give timeframe to resolve UPSC exam row

NEW DELHI: Government on Wednesday declined to give a timeframe in Rajya Sabha for resolving the row over UPSC examination pattern but promised to solve it soon even as the opposition targeted BJP ministers for coming out with different statements on the issue.

"The issue was thoroughly discussed for an hour. Both the home minister and the minister for DoPT have said that the issue will be resolved and I promise you that it will be done soon...

"Government is going to act soon keeping in mind the issue of different regional languages and the sentiments of the students. As soon as decision is taken, the government will inform," minister of state for parliamentary affairs Prakash Javadekar told the house.

Seeking a definite timeline from the government on it, opposition members, however, insisted that a resolution should come quickly and the matter should not be allowed to snowball into a nationwide agitation.

Raising it, Sharad Yadav (JD-U) said that while the minister for DoPT had said on Friday that a resolution will come within a week, home minister Rajnath Singh has now said it will take a week more.

"By when will the government solve it. What problem the government has in making it clear. You should tell by when will you solve the problem. The 7 days' time given by you concludes tomorrow," he said.

Members from Congress, Samajwadi Party, DMK, CPM, CPI and Trinamool Congress supported Yadav and asked the government to clarify by when it will resolve the matter.

Yadav said the issue is being wrongly projected as being related only to Hindi language students. It affected students of all regional languages, who number more than Hindi language students, he said.

He also said the number of candidates from English medium cracking the exams was on rise with 82 per cent success rate.

UPSC aspirants are protesting against the pattern of the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) which they believe gives an unfair advantage to English-speaking students while leaving candidates from Hindi or regional languages-background at a disadvantage. They want the CSAT to be scrapped.

Protests have intensified after Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) issued admit cards last week for preliminary entrance exam scheduled for August 24.

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CBI probe ordered into Mohanlalganj rape and murder case

LUCKNOW: Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday ordered CBI probe into the Mohanlalganj rape and murder case. The order came at the time when a PIL demanding CBI probe was being heard by the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad high court. The family members of the victim were staging demonstration in the city for the past one week for the CBI probe into the case.

The body of the 35-year-old widow, mother of two children, was found naked with multiple injury marks on head, face and private parts in a primary school in Balsinghkheda village of Mohanlalganj in Lucknow on July 17. The victim was beaten brutally after she resisted the rape attempt, and later died of hemorrhage due to excessive bleeding.

The police initially said that it was a case of gang-rape and murder but later arrested a private security guard Ram Sewak and booked him for murder. The police said that the accused killed the woman after failing to rape her. However, on July 26, forensic report confirmed rape. It found traces of blood and flesh of more than one person found in the DNA of the victim.

There was also a controversy over number of kidneys in woman's body. While family members claimed that she donated a kidney to her husband in 2011. However, post mortem report said that there were two kidneys. The contradictions in police theory and family versions forced government to order a probe into anomalies in the post mortem report.

Family members also sat on dharna at GPO park demanding CBI probe. They challenged the report of the police which stated that the victim was killed by only one person and demanded justice for the woman. In the meanwhile, a PIL was filed in the high court for CBI probe.

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Australia approves Adani's $15.5 billion Carmichael coal project

The author has posted comments on this articleReuters | Jul 28, 2014, 05.50AM IST

MELBOURNE: The Australian government on Monday approved Indian firm Adani Mining Pty Ltd's A$16.5 billion ($15.5 billion) Carmichael coal and rail project in Queensland, subject to strict conditions to protect groundwater.

The Carmichael mine, which could become Australia's largest coal mine producing 60 million tonnes a year, has sparked protests from green groups and marine tour operators concerned about export of the coal from a port near the Great Barrier Reef.

"The strict conditions will ensure the protection of the environment as a paramount concern," Australia's environment minister, Greg Hunt, said in a statement.

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Abu Dhabi-bound Etihad Airways flight returns to Chennai due to technical snag

CHENNAI: A Chennai-Abu Dhabi Etihad Airways flight returned soon after it took off from the airport here due to a technical snag on Monday morning.

The flight, scheduled to depart at 4.45am, took off with more than 100 passengers at around 5.45am and returned in less than half an hour due to the technical snag. However, it did not make an emergency landing, according to an Airports Authority of India official.

The flight departed at 8.03am after the problem was rectified.

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Stop flow of heavy weapons into Ukraine: US to Russia

WASHINGTON: The US has asked Russia to stop the flow of heavy weapons like rocket launchers and artillery from the country into strife-torn Ukraine.

Secretary of State John Kerry stated this during a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

"Kerry urged Lavrov to stop the flow of heavy weapons and rocket and artillery fire from Russia into Ukraine, and to begin to contribute to deescalating the conflict," a State Department official said.

"He (Kerry) did not accept Foreign Minister Lavrov's denial that heavy weapons from Russia were contributing to the conflict," said the State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"The Secretary underlined our support for a mutual cease fire verified by the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) and reaffirmed our strong support for the international investigation to show the facts of MH17," the official said.

Kerry also provided an update on his meetings in the Middle East and Paris this past week and the ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire, the official added.

Meanwhile, US intelligence agencies provided images as evidence that Russian forces have fired across the border at Ukrainian military forces, and that Russia-backed separatists have used heavy artillery, provided by Russia, in attacks on Ukrainian forces from inside Ukraine.

One of the images shows ground scarring at a multiple rocket launch site on the Russian side of the border oriented in the direction of Ukrainian military units within Ukraine.

The wide area of impacts near the Ukrainian military units indicates fire from multiple rocket launchers and can also be seen.

Another image shows self-propelled artillery only found in Russian military units, on the Russian side of the border, oriented in the direction of a Ukrainian military unit within Ukraine.

The pattern of crater impacts near the Ukrainian military unit indicates strikes from artillery fired from self-propelled or towed artillery and vice multiple rocket launchers.

The third image shows ground scarring at two multiple rocket launch sites oriented in the direction of Ukrainian military units.

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CBI probe ordered in Mohanlalganj rape and murder case

LUCKNOW: Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday ordered CBI probe into the Mohanlalganj rape and murder case. The order came at the time when a PIL demanding CBI probe was being heard by the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad high court. The family members of the victim were staging demonstration in the city for the past one week for the CBI probe into the case.

The body of the 35-year-old widow, mother of two children, was found naked with multiple injury marks on head, face and private parts in a primary school in Balsinghkheda village of Mohanlalganj in Lucknow on July 17. The victim was beaten brutally after she resisted the rape attempt, and later died of hemorrhage due to excessive bleeding.

The police initially said that it was a case of gang-rape and murder but later arrested a private security guard Ram Sewak and booked him for murder. The police said that the accused killed the woman after failing to rape her. However, on July 26, forensic report confirmed rape. It found traces of blood and flesh of more than one person found in the DNA of the victim.

There was also a controversy over number of kidneys in woman's body. While family members claimed that she donated a kidney to her husband in 2011. However, post mortem report said that there were two kidneys. The contradictions in police theory and family versions forced government to order a probe into anomalies in the post mortem report.

Family members also sat on dharna at GPO park demanding CBI probe. They challenged the report of the police which stated that the victim was killed by only one person and demanded justice for the woman. In the meanwhile, a PIL was filed in the high court for CBI probe.

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Police officer injured in CPM-Trinamool clash in Birbhum dies

SURI (BIRBHUM): An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of police, who suffered splinter injury during a clash between workers of Trinamool Congress and CPM, died in a private hospital on Monday.

"Assistant sub-inspector of police Amit Chakarborty (32) died of his injuries at a private hospital in Durgapur this morning. He suffered from serious splinter injuries on June 3 when crude bombs were hurled at him during the clash at Dubrajpur," superintendent of police of Birbhum district, Alok Rajoria, told PTI.

Chakraborty, a resident of Bandel in Hoogly district, was posted at Dubrajpur police station and rushed to the spot with policemen after hearing about the clash between TMC and CPM workers, he said.

He was caught in the clash and was injured in the abdomen when a bomb was hurled at him, Rajoria said.

The clash was a sequel to a dispute over the availability of jobs under MGNREGA at Gopalpur village.

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New York Times calls for marijuana legalization

WASHINGTON: The New York Times called for the legalization of marijuana on Saturday, comparing the federal ban on cannabis to Prohibition.

In an editorial, the prestige publication said marijuana laws disproportionately impact young black men and that addiction and dependence are "relatively minor problems" especially compared with alcohol and tobacco.

"It took 13 years for the United States to come to its senses and end Prohibition, 13 years in which people kept drinking, otherwise law-abiding citizens became criminals and crime syndicates arose and flourished," the newspaper said.

"It has been more than 40 years since Congress passed the current ban on marijuana, inflicting great harm on society just to prohibit a substance far less dangerous than alcohol. The federal government should repeal the ban on marijuana."

Noting that the editorial board reached its conclusion after much discussion, The Times described the social costs of marijuana laws as "vast."

Citing FBI figures showing there were 658,000 arrests for marijuana possession in 2012 — far higher than for cocaine, heroin and their derivatives — it said "the result is racist, falling disproportionately on young black men, ruining their lives and creating new generations of career criminals."

While advocating for a ban on marijuana sales to those under 21, the paper also said the "moderate use of marijuana does not appear to pose a risk for otherwise healthy adults."

The editorial, titled "Repeal Prohibition, Again," kicks off a series of stories about the issue and invites readers to weigh in.

The call comes just weeks after recreational pot sales began in Washington, making the western US state just the second after Colorado to allow people to buy marijuana with no medical requirement.

Also earlier this month, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill making New York the 23rd state to legalize marijuana for medical use.

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First MH17 victim identified, grieving relatives visit crash site

GRABOVE, UKRAINE: Forensic experts have identified the first of 298 people killed in the MH17 disaster, the Dutch government said, as grieving relatives defied safety concerns to pay an emotional visit to the crash site in eastern Ukraine.

A truce has been called in the immediate area around the site by both the Kiev forces and pro-Russian separatists, but combat was raging just 60 kilometres (35 miles) away, with loud explosions heard at regular intervals in western and northern suburbs of rebel stronghold Donetsk.

Ignoring safety warnings, an Australian couple travelled to the scene of the crash without any escort on Saturday, saying they were fulfilling a promise to their only child that they would be there.

"She was full of life," said Angela Rudhart-Dyczynski of their 25-year-old daughter Fatima, an aerospace engineering student who died when the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur plane was shot down July 17, killing all 298 people on board.

She and her husband Jerzy Dyczynski, who wore a T-shirt with the words "Fatima: We Love You", were overcome with emotion as they walked among the wreckage and scorched earth, and laid a large bouquet of flowers on part of the debris.

The Dutch government, which is in charge of identifying the remains found at the site, said that forensic experts had confirmed the identity of the first victim on Saturday, one of 193 Dutch citizens who had been on board.

An investigation into the downing of flight MH17 has been hampered by the violence plaguing east Ukraine, which claimed at least nine lives in the last 24 hours in insurgent holdout Lugansk.

Dutch experts sought to travel to the site on Saturday, but turned back because of safety concerns.

The rebels who are accused of shooting down the plane with a missile from Russia have signalled they are only open to allowing a small group of Australian and Dutch officers in.

But Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, whose country lost 28 citizens in the crash, stressed that it was a "humanitarian mission".

"It's the presence of unrecovered remains that makes it more important than ever that an international team be dispatched," he said.

"Others can get involved if they wish in the politics of eastern Europe. Our sole concern is to claim our dead and to bring them home."

Abbott later on Saturday discussed plans with Russian President Vladimir Putin for "an independent and objective international inquiry", the Kremlin said in a statement.

After a few days when little activity was seen, recovery efforts appeared to restart again on Saturday, AFP reporters at the scene said.

The mission may not be imminent in any case as Ukraine's parliament, which needs to formally approve any international deployment, is only due to broach the issue at a session on Thursday.

The Netherlands is planning to send 60 officers, and said troops had been consigned to barracks and had leave cancelled ahead of the planned mission.

Australia is sending 190 police along with a small number of its defence forces to the Netherlands in view of the mission.

In Brussels, the European Union punished Russia — which it accuses of abetting the insurgency by arming the rebels — with new sanctions on its intelligence chiefs.

Moscow angrily blasted the move as "irresponsible", and warned it put at risk cooperation on security issues.

British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg joined calls on Sunday for Russia to be stripped of the World Cup in 2018 following the MH17 disaster.

The Liberal Democrat leader said sporting events should be part of a new package of EU sanctions against Moscow.

"You can't have this — the beautiful game — marred by the ugly aggression of Russia on the Russian Ukrainian border," Clegg told the Sunday Times newspaper.

Clegg's call echoes that of several German politicians earlier this month, although the idea was quickly rejected by football officials.

Ukraine's army, meanwhile, pressed its offensive to wrest back control of the vital industrial east, with volleys of what appeared to be Grad rocket fire heard all through Saturday.

"We can't sleep at night! There's no electricity, no water, no gas. The houses are burning," said Viktoriya Konovalova, 32, who sat selling apricots by the side of the road in the Oktyabrsky suburb of industrial city Donetsk as the booming echoed behind her.

While the fighting raged, politicians in Kiev were battling to limit the fallout from Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk's abrupt resignation on Thursday.

Lawmakers are to meet next week to discuss the prime minister's future. President Petro Poroshenko has insisted on Yatsenyuk's cooperation until new elections are held.

The premier quit in fury after several parties walked out of his ruling coalition in what appeared to be the beginning of a rancorous campaign ahead of parliamentary elections later this year.

The Fatherland faction of ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko condemned the coalition's collapse, saying it "opens up a second front" as the country battles to quell the eastern insurgency.

In a sign the upheaval in the cash-strapped country is ringing alarm bells, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde rang Poroshenko to remind him of reforms Kiev pledged to undertake in exchange for its $17-billion two-year financial lifeline.

The IMF previously forecast that Ukraine's economy would contract by 6.5 per cent this year.

The other chief protagonist in the Ukraine conflict — Russia — is also widely expected to sink into recession.

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Guru Dutt's son Arun Dutt passes away at 58

MUMBAI: Veteran filmmaker Guru Dutt's son Arun Dutt passed away in Pune due to health reasons, a family member said on Sunday. He was 58.

Arun Dutt's daughter Gouri Dutt said he died on Saturday afternoon.

"My father passed away yesterday (Saturday) afternoon in Pune. He was suffering from multiple complications but the major reason was kidney failure. His funeral took place last (Saturday) night in Pune," Gouri Dutt told IANS.

Arun Dutt is survived by his two daughters and wife.

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North Korea defies UN censure to fire missile into sea

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un guided the military's latest rocket-firing drill, state media said on Sunday, confirming the missile launch which was conducted in defiance of UN censure.

Saturday's launch was the first since the UN Security Council on July 17 officially condemned Pyongyang for its recent series of ballistic missile tests, in violation of UN resolutions.

The North's state news agency KCNA described the missile launch by the army as a "rocket-firing drill" to simulate a strike on military bases in South Korea where 28,500 US troops are stationed.

" (Kim) examined a firing plan mapped out in consideration of the present location of the US imperialist aggressor forces' bases... and under the simulated conditions of the battle to strike and destroy them before guiding the drill," it said.

The launch was intended to mark the July 27 anniversary of the ceasefire agreement at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, KCNA said.

It did not say where the drill took place. Seoul's army said earlier the North had fired a short-range missile into the sea Saturday night — the latest in a recent series of launches that heightened tension on the peninsula.

The North often fires missiles and rockets as a show of force or to express anger at perceived provocations, but the frequency of the recent tests — six in the past month — is unusual.

"The North fired ... a short-range ballistic missile into the East Sea (Sea of Japan) at 9:40 pm (12:40 GMT)," a spokesman for Seoul's defence ministry told AFP.

The missile, with an estimated range of 500 kilometres (300 miles), was fired in the northeastern direction from Jangsan Cape in the North's western coast — only 12 miles away from the tense sea border with the South, he said.

Pyongyang's recent missile launches were carried out at locations increasingly close to the border with the South — a move analysts say is aimed at stepping up threats against Seoul.

The flashpoint maritime border on the Yellow Sea was a scene of several bloody naval clashes and the North's shelling of a border island in 2010 that left four South Koreans including two civilians dead.

The Japanese prime minister's crisis management centre said the launch was "extremely problematic" for aircraft and shipping lines, adding on its Twitter account that it would lodge a protest with North Korea.

UN resolutions bar North Korea from conducting any launches using ballistic missile technology.

The UN's latest criticism on the North met with angry response from the North, which called it "absolutely intolerable" and defended the missile launches as a response to "madcap war manoeuvres" by the US.

The launch came at a time when Pyongyang has been playing hawk and dove in recent weeks, mixing its tests with peace gestures that have been largely dismissed by Seoul.

The two Koreas are currently trying to sort out logistics for the North's participation in the Asian Games, which begin in September in the South Korean city of Incheon.

"Our military sees the launch by North Korea, conducted while expressing its will to participate in the upcoming Incheon Asian Games, as part of its traditional dual strategy of engagement and pressure," Seoul's military spokesman said.

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Shell fire kills Israeli soldier near Gaza Strip: Army

JERUSALEM: An Israeli soldier was killed by shell fire near the Gaza Strip, taking to 43 the number of troops killed since the start of ground operations on July 8, an army spokeswoman said on Sunday.

"The soldier was killed by a shell that was fired from the Gaza Strip at Israeli territory," she said.

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Russian fighter jet crashes, pilot killed

MOSCOW: A fighter jet crashed in southern Russia on Sunday, killing the pilot, the head of the air force told Russian news agencies, blaming a technical fault.

"An accident took place and the pilot died," General Viktor Bondarev said, quoted by the Interfax news agency.

"We are working out what happened. According to initial data, the reason for the accident was a failure of aviation equipment," he said.

The widely used Soviet-designed aircraft has experienced a string of accidents over the years in Russia and abroad.

"The MiG-29 jet crashed while carrying out a planned test flight in the Astrakhan region," said defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, quoted by the Interfax news agency.

"The flight supervisor gave the command to eject, but the pilot, trying to save the plane, did not leave the controls and died," Konashenkov said.

A Russian airforce MiG-29 last crashed in 2012 in eastern Siberia when it flew into a hillside, Interfax reported. A year earlier, two pilots were killed on a test flight in the Astrakhan region.

The MiG-29 was first produced in 1980s and has been exported to much of the world. It is deployed by the air forces of a number of countries including Iran.

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Policeman killed in terror attack in J&K's Sopore district

SRINAGAR: A policeman was killed and four people were injured in a grenade explosion in Kashmir's Sopore town Saturday, police said.

"Security forces were dealing with a mob of stone pelters in Sopore town early Saturday when militants lobed a grenade at a police party at around 2.30am," a police officer told IANS here.

"Five people were injured in this explosion. One police constable who was critically injured has died," the officer added.

Out of the four injured, two are critical while the remaining two suffered minor injuries.

The attack occurred during the holiest Muslim night of 'Shabir-e-Qadr' when devotees across the world spend the night in prayer and penance.

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Air Algerie crash wipes out entire families

BAMAKO: All passengers and crew on board an Air Algerie jetliner that crashed in Mali died in the tragedy, which completely wiped out several families, France announced.

As the first images emerged of the crash site, showing a charred landscape and debris scattered over a wide area, French President Francois Hollande said in a sombre televised address: "Sadly, there are no survivors."

France bore the brunt of the disaster, with some 54 French citizens among the overall death toll of between 116 and 118, according to unexplained conflicting figures given by the carrier and French authorities.

Travellers from Burkina Faso, Lebanon, Algeria, Spain, Canada, Germany and Luxembourg also died in the crash, blamed on bad weather that forced the pilots to change course.

The French army released initial images of a scene of total devastation, with twisted and charred fragments of the McDonnell Douglas 83 jet littering a scorched earth in what is clearly a barren and remote environment.

Such was the apparent violence of the crash that debris was barely recognisable as parts of an aircraft.

"It is difficult to retrieve anything, even victims' bodies, because we have only seen body parts on the ground," said General Gilbert Diendiere, chief of staff at Burkina Faso's presidency.

He was a member of a delegation sent to the crash site by President Blaise Compaore that arrived in the Gossi area, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Goa, northern Mali's main city, on Friday afternoon.

"Debris was scattered over an area of 500 metres which is due to the fact that the plane hit the ground and then probably rebounded," he added.

Meanwhile, the scale of the tragedy for some communities was becoming clear, as it emerged that 10 members of one French family died in the crash.

"It's brutal. It has wiped an entire family from the earth," said Patrice Dunard, mayor of Gex, where four of the Reynaud family lived.

And the small town of Menet in central France was left devastated when residents discovered that a local family of four — a couple, their 10-year-old daughter Chloe and their 14-year-old son Elno — had died.

Denise Labbe of the local town hall said Chloe had confided to her teacher that she was scared of taking a plane, which she was doing for the first time.

Hollande's office said he would meet families of the victims on Saturday.

The McDonnell Douglas 83 jet, operated by Spanish charter firm Swiftair on behalf of Air Algerie, went down shortly after take-off from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso on its way to Algiers.

French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said weather conditions appeared to be the most likely cause of the accident — the worst air tragedy for French nationals since the crash of the Air France A330 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris in June 2009.

But Hollande insisted that no potential cause for the accident was being ruled out.

Swiftair has a good safety record, and the head of France's civil aviation authority said Thursday that the MD-83 had passed through France this week and been given the all-clear.

The Spanish pilots' union Sepla said the plane's two Spanish pilots were "very experienced".

The Air Algerie crash was the third worldwide in the space of just eight days, capping a disastrous week for the aviation industry.

On July 17, a Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down in restive eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

And a Taiwanese aircraft crashed in torrential rain in Taiwan on Wednesday, killing 48.

France was extremely active in the search and retrieval efforts for the Air Algerie plane, dispatching military forces and crash experts to the site after one of its drones found the wreckage.

There was already a strong French military presence in the area because of an offensive France launched in Mali last year to stop Islamist extremists and Tuareg rebels from marching onto the capital Bamako.

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters that around 180 French and Malian forces had arrived on the crash site, as had 40 Dutch soldiers from the MINUSMA UN stabilisation force in Mali.

"Their mission is to make the zone secure and to allow information to be gathered, which will be essential for the investigation," he said.

To assist the investigation, 20 French military police were already preparing to leave their base at Villacoublay for Gao in Mali.

The black box flight recorder of the plane has already been recovered, Hollande said earlier.

Because of the disaster, a summit of the leaders of four Indian Ocean nations with Hollande in the island nation of the Comoros was cancelled, with no new date set.

Air Algerie flies the four-hour passenger route from Ouagadougou to Algiers four times a week. The Spanish crew had already flown it five times with the same plane, Algeria's transport minister said.

This year has already seen Algeria mourn the loss of another plane accident when a C-130 military aircraft carrying 78 people crashed in February in the country's mountainous northeast, killing more than 70 on board.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced a three-day period of national mourning for the latest crash, starting from Friday.

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Obama asks Afghan president candidates to accept election results

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has asked the Afghan presidential candidates to publicly endorse their previously agreed political framework and insisted there is no justification for rhetoric that threatens extra-constitutional measures.

Obama talked to Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani over phone and thanked them for their leadership in reaching an agreement to form a national unity government and to accept the outcome of the full audit of the ballots in the June 14 run-off election currently being undertaken by the election commissions, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.

Abdullah, a former foreign minister, came second in preliminary results to Ghani, but Abdullah said the election was fraudulent and he expected to become the next president.

"He (Obama) commended the two candidates for putting the interests of Afghanistan first and committing to working together as partners in governance," Earnest said.

Noting that the audit is steadily progressing, Obama encouraged both candidates to publically endorse their previously agreed political framework and continue their dialogue on the details of its implementation to ensure the Afghan people have full confidence in the ongoing electoral process and outcome, said a readout of the phone call.

"He reiterated that there is no justification for rhetoric that threatens extra-constitutional measures and urged Dr Abdullah and Dr Ghani to continue to move forward in the spirit of collegiality to maintain national unity during this historic democratic transition," Earnest said.

President Obama indicated that Secretary of State John Kerry would continue his close consultations with the two candidates and Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the days to come, he said.

Obama also reaffirmed the enduring American commitment to the Afghan people and their future, he added.

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IIT Bombay campus leopard remains elusive

MUMBAI: Forest department officials carried out search operations at mid night from 2am to 3.30am on Saturday in the metallurgical workshop of IIT Bombay where a leopard was spotted by the lab employees on July 23. Surprisngly, no leopard was found and the forest department officials handed over the workshop to the IIT authorities.

The big cat turned out to be smarter and had managed to escape, forest officials said despite them trying to seal all possible exit points. However, the huge size of the workshop made it difficult for the officials to net the animal. Some exit points like broken windows of the workshop had not been netted which could have been used by the leopard to escape.

"No leopard was found in the lab despite carrying out our search and combing operations at midnight. On Wednesday, two lab assistants from the neighboring lab spotted the big cat. Later, two staffers from the metallurgical workshop then sighted the leopard and immediately shut the entrance. By Wednesday noon, our rescue van reached the spot and since then we were waiting to trap the leopard," K D Thakare, deputy conservator of forest (territorial), Thane, said.

Several strategies like sending in robots with night vision cameras and two forest personnel in a caged trolley proved unsuccessful to trap the leopard.

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Govt to soon finalize war memorial construction site: Arun Jaitley

NEW DELHI: On the 15th anniversary of the Kargil War, defence minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the government will soon finalize the site for construction of a "grand" National War Memorial.

After paying homage to martyrs of the 1999 war with Pakistan, the minister said he would soon be visiting the Princess Park locality near the India Gate complex here with the chiefs of three Services to take an appropriate decision on the issue.

"For the war memorial, where names of all those who sacrificed their lives for the country will be written, we feel it is required.

"We feel that at the very site (Princess Park), as it is a very large area or somewhere close in the vicinity, which is the best site available, it is being shortlisted. We will, in a day or two may be visit that site with the chiefs and take an appropriate decision," Jaitley said.

He said the construction of the memorial "will take some time because we want it to be a grand war memorial and war museum".

The defence minister said the war museum would be built at the site of Princess Park.

"It is a large piece of land and I think it is appropriate for the war museum, which is required by India. As soon as details are finalised, they will have to get sanctions from all the departments. I think, in principle, that is the arrangement. It will take some time before it is completed," he said.

Jaitley said the government has earmarked Rs 100 crore for the construction for the war memorial and the war museum "Whatever funds would be required, we will be making it available".

Asked about the kind of talks India will have with Pakistan at the Foreign Secretary-level when ceasefire violations were taking place frequently, the minister said, "The issue taken up by you in itself is an issue".

"Whenever talks are held, India takes up issues which are related to its sovereignty," he said.

On the shortage of funds for armed forces modernisation, the minister said, "It is not so. The Army is fully equipped and ready."

He said whenever the armed forces require anything, the government "on priority basis, even if we have to cut expenditure from other avenues, meets the requirements of the forces. This year also, we have increased the defence expenditure."

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PM launches unique web platform to get citizens' ideas for governance

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a web platform - MyGov - which will allow common man and experts from different fields to reach out to the government with their ideas a nd suggestions.

The web platform - www.mygov.nic.in- is devised in such a way that it allows the citizens to discuss their ideas with experts within and outside the government and even earn "credit points" for the tasks which would eventually be approved for implementation by concerned departments\agencies.

The platform will allow flow of ideas\suggestions on various issues including Modi's pet project of cleaning the river Ganga, education of girl child and job creation.

" The objective of each group is to bring about a qualitative change in that sphere through people's participation", said Modi after launching this ambitious web interface of his government.

Stating that in the past, there used to be a big gap between the people and the processes of governance, the Prime Minister said that in the past sixty days, the experience of his government was that there were many people who wanted to contribute towards nation-building, and devote their time and energy.

"The only thing they required was an opportunity to shine and showcase their contribution. The MyGov platform is a technology-driven medium that would provide this opportunity to contribute towards good governance"", he said.

Official note of the PMO explains that the web platform presents an opportunity to the citizens to both 'Discuss' and 'Do'. There are multiple theme-based discussions on MyGov where a wide range of people would share their thoughts and ideas.

Further, any idea shared by a contributor will also be discussed on these discussion forums, allowing constructive feedback and interaction. For those who wish to go beyond discussions and wish to contribute on the ground, the MyGov offers several avenues to do so. Citizens can volunteer for various tasks and submit their entries.

"These tasks would then be reviewed by other members and experts. Once approved, these tasks can be shared by those who complete the task and by other members on MyGov. Every approved task would earn credit points for completing the task", said the PMO statement.

The National Informatics Centre (NIC), Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) would implement and manage the platform "MyGov" which would facilitate Citizen Engagement in Good Governance.

Speaking on the occasion of the launch of MyGov, which also marked the completion of sixty days of the new government, the Prime Minister said, "The success of democracy is impossible without participation of the people".

He expressed confidence that the people would welcome this initiative and invited suggestions to strengthen and improve the platform.

The platform has been divided into various groups namely Clean Ganga, Girl Child Education, Clean India, Skilled India, Digital India, Job Creation. Each group consists of online and on-ground tasks that can be taken up by the contributors. The objective of each group is to bring about a qualitative change in that sphere through people's participation

The minister for communication and IT, law and justice, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, and senior officers of the government of India were present at the launch of the platform.

"The inauguration of MyGov is a small step towards the larger mission of becoming a one stop centre for citizen engagement towards good governance. Over time the number of groups, tasks and discussions will increase. MyGov would also be used as a comprehensive knowledge repository, giving insights from the sharpest and brightest minds across", said the PMO note.

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Gunmen kill 15 people travelling in central Afghanistan: officials

HERAT (Afghanistan): Suspected Taliban gunmen stopped two vehicles in central Afghanistan and shot dead 15 passengers at the side of the road, officials said on Friday, in the latest attack to highlight the growing civilian toll from violence.

Only one man escaped the execution-style killing in Ghor province when the armed attackers gunned down 11 men, three women and one child.

"They ordered all passengers to stand in one line, and then they shot them dead one by one," Abdul Hai Khatibi, spokesman for the governor of Ghor province, told AFP.

"One man managed to flee. All of the others were shot in the head and chest."

Fahim Qaiem, Ghor provincial police chief, confirmed the incident and blamed suspected Taliban militants for the killings late on Thursday night.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, and the Taliban often deny links to incidents where civilians are the victims.

The attack occurred the same day that two Finnish female aid workers were shot dead by unidentified gunmen while in a taxi in the western city of Herat.

A suicide bomber on an explosive-packed motorcycle in Takhar province also killed six civilians and wounded more than 20 in a crowded market as shoppers bought supplies for the upcoming festival of Eid-ul-Fitr.

According to recent UN figures, civilian casualties soared by 24 per cent in the first half of 2014, while the International Crisis Group has said the "overall trend (in Afghanistan) is one of escalating violence and insurgent attacks".

Afghanistan is also mired in a bitter election dispute between presidential rivals Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah that threatens to fuel instability and revive ethnic tensions that ravaged the country during the 1992-1996 civil war.

The political deadlock and soaring civilian casualties have caused deep disquiet among Afghanistan's international backers, who sent tens of thousands of Nato-led soldiers and billions of dollars in aid to the country.

Nato combat troops will withdraw from the country by December, winding down a 13-year war against the Taliban that has failed to defeat the Islamist group that ruled Kabul before being ousted in 2001.

The UN mission recently revealed that in the first six months of this year it had documented 4,853 civilians killed or injured — up 24 per cent on the same period in 2013.

"The impact on civilians, including the most vulnerable Afghans, is proving to be devastating," the UN report said.

At least 42 people were killed on July 15 in a devastating suicide bombing at a market of the southeastern province of Paktika — one of the deadliest attacks in the war-torn country in recent years.

Taliban insurgents oppose the ongoing election process, which is struggling to undertake an audit of all eight million votes due to a dispute between the two contenders over fraud allegations.

Some 23,000 ballot boxes are being transported by the Afghan army and Nato forces to Kabul to be examined and verified.

Abdullah led Ghani after the first round of vote to succeed President Hamid Karzai but preliminary results of the run-off, announced on July 7, showed Ghani ahead by over one million votes.

Abdullah rejected the result, saying that most of his opponent's ballots were fraudulent.

Abdullah draws his support from Tajiks and other northern Afghan groups, while Ghani is backed by Pashtun tribes of the south and east.

The recount has already sparked fresh arguments and fallen behind schedule.

The inauguration of Karzai's successor was due on August 2, but has now been delayed.

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Army foils infiltration bid in Jammu and Kashmir

JAMMU: The Army on Thursday night foiled an infiltration bid by militants from across the line of control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, police said on Friday. It was the second such attempt by the guerrillas in the last two days.

"Late last night around 9.30pm, a group of heavily armed militants tried to cross over to the Indian side of the LoC in Balakote sector of the LoC in Poonch district," a senior police officer in Jammu said.

"Alert troops of the Army fired at them forcing them to flee back into the Pakistan side of the LoC. This was the second infiltration attempt by militants in the area within the last two days."

The officer, however, said the group that made Thursday's intrusion bid was different from the one that had attempted to do so 24 hours earlier in Tarkundi area of Balakote sector of the LoC in the same district.

"Both infiltration attempts were successfully foiled by the army", the officer added.

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Army foils infiltration bid in Jammu & Kashmir

JAMMU: The Army on Thursday night foiled an infiltration bid by militants from across the line of control (LoC) in Jammu & Kashmir's Poonch district, police said on Friday. It was the second such attempt by the guerrillas in the last two days.

"Late last night around 9.30pm, a group of heavily armed militants tried to cross over to the Indian side of the LoC in Balakote sector of the LoC in Poonch district," a senior police officer in Jammu said.

"Alert troops of the Army fired at them forcing them to flee back into the Pakistan side of the LoC. This was the second infiltration attempt by militants in the area within the last two days."

The officer, however, said the group that made Thursday's intrusion bid was different from the one that had attempted to do so 24 hours earlier in Tarkundi area of Balakote sector of the LoC in the same district.

"Both infiltration attempts were successfully foiled by the army", the officer added.

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Obama, Netherlands' Rutte agree more sanctions needed on Russia

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama spoke by phone with Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Thursday and the White House said both agreed on the need to impose more sanctions on Russia for continuing to arm pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.

According to a White House statement, the two leaders said Russia still had not taken steps to de-escalate the situation in eastern Ukraine a week after a Malaysian passenger jet was shot down by what US officials believe were pro-Russian separatists using Russian weapons. All 298 people on board were killed.

"Instead of de-escalating the situation, they agreed that all evidence indicates Russia is still arming and supplying separatists who continue to engage in deadly acts of aggression against Ukrainian armed forces," the White House said.

As a result, Obama and Rutte believe Russia must not be permitted "to destabilize the situation in Ukraine without incurring costs and that, accordingly, the international community will need to enact additional sanctions."

Obama also spoke with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. The White House said they agreed on the need for immediate access to the crash site by international investigators.

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Court adjourns hearing in 2002 hit-and-run case involving actor Salman Khan

MUMBAI: A sessions court on Friday adjourned the hearing in the 2002 hit-and-run case involving actor Salman Khan to August 21.

During the previous hearing earlier this month, the police had told the court that they could not trace the original documents pertaining to certain witness statements. This was repeated on Friday, after the police informed the court that out of 63 such documents, only seven originals are available with them. They sought more time to look for the documents. Even as the police insisted that the copies of these documents are available with it, the defence said that the originals were required.

The actor was not present during the hearing.

His presence was not essential as no witnesses were to identify him.

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Australia to send troops to MH17 crash site in Ukraine: Tony Abbott

SYDNEY: Australian troops plan to join a police contingent in helping secure the Flight MH17 crash site in Ukraine, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Friday, while stressing that the mission would be humanitarian in nature.

Abbott has been highly critical of the response on the ground to the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane, which was carrying 298 people when it was apparently shot down in rebel-held eastern Ukraine.

Some 90 Australian Federal Police have already been deployed to Europe for a planned international mission to help secure the wreckage and retrieve bodies.

A further 100 will leave on Friday to participate in the operation and "do the right thing by the grieving families", Abbott said, adding that Canberra was close to finalizing an agreement with Ukraine for deployment of the Australian officers.

"Many of the (police) deployed won't be armed, some of them could be armed," Abbott told reporters.

"And, yes, there will be some ADF (Australian Defence Force personnel) as part of this deployment, should it go ahead," he added, without putting a figure on how many.

Abbott's office later confirmed the defence personnel were troops. The majority of those on MH17 were Dutch, but 28 Australians and nine permanent residents were also on the plane.

"This is a humanitarian mission with a clear and simple objective, to bring them home," Abbott said. "All we want to do is to claim our dead and to bring them home."

He added that given human remains were still be recovered, it was "more important than ever that the site be properly secured".

"I expect the operation on the ground in Ukraine, should the deployment go ahead, to last no longer than a few weeks."

The prime minister said he had spoken twice to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the incident since it happened last week.

"President Putin has been full of sympathy, as you would expect from another human being, for what's happened to 37 families in Australia," Abbott said.

"And he certainly has been publicly and privately supportive of securing the site so that the full impartial investigation ... can be completed and all of the bodies can be brought home."

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Chrysler to recall 792,000 SUVs for ignition problem

The author has posted comments on this articleAFP | Jul 23, 2014, 04.37AM IST

WASHINGTON: Chrysler on Tuesday said it would recall up to 792,300 sport utility vehicles to fix an ignition-switch problem, the same part involved in the massive General Motors recall.

The automaker, a subsidiary of Italy-based Fiat Chrysler, said it was issuing the recall "out of an abundance of caution."

Chrysler took the move because ignition keys can be moved unintentionally from the "on" position, causing engine stall, reducing braking power and potentially disabling frontal airbags.

Chrysler said the switch may be shifted by an "outside" force, often the driver's knee.

Chrysler said it "is unaware of any related injuries" and knew of a single reported accident and a relatively small number of complaints covering 0.015 percent of the vehicles subject to the recall.

The recall affects certain models of the 2006-2007 Jeep Commander and 2005-2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs.

GM has publicly acknowledged 13 deaths in 54 accidents linked to its ignition-switch defect in several models no longer being manufactured. The company has recalled 2.6 million cars since February for the faulty switch.

The problem means the ignition switch can be jolted into "accessory" or "off" position while the car is running, cutting off engine power and disabling the airbag in a collision.

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Typhoon Matmo slams into Taiwan, one killed

TAIPEI: Typhoon Matmo slammed into Taiwan on Wednesday with heavy rains and strong winds, shutting financial markets and schools, with at least one person killed and some damage reported.

Typhoon Matmo, a category two on Tropical Storm Risk's scale of one to five, packed gusts of 155 kph (90 mph) and made landfall early on Wednesday, the central weather bureau said.

A man in northern Taiwan died after falling into a pool on his farm. News reports said a tourist was missing after taking pictures on a shore.

Taiwan's military had gathered and distributed sandbags in anticipation of flooding.

The weather bureau said Matmo was expected to head north towards China later in the day.

Matmo arrived a week after Typhoon Rammasun killed 97 people in the Philippines and 46 in China, with 25 still missing. The China Meteorological Administration said Rammasun was the strongest storm to strike southern China since 1973.

Typhoons are common at this time of year in the South China Sea, picking up strength from the warm waters and dissipating over land.

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7 students injured after minitruck hits school bus in Mumbai

NAVI MUMBAI: Seven students from Podar International school in Nerul suffered minor injuries when their school bus was side-swiped by a minitruck on Wednesday morning on Palm Beach Road.

Two students, a boy and a girl, were treated for minor injuries at MGM hospital and sent home. Five other students were taken to Seawoods hospital and were administered first aid.

The accident took place at about 7.45am and eye witnesses said the minitruck came in from the wrong side.

The injured students are from ICSE and CBSE batches, a school official said.

Palm Beach Road has recently seen a rise in accidents owing mainly to rash driving and overspeeding.

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7 students injured after minitruck hits school bus in Mumbai

NAVI MUMBAI: Seven students from Podar International school in Nerul suffered minor injuries when their school bus was side-swiped by a mini-truck on Wednesday morning on Palm Beach Road.

Two students, a boy and a girl, were treated for minor injuries at MGM hospital and sent home. Five other students were taken to Seawoods hospital and were administered first aid.

The accident took place at about 7.45am and eye witnesses said the mini-truck came in from the wrong side.

The injured students are from ICSE and CBSE batches, a school official said.

Palm Beach Road has recently seen a rise in accidents owing mainly to rash driving and overspeeding.

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One killed, three injured in bomb blast in Goalpara district of Assam

GOALPARA: One person was killed and three others were injured in a bomb blast triggered by suspected militants in front of Krishani police station in Goalpara district on Wednesday.

The bomb, which exploded at about 8.10am, was kept in a cycle, police said quoting a preliminary report.

The deceased was identified as Mujibur Rahman. The injured have been admitted to the Goalpara civil hospital.

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Jayalalithaa urges Modi to ensure release of Indian fishermen from Sri Lankan custody

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday condemned the "deliberate strategy of the Sri Lankan government to destroy the primary means of livelihood of Indian fishermen" by impounding their fishing boats.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the chief minister said it was disheartening to note that 46 fishing boats remained impounded in Sri Lanka, while the Centre had taken prompt action from time to time to secure the release of 225 fishermen from Sri Lankan custody.

"I request the Centre to take up this matter with the Sri Lankan government to ensure the immediate release of the impounded fishing boats and gear before they are rendered useless," she said.

In the latest incidents, 23 fishermen from Pudukottai district and 20 others from Rameswaram fishing base were apprehended by the Sri Lankan navy. They were taken to Kankesanathurai, Thalaimannar and Kayts Courts. The chief minister requested the Prime Minister to secure the safe release of the 43 Indian fishermen and their 55 fishing boats, including the 46 mechanized fishing boats, already under the Sri Lankan custody.

The chief minister reiterated the government's firm commitment to restore the traditional fishing rights of Indian fishermen in the Palk Bay and retrieval of Katchatheevu.

The Centre should not treat the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) with Sri Lanka as a settled question as the constitutionality of the 1974 and 1976 agreements had been challenged on valid and legal grounds by herself in her personal capacity and also by the state government in the Supreme Court.

"I request the Centre to initiate decisive measures along the lines already suggested by me to find a permanent solution to this livelihood issue of our fishermen," she said.

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DMK MLAs suspended from Tamil Nadu assembly for rest of budget session

CHENNAI: Speaker P Dhanapal on Tuesday suspended DMK MLAs from the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly for the rest of the session as their "conduct was not in consonance with the dignity of the House."

The action followed after the members had objected to certain remarks made by revenue minister R B Udhayakumar, leading to commotion in the assembly for a while.

When Udhayakumar was replying to a call attention motion moved by the Opposition on the situation arising out of poor monsoon in the last three years in the state.

While listing out the works undertaken by the government to tackle the water and fodder crisis against the backdrop of 20% deficit in rainfall last year, the minister said the previous AIADMK regime was indeed in the forefront in carrying out relief work, especially during disaster like tsunami, while the DMK showed little concern to the plight of the affected people and hid from taking up work.

The agitated DMK members were on their feet opposing the minister's remarks which indirectly hinted at their party chief, M Karunanidhi, prompting Dhanapal to summon the marshals to order their eviction en masse.

Later, Dhanapal said the members used objectionable words against him and persisted with their demands by standing near the Chair thus disrupting the business.

Speaking to mediapersons, DMK leader M K Stalin said the ruling party was making deliberate attempts to send out the DMK MLAs from the House, by provoking them to protest. "Neither the ruling party, nor the chief minister like our presence in the House. Hence, the Speaker evicts us perfectly. We strongly condemn the autocratic attitude of the Chair," he said.

The members of the MMK and the PT also walked out in support of the DMK.

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20 students injured as slab collapses in school near Thane

BHIWANDI: Around 25 students were injured after the slab of a Bhiwandi-Nizampura Municipal Corporation-run school in Bhiwandi collapsed on Tuesday morning.

The incident took place at around 9.30am at Telugu medium school number 59/60 of the civic body situated at Padma Nagar area in Bhiwandi.

The Bhiwandi police officials said that the slab of 9th and 10th standard classrooms collapsed while the students were attending a lecture. At the time of the incident, a total of 95 students were in the classrooms.

The police said that after the incident, the teachers with the help of school staff and locals rushed all the students to Indira Gandhi Memorial hospital, where around 30 students were given first aid and 25 others were hospitalized. Out of the 25 admitted students, two are suspected to have some serious head injuries.

Sources claimed that one day before the incident, students had reported about a crack in the ceiling but the authorities did not take the matter seriously.

Immediately after the incident, fire and police personnel sprung into action and carried out the rescue operation.

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20 students injured as slab collapses in school near Thane

BHIWANDI: Around 25 students were injured after the slab of a Bhiwandi-Nizampura Municipal Corporation-run school in Bhiwandi collapsed on Tuesday morning.

The incident took place at around 9.30am at Telugu medium school number 59/60 of the civic body situated at Padma Nagar area in Bhiwandi.

The Bhiwandi police officials said that the slab of 9th and 10th standard classrooms collapsed while the students were attending a lecture. At the time of the incident, a total of 95 students were in the classrooms.

The police said that after the incident, the teachers with the help of school staff and locals rushed all the students to Indira Gandhi Memorial hospital, where around 30 students were given first aid and 25 others were hospitalized. Out of the 25 admitted students, two are suspected to have some serious head injuries.

Sources claimed that one day before the incident, students had reported about a crack in the ceiling but the authorities did not take the matter seriously.

Immediately after the incident, fire and police personnel sprung into action and carried out the rescue operation.

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Cop alleges being thrashed for checking ID card of army officer in J&K

SRINAGAR: A police officer has alleged that he was thrashed by a group of army personnel over the issue of checking of identity card of an army officer for allowing entrance to the highly sensitive Baltal base camp of Amarnath Yatra in Ganderbal district of Kashmir, police said.

The police officer, who was posted at the drop gate of the base camp, on Monday night, asked an army officer, who was dressed in civvies, to show his identity card, before allowing him to proceed towards his security camp, police said.

They said the police officer had informed the army officer that he would have to inform his senior officers, as no one was permitted to pass through the Baltal base camp after dusk.

Although the army officer was allowed to proceed later, he later returned with a group of soldiers and allegedly thrashed the police officer, police said.

A police spokesman confirmed that a report about the incident has been lodged with the concerned police station.

"The matter is being investigated and, if required, action under law will be taken," he said.

A Srinagar-based defence spokesman, however, said he was not aware of any such incident having taken place.

"We will look into the allegations," he said.

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Govt launches scheme to minimise wastage of fruits, vegetables

NEW DELHI: Government has launched a scheme for technology upgradation and establishment and modernization of food processing industries across the country to minimise wastage of perishable fruits and vegetables.

Food processing industries minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said the National Mission of Food Processing will be implemented during the 12th Plan period to set up primary processing centres, collection centres besides technology upgradation, establishment and modernisation of such industries.

"These schemes of the mission are implemented by the state governments and they have full powers to receive sanction and release funds to the eligible applicants," she said in Lok Sabha.

Badal said the ministry has entered into an agreement in 2012 with France for promoting cooperation in the field of food processing and allied sectors.

She said under technology upgradation scheme, grant-in-aid has been sanctioned by the Ministry to 3438 units in 11th Plan and 2509 in 12th Plan for setting up and modernisation of food processing industries.

Replying to a supplementary, Badal said government has decided to review the policy to set up mega food parks as out of the 40 such Parks sanctioned, only 22 are in process while proposals of 14 applicants were rejected.

Badal also said for the first time, the country has produced more fruits and vegetables than cereals last year.

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BJP clinches Junagadh civic body from Congress in Modi's Gujarat

JUNAGADH: In a setback to Congress, ruling BJP in Gujarat here on Tuesday snatched the Junagadh Municipal Corporation (JMC) from the opposition party in the civic body election by winning 41 out of 60 seats.

JMC was the only municipal corporation ruled by the Congress in the state out of a total of seven big cities of Gujarat.

The BJP's victory comes after they trounced the Congress in the Lok Sabha election.

"BJP has emerged as the majority party by winning 41 seats, while the Congress has obtained 16 seats out of 60 seats of 20 wards in Junagadh Municipal Corporation (JMC). Two seats went to Bahujan Samaj Party and one independent candidate managed to get one seat," city election officer and Collector of Junagadh Alok Kumar Pandey said.

The elections for the corporation were held on Sunday and counting took place today. The civic body comprises 60 seats of 20 wards.

However, polling was held for 59 seats in JMC, as the Congress candidate for one seat in ward number 20 was declared uncontested by State Election Commission of Gujarat (SECG).

As per notification of SECG, 156 candidates, were in fray for the civic body elections. There were 2,11,298 registered voters in Junagadh.

The civic body election had witnessed a moderate 54.17 per cent voters.

Junagadh received the status of 'Municipal Corporation' in 2003 and first elections were held in 2004 for 51 seats of 17 wards. The BJP had easily captured the civic body by winning 35 seats.

However, tables turned in 2009, as Congress managed to snatch power from BJP by winning 28 seats. Then, BJP got 21 seats, BSP three and independent candidate bagged one seat.

After recent demarcation of the city limits, three new wards were added, taking the total number to 20 from 17. Thus, total number of seats also went up from 51 to 60 (three per ward).

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Child rape: Stir continues, ABVP workers clash with police in Bangalore

BANGALORE: Protests over alleged rape of a six-year old girl turned violent on Monday as ABVP activists clashed with police in front of the public school, where the incident happened, leading to a lathicharge.

After heated arguments, ABVP activists who besieged the Vibgyor High School, which is facing public anger for its alleged inaction in the incident, tried to forcibly make their way into the building as police struggled to prevent them.

As protesters broke barricades and tried to gain entry through another gate, policemen used lathis and chased them away, causing minor injuries to several persons in their action and the melee, police said.

ABVP demanded that the school management representative meet them, while they raised slogans for "most stringent action" against its employee, a skating instructor who was arrested yesterday in connection with the July 2 incident.

"We were peacefully protesting, we wanted the management to come out and respond to us about its inaction in this case; but police here manhandled us, they manhandled our women protesters, no women police staff are present here," a protester alleged.

However, when questioned, a police official at the spot said, "no one was pushed or manhandled, we were just trying to restrain them. Adequate woman staff is present here...."

The high-profile school is facing allegations of trying to hush up the case, as the alleged incident came to light only after a police complaint was lodged on July 14.

Protests were also held at Freedom Park by BJP's youth wing and near Town Hall by its women wing, with their activists raising slogans against the Congress Government over its "failure" to curb rising sexual offences against women and children.

The 31-year-old skating instructor Mustafa, hailing from Bihar, was arrested yesterday six days after the incident came to light triggering public outrage and strong protests.

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UN to vote on MH17 disaster resolution today

UNITED NATIONS, United States: The UN security council is expected on Monday to adopt a resolution demanding that pro-Russian separatists grant unrestricted access to the site of the downed passenger jet in east Ukraine.

Australia is taking the lead on the measure that calls on all countries in the region to cooperate with an international investigation, an appeal that implicitly targets Russia.

The draft resolution seen by AFP demands that all military activities, including by armed groups, be "immediately ceased in the immediate area surrounding the crash site to allow for security and safety of the international investigation."

A vote is set for Monday at 3:00 pm (1900 GMT). Russia, as a permanent member of the security council, has the right to exercise its veto power to scrap the resolution, but diplomats said late Sunday that an agreement appeared within reach.

Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin said "some ambiguities" remained in the draft and stressed the need for an "impartial" investigation.

Britain complained that the objections being raised by Russia were likely delaying tactics.

"There is no reason why everybody in the council could not support this resolution," Australian ambassador Gary Quinlan said Sunday.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is believed to have been blown out of the sky on Thursday by a surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 passengers and crew. Among the dead are 28 Australian citizens.

The measure "condemns in the strongest terms" the actions that caused the plane to crash.

It demands that armed groups controlling the area "refrain from any actions that may compromise the integrity of the crash site... and immediately provide safe, secure, full and unrestricted access to the site and surrounding area for the appropriate investigating authorities."

While not mentioning Russia specifically, it "calls on all states and actors in the region to cooperate fully in relation to the international investigation of the incident."

The text also urges countries to respect international civil aviation safety rules "in order to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, and demands that all states and other actors refrain from acts of violence directed against civilian aircraft."

World leaders have demanded Russian President Vladimir Putin use his influence to persuade the rebels to hand over the remains of the victims and allow full access to the crash site.

Major European nations have warned Moscow of additional possible sanctions over the crash.

On Friday, panel members, including Russia, demanded a full, independent probe of the downing.

Australia had asked that its 14 counterparts submit their comments on the measure.

One Western diplomat said it was difficult to know whether the Russians would exercise their veto power, adding Moscow was under significant pressure.

US secretary of state John Kerry said earlier that it was "pretty clear that this is a system that was transferred from Russia in the hands of separatists," while slamming "grotesque" scenes at the crash site.

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