Will WTO standoff take the sheen off John Kerry's meeting with Modi? - Firstpost

New Delhi: US Secretary of State John Kerry meets with India's new Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time today, hoping to break the ice with a leader once shunned by Washington.

Kerry, who held talks with senior Indian officials on Thursday, voiced optimism about expanding cooperation between the world's two largest democracies. But a raft of disputes have cast a shadow over hopes for a warmer relationship, with India also blocking a major World Trade Organisation pact on customs procedures.

The United States has little relationship with Modi himself, apart from refusing him a US visa in 2005 over allegations that he turned a blind eye to the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The United States caught up with other Western nations during the election campaign, sending its ambassador to meet Modi who since taking office has shown no visible signs of holding a grudge over his past treatment.

But US officials, who value frank and free-wheeling relationships with foreign leaders, are unsure what to expect from Modi who is known for his austere, solitary lifestyle.

The differences between Kerry and Modi could not be more stark: Reuters

Modi is seen as a very different character than his predecessor Manmohan Singh, a bookish Oxford-educated economist with whom President Barack Obama had found a kinship.

Kerry, the polyglot son of a diplomat, has nurtured personal relationships as he pursues key goals including seeking peace in the Middle East.

The top US diplomat went ahead with the trip to India despite working around the clock to end the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip. Just hours before his scheduled meeting, Kerry called a news conference at 3 am (2130 GMT) to announce a 72-hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Indian ministers voiced understanding as Kerry frequently excused himself from meetings to take phone calls to broker the ceasefire, which was achieved in the early hours after an official dinner, US officials said.

The United States has sought to put relations with India on firmer ground after the Modi visa row and a crisis in December when US authorities arrested an Indian diplomat for allegedly mistreating her servant, infuriating New Delhi.

But new disputes have kept arising. On Thursday, the WTO said that the 160-member body had failed to approve a landmark pact that would streamline global customs procedures.

India had stalled the pact as it pushed for the WTO to give the green light on the developing power's stockpiling of subsidised food. India says the policy is vital to help the poor, but rich nations charge that the practice distorts global trade.

The United States voiced "disappointment" and "regret" over India's stance, although Kerry insisted that Washington was sympathetic to concerns about feeding the poor.

India, in turn, said it protested to Kerry over reports from former contractor Edward Snowden that US intelligence had snooped on Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party while it was in opposition.

US officials, however, have signalled that they do not want to create a new rift by renewing past concerns about Modi's track record on minority rights.

Kerry treaded lightly on the issue on Thursday, saying that the two democracies shared the belief that "every citizen, no matter their background, no matter their beliefs, can make their full contribution."

"From women's rights to minority rights, there is room to go further for both of us," Kerry said.

AFP

India's demands block $1 trillion WTO deal on customs rules - Zee News

Pic Courtesy: -

Geneva: The World Trade Organization failed on Thursday to reach a deal to standardise customs rules, which would have been the first global trade reform in two decades but was blocked by India`s demands for concessions on agricultural stockpiling.

"We have not been able to find a solution that would allow us to bridge that gap," WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo told trade diplomats in Geneva just two hours before the final deadline for a deal.

"Of course it is true that everything remains in play until midnight, but at present there is no workable solution on the table, and I have no indication that one will be forthcoming."

The deadline passed without a breakthrough. WTO ministers had already agreed the global reform of customs procedures known as "trade facilitation" last December, but it needed to be put into the WTO rule book by July 31.

Most diplomats saw that as rubber-stamping a unique success in the WTO`s 19 year history, which according to some estimates would add $1 trillion and 21 million jobs to the world economy, so they were shocked when India unveiled its veto.

Trade experts say Thursday`s failure is likely to end the era of trying to cobble together global trade agreements and to accelerate efforts by smaller groups of like-minded nations to liberalise trade among themselves. India has been vocal in opposing such moves, making its veto even more surprising.

"Today’s developments suggest that there is little hope for truly global trade talks to take place," said Jake Colvin at the National Foreign Trade Council, a leading U.S. business group.

"The vast majority of countries who understand the importance of modernizing trade rules and keeping their promises will have to pick up the pieces and figure out how to move forward."

Some nations have already discussed a plan to exclude India from the agreement and push ahead regardless, and the International Chamber of Commerce urged officials to "make it happen."

“Our message is clear. Get back to the table, save this deal and get the multilateral trade agenda back on the road to completion sooner rather than later,” ICC Secretary General John Danilovich said.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, on a visit to New Delhi, had earlier said he was hopeful that differences between India and much of the rest of the world could be resolved.

But after Azevedo`s speech, U.S. Ambassador to the WTO Michael Punke was downbeat.

"We`re obviously sad and disappointed that a very small handful of countries were unwilling to keep their commitments from the December conference in Bali, and we agree with the Director-General that that action has put this institution on very uncertain new ground," Punke told reporters.

India had insisted that, in exchange for signing the trade facilitation agreement, it must see more progress on a parallel pact giving it more freedom to subsidise and stockpile food grains than is allowed by WTO rules. It got support from Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia.

India`s new nationalist government has insisted that a permanent agreement on its subsidised food stockpiling must be in place at the same time as the trade facilitation deal, well ahead of a 2017 target set last December in Bali.

Kerry, whose visit to India was aimed at revitalising bilateral ties but was overshadowed by the standoff, said the United States understood India`s position that it needs to provide food security for its poor but India would lose out if it refused to maintained its veto.

DEAL WITHOUT INDIA?

Diplomats say India could technically attract a trade dispute if it caused the deal to collapse, although nobody wanted to threaten legal action at this stage. The summer break will give diplomats time to mull options, including moving ahead without India.

Technical details would still have to be ironed out, but there was a "credible core group" that would be ready to start talking about a such a deal in September, a source involved in the discussions said.

"What began as a murmur has become a much more active discussion in Geneva and I think that there are a lot of members in town right now that have reached the reluctant conclusion that that may be the only way to go," he said.

An Australian trade official with knowledge of the talks said a group of countries including the United States, European Union, Australia, Japan, Canada and Norway began discussing the possibility in Geneva on Wednesday afternoon.

New Delhi cannot be deliberately excluded, since that would mean other countries slowing down containers destined for India, but if it becomes a "free-rider" it will add another nail in the coffin of attempts to hammer out global trade reform.

Trade diplomats had previously said they were reluctant to consider the idea of the all-but-India option, but momentum behind the trade facilitation pace means it may be hard to stop.

Many countries, including China and Brazil, have already notified the WTO of steps they plan to take to implement the customs accord immediately.

Other nations have begun bringing the rules into domestic law, and the WTO has set up a funding mechanism to assist. But WTO head Azevedo said he feared that while major economies had options open to them, the poorest would be left behind.

"If the system fails to function properly then the smallest nations will be the biggest losers," he said. "It would be a tragic outcome for those economies — and therefore a tragic outcome for us all."

AFP

First Published: Friday, August 01, 2014, 04:21

Sonia was no deity of sacrifice: Did Priyanka endorse Natwar's claim? - Firstpost

'Amazing Grace,' announced a leading newspaper’s banner headline on 19 May, 2004, words that went on to become a sort of catchphrase to describe the "sacrifice" made by Sonia Gandhi who had heeded the call of her “inner voice”. Whatever propelled her decision to not become prime minister, in one single stroke, she had become a deity of renunciation, personifying the biggest human trait that Indians value.

Natwar Singh. Image courtesy PIB

There were live images of wailing senior Congressmen in the Central Hall of Parliament as Sonia told the Congress Parliamentary Party, "Today my inner voice is telling me that I should politely refuse to accept the post of Prime Minister.” The drama that followed outside her residence and at the Congress headquarters made many in the country, regardless of whether they had voted for the Congress, review their opinion of her. Even her most bitter critics accepted that the move was most graceful, dictated by circumstances or otherwise.

The emotional outpouring and Sonia’s handling of affairs with a certain coolness, steadfastly supporting Manmohan Singh, was a powerful image. All other stories, why she refused to become Prime Minister, her citizenship issue, her family's fears that if she became prime minister she could meet the same fate as her mother-in-law and husband, all these were discredited.

Now, what Natwar Singh, her one time confidante, has done is to torpedo that image, partially demolish her claim to renunciation and sacrifice, and also portray her son and heir Rahul Gandhi as a timid young man who forced his mother not to accept the challenge of shaping the fate of the nation only because of his own panic. He may have become the Congress’s vice-president only eight years later, but he took decisions on her behalf even when he was hardly in active politics.

Sonia Gandhi has now promised that she will write her own book and 'reveal the truth'. Expectedly, for Congress party leaders, it’s a free for all situation, whereby one could choose strong words and phrases to berate Natwar Singh. There are no clues yet on just when Sonia will write her book. Was it a light-hearted comment to politely get away from the inquisitive media without responding to substantive questions or did she really mean it? Will she write a book while still serving as Congress president or do it post retirement?

Nobody knows. But first, it would be interesting to take a look at Barkha Dutt’s interview with Priyanka Gandhi for NDTV in April 2009 when she was campaigning in her mother's parliamentary constituency, Rae Bareli. Priyanka could be seen to be virtually endorsing what Natwar Singh said, that Rahul did not want Sonia to become PM because he feared that she could die if she accepted the post. And it was Priyanka who conveyed Rahul’s message, with a deadline of 24 hours.

In response to Barkha’s question, “You have seen what happened to your father and you have seen what happened to your grandmother, do you feel scared for your brother, your mother, yourself,” Priyanka says: "No, I don’t. I don’t feel scared for them at all... But I did have this one moment of terror in 2004 when I peeped into her office and I saw this bunch of, you know, Lalu ji and everybody surrounding her and saying that you have to be Prime Minister, I had this one moment of complete terror. And I burst out crying. I didn’t realise that I was afraid. I burst into my brother, I was like is she going to die..you think you are not scared but you are scared of losing someone else you love..”

Taken in the context of what Natwar Singh has written in his book and said in his pre-release interview to Headlines Today, Priyanka’s response becomes very revealing.

That 'renunciation’ formula helped Sonia again in March 2006 when the “office of profit” issue threatened to culminate in her disqualification as an MP. In a surprise move, she resigned from Lok Sabha, only to be re-elected from Rae Bareli before Parliament could open for the next session. The UPA government would later make relevant amendments in the office of profit statutes.

Natwar Singh obviously has chosen his timing well. For the last nine years he has been persona non grata, going from the second most powerful person in the UPA government in its first year, from somebody who could call Sonia by her first name to a humiliated, haunted man thrown out of the Congress after his name figured in the Volcker report. But for the past few days, he is making headlines, the difference being that this time around, he is having the last laugh, at least for now, having put Sonia and Rahul in the dock.

At the age of 83, with the Modi government firmly at the centre and son Jagat Singh now a BJP MLA from Rajasthan, he has nothing to lose now. He knows that the Congress is down. Sonia’s Mother India frame has already been left tattered in these elections. The country may have rewarded her for that renunciation in 2009, but no longer reposes faith in her.

Natwar has said he wrote his book, One Life Is Not Enough, because he did not want to take his “bitterness to the funeral pyre” but he has virtually bombed the dynasty’s aura. He has used a range of adjectives to describe Sonia, from “authoritarian” and “capricious” to “Machiavellian” and “secretive.”

The first controversy on why Sonia refused to become PM -- that president Kalam raising citizenship issue thus making her nominate Manmohan Singh – was debunked by Kalam but continued to be a talking point because there were other versions also. Interestingly, a senior BJP leader, now an important minister, had met President Kalam same day, May 17, 2004, when Sonia had met him to stake claim to form government.

Kalam had spoken to that BJP leader about the various petitions including that of Subramanian Swamy he had received and said he was looking into the matter. Swamy in his petition to President Kalam had said the Citizenship Act did not allow Sonia to become PM. “In particular Ms Gandhi is subject to proviso under Section 5 of Citizenship Act, a reciprocal disqualification to be Prime Minister of this country since she is Italian,” Swamy said in his petition dated May 15, 2004 to Kalam adding that the President’s power to invite anyone who enjoys support of majority of elected members is not “unfettered”.

On this subject, Kalam wrote in his book later: “While this communication was in progress, I had a number of e-mails and letters coming from individuals, organizations and parties that I should not allow Mrs Sonia Gandhi to become the prime minister of our country. I had passed on these mails and letters to various agencies in the government for their information without making any remarks. During this time there were many political leaders who came to meet me to request me not to succumb to any pressure and appoint Mrs Gandhi as the prime minister.” He added, “If she had made any claim for herself I would have had no option but to appoint her.”

Natwar Singh's narration of events of 17-18 May 2004 is an insider’s account. Given the current political mood, it would be easily acceptable to most, until Rahul or Sonia come out with a more substantive counter. It is, after all, not an ordinary event that Sonia and Priyanka went to his doorstep with a very personal request, a full nine years after he was shown the door from the government, from the Congress party and from key positions that he held in the first family foundations.

Pune landslide: Unscientific farming seen as trigger - Livemint

Rescue workers and volunteers clear the debris from the site of a landslide at Malin village. Photo: Reuters

Mumbai/Malin (Pune):Environmental campaigners said Wednesday’s landslide in Malin village of Pune district that has killed 41 people so far and buried around 125 more was caused by unscientific paddy farming encouraged by the local agricultural department.

Ambegaon-based non-governmental organization Nisarg Sahas Sanstha (NSS), which works in the field of environment protection, has lodged a complaint with Pune Rural Police demanding that an offence of culpable homicide be registered against local officials of the agricultural department.

It said these officials encouraged tribal farmers of Malin village to undertake paddy cultivation in an unscientific manner.

Dhananjay Konkane, president of NSS, said: “Villagers who mostly belong to the Scheduled Tribe community called Mahdeo Koli were encouraged by the agriculture department to flatten large tracts of hills in the village and also uproot the trees on the hill to promote paddy cultivation among these tribals, so that they have a permanent source of livelihood under the government scheme called Padkai.”

However, before encouraging villagers to undertake paddy cultivation on the hills, no survey on the geographical features of the village and its surroundings were carried out by the officials, he claimed.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh , who visited Malin village on Thursday, announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs.2 lakh each for close relatives of those who died in the landslide.

Singh said: “One must strike a balance between development and environment. Eco-friendly development is a must to ensure that balance of nature is not disturbed.”

However, he added, it would be premature to comment on the reasons for the landslide before authorities had received the report of the Geological Survey of India.

The confirmed death toll was 41 from Wednesday’s landslide, said H.H. Chauhan , deputy director of health services in the district where the village is located.

More than 24 hours after the Wednesday morning landslide, authorities said the chances of survival were slim for anyone still trapped under the mud in Malin village in Ambegaon near Pune district of Maharashtra. Suresh Jadhav , a district official, said around 40 homes were wiped out.

Two days of torrential rains triggered the landslide, which continued to pound the area as rescuers brought bodies covered in soaked white sheets to waiting ambulances while relatives stood by, weeping. Bad communications, dangerous roads and debris delayed national rescue personnel from the stricken area for several hours Wednesday.

The disaster only came to light when a bus driver passed by and saw that the village had disappeared under masses of mud and earth. “The driver returned to a nearby city and alerted authorities,” Jadhav said. “Everything on the mountain came down.” Thirty bodies had been recovered and eight people pulled out alive, said rescue official Sachin Tamboli .

Suresh Dhonde , who was working in another town when the landslide ripped through his village, said only two people managed to get out of his home alive.

“The other six are buried under the mud,” he said.

Crowds of people from nearby areas were helping rescuers, using their bare hands to move fallen trees and rocks. About 250 disaster response workers and at least 100 ambulances were involved in the rescue effort, officials said.

Overnight, emergency workers used flood lights mounted on jeeps to illuminate the disaster area, where the tangled roofs of homes poked up through thick mud.

Rescuers expected the death toll to rise in the village at the foothills of the Sahyadri Mountains. Sandeep Rai Rathore , a top official of the National Disaster Response Force, estimated that around 100 people were missing and feared dead.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi mourned the loss of lives and said all possible efforts must be made to help the victims, according to a statement from his office. He sent home minister Rajnath Singh to the disaster area.

Landslides are common in the area during the monsoon season, which runs from June through September. The area around the village has been deforested extensively, increasing its vulnerability to landslides. Similar deforestation and environmental damage have caused floods and landslides in other parts of India.

Pune district is about 150km (95 miles) southeast of Mumbai, India’s commercial capital.

On Thursday, heavy rains hit a remote mountainous village in northern India and six members of a family were feared dead, said police officer Pravin Tamta. Police have recovered two bodies and were searching for four others in Tehri district in the hilly Uttarakhand state, Tamta said. The village is 300 kilometers (200 miles) north of New Delhi.

Last year, more than 6,000 people were killed as floods and landslides swept through Uttarakhand state during the monsoon season.

Reuters contributed to this story.

Gas explosions kill 24, injure 271 in Taiwan - Toronto Star

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KAOHSIUNG, TAIWAN—At least 24 people were killed and 271 others injured when several underground gas explosions ripped through Taiwan’s second-largest city overnight, hurling concrete through the air and blasting long trenches in the streets, authorities said Friday.

The series of explosions about midnight Thursday and early Friday struck a district where several petrochemical plans operate pipelines alongside the sewer system in Kaohsiung, a southwestern port with 2.8 million people.

The fires were believed caused by a leak of propene, a petrochemical material not intended for public use, but the source of the gas was not immediately clear, officials said.

Video from the TVBS broadcaster showed residents searching for victims in shattered storefronts and rescuers pulling injured people from the rubble of a road and placing them on stretchers while passersby helped other victims on a sidewalk. Broadcaster ETTV showed rows of large fires sending smoke into the night sky.

Four firefighters were among the 24 dead and 271 people were injured, the National Fire Agency said. The firefighters had been at the scene investigating reports of a gas leak when the explosions occurred, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.

At least five blasts shook the city, said Taiwan’s Premier Jiang Yi-huah.

Chang Jia-juch, the director of the Central Disaster Emergency Operation Centre, said the leaking gas was most likely to be propene, meaning that the resulting fires could not be extinguished by water. He said emergency workers would have to wait until the gas is burnt away.

The source of the leak was unknown. Chang said, however, that propene was not for public use, and that it was a petrochemical material.

Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu said several petrochemical companies have pipelines built along the sewage system in Chian-Chen district, which has both factories and residential buildings.

“Our priority is to save people now. We ask citizens living along the pipelines to evacuate,” Chen told TVBS television.

Power was cut off in the area, making it difficult for firefighters to search for others who might be buried in rubble.

CNA said the local fire department received reports from residents of gas leakage at about 8:46 p.m. and that explosions started around midnight.

Closed-circuit television showed an explosion rippling through the floor of a motorcycle parking area, hurling concrete and other debris through the air. Mobile phone video captured the sound of an explosion as flames leapt at least nine metres into the air.

One of the explosions left a large trench running down the centre of a road, edged with piles of concrete slabs torn apart by the force of the blast. A damaged motorcycle lay in the crater, and TVBS showed cars flipped over. The force of the initial blast also felled trees lining the street.

US says hopeful of WTO deal with India only hours before deadline - Daily Times

NEW DELHI/SYDNEY: The United States said on Thursday it was hopeful that differences between India and much of the rest of the world over a major trade agreement could be resolved in time, with only hours remaining before the deal has to be signed.

New Delhi has insisted that, in exchange for signing the trade facilitation agreement, it must see more progress on a parallel pact giving it more freedom to subsidise and stockpile food grains than is allowed by World Trade Organisation rules.

The WTO deal must be signed in Geneva on Thursday, and India’s ultimatum has revived doubts about the future of the WTO as a negotiating body.

“I am an optimist, I am hopeful that within the period of today...there is a common ground that is found,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, accompanying Secretary of State John Kerry during annual strategic talks with India, told NDTV.

India’s new nationalist government has demanded a halt to a globally agreed timetable on new customs rules and said a permanent agreement on food stockpiling and subsidies aimed at supporting the poor must be in place at the same time, well ahead of a 2017 target agreed last December in Bali.

Kerry warned India it stood to lose if it refused to budge.

“Right now India has a four-year window where it’s been given a safe harbour where nothing happens,” he told NDTV.

“If they don’t sign up and be part of the agreement, they will lose that and then (they will) be out of line or out of the compliance with the WTO.”

Pritzker said serious efforts were underway on Thursday to save the deal, which proponents say could add $1 trillion to the global economy and create 21 million jobs.

As trade officials in Geneva tried to rescue the deal, India’s Trade Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said New Delhi’s position remained unchanged.

An Indian government source added separately that the Bali deal need not collapse even if the July 31 deadline is not met.

But several diplomats said New Delhi’s stance could derail the whole process of world trade liberalisation, leading some WTO nations to discuss informally the last-ditch idea of excluding India from the agreement.

“If India does end up blocking (on Thursday) there is already a group of members who are interested in pursuing that path,” a source involved in the discussions said.

“A dozen or so” of the WTO’s 160 members had informally discussed pushing ahead with the trade facilitation agreement with less than 100 percent participation, the source said.

An Australian trade official with knowledge of the talks said a group of countries including the United States, European Union, Australia, Japan, Canada and Norway began discussing the possibility in Geneva on Wednesday afternoon.

A Japanese official familiar with the negotiations said Japan was still working on reaching a consensus, while a State Department official travelling with Kerry in India said the United States continued to talk with India on the deal.

A WTO spokesman said the group’s director-general would hold meetings throughout the day to “avert a crisis.

“Delegations are showing real commitment to finding a solution and the director-general remains hopeful that a solution can be found,” he said.

Technical details would still have to be ironed out, but there was a “credible core group” that would be ready to start talking about a deal without India when WTO diplomats return from their summer break, the Australian official said. To what extent the alternative proposal, and India’s hardline position, were part of political brinkmanship was unclear. New Delhi’s absence from any agreement would be a setback given its size and importance in global trade.

“What began as a murmur has become a much more active discussion in Geneva and I think that there are a lot of members in town right now that have reached the reluctant conclusion that that may be the only way to go,” the official said.

Monkey business: These men are paid to mimic langurs - Business Standard

Forty young men “impersonating” as langurs currently protect our public representatives from the troops of monkeys that terrorise Members of Parliament and officials inside Parliament House, and other important buildings like the Supreme Court in the New Delhi area of the national capital.

Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday told the Rajya Sabha that New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has hired “40 young” people for the purpose of scaring away monkeys. In a reply to a question from Bahujan Samaj Party MP Ambeth Rajan, Naidu said the 40 men were “trained persons who disguise themselves as langurs”.

Grey or Hanuman langur is the natural enemy of the monkey. Monkeys are ubiquitous in and around Delhi, particularly near the broad leafy avenues of New Delhi and many of its British- era buildings.

Naidu’s reply in Parliament and a press release from the Press Information Bureau of the government seemed to suggest that the young men dress up as langurs to drive away monkeys. The truth, an NDMC official said, was less strange. He said the civic authority had employed men who mimic langurs to frighten the monkeys away.

The official, who preferred not to be quoted lest he is seen making a monkey out of the minister’s statement, said the civic authority would, until a year ago, hire langurs along with their caretakers to drive away monkeys. It was a common sight in Delhi’s buildings to see a langur tied to a long rope being prodded by its caretaker to chase away monkey hordes. The langur and his caretaker had become an important part of the administration and would get their two weekly holidays and did eight-hour work shifts with an hour of lunch break. The practice had to be stopped after the langur species was included in Schedule II of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

In end-2012, the ministry of environment and forests wrote to all government departments that owning, trading, buying or hiring out of langurs was an offence punishable under the law and entailed a prison term of up to three years or a fine or both. The practice did continue but mostly surreptitiously. This also changed once the new regime took over, with Maneka Gandhi, an animal rights activist, being part of the Cabinet.

The men, according to the NDMC official, were hired some months back during the fag end of the UPA regime. These men have been hired on contract and earn minimum wages, that is approximately Rs 8,000 a month.

Each of these men is armed with his ability to mimic langurs and a stick. The civic official expressed ignorance about the educational qualifications of these men, or whether any qualification test was conducted before recruiting them. “We are yet to open a training academy for people to be imparted the art of scaring monkeys,” he said.

Naidu also told Parliament that NDMC had acquired ‘Sure Shot Rubber Bullet Guns’ to scare away monkeys, and that a team of dog catchers visits the Parliament House and surrounding areas twice a week to catch stray dogs that are not immunised and sterilised.

The official assured the rubber bullets wouldn't kill or injure any monkeys, and were perfectly safe.

Naidu had replied to the BSP MP’s question whether the government was aware of the monkey and stray dog menace across Delhi, particularly in and around Parliament House. He also wanted to know what steps the government had taken to tackle this menace. Incidentally, BSP has ‘elephant’ as its election symbol.

Rajan said he had personally faced problems because of the presence of monkeys at his government-allotted apartment on North Avenue. Recently, a monkey broke into his rooftop water tank. "It was swimming in the tank," Rajan said, adding his slogan was 'Make Delhi a monkey-free capital' and that the problem needed a permanent remedy. Rajan said he disagreed with animal rights activists like Maneka Gandhi. "We all love animals. Dogs can be handled but the place for these monkeys is a jungle. We are wasting money by training humans to scare away monkeys. The simians should be caught and released in a jungle," he said.

Delhi Fire Service and civic officials, however, said the strategy to employ humans hasn’t been particularly successful given their limited ability, unlike langurs, to scale walls and trees. Complaints of monkey menace from MPs, judges and senior bureaucrats are frequent. Most relate to monkeys vandalising kitchen gardens, carrying away food items, snapping phone or television wires and tearing clothes left in the open for drying.

US Pressures India on WTO Trade Agreement - Wall Street Journal

Updated July 31, 2014 7:47 p.m. ET

The World Trade Organization failed Thursday to ratify an agreement designed to streamline the global trade system, frustrating a late push by U.S. officials to convince India to reach a compromise that would have secured a deal.

"I do not have the necessary elements that would lead to me to conclude that a breakthrough is possible," WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo said. "We got closer—significantly closer—but not quite there."

The WTO reached an agreement in December on the Indonesian resort island of Bali to streamline customs procedures. The deadline to ratify that agreement was Thursday, but India declined to do so without a parallel agreement allowing developing countries more freedom to subsidize and stockpile food.

Some economists have estimated that the Bali agreement, which seeks to streamline and harmonize customs practices, could save WTO members more than $1 trillion eventually.

Failure to achieve a consensus before the WTO's own deadline deals a severe blow to the Geneva-based body's credibility, already tenuous after years of stalled talks on tariff reductions. The trade-easing deal was viewed as a way to create some momentum.

As a raft of regional trade deals moves ahead, the WTO's ability to act as a catalyst for global trade liberalization is in doubt.

India had insisted for weeks that it wouldn't sign off on the Bali pact unless the group comes to a faster accord on exempting food-subsidy and stockpiling programs like India's from current WTO rules that limit them.

The Bali meeting had produced a truce: WTO members agreed not to file complaints against India's food subsidies for the time being and said a permanent solution would be found by 2017. India wanted speedier progress on meeting its demands.

"The bottom line is that we are very sensitive to, and we care about, and we will work with India," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told NDTV, an Indian news channel earlier in the day. "The key is, don't lose the opportunity."

To maintain government reserves and provide subsidized food to needy households, India buys rice and wheat from farmers in enormous quantities at above-market prices. That has put it at risk of violating WTO rules capping subsidies that influence agricultural prices and production. For developing countries, the yearly ceiling for "trade-distorting" subsidies is 10% of the value of agricultural production.

Economists have estimated that India has exceeded its cap in the last few years as the size of its grain stockpiles—and hence the prices it must pay to growers—has grown rapidly. But the WTO doesn't have current data on the size and nature of India's agricultural subsidies. India hasn't submitted the requisite documentation since 2011, when it reported the assistance it provided to farmers between 1998 and 2004.

An Indian trade official confirmed that New Delhi hadn't submitted its documents for more-recent years but said it would do so soon. There are "tens of nations" that are behind on their WTO reporting, said the official, who didn't want to be named. "What's the big deal?"

This isn't the first time WTO members have come to loggerheads over agricultural policy and government protections for poor farmers. The Doha Round of trade negotiations broke down in Geneva in 2008 because the U.S. and India couldn't agree on developing countries' rights to ramp up tariffs in the event of a surge in agricultural imports.

The collapse in Geneva proved traumatic. WTO talks on major issues were on hold for years.

The Bali talks in December also came close to falling apart. Then as now, Indian negotiators portrayed the food-security standoff as one between developing countries seeking to provide for their poor and developed ones privileging freer trade over the lives of millions of vulnerable people.

A coalition of developing countries initially backed India's proposal to uncap farm subsidies provided as part of food-security programs. But in this month's showdown, India was supported only by Cuba, Bolivia and Venezuela.

Meanwhile, China, Thailand and Mexico, among other large emerging markets, have publicly criticized India's intransigence. Pakistan—poorer per capita than India but also a major rice-grower—has quizzed India about its rice subsidies at WTO meetings.

—William Mauldin and Rajesh Roy contributed to this article.

State govt hikes petrol, diesel prices - Times of India

PANAJI: The state government on Thursday increased the petrol price by 2 and diesel price by 1 and expected to collect additional revenue of 100 crore, which would be utilized for the purpose of infrastructure development.

On the same day, the Union government has reduced the petrol price by 1.09 and hiked the diesel rate by 56 paisa. The increased and decreased price will come into to effect from August 1.

The present price of petrol in Goa is 61.05 and diesel rate 61.78. With the additional and subtraction of increase and decrease of petrol and diesel rates, the Goan will have to purchase petrol at 61.96 and diesel at 63.34.

Last week, chief minister Manohar Parrikar had announced in the assembly that petrol price will increase by 2 and diesel by 1. Since April 2012, petrol in Goa was the cheapest in the country, less by around 11 per litre. It was an election promise made by the BJP included in the party election manifesto for the March 2012 assembly polls. On taking over the reins of the state, Parrikar had reduced VAT on petrol to nearly zero. This had come into effect from the beginning of the financial year 2012-13.

http://ift.tt/1i2jHOx govt,Petrol,Manohar Parrikar,diesel prices

Maruti Suzuki plans Rs 4000-crore capital expenditure this fiscal that would go ... - Economic Times

NEW DELHI: Maruti Suzuki India has posted a 21% jump in its net profit for the quarter ended June at Rs 762 crore, driven by a pickup in sales, higher localisation of its vehicles and foreign exchange gains. The company's net sales for the first quarter stood at Rs 11,074 crore, 11% more than the year-ago quarter.

To keep up the momentum and protect its market share in the face of increasing competition, Maruti Suzuki plans Rs 4,000-crore capital expenditure this fiscal that would go into developing new models as well as the upcoming R&D centre in Rohtak, Haryana, company's chief finance officer Ajay Seth said. "We are planning to commission a test track and other research facilities by the end of this year," he told analysts

segments like sedans, SUVs and multi-utility vehicles, Seth said. "We are also investing in new stockyards and warehouse across the country." He said Maruti's efforts to cut down imported parts used in its vehicles has helped the company save on forex. The imported content for its cars has come down to 16% from 24%-25% in 2010-11, Seth said.

Maruti said sales have picked up in recent months as excise tax cuts announced in the Budget wooed customers back into showrooms in large numbers after a sluggish 2014 fiscal when Maruti's sales declined 5% to 17.86 lakh units in the domestic market.

In April-June, the company sold 299,894 vehicles, 12.6% more than the yearago quarter. Sales in the domestic market grew 10% to 270,643 units while exports jumped 39% to 29,251 vehicles.

Maruti shares closed at Rs 2,524 on the BSE on Thursday after the results were announced, 1.07% lower than its previous close. It hit an intra-day high of Rs 2,589.

"The results are 'in-line' with our expectations of Rs 770 crore," said Surjit Arora, equity research analyst with Prabhudas Lilladhar. "Maruti is the top pick in the auto space as sales are expected to grow by 15% for the next two years, on the back of revival in the urban market and strong demand from rural markets," he said. Arun Agarwal, auto analyst with Kotak Securities, said recovery in entry-level passenger car demand coupled with new launches from the company will support volume growth over the next two years.

"As demand recovers and volumes increase, operating margins are expected to benefit from positive operating leverage and reduction in discounts, we expect healthy earnings growth," he said.

Maruti has also announced plans to launch premium sedan Ciaz and a crossover SX4, CROSS. Both the cars are expected to hit the market in the festive season. Maruti is also expected to launch a compact hatchback by yearend.

Copyright © 2014 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.

Natwar Singh misusing facts, Congress says - Times of India

NEW DELHI: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday received instant support from ex-PM Manmohan Singh who denied that government files used to be sent to Sonia, and dubbed Natwar Singh's claim as a marketing gimmick. "Private conversations should not be made public for capital gains," he said.

Going by his pre-launch interview, Natwar has taken many swipes at Manmohan Singh in his book, validating the claims made by the ex-PM's media advisor Sanjaya Baru who wrote a similar book during the polls and triggered a storm. However, there was no response from Sonia about Natwar's claim that she along with Priyanka had met him to dissuade him from making the disclosure about Rahul having stopped her from assuming prime ministership - a claim that contradicted Sonia's version that it was because of her "inner voice" that she renounced the top political post.

Natwar's autobiography is the second of its kind in three months, after Baru's, that has turned Sonia into a butt of attacks with her description as the 'remote control' of UPA, the person who impeded the smooth governance of the Manmohan Singh regime and who had access to government files.The political memoirs and controversies they spark - Baru's book consistently topped the charts in the non-fiction category - may mark the advent of a new culture of politicians coming up with tell-all books. a genre which is mainstream abroad but has so far been alien in the Indian milieu which privileges discretion over history-telling. The trend could only be cemented if Sonia indeed writes her memoirs and that too soon.

Taking a cue from the party chief's aggressive "book threat", Congress accused Natwar of betrayal and of cheap book-selling gimmicks. "Natwar used to be apprised of sensitive issues and facts because of the post he occupied. Now, he is misusing facts or distorting them," Congress's Abhishek Singhvi said.

The spokesman said while personal meetings may have taken place, the party denied the content or the opinions expressed about those meetings. He said the author's claims should be seen through the prism of his unceremonious exit from the UPA government over the oil-for-food scam and his expulsion from the party later.

John Kerry visit: India, US stress strategic ties but tensions remain - Economic Times

NEW DELHI: The United States and India stressed their desire to boost business and defense ties on Thursday, but trade and spying rows were a reminder of the obstacles to President Barack Obama's vision of a "defining" partnership.

After a day of meetings in New Delhi seen as a preparation for a September visit to Washington by new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the Indian leader's election had created a "singular opportunity."

"The moment has never been more ripe to deliver on the incredible possibilities in the relationship between our two nations," he told a news conference after the annual Strategic Dialogue meeting between the two countries.

"The United States and India can and should be indispensable partners in the 21st century," he said.

His Indian counterpart, Sushma Swaraj, said the two countries were at "an important turning point" and said they shared "converging long-term strategic interests."

She told the news conference that India was keen to see greater US business participation in its economy and expanded defence cooperation.

Kerry said delivering on the potential was key and much needed to be done to deliver concrete progress by Modi's visit.

He stressed the need to break down barriers to trade, subsidies and protectionism, which US firms have long cited as obstacles in India.

He hailed Modi's commitment to economic reform, but added: "We are waiting to see - the proof is always in the pudding."

The comments show lingering frustrations in a relationship that, while it has come a long way since the suspicions of the Cold War, has yet to live up to Obama's 2010 rhetorical billing as "one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century."

TRADE, SPYING ROWS

The talks in Delhi were overshadowed by a dispute over India's opposition to a world trade pact and a new expression of Indian irritation over US surveillance activity.

Kerry urged India to reconsider its threat to veto the landmark pact agreed last year in Bali, which aims to speed trade by standardising customs rules and slashing red tape.

New Delhi has insisted it must see more progress on a parallel pact giving it more freedom to subsidise and stockpile food grains than is allowed by World Trade Organization rules.

For its part, India on Thursday, raised the issue of US surveillance activities, with Sushma saying such acts were "unacceptable" and had caused resentment in her country.

According to a document leaked by former US security contractor Edward Snowden and published by the Washington Post earlier this year, Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party was among a handful of political organisations a US court allowed the US National Security Agency to spy on.

Kerry said it was not US practice to comment on intelligence matters but added: "We fully respect and understand the feelings expressed by the minister."

Monkey business: These men are paid to mimic langurs - Business Standard

Forty young men “impersonating” as langurs currently protect our public representatives from the troops of monkeys that terrorise Members of Parliament and officials inside Parliament House, and other important buildings like the Supreme Court in the New Delhi area of the national capital.

Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday told the Rajya Sabha that New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has hired “40 young” people for the purpose of scaring away monkeys. In a reply to a question from Bahujan Samaj Party MP Ambeth Rajan, Naidu said the 40 men were “trained persons who disguise themselves as langurs”.

Grey or Hanuman langur is the natural enemy of the monkey. Monkeys are ubiquitous in and around Delhi, particularly near the broad leafy avenues of New Delhi and many of its British- era buildings.

Naidu’s reply in Parliament and a press release from the Press Information Bureau of the government seemed to suggest that the young men dress up as langurs to drive away monkeys. The truth, an NDMC official said, was less strange. He said the civic authority had employed men who mimic langurs to frighten the monkeys away.

The official, who preferred not to be quoted lest he is seen making a monkey out of the minister’s statement, said the civic authority would, until a year ago, hire langurs along with their caretakers to drive away monkeys. It was a common sight in Delhi’s buildings to see a langur tied to a long rope being prodded by its caretaker to chase away monkey hordes. The langur and his caretaker had become an important part of the administration and would get their two weekly holidays and did eight-hour work shifts with an hour of lunch break. The practice had to be stopped after the langur species was included in Schedule II of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

In end-2012, the ministry of environment and forests wrote to all government departments that owning, trading, buying or hiring out of langurs was an offence punishable under the law and entailed a prison term of up to three years or a fine or both. The practice did continue but mostly surreptitiously. This also changed once the new regime took over, with Maneka Gandhi, an animal rights activist, being part of the Cabinet.

The men, according to the NDMC official, were hired some months back during the fag end of the UPA regime. These men have been hired on contract and earn minimum wages, that is approximately Rs 8,000 a month.

Each of these men is armed with his ability to mimic langurs and a stick. The civic official expressed ignorance about the educational qualifications of these men, or whether any qualification test was conducted before recruiting them. “We are yet to open a training academy for people to be imparted the art of scaring monkeys,” he said.

Naidu also told Parliament that NDMC had acquired ‘Sure Shot Rubber Bullet Guns’ to scare away monkeys, and that a team of dog catchers visits the Parliament House and surrounding areas twice a week to catch stray dogs that are not immunised and sterilised.

The official assured the rubber bullets wouldn't kill or injure any monkeys, and were perfectly safe.

Naidu had replied to the BSP MP’s question whether the government was aware of the monkey and stray dog menace across Delhi, particularly in and around Parliament House. He also wanted to know what steps the government had taken to tackle this menace. Incidentally, BSP has ‘elephant’ as its election symbol.

Rajan said he had personally faced problems because of the presence of monkeys at his government-allotted apartment on North Avenue. Recently, a monkey broke into his rooftop water tank. "It was swimming in the tank," Rajan said, adding his slogan was 'Make Delhi a monkey-free capital' and that the problem needed a permanent remedy. Rajan said he disagreed with animal rights activists like Maneka Gandhi. "We all love animals. Dogs can be handled but the place for these monkeys is a jungle. We are wasting money by training humans to scare away monkeys. The simians should be caught and released in a jungle," he said.

Delhi Fire Service and civic officials, however, said the strategy to employ humans hasn’t been particularly successful given their limited ability, unlike langurs, to scale walls and trees. Complaints of monkey menace from MPs, judges and senior bureaucrats are frequent. Most relate to monkeys vandalising kitchen gardens, carrying away food items, snapping phone or television wires and tearing clothes left in the open for drying.

First time buyers, discounts offered boosts Marui Suzuki's performance - Economic Times

Prices | Financials | Company Info | Reports

India's biggest carmaker Maruti Suzuki put up a good show in the June quarter, this at a time when consumer sentiment continues to be fragile. Maruti's performance can be attributed to a phenomenon called the 'pushed demand', where it boosted its volume growth by creating demand in markets: it offered higher discounts to attract consumers, who had pinned their hopes on a Modi-led government to deliver on its promise of 'acche din'.

The average discount the company offered in the June quarter increased to Rs 21,000 per vehicle against Rs 17,500 in the March quarter, which improved entry-level passenger car sales by a significant 22% y-o-y to 1.19 lakh units in the quarter under review.

This segment now constitutes about 44% of the total sales, compared with 40% during the same quarter last year. The company even offered discounts ranging from Rs 40,000-45,000 per vehicle for entry-level cars to crank up its volume.

There's another factor that helped Maruti raise its game: first-time buyers. The sales volumes for first time buyers in the June quarter rose to 43% compared with 39% in the corresponding quarter last year.

The carmaker strategically targeted first-time buyers, offering them higher discounts, turning several such enquiries into sales. Despite the auto industry witnessing a decline in this period, Maruti Suzuki posted a volume growth of 12% on a year-on-year basis.

In a conference call post earnings, the Maruti management said, "After many quarters, the company has witnessed a 12% growth in its urban sales during the June quarter while rural sales increased 26% — both these factors helped the company attain a market share of 44% in the passenger car segment. Our market share was 40.4% a year ago. We have also witnessed a rise in enquiry levels, which have increased by as much as 10%."

The market would, however, keep a close watch on how soon a 'push demand' can change into a 'pull demand'.

The long-term sustainability of sales volume and a change in the demand scenario depend to a large extent on macro indicators like economic growth and job creation.

Copyright © 2014 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.

Tawain explosions: 20 dead and at least 200 injured in huge gas blasts - The Independent

At least five explosions took place in the 2.8million-strong city of Kaohsiung early on Friday morning, Taiwan's Premier Jiang Yi-huah said.

Five firefighters were killed in the blasts thought to have been caused by ruptured gas pipelines, the National Fire Agency said.

"The local fire department received calls of gas leaks late Thursday and then there was a series of blasts around midnight affecting an area of two to three sq km [one sq mile]," the fire agency added in a statement according to BBC News.

In pictures: Kaohsiung explosions rock Taiwan

The source of the leak had not yet been located, but Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chu said several petrochemical companies had pipelines built along the sewage system in Chian-Chen district, which has both factories and residential buildings.

"Our priority is to save people now. We ask citizens living along the pipelines to evacuate," Mr Chen told TVBS television.

Attempts by fire crews to find people buried in the rubble were hindered when electricity was cut off in the area. One rescue effort saw a team form a chain to pull the injured from a deep crater cut into the road.

Hundreds of soldiers, and firefighters from neighbouring Tainan City and Pingtung County, were sent to help at the scene, Mr Jiang added.

Footage from the scene shot by the Taiwanese broadcaster ETTV shows plumes of smoke rising from a huge fire burning in the middle of a street, where a motorcycle and other debris have been flung across the middle.

Mobile phone video captured the sound of a secondary explosion as flames leapt at least 30 feet (9 meters) into the air.

The force of the initial blast also felled trees lining the street. Local TVBS showed cars flipped over and shattered windows.

Prior to the incident, smoke with a "gas-like smell" was seen rising from drains in the streets, Formosa TV and the China Times newspaper said.

Residents said it felt as if the city had been hit by a powerful earthquake, according to media reports.

Additional reporting by AP

Natwar Singh misusing facts, Congress says - Times of India

NEW DELHI: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday received instant support from ex-PM Manmohan Singh who denied that government files used to be sent to Sonia, and dubbed Natwar Singh's claim as a marketing gimmick. "Private conversations should not be made public for capital gains," he said.

Going by his pre-launch interview, Natwar has taken many swipes at Manmohan Singh in his book, validating the claims made by the ex-PM's media advisor Sanjaya Baru who wrote a similar book during the polls and triggered a storm. However, there was no response from Sonia about Natwar's claim that she along with Priyanka had met him to dissuade him from making the disclosure about Rahul having stopped her from assuming prime ministership - a claim that contradicted Sonia's version that it was because of her "inner voice" that she renounced the top political post.

Natwar's autobiography is the second of its kind in three months, after Baru's, that has turned Sonia into a butt of attacks with her description as the 'remote control' of UPA, the person who impeded the smooth governance of the Manmohan Singh regime and who had access to government files.The political memoirs and controversies they spark - Baru's book consistently topped the charts in the non-fiction category - may mark the advent of a new culture of politicians coming up with tell-all books. a genre which is mainstream abroad but has so far been alien in the Indian milieu which privileges discretion over history-telling. The trend could only be cemented if Sonia indeed writes her memoirs and that too soon.

Taking a cue from the party chief's aggressive "book threat", Congress accused Natwar of betrayal and of cheap book-selling gimmicks. "Natwar used to be apprised of sensitive issues and facts because of the post he occupied. Now, he is misusing facts or distorting them," Congress's Abhishek Singhvi said.

The spokesman said while personal meetings may have taken place, the party denied the content or the opinions expressed about those meetings. He said the author's claims should be seen through the prism of his unceremonious exit from the UPA government over the oil-for-food scam and his expulsion from the party later.

Cops to seize e-rickshaws, slap charges - Times of India

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police is gearing up to launch a crackdown on e-rickshaws in the wake of the Delhi high court's order banning them till a law is framed. The Delhi government, while welcoming the move, was cautious in its response. Enforcement officials in the transport department said they too were planning to step up action.

Chief secretary SK Srivastava was clear that the e-rickshaws cannot be allowed to ply without any norms. "It is a question of human lives and we cannot play with that. It is important to have norms to regulate the e-rickshaws and we will abide by the court orders. We have not yet received the orders and would plan our action in keeping with the directive," he told TOI. The secretary, transport, Satbir Silas Bedi said an action plan will be drawn up after the department studies the court order.

According to sources, the administration's restraint in the matter stems from the fact that the Central government has been pushing for legalizing e-rickshaws by amending the Motor Vehicles Act and taking them out of its ambit. However, it will be difficult for them not to implement the court order.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police, along with traffic police, not only plans to impound the vehicles if found plying on the roads but also intends to book them under IPC sections. They will be invoking sections like rash and negligent driving (279) and act endangering others' lives (336) apart from imposing section 188 for violation of court orders if they are found even parked at roadside.

"We will deploy our forces at their maximum strength to keep these vehicles off the roads as soon as we get orders from the transport department," said Muktesh Chander, special CP, traffic. He said drives will be conducted in areas having the maximum concentration of these vehicles. The cops might even make a list of owners who run these rickshaws in a cartel and ask them to hand over the vehicles.

"We will be directly registering FIRs against the drivers since now after the order these vehicles are officially classified non-registered motor vehicles which is punishable under the criminal laws," said Anil Shukla, joint CP, traffic.

The traffic police had prosecuted 137 e-rickshaws for reckless driving between April and June before the government's decision to come up with a plan to register these vehicles. The cops said they will also discourage commuters from boarding these vehicles near Metro stations.

However, the traffic cops are in a fix about where to keep the e-rickshaws after impounding them since there are more than a lakh plying in the city. There are also no registration numbers or names of owners on the vehicles that could allow the cops to even take them to the traffic pits which store vehicles that have been impounded under a specific law.

As an interim measure, the traffic cops will ask the police stations to keep these vehicles with temporary markings. The police are %also contemplating using open grounds like Ramlila Maidan to hold these vehicles till further orders from the court.

http://ift.tt/1m39nY7 hc,cops,Charges

Cook nears century as England take control on day one of third Test - Firstpost

Captain Alastair Cook and Gary Ballance's 158-run second wicket stand took England to 247 for two, putting them in a strong position at the end of the opening day of the third Test against India at The Rose Bowl on Sunday.

Ballance's 104 not out and Cook's gritty 95 gave England the initiative on a testing day for the batsmen. Ian Bell was lucky to be unbeaten on 16. Indian debutant Pankaj Singh's brilliant swinging delivery had him plumb in front of the wicket but Australian umpire Rod Tucker had other ideas.

India, to their credit, did well to restrict the English batsmen from scoring freely, bowling in good areas and causing more than a few problems.

The English batsmen were very disciplined and their shot selection was right on the mark.

England’s Alastair Cook (R) hits a shot during play on the first day of the third cricket Test match between England and India at The Ageas Bowl. AFP

Ballance, though, didn't have it all easy and was made to work hard for his runs. He was beaten outside his off-stump by the Indian pacers on multiple occasions but luck seemed to be on his side as he survived the rough patch. The Zimbabwe-born batman stroked 15 boundaries on way to his third century in six matches.

Ravindra Jadeja finally dismissed Cook, five short of a deserved century, to give India some respite.

Earlier, electing to bat, Cook and opening partner Sam Robson (26) frustrated the Indians with a slow and patient 55-run stand for the first wicket before the latter fell to pacer Mohammed Shami.

India largely stuck to good lengths and sneaked in the odd bouncer, but were left aggrieved with the odd ball that strayed down leg or the short ones that helped Cook keep himself out of pressure.

Experts had predicted the pitch to be fast and bouncy but on the very first morning of the Test match, two-three edges falling short.

The Indian pace attack seemed to lack aggression in the absence of injured Ishant Sharma, who took seven wickets in the second innings at the Lord's.

Ishant suffered an ankle injury ahead of the toss paving the way for Rajasthan pacer Pankaj Singh getting his first Test cap.

Rohit Sharma was also drafted into the Indian side with all-rounder Stuart Binny being left out.

England too made changes to their line-up bringing in Chris Woakes for out-of-form Ben Stokes while Liam Plunkett made way for Chris Jordan. Rookie wicketkeeper Jos Buttler replaced Matt Prior, who opted out of the series due to bad form.

The hosts, who were 78 for one at lunch, scored 108 runs in the second session without losing any wicket.

Cook, who has been woefully out of form and his captaincy credentials questioned, sought to answer his critics with a gritty innings.

The Indians bowled without much luck and captain's Mahendra Singh Dhoni's decision to go in with six batsmen and a bowler short might come back to haunt him later in the match.

After Indian frontline bowlers failed to find a breakthrough, Dhoni resorted to part spinners in the shape of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma but that too wasn't enough as Cook and Ballance went on with their merry making.

IANS

Rise of the fringes: Modi government ... - Economic Times

By Anando Bhakto

NEW DELHI: Are the fringes pulling at the centre from many directions? Is the NDA government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi facing its first major political challenge, not from a depleted opposition, but from its own ranks? Or is it just a political ploy of the Hindu right, led by the RSS, to push its nationalist agenda through a government it considers its own?

Answers are difficult, but statements and actions of many BJP lawmakers, in parliament and the state assemblies, the actions of its allies and of various front organisations, have led to wide apprehensions that the country's secular principles, enshrined in its constitution, might be under attack. And this has found echo in parliament and the media in recent days.

The first major instance occurred on June 2 when a Muslim techie Shaikh Mohasin Sadiq was killed in Pune, allegedly by Hindu Rashtra Sena activists over the uploading of "derogatory" pictures of Maratha icon Shivaji and Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on a social networking site.

Reacting to the killing, Pune BJP MP Anil Shirole commented that "some amount of repercussions was natural". Later, it was found that Sadiq was not connected with the mischief.

The recent attempt to force-feed a fasting Muslim employee of Maharashtra Sadan by Shiv Sena MPs when he was observing Ramadan fast, Telangana BJP leader K. Laxman's questioning tennis star Sania Mirza's Indian-ness, and Goa cabinet minister Deepak Dhavalikar's exhortation to Modi to make India a Hindu state and supported by his cabinet colleague and state deputy chief minister Francis D'Souza that India is a Hindu nation and he considers himself a "Christian Hindu", have rekindled debate whether the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has the ability or the intention to carry all communities together.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor feels that as Modi has chosen to keep quiet on the utterances by the fringe elements it could leave an impression that he condones them.

"I believe the prime minister is missing an opportunity to send a signal of reassurance to a vulnerable minority that there is no communal agenda in his party," Tharoor told IANS.

"The fact that so many seemingly localised but nonetheless disturbing incidents have occurred without a single word from Mr. Modi leaves the impression that he condones what is being said and done by these fringe elements of the Sangh Parivar."

While the NDA government earmarked Rs.3,734 crore for the Minority Affairs ministry in the current fiscal year, a considerable Rs. 604 crore higher than by the UPA in 2013-14, and set aside Rs.100 crore for modernisation and skill upgradation of madrasas, its position vis-a-vis the Muslim community has invited controversy ever since its inception on May 26 this year.

"Contrary to what they promised, the BJP never had any agenda of economic development. They do not have any vision for women empowerment or uplifting the poor. So, it's quite natural that they are back to their primary agenda of asserting their religious identity," Congress leader Bhakta Charan Das told IANS.

The Congress is also alleging that that these routinely inadmissible comments made by BJP leaders or allies are in fact a well thought of ploy to reap electoral dividends on communal lines in the forthcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand and Haryana.

"It was started by Narendra Modi, who gave polarising speeches in Assam and West Bengal and openly talked of 'pink revolution' to inflame religious sentiment. Today whatever you hear from BJP state leaders is in imitation of Modi. They are convinced that communalising the environment is the easiest way to win an election," Congress General Secretary Shakeel Ahmad said.

The BJP top leadership is providing grounds for such allegations by refusing to comment on radical statements made by their juniors or allies.

When IANS contacted Union Minister for Minority Affairs Najma Heptulla for her reaction to Goa minister Deepak Dhavalikar's rhetoric, she refused to comment.

"I don't need to react to individual statements made by some state leaders," Heptulla told IANS.

Modi, an active Twitterati who reacted keenly on every policy failure of the outgoing UPA government, has not reacted either.

"Modi is not tweeting on these issues because he has achieved his end (of becoming the prime minister). At any rate, where is the need for him to react to developments which are in tune with the character and capacity of the BJP?" Das asked.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological fountainhead of the BJP, too refused to comment. "We are not involved in it. It can only be addressed by leaders of the BJP," RSS ideologue M.G. Vaidya told IANS when asked about the recent comments.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, on the other hand, justified Dhavalikar's call for a Hindu nation. "Which of these statements are anti-progressive?" asked VHP national spokesperson Prakash Sharma.

"It is a fact that every Muslim or Christian living in this country is a descendant of a Hindu. They may have changed their mode of worship but their forefathers were Hindu. Hindu religion is a complete religion which is not in conflict with other people's faith," Sharma told IANS.

Tharoor said it was time Modi broke his silence.

"He has not even made the simple gesture of attending an Iftar during Ramadan, let alone hosting one as his predecessors did. It is time for Mr. Modi to live up to his professed intention to be a prime minister for all Indians," Tharoor said.

Copyright © 2014 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.

Report claims bugging devices found in Nitin Gadkari`s residence, Minister calls ... - Zee News

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: A controversy erupted over a report of bugging devices having been found in Nitin Gadkari's residence but the Union Minister on Sunday dubbed it as "highly speculative" even as the Congress said it reflects lack of faith and mutual trust among NDA ministers.

A media report has claimed that high power listening devices were found in the bed room at the 13 Teen Murti Lane residence here of Gadkari, the Road Transport and Highways Minister.

It said the discovery was "accidental" and a debugging exercise was immediately ordered.

"Reports in a section of the media about listening devices having been found at my New Delhi residence are highly speculative," Gadkari said on his Twitter account.

Meanwhile, sources close to the Union minister also denied that any such devices were recovered, which a report said were of high- quality and of a type normally used by western agencies.

On the other hand, latching on to controversy over reported recovery of listening devices from Nitin Gadkari's residence, Congress today said that it reflects "lack of faith and mutual trust" among ministers of the NDA Government.

If reports of bugging of senior Cabinet minister Nitin Gadkari, who is also a former BJP president, are correct, they are indeed extremely serious.

"It reflects a certain lack of faith amongst ministerial colleagues and an absence of mutual trust. It's time that both Gadkari and also BJP and government come clean on the issue and place before the people of the country if at all there was bugging and if there was snooping being done...

"...At whose instance and at whose authority it has been done. And what is the reason if any for conducting such snooping. All these issues need to be clarified both by BJP as well as the Prime Minister and the Home Minister in the larger interest of people," Randeep Surjewala said.

Reacting to the matter, senior Congress leader Manish Tewari questioned as to how the information appeared in the public space and said that if an inquiry has been ordered, full facts of it should be laid on the floor of Parliament.

"If indeed this story is true, though as you point out that the minister in question has denied it, it obviously lends itself to the question as to how it then appear in the public space.

"Therefore, if such a thing has appeared in the public space as you point out that perhaps an inquiry has been ordered, then the full facts of that inquiry should be laid on the floor of Parliament so that the nation knows as to whether there is any truth to it or not," Tewari said.

(With PTI inputs)

First Published: Sunday, July 27, 2014, 17:45

20 arrested after Saharanpur clashes, curfew continues, Akhilesh seeks report - Hindustan Times

An uneasy calm prevailed in violence-hit Saharanpur on Sunday where 20 people were arrested even as curfew and shoot-at-sight orders remained in force following clashes between two communities over a land dispute.

Uttar Pradesh additional director general of police (law and order) Mukul Goel said, "No incident has been reported since yesterday. Curfew is in force and is being enforced strictly."

He said steps were being taken to normalise the situation at the earliest. "It has been directed that action should be taken against whosoever is found guilty," he said in Lucknow.

Saharanpur district magistrate Sandhya Tiwari, who toured the violence-hit areas, said, "The situation is better than yesterday. I have to just impose law and order in the city and the situation is quite normal now." She said 20 people have been arrested in connection with the violence.

On the land dispute, Tiwari said, "I'm not going into it....The construction is on hold." Three persons were yesterday killed and 19 others, including policemen, injured in the clashes as mobs indulged in arson after which curfew was clamped and shoot-at-sight ordered.

Prohibitory orders under section 144 of CrPC have been invoked in the district and curfew was clamped in six areas, according to commissioner, Saharanpur, Tanveer Zafar Ali.

Read: 3 dead, several injured in Saharanpur clashes

Policemen carry away a protester during clashes between two communities in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. (HT Photo)

Read: UP govt announces aid of Rs. 10 lakh to kin of deceased

Meanwhile, a political blame game has begun over the violence with Congress accusing the UP government of "administrative lapse" while BJP alleged that Samajwadi Party was indulging in "vote-bank politics".

Reacting to the charges, Samajwadi Party said there was an effort to "disrupt peace in the state" and that there was "no place for communalism, anti-social elements".

SP leader Rajendra Chaudhary said that if the opposition tried to do politics on the issue, then the law will take its own course.

Blaming the local authorities for "administrative lapse", Congress leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi said that if it was a fact that there was a court judgement on the issue and police help was sought by one side, then it was the responsibility of the officials to find a solution by making both sides understand that the court order must be implemented.

BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said, "The UP government has completely failed to run the administration in the state. The people ruling the state themselves want that there is communal tension so that they do vote-bank politics.

"BJP wants amity and peace. Every person has the right to worship and nobody has the right to interfere in that. But Akhilesh Yadav's government is weak on every front. A message has gone that there is nothing called government in the state.

Whenever there are such tense situations, the government proves to be incompetent." Manoj Jha of RJD alleged that there has been a rise in such incidents since BJP has come to power at the Centre.

Officials in Lucknow said Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has sought a report from the district authorities regarding the incident in Saharanpur, which is nearly 170 km from Delhi and 560km from Lucknow. Yadav has termed the incident as "unfortunate" and said that those responsible will not be spared.

Read: SGPC to visit UP, assess situation

Home minister Rajnath Singh had on Saturday had spoken to the chief minister on phone and asked him to ensure communal harmony in the state. He offered all help to contain the situation.

Trouble began when members of one community started construction work at the site in Kutubsher area in the wee hours yesterday, which was objected to by the other group.

Both the sides indulged in heavy brick-batting, arson and opened fire and there were reports of several shops being gutted in the clash, police said.

Police had fired rubber bullets to control the situation as mobs went on the rampage, setting several shops afire. Additional forces, including from PAC, CRPF, RAF and ITBP have been deployed in the troubled areas.

Five policemen, a city magistrate, and 13 others were injured. A constable was stated to be in serious condition in Chandigarh PGI after suffering a bullet injury.

Hamas agrees to 24-hour Gaza humanitarian truce: spokesperson - Hindustan Times

Palestinian women react amid the destruction in the northern district of Beit Hanun in the Gaza Strip during an humanitarian truce. (AFP photo)

Hamas on Sunday belatedly said it has agreed to a 24-hour humanitarian truce, shortly after Israel announced a resumption of hostilities in Gaza following a day-long pause.

"In response to the UN's intervention request to monitor the situation... it has been agreed between the resistance factions that a 24-hour humanitarian truce will start from 2:00 pm (1100 GMT)," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement.

There was no immediate word from Israel, which called off its own 24-hour truce earlier in the day after Hamas fired a volley of rockets into southern and central Israel.

The strikes resumed at 0700 GMT on Sunday with an initial three people killed by shelling, two of them in central Gaza and a third near Khan Yunis in the south, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.

Six more were killed in the following few hours, including an elderly Christian woman who was killed in an air strike on western Gaza City, which also seriously wounded her son, Qudra said.

Their deaths raised the total toll since July 8 to more than 1,050 Palestinians, while another 6,000 have been injured.

Earlier, the Israeli army said on Sunday it is resuming its raids on Gaza by land, sea and air after Hamas continued firing rockets, ending a unilateral 12-hour humanitarian truce.

"Following Hamas' incessant rocket fire throughout the humanitarian window, which was agreed upon for the welfare of the civilian population in Gaza, the IDF will now resume its aerial, naval and ground activity in the Gaza Strip," an army statement said.

"Due to flagrant violations of humanitarian remission by Hamas, the IDF is now resuming offensive activities," army spokesman Peter Lerner wrote on Twitter.

Three Palestinians were killed in shelling on Sunday, medics said.

Emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said two men were killed in shelling near the border in central Gaza, while a third was killed near Khan Yunis in the south.

Israel's cabinet "approved the UN request regarding a humanitarian ceasefire to run until midnight (2100 GMT) Sunday", an Israeli government official told AFP on condition of anonymity late on Saturday.

However Hamas responded in a statement that "no humanitarian ceasefire is valid without Israeli tanks withdrawing from the Gaza Strip and without residents being able to return to their homes and ambulances carrying bodies being able to freely move around in Gaza".

Israeli soldiers of the 155mm artillery cannons unit fire towards the Gaza Strip from their position near Israel's border with the coastal Palestinian enclave. (AFP photo)

Late Saturday the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, claimed responsibility for rocket attacks on southern Israel and Tel Aviv immediately after the expiry of an initial 12-hour ceasefire both sides had abided by.

The attacks, which set air-raid sirens wailing throughout the country, were confirmed by the Israeli army.

Overall about 20 rockets were fired at southern Israel between late Saturday and Sunday morning.

The Iron Dome missile interception defences knocked some rockets out of the sky, and no casualties were reported.

Israeli artillery responded by opening fire in the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip, on positions from where the rockets were launched, an army spokeswoman told AFP.

Read: Gaza effect – Muslim hoteliers avoid US products

Toll: 1,000 Palestinians, 45 Israelis

Israel's unilateral decision to continue the ceasefire signalled a pause in its assault on Gaza, which since July 8 has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians.

Over the same period, 42 Israeli soldiers deployed into Gaza have been killed, according to the latest military toll. Three civilians in Israel also died.

The deadly confrontation spurred calls from around the world for both sides to extend the ceasefire to enable negotiations for a longer-term truce.

Smoke rises from a vehicle, destroyed by an Israeli strike, after Palestinian fire fighters put out the fire, in Gaza City. (AP photo)

Israel's security cabinet was to meet Sunday morning to decide the next steps in the military operations.

In Paris, US Secretary of State John Kerry met European and Middle Eastern foreign ministers Saturday to push both sides to extend the temporary cessation of hostilities.

Israel agreed to extend its ceasefire for four hours, and then announced the 24-hour prolongation to late Sunday.

"We all call on parties to extend the humanitarian ceasefire," France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters in Paris after the meeting with Kerry and counterparts from Britain, Germany, Italy, Turkey and Qatar, as well as an EU representative.

A spokesman for the UN chief said in a statement Ban Ki-moon "urgently appeals once again to all parties to declare a seven-day humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza".

Grim recovery of bodies

During Saturday's 12-hour ceasefire, medics digging through the remains of hundreds of Gaza homes uncovered at least 147 bodies.

On the ground, Palestinian ambulances sped into Gaza neighbourhoods that have been too dangerous to enter for days.

Palestinians ventured onto Gaza's streets after the truce began, some eager to check homes they had fled, others to stock up on supplies.

Read: Israel rejects UNHRC Gaza probe, says it is a 'kangaroo court'

In many places they found devastation: buildings levelled, and entire blocks of homes wiped out by Israeli bombardment.

In northern Beit Hanun, the hospital was badly damaged by shelling, and AFP correspondents saw the charred body of a paramedic.

There were similar scenes in Shejaiya, where stiff bodies lay on the floor of a room in one building, one caked in dried blood, all of them covered in dust.

East of southern Khan Yunis, residents hesitated to enter the Khuzaa neighbourhood, saying Israeli forces remained inside the border area.

And in nearby Bani Suheila, where 20 people were killed in a single Israeli air strike shortly before the truce began, women and children wept as they discovered their homes destroyed.

Pro-Palestine demonstrators shout slogans as they wave a Palestinian flag in protest against Israel's military action in Gaza, at Avenue Habib Bourguiba in Tunis. (Reuters photo)

192 children killed so far

Hamas and Israel agreed to Saturday's 12-hour "humanitarian window", after Israel's security cabinet on Friday night rejected a US proposal for a seven-day truce during which the two sides would negotiate a longer-term deal.

Speaking at a news conference in Cairo with UN chief Ban after the rejection, Kerry said Israel and Hamas "still had some terminology" to agree to on a ceasefire, but added they had a "fundamental framework" on a truce.

The two sides remain at odds over the shape of a final agreement to end the fighting, however.

Read: In Gaza, whatever the target, children often the victim of conflict

Hamas says any truce must include a guaranteed end to Israel's eight-year blockade of Gaza, while in Israel there are calls for any deal to include the demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip.

The situation in Gaza has created tensions in the West Bank, where protests against Israel's role in the conflict erupted after Friday prayers and again early Saturday, with a total of eight Palestinians shot dead by Israeli soldiers and settlers.

International concern has mounted over the civilian toll in Gaza.

Rights groups say about 80 percent of the casualties have been civilians. UNICEF, the UN agency for children, has said 192 children have been killed during the latest conflict so far.

Read: UN chief BanKi-moon outraged at weapons found in UN school in Gaza