Gandhi reaches Rae Bareli

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Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday reached Rae Bareli to lay foundation stone of city resource centre of housing and urban poverty alleviation ministry. The UPA chairperson is on a one-day visit to her Parliamentary constituency.

“Congress President (Gandhi) reached Gora Bazar in the morning, after which she laid foundation stone of city resource centre of housing and urban poverty alleviation ministry,” party leader Akhilesh Pratap Singh said.

Gandhi will also preside over a meeting of the central vigilance and monitoring committee and later, she will lay foundation stone of the forged wheel plant at Rail Coach Factory in Lalganj besides addressing a public meeting.

The plant is being set up with the assistance of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited.

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Media Invite

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Media Invite

We request you to kindly cover the press conference as per details below:

Date: October 8, 2013

Time: 4.30pm

Venue: IWPC, Windsor Place, New Delhi – 110001

Topic: Prevention of Communal Violence Bill (CV Bill)

Speakers:

MehmoodMadani

Vrinda Grover

Kamal Faruqi

ShabnamHashmi

GaganSethi

Yours sincerely

Bhavna Sharma

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WTO to India

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WTO to India: Resolve issues on food security before Bali meet

Amid concerns being raised by developed countries over the government’s food security programme, new WTO chief Roberto Azevedo on Monday asked India to work out a solution to the vexed issue ahead of the Bali ministerial meeting in December.

“One important issue where India is very much involved is food security proposal…As you can imagine with an issue this big, this is not going to be fully solved in 4 weeks. Its just not going to happen. “What we have agreed in Geneva is we are going to be working on a Peace Clause …which allows negotiators in Geneva to find a more permanent solution for the long term,” he while addressing members of the industry chamber CII. The WTO headquarters is in Geneva. He further said that WTO members have less time and the trade ministers should now engage with each other and give right signals to their negotiators. While the G-33, a group of developing nations including India, is demanding that the tenure (the peace clause) should be 10 years, developed countries such as the US are ready to accept only a 2-3 year period. A so-called “peace clause” in WTO parlance gives legal security to member countries and protects them from being challenged under other WTO agreements. “Between now and Bali, what we have to do is figure how that Peace Clause is going to work. How that is going to be crafted to take into account the concerns of the two sides…you allow the programme to continue unimpeded, the other side of this part is not allowing programme which are designed to provide food security…do not distort market unnecessary and unduly,” he added. He also talked on the importance of concluding the trade facilitation agreement saying it would help in reducing transactions cost for exporters. Negotiations for a deal at the Bali meet are stuck over the tenure of an interim resolution on the demand by G-33 developing countries on food security. The ninth WTO Ministerial Conference will be held in Bali from December 3-6. The Ministerial Conference is the highest decision-making body of the 159-member WTO which meets at least once every two years. Azevedo took over as WTO DG from Pascal Lamy in September. India is demanding amendments to the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) under the WTO so that it can give more food subsidies to poor without attracting penalties. The AoA allows the so-called ‘market distorting subsidies’ up to a limit of 10 percent of total production. As food prices and the number of poor to be supported in developing countries have risen in the two decades since the AoA was framed, these subsidies have gone up substantially. India is apprehensive that once the food security legislation is fully implemented, its food subsidies will breach the 10 per cent mark. When asked whether can India dilute its stand on the food security issue, Sharma said as all the WTO member-countries have different level of development and are facing different challenges, there is a need to find a middle ground. “There is no uniformity. When you have so many aspirations and different levels of development, you cannot have an issue specific and a country specific solution. You have to find a middle ground which is acceptable to all. You do not go for negotiations with a tight list,” Sharma said. “We are going to work intensely between now and Ministerial Conference in Bali to find a solution which will probably include both the elements of Peace Clause and something that ensures that a conversation (will) happen meaningfully after Bali,” Azevedo said The “peace clause” in WTO parlance gives legal security to member-countries and protects them from being challenged under other WTO agreements. Countries like the US and Canada have raised concerns over Indias food security legislation at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). They have also asked India to explain the effect the legislation will have on global stocks and commodity prices. India has sought more time to come up with its stock requirement as the legislation is yet to be fully implemented. While the G-33, a group of developing nations including India, is demanding that the tenure (of the peace clause) should be 10 years, developed countries such as the US are ready to accept only a 2-3 year period. The WTO chief is in India as part of an effort to bridge differences on several of the vexed issues of the Doha Round of trade talks before the ninth Ministerial Conference in Bali from December 3. When asked about the future of WTO if Bali meet fails, Azevedo said: “Bali is absolutely critical in establishing the conditions for moving in areas other then the deliverables that we are looking for in December. Bali is not end of the road. It is the first step towards an agenda that we have to define for the WTO”. On this, Sharma expressed optimism for successful outcome from the Bali meet. “We understand the criticality and the need of such an outcome. I remain optimistic considering the progress that we have made in the recent months and weeks. There has been much movement and we are hopeful that we will cover the desired ground. They are very complex talks”.

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Arambagh Puja By Dr. A.P. J. Abdul Kalam

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Arambagh Durga Puja Samiti

 Cordially invites you to the

Inauguration Ceremony

Of

Arambagh Puja

By

 Dr. A.P. J. Abdul Kalam

 Silver Jubilee Celebration of Arambagh Durga  Puja with theme Buddha for World Peace

     Date:   Wednesday, 9 October, 2013

               Time:  6:00 pm

 Venue: Durga Puja Park, Arambagh, Punchkuian Road, Paharganj, New Delhi.

Buddha Theme of Arambagh Puja takes you to the Buddhist Era with the theme pandal and brings the experience of the Kolkata Durga Puja Fanfare.

 About Arambagh Puja

Arambagh has been celebrating the great festival of Durga Puja for years now. And the year 2013 marks its 25th year a celebration of Silver Jubilee. The committee started its journey way back in 1989 in a government colony of Delhi. And after so many years, Arambagh puja is not just merely confined as a puja samiti. It has emerged more as a great social body. During the past several years their idols and pandals have been awarded in various ways.

Like every year Arambagh celebrates its Durga Puja with a strong message to give out. Themed on Buddha the committee condemns the attacks on Bodh Gaya. Bringing the message of unity and integrity Arambagh Puja committee creates the convergence of Buddhism and Hinduism in the theme and inaugurates the Puja by former President Abdul Kalam Azad.

This year the committee celebrates the Durga Puja with renowned sculptors, pandal designers, 3D and LED light artist and handicraft artist participating in recreation of Bodh Gaya.

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Cabinet approves bill to give statutory status to UIDAI

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The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the National Identification Authority of India Bill that will give statutory status to the UIDAI. Official sources said the bill, which was cleared at a meeting of the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the morning, may be tabled during the winter session of Parliament.

Meanwhile, seeking to mount pressure, four Union Ministers from Seemandhra region on Monday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting him to accept their resignations over Telangana creation but got no assurance.  HRD Minister M M Pallam Raju, Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi, Minister of State for Commerce D Purandeswari and Minister of State for Railways Surya Prakash Reddy, all Congress leaders, met Singh together to press for acceptance of their resignations. They decided not to attend office. Singh told them that he will look into their request. “Pallam Raju has given his resignation today but Chiranjeevi and Surya Prakash Reddy gave resignation two days ago. So, today, we have requested the Prime Minister to expedite it and accept our resignations,” Purandeswari, flanked by other three colleagues, told reporters.  Explaining reasons for their decision to quit the government, she said, “we need to go back to the people and tell the people how we want to solve (the issue). People are not wiling to listen to us unless we tender our resignation and go back as one of them. So as long as we continue as Ministers they are not going to listen to us.”  She said they presented the entire situation to the Prime Minister and requested him to accept their resignations. “We expressed our inability to continue in the Council of Ministers. We in detail gave him the clear picture of the ground situation in Andhra,” Purandeswari added. “We also told him (Singh) that people of Andhra Pradesh did expect the Antony committee to come to the state of Andhra Pradesh but since thw Committee has not come, now people are losing confidence that the justice will be done to them,” she said. They were accompanied by two other Ministers from the region — K S Rao (Textiles) and Killi Kripa Rani (MoS IT and Communications) but it was not clear whether they also pressed for their resignations.

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Candidated 2008 :Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram

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tThe analysis of candidates fielded during the elections of 2008 in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram and the criminal, financial and gender details the outgoing MLAs of the above five states.

MAIN HIGHLIGHTS OF THE REPORT

Analysis based on declared pending criminal cases:

·         13% of the contesting candidates (879 out of 6870 candidates) from five states had self declared pending criminal cases as per their affidavits during 2008 assembly elections. 394 (6%)candidates in 2008 assembly elections have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.

·         21% of MLAs (128 out of 607 MLAs) from these five states have self declared pending criminal cases. 47 MLAs had declared serious criminal cases against themselves.

·         Delhi has maximum percentage (43%) of MLAs with declared criminal cases against them followed by Madhya Pradesh (25%) among the five states.

·         Madhya Pradesh has highest percentage (11%) of MLAs with serious criminal cases followed by Delhi and Chhattisgarh with 9%. Mizoram, with 7% has the lowest percentage of MLAs with criminal cases among the five states.

·         Among major parties INC had fielded 30% tainted candidates in Delhi, 31% in Madhya Pradesh during 2008 Assembly elections. BJP had given tickets to 35% candidates with criminal cases in Delhi while 22% tainted candidates were given tickets in 2008 Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections.

·         38% of MLAs from INC from Delhi and 46% of MLAs from BJP in Delhi have criminal cases against them. In Madhya Pradesh 34% of INC MLAs and 20% of MLAs of BJP have self declared criminal cases.

·         NEW and ADR demand that all political parties should give tickets to taint free candidates during these upcoming elections.

Analysis based on assets:

·         264 (43%) MLAs out of the 607 analysed from the five states are crorepatis while 837 (12%)candidates out of 6870 were crorepatis.

·         Delhi has the highest percentage (69%) of crorepati MLAs followed by Rajasthan with 46%crorepati MLAs and Madhya Pradesh with 38%.

Analysis based on gender

·         Out of 7520 candidates contested during 2008 assembly elections in five states, only 8% (564) were women candidates. Lowest percentage of women candidates were fielded in Mizoram(4%), while Delhi and Chhattisgarh states recorded 9% women candidates which was the highest among the five states.

·         Out of 630 MLAs from the five state assemblies only 67 (11%) are women. Rajasthan has the highest percentage of women MLAs (14%), while Mizoram assembly has no women representation. Delhi has only 4% women MLAs.

Contacts

National Election Watch/Association for Democratic Reforms

Media and Journalist Helpline +91 80103 94248 Email:adr@adrindia.org

Anurag Mittal, National Coordinator National Election Watch, and Association for Democratic Reforms +918010394248 +91 9811108914 adr@adrIndia.org, anurag@adrindia.org

Prof Jagdeep Chhokar IIM Ahmedabad (Retd.) Founder Member National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms +919999620944 jchhokar@gmail.com

Prof Trilochan Sastry IIM Bangalore Founder Member, National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms +919448353285, trilochans@IIMB.ERNET.IN

Dr.Ajit Ranade Founder Member, National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms +919702215312 ajit.ranade@gmail.com

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RBI reduces MSF rate by 50bps to 9%

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RBI reduces MSF rate by 50bps to 9%

In order to improve the liquidity conditions, RBI announces the following measures:

a.      Reduced the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate by a further 50 basis points from 9.5% to 9% with immediate effect. Accordingly, the Bank Rate also stands adjusted to 9% with immediate effect.

b.      Provides additional liquidity through term repos of 7-day and 14-day tenor for a notified amount equivalent to 0.25% of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) of the banking system through variable rate auctions on every Friday beginning October 11, 2013. The notified amount and tenor of the term repo auctions will be announced prior to the dates of the auctions.

Warm regards,

Dr. S P Sharma

Chief Economist

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ShivrajSingh Chouhan ‏ has tweeted Visison 2018

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1. Skill Development Centres shall be established in all 313 blocks with extra focus on areas with tribal & SC/ST population. #Vision2018

    

   Expand
2. ShivrajSingh Chouhan ‏@ChouhanShivraj31m

   As part of #Vision2018, we shall impart skills to enhance capabilities of one million young men and women to attain wage and self-employment

    

   Expand
3. ShivrajSingh Chouhan ‏@ChouhanShivraj47m

   #Vision2018 to focus on skill development to expand opportunities for the youth to acquire skills those lead to job creation in the state.

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Media interaction to excel Q & A session

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Media in their interaction session  needs to refine their question by managing their skill in this form.the Q should be asked in way it appeals to all .

Examples of Open-Ended and Closed-Ended Questions

Close-ended questions are those which can be answered by a simple “yes” or “no,” while open-ended questions are those which require more thought and more than a simple one-word answer.

Dad asking questions is a basic way to gather information. Whether you are asking a question to a celebrity at a seminar or at home conversing with kids and your wife. The most important thing like everything else, there’s a skill to it and everyone has to develop it over time.

Awareness, reflection and active listening are the building blocks and would significantly help in enhancing this skill.

Asking Open-ended questions is a friendly way to engage people in a conversation.

Give it a try, you’ll be surprised at how effective open-ended questions can be.

Lets start:-

So how are questions different:
An open-ended question is one that compels a person to volunteer more information.

A closed-ended question, on the other hand, is one that can be answered with a simple yes or no response.

Knowing the difference between the two will help tremendously.

The key to developing any relationship is “Engaging in a Dialogue”

Ask questions that encourage people to talk. Let’s say you went to a party on Saturday night but had to leave early. If you want to know what happened after you went home, these open-ended questions might help:

1. “What happened after I left?”
2. “What happened with Kunal and his wife?”
3. “How did everyone like the champagne/Scotch?”

Avoid asking questions that require one-word replies. Not only will closed-ended questions bring a conversation to a screeching halt, they usually provide inadequate answers as well. Probably make the other person angry.

Here are some examples of closed-ended questions relevant to the situation described above:

1. “Did you speak to Rahul Bajaj?”
2. “Did Kunal leave with his wife?”
3. “Did everyone finish all the champagne?”

Close-Ended Questions

How do we identify these:-If you can answer a question with only a “yes” or “no” response, then you are answering a close-ended type of question.

Examples of close-ended questions are:

1. Are you feeling better today?
2. Will you please do me a favor?
3. Have you already completed your homework?
4. Is that your final answer?
5. Is math your favorite subject?
6. Will you be going to Grandmother’s house for Christmas?
7. Is there a Mass being held at noon?
8. Are you pregnant?
9. Are you happy?
10. Is he dead?

Open-ended

1. How are you feeling today, Rahul/Saurabh/Kiran?
2. There is something I would like help with?
3. How far/what stage are you in your homework/assignment?
4. Would you like to add bit more to that?
5. What is your favorite subject?
6. How are you spending your Christmas?
7. When is the mass being held?
8. Is there good news I am missing out on?
9. How do feel? Would you like to talk about it?
10. Are we alive?

Compiled by Rahul Sagar