Page 1 of 3 9th June 2013

National:

Bhupinder Singh Hooda launches housing scheme for 2 lakh rural poor To provide affordable housing facilities to rural poor, Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has launched an ambitious housing scheme 'PriyadarshaniAwaasYojana' to construct two lakh houses at a cost of Rs 1,350 crore. Each beneficiary would be given financial assistance of Rs 90,100 in three instalments by the state government as grant for construction of a new house. The first instalment of Rs 25,000 would be released at the time of sanction, second instalment of Rs 35,000 after completion of construction up to roof level and the final instalment of Rs 21,000 would be released on fixing of doors and windows. This includes Rs 9,100 to each beneficiary for construction of toilets. Railways to launch SMS-based service for hygiene complaints Railways have decided to launch an SMS-based service for immediate response to passenger complaints regarding housekeeping service in coaches. The service will be launched on a few select trains to facilitate passengers to contact onboard staff through SMS or phone call for complaints related to cleanliness in coaches, toilets and other problems faced during journey. An On-site Passenger Complaint Redressal System (OPCRS) is being developed as envisaged in the Rail Budget 2013-14. The service is likely to be launched in either Mumbai Rajdhani or Bangalore Rajdhani as a pilot project soon. As per the system, a passenger can send SMS for any issue related to coach housekeeping like dirty toilets, compartment or absence of liquid soap. Passengers will SMS his PNR on a common number like one being used for PNR inquiry. Railways have asked for a three-digit number from the Department of Telecommunication for the purpose. Once the SMS is sent, the information will be registered on OPCRS connected with GSM network, and it will be immediately routed to a GSM hand held unit (mobile phone) available with housekeeping supervisor on train. Sunderbans is home to 103 tigers There are more Royal Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans than was earlier thought. Exceeding the estimates of the 2011 census, West Bengal’s Forest Department has announced that the minimum identified tiger count in the unique natural habitat stands at 103. The study, conducted by setting up camera trap stations in the four ranges of the Sundarban Tiger Reserve (STR) and the adjoining South 24 Parganas districts, is based on over 800 photographs of the animals in the wild. Of the 3,500 sq km of the Indian side of Sundarbans, about 40-45 per cent is water. This leaves about 2,000 sq km for the tigers. The figures released point out that there are 22 tigers in South 24 Parganas forest and 81 in the STR. Of the 81, there are 27 tigers in the National Park (West) zone of the STR, 22 in the National Park (East) zone, while 19 tigers were spotted in the Sajnekhali and 13 in the Basirhat ranges respectively. The study was conducted in collaboration with WWF and Wildlife Institute of India. IGNOU to offer free courses for sex workers and jail inmates Sex workers and jail inmates in 10 districts in Karnataka and two districts in Maharashtra will now get an opportunity to pursue higher education for free with the regional centre of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) starting courses for them from July 2013. The centre covers Bijapur, Bellary, Bagalkot, Bidar, Gulbarga, Gadag, Haveri, Koppal, Raichur and Yadgir in Karnataka and Solapur and Latur in Maharashtra. IGNOU has a provision to offer higher education for free to sex workers and jail inmates. Some of our other regional centres already have the facility. The centre would set up study centres in jails and conduct classes on Saturdays and Sundays too to help inmates clear doubts. Examinations too would be conducted inside the jail. Inmates who get shifted to other jails could continue their studies from the nearest centre.

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International: Brazil security forces make record drug seizure Brazilian security forces have made a record drug seizure and disrupted the production of 30 tons of cocaine in neighbouring Peru during a massive 19-day border operation. The army and police operation netted 25 tons of marijuana and 657 kilograms of cocaine and crack. Coordinated with Peru and Colombia along the 11,000 kilometre frontier, the operation disrupted smuggling and forced traffickers to abandon production of some 30 tons of cocaine destined for southern Brazil, the United States and Europe. The operation is part of a strategic border security plan announced by President Dilma Rousseff in June 2011. Behind the United States, Brazil is the world’s second biggest consumer of cocaine and crack. One per cent of Brazil's 194 million people use cocaine or crack. Federal police say 90 per cent of the drug enters through Bolivia and Peru, with the other 10 per cent coming through Colombia. Paraguay, meanwhile, supplies 80 per cent of marijuana demand. India fifth-largest target of U.S. electronic snooping Continuing its series of exposés on the manner in which the United States has been harvesting electronic communication from national and international communication traffic, has acquired top-secret documents about a data mining tool used by the National Security Agency (NSA), called Boundless Informant, “that details and even maps by country the voluminous amount of information it collects from computer and telephone networks.” Iran was the country where the largest amount of intelligence was gathered, says the newspaper, with more than 14 billion reports in that period, followed by 13.5 billion from Pakistan. The fact that India clocks in fifth with 6.3 billion pieces of information collected from the country’s computer and data networks in one month alone is bound to cause alarm and consternation in New Delhi. Jordan and Egypt are the third and fourth most intensively watched countries. Nisar Khan to be Pak Govt’s point man for dealing with Taliban Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan will be the new Pakistan Government’s point man for dealing with law and order problems and a Taliban insurgency while Power Minister Khwaja Asif has been entrusted the tasking of addressing a crippling energy crisis. Khan, a hawk considered close to the military and a political heavweight from the Rawalpindi region, was allocated the Interior Ministry hours after 25 members of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s council of ministers were sworn in.

Business & Economy: ICVL shortlists five overseas properties for acquisition SAIL Chairman C. S. Verma addressing apress conference in Kolkata. International Coal Ventures Pvt. Ltd. (ICVL), the joint venture of five public sector companies, has shortlisted five properties for a possible acquisition, ICVL chief C. S. Verma said. ICVL was a special purpose vehicle formed with contribution from Steel Authority of India, Coal India, NTPC, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam and NMDC with the objective of pooling the resources of the companies for acquiring coal assets abroad. L&T-Sojitz wins freight corridor project The Railways is all set for a long-term engagement with Japan with the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) granting a Rs.6,700-crore contract for construction of 640-km twin-track line between Rewari and Palanpur of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor. L&T-Sojitz, a joint venture comprising L&T of India and Sojitz Corporation of Japan, has won the contract through an international bidding process. The contract is likely to be completed in four years. The project is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Japanese government arm for providing technical and financial aid to developing countries, which is also DMRC’s lending agency. Saudi Arabia to sell more crude to India in July Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is selling more crude to India in July as two refiners have asked for additional cargoes, industry and company sources familiar with the plan said, in part to make up for a loss of supplies from Iran. State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp will take in 84,000 barrels per day (bpd) from Saudi Arabia, more than double the 40,000 bpd it normally buys under annual contracts. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) will take in 86,000 bpd versus its commitment to lift 55,000 bpd.

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Sport:

Serena Williams beats Maria Sharapova to win French Open title Serena Williams won her second French Open title, 11 years after her first triumph, defeating title-holder Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-4 in a brief, but high-quality final. It was the 31-year-old American's 16th Grand Slam title win, taking her to within two of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova who are tied for fourth on the all-time list. For Sharapova it was a 10th straight loss to her American nemesis dating back to 2004 when she defeated her in the Wimbledon final and the WTA Championships when she was just 17-years-old. She is the second oldest woman in the Open Era to win the French Open title.