Ukraine lawmakers to hold special session over PM resignation
27072014
Ukraine’s lawmakers will meet in a special session on Thursday to decide whether to accept or reject the sudden resignation of the prime minister, the presidency said.
The special parliamentary session would also discuss a Dutch-led investigation into last week’s downing of Malaysian flight MH17 in rebel-held east Ukraine, the presidency said.Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk quit in fury over the collapse of his ruling coalition on Thursday, plunging the country into political uncertainty as Kiev battles a deadly insurgency in the east.
His resignation has not been ratified by parliament, and President Petro Poroshenko said in a statement issued yesterday that he “counts on further cooperation with Arseniy Yatsenyuk and the entire Cabinet of Ministers”.
In a sign that the political upheaval in the cash-strapped country is ringing alarm bells, both IMF chief Christine Lagarde and US Vice President Joe Biden spoke on the phone with Poroshenko yesterday.
In talks with Lagarde, Poroshenko said he “assured that Ukraine was ready to fulfil all its obligations” agreed under a USD 17.0 billion (12.7 billion euro) bailout accorded by the IMF in late April.
The president said Biden meanwhile emphasised Washington’s readiness to help Ukraine undertake much needed reforms.
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Indonesia’s Prabowo challenges election result
27072014
The ex-general who lost Indonesia’s presidential election is trying to overturn the result. Prabowo Subianto has filed a legal challenge. He alleges the poll was riddled with fraud. Members of Indonesia’s election commission said Tuesday that Prabowo lost by 6 percentage points. They handed victory to Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo. Prabowo’s team says they submitted to the constitutional court evidence of irregularities at over 52,000 polling stations nationwide.Analysts do not expect the court to overturn Joko’s victory. Court officials say the judges will hand down their decision by the end of next month.
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India win two golds, three silver
27072014
Indian marksmen returned with a rich haul of five medals, including two gold through Rahi Sanorbat and Apurvi Chandela, from the shooting ranges to completely dominate the event so far in the 20th Commonwewalth Games on Saturday.
After yesterday’s one gold and one silver, the Indians bagged two gold and three silver today to accumulate seven medals (3, 4, 0) from shooting so far.India could not win a medal in only men’s and women’s skeet and newly introduced Queen’s Prize pairs and bagged at least a medal in all the five events held so far.
It was an all-Indian affair in the women’s 25m pistol event and Sanorbat beat Anisa Sayyed in the gold-medal match 8-2 to cap a brilliant second day of shooting competitions at the Barry Buddon Centre ar Dundee near here.
Australia’s Lalita Yauhleuskaya bagged the bronze medal. Earlier, 23-year-old Sanorbat and Sayyed, 33, finished first and second in the semifinals to set up an all-Indian final.
Sanorbat had won two gold medals in 2010 CWG in Delhi besides also becoming India’s first pistol shooter to win gold medal in World Cup, in South Korea, last year.
Sayyed had also won two gold medals in 2010 CWG.
Young Rajasthan girl Apurvi, earlier, got India its second gold from the shooting range winning the 10m Air Rifle event today as compatriot Ayonika Paul boosted the medal tally with a silver.
Prakash Najappa had got a silver in the 10m Air Pistol event.
21-year-old Chandela led from the beginning to win the yellow metal with a score of 206.7 while Ayonika finished a creditable second with a score of 204.9.
It was only fitting that the Jaipur girl, who started shooting only six years back after watching Abhinav Bindra get gold in the Beijing Olympics, won in the legendary shooter’s pet event.
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If all dam affected persons have been “rehabilitated” then “disaster management”?
27072014
If all dam affected persons have been “rehabilitated”, then why crores of money is being spent on “disaster management”?
Will the land, farms, houses, temples, schools and lakhs of trees belonging to 40,000 Sardar Sarovar affected families be sold with 318 Lakh rupees?!
Badwani/New Delhi, July 27th 2014: Every year, with the beginning of heavy rains in the Narmada Valley, the Government suddenly gets “concerned” and pours out money for setting up relief camps for persons affected by dams. This year too, 551 Lakhs, i.e. 5.5 crores have been declared for the areas affected by Sardar Sarovar, Upper Veda, Maan, Jobat , Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar dams. On June 24, 2014, in a petition related to Omkareshwar and Indira Sagar canals, Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh Justice Khanvilkar directed that a “disaster management scheme” be prepared for the entire Narmada Valley. However, since 1979 when Sardar Sarovar Project was passed no such scheme has been made, despite the reservoir spreading over 214 km, and yet in the last many years, many villages of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat as well as Dharampuri town have also faced “disasters”.
The way land and houses in the hilly adivasi villages of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh were submerged without any rehabilitation in 1993-1994, the same way, in the last 2-3 years, houses, shops and standing crops in the densely populated villages of Nimad, Madhya Pradesh, along are getting submerged. This is happening because thousands of families of farmers, labourers, fish-workers, potters, shop-keepers, land-less persons have been rehabilitated just on papers. In 2006, the group ministers including Shri Saifuddin Soz, Smt. Meera Kumar and Shri Pritiviraj Chavan who toured the Narmada Valley for three days, reiterated the same.
At the present height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, i.e. 122 meters, there are 177 villages which are affected by submergence and out these, many villages, thousands of houses and some wards of Dharampuri town faced destruction even last year. In the 2006 judgement which allowed for raising the height up to 122 meters, it was ordered that families must be compensated for damages but in spite of the orders of Justice Khare, Grievance Redressal Authority, the M.P Government and Narmada Valley Development Authority have not complied. When the law and legal orders clearly state that six months before submergence, families must be rehabilitated, then why this severe and outright violation ?
The centres/camps that have been set up in the name of relief, are at least 10 to 15 km away from the hilly adivasi villages. The administration expects these adivasi villagers to come in their boats, with children and sick and elderly persons, and eat and thus, get “relief” in the camps. If they don’t come, then officials take 2-3 persons (who are often there just to serve the officials) to the camp and that is all. Furthermore, for relief purposes, the Government arranges for around boats so as to “save’’ houses, shops, schools etc. Not less than 20 boats are arranged and they are kept just for Government related work by giving 25,000 to 30,000 per month. In such situation, the common villagers, the adivasis cannot get, nor can they afford, the boats for commuting to markets or even for their daily needs. Does the Government really think that it will “save” around 700 to 1500 houses by putting them all together on the boats?! Or will lives be saved, and not property? That too, of how many families? Who will ask this question?
Claiming that there is no one left to be rehabilitated at the present height of 122 meters and also saying that our angst is “false and misleading”, the Modi Government, in its first big decision, has decided to raise the height of the dam by 17 meters. Even today, more than 40,000 families, lakhs of animals and trees are residing in the submergence affected areas of Sardar Sarovar Dam. And out of these, thousands may also come under submergence this very year. Then, will 318 lakhs out of 551 lakhs help in saving these houses, lands, villages? Or will the nexus between the Government and brokers/middlemen not eat up this money too, in the name of “relief” and “disaster management”?!
Kamla Yadav Madubhai Meera Jhamsingh
Contact: 09179148973
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Wrecked Italian cruise ship re-floated
27072014
Wrecked Italian cruise ship re-floated “
Italy’s ill-fated Costa Concordia cruise ship floated for the first time on Monday since it crashed in 2012, its rust-coloured hull emerging from the waves off the Tuscan island of Giglio as an unprecedented salvage operation began.
Italy’s ill-fated Costa Concordia cruise ship floated for the first time on Monday since it crashed in 2012, its rust-coloured hull emerging from the waves off the Tuscan island of Giglio as an unprecedented salvage operation began.
“The ship is floating and is well balanced. We’re extremely pleased so far,” Franco Porcellacchia, the chief engineer of the project, told reporters as the wrecked vessel — the length of three football fields — inched upwards. The 114,500-tonne vessel rose around two metres off the artificial platform on which it has rested since it was righted in September.
It was then towed slightly away from the coastline for the re-floating to continue.
Children in swimming costumes eating ice-cream pointed from the shore as water cascaded spectacularly out of the tanks attached to the ship like giant armbands to float the wreck.
Divers who had worked to prepare the operation through the night could be seen returning to port on a dinghy, cheering.
Media crews from around the world crowded on to the port to watch the resurrection of the luxury liner, which sank after hitting rocks on January 13, 2012 in a tragedy which left 32 people dead, including an Indian waiter, Russel Rebello.
The body of Rebello is still missing and a search for his remains along the sea-bed is expected to be carried out once the ship is clear of the area.
South African salvage master Nick Sloane, dressed in his trademark blue jeans, had boarded the ship at dawn, telling journalists he was “nervous” about this delicate stage of the operation which could see the battered ship break up.
“Today we’ll see whether our calculations were correct,” the sandy-haired mariner said, before heading to oversee the operation from a control room on board the Costa Concordia itself.
The liner — twice as big as the Titanic — will be refloated over a six-to-seven day period and then be towed away for scrapping to a port in Genoa in northern Italy, where it is expected to arrive later this month.
Michael Thamm, chief executive of ship owner Costa Crociere, told journalists the project had cost over USD 1.36 billion so far, which did not cover the refloating process, towing the liner to Genoa or the price of scrapping the ship.
The Concordia crashed off Giglio on the night of January 13, 2012, forcing many of its 4,229 passengers and crew from 70 countries to jump into the sea as lifeboat pulleys failed.
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Black boxes from Taiwan air crash investigated
27072014
Investigators on Friday were examining wreckage and flight data recorders for clues into a plane crash on a Taiwanese island that killed 48 people. Stormy weather and low visibility are thought to have been factors in Wednesday’s crash of the twin propeller ATR-72 operated by TransAsia Airways.
The investigation is expected to focus on a four-minute gap between the pilot’s request for a second approach and the plane’s crashing into village homes at 7:10 p.m., during which visibility dropped by half.Local media reported today that the plane’s cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder had been sent to the main island of Taiwan for analysis.
One of the devices was damaged in the crash and ensuing fire, and it wasn’t immediately clear when results of the investigation would be made public. Dozens of investigators searched for other clues at the crash site on the island of Penghu in the Taiwan Strait west of the capital Taipei.
They took photos and measurements as cranes and backhoes sifted through the wreckage scattered over damaged houses at the far end of the airport on the resort island.
Ten people survived the crash. Also today, the airline’s chairman Vincent Lin visited grieving relatives gathered at a local funeral home and said the company would do all it could to aid them in their suffering.
“This is an unpredictable tragedy. The priority for us is to assist victims’ relatives,” Lin told reporters as Buddhist monks conducted rituals for the dead.
Among the mourners, Shu Chi-tse, father of victim Shu Chong-tai, said he’d spoken to his son just before the flight left the southern city of Kaohsiung on Taiwan’s main island. “He is a good boy. He cares for me and his mom.He loves his grandma a lot,” Shu said. The flight departed despite heavy weather following the passing of a typhoon that had forced the cancellation of about 200 flights earlier in the day.
However, aviation authorities said conditions were safe for flying and two other planes had landed at Penghu that day prior to the crash.
The TransAsia crash was Taiwan’s first deadly civil aviation accident since 2002, when a China Airlines plane went down shortly after takeoff, killing 225.
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Israel extends Gaza ceasefire Hamas rejects it
27072014
Israel on Sunday extended the humanitarian truce in Gaza for another 24 hours at the request of the UN, but Hamas resumed rocket fire and rejected the move saying no ceasefire is valid without Israeli tanks withdrawing from Gaza as the 20-day conflict killed 1,050 Palestinians.
The decision to extend ceasefire came after a crisis meeting of Israeli cabinet late last night. They extended the truce until midnight on Sunday.The cabinet also warned that the army will act if it is breached by Palestinian militants. The cabinet will reconvene today to discuss the continuation of the military operation, the officials said.
But Hamas said 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”.
Israel and Hamas agreed to a 12-hour humanitarian truce yesterday which the Jewish state later extended by four hours till midnight local time. Israel said that it would continue operations against tunnels used by Hamas during the truce period.
But Hamas fired several rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip, after the initial 12-hour truce ended and rejecting an earlier attempt to prolong the truce.
Meanwhile, Hamas also accused Israel of using previous ceasefires to prepare for more attacks and claimed that there had been truce violations yesterday. During the original 12-hour ceasefire, Palestinians, frantically scoured through rubble with medics saying over 130 bodies had been retrieved across the Gaza Strip.
The health ministry in Gaza said 1,050 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed and about 6,000 wounded since Israel launched its Gaza offensive on July 8. Meanwhile, Israeli military announced the 43th fatality of its 20-day campaign in the Gaza Strip, aimed at ending rocket fire against Israel and destroying a sophisticated network of cross-border tunnels.
Three Israeli civilians were also killed in the fighting. At least 120,000 Palestinians have been displaced in the current round of violence and about 80 per cent of the casualties have been civilians.
The UNICEF has said that 192 children had been killed during the conflict. As the death toll continued to rise, Foreign Ministers from the US, Turkey, Qatar and several European countries urged both sides to extend the truce after their talks in Paris yesterday.
No representatives from Israel, Egypt or the Palestinian Authority attended the Paris talks.
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AAP Report on crimes against women in UP
27072014
From: Media Cell AAP <mediacellaap@gmail.com> Sun, 27 Jul ’14 1:08p
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
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PRESS RELEASE27.07.2014A status report on crimes against women in Uttar Pradesh prepared by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, Shefali Misra and Hema Badhwar Mehra (party’s Lok Sabha candidates from Sitapur and Badaun constituencies in UP, respectively), has been presented to the AAP national convenor, Arvind Kejriwal.Receiving the report, he condemned the increasing violence against women, calling the situation a “gross neglect of basic human rights.” (Copy of the report and related material is attached with this press release)Kejriwal asked for a serious review of women’s situation in the country, expressing that, “The mandate to stop violence is a responsibility each one of us now needs to take.” He further added that, “the state has failed in its endeavour to protect women’s rights. It is time that each citizen expresses anguish and anger and lets the law makers and implementers know that violence must stop.”Digging into the root causes of these problems, the report summarises a harrowing tale of unspeakable neglect of women’s rights, hatred, misogyny, and breakdown of governance, crisis and justice protocols.The investigative report was undertaken by the two AAP leaders soon after the media reported the shocking alleged gang rape of two Dalit women in UP on May 26, 2014. The research was primarily undertaken at Badaun, Sitapur and Bareilly districts of UP, where there have been a spate of brutal incidents of rape, honour killing, sodomy, acid killing and molestation, widely reported in the media.The main findings based on primary assessments and interviews with several stakeholders indicates that the apparent surge in violence against women and girls are not one-off incidents but are in fact indicative of a much deeper form of growing disempowerment of women, especially from marginalised communities in Uttar Pradesh.The administrative lethargy, coupled with collusion between the police, politicians and local goons leads the way to lawlessness that creates the atmosphere of impunity for such crimes to take place. Most cases are not even registered and those that are, find the victims fighting against a tough system of justice and gunda raj.The report also highlights the dismal situation of police infrastructure, sensitization and discipline, which raises serious questions about their readiness and ability to deliver protection to women. With a police to citizen ratio of 1:1000 and just 2 women constables per police station, each covering 60 off villages, crimes against women are hardly ever taken seriously, unless exposed under the media glare.Further, the report reveals that the social fabric itself is hostile to women. In addition to traditional norms, which see girls getting married off at the tender age of 11, violence against women almost finds acceptance and social sanction. Victims and their families who have survived assaults are often silenced and withdraw cases for fear of retaliation and stigma. Most suffer severe psycho-social trauma. Surprisingly, no crisis protocols exist, such as shelters, rape counselling units, lawyers and counsellors who support families. The Legal Service Authority mandated to protect women’s rights under NALSA Act is defunct. Panchayati Raj institutions are hegemonic structures in themselves and highly neglectful of women’s rights.In its recommendations, the report calls for an “immediate implementation” of the Justice JS Verma Committee report’s findings, the strong need for Standard Operating Procedures and response protocols to deal with crimes against women, strict disciplinary action on personnel for neglect and misconduct in handling of such cases, justice protocols and fast track courts, protection and support to victims and families in line with national and international statutes, third party surveillance and media monitoring.“If this (crime against women) does not stop, AAP is planning a state-wide agitation and we will ensure that not one voice is left unheard,” said party’s UP incharge, Sanjay Singh.To download a copy visit: add a weblink to the report (temporary link is http://ge.tt/6AMp0Np1/v/0 )
Regards
AAP Media Cell
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27072014
समाचार4मीडिया
To Me
Jul 26 at 7:38 PM
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UMumba states territory in opening game of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi
27072014
Umumba’s Surendra Nada awarded Best Defender and Moment of the day
Mumbai, 26th July 2014: Mumbaikars braved the changing weather conditions to make it to the National Sports Club of India with the long wait finally over, and the first game of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi was all set for a sensational debut, with the mouth-watering clash between UMumba and Jaipur Pink Panthers. It was a celebratory affair, with Faces of Mumbai, Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, the God of Cricket Sachin Tendulkar, and superstars Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan all in attendance, dressed in Pink showing their support for the Jaipur team.
In what seemed a nervy start, UMumba were the first to successfully pull down Maninder Singh, in the Panther’s second raid. The vociferous support of the fans only seemed to drive the players that half centimetre deeper into the opponent’s half. Five minutes into the first half and Jaipur seemed to be risking it all, first losing 2 players and then another through some power packed raiding from the Mumbai team. But their risks seem to have paid dividends, Jasvir Singh arguably the best raider in the first half was mounting the Pink Panther offensive, to destructive effect. Mid-way through the first half however he was successfully tackled, and soon after Jaipur lost their Captain Navneet Gautam. It all seemed to be coming apart at the seams as Panther Prashant Chavan stumbled over the outline while teammate Rohit Rana was also sent back packing to the Out-Box when he failed to bring down a determined U Mumba Shabeer. U Mumba had their first LONA points on the board, and their noses out in front.
Jaipur had to rebuild once again, this time their risks seemed to be losing them more points than earning them, 15 minutes in and UMumba were firmly stamping their authority over proceedings, their tackling incredibly efficient. Once again the bringing down of Jasvir Singh signals an almost domino effect among the Jaipur ranks, all falling within seconds of each other. The entire team is dismissed in amazing fashion as Mumbai streak firmly into the lead, at half time the score read 25-12 to UMumba.
The second half started in much the fashion the first began, the supporters making all the noise they could possibly muster and Jaipur desperately trying to get back into the game. Jasvir Singh and Maninder Singh were rotating raiding duties for the Pink Panthers and kept the team alive, but UMumba’s superior defensive structure was proving impossible to overcome, still the Panthers piled on. It was now a straight battle between Jaipur’s deadly raids and Mumbai’s impenetrable defence.
The highlight of the second half came when U Mumba’s Surendra Nada used his lightning speed to tag 2 members of the Jaipur anti and return home, a move that earned him the Best Defender and Moment of The Day awards, earning him a sweet Rs. 20,000 on the first night. Maninder Singh hit a streak late into the second half, tagging two members of the anti in successive raids to leave Mumbai with no one but their captain. He was tagged on the next raid to give Jaipur their very first LONA points on the night, at the 36 minute mark it seemed too late for Jaipur to come back. If not the scoreboard the thousands in the stands certainly felt it was over and soon it was. The game ended U Mumba 45, Jaipur Pink Panthers 30.
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Categories : sports
Sunday Invite : An evening with Mr. Amitabh Bachchan
27072014
Sunday Invite : An evening with Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador on Sunday, 27 July 2014 at 6.30 PM at Thyagraj Stadium, INA Colony, New Delhi.
From: Sonia Sarkar <ssarkar@unicef.org> Sun, 27 Jul ’14 11:27a
To: <recipients undisclosed>
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Dear Editor,
India’s victory over polio is a huge credit to those who painstakingly mobilized communities for polio vaccination and continue to do so even today. To thank all those who partnered to spread awareness for polio immunization Mr. Louis-Georges Arsenault, UNICEF Representative for India cordially invites you to an evening with Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador on Sunday, 27 July 2014 at 6.30 PM at Thyagraj Stadium, INA Colony, New Delhi. Media event starts at 7:30 PM.
The occasion will be graced by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Honorable Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Please refer to the attached invite.
Look forward,
Sonia Sarkar
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