press trust of india
New Delhi, 1 July
 American Express Banking Corp. has been asked by the Delhi State Consumer Commission to pay Rs 80,000 as compensation to a woman for encashing traveller cheques stolen from her despite being informed about the theft.
The state commission observed that since the bank allowed encashment of the cheques despite receiving information about the theft, its concerned officials “in conspiracy” with others “deliberately” did not stop payment on the stolen cheques. “When the information was received by the appellant/ opposite party (American Express) with regard to the theft of the traveller cheques, it was incumbent on the part of the appellant to stop the payment, which has not been done.
“Obviously, there is sheer negligence on the part of the appellant and we have no hesitation in saying that concerned officials of the appellant bank in conspiracy with others deliberately did not stop the payment and encashed the same,” a Bench presided by members V K Gupta and S C Jain said.
The order came on the bank’s appeal against the decision of a district forum which had directed American Express to pay Rs 80,000 to the complainant, Delhi resident Sushma Agarwal.
The commission, while dismissing the bank’s appeal, noted that the complainant’s husband had on 7 July 2003 registered an FIR and also informed American Express about the theft of the cheques, but it still encashed them on 22 July 2003.
American Express in its appeal had contended that Agarwal had signed on the cheque and its overleaf and handed it over to some other person (her husband) and in such a case, the bank cannot be blamed. The commission, however, rejected the contention. According to Agarwal’s complaint in the district forum, the cheques were stolen from her husband’s car while he had stopped over at a chemist shop while on his way to submit the unused cheques at the bank.

press trust of india
New Delhi, 1 July
Delhi High Court today sought the CBI’s response on former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala’s plea seeking extension of his interim bail on medical grounds.
Mr Justice Siddharth Mridul issued notice to the CBI and sought its response by 4 July on Mr Chautala’s application for extension of his interim bail.
He said his pacemaker implantation was done on 3 June and the doctor had advised him to come for regular checkups for three months. He was granted interim bail on 21 May and it expires on 4 July.  In his application, Mr Chautala said: “He continues to be in a fragile state of health, besides being severely handicapped by various disabilities. He required constant extra care during the three months and constant follow up. He requires a stress free environment.”

Inclusion was approved by NCRPB
press trust of india
New Delhi, 1 July
Bhiwani and Mahendragarh districts of Haryana and Bharatpur in Rajasthan are now part of the National Capital Region (NCR).
Their inclusion was today approved by the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) which will also soon take up proposals on Jind and Karnal districts.
“Based on the request of the participating states, the board today has approved the inclusion of Bharat in Rajasthan, Bhiwani and Mahendragarh in Haryana in the NCR.
The planning committee will also meet up shortly to take up Jind and Karnal,” Urban Development minister Kamal Nath said today after chairing the NCRPB meeting here. Mr Nath also said that the Regional Plan 2021 was reviewed and the Draft Revised Regional Plan 2021 prepared by the NCRPB in consultation with the participating states and stake-holders has been approved for inviting objections and suggestions from the public under the provisions of the NCRPB Act.
He said that there has been 62 per cent urbanisation in NCR and this is expected to go to 73 per cent by the year 2021, when it will become the highest urbanised area in the country.
He said the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) had recommended setting up of a National Capital Region Transport orporation(NCRTC) for implementation of RRTS which in Phase-I will connect Delhi-Panipat (111 km), Delhi-Alwar (180 km) and Delhi-Meerut (90 km).
He said that the matter would be taken up in the Cabinet soon. Giving more details, Mr Nath said that the work on the three corridors would start soon and would be completed by 2016 and NCRPB would contribute Rs 200 crore to begin the work on one of the lines.
Mr Nath said that to reduce Delhi’s burden states should create infrastructure related to health, sewage treatment and night shelters. He said that the Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) Ministry had agreed to provide 50 of funds for 24 hour shelters and another 20 per cent would be provided by NCRPB. The meeting was attended by Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation minister Girija Vyas, Delhi CM Shiela Dixit, Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the Lt. Governor, Delhi Tejender Khanna and senior officials.

statesman news service
New Delhi/Kolkata, 1 July
The Supreme Court Division Bench of justices A K Patnaik and Ranjan Gogoi will tomorrow take up a review petition filed today by the West Bengal government and separate appeals by two other organisations seeking to reschedule the five-phase panchayat elections slated to start from 11 July as directed by the Division Bench. The government and the other petitioners want the polls to be held either before or after the month of Ramzan.
The apex court had on 28 June ordered the rural polls in five phases on 11, 15, 19, 22 and 25 July.
State election commissioner Mira Pande, and SEC secretary Tapas Ray flew to Delhi this evening to attend the proceedings of the apex court. The poll panel also put off an all-party meeting that was scheduled to be held at its office tomorrow.
The SEC secretary said the commission had no plans to suggest any fresh poll schedule that won’t clash with Ramzan.
"We will be attending the hearing tomorrow. Nothing can be stated in advance, we will respond as the situation demands.”
Sources said that the SEC’s position is that the polls are not being held on any festival day, while people from the minority community do perform normal work during Ramzan.
Also, the rural poll can’t be held up for long as the term of all panchayati bodies will expire on 27 July.
“Instead, we may propose some special measures for the people on fast, such as separate queue in polling booths and issuing advance voting tokens,” the official said.  
Earlier in the day, Trinamul Congress MP and advocate, Kalyan Banerjee moved the review petition on the state government’s behalf.
Simultaneously, Congress’ South 24 Parganas district minority cell and a Muslim NGO mentioned an appeal with the same demand in the Division Bench which initially refused to hear their pleas as the two organisations were not a party to the original case.
However, it admitted the appeal later following a direction from the Mr Justice Altamas Kabir, the Chief Justice.  
On the other hand, Left Front chairman Biman Bose said : “The state government cannot shirk its responsibility for election schedule for the panchayat election being directed to be held in the month of Ramjan by the Supreme Court”.
“The state government, which has now appealed for a change of schedule, maintained a strange silence before the apex court delivered its order on the new schedule of the rural polls,” he said.
“The panchayat election would have been over by now had the state government not appealed against the Calcutta High Court Single Bench order on the election,” the front chairman said. 
The state unit of the All India United Democratic Front headed by Siddiqullah Chowdhury held a rally in the city during the day and staged a demonstration near the SEC office protesting the holding of panchayat polls during Ramzan.

New Delhi, 1 July: An NGO today approached Supreme Court seeking re-scheduling of panchayat polls in West Bengal to keep it free from the period of Ramzan, which is likely to start from 10 July.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir agreed to the plea of the NGO, Progressive Youth Foundation, for listing the matter tomorrow.
The matter will be heard by the same Bench which on 28 June had rescheduled the dates of West Bengal panchayat elections and directed the State Election Commission (SEC) to conduct the exercise in five phases starting 11 July.
Aggrieved by the 28 June order, the NGO through senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi submitted that the court should consider the plea as there is a considerable population of Muslims who have to participate in the polls.
Earlier, the NGO had rushed to the Bench of Justice A K Patnaik who said the matter was already disposed of on 28 June and has to be freshly listed on orders of the CJI.     pti

statesman news service
Kolkata, 1 July
Trinamul Congress MLA from Chowringhee, Mrs Sikha Mitra, today fired a fresh salvo against chief minister Mamata Banerjee charging that she "talks more and works less", while her husband Mr Somen Mitra, Trinamul MP and wily former PCC president, said at the moment he had no plans to return to the Congress fold, insisting in the same breath that "nothing is final in politics."
The couple had for the past few months been on a virtual collision course with the Trinamul top leadership, while a suspension notice had been served on Mrs Mitra for "anti-party" activities.
The two had raised the banner of revolt against the Trinamul leadership on the birth and death anniversary of former chief minister Bidhan Chandra Roy this day last year by attending the programme at the Congress office.
Today also the two went to Bidhan Bhavan, the PCC state headquarters, to take part in the anniversary programme.
Taking on the chief minister, Miss Mitra defended the women of Kamduni who had protested against Miss Banerjee’s belated visit to the village in Barasat, 10 days after a college girl had been raped and murdered. "I salute the women who courageously stood up to the chief minister demanding justice and stern action against the perpetrators of the heinous crime," she said.
Mr Mitra took a stand against the party’s chief’s proposal for a Federal Front of non-Congress and non-BJP regional parties for contesting the 2014 Lok Sabha poll. 
"Either a Congress-led  alliance or a combination headed by the BJP would come to power," he said.
Asked whether he would be on the side of his wife
or the party, if the latter takes disciplinary action against her, Mr Mitra said : "Let
them send a disciplinary letter first and then I will decide whether to be in the party or with my wife," he said.
"If I take any step, I will do it openly as it is my style of  functioning and none can stop me from doing what I chose to," Mr Mitra said.

Bail petition denied: A district court on Monday rejected the bail petition of Seashore Group CMD Prashant Dash in the chitfund scam for the second time. The bail petition was rejected by the SDJM, Koraput.     pti
Illegal arms seized: Police on Monday busted an illegal weapons manufacturing facility in Palera town in Madhya Pradesh and arrested nine persons and seized a number of illegally-made weapons.     pti
Votes cost man dear: A man was allegedly beaten to death by four persons at Kaler village on Sunday after he refused to cast his vote in favour of their candidate for Punjab panchayat poll, police said on Monday.     pti
Teacher arrested:
Sanjeev Kumar, a teacher, of a senior secondary school in Ambala, was arrested on Monday for
his alleged attempt to rape a Class XII student on 17 June, police said.     pti
Civic polls: Executive officers of the 13 municipalities will supervise the works of those civic bodies till the poll is completed, urban development and municipal affairs minister Firhad Hakim said today.
Suicide: A 26-year-old woman Rinku Baidya, a resident of Sakuntala Sarani at Haridevpur, committed suicide by setting herself on fire late last night. Police are yet to ascertain the reason of the death.  
Woman kills self:A 20-year-old woman Saba Begam, a resident of Ripon Street, committed suicide by consuming insecticide today. She was declared dead when taken to hospital. No suicide note was found. 
Man hangs self:  Pradip Majumder (63) committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling of his room at Survey Park this morning. He was suffering from depression, preliminary investigation revealed. 
SER gets new GM: Mr G C Agarwal, general manager, Eastern Railway, today assumed the additional charge of GM, South Eastern Railway, following the retirement of the pervious incumbent Mr A K Verma.
CPM members hurt: Three CPI-M members were injured after anti-socials exploded bombs in a procession of the CPI-M at Banbasa village in Sujali in the Islampur police station area of North Dinajpur district.
Two injured: Two workers, who were injured in a blast in a organic chemical factory in Jorethang Sikkim yesterday, were died in a private nursing home in Siliguri today. Seven persons with 80 % burn injuries were admitted in nursing home.
Roadblock: Locals blocked a road after a Balurghat-bound bus collided with a lorry at Paranpur At least seven persons were injured. The injured were admitted at Balurghat district hospital.
Agitation: The Darjeeling Lok Sabha Youth Congress staged an agitation over alleged unfair investigation into the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority ( SJDA) corruptions. It was staged at SJDA office
Minor girl raped: A minor girl, a class III student was allegedly raped by a neighbour&’s relative last night in Chapdhany, Bhadreswar. The main suspect, who was visiting his relatives in the village, has been arrested.
Teacher arrested: Mr.Srijan Kanti Biswas, a teacher in a government primary school at Kapsaria village, was arrested on Monday after being accused of sexually exploiting a class IV student of the school.                     
Rape bid: Four youths tried to rape a 27-year-old housewife on Sunday night at Kakdwip in South 24-Parganas. The victim was watching TV last night when four youths barged into her room and tried to molest her.  They fled after she raised an alarm.
One arrested: Police arrested one driver for allegedly stabbing another driver Kartik Sarkar outside the NJP station today. Sarkar was admitted at North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH).

COMPENSATiON FOR CROPS DAMAGED IN FLOODS

arunima ghosh
arunima@thestatesman.net
Kolkata, 1 July
Having failed to provide Kisan Credit Cards, necessary for farmers to get crop insurance, the state agriculture department has decided to arrange financial assistance from state coffers for those whose vegetables and paddy had been damaged in the flash floods recently.
A host of vegetables, sesame, groundnut and paddy fields in 3,312 hectares in West Midnapore were damaged in the flash floods that hit West Midnapore on 31 May. The Kansabati River was in spate, as a result of which crops in the adjacent mouzas were damaged.
According to an official of the state agriculture department, in many cases the affected farmers will not be eligible for crop insurance, that is provided only for damage occurring in contiguous tracts of land. Moreover, the department is yet to bring all farmers under the Kisan Credit Card scheme that makes it easier to avail crop insurance. Again, groundnut, which is among the damaged crops, is not included under insurance cover.
As such, the department has come up with a solution to bail out the affected farmers. It will provide assistance from its own coffers and the state disaster management department has already sanctioned the amount to the agriculture department.
Earlier, farmers had to rely completely on crop insurance after any natural disaster but now the government has come up with an alternative procedure.
With the department handing over cheques to the farmers, the United Bank of India has taken up an initiative to open bank accounts for the 10 per cent of the farmers who do not have accounts.
The disaster occurred at a time when the Kharif season had already started, so providing seeds and fertiliser, which is usually done during such a situation will not be helpful to the farmers this time, said the official. Thus the department has decided to replace seeds and fertilisers with financial aid. The aid provided to the farmers is aimed at compensating their loss, he said adding that farmers can even use the money for procuring necessary farming assistance prior to the next season.

We have asked the Home ministry to provide security to our officers probing the case ~ Ranjit Sinha
press trust of india
New Delhi, 1 July
Special Director of Intelligence Bureau Rajendra Kumar will not be named in the first charge-sheet to be filed by the CBI on 4 July as the agency will be seeking more time from court to probe the conspiracy angle in the fake encounter case of Ishrat Jahan and others.
“We have promised Gujarat High Court that we will file a charge-sheet on 4 July in this case and we will maintain our time limit. We will file a preliminary charge-sheet,” CBI director Ranjit Sinha said on the sidelines of an Interpol conference.
The case pertains to killing of four people, including 19-year-old Ishrat from Mumbra, and the allegation is that the four were in detention of Gujarat police before they were killed in a stage-managed encounter in 2004. The CBI was entrusted with the investigations of the case by Gujarat High Court and the agency managed to get one of the accused as an approver in the case, who named Mr Kumar, a 1979 batch IPS officer posted as joint director of Intelligence Bureau in Ahmedabad at that time.
The sources in the agency will seek more time from the court under 173 Criminal Procedure Code to probe conspiracy angle in the case.
They declined that the CBI required any sanction to prosecute Mr Kumar and said his role was being further probed in the case and that he may be called for questioning again. The senior Intelligence Bureau officer will retire on 31 July this year.
Mr Sinha said: “We have asked the Home Ministry and the Maharashtra government to provide security to our officers probing the case.”
His remarks come in the backdrop of reports that the agency’s Nagpur-based Superintendent of Police, Sandeep Madhukar Tamgadge, an IPS officer of 2001 batch from Nagaland cadre, has been receiving threats.
The director refused to divulge further details of the investigation and the contents of the charge sheet as to how many people will be named in it but the sources said the first charge sheet will carry names of the policemen who had carried out the encounter.
In the backdrop of these developments, the CBI director and director of Intelligence Bureau Asif Ibrahim met the then home secretary R K Singh during which it was decided that adequate precaution will be taken during the questioning of Mr Kumar.
Mr Kumar, who has been handling sensitive departments within the Intelligence Bureau, was later called to Ahmedabad for questioning where he had said he did not remember finer details pertaining to the case.
The CBI was also looking for the then Joint Commissioner of Police (Ahmedabad) P P Pandey, who has been absconding ever since the agency called him for questioning.
In Gujarat High Court, CBI counsel alleged that Mr Pandey, a 1982 batch IPS officer of the Gujarat cadre, was the “mastermind” behind the whole encounter as he received inputs, passed it to his subordinates and was in total control of operation. “He actually acted as Rambo,” the counsel had alleged in the court while opposing Mr Pandey’s plea for quashing of CBI’s FIR.
Mr Pandey was heading the crime branch when  the alleged fake encounter took place.

New Delhi, 1 July: In the absence of sanction for prosecution against a Railway board member, the CBI’s charge-sheet in the Railway bribery scam, which cost Congress MP Pawan Kumar Bansal his job as Railway minister, may not be filed within stipulated time till 3 July.
This may pave way for automatic bail for the 10 accused arrested in the case in the absence of the charge-sheet within mandatory period of 60 days from the day of the arrest.
CBI Director Ranjit Sinha today said: “We will try to file the charge-sheet. Our probe is still on.”
He was replying to a question whether the agency would comply with the procedures which stipulate filing of the charge sheet within 60 days of the arrest of the accused.
Mr Bansal had to quit from the post of railway minister when his nephew Mr Vijay Singla was arrested for allegedly receiving bribe money.
Mr Singla and Mr Kumar were booked as main conspirators in the bribery case.     pti

press trust of india
New Delhi, 1 July
Spelling trouble for BJP leader Mr Vijender Gupta, a court today ordered framing of charges against him in a criminal defamation complaint lodged against him by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
Metropolitan Magistrate Namrita Aggarwal said “prima facie” an offence of defamation is made out against Mr Gupta and fixed the matter for 27 July for formally framing charges against him.
“Even the contention of counsel for accused (Mr Gupta) that since the editor, publisher or the reporter of the referred newspapers have not been examined, no case is made out against the proposed offender is premature. The complainant has a liberty to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt at a stage subsequent to framing of notice in a summons triable case. In this case, prima facie offence under section 500 (punishment for defamation) IPC is made out against the accused."
“To come up on 27 July for framing notices under section 500 IPC against the accused,” the court said. The magistrate also directed Mr Gupta to personally appear in the court on the next date of hearing.
During the hearing, the court granted exemption from personal appearance to both Mrs Dikshit and Mr Gupta for the day.
The court had, on 15 May, reserved its order on whether to frame charges against Mr Gupta when Mrs Dikshit had also appeared before it.
Mrs Dikshit had appeared in the court on 30 May 2012 for recording her statement, after which Mr Gupta was summoned as an accused.

post bollywood tryst
statesman news service
Patna, 1 July
This is the story of another "son rise" in Bihar. After RJD chief Lalu Prasad&’s cricketer son Tejaswi Yadav, Chirag Paswan, the actor son of Lok Janshakti Party president Ramvilas Paswan, has now decided to join active politics.
Chirag was apparently forced to jump into politics in view of certain compulsions on the family front as his father, who is a heart patient, has not been keeping well for the past several months.
The LJP, which has a strong base in the Dalit community, is still considered a significant political force in Bihar.
For the past two months, Chirag, who has also tried his hands in a Bollywood movie Miley Naa Miley Hum, which went unnoticed by cinema fans, had been constantly on the move, holding one meeting after another, which dropped enough hints of the actor’s joining active politics some day.
“It was my responsibility to join active politics and has done this finally. Now, I’m even ready to fight elections,” Chirag told a Press conference.
He campaigned for Mr Prabhunath Singh, who was the RJD-LJP joint candidate from the Maharajganj Lok Sabha seat which went to the bypoll last month.
 In the absence of his father, who is having cardiac problems, Chirag devoted much time to campaigning, along with RJD chief Mr Prasad.
The RJD candidate won convincingly over the JD-U nominee and Bihar Education Minister Prashant Kumar Shahi, who was defeated by over 1.50 lakh votes.
The RJD candidate went to the LJP office in Delhi and especially thanked Chirag for his support.
“He is a dynamic and competent leader whose leadership will boost the party in the days to come,” said state general secretary Rohit Kumar Singh, adding his move (to join politics) would inspire the youths.
He added that Chirag&’s joining active politics has come as a fresh gust of wind for the youths  and was more suited to the present situation when major parties like the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the RJD have opted for youth leadership in the form of Mr Rahul Gandhi, Mr Akhilesh Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav. “It&’s more a necessity than compulsion,” he added.
Chirag also addressed a series of rallies in Hajipur and Bhabhua to galvanise the party workers who felt dejected after successive defeats in polls until the RJD-LJP combine candidate tasted the first major victory after a long time.
Then, he led an LJP probe team to inquire into the police firing at Bagaha in which six residents were killed.

Press Trust of India
Cairo, 1 July
Egypt’s powerful army today warned that it will intervene if people’s demands were not met within 48 hours after millions took to the streets demanding the resignation of beleaguered President Mohamed Mursi, as at least 16 people were killed in clashes across the country.
“The armed forces reiterates its call that the demands of the people be met,” a televised statement from the armed forces said, giving political parties a 48-hour period “as a last chance to bear the historical burden that the nation is currently facing”.
“The Egyptian Armed Forces have set a deadline, which ended yesterday, for all political powers to reconcile and end the current crisis, but no progress has been made. Consequently, the Egyptian people have taken to the streets,” the statement said.
“The Egyptian Armed Forces will not become involved in politics or administration; it is satisfied with its role as is spelt out in line with democratic norms,” it said, stressing that Egyptian national security was in “great danger”.
It also referred to the armed forces’ “responsibility” to step in if national security was threatened.
Army’s statement was greeted with joy by thousands of protesters, who have been demanding 61-year-old Mursi’s resignation.
“Come down Sissi, Mursi is not my president,” the protesters chanted, calling on the country’s army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, to intervene.
Earlier, anti-government protesters also stormed the national headquarters of Muslim Brotherhood here. They also ransacked the six-storey building and set it on fire.
State media quoting the country’s health and population ministry said the nationwide death toll from 30 June protests stands at 16, with the total number of injuries estimated at 743 in 17 governorates.
In the capital here, thousands of people gathered at the iconic Tahrir Square ~ the epicentre of pro-democracy protests in 2011 ~ under the banner of Tamarod (Rebellion) movement which is driving the campaign with a petition of signatures seeking Mr Mursi’s ouster and a snap election.
“We give Mohamed Mursi until 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Tuesday, 2 July, to leave power, allowing state institutions to prepare for early presidential elections,” Tamarod said in a statement on its website.
The statement warned that Mursi would face a campaign of civil disobedience if he did not leave power by tomorrow.
Meanwhile, four ministers resigned from the Cabinet today in protest against perceived mishandling of the current political stand-off in the country by Mursi’s government, state news agency MENA reported.
Minister of state for legal and parliamentary affairs Hatem Begato, minister of communications Atef Helmy, minister of environment Khaled Fahmy and tourism minister Hesham Zazou all resigned, reports said.
Opposition activists claim more than 22 million people in the nation of 84 million have signed the petition and have urged the signatories to come out in Tahrir Square.

Agence France-Presse
Hong Kong, 1 July
Tens of thousands of protesters, some waving British imperial flags and denouncing Chinese “colonists”, marched through torrential rain in Hong Kong today to clamour for universal suffrage on the 16th anniversary of the city’s return to mainland rule.
Tropical Storm Rumbia brought a drenching and strong winds to the march, now an annual outpouring of discontent directed at both China’s communist government and the semi-autonomous territory’s local leadership.
The parade route from the city’s Victoria Park to the skyscrapers of the Central district was a sea of umbrellas as well as banners ~ bearing slogans that ranged from “Democracy now” to “Down with the Chinese Communist Party”.
A handful of marchers scuffled with police but no major trouble was reported, as curious tourists from mainland China stared at a licensed expression of popular anger that is unimaginable back home.
Early today, China’s national anthem blared as the national and Hong Kong flags were raised outside the harbourside Convention Centre to mark the city’s transfer from British to Chinese rule in 1997.
A small but rowdy protest took place near the ceremony with demonstrators burning a photograph of Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying, who critics say is guilty of kowtowing to Beijing.
On the march, one man carried a turtle made out of balloons to represent Leung, who stands accused of retreating inside his shell whenever trouble strikes. Protesters sang “Do You Hear the People Sing?” — the rabble-rousing anthem from the musical and film Les Miserables. “The main goal of the rally is to push through for genuine democracy and to ask for Leung Chun-ying to step down,” Jackie Hung of the Civil Human Rights Front, which organises the annual march, said.
The procession came after a survey published by the Hong Kong University found that only 33 per cent of Hong Kongers took pride in being a Chinese national, the lowest level since 1998.  Mr Leung was appointed by a pro-Beijing committee last July, promising to improve governance and uphold the rule of law in the territory of seven million people. He is charged with overseeing the transition to universal suffrage to appoint the city’s chief executive, which was promised by 2017, though critics say little or no progress has been made.

Agence France-Presse
Seoul, 1 July
North Korea today slammed South Korean President Park Geun-Hye for “hurting its dignity” with her call for denuclearisation and said its atomic weapons could never be a bargaining chip.
“Park Geun-Hye let loose a whole string of provocative remarks seriously hurting the dignity and social system in the DPRK (North Korea) while visiting China,” the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement through state media.
It was North Korea’s first official reaction to a high-profile summit between its closest ally and South Korea during Park’s four-day trip to China last week.
In China, Ms Park called for the North’s denuclearisation and described Pyongyang’s policy of pushing forward economic construction together with its nuclear build-up as an unattainable goal. “We have agreed that under any circumstances, North Korea’s nuclear (weapons) are unacceptable,” Ms Park said after talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The North’s committee accused Ms Park of making “so desperate efforts to garner support for South Korea that her shamelessness and disgusting nature reached the height”.
“What merits a more serious attention is that Park … dared take issue again with the DPRK’s new strategic line during her trip,” it said.
The committee denounced Park’s remarks as “a blatant challenge to the dignity, social system and political line of the DPRK and an unpardonable grave provocation against it”. “Explicitly speaking once again, Park should clearly know that the DPRK’s nukes, shield for justice and peace and treasure for the nation, can never be a bargaining chip in any case and they cannot be subject at a negotiating table no matter how vociferously the puppet group, war servants of the USA, may talk about them,” it said.
South Korea voiced regret over the North’s statement and urged Pyongyang to exercise restraint.

Press Trust of India
MELBOURNE, 1 JULY: Australia’s new Cabinet was sworn in today with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd naming a record number of six women, days after he dramatically ousted the country’s first woman premier Julia Gillard.
Governor-General Quentin Bryce swore in the ministers this afternoon before a first Cabinet meeting in Canberra.
The 55-year-old Prime Minister named 11 women ministers out of the 30 all up on the frontbench – and six in Cabinet.
Rudd staged the comeback by winning a caucus vote by 57 to 45 last week, three years after Gillard toppled him in a similar showdown to become the first woman prime minister.
Rudd said he wanted the “best players on the field” and his new ministry has been chosen on merit and it outpoints the opposition on quality and experience, local media reported. He pledged to work for a “stronger, fairer Australia… and never ever, ever allow the fair-go to be thrown out the backdoor”.
Victoria-based MP Richard Marles entered in the Cabinet for the first time as Trade minister apart from other newcomers including Jacinta Collins as minister of Mental Health and Ageing, Tasmanian MP Julie Collins as minister for housing, Homelessnes and status of Women.
Some of his key supporters Joel Fitzgibbon and Kim Carr have returned as Agriculture Minister and Industry and Innovation Minister respectively whereas some supporters of Ms Gillard continue to remain in Cabinet with different roles.
Tony Burke has been shifted from environment to Immigration ministry and Brendan O’Connor, who was looking after Immigration, will now become head Employment ministry.
Bill Shorten, seen as the main person for changing Labor leadership, was moved from employment to education ministry.
They join finance minister Penny Wong, health minister Tanya Plibersek and families minister Jenny Macklin in the 20-member cabinet.
Several Labor leaders have quit politics with latest one being Simon Crean who announced his departure bringing to an end a 23-year career in Federal Parliament.
He has joined the list of senior Labor figures who have quit politics in the wake of last week’s leadership change. Others to quit were Gillard, Stephen Smith, Craig Emerson, Greg Combet and Peter Garrett.
Meanwhile, a new poll, first since Mr Rudd’s returned as Prime Minister, has ranked him in a significant lead as the country’s preferred leader.
Galaxy poll published in News Limited papers says 51 per cent of respondents believe Mr Rudd would make the best prime minister, compared to 34 per cent for Tony Abbott. Fifteen per cent of those surveyed said they were uncommitted.
Mr Rudd’s position shows an 18 per cent jump from Ms Gillard’s position in March. Mr Rudd has said he was heartened by the boost Labor has received. In a statement, he said it was encouraging to see voters already responding to his brand of “positive, policy-driven” politics.
However, the poll shows the Coalition continues to lead Labor 51 per cent to 49 per cent, on a two-party preferred basis. Federal Opposition Leader Abbott said he was not surprised by the results.
 
 

Press Trust of India
DEHRADUN, 1 JULY: Over 200 pilgrims and locals were today rescued from flood-ravaged areas of Uttarakhand where another 680 were still stranded even as chief minister Vijay Bahuguna announced that a statutory body will be set up to oversee relief and rehabilitation work.
Amidst conflicting reports on the number of those killed in the tragedy, the chief minister refused to speculate on the casualty figure.
“There is no room for speculation on the casualty figure. It is a massive tragedy but as per my information, the number of visible bodies is 500 to 600. Bodies are lying under the debris and around 3000 are missing,” he told reporters here.
Increasing the ambit of those who will be entitled to compensation, Mr Bahuguna said, “Everyone who suffered losses from owners of small kiosks to hotels will be given compensation”.
He said a statutory body will be set up to oversee relief and rehabilitation efforts in the worst-hit areas.
Officials in Chamoli district said 220 pilgrims in Badrinath were evacuated to safety today leaving 680 still stranded.
Despite bad weather at places including Dehradun, chopper operations began this morning in Chamoli district to evacuate about 300 pilgrims and 600 locals from Badrinath shrine to Joshimath from where they will be brought further down by road.
Approximately 3000 persons have been reported missing after the tragedy, according to officials.
The chief secretaries of the states concerned have been asked to verify the list and if the lost people are not traced in a month they will be declared dead.
On the 16th day of the calamity today, only 36 bodies have been disposed of amid necessary rituals so far in the worst-hit Kedarnath shrine area with no cremation having taken place there over the past two days, officials said.
The state government has sent a 200-member team of medical experts, trained police personnel and support staff from the municipal corporation to the Valley to perform the onerous task of extricating the bodies and their ritual cremation.
Some of the medical experts, who had been sent to Kedarnath to take the DNA samples of the bodies there, have returned after falling sick.
With bodies of humans and animals like mules lying all over the area, a foul smell hangs in the air, making it difficult for those sent to clear the debris stay there for long.
“The frequently changing weather with intermittent rains is another hurdle. We are going about the cremation process slowly,” DIG Sanjay Gunjyal, who is supervising the exercise, told PTI over phone.
Despite the odds being faced by the administration in transporting relief material to affected people with around 50 per cent of the roads still damaged, free of cost foodgrains and other essential commodities are being provided to the affected villages cut-off from the roads in helicopters, said an official statement.
Kerosene is also being made available to the people of affected areas on subsidised rates.
Out of the 4200 cut-off of villages or habitations, 2865 have been restored so far, it said.