Veteran choreographer R Raghuram passes away in Chennai

CHENNAI: Veteran choreographer-actor R Raghuram died here on Saturday following a brief illness. He was 64.

Raghuram was not keeping well for the past few days, sources close to his family said.

He is survived by his wife and a daughter named Gayathri, who is also an actor and choreographer.

Fondly addressed as "Raghu Master", he had worked in number of films including those of superstars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan.

He had also acted with Haasan in some movies including his hit 'Dasavatharam' a few years ago.

Various film industry members, including choreographers, paid tribute to Raghuram, condoling his demise as a great loss to Tamil cinema.

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Night temperature continues to remain very low in various parts of Kashmir

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir continued to reel under cold wave conditions as the night temperatures witnessed a sharp dip on Friday night with Leh town recording a temperature of minus 11.4 degrees Celsius, a met department official said here.

He added that the nearby Kargil town recorded a low of minus 7.8 degrees Celsius, a drop of two degrees compared to Friday's temperature.

The minimum temperature in the summer capital Srinagar dropped nearly one degree to settle at a low of minus 2.7 degrees Celsius, the official said, adding it was two degrees below the normal for this part of the season.

He said that the night temperature in Pahalgam, a tourist resort which serves as a base camp during annual Amarnath yatra in south Kashmir, dipped to settle at a low of minus 4.6 degrees Celsius.

The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 0.2 degree Celsius, as against last night's minus 0.5 degree Celsius.

The minimum temperature in Kupwara, in north Kashmir, dipped to a low of minus 3.5 degrees Celsius, while Qazigund - the gateway town to Kashmir recorded a low of minus 3.1 degrees Celsius, the official added.

The south Kashmir town of Kokernag also witnessed a sub zero temperature as mercury fell to minus 0.6 degrees Celsius compared to yesterday's 0.7 degrees Celsius.

Kashmir valley and Ladakh region is in the grip of intense cold since the beginning of this month following early snowfall in the high altitude areas.

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Jayalalithaa should apologize to Kanchi seers: Subramanian Swamy

CHENNAI: BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday said Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa should apologize to the Kanchi Mutt seers after a Puducherry court acquitted them of murder charges.

Swamy visited the Mutt and received Swami Sri Jayendra Saraswati.

In a huge relief to the pontiffs of the Mutt — Jayendra Saraswathi and Vijayendra Saraswathi — a Puducherry court on Wednesday acquitted them in the sensational case of murder of a temple official in Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu in 2004.

Swamy has consistently campaigned against Tamil Nadu government for allegedly foisting a false murder case against Acharyas.

Later, he met both the senior and junior Shankaracharyas separately.

Talking to reporters at the Mutt, he said Jayalalithaa should apologize to the Acharyas.

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India exported Rs 2.32 lakh crore agricultural produce this year

The author has posted comments on this articlePTI | Nov 30, 2013, 08.06PM IST

GANGTOK: Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Saturday said the country exported agricultural produce worth Rs 2.32 lakh crore this year after addressing the consumption need of 1.2 billion population and stocking foodgrain much above the buffer norms.

Addressing a function at the College of Agriculture Engineering and Post Harvest Technology near Ranipool in Sikkim today, Pawar said India is today highest producer of milk, pulses, jute and second in the production of rice, wheat, sugarcane, groundnuts, vegetable foods and cotton in the world.

"It is also the leading producer of spices and plantation crops as well as livestock, fisheries and poultry. India is thus emerging as a major player in the international market," he said.

The credit for this goes to farming community, scientists, technologists and the state governments, he added.

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Nepali Congress asks Maoists, other parties to join coalition

KATHMANDU: The Nepali Congress, which emerged the largest party in the Constituent Assembly polls, today asked the Maoists and other political parties to join a coalition government to be formed under its leadership.

"We want the Maoists and other political parties to join the coalition government to be formed under our leadership," Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala told PTI at his residence at Maharajgunj on the outskirts of Kathmandu.

"I have talked to UCPN-Maoist chief Prachanda and CPN-UML chairman Jhalanath Khanal and sought their cooperation in drafting the Constitution," he said. "I have also held talks with other political parties regarding the matter."

The Nepali Congress bagged 105 seats of the 240 directly elected seats in the November 19 polls but lacks a clear majority to form government on its own.

The CPN-UML was the second largest party with 91 seats followed by Prachanda's UCPN-Maoist, which grabbed 26 seats in the 601-member Constituent Assembly. However, the Maoists have threatened to boycott the Constituent Assembly.

"If we follow democratic tradition, the Nepali Congress should lead the next government as the people have given a mandate to form a government under the leadership of Nepali Congress," Koirala reasoned.

He said the issue of governance and federal structure - that led to the dissolution of the first Constituent Assembly elected in 2008 without drafting the Constitution - would be settled through negotiations.

"The matters relating to the forms of governance and federal structure need to be settled through dialogue before promulgating the Constitution," Koirala said.

"My emphasis is to include all the political parties in the process of drafting the Constitution, and there should be collaboration, consensus and cooperation among the parties in this matter."

Koirala said he did not think there would be "big disputes" among political parties in drafting the Constitution as they had settled most of the contentious issues during the first Constituent Assembly.

The Nepali Congress favours a parliamentary system of governance in which the Prime Minister is accountable to the parliament as this is good to keep checks and balances on power, Koirala said.

"We do not favour the presidential system, which may lead to a kind of dictatorship in a country like ours," he cautioned.

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Yercaud byelection: Central forces to be deployed in 120 locations

CHENNAI: The Election Commission has taken a few stringent measures to ensure a free, fair and transparent election in Yercaud assembly constituency on December 4.

In a statement, chief electoral officer Praveen Kumar said each polling station would be covered by local police. In addition, all the 120 polling station locations will have central police force personnel stationed throughout the poll day.

He said an additional armed reserve force would be stationed in 61 locations, where there is either a sensitive polling station or there are four or more polling stations. "Forty three striking forces at various levels will be deployed in readiness for redressing any emergency situation. The zonal parties will have a mobile police force along with them," he said.

Live recording of the proceedings would be carried out at all the 290 polling stations. Direct live webcasting will be done from 269 polling stations which have connectivity.

The proceedings will be videographed in the remaining 21 polling stations, which don't have connectivity.

A room would be provided at the Salem collectorate for one representative of each candidate to monitor the webcasting on the poll day. Central Government officials stationed at the polling stations would serve as micro observers at 21 places where live webcasting is not possible.

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Intelligence Bureau warns of rise in Naxalite activity after 'peaceful' polls

RAIPUR: With the latest Maoist offensive claiming lives of four CRPF personnel in Bastar, Intelligence Bureau has alerted security forces, asking them to be extra cautious following inputs of major strikes in southern Chhattisgarh after 'peaceful' assembly election.

Earlier this week, the state IB had intimated district superintendents of police and commandants of armed forces that Maoists are observing "martyrdom week" from November 24-30 in the memory of their slain leader Kishenji during which they may step up their operations.

Kishenji was killed on November 24, 2011 in West Bengal in a special operation conducted by a joint squad of the state police and CRPF.

An advisory by IB also said that ultras will observe the Peoples' Liberation Guerrilla Army week from December 2-8 in honour of slain leaders of the CPI (Maoist), during which again they are likely to intensify and execute attacks on security forces, police stations, camps and also disrupt vehicular movement.

"Even when elaborate inputs were conveyed apprehending that Naxalites may trigger some strikes during this week, such an incident (killing of four CRPF jawans) happened," a senior IB official told PTI requesting anonymity.

The jawans were killed when Naxalites ambushed a road opening party of the security forces in Maoist-infested Bijapur district on Wednesday.

"Now security forces have been told to be more cautious anticipating more such attacks and not to take the situation lightly because of a successful election," he said adding, they were told to stay prepared and strictly follow standard operating procedures (SOPs).

According to the advisory, the IB has called for heightening security around police stations, check posts and camps and conducting area domination within five kilometres radius of these places.

It also asked police jawans and officials to refrain from roaming alone in the region.

Carefully mobilizing on the tip-off about the movement of Naxalites as they may lay ambush in those areas are other precautions given to security forces, according to the IB document.

Twelve constituencies of Bastar division went to polls on November 11 in the first phase of assembly elections amid high security. No major violence was reported on the day in the region except the killing of a CRPF trooper in Dantewada district of south Bastar.

However, on November 12 two Border Security Force personnel and a civilian driver were killed when Naxalites blew up their SUV vehicles near Kerlapal camp while troopers were returning after security deployment for polling in Sukma district.

A record 77 per cent voting was recorded in the just concluded two-phase state assembly elections.

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IB warns of rise in Naxalite activity after 'peaceful' polls in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR: With the latest Maoist offensive claiming lives of four CRPF personnel in Bastar, Intelligence Bureau has alerted security forces, asking them to be extra cautious following inputs of major strikes in southern Chhattisgarh after 'peaceful' assembly election.

Earlier this week, the state IB had intimated district superintendents of police and commandants of armed forces that Maoists are observing "martyrdom week" from November 24-30 in the memory of their slain leader Kishenji during which they may step up their operations.

Kishenji was killed on November 24, 2011 in West Bengal in a special operation conducted by a joint squad of the state police and CRPF.

An advisory by IB also said that ultras will observe the Peoples' Liberation Guerrilla Army week from December 2-8 in honour of slain leaders of the CPI (Maoist), during which again they are likely to intensify and execute attacks on security forces, police stations, camps and also disrupt vehicular movement.

"Even when elaborate inputs were conveyed apprehending that Naxalites may trigger some strikes during this week, such an incident (killing of four CRPF jawans) happened," a senior IB official told PTI requesting anonymity.

The jawans were killed when Naxalites ambushed a road opening party of the security forces in Maoist-infested Bijapur district on Wednesday.

"Now security forces have been told to be more cautious anticipating more such attacks and not to take the situation lightly because of a successful election," he said adding, they were told to stay prepared and strictly follow standard operating procedures (SOPs).

According to the advisory, the IB has called for heightening security around police stations, check posts and camps and conducting area domination within five kilometres radius of these places.

It also asked police jawans and officials to refrain from roaming alone in the region.

Carefully mobilizing on the tip-off about the movement of Naxalites as they may lay ambush in those areas are other precautions given to security forces, according to the IB document.

Twelve constituencies of Bastar division went to polls on November 11 in the first phase of assembly elections amid high security. No major violence was reported on the day in the region except the killing of a CRPF trooper in Dantewada district of south Bastar.

However, on November 12 two Border Security Force personnel and a civilian driver were killed when Naxalites blew up their SUV vehicles near Kerlapal camp while troopers were returning after security deployment for polling in Sukma district.

A record 77 per cent voting was recorded in the just concluded two-phase state assembly elections.

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Night temperature stays below freezing point in Kashmir

SRINAGAR: Cold wave conditions continued in Kashmir as the weather remained dry and the night temperature in Ladakh region and most parts of the Valley stayed below freezing point.

The minimum temperatures are expected to fall further as the met department has said the weather would remain dry for a few more days.

Leh recorded a night temperature of minus 9.7 degrees Celsius against the previous night's minus 9.9 degrees Celsius, a met department official said here.

He said the nearby Kargil town, where the minimum temperature settled at minus 5.4 degrees Celsius on Thursday, recorded a low of minus 5.8 degrees Celsius on Friday.

The minimum in summer capital Srinagar remained same as the previous night's low of minus 1.8 degrees Celsius, the official said, adding it was one degree below the normal for this part of the season.

The night temperature in Pahalgam, a tourist resort which serves as a base camp during annual Amarnath Yatra in south Kashmir, settled at a low of minus 3.8 degrees Celsius, over a degree less than the previous night's minus 2.4 degrees Celsius.

The official said the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 0.5 degree Celsius, as against the last night's minus 0.8 degree Celsius.

He said the minimum temperature in Kupwara, in north Kashmir, dipped to a low of minus 3.0 degrees Celsius, while Qazigund - the gateway town to Kashmir - recorded a low of minus 2.2 degrees Celsius.

The official said the south Kashmir town of Kokernag was the only recorded place in the Valley where the night temperature stayed above the freezing point for the fourth consecutive day at 0.7 degrees Celsius.

Kashmir valley and Ladakh region are in the grip of intense cold since the beginning of this month following early snowfall in the high altitude areas.

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Govt reduces threshold limit of mandatory e- payment from Rs 10L to Rs 1L

The author has posted comments on this articleRadheshyam Jadhav, TNN | Nov 29, 2013, 06.42PM IST

PUNE: The government has now decided to reduce the threshold limit of mandatory e- payment from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 lakh for both central excise and service tax payment with effect from January 1, 2014. Notification no. 15/2013-CE ( NT) 22.11.13 and 16/2013- Service Tax 22.11.13 has been issued by the government to notify these changes.

Thus, from January 1, 2014 , a manufacturer or a service tax payer who has paid a duty or tax of more than Rs 1 lakh in the previous financial year shall be required to pay duty or tax through internet banking, said a statement issued by the government. This step has been taken as measure of trade facilitation and it is expected that increased coverage of e-payment would make it convenient for the trade to pay taxes electronically.

Currently, a manufacturer is required to pay duty of central excise through internet banking (ie e- payment) if the total duty paid by the manufacturer exceeds Rs 10 lakh in the previous financial year as per rule 8 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002. A service provider is also required to pay service tax through internet banking (ie. e-payment) if the total tax paid by the service provider exceeds Rs 10 lakh in the previous financial year as per rule 6 of the Service Tax Rules, 1994.

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