18th SEPTEMBER 2014

Mangalore City Corporation will include Moodshedde and Bala gram panchayat areas in the corporation limits to stake claim to be part of the Smart City scheme of the Union government. At present, the population in the corporation limits, as per 2011 census, is a little over 4.99 lakh — falling short by a fewer than 1,000 — to be eligible for the Smart City project announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Fire safety audit has been completed only on 1,667 of the estimated 20,000 multistoreys in the city.

Taking a serious view of the laxity in clearing bills of the displaced families of the Pulichintala project, the district administration on Tuesday surrendered Subramanyam, Special Deputy Collector Unit-2, to the State government.

President Pranab Mukherjee has said that the pact India’s ONGC Videsh Limited signed during his four-day state visit to Vietnam was for blocks located well within the territorial waters of the country. The clarification comes a day after China raised concerns about any agreement for oil explorations in what it called waters administered by it.

Trade and cooperation were in focus on the first day of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit on Wednesday as provincial officials of the two nations inked agreements in the areas of governance and industry. The agreements were signed at a function in the presence of Mr. Xi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and dignitaries from China, Gujarat and leading industrialists. Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and heads of Gujarat-based businesses were among the special invitees for the occasion. One MoU was signed between China Development Bank and iNDEXTb (Industrial Extension Bureau) – a State government body for facilitating investments — to encourage Chinese investment in Gujarat, especially in the manufacturing sector. As per the understanding China will set up industrial parks in several areas in Gujarat beginning from Vadodara. The Gujarat government will facilitate land acquisition and provide requisite clearances for these parks so that Chinese manufacturers, chiefly in electrical, electronics, plastics and plastic processing are able to set up their units in Gujarat. The MoU will be in force for three years.

The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs has drawn up a Rs. 120-crore relief and rehabilitation package for Jammu and Kashmir to help the State deal with the situation arising out of the floods.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s national executive member, Lalitha Kumaramangalam, has been appointed chairperson of the National Commission for Women

The Appellate Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court has commuted the death sentence of top Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee to “imprisonment till death” for crimes against humanity during the country’s Liberation War in 1971.