THE HEADLINES
- JD(U) stakes claim to form the next government in Bihar under Nitish Kumar claiming support of 127 MLAs in the House of 233; Speaker recognises him as leader of JD(U) Legislature Party; Chief Minister Manjhi refuses to step down; Meets Prime Minister Modi in Delhi.
- Prime Minister constitutes three sub-groups of Chief Ministers within NITI Aayog on Centrally-sponsored schemes, skill development and "Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan". Mamata Banerjee skips today's meeting.
- Government clarifies that Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act 2010 or its rules will not be amended in the wake of understanding reached with the United States during President Obama's visit.
- Australia thrash India by 106 runs in a warm-up match of Cricket World Cup at Adelaide.
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Bihar Assembly Speaker Uday Narain Choudhary today gave recognition to Nitish Kumar as the leader of JD(U) legislature party. All JD(U) legislators owing allegiance to Nitish Kumar will be paraded before the Governor to show strength and express their solidarity with Mr. Kumar. The party has instructed all legislators to be present in Patna.
The Janata Dal(United) has staked claim to form the next government in Bihar under the leadership of Nitish Kumar. State party President Vashisht Narayan Singh today submitted a letter of support to the Governor in this regard. He said the RJD, Congress and CPI have also supported Mr. Kumar's candidature for the next Chief Ministership of the state. Mr. Singh also said that he has also submitted a letter by party president Sharad Yadav informing the Governor that Manjhi had ceased to be the leader of Legislature Party and his decisions should not be entertained by the Governor.
All eyes are set on Raj Bhawan as both loyalist of Jitan Ram Manjhi and new elected leader of JD(U) legislative party Nitish Kumar await the arrival of the state Governor. Mr. Kumar has already sought an appointment with Governor to stake claim for formation of a new government and will be calling on the Governor tomorrow. With RJD, Congress and CPI having combined strength of 30 legislatures already submitting their letter of support to the Raj Bhawan. Mr. Kumar will need the support of 87 legislatures in the House which has an effective strength of 233 out of the total 243 member house. Mr. Kumar has the support of 97 of the total 111 JD(U) legislatures. Given the present strength of the state assembly Mr. Kumar needs support of 117 legislatures . Though he has 10 more.KK Lal, AIR Patna.
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Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi today ruled out his resignation as Chief Minister after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. Hitting out at Nitish Kumar, Mr Manjhi said that Mr Kumar has been exposed and accused him of humiliating Mahadalits. Briefing media persons, Mr Manjhi said that he will prove majority in the Assembly and will step down if he is not able to prove it.
I have full faith in legislature and democracy. We will seek confidence on 19th or 20th . If they have enough numbers they can vote against us in the confidence motion. I will step down. This is the legal process.
Mr. Manjhi said that there was no discussion about politics with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Replying to a query on support from BJP in the assembly floor test, Mr Manjhi said that he will take the support of anyone who offers it. He said, Nitish Kumar was under the impression that he will make him do whatever he wants, but he HAS refused. Mr Manjhi added that he will expand the cabinet soon and it may include two deputy Chief Ministers.
On the floor who so ever support us we have no hesitation in accepting their support. We will definitely do expansion of the cabinet. I have talked to the Governor today. He will be in Patna tomorrow. Whatever he decides either tomorrow or day after, we will have expansion of the cabinet.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced the constitution of three sub-groups of Chief Ministers within NITI Aayog. Chairing the first meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog in New Delhi, Mr Modi said, the first sub-group will study the 66 Centrally-sponsored schemes and recommend which schemes should continue, which should be transferred to states, and which to discontinue. He said that the second sub-group will focus on skill development and creation of skilled manpower within states. The third sub-group will decide on the institutional mechanisms to be evolved for "Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan", so that cleanliness becomes a part of life in perpetuity.
The Prime Minister also asked all the states to create two task forces under the aegis of the NITI Aayog, one to focus on poverty alleviation, and the other to focus on future development of agriculture in the states. He also requested Chief Ministers to give personal attention to factors that slow down projects.
Briefing the media after the meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that Mr Modi laid thrust on growth, investment, decentralisation and poverty alleviation in the meeting. He said the Prime Minister stressed on the role of the states and emphasised how Jan Dhan Yojana and Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan had become successful with cooperation of the states.
The Prime Minister had made some announcements in his concluding comments. He emphasised how the Pradhan Jan Dhan Yojana became successful essentially because every state cooperated . The state adopted their own schemes. The Swacth Bharat Ahbiyan has already been adopted by the states.
The Finance Minister said that by and large, the states have been supportive of the idea of decentralisation of government schemes.
The thurst of the opening comments of the PM were in the context of the governance model. He highlighted with the economic activity ready has to take place in the states . For states have an important role by and large the states will highly supported with this idea of decentralising a large number of centre sponsored scheme.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did not attend the first governing council meeting of NITI Aayog. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that no one from the West Bengal government attended the meeting.
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President Pranab Mukherjee today said that the international community must assert itself and take concerted and determined action against terrorism, of which India is one of the oldest victims. Addressing the ambassadors and High Commissioners of Indian Missions in Rashtrapati Bhawan today, Mr Mukherjee said, terrorism is today an industry of evil and it is not just a threat to peace and security, but an attack on humanity as a whole.
Citing the horrific killings of innocent hostages in Syria, the attack on media in Paris and in a Peshawar school, the President stressed that this is a great challenge to human values and it should be faced firmly and squarely through international cooperation. Mr Mukherjee called upon the Ambassadors and High Commissioners to apply themselves to how the challenge can be addressed. He also asked them to come up with ideas on how to mobilise the world to take concrete action that will mitigate and end the menace.
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Singapore President Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam arrived in New Delhi this evening on a four-day visit to India. During the visit Dr Yam will meet President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. A ceremonial reception will be hosted for the visiting dignitary at Rashtrapati Bhawan tomorrow. Dr Yam will inaugurate the Peranakan Exhibition at the National Museum on Tuesday.
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The Government today made it clear that India's liability law will not be amended. In a tweet, MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said that there is no proposal to amend Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage, CLND Act 2010 or CLND rules and answers to all questions on India-US Nuclear breakthrough are available in public domain.
A detailed paper released on MEA's website titled 'Frequently Asked Questions and Answers on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act 2010 and related issues', says that the foreign suppliers of the reactors cannot be sued for damages by the victims of a nuclear accident. However, the suppliers can be held liable by the operator, who has the right of recourse that could be operationalized through the contract between the operator and the supplier. The understanding on the policy hurdles had been reached after three rounds of discussions between the Indo-US Nuclear Contact Group that met in London, just three days before US President Barack Obama's visit to India.
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Delhi BJP Chief Satish Upadhyay today expressed hope that the party will definitely form the government in the National capital. Talking to reporters after a meeting with party office bearers and party candidates, Mr Upadhyay said, that party has analysed all constituencies in Delhi and came to the conclusion that BJP will form the government.
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In Uttar Pradesh, the 'Sukanya Samridhi Yojna' under 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign of Central government began in Jaunpur yesterday. The first account under the scheme has been opened in the name of a three-year old girl Vedika Tiwari.
"The prime minister Narendra Modi had recently launched this ambitious project in Haryana to enhance the strength and honour of the girl children across the country. Under the scheme, the girl child can withdraw 50% of the money after reaching age of 18 for higher education. The 18 years deadline will also help preventing child-marriages. The scheme encompasses all the girls of every economic strata under which parents and the guardians can open accounts in Post offices and in the Banks. This will surely go a long way to bust the myth of the society in which girls are dubbed to be a burden. Merajuddin, AIR News, Lucknow."
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Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai today called for global support to help release more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram. Malala said, as the world marks the 300th day of captivity of the schoolgirls, everyone should join her in demanding urgent action to free what she called the heroic girls.
Boko Haram fighters had seized 276 teenagers from Girls' Secondary School in the remote town of Chibok, in Borno state, northeast Nigeria, on 14th April last year. Fifty-seven of them had managed to escape, but the rest are still being held.
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Nigeria has postponed its Presidential election on security grounds, as the Boko Haram conflict has intensified. The decision hands a potential lifeline to the ruling party, as it battles a tough challenge from the Opposition. Presidential and Parliamentary elections. will now be held on 28th of next month instead of 14th February.
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The News Services Division of All India Radio in its weekly bilingual live phone-in programme “PUBLIC SPEAK” tomorrow will bring you a discussion on “Indian youth and Skill development.
This can be heard on FM Gold Channel and additional frequencies from 9.30 p.m. Listeners can ask questions to the experts sitting in our Studio on telephone number: 011: 2331-4444 (Repeat 011: 2331-4444). You can also post your questions on our Twitter handle @airnews alerts by #tag Askair. This programe is also available on Doordarshan DTH.
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IN SPORTS:
In Cricket, Australia cruised to a 106-run victory over India in a warm-up match of the World Cup at Adelaide Oval today.
Batting first Australia scored a remarkable 371 in 48.2 overs, thanks to explosive centuries by Maxwell and Warner. In reply, India were bundled out for 265 in 45.1 overs.
India play their next warm-up match against Afghanistan on the 10th of February. India will clash with arch-rivals Pakistan on the 15th of this month at the Adelaide-Oval in the opening fixture of the Cricket World Cup.
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In the ongoing 35th National games at Trivananthapuram, Kerala, Punjab and Arunachal Pradesh won a Gold medal each today. Rajasthan won the Gold in compound mixed team event, while Arunachal Pradesh won the yellow metal in the compound women team event. Gold in compound Men Team event went to Punjab
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