Mukul Rohatgi appointed as 14th Attorney-General of India

Mukul Rohatgi was appointed as the 14th Attorney-General of India on 28 May 2014. He will succeed Gulam Vahanvati. 

Rohatgi represented the Gujarat government in the Supreme Court in many cases like 2002 Gujarat riots, Zahira Sheikh and Best Bakery cases. 

Earlier, the 13th Attorney-General of India, Goolam Essaji Vahanvati and Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran tendered their resignations after change of government in India. They resigned as law officer because tenure of law officers is co-terminus with the government.

About Mukul Rohatgi
• He is a senior Supreme Court advocate and is among the top corporate lawyers in the country 
• He was the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) under the NDA regime in 1999.
• He has represented top companies in the 2G Scam trial.
• He has also been representing the Italian Embassy in the Supreme Court in case relating to two Italian marines involved in killing of two fishermen off the coast of Kerala in 2012.
Constitutional Provision for Attorney-General of India
Article 76 of the Constitution of India says about Attorney-General of India. It states that
(1) The President shall appoint a person who is qualified to be appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court to be Attorney-General for India.
(2) It shall be the duty of the Attorney-General to give advice to the Government of India upon such legal matters, and to perform such other duties of a legal character, as may from time to time be referred or assigned to him by the President, and to discharge the functions conferred on him by or under this Constitution or any other law for the time being in force.
(3) In the performance of his duties the Attorney-General shall have right of audience in all courts in the territory of India.
(4) The Attorney-General shall hold office during the pleasure of the President, and shall receive such remuneration as the President may determine.

MC Setalvad was the first and longest serving Attorney General for India (1950–1963).

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Jet appointed Cramer as new CEO

Jet Airways on Tuesday announced the appointment of its new CEO, aviation specialist Cramer Ball, after its earlier chief quit in January.

The airline’s activities were since that time being managed by Director and Manager Gaurang Shetty, who will continue to lead it “till the requisite approvals are obtained and Ball assumes charge as the CEO"

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White House mistakenly revealed CIA official's name

The Obama administration accidentally revealed the name of the CIA's top official in Afghanistan in an email to thousands of journalists during the president's surprise weekend trip to Bagram Air Field.

The officer's name - identified as "chief of station" in Kabul - was included by US embassy staff on a list of 15 senior American officials who met with President Obama during the Saturday visit. The list was sent to a Washington Post reporter who was representing the news media, who then sent it out to the White House "press pool" list, which contains as many as 6,000 recipients.

The Associated Press is withholding the officer's name at the request of the Obama administration, who said its publication could put his life and those of his family members in danger. A Google search appears to reveal the name of the officer's wife and other personal details.

White House officials realized the error after the Post reporter notified them, and sent out a new list without the station chief's name. Other major news organizations, including the Post, also agreed not to publish the officer's name.

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Geo TV apologized to Pakistan Army, ISI

Jang group-owned Geo TV network has apologized to Pakistan Army, the powerful spy agency ISI and its chief for leveling allegations against them over an assassination bid on leading anchor Hamid Mir. 

In a published apology on Monday in English daily 'The News' and Urdu newspaper 'Jang', the media group clarified that they were respectful of Pakistani forces and its leadership. 

The group apologized to the ISI, its chief Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam, his family, Pakistan Army and large number of television viewers for causing "deep hurt", Dawn News reported. 

The Jang Group clarified that the allegations were not hurled by the institution but by Mir himself and later repeated by his brother soon after the attempt on his life in Karachi. 

Mir, who works for Geo TV, had said last month that he faced threats from both non-state and state actors including the ISI. 

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New Libyan Prime Minister swore in

Libya’s new Prime Minister Ahmed Maitiq and his cabinet swore-in on 26th May,2014 amid objections raised to his election process, the media reported.

Mr. Maitiq took his oath before President of the Parliament Nuri Abu Sahmain. He will wait for acting Prime Minister Abdullah Thinni to hand over his power,Xinhua quoted the official LANA agency as saying.

Mr. Maitiq, a businessman educated in Britain, won a confidence vote in parliament on Sunday after gaining 83 of the total 93 votes. But some politicians immediately challenged him, calling the vote “meaningless” as only 93 of the 200 lawmakers attended it.

Earlier on Monday, First Deputy President of the Parliament Ezzedine Awami made a statement saying the vote procedures were not legitimate and Mr. Thinni will stay as country’s Prime Minister.

Mr. Awami said that his statement is in accordance with an announcement by the ministry of justice which also called the vote invalid.

The Libyan parliament has been stuck in a deadlock between the secular groups and Islamists since the 2011 popular protests that toppled the country’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

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List of Council of ministers in Modi Cabinet

The following is the list of council of ministers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet

Cabinet Ministers

Rajnath Singh: Home Minster

Sushma Swaraj: External Affairs & Overseas Indian Affairs

Arun Jaitley: Finance Corporate Affairs & Defence

M. Venkaiah Naidu: Urban Development Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation & Parliamentary Affairs

Nitin Jairam Gadkari: Road Transport and Highways Shipping

D.V. Sadananda Gowda: Railways

Uma Bharati: Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation

Dr. Najma A. Heptulla: Minority Affairs

Gopinathrao Munde: Rural Development, Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water and Sanitation

Ramvilas Paswan: Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

Kalraj Mishra: Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

Maneka Gandhi: Women and Child Development

Ananthkumar: Chemicals and Fertilizers

Ravi Shankar Prasad: Communications and Information Technology & Law and Justice

Ashok Gajapathi Raju: Civil Aviation

Anant Geete: Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises

Harsimrat Kaur Badal: Food Processing Industries

Narendra Singh Tomar: Mines & Steel Labour and Employment

Jual Oram: Tribal Affairs

Radha Mohan Singh: Agriculture

Thaawar Chand Gehlot: Social Justice and Empowerment

Smriti Zubin Irani: Human Resource Development

Dr. Harsh Vardhan: Health and Family Welfare

Minister of States

General V.K. Singh: Development of North Eastern Region (Independent Charge) & External Affairs Overseas Indian Affairs

Inderjit Singh Rao: Planning (Independent Charge), Statistics and Programme Implementation (Independent Charge) & Defence

Santosh Kumar Gangwar: Textiles (Independent Charge), Parliamentary Affairs Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation

Shripad Yesso Naik: Culture (Independent Charge) & Tourism (Independent Charge)

Dharmendra Pradhan: Petroleum and Natural Gas (Independent Charge)

Sarbananda Sonowal: Skill Development, Entrepreneurship, Youth Affairs and Sports (Independent Charge)

Prakash Javadekar: Information and Broadcasting (Independent Charge), Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Independent Charge) & Parliamentary Affairs

Piyush Goyal: Power (Independent Charge), Coal (Independent Charge) & New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge)

Dr. Jitendra Singh: Science and Technology (Independent Charge), Earth Sciences (Independent Charge), Prime Minister Office Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions Department of Atomic Energy Department of Space

Nirmala Sitharaman: Commerce and Industry (Independent Charge), Finance Corporate Affairs

G.M. Siddeshwara: Civil Aviation

Manoj Sinha: Railways

Nihalchand: Chemicals and Fertilizers

Upendra Kushwaha: Rural Development, Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water and Sanitation

Radhakrishnan P: Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises

Kiren Rijiju: Home Affairs

Krishan Pal: Road Transport and Highways Shipping

Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan: Agriculture & Food Processing Industries

Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava: Tribal Affairs

Raosaheb Dadarao Danve: Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

Vishnu Deo Sai: Mines, Steel & Labour and Employment

Sudarshan Bhagat: Social Justice and Empowerment

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Narendra Modi is sworn in as the 15th Prime Minister of India

 Narendra Modi, India's 15th Prime Minister, took oath on 26th May at a ceremony held in the open at Rashtrapati Bhavan and attended by the Who's Who of the nation, including political leaders, business honchos, celebrities and leaders of religious faiths, as well as leaders of neighbouring countries.

The oath of office and secrecy was administered in Hindi to Modi by President Pranab Mukherjee.

There was a certain poignancy to the momentous occasion as the inauguration of a new Prime Minister happened exactly 50 years after the death of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Present on the occasion of the change of guard was the outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who remained 10 years at the helm when the general election left the Congress battered and reduced to its lowest tally of 44 seats in the Lok Sabha.

A council of ministers, numbering around 45, also took oath.

Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, M Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Uma Bharti, Maneka Gandhi, Ananth Kumar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Smriti Irani and Harsh Vardhan were among those who were sworn in as Cabinet ministers.

Ram Vilas Paswan (LJP), Harsimrat Kaur Badal (Akali Dal), Anant Geete (Shiv Sena) and Ashok Gajapathi Raju (TDP) were those from allied parties who took the oath.

Among the foreign leaders who attended the ceremony at the forecourt of the Rashrapati Bhavan were Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Also present were Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay of Bhutan and Bangladesh parliament Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her son and party vice president Rahul Gandhi and former presidents A P J Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil were among the over 4,000 people who gathered on the occasion.

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SIT for all blackmoney cases to be notified

The government is expected to bring out a notification by 1st June, 2014 for creation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT), which will have “jurisdiction over all the cases” of unaccounted funds or black money stashed by Indians abroad.

The SIT will be headed by former Supreme Court judge M B Shah with Justice Arijit Pasayat (Retd) being the Vice Chairman. Heads or top officers of ten investigative and enforcement agencies of the country will be the members of the exclusive panel.

The terms of reference for the SIT stipulate that it “shall have jurisdiction over all the cases, where investigation has already commenced or pending or awaiting to be initiated or have completed” with regard to instances of black money and illicit funds generated and sent to overseas destination and tax haven nations.

Sources in the Finance Ministry told PTI that a notification citing the terms of operations and final constitution of the SIT “would be made very soon” and most likely “by next week.”

The Supreme Court on May 23 had granted one week’s time to the Centre to set up SIT under Shah to monitor all black money cases as per its direction.

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Pakistan freed 151 Indian fishermen ahead of Sharif’s Delhi visit

In a goodwill gesture, Pakistan on Sunday freed 151 Indian fishermen, a day ahead of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to India to attend Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony.

Syed Nazir Hussain, the superintendent of the Malir jail in Karachi, told PTI that the Indian prisoners were released on written directives of the interior and foreign ministries.

The freed prisoners were taken in an air-conditioned bus from Karachi to Wagah border in Lahore from where they will be handed over to Indian authorities.

Some of the freed prisoners told Geo News channel that they were delighted to be going back to their families.

Initial reports had said around 150 Indian prisoners would be freed.

Last year in August, Pakistan had released around 337 Indian prisoners from jails. Later on Diwali also, 15 Indian fishermen were released as a goodwill gesture.

Pakistan maritime security forces frequently arrest Indian fishermen and seize their boats for fishing in its territorial waters.

According to Indian activists, at present around 229 Indian fishermen and about 780 Indian boats are in the custody of Pakistan.

In addition to this, 23 boats of Indian fishermen had been confiscated just during the ongoing fishing season.

Similarly, around 200 Pakistani fishermen with 150 boats were with India, according to compiled figures.

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Pak PM Nawaz Sharif to attend Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony

 Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will be attending Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony here on May 26, Pak government sources said on 24th May.

Pakistan PM House spokesperson confirmed that Sharif will be visiting New Delhi following Modi's invite. Pakistan foreign minister Sartaz Aziz would accompany Sharif during the visit. 

The Pakistani premier's attendance will be a first in the history of the nuclear-armed neighbour countries. 

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Manjhi government won trust vote in Bihar

The three-day-old Jitan Ram Manjhi government in Bihar on 23rd May won the trust vote in the state Assembly amid walkout by opposition BJP.

The confidence motion moved by Mr. Manjhi was passed by members at a special session by voice vote.

In the state Assembly, whose effective strength presently is 237, the Manjhi-government managed getting the support of 145 legislators.

Besides 117 JD(U) MLAs, 21 of the RJD, four of the Congress, one of CPI and two Independents voted in favour of the trust motion while 88 BJP legislators staged walkout in the House before the motion was put to vote.

The 68-year-old Jitan Ram Manjhi became Bihar’s Chief Minister on May 20 after Nitish Kumar resigned from the post after JD(U) fared badly in the recently-concluded general elections.

Mr. Kumar had nominated Mr. Manjhi, an SC&ST minister in his Cabinet, to the Chair of Chief Minister as his replacement.

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Indian Consulate in Afghanistan's Herat attacked

The Indian consulate in Herat in Afghanistan was attacked on 23rd May by four heavily armed gunmen who tried to enter the complex. All four attackers were killed, officials said, adding that the Consulate staff were safe.

The attack began at 3.15 a.m. when the four gunmen tried to break into the consulate, located 600 km from Kabul. Earlier reports had indicated the involvement of three gunmen.

The audacious attack comes ahead of the May 26 swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as India’s next prime minister. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has confirmed that he will attend the oath-taking ceremony.

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Thailand army chief announced military coup on live TV

Thailand's army chief announced in a televised address to the nation on 22nd May that the armed forces were seizing power after months of deadly political turmoil.

The commander-in-chief, who invoked martial law on 20th May, said the coup was needed to prevent the conflict escalating. "All Thais must remain calm and government officials must work as normal

The move came after military-hosted talks between the kingdom's political rivals apparently failed to reach a compromise on ending nearly seven months of mass protests on the streets of Bangkok.

Rival protest leaders at the talks — held at a heavily guarded military facility in the capital — were seen being taken away by the army although it was unclear whether they had been formally detained.

The long-running political crisis broadly pits a Bangkok-based royalist elite and its backers against the billionaire family of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin, a former tycoon-turned-populist politician, was ousted by the military in a coup in 2006 but still enjoys strong support, particularly in rural northern Thailand.

His sister Yingluck Shinawatra was dismissed as prime minister earlier this month in a controversial court ruling after months of protests seeking her overthrow.

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China Xinjiang blast killed 31 people, 90 injured: Report

Thirty-one people were killed and more than 90 injured in an attack on 22nd May on a busy street market in the capital of China's volatile northwestern region of Xinjiang, the local government said, the bloodiest in a series of violent incidents blamed on radical separatist Muslims. 

The Xinjiang regional government said in a statement that the early morning attack in the city of Urumqi was "a serious violent terrorist incident of a particularly vile nature." 

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Britain's Prince Charles compared Putin to Hitler: Report

Britain's Prince Charles stoked controversy during a visit to Canada by comparing the recent actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin's to those of Adolf Hitler, the Daily Mail reported on 21st May.
The British newspaper said several witnesses heard the prince make the comment to Marienne Ferguson, a 78-year-old who fled the Nazis aged 13 and lost family members in the Holocaust. 

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eBay asked 145 mn users to change passwords after cyber attack

The U.S. e-commerce giant eBay has asked its about 145 million users to change passwords, following a cyber attack that compromised database containing encrypted passwords and other non-financial data.

The U.S.-based firm said though it has not found evidence of any compromises, changing passwords is a best practice and will help enhance security for eBay users.

The database, which was compromised between late February and early March, included eBay customers’ name, encrypted password, e-mail address, physical address, phone number and date of birth.

eBay users will be notified via email, site communications and other marketing channels to change their password.

In addition to asking users to change their eBay password, the company has also urged users, who utilised the same password on other sites, to change those passwords too.

Cyber attackers compromised a small number of employee log-in credentials, allowing unauthorised access to eBay’s corporate network, the company said.

It added that the compromised employee log-in credentials were first detected about two weeks ago. Extensive forensics subsequently identified the compromised eBay database.

The company said it is working with law enforcement and leading security experts to aggressively investigate the matter and applying the best forensics tools and practices to protect customers.

This is one of the largest data breaches witnessed over the last few years. Last year, software maker Adobe Systems was attacked by hackers resulting in about 152 million user accounts being compromised.

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China signed 30-year deal for Russian natural gas

China signed a landmark $400 billion deal on 21st May to buy natural gas from Russia, binding Moscow more closely to Beijing at a time when President Vladimir Putin's relations with the west have deteriorated to the lowest point ever. 

China's president also called for an Asian security arrangement that would include Russia and Iran and exclude the United States. 

The 30-year gas deal, worked out during a two-day visit by Putin to China, gives Moscow an economic boost at a time when Washington and the European Union have imposed sanctions against Russia and Europe has threatened to cut its gas imports to punish the Kremlin over the crisis in Ukraine. 

The agreement enables Russia to expand the market for its gas, which now goes mostly to Europe. 

It "opened the door for Russia to enter into Asia's gas market", said Keun-Wook Paik, senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. 

Politically, the deal provides "breathing space for Russia", Paik said. "Russia, and Putin, can demonstrate it's not completely isolated because of the Ukraine crisis. Russia has demonstrated that they have a very reliable strategic partnership with China." 

For China, the world's second-largest economy, the deal will help ease gas shortages and curb its reliance on coal. 

US secretary of state John Kerry noted that Russia and China have been trying to work out an energy agreement for 10 years and said the deal "isn't a sudden response to what's been going on" in Ukraine. 

"And if the world benefits as a result of that, that's fine," he said. 

Similarly, state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said of the prospect of closer Russia-China relations: "It is not a surprise to us that countries that are neighbours communicating about how to work together, whether that's through an economic partnership or otherwise." 

The agreement calls for Russian government-controlled Gazprom to supply state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. with 38 billion cubic meters of gas annually, Gazprom spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov told The Associated Press. That would represent about a quarter of China's current annual gas consumption of nearly 150 billion cubic meters. 

Gas is due to begin flowing to China as early as 2018. 

The contract is worth $400 billion, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told Russian news agencies. That is greater than the gross domestic product of South Africa. 

US treasury secretary Jacob Lew had appealed to China during a visit last week to avoid taking steps that might offset the West's sanctions against Russia over its lightning annexation of Crimea in March. However, American officials have acknowledged China's pressing need for energy. 

The contract is "particularly important" at a time when Europe has threatened to cut gas imports and reduce its dependence on Russia because of the Ukraine crisis, Alexander Lukin, a deputy head of the Russian Diplomatic Academy under the country's foreign ministry, was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency. 

"We will be able to show to Europe that we have other customers," Lukin said. 

Alexei Pushkov, a Kremlin ally who is head of the international affairs committee of the Russian parliament's lower house, said on Twitter: "The 30-year gas contract with China is of strategic significance. Obama should give up the policy of isolating Russia: It will not work." 

Putin met on Tuesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping while gas negotiations continued in private. 

The Russian leader's visit is a "major step toward a strategic partnership of the two nations", said Mikhail Margelov, head of the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, according to RIA Novosti. 

The Ukraine crisis and Western sanctions on Russia had raised expectations Moscow would compromise to secure the gas deal. 

The price appears to be closer to the level Russia wanted, according to analyst Xizhou Zhou of IHS Energy. In exchange, the two sides dropped a requirement for prepayment that was a feature of Chinese purchases of Russian oil, he said. 

China and Russia have been negotiating the deal for more than a decade but had been hung up over the price. 

Russia will invest $55 billion in fulfilling the contract, while China will invest at least $20 billion, Putin told Russian reporters in Shanghai. He said the gas price would be based on a formula linked to that of oil and oil products. 

Plans call for building a pipeline to link China's northeast to a line that carries gas from western Siberia to the Pacific port of Vladivostok. The development of a gas centre on the Pacific will allow Russia to export to markets in Japan and South Korea. 

"Without any overstatement, it will be the world's biggest construction project for the next four years," Putin said.

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Police say Taliban kidnap 27 Afghan officers

Taliban fighters kidnapped 27 police officers during an assault on a northeastern province in Afghanistan, authorities said on 22nd May, part of the extremist group's spring offensive ahead of the withdrawal of foreign troops at the end of this year.

Gen. Fazeluddin Ayar, the police chief in Badakhshan province, said that the 27 officers were hiding in a cave during the Taliban attack on Wednesday in Yamgan district. The Taliban took the officers hostage and police have launched an effort to try and find them, Ayar said.

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SC rejected Srinivasan’s plea for restoring his powers

The Supreme Court on 22nd May refused to hear N. Srinivasan’s plea for modification of its earlier orders to enable him to function as BCCI President for non-IPL cricketing activities.

A vacation bench of Justices B.S. Chauhan and A.K. Sikri pulled up Mr. Srinivasan for seeking its permission to look after cricketing activities of BCCI except IPL-VII, saying it cannot modify the orders passed by another bench and asked him to approach the bench which had delivered the verdict.

Mr. Srinivasan had sought modification of the apex court’s March 28 and May 16 interim orders by which he was restrained from functioning as the BCCI President.

The Supreme Court had earlier directed a probe against Mr. Srinivasan which would be conducted by Justice Mudgal Committee. The committee has been directed to file a report in a sealed envelope before the apex court by the end of August.

Veteran cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has been appointed as an interim president of BCCI for managing IPL-VII and Shiv Lal Yadav has also been appointed as an interim president by the apex court to look after the other cricketing activities of BCCI.

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No jobs for smokers in Rajasthan power companies

In a major blow to cigarette smokers in Rajasthan, the state government-owned electricity companies have decided not to offer jobs to people who either smoke cigarettes or chew tobacco products. 

A state-level committee for tobacco control October 2012 recommended that no person should be offered a government job if he or she smokes or chews tobacco. A circular in this regard was issued November 2013, just before the assembly election, but some of the departments are yet to implement it. 

Candidates seeking jobs in these electricity firms will first have to give an undertaking that he or she does not smoke or chew tobacco products. 

NGOs meanwhile hailed the decision of the power companies. 

As per an estimate, tobacco causes 40 to 50% of all cancers in men and about 17-20% in women in India. 

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Lalu Prasad's RJD to support JD(U) government in Bihar

In a surprise move, senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui on 22nd May said his party will support the JD(U) government headed by new chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, a mahadalit. 

Siddiqui said a formal announcement would be made at a meeting of RJD legislators on Thursday evening. 

The RJD has 21 members in the 243-member state assembly. 

The new chief minister, who succeeded Nitish Kumar, said he was happy to get the Rashtriya Janata Dal's legislative backing.

The JD(U) has 117 legislators and also enjoys the support of one CPI member and two independent legislators. The Congress already extended support to the JD(U) government. The Congress has four legislators. 

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Flipkart acquired Myntra

Flipkart, India's largest e-tailer, acquired online fashion portal Myntra on 22nd May and said it would invest $100 million in the fashion business. 

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed but a source in the company said the transaction was valued at close to $300 million. 

The deal gives Flipkart a stronger hold in the fast-growing online fashion business in India. 

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Anandiben Patel took oath as Gujarat first Woman CM

Anandiben Patel was on 22nd May sworn in as Gujarat's new chief minister, a day after Narendra Modi resigned to become India's Prime Minister. She has become first woman Chief Minister of Gujarat.

Patel, 73, was on 21st May unanimously elected leader of the BJP legislature party, paving the way for her to succeed her mentor and become the state's first woman chief minister.
Modi quit as chief minister after leading the Bharatiya Janata Party to a stunning victory in general elections. He is to be sworn in as India's next prime minister on 26th May.

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Narendra Modi resigned as Gujarat CM, Anandiben Patel to takeover

Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi resigned as Gujarat chief minister on 21st May after heading the state for over 12 years.

Revenue Minister Anandiben Patel has been confirmed to replace Modi as the Gujarat CM.

Modi was appointed the Prime Minister on 20th May, after he met President Pranab Mukherjee to officially stake claim to form the next government at the Centre.

Congratulating Modi on his and NDA's emphatic and grand win in the 2014 general elections, the president formally asked him to take oath of office as prime minister at 6 pm on Monday (May 26).

He also handed over a formal letter asking him to name the ministers who would be part of his cabinet.

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Arvind Kejriwal sent to judicial custody in Gadkari defamation case

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal has been sent to judicial custody for two days in connection with the Nitin Gadkari defamation case on 21st May. He will be taken to Tihar jail.

The action was taken after Kejriwal refused to pay the bail bond of Rs 10,000. He will be produced in court on May 23.

Kejriwal told the court that he would not furnish a bail bond in the case as it is of a political nature. Instead, he said he would give an undertaking to appear before the court at every hearing.
Kejriwal was summoned by the court for describing Gadkari as a "corrupt" person.

The anti-graft crusader's counsel told the court that in an earlier defamation cases against him, Kejriwal was granted bail on the undertaking that he would appear before the court at every hearing.

The counsel added that Kejriwal would not flee from justice.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gadkari's lawyer opposed Kejriwal's plea.

Gadkari's complaint said on Jan 31 Kejriwal released a list of "India's most corrupt" people and it included Gadkari's name.

Gadkari has told the court that "false, baseless, scandalous, defamatory statements" by Kejriwal against him had lowered his dignity.

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Hosni Mubarak convicted of graft, got 3 years

An Egyptian court has convicted ousted President Hosni Mubarak of embezzlement and sentenced him to three years in prison.

In 21st May's hearing in Cairo, Mr. Mubarak’s two sons, one-time heir apparent Gamal and wealthy businessman Alaa, were also convicted of graft and sentenced to four years in prison each.

The Mubaraks were convicted of charges that they embezzled millions of dollars’ worth of state funds in over a decade. The funds were meant for renovating and maintaining presidential palaces but were instead spent on upgrading the family’s private residences.

The three were also fined 21.1 million Egyptian pounds ($2.9 million) and ordered to reimburse 125 million Egyptian pounds ($17.6 million) to the state treasury.

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Nawaz Sharif, other heads of state invited for Modi's swearing-in cerermony

Prime minister-elect Narendra Modi has invited Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as well as other South Asian leaders to his swearing-in ceremony next Monday, a spokeswoman for his party told AFP.

Nirmala Sitharaman, from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said all heads of government from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) "have been given invitations to be present at Modi's swearing in."

Modi is to take the oath as Prime Minister on May 26, ten days after a landslide win for the BJP which secured the first majority by a single party in 30 years.
A senior official from the foreign ministry confirmed that it was examining a proposal to welcome foreign heads of governments, but said that invites had not yet been sent.

Sharif has hailed Modi's "impressive victory" with many diplomats hoping the two men can engineer a thaw in ties between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Sharif has cited his working relationship with Atal Bihari Vajpayee, India's last Prime Minister from the BJP, as a reason for optimism, according to diplomatic sources.

In 1999 during Sharif's second term in power, Vajpayee rode a bus to Lahore to sign a peace accord, raising the prospect of normaliszd ties.

Three months later, however, the countries embarked on the Kargil conflict in Jammu and Kashmir.

India and Pakistan have fought three fully fledged wars since independence in 1947 and bilateral ties broke down after attacks on Indian commercial hub Mumbai in 2008 in which 166 people were killed by Pakistani gunmen.

Relations have warmed slightly since under outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but remain frosty amid mutual distrust and regular skirmishes on Line of Control.

Modi had warned during campaigning that talks could not be held with Pakistan until all violence stopped.

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HPCL to buy stake in Petronet’s east-coast terminal

State-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd is likely to buy 11-15 per cent stake in Petronet LNG Ltd’s Rs. 5,000 crore LNG import terminal on the east coast.

HPCL’s Vizag refinery in Andhra Pradesh is being expanded to 15 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) from current 8.33 MT and the expanded unit will have a gas requirement of close to 3 MT.

Years ago, HPCL had missed the LNG bus when it got left out of the PSU consortium that formed Petronet. Indian Oil, ONGC, GAIL and Bhart Petroleum each have 12.5 per cent stake in Petronet.

Last month, Oman’s Oil Minister Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhy, too, had evinced his nation’s interest in buying up to 20 per cent stake in the under-construction terminal.

Petronet is building a 5 MTPA LNG terminal at Gangavaram in Andhra Pradesh that is expected to be ready by 2018.

When contacted, Petronet Director (Finance) R.K. Garg confirmed HPCL’s interest.

Petronet plans to build its first terminal on the east coast through a subsidiary in which it wants to retain a minimum 51 per cent stake.

Petronet is looking for strategic partners that can either bring in gas turned into liquid at minus 160 degrees Celsius (liquefied natural gas or LNG) or buy a minimum quantity of the imported fuel to be sold in the domestic market.

The company received final approval from its board of directors last year to build a third LNG terminal at Gangavaram, the first on the east coast.

The terminal, with the initial capacity coming on stream in 2018, will have scope to be expanded to 10 MT.

It signed a term sheet with Gangavaram Port for the LNG terminal in 2012, when it also called for bids for leasing an FSRU (Floating Storage & Re-gasification Unit) for 3-5 years to cover the period till the terminal is completed.

Petronet operates a 10-MTPA terminal at Dahej in Gujarat, which it plans to expand to 15 MT by 2015. It recently completed building a 5-MT terminal at Kochi in Kerala.

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Nabam Tuki Sworn-in as Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh

Veteran Congress leader Nabam Tuki was sworn-in as the eighth Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh for the second consecutive term on 21st May.

Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Nirbhay Sharma administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr Tuki in a function held at Darbar Hall of Raj Bhavan in capital Itanagar.

Most of the newly-elected Congress MLAs, Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Mukut Mithi, AICC general secretary (in charge of Arunachal) Luzhino Faleiro and high ranking government officials were present in the ceremony.

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Pawan Chamling sworn in as Sikkim CM for fifth time and longest period

Pawan Chamling was on Wednesday sworn in as Sikkim Chief Minister for the record fifth consecutive time.

Governor Shriniwas Patil administered the oath of office to Mr. Chamling and 11 ministers at a function in Raj Bhawan.

The Chamling-led Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) had secured a two-thirds majority in the Assembly elections winning 22 seats out of 32.

He was on Tuesday elected as the SDF Legislature Party leader following which the Governor invited him to form the government.

In power since December 12, 1994, the 63-year-old Mr. Chamling has already completed two uninterrupted decades as the CM of the erstwhile Himalayan kingdom which had merged with India in 1975.

After being sworn in for the fifth consecutive time, he is on his way to break the late Communist patriarch Jyoti Basu’s record of being India’s longest serving Chief Minister.

Basu had ruled West Bengal for 23 years from 1977 till 2000.

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