Taj
Corridor scam: SC raps UP Govt
New
Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday came down heavily
on the Uttar Pradesh government for cancelling the suspension
of three top officials involved in the Taj Heritage Corridor
scam. The court has asked the state government to explain
by April 26 why these three officers were reinstated. The
court has also asked the UP Chief Secretary to make a personal
appearance in the court on April 26. DS Bagga, PL Punia
and BK Gupta were suspended from office after the Rs 175
crore scam came to light. The CBI had also filed an FIR
against former Chief Minister Mayawati and senior bureaucrats
in the state in connection with the case.
SC
accedes to IIM request (Go
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New
Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday acceded to the request
of the Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs) to continue
the dialogue process with the Government on the fee-cut
decision. The apex court will now hear the petition in the
last week of July. A three-judge bench comprising Chief
Justice VN Khare, Justice SB Sinha and Justice SH Kapadia
deferred the hearing after counsel for IIMs Ahmedabad, Bangalore
and Calcutta stated that the issue was being discussed with
the Union Human Resources Development (HRD) ministry.
Summons
to Punjab CM in defamation case (Go
To Top)
Chandigarh:
A local court issued summons to Punjab Chief Minister
Amarinder Singh in a defamation suit filed by Shiromani
Akali Dal (SAD) general secretary Sukhbir Singh Badal, here
on Friday. CJM CL Mohal issued the summons for May 22 in
a case, in which Sukhbir had accused the chief minister
of launching a slanderous advertisement campaign through
the media to defame the Akali leader and his family. Following
the court direction, Sukhbir told newsmen here that his
party would take the issue before people an "expose the
false campaign which Amarinder had launched against the
family to tarnish their image". Newspaper ads just before
the Punjab Assembly elections in February 2002 had charged
former chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal president
Parkash Singh Badal and his family with accumulating assets
worth Rs 3500 crore in India and abroad. "At that time they
wanted to grab votes and indulged in a totally false campaign
against us. But we are hopeful that truth will prevail and
Congress party and its Chief Minister will be exposed,"
Sukhbir said.
Ex-Nepal
PM joins anti-monarchy protests (Go
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Kathmandu:
Sher Bahadur Deuba, who was dismissed as Nepal's prime
minister by King Gyanendra in 2002, joined two weeks of
Opposition protests demanding an end to royal rule. He was
later detained with 1000 others on Friday, witnesses said.
Deuba and around 5000 supporters of his faction - the Nepali
Congress-Democratic - defied a ban on demonstrations in
Kathmandu and chanted slogans including "Down with autocratic
rule!" As soon as Deuba appeared to address the rally he
was taken away in a waiting van by riot police, who rounded
up about 1000 of his supporters. King Gyanendra dismissed
Deuba in October 2002, calling him incompetent at managing
Nepal's development and ending a bloody Maoist insurgency.
Five
parties from the last parliament launched protests demanding
a return to elected rule, but Deuba did not take part due
to his bitter disagreements with the other political leaders
while in power. The Nepali Congress, the Himalayan kingdom's
largest party, expelled Deuba in June 2002, saying he failed
to consult his associates before advising the king to dissolve
parliament and call early elections. The king suspended
the polls when he sacked Deuba, but last month he said the
election would be held by April 2005. Deuba joined the protest
movement after holding his first meeting in two years on
Wednesday with Girija Prasad Koirala, president of the Nepali
Congress and his long-time rival. Ironically, Deuba is among
the top contenders to replace the royalist Prime Minister,
Surya Bahadur Thapa, if the king agrees to opposition demands
to form an all-party Government, a source close to the palace
said. The source said that despite the king's past criticism
of Deuba, the 57-year-old political veteran had strong international
standing, seen in 2002 when he was the first visit by a
Nepalese prime minister to the White House. Police banned
growing demonstrations in Kathmandu on April 8 warning they
would be infiltrated by Maoist rebels. Most protesters are
released shortly after being detained.
Pak
film exhibitors want Indian movies (Go
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Karachi:
The craze for Indian movies in Pakistan is showing no
signs of abating in spite of a government ban. Now, the
Pakistan Film Exhibitors Association (PFEA) has reportedly
approached the government and asked it for permission to
import and screen Indian movies in the country. "It is high
time that the government clarifies the muddle of maintaining
double standards on the issue of Indian movies," The News
quoted Riaz Malik, the chairman of the PFEA, as saying.
"The government officials were not imposing the writ of
the law on Indian movies available all over the country
on compact discs and cassettes, but have stringent criteria
for screening of Indian movies at theatres," he added. "More
than 300 film exhibitors are bearing the burden of empty
cinema houses and only option available to them to compete
against Indian movies available on portable formats is the
lifting of ban on display at theatres," Malik claimed.
The
Pakistani film exhibitors unanimously passed a resolution
in 1964 to ban import of Indian movies gripped by the war
hysteria prevailing at that time. The Indians retaliated
with the same gesture and banned import of Pakistani movies
to their country. The result was that Pakistan's film distributors
lost a large market, because Indian cinema houses outnumber
the small Pakistan circuit. This move proved harmful to
the Pakistan film industry and ever since, it has not been
able to recuperate from the harmful affects of that decision.
Bangladesh
to commission 12 new army units (Go
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Dhaka:
The Bangladesh Government has announced that it will
soon commission 12 new army units in a bid to raise the
efficiency levels of the country's armed forces. Prime Minister
Khaleda Zia disclosed this proposal after presenting colours
to the newly constituted 21st Infantry Brigade of the 55
Infantry Division in the southern Jessore cantonment. In
her address to the troops, she said that her government
planned to form three artillery regiments, three infantry
battalions, three field ambulance units and three workshops.
"The armed forces are the symbol of our independence and
sovereignty. They have earned the confidence and love of
the people by participating in the nation building and development
activities of the country," she said.
Musharraf
goes on 'trial' tomorrow (Go
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Islamabad:
The All-Pakistan Lawyers Action Committee and the Supreme
Court Bar Association have decided to conduct a "mock trial"
of General Pervez Musharraf under Article 6 for abrogating
the Constitution of 1973. According to Article Six of the
Constitution any person who abrogates or attempts to subvert
the Constitution by use of force shall be guilty of high
treason. According to the Daily Times, the details of the
trial will be discussed and finalised at a meeting here
tomorrow.
Wipro
turns billion dollar firm; gives 2:1 bonus, dividend (Go
To Top)
Bangalore:
Wipro Ltd. on Friday said it has turned into a USD one
billion firm with revenues of Rs 5881 crore for 2003-04
and rewarded its shareholders with two bonus shares for
each share held and a total dividend of Rs 29 per share.
"Our combined IT products and services business achieved
a significant landmark by recording revenue of USD 1.2 billion.
Revenue from our IT services business alone was USD one
billion," Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said. Wipro's flagship
division - global IT services and products - posted a revenue
of Rs 4,357 crore, a 41 per cent jump over Rs 3,048 crore
in 2002-03. Wipro's consolidated sales for 2003-04 was Rs
5,881 crore, up by 36 per cent over Rs 4,338 crore last
fiscal. Net profit stood at Rs 1,031 crore, an increase
of 26 per cent over Rs 820 crore during 2002-03.
