Ex-Congress MLA shot dead in Patna

      Patna: A former Congress MLA who had recently joined the Janata Dal (United) was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Patna on Thursday. Pankaj Kumar was shot dead by motorcycle-borne assailants while he was out on a morning stroll in Jakkanpur locality. The deceased had represented Congress from Hilsa assembly seat in Nalanda District. According to police, a team has been constituted to carry out an investigation into the incident. "He was attacked by the assailants when he was going for his morning walk. Police is investigating the matter. We'll form a team to conduct raids," said Z Ahmad, DSP, Patna. "I got the news of his murder in the morning itself. I believe he got bullet injuries in his leg, belly and near the temple," said Surendra Kumar Singh, a cousin of Kumar. Police patrolling has since been intensified in the area.

Spurious liquor claims four lives in Mumbai (Go To Top)

      Mumbai: Four people died on Wednesday at Mumbai's Nair Hospital after consuming spurious liqour and being hospitalised for over a day. Ten more people are still in a critical state at the hospital. They had consumed liquor from illegal vendors behind the Arthur Road Jail at the N.M. Joshi Marg in Mumbai. After a few hours, the affected people started complaining of chest pain, stomach ache and vomitting and they were unconscious when admitted to the hospital. On Thursday morning, four of these patients were declared dead. "My husband was admitted after he drank spurious liquor. Yesterday around 11 am my husband was drinking. He was drunk all day and night. I thought he was drunk but in the morning his body was cold and he complained of severe stomach pain. He was begging for help and relief," said Sharda Shinde, wife of a victim. Ramesh Naik, Chairman of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's Health Committee said that the condition of the ten was still quite critical and their chances of survival were poor. "They are in a critical state. They were all admitted in a unconscious state. They are in pain. Their chances of survival are very limited," said Naik. "Whatever medicines are needed for the treatment are made available to the patients. The Mayor has also visited the hospital. There won't be any inadeqaucy in the treatment," said Nirupa Borges, a doctor at the Nair Hospital. One of the accused, Ravindra Goregaonkar, has been arrested. Police have launched a search operation for the other accused.

Malaysian PM visits Infosys campus (Go To Top)

      Bangalore: Visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmed Badawi visited the Infosys campus in Bangalore on Thursday and evinced keen interest in furthering IT ties with India. Badawi, who is on a two day visit to Karnataka, planted a sapling inside the Infosys campus. Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani said Badawi's was quite impressive during his stay on the campus. "We found the PM very impressive because he came through as a visionary and broad minded and he appreciated what Infosys has done. He was talking on how in today's world knowledge is more important than capital," said Nilekani. Badawi on his part sought greater cooperation from Indian IT companies to invest in Malaysia. The chief mentor of Infosys Narayanamurthy is also an advisor to the Malaysian government.

SP retains Mainpuri LS seat (Go To Top)

      Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party has retained the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, the bypolls for which were held on December 20. It has also won the prestigious Akbarpur Lok Sabha seat. UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh's nephew Dharmendra Yadav won in Mainpuri defeating his nearest BSP rival by 1,79,713 votes. Yadav's decision to retain his membership of the state assembly necessitated the bypoll in Mainpuri. In Akbarpur, Minister of State for Fisheries Shankh Lal Majhi won by a margin of over 96,000 votes. The BSP defeat in Akbarpur has come as a blow for the party, which had chosen its candidate keeping in mind the caste equations in the constituency dominated by scheduled castes. With these results, the Samajwadi Party tally in Lok Sabha from the state has gone upto 37 while BSP has been reduced to 18.

Pandemonium in Lok Sabha over PMO moves (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: Uproarious scenes were witnessed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, the last day of the Winter Session of Parliament, with NDA members alleging that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) was interfering with the work of investigating agencies. Led by the BJP, the NDA claimed that the PMO was pressuring the CBI to reopen the Babri Masjid demolition case against BJP President L K Advani. BJP members said that they had a letter in their possession written by senior PMO official Pulak Chatterjee to the Ministry of Personnel, which allegedly called on the CBI to file a revision petition against Advani's discharge. But the government dismissed the Opposition charges, saying that it had a legitimate right to seek information about the legal position about any case. "The letter was written by the PMO to ascertain the legal position on two revision petitions filed by witnesses in the case. This is the legitimate right of the government," held Defence Minister and Leader of the House, Pranab Mukherjee. Observing that it would be wrong to impute political motives on the correspondence, Mukherjee said no direction had been given by the PMO to CBI in the case. The letter had reportedly sought reasons in writing for not filing a revision petition when former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani was let off the hook in the Babri Masjid demolition case. It had also sought if there was 'negligence' on the part of any officials. The agency had also been asked if a PIL filed in the case by two witnesses against Advani could be expedited. Meanwhile, in the Rajya Sabha, the BJP raised the controversy over UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's letter to Finance Minister Chidambaram. She has allegedly asked for the cases agaisnt Tehelka owner Shankar Sharma to be dropped.

Delhi traders roll down shutters over VAT (Go To Top)
by Arunoday Prakash

      New Delhi: The traders of Delhi today kept their shutters down against the decision of the Delhi Government to introduce Value Added Tax (VAT) from April 1, 2005. A number of shops, including the 400 shop strong Palika Bazar, were closed down for the day. Accusing the government of not "consulting" them on the issue, Delhi traders recently launched a forum of major trade bodies to oppose VAT. The new forum organized the bandh. The president of the newly formed VAT Sangharsh Samiti, Praveen Kandelwal said, " The Chief Minister and the Finance Minister of Delhi government had promised us way back in February that they will consult us whenever they will take up VAT. But not a single representative from our side was consulted, thus we have closed down the shops as a mark of protest." The bandh evoked mixed response in the city, while most of the shops in Chandni Chowk, Karol Bagh, Kashmere Gate, Khari Baoli and Kamla Nager were closed; shops around the Connaught Circus remained open. The busy Palika Market was not having a single shop open. Representatives of VAT Sangharsh Samiti said that VAT would have a cascading effect on the traders, markets and on consumers too.

       Giving this information, Khandelwal said, " VAT will have a cascading effect, prices will go up. We have calculated that the consumers will have to pay nearly 8-10 % more, once it is introduced." " The system gives the officers unlimited power, makes accounting system more tough and complicates tax adjustment and refunds. Its new levy introduces a fine on traders upto Rs 1 lakh, like that we are criminals or serious offenders," said Khandelwal. The new system bans the traders under the total transaction of Rs 20 lakh from inter state trading, this would hamper our people very badly, complained the President of the Sangharsh Samiti. The Delhi Assembly yesterday ensured the imposition of Value Added Tax (VAT) from April 2005, as it passed the Delhi VAT Bill 2004 amidst a walkout by the BJP. VAT is a form of sales tax paid on products and services at each stage of production or distribution, based on the value added at that stage and is included in the cost to the ultimate customer. The system is being introduced in India from April 1, 2005 after much opposition.

CII applauds Delhi Govt on passing the VAT Bill (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: The Delhi VAT Bill was introduced in the state assembly on December 21 and passed on December 22. With this move, Delhi is headed on the right track. This was stated by Anshuman Magazine, Chairman, Delhi State Council and Managing Director, CB Richard Ellis South Asia Pvt Ltd. in a press statement earlier today. By passing this bill, Delhi has taken a lead in Northern India. According to a press release, the new tax will replace sales tax and the first point/last point tax system. The VAT system intends to ensure that the government realises the tax due on consumption of all goods taking place in Delhi, informed Magazine. Under this new system there are essentially four rates of taxation - 1 per cent, 4 per cent, 12.5 per cent and 20 per cent. Concerns about availability of credit for local sales tax paid on the stock held on the date of implementation of VAT and when credit will be available has been dealt with satisfactorily under the new Act but Magazine pointed out that books, periodicals and maps have been exempted while paper and newsprint is at 4 per cent. This anomaly needs correction. CII is confident that the Delhi Sales Tax department is geared to deal with the new taxation system.