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Arunachal Legislature's dissolution revoked: Patil

         New Delhi: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Friday said in the Lok Sabha that the Arunachal assembly's dissolution by the State Governor has been revoked. Arunachal governor had recommended President Rule in the state on Tuesday on the chief minister's recommendation after a revolt over pruning the size of the ministry to meet a constituional deadline. According to the 91st Constitutional Amendment the size of the council of ministers in smaller states were to be limited to 12 by July 7. After the dissolution of the Assembly, a furore broke out when the dismissed BJP alleged that the Governor, who is the representative of the Central government, had acted under duress from Congress party legislators.

          Patil told the Lok Sabha that the Governor had subsequently modified his recommendation and there was no constitutional crisis in the state. "The Governor subsequently wrote another letter to the President on the same date stating the earlier letter recommending action under Article 356 (c) should be ignored and the same was signed. This letter signed July 7, 2004 was received by the President on July 8, 2004 in the morning. On July 8, 2004, the Governor wrote another letter to the President stating that he has reviewed the situation in the light of the representation submitted by various groups, legislative assembly and as the constitutional aspect of the issue he has stated that dissolution of legislative assembly already notified was final and no review permissible under the Constitution of India. He has further mentioned in the letter that the law and order situation is normal as on the date and that there is no constitutional roadblock and therefore his earlier recommendation to invoke Article 356 (c) may be ignored," Patil said.

         The entire drama started a few days back when nine legislators from the BJP switched over to the Congress after Chief Minister Gegong Apang downsized his council of ministers. Apang dissolved the assembly saying he enjoyed a majority in the House. Local reports say that both sides are keeping their legislators under virtual house arrest to prevent any more defections.

PM reconstitutes National Security Advisory Board (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has reconstituted the National Security Advisory Board. A former diplomat SK Lambah has been appointed as the Convenor of the body, which will have a two-year term. Hamid Ansari, former Vice Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University and a former diplomat, Manoj Joshi, senior journalist, Hindustan Times, C Raja Mohan, Professor, Centre for International Politics and Disarmament, Jawarharlal Nehru University and retired Lt Gen S S Mehta, former Army Commander, Western Command, are among the 15 members of board.

SM Krishna paid Rs 20 crore to Veerappan, says former cop (Go To Top)

          Bangalore: A former Karnataka police officer has alleged that former Karnataka chief minister SM Krishna had paid Rs 20 crore as ransom to sandalwood smuggler Veerappan for the safe release of Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar. "I paid Rs 20 crore to Veerappan on the orders of SM Krishna and T Jayaprakash Reddy and Mallikarjun Kharge," Sangram Singh, ACP (Retd.), said. Meanwhile, former state home minister and present water minister Mallikarjun Kharge, categorically denied the allegations. "It is a completely baseless allegation. It is totally false and he might have spoken out of frustration since I am the first man to take action against the police officers on the recommendations of STAMPIT," he said.

Opposition continues to boycott Question Hour (Go To Top)

         New Delhi: Retaining its stand for the removal of tainted ministers, NDA members walked out of the Lok Sabha today when Speaker Somnath Chatterjee rejected their query put to coal minister Shibu Soren during the Question Hour. However, the NDA members, who left the house raising slogans, "Dagi Mantri Hatao", returned back when the House took up the next question related to the Finance Ministry.

Badal apprehends violence during SGPC polls (Go To Top)

          Raiya (Punjab): Apprehending violence during the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee's (SGPC) elections, scheduled for July 11, Shiromani Akali Dal's (SAD) chief Parkash Singh Badal today warned that the elections would not be free and fare. He lamented that the commitments made by the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had not been fulfilled as yet. "He had assured us of free and fair elections and coordination of the State government with the Gurdwara election committee, which was not been done," alleged Badal during a political rally here. Badal further asked the Center to ensure that the SGPC elections be held under the aegis of impartial observers and in the presence of para-military forces. The SGPC is the supreme temporal body of the Sikh community. Out of 190 SGPC seats up for elections, 170 seats will be up for grabs on Sunday. After SAD's landslide victory in the recent Lok Sabha elections, it is rumored that Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amrinder Singh, wants to shake the SAD bastion by defeating them through other political channels.

Mumbai blast accused convicted, one acquitted (Go To Top)

          Mumbai: Out of the eleven convicted in the 1998 Mumbai blasts case which killed four people, besides injuring as many as 30, ten were given a life sentence on Friday by a sessions court. The one remaining, Javed Gulam Hassan, the alleged ISI agent has been acquitted for want of evidence and will be deported back to Pakistan.