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Bihar Governor may be removed after Parliament session
by Pankaj Yadav

          New Delhi: Bihar Governor Rama Jois is likely to be removed after the ongoing Parliament session concludes, RJD's Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Devender Prasad Yadav said here Wednesday. Speaking to ANI over phone this evening, Yadav said that the Governor's speech at the last Republic Day function at Patna's Gandhi Maidan was against the "maryada" of the constitutional post he was holding. "During my speech on Monday over the issue of removal of four Governors, I had made amply clear that Bihar Governor be removed immediately," he said, adding that he will be removed after the conclusion of the current Parliament session. Yadav said that the Bihar Governor was equivalent to the four Governors removed for their links with the rightist organisation, RSS. When asked that Jois was a former chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court, Yadav said, "his speech at the Gandhi Maidan was objectionable."

Laloo orders fresh probe into Godhra carnage (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: To find out the real cause of the Godhra carnage, Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav on Wednesday ordered a high-powered probe into the incident. Laloo informed both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha that the committee, which would be given three months to submit its report, would probe whether the devastating blaze was caused by a short-circuit or some inflammable material. Reading out a report of the Forensic Science Laboratory of Gujarat, the Union minister claimed that there was clear evidence that the fire had been caused by inflammable material inside the compartment. He blamed the NDA and the BJP government in Gujarat for keeping the findings of the forensic lab "under wraps". Meanwhile, the NDA members, who had been protesting both inside and outside the Parliament against the inclusion of tainted ministers in the UPA government for the past few days, boycotted the Railway Minister's statement.

Hannah's parents step up appeal to track down culprit (Go To Top)

         Chandigarh: The traumatised parents of a British teenage girl are sparing no efforts to appeal to the Indian authorities to hunt down the India-born truck driver Maninder Pal Singh Kohli, accused of rape and murder of their daughter. 17-year old Hannah Claire Foster was raped and killed by the Sikh migrant then settled in Southampton while the girl was returning from her school in March last year. Kohli has since then been absconding. Trevor and Hillary Foster, who have travelled 4000 miles to Chandigarh, appealed to the police and the media to track him down . "We intend to stay in Chandigarh for three days and in that time we will try to make time for one to one meetings with the press and TV journalists, who would like to interview us. It is also our intention while in Chandigarh to speak to leading police officials and investigating officers, to see how the hunt for Kohli is being handled, and what progress is being made," an emotional Foster said. The Fosters had made a similar appeal in the Capital on Tuesday. They have set up a new telephone hotline for people to ring with information on Kohli and have announced a reward of five million rupees. According to media reports, the Punjab police are under immense diplomatic pressure to crack the case. A group of British police officers will also visit the state in the coming weeks.

Water sharing row among northern Indian states deepens (Go To Top)

          Amritsar: The simmering water sharing row between three northern states - Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan - deepened on Wednesday with all the major players hardening their stand. Punjab had on Monday unanimously passed a legislation annulling all water sharing agreements with the neighbouring Haryana and Rajasthan states. Punjab's main opposition party, the SAD, said the sole issue was the state's interests and not that of the other riparian states. "We are only concerned about the welfare of Punjab and are concerned about the state," Prakash Singh Badal, SAD chief and former state chief minister told reporters here. The BJP also joined the fray saying national interests should be put ahead of regional interests. "This entire issue should be resolved peacefully, it is a very sensitive issue. Though every state has its own interests but the national interest is more important. So they can be resolved peacefully," former premier Atal Behari Vajpayee said in New Delhi.

           Meanwhile, BJP-ruled Rajasthan said it was mulling legal options to redress its grievances. "Whatever legal action we have to take, we will," the state CM Vasundhra Raje Scindia said in New Delhi after a meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the issue. Ms Scindia also thanked Singh for giving a patient hearing. "But I have to thank the Prime Minister for the prompt response, he heard the issue very patiently and promised us that the rights of states will be protected," she added. The completion of the canal would have ensured waters for Haryana and Rajasthan. But Punjab had been delaying the construction work for more than a decade. Farmers in Punjab, who form an influential pressure group in the country's granary, strongly oppose the sharing of the river, saying it would lead to acute water scarcity for them.

PM promises to protect states' rights on water issue (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Wednesday promised to protect the rights of the affected states on the simmering water issue. During a 30-minute meeting with Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, the Prime Minister assured her that their rights would be protected. "Singh gave a patient hearing and promised to protect the rights of the states," said Raje. The meeting was scheduled as part of Prime Minister's decision to talk to the chief ministers of various states affected by the Punjab Bill. The PM had already talked to chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana.