NDA
decides to boycott Govt committees (Go
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New
Delhi: The NDA, the group of opposition parties, on
Monday announced that said it will boycott all parliament
consultative and standing committees in protest against
what they termed a "confrontationist approach" of the UPA
government towards them. The NDA's decision comes in the
wake of the resignation of erstwhile Coal and Mines Minister
Shibu Soren from Singh's cabinet following mounting uproar
from the NDA. Soren has been facing arrest warrants from
a local court in Jharkhand for the past couple of weeks
after he was held guilty of involvement in a murder around
30 years ago. Soren, who went underground after the warrant,
resigned last week after intense pressure from the opposition.
Modi
preempts Laloo probe; gives more teeth to Nanavati panel
(Go
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Ahmedabad:
In what can be called a clever move, Gujarat government
has given more teeth to a judicial commission probing the
2002 Godhra riots in the state which killed around one thousand
people. According to a state government order released on
Tuesday, now the Justice Nanavati and Justice Shah Commission
can examine the role of the chief minister, his cabinet
colleagues, senior officials and various organisations.
The order came barely a week after the Centre ordered a
fresh departmental inquiry into the torching of the train
in which 59 Hindu pilgrims were killed, sparking widespread
religious violence across the state. The move by Narendra
Modi-led government effectively scuttles the Centre's move
to appoint another commission as no two separate inquiries
can be instituted with the same terms of reference. At the
Commission's first sitting in main city Ahmedabad on Monday
(July 26) after the fresh notification, the counsel representing
Gujarat government defended the move while the public prosecutor
said it would delay the report.
Pakistani
spy nabbed in Capital (Go
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New
Delhi: The Delhi Police on Tuesday claimed to have arrested
a Pakistani national and recovered confidential defence
documents from him. Ghulam Mustafa Qureshi was arrested
from a crowded market place in east Delhi. Qureshi is said
to have links with ISI. Police say Qureshi, a regular visitor
to New Delhi, had surveyed key defence installation, making
maps, notes, rough sketches. Officials said he was caught
mid way in his operation and had plans to visit Pokhran
in Rajasthan, the site where nuclear tests were conducted
a couple of years ago. "The main purpose of this Pakistani
spy was to make a base here. After that, he was supposed
to gather information on all the defence establishments,
which he could forward to Pakistan. Apart from this he was
given another task, he had to go to Pokhran, set up base
there and forward all the information on defence establishments
to his mentors in Pakistan," Ashok Chand, DCP (Special Cell),
said. Lal added the 26-year-old had been trained extensively
in hi-tech spy art and had thorough information about the
Indian army. "He was trained in trade craft, defence installations,
surveillance, formation of the Indian army, rank structure
of Indian army, brigadier and corps. He was taught code
signs to hold secret communications. He was also taught
how to operate computers and the internet. After full preparations,
he was sent to Delhi," he added.
India,
China resolve to expedite resolution of border issue (Go
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New
Delhi: India and China on Monday held the third round
of crucial talks between their Special Representatives (SRs)
to expedite the border issue between the two neighbours.
The latest round of talks between National Security Adviser
JN Dixit and his Chinese counterpart and Executive Vice
President Dai Bingguo assumes significance as this was the
first time that the two sides held talks ever since the
Manmohan Singh led UPA government came to power. The present
round of the two-day talks between the two leaders will
be a follow up of the talks held between the Chinese leader
and erstwhile NDA government's NSA Brajesh Mishra.
Former
B'desh PM meets Manmohan Singh (Go
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New
Delhi: Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,
who is on a four-day visit to the country, called on Prime
Minister Dr Manmohan Singh here Monday. Hasina, who is also
the leader of opposition in Bangladesh, will meet Congress
president Sonia Gandhi during her visit. Hasina and her
sister, who are on a personal visit, will also pay obeisance
at the Sufi shrine of Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan. Ties between
New Delhi and Dhaka soured after India said it would deport
some 20 million Bangladeshis living on its soil and prevent
more entering through the porous border. Dhaka denies there
are any Bangladeshis living illegally in India.
Jharklhand
court keeps verdict on Soren reserved (Go
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Ranchi:
A local court here reserved verdict on former union
cabinet minister Shibu Soren's writ petition challenging
the arrest warrant against him. Soren, the erstwhile former
coal minister, has been untraceable for more than a week
since a lower court issued a non-bailable warrant against
him in a massacre case nearly three decades ago. The arrest
warrant is related to a case in 1975 in which Soren was
accused of inciting arson and violence during a rally in
which 10 people were killed. The high court bench in state
capital Ranchi took up Soren's plea and is likely to pronounce
its ruling on Tuesday. "We told the court that it's a very
old case and is politically motivated because the National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) government lost 12 out of the
13 seats in Jharkhand and now taking into account the impending
elections in the state, they have taken up the old case.
The magistrate and the session court had no powers to order
the arrest warrant," R. K. Jain, advocate of Soren, told
reporters.
Orissa
minister resigns over arrest warrant (Go
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Bhubhaneshwar:
In a political scandal ready to erupt in the face of the
Navin Patnaik government, Woman and Child Development Minister,
Pramilla Mullick, resigned on Tuesday, after it was revealed
that an arrest warrant against her was in existence. Former
officer-in-charge of Binjharpur Police Station, B.K. Jena
was suspended on the charges of suppressing a warrant issued
in Mullick's name, which charged her with leading a mob
to ransack the office of a local BDO officer in 1999. The
Orissa government was quick to defend its minister and deplored
the Orissa Congress' attempt to compare the incident to
that of former Coal Minister Shibu Soren who recently resigned.
"The case relating to Pramilla Mullick, which is to do with
minor offences, can certainly not be compared to, as the
opposition is doing, to Shibu Soren, whose case, as is given
to understand, have to do with alleged murder cases. To
uphold the dignity of the government, Pramilla Mullick has
submitted her request to me in the morning," Orissa CM Navin
Patnaik said.
The
focal point of the political drama, Pramilla Mallick, however,
is not too bothered. "I came to know of it through the media.
I haven't committed any murder and my offence is not so
grave, so why should I suppress the warrant. The Orissa
Police, in the meanwhile, have started a damage control
of its own. They have approached the court for a fresh warrent
against Mallick. "Since this one has been suppressed by
some Police Officer, it is not available with any Police
Station or any police officer. We plan to request the honourable
court to issue a fresh warrant. If the honourable court
issues a fresh warrant then we will execute the warrant,"
said R.P. Sharma, DIG. Even as the Orissa government is
trying to control the damage done by the episode of one
its ministers evading a possible arrest, the Congress is
trying to gain political mileage through it all. "There
is a warrant against her. What is to be done should be done.
I think she should resign," said J.B Patnaik, leader of
the opposition Congress party. Another minister in the Patnaik
government, Surama Padhi, faces a possible arrest after
a case was filed against her following her sister-in-law's
complaint of alleged torture due to dowry demands.
IAF
helicopter on flood relief mission crashes, one killed (Go
To Top)
Patna:
An Indian Air Force MI-17 helicopter, that was pressed
into flood relief service, crashed near Begusarai killing
one loader and injuring a gunner on board. The mishap occurred
at around 1100 hours neat Sonma-Pranpur village in Begusarai
district. Officials said that they have not been able to
examine the extent of the damage. However, they said that
a court of inquiry has been ordered into the incident. Official
sources said that while the gunner was admitted to the Military
Hospital in Danapur, the loader's body was brought back
by another chopper.
Floods
in Tripura villages (Go
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Agartala:
Bordering villages of Tripura have been hit by flood
due to the incessant rains, and mainly because of the entry
of water from Bangladesh. Out of the four districts the
West and the South Tripura have been badly affected. Thousands
of families have been evacuated to safer places. The Border
Security Force (BSF) has been mainly engaged in the rescue
work. BSF personnel have been not only rescuing the children,
old people and the women, but they are also distributing
medicines and food among the flood victims who have taken
refuge in different schools and market shades. However,
the authority has also distributed aid, mainly in the form
of cash (Rs 90 per family) in some part of the flood-affected
places. Most of the bordering villagers, who are farmers,
said that their standing crops have totally been damaged
since the water is stagnant for the last five day as there
is flood in the lower Bangladesh, the source of the water.
Family
of 30 threatens suicide to save farming land (Go
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Panaji:
A farmer family here has threatened mass suicide in
their last ditch attempt to save their land being acquired
by the state government for construction of a truck depot.
For generations, the Crastos have been depending on their
5000 square meter of land for livelihood, growing rice and
coconut and renting parts of it for animal shelters. The
family says it has no other means of survival and the compensation
being offered to them is blatantly arbitrary. Crastos claim
that the government, influenced by certain builders, is
offering them just rupees five per square metre of the prime
land as against the going price of 22,000 rupees per square
metre. Harassed by the government officials, all the 30
members have threatned to hang themselves if their plea
was not heard. "Without even informing us, the government
has taken away our land. They should have informed us first.
There is another piece of land, which has been excluded
because the owner is a big shot. We will commit suicide,
all our family members. We have already taken the decision,"
Almando Crasto, the 83-year-old patriarch of the clan, said.
"Our entire livelihood depends on this land. Where would
we find another job? We earn money by selling coconuts,"
Minin, another family member, said. The Crastos have seven
days to vacate the land failing which their homes and animal
sheds, standing in the middle of the farm, will be bulldozed.
Maharashtra
awaits rains, Centre's team assesses damage (Go
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Nankhed
(Maharashtra): A five-member Central team visited Maharashtra
on Sunday to assess the drought-like situation prevailing
in various parts of the state. The team-led by Agriculture
Secretary Radha Singh visited Nanded, Amravati and Nagpur
districts, the worst hit due to lack of rainfall this year.
Some districts of the state's Marathwada region, including
Nanded, have received less than 50 per cent of rainfall.
In some of these districts, even the sowing could not be
done due to a drought-like situation. The team which also
visited Nankhed village in Nagpur district said that the
authorities would have to take recourse to contingency measures,
if the situation worsened.
Oil
firms given limited freedom to raise prices (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: The Centre has given oil firms a limited freedom
to raise petrol and diesel prices, Petroleum Minister Mani
Shankar Aiyar said on Monday. "What we have now decided
is that within limits the oil marketing companies will have
the freedom to determine their own prices for petrol and
diesel from fortnight to fortnight. When I say with limits
it is because we have devised a price band that is based
on a mean of the previous three months rolling average and
the previous annual rolling average. And on that basis we
have got a mean of that and a band which is 10 percent above
that mean and 10 percent below that mean has been established,"
Aiyar told reporters after a specially convened meeting
of the cabinet committee on economic affairs.
Maruti's
Q1 net profit jumps 42 percent (Go
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New
Delhi: Maruti Udyog Limited, the country's premium passenger
car major, today announced a net profit jump of 42 percent
for its unaudited results for the first Quarter of fiscal
2004-05. The company recorded a net profit of Rs.1709.2
million during April-June 2004, a growth of 42.1 per cent
over the same period last year. Profit before tax was Rs.2672
million during April-June 2004, a growth of 55.1 per cent
over the same period last year, the company said. The company's
total income (net of excise) was Rs.26164.6 million during
April-June 2004, a growth of 24.1% compared to the same
period last year. It sold 123,624 vehicle units during April-June
2004, a growth of about 19 percent over the same period
last year. This included exports of 12,240 units.
Depositors'
interest to be protected: FM (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday
reiterated that the Manmohan Singh UPA government was doing
everything in its power to "protect" the interests of depositors
of the failed Global Trust Bank (GTB). Following a meeting
of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, Chidambaram
said that as per the information he had, the deposits in
the bank were "reasonably safe". He further clarified that
not only was the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) finding out
ways to protect the interests of the depositors, the government
had also asked all concerned persons to exercise greater
vigilance so that this type of situation does not recur
again. "GTB had been sliding for several months now... may
be not enough vigilance was maintained in the past. In the
new government, I have urged all concerned to exercise greater
vigilance. Within the three-month moratorium period, various
steps will be taken to safeguard the interests of depositors,"
Chidambaram was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, the RBI today
announced that GTB would be merged with the Oriental Bank
of Commerce.
