Lahoti takes over as
Chief Justice
New
Delhi: Justice Ramesh Chandra Lahoti was sworn in as
the 35th Chief Justice of India today. As the senior-most
judge of the Supreme Court, Lahoti succeeded outgoing Chief
Justice S Rajendra Babu. Lahoti, who will have a tenure
of nearly 18 months, was administered the oath of office
by President A P J Abdul Kalam in the presence of Vice-President
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. After the ceremony, Lahoti,
63, went up to his mother and touched her feet before a
200-odd dignitaries that included cabinet Ministers and
judges of the Supreme Court and the High Court. "I owe everything
to my parents. God blesses people through their parents,"
Justice Lahoti later told reporters. The opposition party
leaders were conspicuous by their absence.
Born in Guna in Madhya Pradesh in 1940, Justice Lahoti got
enrolled as an advocate in 1962 and was recruited directly
from the Bar to the State Higher Judicial Service to be
appointed as a District and Sessions Judge. He resigned
in May 1978 and went to practice in the Madhya Pradesh High
Court before being appointed as the Additional Judge there
in May 1988, and as permanent judge in August 1989. After
being transferred to the Delhi High Court in February 1994,
Justice Lahoti was elevated as the judge of the Supreme
Court in December 1998. Justice Lahoti is known to possess
a robust common sense, insight into law, courage of conviction
and a humane approach. In many of his decisions, Justice
Lahoti has also cautioned against the abuse of power by
public officials. Justice Lahoti is second among the nine
children of late freedom fighter Ratan Lal Lahoti. His appointment
as the Chief Justice is a matter of great pride for the
family. "He was a good student. He worked hard when as a
lawyer and a judge. This is God's grace and the blessings
of our ancestors," his mother said.
Indo-Pak diplomats to
meet on June 27-28 (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh on Tuesday
said most senior diplomats of India and Pakistan will meet
on June 27 and 28 for talks on the Kashmir dispute and measures
to improve nuclear security. The new Congress-led coalition
government, which took office last month, has said it will
carry forward a peace process with Pakistan that began more
than a year ago. "We have agreed with Pakistan that the
officials of the two sides will be meeting in New Delhi
on June 19-20 for the expert level talks on nuclear Confidence
Building Measures and June 27 and June 28 for the foreign
secretary talks," Natwar Singh told a news conference here.
Singh dismissed fears that the Congress government, which
ruled India for most of the four decades after independence
in 1947 and led the country into three wars with Pakistan,
would not be able to shake off the baggage of the past.
"The future of Indo-Pak relations no longer lies in the
past. We cannot forget the past but neither should we be
the prisoners of the past," he said. The nuclear-armed neighbours
almost came to a fourth war in 2002, but relations improved
significantly after former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee
launched a peace bid last year. But after Vajpayee-led government's
shock defeat in last month's election, fears have mounted
that the peace process might stall. Singh also said the
government was committed to improving ties with China and
announced national security advisor J.N Dixit would be the
new interlocutor with the influential neighbour.
Relations
between the world's most populous countries, which went
to war in 1962, have improved in recent years on the back
of booming trade but an unsettled Himalayan border and nuclear
proliferation in the region remain stumbling blocks. "Special
respresentative of India and China on the boundary question
will have their meeting in the very near future. It gives
me great pleasure to announce that my friend and colleague,
who has been appointed as the national security advisor
J.N Dixit, will be replacing Brajesh Mishra as our interlocutor
with China," Singh said. Last year, former Prime Minister
Atal Behari Vajpayee visited China - - the first visit by
an Indian premier in a decade-- during which the two sides
named top envoys for a speedy resolution of a four-decade-old
border dispute, considered central to ties. New Delhi has
also repeatedly expressed concern over what it says are
Chinese missile transfers to Pakistan, a charge dismissed
by both Islamabad and Beijing.
Sri Lankan foreign minister
calls on Patil (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar
called on Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Tuesday.
Kadirgamar is in New Delhi to drum up support for his government's
efforts to resume talks with Tamil rebels to end over two
decades of civil war in the island nation. The Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has said it is willing to resume
talks with the government based on a power- sharing proposal
submitted last year. On Monday, Kadirgamar met Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh
and briefed them on the latest developments in his country.
India is committed to assist the new government in its quest
for peace with the LTTE. President Chandrika Kumaratunga's
United People's Freedom Alliance won power last month after
a feud with the former government of Ranil Wickremesinghe--who
signed a February 2002 truce with the Tigers-resulted in
a snap election. Kumaratunga's party takes a harder line
on the rebels, who have been fighting for a separate state
in the island's north and east. The Kumaratunga-led government
faces an uphill task in the peace moves as the hardliners,
included in her coalition, are opposed to any concessions
to resolve the ethnic conflict which has claimed more than
60,000 lives.
36 killed in Iraqi bomb
blasts (Go
To Top)
Baghdad:
At least 36 people were killed and several others wouned
in two car bomb blasts near US military bases in Iraq Tuesday,
police sources said. Intense firing sounds were also heard
after the blasts. The attack came as the coalition administration
and the Iraqi Governing Council were discussing the new
interim government of the country.
President's address
finalised (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: A Cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh on Tuesday considered and finalised the President's
Address to the joint session of Parliament on Wednesday.
The meeting lasted two hours. Manmohan Singh was sworn in
on May 22 as the Prime Minister as the head of a first-ever
Congress-led coalition Government that has 28 Cabinet Ministers
and 40 Ministers of State.
Somnath all set to occupy
Speaker's chair (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: Somnath Chatterjee is all set to become the first
Communist leader to occupy the chair of the Lok Sabha Speaker.
In a bid to reach unanimity on his election, the ruling
United Progresssive Alliance has offered the post of Deputy
Speaker to the opposition. "I discussed the issue with senior
BJP leader L K Advani and NDA Convener Geoerge Fernandes
today. I conveyed the offer of Deputy Speakership to them.
They will get back to us," said Parliamentary Affairs Minister
Ghulam Nabi Azad. However, even as Chatterjee's election
to the post of Speaker now seems certain, the BJP-led NDA
says they were not consulted during the process of his selection.
The CPI (M) leader says though he would be in the race even
if there was a contest, the opposition to his selection
would personally trouble him. "Personally I would be troubled.
It is sad. They should all agree to it, as this is an important
post," he added. Chatterjee said that as the new Speaker
his priority would be not only to ensure order and decorum,
but also to raise the debating standards in the Lok Sabha.
Bangladesh reiterates
no room for anti-Indian rebels on its soil (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: Bangladesh on Tuesday denied its territory was
being used as sanctuary by anti-Indian infiltrators. The
statement by Bangladesh foreign minister Morshed Khan comes
a month after talks with India on border problems, particularly
New Delhi's proposal to conduct joint operations to hunt
out suspected rebel camps, failed. India accuses Bangladesh
of providing safe havens for insurgents battling security
forces in India's northeast but Dhaka denies the presence
of any camps on its territory. "We have decided to talk
'with' each other and not 'to' each other. Therefore the
issue of not allowing land for terrorist activities against
another country, I can assure you one thing, 54,000 square
miles for 140 million people, I need every inch of it for
Bangladesh, I have no room for any terrorists," Khan told
a joint news conference with his Indian counterpart Natwar
Singh here. India has consistently called for joint operation
so as to substantiate claims from both sides, Bangladesh
has disagreed saying it was illegal for the forces of one
country to cross the border of another.
Both sides, however, agreed to cooperate to tackle cross-border
crimes including smuggling, illegal crossings, trafficking
of women and children and drug dealing. "In this entire
region there should be a climate where barriers are removed,
tensions are reduced, areas of agreement enlarged and expanded
and the areas of disagreement reduced and minimized if not
altogether eliminated," Singh said. Late last year Bhutan,
another of India's neighbours in its northeast, launched
a sweep to drive anti-Indian rebels from its border region
after coming under sustained pressure from New Delhi to
act against the insurgents. The campaign led to calls in
India for asking other neighbours including Bangladesh,
to clear out rebels fighting Indian rule in its northeast.
