New
Delhi: Veteran communist leader Somnath Chatterjee
was on Tuesday appointed as the pro-tem Speaker of the Lok
Sabha. Chatterjee was administered the oath as a law-maker
by President APJ Abdul Kalam, enabling him to preside over
the proceedings of the first two days of the House when
new members take oath. Chatterjee 74, who made it to the
lower house for a record 10th term, would be the first communist
leader to occupy the coveted post. The Cambridge-educated
Chatterjee is a trained lawyer. He was honoured with the
Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in 1996. The communists
emerged as the third largest group in the recent election,
bagging 62 seats of the 545-member lower house, their best
ever performance. The CPI-M, the biggest of the leftist
parties, itself won 33 seats. Meanwhile, the newly elected
members of the 14th Lok Sabha arrived in parliament to take
oath. The members included former prime minister Atal Behari
Vajpayee who is the chairman of the main opposition National
Democratic Alliance, and the first timer Rahul Gandhi of
the Congress party.
Natwar asked to clarify
'common nuclear doctrine' (Go
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New
Delhi: Former Finance Minister and leader of the Opposition
in the Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh On Wednesday slammed External
Affairs Minister Natwar Singh's statements on ties with
Pakistan and asked the Government to clarify whether his
proposal for a 'Common Nuclear Doctrine' was a "fanciful
individual notion." "It would be difficult for me to comment
since the Minister has made so many statements. I have seen
newspaper reports suggesting that there will be continuity
in policies towards USA but the statements on Pakistan veered
from one end to another like a pendulum. I am sure it would
gain a static position," Jaswant said at a press conference
to give NDA's views on ruling UPA's Common Minimum Programme.
He said relations with Islamabad were put on a "footing"
by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the interests
of the people of India and Pakistan and for the "larger
purpose of peace in the region".
NDA
Convener George Fernandes criticised the CMP of the UPA
saying that it had ignored several sectors. "CMP of the
UPA has many weaknesses, in fact it has failed to address
itself in several sectors," said George. Singh also criticied
UPA'S approach to terrorim in its CMP. "If you do not have
a mention of issues to deal with terrorism, then it either
reflects absence of thought or lack of unanimity on the
issue within the UPA," said Jaswant Singh.
Saudi attack victim's
family awaits body (Go
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Thrissur
(Kerala): Heart-broken family members of an Indian killed
by al Qaeda terrorists in Saudi Arabia are yet to come to
terms with the tragedy. Jaimon Jose from Thrissur in Kerala
was among the eight Indians killed in the shooting and hostage-taking
attack -- the second major strike in a month on the Saudi
oil industry on May 29 at Khobar in the Kingdom. Jose' uncle,
K.C. Mathew, said that the 28-year old was just into the
first week of his new job when tragedy struck. "The family
members are very shocked, because he was very young, and
had only begun his career. This was a great shock to our
family, especially to his sister Mira. He went to Saudi
Arabia, because of better prospects. He got a better job
there as the assistant manager of a well-known hotel in
Saudi Arabia. That is why he went there. He joined only
a week ago...It is very tragic," Mathew said. Mathew added
that Jose' body was expected to be flown to India by June
6, and the family planned an immediate funeral. Jose was
one of the two Keralites killed in the terror attack. The
other Indians, like Jose, were also mostly employees of
Saudi maintenance company Saad Corporation and located in
the Oasis Housing Complex. Over 1.5 million Keralites work
in Saudi Arabia.
Kalyan blamed for Babri
demolition (Go
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New
Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh Government on Wednesday alleged
before the Liberhan Commission that former Chief Minister
Kalyan Singh and top leaders of VHP and BJP were party to
the conspiracy that led to the demolition of the disputed
structure at Ayodhya in 1992, while the then Prime Minister
P V Narasimha Rao was "indirectly" involved in it. Referring
to the affidavit filed by Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav
on May 8, 1995 before the Commission, the state Government
headed by him now said in a written submision "the Kalyan
Singh and top leaders of VHP and BJP were party to the conspiracy".
NDA will play the role
of constructive Oppn: Vajpayee (Go
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New
Delhi: Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on
Wednesday said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will
play the role of a constructive opposition in Parliament,
but would oppose policies detrimental to the interest of
the nation. Vajpayee, who left the Lok Sabha half an hour
after the new session began, told reporters outside the
House that the NDA will not hesitate to raise issues of
importance to the people. Asked whether there were any similarities
between the Common Minimum Programme of the Congress-led
coalition Government and the previous NDA Government headed
by him, he quipped: "There are a lot of differences." Vajpayee,
who is the chairman of the NDA in Parliament, was among
the first to take oath when the session began at 11 am.
Jamali on the way out:
Paper (Go
To Top)
Islamabad:
A major political upheaval is likely to take place in
Pakistan soon, and if informed sources here are to be believed,
Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali may be on his
way out. The change in guard is expected to take place after
the ensuing budget session, reported the Daily Times. Quoting
informed sources, the paper said that in view of the impending
change, prime ministerial hopefuls like Foreign Minister
Khurshid Kasuri and Commerce Minister Hamayun Akhtar Rehman
have redoubled their efforts to present themselves as viable
alternatives to Jamali. They claimed that President Musharraf
had apparently given the Sindh government very little time,
and plans were afoot to sack both the Sindh governor and
the provincial chief minister. The paper said that Jamali's
fate was sealed several months ago when a perception was
created in the minds of Musharraf's advisors that Jamali
could neither deliver on good governance, nor fend his way
in negotiations with the MMA on the issue of the LFO and
the 17th constitutional amendment. Later, Jamali's opposition
to the National Security Council made matters worse, the
sources were quoted as saying. The report further stated
that in case of any change in guard, the US would regard
it as an "internal matter of Pakistan" as it considers Musharraf
an invaluable ally in its `fight against terror' and will
not do anything to upset his apple cart.
IHF sacks trainer Sampath
Kumar (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: A fresh controversy threatened to bog Indian
hockey with senior trainer Sampath Kumar being axed hours
before the departure of the probables in the wee hours today
to USA for an Olympic training-cum-competition programme.
The decision to show the door to the trainer left the players
in shock as they had been expecting Sampath Kumar to accompany
them on their training stint abroad. A top Indian Hockey
Federation official said Sampath had "failed to get government
clearance".
BCCI ban on Kale till
year-end (Go
To Top)
Kolkata:
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), today
banned Maharashtra Cricketer Abhijit Kale from playing cricket
till the end of this year. It was decided by BCCI's three-member
disciplinary board committee. The first class cricketer
is accused of trying to bribe selectors for a place in the
Indian team. However, BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya claimed
there was no conclusive evidence against Kale. Dalmiya said
the cricketer had written an apology to the BCCI disciplinary
committee in which he claimed that he had tried to influence
selectors but was misunderstood. With his apology, he hoped
that the matter would be closed. Six months ago, the Kale
bribery scandal rocked Indian cricket with news that the
Maharashtra batsman offered Rs 10 lakh each as bribes to
two national selectors for a place in the Indian team. The
bribery issue came to light in mid-November when the two
selectors Pranab Roy and Kiran More, alleged that Kale had
offered them money for a place in the Australia-bound Indian
team last year.
