Somnath is LS Speaker
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New
Delhi: Senior CPI-M leader Somnath Chatterjee was on
Friday unanimously elected as the Speaker of the 14th Lok
Sabha. His name was proposed by CPP leader Sonia Gandhi
and seconded by Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee. His
candidature was supported by NDA leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee
and seconded by Leader of the Opposition L K Advani. UPA
chairperson and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi congratulated
Somnath Chatterjee (75), a member of the House for almost
five decades. "But today I also greet another Somnathji
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee a much respected colleague whose
counsel, my party and I have sought and valued," Gandhi
said. Vajpayee assured full support to Chatterjee in conducting
the proceedings saying: "We are with you every time and
as a Member of Parliament you have always fulfilled your
duties." A Cambridge-educated lawyer from West Bengal, Chatterjee
has a distinguished record of being a sharp and gentle parliamentarian.
He was honoured with the "Outstanding Parliamentarian Award"
in 1996.
SC stays Rajya Sabha
polls (Go
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New
Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed holding of
Rajya Sabha polls for 65 seats across the country, notification
for which was issued on Friday. While making the Election
Commission a party in a petition filed by former RS member
Kuldeep Nayar challenging recent amendments to the Upper
House election procedures, the SC Bench said that no further
step shall be taken by the EC for holding of the polls till
June 14. While issuing notice to the CEC, the Bench comprising
Justices Ruma Pal and BN Aggarwal said, "if the notification
regarding the poll is not already issued, then it shall
not be published in the gazette and if it is published in
the gazette it shall not be given effect to."
South Indian film star
shoots producers (Go
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Hyderbad:
In a bizzare incident late on Thursday night, Telugu
film star and brother-in-law of former Andhra Pradesh Chief
Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Balakrishna, shot his producer
Bellamkonda Suresh and his assistant Satyanarayana Chowdhary
at his house in the city's posh Jubilee Hills residential
colony. Both Suresh and Choudhury have been admitted to
the Apollo Hospital here. One of them was said to be critical,
while the other was said to be out of danger. A senior police
officer said that neither was in a position to be questioned
about the incident. Television reports also said that Balakrishna
had also got himself admitted to a hospital to avoid questioning.
"One person's liver appears to be totally shattered. In
the other case, the kidney and spleen have been damaged.
Both are in coma and are not in a position to talk... We
are investigating the case," R.P. Singh, Commissioner of
Police, Hyderabad city, said.
'"About 9.10 p.m., one patient B. Suresh was brought to
the hospital and 9.15 p.m. Satyanarayanan and Choudhary
were also brought with bullet injuries in the abdomen. Satyanarayanan
was in a state of shock, where as Suresh was bit okay when
he came here. Both of them had serious injuries as revealed
by the CT scan. The surgeons who were immediately called,
conducted surgeries," Narendra Nath, the resident medical
officer at the hospital, said. The trio met at Balakrishna's
residence for discussing a film function in the city. Balakrishna,
44, has acted in about 80 films, most of them in the Telugu
medium.
Illegal arms factory
busted in Bihar (Go
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Sasaram
(Bihar): Bihar police claimed to have busted an illegal
arms factory allegedly being used to supply weapons to Maoist
rebels, here Friday. The three men running the factory were
also arrested, they said. Bihar, along with neighbour Jharkhand
and the states of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa are severely
affected by the Naxalite rebellion with the activists often
terrorising villages and making deadly attacks on police.
Fighting for peasants rights and radical re-distribution
of land, the rebels have targeted rich landowners and government
offices. "The accused says that he had started this factory
only a few months back but the way he has expanded it, timley
detection has been done. It was a very dangerous establishment
considering this is a naxal affected area. They could have
caused havoc," the region's superintendent of police BS
Meena said. One of the accused admitted that he was involved
in making bombs. "I have made all these," said Laxman Sharma,
an accused. Most of the weapons seized are country-made
revolvers and guns, mostly modified versions of sophisticated
weapons like AK-47 rifles and hi-tech shot guns. Illegal
arms-manufacturing thrives in Bihar, which has gained the
epithet of the crime capital of the country. These weapons
are also sold to criminal gangs operating from New Delhi
and nearby towns.
India's 'Agni' ready
as Pak conducts second misile test (Go
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Bangalore:
Vasudev Aatre, the scientific advisor to Defence Minister
Pranab Mukherjee, has said that the country's longest-range
version "Agni" was almost ready. The comments by the defence
official came on Friday when Pakistan successfully test-fired
a ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads,
the second such test in less than a week. "The present Pakistani
missile which they fired few days back is only a 1000-plus
kilometre missile. The next missile of Pakistan is going
to be a longer one. As you know our Agni-II is already 2000-km
plus. Agni 1 and II are in production phase and have been
inducted. Agni-III, we are working on it, it's a slightly
more complex system because it has got much longer range
system. We had to work more on the technical problems. We
have worked on it," Aatre told ANI TV in Bangalore. On Saturday
Pakistan had test fired the "Ghauri" missile capable of
carrying all types of warheads and traveling up to 1500
km. Aatre also said the indigenously built light combat
aircraft (LCA) would be operational in another two years.
"It performed better than what we had thought it will do.
But it still falls short of what it should meet. So we have
taken a detailed review at this. I do belive now we see
how to work out on the problems and how we have to fine
tune. I am hoping to fly it, we have now looked at it in
totality and I hope by 2006 we should fit an LCA will fly,"
he said.
Kaizad's trials and tribulations
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Mumbai:
The Metropolitan Court at Girgaum in Mumbai has given
the Government Railway Police custody of filmmaker Kaizad
Gustad and his associate Ashish Udeshi (who is the line
producer in Kaizad's Film "Mumbai Central") till June 10.
They were arrested at 8 am today in connection with the
death of 27-year old British assistant director, Nadia Khan.
They were charged with causing death due to negligence under
304 IPC. A lady constable, Darshana Vetti, who was deputed
by the Railway Police at the station during the film's shooting,
was also arrested since she happened to have witnessed the
accident. Nadia was killed when a train hit her from behind
while the film "Mumbai Central" was being shot on the tracks
near the Mahalaxmi station on May 25. Kaizad Gustad had
earlier taken permission from the railway authorities to
shoot on track No 1. However, he had not taken the permission
to shoot on track no 4 where the accident took place. Earlier
Gustad and Udeshi told the girl's mother, who is in Britain,
that she died in a road accident and took her clearance
to transfer the body to that country. The director later
admitted that they did that to avoid legal formalities in
getting Nadia admitted to hospital. Apart from the action
taken by the Railway Police Gustad and Udeshi also face
the threat of action by the Mumbai police for lodging a
false complaint and making false statements about the reason
that caused the death of Nadia Khan.
Princess Diana's mother
passes away (Go
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London:
Princess Diana's mother Frances Shand Kydd passed away
in a Scottish hospital yesterday. According to Hello, Diana's
brother Earl Spencer said from his home in Althrop that
it was a private occasion for the family and they should
be allowed to grieve in peace. Shand Kydd had been suffering
from a degenerative brain condition but, insisted on staying
in her beloved home in the Scottish island Seil. She had
also suffered the shock of the death of her step son Adam
Shand Kydd early this year ,and also had to cope with the
trauma of witnessing the pictures of Diana's car crash released
recently. Despite these traumas and her ailing health, the
aristocrat remained philosophical and refused to give up.
"I think I've had a wonderful life.Certainly, there have
been lows. Certainly, there have been own goals. I think
sadness only makes you more realistic about what life is.
You take less for granted," she had been quoted as saying.
Leftists back airport
privatisation (Go
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New
Delhi: Two days after Civil Aviation Minister Prafull
Patel announced privatisation plans for the country's biggest
airports at New Delhi and Bombay, a key Leftist leader said
that they have no opposition to the move. Praful Patel had
on Wednesday said that there was a need to improve the state
of its shabby airports to present a better face to the rest
of the world as he met various Communist leaders to allay
their fears on the issue. Preliminary bids to sell shares
in the two profitable airports have been invited by this
week but officials in the ministry say they expected some
delay in the process. The government had earlier hoped to
complete the process by September, and is planning to allow
foreign investors to pick up to 49 percent stake in the
proposed joint ventures.
Pak delegation to attend
Olympic torch relay in Delhi (Go
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New
Delhi: A ten-member Pakistani delegation would participate
in the celebrations surrounding the Olympic Torch Relay
here on June 10, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president
Suresh Kalmadi said Friday. "The delegation, including Pakistan
Olympic Association president Sayyed Arif Hasan, would participate
in the various functions being organised as part of the
relay," Kalmadi said while talking to reporters. The IOA
president said the Pakistan delegation would also take part
in the Indo-Pak Sports Conference to he held on June 11.
