Sonia
leaves for two-day Mauritius visit
Thiruvananthapuram:
Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi
today left for two-day visit to Mauritius. Mauritius Prime
Minister Paul Raymond Berenger had extended a special invitation
to her to inaugurate a science centre dedicated to her late
husband and former premier Rajiv Gandhi. During her visit,
Sonia will meet Berenger, besides other dignitaries. A few
Congress party leaders greeted their party leader at the
airport before she flew to Mauritius.
Bail
plea of Sankararaman case accused deferred
Chennai:
The bail plea of seven persons accused of perpetrating
the September 3 murder of temple manager Sankararaman has
been deferred till December 6. A sessions court at Chengalpattu
near Kancheepuram on Monday adjourned the plea for bail
in a case in which the Sankaracharya of Kanchi, Jayendra
Saraswati, has been arrested. The main accused in the case,
Kathiravan, 'Dil' Pandi, Arumugam and Satish, who staged
proxy surrender before a court in Chennai and Palani, 'Kuruvi'
Ravi and Sundaraman, who allegedly made arrangements for
this, are in judicial custody in Chennai.
Bal
Thackeray's conviction set aside (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: The Supreme Court today set aside the Bombay
High Court decision convicting Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray
in a contempt case and sentencing him to two years imprisonment.
A bench comprising Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, Justice D.M.
Dharmadhikari and Justice Tarun Chatterjee said that the
High Court had erred in convicting Thackeray on a contempt
petition which had no consent of the then Advocate General
of Maharashtra. The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court
in 1997 had convicted Thackeray in a contempt case filed
by Congress leader Harish Pimpalkhute accusing Thackeray
of making false charges against a judge. The apex court
said the final amount of Rs 2000 deposited by Thackeray
pursuant to the high court order would be refunded to him.
CPI(M)
caught on wrong foot over oil price rollback (Go
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by Gautam Ghosh
Kolkata:
The partial rollback of the hike in the cooking gas
price has caught the ruling Marxists in Bengal on the wrong
foot since the party had expected the Centre to reduce the
increase in the diesel price too. The CPI(M), however, has
publicly put up a brave front on the matter, claiming that
its constant pressure forced the Congress-led UPA government
to give up its plan to hike the LPG price by Rs.5 every
month. Caught between the two fires, the Marxists have resorted
to doublespeak over the touchy issue. On the one hand, the
party has been holding public meetings and rallies, calling
for a substantial rollback of the hiked petroleum product
prices and even has decided to organise a half- an-hour
"Chakka Jam" on December 1 in support of its demand. On
the other, it is opposing the Trinamul Congress-sponsored
bandh on December 3 which has been called over the same
issue. Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee has
taken the fullest advantage of the CPI(M)'s current predicament
and seemingly contradictory stand vis-a-vis the hike in
petrol, diesel and cooking gas prices and is exploiting
it to justify her party's December 3 bandh. She hit the
roads today in support of the bandh despite the Calcutta
high court's summons to her party seeking an explanation
on the matter.
The recent Supreme Court order on the Salt Lake land allotment
case has also come in handy for the Trinamul Congress chairperson
to launch a blistering attack on both the CPI(M) and former
chief minister Jyoti Basu. The admission of Basu's son about
having inherited a plot of land indirectly from his father's
discriminatory quota has considerably embarrassed the Marxists
who are yet to evolve an effective strategy to clear Basu's
name in the "land scam." The state Congress' decision to
oppose the bandh has also vindicated Trinamul Congress'
oft-repeated charge that the party has been playing second
fiddle to the CPI(M) in Bengal and lost all its credibility
as an opposition party. Trinamul Congress' Bengal ally,
the BJP, has been non-committal on the question of supporting
the December 3 bandh, but is unlikely to oppose it. The
Marxists, however, are not sparing any efforts to foil the
bandh called by their bete noire. Apart from making elaborate
police arrangements to ensure peace and maintaining normal
fleet of public transports, the state administration has
also urged the government employees to attend their respective
offices without fear. The CPI(M) is also expecting the railway
to maintain normal services on the bandh day and has sought
all kind of cooperation from the "friendly government" at
the Centre for this purpose. The state CPI(M) has decided
to organise two major public functions on December 3--a
reception to the visiting Cuban delegation at Mahajati Sadan
in central Calcutta and a public rally in the city on the
occasion of the World Disabled Day. The Marxists feel that
any attempt by the bandh-sponsors to disrupt these functions
will only "add to their political discredit."
According
to informed sources, Ms Banerjee intends to utilise the
December 3 bandh as a launching pad to start her party's
agitation against the Bengal CPI(M) and the Congress-led
government at the Centre. She hopes to retrieve her party's
lost political ground in the state by highlighting the Centre's
"indifference towards the people's hardship in the wake
of rising prices of essential commodities" and the CPI(M)'s
decision to "back the Centre's anti-people policies." The
Trinamul Congress leader feels these issues will stand her
party in good stead during next year's civic polls and the
2006 Assembly elections.
Indo-Pak
foreign secretaries level talks on Dec 23: Masood (Go
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Islamabad:
Spokesman Foreign Office, Masood Khan, said December
23 has been agreed by India and Pakistan to hold talks at
foreign secretaries level. This he said during his weekly
press briefing held here today. The spokesman termed the
Indian proposal with regard to Kashmir's internal self-determination
as non-serious move. He told as to bilateral talks between
the two counties on trade and narcotics were being rescheduled
and the talks on other issues would be held as per decided
timetable.
