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RS passes resolution to extend President's Rule in Bihar

     New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha today passed a statutory resolution for extending President's Rule in Bihar under section 356 of the Constitution for a further period of six months (beyond September 6 this year). However, there were indications from the Government's side that the next Assembly polls in the state would be held in October- November this year, as announced by the Election Commission. Before the Deputy Chairman could put the resolution to a voice vote, the BJP-led Opposition walked out, complaining that they were not satisfied with the reply given by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil in the debate over the issue. Meanwhile, a discussion over the matter could not take place in the Lok Sabha as the House was adjourned for the day as a mark of respect for CPI-M member Bikas Chowdhary, who died this morning. The matter would come up for discussion in the Lower House tomorrow. Replying to the debate over the resolution, Patil said that President's Rule was imposed in Bihar to thwart horse-trading attempts by "some parties" to form a government in the state. In his reply, which lasted nearly 45 minutes, the Home Minister said that through his own sources State Governor Buta Singh "knew" about the possibility of horse-trading taking place in the state, and because of this he had recommended President's Rule in March this year. Patil further said that after the last Assembly polls in Bihar, the likelihood of horse-trading had prevailed for quite some time, and, had President's Rule been delayed, horse-trading could have taken place. Further proving his point, Patil said that there was such an atmosphere in the state that the newly-elected MLAs had expressed fears of being poached, and so, they were forced to hold secret meetings in Ranchi, instead of in Patna.

SC advised to back off on tainted ministers issue (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The Supreme Court was today firmly informed by the Government that it had no role to play in the tainted ministers issue, as such people who had been appointed in the Union Council of Ministers had been chosen solely by the Prime Minister. The Centre was responding to a petition that had come up for hearing in the apex court. The public interest litigation (PIL) had been filed by Manoj Narula. "Probing this matter further will not be beneficial for conventions and parliamentary democracy," Attorney General Milon Bannerjee told a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice R C Lahoti. The court has given Narula a fortnight's time to amend his petition. A little over two weeks ago, the Supreme Court had sought Attorney General Banerjee's assistance on the PIL challenging the inclusion of five Ministers, including Lalu Prasad in the Union Council of Ministers. A Bench comprising Chief Justice R C Lahoti and Justice G P Mathur had then directed petitioner Manoj Narula through advocate Anil Kumar Jha to provide copy of the petition to the Central government, and also appointed senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi as amicus curiae to assist the court. Noting that the previous petitions of Narula had been dismissed on the assurance of the Government that it was ready for a debate on the issue, the Court had then said it did not want to enter into a controversy whether or not Parliament should debate the issue or not. However, it added that it wanted the views of Attorney General Banerjee as to whether the Court could entertain such petitions or not. The petition challeged the inclusion of Lalu Prasad, Jai Prakash Yadav, M A A Fatmi, Mohammad Taslimuddin and K Venkatapathy in the Council of Ministers on the ground that the Ministers being required to carry out important constitutional functions should be of impeccable integrity. Law Minister H R Baharadwaj had then told the reporters that the government was ready for framing a guideline on this issue and was ready to debate it as well. "We are ready for discussion on all norms of probity in public life. It will be very useful," he said.

Hi-tech Hyderabad to issue ID card to beggars (Go To Top)

     Hyderabad: After making countless efforts to free the city of beggars, the Hi-tech city of Hyderabad, decided to issue them Identity cards to keep track on them. It also provides them food, shelter and employment opportunities. For a period of six months, the administration with the help from several voluntary organisations, has decided to rehabilitate over 10,000 beggars in the city. But who wants to be rehabilitated? Beggars! Consider this: a study has found that Hyderabad's beggars rake in approximately Rs 15 crore a month. The study, titled-The Beggars In Hyderabad, was conducted by the Hyderabad district administration and an NGO, Hyderabad Council of Human Welfare. It revealed that a majority of them, almost 66 per cent, hail from other districts. The monthly income of 48 per cent of them is between Rs 900 and Rs 2,400. The city is so generous that beggars do not want to go to other cities. The study found that 300 beggars who had migrated to Delhi have shifted back to the twin cities. But the administration is now making a comprehensive effort. It is trying to provide the beggars with all the basic needs of life. As 60 per cent of the beggars are homeless, Government schools are being converted into night shelters.

Lok Sabha adjourns following CPI(M) leader's death (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The Lok Sabha has been adjourned for the day following the death of sitting CPI(M) member from West Bengal Bikash Chowdhury. Chowdhury died of a cardiac arrest at the RML hospital in New Delhi early this morning. He was 73. Reading out an obituary, Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee said Chowdhury, who represented Asansol constituency, had been a social activist, a leader of the masses and associated with a large number of trade unions. The House observed a 2-minute silence as a mark of respect for the departed leader before the Speaker adjourned the House for the day.

Left-backed trade unions commence nation-wide strike (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Left-backed trade unions have begun a nation-wide strike in protest against last week's violence in Haryana's Gurgaon city between the state's police force and striking workers of the Honda Motorcycle and Scooters India (HMSI) Limited. Though Left leaders have welcomed last Friday's pact between the disputing parties in the presence of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Honda officials, there is a view that certain pending issues still need to be addressed. These include whether the 60 workers who are in jail would be taken back and whether the workers union would become functional. CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat has already announced a countrywide campaign next month on issues connected with "land, food and employment". CPI(M) would also support the trade unions call for a general strike on September 29 on a 16-point demand charter. Further details of the impact of the shutdown are awaited.

Top Jaish militant shot dead in Jammu and Kashmir (Go To Top)

     Srinagar: Security forces in Rajouri shot dead a self-styled sector commander of Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM) in the Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday night . Adil , the JeM's "sector commander" for Pakistan-occupied- Kashmir(PoK), was killed in Phagala area of Rajouri district during a cordon and search operation conducted by security forces. One AK rifle, 190 rounds , seven magazines, one radio set and Rs. 20,000 were recovered from the slain ultra. Five grenades, two kg of explosive, three AK magazines, 76 rounds, 10 pika rounds, five IEDs,five detonators, 15 pencil cells, and two riyals were recovered when the troops busted a hideout in Rajouri . Moreover, 630 rounds, five pistols, four AK rifles, four wireless sets, 210 sinper rounds and 18 pistol rounds were also recovered from village Sultan Gould area in Poonch. In the same district, security forces recovered 150 AK rounds, two hand grenades and three chargers along with some explosive material from another hideout in the same district.

Indian students win NASA's space design competition (Go To Top)

     Patiala: A group of Indian students from Punjab, who claimed they have won a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) research competition twice in a row, were given a warm reception at their native Patiala today. The students were cheered by their fellow schoolmates, teachers and parents. The 20-member team from the Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology and the Buddha Dal School was one of the eight teams selected by the American Institute of Aeronautics for developing a multi-trillion dollar human settlement project in space and the moon. The group, which won the competition first in 2004, was the only non-US team shortlisted for the mega space design project, called the Space City to be stationed in Earth's Orbit. India has now become the first Asian country to win the competition twice. "We are very happy...we didn't even feel homesick," said Kamalpreet Kaur, a student. Ishwar Singh, another student said: "We are very excited and grateful to everybody." The Space City was to be designed for 16,000 people and make viable for habitation by 2024. The city would take care of their living needs and create artificial gravity, atmosphere, trees, farms, entertainment centres and other basic facilities for sustenance. The participating teams were asked to act as virtual space construction companies and provide structural design, describe operations down to the minute details, provide infrastructure estimates, costs and accommodate human factors. "Their assignment was very difficult, but they did a lot of hardwork," said Amrit Kaur, the teacher. The space settlement project would be implemented by NASA and top airline manufacturer Boeing.

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