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Soft drink report 'inconclusive': Ramadoss

      New Delhi: Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramadoss on Tuesday termed the Centre for Science and Environment's (CSE) report on the presence of pesticides in soft drinks beyond the permissible limits as "inconclusive". Ramadoss informed the Lok Sabha that the Government did not "contradict" the CSE report released earlier this month, but has asked to furnish more details. The CSE, a non-Government organisation, is expected to provide more details on the tests it conducted on soft drinks in a few days. A high-level committee of experts under the chairmanship of ICMR Director General is already examining the report of the CSE, he said. The Union Minister further informed the house that the quality standards for soft drinks, including the fixing of norms for pesticides in carbonated beverages, would be notified by January next year. The standards were being fixed for water, sugar, and concentrate - the main ingredients of soft drinks, said the Minister. Dismissing allegations that the government was sleeping over the issue, Ramadoss said the soft drink manufacturers had been directed to use water that conformed to the quality standards of the packaged water.

No domicile requirement for RS MPs (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal today said that Rajya Sabha MPs need not to be residents of State they represent. Domicile is not a constitutional requirement, the bench said, which also comprised of Justices K G Balakrishnan, S H Kapadia, C K Thakker and P K Balasubrahmanyan, adding that apex court upholds open ballot system for Rajya Sabha elections. The apex court was hearing bunch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the amendment in the electoral law dispensing with the domicile requirement for Rajya Sabha candidates and secret ballot. The Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed by journalist Kuldip Nayar and former MP Inderjeet. In its petition, they had challenged the validity of the amendment to sections 3, 49, 94 and 128 of Representation of People Act (RPA) on the ground that it was contrary to the constitutional scheme.

    Kuldip Nayar, in his petition, had challenged the first part of the amendment as affecting the federal features of the Constitution and the second part for compromising free and fair elections. Another petition, filed by Inder Jit, had challenged the first part of the amendment. He argued in his petition that a representative not belonging to the concerned state cannot effectively represent the interest of the State as he would not be aware of ground realities of the State. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been a member of the Rajya Sabha from Assam after having acquired a residential address in Guwahati to fulfil the domicile requirement. Other Congress leaders are Union Law Minister H.R. Bhardwaj, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal. Bharatiya Janata Party leaders include L.K. Advani, Arun Jaitley and O. Rajagopal. In 2005, the same order was also passed by the apex court.

Pak national killed in Mumbai encounter (Go To Top)

     Mumbai: One suspected Pakistani national, identified as Mohammad Ali, was shot dead by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) team early on Tuesday morning in Mumbai's Antop Hill area. Maharashtra ATS chief KP Raghuvanshi chief said that for the last eight-ten days they had intelligence inputs that terrorists could be hiding in Mumbai and their suspicion is that there could be more terrorists hiding in Mumbai. Acting on a tip-off, the ATS team arrived at the Central Government Scheme (CGS) colony in the Antop Hill area and asked him to surrender. He opted to engage the ATS in an encounter and was killed in the process. The incident took place at around 4.30 a.m., ATS sources said. Earlier, Ali's aide, Riyaz, was arrested on Monday night from Vadala. He will be produced in court later in the day, police said. An AK 47 rifle and some quantity of RDX were retrieved from the encounter site. Police officials said that as of this moment, there was no link between Tuesday's incident and the July 11, 2006 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai. So far, 13 people have been arrested, including an engineer, a journalist, a computer software professional and a doctor, in connection with the July 11 attack. Mumbai is already on a state of high alert in the run-up to the Ganapati Festival that begins on August 27.

Hockey player shot at, injured (Go To Top)

     Kurukshetra: A CRPF jawan accidentally opened fire injuring national hockey player Sandeep Singh, near Kurukshetra, on board the Kalka-Delhi Shatabdi express train. According to the Indian Hockey Federation Vice President, Chandrashekhar, Sandeep, who received injuries in his foot, was given treatment at a hospital in Kurukshetra, Haryana, prior to being shifted to PGI Chandigarh, after the accident took place on Tuesday. He is said to be in a critical, but stable condition according to reports. The para military trooper is said to have accidentally opened fire from his revolver in the train. Singh, part of the national Hockey team, was travelling from Chandigarh to Delhi with another Hockey player Rajpal Singh. The train has been halted at Kurukshetra to record statements of eye witnesses.

Three killed in Gujarat police firing (Go To Top)

      Patan (Gujarat): Patan district police opened fire on an unruly mob on Tuesday, killing three persons. According to reports, the firing took place after the protesters indulged in stone pelting of law enforcement personnel during an ongoing demolition drive that was initiated to reduce flood water levels. Three others were reportedly injured in the incident that took place in Radhanpur town. Patan's Superintent of Police B D Vaghela was quoted as saying that civic officials were prevented from carrying out the demolition of some walls, and when the police stepped in, the incident turned violent. Of the three dead, two were Muslims. The situation in Patan was described as tense, but under control.

Telengana ministers resign (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: Telengana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) Chief and Union Labour Minister K Chandrasekara Rao and his party colleague in the UPA Government A Narendra have reportedly forwarded their letters of resignation from the Union Cabinet to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. TRS sources confirmed that the party has decided to quit the UPA coalition over the latter's inability to address the issue of forming a separate Telengana state out of Andhra Pradesh. It may be recalled that the TRS had fought the 2004 Parliament and Assembly elections on the plank of forming a separate Telengana state. The ruling coalition is yet to come forth with a clear response and statement on the demand, and according to informed sources, Congress party leaders are busy in last ditch efforts to persuade the TRS not to pull out.

    Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been reluctant to give in to the demand for a Telengana state, as it is likely to generate similar demands in Maharashtra like the demand for the creation of a separate state of Vidarbha. The TRS, which had fought the last elections in 2004 as an ally of the Congress, has five members in Lok Sabha and its pullout will not affect the stability of the government.

Armed intrusion at Surat N-plant (Go To Top)

      Surat (Gujarat): Two armed persons are reported to have breached security at the Kakrapar Atomic Power plant near Surat, prompting the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Surat Police to mount an urgent search operation. The plant has been put on a state of high alert, said Superintendent of Police (Rural) Brijesh Jha. Television channels said that on being informed by villagers of the intrusion, authorities sealed the boundaries of the district to prevent the suspected intruders from escaping. Further reports on developments near and in the plant are awaited.

Walkout over Vande Mataram (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Opposition lawmakers, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena, walked out of the Lower House of Parliament on Tuesday after clashing with members of the Treasury over the singing of the national song - Vande Mataram. Charging Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh with attempting to make the singing Vande Matram voluntary, the Opposition insisted that it should be made mandatory as it was a question of national pride. The issue forced the adjournment of the house twice. A Central Government directive for the recitation of the famous patriotic song in Indian schools on its centenary sparked off a controversy with Muslims objecting to it. The Union HRD Ministry had directed that 'Vande Mataram' --- India's national song -- should be recited in schools on September 7 to mark its centenary. The song, written by eminent 19th century Bengali author Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, was voted the second most popular song in a poll by the BBC World Service in 2002. Muslims have resented the directive, saying it was against their religious sentiments.

    Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh played down the controversy saying it was not mandatory to sing the song. "The best way to celebrate the spirit of Vande Mataram is that the people of this country sing it together on that day. This is what I had suggested in my communication to all chief ministers, that on the 7th of September, they should try and arrange for something of the kind. What is wrong in this? What I have never said anywhere is that there is any compulsion for anyone to sing. Now if someone doesn't want to participate, what can I do or say?" Singh told members of the lower house.

Warplanes bomb LTTE munitions dump (Go To Top)

     Colombo: Sri Lankan warplanes reportedly bombed a suspected Tamil Tiger munitions dump Tuesday as a ship prepared to sail with food for tens of thousands cut off by fighting in the besieged Jaffna peninsula. Israeli-built Kfir jets attacked a Tiger position close to the frontline of fighting in the northern district where rebels launched a push to retake their former stronghold 11 days ago, the military said. "Just after the air attack, we could hear secondary explosions," a military official in the peninsula said. "It is most likely that their ammunition dump was hit. They are maintaining radio silence at the moment." Meanwhile, according to the BBC, an aid ship is preparing to travel to Jaffna to provide emergency supplies to the population trapped there. The entire area has been cut off for more than a week following renewed hostilities between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels. The vessel will travel under the Red Cross flag and will take almost three days to get to the peninsula. It has taken days to negotiate the safety of the cargo ship which will take supplies up to Jaffna. In Trincomalee and Batticaloa, in the north-east of the island, the two sides are engaged in regular exchanges of fire. International truce monitors have recalled all their staff to Colombo. The head of the mission said with both sides denying the observers access to the battlefield, it was best to withdraw.

Cricket team returns from Lanka (Go To Top)

     Chennai: The Indian cricket team returned home from Colombo, following the cancellation of their three-match one-day international series against Sri Lanka, due to rains. The team expressed its disappointment over the cancellation of the series. "Well, it was definitely heart breaking because we went to play cricket and well you cannot stop nature's fury and that is exactly what happened. With so much of rain around, no cricket was played. So, naturally people were more eager to play and on that count, yes it was bad luck," Rajan Nair, Media Manager of team said. Negotiations were on to play the series in 2007 as a three-nation event with South Africa as the third team, he added. The series that began on August 14, had a bad start after South Africans pulled out of the tournament citing security concerns, forcing the organizers to opt for a two-nation series between India and the host. But the matches had to be abandoned due to heavy rains. A bomb blast in Colombo had killed seven people and injured 17 on August 14, causing South African team to pull out of the tri- series out of concern for the safety of the team members.

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