NewsBriefs
Back to Headlines

VS Achuthanandan next Kerala CM

       Thiruvananthapuram: After a day-long meeting of the CPI (M) State Committee, 82-year old Velikkakath Sankaran Achuthanadan's name was finally cleared for the next Chief Minister of Kerala, ending days of suspense. On May 18, the swearing in ceremony of the new 17 member Kerala Cabinet will take place. The delay in declaring the name of the veteran comrade was reflective of the bitter factional division in the Kerala unit of CPI (M) party. However, senior CPI (M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury completely denied of any such differences. The State Committee today also decided on the names of the eight minister from the CPI (M) party and their allotted portfolio. According to the reports, the crucial Home Ministry has been allotted to Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who was the Deputy leader of the party in the previous Assembly. This has come against the earlier rumours that either the Chief Minister himself or Paloli Muhammadkutty, also the front-runner for the top post would be get the Home portfolio. The name of Muhammadkutty was also in the race for the Chief Ministership before the election as he was projected as the compromise candidate between the rival factions of Achuthanandan and CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Viyajan. However, Ponnani MLA, Mohammadkutty who had won with a huge margin is likely to get the Education Ministry. The other ministers from the CPI (M) quota in the LDF are M A Baby, T M Thomas Isaac, P K Gurudasan, A K Balan and P K Sreemathi. The state committee meeting attended by CPM general secretary Prakash Karat was also attended by Sitaram Yechury and S Ramachandra Pillai.

SC refuses interim protection to Sadhu (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the plea of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP and brother-in-law of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sadhu Yadav, seeking interim protection from arrest in Bihar's flood relief scam case. Refusing to grant any interim stay, a Bench comprising Justice B P Singh and Justice R V Raveendran, asked Anirudh Prasad alias Sadhu Yadav to approach the Patna High Court for anticipatory bail in the case. Sadhu approached the apex court after the Patna High Court had earlier refused to entertain his plea observing the same was already decided by the Delhi High Court. The Supreme Court also observed that the Patna High Court would decide the petition on merits. The flood relief scam had come into light when investigations by the Indian Express earlier last year revealed that Rs 17 crore worth of funds, meant for flood relief in Bihar during July- August 2004, had disappeared without a trace. The prime accused in the case is the then Patna District Magistrate, Gautam Goswami, who was lionised for his exemplary work in getting help to Bihar's flood victims He was later alleged to be involved in the misappropriation of funds.

    According to official records, Goswami received Rs 13 crore as relief for flood-ravaged Bihar in 2004, and an additional Rs 5 crore from the railway fund. Rs 17.18 crore was paid to the Bihar Small Scale Industries Corporation (BSSIC), the sole organisation in charge of supplying the relief material. Now the BSSIC claims that it supplied material worth only Rs 22 lakh and that it has so far been paid only Rs 13 lakh. Documents show that the rest of the money went to an employee of the BSSIC, B K Singh, who appears in the records as the man who raised the bills and received payments from Goswami. But the BSSIC insists that no one by that name works for it. Further investigations reveal that the rest of the money was indeed paid to the BSSI. But this particular BSSI was Baba Satya Sai Industries, a firm that does not figure in the official list of relief suppliers. According to bank records, Baba Satya Sai Industries received around Rs 17.45 crore from the district magistrate s account. A person called Sanjeev Kumar Singh operated the bank account in Patna. Sources say both B K Singh and Sanjeev Kumar were suppliers, to whom the Bihar Small Scale Industries Corporation (BSSIC) outsourced its initial orders worth Rs 22 lakh. The probe also revealed that while over 800 people drowned in the Bihar flooding, and five fell to police bullets in a fight for relief material, the official records show that Rs 37 lakh and Rs 11 lakh were spent on housing and feeding the relief crew.

Parliament adjourns over Doda carnage (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: An unrelenting Opposition today dragged the Government over the coals over its refusal to have a discussion on the recent massacre of 35 Hindus and other migrants in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda and Udhampur Districts. Trooping into the Well of the House, the Opposition raised a shindig about it what it termed was a very serious issue. Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on the other hand tried to calm the Opposition and asked them to raise the issue during Zero Hour. However, the Opposition, led by Bharatiya Janata Party leader V K Malhotra, without paying heed to the Speaker raised slogans against Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. Pranab Mukherjee present in the House said, there was no need to suspend the Question Hour, despite the fact that the issue was serious and should be condemned by all in the House. "It cannot be the subject of an adjournment motion. We have no problem in discussing the issue any time even today," he said. The BJP members did not budge from the well of the House, despite the Speakers assurance for a discussion soon after the Question Hour. Failing to control the Opposition members, Chatterjee adjourned the House for 15 minutes. Militants belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba attacked the Kulhan area of Doda district on May 1 killing 35 Hindus. The terrorists first queued up the people and then killed them. A day before, the militants killed four Hindus hours after their abduction from Udhampur district of the State.

Shayan Munshi quizzed by police (Go To Top)

       New Delhi: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Delhi Police questioned the model-turned-Bollywood actor, Shayan Munshi in connection with the Jessica Lal murder case. According to police sources, the SIT, probing the destruction of evidence in the murder case, sought an explanation from the actor for leaving the country without informing the Delhi Police despite having a look-out circular issued against him. However, Munshi, who was one of the witnesses in the Jessica murder case who later turned hostile, claimed he had no knowledge of a look out notice against him nor he was informed by the Delhi Police about the same, while talking to reporters earlier today. Munshi was arrested from the immigration counter of the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata while trying to leave for Bangkok along with his wife. He was later released on bail but he had to hand over his passport. Munshi, a prime witness in the high-profile murder case at Delhi's upmarket Tamarind Court seven years ago, had turned hostile and had retracted the earlier statement that he had given to the Delhi Police. With the re-trial of the Jessica case soon to begin in the Delhi High Court, and Munshi being a prime witness, the Delhi Police had issued a look-out notice for him along with a transit remand that debarred him from leaving the country without prior information to the Delhi Police. Munshi was an aspiring model when Jessica was murdered in 1999. His earlier statement given to Delhi police had implicated prime accused Manu Sharma and his friend Vikas Yadav. With Munshi turning hostile along with a score of hostile witness, the case against Mannu and Vikas weakened leading to the acquittal of all the ten accused in the case.

Bihar local poll violence: 6 killed  (Go To Top)
by Ajay Sharma

       Patna: Violence during Panchayat elections in Bihar resulted in the death of six persons, besides leaving several other wounded as clashes erupted between the administration and the local populace. Four deaths were reported from Nawada district. The deceased have been identified as Hira Mathur, Arjun Mahto, Ram Dev and Pintu Singh. Twelve have been injured in clashes between the administration and the supporters. They are all being treated at the Nawada District Hospital. One death was also reported in Wazirganj block of Gaya and another in Vaishali. Vaishali also accounted for six injured, following mob violence at Majhauli panchayat when agitated supporters pelted stones on the vehicle of Circle Officer of the district, injuring his driver. Elsewhere, violence erupted in booth no 10 and 11 in Chandigaon village in Ara district's Koilwar block. The public resorted to stone throwing, damaging one police vehicle stationed nearby. In retaliation, the police resorted to baton charge injuring two- three people. Outraged, the local people poured ink inside the ballot boxes, boycotting the elections. Elections have now been stopped and forces deployed to maintain calm in the area. In Patna district's Dhanarua block, police opened fire on a rampaging mob, injuring six people. Over 55,000 candidates are in the fray for over 28,000 posts of Panchayati institutions and around 54 lakh electorates will be casting their vote at the elections.

Christians plan protests against Da Vinci Code

      New Delhi/Kolkata: Christians on Monday vowed peaceful protests across the country if authorities did not ban the screening of the controversial film, "The Da Vinci Code". The call for peaceful protests by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) came on a day when a powerful organisation of Islamic clerics promised to help Christian groups launch protests against the film. Protests in India against the film has so far been low key, but several Catholic groups have threatened to stage street demonstrations and even shut down cinema halls screening the controversial movie. CBCI officials however, said they would not tolerate any kind of violent protest.

     Powerful Islamic clerics have joined the issue with the Christians, saying "The Da Vinci Code" is blasphemous as it spreads lies about Jesus Christ. "The Da Vinci code" is an adaptation of author Dan Brown's best- seller by the same name that suggests that Jesus married his female disciple Mary Magdalene and had a child with her. The film is slated for world-wide release at the end of this week. The Vatican has also condemned the book and the film and asked Christians across the world to boycott "The Da Vinci Code".

    In India, leaders of the two communities met politicians and police in the Mumbai on Saturday, urging authorities to stop the screening of the film. Several Indian Christian groups have said they would protest against the film, with one little known Catholic organisation even calling on Christians to begin a fast until death. Last week, small groups of protesters marched in Mumbai and burned a copy of the book. "When Dan Brown comes up with a story like that then it is blasphemous. Regarding protests, we will not have any protest. I have heard that in Mumbai there were some protests regarding the release of the movie, but we will not protest like this. Everyone has his or her own way of protest. The church is not doing it. But we are teaching the Christians and the public about the teachings of Jesus and what is the truth behind it," said Father Paul, president of West Bengal Signis Catholic Association, in Kolkata.

Sensex tumbles below 12,000 mark (Go To Top)

      Mumbai: It was another "Black Monday" on the Indian stock markets today as the benchmark Sensex crashed by 463 points to close at 11,822. Following a two-day fall coupled with weakness in global markets, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-share sensitive index opened 12.47 points down at 12,272.64. Selling gained momentum in the noon deals which saw the benchmark index break the 12,000-mark for the first time this month. The index tumbled all the way to a low of 11,771 - down 514 points from the previous close. The Sensex finally closed 462.91 points down at 11,822.20. The benchmark index has shed 6.7 per cent or 849 points from its life-time peak in just three trading sessions. In the broader markets, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty closed 4.3 per cent or 147.10 points down at 3,502.95 after it plunged 167.20 points at 3482.85. All the sectoral indices closed in the red. The BSE metal index tumbled 10.7 per cent or 1188 points to close at 9,938. It was the biggest loser among sectoral indices.