| Cabinet
expansion scheduled for Thursday New
Delhi: Union Council of Ministers will be expanded on Thursday, with the swearing-in
ceremony of the second lot of ministers to be held at 11.30 a.m. at Rashtrapati
Bhavan. UPA Chairperson and Congress President Sonia Gandhi today met Prime Minister
Dr. Manmohan Singh for a second round of discussions on expansion of the Council
of Ministers. She was accompanied by her political advisor Ahmed Patel. Earlier
in the day, Gandhi chaired a meeting of the Congress core group, which was attended
by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A K Antony and Ahmed Patel.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi had a marathon four-hour meeting
to discuss the expansion. As reported the DMK has already announced its decision
to join the Government. The expansion is expected to have Ministers from the DMK,
Jammu and Kashmir National Conference and other allies of the Congress. According
to sources, Trinamool Congress and Sharad Pawar's NCP are the two allies putting
pressure on the UPA over the issue of Cabinet berths. Besides, the Congress is
undecided on allocating portfolios to some of its own leaders like Kamal Nath,
Kapil Sibal and HR Bhardwaj. In the first round of swearing-in on Friday, only
19 ministers were inducted along with the Prime Minister. Portfolios have been
allocated to only six ministers. The induction was a truncated affair as DMK,
a key constituent of the UPA, was unhappy over the number of ministerial berths
being offered by the Congress and threatened to support the government from outside.
Bengal cyclone
toll mounts to 60 Top Kolkata:
The death toll due to havoc caused by cyclone 'Aila' in West Bengal has increased
to 60. The highest number of deaths occurred in South 24 Parganas district followed
by North 24 Parganas, Kolkata and Howrah. Aila also wrecked havoc in Hooghly,
Burdwan and Bankura districts of West Bengal on Monday. About 22 lakh people across
the state have suffered losses, according to Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty.
The state government has released Rs.1 crore for rescue and relief so far. Eighteen
hundred tonne of rice and one-lakh tarpaulins have been requisitioned for the
purpose. The ruling Left Front Government in Bengal seems to have finally woken
up to the demands of the people after the crushing defeat in the recently held
Lok Sabha polls. In an effort to regain contact with the common man, Chief Minister
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today personally visited a relief camp in Nimpith Panchayat
under Joynagar Block in South 24 Parganas district, and assured the victims of
all government support. One of the major criticisms, which emerged against Left
leaders after the poll debacle, was on their growing inaccessibility and loss
of contact from the grass root levels. Bhattacharjee's visit to the village camp
is being seem as an effort to assure the people that the ruling Left Front has
not abandoned them. The worst affected South 24 Parganas' district administration
has set up over 250 relief camps to accommodate those who have lost their home
and hearth to high speed winds and high tides in the Sunderbans delta area. The
Chief Minister asked the victims not to worry about their lost homes, and promised
them that money to rebuild homes would be made available within a few days time.
Bhattacharjee has assured that 57 tonne of dry food would be dispatched to the
district expeditiously. He advised the victims in the camp to keep an eye on their
children and ensure that all got proper food. The rest, he said would be taken
care of by the government. Pak
SC declares Sharif brothers eligible to contest elections Top Islamabad:
Revoking the Lahore High Court's verdict disqualifying former Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif from contesting elections, the Pakistan
Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday declared the Sharif brothers eligible for fighting
elections. The five-member SC bench headed by Justice Tassadaq Hussain Jilani,
while hearing the review petitions filed by the Sharifs' against their disqualification
on the conviction in plane hijacking case and default case respectively ordered
to lift the ban on them. Earlier, the apex court had upheld the Lahore High Court's
(LHC) verdict in February after the two consistently refused to appear before
the before the PCO judges and SC three-member bench, during hearing of the petitions.
Later, Shahbaz Sharif was removed from the post of Punjab chief minister and governors'
rule was imposed in the province. Nawaz Sharif, had then called on a nation wide
protest march against the verdict and to restore the judiciary including reinstating
the deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. On March 16, following the
restoration of the deposed judges, Sharif brothers had filed review petitions
in the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leaders have hailed
the Supreme Court's verdict. The PML-N Secretary Information, Ahsan Iqbal said
the Supreme Court's verdict would lead to strengthening the democracy. Iqbal blamed
former President Pervez Musharraf for hatching a conspiracy against the Sharif
brothers. Another PML-N leader, Javed Hashmi termed the SC's verdict as a victory
of justice and truth. "It is a day of jubilation for the entire nation, and the
decision will put the country on the path of progress and prosperity.The judiciary
has foiled the conspiracies hatched against the people," The News quoted Hashmi,
as saying. Sons
of a betel shop owner clear IIT entrance Top Ranchi:
Two sons of a small betel shop owner have cracked the entrance exam for admission
to prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). Vikki and Vivek Kumar Sharma
have scored national ranks of 6,649 and 5,160 respectively in the highly competitive
test, results of which were declared on Monday. "This is a big victory for me
and my parents. My family members were anxiously waiting for the result for past
one year. They were hoping that I will clear IIT entrance," said Vivek Kumar Sharma.
Both the brothers were extremely thrilled about the opportunity that they will
get and were looking forward to join the esteemed institution. Besides clearing
the entrance test, Vivek has also managed to score 91 percent marks in his Class
XIIth board exam. National identity
cards for all citizens by 2011: Chidambaram Top New
Delhi: To keep an eye on terrorists often mixing with common people, the Union
Government has initiated an unique scheme to provide a multipurpose national identity
number to every citizen in the country by 2011. “The national population register
will be ready by 2011 and the multipurpose national identity cards (MNIC) will
be issued to all residents in 2011,” Union home minister P Chidambaram said. However,
as the process is very complex, a pilot project has already been under implementation
on an experimental basis covering a population of 30.95 lakhs in selected areas
in 12 states and one Union territory. The identity card would be a smart card
having a microprocessor chip recommended by a technical committee constituted
by the government having representatives from National Informatics Centre, IIT
Kanpur, Bharat Electronics Limited, Indian Telephone Industries Limited, Electronics
Corporation of India Limited, Intelligence Bureau and others. The identity smart
cards are being issued to citizens of 18 years and more under the pilot project.
Budget in first
week of July: Pranab Top New
Delhi: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said the government would
present the budget for 2009-10 in the first week of July. "I would not like to
have a second batch of vote on account. The budget will be presented in the first
week of July," he told a news channel. Dwelling on issues to be addressed in the
budget, he said, "There are certain sectors which have been very badly hit by
the global financial crisis -- external factors. Export sector, particularly --
textiles, leather, gems and jewellery. Their problems have to be addressed. We
have strength in economy; Indian economy is resilient. Whatever the economy needs
will be done." Earlier, Mukherjee had expressed hope that the government would
be able to present the budget in time to avoid uncertainties. Mukherjee had presented
an interim budget in February. He had sought the approval from the Parliament
for withdrawal of money from the consolidated fund only till July 31. The government
is required to get the budget passed by Parliament by July 31 as the vote-on-account
(which allows government to withdraw money from Consolidated Fund) sought in the
interim budget comes to end on July 31. Special
monthly railway pass for poor Top Kolkata:
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee today announced a special monthly pass for the
poor, to enable them to travel 100 km for just Rs 20. Those earning below Rs 500
per month can avail of this facility, Banerjee said. Indian Railways would also
extend full cooperation and assistance to all passengers stranded across various
railway stations in North India due to the unrest in Punjab. Banerjee assured
harried passengers that as soon as the security clearance came through, Railways
would make arrangements to reach each one of them to their scheduled destination.
Banerjee said passengers who had gone to Amarnath and stranded in Jammu would
be taken care of as well as passengers stranded at stations like Saharanpur, Jalandhar
etc. She said those stranded at Delhi were assisted to reach their respective
destinations yesterday and others in different places too would be helped as soon
as CRPF gave the security clearance. She admitted that there was some problem
related to supply of food to the passengers. She thanked the Gurudwaras which
had come forward to offer food to stranded passengers. She said the food problem
had arisen due to the curfew in different places in Punjab leading to all shops
being closed. Ms Banerjee assured that the food problem too would be sorted out
soon. Pending the Railway budget, scheduled to be placed in Parliament before
July 31, Banerjee also showed a keenness to improve commercial activity and support
industrialization and economic growth through the Railways. The Ludhiana-Kolkata
freight corridor would be completed on a priority basis to commercially help states
like Punjab, Delhi, UP, Bihar and West Bengal and also to help in employment generation
in these states, the new minister announced. She said modernization of railway
stations would be taken up on a war footing and special focus would be given to
develop Rail facility in Jammu and Kashmir. The Railways would emphasize connectivity
from ports, from coastal areas and link all tourist destinations in the country
to promote trade and tourism, Ms Banerjee said. Expressing condolences to the
kith and kin of those killed under the impact of Cyclone Aila in West Bengal,
Banerjee asked all present at the media conference to observe a minute’s silence
in their memory. Ms Banerjee is scheduled to take a special train to Kakdwip,
one of the worst Cyclone hit areas, to meet the victims and offer assistance.
40,000
railway passengers stranded in Punjab Top Chandigarh:
At least 40,000 train passengers have been left stranded inside and outside railway
stations across Punjab following disruption of railway traffic by supporters of
a Sikh outfit. Public unrest and violence in the state has also affected the movement
of buses. The Guwahati-Jammu Himgiri Express was the first train that passed through
Ludhiana on Tuesday morning. The Dadar-Amritsar Express, the Mumbai-Amritsar Deluxe
and the Shaheed Express, bound for Punjab and Jammu have been terminated at Ambala
junction. Three other trains, the Amritsar-Nanded Sachkhand Express, the Amritsar-Jansewa
Express and the Meerut-Ludhiana Superfast, have also been cancelled. Meanwhile,
protestors have set up barricades on roads. |
