M A I N   N E W S

Gujarat Speaker to go on fast
Cong seeks recall of pro-RSS Governor

Gandhinagar, March 23
The bedlam in the Gujarat Assembly today took a turn for the worse with Speaker Dhirubhai Shah announcing a 72-hour fast and the Congress demanding the shifting of Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari.

Mr Shah said he would go on fast from March 30 before the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in front of the Assembly over the “violent and destructive” activities of the Congress MLAs in the House during the past two days.

Leader of the Opposition, Amarsinh Choudhary, who along with all other Congress MLAs, was suspended for the rest of the Budget session last evening triggering the violence, said the Congress legislators would meet President K.R. Narayanan to demand the shifting of Mr Bhandari for his “pro-RSS bias” and refusal to meet them.

The Speaker’s announcement came just before adjourned the House for the day today. The attack and wanton rampaging in his chamber was “an assault on the Speaker’s office,” he said.

“Such incidents should not take place in the Vidhan Sabha of a state that gave birth to Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel,” he said.

In his suo motu statement, Mr Shah said the fast was aimed at strengthening democracy in the state did not recur.

Industry and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Mehta and other ministers and BJP MLAs urged the Speaker not to go on fast.

A criminal complaint was registered against seven Opposition Congress members of the Gujarat Assembly for ransacking furniture and breaking window panes of Speaker Dhirubhai Shah’s chamber yesterday, the police said today. The members were protesting against the suspension of eight of their colleagues, including Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Amarsinh Chaudhary. PTI

Charge sheet against Jaya

Chennai, March 23
A chargesheet against former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalitha, relating to an alleged investment of Rs 43.98 crore in two star hotels in London, was today filed by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) in the court of the Principal Judge here.

Mr T.T.V.Dinakaran, AIADMK MP and nephew of Jayalalitha’s close aide Sasikala Natarajan, has also been named as a co-accused. PTI

CBT for lower PF interest rate cut

New Delhi, March 23
The Provident Fund Trustees today recommended a cut of 0.75 per cent in interest rates at 10.25 per cent on the statutory savings by employees against 1.5 per cent lowering of rates on most administered rates proposed by Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha in Union Budget for 2001-02.

The decision to recommend lower interest rate was taken at a special meeting of the Central Board of Trustees of the Employees’ Provident Fund, chaired by Labour Minister S.N. Jatiya here.

“It is the recommendation of the CBT that interest rates (on EPF) should be 10.25 per cent from April 2001. It is up to the government to implement it,” Mr Jatiya told reporters after the meeting. PTI