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March 25, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Polls in 4 states, UT likely in May Wanted MP roams freely Mamata to meet
Sonia on seat sharing BJP’s solidarity
show today BJP sees Cong conspiracy |
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| Congress rules out no-trust vote Dehra Dun, March 24 There is no move by the Congress to bring a vote of no confidence against the Central Government in the near future after the expose of a shady arms deal by tehelka.com. Addressing mediapersons here this evening, Mr Santosh Bagrodia, member of the Upper House and a senior Congress leader, said the government should resign owning collective responsibility. Spectrum allocation norms finalised Ultras gun
down 5 in Tripura Subba held for attack on Ghisingh Red Fort shootout: 7 chargesheeted TUs call for strike on April 16
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Polls in 4 states, UT likely in May New Delhi, March 24 Even as the Assam Government has demanded two-day election in the state, the EC is expected to go in for one day poll only as governments and opposition parties in other three states and the union territory had favoured a one-day poll, the commission sources said here today. The three-member commission headed by Dr M.S. Gill would draw up poll schedule in such a manner so as to allow the new governments sufficient time to settle down before expiry of the five-year tenure of the assemblies, the sources said. While announcing the schedule, the commission would take into account festivals in various regions so that these did not clash with the polling dates. The final dates for filing of nominations, withdrawals, polling and counting would be announced soon after the return of Dr Gill on March 27 after a two-day visit to Tamil Nadu. The commission has already held
in-depth discussions with the state governments as also the Union Home Ministry for the deployment of paramilitary forces and polling personnel during the polls. During his visit to Tamil Nadu, Dr Gill will have an exhaustive discussion with the State Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, Director-General of Police and Chief Electoral Officer and review the poll preparations and the law and order situation in the state. He will also meet leaders of various political parties. While the tenure of the Tamil Nadu assembly ends on May 21, that of Kerala ends on May 28. The tenure of the West Bengal and Pondicherry assemblies expires on June 9 and Assam on June 11, respectively. |
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Wanted MP roams freely Patna, March 24 As per the state police claim the new team of Siwan SP and DM had started a manhunt to nab the MP. Also, the Patna airport always has the state’s Intelligence police, the Special Branch men deputed there to prevent any wanted criminal sneaking out of the state. The airport being a sensitive one from extremism and ISI point of view, the IB people are present round the clock. Could it be possible that the police did not get the air of it? Why the airport authorities did not inform the police? Or did they? It is believed that the Special Branch police had informed the top brass. But there is the belief that the government ill-afforded his arrest, as it would have meant inviting instant trouble. The Siwan MP’s arrest could have an adverse impact on the communal harmony of the state. Also, some of the minority community ministers are already sore over the Siwan MP not getting the ‘right kind of support’ from the government and ruling party boss. Apparently, the DGP of the state, Mr R.R. Prasad, denied having any information about the Siwan MP taking a flight to Delhi saying he was in the Assembly. He was there no doubt. The U-turn of the state government on the Siwan episode is another interesting aspect. The government on Friday set aside what its team of ministers had observed few days back after visiting the MP’s village. It is being felt in political circles that after the Siwan MP, Md. Shahabudin came to the state capital from his hiding place in Siwan, Laloo Prasad Yadav attempted to contact him and even sent feelers to talk to him but the MP is learnt to have refused to meet him. He had however had rounds of talks with some leaders, learnt to be dissidents, at the residence of his relative and a minister. His plan to visit Delhi too was no secret according to sources. The political observers belief, that the government ordered a judicial enquiry and made a turn around against the Siwan MP only after the RJD boss was made sure that the MP had fallen apart and tilted towards the rebel camp for good, is not totally out of place. The dissident leader and MP, Mr Ranjan Yadav, is coming tomorrow to Patna from Delhi and only after his arrival it would be made clear what really is cooking. |
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Mamata to meet
Sonia on seat sharing Kolkata, March 24 On the other hand after the TMC’s withdrawal from the NDA and Ms Banerjee’s move for an alliance with the Congress the BJP has now adopted a counter-offensive on the TMC in inviting all other NDA allies to join against the Left front and the TMC-Congress combine. The BJP is also organising an election meeting at the brigade parade ground some time in the middle of April on behalf of the NDA, which will be addressed by Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and Mr L.K. Advani. Mr Muzafar Khan, vice-president, BJP state unit, claimed they had received tremendous response from the Samata Party, BJD, Jana Shakti (Ram Vilas Paswan) and others and soon a state-level NDA would be formed to fight against the CPM, Congress and other vested interests. Mr Somen Mitra, former WBPCC President, said there had been preliminary talks on seat adjustment with the TMC and further talks would be held. Meanwhile, Mr Kamal Nath, AICC General Secretary, in charge of West Bengal, has been taking an initiative for a meeting between Mrs Gandhi and Ms Banerjee. But the decision on seat sharing would be finalised after talks at the state-level, Mr Mitra clarified. He said for seat-sharing with the Congress, TMC would have to restart talks on seat allotment, which Ms Banerjee had agreed to earlier as partner of the NDA. “But ours is an old nationalist party and we in no case will agree on 30-40 seats, and our minimum demand will be at least 100 seats,” he stressed. The TMC, however, is divided on the Congress demand on sharing of seats. While leaders like Mr Pankaj Banerjee, Mr Sovondeb Chattopadhyya and Mr Sudip Banerjee want the Congress should not get more than 50 seats, on the other hand Mr Subrata Mukherjee, Mayor, Kolkata, Mr Saugata Roy, Mr Paresh Pal and Mr Sultan Ahmed favoured that the Congress should be accommodated more seats, including the 39 seats, previously allotted to the BJP. This being the pre-poll scenario, it is certain that the decision has become meaningless as the BJP has now decided to field candidates for all 294 seats. The Congress, if no agreement is reached with the TMC, may also field candidates for all seats. |
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BJP’s solidarity
show today New Delhi, March 24 Tight security arrangements have been made for the rally at the Capital’s sprawling Ramlila Maidan, which will be addressed among others by Union Ministers L.
K.Advani, Ram Vilas Paswan, Sharad Yadav, Manohar Joshi and T. R.
Baalu. Other speakers at the “solidarity show” include Mr Farooq Abdullah, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Mr Om Prakash Chautala and Mr Naveen
Patnaik, besides newly appointed BJP President Jana Krishnamurthy and MDMK
leader
Vaiko. PTI |
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BJP sees Cong conspiracy New Delhi, March 24 If it was the Congress which, referring to the Kanpur incidents, had indirectly accused the BJP of trying to stoke communal passions to deflect people’s attention from the Tehelka expose, the BJP today charged the Congress with trying to destabilise the Central government. BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra, setting the tone for tomorrow’s NDA rally which is to be addressed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, said today that the burning of Koran, the crash in the stock market and the Tehelka expose were part of a conspiracy in which the involvement of the Congress could not be ruled out. “The way the Congress is taking advantage of the three controversies, it appears there is a conspiracy to destabilise the government,” he said. Mr Malhotra said rumours about burning of Koran were spread to cause riots and communal tension in the country. Claiming that tomorrow’s rally would be the biggest since the 1977 Janata Party rally, Mr Malhotra said, “It will expose the Congress design and place the truth before the people”. The Opposition, he said, had not allowed Parliament to function to prevent the true picture about the Tehelka expose from coming to light. Like the Congress, the NDA has also decided to hold rallies throughout the country in the next three weeks and a few of these rallies will be
addressed by Mr Vajpayee. Tomorrow’s NDA rally is expected to be attended by people from Delhi and neighbouring states. Apart from Mr Vajpayee, the rally will be addressed by Mr L.K. Advani, former Defence Minister and NDA convener George Fernandes, Jan Shakti President Ram Vilas Paswan, Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav, Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi,
MDMK leader Vaiko, DMK leader T.R. Balu and BJP President Jana Krishnamurthy. The Chief Ministers of Punjab, Haryana, Orissa and Jammu and Kashmir, whose parties are in the NDA, will also address the rally. The BJP Chief Ministers from six states will also attend the function. Admitting that the morale of BJP workers had gone down after the Tehelka expose, Mr Malhotra, however, said they had come over the initial setback. |
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Congress rules out no-trust vote Dehra Dun, March 24 It would only be after the resignation of the Central government that the Congress would initiate a campaign for an alternative government through dialogues with the like-minded parties. In reply to a question, Mr Bagrodia said the move to form a separate powerful group at the national level had already been initiated by the Congress President Sonia Gandhi. She was in touch with the party presidents of all anti-BJP parties. He ruled out the possibility of a debate in Parliament as there is enough documentary evidence against the “culprits”. The only thing left was to register an FIR against the culprits and let the law take its own course. Mr Bagrodia also criticised the BJP government for not allowing the Congress President to go on Doordarshan to give her speech, whereas a former Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, was allowed to give a speech on the Doordarshan pleading his innocence. Meanwhile, the BJP President of Uttaranchal, Mr Harish Rawat, has announced to go to the public against the attitude of the BJP-led Central Government after the tehelka expose.
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CPI opposes probe into Tehelka expose Dehra Dun, March 24 Lashing out at the PMO he said, “The Principal Secretary of Mr Vajpayee, Mr Brijesh Mishra, is misusing government offices like Press Information Bureau to give explanations. He also said similarly, the naval chief Admiral Sushil Kumar, was coming “In aid” of the former Defence Minister George Fernandes in the Barak defence deal. |
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Minister may file suit against Tehelka Bangalore, March 24 “Nobody approached me. No money was paid to me,” Mr Prasad, a Samata Party leader, told reporters here, rebutting the claims of tehelka that Rs 2 lakh was handed over to him reportedly at the residence of former Defence Minister George Fernandes. He said he was not in Delhi on December 28, when the reporters of tehelka, posing as arms dealers, claimed to have paid the money and he had left the national Capital soon after the winter session of Parliament was over on December 23. Maintaining that he was in Mysore at the time when the purported meeting took place, Mr Prasad, whose party leader Ms Jaya Jaitley had to quit as Samata Party President following the ‘expose,’ said he returned to Delhi only on February 18. He said from the tapes it was clear that only Ms Jaitly, a retired Army officer and two men from tehelka were present and asked how the portal could claim that the money was paid to him for the party national convention in Mysore in January. “There is nothing in the tape to show receipt of money,” he said and asserted that no Samata Party functionary was present. Alleging a conspiracy to dislodge the NDA government, he said he would file a defamation suit. “The extent of damages to be claimed is being worked out,” he said. PTI |
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Spectrum allocation norms finalised New Delhi, March 24 According to the procedure, on installation of point of presence (PoP) in the local call area short distance charging area (SDCA), spectrum to the extent of 2.5 mhz plus 2.5 mhz in specific bands would be allocated resulting in cost-effective solutions, an official press note said here. “Subsequent allocation of spectrum up to 5 mhz has been linked to roll-out obligations in terms of setting up of PoPs in various SDCAs,” the statement said. This is, however, subject to the outcome of the petition filed by the Cellular Association of India before the Telecom Appellate Tribunal challenging the government’s decision to allow limited mobility to basic operators. The procedure also laid down a spectrum allocation of not more than 10 mhz (5 mhz plus 5 mhz) in specific bands or 5 mhz for another band for micro-cellular architecture base systems for basic service operators. “In case of Delhi, which is also a service area, spectrum allocation has been linked to the subscriber base roll-out,” it said, adding that the allocation of spectrum linked with the roll-out would result in faster roll-out of network by the basic service operators with cost-effective solutions. The existing operators who have been permitted to use spectrum in handheld sets in the wireless in local loop (WLL) system have also been brought into this regime. “The licensees not able to meet their roll-out obligations for any of the first three phases as stipulated in the guidelines for grant of licence for basic service shall forfeit their right to use the spectrum. This is irrespective of any other action that may be taken by the licensor,” the statement said. |
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Ultras gun down 5 in Tripura Agartala, March 24 Militants also looted a carbine, a self-loading rifle, a wireless set, besides large quantities of ammunition. The Director-General of Police, Mr
B.L. Vohra told reporters here that the guerrillas sprayed bullets from the side of a hill when a CRPF vehicle was escorting a passenger truck to
Ambassa, Dhalai district’s headquarters. Two jawans and three civilians, who were travelling in the truck, were killed. The injured were admitted to the government hospital where the condition of three of them was stated to be critical. UNI |
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Subba held for attack on Ghisingh Kolkata, March 24 He was produced before a local court in Siliguri and remanded in police custody. The police had been looking for him for quite some time after the security forces busted a training camp inside a dense forest in Kalimpong sub-division in Darjeeling district. Mr Subba, who reportedly masterminded the attack on Mr Ghisingh, was hiding in Nepal. The West Bengal Government had put pressure on the Nepalese Government through the Centre for his arrest and subsequent hand-over. UNI |
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Red Fort shootout: 7 chargesheeted New Delhi, March 24 In two separate charge sheets filed before Metropolitan Magistrate A.K. Sarpal, Delhi Police has named Rahmana, Yusuf Farooqi, Babar Mohsin Bhagwala, Devender Singh, Shahanshah Alam, Rajiv Kumar Malhotra and Arif, Alias Ashfaq as accused under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code, Arms Act and Explosive Substances Act. They have been charged with murder, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and waging war against the country.
PTI |
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TUs call for strike on April 16 New Delhi March 24 In a statement here, the leaders of eight trade unions —
AITUC, CITU, HMS, INTUC, AICCTU, UTUC, UTUC-lS and TUCC — said the entire trade union movement in the country condemned the Budget and called upon the working class, irrespective of affiliations, to unite and protest against the Budget. “The Budget provisions are going to make the already grave unemployment situation more serious. The employment generation rate has already gone down at the level of 0.5 per cent in industries and services. The situation will aggravate further by the announcement to downsize workforce in the government departments by 2 per cent annually in the next five years and the announcement of closure of sick
PSUS,” they said. The trade unions also said on one hand, the Budget had given huge concessions to the rich and big business lobby, both Indian and foreign, in the form of direct tax cuts to the tune of Rs 5500 crore, while on the other it had imposed a huge burden on the common people through increased excise duties mainly on mass consumables to the tune of Rs 4677 crore. UNI |
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