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Friday,
April 11, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Cong may
back BJP on delimitation issue Sonia
exercise to revive party MP puts
BJP in a bind No bias in
issuance of passports |
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A-I
flights to Kuwait to continue TN Oppn
MLAs held, let off NORTH INDIA IN
PARLIAMENT
Probe
into looting by PAC jawans ASI gets
5 more weeks for digging Twist
to Bihar kidnapping case Byelections
on May 21 Russia
invites IT experts Prem
Bhatia scholarships Badal
meets PM
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Cong may back BJP on delimitation issue New Delhi, April 10 The BJP-led NDA government needs the support of the Congress to ensure the amendment is passed, if moved, as it lacks strength in the Rajya Sabha. In a first step towards building a consensus, BJP Parliamentary Party leader V K Malhotra today held informal talks on the issue with Congress’ Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Shiv Raj Patil, party sources said. Mr Patil is understood to have responded positively to the BJP viewpoint that the delimitation process should be undertaken on the basis of 2001 census, sources said, adding senior leaders of both parties were likely to meet soon to formally debate and decide on the issue. Even as the Delimitation Commission headed by Justice Kuldip Singh has began the process of delimitation of parliamentary constituencies, members of Parliament belonging to various political parties have expressed displeasure over the process initiated by the commission has it could have an impact on their electoral prospects in the General Election due to alterations in existing constituencies. However, if the government manages to get the amendment on making 2001 census as the basis for delimitation, the Delimitation Commission may not be able to complete its task before the coming Lok Sabha poll as it will have to start the whole delimitation process afresh. Moreover, the final population figures of the 2001 census is awaited and is expected only after about three months. |
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Sonia exercise to revive party New Delhi, April 10 As part of the exercise, it has been planned to create a post of the party Vice-President who would function as an interface between the party leaders and workers, sources say. They also say that a CWC member and senior Congress leader, Mr Arjun Singh may be brought to this position — a post he held in the Rajiv Gandhi era. Mr Arjun Singh may be appointed a Working President, if the post of the party Vice-President is not created. Mr Pranab Mukherjee is also in the reckoning for the post. Ms Sonia Gandhi is also thinking of bringing in either Mr Buta Singh or Mr G. Venkatswamy as one of the party General Secretaries with a view to providing the party with a Dalit face. In the process, Mr Mukul Wasnik, who enjoys the patronage and backing of Ms Sonia Gandhi’s Political Secretary, Ms Ambika Soni, may be on his way out. The AICC Treasurer, Mr Motilal Vora also appears to be on his way out, as Ms Sonia Gandhi is, reportedly, thinking of sending him to the Chattisgarh PCC. Mr Vora, who hails from the newly created state, is being sent there to arrest the drift in the party particularly in view of a senior Congress leader, Mr V.C. Shukla leaving the party. The Congress chief may also curtail the powers of Ms Ambika Soni. Sources say that it is almost certain that she will no more be party in charge for the media. Ms Soni, who is in charge of the party in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Kerala and Chattisgarh, has not been able to handle the dissidence in these states. The AICC insiders said these changes in her team might help the party only to a limited extent, as the real challenge for the Congress would come in Uttar Pradesh, where, one of her appointees, Mr Arun Kumar Singh Munna, had failed to give a direction to the party as the PCC president. The party in the state is divided as never before. Sources said Ms Sonia Gandhi would concentrate on her home state after she had completed her AICC exercise. |
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MP puts BJP in a bind New Delhi, April 10 While the BJP leadership wants that the Lok Sabha MP from Gorakhpur withdraws the Bill to save embarrassment to the government as the Uniform Civil Code issue is not part of the common minimum programme of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Mr Nath is understood to be adamant on having a debate on the issue. Till late last evening, the floor managers of the BJP were unable to impress upon Mr Nath to withdraw the Bill, party sources said. The problem for the BJP is that although Uniform Civil Code is very much part of the party agenda and its members are keen on the passage of the Bill, the party will not be in a position to support it on the floor of the House as the issue is not part of the agenda of the NDA. If Mr Aditya Nath remains adamant and the Bill is taken up for debate and passage as per the schedule tomorrow, the party will face embarrassment in the lower House as the NDA partners and the Opposition are bound to oppose it tooth and nail. Under the circumstances, sources said the options before the BJP to save embarrassment were to impress upon its MP to withdraw the Bill or ask him to absent himself in the House when the Bill is taken up for discussion. It may be recalled that Mr Nath’s private Bill was introduced in Parliament on December 17, 1999 and so far discussion on the Bill has taken place four times. When contacted, BJP spokesperson V.K. Malhotra said efforts were on to avoid any kind of embarrassment to the party and the NDA partners on the issue. Meanwhile, members of the NDA are likely to back a private member resolution on banning cow slaughter in the country, which is scheduled for debate and passage tomorrow afternoon. The resolution was placed before the Lok Sabha by a BJP MP from Gujarat, Mr Prahlad Singh Patel, on July 26, 2002. According to BJP sources, NDA partners are unlikely to oppose the resolution as the issue of ban on cow slaughter is part of the common minimum programme of the
NDA. |
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No bias in issuance of passports New Delhi, April 10 External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha informed the Rajya Sabha that clarifications had been sought on 20,000 applications between 1994 and 1999 from districts of the country. He sought to make it clear that the mention of religion was not required during issuance of passport and there was no question of any particular community being targeted. Mr Sinha said the notices were issued to all those who had incomplete or adverse police verification reports. Earlier, replying to a specific question that persons belonging to a minority community from Uttar Pradesh in general and Azamgarh district in particular had been served with showcause notices about cancellation of the passports issued from the Regional Passport Office in Lucknow, Minister of State for External Affairs Vinod Khanna said the whole process was computerised and no notice was issued by any individual. Minister of State for External Affairs Digvijay Singh said today that there was a growing momentum in support of India’s candidature for permanent membership to the UN Security Council. Many developed and developing countries had indicated support for India’s candidature, he told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply. |
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A-I flights to Kuwait to continue New Delhi, April 10 The decision comes after the Air-India management decided to continue its flights to South East Asia in spite of the SARS scare there. A press note issued here by Air-India said the decision had been motivated by the airlines commitment as a national carrier to the large loyal Indian clientele settled abroad. The IPG directive has baffled the management, as the worst phase of the Iraq war is already over and the air space has been regarded safe by international civil aviation organisations. |
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TN Oppn MLAs held, let off
Chennai, April 10 She told the House that the MLAs were released at 1330 hours. They were taken to the North Beach Police Station after their arrest under various sections of the IPC. Earlier, the opposition MLAs, including three women members, who were evicted from the Tamil Nadu Assembly, were arrested when they squatted in front of the Secretariat, protesting against the arrest of DMK leader M.K. Stalin and three other MLAs late last night and the government’s threat to use ESMA against its employees who went on a token strike today. The MLAs, led by Congress Legislature Party Leader S.R. Balasubramanian, were evicted from the House for obstructing the proceedings, when they demanded that question hour be suspended to discuss the two issues. Despite Speaker K. Kalimuthu’s offer to take up the issues after question hour, opposition MLAs belonging to the Congress, the PMK, the CPM and the CPI insisted that the issues be taken up as they were important. Tamil Nadu was facing an “extraordinary situation” and there was no use in sticking to the rules of the assembly, they contended. When the Speaker’s plea for calm went in vain, he named them and asked the leader of the house, C. Ponnaiyan, to move a resolution to suspend them from the House for the day. As the MLAs refused to leave the House even after their suspension, the watch and ward staff bundled them out. The slogan-shouting MLAs reached the Secretariat entrance and squatted there. They were arrested for disrupting traffic and taken to a police station. DMK President M Karunanidhi is reported to have met them at the police station. DMK MLAs have been boycotting the House for the past two days. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said Stalin and three other party MLAs were arrested as they “instigated” the agitation by the students of Queen Mary’s College and “trespassed the women’s college after threatening to finish off the watchman of the college”. “Action against the DMK MLAs is legal as they wanted to disrupt peace,” she told the assembly. Making a suo motu statement, the Chief Minister said the principal of the college had lodged a complaint with the police that Stalin, K. Ponmudi, J. Anbazhagan, S.M. Hussain and E.V. Velu, all DMK MLAs, accompanied by some DMK men, trespassed the college on April 8 after pushing the watchman out. The MLAs had told the peaceful students to continue their agitation against the demolition of the college complex for construction of a new Secretariat complex.
PTI, UNI |
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NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT New Delhi, April 10 Food and public distribution Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Subhash Maharia told the House that the government had issued directions to the Food Corporation of India to streamline its stock reporting system. The Managing Director,
FCI, had detected a discrepancy of nearly 50 lakh metric tonnes in wheat stocks stored with the state agencies in Punjab as on January 1, 2003, the minister informed the House. He said investigations by a committee of FCI officers, who visited Punjab, had revealed that the discrepancies arose due to deficiencies in the stock reporting system, following which the government issued directions to the corporation to streamline the system.
LPG bottling plants In order to meet the future LPG demand, the public sector oil marketing companies had drawn up plans to augment the LPG bottling capacity. During the 10th Plan, while one more bottling plant with a bottling capacity of 22 thousand metric tonnes per annum
(TMTPA) would come up in Punjab, two plants with 32 TMTPA capacity each would come up in Himachal Pradesh while one such plant would come up in Haryana, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Ram Naik informed the Lok
Sabha.
Electricity boards The cummulative commercial loss of the Punjab State Electricity Board was Rs 1,633 crore in 2001-02, Ms Jayawanti
Mehta, Minister of State for Power, informed the House. She said the losses (without subsidy) incurred by the state electricity boards were Rs 1,949 crore in Haryana, Rs 48 crore in Himachal and Rs 1,141 crore in Jammu and Kashmir.
Renewable energy sources Minister of State for Non-Conventional Energy Sources M. Kannapan told the House that under various renewable energy programmes, the amount of funds released was Rs 5.7 crore to Punjab, Rs 3.6 crore to Haryana, Rs 8.1 crore to Himachal Pradesh, Rs 1.2 crore to Jammu and Kashmir and Rs 5.8 crore to Chandigarh. |
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Probe into looting by PAC jawans Ayodhya, April 10 Faizabad District Magistrate Alok Kumar, who described the violence by PAC jawans as “unfortunate”, said steps were being taken to beef up security of devotees expected to arrive to attend the Ramnavami fair here tomorrow. Faizabad DIG K.N.D. Dwivedi, who reportedly suffered a heart attack at the site last evening, was out of danger, official sources said. Mr Dwivedi, whose car was set on fire by the PAC jawans, was rushed to a local hospital yesterday after he complained of chest pain. The jawans, who pelted stones and forced closure of shops in the area, allegedly looted some shops. An inquiry was being conducted into the alleged looting, said Mr Alok Kumar, who assured shopowners of compensation for the losses.
UNI |
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ASI gets 5 more weeks for digging
Lucknow, April 10 A Division Bench comprising Mr Justice Sudhir Narain, Mr Justice S.R. Alam and Mr Justice Bhanwar Singh passed the order on an ASI petition seeking further time of two and a half months to complete the excavation being carried out to ascertain if Babri Masjid was built on a temple. It directed the ASI to apprise the court of the progress made in the excavation on April 28. The court also directed the Magistrate in charge of the complex to engage adequate number of Muslim labourers in digging work.
PTI |
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Twist to Bihar kidnapping case Patna, April 10 Mr Atul Prakash Sinha in a complaint filed with Chief Judicial Magistrate Santosh Kumar Srivastava yesterday alleged that the Sub-Inspector of Kotwali police station here, Mr Ramakant Ram, who, along with two constables, took him into custody from Anand in Gujarat on April 4 for allegedly defrauding a number of Bihar politicians, confined him illegally in Gaya demanding money. The CJM has directed the Kotwali police station to register an FIR against the three policemen and investigate the allegation levelled against them by Mr Sinha, who is currently in judicial custody at Beur jail. According to the petition, the three policemen after taking the businessman into custody from the crime branch at Anand left for Patna by the Rajdhani Express to produce him before the court. RJD MLC Azad Gandhi and Mr Pappu Yadav, brother-in-law of Mr Subhash Yadav, MLC, who is brother of Chief Minister Rabri Devi had accompanied the police team to identify the businessman.
PTI |
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Byelections on May 21 New Delhi, April 10 According to the poll schedule, notifications will be issued on April 25. While the last date for filing nominations is May 2 scrutiny will take place the next day. The last date for the withdrawal of candidature is May 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on May 24.
TNS |
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Russia
invites IT experts New Delhi, April 10 Accompanied by a high-powered IT delegation, Mr Korotkov said Russia, like India, was focussing on empowering its rural population spread over 80,000 villages, using digital revolution. “We have sophisticated technology in the areas, including telecom and fibre optics”, he said. |
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Prem Bhatia scholarships New Delhi, April 10 The Trust offers three scholarships of Rs 60,000 for one year. Applicants should send a covering letter which includes their bio-data, a synopsis of the proposed subject of research, three clippings of published work and reference from the candidate’s editor, employer or other suitable person in case of self-employed candidates. While one scholarship is sponsored by the K.C. Mahindra Foundation, two are sponsored by Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. The first instalment is given on selection and the rest after approval of work in progress, including publication of articles on the subject of research in newspapers. The applications, along with supporting documents, should reach the trust by May 31, 2003 on the following address: Prem Bhatia Memorial Trust, C-484, Defence Colony, New Delhi-110024. |
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Badal meets PM New Delhi, April 10 The leaders, including Shiromani Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal, Union Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and BJP MP Lajpat Rai and party leader Satpal Gossian expressed their opposition to the imposition of 8 per cent excise duty on ready made garments, announced in the Union Budget 2003-04, as it would adversely affect the hosiery industry in Ludhiana and other parts of the state. The leaders were accompanied by representatives from the hosiery and textile industry. |
Mann
meets
President New Delhi, April 10 In a memorandum to the
President, Mr Mann said Bhullar was convicted under TADA, a lapsed law
now, and that his conviction came on the basis of a ‘’confession
extracted under torture and later retracted’’. UNI |
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