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China invites India to observe army exercises
Annoyed over attack on PM, BJP asks EC to intervene EC recognises 6 national parties BJP “vision document” to focus on Hindutva RJD minister quits over denial of ticket |
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Clue to theft of Tagore’s Nobel SC stays further allotment of PG medical seats Outsourcing backlash due to politicians: Roach Defamation suit against ‘The Hindu’ stayed PPP delegation meets
Brajesh Mishra Review Namdhari status, says NCM chief Complaint against Amisha’s parents US, Indian soldiers begin exercises
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China invites India to observe army exercises New Delhi, March 29 The agreement came at the talks between Defence Minister George Fernandes and the visiting Chinese Defence Minister and Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission Gen Cao Gangchuan here. The two leaders met for over 90 minutes at the South Block here which was followed by delegation level talks. The Chinese Defence Minister is on a five-day visit to India. He also visited Bangalore and Mumbai. General Gangchuan, who is leading a 17-member Chinese delegation, also made an offer to invite and host IAF to observe the future Red Army exercises. The Chinese offer comes close on the heels of first ever joint Sino-Indian Naval exercises. India also made a reciprocal offer to the Chinese armed forces officers. At the talks, the two countries reaffirmed commitment to continue to maintain peace and tranquility along their Himalyan border. “Both sides presented new proposals to strengthen and develop defence exchanges and confidence-building and encourage friendly interaction between border personnel posted at the Line of Actual control”, a Defence Ministry spokesman said after the talks. The two sides, the spokesman said, also agreed that training, including Chinese language training in defence institutions in India and sports and cultural exchanges between the armed forces of the two countries should be increased. General Gangchun later also called on Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. General Gangchun, who is the first Chinese Defence Minister to visit India after the 1962 Sino-Indian war, also presented a brief overview of the international situation and recent major
domestic developments, notably the recently concluded National People’s Congress Other major issues which figured in the talks, the spokesman said, included narrowing down the areas of differences and sustaining the momentum of the high-level exchanges between the two countries. Before meeting Mr Fernandes, the Chinese Defence Minister was given a ceremonial inter-services guard of honour. The three service chiefs Admiral Madhvendera Singh, Air Chief Marshal S. Krishnaswamy and Gen N.C. Vij called on the Chinese Minister. The Chinese delegation would be visiting the Army 50 Para-Brigade at Agra before leaving for Bangkok tomorrow. |
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Annoyed over attack on PM, BJP asks EC to intervene New Delhi, March 29 Charging that the Sajhi Virasat Trust has released three advertisements in the past 15 days was similar to the press advertisements being issued by the Indian National Congress in leading national newspapers, BJP General Secretary M.A. Naqvi in a letter urged the Election Commission to direct the Sajhi Virasat Trust, the Congress and all relevant television channels to forthwith desist from issuing or telecasting the said advertisement. The BJP, which has itself allegedly taken the “surrogate ad” route to attack Congress President Sonia Gandhi on the ‘foreign origin’ issue said “the first two advertisements released purport to express the dissatisfaction of some persons with the state of affairs in the country. In the third advertisement the Sajhi Virasat Trust has made completely false and slanderous allegations against the Prime Minister.” “This advertisement has referred to him by name and called him an ‘informer’,” the letter said. “Apart from being untrue these allegations are unsubstantiated. They have been repeated time and again by the Congress during the course of every election since 1977. These allegations have repeatedly been rejected by the people of India,” Mr Naqvi said in his letter. Claiming that these advertisements by the Sajhi Virasat Trust is a “thinly veiled” attempt to circumvent the instructions of the Election Commission it said “it is clear that all these advertisements are violative of the model code of conduct applicable to all political parties and are otherwise false, malicious and slanderous.” |
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EC recognises 6 national parties New Delhi, March 29 Two political parties, Janata Dal (Secular) and Janata Dal (United) which contested the last General Elections as national parties, have been recognised as State parties by the poll panel for the forthcoming elections. The six parties which have been recognised as national parties are the BSP, BJP, CPI, CPM, Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Of the seven parties which contested the 1999 general Elections, two have been recognised as state parties. The Commission has recognised 56 state parties across the country, with Tamil Nadu being the only state with four state parties. While seven states have three recognised state parties, eight each have one and two recognised state parties. The Commission following strict measure as codified in Election Symbol (Reservation and Allotment) Order 1968, recognises national and state parties. As per the order, a party shall be treated as a recognised national party if the candidates set up by it in four or more states in the last General Election or the state Assembly have not secured less than 6 per cent of the total valid votes polled in their respective states and it has returned at least four members to the Lok Sabha. |
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BJP “vision document” to focus on Hindutva New Delhi, March 29 However, the party is unlikely to make any sweeping promises vis-a-vis its ideological issues and maintain the same stated position pointing to the compulsions of “coalition politics”, party sources said. The nearly 30-page document, which would focus on development, stability and good governance, will spell out the party’s policy of economic liberalisation without completely giving up Swadeshi so as to ensure that there is proper utilisation of the vast reservoir of manpower and human resource the nation has. |
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RJD minister quits over denial of ticket
Patna, March 29 Mr Paswan went to the Anne Marg residence of the Chief Minister and submitted his resignation to Rabri Devi and RJD supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav. In his one-line resignation letter to Chief Minister, Mr Paswan said, “I am resigning from the Cabinet as Minister of State for Weights and Measure and Horticulture in the Agriculture Department. Kindly accept my resignation.”
— PTI |
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Clue to theft of Tagore’s Nobel Kolkata, March 29 The CID sources said they had raided some villages in the three neighbouring districts of Burdwan, Purulia and Bankura, along with several villages in Birbhum, last night in several batches and conducted searches. More than 200 persons were also interrogated. But none had been arrested. Nor was any of the stolen items recovered. However, there had been certain positive clues during the raids, which, the police hoped, would resolve the theft mystery soon. Another nobel laureate, Dr Amartya Sen said he would talk to the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Sujit Bose, and inquired about the maintenance of Tagore’s memorabilia and other valuables at Santiniketan. Dr Sen said the theft was shocking and painful and it was certainly a national loss. He said what was now more needed was to honour and spread the values and ideas which Rabindranath believed and fought for, Dr Sen emphasised. Meanwhile, according to CBI sources, a team of senior CBI officials will be reaching Santiniketan tomorrow for an on-the-spot inquiry. The CBI had formally taken over the inquire as requested by the state government. Two senior CBI officials would be reaching here tomorrow from New Delhi to meet the state government officials and the police to discuss about the incident. They would also meet Visva Bharati Vice-Chancellor. |
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SC stays further allotment of PG medical seats New Delhi, March 29 A Bench of Mr Justice R.C. Lahoti, Mr Justice Ashok Bhan and Mr Justice Arun Kumar told the Union Government counsel that only the constitution Bench would clarify the verdict. The Centre moved the application following a petition by one of the students, alleging that the government was not implementing the court order, which amounted to contempt of court. The constitution Bench in its November 4, 2003, judgment had said that henceforth 50 per cent intake for admissions to the PG medical courses in all institutions would be from the Central quota and the remaining 50 per cent for “institutional preferential” quota based on merit. The government pleaded that it be allowed to continue with the provision of 25 per cent Central quota and 75 per cent of institutional quota for this year, which was prevailing prior to the constitution Bench verdict. The government also contended that there were certain ambiguity in the judgment, which needed to be clarified. It said that the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) had advertised admissions on the basis of 25 per cent Central quota prior to the apex court ruling. Today was the last day of counselling for the PG admissions, which had started on March 15. |
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Outsourcing backlash due to politicians: Roach New Delhi, March 29 “This is simply politics and politicians are whipping up the sentiments of the people”, Chief Economist of Morgan Stanley Stephen S. Roach said. Even as President George W. Bush, who is seeking a second term, has been supporting trade liberalisation, Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry has been consistently arguing that the loss of jobs in the USA is directly linked to outsourcing to developing countries, Mr Roach added. There was also a possibility in the run-up to the elections that the present administration may resort to protectionist posturing, in the view of the fact that the Bush administration brought about a protectionist regime in steel prices, the Morgan Stanley chief economist said. Stating that a rebalancing of global finances was the need of the hour, Mr Roach said a more protectionist regime in the USA could result in devaluation of the dollar and a rise in interest rates. Planning Commission member N.K. Singh said “with the ageing population of the developed world rising at much faster rate than the working segment, the world needs rebalancing. It has to be assessed whether the world is prepared for outsourcing or a “large scale immigration”. |
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Defamation suit against ‘The Hindu’ stayed New Delhi, March 29 A Bench comprising the Chief Justice, Mr V. N. Khare, Mr Justice G. P Mathur and Mr Justice S. H Kapadia stayed the proceedings while issuing notice to the opposite parties on an application filed by “The Hindu” seeking the transfer of the case outside Karnataka. Mr Justice N Veerabhadraiah of the high court had filed Rs 1 lakh damage suit against the newspaper for harming his reputation. The transfer of the case was sought by “The Hindu” on the ground that it was filed by a sitting judge of the high court, who might use his influence in the matter. Mr Justice Veerabhadraiah, in his suit, had claimed that false and defamatory reports were published by the newspaper recklessly and maliciously to harm his reputation. The Hindu, in its transfer petition, said, “None of the reports published by the newspaper amount to scandalising of the court and bringing the administration of justice into disrepute”. The news item on the issue was “fair and accurate” reports of an issue, which had become a matter of public interest, the newspaper contended. |
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PPP delegation meets
Brajesh Mishra New Delhi, March 29 The PPP delegation is understood to have conveyed its support to the Indo-Pak peace process, sources said. The delegation was led by Makhdoom Amin
Fahim, who is the leader of the PPP in Pakistan in the absence of party President Benazir Bhutto. The delegation, which has come here at the invitation of noted Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande’s Association of People of Asia, has also met a number of Indian parliamentarians. |
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Review Namdhari status, says NCM chief New Delhi, March 29 In an affidavit recently submitted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh, the Union Home Ministry declared that the Kukas, known as Namdharis, who were blown to pieces with canons at Malerkota in Punjab by the Britishers in 1870, and also those Sikhs killed in Kamagatamaru episode in 1914 were not freedom fighters. He requested Mr Advani to direct the Freedom Fighters Cell in his ministry to review both the cases and correct the historical distortion.
— UNI |
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Complaint against Amisha’s parents
Mumbai, March 29 A complaint, filed by Vikram's mother under Section 506 alleging criminal intimidation had been registered last week, the police said. Amisha and Bhatt have been reportedly seeing each other for some time.
— PTI |
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US, Indian soldiers begin exercises New Delhi, March 29 The exercises represent an excellent opportunity for the US and Indian soldiers to share experiences and practice on issues related to counter insurgency. “Yudh Abyas” will strengthen and broaden the bonds between the US and Indian Armies that have been developed in a series of exercises recently. This is the second time the USA and India are holding an exercise at the CIJW, the American Embassy here said in a statement. |
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