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BJP
terms UPA govt ‘a bundle of contradictions’ Nation
pays homage to Pt Nehru
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New Delhi, May 27 Dr Manmohan Singh today made a smooth transition from the eternal Finance Minister to Prime Minister. For a man who had always been associated with economic issues, Dr Manmohan Singh found himself with a plateful today when faced with a volley of questions on matters other than the economy following the formal release of the new government’s Common Minimum Programme.
Dharam Singh is Karnataka CM Pranab
to be Leader of House in LS Left
broadly endorses CMP Vohra briefs
Patil on J&K talks
Meeting of
SAARC, ASEAN envoys today B’desh
minister talks to Natwar, Dixit Colonel-rank
officials to monitor rights violation Amitabh to
endorse DD messages Chennai leads
Class X pass percentage Kanshi critical
but stable 3 press-owners
arrested
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BJP terms UPA govt ‘a bundle of contradictions’ New Delhi, May 27 Addressing newspersons, BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said the UPA government had six ministers who were chargesheeted in various cases and had criminal records. “This government is full of contradictions. It is a minority government floating with outside support of 120 MPs who fought against the Congress-led alliance in the Lok Sabha poll. Of these 120, there are 60 who do not see eye to eye with each other,” he said referring to the support given by the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj party (BSP). He said the BJP-led NDA opposition would also raise the issue of the inclusion of “tainted” MPs in the Union Council of Ministers, especially Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav , Mr Mohammed
Taslimuddin, Mr Jaiprakash Narayan Yadav, Mr M.A. Fatmi, Mr Akhilesh Yadav and Mr Premchand Gupta. “It is a government headed by Mr Clean who is assisted by tainted ministers,” the spokesman asserted. He said while the government claimed to be a secular one, it had a “communal party”, the Muslim League, which was yet another “contradiction” in the coalition. Meanwhile, the BJP leadership is busy in revamping the party and it expects to do it by the month-end. BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu and former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani had a round of meetings today to discuss the party reorganisation and the coming session of Parliament beginning from June 2. The two leaders have been holding a series of consultations with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, party colleagues, Jaswant Singh, Sushma Swaraj, and others to chalk out a strategy for the coming Parliament session with focus on highlighting the issue of chargesheeted ministers and those with criminal records, party sources said. They also discussed the common minimum programme of the UPA and the broad strategy to attack the Congress-led coalition on various issues featured in the
CMP, sources said. Mr Advani, who had been the link between the party and the government during the tenure of the NDA government, is expected to devote more time to party work and his role as the Leader of Opposition, they said. Another issues that figured at the meeting, which lasted for over two hours, included a preliminary discussion on the strategy to be adopted on the issue of chargesheeted ministers in the government and to highlight it in Parliament and outside, sources said. |
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BJP to amend constitution for Vajpayee New Delhi, May 27 A resolution to this effect would be moved during the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting on June 1, party sources said here today. Once the resolution was passed by it, the same would be then ratified at the party’s working committee meeting, they added. The amendment became necessary as the party’s constitution had no provision for appointing a chairman of the BJP Parliamentary Party. It had provision only for appointing the Leader of the Opposition in both Houses of Parliament, they said. “While Mr Vajpayee will be made chairman of the BJP Parliamentary Party, former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani will be the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and former Finance Minister Jaswant Singh will be the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha,” they added. In the same meeting, the party would also decide deputy leaders and chief whips of both Houses. |
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Nation pays homage to Pt Nehru New Delhi, May 27 Mr Shekhawat, Dr Manmohan Singh and Ms Sonia Gandhi visited Shanti Van, the “samadhi” of the nation’s first Prime Minister, this morning to pay floral tributes. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit also paid floral tributes at the “samadhi” of Jawaharlal Nehru. An all-religious prayer was held at the Shanti Van, which was visited by a large number of people from all walks of life. In Pandit Nehru’s ancestral house, Anand Bhavan in Allahabad, the Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial Fund organised an inter-faith prayer meeting to mark the occasion. Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian and Jain religious leaders recited scriptures. The function was followed by bhajans by the children of Jawahar Bal Bhavan. A number of Congressmen and social activists also visited Anand Bhavan and paid their tributes. A report from Mumbai said a function was organised at the office of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) on the occasion. Mumbai Congress General Secretary Raghavan Sarathy said Pandit Nehru was “a visionary who built India’s core sector on which the premises of present development are built. Several Congress leaders were also present on the occasion. In Hyderabad, the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) President D. Srinivas garlanded the portrait of Pandit Nehru, at the Gandhi Bhavan here to mark the day. Tributes were paid to Pandit Nehru at a function in the Rajasthan PCC office in Jaipur. An all-religion prayer meeting and a “shradhanjali” programme were organised. In Himachal Pradesh, several programmes were organised all over the state to mark the occasion. State Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh paid floral tributes at the portrait of Pandit Nehru in Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee office. State Congress chief, Ms Vidya Stokes, administered the national integration pledge. A two-minute silence was observed in the memory of the leader.
— UNI |
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J.N. Dixit assumes charge New Delhi, May 27 A 1958-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, 68-year old Dixit, a seasoned diplomat who retired as Foreign Secretary in 1994, succeeds Mr Brajesh Mishra. He will enjoy the rank of the Minister of State. Mr Dixit did not interact with the waiting reporters outside South Block but obliged photographers. Before assuming charge of the top slot in the foreign office in November 1991, he was India’s High Commissioner to Pakistan from May 1989, to November 1991, and headed the missions in Sri Lanka (1985-89) and Afghanistan (1982-85). He opened India’s first mission in Bangladesh in 1972. Mr Dixit, a key figure in formulating the Congress agenda on defence, security and foreign policy matters before the Lok Sabha elections, worked as Vice-Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Department of the All-India Congress Committee. Mr Mishra resigned soon after Manmohan Singh government assumed office last Saturday. Mr Dixit, who was a member of the first National Security Advisory Board, will chair the executive council under the Political Council of the Nuclear Command Authority headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. |
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PM handles well media googlies New Delhi, May 27 For a man who had always been associated with economic issues, Dr Manmohan Singh found himself with a plateful today when faced with a volley of questions on matters other than the economy following the formal release of the new government’s Common Minimum Programme (CMP). Although there were the mandatory questions on economic growth, fiscal deficit and disinvestment, the free-wheeling media interaction soon moved on to other issues. Dr Manmohan Singh did some deft handling when presspersons pointed at the contradiction between his government’s commitment to provide a ‘corruption-free’ government and the inclusion of ‘tainted ministers’ in his Cabinet. “What is tainted...the matter has to be looked at in comparative terms. If a person is not convicted, he is considered innocent,” Dr Manmohan Singh answered but quickly added that if there were ministers who had charges against them, “We will not come in the way of the law taking its course.” As for the CMP’s commitment to the women’s reservation Bill, Dr Manmohan Singh admitted that there were different opinions on this issue within the ruling combine. The politician in Dr Manmohan Singh, however, maintained that they would have to find ways to resolve this matter since it was a prior commitment. For the record, the CMP only mentioned that the UPA government would “take the lead to introduce legislation for one-third reservations for women” in legislatures. The document did not commit itself to the passage of the Bill. Dr Manmohan Singh was equally adept at side-stepping the question when asked whether his government would pursue the Tehelka investigations and register a case against former Defence Minister George Fernandes since the Congress had boycotted him in Parliament. Mr Fernandes, Dr Manmohan Singh explained, was boycotted because he of his re-induction into the Cabinet even before the inquiry commission he faced had submitted its report. “As far as other issues are concerned, we cannot announce anything now....if there are cases where there is visible evidence, the law will take its course,” the Prime Minister added. |
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Strengthening party a priority, says Sonia If Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was the centre of attention at the release of the new government Common Minimum Programme
(CMP), Congress President Sonia Gandhi was also cynosure of all eyes. As chairperson of the UPA’s coordination committee, Mrs Gandhi made brief introductory remarks about the CMP which, she maintained, ‘reflects the mandate of the people for a strong and stable government.’ The UPA’s coordination committee, she said, would be meeting once a month to take stock and review the implementation of the
CMP. Talking to mediapersons later, Mrs Gandhi spoke of her priorities in strengthening the Congress party organisation. A revamp of the party, she said, would be undertaken but only after next week’s Parliament session ended on June 10. As for changing chief ministers, Mrs Gandhi said she had, so far, not given thought to this matter. |
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Dharam Singh is Karnataka CM
New Delhi,
May 27 Dharam Singh said he would
take an oath tomorrow. Both the parties have agreed to adopt the
Maharashtra model of power sharing under which the number one slot
goes to the Congress and the second slot to the JD (S). The
announcement about power-sharing agreement was made by Ahmed Patel,
Political Secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, late tonight
after a day of hectic developments which saw the talks on government
formation going into top gear. During the day, Dharam Singh met Sonia
Gandhi while JD (S) President and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve
Gowda held consultations with Siddharamaiah, who is also the Karnataka
JD (S) chief. Gowda was then closeted with senior Congress leaders
namely Ahmed Patel and in charge of Karnataka Vilasrao Deshmukh as
also Dharam Singh to break the logjam arising out of the fractured
verdict. — PTI |
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Pranab to be Leader of House in LS The Lok Sabha secretariat has also been informed by Mr Azad of this decision, the sources said. Mr Azad, in his communication to outgoing Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi, said, “The Prime Minister has directed me to inform you that he has nominated Pranab Mukherjee, Minister of Defence as the Leader of the House”. Mr Mukherjee has been nominated as the Leader of the Lok Sabha as he is the senior most minister in Dr Manmohan Singh’s cabinet. The Prime Minister traditionally is the Leader of the Lok Sabha but since Mr Manmohan Singh is an MP from the Rajya Sabha, he obviously cannot be the Leader of the lower House. In 1991, the Congress had elected Mr P V Narasimha Rao as the Leader of the Parliamentary Party when he was not even an MP and the President had appointed him the Prime Minister. Mr Rao contested the Lok Sabha election and became an MP from Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh. Till then, the Prime Ministers belonged to the Lok Sabha. When H D Deve Gowda became the Prime Minister in 1996, he was not a MP and then subsequently got elected to the upper House. |
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Left broadly endorses CMP New Delhi, May 27 The Left parties, however, asserted that they had ‘differing positions’ on a range of economic issues and were not in favour of the document addressing the question of carving out separate states. “The Left parties broadly endorse the CMP of the United Progressive Alliance
(UPA). The implementation of the CMP will be in consonance with the verdict given by the people,” a joint statement signed by Harkishen Singh Surjeet of CPM, A B Bardhan of CPI, Debabrata Biswas of Forward Bloc and Abani Roy of RSP, here said. |
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Vohra briefs Patil on J&K talks New Delhi, May 27 This was Mr Vohra’s second meeting with the Home Minister in as many days amidst speculation that he is being asked to continue as interlocutor. Emerging from the meeting, Mr Vohra declined to comment on whether the Centre had asked him to continue as the interlocutor. He also avoided a reply on whether the third round of talks with the Hurriyat Conference would take place in June or July. “As of now, I cannot say anything as we did not discuss this matter,” he said. “The Home Minister has talked to me and now he will be talking to other officials as
well. After that he is expected to take a decision,” Mr Vohra said. Today’s meeting assumes significance as the new Home Minister has asserted that the Congress-led UPA government is committed to the continuation of the dialogue process and that the Hurriyat Conference leaders have also expressed the desire to continue the negotiation process on Kashmir. Before his meetings with Mr Patil yesterday and today, Mr Vohra had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday. |
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Mehbooba meets Patil New Delhi, May 27 Ms Mehbooba, who met Home Minister Shivraj Patil, said people from Pakistan should be allowed to come to Jammu and Kashmir. Their misconception about the atrocities would be over, she said. Ms Mehbooba said the statement of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi that talks with separatists would continue was encouraging. She expressed confidence regarding the early solution of the Kashmir problem. The PDP leader said she had requested information if Kashmiri youth was arrested in any part of the country. |
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Meeting of SAARC, ASEAN envoys today New Delhi, May 27 The meeting comes on the eve of the interaction Mr Natwar Singh would have with the heads of Indian Missions in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries here on May 31-June 1, the foreign office spokesman said. The spokesman confirmed that Indian Ambassador to Nepal Shyam Saran was here recently and had ‘internal consultations’ with Foreign Ministry officials. The minister was expected to convey to them that the Manmohan Singh government would give the highest priority to building closer political, economic and other ties with its neighbours in South Asia and to strengthen SAARC. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Morshed Khan today spoke to Mr Natwar Singh and said he looked forward to coming to Delhi to deliver greetings from the Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. The two foreign ministers agreed to work together for further strengthening bilateral good neighbourly relations. The new government has pledged to resolve all outstanding issues with Bangladesh. National Security Adviser J N Dixit, who called on Mr Natwar Singh, was in the minister’s room when the Bangladesh Foreign Minister telephoned and utilised the opportunity to speak to him. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was also expected to visit the capital soon to convey the greetings of the Sri Lankan leadership. The new government said it would support the peace talks in Sri Lanka that fulfilled the legitimate aspirations of Tamils and religious minorities within the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the island nation. |
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B’desh minister talks to Natwar, Dixit New Delhi, May 27 During the conversation, Mr Khan and Mr Natwar Singh emphasised that they looked forward to bilateral good neighbourly relations, the foreign office spokesperson said here. Mr Khan said he would soon visit India with personal greetings from Bangladesh premier Begum Khaleda Zia for the Prime Minister. A visit to New Delhi by Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was also on the cards, the spokesperson added. Thailand Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai also telephoned the External Affairs Minister and the two leaders decided to keep up the momentum in bilateral ties. A meeting between the two ministers may be held in the coming weeks. |
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Colonel-rank officials to monitor rights violation New Delhi, May 27 The officers with their supporting staff had been posted at Army headquarters, command headquarters, corps headquarters, counter-insurgency headquarters and divisional headquarters. National Human Rights Commission chief Justice A.S. Anand had met the Army Chief, Gen N.C. Vij and discussed alleged human rights violations by the men in uniform. General Vij informed the NHRC chief that human rights figured “very high” in the Army’s operational matrix and the force was committed to further improve its record. He said offences reported by other channels, including the media, were also being looked into. He said 131 personnel of various ranks were punished for rights violations of whom two were given life imprisonment, 59 given rigorous imprisonment and 15 dismissed from service. Other punishments like fine, reprimand, loss of seniority, censure were awarded to 55 personnel. General Vij said there was a perceptible decline of reported cases of human rights violation in Jammu and Kashmir since 2002. |
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Amitabh to endorse DD messages New Delhi, May 27 Bachchan’s company, Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd, which owed nearly Rs 32 crore to Prasar Bharati on account of various contractual payments, had already paid principal amount of Rs 19.53 crore. Prasar Bharati officials said it had been decided by its board that the pending interest amount of Rs 12.52 crore would be liquidated in kind with Amitabh Bachchan either endorsing messages exclusively for Doordarshan or doing shows. Mr Bachchan may be asked to endorse 10 campaigns about Doordarshan’s public service messages such as its reach in rural areas and promotion of art and culture, Prasar Bharati officials said. |
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Chennai leads Class X pass percentage New Delhi, May 27 While Chennai continues to lead the rest of the region with a pass percentage of 89.56 per cent, Chandigarh has a pass percentage of 82.21 for regular candidates and 41.50 per cent of those appearing as private/patrachar candidates. Delhi has a pass percentage of 66.74 for the regular candidates and 25.81 for those taking the exams through private patrachar schools. The pass percentage this year has risen from 68.02 to 72.22, an increase of 4.2 per cent. Girls have continued to march ahead of boys with a pass percentage of 73.28 compared to 71.46 of the boys. There was an increase of 1.17 per cent in the number of candidates enrolled this year. CBSE officials pointed out that students can
check their results on websites www.results.nic.in, cbseresults.nic.in and www.cbse.nic.in. Individual results will also be available on websites www.htpace.com, www.results.sify.com, www.amarujala.com and
www.southindia.com. |
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Kanshi critical
but stable New Delhi, May 27 According to Medical Superintendent, Batra Hospital, Dr Maheshwari, Mr Kanshi Ram, who underwent a coronary bypass surgery, was recuperating in the intensive care unit of the hospital. “He is fine and recovering well after the cardiac surgery,” she said.
— UNI |
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3 press-owners
arrested New Delhi, May 27 A CBI spokesman said following confession by Stamp Scam prime accused Abdul Karim Telgi, three accused Raghvender Prasad, Ramchandra and Munna Reddy were arrested early today. Yesterday, CBI sleuths raided various places in Bellary and Bangalore and seized fake non-judicial stamps worth Rs 1.5 crore.
— UNI |
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No hike in petrol price till June 3 New Delhi, May 27 “We have decided to take a decision in this matter (revision of prices) when OPEC oil ministers meet in Beirut on June 3’’, he said and added that the OPEC decision would show whether the recent steep rise in international oil prices was aberrant or transitory.
— UNI |
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New Delhi, May 27