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New Delhi, September 30 NDA convenor and former Defence Minister George Fernandes today claimed that he was "under surveillance" of government sleuths and asked Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to "undo this Mussolinian activity".
CBI books Telgi under Passport Act
Cong looking for alternative in Jharkhand?
No change in Jaya’s foreign origin issue
Chandrashekar new Revenue Secy
Journalists demand new wage board
Probe attack on missionaries, says minorities panel
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NEMA to get aircraft,
3 Mi-17s
Judgment on Thackeray’s plea reserved
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Remove ‘undercover agents’, Fernandes tells Patil
New Delhi, September 30 "Let me tell you in so many words that just as I do not wish to have any security cover, I resent being trailed by the government's undercover agents," he said in a letter to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil. "I was no more in doubt that I was under the surveillance of the government sleuths," the letter said. In the two-page letter released to the media at a party briefing, Mr Fernandes urged the Home Minister to "undo this Mussolinian activity in democratic India, and to stop making our nation a laughing stock of the world." Recalling his "repeated requests" to the government that he did not wish to have any security personnel, Mr Fernandes said seven to eight men, in plain clothes, kept on sitting in the lawns of his house for 24 hours. "No matter what part of the country I went to, there were more or less the same numbers who kept moving with me in two vehicles and insisted on spending their nights where ever I was," the JD(U) MP said. Mr Fernandes' letter follows news reports that he was among nine politicians under "constant surveillance" of the Intelligence Bureau for their "potential to destablise" the government. Asserting that he had got into public life on his own volition and was prepared to face all hazards of public life, Mr Fernandes said in the letter that "what the government is doing to me is transgressing all canons of human rights and my constitutional rights." Meanwhile, echoing Fernandes' views, BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi demanded clarification from the government. He said,"It is certainly a matter of concern to all, because the government had kept not just the Opposition personalities on the watch list but also leaders like Surjeet, Mayawati and Mulayam Singh, who are all supporting the UPA." " The government is clearly fearful of losing support of its allies and confirms our suspicion of an invisible hand behind working of UPA government ," Mr Naqvi said. According to some news reports, CPI (M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet, Rajya Sabha
MP Anil Ambani, BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, JD(U) leaders George Fernandes and Jaya Jaitley and UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, SP leader Amar Singh, BSP chief Mayawati and Janata Party leader Subramaniam Swamy were the prominent personalities under "constant surveillance". On the other hand, the Centre today dismissed as "false and mischievous" reports that some senior politicians were "under constant surveillance" by IB. "The allegation is totally false and mischievous and seems to have been spread by the Opposition to attain cheap publicity," Minister of State for Home Shriprakash Jaiswal told newspersons here. |
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CBI books Telgi under Passport Act
New Delhi, September 30 The issue of fake passport of Telgi came to light during the countrywide raids conducted by CBI’s Anti-Corruption Department in Mumbai yesterday, CBI sources said here today. The fresh case relates to the acquiring of an Indian passport on forged documents, misrepresentation of facts and suppression of information. The CBI claimed that the investigation revealed that apart from counterfeit operations, Telgi was also involved in frauds related to forged visas and associated with clandestine illegal movement of people to countries of West Asia. |
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Cong looking for alternative in Jharkhand?
New Delhi, September 30 The tumultuous scenes that greeted Soren when he was arrested and then released on bail recently in a 30-year-old case had led the Congress to believe that his personal standing had soared after the episode and that the Congress could piggyback on the JMM leader’s popularity in next year’s Assembly elections. However, reports from the Congress state unit suggest this is not the case. The tribal population in Jharkhand is only 27 per cent and Soren’s following is limited to the Santhals among them, it was stated. In addition, his popularity is limited to about 25 of the 81 Assembly constituencies. More importantly, Soren has become quite controversial among the Muslims, constituting 18 per cent of the population. This is especially so after the old case against him involving firing on minorities was reopened recently. While leaving the seat-sharing formula with the JMM to the Congress leadership, it is being suggested that while the alliance with Soren’s party should continue, the party should not be over-dependent on the leader. In fact, this could actually prove counter-productive. It could consolidate the non-Adivasi population and even alienate the minorities, who are both veering towards the Congress. Having won six of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the recent elections, a section in the AICC feels the Congress should lead the alliance in Jharkhand. Moreover, Soren should not be projected as the chief minister and the final choice be left till after the Assembly poll, they maintain. On the other hand, it is felt, the Congress should reach out to the tribesmen by inducting one of their own Adivasi MPs as a minister. At the same time, it is suggested that the Congress should strengthen the party in the state by taking on the NDA government on the issue of development and poor governance. The BJP, it is stated, is deliberately highlighting emotive issues like Savarkar and the national flag controversies to deflect attention from its huge anti-incumbency record. AICC general secretary in charge of Bihar and Jharkhand Harikesh Bahadur said the NDA government had failed on all fronts, whether it was law and order situation or starvation deaths in Palamu district. |
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No change in Jaya’s foreign origin issue
Not just Congress President Sonia Gandhi, any person of foreign origin should not become Prime Minister of India — this is what Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has to say.
In her first major interview — after a gap of several years — given to BBC, she claims that there has been “no change” in her opposition to anyone of foreign origin ruling India. The half-an-hour interview — under the HARD- talk India series — will be broadcast by the BBC at 10 am on Friday. Speaking to host Karan Thapar, the Chief Minister claims that the frequent Cabinet reshuffles in her All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party have been “for administrative convenience”. Defending her action of reshuffling the Cabinet at least 15 times in the past three years, she insists, “That is my prerogative for administrative convenience … I know what I need to do for the good of the state”. If performance of certain persons is not satisfactory, a change has to be made. “I cannot refrain from making a change simply because there will be carping criticism from persons in the media”, she adds. Questioned about the manner in which her predecessor, Muthuvel Karunanidhi, was arrested over allegations of corruption at his home late one night in June 2001, Ms Jayalalithaa says, “It was not vengeance. He was involved in a corruption case... I do not regret it at all.” She also claims that her party’s performance as “very good” during May’s general elections, despite the failure to win even a single seat. Blaming India’s voting system, she says, “I do not think it was a humiliating outcome at all. The results show that we have retained our vote bank.” Describing herself as “a perfectly rational, sensible and a very responsible leader”, she asserts, “I am not irresponsible at all. That is totally removed from the truth. Yes, I am misunderstood. As for all these tags: that is because the media have been against me, not just for the past three years, but ever since I came to politics. Perhaps, it is because the whole world is a stage and everyone is acting all the time and I tend to be straight to the point”. She adds, “Hypocrisy is not my forte at all. That way, I must say, I am a bit unconventional for a politician. The rules of the game seem to require considerable play-acting. I have acted in films before the cameras, but I am incapable of acting in real life … Let me be honest with you: I prefer to play straight and I prefer speaking the truth. If I appear to be blunt, so be it. Yes, I am misunderstood and the media have a large part to play in this.” Blaming the media for deliberately picking on her, she asserts, “It is because I don’t have a background like the other women political leaders of Asia…because I’m a self-made woman. Politics has for long been a male bastion.” On the ways in which her MLAs and Ministers “prostrate” themselves in public before her, she replies, “They prostrate before other political leaders. They prostrate before Mr Karunanidhi too.”
— TNS |
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Chandrashekar new Revenue Secy
New Delhi, September 30 Mr Chandrashekar came in the place of Ms Vineeta Rai, who retired from service today. Mr Menon took over from Mr Dipak Chaterjee on his superannuation, an official announcement said. |
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Journalists demand new wage board
New Delhi, September 30 The protesting journalists were stopped by the police from proceeding to Shram Shakti Bhavan. However, a delegation of the NUJ, led by its president, was later allowed to hand over the memorandum in the Labour Ministry and Information and Broadcasting Ministry. The journalists also held a sit-in at the Press Club of India. NUJ leaders said the last wage board settlement was brought into force in 1998. Citing figures from the Economic Survey, they said the cost of living had seen a steep hike in the past six years. JAIPUR: A delegation of the National Union of Journalists (India) met Rajasthan Governor Madanlal Khurana today and submitted a memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. |
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Probe attack on missionaries, says minorities panel
New Delhi, September 30 NCM chief Tarlochan Singh said the commission had written a letter to state Chief Minister Oomen Chandy recommending that a senior official should investigate into the incident. A NCM team had visited Olavanna panchayat near Kozhikode to investigate the incident in which nine members of the Missionaries of Charity, were attacked. |
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NEMA to get aircraft,
3 Mi-17s
New Delhi, September 30 It will be headed by a secretary of the Union Government. Executive Director of the National Institute for Disaster Management (NIDM) M. Madhavan Nambiar said at a workshop on disaster management organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here today. Besides this a national emergency response force will be constituted with state-of-the-art training and equipment. Eight battalions are being converted to specialist emergency teams and three training centres have been identified at Hyderabad, Bhanu and Coimbatore in this regard. |
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Judgment on Thackeray’s plea reserved
New Delhi, September 30 A Bench comprising Mr Justice Y. K. Sabharwal, Mr Justice D. M. Dharamadhikari and Mr Justice Tarun Chatterjee reserved the
judgment on Mr Thackeray’s appeal after hearing arguments for two days. The Nagpur Bench of the high court had found him guilty of committing the contempt of court for levelling certain allegations against a
Judge in 1997 and sentenced him to seven days’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on him. |
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