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Gautam Goswami surrenders, gets judicial custody
Tram system suggested for Chandigarh
PM reviews steps to deal with cyber crimes
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Briton accused of paedophilia arrested
CPI opposes Indo-US defence ties
AIDS bomb ticking in Andhra Pradesh
11 killed in mudslide near Badrinath
2 held for leaking CD of ‘Yakeen’
BJP condemns petrol price hike
CBI conducts countrywide raids
Three names recommended for Customs board
Anaemia awareness campaign from today
Sengupta to seek RS election from Bengal
Rozgar Adhikar Yatra reaches Lucknow
Only process, no peace in North-East
Madhuban attack forces govt to curb Naxal violence
Kerala least corrupt, Bihar most corrupt
e-ticketing for Shatabdi soon
Imrana case: BJP flays Mulayam, Sonia
NCW chief meets rape victim
PMO denies evaluation of ministers
Lalu man is Bihar PCC chief
Sonia may meet Left leaders today
Rural job guarantee Bill in monsoon session
School on gurdwara premises demolished
AIDS bomb ticking in Andhra Pradesh
CPI opposes Indo-US defence ties
BJP condemns petrol price hike
11 killed in mudslide
near Badrinath
Army Chief leaves for Oman today
Two held for leaking CD
of ‘Yakeen’
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Gautam Goswami surrenders, gets judicial custody
Patna, June 30 Accompanied by his lawyer, Tuhin Shankar, Goswami, who was declared wanted by the Vigilance Bureau probing the multi-crore fraud, drove to the court this morning and surrendered before the Designated Vigilance Judge Jitendra Mohan Prasad. Goswami sat quietly on a bench inside the court when Shankar moved an application for accepting the surrender of his client. Goswami would be lodged in the high-security Beur jail on the outskirts of the state capital. Goswami’s surrender came a day after the Patna High Court dismissed his anticipatory bail application. Goswami, who shot into limelight after “Time” magazine named him among its Asian heroes, was on the run since the special vigilance court issued non-bailable arrest warrants against him and eight others on May 31 in connection with the Rs 17-crore flood relief scam. Meanwhile, the Bihar Government has decided to recommend that Gautam Goswami be suspended from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). Bihar Governor Buta Singh told newspersons here today that the recommendation for the suspension of Goswami from the IAS would be sent to the Centre at the earliest and the required formalities were under way.
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Tram system suggested for Chandigarh
New Delhi, June 30 In an exclusive interview to The Tribune, prior to the inauguration of the 6.3-km technological marvel of the underground Delhi metro corridor between Kashmere Gate and Central Secretariat on July 2, the DMRC chief said a well planned city of the size of Chandigarh could do with a fast and modern tram system with a low pedestal height and an average speed of 30 km per hour. The DMRC chief said Chandigarh, did not qualify to have a metro system because of the size of its population. In fact, no city in the north, except for Delhi, was suited for metro rail because to sustain it commercially and make its operations profitable, a city needed to have a certain number of passengers travelling in it everyday. After Gurgaon, plans were afoot to also link up Faridabad with the Capital through a metro link. For this, the DMRC recently sent its quotation of Rs 75 lakh for preparing a detailed project report for a metro link till Faridabad to the Haryana Government. The Rajasthan Government had also approached the DMRC for a metro rail in Jaipur. The DMRC had submitted reports for Bangalore and Hyderabad and the Bangalore metro plan was at a much advanced stage. “But we told Rajasthan that a metro was not justified for Jaipur with a population of three million,” he said. A fast and efficient public transport system for Chandigarh, with high- frequency links with Panchkula and Mohali during rush hours, makes sense, especially after the draft National Urban Transport Policy announced yesterday, which seeks to popularise public transport systems all over the country. Urban Development Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said the new policy would be designed to encourage cities with a population of more than 4 million to start planning for a mass transit system. While Chandigarh has a large fleet of CTU busses, the majority of its residents prefer to use private vehicles for commuting. But with the increase in number of vehicles, traffic jams on some of the frequently used routes are now common.
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PM reviews steps to deal with cyber crimes
New Delhi, June 30 The meeting was held in the context of a recent “media sting operation” involving an employee of a private data processing company, where allegations of breach of data secrecy have been leveled. The Prime Minister has asked the Department of Information Technology and National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) to consult all stakeholders and come forward with suggestions for changes in existing laws, if found necessary, “to ensure that any breach of secrecy, any illegal transfer of commercial or other privileged information and any other form of cyber crime is made a punishable offence”. The Prime Minister underlined the need to maintain high standards of quality, confidentiality and reliability in the data processing business. He said that Indian professionals have built for themselves an enviable global reputation through hard work, dedication and commitment and the occasional misguided acts of some individuals should not be allowed to damage the high reputation of all professionals, official sources said. Dr Kiran Karnik, Director-General, NASSCOM expressed concern that the recent incident may well have been a “sting operation” directed to give Indian industry a bad name against the background of its growing competitiveness. NASSCOM is building a data base of all employees in the BPO industry to ensure that there is adequate quality assurance, he said.
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Briton accused of paedophilia arrested
Mumbai, June 30 The police case against Grant was filed in 2001 when an inmate of Anchorage, the orphanage run by him in Colaba, levelled allegations of abuse against him. He, however, fled the country before facing charges. Two of his co-accused have already been arrested. Some of the street children who had complained against Grant were waiting outside the court room today. Grant was subsequently traced to Tanzania where he had set up an orphanage, again named Anchorage, at Dar-es-Salaam. Allegations of sexual abuse also surfaced it here. With Interpol subsequently issuing a red-corner alert against him, Grant was on the run. He decided to return to face charges here and his lawyer in Mumbai filed an application for surrender. Shortly after his arrival by a British Airways flight early this morning, Grant was taken into custody. The police said Grant had established three orphanages in south Mumbai and Murud in 1995-96. However former and present inmates at the homes complained that Grant had been running a child sex ring with another co-accused Alan Waters for several years. Waters was arrested two years ago at the New York airport and extradited to Mumbai for trial. Another accused, William D’Souza, an Indian, was also arrested.
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CPI opposes Indo-US defence ties
New Delhi, June 30 Expressing serious concern, the CPI said New Delhi “cannot and should not join with the USA on the question of missile defence system that can only serve the imperialist goal of the USA and jeopardise regional and global security”. It said the two countries “do not share common perspectives on the issues of political and economic freedom, fight against terrorism, weapons of mass destruction (Iraq as a case) and collaboration in operations (without UN mandate) in third countries”. The CPI said the strategic relationship framework meant that India became part of American strategies, thereby undermining its role in international politics.
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AIDS bomb ticking in Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad, June 30 This widespread permissiveness has earned the state the dubious distinction of accounting for the highest number of HIV cases among the STD patients in the country. With 19.6 per cent of STD patients testing positive for HIV, Andhra Pradesh’s prevalence rate is the highest among the six worst-affected states. This is a serious epidemic situation as per a report by the AP State AIDS Control Society (APSACS). Hyderabad ranks first with 36 per cent of STD patients surveyed testing positive, followed by port city Visakhapatnam (35.6) and temple town of Tirupati (31.2). Being home for an estimated five lakh HIV patients, AP ranks second after Maharashtra in terms of HIV incidence and accounts for one-tenth of the total number of cases in 2004 as per the estimates by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) based on surveillance data. The alarming rise in STD-driven HIV cases is one among a plethora of factors, including high prevalence of paid sex, low rates of condom use and a vast network of national highways passing through the state. A state is considered hard-hit if HIV prevalence rate is 5 per cent or more among the high-risk groups like STD patients. In AP, it has been hovering well above 15 per cent for the past seven years and peaked at 19.6 per cent in 2003, the highest in the country, the report, containing the findings of a survey between 2001 and 2003, said. AP is followed by Manipur (13 per cent), Karnataka (10.04) and Maharashtra (10 per cent). The HIV infection rate among pregnant women tested at antenatal clinics in AP has been consistently above 1 per cent, which is a benchmark for categorising a state as high prevalent. In 17 districts, out of a total 23, over 1 per cent of pregnant women were tested positive for HIV in 2004, the report said, adding that the incidence was particularly high in coastal districts. Wives of truck and taxi drivers showed higher vulnerability with 2.94 per cent of HIV positive women visiting antenatal clinics falling in this category.
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11 killed in mudslide near Badrinath
Dehra Dun, June 30 A part of the road at Govindghat, about 25 km from Badrinath was swept away in the accident, leaving the traffic blocked. The road would be opened to traffic by late evening, the officials said. The ITBP personnel along with locals, district administration and the Border Road Organisation are carrying out the relief and rescue operations. Over a 100 vehicles, including jeeps and cars, are buried under the debris. The mudslide occurred due to heavy rains after a cloud burst in the higher reaches of Garhwal. All lines of communication remain collapsed for the past 24 hours.
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2 held for leaking CD of ‘Yakeen’
Mumbai, June 30 The police said the two employees — Ajay Verma (24) and Kanu Prajapati (23) — were arrested after employees of the studio were questioned by the police following a complaint by the producers. In his complaint, producer Sheel Kumar suspected employees of the company and the post-production studio Prime Focus. The digital embossing on prints of films, sent out of the studio, helped identify the pirates. To prevent piracy, every print of a film put out in the market has unique identification markings, which enable tracing the source of the leak. Such measures helped trace those who leaked out “Yakeen”, said the police. According to the producers, the pirated copy is the unmixed version of the film.
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BJP condemns petrol price hike
New Delhi, June 30 BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said the White Paper should give details like domestic production, long-term contracts, newly acquired oil equity and the average price of oil. It should also give details of the subsidy and explain the tax structure in various states. The spokesman said the nationwide agitation, organised by the BJP against the price hike during the past one year, had attracted the participation of more than 10,00,000 people around the country. Several leaders, including BJP Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu and party General Secretary Arun Jaitley, were arrested at Hyderabad and Chandigarh leading the protests. In Kerala, the fortress of the Left Parties and the Congress, the BJP organised a successful bandh and the sit-in demonstration at Arunachal Pradesh evoked a “good response”. Demonstrations were organised in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir and Goa states also, he added.
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CBI conducts countrywide raids
New Delhi, June 30 Searches were conducted at 41 places in Delhi, Mumbai (16), Kolkata (11), Jaipur (11), Dehra Dun (10), Chandigarh (8), Ghaziabad (7), Aligarh (7), Ahmedabad (6), Bangalore (4), Chennai (3), Surat (4), Beharampur (3), Angul (3), Silchar (3), Lucknow, Baroda, Udaipur, Hazaribagh, Hyderabad, Agra, Sambalpur and Hathras (2 each) and one place each in Ajamgarh, Muzaffarnagar, Gandhinagar, Patna, Sahibabad, Gorakhpur, Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam. About 3,000 sleuths of the Anti-Corruption Branch, who conducted simultaneous raids across the country, have seized incriminating documents about movable and immovable assets worth crores of rupees, CBI Director U.S. Mishra told newspersons here. The official and residential premises of Delhi ACP (Crime) Udayveer Singh Rathi, Joint Commissioner (Customs) Anand Singhal, DDA Assistant Director Radhakrisna, Delhi Government Education Secretary and former MCD official A.C. Aggarwal (DANICS officer) and Ex-Director Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council D.P. Gupta have been searched. Those, who came under the scanner, included PGI Chandigarh Store officer Nand Kishore Munjal his wife Janak Dulari Munjal (storekeeper, PGI), Dehra Dun Regional Commissioner EPF Prabhudayal Shankhla, Director DG & D (New Delhi) A.K. Agrawal, former TRIFED MDs R.K. Nayak (retd IAS), K. Sridhar Rao (retd IAS), D.K. Manavalan (retd IAS), TRIFED Executive Director K.P. Rao (retd), TRIFED General Manager R.S. Meena and Managing Director Orissa Oil Industries Ltd J.P. Lath. Others, whose premises were searched, included then Gorakhpur DGM BSNL Parmata Rai, CPWD Superintending Engineer of Dehra Dun Ashok Kumar Sharma, Chief Engineer Southern Railway (Chennai) Vikram Srivastav, Chennai Approver Customs Ajay Kumar Gupta, Cochin-based Hindustan Organic Chemicals Chief Manager D. Rejith, Hyderabad Assistant Commissioner Central Excise Y.E. Isaiah, Belgaum Income Tax Officer B. Ramachandra Dhore and Kolkata Additional Commissioner Income Tax V. Appala Raju. Corrupt officials of the Income Tax Department, Customs and Central Excise, BSNL, Narcotic Control Bureau, National Insurance Company, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Information Technology, DDA, NCT Delhi, Delhi Police, EPF, BIS, NALCO, RITES, SBI, Railways, National Institute of Design, IFCI, PNB, Dena Bank, Central Bank of India, erstwhile Global Trust Bank and Hindustan Organic Chemical Ltd were being targeted after being put on surveillance for months, the CBI Director said. A case of cyber crime had also been registered under the Information Technology Act against a person who had allegedly hacked the online trading account of India Infoline Pvt Ltd and siphoned Rs 5 lakh from the account. Some PNB official had been booked for allegedly receiving 149 fake notes of Rs 500 denomination for circulation. Three retired IAS officers and five private persons had been prosecuted for allegedly cheating TRIFED to the tune of Rs 1.9 crore. The premises of former CMD of erstwhile Global Trust Bank of Hyderabad and six Directors had been searched after registering a case for allegedly sanctioning Rs 40 crore as working capital to Shonkh Technologies Ltd. The promoters of the company had misused the funds and transferred it to Goldfish Computer Pvt Ltd and Panther Fincap of stock broker Ketan Parekh. The CBI Director said the documents confiscated during the raids were being scrutinised.
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Three names recommended for Customs board
New Delhi, June 30 All three of them are officers of the 1970 batch of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS). Sources, however, said the appointment of the officers might amount to supersession of other IRS officers who are now serving as commissioners across the country and are senior in service. There are two vacancies in the CBEC — following the retirement of J. N. Nigam, Member (Central Excise), this month and R. K. Tewari, Member (P&V / Budget), in May. Besides, sources said, Chairman of the CBEC A. K. Singh was scheduled to retire in July this year. |
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Anaemia awareness campaign from today
New Delhi, June 30 Announcing the campaign here, IMA honorary secretary-general Vinay Aggarwal told mediapersons that anaemia or less than normal haemoglobin needed to be addressed on a war footing. “Our aim is to bring down anaemia prevalence to 5 to 10 per cent by 2010. Iron deficiency anaemia is the most pervasive of all nutritional deficiencies in India.” Quoting findings of a survey, Dr Aggarwal said nine out of 10 adolescents, children and pregnant women in India were anaemic. “Anaemia is an indication of poor nutrition and the study by the Nutrition Foundation of India conducted in both rural and urban populations shows that it is rampant. Anaemia is a silent energy drainer leading to tiredness and irritability,” he said. DMA president, K.K. Aggarwal said 500 doctors would march from the Delhi Medical Association office in Daryaganj to the IMA office in ITO to create awareness on anaemia. “Our gift to the public on Doctor’s Day is a free haemoglobin test at 100 different locations in the national Capital. Tomorrow morning, we will brief Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on anaemia.” The Managing Director of Kellogg India Private Limited, Mr K. Venkatachalam, said that they decided to join hands with the IMA as they could not have found a better partner to disseminate information about the need for having iron rich foods. He said Kelloggs, known for a range of breakfast cereals, would change its cornflakes packing in mid-July to create awareness about anamia and the need for a haemoglobin check from time to time.
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Sengupta to seek RS election from Bengal
Kolkata, June 30 He contested the Rajya Sabha election five years ago on the Congress ticket but was defeated since Ms Mamata Banerjee did not support the Congress. Dr Sengupta may get through the Rajya Sabha election on July 14 provided he obtains the required 12 votes of the CPM and other Left Front partners in the state Assembly. The Congress has 30 Rajya Sabha votes as per their strength in Parliament and the West Bengal Assembly. Though Dr Sengupta's name has not been proposed by either the AICC or the West Bengal Pradesh Congress, WBPCC chief Pranab Mukherjee, also Defence Minister, had strongly recommended his name to Mrs Sonia Gandhi before leaving for New York. A large section in the WBPCC has supported Dr Sengupta's candidature because of his vast experience in the official works as Planning Commission member for a considerable period and his closed proximity to the late Indira Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. |
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Rozgar Adhikar Yatra reaches Lucknow
Lucknow, June 30 Flagged off from New Delhi on May 13 for strengthening the campaign for a full-fledged Employment Guarantee Act, as promised in the common minimum programme, the yatra has already travelled through Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Bihar, West Bengal and now Uttar Pradesh. Most of the districts covered have already implemented the National Food for Work Programme (NFFWP) Speaking to mediapersons economist Jean Dreze, who is also taking part in the yatra, said the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill that was tabled in Parliament on December 21, 2004, was weak and defeats the very purpose of the employment guarantee scheme. Spelling out the essential features of any proposed legislation, he said it had to assure irreversible guarantee, universal entitlements, and national coverage, assured payment of wages and equal participation of women. It was here in Surguja that a public verification had uncovered massive fudging of muster rolls. A few labourers had worked for three days only, but 60 days of work had been entered against their names in the muster rolls. Out of 60 days of wages paid, three went to the labourers and the rest must have been embezzled, pointed out Dreze. The lack of transparency in the muster rolls was only one example of the systematic failure to enforce the guidelines of the NFFWP. Another grave lapse was the failure to pay minimum wages. The investigators did not find a single worksite where legal minimum wages had been paid as prescribed in the guidelines. In Purulia, West Bengal, a poor woman toiled for three days with her son and daughter to earn as little as 13 kg of rice. Later, speakers from across the political spectrum addressed a public meeting at Gandhi Bhavan. It was presided over by social activist Roop Rekha Verma. Minister for Revenue Ambika Chaudhary presented the government’s point of view. Among those who addressed it were CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, Magsaysay award winner Sandeep Pandey, Subhashini Ali, CPI(ML) leader Akhilendra Pratap Singh.
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Only process, no peace in North-East
Kokrajhar (Assam): The ongoing peace process by the Centre involving the three major insurgent outfits of the North East-NSCN (IM),ULFA and NDFB- suffered a jolt with the NDFB refusing to budge from its demand for a sovereign Bodo state. The militant outfit NDFB and the Centre had entered into a ceasefire agreement from June 1 ,this year ,which would remain effective for the next one year to pave the way for peace talks. It was believed that following the ceasefire, the NDFB would scale down its demand for a sovereign Bodo state and like the erstwhile militant outfit, Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT), would settle down its demand within the parameters of the Constitution. The erstwhile BLT cadres led by Hagrama Mohilary are now running the Bodo Territorial Council (BTC) involving four districts of Lower Assam, Kokrajhar, Chirang, Udalguri and Baska. In fact, after the Mizo National front (MNF), the BLT was the second major militant outfit which took part in the elections. The NDFB general secretary, Mr Govinda Basumatary, in a recent Press note has categorically stated that the organization was for a sovereign state of Bodos and the outfit would never scale down its demand to a separate state or union territory. Basumatary`s declaration comes close on the heels of the similar announcement by ULFA. The outfit rejected the Centre’s first invite for talks since it did not address the issues of a “sovereign Assam”. Later the PMO redrafted the letter and included the word “core issues” to pacify ULFA.The militant outfit is yet to respond to the second letter. And not only the NDFB and ULFA, the Centre, despite having had 14 rounds of talks with the NSCN (IM), has yet to come out with a concrete proposal to resolve the Naga insurgency problem. The NSCN (IM) leadership is demanding the integration of Naga inhabitated areas in Assam, Manipur and Arunachal with Nagaland. But the people of these states are not willing to oblige. The NSCN(IM) general secretary, Mr T. Muivah, already has expressed his displeasure to the Centre on the dilly-dally attitude on the issue, as its rival NSCN (Khaflang), has already accused it of transforming the Naga problem into a mere administrative one by sticking to the integration of Naga — dominated areas only.
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Madhuban attack forces govt to curb Naxal violence
New Delhi, June 30 “We have asked the SSB Director-General, Mr Himanshu Kumar, to visit the spot and assess the ground situation there and also asked the SSB to coordinate with the CRPF and the local police in all Naxal-hit areas in the state to pre-empt Madhuban type attack,” Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal told The Tribune late last evening on the sidelines of the Inter-State Council meeting here. He also indicated that the response of the Home Ministry would depend a great deal on Bihar Governor Buta Singh’s report on the incident. “The Bihar Governor is expected to visit Madhuban and we will await his report,” Mr Duggal said. The Home Ministry is also keen on putting on fast track coordinated action plan and operations by all Naxal-hit states to curb attacks. “Already a Standing Committee of Chief Ministers of some of the Naxal-affected states to pursue a coordinated approach to curb Naxal violence and activity has been formed and the results will be visible on the ground soon,” Mr Duggal added.
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Kerala least corrupt, Bihar most corrupt
New Delhi, June 30 Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra follow Kerala as the least corrupt states on a list of 20 states surveyed by Transparency International India to find out how much a common man has to pay as bribes to avail public services. Delhi comes 11th after Chhattisgarh (6th), Punjab (7th), West Bengal (8th), Orissa (9th) and Uttar Pradesh (10th). Tamil Nadu is placed 12th followed by Haryana, Jharkhand, Assam and Rajasthan. Karnataka is on an unenviable 17th position while Madhya Pradesh is 18th. Jammu and Kashmir is only behind Bihar in the quantity of corruption. The survey, conducted by Transparency International India along with the Centre for Media Studies (CMS) in 356 villages spread across 151 districts in 20 states, reveals that the common citizens pay bribes of Rs 21,068 crore every year. Of the 11 public services focussed in the survey, the police department comes out as the most corrupt with an overwhelming 80 per cent of the respondents saying they had paid a bribe to register a case or take action in a registered case. In Kerala, all 11 public services are ranked the least corrupt in the country. Assam Police is the most corrupt in the country while the national Capital has the dubious distinction of having the second most corrupt public distribution system after Bihar. — UNI
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e-ticketing for Shatabdi soon
New Delhi, June 30 Announcing the new concept in e-ticketing at the release of the Northern Railway (NR) time-table for 2005, General Manager V.N. Mathur said the option of booking a ticket on the internet and downloading a copy of the ticket, was being started on an experimental basis some time in July. The new concept will be handled by the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). “Standing in long queues at the ticket window may be
passé if the facility being introduced for the Kalka-Shatabdi Express on an experimental basis is found feasible and is extended to other trains,’’ Mr Mathur told mediapersons. He said the scheme would help passengers who have to travel at short notice and cannot wait for the courier to deliver tickets. |
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Imrana case: BJP flays Mulayam, Sonia
New Delhi, June 30 BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said the “silence” of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was even more shameful. The silence was only aimed at keeping their vote bank intact, he stressed. Mr Javadekar said it was time for Deoband, an Islamic institution, and the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board to revise and review their “fatwa”, taking into account the public sentiments towards the plight of the victim.
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NCW chief meets rape victim
Lucknow, June 30 Complaining that the fatwa had not been communicated to her by any organisation, she however, said “when I get the fatwa I will abide by it”. Ms Vyas said the dispute over her case was under the ambit of the Constitution and should be left to the legal system.
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PMO denies evaluation of ministers
New Delhi, June 30 Dismissing these
reports as “baseless and mischievous in intent,” the PMO maintained in a statement here today that “no such performance
rating has been undertaken” by them. “The attention of the Prime Minister has
been drawn once again
to reports in the print
and electronic media, alleging that the PMO
has done a rating of
various ministers based on which some ministers could be dropped from the Union Council on grounds of poor performance,” the statement added. |
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Lalu man is Bihar PCC chief
New Delhi, June 30 Both Mr. Digvijay Singh and Mr. Sadanand Singh, who replaces Lalu-baiter Ram Yatan Sinha, are known for their proximity to the RJD chief. The talk in Congress circles is that the new Bihar PCC President was named after informal consultations with Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav. Besides Mr. Singh, the Congress also cleared the names of Mr. Ram Babu Sharma and Mr. Subhash Yadav as PCC presidents of Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, respectively. In both cases, the present incumbents have been retained. With today’s announcements, the Congress has, so far, named 21 “new” PCC presidents. However, the suspense in other states, including Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, continued and is likely to persist till the next week. The Congress had earlier said it would declare the bulk of the names by June 30, the deadline set by the Election Commission for the completion of the party’s organisational elections. AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi today explained that the party has fulfilled the statutory requirement as the election process is considered complete once half the delegates and PCC chiefs are declared. The names cleared today indicated that Mrs. Gandhi has decided to play safe, opting for a status quo once again. Except for Bihar, where Mr. Sadannad Singh’s appointment was widely predicted, the PCC chiefs of Delhi and Madhya Pradesh remain unchanged. Besides being close to the RJD chief, the Congress opted for Mr. Sadannad Singh in an effort to counter Janata Dal (U) leader Nitish Kumar as they are both Kurmis, an important backward community class . In addition, the new Bihar PCC president has a substantial presence in East Bihar, an area where Mr. Nitish Kumar is not so strong. . As regards Madhya Pradesh, Congress insiders explained that the party could ill-afford to replace Subhash Yadav at this juncture since the state chief minister is also an OBC. The fact that Mr. Yadav is a known Digvijay Singh-baiter also helped him keep his job. Similarly, Delhi PCC chief Ram Babu Sharma, heading the anti-Sheila Dikshit faction, was retained to counter the Chief Minister’s growing influence. These appointments are in keeping with the Congress party’s well-known policy of ensuring that state leaders do not acquire a larger-than-life image. |
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Sonia may meet Left leaders today
New Delhi, June 30 Although Congress leaders have been in telephonic touch with each other and with Left leaders ever since the latter decided to suspend their participation in the UPA-Left coordination committee meetings, this was the first formal interaction among senior Congress leaders to address the disinvestment issue. The Left parties have taken exception to the UPA government’s decision to offload 10 per cent stake in
BHEL, dubbing it as a violation of the ruling coalition’s common minimum programme (CMP). The meeting was called soon after UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s return from her holiday in Himachal Pradesh. Others who participated in these deliberations included Union Ministers P.Chidambaram, Shivraj Patil, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Arjun Singh and Mr. Ahmed Patel, Congress president’s political secretary. The Left parties have made it abundantly clear that there could no “give and take” on this issue and that it will not be satisfied till the UPA government reverses its decision. Emerging from the meeting, Mr. Patel said that after today’s discussions, Mrs. Gandhi could meet the Left leaders tomorrow or at any day convenient to them. He,
however, refused to say if the government would rollback its decision on BHEL, saying the government would look at concrete solutions after Mrs. Gandhi’s discussions with the Left leaders. Even before Congress leaders held their formal consultations tonight, Mrs. Gandhi, Dr. Singh and Mr. Patel had spoken to Left leaders to assure them that their grievance would be redressed. Defence minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is in the United States, also called up the angry Left leaders in an effort to placate them. Congress insiders said the Prime Minister and Mrs. Gandhi will meet the Left leaders after they have decided on a formula which would be acceptable to them. As of now, the government’s options appear to be limited as the Left parties are in no mood for any compromise on this issue. The government, however, is looking for a middle path. It would not like to backtrack on its decision on BHEL since it wants to send out a positive signal to the global community that India remains committed to the economic reforms process. |
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Rural job guarantee Bill in monsoon session
New Delhi, June 30 Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said today that the Standing Committee report is expected to come in the first week of the monsoon session beginning on July 25. "I hope the Bill will be passed by the last week of the session," he said. The Minister said he had urged the Chairman of the Standing Committee, Mr Kalyan Singh, to expedite the report so that the Bill could be passed in the monsoon session. He said government wanted early passage of the Bill after its introduction in the Lok Sabha on December 21, 2004 but the process was delayed as it was referred to the Standing Committee. "The Standing Committee chairman is from the BJP, which had boycotted Parliament. The report got delayed and the Bill could not be passed in the Budget session," he said. Mr Singh said the proposed legislation will have provision for unemployment allowance in case of failure of the government to provide employment according to stipulations. Enacting a National Employment Guarantee Act was among the main promises of the Common Minimum Programme of the UPA government. The CMP had stated that the UPA government will "immediately enact" a legislation for employment guarantee on asset-creating public works for at least one able-bodied person in every rural, urban, poor and lower middle-class household. In the interim, a massive food-for-work programme will be started, it had said. Though the Rural Development Ministry wants to keep the ambit of legislation wide, the process may start with the most vulnerable sections. Mr Singh said that the cost of the employment under the Bill had worked out to be roughly Rs 100 per manday. Referring to the ambitious Bharat Nirman project of the UPA government, Mr Singh said additional funds would be needed to achieve objectives of the three components of the project which fall under his ministry. "While an additional Rs 15,500 crore will be needed to meet the target of rural road connectivity, Rs 5,000 crore more would be needed to provide drinking water to the left-out 74,000 habitations and improving quality of water in areas where it is contaminated. ," he said. |
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Monsoon session from July 25
New Delhi, June 30 The Parliament session will start from July 25 and will continue as long as required, Mr Azad told reporters on the sidelines of a conference of Chief Ministers on National Urban Transport Policy. Asked which Bills are likely to be taken up during the session, he said it would be decided later.
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School on gurdwara premises demolished
New Delhi, June 30 Why the school buildings located in historic gurdwaras for several decades have been demolished, is a question uppermost on the lips of parents. “Beautification of the Gurdwara Bangla Sahib complex,” is the rationale that one gets from the DSGMC for their action. School structures, considered to be temples of learning, were eyesores to the lakhs of devotees who throng the gurdwara each year. Interestingly, the parents of the students of Khalsa Boys’ Primary School approached the Delhi High Court seeking to restrain the school authorities from shifting it to a new location, a few kilometres away. Justice S. Ravindra Bhat in his order restrained the authorities from shifting the school from the existing location till August 9, the next date of hearing. President of the DSGMC Paramjit Singh Sarna said it was a government-aided school (where the Sikh body contributes 5 per cent of the annual budget) and the government funded 95 per cent of the school budget. The schools were only being shifted not closed down, he said, asking, “why should a school be run from a religious premises?” When pointed out that the High Court had passed a restraint order and the DSGMC has demolished the school structure itself, Mr Sarna said: “The court order is ex parte. How can the judiciary intervene in the gurdwara affairs?” With the demolition of the school structure and shifting it to the new location, it would lose its recognition from the government. The school was perhaps the first recognised Khalsa school in the Capital. The Delhi School Education Act, 1973, states that if a recognised school ceases to function or is shifted to a different locality without previous approval of the appropriate authority, its recognition shall lapse on such shutdown or shifting and for the purpose of recognition be treated as a new school. Another complication is that Khalsa Boy’s Primary School was located in the New Delhi Municipal Committee (NDMC) area and is proposed to be shifted to the Delhi Municipal Corporation area. While the NDMC gives 95 per cent aid to schools located in its area, the corporation does not give such aids to schools. The issue has taken political colour with the Shiromani Akali Dal Panthic (Jathedar Santok Singh) president Manjit Singh Greater Kailash attacking the DSGMC of “ruining” the education institutions being run by it. |
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AIDS bomb ticking in Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad, June 30 This widespread permissiveness has earned the state the dubious distinction of accounting for the highest number of HIV cases among the STD patients in the country. With 19.6 per cent of STD patients testing positive for HIV, Andhra Pradesh’s prevalence rate is the highest among the six worst-affected states. This is a serious epidemic situation as per a report by the AP State AIDS Control Society (APSACS). Hyderabad ranks first with 36 per cent of STD patients surveyed testing positive, followed by port city Visakhapatnam (35.6) and temple town of Tirupati (31.2). Being home for an estimated five lakh HIV patients, AP ranks second after Maharashtra in terms of HIV incidence and accounts for one-tenth of the total number of cases in 2004 as per the estimates by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) based on surveillance data. The alarming rise in STD-driven HIV cases is one among a plethora of factors, including high prevalence of paid sex, low rates of condom use and a vast network of national highways passing through the state. A state is considered hard-hit if HIV prevalence rate is 5 per cent or more among the high-risk groups like STD patients. In AP, it has been hovering well above 15 per cent for the past seven years and peaked at 19.6 per cent in 2003, the highest in the country, the report, containing the findings of a survey between 2001 and 2003, said. AP is followed by Manipur (13 per cent), Karnataka (10.04) and Maharashtra (10 per cent). The HIV infection rate among pregnant women tested at antenatal clinics in AP has been consistently above 1 per cent, which is a benchmark for categorising a state as high prevalent. In 17 districts, out of a total 23, over 1 per cent of pregnant women were tested positive for HIV in 2004, the report said, adding that the incidence was particularly high in coastal districts. Wives of truck and taxi drivers showed higher vulnerability with 2.94 per cent of HIV positive women visiting antenatal clinics falling in this category. The state also accounts for a very high number of commercial sex workers with an estimated 24,000 women being in the flesh trade. |
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CPI opposes Indo-US defence ties
New Delhi, June 30 Expressing serious concern, the CPI said New Delhi “cannot and should not join with the USA on the question of missile defence system that can only serve the imperialist goal of the USA and jeopardise regional and global security”. It said the two countries “do not share common perspectives on the issues of political and economic freedom, fight against terrorism, weapons of mass destruction (Iraq as a case) and collaboration in operations (without UN mandate) in third countries”. The CPI said the strategic relationship framework meant that India became part of American strategies, thereby undermining its role in international politics. |
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BJP condemns petrol price hike
New Delhi, June 30 BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said the White Paper should give details like domestic production, long-term contracts, newly acquired oil equity and the average price of oil. It should also give details of the subsidy and explain the tax structure in various states. The spokesman said the nationwide agitation, organised by the BJP against the price hike during the past one year, had attracted the participation of more than 10,00,000 people around the country. Several leaders, including BJP Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu and party General Secretary Arun Jaitley, were arrested at Hyderabad and Chandigarh leading the protests. In Kerala, the fortress of the Left Parties and the Congress, the BJP organised a successful bandh and the sit-in demostration at Arunachal Pradesh evoked a “good response”. Demonstrations were organised in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir and Goa states also, he added. |
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11 killed in mudslide
near Badrinath
Dehra Dun, June 30 A part of the road at Govindghat, about 25 km from Badrinath was swept away in the accident, leaving the traffic blocked. The road would be opened to traffic by late evening, the officials said. The ITBP personnel along with locals, district administration and the Border Road Organisation are carrying out the rescue operations. |
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Army Chief leaves for Oman today
New Delhi, June 30 The Army Chief leaves
tomorrow first on a four-day visit to Oman which will be the first by an Indian Army chief to the Sultanate. It comes at the invitation of Maj General Said bin Nasser bin Sulaiman al Salmi, Commander, Royal Army of Oman. |
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Two held for leaking CD
of ‘Yakeen’
Mumbai, June 30 The police said the two employees — Ajay Verma (24) and Kanu Prajapati (23) — were arrested after employees of the studio were questioned by the police following a complaint by the producers. In his complaint, producer Sheel Kumar suspected employees of the company and the post-production studio Prime Focus. |
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