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Isolated, Rane quits as Leader of Opposition
Pranab admits country’s peace under threat
BJP trains guns on Congress
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Centre may bring in another Act in Assam
New Delhi, July 12 With the Supreme Court striking down the controversial Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act, the Centre today indicated that it might bring a fresh Act to deal with the migrants problem in Assam.
BJP hails SC verdict on IMDT Act
Centre to launch action plan to counter terror George objects to RSS role
CPM to
oppose pensions Bill
Rajasthan to provide surplus power to Punjab
UNSC seat: India unsure of US support
Sankararaman case: framing of charges put off
SC notice to Centre, states on PIL
of visually impaired Pollution board caught napping, SC imposes fine
Veteran CPI leader PKV Nair dead
SAD MPs meet British envoy
Ayodhya attack: 8 SIMI activists held
IPS officer jailed for cheating UPSC
Police remand for 2 Chhota Rajan gang members
MCOCA invoked against drug lord
Rights activist Abidi nominated to advisory board
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Isolated, Rane quits as Leader of Opposition
Mumbai, July 12 When it became clear by late last evening that most of the Shiv Sena’s 63 MLAs would stay loyal to supremo Bal Thackeray and his son Uddhav, pressure was on Mr Rane to quietly resign as the Leader of the Opposition. His main supporter in the latest crisis to hit the Shiv Sena, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, decided to cut his losses and save the fight for another day. Shortly after Mr Rane drove in to meet Mr Pawar and Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel this morning, he was told to quit his post. Both leaders made it clear to Mr Rane that he would have to pay for the failure to break the Shiv Sena legislature party. According to sources, Mr Rane was told that Speaker Babasaheb Kupekar, an NCP man, would not precipitate a constitutional crisis by disqualifying 23 Shiv Sena MLAs as demanded by him. Mr Rane, however, put on a brave front. “I am going to resign as Leader of the Opposition today. I would have done it yesterday itself but for the disruptive attitude of the MLAs,” he told reporters just before entering the Assembly building. He insisted that his defection would hurt the Shiv Sena. “You have lost 12 MLAs and one leader so how is it a majority,” he asked. The Speaker went on to recognise Ramdas Kadam as the leader of the Shiv Sena legislature party. Party’s chief whip Gajanan Kirtikar, who was sacked by Mr Rane, too has been recognised as such by the speaker. The Shiv Sena is wooing the MLAs who are with Mr Rane. “There is no split in the Sena. Our strength has been reduced from the earlier 63 to 62 with the expulsion of Mr Rane from the party,” Mr Kadam said. The Shiv Sena needs the support of all 62 MLAs in order to prevent being upstaged by its ally, the BJP which as 54 MLAs in the House. Should its tally drop below the BJP’s, the Shiv Sena would have to give up the post of Leader of the Opposition to its partner. Admitting defeat, Mr Rane in an emotional speech in the House hoped that no politician would experience the misfortune that had befallen on him. “Saving their membership in the House is more important for them than appreciating hard work and loyalty,” he lamented. “I am not after posts of power. I belong to that category of Shiv Sainiks who create posts’’, he said. He, however, thanked Mr Thackeray for his success as a politician. “I am still a true Shiv Sainik and I thank him for my success in politics,” he said. Meanwhile, victory celebrations have begun in Maharashtra with relieved Shiv Sena cadres partying on the streets. |
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Pranab admits country’s peace under threat
Kolkata, July 12 He denied that the UPA government was indifferent to the subversive activities of the MCC, PWG and other extremist groups as alleged by the BJP president, Mr L.K. Advani. On the contrary, we are paying special importance on how to tackle the problem, the Defence Minister said, adding that the Centre had already declared nine states as Naxalite-prone. These states were given special funds for tackling the menace. The steps included setting up of special combating forces and purchasing sophisticated weapons and mine-blast protective vehicles. The states were told to lay special emphasis on developing the neglected areas from where the MCC and the PWG mostly operate. Earlier, speaking at the annual general meeting of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industries, the minister asked the private sector industries to come forward in producing advanced defence equipment by taking advantage of the present Indo-US arms agreement which he had finalised during his recent visit to New York. Mr Mukherjee said he was waiting for the second report of the Kelkar Committee and hoped that the private sector would soon have larger role to play in the producing arms and armament and other equipment for meeting the country’s defence requirements. |
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BJP trains guns on Congress
New Delhi, July 12 “The Congress, which had been associated with the freedom struggle, is today bowing in front of foreigners,” BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj told reporters here. She said the Congress in its effort to “hail” Sonia Gandhi had “forgotten” Mahatma Gandhi. Ms Swaraj, who was addressing the press after a meeting of office-bearers and senior leaders, said a “serious objection” was expressed at the deliberations. The Prime Minister, while receiving the Honorary Doctorate at Oxford University on last Friday, had said that even at the height of the campaign for freedom from the colonial rule “we did not entirely reject the British claim to good governance. We merely asserted our national right to self governance.” Meanwhile, senior BJP leaders also deliberated to frame the party’s response to the concerns expressed by the Sangh Parivar about some top party functionaries. The meeting of General Secretaries was converted into a senior leaders’ meeting to facilitate the participation of top party leaders in it. While BJP sources denied that Mr L. K. Advani was under pressure to give up one of the two posts held by him - the party President and the Leader of the Opposition, sources said, the RSS had conveyed all its concerns to the BJP and the gist of the discussions that had taken place at its Surat Convention recently. The RSS also did not want any dilution of the Sangh Parivar’s ideology with impunity by some of its functionaries. |
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Centre may bring in another Act in Assam
New Delhi, July 12 “The Supreme Court’s order is supreme and we have to abide by it.... We will first examine the order to identify any problem that could arise due to today’s order and then if needed we will bring another Act,” Minister
of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal told The Tribune here. The striking down of the IMDT Act has come as a big blow to the Congress ahead of the crucial Assembly poll in Assam next year. The Supreme Court while terming the Act as “ultra vires”, ordered that all tribunals set up under the Act shall cease to function immediately and the pending matters regarding the determination of the identity of illegal Bangladeshi migrants stood transferred to the normal tribunals constituted under the Foreigners Act as existed all over the country. The UPA government
and the Congress government in Assam have been opposing the repeal of the Act, asserting that it was needed to protect genuine Indian citizens. At a high-powered tripartite meeting on May 5, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and attended among others by Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and five-member All Assam
Students Union (AASU) delegation, the Centre had made it clear that it is not in favour of the repeal of the Act. However, the BJP and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) have been demanding the repeal of the Act, terming it as an obstacle in identifying illegal migrants from Bangladesh. The BJP-led NDA government had introduced the IMTD (Repeal) Act in Parliament, which was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home, the Chairperson of which was senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee. Before the committee could give its report,
the tenure of the NDA government had ended and the UPA government did not pursue it. |
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BJP hails SC verdict on IMDT Act
New Delhi, July 12 Terming the apex court verdict as a “good development”, BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj told newspersons that it was a boon for Assam, which had felt that the Act was playing a fraud on the people of the state by shifting the onus of proving a foreign national (Bangladeshi) on the petitioners and not the foreigner. Whereas in other states a foreign national was bound to be deported once detected. The BJP, Ms Swaraj said, was for repealing the IMDT Act and had even brought the repeal Bill before Parliament. However, it was referred to a Standing Committee headed by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, which did not submit its report as the Congress was opposed to the Bill. Reacting to the verdict, AGP MP Sarbananda
Sonowal, who was the petitioner, said “I am delighted over the verdict and I dedicate it to the great martyrs of the Assam movement and All-Assam Students Union
(AASU) and the North-East Students Association for their active cooperation.” |
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Centre to launch action plan to counter terror
New Delhi, July 12 The meeting, attended by top police, Army and intelligence officials, was convened by Patil following concern expressed by the Prime Minister over recent terrorist strikes, Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal said. “The action plan will deal with possible militant efforts to disturb communal harmony in the country by attacking temples and mosques and targeting high-value installations, including airports and seaports to derail the economy,” Mr Jaiswal told reporters after the 90-minute meeting here on the “New Face of Terror”. The focus of parleys was the new modus operandi and changing tactics being adopted by the terrorists while carrying out suicide attacks in hinterland by hiding their as well as their masters’ identity. Among others present at the meeting was National Security Advisor M K Narayanan, Cabinet Secretary B K Chaturvedi and Home Secretary V K Duggal. — PTI
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George objects to RSS role
New Delhi, July 12 In a statement issued here on Tuesday, the Janata Dal (United) President said the developments within the BJP had caused deep concern and unease among its allies. Defending BJP President L.K. Advani’s comments on Pakistan founder Mohd Ali Jinnah, the JD(U) leader said there was nothing wrong or objectionable about his comments and the BJP should “sort things out at the earliest.’’ He said the question on who should be the President of the BJP is an internal matter of the party. “What matters is that the NDA should constantly reaffirm its secular ideology and superiority and truly democratic value system. This alone will help us to both disarm and defeat the hippocratic and anti-people Congress-Communist combine.” Mr Fernandes further said that he would not have commented on the RSS in ordinary circumstances. “However, in the extraordinary situation that seems to have developed in the main Opposition party and driven primarily by my concerns for the NDA, I urge the RSS to confine itself to its socio-cultural activities.’’ He said the immediate challenge before the NDA is to win the decisive mandate in the elections in Bihar and liberate the state from the “corrupt and utterly discredited RJD-Congress rule which has condoned all forms of anarchy.”
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New Delhi, July 12 CPI Deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gurudas Dasgupta, in a three-page dissenting note to be appended in the Parliamentary Standing Committee report on Finance, had yesterday demanded withdrawal of the Bill and termed it as a “fraud” on Central and state government employees as well as the unorganised sector workers. CPM Floor leaders in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, Basudev Acharya and Nilotpla Basu, said today that the party had decided in a meeting here to oppose the Bill in its present form in Parliament. — UNI
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Rajasthan to provide surplus power to Punjab
Jaipur, July 12 As per the agreement the between Rajasthan Power Procurement Centre (RPPC) and the Punjab State Electricity Board, Rajasthan would provide its surplus power to Punjab during kharif season while the latter would return it with an extra 5 per cent during the Rabi season. As stipulated, the surplus power generated by Rajasthan between July and October would be transmitted to Punjab to meet the shortage being faced by it in the agricultural sector. Similarly, Rajasthan would also be able to meet the increasing demand of farmers during Rabi when Punjab reimburses the quantum of power taken on loan along with 5 per cent bonus. Rajasthan currently generates more power than what is needed during the rainy season while its requirements are greater from November to February. The agreement would, therefore, be mutually beneficial, said a senior official of the RPPC. |
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UNSC seat: India unsure of US support
New Delhi, July 12 Describing the Prime Minister’s visit to the US as a “very important foreign policy event,” official sources maintained it reflected “the very real changes taking place over the last few years” and to jointly deal at the highest political level with the strain on global energy resources encompassing peaceful uses of nuclear energy and the fighting the scourge of international terrorism. On host President George Bush extending support or otherwise to India’s bid for a seat in the UNSC, the outcome Dr Manmohan Singh’s visit did not necessarily hinge on that especially as the two countries are “looking at a broad agenda for the reforms of the United Nations. It is well known that India does not endorse the framework resolution of the US even as the Bush administration concedes there must be expansion of the permanent and non-permanent members of the UNSC coupled with providing greater representation to the developing countries. Official sources say the US may not support India having already expressed its willingness to back Japan for a seat in the UNSC without veto rights as there is disquiet in Washington about the draft resolution of the G-4 (India, Germany, Japan and Brazil) being put to vote in the world body. Even without American support, India can find a place in the UNSC. It was also pointed out the criteria sought to be thrown up by the US is similar to what India had proposed in 1994. As regards non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, there are no differences between India and the US on the issue. “India has an impeccable record in this regard and will do what is necessary on its own to fulfil the requirements of non-proliferation by strengthening the export control mechanism.” There is a “perceptional change” in Indo-US relations on civilian nuclear energy cooperation. It is conceded that India is a responsible nuclear weapon state. Cooperation in the civilian uses of nuclear energy is extending to the European Union. On the Iran-India gas pipeline, the sources said New Delhi’s ties with Teheran were important geopolitically as well as being a source of energy supplies. For India, Iran was the only access route to Afghanistan and Central Asia. Iran’s role in the stabilisation of Afghanistan was critical. The decision to have a pipeline from Iran was based on these and other parameters. As a fast growing economy, India’s energy needs including the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, was bound to increase. The challenge posed by the enlarging energy requirements of India and China has made energy a global issue. Finding new energy sources that are environmentally sustainable has become imperative. The international energy environment has to be supportive rather than destructive. As regards fuel for the Tarapur atomic energy plant, the Manmohan Singh government believes this can only come about with widening cooperative endeavours with the US. |
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Sankararaman case: framing of charges put off
Chengalpattu, July 12 Besides hearing the discharge petition of the seer, the prime accused in the case, on July 25, the court would also take up another petition by him seeking adjournment of the trial in view of pendency of his plea before the Supreme Court for transfer of the case to a court outside Tamil Nadu. Another accused Kuruvi Ravi also filed a petition seeking discharge from the case. All 24 accused were present in the court today. On June 16, the Judge had fixed today for framing of charges against the accused and accused-turned-approver Ravi Subramaniam. During the proceedings today, Jayendra Saraswathi told the judge that he and his junior be exempted from personal appearance in view of the ‘chathurmasya viratham’ (a period of austerities imposed on sanyasis during which they should desist from travelling) commencing from July 18 and ending on September 18. The seer said once the ‘viratham’ period was over, he would attend the court whenever he was directed to do so.
— PTI |
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SC notice to Centre, states on PIL
of visually impaired New Delhi, July 12 Taking cognizance of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a Gurgaon-based visually impaired Rajiv Raturi, a Bench comprising Mr Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Mr Justice G.P. Mathur directed the of Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry and the Surface Transport Ministry to submit their replies. Apart from amending the road safety norms, the petitioner has sought providing the necessary accessible facilities for the visually challenged to make commutation through buses and other public transport systems easy. The petitioner pointed out that in most of the developed countries, special facilities had been provided to visually challenged persons, including the installation of special equipment in buses and taxis to make their travel safe and comfortable. The necessary equipment required to be provided, include audio signals on the bus stops and road crossings, the petitioner said.
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Pollution board caught napping, SC imposes fine
New Delhi, July 12 The CPCB, which had so far got only accolades from the apex court in various matters, was not doing its duty, said a Bench comprising Mr Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Mr Justice G.P. Mathur. It directed the CPCB Chairman to file an affidavit within two weeks detailing the action taken in regard to slaughter houses functioning without solid waste disposal facility. Terming as “dismal” the state of affairs relating to the illegal slaughter houses functioning in unhygenic conditions, the Bench said it was “unfortunate” that CPCB had taken no tangible action under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act despite repeated orders from the court and pendency of the matter for two years. Directing the cost money be paid to the Legal Aid Service, the Bench said “it is a total derelection of duty on the part of the CPCB. This is not the way a central body mandated to check pollution functions. Things are not well in the CPCB.” — PTI
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Veteran CPI leader PKV Nair dead
New Delhi, July 12 Padayatt Kesavapillai Vasudevan Nair, popularly known as PKV, a four-time MP and leader of CPI’s Parliamentary Group in the Lok Sabha, died at 3.35 PM at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where he was admitted to last week after an infection in his lungs developed into pneumonia. His condition worsened later after his kidneys stopped functioning following which he underwent dialysis twice, CPI Secretary D Raja said. Born in Kidangur village in Kottayam district of Central Kerala, PKV had his baptism in politics during his students days as an activist of the All India Students Federation (AISF). The initial years were tumultous as AISF, which was part of the then undivided Communist Party of India (CPI), was fighting against British imperialism. PKV, who represents Thiruvananthapuram constituency in the Lok Sabha, soon plunged into active politics when he joined CPI in 1945 while he was still in college. The subsequent years saw him evolve as a student and youth leader when he was elected President of the Travancore Students’ Union in 1947 and President of the Students Federation in 1948.
— PTI |
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SAD MPs meet British envoy
New Delhi, July 12 The delegation urged the British authorities to take steps to restore confidence among the Asians, particularly Sikhs, as the racial attacks had shaken them and their families in India were worried. The delegation included party’s parliamentary head Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and deputy leader Sukhbir Singh Badal. Acting British High Commissioner Rob Maccarie assured them that the UK government would take all safety measure. |
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Ayodhya attack: 8 SIMI activists held
Lucknow, July 12 “While four have been released, as many are still being questioned,” Principal Secretary (Home) Alok Sinha said here. The Home Department official said so far over 20 persons had been detained for questioning in this regard. They had been picked up from Lucknow, Faizabad, Ayodhya and Akbarpur.
— UNI |
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IPS officer jailed for cheating UPSC
New Delhi, July 12 “It stands established that the accused had cheated the UPSC and consequently the Central Government, misled and induced them to offer a job on the strength of a false certificate”, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Manoj Jain observed convicting Sanjay Bhatia, presently posted as an Superintendent of Police in Haryana, under section 420 (cheating) of the IPC. The convict had got into the service in 1986 through the SC reservation quota while he belonged to the Bhatia-Rajput community. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the convict or one month’s further imprisonment in default of its payment.
— PTI |
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Police remand for 2 Chhota Rajan gang members
Mumbai, July 12 The alleged gangsters, Vicky Malhotra (35) and Fareed Tanasha (37), were arrested by the city police in Delhi yesterday. On a tip-off that Malhotra and Tanasha had moved to Delhi, a crime branch team from Mumbai had laid a trap and swooped on their hideouts, leading to their arrest. Vicky Malhotra is number two in the Chhota Rajan gang and used to look after Rajan’s operations in Kolkata and abroad, the police said. Malhotra and Tanasha were involved in the smuggling of illegal weapons by the Rajan gang, recently seized at the JNPT here. Malhotra has 26 criminal cases against him while Tanasha has nearly a dozen cases.
— PTI |
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MCOCA invoked against drug lord
New Delhi, July 12 Five years ago, Sheikh had started a beer bar in Mumbai and in the process he came in contact with a number of film actors, the sources said. They added that he allegedly sold drugs to some of them. He also owned a number of properties in Delhi and Mumbai. Besides 28 cases under the Indian Penal Code and NDPS Act, two cases under the National Security Act had been registered against him. In the past few years, he had also ventured into the business of selling imported cars and had allegedly sold a Land Cruiser to Salman Khan. The same vehicle was being allegedly driven by Khan when a pavement dweller was mowed down in Mumbai in 2002. |
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Rights activist Abidi nominated to advisory board New Delhi, July 12 Education Secretary, Sudeep Banerjee, in a letter to Mr Abidi, said the Human Resource Development Minister had invited him to serve on the board to represent the area of inclusive education practices for disabled children. The ministry has also invited Mr Abidi to the 53rd meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education slated for Thursday and Friday.
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