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Amarinder to meet Manmohan today
House dissolution: MLAs move SC against Buta
Meeting on Ayodhya security today
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SC relief for disqualified Goa MLAs
Notice to Centre on ‘unsafe’ genetic food products
Cabinet expansion likely on Friday
Cong offers Rane berth
in Cabinet
Cong MLAs for snapping ties with TRS
Telgi told to pay Rs 121 cr
tax, fine
Karat draws PM’s agenda for US visit
IMDT Act: Gogoi rushes to Delhi
Tamil Nadu bans CPI (Maoist)
US visit: PM talks to BJP leaders
Kalam mistakes journalists for students
31 more CRPF companies for Amarnath Yatra
Cong willing to talk with ULFA
Granth Sahib translation presented to PM
Energy coordination committee set up
Maharashtra bans Austrian drink
SC rejects Nayar’s plea
on RS poll
Rape accused constable chargesheeted
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Amarinder to meet Manmohan today New Delhi, July 13 Though officials close to the Chief Minister say he wants to apprise the Prime Minister of the security situation in the state, he is learnt to have rushed to Delhi to clear the air about his Dubai’s visit. Finding himself on the backfoot for not taking prior permission from the PMO or the External Affairs Ministry for this trip, the Chief Minister put up a stiff defence before mediapersons today. “What is the controvesy all about...This was purely a private visit. I thought it necessary to inform my government and my party about my whereabouts which I did,” he said, adding that the clearance from the Centre was was necessary only in case of an official visit like his recent trip to Canada. In this case, the government had not paid his fare. Besides seeking an appointment with the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister met AICC general secretary Ambika Soni today to discuss state matters but primarily to put the record straight. Ms Soni was quick to defend Capt Amarinder Singh. She explained that he had informed Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee in writing since he is in charge of Punjab affairs. A copy of this letter was sent to Ms Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel as the Congress president was not in town, she added. The Punjab Chief Minister appears to have a penchent for courting controversy. Only recently he was in the eye of a storm when he addressed a meeting in a gurdwara in Canada against the backdrop of “Khalistan Zindabad” slogan. Even on that occasion, a red-faced party was left to defend him. |
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House dissolution: MLAs move SC against Buta
New Delhi, July 13 The affidavit, filing of which was mentioned before a Bench, headed by Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti today with a plea for hearing of their writ petition by the counsel of the four former MLAs, contended that allegations of horse trading levelled against the NDA-led formation were merely surmises and conjectures and made with a purpose of political consideration to make a case for dissolution of the House. The former MLAs, Rameshwar Prasad Chaurasia (BJP), Ram Pravesh Rai (JDU), Anil Kumar (breakaway LJP) and Kishore Kumar (Independent) had earlier in a writ petition challenged the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly after a fractured mandate in March, 2005, elections. The court, which had earlier issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on their petition, told their counsel that the matter would be listed for hearing soon. The MLAs also accused the Governor of not acting as per the guidelines laid down by the apex court in the S.R. Bommai judgement. The UPA government, which had earlier accused the NDA of indulging in horse trading by encouraging breakup in Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s party LJP to muster support to form a government under JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar, had in its affidavit diluted the allegations of the Governor and stated that there was “strong apprehension” about this. The Union Government had stated that the apprehension of horse trading was continuously expressed by Governor Buta Singh and the dissolution had saved the democracy in the state.
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Meeting on Ayodhya security today
New Delhi, July 13 The meeting, to be chaired by Union Home Secretary V. K. Duggal, will be attended among others by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary or the Principal Secretary (Home), the Director-General of Police (UP), the Additional Director-General of Police (UP), the Commissioner (Faizabad district), Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Union Home Ministry Anil Choudhary and director-generals of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the CRPF. The meeting is being held in the wake of a terrorist attack in Ayodhya on July 5 and decisions would be taken on various steps to pre-empt such terrorist attacks on vital installations in Uttar Pradesh, sources said. To ensure a foolproof security of the Ramjanmabhoomi Babri Masjid complex, the CRPF has already proposed to the government for “re-orientation” of the security in and around the complex by putting in place additional concrete barricades and light poles, installing an alarm system and close circuit cameras at strategic points. The CRPF’s argument is that the security deployment around the disputed structure was so far made to tackle law and order problem, crowd management and to prevent mob attack, but the terrorist attack has necessitated strengthening of the security. As far as security at Taj Mahal, Kashi and Mathura are concerned, security arrangements are already in place but they also needed “reorientation” to prevent suicide attacks or attacks through rocket/grenade launchers, the sources said. The CISF, which has been deployed in Taj Mahal, is understood to have drawn a fresh security blue print. Meanwhile, Union Home Secretary V. K. Duggal is also scheduled to hold a meeting on Friday with the director-generals of police and chief secretaries of Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland to review the overall security situation and also security concerns arising out of the blockade in Manipur.
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SC relief for disqualified Goa MLAs
New Delhi, July 13 While refusing to grant a complete stay on the High Court’s Panaji Bench order quashing their election, a Bench comprising Chief Justice R. C. Lahoti and Mr Justice P. K. Balasubramanyan said though the two legislators — Mr Dayanand Rayu Mandrekar and Mr Rajendra Vishwanath Ariekar — could attend the House, they would have no voting right in its proceedings. Neither would they get any remunerations, nor sign the attendance register till the disposal of their appeals, the court said, while seeking replies from the Centre, Election Commission and the Goa Government and other respondents. The disqualification of the MLAs by the High Court on the ground that at the time of contesting the 2002 Assembly elections, they were holding offices of profit, had come as a major setback to the BJP in the state where the Congress had formed a government recently with a slender margin after winning three seats in byelections. The byelections were necessitated by the resignation of four BJP MLAs leading to the fall of its government. The apex court said a complete stay could not be granted in an interim order at this stage as it would have adverse consequences if the MLAs loose their case.
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Homage paid to PKV
New Delhi, July 13 The body of Nair, popularly known as PKV, is kept at CPI headquarters Ajoy Bhavan here for people to pay homage. A large number of party activists and leaders of different political parties bid tearful farewell to the CPI Parliamentary group leader and party’s National Council Secretary. President A P J Abdul Kalam, in his condolence message to Ms Lakshmy Kutty Amma, wife of the veteran CPI leader, expressing his sadness, said, “Nair was a dedicated public personality who always wanted to serve the people. This was evident as he was elected to the Lok Sabha four times and also as the Chief Minister of Kerala.” Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee described Nair as “one of the tallest leaders of the Left movement in the country and a committed champion of the working class.” The Union Ministers, who paid homage, were Pranab Mukherjee, Shivraj Patil and Sharad Pawar. Harkishen Singh Surjeet and Sitaram Yechury of the CPM, AICC General Secretary Ahmed Patel and Meghalaya Governor M M Jacob also paid tributes to PKV, who had been ailing for quite some time and died at All-India Institute of Medical Sciences following a multiple organ failure. Wreaths were also laid on behalf of President A P J Abdul Kalam and Congress President Sonia Gandhi. The body was later taken to Kerala House where it was kept for some time before being flown to Thiruvananthapuram by a special Air Force aircraft.
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Notice to Centre on ‘unsafe’ genetic food products
New Delhi, July 13 Taking cognizance of a PIL petition by four persons claiming to be working in the field of environment, a Bench of Mr Justice Y. K. Sabharwal and Mr Justice G. P. Mathur sought replies from the Union ministries of Environment and Forests, Science and Technology and Agriculture on the issue. Petitioners led by Ms Aruna Rodrigues from Madhya Pradesh, said various researches and studies worldwide had indicated that marker genes used in the GMO technology would increase antibiotic resistance in humans and animals which fed on food products developed by this technology. Expressing immediate concern over the import of genetically modified soya and soya oil from Argentina, which did not have any labelling laws to regulate it, the PIL said consumption of contaminated soya oil posed a grave threat to people. Among the major hazards are risks of new kinds of allergies, increased resistance to antibiotics, and severe toxicity to human and animals and micro-organisms. Pointing out that since the use, import, export and storage of hazardous micro-organisms and GMOs or cells were brought under the Environment Protection Act in 1989, the use of the technology required to be regulated strictly.
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‘Page 3’ adjudged best film, Saif best actor
New Delhi, July 13 The Chairman of the 17-member feature film jury for the 52nd National Film Awards and noted filmmaker, Sudhir Mishra, announced here that the award for the best popular film has been shared by “Veer Zara” and Tamil film “Cheran”. “Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose-the forgotten hero”, directed by Shyam Benegal has earned the Nargis Dutt award for best feature film on national integration. Many an eyebrow were raised when Mishra announced the name of Saif Ali Khan for the best actor award. There were murmurs of protest as he announced that Saif had been adjudged best actor of 2004 for his “sheer ease, subtlety and spontaneity in portraying a complex and demanding role’’ in “Hum Tum”. The jury’s choice of Saif, son of the Chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification, Sharmila Tagore, was frowned upon by mediapersons who wanted to know names of other actors that had been shortlisted for the award. In a tone that indicated anticipation of a controversy over the award, Mishra said: “I’m not scared of answering that question. There were performances we looked at. For instance, in “Krantikaal”, an opportunity was given to the character. We did not feel that he succeeded in that. There is an opportunity and there is realisation. Shah Rukh Khan in “Swades” is not a bad performance. We also looked at Vijayraaj in “Hari Om”. The selection was difficult but we are willing to defend what we have selected.’’ Mishra said Saif displayed “naturalness, ease and spontaniety’’ in “Hum Tum” that were the hallmarks of an actor and showed performance of a certain calibre. The award for the best actress was given to Thaara in the Kannada film “Hasina” for her “powerful portrayal of a young Muslim wife boldly questioning the traditional laws of her community.’’ Haradhan Banerjee, a 92 year-old actor, has been adjudged as the best supporting actor for his “subtle yet powerful performance’’ in the Bengali film “Krantikaal” and veteran actress Sheela has been adjudged the best supporting actress for her role in the Malayalam film “Akale.” The jury has made a special mention of Gurdas Maan for his effective portrayal of a patriotic young Punjabi landlord caught in a crossfire between terrorists and the police and Pradeep Nair for his attempt to create a new imagery and effective cinematic language in his debut film “Ordiam” (Malayalam). The best child artiste award has been bagged by Om Bhutakar for his role in the Hindi film “Chhota Sipahi”. Udit Narayan and Chitra have been adjudged best male and best female playback singer, respectively. J. Phillip (Kutty), a physically challenged actor, has won the special jury award for his “incredible acting and dance performance’ in the Tamil film “Dancer”. Hindi film “Raincoat” directed by Rituparno Ghosh has been selected as the best feature film in Hindi in the category “best feature film in each of the language specified in Schedule VIII of the Constitution”. Punjabi film “Des Hoya Prades” has been selected for the best feature film in this category. “Amu”, an English film produced and directed by Shonali Bose, has won the award for the best feature film in English in the category “Best feature film in each of the languages other than those specified in Schedule VIII of the Constitution”. “Harvest of Hunger” (English/Oriya) directed by Rupashree Nanda has won the best investigative film.
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Cabinet expansion likely on Friday New Delhi, July 13 While it is unlikely that any of the top portfolios will be changed, the Prime Minister would fill up some of the vacancies as the Monsoon Session of Parliament begins on July 25. What is expected is the inclusion of some leaders like JMM leader Shibu Soren, former Kerala Chief Minister A. K. Antony and Congress general secretary Ambika Soni and no sacking of ministers from their present position. The Prime Minister is keen that the dual portfolios being held by some ministers would be taken away. The sources said final touches to the changes are still being given by Dr Singh in consultation with Congress President Sonia Gandhi. — UNI |
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Cong offers Rane berth
in Cabinet
Mumbai, July 13 The welcome for Rane comes one day after he gave up plans to split the Shiv Sena Legislative party. AICC General Secretary in charge of Maharashtra Margaret Alva and Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said Rane should take up the offer made to him and join the Congress. Party sources say Rane has been offered a berth in the Union Cabinet, if he quits the Shiv Sena and joined the Congress. It is still not clear which seat will be offered to him. Rane has also been promised a ticket for one of his two sons from his native Kankavli Assembly seat. However, Rane scotched all rumours of moving to the Centre, saying that he wanted to concentrate on building the party in Maharashtra. |
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Cong MLAs for snapping ties with TRS
Hyderabad, July 13 The Congress-TRS coalition in the state is in a limbo after the latter quit the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet on July 4. The Congress high command has been trying to reconcile the differences between its state leadership and the TRS. In the backdrop, the latest missive from the MLAs, which obviously has the support of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, has assumed political significance. Dubbing KCR disgruntled, TDP leader and another senior TRS leader A. Narendra as an RSS stooge, the letter charged the duo with hurting the interests of the Congress in Andhra Pradesh. The Congress high command is yet to give its green light to the Chief Minister to accept the resignations submitted by the TRS ministers. Party affairs in charge for AP, Mr Digvijay Singh, is trying to broker peace. The MLAs, who are upset with the high command’s efforts to humour KCR even after his party ministers quit in the state, advocated that the party should never lose or yield ground to the TRS with regard to its demands and deadlines on Telangana. The petition also suggested that TRS had an RSS face, as its leader Mr Narendra Minister of State for Rural Development, was a staunch RSS man in his earlier avatar. Politically, it would also not make sense to alienate Communists and the Mazlis-Ittehadul-Muslimeen, who are opposed to the creation of a separate state. Providing statistics to buttress its argument that TRS was a negligible force, the Congress legislators sought to impress upon the high command to severe ties with the TRS and remove the party’s ministers in the Union Cabinet. Chief Minister Reddy, against whom the TRS leaders mounted a campaign, once again made no bones about his antipathy to continuing with the TRS. Asked about the proposed meeting between him and KCR in Delhi as announced by Mr Digvijay Singh, he replied: “I meet many people when I go to Delhi”. Meanwhile, Mr S. Santosh Reddy, the fifth TRS minister, who refused to resign along with four of his colleagues earlier, submitted his resignation today to the Chief
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Telgi told to pay Rs 121 cr
tax, fine
New Delhi, July 13 The department, which has also been roped in by the CBI for assessing the wealth of Telgi, assessed the income of the accused at Rs 168.59 crore, IT sources said. They said after making an assessment of Telgi’s tax liability, including penalty, he was asked to cough up a total of Rs 121 crore for his wealth. The IT sources said Telgi, against whom the CBI was preparing to file chargesheet in various cases, had filed his income tax return declaring his assets and income at meagre Rs 2.88 crore as against Rs 168.59 crore assessed by the department during the last five years. The tax department had also started mortgaging his property to recover the dues and recently one of his properties in Bangalore was auctioned by the department for Rs 1.43 crore.
— PTI |
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Karat draws PM’s agenda for US visit
New Delhi, July 13 “A coherent set of policies which put Indo-US relations on a balanced and equitable plane needs to be formulated,” CPM general secretary Prakash Karat has written in the party organ “People’s Democracy.” He has dwelt on issues ranging from the UN Security Council, FDI in retail sector, nuclear cooperation, and social security. Left parties, which are on a collision course on the vexed BHEL issue, have already criticised the Indo-US defence pact and want it to be placed in a cold storage. The CPM general secretary says the UPA government is keen to enlist US support for India’s candidature as a permanent member of the Security Council. The United States has so far only declared support for Japan’s membership in the council. It has recently indicated that it may support one or two more countries. “The question of India’s representation in the Security Council should not be delinked from the wider question of the democratisation of the UN structure,” he says. Retail trade employs nearly 8 per cent of the total workforce of our country and contributes around 13 per cent to the GDP. In the absence of the expansion of the manufacturing sector, retail trade is one area that has absorbed the surplus labour from the countryside,” he says. On the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline, Mr Karat says, “One would expect the Prime Minister to convey in clear terms India’s determination to pursue the project. The US should be told that it cannot hamper India’s quest for energy security.” |
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IMDT Act: Gogoi rushes to Delhi
Guwahati, July 13 Interestingly, both CPM and CPI did not support the IMDT. In Left-ruled Bengal, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee disagreed to apply the IMDT in his state, which is also faced with infiltration problem. Instead, the Bengal Government used the Foreigners Act of 1946. The CPI national executive member Pramod Gogoi has also welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court to repeal the IMDT. State BJP President Indramoni Bora and AGP President Brindaban Goswami welcomed the judgement as a “historic one”. Goswami said: “The verdict unmasked the vote-bank politics of the Congress. The Congress will have to pay the price now for playing with the future of the people of Assam by not tackling the infiltration problem”. Unnerved Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi left for Delhi today to discuss the fallout of the judgement with the Congress High Command. Talking to the media before leaving for Delhi, Gogoi said the Congress would try its best to protect the interest of the minority in Assam. United Minority Front(UMF) Chairman H.R.A. Chowdhury, and state leaders of Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind viewed the development on the IMDT as “unfortunate”. Chowdhury said: “Now the minorities in Assam are insecured with the repeal of the IMDT”. Meanwhile, the Assam Government has sounded a red alert in the state to avoid any untoward incident in the wake of the development.
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Tamil Nadu bans CPI (Maoist)
Chennai, July 13 The party was formed in September 2004 with the merger of two major Naxalite groups, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People’s War Group and the Maoist Communist Centre of India, which had earlier been banned by the Central and the Tamil Nadu Governments. An official press release said the party was banned as it was indulging in “unlawful activities, maintaining links with other banned extremist groups, circulating handbills, pasting handwritten posters containing seditious slogans, calling upon the people to pursue the path of violence and had involved itself in violence and criminal cases and causing terror among the people.” It alleged that the party, through seditious literatures, wall writings, posters and pamphlets, had been inciting and encouraging its members to use criminal force and violence against the government machinery. The release said the party also incited the working class to participate in violent struggle to establish dictatorship of proletariat. CPI (Maoist) posters asking the people to revolt against the state have appeared at various places in Madurai, Tiruvallur and Dharmapuri districts in the state.
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US visit: PM talks to BJP leaders New Delhi, July 13 ‘’The Prime Minister invited them to tea and held discussions on his US visit. Dr Singh has also invited the Left leaders for discussions tomorrow’’, a PMO official said. The Prime Minister will have bilateral talks with President George Bush on July 18 during which important bilateral and international issues will come up.
— UNI |
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Kalam mistakes journalists for students
Kolkata, July 13 As soon as the third convocation ceremony of the open university concluded Dr Kalam expressed his desire to mingle with some graduating students in the auditorium. Throwing security concern to winds, Dr Kalam, accompanied by the Chancellor and Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi and Vice-Chancellor Surabhi Banerjee, came down the dais and proceeded to meet some students. After speaking to some girls in the third row and asking them about their future plans, he turned to talk to some other students. Next he went towards the front rows where some young journalists were standing and mistaking them for students he began asking them about their subjects and future plans. When the scribes informed him that they were ‘’from the media and no longer students’’, the President seemed amused and remarked, “Oh, you are from the media but I thought you were students.”
— UNI |
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31 more CRPF companies for Amarnath Yatra
New Delhi, July 13 In Jammu region eight companies of the CRPF have been entrusted with the responsibility of providing round the clock security to various lodging centres of pilgrims. Jawans are also involved in mobile patrolling and area domination as part of law and order duty in Jammu, a CRPF press note said. Besides 23 companies of CRPF, including one Mahila Company have been deployed in Kashmir Zone to provide security cover to various yatri camps at Baltal base camp, Manigam camp, Sarbal camp, Nunwan camp, Pahalgam town and Chandanwari. |
Cong willing to talk with ULFA
Guwahati, July 13 While the Congress-Left coordination at the Centre support the militant outfit’s demand to hold talks on all issues, including the core issue of sovereignty, the BJP does not support the idea of holding talks with LFA on the issue as it threatened to disintegrate the country. The Chief Minister of Assam, Mr Tarun Gogoi, told this correspondent that he did not see anything wrong with the idea of holding talks with ULFA on the sovereignty issue. “If the Centre can hold talks with NSCN (I-M) which came to the discussion table with sovereignty issue, why not ULFA?” asked Mr Gogoi. Mr Gogoi also pointed out that only after the talks began with the NSCN (I-M), the militant outfit entered into a ceasefire with the Centre. The CPI’s national executive member Pramod Gogoi also supported the views expressed by the Chief Minister. The BJP President, Mr L.K. Advani, however, is opposed to the idea of holding talks with ULFA or any other militant outfit on the sovereignty issue. “We do not support any further disintegration of the country. We should not forget the sacrifices made by our freedom fighters to liberate our country,” Mr Advani said during his recent visit to Guwahati. Contrary to the Congress and the Left, Mr Advani preferred a tough stand against ULFA. “ULFA should surrender arms first and promise not to resort to violence. Then only we can think of initiating dialogues with it,” asserted Mr Advani.
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Granth Sahib translation presented to PM
New Delhi, July 13 Its author — Dr Nikky-Gurinder Kaur Singh, Professor of Department of Religious Studies at the Colby College, Maine, United States — presented the Prime Minister with a copy of the look. — TNS |
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Energy coordination committee set up
New Delhi, July 13 The ECC will formulate a coordinated policy response cutting across ministries so as to improve the overall energy scenario in the country while addressing energy security concerns. The ECC will enable the government to take a holistic view of India’s energy needs and policy options. The committee will be chaired by the Prime Minister and will consist of Ministers of Finance, Power, Petroleum & Natural Gas, Coal and Non-Conventional Energy Sources; the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission; Member (Energy), Planning Commission; Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, National Security Adviser, Cabinet Secretary and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister will be the Convener of the Committee. |
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Maharashtra bans Austrian drink
Mumbai, July 13 The FDA said it was awaiting further clarification on the origin of the drink’s main ingredient — taurine. The ban would be in force till the Austria-based manufacturers of the product are able to clarify on it, it said. “We do not have information as to whether taurine used in the drink is synthetically derived,” FDA Commissioner Ramesh Kumar said. However, the company might be allowed to resume the sales of the drink if it is classified as “containing non-vegetarian ingredients” by the company. The green dot on the label of the product would have to be changed to a red one, the Commissioner said. According to the reports, a 250 ml can of the drink contains around 1,000 mg of taurine. |
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SC rejects Nayar’s plea
on RS poll
New Delhi, July 13 Nayar had sought stay of the elections on the ground that his main petition challenging the amendments in the People Representation Act (RPA) deleting from it the mandatory domicile for contesting candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections, had not yet been adjudicated by the court. Turning down the request of Nayar’s counsel when he made a special mention for the early listing of the application, a Division Bench of Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti and Mr Justice P.K. Balasubramanyan said since the matter was pending before a five-judge Bench, its reconstitution would take sometime. |
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Rape accused constable chargesheeted
Mumbai, July 13 According to police officials, the chargesheet was filed yesterday evening after completing investigations in the matter. The police has not released details of the chargesheet as yet. However, the maximum punishment More could face is a seven-year sentence. |
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