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Bihar poll uncertain as SC questions EC
Bihar heading for triangular contest
Tread cautiously in Bihar, CPI tells Cong
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EC: maintain status quo on appointments
Patna, September 8 The Election Commission has asked the administration in Bihar to maintain status quo on recent appointments made by Governor Buta Singh. “The EC has asked us to maintain status quo with respect to appointments to various commissions and other bodies effected by the Governor on Saturday.
Two former bar dancers commit suicide
Study predicts adverse climate impact
ULFA sets up committee for peace talks
Fire in ONGC well; no casualty
Govt invites comments for revamping DGCA
Two more join Mulayam’s Cabinet
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Bihar poll uncertain as SC questions EC
New Delhi, September 8 The commission found itself in a piquant situation when the Constitution Bench asked its counsel as to what would happen to the poll process if the court struck down the Presidential proclamation holding it invalid. Struck by the enormity of the question, EC counsel S Muralidhar said the poll process would formally commence from September 23 when the notification would be issued and that no court could interfere with it thereafter. Not satisfied, the Bench sought the opinions of Attorney-General Milon Banerjee, Additional Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam and former Attorney General Soli J. Sorabjee, all of whom unequivocally said if the court strukes down the proclamation, then the Election Commission would have to annul the poll schedule. Muralidhar added the commission was facing confusion as the court had not yet decided the applications seeking stay on the poll schedule. The Bench, which advanced the hearing dates of the writ petitions challenging the dissolution of the Assembly from September 27 to September 20 indicating an early decision on them, disposed of the applications saying the petitioners were not pressing the prayer for stay in view of the advancement of the hearing schedule. Meanwhile, in a decision that could have a bearing on the controversial decision to dissolve the Bihar Assembly, the Supreme Court today said it would examine the mala fides alleged against the Governor in giving the reports to the Centre that led to the dissolution. Accepting suggestions of the Centre, a five-Judge constitution Bench comprising Mr Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, Mr Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Mr Justice B.N. Agrawal, Mr Justice Ashok Bhan and Mr Justice Arijit Pasayat said in view of the Constitutional bar under Article 361 granting immunity to the Governor from court proceedings, the court would not issue notice to him. However, it made it clear any mala fide act committed by the Governor was outside the purview of immunity enjoyed by him under Article 361 and the courts were certainly entitled to scrutinise them. Putting the onus on defending the malafide alleged against Governor on the Centre, the Bench said it was for the Central Government to meet the challenge to the reports made by the former MLAs belonging to the NDA. “If it fails to meet the challenge, the consequences would follow”, it said. “Mala fide act of the Governor has no sanction under Article 361. The immunity under Aticle 361 also does not cover any unconstitutional action of the Governor. It is for the government to meet the challenge posed by the petitioners,” the Bench said, while announcing advancement of the hearing date from September 27, as fixed earlier, to
September 20. The court fixed a strict time limit for the counsel to advance their arguments, some what akin to the American judicial system, and gave two days to the former Attorney-General Soli J. Sorabjee and others on the petitioners’ side while allotting three days to the government to meet the challenge.
— PTI |
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Bihar heading for triangular contest New Delhi, September 8 The Congress, RJD, NCP and CPM are on one side while the Ram Vilas Paswan-led LJP and the CPI have decided to come together to form a third front for these Assembly poll. Consequently, Bihar appears headed for a triangular contest with the emergence of three broad formations — the RJD-led alliance, JD (U)-BJP combine and the LJP-CPI front. The fast-deteriorating relations in the UPA camp was manifest in the intensified war of words which erupted today. Announcing their support for the LJP, CPI leaders A.B.Bardhan and D.Raja slammed the Congress for issuing ultimatums to Mr Paswan and warned that any move to oust the LJP chief from the UPA would mark the begining of the ruling combine’s disintegration. Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav, who had an hour-long meeting with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi this evening,maintained that though he was not campaigning against Mr Paswan but, honestly speaking, he should leave the UPA if he is not supporting the secular forces. The Congress was equally quick to respond to the CPI tirade. AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh, who was in the CPI’s firing line, pointed out that it was not the Congress but the LJP and CPI which were responsible for dividing the secular camp. Turning the tables on the CPI, Mr Digvijay Singh said it was for the first time that an ideological party like the CPI was allowing its dislike of a personality to dictate its course of action in an election. Ideologically, the CPI has greater affinity with us since we are pro-poor and pro-worker, he added. As for the charge that the Congress was pushing Mr Paswan out of the UPA, he shot back, “We are not pushing him out...Mr Paswan is pushing himself out”, adding that a decision on the LJP chief’s continuation in the government would be taken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and other UPA partners. While the CPI and the Congress were battling it out in public, Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav told mediapersons after his meeting with Mrs Gandhi that he did not consider anybody an untouchable and wanted the LJP and the CPI to contest the Bihar poll with the other UPA partners.
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Tread cautiously in Bihar, CPI tells Cong
New Delhi, September 8 CPI secretary D. Raja, who met Mr Paswan for an hour, said there was complete agreement among the two parties as also the RSP and the Forward Bloc on contesting the elections together while talks were on with CPI (ML). Giving indication of an anti-RJD, anti-BJP third front taking shape for the Assembly elections in the state, Mr Raja asked the Congress not to impose the UPA pattern in Bihar because of the complex situation in the state. The party also frowned upon the CPI(M) for telling Mr Paswan that he should leave the UPA coalition if he failed to go along with the RJD-led alliance in Bihar. Mr Raja said UPA’s binding factor was the common minimum programme (CMP). If anything goes against the spirit of the CMP, then it should be pointed out, he said. Asked about Mr Paswan’s insistence on a Muslim Chief Minister, the CPI leader said it was an issue on which discussions were being held. Meanwhile, Mr Paswan denied that he was given any ultimatum during the hour-long meeting he had with Congress president Sonia Gandhi yesterday. The LJP chief contended that the UPA was formed for the Centre. He said the Congress, leader of the UPA coalition at the Centre, should let coalition constituents adopt their independent approach towards the political situation in Bihar. On the NDA benefiting through division among UPA allies, Mr Paswan said a secular government was not run by a particular family. “On several occasions I have suggested the name of a Muslim for the post of the Chief Minister, including that of Tariq Anwar, but of no use. I don’t mind if the RJD comes up with a Muslim candidate,” he said. |
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EC: maintain status quo on appointments
Patna, September 8 “The EC has asked us to maintain status quo with respect to appointments to various commissions and other bodies effected by the Governor on Saturday. This order would not affect those who have already joined but those who have not joined their assignments would not do so until the commission gives a go-ahead,” Chief Secretary G. S. Kang told PTI. The NDA had opposed these appointments made on September 3, the day the Election Commission announced the schedule for the poll, alleging it was done in blatant violation of the model code. A delegation of NDA leaders met the commission on Tuesday to protest the move following which a two-member EC team, led by its special adviser K. J. Rao, visited the state capital for an inquiry. Chief Election Commissioner B.B. Tandon, who is on a two-day visit to Bihar to assess poll preparedness, yesterday said appropriate action would be taken after going through the report by Rao.
— PTI |
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Chaos at delimitation panel’s meeting
Kolkata, September 8 Justice Singh regretted that he had to suspend the hearing following agitations and demonstrations by the political parties, though he was ready to hear from all parties and other invitees. He alleged that at Durgapur and Siliguri also he had faced similar disturbances while holding the sittings but the hearings there had not been formally suspended. The demonstrations at Mahajati Sadan had been organised by the Trinamool Congress and the Congress separately which were protesting against the ruling Left Front government’s de-limitation proposals in Kolkata as well as the districts in the interest of the CPM. In Durgapur and Siliguri also the TMC had participated in a protest led by Ms Mamata Banerjee, Mr Pamkaj Banerjee and Mr Saugata Roy. At Mahajati Sadan, the hearing began 10 am but soon trouble arose when several TMC and Congress workers and their supporters raised slogans demanding entry of several others into the hall who had been restricted by the police and the CPM cadres controlling the gates. Soon there were shouting and counter-slogans by the CPM. Soon there were fighting. The police tried to pacify the protesters but failed. In the melee, several water bottles were thrown at the dais where the Chairman and other commission members, including Mr Ajoy Sinha, State Election Commissioner and Mr Basudev Banerjee, CEO were sitting. This prompted the chairman to suspend the hearing for the day. |
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Two former bar dancers commit suicide
Mumbai, September 8 Bilkis Shahu, 24, former dancer at a bar in Dahisar in North Mumbai, allegedly committed suicide yesterday at her residence located close to her former place of employment, the police said. The police did not reveal the cause of her death. Shahu’s neighbours told the police that the woman and her husband used to have frequent fights ever since dance bars across Maharashtra downed shutters last month. The couple were believed to have been suffering from financial difficulties since the ban. On Tuesday, another bar girl, Meena Raju, 35, hanged herself to death from the ceiling fan in her house at suburban Goregaon, the police said. According to it, her body was found hanging by neighbours. No suicide note was found at her place. The police, however, said Raju hailed from Karnataka and had been in Mumbai for the past several years. Raju’s neighbours told the police that the victim had been in financial difficulties since the ban came into effect. Both women are said to have been sole breadwinners of their families. The Maharashtra Government refused to compensate bar dancers after the ban came into effect. Organisations like the Bar Dancers Union and other social bodies have threatened to take out a protest march to the residence of Deputy Chief Minister R. R. Patil who is behind the ban. |
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Study predicts adverse climate impact
New Delhi, September 8 Releasing an Indo-UK study on impacts of climate change in India, Union Minister of Forests and Environment A Raja said climate change represented an additional stress on ecological and socio-economic systems, which were already facing pressure due to rapid urbanisation, industrialisation, and economic development. As per the study, with its large and growing population, and an economy that is closely tied to its natural resource base, India is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change such as changes in forest and water resources and sea level rise. The study also predicted an increase in the intensity of rain. Issues such as water scarcity would become more prevalent, the study said, adding that marked rise in precipitation intensity and variability in extremes would have impacts for a range of sectors, including water resource management, urban planning and agriculture. The warming is projected to be widespread, but more pronounced in North India and temperatures are projected to increase by as much as 3 to 4. In the agriculture sector, the major impacts of climate change would be on rain-fed crops, which account for nearly 60 per cent of the cropland area. The three-year Indo-UK Programme on Impacts of Climate Change in India was jointly undertaken by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). While Indian scientists carried out studies for developing a picture of the possible future impacts of climate change in the country, DEFRA funded research studies and programme management in collaboration with Indian and UK researchers. |
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ULFA sets up committee for peace talks
Guwahati, September 8 The militant outfit called a bandh in protest against the death of its leader, Robin Handique, at a jail in Tejpur recently of renal failure. It alleged that its leader died due to the negligence of the state government Despite the bandh call, the prospect of peace beckoned Assam after ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Barus told Ganpith Award Winner Indira Goswami yesterday to disclose to the media the outfit’s intention to come forward for talks with the Centre. Ms Goswami, now in Delhi, after consulting the Security Adviser to the Prime Minister, Mr M.K.Narayanan, told the media yesterday that a nine-member people`s consultative committee representing ULFA, would come to Delhi by mid of October to work out the ground realities for talks and a possible ceasefire. Talking to this correspondent over phone, she said,” I am very happy today. Finally the boys have agreed to come forward for talks. The Centre should use this opportunity to resolve the insurgency problem in Assam for once and all”. She had started her effort to bring ULFA and the Centre to the negotiation table 10 months ago. It had seemed that the talks process might fail because of ULFA`s insistence to officially recognise its demand for sovereignty as the core issue, which was followed by violence on Independence Day eve. Meanwhile, in an e-mail sent to the media today, ULFA chairman Arvind Rajkhowa declared the names of prominent citizens from Assam in the nine-member consultative committee who would take part in the first round of parleys with the Centre on behalf of the outfit. The list includes names of newspaper editors. The Chairman of the human rights organisation, MASS, Lachit Bardoloi, and secretary of the Asom Jatiyatabadi Parishad, Dilip Patgiri, are also on the list. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has welcomed the decision of
ULFA. |
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Fire in ONGC well; no casualty
Hyderabad, September 8 The onshore well at Tandavapalli village, 7 km from Amalapuram in East Godavari district, caught fire at around 11.30 am when around 30 personnel were said to be working at the drilling site. No casualties were reported but the oil rig and some equipment was damaged in the flames that were leaping around 150 feet into the sky. District officials evacuated the residents of the neighbouring villages. ONGC requisitioned naval helicopters from Visakhapatnam to help put out the fire, even as the fire tenders from the surrounding districts were deployed to control the fire. An official statement issued by the ONGC said there was no loss of life in the accident, which occurred in the Exploratory Well PSAR at Pasarlapudi near Amalapuram, Rajahmundry. “The rig crew has been evacuated and there is no casualty. ONGC’s crisis management team based in Narsapur, is well trained and equipped to handle such situation, has already been mobilised at the site,” the statement said. |
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Govt invites comments for revamping DGCA
New Delhi, September 8 The committee will look into functions of the DGCA as envisaged by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), regulations authorising the DGCA to carry out its functions, comparison of regulations with international requirements, organisation of the DGCA, and its manpower and training requirements. |
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Two more join Mulayam’s Cabinet
Lucknow, September 8 Samajwadi Party MP Reoti Raman Singh’s son Ujjval Raman Singh and party MLC from Aligarh Khwaja Haleem were given Cabinet portfolios and administered the oath of office and secrecy at a simple ceremony in Durbar Hall of Raj Bhavan. The ministers of state elevated to the Cabinet rank include Durga Prasad Mishra and Rajpal
Tyagi. — PTI |
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Govt approves submarine deal
New Delhi, September 8 The Cabinet Committee on Security, which met here on Tuesday, had given its clearance for the purchase of the six submarines for the total cost of about Rs 15,000 crore.
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Shobhana to head PTI board
New Delhi, September 8 R. Lakshmipathy, publisher of Dinamalar newspaper, was unanimously elected Vice-Chairman of the Board. The elections took place at the conclusion of the company’s 57th annual general meeting. Both Bhartia and Lakshmipathy have headed the PTI Board in the past.
— PTI |
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PETA award for Ravi Shankar
Mumbai, September 8 He is the second Indian after actor John Abraham to receive the award. |
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