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Don’t revel in Oppn infighting: Sonia
BJP CMs lash out at UPA
22 killed in bus-truck collision
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Exodus of pilots may ground Alliance Air plan
Sreedharan’s help sought on airports
Basu seeks another term for Left
Uma camp jubilant at Joshi’s fall
Uma not averse to forming own party
Driver suspended for delaying Lalu’s train
Sharad moots panel to check corruption
Local bodies poll on party line: Nitish
India, Iran discuss gas pipeline again
Cong wins 14 zila panchayat seats
Oust Mulayam mood at Cong rally
Cinema can resolve Indo-Pak tension: Shah Rukh
Gavaskar appears in court
Godhra: NHRC seeks report on
mass grave
EC seeks ATR on voter card complaints by Jan 5
Karan Singh, Janardan file nominations
PMO constitutes committee
Tiwari new Information Commissioner
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Don’t revel in Oppn infighting: Sonia
Mumbai, December 28 Addressing party workers here, she asked Congressmen to guard against factionalism and suggested they resolve their differences amicably. The UPA Chairperson, whose party is heading the ruling coalition in Maharashtra, said Congress activists should approach the government with people’s problems and not for their own benefit. “The future of the party is linked to the future of the people,” she said on the occasion of the foundation day of the party. “If you follow the legacy of our great leaders, the future will be bright not only for the Congress but also for the country,” she said in her address to the party workers after the symbolic handing over of 50,000 houses to the project-affected people, built by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority. The people displaced due to the ongoing Mumbai Urban Transport Project have been provided with alternative houses. Meanwhile, addressing party workers at Congress House in Pune, she said they should not only be eyeing tickets but work for strengthening the Congress.
— UNI |
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Mumbai, December 28 Leaders, including Mr Arjun Munda of Jharkhand and Mr Raman Singh of Chhattisgarh and Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi, also targeted the Congress and their allies like the RJD. They charged the Centre with “inordinate delays” in releasing funds for development works as also in providing power from the central pool. Mr Modi said Bihar stood devastated like hit by “15 tsunamis” in the 15-year-rule of Mr Lalu Prasad. The exercise was meant to emphasise the good governance card of the saffron party which, by the admission of its President L.K. Advani, was passing through a “bad patch.” Accusing the Centre of creating hurdles in the formation of the BJP-led government in Jharkhand, Mr Munda said the intervention by the Supreme Court ensured the formation of BJP’s government in the state “but as a result we are facing the ire of the Central Government, which has even tried to pause the World Bank funding allotted to various projects in the state.” Mr Munda also charged UPA government with causing delay in work of the Prime Minister’s Highway Project in the state. Mr Raman Singh said the Centre was stalling the work of proposed All-India Medical Institute in the state. “The day we formed our government in the state, around 300 MW of power supply was transferred to some other state. Some railway projects have also been intentionally delayed. However, we are taking up these issues with people of the state,” he said. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said that the 10-year rule of the Congress, led by Mr Digvijay Singh was marked by the dubious distinction of lack of development saying, “not a single kilometer of road was built, not a single mega watt power generation was added during the Congress rule. Madhya Pradesh became a destination of no development.” Orissa Minister Vishnu Bhushan expressed concern over the issue of deportation of Bangladeshi Hindu migrants in the state. — PTI
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22 killed in bus-truck collision
Ahmedabad, December 28 The bus caught fire immediately after the collision, burning the passengers beyond recognition, Bharuch DSP, G.S. Malik said, adding that the bodies had been sent to the Civil Hospital for post-mortem. “Only after post-mortem we will be able to ascertain how many of them were males and how many females,” he said adding that DNA tests would also be done on the deceased to find out the relationship between
kins. “The bus had only one entry and exit point. As soon as the bus hit the truck, the panicked passengers ran to the back of the vehicle and were trapped when fire erupted from the rear portion,” he added. The fire intensified due to foam seats and other inflammable materials in the bus, sources said. Many passengers were believed to be from Mumbai, the police said, adding that the details would be known only after getting information from the agency running the luxury bus.
— PTI |
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Salem brought to Bangalore for tests
Bangalore, December 28 Flown in by Mumbai’s anti-terrorist squad (ATS), Salem was brought here by a team led by Deputy Inspector-General of Police Jai Jeet Singh to ensure he is not targeted by rival gangs. He was taken to the laboratory to prepare him for the tests, which will take two days. According to ATS officials, the Mumbai police wants to ascertain the chain of events as well as fill the gaps in the Mumbai blast case as well as the Pradeep Jain murder case. The forensic laboratory on its part has developed a list of 60 questions, which include these two cases and other issues pertaining to his nexus with other gangsters, including Anees Abraham, Chhota Shakeel and his former boss Dawood Ibrahim. The officials said though the tests did not have legal validity, they were aimed at breaking down Salem who has till now denied being one of the masterminds behind either the Mumbai blasts or the Pradeep Jain murder. They said Salem had during interrogation only admitted that he had driven a van containing explosives prior to the Mumbai blasts but did not know what was in the vehicle. Similarly, in the Pradeep Jain murder case, Salem has claimed that his role was that of a telephone operator only. The team hopes to get admissible evidence as well as corroborate facts they have gathered in cases against Salem through the tests. Salem will be injected sodium pentathol during the narco-analysis tests which will make him semi-conscious. He will then be asked simple questions and will have to give spontaneous answers as it is difficult to manipulate answers in such a state. Earlier, the special public prosecutor had told the Mumbai TADA court that Salem had disclosed information about some persons who collected money on his behalf as well as distributed the extortion money. The court had given permission for Salem to be subjected to scientific tests to ascertain the truth of his claims. |
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Exodus of pilots may ground Alliance Air plan
New Delhi, December 28 Alliance Air, the wholly owned subsidiary of Indian (erstwhile Indian Airlines), has witnessed “mass resignations” of pilots in the past 18 months, with 58 commanders and co-pilots quitting, bringing their numbers down from 94 to 36, official sources said. Of the existing 36 pilots, 15 more have submitted their resignations and the remaining ones are also understood to be putting in their papers, the ministry sources said. The resignations have come at a time when its parent company, Indian, has placed orders for new aircraft to refurbish its own fleet as well as that of the subsidiary. However, the pilots have not yet been relieved from duty due to the six-month notice period under the rules set by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). They said the notice period of these pilots was likely to be completed by March next year. In case, there were no further resignations, Alliance Air would be left with only a handful of commanders or none at all. In the recent past, several pilots have protested flying to Leh due to three instances of the vintage B737-200s experiencing engine failure. The airline had to curtail its operations, especially in the North-East. Not only the pilots, the carrier had also witnessed the exit of 50 engineers and 20 technicians since August 2004, the sources said, adding that the exodus appeared to continue. Besides increased emoluments, the pilots and engineers were quitting Alliance Air jobs due to its non-permanent nature as they were employed on contract. The sources said there was another reason why pilots were quitting Alliance Air. This was the attraction to operate new generation Boeing 737 aircraft instead of the vintage B737- 200s, which made up the fleet of the public carrier. The existing and upcoming carriers were inducting new generation planes like B737-800s, which were fitted with sophisticated equipment. Faced with this situation, the management of Indian as well as its subsidiary are contemplating several measures to check the exodus. — PTI
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Sreedharan’s help sought on airports
New Delhi, December 28 Reports here suggested that Mr Sreedharan’s opinion had also been sought on the bidding process for the two airports. He has been made the head of the panel of experts, both technical and financial, which would advice the high-powered official committee on the restructuring of the two airports. The panel would also include Financial Controller of Indian Railways Sivadasan and top officials of the Airports Authority of India and the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation. The group of experts would make comprehensive scrutiny of the bid criteria, especially its technical and financial aspects. It would also look into the bidding process to verify whether or not the laid-down norms had been followed in the entire process. A committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary was set up last week to evaluate the modernisation process after divergent views surfaced at the Inter-Ministerial Group entrusted with the task, forcing the empowered Group of Ministers to resort to this step. Besides Cabinet Secretary, the other members of the committee are the Secretaries in the Ministries of Civil Aviation, Economic Affairs, Law and Member Secretary of the Planning Commission. The committee has been asked to advise the Group of Ministers, headed by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, on whether the overall process was in conformity with the laid-down norms for shortlisting and final selection of bidders or suggest alternatives, if required. Six bidders, including a consortia, led by Reliance and GMR groups, are so far in the fray for modernisation of the two major metro airports. Two selected bidders would form two joint ventures with the Airports Authority of India to undertake the modernisation work at the airports. |
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Basu seeks another term for Left
Kolkata, December 28 Mr Basu said it was their trade union rights which neither the Judiciary nor any governments could curtail. He claimed during his chiefministership he even allowed the policemen in the state to form unions and enjoy the trade union rights. The veteran Marxist made a clarion call to the state employees to reaffirm their support to the CPM-led Left Front and bring them to power for another term. He made an appeal to them to fulfil “his last
wishes” of seeing the Front government in power for the seventh time . “I am now running 92 and l do not know how long l will be alive, but before my death l want to see the Front government again at Writer’s Building for the seventh time which you please fulfil,” he appealed to the state employees. Though the meeting was organised for celebrating golden jubilee celebrations of the CPM-controlled state employees coordination committee, it was ultimately turned out to be Mr Jyoti Basu’s poll campaign for the Left Front for coming Assembly elections. Ignoring Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s campaign for work culture, over a lakh state government employees today went on mass casual leave for attending the meeting. Traffic and transport
movements in the city were affected with employees holding processions from their
respective offices to the ground, ignoring the High Court’s orders banning processions in the streets. Mr Basu announced that over a lakh unemployed youths, including teachers, would soon be absorbed in various government departments, where there were vacancies following the embargo imposed on recruitment. |
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Uma camp jubilant at Joshi’s fall
Bhopal, December 28 Mr Joshi, who was the RSS nominee in the BJP, was always considered a gentle but strong man, not prepared to compromise with party discipline. Ms Uma Bharati had blamed him, along with his junior Suresh Soni, for working to deny her a second term as Chief Minister. Uma supporters claim that a similar audiocassette has been prepared on Mr Suresh Soni also and it will be made public at appropriate time. Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh DGP Swaraj Puri is inquiring into Mr Joshi’s complaint at his own level. Mr Puri had received a letter from Mr Joshi three days ago requesting him to find out, among other things, who the woman in the CD is. Also if the man shown in the CD is really Joshi, who were the people behind preparing and circulating the CD and what motive they had. He, however, has not attached the CD. Mr Joshi has also conveyed to the police chief that he had been receiving threat calls. According to Uma supporters, Mr Joshi’s visits to Bhopal had not always been overt. Mr Joshi was, officially, scheduled to visit Bhopal on November 9 to gauge the mood of party MLAs and leaders for the replacement of Chief Minister Babulal Gaur. But, he had come on November 8 itself. Though the BJP leaders had come to know about his arrival, no one knew where he was lodging. On November 10, he left for Chhattisgarh. He was again to come to Bhopal on November 12, but apparently did not come. Then he came on November 27 to attend the BJP legislature party meeting convened to elect the new leader on November 28. On November 27, he could not be contacted for a considerable time, the Uma supporters say. |
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Uma not averse to forming own party
Mahuba (UP), December 28 “I do not want to comment on the issue at this juncture. But it is the people, followers and my admirers who will decide about my future course of action. I will merely go by their wishes,” she told PTI in an interview here. As a precursor to the move, Uma indicated that immediately after the conclusion of the present yatra she would be visiting Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa, Uttaranchal and Assam to step up her campaign for what she claimed was ensuring “dignified life and honest living” for the common man. “I have been receiving requests from my followers from all these states to step up my campaign for a corruption free society and also carry out a fight against various local problems,” she claimed. Uma also asserted that if the BJP was to capture power again it has to fully embrace the RSS and the VHP. “Unless the BJP completely surrenders itself to the ideology, guidance and support of the Sangh Parivar, they cannot come back to power or revive the party’s fortune,” she remarked. Answering to a question whether she was amenable to the idea of a compromise with the BJP leadership, the firebrand leader said she has never left the party.
— PTI
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Driver suspended for delaying Lalu’s train
Patna, December 28 The “MR (Minister of Railways) Special” was halted for nearly three hours at Bada Gopalpur station in
Hajipur-Gopalganj section of Sonepur division under East Central Railway zone due to failure of the engine of a goods train. The minister at that time was on his way to Gopalganj from Hajipur to meet the relatives of an RJD worker, who was shot dead in Prasad’s native Gopalganj district on Monday. The control room had given signal to the goods train on way to Indara from Katihar ahead of the “MR Special”. The engine of the goods train failed after travelling a few distance from Bada Gopalpur station. As a result of which the “MR Special” coming behind it was shunted for nearly three hours, the sources said. Lalu Prasad had taken strong exception to the matter. Faced with the ire of the minister, Chief Controller (Traffic) of Sonepur division P K Pandey and driver of the goods train Nripendra Kumar Singh have been put under suspension, the sources said.
— PTI |
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Sharad moots panel to check corruption
New Delhi, December 28 Mr Yadav, who is the Chairman of the JD (U) Parliamentary Board, told mediapersons here today that he would soon meet Lok Sabha Speaker Somanth Chatterjee and Rajya Sabha Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and make a request for convening a session to discuss corruption in public life. Yadav has also written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to set up a commission that would survey immoveable assets acquired by all influential persons belonging to the legislature, the executive, judiciary and the media, post Independence. He said, “It is easy to get details of assets of people in public life just as it is easy to get figures on the literacy rate, GDP growth rate and number of persons living below the poverty line.” In a letter to the Prime Minister, Yadav said, “I would like to make it clear that the commission should not be asked to investigate the property, rather its mandate should be just to record the property acquired. The commission will do the survey and find out all details of the properties. These details should be tabled on the floor of Parliament for discussing corruption.” The senior leader has expressed the confidence that such a discussion will facilitate creation of a better legal environment to tackle corruption. Lauding the sting operation by the media, he said Parliament took action within 13 days against its members caught on camera. He said the proposed commission would expose dishonest people and at the same time identify persons who were honest. “There are righteous people who are running the country.” |
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Local bodies poll on party line: Nitish
Patna, December 28 After the meeting, Kumar said leaders of almost all political parties were unanimous to hold the elections to the local bodies on party lines. He said though state RJD president Abdul Bari Siddiqui had initial hiccups, he later agreed to the suggestions in this regard. Kumar said a consensus was also evolved over giving reservation to the SC, the ST, women and extremely backward castes to the solitary posts of mukhiya, sarpanch and other members at each level of the local bodies and the ratio of reservation would be decided later. He said the leaders across the political spectrum were also unanimous in holding the elections to “nyay panchayat” and other local bodies simultaneously. Apart from Siddiqui, state JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh, secretary general Upendra Prasad Kushwaha, Congress legislature party leader Ashok Kumar, former Congress minister Veena Sahi, senior CPM leader Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthy, state LJP president Gulam Rasul Baliyavi, CPI-ML leader Ramjatan Sharma, state CPI secretary B N Lal also presented the views of their respective parties. Laying stress on free and fair elections to the local bodies due in April-May next year, he said the state government would fully cooperate with the state Election Commission and give all required resources for the purpose.
— PTI |
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India, Iran discuss gas pipeline again
New Delhi, December 28 Oil experts fear that in case of US sanctions over Iran, India would have to abandon the project. Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister Mohammad Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian and India’s Oil Secretary Sushil Tripathi will review issues related to the project during the two-day meeting, a spokesman of the Petroleum Ministry said, adding that the talks would focus on the gas pricing and other issues. The spokesman said the two sides discussed the route of the proposed pipeline, its technological and legal aspects and the price of the gas. A top Oil Ministry official had said yesterday that India and Iran would discuss the financial structure of the pipeline and also explore measures to boost investor confidence. All three countries have agreed to set a four to six-month target to finalise the agreement. We’re looking at the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline which runs through volatile areas to see how they’re addressing the issue of security,” Mr Tripathi said. |
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Cong wins 14 zila panchayat seats
Bangalore, December 28 The Congress, on the other hand, has managed to take control of 14 Zila Panchayats with the remaining 11 had a fractured verdict. With almost all results of the panchayat poll out, the Congress has won nearly 50 per cent of the 3,657 Taluk Panchayat seats. Chief Minister N Dharam Singh termed the party’s victory as a pro- Congress trend. He declined to comment on the performance of the JD (S). The Chief Minister was also quick to deny that the breakaway JD (S) faction of former Finance Minister Siddaramaiah, which is now the All-India Progressive Janata Dal (AIPDP), had anything to do with the performance of the Congress. The poll may herald internal changes in the JD (S) with partymen likely to question the manner in which Siddaramaiah was marginalised. The ascendancy of H D Kumaraswamy, the elder son of Dewe Gowda, who is perceived to be the heir apparent, may also be put in doubt. The panchayat elections have also come as a pleasant surprise to the BJP which has won 152 seats despite being typecast as an urban party. This could help the BJP to bounce back in the state in which it had emerged as the single largest party with 79 seats in the last Assembly elections. Among the winners is the new Pradesh Congress president Mallikarjun M Kharge, who led the Congress campaign. The win could strengthen his case for the Chief Minister’s post in case of a mid term Assembly poll. |
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Oust Mulayam mood at Cong rally
Lucknow, December 28 A massive rally was held to celebrate the party’s foundation day. Overwhelmed by the enthusiastic support, the chief guest at the rally, Mr Digvijay Singh, said the Congress was not weak. If the vast strength of the people was not channelised properly, it was the weakness of the leadership, he quipped. Underlining the need to strengthen the party in UP and Bihar, he said the task in UP had been made easier by the “misdeed” of Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav. “After calling himself the disciple of a socialist like Ram Manohar Lohia, all he does is promote big industrial houses, indulge starlets and support kidnapping gangs, he alleged. AICC general secretary in charge of UP Satyavrat Chaturvedi said while the end of the Samajwadi Party “misrule” in Uttar Pradesh was written on the wall, the people of the state had to come forward to make Congress a viable alternative. UPCC president Salman Khurshid said the rally signalled the beginning of Mr Yadav’s political funeral. |
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Cinema can resolve Indo-Pak tension: Shah Rukh
New Delhi, December 28 “The cinema (of both the countries) needs to be more gentle — it can explain to people that we are one world or we live in the same area and we have the same thoughts and same problems and we need to sort them out in a way that is more amicable than politicising an issue,” Shah Rukh said in an interview to the BBC World today. Stating that he had always viewed India and Pakistan as one, Shah Rukh expressed his desire to see the two countries unite in the near future. “I do wish we could progress socially, economically and religiously together and I would love it to be one country. We would kick everybody’s butt in hockey and cricket I’m sure — if we got together,” the ‘King Khan’ said in the interview, to be telecast on BBC World at 8 pm tonight. Shah Rukh Khan last year starred in Yash Chopra’s ‘Veer Zaara’, a film which looked at Indo-Pak ties in a sensitive manner. Speaking to Humphrey Hawksley, Shah Rukh dismissed the suggestion of equating terrorism with any particular religion. On his experience, as a Muslim, of being frisked at American airports, Shah Rukh said he feels it was his duty as a Muslim and as a human-being to spread a message to the world that Islam was not a violent religion.
— UNI |
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Gavaskar appears in court
Ahmedabad, December 28 Gavaskar appeared in the court after his name figured in as one of the six directors of the Top Line Shoes Ltd which disappeared after raising Rs 4.65 crore through a public issue. The RoC, Ahmedabad had registered a case in a local court after the company had vanished in 1995. Gavaskar on previous occasions had denied being part of the company. On June 11, 1992, Topline Shoes had set up its registered office in Vadodara and issued equity shares to raise money for manufacturing leather and sport shoes at its factory in Padra, about 40 kms from Vadodara. The company had floated an IPO of Rs 46.5 lakh shares at the rate of Rs 10 each in 1992 and stated that it had an installed capacity of manufacturing nine lakh pairs of shoes every year.
— PTI |
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Godhra: NHRC seeks report on
mass grave
New Delhi, December 28 Taking suo motu cognisance of media reports, the NHRC has asked the CBI and the Director-General of Police, Gujarat, to send comments within two weeks.
According to reports, eight skulls believed to be those of victims of 2002 post-Godhra riots, have been recovered. The bodies were reportedly discovered by the relatives of riot victims who claim that there are at least 21 bodies in the grave. |
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EC seeks ATR on voter card complaints by Jan 5
Kochi, December 28 Referring to the reported “glaring irregularities” in Bengal, Mr Chawla told reporters the commission would pay its usual visit in time and go into any such complaints and reports. He said all were welcome to report cases of irregularities and give feedback on anything related to holding of elections and the commission would examine them. The Assembly poll in Bengal were due in May, along with a few other states. The commission had asked for an Action Taken Report on the issue by January 5. On the government seeking the EC’s advice on state funding of poll, Mr Chawla said: “I read the report from newspapers, regarding the government referring the matter, the commission did not meet today. Maybe when I am back in Delhi, we will discuss it.” Mr Chawla, as part of his visit to the states to assess the preparations for the Assembly poll, was here to hold a meeting with the Chief Electoral Officer and other officials. — UNI
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Karan Singh, Janardan file nominations
New Delhi, December 28 They filed nomination papers in the presence of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, her Cabinet colleagues, DPCC chief Ram Babu Sharma and several other party leaders. Party General Secretary in charge of Delhi Ashok Gehlot and party treasurer Motilal Vohra were also present. Dr Karan Singh and Mr Janardan Dwivedi have been re-nominated by the party. Mr Aggarwal, a former MP, was a contender for the party ticket from Chandni Chowk in the last Lok Sabha elections. |
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PMO constitutes committee
New Delhi, December 28 The committee, chaired by the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, will examine various representations made by the Film and Television Producers Guild of India to the Prime Minister. Apart from the Member Secretary, Planning Commission, members of the committee are the Secretaries of Information and Broadcasting; Telecommunications; Information Technology; Department of Economic Affairs; and Commerce; and the Media Adviser to the Prime Minister. |
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Tiwari new Information Commissioner
New Delhi, December 28 Mr Tiwari is the fourth Information Commissioner in the commission. According to a press note issued here on Wednesday, Mr Tiwari has held several important positions. He was last posted as Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. The Central Information Commission is headed by Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah. The other Information Commissioners are O.P. Kejariwal, M.M. Ansari and Padma Balasubramaniam. |
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Khushboo reissued summons
Chennai, December 28 |
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GNLF lifts road blockade
Siliguri, December 28 |
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