 |
|
Bihar to reopen case against Taslimuddin
UP quota rules for women
struck down
Indian scientists close to realising Einstein’s dream
Recall Denmark envoy:
clerics
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Stop name change policy, NCM tells Haryana
Telgi tells on co-accused
SC breather for Pepsi, Coke
Delhi demolitions: Centre to form panel
Saran to meet US official today
Khalida coming in March
14 charred to death in Morena
Minority panel for J&K on cards
|
|
Bihar to reopen case against Taslimuddin
New Delhi, February 7 A non-bailable warrant (NBW) of arrest against him was cancelled by a trial court two years ago after the previous Rabri Devi government had dropped the case. However, the new government in its affidavit placed before the apex court today said the charges against Taslimuddin and other accused were “serious, grave, cognisable, non-bailable and non-compoundable.” At this stage it was not “fit and proper” to withdraw the case against the accused and the new government was not “agreeable” to the stand taken by the previous administration, Bihar Government’s Law Department in its affidavit told a Bench comprising Chief Justice Y. K. Sabharwal, Mr Justice C. K. Thakker and Mr Justice P. K. Balasubramanyan. State government’s counsel Gopal Singh said the material on the basis of which the application was filed before the trial court for withdrawing the case, “did not exist now.” In view of the changed stand of the Bihar Government, the apex court directed Taslimuddin and 13 other co-accused to file their replies within two weeks. The stand of the new government is diametrically opposite to the Rabri Devi administration, which had moved an application before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Araria, in a “hurried” manner on August 13, 2004, for withdrawal of the case against Taslimuddin, a confidant of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. The CJM allegedly had acted promptly on the application of the Bihar Government prosecutor stating that “no purpose would be served” in continuing with the prosecution of Taslimuddin and cancelled the NBW against him the very next day on August 14, 2004, said a petition moved by an NGO, Delhi Study Group (DSG), challenging the dropping of the case against him. The NGO said the previous government acted in an unprecedented haste to save Taslimuddin as he faced “imminent” threat of being dropped from the Union Council of Ministers in the wake of his facing the NBW since 1999 as in similarly placed Shibu Soren of the JMM was dropped after he faced an arrest warrant in a murder case. Since Taslimuddin, who allegedly faced over two dozen other criminal cases, had not been “available” to the Bihar Police to execute the arrest warrant against him even when he was sworn in as a Central Minister after the UPA came to power, the DSG had initially filed a PIL in the apex court, seeking its intervention in the matter to bring him to book. Subsequent to the cancellation of the NBW against him, the DSG had moved an application questioning the decision of the Rabri Devi administration on the grounds that the prosecutor was not supposed to make such an application to the trial court under pressure from the government. After the Bihar Government’s counsel had indicated to the Supreme Court on January 10 that it wanted to review the stand of the previous Rabri Devi administration in the case of Taslimuddin, the Bench headed by the Chief Justice had directed the state to place all facts pertaining to the matter in a sworn affidavit. The court had also sought to know why the NBW was not executed for such a long period. Patna: The Patna High Court on Tuesday rejected the bail petition of controversial Siwan RJD MP Shahabuddin in a case related to the recovery of a stolen car from his Pratappur residence last year. The single Bench of the Patna High Court headed by Justice Ghanasyam Prasad dismissed the bail petition of Shahabuddin on the recovery of the stolen car case by admitting the argument by the public prosecutor that the MP was always a habitual
offender, whether he was staying in his village or not. The counsel for Shahabuddin argued that since the MP was out of his native village for the past one year, he was not involved in the stolen car case. |
|
UP quota rules for women
struck down
Allahabad, February 7 A Division Bench of the high court comprising Justice R.K. Agrawal and Justice Saroj Bala yesterday, however, held Article 243 (T) of the Constitution of India to be valid and intra vires which provides the scheme for reservation of the post of chairperson in the municipalities for women, SC/ST/OBC. The court has held that since Article 243 (T) had called upon the state legislature to make the law, therefore, the law with regard to reservation as provided in Rule 6 and 6 (A) of the UP Municipalities (Reservation and Allotment of Seats) Rules, 1994, are ultra vires as they have been framed under Sub-section (5) of Section 9A of the UP Municipalities Act which had to be framed by the state legislature and if executive was sub-delegated the power then sufficient guidelines had to be provided. The judgement was delivered on a writ petition filed in 2001 and few writ petitions in 2005 whereby Article 243 (T) (4) and (6) of the Constitution of India were sought to be declared unconstitutional and Section 9 (A) (5) of the UP Municipalities Act and the UP Municipalities (Reservation and Allotment of Seats) Rules were sought to be declared ultra vires. — UNI |
|
Indian scientists close to realising Einstein’s dream
Mumbai, January 7 “These effects can be observed and is an important step because validating quantum gravity is a necessary step in having a unified theory of forces of nature, which has been the cherished goal of generations of scientists, including Einstein,” Dr Pankaj Joshi of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), one of the senior authors of the work published in the January 27 issue of “Physical Review Letters” said here today. The Indian team is now banking on the upcoming experiments like the extreme universe space Observatory (EUSO), to be launched by the European Space Agency in 2010, which could help provide a test for the prediction. After the findings are proved, the scientists would have the real clue about obtaining full quantum theory of gravity. It also implied that there could be no naked singularity (a region of infinite density, where a spoonful of matter weighs infinitely heavy), when a star dies and shrinks, or when its stellar fuel is exhaused. It also said Black Holes would not form when stars die in gravitational collapse. The work showed that a collapsing star did not turn into a black hole or a naked singularity. However, instead it throws away all its matter in the form of an explosive burst, which would look like a flash or fireball in the sky when seen by observers. As such the mathematical solutions to the equations of Einstein’s general theory of relativity predict the existence of black holes as well as naked singularities. “But that does not mean that these objects occur in the universe. What we have found is when we apply laws of the quantum theory to Einstein’s mode, both black hole and naked singularity are dispensed, and instead, a burst occurs in the final stages of collapse of the dying star”, Dr Joshi said. The work builds on an extensive study of gravitational collapse of dying stars, that has been carried out at the TIFR over the past two decades by Dr Joshi and his co-workers. A dying star dims before emitting ultra-high energy rays, which could be in the form of neutrino particles travelling close to velocity of light, high-energy Gamma rays, or other forms of a strong burst of radiation such as super-energy cosmic rays, induced by the quantum gravity effects. — PTI |
|
Recall Denmark envoy:
clerics
Lucknow, February 7 They also decided to hold demonstrations in Amethi and Rae Bareli, the parliamentary constituencies of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, respectively, to protest the government’s vote at the IAEA meeting against Iran for its controversial nuclear programme. Shia leader Maulana Kalbe Javaad made the announcement at a joint press conference here addressed by leaders, including the state president of the All-India Muslim Majlis Khalid Sabir, state president of Jamat-e-Islami Muhammad Ahmed and Shahi Tilewali Masjid Imam Fazlur Rehman Waizi Nadwi. “We have decided to hold demonstrations in Rae Bareli and Amethi to register our protest against the UPA government’s decision to side with the US on the Iran issue as it will make the government realise its mistake and also our anger”, Kalbe Javaad said.
— PTI |
|
Stop name change policy, NCM tells Haryana
New Delhi, February 7 NCM chairman Tarlochan Singh said “to remove Devi Lal’s name from a PSU on a plea that city of Panipat is more important is a rebuff to all freedom fighers. Knowing history, I can say Panipat has never given any credit to India and it remained a city where invaders won the battle”. “You have now set a new precedent that successive government can change the names of public places. This may lead to very bad repercussions because in the democratic set up different political parties come to power,” Tarlochan Singh said in a letter to Haryana Chief Minister. The NCM head was reacting to the state government’s move to remove the name of Devi Lal from thermal plant in Panipat. “I request you to review your decision keeping away your political feelings. Devi Lal’s name cannot be removed from the minds of people by just washing it from certain signboards,” said Tarlochan Singh, Independent Rajya Sabha member representing Haryana, who won the seat during the INLD rule. In a sugar coated letter, he said “you (Bhupinder Singh Hooda) have a unique honour to be son of a known freedom fighter Ranbir Singh who also remained president of the Freedom Fighters Association of India, whch has been demanding the Centre and state governments to perpetuate memories of freedom fighters so that new generation remember and honour their histroic role”. “I am astonished when the Haryana government headed by you has taken an unprecedented decision to remove the name of Devi Lal from thermal power plant in Panipat,” he said. The Commission has asked the Centre to give compensation to communal riot victims on the pattern of 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Mr Tarlochan Singh said the Commission has asked the Centre to provide relief to all victims of the known riots like Hasimpure (UP), Gujarat, Bhagalpur and Bhiwandi on the patter of anti-Sikh riots. He said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had recently met the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and had sought relief and assistance to Bhagalpur riot victims on the pattern of 1984 riots. More than 2,000 persons were killed in the Bhagalpur riots which took place in 1989 and till date no adequate compensation has been given to the victims neither any culprits have been punished. Nitish Kumar had sought the intervention of the NCM in the matter.
|
|
Telgi tells on co-accused
Pune, February 7 Telgi revealed names of those involved in the scam but his lawyer said it was not known whose names he had disclosed to the Magistrate. Asked if he had revealed the names of any politician, his lawyer said: “Telgi did not tell anything like that to us”. Telgi had appeared yesterday before the Chief Judicial Magistrate and gave his confession but as it did not conclude he was called again today. Embroiled in 48 cases of fake stamp paper scam totalling over Rs 30,000 crore, Telgi has confessed his role for the first time since his last arrest in 2002. The confession pertains to his alleged role in the 1995 case in which he is facing the charges of attempting to sell bogus stamp papers in the market.
— PTI |
|
SC breather for Pepsi, Coke
New Delhi, February 7 “No contempt”, a Bench of Mr Justice Arun Kumar and Mr Justice R V Raveendran, said, while hearing appeals of Pepsi and Coke against the proceedings going on before two separate Benches of the high court on the contempt of court and for “non-compliance” of the guidelines. The high court, while deciding a PIL alleging that soft drinks sold by Pepsi and Coke had high level of pesticide contents, had, in June last year ordered them to inscribe clearly the ingredients from which the drinks were prepared, on the packaging bottles. The stay on contempt came after Coke’s counsel Arun Jaitley said due to the proceedings in two different Benches of the same high court on a related issue, there was every chance of conflicting verdicts. |
|
Delhi demolitions: Centre to form panel
New Delhi, February 7 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today had an hour-long meeting with Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit regarding uncertainity in the ongoing drive. Mr Reddy said later that the Prime Minister had desired that the current uncertainty in Delhi’s ongoing drive should be brought to an end. He said after taking various factors into consideration, it was decided that the Urban Development Ministry should appoint a high-powered committee of eminent people, experts and representatives of the Congress and the BJP to look into various violations in Delhi and come out with a practical solution. The committee, which will be constituted in the next few days, will submit its report in three months.
|
|
Saran to meet US official today
New Delhi February 7 The talks between an American-delegation led by US Under Secretary of State for Energy David Garmen and Mr Saran-led Indian delegation are part of the newly-launched Indo-US Energy Dialogue and the two sides would discuss big, new initiatives to develop new generations of energy technology, diplomatic sources told The Tribune this evening. The two sides would review India’s joining ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) and discuss a 10 -country consortium on Generation-IV International Forum to develop the next generation nuclear power plants. India is not a member yet of this consortium. Mr Garmen will discuss possible Indian involvement in future generation zero-emission coal-fired power plant, known as FutureGen. FutureGen is an initiative to build the world’s first integrated sequestration and hydrogen production research power plant. The $1 billion dollar project is intended to create the world’s first zero-emission fossil fuel plant. When operational, the prototype will be the cleanest fossil fuel fired power plant in the world. The American delegation would also brief the Indians on new US initiative called GNEP and review Indian involvement in Hydrogen initiative. India joined the International Partnership for a Hydrogen Economy over a year ago.
|
|
Khalida coming in March
New Delhi, February 7 Ms Zia’s visit will be multilateral, not a bilateral one, though bilateral issues will eventually come up for discussions, diplomatic sources said today. The last bilateral visit at the prime ministerial-level took place in June, 1999, when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee went to Dhaka. In fact, there has been much more vigorous interaction between India and Pakistan at the highest political level. India’s relationship with the neighbour, who it helped to liberate, is on the knife’s edge mainly because of the Zia regime's support to anti-India terrorist outfits operating from Bangladeshi soil. Besides, the ruling Four Party Alliance (FPA) government, dominated by Ms Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Matiur Rehman Nizami’s Jamaat-e-Islami (Bangladesh), have made India-bashing and India-baiting their main occupation. Ms Zia’s India visit is preceded by her visit to Pakistan from February 12-14, an obvious indicator of equation between Dhaka and Islamabad. Ms Zia has gone on record as saying that the fraternal relationship between the peoples of Bangladesh and Pakistan was founded on common history, culture and tradition. Bangladesh-watchers smirk at this statement, saying nothing could be farther from the truth. The very foundation of Bangladesh’s liberation movement was based on the differences of these specific issues between the two wings of Pakistan. The perception here is that Bangladesh has freely allowed itself to become a front line state for Pakistan which has been using terrorism as an instrument of state policy. The terror attacks in Hyderabad and on the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore have been traced back to Bangladesh, the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the ISI. Counterfeit Indian currency coming from Pakistan through Bangladesh has been established by Indian agencies from confessions of arrested couriers.
|
|
14 charred to death in Morena
Bhopal, February 7 Kailaras town has been placed under prohibitory orders. The initial reports suggested that an LPG cylinder, being carried in the packed mini-bus, had burst and engulfed the bus in no time. However, some newspapers have quoted a 17-year-old boy, Anil Kushwaha, admitted in a Gwalior hospital, as having stated that there was no cylinder in the bus but gunpowder packed in a polythene bag. |
|
Minority panel for J&K on cards
New Delhi, February 7 In a communication to the NCM Chairman, Mr Tarlochan Singh, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said he had issued instructions to the concerned department to immediately formulate a proposal after due examination for setting up state minorities commission. Hailing Mr Azad’s decision, Mr Tarlochan Singh said the Chief Minister had taken steps to fulfil long-standing demand of minorities in the state. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Videos
