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US may help in building highways, bridges, modernising airports
High alert in Lucknow, panel to probe violence
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Banerjee report motivated: Rajnath
Left parties demand
Modi’s resignation Hooda defends decision
on thermal plant
760 striking doctors served sack notices
Only 4 VIPs vacate bungalows
Mulayam fears for lives of son, Amar Singh
Budget session rescheduled for poll
EC pointsman
Rao calls it a day India,
Australia revise air agreement
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US may help in building highways, bridges, modernising airports
New Delhi, March 4 The US-India CEO Forum, which was addressed by President George W Bush after its meeting at Hyderabad House on March 2, has flagmarked important areas of cooperation, covering every single vital sector from infrastructure to defence to energy to healthcare. The 40-page document entitled “US-India Strategic Economic Partnership”, signed by the two Co-Chairpersons, Mr Ratan Tata and Mr William Harrison, has identified several initiatives which will give wings to Indian growth and development. An important point to be noted here is that all these initiatives, being apolitical and economic in nature, would indeed be implemented quickly as, unlike the nuclear deal, these initiatives do not have to go through the legislative rigarmarole. Sample these: A key recommendation of the US-India CEO Forum is to work jointly to make Mumbai into a Regional Financial Centre. This will bring Mumbai, in not too distant a future, at par with four leading financial centres of the world: New York, London, Singapore and Hong Kong. A second major recommendation is to create a $ 5 billion plus private sector Infrastructure Fund. This Fund will be supported by World Bank, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Asian Development Bank to promote infrastructure investments in India. The Infrastructure Fund would mean that the US industry could participate in highways, bridges, mass transit, townships, Special Economic Zones (SEZs), airports, seaports, energy, environment, water etc all of which are key to India’s development and growth. The US-India CEO Forum initiatives are also set to change the face of the civil aviation sector in India and help government in airport modernisation and expansion. These initiatives would also enable the government to help avoid runway incursions between planes and optimise utilisation and safety of the Indian airspace. In the defence sector, with the opening of defence supplies from the US to India, there are new opportunities emerging for private sector defence cooperation, including co-production and co-development in due course. A Joint Private Sector Task Force is already in dialogue as an adjunct to the bilateral government level High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG). Besides, integrating Indian private sector companies into the global supply chain of US defence manufacturers, combined with co-production, will help remove insecurity about the reliability of US defence supplies. The CEO Forum has defined six “Priority Initiatives” for expeditious implementation in India. These are: (I) promotion of trade and industry, (ii) creation of an infrastructure development fund, (iii) promote technology exchange in agriculture, biotechnology and nanotechnology, (iv) partner in skills development, (v) set up an Indo-US centre for industrial R&D, and (vi) establish a dispute resolution mechanism. |
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High alert in Lucknow, panel to probe violence
Lucknow, March 4 Spelling out the terms of reference of this high level committee comprising Agricultural Production Commissioner Navin Chand Bajpayee and Director-General, PAC, Bua Singh, Home Secretary Alok Sinha said the committee would look into the causes of the violence, examine if there was any laxity on the part of anyone anywhere, and suggest measures to avoid such a flare up in future. Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, calling the communal violence “very unfortunate”, assured that the guilty identified by the probe committee would be brought to book immediately. Admitting that it took “ a little while to bring the situation under control”, the Chief Minister said this had happened as the police had been deployed on security duty due to the visit of the President. He also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased, Rs 1 lakh to the seriously injured and Rs 50,000 to those who suffered minor injures. Those injured during the violence would be provided treatment and medicines free of cost, informed Mr Sinha. Meanwhile, after a tense night the situation was limping back to normal in the riot-torn parts of the city. Despite pitched battles going on till late night in Maulviganj, Aminabad and Qaiserbagh areas the administration decided not to impose curfew. The post-mortem of the dead was conducted and the bodies were handed over to the families early today. The dead were Aziz ur Rahman (28), Shanu Benvanshi (15), Guddu Sonkar (28) and Mohammad Azeem (35). The police had filed FIRs in the matter, but no arrests had been made so far, said Mr Sinha. An additional 20 companies of the PAC and four companies of the RAF were moved in today. Another eight RAF companies had been kept on call to be rushed anywhere in the state, informed Mr Sinha. According to the Home Secretary, this was done to avoid harassment to students taking the UP Board examination beginning today. However, the UP Board has called off examinations in schools and centres falling in the Aminabad and Qaiserbagh areas. The shops and business establishments in various parts of the city again remained closed on the second consecutive day on the joint bandh call given by the VHP and the BJP. Describing the bandh as an “unprecedented success”, senior BJP leader Lalji Tandon condemned the violence and appealed to the people of the city to maintain peace. Charging the Mulayam government of promoting certain religious leaders, who were behind yesterday’s violence, Mr Tandon said every time the SP government was on a weak wicket it instigated violence. The communal violence coming on the weekend before Holi has badly hit business. Afsar Hussain Ansari, who runs a cloth shop in Karamat Market in Nishatganj, wondered how small shop owners like him could keep their shops closed for every protest. “This is the time when we earn. With people remaining indoors due to the fear of violence we traders have been denied the right to earn a little extra in the festival season”, he lamented. |
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Banerjee report motivated: Rajnath
Ahmedabad, March 4 "It is a Central government excess (zulm) on not only the Gujarat government but also on the people of the
state. The interim report of the commission came when elections to the Bihar assembly were announced and the final report has come after Assembly polls in five states have been announced,” he added. He questioned the inordinate hurry in submitting the report, after the Gujarat High Court had ruled that no further steps should be taken in the matter of enquiry findings, since a public interest litigation had been filed on the subject. "No constitution permits the appointment of a panel when one is already enquiring into the matter. Any minister who appoints such a commission should be hauled up for such an act,” he added. Speaking at a party workers meet , Chief Minister Narendra Modi also indirectly trashed the report and said he would fight for justice for those who had been burnt alive. "Let nobody threaten us with imposition of President’s rule for the people will respond in kind against any injustice,” he warned. Earlier, Mr Rajnath Singh said the commission's report which terms the Sabarmati Express fire on February 27,2002 at Godhra railway station, as an accident is a direct contradiction of the preliminary enquiry report of the Railway Protection Force which had said that a mob attacked bogies number s-6 and s-7 of the train in question. "If the fire was lit from the inside, the passengers would have run out but could not as the compartment had been
bolted," he added. Mr Rajnath Singh praised the Narendra Modi government, saying, it had emerged as a model state in the country and the results of all the recent local self government elections should be a pointer to Delhi of what the people wanted. It was high time the witch hunt was stopped,” he added. The BJP chief also cautioned against rampant conversion and said his party's government had been directed to come down with a heavy hand against any attempt at coercive conversions. "Christian missionaries are welcome to work but that is about all .Any attempts at converting the poor to their faith will not be tolerated," he added. Mr Singh also counseled demonstrating Muslims to do so
peacefully. "India is the land of Gandhi and protests should be peaceful and non-violent. It is the Left parties who are behind these violent protests with the complicity of the UPA government”, he added. Reacting to the Indo-US nuclear deal, he said while the BJP was not very happy, it was satisfied with the outcome but the credit for it must go to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the NDA government which had laid the foundation for it. |
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Left parties demand
Modi’s resignation New Delhi, March 4 The CPM polit bureau in a statement said ''it is clear that Modi has no moral right to continue in office. The CPI (M) demands that he resign.' In all these years neither the then Home Minister L.K. Advani nor the Modi government have been able to provide evidence to back their theory of a pre-planned conspiracy against the 'kar sevaks' who were in the train, it said. The U C Banerjee Commission report now clearly shows that indeed there was no such conspiracy, the party said. ''After this latest finding, the Modi government has no moral right to remain in office. Its continuation will be a national shame,'' the CPI Central Secretariat said in a statement. CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan said the report has ''virtually confirmed'' the apprehension that the fire was used by Mr Modi and the Sangh Parivar to unleash the ''worst-ever'' anti-minority massacre in independent India. The railway inquiry had earlier too confirmed in its interim report that those killed in the coach S 6 and S 7 were not the ''reserved passengers'', most of whom were later found alive.
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Hooda defends decision
on thermal plant New Delhi, March 4 Talking to mediapersons here on completion of a year of the Congress government in the state, the Chief Minister said "original name" of the thermal plant had been restored by the state cabinet's decision. Replying to queries, he said Panipat was a place of historical importance and "forefathers" had laid down their lives in the battles fought at the place. Mr Hooda said he too respected Tau Devi Lal and the removal of the late leader's name was not an act of disrespect. He said there were other places and institutions named after the late leader including a university in Sirsa. The issue of removal of name of Tau Devi Lal from the thermal plant had recently figured in both Houses of Parliament. On the CBI probe on the Congress chargesheet against the previous Chautala government, the Chief Minister said the "law will take its own course." He said the CBI was functioning independently and the state government was not acting vindictively. The Chief Minister blamed the INLD and BJP for incompletion of the SYL canal, saying that the Supreme Court verdict in favour of Haryana was based on the Indira Gandhi Award and Rajiv Gandhi-Longowal Accord, both of which were opposed by the two opposition parties in the state. He said when the Congress returned with nine MPs from the state in the last Lok Sabha elections, they met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi opposing the law passed by Punjab abrogating water accord with neighbouring states and seeking completion of SYL canal through a central agency. On continuation of Haryana Power Minister Venod Sharma in the Cabinet following demands for re-trial of his son Manu Sharma in the Jessica Lal murder case, the Chief Minister said there were no new facts in the matter. He said appropriate steps will be taken if some new information comes to light. Answering a query, Mr Hooda said the minister had been attending cabinet meetings. Agreeing with the suggestions to make amendments in the CrPC for protection of witnesses, he said the law will take its course in the Jessica Lal murder case. The Chief Minister said the previous governments had not done enough to boost electricity generation in the state. "We have taken steps to produce 5,000 MW in the next three-and-a-half years," he said. The Chief Minister said his aim was to make Haryana "number one state" in the country in the next four years.
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760 striking doctors served sack notices
Mumbai, March 4 Four hundred and fifty of the total 1,400 striking registered resident doctors (postgraduate students) and Resident Medical Officers (RMOs) of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation-run hospitals in the city were issued termination orders till this evening, Additional Municipal Commissioner V. Patankar said. In Pune, another 310 doctors were given notices for the termination of their service in the Sasson Hospital, official sources said. Though the BMC claimed that the Mumbai University had been informed about the termination, sources from the Postgraduate Department of the university told PTI that they had not received any list of the postgraduate students’ names for the withdrawal of their registration. Meanwhile, Dr Srikant Pandit, president of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), which is spearheading the strike, said the doctors would continue their strike till their “simple” demands on security and stipend were met. The doctors, who started their indefinite strike on February 27, were demanding adequate security against attacks by patients’ relatives and increase in stipend.
— PTI |
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Only 4 VIPs vacate bungalows
New Delhi, March 4 With the issue being raised in Parliament, the government has acknowledged that only four VIP occupants have moved out of their unauthorised bungalows. Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken admitted in the Rajya sabha yesterday that most of those who were served notices by the government were yet to vacate their official bungalows. In pursuance to the Supreme Court directions last year, the government had served notices to several former ministers and leaders, asking them vacate their official bungalows. In fact, the apex court categorically asked the government to “throw away” all illegal occupants. In November last, the ministry, taking a tough stand in the Supreme Court on VIPs occupying government bungalows unauthorisedly in the Capital, said that despite notices the “unauthorised occupants” had not taken steps to vacate their ministerial bungalows. The list was long but it included the likes of Bihar Governor Buta Singh, besides several former ministers in the NDA government, Congress, CPM, Akali Dal and Samajwadi Party. While Buta Singh, Harkishen Singh Surjeet, Mulayam Singh Yadav and the family of late Syed Mir Quasim have vacated bungalows since then, several prominent political leaders, including Sukhbir Singh Badal, Omer Abdullah, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Maneka Gandhi, Yashwant Sinha, Vinod Khanna, Najma Heptulla, Yashwant Singh, Sharad Yadav, continue to be in occupation of accommodation bigger than their entitlement. The ministry that had taken such a tough stand in November last also presented a reason why most of the these VIPs continue to be in occupation of bungalows of bigger size than their entitlement. As per the minister, the reason for their retaining bungalows unauthorisedly or beyond entitlement arises from the non-vacation of bungalows allotted from the general pool to ministers, ministers of state etc. |
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Mulayam fears for lives of son, Amar Singh
Lucknow, March 4 Addressing a meeting of newly elected Block Pramukhs at the Samajwadi Party headquarters, he said he had reliable information that there was a conspiracy to eliminate them. Both Amar Singh and Akhilesh Yadav were present on the dais as a visibly in pain Chief Minister made this revelation before a crowd of party officials and hundreds of SP-supported Block Pramukhs. Mr Yadav suffered a slip disc and has been advised bed rest. “When my detractors calculated that this will further strengthen the party, they have now changed the plan to kill Akhilesh and Amar Singh so that I will die on my own”, pointed out a visibly downcast Chief Minister. Orienting the newly elected members owing allegiance to the SP, the Chief Minister spelt out the challenges awaiting them. “There is a conspiracy to brand me as an ISI agent. My only fault is that my party has won most of the byelections-be it Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha, panchayat or Block Pramukh. Can I be blamed for the Congress and BJP losing its deposits?”, he questioned. Blaming the Congress for misusing official machinery for creating all sorts of trouble for his democratically elected government, he compared the Congress with the Bush regime saying both of them had a tendency to destroy their perceived enemies for flimsy and imaginary reasons. Despite the challenges to the government on every front the election would be held on schedule, he assured the party workers. Charging the Congress, the BJP and the BSP of joining hands to topple his government, he said the leaders of the three parties had met the Governor demanding the dismissal of his government. |
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Budget session rescheduled for poll
New Delhi, March 4 Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi told reporters here today, “The first half of the budget session has been extended to March 22, with two extra sittings on Saturday — March 11 and March 18.” The Budget session will resume on May 10 and continue till May 23. As per the earlier schedule, the two houses of Parliament were to have a three-week recess from March 18 and the remaining session was to be held from April 3 to 28. |
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EC pointsman
Rao calls it a day New Delhi, March 4 The 64-year-old Rao, who worked with the commission for for decades, declined a fresh offer to continue for "personal reasons". He started his career in the Election Commission in 1966 as an assistant and retired as secretary in 2002. He had been an observer in the US presidential election and later watched closely the polls in Afghanistan in 2004. Rao, who was a member of the investigation team that probed the malpractices in Amethi, the constituency of late Rajiv Gandhi, in 1989, had retired four years ago but continued with the commission in various capacities.
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India,
Australia revise air agreement New Delhi, March 4 The agreement, revised during bilateral civil aviation consultations in September 2004, would lead to the opening up of the sky between the two nations enhancing the number of air services by a significant extent. Announcing this after the Cabinet meeting today, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P. R. Dasmunsi told reporters that under the new agreement, both countries would have “the right to designate as many airlines as they wish”. The designated airlines of each side can mount an agreed number of services between the two countries as decided from time to time, he said.
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