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No sales tax on lottery tickets, says SC
Pro-reservation movement in May
Medicos stage anti-quota march to
Raj Bhavan
EC examining complaint on Rae Bareli poll
Assault on cop: SC upholds conviction of tribesman
Sushma lashes out at Sonia
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Uma Bharti to float party today
Maneka heads Energy Globe Jury
Rane targets Sena yet again
Nepali Cong activist dies at AIIMS
Udit Narayan summoned in bigamy case
Police remand for Nischol brothers
US blocks property of terror groups
Coca Cola fined Rs 1.2 lakh
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No sales tax on lottery tickets, says SC
New Delhi, April 29 “A lottery ticket has no value in itself. It is a mere piece of paper. Its value lies in the fact that it represents a chance or a right to a conditional benefit of winning a prize of a greater value than the consideration paid for the transfer of that chance. It is nothing more than a token or evidence of this right,” a five-Judge Bench headed by Ms Justice Ruma Pal held. “We are therefore of the view that … there was no sale of goods within the meaning of Sales Tax Acts of different states but at the highest a transfer of an actionable claim,” the Bench comprising Mr Justice B N
Srikrishna, Mr Justice S H Kapadia, Mr Justice Tarun Chatterjee and Mr Justice P P Naolekar ruled while answering the legal question arising out of a petition by Haryana State Lotteries before the Delhi High Court against the NCT Government, questioning its decision to impose sales tax on lottery tickets sold in its territory. The Delhi High Court had ruled that the lottery tickets were goods and were liable to be levied sales tax under the Delhi Sales Tax Act, 1975. Overruling the High Court’s July 17, 1998 judgement, the Supreme Court said a lottery draw could not and was not a movable property. The only object of the right to participate in it would be to win the prize, and the transfer of the right would thus be of beneficial interest in movable property not in possession of the ticket holder. The Bench directed that several petitions filed by lottery agents in the course of the hearing on the main question of law would now be decided by the Division Bench of the apex court concerned as per the ruling laid down. |
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Pro-reservation movement in May
New Delhi, April 29 Angered by the anti-quota movement in the country, students as well as social groups
supporting reservation are gearing up for a nationwide protest in May to put forth the need for reservation. While the blueprint for this movement is being
readied, preparations are on for garnering support. “We are agitated by the arguments put forth by the anti-reservationists, there is a need to support the SC/STs and the OBCs. And it is for this reason we have begun preparations for a large-scale demonstration in May,” said KS Saroha, leader of the Ambedkar Students Organisation in Delhi. The ASO along with their counterparts in other states and the All-India Ambedkar Social Foundation are joining forces to strive for the implementation of quota in educational institutes. “Meetings have begun in many states and we have received support from our members in the United States of America,” said Saroha. Incidentally while medical and engineering students have demanded a roll- back of the reservation policy, students’ organisations elected in universities have come out in support of reservation. The National Students’ Union of India, the Students’ Federation of India and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad have all gone on record, supporting the proposal to provide 27 percent reservation to OBCs. This support from major students’ organisations has, however, been received with scepticism. “The fact that elections in universities are not far away, these organisations cannot afford to upset the OBCs, who form a major votebank,” said a student from the reserved category. But students’ organisations like the ABVP are quick to deny the allegation. “We have always been pro-reservation, but we do believe that reservation on the basis of economic status would be better,” said state general secretary of the Delhi Unit of the ABVP Nakul Bhardwaj. Pointing out that the general category students also have “a responsibility to ensure the implementation of reservation”, Amar Singh of the All-India Ambedkar Social Foundation said, “these students who are protesting that the number of seats will become less are justified in doing so, but they also have a responsibility towards the deprived sections of society. It is also their responsibility to see that those who have no access to higher education are given their due”. |
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Medicos stage anti-quota march to
Raj Bhavan
Bangalore, April 29 Protest Committee Coordinator and Junior Doctors Association President Venugopal said the delegation had handed over the memorandum in the Governor’s office as Mr Chaturvedi had gone to Delhi. Mr Venugopal said that students of the BMC as well as the Dental College would continue to boycott classes till a “favourable” decision on the issue of reservations for OBC’s was taken by the Union Government.
— TNS |
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EC examining complaint on Rae Bareli poll
New Delhi, April 29 Deputy election commissioner R. Bhattacharya told reporters that the EC is examining the BJP complaint alleging that Congress leaders in Punjab gave money to people to vote during the May 8 bypoll in Rae Bareli. The complaint quoted news reports that Congress activists had identified nearly 3,000 migrants from Rae Bareli constituency who are residing in Ludhiana and are making arrangements to give them an ‘all-cost paid’ trip to that constituency if they promise to vote for Ms Gandhi. The poll panel said it is considering the response sent by Cabinet Secretary B.K. Chaturvedi on the alleged violation of model code of conduct by HRD Minister Arjun Singh on the issue of reservation for OBCs in elite educational institutions. Mr Bhattacharya said, “The reply from the Cabinet Secretary was received yesterday and it is now under the consideration of the Commission.” The Commission had already asked the Centre to defer consideration of the controversial draft Bill by the Union Cabinet on the issue till the completion of the Assembly polls in the five states. The Commission had earlier taken exception to the reported announcement of Singh on the issue. Arjun Singh had earlier denied the EC’s charge that he had prima facie violated the model code of conduct for elections by announcing plans for quota in elite institutions. |
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Assault on cop: SC upholds conviction of tribesman
New Delhi, April 29 A Bench of Mr Justice S.B. Sinha and Mr Justice P.P. Naoleker rejected the appeal of Bir Singh of Rapee village and sentenced him to 7 years of imprisonment for attacking an ASI. The incident occurred on May 8, 1988, when ASI Harjit Ram at Jahlama police post refused to accompany him to the village late in the night to defuse a faction fight, citing bad whether and difficult hill terrain. At one point, Bir Singh reconciled to the ASI's offer to accompany him on the following day and even agreed to take meal offered by the cops at the police post. But he suddenly became violent and attacked the ASI with his “khukri” repeatedly, while following him to the first floor of the police post where he was to spend the night. A case of attempt to murder under Section 307 of IPC was registered against him for causing grievous injury to the ASI, before other cops present at the post overpowered him. Though the president of the village panchayat was named as a key witness, he turned hostile in the trial court. The conviction by the trial court was mainly based on the testimony of the two cops, who had overpowered Bir Singh. The apex court ruled there was no reason to disbelieve them. The Court was of the view that whatever might be the circumstances, the accused had taken law into his hands and inflicted two successive blows on Harjit Ram, resulting in a deep cut on his right elbow. The ASI had also sustained injuries on his hand in an attempt to snatch the khukri from Bir Singh, it said. |
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Sushma lashes out at Sonia
Lucknow, April 29 She said it should not come as a surprise if the discerning electorate of the constituency gave Sonia the shock treatment, which they had earlier given to her mother-in-law, in 1977. Ms Swaraj pointed out that the family should not take voters for granted as “ignoring all traditional ties, they had once again shown that they were capable of giving a rude shock to the Nehru-Gandhi family”. Ms Swaraj, who arrived from Bhopal today, will campaign in Rae Bareli for the next two days. After which, senior party leader L.K. Advani is expected to address meetings in Rae Bareli. Ms Swaraj said it had to be explained to the people of the constituency how the election was forced on them by the Congress President in order to escape punishment in terms of disqualification by the Election Commission for holding an office of profit. Answering a query on why she did not contest against Sonia, she said the party had a full-fledged organisational structure and the cadre in Uttar Pradesh and she saw no reason why a candidate needed to be “imported from outside”. She recalled the “tough fight” she had once given to Sonia Gandhi in Bellary when her party hardly had any presence in Karnataka. |
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Uma Bharti to float party today
New Delhi, April 29 As a prelude to the announcement, Ms Bharti along with her supporters today took a pledge to float her political party at the historic mound of Raja Bhoj in the town of Dhar, one of her close associates said over the phone. He said a draft constitution of the proposed party has also been drawn, which will be spelt out tomorrow at a public rally in Ujjain. Ms Bharti will reveal the party’s name and unveil the party’s flag, in the presence of 108 founder members on the banks of Shipra river. According to sources, the new outfit is likely to be named ‘Bharatiya Janshakti Party’, whose flag will be saffron in colour. The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister has already announced that her party would adhere to the five principles — ‘Swabhiman, Suraksha, Swadeshi, Shuchita and Suraj’. After her expulsion from the BJP in November last year, Ms Bharti undertook ‘Ram Roti Yatra’ from Bhopal to Ayodhya, where she announced that she would be formally floating a party after three months. Subsequently, she undertook the Janadesh Yatra from Vindyachal, which would culminate at Ujjain tomorrow with the formal announcement of her party. Former union ministers Swami Chinmayanand and Sangapriya Gautam would be among the prominent former BJP leaders, who will be present at the Ujjain rally. Former Delhi Chief Minister Madan Lal Khurana has also announced that he will attend the party’s foundation conference. |
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Maneka heads Energy Globe Jury
New Delhi, April 29 According to a press note issued here, the Energy Globe is a prestigious international environmental prize and is presented annually in five categories. The global award was started seven years ago by Austrian environmentalist Wolfgang Neumann who is also Director-General of GEG
Werbung, a successful event agency in Austria. — TNS |
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Rane targets Sena yet again
Mumbai, April 29 Only this time, Rane is looking at splitting the Shiv Sena parliamentary party. Earlier this week, Rane held long meetings with three Shiv Sena MPs— Anandrao Adsul, Prakash Paranjpe and Shivaji Patil, who are known to be close to Rane. While Adsul and Paranjpe are veteran politicians, Patil is a first-time MP. All the three MPs have, however, denied planning to break away from the Sena. But Sena leaders have been watching the three ever since Rane weaned away nine Sena MLAs in the Maharashtra Assembly. A fourth MP, Subodh Mohite, who was to meet Rane could not make it. So far Rane has been able to get most of his supporters re-elected on Congress tickets, after they quit the Shiv Sena. However, the NCP and the Peasants and Workers Party, allies of the Congress, have become uneasy about Rane’s clout. In February last, both the parties joined hands with the Shiv Sena to get Rane’s supporter Shyam Sawant defeated in his Shrivardhan Assembly seat. |
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Nepali Cong activist dies at AIIMS
New Delhi, April 29 Kharaka suffered bullet injuries when men of the Royal Nepal Army opened fire at demonstrators in Kalanki on the outskirts of Kathmandu on April 21. He was flown to Delhi by a team of doctors from Kathmandu Model Hospital and admitted to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences here. |
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Udit Narayan summoned in bigamy case
Patna, April 29 The commission has asked him to appear before it on May 19 to answer allegations of bigamy levelled against him by Ranjana Narayan, claiming to be his first wife. The first wife of Udit Narayan had surfaced last week, when the singer along with his second wife Deepa Narayan, came here to attend a marriage ceremony. The
singer's first wife made abortive bids to meet him at the hotel in Patna and later staged a dharna in front of his
room. The police had to finally escort Narayan to the airport to board him on the Mumbai flight. Before leaving Patna, both Udit Narayan and Deepa Narayan described the claim of Ranjana Narayan as baseless and called it an attempt to blackmail him. Meanwhile, reports reaching here suggested that the Koshi region, which once felt proud of Udit Narayan, had now turned hostile towards him. |
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Police remand for Nischol brothers
Mumbai, April 29 Navin Nischol and his brother were produced before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate J.B. Pankhe, who remanded them in police custody. The actor’s wife had committed suicide at her Mahim residence on April 22. The two were called for interrogation yesterday morning. After day-long grilling wherein they failed to give satisfactory replies, they were arrested last night at 10 pm.
— UNI |
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US blocks property of terror groups
New Delhi, April 29 “LeT is one of the three largest and best-trained groups fighting in Kashmir against India. After the Secretary of State’s designation of LeT as a terrorist organisation in 2001 and the Pakistani Government’s banning the group, LeT renamed itself JUD in order to evade sanctions,” David Kennedy, spokesman of the US Embassy here said yesterday. |
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Coca Cola fined Rs 1.2 lakh
New Delhi, April 29 “It seems that giant companies have only focused their eyes on their one-point programme — make money. To that end, they will even play with the public’s health,” District Consumer Redressal Forum (North) comprising president K.K. Chopra and members R.K. Prabhakar and Neeru Mittal said. The complainant had registered the case against Coca Cola Company, Atlanta, USA; Hindustan Coca Cold Manufacturing Co. Pvt. Ltd; local manufacturer Moon Beverages Ltd and Suri Cold Drink, the retail outlet from which the complainant had purchased the contaminated drink.
— PTI |
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