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Talks on quota from October 18
Govt plays China card to get Left nod for FDI
Venod Sharma pays
price for son’s mistake
Bypoll: Shiv Sena, BJP reach pact
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Suspended JD(U) MLA surrenders
BSF to have more battalions
Maoist leader dies in encounter
Death sentence for ex-IAF sergeant
Katra murder: key witness to appear in court on Nov 25
Afzal’s family visits him in Tihar jail
Rare surgery
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Talks on quota from October 18
New Delhi, October 6 The consultations will be held by union Defence minister Pranab Mukherjee, union HRD Minister Arjun Singh and Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram with several states having large unaided institutions. Mr Arjun Singh had emphasised that his ministry would take everyone into confidence on the issue. Even as pressure was mounting from the OBC lobby to finalise the Bill for unaided institutions before the winter session of Parliament next month, promoters of unaided institutions have expressed strong resentment. Consequently, the government is trying to work out an acceptable formula. The government does not want to be caught on the wrong foot this time. When the quota bill in respect of aided institutions was introduced on the last day of the monsoon session of Parliament and promptly referred to a standing committee. The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Bill 2006 seeks to provide 27 per cent reservation of seats for OBCs, including those belonging to the creamy layer in elite central and government-aided institutions like the IITs and IIMs. Meanwhile, former Karnataka Chief Minister Veerappa Moily who headed the committee on the contentious issue of preparing the road map for implmenting the OBC quota including the creamy layer in central educational institutions has sought time from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to make a presentation on the final report submitted to the PMO last month. In his report, Mr Moily had underlined the need for reviewing the implementation of the reservation policy every five years but left the decision on the contentious creamy layer to the government. This assumes significance as political parties have expressed diverse views on the OBC creamy layer. Even as the CPI-M favoured exclusion of the cremay later from the quota regime, the UPA’s allies like the DMK and PMK stoutly stoutly demanded its inclusion. The Moily committee had also recommended the setting up of three new IIMs and a whopping Rs 17,200 crore package for making the reservation policy operational.
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Govt plays China card to get Left nod for FDI
New Delhi, October 6 In a written note presented to the Left parties at the recent UPA-Left coordination committee meeting, the Congress-led coalition cited the example of China, which the Left parties generally admire, to drive home their point on FDI. Noting that FDI is a vital source of capital inflows to augment the capital account surplus that is imperative to offset the growing current account deficit, the government said China received FDI of $60.3 billion in 2005 while India received $8.5 billion in 2005-06. “Contrary to the misplaced apprehensions of a negative impact on domestic employment and asset creation, FDI supplements domestic investment and promotes employment. It is this realisation that has led all state governments to actively seek FDI”, the Congress-led coalition told the Left parties. On the Left’s objections on FDI in retail, the government said FDI in retail in single brand had been allowed only to “expose in a very limited way” the Indian economy to the international trends to gear them to take on the best in the world and also provide a wider choice to the consumers. The government made it clear that on the issue of FDI in insurance and print media sectors, it had not yet taken any decision. With the government rejecting its alternative resource mobilisation proposals, the CPM has decided to take on the Congress-led coalition through protests for demanding a shift in its economic policies whose “current sole pre-occupation” it said was to bolster corporate profits. The key outside supporter of the Centre also stood by its opposition to financial sector reforms, including any move towards full capital account convertibility and increase in FDI cap in insurance and amendments to the pension and banking regulation Bills. Meanwhile, CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat flayed BJP leader Arun Jaitley for making “not only untrue charges but also presenting concocted facts”. |
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Venod Sharma pays
price for son’s mistake
New Delhi, October 6 Mr Sharma, who handed over his resignation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, was in the eye of a storm after a recent sting operation indicated that the Haryana Minister had bribed key witnesses to change their statements against his son. Manu Sharma had been acquitted of the murder but the case was reopened following an adverse public opinion. Although Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi insisted that Mr Sharma had resigned on his own, party insiders admitted that the Minister’s continuation had become untenable, especially after the recent sting operation established his direct involvement in the case. The Congress had officially defended Mr Sharma, maintaining that he could not be held responsible for his son’s actions and that the party could not seek his resignation since there was no pending case against him. However, the Congress leadership could not afford to ignore the growing public opinion building up against the Minister. It also faced increasing pressure from within the party, especially the Haryana unit, which felt it would have to pay a heavy price if the Minister continued in office. It was consequently conveyed to him that he should put in his papers. Since Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is going abroad on Saturday, the resignation was submitted today.
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Bypoll: Shiv Sena, BJP reach pact
Mumbai, October 6 Just this morning things looked pretty ominous with Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray hitting out at the BJP in an editorial in party mouthpiece, Saamna. He said the Shiv Sena would not compromise on self-respect just to keep the alliance going. “The BJP has been weakened following the death of Pramod Mahajan, but the Shiv Sena did not rush in to profit from it,” Mr Thackeray wrote. But by afternoon, Mahajan’s brother-in-law and senior party leader Gopinath Munde called on the Thackerays and persuaded them to relent. As a sop, the BJP decided to allot the Kalyan-Dombivli Assembly seat to the Shiv Sena. The only twist in the tale is that elections to the state Assembly are some time away. On the other hand, the BJP is in a strong position in Chimur where its candidate Dr Ramesh Gajbe is a strong contender to win. Mr Vijay Veditwar, whose defection from the Shiv Sena to the Congress under Revenue Minister Narayan Rane has caused the seat to fall vacant, won last time by just 400 votes. Should Dr Gajbe win, the BJP and the Shiv Sena would have 55 MLAs each in the state Assembly. Observers in the Narayan Rane camp felt that the Shiv Sena is standing at the edge of an abyss and it wouldn’t take them much to tip the party over.
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Suspended JD(U) MLA surrenders
Patna, October 6 In August the Aurangabad court had issued arrest warrant against him for threatening the manager of a Hyderabad-based company to either pay ransom or face the consequences. Before that Pandey had hit the headlines after he had threatened to shoot a crew member of an electronic media group at a city hotel in June for filming his drunken brawl there. The JD(U) leadership had suspended him from the party in July after he had ganged up with another party leader Anand Mohan, now in jail, by threatening to pull down the Nitish government. Soon after his surrender, he was remanded in judicial custody. Meanwhile, state Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah said the police was preparing to approach the court to attach the property of another absconding JD(U) MLA Rampravesh Rai from Chapra. He had been charged with the murder of 20-year-old Sabiya Khatoon.
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BSF to have more battalions
New Delhi, October 6 “It is not possible to totally seal the (Indo-Bangladesh) border as guarding is a challenging task due to the riverine patches and hilly terrain,” he told newspersons after inaugurating the annual training conference of the BSF. Mr Patil was reacting to reports that Pak-based terrorists generally used the border to enter the country and such was the case in the July 11 Mumbai blasts. BSF Director-General A.K. Mitra said: “I read such reports in newspapers everyday that they (terrorists) came from Bangladesh, but nobody has ever said I came through this part or this area.”
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Maoist leader dies in encounter
Hyderabad, October 6 A wanted Naxalite, Sudarshan, who carried a reward of Rs three lakh on his head, was among those killed. The police said the exchange of fire took place in Goonepalli forest area near Bukkapatnam village in the district during the combing operations by the Grey Hounds, the anti-naxalite wing. In the fierce gunbattle that followed, three extremists were killed, including secretary of Nallamala Forest Division Committee of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) Sudarshan alias Satyam. Sudarshan was involved in a daring attack on Prakasam District Superintendent of Police Mahesh Kumar Ladda early this year. Rayalaseema Regional Committee member Obuyleshu was also killed in the encounter, while the third naxal was yet to be identified. A native of Warangal district, Sudarshan was involved in 20 criminal cases in Prakasam district alone. He had also worked as Nalgonda District Committee Secretary of People’s War Group.
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Death sentence for ex-IAF sergeant
Jodhpur, October 6 Upper District and Sessions Judge Kamal Kumar Bangri pronounced the sentence yesterday for the accused Anil Vasudev on the charges of killing his wife Shresta Rani (35), daughter Diksha (8), and son Nikhil (6). He was, however, not convicted of the charges of attempted suicide. Vasudev used a hammer to kill his wife and children and later attempted to commit suicide. The accused had been harbouring suspicions of his wife having an extramarital affair. Vasudev hailed from Hoshiarpur of Punjab and was posted in Jodhpur six months back, where he committed the crime at his residence in Air Force colony. The Air Force has already sacked Vasudev.
— UNI
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Katra murder: key witness to appear in court on Nov 25
New Delhi, October 6 The order was passed by Additional Sessions Judge Ravinder Kaur after Bharti’s counsel S.C. Bhuttan gave an undertaking that she will appear before the court on November 25 for testimony in the case, in which her brother and cousin are the main accused.
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Afzal’s family visits him in Tihar jail
New Delhi, October 6 Ghalib, who was accompanied by his mother Tabassum and grandfather Ghulam Mohmmed, met Afzal for nearly half-an-hour, jail sources told PTI here. Afzal has been sentenced to death in the attack case.
— PTI
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Rare surgery
Hyderabad, October 6 The girl, Navya, was brought to the hospital, in a very serious condition a month ago and the doctors first stabilised her health before performing the surgery.
— UNI |
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