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MPs demand law to check radiation incidents
Delhi scrap market radiation-free: Govt
MLA’s husband held for aiding
Naxals |
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SC refuses to restrain Sohrab from representing India
Mamata, Brinda showdown in RS
Talks fail on Gujjar
quota
Army pulled up over extension in service
Mukul Sangma is Meghalaya CM
Youngsters traverse their way through a flooded street on a raft made from
banana tree trunks in Guwahati on Tuesday. — Reuters
Shoaib gets back his passport
Oz woman raped in Goa
Mobile found from Nalini’s cell
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MPs demand law to check radiation incidents
New Delhi, April 20 Minister of State for Atomic Energy Prithiviraj Chavan said in the Upper House that the material found in Mayapuri was “medical equipment and not medical waste”. This equipment, containing Cobalt 60, is not registered with the Atomic Energy Regulation Board. The logical conclusion was that it came as scrap from abroad, he said. Only an inquiry could tell from which country it had come, he added. When pointed out by members, especially Najma Hepatullah, SS Ahluwalia of the BJP and Jayanti Natarajan of the Congress, that there was no law providing for compensation to victims of such mishaps or for punishing the culprits, Chavan said, “We need to enact a legislation against nuclear liability.” Chavan said the incident had been taken very seriously. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was also present in the House. Announcing the intent of the government, he said, “We would not only blacklist the exporters of scrap based in other countries, but also blacklist the countries from where false declarations were received regarding the material landing at Indian ports.” To guard against the imports of such radioactive material, the government was installing 12 scanners at major ports that could scan the contents of a shipped container without having to open it. Two such machines were in operation at Nhava Shava port in Mumbai. BJP’s Avinash Rai Khanna from Punjab raised the issue that the Customs Department did not have enough sniffer dogs.
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Delhi scrap market radiation-free: Govt
New Delhi, April 20 "The radiation sources recovered are being examined at Narora (Atomic Power Station) to determine their origins," Minister of State in PMO Prithviraj Chavan told the Rajya Sabha. Responding to a calling attention motion on the radiation incident, he said nuclear experts swung into action on getting information from a private hospital on April 7 about a patient suspected to be suffering from exposure to radiation. "Teams of radiation safety experts from the BARC, the AERB and the Narora Atomic Power Station, were sent to Delhi with a wide range of radiation monitoring, detecting equipment and lead flask to locate, identify, recover, safely secure and dispose of radioactive sources," he said.
— PTI
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MLA’s husband held for aiding
Naxals
Hyderabad, April 20
A huge cache of arms, including an AK-56 rifle and ammunition, being smuggled from Bihar, was seized by the police in Medak district. The consignment, worth over Rs 12 lakh, was meant to be delivered at a hideout of the “Praja Pratighatana” faction of the CPI (ML). The police arrested Devender along with two others. Incidentally, both Devender (49) and Seethakka (45) are former Naxalites, who joined the social mainstream just before the 2009 General Elections. The TDP had fielded Seethakka from Mulug, a tribal constituency in Warangal district. She emerged victorious in her first battle of the ballot. Two arms smugglers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, who were arrested along with Devender, admitted they had supplied arms and ammunition to the Maoists in the past. A special police team had been dispatched to Bihar to trace the origin of weapons, Superintendent of Police VC Sajjanar said. The police also seized a Springfield rifle, country-made pistols, 676 rounds of ammunition for AK-47 rifles, 9mm pistols and Rs 27,000 in cash from the vehicle the smugglers were travelling in. Reacting to the arrest of her husband, Seethakka said, “I will not encourage this. I had quit the Maoist movement and participated in the elections with full faith in democracy. Now, I am working with the people. I don’t know what my husband is doing.” She said she was ready to cooperate with the police in the investigation. Devender, who hails from Hanamakonda in Warangal district of Telangana region, was an underground Naxal activist. He joined the CPI-ML (Chandra Pulla Reddy group) in 1979 and later worked for the Janashakti, another splinter Naxal organisation, which is virtually defunct now.
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SC refuses to restrain Sohrab from representing India
New Delhi, April 20 A Bench comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and SS Nijjar asked Sohrab to file his response to the Centre’s petition in four weeks and posted the matter for next hearing after six weeks, clarifying that any relief could be considered only after detailed arguments. The shooter’s lawyer, senior counsel Mukul Rohtagi, said there was no bar on sending his client to the World Cup in England next month and the World Championship in Italy in June as the Punjab and Haryana High Court had on March 18 equated Sohrab with an NRI who enjoyed all the rights meant for Indian citizens in the matter of education and sports. Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium, however, said the Centre had challenged the HC verdict as Sohrab could not be chosen to represent India as he held a US passport and that he could not be treated on a par with the NRIs, who were essentially Indian citizens living abroad. Further, government’s financial support was restricted to Indian nationals. He pleaded with the court to decide the matter early as several sports events were to be held in the coming months. Rohtagi contended that his client had already represented India in five international events and won two medals. Also, Sohrab was holding the overseas citizen of India card and got the US citizenship without applying for it as he was born there.
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Mamata, Brinda showdown in RS
New Delhi, April 20 During the debate on the Appropriation (Railways) Bill in the Rajya Sabha, Brinda alleged that the Railways had not provided drinking water on a train hired to take disabled persons for a demonstration. This led to an immediate retort from the Railways Minister, who shouted back calling the CPM leader’s charges political. “You are misleading. This is political. Don’t do this drama,” a visibly angry Banerjee told Karat. Brinda said it was “inhuman” as the disabled people had hired the train by paying Rs 17 lakh to the Railways and not even a drop of water was there in the train. Saying that train was coming from West Bengal to Delhi, she repeatedly called the Railways “inhuman” for not being able to provide water in the train despite complaints. Mamata, on her part, kept trying to shout down Karat, calling it a “drama”. Her party colleagues - Ministers of State Saugata Roy and Dinesh Trivedi — also joined her on the issue along with Congress member Mabel Rebello. Meanwhile, in her reply to the debate Mamata invited the industry and state governments to come forward to set up coach factories, suggesting using the public-private partnership (PPP) model to meet the demand for coaches in the country. She said the Railways has prepared a long-term plan to meet the demand of rakes and wagons. But even as she invited the private sector to set up coach factories in the PPP model, Mamata ruled out any privatisation of the Railways. “I will be the last person to privatise (Railways),” she said. She also said the Railways could also involve the private sector in beautification of railway stations.
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Talks fail on Gujjar
quota
Jaipur/Dausa, April 20 However, Bainsla hasn’t made any announcement on future course of agitation and has said he is open to hold further dialogue with the state government. Though the talks made a good progress on the first day, differences cropped up later, delaying an agreement over the issue. A couple of days back just when an agreement seemed to be in sight, Bainsla and his aides became adamant that the state government freeze all recruitments till the quota tangle is settled in the High Court. When the government declined to meet their demand, Bainsla’s close aides Harprasad, Roop Singh and Mahendra Singh Khedla walked out of the talks late Sunday night. Even as the government was trying to find a middle path, a deadlock emerged yesterday due to Gujjars’ fresh demand for specifying the time limit within which 5 per cent quota would be granted to them. Their new demand obviously had the government in a fix, as the matter was sub judice. “How can the state government guarantee anything on the quota in a certain time limit when the matter is pending before the high court,” wondered Energy Minister and key government intermediary on the issue Jitendra Singh. Irked at the way the talks were heading, Bainsla had virtually snapped dialogue with the government last night and had left for Sikandara along with his supporters, but returned to the dialogue table following the intervention of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Before meeting the CM, a visibly upset Bainsla said, “I have been holding talks with the government for the past three days, making all efforts to resolve the issue, but there is a limit to my efforts too.” However, after meeting Gehlot at the CMO, he agreed to continue talks with the government in the coming days. After returning to Sikandara, where the Gujjars are still staging a mass siege, Bainsla said though the CM has assured him of resolving the issue, he would not settle for anything this time until it is given in the writing.
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Army pulled up over extension in service
Chandigarh, April 20 Ruling that the petitioners, Brig Dalip Kapur and Brig MS Jamwal, should have been allowed to continue, the bench comprising Justice AK Mathur and Lt-Gen ML Naidu was of the opinion that the selection committee had not applied the yardstick properly and denied the incumbents further extension though they had been graded as above average. The two conditions required for extension are medical fitness and professional efficiency. The age of retirement in the Intelligence Corps is 54 years extendable to 57 years. The petitioners had contended that their annual confidential reports had graded them above average without any adverse remarks in their careers. Though both officers had similar gradings, the bench observed that the selection committee, considering Brigadier Kapur’s case, had not granted him extension. Stating that the petitioners were now retired, the bench ruled that they should have been allowed to continue in service till the age of 57 years. They would be entitled to the difference of arrears of salary minus their pension and the amount so worked out be paid along with 12 per cent interest.
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Mukul Sangma is Meghalaya CM
Guwahati, April 20 Meghalaya Governor Ranjit Sekhar Musahary administered the oath of office and secrecy to Sangma at a ceremony held at the Raj Bhawan in Shillong this afternoon. Bindo M Lanong, a senior legislator of the United Democratic Party (UDP), was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister, while another UDP legislator J Antonius Lyngdoh and Independent legislator Abu Taher Mondal were sworn in as cabinet ministers.
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Guwahati flooded; rescue operations on
Guwahati, April 20 Troopers of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), using rubber boats and rafts, rescued more than 200 people from various city areas reeling under waist deep water. "We have already rescued scores of people trapped inside homes filled with water, mud and slush and we are on the lookout for more who could be desperately looking for help," Anil Chauhan, NRDF commander, told IANS. Heavy rains accompanied by cyclonic storm in the past two days crippled normal life in most parts of Assam, especially in Guwahati, with several areas submerged. Guwahati had recorded 80.4 mm rainfall since Monday with forecast of more rain accompanied by thundershowers on Wednesday and Thursday.
— IANS
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Shoaib gets back his passport
Hyderabad, April 20 Shoaib's counsel Javed Razack was handed over the passport and two booklets after the counsel moved an application before an additional chief metropolitan magistrate along with an order copy of the Andhra Pradesh High Court directing it to return the passport. The magistrate initially sought Razack's identity proof and after submission of the same allowed the petition for issuance of the passport.
— PTI
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Oz woman raped in Goa
Panaji, April 20 The victim in her complaint at Canacona police station stated that Obi Okaroafor allegedly raped her on Saturday night by spiking her drinks. The woman had befriended the accused during a party at a posh resort at Canacona and later spent the night with him in his accommodation on the beachside. The victim, however, claimed that she never consented to sex, Superintendent of police Allan D'Sa said. On the basis of the complaint, 25-year-old Okaroafor was arrested on Sunday and was remanded in 14-day police custody the next day. The medical examination report of the woman is awaited, the police said.
— PTI
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Mobile found from Nalini’s cell
Vellore (TN), April 20 "A routine check was conducted this morning under jail Superintendent Rajalakshmi and officials found the cellphone from Nalini," Director General (Prisons) ADGP KR Shyamsunder said. The phone was active at the time when it was being recovered and authorities are going into the details of call records, he said. “After further investigation jail authorities would decide on action against her.
— PTI
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