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Buddhadeb follows in TMC chief’s footstep
PGI Director’s Post
Maharashtra minister’s son booked in shooting case
Adarsh to be pulled down if HC doesn’t stay MoEF order: Maharashtra CM
Sathya Sai Baba’s health improves
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Now, Hazare trains sights on Pawar-Balwa land deal
What’s the deal
Mumbai, April 9 A team of activists, lawyers and other experts associated with Hazare's Bhrashtrachar Virodhi Abhiyan (BVA) are looking into a multi-crore rupee deal under which government land in Pune allegedly transferred to a trust controlled by Pawar's relatives has turned into an IT park. Controversial developer Shahid Balwa, currently in jail for his role in the 2G scam, is building a hotel in a portion of the property. RTI activists who have accessed information on the deal approached Hazare with documents while he was fasting in New Delhi and the social activists have asked his team to obtain more information on the deal, BVA sources confirmed. The controversial deal concerns a piece of property near the historic Yerwada jail in Pune, which was at one time part of the Pune cantonment. The title of the 326-acre property has been in dispute since 1950 and in 1988, the then collector of Pune, Shreeniwas Patil, handed over its rights to the Mukund Bhawan Trust controlled by the relatives and associates of Pawar. Patil went on to join politics and became a NCP MP in 1999 after defeating Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan from the Karad seat. The Mukund Bhawan Trust, which had Pawar's daughter Surpriya and son-in-law Sadanand Sule as office-bearers, is developing an IT park and a five-star hotel in association with Balwa's DB Realty, according to information unearthed by the activists under the Right to Information Act. The issue figured in the Maharashtra Assembly with Leader of the Opposition Eknath Khadse labelling it as a Rs 15,000-crore scam. Khadse demanded that Chief Minister Chavan order a CBI inquiry in the matter.
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Urgent need to improve pathetic sex ratio: Prez
Don’t forget the boy child says Gandhi’s granddaughter Tara Gandhi Bhattacharya was the odd person out at today’s gathering. When everyone was talking about the elusive girl child, she quipped from the stage: “In Gandhi’s abode, everyone has the right to his opinion. But the girl child alone should not be the focus. We must also talk about the boy child who is equally vulnerable, is trapped in abuse and conflict and is being forced to take to the gun, become a terrorist. Boys have also had traumatic childhoods. We need to protect them as well,” she said.
New Delhi, April 9 “Dowry is killing the girl child. The provisional Census figures for 2011 have shown that our child sex ratio is the lowest since Independence. The picture is distressful in the prosperous states. We need a new movement to fight female foeticide and infanticide,” Patil said, her dig at the developed northern states as nuanced as possible. As for Nanhi Chhan, it began two and a half years ago from the precincts of Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar. Already present in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi, the movement entered a decisive phase today with the Foundation Chairman Harpal Singh of the Fortis Group rededicating himself to the preservation of the girls and the environment. The project works by distributing saplings as a symbol of nurturing. It claims to have given away 9 lakh such saplings already, and touched five million people. “We have lost 10 million girls to a perverted social system. At Nanhi Chhan, we see the earth and the mother as one. Both are sources of life. So long, we have distributed 9 lakh saplings across India to restore the nature’s balance and reaffirm our commitment to the girl child,” Singh said at a gathering in Rajghat’s Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti auditorium today. The dedication came days after Census 2011 data showed that against 927 girl children in 2001 for every 1000 boys, there are now just914 - a statistic the President called “alarming’. Among the guests were Zila Khan, the vocalist daughter of Ustad Vilayat Khan who sang an invocation to goddess Durga, kathak exponent Shovana Narayan who danced her way into the day’s theme.
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Buddhadeb follows in TMC chief’s footstep
Accordingly, the Chief Minister so far addressed 11 public meetings and held two seminars in the Jadavpore constituency. Today, he surprised his voters by participating in a roadshow following the path of his main political rival at Jadavpore , where he has been facing a big challenge this time from his former chief secretary Manish Gupta. Mamata had chosen the high-profile Gupta as her political strategy for taking on his former government boss. Mamata, however, was away today to the remote areas in Howrah for attending similar roadshows there for campaigning in favour of the TMC and Congress candidates. The party leadership admitted that for the first time during the Left Front government’s 34 years rule, Bhattacharjee was now facing a big challenge from a rival candidate in his Jadavpore constituency, from which he had been elected five times with largest margin of votes. Bhattacharjee’s road-show was colourful and a large number of the party cadres, supporters, friends and followers participated. While Mamata in such road had walked down the streets along with her party leaders and workers and the candidates but the chief minister travelled in the open-jeep with his hands folded making an appeal to the voters for electing them again. Bhattacharjee’s workers and supporters raised angry slogans against Mamata Banerjee and the AICC leaders- Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Pranab Mukherjee. They also criticised the Manmohan Singh government for the price rise and several other anti-people policies.
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When an EC team stopped a vehicle at Athur near Salem in western Tamil Nadu, they found 350 rice bags, 114 silk sarees and hundred watches. When the officials enquired the people in the vehicle, they said the things were for family use. When the surprised officials asked, whether 350 bags (a bag contains 25 kg) of rice are required for a single family, the reply was "ours is a big family". Not amused with the answer, the officials seized all the material.
Wear helmets
Referring to reports that actor and DMDK leader Vijaykanth beat his candidate during poll campaign, Deputy Chief Minister MK Stalin said those candidates accompanying the actor should wear helmets to protect themselves. Chubby cheeks
"If you want your babies to have chubby cheeks like me, you should vote for the DMK," said popular actress Khushboo during the election campaign. The DMK government was providing Rs 10,000 for pregnant women, to take nutritious food and give birth to healthy babies. After birth, the DMK government is providing nutritious meals to children and young mothers through anganwadis. When the children go to school, they get nutritious meals, with one egg per day. So, if you want your children to be healthy and have chubby cheeks, you vote for the DMK, she explained. A mischievous youth, listening to Khushboo loudly asked "what about rosy lips". Bicycle candidate
People of Sivagangai constituency, in South Tamil Nadu, fondly refer to the CPI candidate here as bicycle candidate. The candidate, Muthukumaran, hails from a poor background and goes on his bicycle to canvass. The people of Neduvaasan village, to which he belongs, have stared donating their money to the candidate for election work. When he travels outside the village, he uses buses. He is confident of his victory and says people of his constituency will give respect to his social work and elect him. Bedroom scam
When comedian Senthil campaigns for AIADMK candidates, the crowd often breaks into peals of laughter. It is not due to his jokes or sense of humour. His pronunciation of a few Tamil and English words is often wrong and gives room for a different meaning. For instance, whenever he speaks about spectrum scam, he says bedroom instead of spectrum, which evokes laughter among the crowd.
— Compiled by N Ravikumar
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PGI Director’s Post New Delhi, April 9 Gupta is currently the head of ophthalmology at the PGI. Recently, the PGI, much to the angst of other candidates in the fray for the director’s post, changed the recruitment rules in a way that candidates over 60 were also eligible to apply. The rules further failed to cap the upper age limit for those from government institutions. This is in sharp contrast to the eligibility norms required for AIIMS and the six new AIIMS-like institutes, which have capped the upper age limit of candidates for the top job at 60. They are also offering no relaxation on the upper age limit for candidates from government service. The PGI, on the other hand, raised the eligibility age for candidates to 60 but retained the old clause that said: “Upper age relaxable for candidates from government institutions.” Sources today told The Tribune that such a change in recruitment norms should have been approved by ministries of Law and Personnel and a view should also have been sought from the UPSC.
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Kaiga nuke reactor shut down after smoke alarm Kaiga, April 9 “On inspection of the respective area, it has been found that there was nothing abnormal,” station director JP Gupta said. As an abundant precaution, the unit was shut down, he said. The nuclear plant operator said routine surveillance tests were planned for Unit-3 before May, when the plant was to be shut down for a couple of weeks. “Having the unit in a shut down state, decision is taken to utilise this opportunity and carry out these tests now itself,” the NPCIL said. — PTI
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Protests against Jaitapur plant Mumbai, April 9 "If you do not want the project to come up, the Shiv Sena will ensure that the government does not go against your wishes," Thackeray told the people gathered at the rally held this afternoon at Mithgavhane village, one of the villages affected by the project. Thackeray warned that the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan held a lesson for those pushing for nuclear power projects in the country. “Please do not play with the people's lives by inflicting untested echnology on us,” Thackeray said. The Shiv Sena leader, who was accompanied by a number of MPs and MLAs, said the entire rank and file of the party will back the agitation against the project.
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Maharashtra minister’s son booked in shooting case
Mumbai, April 9 On March 24, the HC transferred the probe from local crime branch to the CBI in response to a petition filed by Shaikh. “Following the HC directive, we have lodged an FIR and are investigating the case,” a senior CBI official said. Shaikh claimed in the petition that Narayan Rane, a Congress leader and state Cabinet Minister, was interfering in the probe, so it should be transferred to the CBI. As per Shaikh’s complaint with the Powai police on September 23, Nitesh, who was upset that day for some reason, had shot at him twice at NGO’s Khar office. Shaikh alleged that a bullet grazed his cheek, causing an injury. — PTI
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Adarsh to be pulled down if HC doesn’t stay MoEF order: Maharashtra CM
Mumbai, April
9 Chavan, during the Question Hour told the Legislative Assembly that the three-month notice given to the Society by the Ministry of Environment and Forest
(MoEF) ends on April 14. The scam-hit society, in posh Colaba area, had challenged the notice in the High Court, the hearing for which is scheduled on April 13.
— PTI
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Sathya Sai Baba’s health improves
Puttaparthi (AP), April 9 “Sathya Sai Baba continues to be stable and there is a slight improvement in his condition. He continues to be on the ventilator,” a health bulletin issued this evening by Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences said. — PTI
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CVC appointment Plea against Alagiri
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Kolkata, April 9
Big family
