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Didi sworn in as Bengal CM
She kept her vow for 18 yrs
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Kanimozhi lost smile just for a while
Karuna faces tough task
Post-Osama, Antony tells forces to remain prepared
Adarsh scam
Maya should see women’s pain, says NCW chief
SC: No relief for officials facing graft charges
Police clueless on Mumbai shootout Karnataka Crisis Haryana couple takes love to a new peak — Everest
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Didi sworn in as Bengal CM
Kolkata, May 20 Along with her, 37 MLAs, 35 from the Trinamool Congress and two from the ally Congress, took oath as ministers of the two-tier ministry. Four of the Trinamool Congress MLAs were sworn in as Ministers of State. Soon after taking the oath, Mamata pledged for peace, progress and stability. She assured people of good governance, rapid industrialisation, agricultural advancement, better education and livelihood, better healthcare and larger employment opportunities. Clad in a simple white sari and wearing a tricolour 'uttariya' (long scarf) that has by now become her trademark, Banerjee took the oath in Bengali in the name of God. Mamata, who left the Congress in 1997 to form her own party to take on the Left, took the oath exactly at 1.01 pm, a time chosen by her in the presence of over 3,000 guests, including the defeated Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and Left Front chairman Biman Bose. Union Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and Union Home minister P Chidambaram, former Finance Minister Ashim Dasgupta and Assembly speaker HA Halim were among those who attended the ceremony that lasted for one hour and 35 minutes. After her swearing in ceremony, all her Cabinet colleagues also took the oath of office. Apart from Mamata, 31 other TMC ministers holding the cabinet rank were sworn in. These included Partha Chatterjee, Subrata Bakshi, Amit Mitra (former FCCI secretary-general ), Manish Gupta (former chief secretary) Subrata Mukherjee, Sadhan Pande, Abdul Karim Chowdhury, Javed Khan, Upen Biswas (former CBI director), Rabindranath Bhattacharyya, Jyotipriya Mallick, Sabitra Mitra, Hyder Aziz Safi, Bratya Bose, Rachpal Singh (former IPS officer) , Noore Alam Chowdhury (former high court judge) and Farid Hakim. From the ally Congress, Manash Bhuiya and Abu Hena had taken the oath. (With inputs from PTI) Eighteen years after she vowed never to set foot again in Writers’ Building from where she was forcefully evicted while on dharna with a rape victim before Jyoti Basu’s chamber, Mamata Banerjee today stepped in as Chief Minister. On January 7, 1993, she was physically lifted and dragged out of the VIP corridor by policemen at the instance of the then home minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. She, then the Union Minister for Sports and Youth Welfare in the Narashima Rao government, had sat on a three-hour long dharna before Basu’s chamber with a deaf and dumb rape victim from Nadia district, claiming the rapist had not been arrested because of his political affiliation. “Basu had on that day left Writers’ without meeting Mamata,” the then deputy commissioner of police (central) Abani Mohan Joardar, now a Trinamool Congress MLA said. He said Banerjee was physically removed from the state secretariat and the then DC DD Goutam Mohan Chakraborty had taken Banerjee to the police headquarters at Lalbazar, a short distance from the state secretariat and kept her in the lockup even though she was a Union minister. “I do not know what procedure was followed. She refused to take bail. In such cases a person is produced in court the next day,” Joardar said. — TNS/PTI
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Kanimozhi lost smile just for a while
New Delhi, May 20 Looking quite calm and composed, she only lost her smile after hearing the order. However, not the same could be said about scores of DMK MPs, supporters and Kanimozhi’s female relatives, including an aide who burst into tear after hearing the order. Even as Kanimozhi, who was sitting beside her husband and other 2G Spectrum scam accused including former Telcom Minister A. Raja, Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka in the front row, was asked to get up and stand in the witness box, all commotion ensued as her well wishers who rushed towards her in a show of sympathy. The same could be said of the media fraternity who wanted to catch her expressions on hearing the order. While everyone jostled to catch glimpse of the woman in question, the shell-shocked Raja and Shahid Balwa stood motionless with grave faces. Kanimozhi’s close aide, the first to rush out crying from the court when someone explained to him exactly what the orders were, started a chain reaction. Soon five or six women dressed in Kanjivaram sarees and wearing heavy gold chains, said to be aunts and other relatives of Kanimozhi, took a cue from the weeping aide and burst into tears. However, it was not long before Kanimozhi too was affected by her weeping aunts and could not stop tears welling up in her eyes. Raja’s wife, who was standing close to her at the time, hugged and consoled Kanimozhi. Within minutes, she was back to her normal self talking to her lawyers and party men. Asha Kumari, a young constable, escorted Kanimozhi from the court room to the court lock-up situated about 20 metres away but not before hugging her tearful aunts and husband. It was at this moment that the aunts let out a big scream of cry which echoed through the entire corridors of Patiala House court. From the lock-up, Kanimozhi was taken to Tihar jail at around 4.55 pm. Home-made food, TV allowed
Host to dozens of VIPs, Kanimozhi was sent to ward number 8 of Jail no. 6 in Tihar where she has been given a separate cell with television and attached bathroom. According to information, the cell allotted to Kanimozhi will have a television with cable connection operational till 10 pm. The court has allowed her home-made food along with books, medicines and her spectacles. However, her trademark nose pin was asked to be removed by the jail authorities. According to jail sources, Madhuri, held for spying, and Sonu, a notorious pimp, are Kanimozhi’s neighbours tonight.
Karuna faces tough task
Chennai, May 20 With senior leaders of the party questioning the wisdom of withdrawing from the Union ministry during last meeting after Kanimozhi's arrest, Karunanidhi has a difficult job in hand to convince his senior party colleagues to take a tough stand against the Congress. Since this will be the first meeting after the party's debacle, Karunanidhi is expected to attribute the defeat to the alliance with the Congress, instead of focusing on the CBI case against his daughter. Senior leaders loyal to Karunanidhi are expected to take up the poll debacle and ask the party to take an aggressive stand against the Congress. Union Minister and elder son MK Alagiri and his younger brother MK Stalin, who opposed any tough move against the Congress at the last meeting, are expected to fall in line, since the party had done very badly in the Assembly elections and the Congress itself had won only a handful of seats. But, the final stand of the party will depend on whether Karunanidhi is able to convince his party colleagues and family members on withdrawing his ministers from the Centre.
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Post-Osama, Antony tells forces to remain prepared
Describing the US operations in Pakistan as “a watershed in the global war on terror”, Antony said the event has “internationally stamped” Pakistan’s position as the core of terrorist activities in the region. Addressing the Unified Commanders Conference here, he said the ripples of this event would have wide-ranging impact on the country’s strategic neighbourhood. Antony said the security situation in Pakistan continued to be a cause for concern. He said despite supporting the war on terror, China remained its main strategic partner. The Defence Minister said if any real progress was to be made in improving bilateral relations, Pakistan must take concrete action to dismantle terrorist infrastructure on its soil. The Defence Minister said India has always desired friendly relations with all its neighbours. Antony said that though India was not unduly concerned over China’s moves to modernise and upgrade its military capability, the country had to watch the ongoing process of upgrading the military structure. He expressed the hope that progress would be made in discussion with China on the border dispute. Dwelling on the ground situation in Jammu & Kashmir, Antony said it has shown improvement over the past few months. Violence has declined and the political processes have come to the forefront.
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Adarsh scam
Mumbai, May 20 In an affidavit filed before the inquiry commission probing the scam, suspended State Information Commissioner Ramanand Tiwari submitted that Deshmukh during his tenure as the Chief Minister approved the change of use of a plot adjoining the building. The land was earmarked for a BEST bus depot but was later amalgamated into the plot meant for the Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society. Tiwari who held the post of secretary, Urban Development Department, said Deshmukh had cleared the change in March 2006. Like all chief ministers in Maharashtra Deshmukh held the urban development portfolio. In his affidavit Tiwari who held various posts in Maharashtra admitted that he had handled the Adarsh files from 2002 to 2006 and given a number of clearances as per law, sources said. Tiwari was suspended from the post of the Information Commissioner after it transpired that a flat had been allotted to his son. However, in his affidavit he stated that there was no vested interest to guide the decision and no rule was relaxed. Meanwhile in New Delhi Deshmukh said he did not remember details of the Adarsh file handled by him. “I will have to see the file first that on what date and on what file I have signed. I had been the Chief Minister of Maharashtra twice. I don't remember everything. I will have to see the records,” Deshmukh has been quoted as saying. Deshmukh is yet to submit his own affidavit in the matter before the commission. He told reporters that he would do so shortly.
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Maya should see women’s pain, says NCW chief
New Delhi, May 20 A day after The Tribune reported the preliminary findings of NCW’s three-member fact-finding committee, the NCW Chairperson Yasmeen Abrar said that at least 60 farmers had been counted missing and only the CBI could tell where they had vanished. “We need to know where these people are - whether they are even dead or alive,” Abrar told The Tribune. She questioned BSP Government’s, particularly Chief Minister Mayawati’s silence in the matter, saying, “Women were severely assaulted in two villages that fall in the backyard of Mayawati’s own ancestral village of Badalpur. The CM continues to be in denial of what happened. She hasn’t even come visiting once. We want her to immediately ensure the safety of these women and compensate them,” the NCW chief said. The Committee has returned from UP with evidence of destruction of lives and properties by policemen on duty and says women were sexually assaulted. “Women have given statements saying they were stripped naked and teased and scores of policemen clung to them and threatened them to return for the “act” in the night. What do you make of such awful things? These are even worse than rape. We must take proper statements of victims and find out what happened to them,” the Chairperson said. The Commission will submit its preliminary report to the Prime Minister on Monday and will constitute another larger 11-member panel comprising retired judges, psychologists, psychiatrists, NGO representatives to revisit the affected villages for a deeper investigation.
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SC: No relief for officials facing graft charges
New Delhi, May 20 A Bench headed by Justice Dalveer Bhandari rejected the officials’ plea for staying the recently notified Bihar Special Courts Act, 2009 which has a provision for attachment and confiscation of the properties of the accused even while the trial under the PCA is going on. The Bench, however, issued notice to the state government on a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the law. The petitioners have questioned the wisdom of deciding the confiscation proceedings before the conclusion of the trial on corruption charges. “Depriving a person of all his properties is as good as taking away his right to live with human dignity” and this should be done only after conviction on the charges of corruption, the accused officials contended, pleading for quashing of the law. The Patna High Court has already upheld the validity of the law, forcing the officials to come in appeal to the SC. The SC’s refusal to stay the law assumes significance in the light of the fact that even in the 2G spectrum case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has informed the apex court that confiscation of properties of the telecom companies involved in the scam would be done only if they were convicted in the trial. The accused Bihar officials have been booked by the Vigilance Department under Sections 13(1)(e) and 13(2) of the PCA and some provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
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Police clueless on Mumbai shootout Mumbai, May 20 Kaskar, brother of gangster Dawood Ibrahim, was not injured in the incident. Police later said he was nowhere near the site when the shooting happened. “So far no one has claimed responsibility for the shooting,” says Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajkumar Vhatkar. The police are still questioning two men who had allegedly opened fire at Abubaker, according to Vhatkar. Sources say the two men, Syed Bilal Mustafa Ali and Inderlal Bahadur Khatri, suspected to be a Nepali national may have been given a supari or contract to carry out the shooting and may not be aware of those who hired them for the job. Dawood Ibrahim's rival Chotta Rajan and other gangsters who fear reprisal from the Pakistan-based mobster have already distanced themselves from the shooting, say sources. Investigators are now probing whether Abubaker's killing resulted from personal rivalry. The slain man is said to be involved in property dispute in South Central Mumbai, police say. There is also a possibility that Abubaker was killed by a member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang as part of an inter-gang rivalry, according to police say. With no clarity emerging in the matter, Mumbai's police officials are gearing up for an outbreak of a gang war in the city. Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik has asked his men to activate their network of informers to ferret out information on possible retaliatory strikes by Dawood's men. |
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Karnataka Crisis Bangalore, May 20 “We will give time till May 25 to the Central Government to recall the Governor. If it is not done, we will intensify our agitation,” state BJP president KS Eshwarappa told reporters after a meeting of party office-bearers. Eshwarappa said the party will from tomorrow intensify the agitation for Bhardwaj's recall and against imposition of Central Rule. After the party meeting, Eshwarappa led most of the ministers in a sit-in protest at the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the heart of the city. Yeddyurappa did not join. — IANS |
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Haryana couple takes love to a new peak — Everest Kathmandu/Panipat, May 20 Sushma, a 27-year-old police woman from Haryana and her husband Vikas (24), an M.Sc student, made both climbing and social history on Friday by becoming the first Indian couple to climb together to the top of the world -- the freezing, gale-smitten 8,848-metre summit of Mt Everest, the highest peak in the world. “After a surreal climb all through the night, the doughty pair reached the top at 10.25 a.m. accompanied by their two Nepali Sherpa guides, Lhakpa Nuru Sherpa and Tenzing Dorjee Sherpa,” said Ang Tshering Sherpa, chief of Asian Trekking, the Kathmandu-based mountaineering agency that put the Kaushiks' expedition together. The news was received with great enthusiasm by Sushma’s department and her colleagues appeared to be thrilled by her achievement. Overjoyed by the feat, many police officials said that ever since Sushma joined the ranks along with them, she appeared to be a determined girl who wanted more out of life than a mere existence. Rama, one of the women constables who knew Sushma, said that she had been planning to climb Mount Everest since long and would often share her aspirations with them. District police chief Pankaj Nain, who also appeared to be delighted by her accomplishment, said that the department had extended its full support to Sushma as she was a promising mountaineer. Her case had been often been taken up with the higher officials for frequent duty leaves for training purposes and the seniors had always supported her. He said that her grit had inspired many in the department and it was a matter of great pride that one amongst them had achieved what is considered unachievable in the first instance. Kusum, another women constable, said that Sushma would train hard for long hours to keep her fit. She said the hiker had been waiting for the opportunity and when she along with her husband finally managed to become a part of the contingent of 17 individuals, who trekked the Everest, they all had got excited and had wished her luck in the endeavour. It was a day of triumph for India with four more climbers ascending the mountain as part of Asian Trekking’s Eco Everest Expedition 2011.Three of them are from Haryana as well, proving the state’s grip on adventure sports. Sunita Singh Choken (26) also from Haryana, was the first member of the team to summit at 8.25 a.m. She was followed by Premlata Agrawal, a 48-year-old housewife from Jharkhand who becomes the oldest Indian woman to accomplish the deed as well as the first woman from the Marwari community. The other two summiteers from Haryana are Pawan Grewal (28) and Narinder Singh (32).The Eco Everest expeditions have been exceptionally lucky for the members. This month, Everest legend Apa Sherpa scaled Mt Everest for an incredible 21st time as part of the team, breaking his own earlier record of 20 summits. Last year, Indian school boy Arjun Vajpai became the youngest Indian on top of Mt Everest as part of the same expedition. Waiting for the Everest traffic to subside so that they have a stab at the summit as well is a 14-member Indian Air Force team that has eight women climbers. — TNS and Agencies
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Mamata Banerjee, who ended the uninterrupted 34-year reign of the Left in West Bengal, today made history when she was sworn in as the first woman Chief Minister of the state at the head of a 38-member Trinamool Congress-Congress coalition government.
Kathmandu/Panipat, May 20
New Delhi, May 20