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Team Anna to have ‘clean’ members
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Bedi’s flight makes emergency landing
Jantar Mantar
Bhanwari
Devi case
Court proceedings
Andhra illegal mining: CBI arrests ex-bureaucrat
5 more babies die in WB hospital
Navi Mumbai airport to take off in 2015
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Team Anna to have ‘clean’ members
Ralegan Siddhi, November 13 The 74-year-old activist said he will not pick just anyone for the committee and a background check will be conducted before inducting new members. "One good thing about this agitation is that thousands have come forward. People are ready to join the protest. Now, we just have to search for people. We will find good people," he said after a meeting of the core committee here. "Now, we will keep a sharp check on all the new members of the committee. I won't pick just anyone," he said. "We have many people ready to serve. We will get our people to check their background. We will check if they have police case. Persons of character will be chosen. A graduate, Muslim, Dalit, Adivasi, all will be taken," he said. However, the number of members of the core committee will not go beyond 80, he said. His comments come close on the heels of Team Anna members facing flak after getting engulfed in a series of controversies including those pertaining to financial misconduct. Noting that the country runs on laws, he said, “If today, Jan Lokpal comes, we also have to make other laws in future. By the time the country becomes corruption-free, we will have to make new and different laws.” He said a meeting will be held in Delhi as soon as possible where the working committee will be selected. “We will select the working committee and will also train the members. Training is very important even if it is for two-three days. After training, our foundation will be strong. We do not have any set agenda for the meeting, but we have discussed lots of things today,” he said.
— PTI
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Bedi’s flight makes emergency landing
Nagpur, November 13 On its way to Mumbai, the aircraft developed a technical fault in the engine after taking-off at 9:45 am, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, sources said. Airport officials said all the passengers were safe. Jetlite said the passengers deplaned safely and were taken to Mumbai by another flight at 11.30 am.
— PTI
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Jantar Mantar UPA crisis managers have something to cheer about
UPA insiders said this public show of solidarity had become necessary as the Trinamool chief had given the impression that she was in touch with the other UPA partners and was speaking on their behalf. The ruling coalition had, at once, looked shaky and it seemed that it was a matter of time before it would come down like a pack of cards. The damage-control measures worked and the BJP’s glee at the possible downfall of the UPA government proved to be shortlived. Nationalise Kingfisher, privatise Air India
The utterly sorry state of affairs at the government-owned Air India and the privately-run Kingfisher Airlines has led to a furious debate in the Congress between those who have never been enamoured with economic liberalisation and others who maintain there is no turning back on the reforms initiated by PM Manmohan Singh two decades ago in his earlier avatar as finance minister. A bankrupt Air India and a cash strapped Kingfisher Airlines are being touted as the latest examples by the two sides to buttress their argument and score over each other. While those advocating economic reforms are quick to point to Air India’s woes to argue that the government should not be in the business of running an airline, the left-of-centre groups cite the mess at Kingfisher Airlines to warn against unbridled privatisation. Despairing at the turbulence in the aviation sector, a senior UPA minister said it appeared the solution to the problem lies in “ privatising Air India and nationalising Kingfisher”. He recalled that it was the late finance minister Madhu Dandavate who often pointed to this contradiction in our system: when a public sector company is declared “sick”, it is sold to private players but when a private firm goes bankrupt, it is acquired by the government.
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Maderna hospitalised; supporters attack scribes
Jodhpur, November 13 Late tonight, the police arrested two persons in connection with the attack. They were identifed as Arjun Ram and Anada Ram, the police said. Some reporters were trying to talk to Maderna’s daughter Divya on the Bhanwari issue outside the Mathura Das Mathura hospital in Jodhpur where he is admitted, when about 20-25 of his supporters targeted them. The police said two persons received minor injuries while an OB van of a news channel was damaged. The injured were Devankur of Headlines Today and a driver of the OB van of Star News. Some supporters of Maderna also ransacked an under-construction office of a vernacular news channel ETV. They tried to break open the doors and pelted the building with stones, the police said. Maderna, who was grilled by the CBI for two consecutive days, skipped questioning in connection with the case yesterday complaining of high blood pressure and chest pain. Joint Director of CBI RP Agrawal, who reviewed the progress in the case in Jodhpur today, said Maderna would be called for questioning tomorrow. The Congress last night suspended Maderna from the primary membership of the party. Action against Maderna was on the cards after a CD purportedly showing him in a compromising position with Bhanwari, an auxillary nurse, came into public domain. — PTI
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Fair reporting, comments not an offence, says SC
R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, November 13 A Bench comprising Justices HL Dattu and CK Prasad also advised the high courts to use their power to punish persons committing contempt sparingly, keeping in view that greater power entailed higher responsibility. Acknowledging that the high courts enjoyed this power under Article 215 of the Constitution and under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, the Bench said this was aimed at securing public respect and confidence in the judicial process. “The rule of law is the basic rule of governance of any civilised democratic polity. It is only through the courts that rule of law unfolds its contours and establishes its concept. “For the judiciary to carry out its obligations effectively and true to the spirit with which it is sacredly entrusted the task, constitutional courts have been given the power to punish for contempt, but greater the power, higher the responsibility,” the apex court noted. Under the 1971 Act, any act which prejudiced or interfered or tended to interfere with the due course of judicial proceedings would be treated as a mischief of criminal contempt.
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Andhra illegal mining: CBI arrests ex-bureaucrat
Hyderabad, November 13 After intense grilling, CBI sleuths arrested VD Rajagopal, a former Director of the State Mines Department, on the charge that he had violated norms in granting mining leases to Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC). Rajagopal, who was Director of Mines from 2005 to 2010, becomes the first high-profile official to be arrested in the case. G Janardhana Reddy and his brother-in-law and Managing Director of OMC BV Srinivas Reddy are currently lodged in Chanchalguda central jail here following their dramatic arrest from Bellary in Karnataka on September 5. Rajagopal, who had signed the controversial orders sanctioning licences for iron ore mining in Anantapur district bordering Karnataka, was produced before a magistrate at the latter’s residence. The magistrate directed the CBI to present him on Monday before the special court hearing CBI cases. The retired bureaucrat has been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Prevention of Corruption Act, Indian Forest Act and Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act.
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5 more babies die in WB hospital
Burdwan (WB), November 13 Deputy Superintendent of the Hospital Dr Tapas Kumar Ghosh said five children who were underweight and brought to the referral hospital in a critical condition had died since yesterday. The babies were referred to the government hospital by local hospitals in Burdwan and Birbhum districts, he said. Ghosh said the death was within the normal range of crib death in the hospital. "As per the rate of crib death, 4-5 children die in the hospital every day. There has been no negligence on the part of the doctors and other medical staff," he said.
— PTI
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Navi Mumbai airport to take off in 2015
Mumbai, November 13 Speaking to reporters over the weekend, Tanaji Satre, Managing Director, CIDCO, said nearly 80 per cent of the land is already with the body. “The rest of the land will be acquired shortly,” Satre said. The government will soon complete the process to award the contract to a private operator and work on the project will begin in a year’s time, according to Satre.
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The UPA government’s crisis managers had to resort to some deft behind-the-scenes political management last week when Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee threatened to withdraw support to the ruling coalition in protest against the latest hike in petrol prices. A day before Trinamool MPs were to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in this regard, two other alliance partners — NCP’s Sharad Pawar and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi — were urged to give public statements in support of the PM. While Pawar said the government had little choice but to raise the price of petrol, given the overall economic situation, Karunanidhi went out of his way to stress that his party had no intention of pulling out of the UPA and even criticised Mamata for her out of turn comments.
