L A T E S T      N E W S

Sonia meets Sushma over Parliament logjam

NEW DELHI: Keen to break the logjam in Parliament over the CAG report, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has reached out to Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj but the BJP appeared unrelenting on its stand. 

Taking the initiative, Gandhi talked to the senior BJP leader on Friday coinciding with her hectic consultations with the party top brass, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, sources said. 

BJP, however, said there is no change in their stand of seeking the Prime Minister’s resignation on the issue. 

“There will be no let-up. We will further intensify our fight inside and outside Parliament,” BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said. 

Asked if the BJP would allow passage of some crucial Bills, he said, “This is not a question of Bills but of the nation. Our fight will continue.” 

Congress sources said Gandhi’s reaching out to Swaraj is a further vindication that the party is always prepared to consult all stakeholders on any issue in keeping with the best traditions of Parliamentary democracy, where a way should be found out through dialogue and debate. 

Gandhi and the Prime Minister deliberated at length the strategy ahead as business in Parliament was washed out for the eighth consecutive day on Friday on the coal block allocation issue. 

After the consultations with the Prime Minister and his senior Cabinet colleagues, Gandhi is learnt to have decided to hold consultations with UPA constituents and allies on ways and means to break the deadlock in Parliament. 

The government has already rejected demand for cancellation of coal blocks and slammed BJP for demanding resignation of the Prime Minister over the issue. 

Samajwadi chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is extending outside support to the UPA government, has demanded an inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court judge into the coal block allocation scam. — PTI

Obama names Bombay IIT graduate to key post

Washington: US President Barack Obama has announced to appoint eminent Indian-American, Romesh Wadhwani, to a key administration post by making him board of trustees of the prestigious John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

In all Obama announced nine members on the board of trustees of the prestigious John F Kennedy Center.

“These dedicated men and women bring a wealth of experience and talent to their new roles and I am proud to have them serve in this administration. I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come,” Obama said in a statement on Friday.

Founder, chairman and CEO of Symphony Technology Group, Dr Wadhwani previously was the founder, chairman, and CEO of several IT companies, including Aspect Development.

He is the founder and Chairperson of the Wadhwani Foundation, and serves on the board of trustees of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the White House said.

Dr Wadhwani received a BA from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay, and an MS and PhD from Carnegie-Mellon University. — PTI

Hyderabad student in Bangalore terror net

Bangalore: Two days after 11 terror suspects with Lashkar-e-Toiba and HuJI links were picked up from Bangalore and Hubli in Karnataka, the police on Saturday arrested a Hyderabad student in connection with the same case.

Reports said the student has been identified as one Obaid Rehman (26).

Meanwhile, the interrogation of the 11 arrested terror suspects has revealed that the module run by them had a larger network across Karnataka and in other parts of the country, highly placed police sources said. 

The suspects, who were remanded to 14 day police custody after being produced at the residence of a local magistrate, had given to the police information on the terror network and sleeper modules that operated in neighbouring states. 

Thackeray family originally belonged to Bihar: Digvijaya

NEW DELHI: Raj Thackeray's comments threatening to brand Biharis as "infiltrators" have fuelled a controversy with leaders from various political parties slamming the MNS chief over the issue.

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh said the Thackeray family itself belonged to Bihar and had settled in Dhar in Western Madhya Pradesh from where they migrated to Mumbai.

"If you look at the history of Mumbai, then it is a city of fishermen. Rest all have settled there from outside," Singh said.

Thacekray had yesterday threatened to force Biharis out of Maharashtra if authorities in Bihar take legal action against Mumbai policemen who picked up a teenager from there without informing their counterparts in that state.

Thackeray, whose party has often launched violent campaigns against Hindi-speaking people in Maharashtra, was reacting to reports that Bihar chief secretary Navin Kumar has written to Mumbai police commissioner voicing displeasure over the arrest of the youth for vandalising the martyr's memorial during Azad Maidan protest on August 11.

Shivanand Tiwari, a senior leader of the ruling JD-U in Bihar, hit out at Congress over the issue suggesting that the ruling party at the Centre and in Maharashtra is propping up Thackeray and drew parallels with the rise of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in Punjab during the terror days there.

"This (the conduct of Raj Thackeray) is a challenge to the Constitutional authority. Thackeray says in Azad Maidan of Mumbai that the police commissioner should be transferred and it is done soon after. Does the Congress-led government in Maharashtra giving an impression that Thackeray bigger than the government there.

"I will request the Congress at the Centre as well as the Congress-led government in the state to learn from their experiences in Punjab, where they propped up Bhindranwale. They are creating extra Constitutional authorities and strengthening them. A time will come the same forces will destroy them like the demon Bhasmasur," Tewari said. — PTI

BJP, JD(U) slam Raj Thackeray remarks

Patna: The Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray’s anti-Bihari remarks created a furore in the state with political parties asking the Centre to take strong action against him for his comments. 

JD(U) said the Centre should take cognisance of his comments. 

“The MNS chief has been spewing venom for past many years against North Indian people, including those from Bihar, settled in Mumbai and Maharashtra,” JD(U) spokesman Neeraj Kumar said. 

Referring to RJD, Kumar said the party, which has been a constituent of the UPA government for years, should put pressure on it to act tough against Thackeray. 

Condemning Thackeray’s remark, BJP leader Giriraj Singh said he should be booked on charges of sedition for attacking the unity and integrity of the country. 

The MNS chief’s anti-Bihari jibe yesterday violated Constitution and parliamentary democracy which allowed the citizens to settle down in any part of the country, Singh, also the state Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Minister, said. 

RJD spokesman Ramkripal Yadav also took umbrage at Thackeray’s offensive and said the people of Bihar have Constitutional right to live in any part of the country, including Maharashtra. 

Bihar PCC President Chaudhary Mehboon Ali Kaiser said he has written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan protesting against Thackeray comments. 

NCP General Secretary Tariq Anwar too castigated the comments and said Thackeray was trying to strengthen his political base in Maharashtra by playing out regional politics. 

Thackeray had yesterday threatened to force Biharis out of Maharashtra if authorities in Bihar take legal action against Mumbai policemen who picked up a teenager on charges of vandalising the martyr’s memorial during Azad Maidan protest on August 11. — PTI

New rules to install mobile phone towers

New Delhi: Radiation emission from mobile telephone towers will be reduced to 1/10th of the present level from Saturday, a decision aimed at addressing public health concerns.

Also, the handsets to be rolled out from domestic manufacturing units or to be imported will have reduced absorption capacity, as per the new guidelines.

The minimum distance of a tower (with two antenna) will be 35 meter from a residential building. There are over seven lakh towers for mobile phones throughout the country.

Non-compliance of these standards will result in a penalty of Rs 5 lakh per tower, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said.

"Public health comes first. Technology must be embraced but it ultimately must be subject to public health," he said.

From Saturday, the new EMF (Electromagnetic Frequency) radiations exposure limits are lowered to 1/10th of the existing limits.