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FDI has nothing to do with
US: Prime Minister
NEW DELHI: Unfazed by the uproar over FDI in retail and other tough decisions, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday indicated that the government may continue with the reforms process and expressed willingness to discuss issues with allies.
“We will do what is good for the country... reforms are not one-off process,” he said.
The Prime Minister was responding to questions on demands for rollback of decisions on FDI in multi-brand retail, diesel price hike and cap on subsidised LPG cylinders by the opposition.
When asked to respond to reservations expressed by allies that the recent decisions could hurt their electoral prospects,
Dr Singh said the issue could be discussed. “We are far away from elections.”
Dr Singh was talking to reporters on the sidelines of the swearing-in ceremony of new Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
During the week, the UPA coordination committee had discussed the issue of FDI in multi-brand retail and other decisions.
When his attention was drawn to allegations by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s that FDI was aimed at pleasing the
US, he responded saying, “What has the US got to do with this. We are not a country to be dictated by others.”
Asked about attacks on him by Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, who recently walked out of the UPA, he said, “I am not bitter about anything.”
On the Supreme Court’s opinion on the issue of auction of natural resources, the Prime Minister said, “We honour the judgement.” — PTI 
Justice
Altamas Kabir is new Chief Justice of India
NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday administered the oath of office to Justice Altamas Kabir as the new Chief Justice of India
(CJI) at the Rashtrapati Bhawan here on Saturday.
The oath-taking ceremony, which took place at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, was attended by a host of dignitaries, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Born on July 19, 1948, at Kolkata, Justice Kabir did his MA and LLB from
the University of Calcutta. He was enrolled at the Bar on August 1, 1973, and was made a permanent judge of
the Calcutta High Court on August 6, 1990.
Justice Kabir assumed the office of Acting Chief Justice of the Calcutta
High Court on January 11, 2005. He was elevated as Chief Justice of the Jharkhand
High Court on March 1, 2005, and was made a judge of the Supreme Court of India on September 9, 2005.
Justice Kabir was responsible for the computerization of the Calcutta
High Court and the City Civil Court and other courts in Kolkata. He was appointed as Executive Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority on January 14, 2010.
Justice Kabir's term will continue till July 18, 2013. — ANI
Cong-NCP ties to remain unaffected: Prithviraj Chavan
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Saturday said the resignation of his deputy Ajit Pawar from the state
Cabinet will not affect the Congress-NCP ties.
"I met Sharad Pawar, Ajit and Praful Patel last night to discuss the issue. The government will work effectively and there will be proper coordination in the government and between both the parties. Congress-NCP ties will remain strong," Chavan said.
He said the state will not have a deputy chief minister.
Higher Education Minister Rajesh Tope has been given charge of the
energy portfolio earlier held by Ajit Pawar, while Rural Development
Minister Jayant Patil has been handed over the Finance Department.
Chavan also declined to comment on probe into the allegations of corruption in the
Irrigation Department and on the white paper over the issue, as announced by him.
Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Governor K. Sankarnarayanan accepted Ajit Pawar's resignation.
Chavan met the Governor and handed over Pawar's resignation.
"The Governor has accepted Ajit Pawar's resignation as recommended by the
Chief Minister," a Raj Bhavan spokesperson told PTI.
The crisis in the Congress-NCP coalition government in the state, triggered by the surprise resignation of Ajit Pawar, came to an end on Friday after party chief Sharad Pawar asked Chavan to accept it and directed 19 other ministers who had also stepped down to resume office.
Mounting a major fire-fight, the NCP boss had held a series of meetings with party leaders and legislators to bring the curtains down on the dramatic developments, which began on Tuesday with the sudden resignation of Pawar.
Divisions had surfaced in the party with national leaders like Union Minister Praful Patel favouring acceptance of Ajit Pawar's resignation and the legislators wanting him to take it back.
However, Pawar Sr, had been consistently maintaining that there was no threat to the 13-year Congress-NCP coalition in the state which was caught in the throes of a turmoil after Ajit Pawar stepped down.
The 53-year-old nephew of Sharad Pawar, had resigned following media reports about his alleged involvement in a
Rs 20,000 crore scam when he held the irrigation portfolio between 1999 and 2009. — PTI
India's
advanced communication satellite GSAT-10
launched successfully
BANGALORE: The country's advanced communication satellite GSAT-10 was successfully launched early on Saturday on board Ariane-5 rocket from Europe's spaceport in French Guiana.
GSAT-10, with a design life of 15 years is expected to be operational by November and will augment telecommunication, Direct-To-Home and radio navigation services.
At 3,400 kg at lift-off, GSAT-10 is the heaviest built by Bangalore-headquartered Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO). It was ISRO's 101st space mission.
Arianespace's heavy-lifting Ariane-5 ECA rocket launched GSAT-10 about 30 minutes after the blast off from the European launch pad in South America at 2.48 am, prior to which it injected European co-passenger ASTRA 2F into orbit.
GSAT-10 is fitted with 30 transponders (12 Ku-band, 12 C-band and six Extended C-Band), which will provide vital augmentation to
INSAT/GSAT transponder capacity.
It also has a navigation payload — GAGAN (GPS-aided Geo Augmented Navigation)
— that would provide improved accuracy of GPS signals (of better than seven
metres) to be used by Airports Authority of India for civil aviation requirements.
This is the second satellite in INSAT/GSAT constellation with GAGAN payload after GSAT-8, launched in May 2011.
GSAT-10 was originally scheduled for a September 22 launch, but was deferred after scientists detected a small glitch
— one gram of dust — in the upper part of the rocket.
GSAT-10 Project Director T.K. Anuradha, Additional Secretary of the
Department of Space S. Srinivasan and Director of ISRO Satellite Centre
S.K. Shivakumar were among key ISRO officials who were in French Guiana for the launch, telecast live by
Doordarshan.
Shivakumar said GSAT-10 would give an impetus to the 'communication revolution' in India.
ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan was at space agency's Master Control Facility at Hassan in Karnataka at the launch,
ISRO sources said.
"The MCF has already taken command and control of the heavy satellite", he said minutes after the launch.
"By November 2012, we expect to operationalise GSAT-10 and make it available to the user community," added
Radhakrishnan, also Secretary, Department of Space, and Space Commission
Chairman.
ISRO said GSAT-10 project is a Rs 750-crore mission that includes the cost of satellite, launch services by the European space consortium Arianespace and insurance.
Arianespace Chairman & CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall said at the launch base that
ISRO is a highly loyal customer, as the collaboration with it began more than 30 years ago with its Apple satellite's orbiting by the third flight of an Ariane vehicle
— an Ariane 1 version launched in June 1981. — PTI
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