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Sibal: Govt must have say in judges’ appointment
BJP non-committal on extending support to food, land Bills
Acid attack victim’s family seeks CBI probe
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Hand over Headley for a year, India tells US
Cabinet rejig likely by June 15
TMC workers threatened voters in
Howrah: Cong
Congress retort for Andhra defectors: Good riddance
Kejriwal to take on Sheila in Delhi poll
Antony leaves for Australia today
Travel agency dupes 50 youths
Question mark over Mumbai race course
No laughter here, Forest Dept tells Hyderabad park visitors
Operation theatres in military hospitals to go hi-tech
Mercury relents in North as HP, UP receive rain
Rural posting for docs before postgraduation draws flak
Forging ministers’ letterheads to confirm tickets
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Sibal: Govt must have say in judges’ appointment
New Delhi, June 2 Once cleared, the new system in the form of Judicial Appointment Commission will pave the way for the Executive to have a say in the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts. The Collegium system of appointing judges has not worked to the expectations and the government must have a say in such appointments, Sibal said. “We do not think that the Collegium system has worked to our expectations. I don't think it even worked to the expectations of the judiciary,” Sibal told PTI in an interview while justifying the need for scrapping the
system. Sibal, who took charge of the Law Ministry last month, said the objective of the government and the judiciary is to have the best people as judges who must be chosen with complete transparency and objectivity and there must be broadbased consultations. “Just as judges have enormous stake in the appointment of judicial officers in the higher judiciary (Supreme Court and the 24 High Courts), the government has an equal stake. Since both of us have stakes in the appointment of members of the higher judiciary, the consultation of both of them is absolutely necessary. Government must have a say,” he
emphasised. Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir recently strongly defended the Collegium system, saying appointments to the higher judiciary are made after "intense deliberations". When referred to the judiciary’s objections to changing the system, the Law Minister said, “We know the views (of the judiciary). We will take that into account. Again, laws must be acceptable by and large to the stakeholders, that includes the judiciary, it includes the executive, it includes all the players in the field of dispensation of justice,” he said. — PTI
Proposal to be moved 'very soon'
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BJP non-committal on extending support to food, land Bills
New Delhi, June 2 The Congress’ desire of facing the 2014 General Election with the armoury of the food and the land Bills may remain a wishful thinking if the principal Opposition party does not play the ball. But BJP sources are clear that their party will crystallise its strategy only upon receiving a proposal from the government on the issue. “The talk of food and the land Bills is a mere public posturing by the Congress. Hype is being generated to create a situation that the government is interested in seeing through the legislations. We will take the call after measuring our options. Presently, there are no guarantees that the special session will yield positive results,” they add. Responding to the government’s move for a special session of Parliament to pass the food Bill, Swaraj tweeted: “There are media reports that the government is considering the option of an ordinance or to convene a special session of Parliament. The ordinance route for such an important legislation is not desirable. We are not opposed to a special session of Parliament. The better option will be to pre-pone the monsoon session which is anyway due in July.” The fact is while the BJP is not inclined to let the Congress walk away with all the accolades but its choices, as far as the food Bill is concerned, are limited. If it opposes the legislation inside Parliament, a wrong message will go to the masses and if it supports it, the main beneficiary will be the Congress. Though by supporting, it can at least claim partial credit. “MNREGA sent positive signals for the Congress in 2009 so we will have to be more careful in our food Bill strategy,” BJP leaders say. In any case, party leaders have already specified that for the Centre’s legislation in this direction should resemble the Chhattisgarh government’s “more inclusive” food law, which may now become their main rallying point. They also say that it will be very difficult for the government to implement the food Bill because the Aadhaar network, through which all the subsidies will be routed, is far from complete. The BJP’s rather ambiguous support for the special session comes ahead of the UPA coordination committee meeting to discuss the food Bill. A key UPA
member-NCP leader and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar-has voiced reservations on the ambitious programme but after the exit of Aruna Roy from the NAC (on the food Bill and other related issue) Congress leaders are trying to make amends for the damage the image of their party president suffered in the process. Next, the government will convene an all-party meeting because getting the BJP on board is crucial if it wants to clear the two Bills via the Parlaiment route. If that option fails then it may have to opt for an ordinance. The Bill, the 2009 poll promise of the Congress, promises to give two-thirds of India’s population legal right to cheap food. |
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Acid attack victim’s family seeks CBI probe
Mumbai, June 2 Preeti's father Amar Singh, mother and other family members and some social activists met Patil and expressed anguish over the pace of probe being conducted by the
GRP. "We do not trust Government Railway Police investigation. We want CBI inquiry. Patil assured us that he will speak to the CBI director on our demand tomorrow itself," Preeti's cousin Samsher Singh said. — PTI
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Hand over Headley for a year, India tells US
In its fresh efforts to get access to the Pakistani American terrorist, India has conveyed to the American interlocutors to “temporarily” hand over Headley for a year after the US expressed its inability to extradite him. The request was made during the Indo-US Homeland Security Dialogue held in Washington between May 20-22. “The US interlocutors assured us to actively consider the request,” a top Indian official, who participated in the meeting, told
PTI. Washington also assured New Delhi to positively consider the request to extradite Headley's Pakistani-Canadian friend
Rana, who helped Headley to recce the 26/11 targets for Pakistan-based terror outfit
Lashkar-e-Taiba. Following India's consistent persuasion, the US has indicated to interlocutors that India could be given access to Headley for the second time to get more information about the conspiracy hatched to carry out the 2008 attack. So far, the US has not given any opportunity to question
Rana, who was sentenced by an American court for his involvement in a terror plot in Denmark. Indian investigators believe that if they could quiz
Rana, many hidden information could come into light as he was a close associate of Headley. The investigators believe that Headley and Rana have a lot of information and their interrogations could throw more light on the conspiracy hatched to carry out the worst terror strike in India and role of those behind it.
— PTI
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Cabinet rejig likely by June 15
New Delhi, June 2 The sources said some ministers were likely to be relieved of their dual charges. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had indicated Friday that a cabinet reshuffle was being contemplated. While returning from his Japan and Thailand visit, the Prime Minister had told media persons that a “cabinet expansion is being considered”. “The party does not have to do fire-fighting for now. The leadership is paying attention to pending issues, including the Food Security Bill and
Telangana. There is a possibility that a Cabinet expansion and reshuffle would take place before June 15 after discussions are completed,” a party leader told
IANS. He said the proposed reshuffle was likely to be the last one before the Lok Sabha polls next year and that some ministers may be drafted for party work. He said consultations were being held between the prime minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Party sources said an early reshuffle would give ministers time to face parliament on questions related to their ministries during the monsoon session. The BJP has demanded that the monsoon session should be advanced to consider the Food Security Bill. The past few months have been troublesome for the Congress. It lost the
DMK, a major ally in United Progressive Alliance (UPA), in March. Five ministers from the DMK resigned from the UPA government following differences with the Congress on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue. Congress ministers
PK Bansal and Ashwani Kumar had to resign last month following allegations of impropriety. While Bansal quit as railways minister in the wake of bribery allegations involving his nephew and a Railway Board member, Kumar stepped down as law minister following controversy over vetting of a CBI probe report concerning coal-block allocations. The second half of the budget session was almost washed out over the opposition's demands concerning coal-block allocations and the ouster of two ministers. Following the resignations of the ministers, the railways portfolio was given as an additional charge to Road and Highways Minister CP Joshi and the law ministry was handed over to Communications and IT Minister Kapil
Sibal. — IANS
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Bypoll in 4 states go off peacefully
New Delhi, June 2 The highest voter turnout of 66 per cent was recorded in the Howrah Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal, followed by around 45 per cent polling in the Maharajganj Lok Sabha seat in Bihar.
In Gujarat, the bypolls were held for two Lok Sabha seats
(Porbandar and Banaskantha) and four Assembly seats. While Porbandar recorded 30 per cent polling, the turnout in Banaskantha was over 36 per cent. The byelections in
BJP-ruled Gujarat are being viewed as a litmus test for the opposition Congress which had won all six seats in the last elections. The Banaskantha Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after the death of Congress MP Mukesh
Gadhvi. In Porbandar, the elections are being held to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Vitthal
Radadiya, who hit the headlines for pulling a gun at a toll booth attendant. Radadiya had quit Congress in February and crossed over to
BJP, which has fielded him for the Lok Sabha bypolls. The Election Commission for the first time used
GIS-SMS based poll-monitoring system, android-based counting application and live monitoring of sensitive areas. In Bihar, a keen contest was being witnessed in Maharajganj Lok Sabha seat, where ruling JD-U nominee Prashant Kumar
Sahi, who is also state education minister, RJD's Prabhunath Singh and Jitendra Swami of Congress are crossing swords to fill the vacancy caused by the death of RJD MP Uma Shankar
Singh. Bypolls were also held for four Assembly seats in Gujarat -
Dhoraji, Jetpur, Limbadi and Morva Hadaf. The average turnout was 38 per cent in these seats. In Uttar Pradesh, polling was held to fill the Handia Assembly seat following the death of sitting Samajwadi Party MLA Mahesh Narayan Singh. SP, which is in power in the state, has fielded Singh's son Prashant apparently to cash in on sympathy votes.
— PTI |
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TMC workers threatened voters in
Howrah: Cong
Kolkata, June 2 West Bengal Congress president Pradip Bhattacharya said: “The complaints have been sent to the Chief Election Commissioner and Chief Electoral Officer here with all details.” He felt that the micro-observers should have taken action against attempts to capture booths in the Howrah
North, Bally and Panchla Assembly segments. “Some TMC workers even moved in motorbikes from one booth to another in front of security personnel and micro-observers and smashed tv cameras of photojournalists of a local channel” he alleged. Meanwhile, there was low turn of 62.20% against 74.47% in 2009 Lok Sabha elections at today’s polling, according to the chief electoral officer SK Gupta. He said the election was incident-free, fair and peaceful. The result will be declared on Wednesday. The bypoll was held following the death of the TMC MP Ambika
Banerjee. The TMC, the Congress and the CPM candidates were involved in the triangular contest at the bypoll while in the last election, both Congress and the TMC fought jointly against the Left Front and defeated the CPM candidate. The bypoll was a test for the CPM and the TMC since the CPM would asses if they had regained their position to some extent during these two years of the TMC rule. |
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Congress retort for Andhra defectors: Good riddance
New Delhi, June 2 “Unfortunately, the people who are joining today, they are joining as an individual in the capacity to make politics as a business, trade,” AICC General Secretary and in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad said. Congress leader and former PCC chief K Keshava Rao and two MPs G Vivekananda and Manda Jagannatham quit last week to join the TRS that is spearheading movement for Telangana statehood. Unfazed by the action of the three leaders to quit the party, Azad said “The way they have struck business with the leadership of the TRS, that those who are resigning whether they are ex-MPs or MPs, they will get MP tickets, their children will get MLA tickets.” Azad said they have not resigned for the sake of Telangana but for their own benefit. “I do not think they deserve to be a politician. This is just like a business... like a trade. So it is a good riddance. We would like the people who believe in Congress party’s policy, who have some conviction or devoted to the people,” he told a news channel. “I do not think they are devoted to the people. I could have imagined if they would have resigned just for Telangana. But they have not resigned for Telangana. They have just bargained how many seats they are going to get for themselves and for their relatives (in elections),” he said. With the issue returning to haunt the party, a meeting of Congress Core Group yesterday took a view of the political situation in Andhra Pradesh. Azad had attended the meeting. Congress is yet to clear its position on the vexed issue of Telangana. The separate statehood issue in Andhra Pradesh has been troubling the party for long. The Congress-ruled state is divided on regional lines on the Telangana demand. Andhra Pradesh is one of the few major states where the party is in power on its own and a good showing is crucial for it in the general elections due next year. —
PTI
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Kejriwal to take on Sheila in Delhi poll
New Delhi, June 2 Kejriwal
said he would contest from the New Delhi constituency-the seat that sent
Dikhsit to the Assembly in the last elections-and in case “she decides
to avoid such a contest out of fear” he would move to the seat from
where she was contesting. AAP leader also attacked the BJP, saying the
party deliberately fielded “weak candidates” against Dikshit in the
previous election and challenged senior BJP leader Vijay Goel to contest
against him and the Delhi CM in the coming elections. Political
observers say that either way-a win or a loss-it is a win-win situation
for the feisty AAP leader. Even if he is defeated, he would have gone
down against a powerful political leader like Dikhsit so the pressure is
now on the Delhi CM to perform or perish. So far, Dikshit’s political
track record has been impeccable. In 1998, she defeated BJP candidate
Kirti Azad from Gole Market and five years later, she downed Poonam Azad.
After the delimitation exercise, she moved to the New Delhi seat, which
included most of the localities from her previous constituency, where
she won by defeating BJP’s Vijay Jolly. According to Kejriwal, the
reason he had decided to take on Dikshit was because “Delhi wanted to
get rid of her as she had become a symbol of corruption”. He said the
people no more saw the BJP as a party that could defeat the Congress.
The BJP was playing an “already fixed” match with the Congress in
Delhi, he said. “People have realised that the BJP deliberately fields
weak candidates against the Chief Minister,” he added.
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Antony leaves for Australia today
New Delhi, June 2 Although defence cooperation between the two countries is rather new, it has expanded significantly during the recent years with India and Australia having signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and a joint declaration on security cooperation that includes regular exchange of visits of service officers and participation in multi-lateral fora like Milan and Indian Ocean Naval Symposium. Antony’s visit to Australia assumes significance as he is expected to discuss with his counterpart ways to enhance cooperation in various fields, especially between the navies of the two countries. While the United States sees Australia as a lynchpin in the Indo-Pacific region and wants India to take up leadership role as it re-balances its strategy, New Delhi is wary of being seen as an ally or a counter-balance to China. In 2007, the Indian Navy participated in exercises with the navies of Australia, Singapore, Japan and the United States. The move had attracted protest from China. The situation since then has undergone a change, with Canberra itself pushing for a strategic partnership with Beijing, an offer Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard made during her April visit to that country this year. Underscoring India’s importance in Australian strategic thinking, its Foreign Affairs and Trade Department Secretary Peter Varghese said at an Australia-Indian Institute function on May 16 that the Indo-Pacific region strategic arc now extended from India to Northeast Asia, including the sea lines of communication on which the region depended. “As the (Australian) Defence White Paper has made clear, the strategic importance of this broader region is being forged by a range of factors, not least of which is the growing impact of the Indian economy. India’s economic interests are pulling it eastward and as it so shifts it will inevitably play a larger role in the strategic affairs of the region,” said Varghese, who served as the High Commissioner here before returning to Australia. During the visit of Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith to India during 2011, both sides agreed to ensure freedom of navigation in international waters against the controversy over the South China Sea. While strategic analysts await the outcome of Antony’s visit, a paper by research fellow Zhao Qinghai at the China Institute of International Studies noted last October that there were obstacles to the deepening of India-Australia relations, but it was also full of potential. “With the growing power of the two countries, they may further draw on each other’s strength, and thus their strategic partnership will gradually mature. Then, the political pattern of the Asia-Pacific, particularly the maritime order in the Indian Ocean, will undergo great changes,” the paper noted.
Strategic move
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Travel agency dupes 50 youths
Lucknow, June 2 After a long wait, the young men, who had come bag and baggage from different district of the state, came to know that no flight to Jeddah was scheduled for the day and the employment agency had indeed duped them of their hard-earned money. An FIR has been registered against Mohd Navez and Mohd Zafar at the Ghazipur police station. Both of them are absconding. Their office in the Munshipulia area of Indira Nagar is locked and their mobile phones switched off.
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Question mark over Mumbai race course
Mumbai, June 2 Thackeray met Chief Minister Prithiviraj Chavan this afternoon and submitted a plan to develop a theme park on the plot of land where horse racing is conducted at present. The Royal Western India Turf Club’s 99-year lease on the property located in prime South Central Mumbai came to an end on May 31. So far the Maharashtra government has not conceded RWITC’s request to renew its lease on the property. “I met the Chief Minister and handed over to him a plan for a theme park at the Mahalaxmi race course. After 99 years, people of Mumbai have got the opportunity to take back this land,” Thackeray told reporters. He further added that Chavan promised to consult various people and then take a decision. Several leaders of the Shiv Sena, including Mumbai mayor, accompanied Thackeray for his meeting with the CM. For decades, the presence of the race course on this property has been a bone of contention between the civic body and the state government. The Shiv Sena which has been in control of the BMC for nearly 30 years has complained that common people are not given regular access to this prime property while the elite have turned it into their watering hole. The race course is spread over 225 acres. While a third of the land belongs to the Mumbai municipality, the rest is owned by the state government. On the other hand, Mumbai’s rich and the famous who belong to the RWITC, are actively lobbying for the lease to be renewed. “The Chief Minister has promised to look into our case favourably,” RWITC chairman Kushroo Dhunjibhoy has been quoted as saying.
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No laughter here, Forest Dept tells Hyderabad park visitors
Hyderabad, June 2 Forest officials have banned laughing on the KBR park premises on the grounds that loud sounds would “scare away” the animals and birds and disturb the habitat. The members of Haasya Yoga Club, who strongly believe in the therapeutic benefits of laughing as an exercise, argue that the ban was an infringement of their fundamental rights. Located in the heart of the city at Jubilee Hills, the 390-acre KBR Park has been given the status of a national park and is under the control of the forest department. A favourite spot for the morning walkers, young and old, the park has over 600 species of plant life, 140 species of birds and 30 different varieties of butterflies and reptiles. “The forest department’s objections are completely unreasonable. As citizens of this country, we have the right to de-stress ourselves by way of laughing and no one can stop us,” contended Rahul Singhal, secretary of the KBR Hasya Yoga Club. The laughing club recently approached the High Court which stayed the order and directed the officials of the forest department to “earmark” a small area within the park premises for the club members to continue their exercise. However, the forest officials are preparing to approach the HC arguing that the Wildlife Protection Act bars people from making loud sounds, including laughing inside a national park. Divisional Forest Officer Kondal Mohan said laughing or crying disturbs the habitat of animals. “The court has directed the DFO and forest department to demarcate land within the purview of the Act, but the Act does not give scope for demarcation,” he argued. There are many who feel that laughing as a community exercise will help people to de-stress themselves and improve their health condition.
Disturbs habitat
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Operation theatres in military hospitals to go hi-tech
The Directorate General Armed Forces Medical Services is drawing up plans to have modular operating theatres in its hospitals that are based on standards and technologies adopted by reputed health-care organisations and incorporate all national and international standards governing the medical field. The modular operation theatres would be established for different sizes of hospitals that are functioning within the armed forces at various hierarchical levels, including tertiary care and super-speciality establishments, sources said. Modular operating theatres are state-of-the-art medical procedure rooms that are highly secured against the external environment through the use of materials like clean-room wall panels, stainless steel anti-bacterial panels, antibacterial rubber flooring and hermetically sealed doors. These also include surgeon control panels for the operating rooms, recovery rooms and intensive care units, filters and air-handling units, air showers, bio-safety cabinets and the latest in life-saving equipment and surgical tools, an officer said. The move to upgrade operation theatres comes in the backdrop of the Armed Forces Medical Services gearing up to introduce new surgical procedures like lung, intestine and pancreatic transplants, which are highly complex procedures and only a handful of hospitals have the facilities or expertise for these. The armed forces have already undertaken a large number of successful liver transplants and is going in a big way for organ donation and transplant. Considerable success has been achieved in the field of organ harvesting with 113 brain-death declarations and 37 multiple organ donations at Army Hospital (Research and Referral). The multiple organ donations have facilitated 44 liver, 70 renal and three heart transplants. These numbers are the highest by any single government institute in the country. The Armed Forces Medical Services is the largest health-care service provider in the country catering to about 66 lakh serving armed forces personnel, ex-servicemen and their dependents. It has a large network of regimental medical officers providing basic health care at the unit or level, followed by about 85 field ambulances, which are 30-bed establishments . This is followed by 130 field hospitals with a capacity of over 100 beds each. At the top level are command hospitals and tertiary care hospitals having super-speciality facilities.
Making good better
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Mercury relents in North as HP, UP receive rain
New Delhi, June 2 Several parts of Kangra, Chamba and Mandi districts in Himachal Pradesh witnessed showers, accompanied by hails this evening causing a sharp fall in day temperatures. Eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh also received moderate to heavy rainfall, while Udaipur in Rajasthan reported a weak shower. It was a comparatively less hot but humid day in Delhi where the maximum was recorded at 38.5 °C today. The minimum settled at 26.6 °C. In Uttar Pradesh, rainfall and thundershowers lashed the eastern parts of the state where Patti recorded 5 cm rainfall. Sultanpur (3 cm), Lalgunj (2 cm) and Pratapgarh, Phoolpur and Kunda (1 cm each) were among other places which had rains. The highest temperature in the state was recorded at Moradabad at 38.2 °C, a considerable dip from yesterday’s 43.4 °C in Etawah. Large parts of Punjab and Haryana had respite from the searing heat for the second consecutive day with mercury settling a few notches below normal across the two states. Chandigarh recorded a maximum of 35.4 °C, down by four notches from yesterday, the MeT office said. Though Amritsar sweat it out at 42.4 °C, the maximum there was down by over three notches from yesterday. In Haryana, Ambala recorded a high of 35.4 °C, down four notches, while the maximum settled at 36 °C in Karnal. In Himachal Pradesh, the day temperatures dropped by few notches as sky remained partially overcast and Una in Shivalik hills was hottest with maximum temperature at 38 °Celsius, while Bhuntar and Sundernagar recorded a high of 35.5 °C and 33 °C, respectively. Nahan recorded a high of 32.7 °C, Dharamsala 30.2 °C, Solan 29 °C, Kalpa 24.1 °C and Shimla 23 °C. In Rajasthan, Bikaner was the hottest place in the state with a maximum of 45.6 °C followed by Churu at 45.3 °C. Mercury in Churu had touched 47.2 °C yesterday. —
PTI
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Rural posting for docs before postgraduation draws flak
New Delhi, June 2 The decision, which comes in line with the Union Heath Ministry’s announcement last year was taken by the Board of Governors chaired by Dr KK Talwar and notified just a day before the tenure of the board expired on May 14. This additional year prior to pursuing post-graduate courses is likely to be applicable from next academic year. Urging the MCI to hold back the decision, they called for a wider consultation among the professionals and not to force it on young graduates. They have also criticised the MCI of operating as a wing of the Ministry of Health. “The MCI is a statutory body and should not be operating as per the directions of the government. Rather it should ensure that the interests of doctors are protected,” they said. This, they say, will further dissuade young MBBS doctors from pursing their masters in India and hence move abroad when already the country was facing a crunch of infrastructure, medical professionals and medical seats. “Instead of forcing another year, the board should work towards ensuring that better opportunities are created. There are 45,000 MBBS students from government and private colleges while options for them are limited with just 22,000 seats at postgraduate level. Adding another year will discourage them from studying further in India,” remarked DMA secretary Dr KK Kohli. Doctors maintain that there has been a concern that only few doctors were willing to work in remote areas and villages because of bad service conditions, lack of availability of drugs, lack of learning opportunity and the number of other issues and the government was not getting enough doctors to be posted there. Under the current system, a medical graduate after 4½ years of MBBS needs to complete one-year internship, three years of postgraduation and three years of post-doctoral training before becoming a specialist doctor. So by the time a doctor completes his education, he/she is already 31 years as against the other professionals joining the service at 24 making it extremely less lucrative.
Contentious decision
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Forging ministers’ letterheads to confirm tickets
New Delhi, June 2 A case of cheating and forgery has been registered by Delhi Police on a complaint filed by the Vigilance wing of Northern Railways after it got a tip off from its Divisional Commercial Manager in Lucknow. A senior police official said the Northern Railways brought to their notice seven cases, out of which five were found to be fake. Of the seven cases, the official said three letters in the names of ministers Reddy, Sharma and Venugopal and two on BSP MP Ambeth Rajan's name were found forged. The letters of MPs Ramakant Yadav and Jagdanand were found to be original. An investigation by the Railways' Vigilance Branch found that Reddy never signs such letters himself and only his Private Secretary or Additional Private Secretary do so. “The letterhead on which the requisition has been sent is fake as the address of the minister's office has been written as Shastri Bhawan whereas his office is in Anusandhan Bhawan,” the official said. Sharma's personal staff informed the Branch that he does not sign emergency quota letters. The minister's assistant told the Vigilance Branch, “The minister never signs on the right hand side. He always signs on the left hand side.” Venugopal's letter was also found to be forged. The official said the tricksters forgot that the Kerala leaders's portfolio was changed in the previous reshuffle. “The letterhead was that of Minister of State for Power, while he is the Minister of State for Civil Aviation now,” the official said. The fourth request came in the name of MP Rajan. The Vigilance Branch approached him and found that he had not given the letter. “The said reservation was confirmed and the train's quota was released by Railways on the advice of Vigilance to enable checks.” The Vigilance team intercepted the passenger at Allahabad Railway station. The owner of the travel agency was contacted on phone for booking a ticket, but he refused saying he does not book railway tickets. The Vigilance officials then went to the office but found it closed. The fraudsters also managed to put the fax number of some offices in Parliament Annexe in the fax machine from which it sent fax to Railways. — PTI
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Man sets wife, son ablaze
1 dead, 5 hurt in road mishap
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New Delhi, June 2
Even as senior leader Sushma Swaraj today indicated that the BJP was not opposed to the thought of a special session to see through the National Food Security Bill, there was also no assurance from the party that the government’s effort would yield any tangible results.
New Delhi, June 2
New Delhi, June 2
New Delhi, June 2
Chandigarh, June 2
