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Oppn creating hurdles in food Bill passage: Sonia
tribune exclusive:
Flood fury |
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Yamuna water level starts receding
Assam seeks status of its pilgrims
Help camp set up for Gujarati pilgrims
21 Gurgaon residents missing in Kedarnath
Cabinet Secy orders better synergy among ministries
Coalgate: CBI grills former Coal Secy
Cong-JMM exploring govt formation in Jharkhand
Will look into Advani’s concerns: RSS chief
Hazare threatens fast over Lokpal
Italian envoy hopes marine trial will be fast, fair
CBI conducts polygraph test on Raja Bhaiya
Civil society protests taxation by Naga rebels
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Oppn creating hurdles in food Bill passage: Sonia
Suratgarh (Rajasthan), June 20 “I would like to tell you that a few political parties are conspiring to create instability. These kind of political forces have nothing to do with progress....they are only eyeing the chair and they want it at any cost. There is a need to be vigilant against such powers”, she said addressing a rally here. In a veiled attack on the BJP, she said the party tried to create hurdles in the passing of the Food Security bill. “We (UPA) want that no one sleeps hungry. For that we wanted to bring a bill on food security but our ‘virodhi’ (rival) created hurdles. Had the Opposition allowed the Bill in Parliament, we would have passed the Food Security Act long ago. “But this is very sad that these Opposition parties are always opposing our public interest plans and programmes. It is now their habit to oppose every work that Congress wants to initiate and do”, she charged. Accusing some political parties of conspiring to create instability, she said whenever there is instability, it affects progress and development and indirectly aggravates the woes of the poor. “Despite all this, we all want to move on the path of progress with great enthusiasm and vigour and we will give a befitting reply to these forces which create hurdles in progress and development of the nation”, she said in her 10-minute address. She was speaking after laying the foundation stone of two super critical power units of 660 MW each at Suratgarh Power Station. — PTI
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tribune exclusive:
Flood fury
New Delhi, June 20 Some survivors of the Saturday night’s catastrophe died subsequently due to exhaustion, cold, hunger and thirst - waiting for rescue parties to reach them. The high altitude coupled with incessant rain meant that survivors were exposed to low temperatures with no shelter from the rain and no food to eat. Specialised mountaineering teams of the Army, ITBP and National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) today slithered down from helicopters into the flood-ravaged valley. The teams have been tasked to climb the mountains that rise from the narrow valley and look for survivors. Today was the first time that weather conditions were conducive for helicopters to operate in the area which is at an altitude of 10,000 ft and above. Top sources confirmed to The Tribune that “search parties have located a few survivors who have climbed the mountain slopes to save themselves. Some of them are so fatigued that they don’t have the strength to climb down from the precarious mountain ledges on which they are perched”. The attempts to drop food packets and water failed at some places in the valley as there is no space for the Army helicopters to manoeuvre. “Pilots reported that food packets rolled down the ledges eluding the survivors,” a senior functionary said. At other places, instant energy bars, medicines, biscuits and water have been provided to the marooned so that they can regain their strength. One way out for survivors is that the troops bring them down to the helicopter landing spots. The second option is that troops climb the ledges and help the infirm, elderly and sick. At present, there is no place to even land a helicopter given the slush. The rescue teams - trained to survive for days on their own - will also have to prepare helipads. There is no road approach between Gaurikund and Kedarnath. The sole mule track, used by pilgrims, has been wiped out. Hence, helicopters are the only option left. A dozen helicopters have been dedicated to this stretch. Army paratroopers could not be sent earlier as the only way out of the valley is the river which was raging amid rainfall for the past three-four days.
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Witnesses paint a grim picture
Dehradun, June 20 Maikhuri said that the Gobind Ghat market has been completely wiped out by the Alaknanda river. The area has been filled with sand and boulders as high as 5 ft. The Gobind Ghat gurdwara has been damaged with boulders, trees and and sand everywhere. Dr Pradeep Bhatt, Assistant Professor of geology at DBS College, Dehradun, said that on the night of June 16, he heard the waters of the Alaknanda roaring. So he and his children ran to higher areas. When they managed to reach a road high enough, he thought of bringing his car from the parking area. As soon as he took out his car, he saw the road behind him caving into the swirling waters of the Alaknanda. He said that hundreds of vehicles, including 200 motorcycles, were swept away by the gushing river. “A person driving a car was seen falling into the river along with his vehicle. Another car driver and two children, who were sleeping in the car as their parents had gone up to Hemkunt Sahib to pay obeisance, were also swept away,” recalled Bhatt. Indresh Maikhuri said that pilgrims stranded at Gobind Ghat were angry at the apathy of the authorities in providing them food and in making arrangements for their evacuation. “Some local shopkeepers have started fleecing the hapless pilgrims by selling a soap cake for Rs 40 and a plate of rice for Rs 100,” he said. The bridge on the way to Hemkunt Sahib at Ganghria has been washed away. More than 300 pilgrims without food are stranded there. Indresh Maikhuri said that while the state administration has completely failed, it was the Army and ITBP jawans who showed tremendous grit to save the pilgrims and took the aged, infirm, children and women and their luggage to safety. A large number of Sikh pilgrims - after remaining without food for two days - took out the foodgrain buried under sand in the gurdwara. They washed it and prepared food for the ‘sangats’. “While local people are providing food and shelter to the needy, there have been cases of theft, breaking of window panes of cars to steal goods and fleecing,” said Indresh Maikhuri.
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Yamuna water level starts receding
New Delhi, June 20 The water level in the river was 206.5m at 2 pm, which was 1.67m above the danger mark, officials in the Delhi Disaster Management Authority said. Last night, the water level in the Yamuna had touched 207.32m. The highest water level of 207.49m in the river in Delhi was recorded in 1978 when several areas in the city had witnessed flash floods. Various low-lying areas along the Yamuna remained flooded today. — PTI
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Assam seeks status of its pilgrims
Guwahati, June 20 The Assam government has also appointed Superintendent of Police Sudhakar Singh, Special Branch as the nodal officer to monitor the situation in Uttarakhand vis a vis pilgrims from Assam. According to Singh, a total of 15 calls have been received from different parts of the state which accounted for 51 pilgrims.
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21 Gurgaon residents missing in Kedarnath
Gurgaon, June 20 It was on June 8 that 21 persons, including Siyaram’s former GM Balkishan Vashisht, his wife and retired teacher Ram Kishen embarked on the yatra. All of them have been reported missing since June 16. Around 150 residents are reportedly stuck in the devastated area. As many as 50 residents of Patel Nagar and 120 from areas like Jharsa, Sector 10, Hans Enclave Khandsa, Krishna Colony and Shivaji Nagar have been reported missing there. “We are going through hell and have no way to know what has happened to our families. We had expected that the Centre shall coordinate with the Uttarakhand Government and set up an information desk to at least provide updates about the injured and deceased, but they are least bothered,” says Balkihshen’s son Shashi Kant. Meanwhile, five city residents have been reportedly rescued in Kedarnath. The administration of the affected area has started a website enlisting those successfully rescued from Kedarnath.
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Help camp set up for Gujarati pilgrims Ahmedabad, June 20 A spokesperson for the state government said around 10,000 persons from the state had been held up at different places, while five persons were among those killed in the floods so far. There was no information about the number of people still reported missing. State relief commissioner Poonamchand Parmar with a team of officials is camping in Dehradun and is in touch with the Uttarakhand Government officials for rescue and relief of pilgrims from the state. At least 56 pilgrims from Bhavnagar in the Saurashtra region who were trapped near Janaki Chatti were airlifted out of the area in state government helicopters, the spokesperson added. Among those trapped are Mahatma Gandhi-founded Gujarat Vidyapith vice-chancellor Sudarshan Aiyengar and his 85-year-old mother at a place 30 km from Chamoli. Tour and travel operators’ association of the state says it will dispatch 25 buses from Ahmedabad and Vadodara to Haridwar and Rishikesh to bring back the rescued pilgrims free of cost.
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Cabinet Secy orders better synergy among ministries
New Delhi, June 20 During a review meeting here, officials from Uttarakhand were assured of help from the ministries of Defence and Home Affairs in evacuating pilgrims and moving rations, fuel and medicines besides other supplies. The Army, the IAF, the ITBP, the Border Road Organisation and the National Disaster Relief Force will assist the state in rescue and relief measures. The state officials have been told to requisition equipment required for the operation. Central Army Commander Lt Gen Anil Chait will oversee the operation and provide additional help, while the IAF will use its entire air support available in the region. Mountain rescue teams of the ITBP, the Army and the NDRF will be made available at the state’s request. IAF and Army helicopters will be used to drop medicine, food grain and fuel. At least 39 helicopters airlifted around 2,000 persons despite cloudy weather today.
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Coalgate: CBI grills former Coal Secy
New Delhi, June 20 The former Secretary was questioned for a few hours in connection with the coal allocations allotted to AMR Iron and Steel Private Limited in Nagpur, JLD Yavatmal Energy Limited in Nagpur, JAS Infrastructure Capital Private Limited in Kolkata and two other companies, sources said. According to sources, Arvind Kumar Jayaswal, Manoj Jayaswal, Ramesh Jayaswal and Devendra Darda are directors of the AMR Iron and Steel Private Limited. Vijay Darda, Congress MP, is one of the directors of JLD Yavatmal Energy Limited and Manoj Kumar Jayaswal was one of the directors in JAS Infrastructure. The sources said when these companies were allotted coal blocks HC Gupta was Secretary in the Coal Ministry and he was also head of 35th Screening Committee. The CBI had to seek permission from government before summoning Gupta who was 1971 batch IAS officer for questioning. The government had initially refused to grant permission to the CBI to question Gupta as he was a member of Competition Commission of India (CCI) but yielded after the agency decided to inform the Supreme Court about not getting the sanction to proceed against him. During his period as Secretary in Coal Ministry, 68 coal blocks were allotted to 151 companies and files of some of them had gone missing, the sources said. The agency questioned Gupta about the clearances for the allocation of coal blocks given by Screening Committee which was chaired by him on several occasions, the sources said. The sources said the committee allegedly did not follow the mandatory procedures and did not carry out proper background checks while allocating coal blocks to the companies.
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Cong-JMM exploring govt formation in Jharkhand
New Delhi, June 20 Newly-appointed Congress general secretary in-charge of the state BK Hariprasad will hold talks in this regard with state leaders of the Congress and JMM tomorrow in Ranchi. Shibu Soren's party, which is supporting UPA-II from outside, has been keen on forming an alternative government in the state in alliance with the Congress ever since it broke up with the BJP leading to the imposition of President's Rule there on January 18. While a large number of Congress leaders in the state are in favour of forming a government with JMM's support as 18 months are still left for the current state Assembly's term to get over, the top brass of the party was initially reluctant towards any such move. The JMM and Congress, which have 18 and 13 MLAs, need the support of 11 more legislators to form a government in the 81-member state Assembly. The Congress had supported an Independent Madhu Koda-led government in the state and had to face criticism later as Koda got embroiled in serious corruption cases. Besides, there are cases pending against some JMM leaders even now. Hence, the party leadership was wary of any such tie-up in the state. There, however, appears to have been a re-think over the issue of alliances now. JVM(P), which had forged an alliance with the Congress for the 2009 Assembly elections, parted ways with it in April last year over the FDI issue. The Congress now appears to be veering around to the view that it has to tie up with some party for the next Lok Sabha elections there. Out of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand, the Congress has one MP Subodh Kant Sahay, while JMM has two members. They had fought the last General Election separately. In 2004 Lok Sabha elections, when both parties had fought in alliance, the Congress had won six and JMM four seats respectively bringing 10 seats in the UPA kitty. There are indications that the formation of government with JMM will depend on an amicable seat-sharing agreement between the two parties for the next General Election. Another talk in political circles is that Assembly elections in Jharkhand could be held along with those in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi if the JMM and Congress fail to reach an agreement on the issue. Central rule in Jharkhand will expire on July 18 and a decision has to be taken before that. JMM MLAs Vishnu Prasad Bhaiya and Paulus Surin had a few days back issued threats of resigning from the House membership if the Congress failed to take a decision on government formation before June 16. Announcing his intent to lend unconditional support to the JMM and Congress if they joined hands for government formation, senior RJD leader and MLA Janardhan Paswan had earlier said that the Congress must come forward to give a new alternative to the people who have given a mandate for five years. The BJP, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantric) and AJSU Party have been demanding dissolution of the House to seek a new mandate. Congress president Sonia Gandhi had on June 10 held consultations with senior party leaders, including AK Antony, Sushilkumar Shinde, Jairam Ramesh and vice-president Rahul Gandhi, on the way forward in Jharkhand. PCC president Sukdev Bhagat, CLP leader Rajendra Prasad Singh and AICC in-charge Shakeel Ahmed were also present. Uncertainties have always hovered over Jharkhand politics with the state coming under President's Rule for the third time since it was carved out from Bihar in 2000. Earlier, the state was placed under President's Rule in 2009 and 2010. — PTI President’s rule
Number game
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Will look into Advani’s concerns: RSS chief
New Delhi, June 20 Modi’s promotion catapulted the party into a major chaos with many senior leaders openly resenting the move and Advani resigning from all organisational posts to register his protest. It was an intervention by the RSS chief that led to the 85-year-old withdrawing his resignation. While the aim of today’s meeting, which followed a similar effort by Modi earlier this week, was to ensure peace among the top leadership on the contentious issue, analysts believe that established chinks will take time to be completely ironed out. Significantly, today’s meeting between Advani and Bhagwat is the first after the party patriarch quit all party posts on June 10. Sources said while Advani emphasised the need for “collective leadership” for the NDA to ensure that existing allies stay and more friends are won over, the contrary view is that only those who respect the individuality of the party in its internal matters should stay. Meanwhile, it was also “opined that several issues need further discussion and exchange of notes at various levels”. These will take place at the appropriate time. Bhagwat assured that Advani’s concerns would be examined, insiders added.
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Hazare threatens fast over Lokpal
Mumbai, June 20 Expressing disappointment over the Centre’s failure to secure the passage of the “Jan Lokpal Bill” in Parliament, the 75-year-old activist said the Government has “stabbed him in his back” over the issue, on which he has undertaken multiple fasts in Delhi and Mumbai since 2011. “I will once again sit on a fast from October 2 at the Ramlila Ground in Delhi,” the anti-corruption crusader told reporters on the sidelines of a programme here. In the past, Hazare has repeatedly assailed the Congress-led Government over its failure to pass a strong Lokpal Bill as promised in 2011. A few weeks ago, he shot off a letter tothe PM expressing his disappointment over the Government's inability to enact a strong legislation to check graft in public institutions. — PTI
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Italian envoy hopes marine trial will be fast, fair
New Delhi, June 20 “India has given a commitment that the case will be fast and fair and I am confident that they will honour the commitment given to Italy that the case will be fast and fair,” Italy's Ambassador to India Daniele Mancini said. Mancini, who met Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, however, refused to say anything when asked whether Italy was satisfied with the progress of the case. “I do not want to get into that,” he said. Asked how the two marines, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, were doing, the envoy said, “They are in the Embassy compound. They are fine”. The two marines were on board an Italian vessel ‘Enrica Lexie’ when they had allegedly shot dead two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast on February 15, 2012. Italy had maintained that since the incident had taken place in international water, Indian courts have no jurisdiction to conduct the trial. However, the Supreme Court had ruled that the incident took place at a distance of about 20.5 nautical miles from the coastline of Kerala and, therefore, it occurred not within the territorial waters of the coastline of Kerala state, but within the Contiguous Zone. The apex court had shifted the case to the national capital saying the Kerala Police has no jurisdiction over the case and backed the government's decision to hand over the case to NIA. The Italian government had in April reversed its earlier decision not to send back to India the two marines, who had gone to Italy to cast votes in elections there. — PTI
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CBI conducts polygraph test on Raja Bhaiya
New Delhi, June 20 He reached CBI headquarters at 12.30 pm for the test and remained there for a few hours. When he came out, he was satisfied, sources said. A few days back, he had appeared before a special CBI court in Lucknow and agreed to undergo the test. According to the CBI, Raja Bhaiya was a suspect in the murder of the DSP from the very beginning of the investigation into the case. The lie-detection test may provide evidence against him, the sources said. Haq was shot dead in Balipur village in Kunda area of Pratapgarh district where he had gone to probe the murder of village head Nanhe Yadav. The deceased police officer's wife Parveen Azad had accused Raja Bhaiya of hatching a conspiracy after which he had to resign from the Cabinet on March 4.
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Civil society protests taxation by Naga rebels
Guwahati, June 20 The rebels groups in question are the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah), the GPRN/NSCN (Khole-Konyak), the NSCN (Khaplang) and the two factions of the Naga National Council (NNC). The opposition Congress has expressed support for the ongoing movement “against unabated taxation” spearheaded by the ACAUT. It, however, also criticised the Naga People’s Front (NPF)-led Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) government for blaming the Central Government for the “tax”. The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) said the DAN government’s attitude of “shifting the blame” on the Centre for not ensuring rehabilitation of underground Naga groups was simply a naive approach to the serious issue confronting the state. A 12-hour bandh enforced by the ACAUT with the support of the Naga Council in Dimapur, the Kohima Town Traders Union (KTTU) and the Zunheboto Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ZCCI) paralysed normal life in Kohima, Dimapur and Tuensang on Tuesday. This was the first stage of agitation as planned by the
ACAUT.
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Slamming Opposition parties for creating hurdles in passing of the Food Security bill, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today accused them of creating instability in the country to grab power.
Rescue parties of the Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in Uttarakhand today reported horrific scenes from the flood-ravaged Gaurikund-Kedarnath valley.
New Delhi, June 20
The CBI today quizzed former Secretary of the Coal Ministry, HC Gupta, in connection with five cases registered on charges of alleged irregularities in coal blocks allocations from 2006 to 2009.
Italy today said the trial against its two marines, who allegedly killed Indian fishermen off Kerala coast last year, will be fast and fair and India will honour its commitment given to Rome.