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Central laws to prevail, rules SC RS adjourned after uproar over Judeo issue New pension scheme from January 1 Get ready for LS poll, PM tells partymen |
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Cong man killed in MP repoll; Rajasthan peaceful
SP, allies bag 25 Parishad seats BJP, Sena get four council seats EC assesses Andhra for election In a first step towards conducting assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, the Election Commission today held discussions with state government officials to assess the preparedness of the state.
Hearing on mobility issue deferred till Jan 13 The Supreme Court today posted further hearing on the dispute between cellular operators and basic telephone operators on the permission of mobility licence to the latter till January 13. Hazare to intervene in Telgi case Social activist Anna Hazare plans to intervene in the case filed by the Central Government in the Supreme Court seeking to transfer the Telgi scam probe to the CBI. CBI to probe stamp paper scam in Kerala
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Central laws to prevail, rules SC New Delhi, December 3 When a law passed by the state was inconsistent with a Central law, the one passed by the former would be rendered invalid, a Bench comprising Mr Justice S. Rajendra Babu and Mr Justice G.P. Mathur ruled. The ruling came following an appeal by the All-India Transport Permit Owners Association (AITPOA) against a judgement of the Madhya Pradesh High Court upholding the validity of a legislation passed by the state government empowering it to impose enhanced penalty on confiscated vehicles for non-payment of taxes. The high court had ruled that the Madhya Pradesh Motoryan Karadhan Adhiniyam (MPMKA), passed by the state government in 1991, was independent of the Centre’s Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, because its provisions operated “totally in different fields”. It had further said, “Holding of a permit is a cognate matter and there is no encroachment made on the Motor Vehicle Act by the state’s legislation.” Setting aside the high court ruling, the apex court quashed the controversial provisions under Section 16(6) of the MPMKA. |
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RS adjourned after uproar over Judeo issue New Delhi, December 3 An uproarious scene was witnessed soon after the House assembled this morning with Opposition parties, spearheaded by the Congress, stalling the proceedings demanding a statement from Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the issue. With members of both Opposition and ruling parties entering verbal duel, no questions could be taken up. With members unrelenting, Chairperson adjourned the House till 12 noon. The House then reassembled only to be adjourned for the day after tabling of papers amidst the din as Opposition and ruling parties’ members traded charges against each other on the alleged ‘cash-on-camera’ issue. Earlier, responding to the demand of senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee that Vajpayee should make a statement on the issue after suspending Question Hour, Leader of the House Jaswant Singh said he would convey the sentiments of the members to the Prime Minister, but could not commit on the timing and the date of discussion. The Opposition members continued to press for their demand, forcing Mr Shekhawat to adjourn the House. |
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New pension scheme from January 1
New Delhi, December 3 The pension authority will also spell out the foreign direct investment limit and the minimum entry capital in the pension sector. The Cabinet has already approved the proposal of an interim PFRDA and the basic structure is ready. However, the government has yet to appoint the chairman and other members of PFRDA. Till the fund managers come up, the Centre would transfer 10 per cent of the salary to an escrow account with the RBI, which would be allocated later to various funds of the choice of employees, consultant to Finance Minister Ajay Shah explained. The new pension regime will offer consumers with three choices - a debt fund, a growth fund with higher equity exposure, balance fund with a equal mix of equity and debt. The new schemes will be unit-linked, which means the net asset value of the fund will fluctuate with the day-to-day market price of securities. The newly defined contribution pension system will be applicable to new government recruits. While the old government provident fund (GPF) would be discontinued, the new regime will envisage that 10 per cent of the salary goes to the pension along with a matching contribution from the government. The government will also allow private companies and the unorganised sector to become part of the system at a later stage. C.B. Bhave, Managing Director of National Securities Depository Ltd, said the regulator would have to mandate the operations of a central record-keeping agency, supervise the fee structure, license the asset management companies and carry out regulatory oversight.
— PTI |
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Get ready for LS poll, PM tells partymen New Delhi, December 3 At the first meeting of the parliamentary party during the winter session of Parliament, the Prime Minister said the members should focus on the achievements of the NDA government and stress on issues like development and good governance, party spokesman V.K. Malhotra told newspersons after the meeting. “Even though the Lok Sabha elections are still a year away, all of you should highlight the achievements of the NDA government and this task should be undertaken immediately after the end of the current session,” the Prime Minister said. Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani expressed satisfaction on the party’s campaigning for Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Delhi, party sources said. Mr Advani told members that just as the party had focused on development and good governance during electioneering, members should do the same in their constituencies. |
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Cong man killed in MP repoll; Rajasthan peaceful Bhind, December 3 The police said Kamal Singh Bhadoria, a lieutenant of Congress candidate Satyadev Katare, was shot dead by unidentified assailants at Gyanpura village in Ater constituency in the dacoity-infested Bhind district. The attackers escaped after killing Bhadoria and a hunt has been launched to nab them. With this, the toll in poll-related violence in the state rose to eight. Six persons were killed, all in Bhind district, during the December 1 polling, while another person, injured in firing at Khurd, succumbed yesterday at a Gwalior hospital. JAIPUR: Between 70 and 75 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise in the repoll in 41 polling stations spread over 22 assembly constituencies in Rajasthan that ended peacefully this evening, an official spokesman said here. Repolling was ordered in these polling stations by the Election Commission following reports of booth capturing and damage to electronic voting machines during the December 1 polling in the state. Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order) S.N. Jairath said that today’s was an incident-free repoll.
— PTI |
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SP, allies bag 25 Parishad seats Lucknow, December 3 The Samajwadi Party won 21 of these seats. Its nearest rival, the BJP, won four seats while the Congress failed to get any. Reacting to the outcome of the elections, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav said the results reflected the mood of the people. “The elections were held with no interference from the state government,” he told reporters here. The BJP, on the other hand, said the elections had been rigged. The government machinery openly sided with the coalition candidates, it said. “Even the coalition partners like the Congress had complained against the rigging to the Chief Electoral Officer,” said BJP spokesman Hridaya Narain Dixit. Of the ruling coalition, the Rashtriya Lok Dal of Ajit Singh won three seats and the Rashtriya Kranti Party of Mr Kalyan Singh bagged one seat. Independents won two seats. The grandson of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar won from Ballia on the Samajwadi Janata Party (SJP) ticket. |
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BJP, Sena get four council seats Mumbai, December 3 Both the saffron and the DF alliance will have four members each in the state Legislative Council— with the Congress winning three and NCP one, while the BJP and Shiv Sena will have two seats each, according to official sources. The results of five seats, for which polls were held on Monday, were declared today. |
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EC assesses Andhra for election New Delhi, December 3 At its meeting with Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary Mohan Kanda and Chief Electoral Officer Narayan Rao, the Full Bench of the Commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner J. M. Lyngdoh discussed the revision of electoral rolls and rationalisation of polling booths. “We have been called here to ascertain the pace and quality of steps being taken for the conduct of assembly elections in the state,” Mr Kanda told newspersons after the meeting. The state assembly was dissolved last month with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu seeking early elections in February. Observing that the preparatory steps for a free and fair elections in the state were discussed, Mr Kanda said the commission wanted the authorities to “monitor the progress from now on.” |
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Hearing on mobility issue deferred till Jan 13 New Delhi, December 3 Subsequent to the TDSAT’s August 8 order allowing WLL service by basic operators, the Union Government had gone a step further by permitting uniform licence to basic as well cellular operators in the country. This had resulted in basic operators, including Reliance and Tata Teleservices, to launch full mobility service. The COAI had challenged the TDSAT order in the apex court on the ground that the “unified” licence for cellular service was unreasonable, unfair and brought in undue haste. The court had earlier declined to grant interim stay of the TDSAT order, which was passed by its three members in a two-to-one majority judgment. |
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Hazare to intervene in Telgi case Mumbai, December 3 In a statement released here through his lawyers, Hazare said the investigations into the case should continue to be carried out by the special investigation team (SIT) as it had been doing good work. “The Bombay High Court has appreciated the work of the SIT and we hope the apex court would concur,” Hazare said through his counsel. The Bombay High Court is overseeing the investigations carried out by the SIT after Hazare filed a public interest litigation (PIL) before it earlier this year. Following the social worker’s submissions, the Bombay High Court had asked the SIT to probe the involvement of top police officials, including former Mumbai Police Commissioner Ranjit Singh Sharma. |
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CBI to probe stamp paper scam in Kerala Thiruvananthapuram, December 3 Talking to reporters after a Cabinet meeting, Mr Antony said, “As most of the states where the racket was involved had entrusted the probe to the CBI, the Kerala Government has also decided to do so.
— PTI |
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India’s call to developed economies New Delhi, December 3 Addressing a round-table meeting on the WTO-related agricultural issues in Rome, the Union
Agriculture Minister, Mr Rajnath Singh, said that the livelihood security of the large agriculture-dependent population was an issue of paramount importance in waging a war against hunger in the developing countries. Expressing concern over bulging subsidies and unjustified protection to agriculture in the developed countries, an official release issued here today said, that the minister stated that these had rendered the developing countries highly vulnerable in the agricultural trade regime. Deprivation caused to farmers by distorted trade was evident across much of the developing world. |
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65.8 lakh for watershed project New Delhi, December 3 The funds had been provided for planning and development of the watershed project for implementation of the desert development programme in Haryana during 2003-04, a press note said today. The programme is under implementation in 235 blocks of 40 districts in seven states. In Haryana, it is under implementation in 45 blocks of seven districts, covering an area of 20542 sq km. Guwahati, December 3 |
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