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Huge arms
haul in Bengal PM lays
stone of transmission line BJP woos Paswan |
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Public welfare my priority, says Uma Bharti
J&K Govt fails to implement SC orders
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Pressure on high command to end
Punjab crisis Report on Gujarat violence Pawar may split Bhujbal’s portfolio
Kamleshwar, Vairamathu bag Sahitya
Akademi awards PM to head panel on Guru Granth Sahib Senior
BJP leader
Madan Lal Khurana outside office of the Lok Sabha Speaker
Manohar Joshi before submitting his resignation as Member of Parliament at Parliament
House, New Delhi, on Wednesday.
— PTI photo
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Huge arms haul in Bengal Kolkata, December 24 Special IGP Narayan Ghosh said acting on a tip-off, the sub-divisional police officer of Chandanagar recovered the material from the residence of Ajit
Mondal, who had rented the premises from Pabitra Mukherjee, a local. —
PTI |
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PM lays stone of transmission line Lucknow, December 24 The project is an association between the TALA Hydro-Electric project of Bhutan and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited. Under the project, transmission line from Bhutan would be laid to provide additional power supply to the East-North corridor. The beneficiaries of the project would be West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Sikkim in the Eastern region and Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi in the Northern region. The project would provide an inter-regional transfer between eastern and northern parts of the country upto 3,000 MW of power. It is part of the Rs 71,000 crore national grid concept mooted by the corporation, to be completed within the next five years. Flagging off the trains, that include a service between Lucknow and Mumbai, Mr Vajpayee said he did not want people to face hardships due to overcrowding of trains and lack of services on busy railway routes. —
UNI |
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BJP woos Paswan New Delhi, December 24 Mr Paswan, who quit the NDA taking a moral stand in the wake of Gujarat riots, is now keeping all options open so far Bihar is concerned. “At the national level, there is no question of aligning with the BJP. However, as far as Bihar is concerned all options are open,” Mr Paswan, who is in Mumbai, told The Tribune over telephone today. Confirming the efforts by the BJP to win over the LJP leader to their fold, Mr Paswan said NDA convener George Fernandes and Union Agriculture Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh called on him yesterday. He said the two leaders outlined several proposals and requested him to return to the NDA fold. Apart from the Lok Sabha poll, BJP party leaders are calculating that the Bihar Assembly elections due in February 2005 could be preponed. As Bihar sends 40 MPs to Parliament, it has a crucial role to play in deciding which party comes to power at the Centre. Mr Paswan is being wooed largely to counter the caste equation, which is at present in favour of RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav. The RJD has the support base in Other Backward Castes (OBCs), Dalits and Muslims. This could be dented by projecting Mr Paswan, who can swing the Dalit voter bank to his side. The BJP unit in the state is faction ridden and the merger of the Samata-Janata Dal (United) has left several leaders disgruntled. Indications are that the vote bank of the NDA alliance could be fragmented because of this factor which would help the RJD. Another factor, the BJP is hoping is that the Congress would contest the poll on its own rather than as a junior partner to the RJD, which would split their votes. Sources indicated that the BJP is holding the Bihar Chief Ministership as carrot to bring Mr Paswan back in the NDA fold as he could counter the caste equation of the RJD. Mr Paswan said the party’s decision would depend on what action the Centre took with regard to Bihar as the NDA allies would have numbers in their favour in the Rajya Sabha soon. Asked about the possibility of the LJP aligning with the Janata Dal (United) if the BJP was an anathema to him at present, Mr Paswan said at the national level, he would not join the NDA as he had taken a moral stand following the Gujarat riots. So there was no question of aligning with the JD (United) when it was still with the NDA. Hinting that the LJP was broadening its base in Bihar to increase its bargaining power, he said the party was taking out a rath yatra in the state in January to strengthen its roots in the state. |
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Public welfare my priority, says Uma Bharti New Delhi, December 24 Spelling out her approach to administration, the saffron sanyasin-turned politician asserted that solving peoples’ problem had precedence over all other things whether it was the BJP or her own popularity. Talking to TNS at her residence in the national Capital during her second visit after assuming the charge of the largest state of the country, Ms Bharti said “sometimes, I may have to take an administrative step, which hurts the party’s political interest but helps peoples’ cause, I would not hesitate even for a minute to execute it”. Asked how she planned to meet the peoples’ expectations, she said by taking a long-term view. “I know that people have high expectations and one way to meet them is maintain a low profile and work hard to meet them”, Ms Bharti said. “Invariably, newly appointed Chief Ministers go on a high profile track and when they fail to pass the test of people scrutiny, then their image in popular perception plummets”, she said. “If people lose faith in the initial months it is better as I will like them to judge me after a term of five years when promises given have been fulfilled”, she said. Asked about the expansion of her Cabinet, Ms Bharti ruled out any discontentment among party MLAs as “I have told them that while I was Chief Minister in Bhopal, they were Chief Ministers in
their respective constituencies”. “At present, I have 18 ministerial colleagues which leaves room for the inclusion of another 18 after the recent constitutional amendment restricting the size of the council of ministers to 15 per cent of the strength of the Assembly”, she said. |
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J&K Govt fails to implement SC orders New Delhi, December 24 A Bench comprising Mr Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Mr Justice B N Srikrishna imposed the fine as litigation cost after accepting the state government’s plea for dropping the contempt proceedings against the officers concerned as the state’s counsel said the administration had yet to fix the responsibility for not implementing the order passed by the apex court on March 7, 1990. “Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, we drop the contempt proceedings by imposing a cost of Rs 50,000 on the state government which shall be payable to the petitioner within a month,” the Bench said. The Bench did not agree with the state government’s contention for waiving the cost, saying its counsel “is unable to explain any cause, much less sufficient cause, for the enormous delay of more than 12 years in implementing the directions of the court.” The state government had submitted that the order could not be implemented because various officers were holding the relevant posts in the Excise Department during the past 12 years. Describing the inaction of the state government and its officers as “unpardonable”, the court said “it would be open to the government, if so advised, to fix the
responsibility.” The order came on the contempt petition filed by Surinder Singh whose plea for appointment as SI in the
Excise and Taxation Department was allowed by the apex court on March 7, 1990. As per the order, the Jammu and Kashmir Government was directed to consider the case of Surinder Singh and others for the appointment, if found suitable and qualified, in the next falling vacancy, if one was not available at the time of issuing the direction. “It is not in dispute that the post became available on February 20, 1991. Further it is not the case of the respondent (government) that the petitioner was not suitable or qualified for the post,” the court observed. |
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CRPF to replace BSF in J&K New Delhi, December 24 “The replacement of eight BSF battalions in Srinagar city is in progress and will be completed this month...This progressive change over (taking over the counter-insurgency role completely by the CRPF in Jammu and Kashmir) would be completed by 2005,” CRPF Director-General S.C. Chaube said while addressing a press conference here ahead of the 64th CRPF Anniversary on December 28. To meet this demand, Mr Chaube said, the CRPF was raising 64 new battalions, 17 battalions had already been raised during the past two years and this year the recruitment process had already been started to raise 22 new battalions. “With raising of 25 new battalions next year, the strength of the CRPF battalions was going to be more than 200 battalions, which would entitle the force to be the largest para-military force in the world,” he said. |
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Pressure on high command to end
Punjab crisis New Delhi, December 24 The dissident leaders, who had left the Capital after meeting the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, on the assurance that the party would take some action to their grievances after the winter session of Parliament are once again mounting pressure to resolve the impasse. There seems to be little peace amongst the Punjab Congress leaders as the dissidents have been openly demanding the removal of Captain Amarinder Singh as Chief Minister, despite the fact that the “Maharaja of Patiala” had taken several conciliatory steps to “change his style” of his functioning. Although the Central leadership had asked Punjab Congress leaders to return to the state, none of the dissident leaders have attended their offices and Captain Amarinder Singh has shown no inclination to call a Cabinet meeting. |
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Report on Gujarat violence New Delhi, December 24 The IIJ panel consisting of activists, jurists, writers and academicians from all over the world came together as an expression of solidarity with feminists from India to draw international attention to the very concrete impact of violence on the lives of ordinary Muslim citizens of Gujarat. The report points out, “Almost two years after the massacres, the violence continues in different and frightening forms with long-term consequences on the lives of all members of the Muslim community particularly women.” The report recommends a call to the international community to challenge the charitable and tax exempt status of organisations that support directly or indirectly the Hindutva agenda. |
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Pawar may split Bhujbal’s portfolio Mumbai, December 24 Mr Bhujbal, who put in his papers last night, also had the state’s Home Ministry in addition to the post of Deputy Chief Minister. The sources here said Mr Pawar might hand over the Home Ministry to a senior party leader even as another contender has been appointed Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Lobbying is on as several candidates are keen on the number two post in the Maharashtra Cabinet. Among the contenders include Public Works Department Minister Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, Rural Development Minister R.R. Patil and Irrigation Minister Ajit Pawar who is also nephew of Mr Pawar. However, all of them are keen on scotching speculation. “The final decision will be taken by Pawar Saheb,” Mr Patil told reporters outside the meeting venue. The ongoing two-day conclave of the NCP had been originally called for working out an alliance with the Congress for the forthcoming Assembly elections. Both NCP and the Congress are part of the ruling coalition in Maharashtra. Mr Bhujbal is an important participant in the ongoing discussions and is likely to have a major say on whether the NCP should tie up with the Congress. The sources said Mr Pawar might accommodate Mr Bhujbal in the Rajya Sabha as a sop for resigning from the post of Deputy Chief Minister. Mr Bhujbal, belonging to the Mali community, is a powerful OBC leader and commands a sizeable chunk of the OBCs which account for 30 per cent of Maharashtra’s population. |
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George to carry X’mas goodies for troops New Delhi, December 24 He is the only Defence Minister in the world who visits troops at far-flung border posts just to be with them on special occasions. Like every year, Mr Fernandes will spend Christmas tomorrow with the troops along the borders. A former revered, Mr Fernandes has been spending Christmas with the troops ever since he took over as the Defence Minister. He would again be carrying planeload of cakes with him to be distributed among the soldiers. The number of cakes have been increased from last time. This year he would be carrying about 4.5 tonnes of cakes with him which have been baked for the purpose in Bangalore. MoD officials here said a voluntary organisation was paying for the consignment. The money for the cakes was collected by Indian-Canadians and sent to the bakery from where the consignment was then forwarded to the minister. The officials said Mr Fernandes’ brother who lived in Canada was part of the voluntary organisation that donated money. The minister would visit the frontline areas in Leh (Thoise), Kargil, Srinagar and later fly to other forward areas like Jodhpur, Uttarlai and
Bhuj. |
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Kamleshwar, Vairamathu bag Sahitya New Delhi, December 24 The awards, representing 22 Indian languages, include six novels, five short stories, five poems and three essays, secretary of the akademi, K. Satchidanandan said. While Kamleshwar gets the honour for his Kitne Pakistan, Bengali novelist Prafulla Roy for Krantikal, Bindu Bhatt for Gujarati novel Akhepatar, Malayali novelist Sara Joseph for Alahayude Penmakkal, T V Saradeshmukh for Marathi novel Dangora: Eka Nagaricha, Bindya Subba for Nepali novel Athah and Tamil lyricist R. Vairamuthu (Kallikattu Ithihasam). Among the poets who received the awards were Bireswar Barua (Assamese), late Ashwini Magotra (Dogri), Santosh Mayamohan (Rajasthani), Bhaskaracharya Tripathi (Sanskrit) and Utpala Satynarayanacharya (Telugu), Sachitanandan said. Contrary to the trend the world over where fiction is on the decline, 16 of this year’s akademi honours went to prose, including five short stories, one play and three essays. “Fiction is picking up in India and it is dominating,” president of the premier literary organisation Gopi Chand Nargang said. In the short-story category, late Som Nath Zutshi was awarded for his Kashmiri story “Yeli Phol Gaash”, late Shashank Sitaram got the prize for “Parigh”
(Konkani), Niraja Renu for her Maithili classic “Ritambhara” and Manipuri author Sudhir Naoroibam for “Leiyee Khara Punsi Khara”. An Indian Revenue Service officer, Syed Muhammad
Ashraf, was also awarded was for his Urdu story “Baad-e-Saba Ka
Intzar.” While Punjabi writer Charan Dass Sidhu got the akademi nod for the award in the play category “Bhagat Singh
Shahid: Natak Tikri”, noted Oriya critic J.M. Mohanty bagged the criticism award for his work “Suryasnata”. The awards for the essay category were shared by English author Meenakshi
Mukherjee, towering Kannada literary figure K.V. Subbanna and Sindhi author Hiro
Thakur. Noting the long list of newcomers who have bagged honours, Narang said “it is heartening to see newcomers arriving in the literary horizon. The akademi has been at the forefront of nurturing young talents.” The award in form of a casket containing an engraved copper plaque and a cheque for Rs 50,000 will be presented to the recipients at a special function in the beginning of next year to mark the golden jubilee celebration of the
akademi. —
PTI |
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PM to head panel on Guru Granth Sahib New Delhi, December 24 The 18-member committee would chalk out the programmes for the celebrations at the national level. The members of the committee, apart from Mr Vajpayee, include Union Tourism Minister Jagmohan, Union Minister for Fertilisers and Chemicals Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, National Minorities Commission Chairman Tarlochan Singh, Andhra Pradesh Governor S.S. Barnala, former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, SGPC chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra and Lok Sabha MP R.L. Bhatia. Mr Tarlochan Singh said Guru Granth Sahib was a significant religious scripture as it incorporated the preaching of every other religion prevalent at that time. |
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Khurana quits Lok Sabha New Delhi, December 24 Mr Khurana was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Sadar Parliamentary constituency in Delhi. After submitting his papers to the Speaker, Mr Khurana told media persons, “I am grateful to the people of Delhi who gave me so much love and affection and I am indebted to them”. |
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