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Karnataka
minister quits over Rail recruitment
paper leaked in Bihar Swiss authorities
to consider CBI plea on Quattrocchi
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No move to rejoin
BJP, Congress to
counter NDA propaganda Pravasis to
discuss runaway groom issue
Kiron Kher wins
award at Pakistan film fest
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Karnataka minister quits over Telgi issue Bangalore, January 4 Mr Baig’s resignation comes close on the heels of the surrender of his brother Rehan Baig before the Special Investigating Team of Karnataka, which had been on the lookout for him for his alleged involvement in the scandal. The minister was under mounting pressure from the Opposition, particularly the BJP, which had been targeting him and had yesterday demanded that he should be dropped from the ministry “within 24 hours”. Mr Baig, who was not available immediately for comments, had earlier denied any links with prime accused in the scam Abdul Kerim Telgi and maintained that he was innocent. PUNE:
Tabrez Telgi, nephew of Abdul Karim Telgi, arrested in connection with the case, was on Sunday produced before the holiday court, which remanded him to police custody till January
18. MUMBAI: Sameer Bhujbal, nephew of former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, will appear before the Special Investigating Team probing the multi-crore fake stamp paper racket masterminded by forger Abdul Karim Telgi. SIT sources say investigators have already served summons on Sameer and S. K. Bankar, who was private secretary to Mr Chhagan Bhujbal. Both of them are likely to be questioned about their links to Telgi. SIT chief S. S. Puri is likely to question the two, according to police sources in Mumbai. Tape-recordings made by Telgi and the Karnataka police indicate that the Bhujbals are linked to the scamster. Investigators are also seeking information as to whether Telgi channelled his ill-gotten funds to the NCP last year when the party was on the verge of a split, throwing the Democratic Front government in Maharashtra into a crisis. Telgi is believed to have funded the en masse transfer of NCP legislators to a resort owned by actor Sanjay Khan outside Bangalore. The money was allegedly provided by a shady oil importer and dealer called Antim Totla from Jalgaon town. SIT officials are reportedly in
possession of tapes made by Telgi that indicate his links with the Bhujbals. Transcripts of the tape figure in the chargesheet against Krishna Yadav, the Andhra Pradesh MLA who is now under arrest for his links with
Telgi. |
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Rail recruitment paper leaked in Bihar New Delhi, January 4 The CBI said an informer had obtained a handwritten question paper of the examination, which was forwarded to the Chairman of the Railway Recruitment Board, Patna. As the question paper tallied with the original, the board took the decision to cancel the examination. About 2.75 lakh candidates were to appear at 245 centres across Bihar today to undertake the examination for the recruitment of gangmen in the state. CBI sources said the informer had contacted the investigating agency yesterday on the leakage of papers to fill 2,000 group ‘D’ posts by the board. The Railway Vigilance has begun a probe into the leak, the sources said adding that the CBI was looking into the criminal aspect of it. The CBI sources said the local police was investigating the case and the agency providing all possible assistance to it. Within a month, this is the second question paper leakage that the CBI has exposed. In December, the agency had exposed the leakage of CAT papers for admission to top management institutes. Four persons were arrested in the CAT question paper leakage case, which stunned the students community in general and the probe brought out how entrenched kingpins were in this system. |
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Swiss authorities to consider CBI plea on Quattrocchi
New Delhi, January 4 CBI sources said recently the agency had routed a fresh request to the Swiss authorities for details about Quattrocchi’s bank account which the authorities had agreed to consider. The CBI had sent a Letters Rogatory to the Swiss authorities earlier which was turned down by the bank citing the reason that no details were maintained of the bank account for more than 10 years. However, in its fresh request, the CBI requested the Swiss bank to give salient features of his account which could have been maintained on some floppy disk or paper, the sources said adding that the Swiss authorities had now stated that they would consider this request. The CBI was also preparing a reply to the appeal filed by Quattrocchi in the Supreme Court of the UK against freezing of his two bank accounts at the instance of the CBI. The British Government had frozen his bank accounts having nearly Rs 21 crore. The CBI sources said the draft reply had been cleared and would be sent to the Prosecutor General’s office of Britain soon. The petition was filed before the Supreme Court of the UK against the order of a division bench of the London High Court upholding the decision of the British Government to freeze on India’s request two accounts of Quattrocchi having three million Euros and $ one million. Quattrocchi, in his petition, had sought quashing of the order of the British Government and release of his money from the two accounts belonging to him and his wife Maria. The court was likely to hear the petition on January 20 or 21. The agency was already strengthening its case further and finding out the source of the money and the route adopted by it before arriving at the London Bank. A Letters Rogatory was being prepared to be sent to Bahamas as the agency believed that the money had been routed from there.
— PTI |
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Vajpayee declines honorary
doctorate Vadodara, January 4 “The Prime Minister has conveyed in principle that he was not inclined to accept the degree”, Vice-Chancellor of M.S. University Dr K.C. Upadhyaya said. Dr Upadhyaya said he had written to the Prime Minister conveying the decision of the syndicate (executive council) to confer upon him the honorary doctorate and seeking his consent to accept. However, the Prime Minister declined the offer while thanking the university for the gesture, Dr Upadhyaya said. Meanwhile, melody queen Lata Mangeshkar and noted scientist Dr R.A. Mashelkar have also expressed their inability to remain present at the university convocation to be held on January 17 and receive the honorary doctorate, saying the date was not convenient for them. The syndicate, at its meeting held in November last year, had decided to confer the honorary doctorate on Mr Vajpayee, Lata Mangeshkar, Mashelkar, noted social activist Nanaji Deshmukh and Gyanpith award winner Gujarati poet Rajendra Shah. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will be the chief guest at the convocation.
— PTI |
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No move to rejoin BJP, says Kalyan Lucknow, January 4 “There is no plan to join the BJP. There is no question. I will work to strengthen the ruling alliance led by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav,” he told reporters after holding a crucial meeting with party workers. “The issue of joining the BJP was not discussed in the meeting,”Mr Kalyan Singh said.“It was not in the agenda”. Mr Kalyan Singh’s sudden meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, on December 24 at senior BJP leader Lalji Tandon’s residence, raised speculations that Mr Kalyan Singh was on his way to rejoin BJP. Mr Tandon even gave a statement that he would join the BJP on January 14. “There is no proposal to join the party. I have not received any proposal from the BJP, nor I had sent any proposal regarding this,” he said. When asked in lighter vein whether his scheme to join the BJP had misfired. “Where is the question of misfiring, when I had no plans to join the party The national executive of the RKP , however, has authorised Mr Kalyan Singh to take any decision for betterment of the RKP in the “present and changing political scenario”. He was soft on the BJP on many issues and avoided criticising any of the saffron party leader as he had been doing after being expelled from the party for six years in 1999. |
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Congress to
counter NDA propaganda New Delhi, January 4 The Congress Working Committee, highest policy-making body of the party, is meeting here shortly to draw up a strategy for the Lok Saha elections in the light of the report of the Pranab Mukherjee Committee. The five-member committee was constituted in the wake of the humiliating defeat of the Congress in Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The party is likely to concentrate on countering the propaganda of the NDA government by exposing its failures. “We should not get misled by the NDA government’s attempts to present a glowing picture of economic well-being when the basics of the Indian economy that affect the common man have been weakened,” said Congress President Sonia Gandhi in an editorial of the latest issue of party monthly journal Congress Sandesh.
— UNI |
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Pravasis to discuss runaway groom issue New Delhi, January 4 The issue will come up for discussion on January 10, the final day of the event. The issue of `runaway’ grooms is of immense significance as the conclusions of the deliberations can provide contours for the formulation of any legislation to safeguard the interests of brides and their families. Parliament recently approved the dual citizenship Bill, which was first mooted in the first Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations last year. The session “Legal issues in the context of private international law and the
diaspora” will discuss the issue of immigration and nationality policies of the countries worldwide. One of the issues of major concern pertaining to NRIs, which comes under the ambit of international law, is in respect of legal issues relating to marriage, divorce, custody and maintenance of children and alimony. The issue is of significance as a large number of Indian girls, especially those from Punjab, marrying overseas Indians have run into serious problems. There have been a number of cases of harassment of Indian girls in many countries. There is also a need to understand cultural differences and changing attitudes, within and outside India to tackle the problem. Legal experts said unfortunately there was nothing much “we can do as a remedial measure. Our laws have no teeth, no treaties to handle deceitful men internationally. All we manage is some legal guidance for the need to fight and a lot of morale-boosting for the frayed soul”. In the absence of laws related to international marriage, divorce, custody and maintenance of children, legislation by the Indian Government on this issue has become all the more important. Moreover, the legislation pertaining to citizenship and domicile varies from country to country and the issue of resident and non-resident is a subject matter of debate. The delegates at the conference will have a close look at the recommendations of the
L.M. Singhvi Committee report on this issue. The committee has recommended that a special cell should be created in a new organisation, which would handle diaspora issues with the mandate to assist in the provision of free legal counselling for families of girls contemplating
marriage to
NRIs/PIOs. Such families should be advised to check the voter or alien registration card of such
NRIs/PIOs, their social security number and tax returns for the preceding
three years. The bridegroom should be asked to give them an affidavit, stating his current marital status. That document should be attached to the application for marriage registration. This should be made a pre-requisite to the issuance of a marriage registration certificate. This procedure, the committee felt, would considerably bring down cases of misinformation and fraudulent marriage. The committee has based its recommendations on the basis of a Supreme Court order, which had suggested the issues which should be covered in the legislation to protect the interests of women who intend to marry
NRIs/PIOs. |
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Jodhpur, January 4 Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohammad Salim Malik granted permission to Salman for visiting Mauritius and Dubai from January 4 to February 6 on an application filed by his counsel Hastimal Saraswat. Salman sought permission of the court to visit Mauritius for participating in the shooting of film “Mujse Shaadi Karogi” from January 4 to February 3 and an entertainment stage show in Dubai from February 4 to 6. The actor is facing trial in three cases of killing black bucks and chinkaras and another of illegal possession of arms.
— PTI |
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Kiron Kher wins award at Pakistan
film fest Mumbai, January 4 The film, which makes a hard-hitting statement on the growing fundamentalism under the rule of Gen Zial-ul-Haq, also won the award for best screenplay and a special jurors award at the festival held recently. Kiron had earlier been awarded for her performance at the Locarno and Cape Town film festivals. Reacting to the award, Kiron said, “It is wonderful to know that the film has been appreciated in Pakistan. It is very satisfying to know that there are people on either side of the border who are concerned about fundamentalism.” “It is heartening to know that there are intellectuals who have the heart in the right place on both sides of the border,” she said, adding that it was also a positive sign that transcending geographical boundaries, artistes were now being appreciated for their work. The film was made by a Pakistani settled in Delhi and shot entirely in Pakistan. The film receiving the award at the festival goes to prove the genuineness of the award and recognition awarded to good work, she said. “Everyone is quite aware that Indian films are highly in demand in Pakistan. Such awards and recognition would only help in opening up the market on either side of the border," the actress opined.
— PTI |
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