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SC summons Gujarat High Court Registrar Pong dam oustees’ case transferred to
HP High Court Sketches of Manish’s assailants released LS session from today |
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Indian chicken vulnerable to bird flu, says Maneka Sonia looks up to troika Cong not to cajole Karunakaran
HC orders release of Ikwinder’s body Sardar
Sarovar dam height to be raised 2 Pondicherry ministers quit
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SC summons Gujarat High Court Registrar New Delhi, January 28 Expressing anguish over the sordid episode, allegedly involving the Ahmedabad’s Meghaninagar Metropolitan Magistrate, a three-judge Bench, headed by the Chief Justice, Mr V.N. Khare, while summoning the High Court Registrar along with the entire records of the magistrate’s court, also ordered immediate seizure of the relevant documents. “If this is the state of affairs (in Gujarat) then God knows what will happen,” said the Bench having Mr Justice S.B. Sinha and Mr Justice S.H. Kapadia as other judges. “By giving 20,000 rupees you can buy judicial order,” the Chief Justice said, while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) by Zee Telefilms Ltd, which claimed to have caught the entire episode on camera. Senior adovcate Harish Salve, appearing for Zee, said the warrant order was signed by the magistrate on the paper on which President’s name was spelt out as Abdul Pakir Jainulabidil without having his last name Kalam, Chief Justice’s name as Vishavanath Khare (correct name is Visheshwar Nath Khare), Justice B.P. Singh’s name as Bishveshwar Prasad Singh. The warrant order also included the name of well known senior advocate Rajendera Kumar Jain, the petition said. Salve told the Bench that the original video film prepared by Zee’s reporter on the episode and other related documents, had been deposited with the apex court Registry. He also informed the court that the TV channel had decided against the telecast of the episode before bringing it to the court’s notice. Zee, which also had named three local lawyers - Harish Bhawaniwala, Narender Chaudhary and Iqbal Katia - alleged that the trio had fixed a Rs 40,000 deal with its reporter, who carried the “sting operation” and had requested them that he wanted arrest warrants
against four persons, who were his “business rivals”. Apparently, the reporter had not revealed the names of the persons against whom he wanted the warrants to the lawyers, who acted as middlemen. Salve said the warrants issued by the magistrate were “bailable” and the lawyers who negotiated the deal, had told the reporter that if he wanted “non-bailable warrant” then he would have to pay a higher amount. The Nazir of the magistrate’s court had also charged Rs 2,000 for giving certified copy of the arrest warrant containing the names of the President, Chief Justice of India, a judge of the apex court and advocate R.K. Jain on January 15.
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Pong dam oustees’ case transferred to
HP High Court New Delhi, January 28 A Bench of Mr Justice S. Rajendra Babu and Mr Justice G.
P. Mathur ordered the transfer of the case to high court in view of the fact that a majority of the affected families were staying back in the state instead of moving to the Indira Gandhi Canal area in Rajasthan, where they were to be settled. The high court will look into the question of the issuing of eligibility certificates to the uprooted families by the Himachal Pradesh Government, allotment of land by Rajasthan and creation of infrastructure facilities like drinking water supply, healthcare, roads and education in the resettlement localities. The apex court said the state high court would also look into the action taken in this regard by a committee comprising the Union Power Secretary, chief secretaries of Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, set up on its order earlier to ensure a solution to the problem. The order was passed on the petitions by two oustees organisations - the Pradesh Pong Bandh Visthapit Samiti and the Himachal Pong Dam Oustees Welfare Committee - jointly through their counsel Vikram Mahajan. Mr Mahajan told the court that the oustees had been suffering for the past 40 years due to the apathy of the authorities in the two states . The oustees’ organisations had alleged that out of th16,352 eligible families, land had been allotted only to 2,538 in the Indira Gandhi canal area of Rajasthan while allotments of 6,658 others had been cancelled. Many of the families had not even been issued ECs by the Himachal Pradesh Government, they had alleged. |
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Sketches of Manish’s assailants released Lucknow, January 28 State Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Bua Singh here said the computer sketches were released by the investigating teams involved in the probe, into the incident in which PM’s grandnephew Manish Mishra was thrown out of a train in Mathura. To speed up the investigation, four special teams had been set up under Agra DIG, he said adding that these teams had been sent to Meerut and other places in western UP to get hold of the culprits. The computer sketches have been made on the version of Shivram and Rakesh, friends of Manish, who had seen the culprits. Rakesh was critically injured in the incident. Besides the UP Police, the Railways is also holding an inquiry into the incident. Meanwhile, state Governor Vishnukant Shastri today reviewed the progress made in the investigation and directed the officials to apprehend the culprits at the earliest. The Principal Secretary (Home) Anil Kumar briefed Mr Shastri at Raj Bhavan about the progress made in the case. —
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LS session from today New Delhi, January 28 The reconvened Winter Session is scheduled to go on till February 5 to pass vote-on-account (Railways and General) 2004-05 and the Finance Bill, 2004, and other exigencies of the government business. The Vajpayee government has already recommended to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to dissolve the Lok Sabha on February 6, a day after the session ends. While the Congress President Sonia Gandhi has written to the President on the “serious constitutional impropriety” committed by the government, the party’s spokesman S Jaipal Reddy has said that the main Opposition would expose the “misdeeds” of the ruling coalition. The Lok Sabha is expected to be adjourned tomorrow after condoling the death of a sitting CPI member Bhan Singh Bhaura from Bathinda in Punjab and two other former members. |
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Indian chicken vulnerable to bird flu, says Maneka New Delhi, January 28 Assessing the risk of a possible spread of bird flu to India following its outbreak in some South East Asian countries, Ms Gandhi said Indian chicken regularly suffer from flu as they are kept badly in poultries. “Bird flu has to come to India because all poultry farm owners don’t follow norms laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to prevent epidemics. Non-adherence to norms related to proper maintenance and hygiene had led to the disease in Hongkong, Thailand and Taiwan.” The government has imposed a ban on poultry imports from countries having confirmed cases of bird flu and constant surveillance of imports of poultry especially GP stock. It further issued guidelines to all states to immediately stop the entry of new birds in the flock from outside sources and from sources of unknown disease status. Among a series of preventive measures, the government has asked the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly and all regional laboratories to test the samples in case of any major outbreak of
suspected bird flu poultry disease. Kanpur (UNI): Reports of the bird flu epidemic spreading rapidly across South East Asia and even in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi has led to a drastic 20 per cent fall in the sale of chickens in this industrial city. According to a leading dealer in meat products, Javed Ahmed, even though there has been no case of bird flu reported from India, the scare has kept many non-vegetarians away from buying chickens. The rate of chicken has also come down from Rs 40 per kg to 35 per kg in the wholesale market during the past two days but he attributed this to the upcoming Eid-ul-Zuha festival. Similarly the sale of eggs has also been affected in the city with egg dealers saying that the prices of eggs have come down from Rs 380 for a case of 210 eggs to Rs 325 per case during the past three days. Kanpur has maximum supply of eggs from Hyderabad. |
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Sonia’s origin issue no longer relevant, says Mulayam New Delhi, January 28 Mr Yadav, who had thrown a spanner in Sonia Gandhi’s plans to become Prime Minister in 1999 by raking up her origins, told reporters today that the matter was settled once the High Court and the Supreme court gave their verdict. Ruling out any support to the BJP in the post-poll scenario, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister told reporters, adding that suggestions were the “worst political abuse” for his party. In an apparent attempt to
embarrass the Congress which is planning to have an alliance with the BSP, Yadav, while talking to reporters here, said there was no difference between the Mayawati-led party, which is an arch rival of the SP, and the BJP as the two parties had tied up thrice. Mr Yadav took a dim view of Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi entering active politics and the possibility of their contesting from Uttar Pradesh. He said the recent bypoll results showed that his party was growing from strength to strength. Sticking to his stand not to be part of any front, he said that he was not a candidate for Prime Ministership but remained non-committal on whether he would run for the Lok Sabha. —
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Sonia looks up to troika New Delhi, January 28 Although General Secretary Ambika Soni is still considered close to the party President, Ms Soni has been keeping a low profile after the Congress was defeated in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, which were under her charge. Ever since it became apparent that the Lok Sabha poll are to be advanced, it is the troika of Mukherjee, Manmohan Singh and Patel which has emerged all-powerful in the Congress hierarchy. They are called upon to resolve
in-house problems, develop strategy for the coming elections and negotiate with potential allies. Former minister Pranab Mukherjee, the longest serving member of the Rajya Sabha is among the party’s key strategists. He headed the four-member committee entrusted with the task of analysing the recent Assembly results and suggesting remedial
measures. Most of the committee’s recommendations about Ms Gandhi personally taking the lead in building alliances, streamlining the party organisation and improving media management have been accepted and are being implemented. Mr Mukherjee is also the party’s main trouble-shooter and
negotiator. Recently, he was roped in at the last minute to assist Dr Manmohan Singh and Mr Patel to resolve the simmering crisis in the Punjab Congress in addition to dealing with the factionalism in the Kerala Congress. Former Finance Minister Manmohan Singh is also among Ms Gandhi’s trusted colleagues. He is on all important party panels, ranging from economic affairs to the manifesto committee. Recently, he was sent to Chennai to begin negotiations with DMK chief
M. Karunanidhi on seat sharing. According to a party insider, Ms Gandhi not only trusts Dr Manmohan Singh but also depends a lot on him. “He is, after all the party’s most credible
face. That’s why he was asked to talk to potential alliance partners ,” said a
senior party leader. Mr Ahmed Patel, Congress President’s political secretary, is the quintessential “low-key, backroom boy” for crisis management. Mr Patel may not be the party’s visible face but enjoys immense powers nevertheless. |
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Cong not to cajole Karunakaran New Delhi, January 28 In Kerala, veteran leader K.Karunakaran declared his intention to form a new party, while two ministers resigned from the government in Pondicherry in protest against the allocation of the lone Lok Sabha seat to the PMK. Yesterday, senior AICC leader K.Kannan quit the party for the same reason. Mr Kamal Nath, AICC general secretary in charge of Pondicherry, was rushed there to resolve the crisis. The party decided to take a stern view of Mr Karunakaran’s open defiance, but it stopped short of expelling him. The party made it clear that it would not make any further efforts to appease Mr Karunakaran, who has raised a banner of revolt to demand the removal of Kerala Chief Minister A.K. Antony. Senior leader Pranab Mukherjee said the AICC had no intention of getting in touch with the dissident leader to dissuade him from leaving the party. Mr Ahmed Patel, Congress president’s political secretary, however, indicated that the party was not averse to a patch-up if Mr Karunakaran took the initiative. “The party’s optimism stems from the fact that the KPCC chief and Mr Karunakaran’s son, Mr K. Muraleeddharan, has not supported his father and has told Mr Patel that he is “with the party.” Senior Congress leaders also believe there is a scope for a rapproachement since Mr Karunakaran has said he will make his final move in a week’s time. Describing Mr Karunakaran’s public declaration as “unfortunate”, a written statement read out by Mr Mukherjee maintained the party had made all efforts to accommodate his demands by giving him various options, but was unable to meet his demand as the CM enjoyed a majority in the legislature party. Mr Patel said Mr Karunakaran spoke to him this afternoon, expressing his unhappiness over the compromise formula suggested by the AICC panel. Mr Patel asked him to list out his demands. Mr Karunakaran promised to telephone him at night, but shortly after that he addressed a meeting of his supporters declaring his intention of forming a separate party. |
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HC orders release of Ikwinder’s body New Delhi, January 28 Justice C.K. Chaturvedi ordered the authorities concerned to release the body to Ikwinder’s fathter Karnail Singh from Safdarjung Hospital morturay after conducting the postmortem. The Custom and the hospital authorities had expressed their inability to release the body as it did not have the required documents, including the passport of the victim. The petition for seeking the body of his daughter was filed by Ikwinder’s father through Lok Bhalaai Party (LBP) president and advocate Balwant Singh
Ramoowalia. |
Sardar
Sarovar dam height to be raised Mumbai, January 28 However, the government will not forward its consent to the Narmada Control Authority till it completes the rehabilitation of all the oustees, Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters at a post-cabinet briefing. Mr Shinde said the government took the decision in view of the fact that Maharashtra will get power from the SSP. If the dam height is increased to the proposed 110.64
metres, it would result in more people being displaced from their present place of residence and their
rehabilitation could take at least three to four months, he noted. —
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2 Pondicherry ministers quit Pondicherry, January 28 Addressing a joint press conference here, the duo said they had submitted their resignation letters at the Chief Minister’s Office and added that they would announce the reason for their resignation tomorrow. —
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Fedotov for trilateral cooperation New Delhi, January 28 |
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Army officer does HP proud New Delhi, January 28 He is the Director General of Assam Rifles, the oldest paramilitary force of the nation, since March 1, 2003. Born in Amlehar in Una district, Lieutenant-General Kanwar fought the 1965 and 1971 wars. A graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, he is an alumnus of the prestigious Royal College of Defence Studies in the UK. —
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J&K HC Chief Justice
New Delhi, January 28 |
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