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SIT
quizzes Bhujbal’s nephew again Indian
surgeons repair Pak baby’s heart
HC
seeks ‘India Shining’ details from EC First
phase of poll after April 17: EC Congress drafts Jogi for North-East
campaign |
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JD (U),
BJP leaders meet on seat sharing Arjun,
Digvijay lash out at Vajpayee govt CPI may
field Bhowra’s wife from Bathinda 5
security men killed in blast RAW
never shared information with ISI, says govt Hurriyat demand not threat: Swami
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SIT quizzes Bhujbal’s nephew again Mumbai, February 25 Sameer, who reached the Worli office of the SIT at 11:45 am along with his friends, was questioned for the second time by senior officials of the team in connection with the scam SIT sources said. A little distance away from the office, Sameer’s supporters, believed to be NCP workers, raised slogans in his support and tried to approach Worli office of the SIT. However, they were stopped by the police, they said. Sachin Ahir, MLA, who led the demonstrators, said he “doubted” the intentions of the SIT to call Sameer for questioning at a time when elections are approaching. He alleged that the SIT was “deviating” from the “mandate” it had got from the High Court. The MLA said the SIT was creating suspicion by not summoning former Chief Ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh (Congress) and Narayan Rane (Shiv Sena) for questioning in the fake stamp paper scam. Sameer, who actively helps his uncle Chhagan Bhujbal in political activities, is reportedly a close friend of multi-millionaire Antim Totla of Jalgaon, who was targeted by the Opposition for sponsoring the Bangalore trip of Congress-NCP legislators in 2001 when the government was on the verge of a split. Totla had denied the charge but admitted that he was close to many politicians. Meanwhile, Chhagan Bhujbal will appear before the SIT on March 2.
— PTI |
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Indian surgeons repair Pak baby’s heart New Delhi, February 25 The 14-member delegation led by Dr Farzana Nazir, Parliamentary Secretary, Health, is here to participate in a conference ‘Healthcare: Destination India’. The conference has been organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries. Dr K.S. Iyer, Senior Consultant, Paediatric Cardiac Surgery, who led the team during the six-hour-long operation said the boy underwent a surgery for repair of the condition. He said Scimitar Syndrome was a very rare, complex congenital heart problem. Dr Iyer said the child was operated four days after admission and was in the intensive care unit for about a week before being moved to the ward. “The child had to undergo surgery for permanent repair of the condition. It is hopefully fixed for life although he will have to come back for review.” he said. Dr Iyer has earlier operated on two Indian children suffering from the same disease. He said treatment for this condition, including routine investigation, surgery and hospital stay, would cost anything between Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 lakh. In this case, the hospital gave a concession to the parents to “lend a helping hand.” |
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HC seeks ‘India Shining’ details from EC New Delhi, February 25 A Bench comprising Chief Justice B. C. Patel and Mr Justice Badar Durez Ahmed directed the commission to submit the material by March 3, while hearing two public interest litigations challenging the government action. The court, however, declined to issue notice to the government at this stage. Seeking immediate ban on the campaign, the petitioners, the Unemployed Youth Unity Movement and advocate Chanchal Thakur, also sought a direction to the government to submit complete statement of expenses incurred by it on the “India Shining” advertisements. They alleged that the campaign was motivated by electoral interests of the ruling NDA alliance and the government was misusing public funds for projecting its image just before the poll. The petitioners had named the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister, the Planning Commission, the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity, the Election Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor-General as respondents. |
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First phase of poll after April 17: EC New Delhi, February 25 Briefing newspersons here, Deputy Election Commissioner A. N. Jha said the school buildings, which were used for elections, were one of the important factors in deciding the poll schedule and the examinations were ending around April 16/17 in some states. Indications are that the election would be held in four phases. Replying to a question, Mr Jha said the commission had also received requests from some states for holding bypoll in some Assembly constituencies. He said the commission was trying to set up “helplines”, particularly in urban areas, for the benefit of voters to know about the constituency and the polling station. “These will be set up for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections”, Mr Jha said while adding that in Delhi such an arrangement was existing and this would be augmented substantially. Asked whether the Commission would enter into tie-up with some mobile phone companies to send SMS messages to voters, he said the commission was trying to work it out but at present it would be landline based. To a question that voters in Jammu and Kashmir would be provided with special security identity cards made by Nashik Security Press, he said nearly 55 per cent of the voters had already been given such cards and the new cards would also be on the same line. |
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Congress drafts Jogi for North-East
campaign New Delhi, February 25 Mr Jogi was informed in writing by AICC General Secretary Oscar Fernandes on Tuesday about the party’s decision to draft him for the campaign. The defeated Chief Minister was suspended soon after the Assembly elections when caught in a sting operation where he reportedly gave money and a letter of support to a splinter group of BJP legislators. Although party spokesperson Salman Khursheed clarified that this move had no bearing on the party’s earlier
decision suspending Mr Jogi, Congress insiders maintained it was only a matter of time before that order is revoked. Mr Jogi has been lobbying with senior Congress leaders, and had even met Mr Ahmed Patel two days ago, seeking his re-admission into the party. His supporters had even threatened to float a regional outfit if Mr Jogi’s suspension was not revoked. The official position, as explained by Mr
Khursheed, is that Mr Jogi had offered to campaign in the North-East and the party, after considerable thought, had accepted his offer. “There is no decision on his suspension,” he
declared, stating that the disciplinary action committee is looking into the matter and is yet to give its report. Mr Khursheed also explained that the party constitution barred a suspended member from holding a party position but not from
campaigning. Party secretary Jairam Ramesh cited the precedent of senior leader Pranab Mukherjee, who was suspended from the party in 1988 but was asked to campaign in Tripura in a subsequent election. By involving Mr Jogi in the election campaign in the North-East, the party has ensured that he is far away from his home state where he could have created problems for the Congress in the coming elections. There is a section in the party which has been pressing for the revocation of his suspension on the plea that he had apologised for his mistake. |
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JD (U), BJP leaders meet on seat sharing New Delhi, February 25 Mr Fernandes and his colleagues — Nitish Kumar, Sharad Yadav and Digvijay Singh — discussed the political environment in the three states. As the JD (U) fancied its chances in Bihar, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, Mr Fernandes and others underlined the need for
fine-tuning their combined strategy and working out seat adjustments. The contours of the BJP-JD (U) alliance was discussed at some length at the meeting, lasting an hour. Official sources said the meeting, specially sought by Mr Fernandes and the Prime Minister was assisted by Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu. Mr Sharad Yadav drew pointed attention to the situation in Karnataka, where the Congress government had decided to have simultaneous Assembly elections. Karnataka is a crucial southern state and considering the splintered political environment among various factions of the JD, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda has been striving for unity. Mr Gowda wants to see the back of the Congress. The BJP believes moves in this direction will bolster its chances in Karnataka, considering the predelictions of the dominant Lingayat community. Mr Naidu and the JD (U) chief will fix the dates for the meeting to put the seal of approval on the seat-sharing
arrangements in the three states. BJP strategists are aware of being faced with a rather delicate situation in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Though former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh’s return to the BJP has provided a fresh shot in the arm to the party, it will like to pursue arrangements which can help it. The JD (U) is considering contesting 25 out of the 40 seats in Bihar and between three and five seats in Uttar Pradesh. |
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Arjun, Digvijay lash out at Vajpayee govt Bhopal, February 25 The veteran party leader, Mr Arjun Singh, a former Lok Sabha member from Guna, Mr Jyotiraditya Scindia, former Chief Minister, Mr Digvijay Singh, the AICC general secretary in charge of Madhya Pradesh Mr
P.R. Dasmunshi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Ms Jamuna Devi, and the PCC president, Mr Subhash Yadav, participated in the rally. Mr Digvijay Singh ridiculed the “feel good” factor, alleging that the sufferings of the middle classes had increased in the past five years. “The only person to have been influenced by Vajpayee’s ‘feel good’ factor was my brother Laxman Singh. Till a week ago, he was talking of inviting Priyanka to contest from Rajgarh. I don’t know what happened in the past one week”, he said. While Mr Digvijay Singh alleged that the government of Ms Uma Bharati was being controlled and guided by the RSS-VHP-Bajrang Dal elements, Mr Arjun Singh had a scathing attack on the “mascot government” at the Centre. |
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CPI may field Bhowra’s wife from Bathinda New Delhi, February 25 CPI General Secretary A.B. Bardhan said the party would finalise names of candidates for at least eight states after its Central Secretariat meeting tomorrow. In Punjab, the party is sure of recontesting the Bathinda seat, which was held by the late Bhan Singh Bhowra. Insiders say the party may consider fielding Bhowra’s wife, Kaushalya, for the Bathinda seat. The state executive which met in Ludhiana had recommended her name and urged the leadership to recognise her contribution to the party. Dr Joginder Dayal, Secretary, Punjab unit, said they were convinced of Ms Bhowra’s leadership skills. There are indications that the party is inclined to field candidates for the Amritsar and Jalandhar seats. The party plans to contest in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh. |
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5 security men killed in blast Kolkata, February 25 The condition of several other police personnel and BSF jawans is stated to be critical. During the attack, the PWG activists blasted two land mines and blew up the jeep which was carrying at least 12 policemen and the jawans. This was the third attack on the police party in the past two months in the tribal-infested Bengal-Bihar-Orissa border where the PWG and the Jana Judha Gosti had been active. |
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RAW never shared information with ISI, says govt New Delhi, February 25 The reports had said that the RAW had come upon communication intercepts which suggested ‘jehadi’ outfits of Pakistan were plotting to make yet another bid on General Musharraf’s life and RAW chief C. D. Sahay had shared this information with his ISI counterpart Gen Ehsan ul Haq. These reports also claimed that the RAW and the ISI “have begun collaborating”. The Ministry of External Affairs issued a terse statement rubbishing these reports. The statement said: “Government’s attention has been drawn to press reports which have appeared today, describing some alleged communications between the RAW and the ISI. These reports are baseless.” |
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Hurriyat demand not threat: Swami New Delhi, February 25 Talking to The Tribune, he said the leaders of the Hurriyat are as much concerned about human rights violations as is the Centre. “So, I do not see their concern as a threat or as a challenge,” Mr Swami said, adding that Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani had recently convened a meeting of heads of para-military forces and the Army after the incidents in Bandipore and Tral. He said the meeting discussed the human rights violation by security forces in the strife torn state and measures to improve it. Assuring that the situation on the human rights front would improve in the coming days, the Minister of State for Home expressed the optimism that the Hurriyat leaders would take part in the second round of discussion with the Deputy Prime Minister. |
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Haryana
Excise Officer’s transfer stayed New Delhi, February 25 A Bench, comprising Mr Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Mr Justice B.N. Srikrishna, said: “The order whereby the petitioner has been shifted from Gurgaon to Chandigarh shall not be implemented by the government for three months”. Gupta’s transfer was stayed after his counsel alleged that the officer was being harassed and had been placed under suspension in a false bribery case after he had imposed a fine on a truck owner for evading excise duty. |
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