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Bangalore IIM sees fee-cut decision as interference USA planting WMDs in Iraq? Nominations for final phase
open today Congress in dilemma on
ties with Mulayam Varun Gandhi not to campaign in Amethi, Rae Bareli Advani sees
pro-NDA wave |
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BJP names candidates for four Haryana seats New Delhi, April 15 After adopting a wait-and-watch approach for over a fortnight, the BJP today announced its candidates for four Lok Sabha seats — Rohtak, Kurukshetra, Bhiwani and Sirsa (SC) — of the five remaining seats in Haryana, while keeping the decision pending on Hisar constituency.
Sibal to contest from Chandni Chowk UP Govt submits report on stampede to EC One held in PMT paper leak case Normal monsoon this year also, says Met Dept Centre, NLFT announce ceasefire
Defence team returns from Germany, Romania Jogi develops chest infection Visva Bharati official held in medal theft case Panic in SC over ‘bomb-like’ object POTA court dismisses Vaiko’s petition
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Bangalore IIM sees fee-cut decision as interference New Delhi, April 15 IIM Bangalore’s Director Prakash Apte in an affidavit filed in the apex court, however, said no decision had been taken by the institute’s governing board about accepting the government decision. This stand of the IIM, Bangalore, was contrary to the government counsel’s statement before the court during a previous hearing that except Ahmedabad all other five business schools had agreed to the ministry’s decision to reduce the fee from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 30,000 per annum. Only IIM, Ahmedabad, and IIM, Bangalore, have had so far filed replies to the notice of the apex court, which will resume hearing on the controversial issue tomorrow. Though the IIM, Calcutta, has yet to submit its reply, its faculty in an application filed in the court has sought to restrain the government from implementing the decision, contending that it “tend to interfere with the autonomy of the IIMs”. The Lucknow, Indore and Kozhikode business schools were yet to submit replies. The IIM, Bangalore, in its affidavit said at a recent meeting of its governing body “no consensus” was reached on the fee cut issue and a resolution was passed by it, authorising the Chairman to take the decision. The Chairman, while preserving a status quo on the fee structure, has referred the matter to the parent society, the affidavit said, adding that “as of now, there is no decision on adherence to the order issued by the government.” The Bangalore business school has also suggested that the fee amount over and above the Rs 30,000 should be deposited in a separate account till the issue is resolved. Accusing the government of “persisting in reducing the autonomy of the institute by various means”, the IIM, Bangalore, said if the ministry’s decision was implemented it would discourage donation by private institutions. The IIM, Ahmedabad, in its affidavit, filed earlier, had submitted that it would continue to collect Rs 1.58 lakh as annual fee from each student for the 2004-05 academic session, of which Rs 30,000 would be
retained in the balance sheet and the remaining amount of Rs 1.28 lakh would be kept in the “no-lien bank account”. |
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USA planting WMDs in Iraq? New Delhi, April 15 Mehra News Agency (MNA) in its April 12 despatch from Basra (Iraq) said the White House in cooperation with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had directly asked the Defence Department to hide these WMDs. “Given the recent scandals to the effect that the US President was privy to the 9/11 plot, they might try to immediately announce the discovery of WMDs in Iraq in order to overshadow the scandals and prevent a further decline of Mr Bush’s public opinion rating as the election approaches,” the MNA reported. “An Iraqi source close to the Basra Governor’s office told the MNA that the new information shows that a large part of the WMD, which was secretly brought to southern and western Iraq over the past month, are in containers falsely labelled as containers of the Maeresk shipping company and some consignments bearing the labels of organisations such as the Red Cross or the USAID in order to disguise them as relief shipments,” the news report said. It further said, quoting the unnamed Iraqi source, that Iraqi officials, including forces loyal to the Iraqi Governing Council stationed in southern Iraq, had been forbidden from inspecting or supervising the transportation of these consignments and the occupation forces had ordered Iraqi officials to forward any questions on the issue to the coalition forces. “A source close to the council said, “In the meantime many suspect containers disguised as fuel supplies have been moved about by some units of the US special forces. The move has been carried out under heavy security measures. Also, there are unofficial reports that the containers held biological and bacteriological toxins in liquid form. It is possible that the news about the discovery of the WMDs would be announced later,” the MNA news report said. |
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Nominations for final phase open
today New Delhi, April 15 Simultaneously, filing of nominations also starts on Friday for the Assembly elections to the 32-member Sikkim legislature. The President will issue the notification for the Lok Sabha polling, while the Sikkim Governor will notify the Assembly poll in his state. While April 23 is the last date for the filing of nominations, the scrutiny will take place the next day and April 26 is the last date for the withdrawal of candidature. Originally, voting was scheduled in 182 Lok Sabha constituencies on May 10, but the Election Commission advanced the poll in Andaman and Nicobar islands to the first phase on April 20, following representations citing the onset of monsoon. The states that will have voting in the final phase are Uttar Pradesh (18 of 80 seats), Haryana (all 10 seats), Himachal Pradesh (all four), Jammu and Kashmir (two of six), Kerala (all 20), Madhya Pradesh (17 of 29), Punjab (all 13), Tamil Nadu (all 39), West Bengal (all 42), Uttaranchal (all five), Delhi (all seven) and Sikkim, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. Polling in the elections to the Lok Sabha and four Assemblies (the other states being Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Orissa) is being held in five phases — April 20, 22 and 26 and May 5 and 10. The counting of votes will be done on May 13, except in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections for which the counting will be taken up on May 11. |
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Congress in dilemma on
ties with Mulayam New Delhi, April 15 Congress sources said there is a clear division in the party leadership on the issue. Consequently, the matter is debated endlessly at internal meetings as leaders present their differing viewpoints but no final decision emerges. It is learnt that senior CWC leaders like Pranab Mukherjee, Manmohan Singh and Ahmed Patel have been arguing that the Congress should not snap ties with the Samajwadi Party as it might just have to do business with Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav in the post-poll scenario. This argument is based on the assumption that no party will get a clear mandate in the upcoming election. It also assumes that the Congress will get a substantial number of seats on the basis of which it might be able to compel the Samajwadi Party to join hands with it. At the same time, the Congress does not want to be blamed for pulling out of a “secular government” and thus risk the alienation of the minorities. On the flip side, CWC members like Arjun Singh, Salman Khursheed and Birendra Singh point that Mr Yadav is an undependable ally, who formed his government with BJP’s tacit support. The “anti-Mulayam” group maintains that irrespective of Mr Yadav’s anti-BJP rhetoric, he would have no qualms about bailing out the NDA in case he is required to do so. They further argue that the minorities in Uttar Pradesh are aware of a SP-BJP secret pact and are open to supporting the Congress. But, by continuing its support to the Mulayam Singh Yadav government, the Congress is only confusing the minorities. In fact,this group wants the Congress to break off with the Samajwadi Party at the earliest. According to them, the Congress candidates will be handicapped in attacking Mulayam Singh Yadav while the party is supporting his government. “What we are witnessing in Uttar Pradesh today is nothing but politics of dilemma,” remarked a senior Congress leader. This, it was stated, is obvious from the party’s confused approach to the SP-led government. One day, senior leader Arjun Singh indicated in Lucknow that the Congress would soon pull out of the UP government. This was followed by a denial and an appeal to the Samajwadi Party that it support the Congress efforts in bringing together secular forces. When this appeal was rebuffed, Congress leaders indicated that once the parties declare their candidates and the campaign gets under way, it would be an opportune time to take that final step. Even today, the Congress is raising questions about the Mulayam Singh Yadav government’s role in the handling of the Lucknow stampede case but is unable to carry its attack to the logical end. The first round of polling in Uttar Pradesh is slated for April 26 but the dilemma in the Congress is yet to be resolved. While the party campaign is suffering precisely due to this confusion, there is also a view that it might be too late to pull out. |
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Varun Gandhi not to campaign in Amethi, Rae Bareli Raipur, April 15 Mr Gandhi, who was here to campaign for BJP candidates in Raipur and Mahasamund, said Amethi was a constituency represented by his father. “When I joined the BJP, I had emphasised that family had its own place. I have an emotional link with Amethi. At that time I did not know that Congress President Sonia Gandhi will contest from Rai Bareli,” he said. Answering questions, Mr Gandhi, however, said the foreign origin was an important issue in the Lok Sabha elections. Asked if he considered the BJP secular, Mr Gandhi said the definition of secularism acquired different meanings with changing times. “It also means equal respect for all sections and their empowerment, which is being done by the BJP.” He said today’s Congress was different from the Congress which had fought for country’s freedom. “At that time, the Congress was the symbol of nationalism. Now it is the BJP.” |
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Advani sees
pro-NDA wave New Delhi, April 15 “In the past six years of the Vajpayee government, I have seen a perceptible pro-incumbency wave in favour of the
NDA,” Mr Advani told newspersons, a day after concluding his 8,540-km-long yatra which lasted 33 days and passed through 128 constituencies in 14 states. A high level of public satisfaction was clearly visible, the Deputy Prime Minister said, adding that a “universal appreciation” about the government’s performance was seen during his yatra that ended in Puri last evening. Mr Advani claimed that his Bharat Uday Yatra had succeeded in creating a movement in favour of good governance and development. Speaking on the changing attitude of minorities towards the BJP, Mr Advani said, “A large section of the minorities have concluded that ‘hate mongering’ by the Congress and some other parties is absolutely baseless”. “Earlier also incumbent governments have been voted back to power but because of circumstances like the 1971 war,” Mr Advani explained. “It is for the first time that the pro-incumbency wave is not due to any situational factor but because of the performance of the government,” he pointed out. The yatra, he said, had provided him the opportunity of seeing the stark contrast in development as he passed through 128 Lok Sabha constituencies, but he found that the urge for development united the whole country. In reply to a question, Mr Advani denied that any leader of the party had raised the Bofors issue in this election. |
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BJP names candidates for four Haryana seats New Delhi, April 15 The BJP has decided to field Capt Abhimanyu Singh, a relative of Union Minister Sahib Singh Verma, to challenge Congress Legislative Party leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Rohtak. Senior BJP leader and former Haryana minister Ram Bilas Sharma has been fielded from the Bhiwani constituency, where a fierce contest is on the cards with Mr Ajay Chautala, elder son of Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, contesting as the INLD candidate and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal’s son Kuldeep Bishnoi being the Congress nominee. A former MP and MLA and presently the vice-president of the BJP’s Haryana unit, Mr Gurdayal Singh Saini, has been fielded from the Kurukshetra constituency, from where Haryana Chief Minister’s younger son Abhay Chautala is the INLD nominee. In the Sirsa (SC) constituency, the BJP has decided to field Mr Mahabir Parshad, son of former Haryana minister Peer Chand, alias Pilu Ram. Former MLA Atma Singh Gill is the Congress nominee from the reserved seat. BJP general secretary M.A. Naqvi said the candidate for the Hisar constituency would be declared shortly. Meanwhile, the BJP also announced its candidates for the Darjeeling and Birbhum constituencies in West Bengal. Dr G.S. Yonzonl has been fielded from Darjeeling and Mr Arjun Saha from Birbhum. The party will also announce its candidates for the Amritsar constituency in Punjab and the Chandni Chowk seat in Delhi soon, Mr Naqvi said. |
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Dharmendra, Buta Singh file papers
Jaipur, April 15 Dharmendra filed his nomination for the Bikaner seat against Congress’ Rameshwar Duddi. Buta Singh filed his papers for the Jalore (reserved) seat where he faces Sushila Devi, wife of former BJP President Bangaru Laxman. Among others who filed their papers were Ved Prakash (Cong) in Bharatpur, Kailash Meghwal, Raghu Veer Singh Kaushal and Srichand Kriplani, BJP sitting MPs from Tonk, Kota and Chittorgarh seats, respectively, Sriram Gotewala (NCP) from Jaipur and Habibur
Rehman (Cong) from Ajmer. The scrutiny of nomination papers will take place tomorrow and the last date of withdrawal is April 18.
PTI |
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Sibal to contest from Chandni Chowk New Delhi, April 15 In addition, the party’s Central Election Committee, headed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, also cleared the name of Sandeep Dixit, son of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit from east Delhi and former Lok Sabha MP Sajjan Kumar from outer Delhi. The party had already announced its candidates for the other four Lok Sabha constituencies of Delhi. However, the names for these three seats were held up as different groups within the party were pitching for their respective candidates. While Sajjan Kumar will take on BJP leader and Union Minister Sahib Singh in outer Delhi, Sandeep Dixit will be facing Lal Bihari Tiwari, BJP MP in the dissolved Lok Sabha. Mr Sajjan Kumar is returning to electoral politics after a long gap as he had been denied a ticket in successive polls since 1984 following his alleged involvement in the anti-Sikh riots which followed Mrs Indira Gandhi’s assassination. Defending the party’s decision to field Sajjan Kumar, Congress spokesperson Kapil Sibal said several commissions of enquiry had been set up to probe the riots but there had been no court order against Mr Sajjan Kumar or Mr Jagdish Tytler, who was also named in the riots case. “Since the administration has not found anything against them, we cannot keep them out in the cold endlessly,” he added. |
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UP Govt submits report on stampede to EC New Delhi, April 15 The commission today transferred three senior officials of Uttar Pradesh for violating the Model Code of Conduct. The three officers are the Inspector-General of Kanpur, Mr V.K. Verma, DIG, Agra, Mr P.C. Yadav, and Kanpur (city) ADM, Mr O.N. Singh. The sources said all three members of the EC would be in the Capital tomorrow and they would deliberate on the report prepared by the state government, Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh and the officials sent by the EC to assess the situation. The transfer of Uttar Pradesh officials, EC sources said, were ordered on the basis of complaints received by the commission that they were favouring certain candidates and violating the spirit of the Model Code of Conduct. The commission also asked the Uttar Pradesh Government not to give any work to PWD senior official Chander Pal Singh as his wife is contesting elections from the Hatras parliamentary constituency. The Uttar Pradesh Government informed the commission about the compliance of its earlier order on the transfer of Pratapgarh SP S.P. Singh and Additional SP Shiv Shankar Singh. |
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One held in PMT paper leak case New Delhi, April 15 Kuldip Tyagi, who runs a school in Ghaziabad, was picked up by a Crime Branch team from the UP town after investigations revealed that he had helped main accused Ranjit Verma, police sources told PTI. Ranjit and two other associates had allegedly used Tyagi’s premises in Ghaziabad to prepare answers to the questions on April 10, hours before the leak was detected, the sources said. Ranjit had brought two teachers from coaching centres to mark the correct answers to the physics, chemistry, biology and zoology papers of the All-India Pre-Medical Entrance Examination. Tyagi was being questioned about the whereabouts of Ranjit, his brother Satinder and Bhani Singh Gautam, the sources said adding the police expected crucial information from him.
— PTI |
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Normal monsoon this year also, says Met Dept New Delhi, April 15 Last year’s good rains with an average of 102 per cent of long period average resulted in 8 per cent growth in the country’s economy, the IMD chief, Dr S.K. Srivastav said. He said, “This year our scientific model has given the rare figure of 100 per cent of the average rainfall for the monsoon.” However, probable date of the monsoon hitting the country would be known by the second or third week of May, he said. The forecast this year indicated that south and north interiors of Karnataka and Kerala, which had consecutive droughts during the past two years, would have normal rains this year, he said. In 2002-03 when the country experienced one of its worst drought agriculture experienced a negative growth rate of 3.2 per cent. However, the third quarter of the current fiscal itself, the agriculture sector witnessed 16.9 per cent and the foodgrains production this year is likely to cross previous peak performance of 212.02 million tonnes. Further, the oilseeds production in the country is expected to touch a record level of 24.9 million tonnes. During a normal monsoon the country gets a rainfall of 88 cm. Last year the country had received 102 per cent of this normal figure, Mr Srivastava said. There are only meagre chances of rainfall being below normal, he said, adding that the probability of rainfall being deficient i.e less than 90 per cent of long period average (LPA) is only 4 per cent. |
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Centre, NLFT announce ceasefire New Delhi, April 15 A four-member delegation of the NLFT (Nayanbasi) and NLFT (Montu Koloi) met Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani here today. A Union Home Ministry spokesperson said the “ground rules for the suspension of operations and resolving matters relating to the rehabilitation of cadres would be worked out by the Ministry of Home Affairs in conjunction with the Tripura Government and in consultation with the representatives of the two NLFT factions and the process has started from today”. The spokesperson said, it was a matter of satisfaction that the two factions of the NLFT had come forward for a peace dialogue with the Centre. The peace talks would be preceded by the suspension of operations, he added. |
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Defence team returns from Germany, Romania New Delhi, April 15 While in Germany, the delegation discussed a number of subjects related to regional security, defence and industrial cooperation and military training. In Romania, the delegation held talks on a number of defence matters. The Indian delegation also visited the Aerostar Aircraft Factory at Bacao in Romania. The delegation held talks with Romanian Deputy Minister of National Defence as well as Secretaries of Defence and Commerce on the possibilities of industry-level cooperation between the two countries. The defence delegation comprised Vice-Chief of Army Staff, Lieut-Gen Santanu Chaudhury, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, Vice-Admiral Raman Puri and Assistant Chief of Air Staff Air Vice Marshal K.D. Singh. |
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Jogi develops chest infection Mumbai, April 15 “He is fairly stable and we are helping him out with suction to get rid of the extra fluid in the lungs and also giving support for breathing,” Dr Deopujari of Bombay Hospital said. He would continue to be in the ICU for some more time as he had developed chest infection, Deopujari said adding that doctors had yesterday planned to shift him out of ICU.
— PTI |
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Visva Bharati official held in medal theft case Santiniketan, April 15 With this, three arrests were made in the lock-break case. The police said Mohapatra was earlier detained for interrogation after being named by the two other arrested — Sunil Dutta and Gopal Bagdi — as “an instigator in the crime”. Both Dutta and Bagdi named three Visva Bharati officials as having “instigated and provoked” them to break the lock.
— PTI |
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Panic in SC over ‘bomb-like’ object New Delhi, April 15 The PCR staff after reaching the Supreme Court library building recovered three small transistors and a damaged TV remote which reportedly belonged to an advocate K.M.M. Khan. The police said Mr Khan accepted that the ‘goods’ belonged to him and he had brought them to get them repaired. “It would be premature to say anything as of now unless we get some concrete details. Based on his information a joint interrogation is on to ascertain if there is any foul play,” said the police. Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Ajay Chaudhury said Mr Khan is working in section 21 and had brought the objects this morning to the court to get them repaired in the evening after finishing his work in the court. |
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POTA court dismisses Vaiko’s petition Chennai, April 15 The Review Committee, headed by Mr Justice Arun B. Saharya, had in its April 8 ruling, directed the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary to take suitable steps forthwith, including giving instructions to the Public Prosecutor of the POTA court, to seek appropriate orders from the court in accordance with the law.
— UNI |
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