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No shift in
foreign policy No move to oust
Jaya, says DMK
Split verdict: Gowda meets
Sonia Gandhi Shinde feels the
heat in Maharashtra Uma asks Gaur to
hold fort |
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Trial court order
quashed in Bofors case Action under
ceiling Act upheld Post-result CBSE
helpline for students Man gets jail for
possessing shahtoosh shawls Gastroenteritis
claims three lives Author of
Shivaji book gets relief
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No shift
in foreign policy New Delhi, May 23 Firm indications to this effect were given this evening by the just-installed Manmohan Singh government and also corroborated by the Common Minimum Programme (CMP - Draft II). Political and diplomatic sources in the new government told The Tribune today that the new government was in favour of maintaining continuity in foreign policy, especially in relations with Pakistan, China and the USA. Also, according to the second draft of the CMP: “The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government will give highest priority to building closer political, economic and other ties with its neighbours in South Asia. Dialogue with Pakistan on all issues will be pursued systematically and on a sustained basis.... Trade and investment with China will be expanded further and talks on the border issue pursued seriously.... The UPA government will maintain the independence of India’s foreign policy stance on all regional and global issues even as it pursues closer strategic and economic engagement with the USA.” The draft of the CMP has confirmed that the Manmohan government will segregate the two key posts of National Security Adviser (NSA) and Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, as reported by The Tribune a few days back. The UPA government will appoint a full-time NSA unlike the NDA government, which had merged the post with that of the Principal Secretary to PM. The CMP says: “The UPA will make the National Security Council a professional and effective institution. It will appoint a full-time National Security Adviser.” It says the UPA government will fully protect the national interests, particularly those of farmers, in all World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations. “The UPA will use the flexibility in existing WTO agreements to protect Indian agriculture and industry,” according to the draft of the
CMP. |
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No move to oust Jaya, says DMK Chennai, May 23 Dr Karunanidhi, who returned from New Delhi this afternoon, was greeted by thousands of workers waving the party’s red and black flags at the airport. Later talking to mediapersons at the party headquarters, he said: “I have no intention of seeking the dismissal of the state government.” However, when asked about the functioning of the state government following the change at the Centre, he said: “Documentary evidence will be produced to teach this arrogant government a befitting lesson.” The All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government here has two more years to go, as the state Assembly elections are scheduled in 2006. After the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance and the Congress won all 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the popular perception here was that Dr Karunanidhi would prevail upon the Centre to dismiss the state government. However, recalling Tamil Nadu’s political history, the veteran DMK leader has decided to let Ms J. Jayalalithaa complete her term as Chief Minister. The Centre had invoked Article 356 thrice in the state — in 1976 and 1991 when Dr Karunanidhi was Chief Minister and 1980 when late M.G. Ramchandran headed the AIADMK government. Though Tamil Nadu got the highest share in the Union Ministry with 12 ministers from the state, Dr Karunanidhi did not seem to be satisfied. The beaming DMK leader said: “I would have been happier had there been more ministers. The southern part of the state needs more representation in the ministry.” He said all 12 ministers would be consulted jointly to implement beneficial schemes for the state and their administrative skills and acumen would be put to good use. Asked what kind of cooperation he expected from the state government in view of 12 Tamil Nadu MPs being made ministers at the Centre, Dr Karunanidhi sarcastically replied: “I know only about the department of cooperation in the state government.” |
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Split verdict: Gowda meets
Sonia Gandhi New Delhi, May 23 The meeting, though described as a courtesy call, assumes significance as both the
JD(S) and the Congress have expressed strong desire to head the coalition, leading to a stalemate. With the Karnataka Assembly elections throwing up a fractured
verdict, the JD(S) and the Congress have decided that they would keep the BJP out by joining hands but were yet to finalise who will head the government. While the BJP bagged 79 seats in the 224-member House, the Congress secured 65 seats and the
JD(S) 58. JD(S) sources have said the party is still firm on its demand that the Congress extend support to it for forming the government. On the other hand, Chief Minister S. M
Krishna, seeking another term, is stated to be in the race for the Congress Legislature Party leadership. |
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Shinde feels the heat in Maharashtra Mumbai, MAY 23 Mr Shinde has been feeling the heat ever since his wife, Ujwala, lost the latest Lok Sabha election from the Solapur seat. Mr Shinde had originally represented the Solapur seat in Parliament. After he quit the Lok Sabha on taking over as Chief Minister, the seat passed on to the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party combine. Mr Shinde’s attempts to win back the seat by fielding his wife failed. The Congress party leaders have begun to lobby with the Congress party leadership in Delhi for replacing Mr Shinde. According to sources they have been promised a hearing by the party high command after the formation of the new government. Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, who fashioned a secular coalition in Maharashtra which won 23 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state, too is said to be pressing for elevating Deputy Chief minister Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil for the top job. Mr Mohite-Patil, a Maratha, is expected to consolidate the community, accounting for 30 per cent of the state’s population, behind the Congress-NCP combine. The ruling Democratic Front faces a major anti-incumbency wave following two successive years of drought. |
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Uma asks Gaur to hold fort Bhopal, May 23 Before the assembly elections last year, Ms Bharati had tried to persuade Mr Gaur not to contest the elections but be the party’s candidate for the Lok Sabha elections that were to follow. Then she tried her best to change Mr Gaur’s constituency of Govindpura from where he has been winning since 1974. It was only at the intervention of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee that the BJP’s Central Election Committee had over-ruled Ms Bharati and permitted Mr Gaur to contest from his traditional constituency. Ms Bharati, who was in Delhi to protest against Ms Sonia Gandhi’s becoming the Prime Minister, sent a FAX message to Mr Gaur, with a copy to the state’s Chief Secretary, authorising Mr Gaur to preside over Cabinet meetings during her “week-long tour out of Madhya Pradesh” and also to attend to “other matters of importance pertaining to the state”. Interestingly, before leaving for Delhi to start her protest (which included her decision to resign as Chief Minister) against Ms Gandhi’s becoming the Prime Minister, Ms Bharati had cleared the name of her elder brother, Mr Swami Prasad Lodhi, for appointment as chairman of the State Civil Supplies Corporation. Mr Nitish Bharadwaj, who had played the role of Krishna in the TV serial Mahabharata, is among nine others who have been accommodated. |
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Trial court order quashed in
Bofors case New Delhi, May 23 Setting aside the order of Delhi Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) framing separate charges against Hinduja brothers — Srichand, Gopichand and Prakashchand — Mr Justice R.S. Sodhi said, the trial court should frame single charge of cheating (Section 420) read with criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B) of the IPC against the accused after hearing their counsel afresh. Mr Justice Sodhi said there was clear direction by the High Court in this regard in its February 4 order. The High Court, however, gave liberty to the trial court to frame any additional charge, if in its view a case was made out for such an action. But this should be done by giving ample opportunity to the accused to put forth their arguments, the court said. While holding that the CBI had failed to bring on record any evidence on payment of bribery to public servants by the AB Bofors, the High Court in its February 4 order had quashed the charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act in the case and directed that charges for cheating read with criminal conspiracy be framed against the Hinduja brothers for conspiring to cheat the Indian Government of Rs 64 crore — the amount paid to middlemen in the Rs 1437-crore Bofors gun deal. It had also directed to frame charge of forgery under Section 465 of the IPC against Swedhis company A.B. Bofors for fabricating certain documents. The Hindujas brothers had challenged the trial court order on the ground that it had overstepped the direction issued by the High Court. |
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Action under ceiling Act upheld New Delhi, May 23 The argument of state that the FC could not initiate suo motu action in a case where the government had withdrawn an appeal against the Collector’s order for surrendering of the land, “is fallacious”, a Bench of Mr Justice Brijesh Kumar and Mr Justice Arun Kumar said. “While exercising such powers vested in him under Sub-Section (2) and (3) of Section 20 of the Act, no such restrictions can be placed on exercise of power by the FC on the ground that he is a part of the machinery of the state government or an officer of it,” the court said. The issue of land ceiling had been generating a lot of
heat in Himachal Pradesh’s political circles for the past two decades. The ruling came on an appeal by the Himachal Pradesh Government seeking to define the power of the FC as a judicial body and an officer of the state in the case of Rajkumar Brijender Singh of an erstwhile princely state, whose 900 bighas of land was vested in the State under the Land Ceiling Act in 1976. But the FC had initiated suo motu proceedings against Brijender Singh 15 years later in 1990 on the ground that he still held excess land and ordered its vesting in the state. Suo motu action was taken by the FC after government had withdrawn its appeal against the Collector’s order for surrendering the excess land. When the matter went to the High Court, it ruled that the FC had no power to initiate suo motu proceedings once the government had withdrawn the appeal. But the Apex Court ruled that the view taken by the High Court “is not sustainable”. But the court gave a relief to Brijender Singh that FC’s order in his case would not be applicable due to time bar as the action was initiated after a delay of 15 years. “The FC’s order suffers from vice of the exercise of the power after unreasonable lapse of time and such a delayed action on his part nullifies the order passed by him,” the court said and set aside the FC’s direction to Brijender Singh to surrender the excess land. |
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Post-result CBSE helpline for students New Delhi, May 23 Students and parents can discuss their problems with principals, trained counsellors and psychologists on a one-to-one basis till June 7, a CBSE release here today said. The Board has set up 27 centres at Delhi, Noida, Gurgoan, Meerut, Jaipur, Indore, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Dhoha-Qatar, Dubai and Kuwait. This is a part of the two-phase counselling — first at the time of examinations and second after the declaration of results — being arranged by the Board since 1998. Students can also send their queries to directoracad@hotmail.com and www.cepavnesh@hotmail.com. The Board has released a list of counsellors along with their telephone numbers. While Delhi leads the list with 11 centres, Indore, Chandigarh, Dhoha-Qatar, Dubai and Kuwait have one centre each.
— UNI |
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Man gets jail for possessing shahtoosh shawls New Delhi, May 23 Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Manoj Jain also ordered Mohammed Mir, 56, who was arrested with 13 shahtoosh shawls from South Delhi in 1999, to pay a fine of Rs 5,000. “The Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972, was recently amended and the penal provisions were made harsher to curb such type of illegal activities. But since convict Ali Mohammed Mir has been facing trial for the last four years, I am of the opinion that the interests of justice would be met if I impose minimum sentence on him,” the court said. The court rejected the arguments of the defence that there were no public
witnesses saying there was no reason to disbelieve wildlife officials who are “as good as independent witnesses”. Acting on a tip-off, on March 15, 1999 the wildlife authorities intercepted Mir at Greater Kailash-I and recovered 13 shahtoosh shawls from his briefcase. The Wild Life Institute, Dehra Dun later confirmed that the seized material was indeed shahtoosh shawls.
— PTI |
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Gastroenteritis claims three lives
Paradip (Orissa), May 23 Around 100 others have been admitted into dispensaries and hospitals. A medical team has been despatched to Borikina to combat the situation.
— PTI |
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Author of Shivaji book gets relief New Delhi, May 23 A Bench comprising Ms Justice Ruma Pal and Mr Justice D.M. Dharmadhiari stayed further action on the FIR against Laine and the Oxford press, while hearing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) by the publisher of Laine’s book “Shivaji — Hindu King in Islamic India” against the High Court order. Senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, appearing for the publisher, argued that no case was made out against his client. The Mumbai police had registered a case under Section 153 and 153-A of Indian Penal Code against Laine and the Oxford press for making “wanton and malicious” comments against Shivaji, which could lead to fomenting violence between different communities. Though Laine had tendered apology for certain comments in his book if those had hurt the feelings of Hindus, the High Court in its May 6 order had directed the police to investigate the FIR further and file a report from within three months. |
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