 |
|
|
BJP in a fix over Gujarat
Chief Minister Deve Gowda meets Sonia
Left okay Somnath's candidature Girls outsine boys in CBSE Class XII results |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Include women quota
Bill in CMP, Sonia urged BJP asks “saffron Governors” not to quit Mamata threatens to quit LS
Delhi HC to take up plea on Sonia’s origin issue Chinese minister calls up Natwar Rabri’s income certificate was issued on
Sunday: CBI Manickam
hints at pursuing cases against Jaya Centre-Hurriyat talks likely in July, says Vohra Hike in petro prices deferred till June 15 Rajasthan in the grip
of heavy debt Shivaji issue rocks Maharastra House UPA govt to continue highway development projects Veerappan’s aide arrested Fake enemy killings evidence today
|
|
BJP in a fix over Gujarat
Chief Minister New Delhi, May 26 Former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani is understood to be in touch with senior state leaders, including former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel, in his effort to contain the rebellion. The high command would like that the party’s legislators’ anger against Mr Modi was kept under a tight lid till the state Assembly was in session, sources said. What has worsened the situation is the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh’s ultimatum to the RSS and the BJP leadership seeking the removal of Mr Modi from the Chief Minister’s chair. A meeting between Mr Advani and state leaders, including Keshubhai Patel, state BJP President Mr Rajendersinh Rana, former Chief Minister Mr Sureshbhai Mehta and BJP senior leaders, is likely to be held in the next week here to take a view on the prevailing situation in the state before finally taking a decision on Mr Modi. Meanwhile, the BJP here gave ample hints about the prevailing situation in the state as some leaders admitted that the Godhra incident and the Gujarat riots had adversely affected its poll prospects in the recent Lok Sabha elections. According to party sources, the Opposition, mainly the Congress, had encashed on the Gujarat riots. As many as 1 million compact discs and cassettes on Gujarat were shown by the Opposition in various parts of the country during the election campaign. As a result, a majority of the Muslims and some other communities voted against the BJP not only in Gujarat but in other parts of the country too. Sources said the BJP’s plank of development and national security went for a toss as the Opposition highlighted the Gujarat incidents among the masses. “Atalji se pyar, par Modi se dar” (Although minorities liked Atalji, they were scared of Modi), a senior BJP leader privately confessed. He, however, parried a query on how the government, with its intelligence machinery, failed to learn about this at the time of the Lok Sabha election. Top party leaders, including former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Mr Advani and party President M. Venkaiah Naidu, have held a series of meetings in the last few days to assess the political situation and identify the causes of the party’s debacle at the hustings besides finalising the party’s strategy to embarrass the Congress-led coalition government inside and outside Parliament. An informal meeting was held this morning at Mr Vajpayee’s residence which was attended by Mr Advani, Mr Naidu, Mr Jaswant Singh, Mrs Sushma Swaraj, Mr V.K. Malhotra, Mr Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Mr S.S. Ahluwalia and Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad. Mr Naqvi, after the meeting, said a host of issues, including the BJP’s strategy for the coming Lok Sabha session and the election of the Leader of Opposition, were discussed. He denied that the meeting went into the causes of the party’s poor showing in the elections. |
|
Deve Gowda meets Sonia New Delhi, May 26 Mr Gowda has met Ms Sonia Gandhi thrice after the Assembly elections threw a hung House in the state. Today’s meeting lasted for about 20 minutes. Later, Mr Gowda said a clear picture on the government formation would emerge in a “day or two”. “The issue is not Maharashtra model, J&K model or the portfolios. The issue is to provide good governance,” he said. Asserting he was “not power hungry”, Mr Gowda said JD(S) MLAs in Karnataka were against any truck with the BJP. JD (S) Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah and other senior leaders were also in New Delhi to assist Mr Gowda. Congress Legislature Party leader Dharm Singh is expected to meet Ms Sonia Gandhi in the next few days for discussions regarding the formation of the government. |
|
Left okay Somnath's candidature New Delhi, May 26 Asked whether accepting the Speaker's post amounted to joining the government, CPI General Secretary
A.B. Bardhan said, "The Lok Sabha Speaker is not part of the government or the executive. It is part of the legislature". The CPM politburo had accepted the Congress offer in Kolkata yesterday.
|
|
|
Girls outsine boys in CBSE Class XII results New Delhi, May 26 The pass percentage of girls stands at 82.28 per cent compared to 71.29 of boys, maintaining a lead in all the six CBSE regions including Delhi, Chennai, Allahabad, Chandigarh, Guwahati and Ajmer. While the Kendriya Vidyalayas with their pass per cent age of 92.62 per cent stood first, the Central Tibetan Schools and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas stood second and third respectively for their performance. The Government schools in Delhi, Chandigarh and Chennai have also shown improvement in their results. While in Delhi their pass percentage is 77.82, a marginal increase from last years, in Chandigarh it is 84.56 and 81.40 in Chennai. Announcing the results Chairman of the CBSE, Ashok Ganguly said, the overall pass percentage has risen by 2.41 per cent and the total increase in the number of students registered this year is 7.4 per cent. The highest number of students passed is in the Chennai region with 90.51 per cent, Delhi stood fourth with 75.75 per cent. Girls topped in Chennai with 91.72 per cent closely followed by boys with 89.54 per cent, 83.66 per cent against 77.12 per cent in Chandigarh, 65.46 per cent against 60.87 per cent in Guwahati and 83.31 per cent against 77.12 per cent in Ajmer.
|
|
|
Include
women quota Bill in CMP, Sonia urged
New Delhi, May 26 “We met Sonia Gandhi today and told her that the section on women’s issues in the CMP is a bit too vague and generalised. We appealed to her to ensure that first and foremost the Bill providing for 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures is passed,” said Brinda Karat of the AIDWA. Ms Karat said Ms Gandhi informed the women’s delegation that the latest draft of the CMP, the final version of which would be released tomorrow, do mention working towards a legislation to enhance the number of women in legislatures. “But we told her that women’s organisations would want it to be worded as ensuring the passage of the Bill,” she said. A meeting of 18 national women’s groups was held here yesterday in which it was decided that they would talk to senior leaders of the United Progressive Alliance, including Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, RJD leader and Railways Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and Communist leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet, informed veteran social activist Mohini Giri.
PTI
|
|
|
BJP asks “saffron Governors” not to quit New Delhi, May 26 The "informal advice" comes in the wake of many Governors appointed by the NDA government expressing their desire to quit. The party leadership's argument is that after assuming office at the Centre, the BJP-led government did not remove any previously appointed Governors and waited for the end of their tenures before the appointment of "Sangh
faithfuls". "If the Congress has its way, the BJP will have a potent issue to attack its main rivals," a top BJP leader said. "It is an issue of the Centre-state relationship," he said. In this context, he pointed out that not only the Vajpayee-led government but also the governments led by
H.D. Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral did not remove any existing Governors. Another BJP leader said there was a clear-cut recommendation in the Sarkaria Commission report that a change in the government at the Centre should not result in change in constitutional posts. Moreover, the appointment of Governors by the Vajpayee government was done in consultation with the respective state governments. The states where the Congress-led government is likely to go in for the change of Governors include Bihar, Andhara Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Haryana, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. While it is almost certain that "Sangh
faithfuls" such as Gujarat Governor Kailashpati Mishra, Uttar Pradesh Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri and Rajasthan Governor Madan Lal Khurana will have to make way with the change of regime, the Congress-led Government will have the pleasure of filling up the vacancies in Kerala and Madhya Pradesh with their loyalists. While Jharkhand's Ved Marwah, Maharashtra's Mohammad Fazal and Arunachal Pradesh's
V.C. Pande are nearing completion of their terms as Governors, having been appointed in 1999, Rama Jois and Hayrana Governor Babu Parmanad have more than a year's term left. The worst affected could be Karnataka Governor
T.N. Chaturvedi and Goa Governor Kedarnath Sahni, whose tenure ends in 2007, if the Centre decided to replace them. |
|
Mamata threatens to quit LS Kolkata, May 26 She also expressed her desire to vacate the party supremo’s chair owning moral responsibility for the TMC-BJP debacle in the state. But her colleagues and well-wishers had been persuading her to change the decisions. On the other hand, the veteran Congress MP, Mr A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury, who was elected for the record ninth time from Malda, also wanted to quit the Lok Sabha as he felt humiliated and neglected by the leadership. Mr Chowdhury is aggrieved that both Mrs Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, while appointing ministers ignored him. He suspected that some Congress leaders in the state and other vested interests had pressed the AICC for not including him in the new ministry. Mr Chowdhury is the lone Congress MP from Bengal who so far has save-guarded the Congress fortress in the Marxist-ruled state since 1972. In the 13th Lok Sabha too, he was the lone party MP from the state. In the regimes of both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi he had been the Union minister holding important portfolios like Power and Irrigation and Railways. But now he had been sidelined. Mr Chowdhury had already conveyed his resentment and disappointment to both Mrs Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister. He told the Prime Minister that he was surprised that those party leaders who had once left the party and formed a new party to fight against Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi had now been rewarded with important Cabinet berth. Even some of the leaders who were defeated in the elections had been rehabilitated honourably. But he had been ignored and dishonoured for his sincerity and loyalty, sources close to Mr Chowdhury said. Ms Mamata Banerjee is aggrieved that the security guards provided to her at the instance of Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee were withdrawn last night without intimating her. She said she personally was against any police protection but even then adequate security arrangements were made for her safety after several attacks were made on her life. |
|
|
Delhi HC
to take up plea on Sonia’s origin issue New Delhi, May 26 This was stated by a Bench of Chief Justice B.C.
Patel and Mr Justice Badar Durez Ahmed while hearing the application
of the Rashtriya Mukti Morcha (RMM), which had challenged Sonia Gandhi’s
claim of forming the government in 1999 after the fall of the Vajpayee
government. Her claim was challenged on the ground of her foreign origin by the RMM in its public interest litigation (PIL), which has been pending since then. As
government counsel, P.P. Malhotra stated that the issue of Sonia’s
citizenship had been “settled” by the Supreme Court in 2001 in an
election petition when her election to the Lok Sabha in 1999 from
Amethi was challenged by one of her rivals, senior advocate P.N.
Lekhi, appearing for the RMM, contended that no court had dealt with
the issue in the context of the constitutional position and
perspective. Lekhi said the question before the Supreme Court in the
election petition had come in the context of Section 5 of the
Citizenship Act, while “we have raised the issue in the context of
Article 5 of the Constitution, which makes a lot of difference.” The
petition before the court dealt with the distinction between a
natural-born citizen and foreign-born citizen, he said adding “the
Constitution was not wooden fixed. It has to be read in accordance
with the intent of its framers in today’s context by taking into
account historical facts.” He said there were two classes of
citizens according to the constitutional scheme — the citizens
defined under Article 5 (natural born) and those who had become
citizens by virtue of Article 11 (registered citizens). A person’s
claim to hold a high constitutional post had to be viewed by keeping
this aspect in mind in the light of the debate of Constituent Assembly
in which the issue of foreign-born citizens’ rights was intensely
debated by the framers of the Constitution but they left it to the “wisdom”
of future parliamentarians, Lekhi argued. He had cited constitutions
of various countries, including the USA, France, Germany and even
Italy, the country of Sonia’s birth, which prohibit a foreign-born
citizen from occupying high constitutional post. He had also raised
the question of “dual citizenship”, which Indian Constitution did
not recognise, while an Italian citizen never forfeits his or her
citizenship even if he or she had adopted the citizenship of another
country. “The Constitution is not an ordinary statute, which comes
and goes as it exists even after over 90 amendments to it. An
individual cannot be allowed to hold it hostage. Neither can the
Constitution be subverted for an individual. We cannot let one person
be imported and rule the country through a puppet Prime Minister,”
Lekhi argued.
|
|
|
Chinese
minister calls up Natwar New Delhi, May 26 Various issues, including the joint study group on economic cooperation, the ministerial-level joint economic group and the boundary question, figured during the telephonic conversation. Mr Li expressed happiness that a distinguished alumnus of Peking University had become the Foreign Minister of this country, a foreign office spokesman said.
|
|
|
Rabri’s income certificate was issued on
Sunday: CBI
Patna, May 26 CBI’s senior special public prosecutor L. R. Ansari argued before the court that the income certificate was not reliable as it was “manufactured” under political pressure. The CBI counsel said the income certificate in question was issued by the Circle Officer of Phulwaria circle in Gopalganj district on Sunday (June 8, 1997) with an intention to favour the VIP couple. The Circle Officer had already admitted in the court that he had issued the certificate under the instruction of the sub-divisional officer, the CBI counsel contended.
— UNI
|
|
|
Manickam
hints at pursuing cases against Jaya New Delhi,
May 26 Expressing confidence that the
present buoyancy in revenue collection was sustainable, he said:
“Tax collections were progressive last year and looked encouraging
this year.” Finance Minister P. Chidambaram escorted Mr Manickam to
his office.
|
|
Centre-Hurriyat talks likely in July, says Vohra New Delhi, May 26 After the second round of talks with the former Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, the two sides had decided to meet again in June for the third round, Mr Vohra told mediapersons that as of now there could be some delay and it could be held in early July depending on engagements of Mr Patil. The interlocutor said he would be meeting the Home Minister again tomorrow to brief him about the discussions held so far with the Hurriyat Conference. Asked whether the ambit of dialogue would be broadened, Mr Vohra said this decision would also be taken after tomorrow’s meeting with Mr Patil. Meanwhile, it was not known whether Mr Vohra, who was appointed by the previous NDA government as the interlocutor, had been asked to continue by the new government. Mr Vohra after his meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr Manmohan Singh, yesterday told mediapersons that it was for the Prime Minister to decide whether he should continue or not. |
|
|
Hike in petro prices deferred till June 15 New Delhi, May 26 Aiyar, who is believed to have written a three-page letter to Manmohan Singh, suggested a three-tier strategy where consumers were passed on the least burden (read price hike) necessitated due to spurt in international crude oil prices. As part of the strategy, prices of petrol and diesel might be raised in the band of Rs 1-1.50 per litre on June 16 (after the Parliament session ends of June 10) to give oil companies additional revenues of Rs 370-505 crores a month, that would help them recoup the Rs 900 crore loss they suffered in January-May on selling petrol and diesel below the cost. The next review of petrol and diesel prices is due on May 31 but the Congress-led government is conscious of avoiding any confrontation with its allies particularly the Left, ahead of the Parliament session, so the hike is being deferred. Sources said the state-run firms would be asked to bear one-fourth of the Rs 130 per cylinder under-recovery on cooking gas (LPG). Aiyar has advised lowering of customs duty on LPG to nil from 8 per cent currently and halving the excise duty on the mass consumed cooking fuel to 8 per cent. After this, only Rs 30 per cylinder will remain to be recovered from consumers which can be done over one year period, they said.
— PTI
|
|
|
Rajasthan in the grip
of heavy debt Jaipur, May 26 The expenditure on salaries, pension and other post-retirement benefits and wages of various kinds has been on the increase at a galloping speed. During 1993-94, the expenditure was to the tune of Rs 2,198 crore which shot up to Rs 7,676 crore in 2003-04. This would further increase by about Rs 850 crore in 2004-05. The payment of pensions alone was equivalent to one-third of the expenditure being incurred on salaries and wages combined together. The distressing situation on the financial front could be gauged from the fact that the debt on the state government during the last one decade has skyrocketed from Rs 10,006 crore to Rs 53,509 crore. When the Congress came to power after eight years, its Chief Minister, Mr Ashok Gehlot, and his Cabinet colleagues continued to criticise the Shekhawat government for its questionable decisions that rendered the state coffers empty and left a heavy debt of Rs 22,000 crore. But when the Gehlot government was ousted in December, 2003, by the BJP under the leadership of Ms Vasundhra Raje, it left a legacy of a debt of nearly Rs 47,000 crore. To manage its affairs in the face of such a financial crisis, the present government had to float further loans to defray its liabilities and within five months the figure got a fillip by over Rs 6,000 crore. |
|
Shivaji issue rocks Maharastra House
Mumbai, May 26 The House could not transact any listed business as the Chair’s pleas to restore normalcy fell on deaf ears. The vociferous opposition was seeking action against literary board officials, including its chief R.R. Borade, for translating Sen’s book `The Administrative System of Marathas”. No sooner did the House met at 12 noon than hours, the ruckus began with the Opposition Leader Narayan Rane moving an adjournment motion seeking the the suspension of the question hour to enable the house to take up the issue of alleged “insult” of the Maratha warrior king. Rane was supported by BJP leaders Eknath Khadse and Gopinath Munde. Mr Munde said the government by bringing out a book “containing objectionable references to Shivaji has insulted the people of the state.” — PTI
|
|
|
UPA govt to continue highway development projects New Delhi, May 26 The minister, who assumed charge today following earlier refusal of the DMK to join Dr Manmohan Singh-led government unless it was given "promised" portfolios, said good road infrastructure was vital for the nation's development. "It will be the new government's priority to complete the ongoing highway development projects in time. All efforts will be made to remove bottlenecks that may have slowed down the progress of the project in the recent months," he said. Responding to a query about dates of completion of
the Golden Quadrilateral project, he said he could comment on it only after talking to NHAI officials. He said the new government would go all out to ensure development of national highways in an efficient, transparent and responsive manner. Attention would also be paid to rural roads, he said. Asked about the proposal of opening road between Srinagar in Kashmir and Muzaffarabad in PoK, he said the government was awaiting response from Islamabad on the issue. "We are ready to open the road. We are waiting for a response from Pakistan. The matter has been taken up through the Ministry of External Affairs," he said. He, however, said the proposal would have to be cleared by the Defence Ministry. The proposal for opening the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road had been initiated by the previous NDA government as part of the peace process with Pakistan. Asked if the new government would change nomenclature of some of the highway projects started during the NDA regime, the minister said he did not attach much importance to names. Asked about reasons behind the DMK's "insistence" on particular ministries, he said the DMK only wanted the "agreement" with the Congress leadership on portfolio allotment to be implemented. "All that is history now," he said. To a question about the government reviewing "user charges" on highways, he said it was too early to comment on the issue. On steps to prevent incidents like murder of NHAI engineer Satyendra Dubey, he said the case was with the CBI. "Any shortcomings will be removed," he said. |
|
Veerappan’s aide arrested Chennai, May 26 Tamil Nadu Director-General of Police I.K. Govind said here Illavarasan was arrested with another man from MM Hills, a reserve forest on the border of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, 350 km from the state capital. The police said Illavarasan and his close accomplice Sahadevan were on their way to the hideout of Veerappan when the Special Task force (STF) formed to nab Veerappan caught them. Illavarasan is wanted in several cases of armed dacoity and a series of bomb blasts throughout the state. The two terrorists were caught with a 9-mm pistol, two small bore guns, 36 hand grenades, some ammunition and a pair of binoculars. The police said two other men who were guides escaped under the cover of darkness. The police said the arrest of the TNLA leader would provide vital clues about Veerappan’s whereabouts as the two were quite close. The TNLA was formed by a former Naxalite leader in Tamil Nadu after he was expelled from the People’s War Group in the mid-80s, but later disintegrated into various factions. |
|
Fake enemy killings evidence today Jaipur, May 26 Defence sources said Major Surinder Singh, who had reported the fake killings before the Army Court of Inquiry (COI) in Jammu and Kashmir, would appear before the court tomorrow. The other accused and witnesses, including 5/5 Gorkha Rifles commanding officer Col K D Singh, too have been summoned before the court at Jodhpur for the recording of evidence.
— UNI |
|
|
Kanshi’s condition improves
New Delhi, May 26 He is still in Intensive Care Unit but was put off the ventilator this morning as the doctors saw improvement in his condition, the doctor said.
— PTI
|
|
|
Salman
files plea for film dues Mumbai, May 26 As per an earlier court order, the proceeds of the movie were attached by a Special Court set up under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act after its producer Naseem Rizvi was arrested for his links with the underworld. Salman argued that he was paid Rs 1.5 crore out of a total sum of Rs 1.75 crore agreed with the producers.
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | National Capital | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
In
video (
