 |
|
Laloo took ‘bribe’ from cattle mafia, says Maneka
Reprieve to fodder scam approver
CPM leaders to meet Sonia, PM today
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Politics over Hyderabad Liberation Day
Disease surveillance project approved
Landfill site for waste to be set up near Zirakpur
Mixed reaction on POTA repeal
PSEB among 6 defaulters of railway dues
Railways to set up Institute of Rescue
Railways to procure more wagons
Kerala CM apologises on ‘Gujarat’ issue
Judicial custody of Kohli extended
SC rejects plea to transfer Haren Pandey case
Tamil is new ‘classical language’
Fernandes’ take on corruption
|
|
Laloo took ‘bribe’ from cattle mafia, says Maneka
New Delhi, September 17 Addressing reporters at the BJP headquarters, she told about the telephonic conversation that she had with the Railway Minister. Mr Yadav referred to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a “derogatory manner” and used unparliamentary epithets for him and other ministerial colleagues, she said. “One of the first order that Mr Yadav passed after assuming the charge of the Railway Minister was allowing the transport of cattle in railway bogies. It, in practical terms, means extending support to the cattle mafia that takes these animals to Bangladesh for slaughtering,” she said. The illegal cattle trade is more lucrative and bigger than drug trade, she said. Giving details of the illegal trade, she said, “The mafia has an organisation called Howrah Cattle Dealer Association in Howrah. It runs the illegal trade by bringing lakhs of cows, buffaloes, bullocks and bulls from northern states like Punjab, Haryana to West Bengal where these animals are slaughtered or smuggled to Bangladesh.” “Bangladesh has thin cattle population of its own, but it exports of beef runs into lakhs of tonnes,” she asserted to buttress her claim of smuggling of cattle to Bangladesh. “I had taken up the issue with the Chairman of the Railway Board and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee who had briefed the Prime Minister about it. I was told that Dr Singh had spoken to the Railway Minister on the issue, but when I spoke to Mr Yadav on the phone, he gave me sermons saying I should first stop movement of cattle by road and only after that I should come to the Railways,” Ms Gandhi said. “Mr Yadav said PM to aate jaate rahte hain, main es par tas se mas nahin hunga,” she informed about her conversation with Mr Yadav. Rubbishing the claim that the Railways would earn revenue through this, she said this was not correct as a boggy carried over 300 cattle illegally instead of 10 permitted by the law. It resulted in damage to these bogies. Repair of bogies leads to massive loss of revenue to the Railways, she asserted. Showing a photograph of the cattle being carried in a railway boggy on September 7 at the Mubarakpur railway station in Patiala district, she said 70 per cent of cattle perished during transportation and then their skin and meat were sold. Sher Khan, the trader who was carrying the cattle to the Howrah railway station, was absconding, she said. He was part of the bigger mafia, she added. |
|
Reprieve to fodder scam approver
New Delhi, September 17 The CBI approver, Deepak
Chandak, alleged in his petition that IT Department resumed proceedings against him immediately after the UPA government took charge. |
|
CPM leaders to meet Sonia, PM today
New Delhi, September 17 The meeting is being held against the backdrop of the Left parties stepping up pressure on the UPA government to demand implementation of CMP. CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury said they would take up the issue of FDI hike in telecom, insurance and civil aviation sector, involvement of foreign experts in the consultative committee of the Planning Commission and other issues during the meeting. He said political issues like the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur, fate of POTA detainees following its repeal would also figure in the talks. The meeting assumes significance as the former West Bengal Chief Minister had asked the congress to conduct a self appraisal on its economic policies. Mr Yechury said the Left leaders would ask the Prime Minister and UPA chairperson that the government should announce the policy decision after consulting them, so that we do not air our difference in public. “We should be taken in confidence before taking any policy decision,” CPM leader said. The Left parties, the crucial partners in the UPA coalition government are extending support from outside. He expressed the optimism that the “pressure” of the Left parties was working on the government on the FDI hike issue as the government has not hiked it despite announcing it two months back. The CPM described the politburo meeting held today as a routine one and it finalised the draft of the political resolution to be adopted during the six day party congress slated to begin here from April 6 next year. The politburo took stock of the political and economic situation in the country, upcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh and bye-election to Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Asked about the seat sharing arrangements between the Left parties and the Congress, as Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde met the CPM leaders in the Capital, Mr Yechury said we want to see the secular forces coming out in flying colours and efforts should be made to prevent the split in secular votes. |
|
Politics over Hyderabad Liberation Day
Hyderabad, September 17 The Hyderabad state, which consisted of the Telugu, Kannada and Marathi-speaking regions, was liberated on September 17, 1948, more than a year after India attained Independence following Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan’s surrender in the face of the Indian Army’s onslaught. On Friday, the 56th anniversary of Liberation Day, every political party came out with a stand on the issue of celebrating the day according to its own political exigencies. The Congress, which had blamed the TDP Government for not organising official celebrations to commemorate the day, conveniently forgot its own position after it came to power. While the Congress government failed to organise any event on the occasion, the party functionaries indulged in tokenism by conducting a meeting at Gandhi Bhavan here. The reason why the Congress does not want any hype on the day is its apprehension that Telangana Rashtra Samithi, which wants to carve out a separate state out of the region, might end up getting up some mileage in the bargain. Having been under the oppressive Nizam rule, Telangana suffered on all fronts — economically, politically and culturally. As Urdu was the official language of Nizam State, Telangana was coerced into developing a distinct language and culture — described as Dakhni — in the course of time. Playing on this separate identity and its backwardness compared to the British-ruled coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, the TRS has been demanding a separate state for Telangana. And the new party found the Hyderabad state Liberation Day as a tool to further its own cause, and even started calling it as “Telangana Liberation Day,” which is factually incorrect. The TRS, which is a part of the present Congress government, was content with unveiling a martyr’s memorial. Not a word from Mr K Chandrasekhar Rao, the party chief, on why there were no official celebrations of the day. The BJP, which was nowhere on the scene during the anti-Nizam struggle, suddenly discovered the virtues of the Liberation Day perceiving it as liberation of majority Hindus from the minority Muslim rule. The Communist party, which liberated some 3,000 villages from Nizam’s control and established village committees for distribution of land among the landless poor, indeed toyed briefly with the idea of continuing with armed struggle in Telangana after the fall of Nizam but quickly acquiesced to the merger with the Indian Union. While political parties stick to their stands, many of those who participated in the struggle feel that the nation should remember this day for its historic importance. “The Hyderabad Liberation Day is important not only for the people of the erstwhile Hyderabad. It should be celebrated by all in the country as this day signifies not only the liberation of the Hyderabad state but also its merger with the Indian Union,” says Mr B Ranga Reddy, general secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Freedom Fighers’ Association. |
|
Disease surveillance project approved
New Delhi, September 17 The CCEA also approved a National Programme for Control of Blindness during the 10th Plan involving an estimated sum of Rs 445 crore. The disease surveillance project would be implemented in the entire country, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said after the CCEA meeting and added the project would be implemented in three phases. The first phase (2004-05) of the project would cover 206 districts in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Mizoram. Phase two (2005-06) will cover 176 districts in Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Orissa, Chattisgarh, West Bengal, Delhi, Goa, Chandigarh, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura. The 210 districts in the remaining states and union territories would be covered under the phase three (2006-07). Of the estimated cost of Rs 408.36 crore stipulated for the period 2004-09, the cost during the 10th Plan (2003-07) would be Rs 260 crore. The World Bank has agreed to finance nearly 75 per cent of the project cost through soft credit from the International Development Association. The project involves the establishment of a Central Surveillance Unit, 31 state surveillance units and 592 district surveillance units with the capacity of disease surveillance and rapid response. It would strengthen and equip 3356 peripheral laboratories, 592 district laboratories and 31 state laboratories for accurate diagnosis of target diseases. The funds would be also used in screening school children for refractive errors and providing 3.1 lakh free spectacles to poor children. Setting up of 2000 vision centres in rural areas and NGO facilities for providing basic services to the rural population would also be ensured. |
|
Landfill site for waste to be set up near Zirakpur
New Delhi, September 17 The land for the 25-acre hazardous waste landfill site has been notified by the state government and the facility is expected to be operational within one year. Punjab State Council for Science and Technology Executive Director N.S. Tiwana told The Tribune that the acquisition process for the site had been completed along with the necessary environmental clearance. The Punjab Pollution Control Board had identified 30 biggest generators of hazardous waste in the state and asked them to form the company as per directions of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, he added. He said as many as 100 industrial units, mostly dealing in pharmaceuticals, fertilisers, steel and textile dying, produce 90 per cent of the total hazardous waste generated in the state. Out of these, 30 industries produce 80 per cent of the total hazardous waste generated in Punjab. The Rs 20-crore equity-based venture also proposes to accommodate hazardous waste from nearby factories in Haryana and those located in Chandigarh. |
|
Mixed reaction on POTA repeal
Lucknow, September 17 Welcoming the Cabinet ordinance repealing POTA, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav said his party had disapproved of POTA at every level and every forum. Calling the Cr.PC and IPC more than sufficient to handle crime in the country, Mr Mulayam Singh said under these laws the British had checked anti-imperial activity. When the strictest of punishment including hanging and life imprisonment, were possible under existing Indian laws, what was the justification for this draconian law, he remarked. BSP leader in the Vidhan Sabha Swami Prasad Maurya described the decision as “unfortunate”. He said the Congress had taken this decision under the influence of the ‘Manuwadi parties”. It was the decision of the BSP-BJP government headed by Mayawati to impose POTA on the Raja of Kunda, Raja Bhaiya, allegedly for his attempt to split the BJP and topple the then BSP-BJP Government. The BJP reacted most strongly to the repeal of POTA. State unit chief Keshari Nath Tripathi said that it was under the pressure from Pakistan that the Central Government had decided to withdraw this anti- terrorist law. The Pakistani Government will benefit by having a free hand inside India, he said. According to Mr Tripathi, this was also part of the Congress’ larger plan of appeasement of the Muslims. |
|
PSEB among 6 defaulters of railway dues
New Delhi, September 17 According to a statement issued by the Railway Ministry here today, the total outstanding dues on the account of the carriage of coal from pitheads to thermal power plants and other traffic dues increased from Rs 1962,31 crore in March, 2004 to Rs 2098.33 crore on June 30, 2004. Out of Rs 2098.33 crore, the Railways has to recover Rs 1671.48 crore from State Electricity Boards alone. The major defaulters are Badarpur Thermal Power Station (BTPS)-Rs 853.70 crore, Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB)-Rs 439.56 crore, Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB)-Rs 183.52 crore, Rajasthan State Electricity Board (RSEB)-Rs 52.39 crore and Uttar Pradesh State Electricity Board (UPSEB)- Rs 45.67 crore and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC)-Rs 43.63 crore. The six organisations constitute 97 per cent of the powerhouse outstanding dues. |
|
Railways to set up Institute of Rescue
New Delhi, September 17 Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav had announced the setting up of the institute in the Budget speech on July 6 in the Lok Sabha. |
|
Railways to procure more wagons
New Delhi, September 17 According to a statement issued by the Railway Ministry here on today, the procurement would take care of the shortage of wagons faced in the previous year. In 2003-’04, the shortage of wagons resulted from the increased movement of iron ore for export, coal to thermal power-houses and food-grains for public distribution system. The shortage of wagons continued in the first quarter of the current financial year. |
|
Kerala CM apologises on ‘Gujarat’ issue
Thiruvananthapuram,
September 17 He was reacting to the complaint of his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi to the Prime Minister that attempts were being made to “humiliate” Gujarat.
— UNI |
|
Judicial custody of Kohli extended
New Delhi, September 17 Kohli was produced before Metropolitan Magistrate S.K. Sharma as the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, who is “inquiring” into the demand for his extradition to the UK, was on leave today.
— TNS |
|
SC rejects plea to transfer Haren Pandey case
New Delhi, September 17 The petition was dismissed by a Bench of Mr Justices N Santosh Hegde and Mr Justice S B Sinha which described the petition ‘without merit’. |
|
Tamil is new ‘classical language’
New Delhi, September 17 Hitherto, there has been no provision to declare a language as a classical language. It was also decided to set up two major international awards on annual basis for scholars of eminence in classical Indian languages and to set up a centre of excellence for studies in classical languages. The Cabinet also decided to request the University Grants Commission (UGC) to create, to start with in the Central universities, a certain number of Professorial Chairs for classical languages. The future demands categorisation of languages as classical to be considered by a committee of linguistic experts in accordance with certain criteria, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Jaipal Reddy told newspersons here. |
|
Fernandes’ take on corruption
New Delhi, September 17 He narrated the incident at a function held here to mark the release of the Hindi version of “Paramvir Chakra” written in English by Maj Gen Ian Cordozo (retd). He said two Army officers who were going to join combat troops during the Kargil war were asked by a railway officer to pay Rs 100 to get seats for travelling up to Jammu. |
|
Akbarpur bypoll cancelled
New Delhi, September 17 |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Videos
