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Appu’s police custody extended for 6 days
EC Adviser begins
probe
No drift in India’s policy on Pak:
Natwar
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No “hot pursuit” to tacle terrorism
32 notified as terrorist organisations
Nepalese King arrives
today
Over 18,000 posts in
Central Govt abolished
Jaya objects to milestones in Hindi
MMS case: accused granted
bail
Lok Sabha expresses concern over farmers’
suicides
Govt to launch growth programmes for
agriculture
SC ruling on tenant eviction
Cong leaders protest party govt
decision
Upamanyu, Noor get Sahitya Akademi
Award
New railway enquiry system soon
Fewer working hours sought for
Railways staff
Dabhol revival roadmap by
month-end
Candlelight march by journalists for wage board
NDA leaders to meet Speaker
today
Life term for AP ex-minister, 7
others
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Appu’s police custody extended for 6 days
Chennai, December 22 Deposing before the magistrate, Mr G. Uttamarajan, DSP, Rajaraman, said the institutions where various searches were to be conducted in the presence of Appu were in various parts of the country and it would require his custody for another eight days. After some deliberation the Judge decided that six days were enough. Two lawyers, Purushottaman and Karuppiah, will be allowed to meet Appu everyday. As the police are expected to travel, one of the lawyers is expected to travel with them. Sources here said it was obvious that the police wanted to utilise the opportunity to question Appu in many other cases, some of which were connected with key opposition party leaders in Tamil Nadu. The metropolis was today agog with rumours about the arrest of another key accused in the Sankararaman murder case, real estate dealer Ravi Subramanian, who allegedly distributed Rs 10 lakh among the assailants of the Varadaraja Perumal Temple Manager. Unconfirmed reports continued to point to the arrest of Ravi, but the special investigation team headed by SP K. Prem Kumar refused to confirm them. According to one account, Ravi surrendered in a police station situated in the suburbs of Chennai while another said it was at his village in interior Tamil Nadu. There were enough indications in the court of magistrate Uttamarajan that the jailed Acharya would not be forced to travel all the way from Vellore central prison to here in the Sankararaman murder case and later undertake another trip to Chennai for the extension of his judicial custody in the Radhakrishnan assault case. Police sources said that the seer would be remanded as was done earlier, through video conferencing. The seer’s bail petition in the Radhakrishnan assault case will be heard in the Madras High Court by Mr Justice R Balasubramanian tomorrow. In police custody, Appu had cooperated well with the police and is said to have remained unfazed by the imposing presence of Mr. Prem Kumar and the investigating officer on record, ADSP Shaktivel. Appu was kept in an air-conditioned bungalow and interrogated. Math manager Sundaresa Iyer and his chauffer were questioned today about the details of the functioning of the Jan Kalyan Samiti, a voluntary outfit started by the senior pontiff. |
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PM’s assurance on Seer’s
safety
New Delhi, December 22 The Prime Minister’s assurance came after the delegation, including Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani met him this morning and expressed concern at the treatment being meted out to Kanchi Seer in Vellore Jail since last month. The delegation, while demanding the Centre’s intervention in the matter, had expressed concern “over the Tamil Nadu Police launching a war against the Kanchi Mutt in the name of investigating a murder case.” The six-NDA members, who had last week called on the jailed Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati, explained to the Prime Minister their impressions and views about their visit to the jail. The Prime Minister gave them a patient hearing during the 25-minute meeting, in which Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee were present. The Prime Minister shared the members’ concern and assured the delegation that he would do whatever the Constitution permitted. He reminded them about a letter he had written to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J .Jayalalithaa in this regard and her reply, Media Advisor to Prime Minister told newspersons. Mr Balbir Punj (BJP), who had led the parliamentary delgation to Tamil Nadu, said Mr Vajpayee during the meeting expressed serious reservations about the written assurance given by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister promising to accord the Seer the due regard considering his position and old age. “There is an ocean of difference between what she promised and what is happening on the ground,” Mr Vajpayee said. Mr Punj said the Centre could direct the state government to behave in a responsible manner, exerting its “moral authority”. The delegation, in its memorandum, said the police as terrorising the Mutt inmates using “draconian” measures against them, besides its employees and sympathisers. “They are picked at odd hours without any written summons, subjected to third-degree interrogations and made to sign on blank papers to ‘demonise’ the Acharya,” he claimed. The recommendations and demands made by the delegation included moving Shankaracharya to a “decent guest house” instead of Vellore Jail, as he was “only an accused and not a criminal”. “The outrageous raids on ‘espionage’ against the Mutt should cease. Investigations supervised by a ‘tainted’ superintendent should be under an officer with unblemished record. The probe should focus on the murder case and not harass innocents,” he added. |
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EC Adviser begins
probe
Patna, December 22 Mr Rao, accompanied by Patna District Magistrate Goutam Goswami, went around the city enquiring about hoardings, banners and posters which had been put up for December 23 rally, a day after it was cancelled. Mr Rao also went to the Patna railway junction and collected details about postponment of inauguration of a platform by Mr Yadav after the model code came into the force. From the bus stand, he gathered information about booking of buses for the rally, official sources said. He later held a high-level meeting with the district officials on measures taken to check model code violations, they said. —
PTI Patna, December 22 A directive from the Election Commission following the visit of the poll panel’s special observer K.J. Rao prompted the district authorities to file the FIRs at Sachivalay, Kotwali, Gandhi Maidan, GRP, Shastrinagar, Srikrishnapuri and Buddha colony police stations. Mr Rao today visited several localities in Patna where he saw RJD publicity materials for the now postponed rally on display at government installations in violation of the model code. —
UNI |
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No drift in India’s policy on Pak:
Natwar
New Delhi, December 22 Replying to a discussion on the foreign policy, he said “the (Indo-Pak) dialogue process is on track and we continue to make progress”, stressing “there is no drift in India’s Pakistan policy”. Mr Natwar Singh said Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Khokhar were slated to meet in Islamabad on December 27 and 28 where they would review progress in the composite dialogue and discuss issues related to peace and security as well as J and K. The Minister said he planned to visit Pakistan in February next year. On the sale of sophisticated armaments to Pakistan by the US, the Minister said New Delhi has conveyed its “deep concern” over it. “We have communicated to the US that such a decision could impact adversely on the ongoing dialogue process between India and Pakistan, which the US itself has supported,” he said. “It may also erode the goodwill and friendly feeling that exist for the US in India, both as a sister democracy as well as a strategic partner”. Mr Natwar Singh said the Indian position was spelt out at the highest levels of the US Administration by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and by him to US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during his recent visit here. Emphasising that there have been “no contrary signals” emanating from the UPA government on US supply of weapons to Pakistan as charged by former Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha, he sought to counter it questioning the record of the NDA government. He referred to the US promise of $3 billion package to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf which included $1.5 million worth armaments in June, 2003. Mr Natwar Singh said Mr Sinha’s subsequent meetings with his US counterpart in January this year did not reveal his taking up this issue at all. “Perhaps, this only encouraged the US to confer Major non-NATO Ally Status on Pakistan on March 18, 2004,” he said adding “what we are seeing today is the implementation of decisions taken then. I do not know if the US could have been persuaded to change its policy on arms supply. But I do know that if there was a time for that, it was in 2003 and early 2004, rather than now”. Describing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s meeting with General Musharraf in September in New York as a “landmark” one, he said two important messages were conveyed. One was the importance of implementing the assurance contained in the January 6, 2004 joint statement that no territory under the control of Pakistan would be used for cross-border terrorism against India, Mr Natwar Singh said. The second one was that no solution to the Jammu and Kashmir issue could involve re-drawing of boundaries or another partition of India on the basis of religion. This was affirmed to Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz when he visited Delhi in late November this year, he said. Clarifying the government’s position on Hurriyat, he said the people of J and K are represented by the government which has been duly elected by them through free and fair elections. “The restoration of peace in the state is something that we are in constant communication with the elected government. However, we are also prepared to talk to those unelected individuals or groups, who shun violence and who are ready to contribute to the restoration of peace in the state,” he stressed. On permitting Hurriyat leaders to meet Pakistani officials, he said “I do not think that we have inaugurated a new policy in this regard,” while noting that Musharraf met Hurriyat leaders during his visit for the Agra Summit in July, 2001. The Minister made it clear that there was “no third party presence” at the Indo-Pak talks “nor is there any likelihood of this in the future”. |
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No “hot pursuit” to
tackle terrorism
New Delhi, December 22 “Our efforts are on to make it clear to officials and politicians in Dhaka that providing safe haven to militant groups can endanger their own national security sometime,” Mr Patil said during a question-answer session at the 17th Intelligence Bureau
endowment lecture, attended by top serving and retired officials. “I think they will understand soon,” Mr Patil said in reply to a question whether it was not proper for India to go for hot pursuit and demolish the militant camps of North-East outfits in Bangladesh. Outrightly rejecting the idea, Mr Patil said “going for a hot pursuit means we should be prepared for everything (including war).” He said the theory of hot pursuit was an acceptable global phenomenon but in extraordinary situations. “Have we been able to check militancy on Indian soil? If we have not been able do that, how do we carry out surprise attacks inside on other country?” he said. He, however, strongly rejected the notion of India being a “soft state” and said the government’s endeavour was to identify and remove the causes that gave rise to the menace. “India is neither a soft state nor a weak state....we have fought many wars with Pakistan....we have adopted the ways of a civilised world,” Mr Patil said adding all the international bodies including the UN, the European Commission and the SAARC should try to ensure that nations do not provide sanctuary and money to terrorists and also see to it that small weapons are not sold to NGOs. |
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32 notified as terrorist organisations
New Delhi, December 22 To another question, he said that 32 organisations notified as terrorists under POTA 2002 (since repealed) continued to be banned under the Unlawful Activities (prevention) Amendment Ordinance, 2004. Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Harkat-ul Mujahideen, Harkatul-Jejad-e-Islami, Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front, Al-Badr, Tehrik-e-Mujahideen and Al Umar were prominent militant groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir. United Liberation Front of Assam, All Tripura Tiger Force, National Democratic Front of Bodoland and People’s Liberation Army were operating in the North East. He said some prominent militant organisations, including nine operating in Jammu and Kashmir and four in the North East, were receiving funds from foreign countries. Replying to a query, the minister said it was revamping the Central scheme for police modernisation and would now give 100 per cent grant to states more vulnerable to violence instead of the earlier 75 per cent. Minister of State for Home Affairs S. Reghupathy said reports suggested that Indian insurgent groups had set up their training camps and hideouts in the territory of Bangladesh for subversive activities against India. In reply to another question, the minister said action had been initiated to formulate a policy for dealing with hostage crisis. Minister of State for Home Manik Rao Gavit said that the total population growth rate of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Buddhists decreased in 1991-2001 as compared to that in 1981-1991 while that of Jains and Christians increased during the period. Quoting figures that exclude Jammu Kashmir and Assam, the minister said the Hindu population had registered a growth rate of 22.8 per cent in 1981-1991 and a growth rate of 20 per cent in 1991-2001. The figures in the case of Muslims were 32.9 per cent in 1981-1991 and 29.3 per cent in 1991-2001. In the case of Sikhs and Buddhists, the figures were 25.5 per cent in 1981-1991 and 16.9 per cent in 1991-2001 and 36 per cent in 1981-1991 and 23.2 per cent in 1991-2001, respectively. The population growth rate among the Jains showed a remarkable increase from a mere 4 per cent in 1981-1991 to 26 per cent in 1991-2001.The Christians also registered a growth rate of 17 per cent in 1981-1991 and 22 per cent in 1991-2001. The minister admitted that a mistake had been committed in the report on religion data released on September 6. He said guidelines had been issued to the Registrar General of India (RGI) office that any changes should be done after due technical diligence to avoid confusion. Responding to queries, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said there were indications of an improvement in law and order situation in Manipur. He said there were divergent views on the Armed Forces Special Powers Act with some groups in the state favouring its withdrawal and some favouring its continuance. |
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Nepalese King arrives
today
New Delhi, December 22 There are no official engagements of King Gyanendra tomorrow after his arrival in the evening. External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh will call on the King on Friday. This will be followed by the crucial meeting between the King and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi will also call on the King on Friday. President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, on whose invitation King Gyanendra is coming, will host a banquet in his honour on Friday night. More than 5,000 people have been killed in the Maoist insurgency and the movement has not only spread within Nepal it has of late started showing signs of spilling over into Indian territory - the newest being Uttaranchal. India’s case has been that Nepal should tackle the Maoist insurgency firmly, though with a human face, and improve the quality of its administration so that development benefits percolate down to the grassroot level. As goodwill gesture and also a strategic move, New Delhi has taken up in a big way the task of developing Nepal’s infrastructure in rural areas, particularly those areas which are close to the 1,751 km border India shares with Nepal. The Nepal King will be accompanied by Queen Komal Lakshmi Devi Shah. |
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Over 18,000 posts in
Central Govt abolished New Delhi, December 22 He informed the House that the ERC had identified about 42,000 posts for abolition. Against this, the concerned ministries and departments have identified about 24,000 posts for abolition. Of these about 18,700 have already been abolished. Based on the recommendations of the ERC, the budget proposals for the year 2001-02 envisaged optimisation of direct recruitment. Accordingly, the Department of Personnel and Training issued instructions in 2001 regarding optimisation of direct recruitment to civilian posts. As per these instructions, as about 3 per cent of staff retires every year and if fresh recruitment is limited to 1 per cent, a reduction in manpower of 10 per cent in five years can be achieved. “Therefore, direct recruitment should be limited to one-third of the direct recruitment vacancies arising in a year subject to ceiling that this does not exceed 1 per cent of the total sanctioned strength”, he said. Around 64,000 posts have been identified to be filled up as a result of these instructions during the year 2001-02 and 2002-03. Category wise details of the abolished posts are not centrally maintained. Since the orders stipulate abolition of vacant posts only, no retrenchment is involved”, he said. |
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Jaya objects to milestones in Hindi
Chennai, December 22 In a letter to the Prime Minister, a copy of which was released to the press here, Ms Jayalalithaa wanted him to take up the matter with the Ministry of Shipping and Road Transport and Highways (held by DMK Minister T.R. Baalu) and give instructions to immediately stop the practice. Stating that the practice was based on the Indian Road Congress (IRC) Code 8-1980, she said this code had never been followed in the state, where language had always been an emotive issue. ‘’This ill-advised move of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has affected the sensibilities of the people of this state, causing great concern and anguish in the public mind. —
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MMS case: accused granted
bail
New Delhi, December 22 The court directed the minor’s parents to surrender his passport. The accused boy would not leave the territory of Delhi without prior permission, the court added. The court disagreed with the prosecution’s contention that the boy was mentally pervert and termed the incident as “misadventure” asking the boy to join regular counselling session along with his parents for a month. The parents had been asked to submit a weekly progress report to the court. However, the Delhi police opposed the bail plea saying there was every possibility of him tampering with the evidence and blackmailing the girl involved in the incident. The boy had continuously tampered with the evidence, including destroying the cell phone with which he recorded the objectionable pictures and changing the decor of the room in which the incident took place, it said. The police also cited the conduct of the accused in fleeing the country immediately after the incident came to public knowledge as a reason for the denial of bail. The act of the boy was obscene, depraved and showed his animal instincts, the police said suggesting that he should undergo further psychiatric treatment and counselling. The release of the boy on bail would hamper the investigations, which were at an advanced stage, it said. The counsel for the accused boy, Mr Ramesh Gupta, pleaded for bail saying the boy would abide by any condition imposed by the court while granting this relief. He would also cooperate with the investigation, he assured. Taking a note of the prosecution’s argument, the court directed the minor’s parents to surrender his passport. Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner of Police M. K. Sharma has informed the court that the girl in the clip has been located and her statement will be recorded as soon as possible. |
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Lok Sabha expresses concern over farmers’
suicides
New Delhi, December 22 Participating in a special discussion, the Lok Sabha MPs expressed apprehension over the state of agriculture, marked by decline in investment in the sector, and wanted steps to ensure minimum income guarantee to farmers. Mr Nitesh Kumar (JD-U) said the suicides had not stopped despite change of government at the Centre while Mr Shivraj Singh Chauhan (BJP) alleged some 2,000 farmers had ended their lives in recent months in Andhra Pradesh and 400-odd in Karnataka and Kerala each. Mr Kumar said there was crisis in agriculture in several states. He wanted an income support scheme for farmers instead of the price support scheme at present, which, he said, had benefited only farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh. |
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Govt to launch growth programmes for
agriculture
New Delhi, December 22 “If Indian GDP is to rise by 8 per cent a year, agriculture must grow by at least 4 per cent, which is not possible without major initiatives and a focused approach,” the minister said while inaugurating the Conference of State Agriculture Ministers in the Capital. He said there was an urgent need to raise farm productivity, especially in the vast rainfed areas. With 60 per cent of the cultivated area depending on rainfall, rainfed agriculture needed urgent attention. Besides crop farming, stress would need to be laid on promoting livestock farming, horticulture, silviculture, fodder plantation and grassland development. A multi-layered approach would be adopted with proper financial and technical support so that yields rose, farmers got protection from the vagaries of nature and employment was generated in rural areas, he stated. Mr Pawar further said for efficient use of available water, farmers would also need to adopt drip irrigation and sprinklers in a big way. The government would soon bring a scheme to promote these techniques. Stating that some states were making good use of these techniques, he urged upon other states to make use of the huge potential available. Stressing upon the need for increasing flow of credit to agriculture, the minister called upon NABARD and the RBI to come out with an affordable interest rate structure for this sector. He informed that agricultural credit had risen from about Rs 37,000 crore at this time last year to nearly Rs 63,000 crore this year. He also said the Agriculture Ministry and the Finance Ministry were having talks on how to make agricultural credit more affordable to farmers. Mr Pawar urged the state ministers to benefit from the four programmes or projects being initiated by the Centre for the remaining three years of the Tenth Plan. He said the government would soon launch the National Horticulture Mission to double horticultural production in 8 years and create the necessary marketing and processing infrastructure. The outlay for the mission for the remaining period of the current Plan was Rs 6,500 crore, he added. The government would launch a Rs 7,600 crore project on micro-irrigation (use of drip irrigation and sprinklers) in the current Plan. For the proposed dryland farming project, Rs 2,150 crore was to be spent in the next three years. A National Mission on Bamboo was proposed for promoting bamboo cultivation and supporting its marketing and processing, with an outlay of Rs 500 crore in the current Plan. Minister of State for Agriculture Kantilal Bhuria called for popularisation of drought-resistant varieties and adopting locally suited farm practices to increase production in rainfed areas. Agriculture Secretary Radha Singh highlighted the steps taken by the Centre for maximising rabi production. The government was keeping a close watch on the availability of fertilisers and other inputs, she said. She expressed the hope that the new projects and programmes would lead to long-term growth of agriculture, generate employment and induce private investment into rural areas. Agriculture and Horticulture Commissioners, NABARD and the CII made presentations on initiatives taken in the recent past and possible ways of attaining a high level of growth in agriculture. State ministers of agriculture and horticulture, senior Central and state officials, Vice-Chancellors of agricultural universities, experts and representatives of credit institutions participated in the conference. |
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SC ruling on tenant eviction
New Delhi, December 22 A five-Judge Bench comprising Mr Justice N. Santosh Hegde, Mr Justice S.N. Variava, Mr Justice B.P. Singh, Mr Justice H.K. Sema and Mr Justice S.B. Sinha said the 1958 Act conferred the special right on a limited class of widows ‘who let the premises or whose husband had let the premises before his death’. “A widow or her late husband who acquired rented premises by sale or transfer cannot invoke the provisions of Section 14-D to evict a pre-existing tenant,” the Bench said, setting aside a Delhi High Court judgement. |
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Cong leaders protest party govt
decision
Dehra Dun, December 22 The decision was unwarranted and insulting for those who had been stripped of the ranks, the leaders on dharna said. Congress General Secretary and state minister-rank holder Dhirendra Pratap said the decision to take away the rank of minister even as new appointments continued to be made was insulting. What makes the situation worse is that no one has been given any direct written or oral communication about the government’s decision to withdraw ministerial ranks, party office-bearers said. The ministers concerned have learnt about the decision through press reports, party office-bearers said, adding that this was the fourth time in the past three months when they had been insulted like this. The protesting office-bearers sent a word to the Chief Minister through Minister for Information Indira Hridayesh. They were later assured that the matter was discussed in the meeting and the Chief Minister would look into it, party sources said. A delegation of the minister-rank holders would meet Mr N.D. Tiwari tomorrow. If they were not heard in the state they would approach the Congress high command to sort out the issue, party sources said. |
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Upamanyu, Noor get Sahitya Akademi
Award
New Delhi, December 22 The award for Punjabi has been given to critic Sutinder Singh Noor for “Kavita di Bhumika”, while Amritlal Vegad is the winner in this category in Gujarati. Besides Upamanyu Chatterjee, who won the award for “The Mammaries of the Welfare State”, other novelists in the list include Geetha Nagabhushana (Kannada), Sadanand Deshmukh (Marathi), Nand Bhardwaj (Rajasthani) and Naveen (Telugu). Paul Zachariah won the award for his short story collection “Zachariyayute Kathakal”, while Viren Dangwal bagged the award for “Dushchakra Mein Srista”, a collection of poems. Essayists Sudhir Chakraborty (Bengali), Shiv Nath (Dogri) and Prafulla Kumar Mohanty (Oriya) are also among the winners. The awards carry Rs 50,000 and a plaque each and will be presented in February next year. Poets Hirendra Nath Dutta (Assamese), Ghulam Nabi Firaq (Kashmiri), Chandrabhanu Singh (Maithili), Birendrajit Naorem (Manipuri) and Tamilanban (Tamil) are also among the winners. |
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New railway enquiry system soon
New Delhi, December 22 To increase the availability of this service to large users, the enquiry system will work as a call centre within One BSNL, Basic Circle. A Railways spokesman said the new concept would make 139 accessible to all telephone landlines, WLL and mobile users in one telecom circle without prefixing the STD codes within such circle to make it a local call. Two such call centres at Patna and Bangalore had been commissioned, he said.
Fewer working hours sought for
Railways staff
New Delhi, December 22 The committee on Railways, in its fifth report presented to Parliament today said at times the operational staff, specially gangmen and drivers, had to work for 22 to 24 hours at a stretch. |
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Dabhol revival roadmap by
month-end
New Delhi, December 22 In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Mr Sayeed said, “The GoM will decide all issues related to the Dabhol Power Project, keeping all relevant aspects in view.” Meanwhile, the US Government-promoted Overseas Private Investment Corporation (Opic) will attend a crucial meeting next month in New York with the two committees formed by the Government of India to negotiate debt and non-debt claims in the Dabhol project. The GoM led by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee is expected to release its Dabhol revival roadmap before December-end. Opic's presence is crucial especially when it served an arbitration notice on the Indian Government on November 8 for recovering $ 110 million, which Opic has paid to GE-Bechtel and the Bank of America towards political risk insurance. It will hold separate talks with GE-Bechtel,which jointly holds 85 per cent in Dabhol Power Company (DPC), over the latter role in the project revival and to pursue arbitration proceedings. Opic is also expected to meet the seven offshore lenders who had recently initiated arbitration for recovering their claims of about $ 291 million under various agreements. Offshore lenders comprise ABN Amro Bank NV under the treaty with Netherlands, ANZEF Ltd under the treaty with the UK, BNP Paribas under the treaty with France, Credit Lyonnais SA under the treaty with France, Credit Suisse First Boston under the treaty with Switzerland, Erste Bank der Oesterreichischen Sparkassen AG under the treaty with Austria and Standard Chartered Bank under the treaty with the UK. The government's committee on debt-related claims is expected to hold talks with the offshore banks and financial institutions. Recently a group of seven offshore banks has initiated formal arbitration proceedings against the Indian Government. The lenders have proceeded against the government for its "failure to protect their (lenders) loans to the Dabhol Power Project, promoted by Enron Power, General Electric and Bechtel, which was shut down in May 2001. The total value of the claims made by the seven banks is about $ 291 million. The government has so far failed to comply with obligations under international investment treaties. If the claims were upheld, the government would be liable to pay compensation equal to the outstanding loans plus interest, default interest and expenses. The Dabhol Power Project was one of the largest foreign investments in India's history. It was financed by both Indian and offshore lenders. The plant was closed down following payment defaults by the Maharashtra State Electricity Board. The Finance Ministry had estimated that the revival of the Dabhol Power plant would cost Rs 1,800 crore. The amount is required to complete the liquefied natural gas plant, completion of Phase II and payment of contractual charges to GE and Bechtel. It is also estimated that it will take 18 months to complete all the three facilities before regenerating power from the troubled plant. |
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Candlelight march by journalists for wage board
New Delhi, December 22 The meeting was called by united forum of Delhi Union of Journalists and the Delhi State Newspaper Employees Federation. CITU President M.K. Pandhe, HMS veterans R.A. Mittal and A.D. Nagpal, Congress MP Harish Rawat, CPI MP Sudhakar Reddy and Kerala RSP MP N.K. Premachandran attended the rally. —
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NDA leaders to meet Speaker
today
New Delhi, December 22 The leaders, who held a preliminary discussion today on the matter in the chambers of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani, decided to insist on the “due space” for the Opposition in Parliament. It should be “in the true sense of the saying that the Opposition should have its say,” BJP spokesperson Vijay Kumar Malhotra told mediapersons here. The leaders were of the feeling that the Speaker should direct the government whenever it attempted to escape responsibility. There were umpteen instances where the Speakers have given firm rulings and directions, and the government complied without a second word. The leaders were also keen to seek from the Speaker that he should not make “open comments” about the Opposition in the House because they could “only suffer in silence” as there was no scope for retorting against the Chair’s comments. They are likely to suggest to him that he could tell them in private and make comments if his suggestions were not complied. The meeting assumes great significance as the NDA leaders, especially former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, expressing displeasure over the Speaker not taking the name of Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and blaming the Opposition for the adjournment of proceedings in the Lok Sabha last week. NDA Chairman and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will not be in the team but will be talking to the Speaker separately. Mr Advani also would not be part of the team because he will not be in town. The leaders in the delegation, besides Mr Malhotra, would be Mr Nitish Kumar (JD-U), Mr B.K. Tripathi (BJD), Mr Anant Geete (Shiv Sena), Mr Yerran Naidu (TDP) and Mr S.S. Dhindsa or Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal (SAD). |
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Life term for AP ex-minister, 7
others
Hyderabad, December 22 Two Congress workers, Mr Shankar Reddy and Mr Lakireddy Gopal Reddy, were murdered at the Shadnagar RTC bus stand in Mahaboobnagar district while they were on their way to Jammalmadugu in Kadapa district from here on December 5, 1990. The case, which was first heard in the Mahaboobnagar court, was later transferred to Nampally court here on the plea of the victims’ families. Ramasubha Reddy, who had served as Housing Minister in the N. Chandrababu Naidu Cabinet in the past, was one of the main accused in the case. He was elected twice from Jammalmadugu in 1994 and 1999. After the judgement, tension prevailed outside the court premises where relatives and supporters of Reddy had assembled. —
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The Election Commission Adviser K.J. Rao today began probe into alleged violation of model code of conduct for elections by RJD president and Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav in distributing cash to Dalit women at Bihta here last week.
In video (
