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SC reserves order on shifting
Pappu Yadav
Gharekhan is special envoy for West Asia
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MLA’s murder: SC notice to Mulayam govt
PM’s assurance on ‘political murders’
Rane expands Cabinet
Cong victory predicted in Haryana |
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Report sought on sexual abuse of woman prisoner
Leftist trade unions threaten nation-wide stir
Solution to revive Dabhol project in sight: Sayeed
All-India test for farm varsities
India, Iran to preserve cultural heritage
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SC reserves order on shifting
Pappu Yadav
New Delhi, February 3 Commenting on the Bihar Government’s contention that Beur was a “model jail”, a Bench of Mr Justice N Santosh Hegde and Mr Justice S.B. Sinha observed that it was “satisfied that Beur is not in a position to keep a check on this prisoner.” “If the model jail itself is bad, then what would you do?” the Bench asked Pappu Yadav’s counsel R.K. Jain and Bihar Government lawyer B.B. Singh. The court also directed the CBI to seize all documents relating to the treatment of Pappu Yadav in Patna Medical College as well as inside Beur to examine the allegations of “nexus” between the MP and the doctors and officials of Patna Medical College for “fudging” his illness. After his bail was cancelled in March last year by the apex court, the MP had stayed in Patna Medical College’s VIP ward for several months and was shifted to Beur only on the orders of the court. The CBI was directed to submit its report on February 17, when the court would take up the issue of installing jammers in jails all over the country. The court further directed the District Judge of Madhepura to produce records of Fast Track Court there to show whether any production warrant was issued to Pappu Yadav in May last year, when he was found campaigning in the constituency in favour of party supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav during the Lok Sabha election while in custody. He had then said that he had gone to Madhepura only because there was production warrant from Fast Track Court against him. He was elected from Madhepura to Lok Sabha after Laloo Prasad, who contested from two constituencies, had vacated the seat. The court reminded his counsel that in spite of repeated directions, the MP had not shown any respect to its orders and defied them by venturing out to Madhepura during the election, hosting dinner in the jail on his release on bail granted by Patna High Court, holding “durbar” of his supporters in the jail and using mobile phones when in judicial custody.
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Gharekhan is special envoy for West Asia
New Delhi, February 3 Mr Gharekhan has had a distinguished diplomatic career, in the course of which he served as India’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva and as Additional Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office. On retirement in 1992, Mr Gharekhan served as Under Secretary-General in the UN, first as the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Representative to the Security Council and then as UN Special Coordinator in the Occupied Territories. |
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MLA’s murder: SC notice to Mulayam govt
New Delhi, February 3 Taking cognizance of a writ petition by Raju Pal’s wife, Pooja, a Bench of Mr Justice N. Santosh Hegde and Mr Justice S.B. Sinha, issued notices to the UP Government, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, the state DGP, CBI, Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed. Pooja has named all of them as respondents in her petition. The notices to the respondents were issued when her counsel made a special mention before the Bench about filing of the petition. The court also directed the UP DGP to provide proper security to Pooja after her counsel alleged that she and her mother-in-law faced threat to their lives. Accusing Samajwadi Party of eliminating her husband due to political reasons, she alleged that the investigation being done by the state police was not fair. Raju Pal, who was elected from Allahabad West, was gunned down along with two of his supporters by some unidentified assailants on January 25. Pooja Pal and another supporter of the MLA were injured in the shootout.
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PM’s assurance on ‘political murders’
New Delhi, February 3 Mr Naidu told The Tribune that he was not demanding the dismissal of the Congress-led government in Andhra Pradesh but the removal of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy because of his “factional politics” and alleged involvement in criminalisation of politics. He was categoric that the premeditated killings of political opponents must end and there should be law and order and peace in Andhra Pradesh. Over the past nine months since the advent of the Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy government in Hyderabad, 44 TDP leaders and activists had been killed in collusion with the police. If the present situation continues, then Andhra Pradesh will become another violence-plagued state like Bihar. |
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Rane expands Cabinet
LESS than a day after the Congress-led coalition assumed office in Goa, infighting has broken out among party MLAs thus threatening the stability of the day-old government.
The swearing in of six ministers in the Pratapsinh Rane government was delayed by more than an hour today as Congress MLAs wrangled for portfolios. Rane, who decided on inducting just four non-Congress ministers, had to accommodate his rival and former Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro and another MLA Dayanand Narvekar. A hurriedly-signed appointment letter was signed by Governor S.C. Jamir and added to the earlier letter. Faliero, however, denied the tiff. “Actually I was planning to go to Delhi today, but was asked by the high command to join the ministry,” he said. The non-Congress ministers in the government are Dr Wilfred de. Souza from the Nationalist Congress Party and Ramkrishna Sudhin Dhavalikar from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party. Two BJP-rebels Isidore Fernandes and Pandurang Madkaikar, who resigned from the BJP government-led by Manohar Parrikar last week causing it to topple, were also inducted into the cabinet. They will have to contest and win the elections within six months. It is not clear which party Fernandes and Madkaikar will join. “There is time to think about that,” Fernandes said. Former Tourism Minister Mickey Pachecho, who also resigned with Fernandes and Madkaikar was not inducted into the Cabinet though he intensely lobbied for it. According to sources, South Goa MP Churchill Alemao had prevailed upon the party leadership to keep Pachecho out. According to sources close to Alemao, he is lobbying with the Congress to keep Pachecho out. A fourth BJP-rebel MLA Atanasio Monserrate said he would not join the cabinet till he was re-elected. In all eight ministers have been sworn in the Pratapsinh Rane cabinet. Chief Minister Pratapsinh Rane of the Congress and his deputy Philipe Neri Rodrigues were sworn in by governor S.C. Jamir yesterday. The Congress-led coalition has 18 MLAs in the 40-member house which has four vacancies. Meanwhile, the Governor justified his decision to sack the Manohar Parrikar’s government yesterday. In a message put out by his office, Jamir said Goa’s Assembly Speaker Vishwas Satarkar had exceeded his brief. “Just before the motion was put to vote, the Independent MLA (Philipe Neri Rodrigues), for no justifiable reason, was physically removed from the house by the speaker and was denied his right to enjoy the powers and privileges as a member guaranteed under Article 194 of the constitution,” Jamir said. |
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Cong victory predicted in Haryana New Delhi, February 3 The NDTV exit poll suggested that the Congress is cashing on its success in the Lok Sabha election. Of the 90 seats in Haryana, the exit polls across channels suggested that the Congress is getting a clear majority of 60 seats. According to the projections, Om Prakash Chautala’s Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) had net 13 seats. The BJP followed with 10 seats and other parties might manage seven seats. The ZEE News-C Voter exit poll claimed that the Congress could net 60 seats in the Haryana Assembly while the ruling INLD of Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala faces a rout, barely managing to reach double-digit figure, at 11. BJP is expected to win nine seats and others, 10 seats, in Haryana. According to the AC Nielsen exit poll for Star News, Congress is expected to win 55 seats in Haryana with the ruling INLD getting 15 and BJP 11 seats. For Bihar, the NDTV exit poll predicted a hung Assembly with RJD being the big loser at the moment. Of the 63 seats, which went to the polls in the first phase, RJD is expected to win around 23 seats, 10 less from last time. The BJP and its ally Janata Dal (United) could get 21 seats, the Congress and Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti could get around 11 seats, with the smaller parties getting eight seats. The Zee exit poll indicated that in Bihar, ruling RJD seems to be in a patch of trouble, expected to win only 17 of the 64 seats where polling was held in the first phase, which is a loss of 16 seats compared to its tally in the previous election. The exit poll gives the BJP-JD(U) combine 20 seats, with Congress getting 16, a gain of 15 seats over last time. Others are expected to get ten seats. In Bihar, according to the Star News exit poll, it’s a close fight between RJD and BJP-JD(U) combine in the first phase. While ruling RJD is expected to win 28 of the 64 seats in the 243-member Assembly, BJP-JD(U) appears set to win 21 seats, Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP six and Congress none. In Jharkhand, 24 of the 81 seats went to the polls in the first phase today. The Congress-JMM alliance is being given an average of 12 seats, the ruling BJP is down to an average of eight seats while the RJD of Laloo Prasad Yadav is given four seats by the NDTV polls. Congress and allies and BJP are projected to win nine seats each out of the 24 that went to polls today by the Zee News polls. The RJD and others are expected to get four and two seats, respectively. However, Star News has put BJP ahead of Congress, giving it 14 out of 24 seats while Congress-JMM is expected to get six and RJD four.
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Report sought on sexual abuse of woman prisoner
New Delhi, February 3 The article stated that letters alleging sexual harassment of the inmate was sent by one of the convicts to the Haridwar SDM and mediapersons. The letter stated officers had been sexually exploiting the woman prisoner in a godown of the women's ward in the jail, following which she also had to undergo medical termination of pregnancy in the district hospital on January 27. A few days earlier, she was sent to the hospital, where she was given medicines and injections to facilitate the termination of pregnancy. According to the report, the inmate narrated the story to the mother of a male prisoner, who visited the jail to meet her son. It was also alleged that the jail authorities were pressurising the inmate and threatening those who had been making complaints about it. |
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Leftist trade unions threaten nation-wide stir New Delhi, February 3 The leaders of the central trade unions at a meeting here decided to hold massive demonstrations nationwide on February 26 against the recent ordinance relating to patents. They also dismissed reports that the hike in the EPF rate to 9.5 per cent was a "deal" to win their support for the decision to raise the FDI limit to 74 per cent in telecom. The meeting, attended by representatives of the AICCTU, AITUC, CITU, HMS, UTUC, UTUC-LS and TUCC, also decided to observe protest week from March 6 by holding rallies and dharnas. "We are determined to give a fitting rebuff to the government," AITUC general secretary Gurudas Dasgupta told reporters after the meeting. |
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Solution to revive Dabhol project in sight: Sayeed
New Delhi, February 3 Addressing a press conference here today, Power Minister P.M. Sayeed said the Empowered Group of Ministers, set up to resolve the issues that had plagued the project, had more deliberations recently. Refusing to give a time frame, Mr Sayeed said “a solution is in sight.” The minister said, “We are putting all our hats together to find a solution” to the now closed Dabhol project in Maharashtra. The government had earlier indicated that it was hopeful of arriving at an amicable settlement soon for the Dabhol power project so that the plant could be restarted within the next one-and-a-half year. The efforts to restart the plant gathered steam after foreign promoters filed claims worth $ 6 billion in the International Arbitration Court in London for alleged breach of the Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement.
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All-India test for farm varsities
New Delhi, February 3 Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today announced a roadmap to improve standards of agricultural educational institutions and to make Krishi Vigyan Kendras more efficient in disseminating new technologies to farmers. Addressing members of Consultative Committee attached to the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Pawar said the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) had established an accreditation board and a new accreditation procedure to ensure quality of agricultural education and research institutions. Other initiatives would include holding an all-India competitive entrance examination for admission to state agricultural universities, bringing about uniformity in under graduate and post-graduate course regulations, development of instructional material. Mr Pawar informed that within the next two years all districts would have at least one Krishi Vigyan Kendra.
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India, Iran to preserve cultural heritage
New Delhi, February 3 The Iranian diplomat said under this understanding, a number of monuments, libraries and cultural heritages were being maintained and preserved by experts of the two countries. Mr Shakib also said Iran was keen to further promote and consolidate its cultural ties with India and in pursuance of this Tehran had proposed setting up cultural centres in Bangalore and Hyderabad. Iran Cultural House is already working in Mumbai in this regard. A film festival will be organised in Kolkata later this month in which leading artists from Iran and India will take part in the festival. |
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Tsunami donation
New Delhi, February 3 National president of Mahila Congress Rita Bahuguna Joshi, along with national office-bearers of the organisation, presented a cheque of Rs 21 lakh to Congress president Sonia Gandhi today. The money was collected by various state units of the Mahila Congress across the country. |
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Justice Patil is NHRC member
New Delhi, February 3 |
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