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PM rejects Advani’s description of his being “invisible”
Bangarappa joins SP
Advani seeks to quell dissidence in
Gujarat
Govt against quota in private
colleges
Maharashtra minister
quits
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Pak spy nabbed; incriminating papers seized
HC allows BSP
to publish ads
Cong, NCP woo Nirupam
Mughal Gardens open to farmers on
Monday
Navy arming submarines with cruise
missiles
Encounter specialists in the
dock
Punjabi interpreters for RS soon
Govt to set up disaster management
agency
Hanspal meets Pranab
New CBI ADGs appointed
Special drive to recover EPF dues
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PM rejects Advani’s description of his being “invisible”
New Delhi, March 10 “It is not a question of being visible or not. It (the government) should be judged from the conduct of our government and its performance in the past nine months since it assumed office in May last year”, Dr Singh said while replying to the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address. In a spirited speech lasting about 35 minutes, the Prime Minister said he had visited all parts of the country wherever people were in distress. “Wherever people were in distress, I went there along with Soniaji”, he said. “When there were floods, I was there with the people of Bihar and Assam. I have been to Jammu and Kashmir twice. I was there in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh following the December 26 Tsunami”, the Prime Minister said. He had visited Andhra Pradesh in the wake of the severe drought which had resulted in a situation where farmers were committing suicide and he had visited Jammu and Kashmir twice in the last six months. “Our record speaks for itself”, he said. The Prime Minister, however, steered clear of making any remarks on the controversial issues surrounding Jharkhand and Goa. He maintained that the government was not soft on terrorism and militancy and would not compromise on extremist violence. At the same time, he said, the government would encourage dialogue with all groups that were willing to shun the path of violence “We have put together a comprehensive and systematic approach to tackling extremism and militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and North-east. We are concerned about Naxalite violence. We are helping the state government for tackling these problems in all its dimensions”, the Prime Minister said. On Jammu and Kashmir, he said that the increased participation in the civic polls were reflective of the fact that people yearned for peace. The government he said was conscious of the external dimensions of terrorism in the state and stated that infiltration levels have come down by 60 per cent in 2004. Installation of high tech surveillance equipment, strengthening of the border fencing has given positive results. Besides, the economic package have resulted in enhanced economic activity in the state. The government, he said, was alive to the problem of humane situation in applying laws and this was the primary reason was POTA was repealed. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was amended to create an appropriate legal framework to tackle the problem of terrorism. The Centre was providing all necessary assistance to the state governments to tackle extremist violence and bearing all the security-related expenditure including the cost of deployment of additional para-military forces. Asking all extremist groups to shun the path of violence and come forward to the negotiating table, Dr Singh cited the example of Naga insurgent outfit NSCN (I-M) and termed the discussions as “satisfactory”. “I am confident that these discussions will be brought to a successful conclusion”, he said. “We felt that the discussions should take place in India. After we came to power we succeeded in getting these negotiations done inside the country. This is a positive development”, he said. Regarding economic policies, the Prime Minister said that after several years there have been a rise in investment policies in the country and this was a direct result of the all inclusive policies of the UPA regime. “We can’t live in the past. We are living in a dynamic world. We have made changes but the basic thrust of the economic policies remains self-reliance and a progressive humane society”, he said. Dr Singh said that the rate of inflation has been reined in despite rising prices of petroleum products and the balance of payment position was comfortable as never before. Fiscal deficit, however, is a matter of concern and the government was working with states to evolve a political consensus on the matter. |
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Ruckus in RS over Fernandes’
remarks
New Delhi, March 10 Ruling party members supported RJD member Kumkum Rai who wanted to discuss Mr Fernandes’ statement in which he reportedly said Ms Gandhi would “meet the same fate” as her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi. Deputy Chairman K. Rehman Khan, who was in the Chair, said he could not permit raising the matter since it concerned members of the other House. The Chair said it would not allow the matter to be raised without proper notices under the rules. When the House reassembled, the RJD member again wanted to raise the issue, saying she had already given a notice to Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachouri and she was giving the required notice to the Chair. Mr Rehman Khan assured that he would give an opportunity to raise the matter after due consideration of the notice. |
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BJP: Congress undermining democracy
New Delhi, March 10 Talking to newspersons, BJP parliamentary party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra said the Congress’ stand on the court’s verdict disqualifying Indira Gandhi from the Lok Sabha membership in 1975 and now their protest over court orders on Gujarat, Goa, Bihar and Jharkhand were a “direct hit” on democratic institutions. Referring to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s dharna against stalling of proceedings on the Jharkhand issue, Mr Malhotra said his plea was that the House be allowed to run as they had come to Parliament to “learn”, but today the Congress had disturbed the proceedings in the Lok Sabha on some “reported remark of Mr George Fernandes”. Mr Fernandes had merely said Indira Gandhi had lost election in 1975 when she imposed Emergency and Ms Sonia Gandhi may also meet the same fate. “What wrong has he done?” he asked. |
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Bangarappa joins SP
New Delhi, March 10 Mr Bangarappa joined the SP in the presence of its president and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav
here. Mr Bangarappa had resigned from the Congress ahead of the last Lok Sabha poll following differences with party leadership. His son too had joined the
BJP. Mr Bangarappa served as Chief Minister of Karnataka during 1992-94. He had left Congress in 1983 to form the “Kranti
Ranga”. Mulayam Singh Yadav, who met CPM General Secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet earlier today, emphasised the revival of the Third Front. Replying to questions, Mr Yadav said he did not foresee danger to his government and any move to bring President’s rule in UP would lead to a “revolt”. “There is no danger to my government. It will complete its full term. There will be serious consequences of President’s rule in UP, he
said. Mr Yadav, however, added that the Congress-led government at the Centre would not commit “any such mistake”. |
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Advani seeks to quell dissidence in
Gujarat
New Delhi, March 10 “It is an internal matter of the party and it should not be raised through the media. We will meet and sort out the issues”, Mr Advani told the weekly BJP parliamentary party meeting here this morning, BJP Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha V.K. Malhotra said during the media briefing. Former Chief Minister and Mr Modi’s arch rival Keshubhai Patel, with whom the dissident MLAs have rallied around, as also former Union Minister Kashiram Rana were present at the parliamentary party meeting. In response to a question, Professor Malhotra denied that there was a “rebellion” in the party and said the MLAs and MPs only wanted “their views to be heard”. Amid phone-tapping allegations and simmering discontent against the Chief Minister’s style of functioning, over 50 dissident BJP MLAs and five MPs had yesterday met former Chief Minister Patel and “voiced their protest”. Meanwhile, Mr Patel, who arrived here late last night, has admitted that “problems” existed in the party but asserted that, “Whatever I have to say, I will raise it in the party
fora”. |
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Govt against quota in private
colleges
New Delhi, March 10 “Fixing a quota can only be done by the government, whether Central or state or any authorised agency or committee. It cannot be left to the determination of each institution,” Solicitor-General (SG) G.E. Vahanvati, appearing for the Centre, told a seven-Judge Constitution Bench, hearing a batch of over 100 petitions from across the country on annual admission wranglings. The SG, in his written submission placed before the Bench, headed by Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti, said the quota for admissions whether for minorities in a minority institution or for management seats in private colleges could only be fixed on case to case basis, not as a general rule by considering the nature of the institution. The counsel made it clear that there could not be any compromise on merit in admission whether there should be a provision of quota either in minority institution or a private college of general nature. “The admission will be done on merit and in a fair, just and
transparent manner. This applies equally to minority and non-minority institutions,” he said. If at all a management quota had to be fixed in private colleges, it “has to be on the basis of Common Entrance Test (CET)” for students across the country as multiplicity tests by different institutions would cause more hardship to students. The Bench had indicated that it wanted to expedite hearing and give its verdict soon to ensure that the students did not face difficulty in admission during the coming academic session. Besides determining the quota for various category of students, the court is also examining the issue of faxing of fee, CET and other important-related issues. The case had been referred to the Bench to streamline the admission process in the wake of conflicting interpretations of apex court verdicts in TMA Pai and Islamic Academy cases on admission issues, by various high courts when there were spate admission related cases before them. |
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Maharashtra minister
quits
Mumbai, March 10 Mr Jain’s resignation comes days after he was indicted by a commission set up to probe corruption charges against him. Sources said NCP chief Sharad Pawar had asked Mr Jain to put in his papers shortly after Justice P.B. Sawant submitted his inquiry report to the government. Though the report is yet to be made public, leaks emanating from Mantralaya, the Maharashtra Government Secretariat, indicate that the commission had passed adverse remarks against Mr Jain and Labour Minister Nawab Malik. Two other NCP leaders, Mr Padamsinh Patil and Mr Vijaykumar Gavit, along with social worker Anna Hazare, were also under scrutiny by the commission. The Congress, which is in alliance with the NCP in Maharashtra, and even a section of Sharad Pawar’s party are demanding that the entire report be tabled in the State Assembly. Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is yet to comment on the matter. |
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Pak spy nabbed; incriminating papers seized
New Delhi, March 10 |
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HC allows BSP
to publish ads
Lucknow, March 10 Mr Justice Jagdish Bhalla and Mr Justice M.A. Khan of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court heard a petition moved by the BSP two days ago, stating that the remaining 29 of the 40 BSP rebel MLAs were deliberately evading the court notice for well over the past two months which had sought them to explain their crossing over to the Samajwadi Party at the time of the formation of the present government. |
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Cong, NCP woo Nirupam
Mumbai, March 10 According to sources here, the two parties are offering Mr Nirupam a seat to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra, besides a political base in Mumbai.
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Mughal Gardens open to farmers on
Monday
New Delhi, March 10 Mr S.M. Khan, Press Secretary to the President, told TNS here today that the new initiative was aimed at educating farmers about medicinal plants and their commercial value. “The idea is to help farmers consider a crop of herbal plants apart from kharif and rabi and export of herbal products from India,” Mr Khan said. He said the visiting farmers would also have the opportunity to consult agricultural scientists from the National Medicinal Plant Board, Delhi, Central Institute for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow, and Agricultural University, Pant Nagar. Farmers would also get a chance to see the jatropha plantation block in the herbal gardens. Jatropha is a bio-diesel plant and it has been scientifically established that oil extracted from it can be used with normal diesel. The two herbal gardens were set up with the help of experts from the National Medicinal Plant Board and the Central Institute for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. The gardens, spread over 10 acres, have 60 varieties of herbal plants, including aswagandha, brahmi, tulsi, lemon grass and sarvagandha. Mr Khan said farmers from nine states had so far visited the herbal gardens after they were created in 2002 and 2003. Dr Kalam, who visits the herbal gardens frequently, may also interact with farmers as he has done in the past. The Press Secretary said more than six lakh persons had visited the gardens since February 11. This was for the first time that visitors to the gardens had gone home with brahmi or gemania as gifts from Rashtrapati Bhavan. While brahmi is a memory enhancer, gemania is an aromatic plant. Mr Khan said March 15 and 16 had been reserved for visits of persons from the Armed Forces, police and paramilitary forces. March 17 had been reserved for visit of physically and mentally challenged persons and their attendants and on March 18, visually challenged persons could visit the tactile garden where names of plants had been written in Braille. |
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Borlaug Award for Dr S. Nagarajan New Delhi, March 10 |
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Navy arming submarines with cruise
missiles
New Delhi, March 10 The Navy has acquired 10 of these huge diesel-electric patrol submarines from Russia with the latest one, INS Sindhushastra, delivered late last year. Under the deal negotiated with Russia’s Zvezdochka Shipyard at Severodyinsk, eight of the Submarines are being retrofitted to enable them to carry the Russian 3M-54E1 Klub-s submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM). While, three of the upgraded submarines have already been delivered back by the Russian shipyard, the other three are expected to be retrofitted in another two years. The remaining four are already equipped with the cruise missiles. According to Navy officials here the upgrading is being done at an estimated cost of Rs 352 crore. Officials said while initial trials had commenced for testing the missile from land based launchers, extensive work was going on to test the missile’s undersea launch capability. |
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Encounter specialists in the
dock
Mumbai, March 10 Acting on orders of the Bombay High Court, the Crime Investigation Department of the Mumbai police is probing the disappearance of Khwaja Yunus, who was arrested in December, 2002, on suspicion that he was among those who set off a bomb in a bus at Ghatkopar in central Mumbai that year. On January 7, the police team probing the blasts put out a remarkable story about Yunus escaping from custody. The officers said they were transporting Yunus from Mumbai to Nashik by jeep when their vehicle went off the road and fell into a ditch. They further submitted that all four police officers fell unconscious but Yunus, who was chained to the vehicle, escaped after the pipe on which he was handcuffed to broke in the mishap. Photographs of the overturned vehicle were also circulated by the police officials and a lookout was posted for Yunus. However, a sustained campaign by Yunus’ family and human rights activists caused the Bombay High Court to intervene. A co-accused in the case, Dr Abdul Mateen Basit, filed a first information report stating that he had seen police officers batter Yunus. Several punches and kicks to his chest resulted in Yunus vomiting blood. He was then taken away and was never seen again. Citing his professional judgement Basit submitted that the injuries sustained by Yunus resulted in rupture of his lungs and led to possible cardiac arrest, leading to his death. The probe has resulted in the arrest of encounter specialist Praful Bhosale, who was decorated with the President’s medal. Also accused in the case are Inspectors Hemant Desai and Rajaram Vhanmane and Sub-Inspector Ashok Khot. However, the police fraternity has closed behind the arrested cops. Encounter specialists Daya Nayak, Pradeep Sharma and Vijay Salaskar, staple of Bollywood crime flicks, have openly told the media that the arrests would demoralise police officers. Top police officers, including Police Commissioner A.N. Roy, have already dissociated themselves from the arrested officers. Lawyer Majeed Memon, representing the family of Yunus, says the courts should treat the matter as custodial death. “With the family’s bread winner dying in police custody, they should get a compensation of Rs 1 crore.” The arrest of the four police officers has assumed political overtones with the Vishva Hindu Parishad and the Shiv Sena coming out in their support. |
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Punjabi interpreters for RS soon
New Delhi, March 10 The Rajya Sabha Secretariat will soon recruit a Punjabi interpreter for this purpose, an NCM release said today. The facility was already available to several regional languages, it added. |
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Govt to set up disaster management
agency
New Delhi, March 10 In a suo motu statement, he said institutional and coordination mechanisms would be modified in line with statutory provisions after passage of the Bill. Action had already been taken to earmark eight battalions of central para-military forces, from their existing strength, to be trained and equipped to function as specialist teams, he said. The Minister said training of trainers to respond to natural disasters had been completed. Training had also been completed to respond to radiological, biological and chemical emergencies. He said 18 specialist response teams had already been trained for tackling natural disasters. The Disaster Management Bill, 2005 is proposed to be introduced in the current session, he said. |
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Hanspal meets Pranab
New Delhi, March 10 Sources said Mr Hanspal apprised him today of the developments in the past fortnight which had caused bickerings in the Punjab Congress. Mr Hanspal conveyed concern over exchange of words between senior state leaders through the media. Taking exception to the state leaders taking their differences to the media, Mr Hanspal said grouses should be aired in the party forums. The sources said Mr Hanspal told Mr Mukherjee about the reported remarks of Mr Brar concerning “violence” in Ajnala byelection. He also apprised Mr Mukherjee of the subsequent exchange of words between Mr Brar and Punjab Finance Minister Surinder Singla. Mr Hanspal had earlier said the DAC’s action of suspending Mr Brar was beyond its purview as he was AICC member. |
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New CBI ADGs appointed
New Delhi, March 10 Mr Dutt, an IPS officer of 1971 batch from West Bengal cadre, is currently the Additional Director -General of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), while Mr Sharma, who belongs to 1972 batch from Rajasthan cadre, is the ADG of the Border Security Force (BSF). |
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Special drive to recover EPF dues
New Delhi, March 10 Labour Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao informed the Rajya Sabha today that the government would take all steps needed to expedite recovery of dues from defaulting establishments by amending the provisions of the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. |
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Former Karnataka Chief Minister S.
Bangarappa, who quit the BJP earlier this week, has resigned his Lok Sabha seat and joined the Samajwadi Party to become its president in the
state.
Video
