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NDA flays Speaker’s suggestion
SC order violated in Jharkhand: BJP
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Shiv Sainiks attack India Today office GoM urged not to repeal IMS Act
Bus strike hits life
in Mumbai
Lalji Tandon faces police case
Advani for citizenship to minorities in Pak, B’desh
Indo-UK joint exercise for UN missions begins
SC order intrusion of legislative powers: CPM
SC directs Haryana, UP to set up CNG stations in NCR
Dhariwal won’t be arrested, CBI tells SC
Women on fast for fair package
Bank employees stage march to Parliament
Tributes paid to Gandhi
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NDA flays Speaker’s suggestion
New Delhi, March 11 “The Speaker has become not only a party, but a pillar. He has gone one step beyond the government and is trying to force it to go in for a Presidential reference,” BJP Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj told newspersons here after a 45-minute meeting of NDA leaders, called to discuss the Jharkhand issue and the Speaker’s stand. The meeting, chaired by Leader of the Opposition L K Advani, was attended by NDA Convener George Fernandes, JD (U) leaders Nitish Kumar and Prabhunath Singh, senior BJP leaders Jaswant Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Pramod Mahajan, Yerran Naidu (TDP), Dinesh Trivedi (Trinamool Congress), Sharad Joshi (Shetkari Sangathana), B K Tripathy (BJD), P C Thomas (IFDP), Ananth Geethe (Shiv Sena) and Raj Mahinder Singh Majitha and ‘dissension or division’ within the NDA over a Presidential reference, Mrs Swaraj said, “We are opposed to it. We hope that the government will use its wisdom and exercise restraint. We don’t think they will do it, but if they do, we will evolve a unanimous response.” Sources said that some of the NDA allies, like the JD (U), also suggested to bring a no-confidence motion against the Speaker but Mrs Swaraj denied it saying that, “there was no such discussion.” To a question if the NDA would oppose the move in Parliament, she said, “if they (Treasury Benches) raise it, we will respond.” “The NDA believes that both the legislature and the judiciary are Supreme in their own fields. However, the ultimate supremacy is of the Constitution. Both must observe the purpose and goals enshrined in the Constitution. The role of the Central government, the UPA, the Governor and the Pro-Tem Speaker of Jharkhand Assembly is extremely disturbing,” a unanimous resolution passed at the meeting said. |
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SC order violated in Jharkhand: BJP
New Delhi, March 11 As soon as reports came about the adjournment of the Jharkhand Assembly till Monday without undertaking the trial of strength, BJP general secretary and spokesman Arun Jaitley attacked Jharkhand Governor Syed Sibtey
Razi, state Assembly pro tem speaker Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu along with the UPA and alleged that the Supreme Court’s directions had been violated. “I think this is a complete onslaught on democratic institutions. This is a complete subversion of democratic institutions and I can’t resist saying that the UPA is a conspirator in this murder of democracy,” Mr Jaitley said. The former Union Law Minister said “along with the
UPA, the Governor, the pro tem Speaker have completely participated in subverting democracy.” Alleging that the UPA did not want to go for the trial of strength “as they don’t have the numbers on their side”, he charged that the development marked “complete breach of Constitution which provides for majority rule.” |
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Jharkhand
episode unfortunate: Laloo New Delhi, March 11 Mr Yadav was talking to mediapersons after flagging off the 2820 Bhubaneswar-bound Orissa Sampark Kranti at the New Delhi railway station this evening. The Railway Minister gave the green signal for the launch of four Sampark Kranti trains and the Delhi-Faizabad Express. While the 2448 UP Sampark Kranti bound for Manikpur will start tonight, the 2330 West Bengal Sampark Kranti bound for Sealdah will start running on Saturday. The 4206 Delhi-Faizabad Express and the Guwahati-bound Purvotar Sampark Kranti is scheduled to start running on March 14. The 2122 Madhya Pradesh Sampark Kranti will start running on March 21. The Railway Minister responded favourably to the request of the licensed porters to hear their demands. Laloo also visited the newly constructed Coolie Vishram Grah. National general secretary of porters’ union Jaggu Singh presented a memorandum to the Chairman, Railway Board, on behalf of 1,483 licensed porters working at the New Delhi railway station. The porters demanded provision of at least 200 carts.
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Laloo meets Sonia New Delhi, March 11 “I exchanged views on the political situation in Bihar,” Mr Yadav said when asked about his meeting with Ms Gandhi at her Parliament House office. Mr Yadav also met Mr Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Ms Gandhi.
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PM meets
CPM leaders New Delhi, March 11 The Prime Minister discussed the Constitutional deadlock arising out of Jharkhand Assembly’s failure to conduct a trial of strength today ahead of a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs slated later in the night. Sources said the PM was understood to have told the CPM leaders that a Constitutional “deadlock” had been created by the Assembly not taking up the business of vote of confidence in defiance of the Supreme Court directions. The CPM leaders listened to the Prime Minister but did not express any views it was reported.
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Naidu held for leading protest
Guwahati, March 11 Naidu was arrested near the Secretariat when he was leading a massive procession, while thousands of others were arrested when they attempted to gherao the capital complex. Talking to reporters following his arrest, Naidu accused the Gogoi government of “murdering democracy” by preventing the “lakhs of BJP protesters from participating in the ‘Dispur Gherao’ programme of the party.”
— PTI |
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Shiv Sainiks
attack India Today office Mumbai, March 11 Police presence at the Taj Hotel near the Gateway of India foiled the Shiv Sena’s attempts to disrupt the events there. The Sainiks, however, entered the magazine’s offices and smashed property. Shiv Sena activists had earlier ‘banned’ the entry of Aiyar into Mumbai for his remarks against freedom fighter Veer Savarkar. The minister had removed a plaque commemorating Savarkar at the Cellular Jail in Andamans after the UPA government came to power last year. While the Hindutva lobby considers Savarkar a hero, sections of the Congress party hold him responsible for the
assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
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GoM urged not to repeal IMS Act New Delhi, March 11 The NHRC, health organisations and several NGOs, including the Voluntary Health Association of India(VHAI) and the Breast Feeding Promotion Network of India, voiced concern over the move to include the Act in the Schedule 1 of the Food Safety and Standards Bill 2005, saying that it was a special Act to protect, promote and support
breast-feeding. Allaying apprehensions that the repeal of the Act would lead to unethical marketing and promotional practices, which in turn would denigrate mother’s milk and interfere with breast-feeding, the ministry, in a letter to the NHRC, said the concern was not well-founded and a regulation under the proposed Bill would take care of the concern. The commission, in its letter to the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, while citing apprehensions expressed by NGOs and medical experts over the inclusion of the Act in Schedule 1 of the Food Safety and Standards Bill 2005 that deals with all legislation to be repealed, also requested it to send the Bill to the commission for its perusal.
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Bus strike hits life
in Mumbai
Mumbai, March 11 Attempts by the municipal-run undertaking to take out buses were foiled as striking employees smashed the windowpanes of 17 buses, forcing the management to pull out all buses. Office-goers cursed and crowded into private buses even as students appearing for examinations were inconvenienced. The state government allowed private vehicle owners to pick up passengers from bus stops. Mumbai’s local trains too were crowded as normal bus commuters took to rail transport. The BEST undertaking plies 3880 buses across Mumbai, parts of Thane and Navi Mumbai every day. BEST’s power supply in South Mumbai remained unaffected as senior managers manned emergency stations. The police arrested striking BEST workers in different parts of Mumbai for indulging in violence. The employees launched a strike after their talks with the management on dearness allowance calculations failed yesterday. While the employees want to be paid a 129 per cent dearness allowance or a merger of the allowance with the basic salary, the management has proposed neutralisation of the allowance from 129 per cent to 100 per cent. |
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Lalji Tandon faces police case
Lucknow, March 11 It was at a public function during Mr Tandon’s grand birthday celebrations at Chandra Shekhar Azad Park on April 12 last year that 21 women and a child had died in a stampede following pandemonium during the distribution of free saris. The police has completed investigations and is ready to file a case under Section 171 (B) IPC, for “bribery and offences related to elections” which holds a person guilty if found providing “gratification to any person with the object of inducing him/her or any other person to exercise any electoral right”. The charge sheet is to be filed against Mr Tandon and two other organisers of the function. Following directions from the Election Commission the state’s Chief Election Officer Mr Vijay Sharma had filed a case against Mr Tandon under this section at the Mahanagar police station on April 17. The matter had not only dampened the party’s spirits but also caused a severe loss of face to the BJP, as Mr Tandon was also the campaign manager for the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s electoral campaign in the city. While senior leaders of the party are not ready to comment on this latest development, the despair is clearly visible. The much-touted show of strength on the streets of the state capital has also not done much for the party’s spirits. The party rank and file found the absence of city MP Atal Behari
Vajpayee, party President L.K. Advani and former Union Minister Murli Manohar Joshi intriguing. More so as the demonstration had been earlier postponed ostensibly due to their unavailability. While the BJP in a memo to Governor T.V. Rajeswar has finally demanded the dismissal of the Mulayam Singh government, urging him to order fresh elections, experts believe it is more as a party strategy to keep its flock together than a serious threat to the ruling alliance. The once ‘disciplined’ party being in total disarray was visible on the dais earlier in the day when at the state-level party cadre demonstration leaders chose to speak in different voices. While firebrand former state party chief Vinay Katyar charged the party leadership with being “confused and indecisive” Mr Pramod Mahajan cut him short in full public view. Mr Mahajan described the SP and the BSP as “saanpnag and naagnath” and said that both received nourishing “milk” from the “Congress ki katori”. Vice-President and in charge of UP Kalyan Singh tried to revive the Ayodhya temple issue. Reiterating the party’s commitment to the Ram mandir, he once again asked the party cadre to raise the slogan of “Jai Shri Ram”.This time even Shri Ram will agree that he has a difficult task at hand. |
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Advani for citizenship to minorities in Pak, B’desh
New Delhi March 11 “Pakistan and Bangladesh should take care of their minorities. If they fail, we should take them”, Mr Advani said while participating in the discussion on the Motion of Thanks of the President’s address to Parliament. Stating that the government should not overlook the security concerns while granting dual citizenship, he said caution should be maintained so that such facility is not given to illegal migrants of Pakistan and Bangladesh. The BJP President said the Prime Minister has become “invisible” and this can be seen from the fact that word ‘PM’ had been deleted from the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Mr Advani argued against removing the word ‘Sindh’ from the national anthem as it represented the culture and civilisation and did not necessarily refer to a particular geographical area. |
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Indo-UK joint exercise for UN missions begins
New Delhi, March 11 The nine-day exercise has been undertaken to improve the joint capabilities and effectiveness in dealing with contemporary situations requiring international peacekeeping effort. The imaginary scenario for the exercise depicts providing such assistance to a civil war-torn country jointly by India and the UK. The exercise is only for the planners and does not involve any troops. The participants for the exercise have been drawn from the defence forces, civilian government officials and some NGO’s. The overall responsibility to schedule the exercise is being jointly shared by the Integrated Defence Staff (India) and the Chief of Joint Operations (UK). The Indian armed forces have been actively engaged in many peacekeeping missions for over five decades. Their performance in these missions has been applauded and recognised all over the world, especially their contribution for assistance in infrastructure-related projects. Since the UK too has been participating in similar ventures as part of UN missions, coalition or multinational forces, the two nations thought it better to hone their skills for any joint peacekeeping operations together. Senior military and civilian officers would be monitoring the progress of events in the exercise. The Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, Army Commander of Southern Command, other Corps Commanders and officers from the Ministry of Defence from both sides would be visiting the exercise location before it ends on March 19. |
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SC order intrusion of legislative powers: CPM
New Delhi, March 11 “Who will decide when Parliament or legislature will sit? Is it the custodian of the House or the Supreme Court? Who will fix the timing of the session or who will authorise photography of the proceedings inside the House? Can the Supreme Court intrude and transgress on the powers of the legislature,” asked Rupchand Pal, who was accompanied by Nilotpal Basu and Basudeb Acharia, at a press conference. The Left leaders said there were certain areas where the jurisdiction exclusively belonged to the legislature. They also castigated the BJP for attending yesterday’s all-party meeting convened by Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on the issue, putting forth their views “in no uncertain terms” and then “telling the media outside that they boycotted it”. He said a “near-consensus was arrived at between most of the parties and their leaders (at yesterday’s meeting) that the constitutional position needs to be reviewed”. |
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SC directs Haryana, UP to set up CNG stations in NCR
New Delhi, March 11 A Bench of Mr Justice Y K Sabharwal, Mr Justice Arijit Pasayat and Mr Justice S H Kapadia directed Haryana and U P Governments to render “full cooperation and assistance” to Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL), the sole supplier of CNG in the country, for setting up of sufficient number of the retail outlets in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad regions. The Union Government was also directed to have discussion with the two states on the possible loss of revenue to them on account sale tax to be collected on the sale of diesel in the NCR due to phasing out the buses run on “polluting fuel”. |
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Dhariwal
won’t be arrested, CBI tells SC New Delhi, March 11 Dhariwal’s counsel Harish Salve gave this undertaking to a Bench of Mr Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Mr Justice Tarun Chatterjee, while hearing his anticipatory bail petition. The NRI gutkha baron had been accused by the Mumbai police of facilitating export of gutkha packaging manufacturing machines to Pakistan on the demand of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim wanted in several cases by the Indian Government and also declared an international terrorist by the USA. After initial probe by the Mumbai police, the investigation in the case was being probed by the CBI now. Dhariwal, an NRI, faced a non-bailable warrant and had expressed his inability to make himself available to the CBI immediately. The petition in the apex court was filed by his son, Prakash Dhariwal, challenging Bombay High Court order dismissing his plea for staying the arrest warrant against his father. When Salve pointed out that the non-bailable warrant could not be issued against his client as he initially was named only a witness in the gutkha machines case, Solicitor General G.E. Vahanvati, appearing for the CBI, submitted that the warrant was issued to ensure his production before the court as “several documents about his involvement” had been recovered.
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Women on fast for fair package
New Tehri, March 11 Ten women from
Tala, Sila and Sourd, the three parts of Uppu village, have been on a fast for the past six days. Three hundred others are waiting to take their place. Under the aegis of the Mahila Congress Committee,
Uppu, these women demand that their village, which is classified under the ‘partial submergence’ category, be included in the full submergence category. They also insist that they want cultivable irrigated land in exchange for the land they are losing. They want all other benefits that will accrue to villagers in the full submergence zone.
Sona Devi, one of the group leaders, explained that the village is very close to the Bhagirathi river and that it is not likely that once the dam is built, the village will remain unaffected by the rising waters, even in the so-called unaffected areas. Many villagers do own land that will not be affected by the dam, but most of it lies high on the hills and is not cultivable. Sona Devi said, “Of what use is that land to us? It is completely barren. If our agricultural land will be submerged, our livelihood will be drowned. What option is left but to go on hunger strike?” District Magistrate Puneet Kansal admitted that he was aware of the women’s fast at
Uppu. “The Government of India has a policy and we are acting on that policy. Some areas are in the full submergence zone while there are others in partial submergence zone and there are different compensation packages for these two categories. However, there is little we can do since there is no end to human want and people keep demanding more,” Mr Kansal said. |
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Bank employees stage march to Parliament
New Delhi, March 11 The bank employees' trade unions have also announced to go on nation-wide strike on March 22. The protestors under the banner of the All-India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and All-India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA) marched from the Ramlila maidan near Old Delhi to Parliament Street shouting slogans in favour of their demands. Later a delegation of AIBEA and AIBOA met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to present a memorandum. |
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Tributes paid to Gandhi
New Delhi, March 11 “On this occasion, we recall the spirit of idealism and self-sacrifice that characterised our freedom struggle and pay our tributes to the memory of Father of the Nation and the non-violent ‘satyagrahis’ whose heroic efforts led to the Independence of the country,” Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said as the House assembled for the day. |
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