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Parliament adjourned after obituary notes
Speaker’s nod to discussion on illegal migration likely
Cabinet okays proposal for MEA headquarters
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Left opposes government move
on women’s reservation Bill
Tandon flays RSS for pressuring BJP
MoD asked to send report on Kupwara killings
Army orders probe into killing of boys
SC seeks original notices to Lalu, Rabri in IT cases
Seven killed as incessant rain lashes Konkan region
Ayodhya attack suspect in 14-day judicial custody
SC notice to Jaya in income tax case
FDI cap in telecom relaxed
Apollo Hospitals tie up with John Hopkins of USA
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Parliament adjourned after obituary notes
New Delhi, July 25 The Houses also expressed shock and anguish at bomb blasts in London and Sharm-el- Sheikh in Egypt. Arriving for the opening of the
Monsoon Session of Parliament (from left) Hema Malini, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, George Fernandes and Lalu Prasad Yadav. The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day after obituary references to former Minister for Sports sitting member Sunil Dutt, former Kerala Chief Minister P.K. Vasudevan Nair and former MPs Hukum Ram, Murlidhar Mane, Chhanglu Ram, Laxmi Narayan Tripathy, Balram Singh Yadav and Dr Biplab Dasgupta. The Rajya Sabha too was adjourned for the day after paying homage to departed members, including Biplab Dasgupta, Sunil Dutt, Sunder Singh Bhandari, Balram Singh Yadav, Dr Rafiq Zakaria and Bipinpal Das. Condoling the deaths in the London and Sharm-el-Sheikh blasts, members of both Houses expressed solidarity with the people who had undergone pain and suffering. The members also observed two-minute silence in the memory of the departed members as well as over the loss of lives in London and Sharm-el-Sheikh. Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, expressing shock over the bomb blasts in London on July 7 and 21, said that, ‘’India being a victim of terrorism for more than two decades shares with deep empathy the anguish and pain of the people of the UK at these heinous acts that had resulted in the loss of many innocent lives and injury to many more”. “We are also
deeply shocked, appalled and grieved by the horrendous terrorist attacks on civilians in Sharm-el-Sheikh on July 23 on the auspicious occasion of Egypt’s National Day, resulting in large-scale civilian deaths and injury’’, the Speaker added. In the Rajya Sabha, Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat said such attacks clearly indicated that open and democratic societies like that of India were especially vulnerable. He also stressed the need for fighting out the terrorists in a coordinated and concerted manner to free the world of this malice. Earlier, Leader of the House and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani greeted Lok Sabha Speaker and veteran CPM leader Somnath Chatterjee on his 76 birthday and wished him a long life. Mr Chatterjee said he was extremely grateful to them and needed their support. |
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Speaker’s nod to discussion on illegal migration likely
New Delhi, July 25 Interestingly, Leader of the Opposition, Mr L.K. Advani, will be spearheading the debate on a subject which was and still remains a pet issue of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and also one of most important poll issues in Assam. Sources said the Speaker had agreed to allow discussion on the motion on the first business day. In a veiled reference to the Supreme Court order striking down as “unconstitutional” the IMDT Act, the motion recalls that the apex court had described the illegal migration as “nothing short of an external aggression”, sources said. The decision to move such a motion, which entails voting, was taken at a meeting of senior NDA leaders, chaired by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, here yesterday. Meanwhile, addressing a press conference, BJP Parliamentary Party Spokesperson Vijay Kumar Malhotra said the remarks made by the Supreme Court in its judgement scrapping the Illegal Migrants Detection by Tribunal Act is a “slap on the face of the Centre, which failed to protest the borders from the naked aggression from Bangladesh.” Mr Malhotra said the party had already given either adjournment notice or debate under rule 184 in both the Houses of Parliament on various issues, including Prime Minister’s remarks hailing “British imperialist rule”, ‘unconstitutional dissolution’ of Bihar Assembly, terrorism and internal security. Hoping that the Speaker would allow the adjournment motion on Bihar, Mr Malhotra said the very fact that Supreme Court had issued notices to the Bihar Governor and the Centre seeking their explanation in six weeks showed that there was prima facie wrong committed. Opposing today’s Cabinet decision on extending President’s rule in Bihar, Mr Malhotra said, “It is unfortunate that the Central Cabinet had given its nod for the extension of President’s rule beyond six months, even after the Apex Court had taken the issue into cognizance and the present spell of Central rule expires only on September 6.” In the Rajya Sabha, he said the party had submitted notices for Adjournment Motions on failure of the government machinery to prevent terrorist attacks on Ayodhya and to condemn Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s speech hailing the British imperialist rule as the cause for prevalence of good governance and democracy in independent India. “This language was reminiscent of the subservient Rao Sahebs of British imperialism and an insult to lakhs of freedom fighters and Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation who fought this regime,” Mr Malhotra charged. Another notice for a motion had been given, he said, seeking discussion on failure of the administration to ensure supply of essential commodities in Manipur where the common man was suffering from a blockade. “The Centre and the state government have remained mute spectators and have failed to remove the blockade and save local people from suffering,” he said. |
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Cabinet okays proposal for MEA headquarters
New Delhi, July 25 “The Union Cabinet has decided to refer the downlinking guidelines to the GoM headed by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, which is also studying the proposals with regard to uplinking norms,” Information and Broadcasting Minister S. Jaipal Reddy told mediapersons here. The GoM will also go into the details of the proposal to share feed of sporting events of national importance with the nation at broadcaster Doordarshan. The Union Cabinet also approved a proposal for the construction of the headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs on the Central Vista at the Maulana Azad Road and Janpath crossing, at a cost of Rs 172.75 crore. It also decided that the building would be named Jawaharlal Nehru Bhavan.
CPWD is the planning and executing agency for the project. The Cabinet also approved the signing and implementation of an Agreement between India, Venezuela and Korea. This will lead to visa-free entry and stay for 90 days in Venezuela and Korea for Indian diplomatic and official passport holders and vice-versa. The Cabinet also accorded ex post facto approval to the Minister of Information and Broadcasting signing the Audiovisual Co-Production Agreement with the government of the Italy. The Cabinet also approved the signing and ratification of a Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement with the Republic of Senegal. This decision is likely to increase the flow of investment between India and Senegal. |
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Left opposes government move
on women’s reservation Bill
New Delhi, July 25 “We want the original Bill, which called for reservation of one-third seat in the country’s legislature and in state assemblies to be introduced in this session itself,” CPM leader in the Rajya Sabha Nilotpal Basu told The Tribune. The original Bill was introduced during the United Front government almost a decade ago. He said the government mooted the proposal of fresh Bill in the UPA-Left floor coordination committee meeting in Parliament. But, the Left parties opposed the move as they saw it as an attempt to put the womens’ reservation issue in the cold storage. Basu said women’s reservation has two-third support of political parties as per their publicly stated position. If the government brings in the Bill, then it should be open to suggestion. But, there should be an effort to explore the enactment of women’s reservation by Parliament. The government proposal calls for double-member parliamentary and state Assembly constituency for 33 per cent of the total Lok Sabha and state legislature seats. These seats would be on a rotation or fixed basis as acceptable to the members. The proposal also states that the reservation for women could be provided only after increasing the number of Parliament seats. Since the introduction of the Bill in 1996 there have been several attempts to stall the legislation and several alternative proposals have been put forward to grant women’s reservation. Double-member constituency was one of the proposals then mooted, which the government has not apparently now again revived. There were also proposals of rotation of women reserved seat. There were also objections to the increase in the number of seats in the Lok Sabha and Assembly segments. The seats have been determined on the basis of 1971 Census and Parliament had passed a motion continuing with the same seat structure till 2021 as any increase in seats based on population would benefit those states, which have not, implemented the population control measures effectively. The women’s reservation Bill has again raised political temperatures with the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi asking the Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to explore the possibility of granting reservation to women in some form in the country’s legislature. In a move to build public opinion on the issue, women’s wing of the CPI, which is supporting the government from outside, today held a demonstration, and accused the UPA government of “making excuses” to stall the passage of the women’s reservation Bill. Demanding that the proposed legislation be tabled in Parliament during the ongoing monsoon session, activists of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), led by its General Secretary Annie Raja, marched towards Parliament raising slogans against the government but were stopped by the police. |
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Tandon flays RSS for pressuring BJP
New Delhi, July 25 “Since the day, Shri Sudarshan ji (RSS chief) had made some unfortunate remarks, through press and media, the position of the party in public eye is deteriorating day by day...Impact of these happenings in our party is giving a new leaf and moral boosting to the Congress Party, despite serious cracks in the UPA,” Mr Tandon has said in a two-page letter address to the BJP President, a copy of which has been sent to all BJP Executive Members and Members of
Parliament. Efforts to reach Mr Tandon on phone for his comments went in vain. Virtually stressing that the RSS should not interfere in politics, Mr Tandon said, “A non-political organisation, whether religious, social, cultural, voluntary or others, have only limited agenda to an extent and agitate only to achieve that limited aim. On the other hand, a political organisation has to take congnizance of all aspects of the country’s well-being, its security concerns, economic progress, external affairs, military preparation.” “In short, non-political parties have nothing to do with the political governance of the State or the country. On the other hand, political parties, regional or national, aspire to come to power whenever or wherever elections do take place,” he said, adding that “all those regional parties, having Congress party in Opposition in their respective state strongly want a non-Congress party to rule at
the Centre.” “That was the reason that all the regional parties joined hands with the BJP, as the nodal party at the Centre in the form of the NDA. Now sensing that the BJP, under the pressure of the RSS, may openly or indirectly revert to the Hindutva agenda, makes their position shaky in their own state. By siding with the BJP, they are afraid of losing minority vote and a strong section of Hindu votes in their states.” “Here is this cross-road, where the BJP finds itself at present. We have successfully provided an alternative to the Congress. Country had seen and appreciated the lead provided by your goodself (Mr Advani) and Mr Vajpayee ji and their team,” Mr Tandon said, adding that “the question is shall we rise to the occasion and take the bold decision, required at this time?” |
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MoD asked to send report on Kupwara killings
New Delhi, July 25 The boys — Bilal Ahmed Sheikh, Wasim Ahmed Wani, Manzoor Manzoor Ahmed Shah and Shabir Ahmed — all in the age group of 11 to 15 years were stopped by an ambush party of the Rashtriya Rifles when they were returning home after attending a marriage ceremony. According to reports, the boys faced a volley of bullets from troops of the Rashtriya Rifles who mistook them to be militants. While Manzoor Ahmed Shah, Bilal Ahmed Sheikh and Waseem Ahmed Wani died on the spot, Shabir Ahmed Shah sucumbed to injuries later. Taking suo motu cognisance of media reports on the killing of four innocent boys in a shootout allegedly by security forces in Bagargund village in Kupwara district in North Kashmir, the Commission has said that the state action should be guided by human rights principles. The commission has reiterated that the right to life is of crucial significance for every person, every group of people, every class, every nation and as a matter of fact for all humanity. ``The battle against terrorism needs to be carried out in keeping with the international human rights obligations and the basic tenets of the rule of law. International humanitarian law is a part of human rights law applicable even in armed conflicts,”. NHRC observed. |
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Army orders probe into killing of boys
New Delhi, July 25 Describing the killing as “unfortunate”, the Army here said instructions had been issued to troops in Kashmir to prevent the recurrence of such incidents. “In an unfortunate incident on July 24 three civilians were accidentally killed and one injured when they got into an ambush area in Kupwara district,” a statement issued by the Army said. “The Army regrets this unfortunate loss of life and has ordered an inquiry into the same. Instructions have been issued to prevent recurrence of such incidents,” it said. However, it was not clear as to who would conduct the probe and when the inquiry would be completed. There was no word from the Army on the compensation to the affected families. The official word was that the compensation issue may come up only after the completion of the inquiry. An officer also suggested that the compensation in fact should have been announced by the
GoC, Northern Command, yesterday itself. The three students were killed by soldiers of the Rashtriya Rifles at Bagargund village in Kupwara district. They reportedly strayed into the ambush area as they were on their way to join midnight festivities for a wedding. The killings triggered protests in Bagargund and nearby villages, prompting the authorities to rush additional police and paramilitary forces to the area. Today’s newspapers carried photographs of the grieving relatives of the victims. The statement further said: “Generally there is no civilian movement out of the village in interior areas at night, hence they (the students) were mistaken for militants, challenged and fired at by the troops in the ambush as they tried to run away from the site. People residing in terrorist-prone areas are being advised not to move at night. However, in case of an emergency, they are advised to move with lights.” |
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SC seeks original notices to Lalu, Rabri in IT cases
New Delhi, July 25 “The government is concerned about it as a matter of principle as it will set a precedent. Forget about this gentleman (Lalu),” Solicitor General G. E. Vahanvati said, questioning the court entertaining a PIL on probing IT violation cases against Mr Yadav and Ms Rabri Devi and their disposal in a tearing hurry by a team of officers sent specially from Delhi. But a Bench of Mr Justice S. N. Variava, Mr Justice A. R. Lakshmanan and Mr Justice S. H. Kapadia told Vahanvati that it would like to examine the original notices, issued to the duo by the Director, Investigation. The court was hearing an application by NDA MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh “Lallan”, filed in his PIL, questioning the transfer of Special Judge at Patna, hearing fodder scam case against Lalu and its offshoot, the disproportionate assets (DA) case against Mr Yadav and Ms Rabri Devi. The court said the material should be placed before the court in a sealed cover. Lallan’s counsel Mukul Rohtagi said Special Judge Yogendra Prasad was transferred on June 4 and in his place Muni Lal Paswan, had been appointed. Prior to this three other judges in the case had been changed, he said adding this was aimed at “prolonging” the trial proceedings. Mr Vahanvati said the Special Judge, holding the rank of Additional Sessions Judge had been promoted as District Judge as his promotion was due. But Rohtagi said, even after the promotion, he could have continued with hearing of the case as he had examined several important witnesses. |
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Seven killed as incessant rain lashes Konkan region
Mumbai, July 25 The mishap occurred when a small hill in Dicarpale village in South Goa collapsed due to heavy rainfall state police said from Panaji. Timely action, however, helped in pulling several more people out of debris. As many as 200 more persons living in fishing villages, who were stranded in low lying areas of the coastal state, have been evacuated as heavy rains coincided with high tides. According to KR authorities heavy rains damaged the single railway track on the route in Maharashtra’s Raigad district causing disruption in services. Rains damaged a bridge near Apta Phata station in Raigad. Officials said large portions of the track in the Konkan section at Jite and Kandale Pada had been submerged. KR tracks were also damaged after landslides near Dudhsagar water falls in Goa. Trains that were cancelled include Up and Down Mandovi Express, Dadar-Ratnagiri Express and the New Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram Rajdhani Express. Mangala Express towards Delhi too has been diverted via Guntakkal and will be several hours late. Train services between Mumbai and Goa too have been thrown out of gear. Mumbai-bound Konkan Kanya Express has been detained at Khed while Matsyagandha Express has been detained at Chiplun, according to KR. Goa has experienced more than 11 inches of rainfall in the past couple of days with more rain predicted in the next 24 hours. |
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Aftershocks felt in Nicobar region
New Delhi, July 25 While yesterday’s earthquake was strong enough to revive the dreadful memories of the tsunami that devastated the region on December 26, as per the seismology department of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the chain of activity following the December 26 quake, that caused widespread devastation, killing thousands of people and leaving several more untraced till date, will, however, continue for some more time. IMD Director of Seismology R.S. Dattatrayam told The Tribune today that the three degree north to 14 degree north region along the Andaman and Nicobar arch in the Sumatra region had experienced 348 aftershocks of the intensity of 5 and above on the Richter scale since the December 26 quake, which measured 9.3 on the scale. Such aftershocks are common after an earthquake of such a high intensity, which incidentally was the second most powerful in the world after the 1960-Chile quake, measuring 9.5 on the Richter scale. “These aftershocks are a part of the long sequence of energy being released along the arch at different points of time, which is quite common after a powerful earthquake,” he said, adding that the IMD was monitoring the situation closely. Moreover, the memories of the devastating experience of last year were enough to make hundreds of people, including women and children, stay outdoors all through the night. Even though no tsunami alert was sounded, panic-stricken people come out of their houses and ran for open and safer places. Meanwhile, the Centre is keeping a close watch and Home Minister Shivraj Patil reviewed the situation with senior officials of the ministry. Today morning’s aftershocks measured 5.3 and 5.7 on the Richter scale and were loacted off the west coast of the Nicobar Island. The Disaster Management Department of the Home Ministry is also keeping a close watch on the situation and is in touch with the Andaman and Nicobar administration. While no tsunami alert was sounded in India, in Thailand at least coastal resorts were evacuated after a tsunami alert that was lifted after one-and-a-half hours. |
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Ayodhya attack suspect in 14-day judicial custody
Lucknow, July 25 The court premises witnessed some tense moments as a large crowd had collected to see Khan, the first person arrested in UP in connection with the terrorist attack at Ayodhya. The doctor was brought to the courtroom under heavy security. He was arrested at Nakud in Saharanpur on July 22 under the Unlawful Activities Act, and Sections 147, 148, 149,307,305,153,153A, 153B, 295,120B of the IPC and other related acts. Last week Principal Secretary, (Home) Alok Sinha had confirmed that Khan had been arrested after sufficient proof of his proximity to the slain militants had been established. He ran a clinic in the Sangam Vihar area of Delhi, which was not far from Deoli where the militants were living as tenants. According to STF Inspector General A.K. Gupta, Khan had received seven calls from the terrorist. He was reportedly aware of their plan to attack Ayodhya and kept in close touch with the militants whenever they were outside Delhi. Mr Gupta said one of the terrorist, Amin alias Zuber, had visited Nakud on March 20 to attend the marriage of the doctor’s cousin. The duo had then visited Deoband as tourists. On their way back they had stopped at Muzaffarnagar at the home of Abdul Rehman, another resident of Nakud. |
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SC notice to Jaya in income tax case
New Delhi, July 25 Taking cognisance of the petition of the department, a Bench of Mr Justice
B.N. Agrawal and Mr Justice A.K. Mathur issued notices to Jayalalithaa and
Sasikala, seeking their replies. The cases pertained to non-filing of tax returns for assessment year 1993-94 and the department alleged that since 2001, 42 adjournments were sought by them from the trial court in Chennai, holding proceedings in tax related criminal offence. The department moved the apex court after the Madras High Court had declined to entertain its petition on the issue. The apex court, while issuing notices said if the department was not satisfied with the trial proceedings, it could seek its transfer outside the state. |
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FDI cap in telecom relaxed
New Delhi, July 25 Even though India had adopted the route of “autonomous liberalisation” and allowed 74 per cent FDI in telecom, it had not bound this obligation under the WTO regime, which has now been done to 49 per cent only. The Cabinet Committee on WTO has now given directions to the Department of Commerce to make these Revised Offers to the WTO in July/August, 2005, as part of the services negotiations under the Doha Round. In services sector negotiations at the WTO, a country can withdraw its offers if it does not in turn get satisfactory offers from other member countries. But after the final agreement member country cannot go back on the offer (the foreign investment limit) until it compensates for it. The Cabinet also allowed the Commerce Ministry the flexibility “to move forward in the services negotiations within the limits of its autonomous liberalisation”. In keeping with the July Framework Agreement, India will be making its Revised Offers shortly in sectors which include those in which commitments were made in the Uruguay Round or in which Initial Offers were made in the ongoing Doha Round of WTO negotiations. A few other sectors will also be included in the Revised Offer. |
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Apollo Hospitals tie up with John Hopkins of USA
Chennai, July 25 He said Apollo Hospitals along with Johns Hopkins would also set up the Institute of Minimum Invasive Surgery in one of the cities in India and it would be the first of its kind in this part of the world. He said Apollo had also entered into an MoU with
Histostem, a unit of Delaware Corporation of the USA, to jointly work on the largely untapped areas of cord blood stem cell research and therapy in India. Talking about Apollo’s tie-up with John Hopkins, Dr Reddy said the American hospital had for the past 16 years continuously been on the top of the best hospitals of the world. |
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