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Centre, AG differ on Governor’s immunity
Nod to Boeing jets for VVIPs
CEC’s Bihar visit today
India, China MoU on intelligence |
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Centre begins review of POTA
BJP ministers walk
out of board meeting
Police to go hi-tech in
Naxal-hit states
No complaints about
madarsas: NCM
Congress in soup over hike
Fuel hike: NDA, Left plan protest
Farmers to gherao Vasundhara’ s residence
Reddy declines VW offer
PVC awardee Thapa dead
Record in sapling plantation
Hurriyat leaders to meet
Sonia today
UP encephalitis toll shoots up to 491
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Centre, AG differ on Governor’s immunity
New Delhi, September 6 Addressing a five-judge Constitution Bench comprising Mr Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, Mr Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Mr Justice B.N. Agrawal, Mr Justice Ashok Bhan and Mr Justice Arijit Pasayat hearing a petition challenging the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly by Governor Buta Singh, Attorney-General Milon Banerjee said in case of proven personal mala fide against a Governor, the court could issue notice to him. However, appearing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam was emphatic that though the court could examine the personal as well as legal mala fide alleged against the Governor, under no circumstances could the court issue notice to him. Taking advantage of the divergence, former Attorney-General Soli J. Sorabjee, appearing for the former MLAs belonging to the NDA who have challenged the dissolution of the Assembly, sought to drive home the point that if the Governor could not be asked to explain the personal mala fide alleged against him, then these allegations could not be levelled on the ground that no notice had been issued to the Governor. The court was of the prima facie opinion that the legal, factual and personal mala fide alleged against the Governor could be the subject matter of judicial scrutiny even though the question remained as to whether notice could be issued to him in view of the bar under Article 361 of the Constitution. The Bench implored the Attorney-General and the Additional Solicitor-General to take a common stand, saying that it was impermissible for them to take different stands. When the Attorney-General said he was not appearing for the Union of India but was appearing in his capacity as the AG, the court said: “You are the first law officer of the government and both of you have to speak in one voice.” The hearing was adjourned till Thursday. — PTI
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Nod to Boeing jets for VVIPs
New Delhi, September 6 These jets, powered with missile deflecting security suits, will be purchased at a cost of over Rs 1,000 crore. Briefing newspersons after CCS meeting, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the aircrafts would replace the two Boeing 737-200 aircraft purchased in 1983 for VVIP travel. The missile deflecting security suits will cost Rs 200 crore ($44.6 million). The cost of the planes itself will be around Rs 800 crore ($169.90 million). The planes, which can log upto 12 hours of non-stop flying, would be delivered by January 2009. Usually, these planes are configured to carry between 20 to 25 passengers, the IAF will decide on the final capacity configuration. The jets will be equipped with several customised and specialised facilities, including a bed area, a security chamber and a specialised communication chamber. The Seattle-based aircraft manufacturing giant is reported to have sold about 80 such aircrafts across the world, including one to the Sahara Group which uses it for travel of its top executives. The approval on the proposal to buy these aircrafts follows shortly after the delivery of three of the five Embraer Legacy Jets. Five of these jets have been purchased at a cost of about Rs 780 crore. Of these, four Embraer aircrafts will be operated by the Communications Squadron of the IAF for VVIP domestic travel, the remaining one will be operated by the BSF aviation unit. |
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CEC’s Bihar visit today
New Delhi, September 6 Mr Tandon will visit districts under the Gaya division tomorrow and the Muzaffarpur division on September 8. The commission has also called a meeting of Chief Secretaries and Director-Generals of Police of Bihar and Jharkhand on September 9 to discuss law and order problems in the naxal affected areas, EC sources said. Meanwhile, a delegation of NDA leaders led by Chief Ministerial candidate Nitish Kumar and BJP General Secretary In charge of Bihar poll Arun Jaitley, submitted a memorandum to the commission highlighting the violation of the code by the Governor by making appointments on the same day the commission announced the schedule for elections to the state Assembly and consequently the poll code came into effect. “The decision of the Governor is colourable and amounts to a direct challenge not only to the model code of conduct but the impartial authority of the Election Commission of India to hold free and fair elections,” the leaders,” the memorandum said. The delegation told the CEC that appointment to the Bihar Public Commission, Bihar Backward Class Commission, Bihar State Minorities Commission, 15-point Programme Implementation Committee, and Bihar State Nagarik Parishad were all filled with political persons. The vacancies for these posts were pending for quite some time and there was no hurry to appoint them. The Public Service Commission (PSC) appointment, the leaders said were a Constitutional post and could not be removed for five years. The NDA leaders said the motives behind the appointment were to influence the elections. Filling up vacancies to the PSC with RJD Zilla Parishad member Laxmi Devi and Mr Sudama Rai of the Congress ‘‘was ridiculous’’ as they would be selecting the future provincial service officials for the state government. One of the appointed persons is an accused in the Palamau sex scandal and tour and travel fraud cases, they alleged in the memorandum told the EC. Ram Karan Pal, an ex-MLC has been appointed to the Backward Class Commission besides former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi’s Personal Secretary Gulam Tahir. This was an attempt to influence voters of the community, they alleged. On the four-phase election in Bihar, Mr Nitish Kumar said the leaders felt that it was “too long’’ but the party welcomed and accepted the Election Commission’s decision.
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India, China MoU on intelligence sharing soon
New Delhi, September 6 An approval in this regard was given by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told newspersons here today. The MoU on intelligence sharing and exchange of security related information was to combat crimes like terrorism. Mr Patil’s five-day visit is a bilateral tour at the invitation of Chinese Public Security Minister Zhou Yongkang. On his first official visit to China, he would hold talks with Zhou and was likely to meet Premier Wen Jiabao there. |
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Forget past, says China
New Delhi, September 6 Chinese Ambassador to India, Sun
Yuxi, today said the past could not be allowed to affect bilateral relations and efforts to improve the ties. Asserting that misunderstandings should not be allowed to crop up between the two countries, he said Beijing would make sure that what happened in history, would never happen again.
— UNI |
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Centre begins review of POTA cases in J&K New Delhi, September 6 An official press note issued by the Home Ministry said that following yesterday’s talks of the Prime Minister with the five-member Hurriyat team led by its chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, the ministry had “initiated the process of reviewing all cases of those held under detention.” The ministry had accordingly
advised the state government to examine the cases and make its recommendations at the earliest for consideration of a Joint Screening Committee, it said. Union Home Secretary V K Duggal indicated the process of review would be completed in a time-bound manner as desired by the Prime Minister, it said. At the meeting with Hurriyat leaders last night, the Prime Minister had agreed that the government would make a time-bound review of all those held under Public Safety Act and now defunct POTA. |
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BJP ministers walk
out of board meeting
New Delhi, September 6 Not satisfied with the revised draft these education ministers, who have walked out of almost all CABE meeting held till date, complained that they were not informed about the proposal to make Class X board examinations optional. West Bengal Education Minister Kanti Biswas also raised this issue. The BJP ministers also protested against the HRD Minister, Mr Arjun Singh, moving a resolution on the NCF 2005, which was earlier adopted by the NCERT’s General Council. “We have asked for a review but the minister insisted on moving the resolution and adopting it,” the ministers from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Jharkhand said while walking out. Even as the HRD Minister clarified that suggestions had been sought from each state, the BJP ministers alleged that the revised draft had failed to include the provisions of the 1986 Education Policy.
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Police to go hi-tech in
Naxal-hit states
New Delhi, September 6 In a special package to re-arm the forces in nine Naxalite-hit states, including Andhra Pradesh, they will be given an additional grant of Rs 2 crore annually, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told newspersons here after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Mr Mukherjee said the CCS had decided to do away with the previous categorisations for police modernisation expenditure and had created two categories — the first one comprising J and K and the North Eastern states except Sikkim and the second consisting of the rest of the states. The total Central grant would cost Rs 1,665 crore. While J and K and the North East would continue to be extended 100 per cent Central assistance for police modernisation, in case of the rest of the states, the assistance would be increased from 60 per cent to 75 per cent with 25 per cent matching grant being made by the states, he said. Earlier the matching grant was 40 per cent. The CCS also cleared raising of four Territorial Army battalions comprising local tribals in the North East.
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No complaints about
madarsas: NCM
New Delhi, September 6 Briefing mediapersons after a three and a half hour long meeting of Hindu and Muslim leaders inaugurated by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the NCM Chairperson Tarlochan Singh said that the commission was ready to look into complaints, if any, against madarsaas. “If anybody has any complaint about any madarsa, he can bring it to our notice and we will look into it.” Describing the discussion with top religious leaders as “very successful”, the NCM Chairperson said that the prime objective of the meeting was to narrow down the differences between various communities and identify the factors that lead to friction and conflict. He said that the participants unanimously favoured a dialogue looking at the future and hence contentious issues as Babri Masjid and Godhra were therefore not brought up during the discussion. The leaders, including All India Mulsim Personal Law Board vice-president Maulana Syed Kalba-e-Sadiq, Khawaja Hasan Sani Nizami and Swami Chidanand Saraswati, head of the Rishikesh-based Parmarth Niketan Ashram, pledged to pursue dialogue as a key to resolve issues confronting their communities. In a resolution passed after the meeting, the participants expressed concern over the increasing violence in the country. They called upon all political parties to desist from using religion for politics.
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Congress in soup over hike
New Delhi, September 6 Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma made a beginning today, describing it as a “difficult but unavoidable decision” given the spiralling crude oil prices in the international market. He admitted that no popular government likes to lose public support by taking policy decisions which do not have popular approval, Mr Sharma said the government’s compulsions need to be understood since India is heavily dependent on the import of oil and petroleum products. Pushed on the defensive, the Congress spokesperson pointed out that though there has been a 220 per cent hike in the price of crude oil in the last few months, the UPA government has passed only 60 per cent of his hike to the consumers. The oil companies, he said, have been incurring huge losses and the government could not stand back and allow the status of these navratnas to be altered since these are national assets. The differences between the Left and the Congress on this issue surfaced at a seminar today when Mr. Sharma explained the government’s reasons for resorting to a hike while Left leaders like RSP’s Abani Roy and CPM’s Dipankar Mukhopadhyaya suggested that the taxes and duties on petroleum products be reduced and road cess be suspended to control oil prices. The Left parties, which are preparing for polls in Kerala and West Bengal early next year, have announced that they will be taking to the streets to protest the hike. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), equally hit by the price increase, in view of the upcoming elections in Bihar, had a tough time explaining this decision, especially since it is party to it. |
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Fuel hike: NDA, Left plan protest
New Delhi, September 6 Terming the hike as “unjustified,” the Left parties have called upon its units to “immediately launch protests” against the hike, the BJP has threatened to launch countrywide protest against the hike. The Rashtriya Janata Dal, demanded the Centre to roll back the hike. The leaders of the two main Communist parties had separate meetings with the Prime Minister last evening and the Left leaders were taken into confidence by Dr Manmohan Singh before embarking on a 7 per cent increase in oil prices. |
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Farmers to gherao Vasundhara’ s residence
Jaipur, September 6 Mr Amraram, MLA (CPM), stated here today that the progressive writers association, IPTA and other social activist forums, have also expressed support for the cause of farmers. |
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Reddy declines VW offer
Hyderabad, September 6 The Andhra Pradesh Government has politely refused to accept the demand draft for Rs 11.67 crore that Frank Elbe, the goodwill ambassador of Volkswagen AG, brought to handover to the government. “The government is unable to accept this amount at this juncture as CBI enquiry into this issue is at an advanced stage. Besides, we are more interested in seeing the Volkswagen setting up their plant here,” Mr Reddy said. It may be recalled that the company’s former head of India operations Helmuth Schuster, along with his Indian associates, allegedly siphoned off the government money by floating a fake Indian conduit Vashista Wahan. The state government deposited this money as the first installment of its share for the proposed joint venture to set up a car manufacturing unit at Vizag. The scam turned to be a major embarrassment to the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh, leading to divesting the then Major Industries Minister B. Satyanarayana from his portfolio. “VW, in a noble gesture, decided to assume responsibility for the damage caused to the government of Andhra Pradesh by the suspected illegal dealings of Schuster and reimburse the money lost in the transaction,” Mr Elbe said, adding that the state appreciated the gesture of VW in sending the said amount, though it declined to accept the same. The CBI, which is investigating the case, took Mr Ashok Jain, director of Vashista Wahan, into custody and also recovered Rs 5 crore from Mr Joseph of Bangalore, who was allegedly paid this money by another Schuster associate Mr Jagdish Raja to invest in real estate. Mr Reddy said the government was particular that those responsible for the improper transaction should be identified. He also revealed that the government had decided to depute an official delegation to Germany on September 28 in response to the invitation of VW to discuss the project implementation.
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New Delhi, September 6 Colonel Thapa is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son. Colonel Thapa (then a Major) was commanding a post in Ladakh when on October 20, 1962, it was attacked by the Chinese. The greatly outnumbered Indian post, however, repulsed several attacks under his gallant command. — UNI
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Record in sapling plantation
Hyderabad, September 6 In a record time of 20 minutes, as many as 3,00,587 saplings were planted across 17 villages in Khammam district by 15,907 farmers and 300 volunteers from the region. This unique achievement, under the auspices of the Foods Division of ITC Limited, breaks existing world record of 1,34,083 saplings planted in one hour. |
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Hurriyat leaders to meet
Sonia today
New Delhi, September 6 The amalgam leaders, who had a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday, are also expected to brief Ms Gandhi about their talks with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad. In keeping with his keenness to make the dialogue process "triangular," Mirwaiz will meet Gen Musharraf in New York on September 17 and apprise him of the amalgam's talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. |
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UP encephalitis toll shoots up to 491
Gorakhpur, September 6 As many as 179 fresh cases were reported during the period, Additional Director (Health) D.P. Mishra said, adding that in all 1,927 patients were admitted to different hospitals since the outbreak of the disease in July.
— PTI |
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