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N-deal: Vajpayee accuses govt of being soft on USA
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Sonia pledges protection
to minorities
Guwahati, April 6 Campaigning in Assam for the second time in a week, Congress president Sonia Gandhi today promised protection for minorities, besides development and peace.
SBI employees reject FM’s call to end strike
Natwar, son plead innocence
Christians decry RSS parade
Surjewala for insurance safety net for farmers
PM treated for eye ailment
Editor of Indian Observer dead
CPM protests against raid
Karunanidhi launches campaign
Nitish backs DM’s decision to suspend jail officer
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N-deal: Vajpayee accuses govt of being soft on USA
New Delhi, April 6 “The proposed legislation when passed by the US Congress will convert a voluntary moratorium on further tests by India into a legally binding commitment for all times to come without any possibility of withdrawal under special circumstances, as provided for in the CTBT, ” Mr Vajpayee said. “This position is not acceptable,” the former Prime Minister said, while asserting that India should retain the right to conduct the nuclear tests if any country, such as China and Pakistan, were to do so. Asserting that the obligations under the Bill are far more stringent than those under the CTBT, Mr Vajpayee said, “What is more shocking is the fact that if the President of the USA determines that India has detonated a nuclear explosive device after its Bill enactment then such a waiver shall be terminated.” When the Atomic Energy Act of the USA was amended for China, Beijing was granted waiver in perpetuity. In case of India, it would be periodic. The US President would have to determine from time to time whether India was in compliance with the condition in the Act. “This position is also unacceptable,” he said. As per the Waiver Authority Bill introduced in the Congress, the waiver will be granted by Washington when India meets its seven conditions mentioned in the Bill. Thus, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s logic that if the USA or the Nuclear Supplier Group do not keep commitment India would have the option to walk out of its commitments under the deal, is “seriously flawed”, Mr Vajpayee said. Besides, he pointed out that the nation has not been taken into confidence so far over the cost of separation of India’s nuclear facilities between civilian and military. “According to reliable estimates, it is going to be heavy. Will this not be wasted expenditure? We also plan to set up nuclear power plants at a heavy cost. What will happen to that investment if fuel supplies to them are stopped by the US President?” he asked. |
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Advani begins yatra
Rajkot, April 6 The launch of the 6,000 km-long ‘Bharat Suraksha Yatra’ on Ram Navami in the presence of Hindutva poster boy and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Ministers of other party-ruled states and senior BJP leaders was replete with ideological symbols including portraits of Lord Ram and a hooded terrorist in the background, Advani aiming an arrow from a large bow, blowing of conch shells and chanting of Vedic hymns. But the post-Jinnah Advani, who has expressed keenness to change the party’s hardliner anti-minorities image, was far from aggressive. Even the BJP’s historic 1989 Palampur resolution endorsing the Ram Janambhoomi movement was not anti-Muslim, he asserted before the gathering which included Muslims donning skull caps both on the dais and the audience. He expressed concern over “Congressisation” of the BJP and factionalism and corruption in the party and counselled partymen to “tread carefully.” Making a fervent appeal to the Muslims to respect Hindu sentiments and facilitate the construction of a grand Ram temple at the disputed site, Mr Advani said the “minority appeasement” policies of successive Congress governments, which began from the Shah Bano case, had only boosted the party’s strength, but was “neither in the interests of the Muslims or the country”. If both communities come together for the construction of the temple, it would bring about unprecedented harmony and goodwill in society, the former Deputy Prime Minister said.
— PTI |
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Sonia pledges protection to minorities
Guwahati, April 6 “The Congress has made it sure that minority citizens in Assam are well protected and not harassed in the name of detection and deportation of illegal migrants even after scrapping of the IMDT Act, 1983,” the UPA chairperson said, beginning her whirlwind electioneering at a rally in minority-dominated Nagaon in central Assam this noon. “The Congress is the only one that strives for the uplift of the minorities and underprivileged. Our ideology does not change with time and atmosphere,” she emphasised. The AICC chief appealed to the people to vote for the Congress, enabling it to rule the state for the next five years so that it could carry forward the development work it had undertaken in the past five years. “I am here to ask for your support to help the Congress build Assam’s future,” she said. Charging the rival Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) with failing to deliver on all fronts while it was in power, she said when it was in power it couldn’t get even half the volume of Central assistance the Congress could procure in the past five years.”
— UNI |
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Sonia to quit all “profit” posts
New Delhi, April 6 Highly-placed Congress sources today indicated that Mrs Gandhi is consulting legal experts to determine which of these bodies are government-aided and could,therefore, qualify as an office of profit. It was stated that her decision to resign from the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Trust was a result of these consultations. Mrs Gandhi is a member or head of numerous trusts. These include the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, Kamla Nehru Memorial Hospital, Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Trust, Nehru Trust for Cambridge University, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society and Indian Council for Child Welfare. Mrs Gandhi resigned from Parliament and as chairperson of the National Advisory Council after she was targetted by the opposition for holding an office of profit. Congress sources said that after her resignation from the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Trust, the Congress president is likely to quit other government-aided bodies. She may, however, continue as head of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation since it is managed by a private trust. According to party insiders given Mrs Gandhi’s present mood, she is unlikely to take up these posts again even after Parliament brings in a legislation expanding the list of organisations and posts exempted from the office of profit clause. Mrs Gandhi’s action, it was pointed out, will serve two objectives. Set to contest her Rae Barelli seat once again next month, she wants to play it safe this time as she would not like to give another oppportunity to her detractors to target her again. Candidates contesting a Lok Sabha poll are expected to give details of all the organisations they head when they file their nomination papers. Now that the office of profit issue has become highly controversial, the Congress president wants to be on safe legal ground so that nobody can petition against her. At the same time, Mrs Gandhi is equally determined to silence her critics and expose her political opponents, who had sought her disqualification from Parliament on the ground that the chairmanship of the NAC constituted an office of profit. But once Mrs Gandhi relinquished this post, the Opposition promptly changed its stance and agreed to support a Bill redefining an office or profit. The Opposition’s U-turn was prompted by the fact that its own MPs and legislators are also facing disqualification under this clause while the NDA-led Jharkhand government is on the brink of collapse as it is mired in the same controversy. Meanwhile, the UPA government has decided to bring a legislation clarifying what constitutes an office of profit when Parliament reconvenes on May 10. Lok Sabha leader and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who has been authorised by the Cabinet Committee of Parliamentary Affairs, to get necessary inputs from all political parties, has written to the leaders seeking their suggestions on the provisions they would like included in the Act. |
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SBI employees reject FM’s call to end strike
New Delhi, April 6 The striking SBI employees have once again rejected Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s appeal to call off their agitation, saying they would not compromise from their position unless an agreement was reached on their demand for higher pension. Apart from affecting the transaction of bank cheques worth over Rs 2 lakh crore, the strike has begun to affect the exports also. Condemning the attitude of the SBI employees, exporters body FIEO President O.P. Garg said: “Export of commodities subject to cess have been held up as in most of the places, the cess is to be deposited with the State Bank and LCs to be negotiated with SBI are lying unattended.” The strike, added Ajay Sahai, Director-General, FIEO, has affected the business transaction of the bank in foreign exchange and money market. Since most of the clearing business is with SBI, said the Director-General, the strike has impacted inter-bank transactions also. Meanwhile, speaking in Bangalore, Mr Chidambaram said the unions had yesterday presented a modified version of their demands and the management had suggested that it needed time to consider it. “When the matter is under discussion, I would as a public representative expect and request the SBI employees to resume duty. The discussion will go on and a solution will be found. ....There is no need to inconvenience the people by continuing the strike,” he said. Reacting to Chidambaram’s appeal, All India SBI Staff Federation Vice President V.K. Gupta said: “The appeal by the Minister is meaningless as talks with management do not have any relevance unless government accepts any agreement between the management and the unions.” The fourth day of the strike though coincided with a holiday in nationalised banks in some parts of the country like Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra on the occasion of Ram Navami. |
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Natwar, son plead innocence
New Delhi, April 6 Responding to the notice issued to Mr Natwar Singh by the probe panel, the former minister insisted that he was not connected or involved in any manner, either directly or indirectly, with the programme. He maintained that he was not an accused but blamed the media for trying to make him one. He submitted that he had neither received any money nor other considerations or paid any money or other consideration to any government, agency, firm or individual in connection with the purported transactions in oil under the UN programme. Mr Jagat Singh in his reponse wondered how the probe panel had reached the conclusion that he could he having knowledge about the subject matter of the inquiry. He too insisted that he had neither received any money nor any consideration or paid any money to any government, agency, firm or individual in connection with the The Justice Pathak committee was constituted by the Congress-led UPA government on November 11. |
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Christians decry RSS parade
New Delhi, April 6 In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday, secretary- general of the Christian Council John Dayal apprised him of the fears of the minority communities in general and Christian community in particular over the recent developments. Drawing the Prime Minister’s attention to a live TV programme in which the private army of the RSS was shown marching with guns in the Jhansi, Dr Dayal said this has “traumatised minorities far and away”. “The TV reports also made clear that the RSS had defied civil authorities and violated the Arms Act. “Equally bizarre and violent in impact, though differently, is the Gujarat Government’s annexation of the leprosarium in Ahmedabad, the sacking of six Catholic sisters or nuns, who were in charge, and their final ejection from the Ave Maria Convent in the institute, which had been their home for the past 60 years”, he said. |
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Surjewala for insurance safety net for farmers
New Delhi, April 6 "The Centre, the Life Insurance Corporation of India and the Agriculture Insurance Corporation of India should create an insurance safety net that covers the assurance of minimum life support system for cultivators and the production system as a whole," said Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, an MLA and president of the farmers' organisation. He demanded compensation for families of the victims and the setting up of a committee to recommend the form and content of relief. "In the meanwhile, an ex-gratia grant of Rs 2.5 lakh should be given to them," he said. |
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CPM protests against raid
New Delhi, April 6 In a letter to the Election Commission, the Left party’s Central Secretariat member Nilotpal Basu today asked whether the observer had any executive powers to order such a raid. He urged the EC to initiate immediate action against the observer concerned for the Keshpur Assembly constituency. Stating that the CPM did not know whether the raid was authorised either by the Returning Officer or the Chief Electoral Officer or the EC itself but what they knew was that this action was “clearly illegal and cannot be sustained in terms of any law, rule or direction of the Commission.” The outcome of the action objectively revealed an inclination to malign the CPM and terrorise its workers, sympathisers and the people at large, Mr Basu said. Taking exception to the conduct of some of the observers for the West Bengal Assembly elections, the CPM regretted that the EC had not given any written clarification about their complaints against certain observers. “We do not know whether this absence of clarification is helping the commission to hold a free and fair poll for the West Bengal Assembly,” the letter added. |
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Karunanidhi launches campaign
Chennai, April 6 Explaining the economics behind such promises, he said the total expenses could easily be accommodated in the Rs 30,000-crore budget. He said at present 1.5 crore families were receiving ration rice at Rs 3.5 a kg and reducing it to Rs 2 would mean the state government would have to bear an additional burden of Rs 540 crore a year. |
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Nitish backs DM’s decision to suspend jail officer
Patna, April 6 While the sub-jailor and warden were charged with dereliction of duty, the medical officer was being accused of issuing false medical certificate to Ranvir Yadav. |
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