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Stopping dam work will harm
Narmada: states default on environment norms
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| Warrants against six Ahmedabad, April 18 A Gujarat court today issued non-bailable warrants against six persons on charges of tampering with evidence by exhuming bodies of victims of communal violence from a mass grave in Panchmahals district. — IANS
IT Commissioner, CA held for graft
BJP to field Vinay Katiyar against Sonia
It will be videshi bahu vs desi devar, says Katiyar
SC notice to Orissa on child adoption
Gujarat grave: warrants against 6
Rajdhani, Shatabdi fares hiked
Naxalites beseige village as KPS Gill takes charge
Marriage a weapon against Naxalism
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Stopping dam work will harm project: Gujarat
New Delhi, April 18 This was stated by former Attorney General Ashok Desai, who appeared for Gujarat before a Special Bench, headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal yesterday. The court wanted to know the technical nitty-gritty of construction work if it continued till May 1 when it would hear the matter further on receiving affidavits on rehabilitation from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. To a pointed question by the Chief Justice as how much work would be over during next two weeks, Desai said, “There are different blocks where the construction is going on. It will not go on uniformly in all the 31 blocks and in three blocks a height of 114.64 metres has already been achieved.” “It cannot be stopped once it has started without the consent of expert engineers. The work started is enormous and will spill over to other blocks gradually. If stopped abruptly it will cause enormous damage to the project itself and will not be feasible to stop,” he said. Though the Bench held a veiled threat that if rehabilitation of project affected families was not done in letter and spirit of the Narmada Dispute Tribunal’s award and the 2000 guidelines of the apex court, NBA counsel Shanti Bhushan had expressed the apprehension that if the work went at current pace, then the threat to stop it would have no meaning as by the time of next hearing a substantial increase in the height would be achieved. Raising of the height of the Sardars Sarovar from time to time had mired in controversy with NBA intensifying its agitation each time when permission was granted by the Narmada Control Authority (NCA) for the same, accusing the governments of the three states not adhering to the guidelines on rehabilitation. Initially the height of dam was permitted to be raised to the level of 90 metres in 2000 by the Supreme Court in its order while laying down detailed guidelines for rehabilitation. Subsequently it was raised to 95 metres, 100 metres and 110.64 metres by the NCA after following the laid down procedures. |
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Narmada: states default on environment norms
New Delhi, April 18 The shortcomings in the implementation of the project came to light during the visit of a team of the Environment and Forest Ministry to some of the affected areas, following which it has recommended a third party assessment of the works, sources in the ministry said. The team found that the two wildlife sanctuaries that were to be developed by the Madhya Pradesh Government in the vicinity of the areas submerged by the dam for migrating animals have not come up. The government has not even announced the decision though the areas where they were to be developed have been identified by the Wildlife Institute of India and State Forest Research Institute. The studies carried out by the two institutes had stressed that submergence of the vast area as a result of the increase in the height of the dam would cause large-scale displacement of wildlife along with human population. There are many flaws in the engineering works which were required as one of the condition for the clearance of the project, the sources said. The state along with Gujarat and Maharashtra has not properly carried out work relating to the felling of trees in more than one lakh hectare area of the Narmada catchment spread across the three states, as per the norms laid down by the ministry. The trees were not uprooted properly and as a result they had started coming up again under the lake formed by the diversion of the river, which would result in the contamination of water, say experts. Madhya Pradesh was also found defaulting on its commitment regarding the conservation of aquatic life. The sources said the team felt that a detailed third party assessment of the implementation of the project was required and it had forwarded its recommendations to the sub-group of the ministry.—UNI |
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Journalists protest against militants
Imphal, April 18 KCP also allegedly banned publication of an English daily for three months for misquoting a statement. The banned outfit took five editors of local dailies and a news editor of a local cable network as hostages on Sunday. The journalists were freed the next day after the full statement was aired on the TV channel and published in the newspapers. A spokesman of the All Manipur Working Journalists Union (AMWJU) and Editors Forum Manipur (EFM) which jointly organised the rally today, said the five editors and the news editor were called by the KCP on Sunday at about 7 pm to a place to discuss the publication and airing of a press statement issued by its ‘commander’ named City Meitei. The editors in good faith went to the place, the spokesman said, adding they were then taken to a house where they were locked up with the ‘commander’ threatening them with dire consequences for not publishing or airing the full text of the press statement. The ‘commander’ of the militant group also banned publication of an English daily for three months for what he termed as ‘misquoting’ a statement. Sources in the paper however, denied misquoting any statement. Wearing black badges, the scribes gathered at the Manipur Press Club here and marched through all-important thoroughfares carrying placards. The journalists also handed over a memorandum to Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh urging him to initiate steps so that mediapersons could work freely. As a sign of protest, all editorials were left blank in today’s editions. Sources in the AMWJU and the EFM said all dailies in the state would cease publications from tomorrow if the ban on publication of the English daily was not withdrawn immediately by the KCP.
— PTI |
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IT Commissioner, CA held for graft
New Delhi, April 18 The accused K.K. Tiwari and the Chartered Accountant Manoj Tiwari were arrested on the charges of graft and are being produced before a designated court for remand, it said. Following the arrest, searches were conducted at the official residence of the Joint Commissioner and a cash amount of Rs 1 lakh besides jewellery worth Rs 5.44 lakh and other household items worth Rs 6.02 lakh were recovered, the CBI said. The CBI had registered a case on the complaint of the proprietor that Tripathi had demanded a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from him for approving the proposal of the ITO for levying of 8 per cent tax on annual income of the complainant on the return filed by him for the financial year 2002-03 which was taken up for scrutiny by the Income Tax Department on the tax amount calculated at Rs 3.7 lakh approximately and also for allowing the matter to rest instead of referring the file for reassessment of the return. The income tax official reportedly threatened the complainant that in case he did not pay the bribe, he would pass adverse orders against the complainant, the CBI said. On the basis of the complaint, the CBI laid a trap and the official was caught red-handed while demanding and accepting the bribe of Rs 5 lakh, it said adding the Chartered Accountant was also arrested for his involvement in the demand and acceptance of bribe. |
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BJP to field Vinay Katiyar against Sonia
New Delhi, April 18 The decision to field former president of BJP’s Uttar Pradesh unit was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by party president Rajnath Singh in Varanasi, party sources here said. The meeting was attended, among others, by party’s Uttar Pradesh unit president Kesari Nath Tripathi, Mr Vinay Katiyar and BJP vice- president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. The sources said the meeting also discussed the candidature of senior BJP leader Kalraj Mishra and Mr Siddarth Nath Singh, a relative of late Lal Bahadur Shastri and presently convener of BJP’s national media cell. — TNS |
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It will be videshi bahu vs desi devar, says Katiyar
New Delhi, April 18 Mr Katiyar made his intentions clear today when he declared that he would focus on this issue with his slogan “Videshi
bhabhi, desi devar.” Not only does he represent the Hindutva face of the BJP, but also as a forceful speaker, the former MP from Faizabad has the ability to whip up passions with his vitriolic speeches. Although Congress insiders brushed aside the BJP's decision, there were traces of concern that the campaign could take on an unpleasant tone. Since this election is all about ensuring that Ms Gandhi returns to the Lok Sabha with a record-breaking margin, there is a view in the Congress that Mr Katiyar's candidature could upset these plans. In addition, the election is set to trigger a battle for the crucial OBC vote ahead of next year's Assembly poll in Uttar Pradesh. While the BJP deliberately zeroed in on Mr Katiyar, a senior Kurmi leader, expelled BJP leader Uma Bharati is backing another OBC candidate, Ms Prabha Devi belonging to the Apna Dal. Although Samajwadi Party's candidate Raj Kumar Chaudhary is a political lightweight, he is the son-in-law of Beni Prasad Varma, a well-known and senior Kurmi leader from
Barabanki. Congress strategists maintain that all parties are using the byelection to position themselves for the assembly elections. The BJP fielded Mr Katiyar to counter Ms Bharati's candidate who comes from the Lodh community and represents a party which has a large Kurmi following. A Lodh-Kurmi consolidation could prove fatal for the BJP. “The BJP cannot allow Uma Bharati to sneak ahead...this is basically a fight for the second position,” remarked a senior Congress leader, adding that if Mr Katiyar polled a sizeable number of votes against Ms Gandhi, the party could stake its claim as a viable alternative in the state. The Samajwadi Party will also be fighting for its place in this high-profile constituency. Its candidate may not have impressive credentials but the party could well make up for this by taking advantage of its well-oiled administrative machinery. “After all, the party is in power in UP and can flood the constituency with its high-profile ministers for the campaign,” a Congress insider said. |
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SC notice to Orissa on child adoption
New Delhi, April 18 A bench comprising Mr. Justices K.G. Balakrishanan and Markandey Katju yesterday issued notices to the state of Orissa and Collector, Nuapada district, on a petition filed by Mina Singh Majhi challenging an Orissa High Court judgment. The High Court had dismissed the Election Petition of the petitioner challenging the order debarring the petitioner from contesting elections on the ground that he had three children. Several states have enacted laws debarring persons having more than two children from contesting elections. Counsel for the petitioner had pleaded that the High Court had erred in interpreting the statutory provisions governing adoption and also contended that once the child is given in adoption such child ceases to be member of the family of his natural parents. The petitioner has three children and his contention was that after giving one of his children in adoption he had two children and was therefore eligible to contest
— UNI |
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Gujarat grave: warrants against 6
Ahmedabad, April 18 In December 2005, some of the relatives of victims had dug out a mass grave near the bed of the river Panam in Lunawada town, about 140 km from here. The police then filed a case against 11 persons, including social activist Raees Khan. Non-bailable warrants of arrest were issued against six of the accused for remaining absent in the court of a judicial magistrate during a hearing of the case today, according to district Superintendent of Police J.K. Bhatt. Though they had been granted anticipatory bail earlier, they failed to remain present in the court, Bhatt said. Following the digging of the grave, activists and relatives of the victims had alleged that the state administration had hidden the bodies there without even conducting post-mortem examination.
— IANS |
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Rajdhani, Shatabdi fares hiked
New Delhi, April 18 “Fares of Rajdhani/Shatabdi trains will increase accordingly with immediate effect,” the release said. Further, it said that service tax would be charged by licensee or departmental staff for other mail/express trains in addition to food cost.
— PTI
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Naxalites beseige village as KPS Gill takes charge
Raipur, April 18 More than 2,500 armed rebels had besieged the village, having a population of about 3,000, since morning in retaliation for the tribals' support to the ongoing anti-Naxalite campaign 'Salwa Judum'. The Maoists, who had given a call for bandh, also beat up few 'Salwa Judum' supporters in the region. Mr Gill, who arrived here this morning to take up new assignment, went into an emergency meeting with Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh and senior officials in the light of the Maoist action in Usur village, located close to Andhra Pradesh border. As the Naxalites outnumbered the security forces in the region, a spokesman of the state police said the CRPF and Chhattisgarh Special Armed Force were being sent to Usur from Amapalli area.— UNI |
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Marriage a weapon against Naxalism
Mirzapur, April 18 ''The entire idea is to thrust nuptial responsibility on youths, who otherwise may be misled by the naxals into their movement,'' senior police officials associated with the programme said. The integral custom of 'Kanyadan' was performed by district police chief Arun Kumar, while other senior officiers present included Divisional Commissioner K.M. Pandey, and the DIG of Police
— UNI |
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In video: Displaced group helpless. (
