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Pitroda meets PM amid rift on OBC quota
Arjun’s comments on quota not against code: EC
Quota proposal goes to Cabinet Sect
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Maharashtra Cabinet okays quota in private colleges
No relief for dance bar owners
Natwar’s kin in IT net
Kashmiri Pandits, Jains may get minority status
Shahabuddin trades blows
in jail
Plea to stop entry of toxic ship
Kamala Das donates property Notice to Sadhu Yadav to surrender
ISI agent held
One killed in Bhilwara
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Pitroda meets PM amid rift on OBC quota
New Delhi, May 10 The commission's members expressed their respective views to the Prime Minister who wants to strike a balance between merit and means in the matter of providing access to higher education. Six of the eight members of the commission are opposed to any immediate reservation for OBC students and want the government to explore avenues of affirmative action to help such students. The quota row had come to the fore recently following Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh's remarks, sparking an agitation by students across the country and objections from the Election Commission (EC). The EC had sought explanations from the minister twice for violating the model code of conduct which was in force until the last round of Assembly polls on May 8. —UNI
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Arjun’s comments on quota not against code: EC
New Delhi, May 10 After studying his written explanation and also giving him a personal hearing at his request, the three-member Election Commission reached the conclusion that he could not be held as having violated the Model Code of Conduct. The commission felt that an impression was created by his statements that the government was considering reservation proposals aimed at deriving electoral benefits. The commission was expected to make an announcement to this effect tomorrow and a letter was being sent to Mr Arjun Singh. The letter would give details of various
communications between the commission and the government before reaching the
conclusion. — PTI
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Quota proposal goes to Cabinet Sect
New Delhi, May 10 Sources said the draft bill for OBC quotas in higher education, which led to protests from medical students, was sent to the Cabinet Secretariat yesterday by the Ministry. The Cabinet Secretariat had last month returned the draft bill to the Ministry saying that the election process to the five states was not over and it could be taken up later. No sooner was the election process over that the ministry sent the draft bill to the Cabinet Secretariat for the matter to be taken up by the Cabinet. Sources said with the onus of the controversial quota issue now on the government. While there is no opposition from political parties to a bill to pave the way for 27 per cent quota in the central universities, IITs, IIMs, there have been protests against the move by professional college students, specially the medicos. Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal's concern over maintaining the country's "competitive edge" was also seen as disapproval of Mr Arjun Singh's espousal of the quota.
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Maharashtra Cabinet okays quota in private colleges Mumbai, May 10 The NCP, a constituent of the government in the state along with the Congress, expressed satisfaction with the decision after it was taken at a meeting of the state Cabinet here. "All credit should go to Mr Pawar who recently made a plea for resuming reservations which were stopped last year following a Supreme Court ruling in the P A Inamdar case", NCP leader and PWD Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said. The Congress too welcomed the Cabinet decision, saying the party had always made concerted efforts for backward sections of the society. "The Congress has always been on the side of the backward and poor people. It has favoured reservations for these sections of the society", MPCC spokesperson Husain Dalwai said. Admissions for the academic year 2006-07 in these institutions would be carried out as per the decision and an ordinance for the same would be issued soon, official sources said. While 15 per cent of the seats would be filled under the NRI and other quotas, 10 per cent would be filled through all-India entrance examination, the sources said. Of the remaining 75 per cent seats, 50 per cent would be reserved for the
SCs, STs and OBCs, they added. — PTI
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No relief for dance bar owners
New Delhi, May 10 While admitting Maharashtra Government's appeal against the Bombay High Court verdict striking down the legislation banning dance performances in licensed eating houses, permit rooms and bars across the state, the court said the stay granted by the high court for renewal of licenses for eight weeks will continue till further orders. After an hour-long argument by top advocates, pressed into service by both the Maharashtra Government and the owners of dance bars and bar girls, a Bench comprising Justice B.N. Agrawal and Justice P.P. Naolekar decided to hear the matter in July after the summer vacation. The high court on April 12 had quashed an amendment to the Bombay Police Act that banned dance bars stating that it was unconstitutional as it discriminated between dance performances in beer-bars and ordinary eateries — which was banned — and those in theatres, auditoriums and three star and above hotels, which were exempted. Senior advocates Fali Nariman and Harish Salve, appearing for the state government, pressed for stay of the high court verdict saying the legislation banning dance performances in beer bars, etc was not an overnight decision. Mr Salve said the ban on dance bars was justified as prostitution rackets were being run from there as well as other law and order problems were being created. However, senior advocates Soli Sorabjee, Mukul Rohatgi, Rajiv Dhavan and Indira Jaisinh opposed the state's appeal and said it could not deny dance girls from earning their livelihood by banning their performance. Mr Sorabjee and Mr Rohatgi, appearing for the Hotel and Restaurant Association and dance bar owners respectively, contended that once the legislation was prima facie held as unconstitutional by the high court, the state government should not deprive dance bar owners and dance girls of their fundamental rights. Mr Rohatgi said since past August when the ban was imposed, 70,000 women had been left unemployed and the stay of the high court verdict would deprive them of their livelihood. When Mr Nariman said there was exploitation of women in the dance bars, Mr Rohatgi shot back saying "we know where they (women) are going after the ban, there will be more exploitation". "You (state) is depriving them to live with dignity," he said. At this stage, the Bench said while the matter was pending before the high court, the news reports were also telecast. "You (dance bars) cannot be permitted to do indecent performances. Who will look after this," the Bench observed. Ms Jaisinh, appearing for seven women organisations, cited some instances of suicide committed by dance girls after the ban and said the state had powers to deal with indecency but could not deprive the girls from earning a decent living. Contending that irreparable loss and damage had accrued to the dance girls, Mr Dhavan sought that the licensing proceed should go on as dance bars had been operating in Mumbai and elsewhere in the state for the past 40 years. He contended that there was no evidence of trafficking from the dance bars.
— PTI |
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New Delhi, May 10 Highly-placed IT sources confirmed that Khanna, Director of Hamdan Exports Andleep Sehghal and some others had been asked to submit their bank statements to the tax department for evaluation. The sources said the tax department wanted to look into the flow of money into their bank accounts and whether the same had been reflected in the annual returns submitted by them to the IT department. Jagat Singh, son of Natwar Singh, is also believed to have been asked to submit his statement but there was no official confirmation. The Income Tax probe comes close on the heels of the ED's preparation of the show cause notice, a virtual chargesheet under FEMA, to people who allegedly received kickbacks in the oil-for-food scam. The Income Tax department would also be providing details about the tax returns filed by the Khannas, which included those by Aditya, his father Vipin and brother Arvind Khanna, who is a Congress MLA from Sangrur. The money that the ED was trying to trace related to events of five years ago and it would take some time to locate them from such huge transactions that had taken place over this period of time, the sources said. The IT department would try and locate the money that is said to have been transferred from the London bank account of Khanna to his Parliament Street branch and its further disbursement. Khanna is alleged to have received the payments from Masefield, the company which got contracts in the oil-for-food scam from Iraq. The ED recently got a shot in its arm when the Delhi High Court upheld the decision of the ED of revoking passports of various people, including Jagat Singh. Besides the passport of Jagat, passports of Suman Sehgal, father of Andleep, prominent businessman Vijay Dhar, youth Congress leader Jameel Zaidi and one Asad Khan had been seized by the ED earlier. —PTI
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Kashmiri Pandits, Jains may get minority status
New Delhi, May 10 "In order to ensure that Kashmiri Pandits, who have been reduced to the state of refugees in their own homeland get equal
opportunities — be it social, economic or educational— it is necessary that they be accorded the status of religious minorities," Mr Antualy said at a press conference. "A notification declaring them as minorities will soon be brought out after thorough consultation within the Cabinet and also after taking the Jammu and Kashmir Government into confidence," Mr Antualy said adding Jains will also be accorded the same status. Asked whether this would amount to a confrontation with the Supreme Court, Mr Antualy said "if there was no objection when five communities were earlier notified as religious minorities, then why now?" The apex court had in August last year dismissed a plea directing the Centre to notify Jains as a religious minority, saying any addition to the list of notified minorities would further create divisions within the country. "It (granting of minority status) will not divide the country. It will rather help in national integration," Mr Antualy contended.
—PTI |
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Shahabuddin trades blows
in jail
Patna, May 10 Sources in the Department of Jails reported that blows were exchanged between Sub-divisional police officer Sudhir Kumar and the Siwan MP. Shahabuddin was shifted from Bhagalpur Central Jail to Siwan district jail on Sunday. The Siwan District Magistrate S.K. Mali, who had reportedly objected to Shahabuddin’s shifting from Bhagalpur to Siwan jail on the apprehension that the RJD MP would try to vitiate the atmosphere in the jail, confirmed that there were heated exchanges between the RJD MP and the police. Mr Mali said the MP complained against the jail administration for not providing him facilities he was entitled to as a grade I prisoner. State Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah in Patna denied that blows were exchanged. The incident, according to prison sources, occurred around 10.30 pm when a medical board was examining Shahabuddin in his room in the presence of his supporters to which the jail superintendent objected. A Siwan court had on Monday asked the district authorities to constitute a medical board to examine him to ascertain if he was suffering from a spinal problem as alleged. It may be noted that during the RJD regime, Shahabuddin allegedly not only enjoyed privileges beyond the jail manual, but was also allowed to conduct “aam darbar” within the jail.
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Plea to stop entry of toxic ship
New Delhi, May 10 Stating that SS Norway, popularly known as Blue Lady, will reach Indian territorial waters within 15 days, RFSTE counsel Sanjay Parikh, in a letter forwarded through Additional Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam today, cautioned that the ocean-liner was on its way to a ship-breaking yard at Alang in Gujarat, and impressed upon the need for immediate action to prevent it from entering Indian territorial waters. “I have written a letter on the issue to the committee, seeking its immediate intervention as the ship will enter our territorial waters within 15 days. If need be, we will file a public interest litigation”, Mr Parikh said here. He said the Supreme Court was aware that SS Norway was heading towards Indian shores. The Greenpeace had been making attempts to locate SS Norway with the help of satellite imagery. Greenpeace activist Ramapati Kumar said, “If you ask the authorities concerned in Gujarat about the arrival of the ship, they will not be able to tell anything since ship-breakers file papers 48 hours before the arrival of a ship”, Environment activist Imran Khan, who had scaled and occupied the mast of the French ship Clemenceau for 22 hours, would leave for Toulon on May 12 to face charges.
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Kamala Das donates property Kochi, May 10 She handed over the signed document of 17-cents of land of Punnayurkulam in Thrissur district to Kerala Cultural Affairs Minister
A.P. Anilkumar at her apartment here.
—UNI
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Notice to Sadhu Yadav to surrender Patna, May 10 Yadav has been charged with receiving slush money from the ‘kingpin’ of the scam and a supplier of flood relief material Santosh Kumar
Jha.
—PTI
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Kolkata, May 10 Jan Mohammad Mansoori, the former lance naik of the Corps of Signals, was arrested on a tip-off by the Army intelligence unit and the para-military 19 Seema Suraksha Bal, while trying to flee to Nepal on May 5, top Army officials said today. Mansoori was intensively interrogated at the Eastern Command headquarters here. "Vital defence documents were found with Mansoori, a resident of Araria in Bihar," the Army officials said. They said Mansoori was a part of an espionage network run by the ISI which was unearthed in 1997 at Jalandhar. Giving details, officials said Mansoori, who joined the Army in 1988, was put under surveillance in 1997, two years after he went to Pakistan on a personal leave. — PTI
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One killed in Bhilwara
Bhilwara, May 10 The first explosion occurred in the explosive-laden van killing the driver Aashir Bairwa. The first blast probably triggered the second blast in the store. A case has been registered
— UNI |
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