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VP
Singh, Raj Babbar held
SC’s
warning on dictates in inter-caste marriages |
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Fudging
case: IAS officer chargesheeted EC
notice to MP Deshpande Dwivedi
is AICC media in charge India,
IAEA hold talks on safeguards agreement Cong
general secretary to meet PPCC leaders Writer
Raja Rao dead
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VP Singh, Raj Babbar held Ghaziabad, July 8 Accompanied by their supporters, they were proceeding towards
Hauling to join the farmers agitating against the acquisition of land by the Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Industries and demanding adequate compensation. They were put up at a government guest house. They had announced that they would till the land and not let the company take it over. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav had cleared the project three years ago and sanctioned permission for acquisition of 2,500 acres. The Principal Secretary (Home) denied that the police resorted to firing to disperse the agitating farmers staging a dharna at the Dadri site. He claimed that the police and the district administration exercised maximum restraint in
controlling the situation. He clarified the state government was committed to maintaining law and order in the area. Senior divisional and district police and administration officials were camping at Ghaziabad. Lucknow: The Congress on Saturday demanded a judicial inquiry into the alleged police firing and cane charge on farmers agitating against the land acquisition. “The way the government has treated the farmers smacks of its anti-farmer mentality and the reaction of the state government shows that it wants to hide something”, UPCC President Salman Khursheed said. He said the Congress was ready to join the protest and it would take a decision in this regard soon. Congress Legislature Party leader Pramod Tewari demanded a judicial inquiry into the alleged firing and cane charge and said details of the deal between the Reliance Energy and the state government should be made public. He claimed that the power project would not be able to serve the interests of the people of the state as those in eastern Uttar Pradesh or the Bundelkhand region could not expect to get power from Dadri. He alleged that prime land had been sold at a pittance and meagre compensation paid to farmers. Kanpur: In a veiled attack on Mr V.P. Singh, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday said someone who was with them earlier was driving a tractor in Dadri in Ghaziabad to get cheap publicity. “Someone who was with us earlier is now projecting himself as faithful to farmers by driving a tractor on the land acquired by the Reliance Energy for a power project at Dadri in Ghaziabad”, he said on the sidelines of a function. “Where was his love for farmers at the time of providing relief from loans to farmers”, he asked, dismissing the farmers’ protests at Dadri as a stunt of the former Prime Minister to get cheap publicity.
— UNI, PTI
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SC’s warning on dictates in inter-caste marriages New Delhi, July 8 The court said that the only responsibility of the law-enforcing agencies was to see that the man and woman who preferred inter-caste or inter-religion marriages were major and if they fulfil the permissible age criteria to get into a wedlock, “the couples are not harassed by anyone nor subjected to threats or acts of violence”. Anyone who threatened or committed any act of violence, or instigated people to do so against such couples, should be taken to task by instituting criminal proceeding by the police under the law, a Bench of Mr Justice Ashok Bhan and Mr Justice Markandey Katju ruled. “We sometimes hear of honour killings of such persons who undergo inter-caste or inter-religious marriage… There is nothing honourable in such killings, and in fact they are nothing but barbaric and shameful acts of murder committed by brutal, feudal-minded persons who deserve harsh punishment,” the court said. “In our opinion, such acts of violence or threats or harassment are wholly illegal and those who commit them must be severely punished. This is a free and democratic country, and once a person becomes a major, he or she can marry whosoever he/she likes,” Mr Justice Katju, writing the verdict said, pointing out that the Hindu Marriage Act or any other law does not prevent inter-caste or inter-religious marriages. The verdict was stern reminder to “khap panchayats” prevalent in the region surrounding Delhi, specially Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rahasthan, recording that the apex court could not remain a silent spectator to such crimes. The verdict came on an appeal of Lucknow-based Rajput woman Lata Singh who had married Bramha Nand Gupta, a person from traders’ community against the wishes of her brothers. After the marriage, Lata, her husband and several of his relatives were subjected to all sorts of harassment by her three brothers, including registration of FIR for the procuration of minor girl, kidnapping, abduction and her wrongful confinement. The apex court also took serious view of a Lucknow magistrate continuing with the trial proceedings against Gupta and his relatives even when the police had given them clean chit. The police was also taken to task for initiating legal action against them initially without finding the truth. Lata and Bramha Nand Gupta had married with mutual consent in a Arya Smaj temple. “…We feel it necessary to make some general comments on the matter. The nation is passing through a crucial transitional period in our history. And this court cannot remain silent in matters of great public concern, such as the present one,” the Bench said, adding “the caste system is a curse on the nation and the sooner it is destroyed the better”. The court also took a dig at those who try to divide the country on caste lines to achieve their nefarious designs and said “we have to be united to face the challenge before the nation, hence, inter-caste marriages are in fact in the national interest, as they will result in destroying the caste system”.
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Fudging case: IAS officer chargesheeted New Delhi, July 8 Mr Varma, an IAS officer of the 1984 batch and currently posted as Commissioner of Allahabad, allegedly fudged his date of birth certificate by lowering his age by nearly 35 months and also made a false representation to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the cadre controlling authority. The CBI had earlier filed a closure report in the case but after re-investigating it, the agency found Varma allegedly guilty of overwriting on forms filled for his IAS exams in 1983. The CBI also began an investigation against one of its own officers, currently an Inspector General of Police in Kerala, who was the supervisory officer for filing the close report. The agency has booked Varma under Sections 420, 467 and 468 read with 471 of the IPC, CBI sources said. During its investigation, the CBI found that Varma had allegedly taken out his official forms from the DoPT and changed his date of birth from March 1, 1959, to February 13, 1962. The Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) has given opinion that different ink was used to file the form and the date of birth column in the same form, CBI sources said. The CFSL has also corroborated the fact that “additional words showing the date of birth as February 13, 1962, written in application form for Civil Services Preliminary and Main Examination 1983, containing the genuine date of birth of accused as March 1, 1959, and also containing word showing different date of birth were entered in the handwriting of Varma at later date with different shade of ink,” the sources said. The CFSL report was available earlier as well when the CBI had filed a closure report on January 14, 2005. The agency, after investigating the matter for nearly three years, filed a closure report, saying that there was not enough evidence to prosecute Varma. However, the closure report was not accepted by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, who sought an opinion from the DoPT that was the complainant in the case. Fuming DoPT officials moved the court in July last year and sought re-investigation of the case. During the probe, the CBI, however, could not find the involvement of any DoPT official who helped Varma in taking out his forms for changing the date of birth.
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EC notice to MP Deshpande New Delhi, July 8 The petitioner, Mr Mangal Singh, in his complaint to the Election Commission, had stated the samiti had been set up by an Act of Parliament. The Rajghat Samadhi Samiti Act, 1951, in a sub-clause of Section 3 of the Act, said the samiti was equivalent to a corporate body. The complainant further said Ms Deshpande had been deriving all profits accruing from the office of the co-chairperson of the samiti, which had not been included in the list of 54 posts declared as offices of non-profit. The Election Commission, in its notice, further said the notice was being issued to her under Section 146 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. It said in case no reply was received by July 21, it would be assumed that she had nothing to say on the matter. The notice further said Ms Deshpande could indicate whether she would wish to be heard in this matter in person or through a duly appointed lawyer. The Election Commission sent a copy of the notice issued to Ms Deshpande to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and a copy to the petitioner.
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Dwivedi is AICC media in charge New Delhi, July 8 The post was earlier held by Ms Ambika Soni who shifted to the government over six months ago when she was inducted into the Union Cabinet. Although technically Ms Soni continued to double up as media chairperson, her twin responsibilities as Tourism and Culture Minister left her little time for party work. The leadership woke up to the need for strengthening the AICC’s media department, as the party and the government have been under constant attack in recent months. There is a strong perception in the AICC that the party’s viewpoint has not been projected adequately and
effectively. Besides Mr Dwivedi, Ms Gandhi also elevated party spokesperson Abishek Singhvi as the media department’s vice-chairman and named CWC members Satyavrat Chaturvedi and Mukul Wasnik on the panel of spokespersons along with Jayanti Natarajan. Mr Tom Vadakkan continued to be the secretary of the AICC media department.
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India, IAEA hold talks on safeguards agreement New Delhi, July 8 The talks went off well and focussed on broad contours of an India-specific safeguards agreement which is a prerequisite before India is allowed to have global nuclear commerce. The Ministry of External Affairs said the two sides held “useful and productive technical discussions on concepts relating to India-specific safeguards emanating from the Indo-US Joint Statement of 18 July 2005. India and the IAEA will be required to hold many more rounds of talks before New Delhi signs a safeguards agreement with the IAEA. India had agreed to signing a safeguards agreement with the IAEA while negotiating the civilian nuclear energy cooperation deal with the United States.
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Cong general
secretary to meet PPCC leaders New Delhi, July 8 AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi will visit Chandigarh on July 15 to interact with Punjab Congress leaders. Sources said the high command had conveyed to state party leadership, including Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, PCC chief Shamsher Singh Dullo and Deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, to hold joint rallies in all districts in the state. They had also been told to hold joint meetings in all Assembly constituencies. The sources said Mr Dwivedi would review the progress of programmes being carried out by the Punjab PCC.
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New Delhi, July 8 Rao, 96, died a peaceful death just before noon. Rao’s wife Suman and a number of friends and admirers were by his side when he breathed his last, he said. Rao had been living in Austin for several years. Winner of the Padma Vibhushan in 1969, Rao was a member of the trinity of Indian writers in English along with contemporaries Mulk Raj Anand and R.K. Narayan. Rao had burst onto the literary scene in the 1940s with his first novel “Kanthapura” when little was known outside the country about Indian writing in English. The novel was praised by English writer E.M. Forster as “perhaps the best novel to come out of India”. — UNI
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