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Church Attacks
US diplomat concerned about attacks
AIIMS-like institute for West Bengal
I will not contest next LS elections, says Somnath
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Punjab gets award for best sanitation
Rahul misquoted: Cong
High Court notice to police on Nanda plea
Noida Killing
Widening of Kalka-Chandigarh road
From playing marbles to triggering bombs
Dhumal for simultaneous assembly, LS polls
PFA gets notice for ‘violation’ of norms
Box triggers panic at Howrah station
Rs 500-cr aid for flood-hit Orissa
AI capt hurt in brawl, flight delayed
More ITBP for Afghanistan
Nano unit’s guards attacked
SC upholds
derecognition of Janata Party
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Central team reviews situation in Karnataka
Tribune News Service
Bangalore, September 23
Asked whether the home ministry officials only visited the churches that bore the brunt of attack by Hindu extremists, Prasad said “they went to all kinds of religious places”. The officials met religious leaders, members of the public, mediapersons and district officials and obtained feedbacks from them. They also met senior police officials and took stock of the security measures undertaken in the area, Prasad said. The two officials are slated to reach Bangalore in the evening and meet Karnataka principal secretary, home, Upendra Tripathi and discuss the law and order situation with him. On the other hand, Chief Minister Yeddyurappa on a visit to Hubli today, fumed against the UPA-led government for sending Central officials to the state. “What is happening in Delhi? Everyday innocent people are being killed by terrorists,” he said, adding that millions of Hindus had been forced to leave Kashmir by extremists with the Centre doing nothing to ensure their return. Yeddyurappa, however, seems to be in a mood to assuage the hurt feelings of the local Christians and met the Bangalore Archbishop Bernard Moras here. Meanwhile, Justice M.F. Saldanha and B.G. Koshy of the Transparency International have urged him to ask the Centre to order a judicial probe into the violent incidents. They suggested the name of Rajendra Babu, retired Chief Justice of India, who has also headed the National Human Rights Commission, “and has the advantage of being from Karnataka with the benefit of being exceedingly fluent in the regional language” for conducting the probe. They also demanded transfer of Satish Kumar, Dakshina Kannada SP, Ganapathy, Mangalore (East) inspector and Jayant Shetty, DSP, Mangalore (Rural), and Bangalore city police commissioner Shankar Bidari for failing to control the situation. The Karnataka Christian Social Welfare Association, headed by former state DGP F.T.R Colaso have, in a representation made to the CM, sought the release of all those arrested in connection with the violent incidents on September 14.
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US diplomat concerned about attacks
Bangalore, September 23 The diplomat hosted a luncheon meeting in the city today for
H.T. Sangliana, MP, Justice M.F. Saldanha (Retd), F T R Colaso, (retd DGP), Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Christians, B.G. Koshy of Transparency International, Benedict Balu, chief of Karnataka Kraista Ranga, and Adolf Washington, PRO of the Archdiocese of Bangalore. The three other members of his team from the Chennai Consulate were, Paul A.
Hinshaw, vice-consul Scott E. Woodard, political officer and George Mathew, economic specialist. A detailed dossier on the violence and attacks was handed over by the leaders to
Simkin.
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AIIMS-like institute for West Bengal
New Delhi, September 23 “We are committed to setting up such an institute in West Bengal and formalities in this regard are being completed,” Ramadoss told the delegation led by state health minister Surjya Kanta Mishra. The delegation also raised the issue of vaccine supply to the state with Ramadoss who assured the visitors of sufficient stocks by the next month, to ensure smooth supply during the vaccine calendar in the state. The state delegation spoke to the minister on the issue of suspension of licenses of
CRI, Kasauli, the Pasteur Institute, Coonur, and the BCG Vaccine Laboratory of
Guindy, Chennai. The minister took note of the state’s demand for utilising the Pasteur Institute, Kolkata, for manufacture of vaccines and said a senior team would explore the possibility keeping in mind the capacity and quality requirements on a sustained basis. On the issue of relaxation of norms for new medical colleges in the state, Ramadoss said that the medical education in the country would be expanded without compromising on quality and in accordance with the Medical Council of India’s recommendations. Strangely, the issue of prohibiting use of tobacco in public places, an issue dear to
Ramadoss, was kept out of the purview of his meeting with the delegation today. Last week, the minister had made a categorical appeal to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya to quit smoking. He had also said how 71 per cent men in West Bengal were tobacco users, urging them to follow the ensuing government ban on smoking in public places. The ban will come into effect from October 2.
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I will not contest next LS elections, says Somnath
Chandigarh, September 23 Addressing a press conference after the conclusion of the three-day conference of Presiding Officers of Legislative Bodies in India here today, Chatterjee said it was retirement time for him when asked if he would contest the elections and be the Lok Sabha Speaker after the next elections as well. Replying to a question about a former Speaker not being opposed by other parties if he contested Parliamentary elections again, he said it was a good convention in Britain. He added it would be very difficult to maintain such a convention in India as there were so many parties. To another question, he maintained that the presidential form of government would be catastrophic in India. He re-emphasised that he strongly recommended the giving up of powers of the Speaker to decide issues of defection. “I don’t want a single finger pointed at the chair of the Speaker. However honestly we may discharge our duty, there are allegations sometimes. This leaves scope for the court to question a Speaker just like any subdivisional magistrate. Just like the Election Commission is handling cases dealing with holding of office of profit, it can be given the responsibility of handling cases pertaining to defection also,” he said. The Speaker favoured the “right to recall”, stating that when the President, vice-president, Prime Minister and judges can be removed from office, why shouldn’t there be a provision to call back “non-performing” MPs and MLAs. On the issue of former Congress MP Kuldeep Bishnoi’s claim of having sent his resignation to the office of the LS Speaker, Chatterjee said he had not received a single representation. He said the launch of the Lok Sabha channel was taking the proceedings to all parts of the country.
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Punjab gets award for best sanitation
New Delhi, September 23 The awards were given as a recognition of human and social development and evaluation of the standards of governance in the states of India. Access to drinking water and toilet facilities are the parameters considered by the TV network, while evaluating the performance of different states in the category of water and sanitation. Majithia termed the achievement as “a recognition of the work being done by the SAD-BJP Government in Punjab”. Quality drinking water is being provided through reverse osmosis technology in collaboration with Nandi Foundation, an NGO in Muktsar district which was now being extended to cover other problematic villages of Malwa area. Work on the Rs. 1250-crore World Bank-aided water supply and sanitation project had also been expedited, he added.
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Rahul misquoted: Cong
New Delhi, September 23 A press release issued by AICC media chairman Veerappa Moily today said the statement attributed to Rahul Gandhi is not correct. “The question of my being the PM is open and not closed yet,” Rahul Gandhi was quoted as saying in an interaction with students in Patiala. Stating that Rahul Gandhi had been misquoted, Moily said the AICC general secretary categorically said he is not focusing on posts and positions, but only on building the youth and student organisations. This is not the first time that “Rahul-for-PM” remarks have generated a controversy. A few months ago, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had publicly snubbed HRD minister Arjun Singh and others who had set up a clamour for Rahul Gandhi’s prime ministership. Only recently, Sonia Gandhi had gone a step further and virtually endorsed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s projection as the Congress party’s candidate for the premier’s post in next year’s Lok Sabha elections. When asked at a party function on August 15 if the PM will unfurl the flag at Red Fort next year, she had firmly replied, “Certainly.” Despite the Congress president’s public assertion, the party has been chary of giving a definite answer on the question of the party’s future PM. Its spokespersons invariably skirt the issue, merely stating that, “There is no vacancy for the post as we already have a Prime Minister.”
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High Court notice to police on Nanda plea
New Delhi, September 23 Justice Kailash Gambhir, however, issued notice to the Delhi police and sought its response by October 3 on Nanda’s petition challenging his conviction and quantum of sentence in the BMW hit-and-run case. Advocate Mukul
Rohatgi, appearing for Nanda, contended that the trial court had wrongly convicted him due to publicity in the media and he should not be given more than two years of
imprisonment. “The court relied on Alistair Pereira case where the accused was given three years of imprisonment for mowing down people sleeping on the pavement. On the other hand, in this case the accident happened because of the victim’s fault as they were standing in the middle of the road in the wee hours but Nanda was given five years of imprisonment,” Rohatgi said. “Nanda’s offence stands on a lower footing as compared to Pereira and he should not be given more than two years of imprisonment,” he submitted. The court, not convinced with the contention, said: “Do you want to say that the car accident is not a serious offence. People standing on the road were run over by the car”.
— PTI
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Result of ‘simmering discontent’: Minister
New Delhi, September 23 “This should serve as a warning for the managements. It is my appeal to the that the workers should be dealt with compassion,” union labour minister Oscar Fernandes told mediapersons at a press conference, here today. “There are disparities in the wages of permanent employees and contract workers. The workers should not be pushed so hard that they resort to whatever that had happened in Noida,” he said. “It is a fact that the number of organised workers has been decreasing. It came down from seven to six per cent. We are going to discuss the matter of hire and fire policy during the next Labour Congress. First we deal with PSUs and later with the private sector on the issue,” he added. The workforce is “unable to express its simmering discontent over the management policies” leading to strained ties between the two, Fernandes said while expressing his condolences to members of the bereaved family. The minister is expected to visit the incident site tomorrow. Around two months back, workers of the company were dismissed. The CEO of the company was reportedly beaten to death by a group of these employees inside the premises yesterday, after a compromise meeting had failed. — PTI
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Widening of Kalka-Chandigarh road Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 23 Taking up the traffic regulation and highway broadening case, the Division Bench, comprising Justice Uma Nath Singh and Justice Daya Chaudhary, also directed in the open court the summoning of the defence secretary, Haryana chief secretary and chairman of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). The case, aimed at ensuring the free flow of traffic by cutting down the delay in widening of the Chandigarh-Kalka highway will now come up for further hearing on October 1. The road has been witnessing traffic jams especially on the stretch passing through the towns of Pinjore and Kalka. The summoning orders came during the resumed hearing on the issue of traffic problems faced by the commuters, and the need to resolve the same, in the states of Punjab and Haryana, along with the Union Territory of Chandigarh. As the Bench took up the matter, the Judges expressed their unhappiness at the red-tapism enveloping the issue of transfer of a chunk of defence land between Chandigarh and Pinjore to the NHAI, and also on the issue of providing alternative land to the army authorities by Haryana in lieu of the land to be transferred to NHAI.
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From playing marbles to triggering bombs
Jaipur, September 23 They are probably the only key to the Indian Mujahideen, a completely new terrorist outfit, about which neither the police nor intelligence agencies know much. They were helped by two others - Saif and Shahbaaz - both belonging to SIMI, and in police custody as of now.
Shahbaaz is said to be the leader of SIMI. Although the Jaipur police has named these 10 in the May13 serial blasts that killed 62 and injured many, their motivation, ideology and group structure remains unknown. The only thing known is that they belong to the new outfit. Seven of them, including Qayam-ud-din, Tauqeer, Sajid, Atif, Shadaab, Shafiq Salmann, and Khalid are still absconding. Abbu Bashir and Sajjid Mansuri are in the custody of Delhi police. The tenth, Chotta Sajid, was one of the two terrorists killed in the recent encounter with the
Delhi police. Notably, despite the group being together for so many years no intelligence agency could get a sniff of their activities, confessed a senior police official. He said the group was so closely-knit that they did not trust any outsider.
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Dhumal for simultaneous assembly, LS polls
New Delhi, September 23 He was speaking last night at a function held to honour Himachal Pradesh, which was adjudged the best state in the country in terms of environment protection and ecological conservation by way of enhancement of green cover. Himachal beat other states in the national survey conducted by two media organisations on the states’ preparedness to fight global warming. Former President of India, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, presented the award to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister
at a function held in the city. Dhumal said the state was trying its best to deal with global warming and environmental protection. Dhumal, while arguing for conducting assembly and Lok Sabha elections together, said repeated elections had an adverse impact on social and economic development of the country. “Holding of elections at different times diverts the attention of governments from real issues,” he said, offering to conduct Himachal assembly elections with the ensuing parliamentary elections if a national-level political consensus was evolved on the issue.
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PFA gets notice for ‘violation’ of norms
New Delhi, September 23 “After monitoring the status of the centre, where the animals are kept, and the condition of the simians as well, the CZA has asked the NGO to either improve the existing infrastructure and deploy adequate staff for the captive monkeys within next six months or face derecognition,” said an official. When contacted, Gandhi refuted allegations that the centre was facing overcapacity problems and said there was sufficient staff and veterinarian to take care of animals. A CZA team during the evaluation of the Centre recently found that it was allegedly in a dilapidated state with no proper care being rendered to the animals, as many of them were found injured or wounded, sources said.
— PTI
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Box triggers panic at Howrah station
Kolkata, September 23 The box, painted green, was found by the Railway Protection Force and efforts are on to ascertain whether it belonged to the defence ministry and that it contained explosives or not. Passengers were asked to keep a safe distance as army, bomb squad personnel and police cordoned off the spot which led to suspension of trains from the platform, said SP of Railways B.L. Meena. — PTI
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Rs 500-cr aid for flood-hit Orissa
Bhubaneswar, September 23 Patil, who made an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas of the state and later held a review meeting on the flood situation, told mediapersons that funds would be no constraint and if required more money would be given. The home minister said the centre would do everything that could be done to overcome the difficulties in mitigating the sufferings of the people.
— UNI
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AI capt hurt in brawl, flight delayed
Kolkata, September 23 Air India sources said certain comments were passed by a a CISF commander when captain M K Singh, who was to pilot the flight, was passing through the security zone of the NSC Bose Airport. When the captain protested, it led to fisticuffs, which left him injured, the sources said. He was released after first aid, the sources said. This led the Bagdogra flight to be delayed by over two hours and it took off from the airport only at 3.35 pm under a different captain. Both the Air India captain and the CISF commander lodged complaints with the police.
— PTI
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More ITBP for Afghanistan
New Delhi, September 23 “A batch of officers and personnel will leave for Kabul in the next 10 days to augment our strength,” DG of ITBP Vikram Srivastava said. The decision comes after a three-member team of the force, which has been guarding Indian installations in Afghanistan returned after assessing the security situation after a number of attacks on Indian interests, including diplomatic missions in the central Asian country. The 218-km Delaram-Zeranj highway project, undertaken by the Border Roads Organisation, which gives the landlocked country access to an Iranian port, is expected to open for vehicular traffic shortly, Srivastava
said. — PTI
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Nano unit’s guards attacked
Singur, September 23 Singur police station officer in- charge Priyabrata Bakshi today said the miscreants attacked the two security guards, Ajit Kumar from Bihar and S.N. Sarkar from
Murshidabad, with iron rods and sharp-edged weapons. The seriously injured security guards were rushed to the Srerampore Walls Hospital. The motive behind the attack was suspected to be robbery, the police officer said, adding further investigation was on and a manhunt had been launched to nab the miscreants. However, no arrests had been made so far.
— UNI |
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SC upholds
derecognition of Janata Party
New Delhi, September 23 A Bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhan ruled that the Janata Party did not fulfil the eligibilty criteria to retain its status as a recognised party and the election symbol.
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Biswas resigns from Rajya Sabha Pachauri accepts invitation Minister’s house attacked Photo exhibition from Oct 2
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