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LS adjourned twice amid high drama
LS panel for Katara’s expulsion
TMC siege of Lalbazar more of LS Poll campaign
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No date fixed for Pranab’s Lanka visit
Gurta Gaddi Diwas
Punjab Cong leaders meet Sonia
Govt nod to additional crop area for drought-hit states
Feline love story gone sour; banking on second tigress
New pattern for medical entrance exam
Jaipur Blasts
Jamia Encounter
Nun’s Rape Case
2 women allege rape by CRPF men
Assault on Candidates
Centre told to keep check on GM food
Maya fights for Mulayam’s cause in SC
Naxals kill 12 CRPF men EC puts
cross-LoC trade on hold
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LS adjourned twice amid high drama
New Delhi, October 20 The Speaker had to adjourn the House twice amid high drama dominated by the ‘near-stripping’ act by Assam’s Independent MP S.K. Bwiswmuthiary, and demands of a judicial probe into the Jamia Nagar encounter by the BSP’s Akbar Dumpy. Dumpy led the interruptions from the front when he stormed the well of the House during the question hour, forcing the first adjournment. Citing fresh evidence in the Batla House encounter, he sought a thorough probe, and was vocally supported by colleague Iliyas Azmi of the BSP. Adding to the morning ruckus were the RJD and the SP, who wanted Raj Thackeray arrested immediately on grounds that his supporters were attacking the north Indians in Maharashtra. RJD MPs Devendra Yadav and Ram Kirpal Yadav were the most aggressive of the lot seeking a ban on Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS); yesterday their supremo Lalu Yadav had raised the demand. In Parliament, however, Lalu was silent, as his men held fort. They were, however, no match for Bodo MP S.K. Bwiswmuthiary, who managed to motivate both the BJP and the Left to question the government’s lethargy in Assam. When the House met at 12 noon, after the first adjournment, Bwiswmuthiary entered the well of the House and verbally attacked the government for inaction. “There is no India left; Bodos and Garos are being killed by Muslim attackers in Assam and no one is bothered,” he said, looking at PM Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, seated in the front row. Even after the Speaker had afforded Bwiswmuthiary an opportunity to speak, the latter kept his tirade going. He again stormed the well of the House, took off his tribal cape and threatened to strip if the government did not act. It took a threat of suspension from the LS Speaker to soothe the agitated Bodo MP, who listed the incidents of killings and arson against Bodos and Garos in Udalgiri and Darang districts of Assam. Bwiswmuthiary’s allegation that the destruction was being sponsored by pro-Pakistani groups had the Opposition on its feet, with V.K. Malhotra demanding immediate government response. CPM’s Mohammad Salim also joined in, asking the PM for a statement in this regard. As the pandemonium got worse (some contribution to unruliness came from MDMK members, protesting Tamilian killings in Sri Lanka) despite the Speaker’s appeals for maintaining decorum, the House had to be again adjourned.
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LS panel for Katara’s expulsion
New Delhi, October 20 The panel headed by V. Kishore Chandra Deo, while recommending the severest of punishment for Katara, said, “He has committed an act of grave misconduct as well as contempt of the committee of the House which has threatened to erode the credibility of Parliament as an institution.” The panel also expressed concern over the increasing number of cases of members’ misconduct, and observed, “These are difficult times. It is true that certain aberrations have crept into the system. To make our democratic system truly effective and cleansing it of various malaises, what is needed is sustained efforts.” Proceedings of the panel, however, began only after Katara had been released on bail, and the committee looked only into the issue of Katara’s misconduct arising out of misuse of facilities and courtesies available to him by virtue of being an MP. These facilities include diplomatic passports issued to him and his wife. During investigations, the committee found that Katara did indeed misuse facilities available to him by getting a fake diplomatic passport made in his wife’s name. “This act can have no motive expect human trafficking,” the panel states, terming the act as one of grave misconduct. The panel was further enraged by repeated lies which Katara used to evade appearance before the committee. Panel members observed: “The committee was shocked to note that when on June 23, 2008, Katara was to appear before them for oral evidence, he sent a fax communication saying he would be unable to come due to illness and was being admitted to a nursing home for treatment. He, however, went on a study tour of the Standing Committee of Science and Technology to Chandigarh on June 21 and 22.” The committee said it was convinced that Katara’s ailment was “as fake as the numerous passports he got made in the name of his existent and non-existent family members and that he deliberately evaded appearance before the committee by falsely stating that he was unwell. “We hold Katara guilty of committing contempt of the committee and thereby the House. Also, it leaves no option but to conclude that he did not appear before the committee because he had no defence and no moral courage to even face his own colleagues,” the report states.
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TMC siege of Lalbazar more of LS Poll campaign
Kolkata, October 20 Mamata did not take part in the agitation but almost all TMC leaders, including the leader of the opposition Partha Chatterjee, Saugata Roy, Sovandeb Chattopadhyya, Madan Mitra and others, who participated in the agitation, criticised the CPM and assured the people of “better days and better livelihood” after the forthcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections, when the present left front government would be thrown out of power. Though the agitation had been planned for gheraoing Lalbazar as a mark of protests against the police’s partisan role in the interest of the CPM against the opposition parties, the Trinamool leadership later dropped their original law-violation programme and instead, they organised protest rallies at several places, which paralysed the city’s traffic and transport movement in several places for over four hours during the day. . Accordingly, over 10,000 police personnel had been deployed for countering the TMC agitation in which some 5,000 workers and supporters were participating. The police equipped with modern firearms and other weapons were posted at all vulnerable pockets of the city. After the agitation was over at around 4 pm, TMC leader Partha Chatterjee said they would organise “the gheraoing of the Writers Buildings” (the state government’s headquarters) on October 25 in which over 10,000 TMC workers and their supporters would participate. He said the people of the state now wanted that the CPM be thrown out of the Writhers Buildings and accordingly, they would be organising protests and demonstrations against the CPM and ask the people to vote out of power. As announced around 11 am, the TMC workers and supporters came in processions from four different directions in the city and assembled in front of the Metro Channel in the Esplanade area, where the leaders addressed the protest rallies organised by the Trinamool Youth Congress. Afterwards, the processions marched towards Lalbazar and held meetings in the Fears’ Lane areas, where the leaders criticised Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and accused him of misusing officials powers against the opposition parties. They demanded his resignation. Reacting to the TMC agitation, CPM party secretary Biman Bose bantered that it would have been better if the protest marches were led to Raj Bhawan or Writers Buildings. He did not give importance to Mamata Banerjee’s agitation.
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N-deal assures fuel supply: Pranab
New Delhi, October 20 The nuclear agreements, which India had signed with the US and France, and the one it proposed to ink with Russia in December, were in line with the assurances that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had given to Parliament and the people of India, external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha on the subject. The statement came at a time when CPM parliamentary party leader Basudeb Acharia was trying to raise the issue of breach of privilege against the Prime Minister in the Lok Sabha. The Left parties had on October 17 submitted notices for the breach of privilege against the Prime Minister in both houses, alleging that he had misled Parliament on the nuclear initiative with the US. “These agreements and the India-specific safeguards agreement provide for India to take corrective measures, if necessary. These are interlocking provisions that protect our rights fully. In these agreements, we have the right to reprocess the spent nuclear material that we obtain from our international partners,” Mukherjee said. The government would set up a new national reprocessing facility and take other steps necessary to operationalise these agreements and realise the full potential of the civil nuclear initiative, which ensures uninterrupted fuel supply. Assuring the House that these agreements would pose no hindrance to India’s strategic programme, the minister said India retained the freedom to take action with regard to strategic programme even as it engaged in international cooperation in civil nuclear energy.
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No date fixed for Pranab’s Lanka visit
New Delhi, October 20 Briefing reporters here today, foreign secretary Shiv Shanker Menon said reports in the media that Mukherjee would visit the island nation soon were not in tune with the
factual situation. No date had been set for the visit so far. However, there is a possibility of a Sri Lankan delegation coming to New Delhi soon to brief the Indian leadership on the situation in the neighbouring country. “India may take a call” on Mukherjee’s visit after that, said
Menon.
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Gurta Gaddi Diwas
Mumbai, October 20 The eight-day Guru-ta-Gaddi celebrations will begin on October 27 and is expected to attract nearly 25 lakh Sikhs from around the world. The celebrations will start with “Takht Snan”, a cleansing ritual, when the faithful clean the gurdwara with water from the Godavari. According to senior Maharashtra government officials here, more than Rs 1,500 crore has been spent on upgrading infrastructure at Nanded under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission. Earlier this year, the town was given a spanking new airport and the main Nanded Railway Station has been redeveloped in the shape of a gurdwara. The Nanded civic body has completed the construction of a 22 km long peripheral road connecting all the major gurdwaras of the city, officials said. Among the major improvements being carried out is the upgrading of the Sachkand Sri Hazur Sahib Gurdwara complex, which is being overhauled. The entire courtyard measuring 2,50,000 sq ft is being covered with marble so as to accommodate nearly 40,000 devotees at one time. According to the gurdwara officials, Sikhs from the US, Canada, Malaysia, the UK, Australia and other countries have already arrived in Nanded. “For the first time in independent India so many Sikhs are assembling in Nanded,” says D.P. Singh, who heads the Sachkhand gurdwara. The Railways have pitched with more than 150 pairs of special trains that connect various destinations across the country with Nanded during the course of the celebrations. Nanded city officials admit that there could be problems accommodating a huge number of visitors. But efforts are on to put up tented accommodation spread over more than 1,500 acres that could accommodate more than 5 lakh people at one go. The state government has beefed up security with 9,000 police and paramilitary personnel being roped in from various services. According to the gurdwara officials, enormous langar facilities have already come into operation from Dassera to feed one crore pilgrims till November 3.
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Punjab Cong leaders meet Sonia
New Delhi, October 20 Punjab congress chief Mohinder Singh Kaypeee led the team that comprised almost all senior leaders. They welcomed the notification of PUSA 1121 variety as “basmati”. This variety is largely sown in Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur and is sold at nearly Rs 2,000 per quintal. Arguing the case for doubling the bonus, the Punjab leaders pointed out that floods and un-seasonal hailstorm had damaged the paddy crop. A Rs 50 bonus was announced a few days ago. They said the SAD-BJP government in Punjab had failed to make adequate arrangements for the procurement and lifting of paddy. Speaking for the victims of terrorist violence, the Congress delegation said more than 25,000 lives were lost and an equal number of families faced the wrath of terrorists. The Congress-led UPA government had sanctioned a package for the 1984 riot victims of Delhi. However, the terror victims of Punjab had been left out. A package similar to that announced for riot victims of Delhi should be announced at the earliest for Punjab people. Most of the victims belonged to the rank and file of the Congress or were sympathisers of the party. Talking about the role of the SAD chief, the leaders alleged that he was behaving in an unconstitutional manner. Notably, the delegation requested Sonia Gandhi to conduct a session of the AICC in Punjab. The last such session was conducted in Punjab in 1976. Being in a poll mode, the Congress leaders sought a loan waiver for small time businessmen, people of minorities belonging to Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes, Muslims and Christians. All small and medium loans in such categories also deserve waiver, which would cost the state exchequer only a few crores of rupees in each state.
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Govt nod to additional crop area for drought-hit states
New Delhi, October 20 As per the first advance estimates, released on September 25, production of kharif is estimated to be 115.33 million tonnes (MT), lower by 5.63 MT as compared to the kharif food grain production of 120.96 MT during 2007-08. Similarly, Kharif oilseeds production estimated at 17.95 MT during 2008-09 is also lower by 1.89 MT, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar told Parliament in a written reply on Monday. In this season, sugarcane production is lower by 45.90 MT, cotton by 1.90 million bales as compared to kharif 2007-08. Production during kharif has been affected because of adverse impact on sowing due to deficient rainfall and floods in some parts of the country during monsoon. The ministry, however, says that these are preliminary estimates that will gradually improve due to overall good rainfall received during monsoon. In this context it is also carrying out an assessment of area coverage and productivity. Presenting an optimistic outlook despite lower estimates as of now, the government says the first advance estimates of kharif during 2008-09 are in fact higher by 3.09 MT and kharif oil seeds by 1.82 MT as compared to the corresponding first advance estimates during 2007-08. Meanwhile, the Centre has sent advisories to the states, who have been advised to ensure early sowing of wheat, use short duration seeds for summer rice, encourage inter-cropping for jowar, promote high yielding varieties of pulses and oilseeds, make efficient use of irrigation water and timely and balanced use of fertilisers along with organic manure and micro-nutrients to improve the output. While the areas affected by deficient and scanty rainfall in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have been advised to increase area and productivity of Rabi jowar, flood-affected areas of Bihar, Utter Pradesh, Orissa and Assam have been advised to go for rice, kulthi, toria and other crops depending on the time flood water recedes in these states.
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Prez calls for rural development
Guwahati, October 20 “The key to success of such community-based programmes lies with awareness building and capacity development of stakeholders and institutions, especially gram panchayats who have a primary role in carrying forward the sanitation agenda,” she said. “It is important that the village communities are imparted knowledge about technology options to meet user preferences and afford ability. I would urge that management of solid and liquid wastes be made an essential part of the sanitation drive. Treated waste can be used as manure to increase agricultural productivity and gas used for cooking. Moreover, waste management contributes to keeping the environs clean,” he said. She also linked up the high school dropouts of female students with sanitation. “Many studies have pointed out that one of the reasons for high dropout rates among adolescent girls in our country is lack of sanitation facilities in schools. Imparting education to the girl child is of great importance in making our nation progressive. I would call on panchayats to focus on this aspect also.” She called upon the NGOs and the government to work in close cooperation with the people in respect of sustainable efforts for total sanitation in the northeast region where the movement hasn’t peaked yet. Recalling that the union government had launched the “total sanitation mission” way back in 1999, she exhorted the people to realise the vision of Mahatma Gandhi who had asserted, “Cleanliness was even more important than freedom.” Meanwhile, impressed by the success of the women’s Self Help Group (SHG) movement in Assam, President Pratibha Patil today urged the women to exploit the advantage for their sustainable empowerment. “The immense self-confidence the women have achieved through the SHG movement is perhaps the biggest achievement of the movement,” the President said interacting with members of some women SHGs of the state here this evening. “The SHGs have brought a new revolution and the women are discovering their confidence and capabilities through the movement towards the path of self-sufficiency. It has given her economic independence and social uplift,” she added.
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Issue notice under Article 355 to Maharashtra, demand MPs
New Delhi, October 20 Yadav raised the demand when the Lok Sabha reassembled after adjournment this evening, and found support from SP, JDU, BJP, and the Left, with everyone demanding action against the MNS, arrest of Raj Thackray and a warning to the state. Earlier, Yadav and SP’s Ramji Lal Suman alleged the complicity of Congress-NCP government in the attacks, saying the authorities ignored warnings by the director-general of Railway Protection Force. Yadav further accused the state government of ignoring the demands to ban the MNS and encouraging its activities. Shahnawaz Hussain of the BJP slammed the Congress-led UPA, on grounds that its own allies were seeking action against the Congress-NCP in Maharashtra. “The railway minister, the home minister, the state chief minister are all from the UPA. With your government in the centre and your government in the state, it is very serious that north Indians are being attacked and nothing is being done to stop the same,” he said, drawing similar responses from CPM’s Mohd Samil and CPI’s Gurudas Dasgupta. On the defensive, the Congress later condemned the “senseless” attacks, and asked the Vilasrao Deshmukh government to book the guilty. Party spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan said such attacks were against the spirit of the Constitution and targeted the unity of the country. “The state government should take every possible step to punish the guilty,” she said, adding that Raj Thackeray should be punished, if guilty. The Left for its part termed the attacks “pre-planned and part of a divisive campaign launched by the MNS.” The failure of police and intelligence is obvious, the CPI said, demanding the arrest of Raj Thackeray and his supporters. The CPM also termed the MNS action a blatant assault on the Constitution, which the state government is duty-bound to protect.
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Feline love story gone sour; banking on second tigress
Jaipur, October 20 All this with the hope that love would bloom between the tiger and the new tigress paving way for increase in population of the wild cat in the area, where mankind had wiped them by ruthless killing over centuries. The officials are going to throw more possibilities and competition soon. The union government has already sanctioned the proposal to shift another tiger and tigress there soon to increase the probability of reproduction. “For two months, we have been tracking the movement of the tigress relocated in Sariska to ascertain of she was pregnant. But so far she and the tiger have moved in different directions. There are no physical and behavioral symptoms to reveal that she was pregnant,” said Parmesh Chandra, additional chief secretary (Forests). The number of wild cats would soon be increased to five, he said. Wild life lovers, the Save Tiger activists in particular, and the entire world were waiting for the mating of these animals. The project is a fine example of the efforts by humans to reverse the damage caused to the wild life by mankind. Sariska once boasted of hundreds of tigers but all were killed. The government is waiting for clearance by the Air Force for airlifting the wild cat from Ranthambore National Park. “We have already received satellite radio collar to be fitted on the new tigress. We hope to translocate her within this week,” said Chandra. Officials are hoping that the new tigress would adjust soon in the new area and cohabit with the tiger. “The entire success of the pilot project of relocating the tigers to their once area of domination depends on procreation.”
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New pattern for medical entrance exam
New Delhi, October 20 The new pattern will be used by the CBSE to fill 15 per cent seats in the MBBS/BDS courses in medical/dental colleges across the country, against the all-India quota from next year (2009). The eligibility criteria will remain undiluted. Candidates from the unreserved category securing 50 per cent marks and students from SC/ST/OBC categories getting 40 per cent in the preliminary exam or the candidates 10 times the number of seats available for counselling/admission (whichever is less) will be declared qualified for the final stage exam. The new pattern has ''high degree of reliability'' as subjectivity is reduced to zero level and availability of sufficient time without affecting the quality of the candidates, the CBSE informed the Bench, headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, which approved the proposal. The prelims will have one question paper for three hours. It will have 200 questions -- 50 each in physics and chemistry and 100 in biology (botany and zoology) -- and each would carry four marks for the correct answer and one negative mark for the wrong answer. The candidates will be arranged in the merit order for the final exam, which will have one question paper with 120 questions of higher difficulty level -- 30 each in physics and chemistry and 60 in biology. The duration and the distribution of marks will remain the same. AIPMT-2009 prelims will be held on April 5 and results will be declared by the end of April. The final exam will be held on May 10 and the results will be out by the end of that month.
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Jaipur Blasts
Lucknow, October 20 A fact-finding report, brought out on behalf of the U.P. Chapter of People's Union for Civil Liberties and People's Union for Human Rights, claims that the charges mentioned against him by the Rajasthan police appear to be false. The first charge was of the transaction of crores of rupees being made from Ahmed's bank account. The second charge was his reportedly sending the terror mail from a cyber café based in Sahibabad between May 10 and 13, just before the blasts in Jaipur. Another fact presented by the Rajasthan police regarding Ahmed turned out to be incorrect. "Rajasthan police had alleged that a laptop was recovered from Ahmed whereas the fact is that Shahbaz did not possess a laptop," points out the report. According to the report, the fact-finding team had checked Ahmed's bank accounts. In the account with the IndusInd bank that had he had recently tried to open with a cheque of Rs 10,000, the balance was zero as the cheque had bounced. In another account with the State Bank of India, initially in the name of his wife Sadaf in which Ahmed's name was added later, the balance was a mere Rs 1,806. There was no transaction between December 2007 and May 2008. The single largest transaction was that of Rs 15,000. "The bank accounts portray a picture of a struggling middle class entrepreneur who was mostly raising his family on his daily earnings," the report notes. The other charge that he had reportedly sent an email from a cyber café in Sahibabad between May 10 and 13, has been refuted by the team by proving that he was very much in Lucknow during that period and had made calls from his landline telephone. The fact-finding team also checked the numbers dialed from his landline phone of his office situated in Moulviganj to confirm that they had indeed spoken to Ahmed during those days. Substantiating their claim, the team said the STD calls could be made from the phone in Ahmed's office only after unlocking the code. “Hence, most likely Ahmed made the calls,” it says. Incidentally, Ahmed had only two employees at his shop, an assistant Sarika and helper Rahul, both Hindus. Undermining the Rajasthan police's charge of the cyber café owner in Sahibabad having identified Ahmed, the report says, "This identification after a lapse of five months is doubtful in itself as the café is frequented daily by so many persons.” The fact-finding team includes retired IPS officers S.R. Darapuri and S.M. Naseem, retired IAS J.A. Khan, advocate Mohammad Saif Babar and social activists Sandeep Pandey and Syed Moid Ahmed.
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Jamia Encounter
Lucknow, October 20 Speaking to the press at the BJP state headquarters, Tripathi asked for an enquiry by the central agency as these leaders had been raising doubts over the police version of the Batla House encounter. Describing these leaders as “SIMI sympathisers who have a soft corner for terrorists”, the BJP state president said it was a matter of probe to find out exactly what relationship they had with organisations like SIMI. Charging them of completely ignoring internal security, the BJP president said that these leaders were indulging in “votebank ki rajniti”. “Rather than praising the sacrifice of the brave Delhi police officer M.C. Sharma during his meeting at Sanjarpur in Azamgarh, Mulayam Singh Yadav chose to reiterate his demand for a judicial enquiry into the encounter,” said Tripathi. Incidentally, the demand for a CBI enquiry comes close on the heels of other right wing outfits demanding stern action against the SP.
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Nun’s Rape Case
New Delhi, October 20 In a 24-page affidavit filed in the court in response to a petition filed by Cuttack Archbishop Raphael Cheenath, who has made the two demands, the state government said the crime branch had made “substantial progress” in the rape case, arresting eight accused persons. The case was being investigated “very diligently and earnestly” and the matter was being monitored at the “highest level”, while the Chief Minister had categorically condemned the heinous crime. “There are no grounds nor any need for transfer of the investigation of this case to CBI,” the state government said. On the demand for a Rs 3 crore compensation for the churches, it said such payments towards religious institutions “is not coming under the secular policy of the Government of Orissa.” However, the state government was committed to giving assistance to the damaged public institutions like schools, clinics, hospitals, hostels and orphanages. Each institution would be eligible for a maximum of Rs 2 lakh and the Centre had been requested to sanction an additional Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund. The state also pleaded that the continuance of the central paramilitary forces in Orissa was of “utmost importance” till the end of this year. Sixteen relief camps were opened in Kandhamal district alone where about 24,000 affected people were sheltered. On return of the normalcy in the violence-hit areas, more than 10,000 people returned home. At present, ten relief camps were functioning in the district, offering shelter to 12,934 persons as on October 12. Relief camps would continue to provide shelter and security as long as it was required, the state government said.
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2 women allege rape by CRPF men
Guwahati, October 20 Local people blocked the National Highway 52 at Rowta for 45 minutes today, demanding the arrest of the culprits. Hundreds of villagers also assembled at the Rowta police outpost and raised slogans for about three hours, demanding the arrest of the culprits immediately. The two women were allegedly raped by some CRPF jawans at a paddy field in Bhalukmari village, under Rowta police outpost, in Udalguri yesterday afternoon. The police on the basis of an FIR lodged by the local people has registered a case and sent the two women for a medical examination at Mangaldoi. “We have received a report of rape of two women allegedly committed by some CRPF jawans at Bhalukmari village yesterday. While a case has been registered at the Rowta outpost, the two women have been sent with escort to the Mangaldoi civil hospital for a medical examination,” Udalguri deputy commissioner Kamal Mahanta said over the telephone from Udalguri today. The two women would be later produced before a judicial magistrate for recording their statements, he added. “We are also going for an identification parade tomorrow of the jawans, who are posted in the area of incidence,” the official said. Pramod Boro, vice-president of the All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU), said from Udalguri that two women were raped by some CRPF jawans a patrol duty at Bhalukmari village yesterday. He alleged that one woman was outraged while she was harvesting paddy in her field and the other woman was raped at her residence after the jawans had beaten up her husband.
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Assault on Candidates
Patna, October 20 Nitish also wondered about the inaction on the part of the Maharashtra government and said that since the UPA government was at the Centre as well as in Maharashtra, he saw no reason for not taking stern action against such elements so far. “If the UPA government still takes no action in this case , then it will be presumed that they are more interested in electoral benefits than providing safety and security to the life and property of the citizens,” Nitish added. Meanwhile, protests and demonstrations against the MNS and Shiv Sena spread to districts and countryside across Bihar. The CPI-ML took out a slogan shouting procession in the state capital and burnt effigy of the Prime Minister and the UPA government at the Centre for allowing the MNS and Shiv Sena rule the roost in Mumbai and Maharashtra.
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Centre told to keep check on GM food
New Delhi, October 20 A Bench, comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice P.Sathasivam, issued the order on a petition by Dr Vandana Shiva and others, seeking continued regulation of such hazardous foodstuff containing living modified organisms (LMOs), popularly known as GM food. Contending that LMOs posed health and environmental risks, the petitioners had sought that such substances be under the Committee's check until the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006, was enforced by the government. The regulation would also cover production and processing of food stuff, using additives or processing aids derived from LMOs.
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Maya fights for Mulayam’s cause in SC
New Delhi, October 20 The Supreme Court today issued notices to the State Information Commission and the petitioner, Congress leader Akhilesh Pratap Singh. The state commission had asked the UP government to provide to Akhilesh Singh the details of distribution of such funds during August 2003-March 2007 when Mulayam was the Chief Minister.
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Raipur, October 20 One of the attackers was also killed in the exchange of fire that followed, according to CRPF officers in New Delhi. Another 12 personnel of the CRPF and Border Roads Organisation, who were carrying out road construction work in the area, were injured in the attack and are admitted to the Bijapur district hospital. The ambush came on the opening day of the filing of nominations for the first phase of the two-stage assembly elections in Chhattisgarh. — Agencies
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EC puts cross-LoC trade on hold New Delhi, October 20 Union minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh was to flag off the first truck at Salamabad in Uri to cross the LoC and receive the truck to be flagged off from Chikhoti on the other side by the Pakistan foreign minister. — UNI
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Complete bandh in Goa Tamil film director dead
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