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Mining baron Reddy courts controversy in AP
Hire Marathis, Raj tells SBI
President kicks off international trade fair
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Headley Probe
Justice Thakur, 3 others to be sworn in as SC judges
Tharoor rejects Fonseka’s claim
Mandore Express Derailment
‘Armed Forces Tribunal to overcome HC limitations’
Kalyan was never in SP: Mulayam
Son Akhilesh challenges Rahul
Govt to introduce bivalent oral polio vaccine
Children’s film fest begins in Hyderabad
UP farmers reject cane offer price
Quake in parts of Maharashtra
Turncoats dominate Jharkhand poll
Decks cleared for AMU centre in Bihar
Pact on highway development
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Mining baron Reddy courts controversy in AP
Hyderabad, November 14 Reddy, the rebel minister who gave sleepless nights to Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, is in the eye of a storm in AP over the alleged illegal mining activities by Obulapuram Mining Corporation (OMC) owned by him. The iron ore mining by OMC in Ananthapur district, bordering Karnataka, has come under scanner with the entire opposition alleging large-scale illegal mining, encroachment and evasion of royalty payments to the government. The mining tycoon’s close association with late Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy and his son YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has made the matters worse for him. It is an open secret that Bellary Billionaire had enjoyed unfettered official patronage during YSR’s regime and wielded enormous clout. However, following change in political dispensation, the OMC finds itself in a spot with the government ordering a high-level probe by forest officials into the allegations of illegal mining. Seizing the opportunity, the opposition TDP and left parties raised their pitch and called for cancellation of license. At an all-party meeting convened by TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu here yesterday, the opposition parties demanded CBI probe into the illegal mining and fresh survey of the mining boundaries by the Survey of India. Apart from the TDP, the CPI, CPI (M) and the Lok Satta headed by IAS officer-turned-politician Dr N Jayaprakash Narayan attended the meeting which vowed to launch a joint campaign against OMC activities. “This is the biggest ever scam running into Rs 10,000 crores. Unless checked now, the mining mafia will become so strong that it will dictate terms to governments,” Naidu said. He said his party would take an initiative to lead a nation-wide protest against the growing influence of mining mafia in politics. The opposition parties also alleged that YSR’s son and CM-aspirant Jagan Mohan Reddy is a “beneficiary” of the illegal activities of OMC whose profits were being funneled to a front organisation of the MP’s close associates. In the face of mounting attack from Andhra opposition parties, Janardhan Reddy held a press conference here yesterday to deny the allegations of irregularities in his mining company and offered to quit politics if the opposition proved its charges. While admitting that he has an "emotional attachment" with YSR family despite belonging to different parties, he said "YSR’s family has not invested even a single paisa in my business nor I have invested anything in their business interests."
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Hire Marathis, Raj tells SBI
Mumbai, November 14 The Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray, was the first to show its street power when its activists decided that actress Kareena Kapoor could do with some clothes. They landed up at Kapoor’s house in suburban Mumbai and tried to present a sari to her family. But the police chased them away. So the activists vandalised posters of the movie Kurbaan where Kapoor allegedly features in a nude scene and stuck a garment on the image of her bare back. The party is demanding that director Karan Johar should delete that scene and render an apology. “The scene is an insult to Indian womanhood and it will have to be deleted or we won’t allow the movie to be screened in Mumbai,” Jitendra Janawale, a leader of the party from Andheri in suburban Mumbai, who is leading the agitation, said. Meanwhile, Raj Thackeray’s breakaway MNS has released a letter written by party leader Bala Nandgaonkar asking the State Bank of India to recruit people only domiciled in Maharashtra for 1,100 vacancies at the bank’s branches in the state. “The SBI should give question papers only to the candidates hailing from Maharashtra. We have information that more than one lakh people from other places are appearing for the examination,” Parkar told reporters this afternoon. Incidentally, the demand from the MNS has pitted the party directly against the Shiv Sena-affiliated Sthaniya Lokhadhikar Samiti, which has a sizable presence in the SBI and other public sector banks. The SLS was formed in the 1970s to train Marathi-speaking youths to take up jobs in banks. “Many senior managers of the SBI are affiliated to the SLS and ensure that candidates trained by the samiti are recruited,” says an office-bearer of the Sthaniya Lokadhikar Samiti. He said the candidates were required to be fluent in Marathi in order to be hired at SBI’s branches in Maharashtra. Meanwhile, SBI officials have approached the police for ensuring security at various examination centres.
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President kicks off international trade fair
New Delhi, September 14 Apart from presenting the rapidly modernising face of India to the global business community, the fair enables people from all parts of the country to witness the progress done by the nation over the years, the President said while inaugurating the 14-day event. The fair, an annual business exposition, this time hopes to receive 2.5 million business spectators, with over 7,000 exhibitors from 29 countries, besides 27 Indian states and four union territories, all offering a plethora of options to buyers. Dr Subas Chandra Pani, the chairperson and managing director of India Trade Promotion Organisation, said in order to make the annual flagship event more business-friendly, the first five days had been kept exclusively for B2B negotiations, with the fair catering to the general public from November 19 onwards. Any buyer from the public can purchase tickets from Metro rail stations, DTC bus depots and Mother Dairy outlets at Rs 10 less than when purchased from Pragati Maidan at Rs 60 and Rs 50 on weekends and normal days, respectively.
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Headley Probe
Mumbai, November 14 According to police sources, Rahul came into contact with Headley through one Vilas who also worked at the gym Moksha in Breach Candy area in south Mumbai. Rahul, whose name was reportedly mentioned in the emails sent to LeT handlers by their operative Headley, used to work as a fitness instructor in the gym. "It was Vilas who met Headley first and introduced him to Rahul. We have recorded the statement of Vilas," the sources said, refusing to divulge further details. Mahesh Bhatt confirmed that Vilas is a mediator through whom Rahul knew Headley but the noted film maker dismissed the possibility of his son's involvement in any terror activities. Headley has been arrested by US investigating agency FBI for planning terror attacks in India. My son doesn’t need clean chit: Bhatt
Mumbai: Upset over reports attributed to security agencies that they have not cleared his son of any wrongdoing in connection with his dealings with terror suspect David Headley, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt on Saturday said he is hurt and that his son does not require a clean chit from anyone. "I have read news reports attributed to security agencies wherein they have said that Rahul has not been given a clean chit for his Headley connection. I am deeply hurt. He is a true and responsible Indian who himself volunteered to share the information with the agencies. Rahul's heart is clear and he doesn't require any clean chit from anyone," Bhatt told PTI. He also accused the security agencies of not keeping their word and leaking selective information to the media. CIA chief to visit India
New Delhi: In the midst of David Headley terror probe, CIA Director Leon E Panetta will visit India for three days beginning November 20. During his visit, Panetta will have discussions with top security experts of the country on issues ranging from cooperation on terror, sharing of intelligence and other issues of mutual interests. FBI files fresh proof against Rana
Washington: US prosecutors have sought 58 days extension from November 19 to file indictment against Tahawwur Rana, accused of being part of a LeT terror plot in India, saying the FBI needs more time to diligently examine fresh evidence unearthed against him in recent raids. The FBI also submitted fresh set of evidence against Rana in a sealed envelope and requested the Chicago court not to unseal it.
— PTI
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Justice Thakur, 3 others to be sworn in as SC judges
New Delhi, November 14 According to official sources, Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan will administer the oath of office to the new Judges, the other three being Chief Justices AK Patnaik of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, SS Nijjar of the Calcutta High Court and KS Radhakrishnan of the Gujarat High Court. The five-member SC collegium, headed by the CJI, had also recommended the name of Karnataka High Court Chief Justice PD Dinakaran for elevation to the apex court along with the other four. The collegium, however, asked the government to de-link Justice Dinakaran from the list following allegations of corruption and land grabbing levelled against him. His elevation has been put on hold, pending the outcome of another round of fact-finding.
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Tharoor rejects Fonseka’s claim
Thiruvananthapuram, November 14 “We should be a little wary of making too much of these kinds of speculations,” he told reporters here.
“There is no substance to the story. The government has officially informed the public that the Indian Army has not been placed on alert.”
— PTI
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Mandore Express Derailment
New Delhi, November 14 The call was made at the Dausa railway station 10 minutes before the departure of Puja Express and the information was passed on to Jaipur railway control room that a bomb was planted in the train. Since the Mandore Express derailed between Jhir and Jatawat stations in Dausa section, the railway authorities, GRP and the anti-terror squad of the state police are exploring the sabotage angle. After extensive search and frisking passengers of Puja Express no suspicious or abandoned object was found by the bomb detection squad at the railway station at Jaipur and also at Dausa station. A top North West Railways official said the sabotage angle could be looked into by the railway security machinery, if required. Director General of Police (ATS) Kapil Garg said the hoax call was made for the Puja Express by a 13- year-boy in Dausa. “We will also examine whether there is any link between the hoax call and the train mishap,” Garg said. Based on the call details, the parents of the boy were interrogated and the boy confessed to making the call. (With PTI inputs)
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‘Armed Forces Tribunal to overcome HC limitations’
Chandigarh, November 14 Speaking at the inauguration of the Chandigarh Bench here today, AFT chairman Justice AK Mathur said the AFT would have the power to review trial evidence, something that the high courts cannot do under provisions of Article 226 of the Constitution. Justice Mathur said more powers have been granted to the AFT vis-à-vis similar military tribunals that have been functioning in other countries for a long time. While many foreign military tribunals are primarily judicial bodies, the AFT here has original jurisdiction in regard to service matters as well as appellate jurisdiction over verdicts delivered by military courts. The Chandigarh Bench, which would have jurisdiction over Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh, would begin functioning from its interim location at Chandigarh from November 16. About 3,500 cases pending before the high courts of these states would be transferred to this bench. It has already received about 30 such cases. In his keynote address, Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice TS Thakur, said earlier the courts were hesitant to interfere in military matters. The perception changed later following a SC ruling that on joining the services individuals do not cease to be citizens of the country and were fully entitled to seek justice. Any injustice done to them that was not redressed was a calamity in itself, he added. Judicial intervention by the courts was justified, leading to a spate of service cases. Pointing out that establishing tribunals was a way to ensure speedy justice and cut down the mammoth pendency of cases at all levels, he said the criticism of setting up the AFT received from some quarters was ill-found. Justice Ghanshyam Prashad, the judicial member of the Chandigarh Bench, said despite constitutional provisions, it had taken the government 25 years to promulgate the AFT. Listing out the powers and functions of the AFT, he said the appeal to its orders lies only with the Supreme Court.
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Kalyan was never in SP: Mulayam
Lucknow, November 14 With a straight face Yadav declared that Kalyan Singh was never in the SP, is not with the SP and would never be so in the future. He clarified that there was no question of Kalyan Singh ever being allowed to join the party. Finally realising that the ‘Kalyan factor’ had cost him dear by pushing away the Muslims reducing his party to its present pitiable condition Yadav virtually tried to put the clock back by making light of his friendship with the former Chief Minister that had been so hyped during the Lok Sabha campaign and later at the party’s national convention in Agra. Asked how far he held Kalyan Singh responsible for his party's rout in the by polls, Yadav preferred to attack the Congress instead. "We have suffered on account of our so-called friends, whose government we went all out to save," he said, referring to the Congress-led government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Kalyan Singh and son Rajvir, who is a national general secretary of the SP, had conducted dozens of meetings across Firozabad from where Yadav’s daughter in law Dimple was defeated by the Congress candidate Raj Babbar by more than 84 thousand votes.
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Son Akhilesh challenges Rahul
Lucknow, November 14 The husband of the defeated candidate Dimple Yadav, Akhilesh had vacated the Firozabad seat after winning it by a margin of over 67,000 votes in May, 2009. Barely six months later, his wife lost to the Congress by over 84,000 votes. Deciding to cross swords with Congress youth icon and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi, Yadav said till now the clash was between party elders, but now the battle goes to the next generation. “My party and the people of the state will give him a befitting reply in 2012”. Akhilesh said, in fact, he had come to Firozabad to campaign for a 60-year-old person. Challenging the charisma of Rahul, he said if it had worked so wonderfully, then the Congress would not have lost the two sitting seats of Jhansi and Padrauna. “The party could not retain Jhansi in the heart of Bundelkhand where Rahul Gandhi broke bread with dalits and talked of development and NREGA.”
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Govt to introduce bivalent oral polio vaccine
New Delhi, November 14 This year so far, 568 cases of polio have already been reported as compared to 559 last year. Again the heart of the problem is western Uttar Pradesh, which is witnessing a sharp rise in type 3 cases (427 cases out of total 454 cases in the state). Bihar is another focus area with 68 out of the total 103 cases being due to type 3 virus. Introduction of bivalent vaccine is likely to improve the situation a great deal, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said today, while launching a special anti-polio drive across the country. The states where the drive will be undertaken include UP, Bihar, Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and West Bangal.
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Children’s film fest begins in Hyderabad
Hyderabad, November 14 The result was amazing. A group of 21 rural students from disadvantaged communities in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh came up with fine quality films highlighting the problems of their respective villages. Armed with handycams, the young film-makers, in the age group of 12 to 15 years, went about capturing their ideas on camera with aplomb. The short duration films captured a wide range of issues confronting the villages like evils of child marriage, caste discrimination, poor drainage and sanitary facilities. “From concept to editing and post-production work, it was entirely their creation,” said Michel Saint-Lot, UNICEF representative for AP and Karnataka. These 15 films, two of eight-minute duration each and the rest two-three minutes, will be screened under non-competitive category at the week-long International Children’s Film Festival, which opened here today. Meanwhile, a Telugu channel, ‘Gemini TV’, has joined hands with UNICEF as a media partner and will telecast the films coinciding with the Child Rights’ Convention Week, beginning with Children’s Day. Under the pilot project, partnered with the University of Hyderabad, the selected children were given training in basic skills of story-telling for four months before they embarked on their creative journey.
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UP farmers reject cane offer price
Lucknow, November 14 Farmers today rejected a Rs 180 per quintal offer from sugar mills, saying they would settle for nothing less than Rs 280. “We are not interested in giving cane to mills at anything less than Rs 280 per quintal,” Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan convener VM Singh said here. “Their offer had already been rejected by the farmers.”
— PTI
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Quake in parts of Maharashtra
Pune, November 14 The quake which occurred at 6.34 pm lasted for 15 seconds and was experienced in Satara, Kolhapur, Sangli, Ratnagiri, Mumbai and Pune, he said. There were no immediate reports of any damage to life or property.
— PTI
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Turncoats dominate Jharkhand poll
Ranchi, November 14 Mahato, who had quit JMM long ago to join BJP before contesting on a AJSU ticket in the May Lok Sabha elections, has got a ticket from JD(U) this time. He is contesting from Bokaro and is facing another turncoat -- former minister Samresh Singh who switched over to Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantric) after being defeated in the general election as a BSP nominee. Former NDA minister Radhakrishna Kishore, who represented the Assembly as JD(U) MLA since 2005, has joined Congress and is the party's nominee from Chhatarpur this time. Kishore has also embraced veteran JMM leader 76-year-old Haru Rajwar, who snapped relations with Soren for not getting a ticket. He will fight from Chandankiari. The JD(U), which bargained hard with BJP to get 14 seats in the state, has roped in Krishna Gopal Patar, alias Raja Peter, an Independent who defeated JMM chief Shibu Soren, hence forcing him to quit the Chief Minister's post. Patar will contest from Tamar as a JD(U) nominee. Senior BJP leader and six-time legislator Chhatruram Mahato, peeved at being denied a ticket, has joined JMM and has been immediately rewarded with a ticket from Gomia. Former deputy chief minister Stephen Marandi, who won the 2005 Assembly elections as an Independent from Dumka, is contesting on a Congress ticket this time. The JMM has given ticket to Soren's daughter-in-law Sita from Jama reserve seat. She is the widow of Durga Soren, who died a couple of months ago. Soren, who won both the Jamtara Assembly bypoll and the Dumka Lok Sabha seat in May, chose to opt out of the fray in Jharkhand after deciding to campaign for JMM, which is fighting it alone. "He will not contest. He will campaign for the party candidates," senior JMM leader Supriyo Bhattacharya said. Former minister Harinarayan Rai, who is in judicial custody in connection with a disproportionate assets case, has once again filed papers from Jarmundi as an Independent. Naxal-affected Jharkhand is going for a five-phase poll starting November 25, its second Assembly elections after being carved out from Bihar on November 15, 2000. The state completes nine years tomorrow. — PTI
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Decks cleared for AMU centre in Bihar
Patna, November 14 Earlier, the government had agreed to provide only 100 acres. But, the AMU authorities expressed their reluctance to start the Bihar centre on that much plot of land. Thereafter, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took personal interest in procuring more land at Kishanganj and now the total area stands at 250 acres. The AMU authorities have already been communicated about the latest development by the state government, said Principal Secretary, Human Resources Department, Anjani Kumar Singh. A team of AMU officials is expected to visit the proposed site soon, Singh said. Notably, after the Union government decided to set up five centres of AMU, including one in Bihar, to provide quality education to students hailing from the minority community and weaker sections, there was a controversy over the site for the Bihar branch. While NCP leader and Rajya Sabha member Tariq Anwar wanted the new AMU centre in his constituency Katihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was in favour of setting it up in Muslim-dominated Kishanganj district - here 68 per cent of the total population comprises Muslims.
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Pact on highway development
New Delhi, November 14 Soon after taking charge, Nath had made it mandatory for the states to sign the State Support Agreement (SSA) under which the states would have to acquire land for highway construction to get Central funds.The states which have signed the SSA are Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana , Assam , Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Orissa.
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Mumbai, November 14
Chandigarh, November 14
