 |
|
|
Govt exposed on N-liability Bill
Bill not under US pressure: Chavan
Decision on judicial standards Bill put off
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Warm send-off to Editor-in-Chief HK Dua
Mumbai Arrests
Cong downplays govt decision
BJP seeks probe into AI working
Yes to foreign education providers
Chef cooks his way into Guinness book
Give relief to torture victims, Army told
Cabinet green signal to road safety legislation
11 MNS workers held for ‘extortion’
Maya targets Cong at
rally
Bareilly
Tension
KV discretionary quota set to
go
Absent MPs not served notices
Rao may visit Pak soon
28 dead as bus falls off bridge
Kasab’s trial likely to be over this week
|
|
Govt exposed on N-liability Bill
New Delhi, March 15 The government is reportedly planning to serve show-cause notices on 35 Congress MPs, including ministers, for not being present in the Lok Sabha for the introduction of the Bill, although a three-line whip was issued to them. Today’s development has once again exposed the fragility of the UPA government, which has lost the comfort of numbers after its former allies Lalu Prasad Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayum Singh Yadav joined ranks with the BJP and the Left parties to oppose the Bill. The government is also having problems with its key ally Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee. Reduced to a wafer-thin majority of two in the Lok Sabha and dependent on Independent MPs and single-member parties, senior UPA ministers admitted they could not afford a confrontation with the Opposition and would have to avoid a vote not just on this Bill, but on other legislative business as well. In this instance, the government failed to get its act together. The Opposition, on the other hand, came prepared for a face-off. They ensured the presence of their members and were all set to press for a vote on the introduction of the Bill. Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s office, who also handles the Department of Atomic Energy, briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the problems they could encounter in piloting the Bill. He subsequently conferred with Lok Sabha leader Pranab Mukherjee and Parliamentary Affairs Minister PK Bansal, who decided to defer the introduction of the Bill. The passage of the Bill is crucial to operationalise the Indo-US civil-nuclear agreement and Prime Minister is very keen to see it through as he will be travelling to the USA next month for the international nuclear summit. He personally reached out to BJP and Left leaders to persuade them to support the introduction of the Bill. Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj said the PM had telephoned her and offered to send over National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon to explain provisions of the Bill. “I told him while the NSA was welcome to come and meet me, it would not change our stand as we were opposed to the Bill,” Swaraj said, adding that the NSA had already met Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and failed to convince him on the subject. The government received a similar response from the Left which sees this legislation as “an outcome of the India-US nuclear deal”, which serves the interests of the USA and its nuclear industry.
|
|
|
Bill not under US pressure: Chavan
New Delhi, March 15 Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan said: "India is not a part of any legal compensation regime and we would like to become a member". He said India could join the international legal compensation regime only when the legislation was approved by Parliament. Refuting the allegation that there was pressure from Washington to secure the passage of the legislation, Chavan said the liability Bill was not to benefit any one country, but an attempt to create a single window compensation system so that in case of any emergency or accidental eventuality, the victims could get compensation easily.
|
|
|
Decision on judicial standards Bill put off
The Bill is of great significance and has been cleared by Union Law and Justice Minister M Veerappa Moily. Besides other issues, the Bill aims to address the anomaly in the four decades old Judges Enquiry Act, 1968, that currently exists in dealing with such cases, as the only option available against such judges is impeachment. But a final decision on whether action should be taken against the erring judges will remain with the government. The Bill, prepared by the Law Ministry, provides for a series of committees to probe the allegations against judges before an impeachment motion is introduced in either house of Parliament. While there will be one scrutiny committee for the Supreme Court, the other will be for the 21 high courts. The proposed law expects judges not to delay delivering a judgment beyond a three-month timeframe after the conclusion of arguments. According to the draft Bill, members of the higher judiciary should have no bias in judicial work or judgments on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. The other guidelines laid down include not contesting the election of any club or society, not having close association with individual members of the bar, not allowing any member of immediate family to appear before them in courts, not accepting gifts or hospitality from anyone except relatives and not hearing cases related to a company in which they hold shares. The Bill proposes to set up a National Judicial Oversight Committee, likely to be headed by Vice-President Hamid Ansari in his capacity as the Chairman of Rajya Sabha with distinguished jurists as members who will receive the complaints against the sitting judges. The Bill also lays down certain guidelines or code of conducts for judges. The Bill proposes that a judge can be warned, taken off work, censured or admonished, depending upon the misconduct. But if the violation is serious in nature, the judge can even be impeached.
|
|
Warm send-off to Editor-in-Chief HK Dua
Chandigarh, March 15 The function was attended by, among others, members of the Tribune Trust, Justice SS Sodhi, Prof RP Bambah, new Editor-in-Chief Raj Chengappa, general manager Sanjay Hazari and editorial and administration staff. Recalling the significant contribution of Dua in the field of journalism, Prof Bambah placed him in the league of illustrious editors of the likes of Kalinath Ray and Prem Bhatia who took The Tribune to great heights. “The Trust had given him all editorial freedom and Dua measured up to the task efficiently,” he averred. Dua took up public interest issues and established a good rapport with The Tribune readership and that is how the newspaper became Voice of the People, he said. Prof Bambah said Dua enjoyed a harmonious relationship with members of the staff. “Dua’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha is another feather in his cap and the country will be benefited with his clear vision,” said Prof Bambah. In his thanksgiving speech, Dua said his role remained the same, even as the podium had changed. “I am going to continue being with the voice of the people. As an Editor-in-Chief, I used to write editorials, now as a Member of Parliament, I would be speaking them. I will do justice to my duty.” Dua also welcomed his successor Raj Chengappa and mentioned his achievements as a journalist and as an author of various books.
|
|
|
Mumbai Arrests
Mumbai, March 15 Riyaz Shaikh, 23, who was arrested on Saturday along with his brother-in-law Abdul Latif, 29, was accused of kidnapping a minor girl last year. Shaikh had allegedly eloped with the 17-year-old daughter of the shopkeeper at the Thakur mall where he was employed, the police said today. Only yesterday, the police said the two men did not have any previous criminal record and were recruited by Pakistan-based terror outfits to carry out blasts in the city. Police officers from the Malad police station in the suburbs admitted that a complaint of kidnapping was filed and withdrawn against Shaikh. Shaikh was arrested along with the girl from a lodge at the Mira Road, some distance from the Thakur mall.
|
|
Cong downplays govt decision
New Delhi, March 15 Shielding the government, Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said the practice of not introducing a Bill was “not uncommon”. “The government has a right to decide the timing of the introduction of a Bill and hold consultations,” he said. While the Bill was listed on the business of the Lower House, the government decision to back out was being largely attributed to stiff resistance from the BJP and the Left. Congress sources, however, added it was not merely the opposition from the BJP and the Left or even outside allies, the SP and the RJD, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee also had a role to play in the move.
|
|
BJP seeks probe into AI working New Delhi, March 15 The issue was raised in zero hour in the Rajya Sabha by party leader Prakash Javadekar, who said the condition of Air India was worsening and it was on the brink of collapse. “The policy, rules and leadership of the Civil Aviation Ministry are hell-bent on finishing Air India....Civil Aviation Minister is the sultan (of the sector),” Javadekar said, demanding a joint parliamentary committee to go into the issue to save the carrier.
|
|
Yes to foreign education providers
The Foreign Educational Institution (Regulation of Entry and Operation) Bill, 2010, seeks to, for the first time, regulate the entry and operation of foreign education providers in India. Foreign institutions would not have to adhere to OBC quota, Sibal has long maintained, though he was not available for comments on the issue today. But the minister has earlier on many occasions equated foreign campuses with private unaided institutions in India which were not bound by the OBC quota of 27.5 per cent. But, the government will reserve the right to grant permissions or deny them in the interest of national security. Also, the providers would need to keep a corpus of Rs 50 crore to meet the crisis in case of sudden closures. Most importantly, the law clarifies that foreign providers would not plough back profits to their home country though they would have the flexibility to fix their fees.
|
|
Chef cooks his way into Guinness book
Chennai, March 15 For achieving the feat, Jacob cooked around 485 dishes in a span of 24 hours since last morning, Guinness World Records Adjudications Department Head Lucia Sinigaleisi said. Jacob said his passion to make different dishes made him to achieve the feat. “Right from my childhood I wanted to make various dishes and that passion made me to do this feat,” 34-year-old Jacob, a gold medallist in catering technology and working as freelance consultant to five city-based star rated hotels, said. “I came to know that such an achievement was not made in this sector. I sought the Guinness World Records team to get their approval in December and when I started cooking yesterday, they were monitoring,” he said. Of the total 485 dishes he cooked, around 150 were non-vegetarian dishes. Jacob said his next move was to break his own record. “I want to break my own record. If someone breaks it, then I will try to create a new record,” he said. Information Minister Parithi Illamvazhuthi presented the Guinness Certificate to Jacob. The dishes made were distributed to various orphanages and old age homes. — PTI
|
|
Give relief to torture victims, Army told
Guwahati, March 15 According to Suhas Chakma, director of Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), a complaint was filed with the NHRC on March 6, 2009, alleging that the Army picked up Baruah on the night of January 31 on suspicion of having links with the banned United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and tortured him at the Maibela base camp along with Neog. The commission registered ACHR’s complaint and directed the Secretary, MoD and SP Sivasagar to submit their reports. Replying to a showcause notice from the NHRC, the Defence Ministry, through the letter dated February 15, 2010, denied that the victims were tortured and claimed that they have confessed to having provided shelter to the ULFA cadres. However, in his reply SP Sivasagar had informed the NHRC that the police arranged for medical examination immediately after Baruah and Neog were handed over to them on February 1.
|
|
Cabinet green signal to road safety legislation
The road safety Bill, once approved by Parliament, will pave the way for a national body to advise the government on administration of road safety laws and to undertake road safety audits and analysis of accidents. The proposal also includes creation of a safety fund by way of earmarking one per cent of the cess on petrol and diesel. The Plantation Labour (Amendment) Bill, 2008, seeks to improve health, safety and welfare norms for workers employed in tea, rubber and other plantations.
|
|
11 MNS workers held for ‘extortion’
Mumbai, March 15 “The 11 workers barged into the sets of the film being produced by Ritesh Sidhwani at the Mehboob Studios in Bandra last evening demanding that the locals be given priority over foreign artists during shoots,” Deputy Police Commissioner K Prasanna said. “The unit told workers that since set for the location Istanbul was created for shooting there was a need to use foreigners. The workers did not agree and tried to extort a sum of Rs 27 lakh,” he said. — PTI
|
|
Maya targets Cong at
rally
Lucknow, March 15 Addressing BSP supporters and workers from across the country at the Ramabai Amebdkar Maidan, Mayawati comprehensively hit out at the Congress-ruled UPA government on various scores. Citing the Women’s reservation bill as yet another example of the Congress-led UPA government’s apathy towards the Dalits, Mayawati warned that if a quota within the quota for Dalits, OBCs and Muslims was not granted, the BSP would hold protest meetings across the country on April 14, Ambedkar’s birth anniversary. Estimated of having close to 20-lakh participants, the rally ground appeared like a sea of blue with party flag, buntings and blue balloons dotting the horizon. Held on the birth anniversary of its founder Kanshi Ram, the rally was to mark the silver jubilee celebrations of the party. On the occasion, Kanshi Ram’s political heir also released Kanshi Ram’s biography and a CD of a film on his life. Interestingly, while the SP was largely spared in her 90-minute address, the Congress and to a lesser extent the BJP, came in for severe criticism for its anti-Dalit ideology. Mayawati once again spoke of a joint opposition conspiracy during the 2009 Lok Sabha election to keep a “Dalit ki beti” away from the Prime Minister’s Office. Recounting the BSP’s historic march since its establishment in 1984, Mayawati pointed out that in the early days, the Congress not only predicted that the party would never be able to open its electoral account but even charged Kanshi Ram of being a CIA agent.She said since the very beginning, the Congress along with other opposition parties had tried to create hurdles for her and her party by implicating her in the Taj Corridor case and DA case so as to deter her from focusing on the consolidation of the party. Bee trouble
The opposition parties apparently are not the only ones creating hurdles for BSP supremo Mayawati. Today, thousands of honeybees in thousands swarmed around her as she undauntedly continued with her speech at the Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan. An inquiry has been ordered into the incident. According to official sources, somebody had smoked out the honeybees from their comb hanging in the Kendriya Vidyalaya adjacent to the rally venue. This forced the bees to invade the dais decked up with flowers.
|
|
Bareilly
Tension
New Delhi, March 15 Aonla MP Maneka Gandhi raised the issue in the post-lunch session of the Lok Sabha, blaming the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government for allowing the Barawafat (Prophet Mohammad birthday) procession after Holi holiday and releasing Muslim leader Maulana Tauqueer Raza Khan Barelvi, whom she blamed for instigating communal violence. But Mulayam, whil criticising UP Chief Minister Mayawati for ignoring the Bareilly situation, contested the BJP charge that Tauqueer’s release caused communal tension. He said it was the arrest that caused the trouble and justified the replacement of the district administration officials, to which the BJP had taken major offence.
|
|
KV discretionary quota set to
go
New Delhi, March 15 A decision is learnt to have been taken to this effect at the meeting of Board of Governors (BoG) of KVs, who approved the agenda item that dealt with scrapping of the ministerial quota of recommending 1,200 students for admission to any KV in the country and the MP quota of making two such recommendations each.
|
|
Absent MPs not served notices
New Delhi, March 15 Bansal said the Bill was to be referred to a parliamentary standing committee for scrutiny. Since the standing committees will now be busy discussing budgetary proposals and would not have time or this legislation, the government decided to put off its introduction. In his statement, minister of state for Parliamentary affairs Prithiviraj Chavan said the government is examining the notices received by opposition MPs objecting to the Bill, adding that the Nuclear liability Bill is an important initiative.
|
|
Rao may visit Pak soon
New Delhi, March 15 External Affairs Minister S M Krishna today clearly indicated that Nirupama could visit Islamabad to meet herPakistani counterpart Salman Bashir as part of the incremental approach adopted by India to improve ties with Pakistan. “The Foreign Secretary of Pakistan came here for the talks. So, perhaps it is the turn of Indian Foreign Secretary to go to Pakistan. So, let us move step by step," Krishna told reporters on the sidelines of an India-Africa conclave here. He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had taken the initiative of holding talks with Pakistan in good faith at the level of foreign secretaries. The February 25 talks between the two foreign secretaries failed to make much headway with India conveying to Pakistan its concerns over terrorism sponsored from the Pakistani soil and asking it to bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and Islamabad raising issues like water sharing and Balochistan. However, the two foreign secretaries had decided to remain in touch with each other. Speculation is already rife that Nirupama could visit Islamabad later this month. India is waiting for a formal invite from Pakistan to send the top Indian diplomat to Islamabad. It is still not certain whether Prime Minister Singh would hold bilateral talks with his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Reza Gilani in Washington next month on the margins of the Nuclear Security Summit convened by US President Barack Obama.
|
|
28 dead as bus falls off bridge
Sawai Madhopur/Kota, March 15 Such was the impact of the mishap that the entire roof of the bus (RJ-17 PA 0414) was ripped off and seats uprooted. While 21 persons died on the spot, five succumbed to their injuries on way to a hospital.
|
|
Kasab’s trial likely to be over this week
Mumbai, March 15 Judge ML Tahaliyani said if the arguments conclude by March 20, he would defer the case for delivering judgment. Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said he would take two more days to finish his argument while Kasab’s lawyer KP Pawar said he would take one day to put forth his case.The trial, which commenced almost a year back, is being held in the court set up in the high-security central prison at Arthur Road here. — PTI |
||||||
4 Army jawans killed in blast Suspension of SP MPs revoked
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Chandigarh, March 15
New Delhi, March 15
New Delhi, March 15
New Delhi, March 15
