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Talks Fiasco Rift between Foreign & Home ministries led to collapse of talks? |
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Funds okayed for second phase of UID project
Taslima told to leave India
SC slams Railways for denying job to disabled
SC to examine bypoll issue
Pillai ‘wrongly’ blamed
Principal held for raping student
SC to examine bypoll issue
‘Water war’ hots up with Shiv Sena protest
Close shave for Jet Airways passengers
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Talks Fiasco
New Delhi, July 22 Sources said the Pakistan side, during the second half of the talks, suddenly repeating their off-stated stance of de-militarisation of the Siachen glacier, resolution of Sir Creek and Kashmir issues - all within a time-bound manner. India was keen on moving step-by-step. Siachen is held by Indian Army from a commanding position since 1984. Pakistan Army, which is based on the lowers ledge of the glacier on its side, has made a couple of futile attempts to dislodge India. Sources explained that India’s stand is to have a cartographic demarcation on the ground before any troop withdrawal can take place. The LoC in this area is not marked on the map or the ground beyond a grid point known as NJ 9842.This is south western edge of the saltoro mountain range. Pakistan is insisting upon de-militarization. Both countries spend billions of rupees in maintaining posts in the icy heights. India offered resumption of talks at the level of the secretaries of home, commerce, defence and water resources. Pakistan insisted on harping on resumption of the suspended composite dialogue with all the eight decided issues. Another vexed issue is of Sir Creek. This marshy piece of land is a 96 kms off the coast of Gujarat. Without demarcation of boundary the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that stretches out to 200 kms at sea cannot be decided. Originally, the demarcation was slated to be done in 2009. The two countries have exchanged maps, marked with their respective claims.
Pillai ‘wrongly’ blamed
New Delhi, July 22 Last week, Pillai, a hard-nosed 1972 batch Kerala cadre IAS officer, followed the quote like a guiding preamble. But the truth is hurting now and has led to a serious divide between the Home and External Affairs Ministries. Pillai named the ISI for being actively involved in the planning and execution of the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Some quarters in the government believe Pillai is being wrongly blamed for the failure of the Indo-Pak foreign minister-level talks. Pillai pointed out facts from the interrogation, conducted by Indian investigators, of the Pakistan-born Laskhar-e-Toiba operative David Coleman Headley, who is lodged in a Chicago prison under the custody of the FBI. The interrogation report is not admissible in court, but was used to publicly unmask the role of the ISI, and it was echoed by National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon. Sources today pointed out that the complete brief of Headley’s interrogation was with the PMO and also the NSA. The brief was also provided during a Cabinet Committee of Security meeting which was attended by SM Krishna. The MEA never asked for any further clarifications hence it was wrong to say that Pillai sprung a surprise on the Foreign Ministry by naming the ISI, said a senior functionary.
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Rift between Foreign & Home ministries led to collapse of talks? New Delhi, July 22 On record, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari was extremely circumspect about Krishna’s statement in a series of interviews yesterday that Pillai’s comment about the direct involvement of Pakistan’s ISI with the Mumbai attacks was poorly-timed as it came a day before his departure for Islamabad for what was billed to be a path-breaking meeting. “It is essentially a governance issue. If at all, the Minister of External Affairs has said something, it is for the government to respond to it if it considers so essential,” said Tewari, adding that the home secretary’s statements were based on the information available with the government. However, Congress leaders unofficially confirmed that the traditional bitter rivalry between the Home and External Affairs Ministries had resulted in the current situation. A senior party functionary, who did not wish to be quoted, maintained that the External Affairs Ministry has always resented any intrusion into its domain by the Home Ministry as it believes that “the articulation of foreign policy” should be left to it. It is an acknowledged fact that the MEA is upset with the Home Ministry for not sharing the details of terror suspect David Headley’s interrogations conducted by the Indian investigators, which revealed that Pakistan’s ISI was involved “from beginning to end” with the attack against Mumbai.In this case, it is being suggested, that Krishna probably felt that the Home Secretary had preempted him since he had been mandated by the Cabinet Committee on Security to convey India’s concern about the ISI’s role in Mumbai mayhem to Pakistan. “Krishna”, according to a senior Congress leader, “may have been prompted into criticising Pillai because he had delivered the message, which the minister was to convey”. But, more than this rivalry, the Congress insiders believe that India’s poor public relations also contributed to the manner in which the Islamabad collapse has been handled. Pointing to the umpteen occasions in the past when India has been “virtually ambushed by Pakistan”, which include the failed Agra summit and Sharm-el Sheikh, a Congress leader bemoaned that New Delhi had failed to learn any lessons from its past experience.
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Funds okayed for second phase of UID project
New Delhi, July 22 The Cabinet Committee on Unique Identification Authority of India, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved the commencement of Phase II of the scheme at an estimated cost of Rs 3023.01 crore. An official spokesperson said, "Of this, an amount of Rs. 477.11 crore would be towards recurring establishment expenditure and Rs. 2,545.90 crore would be towards non-recurring project related expenditure". The estimated cost includes project components for issue of 10 crore unique identity (UID) numbers by March 2011 and recurring establishment costs for the entire project phase of five years ending March 2014, an official release said. The first set of 10 crore UID numbers are expected to be issued between August 2010 and March 2011. Thereafter, 600 million UID numbers are expected to be issued within the next three years. The UID project would provide unique numbers to all residents of India, it added.
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New Delhi, July 22 The 47-year-old doctor-turned writer is also trying for a permanent residency in the country. Her visa is valid till August 16. Her application for granting a permanent residency in the country has been hanging in balance for years together.
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SC slams Railways for denying job to disabled
New Delhi, July 22 A Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and Asok Kumar Ganguly asked the Railways to appoint her with effect from the date the person placed at the 12th position on the merit list was recruited. She would, however, get the actual monetary benefits with effect from September 5, 2008, the date she had won her case in the Orissa High Court. The HC had ordered payment of full backwages from 1989.The apex court also ruled that she would get her seniority and promotions on a par with the person who had stood 10th on the merit list. In addition, it slapped a cost of Rs 3 lakh on the Railways.“Since the respondent has been deprived of her rights for almost 21 years, we direct the appellants to pay her cost of Rs 3 lakh. The amount of cost will be paid within two months from today,” the Bench said in the order passed on July 16, but made available today.
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SC to examine bypoll issue
New Delhi, July 22 A three-member Bench, headed by Justice Altamas Kabir, will go into the issue in view of conflicting high court judgments. While the Karnataka HC has ruled that the deadline will not apply if election petitions are pending, the Andhra Pradesh HC has held otherwise while ordering byelection to all 12 seats vacated by TRS MLAs agitating for a separate Telangana state at one go. The Bench, which included Justice AK Patnaik and Justice Anil Dave, asked Attorney General GE Vahanvati to assist the court on the issue and directed the Centre to respond to a petition filed by the Election Commission challenging the Andhra Pradesh HC directive. Since the EC has already complied with the HC order by initiating the process for holding the bypoll on July 27, its counsel Meenakshi Arora did not press for a stay. However, she said the EC was facing similar problems in several other states, including Uttar Pradesh and
Chhattisgarh.
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Principal held for raping student
Hyderabad, July 22 A case of rape and criminal intimidation has been registered against Salahuddin Ayub, principal of Parkwood International School at Manneguda near Vikarabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Crime Station (CCS), J. Satyanarayana, investigations into the complaint were on. CCS sleuths were questioning the principal and collecting scientific evidence to build the case against him, the officer said.The parents of the girl from Mumbai alleged that she was repeatedly raped by the principal in the last one year. The principal had allegedly threatened the girl with dire consequences if she said anything to anyone. The girl's family complained after she reportedly became pregnant. Investigating officials visited the school and the principal's house and other places where the girl was sexually exploited. Angry parents of some students staged a protest outside the school, demanding stern action against the principal. — IANS
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SC to examine bypoll issue
New Delhi, July 22 A three-member Bench, headed by Justice Altamas Kabir, will go into the issue in view of conflicting high court judgments. While the Karnataka HC has ruled that the deadline will not apply if election petitions are pending, the Andhra Pradesh HC has held otherwise while ordering byelection to all 12 seats vacated by TRS MLAs agitating for a separate Telangana state at one go. The Bench, which included Justice AK Patnaik and Justice Anil Dave, asked Attorney General GE Vahanvati to assist the court on the issue and directed the Centre to respond to a petition filed by the Election Commission challenging the Andhra Pradesh HC directive. Since the EC has already complied with the HC order by initiating the process for holding the bypoll on July 27, its counsel Meenakshi Arora did not press for a stay. However, she said the EC was facing similar problems in several other states, including Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
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‘Water war’ hots up with Shiv Sena protest
Hyderabad, July 22 After former AP Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu’s five-day “political drama” over Babhali dam in Maharashtra, it was now the turn of the Shiv Sena to retaliate and launch protest against the Salura lift irrigation project across the Manjira river in Nizamabad district. Two days after Naidu and his party colleagues were forcibly sent back to Hyderabad, Shiv Sainiks sought to counter them by taking up agitation against the Salura project which, they alleged, was illegal and built on Maharashtra soil. In Hyderabad, CM K Rosaiah held an urgent meeting with the police top brass to review the law and order situation and instructed it to ensure peace in the region. The state DGP RR Girish Kumar spoke to his Maharashtra counterpart to seek his cooperation in preventing the Shiv Sainiks from carrying out their threat.
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Close shave for Jet Airways passengers
Ahmedabad, July 22 All 57 passengers and four-member crew were safe, a Jet Airways spokesman said. “Jet Airways flight 9W 2510 from Indore to Ahmedabad after landing at Ahmedabad stopped on the runway due to a problem with its nosewheel,” he added. “All passengers and crew are safe. They have been deplaned and taken to the terminal building where they are being looked after by the Jet Airways staff," he said. Operations at the airport were closed for three hours due to the mishap. Following the mishap, the runway was blocked resulting in the delay of landings and takeoffs of several other flights, Air Traffic Controller at Ahmedabad airport HD Hota said. “We have pressed the entire staff to clear the runway as this is our priority. Once the runway is cleared, the flights which have been delayed will take off,” Hota said. —
PTI
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New Delhi, July 22
