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Telangana leaders pressure Congress over statehood
Name ministers who okayed chopper
LIC paper leaked; 11 held
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Rape-accused MLA held, hospitalised
THe
peculiar enemy!
ATF slaps Rs 1 lakh fine on pension officer
Jantar
Mantar
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Telangana leaders pressure Congress over statehood
Hyderabad/New Delhi, Feb 27 With the Budget Session of Parliament on, partymen from Telangana region appear to have made a common cause in Lok Sabha with the members of TRS and TDP from the region. The leadership has bought temporary truce by telling the party MPs to lie low for the next few days till the presentation of the Budget is over. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have deliberated on the vexed issue time and again in the last few months, including last Friday at the Congress Core Group meeting. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is in the National Capital holding deliberations with top party leaders on the issue and met Gandhi, her political secretary Ahmed Patel, UPA's troubleshooter Pranab Mukherjee and AICC general secretary in charge for the state M Veerappa Moily. Reddy’s meeting with the senior leaders came in wake of the controversy over the Telangana issue deepening in the state where the budget session of Assembly is in progress. Joining protests with TRS and TDP members, Congress MLAs from the region have been disrupting the Assembly session for the last few days over the demand while government employees of the region have launched a non-cooperation movement. Pressing the panic button, 16 ministers of the state government belonging to Telangana wrote a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi a few days back seeking a "special and urgent" audience with her on the issue. Sources say the top leadership has told party leaders from the region to keep patience, assuring them a credible solution was being worked out. An all-party meeting of stake holders from the state has already been held and another one is likely next month. In their missive to Gandhi, the ministers said any delay in creation of the new state will be detrimental to the party and there was "no option" to a separate Telangana. Earlier, party MPs from both Houses belonging to the region had met UPA's troubleshooter Pranab Mukherjee, making no secret of their uncompromising stand on a separate state. Meanwhile, taking a cue from the Arab upheaval, the Telangana protagonists are planning an “Egypt-style” revolution to achieve the statehood goal. Emboldened by the overwhelming support from across the political spectrum, the Telangana Joint Action Committee has called for a series of agitation programmes next month in what is being described as a “do or die battle” for the statehood cause. As part of the stir, a massive rally is being planned in the third week of March to lay a siege to Hyderabad by mobilising over 50 lakh people from all over the region. “We will make it an unprecedented protest in the state’s history. The people from all the nine Telangana districts and Hyderabad will join the street protests,” JAC convener Prof M Kodandaram said. The JAC comprises Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), BJP and other political and mass organisations fighting for a separate state.
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Name ministers who okayed chopper deal: CIC
New Delhi, February 27 The Indian Navy had earlier refused to disclose any information about the deal saying disclosure would compromise national security and cited exemption under section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act to withhold the details. RTI applicant Subhash Agrawal had sought from the Navy information about the deal, including the objections raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General, the replies given by force, and the names of ministers, defence secretaries and other officials who had cleared it. Hearing the plea of Agrawal, Information Commissioner M L Sharma asked Navy to give reasons why the information which was already in public domain because of the CAG report was being withheld. A Navy official said they cannot tell who were the ministers who handled the file and that defence ministry would be in the best position to explain it. Sharma then ordered the Defence Ministry to provide the names of its ministers and secretaries who had handled the file and given the go-ahead for the deal. The Navy official also said there was a Parliament question about the deal and they had sent a "confidential" reply to the defence ministry. The official, however, said he was not sure if the reply was tabled in Parliament. Sharma said as per the transparency law any information which can be provided to Parliament or any state Assembly cannot be withheld from RTI applicants. The Navy had acquired six decommissioned UH3H helicopters under the Foreign Military Supply (FMS) programme of the United States in November 2006, along with training and support facilities at an approximate cost of Rs 182.14 crore. The deal was criticised by the CAG which found that the procurement "would ultimately compromise operational effectiveness" of the force. The 35-40 years old helicopters "were on the verge of completing their air frame life and are on extended life," CAG had noted. — PTI
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New Delhi, February 27 Four candidates allegedly bought question papers for the test for LIC’s office cadre post from one Pawan Kumar, a 33-year-old geography graduate from Delhi University, and Arjun (25). Anju Banerjee, chairman and managing director of Educational Consultants India Limited (EDCIL), which is conducting the exams for LIC, said they would decide whether to cancel the tests or not only after police investigations were over. The incident came to light after Delhi Police’s crime branch got hold of the copies of two sets of question papers for both morning and afternoon sessions last evening and arrested Kumar from Naraina where a raid was conducted. Later, Arjun and four candidates were also arrested and a case of cheating was registered. In Hyderabad, sleuths of Commissioner’s Task Force (West Zone) nabbed five persons in the early hours after raiding a house in the Gandhi Nagar locality of the city and seized question papers, six mobile phones and Rs 6,000 from their possession. — PTI
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Rape-accused MLA held, hospitalised
Mumbai, February 27 Wagh was produced before a local court later in the day which remanded him to three days' police custody. The Nashik police also arrested Mahesh alias Bunty Mali, Wagh's personal assistant, also a co-accused in the case. The duo has been accused of raping the victim at the Nashik government guest house where she had gone to meet the politician for a job. After his arrest, Wagh told reporters in Nashik that he had been framed by his political rivals. He also denied being arrested by the police. “I was called for interrogation so I came here and surrendered,” Wagh said. However, the police said Wagh was picked up from a restaurant in Bandra in suburban Mumbai where he had gone for dinner.
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THe
peculiar enemy!
The Army stocks supplies for winter in the summer itself as the road-links to higher altitudes remain cut off from the rest of the country in winter due to heavy snowfall for around six months. As the roads are too narrow, they take the help of mules to carry these rations and other essential supplies to an altitude of over 15,000 feet. Since there is significant rodent infestation in the Army settlements in higher altitudes, the medical research wing of the Armed Forces Medical Services is going to undertake a study to find out the extent of the problem of rodent nuisance in eastern and western Ladakh armed forces settings. “Rats cause a great deal of nuisance everywhere. They spoil precious stocks, lead to nuisance and also spread diseases. Army settlements in higher altitudes are not spared from this as these rats are spoiling the winter stocks. “All conventional methods of controlling them are not as effective as they are in the plains,” said Lieutenant General Naresh Kumar, Commandant, Army Hospital Research and Referral. Conventional methods to control rodent nuisance like rat traps, rodenticides and repellents have failed in Ladakh. “None of these conventional methods are of help to us.” — PTI
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ATF slaps Rs 1 lakh fine on pension officer
Chandigarh, February 27 The tribunal’s bench, comprising Justice NP Gupta and Lt Gen NS Brar, also granted liberty to the government to recover the said amount from the salary of the officer concerned. The case related to a 100 per cent disabled soldier, Havildar Hari Singh of Manwal Upperala village near Pathankot, who was granted a constant attendance allowance (CAA) by the government on being medically boarded out. Vide orders issued in May 2009, the allowance was revised to Rs 3,000 per month after the 6th Pay Commission with retrospective effect from January 1, 2006. However, the DPDO, Pathankot, instead of releasing the amount to the soldier from January 2006, paid it only from July 2009 onwards. Constant requests of the soldier as well as the Army to the DPDO fell on deaf ears. Thereafter the veteran was forced to knock the doors of the tribunal. On filing of the case, the DPDO immediately released the balance amount of about Rs 1 lakh. The bench, however, took strong exception to the fact that economically weak, disabled veterans were being forced into litigation even on issues which did not require any interpretation or clarification by the authorities concerned. In the instant issue, the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions) as well as the Army had issued clear directions to the DPDO for grant of arrears with effect from January 2006, but despite the orders issued in
May 2009 the veteran was paid his dues in January 2011 and that too after he filed a petition before the tribunal.
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Jantar
Mantar
For greener pastures
Business dinner
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Balakrishnan should quit: Ex-CJI Verma Train derails Trouble for pilot
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Senior BJP leader LK Advani’s surprise apology letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi has not gone down well with his colleagues who believe it has damaged the party’s credibility. Angry BJP leaders have admitted in private conversations that they were kept in the dark both about Advani’s letter and the report of the party- appointed task force on black money which said that Sonia Gandhi and her family members had secret accounts in Swiss banks.
New Delhi, February 27
Senior BJP leader LK Advani’s surprise apology letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi has not gone down well with his colleagues who believe it has damaged the party’s credibility. Angry BJP leaders have admitted in private conversations that they were kept in the dark both about Advani’s letter and the report of the party- appointed task force on black money which said that Sonia Gandhi and her family members had secret accounts in Swiss banks. In fact, this episode has triggered a whisper campaign in the party, calling for Advani’s dissociation from party affairs. BJP insiders maintain that the role of senior leaders in the party who do not have any assigned role is similar to the selection of experienced players like Dravid and Tendulkar in a cricket team as reserves. There is no problem as long as these cricketers are among the playing eleven but they have the potential to create mayhem in the dressing room if they are in the team but are excluded from playing. Such players, BJP leaders said, should either be given an opportunity to play or be kept out of the team. The subtext of the story is fairly evident.
Chandigarh-based tycoon and Alchemist Group chairman KD Singh’s decision to dump the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) for Mamata Banjeree’s Trinamool Congress has created waves in both the parties. While the JMM leadership is understandably miffed as it had put up Singh as its Rajya Sabha nominee barely six months ago, Trinamool Congress leaders are upset as the newcomer’s entry is threatening to upset internal equations in their party. Shortly after Singh crossed over to the Trinamool Congress, he was inducted into the party’s core committee and given charge of the North-East region. Not just that, Singh has also been a prominent member of the party’s delegation which called on the Prime Minister on two separate occasions in the recent past. All those who battled with Mamata on the streets and have been with her through thick and thin cannot stop complaining about the sudden arrival of opportunists now that it is becoming increasingly clear that the Trinamool Congress is all set to storm the Left bastion in West Bengal. As for Singh, who is known for his fleet of foreign cars and his lavish lifestyle, the move makes perfect business sense. His group plans to make big investments in West Bengal and for that he could do with Mamata Didi’s help.
When the top brass of Coal India and officials of the coal ministry were invited for dinner to their minister Sriprakash Jaiswal’s residence last week, they never realised they would be subjected to close questioning on their work. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was the chief guest, grabbed the opportunity to quiz the officials about the coal mining sector. In fact, the session was almost like a classroom as officials were required to be on full alert as they fielded penetrating questions from the Prime Minister. They obviously forgot that the Prime Minister had handled the coal portfolio during UPA I following JMM leader Shibu Soren’s exit from the Cabinet.
