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2G SPECTRUM SCAM
Delhi HC tells CBI to file status report |
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Sanitise Pak for world peace: BJP
K’taka CM: Won’t say a word against Guv
Selective abortions on the rise among educated mothers Naval commanders review coastal security Cobra militants’ chief held
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2G SPECTRUM SCAM New Delhi, May 24 A day after Home Minister P Chidambaram and Minister of State in the PMO V Narayanswamy called on Karunanidhi, it was the turn of Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Jayanthi Natarajan to meet him today in an effort to mollify the angry DMK chief who arrived here yesterday to meet his jailed daughter. He left for Chennai this evening. Congress leaders explained that the party had no role to play in the case that was being monitored by the Supreme Court. It was also made clear that the government would not interfere in the case. Not convinced with their explanation, Karunanidhi is learnt to have pointed out that several Congress leaders blamed for the Commonwealth Games fiasco still remained untouched. He was also stated to be furious that Kanimozhi had been denied bail, which, according to him, was her legal right. This is the first time since the DMK joined the UPA in 2004 that Karunanidhi did not meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi during his visit to Delhi. Playing down reports about the strain in Congress-DMK ties, Azad said these developments would have no impact on the relations between the DMK and the Congress. “All these goings-on have no effect on the Congress-DMK alliance and in future also it will have no effect,” he added confidently. Putting up a brave face, Azad said Karunanidhi understands that the Supreme Court is monitoring the 2G Spectrum case and is well aware of the role of law agencies. “Karunanidhi is a man of political standing and also a man of political understanding. He also knows the opinion of the Government of India as it is not interfering in any case, including Suresh Kalmadi’s case,” he said after his meeting with the DMK supremo. Kanimozhi’s arrest is undoubtedly a big blow for Karunanidhi, but the DMK can ill afford to walk out of the UPA government when the party is at its most vulnerable after its recent rout in the Assembly elections in the state. The DMK’s dependency on the Congress has further increased as it needs the Centre to deal with any legal cases that a triumphant Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa may slap on Karunanidhi and his family members in the near future. Although the Congress has the upper hand in the relationship, it cannot push its southern ally too far as the DMK’s 18 MPs provide critical support to the UPA government. The Congress does have greater ideological affinity with the AIADMK, but it cannot tie up with it as it has only nine MPs in the Lok Sabha. The Congress would then have to seek support from smaller parties like the Samajwadi Party or the Bahujan Samaj Party to compensate for the loss of DMK’s numbers. This is out of question in view of the next year’s crucial Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
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Delhi HC tells CBI to file status report
New Delhi, May 24 While asking the CBI to respond to Kanimozhi’s bail application by May 30, Justice Ajit Bharihoke also directed the investigation agency to file a status report in the case. Kanimozhi, the 43-year-old daughter of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, and Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar are in judicial custody since May 20 when the trial court of Special CBI Judge OP Saini rejected their bail applications. Kanimozhi has a stake in the TV channel, named after Karunanidhi, who is also known as Kalaignar. Asif and Rajeev are the directors of the DB Realty group firm - Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables
Pvt Ltd, allegedly used for the transfer of Rs 200 crore as a kickback to the Kalaignar TV. Kanimozhi has sought bail, pleading she has to take care of her 11-year-old son. Her husband is employed abroad. Meanwhile, former Tamil Nadu Deputy CM MK Stalin, son of Karunanidhi, met his half-sister Kanimozhi at the trial court. Stalin waited for 30 minutes at the Patiala House Court complex to meet her. Stalin sat between Kanimozhi and former Telecom Minister A Raja, who is also in judicial custody in connection with the scam, and talked to them about the jail atmosphere and the well-being of family members.
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ASP among 9 cops killed in Naxal ambush
Raipur, May 24 The 10-member police team led by Additional Superintendent of Police Rajesh Pawar was ambushed last evening in Sonabed jungle, which falls in Chhattisgarh and is close to the Orissa border, IGP Rajesh Mishra said today. The team was on its way to Sosing village, about 15 km from the jungle area, after being informed about Maoist movement there, he
said. Mishra said between 200-250 Naxals were involved in the attack and they also hacked the bodies of some policemen with sharp-edged objects. The policemen were ambushed after their vehicle broke down, following which they boarded a tractor and changed their route and proceeded towards
Anamore, about 15 km from Sosing, he said. — PTI
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Sanitise Pak for world peace: BJP
He said the spate of attacks on military installations in Pakistan clearly demonstrate a threat that the country’s nuclear facilities there may fall into wrong hands and stressed the need for the de-nuclearisation of India’s western neighbour. “The BJP believes that the internal security situation in Pakistan is alarming. Mehran naval base in Karachi was attacked despite being well-protected. In the last two years, several military installations there, which are well guarded locations, have been attacked,” Rudy said. “We are aware that Pakistan today has the fourth largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world. We know Taliban, which has been targeting military facilities, will try to lay their hands on nuclear weapons in an attempt to make a dirty bomb,” said the BJP spokesman stressing on the urgent need to “sanitise” Pakistan for world peace. “There is an imminent need for the world to denuclearise Pakistan. The situation there post-Osama bin Laden makes the issue very pertinent,” said Rudy.
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K’taka CM: Won’t say a word against Guv
Bangalore: After a running battle with the Governor for a week for recommending President’s Rule in Karnataka, Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa today softened his stand on HR Bhardwaj, saying he would not utter a “single word” against him and would respect the gubernatorial post.
He also ruled out seeking a vote of confidence in the Legislative Assembly, which commences on June 2, asserting that the BJP government led by him enjoyed “maximum majority”. A week after Bhardwaj sent his “special report” triggering a political war in the state, the Centre rejected it on Sunday.
— TNS
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Selective abortions on
the rise among educated mothers New Delhi, May 24 A new online study published in the Lancet today (first reported by The Tribune) showed most of these girls had been victims of selective abortions, mainly at the hand of richer, more educated parents. Authored by nine researchers, the study determined an absolute numbers of selective abortions from 1980 to 2010 and examined 2.5 lakh births from the national surveys to check differences in the girl-boy ratio for second births in families where the first born had been a girl. Speaking to The Tribune today, Prabhat Jha, author of the most reliable selective abortion study in India, said the girl-boy ratio fell from 906 girls per 1,000 boys in 1990 to 836 in 2005 — an annual decline of 0.52 per cent. The drop being higher for richer families with educated mothers as against poor families with illiterate mothers. “If the first child was a boy, there was no drop in the ratio for the second child. But if the first born was a girl, families were found aborting the second child. The range of selective abortions of girls in India rose from 0-2 million in the 1980s to 1.2-4.1 million in the 1990s and finally to 3.1-6 million in the last 10 years when we estimate the aborted female foetuses at around 4.5 million. Each 1 per cent decline in child sex ratio implies between 1.2-3.6 million more selective abortions of girls. We can safely conclude that from 1980 to 2010, selective abortions of girls in India have been in the range of 4-12 million,” Jha said. He added that sex ratio declines over time for second births, if the first born was a girl, were slightly greater in urban than rural India but it didn’t differ between Hindu and Muslim households. Also, 72 per cent of the districts showed drop in the ratio in the last 10 years while the number of districts with a natural sex ratio of 950-975 girls per 1,000 boys (as found in the developed world) decreased by half in the same time. “This means the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act is not being implemented well,” Dr Rajesh Kumar of the PGI, Chandigarh, and also co-author of the study said. He admitted that wealthier couples were increasingly going to Thailand, Nepal, Hong Kong and Singapore to abort female foetuses. “We need international understanding to curb this trend,” Jha said.
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Naval commanders review coastal security New Delhi, May 24 In the four-day biannual meet to be addressed by Defence Minister AK Antony tomorrow, the commanders of important operational formations will also assess the preparedness of naval combatants, in particular the organisational ability to deploy warships, submarines and aviation assets at short notice, both for conventional and peacetime missions. Following the November 2008 Mumbai terror strikes, the Navy has been given the overall responsibility of securing the 7,500-km-long Indian coastline and vital installations.
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Kokrajhar, May 24 PK Dutta, SP, Kokrajhar, said ACMA ‘commander-in-chief’ Kanu Murmu was picked up from Gossaigaon near his home on the basis of an FIR filed by the association. AASAA vice-president Inus Tuddu was seriously injured when suspected ACMA ultras fired on him at Pakriguri last night. The AASAA has demanded a CBI probe into the incident. Murmu has been involved in extortion activities, the police added.— PTI
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Ghulam Nabi Azad calls on DMK patriarch, says alliance intact
New Delhi, May 24
New Delhi, May 24
Bangalore: After a running battle with the Governor for a week for recommending President’s Rule in Karnataka, Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa today softened his stand on HR Bhardwaj, saying he would not utter a “single word” against him and would respect the gubernatorial post.
New Delhi, May 24