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BJP blames Congress for Parliament disruptions
Union Cabinet clears Companies Bill
Congress, BJP have tacit understanding, alleges Yechury
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UP
Poll
Rs 500-cr varsity for Bundelkhand
Son questions legality of Hazarika trust
No role in processing Kejriwal’s case: PMO
Govt tightens service rules for Gulf-bound women
Bhanwari
Devi case
India ‘jittery’ of China’s growing influence
HC to hear Kani’s bail plea today
Fog forces more trains off tracks
ULFA splits, hardliners form 16-member panel
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BJP blames Congress for Parliament disruptions
New Delhi, November 24 Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj was so upset with the adjournment that she, along with BJP chief whip in the Lok Sabha Ramesh Bais, walked up to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal in the Central Hall after the adjournment for the day, and asked why he could not keep the Congress MPs, demanding Telangana, under check. Bansal had no cogent reply and simply smiled helplessly to Sushma's charge. She also mentioned how the Left pressed for taking up the price rise issue on Monday and suggested yesterday that NDA chairman LK Advani could raise the black money issue today. She pointed out how even then the BJP magnanimously stepped back to allow the Left to discuss price rise. The BJP leader traced the sequence of events from November 22 when the winter session of Parliament commenced and pointed out how her party had fully cooperated with the Left to ensure that the House ran smoothly. She also mentioned how they had even agreed to an agreed format of the resolution just to ensure smooth functioning of the House. She also underlined how the BJP had accommodated the government concerns to ensure a meaningful discussion rather than continuing with disruptions. She recounted how Bansal sought a copy of the BJP resolution on black money that read something like this: "The situation arising out of government's failure to curb black money and its refusal to provide a list the people illegally holding secret foreign bank accounts." Eventually, the BJP accepted the amended government resolution that read something like this: "Situation arising out of money deposited illegally in foreign banks and the action taken by the government." But the House was adjourned at 11 am amid chaos. At 12 noon, when it was adjourned again due to disruptions, there was an all-party meeting in the Speaker's chamber. The meeting was attended among others by Mulayam Singh Yadav, Sharad Yadav, Lalu Prasad, Dara Singh Chauhan of the BSP, Basudeb Acharia and Gurudas Dasgupta from the Left and Sushma and Gopinath Munde to sort out issues. "At this meeting, the Left pressed for taking up their price rise mater now and we immediately conceded," Sushma said. "The responsibility for today's disruption lies solely with the Congress and the government," she added.
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Union Cabinet clears Companies Bill
New Delhi, November 24 Intended to replace the existing half-a-century-old Companies Act, the Bill has undergone several modifications in view of the Rs 14,000-crore Satyam accounting fraud. Following Cabinet clearance, it is now likely to be taken up for consideration and passage in the ongoing winter session of Parliament. Besides strengthening the provisions to check fraud, the Bill has introduced ideas like mandatory corporate social responsibility (CSR), class action suits and a fixed term for independent directors. Among other things, it also proposes to tighten laws for raising money from the public. The Bill also seeks to prohibit any insider trading by company directors or key managerial personnel by treating such activities as a criminal offence. Further, it has proposed that companies should earmark 2 per cent of their average profits of the preceding three years for CSR activities and make a disclosure to shareholders about the policy adopted in the process. Welcoming the Cabinet decision, industry body CII said that on enactment, the Companies Bill will be a boon for business, corporates, investors and stakeholders at large. "Industry anxiously awaits a new corporate law that would lay stress on responsible self-regulation. Needless to say, the new company law is expected to be more streamlined and facilitative," CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said adding that the new law would strengthen the concept of shareholders' democracy.
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Provision for filing class action suits by a larger group of stakeholders
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Congress, BJP have tacit understanding, alleges Yechury
New Delhi, November 24 The CPM will move amendments to the motion as and when it is taken up by Speaker Meira Kumar in the Lok Sabha. A similar amendment will be moved for discussion on black money in the Rajya Sabha under Rule 167 (entailing voting). After their adjournment motion on price rise was rejected by the Speaker today, CPM leaders questioned the alleged tacit understanding between the BJP and the government on black money motion moved by BJP's LK Advani. "This understanding between the Congress and the BJP has been going on for three sessions. First, the two agreed to have the Speaker move a resolution on price rise; then in the monsoon session, they again agreed to the text of a motion on price rise which was moved by LK Advani. Today they are ready to accept an adjournment motion on black money after discussions with the BJP. We are nowhere in the discussions. The Congress and the BJP are together deciding and finalising everything which is not acceptable to us," CPM leader in Rajya Sabha Sitaram Yechury said.
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UP Poll Ajit Singh’s Cabinet berth final barrier Vibha Sharma/TNS
New Delhi, November 24 Ajit Singh’s may have scaled down his demand for seats from 100 to 60 and finally 50, but he wants a dignified ministry at the Centre to suit the “personality and demeanour of leading Jat leader that he is”. While the Congress has offered Ajit Singh the Drinking Water and Sanitation Department, a portfolio currently held by Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh after it was disdainfully rejected by party’s Maharashtra leader Gurudas Kamat, Ajit Singh is willing to settle for nothing less than the Agriculture Ministry or perhaps the Food Ministry. While there is no way NCP supremo Sharad Pawar can be divested of the Agriculture Ministry or even the Food Processing Ministry, sources say that with the UPA’s ambitious Food Bill on the anvil, there are few chances that Congress will let go off the Food Ministry, currently held by KV Thomas. The grand old party is divided as far as an alliance with Ajit Singh goes. However, a significant section led by Digvijaya Singh feels that a pre-poll deal with the RLD will help the Congress in the poll.
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Rs 500-cr varsity for Bundelkhand
New Delhi, November 24 The university, named after Rani Durgavati, the valiant queen of Chandel dynasty who was born in Banda, UP and who resisted Mughal Emperor Akbar’s advances into Central India, will cost Rs 500 crore. To be headquartered at Jhansi district of the Bundelkhand region, which has remained high on the priority of AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi, the university will have two constituent colleges in UP and two in MP. This will be only the second agricultural varsity of Central status in the country after the one came up in Imphal in 1993 under the Central Agricultural University Act of 1992. All other agricultural universities in India are state universities or deemed to be universities. The Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) under the Agricultural University will pilot a Bill to set up the Central agricultural university in Bundelkhand to cater to students of 13 districts of the region across UP and MP. These districts include Jhansi, Banda, Chitrakoot, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Lalipur, Mahoba, Chhatarpur, Damoh, Datia, Panna, Sagar and
Tikamgarh.
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Son questions legality of Hazarika trust
Guwahati, November 24 The maestro’s only son, Punnag Tej Hazarika who lives in New York, today dismissed the validity of the trust headed by Lajmi and said he would set up a “legitimate” foundation to preserve and spread the legacy of his father. “I have heard of a trust in my father’s name. I am not part of it and know little about it. The trust seems more intent on controlling my father’s estates than any plans to preserve his legacy. The names of a board of trustees have been floated without any consultation with his significant immediate family members including myself,” Tej Hazarika said.
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No role in processing Kejriwal’s case: PMO
New Delhi, November 24 Kejriwal on November 3 had sent to the PMO a four-page letter addressed to the Prime Minister along
with a cheque for Rs 9.27 lakh. He had then explained that he sent the cheque to the Prime Minister because the PMO was processing his case. Although Kejriwal had tendered his resignation in 2006, he is yet to be released because the department has been demanding that he first should clear his dues, which amounted to Rs three lakh in 2006 but which, along with interest and computer loan has mounted to over Rs 9 lakh. The government is yet to accept his resignation and Kejriwal continues to be on the Civil List as a “serving” Indian Revenue Service officer of the
1992 batch. A senior I-T Department officer said, “The PMO never sought the Kejriwal file from us or from the Finance Ministry. Kejriwal is in the habit of double-speak, saying anything anytime to mislead the media. As a government servant, Kejriwal is aware that the appointing authority for all Class I government servants is the President of India. Therefore, he should have sent his dues to the Minister of Finance, who deals with personnel issues of
his department on behalf of the President,” the official said. In the normal course, the official added, the PMO should return Kejriwal’s correspondence with a comment that he
should approach the relevant authorities for suitable action, in this case the CBDT and the Chief Commissioner (Income
Tax), Delhi. The Tribune on September 1 had broken the story that Kejriwal was “still a government employee” and that his resignation from service was pending as he sought waiver of the demand raised by the I-T Department on two grounds: assuming that he had violated conditions of the bond, he did so to serve a “public cause” by working for the Right to Information Act; and that he did not have money to pay. He even requested that his dues may be adjusted against his provident fund. The authorities refused to waive his outstanding dues and adjust them against
his Provident Fund on the plea that the amount could not have been adjusted since the PF is administered separately by a different entity and not the
I-T Department.
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Govt tightens service rules for Gulf-bound women
New Delhi, November 24 Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply that the Indian missions have been receiving complaints from women workers, particularly housemaids on account of non-payment of salaries, long working hours, inadequate living conditions, physical harassment or refusal of leave. He said the government has also made it mandatory for attestation of employment contract of women under the ECR category by the Indian missions. The missions would also have to identify the foreign employer before allowing any woman to go to the region for work. A pre-paid mobile facility must be provided by the employer to every woman household workers. If the foreign employer recruits the worker directly, he/she is required to deposit a security of $ 2,500 (about Rs 1.25 lakh) with the Indian Mission. As per the rules, the ECR clearance is mandatory for undergraduates seeking overseas employment in 17 countries. The countries are: the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Malaysia, Libya, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, Brunei, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Syria, Lebanon and Thailand. The minister said the government has also set up the Overseas Workers Resource Centre (OWRC) with a 24 x 7 helpline to enable emigrant workers/ prospective emigrants, including women, to obtain information on all emigration related matters and to seek redressal of their complaints. Erring foreign employers would be blacklisted and action initiated against recruitment agents in case the grievances of emigrants are not resolved by them. The minister has convened a meeting with Indian envoys in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) tomorrow to discuss various issues connected with the welfare of Indians working in Gulf countries. More than a million Indians live and work in the Gulf region. Many of them are exploited or forced to live in slave-like conditions. Often, employers take away their passports in order to force them to work underground without an opportunity to go home and with the constant danger of being arrested by police. The Gulf countries are also fast turning into destinations for women trafficking even though the government policy does ‘not encourage’ women to seek jobs there.
Indian missions have been receiving complaints from women workers, particularly housemaids on account of non-payment of salaries, long working hours, inadequate living conditions, physical harassment or refusal of leave. Helpline set up The government has also set up the Overseas Workers Resource Centre (OWRC) with a 24 x 7 helpline to enable emigrant workers/ prospective emigrants, including women, to obtain information on all emigration related matters and to seek redressal of their complaints.
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Bhanwari Devi case
Jodhpur, November 24 The CBI, which appeared before the bench of Govind Mathur and NK Jain (II) this morning to submit the status report, requested the court for a private hearing in the matter. Additional Advocate General Anand Purohit, referring to some "significant developments" in the case, requested the court to conduct the hearing in a closed chamber to which the court agreed and asked them to appear in the judges' chamber at 1 pm. During the hearing on the habeas corpus petition filed by the husband of Bhanwari Devi in the chamber, the CBI submitted the status report in sealed envelope. The court decided the next date of next hearing as December 15. The CBI had filed the first status report in the case on November 11. — PTI
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India ‘jittery’ of China’s growing influence
New Delhi, November 24 In a commentary posted on its website, the Xinhua also observed that New Delhi considers China’s ever-growing influence in recent years as a strategic move to encircle and contain India. The article in the Chinese media appeared in response to an to an article, "Asia's Giants Colliding at Sea?" written by former External Affairs and Defence Minister Jaswant Singh. The commentary came nearly a week after
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Bali on the sidelines of the
ASEAN Summit. It said that India has been living under the delusion that China lays out a ‘strategic chessboard’ to lock up and contain it. Every act and every move of China could touch a raw nerve of India. “Jealousy can sometimes be put in the same breath of inferiority. India could trace its sense of being so self-abase to the brief border war with China in 1960s when it was beaten by the Chinese army. And India has since eyed China with deep-seated distrust. The Indian media are always given to wild speculations on what on earth China intends to do. Any move Dragon takes in the region would in all likelihood vex Elephant,’’ it said. The Xinhua said China has, in fact, sought a win-win model to develop economic and trade relations with its neighbours, including India. “Why India appears so impatient to take more agreeable strategies in its periphery is still beyond understanding. But one thing is certain: today’s India, no matter how anxious it intends to lead the region and even the world, is far potent and prosperous to act of its own accord - by currying favours with China’s neighbours, in particular, those who have brewed disputes with China, India would assume, it could instigate these smaller nations to engage in a gang fight against China and contain China’s growing clout in the region.’’ The article also gives some advice to New Delhi - to build up a real power, neither self-satisfaction nor self-inferiority is a mature and constructive mindset. “In a nutshell, to grow up to be a real power and stand as a sound competitor, India needs to first and foremost break through its own psychological fence,’’ it added.
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Lifetime award in India a paradox: French filmmaker
Addressing a press conference Thursday, Tavernier said: “I’ve received the lifetime achievement award in a country which has never released my works. It's a paradox, an irony of life.” Tavernier’s “The Princess of Montpensier” has not seen a theatrical release in India but was the closing film of IFFI 2010. Nevertheless he was happy that he has received recognition. Portuguese film “The Consul of Bordeaux” by director by Manuel Gonzales, was the opening film at the 42nd IFFI, but it got lost in the crowd. Commenting on this Tavernier said: “I'd be sorry if I was in his (Gonzales) boots.” He also spoke about the emergence of world cinema and emphasised on as to how the world is heading to a crisis due to lack of creation. According to him, the youth of today, especially in France, are “impatient morons” who are “obsessed by brands. They want to be successful without wanting to learn.” “They like to work on clichés and hence due to their ignorance, they commit murder,” added the filmmaker known for his films like “Round Midnight”, “It All Starts Today” and “Capitiane Conan”. He repeatedly said: “To create one has to learn. Learn to accept and change.” As a creator of a concept filmmaker, Tavernier wants to become the instrument of change and says that through his movies, he was able to make eighteen people take up teaching and four to become cops. He said: “Education and culture is a weapon to educate the youth. The government and politicians should put their money in lighting up the minds of the youth rather than on the poles that light the streets and squares of the city.” IFFI Director Shankar Mohan said: “Ever since the closing of IFFI 2010, we have been pursuing Bertrand Tavernier and we are fortunate to get him to attend the festival this year.”
— IANS
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Rahul accuses BSP, SP of ignoring people
Balrampur, November 24 Addressing a public rally in Balrampur district on the third day of his state tour, Rahul said, “Till a leader goes to the poor, stays with them, eats at their home and drinks water from their houses, he cannot understand poverty. Till they do not understand the pain of poverty, UP cannot be changed.” He lashed out at the BSP and the SP maintaining that both parties had ignored the people and worked only for selective castes. Charging the BSP government of plundering the Central funds meant for the poor, he said the Central Government had sanctioned thousands of crores for Uttar Pradesh. “Unfortunately, it did not reach the people. The amount is going into the pockets of ministers, BSP leaders and bureaucrats,” he alleged. Repeating his charge of lack development forcing people of the state to go to Mumbai and Delhi in search of livelihood, he said, “Your people go to Mumbai, Delhi or Haryana for jobs. Your people run taxis in Mumbai. Your people made the metro in Delhi. But you are not able to do anything in your own state.” Expressing concerns over the misuse of the centrally supported Janani Suraksha Yojana, he cited the case of a poor woman who delivered a baby in a hospital. “Instead of giving her Rs 1,400, the hospital authorities asked her for Rs 1,000 as bribe. They threatened if she did not part with the money, she would not be allowed to take her baby home. This is the condition in UP.”
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HC to hear Kani’s bail plea today
New Delhi, November 24 "All applications would be heard tomorrow at 10.30 am," Justice VK Shali said today. Other accused whose pleas would be heard today were former Telecom Secretary Siddharth
Behura, filmmaker Karim Morani, Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar and Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd directors Asif Balwa and Rajeev
Agarwal. — PTI
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Fog forces more trains off tracks
New Delhi, November 24 The Northern Railways has completely cancelled 28 trains, including the Kanpur and Lucknow Shatabdis. Trains to neighbouring Haryana towns of Rohtak, Rewari and Ambala continued to remain suspended. The Northern Railways partially cancelled some other trains, including those to Ferozepur, Palwal and Jind. Officials said the fog situation was worsening on the Western Uttar Pradesh section and the arrival and departure of trains from the region was severely affected. Trains crossing eastern UP were late by seven to nine hours. Among the trains arriving here from Uttar Pradesh, the Kaifiyat Express was cancelled for today and tomorrow.
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ULFA splits, hardliners form 16-member panel
Guwahati, November 24 In an e-mail sent to the media, the ULFA’s hawkish faction said the mobile military headquarter of the outfit had approved the newly constituted 16-member central committee headed by Dr Abhijit Barman as the chairman replacing Arabinda Rajkhowa, the leader of the pro-talks faction. Fugitive commander-in-chief of the ULFA faction Paresh Barua has become the vice-chairman of the outfit, besides being the chief of its armed wing. He has promoted himself to the ranks of ‘major general’ (self-styled) from the rank of a ‘colonel’.
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New Delhi, November 24
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