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Mulayam accuses Cong of double-speak on Batla
Child Theft
Babri demolition
Army to get upgraded Arjun tanks soon
Telecom Scam
Hit-and-run case: Pereira surrenders, sent back home
Mixed response to General’s move Different voices in Congress
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BSP list: Mayawati drops over 100 sitting MLAs
Lucknow, January 16 According to the BSP list released by CM Mayawati during her birthday party function at the BSP headquarters yesterday, only 24 of the 51 ministers are in the electoral fray. Denying ticket for their alleged corruption, inefficiency or lack of commitment to the BSP movement is clearly part of Mayawati’s strategy to address the anti-incumbency factor and distance herself from the much-spoken corruption during her rule. Due to the landslide victory of the BSP in 2007, the party had won 206 of the 403 seats. Later, due to the merger of smaller parties and victories in by-elections, the BSP strength in the Vidhan Sabha rose to 226. However, following defections, the party had expelled five sitting MLAs. Following the state Lokayukta’s directives, she dropped five ministers and then dismissed another 23 ministers without serving any valid reason.
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Mulayam accuses Cong of double-speak on Batla
"The Congress is not serious on the issues pertaining to Muslims and treat them only as a vote bank. That is why when Assembly polls are underway, the issue of Batla House encounter has been raised by party leader Digvijay Singh, who termed it as fake. The Congress should either sack him or take action against the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, who feel that the encounter was not fake", Yadav said. Yadav said SP’s stand had been that the encounter was "fake" and it had been demanding judicial inquiry into the matter but no action has been taken yet in the matter by the Congress-led UPA government. —
PTI
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Mamata defends hospital authorities
Subhrangshu Gupta/TNS
Kolkata, January 16 The Chief Minister today inducted TMC MLA Chandrima Bhattacharyya into her seven-month-old ministry as a state minister for assisting her in running the Health Department. Another TMC MLA, Arup Biswas, was also sworn-in as a state minister. Biswas will hold the independent charge of the Youth Welfare Department. The Chief Minister indicated a few more young and new faces would be inducted into her ministry soon. Leader of the Opposition Surya Kanto Mishra of the CPM boycotted the swearing-in ceremony. Talking to mediapersons at the Raj Bhavan, the Chief Minister alleged that a false and motivated campaign had been launched by the CPM against the TMC and the state government, but the people would not believe them. She admitted there were shortcomings in the functioning of the government in many departments for which the former CPM government should be blamed. During its 34-year rule, the Left Front government did nothing for the people, she alleged. Instead, they had ruined the state administration and the government coffer by leaving behind to the new government a debt of over Rs 3,500 crore.
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Babri demolition
The CBI’s move “is nothing but abuse of process of law and it also raises serious doubts” over its bona fides, they contended in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court. The agency had filed its special leave petition after an “inordinate delay without giving any reasonable explanation” and it was liable to be dismissed on this ground alone, the affidavit said. Besides Advani, the CBI has pleaded for the revival of conspiracy charges against BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi and Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray. The affidavit has been filed in response to a notice issued by the Supreme Court in March, 2011 on the CBI petition challenging the legality of the Allahabad High Court order, upholding the quashing of the conspiracy charges against them by the trial court. Among others against whom the CBI wants to revive the conspiracy charges are former Chief Ministers Uma Bharti of Madhya Pradesh and Kalyan Singh of Uttar Pradesh and Sangh Parivar leaders Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, Vinay Katiyar, Vishnu Hari Dalmiya, Sadhvi Rithambara and Mahant Avaidya Nath. The BJP leaders and other accused are, however, being tried for inciting the ‘kar sevaks’ to demolish the disputed structure on December 6, 1996. While slating the next hearing on the CBI plea to March 27, a Bench comprising Justices HL Dattu and CK Prasad the demolition was just an incident and there was no need to describe it as famous or infamous. “What is famous about it?...It is not famous or infamous,” the Bench remarked when the CBI counsel described it as famous case.
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Army to get upgraded Arjun tanks soon
Chandigarh, January 16 Two Arjun Mark-II tanks will be used for initial trials and validation by the Army at the Pokhran field firing ranges, said Dr S Sundresh, DRDO’s Chief Controller (Armaments, Combat Vehicles and Engineering Interface). The Mark-II version is a development over the Mark-I and incorporates over 80 modifications to enhance the tank’s operational capability and protection. The Army began inducting the Mark-I version in 2004 after placing orders for 124 tanks to equip three regiments. Dr Sundresh, who was on a visit to the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) here, said that another order for 124 Mark-II tanks has also been placed by the Army. The Mark-I version has been used in some field manoeuvres, the most recent being Exercise Sudarshan Shakti in December 2011. The Mark-I was also pitted against the T-90 for comparative trials, with DRDO claiming that its tank performed well. However, the fact that such a large number of modifications are being carried out and remarks by some senior officers and defence analysts indicate that the Army was not too happy with the Mark-I. One of the most important modifications incorporated in Mark-II is the capability to fire missiles. The missiles, fired through the tank’s main gun, are primarily meant for targeting armoured vehicles and fortifications over extended ranges. DRDO has, over the past few months, been carrying out in-house trials of the Mark-II version. The tank’s cost, as stated in Parliament by Defence Minster AK Antony, is Rs 27 crore apiece, which is almost double than that of Mark-I.
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Telecom Scam
New Delhi, January 16 A Bench comprising Justices P Sathasivam and J Chelameswar also agreed to hold the final hearing in August on Sukh Ram’s appeal against his conviction and three-year sentence in a case relating to the purchase of about 2,500 multi-access rural radio (MARR) systems in 1993-94 for providing telephone connection to every panchayat in the country. The Delhi High Court had upheld Sukh Ram’s conviction for corruption but acquitted him of the charge of hatching a conspiracy with his co-accused - Runu Ghosh, a former Director in the telecom ministry, and Rama Rao, the chief of a private telecom company that benefited from the deal on MARR systems.
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Hit-and-run case: Pereira surrenders, sent back home
Mumbai, January 16 Twenty-seven-year-old Pereira gave himself up before Sewri sessions court which said it is yet to receive the certified copy of SC order of January 12 that upheld the three-year jail term awarded to him by the Bombay High Court for killing seven people sleeping on a pavement on November 12, 2006. “Accordingly, he was sent home,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Pratap Dighavkar. The Mumbai-based businessman went to Khar police station in the morning before arriving at the Sewri Court along with police. As a certified copy of the apex court order was not available either with the police or the court, he was asked to go back. Pereira will now have to come to the court after the certified copy of the Supreme Court is available here, the police said. While cancelling Pereira’s bail, the Supreme Court had upheld the High Court order sending him to jail for three years, observing that the punishment for the “despicable aggravated offence” was “too meagre”. —
PTI
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Mixed response to General’s move New Delhi, January 16 “An Army Chief going to court on personal matters is not good for the force or the nation as a whole,” Gen Singh’s predecessor Gen Deepak Kapoor said but declined to comment specifically on the age issue. Asked about the age row, he said that this had come up during the tenure of Gen JJ Singh as Army Chief. Former IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik, who had also advised Gen Singh on the age issue earlier as a senior in the Chiefs of Staffs Committee, said, “I think it is a personal issue and he should do whatever he thinks is right. “As a citizen of the country, he has the right to go to the court,” he said. Former Indian Navy Chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, who was sacked by the NDA government, said the issue with Gen Singh’s age was not of his date of birth but that of manipulated succession. "It is not a case of date of birth, there is no question of facts. But it is a case of manipulated succession and slur being caused on the office of Army Chief,” he said. — PTI
New Delhi: Army Chief Gen VK Singh's action to move the Supreme Court against the government rejecting his claim on his date of birth has drawn varied response from the Congress. Party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi distanced the party from the issue saying it is a matter between the person who has gone to the court and the court, while AICC secretary Praveen Davar condemned the move. Party general secretary Digvijay Singh had in a tweet on December 31 commented "very unfortunate Gen VK Singh one of the most honest Army Officers has to retire for a mistaken date of birth in his record." — PTI
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