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UN vote against Lanka
Large, dynamic China can’t be contained: PM
NRI lawyer levels more charges against BJP
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CBI conducts lie-detection test on BJP MLA
Sharad Yadav rules out snap polls, BJP contradicts him
Assembly poll: NCP likely to go it alone in M’rashtra
On the way: Affordable, fast-acting TB drugs
GJM agrees to poll in July
NDA bags all 6 RS seats in Bihar
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UN vote against Lanka
New Delhi, March 24 Privately, many Congress leaders are calling it a ‘diplomatic gaffe’, which, they say, may elicit a ‘tit-for-tat behaviour’ from the strategically located southern neighbour. It is said that pressure from southern parties like the DMK and the AIADMK ‘forced’ India to vote in favour of the US-sponsored censure motion. The UPA government has officially stated that move will enable Sri Lankan Tamils get justice. However, party leaders say allowing regional political preferences to prevail over foreign policy decisions may affect the country's long-term strategic interests. A senior Congress leader, pleading anonymity, said the government could have played safe and abstained from voting against its next-door neighbour in the Indian Ocean. “By this move, we may have managed to push Sri Lanka closer to China. Besides, any time in future, if a situation crops up against India in the international arena, you know for certain which side Sri Lanka will vote,” he said. Congress sources maintain even though DMK had threatened to pull out its ministers from the UPA government if India did not back the resolution, the ruling combine could have held its ground with help from the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. But that would have meant some more political jugglery. The Congress has a perennial problem in the Rajya Sabha, where the UPA does not have a majority. Even while many Congress leaders are not happy with this direct interference of an ally in foreign policy decisions , this is not the first time a UPA partner has done so. Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, which has vetoed several economic decisions (FDI, petrol prices, rail fares etc), had scuttled the Teesta River Waters Agreement last year, creating a hugely embarrassing situation for India with its eastern neighbour Bangladesh.
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Large, dynamic China can’t be contained: PM
New Delhi, March 24 ''I do not think large and dynamic countries like China can be contained,'' he told the editor of a South Korean daily in an interview when asked if he thought the US was keeping China in check and whether he had faced situations were India was forced to choose between Beijing and Washington. The PM noted that China was India's largest neighbour with which India shared a long border. ''It (China) is also our biggest trading partner in goods.'' He said that with the US also, India's relations had been transformed in 2005. Some three million people of Indian origin were living and working in the US and the country was also India's largest business partner. ''Our aim is to have cooperative ties with both China and the USA.'' Singh's comments came days ahead of Chinese President Hu Jinato's visit to India to attend the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit to be hosted by New Delhi next week. When the journalist drew his attention to a report in the Wall Street Journal that India’s bureaucratic red tape and corruption have been discouraging foreign investment, the PM said: ''Outside observers often tend to take a narrow view of our economic policies. India is a far more open economy today than it was earlier. We are governed by the rule of law, and as a functioning democracy, we need to be mindful of the concerns and sensitivities of all sections and stakeholders and take their interests into account.''
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NRI lawyer levels more charges against BJP
Mishra, who had alleged yesterday that senior BJP leader and PAC chairman Murli Manohar Joshi had met 2G accused in his presence, today named the two accused during a TV interview as Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka. Though Joshi has denied it, the allegation has raised a question mark on Joshi’s credentials as an objective and disinterested investigator. “I went to Joshi’s home one day and there came Vinod Goenka who was involved in the 2G scam. After some time, Shahid Balwa also came. They both met Joshi. I do not deny that they were my friends as well," said Mishra. On Jaitley, he said, "Jaitley was a friend. We used to meet often till 2011. We had meals together. What has happened now? Can Jaitley deny that he did not call me in the United States before the 2009 elections? Why did he accept Christmas gifts from me then? Why did he watch a cricket match from my box at the Lords? I will not tolerate these double standards.” Most BJP leaders kept mum when their reaction was sought, but spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy said, “I have never known this man. So I don’t know what he is talking about. But his wild allegations do raise serious questions about his credibility.”
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CBI conducts lie-detection test on BJP MLA
Singh underwent the test for several hours today at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory here as the previous attempt of the CBI to carry out polygraph test on him remained inconclusive on March 19, sources said. The agency asked him a series of questions related to his purported relationship with Masood and accused Zahida Parvez, besides whether he knew about the murder plan allegedly hatched by the latter. The CBI might call Singh again for the test if the results do not prove satisfactory. — PTI
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Sharad Yadav rules out snap polls, BJP contradicts him
New Delhi, March 24 Addressing SP workers on the occasion of 102nd birth anniversary of Ram Manohar Lohia in Lucknow, he asked them to implement the party manifesto fast since the next general elections could be held any time next year. Sharad Yadav said today, “It is not right for me to comment on whatever Mulayam has said. That only he can tell in detail. But in my opinion, mid-term elections are nowhere in sight.” The JD (U) president conceded that the recent Assembly elections were a big jolt to the Congress, saying, “The party has suffered a big jolt and it will definitely make an impact on the Centre but in what shape and when, I cannot say.” However, the BJP, which has all along been harping on the vulnerability of Manmohan Singh government, has not taken kindly to Sharad’s rejection of the mid-term poll possibility, with party spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy saying, “This government is totally dependent on Mamata and Mulayam’s support and the day the two withdraw support, there is no way this government will survive.”
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Assembly poll: NCP likely to go it alone in M’rashtra
Mumbai, March 24 The NCP bagged the post of president in 13 Zila Parishads and the post of vice-presidents in 14 others after suddenly allying with saffron parties. The Congress, which had emerged the single-largest party in many of these ZPs, had to contend with the posts of president in just seven Zila Parishads. — TNS
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On the way: Affordable, fast-acting TB drugs
New Delhi, March 24 While TB is a leading global killer, its impact is felt the hardest in India. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 2.3 million people in India contract TB each year and 3.2 lakh from it. Current “old and inadequate” treatment has in fact fuelled the growth of drug-resistant TB in the country. According to information released by the CSIR, India has the highest prevalence of drug-resistant TB with nearly 1,00,000 patients suffering from multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB). Recent reports of 12 cases of a new class of Extensively Drug Resistant (XDR) TB made headlines, raising serious concerns among clinicians treating TB unarmed with drugs to fight more complicated MDR-TB and XDR-TB. According to CSIR Director-General Samir K Brahmachari, some new TB drugs were being developed around the world, but it was critical for India -- which has the world’s highest burden of tuberculosis -- to bring new drugs to its patients.
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GJM agrees to poll in July
Kolkata, March 24 The GJM will suspend its agitation programme and instead, make preparations to participate in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) elections. Elections for the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), which Subhas Ghising had been heading for more than two decades, couldn’t be held as a result of prolonged agitations and the political crisis in the hills. But before the GTA elections are held, the report of the Justice Shyamal Sen Committee on the demand of inclusion of Gorkha-dominated areas in Duars and Siliguri into the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) needs to be finalised. Accordingly, Justice Sen has been requested to submit his report to the Chief Minister by June.
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NDA bags all 6 RS seats in Bihar
Patna, March 24
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New Delhi, March 24
New Delhi, March 24