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Repeated disruptions of Lok Sabha over Telangana
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Hostage crisis
SC stays removal of K’taka police chief
SC reserves verdict in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case
Presidential poll
Remote sensing satellite Risat-1 set for launch
CBI grills top Vectra executives
Fishermen’s families get Rs 1 cr, but case to continue
Indian found dead in Dallas apartment
Parliament to meet on May 13 to mark 60th yr of its sitting
12 envoys present credentials to Prez
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Repeated disruptions of Lok Sabha over Telangana Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 24 The motion of suspension moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal against Congress MPs from Telangana - Ponnam Prabhakar, Madhu Yaskhi Goud, M Jagannath, K R G Reddy, G Viveknanda, Balram Naik, Sukender Reddy Gutha and S Rajaiah - was carried by a voice vote in the LS at 2 pm after the Congress leadership got the Opposition on their side over the punitive move. The government resorted to the extreme step to ensure that the House runs for the discussions on demand for grants to the ministries of Health, Home, Urban Development and Commerce to take place. The Business Advisory Committee met today and listed these discussions for April 26, 30, May 2 and 3, respectively. The suspension motion, moved by Bansal under Rule 374 of the Procedure and Conduct of Business in LS, read, "The following members be suspended from the service of the House for four days beginning today". This is the first time in the history of the Lok Sabha that the ruling party has recommended the suspension of its own members for indiscipline. One such mass suspension of Opposition MPs happened in 1987 at the height of the Bofors scandal; the other happened in 1972 of a lone opposition member. Today's move came in the wake of persistent stubbornness shown by the eight MPs who forced the first disruption soon as the House met at 11 am and the second around 12.20 pm after the House reconvened at 12 noon. By 2 pm when the Lok Sabha met again, the Congress top brass led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chief Sonia Gandhi had made up their mind to punish the errant MPs for disregarding their counsel of allowing the House to run smoothly post the first disruption. The agitating MPs refused to budge and kept raising embarrassing slogans like "Democracy bachao, Telangana banao" forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House after BJP's Jaswant Singh and CPI's Gurudas Dasgupta slammed the Congress in the Zero Hour for failing to "control its own members". The TRS and TDP MPs were absent as the drama played out. As for the Congress agitators, they remained defiant saying they were only asking the Congress Party to keep its "poll promise" on Telangana. Even after being suspended, they squatted on the floor of LS and refused to leave forcing Francisco Sardinha, then in the chair, to adjourn the House for the day after the Opposition advised against the use of marshalls to evacuate them. The adjournment (soon as the Parliament reconvened after 22 day recess) came as a blow to the Government which had hoped for smooth proceedings considering 40 Bills are pending before it. These include the contentious Lokpal and the financial reform bills.
Unprecedented step
This is the first time in the history of the Lok Sabha that the ruling party has recommended the suspension of its own members for indiscipline. One such mass suspension of Opposition MPs happened in 1987 at the height of the Bofors scandal; the other, of a lone Opposition member, was in 1972
Stubborn MPs
The move came in the wake of persistent stubbornness exhibited by the eight MPs who forced the first disruption soon as the House met at 11 am and the second around 12.20 pm after the House reconvened at noon. They have been suspended for four days
Piracy Bill
The Piracy Bill, 2012, which makes special provisions for suppression of piracy and provides for punishment for the offence, was introduced in the LS on Tuesday
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Hopes pinned on mediators, medicines sent for Collector
Raipur/New Delhi, April 24 With just a day left for the Maoists' April 25 deadline to the state government to meet their demands in exchange for the freedom of Menon, the state today named two former Chief Secretaries of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh-Nirmala Buch and SK Mishra-as its nominees to hold talks with the Naxals. The Maoists had named Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, former National SC/ST Commission Chairperson BD Sharma and president of the All-India Adivasi Mahasabha Manish Kunjam as their mediators. Bhushan and Kunjam have declined to mediate on behalf of the Maoists. It was immediately not known when and where the talks will take place. Kunjam, however, agreed to take medicines for the 32-year-old 2006-batch IAS officer and was on his way to an undisclosed location. He was taken in a helicopter from Raipur and was proceeding to Tarimetla village by road to hand over the medicines for Menon, who is an asthma patient. "Menon's life is supreme. I will be going to Sukma soon to take the medicines and then proceed to Tarimetla. Thereafter, I will come back," he said. "We have been told by the family members that he (Menon) is an asthma patient and his health is deteriorating," Chief Minister Raman Singh told reporters. The officer's abductors have conveyed that the condition of Menon is "critical". Nirmala Buch said his top priority would be to ensure safe release of Menon. "I hope that the crisis will be resolved soon through dialogue," said Buch, who is expected to reach Chhattisgarh tomorrow. Union Home Secretary RK Singh hoped the crisis would be resolved soon. Menon's wife Asha has also appealed to the Maoists to send an audio/video tape of her husband, so that she could see his condition. — PTI
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SC stays removal of K’taka police chief
New Delhi, April 24 The Karnataka High Court had on March 30 quashed the appointment of Bidari, describing him as “worse than” the late dictators Saddam Hussain of Iraq and Muammar Gaddafi of Libya. A Bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and CK Prasad directed the high court to hear the case afresh and dispose it of by May 31. The apex court noted that the HC had quashed the appointment on assumptions and without taking into account the findings of the Justice Sadashiva Commission and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Appearing for Bidari, Senior counsel Gopal Subramanium contended that the two commissions had given him a clean chit. Bidari was deputy commandant of the special task force (STF) of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu which had been set up to capture sandalwood smuggler Veerappan. The STF had allegedly committed excesses on tribal women. In Bangalore, Bidari said he was very happy with the development. “It is a victory for me,” he told reporters here. Bidari has been posted as MD of the Police Housing Corporation after his exit from the DGP’s post following the high court order. A R Infant, a 1977 batch IPS officer, who had challenged before CAT his one-year junior Bidari’s appointment as the DGP, said he would carry on the legal battle. Karnataka Home Minister R Ashoka said he would first study the Supreme Court ruling and consult the advocate-general before taking a decision about reinstating Bidari as the DGP. The Karnataka government, however, backed Bidari’s claim when he moved the Supreme Court challenging the High Court order upholding CAT judgment. Bidari had become the DGP on November 30. Both he and Infant are slated to retire on May 31. Bidari’s exit as the DGP was welcomed by Muthulakshmi, widow of Veerappan. Muthulakshmi described Bidari, deputy chief of the Special Task Force constituted to nab Veerappan, as “an inhuman person with no concern for women whatsoever.” (With inputs from Shubhadeep Choudhury in Bangalore).
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SC reserves verdict in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case
New Delhi, April 24 A Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhaya passed the order at the conclusion of arguments by advocate LK Venkat who had sought the transfer. The petitions had been filed in the HC by three
convicts-Santhan, Murugan and Arivu - seeking commutation of their death sentence awarded to them in view of the 11 years of delay in the rejection of their mercy
pleas. Ventakt had sought the transfer as the apex court was considering a similar plea by Devender Pal Singh
Bhullar. In the case of Bhullar, the government had taken nine years to reject his mercy petition. He contended that the situation was not conducive to hearing the petitions in the Madras HC as the state assembly had passed a resolution seeking revocation of the death sentence on the ground of delay. Further, hearing the Bhullar case in SC and the other in the HC would result in multiple proceedings on a single legal issue: delays in deciding the mercy pleas. The SC Bench reserved its verdict on Bhullar’s petition on April 19.
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UP food scam: Cong suspends AICC man
Lucknow, April 24 Singh and another accused in the food scam, former in charge of the state food corporation godown at Mohanlalganj Suresh Dhar Dubey, appeared before the CBI court today from where they were remanded in judicial custody till April 28. A CP Congress press statement after learning from the news channels of the transporter Daljeet Singh’s arrest, Joshi had suspended him from the party. Information was being collected and a comprehensive report would soon be sent to the party high command in Delhi, the release stated. Singh was arrested for reportedly facilitating the diversion of approximately Rs 7.56 crore worth of foodgrain in Lucknow alone. The foodgrain meant for BPL card holders and midday meals in government primary schools during 2004-06 had been sold in the open market. The CBI on Monday summoned Singh and Dubey for interrogation. Dubey is currently posted in Bahraich. Later in the evening both Singh and Dubey were arrested. On February 2, the CBI raided several premises, including the residence of the Congress leader, and seized many important documents. Singh’s transport company had the contract of lifting foodgrain from the government godowns during 2004-05 and Dubey was in charge of the Mohanlalganj godown on the outskirts of Lucknow between 2004-06. Singh was a member of the 51-member Uttar Pradesh PCC working committee nominated by UPCC president Rita Bahuguna-Joshi. He was also one of the 150 members sent to AICC from the state.
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BJP waits for Mamata, Mulayam to make a move
Anita Katyal & Faraz Ahmad Tribune News Service
It is waiting patiently for non-Congress leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mamata Banerjee or Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar to make the first move and then jump onto the larger non-Congress and preferably anti-Congress line-up for the presidential elections, indicated highly placed BJP sources. Even as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj insisted that “No discussion has yet taken place either at the BJP, or the NDA level, leave alone wider consultations,” another senior leader indicated that the party is keeping its cards close to its chest this time. Unlike 2006 presidential elections when it fielded Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, this time, the BJP insiders clarified their priority is not Rashtrapati Bhawan rather it is 7, Race Course Road. A party insider said, “We are looking at the prime ministership. Our effort is to get as many non-Congress parties on board for the 2014 general elections as possible to expand the NDA,” he said. Thus, it appears that the BJP will not start any public debate on the choice of presidential candidate and leave this task to Mamata and Mulayam and then join their campaign at an appropriate time. As for individuals, nobody is taking Pranab Mukherjee’s candidature seriously because knowing full well opposition within his party. The BJP is rather non-committal on the candidature of vice president Mohammad Hamid Ansari and it does consider former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam a “popular, non-controversial and secular” candidate but would prefer secular leaders like Mulayam or Mamata to push his name. Speaker Meira Kumar has no chance with the main Opposition since she is perceived as pure Congress. Meanwhile, the Congress too seems to realise its limitations and is, therefore, looking at developing a consensus on a commonly acceptable name. They are wary though of the BJP/NDA, recalling that even in 2006 they had forced a contest, though the success of Pratibha Patil was a foregone conclusion then. Highly placed sources in the Congress admitted though that they don’t see much of a chance of a pure Congress candidate being acceptable to others. They also realise that of Mulayam, Mamata and Mayawati, the ruling alliance needs at least two of them on its side to secure the ascendance of its candidate to Rashtrapati Bhawan. A senior UPA leader (not from the Congress), however, conceded that, by and large, Pranab Mukherjee is the most acceptable candidate except for the fact that there may be opposition to him in his own party and if the Opposition does not take a principled stand against a Congress candidate, Pranab stands the best chance of emerging as the most acceptable candidate. But, in the latest development, Mulayam has denied floating Kalam’s name while RJD chief Lalu Prasad, has pitched for Hamid Ansari. Political observers suspect that Lalu has floated the Ansari balloon at the instance of the Congress party.
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Remote sensing satellite Risat-1 set for launch
Bangalore, April 24 The 71-hour countdown commenced at 6.47 am on Tuesday. During the countdown, propellant-filling operations of the liquid propellant second stage (PS2) and the fourth stage (PS4) of the launch vehicle will be carried out. Besides, mandatory checks on the launch vehicle and spacecraft will be conducted. Readiness of various ground systems such as tracking radar systems and communication networks will be checked and batteries charged. Pressurisation of propellant tanks on board the satellite will be performed. The PSLV-C19 will inject the satellite into an orbit of 480 km altitude at an inclination of 97.552 degree. The satellite will be put in its final orbital configuration at 536-km altitude using thrusters on board the spacecraft. Weighing 1858 kg, RISAT-1 will be the heaviest satellite ever launched by the PSLV. Its orbit period is 95.49 minutes. It will complete 14 orbits every day. The active microwave remote sensing power of the C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) of RISAT 1 provides for day-night and cloud penetration imaging capabilities. RISAT-1 will have applications in agriculture and in management of natural disasters like floods and cyclone. It can also be used for defence purposes. The fabrication and launch of RISAT-1 was postponed by ISRO in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attacks in order to prioritise the launch of RISAT-2 with X-band synthetic aperture radar of Israeli origin for surveillance from the sky.
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CBI grills top Vectra executives
New Delhi, April 24 CBI questioned them to know ownership pattern of the group and association with Tatra Sipox UK.
— TNS
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Fishermen’s families get Rs 1 cr, but case to continue
Kochi, April 24 Setting the stage for the settlement, the Kerala High Court had earlier in the day permitted the family members of Valentine Jalastine and Ajesh Binki to withdraw their contentions made against Italy's plea for quashing the FIR against the Marines. Justice PS Gopinathan allowed the petition filed by Jalastine's wife Doramma and sisters of Binki, the latter hailing from Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu. However, Advocate General KP Dandapani said the legal heirs were not party to the criminal cases pending against the accused Marines. The compensation agreement would not affect the case registered by the state, he said. The Marines have been charged with murder under the Indian laws for shooting dead the fishermen in February last when they were fishing in a boat off Kollam coast of Kerala. The plea for compensation was filed by wife Jalastine's wife and two children and two sisters of Binki, who will get Rs 1 crore each as legal heirs of the victims. The Italian authorities handed over the demand draft for the amount in the High Court's Lok Adalat. Shortly after police lodged the FIR in the case, Italian Consual General Giampaolo Cutillio and the two Marines — Latore Massimilliano and Salvatore Girone — had approached the High Court seeking to quash the FIR. The legal heirs of the fishermen impleaded themselves in the case opposing the Italian's plea. Later, however, they agreed to settle for the amount offered by the Italian government. In view of this development, counsel for the victims' families informed the court today they were withdrawing their defence and not pressing for the charges against the Marines. The two Marines have been lodged in Central prison at Thiruvananthapuram and the ship is anchored off the coast of Kochi for the past two months. With both parties agreeing for a solution, the High court under the Alternate Dispute Resolution System referred the issue to the Lok Adalat, which recorded the compensation agreement. On request from Italian authorities, the family members of the deceased fishermen also gave a letter to the Italian authorities stating that they had pardoned the Marines. The settlement agreement, executed between family members of the deceased fishermen and Italian authorities, stated that the fishing boat was allegedly sailing at 33 nautical miles in the high sea when the boat was allegedly fired at by the Marines. Additional Solicitor General Harin Raval's recent submission in the Supreme Court that the Italian ship was not within Indian territorial waters when the Marines allegedly fired at the boat had drawn the state's ire. Indian territorial waters extend upto 20.5 nautical miles. On the request of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, the Centre removed Harin Raval from the case. The Kerala government also stated that state has legal competence to try the case registered against the Marines under Indian law.
— PTI
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Indian found dead in Dallas apartment
New York, April 24 Nikhil
Karanam was found dead in his apartment on April 21 in Trophy Club City,
a suburb of Dallas, according to the Telugu Association of North
America. Local police authorities say they believe Karanam had died
almost 10 days ago but discovered his body only after neighbours
informed the authorities of "foul smell" coming from the
apartment. Karanam lived alone in the apartment and the police found
his body in an "unbearable condition." TANA president Prasad
Thotakura expressed shock at the tragic incident and told PTI that he
got to know about the death two days ago and had informed Karanam's
family in India. He said the organisation is working on the logistics to
send the body back to his native place. Thotakura said preliminary
investigation has ruled out any foul play in Karanam's death. The
autopsy was done yesterday and the police do not suspect that it is
either a case of murder or suicide. They suspect that Karanam could
have died due to a "medical reaction" of some kind. — PTI
Odisha boy’s body arrives
Bhubaneswar: The body of 24-year-old K
Seshadri Rao, an Indian student from Odisha who was shot dead on April
19 in Boston, arrived here on Tuesday. Rao, a native of Jeypore town in
Odisha's Koraput district was a student at Boston University's Graduate
School of Management. He was shot in the head and leg in the early hours
of April 19.
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Parliament to meet on May 13 to mark 60th yr of its sitting
New Delhi, April 24 The Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the Lok Sabha today approved the grand commemoration of the event. The highlight would be a special sitting of both the Houses on May 13 to discuss India’s achievements on the Millennium Development Goals ahead of the 2015 deadline, a suggestion put forth by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar. On May 14, the Houses will discuss India’s Human Development Index vis-à-vis the world and the reasons that are preventing the country’s onward march. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal detailed the commemoration event at the BAC meet today. The programme will see a joint function in the Central Hall, where the plan is to felicitate the living members of the first Lok Sabha. Among them is a former chief minister of Manipur. The President, who will attend the evening function, is also expected to release special coins of five and 10 denominations and a postal stamp to highlight the significance of the day.
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12 envoys present credentials to Prez
New Delhi, April 24 Welcoming the envoys, the President said the global financial crises and developments in the Euro Zone along with political strife and violence have generated a plethora of political and economic issues. Improved financial governance, employment generation and promoting trade and investments are essential, she said. The President also said the world is faced with growing pressures on the Earth’s resources and issues related to environment protection and climate change. In such a scenario, it is very important to work together and have institutions in which the voices of all, particularly those of developing countries, find expression, she added. Besides Powell, others who presented their credentials were Ioannis E Raptakis, Ambassador from Greece, Larbi Reffouh, Ambassador from Morocco, Ali Illiassou, Ambassador from Niger, Aashna Wandani Radha Kanhai, Ambassador from Surinam, Waven Winslow William, High Commissioner from Seychelles, Susan Yoyo Sikaneta, High Commissioner from Zambia, Feilim McLaughlin, Ambassador from Ireland, Sanjaasuren Bayaraa, Ambassador from Mongolia, Linus von Castelmur, Ambassador from Switzerland, Maria Michael, Cyprus’ High Commissioner and Alexandre Cece Loua, Guinea’s Ambassador to India. Powell arrived in New Delhi on Thursday following her March 29 confirmation by the American Senate as the first woman head of the US mission in India. Powell, who said ‘hello’ to India in 10 different Indian languages earlier this week, holds the highest rank in the US foreign service, with the title of career ambassador.
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The Supreme Court today stayed the removal of Karnataka police chief Shankar Bidari for his alleged role in the sexual abuse of tribal women during the drive against forest brigand
Veerappan. The Karnataka High Court had on March 30 quashed the appointment of Bidari, describing him as “worse than” the late dictators Saddam Hussain of Iraq and Muammar Gaddafi of Libya.
The families of two fishermen allegedly shot dead by Marines on board the Enrica Lexie have reached a compromise with the Italian authorities and accepted Rs 1 crore compensation, but criminal proceedings against the naval guards Marines will continue.
New Delhi, April 24