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Sonia in Gujarat, slams Modi’s ‘hollow’ development promises
Ajit Pawar returns as
M’rashtra Deputy CM
23 MLAs, 7 ministers attend Yeddy’s meet
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Ponty
shootout
Cauvery row: Protests erupt in K’taka, Assembly adjourned
UP announces sugarcane support price
Five-year-old falls into borewell, dies
Govt’s free hospitalisation scheme exposed
SC verifying rioting charge against AP judge
Hornbill Fest
After FDI, quota Bill next challenge for UPA govt
e-voting system adds to high drama in RS
Amarinder, Hooda welcome retail FDI
18th century lexicon of North-East languages found in British Library
9 police officials suspended for misbehaving with woman
Anna Hazare hospitalised
Maldives
Government takes over airport operations from GMR
Two-year jail for 11 in Guwahati molestation case
Plane hits light post while taxiing out of IGI airport
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Sonia in Gujarat, slams Modi’s ‘hollow’ development promises
Mandvi, December 7 Sonia, who addressed a rally in this tribal-dominated area of Surat district in south Gujarat said, "They (Modi and BJP) have no interest in poor and common people but their only interest is the development of its own and a select few people. The development which was promised in a big way is nowhere to be seen in this tribal land... because what they promised were hollow and false," Sonia, who is campaigning in the state before the first phase of Assembly elections here, said addressing a huge rally. "This is the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel who used to preach what they practiced. Now there are people who give big advice but don’t follow them," she said taking on Modi without naming him. Indicating large-scale corruption in Gujarat, Sonia said that the Centre has provided a lot of funds to the state but we do not know where these had gone. "We (Congress) have had a good relationship with the people of this area. Due to the ongoing vested interest politics, they (BJP) have constantly tried to weaken this relationship, but you all have negated their moves," Sonia Gandhi said mentioning about the support of tribal population to the Congress in the state. Sonia questioned as to where the huge promised sum in the scheme had gone as nothing under the scheme had materialised yet. "The UPA government has been allocating thousands of crores of rupees to various states, including Gujarat, without any bias. But nobody knows how this money is spent (in Gujarat)," she said. — PTI
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Ajit Pawar returns as
M’rashtra Deputy CM
Pawar's re-entry into the Cabinet came after a White Paper by the Maharashtra Irrigation Department gave him a clean chit for projects executed during his tenure. It was alleged that irregularities worth over Rs 20,000 crore happened between 1999 and 2009 when Pawar was irrigation minister. The Opposition Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party combine that has opposed the re-entry of Pawar in the government, boycotted the swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan. Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Eknath Khadse alleged that Pawar was re-inducted into the Cabinet after the NCP arm-twisted the Congress into doing so. "The White Paper does not examine corruption in the Irrigation Department. A special investigation team needs to probe all the allegations," Khadse said. He added that Pawar should have waited till he was exonerated by such a team before returning to the Cabinet. The Opposition has decided to turn the return of Pawar into a major issue during the forthcoming winter session of the Maharashtra Assembly.
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23 MLAs, 7 ministers attend Yeddy’s meet
Ministers CM Udasi, Murugesh Nirani, MP Renukacharya, V Somanna, BJ Puttaswamy, Shobha Karandlaje and Umesh Katti and two dozen legislators were present at the breakfast meeting. “I have support of 30 BJP legislators and ministers together and all of them are attending the breakfast meet”, Yeddyurappa, who is all set to launch his new party Karnataka Janata Party at Haveri on December 9, told reporters at Belgaum. Yeddyurappa said he was asking his loyalist MLAs and ministers not to attend the Haveri rally not because of the BJP warning of action but because he did not wish to embarrass the BJP government. He said he was instrumental in making Jagadish Shettar Chief Minister and would like to see him complete his tenure. Asked whether he is at Belgaum, where the winter session of the state legislature is underway, to show his strength, Yeddyurappa said there was no need for him to do so. He said if he wanted to demonstrate his strength, he would have done it in the Assembly itself. “I came here to find out how the winter session is going on”, Yeddyurappa, who resigned from the Assembly on November 30, said. The BJP has warned its ministers and legislators that disciplinary action would be taken against those participating in the KJP launch rally of
Yeddyurappa.
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Ponty
shootout Tribune News Service
Metropolitan Magistrate Rajinder Singh ordered, “The accused persons (Tyagi and Namdhari) are remanded in judicial custody till December 13.” Tyagi’s lawyer today requested the court to allow him to be lodged in a jail cell, which is meant only for undertrials from the police forces. The lawyer said most police personnel are often troubled by the jail inmates. “An application has been moved on behalf of Sachin Tyagi for lodging him in a separate cell, exclusively meant for undertrials from the police forces. The jail superintendent is directed to consider the application and lodge Tyagi as per the jail manual,” said the Metropolitan Magistrate. Tyagi, a constable with Uttarakhand Police since 2005 and attached with Namdhari as his PSO since January 2012, was interrogated for three days by the police in the case.
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Cauvery row: Protests erupt in K’taka, Assembly adjourned
Bangalore, December 7 Facing protests and Opposition heat, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar rushed to New Delhi to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat to seek their intervention as the state itself was facing a distress situation. As Karnataka began releasing 10,000 cusecs late last night complying with the Supreme Court directive, attempts were made to block roads on Bangalore-Mysore highway at Mandya, prompting the police to step up security. At least 15 persons were taken into custody for blocking roads at several places in Mandya, a Cauvery heartland district, to protest release of water to Tamil Nadu. Cauvery Hitarakshana Samithi, an outfit of farmers spearheading the stir, has given a call for Mandya district bandh tomorrow. The Mandya district administration has declared a holiday for school and colleges tomorrow in view of the strike call. Samithi president G Madegowda urged the Opposition Congress leader in the state Assembly Siddaramaiah to lead an agitation against the BJP government. Protests were also witnessed at Chamarajanagar, another Cauvery basin district. Reports from Erode in Tamil Nadu said vehicles have stopped plying from Sathyamangalam near Erode to Mysore following demonstrations and ‘hartal’ by some Kannada outfits in parts of Karnataka protesting the Supreme Court directive to release water to Tamil Nadu. For the second consecutive day, more than 800 lorries, 300 vans and 200 other vehicles have been parked at Sathyamangalam, Bannari check-post and near Thimbam, the report said quoting the police.
water
war
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UP announces sugarcane support price
Lucknow, December 7 The price for the advance variety of quick-maturing sugarcane has been increased from 250 to 290 per quintal. For the general variety of sugarcane, the price is now Rs 280 and for the late variety it has been fixed at Rs 275 per quintal. According to the CM, approximately Rs 21,500 crore would be paid to farmers for their sugarcane crop this year. This is nearly Rs 3,300 crore more than what was paid to them last year.
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Five-year-old falls into borewell, dies
Karimnagar (AP), Dec 7 K Ajith slipped into the open borewell this afternoon in an agriculture field in Malhar area, about 75 km from here, said G Udaykumar Reddy, Deputy Superintendent of Police of Gadavarikhani. Police and revenue officials rushed to the spot and started rescue operations but could not save the boy as the borewell was filled with water, he said. The body of the victim was later fished out, the police added. — PTI
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Govt’s free hospitalisation scheme exposed
New Delhi, December 7 The scheme mainly aims to guarantee free hospitalisation to the below-poverty-line persons. But the pilot has revealed that over half of the BPL people enrolled in RSBY had to pay at the time of admission to hospitals and the payments ranged between Rs 10 and Rs 1.5 lakh due to lack of monitoring by insurance firms. “It is unacceptable that even after four years of the scheme, over 50 per cent enrolled patients had to incur out of pocket (OOP) expenditure at the time of admission,” said Dr N Devadasan, principal investigator of the study conducted by Bangalore-based Institute of Public Health and supported by WHO’s Alliance for Health Policy and System Research, Geneva, and the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar. It covered 2,920 families in 500 villages of Patan district, enrolled in the RSBY during 2010-2011. Investigators found the scheme was targeting the very poor -- 65 per cent enrolled families were landless; 87 per cent did not have toilet facility and 71 per cent were casual labourers. Also, 97 per cent had received the card and none had to pay any extra money apart from the statutory Rs 30 for the same. But the grim finding was that out of 526 admissions, only 227 patients (43 per cent) didn’t have to spend money at the time of hospital admission. The rest incurred out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 1,50,000. The average OOP expenditure was Rs 10,692 per patient. Further, 188 patients (36 per cent of all patients) had a RSBY card but still had to pay for admission because most of them (122) were asked by the hospitals to purchase medicines from outside. “This is against the contract between the hospital and the insurance company and violates the scheme,” said Dr Devadasan. “The patients with RSBY cards incurred nearly 55 per cent of the expenses incurred by non-insured patients. They are likely to get disillusioned by the free hospitalisation scheme and drop out. This will trigger a vicious circle of high claims and higher premiums, thereby making RSBY unsustainable.” Investigators found 66 patients either didn’t receive the card or received a card that didn’t work. Another 16 persons, belonging to families enrolled in RSBY, found their names were not in the card due to problems in the BPL list or computer list. Also, 93 didn’t use the card due to lack of knowledge. Only two patients had diseases that may have led to crossing the upper limit of Rs 30,000. “The above figures are for expenses during the hospitalisation period. If one were to include the pre and post-hospitalisation expenses, the amount of OOP expenditure would be much higher,” the study reveals. Since its launch in 2008, RSBY has covered 33 million BPL families and 4.2 million patients. The Labour Ministry is the nodal agency for the scheme.
Hardly working
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Pak national elated after getting artificial arm
Zirakpur, December 7 He had been under observation at Nevedac Prosthetic Centre for the past two weeks and was operated upon to receive the artificial limb. Rafi, who is accompanied by his friend Jawadh, said the high-level meetings between the officials of both countries might take a long time to resolve the long-pending issues but such acts of generosity went a long way in building bonds between the citizens of both countries. He said his colleague, who was operated upon at the centre last year, told him about the facility at Zirakpur. Rafi expressed satisfaction with the artificial arm. Centre co-founder Dr VJS Vohra said though the centre had been receiving a number of patients from Pakistan, this was the first time that a Pakistani patient had come for high quality Otto Bock prosthesis. His team successfully fitted Rafi with a myo-electric hand. He said myo-artificial arms were electrically powered and controlled by the myo-electrical impulses generated every time a user’s muscles contracted.
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SC verifying rioting charge against AP judge
New Delhi, December 7 A Bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Desai sought details relating to the charge from Attorney General GE Vahanvati and the magistrate concerned in Andhra Pradesh. The SC passed the order on a PIL filed by advocates M Manohar Reddy and MV Narasimha Reddy seeking quashing of Justice NV Ramana’s appointment as a HC judge. During the hearing of the PIL, it transpired that Justice Ramana had been appointed as judge of the high court in June 2000 when senior counsel Ram Jethmalani, who ironically appeared for the PIL petitioners today, was the Union Law Minister. According to the petitioners, the proposal forwarded to the SC Collegium recommending Ramana’s appointment did not talk of the pending criminal case against him despite the fact that the trial court had proclaimed him an absconder just a month earlier - on May 8, 2000. Acknowledging that he was the Law Minister at the relevant time, senior counsel Ram Jethmalani pleaded with the Bench to take steps to “undo the damage.” According to the PIL petitioners, they have approached the Supreme Court as their complaints to the Chief Justice of India and the Law Ministry in January this year failed to evoke any response. The Bench asked the AG to place before it in a sealed cover the correspondence between the petitioners and the CJI and the Law Ministry. Simultaneously, it asked the SC Registrar General to collect the FIR copy relating to the criminal case against Ramana from the Additional Magistrate in Mangalagiri Division of Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh and submit it in a sealed cover. All the students booked for the rioting in question had, however, been let off by the trial court on January 31, 2002 as the government withdrew the cases against them. Chandrababu Naidu was the Chief Minister at that time. Incidentally, according to the Andhra Pradesh High Court website, Justice Ramana has been associated with stalwarts like Nani Palkiwala, K Parasaran, Soli Sorabjee and Kapil Sibal, besides Jethmalani, in several constitutionally important cases when he was a lawyer.
Timeline
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Hornbill
Fest
Guwahati, December 7 All roads lead to heritage village “Kisama”, around 12 km from the capital. While “Ki” in “Kisama” has been derived from Kigwema village and “Sa” from Phesama village, “ma” means a village on whose land the heritage village has been established and commissioned by the state government. To encourage inter-tribal cultural interaction and bring together the festivals of various tribes under one umbrella, the state government has evolved “Hornbill Festival” where the cultural mosaic and the rich heritage of Nagaland are displayed at one place. Organised by the State Directorate of Tourism every year between December 1 and 7 since 2000, the festival offers a kaleidoscopic view of the Naga way of life and is intended to revive, protect and preserve the richness and uniqueness of the Naga heritage besides attracting tourists. All Naga tribes unite to celebrate the occasion, which is also a tribute to the hornbill, a revered bird of the Nagas. The bird is linked closely with the social and cultural life of the people, as is evident in tribal folklores, dances and songs. The admiration for the bird is symbolically displayed on almost all traditional tribal headgears worn during festivities. The heritage complex comprises a cluster of 16 house of each tribe created in indigenous architectural designs.
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After
FDI, quota Bill next challenge for UPA govt New Delhi, December 7 Given the aggressive stance adopted by both these parties, this Bill may end up meeting the same fate as the Women’s Reservation Bill, virtually in cold storage after being blocked by its opponents. Like the Women’s Bill, the SC/ST quota Bill is also a Constitutional amendment, requiring the vote of 50 per cent of the strength of the House and two-thirds of those present and voting. It cannot be passed in a din. The quota Bill was tabled in the last session with the twin purpose of deflecting attention from the Coalgate controversy and reaching out to the BSP, which extends outside support to the UPA government. In the process, the ruling combine ended up annoying the SP, also a key outside supporter, which is vehemently opposed to the Bill. The scuffles witnessed during the introduction of the Bill were a clear pointer to how this matter is going to unfold in Parliament in the coming days. Having succeeded in enlisting the support of the two regional rivals in the FDI vote, the parliamentary managers of the government will have to move skillfully on this sensitive issue without alienating either of its supporting parties. The ruling combine needs their support, especially in Rajya Sabha where it is in a minority, in pushing through its legislative agenda, which includes key Bills on insurance, banking and pensions. In an effort to buy peace with the BSP chief, the government will continue to list the Bill on the Rajya Sabha agenda but express helplessness when SP members block proceedings. As it is, the Rajya Sabha was disrupted for several days earlier this week as agitating BSP members, led by Mayawati, demanded the expeditious passage of the Bill, which was expectedly opposed by the SP members who wanted the provision of quotas to be extended to the OBCs. In fact, BSP chief Mayawati had sought an assurance on speedy passage of the Bill in return for her support on FDI and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath had publicly said the government was committed to the amendment. Double-edged
sword z While BSP favours the Bill, rival SP is opposed to it z Was tabled in the last session but saw stiff opposition from the SP
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e-voting system adds to high drama in RS
New Delhi, December 7 The reason behind the snag (also witnessed during the December 2011 Lokpal Bill debate in the Lok Sabha and several times in the past) is that both the Houses are running on two-decade-old Automatic Vote Record System. No wonder that the electronic counting had to be repeated after several opposition members shouted that their machines did not work and they could not cast votes on
the motion against FDI in retail. When the members voted in the first instance on the motion, the electronic display showed 79 “ayes” and 101 “noes” and one member abstaining, totalling the total numbers of votes cast to 181, much below the strength of 244 members. When the count was repeated, the total number of votes cast increased to 212 (95 “ayes”, 116 “noes” and one abstaining) but it had to be nullified amid shouts that some voting machines were still not working. The Opposition motion was finally defeated by 102 to 123 votes in favour of UPA. The system was installed in 1995.
Technical
sNag
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Amarinder, Hooda welcome retail FDI
New Delhi, December 7 Hooda said FDI in retail would benefit the farmers as well as the consumers and would generate employment opportunities. He said farmers were not getting remunerative prices for their products and about 30 to 40 per cent of their vegetables and fruits get damaged. As per the conditions of FDI, foreign investors will have to spend 50 per cent of their investment on the development of infrastructure like constructing godowns, cold storage and providing modern transport. “Only black marketers will suffer as a result of FDI, whose number is just around 5,500 in the country,” Hooda added. Amarinder Singh congratulated Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying FDI in retail will go a long way in boosting the economy. The PPCC president also lashed out at the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for its opportunistic stand in opposing FDI when it had supported it earlier. He said the BJP and its allies like the SAD had lost moral ground in opposing FDI after both Houses of Parliament rejected its motion to drop the FDI legislation. FDI would not have any adverse impact on the traditional retailers who have been in the trade across the country for a long time,
he added.
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18th century lexicon of North-East languages found in British Library
Guwahati, December 7 ‘Comparative Vocabularies’ is the manuscript of a 200-year-old dictionary of 10 languages, including English, Assamese, Bengali, Manipuri, Garo, Rabha, Koch, Kachari, Panikoch and Mech. The lexicon was written by Dr Francis Buchanan Hamilton (1762-1829), a British polymath of the 18th century. Hamilton came to India when it was under the East India Company, Rini said. Dr Raktim Ranjan Saikia, Assistant Professor, Department of Geology at JB College, Jorhat, on behalf of Asomiya Jatiya Prakash, the publishers of the encyclopaedic dictionary ‘Asomiya Jatiya Abhidhan’ (Assamese National Dictionary) had contacted Rini Kakati in London asking her to trace those papers at the British Library. Rini Kakati, NRI Assam Co-ordinator for the UK, and Director, FASS (Friends of Assam and Seven Sisters), promptly took the initiative with the relevant authorities. She spent considerable time and effort to go through these papers and to be able to acquire this historic collection. This book was written circa 1800. It has 155 pages of landscape-sized paper. There are 18,000 words in all with 1,800 words in each of the 10 languages. Dr Francis Buchanan Hamilton was an explorer and naturalist. Born at Branziet (Baldernock, East Dunbartonshire), Buchanan was the third son of Thomas Buchanan of Spittal and Leny and Elizabeth Hamilton of
Bardowie.
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9 police officials suspended for misbehaving with woman
Etawah (UP), December 7 According to sources, the woman was a kin of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. The SOG team, led by in-charge Rohit Tewari, was checking vehicles here this afternoon when they stopped a luxury car, the police said. According to SSP Rajesh D Modak, they "misbehaved" with the woman and her co-passengers. After the woman complained about the incident, an inquiry was conducted by a senior official, which found the charges correct and the entire team, including Tewari and eight constables, have been placed under suspension, the SSP said. — PTI
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Anna Hazare hospitalised
Gurgaon, December 7 A doctor at the hospital told reporters that Hazare was stable and recovering, adding that he had been kept under intensive care due to private reasons and not due to illness. The septuagenarian social leader had arrived in Delhi a few days ago. He is slated to meet his close aids and supporters from Haryana on December 9.
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Maldives Government takes over airport operations from GMR
Male, December 7 "Maldives Airport Company Limited has taken over the operations of the Ibrahim Nassir International Airport from GMR. The transfer process was very smooth and seamless," President Mohamed Waheed's Press Secretary Masood Imad said. He said there would be three-week transition period during which GMR and state-run MACL will work together. "The GMR has agreed to work with MACL for the next three weeks or so to help MACL with paperworks and to clear any doubts since the Indian firm was operating the airport for last two years," Imad told PTI. He sought to allay any fears of loss of jobs or any vendetta. "All workers of the airport who wish to stay back after GMR leaves will be taken on board by MACL. This also includes Indian workers," Imad asserted. Terminating the $511 million contract with GMR on November 27, the Maldivian government had given time till tonight to the Bangalore-based firm to handover the airport operations. — PTI
India wants Maldives to rein in elements harming bilateral ties
New Delhi: India on Friday asked the Maldives to check the activities of elements who may be trying to harm bilateral ties in the wake of the termination of the Male airport development contract to Indian infrastructure major GMR. — TNS
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Two-year jail for 11 in Guwahati molestation case
Guwahati, December 7 Chief Judicial Magistrate SP Moitra convicted Kalita along with 10 others under various Sections of the IPC. Four others, including local television channel journalist Gaurav Jyoti Neog, Hafizuddin, Diganta Basumatary and Jitumoni Deka, were acquitted due to lack of evidence. Besides Kalita, those convicted include Puspendra Das, Sikandar Basfor, Dhanraj Basfor, Nabajyoti Baruah, Nabajyoti Deka, Deepak Deb, Rubul Ali, Deba Das, Rupkanta Kalita and Ghanasyham Kumar Malik. Sixteen persons were taken into custody, but one of them was a minor and his case was being heard in the juvenile justice court. The accused were currently on bail. Those convicted have submitted an application with the CJM pleading that they had the statutory right to appeal before the Sessions Court within 30 days and should continue to be on bail during the appeal period. The girl was molested by a group of people outside a bar around 9 pm on the arterial Guwahati-Shillong Road in Guwahati. The entire episode was videographed by journalists from a local TV channel and was later telecast and even uploaded on the Internet. The state government had constituted a special investigation team, headed by Superintendent of Police (Operations) Ranjan Bhuyan, which submitted its chargesheet on September 4, naming 16 persons as the accused. TV journalist Neog was earlier relieved of his work by the TV channel in view of public outcry over his alleged role in “instigating” the perpetrators of the crime.
case
file
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Plane hits light post while taxiing out of IGI airport
New Delhi, December 7 The DGCA has ordered a probe into the incident which happened around 7.40 pm yesterday, when SpiceJet's Boeing 737-800, operating on Delhi-Hyderbad route, was taxiing out of the parking bay to the runway for take off from Delhi airport. A spokesperson of the IGI airport operator said: "Preliminary observations suggest that the aircraft came off the taxiway guiding line and as a result it hit the post. Due to this the high mast light also got damaged." All the passengers on board were unaffected. Following the incident, the pilot of the aircraft aborted take-off and the passengers were sent to Hyderabad in a separate plane after a delay of about two hours. — PTI
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